Johnny Depps bid to overturn a High Court ruling in London that he assaulted his ex-wife Amber Heard rests on what she did or did not do with her divorce settlement. Following a three-week trial in July last year, Mr Justice Nicol dismissed the Hollywood stars libel claim against the publisher of The Sun, finding an April 2018 column calling Mr Depp a wife beater was substantially true. The actor is now asking the Court of Appeal to grant permission for him to challenge the ruling, with the aim of having its findings overturned and a retrial ordered. Mr Depp is trying to overturn last years ruling on the basis Ms Heard lied about giving the entirety of her $7m (5.9m) payout to charity. Lawyers for the actor allege the Aquaman actress has been basking in the glow of philanthropy when in fact only a fraction of the millions she promised to two charities has ever reached them. Mr Justice Nicol said at the time he rejected allegations Ms Heard was out to profit from her ex financially, saying: Her donation of the $7m to charity is hardly the act one would expect of a gold-digger. The actors legal team say his ex-wife had effectively tipped the scales against him through exaggerated claims of her own generosity. At a hearing at the High Court, lawyers for Mr Depp submitted evidence allegedly proving that only a fraction has been paid to the two charities it was promised to. They alleged just $100,000 (84,000) was paid to the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles paid directly by her ex-husbands accountants and only $450,000 (336,000) had reached the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In a statement made in August 2016, Ms Heard vowed $3.5m (3.95m) would be given to each charity. Mr Depps lawyers say the fact Ms Heard has appeared to assert publicly that all the money she received from her ex-husband has already been given away undermines her credibility as a witness. Andrew Caldecott QC, for Mr Depp, said the claims had given Ms Heard a considerable boost to her credibility as a person. It had tipped the scales against Mr Depp from the very beginning. In a statement submitted to the libel trial, Ms Heard seemed to confirm the money had already been paid. It read: I remained financially independent from (Mr Depp) the whole time we were together and the entire amount of my divorce settlement was donated to charity. The actors lawyers said the fact the full sum had not been paid came to light following a subpoena in Mr Depps defamation lawsuit against Ms Heard in the US, adding she strongly resisted disclosing the information. Joelle Rich, one of Mr Depps solicitors, said Ms Heard had not been challenged on this during the trial because it had been accepted at face value. In a statement submitted to the court, she said: If Ms Heard wilfully gave false evidence about giving a substantial amount of money to a childrens hospital and an organisation which campaigns on behalf of victims of domestic violence, then it will be submitted on the appellants behalf that she was clearly capable of lying about her relationship with Mr Depp. Adam Wolanski QC, representing The Suns publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN), said the evidence would not have impacted the trial outcome. Mr Depps attempts to characterise Ms Heard as a gold-digger was a misogynistic trope. The new evidence did also not prove Ms Heard had lied. Mr Wolanski said Ms Heard had said she donated the money, not that she had paid it: A donation is not the same as a payment and we know that not least because this is how the charities themselves have understood what Ms Heard has done. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) understood Ms Heard had pledged to pay over 10 years that is a donation. She had paid some $950,000 (797,000) to the ACLU and $850,000 (713,000) to the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Lord Justice Underhill said the court would give judgment at a later date. Continue Reading Below Advertisement The commercial takes place on a post-apocalyptic planet ravaged by the Cola Wars. Bands of Mad Max marauders roam the flavorless wastelands enforcing the New Coke World Order as having different soda preferences has become taboo. (Asking for regular water just calls for your immediate execution.) But the taste revolution is about to start with the arrival of our two heroes, a handsome space cowboy and a sentient buttplug someone accidentally put in the dishwasher. Keurig It gets mighty lonely on those cold space trails. These renegades brazenly walk into the marauder stronghold/diner demanding "something different." As the Fallout-style fifties waitress hands them black-market Dr. Pepper, the rascally raiders try to swipe the cans. In response, our rebel hero straight-up murders the leader with his ice powers (oh yeah, the cowboy has ice powers), turning his crystalline corpse into a handy ice bucket to improve the taste of Dr. Pepper. Keurig Two cans enter, one can leaves. Continue Reading Below Advertisement The popularity of the "After The Cola Wars" commercial actually led to a series of high sci-fi Dr. Pepper ads, some featuring Cool Hand Lucky Luke and the Star Wars cantina reject as they travel the galaxy insisting on being served Dr. Pepper everywhere like two asshole American tourists. New Delhi, March 19 : The spike in Covid-19 cases in Delhi continued with 716 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours, while four more deaths were reported on Friday, the health bulletin said. Tt was the first time the national capital recorded over 700 Covid-19 cases this year. The last 700-plus tally had been recorded on December 27 (757 cases). The city had reported 609 cases on Thursday. According to the bulletin, the recovery rate on Friday was 97.81 per cent, while the mortality rate was 1.69 per cent. The daily positivity rate was 0.93 per cent. The overall tally of Delhi now stands at 6,46,348 while the death toll is at 10,953. The number of active cases has rise to 3,165, according to the health bulletin. Meanwhile, 471 people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the national capital's cumulative recoveries to 6,32,230. A total of 77,352 new samples were tested in the last 24 hours, and comprised 47,078 RT-PCR tests and 30,274 rapid antigen tests. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday acknowledged the spike in Covid-19 cases in the city, but said that it was not a matter to be worried about, as he announced that the capacity of daily Covid vaccine inoculation in Delhi would be augmented from 30,000-40,000 to 1.25 lakh. He had also said the number of vaccination centres will be doubled to 1,000 from about 500 at present spanning both government and private facilities. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) A lecturer, Olusegun Olotu, has expressed concern over possible acute shortage of Mathematics teachers with dire consequences for education, science and technology in the country. Mr Olotu, a Professor of Applied Mathematics, raised the alarm while delivering the 123rd inaugural lecture of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) on Thursday. The professor, who noted that the shortage of teachers and lecturers of pure mathematics was not peculiar to Nigeria and its university system, described the situation as a global phenomenon that must be addressed very urgently. According to him, pure mathematics may soon vanish as time progresses if concerted efforts are not put in place to acquire mathematical knowledge and apply that knowledge painstakingly with cognitive reasoning and patience. He said that deliberate efforts must be made by the managers of the education sector in Nigeria to groom new teachers and lecturers of mathematics to take over from the ageing and retiring ones. Mr Olotu, spoke on the topic: Seeking Best Options to Life Problems: Extended Conjugate Gradient Algorithms for Constrained Optimal Control Problems. He said the topic of the lecture was from a branch of mathematics called Optimization Theory, which means to obtain the best result from a given list of alternatives under given circumstances. Mr Olotu said without algebra, differential equations, real analysis, functional analysis, optimization theory and other areas of pure mathematics, application areas such as engineering, science, economics, medicine, social sciences and technology will not exist. He explained that mathematics was the foundation stone for every science subject and that many times we apply mathematics consciously or otherwise in our daily life activities. The lecturer said the inability of Nigeria to compete globally would always remind the country of its negligence and deficiency in mathematics. Mr Olotu advised that young mathematicians should be encouraged by providing scholarships, locally and internationally. He urged the government to sensitise industries to accommodate them as venues for the applicability of all those undefined terms in pure mathematics. Mr Olotu also recommended employing adequate staff, providing conducive environment in terms of mathematics laboratories, encouraging the best graduates to avail themselves of job opportunities in the education system. The lecturer said there was the need to applying the lecturer-students ratio, 1:30 as steps that would ensure the efficient study of pure mathematics. He said that universities worldwide should encourage Mathematics departments by equipping mathematics laboratories with modern hardware and software facilities. These laboratories should be manned by competent professionals whose duties will be to assist students in problem-solving sessions, he said. Mr Olotu said graduates should apply themselves to studying the much-needed area of mathematics as stipulated by the department and supported by the management to qualify them for job opportunities as they might arise. He harped on the beauty of the efficient teacher-student ratio, saying this would enable the lecturer to know academically deficient students and take appropriate actions to assist them. ADVERTISEMENT To achieve this, every large class must be reduced to smaller sub-classes, and there should also be a quiz every week to test the knowledge and understanding of the students. And all quizzes would sum to 100 points as one of the assessment criteria for the semester grade, he said. The lecturer said that if the above suggestions and others that the management of the sector deemed fit were considered, students would benefit immensely, thus enhancing the reputation of universities globally. He also urged the government and all concerned parties to adequately fund universities for effective learning and research. The Chairman of the occasion, the Vice-Chancellor, Joseph Fuwape, described the lecturer as an erudite scholar and commended him on the cerebral delivery of the lecture. Mr Fuwape added that the lecturer had shown prodigious contribution to knowledge. (NAN) Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu said in an interview with AGERPRES that in the next two years he is considering a "deep renewal" of the diplomatic and consular corps, adding that several hundred posts will be put up for grabs to this end. "We want to introduce into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs people who are very well trained, who are suitable from a professional point of view, but also from the point of view of conduct, general training, tasks and requirements and the quite special working conditions entailed by the activity in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," he said. Aurescu went on to explain that "As you have noticed, we also carried out a renewal of the leadership of diplomatic missions both last year, when there was a first wave of recalls and appointments respectively, with a significant renewal, with a significant number of mission heads who are appointed for the first time to such a position. This time, we've had 23 recalls and a number close to appointments to these positions. We also made sure that at least one third of these positions are occupied by women," he added."At the level of the leadership positions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 54 pct are held by the ladies, and at the level of the missions, almost 36 pct of the positions are occupied by female diplomats," Aurescu emphasized."We try to make it so that as many consular services as possible can be performed digitally, so that we reduce as much as possible the physical presence of the Romanian citizen at the counter. Therefore, in the coming period we will have three important categories of consular services that will be de-bureaucratised, a number of consular services that we can de-bureaucratise and streamline without the need for legislative changes," the minister said.Also, he added, "We will continue the process of expanding the consular network. At the end of last year, we adopted in the Government a Memorandum providing for the extension of the consular network, the opening of new offices, about 18 new consular posts. This year, for example, we are working to open new Consulates General by transforming the consular sections from a number of embassies in major capitals," he stressed.The chief diplomat added that "Equally, we will be concerned with the efficiency of the call center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, because this call center was initiated, launched, in 2015 and is already physically and morally outdated.""We have done an exercise to consult the Romanian communities, we have developed a first form of this plan of itinerant consulates, we will put up the result of this process for public debate and consultation," he said."Another line of action I have in mind is the much better professional training of those who provide consular services. There are Romanian citizens who sometimes complain about the quality of these services or complain about the treatment they receive at the counter. I have promoted a policy of zero tolerance towards our colleagues who do not respect the absolutely necessary rules of conduct in relation to Romanian citizens, but on the other hand there is also a need for a greater effort to train consular agents, consular officials, so that consular services are of much better quality," Aurescu said. AGERPRES An Amtrak train in California hit a truck on Thursday morning, dragging the vehicle approximately 30 yards and sparking a massive fire. Both the driver of the truck, 73-year-old Javier Soria, and his co-worker passenger were able to flee the vehicle before it was struck by the train at the intersection of Fruitvale Ave and East 10th in Oakland. Soria said that the truck had gotten stuck on the track. 'All of a sudden, I saw that I got stuck and then I saw the (train) light and said "Oh, my God." I tried to go back and forward and he said, "You have to get out of the truck, that train is going to hit you!" So I ran across the street and tried to stop the Amtrak - but no he wouldn't stop, he just kept going,' Soria explained to ABC 7. Scroll down for video Both the driver of the truck, 73-year-old Javier Soria, and his co-worker passenger were both able to flee the vehicle before it was struck by the train at the intersection of Fruitvale Ave and East 10th in Oakland A massive fire broke out after the crash but no one was injured in the collision The train had been traveling to Los Angeles from Seattle. Soria and his co-worker had been hauling garbage to a local dump when the tires on the truck got stuck on the track, he shared. While the situation called for panic, Soria stressed that he had to remain calm so that he could get out of the truck in time before the collision. 'The impact was terrible. I was worried about the Amtrak operator, he was in front, he is the one who hit it,' Soria added. Soria (pictured) and his co-worker had been hauling garbage to a local dump when the tires on the truck got stuck on the track, he shared There were 111 passengers and crew members onboard the Amtrak Coast Starlight train 11 at the time of the crash, according to a spokesperson from Amtrak Many passengers remained on board as the engine was just swapped out There were 111 passengers and crew members onboard the Amtrak Coast Starlight train 11 at the time of the crash, according to a spokesperson from Amtrak. No one was hurt in the collision, the spokesperson added. Passenger Sonya Kotler described feeling the train hit the truck, sharing that the impact wasn't too noticeable. The train had been traveling to Los Angeles from Seattle 'All of a sudden it started slowing down, kind of a halt but not too abrupt,' she explained. 'Everyone was safe. It wasn't too scary. And then they told us we hit some thing and we had to get off.' Kotler got off the train but many remained on board as the engine was just swapped out for the journey to continue to Los Angeles. It is impossible for trains to stop with such short notice, according to Amtrak. Trains travelling at 55 miles per hour can take approximately one mile to stop. Re: Abusing Okanagan Lake The letter published March 3, Abusing Okanagan Lake needs to be clarified, as there are several inaccurate statements around both our wastewater and drinking water. The City of Kelownas wastewater treatment facility on Raymer Avenue treats roughly 36 million litres a day of wastewater mainly water from our toilets, showers, sinks and laundry machines. Innovative technologies include UV disinfection of the effluent, which is used to inactivate bacteria and a state-of-the-art odour control system. The Bardenpho Wastewater Treatment Facility (BNR) replaced the original Wastewater Treatment Plant that was built in the early 1900s and was the first of its kind built in North America to accommodate the Bardenpho Process for biological nutrient removal. The chemical-free process is effective, cost efficient and environmentally sound. Once large organic and inorganic solids are settled out and removed, the liquid goes to the biological reactor. In simple terms, incoming waste (a carbon source) becomes food for the bacterial organisms in the biological reactor. BNR is a process used for nitrogen and phosphorus removal from wastewater before it is discharged. Once any remaining fine solids are removed, the wastewater is disinfected using ultraviolet light before it flows into Okanagan Lake through an outfall pipe thats 1.2 km offshore and more than 60 metres deep. No wastewater is treated with chlorine. Regarding drinking water provided through the Citys Water Utility, the water is sourced from Okanagan Lake and provided to roughly 73,000 customers from four main intakes at Poplar Point, Eldorado and Cedar Creek, and the Swick Road pump stations. The South East Kelowna Irrigation District (SEKID) was dissolved by the province in June 2018, and all assets and liabilities were transferred to the City. Our domestic water system is being expanded into Southeast Kelowna through Phase 1 of the Kelowna Integrated Water Supply Plan to provide area residents with water that meets Canadian Drinking Water Guidelines. The Citys Water Utility has adopted a source-to-tap water management approach that includes watershed protection, water quality monitoring, treatment, distribution system maintenance, cross-connection control, and water-use efficiency. Local health authorities have described our Water Utilitys source-to-tap program as one of the best in B.C. The programs goal is to identify hazards and weaknesses that can affect the safety and quality of our drinking water supply. We follow all requirements under our permit issued by the BC Ministry of Environment. We are also actively engaged with watershed protection efforts through several partners, including Okanagan Basin Water Board, Friends of Mission Creek, and Regional District of Central Okanagan. In short, the City is committed to protecting the public, environmental, and economic health of our precious water resource. Kevin Van Vliet, Utility Services Manager Despite the COVID-19 state of emergency for Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures no longer being in effect from Monday, strict entry restrictions at airports and ports will continue to be in place, with no indication of when they will be eased. On Thursday, the government announced it would extend its blanket travel ban on all new entries for foreign nationals including foreign students, academic researchers and business people using reciprocal business travel programs reflecting concerns about the spread of new and more contagious coronavirus variants. The government is planning to allow entry of up to around 2,000 people per day, coordinating with airlines to ensure flights are not oversubscribed. We need to make a careful decision based on infection situations both at home and abroad, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said during a parliamentary committee meeting Thursday. At present, only Japanese and foreign nationals with a valid residency status are allowed to re-enter the country, while nonresident foreign nationals with "special exceptional circumstances can be granted permission. Those special cases include medical or other emergencies and exceptional situations such as childbirth or a funeral of a relative. Starting Monday, the government will expand the list of such special circumstances to cover spouses and children of Japanese and foreign residents who have been separated from their families. People whose re-entry permission expired during their stay abroad, foreign health workers intending to work at medical institutions, university professors and instructors, and some people planning to relocate to Japan for work will also be allowed to enter Japan. In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all creation, and may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and all his Companions. Dear brothers and sisters, if you search Google Images for greed, you will encounter many depictions of rather pompous individuals typically men hoarding money. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines greed as: A selfish and excessive desire for more of something than is needed. While Ragheb Isfahani defined greed as: The intensive desire for something. It is, of course, natural to seek pleasure and to pursue actively that which one perceives to be good and satisfying. Even those who give to the needy might do so, at least in part, because it gives them pleasure knowing they are helping others. But greed involves not just self-satisfaction, but selfishness. To quote Merriam-Webster again, to be selfish is to be: Concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself without regard for others. Of course, the antithesis of this self-centeredness is that ever-familiar Golden Rule: Want for others what you want for yourself. Dear servants of Allah, the greed is an innate trait in humans causing a person to desire to possess Allahs blessing entirely, and if others use this blessing, that person will become sad. When there is no greed trait in a man, the mental health is affected and she/he will suffer from mental instability. Therefore, this attribute accompanied with Islamic training method should be used to guide persons properly. It has been divided into two parts as the praised one and the reviled one by ethics scholars. The praised part leads to helping, fairly competing to perform necessities and charity, and eliminating unpleasant features; the reviled part is the root of many problems and difficulties, and the destruction of human benefits. This trait must be fought against and controlled; contentment and generosity are the cures for the reviled part. Now let me begin the commentary on a grim note. In the 103rd Surah of the Quran (Surah al-Asr), we read: Truly humanity is in a state of loss. This stunning proclamation, however, is immediately followed by a critical qualification: Except those who keep the faith, do good, encourage one another to stand for the truth, and encourage one another to be patient and perseverant. Notice the wording here: to encourage one another to stand for the truth and be patient. I cannot simply focus on myself. I must be cognisant of and concerned with others. The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is quoted as saying: None of you truly believes until [you wish] for [your] brother what [you] wish for [yourself]. And according to even the rather conservative medieval Muslim scholar, Imam al-Nawawi, this refers to all of humanity, and not just Muslims. ADVERTISEMENT But lets return to that grim line, Humanity is in a state of loss. Although Islamic scripture insists that each human is born free of sin, it also presents this world as a series of tests a world where one must be active and swim upstream, as it were, in order to resist the downward pull of temptation. The earliest revelations of the Quran the short revelations first revealed in the city of Makkah, and the ones typically taught to Muslim children are replete with warnings of the harms of not material wealth necessarily, but material greed. Consider the following examples: The 102nd Surah of the Quran, (Surah al-Takathur), opens with the proclamation: Vying for increase distracts you, until you visit the graves. In the 104th Surah (Surah al-Humazah), we read: Woe unto every slandering backbiter, who amasses wealth and tallies it, supposing that his wealth makes him immortal. And along these lines, the 107th Surah (Surah al-Maun) reads as follows: Have you not seen the one who denies religion? That is the one who drives away the orphan, and does not urge feeding the poor. So woe to the worshippers who are heedless of their prayers, those who strive to be seen, yet refuse to supply even neighbourly needs. In other words, material greed is an omnipresent temptation that terminates only at death. The antidote, according to a Prophetic report, is to foster a sense of contentment. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) says: The most enviable of my friends is a believer with little property who finds pleasure in prayer, who performs the worship of his Lord well, who obeys Him in secret, who is obscure among people, who is not pointed out by people, and who is content with his provision. [Sunan al-Tirmidhi] These notions of humility and contentment are, of course, not unique to Islam. So what do we make, then, of the modern ethos that greed is good because it drives individuals to compete aggressively in a free market, thereby benefitting society at large through the introduction of creative and useful ideas, services, and institutions? Here we have to be very careful. We first have to ask, what exactly we mean by greed. If we mean simply the active pursuit of wealth, that need not be selfish per se. As the 19th century English economist Alfred Marshall would have it: Love of money encompasses an infinite variety of motives, which include many of the highest, the most refined, and the most unselfish elements of our nature. Indeed, one could seek wealth for the purpose of helping others. In fact, in the context of Islam, there is at least one well-known Prophetic report that indicates that it is better to work hard to attain wealth and give to those in need than to choose simply not to work. In this case, striving to attain wealth is not a distraction from the path of Allah, but rather an enhancement of faith. What is unanimously regarded as a distraction is the selfish pursuit of wealth, at the expense of others, and ignoring those in need. This is the greed stated in Merriam-Webster. And even if this selfish form of greed benefits society in some way, directly or indirectly, one obvious lesson we glean from Islamic and other traditions is that the ends do not justify vile means. And perhaps some of us moderns are overestimating the benefits of greed and downplaying its harms. Consider a recent study by, among other researchers, Michael Norton of Harvard Business School. According to Nortons study, when certain people act selfishly, they inspire others to act selfishly. What were left with is a vicious, destructive cycle. Earlier I referred to the 103rd Surah of the Quran. That Surah is called al-Asr, which could be translated as time. A major theme of the Quran is that, in time, all will be made right, people will no longer be deluded, they will, in the end, recognise the reality behind the material world, and the truth will be made manifest. This, of course, is a popular theme, as characterised by Shakespeare: Times glory is to calm contending kings/To unmask falsehood and bring truth to light/To stamp the seal of time in aged things/to wake the morn and sentinel the night/To wrong the wronger till he render right/To ruinate proud buildings with thy hours/And to smear with dust their glittering golden towers. Many writers representing many cultures seem to be in agreement that material greed reflects not only self-centeredness but also delusion. So where do we go from here? The desire for more and more of the good things in life is part of human nature. But in the Quran and other scriptures and sources, we are challenged: we are told not to self-indulge, but rather, to hasten to do good. And here one is reminded of the words of the famous Sufi Rabiah Adawiyyah: Lord, if I worship you in fear of hell, burn me in it. And if I worship you in hope of paradise, keep me from it. But if I worship you for your own being, dont withhold from me your everlasting beauty. Respected brothers and sisters, our religion (Islam) teaches us to beware of greed, as it will cause our downfall and destruction. We read in a Hadith our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: Beware of greed, for it was only greed that destroyed those before you. It commanded them to be miserly and they did so. It commanded them to sever their family ties and they did so. It commanded them to behave wickedly and they did so. [Sunan Abi Dawud] We learn from this Hadith how detrimental greed is for us, our lives and our faith. It causes us not to be generous with what we have been blessed with and it can even cause us to have problems with those close to us. We read in another Hadith that Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: Spend in charity and do not count it, lest Allah count it against you. Do not hoard it, lest Allah withhold from you. [Bukhari and Muslim] Therefore, we should try our best to be generous and avoid being greedy. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) feared that we would be wealthy. This should really make us reflect on our lives and understand that wealth and greed can really cause us to become too attached to worldly things and take us away from our faith (iman). We read in a Hadith that Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: I do not fear poverty for you, rather I fear that you will compete for riches. I do not fear for your mistakes, rather I fear for what you do on purpose. [Musnad Ahmad] My people, generosity will only bring about good for us in this life and in the Hereafter. If we try to live our lives in a way that is considerate of those around us and with a caring mentality, Allah will reward us. We read in a Hadith: Generosity is near to Allah, near to Paradise, near to the people, and far from the Hellfire. Miserliness is far from Allah, far from Paradise, far from the people, and near to the Hellfire. An ignorant generous person is more beloved to Allah Almighty than a stingy scholar. [Sunan al-Tirmidhi] Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) also spoke about greed and luxury in another Hadith, saying: Beware of luxury. Verily, the servants of Allah do not live luxuriously. [Musnad Ahmad] We should learn from this that although it is easy to become consumed by the materialism of the world we live in, it really is not good for us. Luxury will not bring about our nearness to Allah. We know that greed is very easy to fall into, as Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: If the son of Adam had a valley full of gold, he would want to have two valleys. Nothing fills his mouth but the dust of the grave, yet Allah will relent to whoever repents to him. [Bukhari and Muslim] This shows us that we must be very careful not to have greed in our hearts. We should remember that Allah rewards us for our efforts to avoid what is displeasing to Him. Greed is something we should avoid not only in terms of money and wealth but also with food. We read in a Hadith: The son of Adam cannot fill a vessel worse than his stomach, as it is enough for him to take a few bites to straighten his back. If he cannot do it, then he may fill it with a third of his food, a third of his drink, and a third of his breath. [Sunan al-Tirmidhi] Whenever we strive to do something good, we must remember that it is the tests and trials that will help us to develop our Iman (faith). Greed was written to be a trial for us, so we should be mindful about this. We read in a Hadith that Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: Verily, every nation has a trial, and the trial of my nation is wealth. [Sunan al-Tirmidhi] Anas reported that: The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said: The son of Adam grows old but remains young in two matters: greed for wealth and greed for long life. [Muslim] Abu Hurairah (RA) reported that: Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say to people in his sermons: Those among you have succeeded who are protected from whims, greed, and anger. There is no good in anything less than truthful speech. [al-Zuhd li-Abi Dawud] Abdullah Ibn Amr narrated that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: Beware of greed for indeed greed destroyed those who came before you. It ordered them to cut off ties of relationship so they cut off ties of relationship, and it ordered them to be miserly so they were miserly, and it ordered them to commit sins so they committed sins. [Abu Dawud] The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: Every nation has its fitnah and the fitnah of my ummah is wealth. [Al-Tirmidhi] 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. May Allah grant us the opportunity to witness this coming month of Ramadan in good health, ameen. 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, Shaaban 05, 1442 AH (March 19, 2021). BOISE - Idaho hunters who applied for spring controlled turkey hunts can now check for the results online, according to the Idaho Fish & Game. All controlled hunt turkey tags were applied for, so there will be no leftovers available except for a landowner permission hunt. Applicants who provided a valid email on their online license profile will receive an email of their draw status. Fish and Game will also send out post cards to successful applicants. New this year, hunters who drew a controlled hunt tag will buy only that tag and will not be required to buy a separate permit. Controlled hunt turkey tags will also be valid in general hunts. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 A group of more than 200 medical professionals including former Australian of the Year Fiona Stanley have launched a campaign urging energy giant AGL to close its coal-fired power plants by 2030. A letter, supported by nine health bodies including the Royal Doctors Association of Victoria and the Medical Scientists Association of Victoria and hundreds of health professionals, was sent to each of AGLs board members on Monday. The groups organiser, Dr Kate Lardner, also emailed super fund HESTA last week to call for its support, saying the campaign would target the funds members directly if it did not use its position as a shareholder to pressure AGL to phase out its coal stations. Shareholder activists have launched a fresh bid to pressure super fund Hesta to act on climate change. Credit:Justin McManus The campaign comes the same month EnergyAustralia brought forward the closure of its brown-coal-fired power station, Yallourn, by four years to 2028, a move its energy executive Liz Westcott said was a step towards a clean future. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Maharashtra government on Friday imposed fresh restrictions in the wake of rising cases. According to the order, all drama theatres and auditoriums in the state should operate at 50 per cent capacity. In case of violations, concerned theatres and auditoriums will be ordered to remain closed till the pandemic ends, and penalties will also be attracted. Apart from that, all private offices, except related to health and other essential services, must also operate at 50 per cent capacity. These measures will be in force till March 31. In case of government and semi-government offices, the head of the office will take a decision regarding the staff attendanceand ensure adherence to COVID-19 protocols. The order, however, allowed the manufacturing sector to function at full capacity, but advised that the workforce be reduced to ensure adequate social distancing on the production floor. For the purpose of maintaining social distancing, manufacturing units may be allowed to increase working shifts as approved by local authorities. No entry will be allowed without proper wearing of masks, temperature measuring devices to be used to ensure no one with fever gets an entry, it said. On March 15, the state government had notified that cinema halls, hotels, restuarants and offices, except those related to health and essential services, will function at 50 per cent of their capacity. But the Friday's order has included drama theatres and auditoriums as well. On Thursday, Maharashtra recorded 25,833 new cases, the hightest single-day spike since last March when the first infection was detected. It took the caseload to 2,396,340. With 58 fatalities, the death toll jumped to 53,138. The earlier record was 24,886 cases, reported on September 11 last year. The state is in the beginning of second Covid-19 wave, a central team report had said earlier this week. Meanhwile, Mumbai too has recorded its highest one-day spike of 2,877 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, which took the tally of cases in the city to 352,835. Nagpur city on the second consecutive day recorded highest number of new Covid-19 cases at 2,926, followed by 2,791 in Pune city. New Delhi, March 20 : The Bharatiya Janata Party has issued a whip for its Lok Sabha MPs for March 22. Sources say that the government may bring the Bill related to the creation of new banks for infrastructure funding on this day. Apart from this, there are preparations to bring two other Bills. A three-line whip issued by Chief Whip Rakesh Singh stated, "On March 22, some very important legislative functions will be brought to the Lok Sabha for discussion and passage. In this case, all the Lok Sabha MPs of the party are requested to vote in favour of the government by compulsorily appearing in the House throughout the day on March 22." Seoul: South Koreas navy held major live-fire drills on Tuesday to warn the North against any provocations at sea, it said, two days after Pyongyangs biggest nuclear test to date. The drills, conducted in the East Sea (Sea of Japan), involved the 2,500-tonne frigate Gangwon, a 1,000-tonne patrol ship and 400-tonne guided-missile vessels, among others, the Navy said in a statement. If the enemy launches a provocation above water or under water, we will immediately hit back to bury them at sea, Captain Choi Young-chan, commander of the 13th Maritime Battle Group, said in a statement. Read | Trump, Moon agree to lift cap on missile payload of South Korea North Korea on Sunday triggered global alarm with by far its most powerful atomic test to date, claiming it was a hydrogen bomb that could be mounted onto a long-range missile. Yesterday the Souths military launched a volley of ballistic missiles simulating an attack on the Norths nuclear test site. US President Donald Trump and South Koreas leader Moon Jae-In agreed during a phone call late yesterday to remove limits on the payload of the Souths missiles, fixed at 500 kilograms according to a 2001 bilateral agreement. Trump also said he was willing to approve the sale of many billions of dollars worth of military weapons and equipment from the United States by South Korea, according to a statement released by the White House. Tensions have mounted on the Korean peninsula following a series of missile launches by the North, including two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that apparently brought much of the US mainland into range. Read | No more road left, North Korea is 'begging for war', US tells UN Security Council For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The owner of the New Orleans areas leading private building inspection company and the former top building inspector for New Orleans government faced arrest Thursday on charges of fabricating safety inspections for a local contractor. Randy Farrell, owner of IECI & Associates, and Larry Chan, an IECI inspector who was in charge of City Hall's inspectors until 2019, said they planned to surrender to the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office. Investigators suspect them of signing false inspection reports, filed with Jefferson Parish government in April 2020, to approve a Metairie home addition project by general contractor Ron Jouandot II. A warrant was also issued for Jouandot, who is accused of residential contractor fraud, working without a permit, working outside the terms of his license and falsifying the inspection records. Jouandot would not comment. And ventilation contractor, Jerson Dubon, also is wanted in the investigation, the Sheriff's Office said. Authorities accuse Farrell and Chan of filing false statements into official government records, obstruction of justice for providing the records in response to a court order and accessory to contractor fraud, the Sheriff's Office said. Farrell and Chan denied falsifying inspections. Farrell said Jouandot called IECI for a final inspection on an attic addition project - but that he and Chan discovered Jouandot was missing necessary permits for work he had already performed. He didnt have all his permits in at the proper time, Farrell said. We were called out, and we told him he missed the rough-in [inspection]. And I said, 'Youre missing the permits.' "We have photos of us there and everything. These are not falsified records. This should have been a civil case between the homeowner and the contractor. I feel I did a proper inspection, Chan added. Farrell has repeatedly said that he and his inspectors give contractors opportunities to fix problems when they find them, rather than sending in failed inspections to the local government. WWL television reviewed years of New Orleans inspection data and found IECI had never submitted a failed inspection report. Mr. Farrell values his reputation and this community and would never jeopardize his career by doing anything unethical or illegal, said Julie Quinn-Summerville, a former state legislator and the attorney for both Farrell and Chan. He has been a vocal advocate in rooting out corruption in a neighboring parishs department of code enforcement, and he is eager to prove that he has never violated any rule, regulation or law. 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 Mr. Chans No. 1 focus is, and has always been, safety, and he stands by his work and his inspection at this property, she added. WWL has found that private, third-party inspectors perform most of the inspections on behalf of local governments in the New Orleans area, with almost no oversight. New Orleans vehicle tracking data shows that City Hall's staff inspectors, working under Chans direction, failed to show up at more than one third of all inspections they said they had performed. And audits by City Hall identified several cases where IECI inspectors appeared to submit falsified photographs of fixtures or even whole houses to make it appear they were showing up for inspections. City Hall banned IECI inspector James Mohamad in 2019 for allegedly falsifying inspection photographs, even while Mohamad was serving as Kenner's permits director. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell's chief administrative officer, Gilbert Montano, said he suspended Chan on Sept. 16, 2019, because Chan had been implicated in a criminal investigation of City Hall's permits office. Earlier that day, Chan warned all city inspectors at a meeting that they were being tracked and must file their own photographs of construction work when they perform inspections. Montano said he thought Chan was simply trying to cover his tracks. New Orleans' top building inspector among those suspended amid federal corruption probe The official in charge of all New Orleans building inspectors was one of two city employees suspended last week amid a broad federal probe of Less than a month after that meeting, the Hard Rock Hotel construction project collapsed in New Orleans, killing three workers. WWL found that three city inspectors had failed to show up for inspections they said they had done on the project. Shortly after that, a former inspector who worked under Chan pleaded guilty in federal court to fabricating inspection reports, taking unlawful payoffs and paying another city employee to approve his falsified inspections. Chan retired from municipal work while under suspension and continued working as a private inspector for IECI. +3 Former New Orleans city building inspector pleads guilty, admits taking $65,000 in bribes A former New Orleans building inspector pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal corruption charge, admitting he received at least $65,000 in bribe +2 2 building inspectors who OK'd work on New Orleans Hard Rock Hotel suspended without pay The city of New Orleans has suspended two building inspectors who filed key reports approving work on the Hard Rock Hotel construction projec +4 New Orleans inspectors accused of skipping inspections at two more major CBD building sites Two building inspectors the city wants to fire for falsifying their inspections at the ill-fated Hard Rock Hotel construction site, in the wee Police continue to crack down on cattle rustling in Western Australias north, charging a man they believe to be part of a criminal network over the theft of 186 cattle worth up to $200,000. Rural crime squad officers have charged a 64-year-old man from Brunswick with four counts of stealing as a servant and four counts of laundering property or money. Operation Topography, run by WA Polices rural crime squad, is targeting the theft and sale of cattle . Credit:Sam Kyprianou They allege the crimes occurred between May and September last year. On March 10, detectives arrested a 37-year-old man from Carnarvon over the alleged theft of cattle they say he sold for about $60,000. He is facing two counts of stealing and one count of property laundering. MoneyTV with Donald Baillargeon television program, Copyright MMXXI, all rights reserved. MoneyTV does not provide an analysis of companies' financial positions and is not soliciting to purchase or sell securities of the companies, nor are we offering a recommendation of featured companies or their stocks. Information discussed herein has been provided by the companies and should be verified independently with the companies and a securities analyst. MoneyTV provides companies a 3 to 4-month corporate profile with multiple appearances for a cash fee of $6,950.00 to $11,995.00, does not accept company stock as payment for services, does not hold any positions, options, or warrants in featured companies. The information herein is not an endorsement by Donald Baillargeon, the producer, publisher, or parent company of MoneyTV. 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. Some states are opening up too much too soon. Many people are growing complacent about masking and social distancing. But new polls show increasing numbers of Americans are optimistic about the future thanks to the vaccine, and majorities of whites, Blacks and Hispanics say they will take it, or already have. Yet 1 in 5 Americans still say they will not, according to a new CBS News poll including a wide partisan divide, with 90% of Democrats saying they did, will or may, and a third of Republicans saying they wont. Not taking this vaccine puts you and others at risk. UPDATE 3/19 1:41 p.m. Weingarten and Landmark Theatres have failed to reach an agreement, and River Oaks Theatre will close its doors effective next week. Landmark has issued this statement: After lengthy negations Landmark Theatre and Weingarten were not able to reach an agreement. Therefore, Landmark Theatre has no choice but to close its doors effective next week. No definitive date has been set. Landmark Theatres would like to thank the HOUSTON community for their years of support." For Houston film aficionados who had been hopeful about the theatre's fate, news of the River Oaks Theatre's imminent closing was a heartbreaking footnote to the cinema's 82-year-old run in Houston, Houston Film Critics' Society President Doug Harris said. "Its a very sad day for the entertainment world and a very sad day for Houston, Texas," Harris told Chron. "I never thought I would see the day that this fabulous theatre would no longer be open and available for people who like unusual, distinctive and hard-to-find films. It saddens me that this glimpse of days-gone-by is now indeed gone away forever." --END OF UPDATE-- River Oaks Theatre won't go quietly into the night. Negotiations are still underway between Landmark and Weingarten. The suspenseful back-and-forth talks took a new turn this week, with Landmark releasing this statement and proposal Thursday night to Weingarten's recent offer: "After many months of waiting for a response, negotiations are underway. We are making progress, however, Weingarten insists that during a substantial period of the extension term that Landmark pay the same rent prior to the pandemic. The pre-covid rent reflects a different world that does not address the realities of today or the foreseeable future. Landmark has also offered to pay an additional percentage rent to allow Weingarten to come close to the pre-Covid-19 rent. We are hopeful Weingarten accepts our most recent offer otherwise we have no choice but to close next week."- According to a Landmark Theatre spokesperson, Weingarten and Landmark are scheduled to meet Friday, March 19 for final negotiations. The cherished 1939 Art Deco theater is slated to close on March 31 after an unprecedented 82-year run, if a deal between Weingarten and Landmark Theatres is not struck soon. DON'T GO, RIVER OAKS THEATRE: Houston iconic venue faces risk of closure again Last Friday Landmark Theatres issued a statement reporting that talks had stalled with Weingarten: "Landmark Theatres is disappointed to announce that there has been no response or acknowledgment of the revised proposal we submitted to Weingarten Reality this week. In good faith, we presented a fair and reasonable proposal and asked for a response by close of business today. Unfortunately, there has been no response or even acknowledgement of this proposal, leaving us no choice, but continue with our preparation to leave our beloved home of 30 years." Things began to look up, however, when Weingarten revealed a proposal Tuesday to give River Oaks Theatre offering to give the venue a 24-month repayment plan. If negotiations progress to an actual deal between Weingarten and Landmark, Houston Film Critics' Society President Doug Harris said that he would support the preservation of the treasured Houston theater every step of the way. "We will support it in any way we can," Harris told Chron. "We continue to support the theater and ramp up our efforts to make sure it's there for a long time." President Joe Biden ordered American flags at U.S. buildings around the world to be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims of the Atlanta massage parlor shootings - an action usually reserved for government or military honors. The flag is typically flown at half-staff to honor political or military figures of the United States who recently died. For instance, the flag is flown at half-staff for the first part of every Memorial Day. 'By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory,' reads the United States Code of Laws. Biden made the proclamation on Thursday afternoon, two days after the violence in Atlanta. Eight people were killed at three different massage parlors in the area, the worst mass killing in the United States in almost two years. Six of the eight victims in the killing were women of Asian descent, sparking further fears for an Asian-American community already seeing an increase in racial violence. The flag at the White House is flying half-staff in honor of the Atlanta murder victims The New York Times reports the gunman has been charged with eight counts of murder. The gunman charged in the incident, Robert Aaron Long, has claimed that he was not racially motivated to commit the killings, instead pointing to a sex addiction. Nevertheless, investigators in the state are not ready to rule out the killings being classified as hate crimes. Three women and a man were killed at Young's Asian Massage before 5pm on Tuesday. The victims were Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, Paul Andre Michels, 54, Xiaojie Tan, 49, and Daoyou Feng, 44. The victims for the other shootings haven't been publicly identified yet. A 911 call came in at 5:47pm about a potential robbery at Gold Spa, where three women were found shot. Another victim was found at Aromatherapy Spa across the street. Long's parents helped identify the gunman, who authorities later caught up to supposedly driving to Florida with a 9mm handgun. Biden's order will have the White House, federal buildings, and military posts around the country fly the flag at half-staff. The same holds true for American bases and embassies overseas and around the world. The American flags will remain at half-staff until sunset on March 22, which will mark six days since the attacks. According to the Associated Press, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to meet with Asian American leaders in the Atlanta community on Friday. Joe Biden ordered flags fly at half-staff in honor of the eight victims until sunset on Monday Originally, they were set to go to Atlanta to talk about the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. Investigators for the case believe Long visited two of the massage parlors where four of the women were killed. Long waived the right he had to an initial hearing in Cherokee County Magistrate Court. Legislation has been introduced in Congress that would speed up the review of hate crimes linked to COVID-19, as well as provide support on the ground for local authorities in those cases. Pictured: A spa in Atlanta, one of three where the victims were killed on Tuesday night Aromatherapy Spa in the Atlanta area was where one victim was found on Tuesday night Yiung Asian Massage, which was where four of the shooting victims were found Tuesday China has been pointed to as the source of the novel coronavirus by many, with former president Donald Trump calling it the 'China virus.' This inflammatory labeling may be the spark for new acts of violence against the Asian-American population in the United States. Research from Stop AAPI Hate reveals there have been nearly 3,800 incidents against Asian-Americans since March 19, 2020, with 68 percent of those incidents happening against women. While 68 percent of the incidents were considered to be verbal harassment, 11 percent were physical assaults. Pictured: A University of Washington student holds a sign during a rally on March 18 Pictured: A woman yells during a demonstration that sprung up after the shootings in Atlanta In recent weeks, there have been numerous acts of violence against the Asian-American community. In February, 87-year-old Vichar Ratanapakdee, an immigrant from Thailand, was killed in an act his family has deemed racially motivated. Denny Kim, 27, was beat in Los Angeles' Koreatown as his assailants accused him of having the 'Chinese virus.' CNN reports 24 incidents against Asian-Americans in 2020 (out of 29) in New York City had the coronavirus as a motivating factor. New Delhi, March 19 : The first ever Museum Biennale in India and the world will be inaugurated in a hybrid avatar - physical and digital on March 22 on the occasion of Bihar Divas. The ceremony will be attended by Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, Anjani Kumar Singh, the Nodal Officer of the Bihar Museum and Advisor to the Chief Minister and Deepak Anand, Director, Bihar Museum. Bringing together a taster of key collections from various museums across India and the world through virtual tours, the biennale features a series of masterclasses with experts from the creative industries and a two-day international conference with speakers including Neil MacGregor, Hilary Knight, Dr Souraya Noujaim, Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Javier BarAn Thaidigsmann among others. Scheduled till March 28, it will also host exhibitions from several international museums as well as from 13 Indian museums including the host museum. Speakers and participants from Germany, France, India, Italy, Spain, Singapore, South Africa, the UK, and the UAE are expected to attend the event. During the course of the seven days, specially curated virtual tours of the participating national and international museums will be streamed online as well as at the Bihar Museum in Patna. The participating museums from India include Assam State Museum, Guwahati; Bihar Museum, Patna; City Palace Museum, Udaipur; Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai; Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal; Kanha Museum of Life and Art, Singinawa; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; Museo Camera, Gurgaon; Museum of Art & Photography, Bengaluru; Museum of Goa, Bardez; National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Piramal Museum, Mumbai and Virasat-e-Khalsa, Anandpur Sahib. Guest museums include the National Museum of Interventions, Mexico; The Castle Museum in Pszczyna, Poland; National Museum of Colombia, Colombia; The Liberation War Museum, Bangladesh and the Sarmaya Art Foundation. Scheduled on March 23 and 24, the two-day international conference explores the 'museum' as a site of incubation, invention and ideation, with sessions designed to initiate a discourse around the cultural objects of the museum. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic's unforeseen and unprecedented impact on the arts and cultural industry, there are a series of panel discussions reflecting on the challenges as well as learnings for the creative industries overall and the specifically examine these from the perspective of artists, curators, patrons, connoisseurs and museums. Sessions at the conference will also explore the role that technology and virtual storytelling has played in being able to connect audiences with the artistic world, and the future of museums in the digital age. Some of the highlight sessions include 'Elements of a Museum', 'Perceptions of Art' 'Viewership, Connoisseurship, Outreach in a Post-Pandemic World', 'New Museums, New Audiences: Sharing in the Virtual Age', 'Bihar Museum: An Icon of Hope, Transformation and Resilience' and 'Bihar, India, and the World'. The virtual masterclasses, which run for four days will focus on a variety of subjects including restoration of art, storytelling through dance, writing biographies, cinema critique, cultural appreciation, and writing in Indian languages with specific focus on the rich tapestry of vernacular dialects. Those conducting the masterclasses include Shovana Narayan and Neelam Choudhary; Purushottam Agrawal, Ravikant, Lucia Martinez, Eva Martinez; Manu S. Pillai, Prayag Shukla, Vinod Bhardwaj and Ira Mukhoty. Visitors who will physically be present at the Bihar Museum will be free to embark on a curated, audio-guided tour of the highlights of the collection. Additionally, they will also have the opportunity to explore two curated exhibitions at the museum: one on the 'Making of the Bihar Museum' by the leading architect Rahul Gore, and another that will showcase the collections of 19 local state museums of Bihar. The governor has asked New Yorkers to await the outcome of two separate investigations into the harassment allegations, one overseen by the state attorney general, Letitia James, and another by the State Assembly, before making any decisions about his behavior. On Monday, Debra Katz, Ms. Bennetts lawyer, said her client had provided more than 100 documents and four hours of testimony to investigators backing up her claims about the governor, including that he created a sexually hostile work environment as part of his deliberate effort to create rivalries and tension among female staffers on whom he bestowed attention. Ms. McGrath believes that her proximity to the governor may have stymied other opportunities. When she sought another job in state government in 2019, she was told that the governors fondness for working with her would interfere with her taking the new position. She was told, she recalled, that because I help out up front, I couldnt leave. Since other allegations against Mr. Cuomo have arisen, Ms. McGrath has continued to go to work. She says that the executive offices are largely quiet, a far cry from the heady days of Mr. Cuomos pandemic-related popularity, when the halls of the Capitol buzzed with excitement and purpose. Ms. McGrath said that she watched the governors first news conference after Ms. Bennett went public in The Times, on March 3, and that she was angry at his insistence that he never touched anyone inappropriately. It makes me really upset to hear him speak about this and completely deny all allegations, she said, saying it left her in disbelief. And I have no doubt in my mind that all of these accusers are telling the truth. One of those accusers is her co-worker. Ms. McGrath said she feared retaliation for speaking out, but she and her co-worker had grown upset with themselves for putting up with Mr. Cuomos behavior for so long. Her and I discussed this after the fact and now were like, How did we not see this? Ms. McGrath said, still bewildered by her interactions with Mr. Cuomo. Because its so blatant and obvious. If the TRS nominates a candidate from the Reddy caste, the BJP will give the ticket to a Yadav and vice versa, sources said. DC file photo Hyderabad: With the date for the Nagarjunasagar byelection announced, BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar plans to start a padayatra in the constituency to raise support for the party. On Thursday several leaders from Nalgonda district met Sanjay at the party state office. The party has not yet decided its candidate. Party leaders said that they would finalise the nominee after the TRS does so. Ticket aspirants Anjaiah Yadav and Nivedita Reddy met Sanjay at the party office and sought the nomination. The BJP leadership is reportedly favouring a candidate from the Yadav community which dominates the Nagarjunasagar constituency. If the TRS nominates a candidate from the Reddy caste, the BJP will give the ticket to a Yadav and vice versa, sources said. The Congress has nominated veteran leader K. Jana Reddy who has already toured the constituency. The TRS expects to pick its candidate after the Legislative Council election outcome is known. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Mr Pious Vincent Abakah, a renowned philanthropist has donated 15 packets of roofing sheets and 20 boxes of roofing nails to persons who were affected by a rainstorm at Sefwi-Asafo in the Wiawso Municipality of the Western North Region. The incident which occurred a couple of weeks ago has rendered over 700 residents of the Sefwi-Asafo community homeless as the storm-ravaged their buildings. Considering how disturbing the situation, the Queen mother of Asafo, Nana Ataa Adwoa Ampomah II, who also doubles as the Ankobeahemaa for Wiawso Traditional Area made a call to well-meaning individuals and corporate organizations to come to their aid. In response to the call, Mr Pious Vincent Abakah has donated packets of roofing sheets and nails to the victims to enable them to have a place for shelter. The Queen mother upon receipt of the items could not hide her gratitude from the rapt response. In her speech, Nana Ataa Adwoa Ampomah II narrated her amusement as to how Mr Pious Vincent Abakah quickly responded. As part of his contribution to the victims, Mr Pious Vincent Abakah who is the Board Chairman of Sefwi-Asawinso Senior High School also donated an amount of GH2,000 to the school to be used on some maintenance works. Additionally, Mr Pious Vincent Abakah called upon all natives and well-wishers to come to the aid of these victims, adding that, the government cannot do it all and that the collective efforts of individuals will go a long way to bring relief to the victims. 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. Russian police have carried out searches of offices of the Open Russia pro-democracy movement and the independent news website MBKh media, both of which were founded by staunch Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. MBKh media, which has recently come under pressure by Russia's communications authorities, said on its website that security forces visited its editorial office in Moscow on March 19. Editor in Chief Veronika Kutsyllo said that officers took written requests that had been made to Russian officials for comment, as well as special vests worn by reporters when covering street protests. Andrei Pivovarov, executive director of Open Russia, reportedly said that law enforcement had removed nothing from the movement's Moscow office but seized laptops, megaphones, and other equipment from its St. Petersburg office. MBKh media cited a human rights lawyer who accompanied the police as saying that the raids both on its offices and those of Open Russia were being conducted as part of an investigation into a criminal case against Nizhny Novgorod activist and entrepreneur Mikhail Iosilevich regarding activities with an "undesirable organization." Iosilevich was arrested in late January and has been charged with cooperating with Open Russia, a British-based organization founded by Khodorkovsky that was designated as "undesirable" by Russia's Prosecutor-General's Office in 2017. Entities that are given the designation are not banned, but Open Russia activists regularly face pressure from the authorities, including administrative and criminal charges. In Iosilevich's case, he allegedly provided premises to train election observers prior to the country's September regional elections. The Russian rights group Memorial has said it believes that Iosilevich is being persecuted for political reasons. Russia's media regulatory body Roskomnadzor earlier this week demanded that Twitter delete MBKh Media's account for publishing material from an "undesirable" organization, an allegation the news website denied. The March 17 move came just a day after Roskomnadzor threatened to block Twitter entirely unless it complied with demands to delete content the agency believes violates Russian law. Roskomnadzor announced earlier that it had slowed down Twitter throughout Russia for its failure to remove the content. Based on reporting by AP, Interfax, Reuters, and Current Time MEXICO CITY (AP) In a rare show of force Friday, Mexico sent hundreds of immigration agents, police and National Guard officers marching through the streets of the capital of the southern state of Chiapas to launch an operation to crack down on migrant smuggling. The parade Friday in the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez came one day after Mexico announced it was banning entry for nonessential travel on its southern border with Guatemala to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The restrictions went into effect Friday. Mexico will deploy checkpoints and drones and station officers along the Suchiate River, which marks part of the border, to deter irregular entry. The crackdown is especially aimed at people travelling with minors. The Mexican government will carry out ... operations on the southern border to protect the rights and safety of migrant minors from several Central American nations who are used by criminal networks as a passport to reach northern Mexico, Mexicos National Immigration Institute said in a statement. The institute said that since the beginning of the year, 4,180 minors, both accompanied and unaccompanied, had been found in Mexico without proper travel documents. Most came from Central America. The institute said adults traveling with the minors said guides had advised them having children along would make it easier to enter Mexico and the U.S. The institute said detentions actually began Thursday, when three freight trucks were stopped at a roadside inspection checkpoint near Tuxtla Gutierrez and a total of 329 Central American migrants were found crowded inside the vehicles. The institute said 114 of the migrants were unaccompanied children, five were members of one family. Most were from Guatemala, and the remainder were from Honduras. Mexico staged similar but smaller shows of force last year to discourage migrant caravans from trying to enter from Central America. On Thursday, the United States said it would send 2.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccine to Mexico, where officials said Friday that the shipment would include 2.7 million doses but were coy about whether the two events were related. Story continues Mexican officials struggled to explain why the measure was announced now, more than a year after the start of the pandemic. Mexicos assistant health secretary, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, acknowledged Thursday that the decision was triggered by the increasing number of migrants entering from Central America. There was a verifiable increase in local inflows, particularly from Central America, Lopez-Gatell said when asked about the timing. Mexico and the United States long ago imposed similar restrictions on Mexicos northern border. But Mexico had previously been unwilling to impose them on the southern border or most flights entering Mexico. The restrictions coincide with a huge uptick in the number of Central American migrants reaching the U.S border through Mexico. The number of migrants attempting to cross the U.S. border has been growing since April, with the 100,441 reported last month the highest level since March 2019. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Even businesses arent immune to online IRS scams. Con artists tend to ramp-up activity around tax filing season, developing schemes that appear legitimate. There are many governmental warnings out there, telling individual taxpayers to be on the alert. But businesses need to be just as vigilant. There are a variety of schemes out there. First off, never click on links from anyone claiming to be from the IRS. The IRS does not initiate contact by email, text message, phone call or through social media sites. The IRS communicates via USPS mail. Realize in scenarios like these, education is the key to prevention. Everyone at the company must be aware that if they click on what turns out to be a fake email or website, they could be putting the entire business in jeopardy. One email scheme targets tax, payroll and human resources personnel, with criminals pretending to be someone the business entity trusts. They hack into an email account and send emails under that trusted persons name. Or, they may pose as a bank, credit card company, software provider or government agency. Then they have potential victims enter websites with phony log-in pages, allowing the criminals to take money from the business. Or, they take the passwords and other sensitive information about the business or business owner and use it to expand their attack perhaps to suppliers, perhaps to customers and perhaps even to the personal bank accounts of employees. Fake emails and websites easily can infect a business computer with malware, giving the scammer access to sensitive files. Malware can track keystokes, through which these criminals can acquire confidential information information they may try to sell to others. Tax professionals often are targeted around tax season. One way the criminals do this is through phishing emails in an attempt to access client data. The scammers use the information to impersonate taxpayers, and they file fake tax returns so they can steal the refunds. To help prevent this from happening, most tax professionals are wary of communicating with clients only by email. Everyone must activate Two Factor Authentication (TFA) or Multi-Factor Authentication on all key accounts such as email, financial, social media, etc. If in doubt about any unsolicited email that seems to be from the IRS or another organization, individuals can report it by sending an email to phishing@irs.gov. There also are high-level scams that target business owners. So-called Business Email Compromise scams target organizations that do business in foreign countries. A recent example of this was the SolarWinds hack that started with hackers getting into an employees Microsoft Office 365 email. Four hundred Fortune 500 companies, and various key federal agencies (e.g. State, Commerce, Treasury, Justice and DHS) may have been affected. This scam relies upon the attackers ability to successfully impersonate communications from a company stakeholder who would be tasked with instructing other high-level employees in conducting business transactions and using wire transfers to pay manufacturers and suppliers. Spoofing or compromising these specific corporate employee email accounts can result in fraudulent transfers. What happens in these cases: the criminal will impersonate a high-level employee and provide instructions for employees to share information with a fake supplier. Or, they create invoices to impersonate the supplier. Oftentimes what happens is these attackers target human resources employees first. This is where they are able to get information about stakeholders and other key employees. In some cases, an attacker will pretend they are the CEO of the company and ask an employee in finance to transfer money to the account they oversee. Other times the employers email account is hacked and used to request invoice payments to vendors listed in their email contacts. Payments then are sent to fake accounts. We even have seen cases in which a criminal will pose as the company attorney in charge of confidential matters. One of the best ways to prevent this type of criminal activity is for employers to educate employees and have intensive security awareness trainings. One source for staying informed: the Federal Trade Commission resource at www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/scam-alerts. Make sure your employees arent so willing to click that mouse if they do, you could lose your house. Arvin Chaudhary is chief executive officer of the technology services company, Nadicent Technologies. He can be reached at Arvin.Chaudhary@Nadicent.com or 203-274-8466. Free email alerts about scams and spam at: www.nadicent.com/securitynewsandalerts. ShiNoKage: Death's Shadow: a terrific fight of one mans lifetime as he weighs between his decisions of revenge or saving the world from impending harm. ShiNoKage: Death's Shadow is the creation of published author Jesse Henson, a twenty-nine-year-old small-town writer. He was diagnosed with autism and struggled in school, but he figured out how to use his disability to help master the writing world and have a deeper love for the tradecraft. Henson writes, A young man who was born in feudal Japan, Koga-Ryu Province begins learning Ninjutsu and the art of the dragon. When a village raid by the Black Dragon who are Iga-Ryu Province, secretly disguised as Americans, happens, the young mans life becomes changed forever. As both his parents are taken from him. On that dreadful night, he moves to America after his training is finished to find the group who murdered his family. Only to discover an old enemy whose name had long been forgotten. Also thrown in the mix, he learns his Sensei and grandmaster is still alive but plotting to destroy the world by unleashing an ancient evil. Should he continue his personal vendetta to destroy every member of the Black Dragon? Or try and stop the very one that trained him from ending all life as we know it? Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Jesse Hensons new book is a gripping saga fit for readers young and old, tracing the long, winding journey of a trained warrior whose past continues to haunt him as he sets his goal of revenge in American domain. View a synopsis of ShiNoKage: Death's Shadow on YouTube. Consumers can purchase ShiNoKage: Death's Shadow at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about ShiNoKage: Death's Shadow, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. A Texas man is on the run after stabbing a Jack in the Box restaurant manager who told him he had to wear a mask. James Schulz, 53, is wanted by police for attacking the manager in League City, Texas, on Wednesday night. Disturbing surveillance video from the restaurant shows the manager, who has not been named, holding up a sign with the company's mask mandate on it and telling Schulz to leave. He at first obeyed the manager and was seen walking out of the restaurant, but then he quickly turned on is feet to run back inside and attack him. Schulz then lunged at the manager, stabbing him in the arm and upper torso, before fleeing on a bicycle. Scroll down for video James Schulz, 53, is wanted by police for attacking the manager in League City, Texas, on Wednesday night. He is shown in surveillance footage stills from the attack The manager was taken to the hospital where he was treated for three stab wounds then released. According to police, Schulz first claimed that staff were refusing to serve him because he is homeless. They threw him out because of his refusal to wear a mask, which police called a 'polarizing' issue in Texas. 'It's a very polarizing situation. Where some folks don't believe that there should be masks and others do. 'A lot of these people have had some of these events, I don't know this manager, but have had personal events with loved ones that have died and passed away as a result of Covid, as some of our officers have. Schulz ran back at the manager and stabbed him in the upper arm and torso 'All I would ask is that people respect the opinions and the policies of these businesses. 'You can refuse to do business at those locations, or whatever it is you choose to do, but there's no reason to resort to aggressive behavior like this,' League City Police Chief Gary Ratliff said at a press conference. Police are now hunting down Schulz. They are charging him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and say his bond will be set at $40,000. He is believed to live near state Highway 96 and has been known to start fights in other businesses in the past. Anyone with information is urged to contact police on 281-332-2566. New Delhi, Mar 19 (UNI) Centre on Friday urged the Delhi High Court to restrain WhatsApp from implementing its new privacy policy as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), seeking a stay on the issue, is pending before the court. Citing that the impugned privacy policy violates the 2011 IT Rules, the government, in a written reply to the court added that the privacy policy fails to specify the types of sensitive data being collected, provide an option to review or amend the information or to withdraw consent retrospectively and guarantee further non-disclosure by third parties. The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, in its reply, also told the court that the Centre has introduced the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, in the Lok Sabha and upon its enactment, the law "will limit the ability of entities such as WhatsApp issuing privacy policies which do not align with appropriate standards of security and data protection". .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal New Mexico State Police have identified the Valencia County sergeant who shot and injured a man earlier this month during a confrontation in Los Lunas. State Police spokesman Dusty Francisco said Sgt. Victor Duran, an eight-year veteran, shot at least once at Scott Green, 20, on March 6. An arrest warrant affidavit said Duran fired twice, hitting Green in the chest and wrist. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Francisco said Green, who was allegedly wielding a hatchet and knife when Duran shot him, is recovering in an Albuquerque hospital. After Green is released, Francisco said, he will be booked on charges of aggravated assault upon a peace officer with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault against a household member with a deadly weapon. According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Magistrate Court: Valencia County Sheriffs Office deputies responded around 7 a.m. to 25 Plata Road in Los Lunas after Greens grandmother told dispatchers her grandson, who had been diagnosed with outbursts of anger, was freaking out and armed with a hatchet. The complaint describes lapel footage, which shows deputies approach the front door, announce themselves, and tell Green they werent going to hurt him as one of the deputies unholsters his gun. In the video, deputies can be heard telling Green to drop the weapon as Green yells, I want to kill people, and two gunshots are heard. Duran told investigators he had found Green in the hallway armed with a knife and hatchet. Duran said Green came toward him in an aggressive manner and he fired twice. Upon completion of the State Police investigation this case will be forwarded to an assigned District Attorneys Office for review, he said. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form San Francisco police announced they have arrested a man accused of assaulting two elderly Asians on Wednesday in the city's downtown area unprovoked. Around 10:10 a.m., officers learned of an assault near Seventh and Market streets involving two elderly victims. At the scene, officers learned the suspect approached the first victim, an 83-year-old man, and struck him. A security guard nearby saw the assault and began to pursue the suspect on foot. During the chase, the suspect then approached the second victim, a 75-year-old woman, and assaulted her. At that point, the guard was able to detain the suspect, later identified as 39-year-old Steven Jenkins. Officers have arrested Jenkins on suspicion of assault and elder abuse. Investigators are determining whether the victims were targeted for being Asian. An uptick in anti-Asian crimes across the nation, including this week's multiple shootings in Atlanta that killed eight women -- six of whom were of Asian descent -- has put the Bay Area's Asian community on alert. Individual GoFundMe accounts for the victims, who both sustained injuries in the attacks, have been set up to help cover their medical expenses. Both victims have received a plethora of support, with both accounts surpassing their initial goals. The accounts can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/2b8zh292uo and https://www.gofundme.com/f/ngoc-pham-fundraiser. Santa Cruz County's district attorney said a serial killer who was denied parole Thursday still "poses as high of a risk to the community" as he did when he murdered 13 people in the early 1970s. Herbert Mullin was denied parole by the California Board of Parole Hearings at a virtual hearing, according to Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeff Rosell. Mullin murdered 13 people during a four-month period in 1972 and early 1973, Rosell said. Mullin, now 74, was convicted for the murders of 10 of his victims who were killed in Santa Cruz County. His youngest victim was a four-year-old child, his eldest victim was 73. Mullin was also convicted of killing a priest in a church confessional booth in Los Gatos. He committed two additional murders for which he was never charged. During Thursday's hearing, Rosell argued that Mullin should not be released from prison due to the number and magnitude of his crimes, their senseless and horrific nature, and the risk he would pose to the community if he were released. At the hearing, Mullin continued to blame others for the murders, including his parents, his sister and other relatives. Although he had admitted that he killed 13 people, he insisted that his parents forced him to do it, blaming it on their inappropriate upbringing. Mullin said he felt his parents and sister should be held responsible. The parole board extended Mullin's sentence for an additional seven years. He will not be eligible for parole until 2028. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom announced that it will open its theme park with a special exclusive preview for members, season pass holders and the general public. Reopening for members and season pass holders will be April 1 and 2, with general public reopening April 3. The park will operate in accordance with state, county and local government guidelines, and at reduced attendance levels. The park will also continue the implementation of extensive safety measures including some new advanced technology systems in order to protect guests and employees. In consultation with infectious disease experts, the plan sets standards for executing at the highest levels of hygiene and social distancing protocols. These procedures will be adjusted on a needed basis in order to ensure compliance with state and county recommendations. The park reopening dates are subject to change based on local, state, and federal guidelines related to COVID-19. An Amtrak train crashed into a truck in Oakland Thursday morning, sparking a fire before passengers were evacuated, fire officials said. The crash occurred just before 9 a.m. on the track at East 10th Street and Fruitvale Avenue. A railroad contractor was removing debris from the area when the train hit the truck. The contractor was not inside the truck and escaped injury, according to fire officials. Everyone including the crew and passengers escaped injury, fire officials said. Over 100 people were evacuated from the train and train traffic was stopped in both directions after the crash. Fremont's first female police chief announced Thursday that she plans to retire later this year, capping a career with the police department of the Bay Area's fourth largest city that has spanned more than 25 years. Kimberly Petersen said she will retire this fall. Upon her announcement, City Manager Mark Danaj promoted Fremont Police Capt. Sean Washington to succeed Petersen as the next police chief. Petersen is the first female police chief to serve Fremont since the city incorporated in 1956. Petersen began her law enforcement career with Fremont in 1996, quickly rising through the ranks to reach the historic milestone of being appointed as the city's first female police chief in July 2018. During her 25 years with Fremont, Petersen broke gender barriers by becoming the city's first female member of its SWAT team, where she served in multiple capacities, including team leader for seven years. She is also known for developing the Fremont Police Department's Tactical Emergency Medical Support team in partnership with the Fremont Fire Department, becoming an expert in tactical medicine and advancing the city's ability to render immediate life-saving care in an expeditious manner during critical incidents. Since implementing that program, Petersen has served on several committees for the state Commission on Peace Officer Standards and the state Emergency Medical Service Authority, designed to help develop state guidelines and advance training standards in this field. During the last year, Petersen led her department through the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining a high level of service to the city of nearly 250,000 residents. Petersen will retire Oct. 1. Washington joined the Fremont Police Department in 1997. During the next 24 years, he has served as a detective, field training officer, SWAT team member, arrest control instructor and driving instructor. In 2007, he was promoted to sergeant, then lieutenant in 2011. He became captain in 2015. Washington currently oversees investigations, internal affairs, training and personnel. For the last six years, he rotated as commander of the department's three divisions. A dog attacked by a mountain lion in Woodside Wednesday night is expected to make a full recovery, officials said. The San Mateo County Sheriff's Department said the attack happened on Raymundo Drive in Woodside at about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday. Det. Rosemerry Blankswade, a sheriff's department spokesperson, said the homeowners heard a commotion on their lawn. One of the dog's owners got into her car and honked the horn at the mountain lion to scare it off. The dog was taken to a vet for its injuries. No one else was hurt during the incident. The homeowners said the mountain lion found a way onto their property even though there was a six-foot deer fence surrounding it. As of Thursday afternoon, officials have not yet located the mountain lion involved in the attack. Blankswade said they believe it was an isolated incident. The sheriff's department is working with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to monitor the situation. Residents who spot mountain lions are encouraged to report the sightings to county officials at (650) 363-4911. For emergencies, call 911. For a list of commonly asked questions about mountain lions in California, visit https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Mountain-Lion/FAQ?. The Central San Rafael exit on northbound Highway 101 will be closed beginning at 10 p.m. Friday and will reopen at 5 a.m. Monday while crews continue work on the offramp's bridge replacement project. Caltrans will have detour directions posted on the highway and provided detour maps on the project web site at https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-4/d4-projects/d4-san-rafael-101-bridge-offramp. This is the first of three weekend closures scheduled in the coming weeks. For 24/7 traffic updates, please visit 511.org at https://twitter.com/511SFBay. Two Bay Area transit agencies will modify service schedules Monday to accommodate upticks in ridership as COVID-19 vaccinations increase and cases decline. While BART will maintain its current service hours, the new schedules for each of its six train lines will allow for the addition of up to 26 more trips when and where ridership data shows trains are carrying more than 30 riders per car. On weekdays, BART trains from Richmond on the Red Line will continue to the San Francisco International Airport station, preventing Red Line riders from having to transfer to an SFO-bound train at the MacArthur station, as is currently required. On March 27, the agency will also align its Saturday and Sunday service schedules, operating the Yellow, Orange and Blue lines on both days and requiring some riders to transfer to get to their destination. In addition, the Blue Line will terminate at the Montgomery Street station on some Sundays, which will be single-tracked through San Francisco to repair the agency's electrical power grid. On non-single-tracked Sundays, the Blue Line will terminate at Daly City. BART will also begin arriving and departing from the Millbrae station's third platform, which is closest to the station's Caltrain platform. Riders switching between the two agencies will only be required to cross the platform rather than the current walk through the station's concourse to transfer between BART and Caltrain. Caltrain will increase its weekday service from 68 to 70 trains per day to accommodate increased ridership while tweaking train departure times to make its schedule more reliable. Caltrain's updated weekday schedule can be found at https://www.caltrain.com/schedules/weekdaytimetable/Weekday_Service_ChaChan_Effective_March_22__2021.html while its updated weekend schedule can be found at https://www.caltrain.com/schedules/weekend-timetable/Weekend_Service_Changes_Effective_March_22__2021.html. The National Weather Service forecast for the San Francisco Bay Area calls for overnight showers to continue early Friday morning. Scattered showers will also prevail through midday before tapering off to partly sunny skies for the rest of Friday. Low overnight in the 40s. Highs Friday in the 50s. 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. In his appeal of the civil judgment, Jason Carter claimed the judge had wrongly denied his motions to delay the civil trial, saying it should have been postponed because authorities were still investigating his mothers death and hadnt charged him yet. But the high court concluded in a decision written by Chief Justice Susan Christensen that there is no rule requiring trial courts to stay civil proceedings until criminal proceedings conclude. While the cast of Mumbai Saga- John Abraham, Emraan Hashmi, Suniel Shetty, Kajal Aggarwal, Rohit Roy, Mahesh Manjrekar, Prateik Babbar, Samir Soni, Amole Gupte and Gulshan Grover pack a punch with the theatrical release amid the ongoing novel Coronavirus pandemic, a notorious site has leaked the entire movie on its page. Yes, you read it right. Sanjay Gupta's Mumbai Saga has been leaked online in high definition, and we wonder if it will affect the business of the film. Going by the fact that there's already a drop in the number of audiences rushing to theatres to watch the film, the online leak might turn out to be a threat to Mumbai Saga. Meanwhile, during the promotions of Mumbai Saga, actor John Abraham spoke about having a theatrical release for the film and said, "For me, the joy is reaching out to common people through my films because we are here to entertain them." ALSO READ: Mumbai Saga Trailer: Resilient Cop Emraan Hashmi & Mumbai's Bhai John Abraham Fight To Death "I want to make good films. I don't care about success and failure. I like to succeed in reaching out to more people. I want the audience to have that big screen experience. We lost that sense of big screen, heroism in films and 'Mumbai Saga' will bring that back." For the unversed, Abraham who plays a gangster named Amartya Rao in the film, said that he loved playing the anti-hero. Mumbai Saga Movie Public Review; John-Emraan face-off fuels this gangster drama | FilmiBeat ALSO READ: Mumbai Saga BO Prediction: Will Emraan-John's Film Get Affected By The Rise In COVID-19 Cases & Night Curfew? Judge Laurence Silberman published a dissent on Friday accusing the media of liberal bias, praising Fox News, and attacking Big Tech for allegedly censoring conservatives, and warned that one-party control of the press may soon lead to an authoritarian or dictatorial regime in the United States. Silbermans dissent was a response to a rather minor opinion issued by his court, the U.S. Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia Circuit, involving a defamation lawsuit. The case involved a report published by Global Witness, an international human rights organization, accusing two former Liberian officials, Christiana Tah and Randolph McClain, of accepting bribes from oil giant Exxon. Tah and McClain sued Global Witness for defamation. Because they are public officials, they are obligated to demonstrate that the organization lied about them with actual malice under the Supreme Courts landmark 1964 decision New York Times v. Sullivan. That standard required the plaintiffs to prove that Global Witness knew it was lying or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. By a 21 majority, the D.C. Circuit held that Tah and McClain failed to plausibly allege actual malice and tossed their lawsuit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. Silberman, a senior judge who was appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1985, dissented. His opinion began by contesting the majoritys conclusionsthen veered into an extraordinary attack on precedent, the press, and specific social media companies, particularly Twitter. Silberman urged the Supreme Court to overturn New York Times v. Sullivan, condemning the ruling as a policy-driven decision masquerading as constitutional law. Upholding decisions that dress up policymaking in constitutional garb, he wrote, is the real attack on the Constitution and fundamentally illegitimate. Silberman also dismissed adherence to precedent as a constitutional Brezhnev doctrine, in reference to former Soviet Union leader Leonid Brezhnevs claim thatin Silbermans wordsonce a country has turned communist, it can never be allowed to go back. Advertisement Lower court judges occasionally criticize Supreme Court precedent, and this section of Silbermans opinion, while acidic, is not out of bounds. What is shocking is what comes next. Silberman accused the American media of bias against the Republican Party, calling the putative phenomenon a long-term, secular trend going back at least to the 70s. He continued: Two of the three most influential papers (at least historically), The New York Times and The Washington Post, are virtually Democratic Party broadsheets. And the news section of The Wall Street Journal leans in the same direction. The orientation of these three papers is followed by The Associated Press and most large papers across the country (such as the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, and Boston Globe). Nearly all televisionnetwork and cableis a Democratic Party trumpet. Even the government-supported National Public Radio follows along. Advertisement Advertisement Silberman also explicitly condemned Candy Crowleys debate moderation of the second debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on CNN, which took place nine years ago. The judge then launched into an assault on Silicon Valley, which, he wrote, filters news delivery in ways favorable to the Democratic Party. He chastised Twitter for restricting the New York Posts Hunter Biden laptop story shortly before the 2020 election. And he implied that social media censorship may somehow violate the First Amendment, even though the constitutional guarantee of free speech applies only to the government and, in fact, safeguards private companies right to disassociate from speech they dislike. Yet Silberman asserted that the First Amendment is more than just a legal provision: It embodies the most important value of American Democracy. He added: Repression of political speech by large institutions with market power therefore isI say this advisedlyfundamentally un-American. As one who lived through the McCarthy era, it is hard to fathom how honorable men and women can support such actions. Advertisement Silberman praised the few notable exceptions to Democratic Party ideological control, including Fox News, The New York Post, and The Wall Street Journals editorial page. But he fretted that these institutions are controlled by a single man and his sonRupert and Lachlan Murdoch. Will a lone holdout remain in what is otherwise a frighteningly orthodox media culture? he asked. After all, there are serious efforts to muzzle Fox News. And although upstart (mainly online) conservative networks have emerged in recent years, their visibility has been decidedly curtailed by Social Media, either by direct bans or content-based censorship. Advertisement In reality, social media companies do not censor conservatives, according to an exhaustive study recently released by the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights. To the contrary, conservatives dominate social media today. But given Silbermans charge of bias at academic institutions, he would presumably reject the findings of the NYU study. Advertisement In closing, Silberman cautioned that ostensible media bias in favor of Democrats may destroy the American republic. It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of communications, particularly the delivery of news, he concluded. It is fair to conclude, therefore, that one-party control of the press and media is a threat to a viable democracy. Last June, Silberman drew national attention for sending a courtwide email accusing Sen. Elizabeth Warren of seeking the desecration of Confederate graves by proposing a bill to rename military bases that are named after Confederate officers. (Ironically, he appeared to be responding to misinformation promoted by Fox News, as Warrens measure did not actually apply to gravesites.) Although the 85-year-old took senior status in 2000, allowing him to reduce his caseload, Silberman remains fairly active on the D.C. Circuit. He was a hugely influential figure for todays conservative legal movement; Justice Amy Coney Barrett clerked for him and has said that he really taught me a lot. Now Silberman has seemingly adopted the approach to judging taken by many Donald Trump appointees who treat opinions as opportunities to air their grievances about liberals. His dissent on Friday aligns with the new conservative approach to judicial writing, which favors brazen partisanship and overheated rhetoric. Silbermans career may be in its final chapter, but a new generation of Trump judges who idolize him are just beginning to turn his dreams into legal reality. If it seems like your stomach has a mind of its own, you're not wrong. University of Cincinnati assistant professor Ashley Ross says your body is full of neurons that regulate digestion, inflammation and a host of other biological processes. In her chemistry lab in UC's College of Arts and Sciences, she is studying the role they play in the immune system. "I'm fascinated by the concept that immune system organs have neurons, too, and they're releasing neurotransmitters just like the brain to communicate to your immune cells," she said. Ross is using one of two National Institutes of Health grants totaling $4 million to develop tools to detect and study chemical signals between the brain and immune system. "Brain signaling is incredibly fast. You blink your eyes, take a breath, your knee jerks -- all of that is controlled by neurons firing at a rapid rate," she said. "We want to capture that as it happens." More than 3 million Americans have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's, according to federal health figures. The diseases reflect an uncontrolled immune response to some trigger, but the exact causes are not completely understood. They are progressive, often lifelong afflictions with no known cure. Hundreds of lymph nodes throughout your body filter germs and help fight infection. They are loaded with neurons that send signals to regulate your immune response. In her lab, Ross is developing new tools and sensors to record these messages in the gut. Using probes, she can measure signals at a very rapid time scale in the smallest tissue. "That's really powerful because now we can look at the dynamics and mechanism of the transmission to understand what's going on," she said. Ross is uniquely qualified to pursue these questions. She is an analytical chemist who has conducted extensive research in neuroscience. She holds a joint appointment in chemistry and UC's neuroscience graduate program. "My lab is interested in inflammation and how neurons control the inflammatory response," she said. "Understanding how the nervous system plays a role could lead to new therapies." UC professor and chemistry department head Thomas Beck said Ross has created a strong team of graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and undergraduates to tackle these questions in her lab. "It's really fascinating science -- using ultra-sensitive detection methods to study neurotransmitters," Beck said. "There is a lot of attention being paid about the interaction between the gut and the brain. The biota in your gut can impact your mood and general health." There is still so much to learn about the communication between the nervous and immune systems, Ross said. "It's almost overwhelming," she said. "It's not well understood how these neurons function. Researchers haven't made measurements on this time scale in intact immune organs before." ### Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. 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 popularity of NFTs and crypto-art continues to rise, opening new possibilities for visual artists, musicians, and animators alike. Utilizing this technology gives creators the ability to expand their networks, certify their work, create and share pieces instantaneously compared to traditional formats. NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token and is the digital certificate, authenticating a specific piece of digital artwork, stored and minted on a publicly verifiable blockchain. "After my first release in the NFT space, I realized how this new medium and wave of technology could unlock new potentials in artwork utility, movement, collaboration, and provenance for works. Diving deep into the space over the last year has expanded my creative thought process like I never imagined. The community of creatives that surround the NFT space inspire me immensely. I am on a mission to spread the good word, give back, and educate artists in this new pursuit. Creating a gallery exhibit in the physical space is how I believe NFTs should be experienced and hope it opens the door for others to enjoy and better understand this new art form," said Greg Mike, Founder and Creative Director at ABV. The release will include a diverse lineup of original artworks and editions by artists, varying both the asset value and package for collectors and investors specifically. Artists featured will include works from Greg Mike, Fvckrender, Blake Kathryn, GMUNK, Nychos and more all displaying a variety of open and closed editions for sale through Nifty Gateway and will be shared out when the show opens on Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 10:00 AM ET. Not only will ABV Gallery be showcasing crypto art in a traditional gallery setting, OUTFRONT Media, one of the largest out of home media companies, will be partnering with the gallery to promote the pieces on a vast array of digital displays and transit shelters nationally, including in Atlanta and Boston. What sets this release apart from the others is not only the exclusivity, but the ability to purchase NFTs directly from the advertisement through a QR code that's displayed on street-level assets. "Taking what typically lives in the digital universe and bringing the experience IRL on digital OOH assets, provides numerous experiential opportunities for artists and beyond," said Max Siegelman, Social Media Director at OUTFRONT Media. The exhibit will open on Saturday, March 20th through Sunday March 28th. Appointments can be reserved in advance for 20-minute time slots for groups of up to 8 people. All guests in attendance must wear a mask for the duration of their appointment. ABV Gallery is located at 659 Auburn Ave, #504, Atlanta, GA 30312. Please visit abvatl.com/exhibitions to book an appointment. About OUTFRONT Media OUTFRONT leverages the power of technology, location and creativity to connect brands with consumers outside of their homes through one of the largest and most diverse sets of billboard, transit, and mobile assets in North America. Through its technology platform, OUTFRONT will fundamentally change the ways advertisers engage audiences on-the-go. Contact: Investors: Media: Gregory Lundberg Courtney Richards Senior Vice President, Investor Relations PR & Events Specialist (212) 297-6441 (646) 876-9404 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE OUTFRONT Media Inc. Ten years is a long time in, well, any sense these days. In my case, it has been spent, as the decades before it, in the heady media world as someone giving an opinion on the news rather than just reporting it. And it has been both a blessing and a burden. As a columnist for this masthead for near-on a decade, I have found myself riding a carousel, where the horse is always in motion, up and down on an endless news cycle, but mainly winding up where it started. Progress, I have learnt, is a hard needle to nudge. The Melbourne March 4 Justice on Monday heard speeches decrying tolerance of sexual assault of women. Credit:Eddie Jim This week is a case in point. It began, as so many have, with a march this time the March 4 Justice to demand womens safety and rights. Again. I could describe it as Groundhog Day but that would trivialise the importance of our anger being heard. But I feel I have earned blisters on my feet and fingers these past years, rallying with others on issues such as freedom, same-sex marriage, LGBTQI equality, gun violence, black lives, imprisoned refugees, veteran mental health ... and our voices seemingly falling on the deaf ears of those who could effect change. The Manitoba governments Bill 64, the Education Modernization Act, is a 100 per cent step backwards for Indigenous education. The Manitoba governments Bill 64, the Education Modernization Act, is a 100 per cent step backwards for Indigenous education. This bill turns back the clock by seeking to return to the same top-down, centrally controlled political and cultural ideology that led to the problems Indigenous learners face in the current system. It also threatens to undo everything that has been successful, such as the recent improvement to graduation rates and more culturally based learning. For nearly four decades since Indigenous communities have slowly taken back control over the education of their children Indigenous education has been built on the local: specific Indigenous cultures, communities and languages. Bill 64 targets local decision making by removing elected leadership and administration. It would replace superintendents and trustees with a single "director" who takes orders from people appointed by the provincial government. The bill collapses divisions and directly affects urban and northern Indigenous students who attend off-reserve schools. (AP file photo/Francois Mori) The bill collapses divisions and directly affects urban and northern Indigenous students who attend off-reserve schools. It would create mega-districts where standardized testing is the barometer and relationships the key to Indigenous education will be even more marginalized. While the bill does say Indigenous education should include "land-based learning" and "elders", this is undermined by the fact local bodies have no say on how this will be delivered (in fact the province is proposing a provincewide "initiative"). We dont have to look far in the past to see what happens when politicians are in charge of the education of Indigenous peoples and what society should know about them. I could easily make a residential school reference here, but instead Ill cite the 1980s and 1990s (from my previous life as a teacher). MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES In the 1980s, there were only a handful of Indigenous teachers who amazingly believed that a racist school system in this province could be converted, including Myra Laramee. In the 1980s, there were only a handful of Indigenous teachers who amazingly believed that a racist school system in this province could be converted. These remarkable educational leaders included people such as Helen Settee, Debbie Beach-Ducharme and Myra Laramee. They fought battles against ignorant, non-Indigenous decision makers (mostly men), who were OK with textbooks that stereotyped Indigenous peoples and erased Indigenous histories and contributions. These teachers changed minds, slowly but surely, by demanding Indigenous knowledge from communities be included. For instance, you can only understand what the name Winipek means if you understand Cree and Anishinaabe communities around Lake Winnipeg. This kind of teaching is essential for Indigenous kids to undo the legacies of the past and for Canadians to understand the world around them. Without an understanding of specific Indigenous cultures, you grow up ignorant and often racist in this place. For instance, its essential to know that Canadas multiculturalism, democracy, and health care comes from specific Indigenous cultures, not the British or the French. These teachers changed minds, slowly but surely, by demanding Indigenous knowledge from communities be included. Without local control of Indigenous education, all that's left is to collapse Indigenous complexity into the "Indian" a singular category useful only to control, stereotype, and classify differing communities into one group. We need local Indigenous leadership at every school level and something beyond the parent advisory councils at every school, which are proposed by Bill 64. Those councils are dominated by people of privilege and wealth two things lacking in Indigenous communities. Here in the city, for instance, I dont know any parent advisory councils with a significant amount of Indigenous parents. Currently, we have some Indigenous administrators, often in "associate superintendent" or another lead role. Nearly every school division has somebody in that role who ensures that local Indigenous education is delivered throughout schools. RUTH BONNEVILLE/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Currently, we have some Indigenous administrators, often in "associate superintendent" or another lead role. Nearly every school division has somebody in that role who ensures that local Indigenous education is delivered throughout schools. Since Bill 64 will eliminate school divisions, these positions are "redundant" and Indigenous education is left to the provincially controlled Indigenous Inclusion Directorate. Without Indigenous leads, the job of delivering Indigenous education will fall to principals, who are expected to "improve the achievement of Indigenous students" according to the bill (note that non-Indigenous students are left out). If principals could incorporate Indigenous education into their schools, we wouldnt have needed leadership in the superintendent office to help them. This means the duty of delivering Indigenous education will fall to Indigenous teachers, who are already doing three times the job as every other teacher; educating students, colleagues, and probably that same principal on what Indigenous education means. If principals could incorporate Indigenous education into their schools, we wouldnt have needed leadership in the superintendent office to help them. Speaking of principals, Bill 64 would remove them from the protection of the Manitoba Teachers' Society. This means the legal protections afforded to educators who teach things such as "Indigenous lives and cultures matter" wont be given to principals. Bill 64 is a drastic undoing of nearly four decades of work in Indigenous education that was just beginning to produce improved graduation rates and cultural competency. Its not modern, but a very old, well-travelled path in Canada. niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca BossaNova, the new content creation, funding and distribution company, has signed a deal with Australia and New Zealand producers CJZ and Greenstone for 600 hours of unscripted content. The agreement covers the popular factual Patrol franchise, including Border Patrol, Motorway Patrol, Highway Patrol, Dog Patrol (pictured) and Dog Patrol: Puppy School. Border Patrol follows the women, men and animals on the front line of New Zealands border security as they deal with everything from fake passports to illegal sex workers. Now in its 22nd year, Motorway Patrol follows Aucklands police as they deal with crashes, brawls and drunks on the regions motorway network. Covering similar ground, Highway Patrol rides shotgun with the Australian police officers tasked with keeping Victorias roads safe. Dog Patrol, meanwhile, throws the spotlight on the NZ Polices working dogs and their handlers as they work at airports, prisons and out in the wider community. Dog Patrol offshoot Puppy School follows puppies as they embark on the journey to become police dogs, mobility dogs and guide dogs. The deal also includes over 20 other factual series including Cruising, Murder in the Outback The Big Ward and Renters. Paul Heaney, co-founder and CEO of BossaNova, commented: We are just so honoured and thrilled to be once again working with the highly respected, globally recognised CJZ group. This is a massive moment for BossaNova that will propel us forward and be totally transformative. We want the same too for the CJZ Group, as this is not just about returnable, repeatable and scalable series, though these are incredibly important mainstays for any platform. Both in premium documentary and higher volume projects, BossaNova will be working hard with CJZ and Greenstone to sell shows, to innovate and to find new ideas and markets. CJZ group CEO Matt Campbell said: Paul and his talented team did great work with our catalogue of programmes during his time as founder and CEO at TCB. BossaNova marks a new start for both of us. We like Pauls approach to distribution which is more than just about selling shows. Financing series has become a complicated puzzle, helped enormously through Pauls strong relationships with buyers across the globe. The market intel and additional networking opportunities he provides is essential in todays media landscape. Rachel Antony, Greenstone CEO, added: These shows are enduringly among New Zealand audience favourites and we love that they also connect so well with viewers globally. Pauls been a real champion for Greenstones programmes and producers over the years and we look forward to this renewed relationship and working with the BossaNova team to get more great Kiwi content out into the world. Tequila and mezcal: the next 'big thing' in the UK spirits market? The market for Tequila and mezcal in the UK is on the up, experiencing a move towards craft brands and provenance, according to figures in the industry. From an export market long dominated by a handful of brands, anecdotal evidence from producers and industry data shows that more craft Tequila and mezcal brands are breaking through onto the international market. Data from the Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT), which protects the product's Denomination of Origin, showed that Tequila had a record year in 2020. Producers made some 374 million litres of liquid, of which 286 million were exported to more than 120 countries. The current export value of Tequila is estimted at US$2 billion. The CRT report also revealed that 1.7 million litres of Tequila was shipped to the UK in 2020, making it Tequila's eighth export market. With their heritage, craftsmanship and protected status, Tequila and mezcal are well placed to take advantage of the popularity of craft spirits in the UK, where more drinkers are looking to 'drink better' and turning to premium brands. The number of cocktail-related releases for Margarita Day (22 February) hints at an increasing popularity that could open the gates for more craft brands: VIVIR distillery has launched a new premium mixto Tequila, El Sueno, designed for mixing in cocktails and long drinks; margarita-making kits and pre-bottled cocktails are available from the likes of The Sun Tavern, Mr Fogg's and Coupette; and Tequila brand Olmeca Altos has unveiled a margarita masterclass and cocktail guide. Becky Davies, head of commercial at Manchester-based distributor Ten Locks, has witnessed first-hand the growing popularity of agave spirits among Brits. Ten Locks distributes a number of international premium spirits brands in the UK, including El Tequileno and Banhez Mezcal. Davies said that while Tequila and mezcal had been overshadowed by their reputation as a "stereotypical student drink" in the UK, increasing prominence in the market and high-profile celebrity launches for some brands were helping to raise their profile. "Both Tequila and mezcal are fun and interesting categories with a vibrant culture that naturally appeals to consumers and adds to the consumption experience. In many ways, the category is just starting to speak for itself," she says. "Similar to Central and North America, demand over the past four or five years has shown a shift globally towards brands that represent craft and quality, with both Tequila and mezcal a perfect fit to meet this appetite due to the history, heritage and craft intrinsic to both segments. This, along with increased consumer education, is positively influencing Tequila and mezcal acess the board." Corte Vetusto is one of the smaller brands making the most of Tequila and mezcal's rising international popularity. The brand was founded by David Shepherd, with its spirits made by fouth-generation 'maestro mezcalero' Juan Carlos Gonzales Diaz. Shepherd said the greater number of people making cocktails at home during Covid-19 lockdowns, as well as "a growing apprciation of authentically hand-crafted products amongst more discerning drinkers", were driving up Tequila and mezcal's popularity. "There is no doubt that American consumers have taken to craft spirits like nowhere else. They also have the greatest appetite for premium agave spirits and the greatest choice," he explained. "The UK lags behind in breadth of choice and premiumisation, as the perception of agave spirits as a shooter still persists. That said, due to the incredible amount of effort from craft producers, like ourselves, to educate the trade and consumers, that perception is changing." In the UK, there is a dedicated core in the on and off-trade trying to draw drinkers' attention to the agave spirits market. A number of consumer events have sprung up in recent years, including Tequila & Mezcal Fest and London Mezcal Week, and the rapid growth of the ready-to-drink category in the past couple of years has put more Tequila-based cocktails, using craft spirits, on the market in an accessible form. This comes alongside increasing knowledge among bartenders, with many seeking out craft Tequila and mezcals to line their back bars. In London alone, venues such as The Pink Chihuahua, Del 74 and Corazon are championing Tequila and mezcal-based drinks and introducing consumers to lesser-known agave spirits. The increasing popularity of Mexican cuisine in the UK has also helped to push this shift in the on-trade forward. "The trade - retail and on-trade - has responded fantastically and has been instrumental in educating consumers and changing perceptions," Shepherd said. "More education is required, but I believe the future is bright for brands who put quality, authenticity and transparency at the core of their business. A great example of this is Tequila Ocho, a brand that has displaced the previously favoured mass-produced brands." According to Davies, the physical distance between UK consumers and Tequila and mezcal producers in Mexico means there is less understanding of the arduous production process, and so less appreciation of 'craft' agave spirits. As in categories like gin, better consumer education could help to bridge this gap. "The agave plant takes seven years to mature and so by the very nature of locality and education, there's an appreciation for these incredible plants and the love that goes into the production of spirits that use them [in Mexico]," Davies said. "UK consumers are fairly far removed from this and so currently tend to get swayed by unusual packaging or celebrity endorsements. Others still have a poor perception of Tequila from lower-quality brands they have tried in the past. "British consumers like to know what they are drinking and are curious, asking questions and increasingly showing a genuine enthusiasm for Mexican agave spirits. "Until recently, the on-trade has been leading the demand for Tequila and has really driven education. However, the off-trade is starting to make a real play, with some even looking to extend their ranges. Headway is being made, but more needs to be done to engage with the end consumer across all channels so they can make educated choices on which drinks to try." Davies added that this growth in education could carve a path for more agave spirits, such as racillia, bacarnora and sotol, to gain a foothold in the UK marketplace, as well as helping to support 'mixto' Tequila brands. "It can be easy to fall into a '100 per cent agave is best' mindset when it comes to Tequila, but in fact, a perfectly crafted and honed mixto can taste better then a 100 per cent agave Tequila," she said. 22 February 2021 - Bethany Whymark The Weather Channel has vowed to no longer use the term Dixie Alley verbally or graphically to describe the Southern portion of the country, which is particularly vulnerable to strong tornadoes. Effective immediately, we will discontinue use of the racially-insensitive term Dixie Alley and I call on others in the industry to do the same, Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, parent company of The Weather Channel television network, said. We must all work harder to become ONE America. The term Dixie Alley has been used to refer to much of the area of the lower Mississippi Valley. The more commonly known term, Tornado Alley, includes more of the middle of the country. Also Read: Byron Allen Says He Bought The Weather Channel to Save Your Life Dixie is a nickname for the 11 Southern states that seceded from the Union in 1860 and 1861 and formed the Confederacy. Because of those roots, the word has fallen out of favor lately the band The Dixie Chicks even renamed themselves The Chicks. The Weather Channel launched more than 38 years ago. Allens media group acquired the cable network about three years ago for $300 million. Todays instruction is not the first change Allen has brought to The Weather Channel. Also Read: Weather Channel Defends Reporter Accused of Exaggerating Hurricane Winds During a virtual panel last month at the Television Critics Associations (TCA) winter press tour, Allen said that shortly after taking over cables weather leader, he instructed producers and talent to openly talk about the effects of climate change. Allen said he did so after gathering the networks scientists and asking them bluntly if climate change was the existential threat many experts say it is. And without exception, every scientist in that room raised their hand and said were in trouble, he recalled for the room. (Well, in this case, to the Zoom.) The Weather Channel had a way of making sure that they didnt offend folks, and they would never talk about climate change and global warming, because there were some people who said it wasnt happening, and some people said it was happening, Allen continued. Im going to go with the scientists, because people dont truly understand that climate change and global warming is the greatest threat to human beings on planet Earth. We have to inform folks so we can help save their lives. I mean, it actually means youre going to die. Read original story The Weather Channel Will No Longer Use Term Dixie Alley At TheWrap MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Gunmen killed at least 13 Mexican police in an ambush a short distance outside the capital on Thursday, local authorities said, in one of the worst mass slayings of security forces to rock the country in recent years. Photos of the grisly scene circulated on social media showing a bullet-riddled police car and an unmarked truck, along with officers' bodies scattered out along the street or still inside the car. The convoy of security personnel was attacked in broad daylight by suspected gang members in the Llano Grande area in the municipality of Coatepec Harinas as it patrolled the area, said Rodrigo Martinez-Celis, security minister for the State of Mexico. Eight of the slain officers were state police, while five other were police assigned to the state prosecutor's office. The area is southwest of Mexico City and about 40 miles (64 km) south of the city of Toluca, the capital of the populous State of Mexico, which surrounds much of the capital. "This attack is an affront to the Mexican state. We will respond with all force and support of the law," the minister said in an address to the media. Mexico's National Guard militarized police and the armed forces are searching by land and air for the perpetrators. It was unclear how many suspected criminals were killed or wounded in the incident, or if it involved any of the country's main drug cartels. (Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz and David Alire Garcia; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Kim Coghill) More than a year after jury trials came to an abrupt halt in St. Tammany and Washington parishes because of COVID-19, they are set to resume on May 10, according to the 22nd Judicial District Court's administrator. The Louisiana Supreme Court, which had suspended jury trials, announced that suspension would expire on March 31, which meant trials could resume as early as April 1. But in a one-sentence news release, Amber Mitchell, the court administrator, said that the will resume on May 10 "in accordance with the current court calendar." District Attorney Warren Montgomery had asked the judges to begin trials May 1 "or earlier if conditions warrant," in a letter to Chief Judge Reginald Badeaux dated March 1. In the letter, Montgomery noted that the number of positive tests, hospitalizations and deaths in St. Tammany have entered a sustained decline. "If these trends continue, we will soon cross the point at which the costs associated with the increased risks of COVID-10 infections will be outweighed by the public safety and fundamental fairness interests of the prosecution and defendants," the letter said. Only one jury trial has been held at the St. Tammany Justice Center since the March 2020 shutdown. Defendant Bruce Philp Maquar was found guilty of attempted unauthorized use of a motor vehicle on Sept. 11, 2020 and was later sentenced to 12 years in prison, a spokeswoman for Montgomery said. Hurricane season 2021 is here: How do storms get their names? An anonymous French proverb posits the following wine hierarchy: Burgundy for kings, champagne for duchesses, claret for gentlemen. Its unlikely even genteel wine lovers have guests so lofty stopping by, but translated for contemporary life, the precept points to the benefits of having the right wine on hand no matter the pedigree of the guests or the circumstances. Having a good wine cellar puts you in a position to run downstairs and grab something at a moments notice, or you can be more formal and plan a whole menu of wines to go with dinner, says Fred Tregaskis, owner of Ridgefield-based Summit Wine Cellars, who has been designing and creating residential and commercial wine cellars for nearly three decades. Tregaskis said the bottom line is have fun, enjoy [fine wine]. Share it with your friends and family a wine cellar is a conduit for that. Serendipity put Tregaskis on his journey designing wine cellars from Maine to California, from Bangalore to Buenos Aires, sometimes for folks so famous hes not allowed to share their names. It started when Tregaskis was asked to recommend someone to design and build a 28,000-bottle wine cellar for the acclaimed Lespinasse Restaurant at the former St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan. With a college degree in fine arts and experience in design, woodworking and construction, Tregaskis suggested himself, got that marquee job, and a business was born. The wine community is a gregarious, sharing community, Tregaskis said of his experiences with the wine trade. As a fellow wine person, you get greeted as part of a fraternity, and people are looking for an excuse to share their bounty. When you have the wine cellar, you become a host in the fraternity of wine lovers. You become a patron of that sharing philosophy. Like many true wine lovers, Tregaskis said hes not a snob. One day his wine adventure might involve drinking history as part of a jacket-and-tie tasting of 100-year-old red Bordeaux wines (aka claret) in New York, and a week later he might be on a fly-fishing trip in Ontario with his brother, drinking wine that comes in a cardboard box out of tin cups. Whether a wine lover is a snob or not, creating a wine cellar in your home is expensive, with most residential projects ranging from $25,000 to $45,000. The average cellar Tregaskis designs, and has fabricated at a dedicated manufacturing facility in Connecticut, holds 1,250 to 1,500 bottles. Many factors go into the cost, with labor the greatest expense. The price per bottle can go down quickly at a certain point because of cost economies once the labor is out of the way. A 1,000-bottle cellar, for example, might cost about the same as a 500-bottle cellar. Materials chosen and how much room preparation has to be done are other principal cost determinants. Consider the room itself that will become the wine cellar, Tregaskis said: What is the scope of the electrical work that needs to be done? What about the amount of insulation necessary, the vapor barrier, and the details of the rooms finished surfaces? Climate control is another major cost, as there are many options for providing proper temperature and humidity levels to keep wine safe. To maintain integrity and allow wine to grow deeper in flavor and intensity as it ages, a collection should be stored at roughly 55 degrees Fahrenheit, with the relative humidity ranging from 55 to 70 percent. Less, and corks dry out, allowing oxygen into the bottle, spoiling the wine. Too much humidity attracts mold or mildew. Finally, the cost varies for the wine-racking system depending on size, materials and finishing touches, and this is where Tregaskis gets to have fun, especially as adventuresome clients increasingly embrace contemporary design materials like metal, glass and innovative lighting all hallmarks of a contemporary cellar Tregaskis created for a client in Ridgefield. That design includes Plexiglas, brushed stainless wine racking, and gray oak cabinetry that complements natural concrete floor and walls. Recessed low-voltage LED lighting creates a dramatic effect. Other clients prefer timeless designs inspired by the European wine cave tradition, and an increasingly popular third stream involves a blending of traditional and contemporary design and materials that Tregaskis calls transitional say, mixing metal with wood in the design. How to be wine wise Think quality control: Avoid exposing wines to ultraviolet (UV) light, which causes a chemical reaction that destroys the tannins in wine, leading to premature aging and oxidation. Vibration may also cause unwanted chemical reactions in wine. Don't forget security (locks and motion detectors) to help prevent theft, pilfering and accidental breakage. Don't neglect insurance: Home insurance policies don't typically cover collections of wine, which can be damaged from extended power outages and catastrophic events like earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes. Seek out specialty insurers that offer tailored coverage for wine collections and wine cellars. What type of wine cellar do you want?Wine Spectator describes four principal types of wine collections - The "Balanced Cellar" involves a mixture of vintages, prices and drinking windows; the "Instant-Gratification Cellar" focuses exclusively on fine wines that are ready to drink right away; the "Tasting Cellar" is constructed as a learning tool; and the "Investment Cellar" focuses on profit potential. Collect wines with a strategy: Ben Wallace, owner of Cellaraiders, a fine and rare wine broker that sources and stocks older wines, warns against buying wines you've never tried based on critics' reviews. Instead, try an "off-vintage" example of a wine that's ready to drink. If you like it, then buy the wine in volume from age-worthy vintages. Go to wine tastings, and try everything to help discover what you like best. And stage your cellar by buying wines for different drinking windows. Keep track of inventory:Catalogue and index the wines in your cellar to keep track of the collection. Bottle tags are a great tool. Use a "cellar book" to document the bottles going in or out of the cellar, and make notes in the journal as you drink wines to create a database of observations that will help determine when wines are optimal to enjoy. See More Collapse This article originally appeared in Connecticut Magazine. You can subscribe here, or find the current issue on sale here. Sign up for the newsletter to get the latest and greatest content from Connecticut Magazine delivered right to your inbox. On Facebook and Instagram @connecticutmagazine and Twitter @connecticutmag. In the last decade, RBVH has come a long way from just being a support centre, growing into a leading development hub for Bosch Group globally Bosch Vietnam also operates a centre for research and development for software engineering and business solutions (Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions Vietnam Co., Ltd.) and an Automotive Research and Development Centre in Ho Chi Minh City. Robert Bosch Engineering Vietnam (RBVH) was established in 2010 to act as a low-cost engineering support centre for Bosch Group. However, over the past decade, RBVH has come a long way to grow into a leading development hub for the global group. The focused approach of Bosch Vietnam and the availability of skilled local workforce allow RBVH to be at the forefront of innovation and digital transformation. Back in 2014, when German Chancellor Angela Merkel named Industry 4.0 as a growth driver for manufacturing in Germany, Bosch was among the first to devise an adoption strategy. Bosch is an early adopter of the Internet of Things (IoT) and is already on the path of transforming itself into an IoT company by 2025. Here in Vietnam, Bosch started setting up teams to work on these solutions as early as 2016. As of now at Bosch Engineering Vietnam more than 50 engineers work on products and solutions for Industry 4.0. As of now at Bosch Engineering Vietnam, more than 50 engineers work on products and solutions for Industry 4.0. This talented pool of engineers is trained by Bosch experts in India and Germany for various skills required for developing and delivering solutions for IoT and digital transformation. Baskaran Rakklappan, managing director of RBVH, said that the vision of his organisation growing into a digital innovation hub within ASEAN for Bosch Group and its global customers while creating value for its employees and Vietnamese people. Meanwhile, for Aravind H S, head of digital practice atRBVH, said the future of manufacturing will be dependent on how manufacturing value streams are optimised using different kinds of data. He sees edge computing, machine learning, and AI as growth drivers for the factories of the future, adding that his team has already developed a solution called Device Bridge which can connect and collect data from a range of control systems and sensors. As many countries in ASEAN, particularly Vietnam, are largely export-driven economies, Aravind said he expects good demand for forecasting, planning, and scheduling supported by digital supply chain tools for the real-time tracking of assets and goods. The talented pool of engineers at RBVH is trained by Bosch experts in India and Germany for various skills required for developing and delivering solutions for IoT and digital transformation Many Bosch factories around the globe are already using these solutions and are benefitting from better quality at reduced cost with increased machine availability. Meanwhile, Nihal Ranjan, senior lead consultant at Bosch, emphasised improving quality and manufacturing efficiency by collecting and analysing the right data. He suggested organisations to create a robust data strategy to collect relevant data rather than all data. He added that Bosch is already benefitting immensely from data analytics and he predicted further upward trends for Bosch and other global companies. He suggests extensive use of Auto ML for predictive maintenance and vision solutions using machine learning for various product verification and validation in manufacturing. Pursuing a dual strategy of leading user and provider for new technology and solutions, Bosch became a carbon-neutral company in early 2020, attesting to the companys focus on sustainability in business operations. Russias antimonopoly watchdog fines Kaspersky Lab for violating advertising law flickr.com/ 12:03 19/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 19 (RAPSI) The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation (FAS) has fined company Kaspersky Lab 100,000 rubles (about $1,500 at the current exchange rate) for violating the law on advertising, the press service of the body informs on Friday. According to the statement, advertisements of the Kaspersky Password Manager software have been identified as unreliable, since those misled consumers about the prices of the product. The advertisement was distributed from July 1, 2018 to September 18, 2020 via Yandex.Direct service. Since August 12, 2020, the price of Kaspersky Password Manager software has increased to 900 rubles ($12) per license for one user for 1 year, the antimonopoly service said. However, in spite of the fact that the price has increased, the company continued to advertise its product indicating its cost at 450 rubles ($6). A FAS commission found that such advertising was in violation of the requirements established by the law on advertising. The law on advertising provides that an advertisement that contains untrue information about the cost or price of goods, the mode of payment for it, the amount of discounts, tariffs and other terms of purchase of goods is to be recognized as unreliable, and the advertiser is to be liable for such a violation. 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 New York man is locked up in Schuylkill County Prison after allegedly accidently shooting his brother in Minersville earlier this week. According to Minersville Police, on Sunday, March 14th, 2021, around 12:15am, Ptlm. Timothy Walsh was dispatched to 125 North Street, Minersville for a report of a gun shot victim. At the scene, Patrolman Walsh found a victim sitting on the curb waiting for EMS and Police to arrive. The victim told Walsh that he had been shot in the back with a 300 blackout round. Walsh went into the home where he found an AR pistol with a magazine still in the weapon on the couch. Patrolman Walsh interviewed Ismael Rodriguez, 43,of Brooklyn, NY who admitted being the shooter. Rodriguez told police that he was going to clean the gun and thought he cleared the magazine. He said he put the gun down on the table when it went off striking the victim while he was sitting at the table eating. On Tuesday, March 16th, 2021, Minersville Police charged Rodriguez with recklessly endangering another person. On the morning of Friday, March 19th, 2021, Rodriguez was taken into custody, arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Plachko and locked up in Schuylkill County Prison unable to post $50,000 cash bail. A Spanish porn star has been charged with manslaughter after a fashion photographer died from inhaling psychedelic toad vapour. Nacho Vidal, 47, could be considered responsible for the death of Jose Luis Abad after administering the Colorado River Toad venom at his house in Enguera, Valencia, in July 2019, a judge has said. It is thought that Vidal, who has starred in more than 600 adult films, provided the substance as part of a shaman ceremony to help Abad cure his cocaine addiction. Nacho Vidal, 47, (pictured) could be considered responsible for the death of Jose Luis Abad after administering the Colorado River Toad venom near Valencia in July 2019, a judge has said In a video, recorded on Abad's mobile phone, he can be seen inhaling the crystallised venom for 20 seconds before he begins to sob and contort his arms and legs, according to Las Provincias. Two others ring bells and beat tambourines but Abad's face and chest began turning blue. Vidal then begins administering first aid and tells the cameraman to call for help. Abad, who had worked for publications such as Vogue and Tatler, had requested the ritual because he wanted to overcome his drug habit, news outlet Vozpopuli said. The judge, explaining his decision to charge Vidal, said that the suspect had failed to take precautions in case the ceremony went wrong. He concluded that the substance that was administered was not recognised as a medicine by health authorities in Spain. The Colorado River Toad is a rare species native to the Sonoran Desert from northern Mexico to California and Arizona which secretes venom containing a very powerful natural psychedelic substance known as 5-MeO-DMT The toad, a rare species native to the Sonoran Desert from northern Mexico to California and Arizona, secretes venom containing a very powerful natural psychedelic substance known as 5-MeO-DMT. Its effects have been compared to ayahuasca, a powerful hallucinogenic concoction from the Amazon consumed as part of a shamanic ritual. And, once inhaled, the venom can produce a psychedelic experience in 15 seconds which lasts for between 20 and 40 minutes. Vidal, whose real name is Ignacio Jorda Gonzalez, posted a YouTube video in 2016 describing the healing effects of using the toad's venom. He said: 'My body turned into light, the light formed part of the ground, the sky, the plants, nature, the universe. I was the universe. I was everything.' Smart tech wins Tsingtao brewery WEF honor From:ChinaDaily | 2021-03-19 09:20 An over century-old manufacturing site of Tsingtao, one of China's top breweries based in Qingdao, Shandong province, has been admitted to the World Economic Forum's Global Lighthouse Network after successfully adopting and integrating cutting-edge technologies. The GLN is a community of world-leading manufacturers using Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to enable bottom-line growth. So far, only 69 factories around the world have received the honor, 20 of which are located in China, more than any other country. Leading organizations like Tsingtao "realize the importance of having mass-customization capability, and they are innovating business models that make best use of resources to deliver tailored products to market at unprecedented speeds", said a report published by the WEF on Wednesday, in collaboration with McKinsey & Co. Huang Kexing, chairman of Tsingtao Brewery, said: "Recognition of the GLN is a testament to our transformation efforts as we presented the first online customization platform in the industry, enabling customized packaging for business-to-business or business-to-consumer sales channels. "It achieves tailored product development that targets the main drivers of product popularity, generating a detailed 'fingerprint' for each product to inform product development based on demand." At the 118-year-old Tsingtao Brewery facility, workers have cut lead times for personalized products from an average of 45 days to 20 days, through digitalized transformation of production lines. The minimum quantity per order decreased from 3,000 to 15 boxes and revenue per 1,000 liters was raised by 158 percent, according to the factory's calculations. "Various kinds of beer products, including personalized products, use the same production line through digitally enabled flexible manufacturing. At the end of the high-speed line, a set of 360-degree high-resolution cameras can accurately identify certain kind of products and lead them to the corresponding delivery terminal without manual sorting," said Meng Qingshang, the factory's chief. Huang Xing, an executive at the factory in charge of packaging, said every bottle and can of beer is printed with a QR code, which records data from the whole manufacturing process, ranging from selected raw materials to the finished product. "In addition, energy consumption in the factory has also been declining with power and water consumption dropping by 19 percent and 5 percent, respectively," the executive said. The higher efficiency production line is just part of Tsingtao's efforts to engage new business models and smart digital technology across the value chain in a bid to optimize customer engagement, product development, production and distribution. Tsingtao posted an 18.86 percent year-on-year growth in net profit in 2020 despite the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. Over the past year, the Qingdao-based brewery sold 7.82 million kiloliters of beer and generated an operating revenue of 27.76 billion yuan ($4.27 billion). He Yong, secretary-general of the China Alcoholic Drinks Association, said it is a necessary and even urgent step for breweries to digitize their manufacturing facilities and marketing business. He said that as a total of 180 million bottles are consumed every day in China, "such a huge scale meets diversified needs from market, leading to solutions of cutting-edge technologies such as big data, 5G and other intelligent applications. The change is expected to bring structural transformation in the industry and consumption and even social transformation." The secretary-general said he is pleased to see Chinese breweries taking the lead in the structural transition. Automated manufacturing facilities are going to be seen in the brewery sector in the near future, he added. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Ahomosexual, his boyfriend and his godless sister take an Anglican minister and his wife to a gay party in Sydney. It sounds like the start of a joke, but this happened last autumn. William Yang was debuting a new show at the Sydney Opera House, and a rare conspiracy of timing meant my boyfriend Scott, sister Tammy and I were all in the city together. Tammy and her husband Bruce asked their Sydney-based friends to join us an Anglican minister and his wife, who are Asian-Australian as they wanted to introduce them to an Asian-Australian icon they hadnt encountered before. For my sister, boyfriend and me, William Yangs work resonated personally. For my photo-documentarian sister, it was Williams commitment to documenting Chinese-Australian history and community. For my boyfriend, it was how William captured decades of joy and grief in Sydneys queer community, one wed recently joined. For me a gay Chinese-Australian who told stories for a living it was all of the above. Through his photographs, William Yang illuminated my twin cultural heritages: being Chinese-Australian and being queer. His Sydney Opera House show that night was Party (verb) 2019, the story of Sydneys queer underground dance parties spanning the 1970s, when William first arrived in Sydney, through the horrors of the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, to the present day. Told through projected images, monologue and live music, Party (verb) was the latest evolution of the art form William pioneered in the late 1980s, a marriage of spoken word, performance and photography. Photographer William Yang with writer Benjamin Law in Sydney this month. Credit:Louise Kennerley Advertisement Somehow, William had taken a format synonymous with searing dullness slideshow night! and rescued it from the tedious horror of suburban fathers droning on about their latest caravan holidays. What William delivered instead were vital, transformative and soulful acts of storytelling and bearing witness. Its a format thats since been so replicated and emulated that many Australian performing arts circles now use phrases like William Yang-style or William Yang-esque as shorthand. William designed Party (verb) as a tribute to a queer party scene that never stopped, even for the horrors of AIDS. Williams thesis was that, for many, partying was the way through the bleak trauma of that era, and that to party to celebrate and forge joy in community could be an act of defiance. Looking back, it was actually a terrible time. There was a great range of emotions, because you might be at a dance party this weekend, and the next weekend youd be at a funeral. But people partied on right through the whole thing. On the night of Party (verb), we took our seats in the Opera House and the lights went down. Sydney DJ-royalty Stereogamous revved up the music. Williams show-and-tell began and, within seconds, I wondered whether bringing our new Anglican friends was a mistake. The first photo was of a naked man. And his penis projected on the Opera House walls was now rendered huge; it mustve been over a metre long. My sister and I stifled a laugh, then flashed each other a wide-eyed silent scream. What would the Christians think? Lets temporarily park what the Anglican minister and his wife thought. First, I need to tell you what I think, and what William Yangs work means to me. Growing up gay and Asian in Queensland is a singular experience for each person and generation. William is nearly 40 years older than me. His familys history on this continent goes back a century (mine only starts in the mid 1970s), and our ancestors come from slightly different parts of China. Yet when I first saw Williams photographs, I felt like there was some spiritual cord connecting us, as if we were siblings from different generations possibly dimensions who had nevertheless found each other through time and space. All great art gives you that sensation. But there were uncanny biographical parallels too: William and I were both gay, grew up in regional Queensland, and were more or less the only Chinese kids in a sea of white faces in our towns, before we moved to Sydney in our 20s and 30s, respectively. Coincidentally, we both have boyfriends named Scott. Advertisement And there is something about growing up as dual outsiders as homosexuals coming of age in the last mainland state to decriminalise homosexuality, and as Chinese-Australians living in a country that federated on anti-Asian, whites-only policies that bonds people like us. Ben Law, 2016. Credit:William Yang Some would argue that were also both degenerates. By his own admission, William says he likes to watch. I was a photographer, he once said, which means that I was a voyeur. Famously, William first plunged headfirst into photography as an architecture student who had a crush on a classmate. Take off your shirt, William told him, finding it far easier to give instructions with a camera in hand. Lie on the bed. Perhaps one lesson here is that, contrary to popular belief, Asian men can be just as assertive as anyone, given the right tools. Besides his capacity to capture beauty, William Yangs other great superpower is his capacity to disarm. To my mind, hes like the Chinese-Australian photographer version of the American writer Joan Didion, who once said she was so physically small, so temperamentally unobtrusive that people ended up underestimating her capacity to capture them in her work usually against their best interests. Besides his capacity to capture beauty, William Yangs other great superpower is his capacity to disarm. William never works against anyones best interests (as far as I know), and his quietly cheeky charm ensures people are comfortable in that most searingly uncomfortable of situations: being examined and exposed in front of a camera. In Williams presence, you just forget. One moment, youre talking about work and gossiping about friends; the next, youre shirtless, have your face covered in permanent marker, and down to your jocks as he snaps away. And, yes, I speak from experience, via photoshoots that ... may or may not have made their way into this exhibition. Advertisement There is a story William Yang tells in his show Sadness 1999 also inscribed on a childhood photo that hes told audiences so many times its almost become an incantation: When I was about six years old, one of the kids at school called me Ching Chong China man, Born in a jar, Christened in a teapot, Ha Ha Ha. I had no idea what he was talking about but I knew from his expression that he was being horrible to me, so I went home to my mother and I said to her, Mum, Im not Chinese, am I? My mother said to me very sternly, Yes you are. Her tone was hard and it shocked me. I knew in this moment being Chinese was like a terrible curse and I could not rely on my mother for help. Or my brother who was four years older than me, very much more experienced in the world. He chimed in, And youd better get used to it. LifeLines3-SelfPortrait2(1947); Childhood photo of William Yang, which he inscribed for his 1999 show Sadness. Credit:William Yang Collection: University of Queensland Art Museum Its a familiar wrestle for any Australian kid from an immigrant background the discovery of your ethnicity and difference is often coupled with the sense that its somehow also a liability. For the rest of our lives, we teeter back and forth between embracing and rejecting our cultural heritage, and going through phases of insisting our ethnicity shouldnt matter, and periods where it feels like its the only thing that matters at all. In order to survive in this country, to blend in, to assimilate, so many Australian families forfeit cultural connections. Like my family, Williams family shielded him from the most painful parts of their history to protect him. What William discovered is that sometimes in order to find the truth, you have to bypass family and circumvent erasures in Australian history, as well as Chinese families tendency towards silence, and head straight to the archives. In telling my family story, Ive often had to do the same. To engage with Williams work is to recalibrate your understanding of the Chinese in Australia. Its not only an archaeological dig through history, but an excavation of the last five decades of Australian history, art and subculture. Though equally adept at capturing the famous (actor Cate Blanchett, writer Patrick White, painter Brett Whiteley, Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham), Williams real skill is rendering seemingly ordinary Australians iconic. His mother, friends and lovers: he captures them all with fierce tenderness and love. Advertisement Golden Summer 1987/2016. Credit:William Yang. But for all of Williams romances, you get the palpable sense that his first love is the human face. And the face from Williams photographs that has stayed with me most is Allans. In the aftermath of AIDS, for millennials like me, sex was pathologised before we even started having it. But for Williams generation and the generation between us AIDS was a war, obliterating so many lovers, friends and peers to the point where funerals often competed with each other. It was a war with mens bodies, in particular, from outside and within. To imagine the horror of friends writing wills in the prime of their lives and at their most beautiful is something Ill always struggle to comprehend. While the scale of the loss is so difficult to convey in statistics, its Williams story of Allan a sequence of portraits and memories, brutally unsentimental, yet utterly tender that allows you to understand on an emotional level. He seemed like an old man and I had a strong desire to burst into tears, William writes over one photograph. Even if you didnt know Allan and I didnt I defy you not to struggle with tears. Yet Australias queer story is not just pure sadness. For me, seeing Williams images of men, swaddled in their desire, affection and easy love for one another, continues to disentangle something thats been knotted up inside me for as long as I can remember. Asian men occupy a very specific idea in the Australian imagination of being non-sexual, and therefore, undesirable that we all inevitably internalise. The raw, unashamed sensuality of Williams imagery of his unabashed desire for the men he captures, and the framing of Asian male beauty itself is such a potent corrective. His images remind us that desire isnt anything to be ashamed of, and that Asian men are desirable too. The Synthetics, Paddington Town Hall, 1977. Credit:William Yang. Tableaux of gay friendship and sex, mates sharing mattresses on the floor in the aftermath of a party: William Yang made all this worthy of witness and celebration. In an era when queer people were so targeted and vilified by government and so-called men of god, in these quiet scenes, William has broadened our idea of what aspects of Australian life should be considered sacred, and celebrated. Advertisement Michael Davidson, author of the Jon Sadler Mystery series, has completed his new book Judge Rath: the fourth installment in his gripping mystery series. Michael writes, Judge Rath is the fourth book in the Jon Sadler Mystery series. I thought after Id written Darth and the Puppeteers, I was finished with Mr. Sadler. But I missed him and eventually came up with an idea of how I could get him in trouble again. If youve read my three previous novels with Jon Sadler as protagonist, you will know that I lean slightly toward the psychic and metaphysical. In Judge Rath I have created a mystery in which, Jon, as Judge Rath, and some of my favorite characters in the first three novels, find themselves in their past lives caught up in a wild-west whodunit set in the year 1864. The scene is the City of San Fernando, California, in the San Fernando Valley. Jon has been sent into the past by, Aaron, an Avatar affiliated with our old friend, Darth. For reasons explained in the book, Jon was in need of discovering an element in his nature that had been passive in his life as a psychiatrist. Judge Rath has a proclivity to shoot first, and shoot again, and finds himself mired in what appears to be the random killings of saloon whores. Out of frustration, Jon telegraphs the Pinkerton Detective Agency in Chicago. Alan Pinkerton sends out his ace female detective, Kate Wayne, the first female detective in the country. Together, and with the support of President Abraham Lincoln, they undertake to solve what history will refer to as: The Case of the Cannabis Cannibals. Published by Page Publishing, Michael Davidsons novel will surprise your expectations and take you on a ride through time and space. Join Jon Sadler and his associates as they navigate otherworldly experiences in the Old West. Readers who wish to experience this unearthly work can purchaseJudge Rath 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. Kolkata: The RSS on Tuesday alleged that a state-owned auditorium in Kolkata where its chief Mohan Bhagwat was scheduled to attend a programme on October 3 has cancelled the booking for the event. The move to cancel the booking was condemned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) but the auditorium authorities said renovation and repair work would be undertaken around that time and therefore the facility cannot be provided due to safety and security reasons. This is not the first time that such a move was taken. Earlier also the state(West Bengal) government had done it. We condemn this move, Jishnu Basu, RSS spokesperson in the state, alleged. A spokesman of the Sister Nivedita 150th birth anniversary celebrations committee, which had booked Mahajati Sadan for the programme, claimed that the auditorium authorities had accepted the booking in June. But last week, officials of the auditorium first said that we need police permission. When we informed them that we have already informed the police about the programme, they said that renovation work will be undertaken in the auditorium during the time and our programme could not take place there, said Rantidev Sengupta, the general secretary of the celebration committee. Sources in the auditorium said that renovation and repair work would be undertaken and therefore the facility cannot be provided for the event due to safety and security reasons. The bookings for other organisations during that time have also been cancelled, the sources said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Australias Leading Business Groups Urge PM Not to Abandon IR Reforms A watered-down industrial relations omnibus bill has passed through Australias Senate but industry leaders have urged the federal government not to give up on the scrapped provisions. The government dumped its provisions on enterprise agreements, award simplification, greenfield agreements, and wage theft after it failed to gain enough support for the omnibus bill. Australias leading business groups welcomed the passage of the bill but said more work was to be done. It is important that the government does not abandon the rest of the bill and further efforts need to be made over the months ahead to secure support, industry CEOs said in a joint statement on March 18. The CEOs of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Australian Industry Group, Business Council of Australia, Australian Mines and Metals Association, and Master Builders Australia expressed disappointment at the Labor Party, the Greens, and crossbenchers who rejected the whole bill without compromise. The legislation was the outcome of an extensive government consultation process over the past nine months involving working parties of industry and union representatives, they said. A sensible compromise was reached on the casual employment provisions aimed at boosting confidence, investment, job creation, and wages. The bill was stripped of almost all of the proposed reforms after it required the vote of Centre Alliances Stirling Griff to pass. However, he only supported the elements surrounding casual employment and wage theft. Senator Stirling Griff during debate to Fair Work Amendment Bill 2021 in the Senate at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on March 18, 2021. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images) Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable called the failure to pass the reforms a lost opportunity that will cost workers and the community. She also took aim at the Labor Opposition, the Greens, and crossbenchers, saying they stifled important regulatory improvements that were needed to boost economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. The original bills measures to accelerate the approval of enterprise agreements and allow longer greenfields agreements for major projects were modest, incremental, and overdue changes to boost investment, productivity, and prosperity, she said in a statement. It is disappointing that much-needed reforms to drive economic recovery have been sacrificed to political expediency, she said. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the government would need to reconsider its policy stance on areas, such as greenfield agreements, so that they may be able to pass in the future. In this bill, there was an attempt to double the length of which an enterprise agreement could be in place for a greenfield site, Frydenberg told ABC radio. So the builders and constructors wouldnt have to renegotiate a new enterprise agreement [halfway through a project] and be held ransom. That is a sensible reform that encourages more investment in our country and ultimately creates more jobs, he said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison indicated he would push forward other measures to support job creation. If this Senate is saying they dont wish to support [the IR bill], then we will have to consider that in terms of how we go forward because I will send them other things to approve, Morrison told reporters. I will send them other job-making initiatives they can support. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The filing deadline for Grand Rapids income taxes has been pushed back until June 1. Prior to the extension announced by city officials Thursday, Grand Rapids income taxes were due April 30. The move follows suit with the federal government, which this week announced its income tax filing deadline would be pushed to May 17. All city taxpayers, including individuals, trusts and estates, corporations, non-corporate tax filers and those who pay self-employment tax, are allowed the extension to June 1 without penalties or interest. No additional forms or actions are needed to receive the extension. However, the extension to June 1 does not apply to any withholding taxes. Those who need more time to file beyond the new June 1 deadline can request an extension by completing and submitting the extension form on the citys income tax page located at this link. People who have questions about the deadline extension or their tax returns can email grincometax@grcity.us or call 616-456-3415, option 0. The phone line at the citys Income Tax Department is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays. Extending hours for filing in the office are available 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the following Saturdays: March 27 and April 10, 17 and 24. People can upload their finished returns to the citys website for faster processing. The city is estimating to lose about $15 to $20 million in income taxes this fiscal year due to the pandemic. Related: Grand Rapids avoids potential layoffs, service cuts thanks to $94 million from the feds People who live outside the city but normally work in Grand Rapids are able to withhold a portion of their income taxes from Grand Rapids, with their employers confirmation, for the period they were working from home. Of the tax returns so far, about 80% of non-city residents have chosen to withhold a portion of their income tax from Grand Rapids, city officials previously said. Income taxes lost to unemployment also factor into those estimates. The city had expected about $86.5 million of the general funds revenues this fiscal year to come from income taxes. About $46.6 million of that was to be generated by non-residents working in the city. The citys general fund expenditures total about $149.3 million this fiscal year. Read more: Local governments in West Michigan to receive millions in federal relief dollars Michigan State Police dispatcher in U.P. charged with criminal sexual conduct 4 a.m. closing time for Michigan bars would be an option under House-passed bill 3 1 of 3 Joe Raedle Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Joe Raedle Show More Show Less 3 of 3 CHESTERTOWN The State Police admit their agency owns a missing AR-15 they've asked the public for help finding and an internal affairs investigation is under way to determine how the high-powered weapon came to be lost on a roadside in the Adirondacks. When the troopers first attempted to enlist the public's help finding the Rock River rifle on Wednesday, they made no mention of who owned the weapons lost along Route 9 in Chestertown. Oil plunged by 7pc, the most since September, as vaccination efforts in some parts of the world stalled, casting uncertainty over the speed of an economic recovery and a full rebound in global oil demand. West Texas Intermediate crude futures declined for a fifth session, the longest stretch of daily losses in more than a year. China lifting less crude and US Gulf Coast refineries still recovering from a cold blast last month have put short-term pressure on physical oil demand. Meanwhile, some efforts to distribute Covid-19 vaccines have faltered and a stronger dollar is reducing the appeal of commodities priced in the currency. The collapse in prices has wiped out more than two weeks of gains for the US benchmark crude and represents a setback for a market that has otherwise staged a remarkable recovery since the depths of the pandemic. Oil futures are still up well over 20pc since the start of the year with the world's largest oil producers reining in supply and travel around the world recovering post-lockdowns. "Short-term supply and demand considerations are temporarily casting a shadow over the bright future that is likely to arrive in the third quarter of the year," said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates. Oil's move lower may also be linked to some unwinding of long positions by commodity trading advisors as daily price gains or losses of more than 3pc can often trigger funds to quickly unload. "This is a risk-off moment with some of the cyclical trades," said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at US Bank Wealth Management. Beyond headline prices, crude's closest timespreads are signaling that, despite the outlook for a longer-term recovery, near-term demand remains fragile. WTI's front-month contract is trading at a discount again to the following month, while Brent's backwardation a bullish structure signaling tighter supplies is weakening. "The plunge is all about the demand outlook," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda. "This will be a temporary retreat, but the concern is that we don't have any strong signs that Europe is about to turn the corner here." The global recovery from the pandemic remains uneven. In Brazil, Covid-19 cases are expanding by record numbers and crimping activity, while in the UK, delayed shipments of AstraZeneca vaccine will cut supply this month. "Demand hasn't gotten as far back to normal as we expected, with the vaccine news out of Europe definitely concerning in terms of short-term demand," said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research. "That's making people think that the time for $70 Brent has not yet come." With the deadline for compliance quickly approaching on May 26, 2021, understanding the EU MDRs new requirements for medical devices is essential to maintaining market access. Amidst a constantly-changing global regulatory landscape, swiftly and successfully adapting to the latest regulatory changes is important to ensure medical device companies ability to market their devices compliantly without disrupting market access. In 2017, the European Union adopted a new regulatory framework for medical devices, Medical Device Regulation 2017/745 (EU MDR 2017/745). With the deadline for compliance quickly approaching on May 26, 2021, understanding the EU MDRs new requirements for medical devices is essential to maintaining market access. One of the most significant changes to the EUs new medical device regulatory framework are new standards for medical device labeling, as well as safety, block chain and other areas. In this webinar, the panelists will succinctly explain changes in the EU MDRs labeling requirements, common challenges and important considerations for medical device companies when complying with the EU MDRs new labeling translation regulations, and how language service providers can ensure medical device companies leverage best practices to ensure all labelling, safety data, and other important aspects are compliant with EU MDR 2017/745 guidelines. Join experts from CSOFT Health Sciences Mattias Schroeter, Business Development Director and Di Lv, Chief Life Science Practice Lead & Executive Director, in a live webinar on Friday, April 9, 2021 at 11am EDT (4pm BST/UK) to learn more about the EU MDRs labelling and other requirements for medical devices. For more information, or to register for this event, visit How to Successfully Navigate New European Medical Device Labelling Compliance. ABOUT CSOFT HEALTH SCIENCES CSOFT Health Sciences provides end-to-end medical translation services for all phases of the product lifecycle, from pre-clinical to post-launch. We also specialize in market access consulting, medical writing, and CTD/eCTD submissions with the FDA, EMA, and NMPA. Our operations are compliant with ISO 17100 and certified in ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016, ensuring our customized solutions meet the rigorous regulatory requirements of global submissions. ABOUT XTALKS Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year, thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers. To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/ As the 20th March deadline for GST payments nears, GST authorities are pressurising taxpayers to pay their maximum tax liability in 'cash'. In GST lingo, 'cash' does not imply hard cash but it is payment of taxes after exhausting the input tax credit (ITC) available to the taxpayer. According to tax experts and chartered accountants, GST officers are using unauthorised communication means such as phone calls, WhatsApp and messages (which are banned by the tax department) to demand that taxpayers deposit 'maximum tax liability' in 'cash' without quoting the mandatory Document Identification Number. The accumulated ITC is already with the government so when one adjusts tax liabilities with the ITC, government does not get any additional revenue. However, if a taxpayer pays in cash instead of adjusting his liabilities with ITC, the GST department gets additional revenue in the books of government, even if for an interim period. This could be the reason GST department might have instructed tax officials to coerce taxpayers to pay in cash, explain experts. A query sent to the revenue department on this issue remains unanswered at the time of filing the report. However, tax experts and chartered accountants have confirmed that GST officials have been sending such feelers in desperate attempts to meet their year-end targets. "Such kind of mails/messages are the result of year-end revenue collection pressure on department officials. These mails/messages are against the spirit and provision of law. Taxpayers have full vested right to utilise the entire input tax credit first and then pay balance tax using cash ledger," said CA Tushar Aggarwal, Founder Partner, Tattvam Advisors As per the GST law, there are two ways of payment of GST -- one by adjusting the tax dues with the accumulated Input Tax Credit (ITC) and the other in 'cash'. All payments under GST are through digital means. Payment by adjusting with accumulated ITC is also payment of GST if the ITC is availed as per law. However, tax experts point out that the GST department softwares are designed to pick taxpayers (for scrutiny) who pay large amount of GST through ITC, and not cash. "Such communications are made through unrecorded mediums like calls and WhatsApp messages, informally pushing a taxpayer to pay the maximum tax liability in cash. This indicates coercive pressure tactics used by the department to collect taxes in the age when the central government is spending millions to implement faceless tax assessment technologies," says Rajat Mohan, Partner in chartered accountancy firm AMRG & Associates. "GST officers might have been given separate targets for tax collection through ITC and cash," said one chartered accountant. Usually, traders and manufacturers pay a substantial amount of GST dues through accumulated input tax credits. Service companies, which have very little raw material expenses, pay a higher amount of GST in cash. Vivek Jalan, a Kolkata-based chartered accountant, said that traders are most adversely impacted by the approach of the GST department to specifically target those taxpayers who pay large part of their GST through ITC. "In a distribution or trading business, which primarily revolves around purchasing from the manufacturer and selling with little or no value addition, the gross margin itself is 2-3%. Clubbing with it ITC from rent and other expenses incurred and the cash payment of GST would not be more than 1%," he says. Meanwhile, the revenue department has clarified that neither the Government nor the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) have issued any such instructions to their field formations. "Taxpayers are free to utilise the Input Tax Credit available in their credit ledger, as permissible in law, to discharge their GST dues for the month of March, 2021 - the last month of this financial year," said a press note issued by the department. Also Read: Gadkari urges Sitharaman to cut GST on passenger vehicles Also Read: Government announces voluntary scrappage scheme for vehicles, Gadkari seeks GST rebate 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. NREL, NASA, European Researchers Reveal Path to Safer Lithium-Ion Batteries March 19, 2021 A high-energy density cell, shown here, holds its voltage despite having being penetrated with a nail. Scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)working with researchers at NASA and in Europeidentified a solution to preventing a dangerous chain reaction in lithium-ion batteries known as thermal runaway. It is very rare that batteries fail catastrophically, but when that does happen it can be very damaging, said Donal Finegan, a staff scientist at NREL whose work involves improving the safety and performance of lithium-ion batteries. Not only just for the safety and health of people involved, but economically as well for a company. Finegan co-authored a new paper on a solution to the problem, Prevention of lithium-ion battery thermal runaway using polymer-substrate current collectors. The paper appears in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science. Most cases of thermal runaway can be traced to an internal short circuit. That short generates an increasing amount of heat that can trigger a failure in adjacent batteries and spark fires. The temperature inside the battery has been shown to top 800 degrees Celsius (1,472 degrees Fahrenheit). When a battery does fail, it fails very quickly, so it can go from being completely intact to being engulfed in flames and completely destroyed within a couple of seconds, Finegan said. It's very fast and very difficult to understand what happens in that two seconds. But it's also very important to understand exactly what happens because it is the management of those two seconds that is important for improving the safety of batteries. In addition to NREL and NASA, the international research effort to understand what happens during a thermal runaway involved scientists from University College London, The Faraday Institution in Oxford, National Physical Laboratory in London, and The European Synchrotron in France. The scientists experiment on 18650 cells, a specific size for a rechargeable lithium-ion battery used in electric vehicles and in aerospace applications, by driving a nail into them to trigger a short circuit. High-speed X-ray imaging at 2,000 frames per second enabled the researchers to capture what happened inside the batteries with great detail. Lithium-ion batteries use a current collector to conduct electricity to and from the negative and positive terminals. These collectors are typically made of either aluminum or copper. The researchers took a different approach and examined a collector with an inside layer of plastic between the metal. The polymer current collector (PCC) was manufactured by Soteria Battery Innovation Group, of South Carolina, and the custom 18650 batteries made by Coulometrics, of Tennessee. Repeated experiments with a nail penetrating the batteries proved the addition of the polymer current collector in the positive electrode was sufficient in every instance to prevent thermal runaway. As the temperature increased, the PCC shrank to isolate the nail from the negative terminal and thus shut-down the short circuit. The scientists noted their research may provide increased confidence in the manufacture of inherently safer batteries that are constructed with this polymer-based current collector. Finegan said driving a nail into a battery is a pretty crude testing method but aims to capture the mechanical abuse a battery might experience in the case of an electric vehicle getting into a serious accident, for example. The work conducted at NREL was funded by the Department of Energys Vehicle Technologies Office. The latest research comes on the heels of NRELs release of the Battery Failure Databank, a compilation of data generated by hundreds of abuse tests conducted on lithium-ion batteries. The databank provides information on how much heat a battery generates during thermal runaway and how much is released from the battery, as well as hundreds of high-speed radiography videos of internal failure mechanisms. Small manufacturers don't always have the time and the resources to test batteries in such a rigorous way that we have over the past five to six years, Finegan said. They can just, for free, come to the NREL website, download all of this data and make their own assessment of how safe the batteries are that they may or may not choose for their application. Learn more about NREL energy storage and transportation and mobility research. 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. Prayagraj : , March 19 (IANS) The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has identified the famous Akshaywat tree located in Akbar fort, the Parijaat tree on the banks of Ganga, the Banyan tree by the Senate hall of the arts faculty in Allahabad University and the Sheesham tree in Ram Shayan Ashram in Shringverpur among the 943 trees heritage trees. It includes of a total of 28 species, and 53 of these trees are from the Prayagraj district. All these trees are over 100 years old and have a religious or historical association. Thirteen from this list are from the neighbouring district of Pratapgarh and seven from Kaushambhi. Divisional forest officers (DFO) across the state were asked to prepare a list of such trees that are over 100 years old and are associated with mythological events, historical occasions, important events, monuments, religious traditions etc. Such trees were to be included in the list of 'heritage trees'. A team of experts visited all the places from where the tentative list of heritage trees was submitted to the government. Based on the recommendation, the state government has now announced the list that includes three of the 28 species commonly seen in any city. Under this first-of-its-kind initiative, there are 21 Banyan trees, 20 Pipal trees, four trees each of Pakhad and Neem, two of Parijat and one tree each of Mahua and Shesham ticked off in Prayagraj. The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Prayagraj, Y.P. Shukla, said, "It is a known fact that the city of Prayagraj has a rich historical and religious legacy and these trees have been witness to its legacy and have rightly been tagged as heritage trees. "These include the famous Akshaywat tree located at Akbar fort, the Parijaat tree on the banks of Ganga river, the Banyan tree located beside the Senate hall of the arts faculty of Allahabad University and the Sheesham tree at Ram Shayan Ashram at Shringverpur." The other trees are at the Allahabad Museum, Azad Park, Allahabad University and Railway DRM Office. Among the 943 trees which have been identified as heritage trees, 13 trees are from the neighbouring Pratapgarh district. These include four Banyan trees, seven Pipal trees and one each of Samel (Bombax ceiba or silk cotton tree) and Kareel. This Kareel tree is also famous as Kareel Baba Sthan. Locals believe that Lord Ram had rested under the shade of the tree while going towards Chitrakoot on his 14 years of exile. Similarly, seven trees from the neighbouring district of Kaushambhi are also on the state government's list of heritage trees. Among these, there are three trees each of Banyan and Pipal and a tree of Imli (tamarind). "Now that these trees would be tagged as heritage trees, they will also be included in the list of tourist places," said the DFO. 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. Rite Aid announced today that it will give teachers, school staff and childcare providers priority COVID-19 vaccine scheduling. The move, Rite Aid said, is in accordance with a directive from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Biden Administration, to ensure these groups are vaccinated during the month of March. Vaccine appointments will be exclusively available to that group of people on Friday, March 19; Saturday, March 20; Friday, March 26; and Saturday, March 27. The vaccination will be scheduled when the person registers online during those dates. Those eligible during these priority periods include: Pre-Kindergarten 12th grade educators and staff Childcare workers Family childcare providers Head Start & Early Head Start staff For other eligible people, appointments will be available for scheduling all other days in March. You can schedule a vaccination appointment at Rite Aid online. READ MORE Seguin, Texas (78155) Today Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Cleantech is one of the hottest sectors in the economy ZS2 Technologies, a rapidly growing Calgary-based building technology company has been recognized as Albertas top emerging cleantech company. The company took home the top prize at the Alberta Cleantech Investment Summit, which was held virtually on March 11. Four Albertan cleantech companies received over $450,000 in investment at the event. Being surrounded by so many amazing cleantech companies was a fantastic experience. It made me appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit that is 17 in Alberta and how we as a province continue to innovate and pioneer solutions with global implications, said Doug Brown, co-founder and CTO of ZS2 Technologies. This capital will help us launch our company into the next phase of our growth. A high-energy event with over 150 participants, the Summit concluded a process that engaged 28 investors and nearly 40 entrepreneurs. Over a six-week period, the investors heard pitches from the provinces top emerging cleantech companies and conducted due diligence while learning about investing from experienced angel groups and some of Canadas leading cleantech venture capitalists. Five finalists pitched at the Summit Im so proud of how fast our team has worked over the last year to take ZS2 Technologies from an idea to Albertas leading cleantech startup, says Scott Jenkins, co-founder and CEO of ZS2 Technologies. This investment, combined with our fully subscribed first round of financing is allowing us to ramp up and expand domestic manufacturing in Alberta this year, and positioning us to be Canadas leader in sustainable premanufactured building materials that are healthier for people and the planet. The Summit is a partnership between Startup TNT, the Alberta Clean Technology Industry Alliance (ACTia), Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre (Foresight), and the Energy Futures Lab (EFL). Cleantech is one of the hottest sectors in the economy, said Jason Switzer of ACTia. It plays to Albertas strengths in industrial innovation, agriculture and energy. With this event and growing community of investors, we are helping Albertans support companies with global potential. A recording of the final night of pitches at the Summit can be viewed here. About ZS2 Technologies ZS2 Technologies is innovating today, for a better planet tomorrow. Their mission is to research and accelerate the development and adoption of construction technologies which are stronger, safer and healthier for people and our planet. Theyre developing advanced building technologies including proprietary fire-rated, non-toxic, low-carbon building materials, and prefabricated panels which provide cost certainty, accelerated construction timelines, and lower building operating costs. http://www.zs2technologies.com Flowers are left at a makeshift memorial Thursday during a demonstration in Atlanta opposing violence against Asian Americans. (Getty Images) To the editor: Born in the U.S. to immigrant parents from the Philippines, my sisters and I learned the values that they knew would equip us to realize their dreams in this country. Education was foremost, and we were taught to respect all people and honor our elders. ("Man, 21, charged with murder in Atlanta-area spa shootings," March 17) My parents were right my sisters and I all became professionals. But the one thing that has been out of reach for us is now being analyzed in the media because of rising anti-Asian hate crimes and the shootings in Georgia: equality for people of color. Whiteness is the badge that we will never possess, and that somehow makes us less. Until whiteness no matter one's education, profession or social standing is no longer the measure of one's worth, this country will witness hate crimes. An essential lesson starts in the home and at school: We are people who share values and dreams, and being white should not privilege anyone. Lenore Navarro Dowling, Los Angeles .. To the editor: Hate is insidious. There is no excuse for hateful actions. The 1982 murder of Chinese American Vincent Chin in Michigan was blamed on the killers' perception that he was Japanese during the Detroit auto industry slump. Blaming Asian Americans for the virus that started in Wuhan, China, is merely a way to justify hate and allow festered hate to rear its ugly head. Politicians should not use this tragedy in playing the blame game. We need to work together to help unify our country as one nation under God. Ann Lau, Torrance .. To the editor: Male law enforcement officers fed soundbites into the news media following the Georgia mass killing of eight persons, including six Asian women. One explained that the killer had a bad day. Another announced that the killer confessed, with a motive of wanting to rid his "sexual addiction." In the 19th century, American lawmakers solidified Chinese exclusion policies, and they included the argument that such laws would prevent the importation of female prostitutes. In 2021, I hear a throwback to that mindset that equates Asian women with prostitution and sexual temptation. Story continues All women whose heritages are Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander are potentially caught in the quagmire. Betty Uyeda, Whittier .. To the editor: All the media are wasting money, space and time and creating huge carbon footprints trying to figure out the motives behind mass killings. Do we take the suspect's word for it? What would we do with accurate information anyway? Would we brain scan every man, woman and child, then either lock away or force treatment on those with certain traits before they act? Society surely wouldn't stand for such profiling. So how about keeping it simple? Focus on the crime itself, and when it's obvious who the perpetrator is, deliver justice quickly. Michael Tanouye, Santa Monica .. To the editor: That mixing guns and hate makes for a "bad day" is an unbelievable understatement. Mental health problems and racism have been with us a long time. Give people weapons, and these problems become extremely lethal. I can truly empathize with Asian Americans who are being targeted right now. But let's not forget how many churches, synagogues, airports, concerts and schools have been targeted by shooters. As an American, I am not proud of our gun culture. Beverly Lever, Calabasas .. To the editor: When Robert Aaron Long goes on trial for the murder of eight people, six of whom were Asian women, sitting next to him as co-defendant should be former President Trump. We should not be surprised by such acts, as he promoted hate and sometimes even violence for years. With him, by proxy, should be the entire Republican Party, which has blood on its hands for supporting such evil. Randy Pommerenk, Lancaster This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Australia's longest-serving Labor prime minister Bob Hawke will have a federal seat named after him following the next election. Australia's independent election umpire has proposed the new division of Hawke in the Ballarat region of Victoria, meaning it will likely be a moderately safe Labor seat. The new seat will replace the Liberal-held division of Stirling in Western Australia, reflecting a population increase in Victoria and a decrease in WA. The Prime Minister can call the next federal election any time between August and May next year. The last image of Bob Hawke and wife Blanche d'Alpuget taken by a neighbour on 28 March 2019 Attorney-General Christian Porter's seat of Pearce has been spared from abolition under the voter redistribution. The Australian Electoral Commission confirmed on Friday the seat of Stirling, in Perth's north, held by Liberal backbencher Vince Connelly, will be axed to reduce WA's seats by one to a total of 15. The seat's voters will be redistributed to the expanded neighbouring seats of Cowan, Curtin, Moore and Perth. There will also be boundaries shifted across the whole state. One of the options had been to abolish Mr Porter's seat of Pearce, but it was rejected. Objections to the proposed WA seat changes close on April 16, with the final determination due on August 2 - just days before the first possible date for a half-Senate and full House of Representatives election. With the new division of Hawke, Victoria's total electorate number will be 39. Australia's independent election umpire has proposed the new division of Hawke in the Ballarat region of Victoria, meaning it will likely be a moderately safe Labor seat Every deceased former prime minister, except Joseph Cook, dating back to Federation in 1901 has a federal electorate named after them in the state where they served as an MP. Liberal PM Billy McMahon died in 1988 but an electorate wasn't named after him until 2010. He lost the 1972 election to Labor's Gough Whitlam, ending 23 years of unbroken Coalition rule. Malcolm Fraser died in 2015 and a seat in Melbourne was drawn up for the 2019 election. He won three elections. Bob Hawke only had to wait two years, having died in 2019, but he won four elections and led the Labor Party from 1983 to 1991. He died aged 89 in March 2019. With AAP New York: Elsa Peretti, who went from Halston model and Studio 54 regular in the 1960s and 70s to one of the worlds most famous jewellery designers, has died. She was 80. She died Thursday night in her sleep at home in a small village outside Barcelona, Spain, according to a statement from her family office in Zurich and the Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation. Elsa Peretti, left, poses with designer Halston after a fashion show in New York on June 15, 1970. Credit:Halston Perettis sculptural cuff bracelets, bean designs and open-heart pendants for jewellery brand Tiffany are among her most recognisable work. She lent her classical aesthetic to functional goods, too, including bowls, magnifying glasses, razors and even a pizza cutter done in sterling silver, a metal she favoured and helped popularise as a luxury choice. Elsa was not only a designer but a way of life, Tiffany said in a statement Friday. Elsa explored nature with the acumen of a scientist and the vision of a sculptor. Originally introduced in Alaska as attractive, ornamental trees, Prunus padus (AKA European bird cherry, chokecherry, or mayday trees), and Prunus virginiana (AKA Canadian red, or chokecherry), are now deemed invasive species with the potential to significantly affect native ecosystems in Alaska. JASPER COUNTY, Ill. (WTHI) - For the last year small town businesses have been getting help to stay afloat. Now one Jasper county organization is hoping to help by bringing those businesses together. That group is the jasper county economic development incorporated, better known as Jedi. Much like Jedis from the movies, the organization is hoping to bring some good to the community. Jasper County is a tight-knit community. Most everyone knows each other. Jedi is using that hometown mentality to start up "Jedi Talks." Jedi Talks features a roughly 20-minute video with folks from the organization. Local business owners or leaders come on to discuss their experiences. But most importantly they pass along words of wisdom to the community. Jedi talks are supplied on the Jedi website. The idea is to help those who are struggling. Jedi also hopes the talks will provide an even tighter business community. Amber Volk with Jedi says, "We've just seen, especially in our community and surrounding communities, people come together. We can get a lot of our resources right here. We can support them. We don't want to see them go." To watch Jed Talks: Click Here Ten years ago, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution inviting member countries to measure the happiness of their people and hence use the data to help guide public policy. By definition, "happiness" is quite subjective. That is why probably the UN later identified three key goals - to end poverty, reduce inequality and protect our planet - that would lead to well-being and happiness. For the last eight years it has been celebrating International Day of Happiness on 20 March. The Top 7 of the latest published World Happiness Report 2020 reads, in happiness order: Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden. This means their citizens perceive themselves to be happy and also happen to be some of the wealthiest in the world, thus confirming/fulfilling the UN's criteria of happiness. However, it looks like the variables are more appropriate for measuring happiness on a national rather than individual level. So, maybe, that is why numerous individual representatives of the happiest countries leave their homelands quite often and settle elsewhere, in Spain, among other places. For example the Costa del Sol attracts lots of people from the aforementioned happy countries. If we follow the idea of the proverb - when you are well-off you don't seek better - then nobody would want to move and emigrate. However they are acknowledging that there are better lands. Does it, therefore, mean that the coast of Malaga can be considered as a super-happy place? The answer could be totally affirmative, but not for the local people. Spaniards have never made it to the top 10, let alone the top 30 of Happy Nations. Indeed, only in 2020 did the country manage to achieve the rank of 28th for the first time. All this poses something of a paradox or just peculiarities of national mentality. Spanish people do love their country but at the same time don't mind moaning about it. Probably this self-underestimation prevents it from being listed among the happiest nations. And "no pasa nada". Indeed I can see that they don't care about this rating because daily emotional experience is appreciated by them much more. Spanish people just live happily - with their fun carnivals and generous ferias, enjoying big families and creating friendly atmospheres. Another paradox... Some of the top 'happy nations' are also known for alcohol abuse, a high number of suicides, and high level of depression as well as soft drug tolerance and even the norm of living with firearms. Might it be the cost of happiness? Some psychologists state that being content and happy is better as it's an inner feeling of satisfaction that isn't dependent on external factors. If this is so, then it would be wrong not to try this Mediterranean lifestyle and live differently, or rather, more happily. The first long-term seroprevalence study of residents in Wuhan, China, has found that 6.9% of people in the city had antibodies against COVID-19 in April 2020, and 82% of these people had an asymptomatic infection. Additionally, 40% of people with antibodies developed neutralizing antibodies, and these levels did not decrease between April and October-December 2020. The results are published in an observational study of 9,542 people in The Lancet. The authors say that understanding seroprevalence and how antibody levels change over time in Wuhan will help inform their vaccination strategy, with their findings indicating that mass vaccination is needed to protect against future resurgences of the virus. The latest seroprevalence study from Wuhan adds to previous seroprevalence studies conducted globally, including in Geneva (Switzerland), Spain, the USA, Iceland and the Netherlands, which have attempted to shed light on the true rate of infection in a population. This is particularly important as the rates of asymptomatic infection are uncertain, with estimates ranging from between 6% to 96% globally. Assessing the proportion of the population that have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and who are immune is of utmost importance for determining effective prevention and control strategies to reduce the likelihood of future resurgence of the pandemic. Given that individuals with mild infections might not seek medical care and that asymptomatic individuals are not usually screened, there may be large discrepancies between the reported COVID-19 cases, and actual infected cases, which has been proven by the experiences and data from other countries." Dr Chen Wang, Study Lead Author, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, China He continues: "Even at the epicenter of the pandemic in China, with more than 50,000 confirmed cases as of April 8, 2020, the estimated seroprevalence in Wuhan remains low, and around 40% of people with antibodies developed neutralizing antibodies, suggesting there is still lack of immunity in the population." Participants in the study lived across all 13 districts of Wuhan, with all members of a household invited to take part. All ages were included in the study, but people with serious diseases (such as advanced cancer or severe mental illness) were excluded. Participants completed a questionnaire of demographic and health information, including if they had previously been diagnosed with COVID-19 or had had any COVID-19 symptoms since 1 December 2019. Blood samples were taken to test if antibodies were present in mid-April 2020, mid-June, and between October and December. Infections were classed as symptomatic if a participant reported having had fever and/or respiratory symptoms and was positive for COVID-19 antibodies. The study included 9,542 people from 3,556 families. Of the 9,542 participants, 532 had antibodies against COVID-19. When adjusted, this equated to a seroprevalence of 6.9% in the population of Wuhan. The authors found that women had a higher seroprevalence than men, people aged 66 years or over had the highest seroprevalence than any other age group, health care workers had a higher seroprevalence than other occupations, and people who had visited hospital in the past five months had higher seroprevalence than those who had not. 437 (82%) of 532 participants who were positive for antibodies were asymptomatic. The study authors note that this is much higher than past estimates of 40-45% reported worldwide. They say this may be due to recall bias where participants reported their own symptoms five months later, but also say that this is unlikely to overestimate incidence to a large extent in their study because stringent measures were taken in Wuhan to identify every case, and Wuhan residents were vigilant in recording their symptoms during the outbreak. Around 40% of participants (212/532 people) were positive for neutralizing antibodies - those that protect against future infection - in April 2020. The proportion of people who had neutralizing antibodies remained stable for the two follow-up periods - with 45% (162/363 people) in June 2020, and 41% (187/454 people) in October-December 2020. In addition, looking at the levels of neutralizing antibodies in people's blood using data from 335 people who attended all three blood tests, the authors found that these levels did not significantly decrease over the nine months of the study. However, people who had had asymptomatic COVID-19 had lower levels than people who had confirmed or symptomatic COVID-19 disease. Co-author, Dr Lili Ren, Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, China, says: "Little is known of the durability of immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 over a long period. In our study, we found that the proportion of participants with antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 was sustained for at least nine months. Importantly, we found that neutralizing antibody titers remained stable for at least nine months." The authors note some limitations to their study, including that they cannot confirm when participants were infected and produced antibodies because most cases were asymptomatic and not confirmed by PCR testing at the outset of their infection. However, they note that there were very few cases of COVID-19 reported in Wuhan between mid-March and April 2020, so assumed infection occurred at least 4 weeks before blood samples were taken. The authors of a linked Comment, Professor Richard Strugnell and Dr Nancy Wang (who were not involved in the study) from Doherty Institute, Australia, say the seroprevalence estimate suggests that the number of infections in Wuhan likely exceeded the number of reported COVID-19 cases in Wuhan. They write: "If the seroconversion rate is an accurate reflection of exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the apparent disparity between low case numbers and high seroconversion rate seems to suggest that most seroconverted individuals produced antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 after asymptomatic infection." They also note that the findings have provided a much deeper understanding of natural seroconversion in a key city in the pandemic, and that the findings underscore the success in controlling the Wuhan outbreak of COVID-19 at a time when testing, tracing, and treatment resources were much less developed: "Efficient global management of COVID-19 will probably succeed or fail on the basis of the immunity induced by natural infection and, especially, vaccination. Given the relative paucity of neutralizing antibodies through natural infection, the study by He and colleagues reinforces the need for effective COVID-19 vaccines in the population-level control of the disease. The extraordinary, rapid, and effective control measures implemented in Wuhan might have restricted the spread of the virus, but also reduced naturally-acquired herd immunity by truncating the development of sustained neutralizing antibodies." Although other national and local governments have used alternate and usually less effective strategies to control the spread of COVID-19, even in highly endemic communities the prevalence of disease is usually too low to drive sufficient herd immunity to protect the population. "He and colleagues' findings suggest that herd immunity will likely not develop after natural transmission in settings where infection control mechanisms are successfully introduced, underscoring the importance of effective vaccination strategies to control the spread of COVID-19. This study is an important milestone in the description of SARS-CoV-2 infection and our understanding of immunity in the pandemic." COALDALE St. Lukes Hospital Miners Campus will now allow visitation by appointment at its skilled nursing facility. Wendy Lazo, president of St. Lukes Miners Campus, said in a press conference Thursday that families of residents can now visit the facility in person after months of restrictions. Our skilled nursing staff has always treated our residents like family, but during this pandemic, they had to take that to the next level, Lazo said. Since Oct. 27, nearly five months of visitation lockdown, and this, the anniversary week of the pandemic shutdown, the state has relaxed visitation restrictions, allowing our residents to now see their families in person. Lazo said 94% of residents at the St. Lukes Miners Skilled Nursing Facility have been fully vaccinated. Arlene Breiner, a resident of the facility, said she was happy she had the opportunity to receive the vaccine so she can now see her family again. Im so happy that I can see them, Breiner said. I really missed them. We can now get together again. Breiners son, Perry Breiner, said the opportunity to see his mother in person again has been a long time coming. Furthermore, the facility recently received a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Lazo said the hospital has also relaxed visitation restrictions to allow three visitors to see a patient. St. Lukes Miners Campus has administered or scheduled over 8,000 vaccinations as of Thursday, according to David Gibson, vice president of St. Lukes Miners and Lehighton campuses. Theyve been at times working around the clock to ensure that every vaccine that we receive at the Miners Campus ended up in somebodys arm, Gibson said. In addition to scheduling appointments online through the MyChart portal, the St. Lukes network has developed a Shot Line system to call patients over the age of 65 and schedule their appointments by phone. The network announced Wednesday the system now operates in Spanish to contact those who have been a St. Lukes patient and selected Spanish as their preferred language. We reach out to them in Spanish, and when they get that call, they can schedule a vaccine right then and there, Samuel Kennedy, corporate communications director, said. For people who dont have computers, this really makes it easy for them. Were even reaching out to people who have never preregistered for the vaccine. Across the network, St. Lukes has administered 160,000 vaccines in Phase 1A of the rollout. Justin Binstead, DO, medical director of St. Lukes Miners Emergency Department, said the timeline for continuation past Phase 1A of the rollout is unknown as of now, as it will depend on availability of the vaccine. Gibson said along with the vaccination numbers, the hospital has also seen progress with the decreasing number of positive cases. As of right now, we have zero COVID positive patients at the St. Lukes Miners Campus, Gibson said. That in itself is a real milestone and further emphasis that we are making progress in this fight. County and state data As of Thursday, 12,835 people in Schuylkill County have been partially vaccinated and 18,762 have been fully vaccinated. At Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill, over 12,000 have been vaccinated, with 1,800 doses administered this week, according to M. Michael Peckman, marketing and public affairs specialist. Statewide, 1,233,781 people have been partially vaccinated and 1,388,603 have been fully vaccinated. The county has had 12,391 COVID-19 cases and 377 deaths, with 22 reported cases Wednesday. In the state, there have been 976,847 cases and 24,706 deaths. Leading EU countries said Thursday they would resume AstraZeneca vaccinations after the European medical regulator said the jab is "safe and effective" and not associated with a higher blood clot risk after days of commotion around the shot. AFP The closely-watched announcement from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) came after the WHO and Britain's health watchdog both said the vaccine was safe, adding that it was far riskier to not get the shot as several countries face a worrying rise in coronavirus cases. Lockdown Imposed In Paris As COVID-19 Virus Spreads Faster Frances prime minister on Thursday imposed a month-long lockdown on Paris and several other regions after a faltering vaccine rollout and spread of highly contagious coronavirus variants forced President Emmanuel Macron to shift course. AFP Prime Minister Jean Castex said the tougher restrictions followed a clear acceleration in the spread of the coronavirus, with France now in the grip of a third wave. US Senate Committee Flags "Deteriorating Democratic Situation In India" US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin - the first member of the newly elected Joe Biden administration who will be on a visit to India starting today -- has been asked to raise concerns about democracy in the country with Indian officials. In a letter to him, Senator Robert Menendez has pointed out that while US and India's partnership is "critical to meet the challenges of the 21st Century", the partnership "must rest on adherence to democratic values". The Indian government, he added, "has been trending away from those values". AFP In his letter, Senator Menendez -- Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee --- wrote: "The Indian government's ongoing crackdown on farmers peacefully protesting new farming laws and corresponding intimidation of journalists and government critics only underscores the deteriorating situation of democracy in India. At 25,833, Maharashtra Sees The Highest Daily Rise In Covid Cases Maharashtra has recorded 25,833 fresh cases of Covid over the last 24 hours, the highest since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. BCCL Overall, there has been a big jump in cases of mutant strains since their presence was detected in India. 158 new cases have been reported over the last 14 days. On March 18, India has logged 400 cases of UK, South Africa and Brazil variants of the disease. Kejriwal Asks Centre To Allow Walk-in Vaccines For All Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday urged the central government to extend the vaccination drive against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) to all eligible beneficiaries in view of the rising cases. AFP "Request Centre to make list of those not eligible for Covid-19 vaccine and make it available for all others," Kejriwal said. 2 Arrested As Clip Shows One Of Them Spitting On Rotis At Delhi Hotel Two men have been arrested after a video surfaced on social media purportedly showing one of them kneading the dough at a local hotel in west Delhi and the other spitting on the ''roti'' (flatbread) just before putting them in the oven, officials said on Thursday. Screengrab In the video, a man wearing a blue t-shirt is seen kneading the dough while the other person in a white undershirt is seen preparing the ''roti''. (CNN) The Biden administration is considering a six-month extension for American troops in Afghanistan, just weeks before the May 1 deadline that the Trump administration had negotiated with the Taliban to withdraw all US forces from the country, according to a defense official. No final decision has been made, the official emphasized. NBC News first reported that a six-month extension is under consideration. The official noted that the US will want to get the Taliban to agree to the extension. Other options are still on the table, including a full withdrawal by May 1, but a sign of President Joe Biden's current thinking came this week when he told ABC News he didn't think it would "take a lot longer," and said a full withdrawal by May 1 "could happen, but it is tough." Biden has some domestic political cover -- some members in Congress are worried about a full drawdown. And the President has been sharply critical of the details that Trump administration negotiated. "I'm in the process of making that decision now as to when they'll leave. The fact is, that was not a very solidly negotiated deal that the President -- the former President -- worked out. So, we're in consultation with our allies as well as the government, and that decision's -- it's in process now," Biden told ABC. A report from an influential Afghanistan study group co-chaired by former Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford recommended a more flexible timeline based on conditions such as reduced violence. One critical problem is the current agreement with the Taliban does not acknowledge potentially hundreds of US special operations forces in the country that are not part of the current group of 2,500 US troops there. If they stay to help with counter-terrorism missions beyond a drawdown, the US may have to broadly acknowledge that presence. Several defense officials previously told CNN that the US-led NATO alliance would like to see decisions taken no later than April 1 because of the challenges of removing US weaponry and equipment, amid concerns about some of it falling into the hands of the Taliban. A Pentagon report said the full withdrawal could be devastating to "the survival of the Afghan state as we know it." But as Biden weighs his options, the US military continues its operations in the country, having conducted airstrikes there this week targeting the Taliban. US airstrikes in recent days targeted "Taliban fighters actively attacking and maneuvering on (Afghan National Security Forces) positions" in Kandahar, US Forces Afghanistan spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said in a tweet on Wednesday. The Taliban "strongly condemned" the US airstrikes on Kandahar, with spokesman Qari Mohammad Yusuf Ahmadi affirming that Taliban members were killed and injured, but not specifying how many. Ahmadi called the bombings "a clear violation of the Doha Agreement, which cannot be justified in any way." The "Doha Agreement," signed by the US and the Taliban just more than a year ago in Doha, Qatar, set out a series of commitments by both sides relating to troop levels, counterterrorism and the intra-Afghan dialogue aimed at bringing about "a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire." This story has been updated with additional information Thursday. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Biden administration considering 6-month extension for US troops in Afghanistan." International experts warned about escalating tensions at the 3rd ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) online workshop on strengthening cooperation in law enforcement at sea. The event was held on March 16-17 by the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia and the European Commission. As co-chair and head of the delegation of Vietnam, Mr. Vu Ho, Director of the Department for ASEAN Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke about the importance of maintaining and promoting dialogue and cooperation to respond to security challenges in the region, including marine security. The sea and oceans play an important role for all countries, Ho said, adding that all countries share a common interest in ensuring all waters are peaceful, secure, safe and clean. Countries should continue to cooperate with each other, particularly among law enforcement forces. Mr. Vu Ho speaks at the seminar. To contribute to the implementation of the ARF Declaration on Cooperation between law enforcement agencies at sea approved by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs in 2016, Vietnam, together with Australia and the EU, organized a series of ARF workshops and achieved many positive results. Regarding the situation and related developments since then, the workshop noted that along with the improved operations of enforcement of sea law enforcement forces, the risk of collisions and incidents has increased. There have been many discussions among scholars and experts about the possibility of devising guiding rules and general activities to reduce the risk of incidents, misunderstandings and miscalculations, including suggestions introduced at the 12th International Conference on the East Sea held last November. Another issue of concern is the use of force in law enforcement at sea. At the workshop, many scholars emphasized that although it is an international law, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea have provisions allowing the use of force while on duty, but only if it is necessary and appropriate, and with necessary restrictions, would it be the last resort after all other measures have been taken. Also, the use of force should comply with general principles and procedures, especially to avoid harm to life. In addition, the use of force only occurs in waters under the jurisdiction of countries. If it happens in disputed waters, this is very sensitive, easily leading to an escalation of tensions. At the workshop, speakers and delegates spoke about many models of cooperation among law enforcement forces at sea, such as in the Mediterranean, offshore Somalia, and frameworks for responding to transnational marine challenges, such as crimes of human trafficking, drug smuggling, weapon smuggling, terrorism, as well as prevention of illegal fishing and conservation of marine resources and environment. The workshop was held online. Models and methods of cooperation are diverse, including sharing information and intelligence, setting up urgent communication channels, building joint monitoring mechanisms, implementing joint patrols, or building rules of behavior. In order to create a basis for cooperation, participants said that it is necessary to create measures to build trust and mutual understanding among law enforcement agencies at sea. In Southeast Asia, ASEAN has identified maritime cooperation and security as priority areas in the Indo-Pacific Perspective Document. Accordingly, it is promoting intra-regional cooperation and cooperation with external partners in this field. Regarding the future direction of cooperation, the workshop recorded many recommendations focusing on the need to develop guiding principles, rules to help prevent collisions and incidents, technology application to support operations and improve capacity and equipment, and make necessary adjustments in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The content of discussions and recommendations will be summarized and reported to the 12th meeting of the ARF Working Group on Marine Security, scheduled for April 2021. Adopted in 2016 as an initiative of Vietnam, the Declaration calls on ARF members' maritime law enforcement agencies to strengthen substantive cooperation through activities such as sharing experiences, capacity building, organization of activities such as joint patrols, anti-piracy drills, and assurance of freedom of navigation and overflight, towards building common rules and standards of conduct. Tran Thuong President Biden is engineering a sharp shift in policy toward China, focused on gathering allies to counter Beijings coercive diplomacy around the world and ensuring that China does not gain a permanent advantage in critical technologies. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Jake Sullivan, Mr. Bidens national security adviser, will road-test the new approach in what promises to be a tense first encounter on Thursday with their Chinese counterparts in Anchorage. It is a meeting they delayed until they could reach the outlines of a common strategy with allies notably Japan, South Korea, India and Australia and one they insisted had to take place on American soil. At first glance, the Biden administrations policy shift seems to adopt much of the Trump administrations conviction that the worlds two biggest powers are veering dangerously toward confrontation, a clear change in tone from the Obama years. But the emerging strategy more directly repudiates the prevailing view of the last quarter century that deep economic interdependence could be counted on to temper fundamental conflicts on issues like Chinas military buildup, its territorial ambitions and human rights. CHICO, Calif. Chico State announced the 2021 commencement ceremonies will be held online. The University said it had hoped for an in-person ceremony, but it is confident that in nine weeks from now, California and Butte County will not be in a situation where it can host the graduates and their families safely in person. "We also know from our survey of graduates that 35% are not currently residing in Chico, and asking them to return would put them and our community at risk," University representatives said. "Additionally, it is important to offer equitable access to a graduation ceremony and the city a graduate resides in or access to a car should not deny participation to anyone." Chico States 2021 commencement ceremonies will include more than 30 unique virtual events and celebrations, and dozens of virtual receptions for its graduations, according to the University. The virtual ceremonies will be held from May 20 through May 23. Families and students can learn more about the virtual commencement ceremonies by clicking here. Amid nationwide protests against Myanmars military regime, a series of arson attacks on 32 Chinese-funded factories in the Yangon industrial townships of Hlaingthaya and Shwepyitha on March 14 and 15, causing what Chinas state media reported was nearly 240 million yuan (U.S. $37 million) in damages. A Myanmar owner who rented warehouse space to destroyed textile factories spoke to RFAs Myanmar Service on the attacks that took place in Shwepyitha on March 15. The businessmans account of events contradicted official claims that anti-coup protesters torched the factories, and he has had to go into hiding along with his family. He spoke to RFA on condition that his name and business be withheld. RFA: What do you know about the arson destruction of factories that were your tenants this week? Myanmar businessman: On the 15th at around 2:30 or 3pm, about 30 people in black clothes holding swords arrived on motorcycles and set fires -- starting in the hallway between two factories and then they left. The employees then put out the fire with a fire extinguisher and the fire died out. Then they came back around 3:30 or 4 pm and saw the fire had been extinguished, climbed over the wall and entered into the factory, forced employees at the point of swords to open the factory doors. They shouted warnings at residents who came to the scene that anyone who recorded the incident with a cellphone would be slashed, so no one dared to take pictures or videos. Then they threatened employees with swords and forced them out of the factory. The security guards and five Chinese nationals inside the factory were forced to flee. Then they torched the factory again. RFA: So they broke into the factory, threatened workers with swords, and set fires. How many were there? What organization do they belong to? Were they gangsters, or some well-trained organization? Myanmar businessman: Residents in the community said the men were not from nearby. There were about 30 of them, all in black clothes -- like a unified action in uniforms. As they all wore black clothes, once riots erupted, it was easy to identify the men in black as their own guys. In addition, they all held long swords and waved them at crowds who wanted to shoot photos or videos or extinguish the fire, shouting that whoever dared would be chopped to death. This shows that they were afraid that their crimes be exposed and that they did it with premeditation. RFA: The military regime claims that it was the residents who committed arson. Why is there this difference in explanation? Myanmar businessman: It wasnt residents. You can ask any resident in this community. The local residents tried their best to extinguish the fire, but the rioters stopped them and threatened them with knives and death. The residents worried that the boiler in the factory might explode, and this could be seen clearly from the video screenshot. Only after they left, could the residents extinguish the fire. The factory is very close to community residences, but luckily the wind blew the fire in the other direction and the residences could be saved. Local people would not burn their own homes to ashes. RFA: Some say that it was the owner of the factory who set the fire to destroy his factory because the economy has become so bad that he could not afford to pay salaries to workers. Is this true? Myanmar businessman: No way. The company which rented the warehouse building from me was doing very well, and even expanded to other places, with a giant factory in Hlaingtharya, and one in Bago. As far as I know, they are not franchising, taking production orders from others, but design and make products themselves. They have been renting my warehouse for five years already. RFA: It was said that in Shwepyitha that the Chinese manager of a Chinese garment factory himself set the fire that destroyed his factory. There were also other reports saying that all the other factories were burned by military and police. How credible are these accounts? Myanmar businessman: Those arsonists did not wear military or police uniforms. They were all in black. Thats all I can say. RFA: The Chinese government has demanded the military regime who seized power to ensure the lives and property of Chinese companies and citizens. As one of the owners of the destroyed factory warehouses, what do you say? Myanmar businessman: The security personnel of the military regime were not here on Sunday. The military announced its taking over on the 16th, while the arson was on 15th. They said it was a Chinese factory, but actually the Chinese rented the warehouse for production. Whats more, the local residents would not risk their own homelands being destroyed and themselves being rebuked as to set fire. The owners of the warehouse are Myanmar citizens; the land and buildings all belong to Myanmar citizens, and the Chinese citizens rent it for their business. The Chinese citizens property is only the equipment-- sewing machines, etc. In addition, our warehouse is located on the far edge of the industrial zone, far away from the roads where people held demonstrations. And none of the demonstrators had swords, or wore such clothes. And the arsonists are all middle-aged, not youngsters. They all held swords and had tattoos, like some bad eggs, thugs or thieves. RFA: How do you feel after losing a warehouse? Myanmar businessman: My first factory warehouse was about 150,000 square feet in size, my investment is very big, and now all of it is gone. The Chinese companies who invested also lost thousands of sewing machines, and thousands of workers lost jobs. Our development was very stable and smooth in the past five years, and no one could have imagined that today everything would go back to zero. Its hard to start over again from the very beginning. I feel very frustrated. Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Thein Aung. MACKINAC ISLAND, MI People who have spent time on Mackinac Island in the winter and early spring can attest to how peaceful it is a 180-degree turn from the teeming in-season tourist crowds on Main Street. But at the beginning of each week in the off-season, there is a sudden surge in the islands population: These visitors are layered up in sturdy jackets and hats. Theyre hauling supplies and carrying tools. Meet the Carhartt Army, nicknamed after the well-known Michigan brand of work clothes so many of them wear. The hundreds of workers who do construction, renovation projects, off-season maintenance and other needed work typically stay on the island during the week in the winter months, then head back to the mainland each weekend. Its all this work done largely behind the scenes that makes the island ready to greet visitors again each spring, resort and tourism officials say. Most Monday mornings, the Carhartt Army can be found in one place - motoring across the Straits of Mackinac aboard the Mighty Huron, the Star Line Ferry boat that handles the winter traffic to and from the island. Monday mornings, typically we get a pretty good influx of workers, said Jerry Fetty, Star Lines CEO. Some first boat trips of the day can carry 120 to 200 workers, depending on what projects are being done in the off-season. Once the Huron arrives and is tied up at the dock, the workers stream off, breaking into smaller groups and fanning out across the islands downtown or heading to its larger resorts to resume their work. Some walk and pull carts loaded with tools and equipment. Others catch a horse-drawn wagon with their supplies. Depending on the weather, some may pedal away on a bike or hop on a snowmobile thats hauling a trailer. At the end of the week, the Carhartt Army members find their way back to the dock for the trip to St. Ignace, the Star Line port it uses for its winter routes. Most stay over a week, then they all come off on Friday evening the last boat on Friday, Fetty said. For some people, a work routine that involves a ferry boat and maybe a horse-drawn taxi might sound odd. But for islanders, the Carhartt Armys presence signals work getting done. I love seeing the Carhartt Army, said Tim Hygh, CEO of the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau. That means businesses are re-investing in their properties to make the Mackinac Island experience better and better each year. Star Line's "Mighty Huron" winter ferry approaches the dock at Mackinac Island. Photo by Clark Bloswick. An Essential Army Some of the islands properties are tackling big projects this off-season, including Grand Hotel. The popular resort is doing extensive renovations on its Esther Williams swimming pool area, and has more projects underway inside the hotel. Much of that is reliant upon its off-season workers. The construction and engineering team at Grand Hotel play an integral role in preparing the hotel during the off-season, said Doug Dean, executive vice president of operations. From the moment the closing bell rings, they begin work to ensure all property updates are completed ahead of the reopening. Even through this unpredictable Michigan winter, they have done a tremendous job of remaining on track with the Esther Williams Swimming Pool renovation project. We cant wait to welcome guests and unveil this updated experience in a few months. Stan Antkoviak, director of facilities at the islands huge Mission Point resort, has a keen understanding of why the Armys winter work translates into summer relaxation for guests. The work our team does over the winter months is critical for Mission Points success in the summer, said Antkoviak. We use local companies as often as we can and all of our contractors are from the northern Michigan region: St. Ignace, Alanson, Traverse City, Petoskey, Cheboygan - they are some of the most hardworking people youll ever meet. Over the last few years, the Ware family has put over $12 million into the property to improve guest areas, add amenities and update employee housing. Weve laid over 1,000 lineal feet of plumbing pipe and installed over 1/2 mile worth of carpeting! Every winter is different; sometimes the weather will cooperate and sometimes its an uphill battle but its all part of the challenge and keeps things interesting! All Aboard the Mighty Huron Most of the Carhartt Armys trips to and from the island take place aboard the Huron, Star Lines 150-ton cold-weather workhorse. Its winter season started on Nov. 1. Built in 1955 and stretching 86 feet long, this steel-hulled ferry is built to handle winter in the Straits. There were only a few weeks this year when the Huron was sidelined by thick ice, and passengers had to find other modes of transport on and off the island. Small planes are one option. But in winters like this one, when a deep-freeze creates a temporary ice bridge between the island and the mainland, workers can sometimes take a snowmobile to and from Mackinac Island, Fetty said. Once ice conditions had thinned enough earlier this month to put the Huron back in service, Fetty said it was great to watch the tough ferry do what it was built for: break a path to the island. These guys are experts at reading the ice, he said of his Star Line employees. On the first trip out after the deep-freeze, the Hurons team was nudging the ferry through a field of strong blue ice that was over a foot thick. The Huron handled it, no problem, Fetty said, a touch of pride in his voice. That boat was really built with the job that she does in mind. Star Line's winter ferry, the Huron, motors though the ice-topped water as it approaches Mackinac Island. Photo courtesy of Clark Bloswick. Because Mother Nature is so fickle and weather near Mackinac Island can change in a snap Fettys crew stays on top of conditions so they can alert passengers who depend on the ferry schedule to any last-minute changes. Star Line offers a texting service so passengers can get instant updates. Fetty said his team is very proud to be the ones to carry the Carhartt Army and other winter passengers to and from the island. We take it very seriously. In the springtime, we are out there every day, checking the ice toward shore and in the bay. As spring approaches, Star Line will add more trips-per-day to the schedule until the calendar hits April 21. Thats when the early summer season officially begins. Star Line will start running ferry boats to the island from both its St. Ignace and Mackinaw City docks, and the companys fleet of hydrojet ferries will return to the water. When the switch to the summer fleet happens, the Huron will be ready for her off-season. The older ferry will be pulled from the lake and given a dryland berth at the companys Mackinac Marine Services in St. Ignace. The Huron is slated for some work this summer, including a new engine and maybe a new boiler. After a winter carrying the Carhartt Army, shell have earned her rest. To see Star Lines 2021 season ferry schedules and order tickets online, check the website here. READ MORE Mackinac Islands Grand Hotel announces special packages for 2021 season Mackinac Islands Mission Point has 2021 special packages for romance, adventure, celebrations Mackinac Islands waterfront Chippewa Hotel extends spring specials into summer Mackinac Islands Bicycle Street Inn offers big savings, special perks for spring guests MORE than 100m in government funding has been announced for two major initiatives in Limerick city, including the development of a word-class waterfront. Details of the allocations, under the Urban and Regeneration Development Fund, have been confirmed by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh OBrien. A total of 73.4m will be used to fund plans for a world-class waterfront which will include the development of the Cleeves Riverside Quarter and the construction of new pedestrian bridges and various public realm works. It is also proposed to re-align the public road at Arthurs Quay and Honans Quay which will facilitate a comprehensive re-development at Arthurs Quay retail area. Separately, 42.61m has been allocated for the Living Limerick City Centre Initiative. This project, the department says, is about making positive, innovative and transformational change to revitalise the centre of Limerick city and supporting the objective of compact growth in a holistic and strategic manner. It will include the renewal of vacant and underutilised stock under the Living Georgian City Programme. As part of the Digital Innovation Cluster Programme, an innovation campus will be developed within the city centre to attract cutting-edge companies, start-ups, 'Accelerators and other related entities. The funding announced today for #MidWest & #SouthWest totals 567m & include: 4.04m for Ennis Public Realm Regeneration @ClareCoCo 73.4m for Limerick Worldclass Waterfront project 42.61 for Living Limerick City Centre Initiative @LimerickCouncil March 19, 2021 Commenting on the announcement of the funding, Minister O'Brien said: Both Limerick projects are extremely exciting and will result in new opportunities such as a digital innovation cluster and a world-class waterfront along the Shannon. The Living Georgian City Programme will focus on creating new economic opportunities from derelict buildings in a city that has seen high levels of buildings vacancy over the years. The Department Housing, Local Government and Heritage will now engage with Limerick City and County Council on the next steps regarding the allocations. This funding will support projects in the Mid-West that will enhance the quality of life for many people. The projects are all about making these areas even more attractive places in which to live, work, visit and invest. Overall, I believe this funding can be a catalyst for regeneration, development and growth. It will also provide much-needed economic stimulus and job creation in the Mid-West as our economy emerges from the depths of the pandemic," added Mr O'Brien. 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 Today, ten years into the contrived, senseless and needless civil war, some half a million Syrians have been killed, 6.1 million internally displaced and 5.6 million are refugees. Most of the country is devastated with 12.4 million Syrians or 60 per cent of the population in need of food aid. Ten years ago, the Arab Spring was on. Repressed peoples rose to challenge the entrenched establishment, or so it was thought. First, the protests mainly affected Africa, having started in Tunisia, burning through Egypt and Libya. Meanwhile, the repressive and monarchical Gulf states, except Bahrain, were left untouched. The flames in Bahrain were speedily extinguished by a punitive and brutal Saudi expedition, which ensured that the minority monarchy continues its repressive rule. So, while the Tunisian and Egyptian protests were genuine, those of Libya, which overthrew President Mouamar Ghadaffi and Syria, which was basically an attempted coup, were contrived by Western powers and their conservative allies in the Gulf region. Syria was a beautiful, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. But the Western powers found it intolerable that it would not agree to be a satellite state and that it remained a power strong enough not just to resist the predatory Israeli state, but also strengthen Lebanons resistance against Israeli incursions. The conservative Gulf states, which were actually the ones ripe for the Arab Spring revolt, were uncomfortable with Syrias radicalism and its alliance with the Shiites in Lebanon and Iran. The contriving powers, while shouting that the Syrian government was a dictatorship, could not press for Western-style democracy because that precisely was what Syria was practising and the Bashar al-Assad government was winning at the polls. In any case, conniving Arab states like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Jordan were, unlike Syria, monarchies! Employing propaganda, funds for susceptible associations and campaigning on the basis of sectional religiosity, this foreign alliance was able to get unsuspecting Syrians on the streets. The main protests began on March 11, 2011 and within days, well-armed militias capable of taking on the military had sprung up. Unsuspecting protesters naively thought these were spontaneous groups that emerged to protect them. In fact, some elite, including some soldiers hoping for a coup, on July 29, 2011, founded the Free Syrian Army (FSA), under Colonel Riad al-Asaad, with the sole objective of toppling the government. The Americans got a front organisation called the Syrian Support Group to channel funds and arms to the FSA. The various armed militias thought they were fighting for a new Syria. With the failed regime change agenda of the West and Gulf states, Bashar al-Assad remains the president of his country. On the other hand, ISIS, following the October 2019 elimination of el-Baghdadi by his former American allies, is virtually extinct. They were buoyed on by the free flow of funds, arms and foreign fighters, including from Europe, who flew as tourists into Turkey and were then escorted as fighters to the Syrian battle fields. It took the FSA just a few weeks to discover that these foreign fighters were actually a mix of fundamentalists trained in Jordan by the Americans and funded by the conservative Gulf states, and Islamic fundamentalists from Europe who were tricked into believing they were going to Syria to fight a jihad against Shiite and Christian unbelievers. The bulk of the foreign fighters, who were mainly from Iraq, belonged to a group formerly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which later became known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai alias Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a well-known Iraqi terrorist, became the ISIS leader on April 7, 2013. These foreign troops were linked up with local Islamic fundamentalists called the al-Nusra Front and had by end of 2012, they jointly eliminated the Free Syrian Army. These fundamentalists were strengthened by then American President Barack Obama who, from 2013, gave the anti-Syrian forces $1 billion annually to procure arms and run their operations. But the main ISIS support funds came from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The ISIS and al-Nusra soon launched into a Jihad with the FSA and other secular anti-Assad forces as their first casualties. Obama, in 2014, almost made the mistake of directly attacking Syria and handing the country to ISIS when his administration claimed the al-Assad administration used chemical weapons in the war. Soon, ISIS spinned out of the control of their American, European and Arab minders. In June 2014, ISIS after taking over parts of Syria and Iraq, proclaimed itself a caliphate with religious, cultural, political and military authority over all Muslims worldwide. This was the turning point as America, Western European and their Arab allies turned their weapons against ISIS, just as Syria and its Lebanese, Iranian and Russian allies had done over a year before. Today, ten years into the contrived, senseless and needless civil war, some half a million Syrians have been killed, 6.1 million internally displaced and 5.6 million are refugees. Most of the country is devastated with 12.4 million Syrians or 60 per cent of the population in need of food aid. With the failed regime change agenda of the West and Gulf states, Bashar al-Assad remains the president of his country. On the other hand, ISIS, following the October 2019 elimination of el-Baghdadi by his former American allies, is virtually extinct. the American, West European and Gulf states anti-Syrian coalition has not given up; it continues to perpetuate the Syrian war. One of its ways of mobilising world opinion against the Syrian government is its bogey that Syria is using chemical weapons against its own people, even when that country, years ago, gave up all its chemical stockpile. However, the American, West European and Gulf states anti-Syrian coalition has not given up; it continues to perpetuate the Syrian war. One of its ways of mobilising world opinion against the Syrian government is its bogey that Syria is using chemical weapons against its own people, even when that country, years ago, gave up all its chemical stockpile. Tired of this propaganda and the continuation of the war, 18 internationally renowned persons, mostly scientists led by Ambassador Jose Bustani, the first Director General of the 193 Member-State Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), on February 12, petitioned the organisations Director General, Fernando Arias, demanding an end to the misuse of the OPWC. They specifically challenged the two OPWC reports released on October 2, 2020 on the alleged use of toxic chemicals as a weapon in Aleppo, on November 24, 2018, and Saraqib, Syrian Arab Republic, on August 1, 2016. Although the reports concluded that the OPWC could not establish whether or not chemicals were used, the protesting scientists, mainly from America, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, pointed out that the inspectors involved in the investigations identified major procedural and scientific irregularities and feeding the United Nations Security Council damning statements. They said with such politicisation, the OPCW management now stands accused of accepting unsubstantiated or possibly manipulated findings with the most serious geo-political and security implications. The OPCW had previously determined that the use of chlorine, sulfur mustard and sarin as chemical weapons took place in other incidents in the Syrian Arab Republic. But the petitioners who accused the organisation of carrying out a smear campaign against some of its own senior scientists said the manifest non-transparency of the OPCW raises concerns with respect to the credibility of previous (OPCW) reports. A decade of devastation, loss of lives and suffering is enough. The war in Syria must be brought to an end. Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author. President Moon Jae-in on Friday declared 2021 as the starting year of South Korea's green transition for daily infrastructure, reiterating his commitment to the Green New Deal policy. Attending a government strategy meeting on the Green New Deal policy at the Boryeong Thermal Power Plant in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, Moon said the nation's political, economic, social and cultural sectors should be overhauled "with an extraordinary determination that the Green New Deal is the only way for the nation to survive." The Moon administration has been campaigning for the Green New Deal aimed at fostering environment friendly industries in tandem with a push for balanced national development. On his vision of South Korea achieving carbon neutrality and reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050, Moon said the nation has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 10.8 percent over the past two years, thanks in part to the earlier-than-scheduled closures of coal power plants. He also vowed efforts to ensure the "democratic transition of energy" by mandating an inclusive energy policy that would minimize economic marginalization and job losses in the process. Moon also praised the government of South Chungcheong Province for taking the lead in the carbon neutrality drive and deciding to close 12 coal power plants in the province by 2034. (Yonhap) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) Bosnian officials on Friday denounced a Russian warning that it will take action if the country takes steps toward NATO membership. The Russian embassy in Sarajevo had said a day earlier that in case of practical rapprochement" of Bosnia and NATO, our country will have to react to this hostile act. It was not clear from the statement which what action Russia might take against Bosnia, which has long proclaimed membership in the Western military alliance and in the European Union a strategic goal. Zeljko Komsic, the Croat member in Bosnias tripartite presidency, said that Moscows statement represents a veiled threat not only against Bosnia, but also against its Western allies, including the United States. Its clearly a geopolitical game which Russia is playing to stop the expansion of NATO in Europe, Komsic said. The main Bosniak Party of Democratic Action said that the Russian statement represents another inappropriate meddling by Moscow in Bosnias internal affairs. Bosnia is part of NATO's Membership Action Plan, an advisory and assistance program designed for countries wishing to join the alliance. Bosnia, Kosovo and Serbia, a Russian ally, remain the only Western Balkan nations that are not NATO members. Montenegro joined the alliance in 2017 while North Macedonia became a member last year. Bosnian Serbs, who control about half of Bosnia after a U.S.-sponsored peace deal that ended a bloody war in the 1990s, are closely allied with Russia and remain vehemently opposed to NATO membership. I just went from one fight to another for 90 years, Barnes tells his therapist, which makes you wonder if The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will feel the same way. It opens with a large, long, rough fight, all right. Somewhere near Tunisian airspace, Sam/Falcon is tasked with retrieving somebody (doesnt matter) (yet) (or maybe ever) abducted by terrorists known as the LAF. The extended aerial smackdown/dogfight does the job, and its reasonably expensive-looking effects-wise, which explains the $150 million production budget. Rio de Janeiro is closing its famous beaches for the weekend in order to contain a surge of Covid-19 cases blamed in part on the feared Brazilian strain of the disease. Mayor Eduardo Paes said the situation in Rio was 'very critical' as he urged residents to stay at home and also banned new arrivals by bus in a bid to slow the contagion. Public hospitals in Rio currently have a 95 per cent occupancy rate in intensive care units as Brazil piles up record numbers of new infections. 'I am calling on all Cariocas' - the nickname for Rio residents - 'this is the moment to stay home,' Paes told a news conference. A crowded Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro last month - with the city's mayor now closing down the famous beaches for the weekend in order to ease the crisis in hospitals Paes warned that more restrictive measures could be announced on Monday, after he meets with an expert committee advising him on the pandemic. The city of 6.7million people had already ordered businesses to close at 9pm in another lockdown measure which took effect on March 5. It first closed its beaches a year ago during the first wave of Covid-19 in the country, although with limited results. Legendary beaches such as Copacabana and Ipanema were often jam-packed on sunny days, with few police around to enforce the closure. Rio had fully reopened its beaches again in November, just before the start of the Southern Hemisphere summer. Like much of the country, the city is now struggling to deal with a new wave of Covid-19 cases that experts say is driven partly by the so-called P1 variant. Rio last year dispatched police to enforce social distancing on beaches (seen here last July) but they fully re-opened in November ahead of the Southern Hemisphere summer Brazil's Covid-19 death toll has increased sharply in recent weeks, to nearly 290,000, second only to that of the United States. Average deaths are now above 2,000 a day for the first time ever, while new infections reached a new nationwide peak of 90,303 on Wednesday. The crisis has hit especially hard in the Amazon city of Manaus where the variant is thought to have emerged and where oxygen ran out earlier this year. Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro, who has long downplayed the dangers of the virus, this week defended his opposition to lockdowns imposed by state leaders. The former army captain said he had asked Brazil's supreme court to stop what he called 'abuses' by governors locking down their states against his will. He also named his fourth health minister of the pandemic this week after an army general was sacked after coming under pressure over his handling of the crisis. Bolsonaro said he was not 'obsessed' with being president or running for a second term next year, when he will be up for re-election. Oswego, N.Y. Government regulators are adding Pontiac Nursing Home to a list of the nations worst nursing homes that will lose federal funding unless they improve care. Federal and state officials designated the 80-bed Oswego facility at 303 East River Road a special focus facility because of its persistent record of poor care, state Health Department spokesman Jeffrey Hammond said Thursday. The 80 homes on the list have had lengthy histories of serious problems that endanger residents health and safety. Pontiac has been cited for failing to protect residents from sexual abuse, not sending gravely ill residents to the hospital for emergency care and letting water from a leaky roof drip into residents rooms for years. Facilities on the list are inspected at least twice a year. Nursing homes are typically inspected once a year. Homes that dont improve can be kicked out of the Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs. Medicare and Medicaid are the major funding sources for the nations 15,600 nursing homes. Those facilities cannot survive without that money. Pontiac received about $3.5 million from Medicare and Medicaid in 2018, the most recent year for which data is available. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, CMS for short, said most nursing homes on the special focus list significantly improve within 18 to 24 months. About 10% that dont improve are terminated from Medicare and Medicaid. The crackdown by regulators comes after Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard published a series of stories revealing numerous cases of horrific abuse and neglect at the nursing home. A registered sex offender living in Pontiac repeatedly sexually abused a female resident suffering from dementia last year. A state health department inspection found Pontiac did not protect the woman and other residents from the sex offender, and failed to report the abuse to police. Two seriously ill residents died in 2018 because the nursing home waited too long to send them to a hospital emergency room. In 2015 employees mocked and abused a resident suffering from dementia by taking degrading cellphone photos and videos of him. Pontiac is one of 10 New York state nursing homes with a red abuse icon next to its name on the Medicare compare website. That shows it has a track record of abuse and neglect. Oswego Mayor William Barlow said in a Syracuse.com story last week Pontiac should have been shut down years ago. Anyone who has lived in Oswego or knows anything about Oswego throughout the last 20 years knows the Pontiac Nursing Home is nothing but trouble, poorly managed, doesnt properly care for residents and offers sub-par living and working conditions, Barlow said. Langston McFadden, an attorney who represents Pontiac, did not respond to phone calls and emails from Syracuse.com |The Post-Standard seeking comment. Pontiac refers all questions to its attorneys. Pontiac will appear on the online CMS special focus facility list when it is updated later this month. Pontiac had been considered a candidate for that list for nine months. Two other New York nursing homes are also being added to the special focus facility list: Creekview Nursing and Rehab Center in Rochester and The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehab Center in Albion. James T. Mulder covers health and higher education. Have a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's foreign ministry on Friday denounced a decision by North Korea to sever diplomatic ties, describing the move as "unfriendly and unconstructive". In a statement, the ministry said Malaysia would close its embassy in Pyongyang in response and order all diplomatic staff at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur to leave the country within 48 hours. North Korea earlier announced it would sever diplomatic relations with Malaysia after a court there ruled that a North Korean man could be extradited to the United States to face money-laundering charges, state media KCNA reported on Friday. (Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; editing by Jason Neely) A Covid-19 situation at the National Insurance Board (NIB) led to late pension cheques this month, says Social Development Minister Donna Cox. And the ministry yesterday apologised for any inconvenience caused to pensioners and other recipients of social welfare as a result of the late payment of benefits. Queensland Government Risks Future Debt Burden: Auditor Auditor-General Brendan Worrall has handed down his report into the Australian state of Queenslands finances for 2020, finding that the state government is at risk of unduly burdening future generations of Queenslanders with debt. This is primarily being driven by the pandemics impact, which has seen Queenslands revenue going down and expenses going up. Over the next four years, the Palazczuk government will rely on borrowings, with government debt forecast to reach $121 billion as the state prioritises support for economic recovery over fiscal targets. Worrall warned that this could be risky. Over the long term, the state must be able to fund its operations and a significant portion of its capital program from the revenue it earns, the auditor-general wrote. This is to ensure that a burden of debt is not unduly placed on future generations without the benefit of supporting assets and the services they provide. Worrall said the governments borrowings would prevent it from meeting its debt-to-revenue target in the short to medium term. The auditor-general noted that additional risks to Queenslands finances included virus outbreaks that havent been budgeted for and geopolitical and trade tensions, namely with China. Further outbreaks could require the Queensland Government to introduce new stimulus measures not currently budgeted for or expand on those included in the budget, Worrall wrote. Adding to the states economic burden was the pandemics reduction in the states revenue from coal, metals, petroleum, and gas. Royalties decreased by $720 million (14 percent) in 201920, largely because of decreases in the volume and price of coal exports, with COVID-19 driving weaker global demand for coal, Worrall wrote. The Palaszczuk governments response to COVID-19 has significantly and adversely affected the states balance sheet in 201920 and will continue to do so for several years, Worrall said. He also found that over the 2019-20 financial year, the Palaszczuk government had to borrow $180 million to partially cover day-to-day operational activities, including measures implemented in response to the pandemic. This was the first time borrowings were used to fund operating expenses since 201213, Worrall wrote. Worrall said the Queensland governments budget was reliable but not always timely and recommended a statutory deadline after a delay saw them filed after the Oct. 31 state election last year. Information in the financial statements becomes less relevant to readers the further away it is from the end of the financial year, Worrall wrote. In 2020, it also meant information on the Queensland governments financial performance and position was not publicly available prior to the state election. The auditor-general said there should be a set date before the Oct. 31 elections for filing financial statements for the Queensland government, the consolidated fund, ministerial expenses, and the office of the leader of the opposition. State Treasurer Cameron Dick is mulling the recommendation, but he hasnt committed to it yet. The recommendation poses some challenges on reporting timeframes, particularly in an election year, but the government is committed to working to determine whether those timeframes can be met, his spokesman said. Under state laws, the government only has to file financial statements within six months of the end of the financial year. Opposition treasury spokesman David Janetzki said while 2020 was an extraordinary year, that was no excuse for failing to release the financial statements before the end of October as other states had. He said given the precarious state of the budget and the paper-thin economy, voters deserved transparency. Its a question of integrityQueenslanders should not be blindfolded when they go to the ballot box, Janetzki said. They deserve to know the true picture of the states finances. 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 NEW DELHI: A case has been registered against Bhojpuri film actor Shatrughan Yadav alias Khesari Lal Yadav at Gudamba Kotwali in Lucknow for allegedly issuing threats to a filmmaker and his son. The FIR was registered by filmmaker Rajkumar Pandey, who claimed that the actor, along with his accomplices, has been running a smear campaign against him on social media. Pandey, in his complaint, alleged that the Bhojpuri superstar considers the producer and his son Pradeep Kumar aka Chintu a rival and hence, he along with his accomplices have been uploading indecent posts and videos against them on social media. He further alleged that for the last few days, he and his sons have been receiving threats over phone calls. Rajkumar Pandey, a resident of Mumbai Kandivali, produces Bhojpuri film and television soaps. His son Pradeep aka Chintu has also been working in Bhojpuri industry for more than a decade. According to Rajkumar, his son Pradeep achieved name and fame in a short time and due to this, Khesari Lal Yadav has developed animosity against him. Rajkumar told police that he and his son were shooting at a club on Gudamba chair road in the city from February 1 to March 2. He alleged that during this period, Khesari's associates Akhilesh Pandey, alias Akhilesh Kashyap, Arjun Yadav Arya and Mehboob Khan conspired and shared vulgar comments against them on social media. He alleged that when he objected to this, he started receiving threatening calls. He claimed that he and his family members, including women, received death threats and abusive messages from Bhojpuri superstar's aides. A Bhojpuri filmmaker, Rajkumar Pandey has so far directed 45 to 50 films, whereas Pradeep has also played the lead in more than 50 films. For now, the police has begun an investigation in the matter. Inspector Gudamba Farid Ahmed said that an FIR has been registered on Rajkumar's complaint under the IT Act section of IPC. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Folks, there is some high-grade malarkey wafting up from Pennsylvania Avenue this morning. The Daily Beast reports that dozens of young White House staffers have been suspended, asked to resign, or placed in a remote work program due to past marijuana use. The pot-smoker purge is happening despite the fact that, just last month, Bidens team announced new personnel guidelines suggesting that individuals who had used cannabis recreationally wouldnt necessarily be blocked from jobs. According to the Beast, staffers have been penalized even if they only partook in states where marijuana is fully legalized. Advertisement Marijuana is still illegal under federal law, and usage is considered a red flag that can prevent someone from receiving a security clearance. In the guidelines that it released in February, the White House said it would nix the requirement that every one of its staffers be able to qualify for a top secret clearance in order to make marijuana less of a hurdle. But it also added that the waiver would only apply on a case-by-case basis to people whose actual job did not require a security clearance, and whose marijuana use had been limited. Advertisement Advertisement Its a bit, uh, hazy exactly how many people have been tripped up by this issue, and what their exact jobs were. The report suggests that some of staffers may have gotten in trouble for inconsistencies in their background report (shockingly, someone might have misremembered the last time they took a puff), and a White House spokesperson disputed the number of affected staff (Update, March 19, 2:56 PM: On Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that only five staffers had been fired due to marijuana use, and defended the administrations policy changes, saying more people will serve who would not have in the past with the same level of recent drug use.). But, in the end, its hard to see beyond the fact that potentially talented staffers are being booted from the administration because they indulged in a mostly harmless drug. Advertisement First, the political optics are just silly. Yes, Biden is a little bit of an old fogey on pot issues who says he still has concerns about it even as hes backed nationwide decriminalization. But at this point, 14 states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for recreational purposes. Most of the Democratic Party is on board with legalizationSenate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer does youth outreach by chatting with weed-industry websites like Leafly. The partys beloved ex-president was once a ganja enthusiast whose group of friends called themselves the choom gang. And, for the love of God, our current vice president, Kamala Harris, tried to soften her image by admitting she smoked pot and listened to hip-hop in collegeyou know, like a normal person. Advertisement Advertisement And on a substantive level? The argument for treating marijuana use any differently from other vices like drinking is increasingly and obviously outdated. To get a better sense of why the government still looks askance at marijuana use, I talked to Greg Rinckey, an attorney who specializes in federal employment law and a founding partner of the firm Tully Rinckey. First, he cautioned that just because people have smoked a few times in the past doesnt necessarily disqualify them from a security clearance. But casual, semi-regular use can. If you used marijuana one or two or three times during college, theyre not going to deny [you], he said. If you disclose, I started using in college, and I still use it 10 times or 20 times a year, thats going to be an issue. Advertisement Part of the worry, Rinckey said, is simply that marijuana is federally prohibited and the government sees habitual lawbreakers as a security riskthe sort of person who indulges in illicit substances might be the same sort whod send off documents to, say, WikiLeaks. The way they look at it is, youre not following the rules, he said. And if you have access to classified information, thats going to be a concern for them. If they have access to classified information, are they going to be more wishy washy with it? At the same time, he said, reviewers are also concerned that heavy users might get high and spill secrets to someone theyre not supposed to. Really what it comes down to is impairment and judgment, he said. Advertisement Advertisement My assumption is that, to most people who have yet to receive an AARP card, none of this will seem particularly convincing. In much of America, marijuana use is only nominally criminal and is as socially acceptable as having a nightcap; the idea that you need some sort of special criminal streak to partake is absurd. You can Google dispensaries in the nations capital (for medicinal use, and the city is considering legislation to allow recreational sales), and you can barely walk down the street in Denver without passing a big green cross. As far as the possibility that someone might get stoned and decide itd be a great idea to tell their friends about some classified info? Sure, somebody who cant control their behavior because they have a serious substance-abuse problem probably shouldnt be given access to nations closely guarded secrets. But the same principle would apply to a drinking habit, and theres no reason to think that someone who enjoys a joint on the weekend is especially untrustworthy. As Mark Zaid, a well-known D.C. attorney who deals with national security and clearance law, told me in an email: This is an issue that finally needs to be addressed by the federal government. A policy change is needed as it is an increasingly unfair and frankly absurd security policy. Advertisement Advertisement Id take things a bit further: Firing staffers because of marijuana use is not just absurd but fundamentally bad for the country. The White House is depriving itself of young talent because of a nonissue, while sending mixed messages about its devotion to loosening up our outdated marijuana laws, which have disproportionately led to the incarceration of minorities. Whats most galling is that this is completely in Bidens own hands, given that the president has the power to greenlight anybody he wants for a security clearance. If Donald Trump could order the bureaucracy to give his failson-in-law a top secret clearance (despite concerns from the CIA!), Biden should be able to let a few tokers slide. A group of New York state senators wants Gov. Andrew Cuomo to lift the limits on who can receive the COVID-19 vaccine at pharmacies. While most clinics can accept anyone eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, pharmacies are limited to teachers and people age 60 and older. According to state Department of Health guidance released this week, pharmacies "are now authorized to vaccinate individuals with comorbidities or underlying conditions," but they must follow federal guidance and prioritize child care workers and teachers. There aren't similar limits for other vaccination clinics, although the guidance does add that providers "must make efforts to vaccinate the most vulnerable New Yorkers, including those with comorbidities or underlying conditions, and individuals 60+." In a letter signed by more than 30 Democratic state senators, including Auburn-area state Sen. John Mannion, the lawmakers asked Cuomo to lift the restrictions on pharmacies. "Removing this limitation will allow the state to streamline its existing vaccination program, provide logical uniformity to individuals navigating vaccine access, and increase the rate at which we are able to safely vaccinate vulnerable populations," the legislators wrote. COLUMBUS, Miss. (WTVA) - Police seek information about a late-night armed robbery that happened at a Family Dollar store in Columbus. According to the Columbus Police Department, the store is at 202 Alabama Street. Police Chief Fred Shelton said the incident happened Wednesday, March 17 at approximately 8:50 p.m. The robber went behind the counter, pulled out a weapon, and stole an undetermined amount of money from the store. Police reported no injuries. The robber wore a white mask, a green jacket with the hood pulled up, gloves, and a black jogging suit. Because of what the man was wearing, we dont know the race of the person, Shelton said. All of his skin was covered in some way and all we have is the physical description of what he was wearing. We ask the public to contact us to help us with the case. Contact us at Crime Stoppers or text us with the anonymous P3 Tips app." An acrimonious start to the new trading relationship between the EU and the UK does not bode well for the longer-term economic interests of both sides, ratings agency Moodys has warned. It said the impact could be particularly felt by the UK, given that the economic provisions of the new arrangements remain skewed in the EUs favour. The EU launched legal proceedings this week against the UK over alleged breaches of the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. The protocol was designed to keep the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland open to help protect the Good Friday Agreement. Some food items that arrive in Northern Ireland from Britain are meant to be monitored to make sure they adhere to EU standards. There was an initial three-month grace period this year for checks on supermarket food, for instance, that was being brought to Northern Ireland from Britain. But the UK has unilaterally extended that period to six months. This latest dispute illustrates the fragile relationship between the two sides, presenting challenges to economic cooperation in the post-Brexit period, noted Moodys senior vice president and senior credit officer Evan Wohlmann in a report published yesterday. In the absence of close cooperation, it will be harder for the UK to move forward on the many issues left unsettled by the December 2020 Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), and navigate the enormous challenges posed by the new complex trading arrangements and the multitude of governance provisions enshrined within the new relationship framework, said Mr Wohlmann. The full extent of the impact of the UKs decision to leave the EU on relatively sparse trading terms will only become clear in the coming months. He pointed out that there are many areas of future cooperation between the EU and the UK unresolved and still to be agreed. The governance provisions in the TCA and the Northern Ireland Protocol, designed to protect the integrity of the EUs single market, are likely to keep the UKs regulatory framework closely tethered to the EU going forward, limiting any potential economic benefits from the UKs newfound regulatory independence, said Mr Wohlmann. Britain is implementing a lot of their Future Commando Force modernization measures in 2021. These include new combat equipment, weapons, organizational concepts and tactics. One example of the new organizational concepts are two new commando units called Royal Marines Vanguard Strike Companies (VSC). These have been in development for several years and are entering service during 2021. Each VSC consists of about 150 Royal Marine and army commando personnel, as well as some Royal Navy amphibious ships to operate from. One VSC will be stationed in Bahrain (Persian Gulf) while the other will be working with the Norwegian military to deal with the growing Russian threat in northern Europe. Personnel in each VSC will serve for six months and then be replaced by new personnel with the same skills and capabilities. The VSCs will be wearing the new, distinctly commando, combat uniform. In the past the commandos simply adopted current army uniforms, weapons and equipment. That worked but the commandos noted that special operations troops in other nations had benefitted from developing combat uniforms suited to their particular tasks. These uniforms were distinctive and that seemed to improve morale as well. Other innovations include training commandos to operate in smaller units, often as small as four men. Modern communications and navigation gear makes this possible. But you have to train using these new, smaller, combat groups and that is what the Royal Marines have been doing. These experiments contributed to the development of the VSC units, which are much more flexible than earlier commando combat units, which relied on larger basic combat groups of eight men. That approach was first developed by the SAS (Special Air Service) troops, who are now considered more capable, man for man, than the Marine and army commandos. The naval version of the SAS is the SBS (Special Boat Service) and is similar to the U.S. Navy SEALs. SBS is part of the Royal Marines. Like many industrialized nations, the more highly trained and equipped British special operations forces comprise about ten percent of the ground forces. Britain's Royal Marines, SAS and associated support units comprise nearly 9,000 personnel. The largest component is the Royal Marines. The current British Commando Force is primarily the 3rd Commando Brigade, which consists of three Royal Marine Commandos (battalions) along with army commandos providing artillery, engineer and logistics support units. There are also a growing number of army infantry commando troops that are often integrated into Royal Marine Commando units. The Royal Marines have long called their special operations battalions commandos. The British Army pioneered the development of modern commando operations during World War II but disbanded all its commando units after the war. The Royal Marines kept some of theirs. Eventually, all Royal Marine infantry units became commandos, as they are to this day. The original British commandos were formed after France fell to the Germans in mid-1940. At that time, there were plenty of British soldiers eager to volunteer for a unit that was going to fight back right away. The major problem was the resistance of unit commanders reluctant to see their best troops volunteer for these new units. This was partly solved by forming two of the independent companies raised earlier in 1940 from reservists. These "independent companies" were sort of commandos, but mainly they were to be used when a small unit of infantry, like an infantry company has about 150 men, were needed to land in a coastal area and destroy something an approaching enemy might want, like port and communications facilities, air fields and so on. These independent companies were formed using men who had been discharged from the army over the past few years after completing their seven-year enlistments and agreed to join he reserves. These men were thus experienced, a little older (and wiser) and not already part of a unit that didn't want to lose them. Most infantry units would like to have these fellows, but the high command had the backing of the prime minister to see if this commando idea would work. The eleven "Independent Companies" were used for raids from the sea against German facilities, or small garrisons, in Norway. First use was in May 1940 as for of these companies took part of the British operations around Narvik, Norway. There were already many officers in the army who were open to the idea of commandos. But the "Independent Companies" were just volunteer infantrymen, who were willing to undertake very risky raiding operations. It was a start. The British had a tradition, especially over the previous two centuries, of creating raiding type units for special operations. This sort of thing was not seen as totally alien. Officers who served in Britain's numerous colonies had developed and used raiding type operations to deal with bandits or guerillas. British historians made much of the British success with "Rangers" in North America both before and during the American Revolution. There were light infantry units during the campaigns against Napoleon in Spain in the early 19th century. More recent commando examples were provided by South African Boers at the end of the 19th century, German colonel von Lettow Vorbeck's Askaris in Africa during World War I, and the German storm troopers at the end of World War I. All this had made a strong impression on the World War II generation of British generals. While some commanders muttered about commandos being "private armies', there was enough enthusiasm for the project to see it get going with a minimum of interference. Prime minister Churchill was also a fan, which helped. Initially, each "commando" was a battalion size unit of some 600 men, with the fighting elements being ten fifty-man troops (a British term for platoons). In early 1941 this was changed to six troops of 65 men each. This was dictated by the capacity of the newly developed amphibious landing craft the troops used on many of their raids. An assault landing craft (LCA) could hold 35 troops (or 800 pounds of equipment), so each commando troop needed two LCAs. By the end of the war, Britain had ten army "commandos" (as all commando battalions were called), and all were disbanded, along with all other commando units (like the SAS). The Royal Marines kept three of their nine commandos. The British revived the even more elite SAS (army Special Air Service) and SBS (navy Special Boat Service) in the 1950s, but the Royal Marine Commandos have the distinction of being the longest serving commando unit. The Royal Marines themselves date back to the 17th century when they were created to provide warships with some professional soldiers. Other nations followed in adopting that practice and later did the same with the British version of 20th century special operations forces. EDWARDSVILLE It wont be quite as dramatic as the addition that more than doubled its size 30 years ago, but the Edwardsville Public Library will have a new look by the end of 2021. The library recently announced EPL The Next Chapter, which will involve the renovation and modernization of the interior of the historic building. The estimated cost for the entire project is $750,000, including contingencies, new furniture and exterior signage. The complete project will be funded from the librarys special reserve fund, which is the money it has saved over the years to pay for these types of improvements. Several times in the last 10 years, the board has considered expanding the library, but this project is strictly a renovation, Library Director Jill Schardt said. For an expansion, we would have to borrow money and raise our tax levy to pay the debt. We decided it wasnt the right time to do that, but we wanted to give the community something with the money that we have saved for decades. Well be able to give the patrons some more usable space and not have any tax impact. The Edwardsville Public Library was originally dedicated in 1906 and had its first addition in 1953. In 1991, work was completed on an addition funded by a $2.4 million referendum passed in 1988. That addition expanded the library from 8,000 to 20,000 square feet. The kickoff for the new project started Tuesday morning and construction will officially begin on Monday, March 29. Tindall Construction of Granite City is the general contractor for the project. Bond Architects of St. Louis is the architect for the The Next Chapter, with Sue Pruchnicki, a principal for the company, in charge of the project. Its an honor to be helping the Edwardsville Public Library, Pruchnicki said. Its something that I take very seriously because the library is the heart of the community. It serves everyone from infants to retired people. For Bond Architects, working with the Edwardsville Public Library is a natural fit. My firm does quite a few libraries in the area and I had been talking with the Edwardsville Library about their project, Pruchnicki said. Library services in the last three or four decades have changed a lot and we did a study about their building and what needed to be addressed. As part of the strategic planning process in 2018, the library conducted a community survey. Cardholders indicated they would like to have spaces for library programs and for individuals to work quietly, both independently and collaboratively, as well as cozy spaces to read and more self-service options. We took the wishes of the community into consideration, but there are some things we cant do without adding on to the building, Schardt said. We have no more room for our collection, but we continue to buy new things, which is what patrons want. Once we made the decision that we werent adding any square footage, we had to think how we can best utilize the space we have right now. The approved renovation plan includes the following: A complete renovation of all restrooms and the addition of a gender-neutral family restroom on the lower level. The adult circulation area and bookstore will have complete makeovers, which will give patrons flexible seating space with laptop bars, a self-service area with a self-checkout machine, and self-serve holds pickup. Four quiet study rooms will be added to the north wall of the adult library. The adult computer lab will be re-organized with staff desks on the north wall and a rectangular 8-person station with 18-inch privacy screens between users. The youth computer lab and the storage room next door will become the new Teen Room. The youth circulation desk will be remodeled and a small workroom for staff will be added. The patio will be redone and fenced in to give the youth library more usable space. The quiet study rooms are going to add a completely new dimension to the library, Schardt said. People can reserve them and have time to work quietly. The new rooms will be in the quietest part of the reading room and they will be fully enclosed. The patio is going to be exciting as well because it has not been usable space because it wasnt ADA-accessible. It will be redone so people can enter the patio from the double doors for the youth library. Early preparation for the remodeling began on Tuesday when library staff started changing the bookshelves in the main library area from an east-west to a north-south configuration. We wouldnt be able to see what was going in the quiet study rooms with that configuration, so we rented carts and took all of the books off ourselves and we had movers come in to move the shelves, Schardt said. We have 13 feet of clearance and the quiet study rooms will be seven feet, so that gives us six feet of clearance for the doors and walking space. Were not losing any stack space. The four existing public restrooms in the library will be expanded by 12 to 18 inches so they will become ADA-compliant. The gender-neutral family restroom, meanwhile, is a brand-new addition. If you go into our public restrooms, its clear that nothing has been done to them since the 1991 addition, Schardt said. Downstairs, the mens sink is coming apart. The worst restroom in the entire building is next to the staff break room. I think the public will enjoy the gender-neutral family restroom. If you come to the library with three young children, you can take all of the kids that youre with and you have the space to yourself. The Edwardsville Public Library is a Carnegie library, which is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. A total of 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including 1,689 in the United States. For the library staff and Bond Architects, the challenge is finding a proper blend of the modern and the historical. We do have a noise problem and the architects had offered to drop the ceiling for the rotunda so we would have less noise, but were not going to do that, Schardt said. Its a beautiful view of this library to be able to come in and look at the rotunda. We dont want to ruin that historical aspect of the library; we just want to modernize the inside with the funds that we have. Because its an older building, we have a shortage of electrical outlets, but with the remodel, even some of our furniture will have outlets. The laptop bars will be wired to make it easier for people to come and use their computers. Improving safety was another consideration in the remodeling project. If you look at the way things are set up now, our staff cannot see people coming up the stairs from the main entrance and we cant see people coming and going, Schardt said. We have a camera that I can look at from my desk, but by moving the circulation area to the side, well be able to see people as they come up the stairs. Schardt said the project, which is being done in three phases, should be completed by late summer. They had originally planned for five months, but its possible they could get it done in three and a half months, Schardt said. Were looking at finishing sometime in August, but possibly sooner. We will do everything we can to keep the library open, but the contractor said there may be a day here or there where will be no power or no plumbing. We do ask for the publics patience because theyre going to see things moving around quite a bit, especially in phase one, which starts March 29. Washington: During the US election campaign, Donald Trump and his Republican allies tried to paint Joe Biden as soft on China, nicknaming the Democratic nominee Beijing Biden. But since coming into office, Biden and his top foreign affairs officials have made it clear they will take a hard-nosed, sceptical approach to Beijing while leaving room for co-operation on issues such as climate change. A central player in the Biden administrations China strategy will be Kurt Campbell, who has been nicknamed the administrations Asia policy tsar. It just so happens he is an especially close friend of Australia. Who is he? The 63-year-olds official title is Bidens Indo-Pacific Co-ordinator. Campbells specially created role, which sits within the National Security Council, is the culmination of decades of foreign policy experience in the US capital. The United States has a lot to learn from Europes policy successes, especially when it comes to health care. Every wealthy European nation provides universal health insurance while spending far less than we do, even though our system leaves tens of millions uninsured. And all indications are that the general quality of care is very good; on average, for example, the French can expect to live four years longer than their American counterparts. Yet at this crucial moment in the Covid-19 saga, when new vaccines finally offer a realistic prospect of returning to normal life, policy in the European Union has been marked by one bungle after another. Jabs in arms got off to a slow start: Adjusted for population, Britain and the U.S. have administered around three times as many doses as France or Germany. And the E.U. countries are still lagging, administering vaccines less than half as rapidly as we are. Europes vaccination debacle will almost surely end up causing thousands of unnecessary deaths. And the thing is, the continents policy bungles dont look like isolated instances, a few bad decisions made by a few bad leaders. Instead, the failures seem to reflect fundamental flaws in the continents institutions and attitudes including the same bureaucratic and intellectual rigidity that made the euro crisis a decade ago far worse than it should have been. The details of the European failure are complex. But the common thread seems to be that European officials were not just risk averse, but averse to the wrong risks. They seemed deeply worried about the possibility that they might end up paying drug companies too much, or discover that they had laid out money for vaccines that either proved ineffective or turned out to have dangerous side effects. New Delhi, Mar 19 (UNI) India has strongly condemned the terrorist attack on March 15 at a security post in Tessit in the Gao region in the West African nation of Mali that resulted in the killing of 33 Malian soldiers. ``We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the soldiers as well as the people and the Government of Mali and wish for the speedy recovery of all the other injured soldiers,' the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Friday. UNI VT Scientists are predicting that the social gatherings associated with the Easter weekend will trigger the third wave of Covid-19, just as the country heads into winter. What are the lessons learned from the second wave? Professor Marc Mendelson, head of the Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine at Groote Schuur Hospital, sketches a picture of the anticipated third surge and offered some tips and advice on how to prepare. Professor Marc Mendelson, head of the Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital Fraught with problems In truth, however, with the current tools in our box, we wont eradicate SARS-CoV-2. What we will probably move to is better control of the virus, in the same way that we control influenza and other respiratory virus infections. Then of course vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate. And maintain all public health prevention measures those measures are absolutely critical as we look ahead. He believes the increased intensity of transmission during the second wave was a result of the new variant (501Y.V2), which strengthened the binding of the virus to its receptor on our cells. This resulted in an increased amount of virus being produced and transmitted. At the same time, a number of super-spreader events occurred at social gatherings, compounding transmission of the more infectious virus, leading to a larger peak in the second wave.It is important that we learn from the second wave and not repeat mistakes made, and according to Mendelson, maintaining a ban on mass gatherings and closer focus on super-spreader events in poorly ventilated indoor spaces is necessary. The relaxation of these interventions played a significant role in helping to propagate the second wave.We also need careful assessment of how healthcare workers were deployed to the Covid-19 frontline. Despite the need to keep as many non-Covid-19 services running at an appropriate level, the whole-of-hospital human resource model that was ultimately achieved in the first wave, but diluted in the second, should be reinstated. This would go a long way to providing the physical and psychosocial support to the relative minority of doctors who bore the brunt of the second wave, he says.Mendelson does not believe that the vaccine rollout in South Africa could delay the arrival of the third wave and shared: There are never watertight answers when dealing with this pandemic, but to get to population immunity through natural infection plus vaccination-induced immunity will require that millions of the population be vaccinated in a relatively short time frame.Predicting the third wave, Id have to say fraught with problems. There are multiple factors that may come into play, many of which could impact the resulting force of infection. This includes further mutations in the virus, the speed of the vaccination roll-out programme, non-compliance with public health interventions, and the possibility of other unforeseen drivers that we are yet to learn about, he says.According to Mendelson further mutations will occur, but whether they give the virus an evolutionary advantage is yet to be seen. The only way of reducing the likelihood of another clinically relevant variant coming out of South Africa is to reduce transmission and boost immunity by rolling out vaccines fast, so that in addition to achieving natural immunity, induced by people getting infected, the amount of new virus produced will drop to very low levels. If a new variant does not occur this time round, then we should see a less impactful third wave.Looking ahead it is important that we prepare for the third surge. While international travel continues, we know that importing novel variants of SARS-CoV-2 into South Africa is always going to be possible. Thats why continuing surveillance for new variants through sequencing virus genomes from people infected with Covid-19, and reacting swiftly to changes in circulation of these variants, is very important. Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. A MAN brandished a three-pronged piece of metal fencing during a brawl with another man in a corner shop in front of the elderly female store owner, it is alleged. When the fight moved outside, David Farrell (34) tried to push his way back in as the 78-year-old shopkeeper struggled to keep the door shut, a court was told. Mr Farrell, of Nephin Road, Ashtown, Dublin, is charged with producing a weapon in the course of a dispute. He pleaded not guilty, and the case against him was adjourned for hearing at a later date. The incident is alleged to have happened at Maureen's Shop, Manor Place, Stoneybatter, on December 18, 2019. Dublin District Court heard gardai received a call at 9.45pm that the accused and another man were involved in a dispute at the shop. Argument Gardai arrived and spoke to the shopkeeper. It was alleged the accused had brought a three-pronged piece of fencing, and engaged in a physical argument with the other man. "As the altercation continued, both parties were engaged in trying to pull the implement from each other in the shop," a garda sergeant said. The two men went out into the street, while the owner was still in the shop. She attempted to close the door and keep it locked to prevent the two men from entering again, the court heard. It was alleged Mr Farrell then tried to enter the shop as the woman attempted to keep the door closed, trying to push his way into the premises. The shopkeeper told gardai he had pushed against the door while she was inside. It was not until a neighbour intervened that she was able to shut the door. The accused was arrested at the scene. There was no suggestion the piece of fencing was directed at the woman. Judge Treasa Kelly accepted jurisdiction to deal with the case and adjourned it to a date in January 2022 for hearing. Tara Reade has blasted 'arrogant' Joe Biden for calling for an investigation into sexual harassment claims made against Gov. Andrew Cuomo - while flatly dismissing the allegations she made against him. Reade, 56, went public last year, claiming Biden sexually assaulted her in a hallway while she was working as a Senate staffer in 1993. Biden vehemently denied the claim - but that hasn't stopped him from saying that all women should be believed. When discussing the sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Cuomo during an ABC interview on Wednesday night, Biden stated: 'A woman should be presumed to be telling the truth and should not be scapegoated and become victimized by coming forward. There should be an investigation to determine whether what she says is true.' Biden added that Cuomo - with whom he has been friends for decades - could also be criminally prosecuted if an investigation yields evidence that the claims are true. Tara Reade has blasted 'arrogant' Joe Biden for calling for an investigation into sexual harassment claims made against Gov. Andrew Cuomo - while flatly dismissing the allegations she made against him When discussing the sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Cuomo during an ABC interview on Wednesday night, Biden stated: 'A woman should be presumed to be telling the truth and should not be scapegoated' Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment by at least eight different women Now, Reade says Biden is being hypocritical - because he has never said her claims should be investigated and he has never asserted that she should be 'presumed to be telling the truth'. 'The trauma I experienced by Biden was very real,' Reade told Fox News on Friday. 'The fact he is calling for another official's investigation and possible criminal sanctions for similar charges is showing the height of arrogance about never being accountable for his own.' Reade also vowed that there will one day be a 'reckoning' and that 'the truth will prevail'. Speaking with Fox, Reade also accused the mainstream media of a cover-up, claiming they failed to take her accusations seriously. "The alarming deflection and compliance of the media to allow Joe Biden to negate his own sexual misconduct is predictable but still shocking as a survivor to be so publicly erased,' she stated. Reade's public resurfacing comes after radio host Charlamagne Tha God claimed it was hypocritical for people to be calling for Cuomo's resignation after voting for Joe Biden. Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment by at least eight different women. Reade is pictured in 1993 - the year she claims she was sexually assaulted by Biden Reade was one of several women who came forward in 2019, claiming Biden had touched them inappropriately. In March last year, she offered a new allegation, claiming Biden stuck his hand down her skirt and penetrated her in a Congressional hallway when she worked for him as an aide in 1993. Biden denied the claims, and Biden staffers at the time say they can recall no such incident. Reade had previously claimed that Biden liked her legs and wanted her to waitress at a Capitol Hill cocktail party while she was on staff. Reade also complained that he was touchy-feely, putting his hands on her shoulders, neck and hair. Despite the allegations, media networks largely ignored her story and did not push for the opening of an investigation. The plague of Critical Race Theory ("CRT") has reached North Carolina's largest school district. Christopher Rufo obtained documents from a teachers' training program held last year that was a festival of race hatred. CRT blatantly violates the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and offends the spirit of the Declaration of Independence. What's especially disturbing about the training in Wake County is that the teachers were told to ignore parents' concerns and force the training on their children. Just to orient those who may be new to CRT, it holds that every aspect of American life is infused with racism, all of it emanating from Whites towards other races. (Jews are classed as White and come in for both race hatred and anti-Semitism from the CRT crowd.) Whites who object to being labeled as evil, racist oppressors are told that their objections only prove their racism. Additionally, anything associated with Western culture scientific accuracy, grammar, punctuality, ambition, organization, whatever is inherently racist. As I noted above, CRT is pure racism and is, therefore, unconstitutional, illegal, and immoral. Nevertheless, thanks to the religious fervor of BLM that swept through Democrats last year, CRT is gaining traction in schools across America. And that brings us to Christopher Rufo. Rufo has become the point man for exposing CRT. Thanks to his prominence, whistleblowers send him the most amazing and offensive documents. These documents reveal an ideology that would have made the eugenicists and KKK-ers of old ecstatic if they could have taught these things in schools and corporations across America, only with Blacks, Hispanics, Chinese, Native Americans, etc. in the roles now assigned to Whites. Even in the old days, those hate-filled groups lacked the power that the ascendant left is showing. Here's the latest round of documents brought to Rufo's attention, this time out of Raleigh, North Carolina. It's hard to figure out what's most disturbing: the blatant racism, the crackpottery, the school district's million-dollar buy-in, or the fact that teachers were explicitly told to ignore parental concerns: Last year, the Wake County Public School System, which serves the greater Raleigh, North Carolina area, held a teachers' conference with lessons on "whiteness," "toxic masculinity," "microaggressions," "trauma-informed yoga," and "applied critical race theory." pic.twitter.com/3gvR5luxRc Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) March 18, 2021 School administrators claimed that "(white) cultural values" include "denial," "fear," "blame," "control," "punishment," "scarcity," and "one-dimensional thinking." They told white teachers they must "challenge the dominant ideology" of "whiteness" and "disrupt" white culture. pic.twitter.com/rVQnx2BJxE Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) March 18, 2021 The school leaders directly encourage teachers to subvert parental authority. When one teacher asked, "How do you deal with parent pushback?" the answer was clear: "You cant let parents deter you from the work." Teachers must "disrupt" whiteness and override families. pic.twitter.com/IWVZpqJBBe Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) March 18, 2021 Parents across the U.S. should not assume that their local district is immune to these trends. The new political education is spreading everywhere, including red states. Read the full story at City Journal: https://t.co/bwERFxVRuB Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) March 18, 2021 The following sounds like a non sequitur but, trust me, it's not. There is currently a rash of anti-Asian violence in America. Most of the time, the people committing these acts of violence are blacks. As far back as 2010, the San Francisco Chronicle acknowledged this reality. The statistics haven't changed much since then. Democrats have an Asian problem because of their blatant racism towards Asians. The Ivy League schools have been open about the fact that they discriminate against Asians in admissions. For this reason, despite Asians being one of the most college-educated cohorts in America (meaning that the Asians for the last fifty years have been indoctrinated into leftism), Asians are drifting to the Republican party. To counter this drift, the Democrats are working hard to make Asians believe that the rising violence against them is Trump's fault. It's not that Trump advocated violence against Asians. It's just that he said accurately that the virus that savaged America came from China. As part of this risible contention, pay close attention to Press Secretary Jen Psaki's words: I think there's no question that some of the damaging rhetoric that we saw during the prior administration, blaming calling COVID, you know, the 'Wuhan virus' or other things led to, you know, perceptions of the Asian American community that are inaccurate, unfair that have elevated threats against Asian Americans, and we're seeing that around the country. Thus, the top Democrat party spokeswoman in America has just said that allying a specific race (Asian) with something bad (a virus), is enough to trigger nationwide physical violence against that race. If that's the standard for triggering violence, can you imagine what's brewing in America thanks to the open, angry racism of CRT? This will not end well. Image: Anti-White racism in North Carolina schools. Twitter screen grab. Bishop Joao Carlos has called on Mozambicans and the international community to stand in solidarity with Cabo Delgados suffering population. Vatican News English Africa Service The Bishop in-charge of Social Communication at the Episcopal Conference of Mozambique, Joao Carlos Hatoa Nunes, has called for solidarity with Cabo Delgados people. The northern province of Mozambique is currently under siege from a jihadist-linked insurgency. Many residents of the province are now displaced or on the run. Others have been killed in brutal circumstances. Solidarity and awareness Speaking to Vatican News, Bishop Joao Carlos said that the terrorism prevailing in Cabo Delgado, which has already caused the deaths of more than two thousand persons since 2017, is very worrying. About seven hundred thousand persons have been displaced from their homes. The Bishop has called for more awareness about the situation. Bishop Joao Carlos of the Diocese of Chimoio in the central region of Manica province is the spokesperson of the Bishops Conference of Mozambique. The prelate says the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Cabo Delgado deserves the attention of all. Lets do all we can to help, said the Bishop of Manica. Every aspect of life is a struggle According to Reliefweb, living conditions in Cabo Delgados temporary camps and shelters, set up to accommodate thousands of exhausted displaced families, are increasingly inadequate. There is also a serious lack of food, clothing, medicines, plastic sheeting and tarpaulins for people to protect themselves from the elements. Every aspect of life in the camps is a struggle said the humanitarian agency. The traumas that internally displaced persons (IDPs) have lived through are taking their toll, says Reliefweb quoting some of the volunteers of Medecins Sans Frontieres. Medecins Sans Frontieres is providing water and sanitation services in the camps, including building latrines and supplying clean water. 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In a statement on Thursday, the trade unionist called for laws to cushion the agents. He said any appropriate definition of an employee, in regards to the changing world of work, should not fail to classify M-Pesa agents and Airtel Money agents as employees of Safaricom and Airtel respectively. Atwoli wondered why the hardworking Kenyans who bring revenue to the companies while working as agents cannot be recognised as employees. For instance, as of April 2020, before Safaricom temporarily removed transaction costs for amounts below Sh1,000, the declared revenue that Safaricom received, that financial year, from M-Pesa agents was about Sh85 billion while from voice was about Sh95 billion, Atwoli said. He continued, It is, therefore, our position that all the M-Pesa agents are workers of Safaricom and must be treated as such. Over and above that, Safaricom must allow for the unionisation of their workers. Atwoli cited a UKs Supreme Court landmark ruling that determined Uber Drivers are workers and not self-employed. The COTU boss said the ruling saw Uber reclassify about 70,000 UK Uber drivers as workers, making them entitled to a minimum wage of about Sh1,300 per every hour of trips made. Atwoli added, We would like to note that it is just a matter of time before Safaricom starts declaring losses on Voice and Data revenues, just like many telephone companies around the world, thus making it very dependent on these M-Pesa agents. At the same time, Atwoli said COTU is in the process of moving to court to compel Uber and other digital taxi hailing companies to reclassify their Kenyan drivers as workers. Advertisement A home for sale in a Dallas suburb has captured the attention of social media users thanks to to its very unique design scheme. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom home in Grapevine, Texas was listed on Zillow earlier this month and is already under contract, and one thing can be said for sure about the current owners: They really, really love Texas. The 2,107-square-foot home, which has a listing price of $529,000, is a complete tribute to the Lone Star State, decorated exclusively in red, white, and blue with Texas state flags in nearly every room of the house as well as painted over the entire garage door. Don't mess with this house! A home for sale in a Dallas suburb has captured the attention of social media users thanks to to its very unique design scheme Sense a theme? The exterior has been painted blue with with red and white trim. The front porch has been set up with set up with flag pillows, while a Texas mat sits at the entrance The entire garage door has been painted with an enormous Texas state flag and another hangs by the back porch It's been snapped up! The three-bedroom, three-bathroom home in Grapevine, Texas was listed on Zillow earlier this month and is already under contract The 2,107-square-foot home, which has a listing price of $529,000, is a complete tribute to the Lone Star State The living room has red and blue furniture, with Texas flags hanging on the walls Setting the mood! The white and blue-walled bedroom includes Texas state flag bedding and throw pillows Across the bed is a blue vase with red flowers and more Texas decor The single-family home, built in 2013, has a kitchen with a large island and farm sink, a game room, an office, and an en-suite bathroom with a stand alone tub and waterfall shower. But whatever the features, the most noticeable thing about the house and indeed, the only thing many viewers are taking away from it is that it has been obsessively decorated to honor the state of Texas. The exterior has been painted blue with with red and white trim, while the entire garage door has been painted with an enormous Texas state flag in addition to the American flag hanging beside the front door. The front porch has been set up with set up with flag pillows, while a Texas mat sits at the entrance. Inside, the kitchen is mostly red and white, with Texas and American flags on the walls beside signs that simply say 'Texas.' It's the wardrobe, too! There's some Americana-themed clothing and accessories hang on hooks The bathrooms, too, are all red, white, and blue, even down to the towels Completely obsessed! The current owners didn't leave a single corner of the house un-Texified That's commitment! One shower has been completely tiled with a state flag design The toned-down version: Another simply has a Texas flag shower curtain One thing can be said for sure about the current owners: They really, really love Texas The dining room includes a red chandelier and blue furniture, plus more red and blue accents The dining room includes a red chandelier and blue furniture, while even the laundry nook is painted blue and outfitted with red laundry machines. The house's game room has been decorated with Texas flag-themed lighting and wall decor and of course, another Texas state flag as a rug under the red pool table. Meanwhile, the white and blue-walled bedroom includes Texas state flag bedding and throw pillows, a blue vase with red flowers, and some Americana-themed clothing and accessories hang on hooks. The bathrooms, too, are all red, white, and blue, with one featuring a state flag shower curtain and another tiled with a state flag design. Though the decor and paint job seem to court a very specific customer, the seller who no doubt is moving to another place in Texas appears to have had no trouble unloading the place, as its already under contract. Even the laundry nook is painted blue and outfitted with red laundry machines The single-family home, built in 2013, has a game room and an an office The house's game room has been decorated with Texas flag-themed lighting and wall decor and of course, another Texas state flag as a rug under the red pool table The kitchen is mostly red and white, with Texas and American flags on the walls beside signs that simply say 'Texas' Though the decor and paint job seem to court a very specific customer, the seller who no doubt is moving to another place in Texas appears to have had no trouble unloading the place, as its already under contract It's unknown whether the new owner will replace some of the red and blue fixtures Starting young! Even a child's playroom is packed with Texas and American decor However, once the home was posted on the Instagram account Zillow Gone Wild, social media users had plenty to say about it. 'I wonder what state this is in,' one speculated, while another quipped: 'Plot twist: its listed in Vermont.' 'Tell me you live in Texas without telling me you live in Texas,' said one more, while yet another compared it to being in a cult. 'I just want someone to love me the way Texas loves Texas,' wrote another. One said he was 'was expecting to see a ted cruz in the toilet,' while another chimed in, 'If it just had a little more Texas stuff then I'd buy it.' 'Everybody gangsta till their shower secedes from them,' quipped yet another. 'Imagine being so dull you make a state your personality,' mocked someone else. One focused on the American accents in particular, writing: 'What in the Captain America is going on here.' 'Dont mess with this house,' one more joked. Bennington, VT (05201) Today Cloudy early. Scattered thunderstorms developing later in the day. High 76F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Rain. Low 62F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a half an inch. Matthew McConaughey is going to play Jake Brigance again. McConaughey will reprise his role from the movie A Time to Kill in the HBO series A Time for Mercy. ADVERTISEMENT Deadline and Variety both confirmed that HBO acquired the rights to the book. Deadline sources say McConaughey is in final negotiations while Variety reports he is attached to the show. The 1996 film adaptation of John Grisham's book was McConaughey's first leading role in a movie. Grisham's sequel, A Time for Mercy published in 2020. The series marks McConaughey's return to HBO after True Detective. Deadline reports plans for a 10 episode limited run. Warner Brothers released the 1996 film. The studio and HBO are both subsidiaries of WarnerMedia. In A Time to Kill, Brigance was a struggling Mississippi lawyer but the only one who would defend Carl Lee Hailey ( Samuel L. Jackson ). Hailey was on trial for murdering two men who raped his daughter. A Time for Mercy is Grisham's third Brigance book. Sycamore Row published in 2013. In A Time for Mercy, Brigance defends 16-year-old Drew Gamble in another murder case. Gamble is on trial for murdering a deputy and faces the gas chamber if convicted. 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! Lorenzo di Bonaventura is producing A Time for Mercy, both trades report. He was a Warner Bros. executive from 1989 to 1996, when he became co-head of theatrical production. Di Bonaventura became president of production in 1998. Since leaving Warner Brothers in 2002, di Bonaventura has produced franchises like Transforrmers and G.I. Joe. Actor Johnny Depp gestures as he leaves the High Court in London, Britain (Photo : REUTERS/John Sibley/File Photo) Lawyers for Hollywood actor Johnny Depp said his ex-wife's claim she had donated her divorce settlement to charity was a "calculated lie", as they sought permission to appeal a London High Court ruling which upheld that he was a wife beater. Judge Andrew Nicol ruled last November that Depp had violently assaulted Amber Heard during their tempestuous five-year relationship, at times putting her in fear for her life. Advertisement He rejected Depp's claims the allegations were a hoax and his portrayal of his ex-wife as a "gold-digger". That decision came after three weeks of hearings where the court heard claims and counter-claims from Depp, 57, and Heard, 34, who accused each other of violent outbursts. Depp, star of films including "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Edward Scissorhands", had gone to the London court to sue The Sun newspaper and one of its journalists over an article that stated he had been violent towards Heard. Following Nicol's verdict, seen as highly damaging to Depp's career, the actor was asked to leave the "Fantastic Beasts" franchise, the movie spin-offs from the "Harry Potter" books and films. On Thursday, Depp's legal team asked the Court of Appeal for permission to challenge Nicol's findings, arguing the judge's ruling was "plainly wrong". They said they wanted a retrial. Depp's lawyers said they wanted to rely on new evidence that Heard had not given the $7 million from her 2016 divorce settlement to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA) as she had said. This was "a calculated and manipulative lie", they argued in written submissions, designed to present her as "very virtuous and a victim", and if known would have cast her evidence in a different light. 'TOO GLIBLY' Depp's lawyer Andrew Caldecott told the court that Nicol had "too glibly" accepted Heard's version of events and had not conducted a judicial fact-finding exercise correctly. Asked if he thought Nicol had believed Heard's every word, Caldecott said yes. During the libel trial last summer, Heard said Depp would turn into a jealous alter ego, "the monster", after bingeing on drugs and alcohol and had threatened to kill her. Heard detailed 14 occasions of extreme violence when she said the actor choked, punched, slapped, head-butted, throttled and kicked her, with Nicol accepting 12 of these accounts were true. Lawyers for News Group Newspapers (NGN), publishers of the Sun, argued the arguments for an appeal were "obviously wrong" and misconceived. NGN's lawyer, Sasha Wass, told the Court of Appeal the inference of Nicol's ruling was that he had found Heard a compelling witness and that Depp lacked credibility. "The learned judge did find on multiple occasions that Mr Depp had lied," she said. Another NGN lawyer, Adam Wolanski, said the "new" evidence about the divorce money to support the "gold-digger" theory - which he called a "misogynistic trope" - could have been obtained before the trial last year and Heard could have been asked about it then. Wolanski said $950,000 to the ACLU and $850,000 to the CHLA had been by anonymous donors in her honour or designated as a donation from her, and she fully intended to fulfil her pledges. "She said nothing dishonest in her witness statement whatsoever," Wolanski said. Court of Appeal Judges Nicholas Underhill and James Dingemans said they would give their decision "shortly" on whether to allow an appeal to take place. Authorities in the U.S. state of Georgia arrested a man late Tuesday after a series of shootings that left eight people dead, six of them Asian women. South Koreas foreign ministry said four of the victims were of Korean descent. Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 23:01:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DDIS ABABA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in Ethiopia's Amhara regional state disclosed on Friday they have intercepted 30 individuals in a suspected case of human trafficking. In a press statement Lower Armacho Locality Communications Office, Central Gonder zone in Amhara regional state, said the 30 individuals were being transported secretly on a freight truck, when they were intercepted at a local security checkpoint. The statement further said the driver of the freight vehicle and his assistant have been arrested on suspicion of engaging in a human trafficking operation. The statement didn't specify the intended final destination of the 30 individuals that were being smuggled. Although there are no exact estimates on the number of Ethiopians trafficked annually to foreign countries, it's estimated thousands of Ethiopians are trafficked to foreign countries annually. The human trafficking goes through three different routes, with the northern one going through Sudan, Libya and Mediterranean Sea to reach the European mainland. The second route goes east through Somalia, Djibouti and the Red Sea to reach Saudi Arabia. The third one goes south through Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique to reach South Africa. Ethiopia has in recent years toughened its child welfare laws and anti-trafficking legislation to protect thousands of minors and youths that are estimated to be trafficked to various foreign destinations annually. Enditem All-star trio has given 372 gallons through the years at the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center and theyre still donating The South Texas Blood & Tissue Center's 'all-star' blood donors (from left) Ron White. Marcos Perez and Gerald Perkins, were recognized for donating 372 gallons of blood and platelets at an event at the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center's Donor Pavilion on Thursday, March 18. The stack of five-gallon buckets represent the 372 gallons of donations made by White (131 gallons), Perkins (121 gallons) and Perez (120 gallons). The South Texas Blood & Tissue Center's 'all-star' blood donors (from left) Ron White. Marcos Perez and Gerald Perkins, were recognized for donating 372 gallons of blood and platelets at an event at the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center's Donor Pavilion on Thursday, March 18. The stack of five-gallon buckets represent the 372 gallons of donations made by White (131 gallons), Perkins (121 gallons) and Perez (120 gallons). Marcos Perez makes a platelets donation on Thursday, March 18, following the event recognizing three 'all-star' blood donors with the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center. Perez was recognized for donating 120 gallons of blood and platelets, while Ron White was honored for giving 131 gallons and Gerald Perkins was recognized for giving 121 gallons. Marcos Perez makes a platelets donation on Thursday, March 18, following the event recognizing three 'all-star' blood donors with the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center. Perez was recognized for donating 120 gallons of blood and platelets, while Ron White was honored for giving 131 gallons and Gerald Perkins was recognized for giving 121 gallons. San Antonio, Texas, March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Every blood donor has a story about why they started giving, and the three blood donation superstars who recently gathered at the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center to encourage others to donate are no exception. Ron White, Marcos Perez and Gerald Perkins were honored as blood donation all-stars at a thank-you event at the centers Donor Pavilion. White, who started giving at the age of 17, has donated 131 gallons. Perkins, who first gave blood in 1950, is at 121 gallons just at the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center. Perez was featured in news reports around the world recently after reaching 120 gallons. All three have donated a combination of whole blood and platelets. Its not every day you get to meet true heroes, but these three men are true heroes, said Adrienne Mendoza, Vice President for Blood Operations at the center, which is a subsidiary of San Antonio-based nonprofit BioBridge Global. All three all-star donors encouraged the community to follow their lead, especially as the blood supply is battered by canceled blood drives during the COVID-19 pandemic and growing needs from the 100 hospitals and clinics the center serves in Texas. Platelet donors can give every two weeks, up to 24 times a year, and whole blood donors can give every 56 days. Story continues If people in this town can back the Spurs, they can back the blood bank, too, said Perez. They need to pay it forward one donation saved my life, and that means thousands of people are alive today. Perez, who was born prematurely, received a transfusion as a baby. When he became eligible, he started giving platelets on a regular basis at the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center. He visits every two weeks, and even after his recent retirement from the U.S. Postal Service, he plans to keep donating. White first gave blood as a teenager, but he began regularly donating platelets after meeting a girl at his church who needed blood as she struggled with leukemia. He hadnt seen her in nearly 15 years until the all-star donation event, where she came to thank him in person. Its because of donors like you that Im here today, said Arden Cantwell, who now is in college. White, who like Perez is retired, also makes regular platelet donations. He doesnt mind forcefully encouraging people to donate as well. People ask me why I donate all the time, he said. I say, Why in the hell dont you donate, too? Perkins, who at 90 is one of the centers oldest regular donors, started giving when a blood drive came to the International Harvester factory in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1950, when he was 20 years old. They told me you didnt have to do any heavy lifting the rest of the day if you gave blood, Perkins said with a chuckle. Sounded good to me. Perkins, who was drafted soon after his first donation and then made the U.S. Army a 30-year career, worked hard to find places to give blood while in the service. When I was stationed in Hawaii, they didnt collect blood at the base, he said. I had to take a bus to the blood center in Honolulu to donate. Perkins also found ways to give while stationed at Heidelberg, Germany, Washington, D.C., and other places he said he just cant remember anymore. None of those donations count toward his total of 121 gallons at the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center. His final assignment was at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, where he started donating at the bases blood center. He began giving at the local blood center which opened in 1974 when he retired from the military in the 1980s. Its a wonderful way to be able to help people, he said. At the end of the thank-you event, which featured a stack of five-gallon buckets representing the 372 gallons the men have given at the center, all three walked to the nearby donor room and added to their totals. Its the least we can do, White said. ### About the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center: The South Texas Blood & Tissue Center (STBTC) is a nonprofit community blood center that provides blood, plasma, platelets and other blood components to 100 hospitals in 48 South Texas counties. It is the largest blood supplier in our region. In addition, it recovers and distributes donated human tissue for transplant. STBTC has a 45-year history serving the South Texas community. It is part of the BioBridge Global family of nonprofit organizations, which offers services in regenerative medicine and research including blood banking and resource management; cellular therapy; umbilical cord blood collection and storage; donated human tissue recovery and distribution for transplant; and testing of blood and plasma products to help patients in the United States and worldwide. STBTC has seven donor rooms in South Texas and conducts hundreds of mobile blood drives each year. STBTC is online at SouthTexasBlood.org. About BioBridge Global: BioBridge Global (BBG) is a San Antonio, Texas-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit regenerative medicine enterprise that offers diverse services through its subsidiaries the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center, QualTex Laboratories, GenCure and The Blood & Tissue Center Foundation. BBG provides products and services in blood resource management, cellular therapy, donated umbilical cord blood and human tissue as well as testing of blood, plasma and tissue products for clients in the United States and worldwide. BBG is committed to saving and enhancing lives through the healing power of human cells and tissue. It enables advances in the field of regenerative medicine by providing access to human cells and tissue, testing services and biomanufacturing and clinical trials support. Learn more at BioBridgeGlobal.org. Attachments CONTACT: Ashley Frolick South Texas Blood & Tissue Center 210-296-9026 ashley.frolick@southtexasblood.org Like a third of the people the San Antonio Food Bank has seen this past year, Henrietta Lopez didnt need help until the coronavirus pandemic hit. Shes retired with a limited income. Her husband, a supervisor at a hotel, had his hours cut. And they have a 14-year-old daughter to feed. So in December, she finally turned to the Food Bank. It means a lot, Lopez said. We try to share with neighbors that are struggling. Lopez, 67, arrived at Northside ISDs Gustafson Stadium at 2:05 a.m. Friday morning to be sure she would get groceries for her family. She was one of the 1,205 households that took home about 100 pounds of food including pinto beans, pan dulce, prepared meals from H-E-B, bacon, cream of broccoli soup and turkey, among other goods. She said the food would last several weeks. On ExpressNews.com: Fans can support San Antonio Food Bank with Women's Final Four cutouts The need for food in the community increased to unprecedented levels because of the pandemic, said San Antonio Food Bank CEO Eric Cooper. The agency distributed more than $160 million in food from March 2020 through February, feeding 625,000 people. About 39 percent of those people had never been to the Food Bank before. Before the pandemic began, the San Antonio Food Bank would feed an average of 60,000 people a week. As officials have been saying for months, that figure quickly doubled to 120,000 and the need has not diminished. Children are a major part of that group. In Texas, 1 in 7 kids already struggled with food insecurity before the pandemic, and the virus made it so much worse. As COVID-19 spread throughout the community, causing rampant job loss and pushing children out of their schools, hunger more than doubled, forcing 1 in 3 Texas children to go hungry, according to No Kid Hungry, a campaign to end childhood hunger. Its been a challenge to get kids fed, Cooper said, with school cafeterias closed for months. Friday, the Food Bank announced the No Kid Hungry campaign donated $198,000 to the agency for a new truck that delivers food directly to schools and other distribution sites. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio Food Bank provides boost as weather on top of pandemic stretches family food resources ever thinner San Antonio companies and individuals also have stepped up to the plate. Donations increased by 24 percent from the previous year, the Food Bank said in its COVID-19 impact report released this week. The Food Bank also saw almost 100 volunteers per hour of operation in the pandemic year, with volunteers putting in a cumulative 183,099 hours of work. In 2017, the last year for which figures are available, volunteers put in 162,605 hours. Some of the hours in 2020 came from Bill and Cindy Scorpio, a retired couple in their early 60s. Having worked with a food bank in Ohio, the two started volunteering right before the pandemic started and now try to donate time every week. Theres tons more people, Cindy Scorpio said, with her husband adding the people in line come from all walks of life. It seems like its a broader spectrum of individuals, he said. Previously, when you worked at the food bank, there would be a certain demographic that youd meet more often. Now its almost everybody. The San Antonio Food Bank doesnt just serve the Alamo City. The agency usually serves 16 counties, including Bexar, but expanded to 29 counties once the pandemic started to help more of the surrounding rural communities, Cooper said. Families with children 18 and under who need food can text Food or Comida to 877877 to find free meals nearby. The next mega food distribution is 9-11 a.m. Friday at Heroes Stadium, 4799 Thousand Oaks Drive. Those who want to get food should pre-register at SAFoodBank.org. The Food Bank headquarters at 5200 Enrique M. Barrera Parkway is also open for food distribution from 1 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday. To reach the Food Bank for assistance or to volunteer, call 210-431-8326. liz.hardaway@hearst.com | Twitter: @liz_hardaway High notes Carol Mueller and Christina Mueller of the Mueller Family McDonalds presented a $10,000 check to the Diocese of Scranton Scholarship Foundation. The donation was raised during the fourth annual Fry Fundraiser that kicked off National Catholic Schools Week from Jan. 31 to Feb. 21. All 16 Mueller Family McDonalds participated by donating a portion of every large order of french fries sold during that period. Because of COVID-19, the Mueller Family McDonalds was unable to host the traditional School Activity Nights, so instead it embarked on a Facebook campaign which featured short videos highlighting how the diocese is working to maintain the superior educational standard in spite of a global pandemic. Since we couldnt host events inside our restaurants, we tried to think outside the box. We were blessed to work with the great people at the diocese to bring the Catholic School experience to our Facebook fans, according to the Muellers. As a result, donations actually increased. The diocese is grateful to the Meuller family for their generosity and commitment to supporting families in need, said Jason Morrison, diocesan secretary of Catholic education/CEO. This support is needed more than ever and ensures an excellent faith-based education is affordable and available to those desiring to attend one of our schools, Morrison said. City to be featured on upcoming program The city of Scranton will be the subject of PCNs Pennsylvanias Neighborhood from April 5 to 9. The program will include insights into Scrantons history as the Electric City and its anthracite coal mining heritage; interviews with notable residents including U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon and Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti; a look back at President Joe Bidens roots in the city; tours of popular restaurants; and visits to the Electric City Trolley Museum, Steamtown National Historic Site and La Festa Italiana. The program is centered on celebrating the people, places and events that make each neighborhood unique. PCN is an award-winning, nonprofit television network. Pennsylvanias Neighborhood: Scranton airs April 5 to 9 at 7 p.m. on cable and streaming worldwide with PCN Select. Managing Editor of Community Engagement Lindsey Hollenbaugh is the managing editor of community engagement for The Berkshire Eagle. A native of upstate New York, she has a journalism degree from Ithaca College. She lives in Pittsfield with her husband and son. A LIMERICK man has been recognised for his bravery in rescuing two Italian brothers during an offshore search and rescue mission in 2019. The brothers, who were holidaying in Ireland, fell into the sea at an infamous black spot called the Worm Hole off Inis Mor, Galway Bay. Philip Wrenn, a winchman with Rescue 115 - the Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter, has been presented with an award by Minister-of-State Hildegarde Naughton. Phil Wrenn is a deserving recipient of the award and his actions that night on Poll an bPeist Inis Mor, demonstrates a level of professionalism and commitment that I have no doubt is a great source of pride not alone to his immediate colleagues but to anybody who is involved in Search and Rescue. I am delighted to present this award to Phil today, and to honour the extraordinary work of our Coast Guard," she said. Eugene Clonan, Director Irish Coast Guard added: It is the role of the Irish Coast Guard to provide assistance to anyone in distress at sea and Philips selfless act of bravery exemplifies the actions of all Coast Guard activities in this area along with the county council life guards and declared resources of the RNLI and Community Inshore Rescue Service. Robert Tatten, CHC General Operations Manager Ireland, noted: The award being presented was very appropriate as the Bog Oak Sculpture by Irish sculptor, Brendan Collum, entitled Entwined reminds us that all our lives are entwined, even with strangers we may not have yet met. Philip saved two people he had never met at Inis Mor without thought for his own safety, but his experience and the intense training he and all CHC staff go through enabled him to make that rescue safely. In accepting the award Philip, a married father-of-four who is originally from Limerick city, said: I am accepting this award on behalf of the whole team on Rescue 115. As a team we work together to execute a rescue and I am only one member of that team. Without the professionalism and experience of all the crew that rescue could have had a very different outcome, but happily two people were rescued and I am very happy to have played a small role in that. Philips bravery has already been recognised as he previously received the 2020 Billy Deacon Award which is presented to winchmen and/or winch operators for meritorious service during Search and Rescue helicopter operations within the Irish and UK Search and Rescue regions. Philip, who lives in Rathkeale, is a member of Newcastle West Scout group and Newcastle West Cycliing Club. He is also a referee with Munster Association of Referees. Chennai, March 20 : The DMK-Congress in Puducherry is gearing to give a tough fight to the AIADMK-AINRC-BJP combine, which is perceived to have an edge, in the April 6 Assembly elections. While some opinion polls have predicted an easy victory for the AIADMK-AINRC-BJP combine, the Congress leaders are of the opinion that they will come back to power. Former Chief Minister V. Narayanaswamy, who is not contesting the elections but heading the poll campaign, told IANS that the Congress and DMK "has an inherent vote bank in Puducherry which is way ahead of the AINRC-AIADMK-BJP combine". "While the first two have some representation, what is the situation of BJP? It has a miniscule percentage of votes in the last elections and there is no grassroot support for that party in any constituency of the state," he said. The Narayanaswamy-led Congress-DMK government was forced to quit after several Congress ministers and MLAs crossed over to the BJP. Another factor which the Congress-DMK combine is banking on is the leadership issue in the AIADMK-AINRC-BJP combine with AINRC chief and former Chief Minister N. Rangaswamy upset over Union Home Minister Amit Shah's reported statement of a BJP leader heading the government after their win. However, BJP leader in charge of Puducherry, Nirmal Kumar Surana has already announced Rangaswamy would lead the combine. The AINRC is contesting 16 seats while the AIADMK and the BJP are contesting the remaining 14 seats. The DMK and Congress are trying to make up for the lost ground and to woo the caste and communal balances across the state to try and come back to power. The presence of the AINRC in the BJP alliance is a major hindrance for the Congress and party sources admit that it could play spoilsport. A senior Congress leader told IANS that Rangaswamy is a former Congressman and "we will initiate backdoor parleys with him, if there are possibilities of such a combination after election results are out". In the Secular Progressive Alliance, the Congress will contest 15 seats, the DMK 13 seats, and the remaining two going to the CPI and Dalit outfit VCK. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 00:05:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SHANGHAI, March 18 (Xinhua) -- A comprehensive tourism expo, Tourism Plus Shanghai 2021, will take place in east China's Shanghai Municipality from March 29 to April 3. Covering an area of 600,000 square meters, the expo will include four exhibitions and feature nearly 100 forums and summits, 29 competitions and award events. More than 5,000 exhibitors and 400,000 visitors are expected to participate in the six-day event. The expo will be a comprehensive tourism event integrating various tourism products including hotels, tourism and dining facilities, food cultures and outdoor activities, said Cheng Meihong, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism. Enditem The French defence procurement agency (DGA) has awarded Thales a contract to develop, qualify and manufacture the SonoFlash air-droppable sonobuoy. Complementing the other anti-submarine warfare systems in service with the French Navy, this new-generation sonobuoy is a strategic asset that allows France to have a sovereign solution in high-performance sonobuoys. Manufactured in France with local SMEs, the SonoFlash buoy features an innovative design and advanced technology to bring naval aviation units best-in-class performance. The French Navy has selected the SonoFlash new-generation sonobuoy from Thales. Unveiled at the Euronaval show in October 2018, SonoFlash will enable France to reach its strategic capability goal for acoustic sensors. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210318005484/en/ Artists impression of a SonoFlash sonobuoy at sea Thales The threat posed by submarines is evolving rapidly. Three decades ago, only the superpowers had a true undersea warfare capability, but numerous countries now deploy modern submarine fleets. At the same time, forces increasingly operate in littoral waters, which are much more complex for sonar systems, rather than in the relative certainty of open-ocean environments. Responding to this evolving threat environment, Thales developed the SonoFlash buoy, a new-generation sonobuoy with an unequalled performance-to-mass ratio that builds on decades of expertise in sonars and acoustic sensors to offer an ambitious new solution. Its innovative design and advanced technology include a number of key features to deliver unrivalled performance. Today's sonobuoys are either passive or active. By contrast, the SonoFlash buoy offers the best of both modes, combining a powerful, optimised low-frequency transmitter with a high-directivity passive receiver. With the combination of these two capabilities, and the added advantage of long endurance, the SonoFlash buoy is suitable for a wide array of deployment scenarios. Fully compatible with the other families of Thales sonars, the SonoFlash buoyoffers high tactical flexibility and opens up promising new opportunities for multistatic operation. Coupled with the FLASH dipping sonar, for example, the SonoFlash buoyenables an aircraft to expand its coverage area and respond with greater agility to evasive manoeuvres by a submarine. Thanks to its digitised signal and optimal communication range, the SonoFlash buoydata can be readily exploited by any piloted or remotely piloted aircraft, naval vessel or shore centre equipped with a sonobuoy processing system. The French Navy will be the first operational user of the SonoFlash buoy, which will be deployed by the modernised Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft and NH90 Caiman tactical transport helicopters. It will be delivered to the Navy from 2025 and could be available in export markets to equip all modern maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters as well as all types of unmanned platforms, including autonomous surface vehicles and rotary-wing (VTOL) and fixed-wing UAVs equipped with a suitable multi-sonobuoy dispenser. Manufactured in France with a network of SMEs such as TELERAD, SelhaGroup and Realmeca, the SonoFlash buoy relies on Thaless expertise in acoustic sensor technology to contribute to Frances desire for independence in strategic industries. Thales has packed 10 years of innovation in hardware and digital technologies into a tube measuring 91.4 cm long and 12.3 cm in diameter. SonoFlash extends the range of a naval force's anti-submarine warfare operations, outclassing all other sonobuoys in the market today and offering a versatile and easy-to-deploy solution for tracking submarines from any piloted or remotely piloted aircraft, frigate or unmanned surface vehicle. We are grateful to the DGA and the Navy for the trust they have placed in us and delighted to be working with French partner SMEs to bring this project to a successful conclusion and restore France's sovereign capabilities in sonobuoys. Alexis Morel, VP Underwater Systems, Thales. About Thales Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies, investing in digital and deep tech innovations connectivity, big data, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and quantum computing to build a confident future crucial for the development of our societies. The Group provides its customers businesses, organisations and governments in the defense, aeronautics, space, transport, and digital identity and security domains with solutions, services and products that help them fulfil their critical role, consideration for the individual being the driving force behind all decisions. Thales has 81,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2020 the Group generated sales of 17 billion. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210318005484/en/ As the European Union looks forward to a fresh start with the United States under a new president, it is riddled with doubts over another transatlantic relationship. A trade pact struck in 2019 with the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay after two decades of talks promised to be the EU's largest deal, with the removal of 4 billion euros ($4.8 billion) of import tariffs on its products. But two years later, it is unclear when - or whether - it will enter force due to Europe's concerns over Amazon deforestation and scepticism about Brazil's commitment to tackling climate change under President Jair Bolsonaro. The doubts are amplified by a new EU trade strategy unveiled in February that says would-be partners of the world's richest trade bloc should uphold standards on the environment and labour rights. While few noticed when the EU began talks with Mercosur in 1999, scrutiny of trade deals has since intensified, particularly after the bloc launched Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations with the United States in 2013, drawing mass protests. The EU seeks greater cooperation with the United States on trade now U.S. President Joe Biden has replaced Donald Trump, but TTIP talks, suspended in 2016, will not be revived. Expand Close France's President Emmanuel Macron and Germanys Chancellor Angela Merkel during a news conference at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp France's President Emmanuel Macron and Germanys Chancellor Angela Merkel during a news conference at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva The Mercosur saga is being closely watched by other potential partners, aware that an investment accord agreed with China in December also faces close inspection. "Trade is hard enough as it is. These extra issues just make it more difficult for the EU to do deals with anyone else," said David Henig, a director at pro-free trade think tank ECIPE. Apart from Australia and New Zealand, there were no "easy deals" left on the horizon for the EU, Henig said, noting potentially tough negotiations to come with ASEAN countries, including Indonesia and the Philippines. AUSTRIA'S "NO TO MERCOSUR" Portugal, with close ties to South America, made concluding the deal a priority of its presidency of EU affairs in the first half of 2021, saying Europe's credibility was at stake. A trade accord needs backing from the European Parliament and EU members to enter force and far from all are convinced. Expand Close IFA President Joe Healy and IFA Livestock Chairman Angus Woods lead IFA National Officers and members in a protest at the EU Commission offices in Dublin yesterday, where they met the head of the European commission in Ireland Gerry Kiely. Picture: Finbarr O'Rourke / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp IFA President Joe Healy and IFA Livestock Chairman Angus Woods lead IFA National Officers and members in a protest at the EU Commission offices in Dublin yesterday, where they met the head of the European commission in Ireland Gerry Kiely. Picture: Finbarr O'Rourke France and Ireland, both beef producers wary of meat imports, threatened to block the deal months after it was agreed, as fires ripped through Brazil's rainforest. Austria has since taken the lead. "No to Mercosur" is written into its new government accord and Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler, a Green, wrote to Portugal's prime minister this month, saying Austria would "do its utmost" to oppose the deal. Brazil's agriculture minister Tereza Cristina Dias and the vice president Hamilton Mourao say environmental concerns are a mask for European protectionism. But both sides recognise the agreement will not pass in its current form. Brazil, the fifth-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, has aggressive long-term plans to cut emissions and curb deforestation, but Bolsonaro's weakening of environmental enforcement has shaken confidence they can be reached. Critics say 15 pages in the existing Mercosur text on labour and the environment lack teeth. The European Commission now proposes securing clearer commitments. It won broad support from EU countries for the idea this month. Mercosur countries say they are awaiting a text on climate change and deforestation. One Mercosur diplomat, asking not to be named, cautioned it should be balanced, not just list EU demands. Expand Close FILE PHOTO: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro attends a Mercosur trade bloc summit, in Bento Goncalves, Brazil December 5, 2019. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp FILE PHOTO: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro attends a Mercosur trade bloc summit, in Bento Goncalves, Brazil December 5, 2019. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo FRANCE, BRAZIL ELECTIONS IN 2022 The European Parliament wants a commitment to monitoring and enforcement of universal standards and clear consequences for violations. "Without this, then it would be problematic. There are some critical voices in more or less every political group," Bernd Lange, chair of the parliament's trade committee, said. The parliament rejected a multi-country anti-counterfeiting trade agreement on counterfeiting in 2012, but Lange said the parliament preferred to improve than to reject deals. "It's now up to the negotiation process to find a solution." What awaits are renewed talks with an unclear end date. French Trade Minister Frank Riester has said France wants, for example, to see what Brazil will do at the United Nations climate change conference in November, giving France the chance to push the deal in early 2022 when it has the EU presidency. However, that would coincide with French President Emmanuel Macron's campaign for re-election in a potentially tight race, in which a Mercosur deal could cost him support. Some advise waiting even further into next year, with Brazil's presidential election due in October. A diplomat of one would-be partner said the Mercosur experience had shown the European Union had become a challenging partner with which to do a trade deal. The lesson drawn was to try to resolve all issues up front to avoid being dragged into a second round of "quasi-negotiations". Kolkata, March 19 : An armed insurgent group of ethnic Burmese is likely to surface in Myanmar's urban centres soon, those connected with it said. Myanmar has dozens of rebel armies representing ethnic minorities like Kachins, Karens, Was and Shans that have fought the country's military for decades since 1960s and some even before that. A youth leader coordinating between the neighbourhood watch resistance groups in commercial hub Yangon told IANS that the massacres perpetrated by the Tatmadaw (military) has forced them to weigh the option of armed resistance. "We have to bring back democracy, we have to bring back Parliament, we cannot let the military rule again, we believe in peaceful protests but what option are we left with if the Tatmadaw kills its own people like flies," the youth leader said on the condition of anonymity. He disclosed that a 'Federal Army' is being formed to continue the struggle for democracy, though he did not say clearly when will it surface. More than 200 protesters have been killed in firings by security forces across Myanmar, mostly in cities like Yangon, Mandalay and Dawei, since the February 1 military takeover that prevented Nobel laureate Aung Saan Suu Kyi's NLD party form a government for a second time. More than 3,000 protesters and senior NLD leaders, including Suu Kyi, have been detained and formally charged with crimes as trivial as possession of foreign made walkie-talkies and as serious as bribery. More than 600 protesters have suffered serious injuries, some life threatening or delibitating. "The Tatmadaw must know there is a cost for everything. They may have guns but what about their families," the youth leader asked. Senior NLD leaders that IANS spoke to said Suu Kyi's party does not believe in armed action but they said the army's brutal suppression had made it "very difficult for us to control younger Burmese". "How do you control young men and women whose brothers and sisters have been shot before their own eyes?" queried an NLD MP. "They are crying for revenge." Another NLD leader said that he will not be surprised if "some hotheads targeted families of Tatmadaw generals involved in the forced takeover and subsequent suppression". "We are getting such vibes, restlessness is growing among the young who have staked all to fight for democracy. What we do say when they come back at us and argue how long will be take this suppression," he said. Angry protesters have also attacked Chinese factories and business establishments and burnt down at least 17 of them. The Chinese embassy have now asked its businesses to send back "non-essential staff" and asked the Burmese military for stronger protection and punishment for the attackers. The Burmese social media is agog with anti-Chinese rants with some netizens threatening even to blow up the Kyaukphyu-Yunnan pipeline connecting a China-made port on Myanmar's Rakhine province with its Yunnan province. The sight of Bamar (ethnic Burmese) youths fleeing Myanmar's cities and joining ethnic rebel groups in Kachin and Karen areas is not new. Thousands of them formed armed groups and sought training in use of weapons after the brutal suppression of the 1988 student-youth uprising by the military. But they fizzled out after the military allowed elections in 1990, though they refused to honour the poll verdict because Suu Kyi's NLD had swept the polls. One such youth leader, Soe Myint, with an accomplice trained in the Karen jungles hijacked a Burmese passenger aircraft on the Bangkok-Yangon route and forced it to land in Kolkata. Myint was freed by an Indian court after four years and started 'Mizzima Media' in exile. It is now Myanmar's leading multimedia news group but the military has cancelled its license to publish and broadcast along with three other media outlets after the coup. Myint, now suffering from cancer, has however vowed to challenge the "illegitimate military government and fight for restoration of democracy" in a statement now available on Mizzima's website. 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. Google has taken a swing at Microsoft over its statements on the recent media stoushes, accusing the Redmond behemoth of "making self-serving claims", and being "willing to break the way the open web works in an effort to undercut a rival. "And their claims about our business and how we work with news publishers are just plain wrong," Google senior vice-president of Global Affairs, Kent Walker, said in a blog post on Friday. Walker took a dig at Microsoft's ongoing security issues, saying: "This latest attack marks a return to Microsofts longtime practices. "And its no coincidence that Microsofts newfound interest in attacking us comes on the heels of the SolarWinds attack and at a moment when theyve allowed tens of thousands of their customers including government agencies in the US, NATO allies, banks, non-profits, telecommunications providers, public utilities, police, fire and rescue units, hospitals and, presumably, news organisations to be actively hacked via major Microsoft vulnerabilities. "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. So maybe its not surprising to see them dusting off the old diversionary Scroogled playbook." Microsoft president Brad Smith, into the US House Committee on Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law, had accused Google of being largely responsible for the dramatic drop in revenue earned by newspaper companies over the last decade or so. After detailing the way in which Google dominates the digital advertising market, Smith called for government action to fix the imbalance, saying this was needed "because 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". He referred to the recent Australian legislation on a news media code, saying Microsoft's intervention had led to the search company offering deals to publishers. "As the legislation was poised for adoption, Google threatened to pull its search service out of the country," Smith said. "But when we announced that Microsoft Bing its primary competitor would remain and, if it grew in Googles absence, would comply with the legislation, Google immediately flip-flopped. "Within 24 hours, Google was on the phone with the prime minister, saying it wouldnt leave the country after all. And in the two weeks that followed, Google accomplished something it claimed impossible just a few days before: it negotiated agreements with the three largest news organisations in Australia, reportedly valued at more than US$100 million (A$128.9 million)." The Royal Caribbean ship Legend of the Seas docked at Port of Darwin, Northern Territory, obtained Friday, July 31, 2015, Sydney. (AAP Image/ Gregg Tripp) Australian Government Pushed to Take Back Darwin Port From Chinese Firm The Australian government should consider cancelling the 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin to a Chinese firm if the deal is found to undermine Australias national interest, according to a parliamentary committees recommendation. The Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth on Wednesday released a report examining Australias national interest and security in trade and investment. Among its 21 recommendations was a call to reclaim the strategically important Port of Darwin, leased to Chinese firm Landbridge in 2015 by the Northern Territory government for $506 million. The committee urged the Morrison government to investigate whether the lease is subject to the Foreign Relations law enacted last year. Additionally, it recommended other ports and strategic infrastructure owned or leased to foreign corporations be scrutinised. View of Darwins Waterfront precinct from the Vibe Waterfront hotel, Oct. 20, 2011. (AAP Image/Caroline Berdon) Executive Director of the Australia Defence Association (ADA) Neil James told the ABC last year that it is a dumb idea to sacrifice Australian strategic power to a Chinese company for short-term financial gain. You dont farm out the risk to everyone in Australia over 99 years to save you some money in the early 20-teens, he said. It was a seriously dumb idea by a government that really hadnt thought through the consequences, and even if it had, was prepared to ignore the long-term costs, both financial and strategic, they were inflicting on the rest of the country. When you look at a largely unknowable strategic future, James added, Its actually shackled Australias ability to defend itself adequately, and the tragedy is it was done unnecessarily. In an interview in 2016, Landbridges billionaire owner Ye Cheng proclaimed that the 99-year-lease agreement will propel Chinas foreign policy goal to expand its geopolitical power via the world-spanning Belt and Road Initiative. In the report, the committee also examined Australias economic reliance on the Peoples Republic of China and the need to diversify Australias export markets. Committee Chair, Federal Member for Dawson George Christensen, said Australia was more vulnerable because it put too many of economic eggs into the one basket, adding that the basket was woven by a totalitarian communist state that uses trade as a political weapon. George Christensen in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 26, 2018. (Michael Masters/Getty Images) Given the ongoing tensions with communist China, it is an unacceptable security risk to have Chinese state-owned and state-linked enterprises involved in our universities and strategic infrastructure, he said. Christensen told The Epoch Times that the governments failures to pivot away from China on trade and investment could result in dire consequences for Australia both in terms of the economy and national security. The writing was on the wall a long time before the pandemic, he stated, I have to say that its gone from being too big of a problem to deal with, to too big of a problem to ignore. Four Labor members of Parliament, who were part of the committee, also backed trade diversification and criticised the Darwin Port deal, which was then signed between the then-Country Liberal Party government and Landbridge. Daniel Munilo, federal Labor member for Fraser, said diversifying trade will build upon the strengths of the relationship with China by expanding ties to other major economies like India and ASEAN nations. This is not about weakening our economic relationship with China, Munilo said. This is about a China-plus strategy. This picture taken on February 8, 2020 shows a Chinese worker carrying materials for the first rail line linking China to Laos, a key part of Beijings Belt and Road project across the Mekong, in Luang Prabang. (Photo by AIDAN JONES/AFP via Getty Images) In 2019, Chief Minister Michael Gunner claimed he would not buy back the Port from Landbridge even if the money was available, instead saying he would prioritise things that will grow jobs for the Territory. Gunner praised the deal as a very positive investment for Australia, despite initially slamming it as nothing more than another one-off cash grab. In October, Australia gave a Chinese-linked entity a mining licence for Cockatoo Island in Western Australia, next to the Yampi Sound Defence Training Area. Concerns were raised in February this year as China was reportedly planning to build a $39 million industrial city on the impoverished Papua New Guinean island of Daru, which is slightly over 100 miles from the coast of Australia. Despite the associated environmental problems, Vietnam cannot do without coal-fired power plants for another 15 years at least, experts say. There is no current alternative that can help Vietnam ensure energy security and maintain stable prices, they add. There are several coal-fired plants in the pipeline, set to be built by 2025, including the Nam Dinh 1 and Thai Binh 2 in northern Vietnam, and even after 2035 the country will still need a small number of coal-fired plants to keep prices from rising too high, the Institute of Energy says in a comment on the countrys latest energy development plan. Developing liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects to replace coal will lower energy security, and its costs will be around $2 billion a year higher than coal; while that of renewable energy will be $1 billion higher, the institute said. In terms of environmental impacts of coal-fired plants, the institute said that Vietnam's latest energy plan requires coal-fired plants to use advanced technology that consumes less power and protects the environment. Several localities, energy organizations and the Danish embassy have recommended that Vietnam develops no new coal-fired plants for the next 10 years to reduce harmful emissions. They advised the development of solar, wind and LNG projects to make up for the reduction in coal-fired energy, they said. In a tentative energy plan for the 2021-2030, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed that of the nearly 80-gigawatt increase in generation capacity needed in the next decade, wind and solar power should contribute about 30 GW, with most of the rest coming from coal, gas and LNG fired plants. To all government departments, entities, and individuals involved in the vaccination process: Today I had the privilege of receiving my first shot of the Pfizer Covid 19 vaccine at the Belair Community center. I had registered online about 2 weeks ago. The process was easy and straightforward. Last week I received my appointment but unfortunately, I was off-island so I had to decline. Earlier this week I received a new notification with the new appointment date for earlier today. I arrived at the facility as indicated 15 minutes before the appointment and I was greeted by a police officer that indicated the documents I needed to complete. After completing the documents I went to a registration desk and about 10 minutes later the information entered was being verified by a medical technician. Before I knew it the vaccine had been administered without any pain and I was out of the door in about 45 minutes from start to finish. I must say I was very impressed with the level of organization starting from the online process, the greeting by the police officer, the AUC students handling the registration desk, the medical technicians from the US administering the shots. The facilities were clean and comfortable with a great calming ambiance and social distancing was properly maintain throughout all the various steps. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Dutch government for supplying the vaccine to the residents of St. Maarten and VSA, Dr. Best and his team for setting up such a well oiled machine to get this very important process completed so we can all come back to a sense of normalcy as soon as possible. My sincere thanks to all, Ricardo Perez General Manager Oyster Bay Beach Resort/Coral Beach Club The brakes have been put on the containment of Covid-19 Laois according to the latest National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) figures reveal. The daily statement from NPHET reveals that there were 16 new cases in Laois on March 18. This means that the average number of new cases each day over five days went up from 4 to 6 a day. It also pushes up the incidence in Laois after several days of falls. NPHET says there are now 83.8 cases per 100,000 on average over a 14 day period. This is calculated on the back of 71 new cases in the past fortnight. Ther have now been 3,263 cases officially recorded in Laois. The Laois population incidence is under half the national rate of 150.5 per 100k. It has fallen in the containment table across each county in Ireland. SEE COUNTY BY COUNTY TABLE AT END OF STORY. Nationally, a further 10 deaths were reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) on March 19 when the latest figures were published. Of the fatalities, nine deaths occurred in March while the date of death remains under investigation. There has been a total of 4,576 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. However, people are still in hospital and more than 80 Irish people are critically ill with the virus As of 8am today, 336 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 87 are in ICU. 43 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. As of midnight, Thursday, March 18 NPHET said the HPSC has been notified of 507 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 229,306* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. Of the cases notified today: 249 are men / 255 are women 70% are under 45 years of age The median age is 33 years old NPHET highlighted 216 in Dublin, 40 in Kildare, 29 in Galway, 24 in Offaly, 18 in Tipperary, and the remaining 180 cases are spread across 20 other counties. The 7-day incidence 73.3 per 100k of people in Ireland while the 5-day moving average has risen to 513 new cases a day. As of March 16th, 632,359 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland: 463,500 people have received their first dose 168,859 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. Roseburg, OR (97470) Today Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable. Mexican authorities seized 1,555 fake vials of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine aboard a private jet that was just moments from taking off for Honduras. Mexico's Tax Administration Service announced that the discovery took place Wednesday on the tarmac of Campeche International Airport in Campeche, a state located on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The jet was scheduled to travel to La Mesa International Airport in the northwestern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula. The small glass containers were found inside a plastic cooler filled with ice and bottles and cans of Coca-Cola during a search that was carried out by customs agents and the army. The Mexican government confiscated 1,555 fake vials of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine during the inspection of a private jet that was scheduled to depart for Honduras on Wednesday A cooler normally used to store away beverages was utilized to hide 5,775 doses of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine aboard a plane in Mexico that was set to depart for Honduras on Wednesday. Authorities placed the passengers in custody of the Attorney General's Office of Mexico A Mexican official holds a vial containing a bogus version of the Sputnik V vaccine The jars were immediately removed and transferred to another area where they were kept refrigerated before officials learned that they were 5,775 bogus doses of the Russian vaccine, the Tax Administration Service said. The jet was impounded and the passengers were turned over to the Mexico Attorney General's Office. Sputnik V confirmed the findings on Thursday and tweeted a notice educating the public on how to differentiate the legitimate packaging of the coronavirus vaccine with the fake versions that have been hawked on the black market. The Russian company showed the correct fonts and labeling that is applied to each glass jar and pointed out that each container that holds the vaccine fluid comes in its individual carton box. Mexican officials stand next to a private jet at Campeche International Airport in Campeche, Mexico, after customs agents and the army confiscated a cooler with 1,555 vials containing fake Sputnik V vaccines Sputnik V put out a notice to the public on how to spot a real vaccine from a fake It also included a warning indicating that the vaccines are only shipped inside insulated packaging and are protected by ice packs and thermo-loggers. The Mexican government has been working to clamp down on fake vaccines and counterfeit coronavirus tests that have become increasingly available. On Tuesday, a Cancun-based Marbu Salud laboratory was shut down after investigators confirmed that the site had provided fake PCR tests to a group of Argentine high school students who were celebrating their graduations. At least 74 of 169 students tested positive for the ravaging virus upon their arrival Saturday at Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Health officials detected the virus in 55 of the 88 students after they stepped out on a plane at the same airport on Sunday. A sniffer dog watches over as a Mexican agent goes through a cooler filled with fake versions of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine The mother of one of the teens aboard one of the returning flights told Argentine television network A24 that the parent arranged the vacation trip through local travel agency, Moon Travel. 'The travel agency arranged for a laboratory in Cancun to certify the PCR 72 hours before the trip, and the only thing we knew was that it had a cost of $100,' the woman said. 'The kids in Mexico all tested negative, but when they arrived in the country their swabs gave other results.' In February, Mexican authorities closed a clinic in the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon and arrested six people for peddling fake Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines that were being sold for up to $2,000 per dose. Meghan McCann, a sales representative for a wine and liquor company, has spent more than a year looking for a house in Columbia County, in the northern Hudson Valley, where she was born and raised. Ms. McCann, 39, who grew up in Copake Falls, less than 10 minutes from the town of Hillsdale, where she currently rents with her fiance, Joseph Walters, said she was preapproved for a $270,000 mortgage, but it wasnt enough. Every house she and Mr. Walters looked at sold within two weeks for prices that beggared belief. Now they are budgeting up to $350,000, or maybe more, in hopes of finding a small property on a few acres that they expect will probably have foundation problems or a leaky roof. Though it helps that Mr. Walters is in construction, this wasnt what they had bargained for. We dont want to have to do a lot of work, Ms. McCann said, pointing out that the cost of building materials has recently skyrocketed, making a fixer-upper a more serious investment. We want to go out to dinner and take vacations. 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. Charleston, WV (25301) Today Rain and scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 79F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms in the evening will give way to cloudy skies overnight. Areas of patchy fog developing. Low 62F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Health experts have expressed concern that even though the suspensions were brief, they could still damage confidence in the vaccine at a time when many people are already hesitant to take a shot that was developed so quickly. While many EU countries have struggled with such reluctance, its even more of a worry in developing nations that may not have any other choice of vaccine. AstraZeneca, which is cheaper and easier to store than many rival products, is the linchpin in vaccination drives in many poorer countries. BELMONT, MI An environmental chemistry expert and others on a citizen advisory panel are not impressed with Wolverine World Wides plan to clean up its toxic tannery waste dump in Kent County by relying primarily on planting trees over the contamination, saying the proposal basically amounts to doing nothing and calling it by a different name. Rick Rediske, a Grand Valley State University environmental chemistry professor who co-chairs the Wolverine Community Advisory Group (CAG), criticized the companys proposal to clean-up the House Street dump in Belmont through a process called phytoremediation, which would attempt to use about 4,000 trees to suck up pollutants buried long ago. During a Thursday, March 18 CAG meeting, Rediske argued that trees naturally enhance the infiltration of rain and snowmelt into groundwater. Clearing the already forested site and planting new trees could exacerbate a large plume extending southeast from the dump to the Rogue River, he said. That would run counter to goals outlined in a 2020 court-approved consent decree signed by Wolverine, the state of Michigan and Plainfield and Algoma townships. Its not at all effective at reducing and controlling infiltration and actually promotes infiltration, said Rediske. Theres really a benefit similar to a no action alternative. I mean, theres really no potential difference between the existing forest and what theyre proposing. The state is accepting public comment until April 17 on Wolverines draft feasibility study for cleaning up the House Street dump. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) is holding an online townhall meeting March 31 to discuss the plans. Wolverine submitted its phytoremediation plan last month following efforts over the winter to promote a limited cleanup and redevelopment of the dump as a nature preserve. The plan was elevated in a study that compared the feasibility of several options, ranging from a potential $200 million total waste removal to the potential $12 million phyto-cap project, which would combine tree planting with small areas of impermeable capping at the wooded 76-acre property. Wolverine calls the phyto-plan comprehensive and says it uses a combination of two methods to address the remediation objectives under the consent decree, while enhancing the property and area with up to 4,000 new trees and avoiding the deforestation of over 30 acres. Regulators at EGLE must approve whatever plan Wolverine proposes and a 30-acre unlined cap is the default option if the EGLE and the company cant reach an agreement. Capping contamination under an impermeable layer of clay is a common practice at closed landfills and other pollution sites to reduce infiltration from rain and meltwater. Neither representatives from EGLE nor Wolverine spoke at Thursdays CAG meeting. The group was convened in 2019 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. State Sen. Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, and staff for U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., were also on the call. Rediske and other CAG members spoke favorably about a potential $16.3 million option in the study to install groundwater extraction wells connected to an activated carbon treatment system near the dump, and some suggested a second cluster of wells is needed at the other end of the plume to keep the contamination from entering the Rogue River. The river is shaping up to be a major focus point in future cleanup efforts. Exposure to the chemicals through area drinking water has been addressed through in-home filtration, well use restrictions and new Plainfield Township water mains that started being laid last year. The Rogue is a tributary of the Grand River, which flows into Lake Michigan. The CAG has previously questioned the adequacy of plans to reduce PFAS entering the river. The number one exposure point now is down at the Rogue River, said A.J. Birkbeck, an environmental attorney who previously helped expose the pollution. The next big step is right at the Rogue, Birkbeck said. None of these solutions really involve dealing with that directly. I propose that it would be a good idea to tie whatever is done at House Street with maybe something at the Rogue River. Birkbeck said Wolverine is already installing a similar cluster of groundwater extraction wells at its former tannery site in downtown Rockford to reduce pollution entering the river. That installation has been underway for several years. The state is scheduling a public review and meeting on that in May. Rediske said plume maps show the House Street contamination may already be reaching the Grand River in low concentration. He noted the chemicals can create toxic surface water foam even in low amounts when affected water is agitated. That could create a problem for a long-running project to restore the river rapids in downtown Grand Rapids. Even though we might get dilution in the Grand River, theres a big effort to have the rapids in downtown and I would hate to see that messed up because of PFAS foam, he said. Based on studies cited in Wolverines plan, it could take a millennia for phytoremediation have any measurable impact on the plume, Rediske said. It would be very unusual to just let a plume go like this without some type of treatment. Related stories: Timeline: The Wolverine, 3M Scotchgard disaster Wolverine submits plan to clean dump with 4k trees Michigan PFAS site list surges past 100 Blue soils dug from under polluted Wolverine tannery 3M, Wolverine settle pollution lawsuit with Michigan family 3M to pay $55M in Michigan PFAS settlement How citizen sleuths cracked the Wolverine tannery case PFAS activist says blood testing probably saved her life (TNS) - Mar. 18In the race to get Washington K-12 educators vaccinated against COVID-19, the Lummi Nation health center's Dr. Justin Iwasaki had a glimpse of the future.It was early February, and most public school staff members were still not eligible for the vaccination under state health department rules. But the Lummi Nation, near Ferndale, Whatcom County, decided it would expand its vaccine eligibility to teachers.After vaccinating tribal elders and other members, Lummi Nation began providing the inoculations to nearly 150 teachers and staff at Lummi Nation School and the tribe's early learning programs. By Feb. 27, the tribal government expanded eligibility further, opening it to employees of the Ferndale School District, where many Lummi children are enrolled. The tribe offered vaccines to all employees, including those who aren't members of the tribe."Lummi put teachers at the top, which is a really important statement," said Iwasaki, who leads special projects at the Lummi Tribal Health Center and has helped run the health center's vaccine drive.Said Ferndale School District superintendent Linda Quinn: "We always find common ground when we talk about taking care of the children."The Lummi Nation is one of several tribal governments in Washington state helping hasten the vaccine rollout for educators here. The Suquamish Tribe is expected to vaccinate about 500 North Kitsap School District employees. The Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe also provided North Kitsap school employees with doses. In Seattle this week, special-education teachers and instructional aides received vaccines through the Seattle Indian Health Board, easing the path for those who may have otherwise struggled to secure an appointment.Educators' access to vaccines has sped up rapidly since President Joe Biden directed states in early March to get shots in teachers' arms by the end of the month. The state's teachers union and education department aren't tracking how many school staff members are vaccinated. Still, Washington is likely behind other states that prioritized teachers earlier on, such as Oregon, Minnesota and Kentucky.Teachers aren't required to be vaccinated to return to school. But vaccines are an important step to build trust in local communities, and tribal efforts have been critical to this effort, many say.Statewide, about 40% of students are receiving some in-person learning, including many at Ferndale and North Kitsap schools, and most of the state's teachers haven't been vaccinated or reached maximum immunity if they've received a dose."It's our moral obligation to take care of each other," said Lawrence Solomon, chairperson of the Lummi Indian Business Council. Lummi Nation, which has more than 5,000 members, was the second tribe to shelter in place at the start of the pandemic and was one of the nation's first to vaccinate its members against the coronavirus. "Overall, it makes everybody feel safe," Solomon said. "Especially our parents of the students, and the teachers."Tribes are sovereign nations and create their own vaccine priority lists. Native American communities receive their vaccine doses through the federal Indian Health Service (IHS) or can partner with states. The Lummi Nation received doses through IHS and has accepted all three FDA-approved vaccines, Iwasaki said, which has helped the tribe zip through its vaccine eligibility phases.Running the vaccine clinics has now become Iwasaki's part-time job; his regular duties include work as a primary care physician and running an opioid overdose-prevention program. Since early this year, though, he and 30 to 60 other staff members travel to several vaccine sites, including the Silver Reef Casino Resort in Ferndale, twice each week and set up tables and space apart chairs for vaccine clinics.It's a massive, all-hands-on-deck effort: all kinds of health workers, including dentists, are called on to administer vaccines. Physical therapists direct the flow of people through the clinic."Giving vaccines all day is actually not a particularly glamorous job," Iwasaki said. "But then when you reframe it, that we're not just giving shots all day, we are actually vaccinating an entire school district, I think that creates a lot more motivation for folks. It's a point of pride for our clinic."Quinn, the superintendent, remembers getting a Friday night call from Iwasaki, who shared the good news when shots became available in February. "This was their generosity," Quinn said.The Suquamish Tribe started its vaccine clinics with Suquamish Tribe Community Health staff, then tribal elders and other members and their households. After that, the tribe began offering vaccines to people who provide services to the community, such as teachers and child-care workers."We needed to create a safety net, essentially, around us," said Cherrie May, manager of the tribe's Office of Emergency Management. May and her colleagues began conversations with the North Kitsap superintendent Laurynn Evans before teachers became eligible for vaccination under Washington state Department of Health guidelines. Plans for a vaccine clinic were finalized the day before Gov. Jay Inslee's March 2 announcement that teachers could begin signing up for appointments, Evans said."That afternoon after that announcement, I just remember seeing on my social media feed and talking with my fellow public educator colleagues [who were saying], 'This is great, but I can't get in anywhere to get a vaccine. There is no appointment available anywhere,'" Evans said.The next day, Evans was pleased to tell staff that they could sign up for appointments at the Suquamish Clearwater Casino. Last Wednesday, Evans said, she was one of 250 or so North Kitsap teachers and staff who received their first dose, referring to the March 10 clinic. "As my staff were coming through, just tears, thankfulness, gratitude," she said. "Schools can't do it alone. In this case, we really could not do it alone."___(c)2021 The Seattle TimesVisit The Seattle Times at www.seattletimes.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. New curbs in Maharashtra amid Covid surge The Maharashtra government on Friday imposed fresh restrictions in the wake of rising cases. According to the order, all drama theatres and auditoriums in the state should operate at 50 per cent capacity. In case of violations, concerned theatres and auditoriums will be ordered to remain closed till the pandemic ends, and penalties will also be attracted. Read here India has till mid-April to appeal against Cairn award India has time till mid-April to file an appeal against an international arbitration tribunal ordering it to repay UK's Cairn Energy Plc USD 1.2 billion-plus interest and cost, but the challenge can only be on limited grounds such as procedure not being followed. Read here TCS to announce salary hikes for FY22 Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will roll out salary hikes from April for this financial year, covering more than 469,000 employees and announcing an increment within six months. Read here Centre urges HC to stall WhatsApp privacy policy The Centre Friday urged the Delhi High Court to restrain Facebook-owned WhatsApp from implementing its new privacy policy and terms of service which are to take effect from May 15. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology made the statement in its affidavit filed in response to a petition challenging the new privacy policy of social networking platform WhatsApp. Read here Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be different: Here's why On approaching the upcoming Delhi-Mumbai Expressway from Sohna in Haryana, it looks like any other construction site with mud and debris and labourers milling around but the result will be a very different kind of expressway that, owing to new material, is going to last longer. Read here The European Unions drug control agency says the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday announced its findings from an examination of medical records on millions of people who had received the drug. It began the examination following reports that a small number of people experienced blood system blockages, or clots, after receiving the vaccine. Last week, several European countries suspended use of AstraZeneca's vaccine as a result. The EMA spoke after an extraordinary meeting to discuss concerns among its member countries and others. Emer Cooke leads the EMA. She told reporters Thursday, Our scientific position is that this vaccine is a safe and effective option to protect citizens against COVID-19. Cooke added, If it were me, I would be vaccinated tomorrow. However, she said the agency cannot rule out definitively a link between blood clots and the vaccine. The EMA said it looked at about 25 cases of rare blood clots out of 20 million people that received the vaccine by March 16. The agency said, a causal link with the vaccine is not proven, but is possible, adding that the issue should be studied further. The agency said that the number of reported blood clots was lower than expected in the general population. This led to the conclusion, the EMA reported, that there is no increase in the overall risk of blood clots. Resuming vaccination programs About 13 European nations had suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of possible blood clots linked to the shots. On Thursday, Italian Premier Mario Draghi welcomed the decision by the EMA. He said Italy would restart AstraZeneca vaccinations as early as Friday. When the AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for emergency use in Britain last December, the shot was described as the vaccine for the world. It costs much less than vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. It also does not require extreme cold storage, making it easier to use in countries with limited resources. COVAX is an international program to deploy coronavirus vaccines to people around the world. It hopes to provide at least 2 billion shots, mainly from AstraZeneca, to poor countries around the world. Two other vaccines are approved for emergency use in Europe. One is from Pfizer-BioNTech and the other is a Moderna product. In the United States, health officials have approved vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson for emergency use. AstraZeneca is planning to seek U.S. government approval in the coming months. Michael Head is a top researcher at Britains University of Southampton. He worries that people may be less willing to be injected with the AstraZeneca vaccine when the suspensions end. This is at a time when we need to stop the virus circulating," he said, "to reduce the chances of further variants emerging. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the World Health Organizations director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said that countries should continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine. He added, We need to renew confidence, if its lost, to restore it - especially for AstraZeneca. I'm Caty Weaver. Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story option - n. a choice or possibility circulate - v. to move from group to group variant - n. a virus that is different in someone than the other emerge - v. to become known confidence - n. feeling or belief that something is good Image credit: Norilsk Nickel An arrangement was reached on the joint preparation of a long-term agreement for interaction and cooperation between Norilsk Nickel and public organizations of the Sami in the Murmansk Province. Rough&Polished was put in the picture following today's meeting in Murmansk between Andrey Grachev, the companys Vice President and Elena Rocheva, President of the Kola Sami Association. They discussed the issues related to the preservation and development of the Sami language, culture, and traditional economic activities of the indigenous peoples in the Murmansk Province. Elena Rocheva thanked Norilsk Nickel for supporting several socially significant projects, including the publication of the Almanac of Sami Literature in 2019, as well as the assistance provided by Norilsk Nickel last year in creating a monument to the feat of soldiers of the Sami reindeer transport battalions, who defended the Soviet Arctic during World War II. A representative of the Sami community also spoke about the activities of the Sami organization and communities.Measures to support local communities representing the interests of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North have always attracted special attention of Norilsk Nickel acting within the framework of its own Indigenous Rights Policy. The company has a rich positive experience of interaction with associations of the indigenous peoples of the North in Taimyr: the five-year development plan elaborated by Norilsk Nickel together with the tribal communities is currently being implemented. And although Norilsk Nickel has no operations on the territories of traditional Sami residence in the Murmansk Province, we always treat with understanding the needs and requests of the indigenous people of the regions where the company operates. Today there is every reason to continue our interaction at a new qualitative level, stressed Andrey Grachev. New Jersey on Friday reported another 3,738 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 27 additional confirmed deaths as the state increased capacity at indoor businesses, including restaurants and casinos, to 50%, but Gov. Phil Murphy sounded a warning about the states recent number of cases and hospitalizations. Weve definitely plateaued, like a lot of the rest of the country Murphy said during a morning interview on CNBC. Weve come down dramatically from hospitalizations and positivity rates we saw a couple of months ago. But its still uncomfortably too high. Meanwhile, about 1 in six New Jersey adults have now been full vaccinated against COVID-19. Actually, New Jerseys daily coronavirus cases have been increasing of late. The states seven-day average for new confirmed cases is now 3,262, up 11% from a week ago and 22% from a month ago as officials continue to warn about the spread of more contagious variants of COVID-19. Thats the highest seven-day average since Feb. 12. There were at least 1,926 coronavirus patients across New Jerseys hospitals as of Thursday night, 40 fewer patients than a day earlier, according to state data. Hospitalizations are down from mid-January, when more than 3,700 patients were being treated. But they have leveled off and hovered around 1,900 the past 12 days. "Positive without question but we've definitely plateaued," says @GovPhilMurphy. "We've come down dramatically from hospitalizations and positivity rates we saw a couple months ago but it is still uncomfortably too high." pic.twitter.com/Mi5h3MFzoS Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) March 19, 2021 New Jersey health facilities and vaccine centers have now administered about 3.3 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine including about 2.2 million first doses and about 1.1 million second doses, according to state data. The state is currently including the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the first dose totals. The states goal is to vaccinate 70% of its eligible adults about 4.7 million people by the end of May. So far, about 17% of New Jerseys adult population has been fully vaccinated, though it takes two weeks from the final dose for full efficacy. The statewide rate of transmission was at 1.06 on Friday for the second straight day. Any number over 1 indicates that the outbreak is growing, with each new case leading to at least one other case. The latest statewide positivity rate was 7.4% on Monday, the day with the latest data, based on 59,728 tests. State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Wednesday that New Jersey has identified more than 200 cases of the new variants out of a sampling of new COVID-19 positive tests. Murphy stressed that New Jersey is now affected by the same factors it was when the pandemic started a year ago a dense population and proximity to New York City. Still, the governor said New Jerseys vaccine rollout is improving and the weather is getting warmer. Murphy has said the state expects vaccine supply from the federal government to ramp up in early April. In all, New Jersey has now reported 758,470 confirmed coronavirus cases out of more than 11.5 million PCR tests in the year since the state reported its first case on March 4, 2020. There have also been 99,269 positive antigen tests. Those cases are considered probable, and health officials have warned that positive antigen tests could overlap with the confirmed PCR tests because they are sometimes given in tandem. The state of 9 million people has reported 24,103 residents have died from complications related to COVID-19 21,588 confirmed deaths and 2,515 fatalities considered probable. New Jersey on Friday increased indoor and outdoor gathering limits from 25 to 50 people and increase capacity limits for restaurants, gyms and health clubs, recreational facilities and arcades, and personal care businesses to 50%. But mask mandates and social-distancing guidelines will remain in effect. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage COUNTY-BY-COUNTY NUMBERS (sorted by most new cases) Bergen County: 75,476 confirmed cases (453 new), 2,400 confirmed deaths (288 probable) Middlesex County: 73,036 confirmed cases (400 new), 1,930 confirmed deaths (242 probable) Essex County: 72,802 confirmed cases (354 new), 2,460 confirmed deaths (282 probable) Passaic County: 55,748 confirmed cases (321 new), 1,568 confirmed deaths (189 probable) Monmouth County: 57,112 confirmed cases (317 new), 1,334 confirmed deaths (133 probable) Ocean County: 56,509 confirmed cases (295 new), 1,805 confirmed deaths (144 probable) Hudson County: 68,563 confirmed cases (267 new), 1,877 confirmed deaths (197 probable) Union County: 52,361 confirmed cases (209 new), 1,614 confirmed deaths (213 probable) Morris County: 35,703 confirmed cases (181 new), 921 confirmed deaths (238 probable) Camden County: 41,506 confirmed cases (133 new), 1,116 confirmed deaths (97 probable) Burlington County: 32,847 confirmed cases (126 new), 716 confirmed deaths (62 probable) Gloucester County: 22,345 confirmed cases (112 new), 536 confirmed deaths (30 probable) Somerset County: 20,409 confirmed cases (102 new), 696 confirmed deaths (104 probable) Atlantic County: 21,171 confirmed cases (95 new), 564 confirmed deaths (32 probable) Mercer County: 27,707 confirmed cases (80 new), 853 confirmed deaths (43 probable) Sussex County: 8,876 confirmed cases (78 new), 213 confirmed deaths (65 probable) Warren County: 7,067 confirmed cases (52 new), 199 confirmed deaths (25 probable) Hunterdon County: 7,002 confirmed cases (50 new), 112 confirmed deaths (54 probable) Cumberland County: 12,767 confirmed cases (44 new), 357 confirmed deaths (37 probable) Salem County: 4,480 confirmed cases (19 new), 155 confirmed deaths (12 probable) Cape May County: 3,943 confirmed cases (15 new), 162 confirmed deaths (28 probable) VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY ATLANTIC COUNTY - 107,860 doses administered BERGEN COUNTY - 380,179 doses administered BURLINGTON COUNTY - 174,508 doses administered CAMDEN COUNTY - 201,750 doses administered CAPE MAY COUNTY - 48,255 doses administered CUMBERLAND COUNTY - 46,603 doses administered ESSEX COUNTY - 256,736 doses administered GLOUCESTER COUNTY - 125,408 doses administered HUDSON COUNTY - 165,445 doses administered HUNTERDON COUNTY - 45,637 doses administered MERCER COUNTY - 118,038 doses administered MIDDLESEX COUNTY - 269,371 doses administered MONMOUTH COUNTY - 253,846 doses administered MORRIS COUNTY - 241,466 doses administered OCEAN COUNTY - 206,337 doses administered PASSAIC COUNTY - 148,405 doses administered SALEM COUNTY - 22,735 doses administered SOMERSET COUNTY - 132,874 doses administered SUSSEX COUNTY - 52,102 doses administered UNION COUNTY - 172,953 doses administered WARREN COUNTY - 34,711 doses administered UNKNOWN COUNTY - 12,647 doses administered OUT OF STATE - 85,868 doses administered HOSPITALIZATIONS There were 1,926 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jerseys hospitals as of Thursday night 40 fewer than the previous night, according to the states dashboard. That included 430 in critical or intensive care (25 fewer than the previous night), with 221 on ventilators (16 fewer). There were also 247 COVID-19 patients discharged Thursday. Hospitalizations peaked at more than 8,000 patients during the first wave of the pandemic in April. SCHOOL CASES New Jersey has reported 188 in-school coronavirus outbreaks, which have resulted in 890 cases among students, teachers and school staff this academic year, according to the states dashboard. The state defines school outbreaks as cases where contact tracers determined two or more students or school staff caught or transmitted COVID-19 in the classroom or during academic activities at school. Those numbers do not include students or staff believed to have been infected outside school or cases that cant be confirmed as in-school outbreaks. There are about 1.4 million public school students and teachers across the state, though teaching methods amid the outbreak have varied, with some schools teaching in-person, some using a hybrid format and others remaining all-remote. Murphy on Wednesday urged more New Jersey schools to return to in-person learning. He has also said officials are fully expecting schools across New Jersey to return for in-person learning safely and responsibly when the next school year starts in September. AGE BREAKDOWN Broken down by age, those 30 to 49 years old make up the largest percentage of New Jersey residents who have caught the virus (30.9%), followed by those 50-64 (23.1%), 18-29 (19.6%), 65-79 (10.7%), 5-17 (8.7%), 80 and older (4.9%) and 0-4 (1.8%). On average, the virus has been more deadly for older residents, especially those with preexisting conditions. Nearly half the states COVID-19 deaths have been among residents 80 and older (47.16%), followed by those 65-79 (32.77%), 50-64 (15.63%), 30-49 (4.05%), 18-29 (0.37%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0.02%). At least 7,964 of the states COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. There are active outbreaks at 244 facilities, resulting in 4,527 active cases among residents and 5,013 among staffers. Those numbers have slowed in recent weeks as vaccinations continue at these facilities. GLOBAL NUMBERS As of early Friday afternoon, there have been 122 million positive COVID-19 tests across the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 2.7 million people have died from coronavirus-related complications. The U.S. has reported the most cases, at 29.7 million, and the most deaths, at more than 539,800. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Coal use is projected to grow through 2025. China's recently announced energy and environmental plans have received poor reviews as climate concerns continue to take a back seat to economic growth. Analysts voiced disappointment with the economic and emissions targets for 2021 and the five-year period ending in 2025 after they were unveiled by Premier Li Keqiang in his work report to the National People's Congress on March 5. Energy experts and climate activists say the annual target-setting exercise has outlined less than ambitious and loose goals, leaving it unclear how President Xi Jinping will make good on his promise last September to reach peak emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Environmental advocates had expected to see signs of major policy changes affecting emissions in the 14th Five-Year Plan, which begins this year. Instead, the government appears to have pushed off the tough tasks of cutting coal use and accelerating efficiency until the future five-year period starting in 2026. The U.K.-based Sunday Times called the targets "a great leap backwards on cutting emissions" that leaves China free to keep burning more coal. "Higher emissions in 2021 and the next years will lift up the bar for China to achieve an emissions peak before 2030, requiring more strict measures to be implemented later on," said Yan Qin, carbon analyst at Refinitiv Carbon, as quoted by Bloomberg News. The government's current plan calls for an 18-percent reduction in emissions per unit of gross domestic product, the same amount that was set for the previous five-year period. Per-unit energy use is targeted to improve by 13.5 percent, which is less than the 15-percent savings in the 13th Five-Year Plan. "This is modest considering that China needs to speed up its action on climate to deliver carbon neutrality," Li Shuo, senior global policy adviser for Greenpeace East Asia, told the South China Morning Post. The government has also cut itself plenty of slack in setting a loose goal of "over 6 percent" for economic growth this year, allowing it to claim success for its central planning policies while committing only to "an appropriate range" for growth in the 2021-2025 period. The leeway leaves the government free to maneuver over the annual efficiency performance and carbon emission ratios. Political snags An analysis by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES) cautioned that China had outperformed its previous targets for carbon intensity reductions and that tougher restrictions may yet emerge in sectoral plans. But it concluded that the plan "seeks to balance ambition and political reality. And to an extent, it was short on ambition and big on political reality." "Since the draft does not include a carbon emissions cap and continues to set energy intensity and carbon intensity targets per unit of GDP, with continued economic growth through 2025, carbon emissions will still rise every year," OIES said. China omitted a GDP target for last year, citing the uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis. Economic growth fell to 2.3 percent from 6 percent in 2019, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The International Monetary Fund has projected recovery- driven growth of 8.1 percent this year, suggesting that the government will keep its commitments low. In its outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) addressed the climate challenges only in general terms. "We will make solid progress toward reaching peak carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality," said the top planning agency. The NDRC pledged to "formulate a medium- and long-term energy development plan," without disclosing specifics of timing or content. The agency's major commitment on coal was to "improve the distribution" and "ensure the supply." After the country's record production of over 1 billion metric tons of steel last year, it is unclear whether the government will impose any significant constraints on high- polluting industries in order to meet climate targets, if it means sacrificing economic growth. In November, Xi told the Communist Party's Central Committee that it was "completely possible ... to double the total economic volume or per capita income by 2035," the official Xinhua news agency reported, raising the prospect of an economic growth race in the same time frame as the carbon emission goals. Philip Andrews-Speed, a senior principal fellow at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Energy Studies Institute, noted that the climate consequences are still subject to the NDRC's five-year energy plan and the sectoral plans for industries, which could be released later this year or in 2022. "The pressure to keep GDP and employment growing may be in tension with the carbon neutrality goal unless the structure of the economy is radically transformed," Andrews-Speed said by email. "It is possible that these tensions will be neatly resolved by the upcoming Five-Year Plans, ... but past practice suggests this will not be the case," Andrews-Speed said in an NUS webinar on Feb. 24. The calculations surrounding economic and energy targets and their effect on emissions illustrate the shortcomings of per-unit-of-GDP goals. While the proportional reductions allow the government to claim progress, the absolute volume of carbon emissions has continued to climb with GDP growth. Official data suggest that China's emissions have increased with government efforts to boost economic expansion, especially when restraints have been eased after five-year targets have been achieved. Last year, for example, China's energy efficiency index for 2020 improved by a minuscule 0.1 percent after five-year goals were met early. The government has set this year's target at 3 percent. Similarly, carbon intensity fell by just 0.8 percent last year as the five-year reduction topped the target with savings of 18.8 percent. Lofty goals But the backsliding on efficiency has effectively stalled efforts to reach the 2030 and 2060 climate goals. In a report for the U.K.-based climate group Carbon Brief, analyst Lauri Myllyvirta of the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air said that China's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions jumped more than 4 percent in the second half of 2020, overcoming a first-half decline of 3 percent and pushing the increase for the full year to 1.5 percent over the pre-pandemic pace of 2019. In December alone, China's CO2 emissions soared 7 percent from a year earlier, the Paris-based International Energy Agency said. At the heart of China's emission problem is the failure to curb coal consumption, which continues to rise in volume terms although its share of total energy use has declined. Last year, coal consumption rose 0.6 percent, the NBS reported without giving a tonnage figure. The China National Coal Association has estimated that consumption will be capped at 4.2 billion tons in the five-year period, allowing coal use to grow 6 percent by 2025. So far, China's energy plans leave room for the added volume of coal despite the goal of increasing the non-fossil share of energy to 20 percent under the 14th Five-Year Plan, up from 15.9 percent last year. The non-fossil category includes nuclear power as well as renewable sources like wind and solar. The government has signaled a new drive for nuclear projects with a reference in this year's work report, according to the Communist Party tabloid Global Times. "While promoting the clean and efficient use of coal, we will make a major push to develop new energy sources, and take active and well-ordered steps to develop nuclear energy on the basis of ensuring its safe use," Li's report said. But the report made no mention of ending the construction of new coal-fired power plants, a hot-button issue for environmental groups and climate change. Last year, China added 38 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power, the equivalent of about one new plant per week, according to Myllyvirta and Carbon Brief, while 73 GW of new projects were announced. Advocates argue that the new capacity will lock in a role for coal in the years and decades to come, slowing reductions in carbon emissions. "Clearly, there's no preparedness to put a stop to coal expansion," Myllyvirta told Climate Home News. The foot-dragging on carbon cuts in the current five-year period means that reductions will have to be accelerated even further in 2026-2030 to meet Xi's peak emissions goal. But by then, dozens of new coal plants will be operating with years of useful life remaining, making decommissioning more costly and politically difficult. From time to time, whether motivated by politics or articulating a misinformed position, commentators will seek to claim Trinidad and Tobago is a failing state. I take serious umbrage to that because when one understands what a failing state or economy looks like, it is clear we are very far from that. In fact, by independent measures, we are closer to the opposite side of that spectrum. CHESANING, Mich., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- High Life Farms (HLF), a privately held, multi-state, vertically integrated cannabis company with operations in Michigan and California, announced its listings on LeafLink and LeafLink Financial . LeafLink is a cannabis industry wholesale marketplace, which only works with legal cannabis companies through the Metrc Inventory Track and Trace System, and LeafLink Financial offers cannabis businesses dynamic supply chain financing solutions. "Our LeafLink listing will streamline the way thousands of cannabis businesses, brands, retailers and distributors connect with our company while simultaneously streamlining the tracking of wholesale orders, payments and client relationships," said HLF Cofounder Vinnie Celani. "Our LeafLink Financial listing will also arm our partners with free Net 30 terms and payments on all HLF wholesale purchases, so they can focus on their core business expertise. Together, these listings will not only drive efficiencies across our operations, but will also improve the wholesale ordering process, payments and tracking of our growing number of SKUs and enhance our productivity across our supply chain, at a time when we are rapidly expanding our footprint." HLF's family of brands are sold across dispensaries in Michigan and California, as well as on a wholesale basis in the states it operates. The company's listing on LeafLink will enable legal cannabis businesses and retailers operating in Michigan and soon in California to easily shop online and place wholesale orders for HLF and partner brands and products. HLF partners, such as cannabis businesses, brands, retailers and distributors, can now also use one cart to manage their wholesale inventory, view current product and brand menus, review past and open orders, discover new products and request samples on the platform. The company's listing on LeafLink Financial provides free Net 30 terms for all purchases, including on all HLF flower, prerolls, HLF chocolate brands, Kiva Confections, Wana Sour Gummies and Chief Solventless. It will also provide centralized and secure accounts payable, tools to optimize cash flow management and digital invoice dispute resolution. These listings are being launched immediately before LeafLink's " 3.20 Deals Period ." In the month leading up to April 20, LeafLink helps brands leverage the increased demand of the cannabis holiday while ensuring retailers are able to fully stock their shelves with products. This service will allow the HLF to showcase exclusive deals to purchasing managers, with the ability to swap out featured deals. Currently, LeafLink processes an estimated $1.5B+ in annual orders, which makes up an estimated 23% of U.S. wholesale cannabis commerce. For more information, visit https://highlifefarms.com/ . About High Life Farms High Life Farms is a national privately held, vertically integrated cannabis company based in Michigan with operations in the world's largest cannabis market: California. High Life Farms' best-in-class portfolio includes cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, in-house brands, brand partnerships, white labeling solutions and ownership stakes in numerous dispensaries. The company believes in the cannabis plant's potential to improve health, wellness, happiness and that everyone should have the right to make choices that improve their personal wellbeing. For more information, visit https://highlifefarms.com/ . Media Contact: Justin Bernstein [email protected] 516-458-4743 SOURCE High Life Farms Related Links https://highlifefarms.com Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. SHANGHAI, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Everest Medicines (HKEX 1952.HK), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing transformative pharmaceutical products that address critical unmet medical needs for patients in Greater China and other parts of Asia, today announced that it will report financial results for the full year ended December 31, 2020 and provide a business update on March 22, 2021. Conference Call Information A live conference call will be hosted on March 22, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. China Standard Time (March 21, 2021 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time). Details are as follows: Conference ID 7234522# Australia +61 2 8223 9906 Mainland China 4008 428 338 Hong Kong +852 2112 1888 India 000 800 440 2261 Indonesia 001 803 440 117 Japan +81 3 5767 9336 Korea +82 2 3483 1262 Malaysia +60 3 6207 4051 Singapore +65 6622 1172 Taiwan +886 2 2162 6306 Thailand +66 2 0321 630 UK +44 0203 024 5279 Denmark +45 3 272 7715 France +33 1 7091 8635 Germany +49 69 8092 1475 Italy +39 02 3041 0447 Netherlands +31 20 794 7985 Sweden +46 8 5051 3551 Switzerland +41 43 456 9554 US +1 212 444 0378 A replay will be available shortly after the call and can be accessed by visiting the Company's website at http://www.everestmedicines.com. About Everest Medicines Everest Medicines is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing transformative pharmaceutical products that address critical unmet medical needs for patients in Greater China and other Asian markets. The management team of Everest Medicines has deep expertise and an extensive track record of high-quality clinical development, regulatory affairs, CMC, business development and operations both in China and with leading global pharmaceutical companies. Everest Medicines has built a portfolio of eight potentially global first-in-class or best-in-class molecules, many of which are in late-stage clinical development. The Company's therapeutic areas of interest include oncology, autoimmune disorders, cardio-renal diseases and infectious diseases. For more information, please visit its website at www.everestmedicines.com. SOURCE Everest Medicines Related Links http://www.everestmedicines.com (@FahadShabbir) US President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered American flags to be flown at half-staff upon all public building across the country and abroad over the recent shootings in the state of Georgia WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th March, 2021) US President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered American flags to be flown at half-staff upon all public building across the country and abroad over the recent shootings in the state of Georgia. At least eight people were shot dead late Tuesday at massage parlors around the Atlanta metropolitan area in the US state of Georgia. Police have taken the suspected gunman, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, into custody. "As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on March 16, 2021, in the Atlanta Metropolitan area, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, March 22, 202," Biden said in a proclamation. Biden also said in the proclamation that he direct that the flag should be flown at half-staff for at all US embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations. The FBI released on Thursday several new video clips of violence toward police during the Capitol riot, as investigators continue their hunt for suspects. The videos -- showing graphic moments of rioters beating police with metal poles, stolen shields and chemical sprays -- highlight some of the more shocking moments from the riot, such as when the crowd worked to overcome a police line to push through a lower archway into the Capitol building. Even with so many arrests and footage documenting the siege already, the FBI's release and request to the public for help identifying the people in the video shows how they continue to pursue cases of severe violence from the pro-Trump crowd. Video capturing the hours-long siege inside and outside the Capitol has been immense in its volume and available publicly for months, since many participants and observers had already posted footage online. But investigators have worked to zero in on specific rioters and moments, scrubbing through the tens of thousands of hours they've collected of police body cameras, news broadcasts, surveillance images and video taken from social media and even from the cell phones of rioters who have been arrested. The FBI's release on Thursday now matches clips of rioters, whose faces are hard to see clearly as they punch, spray or batter police, with clearer images of faces in the crowd. The Justice Department has charged more than 65 people for assaulting law enforcement but is still seeking information to identify others involved in assaults during the insurrection, according to a press release on Thursday. The assault cases are some of the most serious among more than 300 people arrested on charges stemming from the Capitol riots, which left five people dead, including a US Capitol Police officer, and injured more than 100 law enforcement officials. Many of the 10 clips released Thursday are extremely disturbing. One shows a protestor grabbing an officer by the helmet and smashing his head repeatedly against a door jamb. In one 22-second clip, a man with a patterned blue mask covering his mouth is seen shoving the face of an officer at one of the entrances of the Capitol. In a 38-second video, a man with a yellow face covering and a red backpack is seen repeatedly striking officers with what appears to be a stick. And in a 56-second clip, a man is seen using what appears to be a tree branch to strike at officers that are preventing the crowd from entering the Capitol. The longest video released on Thursday shows three minutes of body camera footage of a man wearing a black, red and white jacket attacking officers while another rioter was on the ground. An officer used a stun gun to fend the man off. Another video shows a man in an aqua blue windbreaker jacket with a navy blue hood walking up stairs that overlooked an area with several identifiable law enforcement officers. The unidentified man is seen spraying a cloud of smoke onto the officers and walking away. "The FBI is asking for the public's help in identifying 10 individuals suspected of being involved in some of the most violent attacks on officers who were protecting the U.S. Capitol and our democratic process on January 6," Steven M. D'Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office, said in a statement. "These individuals are seen on video committing egregious crimes against those who have devoted their lives to protecting the American people. Among those who have already been charged in connection to the riot are two men who were arrested for assaulting USCP Officer Brian Sicknick, the officer who died after the attack. The DOJ announced their arrests Monday, alleging the pair worked together to spray police, including Sicknick, with a toxic chemical spray during the riot. Investigators have not released Sicknick's cause of death. Federal prosecutors have also filed charges against Thomas Sibick, who allegedly participated in the brutal assault of DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone. Prosecutors said Sibick was seen on police body-camera footage assaulting Fanone while he lay on the ground outside the Capitol during the riot. Fanone told CNN earlier this year that he had been tased several times in the neck, had been beaten with a flagpole and had heard people screaming, "Kill him with his own gun," while rioters tried to pull his weapon out of its holster. The tourist season in Greek will officially start on May 14, but the Romanian tourists and the ones from the EU will be allowed to come starting in mid-April to be able to spend the Easter Holiday in this country, the Greek Minister of Tourism, Charis Theocharis, who is currently paying a visit to Bucharest, stated on Friday, according to AGERPRES. He showed that, in order to enter Greece, tourists will have to meet three conditions: to show a negative COVID-19 test, to prove that they got the vaccine or that they already had the disease and show an antibody test. Moreover, tourists will be randomly tested at the border by rapid tests, and the ones who will test positive will be placed under quarantine in a Greek hotel, with the accommodation costs to be covered by the Greek side. "We want the EU to introduce very fast producers and develop and issue the green health certificates, but until then we are discussing technicalities with the Romanian Minister of Tourism to accept the certificates released by the Romanian state, which will also be issued in the English language, for now," said Theocharis. According to him, after completing the vaccination campaign for the vulnerable population, Greece will vaccinate the personnel in tourism. "Greece will be open for tourists starting on May 14, but for the EU and Romanian tourists it will open earlier, in April, before the Easter Holiday, since we know that our country is a very popular destination for spending the Easter," said the official from Athens. Pennsylvania taxpayers have an additional month to file and pay taxes for 2020, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. The department announced Thursday that the tax filing deadline is May 17 instead of the yearly deadline of April 15. It aligns with the Internal Revenue Services federal income tax filing deadline, which has also been extended to May 17. This is a positive step that provides additional time to Pennsylvania taxpayers, many of whom have been struggling during the last year due to the pandemic, said Revenue Secretary Dan Hassell. The new deadline will be a benefit for many Pennsylvanians, including those who plan to meet with a tax professional for assistance with preparing their returns. Pennsylvania law requires the states tax filing deadline to match the same federal tax filing deadline date. This step is being taken to help taxpayers navigate the unusual circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic, department officials said. Penalties and interest on final 2020 personal income tax returns and payments will be waived up until the new deadline of May 17. Estimated income tax payments should continue to be made on the same filing schedule that those taxpayers would normally follow, which includes payments due on April, 15, department officials said. Taxes must be paid as taxpayers earn or receive income during the year, either through withholding or estimated tax payments, according to the departments statement. While this deadline date has changed, officials at the state department of revenue encourage taxpayers to file returns electronically as soon as possible, which could help to avoid a delay in the release of your refund. According to the state department of revenue: myPATH a Free Option for PA Tax Returns The Department of Revenue is encouraging taxpayers to electronically file their Pennsylvania personal income tax returns with the departments new, state-only filing system available at mypath.pa.gov . myPATH is a free, user-friendly option that allows most taxpayers to seamlessly file the Pennsylvania Income Tax Return (PA-40) and make income tax payments, as well as offering other services. Using the electronic filing option available through mypath.pa.gov offers many benefits, including: Fast and free return/refund processing The Wheres My Income Tax Refund? system to track the status of a refund Instant confirmation of a successful filing The benefit of error-reducing automatic calculators User-friendly options that are not available to taxpayers filing by paper The ability to view a detailed Statement of Account for personal income tax Other Important Features in myPATH Taxpayers do not need to create a username or password to perform many functions in myPATH. That includes filing a PA-40 or making a payment, responding to department requests for information, and checking the status of a refund. In order to file the PA-40, taxpayers will need to provide their Social Security number and either: (1) the tax liability for a previous tax year; or (2) their birth date, Pennsylvania drivers license/photo ID number and the expiration date for the license/photo ID. If you choose to create a username and password in myPATH, youll have the ability to update/view detailed account information and notices. You can also manage third-party access to your account, meaning you can give a tax professional or another person access to file your return and make payments on your behalf. A detailed list of instructions is available in the myPATH User Guide [PDF] . myPATH replaced the departments previous personal income tax filing system, PA Direct File. Electronic Filing for Free Other free electronic filing options are available to file state and federal returns using software from a reputable vendor. More vendor information is available on the Department of Revenues website. Electronic Filing for a Fee Paid tax preparers and commercial tax preparation software providers offer electronic filing, or e-filing, for a fee. Check a list of vendors on the departments website for further information. May 17 Deadline All taxpayers who received more than $33 in total gross taxable income in calendar year 2020 must file a Pennsylvania personal income tax return by midnight, Monday, May 17, 2021. Filing for an Extension If additional time to file is needed, taxpayers still have the option to file a request for an extension to file their Pennsylvania personal income tax return. The extension is available for up to six months, meaning the due date to file a return for those who request an extension is November 15, 2021. As an important reminder, an extension of time to file does not extend the deadline to make a payment if you owe taxes to the commonwealth, including applicable late-filing payment fees, interest and penalties. PA Personal Income Tax Guide Pennsylvania taxpayers who have personal income tax questions are encouraged to review the PA Personal Income Tax Guide , an online publication prepared by the Department of Revenue that includes detailed information on a number of PIT-related topics. Taxpayer Service and Assistance Personal income tax assistance is also available through the departments Online Customer Service Center and by calling 717-787-8201 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Online Customer Service Center contains answers to hundreds of common income tax questions and allows taxpayers to securely submit a question to the department through a process that is similar to sending an email. The Department of Revenues district offices are open in a limited capacity with social distancing guidelines in place. Appointments are required to receive in-person assistance. Please keep the following in mind. Taxpayer assistance hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Appointments between 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. will be reserved for senior citizens. Taxpayers are required to wear a mask during appointments. Taxpayers should know that the Department of Revenue will be following health and safety guidelines established by the Department of Health to promote a clean office environment. Taxpayers can check the status of their refunds online by selecting the Wheres My Income Tax Refund? link on the departments homepage; or by calling 1-888-PATAXES. Taxpayers will be prompted to provide their Social Security number and requested refund amount to obtain the current status. Free tax forms and instructions are available at www.revenue.pa.gov . Read more from PennLive FEMA will reimburse families for COVID-19 related funeral expenses starting next month Heres how much parents can receive for dependents in the third round of stimulus checks The White House has removed young staffers who have smoked pot despite them having been informally told that past highs would be overlooked, it has been revealed. The Biden administration has suspended dozens of young staffers, asked them to resign or placed in a remote work program including those who exclusively used cannabis in states where it is legal, Daily Beast reported. Young staffers were fired because they revealed on official documents during background checks they had smoked weed even though some were informally told that the new administration would overlook past use, sources told the outlet. The White House has weeded out young staffers who have smoked pot despite them having been informally told that past highs would be overlooked Recreational marijuana use which remains illegal federally - is often a disqualifying factor for security clearances 'It's exclusively targeting younger staff and staff who came from states where it was legal,' a former staffer said. Recreational marijuana use which remains illegal federally has been fully legalized in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and Washington state as well as D.C. 'There were one-on-one calls with individual affected staffersrather, ex-staffers. I was asked to resign,' a staffer told The Daily Beast. The staffer added that 'nothing was ever explained' on firing calls led by Anne Filipic, the House director of management and administration. 'The policies were never explained, the threshold for what was excusable and what was inexcusable was never explained,' the staffer said. Biden's marijuana policies for staffers requiring security clearances may prove controversial. Former President Barack Obama admitted in his first book, Dreams From My Father, that he used marijuana and 'maybe a little blow' before entering politics, The New York Times reported. Blow typically is slang for cocaine. Obama had noted that he did not try heroin because he did not like the person who tried to sell it to him. Biden's own son Hunter has struggled with drug addiction and received an administrative discharge from the U.S. Navy Reserves in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine use. Former President Barack Obama admitted in his first book, Dreams From My Father, that he used marijuana and 'maybe a little blow' before entering politics, The New York Times reported. NBC News reported in February that the White House would issue new guidelines after it identified recreational marijuana use was a hurdle for young applicants. The White House revealed that it would waive a requirement that potential staffers, who have used marijuana on a 'limited' basis and do not need a security clearance for their role, would need to meet the conditions to be eligible for a 'Top Secret' clearance. It isn't clear how these firings and other punishments square with the report of the Biden administration deciding to go easy on past marijuana use. Different agencies within the United States government have varying allowances for past marijuana use in order to obtain clearances. The FBI conducts supplemental interviews with family and friends of a clearance applicant and lying on the application form is a felony. However, disclosure and clearance approval often comes down to the honor system if a job candidate seeking a security clearance has not faced prior drug-related criminal convictions. Some of recent Biden White House firings may have happened if the applicant lied or otherwise misstated past marijuana use. Daily Beast noted that some security clearance disqualifiers have been eliminated in the past including nude photos of a candidate as agencies adapt to cultural and legal changes in a bid to modernize. Both the Trump and Obama administrations had already increased the allowable number of times a candidate may have used marijuana in the past. President Joe Biden can overrule agencies if a candidate has been deemed not qualified to receive security clearances. However, President Trump received swift backlash when he granted his son-in-law Jared Kushner a top secret clearance over objections from intelligence officials. Tommy Vietor, who served as spokesperson for the National Security Council from 2011 to 2013, told Daily Beast that considering past marijuana use is 'absurd' in 2021. 'I find it absurd that, in 2021, marijuana use is still part of a security clearance background check,' Vietor told the outlet. 'To me, marijuana use is completely irrelevant when you're trying to decide whether an individual should be trusted with national security information.' A White House spokesperson said the Biden administration is 'committed to bringing the best people into government - especially the young people whose commitment to public service can deepen in these positions,' Daily Beast reported. The White House noted that how it handles past marijuana use is 'much more flexible than previous administrations,' according to the outlet. 'The White House's policy will maintain the absolute highest standards for service in government that the president expects from his administration, while acknowledging the reality that state and local marijuana laws have changed significantly across the country in recent years,' the spokesperson said. 'This decision was made following intensive consultation with career security officials and will effectively protect our national security while modernizing policies to ensure that talented and otherwise well-qualified applicants with limited marijuana use will not be barred from serving the American people.' Mexico is expected to pass a law legalizing marijuana as early as next month that marijuana industry advocates claim will push the Biden administration to legalize it at the federal level in the United States, the Miami Herald reported. Canada authorized the possession, sale and distribution of marijuana products two years ago, according to the outlet. If Mexico's law passes, the United States would be stuck between two countries that allow marijuana for both medical and recreational use. It remains unclear if and how soon security clearance policies would change if marijuana becomes legalized for medical and recreational use at the federal level. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Tom Cruise put his 320-acre Telluride ranch on the market last week for $39.5M, as reported by The Denver Post. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free "It's difficult to truly grasp how expansive this property is," listing agent Dan Dockray told Axios. " ... Once you experience it in person, it steals your heart." For reference, the property is the size of 242 football fields. Background: According to The Denver Post, Cruise built the house in 1994 as private retreat. The exact address is 115 Francisco Way. At 11,512 square feet, it has 7 beds and 9 baths. Highlights: Stately library, media room, large study with secluded offices, billiards room, recreation space, fitness center, separate three-bed guest house, close to skiing. Land: The resort-like setting has breathtaking snow-capped mountains, 320 acres of wooded privacy, and extensive forested trails. The drive up to the house is about a mile from a gated entry for maximum privacy. What they're saying: "The buyer of this home is going to be an outdoor enthusiast looking for a true mountain escape with excellent proximity to town," Dockray said. "Someone who really resonates with the land will appreciate this one-of-a-kind property." Listing agents: Dan Dockray of LIV Sotheby's International Realty and Eric Lavey of Sotheby's International Realty. Here's a look around: By Brett Shreckengost, courtesy of LIV Sotheby's International Realty By Joshua Johnson, courtesy of LIV Sotheby's International Realty By Joshua Johnson, courtesy of LIV Sotheby's International Realty By Joshua Johnson, courtesy of LIV Sotheby's International Realty By Joshua Johnson, courtesy of LIV Sotheby's International Realty By Joshua Johnson, courtesy of LIV Sotheby's International Realty By Joshua Johnson, courtesy of LIV Sotheby's International Realty By Joshua Johnson, courtesy of LIV Sotheby's International Realty Story continues By Joshua Johnson, courtesy of LIV Sotheby's International Realty By Brett Shreckengost, courtesy of LIV Sotheby's International Realty This story first appeared in the Axios Denver newsletter, designed to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news unfolding in their own backyard. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free Bao Zhuoxuan, the son of Chinese rights lawyer couple Wang Yu and Bao Longjun, has applied for political asylum in the United States after being held in an immigration detention center last year. Bao arrived in the U.S. in March 2020 from Australia, where he had eventually been allowed to study by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), who had detained the entire family in July 2015, later using his well-being as a threat to force a televised "confession" out of Wang. He took the decision to leave Australia after an unknown person contacted his host family and asked them for his personal details, as well as to hack into his personal computer, Bao told RFA's Mandarin Service on Thursday. But as his mother was given an International Women of Courage award from the U.S. State Department for her human rights work, Bao was out on bail awaiting a court decision on his asylum application after being held in ICE's Adelanto detention center, a former prison northeast of Los Angeles. His attorneys declined to comment on his asylum application, while inquiries about his initial detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and his subsequent detention at Adelanto went unanswered by ICE and the State Department on Thursday. Bao said he couldn't comment on his ongoing application, but spoke to RFA instead about how his parents, prominent rights advocates who have risked their personal safety to defend some of the most vulnerable members of Chinese society, were an inspiration. "My parents never indoctrinated me to oppose the CCP," Bao said. "They just told me stories about some of their cases, people whose homes had been forcibly demolished, for example, or people who had been beaten up by the authorities just for filing a petition." "The education the CCP instilled in me, and the reports in their media, their newspapers, was all very biased," he said. "Some people may be very rich, but the evidence of oppression is everywhere." "People are suffering; people we don't know about." Bao was soon to experience violence at the hands of an authoritarian state. On July 9, 2015, both of his parents were arrested in a police raid on the family home, when Bao was just 15. Wang and her legal activist husband Bao Longjun were detained in a massive nationwide crackdown on rights lawyers and activists in July 2015. Bao Zhuoxuan was just 16 when his passport was confiscated in the wake of his parents' arrest on the night of July 9, 2015 at the start of a nationwide police operation targeting the legal profession that became know as the "709 crackdown." He had planned to complete his high school education overseas. The teenager later tried to escape across the border from the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan into northern Myanmar with a couple of fellow activists posing as tourists, but was caught and the activists who tried to help him detained. He eventually arrived in Australia to complete his studies in January 2018, before deciding to travel to the U.S. 'Hell for anyone with a conscience' Zhou Fengsuo, the founder of the U.S.-based rights group Humanitarian China, was waiting in Thailand to help Bao with his escape attempt. "This kid is an innocent. Why should he have had to make such a dangerous escape attempt?" he said. "This country is hell for anyone with a conscience." Bao was later used to put pressure on Wang to make a televised "confession." She was released on bail in August 2016. "My parents love me too much," Bao told RFA. "The CCP used me as a threat, which is vicious, very nasty." "I had never thought I would have to wait that long to see her again." For Bao, the extent and complexity of the CCP's power over the Chinese people is beyond his power to describe. He was unwilling to comment further on the events of the past six years. Wang was recently redetained during the online ceremony for the "International Women of Courage" award, and again when she went to defend Shanghai-based activist Chen Jianfang, Los Angeles Times Beijing bureau chief Alice Su said via her Twitter account on Friday. "Wang Yu is released," Su wrote. "Officers w/o identification burst into her room, took her to 'make notes' at the police station & held her several hours w phone confiscated. Daily life for the brave few still speaking of human rights in China." Speaking to RFA, Bao wondered if he could live up their example. "They aren't doing this for themselves, but to fight for the due dignity of those who are suffering and those who are persecuted by the CCP," he said. "This is a brilliant cause." "If I'm always thinking about myself, maybe I'm being too selfish?" he said, adding that he doesn't know when he'll get to see Wang again. "I don't even know whether our efforts are in vain; if they can even put a small dent [in the power of the CCP]," Bao said. "Will they get people thinking about [the government] just a little bit?" "Will they mean that the international community wakes up to the human rights situation, and the appalling behavior of the CCP?" "It's like a cancer, a tumor -- can it be eradicated with human know-how? The main thing is that we are trying." Reported by Xue Xiaoshan for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. BOSSES AND HOW TO SURVIVE THEM-Part 5: The Meat in the Sandwich To bookmark you need to sign in T had a running battle with the other general manager (GM), a national from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who managed a subsidiary bank. The two GMs would bicker all the time, and I was in the middle because as head of credit for both banks I was reporting to both. Every day I would hear them cursing each other. T would say That little twit in a frock. (T meant the kandoora, also known as dishdasha, a clean, crisp robe, which the other GM, being a UAE national, always wore.) The other GM would say Woh harami gora. (That bastard whitey). (The other GM had spent quite a few years in India, due to which he preferred to talk to me in Hindi.) Matters came to a head when the bickering escalated to writing nasty letters to each other. Unfortunately, both GMs wanted me to write their letters! T started it. Draft a letter for me, my boy, a really strong letter to that little twit in a frock. I had to draft this letter, you understand. If I refused, T would explode. At the same time, I knew that when the letter reached the other GM, he would tell me to write a reply. Therefore, while preparing the letter for T, I had to keep in mind what I would reply on behalf of the other GM. I also had to be careful about the language I used. If the letter from the other GM was written in the same type of language as Ts letter, I would be exposed. T would know that I was a sort of double agent. I had to write the two letters in two different styles of English. I prepared the letter for T in classical English, using phrases such as: - Having considered the position in its entirety I am of the view that . - With regard to the possible detrimental impact on our operations arising from your failed policies . - I hasten to add that your actions will percolate to our international operations with disastrous results.. Etc etc T liked it! Good job, my lad he said. He did make a few cosmetic changes, of course, but the letter went off almost as I had drafted it. Next morning the other GM summoned me and showed me the letter from T. Yeh badmash shaitan gora ne ek letter bheja hai. Is ka jawab banao. Bada takatwala jawab chahiey. (This bastard devil whitey has sent a letter. Prepare a reply. It must be a very strong reply.) Now I had to write a reply on behalf of the other GM. I had mentally prepared what my reply, to my own letter, should be. The language was different: - You always talking for your branches. Why not my branches? - I am GM, you are GM. We talk and we make policy together. - I no agree your idea for international branch. My people do good business with Hindi, Paki, Saudi. Maybe your branches learn from my branches. Etc. The other GM was delighted with the reply I had drafted. Mabrook, he said. Woh sala gora ko achha sabak milega. (Well done! That bastard whitey will get a good lesson.) The reply went off. In minutes I was summoned by T. He was shaking with rage. Look at this nonsense that that little twit in frocks has written! He cant even write English! I cooled him down and suggested that we send a fitting reply to this deplorable missive. Away went another letter. I fervently wish that you, being a fellow general manager, had been endowed with the perspicacity to appreciate the import of the issues that I had enumerated in my previous letter, and the possible impact of Back came the reply (written by me, of course). My branches doing very good job. My bank doing very well. If international branch no doing well you responsible The letters kept going up and down for two weeks. Thank God the managing director, to whom all these letters had been copied, stepped in. He separated the banks. That created the next issue. Ts Devious Test I heard from the grapevine (secretaries, of course my Betty was the leader of the clan, and nothing escaped her attention) that the two GMs were in the MDs office discussing the split of the central head office functions, primarily credit and operations. I was on tenterhooks. Which GM would I land up with? This matter was finalised at a tri-partite meeting in the MDs office that morning. The other GMs office was closer to the MDs office than Ts office was. After the meeting was over, he got back to his office before T did, and called me. Dono bank alag ho gaya, the other GM said. (The two banks have been separated.) Mabrook, I replied, Ab woh gora aap ko nahi satayega. (Congratulations. Now that whitey cant bother you.) Shukran, Shukran, the GM said Mujhe chahiye tha ki tum mere saath raho, lekin woh kambakth gora ne nahi mana. Tum-ko woh gora ka saath hi rahna padega. (Thank you, thank you. I wanted you to be with me, but that bastard whitey didnt agree. You will have to be with him.) Meri bad-kismat, I said Lekin aap ne mujhe saath rakhna chaha, is ke liye bahut bahut shukriya. (My bad luck. But, thank you so much for wanting to keep me with you.) I put the phone down, and immediately it rang again. T was on the line. We have sorted out things with the MD, he said. The two banks will be separated and credit and operations will be split. I see, I said. That twit in the white frock asked for you, said T, and I have agreed. Oh! I said. What does Oh mean? asked T. Yours is the bigger bank, Sir, I said. I would much rather be with you. But if you have agreed to let me go to the other bank, I have to accept it. Dont be silly, my dear lad. What would I do without you? You shall be with me. This was Ts Machiavellian test of loyalty, which I passed by a whisker. 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. Massachusetts workers could get extension for their state taxes this year. The Massachusetts Senate advanced a proposal to delay the state tax filing deadline from April 15 to May 17, folding it into the $351 million COVID-19 relief bill for businesses and workers. The Senate passed the bill, H. 90, unanimously Thursday afternoon. We needed to get this done, Senate President Karen Spilka told reporters after the vote. People are filing their taxes already. Businesses are filing their taxes. Shortly before the Senate session began, Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano announced they had agreed to propose an extension to the state tax filing deadline following the Internal Revenue Services decision Wednesday night to extend the federal filing deadline. This tax flexibility, which was also authorized last year by the Legislature, will provide stability and ensure residents have time to prepare and file as we continue to weather the impacts of the pandemic, Spilka and Mariano said in a joint statement. The Senate and House must reconcile the differences between the Senate bill and the version the House passed last week before the bill gets put to a final vote. The bill, H. 90, makes several changes to the unemployment rate schedule, the state tax code and the paid leave policies during the pandemic an issue Spilka highlighted as a Senate priority in her inaugural speech. They deserve this, the Ashland Democrat said, referring to paid leave policies for workers. Theyve been putting themselves on the front lines. Employers would have to let workers use paid sick leave if they are exposed to or test positive for COVID-19, as well as if they are getting vaccinated or feeling unwell after a COVID-19 shot. Employees could also qualify for paid leave if they need to take care of a family member who has COVID-19. The proposal would also freeze the unemployment rate for 2021 and 2022, authorizing state borrowing to bring the states unemployment trust fund out of the red, and would offer a credit for taxpayers who received unemployment and make 200% below the federal poverty line. Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican, called the passage of the unemployment bill a critically important step for the states workforce. It will ease tax burdens on businesses that need resources to rebuild and revitalize and help employees with the financial stability that can be elusive in these challenging times, Tarr said. Tarr and several state legislators, Republicans and Democrats, pushed for changes to the state tax code that would enable the state to exempt forgiven Paycheck Protection Program loans from gross taxable income. The $900 billion stimulus bill Congress passed in December changed the federal tax codes so businesses with forgiven PPP loans could exclude those funds from their gross income. Those businesses were already able to claim deductions on the expenses they paid using PPP money, meaning the stimulus bill effectively gave recipients with forgiven loans a double benefit, as some tax experts describe it. Massachusetts conforms to the federal corporate tax code but not the individual tax code, meaning corporations in Massachusetts could claim the so-called double benefit in their state taxes but small businesses that file individual taxes could not. As we slowly emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, I am proud of the collective action taken by the Senate and House to pass this comprehensive bill that strikes a balance to help businesses, workers and jumpstart an equitable recovery for our Commonwealth, said Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Michael Rodrigues, a Westport Democrat, in a statement Thursday night. With more people getting vaccinated by the day, and our economy re-opening, this bill will bring much-needed relief to small businesses, keep our essential front line workers safe and target tax relief to lift up low-income families who lost jobs during this pandemic. Related Content: They give the vaccine to the prisoners but the state troopers who protect us are having a hard time getting the vaccine. What sense does that make, Gov. Wolf? The state of Pennsylvania must go complete Republican in the next gubernatorial election. Schuylkill Haven I read the article by Allen from Friedensburg and you got some of it right. The only thing is you have to put Republicans in there, not the Democrats. That is who is destroying our country. You have to remember that it is Trump they said was the chosen one. That is why we are going downhill, because they are putting false gods above our real Jesus and God. They have got to realize that Trump is not the savior. Shenandoah I was very disappointed to see Wolf going along with our Republican legislators to devote the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to teachers and essential workers. These people are actively working in most cases or are young enough to get the vaccine that requires them to show up for a second dose. People 65 years and older have a harder time getting around and in my opinion should be the first ones offered the J&J one-shot vaccine. Mahanoy City Is anyone else having trouble with County Waste? I have tried several times and can not get anyone human on the phone. This is ridiculous. Locustdale One thing is for sure, Jerry Knowles is not going to get my mail-in vote. He says the election isnt stolen. Then he says lets go back to in-person voting. He is talking out of two sides of his mouth. Deer Lake I just want to give a shout out of praise and a thank you to Jerry Enders of Northeast Auto Sales. He helped me fix a rear windshield wiper. Thank you very much. You are number one, buddy. Frackville Scientists are tracking three concerning coronavirus variants, though innumerable others could already exist in the population. Luckily, the precautions youre already taking are still the best course of action in the face of these mutations, which are expected and ordinary. The most notable of the three variants is B.1.1.7, first identified in the United Kingdom (UK), which is believed to spread more quickly than other variants and may be associated with an increased risk of hospitalization, though further research is needed to know for sure. The variant B.1.351 was first identified in South Africa and shares some of the mutations with B.1.1.7. The newest variant, P.1, was first identified in Brazil and has mutations that may make it difficult to be recognized by antibodies. All three variants have been detected in the United States. Update yourself on the best way to protect yourself against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-10. Do the new variants require different precautions? No. Though the symptoms and infection rate will be different with these and other variants, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have not changed their recommendations. Read an in-depth explanation of the CDCs 7 face mask tips, but the basic guidelines are: Wear an N95 respirator or double mask created by wearing a well-fitted cloth mask over a 3-ply surgical mask. Maintain 6 feet of social distance when around people you don't know. Avoid unnecessary travel. Makrite disposable flat-fold N95 respirator mask Makrite Triple-Layer Disposable Flat Fold N95 Respirator Mask (40 Respirators) Makrite amazon.com $82.45 Shop Now Are the variants more dangerous? While scientists are closely monitoring the above three variants, only B.1.1.7 has observed differences in infectivity and severity, and no one is exactly sure how strong the correlation is. If there is a spike in cases in the coming months, it will be difficult to determine if it was caused by the new variant or by the multiple states that have eased restrictions. Are variants a bad sign? While the variants are being closely monitored by experts, they are not a reason to panic or even unexpected. Virus mutation is an anticipated part of its life cycle, and though the new variants are likely to be more transmissible the number of new infections declined by 14% in the first week of March, with only 57,400 new cases. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says that once we get daily cases below 10,000 the chances of a surge will be decreased significantly. Though there is a light at the end of the tunnel, right now is the time to adhere to guidelines as closely as possible even if youve already received the vaccine. WellBefore 3 ply disposable face masks for $0.39 each WellBefore 3 PLY Disposable Face Masks - Individually Wrapped wellbefore wellbefore.com $0.29 Shop Now How else are the variants different? Right now, nobody is really sure. Louisiana State University virologist Jeremy Kamil told Nature.com that theres an unofficial policy that every variant is a variant of concern until proven otherwise, and likened the current thinking on variants to the Wild West. With time, we will have a clearer picture, but theres a lot of work left to be done. For now, the best advice for laypersons is to continue doing what youre doing: social distance, wear your mask, and be mindful. : The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday stayed for four weeks, all further proceedings against former Chief Minister and former minister P Narayana in the 'Amaravati land Scam case,' stating that the very maintainability of the case has to be decided first. The court directed the Crime Investigation Department, which registered a criminal case against Chandrababu, Narayana and other officials, to file a counter within four weeks. Justice Ch Manavendranath Roy delivered the order on a criminal petition filed by Chandrababu, seeking immediate quashing of the FIR registered by the CID, with senior Supreme Court advocate Siddhartha Luthra arguing that the "entire programme has been brought to light and hatched with a political vendetta in mind." "Nothing on record is present to show the involvement of the applicant (Chandrababu) for the offences mentioned (in the FIR)," he contended. The judge asked the CID to submit evidence of the prima facie case made out against the former CM and the former minister, to which the police agency said it was still in the initial stages of investigation only. Justice Roy questioned the CID how it could file a case when Section 146 of the AP Capital Region Development Act granted immunity to officials and other authorities. "The maintainability of the case has to be decided first. Then we will go into the merits of the case," he observed. While hearing the counter arguments of the CID counsel in the afternoon,after the petitioners lawyer presented his case in the morning, the judge questioned whether the impugned GO No.41, on which the CID sought to base its case on, was ever challenged (in a court of law). "Has any court struck down the GO? When it has not happened, how can there be criminal liability,"? Justice Roy asked. He then directed the CID to file a counter and deferred the case for four weeks, with an order that all further proceedings in the case be stayed. The CID FIR was filed on March 12 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including criminal conspiracy, and also the SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Section 7 of AP Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfer) Act, 1977 was also invoked in the case. The FIR was based on a complaint filed by YSRC MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy on February 24, more than a month after the High Court struck down a case pertaining to 'insider trading' in the Amaravati land scam. The issue pertains to pooling of land for the development of the states new capital city Amaravati in the year 2015. The CID served notices to both Chandrababu and Narayana, asking them to appear before the Investigating Officer at its regional office in Vijayawada on March 23 and 22 respectively for examination to ascertain facts which are within your exclusive knowledge. The single judges order gave a reprieve to the former Chief Minister and his former Cabinet colleague. Meanwhile, the CID officials went ahead with the probe and questioned IAS officer Cherukuri Sridhar on Friday. Sridhar was first Joint Collector of Guntur district, when the land deals were struck, and later the CRDA Commissioner. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Following a not cold raining day with highest temperature of 50F, today is colder and windy, checking the ground, I havent found any trace of snow. snow didnt come last night as forecasted. As per CT news, now 27% of CT residents have got at least one vaccine shot, the rate is higher than the national rate at 12% or something like that. From today, people age between 45 to 54 will be eligible for vaccination, 400k people will benefit from this. I am one of them. Although I am not a vaccine fan, but still will get it. As broadcasted, 40% of Americans dont want to be vaccinated, vaccine skepticism and hesitacy are still a problems this administration has to face. I read two stories in the last two days, domestic violence is all involved in these stories. Different from China, Trauma is a word frequently been used in US. there are trauma-related sad stories. From here, I thought about my own life and my sons life. Luckily both of us didnt get trauma from our childhood. When I moved here, my sons first school was not that great, he had bad experience. He was put into a room as suspension for his misconduct as teacher thought but actually thats a misunderstanding about him. I pulled him out of the school without hesitation since I felt how hard he was hurt. After a months transaction, he started being comfortable and felt be accepted in the new environment. Now we have been living in this small town for years, people in the town are friendly and sympathetic. Even during the pandemic I didnt feel any racial hatred to me. It was sad that 6 Asian women were killed by a 21 years old white guy in Atlanta this Tuesday. Yesterday I told my son one of his teacher said his Visional-spatial ability is more developed than other peers your age and logical reasoning. Which teacher said? he eagerly asked. Math teacher. and your language art teacher said your strength in her class is word reading and comprehension. Those are good aspects, they also spoke out their concerns. One of them mentioned you need to develop self-advocacy. What does self-advocacy mean? he said I explained to him based on my understanding which today I found I was wrong. I will tell him the right meaning tonight. Learning is fun and good for you, no matter how old you are. Dear Readers: Every year during this time I step away from my column to work on other creative projects. I hope you enjoy these Best Of Q&A from 10 years ago, which Ive retrieved from my advice-vault. Todays topic is: Whoa Thats Inappropriate! Dear Amy: I am about to take a job at a prestigious professional services firm. My boss makes everyone stay at his house in a city out of state for regional group meetings a few times a year. We have to stay in his house, in his daughters room, in the spare rooms, etc. I think this is wrong, and it is not something I want to do. However, now I feel like I have to do this, because everyone else has been doing it for years. I could get a hotel, but it will make me seem like I am not part of the team. I worry about privacy, about feeling awkward, and about my tendency not to be myself when I stay at other peoples houses. What should I do? Home Alone Dear Alone: I could imagine a circumstance in which this might possibly be a fairly benign situation (very large house, very small workforce), but not in the context of regional group meetings with a larger professional services firm. I shared your letter with John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a human resources consulting firm, whose reaction was unequivocal: This might have been thought appropriate in another era, but it is not appropriate now. The boundaries are not right. The tougher call is how you should react to this. He and I agree that you should approach the person who organized this junket and say: Im so excited about coming to work here. I know I can make great contributions to the team, but I would prefer for an out-of-town event at night to have my own hotel room. Is this possible? Challenger adds, There is some risk to this that things might not work out at this company, but if this is so embedded in their culture, you might not want to work there anyway. (December 2011) Dear Amy: I work in a field that requires some travel, and while traveling with the company owner, Beth (20 years my junior), she requires that I share a hotel room with her. She has no sense of personal boundaries and will leave the bathroom door open while using the toilet and yelling comments to me (not even my husband does this). She also parades around the room in her thong (who wants to see your bosss naked backside?) and tries to discuss her dating and/or sex life with me. I am usually hiding under the covers, claiming to be too tired. When I asked for my own room recently, she said that it wasnt in the budget and that she has to be careful with travel costs. She also wants to share room service breakfasts. She will order one entree for us to share, and a pot of coffee. I made the in-room coffee and said that gave us a little extra money to work with and I would like to get my own breakfast, but she said she did not like the in-room coffee. I would rather go out to a less expensive coffee shop and order what I choose to eat, but I am locked into her preferences. She once suggested I should stay with her brother when I traveled to another city in order to save money. I refused. (Oh, did I mention she bought a million-dollar home this year?) I am actively seeking other employment, but I would appreciate any advice. Old Lady Undercover Dear Undercover: Your boss sounds like a nightmare. I strongly recommend that while at breakfast, you should get busy brushing up your resume and also researching this behavior, which I believe easily rises to the level of legally actionable. Your boss has created the very definition of a hostile work environment. She may find that defending herself against a lawsuit would easily eat up all the money she is saving by forcing an employee to share a hotel room. You can learn more at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions website, eeoc.gov (search the keyword harassment). (December 2011) You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. Ireland returned to a full lockdown in late December with the highest level of restrictions currently in place until at least 5 April, when a further review will be conducted. Although many countries continue to operate under heavy restrictions as the race to vaccinate the population gets underway, weve watched in envy as others have begun to ease back into normal life. We take a look at how Ireland compares to other countries, with some locking back down down as they enter a fourth wave and others resuming what seems like a pre-Covid life. United Kingdom: Months into third lockdown, plan to return to normal by June The UK is currently months into its third national lockdown, which they hope is their last. On 22 February, the British government confirmed that an end was in sight when they published a four-step roadmap out of lockdown with the aim to lift all legal limits on social contacts by 21 June. The plan, known as the one-way road to freedom, currently remains in effect as the UK gradually continues the easing of restrictions. The UK continues to operate under a stay at home order which is expected to be lifted on 29 March. Travel and tourism to and within the UK remains heavily regulated as mandatory hotel quarantine from high-risk countries came into effect last month. Pupils have started returning to school and two people can currently meet up outdoors. The government plans to reopen non-essential retail, hairdressers and gyms from 12 April, with pubs, cafes and restaurants also expected to reopen with outdoor seating only. France: Entering new lockdown today as fourth wave hits France remains on high alert as sixteen regions of the country, including Paris, entered into a new lockdown today which will be in place for at least four weeks. Schools will remain open and outdoor activities will be allowed to go ahead within a 10km travel limit. Non-essential shops will be required to close and nationwide travel will be prohibited. Until now, the French government relied heavily on nightly curfews and weekend lockdowns. France currently has a curfew between 18:00 and 06:00. Residents may move about freely during the day but remote working is strongly advised. People who leave the house during curfew must have a form filled in and signed by an employer or other relevant source. Cafes, restaurants, gyms, cinemas and theatres remain closed since October. France has seen a massive spike in cases this week with 34,998 cases reported yesterday and more than 38,000 new infections the day before. Spain: Regional lockdowns but Madrid bars and nightclubs are open under curfew Spain is currently operating under regional lockdowns with a nationwide curfew of 11pm-6am currently in place until at least 9 May. Although Spain remains under a state of emergency with regional variations in restrictions, some areas have been allowed to open essential shops at the weekends. In other regions, bars and restaurants can open for breakfast and lunch but must be closed for dinner, except for takeout. While most major European cities return to stricter lockdown measures, Madrid has begun reopening the tourism and hospitality industry, a sector which is vital to the economy that employs around 13pc of the Spanish workforce. Madrid has some of the most relaxed restrictions in Europe with bars and nightclubs open until curfew begins at 11 pm. The loose rules have seen hundreds of tourists flock to the Spanish capital to enjoy the newfound freedom their own countries has yet to offer. An analysis of cell phones found that 2,560 French tourists were in Madrid last week, according to local media reports. Although a negative Covid-19 test is required upon arrival into the country, many French tourists have been entering by road without presenting any documentation. Italy: Entered new lockdown under threat of fourth wave Half of Italy's 20 regions, including Rome, Milan and Venice, entered into a new lockdown on Monday which will remain in place until 6 April. It comes as the government attempts to curb a recent spike in Covid-19 cases caused by the presence of new variants. A nationwide curfew from 22:00 to 05:00 remains in place and travel between Italy's 20 regions is prohibited. The country is divided into red, orange, yellow and white zones, based on local infection rates. In regions labelled red zones, people are unable to leave their houses except for work or health reasons, with all non-essential shops closed. In orange zones, people are banned from leaving their town and their region, except for work or health reasons, and bars and restaurants may only do delivery and take-away service. Secondary school students have been allowed to return to some in-person lessons, but in red zones, all schools and nurseries are closed. Restaurants and museums in red zones are also closed. In yellow zones, bars and restaurants can now once again serve customers at tables and counters until 18:00. In orange zones, restaurants and bars are closed except for takeaways. Over the Easter weekend, the entire country will be considered a red zone, prompting a national lockdown from 3 April to 5 April. Germany: Lockdown continues as cases increase Germany has been in lockdown since 7 March, closing non-essential retail, cinemas, theatres and other public venues. Due to the increasing number of cases, Berlin has become the first city to pause the countrys emergence from lockdown. While children are allowed to return to school, restaurants and other public spaces will remain closed. Germany currently allows entry for Schengen states and countries approved by the EU with low infection rates, including Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. Since January, regions that are considered high-incidence areas and arrivals from EU and Schengen areas must show proof of a negative Covid-19 test before they can board an aircraft, ferry, bus or train. Regardless of the result, arrivals from these high-risk areas must quarantine for ten days. Entry from other countries is only possible at present for essential reasons. New Zealand: Lowest level of restrictions, largely Covid free due to strict border controls New Zealand entered Alert Level 1 last Friday, the lowest threat level of restrictions. Visit our Covid-19 vaccine dashboard for updates on the roll out of the vaccination program and the rate of Coronavirus cases Ireland The island nation sparked envy worldwide as they declared themselves largely Covid free due to strict border controls. Level 1 means masks must be worn on public transport, and mandatory 14 day quarantine remains in place for all arrivals. Social distancing and good personal hygiene continues to be encouraged while New Zealanders are also advised to track their movements on public transport, in workplaces and when visiting businesses and shops using the NZ COVID Tracer app. Other than a few exceptions for critical workers, only New Zealand residents and citizens are allowed into the country without first requesting to travel. There is a one-way travel bubble between New Zealand and Australia which allows travelers from New Zealand to fly to Australian states without having to quarantine. In January, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that New Zealand's borders will remain closed for most of this year, but the country will continue to pursue travel arrangements with neighboring Australia and other Pacific nations. Australia: Borders remain closed but life is relatively normal Things are relatively normal in Australia, although restrictions are brought in when case numbers rise. Australia has had fewer than 30,000 cases and just 909 deaths during the pandemic due to its swift border closures. Australias borders remain closed to everyone except Australian citizens and residents. All returning travellers must quarantine for 14 days upon entering the country. All arrivals must also show a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours before departure and before boarding. Australia has extended its international travel ban until 17 June, meaning Australian citizens are not allowed to leave the country unless they are granted an exemption. Masks are only required when there is a significant rise of cases, on a regional basis. However in Melbourne, face masks must currently be worn on public transport and in taxis, in hospitals and care facilities, and in shopping malls, markets and stalls. Restaurants and bars must take records of their visitors and are limiting the number of customers. United States: Travel restrictions remain but stay-at-home orders lifted States across the US have been responding individually to the Covid-19 outbreak as governors are issuing orders to their residents on the status of schools, businesses and public services depending on case numbers. All states have taken precautionary measures, but restrictions vary, and so does the length of time the measures are in place. Many states have begun lifting their stay-at-home orders, while travel restrictions remain in place for the majority of the US. Americans are encouraged not to travel unless for essential reasons and face mandates remain in place for the majority of states. Defense attorney Eric Nelson (L), defendant and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin (R) and Nelson's assistant Amy Voss (back) introduce themselves to jurors as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over jury selection in the trial of Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn., on March 17, 2021. (Court TV, via AP, Pool) Judge Rejects Chauvin Lawyers Request to Move Trial After George Floyd Settlement Hit Headlines A judge in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who faces charges in connection with George Floyds death, ruled Friday that the trial would not be moved, rejecting a request by the defense that was based on tainted jury concerns. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill on Friday denied the request by Eric Nelson, Chauvins defense attorney, who argued that his clients ability to get a fair trial had been jeopardized when news broke of a multi-million dollar settlement to Floyds family. Chauvin faces murder and manslaughter charges in connection with Floyds police-custody death, with jury selection for the trial fraught with issues given the high-profile nature of the incident, which sparked mass protests. Nelson had asked for the trial to be moved or postponed due to concerns about a tainted jury pool after the $27 million settlement to Floyds family hit headlines. A mural of George Floyd is seen in George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, Minn., on Feb. 8, 2021. (Jim Mone/AP Photo) The city of Minneapolis agreed last week to pay what Floyd family attorney Ben Crump called the largest pretrial settlement ever for a civil rights claim. Crump thanked city leaders for approving the settlement, saying it showed they care about George Floyd. Word of the settlement led Chauvins attorney to renew his previously unsuccessful motion to move the trial to another city. I am gravely concerned with the news that broke on Friday, Nelson said, adding that the announcement has incredible potential to taint the jury pool. This prompted Cahill to recall seven jurors who were seated before the settlement was announced, questioning each about what they knew of the settlement and whether it would affect their ability to serve. Cahill subsequently dismissed two of the jurors, reducing the likelihood that he would grant Nelsons motion to move the trial. Cahill ultimately ruled on Friday to deny Nelsons request, called the timing of the settlement unfortunate but saying he believed a change in venue would not help him get a fair trial. I dont think theres any place in the state of Minnesota that has not been subjected to extreme amounts of publicity on this case, Cahill said, according to Fox News. Selection of the jury, which is to include 12 jurors and two alternates, is almost complete. On Friday, a 13th juror was seated, leaving one more to be appointed. Barring any further delays in jury selection, opening statements are scheduled to begin on March 29. Cahill did hand the defense one victory, however, approving a request to admit some evidence from Floyds 2019 arrest. Chauvins attorney sought to admit evidence from that arrest, arguing that striking similarities between the two episodes were relevant in the trial, particularly in terms of the cause of death. In both arrests, as officers drew their guns and struggled to get Floyd out of the car, he called out for his mother, claimed he had been shot before and cried, and put what appeared to be pills in his mouth. Both searches turned up drugs in the cars. Officers noticed a white residue outside his mouth both times, although that has not been explained. Paramedics who examined Floyd in 2019 warned him that his blood pressure was dangerously high, putting him at risk for a heart attack or stroke, and took him to a hospital for examination. In Floyds 2019 arrest, several opioid pills and cocaine were found. An autopsy showed Floyd had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system when he died in May of last year. Nelson has argued that Floyds drug use contributed to his death. Clearly there is a cause of death issue here, and it is highly contested, Cahill said, ruling to allow evidence from the 2019 arrest, but limiting it only to what pertains to the cause of Floyds death. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The wants its first face-to-face meeting with under the Biden administration to be frank and plans to cover difficult areas like Beijing's anti-democratic action in Hong Kong, its human rights violations and military tension in the region, according to the The relations between the and are at an all-time low. The two countries are currently engaged in a bitter confrontation over various issues, including trade, the origins of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the communist giant's aggressive military moves in the disputed South Sea and human rights. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met their Chinese counterparts Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi in Anchorage, Alaska. This meeting, we certainly anticipate, will have difficult components of the conversation. We expect it to be frank. They plan to cover areas where we have concerns, including human rights, Hong Kong. Obviously, we've put forward some sanctions related to the anti-democratic actions in Hong Kong over the last couple of days. Technology, whether it relates to the theft of IP or data protections. Military tensions in the region, Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference on Thursday. Last year, China approved a contentious law that would allow authorities to crack down on subversive and secessionist activity in Hong Kong. Hong Kong, an economic powerhouse, is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. It has observed a "one country, two systems" policy since Britain returned sovereignty to China on July 1, 1997, which has allowed it certain freedoms the rest of China does not have. The US condemns China's continuing assault on democratic institutions in Hong Kong. So it will cover, as will be no surprise to anyone here who follows China closely, a range of topics. And I think the President (Joe Biden) is eager to hear from them on how the conversation goes and work with them to determine what the next right step is, she said. On return from Alaska, Blinken and Sullivan would brief Biden, after which the president is likely to finalise his China policy. He (Biden) will make a determination about (meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping) that when they return and he has a chance to talk to Secretary Blinken and National Security Advisor Sullivan, in part because he doesn't see this, nor do they, as a preset series of meetings like the traditional dialogues that we've seen throughout other administrations, including ones that he has previously served in, Psaki said. In his (Biden's) mind and in the minds of National Security Advisor Sullivan and Secretary of State Blinken, a big part of the strategy is approaching our relationship with China from a place of strength and strengthening our own economy at home, investing in the middle class, looking at it through the prism of competition, not conflict. And that means there's also more work we have to do here, she said. Republican Senator Bill Hagerty, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and former US Ambassador to Japan, in a statement urged the Biden administration to hold China accountable for its wide range of malign and predatory behaviour. We cannot ignore that China is engaged in ongoing genocide against Uyghurs in Xinjiang province; strong-armed and even illegal tactics to steal intellectual property in the United States and around the world; ending Hong Kong's autonomy in violation of an agreement; secrecy and disinformation to frustrate investigations into the origin of the pandemic; increasing threats and intimidation against democratic Taiwan; militarising the South China Sea to pursue unlawful claims in that region; and economic coercion against US allies to censor criticism and compel concessions, he said. India, the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the region. The Chinese military is also actively eying the strategic Indian Ocean region to step up Beijing influence. China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. Because Beijing respects only strength, I urge Secretary of State Blinken and National Security Advisor Sullivan to continue and expand the strong and effective China strategy and policies implemented during the Trump administration until we and our allies are able to verify that China's malign activities have ended, Hagerty said. Senators Jim Inhofe, Tom Cotton and Rick Scott on Thursday introduced the China Trade Relations Act to strip China of its Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status and return to the pre-2001 system. If passed, the legislation would require China to obtain Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status through annual presidential approval, per the requirements of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. The bill would also expand the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to include human rights and trade abuses as disqualifying factors for MFN status. Companion legislation was introduced in the US House of Representatives by Congressman Chris Smith. On the Senate floor, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said a recent poll showed that 45 per cent of Americans acknowledge that China is the greatest threat to the United States. (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.) CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) An Iowa man has been sentenced to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty in the 2015 death of an Illinois man fatally shot outside a Gary gas station. A Lake County judge sentenced 25-year-old Dontrall Jeri Phillips of Davenport, Iowa, on Thursday after accepting his guilty plea to a murder charge under a plea agreement that calls for prosecutors to drop a robbery charge. Phillips was one of four people charged in the April 2015 shooting death of 21-year-old Donald Fuzzell of Calumet Park, Illinois, during a botched robbery in the parking lot of a Gary gas station. Rose Ciardiello, a real estate agent for William Raveis, recently listed a Guilford home for $200,000 more than the owners purchased it for just a few years ago. Within hours, offers came in well over the $975,000 asking price, she said. Ciardiello said people moving to the area are driving up the asking price, and often making cash offers. Its a crazy market, she said. Ciardiello, who primarily sells homes in Madison and Guilford, has called this the COVID market. Houses in the shoreline area are selling fast, according to local real estate agents who say inventory remains low. 2020 was a very strong year for Connecticut, Ciardiello said. Certainly, the shoreline saw an influx of out-of-town and out-of-state buyers. 2021 is proving to be just as strong. Ciardiello said houses are selling for 26 percent more per square foot than they were a year ago. When the pandemic started, she said, there were a few weeks where real estate agents were not showing houses as the industry tried to adjust to the situation. We were deemed essential, she said. So, those of us that were comfortable going out ... were doing that. That, Ciardiello said, is when residents of New York City and other major metropolitan areas began to buy up houses in the shoreline area, opting to move to less populated areas that were seeing large day-over-day increases in coronavirus cases. Basically, they originally took up all the rentals, she said. Then they started buying the lower-end homes. Then they started buying very expensive homes. Were still seeing, not only New Yorker, but Im getting folks from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the West Coast. David Platt, who closed on a home in Essex in July, said the move came as the result of a pandemic, but added his family ended up finding a great community. In a time that makes you appreciate that life is too short, this has been one of the best decisions weve ever made, he said. Connecticut has been a silver lining. Platt said his family kept their home in New York City, and will return there at some point, but noted they will keep the Essex home for life. Old Saybrook First Selectman Carl Fortuna said the buying spree that towns in the shoreline area are seeing is long overdue. He said his towns schools, businesses and recreation make it an attractive community to start a family. The market Early in the pandemic, Ciardiello said, she was getting calls from people from New York who were bypassing Fairfield County because they felt it was too close to the city. It was a direct correlation to COVID, she said. Even now, its still related to that because people are working from home. They are working remotely and seeing that they dont have to be driving in to the office. Ciardiello noted that a lot of the things New York City is known for, theaters, restaurants and shops, as well as schools, were closed. She noted that it was not just properties on the water that are selling, but also homes in the north end of Guilford and Madison. The idea of having this bucolic lot and yard and privacy and trees is appealing to these folks, because thats what they are looking for, she said. They just want to be away from the city and have privacy. Ciardiello said her colleagues around the state are seeing the same phenomenon. She said towns that used to be slow housing markets, such as Essex and the Lymes, have picked up considerably. The majority of her sellers, she said, are staying in town in smaller houses especially in homes they already owned, but rented out. She said inventory has stayed low. For instance, Guilford was running low before COVID, she said. We were doing really well. Madison has a lull for a bit, but are now selling on par. Now, she said, houses are going under contract within hours. Multiple bid situations way over asking price, Ciardiello said. Houses are selling way over market value. Sometimes houses are listed competitively because you want to encourage a bidding war. But even houses that are listed high are still going well over asking price. Colette Harron, a real estate agent for William Pitt and Julia B. Fee Sothebys International Realty, sells homes through the shoreline area, but especially in Essex, Old Saybrook, Lyme and Old Lyme. The prices are up, she said. I dont know if theyre going to keep on going up, because I cant predict the future. But definitely prices are up about 20 percent from two years ago. Harron said demand is really strong for mid-range homes with prices below $1 million. She noted that inventory is low in all of her towns. Like Ciardello, Harron said buyers tell her they want to get out of urban areas during the pandemic. She has seen buyers from New York, California, Boston, among other places, and noted that many of them have children in colleges in the Northeast. They like to be between New York and Boston, she said. At the same time, you have the charm and the peacefulness of these small towns. Harron said the average home she puts on the market costs between $500,000 and $1.5 million, with the ones on the lower end flying off the market. Youve got to be a cash buyer if you want to get the house, she said, later adding that people are also trying to put as big a down payment as possible to secure the purchase. Harron said she knows a driving factor for buyers moving to the area is the pandemic, because weve been here forever, and (the market) has never been like this. I havent seen it like this since 2004, when it was the height of the market, she said. Harron said the market was on the rise then in part because people wanted to get out of cities after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Harron said a colleague recently put a house on the market for $495,000 and it sold for $600,000. She said a former client bought a house five years ago for $800,000, and recently put it on the market for $1.2 million. He had multiple offers in one day. The first day he put it on the market. Ive been doing it for 20 years, she said. Ive never seen it like this. Harron said the housing market doing so well is giving the area a boost. She said all the stores on Main Street and North Main Street in Essex have been rented. Our stores, two years ago, were pretty much empty, she said. Its very nice. We just love this area David Platt, the chief strategy officer at Moodys Corporation, and his wife Ellen, a homemaker and former child psychologist, said they have lived in New York City for 20 years. They own a home in the Upper East Side. As the pandemic took hold in the city, David said, he and his two children were all in their apartment on Zoom calls. When summer came, there were no extracurricular activities for the family to do. Its just bleak, he said. David said he and his wife were never the second home crowd. He said the family went to rent a house, but did not like it because it was in the middle of nowhere and overpriced. David said he decided to buy a home. Life is too short, he said. Especially in a pandemic, life is too short. With their daughter about to go to college in Boston, David said he began looking for houses. Frankly, what happened is that a good friend of mine told me about a house in Haddam, he said. I was like, Wheres Haddam? David said when they went to explore Haddam, they stumbled upon the shoreline. Theres vineyards. Theres ocean. Theres river. Theres fishing. Theres farming markets, and the people are just awesome, he said. Everyone we met was nicer than the next. The Platts described a competitive housing market, with high prices and bidding wars. Eventually, the Platts settled on an awesome house on South Main Street in Essex. David said they agreed on the price quickly and with no contingencies. I said, I will be ready to close when you are ready, he said and they closed on the house July 17. Ellen said they have not regretted the decision. It let our kids be outdoors, Ellen said. But, also, just the family time weve had here. We just love this area. We are always exploring. It just changed our whole thinking and gave us a different perspective on family and time together. Ellen said it has been the bright spot of the pandemic. They said they have gone back and forth to New York when needed. David said they plan to spend as much time as possible in their Essex home for the rest of their lives. This will be a house for our family and for our future generations, Ellen said. Local impact In Old Saybrook, Fortuna said the pandemic has really awoken the housing market in his town and surrounding communities. Its unfortunate that some of the people are getting priced out, the first selectman said, noting that Old Saybrook is working on an affordable housing plan. But, for those who are selling, Im happy for people who are seeing their houses valued highly. Fortuna said the market in the area had not been good for a long time. He said he is also happy for people who are discovering Old Saybrook, and the broader region, for the first time. Fortuna said he met a couple from New York that bought a house farther up the Connecticut River, felt they were too much in the boondocks and moved to Old Saybrook. It has a lot to offer, he said. It has a little bit more commerce than surrounding towns. Fortuna said Old Saybrook has anything a homeowner could want, noting a person can live on a quiet street, but go to the store within two minutes. He also said the town has a lot of places to walk, cycle and swim, as well as fair tax prices. When I moved here in 1994, it took me a few years to fully appreciate where we live, he said. Having the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound accessible is just one of the most remarkable features not only for this area, but in New England and the United States. I think more and more people are realizing that. Fortuna said Connecticuts high cost of living, without a lot of high paying jobs, has previously kept people from moving here. He said he is worried about the state legislature driving that cost up even more. Hopefully, we are getting more people in the area that have families, he said. Fortuna said with more people working from home, he expects the influx of new residents to continue since less employees will need to live close to their jobs. But Fortuna said the state of the housing market will not change how the town functions. Its not changing the dynamics of the school system, he said. In some ways, we wish it would, because we need kids. A large chunk of Connecticut is losing its school-age population. We keep (seeing a) declining school-age population. As for the tax base, Fortuna said the town will only see a benefit if the prices remain higher into the next revaluation in 2023. Time will tell, he said. Right now, we welcome all comers. Its a great town and I have no problem sharing it. YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn commented on the questions of the head of the Alternative Democratic Reforms (ADR) faction of the Parliament relating to the current uncertainty around the future of Nagorno Karabakh after the ceasefire. Armenpress presents the FMs responses to the questions: Question: What is the European Unions approach to the legal status of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) from the perspective of international public law? The final recognition? What do you think? Answer: EU hopes the sides will manage to find a lasting solution through negotiations which will define the legal status of Nagorno Karabakh with the consent of all parties. In this sense, EU supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and her Personal Representative. Question: How does Luxembourg assess the approaches of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the requirements of N2357 resolution of the PACE adopted on January 25? Does the government think that the sides have implemented all the provisions of the resolution, if not, where does Luxembourg see difference in approaches in particular in the following formulations of the resolution: to refuse from statements escalating the situation which can block the political dialogue, ensure the implementation of the humanitarian obligations assumed by the trilateral statement, such as the return of all prisoners of war and other detained persons, the bodies of the dead, the preservation of cultural heritage? Answer: The exchange of POWs is one of the points of the ceasefire statement which is the most problematic till now. Armenia has returned all detained persons, however, a lot of Armenian POWs are still held captive in Azerbaijan. The aggressive rhetoric between the two countries, which is especially being constantly inflamed by the Azerbaijani President, complicates the constructive cooperation. The preservation of cultural heritage of the region also remains one of the contentious issues for the sides. Question: In the past Azerbaijan has criticized the EU and its member states for many times. On January 31 the foreign ministry of that country issued a statement, calling EUs approaches as one-sided and based on double standards, which, it said, could damage the relations with Azerbaijan. Moreover, on December 24 Ilham Aliyev called French, Belgian and Dutch politicians as hypocrites, calling on them to open their eyes and look at the reality. What was the impact of these statements on the Luxembourg-Azerbaijan relations? Given these realities and the meeting of the EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Council on December 18 last year, to what extent is it appropriate to have such cooperation with Azerbaijan, also within the Eastern Partnership? Answer: Azerbaijan is a participant of the EUs Neighborhood Policy and Eastern Partnership, which allows the EU and its member states to engage not only in the constructive, but also criticizing dialogue with Azerbaijan. In this way EU can become an important role-player in the context of respecting the international law and human rights by the Azerbaijani authorities. Question: On November 19, 2020, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy made a statement over the situation in Nagorno Karabakh. Since this statement did the Luxembourg government see concrete developments in the region in terms of EUs calls. If not, what problems still exist and who is responsible for them? Answer: The ceasefire regime is being observed up to now since the November 10 statement, with exceptions to some incidents, however, the aggressive rhetoric has not been eliminated, and the issue of the exchange of POWs is in the deadlock. There is also no investigation of the military crimes, the humanitarian situation in Nagorno Karabakh remains tense, the entry of international organizations to the region is blocked by Azerbaijan, there are still no signs for the lasting solution to the conflict. Question: Is the EU going to provide assistance to the population of the region aimed at preventing the humanitarian disaster in Artsakh? Answer: The EU has provided humanitarian support to the region since the crisis days which comprised 6.9 million Euros. Question: Did the situation in Nagorno Karabakh and the aggressive rhetoric of the Azerbaijani authorities towards the EU have an impact on the European visa policy towards that country, especially for the Azerbaijani diplomatic passport holders? Answer: The visa policy is regulated by the visa facilitation and readmission agreements signed with Azerbaijan in 2014, and nothing has changed in this respect. Question: Does Luxembourg support the possibility of deploying observers by the OSCE in Nagorno Karabakh? Can the OSCE play a role in the process of investigating the military crimes in the region? Answer: The deployment of OSCE observer mission is possible in case of receiving such a request with the consent of all sides. Luxembourg supports that proposal and the OSCE efforts. The OSCEs function is to prevent and solve conflicts. It has no tool to deal with the investigation of military crimes. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan (Natural News) The medical establishment, at least in Norway, is finally admitting that Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines are killing people. Along with this admission comes a major shift in the narrative, though. Now, we are being told that it is a virtue for someone to risk death from getting jabbed for the Chinese virus because the injections are a representation of sacrifice on behalf of humanity. I would love to die from the AstraZeneca vaccine, reads an English translation of an article in the Norwegian media written by someone named Linn Wiik. It probably sounds very brutal. But some must be sacrificed in the war against the corona. Thats the way it is in all wars. This time it may well be me. Moving the goal posts once again, the media is suddenly shifting from a narrative that says all Wuhan flu vaccines are safe and effective to one that admits vaccines are deadly but if you are a good person who cares about others, then you will get one anyway to help the herd. Wiik explains that at least one health worker died of a cerebral hemorrhage after getting jabbed while several others were admitted with serious blood clots after getting injected. Still, she says everyone should get needled. Let me say the obvious first. It is terribly sad that health workers have become seriously ill, Wiik writes. Although we have stopped clapping for them on our balconies, I think we all have deep respect for this group of people, who are some of the front fighters in the war against the corona. Thats exactly why they got the vaccine so early. The latest news about injuries and deaths caused by COVID-19 vaccination can be found at VaccineDamage.news. What is possessing people to clamor for a vaccine that they know might kill them? Wiik says of course the government will do everything we can to determine whether there is a connection between the cases and the vaccine. This hedging still leaves room for the medical establishment to declare no evidence of a connection later on down the road. At the same time, Wiik appears to be testing the waters to see whether or not full admission of the fact that Chinese virus vaccines are deadly will be tolerated by the masses. Since forced distancing, masks, and lockdowns were accepted with minimal resistance, chances are that Wiiks new narrative will be, too. Perhaps these are unfortunate individuals,' Wiik further mulls in her story, attempting every possible way she knows how to justify the continued administration of Wuhan flu vaccines. People get blood clots and die of cerebral hemorrhage every year. In Norway, there are between 7,000 and 10,000 cases of blood clots every year We will get the answer soon. Then the health authorities will also decide whether we should continue the vaccination. At this point in the article, Wiik shifted gears again by claiming that even if it turns out that the AstraZeneca vaccine is responsible for these injuries and deaths, I have no doubt: If I get the offer, I will take it anyway. This sounds a lot like what Simona Riussi, the wife of now-deceased Sandro Tognatti, told the media after her husband died from his jab. Despite the loss of her significant other, Riussi says she would still get the vaccine and encourage others to do the same. Because, sorry to say it so bluntly: Someone has to sacrifice in order for the rest to be safe, is how Wiik put it. Thats the way it is in all wars. Sources for this article include: InformationLiberation.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com The "Modern and Reformed Romania" National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), a document discussed in the first reading by the Government on Friday, provides for the allocation of EUR 4 billion for localities under the Romania of Communities reform component. At the same time, an EUR 400 million Fund for Community Development through Local Action Groups is planned. The Civil Society Fund worth EUR 100 million was also introduced, as well as Grants for Youth and Sport in amount of EUR 300 million. The same Romania of Communities component also includes a programme aimed at capitalizing the economy and encouraging innovation, which has EUR 2.4 billion earmarked. AGERPRES Saffron Lempriere will confront Chloe Meadows and Courtney Green for getting involved in her fierce row with Chloe Brockett on Sunday night's episode of TOWIE. The reality star is set to sit down with friends Chloe, 28, and Courtney, 25, after they apparently branded her 'fake'. Saffron and Chloe B's disagreement came to a climax on last week's episode where they ended up in an explosive war of words outside a fish and chip shop in Essex. Awkward: Saffron Lempriere will confront Chloe Meadows and Courtney Green for getting involved in her fierce row with Chloe Brockett on Sunday night's episode of TOWIE But Saffron clearly isn't happy with other people getting involved in her drama which first started late last year when she criticised Chloe B for flirting with Frankie Sims's ex Harry Lee. Saffron will be keen to get answers from Chloe and Courtney after Chloe B told her last week that 'lots of the other girls think you're fake' to which Saffron asked: 'What Chloe and Courtney you mean?' Chloe B then replied: 'Yeah they think you're fake as well!' Discussion: The reality star is set to sit down with friends Chloe, 28, and Courtney, 25, after they apparently branded her 'fake' Clearly not bothered about adding fuel to the fire Chloe B continues her mission to make former flame Harry her bestie with a surprise day out in Sunday's episode. It's unclear whether Saffron and Chloe B will be able to resolve their issues after continuing with their war of words from last series, when Chloe B sparkedanger by approaching Harry so soon after his split from Frankie. Frankie and Harry, both aged 25, parted ways due to his insecurities and jealously during their romance. Saffron met with a heartbroken Frankie, who sobbed: 'I feel like she's kicking me down. It's hurting so much more. It's making everything so much worse.' The blonde reality star then decided to confront Chloe for her flirty behaviour with Harry, something that upset Frankie deeply because Chloe had a fling with the Lothario before they got together. Playing with fire? Clearly not bothered about adding fuel to the fire Chloe B continues her mission to make former flame Harry her bestie with a surprise day out in Sunday's episode Saffron told Chloe: 'I can't sit and watch a girl broken hearted and know that'. To which the feisty brunette hit back: 'Well the thing is though...' but Saffron interrupted: 'Wipe the smirk off your face because I don't think it's funny'. Elsewhere on the upcoming episode, the news of Ella Rae Wise, 20, and Pete Wicks secret snog swirls around. Feud: Saffron and Chloe B's disagreement came to a climax on last week's episode where they ended up in an explosive ear of words outside a fish and chip shop in Essex (pictured) Bad blood: Chloe B and Saffron's row descended into them screaming and shouting at each other in the street before Chloe B storms off As the pair arrange to meet up, Pete, 32, has to decide whether to take the relationship to the next level or not. Chloe Sims will also react to the revelations that Pete has moved on after she was left heartbroken when their secret two-year 'friends with benefits' romance came to an end. On last week's episode, she told Georgia and Tommy she felt back to her best after healing her broken heart. Drama: Elsewhere on the upcoming episode, the news of Ella Rae Wise, 20, (pictured) and Pete Wicks secret snog swirls around Romance? As the pair arrange to meet up, Pete, 32, has to decide whether to take the relationship to the next level or not The past: Chloe Sims will also react to the revelations that Pete has moved on after she was left heartbroken when their secret two-year 'friends with benefits' romance came to an end Speaking about where she stands with Pete, she told the couple: 'I just don't want to see him at all. I've got so far with moving on. 'I just don't want to be disturbed. I'm over him, I'm just not over it. I'm back, it's like being born again.' Chloe and Pete haven't spoken for months after their attempts to restore some sort of friendship broke down. What happened girls? Meanwhile, Ella comes face-to-face with former bestie Kelsey Stratford (pictured) following their recent fall-out Difficult: Amy Childs (pictured) is also left stuck in the middle between Bobby Norris and Harry Derbidge, and brings them both together in a bid to resolve their issues Meanwhile, Ella comes face-to-face with former bestie Kelsey Stratford following their recent fall-out. Amy Childs is also left stuck in the middle between Bobby Norris and Harry Derbidge, and brings them both together in a bid to resolve their issues. The pair split in 2014 after Harry admitted to sleeping with his ex boyfriend behind Bobby's back - something he backtracks on in the recent clip. Cute: Elsewhere, love is in the air as Liam Gatsby goes on a blind date organised by new boy Rem Larue, who also pulls out all the stops to impress Clelia Theodorou Face to face: Pete looks happy to be meeting up with Ella after the pair shared a secret kiss All smiles: Ella will have to face up to the backlash from Chloe Sims after kissing Pete Harry is also seen complaining that his cousin Amy has been socialising with Bobby recently. During last week's episode she was on a mission to de-Essex her home and enlisted Bobby's help on her new interior design journey. Elsewhere, love is in the air as Liam Gatsby goes on a blind date organised by new boy Rem Larue, who also pulls out all the stops to impress Clelia Theodorou. The Only Way Is Essex continues Sunday at 9pm on ITVBe and available on the ITV Hub. Early last August, people living close to Beirut's Lebanese port observed in fear as one of the largest non-nuclear explosions on record caused by humans ripped a portion out of their city, leading to loss of hundreds of lives, with thousands wounded, and hundreds of thousands lost their homes. The shock from the explosion was felt around the globe, detectors as far away as Germany and Tunisia picked up the deep noise, and tectonic stations close to 300 miles (500 kilometers) away noted its tremor. Vibration of the Highest Layers Now it appears that the Beirut explosion led to the highest layers of the atmosphere to vibrate, and the result of the data could notify future efforts to keep a watch on weapons testing carried out by states that are rogue. Scientists from National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India, and Japan's Hokkaido University measured electrical interruptions in the ionosphere, discovering the blast was tantamount to the impact of various volcanic explosions. An Earth and planetary researcher from Japan's University of Hokkaido, Kosuke Heki said they discover that the blast created a wave that journeyed in the ionosphere at a velocity close to 0.8 kilometers per second in a southward direction. Initiating about 30 miles upward (around 50 kilometers) and extending hundreds of kilometers away into space. The ionosphere is symbolized by high numbers of free-ranging electrons that get bobbled from molecules of gas by solar radiation. Read More: 12 Dead, 11 Injured In Saudi Arabia Chemical Plant Fire The Use of Variations in Phases The group made use of variations in phases within microwave transmissions transferred by the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) on the explosion day to measure changes in the circulation of the electrons, which in succession signalled the existence of sound waves through the gases. It is a ploy that researchers have made use of since the arrival of such network satellites in the 1990s, calculating tides stretching through the upper reaches of our atmosphere to record delicate signs of anything from volcanoes to wretch nuclear testing. Part of the first forays of experiment into making use of global positioning satellite (GPS) technology to calculate surface eruptions occurred in the middle of 1990s, with researchers taking the chance of three huge underground explosions at a coal mine in the United States of America to know how the ionosphere reacted. Unclear Traces of the Explosion in Beirut Yet discovering the unclear traces of the explosion in Beirut in this instance was with a little bit of luck. With the explosion happening early in the evening and near sundown, flaws of the ionosphere known as equatorial plasma bubbles altogether may have covered the signal. Luckily, no signs of these bubbles were found at the time, giving the researchers a clear picture of the blast sliding through the top atmosphere at the sound's speed. The scientists matched the contribution of the Beirut eruption on the ionosphere with comparable scars abandoned by a number of recent Japan's volcanic explosions. Related Article: Wildfires Are a Real but Undisclosed Risk for Millions of Areas and Homes For more news, updates about explosions and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! 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! Regardless of which kind of vaccine you receive, or when you receive it, every American will receive a CDC-issued vaccination record card after their first shot. And since many have been waiting eagerly for weeks, it's not uncommon to stumble upon thrilled individuals sharing photo evidence of their first shot on social sites like Twitter and Facebook. But as more individuals are queuing up for their COVID-19 vaccines, consumer advocates are actively warning Americans that posting snapshots of their vaccine card could cause way more trouble than it's worth. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have both posted public warnings directed at those heading into their long-awaited vaccine appointment. Mainly, the risk has to do with the personal information listed on your COVID-19 vaccine card your full name, birth date, and a potential medical record number that can be linked back to you directly. FTC agents have shared a blog post detailing how that information, paired with other public info or details you've shared online, can lead to identity theft. Not to mention, these cards also display the location, time and date of your first vaccine; plus, depending on your photo, you may also give away when you'll be back for a second shot. This is your weekly reminder that you should not post your COVID vaccination card on social media: https://t.co/c1BnZnEl8S Tech@FTC (@TechFTC) February 25, 2021 But officials at the BBB also note that these seemingly innocent social posts can entice con artists to sell fraudulent vaccine card lookalikes. "Scammers in Great Britain were caught selling fake vaccination cards on eBay and TikTok," the BBB shares. "Posting photos of your card can help provide scammers with information they can use to create and sell phony ones." Rather than take a photo of your vaccine card directly, think about snapping some other aspect of your visit to the doctor's or clinic for your shot: The bandage on your arm, a sticker or flyer that indicates you've been vaccinated, or stick to the simple text-only post! Can't help but share? Be sure to blur out everything on your card besides your name using your phone's photo editing features. That may deter scammers from preying on you directly. Encouraging your social circle to get serious about the COVID-19 vaccine isn't a bad idea and if you've already posted a photo of your vaccine card, don't sweat it! Be sure to edit the privacy settings on the photo's post directly if possible. Keep the news between close friends you know and family, and on platforms like Facebook, you can ensure privacy settings reflect that. COVID-19 vaccine cards have a very important purpose: They're meant to provide any doctor or clinician with info about your first dose. Plus, they remind you of your second appointment for a booster shot, if applicable. Keeping them close is important, and taking photos of them directly for your own records isn't a bad idea. At some point, they may potentially serve necessary for things like travel, as more discussions on "vaccine passports" occur in 2021. In any case, keep those cards handy just think twice about posting a selfie with them! Hazleton, PA (18201) Today Cloudy skies during the morning hours followed by thunderstorms in the afternoon. Storms could contain damaging winds. High 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Casual dining chain Barbeque Nation Hospitality may come out with its initial share sale next week, merchant banking sources said on Friday. Barbeque Nation Hospitalityis backed by private equity investor CX Partners and renowned stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's investment firm Alchemy Capital. The initial public offer comprises fresh issue of shares worth Rs 180 crore and an offer-for-sale of up to 54,57,470 equity shares, the sources said. The company has already raised Rs150 crore through a pre-IPO placement from Xponentia Capital and Jubilant Foodworks, they added. Proceeds of the issue will be utilised to fund the company's capital expenditure for expansion, besides prepayment or repayment of certain borrowings and expenses related to general corporate purposes. The company is promoted by Sayaji Hotels, Sayaji Housekeeping Services, Kayum Dhanani, Raoof Dhanani and Suchitra Dhanani. It is backed by private equity firm CX Partners, which made its first investment in 2013 and again in 2015. The promoters hold 60.24 per cent stake, CX Partners owns 33.79 per cent andJhunjhunwala's investment firm Alchemy Capital holds 2.05 per cent in the company. The total operating revenue of the company in FY20 was Rs 850.8 crore and the CAGR from FY17 to FY20 was at 19.5 per cent. Barbeque Nation Hospitality, which filed preliminary papers in February last year, received Sebi's approval in July 2020 to float the IPO. The issue is being managed by IIFL Securities, Axis Capital, Ambit Capital and SBI Capital Earlier in 2017, the company had filed IPO papers with Sebi seeking to raise Rs 700 crore. However, the regulator kept the processing of the company's proposed IPO in abeyance, "pending regulatory action for past violations". It finally approved the IPO plan in January 2018. However, the company did not launch the initial share-sale due to averse market conditions. Barbeque Nation Hospitality owns and operates Barbeque Nation Restaurants, currently operating at 138 outlets across India and 7 outlets in the UAE, Oman and Malaysia. (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 IFJ today backed calls by its UK affiliate, the NUJ, on government ministers and all politicians to stop traducing journalists and media outlets following comments by Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, leader of the House of Commons. Rees-Mogg accused HuffPost's deputy political editor of being "either a knave or a fool" and claimed that media coverage about the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab MP, was "shockingly distorted by low-quality journalism," adding: "Its a very cheap level of journalism, its not a proper way to behave." This follows on from leaked Whatsapp messages last week in which the secretary of state for health and social care, Matt Hancock MP, described The Guardian newspaper as a "rag. In January, the government's equalities minister, Kemi Badenoch, turned to Twitter to accuse another HuffPost journalist of "creepy and bizarre" behaviour in comments that have been widely condemned and represent a breach of the Ministerial Code. Earlier this month the government launched a National Action Plan for the Safety of Journalists, which states one of the government's priorities is to "improve public recognition of the value of journalists." Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: It beggars belief that government ministers are smearing and impugning journalists in this way, indulging in outrageous behaviour that demeans them and the offices they hold. This same government, including the Prime Minister and other ministers, have committed time and resources to tackling the growing problem of abuse and harassment which is compromising the safety of journalists across the UK. Yet here we have colleagues around the cabinet table acting like playground bullies, undermining the work of journalists, bringing their work into disrepute, and dishing out insults that are clearly designed to further inflame harassment and abuse online. Its not acceptable to dismiss reporting you dont like as fake news. Its completely unacceptable to resort to insults and personal smears of journalists simply trying to get on with their job. Our elected politicians should be committed to improving the parlous level of public discourse, not further polluting it. This behaviour has to stop, the government must get a grip and put its commitments to improving the recognition and value of journalists and journalism into practice. IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "The UK government stands at the head of the Media Freedom Coalition and it is imperative it sets an example and does not resort to targeting and insulting journalists and media simply because it does not like their reporting. Such actions undermine media freedom and do little to enhance public debate". 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 LOWERING DAYS By Gregory Brown 270 pp. Harper/HarperCollins. $26.99. Although the two 14-year-olds at the center of The Lowering Days both live in the same region of rural Maine, they nonetheless inhabit different worlds. Molly, who is a member of the Penobscot Nation, burns down the local mill in a radical act of land reclamation. David is the son of a white newspaper editor who becomes a vocal advocate on Mollys behalf, leading to conflict between Davids family and their white community. By placing David and Mollys stories side by side, Brown stages a natural comparison: Why does each character resort to violence? Are their actions justified? How are they treated in the aftermath? The disparity quickly becomes clear: Molly must go into hiding and live off the land, while David and his family can return home safely each night. Yet as the teenagers parallel narratives unfold, Browns examination of race and privilege eventually becomes narrow, fixating on Davids moral development at the expense of Mollys story. The adults surrounding David are prone to didactic dialogue (its real easy to open your mouth and become some white guy whos a real jerk); and late in the novel, Brown abruptly introduces an older Black character who recommends books to David and becomes a proxy for him to puzzle out racism in America. Mollys rich story line is ultimately bent in service to Davids education. Narrating as an adult looking back on his youth in the 90s, David himself is overly eager to extract a lesson from each scene. Closing the book, I wished for more time with Molly (whose chapters are narrated in third-person), or even with David unencumbered by his grown-up mind. There are moments when his analytic hindsight recedes, and David reveals his memories in plain, evocative sentences: When I pushed my hands into the ground, the spongy carpet of moss sank just enough that my fingernails disappeared. To Browns credit, many of Davids observations about racial inequality are similarly specific and demonstrate a deep understanding of the history of anti-Native oppression in the region. But by prioritizing Davids experience of Mollys crime and its aftermath, Brown confines the scope of the novel to the rehabilitation of white boyhood. One senses that he set out to do much more. Shortly after the inauguration of President Joe Biden, officials added an easter egg to the code of whitehouse.gov it said , If youre reading this, we need your help building back better.It was a small, mildly gimmicky thing aimed mostly at encouraging technologists to apply to the United States Digital Service, which soon thereafter noted it had been inundated with interest. The easter egg, however, was just part of a deliberate effort to emphasize the importance of gov tech as the new administration arrived. In addition, the Biden transition team included experienced technologists on its agency review teams, and within Bidens flurry of early executive orders, more than a dozen had specific language related to mechanisms for service delivery, a core area of government tech work.What it all speaks to according to stakeholders who have worked in and around federal government tech efforts for years is a renewed and very public surge of interest from private-sector technologists in working with the federal government supported by the new administration.This interest can be quantified, too. For example, Coding It Forward is a nonprofit group that aims to create new ways for young technologists to make a social and civic impact. One of the chief ways Coding It Forward accomplishes this is through its Civic Digital Fellowship , which connects students with federal government tech internships, having placed more than 200 participants within 12 different federal agencies since launching in 2017.Rachell Dodell the groups co-founder and executive director said that interest has been strong from the start. A spike has occurred, however, with the arrival of the Biden administration. The last two cycles of fellowship applications under Trump numbered 800 and 1,000, respectively, while the first cycle following Bidens election netted roughly 1,700 applicants.Dodell credited the new administration for working to channel the energy of young Americans with inclusive messaging, while also noting that the COVID-19 crisis has starkly emphasized the need for better governmental service delivery online a powerful motivating factor.Its not very hard to go online and see a news article about broken insurance sites, vaccine registration, unemployment delivery, etc. Dodell said. The crisis has put a big spotlight on the work that needs to be done at all levels of government.Indeed, the vast and clear need for help is the other major component of the surge of interest in gov tech work right now. Essentially, there is a new administration in the White House being more proactive about recruiting and empowering technologists, while at the same time the nation fights to come back from a crisis that starkly illustrated the real world implications of government digitization struggles. Amanda Renteria CEO of Code for America (CfA), a nonprofit and nonpartisan group at the forefront of the American civic tech movement also pointed to both the Biden administration and the lessons learned from COVID-19 as flashpoints for the countrys government technology ecosystem. Renteria said she was thrilled to see the new administration include so many technologists on its transition teams, which could hardly have come at a better time.Over the past year, Renteria noted a surge of interest in the work that Code for America helps enable at all levels of government too, fueled by increased political awareness and a shared sense of responsibility in communities nationwide. One of Code for Americas chief endeavors is its network of localized brigades, which carry out tech projects at the community level.We were worried our brigades would get tired right now, Renteria said, and were seeing exactly the opposite.The reason is that government at all levels has opened to technologists who want to help, greenlighting digitization efforts in days that used to take months or years to be approved. The community at large also has a heightened expectation of what can and should be done by the government with technology.From Renterias perspective, a major transition has happened, moving from the days when she had to explain CfAs vision to a new time where the work is widely expected. People, she noted, used to think it was impossible to expect a text saying your tax return has arrived, but now they are in large numbers using government websites to register for vaccine appointments.Im not painting a vision anymore, Renteria said. This work has become really tangible to people.All of this is not to discount work done at federal tech agencies during the Trump administration within government organizations like the United States Digital Service as well as 18F Angelica Quicksey who has worked in public sector tech for more than a decade and has experience with local gov tech in San Francisco and Boston said there is a resurgence of interest with reinforcements coming into the federal gov tech ecosystem, yet the work never stopped under Trump as many stuck around to support essential services that had to be delivered regardless of who was the president at the time.There were a lot of other different headlines the last four years that had nothing to do with building these systems, Quicksey said, but there were still people at USDS and 18F doing the work.Waldo Jaquith joined 18F in September 2016, weeks before Trumps election win. Jaquith worked as a procurement technologist with the group until April 2020.If we had any less competition for open positions at 18F [during the Trump administration], Jacquith said, I was not aware of it, and there was definitely a strain of people saying now is a really important time to serve.What did seem to change, he noted, was the number of tech positions overall within 18F during those years, which by his estimation decreased between 2016 and 2020. After departing 18F, Jacquith went on to serve on the Biden transition team. Jacquith said that every single agency review team within the transition had at least one experienced technologist on it, which was amazing.He and others interviewed for this story said that the Biden administration has worked hard to include technologists at the table throughout, and they do not expect that to change, potentially facilitating better cooperation between agencies, an expansion in the number of tech jobs within the federal government and a sharing of successful federal gov tech projects across agencies as well as with state leaders.There are a bunch of things that are really valuable that have been hidden, not intentionally, Jacquith said, but theres been no sense of, oh my god, this is useful and how do we pre-emptively make this available to everybody? That could change.If the government does expand its cooperation and its number of overall tech jobs, those who train the technologists of tomorrow are ready to funnel talent to the public sector today. Cori Zarek is the executive director of the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University, and she said she has seen an incredible interest and demand for public-sector opportunities from students graduating Georgetowns programs.If the federal government continues to rethink how it recruits technologists while also demonstrating tangible results and stoking inclusive interest even with something as simple as an easter egg in its code this could all make for a bright and powerful future for government technology work.Sha Hwang chief operating officer and co-founder of the gov tech company, Nava Public Benefit Corporation lost one of his colleagues to the new administration, Rebecca Piazza. Piazza was formerly Navas vice president of program delivery, and she will now be serving as senior advisor for delivery in the U.S. Office of the Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services.Hwang said the loss of Piazza was bad for Nava but very good in terms of what it suggests about the administrations commitment to tech work moving forward.Its really encouraging to me as a citizen, Hwang said, that the Biden administration is creating roles like adviser for delivery, recognizing not just policy but how we will keep promises at the business level within the lived experiences of the people who are affected. Another consignment of Made in India COVID-19 vaccines (Covaxin) were delivered to the island nation of Mauritius on Friday under India's 'Vaccine Maitri' initiative. High Commission of India in Mauritius informed that 2,00,000 doses of Coronavirus vaccines were handed over to Mauritius in a restricted ceremony. The official Twitter handle of India in Mauritius tweeted, "Commercial supply of 200,000 doses of 'Made in India' vaccines was handed over to #Mauritius in a restricted ceremony today. Fighting the pandemic together." Mauritius receives another consignment of Made in India COVID-19 vaccines Mauritius Foreign Minister Alan Ganoo thanked India for helping Mauritius in the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines. Ganoo said, "It is when times are hard that a nation recognizes its friend...Our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to PM @narendramodi for this kind gesture." It is when times are hard that a nation recognizes its friend...Our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to PM @narendramodi for this kind gesture - Foreign Minister Alan Ganoo#IndiaMauritius #VaccineMaitri #AatmaNirbharBharat #AmritMahotsav @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy pic.twitter.com/qDBnoHalL7 India in Mauritius (@HCI_PortLouis) March 19, 2021 Mauritius Health Minister Dr Kailesh Jagutpal also thanked India for providing COVID-19 doses to the nation. Jagutpal said, "At this time you can see how difficult it is to find vaccines. When India has been able to help us avail this vaccine, this means the relationship shared between us and India- it is a really special relationship. This is enabling us to continue our vaccination campaign. So, we thank India for supplying us with Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, the indigenous vaccine developed by India." Mauritius Foreign Minister, Health Minister thank India for providing Covaxin jabs Highlighting the capabilities of the pharmaceutical companies of India, Jagutpal stated, "Especially at a time when Mauritius is having a surge of the infection. India has the capacity, the capability to develop the vaccine not only for us but for the whole pharmaceutical industry. India has already positioned itself as a country that can supply the COVID-19 vaccine to the whole world." Last month, India delivered the second consignment of Made in India COVID-19 vaccines, donating 100,000 Covishield jabs, to Mauritius as part of its Mission Vaccine Maitri. India, under its generous initiative, has dispatched shipment to neighbouring countries including Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Myanmar, and Bangladesh, being in the forefront to help smaller nations to have access to the vaccine and inoculate its population with Made in India jabs. After that, 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 72 countries and will be providing vaccine doses to many more countries in the coming days. The parents of Kevin Peterson Jr. said Thursday that the derogatory comments made last week by a longtime Clark County judge mischaracterized their son and undermined the integrity of the court. For right now, my goal is to make sure my son gets justice for what was done to him, Kevin Peterson Sr. said at a news conference called to announce that the family plans to sue Clark County. District Court Judge Darvin Zimmerman doesnt know me, said Peterson, 46, of Vancouver. The comments that he made about me and my son doesnt reflect who we are as men. Kevin is an outstanding young man, well loved by his family members and friends. Kevin Peterson Jr., 21, of Camas was shot and killed Oct. 29 by three Clark County deputies after he ran from a drug sting with a gun. Zimmerman talked about the case March 9 with another court official not realizing a livestream was still broadcasting from his courtroom over YouTube. Zimmerman called the younger Peterson the Black guy they are trying to make an angel out of and said he was dumb for assuming he was headed to prison for a long time over a relatively minor drug bust. Tammi Bell, Kevin Peterson Jr.s mother, said the judges family tie to the case raised questions about impartiality in the justice system. Zimmermans son is a sergeant at the Clark County Sheriffs Office and was at the scene of the shooting but wasnt among the deputies who shot Kevin Peterson Jr. Im really not thinking that Im going to get justice at all, said Bell, 53, who lives in Portland. Zimmerman, his lawyer has said, played in no role in any matter before the court regarding Kevin Peterson Jr. Zimmerman has essentially been stripped of his judicial duties by the presiding judges of the District and Superior courts in Clark County and the countys top prosecutor has said he has asked that the judge be disqualified from any criminal matter. Zimmerman announced Tuesday that he would take time off. Bell, Kevin Peterson Sr. and Olivia Selto, 21, their sons partner and the mother of his young daughter, said they plan to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the county. The familys lawyer, Mark Lindquist, said he did not yet know how much the family would seek in monetary damages. By law, the family can file the suit two months after notifying the county of its plans. Kevin Peterson Jr. was shot last fall in the unincorporated community of Hazel Dell as members of a regional drug task force planned to arrest him on an accusation of dealing Xanax, the prescription anxiety medication, according to police accounts. Three deputies fired a total of 34 rounds, striking Peterson four times, as he fled from his car in the parking lot of a Quality Inn and ran to a nearby parking lot of a closed U.S. Bank in the business district, investigators said. Peterson had a .40-caliber Glock 23 semiautomatic handgun and ignored commands to drop it, investigators said. Peterson died at the scene. An investigation into the shooting by a regional team made up of area law enforcement agencies has concluded and is now under review by a prosecutor outside Clark County. After the familys press conference, Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins called Petersons death a tragedy. Our condolences are with the Peterson family, he said. He said the shooting was investigated by outside law enforcement agencies, which by law is responsible for communicating with the Peterson family about the case Petersons family on Thursday remembered him as a fun-loving young man who was excited by his role as a father. He was the middle of three boys and close with his mother and father, they said. The elder Peterson said his final memory of his son is a trip the two took to Target so the younger Peterson could pick out a highchair for his daughter, Kailiah, who is 9 months old. The shooting of Kevin Peterson Jr. and the killing in February of another Black man, Jenoah Donald, 30, by Clark County Sheriffs Office deputies prompted calls from the Clark County prosecuting attorney and others for police to be required to wear body cameras. Kevin Peterson Sr. said he supports that move and wants to see the deputies involved in his sons death held accountable, though he did not specify how. Youre playing God, he said. Youre taking lives. He said he was shocked to learn of Donalds death. What are you guys doing? he said. Why is it that we are being targeted? Bell said her son attended Portland Village School for elementary and middle school and graduated from Union High School in Camas. She said he played violin as a kid. She said their final conversation included a request from her son for her chicken teriyaki recipe, his favorite dish. We are all sad, she said. We are all at a loss. Were terrible. We are still looking at the door wondering when hes going to come through. Selto said shes struggled. Kevin was my best friend, she said. I went to him for everything. Its just been very hard. -- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie The Biden administration has agreed to send surplus doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico and Canada, according to senior administration officials. The country plans to send 2.5 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Mexico and 1.5 million to Canada to help fill vaccine shortfalls. It would be the first formal commitment by the US to supply vaccines to other nations. This virus has no borders, an administration official told Reuters. We only put the virus behind us if were helping our global partners. An agreement could be reached with Mexico as early as Friday. Id say weve made good progress, but the details ... wont be known until Friday, Mexican foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard told reporters on Thursday morning. We requested as many [AstraZeneca doses] as possible. The Biden administration has purchased 800 million doses from Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. But President Biden has also revealed his commitment to assisting other countries in vaccinating their residents. Read more: Mexico and Canada lack the infrastructure to vaccinate their residents as swiftly as the US. AstraZeneca has millions of vaccines ready to use in the US, but the drug maker has yet to apply for authorisation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Clinical trials are underway in the US for the vaccine. Senior officials in the Biden administration told CNN that they were considering a deal where the US gives AstraZeneca vaccine doses to the two countries now with the understanding that Mexico and Canada could supply the country with excess vaccine doses in future months. The news of the vaccine agreement comes as the European Medicines Agency has backed the continued usage of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe following some concerns about safety. The committee has come to a clear scientific conclusion, Emer Cooke, executive director of EMA said in a statement released on Thursday. This is a safe and effective vaccine, its benefits in protecting people from Covid-19 with the associated risks of death and hospitalisation outweigh the possible risks. The committee also concluded that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of thromboembolic events or blood clots. Eighteen countries across Europe have suspended the use of the vaccine following reports linking the jabs to blood clots. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, a UK health watchdog, insists the vaccine is safe. A Bay of Plenty schoolboy has been honoured for his bravery and quick thinking when he helped his grandmother who suffered a stroke at home. Year four Otakiri School student Jaeden Priestley was presented with an ASB Super Saver Bravery Award in front of his peers on Friday. The award was presented by St John ambulance officers Karina Ashby and Dave Porter and ASB Whakatane Branch Manager, Tim Newby, in recognition Jaeden's courage during the emergency. The incident occurred on a Friday evening in January, when eight-year-old Jaeden Priestley was home with his grandmother while his parents were out for a date night. His grandma collapsed suddenly and was unresponsive. Although still breathing, she was unable to move or speak. Unbeknown to him at the time, she had suffered a stroke a time critical medical emergency, with only a 90-minute window to get her the right care. Located in a rural property near Lake Rotoma, without neighbours nearby to call for help, Jaeden quickly phoned 111 for an ambulance. In a show of initiative, he picked up the landline rather than his grandmas mobile phone which would not have worked given a lack of reception. In what was a terrifying circumstance for anyone, he bravely and calmly answered the St John emergency call handlers questions over the phone and when he was unsure of the property number, he raced outside to the letterbox to confirm. Jaeden Priestley called 111 for an ambulance when his grandma suffered a stroke. Photo: Supplied. Jaeden gave the emergency call handler a detailed description of the property including the colours of the house and roof. But it was his description of the familys letterbox that helped St John ambulance officers Karina Ashby and Dave Porter identify the correct address. The notes we were given said the mailbox was shaped like a turkey. When we saw it, we knew it must be the right place, says Karina Ashby. When we got the call out, I was looking at the notes coming through from the emergency call handler, and we were blown away. "Jaeden had called 111 after recognising his grandma wasn't well and wasn't just asleep. The biggest thing was the bravery that he showed. His instructions for locating the property was a relief for us and meant we were able to be hopeful for his grandma, knowing we could save time not having to search for the house." Tim Newby - ASB, Karina Ashby - St John, Jaeden Priestley, Dave Porter - St John. Photo: Supplied. As they arrived on scene, Jaeden met the ambulance crew at the door. He was cool, calm and collected, recalls Karina Ashby. He stayed out of the room but he helped us to grab things we needed and he found phone numbers to let his mum and dad know we were going to the hospital. "Jaeden exemplified bravery and maturity beyond his years, says Karina. "Not only did he put the dog away, he wrote a note for his parents before departing the house, switched off the lights, locked the door, and left the key somewhere safe for his parents to find. Jaeden's valiant and swift call for an ambulance ensured his grandma was transported to hospital in a timely manner." "I was in disbelief when I discovered what Jaeden did. He didnt just call 111, he went into a full description of where we lived," says Jaeden's mum, Natasha Priestley. "Then to see him on our security cameras keeping cool, calm and collected at eight-years-old. He is a caring boy who loves his granna so much and showed strength, courage and bravery during such a shocking and scary event. He was alone to sort help in a rural area without neighbours nearby to run to. We are proud of him beyond words! He gave me time with my mum which I will be forever thankful for." St John Head of Community Education, Jacci Tatnell says Jaeden is an example of how tamariki from a very young age can play an important role in building resilient communities and helping people to live stronger, healthier lives. "This is why every child in Aotearoa should learn first aid, and why we are committed to delivering our ASB St John in Schools programme to tamariki throughout the country, to equip them with the skills and confidence to take action in an emergency," says Jacci. "Every month our Ambulance Communications centres can receive as much as 50 111 emergency calls from children who are often calling in traumatic circumstances where a loved one has fallen or is unconscious, and there are no other adults in the house." To date, more than 800,000 students have completed the ASB St John in Schools programme since 2015. With support from ACC, the common goal is to deliver to a total of one million New Zealand students (pre-school through to intermediate) by 2023. Jaeden Priestley with his mother Natasha Priestley, and grandad Roger Phillips. Photo: Supplied. About ASB St John in Schools: The ASB St John in Schools programme provides pre-school and school-aged children with the skills and confidence to take action in response to an emergency situation. St John community educators teach young people first aid basics and knowledge to take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing, along with those around them. Different skills are taught to different age groups, with four modules offered: Responding in an emergency, Keeping safe, Clued up camper, and Weaving wellbeing. For more information, visit https://www.stjohn.org.nz/what-we-do/community-programmes/asbst-john-in-schools-programme/ The strike by freight carriers began on Monday February 15, affecting commercial trucking for all products and has emerged due to high fuel and toll costs, among other grievances, according to local media outlet El Comercio. Peru was the world's top exporter of mined lead and zinc in 2020, and is second only to Chile as the... Steven Mangold was walking on a chilly, overcast morning last month near the 11th Avenue rail crossing in Neptune Township. Then a NJ Transit train came rolling along. Burma KIA Uses Artillery on Myanmar Police in Jade-Mining Hub Kachin Independence Army troops in Hpakant. Yangon The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) fired artillery at a police station in Hpakant Township, Myanmars jade-mining hub in Kachin State, on Thursday morning. KIA information officer Colonel Naw Bu confirmed that troops used artillery on Thursday on Nam Hmaw police station in Seik Mu village-tract and against Shanni peoples militia outposts. The militia is controlled by Myanmars military. The police station provides security for jade mines in Hpakant. It was not a clash. The KIA also fired artillery on outposts of the peoples militias in Nam Hmaw, Col. Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy. Residents said they heard gunshots and explosions on Thursday morning. I heard the sounds of shelling, around six shots, early on Thursday morning in Mawlake. And I also heard some gunshots in Seik Mu at noon. I have not heard about casualties so far, a resident told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. Four residents told The Irrawaddy they heard gunshots on Thursday at noon but Col. Naw Bu said he did not know about any daytime attacks. The militarys governing body, the State Administrative Council, has said nothing. KIA Brigade 9 wrote to Hpakant residents this week telling them not to allow the juntas forces to use schools and religious buildings for accommodation. It threatened punishment for anyone using their vehicles to carry ammunition and food for the military. Jade is a major source of income for the military and its business associates. The military and the KIA were in the process of negotiating for a ceasefire before the Feb. 1 coup. The Kachin armed group asked the Northern Command of Myanmars military not to harm peaceful Kachin protesters opposing the military regime. Two civilians were shot dead in a crackdown by the security forces on anti-regime protesters in Kachin States capital, Myitkyina, on March 8. A third protester was shot dead in Hpakant on March 14. Three days after the Myitkyina killings, the KIA raided a military outpost in Hpakant and attacked another military outpost in Injangyang Township on March 15. You may also like these stories: Can China Prevent Further Bloodshed in Myanmar? Myanmar Regime Charges Rival Vice-President with High Treason Four Ethnic Chin Protesters Killed by Myanmar Security Force The U.S. Department of Justice yesterday announced updates on two separate cases involving cyberattacksa Swiss hacktivist and a Russian hacker who planned to plant malware in the Tesla company. A Swiss hacker who was involved in the intrusion of cloud-based surveillance firm Verkada and exposed camera footage from its customers was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) on Thursday with conspiracy, wire fraud, and identity theft. Till Kottmann (aka "deletescape" and "tillie crimew"), 21, of Lucerne, Switzerland, and their co-conspirators were accused of hacking dozens of companies and government agencies since 2019 by targeting their "git" and other source code repositories and posting the proprietary data of more than 100 entities on a website called git[.]rip, according to the indictment. Kottmann is alleged to have cloned the source code and other confidential files containing hard-coded administrative credentials and access keys, using them to infiltrate the internal infrastructure of victims further and copy additional records and intellectual property. Additionally, the prosecutors said the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized the domain that was used to publish hacked data online. The defendant's long list of victims includes Nissan, Intel, Mercedes-Benz, and many others, including the Verkada breach that happened earlier this month, thereby gaining access to more than 150,000 of the company's cameras installed in various locations ranging from Tesla warehouses to gyms, psychiatric hospitals, and health clinics. Kottmann, who calls the hacktivist collective "Advanced Persistent Threat 69420," told Bloomberg the breach "exposes just how broadly we're being surveilled, and how little care is put into at least securing the platforms used to do so, pursuing nothing but profit," while attempting to justify their actions as part of a "fight for freedom of information and against intellectual property." Then last Friday, Swiss authorities raided Kottmann's apartment and seized the hacker's electronic devices at the behest of U.S. authorities. "Stealing credentials and data, and publishing source code and proprietary and sensitive information on the web is not protected speech it is theft and fraud," said Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. "These actions can increase vulnerabilities for everyone from large corporations to individual consumers. Wrapping oneself in an allegedly altruistic motive does not remove the criminal stench from such intrusion, theft, and fraud." It's not immediately clear if U.S. prosecutors intend to extradite Kottmann, who still remains at large in Lucerne. Russian National Pleads Guilty for Tesla Hacking Plot In other related news, a Russian national pleaded guilty to offering a Tesla employee $1 million to plant ransomware at the electric carmaker's Gigafactory plant in Nevada. According to court documents, the suspect, Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, 27, traveled to the U.S. in July on a tourist visa and made contact with a Russian-speaking employee in an attempt to install malware into the company's computer network with the goal of exfiltrating data and holding it for ransom. But the extortion scheme fell apart after the employee in question alerted the company of the incident, which then involved the FBI into the matter. "This was a serious attack," CEO Elon Musk said in an August 2020 tweet. Kriuchkov, who previously denied any wrongdoing in September before a federal magistrate judge, on Thursday pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to cause damage to a protected computer intentionally. Kriuchkov is scheduled to be sentenced on May 10. "This case highlights our office's commitment to protecting trade secrets and other confidential information belonging to U.S. businesses which is becoming even more important each day as Nevada evolves into a center for technological innovation," said Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher Chiou for the District of Nevada. "Along with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to prioritize stopping cybercriminals from harming American companies and consumers." * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Gandhinagar: The famous Shamlaji temple, located in Gujarats Aravelli, has barred devotees wearing short dresses from entering the temple premises. The temple management has issued an advisory directing the devotees not to come to the temple wearing short dresses. A placard placed outside the temple premises read: Brother and sisters coming to the temple wearing short dresses and Bermudas will not be allowed to enter the temple complex. Wearing a mask is also mandatory for entry inside the vicinity of the temple and the 'darshan' of the presiding deity. Those coming to the temple wearing short dresses will have to cover their bodies by wearing a yellow coloured rob (pitambari), the temple trust said. The decision to this effect was taken by the temple trust in view of the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases across the state and the country. In order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trust also made wearing masks or face cover mandatory for the devotees. The Shamlaji temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The sanctum sanctorum of the temple has a black coloured statue of the deity. According to the Gujarat Tourism website, the Shamlaji temple stands on the banks of the river Meshwo. 'Sakshi Gopal' or 'Gadadhar' is a black representation of Lord Vishnu who is worshipped at the Shamlaji Temple. This is one of the rare temples of Lord Krishna in which cow idols are also worshipped depicting his childhood as a cowherd. For the Vaishnavites, Shamlaji is one of the hundred and fifty-four most important places of pilgrimage in India. It is believed that this shrine has existed for at least 500 years. Built of white sandstone and bricks, it has two storeys supported on rows of pillars. It is profusely carved and episodes from sacred epics of the Ramayana and Mahabharata are engraved on the outer walls. Live TV After months of harsh sun, salty swims and over-washing, many women are finding their hair is in need of a little extra love to get back its lustrous natural shine. So to help make the process as simple as possible, the team of experts at Mecca Australia have revealed their three handy tips for long, strong and shiny locks in no time. 'With hair trends transitioning from undone, mattified beach waves to vision-of-health-and-Hollywood shine, reach for scalp treatments, conditioning masks, and luxurious oils with the power to serve up serious growth and glossiness,' they advise. After months of harsh sun, salty swims and over-washing, many women are finding their hair is in need of a little extra love to get back its lustrous natural shine (pictured is a model with Briogeo's $40 Castor Oil) STEP ONE: ENCOURAGE GROWTH BY TARGETING THE ROOTS To get your hair back to its former glossy state, the first step is to minimise hair loss and maximise growth by cleaning up the 'pore-like follicles' on the scalp. To do this, a scalp exfoliator and moisturiser is key for removing dead skin cells and unclog the pores while also helping active ingredients penetrate more effectively. Products recommended by Mecca include Briogeo's Scalp Revival Charcoal + Coconut Oil Micro-exfoliating Scalp Scrub Shampoo and Aveda's Invati Advanced Scalp Revitalizer. Products recommended by Mecca include Briogeo's Scalp Revival Charcoal + Coconut Oil Micro-exfoliating Scalp Scrub Shampoo and Aveda's Invati Advanced Scalp Revitalizer Those who have used Briogeo's $64 plant-based scrub have reported needing to wash their hair less and raved about a 'cooling and soothing sensation' on the scalp. 'This shampoo is a forever staple in my shower and I will be forever continuing to buy this shampoo and I haven't been able to find a product that can do as much justice as this shampoo can,' one woman wrote, adding that she can go without washing for six days. The $96 Aveda Revitalizer strengthens and thickens hair from the roots and those who have used it have raved about the voluminous, healthy condition of their hair after a few weeks of use. The above model used the Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! Super Moisture Shampoo, the Deep Conditioning Mask and the Strengthening Treatment Oil and had glossy results STEP TWO: BUILD STRENGTH WITH MASKS AND 'BOND-BUILDERS' The next step is to treat heat and environmental damage with targeted products. A sign of weak hair, breakage and brittleness is the first thing to halt visible hair growth and shampoo-commercial shine,' the Mecca team writes. A recommended brand is Bumble and Bumble and their paired Bond-Building Repair Treatment and Repair Styling Cream. The first - $27 - is powered by the brand's honey bond-building complex that works to strengthen hair and helps to repair damage from the cortex to the cuticle. The second - $49 - protects hair against heat tools (up to 450 degrees) and helps to prevent split end breakage whilst reducing frizz and flyaways. A recommended brand is Bumble and Bumble and their paired Bond-Building Repair Treatment and Repair Styling Cream for strength building A recommended brand is Bumble and Bumble and their paired Bond-Building Repair Treatment and Repair Styling Cream (pictured on digital creator Natacha) Another popular product for restoring the hair is the $54 weekly Sol de Janeiro Triple Brazilian Butter Hair Repair Treatment. The mask contains a cocktail of Brazilian butters to provide 'intensive hydration, deep nourishment, and help to promote stronger, more healthier hair' without weighing the hair down. 'If you want your hair so feel luscious and smell like you have been whisked away to the tropics, this is the product for you,' a reviewer wrote. 'It is truly amazing! It smells so good and has nourished my hair beautifully. It has enhanced my natural curls in the best way possible.' Another popular product for restoring the hair is the $54 weekly Sol de Janeiro Triple Brazilian Butter Hair Repair Treatment (pictured on a model) STEP THREE: CREATE A GLOSSY SHINE WITH AN OIL The high-gloss finish is all about hydration and a good quality hair oil is key to this. 'If you're not coating your mids-to-ends in a nourishing oil post-towel dry and pre-blow dry, you're doing it wrong,' the Mecca team advises. Recommended products include the $46 Don't Despair, Repair! Strengthening Treatment Hair Oil by Briogeo and the $40 B. Well Organic + Cold-Pressed 100% Castor Oil by the same brand. The strengthening oil has had almost straight five-star reviews from women who can't get enough of the silicone-free product's silky effect on the hair. 'Your hair looks healthy almost instantly. One drop, yes one drop, goes a long way. I have chemically treated hair that looks really brittle. Using this post an Olaplex shampoo + conditioner wash makes my hair look absolutely luscious,' one woman wrote. The castor oil, which can also be used to laminate brows, is also a huge hit. This $40 B. Well Organic + Cold-Pressed 100% Castor Oil is used on both hair and brows Stylist Sebastien Andrew of Charli & Kate Hair Company used the Gold Lust Nourishing Hair Oil by Oribe on this client (pictured) 'This stuff actually works. I put it on my eyebrows and sometimes my eyelashes at night before I go to sleep and there was a noticeable difference after a couple of weeks,' one shopper wrote. 'My eyebrows grew and filled in patchy spots from overplucking and my eyelashes are noticeably longer and darker. You don't have to use a lot when you use it, so this bottle will last you a long time.' Those who love a glossy lock also adore the celebrity-endorsed $81 Gold Lust Nourishing Hair Oil by Oribe. 'The price is very steep and I was skeptical to try it at first, but after trying a sample for over a week my hair has been completely restored,' a reviewer raved, 'It is shiny, smooth, the split ends are not as visible, and I have gotten so many compliments. The ingredients in this are so good, and I highly recommend to anyone with damaged or dry hair. My hair is so happy!' New Delhi, March 19 : Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah will release the party's manifesto for the West Bengal Assembly elections, on Sunday. In a statement, BJP's national media in-charge and Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni said that Shah will be on a one-day visit to West Bengal on Sunday, where he will launch the party's manifesto and attend various other programmes across the state. "Shah will address a public meeting at Pallighai school ground at Egra and later will chair a meeting with the district and divisional office-bearers of the party at Mecheda in Purba Medinipur district," the statement said. It further said that the BJP leader will release the poll manifesto at Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre in the evening in Kolkata. Elections to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 to April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. MARINE A fatal accident on Interstate 70 Thursday claimed the life of a 34-year-old St. Charles woman. According to the Illinois State Police, at 12:46 p.m. Thursday the woman was driving a 2016 Toyota when her vehicle stalled in the right lane of eastbound I-70 at milepost 80. State police said a 2020 Freightliner semi and trailer driven by Gursimran Singh, 25, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, also was eastbound on I-70 and for some reason failed to reduce his speed, striking the Toyota. Singh and his passenger, Lakhdeer Singh, 22, also of Halifax, declined medical attention at the scene. The driver of the Toyota, whose name has not been released, was pronounced deceased at the scene. Eastbound I-70 was closed for about four hours for the investigation, with traffic re-routed to Illinois 143 and Route 40. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (R) speaks as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on, at the opening session of U.S.-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 18, 2021. (Frederic J. Brown/Pool via Reuters) Top American, Chinese Diplomats Clash Publicly at Start of First Talks of Biden Presidency ANCHORAGE, AlaskaThe United States and China leveled sharp rebukes of each others policies in the first high-level, in-person talks of the Biden administration on Thursday, with the deeply strained relation between the leader of the free world and the worlds largest communist state on public display during the meetings opening session in Alaska. The United States, which quickly accused China of grandstanding and violating the meetings protocol, had been looking for a change in behavior from China. On the eve of the talks, Beijing set its tone going into the meeting, with its ambassador to Washington saying that the United States was full of illusions if it thinks the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will compromise. Sparring in a highly unusual extended back-and-forth in front of cameras, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan opened their meeting with Chinas top diplomat Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi in Anchorage, fresh off of Blinkens visits to allies Japan and South Korea. We will discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, economic coercion of our allies, Blinken said in direct public remarks. Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability, he said. Yang responded with a 15-minute speech in Chinese while the U.S. side awaited translation, lashing out about what he said was the United States struggling democracy, its poor treatment of minorities, and criticizing its foreign and trade policies. the U.S. side was not even qualified to say such things, even 20 years or 30 years back, because this is not the way to deal with the Chinese people, Yang said. Protocol Blinken allowed journalists to remain in the meeting room for longer than usual as he responded to Yangs remarks. What is typically a few minutes of opening remarks in front of journalists for such high-level meetings lasted for more than an hour. Sullivan said the United States did not seek conflict with China but would stand up for its principles and friends. Following the exchange, a senior U.S. administration official said China had immediately violated the agreed-to protocol, which was two minutes of opening statements by each of the principals. The Chinese delegation seems to have arrived intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance, the official told reporters in Alaska. The United States would continue with its meeting as planned, the official said, adding that exaggerated diplomatic presentations often are aimed at a domestic audience. Before taking office, U.S. President Joe Bidens resolve to put American interests first when dealing with China had been challenged by Republicans who feared his administration would take too soft an approach with the communist regime. This was particularly so following the New York Posts reporting on Bidens son and Hunter Bidens business interests in China. While much of Bidens China policy is still being formulated, including how to handle the tariffs on Chinese goods implemented under former President Donald Trump, his administration has so far placed an emphasis on liberal democratic values and allegations of human rights abuses by Chinas ruling CCP. Michael McCaul, the senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Yangs conduct showed the CCP had no plans to change its ways. Their belligerence and false accusations should serve as a wake-up call to the Biden administration about exactly who they are dealing with, he said. Pretty Tough Conversations Washington says Blinkens Asia tour before the meeting with Chinese officials, as well as U.S. outreach to Europe, India, and other partners, shows how the Biden administration has strengthened its hand to confront China since taking office in January. But the two sides appear primed to agree on very little at the talks, which were expected to run into the Anchorage evening and continue on Friday. Even the status of the meeting has become a sticking point, with the CCP insisting it is a strategic dialogue, harkening back to bilateral mechanisms of years past. The U.S. side has explicitly rejected that, calling it a one-off session. On the eve of the talks, the United States issued a flurry of actions directed at China, including a move to begin revoking Chinese telecoms licenses, subpoenas to multiple Chinese information technology companies over national security concerns, and updated sanctions on China over a rollback of democracy in Hong Kong. Were expecting much of these conversations will be pretty, pretty tough, a senior U.S. administration official told reporters in Alaska before the meeting began. Yang questioned Blinken on Thursday about whether the sanctions were announced ahead of the meeting on purpose. Well, I think we thought too well of the United States, we thought that the U.S. side would follow the necessary diplomatic protocols, he said. At the same time, the Chinese regime indicated this week that it is set to begin trials of two Canadians detained in December 2018 on spying charges soon after Canadian police detained Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of telecoms equipment company Huawei Technologies, on a U.S. warrant. Chinas foreign ministry rejected assertions that the timing of the trials was linked to the Anchorage talks. Meng awaits the outcome of a case that could see her extradited to the United States. Washington has said it is willing to work with China when it is in the interests of the United States and has cited its policies on addressing projected climate change and the coronavirus pandemic as examples. Blinken said Washington hoped to see China uses its influence with North Korea to persuade it to give up its nuclear weapons. The largest group representing exiled Uyghurs wrote to Blinken urging him to demand that Beijing close its internment camps in the Xinjiang region, where U.N. experts say more than 1 million members of the ethnic group and other ethnic minorities have been held. Blinken had pledged to raise the issue, his State Department having upheld a Trump administration determination that Beijing was perpetrating genocide in Xinjiang, something the CCP vehemently denies. By Humeyra Pamuk, Michael Martina, and David Brunnstrom. The Epoch Times contributed to this report. Solvay, N.Y. A Solvay village trustee and mayoral candidate said this week that he never accosted Mayor Derek Baichi, and that the mayor is embellishing a fairly mundane confrontation at village hall. Baichi, 41, called police Tuesday and told them Trustee John Cregg, 68, assaulted him. Baichi also called EMTs and asked to be taken to the hospital. Those paramedics, he said, told him he had high blood pressure. But Cregg and another village trustee in the room at the time both say Cregg didnt assault the mayor. He tried to close a door that hit Baichi in the foot, they say, then put his hand on Baichis shoulder to move him. Cregg is running against Baichi for mayor of Solvay this fall. Hes been an outspoken critic of Baichi, who has proved a uniquely divisive mayor for his brash rhetoric and bombastic approach to small-town government. Baichi told police the trustees were going through documents that he didnt believe they had the right to access. But Cregg and Trustee Deb DeGilio said they were at village hall making routine copies of past budget pages. Specifically, they wanted to see how much the village typically spends on storm catch basins. Thats been a point of friction during budget discussions. A village employee was there as well, helping the pair make copies. DeGilio said she had questions on the budget and brought Cregg along because most trustees refuse to go to Village Hall alone. Baichi, she said, has tried multiple times to have trustees arrested at village hall using bogus claims. DeGilio also said she is not on speaking terms with the mayor after he circulated a letter around village hall from a resident calling her a derogatory name. DeGilio is the only woman on the otherwise all-male village board. DeGilio and Cregg said Baichi came into the room where DeGilio was working and began filming on his phone while suggesting she was doing something nefarious. DeGilio said she was uncomfortable since the mayor was close to her and badgering her. She asked Cregg to call the police. Cregg said he asked the mayor to stop and leave them alone. When Baichi continued, Cregg said he tried to close the door to diffuse the situation. But Baichi blocked the way when Cregg tried to shut him out. The door hit Baichi in the foot, Cregg said, not the head as the mayor has suggested. Then Cregg put his hand on the mayors shoulder to move him out of the doorway. Thats when Baichi started yelling that hed been accosted, Cregg and DeGilio said. As soon as I touched him he went nuts, screaming that I accosted him and he wanted the village clerk to call 911, Cregg said. So I sat down in the break room and waited for the police to come. Baichi called police and an ambulance for himself. Police took statements from Cregg, Baichi and DeGilio. Cregg said he was neither charged nor arrested. Cregg described the entire thing as a distraction, meant to take attention away from budget discussions and real issues. He said he shouldnt have put his hand on the mayor, but that he certainly never assaulted anyone. I would like to apologize to the people of Solvay that I touched the mayor. That was inappropriate and I should not have done so, Cregg said. [There is] a high level of frustration between us and the mayor. Easing that is the reason Im running for mayor. In a Facebook video Thursday, Baichi claimed he was assaulted and said hes planning to sue Cregg. He also called on Cregg to resign. Another human being put their hands on me with such force that it caused injuries to me that I was taken away in an ambulance and will probably have to have continued treatment, Baichi said. In his sworn statement to police, Baichi said paramedics on scene told him he had elevated blood pressure. He requested they take him to Community Upstate for more evaluation. Baichi has a history of confrontation with his fellow trustees. In 2019 he tried to stop a vote at a board meeting by shouting that the village was under a state of emergency and the building needed to be closed and evacuated. There was no emergency. He routinely engages in shouting matches with his colleagues. In 2018, he was caught on tape telling an employee I f*** b******. Trustees, including Cregg, called on him to resign. Baichi refused. He fired a code inspector who brought to light complaints from a landlord against several of Baichis friends. That code inspector has started legal action against the village. Last year, the villages longtime law firm quit after Baichi repeatedly berated lawyers at public meetings. Theres a growing tension between trustees and the mayor that led to this incident, Cregg said. We were only looking for information so we had the right numbers to go into the next budget meeting. The Minister for Finance-designate, Ken Ofori-Atta, is attributing his recovery to God and prayers by Ghanaians. Speaking during a virtual post-Budget forum organised by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on Tuesday 16 March 2021 from his base in the United States, he said that even the doctors who are handling him are surprised by his fast recovery rate. For me personally, I guess I would want to reiterate how merciful the Lord has been to me and I am also grateful for the prayer support from my family, he said. The doctors here have been fantastic and very dedicated, but even they acknowledge that there must be someone upstairs who is watching over me, because the numbers were so critical. So thank you indeed for your earnest prayers, which have saved me. He also thanked the presidents special representative at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Adu Boahen, and personnel at the ministry for how they handled the preparation and presentation of the Budget. Ofori-Atta left Ghana on 14 February for the United States for a special medical review, following doctors advice. This was in response to medical complications he suffered after recovering from COVID-19 in December last year. He is yet to be vetted by Parliament to serve a second term as Finance Minister. Quick turn around Contributing to the virtual forum from his US base, Ofori-Atta maintained that the various programmes and policy measures outlined in the 2021 Budget present a fine opportunity to turn the economy around quickly. On the GhanaCARES programme, he said that a committee will soon be put in place to help with the implementation of the initiative and to give more details on areas that will be targeted and supported with the aim of stimulating economic growth. The government is looking at raising roughly GHC72.4 billion in revenue and grants. It is expected that GHC55.6 billion will come from taxes. However, some analysts and tax consultants have raised problems with these policy measures. The Finance Minister-designate said the plan is that these tax measures will stabilise the revenue situation in Ghana quickly in the short to medium term, while the country works to deal with other concerns that have been highlighted by stakeholders. COVID shocks Ofori-Atta was optimistic that measures outlined in the Budget can bring about recovery and deal with the shocks to the economy associated with COVID-19. Speaking at the same event, the country senior partner for PWC, Vish Ashiagbor, expressed optimism that the government will be able to hit its projected economic growth of 5% for the coming year. However, the firms tax partner, Abeiku Gyan-Quansah, had reservations about some of the tax measures announced in the 2021 Budget. 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 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. Students in Dhaka protest an attack that took place on Wednesday on a Hindu village in Sunamganj district in northeastern Bangladesh, March 18, 2021. Senior officials on Thursday expressed regret and pledged action after a Muslim mob attacked a Hindu village in northeastern Bangladesh, days before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to visit the country. The attack took place on Wednesday, as the Muslim-majority country kicked off a ten-day countdown to the 50th anniversary of its independence, with Modi expected to help mark the occasion on March 26. Perpetrators armed with sticks filmed themselves walking toward the minority community village, chanting Allahu Akbar and vowing revenge, after a Hindu villager allegedly criticized a leader of the powerful conservative group Hefazat-e-Islam in a Facebook post. No one was hurt, but dozens of houses and at least seven temples were damaged and vandalized, residents of the fishing and farming community, located in Sunamganj District of the northeastern Sylhet Division, told BenarNews by phone. We are really sorry to see this unwarranted incident ahead of the visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Obaidul Quader, general-secretary of the ruling Awami League, told journalists in Dhaka, after a meeting with Hindu-majority Indias envoy to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami. Quader also serves in the cabinet of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as Road Transport and Bridges minister. Underlining the seriousness of the incident, the director-general of Bangladeshs elite anti-crime police unit, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), visited the village, Noagaon, which is some 200 miles from Dhaka. We will take tough action against the attackers, Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun told a gathering of locals and journalists. None of the attackers had been arrested as of Thursday night, but Hindu youth Jhuman Das was charged for allegedly criticizing Hefazat-e-Islam senior leader Maulana Mamunul Haque in a Facebook post on Tuesday, according to authorities. No accused have been arrested so far. But I can assure you that the culprits will not be spared, district police chief Mizanur Rahman told BenarNews over the phone. A police officer and a local politician have filed police reports related to the incident, he said. Some of the Hindu villagers spoke to BenarNews about the attack. They broke into my house and stole a hundred-year-old stone statue from our temple, Asim Chakraborty told BenarNews by phone. Ranjana Chowdhury, a grocer in the village, told BenarNews, We fled with our two daughters When we came back, we saw that all the goods and money in my shop had been looted. Asked about recovering the assets of the villagers, district police chief Rahman said he had not received reports of major looting. The Hindu habitants of the village are very poor. In reality, they do not own any remarkable assets that could be looted. I have visited and talked to the victims. One person said they lost 5,000 taka (U.S. $59) and another alleged to have been robbed of 58,000 taka ($684), he said. Meanwhile, Haque, a central leader of Bangladeshs most influential faith-based organization, rejected responsibility for the attack in an 11-minute video uploaded to YouTube. He called on Hindus not to damage relationships with Muslims and urged his followers not to take the law into their own hands. Seek help from the police if necessary, Haque said in the video. Californias attorney general is challenging some of the states largest suburban development projects as local officials weigh the risk of increasingly devastating wildfires against the states dire need for more housing. Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Wednesday backed lawsuits opposing San Diego Countys approval of environmental reviews for two projects in a very high wildfire hazard zone southeast of San Diego. Last month Becerra backed Northern California court challenges alleging that Lake County officials failed to properly take into account the increased wildfire risk from approving 1,400 homes, 850 hotel rooms and resort apartments and other resort amenities on the 16,000-acre Guenoc Valley Ranch property. A wildfire mitigation expert said its past time for the states top law enforcement official to step in, while the president of the states building association said Becerra is overstepping by questioning local officials safety precautions. The Southern California projects are part of a 36 square miles (93 square kilometers) Otay Ranch residential development _ the largest in San Diego Countys history and nearly the size of San Francisco _ that would cover highly flammable grassland, chaparral and sage with thousands of homes, parks and other amenities. The intervention of the attorney general is a fascinating escalation of power, effectively to force counties to do what theyve rarely done _ which is to rethink their greenlighting of any development at any place, said Char Miller, a professor of environmental analysis at Pomona College who has written extensively about wildfires. Becerras intervention in the Lake County lawsuits was the first time Miller knows of anywhere in the nation where the state has stepped in to argue that its interests in preventing wildfires trumps the countys interest in building more housing. That project neighboring Napa County encompasses 25 square miles (65 square kilometers) in a high wildfire risk zone that has burned repeatedly in recent years as California endured its worst wildfire seasons in history. Becerra is acting under a 2018 update to the expansive California Environmental Quality Act. The states Natural Resources Agency, at the Legislatures direction, created new standards for officials to analyze whether development projects will increase wildfire risks. A bill now pending in the state Legislature would bar new development in very high fire hazard severity zones. Devastating wildfires have become the norm in recent years, with dozens of deaths and whole towns forced to evacuate, Becerra said in a statement. Thats why local governments must address the wildfire risks associated with new developments at the front end. He is awaiting Senate confirmation for secretary of health and human services in the Biden administration. His filing Wednesday contends the environmental reviews for the San Diego County projects violated state law by not adequately evaluating the increased wildfire risk and by not taking proper steps to avoid or adjust for those risks. Not only would this project put new and existing residents at risk, it would destroy the habitat of the countys most sensitive species and worsen the climate crisis by increasing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, said Peter Broderick, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity that filed the suits. Wildfires completely burned one of the two project sites in 2003, and a fire in 2007 burned most of both sites. Sixty-eight fires have been sparked within five miles of one of the projects. Becerra cited an analysis that found one of the projects is in the worst 1% of California zip codes in number of evacuation routes for the size of the population. The proposed Otay Ranch Village 13 and Otay Ranch Village 14 projects would together develop nearly 2,000 acres with 3,000 homes _ none set aside for affordable housing _ along with 57 multifamily units, a resort with 200 guest rooms, plus commercial and office space, parks and open space, and two fire stations. We think (Becerra) is stepping over the line, primarily because you cant build in these areas without putting together a very sophisticated plan fully approved by the local fire chief, fully approved by all the fire officials, said California Building Industry Association president and CEO Dan Dunmoyer. Aside from Californias strict building codes in wildfire areas, we are building parks, were building entire infrastructure systems that dont burn and can protect these communities from fires, he said. Its often unrealistic to rebuild in urban areas, as Miller and advocates including Gov. Gavin Newsom suggest, because of community opposition and the high costs compared to rural single family homes, particularly once structures climb above three stories, Dunmoyer said. The states Department of Housing and Community Development estimated that California needs to build another 100,000 housing units per year above its recent annual averages of 80,000 units to meet the projected housing need. But Endangered Habitats League executive director Dan Silver opposed the upscale San Diego County developments that he said are far from jobs and transit and wont help with the states deficit in low- to moderate-income housing. In truth what theyre really saying is lets put houses in places we know will burn because we need to solve a housing problem, said Miller. Thats not really good public policy. Becerra said his goal is to make sure San Diego County does all it can to ease the wildfire risks before building more homes in a dangerous area. County Supervisor Jim Desmond, one of four supervisors who supported the project, declined comment. California is a gorgeous state, but it has mudslides, it has fire, it has flooding, it has earthquakes, said Dunmoyer. You plan accordingly. And you mitigate it, you protect it, you use tough codes, and thats what weve done. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics California Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire (This story has been updated to add information.) FLINT, MI -- Flint area members of the Michigan House of Representative have introduced a resolution urging a federal court judge to limit attorney fees related to a $641-million proposed partial settlement of lawsuits related to the citys water crisis. State Reps. David Martin, Mike Mueller, John Cherry Jr., Cynthia Neeley, Tim Sneller and Ben Frederick introduced the resolution Thursday, March 18, and Cherry said in a news release that attorneys for Flint residents should be limited to 10 percent of the settlement rather than the more than 30 percent they are seeking. I have lived in the city for about a decade now, Cherry said. Ive seen my neighbors and friends get hurt. To see the attorneys ... ask for such a large cut really bothers me. The policy resolution is an indication that the legislators dont have legal authority to lower the fee request but want to express the opinion of members of the state House, Cherry said. U.S. District Judge Judith E. Levy must decide on the motion for fees and expenses, which would drain the settlement fund of more than $200 million before it can be distributed to those who were harmed by Flint water when it contained elevated levels of lead, bacteria and chlorination byproducts. Attorneys for residents have said they are entitled to nearly one-third of the settlement because of work that they have devoted to reaching the deal after mediation with the state, taking depositions, and filing motions in federal court without any up-front payment. The fee proposal is designed to provide reasonable and fair compensation to plaintiffs counsel and to ensure equitable treatment for all who make claims under the settlement, the attorneys filing with the court says in part. Attorney General Dana Nessel has said her office is prohibited from offering an opinion on the attorney fees and expenses sought unless specifically asked by the Court. The new resolution is the latest objection to the motion for attorney fees but not the first. Neeley has called the requested fees offensive and immoral and less than 24 hours after the fees were requested, an online petition launched, asking Levy to reject the proposal and negotiate a lower amount. Ted Frank, an attorney who has challenged class action settlements previously and testified before Congress on legal issues, told MLive-The Flint Journal earlier this month that the request for up to 31.6 percent of collections was pretty outrageous for a mega fund of this size. The House resolution says the settlement first and foremost should go to Flint children and families who have had their lives changed forever by the decisions made during this crisis, not to trial attorneys. After accounting for attorney fees and administrative expenses, the proposed settlement agreement specifies that about 80 percent of the remaining settlement fund would be spent on the claims of children who were minors when first exposed to the Flint River water while the city used the river as its water source in parts of 2014 and 2015. A large majority of that amount -- 64.5 percent -- would be set aside for those who were 6 and younger when they were first exposed to Flint River water. The settlement is being funded by the state of Michigan, city of Flint, McLaren Regional Medical Center and Rowe Professional Services in exchange for the dismissal of the entities and their employees from the lawsuits filed on behalf of residents. Even if the proposed settlement is given preliminary approval later this year, the water crisis lawsuits will continue against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, city water consultants and bond companies involved in setting up financing for the Karegnondi Water Authority. Read more on MLive: Attorneys fees would eat up $202M of Flint water crisis settlement fund State Rep. Neeley calls for judge to give Flint water attorneys half of what they want Online petition asks judge to reject $202 million in attorney fees from Flint water settlement Utah Health Authorities Say No Link Between COVID-19 Vaccine and Any Deaths Utah health authorities released a statement on Thursday saying an investigation into reports of people dying after getting a COVID-19 shot shows no links between the vaccine and the deaths. The OME has determined there have been NO DEATHS caused by the COVID-19 vaccines to date in Utah. The OME is committed to investigating any deaths that fall under its jurisdiction where decedents had recently received the COVID-19 vaccine, said the statement, jointly issued by Utah Department of Health and the Office of Medical Examiner. The statement comes after reports that a Utah woman with no known underlying medical conditions died four days after receiving a Moderna vaccine on Feb. 1. While her family suspected a link between the vaccine and the death of Kassidi Kurill, a 39-year-old mother of one from Ogden, medical experts cautioned about jumping to conclusions. 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 were 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 added that while cases involving death after the vaccine are worth investigating, until health officials know all the results, its just speculation. In an obituary for Kurill, her family had attributed her death to apparent complications due to the 2nd COVID-19 vaccination, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. While the joint statement by Utah health authorities did not specifically reference Kurills death, it took aim more generally at the speculative nature of some media coverage of potentially COVID-19-related deaths. We call on members of the media to wait for all the facts to be known prior to reporting information that could lead to undue diminished confidence in these life-saving vaccines, the statement said, adding, The COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. They are how we will end this pandemic. At the same, the health authorities vowed to continue to investigate reports of serious side effects. Public confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine is critical, and providing absolute transparency on the vaccines side effects is our goal, the joint statement said. The Food and Drug Administration requires that vaccination providers report any deaths after COVID-19 vaccination to the Vaccine Adverse Event Report System (VAERS), which was put in place in 1990 to capture unforeseen reactions from vaccines. The VAERS system is a way to collect data and reports of adverse events logged on the system dont necessarily prove a connection between a vaccine and a negative outcome. An investigation would be needed to confirm a positive link between a vaccine and adverse event, such as a death. 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) says on its website. As of March 18, more than 714,000 people in Utah have been partially vaccinated, while 394,000 have been fully vaccinated, according to figures from coronavirus.utah.gov. Utahs population is roughly 3.3 million people. Katabella Roberts contributed to this report. A former Special Forces soldier in the U.S. Army has been charged with assaulting four police officers with a flag pole during the violent Capitol riot on January 6. Jeffrey McKellop, of Virginia, faces up to 20 years imprisonment after he threw the flag pole at one of the officers, leaving a bloody gash near the cop's left eye, according to the FBI in an unsealed criminal complaint. Images allegedly show McKellop wearing a paramilitary bulletproof vest and helmet, with a gas mask - while holding a two-sided Betsy Ross-Blue Lives Matter flag in support of police. Jeffrey McKellop was pictured wearing a paramilitary bulletproof vest and helmet, with a gas mask with a patch of the Georgia national flag McKellop was identified by the FBI after the images were released in a 'bolo,' or 'be on the lookout,' and the agency received two online tips The FBI noted that a chest patch on the vest contains an image of the flag for the country of Georgia - often referred to as the Five Cross Flag. It was not immediately clear why McKellop wore the Georgian national flag. McKellop was identified by the FBI after the images were released in a 'bolo,' or 'be on the lookout,' and the agency received two online tips. One of the tipsters, who wished to remain anonymous with the FBI, told investigators that they had known McKellop for about six years and described him as 'a retired U.S. Army Special Forces soldier and a military contractor who, at times, works overseas.' The second tipster told the FBI that McKellop was a retired U.S. Army Special Forces soldier with whom they had served from 2001 to 2016. That witness told investigators that they had seen McKellop wearing the same paramilitary gear in a combat zone in 2018. On two separate security camera videos, McKellop can be seen in the crowd around 1.14pm approaching the Capitol building while putting on the gas mask. The videos do not appear to have been released by the FBI, which included screenshots in the court document. Around 2.26pm, he was allegedly caught on video approaching a line of Metropolitan Police Department officers and pushing them back with his hands. McKellop was pictured on the left side of the video forcefully shoving an officer on January 6 The FBI alleged that McKellop also tried to grab an officer's riot-control spray while they deployed it McKellop was recorded pushing one of the MPD officers, a lieutenant with the force, and attempting to grab the officer's canister of riot-control spray while they deployed it. He then allegedly breached a line of MPD and Capitol police officers, stationed near scaffolding outside the Capitol, and shoved an MPD sergeant attempting to deploy riot-control spray. McKellop was then filmed grabbing a third MPD officer by the arm and shoving them out of the way before allegedly confronting an MPD captain carrying a riot-control spray gun. The MPD captain prepared to deploy the riot-control spray at McKellop and the crowd, when the Army veteran picks up a flagpole from the ground and shoves it into the captain's face. McKellop was then filmed grabbing a third MPD officer by the arm and shoving them out of the way He then allegedly confronted an MPD captain carrying a riot-control spray gun while wearing a gas mask The MPD captain prepared to deploy the riot-control spray at McKellop and the crowd, when the Army veteran picks up a flagpole from the ground and shoves it into the captain's face An MPD police captain is pictured after being jabbed with the flag pole during the Capitol riot McKellop the vaults the flagpole, 'similar in fashion to throwing a spear,' at the police captain McKellop the vaults the flagpole, 'similar in fashion to throwing a spear,' at the police captain - injuring them, the FBI said in the criminal complaint. Screenshots provided by the FBI show the flag pole soaring through the air. Retired soldiers are often bound to uphold the Uniform Code of Military Justice for the rest of their lives after their service. Courts have often fought over whether military retirees can called back to service to face court martial under the UCMJ for crimes committed after their retirement. After several retired soldiers have been charged in connection to the Capitol riot, many have speculated if retirees could face a court martial. However, legal experts told the Military Times after Air Force veteran Larry Rendall Brock Jr. was charged for allegedly brandishing zip-tie handcuffs during the siege that is unlikely Brock would face a court martial. In January, the Washington Post reported that the Army is investigating the actions of Capt. Emily Rainey - a psychological operations officer who attended the protest. Rachel E. VanLandingham, a former Air Force attorney who teaches at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, told the outlet that whether a retired soldier can face a court martial depends on how their service ended. Former soldiers who retired after at least 20 years of active duty service can face a court martial, though it rarely happens, she told the Washington Post. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Kanye West's reported wealth has come under scrutiny amid reports he's one of the wealthiest Black people in the county, with Forbes allocating him a $1.8 billion fortune, a fraction of the $6.6 billion he was accredited with in prior reports. The attributed wealth to the Famous artist, 43, came in the wake of a Bloomberg report that his Yeezy brand is worth in the range of $3.2 billion to $4.7 billion, with him holding onto another $1.7 billion. According to a new report from Forbes Thursday, West went from $1.3 billion in May of 2020 to $1.8 billion. The latest: Kanye West's reported wealth has come under scrutiny amid reports he's one of the wealthiest Black people in the country, with Forbes allocating the star, 43, with a $1.8 billion fortune, a fraction of the $6.6 billion he was accredited with in prior reports The report states that the wealthiest Black person in the country is Vista Equity CEO Robert F. Smith with $6 billion, while worldwide, Nigerian business magnate Aliko Dangote leads with a net worth of $11.8 billion. The outlet's counter argument to West's wealth points to bank statements that projected big revenues from his Yeezy line, including his yet-to-be-launched Yeezy Gap line. Forbes reported that bank statements cited in West's businesses 'are well-known for painting best-possible-scenario future valuations,' and that it remains unclear if any of the fashion lines will continue to be moneymakers moving forward. It noted that the Yeezy sneaker line took a 30 percent spike in revenues in 2020 and it forecasts it stays at that level in the coming year, calling West's approach to his net worth 'wildly optimistic.' West had previously told the outlet they were 'purposely snubbing' him in their valuations. Details: The attributed wealth to the Famous artist, 43, came in the wake of a Bloomberg report that his Yeezy brand is worth in the range of $3.2 billion to $4.7 billion, with him holding onto another $1.7 billion On the rise: According to a new report from Forbes Thursday, West went from $1.3 billion in May of 2020 to a current worth of $1.8 billion 'Forbes is treating West the same way we do everyone else with similar royalty-based businesses: We take the most recent year's licensing income and apply a multiple to it to account for the fact that this is an ongoing revenue stream,' the outlet reported. 'This is exactly how we value Donald Trumps licensing businesses and Jay-Zs music catalog.' The outlet compared West's approach to that of ex-President Donald Trump, 'who insists the value of his name be included in any net-worth estimate.' In its estimations, Forbes came to West's net worth based on $1.5 billion for the Yeezy brand, $160 million in cash and assets, a music library worth $90 million and $64 million for his interest in estranged wife Kim Kardashian's company Skims. It awarded no value to his Yeezy x Gap line - which Bloomberg estimated a potential worth of $970 million - noting that 'the line hasnt sold one piece of clothing yet.' Canadian tried in China on spy charges, no verdict announced View Photo DANDONG, China (AP) China on Friday put on trial one of two Canadians held for more than two years in apparent retaliation for Canadas arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive. Canada said its consular officials were refused permission to attend the proceedings against Michael Spavor, who is accused by China of stealing state secrets. Jim Nickel, the Canadian Embassys deputy chief of mission, said the hearing ended at noon Friday after two hours. No verdict has been announced. Nickel declined to give other details, citing rules on protecting Spavors privacy. In a statement posted on its website, the Intermediate Peoples Court of Dandong in the northeastern province of Liaoning Province said it had held a closed-door hearing against Spavor on charges of spying and illegally sending state secrets abroad. It said Spavor and his defense lawyers were present for the proceedings and the court would pronounce a sentence at a date determined in accordance with law. Fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig is due to go before a court on Monday. The two were detained in December 2018, days after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested at the request of the U.S. at the airport in Vancouver, British Columbia. Both are charged with spying. The entrance to the courthouse was roped off with police tape and journalists were kept outside, although not detained or told to leave, as often occurs during sensitive legal cases. Police cars and vans with lights flashing passed through the gate to the court complex, located beside the Yalu River that divides China from North Korea. Earlier, Nickel had knocked on a court door seeking entry but was refused. Another 10 diplomats from eight countries, including the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, stood on the street opposite the courthouse in a show of support. International and bilateral treaties required that China provide Canadian diplomats access to the trial, but the court said Chinese law regarding trials on state security charges overrode such obligations, Nickel said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blasted Beijing for holding the trial in secret without access for consular officials. Their arbitrary detention is completely unacceptable, as is the lack of transparency around these court proceedings, Trudeau said in Ottawa. China needs to understand that it is not just about two Canadians. Its about respect for the rule of law and relationships with a broad range of Western countries that are at play with the arbitrary detention and the coercive diplomacy that theyve engaged in. Trudeau said he was heartened and touched to see diplomats come out to support the Canadians in Dandong Canadian authorities say Kovrig and Spavor were arbitrarily arrested to put pressure on Ottawa in the case of Meng, who is sought by the U.S. on fraud charges related to the telecom giants dealings with Iran, which is under American financial sanctions. The two Canadians have been held ever since, while Meng has been released on bail. They were charged in June 2020 under Chinas broadly defined national security laws. Spavor, an entrepreneur with North Korea-related business, was charged with spying for a foreign entity and illegally procuring state secrets. Kovrig, an analyst and former diplomat, was charged with illegally receiving state secrets and intelligence in collaboration with Spavor. Prosecutors have not released details of the charges and national security cases are routinely held behind closed doors. The state-owned Global Times newspaper 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. Mengs case has infuriated Chinas government, which has promoted Huawei as a global leader in mobile communications technology. In Vancouver on Thursday, Mengs lawyers told an extradition hearing that Canadian officials abused their power when they conspired with the U.S. to arrest her. Defense lawyer Tony Paisana said Canadian Border Services Agency officers took Mengs phones, obtained their passwords, then handed to them to Canadian police so the data could be shared with the FBI. Paisana said Meng was never told during questioning that she faced an arrest warrant in the U.S. and would have immediately asked for a lawyer if so informed. British Columbia Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes suggested border officers would have questioned Meng more rigorously if their exam was actually a covert criminal investigation, as her lawyers said. China has demanded Mengs immediate and unconditional release. It also has restricted various Canadian exports, including canola oil seed, and handed death sentences to another four Canadians convicted of drug smuggling. Outside the courthouse, Nickel said Canada still held hope that Spavor and Kovrig could be released through joint efforts with the U.S., whose Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan are currently holding their first face-to-face talks with Chinas top diplomats in Anchorage, Alaska. The China-U.S. dialogue got off to a rocky start Thursday, with the U.S. accusing the Chinese delegation of grandstanding and top Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi accusing the American side of hypocrisy and taking a patronizing attitude. On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said there was a strong smell of gunpowder and drama at the talks that was entirely the fault of the Americans. In Canada, Spavors family issued a statement saying he had been granted very limited access and interaction with his retained Chinese defense counsel, according to Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. At this time, we feel it is necessary to speak out and call for his unconditional release. His continued unjust detention depriving him of his liberty is both unfair and unreasonable, especially given the lack of transparency in the case, the newspaper quoted the statement as saying. ___ Associated Press writers Rob Gillies in Toronto and Jim Morris in Vancouver, British Columbia, contributed to this report. By KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press 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." Jonathan Papelbon, Mo Vaughn and Kevin Youkilis will each join the NESN Boston Red Sox studio program pre- and postgame analysts. Ellis Burks will join NESN as both an in-game and studio analyst. Dennis Eckersley and Jerry Remy will continue their roles as in-game analysts. Boston Globe media columnist Chad Finn reported the news first. Finn also reported that Papelbon, Vaughn and Youkilis will each be be part of the studio broadcast once per week. Papelbon, 40, last pitched in the major leagues in 2016 with the Washington Nationals. He recorded a 2.33 ERA and 219 saves in 396 outings (three starts) for the Red Sox from 2005-11. Youkilis will turn 43 on March 15. He lasted played in the big leagues in 2013 for the New York Yankees. The first baseman/third baseman spent nine seasons in Boston (2004-2012). He batted .287 with a .388 on-base percentage, .487 slugging percentage, .875 OPS, 133 home runs, 239 doubles, 17 triples and 564 RBIs in 953 games (3,974 plate appearances). Vaughn, who is 53, won the 1995 AL MVP as a member of the Red Sox. Boston drafted him in the first round (23rd overall) in 1989. He batted .304 with a .394 on-base percentage, .542 slugging percentage, .936 OPS, 230 home runs, 199 doubles, 10 triples and 752 RBIs in 1,046 games (4,452 plate appearances). Burks is 56 years old. He was Bostons first round pick (20th) overall in 1983. He played seven seasons for the Red Sox (1987-1992, 2004), batting .280 with a .341 on-base percentage, .455 slugging percentage, .796 OPS, 94 home runs, 160 doubles, 27 triples and 388 RBIs in 733 games (3,132 plate appearances). 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Who will replace Ryan Brasier in the bullpen? South Korea will launch its next-generation midsized observation satellite this week, the latest in the country's efforts to boost its space industry and develop its own space technologies. The 540-kilogram satellite loaded on Russia's Soyuz 2.1a will take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday morning (local time) and contact the Svalbard Satellite Station in Norway after reaching its target orbit, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. Equipped with an imaging sensor system developed by South Korean researchers, the satellite will conduct its four-year observation mission at 497.8 kilometers above the Earth's surface. It is scheduled to provide precise observation videos of the Earth starting in October after a six-month trial run. The planned launch comes as South Korea, a relative latecomer to the global space development race, seeks to acquire homegrown space technology and boost related sectors. The government has invested a total of 158 billion won (US$139 million) in the satellite project since 2015, with development led by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). The science ministry said most of the core components of the satellite's optical payload were developed by South Korean research institutes and companies, including the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science and defense IT firm Hanwha Systems Co. South Korea aims to launch a midsized satellite with its own rocket, using homegrown technology, in the second half of 2023. The country is scheduled to launch its first locally developed rocket Nuri with a mock payload in October, for which the country has earmarked nearly 2 trillion won since 2010. The Nuri will succeed South Korea's Naro rocket, whose first-stage engine was built by Russia. The Naro rocket was launched in 2013. To keep up its development momentum, South Korea is planning another midsized satellite launch next year, with Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. leading its design to production. As of the end of last year, South Korea had 17 operational satellites, compared with the United States with 1,897, China with 412 and Russia with 176, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization. (Yonhap) The Charger Blog The Universitys new Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) student ambassadors program enables students to serve as advocates for their fellow Chargers and to play a critical role in enhancing the University, impacting everything from student programming to course curricula. By Renee Chmiel, Office of Marketing and Communications Left to right: Mabintou Darboe 22 MPH, Krista Grajo 22 M.A., Chinedu Ibeme 22 M.S., and Daniel Stott 21. Before he began pursuing his masters degree in business analytics at the University of New Haven, Chinedu Ibeme 22 M.S. worked as an international development consultant. Part of a team that developed an economic inclusion project that would create job opportunities for 10,000 people in Nigeria, Ibeme learned firsthand the importance of fostering inclusion and the impact it can make. Through that experience, Ibeme cultivated a passion for promoting diversity and inclusion, and he is now part of the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) student ambassadors program at the University. Working with the Universitys Pompea College of Business, he is leveraging his own experience to ensure that students voices are heard and responded to. Jennifer Edwards 21. I am very passionate about diversity, justice, equity, and inclusion, and I have a personal commitment to making a positive impact on the world, he said. As an international student, I am always happy to contribute to class discussions by leveraging on my past experience because I believe my voice will be heard. I believe the JEDI program is important to have at the University because it fosters a healthy learning environment where everyone especially underrepresented students feel safe and confident that their voices will be heard. Ibeme is one of eight students who are now serving as JEDI student ambassadors. The group endeavors to be a force for positive change and unity that ensures a welcoming and inclusive University community. The ambassadors include graduate and undergraduate students from a variety of backgrounds and fields of study. They serve as a resource for their fellow Chargers, and they are eager to connect with them, hear their input, and address concerns. Daniel Stott 21, a criminal justice and national security double major, is a dedicated advocate for diversity and inclusion, particularly for members of the LGBTQ+ community, and he is passionate about making sure all students feel included and have the resources and tools they need to succeed. The JEDI program was an opportunity for me to transform my ideas and passions into action, said Stott. It allows students to be the driving force behind change at the University, and it can show all students that our voices mean something. Diversity, equity, and inclusion cannot be achieved solely by a small group of people it is a result of the actions of the entire campus community. I am excited to foster the best interests of students Finley Chapman 22 is helping to organize the Universitys inaugural Lavender Ceremony, which will honor graduating LGBTQ+ students this spring. A member of the Accessibility Resource Center Task Force, he is dedicated to ensuring that the campus is accessible to all Chargers. Finley Chapman 22. I am most excited about being able to make a difference on campus, said Chapman, a communication major. I would like to have a social justice-based career after finishing my education, so a position like this has always been a dream of mine. It will help me gain more experience in the field while also helping to foster change that will last long after I have graduated. Chapman is working with his fellow ambassador Krista Grajo 22 M.A. to organize the Lavender Ceremony. A member of the assessment subcommittee of the Universitys Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Council, Grajo is drawing on her coursework and her interest in program evaluation in her work as a JEDI student ambassador. I hope that I can contribute to a culture of inclusivity and justice at the University so that students do not feel alone, said Grajo, a candidate in the Universitys graduate program in community psychology. I am excited to foster the best interests of students, and I hope I can be a bridge to facilitate challenging conversations about these topics. An influential force in addressing issues around diversity, equity, and inclusion Developed by Alvin Tran, Sc.D., MPH, an assistant professor of public health and assistant provost for diversity, equity, and inclusion, the JEDI ambassador program enables students to establish supportive relationships with their peers, as well as with faculty and staff, while creating a sense of connectedness and belonging. Alvin Tran, Sc.D., MPH, developed the JEDI ambassador program. Since its creation, the JEDI program has been an influential force in addressing issues around diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus, said Dr. Tran. It serves as a model for why including the student voice in decision-making is pivotal in making positive changes on campus. It is my hope that the program will expand over the coming years once we have a stronger foundation. Based on the positive results so far, the outlook is promising. Student ambassadors serve as liaisons to their respective academic colleges and schools and participate in anti-discrimination trainings and workshops. Their work could also inform the Universitys curricula, which is something Jennifer Edwards 21 is focused on. A forensic science major, she is collaborating with the Lee College to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion education in the classroom. She is also collaborating with the English Department to revise the race and ethnic studies minor. The JEDI program is very important because it allows a small group of students to network and connect with other students on an individual college level, she said. Each college and school has different concerns related to DEI, and its important to have representation in each of them to make sure the voices of students are heard and addressed. I hope we can enhance the social and educational experience for students, at both the undergraduate and graduate level. I am most excited to help students know that they belong at the University Jordan Harris 21. For Mabintou Darboe 22 MPH, being a part of the JEDI program is personal. A student ambassador for the School of Health Sciences, she is collaborating with the Universitys Career Development Center to organize a workshop series for international students. She is also organizing the Universitys inaugural Youth and Public Health Conference, which endeavors to introduce first-generation high school students and students from underrepresented groups to possible careers in the health sciences field. This event means so much to me because I wish I had someone who would have informed me of the endless career opportunities in the health sciences as a first-generation student, she said. I know how it feels to be a target of microaggression, prejudice, and discrimination. It is often difficult to navigate your way out of these situations without losing control. I am most excited to help students know that they matter and that they belong at the University. We're recognizable students who represent each of our colleges Student ambassadors are compensated for their work, which Jordan Harris 21, a political science major who is representing the College of Arts and Sciences, says is important because it offers students including those who may be struggling financially an opportunity to do meaningful work on campus that supports their dedication to advancing diversity and inclusion. Harris hopes to create a special library focused on Black history and anti-racist practices. He hopes the University will support a Black-owned bookstore in the community that will, eventually, become a resource for students. It's important to have JEDI at the University because we're recognizable students who represent each of the Universitys academic colleges and schools, said Harris, who serves as president of the Universitys NAACP chapter. I hope it gets students more interested in DEI work and shows the University values our work. Having it become a paid position is also very motivating, and this is a great resume builder. Professor Tran has been a solid ally for the students fighting for DEI work, so I'm happy to have the chance to work with him. Kevin Misaro 22 M.S. We will make sure that their concerns are addressed Kevin Misaro 22 M.S., a candidate in the Universitys graduate program in civil engineering, believes the problems of racial, gender, and religious discrimination at a global level make the work of the JEDI student ambassadors more crucial than ever. He endeavors to foster unity between undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty in the Universitys Tagliatela College of Engineering. An international student, he is excited for the opportunity to connect with and represent as many of his fellow Chargers as possible. I want to ensure that all students have a holistic university experience without worrying about judgment or exclusion from any facet of student life, he said. I hope to see the JEDI program grow over the coming years. I also hope students know the JEDI ambassadors are here for them, and we will make sure that their concerns will be addressed. Appointment 18 March 2021 Zemi Beach House (Zemi), an award-winning LXR Hotels & Resorts boutique property, today announces that Antoine Alsayah has been appointed as its Director of Sales & Marketing. In his new role, Alsayah will lead the sales and marketing for the hotel, including the planning and implementation of modern, tech-forward sales strategies for maximizing hotel revenues and occupancy. He will also oversee revenue operations and reservations alongside Zemi's General Manager, Paulo Paias. Alsayah brings world-class hospitality and over a decade of experience to Zemi Beach House, with his most recent role as the Director of Sales & Marketing for Wymara Resort & Villas in Turks & Caicos. There, he played a substantial part in boosting the property's villa product. Prior to his time with Wymara Resort & Villas, Alsayah was Senior Director at the luxury lifestyle concierge agency, John Paul, for over a decade, and spearheaded its Service Delivery department. Combining his experience and connections gained at both, the agency and hotel side gives him a rare advantage with his new role at Zemi Beach House. Alsayah holds a B.Sc. Degree in International Hospitality from Hotel Institute Montreux in Switzerland, and is fluent in French, English and Arabic. He's a well-versed public speaker and guest lecturer on the subjects of Customer Service and Luxury Hospitality. New Delhi, March 19 : The Supreme Court on Friday said it does not want to create more problems than solving during the hearing of a plea challenging the competence of state Assemblies from passing resolutions against the Central laws like CAA and farm laws. A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde told the senior advocate Soumya Chakraborty, representing the NGO Samta Andolan Samiti, "You do more research. We do not want to create more problems than solving." Chakraborty submitted that privileges of the legislators cannot be used to comment on matters which are beyond the legislature's jurisdiction. "The question of law of general importance arising in the present case is as to whether within the Constitutional framework, more particularly Article 213(2)(a) and Article 246(1), any State Legislature can adopt 'Resolution' adversely criticizing a Central statute which addresses an entry in List I of the Seventh Schedule", said Chakraborty. After a brief hearing in the matter, the bench also comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian deferred the hearing on the plea by four weeks and asked the petitioner to do more research on rules of state legislatures. The plea contended that legislative actions of four different state Legislative Assemblies -- Rajasthan, Kerala, Punjab and West Bengal -- have infringed upon the fundamental rights of all Indian citizens. "The State Assemblies had no jurisdiction to make laws on the subject matter of the Central statute in question which did not per se concern any particular state government and as a corollary, could not discuss/debate and/or pass resolutions against the said Central legislation", said the plea filed through advocate Abhijit Banerjee. The plea said the Rules of Procedure of these Legislative Assemblies framed under Article 208 contain chapters titled 'resolutions' which, apart from imposing a precondition upon the Speakers to decide the admissibility of the resolution before allowing the same to be placed in the Assembly, also prohibited subjects which were not primarily the concern of the state government and on which litigations are pending. "The said resolutions target a Central Legislation impinging upon entry 17 of the Union List, and as such are in breach of the Constitutional embargo set out in Article 246(1)", said the plea. The plea said by their arbitrary and motivated incursion into the Union List under the Seventh Schedule, the participating legislators of these four states infringed fundamental rights of the people thus manifestly violating the 'oath of office' administered by them while being made members of the respective Legislative Assemblies. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Vietnam should allow certain destinations to welcome back foreigners: experts Vietnam should designate certain destinations to welcome vaccinated foreigners back while residents in these localities are inoculated against Covid-19 to boost 'herd immunity,' experts said. Prof. Dr. Pham Trung Luong, former head of the Institute for Tourism Development Research, said the tourism industry, which is driving economic growth in Vietnam, earned a total revenue of $36 billion in 2019, but has been suspended for more than a year. Therefore, the gradual reopening of international routes is necessary, Luong said. However, Luong worried just a small mistake could result in another Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam that would not only affect the tourism industry but many others and cause huge economic damage. He proposed Vietnam considers welcoming back vaccinated foreigners to popular beach destinations like Da Nang and Nha Trang along the central coast and Ha Long Bay in northern Vietnam. He also proposed residents in these localities should be administered with the Covid-19 vaccine to bolster herd immunity. If the localities cannot vaccinate their entire population, priority should be given to those working in the tourism industry, he said. Many tourism experts earlier this month suggested the government consider opening up to vaccinated foreign visitors from the third quarter in a similar vein to regional peers to revive the hard-hit tourism industry. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc this week ordered relevant agencies to map out plans for Covid-19 vaccine passport implementation and reopening of international flights to soon help tourism and aviation sectors recover. Economist Ngo Tri Long said vaccine passports are key for the resumption of international flights and that the task at hand was determining how the policy could be speedily implemented. Long stressed resuming international flights and bringing vaccinated foreign tourists into the country should follow strict pandemic prevention measures. "This is an opportunity for us to recover economic development," he added. Long said relevant agencies assigned by the government should speed up to work on the "'vaccine passport" plan. "Don't be too slow like last year when the government greenlighted the resumption of international flights with countries and territories that had contained the pandemic; however, domestic airlines cannot operate inbound flights as ministries have not yet issued protocols to receive foreign arrivals." Dr. Bui Doan Ne, general secretary of Vietnam Aviation Business Association, said it recently proposed the government resume international routes and accept vaccinated foreign visitors from large tourism markets like Europe, Australia, China, South Korea and Japan. The European Commission proposed to create a digital green certificate to facilitate safe free movement inside the EU during the Covid-19 pandemic. The EU green pass will serve as an assurance that a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or recovered from Covid. Available free of charge and in digital or paper format, it would include a QR code to ensure security and authenticity. "We hope the Ministry of Health would soon issue similar certificates and immigration control processes for international visitors to Vietnam on commercial flights," said Ne, adding this is an opportunity for Vietnam to demonstrate to the world it is an open, integrated country with effective pandemic capabilities. The government has closed national borders and canceled all international flights since March last year with only Vietnamese repatriates, foreign experts and highly-skilled workers allowed in with stringent conditions. Due to border closures and travel restrictions, Vietnam recorded a 79 percent decline year-on-year in the number of foreign visitors in 2020, according to official data. U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks to media at the Democratic National Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 3, 2020. (Erin Scott - Pool/Getty Images) Pelosi Rejects Resolution by Democrats to Expel Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday said she rejected a move by some Democrats led by Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) to expel Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from Congress. About 70 House Democrats joined Gomez in signing the resolution. However, to expel a member of Congress, the bid requires a two-thirds supermajority, meaning that a significant number of Republicans would need to join. Im not going to get into that, Pelosi told reporters Friday about the bid to expel Greene, suggesting that she did not support his resolution. Members are very unhappy about whats happened here. And they can express themselves the way they do. What Mr. Gomez did is his own view. And that is not a leadership position. Expulsion is a rare scenario in Congress. The last time a member was expelled was in 2002 when the House voted to force out then-Ohio Democratic Rep. James Traficant after he was convicted of several corruption charges and faced sentencing in prison. In February, House Democrats and 11 Republicans voted to remove Greene from the House Budget Committee and Education and Labor Committee due to social media posts she made when she was a private citizen. These were words of the past, and these things do not represent me, Greene said at the time about the social media posts. They do not represent my district, and they do not represent my values. Greene, in a statement to The Epoch Times, described Gomezs resolution as a move to silence conservative viewpoints, while pointing to a House Democratic-led investigation into Rep. Marianne Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) and whether she won her Congressional seat. Miller-Meeks defeated Democrat Rita Hart by six votes. Greenes office also told The Epoch Times that her personal Twitter account was locked on Friday as Gomez introduced his resolution. No reason given from Twitter after multiple attempts to contact them, a spokesman for her office said on Friday morning. This move eliminated any possibility for Congresswoman Greene to defend her reputation, her seat, and most importantly the votes of 230,000 Georgians in the 14th District on the Twitter platform. This is yet another attempt by the Silicon Valley Cartel to silence voices that speak out against their far-left woke orthodoxy, her campaign statement read. Twitter has drawn widespread criticism after it moved to suspend former President Donald Trumps account and many other prominent conservatives and groups. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday opted not to overturn a lower court ruling dismissing a lawsuit brought by three people objecting to the states mask order. The Supreme Court ruled that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the case. The justices made that finding by stating the plaintiffs had failed to show injury by the mask order. None of the justices dissented on the ruling. The lawsuit was filed days after Gov. Kay Ivey and State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris issued the mask order in July 2020 to combat the spread of COVID-19. Bringing the suit were three Jackson County residents: Retired sheriff deputies Barry Munza and Larry Lewis and real estate agent Debbie Mathis. The lawsuit was filed July 24 and dismissed by Montgomery County Circuit Judge Greg Griffin on Aug. 11. Its at least the second lawsuit over the mask order that has been dismissed. In December, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by seven Alabama residents represented by former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. That lawsuit was filed in September 2020. The attorney for Munza, Lewis and Mathis appealed the circuit court ruling to the state Supreme Court. In the order, the court repeatedly said that the plaintiffs had failed to show injury as a result of the mask order nor did the plaintiffs demonstrate they had been threatened with enforcement of the mask order by a fine or incarceration. The lawsuit also failed to show how the mask ordinance is being enforced. Given those findings, the court said in its order we conclude that the plaintiffs have failed to allege specific concrete facts that demonstrates injury and that they, therefore, lack standing to proceed with this action. Ivey has announced that the mask order will end on April 9. 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 State pension age should not be changed without bringing in a scheme for the almost one million workers who do not have a works-based retirement plan or a private pension, according to Chartered Accountants Ireland. In a submission to the States Pensions Commission the accountants said 10 years notice should be given to workers before there is any rise in the pension age. The present and previous Governments have continually put back the introduction of an auto-enrolment pension scheme, which has been promised for years now. Read More Chartered Accountants Irelands public policy lead Crona Clohisey said there has to be parallel moves to increase pensions coverage before there is any move to change the State pension age. This is because the absence of a coordinated approach to reform would create a risk of workers living their retirement in poverty in the absence of a coordinated approach to reform. The State pension age was due to increase from 66 to 67 this January. It was then planned to rise to 68 in 2028. But the issue because a huge one in last years general election. This forced the Government to defer the rise in the age people get their State pension, pending a report from the recently-formed Pensions Commission. A survey of members of the accountancy body found that 93pc support the introduction of auto-enrolment. Under the proposed scheme workers would automatically be enrolled in a pension scheme, with contributions by employers, employees, and the State. Ms Clohisey said: The cost of the State pension will inevitably increase, and the scale of the pension funding problem will only grow unless more people start to save for a pension while they are earning. Introducing auto-enrolment is the obvious answer to what is now a huge problem. This scheme will incentivise people to save and that in turn will reduce the reliance on the State pension. Moves were taken years ago to raise the pension age as the population is beginning to age, with a fear that fewer workers compared with the numbers in retirement would make the State pension financially unsustainable. Chartered Accountants Ireland said that requiring people to work for longer cannot be the only option the State considers. It said in its submission that the pension age should not increase beyond the current 66 years, and 10 years notice should be given to workers for future planned increases. A clear and coherent strategy with adequate lead-in time for any changes is necessary to allow workers to plan for the long-term, it argues. Police in Marsabit have recovered 700 kilograms of marijuana that was being ferried in a water bowser on Arapal-Olturot road. Acting on a tip-off from Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) Inspector of Police Godfrey Gachoya, ten police officers seized the tanker in Loiyangalani on Wednesday, March 17 at around 1:15 am. Police said the driver of the tanker, registration plate KCC 593H, had abandoned it 10 kilometres from the Marsabit Police Station after sensing he was being trailed. The driver is said to have escaped into a nearby bush. On thorough search, it was established that the lorry was ferrying bhang weighing 700Kgs to an unknown destination, said a police report. We have tasked local administrators to help trace the driver, police added. Marsabit police handed over the truck to the DCI Headquarters in Nairobi where thorough investigations will be conducted. I [want] to encourage them not only to hold to biblical values but to see how doing so would be to their advantage. Author Jean Marie Desir delivers a message of empowerment to young women in That Little Thing: A Life Changing Story ($12.49, paperback, 9781662810787; $5.99, e-book, 9781662810794). He recognizes the difficulties faced by those who are trying to live godly lives in a society driven by sex, popularity and image. At her high school graduation, Ananie is comforted by the presence and support of both her parents. She recognizes the feelings they still have for one another, even after their divorce. Ananies mother tries to explain what tore their marriage apart as they all look hopefully toward the future. Desir said he was inspired by his desire to impart a message of empowerment, dignity, and respect toward young women. I [want] to encourage them not only to hold to biblical values but to see how doing so would be to their advantage. BIO: Jean Marie Desir was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in a Christian family. At the age of ten, he realized he truly had a passion to sing for the glory of God, with whom he began to build a long-lasting relationship. He studied Management at LInstitut Superieur de Biblioeconomie et de Gestion and later moved to Miami, FL, where he earned a degree in computer business application. ### Xulon Press, a division of Salem Media Group, is the worlds largest Christian self-publisher, with more than 15,000 titles published to date.That Little Thing is available online through xulonpress.com/bookstore, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com. A brazen scam has seen a retired nurse swindled out of $15,000 after being intimidated on the phone by a fake cop, police allege. The 66-year-old woman from Randwick in Sydney's east got a call on February 17 from another woman claiming to work for the Australian Taxation Office. The caller allegedly threatened the victim, a recently retired nurse, before transferring the call to a 21-year-old MD Mohaiminul Kabir Chisty, who claimed to be a police officer. After being harassed over the phone for a number of hours, she eventually withdrew $15,000 from her bank account, police allege. The 66-year-old was scammed out of $15,000 last month in a terrifying scam, police claim The scammers claimed to work for the Australian Taxation Office when they contacted the victim, police say Police from the Eastern Beaches Police Area Command launched an investigation into the matter and later charged a man About 1.30pm on the same day, Chisty arrived at the womans home where she manged to take a photo of the alleged offender before handing over the money, police say. The victim reported the incident to Eastern Beaches Police Area Command, who launched an investigation. Detectives later arrested Chisty, 21, at Maroubra Police Station on Friday. He was charged with dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception. Chisty, from Wollongong on the NSW south coast, was refused bail and appeared at Parramatta Local Court on Saturday. DUBLIN, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Pet Food 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 pet food market as it emerges from the COVID-19 shut down. The global pet food market is expected to grow from $72.07 billion in 2020 to $75.29 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5%. 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 $90.32 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 5%. Reasons to Purchase Gain a truly global perspective with the most comprehensive report available on this market covering 50+ geographies. Understand how the market is being affected by the coronavirus and how it is likely to emerge and grow as the impact of the virus abates. Create regional and country strategies on the basis of local data and analysis. Identify growth segments for investment. Outperform competitors using forecast data and the drivers and trends shaping the market. Understand customers based on the latest market research findings. Benchmark performance against key competitors. Utilize the relationships between key data sets for superior strategizing. Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high quality data and analysis Description: Where is the largest and fastest growing market for the pet food? How does the market relate to the overall economy, demography and other similar markets? What forces will shape the market going forward? The Pet Food market global report answers all these questions and many more. The report covers market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional and country breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends and strategies for this market. It traces the market's historic and forecast market growth by geography. It places the market within the context of the wider pet food market, and compares it with other markets. The market characteristics section of the report defines and explains the market. The market size section gives the market size ($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 pet food market section of the report gives context. It compares the pet food market with other segments of the animal and pet food market by size and growth, historic and forecast. It analyses GDP proportion, expenditure per capita, pet food indicators comparison. Major companies in the pet food market include Mars; Nestle S.A.; The J.M. Smucker Company; Colgate-Palmolive Company and Diamond Pet Foods Inc. The pet food market consists sales of goods and services by entities (organizations, sole traders and partnerships) associated with manufacturing cat and dog food and other animal food from ingredients such as grains, oilseed mill products and meat products. The industry includes the establishments that produce dog food, cat food, and other animal food. Other animal includes birds, mammals and aquatic animals. This market does not include agricultural animal food. The pet food market is segmented into dog and cat food and other pet food. North America was the largest region in the global pet food market, accounting for 38% of the market in 2020. Western Europe was the second largest region accounting for 22% of the global pet food market. Middle East was the smallest region in the global pet food market. Pet food manufacturing companies are using automation technologies such as advanced production lines and software solutions to improve safety and operational efficiency. These technologies automate formulation, batching, drying, coating and liquid delivery processes. This results in cost-effective processing and consistent product quality. For example, Champion Petfoods, a Canadian producer of pet food, has video monitored production lines, with cooking processes connected through Rockwell hardware and software systems. It also uses bulk bins and conveying systems, votator heat exchangers and advanced extrusion and drying systems. United Pet Group's pet food manufacturing plant in St. Louis used FactoryTalk software from Rockwell Automation to reduce overtime by 10% and increase labor efficiency by 15%. The outbreak of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has acted as a massive restraint on the pet food manufacturing market in 2020 as supply chains were disrupted due to trade restrictions and consumption declined due to lockdowns imposed by governments globally. 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. Food and beverage manufacturers depend on supply of raw materials from domestic and international suppliers. As many governments restricted the movement of goods across countries and locally, manufacturers had to halt production due to lack of raw materials. Also, restrictions on trade of non-essential goods and fear of contamination through manufacturing facilities contributed to the decline. The outbreak is expected to continue to have a negative impact on businesses throughout 2020 and into 2021. However, it is expected that the pet food manufacturing 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. The pet food manufacturing market growth is aided by stable economic growth forecasted in many developed and developing countries. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that the global GDP growth will be 3.3% in 2020 and 3.4% in 2021. Recovering commodity prices, after a significant decline in the historic period is further expected to aid the market growth. Developed economies are also expected to register stable growth during the forecast period. Additionally, emerging markets are expected to continue to grow slightly faster than the developed markets in the forecast period. Stable economic growth is expected to increase investments in the end user markets, thereby driving the market during forecast period. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary 2. Report Structure 3. Pet Food Market Characteristics 3.1. Market Definition 3.2. Key Segmentations 4. Pet Food Market Product Analysis 4.1. Leading Products/ Services 4.2. Key Features and Differentiators 4.3. Development Products 5. Pet Food Market Supply Chain 5.1. Supply Chain 5.2. Distribution 5.3. End Customers 6. Pet Food Market Customer Information 6.1. Customer Preferences 6.2. End Use Market Size and Growth 7. Pet Food Market Trends And Strategies 8. Impact Of COVID-19 On Pet Food 9. Pet Food 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. Pet Food Market Regional Analysis 10.1. Global Pet Food Market, 2020, By Region, Value ($ Billion) 10.2. Global Pet Food Market, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, Historic And Forecast, By Region 10.3. Global Pet Food Market, Growth And Market Share Comparison, By Region 11. Pet Food Market Segmentation 11.1. Global Pet Food Market, Segmentation By Type 11.2. Global Pet Food Market, Segmentation By Distribution Channel 11.3. Global Pet Food Market, Segmentation By Ingredients 12. Pet Food Market Segments 12.1. Global Dog And Cat Food Market, Segmentation By Type, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, Value ($ Billion) - Dog Food; Cat Food 12.2. Global Other Pet Food Market, Segmentation By Type, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, Value ($ Billion) 13. Pet Food Market Metrics 13.1. Pet Food Market Size, Percentage Of GDP, 2015-2025, Global 13.2. Per Capita Average Pet Food Market Expenditure, 2015-2025, Global 14. Asia-Pacific Pet Food Market 15. Western Europe Pet Food Market 16. Eastern Europe Pet Food Market 17. North America Pet Food Market 18. South America Pet Food Market 19. Middle East Pet Food Market 20. Africa Pet Food Market 21. Pet Food Market Competitive Landscape 21.1. Competitive Market Overview 21.2. Market Shares 21.3. Company Profiles 21.3.1. Mars 21.3.1.1. Company Overview 21.3.1.2. Products And Services 21.3.1.3. Strategy 21.3.1.4. Financial Performance 21.3.2. Nestle S.A. 21.3.2.1. Company Overview 21.3.2.2. Products And Services 21.3.2.3. Strategy 21.3.2.4. Financial Performance 21.3.3. The J.M. Smucker Company 21.3.3.1. Company Overview 21.3.3.2. Products And Services 21.3.3.3. Strategy 21.3.3.4. Financial Performance 21.3.4. Colgate-Palmolive Company 21.3.4.1. Company Overview 21.3.4.2. Products And Services 21.3.4.3. Strategy 21.3.4.4. Financial Performance 21.3.5. Diamond Pet Foods Inc. 21.3.5.1. Company Overview 21.3.5.2. Products And Services 21.3.5.3. Strategy 21.3.5.4. Financial Performance 22. Key Mergers And Acquisitions In The Pet Food Market 23. Market Background: Animal And Pet Food Market 23.1. Animal And Pet Food Market Characteristics 23.2. Animal And Pet Food Market Historic and Forecast, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F Growth, By Segment, Value ($ Billion), Global 23.3. Global Animal And Pet Food Market, 2020, By Region, Value ($ Billion) 23.4. Global Animal And Pet Food Market, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, Historic And Forecast, By Region 23.5. Global Animal And Pet Food Market, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, Segmentation By Type, Value ($ Billion) 24. Recommendations 24.1. Global Pet Food Market In 2025- Growth Countries 24.2. Global Pet Food Market In 2025- Growth Segments 24.3. Global Pet Food Market In 2025- Growth Strategies 25. Appendix 25.1. NAICS Definitions Of Industry Covered In This Report 25.2. Abbreviations 25.3. Currencies 25.4. Research Inquiries 25.5. About the Publisher 26. Copyright And Disclaimer For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/6yc1th 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 Property owners can sue title insurers who charged them rates without first filing them with the state insurance commissioner, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a case that could affect millions of Californians. The insurers cover any losses borrowers or lenders suffer from defects discovered in property ownership titles during real estate transactions. When the insurers want to set new rates, state law requires them to file their proposals with the commissioner. But unlike most other insurers in California, title insurers do not need the commissions approval to put those rates in effect 30 days afterward, though they can face consequences later for having violated legal standards. Two homeowners in Santa Clara County, in a class-action suit on behalf of other customers, accused Fidelity National Title Insurance of illegally charging them fees for title services during their mortgage refinancing without first submitting them to the state commissioners office. A state appeals court rejected the suit, saying it was barred by state law and that customers only option was to ask the insurance commissioner to rule the rates illegal. The states high court unanimously disagreed Thursday and said consumers could sue over rates that had not been filed with the commissioners office. State law authorizes only charges for filed rates, Justice Leondra Kruger said in the 7-0 ruling. She noted that Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, who filed arguments in the case, and his four predecessors had all agreed that state law does not protect insurers from being sued for charging unauthorized rates. If a title insurer, for example, charged higher rates to African Americans buying homes in certain neighborhoods, Kruger said, under Fidelitys view (of the law), the illegality would make no difference; a consumer aggrieved by the discriminatory rate could not sue. Rejecting the companys argument that customers should have to file their claims with the commissioners office, Kruger said the commissioner can only halt the charging of unauthorized rates and suspend an insurers license, but cannot order compensation for past overcharges. The ruling has a huge impact on 500,000 (customers) who Fidelity charged an illegal rate to, said the plaintiffs lawyer, Bernie Bernheim. He said it would apply to other title insurance companies and to other types of insurers, such as workers compensation carriers, and could lead to similar rulings affecting auto and homeowners insurers. The decision was also hailed by attorney Harvey Rosenfield, founder of the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog and author of Proposition 103, the 1988 initiative that required auto and property insurers to obtain the state commissioners approval before any rate changes. Prop. 103 did not apply to title insurance. This is a victory for the tens of millions of Californians who are confronted by a bewildering array of unexpected and unfair fees and charges when they buy, sell, or refinance their homes, Rosenfield said. Greg Wolff, a lawyer for Fidelity, said the ruling would chiefly benefit plaintiffs lawyers, resulting in more costly litigation ultimately paid for by consumers. The case is Villanueva vs. Fidelity National Title Co., S252035. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko COLUMBIA A federal judge temporarily blocked South Carolina's abortion ban from taking effect March 19, ruling that the so-called "fetal heartbeat" law is likely to be found unconstitutional after lengthier court hearings. U.S. District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis granted a preliminary injunction, which will provide a more lasting halt to the ban than when she issued a brief temporary restraining order against it in February, one day after Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed it into law. In a 22-page ruling, Lewis shot down all of the claims from lawyers representing the state, writing that "it is nothing short of baffling when Defendants here make the fanciful, misbegotten, and misguided argument that the Act is constitutional, although surely, all the while knowing full well that it is not." "This case does not present a close call," Lewis wrote. "In fact, based on the law, the Court is unable to fathom how another court could decide this issue differently than how this Court has decided it." The South Carolina law, similar to bills passed in about a dozen other conservative states, would prohibit abortions after a fetal or embryonic "heartbeat" is detected, which typically occurs around six to eight weeks into a pregnancy. A fetus is generally not considered viable outside of the womb until around 24 weeks into a pregnancy. Lewis noted that courts "have universally invalidated laws that ban abortions beginning at a gestational age prior to viability." "Consequently, because the Court holds the Act bans abortion months before any fetus could be viable, Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claim that the Act is unconstitutional," Lewis wrote. In an extra blow to McMaster and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, Lewis also rejected arguments from the state's lawyers that other parts of the law, such as requirements for physicians to show ultrasounds to women seeking abortions, should be upheld even if the section of the law banning abortions is struck down. As a result, the entire law will be blocked from taking effect as longer court hearings proceed. The expected move kickstarts what is likely to become a years-long legal process. Supporters of the abortion ban say their ultimate goal is to get the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case and reverse or substantially amend its precedent that women have a constitutional right to abortion access before a fetus is viable outside the womb. Planned Parenthood immediately filed the lawsuit hours before McMaster signed the bill into law. Wilson said he believes the law is constitutional and "deserves a vigorous defense to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary." Lewis rebuked the idea that new conservative justices on the Supreme Court are "secretly scheming" to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that found women have a constitutional right to abortion access, saying she "has a much higher opinion of the High Court than that." Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! After all, Lewis noted, many judges who were personally opposed to abortion have upheld that right in other rulings. "Those judges and justices individual opinions on the matter was and is immaterial to their rulings," Lewis wrote. "And, that is as it should be." And Lewis further rebuffed any claims that the politics of the president who nominated her, former President Barack Obama, had anything to do with her decision, saying "judges are not politicians in robes" and suggestions to the contrary are "misinformed at best, and highly offensive at worst." "When the history of the District of South Carolina Court is written, it will show that we were neither liberals nor conservatives, Democrats nor Republicans," Lewis wrote. "It will instead establish that we did our level best to follow the law. That is certainly what the Court has done here." Wilson and the other defendants could now decide whether to appeal Lewis' initial ruling to the higher Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals or proceed to more extensive arguments in her courtroom. In a brief statement after the ruling, Wilson did not indicate what his next steps will be. "It is the constitutional duty of this office to defend in court any law enacted by our General Assembly," Wilson said. McMaster's spokesman Brian Symmes referred to comments the governor made a week before the ruling at a news conference, where he said the abortion lawsuit is "a fight worth having." "The right to life is very important," McMaster said. "This state is overwhelmingly in favor of that bill, and we will do whatever it takes, however long it takes, to see that the right to life is protected in South Carolina." Planned Parenthood officials cheered the ruling, but the organization's president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson also said they "know there is a long road ahead as the fight to preserve abortion access intensifies by the day." "Make no mistake: politicians across the country have made it clear they wont stop until access to abortion is completely out of reach," Johnson said. "Since Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court, we have seen an onslaught of attacks, with more than 280 abortion bills filed. Planned Parenthood and our partners will not back down." The Supreme Court has yet to take up a pending case over a Mississippi law that would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Similar laws to South Carolinas ban in close to a dozen other states have all been held up in the courts. This is the hilarious moment a miniature donkey saw off a hungry steer who was trying to raid its food trough. Wallace, a 800kg Scottish Highland steer, was seeking to raid the smaller animal's trough but was thwarted by the donkey. The incident was filmed in on the Montage Estate, which is at the base of Mount Macedon, in Victoria. Wallace, an 800kg Highland steer, who weighs twice as much as the miniature donkey was chased off by the smaller animal The donkey performed a series of kicks to warn Wallace away from its food trough Owner Sharon Timmermans said she gave Wallace a brush 'to let him know he was still loved' Miniature donkeys weigh up to 450kg and grow up to 90cm tall. Sharon Timmermans shared the footage on March 15, saying: 'Just when Wallace thought he was the Boss.' She added: 'I had to give big Wallace a brush to let him know he was still loved.' Several social media users said they had sympathy for Wallace who was denied a extra food by the donkey. One person describing themselves as Donkey Pong said: 'Yes! Pulling rank when it counts.' Another said: 'That was the best thing I've seen all day. Go donkey!' A third person suggested: 'Donkeys are just bad a****.' Amaravati/New Delhi, March 19 : Rebel Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party's (YSRCP) Narasapuram Member of Parliament Kanumuru Raghu Ramakrishna Raju on Friday met with President Ram Nath Kovind and claimed that the Andhra Pradesh government is allegedly filing fake police cases against him. He blamed Achanta MLA and state Housing Minister Cherukuvada Sriranganadha Raju for allegedly orchestrating the police cases on him. Raju claimed that he has been raising his voice and questioning the alleged misdeeds of the YSRCP government as a 'responsible' citizen but allegedly earning harassment in return. "I am raising my voice and questioning the aspects of my state government's misdeeds pounding heavy burden upon the people as a result, and also leading to the demolition of democratic values with its mischiefs in the state," claimed Raju. According to the Narasapuram MP, Sriranganadha Raju allegedly provoked many people in Achanta constituency to file false cases against him, allegedly leading up to seven FIRs being registered against him. "Due to this kind of state government's overtly intolerant and arrogant attitude, the situation is so grieving that even I am unable to visit my own Parliamentary constituency. The state government is demolishing all of my basic democratic and fundamental rights," he alleged. Raju informed the President that the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act is allegedly being misused to curb any voice of dissent. Allegedly because of these hiccups, he claimed that he is unable to implement government schemes endorsed by the Prime Minister. "Motivated by the call of PM for Sansad Adarsh Grama Yojana, I have even prepared complete planning to make five villages in my constituency as model villages," claimed the MP who is known to be close to many Telugu movie actors. He also claimed that he even planned to implement 'Azad Ka Amrit Mahotsav' in a 'grand' manner in Narasapuram constituency but allegedly the state government is trying to suppress his own Azadi (freedom) with its unbridled power. "Kindly, please intervene in this issue to check this kind of blatant abuse of power by this state government which don't allow even a Parliamentarian to perform his duties freely in a democratic manner," he claimed to Kovind. The rebel MP requested the President to give the required orders to the state government on this alleged issue. From the past several months, Raju has adopted a confrontational approach with the YSRCP government and is openly attacking it through various interviews, talk shows, comments, mockery and other forms. Raju mostly features in those vernacular television channels and dailies which are opposed to the state government and majorly puts forth his allegations of religious conversions, reservations and threats to Hinduism. He joined the YSRCP just a few days before the 2019 elections and managed to win from the Narasapuram Lok Sabha constituency under the YSRCP ticket. Raju rarely visited his constituency after winning the election though he made tall claims to the President about adopting villages and other projects. From the past several months, he mostly divided his time between Delhi and Hyderabad. The MP recently underwent a bypass surgery in Mumbai and before that faced the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids on his offices and residences for allegedly defaulting on bank loans worth hundreds of crores of rupees. He emerged as a thorn in the flesh for Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy who is avoiding Raju in all ways. Though he claimed to be a YSRCP MP, recently for Sankranti festival and his purported visit to Bhimavaram in West Godavari district, billboards featuring Raju were erected across the town which were devoid of any YSRCP insignia, indicating his level proximity to the ruling party. Despite Raju's negative publicity efforts on Reddy and the state government on a daily basis, YSRCP managed to triumph in the rural and urban local bodies polls with landslide victories. Raju hails from lush green West Godavari district renowned for its peace and tranquility and stellar communal harmony. Except a few reporters, the U.S-China ministerial summit held in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 18 hardly stirred local excitement from the largely nonchalant residents. South China Morning Post "There's a meeting? How curious. Why it would be in Anchorage?" Jim Moore, a retired motorcycle racer and Alaska native, asked about talks between US and Chinese officials this week. "We're just a speck on the map. We're about as far away as you can get from things. That's why most of us live here." The two-day gathering involving US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi started on Thursday with a light snow falling, and it is the biggest geopolitical event for Alaska in years. But you wouldn't know it here on the ground in this famously self-reliant state far from the federal halls of power. There are no welcoming banners and near-empty streets around the delegation's respective hotels located near the Once in a Blue Moose gift shop and "No 1 Haunted House in America" other than an occasional Chinese TV crew doing a live stand-up in the snow. Nor was there much mention in the local papers. Among the main stories in Wednesday's Anchorage Daily News were a projection on the 2021 salmon harvest (things look good) and a front-page story on a dogsled musher recovering from a head injury and dislocated arm. "I hadn't heard," said medical worker Sarah Sweeney, dressed in mud-caked brown boots and a green jacket for a trip to the grocery store. "In Anchorage? Cool." Several locals were quick to provide an earful on Washington, however, how near useless and corrupt the national government is, even though by some measures Alaska has the second-highest "federal dependency ranking" after New Mexico, receiving US$2.88 in federal spending for every tax dollar paid. Visitor Information Center at Anchorage, the city that enjoys robust trade ties with China, largely seafoods / South China Morning Post And most had pronounced views on China more generally, which many saw as an increasingly robust superpower that must be handled warily. "China is a country to watch," said James Smith, a handyman and marijuana seller, handing over a card promoting his "fine herbery". "I hear they're on their way to becoming a superpower." "I also hear they can throw up cities, build 40,000 apartments in a month. We can't do 40,000 unless it's Lego," added Smith, who does construction. "But the thing for me is building codes. You can't blaze things up that fast without problems. And the regime is such that you can't speak up against it." Alaska enjoys robust trade ties with China, which is its largest foreign export destination, roughly two-thirds of which involves seafood. The state weathered the combative policies of the Trump administration and trade war relatively well. "Fortunately we didn't suffer too badly," said Greg Wolf, executive director of the World Trade Centre Alaska. "A lot of our products, because they're natural resources rather than manufactured goods, we were less affected than many other states. Our exports did take a dip in 2019 but it recovered in 2020." China takes a quarter of Alaska's shipments abroad; exports were US$1 billion in 2018, dropping to US$855 million in 2019, and rebounding to US$1.1 in 2020. The Captain Cook Hotel is pictured in Anchorage, Alaska, where talks between U.S. and Chinese delegations took place on Thursday, March 18, 2021. AP The way Julia Lenz, a retired biologist in Anchorage, sees it, sitting down with China probably needs to be done, since it's too big to ignore, and why not in Alaska. But she expressed strong concerns over Beijing's human rights record concerns members of the US delegation have voiced repeatedly and the way China seems to thumb its nose at global norms. "You always need to be cautious when dealing with China. They're expanding out everywhere," she said. Analysts said Alaska was chosen as the venue because Beijing was more eager for the meeting, allowing Washington which has been downplaying its significance to impose terms in the dance of diplomatic protocol. These included that it be on US soil but without the prestige or recognition that a Washington meeting would carry. "Distance matters," said Zhiqun Zhu, chairman of the international relations department at Bucknell University. "If it were held in DC, they would have to change the nature of the meeting." China would have happily flown many hours farther to Washington to change that nature, he added. "But this is not an official meeting," he said. "This tells us a lot about the status of relations, which is not good." Locals said they couldn't remember a meeting of this stature or importance involving two nations sitting across a negotiating table that, combined, account for nearly half the world's economy and much of its military might. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 2nd right, joined by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, right, speaks while facing Yang Jiechi, 2nd left, director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office, and Wang Yi, left, China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister, at the opening session of U.S.-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. March 18, 2021. REUTERS-Yonhap Hudson, NY (12534) Today Cloudy early. Scattered thunderstorms developing later in the day. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High near 75F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Thunderstorms in the evening, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 62F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. A person holds a sign with photographs of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who have been detained in China since December, 2018, as people gather for a rally in Vancouver, B.C., Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. China is defending the way it has handled the cases of two Canadians who have been detained in the country for more than two years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck 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. 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 12:05:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- China will hold the fourth summit on digital development in Fuzhou, the capital city of southeast China's Fujian Province, from April 25 to 26, the organizers said Friday. The 4th Digital China Summit, themed "stimulating new dynamics of data factors and embarking on a new journey for Digital China," will be held both online and offline, said Yang Xiaowei, deputy head of the Cyberspace Administration of China, at a press conference. Enditem You'll receive FIVE of our top national magazines, including Discover Taos Winter Edition, Discover Taos Summer Edition, Taos Gallery Guide, Fall Festivals, and Best of Taos, delivered to your home address anywhere in the US for the special low rate of $55. In addition, you'll receive access for a full year to all content on TaosNews.com, including the e-edition digital replica, and a weekly digest of what's happening in arts and entertainment in Taos! Syracuse, N.Y. Syracuse schools want to bring their youngest students back to the classroom for five days a week, starting April 12. Laura Kelley, the districts chief academic officer, outlined the plan to return kids to school for more days this evening in a video chat. Parents can choose either the new option with more days or students can be completely remote. The current hybrid option will not continue. Under the proposal all of the changes would begin April 12: Students in grades prek-5 would return to school for five days a week. Their school day would go from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students in grades 6-8 would be returning for four days a week, with Wednesday remaining a virtual day. Their day would go 8:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. in-person and online for the rest of the school day. High school students would be able to go to school for two days; now they are able to go to school one day. They would go either Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday. Their day would also be 8:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and online for the rest of the school day. The school board will review the plan Monday and letters will go out to families next week. Onondaga County earlier this month encouraged districts to bring kids back to the classroom for five days, saying districts could reduce distancing from 6 feet to 3 feet if they used plastic dividers. The county has ordered dividers for districts that wanted them; Syracuse already has 12,000 dividers because it has been using them since students returned to the classroom in October. Superintendent Jaime Alicea said he has ordered 15,000 more dividers so they can be used in the cafeterias and libraries. The district is also working to get rapid Covid-19 testing available again in the schools, as it had been earlier in the year. Alicea said he is waiting for more details on whether the district can add more students on buses. He said the current guidance only allows for 22 students. The district is looking into whether they can put more students on buses if they wear face shields. Im committed to getting all the kids back, Alicea said. The district has 20,000 students in 31 schools. About half of them want to return to in-person school, Kelley said. Earlier this month, about 60% of district families completed a survey that asked them if they wanted their children to attend more days of school. Of those, 63% said they wanted more in-person school. Some of the families said they wanted to switch their children from fully remote to full in-person, Alicea said earlier this month. The school delayed its in-person start until Oct. 5, making it the latest start in Onondaga County. Some other large urban districts around the state, though, still have not reopened their classrooms to students at all. The Syracuse Teachers Association, which represents more than 3,000 teachers and other staff in the district, had been critical of plans to bring more students back to the classroom, which requires reducing the distancing in classrooms from 6 feet to 3 feet. The proposal released tonight requires all teachers to return to the classroom April 6. Marnie Eisenstadt writes about people, public affairs and the Syracuse City School District. Contact her anytime email | Twitter| cell 315-470-2246. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-18 21:03:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Aerial photo taken on May 11, 2020 shows residential houses built for farmers in Lyuliang Township of Jinhu County, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua/Li Bo) CHANGSHA, March 18 (Xinhua) -- China's experience in combating poverty, the South-South cooperation in poverty alleviation and human rights protection were discussed at a side-event to the 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council held online on Wednesday. The seminar was attended by nearly 20 scholars from countries including China, Germany, the Netherlands, Egypt and South Africa. Li Yunlong, a professor with the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, introduced China's experience in poverty alleviation, such as the development-oriented poverty alleviation, the leading role of government, huge investment, pairing-up aid and anti-corruption in poverty reduction. Speaking at the event, Tom Zwart, director of the Cross-cultural Human Rights Centre, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, said China's achievement of promoting human rights by lifting people out of poverty should be recognized and its experience is worthy of learning by other countries. Ye Yuzhu introduces tea to the audience via livestreaming at the tea market in Songyang County of Lishui City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Jiang Han) Instead of giving "handouts" to poor people, the targeted poverty alleviation policy encourages them to cast off poverty through their own hard work, said Zwart, adding that the policy is a good example of China's people-centered development. Augastine Hungwe, also from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, noted that poverty alleviation and human rights should rely on local and grassroots experiences and perspectives for sustainable effectiveness, and should have a bottom-up approach and be inclusive. China has paid great attention to the comprehensive and coordinated development of various rights of poor people in the whole poverty reduction process, said Mao Junxiang, executive director of the Human Rights Center of Changsha-based Central South University, one of the organizers of the seminar. Xiao Junyong, deputy director of the center for science, technology and human rights at Beijing Institute of Technology, noted that by adopting effective poverty alleviation measures, China has contributed immensely to reducing the global development deficit with its achievement. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 02:18:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Aerial photo taken on Aug. 17, 2020 shows the container dock of Yangshan Port in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Ding Ting) In the first month of 2021, the EU exported goods to the value of 16.1 billion euros (about 19.2 billion U.S. dollars) to China, up by 6.6 percent year-on-year, while the imports from China declined by 3.8 percent to 33.3 billion euros. BRUSSELS, March 18 (Xinhua) -- China maintained its position as the European Union (EU)'s largest trading partner as of January, according to data published by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, on Thursday. In the first month of 2021, the EU exported goods to the value of 16.1 billion euros (about 19.2 billion U.S. dollars) to China, up by 6.6 percent year-on-year, while the imports from China declined by 3.8 percent to 33.3 billion euros. Since July 2020, China has been the bloc's top trading partner, a position previously held by the U.S., according to the EU's statistical body. A total of goods worth 28.2 billion euros were exported from the EU to the U.S. in January, 9.6 percent less than in the same period of last year. More notably, the goods imports from the U.S. shrank by 26.3 percent year-on-year, according to Eurostat. Britain, the former EU member state, saw a remarkable slump in trade with the EU in January, as it formally broke up with the bloc after a transition period, thus the trade in goods between them is now subject to customs. According to Eurostat, EU exports to and imports from Britain in January dropped by 27.4 percent and 59.5 percent respectively. Nevertheless, Britain remained the EU's third-largest trading partner, following China and the U.S. The EU recorded an 8.4-billion-euro surplus in trade in goods with the rest of the world in January, although exports and imports were down by 10.8 percent and 16.9 percent year-on-year respectively. (1 euro = 1.19 U.S. dollars) File photo taken on May 17, 2018 shows a container dock of Yangshan Port in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe) Ontario Premier Doug Ford attends a press conference after touring a mass COVID-19 vaccination site during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hamilton, Ont., on March 18, 2021. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press) MPP Roman Baber Sues Ford Government Over COVID-19 Lockdown Measures MPP Roman Baber has filed a lawsuit against the Ontario governments COVID-19 lockdown measures. Baber, who was removed from the Progressive Conservative caucus over his stance on lockdowns, said the lawsuit aims to strike down Premier Doug Fords Reopening Ontario Act as unconstitutional. I sued the Attorney General of Ontario for our right to protest, pray and gather outdoors, Baber wrote on Twitter. The risk of transmission outdoors is exceedingly low, but the Governments outdoor restrictions deny Ontarians their fundamental freedoms. In his 14-page court file to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Baber stated that the provincial law violates Ontarians Charter rights and the rights of free association, the free expression of ideas and peaceful assembly, including for protests, the Toronto Star reported. The court filings said prohibiting worshippers from gathering outside the Jewish Russian Community Centre of Ontario in Toronto or elsewhere is unconstitutional. Baber said the outdoor restrictions in the Reopening Ontario Act are inconsistent with their purpose or over-intrusive and therefore in violation of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. Baber was ousted from the PC caucus in January after writing an open letter opposing the lockdown measures. The lockdown isnt working. Its causing an avalanche of suicides, overdoses, bankruptcies, divorces and takes an immense toll on our children, he wrote. Ford called Babers comments irresponsible. Prior to Babers ousting, Cambridge MPP Belinda Karahalios was expelled from the Tory caucus in July 2020 after voting against the Reopening Ontario Act, which she said was an unnecessary overreach on our parliamentary democracy. During a press conference on Tuesday, Ford said he does not regret having imposed some of the most stringent COVID-19 restrictions in North America. Im going to stick with what Ive done right from the beginning, Im going to stick with health and science and work with them collaboratively, Ford said. I will always, always listen to the chief medical officer [and] his team because theyre the professionals when it comes to health care, and Im not, he said. Editors note: The headline for this article incorrectly stated MPP Roman Babers current status as an MPP. The Epoch Times regrets the error. Credit: CC0 Public Domain The 'dengue belt' stretches around much of the planet crossing continents, cultures and time zones, a vast region linked by a common fate: a mosquito-borne disease that can be prevented for a select number of people with a somewhat quirky vaccine. Dengue, however, remains a source of misery for many, a viral infection without an antiviral to treat it. The need for an antiviral is enormous. Forty percent of the world's populationabout 3 billion peopleresides in regions at risk of dengue infection, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Each year up to 400 million people are infected, 100 million get seriously sick and 22,000 die of severe dengue. Scientists are increasingly conducting what once was an arduous task of finding "a needle in a haystack," pinpointing a compound from an existing archive of thousands of compounds. The reason for such hunts is to find a compound capable of treating any given disease. In general, so-called 'big data' scans are allowing hunts through massive libraries of chemical data. This type of search has been mounted to uncover a compound to treat dengue, and a discovery by one research group has already begun to produce positive results. "Dengue virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that lacks any effective antiviral treatments," wrote Dr. Stephanie A. Moquin, first author on a research paper about a big data hunt for a dengue antiviral. The research, conducted by a team from the Novartis pharmaceutical company, was published in Science Translational Medicine. "There are four serotypes of dengue virus, all of which can cause disease, including dengue fever, dengue shock syndrome [and] dengue hemorrhagic fever. Thus, an antiviral drug needs to be effective against all four serotypes," according to Moquin and her colleagues. Although a vaccine was approved in 2019 to prevent infection, it remains of limited use. The inoculation is prescribed only for people between the ages of nine and 45 and it can be administered only to those who previously were infected. Worse, the vaccine has the dubious reputation of causing severe disease in some people. That's one reason that scientists have been on the hunt for an antiviral capable of effectively treating the infection. An efficacious antiviral would be immediately welcomed into the pharmaceutical armamentarium. The mosquito-transmitted virus can cause an excruciatingly painful constellation of symptomsa disease marked by soaring fever, headache, swollen glands and an indescribable amount of pain in the joints. It's no accident that ages ago the viral disease was widely known as breakbone fever. Moquin and her team hail mostly from the global laboratories and research centers of the pharmaceutical giant, which is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. Although Novartis experts dominated the hunt for a dengue antiviral, they were aided by the Institute of Antiviral Research at the University of Utah. Novartis team members were scattered all over the United StatesCalifornia, New Jersey and Massachusetts, and they collaborated with colleagues at the Novartis Institute for Tropical Medicine Research in Singapore. The team had at their disposaland used as their primary sourcethe vast Novartis compound library, which afforded a staggering number of details about potential candidates. Similar searches in recent months have involved the compound libraries of other pharmaceutical companies as scientists have searched for potential medications that can be re-purposed to treat COVID-19. Such searches are not new to pharmaceutical drug development, and increasingly have been used in the hunt for medications to address a wide range of conditions: antibiotic resistance, cancer and heart disease, for example. The hunts also can include searches of shelved and forgotten compounds from other eras. NITD-688, a pan-serotype dengue virus inhibitor, is effective in mice and is well tolerated with favorable pharmacokinetics in animal models. Credit: Cally Wolk, Novartis Scientists search the libraries of chemical compounds for potential drugs that can keenly attack specific disease-causing targets. "We performed a high-throughput phenotypic screen using the Novartis compound library and identified candidate chemical inhibitors of dengue virus," Moquin reported. "This chemical series was optimized to improve properties such as anti-dengue virus potency and solubility. "The lead compound, NITD-688, showed strong potency against all four serotypes of dengue virus and demonstrated excellent oral efficacy in infected AG129 mice." AG129 mice are deficient in alpha, beta and gamma interferon receptor-signaling. Interferons are a group of signaling proteins made and released by host cells in response to the presence of viruses. Generally, a virus-infected cell releases interferonschemical messengersthat cause neighboring cells to bolster their defenses. AG129 mice are commonly used in dengue research. What scientists found in the small animal tests was surprisinga substantial reduction in viremia when mice were treated orally at 30 milligrams per kilogram twice daily for 3 days starting at the time of infection. Viremia is the amount of virus in the bloodstream. Treatment with the compound, NITD-688, also resulted in further viremia reduction when mice were treated again 48 hours after infection. To test their hypothesis that NITD-688 may indeed be a potent antiviral with a high level of specificity for all four serotypes of the dengue virus, the team additionally tested the compound in laboratory rats and dogs, and additionally found the compound to be well-tolerated and produced a sharp decline in viremia. The compound works against the virus because it inhibits the activity of a key dengue virus protein: NS4B. That molecule is vital to the dengue virus's replication complex, and therefore essential to the viral life cycle. NS4B works in tandem with another viral protein, NS4A. But with NS4B disabled by the newly identified compound, the pair can no longer perform their jobs maintaining vital functions of the virus. Dengue viruses are spread by two mosquito species that are common throughout many parts of the world, and especially in the dengue belt. Aedes aegypti, for example, originated in Africa, but is found around the globe, including throughout much of the United States, according to the CDC. Aedes albopictus is the other mosquito carrier of dengue viruses. It too, is found globally. In addition to dengue, the same two mosquito species transmit Zika and chikungunya viruses. The ongoing concern about these mosquitoesflying hypodermic needlesis that their range throughout the dengue belt is where they do considerable harm. Dengue is often a leading cause of illness in areas that are at risk. The belt covers Central America and the Caribbean, most of South America, sub-Saharan Africa, India, and South East Asia, according to the World Health Organization. So far, the future looks bright for the drug candidate, NITD-688. "Pharmacokinetic studies in rats and dogs showed a long elimination half-life and good oral bioavailability," Moquin wrote. "Extensive in vitro safety profiling along with exploratory rat and dog toxicology studies showed that NITD-688 was well tolerated after 7-day repeat dosing, demonstrating that NITD-688 may be a promising preclinical candidate for the treatment of dengue." Explore further Dengue fever: what you need to know More information: Stephanie A. Moquin et al. NITD-688, a pan-serotype inhibitor of the dengue virus NS4B protein, shows favorable pharmacokinetics and efficacy in preclinical animal models, Science Translational Medicine (2021). Journal information: Science Translational Medicine Stephanie A. Moquin et al. NITD-688, a pan-serotype inhibitor of the dengue virus NS4B protein, shows favorable pharmacokinetics and efficacy in preclinical animal models,(2021). DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abb2181 2021 Science X Network CASPER Wyoming was pummeled with one of the biggest snowstorms in the states history this weekend. The storm dropped more than two feet of snow in many parts of the state, leading to power outages, stalled travel and shuttered schools. What caused this weekends massive storm? Local meteorologists said a low pressure system brought a significant amount of tropical moisture up into the high plains. That high level of moisture, pulled in from the southwest, meant the snow had a lot of water content. High wind gusts mixed with heavy moisture led to sustained blizzard conditions, es... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Oftentimes, points of inspiration pop up. One is forced to pay attention. For Tiller Russell, the idea for the film Silk Road came from a series of events. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ He was aware of Ross Ulbricht, creator of the darknet website Silk Road, and his arrest in 2013. The story caught my attention the day after Ross was arrested; I started to read the headlines and felt there was a compelling story, Russell says during an interview from his New Mexico home. In 2014, Rolling Stone published the article Dead End on Silk Road: Internet Crime Kingpin Ross Ulbrichts Big Fall, by David Kushner. What I found so striking is this piece was a humanist portrait of Ross, he says. There was a way into this story. Years later, Russells film Silk Road is available to the masses for rent or purchase. The crime thriller follows the rise and fall of Silk Road, the infamous darknet market website that sent a seismic shock through the internet. It follows Ulbricht, played by Nick Robinson, as he creates the internets first unregulated marketplace. But when it becomes a multimillion-dollar pipeline for illicit drugs, Ulbricht is set on a collision course with Rick Bowden, played by Jason Clarke, a disreputable and dangerously unpredictable DEA agent, who will use any means necessary to take him down. According to the New Mexico Film Office, the production employed 80 New Mexico crew members, 25 New Mexico actors and 400 New Mexico background talent workers. Production also took place in June and July 2019 in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The film is set in Baltimore, San Francisco and Austin, Texas. Russell made the home base in Albuquerque and took small crews to each of the locations. It ended up being a wonderful place to shoot the movie, Russell says. Several key members ended up collaborating with me. Every day is incredibly hard, but shooting in New Mexico gave us the opportunity to do more. Russell is now based in Santa Fe, having moved there a few years ago from California. I was going back and forth for a couple of years, he says. Since the pandemic, Ive been based in Santa Fe. Silk Road has a stellar cast, and Russell was relieved to get such strong actors. I felt an amazing set of actors come on board once it was anchored with Jason and Nick, he says. Those two were the centerpiece of the movie. I felt like I was at the poker table and just kept getting lucky. Then Jimmi Simpson walks in the door and rounds out the cast. I really lucked out with this one. Russell quickly adapted to shooting in Albuquerque. Albuquerque is a really wonderful place to shoot, and theres a diverse range of locales and looks. By anchoring the production here, we were able to take smaller crews to shoot exteriors, he says. Suddenly, we were able to give the movie scope. And you are doing it in such a way that its efficient. Russell says it was about a 30-day shoot. The production also used the Albuquerque Publishing Co. as a location. Russell says that, at some point during the process of making the movie, people began asking him which parts had actually happened and which were invented. This was a story I had to wade into in order to make it my own, he says. Ross Ulbricht was a kid from Texas with good bull- and an epic dream. Once upon a time, that was me. Back in the day, I ran some amateur criminal hustles, blessedly got pinched before s went supernova, then parked my dreams inside a movie theater. Someday, I swore, I would become a filmmaker. In Ross, I had finally found a subject that was, in Mick Jaggers immortal words just a shot away. So, this movie is a portrait drawn from multiple and conflicting accounts. Different versions of Ross emerged from different sources. No two were the same. On demand Silk Road is available for rental or purchase on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play or Vudu Were Not in Communist China, This Is the United States: California Pastor Fights for Right to Worship A church in Pasadena, California, has won a major court battle that allows them to open up amid strict lockdowns. After a district court rejected the churchs appeal to for relief, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the church stating that California officials cannot bar churches from holding indoor services amid the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. Im thinking, were not in North Korea, were not in Communist China. This is the United States, and they want to arrest church members, law-abiding citizens who pay their taxes, and they just want to worship, Pastor Che Ahn whose parents fled communist religious persecution in North Korea told The Epoch Times Crossroads program. In February, the Supreme court ruled in favor of Harvest Rock Church ordering a rollback on some of the heavy-handed restrictions that California Gov. Gavin Newsom had imposed on churches. The court lifted the ban on in-person religious services but still allowed some limits on indoor gatherings. The court also did not touch the governors ban on singing and chanting during indoor services. The California government then promised to reopen churches, the pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena said. The thing that was really disheartening is that they declared us not essential from the beginning. Abortion clinics were essential, marijuana dispensaries were essential, said Ahn. Of course, liquor stores [were] essential, as well as grocery stores, but not the church. Then, a letter signed by 150 pastors was sent to Newsom demanding the restrictions be lifted, Ahn said. Ahn stressed the importance of the spiritual, mental, and emotional support that the Ecclesia has offered throughout history in times of crisis, explaining that church-goers also followed the sanitary rules. He added that his church hadnt caused any outbreaks of the CCP virus. California authorities then let them open up for a month or so, he said. Limited amounts of people were going to the church and were doing social distancing, wearing masks, getting their temperatures checked, and performing sanitations. However, two weeks later they were informed that there should be no singing or chanting in the church. Over the summer of 2019, however, protests and demonstrations erupted after the death of George Floyd in police custody. In Los Angeles, 100,000 people were marching wall to wall with no social distancing, Ahn said. Protesters clash with police during a rally against the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, in Union Square, New York City, on May 28, 2020. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) Theyre shouting and turned very violent as they looted and caused tremendous damage. And Newsom does a press release and says, you know, we heard your voices, your voices need to be heard, youre exercising your First Amendment rights, and we will protect you. And, and during this time, he just had locked down the church again. The pastor noted that he is in favor of protecting First Amendment rights as long as it is not violent. But he said the right of Americans to worship also needs to be upheld. He then decided to sue Newsom to see if the courts can be convinced to agree with the church to allow in-person services as long as the risk to spread the CCP virus is mitigated, he said. Harvest Rock Churchs webpage states that they have the goal of protecting the First Amendment and taking a specific stance against the misclassification of the worship of God as non-essential during this time of national unrest. My understanding of the First Amendment is that the state will not establish a state religion nor interfere with a free exercise thereof, Ahn remarked. After filing the lawsuit, Ahn received a letter from a city prosecutor in Pasadena. [It] was a very dark, nasty letter, Ahn said. The prosecutor said in the letter that if you continue to meet, we will arrest you. We will fine your church members $1,000 per person, per meeting, Ahn continued, Were talking about millions of dollars. And we have the right to arrest your church members. Ahn said he felt it was hypocrisy from his politicians. And then heres the crazy irony of the whole thing. Newsom is allowing prisoners out because of COVID crowdedness. He wanted social distancing to the prisons, all these prisoners are being released. And yet now, were being threatened to be arrested. Ahn then appealed to the district court but received another negative answer, which prompted them to appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court where they were also turned down. And finally, we went to the Supreme Court. They weighed in, Ahn said. Right after they issued the decision in a New York case that it was unconstitutional to limit the size of attendance in the Catholic Diocese and the Jewish synagogue, they contacted us and they said, Yes, what theyre doing is unconstitutional, and then [went] back to the Ninth Circuit to correct that, and gave a roadmap of what the courts should do, Ahn said. Californias Governor Gavin Newsom speaks to the media in Sacramento, Calif., on March 3, 2020. (Reuters/Gabriela Bhaskar) He and other church members are continuing the court case because, Ahn explained, they found out that a deal between a certain television show and Newsom was made, where they are allowed to sing. If people do not resist totalitarianism if we didnt have people that said no to authoritarian control thats not even reasonable, I feel that were going to see worse things happen. And so I want to do my part to make a prophetic stand without being rebellious and in my own way to say, This is, to me, an issue of justice. Its an issue of First Amendment rights, and Im going to exercise that without having a bad attitude or being mean or unkind,' Ahn said. He added that his father, a pastor in Pyongyang in North Korea, was imprisoned by communists when they came into power. When American troops pushed the communist forces to the Chinese border during the Korean War, his parents escaped to South Korea and later the whole family emigrated to the United States. Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. Lockdown is an option, says Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray as COVID-19 cases increase India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Mumbai, Mar 19: A day after Maharashtra witnessed the highest one-day spike of 25,833 COVID-19 cases, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said lockdown is an option but he trusts people to follow the norms on their own. Talking to reporters in Nandurbar, Thackeray also appealed people to get vaccinated against the virus without fear. The COVID-19 situation has become grimmer as the number of new cases on Thursday crossed the earlier highest rise which was recorded in September, he conceded. "I see lockdown as an option going ahead. But I trust people of the state to cooperate (and follow the COVID-19 norms voluntarily) like the last time," he said. Explained: How smaller parties are likely to play bigger role in Assam elections? When the pandemic began last year, there was nothing to fight the virus with, Thackeray said. "But now at least we have vaccines as a shield. The priority now is to ensure that everyone is vaccinated. People should come forward to take the vaccine," he said. The Union government has assured that there would be no shortage of vaccines, he said. There have been a few instances where a person caught infection after vaccination, but such cases are not "life- threatening", the chief minister said. "Everyone should get vaccinated without fear," he added. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 19, 2021, 17:24 [IST] KANAZAWA, Japan, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Review of Scientific Instruments a newly developed atomic force microscopy approach for imaging biological samples and processes. The method offers higher frame rates and less disturbance of samples. High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) is an imaging technique that can be used for visualizing biological processes, for example the activity of proteins. Nowadays, typical HS-AFM frame rates are as high as 12 frames per second. In order to improve the capabilities of the method, so that it can be applied to an ever expanding range of biological samples, better video rates are needed, though. Moreover, faster recording times imply less interaction between the sample and the probe a tip scanning the sample's surface making the imaging procedure less invasive. Now, Shingo Fukuda and Toshio Ando from Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University have developed an alternative HS-AFM approach to increase the frame rate up to 30 frames per second. An AFM image is generated by laterally moving a tip around just above a sample's surface. During this xy-scanning motion, the tip's position in the direction perpendicular to the xy-plane (the z-coordinate) will follow the sample's height profile. The variation of the z-coordinate of the tip then produces a height map the image of the sample. Fukuda and Ando worked on HS-AFM in the so-called amplitude-modulation mode. The tip is then made to oscillate with a set amplitude. While scanning a surface, the oscillation amplitude will change because of height variations in the sample's structure. To get back to the original amplitude, a correction to the tip-sample distance needs to be made. How large the correction needs to be is related to the sample's surface topology, and is dictated by the so-called feedback control error of the setup. The scientists noted that the feedback control error is different when the tip moves in opposite directions, called tracing and retracing. This difference is ultimately due to the different physical forces at play when the tip is 'pulled' (tracing) and when it is 'pushed' (retracing). Based on their insights into the physics of the tracing and retracing processes, Fukuda and Ando developed an imaging regime that bypasses retracing. This then needs to be properly accounted for in the controlling algorithm. The researchers tested their only-trace-imaging mode on actin filament samples. (Actin is a protein very common in cells.) The imaging was not only faster, but also less invasive the filaments broke much less frequently . They also recorded polymerization processes (through proteinprotein interactions); again, the method was found to be faster and less disturbing compared to the standard AFM tracing-retracing operation. The scientists are confident that their "simple and highly effective method will soon be installed in the existing and upcoming HS-AFM systems, and will improve a wide range of HS-AFM imaging studies in biophysics and other fields." Related images https://nanolsi.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Fig-1Ando.jpg Caption for Figure 1: Difference of invasiveness between trace and retrace scanning processes. (a) Raster scanning: Trace scanning (red line) and retrace scanning (blue line) of the sample stage, (b) directions of tip scanning relative to sample in trace and retrace scanning processes, (c) difference in feedback control error between the trace and retrace scanning processes. Error images of the actin filament oriented nearly along the Y-axis (top) and the error profile (bottom), (d, e) difference in the directions of torques produced by lateral and vertical forces exerted on the cantilever from the sample during trace (d) and retrace (e) scanning processes, (f, g) HS-AFM images of actin filaments captured at 10 fps in the OTI (f) and ORI (g) modes. In the ORI mode, actin filaments were quickly broken. https://nanolsi.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Fig-2Ando.jpg Figure 2. The circuit installed for the OTI mode and its operation. (a) During retrace scanning, a DC offset signal (A os < 0) is added to the amplitude signal (A). The feedback control operates as if the probe were in strong contact with the sample, and thus the sample stage is moved away from the tip. (b) Driving signal for X-scanner in the OTI mode (top), DC offset signal added to true amplitude signal (middle), and Z-scanner displacement (bottom). Reference Shingo Fukuda and Toshio Ando. Faster high-speed atomic force microscopy for imaging of biomolecular processes, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 92, 033705 (2021). DOI: 10.1063/5.0032948 URL: https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/5.0032948 About WPI nanoLSI Kanazawa University Hiroe Yoneda Vice Director of Public Affairs WPI Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) Kanazawa University Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan Email: nanolsi-office@adm.kanazawa-u.ac.jp Tel: +81 (76) 234-4550 About Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) https://nanolsi.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/en/ Nano Life Science Institute (NanoLSI), Kanazawa University is a research center established in 2017 as part of the World Premier International Research Center Initiative of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The objective of this initiative is to form world-tier research centers. NanoLSI combines the foremost knowledge of bio-scanning probe microscopy to establish 'nano-endoscopic techniques' to directly image, analyze, and manipulate biomolecules for insights into mechanisms governing life phenomena such as diseases. About Kanazawa University http://www.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/e/ As the leading comprehensive university on the Sea of Japan coast, Kanazawa University has contributed greatly to higher education and academic research in Japan since it was founded in 1949. The University has three colleges and 17 schools offering courses in subjects that include medicine, computer engineering, and humanities. The University is located on the coast of the Sea of Japan in Kanazawa a city rich in history and culture. The city of Kanazawa has a highly respected intellectual profile since the time of the fiefdom (1598-1867). Kanazawa University is divided into two main campuses: Kakuma and Takaramachi for its approximately 10,200 students including 600 from overseas. SOURCE Kanazawa University (@FahadShabbir) Armenia on Friday accused Azerbaijan of committing war crimes during their conflict last year over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, after Human Rights Watch said Azerbaijan had mistreated prisoners of war Yerevan, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Mar, 2021 ):Armenia on Friday accused Azerbaijan of committing war crimes during their conflict last year over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, after Human Rights Watch said Azerbaijan had mistreated prisoners of war. The ex-Soviet Caucasus countries had been locked for decades in a territorial dispute over the mountainous region in Azerbaijan, where fighting erupted in September, claiming the lives of some 6,000 people. The six-week war ended after Azerbaijan made swift gains and Armenian capitulated to a Russian-brokered ceasefire under which it ceded swathes of territories to Baku. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in report Friday that Azerbaijani troops "abused Armenian prisoners of war..., subjecting them to cruel and degrading treatment and torture." "Azerbaijan should also immediately release all remaining POWs and civilian detainees," the advocacy group said. Armenian foreign ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan said the report proved that Baku committed "large-scale war crimes against Armenian prisoners of war". "The reports of ill-treatment and torture of Armenian POWs indicate systematic nature. Their continued captivity and torture may amount to crimes against humanity," Naghdalyan told AFP. Baku has denied the accusations, and insisted that all the Armenian prisoners were returned to Armenia. But Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said Wednesday that "Baku doesn't consider Armenian troops detained in Karabakh after ceasefire as prisoners of war". He earlier accused Armenian forces of "grave violations of international humanitarian law tantamount to war crimes and crimes against humanity." Amnesty International in December urged both Baku and Yerevan to urgently probe "war crimes" committed by both sides. While Armenia has not opened any investigations, Azerbaijan charged two of its soldiers in December for mutilating bodies of Armenian soldiers. Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian region that broke from Azerbaijan's control during a war in the early 1990s. Armenia's defeat to Baku's technologically superior army last year spurred a political crisis with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreeing this week to snap elections later this year. New Delhi: Terrorist organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Abdul Rehman Makki on Monday made inflamatory comments against India in a public meeting in Lahore, Pakistan. Today soldiers are ready to give life for the cause of 'Azad Kashmir'... what goverment could not do in 70 years, Jihaad will solve that problem now. The terrorist organisation head also warned Pakistan administration against crackdown on its operations, "We told the rulers not to mess with 'jihaad', for it is run by the God, those who try to interfere in holy war are pushed away by the God," JuD chief told public meeting. Read | Abdul Rehman Makki calls on Pak media to foster unrest in Kashmir Earlier on Friday, Makki vowed to intensify "Jihad" against Jammu and Kashmir in India. He made these remarks in a speech at the "Shohda-e-Kashmir" conference held at Al-Daawa Model School in Lahore. The event was held to observe the "martyrdom" of militant Abu Waleed Mohammad, who was killed in Bandipora on March 3, 2017 by Indian security forces. JuD chief Abdul Rehman Makki is brother-in-law of Mumbai terror attack matermind Hafiz Saeed and was recently given charge of the terrorist organisation after Saeed was put under the house arrest by Pakistans Punjab government. Makki carries a $ 2 million bounty on his head, declared by United States after 26/11. Read | Hafiz Saeed's brother-in-law Makki elevated as head of JuD For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Burma Villagers Flee Their Homes as Myanmar Military Regime Vows Action Caption for Feature, Residents in Depayin Township take to the streets to protest against the military regime in March. Thousands of people from five villages in Sagaing Regions Depayin Township have fled their homes after the military regime vowed retribution against those involved in a conflict that killed two police members and injured a police captain on Thursday. State-owned newspapers controlled by the military regime said Friday that three police members, including a police captain from a sub-police station, were stopped and attacked by about one hundred people near a Boke Htan Taw village while they were travelling to Depayin Town. According to Sagaing Region-based media and sources, the confrontation occurred when the three police officers traveling in a vehicle encountered villagers from several villages returning from an anti-regime demonstration at Depayin Town on Thursday afternoon. Two members of the police died at the scene and the police captain received serious injures that required treatment at a military hospital, the state-owned newspapers said. It also said that three firearms belonging to the police were taken by the mob. On Thursday evening, police and soldiers raided Tei Taw village which is near the scene of the conflict and arrested six villagers after destroying two houses. Early Friday, about 200 of police and soldiers with 12 vehicles were deployed to a monastery in Thapyay Gone village. Security forces searched houses of Tei Taw village which had been left deserted by its residents. In addition, thousands of people from other four villages Oakkse Ywar, Chaungmeto, Thapyaygone, and Tha Yet Kan, which are also near the conflict area have left their homes because they are also afraid of arrest, according to local sources. I think we will have to stay here two or three more days because we dont dare to go back home, a resident of Tei Taw village, who is hiding in the forest with her family, told The Irrawaddy on Friday. The resident said that security forces confiscated food-stuffs from a shop in the village and stole ducks from a duck farm during their raids. On Wednesday, Myanmar military forces claiming that four personnel were missing raided villages in Kayah State near the border with Shan State and used teargas, rubber bullets and live rounds in cracking down on villagers who objected to their deployment, according to a statement by Kayah States anti-regime general strike committee. Despite the fact that no missing military personnel were found in the villages, military forces occupied a church, school and village homes for their deployment. Many villagers fled. On Thursday, military forces arrested 30 villagers and Ko Khun Myo Hlaing Win, a member of Kayah States anti-regime general strike committee who had consulted with the military about the release of village detainees. The committee has also asked for the immediate release of all those detained. One of the committee members told The Irrawaddy on Friday that havent received any exact information about the conditions or whereabouts of those detainees. Myanmar security forces also raided villages in Sagaing Regions Kawlin Township to search for weapons which they claim were stolen from a Kantha police outpost near Kawlin. On Tuesday, residents raided the outpost amid claims that the Kantha police were among security forces who had killed one anti-regime protester and injured three others in Kawlin. The police fled and protesters briefly took control of the outpost until about 100 troops from Shwebo arrived. After the raid by residents, five firearms were reported missing. Of those, four have allegedly been found destroyed. In Myanmar, tens of thousands of people across the country have taken to the streets day and night to show their defiance of the military regime. The security forces of the military junta have been cracking down on peaceful anti-regime protests of people violently by using the live rounds, rubber bullets, tear gas, stun grenades and deadly air-guns firing lead pellets. Since the Feb. 1 coup, more than 230 anti-regime protesters have been killed by the military regimes security forces. You may also like these stories: Funeral Services Refuse to Help Dead Myanmar Police Officer Involved in Crackdown With Two More Arrests, A Total of 18 Journalists Detained by Myanmar Regime Four More Myanmar Diplomats Refuse to Work for Military Regime 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! ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A woman who currently works in the office of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has told The New York Times that he looked down her shirt and made suggestive remarks to her and another aide. Alyssa McGrath said in a story published Friday that Cuomo called her beautiful in Italian and asked why she wasnt wearing a wedding ring. McGrath is the first current aide to come forward publicly on the mounting allegations of sexual misconduct. A lawyer for Cuomo tells the Times that the governor has indeed used Italian phrases like ciao bella" and greeted people with hugs and a kiss and dismissed the behavior as unremarkable if old-fashioned. 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 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. Halfords has paid 15 million to buy a motor services company in the South East of England which specialises in changing tyres on cars and tractors. The firm said it is buying Kent-based Universal Tyre and Autocentres, which has 20 sites across the region and runs 89 response vans. Around 9 million of the price tag that Halfords paid was to buy Universals real estate and its cash. It now plans to find a new buyer for the buildings and then rent them back within the next few months. Universal specialises in tyre services, including for agricultural vehicles, commercial vehicles and cars. It also offers general car maintenance repairing brakes, performing servicing and MOTs. Expand Close Halfords has 404 retail shops in addition to hundreds of garages and repair vans (PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Halfords has 404 retail shops in addition to hundreds of garages and repair vans (PA) Last year the business made more than 31 million in revenue, while its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) were around 1.5 million. Halfords said it would be able to bring synergies through the acquisition, which also helps it towards the target of running 550 garages across the UK. Following the acquisition, Halfords has 374 garages and 321 repair vans in its autocentres division. It also runs 404 retail shops which also provide car services. Chief executive Graham Stapleton said: We have a clearly stated strategy of building a market-leading motoring services offer, and the acquisition of Universal is another important step forward in helping us to achieve that goal. We continue to see strong demand for our autocentres, for our expanding fleet of Halfords mobile expert vans, and for our growing commercial business. Universal will help us to meet that demand whilst also expanding our geographic footprint in a market for which we see significant potential. More than two-and-a-half years after Daisy Marie Froeba died of methamphetamine toxicity, a Jefferson Parish grand jury charged her mother, Brandie Froeba, with second-degree murder for allegedly breastfeeding the six-week-old infant after taking the drug. Froeba, 37, of Kenner, was indicted Thursday, according to court records. She had been released from jail in May 2019 on a reduced $75,000 bond. But the court re-instated her original $250,000 bond after the indictment. An attachment was issued for Froeba's arrest. She had not surrendered to authorities as of Friday morning, according to court records. Her attorney, Greg Noto, declined to comment. Daisy was born in June 2018, and was Froeba's fourth child, according to the Kenner Police Department, which handled the investigation. The department received a 911 call on the afternoon of Aug. 16, 2018, requesting medical help for the baby because she wasn't breathing. Paramedics found the baby lying on a bed with a small amount of blood in her mouth, authorities said. Froeba also had blood on her shirt. Froeba told police she had fallen asleep while nursing Daisy. When she woke and prepared to bathe her daughter, Froeba noticed the baby wasn't breathing, according to authorities. +2 Bond cut for Marrero mom whose baby died from meth-tainted breastmilk A Jefferson Parish judge agreed to reduce the $250,000 bond set for a Marrero mother who faces a murder charge for allegedly ingesting methamp Officers said Froeba had slurred speech and seemed lethargic, according to Kenner police. Froeba agreed to take a blood test. Daisy was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead just before 5 p.m. the same day. Two months later, toxicology tests determined the baby had died of methamphetamine toxicity, Kenner police 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 Froeba's blood test showed that she, too, had the drug in her system on the day Daisy died, according to authorities. The youngest of Froeba's three surviving children tested positive for opiates and marijuana when born in 2016, Kenner police said. Authorities, at the time, gave Froeba information about the dangers of using drugs while pregnant or breastfeeding. After investigating the case for several months, Kenner detectives booked Froeba on March 8, 2019, with second-degree murder. In May 2019, the court agreed to reduce Froeba's bond to $75,000 after her attorney argued that she had complied with court instructions, passed all drug screens and was not a danger to the community, according to court records. In June 2020, with no formal charges filed by the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office yet, the court again granted a request from Froeba that she be allowed to have supervised visits with her children, court records said. The wait for a decision on charges in Froeba's case and her bond reduction were brought up in court in December by a defense attorney seeking a similar decrease for his client, Autumn Blansett, a Marrero mother facing the same allegations. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office booked Blansett, 32, with second-degree murder after they say her 3-month-old daughter, Maddalynn, died Nov. 1 of methamphetamine intoxication. Sheriff's Office detectives accused Blansett of ingesting the drug and then breastfeeding the infant. Blansett, who was released on a reduced $75,000 bond, has not been formally charged. If convicted, Froeba faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday granted the request of some government officials to use all 525,600 AstraZeneca doses now in the country as first dose instead of storing half of the supply for the booster shot, his spokesperson said, in a bid to provide wider protection to health care workers in areas with high COVID-19 transmission. "Naaprubahan na ng Presidente ang paggamit ng lahat ng 525,000 AstraZeneca na nakuha nating donasyon galing sa COVAX facility para gamitin po bilang first dose para sa ating mga frontline workers," Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a media briefing. [Translation: The President has approved the use all 525,000 AstraZeneca vaccines donated through COVAX to be used as first dose for frontline workers.] Health Secretary Francisco Duque III made this proposal on Monday, saying the strategy will help make sure no supply will go to waste. He explained the interval between the first and second AstraZeneca shots is three months the same time the vaccines will expire. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez backed this recommendation, saying he was asked by the World Health Organization to expedite the rollout of the British-Swedish-made vaccines to prevent wastage. Both officials allayed concerns the move may result in missing the timely administration of booster shots. Galvez said the country expects to receive additional 979,000 AstraZeneca doses through the COVAX global initiative this month or by the first week of April. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 side job is one thing, but a Pennsylvania prosecutor was making food deliveries for DoorDash when he was supposed to be working on cases. That decision has earned Gregg Shore a $22,000 pay cut and demotion, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports; he made about $130,000 as the No. 2 in the Bucks County District Attorney's Office, where he's worked for 10 years. "What he's done is indefensible, thoughtless, selfish, and so stupid," his boss said. "It makes no sense. ... It shows a lack of leadership and is the reason I have decided to demote him." Matthew Weintraub, the district attorney, said he learned about Shore's other job when a member of the public informed the office. Shore said he's worked about three hours a week for DoorDash, which said it pays $2 to $10 or so per delivery, over the past year, per WPVI. story continues below Shore conceded he'd made deliveries during business hours. "Due to my personal circumstances, I worked a second job delivering food during the pandemic, mostly on nights and weekends, but I sometimes made the incredibly poor decision to do so during the workday," he said. "By doing so, I betrayed my colleagues, my boss, and the citizens of Bucks County." Shore, who didn't elaborate on why he needed another paycheck, apologized and didn't contest his demotion; his replacement was announced Thursday. He'll repay the time with vacation hours. Weintraub decided against firing Shore, partly because he was "always there to answer the call" during his off-hours, even while working for DoorDash. Also, "I preach redemption," Weintraub said, adding, "It's now incumbent upon me to practice what I preach." (A British decision could change the rules for gig workers.) Students are persisting with college courses despite the challenges posed by remote learning and Covid-19. The pandemic has not triggered a rise in drop-out rates, new figures show. Students have generally stuck with their courses and, in some cases, retention figures are well up on previous years, Covid-related public health restrictions mean most students have not set foot on campus this year, which is particularly hard on freshers making the transition to a new life stage. The progression from school involves a big step-up in independent learning and there were concerns that logging on to lectures from their bedrooms, and the remote nature of the whole experience, would lead to more than the usual number of new entrants giving up. College projects that involve teamwork required first years to collaborate with classmates that they have met only virtually. Read More Apart from stepping into the unknown of third-level study without the benefit of face-to-face teaching, first years are also missing out on the important social aspects of campus life. But despite not having the benefits of being on campus, withdrawal and deferral rates are broadly in line with other years. The latest data on retention rates was gathered at the end of February, when higher education institutions have a good picture of student intentions. By February, first semester exams have taken place and anyone seriously considering not continuing would generally have departed the course before such assessments. There are also important financial considerations: if students drop out after the end of January they are liable for fees for the full year and for much higher fees the following year if they repeat or start a new course. The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has been engaging with the higher education sector on retention rates since the start of the academic year. While analysis is continuing in some institutions, available data shows first year withdrawal and deferral rates are within plus/minus 2pc of rates in previous years. For institutions yet to complete full analysis, the department has been advised that no emerging unusual trends have been identified, a spokesperson said. The countrys largest university, University College Dublin (UCD), is reporting a significant increase in retention, which currently stands at 96.3pc for the new entrant cohort. This group is, overwhelmingly, first years but also includes other new entrant undergraduates. While UCD has seen a steady rise in retention rates in recent years, the jump from 92.8pc last year is well ahead of the norm. In 2014, UCD new entrant retention rates were 88.6pc; in 2015, 89pc; in 2016, 91.1pc; in 2017, 90.1pc; and in 2018, 91.3pc. A UCD spokesperson said while the figures were higher than ever, they may dip slightly by the end of the year. According to the most recent data from University College Cork, up to March 1 a total of 127 first year students (3pc) had formally withdrawn from their degree programmes, the same level as this time last year. That was up from 2pc in January. The University of Limerick expects that first year retention rate will be higher for 2020/21 than in previous years. The prediction is based on lower than usual withdrawal rates at November 1 and lower module fail rates in the first semester. The percentage of module failures for the first semester was 5pc as against 7pc for the same semester in 2019/20. At Dublin City University (DCU) the number of undergraduate students who formally withdrew between September and January -219 - is broadly in line with, and generally better than, previous years. It compares with 226 for the same period in 2019/20, 188 in 2018/19, 239 in 2017/18, 224 in 2016/17 and 213 in 2015/16 Further and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris welcomed that retention rates have not fallen this year despite the many challenges third level students are facing. Mr Harris said for most students, the college year had been online and that has not been easy while opportunities to travel or engage in part-time work were limited. He said they were continuing to work to ensure that supports were available to students, while his Department was engaging with the Union of Students in Ireland on a new group examining student well-being. We will act when we receive its findings, he said. As state lawmakers in Austin wrap up the latest legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday threatened to withhold their pay by vetoing a line item in the states budget because a Democratic walkout killed his priority elections bill. No pay for those who abandon their responsibilities, Abbott tweeted. Should the governor veto Legislature funding? You voted: A Maryland man was charged with attempted murder for allegedly stabbing a 34-year-old Clifton woman in the head and neck, authorities said Friday. Khaled Abukanan, 47, from Catonsville, Maryland, was arrested yesterday by Clifton Police. The victim, who authorities would not name, was taken to Saint Josephs University Medical Center in Paterson. She had surgery last night and is in stable condition, Gyselle Da Silva, Chief Assistant Prosecutor at Passaic County Prosecutors Office, told NJ Advance Media. Though Abukanan is currently in Baltimore County Polices custody, the state is seeking his extradition from Maryland to New Jersey. In addition to the attempted murder charge, he faces counts of burglary, aggravated assault and weapons charges for Thursdays stabbing. 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. 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 Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Rain showers in the morning with numerous thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. Storms could contain damaging winds. High 78F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. VANCOUVER, BC, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - CubicFarm Systems Corp. (TSXV: CUB) ("CubicFarms" or the "Company"), a local chain agricultural technology company, today announced that a scientific journal has published a case study involving HydroGreen Inc. ("HydroGreen"), a division of CubicFarms that has pioneered innovative technologies to produce live green animal feed. This article finds that HydroGreen's technology has great potential for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the animal agriculture industry. It warns of the imminent pressures on our food systems through demand for consumption of animal products, which are becoming more apparent as our global population increases, with estimates suggesting a global population of almost 10 billion by 2050. Hydroponic fodder and greenhouse gas emissions: a potential avenue for climate mitigation strategy and policy development was published by Canadian Science Publishing in FACETS, the official journal of the Royal Society of Canada's Academy of Science. This scientific research was developed through a collaboration of academic researchers and industry experts. Academic researchers include members of the prestigious Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley: Dr. Lenore Newman (Director and Canada Research Chair in Food Security), Dr. Robert Newell (Associate Director), and Charmaine White (Research Associate). Industry leaders participating in the research include Mathew Dickson, Managing Director of Hallbar Consulting, a sustainability and waste consulting firm; Bill Vanderkooi, President and CEO of Nutriva Group, a strategic consulting firm to the dairy, egg, and beef industry; and Tim Fernback, Chief Financial Officer of CubicFarms. Dr. Newman and Tim Fernback are also members of the newly-formed CubicFarms Scientific Advisory Board. The journal article explores the potential for hydroponic fodder production for contributing to climate mitigation in fodder agriculture. Case studies compare GHG emissions and the carbon sequestration potential of hydroponically grown sprouted barley fodder to conventional barley grain fodder. The case study analyzed fresh livestock feed grown in the controlled environment using a HydroGreen Grow System when compared to traditional farming methods. Results of this published case study indicate that incorporating hydroponic systems into barley production has the potential to reduce GHG emissions. Results also show that hydroponic farming can provide greater carbon sequestration opportunities than simply shifting to no-tillage farming. HydroGreen technologies deliver reliable, cost-effective onsite feed production with a minimal environmental footprint, using 92% less water, less land, less energy, and less labour when compared to traditional growing methods. Further results indicate that hydroponic fodder farming could contribute to climate mitigation objectives if complemented with effective energy and land use policies. Dr. Newman commented, "With approximately 70% of all agricultural land being used for some aspect of livestock production, beef and dairy farming currently represents approximately 14.5% of all human-induced GHG emissions. Feed production and animal waste represents the two largest sources of these GHG emissions, representing 45% and 39% respectively. Finding solutions like the HydroGreen hydroponic growing system that can lower overall GHG emissions caused by livestock will be critical to solving the world's GHG emission problems and reduce the overall effects of global warming. This latest research estimated that the HydroGreen demonstration farm produced 7.4% fewer GHG emissions (per nutrient mass) than were found with conventional barley grain fodder farming, and greater reductions can be achieved with improved seed-to-fodder output, indicating that transitioning to such systems can result in GHG reductions and (ultimately) climate mitigation benefits. These are exciting findings and a bright light in the otherwise gloomy world of climate change." Dr. Newman continued, "The long-term future of animal agriculture is uncertain. As new alternatives to meat and dairy products are developed, consumer preferences shift toward these alternatives, and global trends in vegetarianism rise. The livestock industry is a major contributor to climate change and other critical environmental issues that challenge global sustainability, and perhaps a complete transition to sustainable food and farm systems involves decoupling these systems from animal-based industries. However, climate change is a critical imperative that requires immediate attention, and, although vegetarianism and veganism have experience dramatic increases in recent years, so has meat consumption. In addition, animal agriculture is socially, culturally, and economically significant to communities and societies across the globe, and it supports the livelihoods of numerous people. Transitioning toward sustainable agriculture, and immediate solutions are needed for reducing the impact of livestock industries is a long-term agricultural trend." Read the full journal article here. About CubicFarms CubicFarms is a local chain, agricultural technology company developing and deploying technology to feed a changing world. Its proprietary ag-tech solutions enable growers to produce high quality, predictable produce and fresh livestock feed with HydroGreen Nutrition Technology, a division of CubicFarm Systems Corp. The CubicFarms system contains patented technology for growing leafy greens and other crops onsite, indoors, all year round. CubicFarms provides an efficient, localized food supply solution that benefits our people, planet, and economy. For more information, please visit www.cubicfarms.com. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Dave Dinesen" Dave Dinesen, Chief Executive Officer 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 may contain forward-looking statements which include, but are not limited to, comments that involve future events and conditions, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may vary materially from those statements. General business conditions are factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from forward-looking statements. SOURCE CubicFarm Systems Corp. Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat 'apologises' but says wearing torn jeans not right India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Dehradun, Mar 19: Facing flak over his "ripped jeans" comment, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Friday said he apologises for the remark if it has hurt anybody. But at the same time, he repeated his objection to ripped jeans, saying he has no problem with jeans with but wearing "torn" ones is "not right". Referring to his remark made earlier this week, Rawat told the media that he had commented that nowadays children bring a costly jean home and then cut it with a scissor. He had only talked about the environment at home and this applies to him as well, Rawat said. "If we inculcate good values and discipline in children, they will never fail in future," the CM added, stressing that he had made the comment at a programme held to keep the children away from intoxicants and other evils. Describing himself as a man from a rural background, Rawat on Friday said whenever his pant was torn in schooldays, he feared that his teacher would scold him. Due to discipline and values, we used cover it with a patch, he said. BJP government wants to hand over insurance companies to foreign firms: Kharge as Opposition opposes bill Rawat had drawn flak after at an event earlier this week he said youngsters follow strange fashion trends due to a lack of values and consider themselves to be big shots after wearing jeans ripped at the knees. Women also follow such trends. Rawat then went on to describe the attire of a woman who sat next to him on a flight. He described her as wearing boots, jeans ripped at the knees, bangles in her hands and with two children travelling with her. He also said she runs an NGO, goes out in society and has two children and wondered what values she would give them. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 19, 2021, 20:51 [IST] Midleton ushers in new era for Irish whiskey with Very Rare 2021 Irish Distillers is beginning a new chapter in its history with the launch of the Midleton Very Rare 2021 vintage - the first from new master distiller Kevin O'Gorman. Now on its 38th edition, the Midleton Very Rare series has seen master distillers set aside small amounts of exceptional whiskey for luxury, limited-edition offerings for four decades. The 2021 release is a blend of rare and hand-selected single pot still and single grain Irish whiskeys, aged for between 15 and 36 years and matured in ex-Bourbon American oak barrels. For his first Very Rare selection as master distiller, O'Gorman spent several months exploring the Midleton inventory. In his finished liquid, he has elevated the grain whiskey contribution and used a mix of first and second fill casks. Irish Distillers says the result is "a whiskey of great finesse, with a floral, perfumed character". OGorman said: "It is a great honour to become the custodian of this extraordinary Irish whiskey family and to have my signature adorn our 2021 vintage. "The journey to launching this vintage began almost 40 years ago. Continuing the work of my predecessors was both a daunting and extremely enjoyable process that allowed me to explore some of our rarest casks and create an exceptional blend that sits seamlessly within the family. "I am particularly proud to have been able to include distillate that was laid down in 1984, the year the collection was first conceived by master distiller emeritus Barry Crockett, from whom I have learned so much. "For me, this vintage adds a new dimension and elegance to the style and quality for which the range is renowned. I couldnt ask for a better way to begin my chapter as Irish Distillers master distiller." The Midleton Very Rare 2021 vintage will be the first to be released at the start of the year, in response to consumer demand. As this new calendar is established, Irish Distillers will retain an allocation for a second sales period in late autumn for Ireland, online platforms and other select markets. Bottled at 40% ABV, Midleton Very Rare 2021 is available online and in Ireland now. It will hit shelves in the UK, US, Australia, Germany, France and Canada, as well as global travel retail, in the coming months (RRP 180). 18 February 2021 - Bethany Whymark A Coney Island of the Mind, the first collection of poems by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, left, and Positively Prince Street, an anthology of poems collected and edited by this columns author. An action plan drawn up by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan could see the Met Police walk away from potential suspects if they smell cannabis amid fears using stop-and-search damages community relations. Mr Khan, who is currently standing for re-election, first mooted the plan five months ago, but restated it again yesterday. The former Tooting MP, 50, set up a community group to scrutinise use of stop-and-search and make sure police do not halt people simply because they smell cannabis. But the federation representing officers in the Met ridiculed Mr Khan's plan as 'nonsense' and said it could let criminals run free. Mr Khan said: 'It is clear after listening to black Londoners and community organisations that more needs to be done to address their concerns. 'The action plan sets out to respond to those concerns and a key part of that work is ensuring black Londoners and communities have a voice in scrutinising the Met's use of stop-and-search, Taser and (other) use of force.' Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in Bethnal Green in discussion with police officers last month He has also ordered research into whether stopping suspected drug users has any beneficial impact on the fight against violent crime. There have been complaints about stop-and-search disproportionately being used on ethnic minorities, with figures showing they are nine times more likely to be stopped. But the federation representing Met Police officers ridiculed the proposals. Met Federation chairman Ken Marsh told the Telegraph: 'What do you do when a drugs dog detects the smell of cannabis? Met Federation chairman Ken Marsh branded the new stop-and-search plans 'nonsense' The smell of cannabis, pictured, will no longer be reason to stop and search in Mr Khan's plan 'Do you just walk away? It's nonsense.' 'It is clear that you have reasonable grounds as a constable under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act that you can stop any member of the public in a public place for breaching that legislation.' Guidelines from the College of Policing guidance say searching someone for just one reason is bad practice. Last year at least 577,000 searches were carried out in 58 per cent decrease from a decade ago. They showed that nearly half of them were carried out by the Met. The most people to be arrested from stop and searches per 1,000 of the population were in Humberside and the least were in Surrey The increase in stop and searches was larger for white people this year (with an increase of 95,562 to 280,661) than for black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds people (who saw an increase of 55,215 searches to 185,401) Last month a senior officer said police use of stop and search on black people had halved since last summer's race protests as some think it's 'more trouble than it's worth'. Superintendent Simon Rotherham of Scotland Yard suggested the Black Lives Matter demos over George Floyd's death in the US dented officers' 'fragile' confidence. About 7,000 black people were stopped and searched in London last month, down from 17,295 in May. Supt Rotherham said: 'We have officers say, 'it's not happening unless I see the knife sticking out their back pocket I'd feel uncomfortable to do it'.' He added that many frontline officers were wary of being filmed and the encounter ending up on YouTube or being scrutinised by the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). Patrick Wattigny, who was pastor of Catholic church in Slidell and chaplain of a Catholic high school, was charged Thursday with molesting a teenage boy, the north shore District Attorney's Office said. Wattigny, who served until last year as pastor of St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church and as chaplain at Pope John Paul II High School, both in Slidell, was charged with molestation of a juvenile in a felony bill of information, 22nd Judicial District Attorney Warren Montgomery's office said in a news release. Wattigny, 53, is accused of molesting the then 15-year-old victim between June 1, 2013, and Aug. 31, 2014. Wattigny is scheduled to be arraigned Monday before 22nd District Judge Vincent Lobello. His attorney, Robert Stern, declined comment Friday. Wattigny began working at St. Luke's and Pope John Paul II in 2013. He resigned his post as high school chaplain in the summer of 2020 after church officials learned he sent a student text messages that violated diocesan policies. The church's investigation into those messages, involving a different youth, prompted Wattigny to disclose his sexual abuse of another juvenile, officials with the Archdiocese of New Orleans said. In Otcober, when the news broke, archdiocese officials said they reported Wattigny to law enforcement authorities immediately after he disclosed the sexual abuse. Authorities apprehended Wattigny weeks later at a home he owns in Georgia. He was extradited to St. Tammany Parish on Oct. 26 last year and booked into the St. Tammany Parish Jail in Covington. The formal charge filed against Wattigny came on the same day that Montgomery's office charged Travis John Clark, the former pastor of a Catholic church in Pearl River, with institutional vandalism in connection with alleged sex acts he participated in on the church altar with two professional dominatrices. The dominatrices were also charged. "We acknowledge the charges filed against Travis Clark and Patrick Wattigny by the St. Tammany District Attorneys Office," the Archdiocese of New Orleans said in a statement Friday. "We have and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement. We are proceeding to the Vatican to petition for their laicization presenting information from both the criminal and canonical investigations. Our prayers remain with all those who were hurt by the actions of these two men, and in a particular way, we offer our prayers for healing of survivors of abuse." Richard Windmann, president of Survivors of Childhood Sex Abuse, SCSA, said the group is pleased that Wattigny has been charged. "Pedophiles never have just one victim, and we hope that others will also come forward," Windmann said in a prepared statement. "We also would like to encourage the Orleans Parish DA to start investigations into the priests that are listed as still alive, according to the Archdiocese's list of credibly accused pedophile priests." Wattigny, ordained as a priest in 1994, has also worked at St. Peter in Covington; Visitation of Our Lady in Marrero; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Kenner; St. Benilde in Metairie; and is a former chaplain at Archbishop Rummel High School. He served for a time as president of Pope John Paul II High School. 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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participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 Victoria Bracing for the Economic Impact After Second Coal Plant Announces Closure The Victorian government will launch an inquiry into the early closure of the Yallourn coal-fired power station in the Latrobe Valley after state MP Melina Bath called for a report (pdf) into the economic impact of the power stations shutdown. EnergyAustralia, the owner of Yallourn Power Station, originally announced the facility would close in 2032but on March 10, this was revised, with the new date brought forward four years to 2028. Yallourn is a key energy generator of Victoria, currently supplying 22 percent of Victorias electricity and 8 percent of the national market. Bath is concerned about the shortened time span after the sudden closure of the Victorian Hazelwood power stationa neighbouring coal-fired station shut down in 2017which had serious effects on the states economy. The Hazelwood station was forced to cease operations with only a 6-month warning after Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews imposed heavy taxation on carbon emissions, forcing Hazelwood to pay a fine of around $88 million. Bath explained that the fine forced the power station to close during the Legislative Council hearing, saying, Unfortunately, it was not phased or planned; it was a shove. Workers leave Hazelwood Power Station after their final shift in Hazelwood, Australia, on Mar. 31, 2017. Around 750 workers have been left jobless after the plant was closed. (Scott Barbour/Getty Images) It also resulted in the loss of 750 direct jobs and another 300 associated jobs and had detrimental effects on both the Latrobe Valley and the state economy. One Latrobe Valley council report of the time, in 2017, stated that Hazelwoods closure resulted in a decrease in total regional output of more than $1.58 billion, Bath said. Bath emphasised the need for a critical evaluation and to provide practical methods for mitigation, pointing out previous plans proposed to handle the Hazelwood shutdown was never upheld, referring to them as a complete disappointment. Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor also expressed concern over the new closure date in a media release on March 10. The exit of 1480 MW of reliable energy generation brings with it reliability and affordability concerns, he said. Australias Energy Minister Angus Taylor speaks during question time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia. on July 4, 2019. (Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images) EnergyAustralia Managing Director, Catherine Tanna, said the purpose of Yallourns retirement was to transition to cleaner energy in a way that does not leave the workforce or the community behind. However, EnergyAustralia will only construct a 350 MW battery by 2026 that is capable of operating at maximum capacity for four hours as a replacement for the power plant. The decision by EnergyAustralia comes after falls in energy prices over the last few years, which has affected Yallourns overall profitability. Over the past several years, Victorias energy prices have declined sharply as renewable energy stations have diversified the power generation market. The average energy spot price was $109 per Megawatt-hour in 2019, generating an estimated $1.1 trillion from the Yallourn power station alone. In 2020, this amount plummeted to $52, at an estimated $540 million a year in revenue. So far, into March of 2021, the average spot price further fell to $24 per Megawatt-hour, with the estimated revenue for Yallourn just over $250 million in 2021. According to Energy Australia, Yallourn requires $200 to $300 million of investments per year to ensure the plants continued operation, making the plant financial unviable. The Victorian State governments Economy and Infrastructure Committee is set to produce the final report on the closure of Yallourn by December this year. It is expected to pay particular attention to the closures economic consequences, which will hit the state after more than 1000 people will lose their livelihoods. Two teenage schoolboys, who have pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting another boy in Dublin, will go on trial in May. The pair, both aged 15, were charged with sexual assault which allegedly occurred in a public location in south Dublin on a date in June last year. They were aged 14 at the time. The Director of Public Prosecutions had recommended trial on indictment in the circuit court which can impose lengthier sentences. However, following a preliminary hearing, Judge Brendan Toale accepted jurisdiction for the case to remain in the Childrens Court. The court can do so taking into account defence submissions about age and level of maturity, as well as other relevant factors. It is provided for under section 75 of the Children Act. The boys were excused from attending court today when Judge Toale ordered that the non-jury hearing will take place over four days in May. It will also involve evidence given via video-link. The case will be listed for mention in April to confirm compliance with an order for disclosure of prosecution evidence to the defence. Not guilty pleas were entered by the boys when they were accompanied to court by family members in January. They remain on bail. Earlier, Detective Garda Alan Young told the court that one youth made no reply to charge. The second boys response to charge was Im definitely not guilty, Detective Garda David McNally had told the court. The Garda Youth Diversion Bureau found the case was not suitable for a juvenile caution. The boys must not, as a condition of bail, have any contact, directly or indirectly, with the complainant. The Duke of Cambridge donned a very bright orange jumper as he thanked the British public for their 'incredible generosity' during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prince William, 38, who is back in London having spent lockdown at his Norfolk home of Anmer Hall, praised Brits for helping to raise 74 million for Comic Relief last year. The organisation helped deliver a special one-off fundraising campaign in April 2020, The Big Night In, with the funds split between Comic Relief, BBC Children in Need and the National Emergencies Trust. In his message, which is part of the Comic Reliefs Night of TV tonight, Prince William says: 'Your incredible generosity raised over 74 million for so many brilliant charities, including the National Emergencies Trust, at a time when COVID was first really taking its toll. Thank you all so much.' Prince William has recorded a special message for Comic Relief to thank the Great British public for their generosity in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic Appearing in the clip, the Duke opted to wear a white shirt tucked beneath a bright orange jumper. Prince William's message introduces a short powerful film that highlights the huge increase in the number of people experiencing mental health issues over the past year and the support being provided by organisations funded by Comic Relief. During The Big Night In, which aired last April, Prince William appeared in a hilarious Blackadder sketch with Stephen Fry, who reprised his iconic role as Lord Melchett. Melchett paced around his office impatiently waiting for the Duke to call in, quipping: 'I thought Germans were meant to be punctual'. In the TV fundraising event last April, the Duke of Cambridge was joined by the Duchess and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis Apologising, William said Zoom was 'complicated stuff', later revealing homeschooling Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte was proving a 'bit of a nightmare' in lockdown. The Duke said he was struggling to cope with not being able to watch EastEnders, but refused the Blackadder star's recommendation of trying Netflix sensation Tiger King instead, adding: 'I tend to avoid shows about royalty.' As their virtual exchange drew to a close, Melchett reminded William to go out and clap for the NHS at 8pm, before William joked about not wearing any trousers. The show then cut to the Cambridges clapping on their doorstep in Norfolk as part of the weekly show of gratitude for health and social care workers. Comic Relief is committed to ensuring people are able to talk about their mental health and access support where and when they need it most. The royal's appearance comes as Vanity Fair's Katie Nicholl reported Prince William has concerns any private conversation he has with Prince Harry will be 'plastered over American TV' (pictured) With the help of the public donations, Comic Relief currently funds hundreds of organisations across the UK and internationally that are on the frontline providing mental health support to people in need. Today's appearance from the Duke comes as sources told Vanity Fair Prince William has concerns any private conversations with his brother will be 'plastered over American TV' after Meghan Markle's broadcaster friend Gayle King revealed his 'unproductive phone call with Prince Harry'. The CBS presenter earlier this week revealed Harry, had spoken to William and their father Prince Charles for the first time following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's interview with Oprah Winfrey. Despite the Sussexes insisting their explosive tell-all would be their 'final word' on royal affairs, Ms King, 66, said the couple had told her about Harry's phone calls with his family over the weekend. Despite the Sussexes insisting their explosive tell-all would be their 'final word' on royal affairs, Ms King (pictured), 66, said the couple had told her about Harry's phone calls with his family over the weekend She spoke out once again for a second time this week, claiming the pair had a deal with CBS and ITV to postpone their bombshell interview if Prince Philip, 99, had died during his month-long stay in hospital. Meanwhile, Buckingham Palace has no plans to comment beyond the statement issued last week by the Queen, but there is concern within the family that the Sussexes 'want to keep fuelling the soap opera', sources told Vanity Fair's Katie Nicholl. One source close to Prince William claimed: 'There's a lack of trust on both sides which makes moving forward very hard. William is now worried that anything he says to his brother will be plastered over American TV.' Elsewhere, an insider said the family is concerned that the story is becoming more like a soap opera, even as Prince Philip returns to Windsor Castle from a month-long stay in hospital following a successful heart operation. A family friend said: 'It seems the Sussexes seem to want to keep fuelling this story at a time when the royals are trying to protect Prince Philip from the headlines.' The source added that Meghan and Harry's approach seemed to be a 'very strange way' to heal the rift within the family. Viewers can see the special message as a part of Comic Reliefs Night of TV on Friday 19th March from 7pm on BBC One. RTE has agreed to pay 20,000 to three charities after an Irish republican socialist group were falsely accused of murder on air. Political commentator John McGuirk mistakenly stated Eirigi was responsible for the murder of journalist Lyra McKee on a March 2 episode of Prime Time. The New IRA claimed responsibility for the murder in Londonderry after the April 2019 killing. Mr McGuirk, who is the editor of news website Gript, also claimed on air that Eirigi "endorses terrorism". The statement was corrected by Miriam O'Callaghan at the end of the show and a public apology was furnished. The broadcaster agreed to pay the funds to charity. RTE has made payments of 10,000 towards a Lyra McKee investigative journalism training bursary, 5,000 to the Capuchin Day Centre and 5,000 to Inner City Helping Homeless. RTE agreed to make another apology, to remove from the RTE Player the defamatory comments, and to upload the full apology to the player, and agreed to pay Eirigi's legal fees. An RTE spokesperson said: "On March 2 last we broadcast an item about the protests held in Dublin City centre the previous Saturday. "One of our live contributors wrongly said that the political party Eirigi was responsible for the shooting of a journalist and endorses terrorism in Northern Ireland. "We corrected that statement on the night and have been asked by Eirigi to clarify that it is an open, registered political party that has never been involved in shooting a journalist and does not support violence. "We are happy to do so and apologise sincerely for what was said." The statement noted the "claims were completely untrue" and added the apology was "part of a wider settlement that has now been reached between Eirigi and RTE". There is no evidence to suggest Eirigi has ever been a terrorist organisation. A representative of the Association of Catholic Priests, Fr Tim Hazlewood, has said he would bless the union of same-sex couples despite the Vatican ruling it out this week, saying the church 'cannot bless sin'. If Christ was with us now, he would do the caring, the loving thing, Fr Hazelwood said. Earlier this week, the Vatican decreed that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions because God cannot bless sin. The Vaticans orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy can bless gay unions. The answer, approved by Pope Francis, was negative. Fr Hazlewood, who ministers in a parish in East Cork, said he had been approached by families who have somebody who is in a same-sex relationship. Our experience is that they are lovely couples and to hear something like that, that their relationship is sinful, I wonder how many of them know and meet and interact with those families and those people," he told RTE Morning Ir Fr Hazlewood said the Pope was in a difficult position, but to listen to that statement was so disappointing, it was appalling. He's trying to hold all the parts together, in parts of the world, including Ireland, there is a small group who are very anti-Pope Francis and anti the changes, the new breath of life that he's bringing. For a lot of people and families, it's very disappointing. Does he want to cause a schism in the church?" When asked if he would bless a same sex couples union, Fr Hazlewood replied: Just two days ago there were pieces of weed that grow in the ground and I blessed them. I blessed shamrock, now if two people stand in front of me and they love each other and they are committing to each other for the rest of their lives and I bless shamrock and wouldn't bless them. I don't think there's a doubt or a question there. The church's teaching on what marriage means has not changed, he said. In Ireland, we're going to have a synod in the next five years and the bishops have said they want people on the margins to be part of that, would any gay person come near a church that says things like this? There's an awful difference between somebody in Rome making a promulgation and what's the lived experience of the church and I think a lot of priests would say if Christ was here with us now, what would Christ do? He would do the caring, the loving thing. He was the one who challenged all of these rules himself. Pope Francis is asking us to talk about these things, this is the way forward There's going to be an awful lot more things like this in the church which is a good thing. John Sennett's vacation home lies within half a mile of the U.S.-Canada border. Unfortunately, it's on the wrong side. It has now been a year and a half since the Capital Region resident and his wife have set foot in the home on Wolfe Island in Ontario. The border officially closed to non-essential travel a year ago, in the wake of the spread of COVID-19, and thus far there are no signs that a reopening is imminent. Early on, the administration of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited the spread of the coronavirus in the United States as the reason for closing. But, Sennett points out, the U.S. lately appears to be having more success vaccinating its population than Canada has had. He points to a website from Bloomberg News that showed Canada as of Wednesday had administered just nine doses of vaccine per 100 people, compared with 34 per 100 in the U.S. And while President Joseph Biden said the U.S. would have enough vaccines for every American by May 1, the Montreal Gazette on Thursday reported that Canada would reach that point two months later, on July 1. So Sennett is growing frustrated. "Canadas slow rollout of vaccinations has been hard to understand. I have read that an early contractual arrangement with a Chinese vaccine producer went bust late in 2020," he said in an email to the Times Union. That is true. The BBC reported last month that a deal with vaccine manufacturer CanSino had fallen apart. "There was no adequate plan in place for alternate supplies," Sennett added. "That seems to be the main factor." Canada had also contracted with European suppliers, fearing that then-President Donald Trump would block exports of U.S. suppliers to Canada. Trump did issue an order giving U.S. citizens first priority for the vaccines. Manufacturing snafus and some concerns about the safety the AstraZeneca vaccine have disrupted European supplies. On Thursday, the border closing was extended another 30 days, to April 21, and there were signs the close relationship between the two countries was beginning to fray. "The economic and social impacts continue, but there is also a growing concern about the over-arching impact on the entire relationship between the U.S. and Canada, which is arguably unique in the world," said Garry Douglas, who heads the North Country Chamber of Commerce in Plattsburgh. "Unlike other bi-national relationships, which are largely driven by government-to-government actions, the special relationship between the U.S. and Canada has long been driven by people-to-people connections and interactions," Douglas said. "And so this unprecedented separation is now inarguably doing deep and lasting damage on multiple levels. "Simply put, it is fundamentally eroding our special relationship." Earlier Thursday, Catherine Loubier, Quebec's delegate-general in New York, told the Times Union that much about the relationship was still in place, including trade and commercial ties. "There's a lot that is working," she told the Times Union. "Truck traffic is the same. Critical supply chains, food health. "But I understand the concerns," she added. "It's unprecedented." Essential workers can cross the border, including health workers. And there's what many consider a loophole in the closing. Air travel from Canada to the U.S. is still permitted, and that has triggered a business in Canadian snowbirds taking a short flight across the border while their vehicle is shipped in. The vehicle is delivered to them at the airport and they begin their road trip south. But it's the leisure traveler who might have driven or taken the train to Montreal or Toronto for a weekend who's felt the most impact. While New Yorkers face quarantine restrictions in neighboring states such as Vermont and Massachusetts, those restrictions are lifted if they're fully vaccinated (two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, one of Johnson & Johnson's, with a two-week wait afterward). There is no such flexibility with the Canadian closure. "Our key concern is that while the stakes for both countries are enormous, there continues to be a lack of appropriate urgency shown by both governments in planning and pursuing the way forward," said Douglas. "Our own Senators and Congresswoman get it and are advocating strongly with us, but we must all up the sense of urgency for at least some interim steps. We will not let up." U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from Schuylerville, and U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, a Democrat from Buffalo, head the bipartisan Northern Border Caucus that has been seeking ways to reopen the border. As we rapidly increase vaccinations, including of critical border workers, the American and Canadian governments must soon spell out a clear step-by-step plan to safely reestablish increased cross border travel, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told the Times Union. "It has been devastating to lose that free-flowing connection between the U.S. and Canada for a year," said Michael Cashman, the supervisor in the town of Plattsburgh. "There is no active plan to designate (how) the border would reopen. We need a plan." The European Union, a number of airlines, and even New York state are looking to develop vaccination "passports" that would give fully vaccinated individuals access to everything from sporting events to foreign travel. The passports could be digital, perhaps with blockchain technology to secure them. But there would need to be agreements in place among governments to give them widespread acceptance. Cashman said his town has felt the impact of the loss of Canadian day visitors and tourists. "On any day I could stand in any parking lot and see a sea of Quebec license plates" surrounding the local shopping mall and numerous outlet stores, Cashman said. "Speaking for myself, I certainly miss the opportunity to go north," where parts of Montreal could be mistaken for a city in Europe. While Champlain Centre, the local mall, didn't reply to a request for comment, Cashman said a "buy local" sentiment among area residents has helped merchants weather the loss of Canadian consumers. "The economy has somewhat been buoyed by people doubling down and supporting local businesses," he said. Loubier, the Quebec delegate-general, said she's looking forward to the day the border can reopen. "I think we should prepare to celebrate this moment when it comes," she said. "My message to Americans is, we miss you." The papal message for the 58th World Day of Prayer for Vocations is centred on Saint Joseph: The Dream of Vocation. The Gospels do not report even a single word of his. Still, through his ordinary life, he accomplished something extraordinary in the eyes of God. Vatican City (AsiaNews) Pope Francis released a message for the 58th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, titled Saint Joseph: The Dream of Vocation, which will be celebrated on 25 April 2021. In it, the pontiff urges all religious and clergy to look to Saint Joseph as a model of fidelity and docility to Gods design, a model for all vocations to which one may feel called because of his capacity to give himself and to welcome, in a spirit of service. Saint Joseph, writes the Pope, had no unique charisms, nor did he appear special in the eyes of those who met him. He was not famous or even noteworthy: the Gospels do not report even a single word of his. Still, through his ordinary life, he accomplished something extraordinary in the eyes of God. God looks on the heart (cf. 1 Sam 16:7), and in Saint Joseph he recognized the heart of a father, able to give and generate life in the midst of daily routines. Vocations have this same goal: to beget and renew lives every day. The Lord desires to shape the hearts of fathers and mothers: hearts that are open, capable of great initiatives, generous in self-giving, compassionate in comforting anxieties and steadfast in strengthening hopes. The priesthood and the consecrated life greatly need these qualities nowadays, in times marked by fragility but also by the sufferings due to the pandemic, which has spawned uncertainties and fears about the future and the very meaning of life. Saint Joseph comes to meet us in his gentle way, as one of the saints next door. At the same time, his strong witness can guide us on the journey. For Francis, Saint Joseph suggests to us three key words for each individuals vocation. The first is dream. And love is the word for a dream of a lifetime. It is love that gives meaning to life, because it reveals lifes mystery. Indeed, we only have life if we give it; we truly possess it only if we generously give it away. Saint Joseph has much to tell us in this regard, because, through the dreams that God inspired in him, he made of his life a gift. In fact, he followed what God suggested to him in a dream, he had confidence and the courage to follow God's will. This choice proved right. So too in a vocation: Gods call always urges us to take a first step, to give ourselves, to press forward. There can be no faith without risk. Only by abandoning ourselves confidently to grace, setting aside our own programmes and comforts, can we truly say yes to God. In this regard, Saint Joseph is an outstanding example of acceptance of Gods plans. Yet his was an active acceptance: never reluctant or resigned. Joseph was certainly not passively resigned, but courageously and firmly proactive (Patris Corde, 4). May he help everyone, especially young people who are discerning, to make Gods dreams for them come true. May he inspire in them the courage to say yes to the Lord who always surprises and never disappoints. A second word marks Saint Josephs life and vocation: service. The Gospels show how Joseph lived entirely for others and never for himself. [. . .] For Saint Joseph, service as a concrete expression of the gift of self did not remain simply a high ideal, but became a rule for daily life. He strove to find and prepare a place where Jesus could be born; he did his utmost to protect him from Herods wrath by arranging a hasty journey into Egypt; he immediately returned to Jerusalem when Jesus was lost; he supported his family by his work, even in a foreign land. In short, he adapted to different circumstances with the attitude of those who do not grow discouraged when life does not turn out as they wished; he showed the willingness typical of those who live to serve. Each time he was willing to face new circumstances without complaining, ever ready to give a hand to help resolve situations. We could say that this was the outstretched hand of our heavenly Father reaching out to his Son on earth. Joseph cannot fail to be a model for all vocations, called to be the ever-active hands of the Father, outstretched to his children. The third aspect of Saint Josephs life that Francis highlights is fidelity. Joseph is the righteous man (Mt 1:19) who daily perseveres in quietly serving God and his plans. This fidelity is nurtured In the light of Gods own faithfulness. God spoke to Joseph for the first time saying: do Not be afraid. [T]hese words the Lord also addresses to you, dear sister, and to you, dear brother, whenever you feel that, even amid uncertainty and hesitation, you can no longer delay your desire to give your life to him. He repeats these words when, perhaps amid trials and misunderstandings, you seek to follow his will every day, wherever you find yourself. They are words you will hear anew, at every step of your vocation, as you return to your first love. They are a refrain accompanying all those who like Saint Joseph say yes to God with their lives, through their fidelity each day. This fidelity is the secret of joy. A hymn in the liturgy speaks of the transparent joy present in the home of Nazareth. It the joy of simplicity, the joy experienced daily by those who care for what truly matters: faithful closeness to God and to our neighbour. How good it would be if the same atmosphere, simple and radiant, sober and hopeful, were to pervade our seminaries, religious houses and presbyteries! I pray that you will experience this same joy, dear brothers and sisters who have generously made God the dream of your lives, serving him in your brothers and sisters through a fidelity that is a powerful testimony in an age of ephemeral choices and emotions that bring no lasting joy. May Saint Joseph, protector of vocations, accompany you with his fatherly heart! (CNN) Senior officials from the United States and China are meeting in person on Thursday for the first time since US President Joe Biden took office. But progress toward solving major economic sources of strain including disputes over tech and trade is unlikely. US Secretary of State Tony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will head into the two-day meeting with Chinese counterparts Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi in Anchorage, Alaska, carrying a lot of baggage. Former President Donald Trump spent much of his term escalating tensions between the world's two largest economies. He sparked a bitter trade war that the two sides have yet to completely unravel. And he punished some of China's most prominent tech companies with crippling sanctions, largely over concerns that they pose a threat to US national security. For now, it's more likely that other political disputes will dominate the conversation in Anchorage, according to William Reinsch, a trade expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who served for 15 years as president of the National Foreign Trade Council. The two countries have clashed recently over a number of issues, including Beijing's crackdown on Hong Kong, a former British territory, and allegations of widespread human rights abuses in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang. China is hoping the Alaska meeting will decouple politics from trade, and eventually lead to a rollback of US tariffs as well as its commitments to buy more US goods. America isn't ready to make concessions. "I don't think it has sunk in yet the limited flexibility the president has in light of the sharp shift in US public opinion against China and strong demands in Congress from both parties for a hard line on China," Reinsch told CNN Business. "So trade and technology remain issues, but the other issues, particularly human rights, right now are higher on the list." Washington may have already ensured that geopolitics will be the focus at the meeting. Earlier this week, the US government sanctioned two dozen Chinese and Hong Kong officials after Beijing further restricted the ability of people in the city to freely elect their leaders. Blinken also criticized China in a meeting with his counterparts in Tokyo on Tuesday, where he accused Beijing of threatening regional stability. Neither side has indicated that they see Anchorage as a place for meaningful change in their relationship, either. The Biden administration has stressed that the summit is "a one-off meeting" that is "very much intended as an initial discussion." And Beijing has said it does not have "high expectations" for the event. "Downplaying hopes for the meeting reflects domestic politics on the US side, Biden wants to avoid appearing to be too soft with Beijing but also the broader state of the relationship," wrote Eurasia Group analysts in a research note last week. "Neither the US nor China is willing to make concessions that the other believes is necessary to meaningfully relax tensions." Human rights issues, meanwhile, may actually exacerbate some of the major economic pain points down the road. The United States already cited concerns about Xinjiang in decisions last year to curtail imports from that region an attempt to stop goods made with forced labor from entering the US market. (Beijing has long defended its crackdown in Xinjiang as necessary to tackle extremism and terrorism. And contrary to accusations that it forces people there into labor camps, it claims that its facilities are voluntary "training centers" where people learn vocational skills, Chinese language and laws.) "The Biden administration will link human rights issues to exports [and] sales of technology," said Alex Capri, a research fellow at Hinrich Foundation and a visiting senior fellow at National University of Singapore. "Expect to see more export controls and sanctions against Chinese interests." Capri and others also say the United States will continue to do what it can to disentangle parts of its economy from China. He pointed to recent efforts from Biden to review US supply chains a move widely seen as a bid to ensure that critical products and supplies are not beholden to Beijing. "Biden's 'Build Back Better' platform is actually a more coherent version of [Make America Great Again], when it comes to reshoring and ring-fencing strategic industries," Capri told CNN Business, pointing to potential efforts to remove China from pharmaceutical, semiconductor, battery, rare earth and artificial intelligence supply chains as "just the beginning." Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the location of Xinjiang within China. This story was first published on CNN.com "US-China talks could end up inflaming trade tensions". Mike has reported on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem's wildlife, wildlands and the agencies that manage them since 2012. A native Minnesotan, he arrived in the West to study environmental journalism at the University of Colorado. The Prime Minister says that Corpus Christi, also known as the "Day of Wreaths", is set aside on the Christian calendar to honour the Holy Eucharist which was observed at the last supper before Christ was crucified. Washington has threatened all companies involved in the Gazprom-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project with sanctions, signaling there is at least one segment of U.S. foreign policy where the Biden administration will continue the policies of the Trump administration. "As the President has said, Nord Stream 2 is a bad dealfor Germany, for Ukraine, and for our Central and Eastern European allies and partners," said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in a statement. "The Department is tracking efforts to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and is evaluating information regarding entities that appear to be involved." "As multiple U.S. administrations have made clear, this pipeline is a Russian geopolitical project intended to divide Europe and weaken European energy security. The sanctions legislation Congress passed in 2019 and expanded in 2020 has significant support from a bipartisan Congressional majority," Blinken also said in the statement. Earlier this year, under sanction pressure from the U.S., two Western European companies involved in the project said they would quit the project. Even project leader Gazprom reportedly told investors the project may be suspended or discontinued due to extraordinary circumstances, including "political pressure." Russian President Putin's press secretary called the widening sanctions a kind of hybrid warfare at the end of last year, saying, "This international project is still facing crude, illegal pressure from the United States of America." Last month, German media reported, however, that the U.S. was ready to discuss lifting Nord Stream 2 sanctions if Germany was willing to offer a way to quench Washington's concern about Europe's energy security. Germany will be the biggest beneficiary of additional Russian gas flows and, unlike its friends in Washington, does not seem to believe the deal is bad for it as it continues to shut down its coal and nuclear power plants. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: NEW YORK Michael Cohen must serve home confinement until Nov. 22, 2021, prosecutors say, rejecting arguments made by Donald Trumps former fixer that he should already be done with his sentence for campaign finance violations, lying to Congress and other crimes. Cohen sued in December, claiming that his sentence should be trimmed because of Trumps criminal justice reform. Good behavior and participation in prison programs should have resulted in him already having completed his sentence, Cohen argued. In new filings made public Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison Rovner wrote that many of the programs Cohen completed behind bars, such as Drug Education: Freedom from Drugs, Health/Fitness, Victim Impact and Business Startup, did not count as credit toward his sentence for technical reasons related to Bureau of Prisons policy. Cohen said it was disgraceful that prosecutors had waited the maximum 60 days to respond to his lawsuit. My only hope is that the court does not permit the BOP and government to do what they so frequently do, which is running out the clock, Cohen said. I should have been off of home confinement in January. Cohen, who flipped on Trump after serving as his right-hand man for years, has recently met with prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vances office in connection with a criminal probe of the Trump Organization. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. A MAN who called his wife "despicable" names and put her in fear told gardai to "arrest the real criminals". The accused called his wife a "tramp, a prostitute and a whore" and pushed her around their flat in breach of a domestic violence order. Judge Brian O'Shea gave him a four-month suspended sentence. The man, in his 40s, pleaded guilty to breaching a protection order. Dublin District Court heard gardai were called to the accused's Dublin home on July 4, 2019, and the victim told them her husband had called her a "tramp and a prostitute" after she asked him to "keep the noise down". When arrested and charged, he said: "That is lies." Shouting On July 24, 2019, gardai were called by neighbours who heard "loads of shouting and arguing" at the address. The court heard the accused had again insulted his wife and pushed her several times. He struggled when arrested, and said: "I breached no f**king order, arrest the real criminals, the drug dealers." The accused had long-standing alcohol problems which were "particularly pronounced at the time", his solicitor said. Judge O'Shea said what the accused said was despicable but the spate of behaviour was "somewhat out of character". The judge said he was impressed with the steps the man had taken to rehabilitate himself and reconcile with his wife and family. He suspended the sentence for nine months. Science Week 2021 at St Marys School Last week saw the students at St Marys Lower Primary celebrate Science week. The pupils at the school took part in a range of science-related activities and learnt about scientists to mark the occasion. Nursery explored the properties of materials through a series of messy play activities such as Gelli-Baff trays, shaving foam letter practice, waterbead and rainbow rice exploration and learning about how germs spread using milk and food colouring. Reception learned about Florence Nightingale and engaged in hands-on science related activities such as planting lentils and exploring light and shadow using a blackout box. Reception undertook STEM activities such as making a trap for the Gingerbread man, building rainbows with duplo and finding dinosaur fossils in oobleck. These types of activities are brilliant for sparking childrens natural curiosity, developing language and fine motor skills and capturing their interest. The children are often exposed to this type of immersive learning through our excellent Early Years curriculum provision, however, as Science Coordinator, it was great to see the children really get stuck in and enjoy the science elements of their intentional play, commented Mrs Stych. Year 1 and 2 looked at the life and works of Marie Curie and Louis Paster respectively, and engaged in STEM activities and experiments within their class bubbles. Experiments included understanding how germs spread by using glitter and a mouldy bread experiment. Children undertook STEM challenges like using junk modelling items to build the bridge which could hold the most weight; and they explored materials by building homes for the 3 little pigs in an attempt to see which material could best withstand the blowing of the wolfs hairdryer. They made their own bouncy balls, fizzy potions, and conducted independent experiments. Towards the end of the week the children were invited to watch science demonstrations in the school playground. Mrs Stych and Mr Capurro treated the eager children to a number of demonstrations, including elephant toothpaste, a Mentos and cola drink experiment and a number of different projectiles were created using vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. The response from the children was excellent and the excitement within the school was palpable. Science is an intrinsic and fundamental part of the curriculum. Although this Science Week has been unable to be like others, due to COVID restrictions, the children and teachers have enjoyed a week of fun science experiments and learning. My hope is that next year we will be able to invite childrens loved ones in to conduct the experiments with them and add that much missed community element to our science week, concluded Mrs Stych. The Attorney General's Office for the western Mexican state of Jalisco has called on the nation's top cop to investigate claims that Mexico City's security chief Omar Garcia Harfuch reportedly aligned himself with the late leader of a cartel to take down the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The shocking allegations were made by Carlos 'El Cholo' Sanchez, the former leader of the New Plaza Cartel, in a video that was uploaded on social media by the rival Jalisco New Generation Cartel on Thursday morning. Sanchez was found dead just hours after the video's release, with his body placed on a park bench with two large knives jutting out from him. 'My name is Carlos Enrique Sanchez Martinez, a.k.a El Cholo, native of Guadalajara, Jalisco,' the handcuffed former high-ranking member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel said while a bevy of masked armed men stood in the background. 'I met in the Federal District (Mexico City) with Omar Garcia Harfuch so that he could give me support since we are both against the CJNG,' he continued. 'He provided me the support. He just told me to have something relevant so that he could come here to the city with all of his people or the support that he was going to send.' Carlos 'El Cholo' Sanchez (front center), the former leader of the New Plaza Cartel, appeared in a video Thursday in which he allegedly claimed to have reached a deal with Mexico City's security chief Omar Garcia Harfuch to combat the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. El Cholo was found dead, his body covered in plastic, on top of a park bench in the Jalisco municipality of Tlaquepaque. The Jalisco State Attorney General's Office has demanded an investigation from the nation's Attorney General Omar Garcia Harfuch (pictured) denied the allegations made by Carlos 'El Cholo' Sanchez, the late leader of the New Plaza Cartel, who said he and Harfuch had joined forces to fight the Jalisco New Generation Cartel because they were 'both against the CJNG' The body of Carlos 'El Cholo' Sanchez found lying on a park bench Thursday near the Tlaquepaque city hall building Sanchez's body was found wrapped from head to toe with two knives plunged into his chest and leg. It was dumped just several steps away from the city hall building in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco a couple of hours after the video's release. The Jalisco State Attorney General's Office verified the video's content later in the evening. 'This material confirms the existence of an orchestrated strategy to destabilize the state by a group of organized crime,' Jalisco Attorney General Gerardo Octavio Solis said. 'Everything indicates that it is the person named Carlos Sanchez Martinez, nicknamed El Cholo.' In the video, Sanchez alleged that Garcia Harfuch had instructed him to spark several criminal incidents in the state of Jalisco. He obliged by abandoning dead bodies in several mass graves in the Jalisco cities of Tonala, Tlaquepaque, Tlajomulco and Zapopan, and then alerted the police of the locations. Sanchez also took responsibility for a December 2018 grenade attack on the United States Embassy in Guadalajara. No casualties or injuries were reported in the incident. Sanchez's body was found wrapped from head to toe with two knives plunged into his chest and leg. It was placed on a park bench just several steps away from the city hall building in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco a couple of hours after the video's release. Erick Valencia, pictured following his arrest in Mexico in March 2012, co-founded the New Plaza Cartel in 2018. He is wanted on drug trafficking charges by the United States government, which is offering a $5million reward for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction The Jalisco State Attorney General's Office is seeking an investigation into allegations presented by Carlos 'El Cholo' Sanchez, who late leader of the New Plaza Cartel, who said Mexico City security chief Omar Garcia Harfuch had entered an agreement with him to provide his organization support to take down the Jalisco New Generation Cartel Garcia Harfuch, who was wounded during a failed assassination attempt carried out in Mexico City by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in June 2020, denied the allegations made by Sanchez. 'Regarding a video in which a criminal kidnapped by other criminals made to comments about me, I reiterate that false messages from criminals will not distract us,' he said. 'My commitment to society is firm, fighting crime to the last consequences.' Pictured: Local media reported that this image shows the Mexico City police chief being treated at the scene by paramedics. Harfuch was shot three times and one of his bodyguards died trying to protect him Sanchez split from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and their leader Nemesio 'El Mencho' Oseguera in 2018 and along with Erick 'El 85' Valencia formed the New Plaza Cartel and unleashed a wave of terror across Tonala, Zapopan, Tlaquepaque and Tlajomulco de Zuniga. The United States is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest and/or arrest of Valencia, who is wanted on drug trafficking charges. Beirut, March 19 : Lebanon registered on Thursday 3,757 new Covid-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 430,734, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported. Meanwhile, the death toll from the virus in Lebanon went up by 73 to 5,609. The tally of recoveries from the virus in the country climbed by 2,642 to 337,975, the Xinhua news agency reported. Lebanon has so far vaccinated over 100,000 people with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and it is expected to receive 92,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine next week. Moreover, Malia Group's Chairman Jacque Sarraf announced on Thursday that his company has imported 1 million jabs of Russian Sputnik V vaccine, which will arrive soon in the country to speed up the vaccination process in Lebanon. New Delhi: A frightening scene unfolded on the streets of Russian city Nizhnevartovsk when a bear escaped from a private zoo and chased down a commuter causing a huge commotion. A man who was walking the snowy pavement and making a phone call when the runaway animal approached him. The escaped bear then chased down the commuter down a Russian city street, as per a report by Dailymail.co.uk. Astonishingly, the animal did not give up the chase even after being hit by a bus. As the man was running away from the bear, he ran across a street and an oncoming bus hit and wounded the bear. The injured bear hid behind heating pipes at an industrial site where it was later discovered by the police who surronded it and caged it. The owner the private zoo at a local hotel, sauna and car wash complex reportedly told the police that he did not want the bear back - and permitted for the authorites to put it down. Officials will now decide where to permanently house the one-and-a-half year old female beast, though, the local zoos in Siberia have refused to take the predator. Meanwhile, police are monitoring the animal and will decide her fate soon. The Prime Minister says that Corpus Christi, also known as the "Day of Wreaths", is set aside on the Christian calendar to honour the Holy Eucharist which was observed at the last supper before Christ was crucified. New Delhi, March 19 : Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Friday reached New Delhi for the first time since he assumed the top office in the state. Reports say Rawat is likely to meet BJP President J.P. Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah, among other party colleagues, during his trip. The chief minister reached Delhi's Uttarakhand Sadan at about 2 pm in the afternoon and had a meeting with party workers here. He also met officials from the state stationed in the Capital. Sources close to the chief minister said he is likely to pay a courtesy visit to senior party leaders later on Friday. He is likely to leave for Dehradun on Saturday. The push for an infrastructure deal will be a test for Biden. There is bipartisan agreement that a large-scale package is needed, but an agreement has been elusive. Infrastructure was a priority for former President Donald Trump, but he couldn't get a deal done even with Republican control of the House and Senate. Now, Biden is making it a priority and has majorities in both houses of Congress. But some Democrats and Republicans, especially moderate members of their respective parties, don't want a partisan solution. These members, including Katko, agree that an infrastructure package is needed. In their letter, they note that the lack of investment in surface infrastructure will cost the average American family $1,060 a year and suppress gross domestic product growth by $897 billion. They also worry about the impact of the COVID-19 impact on state and local governments, which fund most infrastructure projects. "With these goals in mind, we write to express our shared commitment to prioritizing bipartisan infrastructure reform in the months ahead," Katko and his colleagues wrote. "Our hope is that Congress and the Biden administration can work together to bring a comprehensive infrastructure package to the floor later this year." Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. GAIL (India) on Thursday announced that it has signed a concession agreement with Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) for setting up Compressed Biogas (CBG) Plant in Ranchi. As per the agreement, GAIL will setup CBG Plant for processing 150 tons per day of Organic Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). The CBG plant will produce 5 tons of CBG per day and approximately 25 tons of fermented bio manure per day. GAIL further added CBG plant would be beneficial for people of Ranchi by producing clean & green fuel and will be a step towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Shares of GAIL (India) were trading 2.15% lower at Rs 132.25 on BSE. GAIL (India) is an integrated energy company in the hydrocarbon sector and is engaged in gas marketing. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The aftermarket artists over at Officine Rossopuro go about their daily business in the picturesque city of Pescara, Italy. When it comes to creating unique pieces of mechanical artwork that revolve around Moto Guzzi s two-wheeled bulls, these fellows mean business and their fascinating portfolio is a genuine testament to that claim!For a clear demonstration of the crews abilities, well be having a quick look at their achievements on a 1979 model from Mandello del Larios 850 T3 lineup. This untamed stallion is brought to life by a longitudinally mounted V-twin mill that prides itself with two valves per cylinder and a displacement of 844cc.At 7,000 rpm, the air-cooled leviathan is good for up to 68 wild ponies, while a generous torque output of no less than 54 pound-feet (73 Nm) will be summoned at about 5,800 revs. The engines ominous force is channeled to a shaft final drive by means of a five-speed transmission. Long story short, it goes without saying the 850 T3 is one hell of a beast.To ensure that its powertrain will perform like a marvel, the Rossopuro team kicked things off by honoring the bikes V-twin and gearbox with a comprehensive overhaul. As soon as these items were refurbished, the Italian specialists turned their attention to the bodywork department, where youll find an assortment of bespoke garments that keep things looking rad.The stock gas tank has been discarded in favor of a custom alternative, while aluminum fenders were installed on both ends of the beast. We also notice a pair of new side panels adorning the flanks, along with CNC-machined rear-mounted foot pegs thatll bring about a tougher riding stance. Furthermore, T3s beefy saddle was removed to make room for a quilted leather unit with retro vibes. Officine s fiend rolls on a magnificent set of laced wheels that hail from Borranis classy inventory. You will spot twin Bitubo shock absorbers handling rear suspension duties without breaking a sweat. Additionally, the standard front and rear lighting modules have been replaced by a selection of aftermarket counterparts. The finishing touch comes in the form of reverse megaphone mufflers topping off the original exhaust pipes. The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers has named Bethany Kaiser a Senior vice president in the Bakersfield, Calif. office. The firm has also named Brian English a vice president in the Bakersfield office. Kaiser has more than 25 years of experience in managing program business. She was most recently with Alliant focused on the oil and gas industry. English has spent the last 15 years of his insurance career involved in the oil & gas, construction and water well-driller industries. He was most recently with Alliant. The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers is a privately held brokerage firm in Woodland Hills, Calif., with offices throughout the country. Topics California Agencies Close Joe Biden says hell run for a second term in 2024 On the 65th day of his presidency, Joe Biden held his first formal press conference since entering the White House on 20 January. In the hour-long Q&A, Biden courted controversy on migration at the Mexico border, the US relationship with China, and the potential to face off against Trump in 2024 in a rematch that see two oldest presidential candidates in US history (Biden 82 v Trump 78). Of the 15 presidents of the past 100 years, all but for Biden have held a press conference within 33 days of being sworn into office. Donald Trump did it 27 days in, while Barack Obama outdid Trump by a week at 20 days. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg dismissed the company's role in polarising the US, blaming the "political and media environment" for promoting extremism and misinformation. His opening statement in the Senate big tech hearing came after a cutout of the Facebook boss dressed as the QAnon Shaman Jacob Chansley appeared on Capitol Hill before Congress began grilling the social media platforms. Kayleigh McEnany, former White House press secretary to Mr Trump, has meanwhile appeared on Fox News to claim Joe Biden is in badly declining health and is concealing his condition behind a Covid face mask, a baseless smear intended to undermine his first press conference as president, where questions on immigration, the coronavirus vaccine rollout, infrastructure and gun control are likely to be forthcoming. His vice president, Kamala Harris, is also already facing criticism from Republicans Ted Cruz and Doug Ducey, Arizonas governor, after being appointed to lead the countrys response to the latest surge in asylum seekers arriving at the US border with Mexico as the administration struggles to find temporary housing for hundreds of unaccompanied children. Read more: Ajith Kumar, the Thala Ajith of Tamil cinema is one of the very rare actors who has never let stardom affect his personal life. Recently, Ajith Kumar won the internet by taking an auto ride in Chennai city. In the video that has taken the internet by storm, the Valimai actor is seen traveling by auto without any starry tantrums. The video came out as a great surprise for the Thala Ajith fans and media, who have been eagerly waiting to catch a glimpse of the actor. Even though the reason behind Ajith Kumar's auto ride is yet to be revealed, the fans point out that Thala is someone who loves to take rides on public transport. The actor had similarly surprised his fans by taking a road trip from Hyderabad to Chennai during one of the initial schedules of his upcoming project Valimai. Reportedly, Thala Ajith decided to take a long bike ride, as he was highly impressed with the bike used by his character Eeshwar Moorthy IPS in the movie. However, such occasions are unmissable for the fans and media, as Ajith Kumar makes public appearances very rarely. The Valimai actor famously decided to stop attending film award shows and star nights, as well as stopped giving interviews to the media, over a decade back. Thala Ajith has also made it clear that he has absolutely no intentions to enter social media platforms as well. Coming to Valimai, the team is all set to reveal the much-awaited first look of the H Vinoth directorial on Ajith Kumar's birthday, May 1. Boney Kapoor, the producer of the project confirmed the reports with a Twitter post recently. "The first look and the promotions of #Valimai will be initiated from May 1st on the occasion of Mr #AjithKumar's 50th birthday #AK50," wrote the producer in his post. Also Read: Valimai First Look To Be Out On Thala Ajith's Birthday, Confirms Producer Boney Kapoor Ajith Kumar Wins 6 Medals At The 46th Tamil Nadu Shooting Championship; Takes Internet By Storm! Fewer than one in six women who are raped or sexually assaulted report it to police, figures show. This is because they are embarrassed, fear they wont be believed or are sceptical officers will help. More than one in 20 women have been raped since they were 16, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Almost half of those attacked were victims of their partner or ex-partner, while women were almost twice as likely to be attacked in their own home. A stock image is used above [File photo] Its annual Crime Survey for England and Wales revealed yesterday that 773,000 adults including men were victims of sexual assault in the year to March 2020. The ONS estimates that, each year, one in 40 women aged between 16 and 24 in England and Wales experience rape or attempted rape. The disclosures come amid a national conversation around womens safety following the abduction and murder of Sarah Everard earlier this month. The survey is particularly useful in gaining an understanding of womens safety because it captures sexual assaults that were not reported 84 per cent of women polled did not tell the police, with 39.6 per cent of these citing fear of embarrassment as their main reason. A similar number thought the police would be unable to help, a quarter feared the police would not believe them and 15 per cent said they didnt think the police would be sympathetic. The ONS estimates that, each year, one in 40 women aged between 16 and 24 in England and Wales experience rape or attempted rape. A stock image is used above [File photo] Of those women who did go to the police, 18.8 per cent said the police took no action while 11.4 per cent said the perpetrator got off with just a warning. Almost half of those attacked were victims of their partner or ex-partner, while women were almost twice as likely to be attacked in their own home. Overall, police in England and Wales recorded a total of 162,936 sexual offences in the year a 0.7 per cent fall. Helen Ross, from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice, said: The drop was driven by reductions in indecent exposure or unwanted sexual touching, however there was no change in the prevalence of rape or assault by penetration. The number of sexual offences recorded by the police has fallen slightly, after nearly tripling in recent years. The number of offences recorded by the police remains well below the number of victims estimated by the survey. Sarah Jones, Labours policing spokesman, said: These figures show the scale of sexual violence that women face. Its unacceptable that so few victims feel able to come forward and so many perpetrators are escaping justice. This has to be the time for change. Labour has called for harsher penalties for rape and domestic murder, as well as action on stalking and street harassment. On Monday, the Court of Appeal dismissed a legal challenge to a change in policy by the Crown Prosecution Service that has seen a decline in the number of rape cases going to court. This is an excerpt from Chris Churchill's weekly newsletter. Sign up here, and it will arrive in your inbox every Friday . For last week's newsletter, I wrote about the controversies surrounding Dr. Seuss and the notion that the iconic author from western Massachusetts might be the latest victim of "cancel culture." Shortly after that newsletter went out, Andrew Cuomo, the embattled governor of you-know-where, suggested that he is a cancel culture victim. "People know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture and the truth," the governor said last Friday, speaking about the politicians who had called for his resignation. "People know the difference between playing to politics, bowing to cancel culture and the truth." (Yes, he repeated the sentence twice, oddly.) The reference was widely mocked, including by many who noted that the scandal-ridden Democratic governor was adopting a conservative talking point to mount his defense. But unlike some of the mockers, I do think cancel culture exists. It just has nothing to do with what's happening to Gov. Cuomo. Cancel culture is a bit tricky to define, but, essentially, it's the demand that a person be silenced or fired for expressing an unpopular view or saying something stupid. Cancel culture isn't always inappropriate; we can probably all agree that some statements are so vile and egregious that the offending speakers deserve to have their reputations stained. But often there's an intolerance to cancel culture, involving an unwillingness to forgive people for mistakes or accept differences of opinion. It is illiberal. It is contrary to principles of free speech. The best local example I can think of involved David Peterson, an art professor at Skidmore College who faced a student boycott and demands that he be fired after he and his wife stopped to watch a pro-police rally in Saratoga Springs. In other words, merely listening to an opinion that some students found objectionable got a professor in hot water. "What's troubling is the mob mentality," Peterson told me. "All of a sudden, you have all these people who hate your guts and they know nothing about you." Peterson's situation was not the same as Cuomo's, of course. Unlike true victims of cancel culture, the governor is not in trouble because of his ideas, or because he said something stupid, or because he sent out a bad tweet, or because he stopped to watch a rally. He's facing investigations and calls for his resignation/impeachment because of behavior, both alleged and well documented. The governor and his administration for months hid the number of New York nursing home residents who died of COVID-19. His administration illegally rebuffed FOIL requests and scrubbed the data from a Health Department report. The administration then, as a recent Times Union editorial said, lied about why it lied. It is a scandal similar to cover-ups that have undone political careers since whenever it was that we first had politicians, which was long before anyone had heard of cancel culture. It is, frankly, Nixonian. Of course, many of the calls for Cuomo to resign have come due to allegations of sexual harassment from as many as seven women, including an employee who accuses the governor of what amounts to a sexual assault at the mansion. Cuomo has urged that people wait for Attorney General Tish James to complete her investigation before coming to a conclusion. (Meanwhile, he's trying to impede said investigation.) But it's reasonable for people to look at the allegations and conclude that Cuomo is unfit for office, unable to lead and/or bad for New York particularly when the accusations are coupled with an avalanche of reporting about the governor's toxic and abusive behavior. Doing so isn't cancel culture. It's holding an elected official to account. It is worth noting that Cuomo himself has often called on other politicians, including former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, to resign before the claims against them were investigated. Hypocrisy! But self-awareness is not always the governor's strong suit, as evidenced by something else he said at last Friday's press conference. "I am not part of the political club," said the Emmy-winning three-term governor who is the son of a three-term governor, was once married to a Kennedy and is currently chair of the National Governors Association. With that, Cuomo may have been channeling Groucho Marx, who famously said he wouldn't want to be in a club that would have him for a member. Yes, Woody Allen said something similar. But hasn't he been canceled? Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has asked a judge to give the state permanent custody of dozens of goats taken from a Redding property earlier this month after years of complaints their owner had neglected and abused the animals. The motion filed in Hartford Superior Court asks the state Department of Agriculture be awarded custody of 65 surviving goats seized from the property of 72-year-old Nancy Burton after state animal control officers discovered many were languishing without proper shelter, water or veterinary care. The animals were taken March 10 to the York Correctional Institution in Niantic, where the state maintains more property with barn stalls that can fit the animals while they are cared for by licensed veterinarians and state agriculture employees, and Tongs filing asks Burton provide daily compensation for their care at the facility. This is a sad and cruel case of animal neglect. No animal should ever suffer in this way, Tong said in a statement. State intervention is never our first choice. Resources and assistance are available to animal owners in need. That support was repeatedly offered and refused in this case. We are now left with no option but to seek permanent state custody to protect the health and safety of these goats and to get them the care they deserve. Burton was arrested in April 2020 and charged with animal cruelty and obstructing an animal control officer after a goat that wandered off her property was struck by a car and injured. That case is still pending and is the latest of more than 120 individual complaints and civil citations over the past 13 years about the animals at Burtons home, officials have said. State animal control officers tried to confront Burton again about the animals last fall, but court records show she brushed off their attempts to see the animals or arrange help for their care. Investigators then turned to secretly surveilling the property from a neighbors garage apartment, where they saw a dozen of the animals struggling to move with hooves that had grown so long they began to curl and manure piled nearly to the roof of one of the animals would-be paddocks. Story continues When investigators executed a warrant to search the property and seize the surviving animals, they discovered between 40 and 50 more deceased goats in various areas of Burtons property, Tong said Friday. Their remains were in various stages of decomposition in plastic bags, underneath a tarp, inside trash containers and partially buried across the area, Tong said. One animal was found in a shelter in a semicircle carved into the ground with straw around its hooves, indicating it had struggled for a significant amount of time in that spot before dying, he added. Neighbors in the area around Burtons property have complained for years about the goats welfare and that Burton frequently let them roam the neighborhood, where they not only bothered neighbors but posed a risk to drivers. Elinore Carmody, who lives next door to the property and spearheaded the effort to save the animals, said last week she was relieved the state finally stepped in to save the animals and that could finally receive the care they need. Officials urged any owner having trouble caring for their animals should reach out to the Department of Agriculture for help before the situation escalates. Ensuring the health and welfare of domestic animals and livestock is a cooperative effort among multiple parties, including the town, our agency and the Attorney General to intervene and respond to these situations, Agriculture Commissioner Bryan Hurlburt said. We encourage individuals experiencing hardship in caring for their animals to reach out for assistance and resources available to them. Zach Murdock can be reached at zmurdock@courant.com. According to the Mohawk Valley Crime Analysis Center, which operates out of the Utica Police Department, there are currently 37 gangs operating in the city and Oneida County. Equally as troubling is the age of the youngest members. "They're probably 12, 13 years old," says Tricia Nicholson, senior investigator with the Oneida County District Attorney's Office. "A lot of the shots fired are coming from these groups that have been identified and the drug activity, which ends up with the money, which ends up with the guns." Every day, MVCAC watches. "We have names and vehicles that they're driving and associates that they're with, addresses they're associated with, so they can be tracked and so that when something does happen we can kind of go to that group or that gang and see where they've been and what's been going on and who they've been with," says Nicholson. Before it gets that far, community advocate and youth mentor, Patrick Johnson, is out there, trying to keep guns out of young hands. "We cannot deny that we have a problem with guns getting into the hands of young people," says Johnson. "Unfortunately, there's a learned behavior that people are negotiating their conflict with guns." Community youth mentor, Lia Savage, is on edge, as she scrolls through press releases on UPD's Facebook page, worrying she'll know the names of those arrested. She doesn't just want to lecture young gang members on what they shouldn't do; she wants to show them what they can do. "They used to do scared straight, but what I wish they would do is bring them to the prison yard, then show them a college yard," says Savage. "They could see this is what these choices will lead to; this is what THESE choices will bring." COVID, however, put those plans on pause. "When they see our faces like 'come on man what did you do?' it almost helps them not for that week to act up 'cause they're like 'I gotta see Mr. Johnson, I gotta see Miss Savage I don't wanna be in that light' -- but with this COVID, we lost that." But Nicholson, Johnson and Savage won't be sidelined by a deadly virus. "I'll be in this race til the end, til I can't do it any more," says Savage. Below is the list of gangs identified in Utica and Oneida County.: Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Asian refineries are grappling with whats expected to be a brief period of weak profits as a demand-sapping Covid-19 comeback across the region coincides with a likely surge in oil-product exports from Iran.The virus resurgence in India and other nations apart from China is reducing consumption of products such as gasoline and jet fuel, squeezing the profit margins of refiners. The market is also bracing for the possibility of a boost to Iranian fuel oil supplies into Asia should a nuclear deal be revived.Thats led to complex refining margins in Singapore, a proxy for Asia, falling from $1.65 a barrel at the end of April to as low as 3 cents in mid-May. While its a setback for processors recovering from the pandemic, margins have rebounded slightly and are expected to resume an upward trajectory as soon as the third quarter with accelerating vaccination rates aiding demand.The average profit from converting crude into gasoline in Asia -- the so-called crack spread -- fell in May from April, snapping a three-month gain. Across the region, restrictions in place from Malaysia, Vietnam to Japan have sapped demand for transportation fuel. Oil consultant FGE sees Indias gasoline consumption as the biggest stumbling block to Asias demand recovery, with an estimated 20% fall in April through June versus the previous quarter.See also: Japans April Fuel Stocks Rise Despite Drop in ProductionExport is not a very attractive option, said N. Vijayagopal, the finance director at Bharat Petroleum Corp., Indias second biggest fuel retailer. Refiners across the country are facing a double whammy caused by weaker regional markets and lower domestic consumption thats prompting them to set aside earlier plans to maintain run rates and reduce operations instead.Complex refining margins in Singapore were at 60 cents a barrel on Monday and averaged about 71 cents in May. That compares with $2.41 in the same period in 2019, prior to the pandemic. The profit from converting crude to gasoline in Asia was at $8.85 on Tuesday after averaging about $8.48 in May.Iran FlowsThe restart of some crude processing capacity after seasonal maintenance will boost fuel supplies and offset some of the expected increase in demand, limiting the gains in refining margins, said Victor Shum, vice president of energy consulting for IHS Markit.Most are expecting a flood of crude should the nuclear accord be renewed with Iran, but its the prospect of rising fuel oil flows -- used to power ships and for electricity generation in some countries -- thats raised concerns for Asian refiners, especially as China boosts output of heavy fuel.Margins for very low-sulfur fuel oil dropped below $10 a barrel in mid-May for the first time since December, easing from a high of almost $16 at the end of February. Cracks in May were also at the lowest average in five months. Margins for high-sulfur fuel oil fell as low -$8.80 in May, from -$3.71 in April.Diesel demand, most notably from China, is proving to be the bright spot and has provided a buffer for overall margins. Consumption in Asia during the first three months of the year was at 9.4 million barrels a day, or about 98% of 2019 levels, and is expected to edge higher during the second quarter, according to Yuwei Pei, a consultant at Wood Mackenzie Ltd.Singapores stockpiles of middle distillates -- a category that includes diesel -- fell through the week ended May 26 to the lowest since April 2020. Covid-19 restrictions and the return of refineries after seasonal maintenance may lead to rising Asian inventories, but regional diesel cracks could increase $3 to $4 a barrel to as much as $10 by December, according to Wood Mackenzie.As the Covid-19 situation in Asia stabilizes and restrictions are eased, improvement in cracks of transportation fuels should support both simple and complex refining margins through the third quarter, said Grayson Lim, a senior oil market analyst at FGE(Updates margins and adds analyst comment in seventh paragraph.)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Tesco Ireland has today announced that it will dedicate the latest round of donations from its Community Fund to causes throughout Kildare that support the vulnerable and those most impacted by Covid-19. The latest round of funding will see Tesco stores donate 7,500 to local causes, such as Friends of Naas Hospital, Celbridge Community Council, Main Street Foodbank among other local and national charities. Naas Metro Friends of Naas Hospital Naas Care of the Aged The Church on Main St Foodbank Newbridge Newbridge Day Care Centre Newbridge Share Food The Dining Room Clane Dublin Rape Crisis Centre Homeless Care GLC ISPCC Celbridge Celbridge Community Council Feed Our Homeless Teach Tearmainn Maynooth Extra Community Cancer Care Givers Peter McVerry Trust Samaritans Newbridge/Kildare Naas Extra Friends Of Naas Hospital Main Street Foodbank Sensational Kids Kildare Hazelhatch Express Celbridge Community Council Feed Our Homeless Teach Tearmainn Kilcock Express Enfield Development Group Maynooth Kilcock Lions Club Summerhill Meals on Wheels Kildare Family Carers Ireland Kildare Tidy Towns Peter McVerry Trust Launching the latest round of donations, Rosemary Garth, Communications Director, Tesco Ireland said, We are pleased to be able to support the groups and organisations across Kildare that have continued to help the vulnerable members of their communities during this time. As we reach a year since the start of the pandemic, restrictions continue to have an impact on individuals, families and communities around the country. We hope that this latest round of Community Fund donations will help charities and causes at both local and national level continue to carry out the vital work they do for the people in their communities. This included a 150,000 donation split among three national charities - ALONE, Age Action and Family Carers Ireland - to support their efforts in helping the elderly, family carers and the most vulnerable members of local communities throughout the country. In January 2021, Tesco announced that its Community Fund had reached a milestone of 5 million in donations to local communities across Ireland since its establishment. Every eight weeks, each Tesco store donates up to 1,000 which is shared between three local causes in its community. Anyone can nominate a community group or good cause via the Tesco website https://tescoireland.ie/ sustainability/places/ community-fund/ When the pandemic brought the economy to a halt last year, it added to the complexity of managing the workplace in a large company like Mahindra and Mahindra, which has nearly 40,000 blue and white collar employees spread across the country. Shutting down was one challenge, but opening up was an entirely different exercise altogether. "We constituted a highly-empowered 'Rapid Action Force (RAF)' led by me, which was instrumental in implementing Covid-related safety and protection protocols at the workplace, including dashboards for tracking adherence and offering the best-possible medical support to employees," says Rajeshwar Tripathi, Chief Human Resources Officer, Automotive and Farm sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra. "We created a detailed SOP for handling a single-suspected case and our medical wellness team tied up with some of the most distinguished hospital chains to provide comprehensive care. The level of employee welfare provided was equal for both our white and blue collared employees," he adds. The company created customised knowledge-sessions over Microsoft Teams hosted by well-known psychologist Anna Chandy. Topics ranged from dealing with failure and parenting pressures to stress at the workplace. "We firmly believe in the paradigm that 'in every challenge there is an opportunity'," says Tripathi. Oscars Will Be Live No Zooming in Allowed! and Dress Code Is 'Inspirational and Aspirational' The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released new details of the upcoming 2021 Oscars ceremony including a request for all nominees to attend in person. In a letter sent out to Oscar nominees on Thursday, producers for April's award show revealed those nominated will not have the option to Zoom into the live show. "For those of you unable to attend because of scheduling or continued uneasiness about traveling, we want you to know there will not be an option to Zoom in for the show," producers Steven Soderbergh, Stacey Sher and Jesse Collins wrote. The letter continued, "We are going to great lengths to provide a safe and ENJOYABLE evening for all of you in person, as well as for all the millions of film fans around the world, and we feel the virtual thing will diminish those efforts." For those unable to attend, the Academy will accept the Oscar on behalf of the artist. The Academy's COVID protocol for the live show takes its roots in "treating the event as an active movie set, with specially designed testing cadences to ensure up-to-the-minute results, including an on-site COVID safety team with PCR testing capability." RELATED: The 2021 Oscar Nominations: Chadwick Boseman, Andra Day and Carey Mulligan Lead Nominees Protocols will also include specific instructions for those attending from outside of Los Angeles and those already in the city. Bryan Bedder/Getty Academy Awards The show's theme was also revealed as "Stories Matter," with the producers asking talent to take part in interviews where they'll share their own personal stories. The idea is to connect each person's story on the Sunday, April 25th award show. Dress code was also touched on, with producers telling nominees to avoid "casual" attire. "We're aiming for a fusion of Inspirational and Aspirational, which in actual words means formal is totally cool if you want to go there, but casual is really not," the letter said. Story continues The previous award shows already held this year have given attendees the option of attending virtually from home, which has led to some stars appearing in more casual attire such as Jason Sudeikis, who previously accepted the Golden Globe in a tie-dyed sweatshirt that went viral in February. The in-person event will take place at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles with additional elements taking place at the show's traditional venue, the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The Oscar nominations were announced earlier this month and hours later the Academy president David Rubin revealed the show's restricted attendee plan in an email to the Academy's nearly 10,000 members. Rubin wrote that only those nominated, their guest and presenters may attend the ceremony in person due to health regulations amid the coronavirus pandemic. RELATED: Academy President Reveals Restrictive Attendee Plan for the 2021 Oscars "As a result, we will not be able to conduct our annual member ticket lottery," he said. In addition, the Academy president explained that all nominations screenings and in-person celebratory events like the Governors Ball and Oscar Night watch parties in London and New York will be canceled. This year's Oscars have already proven historic, with the nominations marking the first time more than one woman Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) and Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) has been nominated in the Best Director category. The 93rd Academy Awards will air live on Sunday, April 25 starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC. 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. CLEVELAND, Ohio - As Ohio closes in on at least partial vaccinations for 30% of the states adult population, another not so encouraging trend has begun to develop. The sharp drops in cases and hospitalizations through January and February have nearly flattened out in mid-March. The seven-day average for coronavirus patients in Ohio hospitals is about unchanged in the last week, and the seven-day average for newly reported cases is up slightly from a week ago. Both important measures of coronavirus trends in Ohio do still represent stark improvements from early- and mid-winter, but they no longer are improving at rapid paces. * The hospital coronavirus patient count averaged 888 over the seven days through Thursday, nearly unchanged from 895 a week ago, but much better than the averages of 1,633 on Feb. 18, 3,817 on Jan. 18 and 5,166 on Dec. 18. * The average number of cases reported daily over the last week has been 1,550, in comparison to 1,493 a week ago, 2,279 a month ago on Feb. 18, 6,587 two months ago on Jan. 18, and 9,093 on Dec. 18. Yet its too early to know for sure what extent the recent surge of vaccinations may have on limiting cases. Vaccinations just this month have been started on 824,785 people, the Ohio Department of Health reports. Previous stories Ohios coronavirus rate drops to 143.8 cases per 100,000 residents in last 2 weeks; number of red alert counties drops to 60 Will Ohios tax filing deadline be postponed to May 17 to match the new IRS deadline? Coronavirus cases drop again at Ohio nursing homes Obamacare now cheaper for millions because of big health insurance changes in stimulus - Thats Rich! Ohio coronavirus cases, hospitalizations level off; updates, trends with vaccinations mapped by county How close is your ZIP code to reaching the goal of 50 coronavirus cases per 100,000, set by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine? SAGINAW, MI A shooting on Saginaws East Side has left a woman dead, with the man police say shot her now in jail. About 2:40 a.m. on Friday, March 19, police responded to a shooting inside a house at 2522 Hadley St. Officers in the area had heard the gunshot and arrived at the scene within minutes, said Saginaw Police Detective Sgt. Matthew Gerow. Officers arrived to find 51-year-old resident Avele Mack suffering from at least one gunshot wound, Gerow said. They performed life-saving measures and were soon joined in their efforts by Mobile Medical Response paramedics, though Mack was eventually pronounced deceased at the scene, Gerow said. Police arrested a 70-year-old male relative of Macks on homicide charges. Gerow said an argument had transpired between Mack and the man before the shooting. The arrested mans name is being withheld pending his arraignment on criminal charges in Saginaw County District Court. Macks death is Saginaws third homicide of 2021. The prior homicides are those of 25-year-old Joseph T. Black, found shot to death Jan. 8 on Wickes Park Drive, and 66-year-old Sharon Price, killed while sleeping in the early morning hours of Jan. 14 when a truck crashed into her home at 4102 Pemberton St. There have been three more homicides in different jurisdictions in Saginaw County so far this year. Throughout 2020, the city had 26 homicides, as well as one justified police shooting that left a Saginaw civilian dead. The city had nine homicides in 2019. Read more: Man wanted in Saginaw County murder case found dead in area park Saginaw family grieves for matriarch killed when truck crashed into her home Police still looking for person who killed Saginaw father of two Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on 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citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown 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Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 Automakers have said they dont expect the chip shortage to get any better before the third quarter of the year. Ford has said the shortage could cut its pretax earnings by $1 billion to $2.5 billion, even if it makes up for some of the lost production in the second half of the year. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. In many ways, theres never been a better time to lease offices in Houston. Vast amounts of space are vacant. Prices are low. Landlords are ready to deal. But in just as many ways, the decision to sign a lease has never been harder as companies rethink how or if they will bring employees back after more than a year of working at home. As Jackie Traywick, CEO of the nonprofit developer Central Houston, knows, a 10-year lease requires an eye to the future. And the future of the office may never have been more uncertain, summed up by Traywicks simple question What are my needs going to be over that extended period of time? How executives answer that question will be key to the future of Houstons commercial real estate market, awash in empty office space following years of nonstop building and a flood of sublease space as companies cut back during the pandemic. With vaccinations bringing the return to offices ever closer, companies face the choice of shrinking their footprints as employees work more from home, resuming the pre-pandemic normal, or taking more space so workers can spread out as social distancing sensibilities linger. So far, its hard to tell which way theyll go, industry officials said. Trey Miller, a senior broker at Houston-based Boxer Property Management Corporation said most clients are not making long-term commitments. They are opting instead to extend leases for one or two years or moving from high-end offices downtown to short-term leases with cheaper rents near Loop 610. When Snapseed, a 45-person software company, had its lease come up in early 2021, it decided to go completely virtual until its employees were vaccinated and it could reassess its needs for office space. On HoustonChronicle.com: More office workers return but overall market still looks grim Theyre putting off a decision until the world comes back to normal, Miller said. The most common theme, by far, since the beginning of the year has been what I call kicking the can down the road. But some companies, like Central Houston, are forging ahead. Traywick decided to move from the companys offices in the Houston Center to a larger one within the same complex in September. We wanted to build in some growth for more people, she said. But looking down the road, whether its the flu or a resurgence of a COVID-like virus, it made sense to move some of those people to a more private workplace or a more isolated workplace from others. Lower density versus lower rents Office vacancies soared nationwide during the pandemic. In Houston, where the market was already dealing with the shale bust and an oversupply of office space, conditions combined to push the vacancy rate to the highest in the nation, according to the commercial real estate analytics company CoStar. More than 63 million square feet of offices throughout the area were empty as of March 18, 4.3 million more than a year before. Nearly 19 percent of the regions office space is vacant, compared to 9 percent in Seattle, the median market in CoStars analysis. That has provided opportunities for companies like Central Houston, which was able to lock in good terms and expand. During the pandemic, Traywick explained, many employees expressed concern about working in a close environment with an open floor plan. The new space, which is 30 percent larger, will give more employees private offices, and the remaining cubicles will be scattered in groups of three or four. On HoustonChronicle.com: See inside the new Houston Center, downtowns largest office complex Not every office tenant is opting to go big. Justin Boyar, CoStars director of market analytics, said individual companies will weigh many variables in the decision, including how much of employees work requires in-person collaboration. While some companies will opt for more space for health reasons, he predicted many would balk at the expense, especially in a weak economy. Even before the pandemic, many firms were saving costs by creating flexible workspaces, so employees could work remotely and check into work stations as needed, reducing the space needed. A lot of companies will downsize their footprint, he said, because theyll use their offices more for collaboration than for busy work, which they can do at home. A hybrid workplace Stephanie Burritt, a principal at the architecture firm Genslers Houston office, said so far, her clients arent scaling back on space substantially, but rather rethinking how they use the space. Clients are creating hybrid offices where people can do part of their jobs from home and part in the office. Reductions in space for desks are offset by an increased amount of space for collaboration, from meeting rooms to informal seating areas, Burritt said. Companies also are investing in technology so its easier for people in the office to meet with coworkers at home or in other cities. Were starting to see that be a very big part of our project budgets, she said. Architects, brokers and tenants alike said the pandemic has emphasized the need for social contact, both for maintaining a healthy company culture and for sanity. At the end of the day, with virtual, we realize we can do a lot with technology, but theres nothing like a face-to-face conversation, said Laura Murillo, chief executive of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which chose to renew its lease in Amegy on Main downtown during the pandemic. The shale bust had already pushed many companies to consolidate and downsize before the pandemic, causing a pullback in construction of new office space slated for 2022. CoStar forecasts that Houston commercial real estate market will begin recovering sooner than in tech-heavy cities that saw a more sudden reversal. Houston could see office occupancy rates increasing in early next year. In the meantime, Boyar said, tenants have many options. As Traywick learned, prices are good; the market rate in Houston is down 1.2 percent from a year ago to an average $28.45 a square foot. With 40 percent of Houston Center vacant, Central Houston had choices. Traywick chose to move from the 16th floor to the 42nd, in a location closer to the complexs conference center and new fitness center. Its a great opportunity, she said. Hopefully its inviting for (employees) to want to come back. rebecca.schuetz@chron.com; twitter.com/raschuetz New Delhi: Delhi Pradesh Mahila Congress protests against Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat's anti-women stance, Not unresolved threads of clothing, thinking gives rites at Connaught Place in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Delhi Pradesh Mahila Congress protests against Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat's anti-women stance, Not unresolved threads of clothing, thinking gives rites at Connaught Place in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Delhi Pradesh Mahila Congress protests against Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat's anti-women stance, Not unresolved threads of clothing, thinking gives rites at Connaught Place in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Delhi Pradesh Mahila Congress protests against Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat's anti-women stance, Not unresolved threads of clothing, thinking gives rites at Connaught Place in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Delhi Pradesh Mahila Congress protests against Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat's anti-women stance, Not unresolved threads of clothing, thinking gives rites at Connaught Place in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, March 19 : Days within taking over as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Tirath Singh Rawat has been trolled for commenting on women who wear ripped jeans and equating PM Narendra Modi with Lord Ram. Not just this, he was also questioned by his predecessor Trivendra Singh Rawat for easing Covid norms at the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar. On March 10, Tirath Singh Rawat has sworn in as chief minister of the hill state. The Uttarakhand CM announced that pilgrims need not possess Covid-19 negative reports of tests conducted 72 hours prior to their arrival in Haridwar even, as his predecessor urged the government to exercise caution amid rising cases in the country. Even as former CM Trivendra Singh Rawat questioned the easing of norms for Covid-19, netizens, including political opponents, trolled Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat for two of his controversial comments: One which equated Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Lord Ram and the other which criticised women who wear ripped jeans. Senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat said that praising your leader (Modi) was understandable but it wasn't correct for the Chief Minister to equate a human being with Lord Rama or Lord Krishna. In Haridwar, Tirath Singh Rawat said that for the good work he has done for people, Prime Minister Modi would be worshipped like Lord Ram. Trolling Rawat for his ripped jeans comment, women from all age groups flooded social media with pictures of them wearing ripped jeans. Taking a dig at Chief Minister Rawat, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has tweeted pictures of various BJP leaders including Prime Minister Modi and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat in half pants. "Oh my God!!! Their knees are showing," she tweeted. Wearing ripped jeans, Shiv Sena leaders and Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted, "The country's 'sanskriti and 'sanskaar' are impacted by men who sit and judge women and their choices. Soch badlo Mukhyamantri Rawat ji, tabhi desh badlega. (Change your thinking Chief Minister Rawat, only then will the country change). #RippedJeansTwitter." On Friday, the Delhi Congress women's wing is organising a protest in the national capital asking participants to wear ripped jeans. Appealing to participants to join the protest, Delhi Congress women's wing chief Amrita Dhawan tweeted, "You want to live with ripped jeans or ripped mindset?". Even a BJP leader said Chief Minister Rawat should have avoided making such unwanted comments. "Chief Minister Rawat must set his priority right a year before assembly elections. He must focus on governance and controlling resentment within the party which forced the removal of Trivendra Singh Rawat from the office," a senior saffron party leader suggested. But another BJP leader, while defending the Uttarakhand Chief Minister, said that both the comments equating PM Modi with Lord Ram and the one on ripped jeans have been blown out of proportion. Amid uproar over Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat's ripped jeans remark, his wife defended his statement, saying his words were not being presented in full context. In a statement through a video, Rashmi Tyagi said that the entire context in which he made the comment is not being described. "He (Tirath Singh Rawat) said that women's participation is unprecedented in building the society and the country. It is the responsibility of the women of our country to save our cultural heritage, save our identity, save our costumes," Rashmi said. BCCL What is the controversy? At an event in Dehradun, Rawat criticised women for wearing ripped jeans and wondered what values they will impart to their children, triggering a protest from opposition parties. The Uttarakhand chief minister said due to a lack of values, youngsters these days follow strange fashion trends and consider themselves to be big shots after wearing jeans ripped at the knees, while women also follow such trends. Facebook He said youngsters go to the market to buy ripped jeans and if they do not find one, they cut their jeans using scissors. Rawat went on to describe the attire of a woman, who once sat next to him on a flight. He said the woman was wearing boots, jeans ripped at the knees and several bangles in her hands with two children travelling with her. She runs an NGO, goes out in the society and has two children, but she wears jeans ripped at the knees. What values will she impart? he asked. Why did it blow up on social media? The Chief Minister's remarks attracted harsh criticism from all sides, with opposition parties even questioning the BJP's judgement over his appointment. Celebrities, activists and netizens hopped onto the bandwagon, in support of women. #Rippedjeans has ever since been trending on Twitter and hundreds of women have taken to social media to assert that nobody is entitled to judge anyone on the basis of their clothes. Ripped Jeans aur Kitab. The countrys sanskriti & sanskaar are impacted by men who sit and judge women and their choices. Soch badlo Mukhyamantri Rawat ji, tabhi desh badlega. #RippedJeansTwitter pic.twitter.com/qYXcN88fY6 Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) March 18, 2021 I mean Im all for sarees but ripped jeans arent bad either #rippedjeans pic.twitter.com/KrLraw6yhG Ankita Konwar (@5Earthy) March 17, 2021 What was his clarification? Asked to clarify, Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat (56) said on Thursday that he does not have a problem with women wearing jeans. However, he maintained his objection to women wearing 'ripped jeans'. "I don't mind jeans but even today, I object to ripped jeans," Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat said. [March 19, 2021] Century Communities Publishes Inaugural ESG Report Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE: CCS), a leading national homebuilder, today published its inaugural Environmental, Social and Governance Report (the "ESG Report"), which provides a deeper look at Century's ongoing commitment to further integrate sustainable business practices and discloses the results of the Company's first carbon footprint analysis. "Our Board of Directors believes environmental stewardship, social responsibility and corporate governance are key tenets pivotal to organizational success that create lasting results which benefit all stakeholders, including our customers, employees, stockholders and the communities in which we live and operate," stated Dale Francescon, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer. "Ultimately the combination of these initiatives, coupled with our mission to deliver our homebuyers high-quality, beautiful homes at affordable prices, can be achieved synergistically, strengthening our existing business and resulting in long-term value creation." "The publication of our first ESG report establishes where we stand today as a baseline for future progress, reflecting our enhanced focus on sustainability and providing direct, transparent communication with stakeholders on relevant issues, risks and opportunities that impact sustainability across our entire organization, stated Rob Francescon, Co-Chief Executive Officer and President. "We look forward to providing future updates on our commitment to corporate social responsibility." The ESG Report highlights Century's achievements and progress in managing its environmental impact and provides a comprehensive overview of diversity and inclusion intiatives, training and development programs, employee health and safety and other sustainable business practices. Additionally, the report includes the disclosure of respected frameworks such as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), which is compliant with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD), and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Core Option. To view the report, please visit the "Investors-ESG" section of the Company's website located at www.centurycommunities.com. About Century Communities: Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE: CCS) is a top 10 national homebuilder. Offering new homes under the Century Communities and Century Complete brands, Century is engaged in all aspects of homebuilding - including the acquisition, entitlement and development of land, along with the construction, innovative marketing and sale of quality homes designed to appeal to a wide range of homebuyers. The Colorado-based company operates in 17 states across the U.S., and offers title, insurance and lending services in select markets through its Parkway Title, IHL Insurance Agency, and Inspire Home Loan subsidiaries. To learn more about Century Communities, please visit www.centurycommunities.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005044/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] It was easy to root for Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship last weekend. The little boy who learned to play golf left-handed by standing opposite his right-handed dad and mirroring dads swing has long been a crowd favorite. He is not only immensely gifted; he is imaginative and willing EU-mediated talks between the ruling Georgian Dream party and opposition on the issues of repeat parliamentary elections and the release of two opposition representatives have ended without a result and mediator Christian Danielsson has left for Brussels earlier today. Danielsson, who was sent to Georgia by European Council President Charles Michel on March 12, had spent a week in Georgia, more than scheduled, to help the parties come to an agreement. The last meeting yesterday lasted more than nine hours. However, the political tension in the country which began following the October 2020 parliamentary elections has not been resolved. Danielsson said that solving the crisis would have helped the parties to focus on vital issues such as the coronavirus pandemic and its social and political results, as well as the countrys security and its Euro-Atlantic intentions. According to him, the parties were able to come to an agreement on several points. However, there were topics both parties have refused to make concessions on. Danielsson added that he will inform Michel regarding the process and the result of the negotiations, Agebda.ge reported. Connecticut is on the verge of ending Catholic school choice for inner-city high school children in the Archdiocese of Hartford for good. This would require inner-city Black and Hispanic students to find transportation or be bused to white communities to find a Catholic school education. Just imagine, if the states public schools denied inner-city children (Blacks and Hispanics) the opportunity to get an education but allowed students from white communities the opportunity to get an education the entire nation would be up in arms. Now imagine the villain in this scenario is a very unlikely institution, the Catholic Church and their Catholic schools. They are allowing their white communities to have an opportunity at a Catholic school education with neighborhood high schools while denying the same opportunity to Blacks and Hispanic students by closing all their inner-city Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Hartford and leaving only one open in all of Connecticut. Both examples would be called discriminatory. Over a short period of time, the approach was done largely by closing the feeder Catholic Middle Schools that were in proximity to the inner-city Catholic High School. This allowed for a self -fulfilling prophecy with the inner-city Catholic high school on a predictable course to have a declining enrollment. Then, we had COVID which hurt those in urban areas extremely hard. This is what occurred in Waterburys Sacred Heart High School, my alma mater. A school that gave me an opportunity to go to Yale University and become the first Black from an Ivy League undergraduate school to become a member of Congress. The record is clear. With the exception of Kolbe Cathedral in Bridgeports Archdiocese all other Catholic High Schools would be in affluent white communities. They have a right to segregate themselves like the schools in the South did in the 20th Century which prompted the Brown vs Board of Education decision, but like Bob Jones University in the 1980s who also condoned discriminatory practices they cannot be allowed to receive federal funding, and in most states state funding. I am pleased the Waterbury chapter of the NAACP is seeking to halt this atrocity. They must use the judicial system to get justice. They must stop the government support for those who break Civil Rights laws and maybe even seek retribution. The graduation rates at Catholic high schools in Connecticut are much higher than in most inner-city public schools. The prospects for college scholarships are much better from Catholic high schools, and the values that a Catholic high school education offers are superior as well in my opinion. For example, Blacks and Hispanics make up a majority of all the abortions in America, I would think that number would be much lower for those who attend a Catholic high schools. The crime committed by inner-city students in public school is much higher than those students who attend a Catholic high school. Yet, the Catholic high schools for inner-city children in Connecticut are on the verge of extinction, a memory and thing of the past, nearly ending school choice for high school inner-city kids. The Sacred Heart High School Alumni and Community has done fundraising, has a plan to increase the number of students, and are developing a long-term solution. The federal governments COVID relief fund, U.S. Department of Education funding that can go to private Catholic Schools and the COVID Governors Emergency Education Relief funds as well as other funds can help keep the school alive. More COVID relief is coming soon. Ironically, to keep schools (public and private) open. I pray and trust that the white, Black, and Hispanic communities will rise and support fairness and a society with equal opportunity for all. If the Catholic Church is too powerful or if the will of the people is not there or simply apathetic, then we will all deserve what we get in the future. May God soften the hearts of the Catholic school administrators. Gary A. Franks served three terms as U.S. representative for Connecticuts 5th District. He was the first Black Republican elected to the House in nearly 60 years and New Englands first Black member of the House. He is host of the podcast We Speak Frankly. @GaryFranks WASHINGTON U.S. Rep Chip Roy, R-Austin, on Thursday criticized a hearing intended to address discrimination against Asian Americans as an attack on free speech, as he used the forum to denounce the Chinese government over the coronavirus pandemic. His comments drew sharp rebukes from his Asian American colleagues and other Democrats who said Roy and other Texas Republicans have used rhetoric about China that stokes racism toward Asian communities. DEFACED: Texas restaurant marked with racist graffiti after owner goes on CNN The U.S. House Judiciary Committee held the hearing to discuss discrimination just two days after police say a white man went on a shooting rampage targeting Asian women in Atlanta. The hearing, scheduled before the attack, was intended to address the acceleration of violence against Asian Americans in the year since the COVID-19 pandemic overtook American life. "My concern about this hearing is that it seems to want to venture into the policing of rhetoric in a free society, free speech and away from rule of law and taking out bad guys," Roy said. "And as a former federal prosecutor, I'm kind of predisposed and wired to want to go take out bad guys. That's bad guys of all colors. That's bad guys of all persuasions." Roy called the Chinese Communist Party "the bad guys," "patently evil" and listed a series of policy criticisms with the Chinese government, including its treatment of the Uyghurs, the theft of American intellectual property, the build up of its military and China's lack of transparency over the origins and spread of the COVID-19 virus. Some of his colleagues reacted with fury. "Your president and your party and your colleagues can talk about issues with any other country you want, but you don't have to do it by putting a bullseye on the back of Asian Americans across this country, on our grandparents, on our kids," U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, a New York Democrat, said to Roy, while accusing him of veering wildly off the topic of violence against Asian Americans. Meng, first elected in 2012, has spearheaded efforts to stop discrimination against Asian Americans amid the pandemic. Last month, she reintroduced a new version of her previous resolution that condemned discrimination against Asian Americans and implored "media outlets, scientists and national authorities to avoid naming infectious diseases for locations to avoid stigmatizing groups of people." HPD: Houston police ramp up patrols in Asian communities as racist attacks rise nationally Asian Americans have been victim to a rise in racist attacks since the onset of the virus, which was first detected in China. One of the sharpest jumps came in Meng's hometown of New York City. The attacks continued into 2021, and in his first week on the job, President Joe Biden issued an executive order "Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States." The Uyghurs are a Central Asian ethnic group that the United Nations has stated are persecuted by the Chinese government. Roy condemned the Atlanta attack during his remarks, but made a reference to lynching in the process. "The victims of race-based violence and their families deserve justice, and as the case for what we're talking about here with the tragedy of what we just saw occur in Atlanta, Georgia," he said. "I think there's an old saying in Texas about find all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree. You know we take justice very seriously and we ought to do that, round up the bad guys, he added. U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, who sits on the Judiciary committee with Roy, later tweeted: The largest mass lynching in US history was against Chinese immigrants. I served on active duty in the US military to defend @chiproytxs right to say stupid, racist stuff. I just wish he would stop saying it. Lieu stressed that the hearing was not about policing speech, as Roy suggested, but about Americans of Asian descent who are being targeted in the United States. He took aim at officials who have referred to COVID-19 with terms like "Kung flu"and "Wuhan virus," nicknames for the virus popularized by former President Donald Trump. "You can say racist stupid stuff if you want, but I'm asking you to please stop using racist terms like 'Kung Flu' or 'Wuhan virus' or other ethnic identifiers when describing this virus," he said. "I am not a virus, and when you say things like that, it hurts the Asian American community. Whatever political points you think you are scoring by using ethnic identifiers in describing this virus, you're harming Americans who happen to be of Asian descent, so please stop doing that." U.S. Rep. Sylvia R. Garcia of Houston, went after Texas' two Republican senators for their past comments. Garcia criticized U.S. Sen. John Cornyn for comments from March 2020 in which he blamed the Chinese government for allowing the practice of wet markets and the consumption of exotic animals. She also brought up a joke U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz made last spring that Trump wasnt serving bat soup in the Wuhan province, a reference to a debunked myth that the outbreak began after a woman in China ate bat soup. Later in the afternoon, Cornyn responded to Garcia in a previously scheduled conference call with reporters. "I condemn all violence. I don't care who it is against," he said. "Any violence perpetrated against any other human being, I condemn. But he added that Garcias attack on him was just a political message." "It's kind of her attempt at cancel culture. I wish we could have a serious adult conversation about where the virus did come from," Cornyn said. Cruzs office said Garcias comment undermines genuine efforts to combat violence. Pretending the coronavirus that has taken the lives of millions of Americans did not originate in and spread from China to further a vicious, partisan narrative is simply irresponsible, a Cruz spokesperson said in an email This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/18/chip-roy-asian-americans-texas-republicans/. The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org. BCCL Maharashtra as well as Mumbai, Indias worst Covid-19-hit state and the city, reported the sharpest one-day spike of 25,833 and 2,877 infections on Thursday. On September 11, the state reported the previous highest single-day-- 24,886 -- cases. In Mumbai, 2,848 record new cases were reported on October 7. The government on Tuesday admitted Maharashtra was in the middle of a second Covid-19 wave days after a central teams report said there was the beginning of one. Read more Here are more top stories from across the world: Pandemic Pushed 32 Mn Indians Out Of Middle Class, Reveals Pew Research AFP As per a study carried out by the US-based Pew Research Centre, the pandemic has pushed about 32 million Indians out of the middle class, undoing years of economic gains, a report showed on Thursday. While job losses pushed millions into poverty, the report stated that the number of Indians belonging to the middle-class strata, those who earn between $10 and $20 a day, shrunk by around 32 million. Read more Uttarakhand CM's Wife Defends 'Ripped Jeans' Comment BCCL In a statement through a video, Rashmi Tyagi said that the entire context in which he made the comment is not being described. "He (Tirath Singh Rawat) said that women's participation is unprecedented in building the society and the country. It is the responsibility of the women of our country to save our cultural heritage, save our identity, save our costumes," Rashmi said. Read more Mumbai's Aarey Forest Recorded More Than 30 Fires Since January, Raises Concern Indiatimes Environmentalists and concerned citizens of Mumbai had to fight tooth and nail to save Aarey, the lungs of the city from being opened up for the metro car shed. In October 2020, in a major victory for the campaigners, around 800 acres of land in Aarey was declared a reserve forest, by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who also said that the construction of the controversial car shed for a Metrorail project in the area would be shifted to Kanjurmag. Read more Karnataka School Made Students Stand Outside Over Non-Payment Of Fees BCCL/ Representational Image A private school in Mandya, Karnataka has come under heavy criticism after it emerged that the authorities there allegedly took away the answer sheets of some 25 students in the middle of the examination for Class 10, saying they had paid only half the school fees. The parents of the students also alleged that their children were humiliated and made to stand outside the school premises for hours over the non-payment of fees. Read more Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The City Council on Thursday extended a lifeline to CPS Energy, approving $500 million in financing for the utility to draw on as it fights the $1 billion in charges it racked up during last months winter storm. CPS officials said theyll tap the funding only if necessary. But CEO Paula Gold-Williams said that without the extra borrowing capacity, the utility would have been in jeopardy. We are facing a disaster right now, Gold-Williams said. If we cant have access to the financial markets and come through with a plan that works, then we really cant maintain operations. As Texas froze the week of Feb. 14, CPS bought wholesale power and natural gas both scarce commodities at the time at astronomical prices. The city-owned utility has gone to court to challenge part of its storm-related debt. Last week, CPS sued the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, accusing the states power grid operator of keeping the wholesale price of electricity at the maximum level $9,000 per megawatt-hour for 32 hours too long. CPS owes more than $300 million for its power purchases. The utility is also scouring its natural gas bills to determine whether any of its suppliers engaged in price-gouging. It owes about $670 million for gas. Numerous gas wellheads and pipelines froze during the storm, and icy roads slowed shipments of the fossil fuel. With gas suddenly scarce and utilities feverishly bidding for it, prices exploded. CPS at times paid 100 times more for gas than it did before the freeze. On ExpressNews.com: CPS Energy's credit rating takes a hit because of $1B in storm costs Without having to issue new debt, CPS currently has enough to pay the debt in full, with about $1.5 billion in existing borrowing capacity and cash on hand. But the extra $500 million gives CPS the ability to absorb new expenses if another emergency arises. What is the alternative? The alternative is to use up all our resources, pay all our bills these exorbitant bills, Gold-Williams said. And the likelihood that we will have the financial resources to continue operations becomes in jeopardy. The additional financing also is expected to help CPS stay in credit rating agencies good graces. CPS sells bonds to pay for new power plants and other major capital projects. Fitch Ratings, Moodys Investors Service and Standard & Poors rate the utilitys credit worthiness; the lower the credit rating, the more interest CPS has to pay on its debt. The utility maintains strong credit ratings, even after a Fitch downgrade two weeks ago. To keep them, CPS has to keep enough cash on hand to fund at least 150 days of operations. On ExpressNews.com: CPS Energy sues ERCOT, alleging grid operator overpriced power A bill that would force the Texas Public Utilities Commission, which oversees ERCOT, to reprice wholesale electricity sold at sky-high prices during the storm cleared the Texas Senate on Monday. But the legislation has apparently died in the House. Meanwhile, officials at the Texas Railroad Commission, the state regulator of oil and gas companies, have said the commission cant address prices in the natural gas industry. During Thursdays council meeting, city officials excoriated the Railroad Commission. It is their view that they have no jurisdiction over natural gas pricing, City Attorney Andy Segovia said. Obviously, in a situation like this, if youre not working toward a solution, youre part of the problem. Gold-Williams said some of the utilitys natural gas suppliers sold at moderated rates during the winter storm but that others didnt. Every utility across the state was just fighting to get fuel to keep people warm. ... That fight for people ended up being this bidding up, she said. There was no intervention, no consideration from the broad industry. diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net Donovan, the Democratic Senate president pro tempore, said Coloradans should take advantage of the Federal Communications Commission's new Emergency Broadband Benefit to lower the cost of the increasingly critical service during the COVID-19 pandemic up to $50 a month for eligible households, and up to $75 for those on qualifying tribal lands. He's directing the drama The Tender Bar which is currently filming on location in the suburbs of Boston. And on Thursday, George Clooney was seen working with actor Max Casella on a scene on Main Street in Beverly, Massachusetts. Clooney, 59, was dressed casually in a dark blue sweater and baggy jeans along with bright white Nike trainers. Calling the shots: George Clooney was spotted on the location set of the drama the Tender Bar on Thursday. He was directing scenes with actor Max Casella in the Boston suburb of Beverly The gray-haired and bearded star wore a face mask as he and the cast and crew adhered to COVID-19 production protocols. Filming has been taking place throughout the North Shore and the Boston area for several weeks and is set to continue until mid-April. Based on the memoir by Pulitzer-winning author J.R. Moehringer, the drama tells the story of a young boy growing up on New York's Long Island who seeks out father figures among the patrons at his uncle's bar. Staying safe: The gray-haired star wore a face mask as he and the cast and crew adhered to COVID-19 production protocols Ben Affleck, Clooney's co-producer on the Oscar-winning movie Argo, plays the lead as bar owner Uncle Charlie. Tye Sheridan, 24, is Moehringer and the cast also includes Lily Rabe. It's Clooney's ninth directorial feature, following on Netflix's The Midnight Sky in which he also starred. The former ER star made his directorial debut with 2002's Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind. His credits also include Good Night, And Good Luck, Leatherheads, The ides of March, The Monuments Men and Suburbicon. Reunited: Clooney's leading man in the coming-of-age film based on the memoir by author J.R. Moehringer is Ben Affleck with whom he worked on the Oscar-winning movie Argo Hit: Clooney and Affleck co-produced Argo which was directed by Affleck. Affleck also starred in the true story of the escape of six Americans from Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis The Tender Bar is being made for Amazon Studios which no doubt has high hopes for the collaboration between the two A-listers. In addition to Oscar glory, their movie Argo earned a string of awards including Golden Globes. The drama, which Affleck directed as well as starred in, was based on the true story of CIA operative Tony Mendez who orchestrated the escape of six Americans from Iran during the hostage crisis in 1979. Once he's completed work on The Tender Bar, Affleck is set to direct himself in the World War Two drama Ghost Army which is currently in pre-production. Hollywood titan: The Tender Bar is Clooney's ninth directorial feature, following on from Netflix's The Midnight Sky in which he also starred Eight people were killed Tuesday in three shootings targeting Asian spas in the metro Atlanta area, but so far, authorities have only released the names of four victims. The first shooting took place at Young's Asian Massage in Cherokee County, where four people were killed Delaina Yaun, 33; Paul Andre Michels, 54; Xiaojie Tan, 49; and Daoyou Feng, 44 and another man, Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz, 30, was critically injured. The two shootings that followed were at Gold Spa and Aromatherapy Spa, businesses located across the street from each other in northeast Atlanta. Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Charles Hampton told reporters on Thursday that investigators had a harder time making positive identifications of the victims shot at Gold Spa and Aromatherapy Spa. All four are Asian women, and Hampton said investigators are working with South Korean diplomats to try to track down their relatives. "We need to make sure that we have a true verification of their identities and that we make the proper next-of-kin notification," he said, before stressing to reporters that they must "respect the families that are still mourning and some who may not even know yet." More stories from theweek.com A jump in Social Security benefits America's falling fertility rate Baltimore chef drives to Vermont to cook customer her favorite dish MONTREALDillon Diaz was recently named Noir Male's Brand Ambassador, and he made headline news this week on LGBTQ online news outlet EDGE Media Network, highlighting Diaz as he expands into directorial duties with the studio. Also newsworthy is that Noir Male has released Diaz's co-directed scene debut tease trailer today through Noir Males Twitter account. But that's not all: Diaz will be hosting a Noir Male IGTV live event Sunday, March 21, at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET to celebrate his debut scene "The Gayborhood", starring August Alexander and Zario Travezz, before it releases March 26 exclusively on NoirMale.com. Im proud to be working with Noir Male to advance men on color behind the camera, and appreciate EDGE Media for wanting to highlight the work were doing, said Diaz. Its exciting knowing fans will see my first co-directed scene soon. The tease trailer is just thata little tease of what they can fully enjoy when it releases on the 26th. But this is just the beginning, Im back in the directors chair for Noir Male in April and look forward to applying all Ive learned. As Noir Males Brand Ambassador, Diaz's role offers him expanded duties in front of and behind the camera, enhancing the brand, while writing, directing and starring in scenes to be released in the future. Diaz lends his voice and perspective to the studio, engaging with the Noir Male audience, to truly representing men of color and their fantasies. Dillon Diaz is a multi-faceted adult performer, who was nominated for GayVN's 2021 Performer of the Year. Diaz has starred in more than a dozen scenes for Noir Male and was cast in the studios first feature Sin City, as well as having been named Noir Males 2019 April Man of the Month. He can be found on Twitter @dillondiaz11 and IG @diazdillon11. To read a recent GayVN profile, click here. For the latest information, exclusives and BTS previews, follow Noir Male on Twitter and Instagram @OfficialNoirMale. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 21:39:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NEW DELHI, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The armies of India and Uzbekistan Friday concluded joint military exercises, defense officials said. The 10-day-long joint training began on March 10 in Ranikhet, about 317 km southeast of Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand. "The second edition of Indo-Uzbekistan joint field training exercise titled EXERCISE DUSTLIK-II culminated today after 10 days of mutual learning," the defense ministry in a statement said. "In the joint exercise which began on March 10, training was focused on counter-insurgency/counter-terrorism operations in urban scenario as well as sharing of expertise on skills at arms. The exercise also provided an opportunity to troops of both armies to foster everlasting professional and social bonding." According to the ministry, after intense military training, the joint exercise concluded with both armies exhibiting their combat power and dominance over the terrorist groups during the validation exercise. Officials said 45 soldiers each from the Uzbek and Indian armies participated in the exercise. The first edition of the exercise was held in Uzbekistan in November 2019. Enditem In September and October 2018, ESAs Mars Express orbiter observed a spectacular water ice cloud named the Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud (AMEC) extending as far as 1,800 km (1,118 miles) westward from the 20-km- (12.4-mile) tall Arsia Mons volcano on Mars. In new research, planetary scientists studied the AMEC cloud using images from different orbiters, including Mars Express, NASAs Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN), Viking 2, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and ISROs Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). Arsia Mons is the southernmost in a trio of giant Martian shield volcanoes known collectively as Tharsis Montes; the others are Pavonis Mons and Ascraeus Mons. It is rivaled only by Olympus Mons in terms of its volume. This shield volcano was built up over billions of years, though the details of its lifecycle are still being worked out. Arsia Mons is the only low-latitude location on Mars where clouds are seen and the only one of numerous similar volcanoes in the region to possess such a veil of cloud throughout the spring and summer seasons. The AMEC cloud is difficult to observe in its entirety due to the fast, changeable dynamics of the Martian atmosphere and the constraints of many spacecraft orbits, limiting our knowledge of how and why it forms and changes over time. To clear these hurdles, we used one of Mars Express secret tools the Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC), said Dr. Jorge Hernandez-Bernal, a researcher at the University of the Basque Country. Dr. Hernandez-Bernal and colleagues combined the VMC observations with those from two other Mars Express instruments OMEGA and HRSC and from several other spacecraft, namely MAVEN, MRO, Viking 2, and MOM. We were especially excited when we dug into Viking 2s observations from the 1970s, Dr. Hernandez-Bernal said. We found that this huge, fascinating cloud had already been partially imaged that long ago and now were exploring it in detail. The findings revealed that, at its largest, the AMEC cloud measures some 1,800 km in length and 150 km (93 miles) across. It is the biggest orographic cloud ever seen on Mars, meaning that it forms as a result of wind being forced upwards by topographic features such as mountains or volcanoes on a planetary surface. In this case, Arsia Mons perturbs the Martian atmosphere to trigger the formation of the cloud. Moist air is then driven up the flanks of the volcano in updrafts, later condensing at higher, and far cooler, altitudes. The cloud undergoes a rapid daily cycle that repeats every morning for several months. It begins growing before sunrise on the western slope of Arsia Mons before expanding westwards for two and a half hours, growing remarkably fast at over 600 kmh (373 mph) at an altitude of 45 km (28 miles). It then stops expanding, detaches from its initial location, and is pulled further westwards still by high-altitude winds, before evaporating in the late morning as air temperatures increase with the rising Sun. Many Mars orbiters cannot begin observing this part of the surface until the afternoon due to the properties of their orbits, so this really is the first detailed exploration of this interesting feature and its made possible by not only Mars Express diverse suite of instruments, but also its orbit, said Dr. Agustin Sanchez-Lavega, a researcher at the University of the Basque Country. The findings are published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. _____ J. Hernandez-Bernal et al. An Extremely Elongated Cloud Over Arsia Mons Volcano on Mars: I. Life Cycle. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, published online December 20, 2020; doi: 10.1029/2020JE006517 Texas-based Deep Eddy Vodka launches lime expression Texas spirits brand Deep Eddy Vodka has launched a new expression: Deep Eddy Lime. The fast-growing American spirit brand created the new release by blending its 10-times distilled Original Vodka with lime juice for a bright, tart flavour. It joins a number of other citrus expressions in the Deep Eddy Vodka range, including the grapefruit-flavoured Ruby Red, Orange and Lemon. The producer says its new lime expression can be served neat, topped up with seltzer or as a citrussy cocktail base. Reid Hafer, group product director at Deep Eddy, said: "From the first sip, Deep Eddy Lime delivers on the crafted, fresh flavour true to the brand's reputation. Deep Eddy continues to invigorate the vodka category and spirits industry with our innovative approach to simple, real flavours and passion for the Deep Eddy experience." Since launching its first product, Deep Eddy Sweet Tea, just over a decade ago, Deep Eddy has grown into a brand selling 1.5 million cases a year. Its portfolio also includes Peach and Cranberry expressions. Deep Eddy Lime will be available nationwide in the US from March 2021. Its launch will be supported by in-trade and consumer media, social media, out-of-home displays and retail point-of-sale. 19 February 2021 - Bethany Whymark Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 14:27:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia registered 160 more locally transmitted COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Friday. The latest cases were detected in the country's capital Ulan Bator, the country's hardest hit region, the NCCD said in a statement. So far, the Asian country has registered 4,658 COVID-19 cases with 3,296 recoveries and nine deaths. The government launched a COVID-19 vaccination campaign across the country late last month, with the aim of vaccinating at least 60 percent of its population. A total of 171,500 people have been vaccinated against the virus so far, according to the country's health ministry. Enditem A historically tough judgement call confronts moms, testing their judgement and strength . . . Like just about every other important decision. Read more . . . KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Since the beginning of the pandemic, Mary Williams has been working on the front-lines at Saint Luke's Hospital. As a nurse, she became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine during her pregnancy. Not knowing what do, she spoke to her doctor and decided to get vaccinated during her second trimester. New Delhi, March 19 : The climate impact of methane emissions, including by India that is among the top five emitters, from proposed coal mines worldwide could rival the CO2 emissions from all the US coal plants, warned a new report by Global Energy Monitor on Friday. For India, the report estimates methane emissions to be at 45 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2 equivalent emissions over a 20-year horizon and estimates proposed new coal mines to be 52. The first-of-its-kind analysis surveyed 432 proposed coal mines globally and modelled methane emission estimates at the individual mine level. Unless mitigated, methane emissions from these proposed mines would amount to 13.5 Mt of methane annually, a 30 per cent increase over current methane emissions. Methane is the second biggest contributor to global warming after CO2, with a shorter atmospheric lifetime, but much stronger potency and warming potential. During mining, fractured coal seams and surrounding strata emit methane into the atmosphere. Ryan Driskell Tate, a research analyst at Global Energy Monitor and author of the study, told IANS: "Coal mine methane has dodged scrutiny for years even though there's clear evidence it poses a significant climate impact." "If new coal mines proceed as planned, without mitigation measures in place, then a major source of greenhouse gas will go unrestrained." According to the report, coal mines currently under development would leak 1,135 Mt of annual CO2-equivalent (CO2e) on a 20-year horizon and 378 Mt of annual CO2e on a 100-year horizon. Based on a 20-year horizon, estimated emissions would exceed the annual CO2 emissions from the US coal plants (952 Mt in 2019). The countries with the highest amount of methane emissions (CO2e20) from proposed coal mines are China (572 Mt), Australia (233 Mt), Russia (125 Mt), India (45 Mt), South Africa (34 Mt), the US (28 Mt), and Canada (17 Mt). Proposed coal mines in China, the US, Turkey, Poland, and Uzbekistan could emit 40-50 per cent of their greenhouse gas emissions in the form of methane, making them among the gassiest proposed coal mines in the world. Northern Ireland's largest teaching union will come together this weekend against a backdrop of increasing workload, upheaval, fears over health and safety, and educational reform. Delegates from the NASUWT will attend the organisation's annual conference online on Saturday and will hear how teachers have come under incredible pressure as a result of what the union said is the Stormont Executive's "chronic mismanagement of the Covid pandemic". NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach and its Northern Ireland president Angela Wallace will both address delegates. Debate on the motions will take place throughout Saturday. "Teachers from across Northern Ireland are meeting amid deep uncertainty during this pandemic, uncertainty over their health and wellbeing and uncertainty over the task ahead as they support children's educational recovery," said Dr Roach looking ahead to the conference. "NASUWT members have risen to the challenge. "It is our members who are stepping up to start the educational recovery, yet again putting themselves back on the line to secure the future of children in Northern Ireland," Dr Roach said. Justin McCamphill, NASUWT National Official Northern Ireland added: "NASUWT members from across Northern Ireland will be sharing their experiences of providing high-quality education under sustained and enormous pressure during the pandemic. "This will be a time to reflect on the challenges we have faced but also to celebrate what the union has done on behalf of its members over the past year. "The NASUWT has delivered two pay increases for teachers in schools in the past 12 months in very difficult circumstances while real measures to protect teachers have been put in place. "But we will be highlighting the intolerable situation facing members in Further Education. "Not only has FE pay fallen significantly behind that of school colleagues but lecturers have been asked to accept detrimental changes to their terms and conditions in exchange for a pitiful pay increase. "The profession has risen to the challenge and will face the future knowing they are a vital part of the recovery of society," he added. The NASUWT said it will "robustly resist detrimental changes" to the contracts of lecturers as a condition by colleges to improve their pay and has notified employers of its intention to ballot members for industrial action. Chase Salazar and Kara Wischer chalk it up to luck as much as anything else. The Wisconsin couple had been hunting for a home since mid-December. The search virtual, at first involved renting an Airbnb to get a firsthand look at homes in the area around Mystic. Like many buyers hoping to enter Connecticuts red-hot housing market, Salazar and Wischer glanced at hundreds of listings spread across the state from Waterford to Stonington, then narrowed it down to about 15 properties. With more than 6,500 homes selling in the first two months of this year in Connecticut, the actual number of offers on any given house is unknown. But agents statewide say they are seeing extraordinary levels of activity on those priced to sell and otherwise offering attractive value due to location, condition and features among other considerations. One deal fell through; Salazar and Wischer withdrew an offer after seeing inspection results. But with the mortgage documents still warm, the couples lender was able to plug in a new address on the spot for the newer, similarly priced home, which already had multiple offers. Thankfully, the seller picked their offer as best and final and handed over the keys. The same day that we signed the release contract with the other house, we put an offer on the next house and it was accepted the next day, Salazar said. I think it was on the market for maybe three days. Kind of a bad sign As Wischer and Salazar settle into their new home, thousands more will spend another week on the prowl. It has been pretty frustrating to say the least, stated Chris LaCava, an agent in the New Milford office of Coldwell Banker, in an email response to a query. Many of the offers I have put in for clients on a plethora of properties should have been slam dunk, no-brainers. Instead, we get outbid, even going $75,000 over in some cases. Recently, LaCava was told there were 20 offers on a single home. Its crazy, he said. These buyers are well-qualified. They deserve a better fate. Until we see the number of listings increase in dramatic fashion, and supply starts to even out with demand, we will continue this pattern. Deb Alderson, a Berkshire Hathaway agent in Westport who is past president of the Mid-Fairfield County Association of Realtors, said she has seen nearly every recent listing turn into a bidding war. The buyers are extremely frustrated, Alderson said Thursday. Theyre saying, Heres what Im looking for. If you have anything anybody who has this kind of house that is planning on putting it on the market just please let me know. Last year, a Weston home drew nine offers after 27 showings in three days. A couple Alderson was representing came up short with their $1.2 million offer a third more than the asking price. Many of this years listings, Alderson said, are not making it past Sunday in their first week on the market, as sellers are getting more than enough offers at above their asking price. So far this year, Weston leads Connecticut in the largest average decline in the length of time it is taking Connecticut homes to sell, compared to the first two months of 2020. Wischer and Salazar, the couple from Wisconsin, did a door-to-door tour of open houses, but with competing bids going well beyond what they saw in the value of homes they saw. Its like, if there is an open house, its not necessarily the best property, Salazar said. If its getting to the point that you need to have an open house, it means it didnt sell in the first few days which is kind of a bad sign. The market is particularly difficult for first-time home-buyers who are getting assistance from the Federal Housing Authority or otherwise lacking the finances to include a big down payment with their final offer, according to Charles Scott, owner of Tri-State Realty in Bridgeport and president of the Greater Bridgeport Board of Realtors. I advise them now if they dont bring their checkbook and make up their mind right then and there, they dont have a chance, Scott said. More qualified buyers are coming in with conventional [financing] and a lot of money down. ... The stronger your offer is, the stronger the seller and the sellers agent is going to regard it. Boom pockets statewide Bridgeport led Connecticut in home sale transactions with 169 in the first two months of the year, as reported by Berkshire Hathaway, with Greenwich and New Canaan seeing the biggest increases from last year on an absolute or percentage basis respectively. Rob Johnson, a broker in the Greenwich office of Halstead who led the state for sales volume last year on an annual list published by Real Trends, said one of his clients put in an offer this week on a house there that already had 11 in hand. Not all parts of town and property types are benefiting in the same way, and owners need to be very careful [regarding] initial pricing to achieve this level of interest, Johnson stated in an email. Owners will only receive this reaction [if] properties are priced right. If the starting price is overly optimistic which can be defined as the market perceiving them as priced around [6 to 7 percent] where they will end up transacting then the reaction will be very lackluster. By the numbers: The 2021 real estate market in CT Single-family home sales in select towns, Jan-Feb Jan-Feb Transactions Median selling price Average selling price Average days on market List-to-sell price ratio Towns 2021 2020 2021 2020 2021 2020 2021 2020 2021 2020 Bridgeport 169 127 $215,000 $180,000 $204,600 $174,436 60 66 97.9% 99.3% Norwalk 157 149 $470,000 $405,000 $585,348 $469,571 72 108 98.7% 97.1% Stamford 135 92 $650,000 $550,000 $778,789 $606,709 84 126 98.4% 95.8% Fairfield 131 85 $680,000 $540,000 $850,352 $822,785 67 118 98.8% 96.6% Greenwich 129 68 $2,250,000 $1,897,500 $3,128,765 $2,266,383 137 187 96.6% 94.6% Stratford 104 72 $334,000 $247,500 $333,171 $264,932 52 66 100.5% 97.6% Hamden 103 71 $245,000 $200,000 $275,203 $227,970 58 91 100.5% 96.5% West Haven 81 51 $240,000 $187,000 $245,721 $191,373 44 78 100.1% 96.3% Milford 78 62 $387,500 $315,000 $442,396 $328,198 66 83 98.5% 98.6% Ridgefield 77 56 $769,000 $503,000 $798,695 $637,072 84 120 99.4% 95.9% Westport 75 47 $1,555,000 $1,125,000 $1,898,982 $1,339,317 75 154 98.7% 94.2% Danbury 65 55 $360,000 $310,000 $421,333 $329,792 66 84 99.8% 96.8% New Milford 62 35 $382,500 $295,000 $400,450 $331,882 76 116 99.7% 97.2% New Canaan 62 21 $1,475,000 $1,275,000 $1,844,623 $1,785,692 116 145 96.7% 92.9% New Haven 45 48 $231,000 $182,500 $280,288 $196,741 62 70 98.8% 98.7% Source: Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties See More Collapse Backus Real Estate is seeing about three of every four generating multiple offers before going under contract, according to Jed Backus, who owns the Hamden-based brokerage and is president of New Haven Middlesex Realtors. Backus said one of his firms listings on the Bridgeport-Stratford line drew a swarm after the owner asked for less than $300,000. It was in really beautiful condition, newer construction, ... and it just shows how crowded the market is, Backus said. When you say, Well, I want something ... turn-key, under $300,000 that becomes such a rare commodity right now. Depending on where you are, you can change that number to under $600,000, and its the same situation what can you find thats move-in ready? Deb Loban, who works in the Milford office of William Raveis Real Estate, was able to convince one of her buyers to outbid 27 others on a Stratford home at a level thats more than 20 percent above the asking price to go under contract. You can pull numbers out of the air, said Loban, who is past president of the Greater Bridgeport Board of Realtors. Theres no rhyme or reason to it. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman Alyaksandr Lukashenka used a televised appearance on March 19 to say that two former Belarusian government ministers currently under Western sanctions would be "strong candidates" who could succeed him after a possible presidential election. Lukashenka, whose legitimacy is not recognized by many Western governments since a disputed presidential election in August 2020 that sparked unprecedented and ongoing protests, has refused to meet with opposition leaders to discuss their demands for his exit and a fresh election. Amid a brutal crackdown that has included tens of thousands of detentions, opposition leaders have accused Lukashenka of dangling possible reforms and a new election simply to buy himself time as he seeks to complete a sixth term. It was unclear how serious Lukashenka was in his televised address when he held up former Interior Minister Yury Karayev and former Health Minister Uladzimer Karanik as would-be candidates. Karayev, interior minister until October, is among the Belarusian officials targeted by EU and other Western sanctions for allegedly helping mount the violent crackdown on the current protests. Karanik was health minister until August and is targeted by U.S. and EU sanctions. Crisis In Belarus Read our coverage as Belarusians continue to demand the resignation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka amid a brutal crackdown on protesters. The West refuses to recognize him as the country's legitimate leader after an August 9 election considered fraudulent. "Here I have two of my people here, they can participate in the presidential election," Lukashenka told the TV audience. "Moreover, they will be strong candidates. One general, the second governor" he said of the two men, both of whom hold appointments in the Hrodna region. He called them "young, [a] new generation, intelligent," and "aware of the value of this country." In a video statement released on March 18, presidential challenger Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on Belarusians to initiate a "second wave of protests" next week against Lukashenka, the authoritarian leader who was declared president for a sixth-straight term despite the opposition's belief that Tsikhanouskaya was the rightful winner. Tsikhanouskaya contends she won the August 9 election but officials committed massive vote fraud. Tsikhanouskaya also said that the online vote, launched on March 18, would encourage the international community to act as mediators in the crisis that erupted after peaceful protests were met with brute force by the authorities. None of Lukashenka's previous elections or carefully orchestrated elections in more than two decades in power has been deemed free and fair by Western observers. On March 19, Lukashenka said only elections will determine his successor. "There is only one transit of power: elections. The people have elected everything. My children after me will not be presidents," he said, countering longtime speculation that he was grooming one of his children to follow him. With reporting by Reuters Due to the Solemnity of St. Joseph overlapping with Lent today, Catholics are allowed to eat meat without violating the Lenten discipline. Solemnities are the highest rank of liturgical observance, and likened to a Sunday, the penance of Lent is not obligatory, according to a statement from the Diocese of Scranton. The Universal Law of the Church instructs Catholics to abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent, but that is not binding when a solemnity falls on a Friday, according to the diocese. The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, bishop of the Scranton diocese, will celebrate Mass today at 12:10 p.m. at St. Peters Cathedral in honor of St. Joseph, who was the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A lawyer has said a that cheesy baked snack proved his client did not sexually assault a live-in employee. David Jones QC is representing a wealthy businessman who is the subject of an interim name suppression. The businessman is on trial at the High Court in Auckland on three charges of indecent assault and two of attempting to stop a complainant from giving evidence. The businessman denies the charges, which relate to allegations made by three separate men regarding incidents they say took place in 2016, 2008 and 2000 or 2001. The two charges of attempting to dissuade a witness relate to the 2016 incident Jones told the High Court on Friday that a claim by one of the men that the businessman touched him indecently after climbing into his bed in 2016 was false, and pointed to the cheese sticks as proof in his closing remarks. A lawyer told the High Court in Auckland (pictured) that cheesy baked snack proved his client did not sexually assault a live-in employee [Stock photo] When the man testified earlier in the trial, the jury heard how he had been eating cheese sticks in bed to help with an upset stomach, Stuff.co.nz reported. The man said the sticks were lying on the bed between him and the bedroom wall. He said that the businessman had climbed into his bed and lay between him and the wall to 'spoon' him. The fact that the cheese sticks were undamaged meant that the businessman was never in the bed, Jones said. 'I don't know whether you've had any experience with cheese sticks, [there were] half a dozen, about 25cm in length, on a soft surface like a mattress, and they are absolutely pristine. No cracks or anything,' he said. 'And yet [the businessman] was said to have been up against the wall. If he's been in the bed, those cheese sticks would have been damaged.' David Jones QC (pictured) is representing a wealthy businessman who is the subject of an interim name suppression. The businessman is on trial at the High Court in Auckland on three charges of indecent assault and two of attempting to stop a complainant from giving evidence [File photo] Along with the snack, Jones also highlighted the timing of a call from the man's phone to another member of the household as proof that the complainant's account of events had been inaccurate. The man had testified that he was calling for help during the assault but Jones said CCTV footage from the home showed the businessman walking downstairs at the time of the phone call. Jones also claimed that the two other men who said they were assaulted by his client were also being untruthful, claiming that the men had 'bruised egos' after going to the businessman's house to ask for funds. 'Everybody wants something out of [the businessman]. Everybody is looking for something.' On Thursday, prosecutor Simon Foote said the business had been aware of two attempts to convince the complainant to withdraw his statement. In his closing remarks, Foote said that the business had paid more than $50,000 (25,800) for a PR agent to make the attempts. Jones countered on Friday, saying that a businessman such as his client would have known how to cover up illegal payments. 'Someone who is meant to be a very experienced businessman, someone who knows which way is up ... and you think about the simplicity of the financial arrangements and the stupidity of what was done. 'He wouldn't do it because it's illegal, it's stupid, it's wrong ... Others doing it is not something he was aware of. He has a reputation and he is not the kind of person that would do this,' Jones said. A manager associated with the businessman is also charged with dissuading a witness in connection with the second attempt, which has been dubbed the 'Gold Coast attempt.' The manager's lawyer, Rachael Reed QC, said her client did not know about the plot before it was carried out. Justice Geoffrey Venning is expected to begin his summing up of the trial for the jury on Monday [File photo] The so-called Gold Coast attempt involved a plot to lure the complainant to the Palazzo Versace hotel and offer him a work contract in exchange for withdrawing his police complaint, Stuff.co.nz reported. The plot was carried out by a well known entertainer, a PR agent and his associate in May 2017, the news site said. Reed told the jury that the manager had engaged the PR to undertake 'legitimate' public relations work to protect the businessman's reputation against the threat of publication in Australia. 'He was a naive young man swimming in dark waters with sharks' Reed said of her client. Justice Geoffrey Venning is expected to start his summing up for the jury on Monday. What appealed to you about doing the Gagosian piece? I have always wanted to work with other artists and bring other artistic disciplines into play. Hannah and I asked Florent Melac, a friend of ours in the corps de ballet, as we liked his choreography. He chose the music, Steve Reichs Duet. I like the way it loops and matches Kiefers work which uses recycled and repeating materials. We were lucky to meet Anselm Kiefer, and I was very touched and moved by the paintings. Are there other projects or ambitions you want to pursue? I have always wanted to explore another house, dance with other companies. I would love to come to New York and perform with New York City Ballet or American Ballet Theater. I am very interested in the American ballet style, how quick and efficient it is, how well people move. But we cant even cross the borders in Europe at the moment. Maybe one day! Benjamin Millepied encouraged and promoted you during his tenure. After he left, Aurelie Dupont came in and there seemed to be a lot of dissatisfaction in the company. How did you feel at the time? When Benjamin arrived, it was a fresh wind. What was crazy was that these rules that hadnt moved for years suddenly changed. We could dream about having roles even if we werent the right age or with the right rank. He gave me so much attention; I would have done anything for him as an artist. In the two years he was there, I went from understudy to soloist, and when Aurelie arrived, I was worried. Why? And what is your relationship like now? Ballet is a matter of tastes; its not because one director liked you that the next one will. But Aurelie made me an etoile six months later, which changed my life. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 19:54:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan attend a high-level strategic dialogue in the Alaskan city of Anchorage, the United States, March 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) The United States should quit its old bad habit of hegemonism and completely abandon its overbearing behavior of interfering in China's internal affairs, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the start of a high-level strategic dialogue with the United States in the Alaskan city of Anchorage. ANCHORAGE, the United States, March 18 (Xinhua) -- China has never accepted and will never accept unwarranted accusations from the United States, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi here on Thursday. The United States should quit its old bad habit of hegemonism and completely abandon its overbearing behavior of interfering in China's internal affairs, Wang said at the start of a high-level strategic dialogue with the United States in the Alaskan city of Anchorage. Noting that Anchorage is located in the middle of the air route between the capitals of China and the United States, Wang called the city a "gas station" for China-U.S. exchanges and an "intersection" for the two countries to meet each other halfway. In the past few years, due to the irrational suppression of China's legitimate rights and interests, China-U.S. relations have encountered unprecedented difficulties, Wang said, adding that this situation has harmed the interests of the two peoples as well as stability and development of the world, and should stop. He said the U.S. escalation of sanctions on Hong Kong-related issues on March 17 is a gross interference in China's internal affairs, which has aroused strong indignation among the Chinese people. It is not a normal way of hosting guests that the United States introduced the sanctions on the eve of the Chinese side's departure for the dialogue, Wang said. If the United States wants to enhance its so-called advantage over China through the act, it has totally miscalculated as this just exposes the inner weakness and powerlessness of America, the Chinese official said. This practice will not at all affect China's legitimate position, nor will it shake the firm will of the Chinese people to safeguard sovereignty and dignity of the nation, he added. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi puts forward China's stands on relevant issues at the start of the high-level strategic dialogue with the United States in the Alaskan city of Anchorage on March 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) Wang said that since the U.S. side mentioned in opening remarks that some countries believed that China coerced them, it should clarify whether such a claim came from those countries or America's own assumption. If the United States is partial to some countries just because they are its allies, or even takes sides with their wrong words and deeds, it will be difficult for a smooth development of international relations, Wang added. Emphasizing that the phone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden on the eve of the Chinese lunar new year is very important, Wang said the consensus reached by the two heads of state has guided the direction for China-U.S. relations to get back on track. The international community is paying close attention to the Anchorage dialogue over whether China and the United States can truly show sincerity and goodwill, and whether the two sides can send out positive signals to the whole world, he said. If the U.S. side is willing, China can work with the United States to exchange views on the basis of mutual respect, take on their responsibilities, and deliver on the tasks they are given, Wang added. Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, as well as Wang, are attending the two-day high-level strategic dialogue with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. A 52-year-old man has been charged on suspicion of a number of terrorist offences as part of a PSNI operation into dissident republican activity in Londonderry. In a statement, Head of the Police Services Serious Crime Branch Detective Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray, said the man was arrested under the Terrorism Act following searches in the Creggan area of the city on Thursday. Read More "[He] has been charged on suspicion of a number of terrorist offences. These include preparatory acts of terrorism, possession of explosives with intent and possession of articles likely to be of use to terrorists," he explained. He was arrested as part of Operation Ledging, a discrete, stand-alone strand of Operation Arbacia, looking specifically at the New IRAs bomb making activities as well as the groups storage of explosive devices and equipment, and is due to appear in Laganside Court tomorrow at 10am. The family of Randy dela Cruz, who was one of nine people killed during the March 7 raids throughout the Philippines, mourn beside his coffin at the village hall in Santa Inez, March 16, 2021. The Dumagat people who live in a mountain range outside of Manila are seeking justice for two tribe members who were among nine people killed earlier this month when police launched a crackdown against activists. Puroy and Randy dela Cruz were laid to rest on Wednesday, 10 days after they were gunned down by police in what authorities described as a nationwide anti-communist crackdown. Why did they have to kill them? asked Angelito dela Cruz, Randys 74-year-old father. If they broke the law, the police should have just jailed them. The government insists the group has been penetrated by communist insurgents and that some members became fighters an allegation denied by tribal families. A BenarNews photographer who visited the Dumagat tribe in the Sierra Madre mountain range outside of metropolitan Manila to attend the burials found people gripped with fear. The 80 families, about 400 people in all, left their modest wooden homes in the forested upland called Santa Inez to stay near the community hall. Angelito dela Cruz said the families knew there were insurgents in the area but they never bother us. The military tells us not to entertain them, but what can we do? They are armed and they are just people passing by who do us no harm, he said. The March 7 raids that left nine people dead across four provinces came after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the police and military to kill all communist rebels in the country. Puroy and Randy dela Cruz were described as crop traders who on Sundays sold their products at nearby urban centers. Those trips allowed them to earn about 5,000 pesos (U.S. $100) each time money they used to purchase essentials for their families. A tribal elder who refused to be named said there was no reason for the pair to have weapons. The Dumagats would rather buy food than arms, which are of no use to them, he told BenarNews. But the Dumagats lifestyle is under threat from a massive dam project that would uproot them from their traditional homes. The government has approved the 291-hectare (720-acre) Kaliwa Dam, a project funded by China at a cost of $240 million (11.6 billion pesos) and scheduled to be finished by 2025. Expected to ease water shortages in Manila, the project was one of the major infrastructure deals signed when Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited Manila in November 2018. Environmentalists have questioned the legality of the project, citing a Philippine law to protect watershed areas. Tribal communities also protested, claiming that the dam would displace many of them. Burial After a mass, tribal members prepared the white coffins to be carried to a burial ground atop a hill. Cries reverberated through the forest as the funeral march reached the cemetery. Delivering a eulogy, one tribal member who declined to give his name for security concerns said the two deaths were likely just the beginning. We are asking for justice for them, he said. Another elder noted that the dual burial was unusual. Today is a very sad day, we are accustomed to bury one person at a time, this is the first time we bury two of our own and they both died violently, the elder said in the local dialect. WASHINGTON, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of Congress and anti-hunger advocates broke matzah yesterday at the 12th annual National Hunger Seder hosted by MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger . This year's Seder, the most widely attended in MAZON's history, focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its exacerbation of America's hunger crisis. Seder participants read from MAZON's unique Hunger Seder Haggadah , which orients each of the Passover rituals around issues related to hunger. Photos from the Seder can be found here , and additional Passover resources including video reflections from MAZON's clergy partners are available at mazon.org/passover . "Hunger in America takes many forms and has many faces, and as we celebrate Passover as a story of liberation, we cannot forget that too many people in this country experience the oppression of poverty and scarcity," said MAZON President and CEO Abby J. Leibman. "This has been a truly heartbreaking year. Too many people have lost loved ones, struggled with illness, and faced hunger and hardship. When we retell the story of the past year, we must remember the inequities that the pandemic exposed and our commitment to center the most vulnerable communities in our recovery." "We break the middle matzah to remind us of the brokenness of our world, and that the power to repair the world rests in our hands," said Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky of Congregation Beth Sholom in Teaneck, New Jersey, who serves as MAZON's Board Treasurer and co-led the Seder. "We are grateful to our partners in Congress and from around the country for joining us, and we look forward to continuing our work together to build a world where no one goes hungry in a land of plenty." Janie Simms Hipp, CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund who was nominated earlier this week by President Biden to serve as General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, remarked that "food is the center of our communities, our families, our health and well-being, our spiritual practice. It is our medicine and the ways in which we heal ourselves and one another. As the Seder meal carries such spiritual significance of liberation and freedom, so too do Indigenous peoples hold sacred the importance of food to our communities. Liberating us from hunger is the freedom we all are hoping to realize in our lives." "Thank you to MAZON for sponsoring this wonderful event," said Melissa Rogers, Executive Director of President Biden's White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. "Ending hunger is not only a question of the good work of people around the world it's also a question of policy, and what we prioritize, and the commitments we make as a nation to those who are most vulnerable." Members of Congress 33 Democrats and Republicans from both the U.S. House and Senate reflected on the significance of Passover, including through 16 video messages , and remarks during MAZON's Seder: "As we read from the Haggadah, we celebrate the proud history of our Jewish brothers and sisters," said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (IL). "Passover is a celebration of freedom the arrival of a new season. This year, spring is arriving in the shadow of one of the longest winters in recent memory. But even with the arrival of a new season, we cannot ignore that many of our fellow citizens still suffer. Families are struggling to put food on the table. As Senate Majority Whip, I promise to work hand in hand with MAZON and similar organizations to end the crisis of hunger in America." "We know that the pandemic has devastated families and communities all across the country, and it has also laid bare many injustices in our society and exacerbated the challenges that millions of people in our country face particularly related to food insecurity and hunger," said Senator Maggie Hassan (NH). "As we reflect and celebrate this Passover, I'm grateful for the work of MAZON to bring attention to the issue of hunger in America, to break down barriers, and to get vulnerable people the assistance they need, especially during this pandemic. I'll keep working to support your efforts in Congress." "I am proud to serve as the third Jewish woman in the Senate and the first former synagogue president in Congress," said Senator Jacky Rosen (NV). "By coming together, we can ensure that those who are struggling don't go hungry. We can strengthen policies that provide nutrition assistance. We can shine a light on the challenges that many are facing. And we can take action to help find solutions. I hope you will join me in supporting MAZON's fight to end hunger." "The traditions of Passover underscore the magnitude of hunger and human need, and that need has been amplified as a result of COVID-19," said Senator Thom Tillis (NC), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee's Personnel Subcommittee. "It's during these periods of reflection that we must recommit ourselves to caring for one another. As MAZON's National Hunger Seder reminds us, all who are hungry deserve to eat." "I'm grateful for all that MAZON does to fight against hunger, particularly for those who are often overlooked like military families, veterans, Native Americans, single moms, LGBTQ seniors, and Americans in Puerto Rico," said Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12), Vice Chair of the House Agriculture Committee. "This pandemic has devastated our nation, and we've seen the inequities laid bare before our eyes. This is why addressing hunger is more important than ever. Like each of you, I believe that one of the best ways to do that is by strengthening and improving SNAP. That is why, next week, I will once again be introducing the Closing the Meal Gap Act in Congress." "No American should go hungry, including our children, senior citizens, and veterans," said Congressman Don Bacon (NE-02), Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations. "As we come together this Passover, we are reminded that through struggle and sacrifice comes redemption. Until we end food insecurity in this country, we need to ensure domestic food assistance programs and food banks are accessible and reliable for those who need it most. I commend MAZON's mission, and I look forward to combatting this injustice through much needed legislation." "Food insecurity was a tragedy pre-pandemic and it is even more widespread today," said Congresswoman Nanette Barragan (CA-44). "Now, the number of households with food insecure children has doubled. The American Rescue Plan is a great step towards cutting child poverty and we must recommit to taking urgent policy action to ensure that no one, and especially no child, goes hungry in America." "MAZON's Passover Seder provides an important opportunity for us to reflect on the blessings we have and our obligation to help others," said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee's Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services. "Our country has long been plagued by hunger, and now more families and individuals are experiencing food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. I'm pleased to join MAZON to raise awareness about this serious challenge and to work toward a world where everyone has access to healthy, nutritious meals." "As we work to defeat COVID-19, it is crucial that we provide nutritional relief to Americans that are struggling to keep food on the table," said Congressman David Cicilline (RI-01), Chair of the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus. "I'm proud to support legislation like the American Rescue Plan, which will make serious investments in SNAP, WIC, and the Pandemic EBT program." "Thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, more and more families know the pain of food insecurity. Across the country, foodbank lines that stretch for miles are a sign of the increased need to keep families from starving," said Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-27), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. "That is why I am proud to work with MAZON to promote programs like SNAP that are proven at keeping families fed during times of crisis. And I'm grateful for MAZON's ongoing leadership through the Hunger Seder to make sure that not only do more families understand that hunger is a form of oppression, but that it is one we are all called upon to end. Together, I know we can stop food insecurity." "Hunger sadly continues to challenge us," said Congressman Lou Correa (CA-46). "And you, our Jewish community, are responding by feeding our brothers and sisters by making sure that all that have been created in God's image have the opportunity to eat on a daily basis. May God give you the strength to continue to do your work, to continue to bless us, and to continue to help those who have less." Congresswoman Angie Craig (MN-02) said, "I share MAZON's commitment that, especially during these tough times, we do everything we can to ensure that no one in this country goes to bed hungry. As my family and I share a Passover meal, we will rededicate ourselves to looking out for those in our community who need a helping hand. I hope you will join me in doing so." "We will tell the story of this time through the lens of how those in power responded to this crisis," said Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Chair of the New Democrats Caucus. "We know the burden of this pandemic has been put disproportionately on low-income families. The bill we recently passed in Congress targets relief to those who need it most, including support for nutrition programs. I know this time has been difficult for many, but we can now see a light at the end of the tunnel." "Abby and Joel's leadership, and all of MAZON's work, reflects the Jewish principle of tikkun olam repairing the world," said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee. "This is the second Passover that so many families will be celebrating virtually, and we have reached a solemn milestone of the pandemic. Millions of people, and millions of children are facing hunger today that is unconscionable in the United States. I am pleased that we were able to pass the American Rescue Plan, which will be a new lifeline for the middle class, and I am so grateful to work alongside MAZON to end hunger." "How will we describe the past year to our children, to our grandchildren, and to future generations?" said Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12). "It's been a story of loneliness, isolation, fear, hunger, and desperation for too many. But it's also been a story of community people helping each other. People learning new ways to support each other. This is a time that spring arrives that we think of renewal." Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06) said, "I believe it is incumbent on all of us to use our powers and our platform to simultaneously raise awareness and advocate for policies that will help curb the global hunger crisis. I wish you a peaceful and reflective Passover one in which we not only reflect on the significance of the holiday but allow ourselves also to be galvanized in our common pursuit of ending hunger across the world. This pandemic has opened our eyes to so much inequity and so much inequality. May we keep them open as we forge the path ahead. When we retell this story, it is my profound hope that we will share a story of recognition and of action a recognition of the disparity and action to address it." "Too many Americans face food insecurity and hunger, a problem that has only increased in the last year," said Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, (CA-53). "MAZON understands that hunger is a universal issue, impacting every community, and that we need big, bold solutions to make sure everyone has food on the table. I appreciate the opportunity to join the National Hunger Seder this year and I look forward to working with them to combat hunger." Congressman Andy Kim (NJ-03) said, "This virus was a threat that cut to the core of humanity. It didn't matter what nationality we were from, what color our skin was, what faith we practiced, what political party, or any other aspect of our lives this virus didn't care. It cut to the core of our humanity and attacked there. That is where we need to reinforce and recognize that we share so much in common. That is something that I hope we take out from this experience as we move forward. " Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08) remarked that, "the story of Passover is one of hope, courage, and faith all things that we need during these difficult times. MAZON is exactly what its title means, a Jewish response to hunger, because you operate based on tikkun olam, and aim to repair the world and help others. As someone whose family actually received government assistance with food stamps, I know the fear that food insecurity can bring, and I know the importance of programs like SNAP. That's why I recently voted for the American Rescue Plan Act, which among other things increases SNAP benefits by 15%. We've learned a lot this year, and we're stronger from the adversity that we faced." "Food insecurity is a major issue across these United States, and there isn't one community that is not impacted," said Congressman Andy Levin (MI-09). "Like so many crises this country faces, food insecurity is centered around populations whose challenges have been long overlooked like military families, Native Americans, single mothers, veterans, LGBTQ seniors, and Americans in Puerto Rico. Programs like SNAP, WIC, and CSFP are more important than ever as so many American families struggle to put food on the table during this catastrophic health and economic crisis. I've made ending food insecurity one of my top priorities during my time in Congress, and I'm so excited to work with partners like MAZON to get it done." "I want to thank everyone at MAZON for all of your good work, for everything that you do to try to combat hunger in the U.S.," said Congressman Mike Levin (CA-49), Chair of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. "Particularly during this time of COVID-19, and particularly as we are celebrating the holiday of Passover, I'm thinking of the expression 'Let all who are hungry come and eat.' I think of the millions of Americans who are suffering as a result of the COVID pandemic who don't have enough to eat right now, and the good work that MAZON and so many in the community are doing. We've got to come together, eradicate this pandemic, bring the economy back to full employment, and better days will be ahead for the United States." "The global pandemic has exacerbated food insecurity for families across Coastal Virginia and our nation," said Congresswoman Elaine Luria (VA-02), Vice Chair of the House Armed Services Committee. "As we gather around Seder tables and continue to pass down our faith from one generation to the next, let us remember our commitment to one another and the work still needed to recover from COVID-19. I am honored to join MAZON to make sure this Passover is one of healing, recovery, and a renewed commitment to our community." "Passover is my favorite holiday because I love to sit around the Seder table with my family and friends and retell the story of the Jews living in Egypt and remember their suffering and their redemption," said Congresswoman Kathy Manning (NC-06). "This year, we will add another story of suffering to our Seder, because this year we've witnessed a modern-day plague that has struck down more than half a million of our friends, family members, neighbors, and fellow Americans, as well as millions around the globe. I hope you will think about this modern-day tale of suffering that so many are experiencing and do your part to help relieve the hunger of all those around us who are in need." "Like you, I believe we have a moral imperative to make sure no one goes hungry in America," said Congresswoman Betty McCollum (MN-04) Co-Chair Emeritus of the bipartisan Native American Caucus. "MAZON's advocacy work to end hunger is amazing, and it is something to be celebrated. Thank you for the work that you do, each and every one of you, every day, to create a brighter future where someone is free from hunger." "Hunger was already a crisis impacting every community in the United States, but COVID-19 has turned it into a full-blown catastrophe," said Congressman Jim McGovern (MA-02), Chair of the House Rules Committee and Chair of the bipartisan Hunger Caucus. "We've all seen the awful pictures of empty refrigerators and food pantry lines that stretch for blocks. This pandemic has magnified many of the inequities and injustices we face on issues of food access, and the need to act is more urgent than ever. We can't just go back to normal once this is over we have to do better than normal. I'm proud of MAZON for their advocacy and action to bring about change, and I'm grateful to have them as a partner in the fight to end hunger once and for all." "No person in the United States of America, one of the most prosperous nations in the world, should go hungry," said Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03), Vice Chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. "During our Passover Seder, the Haggadah instructs us to declare 'All who are hungry, come and eat.' During this Passover especially, let us all pledge to open our doors and our hearts to those who are hungry and in need." "This last year has brought so much pain. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs and millions more have struggled to put food on the table," said Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) Deputy Chair of the Progressive Caucus. "The problem of food insecurity falls particularly hard on families with children. Even before COVID-19, households headed by single moms were more likely to experience food insecurity than other families. And that gap has only widened during the pandemic. As a single mom of three school-aged children, I know what it's like to face these tough decisions. We have to do more to support our single moms. It's essential for gender equity and our economic recovery. We must do better for our communities, our families, and our children." "We are coming out of a time of cruelty as we rebuild from the last four years, but every day I feel better about our country's tremendous resiliency, and the passion for justice and solidarity in our communities," said Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08). "Passover is my favorite holiday because it instructs us to identify with the most downtrodden people. But that's not a permanent condition there's exodus from it through solidarity, through vision, and through acts of courage and spiritual commitment, if not divine intervention. I'm grateful that hunger is very much on the public agenda, and MAZON is very much a part of that, so we are going to keep marching forward together." Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) said, "During this pandemic, one in four families has experienced hunger. This, in the richest nation in the world, is unacceptable. We have the means to end hunger, but often lack the will. In the American Rescue Plan, we have taken an important first step in that battle. American children, seniors, and veterans are going hungry, and the pandemic has revealed just how many people were vulnerable to missing a meal. We must do all we can to end that. I am proud to join MAZON for their National Hunger Seder to bring attention to these critical issues, and to continue our fight to end hunger in America." "This Passover season, while we may not be able to get together in person, let's nevertheless take some time to reflect on this past challenging year and how the pandemic revealed new experiences in our lives, new inequities to tackle, and the spirit of charity," said Congressman Mark Takano (CA-41), Chair of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. "During this virtual Seder we are celebrating, but we are also committing ourselves to addressing the hunger epidemic. I commend you for being called to this mission. We still have more desert to walk through before we truly get to the land of milk and honey." "I am so grateful to be with all of you to recognize that our liberation is bound together," said Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-13). "We must continue to fight for liberation for all and freedom from hunger. I want to share this Angela Davis quote: 'The idea of freedom is inspiring, but what does it mean? If you are free in a political sense but have no food, what's that? The freedom to starve?' Thank you for your incredible leadership and for all that you do to address hunger." Congressman Marc Veasey (TX-33) recalled images of cars lined up on the Texas interstate highway earlier this year: "I thought it was a picture of jam-packed traffic, but it wasn't it was a parking lot of people waiting to get food. The hunger that people are suffering right now is real, and many of my fellow Texans experienced hunger recently during the four days when we didn't have power. And so many people were struggling before that. As a Black American, I particularly appreciate that MAZON is addressing the persistence of harmful stereotypes and misinformation about who is hungry in this country." "Food insecurity is an issue that has disproportionately impacted marginalized groups in this country for far too long and has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic," said Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23). "In my home state of Florida, one in five children and one in eight adults struggle with hunger. In the 21st century, no one should ever have to go hungry. Our Jewish tradition urges us to fight the injustice of hunger, champion access to healthy food, and respect the land where it is grown." About MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger: Inspired by Jewish values and ideals, MAZON is a national advocacy organization working to end hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds in the United States and Israel. For more information on MAZON, please visit mazon.org . Media Contact: Lauren Silverman, West End Strategy Team [email protected] SOURCE MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger Related Links http://www.mazon.org NEW YORK, March 18, 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-301250692.html SOURCE Pomerantz LLP 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. BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio - Congratulations to the creative Snowman Contest winners in Broadview Heights. The City had a snowman contest this winter to pass the COVID winter blues away. The response was amazing with 28 snowman contestants and over 380 votes from the viewers. The contest started early December and lasted to the end of February. All winners received a $50 gift card to local restaurants. Snow Bernie built by Mary Lou Bennett won for the Funniest Snowman in the Broadview Heights Snowman Contest. The entries, that were judged in three categories, were unique and varied. And the winners are Best Traditional Snowman, Snowman Family built by Sadie Brooks & Shirley Stalzer Most Creative Snowman, Frostosaurus built by Emi & Daniel Gonzalez Funniest Snowman, Snow Bernie built by Mary Lou Bennett Congrats to the winners and all who entered. Snowman Family built by Sadie Brooks and Shirley Stalzer won Best Traditional Snowman in the Broadview Heights Snowman Contest. Shred day: Community Shred Day is Sat., April 3 at the Broadview Heights Service Garage, 9543 Broadview Rd. off of Oakes Rd. Hours are 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Residents can bring their private documents to be shredded on-site. Staples, fasteners and paper clips do not need to be removed. No binders, please. There is no charge for this service. Please note that no more than six boxes/bags of documents to be shredded will be allowed. They will not be accepting food donations at this time as they have done in the past. Going camping: On Sat., March 27, BSA Venture Crew 652, headquartered at St. Basils Roman Catholic Church, will collect soft goods such as clothing, shoes, bedding, linens, curtains, towels, etc. for Easter Seals. This is a fundraiser for the scouts to go to the Philmont Scout Reservation in New Mexico. The scouts will be in the Brecksville Municipal Parking lot on Brecksville Rd., Route 21, across from the fire station from 1 to 3 p.m. Just pull up and drop off your donations in garbage bags. Easter bunny parade: Ward 2 Councilwoman Linda Barath and the North Royalton City Council are hoppin to it, organizing an event to bring the Easter Bunny to the community. The Master of Ceremonies, the Easter Bunny, will be riding through the streets of town from noon to 3 p.m., Sat., March 27, in style atop the Euclid Beach Rocket Car. Many community members and businesses are participating and/or sponsoring the event including Mayor Larry Antoskiewicz, the North Royalton City Schools, Royalton Gifts, Holistic Halo Salt Spa, Blu Nail, BlueLine Classics, Elite Family Chiropractic, the Jump Yard, Kona Ice, the Cleveland Animal Protective League, Katerinas Fine Jewelers, NorthCoast Litho, with more expected to be announced. Not only will Mr. Bunny have a car in the parade, but so will the Cleveland APL, the Jump Yard, Kona Ice and the North Royalton School District. This will be a fun way to brighten the youngsters day and kick off Spring. A few surprises are in store, so look for a map of the parade route on the City Facebook page, @CityofNorthRoyaltonOH. Easter egg hunt: The Royalton Hills Lions and the North Royalton Lions are sponsoring a Community Easter Egg Hunt on Sun., March 28 at 1 p.m. at the North Royalton Memorial Park Playground, 14600 State Rd. This is for children ages 2-8 years old. Bring your own Easter basket to collect eggs and meet the Easter Bunny. Safety Town In-person Safety Town registration will take place on Wed., April 7 from 4-5:30 p.m. The Broadview Heights Safety Town is a ten-day summer educational program that instructs pre-kindergarten aged children with interactive activities on crossing the street, traffic lights, seat belts, bus safety, the work of police officers and firefighters, bike safety and more. Focus is on safety skills that will be used on a daily basis in a childs life. Using a simulated mini-town complete with buildings and roads, the children ride tricycles with seat belts to practice and experience a variety of situations so that they may respond decisively when confronted with those same situations in real life. The serious subject of safety is combined with craft activities, songs and lots of fun. They also will work on learning their phone number and home address. Registration forms can be turned in any time at the police station. Safety Town is open to any child -resident or non-resident. Registration will be at the Broadview Heights Safety Town Facility (across from the Police Department) 9543 Broadview Rd, Broadview Heights. For more info, contact KimCook at 440-526-5401 or kcook@broadviewheightspd.org. Registration forms are available for download at www.broadview-heights.org. Give blood: Give the gift of life on Wed., April 14, 1-6 p.m. through the Red Cross Blood Drive. To register, go to www.redcrossblood.org/give. The drive will take place at the Broadview Heights Community Center, 9543 Broadview Rd. Applications are open: The Cleveland Arts Prize promotes creativity in Northeast Ohio by honoring artists for excellence and recognizing community leaders who help the arts and artists to flourish. Every year five artists are awarded with a $10,000 prize and 3-5 community leaders, or philanthropists receive honorary recognition through a Special Prize. This year, for the first time ever, they will be accepting applications for the discipline prizes, as opposed to nominations only. Discipline prizes are awarded in the following categories: Visual Arts Music Literature Theatre & Dance Design Special Prize candidates are considered through nomination only. Specific criteria for each prize can be found at https://clevelandartsprize.org/. Read more news from the Sun Star Courier here. 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. Jameson encourages people to take St Patrick's Day Time Off Jameson is pledging to help 1,000 people in the US take some well-deserved time off to celebrate St Patrick's Day (17 March). The Irish whiskey brand is encouraging people to take some SPTO (St Patrick's Time Off) and is offering $50 each to 1,000 lucky people to help them celebrate the Irish holiday. Jameson will use the month leading up to St Patrick's Day to promote SPTO. It is also providing a number of ways for people to celebrate the holiday safely, including a virtual global concert featuring musician Jessie Reyez, a 'Hometainment' kit to create an at-home bar experience, and a number of cocktail recipes. To help get the word out, actors/comedians Retta Sirleaf (Parks & Recreation, Good Girls) and Joe Lo Truglio (Brooklyn Nine Nine) have lent their talents for a public service announcement-style advert, encouraging fans to take up the SPTO pledge. Fans around the world can tune in on St Patricks Day to watch the "Jameson Connects Jessie Reyez with Friends" global livestream concert, which will also feature up-and-coming Irish acts such as Kojaque and Denise Chaila. Those inspired by Retta and Joe's message can pledge to take a #JamesonSPTO online where they'll receive a special Drizly code and enter to be among the 1,000 people to win $50 for their St Patrick's Day celebrations. Each winner will also see $50 donated in their name to the Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation, on top of the $150,000 Jameson is donating to the organisation. 18 February 2021 - Bethany Whymark NIA charges 11 persons in New Delhi Railway station gold smuggling case India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 19: The National Investigation Agency has filed a chargesheet against 11 persons in connection with a gold smuggling case. The case was registered by the NIA following the seizure of 83.621 Kilograms of gold smuggled at the New Delhi Railway station on September 16 2020. Investigation has revealed that the chargesheeted accused persons had conspired and were part of a gang having international linkages for smuggling gold into India. Investigation also revealed the gold was initially smuggled into Guwahati and was on its way for further delivery to gold dealers in New Delhi. On Tuesday evening, a white gunman killed four people at Youngs Asian Massage, a spa in a suburb of Atlanta. He then traveled into the city and killed four more people, also at spasthree at a business called Gold Spa, and one at Aromatherapy Spa. In total, six of the victims were Asian women. The four people killed at Youngs have since been officially identified as Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Delaina Ashley Yaun, and Paul Andre Michels; the Korea Times Atlanta has named two women killed at Gold Spa as Julie Park and Hyun-jeong Park Grant; the identities of the other two victims have yet to be disclosed. In the aftermath, many Asian Americans deemed the attacks hate crimes, but major news organizations did not follow suit. (Early stories cited a police report of a possible robbery.) CNNs Chris Cuomo spoke of potential bias on the part of the shooter; then, in the absence of further details, pivoted to what we know is absolute bias: the unrelated subject of Senator Mitch McConnell. Vivian Ho, a reporter at The Guardian, said on The Takeaway yesterday that she was pretty displeased with the first night of coverage. I understand the need for caution when it comes to breaking news, and I know we cant say it was hate-related or racially-motivated immediately, she said. But we can say definitively that these were Asian-owned businesses. The following morning, many stories continued to tread lightly. Many organizations referred to the victims as women of Asian descent. This phrase wasnt attributed to police, but it isnt precise, Poynters Doris Truong wrote. Not nearly as many news organizations mentioned the suspects race. Some coverage did include his booking photo, but if its relevant to include the race of the victims, its equally relevant to include the race of the suspect. Later on Wednesday, law enforcement in Cherokee County, Georgia, further muddied the waters: Sheriff Frank Reynolds described the suspect as having some issues, potentially sexual addiction; Captain Jay Baker said the suspect had denied any racist motivation. He was pretty much fed up and had been kind of at the end of his rope, Baker added. Yesterday was a really bad day for him. ICYMI: Facebook goes after Substack Major outlets quickly parroted these lines in headlines and push alerts. Subsequent coverage failed to explain the connection between sexual exploitation and anti-Asian racismas Red Canary Song, a coalition of Asian sex workers, put it in a statement, media coverage that examines the racist or sexist motivations of the killings as independent of each other fail to grasp the deeply connected histories of racialized violence and paternalistic rescue complexes that inform the violence experienced by Asian massage workers. Rather than center such perspectives, many outlets instead privileged the testimony of the suspect himself, and of police officers, who, as CJRs Alexandria Neason has reported, have remarkable power to frame, and distort, crime coverage. (Hours after Baker made his bad day comment, BuzzFeeds Stephanie K. Baer reported that he once boasted, on Facebook, of owning a t-shirt with the slogan: Covid 19, IMPORTED VIRUS FROM CHY-NA.) Coverage has also, in typical form, deferred to arbitrary legalese and, despite all evidence, remained hesitant to use the phrase hate crime in the absence of officials using it first. Coverage of the shootings has, of course, not been a monolith. There have been numerous articles and TV and radio segments that have broadcast the voices of Asian Americans; Korean-language outlets have done richer reporting than many of their English-language counterparts. And otherwise flawed coverage at least situated the shootings in a wider context of surging anti-Asian hate tied to the pandemic. Journalists have been among the victims of recent anti-Asian aggression. A year ago this week, an (unidentified) official in Trumps White House referred to the coronavirus as the kung flu while speaking with Weijia Jiang, of CBS News; in May, Trump balked at a question Jiang posed and told her to ask China. Anchors on other networks quickly came to Jiangs defense, but in general, national media has not always demonstrated such solidarity with the wider Asian-American community. Less than a week after Trump attacked Jiang, for instance, Peter Navarro, Trumps trade adviser, referred to the China virus twice on NBCs Meet the Press and three times on ABCs This Week; the shows hosts failed to push back. In the fall, news outlets cited polling that appeared to show the pandemic having a lesser financial impact on Asian Americans than on other groupsbut, as Amy Yee wrote for Scientific American, the methodology of the study likely excluded the communitys most vulnerable people. And, last month, amid a spate of violent attacks on elderly Asian Americans, the Asian American Journalists Association called on newsrooms to do more to prioritize the coverage. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Then came this week. In the wake of other mass shootings, reporters have quickly produced long, heartbreaking profiles and vignettes, as Wesley Lowery observed, yet not much has been uncovered, still, about the victims in Georgia. He continued, The most likely response is, Its difficult because of a language barrier, to which Id say, So youre telling me your national publication isnt properly staffed and prepared to cover the nation where we live? Diverse newsrooms are a journalistic imperative. Of course, there are so many examples of mass shootings that coverage comparisons can be difficult; the Associated Press noted that the Atlanta attacks followed a lull in mass killings during the pandemicwhich, as the TV writer Jess Dweck pointed out on Twitter, is the most American sentence. And, in response to Lowerys tweet, Jeong Park, a journalist at the Sacramento Bee who speaks Korean fluently, noted that language isnt the only barrier to covering Korean communities. Nevertheless, as of yesterday afternoon, the media portraits that I read of the officially named Asian victims, Xiaojie Tan and Daoyou Feng, were perfunctory at best, quoting business records more than bereaved loved ones; there were fuller tributes to Yaun, who was visiting Youngs Asian Massage as a customer when she was killed. As Marian Wang, a producer on Last Week Tonight, has observed, numerous media reports misspelled Yauns last name as Yuan, which is an Asian name. Covering a horrible act of violence is never easy. But the least the press can do is know who theyre talking about. Below, more on the Atlanta shootings: Other notable stories: ICYMI: The COVID Tracking Project is (nearly) gone. Can we see clearly now? Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop. President Joe Biden speaks on the national vaccination efforts in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 18, 2021. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) Biden Says Goal of 100 Million COVID Shots to Americans Will Be Met by Friday President Joe Biden said Thursday that his administrations goal of administering 100 million COVID-19 vaccinations to Americans in his first 100 days in office is on track to be surpassed as soon as Fridaysix weeks ahead of schedule. Im proud to announce that tomorrow, 58 days into our administration, we will have met my goal of administering 100 million shots to our fellow Americans. Thats weeks ahead of schedule, Biden said at the White House Thursday afternoon. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Thursday, approximately 116 million shots have been administered so far in the United States. Biden noted that as of Thursday, 65 percent of Americans age 65 and above had received at least one COVID-19 vaccination dose, and 36 percent have been fully vaccinated. And thats keybecause this is a population that represents 80 percent of the well over 500,000 COVID-19 deaths that have occurred in America, he said. The president last week estimated that his administration expected to reach the goal on day 60. He told reporters Thursday that he plans to outline a new COVID-19 vaccination goal by next week, as the United States is on track to have enough of the three currently authorized jabsPfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnsonto cover the nations adult population just 10 weeks from now. The president urged Americans to remain vigilant and to continue practicing measures to curb the transmission of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. This is a time for optimism, but its not a time for relaxation. I need all Americans, I need all of you to do your part. Wash your hands, stay socially distanced, keep masking up as recommended by the CDC, and get vaccinated when its your turn. Now is not the time to let down our guard, he said. Scientists have made clear things may get worse as new variants of this virus spread. Getting vaccinated is the best thing we can do to fight back against these variants, Biden added. While millions of people are vaccinated, we need millions more to be vaccinated. The president urged Americans to get vaccinated as doses become more widely available. I need you to get vaccinated when its your turn, when youre able to do that. I need your help. I need you to help. Not just the country, but your family, your friends, your neighbors, get them vaccinated as well, Biden said. If we keep our guard up, stick together, and stick with the science, we can look forward to a Fourth of July that feels a bit more normal with small groups able to gather for cookouts in backyards, and where we would begin to declare our independence on Independence Day from the virus. The presidents chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told NBC News on Thursday that the daily number of new CCP virus infections is much too high to be declaring victory. It really is going to be a race between the vaccine and the potential surge, Fauci said. The scolding comes as the UN appoints a new Rapporteur on human rights in the country. Vitit Muntarbhorn, then-Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity attends the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, June 6, 2017. Cambodias representative to the United Nations has issued guidelines on how its new expert on human rights in the country should do his job in the authoritarian country, highlighting years of antagonism between Phnom Penh and U.N. over rollbacks of democracy by Prime Minister Hun Sens government. In a statement made at the 46th Session of the Human Rights Council on Wednesday, Cambodia Ambassador and Permanent Representative Sokkhoeurn An said that his country had accepted six Special Rapporteurs over the last three decades, proving its open engagement with the agency and processs, but that cooperation is a two-way process. He said that Special Procedure Mandate Holders (SPMHs) are expected to perform their duties in an objective, impartial, non-selective and non-politicized manner, and suggested that experts should adhere to their code of conduct by establishing facts duly cross-checked. Sokkhoeurn An also urged SPMHs to assist states in the field of human rights through genuine dialogues and cooperation with non-judicial character of the reports and conclusion, bearing in mind the national particularities of each country. Lastly, the representative said that SPMHs should provide advice on requested technical cooperation and capacity building assistance with a view to addressing the underlying conditions rather than attending only to the symptoms. To conclude, only with due diligence to the said protocols will the SPMHs earn trust from the states, he said. Sokkhoeurn Ans statement follows the recent appointment by the U.N. Human Rights Council of Thailands Vitit Muntarbhorn to the role of Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia, following the end of a five-year mandate by his predecessor Rhona Smith in January. Muntarbhorn, an international law professor, had previously served as the first U.N. Independent Expert on violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity for the Human Rights Council. Tumultuous tenure Smiths tenure as Special Rapporteur was marked by frequent sparring with Cambodias government over issues related to the September 2017 arrest of opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) President Kem Sokha for treason and the disbanding of his party for its role in the alleged plot two months later. The move to dissolve the CNRP marked the beginning of a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on the political opposition, NGOs, and the independent media that paved the way for his ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in the countrys July 2018 general election. In November, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court summoned at least 113 individuals connected to the CNRP to stand trial together, most of whom face charges of conspiracy and incitement to sow chaos in societycrimes punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The prospect of a rapid mass trial of the opposition prompted Smith to express serious concerns in a statement ahead of the proceedings, which she said appeared to be politically motivated, lacking clear legal grounds and constitute a serious violation of the due process rights, firmly established by international human rights law. New sentences Underscoring the difficulties the new U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights will face in Phnom Penh, the Siem Reap Provincial Court jailed three more CNRP activists Thursday to five years in prison over a conspiracy to topple the government after they spoke out against Hun Sens government. One of the three, an activist named Chhun Vean who is currently seeking asylum in neighboring Thailand, dismissed the verdict as laughable in an interview with RFAs Khmer Service. It proves that the court is a tool of the Phnom Penh regime to persecute the opposition party, he said. Chhun Vean said that the sentence would only motivate him to work harder to bring democracy to Cambodia. Sam Sokong, a lawyer representing the three activists, told RFA that his clients were innocent of the crime they were charged with and were only expressing their personal opinions, as is their right under Cambodias constitution. He vowed to appeal the verdict. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. (Natural News) A small liberal arts college in central Kentucky that was founded by a Presbyterian minister held an event the other day called White Citizenship as Terrorism: Make American [sic] Great Again, Again, the purpose of which was to vilify all Trump supporters as terrorists. Berea College, the first integrated, co-educational college in the South, according to the colleges website, apparently thinks that Donald Trump and everyone who supports him is a white supremacist. Chances are this narrative was ripped straight from a CNN broadcast and turned into a presentation depicting all white people as bad. Sponsored by Berea Colleges Womens and Gender Non-Conforming Center and Law, Ethics & Society, the event featured a talk by Amy Brandzel, author of Against Citizenship: The Violence of the Normative. The stated goal of the presentation was to cast Trumpism and white citizenship as forms of white terrorism enacted against the majority of people living within the borders of the U.S. and beyond, according to Young Americas Foundation (YAF). The school claims that the controversial hyperbole and provocative language used to market the event was not intended to push people with alternate political views away from participation. At Berea, we strive to live out our motto: God has made of one blood all peoples on earth, reads a statement issued by the school to YAF. Berea accepts students off [sic] all faiths (or none at all), religious beliefs, ethnicities and political leanings, creating a diverse environment that encourages acceptance, respect and even appreciation across our differences. The response went on to talk about how Berea supposedly promotes and accepts open dialog on difficult topics, including white nationalism. The event seeks to confront aspects of the political spectrum that relate to the difficult topic of race in America, it goes on to read. While that may cause discomfort, it is a valid and important conversation in this time of political and racial division. It is our hope that these types of conversations will occur across the country. Open, honest dialogue is essential to understanding racism and moving toward an anti-racist society. Why do Democrats hate white people so much? An announcement flyer about the event would seem to suggest a much different tone than the one Berea presented to YAF, however. The description portion is filled with anti-white rhetoric that screams of hatred against white people. Despite calls for multiculturalism and color-blindness, segments of white America mourn their so-called loss of privilege, consistently begging to return to the nostalgic past in which their esteemed value as white citizens went unquestioned, the hateful flyer reads. Trumps Make America Great Again appears [sic] to follow suit by offering a seemingly benign promise to return America to a previously great past. It goes on to complain about Trumps tweets, along with his administrations alleged promotion of whiteness. If terrorism is defined as the use of violence and threats to create a state of fear towards particular communities and identities, then this is what Trumpism is at its core, the flyer concludes. Also featured on the flyer is a disturbing photo of Brandzel along with a snapshot of the Charlottesville false flag incident. According to the events organizers, white terrorism is a threat against the majority of people living within the borders of the U.S. and beyond. This would suggest that white people are the true minorities, which should qualify them as a protected community. Its only an open and honest debate when youre knocking white people, wrote one Fox News commenter in response to Bereas canned response defending the racist talk. More of the latest news about anti-white hatred on college campuses can be found at CampusInsanity.com. Sources for this article include: JustTheNews.com Archive.org NaturalNews.com FoxNews.com Sisters Maria Jesus and Felisa Arasanz were euphoric this week, and so were their ten or so neighbours in the tiny hamlet of Lecina, in Huesca, when they learned that their thousand-year-old oak tree, known to everybody as La Castanera, had been voted European Tree of the Year. La Castanera is an enormous holm oak, 16.26 metres high and with branches extending to a total width of 28 metres. It stands alone in this diminutive community in the Alto Aragon, in the municipality of Ainsa, near the Somontano vineyards and the Ordesa y Monte Perdido national park. This beautiful tree, under which dozens of couples have been married, has been the setting where hundreds of discussions have taken place and agreements made. It was saved by Nicolas, Maria Jesus and Felisa's father, who adored it. These sisters, who recently retired, remember when they were young and he absolutely refused to sell it to a charcoal merchant who was prepared to pay a lot of money for its seven-metre trunk and large twisted branches. The holm oak, guardian of the woodlands and also a symbol of resistence, life and strength, was a sacred tree for the ancient Greeks, and also for the people of Aragon, who claim it played an important role in reconquering the valleys of the Pyrenees from the Saracens. That is why it ended up being featured on the kingdom's coat of arms, and is now the emblem of Aragon. However, La Castanera, which was given that nickname because every winter it used to produce up to 600 kilos of fat, sweet acorns which the sheep loved to eat, has a magical legend of all of its own. For generations local people have venerated it because hundreds of years ago, when it was still a young tree, it is said to have helped to rid the area of the witches who brought bad luck and death to residents and their animals. The legend Residents of Lecina celebrate the naming of their oak as European Tree of the Year. / EFE In those times, Lecina was surrounded by impenetrable woodland, in which witches are said to have hidden. The trees in the woods loved these sorceresses because local people were too afraid of them to come in and cut them down. But La Castanera didn't approve of this woodland's bad reputation, and persuaded many young trees to join forces and oppose the witches, who eventually decided to leave. But before they went, they granted wishes to the trees. Some said they would like to have branches of gold or crystal, and others wanted a delicious fragrance. The young La Castanera didn't want anything. Over time, shepherds cut down the trees whose smell was so attractive to cattle, the crystal branches were smashed by storms and thieves stole the trunks of gold. All that was left of the ancient woodland was this large holm oak, that earned the respect and reverence of everybody. And now, to the immense pride of the villagers, their tree has beaten 13 other emblematic examples to become European Tree of the Year. It received 104,264 votes, which was 25,000 more than the tree that came second, an Italian plane tree, and nearly twice as many as the ancient Russian sycamore in third place. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. File photo of Indian American Vice President Kamala Harris leading a meeting with women leaders of the labor community to commemorate Womens History Month and the passage of the American Rescue Plan in Harris' ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on March 18, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images) Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk! You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details. A general view of the skyline of the Canary Wharf business district in London on Apr. 21, 2020. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) UK Reports Highest February Borrowing Since Records Began The UK government is estimated to have borrowed 19.1 billion ($26.6 billion) last month, the highest for February since monthly records began in 1993. The borrowing figure is 17.6 billion ($24.5 billion), more than that of February 2020, according to new data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday. Public sector net borrowing was 19.1 billion in February 2021, 17.6 billion more than the previous February. This is the highest February borrowing since monthly records began in 1993 https://t.co/A86WJdhDDm pic.twitter.com/shvliMWZI8 Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) March 19, 2021 In February 2021, central government bodies are estimated to have spent 72.6 billion ($101 billion) on day-to-day activities, 14.2 billion ($19.8 billion) more than one year ago. In the last month alone, 3.9 billion ($5.4 billion) was spent on the coronavirus job support schemes, commonly known as furlough schemes, which pays 80 percent of the salaries of workers who cannot work as a result of the governments CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus lockdown measures. The CCP virus pandemic and the governments lockdown measures have put huge financial pressure on the UK. Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak poses with the Budget Box as he leaves 11 Downing Street before presenting the governments annual budget to Parliament in London on March 3, 2021. (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images) The extra funding required for government schemes to support businesses hit by lockdown measures, combined with reduced tax revenues and a fall in gross domestic product (GDP), have all helped push Britains public sector net debt to a new high. Britains total public debt now stands at 2,131.2 billion ($2,967.8 billion), equivalent to around 97.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a level not seen since the early 1960s. In the 11 months to February 2021, central government tax and National Insurance receipts fell by 36.8 billion ($51.3 billion), or 5.7 percent, from the same period a year earlier. During the same period, government support for individuals and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to an increase of 187.6 billion ($261.2 billion), or 27.9 percent, in central government day-to-day spending, the ONS said. Delivering the annual budget on March 3, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said, Our economy has shrunk by 10 percentthe largest fall in over 300 years. Our borrowing is the highest it has been outside of wartime. Sunak announced that corporation tax will be raised to 25 percent from 19 percent from 2023, by which time he predicted the economy should be past the COVID-19 crisis. He also said he would freeze the amount of money that people can earn tax-free and the threshold for the higher rate of income tax at the 2021/22 level until April 2026. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, the tax rises will increase the tax burden to 35 percent of GDP in 2025/26, its highest level since the late 1960s. Reuters 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. Three people, including two teenagers, who allegedly stole a car on the Gold Coast and sparked a high-speed cross-border pursuit with Queensland and NSW police, have been charged. About 4pm on Thursday, Queensland Police notified Tweed/Byron Police District officers that a Mercedes Benz GLC, believed to have been stolen from a Surfers Paradise home on the Gold Coast earlier in the day, was travelling south along the M1 motorway. Traffic and highway patrol attempted to intercept the vehicle; however, police said the car failed to stop and a pursuit was started. Police said the car allegedly reached speeds of about 150km/h in a 100km/h zone, before road spikes were deployed a short time later. The car exited the M1 at Kirkwood Road and police ended the pursuit due to the way the car was being driven. President Akufo-Addo must ask any minister who has the ambition of becoming a presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to resign, Kwadwo Mpiani, a chief of staff in the government of President John Agyekum Kufuor has said. Speaking on Asaase Radio on Thursday (18 March), Mpiani said, The ministers are there because the president appointed them to help him rule the country. So if they have decided to become candidates and not ministers at this stage, sure, he [Akufo-Addo] has every right to ask them to go and pursue their ambitions. So that he can appoint somebody to do the work which has been entrusted to him by the people of Ghana. I think that is the legitimate thing for any president to do, he added. Mpiani was speaking on the scramble among cabinet ministers to succeed President Akufo-Addo, describing it as a very worrying development in the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). The former chief of staff advised ministers rather to rally behind the president to perform well in his second term. Look, if you dont put the party on sound footing, if the government doesnt do well, you may even want to put Jesus Christ there [but] I dont think He can win. So lets support the government to do well, he said. You see, the government is in a very unfortunate situation now, because of this COVID-19 and all. The economy is not doing well and it is something universal, Mpiani said. So, our attention should be on how to perform well, so that when we put up a candidate he will not have too much of a problem. Instead of doing that, when the government is not even in place, we are thinking of who will take over from Nana Addo. Its a misplaced priority. Leadership failure The former chief of staff did not mince his words, describing the infighting as the product of a lack of discipline and failure on the part of the leadership of the New Patriotic Party. Mpiani said, I believe the current leadership is not doing well. Thats my candid opinion. He mused on the cause, saying: I dont know why, but maybe [its because of] overambition, or maybe lack of discipline in the party [the NPP]. I think it is so wrong. He recounted how the party carried out research to identify which candidates were viable after 17 candidates expressed an interest in the race for the partys flagbearer position in 2006. The move, Mpiani said, led to the party placing limits on the number of candidates who could run for the leadership of the NPP. 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 In 2020 the Republican Party broke its own record by losing the presidential popular vote for the fourth consecutive election. The previous GOP record was three elections beginning in 1992 when Bill Clinton defeated President George H.W. Bush and ending in 2004 when President George W. Bush won reelection. Yes, Dubya in 2000 and Donald J. Trump in 2016 were elected because an Electoral College win overrides the popular vote total. Nonetheless, a president or candidate popular enough to win both the peoples vote and the Electoral College symbolizes and idealizes how Americans think the system should work without the quirk in the Constitution. The fact is that after landslide Republican victories in 1980, 1984, and a sizable win in 1988, five GOP presidential nominees and two incumbents lost the popular vote in seven of the next eight quadrennial elections. Why that happened involves a complicated set of variables including rapid social, cultural, religious, educational, demographic, and political change occurring on a grand national scale since 1992. How that happened can be seen in voter data over the last four presidential elections from four age groups: 18 to 29, 30 to 44, 45 to 64, and 65 plus. All the data shown for the years 2008-2016 is from the Roper Centers "How Groups Voted" compilation. For 2020 I used CNN and NBC exit polls with matching age group voting data. (Roper not available.) Examining the data will help determine if the GOP is on track to lose the popular vote for the fifth consecutive time in 2024. But before we explore these revealing percentages, here is a quick decades-old conversation summarizing a Republican mindset that has permeated GOP policy and philosophy. After Bill Clintons 1996 reelection, a veteran GOP strategist told me that unless the party can attract the youth vote, winning the White House again would be problematic. The strategist was alarmed that 18-to-29-year-old voters accounted for 17% of those casting ballots, and Bill Clinton won them by 20 percentage points. Then the strategist shared his hope for future GOP wins: When the kids grow up and start paying lots of taxes, they will vote Republican. Did that happen? The answer is a mixed bag, with increased GOP margins for older voters, though not large enough margins to win the national popular vote. It takes time to undo youthful Democratic voting habits that turn into established middle-aged behavior. What follows are 18-to-29-year-olds voting percentages over the last four presidential elections (when the GOP lost the popular vote). Their share of the voting electorate is shown in parentheses. 2020: Biden 60% - Trump 36% (17%) 2016: Clinton 55% - Trump 36% (19%) 2012: Obama 60% - Romney 37% (19%) 2008: Obama 66% - McCain 32% (18%) With 18-to-29-year-olds, the average marginal difference favors Democrats by 25 percentage points over the last 16 years. In 2020, Joe Biden walloping Trump with under-30 voters by 24 percentage points meant that Trump had to make up the difference with older voters. As shown below, the 30-to-44-year-olds were acting somewhat according to the GOPs plan of growing up and voting Republican, but Democrats still prevailed. Again, voter electorate totals are in parentheses. 2020: Biden 52% - Trump 46% (23%) 2016: Clinton 51% - Trump 41% (25%) 2012: Obama 52% - Romney 45% (27%) 2008: Obama 52% - McCain 46% (29%) For 30-to-44-year-olds, the average marginal difference favoring Democrats falls to only 7.25 percentage points a dramatic decrease from the Democrats 25-point average marginal difference garnered from the 18-to-29-year-olds. The next, largest, and most hotly contested voter group are 45-to-64-year olds. Republicans gained ground, but not enough to win the overall popular vote. 2020: Biden 49% - Trump 50% (38%) 2016: Clinton 44% - Trump 52% (40%) 2012: Obama 47% - Romney 51% (38%) 2008: Obama 50% - McCain 49% (37%) The average marginal difference favoring Republicans is three percentage points for this all-important group. This is a pitiful percentage in what should be the GOPs most fertile age demographic during their peak earning and taxpaying years. In 2020 this enormous group comprising 38% of voters decreased their support for Trump from 2016, contributing to Bidens 51.4% to 46.9% national popular vote win over the incumbent president. At last, and shown below, is some good news for Republicans. The 65-plus age group is increasing in number and will continue to grow when the youngest of the 1946-to-1964-born baby boom generation reaches age 65 in 2029. Seniors traditionally are the most loyal Republican voters. In 2020, 65-plus were 22% of voters while only 17% of the U.S. population, meaning seniors are fighting above their weight by five percentage points. 2020: Biden 47% - Trump 52% (22%) 2016: Clinton 45% - Trump 52% (16%) 2012: Obama 44% - Romney 56% (16%) 2008: Obama 45% - McCain 53% (16%) Republicans won seniors with an average marginal difference of eight percentage points in the last 16 years. Again, not good enough for the GOP to win the popular vote. Trump won 65-plus voters but did not increase his winning percentage from 2016. Meanwhile, Biden increased the losing margin by two percentage points over Hillary Clinton in 2016, giving him an edge to win in states such as Arizona and the Rust Belt with their large concentration of older white voters. Unfortunately for the GOP, it appears that the four age groups have well-established voting behaviors. Therefore, it would take an unforeseen set of factors for voters to suddenly favor the Republican nominee in numbers large enough to win the popular vote in 2024. Not that winning the popular vote couldnt happen, since, in politics, anything can and does occur. However, suppose in 2024 that the party loses the popular vote for the fifth consecutive election. Then Republicans will need lightning to strike a third time, delivering an Electoral College win. Statistically improbable, but nothing is impossible. This article will be updated with the latest San Antonio news about the coronavirus vaccine and other need-to-know information about the pandemic. Thursday May 27 Ease the sting of your COVID-19 vaccine shot with help from WellMed and Beethoven Mannerchor. The "Shot and a Beer at Beethoven" promotion will give a free beer to non-vaccinated, drinking-age adults who receive their vaccination at Beethoven Mannerchor on Friday, June 4. WellMed's vaccination station, which will administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, will be on-site from 4 to 7 p.m. Yes, that means you'll just be showing up early for First Friday. Though walk-ins are welcome, interested adults are encouraged to register online for the vaccine and asked to show a photo ID. Tuesday May 25 Beginning Tuesday, San Antonians who get vaccinated at any scheduled clinics will receive a complimentary one-day ticket to Six Flags Fiesta Texas. You can check eligible clinics and dates here. In case you missed it, San Antonio has passed the mark for one million vaccinations. In Monday's COVID-19 update, the City of San Antonio announced that 1,008,521 residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine. About 784,115 locals are fully vaccinated. Friday May 21 Family Service is partnering with Walmart to host three COVID-19 vaccination events in May and June, aiming to bring needed access to the West and South sides of San Antonio. Those who want to get vaccinated can get the Pfizer COVID-19 shot for free. Resources like gas cards, food boxes, and hygiene items will be provided to those who get the dose as well. The clinics will take place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the following dates at the following locations: May 22 Family Services Neighborhood Place, 3014 Rivas St., San Antonio, TX 78228 May 22 South San ISD, 2707 W. Gerald Ave., San Antonio, TX 78211 June 5 Harlandale ISD, 4040 Apollo St., San Antonio, TX 78214 Follow up appointments for the two-dose shot are scheduled on June 12 and June 26. Thursday May 20 WellMed and the City of San Antonio are partnering to bring a Fiesta themed drive-thru vaccination event to the city on Saturday, May 22. From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m at the Plaza Building at 2600 SW Military Dr., the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine will be available to those lined up.At the clinic will be El Rey Feo and other Fiesta royalty. Those who get their shot can take home a free Fiesta medal. The clinic is open to those 18 and older with no registration required. Those getting vaccinated must present an ID such as a drivers license, state ID or passport is required. Vaccinations are free and WellMed does not collect insurance information or bill insurance. Friday May 14 The City of San Antonio announced Friday that mask-wearing and social distancing will be optional for vaccinated government employees starting Monday, May 17. City departments will resume normal work days with signs that states that unvaccinated people are required to wear masks and that those feeling ill should stay or go home. City facilities will operate at 100 percent occupancy. Thursday May 13 Sul Ross Middle School on the northeast side will host a COVID-19 vaccine clinic for children over 12 on Saturday, May 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Residents can register at http://book.novelhealth.ai/nursing. Vaccines are also available for walk-ups, but only residents who have registered are guaranteed a vaccine. Saturday May 1 The Bexar County Sheriffs Office announced Saturday that inmates at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center will now be offered the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with University Health System and Carvajal Pharmacy. Carvajal Pharmacy will be administering the first of two vaccines to nearly 200 inmates. Nursing staff at the jail will also offer new arrestees the option to receive the vaccine starting Saturday. Tuesday April 27 H-E-B announced Tuesday that they will begin to offer walk-in vaccines at all store pharmacies for two hours each day. Those without appointments can visit their H-E-B from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for their shot. All other times are still by appointment only. Thursday April 22 WellMed will schedule all new appointments for the two-shot Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center, 517 SW Military, starting next week. New appointments will no longer be available for the other WellMed-run community vaccination clinic at the Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior One-Stop Center, 8353 Culebra Road. People who received their first shot of Moderna at the Lopez Center will be able to take their second-dose appointments there through May 21. Meanwhile, CommuniCare Health Centers is partnering with the Alamo Colleges' Eastside Education & Training Center to provide free vaccines. The entities will host a vaccination drive-thru clinic at 4551 Dietrich Road on Wednesday, May 5 from 9 a.m. to noon. Interested individuals will need to fill out a pre-registration form in order to be secure an appointment time and date. You can find out more information by calling (210) 485-0848 or emailing DST-EETC@alamo.edu. Baptist Health System is offering the Pfizer vaccine at clinics scheduled at its hospital campuses through May 12. Available appointments for first dose of the vaccination can be viewed at this link: https://www.baptisthealthsystem.com/our-response-to-covid-19/covid-19-vaccine-registration Wednesday April 21 UT Health is now offering walk-ins for people 16 and older. Those wanting a vaccine can go to the School of Nursing Hurd Auditorium at 7703 Floyd Curl Drive between 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. No appointment is necessary. Monday April 19 Holy Cross High School will host a COVID-19 vaccine drive on Tuesday, April 20. The walk-up or drive-up event will start at 11 a.m. at 426 N. San Felipe Ave. Anyone 16 and up are welcome to attend and receive a free Pfizer vaccine. Those ages 16-18 must have a parent or guardian with them. No appointment is necessary. Monday April 19 University Health opened 15,000 new appointments for no-cost COVID-19 vaccinations at its hub location at Wonderland of the Americas, at 4522 Fredericksburg Rd. The appointments are available for this week beginning Monday. Appointments can be scheduled at WeCanDoItSA.com or a: universityhealthsystem.com. Wonderland of the Americas COVID-19 Vaccination Center is open for walk-ins on the lower level Monday Friday from 8 a.m. 7 p.m. St. Philips College COVID-19 Vaccination Center is open for walk-ins 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday Friday. Friday April 16 The Alamodome is now accepting walk-in appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine for people 16 years and older. The walk-ins can stop by from 2 to 5 p.m. starting Friday. No appointment is necessary. Wednesday April 14 WellMed has opened online registration for two clinics in San Antonio that will be offering the Moderna vaccine next week, according to a press release. The release says they are booking 9,000 appointments for those who need to receive their first dose shots to schedule on April 19-23. The shots will be distributed to patients at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center and the Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior One-Stop Center. Anyone 18 or older can sign up using the online registration link for the Cisneros Center or the registration link for the Lopez Center. The City of San Antonio has also launched a COVID-19 vaccine waiting list to help residents obtain an appointment. Residents who would like to sign-up for this waitlist can register online in English at sanantonio.gov/waitlist and in Spanish at sanantonio.gov/listadeespera. Residents may also call 311 and select option 8 or 210-207-6000 to speak with an operator to assist them. The hotline hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. Tuesday April 13 WellMed plans to offer anyone signed up to receive a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine through its clinic their first dose of Moderna instead after news that the Food and Drug Administration and the Center for Disease Control recommended pausing the vaccine while serious side effects are investigated. Metro Health, UT Health, and University Health other local providers of the J&J vaccine have also paused administering it. According to a press release 45,800 doses of J&J vaccines have been allocated to Bexar County since March 8th, 2021. READ MORE: FDA recommends pausing Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for investigation into clots Monday April 12 All ages are now allowed to sign up for the vaccine at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center, 517 SW Military. WellMed is now taking online appointments for more than 4,000 first doses of the two-shot Moderna vaccine, to be administered Monday-Friday at the Cisneros Center. Anyone 18 and older can sign up. Go to https://signup.com/go/TYKxGUs Appointments also are available by calling the toll-free vaccination hotline at 833-968-1745. The hotline also is taking appointments for a community vaccination clinic at Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior One-Stop Center, 8353 Culebra Road. The phone line is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. Wednesday April 7 University Health has opened another COVID-19 vaccine hub at St. Philips College and they are allowing walk-in appointments for all ages from 3 to 5 p.m. each afternoon. The St. Philip's College COVID-19 Vaccination Center is located at 1801 Martin Luther King Drive in the St. Philips College Library and open from 8 a.m. 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. Tuesday April 6 Starting Tuesday, April 6, people ages 75 or older may drive through the Alamodome vaccine site to receive a dose without an appointment, city officials announced at Monday's COVID-19 briefing. Health officials said 517,067 people have received their first dose, and 312,544 people in Bexar County are fully vaccinated. VIA will also continue offering complimentary transportation for anyone traveling to or from a city- or county-sponsored vaccination site, according to a press release. More than 1,900 passengers have taken advantage of this free service since it began in January, the release notes. In order to receive the free ride, passengers must present their appointment registration in print, electronically on their cell phones, or show their COVID-19 shot record. Tuesday, April 2 Gonzaba Medical group said to call 210-905-4276 to make an appointment for one of it's 2,000 Pfizer vaccine slots. Appointments will be made from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 5, April 6 and April 7. The shots will be given at the Gonzaba Event Center at 933 Pleasanton Road. University Health is also scheduling multiple vaccinations through its web site: WeCanDoItSA.com Monday, March 29 Starting today, March 29, Texas will open COVID-19 vaccinations to all adults, according to a statement by the Texas Department of State and Health Services. This move makes Texas the first large state to open up vaccine eligibility for all adults, according to a report by the San Antonio Express-News. Thursday, March 25 Texas MedClinic will provide 2,500 Moderna COVID-19 vaccines through Metro Health starting March 25 through March 31 at four clinic locations, according to a press release from Texas MedClinic. The four Texas MedClinics are located on Broadway, Culebra, Southwest Military and Eisenhauer. Individuals must check-in online to receive an appointment. The vaccines are free and no cost to the patient. Wednesday, March 24 The Alamodome will open 30,000 first dose Pfizer vaccine appointments starting tomorrow, March 25 at 7 p.m., according to a press release from the City of San Antonio. The appointments will be available from April 6 - May 1 and are scheduled through the Metro Health COVID-19 vaccine registration website. Those without internet access can book their appointments by phone through the Customer Service COVID Hotline by dialing 311. Tuesday, March 23 Texas will open COVID-19 vaccinations to all adults beginning on March 29, according to a statement by the Texas Department of State and Health Services. "We are closing in on 10 million doses administered in Texas and we want to keep up the momentum as the vaccine supply increases," said Imelda Garcia, DSHS associate commissioner for laboratory and infectious disease services and the chair of the Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel. DSHS is directing vaccine providers to still prioritize and accommodate people 80 and older, according to their Twitter. Friday, March 19 Have a vaccine appointment next month at the Alamodome? It may be rescheduled. San Antonio Metro Health announced that the Alamodome will be rescheduling all vaccine appointments from on April 2 to April 5. Patients will still have the same times. Monday, March 15 Starting today, all Texans, 50 and over, are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Last week, Texas Health and Human Services made the announcement of activating Phase 1C of the vaccine distribution. This phase includes people 50 to 64 years of age. 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. Reporter Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk). BOSTON Attorney Mark Pearlstein on Friday offered his first public testimony months after releasing a jarring report on the deadly COVID-19 outbreak at the state-run Soldiers Home in Holyoke. Pearlstein was appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker on April 1, he told the a legislative panel investigating the crisis. Weeks of interviews with witnesses and a review of more than 17,000 documents yielded the Pearlstein report, released in June and considered by many to be the authority on how the Soldiers Home unraveled during the coronavirus pandemic. Baker asked the former federal prosecutor to determine what happened, why it happened and whether staff at the Soldiers Home violated COVID-19 reporting standards. Pearlstein noted that protocols and reporting standards were fluid at the beginning of the pandemic, before the nature of the virus was totally clear. Pearlsteins testimony Friday was expansive and voluntary. He opened his remarks by telling committee members that leaders at the home and the state administration failed the veterans, their families and frontline staff who were left holding the bag as the virus took hold. The veterans certainly deserved better ... and their families deserved better, Pearlstein told the committee. And the staff at the home who quite literally put themselves in harms way came back to work day after day in the teeth of the pandemic they deserved better. At least 76 veterans died between March and June, while dozens more were tested positive for COVID-19 along with more than 80 staff. Pearlstein reiterated key points in his report including a catastrophic decision to combine two locked dementia units with both well and sick veterans; a lack of action when veterans began getting sick and dying; paralysis in state government in filling vacant management positions; and a dysfunctional workplace culture at the Soldiers Home. Theres no doubt theres a long and rich history at the Soldiers Home of problems and dysfunction, Pearlstein said, noting that former Superintendent Bennett Walsh was forced to undergo anger management counseling, often skirmished with labor leaders and did not enjoy good relations with others on his management staff. Walsh and most of the top staff at the home were forced to resign in the wake of Pearlsteins report, made public on June 24. Former Secretary of Veterans Services Francisco Urena also resigned after the report was released. Pearlstein and his team of investigators concluded Urena was aware of Walsh shortcomings but didnt maintain adequate oversight of Walsh and the home. Walsh and former medical director Dr. David Clinton were indicted for criminal neglect in September. They both pleaded not guilty to the charges. Bakers administration sent in an emergency response team led by the National Guard and appointed an interim administrator, Val Liptak, to run the floundering facility after Walsh was suspended on March 30. After his suspension, Walsh released emails showing he asked Urena for help from the National Guard and was initially denied. State Rep. Michael Finn, D-West Springfield, quizzed Pearlstein about that email strand. There was an email from Bennett Walsh on March 27 ... then there was a gap of 72 hours. What happened during those 72 hours? Finn asked. The request for National Guard medical resources was untethered to any description of the rapidly deteriorating situation, Pearlstein responded. Rulison, Larry/Town of Bethlehem I want to thank staff writer Larry Rulison for his coverage of Stewarts Shops' plan to replace its current store with a much larger one and to install six gas pumps. Rulison's articles have noted the Bethlehem Planning Boards criticism of the proposal for not meeting Delmar hamlet rules and noted, as of the board's most recent meeting earlier this month, it had received nine letters against the proposal. Im sure many more Bethlehem residents are concerned and I hope all will make their voices heard. It is not in our best interests to allow Stewarts to go forward with this plan. The exoneration of an Albany police officer who broke down a door at a loud party, pepper-sprayed occupants without warning, and touched off a series of events that left city taxpayers on the hook for over $250,000 says a lot about the disciplinary process in law enforcement. It also says much about the challenge of trying to eradicate systemic racism from the criminal justice system. Communities around New York are due soon to submit plans for reforming their law enforcement agencies. How many of those plans will be able to stand up to the extraordinary protections police officers enjoy under their contracts and the standards of behavior that have come to be tolerated by state arbitrators remains to be seen especially by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state legislators who may have reforms of their own to do. The Albany case involved Officer Matthew Seeber, who with other officers responded to a complaint of a loud party on First Street in March 2019. He broke down the door after the residents refused to open it, and pepper-sprayed several of the people inside. Video shows police beating people in the street. Eight officers faced disciplinary charges; one, Luke Deer, was charged criminally. Three, including Seeber, were recommended for termination. Three civilians who were arrested had their charges dropped, and the city has settled with them for a combined $265,000. An internal review found misconduct by officers and a breakdown in their supervision. Officer Seeber successfully appealed his firing through arbitration, as the contract allows. In clearing him of the disciplinary charges, the arbitrator wrote that it came down to a judgment call, that the neighborhood is a rough area, and that the people inside the home were dangerous and probably armed. Its worth noting there was no evidence guns were found. Mayor Kathy Sheehan has blasted the decision as racially biased, which the arbitrator denies. Yet its hard to imagine this ruling or the police behavior that night would have come down in any way like this in a predominantly white middle-class neighborhood. Its cases like this that should give pause to city and community leaders around the state as they complete law enforcement reform plans required under an executive order by Mr. Cuomo in response to the national uproar over the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed when a Minneapolis, Minn., police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes in an arrest over an allegedly counterfeit bill. The plans, due April 1, have been viewed as an opportunity for communities to address the historically disparate treatment of minorities in the criminal justice system. Any overhaul of police departments will likely need to include greater accountability, better conduct standards and effective enforcement of them. As the First Street case underscores, thats easier said than done when police contracts and arbitration precedent come into play. It falls, then, on Mr. Cuomo and lawmakers to heed the obstacles communities will encounter in trying to reform their police agencies. As the Legislature did in repealing a law that shielded police disciplinary records from disclosure, it may well have to pass new legislation to better balance the interests of police officers with the need for communities to fire bad cops and those who just arent cut out for all this admittedly tough job demands. Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos made no secret of her disdain for a program intended to forgive the federal student loans of borrowers who were ripped off by schools that defrauded their students. She called it a free money giveaway, let hundreds of thousands of claims languish for years and slashed the amount of relief granted to some successful applicants to $0. Then, after a class-action lawsuit made it impossible to stall any longer, her agency built what amounted to an assembly line of rejection. In Ms. DeVoss final year in office, her agency denied nearly 130,000 claims far surpassing the 9,000 rejections in the prior five years with a system that pressured workers to speed through applications in a matter of minutes, according to internal Education Department documents filed in federal court. The department aimed to process 5,000 applications a week, the documents show a standard that required agency employees to adjudicate claims that could stretch to hundreds of pages in less than 12 minutes. Those who did it faster were eligible for bonuses; those who took longer risked being fired. Agency employees rejected claims against hundreds of schools for not including written evidence that borrowers were never required to submit. And the department frequently disregarded its own findings of wrongdoing by schools when reviewing claims from their students. Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 18, 2021) - Blacksteel Energy Inc. (TSXV: BEY) ("Blacksteel") is pleased to announce that all proposals at the AGM were approved. Motions including changing the name, the approval of the potential sale of all the oil and gas assets, share consolidation, and the transfer of the listing from the TSXV to the CSE were all approved. There can be no certainty that one or all of these will be acted upon. Further disclosure will be forthcoming as appropriate. Blacksteel has applied to the TSXV to be reinstated for trading. The company cannot provide guidance as to when or if it will be reinstated for trading. Blacksteel Energy Inc. Blacksteel is a junior oil and gas company involved in the exploration, exploitation, development and production of petroleum and natural gas resources. Jeff Callaway President and CEO (403) 540-2408 This news release may contain forward-looking statements relating to future acquisitions, including statements regarding future plans for such Assets. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause actual performance and results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things: the state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular; investor interest in the business and future prospects of Stargazer; future production rates; the sufficiency of budgeted capital expenditures in carrying out planned activities; the availability and cost of labour and services; and the receipt, in a timely manner, of regulatory and third-party approvals. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, Blacksteel disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities law. Additionally, Blacksteel undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made, by third parties in respect of the matters discussed above. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States of America. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation in of U.S. Securities Laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77860 Across Canada, actor Meegwun Fairbrother may be best known these days as small-town police officer Owen Beckbie on the CBC drama series Burden of Truth. Across Canada, actor Meegwun Fairbrother may be best known these days as small-town police officer Owen Beckbie on the CBC drama series Burden of Truth. Supplied Playwright/performer Meegwun Fairbrother Whats less known is that, prior to shooting the fourth season of the series, the former Toronto resident moved to Winnipeg, and not just to ease of making Burden, which is mostly filmed around Winnipeg and Selkirk. "I ended up falling in love with the people here," the 30-something Fairbrother says in a phone interview. "I have some family here a brother and a cousin and some family out in Kenora," says the actor, whose ancestry is Ojibwa and Scottish. "It was my idea to stick around here and reconnect with the family that I didnt have the opportunity to be with when I left to go become an actor in Toronto. "The funny part was the pandemic hit and weve all just been in our own little hovels anyway, so that plan didnt work out too well." THEATRE PREVIEW Click to Expand Isitwendam (An Understanding) Written and performed by Meegwun Fairbrother Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets to free online performance available at royalmtc.ca At least that proximity made it easy for Fairbrother to participate in the Bridge, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centres four-day "festival of ideas" that launched Thursday. Curated by Kim Wheeler, the festivals theme is Art and (re)Conciliation, and the inaugural festival culminates on Sunday afternoon with a free online performance of Fairbrothers own play, Isitwendam (An Understanding), a story that encompasses heritage, residential schools and taking responsibility. The show will be streamed free to anyone across Canada who creates an account on the RMTC website. Fairbrother was born in Toronto, and because his mother was a teacher, he bounced around for much of his life on different First Nations communities and reservations. That journey eventually took him to Kenora. Joe Bucci photo Meegwun Fairbrother was inspired to write Isitwendam after watching then-prime minister Stephen Harper's apology for residential schools. "I saw my first theatre in Winnipeg because our drama teacher would take us to MTYP and RMTC," he says. "Actually, I saw my first real big production of a Shakespeare play here at MTC, so its all kind of feeling like coming home." He was inspired to write Isitwendam by the late, great dramaturge Iris Turcott at Torontos Factory Theatre. "She knew my story, where I came from and she knew I had worked with a lot of Indigenous people in the community," Fairbrother says of Turcott, a zealous advocate of theatre talent who worked with such notable playwrights as Tomson Highway, Ronnie Burkett, Daniel MacIvor and Anusree Roy. "So she saw something in me, I guess." Joe Bucci photo Meegwun Fairbrother in Isitwendam. Turcott suggested Fairbrother write a piece in response to then-prime minister Stephen Harpers 2008 apology to the students of residential schools. "She thought I would be the right person to make a ceremonial, theatrical response to the residential school apology," he says. "At the time, I had not watched the apology. So she made me go home and watch it. "I cried. I was angry. And then I watched it about 15 more times and started to kind of get inside of it and understand what was going on here." Joe Bucci photo Writer-actor Meegwun Fairbrother sees his play Isitwendam as a story about hope. In the process of writing what would be Isitwendam, Fairbrother eventually consulted with Toronto director Jack Grinhaus, who is credited as a co-creator. "I wanted somebody from outside the community, but who had a connection to genocide," Fairbrother says. "His Jewish ancestry was the perfect fit for that. And hes a theatre magician. He really helped me flesh out the narrative and build it into the theatrical, ceremonial response that it is today." Over the past few years, Fairbrother has performed the show at the Talking Stick Festival in Vancouver and at Native Earth Performing Arts in Toronto. "That has been great and has taught me a lot, but it hasnt quite felt like a show for the community, which is how Ive always intended (it)," he says. "Its a show for all people, not just Indigenous people, but it really is, for me, a spiritual love letter to my community as a point of pride. Chris Randle photo Meegwun Fairbrother in Isitwendam. "The show is about hope, even though it is dealing with residential school history and its fallout," he says. "Its not a violent or triggering show; its about this young man who goes on a journey upon learning about his ancestry and its about what its like for that man to come home. "Effectively, my intention is to clear the air, as it were, so that we can all sit in the same circle together and start to recognize each other. We can start to admit that maybe we dont have the answers, but were going to figure it out together." randall.king@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @FreepKing Though 2020 was a difficult time for many, the countrys 614 billionaires added nearly $1 trillion in new wealth$931 billion, to be exactto their personal fortunes in just seven months starting in mid-March when the pandemic became an emergency. Find Out: How Much Is Jeff Bezos Worth? Not surprisingly, the thousands and thousands of people who those executives employ experienced a much different reality in 2020and theyll have a much different experience during tax season, as well. As readers will see, executive compensation packages are complicated webs of securities, incentives, salaries, bonuses, stocks, options, ownership stakes, company control, and good, old-fashioned cash. Nailing down exactly what they pay in taxes isnt easy, but the following examination looks at what the top executives earn, what they pay in taxes, and how that compares to their employees. Elon Musk and Tesla Employees In what Bloomberg called probably the fastest bout of wealth creation in history, Elon Musk added $165 billion to his personal fortune in roughly the last year alone. On Jan. 7, that astonishing run culminated in what until recently would have been written off as impossible. That day, the South Africa-born engineer passed Amazons Jeff Bezos to take the title of the richest human being in the world as Musks net worth approached $195 billion. The mountain of cash was generated by the meteoric rise of Tesla, whose stock has soared 23,900 percent since its 2010 IPOincluding a five-for-one splitand 743 percent in the last year alone. Musk is living proof of just how complex high-level CEO compensation packagesand their tax implicationscan be. Musk received $2.3 billion in stock options from Tesla in 2018, but he actually earned $0 in total compensation. Thats because pay packages can be structured to satisfy SEC reporting requirements without considering the actual value of what an executive really receives. Had that money been taxed at a rate of 37% in the highest tax bracket like standard W2 salary, Musk would have paid about $851 million in taxes. Story continues An engineering manager at Tesla makes an average of $160,295 per year. Presuming Musks employee filed jointly with a spouse, that engineer would pay $32,251 for tax year 2020. Find Out: Heres How Much Americans Pay in Taxes in Every State Douglas McMillon and Walmart Employees In 2020, Walmart CEO Douglas McMillon received total compensation of $20.9 million, which actually represents a pay cutMcMillon earned $22.1 million the year prior. Landing him squarely in the 37% tax bracket, thats a tax bill of nearly $8.18 million if he files individuallysort of. Just $1.3 million of his total compensation is in base salary. The vast majority of the rest$15.7 millioncomes from stock awards with everything else coming from non-equity incentives. All that, of course, is taxed differently than straight-up income. McMillions giant compensation package is 983 times the size of the $22,484 annual salary earned by the median Walmart worker. That median worker falls in the 12 percent tax bracket and in 2020, he or she would have paid $2,733 in federal income tax plus FICA. Try: 10 Tax Loopholes That Could Save You Thousands Mary Barra and General Motors Employees Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, earned total compensation of $21.33 million in 2020, roughly the same package that made her the highest-paid CEO of the Detroit 3 in 2019. Presuming she filed jointly, thats a hefty $7.9 million tax bill. Like the other big corporate execs, however, the money took a convoluted route from its source to Barras checking account. Her total cash payment was $4.83 million, with $2.1 million in base pay and the rest in bonuses. Another $15.67 million comes from equity compensation$12.14 million from stocks and the rest from options. More than $831,000 in income is classified as other. An assembly line worker at General Motors earns an average of $41,126. In 2020, that shift workers tax obligation would have been $6,396 for federal income taxes and FICA. Find Out: Tax Shelters, Tax Breaks and Other Tax Tips You Should Take From the Rich Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook Employees Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg is one of the most under-compensated CEOs in Americaactually, hes one of the worst-paid employees of any rank. He gets $0 in stock, options, and other equity compensation, $0 in bonuses, and his annual salary is just $1. There is, of course, the little thing of $23,415,972 in other compensation, which accounts for all but $1 of his total $23,415,973 2020 pay package. If other income is taxed like regular income at Zuckerbergs 37% tax rate, hed be stuck with a bill from Uncle Sam for $8.51 million. A software engineer at Facebook makes about $160,000 a year. If that engineer is married filing jointly, the employee would pay $32,181 in federal income tax plus FICA for tax year 2020. Jeff Bezos and Amazon Employees Jeff Bezos earned a salary of $81,840 in 2019, the same salary hes earned at the company since the dawn of e-commerce in 1998. When total other compensation is included, Bezos cleared $1.68 million, which has also been his total compensation for the last several years at least. If he made the same amount in 2020 and filed as an individual taxpayer, his tax bill would be $595,340 for federal income taxes plus FICA. The median full-time worker salary at Amazon is $36,640. If filing as a single taxpayer, that median Amazon worker would pay $5,514 in federal income tax plus FICA. The Standard Deduction Is a Big Part of Savings The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made two big changes to the tax code that are still being felt today. The tax brackets were changed so that most people pay a smaller percentage of their income. But the change that probably had a bigger impact was the huge increase in the standard deduction, which jumped from $6,350 to $12,000 and from $12,700 to $24,000 for single and joint filers, respectively. The standard deduction is the amount you can subtract from your income before you calculate what you owe, which reduces your taxable income and ultimately, your tax bill. In 2020, the standard deduction increased to $12,400 for individuals and $24,800 for joint filers. All taxpayers must choose between the standard deduction and itemized deductionswhich can now be unlimitedand should pick whichever option reduces their taxable income the most. More From GOBankingRates Karen Doyle contributed to the reporting for this article. Last updated: Mar. 18, 2021 This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: What Kind of Taxes Do Top Company Execs Pay? From Tesla, Amazon, Walmart and Beyond STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New York City Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter visited PS 45, West Brighton, on Friday morning, ending a week-long tour of public schools in the five boroughs. The former Bronx executive superintendent replaced Richard Carranza, who announced his resignation in February, after serving as schools chancellor for almost three years. Carranzas resignation went into effect on Monday. A product of the citys public schools, Porter said she has visited Staten Island before, but this was her first visit as the top official of the citys school system. A WARM WELCOME Fifth-graders Jayden Walten and Kaylee Sanchez greeted Porter Friday morning at PS 45 in front of gold helium balloons welcoming the chancellor to the building. They were joined by Principal Christine Chavez; Acting District 31 Superintendent Marion Wilson; Executive Brooklyn Superintendent Barbara Freeman, and other school staff. I have a Jayden at home, too, Porter said, greeting her young tour guides. Abeba Bello, a parent of three PS 45 students (a pre-kindergartener, first- and third-grader), told Porter how the quality of her childrens learning has been tremendous since returning to school full-time amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. New York City closed all school buildings temporarily Nov. 19 when the coronavirus positivity rate surpassed 3%. At that time, all public school students transitioned to fully remote learning. Schools had only been open for in-person instruction since mid-September. Elementary schools and District 75 schools that serve students with special needs were reopened in December. Middle schools reopened Feb. 25. And high school students will be able to return to their classrooms on Monday. Porter said shes ready and looking forward to high schools reopening. New York City Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter talks to first-graders at PS 45, West Brighton. The schools chancellor visited Staten Island Friday as part of a five-borough tour during her first week as the city's top education official. (Staten Island Advance/ Alexandra Salmieri) VISITING WITH STUDENTS After tuning into the schools morning announcement -- which included the Pledge of Allegiance and the schools pledge I will believe, I will achieve, but most importantly I will succeed -- Porter energetically popped in to see students at work while walking down the hall to first-grade classroom. Of course, before touring the school, she swapped her plain mask for a Staten Island mask. I havent been to a lot of Staten Island schools, so Im excited to be here, Porter said en route. Im from the Bronx and youre from Staten Island -- our boroughs hug the city. Led by teacher Jessica Diaz, first-grade students were learning about financial literacy during Porters classroom visit. She explained to Porter how her students were understanding how to make smart financial decisions. I love the way you all are thinking about money and learning to make smart decisions, Porter told the students. She then explained to them how learning to save and spend money wisely now will help them make decisions as adults. Six-year-old Kalli Risco, one of the first-grade students, said its great being back in a school building instead of learning online remotely. I get to see my friends and my teachers in real life, she said. She added that it was exciting having Porter visit her school. Its like having someone famous visit, she explained. Porter visits with fifth-graders at PS 45 Friday morning. (Staten Island Advance/ Alexandra Salmieri) The tour continued up the staircase to the third floor, where a fifth-grade class was learning about the many struggles immigrants endure when coming to America. The lesson was led by teacher Alison Morales. Porter also thanked and chatted with the schools kitchen and custodial staff during her visit. A CITYWIDE TOUR, A VISION The chancellor said its been an exciting week visiting schools in all five boroughs, and seeing firsthand how staff members are integrating technology, social and emotional learning and cultural aspects into their day-to-day lessons. At the time she was appointed the citys schools chancellor, Porter said: Im ready to hit the ground running and lead New York City schools to full recovery. Primarily, as chancellor, my job will be to remove the barriers, to direct resources where theyre needed most and communicate clearly around our shared goals and commitments at every school in every neighborhood in every single borough. The chancellor said its been an exciting week visiting schools in all five boroughs, and seeing firsthand how staff members are integrating technology, social and emotional learning and cultural aspects into their day-to-day lessons. (Staten Island Advance/ Alexandra Salmieri) FOLLOW KRISTIN F. DALTON ON TWITTER. Dim Prospects for an Independent, Objective FBI Commentary FBI Director Christopher Wrays testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month, when he stated that the events of Jan. 6 arent isolated but are symptomatic of a widespread domestic terrorism problem, can only be interpreted in one way. Hes laying the foundation for the utilization of authoritarian tactics by the FBIat the direction of the Biden White House and those who pull the stringsin order to justify what may be a wave of politically motivated investigations. In previous, pre-election testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee, on Sept. 17, 2020, Wray revealed his willingness to participate in the recently expanded white supremacy narrative, when he testified that the primary domestic threatmore serious than anarchists and Antifacame from white supremacists. His most recent statements should come as no surprise. Much of his recent testimony consisted of conclusory statements that appeared to reflect Democratic talking points, rather than independent determinations based on articulated facts. The director repeated the conclusion from September, specifying that the primary current threat is from racially motivated violent extremists who advocate superiority of the white race. Its precisely because such individualstrue racistsare despicable, contemptible, worthy of ostracization, that the categorization must be carefully defined and applied only where truly merited. Those in law enforcement know that the threat from groups such as the Aryan Nations, though still significant, has diminished appreciably in recent decades, due in no small measure to large-scale initiatives by the FBI, big-budget undercover operations where brave undercover FBI agents infiltrated various truly white supremacist militias. However, by now expanding the definition of white supremacy to include those who disagree with progressive policies, the moral justification is created for repressive tactics directed at eliminating dissent. Wray testified that the bureau will not tolerate agitators. And who defines exactly what constitutes agitation, and how it is to be distinguished from constitutionally protected, fiery expression of opinion and belief? The threat to our Bill of Rights should have civil liberties advocates raising the alarm. But to date, they and the media have been silent. Raising some questions as to his objectivity, Wray testified that we have not seen evidence of fake Trump supporters, or indicia of surreptitious infiltration present at the Capitol on Jan. 6, despite eyewitness accounts to the contrary. He then concluded that the events on Jan. 6 constituted domestic terrorism. In response to questioning by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Wray confirmed that the events of that day constituted armed insurrectionin apparent contradiction with Senate testimony a week earlier by his assistant director for counterterrorism, Jill Sanborn, that no arms, no weapons of any sort were known to have been used or recovered. Thus, highly aggravated unarmed trespass into the nations Capital buildingabhorrent as it wasis elevated and equated with meticulously planned, coordinated acts of organized murder. And why this conclusion? Because it provides the foundation and justification for a broad range of investigations into the ordinary activities of ordinary Americans, now branded as terrorists and thus not only worthy of investigation, but perhaps necessitating surveillance in the interest of newly minted national security threats. On Jan. 14, the FBI arrested and charged anti-Trump activist John Sullivan in connection with his activities inside the Capitol building, as described in an FBI criminal complaint and affidavitwhere he reportedly enthusiastically encouraged others participating in the trespass. There are conflicting reports as to his relationship with BLM and Antifa, and published photos show him (at an unspecified time) wearing a pro-Trump cap. How does this reconcile with Wrays testimony regarding the absence of agent provocateurs? When questioned by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the director refused to provide the cause of death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was on duty protecting the Capitol on Jan. 6. While its standard practice for the FBI to not disclose facts pertaining to an ongoing investigation, non-disclosure of the cause of deathessentially a matter of public recordis highly unusual, and arguably an improper exercise of authority when providing sworn testimony in a Senate hearing. The appropriate response by the FBI chief would have been to offer to testify behind closed doors, so as to allow the elected public officials to evaluate the need for withholding the information from the public. Two men have subsequently been arrested for assault of Sicknick, although the cause of death remains undisclosed. Yet when questioned by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on the same topic, the director expressed appreciationwith thinly veiled sarcasmpraising the senators for having such an elevated degree of interest in the death of a law enforcement officer who lost his life while protecting all of you. When asked by Cruz if the Department of JusticeFBI domestic terrorism task force, created to fight attacks on police and on federal property by anarchists and other politically motivated individuals, was still active, Wray responded that the work the task force began is still ongoing. Which was an oblique way of saying that the task force doesnt continue to function as a task forcetherefore, the work has been deemphasized. Concurrent with the directors expansion of the scope of FBI investigative activities into domestic affairs, there has been a reduction in the scope of what constitutes terrorist activity when it comes to those anarchists sympathetic to the current administration (as revealed by a quick visit to Antifa.com). In the course of his confirmation hearings to become attorney general, Judge Merrick Garland testified that attacks such as those on the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, were of a lesser significance, due to having occurred at night. Thus creating a nighttime exception to the federal laws concerning attacks on federal property. As quoted in The Oregonian, an attack on a courthouse while in operation, trying to prevent judges from trying cases, that plainly is domestic extremism, domestic terrorism, Garland said. An attack simply on a government property at night or under other circumstances is a clear crime, and a serious one, and should be punished. But not as terrorism, apparently. The apparent elimination of the Trump-era domestic terrorism task force, combined with the appointment of an attorney general who deemphasizes the criminal nature of politically motivated domestic terrorism, bodes ill for the future of the FBI. Its a bitter disappointment for the men and women of the FBI, the current and former field agents who risked and continue to risk their lives daily to protect the public and uphold the Constitution. The trend isnt limited to federal law enforcement. As the FBIs upper management has been politicized, starting with Director Robert Mueller then James Comey, now Wray, the military has followed suit. Recent attacks on the mediaand TV news host Tucker Carlson in particularhave been startling indeed. Marine units, in uniform, expressing publicly their political views, criticizing the opinion statements of the fourth estate, are anathema to a free society. Objective, independent, and apolitical national police and military are the cornerstones of a free republic. Should these institutions be permitted to be actively political, advocating in support of certain ideological groups to the detriment of others, the foundations of our Constitutional republic will begin to crumble, and the momentum will be difficult, perhaps impossible, to diminish. Marc Ruskin, a 27-year veteran of the FBI, is a regular Epoch Times contributor and author of The Pretender: My Life Undercover for the FBI. He served on the legislative staff of U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y. Follow Marc on Twitter @mhruskin or Parler Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Almost a year after the national lockdown was announced, two states-- and Punjab--on Friday issued strict guidelines for businesses as well as public to prevent another Covid-19 wave. on Friday recorded 25,681 new Covid-19 cases, the second highest one-day rise since the pandemic began last year. Measures to deal with the surge in cases came up in Parliament too. During the question hour in the Lok Sabha, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the Covid vaccination drive would be extended in the coming days, while stating that there should not be any misconception about the two Indian vaccines being administered in the country. For Maharashtra, which recorded its highest single-day spike on Thursday, the latest clampdownsecond in a week--will carry on till the end of the month. Among the new measures, malls in the commercial capital of the country will be subject to tighter curbs by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as the civic body fights to check crowding in shopping centres. Starting Monday, those visiting malls have to undergo rapid antigen tests when asked. "Customers will be screened and rapid antigen tests will be carried out on a random basis. The malls will be linked to control rooms in municipal wards, which will send ambulances to transport positive patients to their homes or isolation facilities," a top civic official told Business Standard. ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra reports 25,681 new cases, 70 deaths in a day According to the order, all drama halls, auditoriums and private offices in would operate at 50 per cent capacity. In case of violations, concerned theatres and auditoriums would be ordered to remain closed till the end of the pandemic, and penalties would be slapped. People in the know said marketplaces such as fruit, vegetable and flower hubs at Dadar in Central are likely to be shifted to a new site to ensure crowd management. Mall owners claimed their properties followed Covid-19 rules. We have implemented all notifications issued by the local authorities so far with regard to Covid-19 guidelines. While it is easier to regulate the organised retail sector, violations are greater in marketplaces, Mukesh Kumar, chief executive officer of Infiniti Malls, which has two properties in Mumbai, said. No cap has been announced for the manufacturing sector in Maharashtra, but the advisory is to ensure adequate social distancing on the production floor through reduced workforce. Increasing the number of work shifts has also been recommended. The surge in cases to 25,833 on Thursday had prompted chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to indicate that imposition of lockdown was an option that his government was considering. However, subsequently he said he expected people in the state to co-operate and follow the Covid-19 rules. Earlier in the week, the state government had said cinemas, hotels and restaurants would operate at 50 per cent capacity, while banning social, political and religious gatherings. The state government had also capped the number of people to 50 for weddings and 20 for funerals. Maharashtra, according to health ministry data, accounts for 60 per cent of all cases in the country. Cities such as Nagpur have already imposed a lockdown. restrictions Punjab, which too is witnessing a surge in Covid cases, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered several restrictions beginning Saturday. This includes closing all educational institutions till month-end and curbs on cinema and mall capacities. According to a Press Trust of India report, in the 11 worst-hit districts of Punjab, a complete ban has been ordered on all social gatherings, except for funerals and weddings, which will be allowed with only 20 persons in attendance. This will be enforced from Sunday. The chief minister also appealed to people to keep social activity in their homes to the bare minimum for the next two weeks to break the transmission chain. Every movie demands something different, Foster explains, when we start to dissect her performance. And maybe thats why Ive never tried to play real characters, because sometimes I feel like I cant change the things that I need to change, in order for the movie to work. And very often biopics are like, the person was born, did something, met famous people and they died, which to me, its not good screenplay, she says. Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs. From the outset, Foster says, she did not want to simply mimic Hollander. Even though I might look like her, or may even physically move like her, I didnt want it to all be about physical mannerisms, I wanted to make sure that the character was able to change in ways that serve the movie, Foster says. I wanted to see the change that came over Nancy, who she was when she met Mohamedou, walked into that cell and how she changed over time. For Hollander, there was a certain peculiarity about watching someone play her. Amplifying this was the fact that she knew Foster personally and, later in our conversation, admits to having been terrified by Fosters most famous film performance, that of FBI agent Clarice Starling in Jonathan Demmes psychological horror film The Silence of the Lambs. The admission makes both women laugh. Jodie did warn me that it would not be an impersonation, Hollander says. And it was, and it wasnt. A lot of the words that came out of her mouth were my words, and it was fun to see her say things that I really say and said, or wrote. But there are some things she does in the movie that I dont think I would do, or I wouldnt do quite like she did them. Drily offering to set the record straight, Hollander says she is nicer in real life than she might seem in The Mauritanian. And I think that eight years of jujitsu taught me not to be as confrontational as I used to be, and to let the governments power kill itself. But Jodie is playing me 15 years ago. I dont think Im quite as curt as she is. Although most of my friends and colleagues say shes got me to a tee. Much of the power of the narrative of The Mauritanian lies in its adherence to fact. Even military prosecutor Lt Colonel Stuart Couch (Benedict Cumberbatch), who might have been bent into a courtroom villain for the purpose of the film, turns unexpectedly into one of the storys heroes. It is rare to see such narrative honesty at a time when many contemporary historical dramas, such as The Crown, often smudge the line of accuracy to amplify the drama. Nancy Hollander jokes that she is nicer than Jodie Fosters portrayal in The Mauritanian. Credit:Amazon Prime Video Thats where [director] Kevin Macdonald comes in, says Foster. Hes a great documentarian, somebody who really, really cares about the facts and spends a lot of time researching. His voice is grounded in facts but he has a real understanding of cinema too. And sometimes the real story is full of many more contradictions than you would come up with if we were to just make a movie out of thin air. Early in the films development, Hollander and Macdonald worked closely. I gave them transcripts, I gave them little details in the movie, and I gave them all of the legal detail I could, Hollander says. Hollander also shared with Macdonald and screenwriters M.B. Traven, Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani her experiences with Salahi; they reproduced them faithfully in the film. They are conversations we really had, on and off, over the years, Hollander says. In one, she simply puts her hands on Salahis and they sit in silence. In another, she is perturbed when he reveals to her that he has stopped praying. When he said, its hard to have faith here, that troubled me a great deal, because I knew that meant he was depressed and there was not much I could do about it, Hollander says. There were times when I couldnt really give him hope, except the hope that I would never leave, that we would always be there, that we would keep coming for however many years it took and that he had to hope that he would get out, Hollander adds. The film also explores the thin legal line that navigates the right and the wrong of the law, particularly when it comes up against the intense emotion that such high-profile cases can provoke. Everyone has a right to a defence but doesnt it bother you working for someone like this? is an accusation shot at Hollander in one scene. She shoots back: Im not just defending him, Im defending the rule of law. What Jodie says in the film, and Im so glad that got into the film, is, Im defending the rule of law, Hollander says. And thats true. We have to have rules. As a criminal defence lawyer, as Jodie often says, I have lost a lot of cases. But I also think that I have won more than my share, because I think Im just dogged, and I dig in and figure out how to win cases that some people think cant be won. Guantanamo Bay, which sits on the southeastern tip of Cuba, becomes a key element in the story-telling. They built this place out of the reach of the courts for a reason, Hollander says in the film. Hollander is hesitant to blame Guantanamo itself, but rather those who created Guantanamo and who worked there and who encouraged those women to sexually abuse prisoners, she says. And Im sure they hated doing it, but they did it, because they were good soldiers. I would not say its Guantanamo, but its Bush, its Rumsfeld. Its the people who set it up and said were outside the law, do whatever you want to these prisoners. Shailene Woodley and Jodie Foster in The Mauritanian. Credit:Amazon Prime Video Though Hollander and Clarice Starling both stepped up to face the apparent monster in the room, the comparison between the two roles makes Foster uneasy. The Silence of the Lambs analogy, I dont really think it fits, she says firmly. The monsters in the room here, she says, are the systems that are put in place to oppress people. Nancys job is to challenge the system, and the system needs to be challenged, Foster says. But Guantanamo in itself is just a bunch of buildings, on the beautiful seaside. Its the people that invested them, that used fear and terror to control him. Though the story deals with events between 2002 and 2010 Salahi was granted his freedom by a US judge in 2010, though he would not actually be released from Guantanamo for another six years the themes of the film talk very much to contemporary America. America has never been the ideal that we think of it as, says Hollander. It started with ethnic cleansing and the genocide of Native Americans. And then there were the slaves, and then every minority that came into this country initially was crushed. It was started by white, land-owning Protestant men. And when it says, all men are created equal, thats really what they meant. Loading Now we want to broaden that so that it means everyone, Hollander adds. Thats not what the founders ... meant, but thats what we have progressed to at this time, except we dont always do it. Are the millions of people who voted for Trump all insurrectionists? Of course not. Most of them arent. But we need to find a way to get through to these people. And frankly, I dont know how you do that. But both Hollander and Foster are certain on one point: closing the prison at Guantanamo is a start. (From CGTN) The U.S. and China's top diplomats are scheduled to meet in Anchorage, Alaska on March 18, the first time since President Joe Biden took office in January 20. They may discuss a range of critical issues at the current junction of "centennial change" suggested by Chinese President Xi Jinping or the "inflection point" of history in U.S. President Biden's words. This meeting will take place after severe damages were done by the former President Donald Trump's moves. Anchorage is a city halfway between Beijing and Washington, D.C. But it is not only a meeting place between the East and West in a geographical sense, but also a symbolic meeting place between the American and Chinese civilizations in a cultural and strategic sense. Issues to be discussed at this meeting are likely to be wide-ranging, consisting of not only the ones endemic to the two countries singularly or jointly, but also regional issues, particularly with reference to the Asia-Pacific region, and issues of global significance. To be more specific, while there might be a difference in prioritization by the U.S. and China, the list of issues to be discussed are likely to have been informed by various research reports on U.S.-China relations and advisories, such as a research report titled "Finding Firmer Ground" produced by The Carter Center with support from the Grandview Institution, an independent think tank from China. The 50 issues put together by two separate lists by the U.S. and China sides are thought to have been posing huge challenges to not only the peace and stability of the U.S.-China relations, but also the risk of damping security and prosperity of both Asia and the community of mankind. As a pleasant surprise, the issues included in these two separate lists have about 80 percent consistency. This high-degree consensus between the U.S. and China about what issues to discuss under which category at this meeting itself implicates a lucky start of this first meeting to pave the way to materialize both President Xi's vision for a new type of big-country relations and President Biden's vision for practical and results-driven diplomacy. These issues are divided into three broad categories: areas of cooperation such as a joint fight against COVID-19, climate change and sustainable development; issues for dialogue such as global governance, tech decoupling and consular relations; and issues deserving management such as Taiwan, South China Sea and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, so that they would not get out of control and ignite a military confrontation. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also suggested a strategic dialogue framework for relaunching the U.S.-China relations consisting of these three categories issues at the annual foreign policy forum named "Lanting Forum" in Beijing on February 22. While it is not practical to expect the solutions to all 50 issues and beyond at this Anchorage meeting, it at least will probably significantly enhance mutual understanding of each side's concerns, such as bottom lines and red lines, issue salience and priorities, explore a possibly shared strategy, and even possibly pave the way for the first leaders' summit in the near future. While both the Chinese and the American diplomats will join the meeting from "the position of confidence and strength," mutual respect, mutual empathy, open-mindedness and a sense of humor are all necessary ingredients for this would-be trail-blazing meeting in history. I see that one of my friends Bill Bishop, the founder of U.S.-China news digest Sinocism, is conducting a survey on his Twitter account: When the top Chinese diplomats visit Anchorage, what would be recommended to serve the Chinese guests with? Seafood, game animal meat or Alaska's green and purple aurora? My answer is to serve them all at once! Hopefully, with their creative imagination in solving the problems with the start of the Anchorage meeting, the future of the U.S.-China relations would be as beautiful as Alaskan skies of green and purple aurora colors. Jia Wenshan is a professor at the School of Communication at Chapman University, California. People hold a banner during a candlelight vigil in Garden Grove, California, on March 17, 2021 to unite against the recent spate of violence targeting Asians and to express grief and outrage after the March 16 shooting that left eight people dead in Atlanta, Georgia, including at least six Asian women. -Police have said suspect Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old white man, has so far denied a racist motive for the three shootings in Georgia. (Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images) Phoenix, AZ -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/19/2021 -- In this episode VoiceAmerica host Joyce Bender visits with Cheryl Harris, who is a leader committed to people with disabilities will be a guest on the show. The other guests joining Cheryl are Manel Bargaoui and Amine Dridi, as they discuss Employing Tunisians with Disability, as her special guests live from the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia. To listen live at 11am PT on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, go to the Variety/Flagship Channel: https://www.voiceamerica.com/channel/246/voiceamerica-variety and access the show on-demand within 24 hours of the airing here:https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/1315/disability-matters . Please join Disability Matters on VoiceAmerica Tuesdays at 11 AM Pacific Time on VoiceAmerica's Variety/Flagship Channel, and on-demand here: https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/1315/disability-matters About Cheryl Harris - Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State and is currently serving as the Cultural Affairs Officer in U.S. Embassy Tunis, Tunisia. - Has focused most of career at the Department of State on public diplomacy and public affairs, other assignments include Slovenia, Iraq, and various positions in Washington, DC. - Received Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from Boston University and is originally from New Brighton, PA. About Manel Bargaoui - Tunisian English teacher. - 2019, received the U.S. Department of State's Alumni Impact Award. - 2017, Professional Fellows Program alumna, AMENDS alumna, TEDx Speaker, CXC alumna, project manager, and social entrepreneur. - First and only Tunisian teacher who teaches English with Tunisian Sign Language in the MENA region. - Author of Let's Handspeak English. first and only English student book designed for the deaf community in Tunisia. - Startup project manager, creating LETSapp, which is the first educational mobile application for the deaf in Tunisia. - Organized Let's Handspeak Weekend Studies, which is the first exchange program between deaf and hearing communities. This project is to teach entrepreneurship as well as leadership skills. In 2018, Manel's project was selected as the best project in Tunisia among the 24 best initiatives by the international competition organized by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. About Amine Dridi - Began career in September 2008 at the Tunisian Union helping mentally disabled people, by providing educational rehabilitation for children with a profound and moderate mental disability with some cases of autism. - Was named the director of the Tunisian Union for helping mentally disabled people in order to ensure the educational, administrative and the financial management of the organization. - Joined the Rain Bow Association for the education, training and integration of children with Down syndrome in October 2013 and was responsible for the educational management and coordination of the technical team in addition to the administrative management of the association. - Had the opportunity to follow professional internships in the United States and in Germany in terms of the NGOs working in the field of people with disabilities' development and inclusive education for special need children. - Also, the opportunity to navigate other countries experiences in terms of special education like Morocco and Egypt through participating in conferences and congress in those two countries. - In 2019, received license diploma in special education and was accepted to complete research for master's degree in special education. About Host Joyce A. Bender Joyce A. Bender is the CEO and president of Bender Consulting Services, Inc. Bender Consulting recruits and hires individuals with disabilities, across the United States and Canada for competitive career opportunities in the public and private sectors. In 1985, Joyce survived a life-threatening accident caused by a misdiagnosis of epilepsy. Due to her personal experience living with both epilepsy and a hearing disability, she founded Bender Consulting Services, Inc. in 1995. Joyce is the past-chair of both the board of the American Association of People with Disabilities and the national Epilepsy Foundation. She has received awards from both the Bush and Clinton administrations. Joyce A. Bender Career Highlights: - Serves as CEO of Bender Consulting Services, Inc. - http://www.benderconsult.com. - Lives with epilepsy and a hearing loss. - Advocates for the competitive employment for people with disabilities. - Serves as vice-chair of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and former chair of the board. - Represented the US State Department on information exchanges on disability employment in Panama, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan and Kazakhstan. - Serves as chair of Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA. - Received the 2003 New Freedom Initiative Award from the Bush Administration. - Recognized with the 1999 President's Award from President Clinton. - Board member of Pittsburgh's Civic Light Opera. - Board member of the Bazelon Center. - Newly appointed board member of WID. About Disability Matters Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific Time on VoiceAmerica Variety Channel Competitive employment and empowerment for people with disabilities is the emphasis of this show. Broadcast live and captioned in real-time for individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing, we discuss how people with disabilities can secure career opportunities, and how employers, organizations and individuals can support employment and empowerment of people with disabilities. Disability Matters is broadcast live every Tuesday at 11am Pacific Time on the VoiceAmerica's Variety Channel (https://www.voiceamerica.com/channel/246/voiceamerica-variety) and you can listen on-demand here within 24 hours of the airing: https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/1315/disability-matters For any questions regarding the show or to inquire about global advertising, please contact Senior Executive Producer, Tacy Trump, at tacy.trump@voiceamerica.com / 480.294.6421 direct line. About VoiceAmerica VoiceAmerica is the original digital broadcast company for the production and delivery of Live Internet Talk Radio programming and continues to be the industry leader in digital media, marketing, and distribution. We are the pioneers of digital radio programming and have been since 1999. We create and distribute over 500 unique and innovative radio programs for our millions of engaged listeners worldwide over five niche community based channels: the flagship VoiceAmerica Variety Channel, VoiceAmerica Empowerment Channel, VoiceAmerica Health & Wellness Channel, VoiceAmerica Business Channel, and VoiceAmerica Influencers Channel. VoiceAmerica TV offers targeted and exclusive video programming channels. Our network channels distribute live programs daily that reach a growing domestic and international audience who connect through all devices via our mobile, desktop, and tablet VoiceAmerica destinations. Learn more at http://www.voiceamerica.com. Download the VoiceAmerica App now to listen live on Apple and Android. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. For more information about the VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network, or our parent company, World Talk Radio, LLC, call 855-877-4666. Vientiane, March 19 : As of March 15, more than 40,700 people across the country of Laos have been given the first doses of Covid-19 vaccine, a media report said. The vaccination prioritizes risk groups such as front line workers, medical workers, immigration officials and those working at border checkpoints, the Xinhua news reported. The report quoted Deputy Director of the Department of Communicable Disease Control under the Lao Ministry of Health, Latsamy Vongkhamsao as saying to media on Thursday that vaccinating people against Covid-19 is a priority of the health sector. The vaccinated included over 13,000 medical workers, over 22,700 members of risk groups, more than 600 people travelling abroad, more than 200 people aged 60 years and older, 31 people with congenital diseases and over 4,000 other front line officials. The second round of vaccinations will take place from mid-March to early April, said a former media report. It is anticipated that about 20 per cent of the Lao population, or about 1.6 million people, will be vaccinated in 2021. Vaccination coverage is expected to rise to 50 percent of the population by 2022 and to 70 percent in 2023, with more people to be vaccinated in the following years, according to the National Taskforce Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control of the country. As of Friday, Laos has reported 49 Covid-19 infected cases, and the country detected its first two Covid-19 cases on March 24 last year. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) OAKLAND (BCN) As interstate traveling restrictions ease, Oakland International Airport announced Thursday that it is offering multiple daily flights to Hawaii and pre-travel coronavirus testing for passengers. Hawaiian Airlines is providing daily flights to Honolulu, Kahului and Lihue. Southwest Airlines will have twice daily flights to Honolulu and Kahului and daily flights to Kailua-Kona and Lihue. COVID-19 pre-travel tests are only available to those flying nonstop on these airlines from Oakland International Airport to the Hawaiian Islands. There are several testing options at the airport, including on a "walk-up" basis and by appointment at the two airport testing locations. Travelers need to have a negative test within 72-hours of departure to be exempt from a supervised quarantine upon arrival. Oakland International Airport is the only airport certified by the Hawaii State Department of Health as a Trusted Testing Travel Partner, airport officials said. 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. British Prime Minister received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday and urged the public to do the same, saying "he did not feel a thing." Johnson, 56, received his vaccine at the same hospital where almost a year ago he was put in an intensive care unit and given oxygen via a tube in his nose after he contracted the virus and fell seriously ill. He later said he was so sick that plans were drawn up on how to announce his death. "I literally did not feel a thing. It was very good, very quick," Johnson said after receiving the injection at St Thomas' Hospital in London. "I cannot recommend it too highly, everybody when you do get your notification to go for a jab, please go and get it, it is the best thing for you, best thing for your family and for everyone else." Pictures showed the prime minister wearing a black mask, a shirt and tie with his sleeve rolled up while a nurse gives him the vaccine. broke its record for the most coronavirus shots given out in one day on Friday and almost half of all adults have received one dose, making it one of the fastest countries in the world to roll out a vaccine programme. This success has helped the ruling Conservatives regain the lead over the main opposition Labour Party in opinion polls after the prime minister last year was accused of acting too slowly to stop the spread of the virus. Johnson received his vaccine as European countries on Friday resumed using the shot after regulators said its benefits outweighed any risks following recent reports of blood clots. Countries including Germany and France reversed their decision to temporarily pause its use after reports of about 30 cases of rare brain blood clots sent scientists and governments scrambling to determine any link. The vaccine, developed by scientists at the University of Oxford, has also been at the centre of tensions between and the European Union, after Brussels expressed anger over the lack of deliveries of the shot coming from Illinois on Friday announced it would expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to several additional groups of essential workers, including higher education staff, government employees and religious leaders, ahead of the April 12 date when all Illinoisans 16 and older outside of Chicago will be able to get the vaccine. Beginning March 22, higher education staff, government employees and members of the media will be eligible for a shot. Food and beverage workers, construction trade workers and religious leaders will be eligible one week later on March 29. Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday charted a new course for reopening Illinois after more than a year of coronavirus restrictions, laying out a more gradual resumption of business activity and clearing the way for all residents 16 and older outside Chicago to get a COVID-19 vaccination beginning April 12. The governors revised reopening plan increases capacity limits immediately for some venues, such as large theaters, while creating an intermediate step where a wide range of businesses will be able to accommodate more customers ahead of a full-scale reopening. Meanwhile, officials reported 2,380 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 12 additional confirmed fatalities. The total number of known infections in Illinois since the start of the pandemic was 1,218,470, and the statewide known death toll was 21,034. The number of Illinois residents who have been fully vaccinated receiving both of two required shots or Johnson and Johnsons single shot reached 1,690,834, or 13.27% of the total population. The state averaged 102,775 daily vaccinations over the last seven days. Heres whats happening Friday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area: 8:20 p.m.: Whos ahead in the Illinois vaccine race? Data shows downstate counties outpacing Chicago area. One mass vaccination site in the Chicago suburbs has been so overwhelmed that the first slots were quickly snapped up and openings have remained scarce, even with tightened eligibility rules. More than 200 miles away, a site on Illinois western border has plenty of openings and regularly welcomes any state resident who qualifies for a shot. Three months into Illinois mass vaccination program, the striking differences between those two sites in northwest suburban Des Plaines and downstate Quincy illustrate the frustratingly uneven pace of vaccinations across the state. Read more here. Joe Mahr (Updated) 6:50 p.m.: Fewer than 1/4 of CPS students eligible to return to schools have attended classes in person; high school opt-in deadline extended Since students started returning to Chicago Public Schools under an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union in February, fewer than 24% of eligible students have attended class in person at least once, according to data released Friday by CPS. Hours after the long-awaited release, the district extended the Friday deadline to Tuesday for high schoolers and any elementary students who had not yet returned to opt in for the remainder of the school year. Earlier this week, CPS announced April 19, the start of fourth quarter, as the target return date for high schools. Read more here. Hannah Leone 6:10 p.m.: Marking more than a year of pandemic, Lightfoot rallies Chicagoans: Lets stand up together In a televised speech marking more than a year since COVID-19 disrupted life around the world, Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday praised Chicagoans for their resiliency and vowed to fight against rampant inequality in the city she leads. Lightfoot sought to link the hardships of the past year with previous catastrophes, recounting that the city built a great modern mecca from the ashes of the Chicago Fire. The Great Depression led to the creation of a social safety net. Now, she said, This Great Pandemic has forced a reckoning with the inequalities and inadequacies of our time. We have not blinked or shrank from the challenges that the moment demanded, Lightfoot said. Like generations before, we must continue to bring others along with us on this journey toward the next chapter in our shared destiny. We simply cannot afford to leave anyone behind. Lightfoot gave the speech one year after she delivered a similar address as the pandemic took hold. At times, the mayors remarks delivered from City Hall resembled a campaign kickoff or State of the Union-style address as she laid out policy priorities from helping residents with housing to getting Chicagoans back to work in construction jobs. The mayor, however, has faced criticism from some who say she has not done enough to combat thorny issues during the pandemic. Access to vaccinations remains an issue for many Chicagoans, as do the citys entrenched problems, including chronic street violence that is on the rise. Read more here. Gregory Pratt 6 p.m.: Did you get COVID-19 vaccine envy as other states expanded eligibility quicker? Medical experts say widening criteria isnt automatically the solution. Carolyn Kritzer of Munster, Indiana recently booked an appointment for her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and described the process as seamless. Once eligible, the 58-year-old went to her states centralized online system, typed in her information and secured a time slot in a matter of minutes. In contrast, her co-worker Ruth Mares a 60-year-old essential worker who lives just a few miles over the state border in south suburban Lansing, Illinois has been constantly checking and refreshing a variety of local pharmacy and health care websites, with no luck in finding an appointment so far. The women are roughly the same age, work in the same field and live minutes from one another. Yet theyre navigating entirely different state processes and rules, with disparate results. Mares believes that if her home were a few miles east in Indiana which has a predominantly age-based approach and recently began vaccinating all residents 45 or older she would be immunized by now. I would have already been done with it, she said. With potentially lifesaving vaccine still in short supply, many Illinois residents have looked longingly at nearby states some with a reportedly easier process for making appointments, others that expanded eligibility or lowered age restrictions at a more rapid pace. Yet some public health experts caution that expanded eligibility doesnt automatically equate to mass vaccination success because there are so many factors at play, from the overall number of doses administered to equity of distribution to care for the most vulnerable populations. Read more here. Angie Leventis Lourgos, Joe Mahr and Lisa Schencker 5:20 p.m.: Loretto Hospital executives reprimanded amid fallout over improper vaccinations at Trump Tower Two top executives at the Loretto Hospital on Chicagos West Side have been reprimanded amid fallout over their roles in the mishandling of coronavirus vaccinations, the medical centers board of directors disclosed in a statement Friday. Lorettos President and CEO George Miller and Chief Operating Officer Dr. Anosh Ahmed were reprimanded for their roles in mistakes of judgement, the hospitals board of directors said. The hospital did not disclose the specific reprimands. The move comes amid an uproar over the hospital having improperly administered vaccine doses, and the city of Chicagos move to withhold first doses of coronavirus vaccines from the facility while it conducts a review to ensure it is complying with distribution rules. Loretto Hospital earlier this week acknowledged improperly vaccinating workers at Trump Tower downtown while also saying it improperly gave shots to Cook County judges. The stories, first reported by Block Club Chicago and WBEZ, have drawn negative attention to the hospital, which has said it was mistaken about the rules. On Friday, Block Club Chicago also reported that more than 200 members of Millers church in south suburban Oak Forest received vaccinations. Chicago public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said during a call with reporters Friday that she was disappointed to see Loretto Hospital using vaccine in ways that are not aligned with our goals and our values in the program. The biggest concern here was, they were vaccinating people, first and foremost, who werent eligible for the stage, Arwady said. But then added to that is the larger concern, it seems they have prioritized vaccinating people who were well-connected, really letting them jump the line. Read more here. Gregory Pratt and Stacy St. Clair 5:10 p.m.: Fewer than 1/4 of CPS students eligible to return to schools have attended classes in person Since students started returning to Chicago Public Schools under an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union in February, fewer than 24% of eligible students have attended class in person at least once, according to data released Friday by CPS. Among students expected to attend class in CPS buildings for the most recent week available, March 8 to 12, an average of 73% were present, according to CPS. That rate has improved over time, most significantly among preschool and special education students who were in the first group welcomed back. Average daily attendance rates have skewed highest among grades kindergarten through five, whose students were in the second wave. Their return March 1 also coincided with a boost in preschool attendance and brought overall attendance to 67%. On March 8, the first day back for sixth to eighth graders, overall attendance was 72%. Since each groups respective return date, their average attendance rates have been 65% among in-person students and 86% among virtual students for wave one; 74% in person and 93% virtual for kindergarten through fifth graders in wave two; and 69% in person and 94% virtual for grades six through eight in wave three. Additionally, nearly a quarter of students expected in person attended classes virtually, according to CPS. Read more here. Hannah Leone 4:40 p.m.: Mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic opens in Batavia Teary-eyed Aurora resident Brenetta Beck felt a sense of relief after she received her vaccine at the Kane County mass vaccination site in Batavia on its opening day Friday. She arrived first at the former Sams Club building at 501 N. Randall Road at 7 a.m., waiting in her car and thinking of what the shot meant to her. She battled coronavirus herself in September 2020. But her biggest motivation to get the vaccine is her grandchildren, whom she has been taking care of since 2007 when her daughter, also named Brenetta Beck, was murdered in Aurora when she was 25 years old. I want to be around for them and it makes me want to cry just thinking of it because they dont have anybody else, Beck said about the children who were just 14 months old and 10 days old when their mother was killed. Beck was one of 1,000 people to receive a Moderna vaccine Friday at the new mass vaccination site in Batavia. Doses were provided through the Illinois Department of Public Health and administered by a combination of both the Illinois National Guard, the Medical Reserve Corps and Kane County Health Department staff. Read more here. Megan Jones, Aurora Beacon-News 3:25 p.m.: ComEd, Peoples Gas offering one-time credits of up to $500 in April for customers struggling financially during the pandemic Illinois utilities have agreed with state regulators to provide millions of dollars in additional bill payment relief to help struggling customers keep the lights on during the COVID-19 pandemic. ComEd and Peoples Gas are both offering one-time bill credits up to $500 for eligible customers, but they may need to move fast before the funds run out for the limited-time programs, approved Thursday by the Illinois Commerce Commission. ComEd customers can tap into $9 million in financial assistance being offered by the utility in April. The package includes one-time bill credits of up to $500 for eligible electric customers who are behind in their payments or seeking reconnection of service. Customers can also get more flexible payment arrangements and service reconnection assistance. To qualify for the program, customers have to be at or below 300% of the federal poverty level, ComEd spokesman Tom Dominguez said. Customers can call 1-800-334-7661 or visit ComEd.com/PaymentAssistance to apply. Read more here. Robert Channick 3:05 p.m.: New website designed to help Will County residents find vaccination appointments A new online search feature on the Will County Health Departments website is designed to make it easier for residents to find vaccine locations and make appointments. Officials Friday released details of the new feature, located at www.willcountyhealth.org. Residents will be able to search for vaccination clinics offered through the health department as well as search for appointments at pharmacies and other providers. Health department officials continued to encourage residents age 65 and older get vaccinated. As of Friday, 28,349 residents over 65 had been fully vaccinated, according to a news release. Gov. J. B. Pritzker outlined plans Thursday to bridge the state into phase five, which would allow for increased capacity at restaurants and gatherings. Read more here. Alicia Fabbre, Daily Southtown 2:55 p.m.: COVID-19 vaccination clinic to open at New Triers Northfield campus for area residents 65 and older Area residents age 65 and older can sign up starting Friday morning for a mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic happening on Tuesday. Those who live in Glencoe, Kenilworth, Northfield, Wilmette and Winnetka and are 65 years old or older are eligible, according to a release from Glencoe officials. They can sign up Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or until spots are filled, whichever, comes first, officials said. The event will take place Tuesday at New Trier High School Northfield Campus, 7 Happ Road. The school is partnering with employees in the five villages, Cook County and Albertsons/Jewel-Osco to put on the event. There is no online registration available for this clinic. Read more here. Kaitlin Edquist, Pioneer Press 2:35 p.m.: Illinois expands COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to additional workers including higher education and government staff, media and religious leaders Illinois on Friday announced it would expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to several additional groups of essential workers, including higher education staff, government employees and religious leaders, ahead of the April 12 date when all Illinoisans 16 and older outside of Chicago will be able to get the vaccine. Beginning March 22, higher education staff, government employees and members of the media will be eligible for a shot. Food and beverage workers, construction trade workers and religious leaders will be eligible one week later on March 29. Before Illinois expands eligibility to all residents 16 years and older on April 12, Im proud to announce expanded eligibility for additional groups of more vulnerable populations, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement. With weekly shipments to Illinois surpassing one million doses in April, we are on track to save lives and bring this pandemic to an end. Read more here. Jenny Whidden and Dan Petrella 1:55 p.m.: Milestone surgery: Illinois health care worker dying of COVID-19 receives lungs from person who recovered from the disease but died in an accident Surgeons at Northwestern Memorial Hospital last month performed the first known double lung transplant in the U.S. that used lungs donated from someone who recovered from COVID-19 to save another person who was dying of the disease, a surgery that the doctors called an important milestone. The donor lungs used in the surgery came from someone who recovered from a mild case of COVID-19, but later died in an accident, according to Dr. Ankit Bharat, chief of thoracic surgery and surgical director of the Northwestern Medicine Lung Transplant Program. The case, which the doctors called a COVID to COVID transplant, is significant because about 30 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with the virus. If those people were ruled out as eligible donors, there would be a shortage of available lungs at a time when doctors expect the need for lung donations to increase due to the long-term health complications of some who have recovered. There would be a huge shortage of supply, Bharat said, announcing the surgery during a virtual news conference Friday morning. Though the general consensus among experts is that organs from donors who have recovered from COVID-19 can be used as long as they test negative, some transplant centers are still concerned, doctors said. Read more here. Madeline Buckley 1:25 p.m.: For some, the COVID-19 vaccine is a ticket to travel. Many people are still planning carefully. Diana Williams and her husband normally take a couple of overseas and domestic trips every year. But since the COVID-19 pandemic began, theyve left Chicagos city limits only once. As soon as she learned when she would get her first COVID-19 vaccine shot, she counted the days until her second dose would be effective and started planning a trip to Key West, Florida, for later this month. Her friends are also itching for a change of scenery, said Williams, 76, who lives near Lincoln Park. The two big topics of conversation in our age bracket are have you gotten your shot yet, and wheres your first trip? she said. With COVID-19 case counts falling from January highs and vaccine distribution making progress, some people who put travel on hold during the pandemic are starting to feel comfortable planning trips including seniors and front line workers who have already received their vaccines. Traveler numbers at airports are rising even as many colleges canceled traditional weeklong spring breaks. Read more here. Lauren Zumbach 12:47 p.m.: CDC relaxes social distancing guidelines for schools, removing barriers between desks and saying students can now sit 3 feet apart Students can safely sit just 3 feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear masks but should be kept the usual 6 feet away from one another at sporting events, assemblies, lunch or chorus practice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday in relaxing its COVID-19 guidelines. The revised recommendations represent a turn away from the 6-foot standard that has sharply limited how many students some schools can accommodate. Some places have had to remove desks, stagger schedules and take other steps to keep children apart. Read more here. Associated Press 12:22 p.m.: US clears President Bidens 100 million vaccinations goal, on pace to have enough vaccines for entire adult population 10 weeks from now he U.S. on Friday cleared President Joe Bidens goal of injecting 100 million coronavirus shots, more than a month before his target date of his 100th day in office, as the president prepared to set his sights higher in the nationwide vaccination effort. With the nation now administering about 2.5 million shots per day, Biden, who promised to set a new goal for vaccinations next week, teased the possibility of setting a 200 million dose goal by his 100th day in office. Read more here. Associated Press 12:13 p.m.: 2,380 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 12 additional deaths reported Illinois health officials on Friday announced 2,380 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 12 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 1,218,470 and the statewide death toll to 21,034 since the start of the pandemic. Officials also reported 92,161 new tests in the last 24 hours. The statewide positivity rate for cases is 2.5%. The 7-day daily average of administered vaccine doses is 102,775, with 135,525 doses given on Thursday. Officials also say a total of 4,510,696 vaccines have now been administered. Chicago Tribune staff 6 a.m.: Indoor dining holdouts remain, even as more Chicago bars and restaurants open up. Heres what it will take to reopen their doors. After three months shuttered to the world, Chicago bars and restaurants were allowed to reopen for indoor service in late January at 25% capacity. Three weeks later, the number was pushed to 40%. Two weeks after that, it rose again, to the 50% where it still stands. Though a seeming majority of bars and restaurants across the Chicago area have welcomed diners and drinkers back inside, a significant number have stuck with the percentage of indoor diners that makes them most comfortable: zero. The conversation about bars and restaurants through the pandemic has largely focused on the need to open as quickly and broadly as possible. But as Illinois continues to diagnose more than 1,000 cases of COVID-19 per day, an untold number of holdouts havent budged from staying closed and dont plan to reopen their dining rooms for weeks, if not months. We just havent thought it was safe, said Yoshi Yamada, co-owner and chef at modern Indian restaurant Superkhana International in Logan Square. Weve felt a responsibility to our staff, our families and our community to keep the dining room shut. Read more here. Josh Noel 6 a.m.: National Guards mass COVID-19 vaccination center for eligible Illinois residents opens Friday in Batavia The mass vaccination site in Batavia is opening Friday for all Illinois residents who meet the COVID-19 eligibility guidelines, Kane County Chair Corinne Pierog said. Thats much earlier than the anticipated April opening, and there are discussions underway with the National Guard about establishing sites in Carpentersville and Elgin, Pierog said. The three sites would provide central locations for the countys more than 546,000 residents to be vaccinated, she said. Illinois residents can sign up for the Batavia vaccination center beginning Thursday online or by phone, Pierog said Tuesday at a Carpentersville Village Board meeting. The center, located at 501 N. Randall Road in former Sams Club store, will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday as long as they have vaccine doses to administer. Read more here. Gloria Casas, Elgin Courier-News In case you missed it A Romanian gang of 'hackers' who stole almost 140,000 in electronic 'raids' on cashpoint machines have been jailed for a total of 13 years and seven months. A court heard three of the six-strong gang arrived in the UK 'solely and exclusively' for the purpose of committing crime. Exact details of how the 'sophisticated and professional' attacks were carried out were not revealed after the judge warned of copycat crimes. A court heard three of the six-strong gang arrived in the UK 'solely and exclusively' for the purpose of committing crime The gang even had the audacity to return to the scene of one of their crimes to target a bank's second cash machine Ioan Constantin, 28, Petru-Giani Feraru, 23, Razvan Danaila, 31, his brother Robert Danaila, 26, Victor Camara, 33, and 19-year-old Constantin Lupoaie all admitted conspiracy to steal But the men were said to have made 'concerted' efforts to steal cash, often over a drawn-out period of time at night having previously carried out reconnaissance and relying on a laptop installed with malware. A total of eight ATMs at banks, post offices and shops in Kent, Essex and south-east London were targeted, with the first occurring on New Year's Eve 2019. The gang even had the audacity to return to the scene of one of their crimes to target a bank's second cash machine. They also immobilised CCTV at another by spraying over a camera. Ioan Constantin, 28, Petru-Giani Feraru, 23, Razvan Danaila, 31, his brother Robert Danaila, 26, Victor Camara, 33, and 19-year-old Constantin Lupoaie all admitted conspiracy to steal. Prosecutor Patrick Dennis told Maidstone Crown Court, Kent, that three of the eight 'raids' were unsuccessful in terms of financial loss. However, the gang were still able to nab a total of 136,080 from the remaining five and caused around 32,000 of damage in all their attempts. 'This offending involved sophisticated and well-planned attacks on ATMs. It was professional, targeted, high-value criminality,' said Mr Dennis. 'There were eight offences in all, with Ioan Constantin involved in seven, and all, perhaps unsurprisingly, took place at night. 'All the defendants played substantial and prominent roles, targeting not hundreds in cash but what had to be in the thousands.' Constantin, from Basildon, Essex, was jailed for three years and four months, and Feraru, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 25 months' imprisonment. Razvan Danaila, of no fixed address, was jailed for two-and-a-half years, while his brother Robert Danaila, also of no fixed address, and Camara, from Basildon, were each given two years and four months' imprisonment. Lupoaie, of Stanmore Hill, Stanmore, Middlesex, was locked up for 12 months. Passing sentence on Thursday, Judge Philip Statman said Constantin was 'a prime mover and well at it' in the series of 'audacious' raids. They were not victimless crimes, he added, and had resulted in significant impact on business owners. 'While these are not what are colloquially known as ram-raids, what has occurred involves professional criminality,' said Judge Statman. 'Each of you played different roles, each linking together to commit these crimes, and you, Ioan Constantin, played the leading role of those who are in the dock.' Seven of the thefts or attempted thefts occurred over a four-week period, while the eighth occurred in April last year after four of the gang had been arrested, charged and remanded in custody. The first took place on December 31 2019 at Barclays Bank in Colchester High Street. A total of 94,220 was stolen and 5,879 worth of damage caused. The court heard of the six defendants in the dock, only Constantin was involved. His blood was later recovered by police from an inner part of the ATM. The second theft attempt occurred on January 11 last year, just two days after Feraru and the two Danaila brothers had flown into the country. Mr Dennis said: 'The Crown say that they came to this country solely and exclusively for the purpose of joining this conspiracy. 'Ioan Constantin arranged for them to be picked up from the airport, organising a taxi. He then helped them to check in to the Ibis Hotel in Barking, Essex, in rooms booked in Camara's name.' The cashpoint they targeted was at a Nisa Local store in Gravesend, Kent, where Razvan Danaila was seen taking photos of it shortly before they struck. No money was stolen however despite two attempts over several hours, but the men adopted specific roles which they carried on throughout the conspiracy. 'Feraru and Robert Danaila would be physically at the ATM, Razvan Danaila and Camara would carry out reconnaissance, controlling the laptop, and Camara would additionally do the driving,' said the prosecutor. 'Constantin, perhaps unsurprisingly, attended but thereafter he stopped attending and just directed.' A further three cash machines were hit at a post office in Kidbrooke, south east London, a McColl's newsagent in Bromley, Kent, and a second post office in Gravesend between January 14 and 17. A branch of NatWest in Barking was the next target in the early hours of January 24, with 33,760 stolen and just under 2,000 of damage caused. The gang returned to the same bank just six days later to target a second ATM, the first still being out of action. The first took place on December 31 2019 at Barclays Bank in Colchester High Street. A total of 94,220 was stolen and 5,879 worth of damage caused A total of eight ATMs at banks, post offices and shops in Kent, Essex and south-east London were targeted, with the first occurring on New Year's Eve 2019 This time they were unsuccessful but caused 2,500 of damage. Feraru's blood was later found in the inner workings of the ATM, and after his arrest police found a photograph on his phone with the relevant date and time of the bloodstained machine part. He and the Danaila brothers were arrested that same day in a restaurant in Ilford, Essex, close to a rented apartment they had moved into from the hotel. In a case with Razvan Danaila's passport was 1,580 in cash. Camara, a builder and married dad-of-two, was also arrested but Constantin was not apprehended for another three months. In that time he had been joined by teenager Lupoaie in committing the eighth and final 'attack'. A masked Constantin acted as look-out at a Barclays bank ATM in Westgate, Basildon, on April 6 while Lupoaie, then 18, was said to have 'performed the laptop function under direction'. 'For over an hour they made a concerted effort. Nothing was stolen but they caused almost 15,000 worth of damage,' said Mr Dennis. Constantin and Lupoaie were stopped by police as they ran away. The teenager, who was carrying a bag containing the 'necessary equipment' for the cash theft, was arrested but Constantin fled and remained at large for a further three weeks. The court was told the married construction worker has eight convictions for 11 offences in the UK, including theft, going equipped, and facilitating illegal gambling, and one conviction for fraud in France. His five co-defendants are of previous good character in the UK, although Razvan Danaila has been convicted of burglary in his native country. James Riley, defending Constantin, said it was not accepted that he had organised the arrival from Romania of three of his accomplices, or that he was 'at the top' of the conspiracy. Elena Papamichael, defending Feraru, said he was tasked with 'sticking his arm into the ATM to grab the cables' because of his 'small and slim' build. She added he had come to the UK for legitimate work but 'readily joined' the gang when his construction job fell through. John Fitzgerald, defending Razvan Danaila, said he had been friends with Constantin since childhood but had not left Romania, and his wife of 15 years and young daughter, to commit crime. His brother Robert was said to have previously worked in the UK in demolition, and was described as 'the muscle and not the brains' of the conspiracy. Lupoaie was said by the judge to have 'fallen in with bad people' after his five-month-long job in the UK building trade came to an end as a result of the Covid pandemic. Camara runs his own building firm and was said to have acted 'wholly out of character'. Due to time spent on remand, Lupoaie is expected to be released immediately but may be subject to deportation. Confiscation proceedings against all six defendants will be held early next year. Detective Constable Terry Hanlon, Kent Police's investigating officer for the case, said: 'Each of these offenders were involved in a sophisticated and well-organised conspiracy that resulted in a substantial amount of money being stolen from law-abiding businesses. 'Despite going to great lengths to commit their offences, and committing them across several policing areas, we were able to painstakingly gather a trail of evidence they had overlooked. 'Had they not been detained, I have no doubt that they would have continued to offend and I am pleased that they are now unable to do so. Their successful prosecution is a clear demonstration that Kent Police, and its partners, have the resources and expertise to target high profile offending, regardless of how sophisticated the offenders believe they are.' Seoul: North Korea said it would sever diplomatic relations with Malaysia after a court there ruled that a North Korean man could be extradited to the United States to face money-laundering charges, state media KCNA reported on Friday (March 19). North Korea's foreign affairs ministry also warned Washington would "pay a price", in a statement carried by KCNA. Malaysia's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The North Korean statement did not name its citizen, but in early March, Malaysia's top court ruled that a North Korean man, Mun Chol Myong, could be extradited. Mun had been arrested in 2019 after the United States accused him of laundering funds through front companies and issuing fraudulent documents to support illicit shipments to North Korea. He fought the extradition request, arguing that it was politically motivated. The North Korean foreign ministry called the extradition a "nefarious act and unpardonably heavy crime" by Malaysian authorities, who had "offered our citizen as a sacrifice of the U.S. hostile move in defiance of the acknowledged international laws." Malaysia's actions had destroyed "the entire foundation of the bilateral relations based on the respect for sovereignty," it said. Kuala Lumpur's once-close ties with North Korea were severely downgraded after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's estranged brother, Kim Jong Nam, was killed at a Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017 when two women smeared his face with VX nerve agent, which the United Nations lists as a weapon of mass destruction. Malaysia suspended the operation of its embassy in 2017 after it secured the safe return of nine citizens held in Pyongyang in exchange for the release of Kim Jong Nam's body. Despite a promise by Malaysia's then-premier Mahathir Mohamad during an apparent thaw in diplomatic relations in 2018, the embassy never resumed operations. North Korea had used Malaysia as a hub for its arms export operation, and to set up business entities for funnelling money to North Korea's leadership. The ministry's statement did not mention what would happen to North Korea`s embassy in Kuala Lumpur. "We warn in advance that the U.S. - the backstage manipulator and main culprit of this incident - that it will also be made to pay a due price," KCNA reported. On Thursday U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the administration of President Joe Biden would complete a review of its North Korea policy in the next few weeks in close consultation with allies. Live TV RED ROCKS WORSHIP RELEASES NEW EP, THINGS OF HEAVEN (WHERE WE COME FROM) This one feels like home. This one feels like church. - Red Rocks Church Pastor Shawn Johnson From left to right: Kory Miller, Jake Espy, Jessica Parsons, Tyler Roberts, Jerrica Matrone, and Jimmy Johnson From left to right: Kory Miller, Jake Espy, Jessica Parsons, Tyler Roberts, Jerrica Matrone, and Jimmy Johnson March 19, 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. (JTA) One year after COVID-19 first walloped Jewish communities in the United States, a scientific study has confirmed something that many in the communities have long believed: gatherings during the week of Purim served as super-spreader events. A paper published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open, a peer-review journal that is open to the public, concludes that the coronavirus was spreading widely in Orthodox communities across the country last spring around that Jewish holiday before public health warnings were given about the dangers of lar... Nearly a dozen countries resumed use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shots on Friday as EU and British regulators said the benefits outweighed any risks after reports of rare instances of blood clotting that temporarily halted inoculations. The end of suspensions will kick off a test of public confidence, both in the shot and in drug regulators whose conclusions are under unprecedented scrutiny, as virus variants spread and the global death toll, now at nearly 2.7 million, rises. Indonesia joined Germany, France and in re-administering the shots after they suspended vaccinations on reports of around 30 cases of rare brain blood clots, after millions of injections, that sent scientists and governments scrambling to determine if there was a link. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) came to what it called a clear conclusion that the vaccine's benefits in protecting people from coronavirus-related death or hospitalisation outweighed the possible risks. Still, EMA said a link between rare events of blood clots in the brain and the shot could not be definitively ruled out and that it will continue its scrutiny, along with the British Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). "This is a safe and effective vaccine," EMA director Emer Cooke told a briefing on Thursday. "If it were me, I would be vaccinated tomorrow." The EMA said it would update its guidance on the vaccine to include an explanation for patients about the potential risks and information for healthcare professionals, to help people recognise instances when they may need to seek medical assistance following a vaccination. After the EMA move, also sought to reinforce confidence in AstraZeneca's vaccine, which is seen globally as an important asset due to its relatively easy storage and transport requirements and inexpensive price, compared to mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna. "What we really should be focusing on is that this is incredibly reassuring. The processes are working, the safety monitoring that we all expect from our authorities is happening," Andrew Pollard, who runs the Oxford Vaccine Group, told BBC radio, after both regulators said vaccinations could continue after reports of blood clots. "We do need to continue to monitor safety, but in the end it's the virus we're fighting, not the vaccines." Oxford University is partnered with on the vaccine. Germany resumed administering the vaccine from Friday morning, while French Prime Minister Jean Castex said he would seek to promote a similar resumption in his country by getting the shot himself on Friday. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Italy would follow suit, echoing sentiments from Cyprus, Latvia and Lithuania. Spain will resume inoculations from Wednesday. Canada also gave its backing to the vaccine. Britain's MHRA is investigating five cases of the rare brain blood clot that had been reported out of 11 million shots administered in the UK. It said it would investigate reports of clots in the cerebral veins (sinus vein thrombosis, or CSVT) occurring together with lowered platelets soon after vaccination. But the agency said use of the vaccine should continue and one official said Britain's rollout would likely not stop even if a link was proved. The drugmaker's own review covering more than 17 million people who have received its shot in the EU and Britain found no evidence of increased risk of blood clots. The World Health Organization, which this week also reaffirmed its support for the shot that remains a centrepiece of its COVAX vaccine sharing programme, plans on Friday to give an update on its vaccine advisory committee's own review. (Reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam, Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt, Kate Kelland and Alistair Smout in London, John Miller in Zurich and Caroline Copley in Berlin; Writing by John Miller; Editing by Nick Macfie) ROME, MAR 19 - An Italian navy officer has been accused of bringing the force's good name into disrepute by leading her NCO cadets in a dance to a TikTok hit at a passing-out ceremony in Taranto last summer. In a video that went viral, the sub-lieutenant can be seen beating out time with her sabre while the cadets dance to Jerusalema, a summer hit on the video sharing platform. The woman, who has not been named, insists she did nothing wrong but the navy has now decided to charge her with disobedience and besmirching the good name of the navy. (ANSA). Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. (Natural News) More than 20 countries have suspended the use of AstraZenecas vaccine against the Wuhan coronavirus following reports of adverse reactions. These nations halted use of the British pharmaceutical firms jab after some patients who received it reported blood clots. Most of the countries that suspended the use of AstraZenecas vaccine were located in Europe. Some nations outside the continent followed suit and temporarily stopped vaccination efforts using the drug manufacturers vaccine made in partnership with the University of Oxford. In Norway, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) and the Norwegian Medicines Agency reported on March 12 that a health worker died of a brain hemorrhage after getting the AstraZeneca vaccine. The next day, the two agencies received three more reports of severe cases of blood clots in younger people who got the jab. All four patients also reported a low blood platelet count. Dr. Pal Andre Holme of the Oslo University Hospital said it was very unusual to see the low blood platelet count in the young patients. These are healthy, young people who have not had any kind of disease before, who then get severe blood clots. You have to ask questions whether there is a connection with the vaccine, Holme said. Germany halted use of the vaccine as a precautionary measure after cases were reported. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said seven cases of brain thrombosis were reported in those who recently got the AstraZeneca vaccine. He added that the Paul Erlich Institute Germanys federal vaccine authority considers further necessary investigation due to the adverse reactions. However, not everyone in the country received the decision to suspend use of the AstraZeneca vaccine warmly. University of Cologne epidemiology professor Karl Lauterbach called the German governments move a mistake. He commented: Testing without suspension of vaccination would have been better because of the rarity of the complication. Health authorities have insisted the vaccines possible benefits outweigh its reported risks. World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a March 16 press conference: This does not necessarily mean these [adverse] events are linked to the vaccine, but its routine practice to investigate them and it shows that the [vaccine] surveillance system works and effective controls are in place. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) also defended the jab, saying that its benefits outweigh any possible risks. EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke said in a concurrent March 16 press conference that there is no indication that vaccination has caused these [serious] conditions. She added: A situation like this is not unexpected when you vaccinate millions of people. Other countries outside Europe have insisted on continuing the use of the vaccine While some countries have temporary halted the use of AstraZenecas jab, others have insisted on still using the vaccine. (Related: 20+ countries suspend use of AstraZeneca vaccine, but regulators insist benefits outweigh risks.) Thailand initially suspended its vaccination program using the British drug manufacturers vaccine. The countrys Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Thailands vaccine management committee had taken action to ensure the maximum safety of the public. However, the kingdom resumed vaccinations using the jab with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha receiving his dose on March 16. There are people who have concerns, [but] we must believe doctors [and] our medical professionals, he said after getting inoculated. The Philippines also insisted on using the vaccine, having received 525,000 doses and administered 12,788 doses to the population so far. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said: There is still no clear data that shows the blood clotting was caused by [the] AstraZeneca [jab.] If such data will come out, maybe we will also stop the [vaccines] use. He remarked that for now, vaccinations using the jab will continue as experts are saying the benefits are larger than the side effects of this vaccine. Australias Minister of Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt said the country would not suspend vaccination. The government clearly, unequivocally [and] absolutely supports the AstraZeneca rollout. And the reason why is very simple it will help save and protect lives, and its done so on the basis of the medical advice. Australias Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly seconded Hunts statement, saying there was no evidence so far that the vaccine indeed causes blood clots. I do not see that there is any specific link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots, and Im not alone in that opinion, he commented. (Related: Aussie Health Minister Greg Hunt hospitalized after getting the AstraZeneca coronavirus jab.) Head over to VaccineInjuryNews.com to read more about the dangers of AstraZenecas Wuhan coronavirus vaccine. Sources include: ChildrensHealthDefense.org MSN.com Telegraph.co.uk TheGuardian.com FT.com APNews.com The two organisations have signed commercial agreements to transfer the patented hydrogen storage technology arising from USW research to Hydro-Quebec, to enable its commercialisation as part of ongoing efforts to decarbonise industry and provide alternative, cleaner sources of energy. This technology allows for the hydrogen to be absorbed into the material at higher concentrations and densities thus increasing its capacity for hydrogen storage. This technology, for which the results were published in 2019, has several key advantages over existing hydrogen storage options, namely: Greater storage capacity Less weight for the same storage capacity Increased safety linked to a lower tank pressure Lower manufacturing costs Simplified infrastructure need No need for liquefaction step, generating savings in large-scale transport The applications for this novel energy storage technology are numerous and include transporting large quantities of hydrogen safely, or being able to have reservoirs of hydrogen-powered vehicles that can hold larger quantities of hydrogen in a smaller space, making hydrogen more viable for a variety of vehicle types while bringing the cost down significantly. Hydro-Quebec will work with the patents developed by USW over the next two years to bring them to the commercialization stage. Quotes : "Hydrogen is considered an important key to allow the decarbonization of several sectors of the economy which cannot easily be electrified. However, several challenges need to be overcome in order to bring it to mass market, with a major one being its storage. We are thus very excited to work with The University of South Wales to tackle one of these major challenges." -- Jean Matte , Senior Director of Hydro-Quebec's research center (CRHQ). to tackle one of these major challenges." -- "The Sustainable Environment Research Centre at USW and colleagues working in Chemistry, have been working to develop hydrogen-based technology for many years. They have built-up considerable expertise in this area by working with our international partners, including Hydro-Quebec. Supporting a sustainable environment is something that we are continually working towards as part of wider efforts to decarbonise sectors such as industry and transport, to improve air quality and limit long-term health impacts. "This agreement with Hydro-Quebec to commercialise our research into hydrogen storage is a fantastic step forward and one which we hope will have a real impact on enabling greater use of green energy and tackling climate change." - Professor Paul Harrison , Pro Vice-Chancellor for Innovation and Engagement at the University of South Wales "This agreement with Hydro-Quebec to commercialise our research into hydrogen storage is a fantastic step forward and one which we hope will have a real impact on enabling greater use of green energy and tackling climate change." - "I am very pleased to see continued collaboration between the University of South Wales and Hydro-Quebec; particularly given Welsh Government support helped to seed the project." "Hydrogen energy is one of the key ways we can shift our reliance away from fossil fuels, and work towards becoming a greener nation, in line with our goal of becoming a carbon net zero nation by 2050. Our recent Hydrogen in Wales report outlines our vision of how we intend to create more opportunities in Wales for a hydrogen-enabled economy, in line with our Low Carbon Delivery Plan. "As well as paving the way towards newer, greener technologies, collaborations such as these accord exactly with our International Strategy, which was published last year. "I wish the collaboration between USW and Hydro-Quebec every success, and look forward to hearing more on its work in future. " - Lesley Griffiths , the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Welsh Government and Hydro-Quebec; particularly given Welsh Government support helped to seed the project." "Hydrogen energy is one of the key ways we can shift our reliance away from fossil fuels, and work towards becoming a greener nation, in line with our goal of becoming a carbon net zero nation by 2050. Our recent report outlines our vision of how we intend to create more opportunities in for a hydrogen-enabled economy, in line with our Low Carbon Delivery Plan. "As well as paving the way towards newer, greener technologies, collaborations such as these accord exactly with our International Strategy, which was published last year. "I wish the collaboration between USW and Hydro-Quebec every success, and look forward to hearing more on its work in future. " "The partnership announced today between Hydro-Quebec and the University of South Wales is in line with government guidelines to position hydrogen at the heart of the energy transition. This collaboration will allow the commercialization of innovative energy storage technologies that aim to reduce GHGs in several sectors, including transportation, which is responsible for more than 40% of GHG emissions. Our government wants Quebec to be recognized as a world leader in the production of green hydrogen on a global scale, just as we are recognized for our electricity. We salute this collaboration, which highlights our expertise and contributes to Quebec's influence around the world." - Jonatan Julien , Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Government of Quebec is in line with government guidelines to position hydrogen at the heart of the energy transition. This collaboration will allow the commercialization of innovative energy storage technologies that aim to reduce GHGs in several sectors, including transportation, which is responsible for more than 40% of GHG emissions. Our government wants to be recognized as a world leader in the production of green hydrogen on a global scale, just as we are recognized for our electricity. We salute this collaboration, which highlights our expertise and contributes to influence around the world." - "As Minister for International Relations and La Francophonie, I am delighted with the announcement of this promising partnership in innovation and hydrogen storage between Quebec and Wales . This collaboration is a perfect illustration of the importance of bilateral cooperation in fostering economic recovery, increased trade, access to markets and supply chains, as well as initiatives aimed at developing business and investment opportunities in both Quebec and Wales ." -Quebec Minister for International Relations and La Francophonie and minister for Immigration, Francisation and Integration Notes to editors In 2020, the Welsh Government and Quebec Government signed a declaration of intent which, among other things, is aimed at intensifying Wales and Quebec's relationship through their joint participation in activities related to the economy, innovation, culture and education sectors. Read more: https://media.service.gov.wales/news/international-ministers-announce-the-signing-of-a-declaration-of-intent-aimed-at-strengthening-quebecs-relations-with-wales About Hydro-Quebec Hydro-Quebec generates, transmits and distributes electricity. It is Canada's largest electricity producer and ranks among the world's largest hydropower producers. Its sole shareholder is the Quebec government. The company uses mainly renewable generating options, in particular large hydro. Its research facilities, collectively called Institut de recherche d'Hydro-Quebec (IREQ), conduct R&D in energy-related fields, including energy efficiency and storage. To find out more: http://www.hydroquebec.com About the University of South Wales (USW) With students from more than 100 countries, the University of South Wales (USW) Group has campuses in three of the region's major population centres, Cardiff, Pontypridd and Newport. It also has two subsidiaries, Wales' national conservatoire, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and The College Merthyr Tydfil. As a leading university for careers, USW works together with employers to achieve its key aims - to make higher education more accessible, build challenge-based learning that equips graduates with transferable skills, to offer flexible learning opportunities, and to strengthen the communities it serves. These objectives are enhanced by USW's partnerships with a number of leading international and local employers, and various public sector bodies, including police forces and the National Health Service. The industrial connections that shape USW's research culture make it genuinely international, multilingual and outward-looking. Our research is directly affecting people and cultures in all parts of the world. Find out more: https://www.southwales.ac.uk/ About USW's Hydrogen Centre USW's Hydrogen Centre is a focal point for new Research, Development and Demonstration of hydrogen energy technology in Wales that provides a platform for the experimental development of renewable hydrogen production and novel hydrogen energy storage. The Centre enables further research and development of hydrogen vehicles, fuel cell applications and overall hydrogen energy systems. The Centre is the focal point for a series of collaborative projects between the University of South Wales and other academic and industrial partners. http://www.h2wales.org.uk/ SOURCE Hydro-Quebec Related Links www.hydroquebec.com Leaked documents reveal new details about China's Uighur brainwashing camps Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Documents leaked on Sunday expose new details about how the Chinese government is using a network of detention centers to brainwash hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Western China. The Chinese government has continually denied claims that it has unjustly imprisoned hundreds of thousands to millions of Uighur and other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region. However, documents called The China Cables that were leaked to news outlets this week offer a peek behind the curtain into the ideological motivations and structure behind such detention centers that international actors have strongly condemned. The documents were leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a consortium that has worked with 17 media partners including the BBC and The Guardian. According to ICIJ, the documents include a classified list of guidelines that were approved by the regions top security official that serves as a manual for operating the camps. The leak also includes intelligence briefings that detail how Chinese security officers are guided by massive data collection that helps select categories of residents to detain. The leaked documents also appear to contradict the Chinese governments claim that the network of detention centers constructed across Xinjiang in recent years only exist as places of voluntary re-education to help Muslims with extremist tendencies get on the right path. The documents came to the ICIJ through a chain of exiled Uighurs. ICIJ says the authenticity of the documents was confirmed by leading experts. Chinas ambassador to the United Kingdom Liu Xiaoming called reports of the leak fake news. Included in the leak is a nine-page memo reportedly sent out to officials operating the camps by then deputy-secretary of Xinjiangs Communist Party, Zhu Hailun, in 2017. BBC reports that the memo explains that the detention centers in Xinjiang should be run as high-security prisons with strict punishments and no escapes. The memo also orders detention center officials to increase discipline and punishment of behavioral violations, make remedial Mandarin studies a top priority and promote repentance and confession. According to The Guardian, the memo also reveals that inmates at the camps must serve at least one year but could be detained indefinitely. The 2017 memo allegedly states that camps are to be run on a point system in which inmates earn points for ideological transformation, compliance with discipline and study and training. The memo indicates that the only contacts inmates are allowed to have with the outside world are their weekly phone calls and monthly video calls with relatives. The leak also included four bulletins written in Chinese that serve as briefings from the Integrated Joint Operation Platform, a centralized data collection system. According to ICIJ, these bulletins layout the connection between mass surveillance and the Xinjiang camps. According to The Guardian, the leaked documents are consistent with evidence that China is running secret, involuntary camps that are being used for ideological education transformation. Critics have referred to the camps as concentration camps. The detention of Muslims in Western China is said to be the largest internment of an ethnic minority since World War II. The Guardian reports that the documents reveal the scale to which inmates were rounded up. In one week in June 2017, The Guardian report states that over 24,000 suspicious persons in southern Xinjiang were flagged and two-thirds of them were detained. Over 15,600 were sent to re-education camps and over 700 were sent to jail. Earlier this year, select journalists were allowed by the Chinese government to tour select centers. These are places where adults wear uniforms and they dont go home at the end of the day but sleep up to 10 a room sharing a toilet with no idea how many months or years it will be before they can return to their families, BBC reporter John Sudworth said after touring the camps. Sudworth explained that thoughts are transformed through long hours of rote learning Chinese, the study of Chinas tightening restrictions on religion and the replacing of faith and cultural identity with a different loyalty. Escapees from the camps have reported instances of abuse and torture. One woman who escaped from one of the camps told BBC this summer that her feet were shackled for one year and three months. Another former female inmate told Radio Free Asia that female detainees are routinely forced to take medicine affecting their reproductive cycles, are denied treatment for health issues and are subjected to sexual abuse. The woman, Tursunay Ziyawudun, said camp officials would often take women to the hospital to be sterilized. I was taken to a hospital to undergo a [sterilization] operation, but because I have always suffered from a gynecological condition the doctor said I could suffer complications that include death, so they spared me, Ziyawudun was quoted as saying. Last week, a Uighur human rights group accused the Chinese government of running at least 500 detention centers, prison and re-education camps in Xinjiang. The East Turkistan National Awakening Movement released the results of its yearlong research into the situation in Xinjiang. The organization estimates that as many as 1 million to possibly 3 million people are being held in the concentration camps. We believe the number is much higher when prisons and labor camps are also considered, the organization reported. Sophie Richardson, the China director at Human Rights Watch, told BBC that the leaked documents should be used by prosecutors. "This is an actionable piece of evidence, documenting a gross human rights violation," she said of the 2017 memo. "I think it's fair to describe everyone being detained as being subject at least to psychological torture because they literally don't know how long they're going to be there. Chinas detention of Muslims has been condemned strongly by the U.S. government, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback. During his visit to Hong Kong in March, Brownback accused the Chinese government of being at war with faith. China is not solving a terrorist problem by forcibly moving women, children, the elderly, and the highly educated intelligentsia into mass detention centers and internment camps, Brownback said at the time. The magnitude of these detentions is completely out of proportion to any real threat China faces from extremism, even according to Chinas own official media and police reports. In October, the U.S. State Department issued visa restrictions on Chinese government and Communist Party officials involved in the persecution of ethnic groups in Xinjiang. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 White House, through press secretary Jen Psaki, has earlier said U.S. President Joe Biden has made clear that he aims to ensure that the vaccines are accessible to every American, without any intent as of the moment to share doses to neighboring countries. Psaki said that once that goal is achieved, they are happy to announce the next steps to the public. However, the Biden administration is currently working to finalize plans to send around 2.5million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico, according to an NBC News report. Meanwhile, 1.5 million doses would go to Canada as U.S. regulators wait on the company to provide more data on the vaccine's safety and efficacy. This marks the first move of the U.S. to supply vaccines to other countries. "We only put the virus behind us if we're helping our global partners," an administration official was quoted in an Independent report. Mexican foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard said that details are yet to be known until Friday, noting that they have already made progress. Ebrard said that they requested as many AstraZeneca vaccine doses as possible. READ NEXT: Biden Says U.S. in Talks With Other Countries for COVID Vaccine Supply U.S. Vaccine Supply The U.S. government under the Biden administration has procured 800 million doses from Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson. The U.S. government has also placed an order of 110 million doses of vaccine from Novavax. The said vaccine candidate is seen to file an emergency authorization as soon as next month. On the other hand, AstraZeneca's vaccine has not yet been authorized for use in the U.S. However, the company expects to share its late-stage U.S. study and apply for clearance in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca is one of the vaccine candidates that have received emergency approval in Mexico, with already 870,000 doses of the vaccine. The European Medicines Agency announced on Thursday that AstraZeneca is safe to use in a number of countries, including Germany, France, and Italy, according to another NBC News report. "Its benefits in protecting people from COVID-19, with the associated risks of death and hospitalization, outweigh the possible risks," Executive Director Emer Cooke was quoted in a news report. Once AstraZeneca is cleared by U.S. regulators, the country could have a total of 300 million doses from the pharmaceutical company. This includes the seven million U.S. already has on-hand. The U.S. trial of the vaccine did not complete enrollment until January. AstraZeneca has not given any idea when results might be ready. The U.S. has been stockpiling the said vaccine which caused a slight rift with other nations. The German government earlier said that it was in contact with U.S. officials about the vaccine supply. However, it noted that the European Commission has the upper hand when it comes to procuring shots, according to an Associated Press report. AstraZeneca The UK regulators have recently reported that there had been five cases of a rare type of blood clot in the brain among 11 million that have received the AstraZeneca vaccine. This concern has caused some European countries to pause the distribution of the shot. Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said that the use of the vaccine should continue while the five incidents of blood clots are being investigated, according to a Reuters report. READ MORE: People with Weak Immune Systems Likely Cultivated COVID Variants Inside Them WATCH: Biden administration finalizing plans to share Covid vaccine doses with Mexico and Canada - from POLITICO * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! ROME (Reuters) - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for a greater openness and reciprocity on vaccine exports, speaking in a newspaper interview about an ongoing row with Britain and the United States over vaccine deliveries. "I ask for greater openness as Europe is among the regions in the world that exports the most, but reciprocity is needed," she told Italian daily la Repubblica. She added that the European Union was in contact with the United Kingdom over vaccine exports but declined to give details of her talks with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Von der Leyen said the issue of reciprocity and the required mechanism would be discussed with other European countries at a meeting next Thursday. The EU president also said she was "extremely confident" that Europe's goal of vaccinating 70% of its adult population by the end of the summer would be reached despite the recent suspensions and delays of the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of blood clots in people who had received the shot. She added that Russia's Sputnik vaccine was still under review and that there was no evidence as yet of production capacity for the vaccine, a detail required for approval by Europe's EMA medicines regulator. (Reporting by Giulia Segreti; Editing by David Goodman) Pennsylvanias plan to shift COVID-19 vaccine supply to providers capable of pushing it out fastest kicks in Monday. At that point, there will be 200-300 providers hundreds fewer than earlier in the rollout, with many small providers temporarily out of the loop. Remaining providers will be assured of a steady supply and encouraged to schedule appointments for more than a week in advance. They will be held accountable for administering the vast majority of their doses within seven days and restricting doses to people in Phase 1A while also distributing vaccine equitably. What we have now is a stronger network of providers who cover 95 percent of the state and are located within a two-mile radius in urban areas, five-miles in suburban areas and 30-miles in rural areas, Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said. Because there are fewer providers we will get more vaccine to them so they wont run out as quickly as they have in the past. As always, we will be evaluating the effectiveness of the network to ensure that vaccine is accessible and provided equitably and quickly to get people vaccinated. As of Monday, most of the doses will go to entities including hospitals, pharmacies and government-supported clinics. They were selected based on factors including ability to vaccinate high volumes of people, geographic reach and accessibility, and ability to reach disadvantaged populations. While some providers will no longer receive first-doses, the state has said providers will receive second doses for everyone who received their first dose from the provider. The state called the shift to bigger providers temporary, and said, after more people have been vaccinated and the vaccine supply increases, many more providers will resume receiving vaccine. Officials in Gov. Tom Wolfs administration this week also have been touting statistics which they say show Pennsylvanias pace of vaccinating has improved. As proof that the pace of vaccinations is accelerating, yesterday the CDC ranked Pennsylvania number two in the nation for the number of doses administered per 100,000 residents over the past seven days, Beam said. More from PennLive Wolf says Pa. ahead of schedule in vaccinating teachers, school staff Lancaster Countys vast, gleaming COVID-19 vaccination center puts pressure on other county officials to do the same An enlarged sample of a foreign resident identification card issued by the South Korean immigration authority is displayed near a COVID-19 early testing center at Guro Subway Station in Seoul's Guro District, as health workers guide visitors on March 16. Yonhap The Gyeonggi provincial government on Thursday withdrew a controversial policy option that would have required foreign workers to present negative COVID-19 test results when seeking employment. The announcement came amid criticism that the measure, if implemented, would discriminate against foreign nationals. The provincial government said Tuesday it is considering issuing such an administrative order as cluster infections at companies that employ foreign workers have continued to pop up in the region. "After deliberation, we've decided not to push for the order. We apologize for causing confusion," Im Seung-kwan, a senior quarantine official, said at a press briefing. The government of Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, earlier ordered all foreign workers in the province to take COVID-19 tests before March 22 as it struggles to cope with a recent hike in new coronavirus cases in foreigner-dense areas and workplaces. The Seoul metropolitan government also ordered foreign workers and their employers to get tested for the virus by the end of this month. The city of Seoul said it will fine employers who do not abide by the order and expand the testing capacity up to 3,600 a day during the period. Britain took issue with the measures. "The British Embassy has made clear to the national government and to the Seoul and Gyeonggi administrations that we consider these measures are not fair, they're not proportionate, nor are they likely to be effective," British Ambassador to Seoul Simon Smith said in a video posted to his Twitter page. "We've also raised the lack of clear and timely information about the process. We've also raised the issue as a matter of urgency with the Korean National Human Rights Commission," the envoy said, referring to South Korea's human rights watchdog. But Smith advised British workers in affected areas to follow the requirement to take COVID-19 tests, as failure to do so will involve a considerable fine. (Yonhap) Tesla cars are famously high tech but spy cams aren't among their known features. Even so, the firm's autos are now banned from Chinese military housing complexes. According to Reuters sources, officials are concerned that cameras on the cars could be used for espionage. Owners have been told to park outside military property, the sources say. Tesla cars have several small cameras mounted externally to assist with parking and self-driving. Some also have cameras in the rear-view mirror. Chinese officials found the vehicles could record images of their surroundings, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Now more than a few car owners could be affected. Tesla sold over 18,000 Chinese-made vehicles just in February, sharply up on the previous month. Video Transcript - Tesla cars are famously high tech, but spy cams aren't among their known features. Even so, the firm's autos are now banned from Chinese military housing complexes. According to Reuters, sources officials are concerned that cameras on the cars could be used for espionage. Owners have been told to park outside military property, the sources say. Tesla cars have several small cameras mounted externally to assist with parking and self-driving. Some also have cameras in the rear view mirror. Chinese officials found the vehicles could record images of their surroundings, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Now more than a few car owners could be affected. Tesla sold over 18,000 Chinese-made vehicles just in February, sharply up on the previous month. PC Mustafa, CEO and Co-Founder, iD Fresh Food, firmly believes in Albert Einstein's famous saying, "In the midst of every crisis, lies a great opportunity". The deadly COVID-19 pandemic pushed the fresh food start-up to reinvent its distribution model, as a result of which the Rs 294 crore company is set to end FY21 with a 33 per cent growth. The company grew by 16 per cent in FY20. During the peak of the lockdown when most stores had to pull down their shutters as companies' distribution networks came to a halt, iD's strategy of owning its distribution came in handy. The company started distributing its batters, dairy products and filter coffee decoction to residential complexes directly. It also set up a store finder on its web site, which enabled consumers to figure out the nearest store that had iD products. "Our-direct-to-home delivery was a trust-based model. We left the product at the security gate and the consumers would pick it up and drop the money in the box at the gate or pay online. There was no monitoring and that got us great brand mileage," explains Mustafa. The company's B2C business witnessed a 40 per cent jump and made up for the revenue loss it incurred in the B2B business. "Over 10 per cent of our revenue comes from corporates and restaurants and that came to a standstill." Though direct-to-home distribution was discontinued when the lockdown was lifted, the company has recently restarted it and is supplying filter coffee decoction to consumers. "People prefer to have coffee the first thing in the morning, hence, we are ensuring that we deliver it to them at their doors-step. We will soon start distributing our entire portfolio of products directly to consumers." Mustafa says direct-to-home will contribute around 5 per cent to its overall revenue. "Our objective is not to replace retail," he adds. In 2013, iD set up its first overseas operations in Dubai, which contributes close to 30 per cent of its overall revenue. The fresh food start-up is now planning to spread its wings to Saudi Arabia, Muscat, Oman and Qatar. It is also planning to enter the US this year. In India, iD has its manufacturing facilities in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai and will soon foray into Kolkata and Delhi. Launched in 2008, iD, within the first three years of operations, sold 2,000 packets of dosa-idli batter per day. Today, it not just sells 60,000 kgs of batter per day, it also sells products such as vada batter, filter coffee, paneer and curd. "We launched curd five months ago and the revenue is already Rs 2 crore." Mustafa hopes that his revenue would touch the Rs 450 crore mark in the next year, if the current growth momentum continues. Also read: 'Digital Everywhere' Strategy Will Drive Every Tata Company New Delhi, March 19 : With entry of new age brokers using technology, client addition has seen strong 67 per cent YoY jump, including substantial proportion of new to market customers from Tier-2 and below regions, and also new investors looking for supplementary income in lockdown. ICICI Direct said, in a research note, that digitalisation, mobile trading apps and relative underperformance of mutual funds has indirectly attracted interest in direct investment in capital markets. Recent data, based on city wise distribution of turnover in cash segment in BSE and NSE, suggest increasing pie of Tier-2 and below cities in past two years. In BSE, contribution of Tier-2 and below cities in cash turnover has increased from 30 per cent in FY18 to 40 per cent in FY20 while in NSE, it has risen from 14 per cent to 17 per cent. Though there is no direct aggregate data available on number of customers region wise, but management commentary of various brokerage houses suggests that investors interest among other regions in India has been increasing; specially among young population with broad age group in 25-35 years. Also a majority of new client addition has been coming from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, the report said. The report said that ADTO (Average Daily Turnover) has shown increasing trend since the past months, especially during the lockdown period, which was a result of buoyancy in equity markets and increasing retail participation. However, it would be key to watch how the trend behaves in coming months as margin requirement rises in step wise manner as per SEBI's new regulation. ADTO in Feb 2020 has reached Rs 45.9 lakh crore, which has doubled in last 6 months. Robust client addition and market volatility are key factors for surging volumes largely led by options. Discount brokers like Zerodha, Upstox, 5Paisa and newly joined Angel Broking have been major beneficiaries, especially over past one year in terms of incremental client acquisition. Market share for Zerodha has increased from 13 per cent a year ago to 19 per cent as on January 2021. Similarly, RKSV Sec (Upstox) has increased its market share from 5 per cent a year ago to 11.3 per cent. This has led many traditional brokerages like Sharekhan, Kotak Sec etc to come up with their own discount plans. Overall market ADTO has increased over 2x from Rs 14.4 lakh crore in Q3FY20 to Rs 31.1 lakh crore in Q3FY21, and has shown increasing trends sequentially. Client addition also has been on similar lines with active clients increasing 67 per cent YoY to 1.63 crore; with substantial participation from New to Market customers from tier-2 and below cities, the report said. Reasons attributable to such robust accretion could be awareness & acceptance of equities as investment class by millennials, relative underperformance of large number of mutual fund schemes and low yields in fixed income asset. Discount brokers continued to gain majority of incremental clientele as well as ADTO. Consequently, traditional brokers have started offering competitive fixed brokerage plans, thereby, blurring earlierlines of difference between peers. Bank-led brokers including Kotak Securities, and Axis Securities have started offering low brokerage plans while traditional non-bank led brokers like Angel Broking and Sharekhan have also joined the bandwagon, the report said. (Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at sanjeev.s@ians.in) Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) Two cities in Metro Manila announced the suspension of Holy Week activities due to the spike in COVID-19 cases. In a radio interview on Friday, Mayor Isko Moreno said all related activities will be canceled, including the rituals of penitensya, Visita Iglesia, and caridad. Moreno said it was logical to do away with mass gatherings that could turn into superspreader events, especially with the COVID numbers rising. Ang importante sa Semana Santa, 'yung relasyon natin sa Diyos (Whats important during the Holy Week is our relationship with God), the mayor said. Moreno said the local government cannot afford to take chances, citing the increasing occupancy rates in their district hospitals. He added authorities will continue to strictly enforce health protocols and implement localized lockdowns. Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi also announced a similar move, except for the conduct of masses. However, churches were asked to maintain 30% seating capacity. Fresnedi said it is imperative to carry out such restrictions especially since Muntinlupa shares its border with San Pedro, Laguna, and cities in Cavite areas that are under more lenient quarantine rules. Meanwhile, Antipolo City in Rizal also announced that its annual Alay Lakad and other Holy Week activities will be cancelled this year. The Philippines logged an all-time high 7,103 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, pushing the nationwide tally to 648,066. Metro Manila continues to be the epicenter of the pandemic, with over 260,000 cases as of the Health department's latest data. ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A new nationwide initiative, "The Happiness League," is honoring America's teachers for their heroic efforts equipping students with social and emotional wellness skills needed to persevere and succeed in life. (PRNewsfoto/LG Electronics USA) Launched by the Life's Good: Experience Happiness program on the U.N.'s International Day of Happiness (March 20), The Happiness League will recognize "Superhero Teachers" from across the country. These champions of social-emotional learning have gone above and beyond to support today's youth as the global pandemic, coupled with rising social and political discord, worsened a growing national mental health crisis. America's youth face an exceptionally high risk, with 63 percent of young adults reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.* "Last week marked one full year of social restrictions that have created a potentially dangerous tipping point for the mental health of America's youth," said Christine Ackerson, head of corporate social responsibility for LG Electronics USA, lead sponsor of the Experience Happiness program. Over the past year, whether logging on to teach virtually or donning PPE in classrooms every day, teachers have had to reimagine how to engage their students and ensure safe and positive learning environments. Our teachers worked on the front lines and played a crucial role in maintaining consistency, normalcy and inspiration for America's children, Ackerson said. "They are truly superheroes providing our youth with the courage to endure and prosper, and deserve special recognition." These educators inspire their students to embrace six sustainable happiness skills: gratitude, human connection, positive outlook, purpose, generosity and mindfulness. Over the next six weeks, 50 Superhero Teachers across the country that personify these critical skills will be inducted into The Happiness League and honored by LG and its social impact partners Be Strong, CASEL, Discovery Education, Inner Explorer and The Greater Good Science Center for their dedication and inspiration to young people. Each teacher will be awarded an LG UltraWide computer monitor and receive commemorative superhero capes highlighting their super skill. Parents and students around the country also will have the opportunity to participate in the Happiness League program by honoring the Superhero Teachers in their lives on social media. The award-winning Life's Good: Experience Happiness program already has reached more than 4 million students with a science-based curriculum developed to equip youth with the skills necessary to better cope with stress and anxiety, build resilience and support a life-long happiness mindset. Backed by decades of scientific research, Experience Happiness worked with experts in social-emotional learning, education and the science of happiness to identify the six happiness skills, which can be learned, practiced and strengthened. To learn more about how you can benefit from the happiness super skills and meet America's Superhero Teachers, visit LGExperienceHappiness.com/HappinessLeague. *"Mental Health, Substance Use, and Suicidal Ideation During the COVID-19 Pandemic United States, June 2430, 2020," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, August 14, 2020 About Life's Good: Experience Happiness Aiming to enrich the lives of 5.5 million youth in the United States by 2022, LG Electronics USA launched a unique initiative called "Life's Good: Experience Happiness." Happiness skills can be learned, according to the Greater Good Science Center at University of California Berkeley, which has identified six skills that sustain one's ability to recognize that life's good: mindfulness, human connection, positive outlook, purpose, generosity and gratitude. LG's award-winning science-based platform is designed to engage leading non-profit and academic partners including Inner Explorer; Be Strong; the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, and Discovery Education that help equip American youth with the skills for sustainable happiness. LGExperienceHappiness.com SOURCE LG Electronics USA A $250,000 reward is being offered for information about the shooting death of a father-of-two in a 2009 road rage attack on the Gold Coast. Omega Ruston was shot in the stomach on the side of the Gold Coast Highway at Burleigh Heads on Australia Day, 12 years ago. He was gunned down after pulling over to talk to a group of men who had stopped behind him in a small maroon sedan after an incident on the highway. Omega Ruston was shot in the stomach on the side of the Gold Coast Highway at Burleigh Heads on Australia Day, 12 years ago Two shots were fired from the rear passenger seat, one of them fatally wounding the 32-year-old construction worker. Police say it was a random attack. Detective Inspector Chris Ahearn says the new reward may help with the investigation, which has had significant progress in recent months. 'We still believe the persons directly involved in the shooting death of Omega were linked to the Gold Coast and Sydney chapters of organised crime syndicates and outlaw motorcycle gangs,' he said in a statement. 'We are aware relationships and loyalties in these gangs change. We are hopeful that the reward will encourage those people with information to come forward.' Police Minister Mark Ryan says as well as the $250,000 reward, legal indemnity is on offer for anyone involved in the crime who didn't pull the trigger. Mr Ruston was gunned down after pulling over to talk to a group of men who had stopped behind him in a small maroon sedan after an incident on the highway Witnesses reported seeing three men of Middle Eastern appearance in the maroon vehicle during the shooting on the highway near the intersection with 5th Avenue about 10.25pm on Monday, January 26, 2009. Detective Inspector Chris Ahearn says the new reward may help with the investigation, which has had significant progress in recent months One rear passenger was seen holding a black semi-automatic style pistol. After the shooting the car drove away towards the south. 'Any person who was involved in the crime but did not commit the offence and who comes forward and speaks with police first, is eligible for this indemnity from prosecution,' Mr Ryan said. 'This is worth serious consideration to anyone who has this information and has not yet come forward to police.' After an appeal by Mr Ruston's two brothers and police earlier this month, investigators received a new tip-off that the gun used was in Sydney's Parramatta River. Queensland detectives went there as NSW police divers looked for the weapon near the ferry terminal. 'Examinations of the exhibits found in the Parramatta River are continuing,' Queensland police said. Three University of Colorado Cancer Center researchers are part of a team that recently published a paper offering new insight into how the immune system relates to cancer. Quentin Vicens, PhD, Jeffrey Kieft, PhD, and Beat Vogeli, PhD, are authors on the paper, which looks at how an enzyme called ADAR1 operates in pathways associated with cancer. "In a cell, ADAR1 edits native RNA -- or self-RNA -- so that the cell recognizes it as its own. It's a key protection against autoimmune disorders," Kieft says. "But if a virus infects, viral RNA isn't edited by ADAR1, so the cell can recognize that and react. The cell knows it has foreign RNA, and it activates immune responses to fight off that infection." For their paper published last month in the journal Nature Communications, Kieft, Vogeli, Vicens, and the rest of the team -- including Parker Nichols, a graduate student in the Structural Biology and Biochemistry program in the CU School of Medicine who works jointly in the Kieft and Vogeli labs -- looked at where specifically the ADAR1 binds to RNA to perform the editing process. They already knew a domain of ADAR1 known as Z-alpha binds to a form of RNA called Z-RNA, but they found that Z-alpha ADAR1 can bind to other RNA forms as well. "The team asked, 'How are all these locations in RNA being recognized by Z-alpha if they supposedly don't form Z-RNA?'" Kieft says. "One of the take-home messages is that other forms of RNA can bind to Z-alpha ADAR1 and can even partially form Z-RNA. That was a surprise because it shows that RNA can form this specific Z structure in places we didn't recognize before." The team is now proposing a model for how Z-alpha ADAR1 is able to bind to different types of RNA. It's an important finding in cancer research because of the role of ADAR1 in cancer regulation. A normally functioning immune system oftentimes can detect cancerous cells as being dangerous and then eliminate them, but if there's too much ADAR1 editing happening, a cell could be tamping down the immune response in an effort to protect itself. "In a lot of cancers, there is upregulation of ADAR1; it is doing more than it should," Kieft says. "The excess ADAR1 presumably is leading to more RNA editing than is normal. This is going to misregulate things,affecting specific regions of RNA or types of RNA. The excess editing is going to throw off the normal immune response, but it probably has a lot of other affects in the cell as well. Cancer is a disease where gene regulation has gone awry, so if an important regulatory pathway like editing by ADAR has gone haywire, that can contribute to the cancer." Knowing all the targets of ADAR1 in a cell is also a step toward more effective therapies, Kieft says. If researchers understand the pathways, they may be able to find a way to disrupt the overactive editing process and boost the immune response. It's a finding applicable to many other diseases as well -- Vogeli says since the paper was published, the researchers have heard from other scientists around the country interested in ADAR1. "We have gotten a lot of feedback on the paper," he says. "There is a lot of interest in this field right now, and other people are interested in how they could use our structural information." Vogeli and Vicens are now organizing a meeting focused on ADAR1 function and putting together special issues of the journals Molecules and International Journal of Molecular Sciences. Vicens says the research project also illustrates the importance of collaborative work and being open to new directions. "I basically brought a new project and direction to the Kieft lab when I joined," Vicens says. "Both labs were open to supporting it intellectually and financially, and the resultant team effort enabled research that would not otherwise have been done." ### Rio Tinto Limited will today issue an addendum to its 2021 notice of annual general meeting setting out two advisory resolutions requisitioned by two groups of shareholders as announced on 9 March 2021. As Rio Tinto's current approach is substantially consistent with both of the proposed resolutions, the Rio Tinto Board is recommending that shareholders vote in favour of these resolutions. Each group of requisitioning shareholders had also proposed an amendment to Rio Tinto Limited's constitution to allow non-binding advisory resolutions. As in previous years, Rio Tinto opposes this resolution as it would be likely to create uncertainty and would give rise to a number of practical difficulties, including in relation to the authority and accountability of the directors. However, as Rio Tinto's Board is supporting the non-binding advisory resolutions being put to this year's annual general meeting, the constitutional amendment is not required this year. The requisitioning shareholders have therefore withdrawn these resolutions. Further detail on the two advisory resolutions The first resolution (Resolution 19) requests that Rio Tinto disclose in its subsequent annual reporting short, medium and long-term targets for its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, and performance against those targets. The resolution proposes that those targets should be independently verified as aligned with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. Rio Tinto has already set out short, medium and long-term targets for its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions in its 2020 Annual Report and Climate Change Report (see www.riotinto.com/sustainability/climate-change). Performance against these targets is independently assured and their alignment with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement is described in the Climate Change Report. Rio Tinto will continue to disclose these targets and its independently assured performance against them in its Annual Reports in the decade ahead. Furthermore, as announced on 17 February 2021, Rio Tinto has committed to put its 2021 Climate Change Report to an advisory vote at its 2022 annual general meetings. This "say on climate" will provide shareholders with the opportunity to express their view on our climate change strategy and implementation, taken as a whole. The second resolution (Resolution 20) requests that Rio Tinto enhance its annual review of industry associations to ensure that the review identifies areas of inconsistency with the Paris Agreement, and a recommendation that the company suspend membership, for a period deemed suitable by the Board, where an industry association's record of advocacy is, on balance, inconsistent with the Paris Agreement's goals. The resolution makes clear that the Board retains discretion to take decisions in the best interests of the company. Rio Tinto's approach to industry associations is set out at www.riotinto.com/sustainability/ethics-integrity/industry-association-disclosure. We review our membership of such associations annually and already report on areas of inconsistency with the Paris Agreement. If we identify significant differences in climate-related policy or advocacy, we will consider suspension of membership. Our starting position, however, is that our objective of securing advocacy aligned with the Paris Agreement is best pursued from a position of influence from within such associations. In weighing up the relative merit of continued membership, the Board will exercise a balanced judgement of what is in the best interests of the company and will consider suspension of membership as a measure of last resort. The addendum sets out the Rio Tinto Board's response and voting recommendation with respect to those resolutions, as well as supporting statements provided by the requisitioning shareholders. The addendum will be released to the ASX and is available, together with the full notice of meeting, at www.riotinto.com/invest/shareholder-information/annual-general-meetings. Further information on how to participate remotely in the Rio Tinto Limited annual general meeting on Thursday 6 May 2021 will also be made available in due course at the same link. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210318006083/en/ Contacts: media.enquiries@riotinto.com riotinto.com Follow @RioTinto on Twitter Media Relations, United Kingdom Illtud Harri M +44 7920 503 600 David Outhwaite T +44 20 7781 1623 M +44 7787 597 493 Media Relations, Americas Matthew Klar T +1 514 608 4429 Media Relations, Asia Grant Donald T +65 6679 9290 M +65 9722 6028 Media Relations, Australia Jonathan Rose T +61 3 9283 3088 M +61 447 028 913 Matt Chambers T +61 3 9283 3087 M +61 433 525 739 Jesse Riseborough T +61 8 6211 6013 M +61 436 653 412 Investor Relations, United Kingdom Menno Sanderse T: +44 20 7781 1517 M: +44 7825 195 178 David Ovington T +44 20 7781 2051 M +44 7920 010 978 Clare Peever M: +44 7788 967 877 Investor Relations, Australia Natalie Worley T +61 3 9283 3063 M +61 409 210 462 Amar Jambaa T +61 3 9283 3627 M +61 472 865 948 Group Company Secretary Steve Allen Rio Tinto plc 6 St James's Square London SW1Y 4AD United Kingdom T +44 20 7781 2000 Registered in England No. 719885 Joint Company Secretary Tim Paine Rio Tinto Limited Level 7, 360 Collins Street Melbourne 3000 Australia T +61 3 9283 3333 Registered in Australia ABN 96 004 458 404 This announcement is authorised for release to the market by Rio Tinto's Group Company Secretary. Category: general Remember last winter? Gosh, it feels like years ago. While we were still becoming Zoom literate (Is my mic on? Hello, can you hear me?), our wardrobes were having an existential crisis. Instead of thinking about which boot would suit our winter plans, we were wondering how long we could go without wearing shoes at all. And forget statement coats, we were more interested in how many other shades of grey/black/khaki our favourite hoodies came in. But thats all in the past (we hope. Hello, vaccines!). Life is beckoning once more and with that, comes a feast of ideas on how to dress for this autumn-winter. On the catwalks of the Melbourne Fashion Festival, with some added inspiration from digital Paris Fashion Week, we have rounded up the top trends for whats in store from ... now. Dressed to thrill, not chill ... models at the Melbourne Fashion Festival. Credit:Lucas Dawson Photography 1. Teddycore What is it? This years answer to doona dressing has been a hit on the catwalks of Paris thanks to the multicoloured faux fur offerings at Chanel and Miu Miu. And while its rare for temperatures in Australia (ski fields notwithstanding) to dip so low as to require a full fur skirt-and-jacket combo, there are plenty of ways to embrace the spirit, without the sweat factor. Try velvet jackets and bodysuits, cashmere hats and knitted pants - this years fancy update to lockdown trackies. (Newser) Benedict Cumberbatch stars as an English salesman recruited by British and US intelligence services to spy on the Soviet Union during the Cold War in The Courier, based on the true story of one Greville Wynne. Out Friday, the filmwhich aired at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival under the title Ironbarkhas a 80% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Here's what they're saying: "The Courier gives Cumberbatch another meaty role, and the actor fits into it all too comfortably," delivering a "meticulous performance," writes Gary M. Kramer at Salon. He wishes there was more focus on Oleg Penkovsky, the Soviet agent who uses Wynne to ferry intelligence to the West, played by a "solid" Merab Ninidze. Though Kramer criticizes the film's "muted" nature, "the bromance that develops between Greville and Penkovsky is engaging." "The Cuban Missile Crisis might loom in the background, but we barely sense its menace" as director Dominic Cooke "is either unable to generate tension or simply chooses not to," writes Jeannette Catsoulis at the New York Times. Unfortunately, the film "stubbornly resists involving or affecting us until it's almost over," she writes. "By that time, though, you might have fallen asleep." story continues below Mick LaSalle, however, appears to have been nowhere near sleep. "As the pressures on Wynne increase, and the missions become more dangerous, the spectacle of this average man trying to stay safe becomes riveting," he writes at the San Francisco Chronicle, applauding Cumberbatch's "strong work." He adds "Tom O'Connor's script hits all the right notes, and Dominic Cooke's direction brings out unspoken subtleties of the characters and their interactions." Ann Hornaday argues the film's "modesty and carefully managed ambitions define its strong suit at a time when such films are scarcer every day." It's "enormous fun in its first hour and a half, while Cumberbatch makes the most of his good-humored character" before a darker shift that "isn't always quite as graceful as whats gone before." Still, it's a "good" movie, Hornaday concludes at the Washington Post. (Read more movie review stories.) Seventy years ago, Cpl. Salvatore Naimo and other Marines were taking heavy enemy fire in a round basin known as the "Punchbowl" near what's now the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Naimo, a rifleman with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, heard shouts for help on Sept. 14, 1951, as the Chinese army hit the leathernecks' position with a barrage of mortar fire. Two Marines in the fighting hole next to Naimo's were hit. The corporal left his position to reach his wounded comrades. As he began carrying the first Marine to safety, another mortar hit. Read Next: Marine Earns Highest Noncombat Heroism Medal for Saving a 10-Year-Old Boy's Life "I thought I was going to hurt him more, but I was wounded myself," Naimo recalled this week. He pressed on, going back to retrieve the second injured Marine after having his own wounds treated. On Wednesday, Naimo was finally recognized for those actions when he was awarded the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest combat valor medal, during a ceremony in Sarasota, Florida. The Marine was also celebrating his 89th birthday. "It doesn't matter if the Marine's actions took place yesterday, or 70 years ago, we will always ensure our Marines are recognized for their performance," Col. John Polidoro, Marine Corps Forces Central Command's chief of staff, who presented the Silver Star, said in a service news release. The award was the result of a yearslong push to have Naimo's heroism during the Korean War recognized. Naimo's platoon commander told him he planned to put the corporal up for a medal, but was killed in action two days later, according to the Marine Corps. Naimo's company commander, Col. Bruce Meyers, later recommended he receive the Navy Cross, according to ABC7 in Florida, which detailed the fight to have the Marine's heroism recognized decades later. Naimo, wiping away tears when addressing reporters after the award ceremony, said he was sorry that Meyers, who died of cancer, wasn't there to witness him receiving the Silver Star. The Marine Corps didn't say why Naimo received the Silver Star instead of the Navy Cross. Polidoro told ABC7 that it was tough to track down eyewitness reports of Naimo's actions since so much time had passed. After Polidoro pinned the medal on his chest, Naimo told the station that he was proud to be wearing it. "I'm only sorry that I don't know what happened to the two men that I saved out of the bunker," he added. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: Medal of Honor Sought for US Korean War Pilot A federal judge has ruled that New Orleans might need to refund some $36 million to motorists who paid hundreds of thousands of traffic camera ticket fines from the early, illegal years of the program. U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan last week refused City Hall's request to toss out a federal class action lawsuit that argues New Orleans is violating the U.S. Constitution by holding onto the payments, all on tickets issued from Jan. 1, 2008, to Nov. 3, 2010. Morgan wrote that the plaintiffs have a valid claim that Mayor LaToya Cantrell's administration is violating the "takings" clause of the Fifth Amendment by failing to repay those ill-gotten proceeds, and that the class action over an alleged deprivation of the ticket payers' civil rights move forward. Though her ruling doesn't end the case, Morgan suggested that Cantrell's options to avoid payment are running short. City Attorney Sunni LeBeouf said the city "respectfully disagrees with the ruling" and is "evaluating appeal options and next steps." The Louisiana Supreme Court handed the city a clear loss in the long-running case in November 2019, endorsing a ruling that the city violated its charter when Mayor Ray Nagins administration launched the camera ticketing program in 2008 under the Department of Public Works. The city moved the program under the Police Department in late 2010, after lawsuits were filed. A state appeals court first ruled in 2013 that the earlier version was illegal. Five years later, ad hoc Judge Robert Burns finally ruled that the city must pay. He calculated the bill at $25,612,690.32 plus interest. Metairie attorney Joseph McMahon, who has led the case, said that interest has accrued at more than $1 million a year. When the state Supreme Court endorsed Burns' decision in November 2019, a Cantrell spokesperson suggested in a statement that the city would follow a time-honored practice of delay. 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 In court, the city has noted that the Louisiana Constitution shields state and local agencies from having to pay on state judgments unless the moneys been appropriated. The ticket payments would be refunded "as subject to an appropriation," the city said, adding to a roster of unpaid judgments that had totaled more than $40 million. The city argued that the plaintiffs only filed their federal lawsuit to get around the state Constitution and collect on a judgment. But Morgan wrote in her March 9 order that the ticket-payers werent just trying to enforce a state judgment, but to recover property the city had no right to keep. A violation of the Fifth Amendment trumps Louisianas anti-seizure provision, Morgan wrote. Louisiana law cannot convert the Plaintiffs private property in the form of a refund into public property without just compensation." McMahon did not immediately return a call Friday for comment on Morgan's ruling. Similar troubles befell the camera ticketing program in Jefferson Parish after a challenge that McMahon also led. In that case, the Jefferson Parish Council agreed to a settlement in 2015 and paid out more than 180,000 ticket refunds, at a steep discount. The Texas Supreme Court punted Friday on a question dogging millions of Texans affected by last months catastrophic power failure: Can ERCOT, the states grid manager, be sued? The states highest court ruled 5-4 that it wont decide at least not now in a closely watched case between Dallas electricity generator Panda Power and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The $2.7 billion case filed by Panda Power in 2016 raised the question of whether ERCOT is a governmental agency that has sovereign immunity protecting it from lawsuits. ERCOT, a private, nonprofit corporation overseen by the Texas Legislature and the Public Utility Commission, is the only grid manager in the country that has such protection. ERCOT: Texas Supreme Court to decide if ERCOT is immune from storm lawsuits Five justices led by Justice Jeff Boyd said the Texas Constitution prohibits them from ruling on the case after the trial court issued a final judgment dismissing the case. Based on a finding of sovereign immunity by an appeals court, the Supreme Court narrowly ruled that the dismissal by the lower court in Dallas made the case moot and that it no longer had the authority to rule in the case. Because the trial courts interlocutory order merged into the final judgment and no longer exists, we cannot grant the relief the parties seek, Boyd wrote in the majority opinion. As a result, any decision we might render would constitute an impermissible advisory opinion, and these consolidated causes are moot. Four dissenting justices led by Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, argued that they should rule on the case because the public has an interest whether ERCOT can be sued in the aftermath of last months storm. The answer to the immunity issue in this case has become perhaps more important to the public than even to the parties, the minority opinion, written by Hecht stated. The parties want to know. The public wants to know. The court refuses to answer. The ruling by the high court has widespread implications in the wake of last months deadly and devastating blackouts, which contributed to more than 50 deaths and billions of dollars of property damage across Texas. Several lawsuits have been filed against the state grid manager, including over the deaths of an 11-year-old boy and a 95-year-old man, who were both found dead in their freezing Houston-area homes. ERCOT said it remains immune from lawsuits under a 2018 decision by a Dallas appellate court, which upheld ERCOTs sovereign immunity. Today, the Texas Supreme Court decided on procedural grounds not to take up Panda Powers challenge to the Dallas Court of Appeals 2018 decision that ERCOT is immune from suit, an ERCOT spokeswoman said. ERCOT looks forward to presenting these arguments in the court again once the pending case in the Dallas Court of Appeals has concluded. Larry Taylor, a Dallas-based attorney who represents several families in lawsuits against ERCOT stemming from the power outages last month, said the lack of a decision by the Supreme Court leaves open the possibility for his clients claims to be heard. The Court today ruled in a business dispute. Our cases involve personal injury, property damage and wrongful death, Taylor said. We sincerely hope ERCOT has heard from the people, the Texas legislature, and the courts, and understands these are problems in the system they need to address head-on and not hide behind sovereign immunity. The Supreme Court could still decide on ERCOTs immunity as appeals from the Panda Power case come up through the legal system, said David Coale, an appellate partner with Dallas-based law firm Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann, which is not involved in any cases. The court may have punted, but it didnt walk away, Coale said. It acknowledged that another appeal involving the same parties is on its way up to them, and it can revisit these issues then. Panda Power sued ERCOT in 2016, alleging that the grid operator issued seriously flawed or rigged energy demand projections that prompted the Dallas power company to invest $2.2 billion to build three power plants early last decade. The plants, held by Panda holding companies, ended up losing billions of dollars, forcing one of the holding companies into bankruptcy. ERCOTs reports calling for more power generators came in the aftermath of a major ice storm in February 2011, which crippled Texas power plants and forced rolling blackouts across the state. Panda Powers case was halted in 2018 when an appeals court in Dallas asserted that ERCOT was protected from lawsuits by sovereign immunity. The Texas Supreme Court in June 2020 said it would review the appellate court decision and heard the case in September. ERCOT, in court filings, argued that it needs immunity from lawsuits because it is funded by transaction fees paid by power generators. A large damage verdict, ERCOT argued, would mean it would have to allocate the cost among the generators, which in turn, would pass it along to consumers in the form of higher electricity prices. ERCOT does not receive taxpayer funding. More than 4 million Texans including 1.4 million CenterPoint customers in the Houston area were without reliable power for days during the power failure last month. The rolling blackouts created a cascading ripple effect, causing water systems to fail, food to spoil and homes, businesses and schools to suffer billions of dollars of property damage from frozen and broken water pipes. At least 30 deaths in the Houston area, have been linked to the blackouts, including from prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures, loss of essential medical devices and carbon monoxide poisoning as people sought warmth by running cars, portable generators and barbecue grills indoors. paul.takahashi@chron.com twitter.com/paultakahashi Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. Gandhinagar, March 19 : Jignesh Mevani, the lone independent legislator in the Gujarat assembly, was on Friday suspended for a day on for allegedly displaying placards protesting the alleged inaction by the administration by not arresting Police Sub Inspector PR Solanki in the Dalit RTI activist murder case. Just after the question hour ended on Friday in the ongoing budget session of the Gujarat assembly and as the House was proceeding for the business of the day, Mevani, legislator from the Vadgam constituency, raised questions over the PSI's arrest in the Sanodar village incident, where an RTI activist was hacked to death inside his house on March 2. Mevani started asking questions to Minister of Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja and later to Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani. Speaker Rajendra Trivedi asked him to sit down. Instead, Mevani started shouting and raising slogans and showing placards with questions related to why PSI Solanki wasn't arrested in the Dalit murder case? Angered by this display, the speaker once again asked him to sit down immediately otherwise he would have Mevani evicted. Not getting a response, Trivedi ordered the sergeants to forcibly have Mevani removed from the House and suspended him for the day. "There is a provision under the Atrocity Act of wilful negligence in duty. Between 2009 and 2021, Amrabhai Boricha, an RTI activist from Sanodar village in Ghogha Tehsil of Bhavnagar district, was continuously assaulted 13 times and 13 offences were also registered. He kept on asking for protection from the police, but the police did not listen. "He kept asking the concerned PSI Solanki. Eventually he was killed in his house in broad daylight by a group of people. An FIR has been lodged against the negligent PSI separately, on top of the FIR for the murder. Despite that, even after 17 days of the crime, Solanki hasn't been arrested," said Mevani. "My question in the House was about the relationship the PSI had with the Gujarat CM and the Home Minister, so that he was shielded from being arrested. So I was suspended for the day, following my protest and questions in the house," alleged Mevani. According to his family members, Amrabhai Boricha, 50, was attacked with spears, iron pipes, and swords. According to sources, the Boricha family is the lone Dalit family in Sanodar village, primarily dominated by the Kshatriya community. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text A Cavan man caught transporting 2.5 million worth of cocaine in his transit van has been jailed for eight years. Former publican Charles Coyle (59) was caught with the drugs after gardai acting on confidential information mounted a surveillance operation on a truck coming into the country from Latvia. Coyle was observed to park near the truck at a Dublin service station and take three boxes from it which he moved to his own van. Gardai later intercepted his car and seized the drugs. Coyle of Bough, Cootehill pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of the drugs for sale or supply in Lusk on April 24, 2020. He has 20 previous convictions, ten for road traffic and the remainder are licensing law offences from a time when he operated a pub. The truck driver, Dmitrijs Venskovics (45), was jailed for eight years last November. Garda Michael Ormonde told Karl Finnegan BL, prosecuting, that gardai searched Coyle's car found one kilogram of cocaine under the front passenger seat and a further 35 kg of cocaine in a security compartment in the back of the van. Coyle told gardai he was buying and selling various items such as vegetables and hand sanitisers using his van. He said he was given directions to pick up these boxes and was getting instructions on where he should take them. He said he was to be paid 2,000 for transporting them. John Peart SC, defending, said his client is remorseful for getting involved, has come to his senses and realises he should not have done this. He said his client was a van salesman going around selling things and had a vulnerability about him. He said he was completely out of his depth in relation to these offences and was other than this was of good character. He submitted that the court could depart from the mandatory minimum of ten years imprisonment taking into account that he had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and made full admissions as to his own role. He said as an older man every year he does in prison at this stage of his life is a significant one. Judge Martin Nolan said Coyle's role was to transport the drugs at the directions of others and it was not the case that he owned them. He said at Coyle's age he should have had more sense and it was a grievous error of judgement. He said he saw no reason to depart from the sentence imposed on the truck driver and imposed an eight year sentence on Coyle. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 By Denis Slattery | New York Daily News Albany, N.Y. Lawmakers approved long-sought legislation Thursday limiting the use of solitary confinement in New York prisons and jails. The bill, called the Humane Alternatives to Solitary Confinement Act, or HALT, passed the state Senate days after sailing through the Assembly. If signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the measure will limit any form of isolation exceeding 15 days and ban solitary confinement for vulnerable populations altogether. Prolonged segregated confinement can cause permanent harms and does not properly address the root causes that lead to the punishment, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Yonkers Democrat, said. These reforms are morally right, fiscally responsible, and will improve outcomes at jails and prisons. Theres currently no limit on how long someone can spend in solitary, with some incarcerated people reporting months-long stints in isolation. It is no secret that the use of solitary confinement is inhumane, unethical and constitutes torture under international law if it extends more than fifteen days, said Democratic state Sen. Julia Salazar of Brooklyn, the chair of the Senate Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction. It must be discontinued immediately. Advocates have fought for the measure for years, bristling in 2019 when the governor essentially squashed the bill and announced a policy change that fell short of the stricter limits set by the legislation. Supporters of the bill point to research showing solitary confinement can have devastating physical and mental impacts, leading to psychosis and health issues. The Cuomo administration, and the governor himself, have argued that the changes outlined in the bill, such as implementing alternative rehabilitative measures and creating Residential Rehabilitation Units, would be too expensive to implement. Jerome Wright, a statewide organizer with the #HALTsolitary Campaign and a survivor of solitary confinement, applauded the Legislature for finally taking up the bill. For many years, survivors of solitary confinement and families who have lost loved ones in solitary have led a campaign to end this torture and replace it with safer and more effective interventions, he said in a statement. Freedom from torture is the most basic of human rights, and yet every year tens of thousands of New Yorkers are subjected to it in the form of solitary confinement for weeks, months, years, and even decades. Under the bill, solitary confinement cannot be used as punishment for anyone with a disability or is under 21 or over 55 years of age. It is also barred for women who are pregnant, up to eight weeks postpartum or caring for children in a facility. Anyone in solitary cannot be denied basic services, treatment or needs such as clothing, food and bedding as punishment, according to the legislation. The State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision will also be required to publish monthly reports on its website with semiannual and annual cumulative reports of the total number of people in segregated confinement. The NYC Correction Officers Union slammed legislators for passing the bill, arguing it will lead to an increase in violent attacks in prisons and noting that an officer was sent to Mount Sinai for stitches Wednesday after attempting to break up a fight between two inmates at a Rikers Island jail. The officer was punched and slashed above the eye with a box cutter. There is nothing humane about subjecting our brave men and women to brutal assaults that send them to the hospital every week to be treated for broken noses, broken eye sockets, and gashes across their limbs that often require many stitches, said COBA President Benny Boscio, arguing that attacks on officers are up 23% and stabbings and slashings continue to rise. The governor should put safety first and refuse to sign this reckless piece of legislation that is only going to further jeopardize the lives of our essential correction officers, he added. Enough is enough. A member of an unidentified group of gunmen was killed in a clash with Lao government troops this month in the latest of a series of sporadic attacks by anti-government forces in Xaysomboun province, sources close to the Lao military and police said. After the the March 9 clash in Xaysombouns Thathom district, government troops spread out over a nearby mountain to track other fighters down, sources told RFAs Lao Service, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. Currently, the authorities wont allow anyone to enter the fighting area, a relative of one of the soldiers told RFA on Tuesday. Some members of the anti-government force have escaped, and soldiers have been sent to the combat zone, which is on top of a mountain. Yes, there was a shooting incident in the area, a former government military officer told RFA, while another source close to a high-ranking provincial military officer also confirmed reports of the clash. It happened in early March, the source said, also asking that his name not be used, and the Xaysomboun authorities have sent a great number of provincial military troops to reinforce the forces in Thathom. Soldiers from the province are now patrolling and blocking the roads in the areas nearby so that insurgents cannot recover the body of their fallen comrade, a villager in Thathom said, adding, They normally wont leave their friends behind, but the soldiers have captured the body now. Persons are now prohibited from entering the area between Thathom districts Vangkhan Point and Sobjae Point, according to a March 15 district office notice citing military activity in the area. The period of the ban runs from March 15 until March 30, says the notice, a copy of which was obtained by RFA. Thathom District Chief Phouthasath Noythavy meanwhile turned away requests for comment, saying Im not able to provide you with more details about this right now. Im in a meeting. Two members of an identified anti-government group in Laos pose for a photo after a clash with Lao soldiers in Xaysomboun province, March 9, 2021. Shootings, bomb attacks Since 2000, Laos has sustained periodic shootings and bomb attacks on transportation hubs and border checkpoints by suspected insurgents. The March 9 clash was only the latest in a series of shootings and other attacks in Xaysomboun province, most recently on June 20, 2020 when a government soldier was shot and killed while on patrol inspecting for illegal poppy cultivation. In January 2016, a car carrying Chinese miners was ambushed in the province, leaving two dead and one injured, and in November 2015 an exchange of gunfire between an armed group and local troops left three soldiers and four civilians dead, sources said in earlier reports. In most cases, Laos secretive government stops short of identifying individuals or groups who might have perpetrated the attacks while there are no claims of responsibility or political statements issued in connection with the incidents. Authorities in multi-ethnic Laos have long been wary of opposition among the country's Hmong ethnic minority, many of whom say they face persecution from the government because of their ties with the United States during the Vietnam War, when thousands of Hmong fought under CIA advisers during the so-called secret war against communists in Laos. Reported by Ounkeo Souksavanh for RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney. Theres an urgency to get shots in arms as quickly as possible in a race against emerging COVID-19 variants, Tsai said. At the same time, immunizations need to go to those most at risk of contracting the virus and dying from it. Distributing should be equitable to all races and income levels, and shots have to get to rural and urban areas alike. The demand for desks and chairs exploded last year and many retailers sold out of even the most basic models by summer. For 2021, brands like Artifox in St. Louis have responded with new designs that will transform your makeshift office into a space that you will actually want to be in. Their black oak desk is a standout with just enough design to make it the focal point of the room without taking up too much space. The desks modular system allows you to customize it with smart accessories to create your own setup. In addition to the big items, brands like HAY are focusing on the details, like colorful desktop organizers or trash bins that look like art. Covid relief funding allows infrastructure projects, premium pay for essential workers Although broad categories of how a windfall of economic recovery money can be spent are known, local government organizations are awaiting detailed rules from the U.S. Treasury Department. The top government relations officials with the North Carolina League of Municipalities and the N.C. Association of County Commissioners on Thursday described what's known so far about how the money from the American Recovery Act can be spent. "This is an extraordinary historic moment," Beau Mills, director of urban affairs for the League, told elected leaders and local government managers during a virtual meeting of the Land of Sky Regional Council. "I don't think that we've ever seen anything like what we're getting ready to experience where cities and towns of every size are going to get money directly. The state has no option to change the allocation. This is quite extraordinary. Congress and the president have really bestowed us a great opportunity." The Land of Sky region, made up of Henderson, Buncombe, Transylvania and Madison counties, is projected to receive $130 million. Henderson County and its five towns are in line to get $33 million. The breakdown: Henderson County, $22.7 million. Flat Rock $990,000 Fletcher $2.45 million Hendersonville $4.14 million Laurel Park $680,000 Mills River $2.17 million The four broadly defined ways cities and counties can spend the money are: To address the public health emergency with respect to Covid-19 or its negative economic impact or to support hard-hit industries such as tousim, travel and hospitality. Premium pay to essential employees Necessary investment in water and sewer projects and broadband infrastructure. Grants to nonprofits or "special purpose" units of government. Covering revenue loss could be allowed, although sales tax and property revenue Henderson County budget has been less negatively impacted than officials had predicted. "If you can document loss of revenue you would be allowed to backfill revenue losses," Mills said. Propping up pension funds or using the money to cut taxes are not permitted. "In addition to the state and local money there is lots of money for local relief," Amber Harris, director of government relations for the Association of County Commissioners, told the Land of Sky group. "We're really waiting for Treasury to see exactly how this money can be spent." Both Mills and Harris recommended that local government bodies think in terms of capital projects that can be completed by Dec. 21, 2024, the deadline for spending the money. It's not clear whether a project would have to be completed by then or just under way with a contract price encumbered. "The whole world is going be watching how we spend this money and the last thing we want is to be clickbait for how government wastes dollars," Mills said. In this file photo Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) asks questions to Dr. Richard Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, during a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing to discuss protecting scientific integrity in response to the coronavirus outbreak on May 14, 2020, in Washington, DC. AFP-Yonhap Asian American lawmakers on Thursday described harrowing discrimination including a congresswoman's personal experience in historic abuse by the government as they testified about the national tragedy of racism highlighted by this week's Atlanta murders. A congressional hearing turned personal as Democrats vented about how former president Donald Trump and others have demonized Asians as responsible for the coronavirus, with one warning that such language has put a "bull's eye" on the backs of Asian Americans and Pacific islanders. "I have a responsibility and a moral obligation to speak out about the normalizing of attacks on the AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) community," said congresswoman Doris Matsui, a 76-year-old Californian. During World War II, the US government forcibly relocated Matsui's Japanese American parents and grandparents to an internment camp in Poston, Arizona. "They lived in appalling conditions, surrounded by a barbed wire fence, armed guards on towers, incarcerated solely because of their ancestry." Matsui was born in the very camp where her family was held. "Our government, and many of its leaders, advanced the myth that the Japanese American community was inherently the enemy," she said. "Americans across the country believed it, acceded to institutionalized racism, and acted on it." 'Please stop' VANCOUVER, BC, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP ("AHIP" or the "Company") (TSX: HOT.UN, TSX: HOT.U, TSX: HOT.DB.U) announced today the departure of Azim Lalani, Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"), to pursue other opportunities effective March 18, 2021. "I would like to thank Azim for his diligent work and greatly appreciate all his contributions through his tenure at AHIP," said Jonathan Korol, Chief Executive Officer. "He was integral in growing the Company, strengthening its balance sheet and building out our accounting and finance team. On behalf of AHIP's Board of Directors and management, we wish him the best in his future endeavours." "It has been a privilege to work alongside the entire AHIP team and to have been a part of the Company's growth story," said Mr. Lalani. "I am confident that AHIP will remain on a solid path forward." The Company will be initiating a broad search for a new CFO immediately, including external candidates. Anne Yu, AHIP's Vice President, Finance, will act as interim CFO. ABOUT AMERICAN HOTEL INCOME PROPERTIES REIT LP American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP (TSX: HOT.UN, TSX: HOT.U, TSX: HOT.DB.U), or AHIP, is a limited partnership formed to invest in hotel real estate properties across the United States. AHIP's 78 premium branded, select-service hotels are located in secondary metropolitan markets that benefit from diverse and typically stable demand. AHIP hotels operate under brands affiliated with Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Choice Hotels through license agreements. The Company's long-term objectives are to build on its proven track record of successful investment, deliver U.S. dollar denominated distributions to unitholders, and generate value through the continued growth of its diversified hotel portfolio. More information is available at www.ahipreit.com. SOURCE American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP Related Links www.ahipreit.com ANKARA, Turkey (AP) Turkish police have detained some 20 people in raids against suspected Kurdish militants, including three top local officials of the countrys pro-Kurdish party, the state-run news agency reported Friday. Separately, Ozturk Turkdogan, the chairman of Turkeys Human Rights Association, IHD, was also detained in Ankara following a raid on his home, the association announced on Twitter. The raids in Ankara and Istanbul came days after a top prosecutor filed a case with Turkeys highest court seeking to disband the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party, or HDP, accusing it of ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The European Union and the United States criticized the move, saying it would violate the rights of millions of HDP voters in Turkey. The Anadolu Agency said anti-terrorism police carried out simultaneous raids in four Istanbul districts early on Friday, detaining 10 people suspected of engaging in acts on behalf of the PKK. Ten other people were detained in Ankara, where the raids focused on a PKK-linked group suspected of coordinating the militants actions, according to Anadolu. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU. It was not immediately known why Turkdogan, a top human rights activist who was involved in failed peace talks with the PKK between 2013 and 2015, was detained. IHD said its lawyer were trying to obtain information about his case. His arrest is a blatant human rights violation, the IHD stated on Twitter. He must be released now. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. TAIPEI/HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's largest conglomerate Vingroup said on Friday its car unit was in early stage talks with Taiwan's Foxconn about working together and that any partnership formed would focus on developing batteries and electric car parts. Foxconn has proposed acquiring EV production lines owned by the unit VinFast, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media. But VinFast prefers a partnership as it is keen to brand itself as an eco-friendly automaker and wants to retain its EV business, one of the sources said. "Vingroup has received proposals from Foxconn but nothing is concrete yet. The partnership, if any, will focus on developing the batteries and electric car parts," a spokesman for Vingroup said. "No decision on working together to produce EVs has been made yet." Foxconn declined to comment. The world's largest contract manufacturer and Apple Inc supplier has outlined plans to become a major provider of parts and services in the global EV market and any agreement with VinFast would follow deals with Fiat Chrysler and EV startups. Its ambitions threaten to shake up the industry, offering Apple and other non-traditional players a shortcut to competing in the vehicle market. VinFast became Vietnam's first fully fledged domestic car manufacturer when its first gasoline-powered models built under its own badge hit the streets in 2019. The company sold about 30,000 vehicles last year and has forecast sales of more than 45,000 for 2021. It will begin delivery of EVs produced at its factory in the northern port city of Hai Phong to domestic customers by December. VinFast, which also produces electric motorbikes and buses, said this month it had set up an electric vehicle battery venture with Taiwan's ProLogium. Seeking to provide components or services to 10% of the world's electric vehicles as early as 2025, Foxconn has moved quickly to clinch a number of deals. One of its biggest is an agreement with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to provide contract manufacturing for other automakers. Story continues It has also said it will work with U.S. startup Fisker to produce more than 250,000 vehicles a year beginning in late 2023 and will start building SUVs for China's Byton next year. With Fiat Chrysler, it is setting up a venture to develop EVs and internet-connected cars. Foxconn chairman Liu Young-way also said this week the company may make electric vehicles at its high-profile but troubled plant in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, though it could decide on Mexico. He described Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry, as the "new kid in town" for carmaking and said it needs to quickly build up its capacity to earn trust from clients. (Reporting by Taipei newsroom and Phuong Nguyen; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. ROME (AP) Three cardinals close to Pope Francis defended a recent Holy See pronouncement that priests cannot bless same-sex unions as the Vatican faced outright dissent from some Catholic clergy and questions about the pontiff's approval of the document. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, head of the Vaticans laity office, concurred Thursday with the pronouncement that a blessing is a sacramental action related to the sacrament of marriage, which the Catholic Church teaches can only be celebrated between a man and woman. Farrell said civil unions are not marriages as the Catholic Church understands the term, but he stressed: I do want to insist that nobody, nobody must ever be excluded from the pastoral care and love and concern of the church. He was speaking at a news conference launching a yearlong celebration of Francis view of family life, articulated in a 2016 document titled The Joy of Love. Later Thursday, Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley and Cardinal Peter Turkson, head of the Vatican's development office, pointed to Francis' pastoral outreach to gay men and lesbians but repeated the church's position. The church has a very clear teaching about marriage that needs to be proclaimed," O'Malley said during an online panel discussion organized by Georgetown University. Their comments came amid continuing criticism of the document released Monday by the Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which said the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions because God cannot bless sin. In Austria, a group of dissident Catholic priests known as the Pfarrer-Initiative, or, the Pastors Initiative, said they were deeply appalled by the new decree and would not follow it. This is a return to times we had hoped with Pope Francis to get past, the priests in Austria said in a statement. We will, in solidarity with so many, not reject any loving couple in the future who asks to celebrate Gods blessing, which they experience every day, also in a worship service. Story continues The group, which was founded in 2006 by nine priests and today claims 350 members from the official Roman Catholic Church, said the decree discredits Jesus liberating message. A Belgian bishop, Antwerp Bishop Johan Bonny, apologized to the faithful on Wednesday for what he said was a painful and incomprehensible decision. In Germany, Mainz Bishop Peter Kohlgraf also expressed dismay, saying he was bothered by the Vatican position and took seriously the criticism of it he had heard from his flock. In a statement on his diocesan website, Kohlgraf said he stood by views he expressed in writing last month that appeared to endorse various liturgical blessings for gay couples that some priests already were using. The blessing celebrations arose from pastoral accompaniment of the people affected. Most of them are not formulas replicating church marriage, nor is the intention to develop a uniform liturgy, he wrote. No, I do not call for a form of blessing that is similar to marriage. But I do call for accompaniment instead of judging. The rollout of the document was unusual. The Vatican press office gave no advance notice that it was coming out. The document itself said Francis had only been informed and gave his assent to the publication." Other documents from the Vatican orthodoxy office have carried a much more authoritative-sounding endorsement from the pope. One issued June 24 on the validity of some baptisms, for example, said Francis had approved these responses and ordered their publication." ___ David Rising contributed from Berlin. For the fourth year in a row Finland has ranked at the first position as the happiest country in the world, according to this year's World Happiness Report. Unlike in previous years, the happiness index included surveys on how countries have dealt with the coronavirus pandemic that has shaken the world for more than a year. Finland is a Northern European nation bordering Sweden, Norway and Russia. Its capital, Helsinki, occupies a peninsula and surrounding islands in the Baltic Sea. DW What is World Happiness Report? But what exactly is the World Happiness Report? It takes into account factors such as healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, gross domestic product (GDP), generosity, social support from friends, perceived corruption, as well as recent emotions of the respondents, both good and bad. The annual, independent survey is organised by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Rankings were reached via several surveys but chiefly used data from the Gallup World Poll. REUTERS About 1,000 respondents in each country were asked to, for example, rate the quality of their lives on a scale of zero to 10. Other questions included how many times respondents laughed or felt joy and satisfaction the previous day. Conversely, the survey also took into account negative emotions such as asking how often respondents had felt worry, sadness or anger the previous day. How is happiness measured this year? The report's authors said this year's survey examined the effects of the crisis on the structure and quality of people's lives as well as looked at how governments dealt with it. File The happiness report is in its ninth year of publication, but this year it also looked at how countries and their inhabitants had dealt with the coronavirus pandemic. The survey asked how people's lives and feelings may have changed during 2020 compared to the previous few years. The causes of negative feelings included weakened economies, health worries of the respondent or a relative as well as job losses and difficulty finding employment. Meanwhile, respondents said positive feelings during the pandemic year had been prompted by volunteering, exercise, caring for a pet or a feeling of general gratitude. Why Finland? Finland has long been praised by a multitude of international bodies for its extensive welfare benefits, low levels of corruption, well-functioning democracy, and its instilled sense of freedom and autonomy. Its progressive taxation and wealth distribution has allowed for a flourishing universal healthcare system, and, staggeringly, more than 80% of Finns trust their police force, which is far more than many other countries can claim. Which about other countries? Trailing behind Finland on the happiness index were Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. All of the Nordic countries were ranked within the list's top 10, while Estonia was 28th and Russia 60th most happy out of the index's total of 149 nations. Reuters The southern African country of Zimbabwe was listed at the bottom of the happiness rankings. Meanwhile the 20 countries found at the bottom of the list were located in Africa, many of which were dealing with difficult situations, unrest or even civil war. Britain's Home Secretary Priti Patel at 10 Downing Street in central London on Jan. 21, 2021. ( Matt Dunham/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) UK Court Overturns Home Secretarys Order to Strip Citizenships of 3 Alleged ISIS Recruits Three British-Bangladeshis who allegedly joined the ISIS terrorist group in Syria have had their British citizenship restored by a court on Thursday. The UKs upper tribunal ruled that the Home Secretary did not have the legal right to revoke their British citizenships, because they did not hold any other citizenship at the time. The whereabouts of these individuals are unknown, but the ruling means they are entitled to return to the UK. This is in contrast with the cases of Ashraf Mahmud Islam and his ISIS bride Shamima Begum, both of whom held dual citizenship when their British citizenship was stripped. Two women, identified as C3 and C4, and a man, identified as C7, had their British citizenships restored by the tribunal. C3 and C4 were both born in the UK, and both womens parents were born in areas that now form part of Bangladesh. Under Bangladeshs Citizenship Act 1951, anyone born to a Bangladeshi automatically becomes a citizen. However, dual citizenship is only allowed for under-21s. Once one turns 21, his/her Bangladeshi citizenship expires unless a declaration is made to renounce the other citizenship. C3 and C4 were 29 and 27 years old respectively when their citizenship was stripped by the Home Secretary on Nov. 8, 2019. C7 was born in Bangladesh in 1978 and held dual citizenship because his father was a British citizen at the time. He was already in his 40s when the Home Secretary stripped his citizenship on March 30, 2020. A court document (pdf) said that although the British Nationality Act 1981 authorises the Secretary of State by order to deprive a person of citizenship if satisfied that deprivation is conducive to the public good, the secretary make not make such an order if satisfied that the order would make a person stateless. The judgement said the three individuals have persuaded the tribunal that on the dates when the decisions and the orders in their cases were made, they were not nationals of Bangladesh or any other State apart from the UK. It means that orders depriving them of their British citizenship would make them stateless, the judgement said, adding that the Secretary of State had no power to make these orders under the law. For that reason (and that reason alone), the appeals against the decisions to make those orders succeed. The Telegraph quoted a Home Office spokesman as saying: We are extremely disappointed with this judgment and the courts decision that deprivation cannot stand in these cases. The Governments priority remains maintaining the safety and security of the UK. Americans' rush to move all aspects of their lives online during the pandemic classes, meetings, legal proceedings, shopping and more left many vulnerable to exposure, exploitation and fraud. Why it matters: The digital environment wasn't always ready to deal with newcomers' privacy and security needs. And the people responsible for managing these activities couldn't foresee all the pitfalls of moving online. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free "We have a perfect storm: a public that is more attuned to seeing misinformation, a pandemic where more and more people are doing things online from their homes, and stress and anxiety," said Ari Lightman, a professor of marketing and media at Carnegie Mellon University. "We're going to have to do a reality check. We spent a year buying things and setting stuff up online. I think we need to do some digital hygiene. What are we signed up for?" Acting FTC chairwoman Rebecca Slaughter told Axios: "As our lives have moved online, that has real implications for the exposure of personal data" that companies collect for "surveillance capitalism ad tech models, the generation of algorithms and the provision of health services." But it shouldn't be up to individuals to clean up their own post-pandemic digital trails, Slaughter said, pointing to the need for national privacy legislation. "A lot of the changes we've made to online are going to stick, so we need to make sure we set appropriate deterrence levels for corporate behavior and we effectively enforce the laws we have before bad actions and patterns get baked in." The big picture: "Virtual interactions during the pandemic are presenting privacy issues at scale in a way that can be really challenging," said John Verdi, president of the Future of Privacy Forum, a privacy think tank in Washington. Story continues What's happening: In some institutions and companies, new pandemic-era responsibilities led to better privacy and cybersecurity practices. In others, they exposed big shortcomings. For example, a Virginia woman who has accused a massage therapist of sexual assault told Axios she decided not to testify because her only option was to do so over a live-streamed WebEx meeting. Her state's Department of Health Professions enforcement division is not allowing in-person hearings during the pandemic. The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was worried the live-streamed hearing will put her in danger, with the potential for someone to take screen shots of her face or record the proceedings. "It's hard enough coming forward, you already feel powerless and victimized," she said. "To feel like I'm powerless again, having to choose between testifying or not... it's really distressing." All disciplinary hearings in Virginia are open to the public, in person or virtually, Diane Powers, the director of communications for the Virginia Department of Health Professions, told Axios. "DHP seeks to uphold its mission to keep the people of Virginia safe while under the care of a licensee of a health regulatory board," she said. "This includes use of digital technology critical to stopping the spread of COVID-19 among constituents and our employees." What they're saying: "That example shows there are certain aspects of their society where online should not be the new normal," said Caitriona Fitzgerald, policy director at the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "There's something particularly unique about our justice system that necessitates in-person proceedings." Another jarring example: A defendant in a Michigan assault case was in the same house as the alleged assault victim during a Zoom hearing, violating his no-contact agreement and resulting in his arrest during the meeting, WSBT 22 News reports. "This is an issue we didn't have when we had live court," St. Joseph County District Judge Jeffrey Middleton said during the proceedings, according to the Washington Post. The video chronicling all of this was removed from the court's website, but the privacy damage was already done. Moving schools online has led to some violations of student privacy. Some students are wary of having their cameras on during online learning to prevent others from seeing their homes or family situations. "I have seen firsthand how much more data about kids is being gathered, and that's materially different from a pre-pandemic universe," the FTC's Slaughter said of her own experience with her children's' online schooling. In Europe, where a consumer privacy law is in place, a student council in Amsterdam challenged the use of student proctoring software designed to prevent cheating, questioning whether they could properly give consent for their data to be processed by the software. Meanwhile: Americans are far more vulnerable to online fraud, which was at an all-time high in 2020. The FTC received 350,000 reports of online shopping scams, with total financial losses of $245 million, the agency said. People also received a barrage of text-message scams related to the pandemic. The bottom line: Once pandemic limits ease, it's possible that Americans' lives will revert to their pre-COVID balance between online and in-person activities. But many experts expect the move online to last which means privacy issues will, too. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. ATLANTA Most were dedicated mothers. Some came to the USA looking for a better life. One was an Army veteran working as a handyman. Some loved to dance and sing karaoke. Authorities have identified all eight people killed last week in a string of attacks at three Atlanta-area spas. Six of the women were of Asian descent, including four who were Korean. Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim and Yong Ae Yue were identified Friday by the Fulton County Medical Examiner's office as the four victims of the shootings at two spas in Atlanta. The medical examiner said Park, Grant and Yue died of gunshot wounds to the head, and Kim died of gunshot wounds to the chest. Wednesday, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office released the names of the four victims at the spa there, about 30 miles north of Atlanta. Those killed at Youngs Asian Massage were Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan and Daoyou Feng. A 30-year-old Hispanic man was injured. Family and friends reflected on the lives those who were killed lived. Most of the women had sons and daughters who remembered them as close friends. They dedicated their lives to making sure their children were taken care of. Other victims included a woman who had been married less than a year and a brother who left behind more than half a dozen siblings. The shooting comes amid a spike in incidents of hate, discrimination and violence against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, fueled by racist rhetoric by politicians such as former President Donald Trump, said Stop AAPI Hate, a group that tracks such incidents. Who gets to decide what is racism, hate? Atlanta shootings renew debate over white violence, privilege Here's what we know about the victims: Hyun Jung Grant Hyun Jung Grant, 51, loved karaoke, dancing and clubs, and she made the world's best kimchi stew, her son Randy Park told USA TODAY. "She dedicated her whole life to raising us, but even then, she found time to enjoy herself with her friends," Park, 22, said. "I can't articulate or express in any way to describe what she was or what she meant to us. I could say whatever word that comes to my head for her, but it doesn't encompass a fraction of what she meant to us." Story continues More: Hyung Jung Grant, killed in Atlanta shootings, was a loving single mom who lived for her sons Park said he learned only recently that his mom worked in a massage parlor she initially said it was a makeup parlor in an effort to protect her two boys. The two Atlanta spas attacked by the shooter had been repeatedly targeted in prostitution investigations in the past 10 years, according to police records. The documents show that 10 people had been arrested on prostitution charges, but none since 2013. The suspect told police his sex addiction drove him to commit the crimes, and Atlanta authorities confirmed the man had "frequented" the spas. Park said he understands why his mother wasn't forthcoming and said he feels selfish and guilty for invading her privacy by asking about it. He said they never talked about her work, which sometimes kept her away from home for weeks at a time. "What's so hard about letting people live how they want? If it does no harm to you, who is it harming, then?" he asked. "I can't articulate or express in any way to describe what she was or what she meant to us," says Randy Park, 22, of his mother, Hyun Jung Grant, one of the victims in a series of shootings at spas in the Atlanta area. Business owner, Army veteran, woman on a date: More on the victims of the deadly rampage through 3 spas in Georgia Xiaojie Tan Xiaojie Tan, 49, who owned Young's Asian Spa and one other in Acworth, Georgia, also went by her American name Emily. She was remembered as a curious, hardworking and caring woman who was always filled with joy. Xiaojie Tan owned two spas in Acworth, Ga. She did everything for me and for the family. She provided everything. She worked every day, 12 hours a day, so that me and our family would have a better life, Tan's daughter, Jami Webb, told USA TODAY. "She was full of smiles and laughter. She was just a pleasure to be around, said Michael Webb, Jami's father, who met Tan while traveling for work in China in the early 2000s. Tan was the youngest of two girls born to parents who were Catholics in the communist country. Her dad fixed bicycles. Michael Webb and Tan met in her native city of Nanning, China, which sits on the border with Vietnam. Neither spoke the others language well, but that didnt stop the pair from falling in love. Some called her by her Chinese name Xiaojie, or Jay for short. In China, it is customary to put the family name before the given name, and Tan's name in Chinese transliterated to Tan Xiao Jie, which means pure or honest. Because Western countries use the surname last, her legal name in the USA was Xiaojie Tan. Xiaojie Tan dreamed of traveling the world and celebrating her 50th birthday with her daughter. Then the Atlanta shooter ended her life. Delaina Ashley Yaun Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, leaves behind a 13-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter. She and her husband had been married less than a year. Her mother, Margaret Rushing, told WAGA-TV that her daughter and son-in-law went to the spa on a date. When gunfire broke out, Yaun's husband locked himself in a room and wasn't injured, said Yaun's half-sister, Dana Toole. Hes taking it hard, Toole said. He was there. He heard the gunshots and everything. You cant escape that when youre in a room and gunshots are flying what do you do? "We could really use the help to cover her funeral expenses," loved ones said on a GoFundMe page. "She has two beautiful babies she is leaving behind. We just don't know how to do any of this alone. If you can find it in your heart to donate, our Family will certainly appreciate all of your support." Yaun's husband, Mario Gonzalez, told Spanish-language website MundoHispanico that they were getting massages in two separate rooms when the gunfire erupted. He said he hid in the room, and when police came, he asked repeatedly if his wife was OK. He was detained and questioned with other witnesses and did not learn until later that his wife was one of the eight victims. "What am I going to do?" Gonzalez said, adding that the shooting has left their 8-month-old infant without a mother. "I have nothing." Paul Andre Michels Paul Michels, 54, owned an alarm company in Atlanta, where he and his wife, Bonnie, lived for 26 years, his brother John said. Paul Michels had expressed interest in owning a spa and, according to The Washington Post, worked as a handyman at Young's Asian Spa in recent months. John Michels said his brother was "just in the wrong place at the wrong time." They grew up with nine siblings in Detroit, riding dirt bikes and spending summer weekends at a lake and getting into mischief together, he said. They both served in the U.S. Army at the same time, and his brother was an infantryman in the late 1980s. "I'm the closest in age, so we were basically like twins," said John, 52. "We did everything together growing up." Yong Ae Yue Yong Ae Yue, 63, worked at the Aromatherapy Spa in Atlanta. She came to the USA from South Korea in the 1970s with her husband, Mac Peterson, The New York Times reported. Citing Peterson, the newspaper said they met while he was stationed in the Army and had a son before moving to Fort Benning, Georgia, and later had another one. The couple divorced in 1982 but stayed in touch. "She was a good mother,'' Peterson told the Times. "She was always there for her kids.'' The organizer of a GoFundMe page that has raised nearly $64,000, who goes by the name of Robert Peterson, said he is Yue's youngest son. "Mom was an amazing woman who loved to introduce our family and friends to her home-cooked Korean food and Korean karaoke," he wrote. "Will miss joining mom on her weekly Sunday routine to the grocery store and traditional Korean dinner. She was always kind-hearted and willing to help everyone she encountered.'' The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which cited Yue's two sons, said she was a licensed massage therapist who got laid off last year amid the pandemic and was happy to get back to work at the spa. Suncha Kim Suncha Kim, 69, was a grandmother who worked at the Gold Spa, across the street from Aromatherapy, and liked to line dance, the Times reported. Quoting a relative who asked not to be identified, the newspaper said Kim had been married for more than 50 years and had come to the USA from South Korea seeking better educational opportunities and a better life for herself and her family. The Washington Post reported that Kim came to the USA around 1980 and, after working a number of odd jobs, offered her cooking services as a volunteer to help raise funds for several organizations. Family members told the Post she made her children a priority. On a GoFundMe page that has raised more than six times the original goal of $20,000, organizer Hillary Li thanked supporters on behalf of Kim's family: "It brings tears to our eyes that you are all standing with us and our beloved halmoni (grandmother), mother, and wife. Suncha was such a strong, loving presence in all of our lives and we miss her so much." Soon Chung Park Soon Chung Park, 74, who worked at Gold Spa, moved to Atlanta after spending the majority of her life in the New York metro area. Her son-in-law, Scott Lee, told the Post that after he married Park's daughter, they all lived under the same roof in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, before Park moved to Georgia. She had planned to move back in with Lee and his wife in June, he said. Lee said Park liked to work and stay active. She was very healthy, he said. Everybody said she was going to live past 100 years old. Daoyou Feng Daoyou Feng, 44. Not much is known about Feng, who, according to a friend of Xiaojie Tan's who spoke with The Washington Post, started working at Youngs Asian Massage in the past few months and was kind and quiet. Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz, 30, survived the shooting and is hospitalized in intensive care. He was intubated and is set to have surgery as early as next week to remove the bullet in his abdomen, his wife, Flor Gonzalez, told USA TODAY. She set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for medical costs where she wrote he was shot in the forehead, lungs and stomach. Gonzalez told USA TODAY that her husband was on the way to a business next door to the spa where he sends money to family back home. He called her during the shooting. They shot me, they shot me, come help me please, she said Hernandez-Ortiz begged. Those were the last words Gonzalez heard from him, she said, on the verge of tears. The two are from San Marcos, Guatemala, an impoverished municipality in the Central American countrys rugged mountains. Hernandez-Ortiz came to the USA almost a decade ago. His wife and their 9-year-old daughter joined him in Georgia in 2015. She said the family depends on Hernandez-Ortizs work to survive. There are so many people that depend on him, Gonzalez said. I know he is strong and will come out of this for all of us. Contributing: Dennis Wagner, John Bacon and Cara Kelly, USA TODAY; The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Atlanta shooting victims: What we know about 8 people killed at spas London: The World Health Organisation says the intense focus on a small number of blood clotting cases that caused many European countries to suspend the rollout of AstraZeneca vaccinations against COVID-19 has undermined confidence in the jab. No link has been established between blood clotting and the vaccine, and the AstraZeneca jab has been re-endorsed this week by Britain, the European Medicines Agency, and early on Saturday morning AEDT by the World Health Organisation. At least 13 European countries stopped administering the AstraZeneca shot after reports of a small number of blood disorders. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine ... continues to have a positive benefit-risk profile, with tremendous potential to prevent infections and reduce deaths across the world, WHOs global advisory committee on vaccine safety said. The committee made its findings based on data in Europe and India where more than 47 million doses have been administered. President Joe Biden trips as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on March 19, 2021. (Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images) Biden Just Fine After Stumbling While Boarding Air Force One: Aide President Joe Biden on Friday stumbled several times while climbing the stairs to board Air Force One, but a White House aide said he didnt require medical attention. Biden, 78, the oldest president in history, fell as he was about halfway up the steps. He regained his footing but stumbled again, eventually needing to place his left knee on a step as he tried to right himself. Biden ultimately made it up the stairway. He turned around and saluted before entering the plane. I know folks have seen that President Biden slipped on his way up the stairs to AF1, but Im happy to report that he is just fine and did not even require any attention from the medical team who travels with him. Nothing more than a misstep on the stairs, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said in a social media statement. Its pretty windy outside. Its very windy. I almost fell coming up the steps myself, he is doing a hundred percent fine, Karine Jean-Pierre, the principal deputy press secretary, added to reporters aboard Air Force One. President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on March 19, 2021. (Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images) President Joe Biden hangs onto the railing with one hand as he stumbles while climbing the steps of Air Force One while departing Washington for travel to Atlanta, Georgia at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on March 19, 2021. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) President Joe Biden stumbles while boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on March 19, 2021. (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo) President Joe Biden salutes as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on March 19, 2021. (Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images) Air Force One, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, was flying to Georgia. Biden was visiting during his tour to promote the recently signed COVID-19 relief package, though his team was refocusing the trip on the recent spate of violence against Asian Americans. Biden told reporters before departing that he was proud of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who clashed with Chinese diplomats in Alaska in their first in-person meeting since the president took office. He also said his administration is planning additional sanctions against Russia and that he will likely speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin at some point. President Gerald Ford fell down Air Force Ones steps in Austria in 1975, making international news. Vice President Mike Pence also tripped while boarding a plane last year. Goose Creek, SC (29445) Today Thunderstorms. High near 80F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms in the evening, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Low around 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. New Delhi: The BJP on Friday (March 19) asked the Election Commission (EC) to take legal action against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her comments on Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleging that he is running the poll body. In its representation to the EC, the BJP team submitted a part of Banerjees speech at a rally in Bankura on March 16 where she had said, "Who is running the election commission, Amit Shah, are you running the election commission?" BJP accused the West Bengal CM of running a "smear campaign" against Shah. The BJP delegation including Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Debasree Chaudhuri, senior party leaders Bhupender Yadav and Anil Baluni, also urged the election body to deploy polling officers and central forces inside polling booths, PTI reported. "The above-mentioned instances are false, fraudulent, derogatory allegations and are made without any basis in law or in fact. A smear campaign is being run to tarnish the image & reputation of Shri Amit Shah ji and other senior leaders of BJP, with the intent to spread misinformation and thereby influence the voters in a wrongful manner, the representation said. "That we request the Election Commission to intervene urgently by taking appropriate legal action against Ms. Mamata Banerjee for her continued fraudulent, baseless and abusive practice and to pass a prohibitory order, otherwise it might spoil the electoral environment, where abusing and spreading false news will become inevitable and the norm, it added. "That you are requested to kindly immediately censure Ms Mamata Banerjee, from further speeches. Further, take appropriate legal action her for her present and past conduct in gross contempt of and in blatant violation of model code of conduct and electoral laws as elucidated above, the BJP representation said. Meanwhile, earlier on Friday, a team of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders including Saugata Roy, Mahua Moitra and Yashwant Sinha met EC in Delhi to discuss issues related to free and fair conduct during the polls. Ahead of the upcoming polls, West Bengal has become a battleground for the rivals BJP and TMC. The polls for the 294-member state Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27. The counting of votes will be done on May 2. Live TV India plans to unveil a new tourism policy soon, Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel announced in Rajya Sabha Friday, saying the country has embarked on a journey to achieve the top ranking in the sector by 2024 despite challenges. About a month ago, the Centre circulated a new proposed tourism policy among states for its finalisation. It focuses on developing medical, religious and other facets of tourism and offering new destinations other than the popular ones such as the Taj Mahal and the Qutub Minar. Replying to a discussion on the Ministry of Tourism, Patel said, "Our leadership is focused on developing the (tourism) sector. We have sent tourism policy to state governments. It has been one month. The policywill enable us to reach the target (of higher ranking) set by the country." He informed the House that India was on the 65th position in 2014 and it reached to 34th in five years. "Our journey was to take the country to the first position but then this pandemic happened. I believe in the people of this country, on the culture and traditions, beliefs and leadership. The target which we have set for ourselves, we will achieve that in 2024. There are challenges but we will achieve our goal," he said. Patel also told the House that a decision was taken to use Chinese language at monuments where more than 1 lakh tourists visit but they are not comfortable in English and Hindi. He said Korean has also been put to use. Patel said that the government has started a tourist facilitator course in which 5,500 people have registered. He said that challenges before the country lie in handling foreign tourists if they visit places that are facing challenges in managing COVID-19 crisis. The minister said there were 3,772 registered monuments and over 10,000 large and magnificent temples in South India built Before Christ and this needs to be highlighted. articipating in the discussion, RJD member Manoj Jha suggested that a freedom movement tourist circuit' can be developed as the country is going to celebrate the 75th year of Independence. Earlier participating in the debate, SP member Jaya Bachchan, who was assigned four minutes to speak, abruptly cut short her speech in protest against the time allocated to her. "This is the reason I did not speak in the last session. Whatever I want to speak cannot be done in one minute. I absolutely protest and I will not speak. This is absolutely not correct and not fair," she said, when asked by the Chair to conclude her speech. Sasmit Patra, who was in the Chair at the time, responded by saying the timing is fixed by the PAC (Parliamentary Affairs Committee). During her speech, Bachchan said there was a time when foreign tourists used to throng Kashmir but unfortunately, now they do not. However, she said, domestic tourists have started returning to the valley and the image that there is a threat to life there and no security needs to be improved aggressively. "It is very important to improve the image of the country which at the moment is very-very poor. I am sorry for saying this, but that is the truth," Bachchan claimed. T K S Elangovan (DMK) said 5.5 crore jobs have been lost due to COVID-19 and the tourism sector needs to be revived through measures taken by the government. Elangovan said, "Don't say that this is new. Babri Masjid is not new. It has a history of at least 1,000 years old. If it is there, people will come and see that. The question is, don't attribute reason to demolish an ancient monument. That is very important, it should be preserved. Only in that way we can attract tourists the world over." K C Ramamurthy (BJP) said state-wise round-the-year tourism packages should be prepared and propagated. Ayodhya Rami Reddy (YSRCP) called upon the government to handhold the tourism sector through various policy interventions. He said the tourism industry was faced with a twin challenge -- of regaining its lost ground due to the pandemic and creating better facilities for the future. He said the Ministry of Tourism should come up with a Master Plan entailing the right models which can be emulated. Congress member G C Chandrashekhar said, "As per the Standing Committee of Tourism's report, March, 2021, the underutilised fund of Rs 1,239 crores has been surrendered to the Ministry of Finance without spending. Rs.1,239 crore is a huge amount....to promote domestic tourism, the government has introduced the PRASAD Scheme in 2015. But, only 11 out of 26 projects have been completed. He proposed a regulatory body to monitor the products and services for the international and domestic tourists. He also proposed to have a single window process of permission to charter flights to ease the process. AIADMK's S R Balasubramoniyan, said, "Design schemes with generous allocation of funds to make tourism and allied industries to not only survive, but also to thrive." TRS member K R Suresh Reddy said, "I would advise that instead of selling PSUs, instead of selling LIC, why don't you sell Indian tourism? That is where you will really get money. Convince the Prime Minister. Make him the face of tourism so that the Ministry can benefit." Other members including Shiv Pratap Shukla (BJP), Ram Chandra Prasad Singh (JDU), Narain Dass Gupta (AAP), Jharna Das Baidya (CPIM), A D Singh (RJD) and Sujit Kumar (BJD) also spoke. (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 new real estate agency sign, emblazoned in red, is destined for Elm Street in New Canaan. The Agency, a Los Angeles company whose founder Mauricio Umasky has been featured on Million Dollar Listing on Bravo and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (with spouse Kyle Richards), will open its first Connecticut franchise under a pair of local brokers. Previously with the Higgins Group, which has a dozen Connecticut offices from Stamford to Milford, brokers Todd David Miller and Cliff Smith said they were drawn to The Agency for its California vibe and success there, driven in part by its investment in emerging digital tools and social media platforms. Todd Williamson/E! Entertainment/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images The West Coast tends to be ahead of us in terms of their marketing, Miller said. People really know [The Agency] brand quite well on the East Coast, ... and thats due to the social media presence as well as the television shows that our CEO has been on. One of The Agencys California brokers was among the top 10 on this years Real Trends list of the top agents by dollar volume at $249 million approaching double that of Rob Johnson, Connecticuts top agent on the list with the Greenwich office of Halstead. Three more California brokers with The Agency were among the top 40 nationally last year. The Agencys first Connecticut listing a five-bedroom home on three acres in Easton is priced at just below $1.7 million. Its priciest, a $9.9 million manse in Backcountry Greenwich with modernist architecture, would fit right into the enclaves of Malibu or Beverly Hills. The Agency is taking over a former Elm Street office of Halstead, which itself is in the process of rebranding to Brown Harris Stevens, an affiliate under a common corporate parent based in New York City. Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media For any real estate agency hanging out its shingle for the first time in Connecticut, New Canaan might be among the most challenging addresses to do so. In addition to the relationships curried over the years by established brokers, the town is among the few in Connecticut with an ordinance banning agency names on signs outside homes listed for sale, limiting the branding of any new arrival. If The Agency is the newest entrant to the Connecticut market, Smith thinks more will follow as Manhattan dwellers explore buying second homes in Connecticut after the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, or moving outright. Because of whats happening in the current market environment with the exodus from New York City and other major cities, the suburbs are doing to start seeing these major firms wanting to take advantage and plant their flags, Smith said. The Agency is on a very strategic growth path right now and they are ... putting their newest offices in areas that will be able to take advantage. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman Scottsdale, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - March 19, 2021) - Sibannac, Inc. (OTC Pink: SNNC), a Nevada corporation (the "Company"), announced today the following: The Agreement: The Company is pleased to announce the signing of a private label manufacturing and supply agreement with Titan Enhance, LLC (Titan), an Arizona corporation. Through the agreement, Sibannac will be manufacturing and supplying Titan with its various private labeled CBD and Copper 1 Nano Tinctures and is in a first position to be provided any new product formulations Titan creates. Titan is a newly formed Arizona company created to take local delivery of product from Sibannac's manufacturing facility for distribution to its commercial and consumer customers. Nanotech and Copper 1: The Company has procured and installed nanotech processing equipment in its plant to be used to make its CBD, Copper 1, Kratom and Delta-8 THC products. The nanotech processing equipment breaks down the size of the molecules in the active ingredients which can provide enhanced absorption and bioavailability. This will allow Sibannac to develop best-in-class, proprietary formulations to maximize efficacy. This will enable potential future licensing deals, manufacturing deals, supply agreements, partnerships, and proprietary products. All Titan products will be manufactured using nano tech under the agreement. Sibannac previously announced its agreement with Mitosynergy, its Copper 1 raw material supplier. Information on the benefits of Copper 1 can be found at Mitosynergy's site. "I'm truly excited to move forward on bringing our line of Copper 1 products to market. Not many companies have knowledge of the attributes of Copper 1, the access to the raw material and manufacturing capabilities," states David Mersky, CEO of Sibannac, "As we continue the development and design for our own brand, it is wonderful that we have an opportunity to enter into a contract manufacturing deal. The Company is consistently moving into the marketplace with a concentration on vertical integration, where we are sourcing, designing, manufacturing, and selling products directly. The year is off to a great start." Delta-8 Sibannac will also be using its nanotech capabilities to produce its Delta-8 products. The demand for CBD-derived Delta-8 is exploding across the U.S. The Company is currently manufacturing vape and gummy Delta-8 products for sale and distribution were legal. Using the newly acquired nanotech process should provide improved efficacy and absorption, further separating Sibannac from competing manufacturers in the space. With these new improvements and additions, the Company is focused on revenue generation. About Sibannac: Sibannac is a vertically integrated leader in full-range cannabis product development, CBD white label manufacturing, web and graphic design and packaging. For additional information on Sibannac, please visit https://snncinc.com/. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements. This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements appear in a number of places in this release and include all statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Sibannac, Inc. (the "Company"), its directors or its officers with respect to, among other things: (i) financing plans; (ii) trends affecting its financial condition or results of operations; (iii) growth strategy and operating strategy. The words "may," "would," "will," "expect," "estimate," "can," "believe," "potential" and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control, and actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements as a result of various factors. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. Media Contact: Info@SNNCINC.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77851 Nanoramic Labs CEO, Eric Kish wins InterimExecs Philip J. Monego Sr. Award for Excellence in Leadership. Tweet this With over 20 years experience transforming and growing companies, Eric Kish has an exemplary career as an interim executive. As CEO of private equity backed, Rompetrol, Kish turned an oil refinery in Bucharest, Romania with a half billion dollars in debt and 3,500+ people laid off into a $450 million behemoth and the biggest IPO in the country's history. He has since helped transform 12 companies across industries ranging from power electronics to petrochemicals to energy storage. Kish is CEO of Nanoramic Labs, a leading developer of technology for energy storage and thermal management applications. "When I joined Nanoramic in 2017, I was immediately drawn to the people and the technology. After developing 3 distinct product lines and obtaining investment from strategic partners, Nanoramic is on the cusp of disrupting major industries from electric vehicles to consumer electronics," Kish says. "Eric is an incredible leader for Nanoramic Labs with a remarkable ability to bridge from the engineering breakthroughs to the product/market fit and business case with ease and mastery of both," said Ian Bowles, Managing Director at WindSail Capital Group, a key financial partner for Nanoramic Labs. Nanoramic founder and Chief of Products & Innovation John Cooley seconded Windsail, saying, "Eric's perseverance and out of the box thinking have paid off." As a member of InterimExecs RED Team of CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, and COOs, Kish acknowledged, "I am honored to receive the Monego award, and the RED Team is an outstanding platform for us to be able to hone our leadership, to learn from each other, to stay inspired and serve the world in the best way we can." About Nanoramic: Nanoramic Laboratories is an industry-leading energy storage technology company and materials solutions innovator headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Spun out of MIT in 2009, Nanoramic is the exclusive designer, manufacturer, and licensor of Neocarbonix electrodes for rechargeable li-ion batteries, li-ion capacitors, and supercapacitors. Visit nanoramic.com About InterimExecs: InterimExecs matches organizations facing big challenges and opportunities with accomplished executives around the globe through its Rapid Executive Deployment program. InterimExecs RED Team is comprised of an elite group of interim, project and fractional executives selected for bringing extraordinary results to companies through turnaround, growth and transformation. Find More: Website: www.interimexecs.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/interim_execs LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/association-of-interim-executives/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCjnQQDP9C_HKvLT2O_oWgZA SOURCE InterimExecs Related Links http://www.interimexecs.com To give some breathing room to Americans in an unusually chaotic filing season, the IRS is currently arranging to delay its customary April 15 tax filing deadline and moved it until May 17. IRS Delays Tax Filing The IRS was asked by accountants across the US to push back the deadline of submission given the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic for taxpayers and also by the tax agency, as they are still dealing with a backlog of last year's tax returns. The delay in the tax deadline was initially reported by Bloomberg News. According to CBS News, the IRS and the Treasury confirmed late Wednesday that the deadline of the tax filing would be postponed and moved until May 17. Also, the tax payments deadline, which includes the quarterly self-employment taxes or underpaid tax amounts, will be pushed back as well until May 17. Moreover, this week, the American Institute of CPAs urged the tax agency in delaying the tax filing deadline and cited the impact of the pandemic not only on the taxpayers in the United States but on the IRS as well, which is still digging out of a backlog of tax returns which was files last tax filing season. On Wednesday, lawmakers also applauded the extension given by the IRS as they have mentioned that it is absolutely necessary, The New York Times reported. Florida Baby, First to Be Born with COVID-19 Antibodies Meanwhile, Meredith Tucker, tax principal at accounting firm Kaufman Rossin, shared that the practitioners have been saying that they were there working, however, there are not enough hours in the day to get everything completed that has been place in front of them. She added that it is tough to think that they will be under tax season for another month and they just need extra time. In addition, tax preparers have been assessing the changes to the tax code brought by the American Rescue Plan which was signed by US President Joe Biden last week, as it will have impact issues starting from the taxes on unemployment aid to the Child Tax Credit and also as loans from the Paycheck Protection Program. The extension also applies to individual taxpayers based on the IRS, which includes those who pay self-employment taxes, such as sole proprietors and gig-economy workers and it also added that individual taxpayers no longer need to file any forms or call the tax agency in order to qualify for the May 17 extended deadline, NPR reported. Curtis Campbell, TaxAct's president shared that given the previous tax seasons, it is likely that only half of the taxpayers were able to file their returns. Campbell also mentioned that even with extra hours and room for submission, taxpayers should still plan on getting their returns to the IRS sooner rather than later. North Korea to Test Intercontinental Missile The president of TaxAct also added that he would like to advise folks to still file as soon as they can, especially they will need their tax refund. He also added that the IRS is doing everything that they can in helping and delivering the quickest possible way for consumers and getting them the latest and the updated information may help tax filers to get their return and potential economic payments in the future faster. Stimulus Checks Availability Enrages JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo Customers Stimulus Check Dispute Leads to Four Deaths in Indiana @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Lou Barletta, the former congressman who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in 2018, said Friday that he will make a decision in the next few weeks on whether to seek the Republican nomination for governor of Pennsylvania in 2022. Barletta began considering a run late last year, after saying he was leaving electoral politics following his loss to Casey. Barletta was one of Donald Trumps most loyal backers in office, but was unable to make the race close against Casey and lost by 13 percentage points. But Barletta, 65, said he felt the pull of running for office again during the pandemic and seeing the hardship of business owners and people losing their jobs. He also said he is worried about what a Biden administration will mean for Pennsylvanias energy industries. The final decision on whether to run, he said, is up to his family. If Barletta runs, he may have competition for the Republican nomination. Joe Gale, a Montgomery County commissioner, has said he is running, while U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, who lives near Barletta, has said he is considering running. Barletta is a former four-term member of Congress and former mayor of Hazleton, where he still lives. The office is open since Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, is term-limited. Attorney General Josh Shapiro is widely expected to seek the Democratic nomination. More: Hazleton battles COVID-19, along with lingering racial tensions Pa. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman enters 2022 Senate race, but plenty of rivals are on the launchpad By Megan Crepeau, The Chicago Tribune (TNS) CHICAGO Serial stowaway Marilyn Hartman went to Chicagos OHare International Airport for the first time in a year after she saw a TV news broadcast about her that triggered a regression in her mental health, her attorney said in court Thursday. Hartman, 69, was arrested Tuesday at the airports CTA Blue Line station after leaving her residential facility without permission. She was in court Thursday on a new charge of escaping from electronic monitoring. You didnt just go for a walk, you went to the one place you specifically cant go ... OHare Airport, Judge David Navarro said before ordering her held in lieu of $100,000 bail on the escape charge. She would need to pay $10,000 to leave custody pending trial. However, the arrest also violated her bail and probation on previous cases, meaning she will be held without bail until at least Monday, when she can go before the judge handling those matters. Thursdays hearing featured the same push and pull that has been the hallmark of Hartmans court dates: prosecutors saying she is a habitual offender who has repeatedly breached airport security while trying to sneak onto flights, and defense lawyers pointing out she is a senior citizen with serious mental health issues whose actions have never been inherently violent. Hartmans attorney, Assistant Public Defender Andrea Lubelfeld, said Hartman had previously been in full compliance with the conditions of her bail, which includes restrictions on her movement from a West Side residential facility and an electronic ankle monitor. But Hartman was extremely upset after viewing a TV news interview with her, Lubelfeld said. Hartman contends she did not give permission for the interview to be broadcast, Lubelfeld said, and after watching it Sunday she was so upset she missed a therapy appointment Monday morning and the next day headed to OHare for the first time in more than a year. She has a mental illness that was triggered by something out of her control, and she reacted not, perhaps, in making the best choice, Lubelfeld said. But I would say her mental illness affects her ability to make choices. The interview aired this week on WBBM-Ch. 2. The station tweeted Thursday after the court hearing, We have her on tape agreeing to do the interviews and record them. Assistant States Attorney James Murphy said he was not unsympathetic to Hartmans condition, but urged the judge to treat her the same way as others who repeatedly come through the docket charged with escape. And while her actions may not be inherently violent, they do present a safety risk, Murphy said. This was and continues to be a huge, major security breach she participates in, he said. At some point (if) she continues to be where she shouldnt be, shes going to touch something she shouldnt touch and somebodys going to be hurt. Murphy said that authorities got an alert from Hartmans GPS device on Tuesday morning that she had left the facility; they tried to communicate through the ankle bracelet and call her cellphone but she did not respond. Officials tracked her GPS to OHare and alerted the Chicago Police Department. Officers found her in the Blue Line station when sheriffs officials activated the siren on her bracelet, and she was taken into custody. After her arrest, Hartman told officers she had left without permission because she was depressed, Murphy said. The arrest came two weeks after a court hearing in which Hartmans attorneys and prosecutors said they had reached the plea deal on her pending case: 18 months of probation, plus court-ordered mental health treatment. Hartman, who has a long history of trying to sneak onto flights in Chicago and around the country, was arrested at OHare in October 2019 just as she was trying to pass the second of two security checkpoints, prosecutors have said. More: Mom accused of making doctored videos of cheerleaders unlikely to get maximum jail time: DA Sinister elements linked to violent dissidents manipulated youths in Londonderry to attack police as they carried out a search yesterday, the PSNI has said. A 52-year-old man was arrest by detectives investigating New IRA bomb-making activities. There was a heavy police presence in Ballymagowan Park following the early morning arrest and search of a house, which was part of a wider investigation codenamed Operation Arbacia. Gangs of youths attempted to hijack a BT van close to St Mary's Church in Creggan, while police came under a barrage of stones and petrol bombs close to Magowan Park. Sinn Fein accused police of "heavy-handed tactics on women" during the raid. The unrest and attacks bore a resemblance to a riot sparked by a similar police operation almost two years ago that culminated in the murder of journalist Lyra McKee. Police said detectives seized a considerable amount of material for further examination. Chief Superintendent Darrin Jones said: "The main priority for police is the safety of the local community. "However, we strongly believe that sinister elements connected to violent dissident republicans manipulated local youths into attacking police and disrupting today's search activity. "It is also our understanding that they attempted to disrupt local services into the area but were unsuccessful, despite some localised disorder. "The vast majority of the public welcome the action we are taking against those who are causing serious harm to the community and it is detestable that our young people are being used in this manner." Sinn Fein's Karen Mullan said the party will be talking to the PSNI about its handling of the incident. The Foyle MLA said: "I am deeply concerned following reports of heavy-handed policing during an incident in Creggan today. "The PSNI have questions to answer over scenes which appeared on social media showing officers using heavy-handed tactics on women. "This has become symptomatic of how the PSNI carry out policing operations in Creggan and a concern which we have continually raised." Foyle SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan had earlier appealed for parents to make sure their children were safe at home. He said: "I feel sorry and frustrated for residents of Creggan who have been subjected to this situation going on outside their front doors. "I have spoken to the police and will do so again around what happened and how it happened. "I don't think it's in anyone's interests, and certainly not the residents of Creggan, to have people rioting on the street. "I have seen video footage of a number of incidents alleged to have occurred there and I will be speaking to police about those." PSNI Detective Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray, head of Serious Crime Branch, described the operation as a "significant development". He said it had targeted "the New IRA's bomb-making activities as well as the group's storage of explosive devices and equipment". Following the disturbance two men, aged 32 and 23 were charged with related offences. They are to appear in court on Friday. Sam Purkis took his first trip to the remote coral reefs of the Chagos Archipelago 15 years ago, when he was a graduate student learning how to assess the health of these fragile ecosystems. He was so enamored by the beauty of this pristine reef system in the middle of the Indian Ocean that Purkis became the United States lead of the Chagos Conservation Trust. Along with like-minded partners and organizations, the trust petitioned for the Chagos Archipelago to be declared a no-take marine protected area, a feat that was accomplished in 2010. Purkis But now, just as a report on the health of the Chagos reefs is released, Purkis recalls how devastated he and a team of researchers were, as they watched these breathtaking reefs turn white from a climate-change related bleaching, which is ravaging corals around the world. It was heartbreaking, said Purkis, noting that today the Chagos, which is situated more than 900 miles south of India and 370 miles south of the Maldives, contains only a fraction of the coral it had in 2015. Weve lost 50 percent of the worlds coral reefs in the last 40 years and we could lose the remaining ones in the next 10 years with the increased frequency of coral bleaching and overfishing, he added. Purkis, a professor and chair of the Department of Marine Geosciences at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, returned to the Chagos in 2015 in collaboration with the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, an organization where he serves as chief scientist. After his initial trip as a student, Purkis returned as a professor, and was elated to see that the massive reefincluding Earths largest atollwas thriving and teeming with life. The marine protected area was having a great effect and the diversity and biomass of the reef fish was optimal, said Purkis, who led the satellite-mapping component of the Living Oceans Foundations decade-long, 15-nation, 1,000 reef Global Research Expedition, which ended with the Chagos trip. It seemed as vibrant and healthy as I remembered it, and it certainly would have been a contender for one of the best reefs on Earth. Yet just before his trip concluded, Purkis and 20 other scientists witnessed the harsh reality of climate change, which is threatening the livelihood of coral reefs across the planet. In their last week, the majority of the breathtaking corals began to bleach right before their eyes. Coral bleaching is a phenomenon that happens when water temperatures get too warm, stressing the benthic organisms to the point that they expel the symbiotic algae that support them. Because of rising temperatures across the planet, both local and global bleaching events have become more common in recent years, Purkis lamented. All photos courtesy Khaled Bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation A full report, which documents the health of the Chagos Archipelago prior to the 2015 bleaching, was published recently, and includes detailed information on the state of benthic and reef fish communities at that point. Purkis contributed to the report, which was spearheaded by Renee Carlton, a marine ecologist for the Foundation who is also an alumna of Rosenstiel. Purkis said reports from every stop on the Global Reef Expedition offer critical information as a baseline for scientists and environmentalists to gauge the effects of climate change and other threats to coral reefs around the world, including those in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Colombia, French Polynesia, and Australia. It was important to go to the Chagos Archipelago prior to the bleaching since the Archipelago is like a natural laboratory because it is so remote, he explained. Theres very little evidence of heavy human impacts, and if youre going to conserve something, you need to know what it is and what youve got. Purkis specializes in mapping and surveying coral reefs around the world. He does this by using satellite images and ground-truthing, a technique that involves acquiring high-definition underwater video and seabed samples to help verify that the satellite images are accurate. But there are other methods needed to understand the full health of a reef, Purkis said. He also looks at the abundance of reef fish, as well as the myriad of other organisms which make the reef their homeincluding apex predators, like sharksto assess the overall vitality of the ecosystem. Despite the bleaching, Purkis said the entire Chagos expedition underscored the idea that when nations commit to safeguarding these underwater rainforestsand designating them as part of a marine protected areait can ensure that the reef system, as well as the diverse marine life that flourish there, are shielded as well as possible from the harmful impacts of humans. If we can save reefs, large-scale marine protected areas are the best weapon we have, he said. He added that anything people can do to reduce the effects of global warming will also help coral reefs. Some of these include driving electric cars, eating less meat, not buying wild fish caught on reefs like snapper and grouper, and using less plastic. A report on the entire Global Reef Expeditionthe largest coral reef survey and mapping voyage ever completed, according to the foundationwill be released soon, according to Purkis. Meanwhile, he noted that the reefs in Chagos, as well as the coral reefs in French Polynesia, were some of the healthiest he saw during the 10-year journey. While the coral reefs in the Caribbean appeared to be struggling the most. Advertisement London is still lagging behind in the vaccine rollout with some boroughs having inoculated a third fewer people than parts of Staffordshire, where the crucial campaign appears to be roaring ahead. NHS England figures show 79 per cent of over-55s in the country had at least one dose of the vaccine by March 14 the most recent day local data is available for. But MailOnline's analysis shows this figure is lower in most of London, with just 59 per cent of adults over that age having been given a jab in Hackney the country's worst performing council. In total, 21 parts of the country have yet to hit 70 per cent of over-55s and 17 of them are in London. For comparison, the Isles of Scilly has vaccinated 822 of its 876 over-55s giving it an uptake of 93.8 per cent and Stafford, Mid Suffolk and the Wyre Forest in Worcestershire have all vaccinated more than 89 per cent of the cohort. Uptake figures are based on the latest population estimates by Public Health England's National Immunisation Management Service (NIMS). Figures also revealed one in four care home staff still haven't been vaccinated. The rate is just 62.4 per cent in London. Officials insist vaccines are divvied out evenly across the country, suggesting poor uptake is to blame. Health chiefs are concerned about high levels of vaccine hesitancy among black and ethnic minorities, fuelled by anti-vaxx messages on social media. England's vaccine roll-out was officially widened to over-50s yesterday but a shortfall in the vaccine supply next month is expected to mean millions of over-40s won't be inoculated until May. Health Secretary Matt Hancock this week revealed supplies would be used to mop up the over-50s who haven't already been jabbed, while ensuring Britons don't miss out on crucial top-ups. Diverting supplies to inner-city neighbourhoods with low uptake rates will stop areas leading the way from moving down the priority list. It comes as ministers were today scrambling to defuse a standoff with India over the 5million missing doses of AstraZenecas Covid vaccine, with No10 holding secret talks with New Delhi to get the roll-out back on track. Matt Hancock yesterday admitted a delayed shipment from the Serum Institute of India was a key factor in shortages that will slow the campaign down next month. NHS England figures show 79 per cent of over-55s in the country had at least one dose of the vaccine by March 14, but London is significantly lagging behind in uptake No10's vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi got his first dose of a coronavirus vaccination this morning in Lewisham. He was jabbed by NHS England's director of primary care Dr Nikki Kanani MailOnline's analysis of the latest vaccine statistics shows most parts of the country are well on their way to achieving the target of offering first doses to all over-50s by April 15. But most of the capital is seriously lagging behind in the roll-out to over-55s, with more than half a million in the age group yet to receive a jab in London. Uptake was worst in Hackney (59.2 per cent), Newham (60.2 per cent), Kensington and Chelsea (61.1 per cent), Southwark (61.3 per cent) and Westminster (61.4 per cent). Nearly 90,000 over-55s still have to come forward for a jab in those boroughs alone. On the other end of the spectrum, 35 areas of the country have vaccinated more than 85 per cent of people in that age group. Following the Isles of Scilly, Stafford, Mid Suffolk and Wyre Forest were the Isle of Wight (88.7 per cent), Wyre (88.3 per cent), Babergh (87.9 per cent), Malvern Hills (87.4 per cent) and Harborough (87.2 per cent). East Suffolk has vaccinated 88.5 per cent of its over-55s despite being one of the very few local authorities in the country to have more than 100,000 people in the age group. TOP 10 AREAS FOR VACCINE UPTAKE AMONG OVER-55s Isles of Scilly Stafford Mid Suffolk Wyre Forest Isle of Wight East Suffolk Wyre Babergh Malvern Hills Harborough 93.8 per cent 89.4 per cent 89.2 per cent 89.1 per cent 88.7 per cent 88.5 per cent 88.3 per cent 87.9 per cent 87.4 per cent 87.2 per cent Advertisement BOTTOM 10 AREAS FOR VACCINE UPTAKE AMONG OVER-55s Hackney Newham Kensington and Chelsea Southwark Westminster Lambeth Hammersmith and Fulham Islington Lewisham Tower Hamlets 59.2 per cent 60.2 per cent 61.1 per cent 61.3 per cent 61.4 per cent 62.0 per cent 63.7 per cent 64.7 per cent 64.8 per cent 65.3 per cent Advertisement The data also showed just 64 per cent of carers working in people's homes have taken up the offer of the vaccine. Uptake among the group who work with the most vulnerable people in society is lowest in Barnet in north London (28.5 per cent), Barnsley in south Yorkshire (29.3 per cent) and Bath and North East Somerset (29.3 per cent). Dr Nikki Kanani, GP and NHS Englands primary care director, said: 'The number of vaccines available to the NHS will continue to go up and down week by week and month by month in line with manufacturers ability to supply us. 'But this week and next we have larger supplies, so we want anyone in the top priority groups people aged 50 and older as well as those working in health and care and anyone with an underlying health condition to come forward soon to protect themselves and their loved ones. 'The success of the NHS vaccination roll-out is testament to the work of NHS staff, and as new groups of people are invited to come forward its exciting that we are now inviting people aged 50 and over to get their jab. 'The vaccines are both safe and effective, so if anybody who is eligible hasnt been vaccinated yet, Id urge them to go online or call 119 and get themselves booked in.' The Adam Smith Institute told MailOnline that moving the rollout on to younger age groups in areas that have had a higher uptake would be useful in speeding up the vaccine drive, as long as it does not sacrifice supplies for second doses. A spokesperson said: 'If an area has sped ahead and is in a position to offer vaccines to younger age groups they should do so so long as they have the supplies to keep up with second doses for others, and that there aren't import shortages. Ministers scramble to defuse standoff with India by insisting it ISN'T blocking shipment of 5million doses Ministers were today scrambling to defuse the standoff with India over 5million missing doses of AstraZenecas Covid vaccine, with No10 holding secret talks with New Delhi to get the roll-out back on track. Matt Hancock yesterday admitted a delayed shipment from the Serum Institute of India was a key factor in shortages that will slow the campaign down next month, meaning millions of over-40s will have to wait until May to get their first dose. But in front of the entire nation last night, Boris Johnson who is due to travel to India in the coming months to secure a lucrative post-Brexit trade deal claimed Narenda Modis government had not stopped any exports. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden today waded into the confusion and repeated the claims of the Prime Minister, saying India was not withholding vaccines and that the SII had some supply issues. Asked if Mr Modis administration was blocking exports, Mr Dowden told LBC: No. India is not withholding vaccines, and I pay tribute to the work of the Serum Institute. They have had some supply issues with 5million doses. It comes as one of the Governments top scientific advisers insisted today that Britains vaccine in shortage in April wont hamper the UKs inoculation drive. Professor Lockdown Neil Ferguson, an Imperial College London epidemiologist whose grim modelling spooked ministers into the first blanket shutdown last March, dismissed fears that the hold-up could threaten plans to ease lockdown. He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme the delay was slightly disappointing but insisted it shouldnt have an enormous effect. And he added that No10 still has enough supply to continue with the programme which has already vaccinated almost 26million Britons. Another Imperial scientist today said it was unrealistic to imagine the first dose roll-out will be as fast. Professor Robin Shattock, who is involved in vaccine research, said the delay was manageable, however. Advertisement 'As Moderna comes into the country, we should learn from the USA and move to half doses of this vaccine, which has been shown to offer the same protection as a full dose in the first instance. That way we can jab more quicker and end the pandemic sooner. 'We've all learned in the last week that when it comes to rolling out vaccines, it pays to get ahead and not fall foul of hesitancy or caution. Some parts of the UK are quicker and more comprehensive than others in rolling out vaccines, they'll soon be able to reopen their economy and restart their lives with little risk. 'Those areas falling behind should be learning best practice, and reaching out to vulnerable populations that haven't come forward for their jab for whatever reason. 'Door knocking, in-work vaccinations, walk-in centres, targeted advertising all are well worth the cost when we know that our shut economy is costing taxpayers 6bn a week and reducing economic activity by a further 5bn. 'The evidence is clear: this vaccine is safe, reducing transmission and saving lives if we all step up and take part we can end this pandemic together.' It comes as ministers scramble to defuse the standoff with India over 5million missing doses of AstraZenecas Covid vaccine, with No10 holding secret talks with New Delhi to get the roll-out back on track. Matt Hancock yesterday admitted a delayed shipment from the Serum Institute of India was a key factor in shortages that will slow the campaign down next month, meaning millions of over-40s will have to wait until May to get their first dose. The Health Secretary said the UK will now focus its vaccine supply on ensuring all over-50s are vaccinated by the Government's April 15 target. Speaking at Thursday night's Downing Street press conference, Mr Hancock said: 'Were on track to offer a first dose to everyone in priority groups one to nine by April 15. 'While we deliver on that commitment, we also want to ensure that this offer reaches everyone in groups one to nine. 'At the same time as opening up offers of vaccinations to all those who are 50 or above, we are going to do whatever it takes to reach all those in the most vulnerable groups who havent come forward yet before we move onto the next cohort, which is people in their 40s. 'Before we forge ahead I want us to be confident that weve done everything we can to protect those most in need of protection and we will do all we can and do everything necessary to deliver the supplies that are contractually committed to protecting people in this country.' In front of the entire nation last night, Boris Johnson who is due to travel to India in the coming months to secure a lucrative post-Brexit trade deal claimed Narenda Modis government had not stopped any exports. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden today waded into the confusion and repeated the claims of the Prime Minister, saying India was not withholding vaccines and that the SII had some supply issues. Asked if Mr Modis administration was blocking exports, Mr Dowden told LBC: No. India is not withholding vaccines, and I pay tribute to the work of the Serum Institute. They have had some supply issues with 5million doses. But the boss of the SII yesterday said no further doses would be sent to Britain until the Indian Government gave the go ahead. He also said there was no shortage and claimed it had never made a deal to supply the full 10million doses within any given time frame. Whitehall sources said there was a constructive dialogue under way to work through issues with counterparts in New Delhi. But the roll-out isnt just being hampered by supply issues from India which ministers seemingly hoped would allow for the vaccine drive to carry on while dishing out millions of second doses. Another 1.7million doses have been delayed because of the need to re-test a large batch already in the UK. Despite concerns that the roll-out could be held up in the face of shortages with Tory MPs accusing No10 of over-promising, Government insiders havent ruled out moving onto people in their forties in the coming weeks. Female labourers would be covered in ash, she says. They had to do seeding, ploughing. They had to work for rations. She pauses. [Theres] the idea of ghosts, remnants of histories and stories in these spaces. Ships and plantations, she says, were sites of rape and abuse. Instances of violence play out across kuli / karambu, scenes that imagine the lives of Indaramis ancestors at a scale thats both intimate and epic. But Simpson is equally interested in how women in her family may have resisted. Id read about women who hit men with a masters shoe, a woman who peed on an overseer, she says, flashing a bemused grin. Indarami and her daughter often share ideas. [My mother] says, why dont you work on one painting at a time? Or maybe it needs more yellow, Simpson laughs. Her metaphor is youre the star and were the back-up dancers. Indarami is astonished by her daughters work. Its let us honour you for what you have been through, says Indarami, who moved to Australia at the end of Apartheid. Sancintya is a very independent person. Ive seen her develop as an artist from within. Her work is from her heart and her being. Phaptawan Suwannakudt is the daughter of Paiboon Suwannakudt, the late artist and poet who is considered Thailands master of temple painting. She owes her name to the Thai for image of the sun, after a poem her father wrote on the day of her birth about a red sun above Bangkoks Chao Phraya River. Phaptawan Suwannakudt RE al-re-g(l)ory 2021. Paiboon, she says, was trained by Corrado Feroci, the Italian sculptor who was invited by the then King to establish Thailands first art school in 1923. The Thai-Australian artist started watching her father at work when she was a girl and took over his workshop at 22, in 1982, the year he died. In Suwannakudts studio, trolleys and tables heave with jars of paint: lime-green, orange, indigo. A far wall supports a row of paintings, evoking the lurid colours of propaganda. The space, part of Marrickvilles Addison Road Community Centre, was once used to conscript Vietnam War soldiers. When I was in my teens, I started to see paintings that [portrayed] communism as evil, says Suwannakudt, articulate and softly spoken, in a black shirt and glasses. Artist Phaptawan Suwannakudt Credit:John Clark/AGNSW At her fathers workshop, she worked with painters from the countrys north-east, a region then feared to be communist. In 1977, they were arrested for breaking government curfew. In the last few years, shes seen parallels in the Thai states crackdown on democratic freedoms, under Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha who came to power during a 2014 military coup. The artist is heartened by Thailands growing pro-democracy movement. She shows me a printout of Thai students, holding A4 paper over their faces, an attempt to shield their identities. RE al-Re-g(l)ory (2020), her installation for The National, showing at AGNSW, features a sequence of paintings recalling Thai Cold War posters. Theyre interspersed with white boards, symbols of generational protest. Her daughter, Cantra-Chaaysaeng and son, Yenlamtarn, both help her with studio work. She tells me shes proud that Cantra-Chaaysaeng attended last years Black Lives Matter protests. Phaptawan Suwannakudt RE al-re-g(l)ory 2021. They feel they have to be part of it, she smiles. The children are saying enough is enough. Western art history so often mythologises the artist as a singular hero, erasing the ways in which creative labour can be shaped by lineage, or arise out of our relationships with other people. The National 2021 coincides with a year thats shown us the value of interdependence, the power of acting collectively. Abdullah M.I. Syed, Hong Kong Dollar HKD 20 (verso) from the series Currency of Love 2021 (detail). Credit:Felicity Jenkins/AGNSW Carriageworks will present A Day in the Life, a work by Karrabing Film Collective. The group comprises 30 Indigenous artists and filmmakers, spanning different generations. At AGNSW, you can see Last Observances. Its a video installation in which the Pakistan-born artist Abdullah M. I. Syed, recreates the domestic rituals of his mother, who passed away in 2019. Domesticity has long informed Mitch Cairns visual vernacular. Hes an artist for whom motifs from everyday life an apple core, say, or a bathroom mirror become the stuff of witty and intelligent paintings whose rewards grow the longer you look. Artist Mitch Cairns building a red brick wall with his bricklayer father, David, at Carriageworks. Credit:Steven Siewert Cairns grew up in Casula and later moved with his family to Wollongong. When he was commuting to Sydneys National Art School, he supported himself by working as a labourer for his father, David, a bricklayer. That was my first exposure to physical work, he says. It was early thinking around labour, structure just very basic sort of things. For The National, Cairns, whos warm and affable but moves with the serious painters restless intensity, is working on three paintings and a series of text works. When I visit, Self-portrait as an autumnal low (2021), commands one side of Cairns high-ceilinged Alexandria studio, balancing on a pair of milk crates. Yellow leaves hover mid-air, a composition that both possesses a sense of musicality and is perfectly still. Artist Mitch Cairns building a red brick wall. Credit:Steven Siewert. Cairn says his father has visited every one of his exhibitions. As part of his presentation at Carriageworks for The National, the pair have built a brick wall together. A brick wall is a very declarative statement, but [there are] softer and quieter moments within that gesture that are going to be uncovered in the making, he says. Theres a permanency in fixing an image but it is far less permanent than what [my father] does. Cairns won the 2017 Archibald for a lovingly rendered portrait of his wife, the artist Agatha Gothe-Snape, with whom he shares a young son. The wall, he says, is part of his interest in the slippages between art and life that have followed him from the start of his career. Location painting by Mitch Cairns. [Im] never willing to untether myself from the not-knowing of what art is, he smiles. Family, of course, isnt limited to spouses, or children or blood kin. For Erin Vink, a Ngiyampaa woman and AGNSWs assistant curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, the kinship we share with other people extends to the land as well. Country is a sentient thing, so we have to care for it like a family member, says Vink, who co-curated the AGNSW strand of The National alongside Matt Cox. We are all facing these major threats to humanity climate change, biological disasters. The exhibition is about being resilient and having hope. Judy Watson is responding to how mining has degraded the Murray-Darling basin and our water supplies. Credit:Rachel See Shes excited about new paintings by Betty Muffler and Maringka Burton, along with Judy Watson. Watson remembers visiting her mothers Waanyi Country near Queenslands Mount Isa in the 1970s. If there was a storm, you could go out to the creek and have this amazing clean water rushing through and all the waterholes would be filled, she says, wistfully. My grandmother would go in [wearing] a dress. You would see us all bobbing around. Judy Watsons work water restrictions and conditions in the Murray-Darling basin from the series clouds and undercurrents, 2021 Credit:Carl Warner Watson tells me about how mining across the Murray-Darling Basin has degraded Sydneys water bodies. Her work for The National, a series called clouds and undercurrents, explores ideas of air and water quality. She makes the ethereal paintings, dyed with indigo, graphite and mangrove mud, using shibori, a traditional Japanese technique. My cousin Dot Watson and I have had the best time together in her backyard, working with shibori same with Mum and her family, she says. I love being in the studio making work by myself, but I love sharing it in the company of others. Betty Kuntiwa Pumani and her daughter Marina with some of their work in early 2020. Credit:Meg Hansen Photography Like Watson, Betty Kuntiwa Pumanis art is shaped by a profound connection to her mothers Antara Country. Pumani is the daughter of Milatjari Pumani, who was a senior Pitjantjatjara artist from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in South Australia. For The National, Pumani spent six months making a 10-metre long painting, Antara (2020), a work that explores the witchetty grub songline and conjures the power of Antara Country, surrounded by waterholes and mountains, in dazzling whites, blues and deep reds. Pumani, who will show at the MCA and often collaborates with her daughter Marina says that painting is about interpreting her mothers knowledge. Loading What I have shared is what I paint the true story of Antara Maku Dreaming, Pumani says via a written translation. It is the main story I was taught by my mother, the main story I need to look after. Pumani says that her grandchildren and daughter would watch her process. Painting, she says, is a cultural inheritance shared with the world and exchanged between different generations. Simpson, too, believes that her art-making comes with a responsibility to those that have gone before her. PHILADELPHIA, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Fattah Neuroscience Global Advisors hosts a symposium called, 'Work-Life and Mental Health: COVID-19 and the Mental Health of the Employees and Employers' with national recognized distinguished panelists to discuss the COVID 19 and its impact on mental health. The experts include: Garen Staglin, Founder, One Mind; Arthur C. Evans, PhD., CEO, American Psychological Association; Vicky Yamamoto, PhD., Executive Director, Society for Brain Mapping; Alejandra Y. Castillo, Former National Director Minority Business Development Agency; and Salima Pace, Secretary-Treasurer Hospital Workers Union. Convened by the Fattah Neuroscience Global Advisors, LLC, the virtual event is scheduled for today March 19, 2021 at 2:00pm, Eastern Standard Time. This event is free, and participants are welcomed to join the conversation by registering on the following link: https://www.fattahadvisors.com/319. Sponsors for the event include: The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, Philadelphia Works Inc, and the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics. This event is a second in a series of events sponsored by the Fattah Neuroscience Global Advisors, LLC. In December 2020 the consulting firm sponsored a virtual forum for congressional leaders entitled, COVID-19 and its Neuropsychiatric Impact. For further information, the organization will post events and projects on its website, www.fattahadvisors.com. Event Director: Wade Redcross [email protected] SOURCE Fattah Neuroscience Global Advisors Related Links https://www.fattahadvisors.com Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/19/2021 -- According to the new market research report "Progressing Cavity Pump Market by Pumping Capacity (Up to 500 GPM, 5011,000 GPM, and more), Power Rating (Up to 50 HP, 51150 HP, and more), End User (Oil & Gas, Food & Beverages, and more), and Region - Global Forecasts to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global Progressing Cavity Pump Market size is projected to reach USD 5.9 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 6.0%, from an estimated USD 4.4 billion in 2021. The key drivers for the Progressing Cavity Pump Market include use of PCPs in enhanced oil recovery and upstream processes and Intensifying need for water & wastewater management in developed nations. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=142949269 The up to 500 GPM segment by pumping capacity, is the largest contributor in the progressing cavity pump during the forecast period. Progressing cavity pumps offering pumping capacity in the range of 0 to 500 GPM capture the largest share of the global PCP market. In 2020, the segment captured more than 65% of the total market owing to the versatility in operation offered by these pumps. In addition to compact size, these pumps require less power-consuming electric or hydraulic motors that are favored across the world for lower operational cost as well as high efficiency. Lower operational cost is also one of the prime factors due to which end-use industries prefer to use these motors over their more powerful counterparts. The food & beverages industry is among the top consumers of these pumps due to the relatively low requirement of flow rate for fluid processing. Power rating, the up to 50 HP segment is expected to be the largest market for progressing cavity pump during the forecast period. PCPs rated up to 50 hp are predominantly used for abrasion resistance in tough pumping applications. PCPs become mechanical, and their volumetric efficiency rises when the viscosity of the liquid increases and PCPs require limited power supply and flow as compared to other pumps. PCPs rated up to 50 hp are used mainly in the wastewater treatment (for handling polymers, waste, sludge, and flocculants); chemicals (for handling detergents, varnish, paints, inks, and soaps); buildings (for handling cement and bentonite); agro and food (for handling creams, emulsions, wine, and olive oils); food & beverages (for handling dairy product, beverage, convenience food, fruits and vegetables, baked goods, sauce and starch, personal care, meat, fish, and animal food) industries. Progressing cavity pumps with such power rating are not extensively used in the oil & gas industry owing to the fact that the oil & gas industry demands high power rated operational equipment. Browse in-depth TOC on "Progressing Cavity Pump Market" 125 Tables 55 Figures 215 Pages View Detailed Table of Content Here: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/progressing-cavity-pump-market-142949269.html The water & wastewater management end user segment is expected to be the largest contributor during the forecast period. Water & wastewater is the largest end user of PCPs among all the industries. The need to reduce life cycle costs and improve operating margins is anticipated to boost the usage of PCP units in the water & wastewater industry for the processing of polymers, waste, sludge, and flocculants. Intensifying demand for freshwater, handling liquids with higher viscosities, and a clean environment would also propel the need for water and wastewater management in the future, thereby creating opportunities for the usage of PCPs. The demand for these pumps is likely to rise from new plant installations, unit expansions, and unit upgrades. According to the UN, the worlds population will increase from 7.2 billion in 2013 to 8.1 billion by 2025. Hence, factors such as population growth, especially in urban areas, industrial development, increasing emphasis on wastewater treatment, international commitments and targets, and government policies would facilitate the growth of the water & wastewater industry. Moreover, by 2030, the UN plans to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water and adequate and equitable sanitation for all. This calls for huge investments in the water & wastewater sector. This, in turn, would push the demand for PCPs during the forecast period. Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the global Progressing Cavity Pump Market The Asia Pacific region was the largest market for progressing cavity pumps in 2020 and accounted for a share of 35.7% of the global market. The PCP market in Asia Pacific has been studied for China, Australia, India, and Japan. The other Asian countries considered in the study are Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and South Korea. According to the IMF, the economic outlook for Asia Pacific remains strong, and the region continues to be the most dynamic in the global economy. The region has many top global economies, such as China, India, and Japan, and is expected to grow at 5.6% till 2022. The major end users of progressing cavity pumps in the region include water & wastewater treatment, oil & gas, and food & beverages industries. The market in this region will be largely driven by China and Indiacountries exhibiting fast-paced economic expansion and healthy industrial growth rates. The market in Southeast Asian countries, such as Malaysia and Thailand, is at various stages of development. The government of Malaysia aims to serve clean water to 99% of the population by 2022 from 95.5% in 2015. Such targets are likely to reflect favorably on the PCP market. According to the Indian Ministry of Finance, the country plans to invest USD 646 billion by 2022 in various areas of development. About 70% of the investment would be made in power, roads, and urban infrastructure. Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=142949269 To enable an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape, the report includes the profiles of some of the top manufacturers in the Progressing Cavity Pump Market. These players include Xylem (US), Weir (UK), Sulzer (Switzerland), Roto Pumps (India), EBARA Corporation (Japan), Wilo (Germany), ITT Corporation (US), NETZSCH (Germany), CIRCOR International (US), SEEPEX (Germany). Browse Adjacent Markets: Energy and Power Market Research Reports & Consulting Browse Related Reports: Submersible Pumps Market by Type (Electric, Hydraulic, Air-Driven), Application (Open Pit, Borewell), Operation (Single-stage, Multi-stage), Power Rating (<1, 1-5, 5-15, >15 HP), Sector (Industrial, Agricultural, Domestic), Region - Global Forecasts to 2025 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/submersible-pump-market-188587920.html Oil & Gas Pumps Market by Type (Submersible, Non-submersible) Pump Type (Centrifugal, Positive Displacement (Screw, Reciprocating, Rotary and Gear, Progressive Cavity), Cryogenic), Application (Upstream, Midstream, Downstream), Region - Global Forecast to 2025 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/oil-gas-pump-market-72491540.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: newsletter@marketsandmarkets.com The "Singapore Facial Recognition Systems Market (2020-2026): Market Forecast by Component Types (Hardware, Software & Software Tools), by Applications (Law Enforcement, Physical Security, Border Control and Commercial & Service-Based Applications) And Competitive Landscape" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Singapore Facial Recognition Systems Market size is projected to grow at a CAGR of 17.6% during 2020-2026 Singapore's facial recognition systems market is one of the emerging markets in the Asia Pacific region. The adoption of facial recognition systems by the Singapore government as a part of its "national digital identity (NDI) system" and "smart nation" project would prove to be one of the major drivers behind the growth of the facial recognition systems market during the forecast period. Additionally, the COVID-19 outbreak has augmented the growth since the lockdown norms are relaxing, there is an increased requirement of corroborating safety measures into the system. Several upcoming projects which would require the implementation of such systems are in the development pipeline. For instance, ongoing trials of facial recognition systems at Tuas checkpoint. Also, in the year 2020, Singapore became the first country to pay taxes and access other government services using facial recognition technology. Further, the Singapore facial recognition systems market report discloses that this market is anticipated to register growth since the country is expected to witness a construction spree in the coming years in the healthcare sector on account of surging COVID-19 cases coupled with increasing applications of connectivity solutions in years, with projects including the setting up of large-scale commercial establishments, such as economic cities, hotels, and offices. Law enforcement application accounts for maximum revenue share in the Singapore facial recognition systems market share for the year 2019 and the same trend is likely to follow in near future on account of criminal identification & investigation purposes resulting in increased demand for security systems. Story continues However, other sectors such as border control and physical security would register significant growth in the years to come owing to the ongoing and upcoming infrastructural development in the country and adoption of facial recognition technology in airports, offices, and banks. The Singapore facial recognition systems market report comprehensively covers the market by component types and applications. The Singapore facial recognition systems market outlook report provides an unbiased Singapore facial recognition systems market overview and detailed analysis of the Singapore facial recognition systems market trends, Singapore Facial recognition Systems market share, opportunities, high growth areas and market drivers which would help the stakeholders to device and align their market strategies according to the current and future market dynamics. Key Highlights of the Report Singapore Facial Recognition Systems Market Overview Singapore Facial Recognition Systems Market Outlook Singapore Facial Recognition Systems Market Size Singapore Facial Recognition Systems Market Forecast Historical Data and Forecast of Singapore Facial Recognition Systems Revenues for the Period 2016-2026F Historical Data and Forecast of Singapore Facial Recognition Systems Revenues, By Hardware for the Period 2016-2026F Historical Data and Forecast of Singapore Facial Recognition Systems Revenues, By Software for the Period 2016-2026F Historical Data and Forecast of Singapore Facial Recognition Systems Revenues, By Services for the Period 2016-2026F Historical Data and Forecast of Singapore Facial Recognition Systems Revenues, By Applications for the Period 2016-2026F Market Drivers, Restraints and Trends Singapore Facial Recognition Systems Market Trends and Industry Life Cycle Porter's Five Force Analysis Market Opportunity Assessment Market Player's Revenue Rankings Market Competitive Benchmarking Company Profiles Key Strategic Recommendations Markets Covered: Singapore Facial Recognition Systems Market Forecast report provides a detailed analysis of the following market segments: By Component Types Hardware Software Services By Applications Law Enforcement Border Control Physical Security Commercial & Mobile Based Application Others (Education, Banking, etc) Companies Mentioned Anyvision Aware, Inc. Daon, Inc. Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. Ltd. Idemia Group S.A.S NEC Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. SenseTime Group Ltd. Thales Group Xjera Labs Pte Ltd. Yitu Technology For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/nspvys View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005205/en/ Contacts ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 Doctor Who star Mandip Gill has revealed bosses are 'open' to casting a 'woman of colour' as the next Time Lord. The actress, who plays Yasmin Khan in the sci-fi series, said that 'there's definitely room for change,' when it comes to diversifying the show's cast, following reports that Jodie Whittaker has quit the role after four years in the TARDIS. It comes after Who was universally praised by fans for introducing its first ever black Doctor, played by Jo Martin in a shocking twist that saw the time traveller learn of numerous incarnations from her past. 'Soon': Doctor Who star Mandip Gill has revealed bosses are 'open' to casting an actress of colour as the next Time Lord Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Mandip said she could see another black actor taking on the famous role, as bosses are yet to confirm rumours that Jodie will leave the show later this year. She said: 'I think there's a long way to go but there's definitely room for change. And actually, I think at the BBC and at Doctor Who they are very open and forward-thinking, so yes.' Mandip joined the cast as Yaz alongside Jodie's Doctor in 2018, and will appear alongside John Bishop when he joins the series as the new companion Dan later this year. Changes: The actress, who plays Yaz in the sci-fi series, said that 'there's definitely room for change,' when it comes to diversifying the show's cast In January, the BBC refused to comment on speculation of Jodie leaving her role after series 13, which is currently filming. Doctor Who fans have since called for Jo Martin's iteration of the character to become the 14th Time Lord. The Holby City star's character appeared in two episodes of the show's 12th season alongside Jodie as an unknown Doctor, and viewers claimed this meant she would be an 'obvious' successor for the part. TARDIS traveller: Mandip joined the cast as Yaz alongside Jodie's Doctor in 2018 (pictured with Bradley Walsh's Graham and Tosin Cole's Ryan in 2020) Michaela Coel and Richard Ayoade have also emerged as the bookies' favourites to replace the thespian, while Sister Act's Whoopi Goldberg recently admitted she's set her sights on stepping into the TARDIS as the next Doctor. Following reports by The Mirror about Jodie's departure, a BBC spokesman told Digital Spy: 'We won't be commenting on any speculation around Jodie's future on the show.' Jodie reportedly told BBC bosses that she won't be returning to the popular series following the conclusion of the upcoming series 13. That will mark a three-year run for the actress, which is about average for recent actors playing the time-travelling alien. Matt Smith, David Tennant and Peter Capaldi also appeared on Doctor Who for three series each, while Christopher Eccleston only appeared on one series after the show was revived in 2005. According to a source for The Mirror, the show is already at work on figuring out how Whittaker will be replaced by the 14th Doctor. 'Its all very hush-hush but it is known on set that Jodie is leaving and they are gearing up for a regeneration,' a source said. 'Her departure is top secret but at some point over the coming months the arrival of the 14th Doctor will need to be filmed. Its very exciting.' 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, March 19 : Swedish-Greek origin actress Elli AvrRam got a chance to work with Aamir Khan in the song number "Har Funn Maula" she shot with him for the film "Koi Jaane Na". She says the Bollywood superstar never made her feel intimidated. "It was one of the best experiences I've had because I learnt so much from him during these five days of shoot! The way he explains everything...," Elli told IANS "The best part is he never made me feel intimidated. He was so warm and kind from day one, and very supportive. That's something I'm extremely grateful for," she added. The song is a fusion of Broadway and Jazz, and is meant to be a highlight for the film, which is scheduled to release on April 2. Aamir features in the song for the film directed by his friend Amin Hajee, best known for his role of Baagha the mute drummer in "Lagaan". "Koi Jaane Na" stars Amyra Dastur and Kunal Kapoor. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New India in making, infrastructure to be no less than US, Europe in 5 years: Nitin Gadkari Mehbooba Mufti appeals to PM Modi to release all political detainees as COVID-19 threat persists HC refuses to stay summons issued to Mehbooba Mufti by ED in PMLA case India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Mar 19: The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to stay summons issued to former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh said they are not granting any relief to the PDP leader. The court asked the ED to file a short note of submission along with compilation of judgements relied upon by them before the next date on April 16. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the ED, said Mufti just has to appear before the officials. The ED, which had earlier summoned Mufti for March 15, has not been issued summons for March 22. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister has been summoned for March 22. Senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, representing Mufti, urged the court to ask ED not to insist for her personal presence as was done earlier. Mehbooba Mufti revamps PDP structure, names new office bearers To this, the bench said, "We are not giving any stay. We are not granting any relief." Mufti has sought quashing of summons issued to her by the ED in a money laundering case. She has also sought to declare section 50 (power of ED officer to record statement) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act as void and inoperative, being unfairly discriminatory, bereft of safeguards, and violative of Article 20(3) of the Constitution. She has also sought an interim stay on the summons until the question of law in relation to constitutionality of Section 50 of the Act is decided, New Delhi: The US Defense Secretary Lloyd J Austin arrived in India for a three-day visit on Friday, this is the first foreign visit since the formation of Joe Biden's government in the US. He arrived in India after his visit from Japan and South Korea and also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On Friday, Zee News Editor Sudhir Chaudhary analyses the visit of the US Defence Minister its importance and the impact on the Indo-US ties. The new US Defense Minister is on a foreign visit of three countries, he was in Japan on March 16 after that he visited South Korea on March 17. He arrived in New Delhi on Friday for a three-day tour he is scheduled to meet Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Foreign Minister SK Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Notably, US has a mutual security agreement with Japan and South Korea that incase of an attack on Japanese or South Korean soil it will considered as an attack on the US. But there is no no such agreement with India. This is also important because India is also not part of the NATO group of 30 countries. These are countries that are committed to each other's safety and sovereignty. But in spite of all this, the US Defense Minister has visited India first. It can also be attributed to America's changing foreign policy and there are three big reasons for this; firstly at this time, America's biggest enemy is China and India can become a big ally for the US. It can be said that US has understood that if it wants to limit the growing influence of China then India's has an important part to play. Secondly, India is currently the second largest arms importing country in the world and US is exploring new possibilities for itself in India's defense sector and by doing so it also wants to reduce Russia's influence in this region which is why it has also expressed resentment over the S-400 Missile System Deal between India and Russia. And lastly, after COVID-19 crisis there has been a shift in the Center of superpower. Now, US knows that it has to seek the help a big democratic country like India to maintain its strong hold in Asia Pacific Region. Regulator on Friday barred three companies and ten individuals from the for illegally raising money from investors in the name of investments for teak trees. Prime Plantations Pvt Ltd (PPPL), Adhunik Plantations Pvt Ltd (APPL) and Twentieth Century Plantation Pvt Ltd (TCPL) as well as ten individuals, including present and past directors of these companies, have been banned. The companies and four individuals have been barred for four years from the from the date of completion of the refunds to the investors, as per a order. Further, the companies have been directed to wind up their Green Chip Scheme and refund the money. Six other individuals have been slapped with a two-year ban from the date of the order issued on Friday. The watchdog examined the business activities of the companies for the period from 1992 to 2019. It was found the companies launched identical schemes namely 'Green Chip Scheme', under which investors were given the option to invest Rs 7,500 and multiples thereof for a unit of five teak trees or multiples thereof, in PPPL and APPL. Whereas in TCPL, a minimum investment of Rs 5,000 and multiples thereof was offered to the investors. said it does not appear that these companies were actually entering into a sale transaction of teak trees while mobilising investments from the respective investors. Money was raised from the investors by making them subscribe to the schemes and not by selling any teak trees as has been propounded by them, it added. Further the regulator said the scheme was being run without obtaining registration from it. Under the said schemes, Rs 11.57 lakh, Rs 12.06 lakh and Rs 3.42 lakh have been mobilised by PPPL, APPL and TCPL, respectively, as per the order. This was in violation of Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) regulations. Among other directions, the companies and the present directors have been asked to not divert any funds raised from public at large. According to another order passed on Friday, Sebi restrained 23 entities from accessing for indulging in fraudulent trading activities into the shares of Sunstar Realty Development Ltd. The ban is for a period ranging from six months to one year. In another order, the watchdog imposed a market ban on six entities and one individual for a period ranging from six months to one year for indulging in fraudulent trade practices in the scrip of Nouveau Global Ventures Ltd. (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 gate of what is officially known as a vocational skills education centre is photographed in Dabancheng, in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, on Sept. 4, 2018. (Thomas Peter/Reuters) Toronto Group That Parrots CCP Party Line Receives $160,000 in Federal Funding A Toronto Chinese-Canadian group that recently received over $160,000 in federal funding has been working as communist Chinas mouthpiece, denouncing a parliamentary motion against Beijings abuse of Uyghur minorities in Xinjiang. The National Post first reported the statement released last week by the Council of Newcomer Organizations (CONCO), which condemned a House of Commons motion passed unanimously last month that designates the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslims as a genocide. In its Chinese-language statement, CONCO said the motion was the result of MPs ignorance and prejudice toward China and that it would cause far-reaching damage on the two countries relations. In response, Conservative MP Michael Chong, who sponsored the Uyghur-genocide motion, said that while federally funded groups are free to criticize anyone they want, the CONCO case shows how the Liberal government is willfully naive about Chinas influence. Its clear from the evidence that the leadership of this group is acting as proxies for Beijings consulates and missions here in Canada, Chong told the National Post on Monday. We should not be funding groups acting as a mouthpiece for Beijing. According to the National Post, CONCOs latest statement is at least the second time in the past two years that the organization has openly echoed a political message from Beijing. In August 2019, CONCO published an advertisement that vehemently criticized the ongoing pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong, alleging that protesters were colluding with foreign powers. In March 2020, the group, which represents 29 Chinese-Canadian associations, received a federal grant of $25,000 from the Employment and Social Development Canada for an elder-abuse program. Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, told the National Post that he finds situation kind of shocking, adding that no Canadian groups fighting for human rights in China has received any financial support from the Liberal government. They (CONCO) have freedom to express their opinion, whether they support the talking points of the Communist Party or not. The problem is they cannot do that with my tax money. Why should I support with my tax dollars their propaganda? Tohti said. In 2019, CONCOs then-president Zhu Jiang attended the 70th anniversary celebrations for the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. According to a report by Super Life News, Jiang was invited by Beijings Toronto consulate and the Xinjiang branch of the United Front Work Department, which is a branch of the CCP tasked with expending Chinese influence worldwide. One of CONCOs major supporters is Hong Wei Winnie Liao, also known as Liao Zi Wei, a prominent Toronto-area businesswoman with connections to both Canadian politicians and Chinese diplomats. Liaos company Respon International Group was the title sponsor of the councils annual Chinese New Year festival in 2019. Liaos daughter and her boyfriend were recently charged with the murder of a man in Hamilton, Ontario. Independent investigations by human rights organizations have confirmed that the CCP is proactively campaigning massive genocide of Uyghur Muslims and adherents of the spiritual practice of Falun Gong. Reports revealed that 1 to 2 million Uyghurs, who are arbitrarily detained in re-education camps, long with Falun Gong practitioners, have been subjected to systematic rape, physical abuses, and forced sterilization. Hundreds of primary school students have been evacuated because of a gas leak at a college near Canberra. Around 300 children and staff were moved from the grounds of Queanbeyan East Public School while the gas leak is investigated by NSW firefighters. The school is an 18 minute drive from Canberra's CBD. Around 300 children and staff were moved from the grounds of Queanbeyan East Public School due to a gas leak On Twitter Fire and Rescue NSW said firefighters were currently investigating a gas leak at a school on Yass road. A spokesperson from NSW Fire and Rescue said a crew from Queanbeyan Fire Station attended the school and investigated the leak. 'Around 300 staff and students were evacuated as a precautionary measure. 'The gas was isolated at the mains, and the school were organising to have a plumber attend to identify the source of the leak and to repair it. 'All of the children and teachers were then returned to their classes.' Assistant Principal of Queanbeyan East told Daily Mail Australia that everyone at the school was 'safe and well'. The source of the leak remains unknown. New Delhi, March 19 : The Delhi Capitals (DC) on Friday launched their official jersey for the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL). DC invited fans to the franchise's office in New Delhi where the jersey was unveiled. The new jersey continues to be dominated by blue and red. It is in a darker shade of blue and graduates to lighter tones. In addition to tiger stripes across the jersey it also includes red tiger claws on the sides. "Delhi's fans have stood by the team through ups and downs, so it is imperative for us to make them feel special. To take the fan experience to a different level, we also organised a photoshoot for the select fans in the new jersey, just like we do for the players. We are glad to have given them a memorable experience. It's also a very proud moment for all of us at GMR to see the group's logo on the arm. We cannot wait for the league to kick off, I wish the team all the very best," said chairman and co-owner Kiran Kumar Grandhi. "The new jersey looks trendy, which is in sync with our team -- a vibrant, young side ready to take on a challenge, and the tiger claws make a strong statement," said DC director and interim CEO Vinod Bisht. The IPL begins on April 9 and DC's first match will be against Chennai Super Kings on April 10. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. New Krabi airport terminal to open in October KRABI: A third terminal at Krabi Airport is expected to open in October to double the airports passenger handling capacity, according to the Department of Airports (DoA). tourismtransportconstructioneconomics By Bangkok Post Friday 19 March 2021, 08:30AM A third terminal at Krabi Airport is expected to open in October. Photo: KBIA / Facebook A third terminal at Krabi Airport is expected to open in October. Photo: KBIA / Facebook A third terminal at Krabi Airport is expected to open in October. Photo: KBIA / Facebook A third terminal at Krabi Airport is expected to open in October. Photo: KBIA / Facebook A third terminal at Krabi Airport is expected to open in October. Photo: KBIA / Facebook A third terminal at Krabi Airport is expected to open in October. Photo: KBIA / Facebook A third terminal at Krabi Airport is expected to open in October. Photo: KBIA / Facebook Somkiat Maneesathit, DoA deputy director-general, went on an inspection tour of the airport on Thursday (Mar 18), and he was briefed on various construction projects there, reports the Bangkok Post. He inspected a newly-built airport apron equipped with a lighting system. The construction of the structure was completed on Jan 21. The DoA deputy chief also monitored the progress of a new runway being built at the cost of B941.9 million. The construction contract runs from Oct 29 last year to April 16, 2023. The runway project is expected to finish on time. Once completed, the new runway can accommodate 24 aircraft per hour, up from the current eight aircraft per hour, according to the department. Also under construction is the third terminal building, an upgrade for the first and second terminal buildings as well as a car park building. These projects are estimated to be worth B2.9 billion. The third terminal is likely to be up and running this October, in time for the recovery of the travel and tourism sectors affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the start of the high tourism season. The terminal is expected to double the airports current handling capacity of 1,500 people per hour, or 4 million people per year. The new car park building will also have space for up to 2,700 vehicles. The DoA last week said domestic flights are currently operating at airports in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Udon Thani, Ubon Ratchathani, Surat Thani, Khon Kaen, Krabi, Trang, Phitsanulok, Sakon Nakhon, Lampang, Nan Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom, Loei, Buri Ram and Mae Sot. The department was confident the local aviation industry will continue its recovery over the next six months with the national vaccination programme speeding up the recovery process. There are now about 120 round-trip flights being operated per day across the country, double the number during the industrys low point. The number of passengers on domestic flights each day had risen to 30,000-40,000 before the second wave of COVID-19 hit in mid-December, equal to about 80% of the usual number before the pandemic, the department said. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 The Houston ISD school board earned another win Friday in its effort to stave off Texas Education Commissioner Mike Moraths plan to replace it with an appointed board, this time prevailing in a procedural battle before the state Supreme Court. In an 8-1 decision, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that a state appellate court had the legal right to temporarily halt Moraths move to oust HISDs school board amid an ongoing lawsuit. The ruling is not final victory for HISD in its fight with Morath. It merely means that the education commissioner cannot immediately move to replace trustees with a board of managers, which could vote to drop the lawsuit. The HISD boards case remains pending, with an appeal related to the central issues of the case pending before the Texas Supreme Court. Lawyers representing Morath and the Texas Education Agency argued that a state law precluded the courts from stopping state administrative actions such as stripping power from school board members and appointing replacements even if a trial court issues a temporary injunction. A Travis County judge overseeing HISDs lawsuit issued such an injunction in January 2020. An appellate court partially agreed with the TEAs position, but the judges also found that they separately had the power to halt an administrative action under the states rules of appellate procedure, which they did in HISDs case. Lawyers for Morath and TEA disagreed and asked the state Supreme Court to overturn that finding, but the eight justices sided with the lower court. Moraths move to oust HISDs school board stems from chronically low performance at Wheatley High School, a state investigation finding misconduct among board members and the continued presence of a state-appointed conservator in the district. An appellate court ruled in December 2020 that TEA officials did not follow state laws that would give them the power to replace board members on any of those three grounds. Lawyers for TEA have appealed that ruling to the Texas Supreme Court. jacob.carpenter@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. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (R) speaks as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (C) looks on at the opening session of US-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska on March 18, 2021. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images) US, Chinese Diplomats Clash Publicly in First Meeting Under Biden The Sino-U.S. talks in Alaska got off to a rocky start on March 18, when the top diplomats of both countries traded sharp criticism against each others policies in front of reporters. The two-day bilateral meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, was the first high-level, in-person talks between Beijing and Washington since President Joe Biden took office in January. Heading the U.S. delegation were Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, while the Chinese side was represented by foreign minister Wang Yi and senior foreign policy diplomat Yang Jiechi. Well also discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, and economic coercion toward our allies. Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability, said Blinken in his opening remark. He added: Thats why theyre not merely internal matters and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here today. The typical few minutes of opening remarks by both sides ended up being a public blowup before private meetings got underway. Sullivan said: A confident country is able to look hard at its own shortcomings and constantly seek to improve. Soon after, Yang, via an interpreter, said: It was my bad. When I entered this room, I should have reminded the U.S. side of paying attention to its tone in our respective opening remarks, but I didnt. He then accused the U.S. side of speaking in a condescending way. Yang then lashed out over what he said was the United States struggling democracy, poor treatment of minorities, and criticizing its foreign and trade policies. We believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world, he said. Many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States. China will not accept unwarranted accusations from the U.S. side, he said. Following the heated exchanges, a senior administration official issued a statement, criticizing the Chinese side for violating the meetings protocol, saying that there was an agreement that each of the four diplomats would limit his opening statement to about two minutes. Yang ended up speaking for more than 15 minutes. The Chinese delegation seems to have arrived intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance, the official added. Gordon Chang, author of The Coming Collapse of China, took to Twitter to express his view on the Chinese delegation. In the past, #Chinas diplomats were cunning, pretending to be friendly and responsible. Now, however, they are arrogant beyond belief. Yang Jiechi in #Alaska just dropped the mask to show #Beijings true ugly face, Chang wrote. One of the things Yang said in his long opening remark was that Xinjiang, Tibet, and Taiwan were an inalienable part of Chinas territory, and issues regarding the three regions were internal affairs. Taiwan is a de-facto independent country with its own democratically-elected government, military, constitution, and currency. However, Beijing has threatened to bring the island under its fold with military actions. Beijing has stepped up its coercion against Taiwan since the start of this year by sending military planes into Taiwans air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on a nearly daily basis. Most recently on March 17, a Chinese anti-submarine warfare aircraft entered southwestern Taiwans ADIZ, according to Taiwans Ministry of National Defense. In a joint letter dated March 17 to Biden, Blinken, and Sullivan, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) led a group of lawmakers asking the U.S. delegation to reiterate our nations strong commitment to Taiwan against the threat of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during talks in Anchorage. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), one of the lawmakers who signed the joint letter, called on the Biden administration to be tough on China in talks in Anchorage, according to a statement from this office. Aggression towards our ally Taiwan, cracking down on pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, genocide against the Uyghurs, theft of Americans private personal informationthe CCP is responsible for all these developments and needs to be held accountable, Burchett wrote. Burchett added: The CCP is an adversary, they dont play straight with us and want to weaken our position in the Indo-Pacific. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) questions President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for Secretary of Defense, retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 19, 2021 in Washington. (Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images) GOP Senators Push Stripping Chinas Preferential Trade Status to Protect US Workers, Condemn Rights Abuses Republican senators on March 18 introduced a bill that would strip the Chinese regime of its trading privileges by revoking its permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status in a bid to hold it accountable for its economic aggressions and human rights abuses. The bill, introduced by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), would tie Chinas eligibility to receive preferential trading treatmentknown as normal trade relations status (NTR)with the governments human rights record. Under President Bill Clinton, the United States granted China PNTR status in 2000, which paved the way for the regimes accession to the World Trade Organization. Conventional thinking at the time was that more trade and investment in China would spur democratization within the communist-ruled country. However, its now widely recognized that this consensus has not been effective. Instead, with the help of the surge in foreign investment and a raft of unfair trade practices, Chinas communist regime has been strengthened economically, allowing it to solidify its authoritarian grip both inside and outside the country as it continues to escalate a range of aggressions throughout the world. American manufacturing was gutted in the process. For twenty years, China has held permanent most-favored-nation status, which has supercharged the loss of American manufacturing jobs. Its time to protect American jobs and hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for their forced labor camps and egregious human rights violations, Cotton said in a statement. If passed, the legislation would mean a reversion to the system before China was granted PNTR, where the countrys eligibility for NTR was reviewed yearly. The bill would also disqualify China from NTR status if its government engages in the certain human rights abuses, including forced labor, detaining people in concentration camps; performing forced abortions or sterilizations, forcibly taking the vital organs from prisoners and dissidents, and blocking the free exercise of religion. The Chinese regime has detained more than one million Uyghur and other ethnic minorities in the region of Xinjiang, a campaign that has been designated by the United States as a genocide. Faith and rights groups have also been targets of communist leaders in Beijing, including the Buddha-school self improvement practise Falun Gong, which has been severely persecuted for more than two decades. Hundreds of thousands of adherents are estimated to be detained at any given time, where they are subjected to torture and forced organ harvesting. The bill would also disallow China from receiving NTR status if it engages in systematic economic espionage against the United States, including theft of American intellectual property. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), bill co-sponsor, highlighted Beijings hostile actions across a range of fields, including its military aggression, its theft of American technology, and the regimes malign influence in U.S. politics. To continue to ignore these actions as if they can be separated from what we do in our trading relationship is dangerously misguided, Inhofe said. Ending Chinas permanent preferential trade relationship will send a strong message to the Chinese Communist Party and will support American workers. Companion legislation was also introduced to the House by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J). Dr Helmut Marko has once again played down Red Bull's chances of enticing Andy Cowell back to Formula 1 to lead the new engine operations at Milton Keynes. The Austrian told motorsport-magazin.com that Red Bull is already busily preparing the in-house engine facilities ahead of Honda's official departure at the end of the year. "We are assuming that the hardware will be ready to go by spring, summer next year," said Marko. "At the same time, we have placed advertisements and received very good feedback," he added. It is not clear who will lead the operation, but former Mercedes engine boss Cowell's name keeps cropping up. "We always talk and he would be a nice option, but it's not really up to date information," said Marko. "He has just left Mercedes because he was looking for a new challenge outside of Formula 1. I think it would be very difficult to get him back." Marko admits that the details of the Rd Bull engine program beyond 2022 is currently unclear, but it is possible that Honda will remain contractually involved in the project in some ways. Yasuaki Asaki, who heads the works Honda F1 project in Japan, admitted: "Honda's level of commitment to the engine development in 2022 has yet to be defined in the final contract. "Until now, the engine was from Honda so we decided what to do with it. But now that it will be a Red Bull engine, they have the final say," he added. "If they want us to develop something and put it in the contract, we can implement it," said Asaki. One complication for Red Bull is the move to E10 fuel from 2022, which Honda is already working on. "They cannot race if they are not prepared for the new regulations, so we are working hard to adjust the engine even if the contract is not yet ready," said the Japanese. Marko admits that Red Bull is yet to plot a precise course for the future with regard to the engine program, especially with brand new rules looming for 2025. "We also have to discuss with Honda how we will continue after 2025," he said. "Either we take a new engine supplier, or we develop the Honda engine further. "The way things are now, things look positive," added Marko. "The new regulations for the power units are coming and the budget ceiling also helps us in terms of engines. So I'm optimistic about that." (GMM) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Page Content Although a federal appeals court found that California wage and hour laws apply to interstate flight attendants who are based in the state, the airline was not subject to heightened penalties under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). In Bernstein v. Virgin America, Inc., the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that an airline violated certain wage and hour rules under the California Labor Code. The court rejected the airline's argument that federal law pre-empts the state's meal and rest break requirements in the aviation context. However, the airline was not subject to escalated penalties for repeat violations under PAGA. The airline "was not notified by the labor commissioner or any court that it was subject to the California Labor Code until the district court partially granted plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment," the 9th Circuit explained. So heightened penalties do not apply for labor code violations that occurred before such notification. Although the decision is a federal court ruling and could still meet resistance from California state courts, the outcome should provide California employers with a strong basis to reject the application of the higher PAGA penalty rate in many cases, said Jason Geller, an attorney with Fisher Phillips in San Francisco. PAGA Penalties In addition to facing private lawsuits for labor code violations, employers may be subject to PAGA fines. PAGA allows aggrieved employees to sue over alleged labor code violations on behalf of themselves and other employees by stepping into the shoes of state regulators to recover civil penalties. Under PAGA, an initial violation carries a $100 penalty per employee per pay period. Every subsequent violation carries a $200 penalty. Seventy-five percent of the penalties that are recovered go to the state, and 25 percent go to employees. Plaintiffs also can recoup attorney fees. In Bernstein, the trial court said the $200 penalty should apply to violations that occurred after the lawsuit was filed, but the 9th Circuit disagreed. The 9th Circuit relied on a California appeals court decision, which said, "Until the employer has been notified that it is violating a labor code provision the employer cannot be presumed to be aware that its continuing underpayment of employees is a 'violation' subject to penalties." "The 9th Circuit resolved a question that has impact for all employers being sued for PAGA violations," said Katherine Catlos, an attorney with Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck in San Francisco. "In the past, counsel for private attorney general plaintiffs argued enhanced penalty calculations based on the date a lawsuit was filed, arguing all penalties after that date were subject to $200 per violation," she explained. With this recent decision, the 9th Circuit held that the enhanced $200 penalty applies to violations that follow a court ruling or a labor commissioner decision and not as of the date the plaintiffs filed their lawsuit. "So therefore, employers have a win, in the sense that the range of potential penalties' calculations will be reduced when assessing potential recovery," Catlos said. When Does California Law Apply? There are several takeaways from the Bernstein case that are significant for California employers, said Gina Miller, an attorney with Snell & Wilmer in Orange County, Calif. First, she said, to the extent employers currently have employees that have moved out of state during the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to work for a California employer, the Bernstein case reminds employers that it is critical to get it confirmed in writing that those workers no longer reside California. The hook for complying with California labor laws, she noted, is whether the employee is a California resident or the employee physically works within the state of California. California residents who work elsewhere and non-California residents who come to work in Californiaeven brieflywill be subject to the state's meal and rest break rules. California's nonexempt workers are entitled to a 10-minute paid rest break for every four hours worked "or major fraction thereof." Employees must also receive a 30-minute unpaid meal break for every five hours they work. They can waive their right to take a meal break only if they work no more than six hours. A second break must be provided after 10 hours but can be waived if the first break was taken and the employee works no more than 12 hours. Employers should make sure that they do not categorize workers as "California based" unless those workers truly reside or work full time in the state, Miller said. Additionally, employers should note that the appeals court in Bernstein found that the Federal Aviation Act does not pre-empt California's meal and rest break laws. "This conclusion is curious given all of the safely regulations that pilots and flight attendants are subject to," Miller said. "It does not seem difficult to come up with a host of scenarios were airplane safety regulations could be violated due to the fact that a flight attendant is on a 10-minute rest break. It is this aspect of the ruling that is the most troubling and the most likely to be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court." Colorado Gov. Jared Polis speaks to the media during his visit at Centura Health's COVID-19 drive-up vaccination clinic at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Centura Health has joined Gov. Polis Vaccines for All plan and are launching three drive-up vaccine clinics locations including Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Commerce City. The clinic in Colorado Springs is open as of Wednesday, the two other clinics will open on March 22 at the Colorado State Fair Grounds in Pueblo and Dicks Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City. The drive-up clinics will run Friday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. following the phased guidelines set by the state. (Chancey Bush/ The Gazette) Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. steadied on Friday, but were down 8% for the week, after an overnight sell-off as a new wave of coronavirus infections across Europe triggered fresh lockdowns and dampened expectations of any imminent recovery in fuel demand. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 33 cents, or 0.55%, to $59.67 a barrel by 0755 GMT. Brent crude was up 23 cents, or 0.36%, to $63.51 a barrel. The market is increasingly nervous about the outlook for fuel demand as new lockdown measures are imposed and vaccination rollouts stall, analysts said. plunged 7% for a fifth day in a row on Thursday as several large European economies have reimposed lockdowns and vaccination programmes have been slowed by distribution issues and concerns about possible side-effects. Several French regions, including the Ile-de-France region around Paris, will start a four-week lockdown from Friday. "That will impact oil consumption in Europe and thus potentially give a modest headwind," Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA, said. Although Germany, France and other countries have announced the resumption of inoculations after regulators declared the AstraZeneca vaccine safe, the programme halt has made it harder to overcome resistance to vaccines among some of the population. Britain will have to slow its COVID-19 vaccine rollout next month due to a supply delay. Goldman Sachs said headwinds related to European Union demand and Iran supply would slow the oil market rebalancing by 0.75 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter, although it expects the OPEC+ grouping of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies to act to offset that. Supplies of oil are plentiful, with Saudi Arabia's crude exports increasing in January for a seventh straight month to the highest since April 2020, the Joint Organisations Data Initiative website found on Thursday. Shipments from the world's biggest oil exporter increased to 6.582 million barrels per day in January from 6.495 million the previous month. (Reporting by Shu Zhang in Singapore and Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo; Editing by Leslie Adler, Richard Pullin, Ana Nicolaci da Costa and Barbara Lewis) Listen to this article Scott Reeder is a veteran Illinois Statehouse journalist and a freelance reporter. He can be reached at ScottReeder1965@gmail.com. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Renault claims that the recently announced Auto Scrappage Policy will bring the Indian automotive industry to match the international standard, besides offering a much-needed reprieve for the Auto, Steel, and Electronics industry post the pandemic. The automaker revealed that the policy is a welcome move for the entire automobile industry, which is the fourth largest in the world today. It will ensure the adoption of better technology on Indian roads, thus significantly lowering carbon emissions for the country. The scrapping of older vehicles in a scientific and environment-friendly manner will help to reduce pollution and also make roads safer. Another welcome addition is the new policy which provides significant incentives to customers or vehicle owners. One being the five per cent rebate from automakers, along with various incentives from the government that should encourage people to come forward to replace their old vehicles and create a positive impetus for the country. Mr. Venkatram Mamillapalle, Country CEO and MD, Renault India Operations, said, This is indeed a historic moment in the Indian automotive sphere and will Go a long way in setting a new benchmark for India in the global context. We are on the cusp of a breakthrough in the industry, firstly we saw advanced emission standards being adopted by the sector and now a move that is momentous on multiple fronts, besides presenting a huge business opportunity for the OEMs, the social impact of this move will be revolutionary, employment generation, significantly reducing pollution and bolstering road safety are just a few amongst many that come to mind. Renault Giving a clean chit to the state government and its machinery, the tribunal went on to say that there was no need to issue further notice to the respondents. (Photo: DC) Hyderabad: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has said that the state government had not disrupted the ecology of Hussainsagar lake while demolishing the Secretariat last year. The tribunal was dealing with a petition filed by TPCC working president A. Revanth Reddy. As regards the plea for issue of an injunction restraining the authority from giving the environmental clearance, this is not permissible under law. The tribunal cannot restrain any statutory authority from exercising its duty. If anyone is aggrieved by environmental clearance granted, he can challenge this by filing an appeal under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, the tribunal said. It said, Under the circumstances, we feel there is no necessity for this tribunal to admit this application, unless it is challenged and set aside by the higher court; and the right of the applicant to challenge the environmental clearance later is also not affected by this order. Giving a clean chit to the state government and its machinery, the tribunal went on to say that there was no need to issue further notice to the respondents. It added: The joint committee which had conducted an inspection on the lake said that the Hussainsagar lake was not notified as a wetland, and the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, do not apply to this. Also, as per GO 168 issued by the erstwhile government of Andhra Pradesh, construction of any building is prohibited only up to a distance of 30 metres from the full-tank level (FTL) of the lake. It also noted: The demolition and re-construction of the Secretariat building is the policy decision of the Telangana government and it is not within the ToR of the joint committee. The joint committee inspected M/s Hyderabad C & D Waste Private Limited, Jeedimetla and cross-verified the quantity of C&D waste disposed of by the R&B department to the waste processing facility and the entire quantity of 1,14,447 MT of C&D waste is transported to the facility. The administrative blocks (A, B, C, D, G, H- North, H-South, J, K, and L) were demolished between July 6, 2020 and July 19, 2020. When Nic Dyson got a Facebook message from an alias account claiming to be his long-lost third cousin and CNN anchor Jake Tapper he assumed it was fake news. When Nic Dyson got a Facebook message from an alias account claiming to be his long-lost third cousin and CNN anchor Jake Tapper he assumed it was fake news. But when the high-profile American journalist told his 3.3 million Twitter followers about the "amazingly talented" third cousin he just discovered on Ancestry.com, things got real fast. "My social media has not calmed down since," Dyson said. To read more of this story first reported by CBC News, click here. This content is made available to Free Press readers as part of an agreement with CBC that sees our two trusted news brands collaborate to better cover Manitoba. Questions about CBC content can be directed to talkback@cbc.ca. The Ministries of Finance of Ukraine and Japan will begin negotiations to update the 1986 Convention on Avoidance of Double Taxation on March 22. "Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan announced that negotiations on the update of the 1986 Convention on Avoidance of Double Taxation will begin on March 22," Daisuke Kitade, a researcher at Mitsui & Co. Global Strategic Studies Institute (Japan), said at the online discussion Ukraine-Japan-EU trade connectivity: mutual impact and new opportunities, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. As noted, the convention, which is a legacy of Soviet times, is still in force between Japan and Ukraine. According to this document, Japanese companies in Ukraine have to pay higher taxes than the companies of other countries. "Since Japanese companies have suffered from this outdated convention, I hope that the negotiations will be completed and the convention will be updated as soon as possible," said the Japanese researcher. In turn, Ambassador of Ukraine to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky informed that the Embassy of Ukraine initiated this process after a series of meetings with the heads of six major trading houses of Japan. "The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine reacted immediately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan identified this as a priority for the Ministry of Finance of Japan, and they will begin online consultations. Our project has been submitted to the Japanese side," the diplomat said. As noted in the analytical commentary by Daisuke Kitade and First Deputy Director of the New Europe Center (Ukraine) Sergiy Solodkyy, presented during the online discussion, the outdated convention has long raised reservations in Japan because legal entities of Japanese origin must pay a 15 percent tax when sending dividends to their parent company in Japan. Meanwhile, representative offices of other G7 countries have to pay a dividend tax of only 5 percent (Chinese and Korean companies pay the same share). Japanese business drew attention to the fact that the 15 percent tax is provided only for companies from Japan and Belarus. Japan has already revised the old convention with other countries of the former Soviet Union; consequently, its companies in Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan pay only five percent. The agreement with Georgia was renewed on January 29, 2021. The settlement of this issue may have a positive impact on attracting Japanese investment, the researches consider. ol Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Emergency Medical Services being restricted for disabled seniors in various states. "After paying taxes for decades during their adult lives, seniors deserve the same access to municipal services as other tax-paying citizens." RALNA - Arizona is the most recent state to propose legislation seeking to limit Emergency Medical Services (EMS) access for disabled elderly. Arizona Senate Bill 1373 imposes a disservice to many seniors. Assisted living industry leaders are blending their voices and firing back to protect countless American moms and dads. After paying taxes for decades during their adult lives, seniors deserve the same access to municipal services as other tax-paying citizens. RALNA is blending its voice with the Arizona Assisted Living Home Association expressing severe concerns. Arizona prohibits assisted living homes from providing medical care, which is why restricting EMS access jeopardizes lives amongst a rapidly growing population. According to the CDC, about 10,000 baby boomers turn age 65 every day, and 4,000 people turn 85 a day - about 2.5 million people need assisted living. Restricting EMS access to affordable senior housing is an injustice to many. The Arizona S.B. 1373 can potentially lead to premature deaths amongst seniors occupying residential assisted living homes. Unfortunately, this measure is a growing trend across the country, and this is why RALNA is putting up a nationwide fight. Assisted living homes typically provide seniors with more independence and assistance with activities of daily living at far lower costs. "This bill represents a national trend attempting to push seniors into high-cost big-box facilities for a level of care that most seniors do not need," said RALNA President Brian Pinkowski. According to the CDC, in 2016, 49 million U.S. adults were 65 or older, representing 15% of the population. Due to baby boomers, it's anticipated that this rapidly growing number will reach 71 million by 2030. As lifelong taxpayers, seniors deserve affordable assisted living housing of their choice. It is an injustice to force seniors into big-box nursing homes for emergency medical services. As a result, the RAL National Association amplifies voices within the small care home industry by partnering with owners and operators nationwide. Free RALNA memberships are improving the level of care for countless moms and dads across the country by making sure their voices are heard. These free memberships are helping to build an army of entrepreneurs. Residential assisted living industry leaders aim to reshape the infrastructure of quality care by fighting for seniors' rights. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Michigans House of Representatives met with officials from the Unemployment Insurance Agency last week to discuss many issues, including many Michigan workers who are now being asked to pay back thousands of dollars of funds they were originally approved for while being laid off during the pandemic. Many Tribune readers reported being legitimately laid off during the state shutdown and collecting benefits from the UIA. Now, more than a year into the pandemic, some of those same individuals are being issued a redetermination letter, saying they must now pay back a large portion of their unemployment benefits that they shouldnt have received. While some speculate that the issue is a glitch in the unemployment system, affected individuals say they are unable to phone into the UIA to resolve the possible mistake. Others wondered if the issue was tax related, but that hypothesis was quickly put to bed by those who opted to have their taxes taken out of their payments and still find themselves owing thousands. Its not just the Upper Thumb, workers across the state are being asked to pay back funds received when laid off from work over the past year, prompting the issue to come up at the House of Representatives Oversite Committee meeting. During this meeting, members of Michigans House of Representatives met with Acting Director of the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency Liza Estlund Olson and Todd Cook, from the UIAs legislative affairs. This is Olsons second time serving as acting director of the UIA, after previously serving from 2007-2008. Currently, she is filling in as director after the resignation of Steve Gray, former acting director. Although Olson refused to speak to Grays resignation during last weeks meeting, she spoke at length about the departments employee increase due to demand. Olson said the UIA has grown from 600 branch employees to roughly 3,000. Despite this increase, as the pandemic continues, getting in contact with someone at the UIA for answers is nearly impossible an issue brought up by state representatives. Although many other state business offices are now open, including branches of the Secretary of State, Olson said it would be impossible for the UIA to reopen its branches at this point, adding that branch employees can do more from home. Oversite Committee Chairman Steven Johnson took issue with Olsons lack of active communication with the governor, saying that the UIA was the states biggest issue during the pandemic. I would expect the person at the top to be more involved, Johnson said. The governor appointed me to run the UIA, I dont need to be in constant contact with her to do my job, Olson said in response. Most of the meeting was centered around fraudulent unemployment claims that the UIA has been dealing with throughout the pandemic. Olson explained that workers are constantly working on determining the legitimacy of claims. As for repayment, both Olson and Cook maintained the position that those being asked to repay their unemployment benefits were based on overpayment. Anyone who has a determination of an overpayment and does not agree with it should protest the determination, Cook said. We have to maintain that ability of protest. We are more than happy to waive overpayment if it is determined that the recipient is at no fault, he added. Penalties and interest are only applied for instances of misrepresentation. When asked about a possible glitch in the system, citing those who have called into the UIA who were told it was an error and they dont owe money back, Olson explained that often, switching between claim types could result in a temporary overpayment that gets adjusted during nightly system updates. Prior to the states Oversite Committee meeting, Michigan Rep. Phil Green said he knew nothing of these UIA claims. Upon hearing claims from multiple community members, Green reached out to other state representatives on the issue. The UIA has been a debacle across the board, Green said. There has been a billion dollars fraudulently stolen from the UIA trust fund and the director was relieved of duty, only to receive a $86 thousand golden parachute as a severance package. A golden parachute is an agreement between a company and an employee, usually in upper executive positions such as directors, specifying that said employee will receive certain benefits if their employment is terminated. These benefits can be in the form of things like severance pay, cash bonuses, or stock options. Steve Gray, who had been director of Michigans UIA for 18 months, resigned from his position in November 2020. In an interview with the Detroit Free Press following the resignation, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer implied that his resignation was a good thing, calling it an opportunity to take the agency forward in a different way. Rep. Green advises individuals struggling with UIA issues to contact his office. From there, those issues can be brought to the attention of the UIA, in hopes of getting to the root of the issue. We are advocates for our districts, Green said. We want to do whatever we can to assist those we are representing. For additional information on future meetings through the House of Representatives, a committee schedule can be found at house.mi.gov by clicking on House TV. There, by following the Committee Schedule prompt, readers can find a meeting schedule and broadcast times for a variety of meetings, including those held by the Oversite Committee. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Tanglewood To Hold Summer Season LENOX, Mass. Tanglewood announced Friday that they planned to reopen for in-person audiences this summer after closing for the 2020 season The Boston Symphony Orchestra, which owns and operates Tanglewood, announced that the festival will welcome in-person audiences back for live performances in the summer of 2021, following the necessary closure of the festival in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This announcement takes place following a meeting of the BSO Board of Trustees on Thursday, March 18, where the decision to move forward with a summer season at Tanglewood met with unanimous approval. Running from July 9 to Aug. 16, the 2021 Tanglewood festival will offer six weeks of performances, alongside public health and safety policies and procedures established to ensure the well-being of musicians, volunteers, staff, concertgoers, and all visitors to the Tanglewood grounds. This is approximately 50 percent of Tanglewoods usual seasonal offering. Performances will be limited to no more than 80 minutes with no intermissions, as one of many measures in place to reinforce physical distancing protocols and reduce potential exposure to the virus. All performances will take place in the open-air Koussevitzky Music Shed, at a reduced capacity to ensure adherence to physical distancing protocols in place for summer 2021. Similar capacity restrictions will also apply to lawn attendance The BSOs reopening plan for Tanglewood has been developed in conjunction with 9Foundations, a company founded by Dr. Joseph G. Allen, Associate Professor at Harvards T.H. Chan School of Public Health and comprised of leading experts in the field of exposure and risk reduction in buildings "There is no recovery without the arts," said Dr. Joseph G. Allen, founder of 9Foundations. "By prioritizing the health and safety of the Tanglewood community with comprehensive public health policies, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has an opportunity to once again unite the Berkshire community through music." By working closely with 9Foundations over the coming months, the BSO will be poised to respond to any change in official guidelines for COVID-19 protocols that might be issued around the ever-evolving research on the pandemic and efficacy of the vaccines. 9Foundations will monitor and follow the science and provide feedback and recommendations on these changing dynamics throughout the spring and summer. Through this fluid situation, Tanglewood will remain flexible and consider adjusting its reopening plan only if it can do so while continuing to maintain its established health and safety standards for everyone associated with the festival. If the CDC or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts recommends more stringent guidelines for public gatherings, or an on-campus issue warrants, the BSO will modify its plans in consultation with its advisory team and communicate any changes accordingly. Tanglewood is part of a Berkshire-based consortium of cultural organizations that have developed a unified "COVID-19 Code of Courtesy" that addresses public safety for all visitors to the region. These guidelines have been reviewed and endorsed by the Berkshire Public Health Alliance. BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons will lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra in six performances and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in two performances this summer. The 2021 Tanglewood concert season will include a Saturday-evening and Sunday-afternoon Boston Symphony Orchestra series; a Friday-evening series featuring recitals, special guest artists and ensembles, and the Boston Pops; and a Monday-evening Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra series. The Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center, the BSOs summer music academy, will be featured in chamber music performances on Sunday mornings and Monday afternoons (further details about the TMCs summer session appear below). The Tanglewood Learning Institutelaunched in summer 2019will also offer a variety of programs in summer 2021. In addition, Tanglewood will present family, community, and education programs, as well as maintain many of its free and reduced-price ticket programs for the upcoming season. For the first time in the history of the Tanglewood festival, the live performance schedule will be accompanied by select weekly live video performance streams, available throughout the summer on the orchestras online streaming portal, BSO NOW, at www.bso.org/now , as a way of engaging more music lovers, locally and globally, who are not able to attend Tanglewoods live performances. 2021 Tanglewood season programming details will be announced on April 8. She puts on a stunning display every day. And Amanda Holden was again upping the glamour for her day at work at Heart FM as she sashayed through Leicester Square in a stunning ensemble. While the rest of the nation languishes in loungewear, the Britain's Got Talent host, 50, was sporting a 1,150 silk jumpsuit from Suzannah alongside a funky 155 denim jacket from Reiss to add a cool finish to the summery style. Stunner: Amanda Holden was again upping the glamour for her day at work at Heart FM as she sashayed through Leicester Square in a stunning ensemble Amanda looked jaw-dropping in the sunning ensemble which was a perfect to the warmer weather as she strutted through the streets. The blue jumpsuit featured a polka dot pattern with a nipped in waist and plunging neckline which she gave a sunny touch with her lightweight denim jacket. She accessorised with a delicate pair of hoop earrings, a pair of designer sunglasses and a black tote while boosting her height with pointed courts. It comes after Amanda recently shed light on how she goes about selecting her daring ensembles for Britain's Got Talent. Wow: While the rest of the nation languishes in loungewear, the Britain's Got Talent host, 50, was sporting a 1,150 silk jumpsuit from Suzannah alongside a funky 155 denim jacket from Reiss to add a cool finish to the summery style Feeling blue? Amanda looked jaw-dropping in the sunning ensemble which was a perfect to the warmer weather as she strutted through the streets Blonde beauty: She looked preened to perfection The TV judge famously racked up 235 Ofcom complaints during last year's series for a very risque dress but she remains defiant in her wardrobe choices. Amanda said she seeks advice from her husband, record producer Chris Hughes, and her daughter, Lexi, 15, when selecting her ensembles. She said: 'If I'm trying on outfits for shows I'll say to Lexi, "Is there too much side-boob?" or "Is this too much?" and she'll grin and say, "Go for it, Mum". Chic: The blue jumpsuit featured a polka dot pattern with a nipped in waist and plunging neckline which she gave a sunny touch with her lightweight denim jacket Chic: She accessorised with a delicate pair of hoop earrings, a pair of designer sunglasses and a black tote while boosting her height with pointed courts Daring: It comes after Amanda recently shed light on how she goes about selecting her daring ensembles for Britain's Got Talent (pictured on the show in September) 'I'll ask Chris if I'm looking like mutton and he says, "Mandy, you could never look like mutton." It's positive affirmation that we women need. My mum loves it. She just laughs about it. So does my daughter.' Speaking to the Mail On Sunday's YOU Magazine, Amanda was more than happy to chat about how comfortable she is being naked. Chatting about cooking her family a roast recently, she said: 'I was quite literally the Naked Chef. I got out of the shower, realised I was running late to get everything on the table so I didn't bother to get dressed. Oops! The TV judge famously racked up 235 Ofcom complaints during last year's series for a very risque dress but she remains defiant in her wardrobe choices 'I just raced downstairs, got the potatoes on, the meat in the oven and my veggie option. It definitely made it more interesting.' Chris, Lexi, and younger daughter Hollie, nine, didn't seem to care, she added. 'No one noticed. It's absolutely par for the course for me to be walking around with no clothes on in our house. 'Obviously now Lexi's a bit older she does a bit of eye-rolling every now and again, but they're all very used to me.' Stunner: She was undoubtedly turning heads as she walked to work State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey announced Thursday that it has been two years since a child in Massachusetts has died in a fire. Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A surge in new coronavirus infections and hospital admissions in Belgium has made it necessary to "tighten the screws" on restrictions, especially at schools, ministers said on Friday. Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said anti-COVID measures had to be followed to meet the government's two main objectives: a full return of secondary school students after the Easter break on April 19 and the reopening of bars and restaurants from May 1. However, the government on Friday resisted imposing more drastic measures seen in France, Italy and other European nations also fighting the third wave of the virus. In Belgium, masks will now be compulsory in the last two grades of primary school for children aged 10 and 11, compared to a threshold of 12 years old until now. In addition, previously announced plans to further loosen restrictions on outside activities and open amusement parks have been dropped. The country with a population of 11.5 million, where the pandemic has killed more than 22,600 people, there were some 5,200 new infections on Monday alone, according to official figures. In the past week, the daily average of new infectionsnearly 3,300has jumped 34 percent from the previous seven days, which is "considerable," a health authority spokesman said. The number of COVID patients admitted to intensive care (543 on Friday) has almost doubled in a month, to a level not seen in 2021. "It is possible (to achieve these goals), provided we tighten the screws now," Vandenbroucke said. "We need to drastically reduce contact and mobility," he added, calling on employers to better enforce working from home. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the biggest factor in new contaminations came from the workplace and schools, where new variants of the virus were infecting more young people. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP EAGLE PASS, Texas Immigration agents are releasing so many migrants in small towns along the Texas border these days that Laura Ramos, who owns a store near the international bridge in Eagle Pass, said she was worried about the safety of her business and her children. Its horrible and very dangerous, she said. But Tohui Valero, who sells sunglasses and perfume at a shop about a block away, said he was not concerned about the dozens of new migrants arriving every day. They are harmless, he said, and, in any case, there is a substantial new law enforcement presence in town. There are so many police and Border Patrol here, its very safe, he said. As the Biden administration thaws an immigration system that had largely been frozen over the past year, towns along the 1,954-mile border are bracing for what federal officials are warning will be a sharp increase in releases of migrants in their communities in the coming weeks. It is already happening in some places, prompting some mayors and other local officials to appeal for federal help. Aide workers who are operating shelters to help migrants along their way say they are feeling the strain on medical resources and their own facilities, though they discount fears that the newcomers are a threat. Most, they say, are eager to reunite with their family members elsewhere in the country and do not want to get in any trouble that would delay them. Ukraine is interested in starting negotiations on the conclusion of a free trade agreement with Japan. Ambassador of Ukraine to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky made a corresponding statement at the online discussion Ukraine-Japan-EU trade connectivity: mutual impact and new opportunities, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. The diplomat said that he raised the issue of Ukraine's interest in starting negotiations on conclusion of a free trade agreement during numerous meetings with representatives of the Japanese authorities. Japanese counterpart is very cautious about that, and this is clear: 0.1 percent of Japan's foreign trade turnover is not something worth spending effort on. But we really need the free trade agreement," Korsunsky said. As the Ambassador noted, Japan is in the very heart of a network of free trade agreements with the whole world. "Its a completely unique case: no matter what dimension we take - trans-Pacific, transatlantic or regional, Japan has free trade regimes," he said. According to him, another important fact is that Japan, like Ukraine, has free trade regimes with the EU, Great Britain and Canada. "From my point of view, we are already very close legally with Japan, that is why the negotiations about free trade dont have to be long and difficult. I think we will be able to do that in a year, it would be desirable if there is a will," Korsunsky noted. Commenting on the benefits for Ukraine in the case of conclusion of the FTA with Japan, he noted that the Ukrainian side is interested not only in the entry of Ukrainian goods into the Japanese market. "Japan is important for Ukraine as a global, powerful trade nation in the world, which can help us have much wider markets in the Asian region," the Ambassador said. As noted in the analytical commentary presented during the online discussion, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, Japanese imports of goods to Ukraine last year stood at $1.1 billion, while Ukrainian exports to Japan amounted to $182 million. The structure of Ukrainian merchandise exports has traditionally been dominated by low added-value goods, such as iron ores and concentrate thereof, tobacco products and industrial tobacco substitutes. Japan primarily exported to Ukraine mechanical engineering products, such as automobiles. Exports of heavy engineering and electrical machinery accounted for 8.5 and 4.6 percent of the trade turnover, respectively. ol MONTREAL - An investor group including the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec has signed an agreement to buy New Look Vision Group Inc. in a deal that values the company at about $800 million. The Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec logo is pictured in Montreal on Thursday, February 20, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson MONTREAL - An investor group including the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec has signed an agreement to buy New Look Vision Group Inc. in a deal that values the company at about $800 million. Under the agreement, the group, which also includes private equity firm FFL Partners and the Dr. H. Doug Barnes Family, will pay $50 in cash per share for New Look. "FFL, CDPQ and the Dr. H. Doug Barnes Family, with their industry experience and financial strengths, are the ideal partners to take New Look Vision to the next level of development and success," John Bennett, New Look's chairman and principal shareholder, said in a statement. The price the investor group is paying represents about a 26 per cent premium over New Look's closing share price on Thursday, when the company announced the deal. Shares in New Look were trading at $49.61 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday morning. New Look sells prescription and non-prescription glasses, contact lenses and sunglasses. It has a network of 406 stores under several banners including New Look Eyewear, Vogue Optical, Greiche & Scaff, Iris and Edward Beiner. We are proud to support New Look Vision a Quebec leader in the provision of eye care products and services and bring our constructive capital approach towards helping the business continue to expand both domestically and internationally, guided by its strong entrepreneurial culture, Kim Thomassin, the Caisse's executive vice-president and head of investments in Quebec and stewardship investing, said in a statement. The deal, which requires shareholder and other approvals, is expected to close in the first half of this year. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2021. Companies in this story: (TSX:BCI) Baton Rouge residents get more robocalls per person than anyplace else in the United States, according to a survey by a company that provides a phone app to block the spam calls. With an average of 38.9 robocalls per person in the month of February, Baton Rouge topped second-place Memphis, Tennessee, where the average was 36, the survey by YouMail found. The 225 area code, which covers the larger Baton Rouge region, saw the second-most robocalls per person in February, second only to the Atlanta area, the study said. It's not a scientific study; YouMail creates its "Robocall Index" by extrapolating from the calls made to its users. The data includes all automated calls, including alerts from school districts, calls from political campaigns, payment reminders, and spam calls. Youmail said scams made up the largest portion of the robocalls in the U.S. in February almost half. "The leading illegal types of robocalls in February continued to be those involving car warranties and health-related scams," the company said in a press release. "In particular, warranty scams continue to grow rapidly, increasing by 74 million calls in February versus January -- after increasing 100 million calls in January versus December." Americans received more than 4.6 billion robocalls, of all types, in February. That's a 15.1% increase over January, PR Newswire said. "Robocallers are basically back in action," said YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. "As economies continue their reopening journey, it's not a surprise to see robocalls essentially return to pre-pandemic levels." 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 According to the Better Business Bureau, robocalls use a computerized autodialer to deliver pre-recorded messages to cell phones or home landlines. If a robocall is a sales pitch and the person getting the call hasn't given their written permission to receive calls from that company, the call is considered illegal, according to Federal Trade Commission rules. Some recorded messages are allowed by Federal Trade Commission rules, including messages from candidates running for office and charities asking for donations. Solely informational messages, like reminders from a doctor's office, are also allowed. Prerecorded messages from banks and telephone carriers are allowed, as long as the companies make the calls themselves. The Federal Trade Commission recommends three steps to take to stop unwanted robocalls: Hang up. Block the call with available call-blocking technologies. Information is available at ftc.gov/calls Report the unwanted or illegal call to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint. Consumers can also report robocalls to BBB.org/ScamTracker. The BBB shares the information with government and law enforcement agencies. Of all the varied responses to the silence triggered by a year of theatre closures and lockdown, Giles Terera's is the most simple and straightforward. Stuck in his Soho flat, unable to work, he watched events unfold in the London streets around him and wrote 12 songs which captured what he felt and what he saw. Then he went along to the cabaret stage at Crazy Coqs and recorded the results, accompanying his own singing on piano and guitar. To be honest, in advance, I expected to be bored. I admire Terera for his performances in shows such as Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Rosmersholm, and most notably Hamilton, in which he memorably incarnated Hamilton's arch-rival Aaron Burr with subtlety and understanding. But watching him alone in a room for an hour, strumming his guitar and knocking out a few melodies, just didn't seem my thing. How wrong I was. From the first song to the last, I was gripped. It's partly the variety of the compositions and the range of emotions Terera encapsulates. He deals with anger, loneliness, love, and mental health in songs that range from the funky, to the ballad, to the blues. Many directly address the widespread racism exposed by the Black Lives Matter protests. There's the opening "Black Matter", an act of remembrance for black lives under-valued, traduced and taken, and "A Picture of Britain", a tribute to the artist Khadija Saye, who died in the Grenfell Tower fire, which combines haunting simplicity with a ferocious message: "You say it's a shame, well I say it's a crime/That the people in power/Don't give a fuck about the people of Grenfell Tower." Even more substantial is "You Have the Right to Remain", introduced by heavy chords on the piano, which opens with a monologue in which Terera recounts how he witnessed an incident where a white woman threw wine over two black men, but it was the men who were arrested in the most heavy handed way, until people intervened. "I immediately saw how different it could have been and often is," he says, before launching into song that celebrates the idea that black people have the right to remain "Brilliant/True/Resilient/You." There are also songs that talk about his sister, about birds singing as they return to the empty city, about the hypocrisy of religion and about lockdown love affairs. He shows his awareness of loneliness and sadness, of the need for people to take care of their mental health, to be kind to themselves as well as others. Finally, he makes a plea for compassion and love. As he says that word, Terera looks very directly at the camera. His presence makes his words compelling. Simply dressed in grey shawl and jeans, beautifully filmed from many angles in pin- sharp high definition, he has a consummate ability to make each word count, to deliver the songs with an actor's timing, to make every glance at the camera meaningful. He draws you into the world and meaning of what he is describing in the most compelling way. The honest directness of his response is everything. I couldn't look away. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-20 00:15:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SHANGHAI, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Foreign-invested companies are remaining bullish on the Chinese market with the country's effective curb of COVID-19, emerging economic drivers and greater opening-up. Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 31.5 percent year on year to 176.76 billion yuan (27.17 billion U.S. dollars) in the first two months of the year, the latest data from the Ministry of Commerce showed. Many foreign-invested companies are eyeing great potential in the Chinese market's consumption growth. Amorepacific Corporation, a leading beauty and cosmetics conglomerate in the Republic of Korea has already signed up for the 4th China International Import Expo (CIIE) this year, a major fair for global companies to expand their businesses in China. At last year's CIIE, Amorepacific doubled its exhibition area from the previous year to 500 square meters. As an important leading market in beauty trends, China boasts huge potential in domestic demand, and the CIIE has served to open up the space for consumption, said Charles Kao, president of Amorepacific China. Currently, Amorepacific offers a wide range of products and services from skincare to color cosmetics at more than 5,200 stores in over 370 Chinese cities. Jaeho Yeon, senior vice president of Shanghai-based Amorepacific China R&D Center, leads a team of 60 people that focus on studying Chinese consumers' demands, cosmetics habits and feedback on products to flexibly cater to the local needs. "In the next five years, we'll continue to increase our investment in China and double the scale of the R&D team," said Jaeho Yeon, adding that Shanghai has an active consumer market with great talent reserves. For Carrier Global Corporation, a global provider of high-tech HVAC and refrigeration solutions, China's emerging economic drivers, such as the digital economy, bring new opportunities. Thanks to China's early resumption of work amid stringent COVID-19 control and prevention, the company maintained its performance in the Chinese commercial air-conditioner market last year compared with 2019. "We are eying new opportunities as more large-scale data centers are being built in China, which require precise and stable temperature and humidity control," said Robert Chiang, VP, Engineering, Carrier Global Technology & Components, and Shanghai R&D Center. The systematic solutions Carrier designs for the data centers can greatly reduce energy consumption, Chiang noted. "China is a market worth long-term investment, and we will continue to ramp up our investment in the country," Chiang said, adding that as a U.S.-based company, Carrier has seen the benefits of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation over the many years doing business in China. The company will continue to invest in commercial air conditioning, increase investment in cold chain technology and expand R&D investment in digital technology, Chiang added. On Wednesday, Standard Chartered Bank (China) Ltd. became the first foreign-invested bank to cooperate in a pilot cash-pooling service for multinational companies that integrates domestic and foreign currency management to facilitate the use of cross-border capital. "The implementation of the pilot significantly enhances the flexibility and convenience of cross-border cash flows for multinational groups," said Ye Jiwei, head of transaction banking at Standard Chartered China. "It is yet another milestone for China in steadily promoting the opening of capital markets to facilitate trade and investment." Standard Chartered Bank has continued to increase its investment with China's economic growth. The bank has announced that it will invest 40 million U.S. dollars to set up a Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center. Jerry Zhang, executive vice-chairman and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank (China) Ltd., said China's determination to open up its market to the world and its continued actions have caught the world's attention. The new development paradigm of "dual circulation" in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay, has brought a wide range of opportunities for international banks like Standard Chartered, Zhang noted. Enditem * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! San Antonio will join other U.S. cities in uniting to defend the Asian American communities from hate crimes and racism after a week marked by hateful acts on local and national levels. The Stop Asian Hate San Antonio vigil is planned for Saturday in Main Plaza, starting at 6 p.m. Gina Ortiz Jones, who recently ran to represent Texas 23rd Congressional District, is organizing the event. RELATED: 'I can't take that risk': Continued harassment forces Noodle Tree owner to close dining room On Sunday, local restaurant owner Mike Nguyen found racist vandalism on the windows of Noodle Tree, his ramen shop. On Wednesday, eight women six of whom were of Asian descent were killed in Georgia by a white gunman. Also on Wednesday, an elderly Asian woman was left with a bleeding, bruised eye after fighting off an attacker in San Francisco The stories joined a national conversation on an increasing amount of violence against the AAPI community since the start of the pandemic. "Come together in peace to demand an end to violence," vigil details say. READ ALSO: Asian American groups offer support as Noodle Tree reopens this Thursday Organizers are asking participants to wear a mask and socially distance from others. Cities like Houston, Philadelphia, New York City and Phoenix have hosted or are planning similar events to stand in solidarity with Asian communities. Nearly 4,000 hate incidents were reported to the Stop AAPI Hate campaign from March 28, 2020 to February 28, 2021. Texas accounts for 103 of those reports, making it the third-most state for incidents against the AAPI community, according to the campaign's data. The local vigil is expected to last an hour. Main Plaza is located at 115 N. Main Ave. in downtown San Antonio. Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye BJP will release its election manifesto for Assembly elections on March 24. BJP chief V Saminathan said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will release the manifesto on March 24. "50,000 people have been asked for their views. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will release the BJP's election manifesto for the Assembly elections on March 24," he said. He also said that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister are coming back to Pondicherry for the election campaign. The BJP released a list of nine candidates for the Puducherry assembly elections on Tuesday. Among the key candidates, V Saminathan will contest from Lawspet assembly seat, A Namassivayam from Mannadipet, A John Kumar from Kamarajnagar and PML Kalyanasundaram from Kalapet assembly seat. Polling for 30 assembly seats in Puducherry will be held on April 6. Of the 30 assembly seats, five are reserved for the Scheduled Caste candidates. As many as 10,02,589 electors will choose the candidates for the 15 legislative Assembly of Puducherry. The Congress-led government in the union territory fell before completing its five-year term under Chief Minister V Narayansamy. Narayanasamy had resigned on February 22 ahead of a floor test in the 33-member House (including three nominated) following the resignations of five Congress and one Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) legislators. On February 23, President Ram Nath Kovind accepted the resignation of Narayanasamy and his council of ministers. In the 2016 assembly polls, Congress had won 15 seats, All India NR Congress eight seats, AIADMK got four seats, DMK walked away with two MLAs. BJP could not win any seats. (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.) .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Up until a few years ago, Paisanos was best known for its housemade pasta, marinara and wealth of gluten-free offerings. That all changed in 2016 when owner Rick Camuglia decided to promote a new olive tapenade dish by posting the words Black Olives Matter on the restaurants sign just feet from Eubank. Camuglia claimed it was nothing more than a humorous pun on the Black Lives Matter movement. Others were not amused, saying it trivialized an important protest movement against the killing of Black people by the police. Camuglia remained defiant. He put the slogan on T-shirts and hats, and sold them out of his restaurant from a display behind the cash register. He wore the shirt in interviews as the story was picked up by media outlets far and wide. The drama called to mind Spike Lees seminal 1989 film Do the Right Thing, in which the Italian American owner of a pizza shop in a Black neighborhood refused to place photographs of notable African Americans in his restaurant. In the films climactic scene, an angry mob burned the place to the ground. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Fortunately, nothing so violent happened at Paisanos, although things grew so contentious during a February 2017 protest that Camuglia reportedly brandished a pistol. Four years later, little evidence of the controversy remains. There was no Black Olives Matter merchandise visible behind the register during a recent visit; only jars of marinara. A server, fairly bursting with energy and enthusiasm, bellowed a greeting as he came out of the kitchen with my food. Paisanos is nothing if not resilient. The faded photographs in the lobby attest to its status as one of the citys oldest restaurants, dating back to the early 1970s. Throughout the pandemic, its been open for lunch and dinner during the week, and dinner on weekends. The menu features pizza, pasta and veal, along with such intriguing weekly specials as seafood risotto and roasted game hen with wild rice. Soup has long been one of the highlights of a meal at Paisanos. When I called to order, the host raved to me about the cream of mushroom soup ($6.25) and he wasnt wrong. A silky, salty broth flavored with onions and sliced mushrooms that still had some body to them, it was quite addictive and I was reluctant to share. Paisanos makes a 10-inch pizza with thin or thick crust. The thick-crust version with pepperoni ($14.25), blistered and charred from the oven, was solid, if overpriced. It had a good balance of cheese and sauce, and the pepperoni, curled and crisp at the edges, was noticeably spicy. The housemade pasta is exceptional. The full order comes with your choice of soup or salad. A half-order of linguini with basil pesto ($14.50) presents the classic combination of garlic, olive oil and Parmesan, but swaps the traditional pine nuts for walnuts. It loses a lot of its visual appeal sitting in the bottom of a cardboard box, but the pesto was bursting with a nutty flavor that the firm, yet chewy, noodles avidly absorbed. Almost every dish here comes in a gluten-free version, no small feat when youre serving up a cuisine that relies so heavily on wheat flour. A full order of gluten-free meat and cheese lasagna ($24.95) was about the size of a brick. The lasagna was supple, the Italian sausage tasted faintly of fennel and the mild-flavored ricotta paired well with the acid of an outstanding marinara that lets the flavor of the tomatoes shine. Among other choices, there are four veal dishes for just under $30. You can substitute chicken on any of them. Seafood often turns up in the weekly specials, as in scampi ($11.95) the day I went. The three large, fresh shrimp were an ideal match for a terrific scampi sauce of butter and white wine. There was no pasta with it, just a slab of garlic bread. All of Paisanos desserts are gluten-free. Its version of tiramisu ($7) consists of alternating layers of mascarpone cream and spongecake soaked in espresso and Marsala wine. Its a nice preparation, the coffee-and-booze-soaked cake an airy counterpoint to the rich mascarpone. In contrast to the pricey food, the wine list is heavy on affordable bottles, mostly from Italy and California. Almost all the house wines come in at $25 a bottle. As for service, my food was ready about 20 minutes after I called in my order. The host who took my order and brought the food out merits special mention he is an excellent ambassador for the place. Now in its sixth decade, Paisanos chugs along in a changing world on the strength of its food, if not its owners sense of humor. PAISANOS 3 stars LOCATION: 1935 Eubank NE, 298-7541, paisanosabq.com HOURS: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Friday; 5-10 p.m. Saturday; 5-9 p.m. Sunday BEER, WINE Married At First Sight's panel of experts could be set for another shake up. Mel Schilling has fueled speculation she may be following in former co-star Trisha Stratford's footsteps and leaving the Channel Nine experiment after seven years. On Thursday, Mel, 49, shared footage of herself packing up her home as she geared up to relocate to the UK, following news she will be joining the British version of the show. Packed up and ready to go! Melanie Schilling, 49, (left) has fueled speculation she may be QUITTING Married At First Sight after seven years. Pictured with fellow experts John Aiken (centre) and Alessandra Rampolla (right) Over the past week, the Melbourne-based relationship guru has been documenting her move to the UK on Instagram. Mel will be joined by her husband Gareth Brisbane and daughter Madison, six. Her decision to move abroad comes at no surprise, with filming for the new season expected to last six months. Heading overseas: On Thursday, Mel, 49, shared footage of her packing up her home as she geared up to relocate to the United Kingdom, following the announcement she will be joining the UK series of the show Family: Mel will be joined by her husband, Gareth Brisbane, and daughter Madison, six. Pictured together However, sources close to Mel have told Daily Mail Australia that Mel is still 'fully committed' to Nine and will be back before next year's season is filmed. Mel announced she was joining the 'revamped' UK version earlier this month, following the popularity of the Australian series, which is currently airing. With a reputation for asking provocative questions and holding everyone accountable for their actions, Mel will work alongside expert Paul C. Brunson. New gig: Mel announced she be joining the 'revamped' UK version earlier this month, following the popularity of the Australian series which has recently been airing Speaking about her new appointment, Mel said: 'I am so excited to join the super-sized UK version of our much-loved Married At First Sight.' 'Being a part of the experiment for 7 seasons has taught me so much about love, marriage, relationships (and conflict) and I can't wait to share my advice and insight with you all.' 'I have been overwhelmed by the UK response to the Australian version and have been humbled by all the beautiful messages of support from the UK fans of the show. Qualms: Dr Trisha Stratford (pictured) has revealed the real reason she left her role at Married At First Sight Australia. Speaking to Woman's Day New Zealand earlier this month, Trish said she felt 'sick' over the direction the show was taking and worried about the contestants' mental health Earlier this month, former MAFS expert Dr Trisha Stratford confessed she felt 'sick' over the direction the show was taking and worried about the contestants' mental health. Speaking to Woman's Day NZ, she said: 'By the end, I couldn't compromise my professional and personal standards because there were participants on the show who I felt shouldn't have been there.' 'If someone gets through the critical selection process, when we say we don't want them on the show because they're quite fragile, they're not going to do well after the show,' she said. The New Zealand-based therapist went on to say what the contestants go through is 'a tough gig psychologically' and she compared it to experiencing 'conflict in war zones'. Trisha has since been replaced by Puerto Rican sexologist Alessandra Rampolla. Keith's 1 February note: The Biden White House issued an Executive order on 27 January 2021 "Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad" which outlines its immediate steps to deal with the threat of climate change on society and our economy in a "whole of government" fashion. As you all know, The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, lists a variety of things that NASA Is chartered to "to contribute materially to one or more of the following objectives". The first one on the list is: "The expansion of human knowledge of phenomena in the atmosphere and space." NASA builds and launches all of NOAA's satellites and pioneered the Earth resources capabilities used by all sectors of the U.S. government - expertise that it has applied across the solar system. The Earth Science budget at NASA for FY 2021 is $2 billion. As such, you'd think that NASA, as the provider of Earth observation and research capabilities, would be a prime participant in the Biden Administration's Climate Action plans. Guess again. The only place that NASA is mentioned by name (or even inferred) in the Executive Order is Sec. 103 (s): "The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the heads of other agencies as appropriate, shall develop and submit to the President, within 120 days of the date of this order, an analysis of the security implications of climate change (Climate Risk Analysis) that can be incorporated into modeling, simulation, war-gaming, and other analyses." The Executive Order goes on to say "National Climate Task Force. There is hereby established a National Climate Task Force (Task Force). The Task Force shall be chaired by the National Climate Advisor" followed by a list of more than 20 Cabinet agencies and high level government offices. NASA is not mentioned. NASA is only mentioned once in this entire Executive Order. The word "space" is mentioned once - but only as part of NASA's name. The word "satellite" is never mentioned. So ... the big task force chartered to handle America's "whole of government" climate change response makes no mention of NASA as a member - other than to suggest that the NASA Administrator has an action item due in 120 days. So - all NASA does is write a memo. Am I missing something? Keith's 2 February update: Later in the day the NASA HQ main page and its Earth science page added mention of Schmidt's appointment. But if you go to the Science Mission Directorate page and its Earth Science page you'd never know that this happened. Yet the NASA GISS Page and NASA Goddard pages have prominent mention. Again, one part of NASA has no idea what other parts are doing - even when they focus on the same topics. And in this case, the organization (SMD) at NASA HQ who spends NASA's billions on Earth and climate science research is the one that remains out of the loop. Keith's 2 February update: As noted yesterday the recent Executive Order dealing with Climate change clearly suggests that NASA is apparently going to have a minimal role in that effort. In this interview with FUturism Jurczyk was only able to reflect in NASA's current activities in this interview in a broader sense but did not state with any specificity what NASA's role would be going fourth with regard to this executive order. But this Administration is only 2 weeks old - so who knows. We Interviewed the New Head of NASA About SpaceX, China, and Aliens, Futurism "Question: It's been reported that the White House wants NASA to reemphasize climate change. I'm curious what you think about NASA's capacity to focus on climate change research in addition to space exploration, and how you plan to balance those priorities. Jurczyk: ... Yeah, it would be pretty premature to comment on what the impacts might be on the overall budget of NASA and other areas of NASA. But we're going to do that work and see how we can potentially accelerate some of those observations or earth science missions, to accelerate the research, to contribute to the administration's whole of government approach to dealing with climate change." The company believes the recent launch of Ritual Sticks will add another revenue stream and is hopeful of getting additional purchase orders for the new and existing product ranges. s ( ) (FRA:1X8) wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, Mernova Medicinal Inc has secured three new purchase orders with total value of C$177,122.40 (A$183,019.551), including a first purchase order for Mernovas Pre-roll Joint range sold under the Ritual Sticks brand. The first purchase order (PO) for Ritual Sticks valued at C$70,560.00 (A$72,890.24) was secured from Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC) and marked the official launch of the product line in Canada. This launch follows considerable product development initiatives, as well as a lengthy registration process with Health Canada. Pre-roll Joints Mernovas Ritual Sticks offering comprises new Pre-roll Joints which utilise the companys top-quality indoor grown, hand trimmed, hang dried, cured and artisanal craft cannabis. To produce the line of Pre-roll Joints, Mernova utilises only the same high-quality cannabis that is sold under the Ritual Green brand. The new Pre-roll Joints are expected to be available to consumers in the coming weeks. Order a major achievement Mernovas managing director Jack Yu said: Receiving our first PO for our Ritual Sticks brand of Pre-roll Joints is a major achievement for Mernova and is the result of considerable R&D to select the right equipment and develop our processes. We wanted to produce the best Pre-roll Joints possible and are very excited to get our new products in the hands of customers in the coming weeks so that they can provide their feedback. Large addressable market The pre-roll market unlocks another significant addressable market for Mernova as the Ritual Sticks range will provide products for people who do not know how to roll their own joints, or simply want to avoid the inconvenience of rolling joints themselves. Ritual Sticks will serve as an entry-level product that makes it more affordable for people to try Mernovas high-quality strains and the company expectation is that once people try the products, a significant number will become repeat customers. Yu said: One thing that sets us apart is that we use only the same high-quality cannabis as sold under our Ritual Green brand of dried flower. We expect these products to open a much broader market for Mernova, as they are priced as entry-level products, which should help introduce our products to a much larger customer base, and they offer a level of convenience that many will appreciate. Strong Ritual Green uptake Mernova has also received orders from the NSLC valued at C$61,022.40 (A$63,037.661) for its Black Mamba and Mimosa strains, sold under the Ritual Green brand. This order demonstrates the strong uptake of Ritual Green in Nova Scotia, which is a large addressable market for the company. The company anticipates that the launch of Ritual Sticks will add another revenue stream to Mernovas growing sales profile and is also hopeful of getting additional purchase orders for new and existing product ranges that are expected in the near term. Yu said: Mernova continues to witness very strong sales growth and the additional purchase orders received recently are a validation of this. Our brand recognition has increased considerably over the last few months, particularly in Nova Scotia, and Mernova has generated a reputation as one of the best craft cannabis growers in Canada. Most importantly, our ongoing sales growth has put the business on a fast track towards a stable, and recurring revenue-generating model. Additional orders The company also received its third PO from Cannabis NB valued at C$45,540 (A$47,043.961) for the Ritual Green strains Lemon Haze and Mimosa. Cannabis NB is the government-owned retail cannabis monopoly in the Atlantic Canadian Province of New Brunswick and it has an established footprint of 20 retail outlets and an online channel that generate significant cannabis sales. Yu said: We expect demand for our products to continue, particularly with the introduction of our Pre-roll Joint range, and we look forward to updating shareholders on new purchase orders in the near term. HOLLAND, MI The owner of Marlenas Bistro & Pizzeria said she will not close her restaurant despite a suspension of her food license over coronavirus orders. Marlena Pavlos-Hackney said state police asked her to turn herself in by Thursday, March 18, on a bench warrant. She has refused. If they want to arrest me, they can arrest me Im not going to close, Pavlos-Hackney told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. She said that her restaurant, once known as the Salad Bowl on Lincoln Avenue, would remain open even if she is locked up. Marlena Pavlos-Hackney and Rick Martin, her "assistance of counsel," at her Holland restaurant, Marlena's Bistro & Pizzeria, on Thursday, March 18. (John Agar|MLive) Pavlos-Hackney, recently featured on Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight and Glenn Becks radio program, said she refused to be bullied by the government. An Ingham County judge this month fined her $7,500 and issued a bench warrant for her arrest after a hearing held on Zoom. She refused to close her restaurant despite her food license being suspended in late January. The state Department of Health and Human Services in mid-November banned indoor dining at restaurants in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Marlenas Bistro stayed open and in a show of defiance put a sign on the door that read: Welcome. We are a Constitutionally Compliant Business. We are not infringing on anyones inalienable rights. By law, we do not follow any of the governors, mayors, health departments, or other government agency orders or suggestions pertaining to social distancing or mask wearing. Your health is your responsibility. Customers said that Marlenas Bistro, which offers breakfast and lunch, has been busy. On Thursday, after the 2 p.m. closing time, half the restaurant was full. Very few wore masks. A supporter of former President Donald Trump parks in front of Marlena's Bistro & Pizzeria in Holland on Thursday, March 18. (John Agar|MLive An administrative law judge in February upheld the suspension of the restaurants food license after finding that the owner did not require workers or customers to wear masks or socially distance. The judge, Lauren Van Steel, said Pavlos-Hackney ignored warnings, cease-and-desist orders and a summary suspension by Allegan County and state health officials. The record evidence shows that for several months (Pavlos-Hackney) knowingly has not complied with both local and state health department requirements that were established to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to employees, customers, and the community, Van Steel wrote. Marlenas Bistro has a following on Facebook. Though some are critical, many support her. A GoFundMe page, as of 5 p.m. Thursday, has raised $38,480 of a $50,000 goal to pay her legal expenses. A Spring into Freedom road rally is set for Saturday, according to a flyer. A road and sidewalk rally is also planned that day. In Becks radio interview, Pavlos-Hackney said she wasnt worried about going to jail. I stay strong because Im not going to let the government intimidate me or put fear in me. Im going to keep fighting for American freedom and my constitutionally protected rights, she told him. Pavlos-Hackney came to the U.S. in 1988 after fleeing her home country, Poland, five years earlier. She told Beck she was seeking the American Dream. She became a U.S. citizen in 1992. This country has opportunity. If you work hard, you can accomplish a lot of things, she said. She said she has the right to run her restaurant without a license. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer overextended her power, Pavlos-Hackney told Beck. We have to stand up. Shes abusing the power. We have to have jobs to be able to survive. Read more: Holland restaurant ignored ban on dine-in service, judge says in upholding suspended license Holland restaurant owner vows to stay open even after bench warrant issued for COVID-19 violations Michigan House unanimously votes to include governor, legislature in open records laws Chandigarh, March 19 : Terming Islamabad-sponsored terrorism as the biggest hurdle to normalizing relations between the two nations, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday said Pakistan Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, should back his rhetoric on peace with India with solid action. Bajwa should first control his ISI, and then talk about stability in Indo-Pak relations, said the Chief Minister, adding that India cannot afford to go soft with Pakistan till they walk the talk and prove their sincerity with concrete actions. "Infiltration into India from across the border is still happening, Indian soldiers are being killed at the borders every day. They (Pakistan) are dropping arms and heroin into Punjab via drones every other day. Efforts to create trouble in my state continue to take place. All this should stop first, only then we can talk peace," said Amarinder Singh. For India to trust Pakistan, the latter will have to do much more than offer an olive branch, said the Chief Minister, citing his own experience of 1964 as ADC to GOC-in-C, Western Command. "We used to receive daily reports then of firing and trouble from the western border, as we continue to do now," he said. It is important for not just Bajwa but the entire Pakistan military apparatus to be on board with the idea of burying the past and paving the way for peace with India, said Amarinder Singh, adding that it is not New Delhi but Islamabad which has obstructed the path of peace between the two countries. "Are they all of the same view as shared by General Bajwa? Are they withdrawing all support to terror groups immediately? Have they asked the ISI to back off and leave India alone?" These, said the Chief Minister, are questions that need to be answered before India can start believing in, and responding to, Pakistan's overtures of peace. "India is all for peace, all Indians stand for peace, but India cannot compromise on its security and integrity,a he stressed, adding that peace cannot be conditional. Given the way the situation has evolved over the past few months, Pakistan's increasing collusion with China, which has been causing a whole lot of trouble for India on the other border, is a matter of concern, the Chief Minister said. "If Islamabad seriously wants peace with New Delhi, they should send out the message to Beijing, loud and clear, that Pakistan is not with them in the dangerous escapades at the Line of Actual Control (LAC)," the Chief Minister added. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The 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 The conflict in which we are now engaged is stark. The Left hates America and wants to destroy (or fundamentally transform) it. The Democratic Party, having drunk the Critical Race Theory kool-aid, is now openly anti-American. So those are the battle lines: on one side, those who love our country and want to preserve it. On the other, those who hate our country and want to destroy it. Unfortunately, our public education system is almost 100% in the hands of the haters, organized and mobilized by the teachers unions. Our children are steadily being indoctrinated in anti-Americanism. But here and there, a few politicians stick up for our country. Not surprisingly, Ron DeSantis is one of them. He is resisting the infiltration of Floridas school system by Critical Race Theory, which is simply a long way of saying racism. Critical Race Theory will be explicitly excluded from Floridas new statewide civics education, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said while unveiling the program. The Republican governor addressed the academic study while discussing his proposed $106 million initiative to support a new civics curriculum for students at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Florida civics curriculum will incorporate foundational concepts with the best materials, and it will expressly exclude unsanctioned narratives like critical race theory and other unsubstantiated theories. Racism is worse than an unsubstantiated theory, it has been discredited by thousands of years of experience. Nevertheless, the Democrats are determined to bring it back. DeSantis understands this: Let me be clear, there is no room in our classrooms for things like Critical Race Theory, he said to some applause from a group of supporters, Teaching kids to hate their country and to hate each other is not worth one red cent of taxpayer money. Teaching children the theory, DeSantis continued, was trying to make people view each other based on race. Yes. Critical Race Theory is simply another word for racism, and liberals are determined to stir up as much racial hatred as possible on the theory that racial division helps the Democratic Party. They probably are right, which does not increase my respect for them. At the moment, Republicans in Washington are trying to hold the line against the Democrats radical onslaught. That is critically important work, obviously, as the Democrats are trying to rig things (e.g., via H.R. 1, which unconstitutionally purports to make election integrity illegal) so that Republicans can never govern again. But from a positive perspective, the action is mainly in the states, where governors like DeSantis and South Dakotas Kristi Noem have carved out tremendous pro-freedom records while building constituencies across the country. I had Governor Noem as a guest on the Dennis Prager radio show today. She was impressive as always, bringing her calm and sensible demeanor to a conflict with the Biden administration over fireworks at Mount Rushmore on the 4th of July. The Biden administration agreed to the fireworks, then changed its mind, if you assume Biden has one, evidently because it viscerally hates patriotic displays. No surprise there. The battle over Americas futureor, rather, whether it has oneis being fought at all levels of government. But under our federal system, leaders of states with above-average voters like Florida and South Dakota are best positioned to carry the banner of conservatism. Which explains why Ron DeSantis and Kristi Noem are early front-runners for the 2024 presidential nomination. Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. Yesterday, in a much anticipated but not surprising announcement, European Medicines Agency (EMA) Executive Director Emer Cooke told reporters, This [the Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine] is a safe and effective vaccine. Over the last two weeks, in succession, 13 European countries, including Germany, France, Spain and Italy, had suspended their COVID-19 vaccination campaign over fears raised in the press of reported blood clots in people after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. The Medicines Health Regulatory Authority, which had been conducting its investigation reviewing the data on a small number of blood clot events in over 11 million people who were vaccinated in the UK, reported that it had reached the same conclusions regarding AstraZenecas vaccine. A vial of AstraZeneca vaccine is pictured in a pharmacy in Boulogne Billancourt, outside Paris, Monday, March 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) Yet, despite repeated cautions against suspending vaccinations and reassurances by several national and global health agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), that the number of blood clot cases was far below the general background levels, countries like Italy and France chose to wait until the EMA verdict was out. More than 20 million vaccinations have been administered over the intervening three months since the vaccine received emergency use authorization. Out of this, 37 blood clots developed in people within days of receiving their inoculation, of which four have died: two in Norway, one in Denmark and one in Italy. These deaths are currently being investigated. However, the annual incidence of blood clots in the population is approximately one in 1,000. In other words, about 15,000 to 20,000 blood clots could be expected in the vaccinated population. Providing some scale to this medical condition, in the United States, unrelated to the vaccine issue, about 300,000 to 600,000 people each year develop such clotting complications, called deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. Dr. Stephan Moll, a hematologist at the University of North Carolina, told the New York Times, Only if epidemiological data show that the rate is higher, would one start to wonder about a causative relationship. In contrast, in Europe, approximately 3,500 people are dying each day from COVID-19. Emer Cooke added, Its benefits in protecting people from COVID-19 with the associated risks of death and hospitalization outweigh the possible risks. She continued to explain that the expert committee on medicine safety found that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of blood clots. The committee chair, Dr. Sabine Straus, noted that as blood clotting complications are associated with COVID-19 infections, the vaccine likely reduces the risks of thrombotic incidents overall. However, they stipulated one caveat regarding a small number of rare and unusual cases, but very serious clotting disorder [the EMA] still cannot rule out definitively a link between these rare blood clots and the vaccine. This is in reference to 18 cases of cerebral venous thrombosis, blood clots that develop in a cerebral vein in the brain responsible for draining blood from the brain. Such complications can lead to bleeding into the brain or severe swelling. It has also been described in patients with complications of their COVID-19 infections. Additionally, there were seven cases of having multiple blood clots. The incidence of adult cerebral venous thrombosis is around 13 per million per year, twice that rate in women between 31 and 50. Most of the cases coincidental with the vaccine administration occurred in people under 55, the majority being women. The investigations into these will be ongoing. The EMA has advised that public health awareness of these possible risks be raised and included in the product information. She concluded her brief, If it were me, I would be vaccinated tomorrow. But I would want to know that if anything happened to me after vaccination, what I should do about it, and thats what were saying here today. Italys Prime Minister Mario Draghi, responding to the EMA announcement, said that he would resume the vaccination campaign effective Friday. French Prime Minister Jean Castex publicized that he would get the AstraZeneca vaccine as a show of confidence, while also proclaiming that new restrictions would be imposed in Paris and surrounding regions to stem the rising tide of COVID infections. Germany has joined in calling for a resumption of vaccinations, according to Health Minister Jens Spahn. Sweden told the BBC it would take a few more days to decide. Of note, the WHO said it was releasing the results of its independent investigation Friday. Yet, as countries resume their vaccination campaigns, it is very probable that public confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine may be irreparable. The initial slow vaccine rollout followed by the bitter infighting between the European Union and the UK over supply and distribution issues leading to inappropriately characterizing the vaccine as inducing blood clots have only compounded the lack of confidence. By all expert accounts and recent studies, Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines appear to perform similarly in preventing hospitalizations in the population. These effectiveness trials assessing the prevention of severe disease and death are most critical as are continued safety studies. Yet the political brinksmanship of governments and the underlying contradictions exposed by the pandemic in the organization of nation-states under a capitalist economic base cannot muster the necessary cooperation to fight against the ravages of the contagion and protect the lives and livelihood of their populations. In 11 months since first identifying the SARS-CoV-2 virus, several efficacious vaccines were rapidly developed to be able to protect people from the COVID-19 illness, a feat not many thought possible. Now that such a life-saving treatment is available, it has been the profit motive, national interests and pernicious rivalry that have served as an obstruction to the rapid delivery of these vaccines under an international principle of equity and necessity. In this sense, science has become a severe casualty of politics. Vaccine hesitancy is deeply and concretely rooted in the degeneration of capitalist social relations that have disconnected science from its inherent philosophical principles. In Denmark, signs of COVID fatigue have provoked anti-lockdown protests. Concerns over virus variants and the slow vaccine rollout are creating heightened social tensions. In France, where the AstraZeneca vaccine has overtaken Pfizer, a survey conducted by Elabe found French confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine at 20 percent. Germany must rely on the AstraZeneca vaccine in the midst of a third wave if it expects to speed its vaccination program. Many of Germanys health care workers are openly rejecting the AstraZeneca vaccine. There are currently 15 million unused vaccines, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), predominantly in France and Germany. Out of the 62.2 million vaccine doses that have been delivered, 46.8 million have been administered. Overall, nine percent of the EU have received their first dose. The EMA is presently in the process of reviewing Russias Sputnik V vaccine. As these current events have unfolded, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has warned that she was ready to introduce emergency controls on COVID-19 vaccine production and distribution to ensure that Europeans are vaccinated as soon as possible. She has even warned of invoking Article 122 of the EUs treaty, allowing it to use emergency measures to secure the necessary vaccine supplies. According to the Financial Times, [T]he EUs 27 heads of state and government are due to hold talks on vaccines at a summit next week. Such measures will further aggravate vaccine nationalism, prolonging the pandemic and misery around the globe and geopolitical rivalries. MOSCOW, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) announces the approval of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Republic of the Philippines. The vaccine was registered under the emergency use authorization procedure. Sputnik V is approved for use in 52 countries with total population of over 1.4 billion people. Sputnik V ranks second among coronavirus vaccines globally in terms of the number of approvals issued by government regulators. The vaccine had been approved earlier in Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea, Tunisia, Armenia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Republika Srpska (entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Montenegro, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Gabon, San-Marino, Ghana, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Guyana, Egypt, Honduras, Guatemala, Moldova, Slovakia, Angola, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Sri Lanka, Laos, Iraq, North Macedonia, Kenya, Morocco, Jordan, Namibia and Azerbaijan. Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said: "Philippines was among the first to show interest in the Sputnik vaccine after it was registered in Russia. The vaccine was granted an emergency use authorization in the Philippines today after a thorough review of the data and will become one of the key tools to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country. Philippines is one of the most populated nations of the South East Asia. Diversification of the national vaccine portfolio through registration of Sputnik V provides people of the Philippines with access to one of the best vaccines, which is already saving lives around the world." Sputnik V has a number of key advantages: Efficacy of Sputnik V is 91.6% as confirmed by the data published in the Lancet, one of the world's oldest and most respected medical journals; it is one of only three vaccines in the world with efficacy of over 90%; Sputnik V provides full protection against severe cases of COVID-19. The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years. Sputnik V uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots. The safety, efficacy and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines have been proven by more than 250 clinical studies over two decades. The developers of the Sputnik V vaccine are working collaboratively with AstraZeneca on a joint clinical trial to improve the efficacy of AstraZeneca vaccine. There are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V. The storage temperature of Sputnik V at +2+8 C means it can be stored in a conventional refrigerator without any need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure. The price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world. Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF's management company is based in Moscow. Currently, RDIF has experience of the successful joint implementation of more than 80 projects with foreign partners totaling more than RUB2 tn and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ more than 800,000 people and generate revenues which equate to more than 6% of Russia's GDP. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 18 countries that total more than $40 bn. Further information can be found at www.rdif.ru Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1140939/Russian_Direct_Investment_Fund_Logo.jpg SOURCE Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) 'Cobalt is a critical metal to power the Green economy and Electric Vehicles (EVs) and FCC offers one of the few pureplay cobalt equities available,' the analyst firm wrote First Cobalt is on-track to produce cobalt sulphate for the EV market by the end of 2022 and generate annual operating cash flow of over US$37 million has initiated coverage on Corp ( ) ( ) (FRA:18P) with a Buy rating and a C$0.60 price target. The analyst firm noted that First Cobalt owns North America's only permitted cobalt refinery -- which is key to the development and manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). It also pointed out that First Cobalt also owns the Iron Creek cobalt-copper project in Idaho and also controls significant silver and cobalt assets in the Canadian Cobalt Camp in Ontario, including more than 50 past-producing mines. READ: First Cobalt receives C$1.92M in cash after warrant expiry exercise; names Cora Klein as head of investor relations The companys top focus is refurbishing and expanding its 100% owned and permitted Canadian cobalt refinery, which will support production of 25 kt of battery grade cobalt sulfate, or roughly 5% of the current global refined market, annually, wrote analyst Matthew OKeefe. Commissioning is expected in late 2022. Cobalt is a critical metal to power the green economy and electric vehicles (EVs) and FCC offers one of the few pureplay cobalt equities available. OKeefe, in his note, stressed several other factors working in First Cobalt's favor: Cobalt a critical metal. In the firms January 25 Macro Report: A Green Economy and Electric Vehicles Start with Metals, Cantor Fitzgerald highlighted cobalt as one of the critical metals needed to make the transition due to its core function in the stability of high-powered and long-range lithium-ion batteries. Well supported. First Cobalt has received financial support from the Provincial and Federal governments and secured cobalt feed from two major cobalt producer/traders. Cobalt refinery construction expected Q2/2021. First Cobalt is on-track to produce cobalt sulphate for the EV market by the end of 2022 and generate annual operating cash flow of over US$37 million. Cobalt exploration in North America: First Cobalts Iron Creek project in Idaho currently hosts a cobalt equivalent resource of 37 MMlbs which should double by 2023 as well as exposure to a large land package in the historic cobalt camp of Ontario. First Cobalts stock recently traded 2% higher to US$0.27 a share in New York and 3% higher to C$0.34 a share in Canada. Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham JAKARTA, Indonesia - AstraZeneca's vaccine against COVID-19 was cleared Friday for use in Indonesia after the drug regulator declared it safe and clerics in the worlds most populous Muslim nation approved it for emergency use. In this March 8, 2021, photo released by Indonesian Presidential Palace, workers unload containers containing AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine upon its arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia. Indonesia on Friday, March 19, 2021 cleared the AstraZeneca vaccine for use again after the European Union's drug regulator said the vaccine didn't increase the overall incidence of blood clots. (Indonesian President Palace via AP) JAKARTA, Indonesia - AstraZeneca's vaccine against COVID-19 was cleared Friday for use in Indonesia after the drug regulator declared it safe and clerics in the worlds most populous Muslim nation approved it for emergency use. Southeast Asias biggest economy had delayed using AstraZeneca's product after more than a dozen countries in Europe suspended the vaccine due to blood clots developing in some recipients. The World Health Organization said it saw no evidence the vaccine caused the clots, and some European countries were resuming its use. The benefits of using the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the possible risks, so we can start to use it, Indonesias Food and Drug Authority said in its announcement. It said the risk of death from COVID-19 was much greater and people should be vaccinated as scheduled. At the same news conference, an official from Indonesia's highest Islamic body declared the AstraZeneca vaccine haram, or forbidden in Islam, for containing a pig derivative but still approved its use by Muslims given the emergency situation of the ongoing pandemic. In this photo released by Indonesian Presidential Palace, a worker attaches a sticker on a container containing AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine upon its arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia March 8, 2021 . Indonesia on Friday, March 19, 2021 cleared the AstraZeneca vaccine for use again after the European Union's drug regulator said the vaccine didn't increase the overall incidence of blood clots. (Indonesian President Palace via AP) Asrorun Niam Sholeh, from the Indonesia Ulema Council, said trusted experts have explained the dangers posed by people not being vaccinated while halal vaccines are lacking. Indonesian Muslims must participate in the COVID-19 vaccination program implemented by the government to achieve herd immunity and be free from the COVID-19 outbreak, Sholeh said. He emphasized, however, that once the pandemic is under control or is no longer an emergency, the government should do better to guarantee the availability of halal vaccines, given the majority of Indonesians are Muslims. Sholeh, the head of the councils fatwa commission, said the AstraZeneca vaccine used trypsin, an enzyme that breaks down proteins, from pigs during its production process. He did not give further details. AstraZeneca and other manufacturers have said pork products are not part of their COVID-19 vaccines. A concern about vaccines for other diseases has been pork-derived gelatin, a widely used stabilizer that ensures vaccines remain safe and effective during storage and transport. Health ministry official Siti Nadia Tarmizi said distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccine would start by next Monday. The earlier we distribute the vaccine, the earlier we can get out of this pandemic, she said. The food and drug monitoring agency, however, cautioned against the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people with a low blood platelet count and blood clotting disorders. Indonesia has received 1.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 8, through COVAX a multilateral effort seeking to ensure equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccination with another 10 million more expected next month. The AstraZeneca vaccine is the second to arrive in Indonesia after the one made by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac, which received the approval of the Muslim council. The country remains the worst hit in Southeast Asia with more than 1.4 million cases as of Friday and over 39,300 deaths. Indonesia aims to inoculate more than 181 million of its 270 million people by March 2022 as part of a free vaccination drive that began in January. UTICA, N.Y. The Utica Common Council has unanimously passed a resolution supporting nursing home reforms, like improving patient care and maintaining appropriate staffing. In the resolution, city lawmakers are asking that nursing home reform legislation to pass as part of the state budget. Council members and health care workers gathered in Hanna Park Thursday to discuss how the legislation would benefit patients and staff. It means that we can provide care to a resident without feeling that it wasn't enough, that we don't have to give the bare minimum of care because we are stretched so thin; that our nursing homes will have the supplies that our residents need to feel human, to feel loved, said Sandy Kleek, an LPN at Masonic Care Community in Utica. The resolution states that the council: [March 19, 2021] Pangiam Acquires veriScan, a Biometric Facial Recognition System for Airports and Airlines ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pangiam, a technology-based security and travel services provider, announced today that it has acquired veriScan, an integrated biometric facial recognition system for airports and airlines, from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority ("Airports Authority"). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. This is the first acquisition completed by Pangiam since being formed by AE Industrial Partners, LP ("AEI") through the combination of Linkware, LLC and PRE, LLC in October 2020. AEI is a private equity firm specializing in Aerospace, Defense, Space & Government Services, Power Generation, and Specialty Industrial markets. veriScan's traveler verification solution, used by more than 40 airlines, is an integrated biometric facial recognition system that delivers a fast, secure, seamless boarding experience for airports and airlines. veriScan biometrically verifies the identity of travelers, allowing their faces to serve as both their passport and, for many airlines, their boarding pass. Meeting the U.S. Customs and Border Protection compliance requirements for biometric exit, veriScan's best-in-class technology delivers a cost effective, turnkey cloud application that can be quickly scaled for airports and airlines of any size. Since its debut in 2018, it has processed more than 1.3 million passengers with 99-percent accuracy. "Pangiam is excited to acquire veriScan, which, through its state-of-the art technology, is truly revolutionizing the safety and ease of air travel today," said Pangiam CEO Kevin McAleenan. "veriScan's cost effective, easy to implement cloud application makes it accessible to all airports and airlines, and we expect to see increased adoption of this technology this year as travel resumes globally. Pangiam looks forward to working with our clients to help speed adoption of solutions that deliver premier travel experiences for all." "veriScan was envisioned and developed by the Airports Authority's in-house technology team to meet new federal security screening requirements while improving and streamlining the passenger experience," said John E. Potter, President and CEO of the Airports Authority. Airports Authority Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Goutam Kundu, whose tam developed the veriScan technology, said, "Our team takes great pride in this milestone. We look forward to seeing veriScan continue to shape the future of seamless, secure travel under the direction of Pangiam." Kirk Konert, a Partner at AEI, said, "Pangiam set out to reinvent the industry by offering technology that makes travel easier and more efficient, and veriScan is a large step in advancing that goal. We are proud to support Pangiam as it stays vigilant for opportunities to grow its solution offerings as the industry gears up to meet pent-up travel demand." About Pangiam Pangiam is a leading provider of customized identity management, biometrics and advanced analytics software and consulting solutions to federal government and commercial customers. As a team of customs and security professionals with decades of collective experience at senior levels of the U.S. Government, Pangiam has an intimate understanding of the security, facilitation, and disaster response challenges facing governments and industry leaders around the world. Pangiam aims to revolutionize the future of operations, security, and safety at airports, seaports, and land border crossings through the use of emerging technologies. To learn more, please visit https://pangiam.com. About veriScan veriScan's biometric facial recognition system provides a fast, secure, seamless boarding experience for airports and airlines to meeting biometric exit compliance and one-step boarding. For more information on veriScan, please visit airportveriscan.com. About AE Industrial Partners AE Industrial Partners is a private equity firm specializing in Aerospace, Defense, Space & Government Services, Power Generation, and Specialty Industrial markets. AE Industrial Partners invests in market-leading companies that can benefit from its deep industry knowledge, operating experience, and relationships throughout its target markets. AE Industrial Partners is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing. Learn more at www.aeroequity.com. About the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority operates the U.S. Capital Region's gateways to the nation and the world, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport, as well as the Dulles Airport Access Highway, the Dulles Toll Road and construction of the Silver Line project, a 23-mile extension of the National Capital Region's Metrorail public transit system through northern Virginia. For more information, visit https://www.mwaa.com. MEDIA CONTACTS: For Pangiam: Andrew Meehan (914) 907-9679 ameehan@pangiam.com For AE Industrial Partners: Lambert & Co. Jennifer Hurson (845) 507-0571 jhurson@lambert.com Or Caroline Luz 203-656-2829 cluz@lambert.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pangiam-acquires-veriscan-a-biometric-facial-recognition-system-for-airports-and-airlines-301250891.html SOURCE Pangiam; AE Industrial Partners [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The law calls for increases in tax credits already available to help people buy insurance. Credits may be high enough to pay for a silver plan for those with incomes around $19,000 while lowering premiums for those with incomes around $60,000. Subsidies may be large enough for low-income families to get a free silver plan and special benefits to cover deductibles and copayments. Families and individuals with incomes greater than 400 percent of the poverty level, $51,000 for a single person and $105,000 for a family of four will now qualify for help. Even during normal times, students proficiency at certain subjects tends to decline over the long summer recess. Its known as summer learning loss, summer slide or summer setback. Just as for learning itself, a host of variables make it difficult to quantify summer learning loss. Researchers at the Brookings Institution conducted a comprehensive review of hundreds of studies that had been conducted over many decades, and concluded in 2017 that students achievement scores declined during the summer by an equivalent of one month of school learning; declines were greater in math than in English; and the degree of loss was greater at higher grade levels. They also found that the degree of reading proficiency decline was tied closely to the students family income levels. Some experts, however, have found that the loss is equivalent to two weeks of in-school learning, or less. The effect of long absences from in-person instruction, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is even more difficult to assess because the state government has been forced to postpone the standardized testing that attempts to measure proficiency. Given that pandemic-induced school closures have covered large parts of two school years, and that most districts had to figure out how to provide online instruction on the fly, the impact on student learning is likely to be substantial. Now, as a majority of schools move cautiously toward in-person instruction some schools were fortunate enough to decide on in-person learning at the start of the 2021-21 academic year they will be playing catch-up. To aid in that effort, districts in Northeast Pennsylvania should consider using some of the hundreds of millions of dollars they will receive from the American Rescue Plan to extend the school year, establish summer school, or both. This isnt a case of just marking days on a calendar to ensure that districts are in session for the 180 days required by state law, which sometimes happens when instruction days are lost to teachers strikes or bad winter weather. Its about trying to maintain a fundamental educational baseline for students to mitigate their unmeasured but certain losses caused by the shutdowns. A police van leaves as part of a convoy of vehicles from a court building in Dandong in north-eastern China (AP) China has put on trial one of two Canadians held for more than two years in apparent retaliation over Canadas arrest of a senior Huawei executive. Canadian officials said consular officials were refused permission to attend the proceedings against Michael Spavor, who is accused by China of stealing state secrets. Jim Nickel, the Canadian Embassys deputy chief of mission, said the hearing ended at noon Friday after two hours. No verdict has been announced. Expand Close Jim Nickel, the deputy chief of mission for the Canadian embassy in China (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jim Nickel, the deputy chief of mission for the Canadian embassy in China (AP) Mr Nickel declined to give other details, citing rules on protecting Spavors privacy. In a statement posted on its website, the Intermediate Peoples Court of Dandong in the north-eastern province of Liaoning Province said it had held a closed-door hearing against Spavor on charges of spying and illegally sending state secrets abroad. It said Spavor and his defence lawyers were present for the proceedings and the court would pronounce a sentence at a date determined in accordance with law. Fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig is due to go before a court on Monday. The two were detained in December 2018, days after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested at the request of the US at the airport in Vancouver. Both are charged with spying. Expand Close Meng Wanzhou has been released on bail (The Canadian Press/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Meng Wanzhou has been released on bail (The Canadian Press/AP) The entrance to the courthouse beside the Yalu River that divides China from North Korea was roped off with police tape and journalists were kept outside, although not detained or told to leave, as often occurs during sensitive legal cases. Earlier, Mr Nickel had knocked on a court door seeking entry but was refused. Another 10 diplomats from eight countries, including the US, UK and Australia, stood on the street opposite the courthouse in a show of support. International and bilateral treaties required that China provide Canadian diplomats access to the trial, but the court said Chinese law regarding trials on state security charges overrode such obligations, Mr Nickel said. Spavor and Kovrig were detained in December 2018, days after Meng was arrested at the request of the US at the airport in Vancouver, British Columbia. The US is seeking her extradition to face fraud charges related to the Chinese telecom giants dealings with Iran, which is under American financial sanctions. Expand Close Security officers stand guard at an entrance to the court building in Dandong (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Security officers stand guard at an entrance to the court building in Dandong (AP) The two Canadians have been held ever since, while Meng has been released on bail. They were charged in June 2020 with spying under Chinas broadly-defined national security laws. Spavor, an entrepreneur with North Korea-related business, was charged with spying for a foreign entity and illegally procuring state secrets. Kovrig, an analyst and former diplomat, was charged with illegally receiving state secrets and intelligence in collaboration with Spavor. Mengs case has infuriated Chinas government, which has promoted Huawei as a global leader in mobile communications technology. China has demanded Mengs immediate and unconditional release, saying the US engineered her detention as part of a drive to contain Chinas growing rise. Expand Close Security officers block the entrance to the court (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Security officers block the entrance to the court (AP) Canadian authorities say Kovrig and Spavor were arbitrarily arrested to put pressure on Ottawa and say they should be released without charge. China has also restricted various Canadian exports, including canola oil seed, and handed death sentences to another four Canadians convicted of drug smuggling. Outside the courthouse, Mr Nickel said Canada still held hope that Spavor and Kovrig could be released through joint efforts with the US, whose secretary of state Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan are currently holding their first face-to-face talks with Chinas top diplomats in Anchorage, Alaska. So were hopeful that, in some measure, this trial may too lead to their immediate release, Mr Nickel said. In Canada, Spavors family issued a statement saying he had been granted very limited access and interaction with his retained Chinese defence counsel, according to Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. At this time, we feel it is necessary to speak out and call for his unconditional release. His continued unjust detention depriving him of his liberty is both unfair and unreasonable, especially given the lack of transparency in the case, the newspaper quoted the statement as saying. ADVERTISEMENT An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan, on Friday, dismissed a suit filed by the Seriki chieftaincy lineage, seeking the nullification of the appointment of Saliu Adetunji as the Olubadan of Ibadanland. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Olalekan Fakunle, Rasheed Abinupagun, Gabriel Amao, all of Seriki line, had approached the court, challenging the appointment of Mr Adetunji. They are also challenging the consistent occupation of the Olubadan throne by both the Balogun and Olubadan chieftaincy lines. The judge, Muniru Owolabi, while dismissing the case for lacking in merit, said that it was not the business of the court to promote the claimants to the position of Olubadan and other vacant positions in the Olubadan-in-Council. Mr Owolabi said the 1959 Chieftaincy Declaration of Oyo State had regulated the selection and promotion of the chiefs up to the position of Olubadan of Ibadanland. He said the recommendations of the December 1989 consent judgment between the Seriki line and other chiefs had not been amended in the state chieftaincy declaration governing the appointment and promotion to the Olubadan throne. The judge further said the customary law governing any vacancy in the Olubadan line had not been amended and, therefore, the court could not set aside the appointments made into those positions to date. He said the consent judgment recognising Seriki line could not be presumed to be the law governing appointment and filling of vacant positions in the Ekerin Olubadan, Ekerin Balogun up to the Olubadan of Ibadanland when it had not been included in the law. Mr Owolabi said the consent judgment was supposed to be taken to the appropriate authority, which was the Oyo State government, for approval under the chieftaincy law of the state. He, then, dismissed the suit for lack of merit. The claimants had, through their counsel, Abideen Adeniran, informed the court that there was an existing consent judgment delivered in December 1989. The judgment, he said, had recognised the Seriki line among those to be promoted from Ekerin Balogun and Ekerin Olubadan up to the Olubadan throne whenever vacancies existed. Mr Adeniran told the court that there had been a consistent occupation of positions of Ekerin Balogun, Ekerin Olubadan, Asipa Balogun, Asipa Olubadan, Osi Balogun, Osi Olubadan, Otun Balogun, Otun Olubadan and Olubadan of Ibadanland, with disregard to the consent judgment. He, therefore, urged the court to nullify and set aside all the appointments made into those positions for disregarding the consent judgment. Mr Adeniran further argued that if the consent judgment had been followed, his clients would have been promoted to the position of Olubadan of Ibadanland. (NAN) De Lima on Duterte's recent tirade vs her: Incompetent people will always call you names Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima took a swipe at Mr. Duterte for his recent remarks calling her a "bitch," saying that Duterte is merely using her as another diversionary tactic to cover up for his failure of leadership, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. De Lima, the most prominent political prisoner under the Duterte regime, highlighted the President's incompetence by citing the slow pace of COVID-19 vaccinations and continued killings and human rights abuses in the country. "Bitch? Kulang-kulang ang bakuna kahit bilyon-bilyon ang inutang, ako pa ang bitch? Sa dami ng namamatay sa COVID at EJK, ako pang pinakulong na nga nya, ang nasa utak pa rin nya?" De Lima said. "Incompetent people will always call you names. Panlihis na naman ni Duterte sa mga kapalpakan nya," she added De Lima's statement was published on her Twitter account last March 18. It may be recalled that Duterte called De Lima the "only bitch" who made the world believe she is a "prisoner of conscience" at a recent joint meeting of the National Task Force-Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict held in Tacloban City. "May sinasabi pa siyang 'women empowerment' kamakailan lang, siya naman itong sa simula't sapul, laging nagmumura, naninira, nangmamaliit, at walang karespe-respeto sa kakayahan at karapatan ng kababaihan," De Lima stressed. "Mr. President, 'wag ka nang magkalat ng tsismis tungkol sa akin. Andami pang problema sa pagkalat na naman ng COVID. Trabaho na lang, huwag tsismis. Eyes on the ball lang po," De Lima said in a separate Twitter post. In the same meeting, Duterte also threw shade at the Europeans for previously bestowing De Lima with award as he called them "ulol" or fools. As the staunchest critic of the Duterte regime, De Lima has been unjustly detained for over four years now based mostly on false testimonies of convicted criminals and other shady characters as a result of her courage in speaking out against the excesses of the government. She was recently acquitted in one of her three trumped-up drug cases, and has consistently and firmly maintained her innocence of all these cases. Press Release March 19, 2021 Dispatch from Crame No. 1046: Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the SC's dismissal of the Petition questioning Duterte's unilateral withdrawal from the Rome Statute 3/19/21 Without the full text of the Decision, the Supreme Court recently announced the dismissal of our petition seeking the nullification of Duterte's unilateral withdrawal from the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court. We filed the petition not so much so that Duterte and his death squads will not escape liability for their crimes against humanity -- they won't, because the ICC retains jurisdiction over crimes being committed until the effectivity of the withdrawal in March 2019 -- as it is to protect the country from whimsical abrogation of treaties by a President acting for his own self-interest and survival and not that of the nation. The Supreme Court says that their Decision on the petition will include guidelines on the abrogation of treaties for the guidance of the Executive and the Senate, which is strange, because the other end of the spectrum of legal scholarship that favors non-intervention of the Court on the issue of treaty abrogation precisely also lectures that it cannot dictate upon the Executive and the Senate how to resolve the issue between themselves on the ground of the political question doctrine -- that the courts will not interfere on a matter that exclusively pertains to the political branches of government. But in this case, it appears that the Court, after letting Duterte get away with the capricious unilateral withdrawal from the Rome Statute, will now tell us, both the Executive and the Senate, how to deal with similar controversies on treaty abrogation in the future. Does this mean that treaty abrogation is not a political question after all, and that the Court could have ruled on the merits of the case based on purely constitutional grounds if not for the convenient excuse of mootness it made up for itself? If this is the case, and again we still have to see the Decision in full, then it would appear that this is an instance of the Court avoiding its mandate to rule on constitutional questions on the flimsy ground of mootness, while at the same time being so activist as to lay the "guidelines" for the resolution of future controversies that are not only not yet ripe for adjudication -- hence not susceptible of the Court's jurisdictional cognition -- but in fact do not yet exist at all. We must remember that what we filed was a petition for certiorari and prohibition, not one for declaratory relief. We did not ask the Court to settle a question of law for a future controversy on treaty abrogation, but on an actual and existing controversy that is the whimsical abrogation by a murderous President of a landmark global treaty on human rights to protect his own hide. So which is which? Is this a political question issue that the Court will not touch with a ten-foot pole? Or is it a petition that raises valid questions on constitutional law susceptible of judicial determination, so susceptible that the Court will even go as far as to issue "guidelines" for future incidents, except for the single incident that matters most in this case, i.e., Duterte's self-serving withdrawal from a treaty that will prosecute him for his crimes against humanity? But if the latter, why would the Court, in this case, then choose to run behind the cover of mootness? The way the Court approached the resolution of this case is therefore disappointing, to say the least, as to be characterized as nothing less than evasive, if not escapist. It was nothing more than a classic balancing act of a Court that does not want to irk the President, but at the same time would still like to appear independent. ### (Access the handwritten copy of Dispatch from Crame No. 1046, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_1046) Ukraine seeks to join the European Union and NATO and hopes for Germany's support in these matters, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has said. He said this during a meeting with German Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on March 19, the Government portal reported. "Ukraine's membership in the EU in the medium term is a win-win situation not only for the Ukrainian people but also for Germany and the EU as a whole. At present, our main goal is gradual integration into the EU internal market. In particular, it concerns the integration of Ukraine into the digital and energy markets of the European Union," Shmyhal said. The parties discussed Ukraine's European integration, NATOs Membership Action Plan and joint economic projects in the field of renewable energy. Shmyhal stressed that an agreement on the launch of a strategic partnership with the EU in the field of critical raw materials is of paramount importance for Ukraine, which will also be complied with the goals of the green and digital transition. "Cooperation in the field of hydrogen energy opens new opportunities for cooperation between our countries. The EU hydrogen strategy notes that Ukraine has the potential to install 10 GW of green hydrogen production capacity. This allows attracting up to EUR 20 billion to the development of the industry. And we believe that together with Germany, we can realize better this potential," the prime minister said. In addition, Shmyhal thanked the German side for support in granting Ukraine the status of a NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner in June 2020. He also thanked Germany and personally the German minister for their continued support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression. Shmyhal called on Germany to take part in the international platform for the de-occupation of Crimea and thanked Maas for the strong statement of the G7 Foreign Ministers that the occupation of Crimea will never be recognized by the international community. As Ukrinform reported, on March 19, a Ukrainian government delegation led by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is on a visit to Germany, where high-level talks and participation in the 4th German-Ukrainian Business Forum are planned. ish While Chubbs $23.2 billion opening bid for The Hartford appears to be mostly a commercial lines play to many observers, one experienced industry observer has a different take on it. Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg would certainly welcome what The Hartford has to offer in commercial lines, especially its $2.2 billion in small commercial lines; however, insurance industry economist Dr. Robert Hartwig thinks Greenberg has his sights set on The Hartfords personal lines business and on challenging the current personal lines market leaders. The Hartford, which has confirmed receiving the unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Chubb, writes abut $3 billion in personal lines: about $2 billion in auto and more than $900 million in homeowners. Much of its personal lines business comes from an exclusive licensing agreement with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), which has been extended through 2032. It also sells group benefits and other products. Just as the Chubb merger with Ace a few years ago has had a material effect on commercial lines markets, so too would this deal impact personal lines, in the view of the University of South Carolina professor. Hartwig thinks the proposed deal could trigger other mergers in the personal lines market. Hartwig, an economist, headed the industrys Insurance Information Institute for 18 years until 2016, when he joined the South Carolina faculty as clinical associate professor of Risk Management, Insurance and Finance in the Darla Moore School of Business and director of the schools Center for Risk and Uncertainty Management. The professor understands that many people may not see it the way he does because Chubb is predominantly a commercial lines carrier. He agrees there would be material effects on the commercial lines side, with Chubb being able to expand into the small and middle market commercial space, and that is important and notable. There would also be synergies and savings to be had there. Hartwig contends that while the lure of the personal lines business may be less obvious and understated, it is more important and compelling in both the immediate and longer term. There are going to be sleepless nights in the C-suites of many personal lines carriers. He described the Chubb proposal as a chess game by CEO Greenberg, with the commercial lines business being the initial move of the pawn in a strategy that anticipates capturing the personal lines business a couple of moves down the chess board. If the acquisition comes to be, it is going to set in motion reverberations that could shake up the personal lines space, according to Hartwig. Here is why Hartwig thinks the personal lines business is key. Personal Lines Move From an exposure side, the deal makes sense for Chubb as a balancing act by a largely commercial lines company. Chubb is a leader in the high net worth personal lines market, but not in the personal lines middle markets that The Hartford and the large personal lines carriers have. Chubbs Offer to Acquire Rival Hartford: $23.2 Billion Chubb Bids for The Hartfords Crown Jewel and More With the acquisition, Chubb would be entering personal lines markets where it does not have a very significant presence today and be placing itself in direct competition with the likes of Allstate, State Farm, Progressive, Geico and others. Even before the Chubb announcement, Hartwig predicted there would be consolidation in the personal lines business. He believes the Chubb move is going to act as a catalyst for further consolidation and cause a great deal of reshuffling. He suggested that the large personal lines writers will take note of Chubbs move because until now they have only competed with Chubb and with AIG in the high net worth market, a somewhat limited market. Now this would literally put them head-to-head with one another, he said. There are going to be sleepless nights in the C-suites of many personal lines carriers, he said. As for the timing, Hartwig noted that M&A activity in general is soaring. This is probably a propitious moment for such a deal given the expected rebound in the economy and the continuing expansion of middle-class wealth tied up in residential real estate. There is a robust market for home sales and new construction, as far as the eye can see. The deal would place Chubb in a position to take advantage of whats likely to be quite robust and quite stable growth in the personal lines side, almost coast to coast. Hartwig said it is possible that The Hartford could receive competing bids. Among the insurers he sees with the resources to take a shot at The Hartford are Berkshire Hathaway, Travelers, Liberty Mutual, Zurich, as well as AIG and Allstate although he questions if the last two would have interest. Even in this time of heightened scrutiny, whatever antitrust concerns might arise with this deal are probably manageable, although the business will have to be looked at line by line, state by state, he said. Topics Chubb Houston, March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Commercial real estate firm Hartman Income REIT Management, Inc. (Hartman) has announced it is supporting a petition launched by the group Texans Against Abusive Energy Pricing to correct egregious energy charges in Texas. Following winter storm Uri, more than 4 million people in Texas lost power between February 13 19th. Households are now facing utility bills as high as $17,000 and businesses, organizations, and property landlords are seeing bills more than 90 times their norm. Testimony from the Chair of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) made it clear that only a bill passed by the Texas legislature and signed by Gov. Abbott would compel the PUCT to correct the egregious energy overbilling. The petition https://www.change.org/TexansAgainstAbusiveEnergyPricing asks Governor Abbott, LT. Governor Patrick, the Texas Legislature, Attorney General Paxton, and the PUCT to: Reverse excessive energy charges to an appropriate level. Recognize the impact of price gouging on businesses and consumers. Immediately freeze all pending energy and natural gas transactions, terminations, and penalties from the week imposed with high-rate caps to allow a proper investigation into the overbilling. ERCOT and the PUCT must take responsibility for their failure. Said Al Hartman, President & Chief Executive Officer. We are supporting this petition as a company and on behalf of our tenants. As their landlord, it is our position that our tenants cannot bear the brunt of this price gouging, especially as they are just now recovering from the economic downturn caused by Covid-19. Petition supporters have expressed frustrations as some businesses had no choice but to sign index or variable rate contracts. Never in Texas history has the PUCT imposed such inflated rates. This situation is compounding the damage to Texans following an economic downturn. Looking ahead, if the disastrous effects of the egregious pricing are not addressed, Texans can expect to see some businesses filing for bankruptcy, closing their doors, laying off employees, and/or passing on the greater operating expenses onto their customers. About Hartman: Hartman is a premier property management company in the Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio markets with 59 commercial properties totaling over eight million square feet under management. Hartman has owned and operated commercial office properties since 1983, offering premium office space at attractive rates. With more than 37 years of commercial leasing expertise in Houston, San Antonio and Dallas, Hartman knows exactly what their customers require. For more information, visit www.hi-reit.com. Attachment Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 (JTA) - Some five years after being snubbed for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, Merrick Garland is the new U.S. attorney general. In a 70-30 vote Wednesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Garland as the country's top law enforcer. He becomes the fifth Jewish member of President Joe Biden's Cabinet. Twenty Republicans joined the Democrats in backing Garland, reflecting consensus support for the federal judge. In 2016, when former President Barack Obama tapped Garland for the Supreme Court, Republicans had a Senate majority and refused to consider the nomination despite widespread pra... You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Advertisement Two migrant teens drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande River back to into Mexico after being caught on the U.S. side of the border by patrol agents, a disturbing new video shows. The tragic crossing comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed the situation at the border was 'under control' even as government figures show record numbers of people trying to cross into the U.S. at the southern border. The drowning happened on Wednesday afternoon near Laredo, Texas, as the two teens were among a group of migrants who attempted to flee just after U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested several people during an alleged human smuggling bust in Texas. The two migrants are believed to have died while trying to escape custody, the U.S. Border Patrol Laredo Sector told WOAI-TV in a statement. Scroll down for video - Warning: Disturbing content Two migrants teens drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande River back into Mexico, a disturbing new video shows. This shot shows them swimming across the river Some of the migrants trying to flee Border Patrol custody were able to swim back to Mexico for safety while others were arrested. Jesus Vargas, a local fisherman who witnessed the drowning from the Texas side of the riverbank, was able to save a drowning boy with his fishing pole, local media reported 'The Biden administration has this under control,' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday when asked about the situation at the southern border 'Border Patrol Agents assigned to the Laredo Sector identified a vehicle suspected to be involved in alien smuggling activity,' the statement reads. Several of the truck's occupants fled into the river toward Mexico as others were taken into custody by border agents. One of the teens who entered the river drowned and the body was recovered by Mexican authorities. 'A second was last seen floating away and has not been located,' according to the statement. The video shows several migrants fighting for their lives in the Rio Grande after being caught in its currents. A local fisherman, Jesus Vargas, who witnessed the drowning on the Texas side of the border told KGNS-TV that he saw several females drowning. 'I was coming out of work and there was a truck in front of me, almost took my front end off,' Vargas told the station. 'An officer was behind it and just followed it and they went all the way to Calton Road and then all the way to the river. A bunch of people started to jump in the river - but when they were almost halfway there across they were drowning.' Vargas, armed with a fishing rod, threw a line out into the river to help save people from drowning and was able to rescue a young boy. 'He just put his little arm out and got the string and that's the way I pulled him out, but the rest of them just drowned floating down the river,' Vargas told KGNS. Hennessy, a four year old asylum-seeking migrant girl from Honduras, awakes at sunrise next to others who took refuge near a baseball field after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico on rafts, in La Joya, Texas, on Friday A woman holds a child as she waits at a makeshift camp of migrants at the border port of entry leading to the United States, on Wednesday in Tijuana, Mexico Migrant women are asked to line up for a free meal at a makeshift camp at the border port of entry leading to the United States in Tijuana on Friday Migrants line up for a free meal at a makeshift camp of migrants at the border port of entry leading to the United States on Wednesday in Tijuana, Mexico In the video, a Border Patrol SUV is seen on the ridge and agents appear to be standing and watching as several people struggle in the water. 'You feel sad for everybody because people are just staring at them drowning, it's sad for everybody.' Vargas said several people were able to swim and safely make it back into Mexico. Meanwhile, Pelosi had made her statement at a press briefing at the Capitol, after White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had to walk back her own comment Thursday after briefly referring to the crush of childhood migrants at the southern border as a 'crisis.' When a reporter asked her to follow up, Psaki corrected herself and referred to 'challenges' at the border. The comments came amid other dramatic pictures of migrants crossing Mexico toward the U.S. - even with one camp set up in Tijuana, Mexico flying a Biden flag - perhaps in support of the president's advertised 'more humane' treatment of migrants at the border. Asylum-seeking families and minors from Central America walk towards the border wall Some migrants stood in line for buses to U.S. destinations after being released from Customs and Border Protection custody Asylum-seeking migrants are instructed by a Border Patrol agent after crossing the Rio Grande Pelosi, asked for her view, described thematic changes from the Trump administration. 'The Biden administration has this under control. It is changed. And it will take some time. But it is values based. Humanitarian in its aspects. Pragmatic with a plan to get things done,' she said. 'I think that the administration is pulling this thing under control, and I think it's important to know that,' Pelosi said. A Biden flag waves over a migrant camp in Tijuana, Mexico. Biden's messaging on the immigration may be a factor in the rise of migrants attempting to cross into the United States A migrant boy plays with an emergency blanket, which was provided by Border Patrol agents Two unaccompanied minors are escorted by a Border Patrol agent as migrants take refuge near a baseball field in La Joya, Texas after crossing the Rio Grande river She contrasted the situation with attitude of the Trump Administration, and added: 'In the spring, more people do come, so there will be more. She said of potential immigrants: 'They have to know as the president has said, don't come,' she said. 'It is change and it will take some time, but it is values-based, humanitarian,' she continued, calling it 'pragmatic with a plan to get things done.' Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will visit the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso on Friday with a group of bipartisan senators HHS head Alejandro Mayorkas pointedly chose not to use the word 'crisis' when appearing at the White House, but in a congressional appearance called it 'undoubtedly difficult.' Mayorkas visisted the border Friday with senators from both parties amid policy challenges and political blowback with Republicans blaming the problem on Biden's immigration policies, which they say are acting as a draw for migrants. The trip was closed to the media - 'due to privacy and COVID-19 precautions,' the Department of Homeland Security said. In the latest sign of what the administration faces, Customs and Border Protection has requested aircraft to move migrants in its custody to processing facilities on the Canadian border to alleviate the crunch, the Washington Post reported. A 20-year-old migrant carries her baby to a respite center after her release from custody The woman brought her baby with her from El Salvador for the long trip to the U.S. A migrant has their temperature taken before entering a respite center on Friday The agency sought assistance from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to relocate people after 1,000 families and unaccompanied children crossed the border Friday morning alone. Another 1,000 people had yet to be processed. News organizations have been requesting permission to visit the shelters housing thousands of migrant children amid reports the kids don't have enough beds to sleep in or food to eat. Federal officials have repeatedly denied access to the press although lawyers and some human rights groups have gotten inside. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday the administration hopes to have an answer on the press visits 'soon.' 'The White House and we all in the administration support finding a way to grant access to the media to the ... shelters where these children are staying for a temporary period of time,' she said. 'We remain committed to transparency, and we're considering potential options, and we hope to have an update on that soon.' Mayorkas' group on Friday will 'view operations and receive a briefing on the processing, shelter, and transfer of unaccompanied children arriving at our border,' the DHS said in a statement. The Homeland Security secretary will be accompanied by Democratic Senators Gary Peters and Chris Murphy and Republican Senators Rob Portman and Shelley Moore Capito. Migrants detained by US Customs and Border Protection are pictured in a makeshift holding facility beneath 'Paso Del Norte' bridge, between downtown El Paso and Ciudad Juarez A makeshift camp of migrants sits at the border port of entry leading to the United States, Wednesday, March 17, 2021, in Tijuana, Mexico. The migrant camp shows how confusion has undercut the message from U.S. President Joe Biden that it's not the time to come to the United States. Badly misinformed, some 1,500 migrants who set up tents across the border from San Diego harbor false hope that Biden will open entry briefly and without notice Migrant women are asked to line up for a free meal at a makeshift camp at the border port of entry leading to the United States, Friday, March 12, 2021, in Tijuana, Mexico Republicans have blamed the record number of border crossings on the Biden administration, claiming the president's repeal of Donald Trump's stricter policies has led to the surge. But Biden administration officials, including the president himself, have said the border is closed and asked migrants not to come. 'I can say quite clearly: Don't come over,' Biden told ABC News in an interview this week. 'Don't leave your town or city or community,' he added. The White House Easter Egg Roll was canceled for a second year in a row due to the coronavirus pandemic but Joe and Jill Biden will send thousands of commemorative Easter eggs to hospitals and vaccination sites, the administration announced on Friday. 'Due to COVID-19 this year, unfortunately the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House will not take place. The Bidens hope to continue this tradition in 2022,' said Michael LaRosa, a spokesperson for first lady Jill Biden, in a statement. This year's commemorative wooden White House Easter Egg features the first dogs, Champ and Major, along with the Easter Bunny wearing a face mask. The eggs are for sale through the White House Historical Association. 'The White House plans to send out thousands of the 2021 commemorative Easter Egg Roll eggs in the coming days to vaccination sites and local hospitals. We urge everyone this Easter to continue wearing masks, engage in social distancing and get the vaccine when it is your turn,' LaRosa said. Social distancing measures remain in place even as the White House celebrated 100 million shots in the arms of Americans as the people around the country begin to get vaccinated. President Biden said earlier this month that if people get vaccinated, continue to social distance, wash their hands and wear their face masks, then there could be 'small gatherings' for the fourth of July. The White House Historical Association, meanwhile, will offer a series of virtual events in place of the Easter Egg Roll, the group announced on Friday. Options include a virtual scavenger hunt, a digital jigsaw puzzle, downloadable coloring pages, and a way to design your own commemorative egg. The back of wooden eggs features the signatures of President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden. The Blue, Green, Pink or Purple Eggs featuring the Easter Bunny retail for $8.50 each. The Gold White House Easter Egg featuring Champ and Major sells for $14.95. And the set of all of them goes for $34.95. This year's commemorative wooden White House Easter Egg features the first dogs, Champ and Major, along with the Easter Bunny wearing a face mask. The White House Easter Egg Roll has been canceled but the official egg features Joe and Jill Biden's signature along with their dogs Champ and Major Donald and Melania Trump hosted the last in-person Easter Egg Roll, blowing a whistle to start the traditional egg race on the South Lawn in April 2019 The annual Easter Egg Roll, usually a joyous occasion where thousands of children flood the South Lawn of the White House to play games, including taking part in the famous egg roll race, last took place in person in 2019 when Donald and Melania Trump were in office. Last year, Melania Trump read a story to children online after the event was canceled due to COVID. She said, at the time, the decision was 'difficult.' 'The health and safety of all Americans must be the first priority, especially right now,' she said last March. 'I deeply regret this cancellation, but we need to make difficult decisions in the short term to ensure a healthy country for the long term.' The White House, meanwhile, has not announced the Biden's plans for the Easter holiday. The family will likely attend Catholic mass - it is a holy day of obligation in the Catholic faith - and President Biden has shown a preference to go to church at St. Joseph on the Brandywine, near his home in Wilmington. The Egg Roll dates back to 1878, when President Rutherford B. Hayes agreed to open the White House the Monday following Easter to all children who wanted to roll Easter eggs. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan hosted a hunt for wooden eggs that bore the signatures of famous people. Wooden eggs soon became the official White House Egg Roll keepsakes, according to the historical association. The eggs are designed to reflect the special theme of each year's event and are inscribed with the signatures of the President and First Lady. This year's features the Biden's German shepherds: Champ and Major. Major is finally out of the dog house after biting a security agent earlier this month. The president defended his dog earlier this week, saying the three-year-old Major didn't break the skin when he bit a security agent and was just being protective. 'Look, Major was a rescue pup. Major did not bite someone and penetrate the skin,' he told ABC News. 'I guess what surprised me is the White House itself, living there. Every door you turn to, there's a guy there in a black jacket.' He said the new living environment and all the new people around surprised the dog. 'You turn a corner, and there's two people you don't know at all,' Biden said. 'And he moves to protect. But he's a sweet dog. Eighty-five percent of the people there love him. He just-- all he does is lick them and wag his tail.' The president noted 'the dog's being trained now' in Delaware but argued the pup wasn't banished for the being a bad boy. 'We're in the process of having a training session,' he said. 'I didn't banish him to home. Jill was gonna be away for four days. I was gonna be away for two so we took him home,' he said. President Biden and Jill Biden with their dog Champ President Joe Biden said his rescue pup Major is out of the dog house after biting incident Earlier this month, three-year-old Major bit a security guard but President Biden said the dog was surprised and didn't break the skin Last year Melania Trump went online to read a story to children after the White House Easter Egg Roll was canceled due to COVID The last in-person Easter Egg Roll was in 2019, when Donald and Melania Trump welcomed children to the South Lawn of the White House Joe and Jill Biden adopted Major from an animal shelter in November 2018 as a companion for their older dog Champ, also a German Shepherd. White House press secretary Jen Psaki also defended the dogs earlier this month. She noted that Champ and Major are 'still getting acclimated and accustomed to their new surroundings and new people.' She said Major was surprised by an unfamiliar person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual, which was handled by the White House medical unit with no further treatment needed.' She also denied the dogs, who she described as members of the Biden family, had been banished back to Biden's home state of Delaware for bad doggy behavior. Psaki said it was 'pre-planned' to have Champ and Major cared for by a friend there while first lady Jill Biden is on a three-day trip to the West Coast, visiting military bases in Washington state and California. 'The dogs will return to the White House soon,' Psaki said during her daily press briefing although she did not give a specific date. Major is the first rescue dog to have lived in the White House, having moved in after Biden's inauguration in January. Photo: LNG Canada Chevron Canada Ltd. says it will stop funding further feasibility work on its proposed Kitimat LNG project on B.C.'s north coast. The company holds a 50 per cent stake in the project in a joint venture with Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd. Chevron, which is the project operator, put its interest up for sale in December 2019, but has failed to find a buyer. When the company put its stake up for sale, Chevron said it would continue to work with Woodside on agreed project activities that brought value or were required for regulatory and operational compliance. But in a statement on its website this week, Chevron says that it now plans to stop Chevron-funded further feasibility work. The project includes upstream resource assets in the Liard and Horn River Basins in northeast B.C., the proposed 471-km Pacific Trail Pipeline and plans for a natural gas liquefaction facility at Bish Cove near Kitimat. 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. Azerbaijani forces abused Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) from the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] conflict, subjecting them to cruel and degrading treatment and torture either when they were captured, during their transfer, or while in custody at various detention facilities, Human Rights Watch said. Azerbaijani authorities should investigate all allegations of ill-treatment and hold those responsible to account. Azerbaijan should also immediately release all remaining POWs and civilian detainees and provide information on the whereabouts of servicemen and civilians whose situation is unknown but were last seen in Azerbaijani custody. The abuse, including torture of detained Armenian soldiers, is abhorrent and a war crime, said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. It is also deeply disturbing that a number of missing Armenian soldiers were last seen in Azerbaijans custody and it has failed to account for them. Human Rights Watch interviewed four former POWs who detailed their ill-treatment in custody as well as the ill-treatment of other POWs with whom they were captured or shared cells. They all described prolonged and repeated beatings. One described being prodded with a sharp metal rod, and another said he was subjected to electric shocks, and one was repeatedly burned with a cigarette lighter. The men were held in degrading conditions, given very little water and little to no food in the initial days of their detention. Scores of videos showing scenes in which Azerbaijani officers can be seen apparently ill-treating Armenian POWs have been posted to social media. Human Rights Watch closely examined and verified more than 20 of these videos, including through interviews with recently repatriated POWs and family members of servicemen who appear in the videos but have not yet returned. Human Rights Watch also reviewed medical documents. The accounts of torture and ill-treatment raise concerns that Armenian POWs still in Azerbaijani custody are at risk of further abuse, Human Rights Watch said. Azerbaijani authorities should ensure that Armenian POWs and other detainees still in custody have all the protections to which they are entitled under international human rights and humanitarian law, including freedom from torture and ill-treatment. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 US House of Representatives has passed two key bills that would create a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, some migrant farmworkers and children whose parents immigrated legally to the country, like those under the H-1B visa programme. The passage of the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, by the House on Thursday by 228-197 votes, was welcomed by the President Joe Biden, who described it as a critical first step in reforming the country's immigration system. It will provide much-needed relief to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders and Dreamers, young people who came here as children and know no other country, Biden said. "I support this bill, and commend the House of Representatives for passing this important legislation," Biden said in a statement. Dreamers are basically undocumented immigrants who enter the US as children with parents. There are nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants, including over 500,000 from India, according to a policy document issued by the Biden campaign in November last. Among others, the bill also provide relief for "legal dreamers," the foreign-born children of many nonimmigrant workers, including those on H-1B, who lose their legal status once they reach 21 years of age, which would allow many other promising young people to pursue their version of the "American Dream." The H-1B visa, the most sought after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries such as India and China. The bill now moves to the Senate, which needs to pass the legislation before it can be signed into law by Biden. "My administration looks forward to working together with Congress to do the right thing for Dreamers and TPS holders who contribute so much to our country, and to building a 21st century immigration system that is grounded in dignity, safety, and fairness... to create a path to citizenship for the undocumented population in the United States," Biden said. The American Dream and Promise Act establishes a path to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status for DACA recipients and for certain individuals who either held or were eligible for TPS or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED). The majority of these individuals have been in the United States for much of their lives, often with work authorisation and temporary protections against deportation. "Five years after attaining full LPR status, individuals are then eligible to apply for citizenship, a path that is supported by nearly 75 per cent of the American public...," Indian American Congressman Ami Bera said. This legislation is protecting Dreamers and TPS and DED recipients, honours the truth that immigrants are the constant reinvigoration of our country, when they come here with their hopes and dreams and aspirations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. "These parents bring their children, their hopes and dreams and aspirations for a better future for their children. That courage, that determination, those aspirations are American traits, and they all make America more American with all of that. Indeed, they are true and legitimate heirs, these Dreamers are, of our Founders," Pelosi said. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the original sponsor of the Dream Act, said that the a legislative solution is long overdue for Dreamers who have devoted their lives to our country, undocumented migrant farmworkers doing backbreaking agricultural work during this pandemic to keep food on our tables. "If the Senate is able to join the House in passing these bipartisan bills, we would be able to enact the most significant immigration legislation in more than 30 years. I hope we seize this moment," he said. According to FWD.US, undocumented immigrants are one of the largest groups among the immigrant essential workforce, making up 5.2 million essential workers, of which nearly one million are Dreamers part of the 2019 American Dream and Promise Act who entered the US as children. The American Dream and Promise Act also provides relief for "legal dreamers," the foreign-born children of many nonimmigrant workers, including those on H-1B, who unfortunately lose their legal status when they turn 21. The Farm Workforce Modernisation Act will allow unauthorised farmworkers to earn legal status in the US and update temporary agricultural worker programs to meet our economy's needs. Most notably, it will provide H-2A eligibility to employers who have year-round labour needs, which is critical for dairy and livestock, it said. According to New American Economy, more than 500,000 DACA-eligible immigrants are essential workers, including 62,000 in the healthcare industry alone. Senator Dianne Feinstein said that since Obama created DACA in 2012 to temporarily protect Dreamers, more than 800,000 individuals have registered for the programme. California is home to the most DACA recipients, more than one in four live in our state. "These young people didn't break the law, many were brought here as babies or small children by their parents. They now go to school, work and pay taxes here in the United States. They are US citizens in all but name," she said. Also read: India closely engaging with US on H-1B visa restrictions: External Affairs Ministry ALBANY Howard Hubbard, the former Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Albany, was accused of sexual abuse in a Child Victims Act lawsuit filed last week the seventh such action containing allegations against him. The lawsuit was filed anonymously on a male plaintiff's behalf by Herman Law, a large firm that specializes in abuse cases. The defendants are the Diocese of Albany and St. Edward the Confessor Roman Catholic Church in Clifton Park. The complaint alleges that in 1977 the year Hubbard was appointed bishop he approached an 11-year-old boy at a carnival put on by St. Edward the Confessor, told the boy to accompany him to the rectory and molested him there. Advocates: Survivor of alleged clergy sex abuse expected former Albany bishop's help Suit claims retired Albany bishop told sex abuse victim to 'forget about it' Fourth lawsuit alleges sexual abuse by former bishop Grondahl: Allegations pit woman against former bishop Full Times Union coverage of local Child Victims Act lawsuits At that age, you just dont know. You dont know how to deal with it. And Ive done a lot of reflecting over the years trying to understand was this my fault?" the plaintiff, anonymous in the court documents, said Thursday in an interview with the Times Union. (The Times Union generally does not identify victims of alleged sexual abuse.) For a period of time I experienced a lot of anger toward religion, towards God, my beliefs," he said. "And over a period of time I just realized that there's just bad eggs. Theres certain people that are just rotten people, and Bishop Hubbard is just one of those people." Hubbard's secretary emailed the Times Union a statement from the bishop: "I pray for the anonymous individual who filed this lawsuit that he will know the healing and peace of Gods love and will find the justice and closure he seeks. I know with absolute certainty that I did not abuse him because I know with absolute certainty that I have never abused a child or an adult, sexually or in any other way." He has been named in a half-dozen other lawsuits. Sex abuse suits don't always name the abuser as a defendant, which can make it difficult to identify all cases involving a specific alleged abuser. But both Doe's lawyer and the Albany diocese said that there are currently seven cases naming Hubbard. The Doe lawsuit seeks punitive damages from the diocese and the Clifton Park church for negligence in allowing the alleged abuse to occur. It outlines a Vatican policy of concealment and secrecy toward alleged sexual abuse by clergy that was in effect for many years, under which dioceses and parishes were often encouraged to move abusive priests around on assignments or send them to treatment, but never to admit their abuse publicly. This is broadly consistent with the practices revealed in the 2002 Boston Globe investigation and in the 2018 Pennsylvania clergy abuse grand jury report. The allegations are that the Diocese of Albany (and) St. Edward Roman Catholic Church failed to protect our client from this individuals grooming and sexual abuse, said Jeff Herman, founder of Herman Law. Four of New York's eight Catholic dioceses are currently in bankruptcy proceedings as a result of the torrent of lawsuits filed since the state Child Victims Act opened a "look-back" window in 2019 that allows previously time-barred claims, with thousands naming the church. The Albany diocese has not declared bankruptcy, although it faces hundreds of suits, with more coming in almost every week. Albany's current Bishop Edward Scharfenberger "takes all allegations of abuse seriously and is committed to uncovering the truth without fear or favor," said Mary DeTurris Poust, communications director for the diocese. "Bishop Hubbard has maintained that he has never abused a child and enjoys the presumption of innocence throughout the civil and canonical proceedings." Hubbard's lawyer said that as a result of the Child Victims Act "people have come out of the woodwork" with lawsuits and are looking to get money because of persistent advertising in the newspapers from lawyers. He acknowledged that the seven naming Hubbard as an abuser "doesn't look great," but that the bishop flatly denies that he ever abused anyone and that many of the "factual predicates of the lawsuits are completely ridiculous." The dioceses maintain lists of credibly accused priests. DeTurris Poust said that an internal review board investigates claims of abuse against clergy when they are engaged by claimants directly, but when people file lawsuits and don't engage with the diocese, the review board process isn't triggered. She added that, because of Hubbard's former rank, the internal church investigation of the claims against him is being handled by the Archdiocese of New York rather than the local diocese. In the meantime, Bishop Hubbard is not serving in active ministry and has not been since the initial lawsuits (accusing him) were filed in 2019," DeTurris Poust said. The plaintiff is in his 50s, and has a daughter who is near the age he was when he was allegedly abused. "This is what really brought it out again," he said. "Because I could see the innocence in these little boys and girls and it ... really started to bring me to a point where I didnt like that feeling, where it was all coming back to me like it was yesterday. "Im facing my own mortality and I need to find peace within myself," he said. "And what better way to do that than to have Mr. Hubbard be accountable to his abuse toward me?" A man who admitted to gardai he had been viewing child pornography for five years has received a fully suspended sentence. Ciaran Moore (63) told gardai that he had been the victim of sexual abuse as a child himself but said he had never done anything to any child. Moore of Pecks Lane, Castleknock, Dublin 15 pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to knowingly being in possession of child pornography on November 30, 2016. He has been registered as a sexual offender since he entered pleas of guilty. He has no previous convictions and has not come to garda attention before or since. Passing sentence on Thursday, Judge Melanie Greally said Moore has been diagnosed with a form of Motor Neurone Disease and his condition is at this point said to be stable. Judge Greally said Moore received a settlement in relation to his own abuse and a very large proportion was donated to charitable concerns, including to children's charities. She said the court can infer he is not a man who is indifferent to the welfare and suffering of children and it is somewhat ironic that the content of this case contains a significant volume of images of children aged between one and ten. Judge Greally said that generally the volume of the material in this case, the content of it and there being sharing of material involved in the case would necessitate a custodial sentence. She said that she was conscious of Moore's own history of abuse and his deteriorating health. She said she was of the view that based on the mitigating factors and in particular those two elements, it is a case where the fact of his registration as a sex offender and the shame that has brought meets the objective of general deterrence. Judge Greally sentenced Moore to two-and-a-half years imprisonment, but suspended the entirety of the sentence on strict conditions including that he not have any unsupervised access to children and that his daughter continue to monitor his use of electronic devices. At a previous hearing Detective Garda Brendan O'Hora told John Byrne BL, prosecuting, that gardai were alerted to the posting of two images of child pornography on a legitimate image hosting and file sharing website in July 2016. The IP address associated with the uploading of these images was traced back to Moore and in November 2016, his home was searched. Moore was at home at the time, along with his wife, and made immediate admissions to gardai and identified those devices he used when viewing child pornography. Det Gda O'Hora said Moore told gardai he had a problem with looking at child pornography for possibly five years and insisted that he never printed anything out, but rather viewed it online. He said he had been the victim of sexual abuse as a child himself. He said he had never done anything to any child. Moore was arrested in May 2019 after the four devices were forensically analysed. He again made full admissions and acknowledged the hurt he had caused the victims, his family and the public in general. He thanked the gardai for the courteous way they had dealt with him. Det Gda O'Hora agreed with David Perry BL, defending, that Moore accepted everything that gardai put to him and fully acknowledged the wrong he had done. From the moment we entered the house, he put this hands up, Det Gda O'Hora said before he accepted that Moore showed remorse for his actions from that day to this day. He said he was aware that Moore was diagnosed with having Motor Neurone Disease in February 2018. Det Gda Michael Fitzgerald told Mr Byrne that 536 images and 35 movie files of child pornography were found on the four devices. He acknowledged that there were some duplication of files. He analysed the material and found that a number of images showed children aged between one and 14 years old engaged in or witnessing sexual activity. A number of video files showed girls aged between 6 and 10 years old engaged in penetrative sex, while the remainder showed children of similar ages with their genital or anal region exposed to the camera. Additional evidence Michael O'Higgins SC, defending (with Mr Perry) told Judge Greally that it was a particularity distasteful offence and acknowledged that it was abominable in nature. Abominable acts have to have occurred in order to create these images or videos in the first instance, Mr O'Higgins said before he asked the court to accept that the person who views the material is not the person who subjects the children to this abuse. A person who views the images is both morally and criminally responsible but they can be separated from those who are creating them in the first instance and usually selling them for profit, counsel submitted. He said his client was sexually abused by three different people and suggested that it is a pattern that the court sees that people who themselves were sexually abused as a child have some tendency to develop a sexual interest in children themselves later in life. Mr O'Higgins said his client's crimes have had a devastating effect on his relationship with his wife and children. He has since separated from his wife, although they remain in contact, but Moore acknowledges the huge stress his behaviour has had on his family. He said there have been huge ripples of discontent and said Moore's adult children are finding it difficult to analyse, process and understand that these are the actions of the father. WUXI, China, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Suntech has been awarded the "Top Brand PV" seal by EuPD Research for the sixth consecutive year. The "Top Brand PV seal" award is rated by EuPD Research in accordance with the Global PV Installer Monitor survey that covers over hundreds of global installers, and eventually goes to the most excellent one among all upstream and downstream players of the photovoltaic industry, which highlights the best-in-class companies out of the eyes of installers and end customers on country and regional level. The award is the most recognized and prestigious certification in the international PV industry and stands for reliability and trust in the eyes of target groups and business partners. In 2021, Suntech has been awarded the "DACH Top Brand PV"in the European market and the "Top Brand PV" seals in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the Netherlands. Besides, EuPD Research has also recognized Suntech brand strength in Australia, the Middle East and North Africa by awarding the "Top Brand PV seals in Australia and MENA. Mr. Xiaorong Cao, Vice President of Suntech said, "We are honored to be named as top PV brand again. This award is proof of the quality of Suntech products and strong market reputation, as well as a recognition of Suntech's contribution to the PV industry." With the changes and development in the PV industry, Suntech will continue to upgrade product quality and optimize service system to provide more reliable PV modules and more professional services to the worldwide customers. If India proceeds with a rumored ban on cryptocurrency, it wouldnt be the countrys first attempt to impose currency controls. This time, however, a ban is even less likely to succeed and the consequences for Indias economy could be more dire. The country shouldnt make the same mistake twice. In the 1970s and 80s, at the height of what was known as the License Raj, Indians could only hold foreign currency for a specific purpose and with a permit from the central bank. If a businessman bought foreign exchange to spend over two days in Paris and one in Frankfurt, and instead spent two days in Germany, the Reserve Bank of India would demand to know why hed deviated from the currency permit. Violators were routinely threatened with fines and jail time of up to seven years. Imports required additional permits. Infosys Ltd. founder Narayana Murthy spending about $25,000 (including bribes) to make 50 trips to Delhi over three years, just to get permission to import a $150,000 computer. Plus, since any foreign exchange that the company earned notionally belonged to the government, the RBI would release only half of Infosyss earnings for the firm to spend on business expenses abroad. Naturally a black market, with all its unsavory elements, emerged for foreign currency. The government doubled down, subjecting those dealing in illicit foreign exchange to preventative detention, usually reserved for terrorists. Businessmen selling Nike shoes and Sony stereos were arrested as smugglers. The system impoverished Indians and made it impossible for Indian firms to compete globally. Theres a reason the countrys world-class IT sector took off only after a balance of payments crisis forced India to open up its economy in 1991. While details of the possible crypto ban remain unclear, a draft bill from 2019 bears eerie resemblance to the 1970s controls. It would criminalize the possession, mining, trading or transferring of assets. Offenders could face up to ten years in jail as well as fines. Such a blanket prohibition would be foolish on multiple levels. For one thing, enforcing the law would be even more difficult than under the License Raj. Raids once aimed at seizing dollars and gold bars would face the challenge of locating a password or seed phrase holding millions in Nor can the government seize or even access the network of computers scattered across the world mining and maintaining blockchain ledgers. To enforce a ban, authorities would have to develop an intrusive surveillance system that could track all digital and internet activity in the country. Thankfully, India does not have the state capacity to pull that off. More likely, its efforts will only drive the market underground. That would almost certainly give rise again to an ever-evolving set of arbitrary rules imposed by the central bank and tax department, optimized mostly to extort bribes. Young coders and start-up founders would face harsh and arbitrary raids. Unlike the smugglers of the 1970s, some of Indias most elite and entrepreneurial workers are engaged in these new financial technologies; persecution could spur a brain drain. Ordinary Indians would be deprived of the very real benefits of cryptocurrency. The ban would prevent Indians from capitalizing on crypto-asset appreciation, which blockchain evangelist Balaji Srinivasan has called a trillion-dollar mistake. India receives the highest inflow of global remittances and using blockchain networks could save Indians billions in transfer fees. Meanwhile, elite Indians with options will flee the country, taking their wealth and innovations with them. And none of this will address the governments real fear: tax evasion. Granted, unlike gold bars and dollars under the mattress, cryptocurrency is hard if not impossible to track. Some users will no doubt exploit that fact to hide earnings from the tax authorities. But, just like its disastrous predecessor the governments snap decision in 2016 to render 86% of Indias currency notes invalid overnight banning cryptocurrency to fight black money would be like setting fire to the forest in order to smoke out a few sheep. A far better solution would be to streamline Indias devilishly complex tax code, broaden the tax base and make enforcement less arbitrary, thus encouraging more Indians to pay what they owe. The governments second worry is preventing capital flight and volatility during economic crises. Cryptocurrency would allow Indians to bypass the current restrictions on capital account convertibility and invest abroad more easily. But again, protecting Indians from global volatility by banning cryptocurrency would be like making roads safer by eliminating cars. The real long-term solution is for the government to gradually reduce controls over capital mobility and make India a more desirable investment destination. Instead of criminalizing digital currencies, the government should take a hard look at Indias restrictions on financial transactions and bring them in line with the changing world. Liberalization in 1991 made India a world leader in IT. Opening up even further could place Indians where they belong at the frontier of fintech innovation, not under suspicion. The elimination of change fees, those irritating charges that travelers have time and time again ranked as the most onerous, according to consumer advocacy groups, has been one of the few big wins for consumers during the pandemic. All the major U.S. carriers United, Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian and JetBlue said they will permanently drop change fees for most domestic and international tickets going forward. There is, however, one exception: basic economy fares. On those most affordable tickets, airlines before the pandemic typically charged $200 to change a flight plus the difference in fare, if there was one. Southwest Airlines, the outlier airline in the world of change fees, has never charged for flight changes, a policy consumer advocates have applauded. The reason why theyve had to suspend those change fees is to give people flexibility and entice them to book by letting them make their plans in pencil rather than pen, said Scott Keyes, founder of airfare deal company Scotts Cheap Flights. Not having a $200 penalty to change your flight made people feel a lot more comfortable to be able to get some plans on the calendar and get a trip booked. In 2019, U.S. airlines raked in $2.8 billion in change fees, according to U.S. Department of Transportation statistics. In the first nine months of 2020, after enacting fee-free flight changes, carriers only made $799 million in change fees. Airline consumer advocates and airfare experts said they are cautiously optimistic the airlines will honor their promise to make change fees a thing of the past. But, they warned, anything could happen. The first and probably most important thing is that there's really no such thing as permanent in the airline industry, said Kyle Potter, executive editor of the flight deal website Thrifty Traveler. Permanent, in airline language, means anywhere from one to five years, and anything beyond that is anyone's guess. Potter said all U.S. carriers are still operating under a temporary COVID-19 fee waiver policy where all tickets are eligible for a free flight change. Once those policies expire at the end of March, he said thats when we will see the new change fee waiver rules take effect. Beware of Basic Economy Right now, all new bookings on Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, and United even basic economy automatically include free date changes, so long as you purchase by the end of March, according to Scotts Cheap Flights newsletter. After March 31 youll still be able to do this, but only if you book main economy or above, so itll cost you a bit more. Its especially important, then, for budget travelers to note that airlines are not waiving change fees for highly restrictive, no frills basic economy fares. Their tickets, the cheapest fares available, will go back to being nonrefundable and nonchangeable beginning with new travel booked April 1, 2021, or after. These rock bottom fares may entice bargain travelers with a cheap getaway, but they frequently come with restrictions on baggage, seat selection, boarding, and the inability to change flights. The dirty secret of the airline industry is that they always don't want people to buy basic economy, Potter said. He believes more travelers will gravitate away from booking basic economy fares as they opt for more expensive fares that have added flexibility regardless of whether passengers eventually make a flight change. Airlines may have eliminated change fees, but travelers may end up paying more for tickets upfront. The flexibility to be able to change without a huge fee, or change at all period, is going to become much more powerful, he said. It will drive some more revenue for airlines that they've given up by getting rid of that $200 change fee. Potter said he has already seen airlines charging more expensive fares for the upgrade from basic to standard economy, which allows for free changes. Changes, cancellations and refunds Keyes warns free changes do not equate to free refunds should you decide not to travel. You can change your date, but that doesn't mean you can get your money back, he said. In order to be able to get a refund for that flight, you actually had to have a much more expensive refundable ticket. He said fliers should also think about the fare difference something fliers still need to cover if the flight theyre changing to is more expensive than the originally booked flight. That amount can be pricey and unpredictable. Most carriers, except United, have announced they will credit the fare difference should fliers change onto a cheaper flight. What if you do not take the flight at all? Dont expect to get your money back, unless youve purchased a fully refundable ticket. Airlines will typically issue a travel voucher in the value of how much you paid, which fliers can redeem for future flights. But those vouchers come with expiration dates and many fliers who were issued vouchers during the onset of the pandemic found they are expiring soon. Consumer advocacy groups are fighting to get back money for travelers who had their plans upended in 2020 by the pandemic. There's really no other industry that you can point to in which someone pays for a product, and then the company says we're unable to do it right now, but we're going to hold on to your money for a year or two years, said William McGee, airline adviser to the nonprofit advocacy arm of Consumer Reports. McGee believes change fees should have been eliminated years ago. He doesnt see them coming back after the worst of the pandemic passes, particularly as the airline industry caters to a crowd that is predominantly leisure travelers. I think that scares the airline industry to know that a lot of travel, quite frankly, is discretionary, he said. I think it would be a tremendous mistake if they're thinking we'll do this for a while and reintroduce change fees as far as making up the revenue. Tim Jue writes about travel and the airlines. Following him on Twitter @timjue. A man who brought hatchets, a hammer and a wheel brace to a violent brawl outside a Dublin city nightclub has been jailed. Ahmad Majeed (26) was in a mob of around 20 men who showed up at the Lost Lane nightclub on July 7, 2019 and tried to force their way into the club. A doorman was punched and kicked during the melee and two petrol bombs and the weapons were discovered by another security guard. Majeed of Warrenstown Close, Blanchardstown, Dublin, came before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on signed guilty pleas relating to committing violent disorder at the venue off Grafton Street. He also pleaded guilty to possession of articles intended unlawfully to cause injury to a person on the same date at Wicklow Street, Dublin city centre. Judge Karen O'Connor said that on the night in question a group of around 20 men, many of them with their faces covered up with ski masks and hoodies, tried to force their way into an event in the nightclub. One witness later told gardai that there was a sinister vibe on the night. Detective Garda Anthony Gibbon told the court that the group were planning to attack another group who were supposed to be attending the event at the club that night. This was in retaliation for an earlier attack allegedly by the second gang on three men during which a car was smashed up and one man was injured. When doormen at Lost Lane forcibly prevented the mob getting into the venue, one doorman was punched and kicked all over his head and body. Members of the mob tried to drag this man into the crowd, but a colleague managed to prevent this by pulling him back. A Brown Thomas shopping bag found at the scene contained two hatchets, a hammer, a wheel brace and a towing eye. A rucksack also discovered at the scene contained two petrol bombs, one made from a beer bottle and a larger one made from a brandy bottle. In a victim impact report, the injured doorman said that this incident was the most vulnerable he had felt after over a decade working in security. He said he had since stopped working in security as a result of these events and he continues to suffer flashbacks and panic attacks. Majeed was later identified and arrested at his home and told gardai he didn't know anything about the petrol bombs. He said that if he had known what was going to happen on the night he would have stayed at home. He told gardai people could have died. Richard Brady BL, defending, said his client was not at the front of the mob and there was no evidence that he had carried out any of the assaults on the doorman. He said there is no history of violence in his previous offending, which are limited to road traffic offences. He said Majeed is of support to his sister who has physical welfare issues and asked the court to be as lenient as possible. Judge O'Connor noted that Majeed is assessed by the Probation Service as being at a low risk of reoffending. She suspended the final year of a prison term of three years and four months on condition that he keep the peace and be of good behaviour for the entire period. Regina M. Benjamin , MD, MBA, was the 18th U.S. Surgeon General and Vice Admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service appointed by President Barack Obama. A public health trailblazer specializing in prevention policies and health promotion, Dr. Benjamin made history as the first physician under 40 and the first African American woman to be elected to the American Medical Association's Board of Trustees. Dr. Benjamin's appointment closely follows the company's Series D funding announcement , during which the company announced plans to significantly increase its virtual care offerings, drive clinical research and disease management through testing, and scale its national testing and logistics infrastructure. "Everlywell was founded on the premise that everyone should have access to quality healthcare, especially the hundreds of millions of Americans who are uninsured, underinsured, or saddled with medical debt each year," said Julia Cheek, CEO and Founder of Everlywell. "Dr. Benjamin's work to increase healthcare access in rural and underserved communities is celebrated globally and recognized directly in the communities she serves. It's a true privilege to benefit from her experience as we build on her vision to create a world where everyone has access to the care they need, no matter what obstacles may stand in their way." Dr. Regina Benjamin joins Dr. Judith Rodin and Dr. Garheng Kong as the latest additions to Everlywell's Board of Directors. "The work Everlywell has done to improve access to lab testing, especially for uninsured and rural patients by delivering home collection lab tests to every corner of the country, is commendable," said Dr. Regina Benjamin. "As our country continues to struggle under the devastating effects of this pandemic, I'm reminded of other times when I've been called to deliver care to my patients in innovative ways. After Hurricane Katrina, I tried to make house calls but quickly found patients had no homes -- so I created a makeshift clinic on the stage of a shelter, and camping tents on the ground. Today, patients can order lab tests from their laptops and visit a doctor from their cell phone. So in some ways you could say we're still trying to find innovative ways to deliver healthcare." In addition to Dr. Benjamin's appointment, Dr. Jordan Laser has joined the company as Everlywell's first Chief Laboratory Officer, where he will manage the company's laboratory operations and relationships with partner labs, in addition to growing the company's menu of test offerings. Considered one of the nation's preeminent leaders in the field of diagnostics, Dr. Laser joins Everlywell most recently from Northwell Health, where he led the clinical labs for a three hospital tertiary medical center and oversaw point-of-care testing for over 350 clinical practices and over 20 hospitals while running a full-service reference laboratory providing services for over 20 hospitals, hundreds of medical practices and for a number of strategic relationships. An expert in molecular genetic pathology, Dr. Laser holds a board role at the Association for Molecular Pathology and committee chair roles for the College of American Pathologists. Everlywell also welcomed Dr. Marisa Cruz as Executive Vice President of Regulatory and Clinical Affairs, where she will oversee the company's compliance, regulatory, and medical affairs operations. Dr. Cruz comes to Everlywell from Limbix, where she was the company's Chief Medical Officer. Before working at Limbix, Dr. Cruz spent several years as a Medical Advisor at the FDA, most recently as Senior Medical Advisor for Digital Health in the Center for Devices and Radiological Health. The company also announced that Dana Underwood has been promoted to the role of Everlywell's first Chief Product Officer. Underwood joined Everlywell in 2020 from Johnson & Johnson, where he was the company's Vice President and Global Head of Health Tech Products. In this new role, Underwood will lead Everlywell's first end-to-end product organization, inclusive of tests, physical kits, digital technologies, telehealth services, user engagement, and R&D of novel products and services. About Everlywell Everlywell believes Americans deserve access to affordable lab tests and insightful, digitally-enabled results with actionable next steps. The company connects individuals to certified labs offering a suite of validated lab tests including Cholesterol, Heart Health, Fertility, STIs, Lyme Disease, Testosterone, Thyroid and more. Everlywell also offers FDA-authorized at-home sample collection test kits for COVID-19, and was the first to provide access to at-home sample collection lab tests for fertility, high-risk HPV, and indoor & outdoor allergies. Prices are straightforward starting at $49 and tests are generally covered by Flexible Spending and Health Savings Accounts. Physician-reviewed, actionable test results from CLIA-certified labs are provided within days of sample receipt. The company also provides testing and engagement programs for health plans, healthcare organizations, and employers, including some of the largest health plans in the nation. The Austin-based company was founded in 2015 and is advised by a Scientific Advisory Board that includes some of the nation's top scientists from Harvard, MIT, Google and NYU. For more information please visit www.everlywell.com. SOURCE EverlyWell Related Links http://www.everlywell.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. UK Issues Guidance On New Stamp Duty Surcharge On Non-Residents by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London 19 March 2021 HM Revenue and Customs has recently issued new guidance on the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on non-resident buyers of residential property in England and Northern Ireland. From April 1, 2021, different rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) will apply to those who purchase residential property in England and Northern Ireland if they are not resident in the UK. The rates are two percentage points higher than those that apply to purchases made by UK residents. This surcharge applies to purchases of both freehold and leasehold property and also increases the SDLT payable on rents on the grant of a new lease. The surcharge also applies to certain UK resident companies that are controlled by non-UK residents. The guidance Rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax for non-UK residents sets out the scope of the surcharge; who is liable to the surcharge; SDLT residence tests; the new rates of SDLT; exclusions from the surcharge; the interaction of the surcharge with existing reliefs; compliance obligations on taxpayers; and how to receive a refund for persons who, subsequent to a purchase, become resident in the UK. Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves assured that the Stimulus package will be extended until June. Governments Income Support Programme introduced as part of the overall COVID-19 Stimulus Package, is to be extended for another quarter, i.e. until June. And Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves told a sitting of Parliament on March 16, that government intends to bear the full cost of the extension, since the National Insurance Services (NIS) was no longer able, given its operational guidelines, to fund its portion of the initiative. Following the declaration in March 2020 of the novel coronavirus related pandemic, the government introduced a variety of interventions designed to strengthen social protection for the vulnerable, and to assist affected persons. Among these were two initiatives: a Displacement Supplementary Income to persons affected in the hospitality sector, sea farers, oil rig workers; an NIS funded Temporary Unemployment Benefit to persons who had either lost their jobs or had their working hours significantly reduced. Payments began in April 2020 and were expected to be rolled out over a three-month period. However, as of February 2021 both programmes were in its 12th month of operation. As of that month a total of EC$9,826,350 was paid out: the NIS Temporary Unemployment Benefit had disbursed a total of EC$2.7 million to 2,241 claims, and government EC$4.6 million to 3,894 claims from the hospitality industry and EC$2.5 million to sea farers and oil rig workers. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 16:44:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MANILA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Friday 7,103 new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections, the highest daily jump since the disease emerged in the Southeast Asian country in January 2020, raising the total to 648,066. The death toll climbed to 12,900 after 13 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said. It added that 390 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 561,902. The Philippines, which has a population of about 110 million, has tested over 8.9 million people so far. Metro Manila, home to about 13 million people, is the epicenter of the outbreak in the Philippines. The Philippines has currently a reproduction rate of around 2, similar to the reproduction rate early on the outbreak. It means that each confirmed COVID-19 patient is infecting two other people. The government has reinstated restrictions to curb the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a televised press conference on Friday. Roque said the inter-agency coronavirus task force ordered some businesses such as driving schools, cinemas, and gaming arcades in Metro Manila and areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) to stop operating until April 4. Metro Manila and nine other areas are under GCQ this month. The government also ordered the closure of cultural centers and banned social events in establishments accredited by the Department of Tourism. The government also re-imposed reduced capacity in dine-in restaurants, cafes, personal care services, and worship houses. The government allowed these businesses to operate last month to rev up the pandemic-hit economy. The DOH blamed the surge on people's failure to comply with minimum health standards such as wearing masks and face shields properly and keeping a distance when outside their homes. The emergence of the more transmissible variants also "aggravated" the spread of infections, the DOH added. Enditem Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/19/2021 -- Latest Market intelligence report released by HTF MI with title "Global Open Banking Market Research Report with Opportunities and Strategies to Boost Growth- COVID-19 Impact and Recovery" is designed covering micro level of analysis by manufacturers and key business segments. The Global Open Banking Market survey analysis offers energetic visions to conclude and study market size, market hopes, and competitive surroundings. The research is derived through primary and secondary statistics sources and it comprises both qualitative and quantitative detailing. Some of the key players profiled in the study are JackHenry and Associates, FinGenius, FormFree, Figo GMBH, MineralTree Inc, D3 Banking, Accern Corporation, Mambu GmbH, Malauzai Software Inc & Demyst Data. What's keeping JackHenry and Associates, FinGenius, FormFree, Figo GMBH, MineralTree Inc, D3 Banking, Accern Corporation, Mambu GmbH, Malauzai Software Inc & Demyst Data Ahead in the Market? Benchmark yourself with the strategic moves and findings recently released by HTF MI Get Free Sample Report + All Related Graphs & Charts @ : https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/3152390-global-open-banking-market-2 Market Overview of Global Open Banking If you are involved in the Global Open Banking industry or aim to be, then this study will provide you inclusive point of view. It's vital you keep your market knowledge up to date segmented by Applications [Bank Channel, App market, Distributors & Aggregators], Product Types [, Transactional, Communicative & Informative] and major players. If you have a different set of players/manufacturers according to geography or needs regional or country segmented reports we can provide customization according to your requirement. This study mainly helps understand which market segments or Region or Country they should focus in coming years to channelize their efforts and investments to maximize growth and profitability. The report presents the market competitive landscape and a consistent in depth analysis of the major vendor/key players in the market along with impact of economic slowdown due to COVID. Furthermore, the years considered for the study are as follows: Historical year 2014-2019 Base year 2019 Forecast period** 2020 to 2026 [** unless otherwise stated] Enquire for customization in Report @: https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/3152390-global-open-banking-market-2 **Moreover, it will also include the opportunities available in micro markets for stakeholders to invest, detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product services of key players. The titled segments and sub-section of the market are illuminated below: The Study Explore the Product Types of Open Banking Market: , Transactional, Communicative & Informative Key Applications/end-users of Global Open BankingMarket: Bank Channel, App market, Distributors & Aggregators Top Players in the Market are: JackHenry and Associates, FinGenius, FormFree, Figo GMBH, MineralTree Inc, D3 Banking, Accern Corporation, Mambu GmbH, Malauzai Software Inc & Demyst Data Region Included are: North America (Covered in Chapter 9), United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe (Covered in Chapter 10), Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Others, Asia-Pacific (Covered in Chapter 11), China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, South America (Covered in Chapter 12), Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Middle East and Africa (Covered in Chapter 13), UAE, Egypt & South Africa Extracts from Table of Contents (ToC) : Browse Complete Table of Contents (ToC) @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/3152390-global-open-banking-market-2 . Open Banking Market Insights 3.1. Market Segmentation 3.2. Industry landscape, 2015 2026 3.2.1. COVID-19 impact on industry landscape 3.3. Industry ecosystem analysis 3.3.1. Raw material suppliers 3.3.2. Manufacturers 3.3.3. Distribution channel analysis 3.3.4. Vendor matrix 3.4. Technology landscape 3.5. Raw material analysis by Type [, Transactional, Communicative & Informative] 3.5.5. COVID-19 impact on raw material supply, by region 3.5.5.1. North America 3.5.5.2. Europe 3.5.5.3. Asia Pacific 3.5.5.4. LATAM 3.5.5.5. MEA 3.6. Regulatory landscape 3.7. Industry best practices & key buying criteria 3.8. Pricing analysis 3.9.1. Regional pricing 3.9.1.1. North America 3.9.1.2. Europe 3.9.1.3. Asia Pacific 3.9.1.4. Latin America 3.9.1.5. MEA 3.10 Cost structure analysis 3.10.1. COVID-19 impact on pricing 3.11. Industry impact forces 3.11.1. Growth drivers 3.11.2. Industry pitfalls & challenges 3.12. Innovation & sustainability 3.12.1. Future trends including COVID-19 impact 3.12.1.1. Production trends 3.12.1.2. Demand trends 3.13. Growth potential analysis 3.14. Porter's analysis 3.14.1. Supplier power 3.14.2. Buyer power 3.14.3. Threat of new entrants 3.14.4. Threat of substitutes 3.14.5. Industry rivalry 3.15. Competitive landscape 3.15.1. Company market share analysis, 2019 3.15.2. Strategy landscape 3.16. PESTEL analysis 3.17. .. Complete Purchase of Latest Version Global Open Banking Market Study with COVID-19 Impact Analysis @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=3152390 Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like LATAM, North America, Nordics, Western Europe or Southeast Asia. Terming the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in the pride of railways, Union minister Friday said there is no question of altering its facade, structure or beauty after its development under the PPP model The station is being redeveloped to add more facilities, but its heritage part would not be altered, he assured Rajya Sabha. Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour, Goyal said he is particular about ensuring that wherever stations are redeveloped, their local identity, culture and traditional look are not hurt or damaged. Local heritage experts are also being consulted during the redevelopment process, he said. "Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus is the pride of Indian Railways and there is no question that in any manner its facade, structure or beauty will be changed. Efforts are on how to enhance it and add more facilities to the station," he told the house. It has been noticed that during peak hours, a large crowd tries to enter the station as well as exit it and efforts are underway to resolve this, he said. If the entry and exit points are segregated, it will benefit passengers, he said. "The CSMT development does not impact the heritage side of the station. The development is being done on the Demello road side and not on the heritage side," he informed. "We have recently developed Habibganj station, where a private person has invested Rs 100 crore in PPP partnership. It has been beautified and the person who has developed the station would recover his invested money in 30 years through added facilities and after 30 years the property remains with the Railways, including the Rs 100 crore investment made to redevelop it. This is called monetisation, where without selling it the facilities to the public are improved, Goyal said. He said the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is also being developed on those lines so that the convenience of travel is improved within the station and the passengers get better facilities like in other stations elsewhere in the world. The railways minister also informed that the Pune station of central Railway was in February 2017 included in the redevelopment plan, but it did not get a good response. "We are trying to make it more attractive for inclusion in station redevelopment plan," he said. Replying to another question, he said the Bhubaneswar railway station is being redeveloped and a detailed project report (DPR) has been completed and the railways is working out details. Some other stations in Odisha have also been identified for redevelopment, and their DPRs are being prepared, he said. Asked as to on what basis the Railways chooses the stations for redevelopment, the minister said normally the demand and footfall is the biggest indicator and then the revenue potential is assessed. "We do not overlook other stations, Railways provide amenities there from its own resources and some stations are developed as they are important from religious point of view," he said, giving the example of railway station in Amritsar which he added has its importance due to the Golden temple. In his written reply, the minister said, "The Ministry of Railways endeavours to redevelop railway stations through private sector participation under Public Private Partnership mode (PPP). Works of redevelopment of Habibganj is at advanced stage. Works for redevelopment of Gomti Nagar station are under process." He said Request for Qualification (RFQ) have been finalized for eight stations - Nagpur, Amritsar, Sabarmati, Gwalior, Puducherry, Tirupati, Nellore and Dehradun and RFQs have been invited for three stations - New Delhi, Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Ernakulum, while contracts have been awarded for redevelopment of Safdarjung and Ajni (Nagpur) stations. Goyal said a Group of Secretaries (GoS) was constituted by Ministry of Railways for redevelopment of 50 railway stations on PPP mode. "The GoS has inter-alia suggested the levy of user fee for redevelopment of stations. Stations have been entrusted to Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) and Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) for conducting techno-economic feasibility studies. Based on the outcome of such studies, stations are taken up for redevelopment in phases. "A redeveloped station envisages to provide improved/enhanced facilities at stations which include congestion free non-conflicting entry/exit to the station premises, segregation of arrival/departure of passengers, adequate concourse area without overcrowding, integration of both sides of the city, integration with other modes of transport systems e.g. Bus, Metro, etc., user friendly international signage, well illuminated circulating area and sufficient provision for drop off, pick up & parking etc, he said in his written reply. For Bay Area residents, the Happiest Place on Earth is back on the horizon. Disneyland in Anaheim, closed for more than a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, is slated to reopen on April 30, executives said this week. Coronavirus case rates have dropped dramatically over the past few months across California, and the vaccination rollout continues to expand. But the majority of residents have yet to receive vaccines, and the virus is still circulating with concerning new variants in the mix. Before making plans to head to Disneyland, many in the Bay Area may be asking: How safe is it? Potential travelers should first be aware that many restrictions are in place at the two theme parks, Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Under the states guidelines, park visitors must be California residents. Masks are required, and park workers must be tested weekly for the coronavirus. Indoor dining isnt allowed, and total park attendance including inside its indoor attractions will cap at 15%. Reservations are required. Disneys parks in Florida, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai have already reopened, but the Hong Kong location closed briefly after an outbreak in the surrounding region. According to the New York Times, Disney World in Orlando hasnt seen any outbreaks. Forbes reported that it was nearly sold out for spring break and is operating at 35% capacity. Frederick J. Brown / AFP / Getty Images 2020 Other California theme parks are also planning to reopen including Universal Studios in Hollywood, which likely will welcome visitors in late April, according to the Los Angeles Times. Disneyland has been developing its COVID-19 protocols for months, including protective equipment for employees, regular testing and increased indoor ventilation. So just what are the health risks of visiting the reopened Magic Kingdom? Bay Area experts said while theyre not zero, theyre fairly minimal if all safety protocols and precautions are followed as cautiously as possible. As someone who used to just love taking my children to Disneyland, it really is a magical place, and I think its wonderful that children with their families are going to be able to experience it, said Dr. Dean Winslow, an infectious disease doctor at Stanford. I think with limiting the capacity and presumably requiring that everyone (over age 2) wear masks, I think it probably will be relatively safe. Southern California has been a hot spot throughout the pandemic, but hospitalizations and cases are decreasing in Los Angeles County and the state logged a record-breaking week of COVID-19 vaccinations. But even amid the fortunate news, two variants first detected in California which were officially named variants of concern by the CDC appear to be circulating rapidly within both the state and other countries, said Dr. Lee Riley, an infectious disease expert at UC Berkeley. Jae C. Hong / Associated Press This is something that we need to watch out for, said Riley. People really have to make sure that they wear masks at all times and maintain social distancing ... this is something that Disneyland would have to enforce. Because Disneyland is an outdoor park, the risk of infection already goes down, experts said. In many ways, the outside aspects of Disneyland feel very safe, said Dr. Shannon Bennett, chief of science with the California Academy of Sciences. But some parts of the park indoor attractions, lines and crowds could be riskier. I would say the risk landscape is probably biggest in choke points where ventilation is poor, or people spend a long time together, said Bennett. Experts said it would be ideal if parents are vaccinated or could wait to travel to Disneyland until they are. If Disneyland made that a requirement, that would be even better, Riley said. However, most adults unless they are over 65 or have pre-existing conditions will not have been fully vaccinated by April 30, which means that adults should either wait or understand that they will be in an environment that puts them at some degree of risk. Although some have the impression that children cannot get sick from the coronavirus, experts said data so far has shown that children under 12 have a substantially lower risk of infection than older people, said Dr. Robert Wachter, UCSF medicine department chair. This was the one happy surprise of COVID-19 all of the other surprises were unhappy, he added. And if the family really stays as close together as possible like a knot and maintains a safe distance from others, plus members mask up, the trip should be relatively safe, Winslow said. Bennett also added that bringing hand sanitizer although there will likely be plenty at Disneyland and extra masks will help mitigate risk even further. Transportation also shouldnt pose too much of a risk, whether by plane or car. Since only California residents are allowed in the parks, any flight should be relatively short and air travel by itself has not been shown to be a big risk factor for infection, experts said, in part because of the efficacy of the HVAC systems in modern commercial aircraft. But of course, if there are long lines in the airport and people arent careful about distancing and mask-wearing, more risks can arise. People should follow reasonable precautions no matter how they get to Disneyland. As for lodging, hotels also should be relatively safe, experts said, so long as people are just staying with their own traveling party and again, following safety precautions. I think most hotels are being very careful and theyve also put mitigating measures into effect, said Winslow. We know enough about this virus to know how to do things right, Bennett added. Annie Vainshtein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avainshtein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annievain A spokesperson for China's top legislature on Thursday strongly condemned the expanded sanctions announced by the U.S. Department of State on Chinese officials. The U.S. move, made in response to a decision of the National People's Congress (NPC) on improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), is a gross interference in China's internal affairs, and is extremely "overbearing and despicable," said the spokesperson for the NPC Standing Committee. The NPC firmly opposes and strongly condemns the sanctions, the spokesperson said in a statement. As the highest state organ of power, the NPC has the power and responsibility to make the decision at the constitutional level to improve the electoral system of the HKSAR, said the spokesperson. The purpose of revising and improving the electoral system of the HKSAR is to remove the existing institutional deficiencies and risks so as to provide a sound institutional guarantee for fully and faithfully implementing "one country, two systems," and fully implementing the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong," the spokesperson noted. Stressing that Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs that brook no foreign interference, the spokesperson said the NPC will, as always, perform its legally prescribed duties and unswervingly safeguard China's sovereignty, security, and development interests in accordance with the law. The NPC will uphold the constitutional order in Hong Kong as stipulated in China's Constitution and the HKSAR Basic Law, and provide legal guarantees for cracking down on "Hong Kong independence" forces, ensuring "patriots administering Hong Kong" and maintaining Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability, according to the spokesperson. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. 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. Sorry! This content is not available in your region MOORESVILLE, N.C., March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Engage2Excel, a leading provider of hiring and retention technologies, invites the business community to attend the first 2021 Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Event. This peer-to-peer event is presented by Smart Works Collaborative (SWC) and takes place on April 13, 2021 from 1 to 2:30 PM ET. This virtual event features an expert panel of senior executives who will address diversity and inclusion (D&I) challenges in the corporate sector with practical takeaways for the attendees. SWC's mission is to offer 21st century actionable ideas for executive leadership to meet today's challenges in a time of transition and transformation. Panelists include senior diversity and inclusion leaders from Johnson & Johnson, Marsh & McLennan, Mt. Sinai Health System, Leo Burnett Worldwide, Edelman Public Relations and New Vistas in Education. Smart Works Collaborative's goal is to create a blueprint for greater engagement from the private sector and to inspire and boost employee morale. Peers and leaders will receive insights about the latest diversity and inclusion program innovations. "We are excited to see the outcome of the event. This is a significant year for the HR industry and especially for D&I, as new trends and topics are brought into light to set an updated standard for the workplace," said Isabelle Lavigne, global VP of human resources at Engage2Excel Group. "The new spirit of the times, underscored by the Business Roundtable's broader sense of corporate purpose, suggests that there is now an expectation for business to enter into a new conversation with its key constituencies, one that will drive needed change and build incremental value for those companies that choose to make diversity and inclusion part of their corporate credo," said Meryl Moss, SWC Co-Managing Director. Attendees can register for the 90-minute virtual event on the Smart Works Collaborative website at no cost. Inspired by the positive response SWC received from The Uncomfortable Conversations Series launched last year shortly after the overwhelming response to June's response to racial justice, the leaders at SWC instinctively thought of making additional programming accessible to businesses in order to learn from diversity and inclusion leaders across industries. To view a full description of this event, visit www.smartworkscollaborative.com ABOUT ENGAGE2EXCEL The Engage2Excel group of companies creates engaging career and consumer experiences. Its Career Experience Suite (CXS) provides recruitment, onboarding, employee recognition, manager development and employee survey solutions tailored to each organization and designed to help clients find and keep their talent. With over 3,000 client partners, Engage2Excel has a proud heritage of developing innovative solutions that improve competitive advantage and boost bottom-line results. Learn more at www.engage2excel.com Media Contact: Melissa Meunier | [email protected] ABOUT SMART WORKS COLLABORATIVE Smart Works Collaborative provides timely programming to corporations in the areas of diversity and inclusion, remote leadership, talent retention, mentoring, digital security and more. Our content is designed to expand opportunities for success and to help improve our world. Learn more at: smartworkscollaborative.com Related Images smart-works-collaborative-logo.png Smart Works Collaborative Logo Smart Works Collaborative Logo SOURCE Engage2Excel Rocker Freddy Mercury of Queen is probably still the most famous Zoroastrian for most Americans. But the ancient religion still has followers nationwide and a New York temple in Pomona. Saturday marks the major Zoroastrian holiday of Nowruz, translated from the Farsi as New Day. It falls on the Vernal Equinox, the first day of spring, and is celebrated as the Persian New Year. For Zoroastrians, the holiday celebrates kinship (friends can be kin), the beauty of spring, fresh starts and clean slates. Cullman Regional Medical Center is adding critical care beds after the pandemic pushed its ICU capacity to 200 percent - the highest in the country, according to a hospital statement. Cullman Regional had the most overcrowded intensive care unit in the country several times over the winter, according to news outlets. Although the number of COVID cases has fallen in recent weeks, hospital leaders hope the addition of 13 new critical care beds will improve their ability to handle any future waves. Cullman currently has 12 beds in its critical care unit. Several hospitals in Alabama hit or exceeded ICU capacity during the peak of the pandemic in late December and early January. Cullman is the first to announce construction of additional beds. The State Health Planning and Development Agency issued an emergency certificate of need approval for the extra beds. Over the past year, our facility has been stretched at times, said James Clements, CEO if Cullman Regional. This emergency CON allows us to accelerate the renovation and construction process in order to get ahead of any additional COVID patient surges in our future. Don Williamson, president of the Alabama Hospital Association, said some hospitals may wait until the summer or later to evaluate whether they need to add more critical care beds. The COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented health event, and many hospitals are hesitant to build beds that might go unused after it passes. I think the pandemic will force us around the country to really take a hard look at the healthcare system, Williamson said. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that patients fared worse when hospital ICUs became crowded with COVID-19 patients. The study examined data from 88 Veterans Administration hospitals Hospitals have been shrinking for years as more procedures became available on an outpatient basis. Alabama has also lost about a dozen hospitals in the last two decades. Many rural hospitals that closed had small or nonexistent critical care units, Williamson said, but their disappearance shifted patients to larger hospitals. Some of those hospitals struggled to add critical care beds as the pandemic peaked, Williamson said. Cullman Regional is quickly adding beds to accommodate potential surges in COVID cases. Although cases have declined, experts are warning that new variants could drive surges if vaccinations do not roll out quickly enough to halt the spread. This project allows us to create a better infrastructure for our clinical team in the event of another surge of COVID patients in the future, Clements said. Cullman turned a regular medical surgery unit into an ICU in December by adding ventilators and extra staff. More than half the beds in the hospital had COVID patients at one point. Even without COVID, future pandemics and natural disasters could cause strain on hospital beds. Williamson said events such as plane crashes can send hundreds of critically ill patients into hospitals at once, quickly filling intensive care beds. Williamson said most hospitals found ways to add needed intensive care capacity during the height of the pandemic. We had a number of hospitals that were over their ICU capacity, Williamson said. What that speaks to is the ability of hospitals to be creative and flexible. The University of Alabama at Birmingham converted waiting areas to patient care areas. Other hospitals converted emergency beds or cardiology beds into beds that could hold patients in need of oxygen or ventilators. DCH hospital in Tuscaloosa transformed beds into COVID areas by creating negative pressure rooms to prevent viral spread. We clearly learned that we had the ability to take care of more patients than we ever thought we could, Williamson 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. JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize winner FW de Klerk has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer that affects the tissue that lines the lungs, his foundation said in a statement. "Mr De Klerk will start a course of immunotherapy next week. There is no immediate threat, and we are confident that the treatment will be successful," read the statement that was released late on Thursday. De Klerk, 85, headed South Africa's white minority government until 1994, when Nelson Mandela's African National Congress party swept to power. He shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela, but his role in the transition to democracy is highly contested more than 20 years after the end of apartheid. (Reporting by Alexander Winning) Australia's mouse plague is showing no signs of slowing down as devastated residents discovered thousands of dead rodents in their homes after heavy rainfall. The torrential downpour and dangerous flooding forecast across New South Wales have created the perfect breeding ground for the out-of-control mice infestation to spread across the state. A frustrated resident in the central west town of Dubbo shared a confronting image of hundreds of drowned mice caught in a fishing net on Thursday. Dubbo resident Bradley Wilshire caught over 500 mice using 12 bucket traps around the property on Thursday (pictured) Elong Elong residents shocked to discover dead mice decaying in their water tanks after 25mls of rainfall (pictured) 'How's this for a way to use your fishing landing net? 500 mice caught last night', the resident Matt Hanson wrote on Facebook. Mr Hanson said the situation is getting 'beyond ridiculous' after his neighbor Bradley Wilshire caught the rodents using 12 bucket traps around the property. The heavy rainfall saw another angry resident in Elong Elong near Dubbo share a disturbing image of dead mice decaying in her water tank. 'This is from my water tank today after 25mls of rain that we drink for our house water,' Louise Hennessy shared online. 'I actually cleaned this out one week ago and it was full of clumped mice fur.' Another local posted an image of her '24 haul of mice' she discovered in her pool. 'I haven't let my children swim in the pool for weeks', she said. Residents in rural NSW have stopped using their own pools after 24 mice were discovered after heavy rainfall (pictured) The disturbing images come after three hospital patients were bitten by mice at facilities in regional New South Wales. The patients received minor bites at facilities in Tottenham, Walgett and Gulargambone, NSW Health confirmed. 'The current mouse infestation across western NSW is a natural occurrence,' a spokeswoman said. 'NSW Health staff are responding with appropriate control measures.' New South Wale's mice infestation is showing no signs of slowing down as residents discover hundreds of mice on their properties NSW Western Area Health Service has also reported a case of leptospirosis - a rare disease which can cause kidney failure and meningitis - as a result of mice in domestic dwellings. The mice plague is not just affecting residents' health, but also their livelihoods. NSW Farmers are seeking urgent action from the government as the mice plague continues to decimate crops and destroy stored hay. President James Jackson said grain growers hold grave concerns about the winter crop planting season, which is due to start within weeks. 'Farmers need some more control options. We are requesting that an Emergency Use Permit be issued for Zinc Phosphide to treat seed,' Mr Jackson said. 'Mouse control is very costly. The severity of the current plague has resulted in the need for multiple aerial and ground bait applications in cropping regions.' On Wednesday afternoon, Trier Federal Police officers apprehended a wanted fugitive. A 26-year-old man was stopped and checked on the A4 motorway as he headed to Germany from Luxembourg. Investigations revealed that the man had an outstanding extradition arrest warrant from the Polish judicial authorities because of a burglary committed in 2013. After a judicial decision by the Trier District Court, he was taken to the Trier correctional facility where he awaits extradition. 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. Chimeric Therapeutics Limited ( ) has entered 2021 with a strong bank balance following its well-received IPO as it progresses its ground-breaking CAR-T cell therapies for solid tumours. The company, which listed on the ASX on January 18, 2021, is developing its oncology pipeline with novel cell therapy technologies that will provide benefit to cancer patients globally. It successfully completed dosing of the first patient cohort in March 2021 in a Phase 1 dose-escalation study to evaluate the safety and maximum tolerated dose of its Chlorotoxin CAR T (CLTX CAR T) treatment in patients with recurrent or progressive glioblastoma (GBM). The study aims to enrol 18-36 patients with MMP2+ recurrent or progressive GBM across four dose levels. Swamped by investor support The clinical-stage cell therapy company received strong interest from institutional and sophisticated investors for its ASX listing, surpassing its target of raising $25 million. Chimeric Therapeutics executive chairman Paul Hopper said the original target was upped to $35 million after increasing interest from investors led to more than $90 million of bids received. He said: Ive raised a lot of money over the years, but I havent had a response to a capital raising like this. We started out planning to raise $25 million and we were swamped, in fact, we had bids up to $94 million. Because it was so heavily oversubscribed, we increased the book a little bit and took $35 million and were quite pleased with the result. CLTX-CAR T therapy Chimeric Therapeutics is developing ground-breaking CAR-T cell therapies for solid tumours based on scientific research conducted by leading US CAR-T experts at the City of Hope (COH) Cancer Centre in Los Angeles. CLTX CAR T uniquely utilises chlorotoxin (CLTX), a peptide derived from scorpion toxin, as the tumour-targeting component of the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) which has been shown in preclinical models to bind more broadly and specifically to GBM cells than other targeting domains like EGFR, HER-2 or IL-13. In preclinical models, CLTX CAR T demonstrated potent anti-tumour activity against glioblastoma while not exhibiting any off-tumour recognition of normal human cells/tissues, supporting a potentially optimal safety and efficacy profile. Staggered dosing As this is a first in human phase 1 cell therapy trial, the four patients dosed within this first cohort received staggered treatment, in accordance with FDA guidance. As the final patient of this first dose cohort successfully completes the DLT period, the study will begin to recruit patients for the next dose level which will introduce dual administration (ICT administration and intracranial intraventricular (ICV) administration) at a dose of 88 X 106 CAR T cells. Beyond safety and efficacy, the study aims to establish the recommended dosing for a Phase 2 trial. Well-funded The company is well funded and plans to conduct a patient study of 50 to 75 people following the completion of its Phase one clinical trial. Hopper said: Depending what the signals are in the Phase 1 trial, we would look to go into a phase 2 in brain cancer as quickly as we can. Experienced management team Although the company was only founded in 2020, the management team is experienced, according to research firm Edison. They provide Chimeric with a greater level of experience than for many other firms at the same stage, Edison added. Its chief operating officer is Jennifer Chow, an expert in the development and commercialisation of CAR T therapies. Prior to joining Chimeric, Chow was at Kite Pharma, the current leading CAR T company in the world. Chow has over 20 years of strategic and operational experience focused on oncology and hematology. Another cell therapy expert Dr Syed Rizvi is the companys chief medical officer. Dr Rizvi has been focused on the development of CAR T therapies and was formerly with Legend Biotech where he was the head of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs. Its board of directors is chaired by the founder of Chimeric Therapeutics, Paul Hopper, a successful bio entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in biotech, healthcare and life sciences focused on start-up and rapid growth companies. Also on the board: Dr Lesley Russell, a 25-year industry veteran with CMO and COO experience from Amgen, and Eli Lilly; and Leslie Chong, the current CEO and managing director of Australian-based Imugene, a leader in the development of oncolytic viruses. Its Glioblastoma Scientific Advisory Board (GBM SAB) is led by Professor Christine Brown, who developed our CLTX-CAR T from her laboratory within the City of Hope Hospital. Joining Professor Brown on the GBM SAB are two distinguished scientists, Dr Nader Sinai and Dr Larry Couture. New appointments Chimeric has appointed Dr Yvonne Chen, associate professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), to its scientific advisory board. Chen is focused on applying synthetic biology and biomolecular engineering techniques to develop robust cell-based therapies for otherwise intractable diseases. Chimeric also appointed biotech industry veteran Cindy Elkins as a non-executive director. Elkins brings more than 30 years of experience in the biotech and high tech industries, with roles at Juno Therapeutics, Genentech/Roche and Ariba It also appointed Dr Eliot Bourk as its vice president, Business and Corporate Development to drive the growth of its cancer therapy pipeline by advancing strategic business opportunities, initiatives and partnerships. Dr Bourk will lead business and corporate development, with a near-term focus on Chimeric Therapeutics additional novel cell therapies. Dr Bourk joins Chimeric from Kite Pharmaceuticals, where he led early commercial strategy, responsible for the optimisation of a portfolio of early-stage cell therapy pipeline assets and for guiding business development strategies and transactions. Kung, a Lao teen accused of killing his Chinese employer, is shown under arrest in Bokeo province in an undated photo. A Lao teenager working at a motorcycle shop in Bokeo province killed his Chinese employer in early March, knocking him down and cutting his throat following a heated argument over working hours and the mans abuse of his local employees, sources in Laos said. The worker identified as Kung, 18, had lost his temper in the March 8 incident, which followed weeks of scolding by his Chinese boss, a resident of Pha Oy village in Bokeos Houaxay district and next-door neighbor to the shop told RFAs Lao Service this week. The two were arguing, and I heard that the Chinese man had scolded him many times, the neighbor said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Chinese man had scolded not only the teen but all his other employees, too. The shop has been closed since the incident, because the owner is now dead, he added. Speaking to RFA on Thursday, a police officer in Houaxay district confirmed the fight had taken place. The incident happened at a motorcycle shop, the officer said, also speaking on condition his name not be used. The employer and an employee were having a heated argument, and then a fight. Before the incident, the employer had often emotionally and physically abused his employees and sometimes injured them seriously, another Pha Oy village resident said. One of the employees then exploded and hit the boss, who is now dead. The attacker just started this job a couple of weeks ago. Following the attack, the Lao teenwho gave his name as Kung under questioning by policeescaped by motorcycle but was captured two days later, a provincial police officer told Security News, an online news site of the Lao Ministry of Public Security. Under interrogation, the attacker said that his name was Kung and that his employer was too offensive, saying for example that when he arrived to work late one day, he was told he would not be allowed to eat lunch. On the day of the incident, Li Xiaothe employerclosed his shop, but Kung remained behind. And when the shop owner scolded him and yelled at him to leave, [Kung] snapped and knocked the owner to the floor and cut his throat, the officer said. He then ran to his motorcycle, which he had parked at a friends house, and sped away. But police arrested him in another village on March 10, he said. The incident follows other reports of high-handed treatment of Lao workers by their Chinese bosses, and of increasing resentment over a growing Chinese business presence in the country. In June 2020, a young Lao worker, Lou Xiong, was beaten, shocked, and tied up by his employers at a Chinese banana plantation in Vientiane province in northwestern Laos in a dispute over long working hours, the workers relatives told RFA in an earlier report. Concern has also been growing in Laos over Chinas growing influence as a result of its massive investment in hydropower dams, a major railway, and other infrastructure projects under Beijings $1.3 trillion Belt and Road Initiative. China is Laos largest foreign investor and aid provider, and its second-largest trade partner after Thailand. Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney. A Covid-19 situation at the National Insurance Board (NIB) led to late pension cheques this month, says Social Development Minister Donna Cox. And the ministry yesterday apologised for any inconvenience caused to pensioners and other recipients of social welfare as a result of the late payment of benefits. 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. Big Blue is back home. Two of Forrest Babcock and Janet Zuelkes beloved telescopes Big Blue and the smaller Unitron were stolen last week from a property near the border of Washington and Yamhill counties. And now, only 7 days later, the couple is celebrating the return of the larger 800-pound behemoth, which was found in its trailer on a gravel road outside the community of Sheridan. The telescope was missing two of its smaller scopes, which are necessary to find stars and planets and will have to be purchased. But Zuelke said her husband is confident he can restore the telescope, which he has spent 50 years building and rebuilding, within a few weeks. Of course, when he saw it, he blurted out the words, I built this thing I can fix it, Zuelke told The Oregonian/OregonLive. The smaller Unitron was nowhere to be found, though the thieves left behind its mount rendering the telescope useless. And the trailer will require repairs. But Babcock and Zuelke were eager to reunite with Big Blue, which they thought theyd never see again. All in all its really good news. Were just ecstatic to have it back where it belongs, Zuelke said. Last week, someone broke the lock on the couples forest green 1997 Wells Cargo enclosed trailer with a ramp door, nabbing the two telescopes, which are worth over $16,000. The trailer and telescopes were unaccounted for until Wednesday, when the Yamhill County Sheriffs Office found the trailer near Sheridan. Babcock and Zuelke went Thursday to see the trailer, unsure how much damage to expect or if both telescopes would still be there. Though thrilled to have Big Blue back, they were disappointed to find the Unitron missing. The smaller telescope was particularly special for Babcock, who first spotted the model when he was a young boy and dreamed about owning one of his own. Many years later, his son spotted the same model at a Goodwill store and bought it for him. Now it will take a similar stroke of luck for Babcock to get his hands back on the beloved telescope. Zuelke has asked people to keep their eyes peeled on Facebook or Craigslist for someone that might be selling the stolen item. An optical engineer, he has turned a lifelong passion for astronomy into a community effort. He and Zuelke plan to open a science center, the Carlton Observatory, at their Yamhill County home While plans for the center are still in the works, the couple has spent the last 8 years taking the telescopes around the region for astronomy gatherings, or star parties. Such parties have been paused because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Babcock has some work to do before Big Blue is back in working order. He and his wife also plan to outfit the trailer with tracking devices and may find a more secure place to store it. But once the telescope and its trailer are ready to go, Babcock and Zuelke plan to continue working toward their goal of bringing scientific literacy to the people of their rural community. Their first event, Zuelke said, will be a celebratory star party. Well invite everyone whos ever wanted to look through it, she said of the recovered telescope. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR Married At First Sight sexologist Alessandra Rampolla has revealed her top tips for a happy relationship. The Puerto Rican sexologist, 46, told Nine that the most important thing is not sex - but friendship. 'Your partner needs to be your best friend who you also want to get it on with. If that part isn't there they stay in the friend zone,' she revealed. Close: Married At First Sight sexologist Alessandra Rampolla (pictured) has revealed her top tips for a happy relationship. The Puerto Rican sexologist, 46, told Nine that the most important thing is not sex - but friendship Alessandra added that 'bad sex' is the often the biggest reason that couples fall apart. 'It becomes the number one problem for that relationship. It's the reason for many couples to disintegrate,' she said. Like many relationship experts, Alessandra says that communication is key to a great relationship. Be friendly: 'Your partner needs to be your best friend who you also want to get it on with. If that part isn't there they stay in the friend zone,' she revealed 'So many couples have broken up just because they don't find how to better express themselves and communicate themselves sexually,' she added. It comes after the sexologist spoke about her failed marriage to businessman John Hernandez. She told Woman's Day that her divorce and personal experiences help her connect with the participants on the dating show. 'I think going through those ups and downs of marriage will allow me to understand what some of these couples will go through,' Alessandra said. Keep it good: Alessandra added that 'bad sex' is the often the biggest reason that couples fall apart. 'It becomes the number one problem for that relationship. It's the reason for many couples to disintegrate,' she said She continued: 'But I don't think you need to have that experience to be able to offer up advice. I think my expertise and education gives me the tools to do that.' Alessandra married businessman John Hernandez in 2007, but they filed for divorce just four years later in 2011. She explained she wanted to stay in Argentina at the time but John wanted to return to Puerto Rico. Alessandra said the pair still love each other but 'life just took us on different paths'. COMPANY NEWS: Sentrian have operated for 28 years providing IT managed services to small and medium-sized businesses across Australia. Sentrian isn't just a telephony brand - theyre an integrated IT services brand, with a clear focus to help small and medium Australian businesses build, rebuild, evolve and manage their organisation's IT. Sentrian was born in the technology age. The companys goal is to create a flexible and collaborative tech environment for their people all whilst keeping downtime, disruptions and tech headaches to an absolute minimum. The telecommunications specialist is excited to announce their new expanded offering for businesses in the market. In a world where telephony is being subsumed into IT at an ever-growing pace, Sentrians' new services are designed to elevate companies from simply communicating with each other to collaborating. The key to this is seamless, integrated solutions. Businesses dont have to do away with old telephony, we want them to be able to integrate it into the new technologies that they continue to turn to as a way of expanding their platforms, states Rob Wilkinson, Sentrians Head of Business Development. At the helm of this offering is Sentrians Microsoft Teams and calling package which allows businesses to add phone calls directly to their pre-existing Office 365 Solution. Collaboration apps such as Teams have experienced a surge in uptake as COVID defined a new market of work from home and remote users. The platform is said to have seen an increase of users from 20 Million world-wide in November 2019 just prior to the pandemic to over 115 Million at the same time in 2020*. As COVID continues to shape the way we now work, interact and conduct business, Sentrians' offering of phone calls from this primary communication platform is cutting edge in the industry. The innovation allows users to switch effortlessly between devices and truly is the pinnacle of all-in-one collaboration programs. Office365 is familiar and well received by businesses worldwide, we are simply amplifying the platform so your business can work smarter, not harder, says Wilkinson Sentrian have identified that for small to medium business telephony is considered a commodity item and is often a purchase decision driven by cost. The company notes though that as businesses turn to platforms such as Office 365, the focus is less cost-driven. While the ability to make and receive calls is still generally viewed as a commodity, mobility and tools integration are probably viewed as equally important. The Office 365 calls solution is offered as a subscription-based model, negating the often-expensive up-front costs associated with implementing a new IT solution. As this market is already comfortable with subscription models, call packages will be attractive to provide cost certainty. Value is seen in combining collaboration tools including chat, video conferencing, and IP telephony into one tool Sentrians Teams offering is complemented by the option of SIP Trunking which allows businesses the flexibility to only pay for the lines they need. The fully customisable solution ensures that businesses can upscale and build a package that supports their individual business needs whilst remaining cost-effective. Sentrian offers both managed and unmanaged solutions, but stress for those clients who choose an unmanaged plan that help is never far off, as support is available on an ad-hoc basis for those who need it. Again, the key is the flexibility and capability with the platform available on numerous devices or in combination. Sentrian offers an alternative to Australias major telcos in both market segments for telephony and connectivity as a boutique company. Sentrians approach is to provide scalable, flexible options to their customers with quality service at the forefront. The specialists continue to deliver on this promise by remaining a boutique operator. The company prides themselves on: Being a smaller supplier, meaning clients are not a rounding error on the telcos spreadsheet. Maintaining their reputation for great client communication, something often thought to be missing from the major telcos. Being a relationship-driven organisation with direct contact to account management and technical teams. Having less red tape and quicker response times Being an Australian based company with local support teams. Being able to provide end-to-end services for connectivity solutions Being a Tier One Microsoft CSP Sentrian aims to keep their customers connected and by being at the forefront of innovations such as the Teams call plan offerings, they truly are giving their customers exactly what they want in todays working environment collaboration, integration, and consideration. (*https://www.businessofapps.com/data/microsoft-teams-statistics/) To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Are We Days Away From Potential Gann/Fibonacci Stock Market Price Peak? We have received many emails from members and readers asking us to follow-up on our December 30, 2020, Gann/Fibonacci research article entitled Price Amplitude Arcs/Gann Suggest A Major Peak in Early April 2021 Part II. In that article, my research team suggested a major price peak may set up in early April 2021. Now we are only a few weeks away from the start of April and we believe the US major indexes have already started to make their move related to the Gann/Fibonacci peak prediction. Lets review our original research and then take a look at what is happening on the charts right now. Before we get started, please know that this article talks about the long-term trend and pattern forming. This topping setup may drag out until later this year, possibly August and beyond. As always, we do not trade or invest based on predictions. We simply follow the price. Until the market price confirms a new downtrend, we will remain long stocks. Revisiting Our Gann Price/Time Arc Research In our original article, I highlighted how Gann price arcs and time elements, when duplicated from the 2009 bottom and anchored to the 2016 lows, aligned quite well with the pullbacks in 2018, 2020. It also predicted an April 2021 Gann Arc which could represent a moderately big price correction in the future. The following weekly SPY chart from our original article highlights these technical setups. What may be difficult to see on this chart are the Gann Price/Time arcs. The fist one originates at the low of 2009 and extends to the peak in 2016. The second one is a duplicate of the first and is aligned at the low of 2016. What we found interesting in this technical pattern is that the original move from the bottom in 2009 seemed to replicate in Gann structure after the lows in 2016. If our research is correct, then a broad market correction may start in late March 2021 or in early April 2021 (near the downward MAGENTA lines on the right side of this chart). As we revisit that chart, on a Monthly bar basis, we can clearly see how the rally in the SPY has prompted a price trend above the CYAN line which we warned about in our original article: You can also see our proprietary Fibonacci Price Amplitude Arcs drawn on the chart above. We believe these are aligned with price energy frequencies and help us to understand where and when price inflection points may occur. It may be difficult for you to see the multiple Fibonacci Price Amplitude Arcs that align near the current price high, but there are three unique Fibonacci Price Amplitude arcs spanning this peak: 1. The $373.92 Arc aligning from the February 18, 2020 peak 2. The $370.30 Arc aligning from the March 23, 2020 bottom 3. The $364.04 Arc aligning from the March 20, 2000 peak We believe it is important to see how price reacts to the current potential peak setup after reaching the CYAN upward sloping price channel/line near these inflection points. If price fails to establish any support above the $379~380 price level on the SPY, then a technical failure will have set up likely prompting a moderately strong downside price trend in the near future. Gann Price/Time Arcs Applied to Current SPY Chart In the original article we warned that any failure of price above the support level of $379~380 may prompt a technical price failure. Currently, the SPY is trading near $397.40 and Treasury Yields have started to move higher, a warning that the markets may be under-pricing risks. Additionally, Gold and Silver continue to stay somewhat strong near recent support. Depending on how the markets interpret the FOMC outcome and perceive future risks, the current price level in the SPY is primed for our Gann price/time event. One key element of the following Monthly SPY chart is the current price rally, after the COVID-19 peak in February 2020, and the moderately flat movement of the RSI indicator (in the lower pane). This suggests divergence between the current price peak and the movement in the RSI indicator another component that suggests the Gann/Fibonacci price/time peak may be valid. Gann Price/Time Arcs Applied to Our Smart Cash Index If we search for evidence to help substantiate our original research using similar tools, we can see the Smart Cash Index, one of our proprietary custom index charts, also shares similar Gann price/time alignments. The Monthly Smart Cash Index chart, below, originates a Gann Arc at the 2009 lows and duplicates that Gann Arc originating at the 2016 lows (just like the charts above). We can see the current price activity, which has recently reached new all-time highs, also aligns with a Gann price/time Arc (highlighted by MEGENTA Lines near the right edge of the chart). If our analysis is accurate, these cross-symbol alignments in price and Gann Arcs may prompt a fairly big rotation in the markets related to unexpected risks. We cant be certain what will prompt this move in terms of news events, credit risks or other global events, bet we do know that a higher likelihood of this event taking place exists because historically the alignment of these Gann and Fibonacci price arcs have proven to generate broad market price inflection points. Be sure to sign up for our free market trend analysis and signals now so you dont miss our next special report! Take a look at this Custom Smart Index chart and where the Gann Arcs appeared in the past. Peaks in price happen near, within or just after these Gann Arcs on this chart with a high degree of predictability. Should we ignore the warning of an early April 2021 potential peak right now? My research team and I believe traders/investors should stay keenly aware of the risks ahead and watch for signs of any continued market weakness over the next 15+ days. Gann Price/Time Arcs Applied to Precious Metals This last Custom Precious Metals Index Monthly Chart, below, shares similar Gann price/time arcs although on this chart I used the low in late 2015 as the origination point and carried the Gann arcs out to the high in 2020. Then, I duplicated that arc and applied it to the low price in mid 2018 to see how it aligned with current price trends. Amazingly, the Gann arcs overlapped almost perfectly. What my team found interesting on this Custom Precious Metals chart was how the overlapping Gann arcs helped to define the contraction price ranges in price. Nearly every downward price trend on this chart aligns almost perfectly with the Gann price/time arch and the duplicated Gann arcs apply very nicely to the rally in metals from mid-2018 onward. Even the peak in 2020 and the recent lows in 2021 align perfectly with these Gann price/time arcs and suggest a recovery in precious metals is pending. The divergence in the RSI indicator, on the bottom pane, suggests this recent low is likely to end soon with a new upward price trend in precious metals. Ideally, we would watch for it to rally back above the current BLUE Gann price/time arc and attempt to move above the $480 level on this Custom Precious Metals Index chart. When metals are moving higher in this manner, it suggests the US major indexes and the US Dollar may be weaker overall. After a careful review of the original research article and the current chart setups/content, we still believe an early April 2021 peak may setup in the markets and may prompt a moderate downside price rotation. There are a number of elements that continue to drive some concern right now US Fed actions, Treasury Yields, Commodity Prices and the strength/weakness of the US Dollar. Even though we are not going to attempt to predict what may cause this moderate downside price event to begin to take place near early April 2021, we will suggest that it will likely be preceded by a rise in precious metals (as traders/investors attempt to shield themselves from risks) and/or a broader concern in the credit/debt markets which may prompt Treasuries and/or Repo rates to skyrocket. The rally in the markets above the CYAN line on the first two charts above suggests the markets have entered an excess/parabolic price phase a super-bull trend. It is very uncommon for any stock market to enter this type of price phase and stay in this mode for extended periods of time. Price normally reacts by entering pullback phases which shake out weaker positions, revalue price levels and allow the markets to attempt another bullish trend. We have not really seen a moderate pullback in the price trend since the COVID-19 collapse or the 2018/2019 price corrections. All the other recent pullbacks in this rally have been very brief price contractions. With the US Fed attempting to clear a path for further economic recovery and attempting to wash away market concerns, both active traders and longer-term investors should prepare for even more volatility and bigger price swings in any eventual outcome. If the markets do fail near our Gann arcs, then we may see a bigger downside move in the US major markets sometime after April 1, 2021. If they dont fail to break lower in April 2021, then the everything bubble will likely continue to rally higher. These are very exciting times for traders and investors! What we expect to see is not the same type of market trend that we have experienced over the past 8+ years this is a completely different set of market dynamics. Dont miss the opportunities in the broad market sectors in 2021, which will be an incredible year for traders of the BAN strategy. You can sign up now for my FREE webinar that teaches you how to find, enter, and profit from only those sectors that have the most strength and momentum. Staying ahead of sector trends is going to be key to success in volatile markets. For those who believe in the power of trading on relative strength, market cycles, and momentum but dont have the time to do the research every day then my BAN Trader Pro newsletter service does all the work for you with daily market reports, research, and trade alerts. More frequent or experienced traders have been killing it trading options, ETFs, and stocks using my BAN Hotlist ranking the hottest ETFs, which is updated daily for my premium subscribers. Happy trading! Chris Vermeulen www.TheTechnicalTraders.com Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better. His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility. He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect. Chris Vermeulen Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. BOISE - During a press conference Thursday, Governor Brad Little emphasized the need to direct the billions of dollars allocated for Idaho from the American Rescue Plan Act into long-range investments that will benefit "our grandchildren the generation that will have to pay off the massive federal debt". Little said he will work closely with the Legislature in allocating the funds and will spend time traveling the state to meet with legislators, business groups, and others on the best ways to strategically invest the funds. Little detailed his concerns with the massive federal spending bill but said rejecting the funds is not the right thing to do for Idaho. Rejecting the funds would mean California, New York, Illinois, and other big states get to spend Idahoans tax dollars. Rejecting the funds would mean Idaho gives up our say in how our allocated share gets spent. That is unacceptable. Therefore, Idaho will accept the allocation for our state, Governor Little said. Money the State of Idaho receive from the ARPA: $1.89 billion in discretionary funds $1.188 billion to the state for COVID response $126 million to the state for COVID capital projects $347 million for county governments and $229 million for city governments $981 million for direct programs ranging from K12 to childcare grants More than $2 billion in direct support to businesses and individuals, including stimulus checks and other economic support (PPP loans, support for restaurants and live venues) Little says Idaho should make long-range investments that will serve to better future generation chances and opportunities since they are burdened with paying off the debt. Little said Idaho will not create ongoing obligations that would be shifted to the General Fund once the federal funds run out. The use of the funds also should not impede our constitutional mandate to provide a long-term, structurally balanced budget for the people of Idaho, said Little. The funds should do the opposite, according to the governor, who says the funds should be used to lower the states capital and deferred maintenance costs in the years ahead. Little added that the funds also should not duplicate other federal programs where support is provided to specific industries or through specific programs. Unlike the federal CARES Act dollars Idaho received last year, which had to be spent in nine months, states have nearly four years to spend most of the new funds. However, some of the direct funds to agencies mostly for K-12 public education are legally required to be allocated within 30 to 60 days. Therefore, I have been actively working with legislators on a plan for them to take the required actions before adjourning, while setting up a process to make long-range investments with the remaining funds, Governor Little 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. Advertisement Ruth Davidson today claimed that if Nicola Sturgeon 'has a shred of integrity' she will 'consider her position' after more bombshell leaks from an inquiry accused her of misleading the Scottish Parliament over her handling of sexual harassment claims against Alex Salmond. Ms Davidson, the Scottish Conservative Holyrood leader, said Ms Sturgeon has 'every opportunity to do the right thing and resign'. Meanwhile, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also piled the pressure on the Scottish First Minister as he said there 'should be a resignation' if there is found to have been a breach of the ministerial code. 'The First Minister was absolutely clear in the foreword to the [ministerial] code that she would lead by example and therefore she would follow the letter and the spirit of the code,' he said. The interventions from Ms Davidson and Sir Keir came after it emerged a committee of MSPs said the First Minister's 'inaccurate' evidence to them amounted to a 'potential breach of the ministerial code', which is generally considered a resignation offence. In a further leak today it is claimed that the inquiry has also concluded it is 'hard to believe' Ms Sturgeon did not know of concerns about Mr Salmond's behaviour before November 2017. He was awarded more than 500,000 for the Scottish government's bungled handling of complaints against him, and later cleared at a trial. Ms Sturgeon brushed off the extraordinary committee conclusion last night, insisting she stood by 'all eight hours' of evidence she gave and accusing opposition members of playing politics. The SNP leader also appeared to lash herself to the separate report from James Hamilton QC on whether she broke the ministerial code - which is expected within days. Tory sources suggested the stress on that inquiry was an indication of rising 'desperation'. Polls have shown that a majority of Scots believe Ms Sturgeon should quit if she is found to have flouted the conduct rules, with the controversy also inflicting huge damage on support for her drive to split up the UK. Even if she fends off the resignation calls the row looks set to dominate the run-up to crucial elections in May. The Tories are set to turn up the heat by staging a vote of no confidence on Wednesday. Sections from the bombshell report - set to be officially released on Tuesday - have been leaked two weeks after Ms Sturgeon gave testimony about her role in the Scottish Government's botched investigation into Mr Salmond in 2018. Ms Sturgeon had insisted she did not offer to intervene in the complaints process against Mr Salmond during a meeting with him on April 2, 2018. Yet by a slim majority verdict of 5-4, the committee, which voted down party lines, said that this was in 'fundamental contradiction' to testimony from Mr Salmond. They say Mr Salmond's account was corroborated by his legal adviser, Duncan Hamilton QC, who told the inquiry that Ms Sturgeon said: 'If it comes to it, I will intervene.' The report concludes: 'Her [Ms Sturgeon's] written evidence is, therefore, an inaccurate account of what happened and she has misled the committee on this matter. This is a potential breach of the ministerial code'. Arriving at her home last night after the first leak emerged, Ms Sturgeon said she stood by her eight hours of testimony. She said: 'What's been clear is that opposition members of this committee made their minds up about me before I uttered a single word of evidence - their public comments make that clear. 'So this partisan leak tonight before they've finalised the tonight before they've finalised the report is not that surprising.' But Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has stepped up calls for her to resign, saying: 'We cannot set a precedent that a First Minister of Scotland can mislead the Scottish Parliament and get away with it. We have to trust that the First Minister will be truthful. We no longer can.' Ms Davidson added in a statement issued this afternoon: If Nicola Sturgeon has a shred of integrity, she should be considering her position. She has every opportunity to do the right thing and resign. Nicola Sturgeon (pictured during FMQs on Thursday) misled the Scottish Parliament over her handling of harassment claims against Alex Salmond, an inquiry has concluded A successful judicial review by Mr Salmond resulted in the investigation being ruled unlawful and 'tainted by apparent bias', with a 512,250 payout being awarded to him for legal fees An Opinium survey published before the news emerged last night found that 51 per cent of Scots believe Ms Sturgeon should resign if she is deemed to have broken the ministerial code, compared to 35 per cent who say she should stay in place SNP MSPs make up almost half of committee investigating Sturgeon SNP: Linda Fabiani (convener), Alasdair Allen, Stuart McMillan, Maureen Watt Conservative: Margaret Mitchell (deputy convener), Murdo Fraser Labour: Jackie Baillie Liberal Democrat: Alex Cole-Hamilton Green: Alison Johnstone Advertisement It seems MSPs did not go as far as to say Ms Sturgeon 'knowingly' broke the code, but the findings will put immense pressure on her position. Ms Sturgeon has claimed she was informed about a media inquiry relating to the then-First Minister's alleged behaviour towards female Edinburgh Airport staff in November 2017 and that was the first she had ever heard of any claims of inappropriate behaviour. But Sky News reported that the committee believes Ms Sturgeon should have acted upon any information about her predecessor's conduct. It also revealed the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints is 'concerned' about the meetings Ms Sturgeon had with Mr Salmond after he revealed he was being investigated, and why it took the First Minister more than two months to tell the head of Scotland's civil service what she knew. According to Sky News, the committee's findings state: 'The committee finds it hard to believe that the first minister had no knowledge of any concerns about inappropriate behaviour on the part of Alex Salmond before November 2017. 'If she did have such knowledge, then she should have acted upon it. If she did have such knowledge, she has misled the committee.' The MSPs reportedly add: 'She should have made the Permanent Secretary aware as soon as possible after the April 2 2018 meeting, at which point she should have confirmed she would cease contact with Alex Salmond.' Asked this morning if Ms Sturgeon should resign, SNP MP Drew Hendry again insisted that the Hamilton inquiry will be critical. He told BBC Radio 4: 'This leak is just another indication of how certain members have abused this process. 'The independent inquiry for James Hamilton QC and I think we should await the outcome of that inquiry before asking such questions. 'The very fact that the Tories have, since minute one, prejudged this inquiry - you heard Douglas Ross say that they've been saying this for weeks and weeks, before the evidence even came out, before they even heard from Nicola Sturgeon tells you everything you need to know about the way they've approach this committee process. 'I'm attacking the way this has been prejudged, it's almost unheard of to committees to be led in this way, for committees to be prejudging the situation, whether it's at Westminster or Hollyrood. 'It's indicative of the way this whole thing has been weaponised by the Tories as part of the process. 'This has not been conducted in any spirit of trying to get to the facts.' Pressed on whether Ms Sturgeon should resign if the independent James Hamilton inquiry finds her to have broken the ministerial code, Mr Hendry said: 'I'm not going to prejudge it. I'm not going to do what the Tories have done. 'I'm sure Nicola Sturgeon when she gets the details of that inquiry, which is due very soon, will be able answer any questions on that as they come up. 'It's for her to take the deliberations on board and make whatever decision she feels as appropriate.' He added: 'She's sometimes not got everything absolutely right, and she's been honest about that as well, but she's also been clear with the evidence that she's given. 'So let's wait for James Hamilton and let's wait for the public.' SNP MSPs account for almost half of the nine-strong committee. They are four in number, while the Conservatives have two, and Labour, the Lib Dems, and Greens just one, broadly reflecting the total number of Holyrood MSPs. Ms Sturgeon submitted written evidence to the Holyrood Inquiry as well as a gruelling eight-hour oral testimony earlier this month. The Holyrood Inquiry was tasked with investigating the Scottish Government's bungled handling of sexual harassment complaints made against the former first minister. A successful judicial review by Mr Salmond resulted in the investigation being ruled unlawful and 'tainted by apparent bias', with a 512,250 payout being awarded to him for legal fees. Mr Salmond was also later acquitted of 13 charges following a criminal trial. Ms Sturgeon is also awaiting a report from James Hamilton QC, who will rule specifically on whether she broke the ministerial code. Critics accuse her of breaking the code by misleading Parliament on when she first learnt of allegations against Mr Salmond. Ms Sturgeon previously claimed to have learnt about the allegations when Mr Salmond informed her at her home on April 2, 2018. It later emerged she had had a meeting with Mr Salmond's former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein, on March 29 in her office. Ms Sturgeon claimed to have 'forgot' this meeting and later explained she thought they were talking about harassment in 'general terms'. She is also accused of failing to record crucial meetings, and pursuing the case against Mr Salmond despite lawyers telling her to drop it. An Opinium survey published before the news emerged last night found that 51 per cent of Scots believe Ms Sturgeon should resign if she is deemed to have broken the ministerial code, compared to 35 per cent who say she should stay in place. But the research, carried out on March 11, exposed a deep political divide, with 62 per cent of SNP voters thinking she should keep her job. Ms Sturgeon gave evidence for eight hours about the Scottish Government's botched investigation into Mr Salmond in 2018 Ruth Davidson today also accused Ms Sturgeon of attempting a 'cover-up' after new evidence emerged of warnings it could look 'shifty' if information continued to be withheld during Mr Salmond's legal challenge Allegations, discussions, denials and a 'forgotten' key meeting between Sturgeon and Salmond November 2017: Allegations regarding Alex Salmond's behaviour are raised with the SNP by Sky News. Nicola Sturgeon said she spoke to him about this and he 'denied it'. No further action was taken. March 29, 2018: Ms Sturgeon meets Geoff Aberdein - Mr Salmon's chief of staff - in her Scottish parliament office where she has admitted they discussed the possibility of a meeting with Mr Salmond. Ms Sturgeon after initially forgetting about this meeting says there was 'the suggestion that the matter might relate to allegations of a sexual nature'. April 2, 2018: Ms Sturgeon and Mr Salmond meet at the First Minister's home. According to Ms Sturgeon, this is the first time she heard of the complaints made against him. Despite this, she has insisted that the matters discussed were party business. No minutes were taken at the meeting. What she previously said: On January 8, 2019, Ms Sturgeon tells the Scottish Parliament she 'first heard' about sexual harassment allegations against Mr Salmond on April 2. In 2018, Andrew Marr asked Ms Sturgeon: 'Had you heard any stories about him before it broke in the press?' She responded: 'Obviously, absolutely not. Until, well I've said previously Alex Salmond informed me about these complaints in April, that was the first I had known.' And what she later said : In 2020, giving written evidence to the Holyrood into her government's handling of complaints against Mr Salmond, she said she 'forgot' about the March 29 meeting until 'late January/early February' 2019. She wrote: 'From what I recall, the discussion covered the fact that Alex Salmond wanted to see me urgently about a serious matter, and I think it did cover the suggestion that the matter might relate to allegations of a sexual nature.' September 14, 2018: A judicial review is launched after complaints by Mr Salmond over the fairness with how the claims against him were handled. January 8, 2019: The Scottish government conceded defeat in the judicial review a week before it was due to launch. Mr Salmond wins 500,000 in legal fees. The court ruled the probe into Mr Salmond had been unlawful and tainted by apparent bias. January 2019: Ms Sturgeon tells MSPs that Mr Salmond first told her about a probe into him on April 2. March 23, 2020: Alex Salmond is cleared of all sexual assault charges and his supporters demanded a full inquiry into the Scottish Government's handling of the scandal. October 7, 2020: Ms Sturgeon claims she 'forgot' about March 29, 2018, meeting with Mr Aberdein. January 24, 2021: Speaking on the Andrew Marr show, Ms Sturgeon denies misleading the Scottish Parliament after 'forgetting' to tell MSPs about her meeting with Mr Salmond's aide on March 29, 2018. February 2021: The High Court in Edinburgh rules Mr Salmond's evidence claiming his former chief of staff met with Ms Sturgeon on March 28, 2018, to discuss sexual assault allegations against the former first minister can be released. Advertisement Pressure has been mounting on Ms Sturgeon in the wake of her testimony before the inquiry. This week Tory MP David Davis used parliamentary privilege to reveal explosive messages which suggest Ms Sturgeon's chief of staff, Liz Lloyd, was 'interfering' in the complaints process over the Salmond case. According to Mr Davis, the messages disclosed by a whistleblower 'demands serious investigation'. The message is alleged to have been sent by Judith Mackinnon to the Government's communications director on February 6 2018, almost two months before the First Minister claims to have first known about the investigation of her predecessor. Ruth Davidson today also accused Ms Sturgeon of attempting a 'cover-up' after new evidence emerged of warnings it could look 'shifty' if information continued to be withheld during Mr Salmond's legal challenge. The Tories' Holyrood leader asked Ms Sturgeon at First Minister's Questions about an email exchange in which the Government was told not disclosing ultimately-damning evidence of prior contact could be 'portrayed as a failed attempt at a cover-up'. According to the note released this week by the Government, external counsel argued it would be 'better, more credible and less shifty-looking' to adjust its defence against Mr Salmond's legal challenge over the Government's handling of sexual harassment complaints made against him. The First Minister has so far refused to preempt speculation of her future and said her priority is dealing with Covid. In his testimony, Mr Salmond - once a mentor and close friend of Miss Sturgeon - accused his successor and senior SNP figures of orchestrating a concerted plot to bring him down. Ms Sturgeon has denied this and insisted she was never out to 'get' Mr Salmond. She told MSPs at the inquiry: 'I feel I may rebut the absurd suggestion that anyone acted with malice or as part of a plot against Alex Salmond. That claim is not based in any fact.' 'Alex Salmond was one of the the closest people to me in my life - I would never have wanted to get Alex Salmond. I had no motive intention or desire to get Alex.' The row at the heart of the SNP has reached a crescendo with just months to go before crucial Holyrood elections. Ms Sturgeon is hoping to win a majority to give her a mandate to demand another independence referendum. But while recent polling shows the SNP clearly out in front, the odds of her forming a majority government hang in the balance. Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said: 'The Committee will publish its findings in the coming days and we will wait for that report. But we have already detailed that Nicola Sturgeon lied to the Scottish Parliament and for that, she must resign. All we're waiting for is confirmation.' Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: 'I am not going to prejudge the outcome of the committee report and we await its findings, but if it does conclude that the First Minister has misled Parliament and potentially breached the ministerial code then that is incredibly serious.' A spokesman for Ms Sturgeon said: 'The First Minister told the truth to the committee in eight hours of evidence, and stands by that evidence. 'It is clear from past public statements that opposition members of this committee had prejudged the First Minister at the outset of the inquiry and before hearing a word of her evidence, so this partisan and selective briefing - before the committee has actually published its final report - is hardly surprising. 'The question of the First Minister's adherence to the ministerial code is being considered independently by James Hamilton and we expect to receive and publish his report soon.' A Scottish Parliament spokeswoman said the committee is still considering its report. It is expected to be published in the coming days. Blow by blow, how Nicola Sturgeon's eight-hour evidence before the Salmond inquiry unfolded Earlier this month, Nicola Sturgeon faced eight hours of brutal testimony before the committee investigating the Scottish Government's botched handling of harassment complaints against Alex Salmond. A lively session at Holyrood saw the First Minister fend off questions from MSPs with varying degrees of success. Here, MailOnline looks back on the key flashpoints from the hearing in the wake of the inquiry concluding she misled Parliament. Sturgeon dismisses Salmond's claim of a plot Ms Sturgeon used her opening statement to rubbish Mr Salmond's claims of a concerted conspiracy to bring him down and remove him from public life. She rubbished the 'absurd suggestion that anyone acted with malice or as part of a plot against Alex Salmond'. She said 'that claim is not based in any fact' and she had 'no motive, intention or desire' to 'get' her predecessor. The inquiry into Mr Salmond was launched after a number of women came forward with allegations of sexual harassment. Sturgeon fights for her career: Key quotes at the Holyrood inquiry On Alex Salmond's claims of a conspiracy to bring him down: 'I feel I may rebut the absurd suggestion that anyone acted with malice or as part of a plot against Alex Salmond. That claim is not based in any fact.' 'Alex Salmond was one of the the closest people to me in my life - I would never have wanted to get Alex Salmond. I had no motive intention or desire to get Alex .' On Alex Salmond's inappropriate behaviour: 'That he was acquitted by a jury of criminal conduct is beyond question. But I know, just from what he told me, that his behaviour was not always appropriate. 'And yet across six hours of testimony, there was not a single word of regret, reflection or a simple acknowledgment of that. I can only hope in private the reality might be different.' On the meeting at her home on March 29, 2018: The meeting 'did indicate a harassment-type issue had arisen, but my recollection is he [Salmond's chief of staff] did so in general terms.' On the meeting at her home on April 2, 2018: 'It was the detail of the complaints under the procedure that I was given on April 2 that was significant and indeed shocking'. On Mr Salmond telling her about the allegations against him: 'A moment in my life that I will never forget' On the prospect of allegations concerning Mr Salmond being made public: 'The thought of this becoming public, and I would have to comment on it, horrified me. Absolutely horrified me. It made me feel physically sick.' On the handling of complaints against Mr Salmond 'I am deeply regretful, deeply angry and will always feel incredibly bad for, principally, the two women who were let down, and the wider implications in terms of the cost to the taxpayer.' On claims the Scottish Goverment 'delayed, obstructed, obfuscated' the progress of the Holyrood Inquiry: 'I would not accept the characterisation.' On serving as deputy first minister under Mr Salmond 'He was a tough guy to work for. If he was displeased with you, you knew about it.' On a member of her staff leaking the name of one of the complainants to Mr Salmond's former chief of staff. 'I am not accepting that that happened, therefore I am clearly not accepting that was authorised' Advertisement Ms Sturgeon told MSPs the idea that those involved were 'concocting' allegations was false, and they came forward of 'their own free will'. But a successful judicial review by Mr Salmond resulted in the investigation being ruled unlawful and 'tainted by apparent bias', with a 512,250 payout being awarded to him for legal fees. Mr Salmond was later acquitted of 13 charges following a criminal trial. The Holyrood Inquiry instead puts the spotlight on Ms Sturgeon and her Government's handling of the harassment complaints. Indeed, at points the committee convener ticked off Ms Sturgeon for shifting the focus on to Mr Salmond, saying: 'He's not under trial, your actions are.' MSPs demand Sturgeon provides critical evidence Ms Sturgeon came under mounting pressure to produce evidence relating to the investigation into Mr Salmond. Labour's Jackie Baillie launched a blistering take-down of her failure to provide critical records of meetings and asked why no senior Government figures had resigned for the botched 2018 investigation into Mr Salmond. Ms Sturgeon has also been accused of a cover-up by Scottish Tories, who are forcing a vote of no confidence over claims she broke the ministerial code by misleading Parliament. Ms Baillie said: 'I don't think I have felt quite so frustrated in my 22 years of being on parliamentary committees as with this one,' she said. 'We have waited for information from the Scottish Government, the stuff we have received has been partial and late. 'The legal advice has taken two votes in Parliament and a motion of no confidence in John Swinney before we saw it last night at six o'clock. And there is information missing.' Ms Baillie added: 'We have waited till the 11th hour for the legal advice, we get partial legal advice.' She asked Ms Sturgeon: 'Do you understand the frustration of the committee? Do you understand that it looks as though the Government doesn't want to give us critical information?' Committee deputy convener also said Margaret Mitchell said that that it had 'faced delay, obstruction, obfuscation' from the Government in its requests for evidence, and said some documents remained outstanding. Ms Sturgeon replied: 'I would not accept the characterisation.' Sturgeon says probe into Salmond 'right thing to do' The First Minister said she 'deeply regretted' how the investigation into Mr Salmond was handled but stood by the decision that a probe was necessary. She added that the complaint procedures used to investigate Mr Salmond were drawn up in late 2017, in the wake of the MeToo movement, and were drafted by civil servants, not her. She said: 'The Scottish Government despite the mistake it undoubtedly made, tried to do the right thing. 'As First Minister I refused to let the age old pattern of allowing a powerful man to use his status and connections to get what he wants.' But she added: 'That is not the same thing as saying I wanted this to be in the public domain. 'The thought of this becoming public, and I would have to comment on it, horrified me. Absolutely horrified me. It made me feel physically sick. 'I would have been very relieved if it had never come out into the public domain. 'I had nothing to gain from it and only a lot of pain and grief associated with it.' Sturgeon hits back at claims she broke ministerial code The Scottish Conservative group in Holyrood accuses the First Minister of breaking the ministerial code on three counts. First, she misled Parliament on when she first learned of the allegations; she previously claimed April 2, but Mr Salmond says March 29. Second, Ms Sturgeon failed to record the meetings she had with Mr Salmond concerning the allegations. Third, Ms Sturgeon pressed ahead with the investigation against Mr Salmond despite being warned by her lawyers they would lose the case. Ms Sturgeon said that she was 'relieved' to be appearing before the inquiry to lay out her side of the story. She recalled harassment claims arising on March 29 during a meeting with Mr Aberdein, but said it was spoken about in a non-specific sense - and that she only realised it was in relation to Mr Salmond during a meeting with him on April 2. Describing the April 2 meeting in her home with Mr Salmond, she said while he denied the complaints against him he gave his account of the incident which 'he said he had apologised for at the time'. Ms Sturgeon told MSPs: 'What he described constituted in my view deeply inappropriate behaviour on his part, perhaps a reason why that moment is embedded so strongly in my mind.' She said she did not 'immediately record the April 2 meeting' as she did not want it to become public and risk 'breaching the confidentiality of the process'. She added she had no intention of intervening in the investigation process and did not intervene, saying to do so would have been an abuse of her role. Addressing the judicial review, Ms Sturgeon said there was strong prospects of defending the challenge and as late as December 11, 2018, the advice given was it was 'very clear there was no need to drop the case'. She said she followed the advice of law officers so did not breach the ministerial code, as has been claimed. Labour's Jackie Baillie launched a blistering take-down of her failure to provide critical records of meetings and asked why no senior Government figures had resigned for the botched 2018 investigation into Mr Salmond Withering assessment of Salmond's testimony In her evidence the First Minister said she felt 'sad' she had come to blows with her old political mentor, which has ripped to the heart of the SNP ahead of May's Holyrood elections. She told MSPs: 'In all the legitimate considerations of this, sometimes the human elements of this situation are lost. Alex spoke on Friday about what a nightmare the last couple of years have been for him, and I don't doubt that. 'I have thought often about the impact on him. He was someone I cared about for a long time.' However, she called into question the former first minister's character for not recognising his inappropriate behaviour during his own appearance last Friday. Ms Sturgeon said: 'I found myself searching for any sign that he recognised how difficult this has been for others too. First and foremost to the woman who believed his behaviour to be inappropriate. 'But also to those who had campaigned with him, worked with him, cared for him and considered him a friend and now stand, unfairly accused of plotting against him. 'That he was acquitted by a jury of criminal conduct is beyond question. But I know, just from what he told me, that his behaviour was not always appropriate. 'And yet across six hours of testimony, there was not a single word of regret, reflection or a simple acknowledgment of that. I can only hope in private the reality might be different.' Ms Sturgeon, 50, served for seven years as Mr Salmond's deputy before succeeding him as first minister in 2014. She told MSPs that he 'was a tough guy to work with' and on occasions told him he had crossed a line with his behaviour. Their close relationship and strive for Scottish independence over many years also manifested in a close relationship between their staff. Claims Sturgeon's staff leaked identity of complainer to Salmond's ally Ms Sturgeon said she regarded Mr Aberdein as a friend, but denied claims that one of her staffers had revealed the identity of one of the female accusers to him. Labour's Jackie Baillie pressed the First Minister on the claims and called it an 'extraordinary breach of confidentiality' and, if proven, a 'sackable offence'. But Ms Sturgeon said: 'I am not accepting that that happened, therefore I am clearly not accepting that was authorised.' The First Minister accepted this was a 'matter of contention'. She added: 'Certainly in relation to one of the complainants Alex Salmond was pretty clear he had found out through investigations of Scottish Government social media accounts he had found out who that was. 'And in relation to the other one, and this is the bit I am perhaps speculating on, it must have been the case when he got that letter, because he knew about the incident because he had apologised to the person. 'So my assumption would be that he would have known that without anybody having to tell him. And I know from what he told me he found out the identity of the other one through his own investigations.' A statement from Mr Salmond's spokesperson released as Mr Sturgeon was giving evidence said: 'Mr Salmond has lodged a formal complaint with the permanent secretary to the Scottish Government under the civil service code, on the conduct of the official who is alleged to have breached civil service rules, by disclosing the name of a complainant in the Scottish Government process.' Claims Sturgeon's staff leaked to Daily Record to bury bad press about her Further scrutiny focused on a leak to the Daily Record newspaper that that revealed details of the complaints against Mr Salmond. Ms Sturgeon said: 'I can tell you they didn't come from me, or anyone acting on my instruction or request.' And she said she had no knowledge of claims conveyed by Ms Baillie that the Daily Record was leaked the information to spike an upcoming story on Ms Sturgeon. 'That is a new part of the conspiracy I'm hearing for the first time,' Ms Sturgeon said. Ms Sturgeon was also confronted by Tory MSP Margaret Mitchell about her knowledge of 30 sexual harassment claims against five SNP ministers over the course of 10 years. Responding after Ms Mitchell described the complaints, Ms Sturgeon said: 'Forgive me, I don't know exactly what you're referring to in terms of five SNP ministers.' For an outsider with no particular emotional involvement, the confirmation hearings of Brett Kavanaugh, nominated to the United States Supreme Court, were an absorbing gladiatorial soap operaa well-written soap opera, insofar as it contained so many subplots and suggested so many irresolvable practical and moral ambiguities. For those inclined to political philosophy, the hearings also raised questions about the separation of powers in a polity in which sharply divided, deeply partisan politicians appoint judges. During my career as a psychiatrist, I had prepared many court reports in both criminal and civil cases, and I could not help but regard the hearings as a civil action: Blasey Ford v. Kavanaugh. Ah, how I should love to have been retained to produce reports on one or the other, or on both, of the principals! The hearings were not a trial in the strictest sense, being more of a public job interview (as we often heard them described). All the same, they resembled a trial in some respectsa trial with distinctly Kafkaesque, or even Alice in Wonderlandlike, qualities. Almost all of the senatorsthe judges in this casehad clearly made up their minds beforehand, without reference to the evidence. They appeared strictly to adhere to the glorious juridical principle Sentence firstverdict afterward! The hearings were, in effect, an elaborate political charade. Was it certain that, if the allegations against Kavanaugh were true, they would or should automatically disqualify him from the position, assuming that no other true allegations against him emerged? My wife, once a feminist, thought not: an isolated indiscretionor even a crimeat the age of 17, such as Kavanaugh had allegedly committed, should not be held against him forever. But if such an allegation, if true, did disqualify him, what was the standard of proof needed to substantiate it? Beyond reasonable doubt? On the balance of probabilities? On the merest whiff of suspicion, on the assumption that there is often no smoke without fire? These questions were left unanswered because they went unasked. What was obvious was the polarization of opinion, not only among the de facto judges but, perhaps to an even greater extent, among the general public, in which there appeared to be an alarming number of Mesdames Defarges doing their knitting at the base of the scaffold. Most sinister was the call to believe the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford ex officio, just because she was a woman and self-proclaimed victim. The jurisprudential consequences of believing people merely because of the category into which they fall are obvious; but the radical feminists failed also to notice how auto-dehumanizing and demeaning to their own sex was the demand to believe a woman qua woman, inasmuch as the capacity to lie, dissemble, exaggerate, fantasize, and remember wrongly is inseparable from being fully human. And in the hearings, before Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh made their statements, the women disrupting the proceedings by screaming brought to mind Andrei Vyshinsky and Roland Freisler at slightly higher vocal pitch. Due process, or process of any kind other than denunciation, seemed to have no role in their conception of justice. Curiously, the two sides claimed that the same facts lent support to their cause. Thus, Blasey Fords inability to recall so much of what had happened on the night in question, when Kavanaugh purportedly assaulted her, was taken by her supporters as evidence of her truthfulness and probity, inasmuch as she did not pretend to remember what she had forgotten, and fill in the gaps with lurid concoction. I couldnt help but recall a passage from the trial scene in Alice in Wonderland, in which the king acts as judge and Alice as a witness: What do you know about this business? the King said to Alice. Nothing, said Alice. Nothing whatever? persisted the King. Nothing whatever, said Alice. Thats very important, the King said, turning to the jury. They were just beginning to write this down on their slates, when the White Rabbit interrupted: Unimportant, your Majesty means, of course, he said in a very respectful tone, but frowning and making faces at him as he spoke. Unimportant, of course, I meant, the King hastily said, and went on to himself in an undertone, importantunimportant unimportantimportant as if he were trying which word sounded best. Some of the jury wrote it down important, and some unimportant. My impression of Blasey Ford was that she was not simply and straightforwardly a liar. Impressions are important, which is why witnesses in trials must appear in person wherever possible: for the judge and jury must not only know what a witness has to say but also be able to see and hear how he says it. Impressions by themselves are not evidence, however; they may mislead, and I have known personsto whom one would have entrusted ones life, so honest did they appearwho have nonetheless lied through their teeth; I have also known the shiftiest of characters to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. I wish I could say, with Gwendolyn in The Importance of Being Earnest, that my first impressions of people were never wrong, but after a lifetime of interviewing victims, perpetrators, plaintiffs, defendants, witnesses, lawyers, and others, I regret to report that my first impressions are as frequently mistaken as anyone elses, and almost as often as when I started out in life. Against Blasey Ford it was sometimes argued that, since she emerged from Palo Alto University, an intellectual, cultural, and emotional environment that sacralizes victimization in its belief in the overwhelming importance of sexual harassment and abuse, and where the cause of militant feminism is deemed more important than truth itself, one may presume that she had an ax to grind. That she revealed nothing of the alleged assault to anyone for so many years was also held against her. Her presumed ulterior motive and her delay in coming forward supposedly cast doubt on the trustworthiness of her testimony. I think that this is in error. I remember a case in which a 72-year-old man was accused by his sister of sexual abuse more than a half-century earlier. It was clear to me that her motive in making accusations so late in the day was to get hold of his life savings; and she alleged many consequences of his abuse that were either implausible or unprovable, the better to inflate her claims. Nevertheless, as the man eventually admitted, her account of the abuse was essentially true. The ulterior motive of an allegation does not by itself disprove it. Yet aspects of Blasey Fords case were disturbing. I have spoken to numerous plaintiffs who alleged that some traumatic experience affected their ability to leave the house, travel far, and so on: and yet, when I examined their medical notes, I discovered, for example, that they had been immunized as a preliminary to going on holiday, often on their own, to places such as Brazil or South Africanot the first destinations of the nervous. Of course, I have also seen people who seemed genuinely to have been frightened into a kind of agoraphobia: for example, a middle-aged woman, who, as a shop worker, was nearly strangled to death by one of three young thieves, the other two, analogous to Blasey Fords purported experience, laughing the while. One would hardly have to be a psychologist, only a human being, to understand why my patient ventured out of her home as infrequently as possible afterward, and why she did not return to serving in the shopall the more so because the criminal-justice system failed utterly, in its now-customary fashion, to take the crime seriously, even though (for once) the perpetrator was apprehended. No doubt, a continuum exists between these two typesbetween, that is, those whose alleged symptoms are inconsistent and not clearly related to the alleged cause, and those whose symptoms are consistent and obviously the consequence of what they have endured. Nature does not slice populations into neat categories for us, and there must be intermediate cases. But Blasey Fords supposed fear of flying, which delayed her testimony, clearly resembles the first scenario more than the second. Because of the human minds capacity to believe six impossible things before breakfastagain, Alice, this time in Through the Looking Glass, illuminates the caseBlasey Ford may genuinely believe that she suffers from fear of flying, when actually what she feared more was her disagreeable destination: speaking before the Senate. In any proper investigation of her case, if she were engaged on a civil suit, her life history would need to be investigated in far greater detail than was possible for the Senate hearings to do. People often ascribe long-term consequences to traumatic eventsespecially those about which they are litigatingby forgetting or downplaying other things that have happened to them. They seek coherence and meaning in their lives; and their memories, or what they think are their memories, often serve the search for meaning. This is all the more the case when some advantage accrues to attributing effects to causes, and the supposed causative link grows stronger as the supposed cause is rehearsed over and over in the mind. Blasey Fords further claim of a link between installing a double front door to her hometo help keep her safeand the alleged assault that took place decades earlier could not be taken at face value and, indeed, didnt even meet a loose criterion of plausibility. Had nothing happened to her in the intervening period to cause her anxiety? Was she chronically nervous, even before Kavanaughs alleged attack? She herself saidon this occasion, plausiblythat recalling the incident made her feel worse. The magnitude of whatever happenedif anything did happenmay have grown with the recollection of it. This being so, psychotherapy might easily have made her worse and could even be the proximate cause of her installing double doors, surely a highly irrational thing to have done. It is not unknown for psychotherapists to put ideas into peoples heads and provoke all kinds of symptoms that they did not have before. Identification evidence is never, or at least ought never to be, sufficient to convict anyone of anything. He lies like an eyewitness, goes an old Russian saying, and misidentification is common in both directions. Victims sometimes fail to recognize their assailant and sometimes recognize someone as their assailant who was not. This does not mean that identification is never of any value, or that no one ever recognizes an assailant correctly, but in Blasey Fords case, her identification of Kavanaugh was the only evidence against him; such corroborative evidence as she claimed was refuted. The vagaries of her memory also struck me as suspect. They were a mirror image of the vagaries of the memories of many murderers whom I have examined. These murderers remember everything with great clarity until moments before they kill: And the next thing I knew, doctor, was that she was lying there, not breathing. As Louis Althusser, the French Marxist philosopher who killed his wife, wrote in his memoir (for once in his life, doing so succinctly), Jai etrangle Helene! After these murderers discover the dead body, their memory soon returns to normal: they remember perfectly putting the body into the car afterward, or whatever it is that they did with it. Different theories have arisen as to the cause of this type of circumscribed amnesia. One is that it is dissimulation, plain and simple; another is that the level of arousal at the time is so great that memories cannot be made in the brain. Perpetrators often suppose that amnesia for the events in question lessens their moral, and even legal, responsibility; but strangely, they often also claim to recover their memories when it comes time for parole, acknowledgment of their crime being a precondition of the granting of parole. But by then, it is possible that what they have been told or read about their actions may appear to them indistinguishable from memory. Or they might have been lying from the first. With Blasey Ford, the memory loss is the reverse. She can remember the traumatic events, but almost nothing of the circumstances in which they took place. The events were like a terrifying flash of lightning in a darkened landscape. I have examined many people who have had traumatic experiences, many worse than hers, in fact, and have never encountered this pattern of amnesia, whichwhether it explains her particular case or notwould be a convenient one for an accuser lacking corroboratory evidence. A colleague of mine, of much greater experience than I, has not encountered this pattern of amnesia, either. This is not to say that it is impossibleno one has experience of everything, and there is more in heaven and earth than is dreamed of in anyones philosophybut, in my estimation, it makes it less likely to be real in any straightforward way. The phenomenon of islands or islets of memory exists, of coursefor example, in states of intoxication and, indeed, in normal recollection. People who can remember everything are few and not especially fortunate. But islands or islets of memory do not usually arrange themselves so conveniently, in such a way as to promote or refute a case. Blasey Ford says that she was not intoxicated, having had a beer or twocertainly not enough to cause amnesia. Even the amnesia that inevitably comes with the passage of time is not so cooperative with our later needs. Assuming that Blasey Ford believed what she was saying, it is most likely, in my view, that, without realizing it, she was mistaking the content of her mind for memory. It is easily done, and most of us do it at some time or other. Yet I did not find Brett Kavanaugh to be quite as impressive as many did who sided with him, and who (it seemed) were determined to find him impressive, come what might. My first objection to his performance was almost an aesthetic one. I thought his reference to his ten-year-old daughter who supposedly prayed for Blasey Ford was, at best, in bad taste, being a kind of religious kitschactually religiose rather than religious; and, at worst, emotionally exploitative of a child, like having a child at a political rally with a banner calling for something or other that the child cannot possibly understand. Children should not be instrumentalized in this way. Kavanaughs anger, however justified on the assumption of his innocence, was unjudicial. After his outburst against them, could he expect Democrats (who, after all, were more numerous than Republicans in the last election) to have faith in his future impartiality toward them? In fact, I believe a man of his standing and ability is fully capable of recovering his equilibrium, but I would not be surprised if others did not share my faith. Of course, he was in an extremely difficult position, and if he had reacted coolly, he might have been accused of arrogance, disdain, condescension, or intellectual hauteur. But if he had been calm and collected, rather than angry and rancorous, is it likely that those who ultimately voted to confirm him would not have done so? Besides, a judge ought to act judicially, however it plays with an audience, and if he loses his advancement or preferment in doing so, so be it. If I were preparing a medical report, I would have wanted to go more deeply into his history of drinking. On his own admission, he did things when young that make him cringe todayas I suppose most of us did. But he was known as a heavy drinker, and Blasey Ford said that he was very drunk at the material time. Did he suffer from alcoholic blackoutssomething he deniedand, if so, how frequently? In youths who drink heavily, these are common. In Britain, where excessive drinking by the young thankfully seems to be declining, I often used to hear them extol the glorious time they had had the night before, because they could remember nothing about it. I had a number of patients, accused of criminal acts committed while drunk, who denied doing them, though they could remember nothing of the time in question. They said that they did not do them because they were the kind of thing that they did not do: but that was to assume an answer to the very question being asked. This is not to say that Kavanaugh had such blackouts, but if proper questioning or investigation showed that he did, it would reduce the force or evidential value of his categorical denials. Still, Kavanaugh was in the impossible position of trying to prove a negative, when the only way of doing so would have been to establish conclusively that he spent the entire period in, say, the Amazon jungle. The allegations against him did not meet the civil, much less the criminal, standard of proof; and if everyone seeking high office had to prove his innocence beyond reasonable doubt of any accusation leveled by anyone against him, we should soon have no holders, or even seekers, of high office. So what, if any, are the lessons of this sordidif, for an outsider, salaciously absorbingbusiness? First, that we live in curious times, in which unbridled licentiousness and fanatical censoriousness coexist in a dialectical relationship of what one might call hostile dependence. Second, it has revealed to what extent we now think tribally, confirmation bias being our main method of reaching conclusions. Third, that if we continue down the path that the Kavanaugh hearings opened up, it will not be the unexamined life alone that will not be worth living, but the examined one, also. Top Photo: Kavanaughs anger, however justified on the assumption of his innocence, was unjudicial; still, he was in the impossible position of trying to prove a negative. (MELINA MARA/THE WASHINGTON POST/AP PHOTO) President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Asian-American in the role, met with Asian-American leaders in Atlanta on Friday afternoon after a shooting rampage at Asian massage businesses left eight people dead this week. Theyve been attacked blamed scapegoated and harassed, Mr. Biden lamented in remarks after the meeting, condemning the escalating violence against Asian-Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. Theyve been verbally assaulted, physically assaulted, killed. Its been a year of living in fear for their lives. Those who met with the president and vice president included Atlantas mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, state lawmakers and the heads of several Asian-American social justice groups and nonprofit organizations. Ms. Harris posted on Twitter after the meeting: We want Asian Americans in Georgia and across our nation to know: We wont be silent. We wont standby. We will always speak out against violence. Chicago has cut off supply of the COVID-19 vaccine to a hospital that let 72 Trump hotel workers skip the line thanks to a hospital boss who lives in a $2.7 million condo in the building, as it emerges shots were also given to judges and a plus-one of their choice. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Thursday the city is withholding first doses from The Loretto Hospital on the West Side as she slammed the facility for allowing 'well-connected individuals to jump the line' ahead of vulnerable people in the predominantly black and brown community the hospital serves. The announcement came just hours after the hospital was forced to admit for a second time this week that it had given some of the city's limited doses to people not yet eligible, claiming staff made 'mistakes' over which groups are now on the priority list. An email obtained by WBEZ showed that 13 Cook County Circuit Court judges were given the opportunity to get the vaccine at the hospital back on March 8 together with a spouse or person of their choice. It is not clear how many took up the offer. This emerged days after the provider confessed it had vaccinated 72 workers at the Trump Tower in downtown Chicago, despite hospitality staff also not being eligible for another three weeks and the hotel not being in the same area as the hospital. Dr. Anosh Ahmed, the COO of Loretto Hospital, lives in the tower in a $2.7 million condominium on the 43rd floor and is said to have bragged that he vaccinated Eric Trump, 37, and sent a photo around of the two men together. News of the line-jumping has sparked outrage from city officials with doses now being withheld from the hospital next week while a review is underway. While the actions of the hospital have been condemned, a state lawmaker warned that the city's punishment may harm most the vulnerable residents waiting for their turn to get the vaccine. The Loretto has administered more than 14,000 vaccines to date, with 65 percent going to people of color, the hospital said. Chicago has cut off supply of the COVID-19 vaccine to a hospital that let 72 Trump hotel workers skip the line thanks to a hospital boss who lives in a $2.7 million condo in the building. Pictured Eric Trump with Dr. Anosh Ahme 'As I said yesterday, our City will not tolerate providers who blatantly disregard the Chicago Department of Public Health's distribution guidelines for the COVID-19 vaccine,' Lightfoot said in a statement Thursday. 'This life saving vaccine is a precious, but limited resource and one that must be preserved to do the most good. Since day one of this virus, Chicago's vaccination plan has been focused around equity and reaching those who need this life-saving treatment the most. 'Unfortunately, in recent days, stories have surfaced alleging providers who had an obligation to follow CDPH guidelines, ignored those restrictions and instead allowed well-connected individuals to jump the line to receive the vaccine instead of using it to service people who were more in need.' Lightfoot threatened to take a similarly strict stance with any other providers also found to have broken the rules and bumped ineligible people to the front of the line. 'CDPH is looking into these matters and if they identify providers who aren't following the guidance, they will deny them future allocations of vaccine,' she said. The mayor insisted residents will not be 'left in the lurch' but did not go into detail about the potential ramifications the ban will have on innocent residents who already have appointments booked at the hospital. 'If we are compelled to take action against any such providers, we will always make sure that residents are not left in the lurch and their needs are met. But to be clear, we have and will continue to demand accountability.' The city said Loretto can still give second and final doses of the vaccine to people who received their first shot there. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (above) announced Thursday the city is withholding first doses from The Loretto Hospital on the West Side as she slammed the facility for allowing 'well-connected individuals to jump the line' ahead of vulnerable people in the community It is not clear what impact the withholding of doses will now have on residents that were relying on the hospital to get their first doses or whether the hospital has canceled vaccine appointments for next week. It is also not clear what the city plans to do with the supply it had allocated to the hospital. While it is possible residents with appointments already booked may be redirected to other facilities, there are concerns the punishment leveled at the hospital and its staff may also harm innocent, vulnerable residents by delaying the administration of the vaccine. Loretto did not respond to DailyMail.com's questions for additional information. On a press call Friday, Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady insisted that anyone eligible impacted by canceled appointments at the Loretto are 'welcome' to get vaccinated at the other centers in Austin. However she said she did not know how many appointments had been canceled or how many doses the hospital usually administers each week and did not provide a specific plan. Democratic state Rep. LaShawn Ford - whose district includes the area where Loretto is based and who sits on the hospital trustee board - accused Lightfoot of 'cutting off our nose to spite our face.' Ford earlier slammed the actions of the hospital and called for 'strict adherence' to the city's vaccination program but said the city's retaliation would 'cut off' the community that needs it most. The announcement came just hours after the hospital (pictured) was forced to admit for a second time this week that it had given some of the city's limited doses to people not yet eligible, as it emerged shots were given to judges and a plus-one of their choice 'The City should investigate The Loretto Hospital's actions, but the community shouldnt be cut off during the pandemic,' he told DailyMail.com in a statement. 'The need is great, and progress is being made from the work of The Loretto Hospital. 'There can be clear directions from the city, but the city shouldnt lose the Austin community's momentum, convincing people to be vaccinated and giving people the vaccine. Its cutting our nose off despite our face.' Greg Kelley, president of the SEIU Healthcare Illinois labor union, echoed these concerns warning that high-risk and underserved, majority black and brown communities will be hurt most by the city's decision. 'We strongly object the decision by the Chicago Department of Public Health to withhold vaccine doses from a safety net serving high-risk and underserved, majority black and brown communities,' Kelley told WBEZ. 'Workers at Loretto have already sacrificed enough in their frontline roles at a safety net hospital in the high-needs Austin community during a pandemic. 'It's crucial that the Board limit their corrective action to the two individuals responsible for this lapse in judgment - and not punish workers and the community they serve.' Many Chicago residents who are eligible to be vaccinated and most at risk from COVID-19 are still struggling to find an appointment to get their shots. The hospital confessed it had vaccinated 72 workers at the Trump Tower in downtown Chicago (pictured), despite hospitality staff not being eligible for another three weeks and the hotel not being in the same area as the hospital Dr. Ahmed, 37, the COO of Loretto Hospital in west Chicago owns an apartment in Trump Tower in downtown Chicago Ahmed is said to have bragged that he vaccinated Eric Trump, 37, and sent a photo around of the two men together The city announced a probe into the vaccine rollout at Trump tower but news that the vaccine was also offered to a group of judges pushed the mayor's office to take stronger action. WBEZ first reported that Judge Diann Marsalek, the acting presiding judge in Cook County Circuit Court's Traffic Division, sent an email to 13 judges on March 8 telling them they and one more person of their choice could get the Pfizer vaccine at Loretto later that day. 'You will need to be there by 6:30 pm,' Marsalek wrote at 4:40pm. 'You can also bring a spouse or second person. I will need you to send me the name if you want to get the shot today and if you want to bring a spouse by 5:15 pm' A spokesperson of the Office of the Chief Judge Timothy Evans defended the judges' getting the vaccine claiming the doses would have gone to waste if they didn't take them. 'Judges who have received the shots were informed that the vaccines were already mixed and would be destroyed if not used by the end of the day, so they could get shots after 3:30 p.m., supply permitting,' they said in a statement to DailyMail.com. 'Judges who received shots did not take shots away from other eligible persons, but used shots that would otherwise have been destroyed.' The court said that they believe judges should have been included in phase 1B all along. 'Currently, judges in Cook County who are under 65 are not classified as 1B, the group currently eligible for the vaccine,' the statement read. 'However, the Illinois Supreme Courts position is that all judges across the state should have been categorized as 1B, and judges under 65 in many other counties have already been vaccinated, according to Supreme Court spokesman Chris Bonjean.' Judge Diann Marsalek (above) sent an email to 13 judges on March 8 telling them they and one more person of their choice could get the Pfizer vaccine at Loretto later that day The court did not divulge how many of the judges had the shot. Loretto Hospital's chief executive George Miller also defended the move, initially claiming in error that judges are eligible in phase 1B of the vaccine plan. 'If a Cook County judge was vaccinated at The Loretto Hospital, he or she met the Chicago Department of Public Health's 1B vaccination requirements, which include elected officials,' he said. Phase 1B, which the city is now in, includes residents aged 65 and over, people in non-healthcare residential settings, homeless shelters and correctional centers, as well as frontline essential workers including first responders, correctional workers, grocery store workers among others. It also includes around 5,300 government employees of the US Postal Service and some elected officials. It does not include judges. Judges are not eligible for the vaccine until March 29 when the city enters phase 1C. The hospital later walked back Miller's statement saying it made a 'mistake' over the city's vaccination rules - the same explanation it gave for the vaccination of staff at the Trump hotel. 'I can only apologize for the misstatement yesterday, as it was indicative of an existing level of confusion among medical teams at Loretto and other facilities regarding the nuances and differences between the city and state's 1b and 1b-Plus eligibility requirements,' a spokeswoman told WBEZ Thursday. 'That is not an excuse for mistakes made.' Loretto Hospital's CEO George Miller (pictured) said the staff made 'mistakes' over who was eligible The hospital had also claimed it 'mistakenly vaccinated' the workers at the Trump International Hotel and Tower believing they were eligible. 'We were, at the time, under the impression that restaurant and other front line hospitality industry workers were considered 'essential' under the City of Chicago's 1B eligibility requirements,' Miller said in a statement. 'I now understand, after subsequent conversations with the Chicago Department of Public Health, that we were mistaken.' Hospitality staff are not in phase 1B but will be eligible in phase 1C. Miller, who approved the vaccination event, justified the injections earlier in the week by noting that the employees were 'predominantly black and brown' and the event had been requested by Trump employees who live on Chicago's West Side. Loretto held a vaccination event on March 10 at Trump Tower where 72 staff members received the shot. The event came soon after Dr. Ahmed, the COO of Loretto Hospital who bought the condo in the Trump tower last October, 37, is said to have told acquaintances he vaccinated Eric Trump. Democratic state Rep. LaShawn Ford accused Lightfoot of 'cutting off our nose to spite our face' by withholding doses to the hospital and warned residents may suffer Eric Trump is an executive vice president and trustee of the Trump Organization, which owns the Trump Tower hotel and residence, but the millionaire would not have been eligible to be vaccinated in Chicago. Dr. Ahmed later said that his claim of him vaccinating Eric Trump was in fact a 'joke'. 'Eric Trump happened to be in the building but we did not vaccinate him,' Ahmed said in a statement. 'A few residents including myself did take a photo with him. My post was meant as a joke...', he wrote. The hospital board released a statement Friday afternoon saying it was 'disappointed' by the revelations that surfaced this week and that both Miller and Ahmed had faced 'reprimand'. 'We are disappointed by the revelations of the past week. While it is the estimation of the Board that all reported events stemmed from a sincere desire to vaccinate as many eligible Chicagoans as possible especially people of color as quickly as possible, we acknowledge that actions were taken that fall outside the scope of The Loretto Hospitals core mission,' the hospital said. 'We have taken appropriate actions of reprimand against Lorettos President/CEO George Miller and COO Anosh Ahmed, MD, for their roles in mistakes of judgment made.' The board said it is now 'reviewing all vaccination distribution practices' and is working with the hospital executive and medical teams to ensure strict adherence to the city's vaccine rollout program going forward. Loretto Hospital, a 122-bed facility that primarily serves black and Latino residents in surrounding West Side neighborhoods, has held other off-site vaccination events, but all were staged on the West Side of Chicago near the hospital. Those events happened at schools, subsidized housing facilities and churches in the hospital's service area - not at big-name, downtown businesses like Trump Tower. Loretto was chosen last year to administer Chicago's ceremonial first COVID-19 vaccination as part of the city's efforts to encourage people in those to get the shot. On her campaign site, Di Amore, originally from New York, said she grew up in subsidized housing, joined the military and eventually earned her chiropractic degree one of several educational opportunities she said helped her break the cycle of poverty. For that reason, she said in her video, she wants to expand vocational and trade schools while working to create affordable housing units in abandoned buildings that would put people on a path to renting or owning their own home. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 African food manufacturer RCL Foods and US plant-based food collective Livekindly Collective have established a local plant-based joint venture, Livekindly Collective Africa. The Competition Commission gave the green light to the merger this month whereby RCL Foods intends to acquire joint control over Livekindly Africa. Farm to fork Fry's joins new global plant-based food collective The Livekindly Co. A new global plant-based food collective, called The Livekindly Co., launched in New York and has joined forces with The Fry Family Food Co... Growing the plant-based category PepsiCo and Beyond Meat partner to develop plant-based snacks PepsiCo and Beyond Meat have teamed up to form The PLANeT Partnership, a joint venture to develop, produce and market snack and beverage products made from plant-based protein... The joint venture will market, sell and distribute all of Livekindly Collectives brands including the well-known local Fry Family Food Co. and international brands LikeMeat and Oumph! in South and Sub-Saharan Africa, with the aim of accelerating the move towards a more sustainable food system and enhanced consumer choice.Amidst growing consumer interest in plant-based foods and more sustainable living, RCL Foods ventured into the plant-based foods category via an investment in a minority shareholding in Livekindly Collective in January 2020.The Collective, founded by Blue Horizon AG and registered in the USA, aims to transform the global food system by rapidly creating a plant-based food ecosystem of scale that extends from farm to fork and has global reach. To this end, it has been building a global brand portfolio while entering strategic partnerships with established platforms like RCL Foods that seek to embrace plant-based options.According to the companies, Livekindly Collective Africa will bring together the Collectives brand and technology intellectual property, and RCL Foods farm to fork capability and established market presence to build a robust plant-based ecosystem in the region from agriculture all the way down to go-to-market brands and infrastructure.While the plant-based food category is still relatively small in South Africa, both CEOs believe that the significant progress being made in improving the affordability, taste and texture of plant-based alternatives will grow the category into a significant market in both traditional retail and foodservice channels.RCL Foods CEO Miles Dally, commented, Climate change, population growth, chronic hunger, obesity and a related rise in non-communicable diseases mean that food producers need to find ways to feed people in a more sustainable way, and that requires resilience and adaptability."In line with our passion More Food to More People, More Often we are excited to partner with Livekindly Collective in taking plant-based protein from niche to mainstream in South and Sub-Saharan Africa, which will provide people with more options and encourage more sustainable food choices."Kees Kruythoff, chairman and CEO of Livekindly Collective, said, The time for change is now, and with the Livekindly Collective we are on a mission to transform the current global food system and make plant-based living the new norm. Through this strategic partnership, we will be able to bring nutritious and delicious plant-based products to even more consumers in Africa faster by making it more accessible and affordable." Manipur: Training programme on Modern Methods for Sustainable Aquaculture begins March 19,2021 | Source: The Sangai Express 3 days Training programme on Modern Methods for Sustainable Aquaculture for fish farmers of Senapati and Kangpokpi districts began today at Multi-Purpose Hall, Senapati organised by the District Fishery Officer, Senapati under the sponsorship of ICAR, Central Institute of Fishery Education. The inaugural programme was attended by Additional Deputy Commissioner, Senapati Adahrii Maheo, MCS and Dr Sukham Munilkumar, Principal Scientist, ICAR, Central Institute of Fishery Education, Kolkata as the presidium members. L Sanatombi Devi, District Fishery Officer, Senapati and staff of the department also attended the programme. In her welcome note, L Sanatombi stated that the programme is being organised for the welfare of the fish farmers considering the emergent need for the fish farmers of the district to be well equipped with more knowledge to produce more fish products. The trainees would reportedly be taken to visit some successful fish farmers and biofloc fish culture unit in Imphal on March 18, she added. Further she appealed to all fish farmers to feel free in asking queries relating to aquaculture and its improvement and for production of fish in large quantity. Speaking as the chief guest, Adahrii Maheo urged the fish farmers of both the districts to avail the opportunity to learn more about aquaculture, how to rear fish in more productive way thereby generating more income. Dr Sukham Munilkumar stated that one of the fastest growing sectors in agriculture is fishery and aquaculture and enumerated the benefits of consuming fish. He continued that the Central Institute of Fishery Education under ICAR is to provide education and training thereby enhancing knowledge and skill so that interested farmers and entrepreneurs can take up fish farming activities for long term sustainability. 65 farmers from Senapati and Kangpokpi districts are participating in the 3 days training programme. 2021 The Sangai Express. Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. is facing a larger-than-expected exposure to the Greensill Capital meltdown after finding that reinsurance contracts intended to limit losses didnt cover its unit that did the most business with Greensill. Tokios Australia Bond & Credit Co. which at one point wrote more than A$10 billion ($7.7 billion) of insurance policies for Greensill isnt covered by contracts with a key group of re-insurers, according to people familiar with the matter. A group of the companies, including Hannover Rueck SE and Scor SE, recently asked Tokio Marine to clarify the Greensill situation and were told by the Japanese company that their exposure is negligible, the people said, asking for anonymity to discuss a private exchange. We have reviewed this situation carefully, including our reinsurance position, and will continue to do so as needed, Tokio Marine, which had previously declined to comment, said in an emailed statement. On that basis, our expected net exposure remains unchanged, and as a result we dont see any need to adjust our financial guidance, it said. Spokespeople for the two reinsurers declined to comment. Related: Credit Suisse Faces Questions from Regulators, Insurers After Collapse of Greensill Funds Greensills downfall and the resulting scandal was triggered when the Bond & Credit Co. decided not to renew policies covering billions of dollars of loans Greensill made. The Japanese insurer had signaled that a significant portion of its remaining Greensill-related risk is covered by reinsurance, according to the Financial Times. A spokesman for Tokio Marine declined to comment on whether Tokio Marine has other reinsurance policies covering the Greensill risk. Scor traded 1.3% lower as of 4:05 p.m. in Paris, paring earlier losses of as much as 2.4%, while shares in Hannover also reversed earlier losses of as much as 1.2% to trade little changed in Frankfurt. The reinsurance contracts were purchased by Tokio Marines Houston-based HCC credit insurance unit. While it was intended that the deal would also cover Bond & Credit Co., the necessary approvals were never granted because of an internal lapse, one of the people said, without providing more details. The validity of the reinsurance may have been challenged anyway, the people said. An underwriter at Tokios Bond & Credit Co. also acted outside the scope of his delegated authority, according to court documents filed in Australia. The firm dismissed Greg Brereton last July, the documents show. Tokio Marine is examining the validity of the insurance policies it offered to Greensill, according to comments from a company spokesman earlier this month. He didnt say why its questioning the insurance. The insurer maintained its profit forecast after reviewing transactions between the Bond & Credit Co. and Greensill. Read more: Tokio Marine Examines Validity of Greensill Insurance Policies Provided by Australia Unit Greensills Insurance Policies Questioned by Tokio Marine Tokio may attempt to counter claims on the insurance since a probe by German financial markets regulator BaFin found Greensill Bank had booked claims for transactions that hadnt yet occurred but which were accounted for as if they had. With assistance from Alexandre Rajbhandari. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. WASHINGTON With the U.S. closing in on President Joe Biden's goal of injecting 100 million coronavirus vaccinations weeks ahead of his target date, the White House said the nation is now in position to help supply neighbors Canada and Mexico with millions of lifesaving shots. The Biden administration on Thursday revealed the outlines of a plan to loan a limited number of vaccines to Canada and Mexico as the president announced the U.S. is on the cusp of meeting his 100-day injection goal way ahead of schedule. Im proud to announce that tomorrow, 58 days into our administration, we will have met our goal," Biden said. He promised to unveil a new vaccination target next week, as the U.S. is on pace to have enough of the three currently authorized vaccines to cover the entire adult population just 10 weeks from now. Ahead of Biden's remarks, the White House said it was finalizing plans to send a combined 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Mexico and Canada in its first export of shots. Press secretary Jen Psaki said the details of the loan" were still being worked out, but 2.5 million doses would go to Mexico and 1.5 million would be sent to Canada. Our first priority remains vaccinating the U.S. population, Psaki said. But she added that ensuring our neighbors can contain the virus is a mission critical step, is mission critical to ending the pandemic. Louisiana expands COVID vaccine eligibility to include essential workers; here's a list Gov. John Bel Edwards said that beginning Monday, more than two dozen categories of essential workers will be eligible for the coronavirus vac The AstraZeneca vaccine has not yet been authorized for use in the U.S. but has been by the World Health Organization. Tens of millions of doses have been stockpiled in the U.S., waiting for emergency use authorization, and that has sparked an international outcry that lifesaving vaccine is being withheld when it could be used elsewhere. The White House said just 7 million of the AstraZeneca doses are ready for shipment. The initial run of doses manufactured in the U.S. are owned by the federal government under the terms of agreements reached with drugmakers, and the Biden administration has faced calls from allies across the globe to release the AstraZeneca shots for immediate use. Biden has also fielded direct requests from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to buy vaccines produced in the United States. Global public health advocates say wealthy nations like the U.S. need to do far more to help stem the spread of the pandemic. The World Health Organization on Thursday issued a report that fewer than 7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Africa thus far. That's the equivalent of what the U.S. administers in a matter of days. Biden did move to have the U.S. contribute financially to the United Nations- and World Health Organization-backed COVAX alliance, which will share vaccine with more than 90 lower- and middle-income nations, but the U.S. has yet to commit to sharing any doses. Moderna to begin COVID vaccine trials in children; see where to sign up in Louisiana Children under 12, including babies as young as six months, will be able to participate in clinical trials in Louisiana for Modernas two-dose 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 From his first days in office, Biden has set clear and achievable metrics for U.S. success, whether they be vaccinations or school reopenings, as part of an apparent strategy of underpromising, then overdelivering. Aides believe that exceeding his goals breeds trust in government after the Trump administration's sometimes-fanciful rhetoric on the virus. The 100 million-dose goal was first announced on Dec. 8, days before the U.S. had even one authorized vaccine for COVID-19, let alone the three that have now received emergency authorization. Still, it was generally seen within reach, if optimistic. By the time Biden was inaugurated on Jan. 20, the U.S. had already administered 20 million shots at a rate of about 1 million per day, bringing complaints at the time that Biden's goal was not ambitious enough. He quickly revised it upward to 150 million doses in his first 100 days. Now the U.S. is injecting an average of about 2.2 million doses each day and the pace is likely to dramatically rise later this month in conjunction with an expected surge in supply of the vaccines. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, injections of 96 million doses have been reported to the agency since Bidens inauguration, but those reports lag the actual date of administration. Vaccination trend lines pointed to Biden breaking the 100 million mark on Thursday, with the numbers likely to be confirmed by the CDC as soon as Friday. Scientist behind COVID vaccine says next target is cancer "We expect that within only a couple of years, we will also have our vaccines (against) cancer at a place where we can offer them to people. The president has moved to speed up deliveries of vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, as well as to expand the number of places to get shots and people who can administer them, with a focus on increasing the nation's capacity to inject doses as supply constraints lift. The risk in setting too rosy expectations is that an administration might become defined by its failure to meet them, such as in May 2020, when President Donald Trump said the nation had prevailed over the virus. At the time, the country had seen about 80,000 deaths from the virus. This week, the U.S. death toll topped 538,000. Trumps lax approach and lack of credibility also contributed to poor adherence to public safety rules among the American public. By ZEKE MILLER, Associated Press The tougher call is how you should react to this. He and I agree that you should approach the person who organized this junket and say: Im so excited about coming to work here. I know I can make great contributions to the team, but I would prefer for an out-of-town event at night to have my own hotel room. Is this possible? Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. UPDATE: In unexpected move, U.S. Supreme Court asks Justice Dept. to weigh in on battle involving N.J. and mob watchdog The reports present a damning portrait of an insular workforce, all-but-inaccessible to women, and deeply racially segregated. They detail high-paying jobs, some with salaries in excess of $400,000 a year, that only went to those with the right connections. And they allege the continued influence of the mob on the waterfront of one of the nations busiest ports. But for eight years, the reports were kept under wraps, claim former members of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, over fears by New Jersey officials that they would be bad for business at the port, which stretches from Newark, Elizabeth, and Bayonne to Staten Island and Brooklyn. The commission, a bi-state agency created more than half a century ago to combat crime and corruption on the docks, is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court in a fight against the state of New Jersey which seeks to shut it down. Critics in the Legislature and elsewhere accuse the commission of overstepping its authority and overstating the extent of any illegal activity and hiring inequities within the regions piers and terminals. In annual reports that were never published, however, the agency spelled out just how little things have changed over time. Those reports, obtained recently by NJ Advance Media through public records requests, described a place the commission argued remained firmly in the shadow of organized crime and one where jobs are often steered to friends and family. Among their findings: Nearly one in five job applicants referred by the powerful International Longshoremens Association did not make it into the workforce because of prohibited organized crime ties. Hundreds working in the port receive what was described as outsized salaries not required by the shipping industrys agreements with its unions for jobs the commission said did not require them to show up to work. Nearly 20 of those individuals were paid more than $450,000 a year. Few of the registered longshore maintenance workers or mechanics working at the port are women. The overwhelming majority of incoming Black workers are placed into a predominantly Black local in Newark, while the highly-sought and high-paid jobs were primarily given to white men who become members of the predominantly white ILA Union officials called the hiring numbers inaccurate and not reflective of the true diversity of current employment at the port. And they said claims of entrenched actors with organized crime ties were untrue. Commission officials would not discuss the reports labeled as final drafts, which date back to 2013. ALLEGED ABUSES In its most recent report for 2020, the commission raised both the issue of organized crime and the union locals who control hiring at the port. The absolute control of the International Longshoremens Association over hiring in the port for over 60 years has not only led to a lack of diversity and inclusion in waterfront employment, but also to the perpetuation of criminality and corruption, it said. According to the report, almost 20% of all ILA-referred job applicants were never hired because of organized crime ties, while a third did not pass screening because their presence would have constituted a danger to the public peace or safety, or because they lacked the requisite good character and integrity. And it said the mob remained a potent force in what it called a historically and presently corrupt industry. Loan sharks and bookmakers, with the approval of organized crime, continue to prey on the workforce, the commission wrote. Cargo theft, often more sophisticated than in the past, is still a real problem. Workers compensation fraud, narcotics importation, and the illegal use of drugs, especially prescription medications, have been added to the enforcement picture. A container ship in the Port of Elizabeth is waiting to be unloaded. Attorney Kevin Marrinan, the ILAs labor counsel, said such influence was untrue and the claims about hiring abuses are not accurate. Is there organized crime there? No doubt, he said, noting that criminal activity can be found anywhere. But entrenched? Its an exaggeration. No one is referring members or associates of organized crime to jobs. He complained that the Waterfront Commission has often gone after individuals who had what he called casual friendships or contact with those later identified by law enforcement as organized crime associates, and were then denied the ability to work at the port because of that friendship. The term associate has been stretched to taffy, asserted Marrinan. The commission, which is fighting efforts by New Jersey to essentially kill the agency, has repeatedly cited a litany of criminal cases and hiring abuses in its court filings that it agued documented the continued need for a watchdog on the docks. Its a place where crime can flourish, asserted Jan Gilhooly, a former special agent in charge of the Secret Service in New Jersey who later served as the states representative on the commission. Youll never be able to wipe out crime fully on the waterfront. Ronald Goldstock, who served as New Yorks representative on the commission and a former director of New Yorks Organized Crime Task Force, agreed that the mob remains a potent force there to this day. The commission is the body that stands between a viable port and one that is controlled by organized crime, he said. The commissions 2020 report separately took aim at hiring practices at the port. It charged that the Blacks and women have been kept out of the labor pool for years. For far too long, well-deserving residents of the ports surrounding communities were systematically denied the opportunity to work on the waterfront. Meanwhile, those who are connected to union leadership or organized crime figures are rewarded with high paying, low-show or no-work special compensation packages, the commission said. It noted, too, that more than 590 individuals received what were described as outsized salaries not required by the shipping industrys agreements with its unions for jobs that did not even require them to show up at the port. Those salaries cost shippers more than $147 million a year, the commission said. At least 18 of those individuals made more than $450,000 a year. Commission officials have complained as well that when the ILA was pushed to put more veterans to work on the docks, the union sent up a waitress who had been in the National Guard for only a few months. Only 1 out of the 1,024 registered longshore maintenance workers or mechanics in the port was a woman, the commission noted. Most newly hired Black workers are placed into a predominantly Black local, the report said, while the highly-sought and high-paid jobs were primarily given to white men who become members of the predominantly white ILA Local 1. Major cargo volumes come into the New York and New Jersey region through the ports. The CMA CGM Brazil passes under the Bayonne Bridge in Bayonne in 2020.Dustin Niles | For NJ Advance Media Marrinan disputed those numbers. The information that the Waterfront Commission has is not sound. It isnt reliable as to race and ethnicity, he said, noting for example that until 2012 the forms used by the commission did not have a box for Hispanics. He said they were registered as white. Of new hires, the ILA counsel said more than 60% now joining the workforce are either non-white or women. The most recent dock worker hiring plan has produced 13.3% female hires, he said, comparing that to statistics compiled by the American Community Survey, a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau which he said looked at workers employed in jobs similar to dock workers. Those numbers showed a corresponding percentage of only 9.15% female hires. Marrinan added that the ILA locals were not a window to measure diversity, noting that people move throughout their careers and do not stay in the same local. A ship docked at the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal. The Waterfront Commission would not comment on why the reports which are statutorily mandated were never publicly released. But according to Goldstock, the former New York commissioner, political pressure had come from the New Jersey governors office under the Christie administration not to release those findings. He said the directive appeared aimed at protecting the states perceived economic interests. New Jersey had a problem with it because we laid out the problems of organized crime and corruption, he recalled. The concern was it would affect commerce at the port and that shippers would go elsewhere. I dont remember the words, but essentially they wanted the reports toned down, he said. Emails released by the commission show the governors office in February 2013 under Gov. Chris Christie began pushing to review that years report before it was released. In one email, Walter Arsenault, the commissions executive director, fought back. Asking the Governors Offices and the Legislatures to review a draft of the report ... would not only be completely counterproductive, but could potentially expose our annual report to various political agendas, he wrote. That report was subsequently never published, nor were any in the years to follow. In prior years, the reports were released and posted to the commissions website, where they could be read by anyone. A former Christie administration official whose responsibilities included dealing with the Waterfront Commission said he had no recollection of the annual reports ever being discussed or that they not be published. I dont recall seeing an annual report or seeing its contents, said John Spinello, who served as director of the Authorities Unit under Christie. A spokesman for Gov. Phil Murphy, who is seeking to eliminate the Waterfront Commission, said the governors office never asked that the reports be kept private. While we cannot speak to the actions of prior administrations, the Murphy administration has never told the Waterfront Commission not to release its annual reports, said Michael Zhadanovsky. ON THE WATERFRONT The battle before the Supreme Court, in the meantime, continues. Created in 1953, the Waterfront Commission has wide jurisdiction over the regions ports in New York and New Jersey. It was intended to fight the deep-rooted corruption of the mob on the docks in the wake of a Pulitzer Prize-winning series by New York Sun reporter Malcolm Johnson in 1949 documenting the widespread influence of organized crime and corrupt union leadership on the docks. The stories later became the basis for the 1954 film On the Waterfront. The agency, which conducts background checks of those seeking jobs there, has ultimate say over who may work on the piers and in the cargo terminals of the vast port. But the commission became the target of sharp criticism after the New York Inspector General in 2009 issued a scathing report that found the agency itself to be riddled with internal fraud and abuse. It cited the hiring of unqualified cops with inside connections, the turning of a blind eye to businesses with criminal ties, and the deployment of cops who sat in their cars to save parking spots for commissioners. The report called the commission a sanctuary of political favoritism, corruption and abuse. While the disclosures ultimately led to a major housecleaning at the commission, it became the target of mounting political pressure. The shipping industry and dockworkers union, as well as elected officials in New Jersey, argued it was over-regulating business at the port in an effort to justify its existence. During that period of time, the ILA contributed more than $1.5 million to New Jersey political campaigns and party committees, according to filings with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission. In 2018, New Jersey took steps to eliminate the bi-state agency by walking away from the agreement that created it. The Legislature passed a bill directing the governor to notify Congress and the governor of New York of the states intention to withdraw from the formal compact with New York establishing the Waterfront Commission. It would turn over responsibilities for policing the port in New Jersey to the State Police. After vetoing a similar bill in 2015 as unconstitutional, Christie reversed himself and signed the legislation just before he left office. The commission sued the state. But the Murphy administration has continued the legal fight, which now before the nations highest court. New Jersey has argued that the agreement with New York leading to the formation of the agency was a response to a bygone era, and that the Waterfront Commission today is now obsolete. It called the commission an impediment to future job growth and prosperity at the port. The commission in its court filings, however, said New Jersey could not unilaterally walk away from a federally approved interstate compact. The potential consequences are broad, they wrote. Interstate compacts affect every geographic corner of the United States and cover every imaginable field amenable to interstate cooperation. A U.S. District Court judge concurred. Last June, though, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed the ruling, finding that the commissions lawsuit impinges on the State of New Jerseys sovereignty. New York has not filed anything in the case and a spokesman for Gov. Andrew Cuomo did not respond to requests for comment. In a filing this past week before the U.S. Supreme Court, the commission urged the justices to review the case. If the decision stands, it will signal to states that they can destroy compact commissions they find irksome simply by appropriating the commissions functions for themselves, it said. The court is expected to rule sometime in April. READ THE MOST RECENT 2019-2020 WATERFRONT COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT __ Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Andrew Cuomo had a dartboard with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's face on it at a pool party at his Executive Mansion, according to a former aide and accuser of the New York governor. Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment back in December, told The New Yorker she spotted the childish game in the pool house at the governor's mansion in Albany. 'I couldn't believe how brazen that was,' Boylan, who worked for Cuomo's team from March 2015 to October 2018, recalled. A spokesperson for Cuomo declined to comment to The New Yorker on the dartboard's existence. Neither the governor's nor the mayor's office immediately returned DailyMail.com's request for comment Friday. No detail was given about when the party with the offending game took place but it's no secret there's been no loved lost between the governor and the mayor for many years. While Cuomo once called de Blasio 'a friend in the deepest sense of the word', the relationship between the two men has increasingly soured ever since the mayor took office in 2014. Tensions reached breaking point in the last year as they sparred repeatedly throughout the coronavirus pandemic via their competing daily press conferences on everything from lockdowns, schools, the vaccine rollout and - this week - fitness classes. Andrew Cuomo had a dartboard with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's face on it at a pool party at his Executive Mansion, according to a former aide and accuser of the New York governor. Pictured looking not so friendly in 2017 De Blasio last week joined calls for Cuomo to resign saying 'he can no longer serve as governor' amid the 'disgusting' allegations from multiple women who have accused the governor of sexual harassment. Seven women - five of which are former aides - have now come forward to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior. Boylan told The New Yorker this week Cuomo said he would 'mount her' during one 2018 incident after his pet dog Captain jumped up near her. She has previously accused the governor of unwanted advances including an unsolicited kiss on the lips and him suggesting they play a game of strip poker. The governor has denied these allegations. Meanwhile, the most damning accusation to date comes from an anonymous woman who claims he called her to his Executive Mansion last year, reached under her blouse and fondled her. The governor has said he 'never touched anyone inappropriately' and 'never made any inappropriate advances' and is refusing to go. An investigation was launched by Attorney General Letitia James' office and calls are mounting for Cuomo to resign with an impeachment investigation launched by state Democrats and top New York lawmakers including Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer demanding he stand down. Cuomo's top adversary de Blasio also waded into the saga last week as he publicly called for Cuomo's resignation in his press briefing Thursday after the sixth accuser spoke out. The mayor branded the allegations 'disgusting' and said Cuomo was no longer able to serve the state. 'The latest report, and the fact that we can talk about how many people have been come forward with accusations. It's not one, it's not two, it's not three, it's not four, it's not five it's six women who have come forward,' he said. 'It's 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. He can no longer serve as governor. It's as simple as that.' A seventh accuser - reporter Jessica Bakeman - came forward after the de Blasio's comments. Lindsey Boylan (pictured), the first woman to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment back in December, told The New Yorker she spotted the childish game in the pool house at the governor's mansion in Albany The Executive Mansion where the dartboard was reportedly seen. Neither offices for Cuomo nor de Blasio have responded to the claims De Blasio continued that, over the last few weeks, 'so many troubling things' have emerged about Cuomo, amid the controversy surrounding the nursing home COVID-19 deaths scandal and alleged cover-up. 'We still don't have the truth about that,' he said. '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 I 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 can't serve as governor anymore,' de Blasio concluded. But Cuomo insisted he will not to resign and the two were back at loggerheads with each other again this week over the reopening of indoor fitness classes in New York City. On Tuesday, fitness class owners protested outside City Hall demanding de Blasio allowed them to reopen group classes after being shut for a year now. Gyms reopened in September but indoor group fitness classes have been banned since March. But de Blasio stood firm saying: 'I've had this conversation with the health team and they remain very consistent saying 'not yet.' The next day, Cuomo overruled de Blasio announcing classes can reopen at 33 percent capacity Monday. No detail was given over when the party with the offending game took place but it's no secret there's been no loved lost between the governor and the mayor for many years. The two men in 2013 before their relationship soured 'On reopening, indoor fitness classes will be reopening that's primarily in New York City on Monday, March 22. Gyms were open, but indoor fitness classes were not open,' Cuomo said. 'And that caused a certain amount of consternation. They will open Monday, March 22.' This fueled an irate response from the mayor who questioned whether this was done for 'political reasons'. 'I want to ask the question is it done because the data and science is telling us, or is it done for political reasons?' De Blasio fumed Thursday. 'Obviously, hell seems to be making most of these decisions because of the governor's political needs,' the mayor said. This marks just the latest in a long line of spats between the duo as they navigated the pandemic. The feuding started from the offset over whether the city should be plunged into lockdown or not last March as cases surged nationwide. De Blasio told New Yorkers to prepare for a 'shelter in place' order only for Cuomo to fire back that the power rested with him and he would not issue an order - before announcing a differently worded 'stay-at-home' order instead. The mayor was so infuriated by the situation, he reportedly asked City Hall counsel if he could remove Cuomo from office. Happier days in February 2014: That year, de Blasio took office as mayor and Cuomo called him 'a friend in the deepest sense of the word' The two men worked together when de Blasio was appointed regional director for the Housing and Urban Development for New York and New Jersey in 1997 meaning he reported directly into Cuomo who was Bill Clinton's Housing and Urban Development secretary. In 2013 Nothing came of it but the incident became a symptom of what was to come - months of New Yorkers tuning in to rival daily press conferences where de Blasio said one thing only for Cuomo to overrule it moments later in his. In April, as the city was grappling as the global virus epicenter of the world, they sparred over the reopening of schools. De Blasio said schools would stay shut for the full school year only to be rebuffed and reminded by Cuomo that it was only his 'opinion' before the governor repeated the same rules anyway. As the city and state entered a second wave in the fall, they clashed again over the best response. De Blasio announced in October he was closing schools and business again across nine neighborhoods in the city. Cuomo weighed in saying he hadn't agreed to the move before announcing his own plan the next day which involved shutting schools one day earlier but leaving businesses open. The vaccine program became another bone of contention with de Blasio repeatedly saying the state was slowing its ability to administer shots down. But the pair's arch rivalry far predates COVID-19 with their relationship rapidly deteriorating after de Blasio was appointed mayor in 2014. The pair clashed again this week over the reopening of indoor fitness classes in New York City. On Tuesday, fitness class owners demonstrated outside City Hall demanding de Blasio allowed them to reopen group classes after being shut for a year The two men had worked together in the past when de Blasio was appointed regional director for the Housing and Urban Development for New York and New Jersey in 1997 meaning he reported directly into Cuomo who was Bill Clinton's Housing and Urban Development secretary. In 2002, de Blasio even backed Cuomo's first failed run for New York governor. So when de Blasio was elected mayor to Cuomo's governor, they put on a united front with a joint press conference where they gushed about their longstanding friendship. 'We use the word 'friend' in politics often and sometimes casually,' Cuomo said at the time. 'But the new mayor of New York truly is a friend in the deepest sense of the word.' But tensions quickly mounted one year later when Cuomo angered de Blasio when he gave him just 15 minutes notice that he was shuttering the New York City subway due to a snowstorm. That June, a Cuomo aide branded de Blasio as 'bumbling and incompetent with de Blasio firing back that 'if someone disagrees with [Cuomo] openly, some kind of revenge or vendetta follows.' They have since fought over almost everything since then including: raising income tax on wealthy New Yorkers, education plans, homelessness, public housing, funding mass transit, the deployment of state troopers and even a white-tailed deer on the loose in the city. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a longtime diplomat who represents the U.S. at the United Nations, should be President Biden's model for other ambassadors. (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press) Gov. Newsom recently suggested that he would appoint a Black woman to succeed Dianne Feinstein if the longtime Democratic senator were to retire before the end of her term in January 2025. It was a self-serving gesture that Feinstein quickly deprived of any political value by declaring that she is fully committed to finishing her term. Meanwhile, The New York Times has reported that Feinstein's husband, Richard Blum, is interested in being appointed by President Biden to be the ambassador to some unspecified European country. The newspaper suggested that such a posting for her husband might induce the 87-year-old Feinstein to step down. Unless Feinstein has a change of heart, that seems unlikely. But the possibility of an ambassadorship for Blum, an investor and University of California regent, illuminates a dilemma facing the president as he replaces envoys named by President Trump: Should he bestow ambassadorships on people who arent career diplomats, including donors and people with connections to political allies? If he did so, Biden would be following the practice of previous presidents, Trump and President Obama among them. Historically, political appointees have constituted about 30% of ambassadorial appointments; Trumps, 44%. Some Biden supporters expect him to follow the same playbook as previous presidents. Politico reported this week that donors are growing impatient and calling White House officials and allies to ask what they can do to secure a spot. But treating ambassadorships as political patronage is a tradition that deserves to be broken. In a 2019 analysis of decades of ambassadorial appointments, Ryan Scoville, an associate professor at Marquette University Law School, came to two alarming conclusions. One was that the average political nominee has been materially less qualified than the average career nominee, based on factors including language ability and knowledge of the country and region they served in. The other was that political nominees have contributed to the nominating president far more than career nominees in terms of both frequency and value. Story continues Not every ambassador must be a career diplomat. Some political appointees have served ably as ambassadors, and countries may welcome non-career-diplomats who have the presidents ear and stature of their own. For example, past U.S. ambassadors to Japan have included former Vice President Walter Mondale, former Senate Majority Leaders Mike Mansfield and Howard Baker and former House Speaker Tom Foley. (Obama named the vastly less experienced Caroline Kennedy as his envoy to Tokyo.) But some politically appointed ambassadors are clearly in over their heads. Moreover, appointing campaign donors contributes to the perception that ambassadorships are for sale. And appointing even worldly and well-informed amateurs to important ambassadorships is a slight to dedicated career diplomats. In introducing Linda Thomas-Greenfield as his nominee for U.S. representative to the United Nations, Biden praised her as a seasoned and distinguished diplomat. That should be the standard for the overwhelming majority of his ambassadorial appointments. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Mumbai: Senior IPS (Indian Police Service) officer Rajnish Seth on Thursday took additional charge as Maharashtra`s Director General of Police, replacing Hemant Nagrale. Rajnish Seth, the 1988-batch officer, is currently serving as the director-general of the state`s Anti-Corruption Bureau. IPS Hemant Nagrale has been appointed as the new Commissioner of Mumbai Police. Meanwhile, Senior IPS officer and DG Maharashtra State Security Corporation Sanjay Pandey alleged that seniority was overlooked while making transfers and appointments among senior ranks. "Not just the current government but the previous government has also been unjust to me. Seniority was overlooked while making transfers and appointments among senior ranks. The current government`s actions aren`t as per SC orders," Sanjay Pandey was quoted as saying by ANI. "As Police Officer, DCP Zone 8 in 1993, I conducted a just investigation against the party (Shiv Sena) in areas near Kherwadi... The government is too large a body to settle scores with me. If they are, we are not in safe hands," Pandey added. Sanjay Pandey was earlier DG, Home Guards with an additional charge of Maharashtra State Security Corporation. Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh on Wednesday handed over the charge of Maharashtra`s Home Guards department. The decision came against the backdrop of the meeting between Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday. Amid a row over the transfer of Param Bir Singh as Mumbai police commissioner, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Thursday said that "serious and unforgivable mistakes" committed by some colleagues of the city's top cop led to his transfer. In his first public comments over the transfer, Deshmukh said Singh was shifted to ensure that the probe into the bomb scare outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani's house in south Mumbai is conducted "properly and without hindrance". However, the main opposition party BJP has slammed the Maharashtra government and called for an NIA probe into the whole incident Live TV The Government discussed during Friday's sitting the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which will be subjected to public debate, declared Prime Minister Florin Citu. According to the Prime Minister, after the state budget, PNRR was "the second test" of the government coalition, which "clearly shows that it is "united, strong and determined to work for the following years". "Given that PNRR needs to be implemented by 2026, it seems that we must be here after 2024 as well, to ensure that it is implemented. (...) Today it enters public debate. Everyone will see the program. Next week, through a memorandum, we will adopt the mandate through which this program will be negotiated," Citu said, during a press conference at Victoria Palace.He thanked all ministers who were involved in elaborating the PNRR, with a special mention for (Investment and European Projects) minister Cristian Ghinea and deputy Prime Minister Dan Barna, but also the leader of the liberal party, Ludovic Orban."We have, for public debate, a National Recovery and Resilience Plan which represents Romania's priorities today. We are allocating important resources for the road and railroad infrastructure, but also motorways. Of course, for the gas network as well. We want to build new hospitals, we are saying it very clearly in this program. And of course, (we have) social measures as well. So, we are granting importance to all priorities. A reform which Romania needed," Florin Citu specified. AGERPRES Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG) confirmed Thursday that it has received an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Chubb Limited (CB) to acquire The Hartford. Hartford said its board is carefully considering the proposal with the assistance of its financial and legal advisors. The board is committed to acting in the best interests of shareholders over the long term. HIG closed Thursday regular trading at $68.15 up $10.74 or 18.71 percent. But in the after-hours trading the stock dropped $1.65 or 2.42 percent. Earlier today, Chubb said that on March 11, it presented Hartford with a proposal for a merger of two companies. The proposal would value The Hartford at $65.00 per share and represents a premium of 26% based on its unaffected 20-day volume weighted average share price of $51.70 as of March 10, 2021. The consideration represents a mix of stock with the majority in cash. Chubb said it has not yet received a response to its proposal but are looking forward to constructive, private discussions in order to expeditiously consummate a fair transaction that benefits all of their respective stakeholders. Chubb noted that no agreement has been reached, and there can be no assurance any transaction will result from these discussions, and even if a transaction is agreed upon, there can be no assurances as to its terms, structure or timing. 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. Papua New Guinea officials will tighten internal border controls, restrict personal movement, and enforce mask wearing in public from next week, as the country confronts a steep rise in COVID-19 infections. Officials in the Pacific island nation of 9 million people also said they would bar mass gatherings, close schools and may order burials in a designated mass grave as part of sweeping measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus. PNG has recorded a spike in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, with hundreds of new daily cases. Total cases stand at just under 2500 and deaths at 31, but health officials believe the true numbers are likely much higher. A stand distributes COVID-19 information at a shopping centre in Port Moresby, PNG, in September. Credit:Getty Images The social distancing measures being imposed from Monday would remain in force until the end of the declaration of the pandemic, unless revoked earlier by officials, PNG pandemic response controller David Manning said in a statement. Heavy rain lashing the NSW coast from the Illawarra to the mid-north coast has sparked flood warnings for multiple areas, including greater Sydney and the states far west. The states premier, meanwhile, has encouraged all residents to stay at home over the weekend and avoid long-distance travel to the regions. Overnight on Thursday, up to 100mm of rain fell across the regions, sparking more than 400 calls for help to the NSW State Emergency Service. In the past 24 hours, SES crews have undertaken at least 11 flood rescues, three of which were in western Sydney. Seven Oaks, north of Kempsey, copped more than 300mm in the 24 hours to 9 a.m. on Friday, while Aldavilla received 262 mm. More heavy rain, thunderstorms and damaging winds are forecast on Friday and into the weekend, heightening the risk of flash flooding and hazardous surf and heavy swells. Flood watch alerts have been issued for the mid-north coast, Hunter, Central Coast, Sydney metro and Illawarra coast and far west areas. A number of rivers were under flood warnings on Friday morning including the Bellinger, Hastings, Orara, Manning, Gloucester and Nambucca rivers. The Georges, Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers in the Sydney region are also expected to be affected. NSW SES assistant commissioner Sean Kearns said drivers should reconsider their travel and avoid driving in flood waters, and admitted the services volunteers were preparing for a difficult weekend. We are responding as we get calls for assistance, we are putting warnings out to local communities. At this stage there is a flood watch for 23 river catchments, Mr Kearns told the Nine Network on Friday. Emergency services have warned conditions will remain dangerous and are telling motorists to take extreme care around flood warning areas. Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Friday that NSW residents should avoid travelling long distances over the weekend. Normally were telling people to travel around NSW but this weekend is an exception, she told reporters. We just want everybody to stay around and close to their homes, to be safe and to follow those messages. This weekend is going to be quite severe. The deluge is set to continue well into next week and could deliver the heaviest rainfall since February 2020, when greater Sydney was hit. The mid-north coast copped the worst of the conditions on Thursday as a low-pressure system moved south to the Hunter, Illawarra and Sydney. Catchments are already soaked but it wont take much more for flooding to occur, the Bureau of Meteorologys Agata Imielska said. Its the difference between being inconveniently wet to conditions drastically changing to being dangerously wet, the meteorologist said. The bureau said the low-pressure system was a significant system bringing both rain and peak gusts of more than 90 km/h. Towns likely to be affected include Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Taree, Woolgoolga, Sawtell, Bellingen and Dorrigo. Inland NSW is also expected to get its share of the rain when a separate system moves in next week. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 82F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 61F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. 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 This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. On Thursday, March 5, 2020, Tennessee's Department of Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey confirmed the state's first case of the new coronavirus. (NIAID-RML via AP) SAN MATEO, Calif.--Upstart Holdings, Inc. , a leading artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Prodigy Software, Inc., a provider of cloud-based automotive retail software. Each year, approximately $1 trillion of cars are sold in the US, and most of them are financed.1 Yet purchasing a car consistently ranks among the worst consumer experiences, with less than 1% of buyers satisfied with the current process. While Amazon and Shopify have modernized the online shopping experience, the auto industry has been left behind. Upstart is on a path to reduce the cost of auto financing, and we can accelerate this opportunity with a modern multi-channel purchase experience, said Dave Girouard, co-founder and CEO of Upstart. Auto retail is among the largest buy-now-pay-later opportunities, and together with Prodigy, we aim to help dealers create a seamless and inclusive experience worthy of 2021. Michia Rohrssen, CEO of Prodigy, said, "Our mission has always been to build the worlds best car buying experience, and for the majority of buyers today, that experience includes financing their vehicle. Upstarts demonstrably better lending technology will enable us to deliver more affordable and transparent auto loans to millions of consumers through our dealer network." Since 2014, more than $9 billion in personal loans have been originated by Upstarts bank partners. Incorporating more than 1,000 variables2 and trained on more than 10.5 million repayment events, Upstarts AI-powered lending model can provide banks with up to 75% fewer defaults at the same approval rate.3 In September 2020, the first AI-enabled auto loan was originated on Upstarts platform. In this initial phase, Upstart is enabling consumers to refinance expensive and mispriced auto loans, saving borrowers an average of $72 per month. Following the initial launch, Upstart continues to roll this program out in states across the country. With the acquisition of Prodigy, Upstart will accelerate its efforts to offer AI-enabled auto loans through the tens of thousands of auto dealers nationwide where the majority of auto loans are originated. Prodigy is the first end-to-end sales software that bridges the gap between how dealerships operate and the new way that people are shopping for cars. More than $2 billion in vehicle sales have been powered by Prodigy at franchised dealers from top brands such as Toyota, Honda, and Ford. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of calendar year 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. About Upstart Upstart is a leading AI lending platform partnering with banks to expand access to affordable credit. By leveraging Upstart's AI platform, Upstart-powered banks can have higher approval rates and lower loss rates, while simultaneously delivering the exceptional digital-first lending experience their customers demand. More than two-thirds of Upstart loans are approved instantly and are fully automated. Upstart was founded by ex-Googlers in 2012 and is based in San Mateo, California and Columbus, Ohio. 1 In 2019, total light-vehicle dealership sales exceeded $1.02 trillion per the National Automobile Dealers Association 2019 Annual Financial Profile. 2 Variables refers to all raw variables and certain combined variables considered in our AI models. 3 Based on an internal study in which Upstart replicated three bank models using their respective underwriting policies and evaluated their hypothetical loss rates and approval rates using Upstarts applicant base in late 2017. The Government's decision to form travel corridors with European countries fuelled a rise in Covid cases, an official study has suggested. Public Health England's analysis of 4,000 positive tests in patients with recent travel links last summer found 86 per cent were arrivals from the continent. The study, which is likely to reignite the debate about foreign travel, said infections were 'significantly' more likely to come from countries which the UK had formed travel corridors with. Greece was the largest source of imported cases, making up 21 per cent of new infections, compared with 16 per cent for Croatia and 14 per cent for Spain. Officials who did the analysis, which was quietly published this week, said the findings highlight 'the need for active surveillance' at Britain's borders. Travel corridors were introduced on July 4 and allowed people coming to England from nations which ministers deemed safe to enter untested and avoid quarantine. While countries including Croatia and Spain were put on the quarantine list when their case rates went up, the travel corridor to Greece was left open until November. Boris Johnson raised the prospect of holidays abroad last month when he laid out his roadmap out of lockdown, which will see all main curbs lifted by June 21. But with a spiralling third wave tearing through Europe and more variants cropping up every week, there are concerns travel curbs may have to stay beyond that date. One of the Government's top advisers, 'Professor Lockdown' Neil Ferguson, warned today that the rise of the South African variant on the continent meant it was too dangerous to return to restriction-free travel anytime soon. It is currently illegal for Britons to travel abroad under lockdown rules in England and only those travelling for business or emergencies are permitted to do so. The Government's decision to form travel corridors with European countries last summer may have fuelled a rise in Covid cases, an official study has suggested Writing in the paper, the researchers said: 'This highlights the need for active surveillance of imported cases of Sars-CoV-2 for the introduction of travel corridors in a timely manner.' The travel corridor policy introduced in July exempted people from 14 days of quarantine when returning from countries deemed safe, a period later reduced to 10. A Department for Transport spokesman said: 'As this report rightly points out, travel restrictions imposed by Government were effective in reducing the transmission of imported cases of Covid-19. Britain's Covid vaccine shortage may stop millions of under-50s from going on holiday this summer, expert warns Britain's route out of lockdown could be delayed because of the shortfalls in the Covid vaccine supply next month, an expert has warned. All lockdown restrictions are expected to be lifted by June 21 at the earliest, under Boris Johnson's ultra-cautious roadmap out of lockdown. But a fall in supply of the vaccine to the UK, thought to be down to a delayed shipment of 5million doses from India, could threaten plans for Brits to return to the pub and go on holiday over summer. The roadmap out of lockdown is reliant on the vaccine drive going smoothly to ensure millions of vulnerable Britons, most of whom have already had their first dose, are protected in the event of a third wave. Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said millions of youngsters could find themselves excluded from being allowed on holidays in the summer, if foreign countries make it a requirement for all travellers to be fully vaccinated before entering. He said that meeting the target dates set out by the Prime Minister would be 'more difficult' and if two doses were required for holidays abroad, people would remain limited in what they can do. Britain's vaccine shortage has forced No10 to shelve plans to start vaccinating over-40s in the coming weeks, with supplies reserved for second doses. Advertisement 'Guided by the latest scientific data, the Government acted rapidly to remove travel corridors with Greece and Spain, and we continue to have robust measures in place to protect the country against imported cases of the virus.' Under current lockdown rules, travellers face coronavirus tests and quarantine, and some have to self-isolate at a hotel at their own expense. All travellers to the UK must complete a passenger locator form in advance, including which country they are coming from and where they are staying in the UK. They also have to show proof of a negative Covid test produced within three days before flying. They must then self-isolate at home for 10 days. Travellers from low risk countries can take a test on the fifth day of quarantine and those who test negative can stop isolating. However, people coming from 'red list' countries, such as Brazil or South Africa, where new Covid variants have been found, have to go into a strict quarantine in hotels selected by the government. Only UK residents or Irish nationals are allowed to travel to the UK from these countries. It comes as Professor Neil Ferguson warned today that Britain must keep out the South African variant of coronavirus amid spiralling cases in Europe, suggesting foreign holiday plans may have to be shelved. The SAGE adviser - dubbed 'Professor Lockdown' because his gloomy modelling of the first wave spooked ministers into the spring shutdown - said the troubling Covid strain was accounting for a 'significant' amount of new cases on the continent. He stopped short of calling for an outright travel ban but hinted that tough surveillance and quarantining at airports and borders would need to remain in place. The South African variant, officially known as B.1.351, is the Covid strain concerning scientists most because it makes the current crop of vaccines slightly less effective. However, jab makers are still confident the immune response stimulated by inoculation is enough to protect the vast majority of people from falling sick with the strain. Professor Ferguson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Perhaps of more concern for the UK though is that some countries are notably seeing a significant fraction, five to 10 per cent of cases, of the South African variant. 'When infection levels go up in France, to 30,000 cases a day, that implies there's at least 1,500 to 2,000 cases a day of the South African variant. That is the variant we really do want to keep out of the UK.' He added that 'important decisions' were coming up, including whether or not No10 can relax international travel restrictions to Europe. Britain has already identified up to 344 cases of the South African variant, sparking surge-testing in dozens of postcodes in a desperate attempt to root out every single infection. Minister of Education Curtis King assured that vaccine was not mandatory for teachers returniong to school. Teachers are not obligated to get the COVID-19 vaccine before they return to the classrooms on April 12. This was the assurance given by Education Minister Curtis King, in response to the Parliamentary Representative for the Southern Grenadines Terrence Ollivierres supplementary question in Parliament on March 16. King explained that the non-obligatory position was based on the premise that getting the vaccine was not a legal prerequisite. The Minister, however, said that his Ministry is bolstered by the fact that government has made available a vaccine to all citizens, and he encouraged all teachers to take the vaccine. "The Ministry, he said, "had concluded the process of sensitizing our teachers on the vaccines. Ollivierre had earlier posed a question about the mechanisms being implemented to facilitate the safe reopening of schools, to which King responded that the protocols were presently being updated in preparation for the return to the classroom. As for instructional time that had been lost due to the change from face-to-face instruction to online schooling since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, King admitted that this was difficult to quantify. He assured, though, that his Ministry was working on an academic recovery programme that will provide a multiple-prong approach to address the issue of instructional time lost due to the coronavirus. The programme is being developed with the support of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) with funding from the Global Partnership for Education. WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS, Ohio A man wanted in connection with a fatal shooting in New Philadelphia was arrested Thursday by federal agents in Warrensville Heights. Tequan Franklin, 22, was arrested by members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force as he sat in his vehicle outside a convenience store on the 3900 block of Warrensville Center Road, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Franklin was wanted on a charge of complicity to commit murder. Police say Franklin and another suspect, Sajjaad Butler, 19, were involved in the March 5 shooting death of Gaven Carlisle, 22. According to authorities, Butler and Franklin met with Carlisle as part of a drug deal before the fatal shooting. Butler was arrested by federal agents on March 5 in Canton. Authorities did not say when Franklin is scheduled to appear in court. More crime-related content on cleveland.com: Men imprisoned since 2006 get new trial after Cleveland police officers contradict fellow officers testimony Man fatally shot in West Akron Man stabbed with box cutter outside Lakewood bar St. Patricks Day night Cleveland man attacks, punches woman at Tower in the Park apartments in Berea Syracuse, N.Y. - In a week where the Syracuse school district learned it was getting a staggering $128 million in federal aid, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand came to town to advocate for more. Today Gillibrand visited Dr. Weeks, a community school in the high-poverty school district, to announce a bill that would increase the aid for Weeks and other schools like it exponentially. The legislation would provide $3.6 billion in aid over five years for community schools. The schools are ones that are usually located in high-poverty areas. They provide wrap-around services to kids and their families. At Dr. Weeks, there is a health clinic, a dental clinic, a mental health clinic and a community center. The services are there for the students and their families. Its unclear how much money Syracuse would get from the bill. Gillibrand said the legislation is expected to pass this spring and she hopes the money would be available by June for the coming school year. The money would be completely separate from the Covid-19 relief money that the district is slated to get, Gillibrand said. That $128 million -- of which the district gives 10% to the state -- is for budget shortfalls and specific problems caused by the pandemic. Expanding the services community schools provide and the number of community schools would also help address problems that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, Gillibrand said. We know that what happens outside the classroom affects how well students do inside the classroom. If a student is hungry or dealing with a challenge at home, its harder to focus, harder to learn, harder to succeed. Education experts predict the pandemic will lead to learning loss in math and in reading. Especially for students who are already behind and widen the achievement gap. Thats why the work of community schools like Dr. Weeks elementary have never been more important, Gillibrand said. Fourth graders lined the brick wall outside Dr. Weeks school waiting to see the senator. Theyd heard she was important and hoped to meet her. But it was cold. Some of the kids didnt have gloves on. Patty Sawmiller began handing out new gloves with the tags still on them. Sawmiller is the director of the community school program at Dr. Weeks. Keeping the kids hands warm is just part of her job, she said later. Syracuse has two community schools -- Dr. Weeks and Dr. King. It has six other schools with health clinics in the school, said Syracuse Superintendent Jaime Alicea. Gillibrand said the pandemic has exacerbated problems in low-income communities and communities of color. Community schools, such as Weeks, are perfectly poised to help address those concerns as more kids return to school, she said. Syracuse and other districts could also apply to have more schools be considered community schools, Gillibrand said. Diane Vitello, the principal of Dr. Weeks, said the extra supports provided by the community school model help her and the other staff make sure students are fed and healthy both emotionally and physically. When the kids dont have to worry about those things, she said, its easier for them to learn. When community schools are funded adequately, they can make all the difference in getting children in school and keeping them here with us, Vitello said. Marnie Eisenstadt writes about people, public affairs and the Syracuse City School District. Contact her anytime email | Twitter| cell 315-470-2246. The Southern Baptist church that counted the suspect in a series of deadly spa shootings as an active member said on Friday that the attacks were the result of a sinful heart and depraved mind and that it had begun the process of removing him from its membership. We want to be clear that this extreme and wicked act is nothing less than rebellion against our Holy God and His Word, the statement from Crabapple First Baptist Church, in Milton, Ga., said. It added, The shootings were a total repudiation of our faith and practice, and such actions are completely unacceptable and contrary to the gospel. The suspect, Robert Aaron Long, was charged this week with eight counts of murder in the attacks on three massage parlors in and around Atlanta. A former roommate has described a religious mania that marked Mr. Longs life in the years before the shooting spree. And the police have said that Mr. Long, 21, told them he had a sexual addiction, and that the shootings were an attempt to eliminate temptation. Security forces in Myanmar fired live rounds and tear gas on anti-coup protesters Friday, killing at least two people and injuring at least eight others in the central town of Aungban in the eastern Shan state. Several demonstrators were arrested in Aungban, as protesters again took to the streets there end elsewhere, including the cities of Yangon and Mandalay, and towns of Myingyan and Katha, and Myawaddy, according to witnesses and media reports. The Associated Press is reporting that authorities have arrested a spokesperson for National League for Democracy, the party of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. There are also media reports and witness accounts that people are fleeing the country, as the crackdown has intensified, during which more than 230 people have been killed and about 2,000 arrested since the coup on February 1. The junta imposed martial law on six townships in Yangon, Myanmars commercial hub, effectively putting about 2 million people under direct control of the military. The United States and other Western countries have condemned the coup and called for an end to the violence. They have also called for the release of Suu Kyi and other leaders arrested. By Benjamin Jumbe Parliament has passed the National coffee bill for the second time. The National Coffee Bill was first passed in August 2020 to provide for the registration of coffee farmers by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and sought to repeal the Uganda Coffee Development Authority Act, 1991 President Museveni however declined to assent to the Bill and asked parliament to review several provisions in the proposed law. The President among other things asked parliament to review clause 26 on the registration of coffee farmers and the issuance of a certificate of registration for coffee nursery operators. Mayor Ted Wheeler pledged last week at a news conference to move quickly to seek $2 million to bring back a uniformed police patrol team to help stem a significant wave of gun violence in Portland, but this week he acknowledged he needs more time. Wheeler told proponents of the plan that he must provide additional information to fellow commissioners to gain support. What I proposed to my colleagues is to slow this down. Its not going to happen as quickly as this group has envisioned it might, Wheeler said Wednesday, speaking to public safety representatives from the city, county and federal government and community representatives. This is politically controversial, he said. My colleagues will need to know the community is standing with them as they make these decisions. As mayor, I am not an island. I am one vote out of five. I need at least three votes. The mayor told the group that he believes he eventually will get the votes. The proposal calls for $2 million in one-time funding to allow more proactive policing on city streets with greater civilian oversight and data collected and publicly shared on police stops and arrests. The plan would bring back a uniformed team of two sergeants and 12 officers to try to intercept and seize guns and work to prevent shootings and retaliatory violence in the city. The team also would respond to shootings, do follow-up investigations and engage with people who are at risk of gun violence. During the same meeting, Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty criticized the Inter-Faith Peace & Action Collaborative for unveiling the plan with the mayor before telling her and other city commissioners about it. Hardesty went further, calling out the collaboratives representatives, Pastor J. Matt Hennessee and Antoinette Edwards, alleging that the fact that they have stood with the police in the past has made them less legitimate leaders in the eyes of the public. She made the remarks in a meeting of nearly 40 people, including Multnomah Countys district attorney, the police chief and sheriff, the new acting U.S. attorney in Oregon, the county chair and the head of the countys Department of Community Justice. I want to be as clear as possibleHaving people lead this effort who have stood with the police in a midst of a racial justice reckoning around police misconduct as it relates to Black people in our community also gives people pause, Hardesty said. She said she respects both Hennessee, chair of the collaborative, and Edwards, who led the citys Office of Violence Prevention for 10 years before retiring in 2019. But then Hardesty added: You are the only two Black people that stood with Daryl Turner to say you would march with the police at the height of a racial reckoning on police misconduct and the community has not forgotten. Her remarks referenced a July news conference that Hennessee and Edwards attended outside the police union office in North Portland when Turner, the president of the Portland Police Association, called for a moratorium on violence and vandalism that often erupted after dark at social justice protests. About 20 religious leaders, business owners, police and neighborhood residents stood with Turner that day. Edwards, Hennessee and Gina Ronning, a local activist who is part of the collaborative, took offense at Hardestys comments and said so. They said theyre focused on whats best for the city. It feels extremely invalidating and dehumanizing to be labeled a name like a police apologist because it invalidates the experiences and feelings that we have, and its just not helpful, Ronning said. Making things really personal doesnt help get us to where we need to go at all, Ronning said. Its unprofessional, and I just feel that its disrespectful for the people who are dying on the street. Edwards said she wont be deterred by the commissioners negative energy. You know, Sister City Council, you went low, Edwards said, but Im going to go high. Im not going to be distracted from the urgency of this call, of this crisis and this time. ... Im not apologizing. I will work with anybody to do right. Were here because we care. And this negative energy, Im not going to be deterred by it. Hardesty responded that she didnt mean to disrespect anyone. Im not here to just be a rubber stamp. ... I bring the reality of the constituents that I work with, she said. Hardesty said she wants money to go into boosting community-based programs, such street outreach workers or Healing Hurt People, which sends support workers to help shooting victims and their families in hospitals. Hardesty said she was disturbed to first learn of the $2 million proposal for police the day after the City Council approved a $2.1 million settlement in a wrongful death suit filed against the city in the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Quanice Hayes in 2017. She urged Wheeler to hold off on any spending plan for the police gun enforcement team before he attends a Black Male Town Hall with her on March 30. Hardesty was the main proponent of the successful push last year to eliminate the Police Bureaus Gun Violence Reduction Team, citing concerns about its disproportionate stops of people of color. Wheeler told Hardesty that he reserves the right as police commissioner to allocate police resources but said: As always, I hear your larger point. Edwards said the collaboratives proposal for the $2 million which includes money to cover increased community oversight and more police stop and arrest data -- was first discussed in late December. Police Chief Chuck Lovell submitted the plan to the mayor on Dec. 23. Edwards said shell not apologize for working with police to respond to an alarming proliferation of fatal shootings in the city that have largely claimed the lives of young Black men and women and other people of color. As of Wednesday, Lovell reported 236 shootings so far this year in Portland, including 61 that resulted in injuries. A person of color was wounded in more than three-fourths of the 61 shootings, the police chief said. Following Wednesday nights fatal shooting inside a WinCo, 21 people have died in homicides so far this year across the city. Quoting abolitionist and social reformer Frederick Douglass, Edwards said, I would stand united with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong. Hennessee said, How many shots have to be fired? How many people have to be injured and killed before theres a plan thats adopted and we move forward to interrupt this horrible spate of gun violence? -- Maxine Bernstein Email mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212 Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian (Newser) America's top diplomats met their Chinese counterparts in Alaska Thursdayand it was clear from the start that relations would remain frosty. In his opening statement at the Biden's administration's first face-to-face high-level talks with China, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US would discuss its "deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyberattacks on the United States, economic coercion of our allies," reports Reuters. Yang Jeichi, China's top diplomat, fired back, accusing the US of bullying other countries into "attacking China" and suggesting it was hypocritical for the US to express concerns about human rights elsewhere when Black Americans are being "slaughtered." story continues below "The United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength," Yang said. When reporters were about to be ushered out so a private meeting could take place, the American side asked them to stay as they delivered more remarks, Politico reports. The Chinese side then also demanded a second round of comments. A Biden administration official later said the Chinese side had arrived "intent on grandstanding." Barbara Plett-Usher at the BBC calls the meeting "an unusually undiplomatic sparring match," though she notes that "there may have been a certain amount of posturing involved, as a US official said the private conversation that followed was substantive and serious." (Read more US-China relations stories.) Joe Biden is missing some of his marbles. It shows in his very few stops in front of a microphone where he often asks, what am I doing here? Joes not the only one with missing marbles in Democrat-controlled Washington. Now Pelosis House has passed a sweeping reform of police procedures called George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (HR 1280) to fight systemic racism in police departments. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The World Health Organization gave strong backing to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab on Friday, urging countries to maintain the roll-out after reviewing reports of blood clots. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there was "no question" over the benefits after the UN health agency's vaccine safety experts found no increase in clotting conditions linked to an AstraZeneca shot. Several European countries resumed AstraZeneca vaccinations on Friday after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) likewise gave their green light on Thursday. "We understand that people may have had concerns about the safety of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine," Tedros told a press conference. "The question with any pharmaceutical or vaccine is whether the risk of taking it is greater or less than the risk of the disease it is meant to prevent or treat. "There is no question: COVID-19 is a deadly disease and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine can prevent it. "The available data do not suggest any overall increase in clotting conditions following administration of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. "We urge countries to continue using this important vaccine." 'Tremendous potential' The WHO's Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) met virtually on Tuesday and Friday. It reviewed available information and data on thromboembolic events (blood clots) and thrombocytopenia (low platelets) after vaccination with an AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot. The committee said the jab "continues to have a positive benefit-risk profile, with tremendous potential to prevent infections and reduce deaths across the world. "The available data do not suggest any overall increase in clotting conditions such as deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism." Those two conditions "occur naturally and are not uncommon", and also occur as a result of COVID-19, the experts said. "While very rare and unique thromboembolic events in combination with thrombocytopenia, such as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), have also been reported following vaccination with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Europe, it is not certain that they have been caused by vaccination." The EU's EMA regulators have reviewed 18 such cases out of more than 20 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccinations in Europe, and "a causal relationship between these rare events has not been established at this time". The AstraZeneca vaccine accounts for more than 90 percent of the doses being distributed around the world in the first wave of the Covax global vaccine-sharing facility. Just under 30 million doses have so far been distributed to 50 countries as part of the scheme, which aims to ensure poorer nations get enough doses to vaccinate at least 20 percent of their population by the end of the year. European countries resume shots Worries that AstraZeneca's vaccine may cause blood clots have seen countries from Venezuela to Indonesia pause its use in recent days, besides European nations. But Germany and Italy, among others, said they were using the jab again as of Friday after the EMA said it was "safe and effective". Other European countries including the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal are also ending their suspension. The WHO vaccine safety experts recommended that countries continue monitoring COVID-19 vaccine safety and report suspected adverse events. The GACVS also agreed with the EMA's plans to further investigate and monitor for such events. The committee said health care professionals and people being vaccinated should be told how to recognise the signs and symptoms of all serious adverse events after immunisation with COVID-19 jabs. Explore further WHO reiterates call to continue use of AstraZeneca jab 2021 AFP LIMA, PERU / ACCESSWIRE / March 19, 2021 / Intercorp Financial Services Inc. ("IFS" or "the Company") (BVL:IFS) (NYSE:IFS) announced that, in accordance with the Company's Bylaws, its Virtual Annual Shareholders' Meeting will be held on March 31, 2021 in first call at 09:00 a.m. Peruvian Time. In the case that the first call does not reach quorum as set for under IFS's Bylaws, the second call will take place on April 07, 2021, at the same time and mode described previously. The following agenda will be discussed: 2020 Results Presentation. Approval of the Annual Report for the fiscal year 2020. Approval of the Audited Separate and Consolidated Financial Statements for the fiscal year 2020. Approval of Net Profit Allocation and Dividend Distribution for the fiscal year 2020. Approval of 2021 Dividend Policy. Delegation of powers to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the approval of the designation of the External Auditors and determination of their compensation for IFS and subsidiaries for the fiscal year 2021. Election of the members of the Board of Directors for the period 2021-2023. Approval of the remuneration payable to the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee members for the period 2021-2023. Approval of power of attorney to formalize the decisions taken at the Annual Shareholders' Meeting. Shareholders may attend the 2021 Annual Shareholders' Meeting virtually or by proxy. Proxies must be registered with the Company, sent by email to the Investor Relations Office (ir@intercorp.com.pe), at least 48 hours in advance of the scheduled time for the Annual Shareholders' Meeting. Likewise, it is hereby evidenced that all information regarding the agenda to be discussed in the Company's Annual Shareholders' Meeting, as well as a valid proxy for shareholders' representation and the related guidelines, are available on IFS' website (www.ifs.com.pe). About the Company: Intercorp Financial Services, Inc. ("IFS"), is a company incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Panama, and has securities listed on the Lima Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. IFS is a leading provider of financial services in Peru. IFS' main subsidiaries are Banco Internacional del Peru, S.A.A.-Interbank ("Interbank"), Interseguro Compania de Seguros, S.A. ("Interseguro") and Inteligo Group Corp. ("Inteligo"). Interbank is a full-service bank providing general banking services to retail and commercial customers. Interseguro is a leading insurance company, providing annuities, individual life insurance, disability insurance and survivor benefits, and mandatory traffic accident insurance. Inteligo is a fast-growing provider of wealth management services through Inteligo Bank Ltd. and Interfondos, as well as brokerage services through Inteligo SAB. SOURCE: INTERCORP FINANCIAL SERVICES INC. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/636451/Intercorp-Financial-Services-Announces-Virtual-Annual-Shareholders-Meeting Rumer Willis bore a striking resemblance to her mother Demi Moore when she was spotted in Los Angeles on Thursday. The 32-year-old wore her luxurious black hair down while picking up some dog food and although she was wearing a mask the family connection was evident. That same day Rumer's younger sister Scout, 29, was spotted surfacing from lockdown in the same city to run errands. On the go: Rumer Willis bore a striking resemblance to her mother Demi Moore when she was spotted in Los Angeles on Thursday Spot the resemblance: Demi is pictured in October 2019 attending the WSJ Tech Live event at The Montage Laguna Beach in California She was modeling a pair of bright red sweats for her latest outing and was carrying her dog Grandma in a large sling. Scout slipped into a plunging off-white T-shirt and slung a bulging satchel from her right shoulder for her latest outing. Grandma, who is a chihuahua and dachshund mix, was rescued by Scout while scampering down the street a few years ago, she revealed on Instagram in 2019. Demi shares Rumer, Scout and a 27-year-old daughter called Tallulah with her ex-husband Bruce Willis whom she was married to from 1987 to 2000. Mover and shaker: That same day Rumer's younger sister Scout, 29, was spotted surfacing from lockdown in the same city to run errands Bruce, still handsome at 66, is now married to 42-year-old model Emma Heming with whom he has two more daughters - Mabel, six, and Evelyn, eight. The blended family get along so well that earlier in lockdown Bruce was isolating in Idaho with Emma, Demi and all of his daughters. Scout is currently dating the leggy musician Jake Miller with whom she celebrated her three-year anniversary near the end of 2020. Meanwhile earlier this month Rumer fired up her Insta Stories and candidly told her fans about her issues with anxiety. Canine company: She was modeling a pair of bright red sweats for her latest outing and was carrying her dog Grandma in a large sling Girls only: Demi shares Rumer, Scout and a 27-year-old daughter called Tallulah with her ex-husband Bruce Willis whom she was married to from 1987 to 2000 'I have been Dealing with bad anxiety since yesterday, but working on learning how to self soothe,' Rumer revealed on social media. 'Its really had when they get bad and sometimes I feel like Im dying, I get nauseous and my heart wont show down.' The showbiz legacy went on to note: 'But I realized the worst thing I can do is try to fight against it or be resistant to it.' Rumer shared her process: 'I have to catch myself when I find myself focusing on just wishing it was somehow different.' The International Criminal Court has given Israel and the Palestinians one month to ask the tribunal to postpone its war crimes investigation, provided they can prove they are carrying out their own probes. The ICCs chief prosecutor announced on March 3 that she had opened a full investigation into the situation in the Israeli-occupied territories infuriating Israel, which is not a member of the Hague-based court. A deferral notice was sent on March 9 to all member states of the ICC, including all states that would normally exercise jurisdiction including Israel and Palestine, an official in the prosecutors office told AFP Friday. The notice, sent under Article 18 of the courts founding document, the Rome Statute, gives countries a month to tell judges they are investigating crimes similar to those being probed by the ICC, the official said. States may then reply to the ICC detailing whether they are in fact carrying out their own probe into alleged perpetrators, and can ask the chief prosecutor for a deferral. The Palestinians, who have been a state party to the ICC since 2015, have welcomed the investigation and said they will not seek any deferral. The worlds only permanent war crimes tribunal, the ICC was set up in 2002 to try the humanitys worst crimes where local courts are unwilling or unable to step in. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has said her investigation will cover the situation in the blockaded Gaza Strip along with the Israeli-occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem since 2014. It will mainly focus on the 2014 Gaza War but also look at the deaths of Palestinian demonstrators from 2018 onwards. There is reasonable basis to believe crimes were committed by both sides by the Israeli Defense Forces and Israeli authorities, and by Hamas and Palestinian armed groups, Bensouda said after concluding a five-year preliminary probe in 2019. Israel has rejected the investigation, saying the court has no jurisdiction over its citizens. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a vocal critic of the ICC, has said the decision to open the probe was the essence of anti-Semitism and declared Israel was under attack. However, Netanyahu has not made clear whether Israel would fight back through diplomacy and public opinion or by engaging directly with the ICC. The United States has also criticised the ICC investigation and voiced support for its ally Israel. As Mumbai crossed the daily count of 3,000-plus Covid-19 cases on Friday for the first time since the pandemic hit the country, and Maharashtra's total tally zoomed past 24 lakh, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray warned that "a lockdown is an option in future". Adding 25,681 new cases - compared with highest 25,833 new patients on Thursday, the state tally now stands at 24,22,021. Similarly, Mumbai added another 3,063 new cases and the city total jumped to 355,914, sending shockwaves among the civic health authorities. "Lockdown is an option for the future as I can see it... But I expect voluntary cooperation from all people," a grim Thackeray told media persons in Nandurbar after reviewing the ongoing vaccination programme in some remote tribal areas. Health Secretary Pradeep Vyas cautioned that if the cases continued to increase at the current rate, by April 1st week, the state's active cases could double from the present 1.77 lakh to 3 lakh. Thackeray also made it clear that those who have been vaccinated and those awaiting their turn would have to compulsorily wear masks, maintain physical distancing and ensure sanitisation. "It is now a year since we are battling the pandemic. We brought it under control, but now there's a sudden surge which is matter of concern," he said. Rattled by the fresh wave, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday asked all hospitals to ensure a minimum 1,000 people are vaccinated daily to achieve 100,000-vaccinations per day in the city of around 1.75 crore. Simultaneously, the state government reiterated its orders of last week, and ordered all private offices to function at 50 percent staff strength, barring those in the manufacturing sector, while adhering to full Covid-19 protocols. The government has also ordered all cinema halls, auditoriums, drama halls, etc to operate at only 50 percent capacity and following all other norms. With 70 more deaths recorded during the day, the state death toll increased to 53,208. The state death rate was 2.20 percent, the recovery rate stood at 90.42 percent, with the number of active cases, jumping to 177,560 now, with the highest figure of patients in Pune, Mumbai and Thane, respectively. The number of people sent to home isolation shot up to 867,333 while those shunted to institutional quarantine increased to 7,848 on Friday. After numerous discussions with the Biden administration Canada is in the process of finalizing an exchange agreement, it read in part. Ms. Anand and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had little more to add on Friday afternoon, saying only that the talks were still underway and that the details would come later. Ontarios premier, Doug Ford, appeared to learn about the White House announcement from a reporters question during a news conference. His reaction was more effusive. Thats what true neighbors do, he said. You help each other out in a crisis. As he did when publicly pleading with President Biden to release Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to Canada from a plant in Michigan earlier this year, Mr. Ford offered to personally drive down in his pickup truck to load up the vaccine. We can take all the vaccines you can give us, he said. From Ms. Psakis remarks, it appears that the United States will officially just be lending Canada and Mexico the vaccines. Its not clear whether they will ultimately have to be replaced in kind or if the loan will be of the forgivable nature. She also said that the United States might soon share surpluses of other vaccines. New Delhi: An eight-year-old boy has suffered critical bullet injuries while allegedly posing for a selfie with a country-made pistol in Uttar Pradeshs Ghaziabad district on Monday late. While relatives claim a neighbour allegedly opened fire at the boy after he denied buying cigarettes. Superintendent of Police Ghaziabad Dehat told News Nation, We are investigating the case in all angles. He added that they have arrested one Shadab and questioning him in connection to the incident. According to an eyewitness, the victim along with his friend was playing with a country-made pistol when it got triggered. Also Read: 2 Indore girls click selfies with poison cups, found dead The bullet struck the boys head, said an eyewitness. Police said the minor was rushed to a local hospital for medical attention from where he was later shifted to GTB hospital in Delhi. Also Read: Baby dolphin dies after several beachgoers in Spain pulled it out to take selfie A police official not willing to be quoted said, According to an eyewitness, Junaid borrowed the lethal weapon from one of their neighbours Shadab alias and Kale. The kid along with two others were taking selfies when the pistol got triggered. However, parents of Junaid have lodged an FIR with Mussoorie police station. In the FIR they have mentioned that Shadab had asked Junaid to buy cigarettes. Shadab allegedly shot the minor after being denied. (With inputs from Himanshu Sharma) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 75F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Overcast with rain showers at times. Low 62F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Subscriber content preview By HOPE YEN Associated Press WASHINGTON Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Thursday that an infrastructure plan expected soon from President Joe Biden will offer a once in a century opportunity to remake transportation in the United States, where cars and highways are no longer king. Speaking at the Austin, Texas-based South by Southwest conference, which is being held virtually this year, Buttigieg compared the new possibility to the creation of an interstate highway under President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s and a transcontinental railroad under President Abraham Lincoln a century before that. . . . .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal Recently released state data shows about 37% of New Mexicans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, including about 41,000 registrants who werent technically eligible under the states current vaccine priority framework. A revised state Department of Health dashboard pertaining only to the registry states that 60% of New Mexicans receive their vaccines by registering with the state, while another 40% take place through other providers (local pharmacies, clinics, etc.). The state has been urging people for weeks to sign up on its registration system and top officials havent mentioned alternatives. But Matt Bieber, a DOH spokesman, said in a recent DOH social media vaccine update that, You do not have to be registered with the state to get vaccinated. There are still a couple of dozen providers around the state local pharmacies and primary care physicians typically that are not partnered with the state that are doing their own vaccinations. They do their own scheduling, they do their own appointments and then they report to the state immunization system afterward. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Another 280 or so providers statewide require people to first go through the states registration system for a vaccine appointment, state officials have said. But other providers, including physicians and health care organizations, are booking appointments for their patients and vaccinating people who are eligible under the current guidelines no state registration required. Those providers do report to the state Department of Health that they have given the vaccine. One Rio Rancho woman this week gave up on the state registry appointment process and was able to schedule a vaccination in conjunction with a visit to her doctor. Others have been vaccinated after checking late in the day with area pharmacies to find leftover doses that otherwise would go to waste. Once unfrozen, some vaccines have a limited shelf life. Bieber in an email response to the Journal this week would not identify those providers operating outside the registry, noting that they handle their own advertising and scheduling. We arent sharing a list of those providers publicly, in part because it can change (given vaccine availability) and in part because we dont want the public showing up at locations without appointments, he said. If members of the public who want a vaccine happen to see one (of the providers) in their area, theyre welcome to call, Bieber said. Bieber said those providers who are giving vaccines outside the state registration system, but according to eligibility, are performing a valuable service. So, its a little funky because weve got this two-part system, said Bieber during a social media vaccine presentation last week on Facebook. I will say its a good thing weve got this two-part system because, in states that dont have this registration site, its basically a free-for-all. Bieber added, But we understand it creates a little bit of confusion to have this two-track system. To that end, we have just produced a second vaccine dashboard. A link to the states progress of vaccinating people through its registry now appears on the broader cvvaccine.nmhealth.org website. That second dashboard lists the various registrant categories according to the states phases of vaccination, but also notes that out of phase vaccinations may take place when vaccine is nearly expiry. According to the dashboard, of the 41,000 people who have been vaccinated out of phase which is allowed if vaccines are in danger of expiring 11,001 people in the Phase 1B category of front-line essential workers, such as grocery store employees, have had at least one shot. Another 20,420 registrants in the Phase 1C group of those 60 years and older, and other essential workers have had at least one dose, Another 9,343 in the Phase 2 category of 16 and over without health conditions have received at least one shot. Technically, only those in the 1A group, which covers health care workers and medical first responders, along with three subgroups of 1B, those 75 and older, educators and those with chronic conditions, are eligible. Educators have a high priority this month. The state uses a randomized process to match registrants eligible for a vaccine with an appointment. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 18:53:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ANCHORAGE, the United States, March 18 (Xinhua) -- China has never accepted and will never accept unwarranted accusations from the United States, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi here on Thursday. The United States should quit its old bad habit of hegemonism and completely abandon its overbearing behavior of interfering in China's internal affairs, Wang said at the start of a high-level strategic dialogue with the United States in the Alaskan city of Anchorage. Noting that Anchorage is located in the middle of the air route between the capitals of China and the United States, Wang called the city a "gas station" for China-U.S. exchanges and an "intersection" for the two countries to meet each other halfway. In the past few years, due to the irrational suppression of China's legitimate rights and interests, China-U.S. relations have encountered unprecedented difficulties, Wang said, adding that this situation has harmed the interests of the two peoples as well as stability and development of the world, and should stop. He said the U.S. escalation of sanctions on Hong Kong-related issues on March 17 is a gross interference in China's internal affairs, which has aroused strong indignation among the Chinese people. It is not a normal way of hosting guests that the United States introduced the sanctions on the eve of the Chinese side's departure for the dialogue, Wang said. If the United States wants to enhance its so-called advantage over China through the act, it has totally miscalculated as this just exposes the inner weakness and powerlessness of America, the Chinese official said. This practice will not at all affect China's legitimate position, nor will it shake the firm will of the Chinese people to safeguard sovereignty and dignity of the nation, he added. Wang said that since the U.S. side mentioned in opening remarks that some countries believed that China coerced them, it should clarify whether such a claim came from those countries or America's own assumption. If the United States is partial to some countries just because they are its allies, or even takes sides with their wrong words and deeds, it will be difficult for a smooth development of international relations, Wang added. Emphasizing that the phone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden on the eve of the Chinese lunar new year is very important, Wang said the consensus reached by the two heads of state has guided the direction for China-U.S. relations to get back on track. The international community is paying close attention to the Anchorage dialogue over whether China and the United States can truly show sincerity and goodwill, and whether the two sides can send out positive signals to the whole world, he said. If the U.S. side is willing, China can work with the United States to exchange views on the basis of mutual respect, take on their responsibilities, and deliver on the tasks they are given, Wang added. Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, as well as Wang, are attending the two-day high-level strategic dialogue with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Enditem Authorities say DNA found on a faucet in the kitchen of an Old Jefferson murder victim's apartment linked his downstairs neighbor to the killing. Jerry Gelpi, 38, was booked with second-degree murder and obstruction of justice in the stabbing death of Charles Davis, 68. Gelpi, who is being held at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna, appeared via video conference Tuesday for a probable cause hearing in Jefferson Parish Magistrate Court. Davis' body was discovered Feb. 9 by his daughter after he missed a doctor's appointment, Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office Detective Steven Keller testified. She found him lying dead in the bathtub of his second-floor apartment in the 400 block of Highway Drive in Old Jefferson. Davis was wearing a shirt, pants and a windbreaker. His shoes were also in the tub, according to Keller. There were "large amounts of blood spattered across the floor, the walls and in the tub," Keller said. The sink had been pulled away from the wall but the rest of the apartment showed no signs of a fight, leading detectives to surmise that whatever struggle claimed Davis' life had been confined to the bathroom. Investigators noticed drops of blood leading away from the bathroom and into the kitchen. There, they saw blood on the handle of a kitchen faucet and on the floor. Crime scene analysts swabbed the faucet and other areas for possible DNA, according to Keller. Meanwhile, investigators spoke with Davis' neighbors who described him as a quiet man who had lived there since 2015 and didn't have many visitors, Keller said. Davis' relatives say he was still recovering for a COVID-19 infection in the spring of 2020. Davis had lost 75 pounds while hospitalized for three months and was still using an oxygen tank at time of his death, family members 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 But when investigators spoke with Gelpi on the day Davis' body was found, he described his elderly neighbor as a loud drunk who often threw parties and made quite a bit of noise, according to Keller. "That contradicted what was previously described by neighbors and family of Mr. Davis' behavior," Keller said. After surveillance video showed no one entering or leaving the six-unit apartment building in the time surrounding the homicide, investigators began to look for a suspect within the property, according to Keller. While probing Gelpi's criminal background, they learned that he had been convicted of robbery in a 2013 incident during which he threatened an employee with a knife while shoplifting at a Springfield, Ohio, Rite Aid, Keller testified. Because of the conviction, Gelpi had to submit his DNA to the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). When Sheriff's Office investigators ran the profile of the DNA taken from Davis' faucet, it matched Gelpi's submitted profile, Keller said. When detectives first spoke to Gelpi on Feb. 9, he said he had never been inside Davis' apartment, Keller testified. But his story changed after he was taken into custody nine days later, according to authorities. "He claims to have visited Mr. Davis four months prior to the incident," Keller said. "I believe it was a self-serving statement to circumvent the fact that he was aware that he left forensic evidence in the apartment." Gelpi's statement changed again when he later told investigators he'd been in Davis' apartment on Feb. 8, the day before the homicide, and watched a movie with his neighbor, according to Keller. Gelpi has denied responsibility for Davis death, according to authorities. Criminal Commissioner Paul Schneider ruled there was probable cause to continue holding Gelpi as charged. Bond is set at $550,000. George F. Bass, who was often called the father of underwater archaeology, scouring shipwrecks for revelatory artifacts and developing new techniques for exploring the ocean, died on March 2 at a hospital in Bryan, Texas. He was 88. His son Gordon confirmed the death. Professor Bass was a graduate student in 1960 when he first donned a scuba tank and dived to the seabed of the Mediterranean. He went on to find bronze ingots more than 3,000 years old, wooden fragments that solved mysteries about shipbuilding from the time of the Odyssey, and much more treasures that opened up a new field for archaeology, one that seemed to him as limitless as the Seven Seas. Excavation of shipwrecks could provide not only the ultimate histories of watercraft, he later wrote, but also the ultimate histories of virtually everything ever made by humans. Professor Bass led or co-directed archaeological efforts around the world, including in the United States, but he focused on the coast of Turkey for thousands of years a maritime trade route for a succession of civilizations, from the ancient Canaanites to the early Byzantine Empire. Destination Bulgaria Need to do the driving licence shuffle? Associate editor Steve Parsley reports on the three-day road trip to Svilengrad with half a dozen other expats keen to hang on to the UK documentation. One thing you learn after a little while as an expat in Turkey is that, if you want to hang on to your home country driving licence, you need to cross the border every six months. If not, youre supposed to surrender your current licence and apply for Turkish one. Like it or not thats the rule. However, for some at least, theres one significant obstacle; regardless of your age, to qualify for a Turkish licence, youre supposed to produce documented proof that you have completed secondary school education. No O or A level certificates squirreled away? No deal. So, as a result, theres a living to be made by some who specialise in shuttling expats backwards and forwards across the Turkish border once or twice a year even if its just for an hour or so. Until COVID-19 arrived, it was easy enough. A day-trip to the tiny Greek island of Meis off the southern Anatolian coast, a couple of days in Rhodes or even a trip home to see family back in the UK was all it took. Now, with Greek borders closed and flights home either tortuously contrived or frighteningly expensive, an alternative is a three-day minibus ride to Bulgaria. So whats it like? Is it three days of hell stuck in a metal box with a dozen strangers or a jolly song-filled road trip Cliff Richard would love to join? The answer is probably neither but, if youd like to know more, read on: Things we learned PCR tests are nothing to worry about As youre going to be crossing a border, it stands to reason that the authorities are going to want some sort of proof that youre not carrying COVID-19 so the first day includes a PCR test. Some on the trip were concerned about just how invasive the swabs would be and the atmosphere on the minibus was perhaps a little charged when the two nurses from Menemems Sada Hospital climbed aboard to carry out the necessary checks without us potentially putting patients at risk by entering the building. A fellow traveller was particularly worried that his hair-trigger gag reflex may mean an unpleasant reaction wed all end up riding with. However, with a deft flick of the wrist, swabs were taken from the back of the throat and the nose of each of us and without any real discomfort. Indeed, we were on our way again within 20 minutes with negative test results phoned though to the trip leader a few hours later. Coffee stops The days when buying a coffee at a motorway service station was as simple as walking up to a counter and asking for one are long gone. These days, its as complex as a visit to Nandos. At some, you must first acquire the correct-sized cup from the cashier and only visit the machine once youve paid. Only after youve done that do you place your receptacle in the correct slot, select the size of beverage you want, make your choice from the electronic menu and press the appropriate button. I can almost guarantee probably after a worrying array of hisses, gulps and glugs youll think the dispenser has finished before it coughs into life a second time to regurgitate the actual coffee element into your cup. At others, the acquisition of the correct-sized cup from the cashier still comes first but you pay by inserting your credit or debit card into the machine and telling it what you want by selecting your drink from an electronic menu. The spluttering from the dispenser is still the same though as is the pregnant pause before the delivery of the caffeine bit. Turkey is a big country The impressive Trojan horse on the harbour side in Canakkale Back in the UK, the drive from Leeds to Bath would take about four hours, which can feel long enough. Day 1 of the trip from Fethiye to Gelibolu (Gallipoli) takes 12 enough time to do Leeds to Bath and back with enough time left over to do a quarter of the trip again. Admittedly, the drive up the Aegean coast is broken up with comfort breaks or stops for meals and snacks every couple of hours or so but theres no denying its a long way. Indeed, its enough to be aware of both a change in the landscape and the air temperature. If youre used to Mediterranean Fethiye, take an extra layer to wear like a fleece or a jumper, particularly as there can be quite a bit of hanging around at the border. The View From The Window Edirne is big on mosques. There are at least three this size in the centre of the city. Its perhaps a cliche to say that Turkey is the meeting point of east and west but, when you drive it north to south in a single day, its fascinating to watch the country gradually change before your eyes. The first thing I noticed were the magpies not that numerous in coastal Fethiye but more and more common the further north you go. There were more exotic birds to see too including great egrets, an eagle of some sort and even flamingos in a small lake a little south of Kucukkoy. But its not just the birdlife. The more miles you clock up travelling north so the landscape alters too; from the mountains and weather-sculpted roadside rocks north of Mugla and the olive groves and flat plans of Cine to a generally more verdant backdrop including gently rolling hills and fields on the approaches to Canakkale and on the Gelibolu peninsula. I was also delighted to find the route takes in the countryside surrounding the supposed site of Troy as well as Canakkale itself the location of an ignoble defeat of the British Navy during the First World War. Much is also made of the Turkish soldiers dogged determination and bravery during the subsequent Gallipoli campaign along the same shores and rightly so. After all, they probably saved their country from invasion in much the same way as The Few during the Battle of Britain. However, some of the troops on the northern shores of the peninsula were also famously led by none other than Lt Col Mustafa Kamal, destined to later become Ataturk the founding father of the Turkish Republic who is still revered today. We actually crossed the Dardanelles by ferry twice and it was impossible not to imagine the straits dotted with damaged battleships or shrouded with smoke drifting from the battlefields inland. Today, the only sounds to hear are the rumble of the ferrys engines and the occasional cry of a gull. However, although its now more than 100 years ago, the costly conflict which played such a huge part in forging Turkeys destiny still feels relevant. The Overnight Stops The promenade and cliffs along the seafront in Gelibolu are almost reminiscent of Scarborough I dont know why but, before completing the trip, I presumed at least one night would be spent in Bulgaria. However, both overnight stays were actually in the 8 Rooms Boutique Hotel in Gelibolu (Gallipoli) which was a pleasant surprise. Overlooking a sandy beach and adjacent seaside promenade, the rooms are comfortable with their own Juliet balconies and modern en-suite facilities and equipped with a mini-bar and TV. The restaurant and bar downstairs are also reasonably priced and both evening meals were perfectly adequate. However, one word of advice; if youre approached by a bearded bloke in the bar who says he owns an Italian restaurant somewhere along the prom, you might want to side-step an invitation. Some in our party enjoyed the hospitality immensely but found themselves paying dearly for it. Fishermen on the pier in Gelibolu The Borders Probably the best word to describe them would be unpredictable. Our crossing was uneventful and over within an hour both ways but that hasnt been everyones experience by any means. First of all, there can be long queues of vehicles waiting to get in and out of Turkey and each one needs to be processed and thoroughly checked. The actual procedure isnt all that complex. On arrival at the border, you will be asked to leave your vehicle, proceed through passport control to get your exit stamp and then climb back on board for a short drive across a buffer zone to meet the Bulgarian authorities. Here, youll need to leave your vehicle again, go through another passport control area, show your documentation to medical staff to prove the results of your recent PCR test and wait while your vehicle is searched for contraband. Once approved, you can drive on. On the way back, its more or less the same procedure in reverse. The first stop is to get your Bulgarian exit stamp, the next to have your PCR test results scrutinised by the Turkish authorities and then on to another kiosk to get your entry stamp. However, theres still another security and customs check to go and, even when thats complete, there are random Jandarma checkpoints to navigate a couple of hundred metres inside the Turkish border. Be aware an officious individual, a new admin procedure or even the sheer volume of travellers can throw a spanner in the works. We were fortunate but others have reported delays of several hours so an extra layer of clothing and a considerable helping of patience may be required. Bulgaria Every country has its good and bad sides of course but the short drive to the supermarket in Svilengrad doesnt do Bulgaria any real favours. The dual carriageway isnt a great deal worse but the landscape is uninspiring and dotted with tired old tractors and ramshackle huts and agricultural buildings. However, someone also seems to have told the Bulgarians travellers heading north from Turkey are mostly inveterate gamblers as theres a giant billboard for a casino almost every 300m. Dont expect all that much from the Janet Grand Market either; in fact, think giant Lidl. Its home to some goodies some may miss from home but its not really the place for a duty-free bonanza. Theres no cafe either although there are some loos. If youve set your heart on a spending spree, it might also be an idea to check the current exchange rate for Bulgarian currency before you go in. Remember, as the phone service from your current provider probably wont be available, the internet and translation apps may not work. Going Home One of the many Dardanelles ferries glides to its moorings Although it does involve an early-morning ferry crossing, make sure you eat well at breakfast before setting off on the journey home. While the journey north feels like a long one, the trip back to Fethiye is missing the sense of discovery and can seem to drag even more. Theres every likelihood youre already going to be tired after more than 48 hours on the move anyway but a good book, a podcast or some music from the privacy of your own headphones may help. One guarantee is that it will be a long time since you were so pleased to be back in your own bed. However for me at least if were still in the grip of the pandemic in six months time repeating the trip wouldnt seem so bad. It may be tougher than the hop over to Meis, but it would be a chance to make a few more friends, buy a bit more chocolate and even use a coffee machine like a pro. With no power or heat in his home and outside temperatures well below freezing during last months winter storm, San Antonio resident Randy Anderson took his family to a La Quinta Inn on the Southeast Side to escape the cold. Anderson, his wife, three daughters and 101-year-old grandmother hunkered down in the hotel for five days. It turned into a costly stay. La Quinta jacked up the prices on the familys two hotel rooms to $199 a night each for the last three nights of their stay, from $74 a night the first two nights, Anderson says in an affidavit. The Anderson family is now part of a civil complaint the Texas attorney general filed this week alleging the hotel owner gouged customers during the storm by charging two or three times typical room rates. This gross exploitation of Texans in dire need of shelter during historic low temperatures will not be tolerated, Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement this week. Companies looking to profit from this tragic event that left millions of Texans without power or water will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted. Claudia Young, general manager of the La Quinta Inn by Wyndham San Antonio Brooks City Base, which is operated by Everyoung Hospitality, defended its actions during the storm. The price surge simply was an issue of supply and demand, she said. The La Quintas occupancy climbed during the storm as more customers including those whose homes were without heat and water checked in. We did nothing wrong, Young said Friday, adding the rates the hotel charged werent excessive, given the high demand for its rooms. We did not charge $900 a night. Young said the hotel always charges higher rates when it is full, just like it charges lower rates when occupancy is low. Its practices are no different from other San Antonio hotels. She accused Paxtons office of targeting her and the owners out of racial motivations. The state is bringing charges against us because we are Chinese, Young said from a small room off the hotels lobby. They want to make an example of someone, and they are singling us out. Paxtons office didnt respond Friday to a request for comment. The lawsuit says the hotel never topped 90 percent occupancy during its busiest night last month. It used this misrepresentation that the hotel was full to induce customers to pay the higher rate, the complaint adds. The La Quinta, at 3180 Goliad, is a franchise of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. Google We require that hotels comply with all local, state and federal laws, including those laws which relate to the setting of prices, Wyndham spokesman Rob Myers said in an email Friday. While this hotel is independently owned and operated, please know we take these allegations seriously. Hotel staff told customers that room rates had increased because of the surge in demand, according Andersons and others affidavits. Anderson and his family checked in not knowing how long they would stay. The duration depended on when the power and heat returned to their home. On the Andersons second morning at the hotel, he asked to extend their stay and was told the rate had jumped to $199 a night for each room. We asked why, and the general manager told us there was a huge demand and a small supply of rooms and if we did not want our rooms, someone else would take them for the $199 a night, he said in his sworn statement filed with the lawsuit. A Texas couple who regularly stay at the hotel while visiting family had booked eight nights starting Feb. 11 at a daily rate of $65.34, which included a military discount. When they asked Feb. 18 to extend their stay an additional four nights, the front desk manager said the rate would be $189 a night. When I asked why the rate had gone up so much, they told me that they were almost full because everyone was trying to get away from the cold and had no heat or water at their homes, Sharon Oldfield said in a sworn statement. These customers experiences were not the norm for most of those who sought refuge in area hotels during the storm, said Richard Oliver, director of partner and community relations at Visit San Antonio. During a very difficult period, almost every hotel in San Antonio responded to the best of their ability to expand beyond a brand promise to the necessity of answering consumer needs, Oliver said. They did it the best way they could, often with skeleton staffs and their own adverse situations, to provide hospitality when it was desperately needed. Anything that detoured from that commitment was an aberration. Paxton sued the La Quinta Inn owner for allegedly violating the states Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which the complaint says prohibits taking advantage of a disaster by offering, demanding, selling and/or leasing fuel, food, medicine or other necessity at an exorbitant or excessive price. Paxton seeks civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation and up to $250,000 for each violation involving consumers 65 years of age or older. His office filed the lawsuit Thursday in state District Court in San Antonio. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Paxton filed at least two price-gouging complaints against businesses he accused of taking unfair advantage of Texas residents. Paxton alleges that Houston-based Auctions Unlimited sold face masks, hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies to consumers at prices that greatly exceeded their normal cost. Auctions Unlimited filed a brief denial in May. Not much has happened in the case since then, though the court docket indicates its set for trial in January. Paxtons office filed another suit against Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods Inc., described as the dominant egg supplier in Texas. The attorney general accused the company of hiking prices for eggs from about $1 a dozen to more than $3 a dozen. A state District Court judge in Harris County granted Cal-Maines request to have the case tossed. Paxton has appealed to the 1st Court of Appeals. pdanner@express-news.net randy.diamond@express-news.net EQS Group-News: Nordea Bank Abp / Key word(s): Miscellaneous Nordea Bank Abp: Flagging notification 19.03.2021 / 17:45 Nordea Bank Abp: Flagging notification in accordance with Chapter 9, Section 10 of the Securities Markets Act Nordea Bank Abp Stock exchange release - Major shareholder announcements 19 March 2021 at 18.00 EET Nordea Bank Abp has on 19 March 2021 received a notification under Chapter 9, Section 5 of the Securities Markets Act, according to which BlackRock, Inc.'s indirect shareholding of Nordea Bank Abp's shares and voting rights crossed the threshold of 5 per cent on 18 March 2021. According to the notification, the total number of Nordea Bank Abp's shares and voting rights held directly by BlackRock, Inc. and its funds was 5.03 per cent on 18 March 2021. The total number of shares and voting rights in Nordea Bank Abp is 4,049,951,919. Total positions of BlackRock, Inc. and its funds: % of shares and voting rights (total of A) % of shares and voting rights through financial instruments (total of B) Total of both in % (A + B) Resulting situation on the date on which threshold was crossed or reached 5.03% 0.05% 5.09% Position of previous notification (if applicable) 4.91% 0.13% 5.04% Notified details of the resulting situation on the date on which the threshold was crossed or reached: A: Shares and voting rights Class/type of shares ISIN code (if possible) Number of shares and voting rights % of shares and voting rights Direct (SMA 9:5) Indirect (SMA 9:6 and 9:7) Direct (SMA 9:5) Indirect (SMA 9:6 and 9:7) FI4000297767 203,754,985 5.03% SUBTOTAL A 203,754,985 5.03% B: Financial instruments according to SMA 9:6a Type of financial instrument Expiration date Exercise/ Conversion period Physical or cash settlement Number of shares and voting rights % of shares and voting rights American Depository Receipt (US65558R1095) N/A N/A Physical 1,297,664 0.03% CFD N/A N/A Cash 1,096,773 0.02% SUBTOTAL B 2,394,437 0.05% The controlled undertakings through which the shares, voting rights and financial instruments are effectively held: Name % of shares and voting rights % of shares and voting rights through financial instruments Total of both BlackRock Japan Co., Ltd. Below 5% BlackRock Investment Management, LLC Below 5% BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited Below 5% BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited Below 5% BlackRock International Limited Below 5% BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, National Association Below 5% BlackRock Fund Advisors Below 5% BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. Below 5% BlackRock Asset Management North Asia Limited Below 5% BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland AG Below 5% BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited Below 5% BlackRock Advisors, LLC Below 5% BlackRock Advisors (UK) Limited Below 5% BlackRock (Singapore) Limited Below 5% BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V. Below 5% Aperio Group, LLC Below 5% For further information: Matti Ahokas, Head of Investor Relations, +358 9 53008011 Group Communication, +358104168023 or press@nordea.com The information provided in this stock exchange release was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 18.00 EET on 19 March 2021. This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com. California falls near the bottom of the list in a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looking at the equitability of COVID-19 vaccine distribution. California is ranked among the five worst states along with Kansas, Maryland, Idaho and New Hampshire in distributing shots to the communities that have seen the worst infection rates during the pandemic. The report published Wednesday used data on vaccine coverage the number of people who had received at least one dose in the first two-and-a-half months of the U.S. vaccine rollout, from Dec. 14, 2020 to March 1, 2021. At this time, the CDC data revealed that 51,873,700 people across the country received at least one dose. Analysis looked at how many of those people who were vaccinated lived in communities identified as vulnerable by the CDC's social vulnerability index, which is calculated using 15 indicators including area poverty, household demographics and minority status. A state-level analysis examined data from 49 states and the District of Columbia, and found that Montana and Arizona have so far done the best job in getting the vaccine to racial and ethnic groups that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and people who are economically and socially disadvantaged. The CDC report looked at data before California kicked off its program to focus vaccine efforts in the most vulnerable areas. In early March, the state began sending 40% of all vaccine doses to residents of 400 zip codes identified as being the most vulnerable according to Californias Healthy Places Index, which is based on metrics such as household income, education level and access to health care. At the time of the announcement, the state had implemented 1.6 million vaccines in these ZIP codes. Last Friday, officials said 2 million more shots had been issued in these low-income areas. Ten of the ZIP codes are in the nine-county Bay Area, with three in Alameda County, one in Contra Costa, two in San Francisco and four in Solano County. But although the Bay Area accounts for 20% of the state population, only 2% of Bay Area residents fall under the affected ZIP codes identified by the new equity metric. More than a dozen local legislators and dozens of groups signed a letter to the state calling for more vaccines. The letter pointed out that most of the prioritized ZIP codes were in Southern California, with 79 in Los Angeles County and 39 in San Bernardino. However, no ZIP codes in Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Sonoma and Napa were included. "The formula excludes ZIP codes in the Bay Area that have infection rates that are nearly twice that of the states overall rate," the letter read. "This is clearly not an equitable approach to vaccine distribution and one that is completely disadvantaging the Bay Area. This is a matter of life and death for our community. This plan needs to be restructured and recalibrated immediately." Despite the pushback from Bay Area lawmakers, Gov. Gavin Newsom told KQED on Friday he's sticking to the plan. "We're committed to the 40% overlay because it's the right thing to do," Newsom said. "It's not only the right thing to do, you've got to look at the disease burden. It's been overwhelming in the lower quartile. It's been overwhelming in communities of color, underserved communities. And so we have a moral obligation. And I would also argue that obligation as it relates to our economic recovery, to address those that have been disproportionately impacted, that we also disproportionately rely on as essential workers in terms of the vaccination protocols." 's Hugh Cuthbert talks to Proactive London's Katie Pilbeam about his role as the European Investment Manager. Cuthbert manages the SVM Continental Europe Fund after spending five years with Kempen Capital Management, a Dutch merchant bank, where he was responsible for the management of over 500m of European equities, including institutional mandates and a socially responsible vehicle. He says 'rather than looking for the perfect company, we're looking for the company has the opportunity to become the perfect company'. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. (ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) It may be St. Patrick's Day, but that's not the only cause for celebration over at Corby Place. St. Patrick's Day marks the first day in a year that all residents were able to celebrate a holiday together. Residents gathered for a traditional Irish meal, music and games, along with a surprise visit from a leprechaun. "Today we're going to five or six different facilities in the city and we're bringing a leprechaun and some gold chocolate coins and we're bringing lots of smiles and cheers," said Dave Hugger, the Chaplin of Lumicare Hospice. "This is the first time we've been allowed to come into a building since this whole COVID thing, and it's been so much fun seeing faces light up when we walk into a room and being able to talk and great people," added Amy Warden of Lumicare. Visitors are now allowed in once again into Corby Place for the first time since last spring. Hugger added, "This morning already we've been in rooms of people with tears in their eyes." Multnomah County Health Department staff are creating a vaccine distribution plan for people experiencing homelessness that will launch March 29, when anyone living on the streets or in a shelter across the state will be eligible to receive a shot. Homeless shelter staff and houseless individuals 65 years and older already began receiving inoculations earlier this year. That distribution acted as a test-run as officials prepare to reach Oregons nearly 16,000 homeless residents in the coming weeks. On Friday morning, Cascadia Behavioral Healthcares Garlington Health Center in Northeast Portland was bustling with energy. A sign outside of the clinic advertised available COVID-19 vaccines for seniors experiencing homelessness and anyone else who qualified. Pastor J.W. Matt Hennessee, who presides over Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church of Portland, was among those vaccinated. During non-pandemic times, his church offers a mobile kitchen where volunteers head out every Saturday to feed people. We have long gone into parks, like Dawson Park, to spend time with our neighbors but we havent been doing that because of COVID, Hennessee said. Aside from that clinic, more than 123 people experiencing homelessness have already received their jab in Multnomah County. Those individuals were mostly seniors living in motel shelter programs. But once the vaccination effort scales up, staff will face the extra challenge of delivering two separate doses to individuals living in unstable housing conditions. County officials are continuing to discuss mobile vaccine outreach, subsidizing transportation services and securing Johnson and Johnson vaccines, which requires just one shot to make the task easier for all. I think all of us are aware of the challenges physically, mentally and emotionally that come with living outdoors or in shelters, said Kim Toevs, the countys communicable disease director. Accessing health care is hard when it is not on top of your survival list, especially if you have to leave your possessions to go to a clinic. Vaccine strategy for this population is a priority given that many individuals are living clustered together and hygiene practices like handwashing are more challenging since access to running water is scarce. Dorothy Pepper, 44, who currently is living in a shelter in Portland, said she believes homeless individuals should be a vaccine priority since those living in either shelters or encampments have a higher chance of being exposed to the coronavirus. However, that doesnt mean she wants the vaccine herself. I am afraid to take it because I heard it makes you sick and I cant be lying in bed sick because I have work to doI also hate needles, she said. She would be willing to learn more about the vaccine from qualified health care workers, though. Indeed, education is a first hurdle. The county is working with Street Roots, a homelessness advocacy group, to train vaccine ambassadors who will fan the streets to provide vaccine education. People are more likely to say yes to the shot if given time to learn and think about it first, Toevs said. In an effort to build trust and scale up the number of vaccine providers, the health department is working with organizations that already provide homeless services. Cascadia Behavioral Health, Do Good Multnomah, Transitional Projects and Human Solutions, among others, have already hosted vaccination clinics. Planners are also discussing ways to bring vaccines to where people are already living. The county has eyed 37 potential shelter locations that account for about 1,600 shelter guests in Portland, including large congregate shelters as well as alternative shelters such as tiny home villages. We have had experience now at the county vaccinating a lot of adult care homes and groups homes and have experience sending small teams to those congregate sites to vaccinate, Toevs said. Shelter vaccinations will likely mimic those efforts. On top of shelter guests, theres an estimated additional 2,000 people in Multnomah County who are experiencing unsheltered homelessness. This population is typically harder to reach. By early April, the county plans to pilot mobile vaccine distribution, likely in the Springwater Corridor area, to fine-tune the process before expanding it across Portland. The county is hopeful that more one-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccines will be distributed to the state, though they wont know what they are working with until the doses arrive. Already, the county sent the Johnson and Johnson shots they have to vaccine events for homeless senior citizens. They are hopeful more will arrive for the mobile distribution efforts. Unfortunately, with everything in flux right now, we dont have any specifics to share on vaccine distribution plans beyond (Fridays event), said Nicole Rideout, Cascadia communications specialist. However, our teams are committed to doing vaccine outreach and predict as more vaccines become available for this population, well be involved in those efforts. In the meantime, the health department and coordinating organizations have purchased bus passes, coordinated shuttle services and have received some offers from ride-hailing services to help people make it to either one of the mass vaccination sites or one of the homeless-specific sites as mobile street distribution kinks are ironed out. Nicole Hayden reports on homelessness for The Oregonian. She can be reached at nhayden@oregonian.com or (810) 210-1561. Follow her on Twitter @Nicole_A_Hayden. As chief executive officer of Equality Texas, I have watched support for LGBTQ+ equality increase among the American public and even right here in Texas. I was happy to see Americans across party lines affirm that equality is an American value. Following the Senate victories in the Georgia runoff elections, a pro-equality majority cemented control of Congress. President Joe Biden has pledged to make ending discrimination against LGBTQ+ Americans a core feature of his administration. This is the kind of leadership and momentum we need to complete the pursuit of a generation: enacting comprehensive federal legislation protecting all LGBTQ+ Americans from discrimination in virtually every area of life, from housing to health care and public spaces such as hotels, restaurants and parks. We live in the greatest country, yet there are critical gaps in our federal and state nondiscrimination laws for LGBTQ+ people. While the Supreme Court ruled last year LGBTQ+ people are protected at work, it is still legal under federal law for stores, restaurants and federally funded programs including homeless shelters, food banks and adoption agencies to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity. I know U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has strong convictions in our countrys values of treating others as we would want to be treated. While we may not always agree on policies, Im hopeful he will have the moral imperative to help advance bipartisan legislation that would establish enduring nondiscrimination protections for the 1.1 million LGBTQ+ Texans. Over the past four decades, 21 states and more than 350 cities have passed LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections. But this patchwork of protections is unsustainable and leaves too many people behind, both here in Texas and across the country. Texas has no explicit statewide nondiscrimination laws protecting LGBTQ+ people, and opponents of equality continue to file discriminatory bills in our statehouse. A recent survey found that more than 1 in 3 LGBTQ+ Americans faced discrimination of some kind in the past year, including more than 3 in 5 transgender Americans. More than half of LGBTQ+ people said they experienced harassment or discrimination in a public place such as a store, a source of transportation or a restroom. Is this reflective of our values and the Gospels teachings when our fellow Americans are experiencing discrimination? Now is the time to ensure that LGBTQ+ people are protected no matter what city or state they call home. Momentum on the side of freedom and fairness is rapidly increasing. A supermajority of Americans support protecting people from discrimination: According to a 2020 Public Religion Research Institute survey, more than 8 in 10 Americans (83 percent), including majorities of independents (85 percent) and Republicans (68 percent), expressed support for these protections. Hundreds of corporations such as American Airlines, Dell Technologies, Dow and IBM have come together in multiple state and national business coalitions to support nondiscrimination. This moment of historic opportunity and victory has never been closer. In a time when we are battling a public health crisis, it is scary to think that LGBTQ+ people can still be denied housing or refused medical care just because of who they are or whom they love. This is not what our country is about. Equality is not a Democratic or Republican value; its an American value. Everyone should be free to go about their daily lives enter a store, check in to a hotel, eat at a restaurant, visit a doctors office without fear of harassment or discrimination. Its past time for our elected officials to take action. Its the job of Congress to pass legislation that protects all Americans. Cornyn must stand up for all Texans and join President Joe Biden in supporting a bipartisan federal law with express and enduring nondiscrimination protections for 1.1 million LGBTQ+ Texans across virtually every area of daily life. LGBTQ+ people are our friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, essential workers, fellow worshippers and community members. We deserve the freedom to live, work, earn a living, raise our families and contribute fully to our communities. When all people are treated fairly and equally, then and only then will our state and our country be at their strongest. Ricardo Martinez is the CEO of Equality Texas. Bolivia's former interim president Jeanine Anez will be allowed to transfer from prison to a hospital following poor health, a panel of judges said Friday, less than a week after her arrest on charges linked to the ousting of her predecessor Evo Morales. Three judges from a court in La Paz have accepted her release "for medical examinations by cardiology specialists and tests in order to protect her life and health," they said. Anez's transfer will be under police "escort" the judges added, and comes after the conservative politician's lawyers filed a request for release earlier in the day. Authorities arrested and detained Anez, 53, last weekend on charges of leading a coup d'etat against her socialist predecessor, Morales, and charged her with terrorism, sedition and conspiracy alongside her former justice and energy ministers. According to the documents requesting Anez's release, which were obtained by AFP, the lawmaker was suffering from a "hypertension crisis" and was able to provide copies of medical records. Anez, who had been sentenced to four months pre-trial detention, was being held in the women's prison in La Paz. The United States expressed "concern" about Anez's arrest, while the Organization of American States (OAS) called for the release of "all those detained in this context," while questioning the impartiality of Bolivia's courts. "The Bolivian judicial system is not in a position to provide the minimum guarantees of a fair trial," the office of OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro said in a statement. Bolivia is currently led by Luis Arce, a member of Morales's Movement for Socialism (MAS) party that romped to victory in November's general election, winning back the presidency and consolidating its control of Congress. Morales and Arce both accused Anez of leading what they call a coup, with MAS losing the presidency for a year. Story continues Anez came to power in November 2019 after Morales and several senior MAS allies resigned following weeks of protest at his controversial reelection to an unconstitutional fourth term. As Morales fled into exile, Anez was the most senior parliamentarian left and was sworn in by Congress as the interim president despite the lack of a quorum, with many MAS legislators boycotting the session. Arrest warrants have been issued for another three ex-ministers as well as former military and police chiefs and even some civilians accused of leading the protests against Morales's reelection. jac/ll/bc/bfm/jh Stockton University is the latest university to pledge low- and middle-income students from New Jersey can attend tuition free starting this fall. The four-year public university, located in Galloway in Atlantic County, is launching a new Stockton Promise program for New Jersey residents in families that have an adjusted gross income of $65,000 or less. Full-time undergraduates can receive grants to cover 100% of their tuition and fees after other scholarships and federal and state grants are applied. The Stockton Promise represents our commitment to eligible students and their families so that financial circumstances will not be a barrier to attending college, said Harvey Kesselman, Stocktons president. This program will help students achieve their educational goals and reduce potential loan indebtedness. Stockton joins other local colleges that have made similar pledges. Rutgers University, New Jersey City University, Saint Peters University and several other schools have programs promising to cover tuition and fees for students with family incomes below $65,000 or $60,000. Earlier this year, Gov. Phil Murphy also signed a new law expanding the states Community College Opportunity Grant Program, which now offers free tuition at New Jerseys two-year community colleges for up to five semesters. That program is for families that earn $65,000 or less. The programs are part of a nationwide free college movement that uses a last dollar model, meaning students still apply for state and federal grants and scholarships. Then, the colleges cover any extra money the students need to cover tuition and fees each semester. Critics say the programs can be misleading because many students in families that earn less than $65,000 would already qualify for Pell grants and state financial aid to cover most or all of their tuition and fees each year. And their educations are not truly free because the students are usually still responsible for paying for room, board, books, transportation and the other costs of attending college, which could be $10,000 or more a year. Stockton Universitys new tuition-free program will be open to first-year and transfer students who enroll as full-time students, campus officials said. Room and board will not be covered. Students who want to apply must complete the FAFSA federal financial aid application or the New Jersey Alternative Financial Aid Application, which is designed for undocumented immigrants living in the country. All eligible applicants will automatically be enrolled in the program to get Stocktons tuition and fee grants. The university will continue to offer scholarships and financial aid for students in families that make more than $65,000 a year, the school said. Stockton, which enrolls about 9,900 students, is a test-optional school. That means students can apply without taking the SAT or the ACT college entrance exams. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Yves here. The tone of this piece is understated and its written in layperson English as opposed to economese. But dont be deceived. It take a hard look at the stimulus plan just passed, more formally called the American Rescue Plan, and finds a lot not to like about it and the earlier Covid relief packages. The headline, that they were poorly designed and missed or under-targeted many groups that suffered economically, should come as no surprise. But it does a good job in explaining why. By Anton Korinek, Associate Professor of Economics, Darden School of Business of the University of Virginia and Gosia Glinska, Associate Director of Research Impact, Batten Institute. Originally published at the UVA Dardens Ideas to Action blog The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill offers a powerful reminder of the governments role in modern economies. Today, millions of Americans are counting on federal aid to help weather the economic shock of the pandemic. And so are businesses struggling to stay afloat, especially those in the hard-hit service sector. Whenever were faced with a contagious disease like the coronavirus, the government has an important role to play, says Darden Professor Anton Korinek, whose areas of expertise include macroeconomics, international finance, and inequality. Big crises are inherently times of enormous redistributions. Some corporations have gotten massively richer, others have gone bust. Some people lost their jobs and careers they may never regain, while others can work from home and save on travel. In some ways, their lives have actually improved. So what are the best policy measures in a pandemic-ravaged environment, characterized by unequal impacts? The Case for Crisis Insurance If you ask Korinek, this is really Economics 101. Its about providing insurance to spread out unequal impact, he says. Economists generally think that the government should provide such crisis insurance whenever the private market cant. One example is unemployment insurance. When we face risks that are individual-specific, notes Korinek, such as the risk that our house may burn down, its relatively easy to buy insurance in the marketplace. However, when were confronted with unforeseen, economy-wide risks, like pandemics, it is essentially impossible to be insured. The way I view the hand of the government during a crisis, says Korinek, is not that it distorts markets. Rather, it makes up for missing markets. The market is incomplete, and the government is making it work better. Automatic Stabilizers The first line of defense in a crisis, says Korinek, is the type of insurance economists call automatic stabilizers. Built into government budgets, automatic stabilizers are mechanisms designed to increase spending or decrease taxes during economic downturns. Because they dont require new legislation, automatic stabilizers can help families ease financial difficulties when times are bad without lengthy congressional approvals. For example, when a households income declines, the taxes generally decrease. In addition, a household may become eligible for unemployment insurance, food stamps, or Medicaid.1 However, automatic stabilizers provide limited insurance. The U.S. has the weakest automatic stabilizers among developed economies, says Korinek. Unemployment insurance, for example, lasts for a brief period of time and covers only a fraction of lost income. Discretionary Ad Hoc Stabilizers To buffer the effects of the pandemic on the economy, the U.S. Congress has already enacted a number of bipartisan COVID-19 related bills, including the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act known as the CARES Act and the $2.3 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was signed into law last December, after weeks of intense negotiations between Democrats and Republicans. But how effective were they? Poor Targeting Desirability of insurance, says Korinek, is proportional to our ability to target to get relief where its most needed. And those discretionary ad hoc relief measures like the CARES Act had massive targeting problems. The CARES Act sent the $1,200 checks to joint tax filers earning up to $150,000 and single filers up to $75,000. While households earning that much received stimulus cash even if they didnt suffer any income losses from the pandemic millions of low-income families got nothing, largely because they werent on tax rolls. Some of the targeting problems were caused by the woefully outdated digital infrastructure. Individual bailouts, says Korinek, were distributed through the unemployment insurance computer systems, which are so antiquated that it was impossible to program anything but a fixed amount $600. Thats why everybody who was unemployed got an extra $600 supplement, regardless of how much income they lost. We could certainly learn from countries like France, which have well-oiled social insurance infrastructures. When the French government ordered all restaurants closed, says Korinek, it could automatically pay all restaurant employees precisely what they lost in wages. Another example of poor targeting was the Paycheck Protection Program (also known as PPP), which offered forgivable loans to small businesses that kept their employees on the payroll. Because business bailouts were administered through banks, many of the hardest-hit small businesses that lacked established banking relationships were left out. In addition, the loans cost too much for each job saved. Providing business bailouts through banks is certainly not ideal, says Korinek. We have, at least in principle, the ability to provide much more targeted relief that involves much lower transaction costs. Semi-Automatic Stabilizers The pandemic is increasingly focusing attention on the need to make economic stabilizers work better. This isnt only a question of economic efficiency, says Korinek. Its also a question of national security, because we dont know what kinds of disasters well have to provide relief for in the future. Korineks solution? Wed want to have those systems I call semi-automatic stabilizers, says Korinek. What I have in mind is creating structures that make it easier to provide economic stabilizers such as the CARES Act. We want to have, for example, computer infrastructures in place that allow us to provide better-targeted unemployment insurance. Korinek points out that it can take months of planning before projects that receive stimulus funding are ready to be implemented. And since speed is key during a crisis, says Korinek, We need a semi-automatic plan in place so that, when we need it, we can essentially press a button to get things rolling. Insurance Is a Two-Way Street The pandemic has increased existing economic inequalities. While millions of people are being forced into poverty, the worlds top 10 billionaires, including Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates, have seen their combined fortunes increase by half-a-trillion dollars since March 2020.2The pandemic has also led to soaring public spending, with bailouts often going to those who didnt need them. Another lesson from Economics 101, says Korinek, is that insurance is a two-way street. Insurance implies that it is optimal to take from the winners in order to provide relief to the losers. There are legitimate questions to be asked about whether one of the policy measures should involve increasing taxes on the winners. Well have to take a serious look at that, says Korinek. And its important to frame it in the public debate as the necessary second part of what an optimal response to a big crisis with unequal impacts really entails. One of the critical lessons from the pandemic is that we urgently need systems in place that allow us to better target relief in the future. It would be really desirable, notes Korinek, to add provisions to do so in the American Rescue Plan that is currently under discussion. We either implement those systems or further undermine our ability to deal with the next large-scale adverse event, be it the next lethal pandemic, a global financial crisis, or worse. 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. 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 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 ADVERTISEMENT The governor of Bayelsa, Douye Diri, has ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a youth on Thursday, in Ovom community, Yenagoa Local Government Area (LGA), of the state. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), gathered from residents of the area that the young man was allegedly shot by a policeman, at Ovom surburb. Mr Diri gave the directive on Thursday, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, after being briefed about the incident in Uyo, where he is attending a state cabinet retreat. He also directed that an autopsy be carried out to determine the cause of death. The governor promised that the government would ensure perpetrators of the dastardly act are uncovered and brought to book. Human life is sacred. As a responsible government, we would not shy away from our responsibility of protecting citizens. Anyone who takes another persons life would be held accountable through the laws of the land, he said. Mr Diri sympathised with the family of the deceased, as well as the community, urging them to be calm and maintain the peace while a thorough a investigation is being carried out. In a reaction to the development, however, the Police said the young man died of injuries sustained while escaping from a Police team investigating an armed robbery incident on Thursday. The spokesperson for the Police in Bayelsa, Asinim Butswat, said in a statement on Friday that the operation led to the arrest of two robbery suspects, who dispossessed residents of mobile phones at gunpoint. Upon interrogation the suspects confessed to have robbed owners of the phones at gun point. They led police operatives to their hideout at Ovom, Yenagoa, to recover the gun used in the operation. On sighting the Policemen, one of the suspects climbed the ceiling and jumped out in a bid to escape; he subsequently got injured on the neck. He was taken to the Federal Medical Centre, where a Doctor certified him dead. A locally made pistol was recovered in the ceiling of the building. The corpse has been deposited at the mortuary for autopsy. The Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State Command, CP Mike Okoli, appeals for calm as a full scale investigation to unravel circumstances surrounding the incident has commenced, Mr Butswat stated. (NAN) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) It may be argued that more people have explored what is out there in space than what is at the bottom of the ocean. And a Filipino scientist will take the plunge and embark on a historic mission in the hopes of changing that and more. Dr. Deo Florence Onda, a microbial oceanographer from the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, is the first and only Filipino who will soon dive to the third deepest spot in the world, the Emden Deep in the Philippine Trench. The Emden Deep is approximately 10,400 meters deep. Onda told CNN Philippines New Day that since Filipinos have already learned about the West Philippine Sea and the Philippine Rise in the northeast Philippines, now is the right time to discover the vastness of our resources in the deepest part of the ocean and for his fellow countrymen to be aware of the extension of their marine heritage. If you go to google and look for the whereabouts of the Emden Deep, there's really limited information about it," Onda pointed out. "But I hope with this dive, we can pay attention to this unexplored oceanic region and also provide some perspective to the Filipino people of what we could see down there. Caladan Oceanic asked Onda to join the Emden Deep Expedition from March 22 to 28, 2021. Caladan Oceanic is a private firm that has been setting records for deepest manned descents in the worlds deepest trenches, with the most recent one in the Marianas in 2019. Onda said that while he is the one who will go to the depths of the Emden Deep, other Filipinos are also playing important roles in the exploration. 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. Hurricane season 2021 is here: How do storms get their names? Nationally known speaker and CEO Steve Watson shares relevant topics of healthcare costs and lack of communication in the workplace to companies. There are all these misaligned incentives that are in place, that when you start digging into them, tick you off a little bit and have you wondering, are the insurance brokers really helping us or are they helping themselves first? The trend of rising healthcare costs and the growing disconnection of communication in the workplace are concerning to Steve Watson, a nationally known speaker and expert chief human resource officer (CHRO) who is also a CEO, CFO, and CPA. According to PwC, a multinational professional accounting services network, its Health Research Institute is projecting the trend will continue with an increase that could range from 4% to 10%. As CEO of Trendbreakers, Watson has helped companies combat these trends by saving them from having to find hundreds of thousands of additional dollars in their overstretched budget for health insurance premiums that often go up 30 percent, or more. No more reducing the quality of their healthcare plan or increasing the employees share of costs to balance the budget, either. Understanding these trends of rising healthcare costs, Watson has expanded his speaking topics, hoping to reach more people and help them make a difference in their own organizations. He wears a multitude of different hats on any given day and, combined with the practical knowledge he has gained as a CFO, he has cultivated the knowledge that he is bringing to the stage. Speaking on the topics of Is Your Insurance Broker Working for You? or the Insurance Companies: The Five Things Your Broker Wont Tell You, and How I Save Half a Million Dollars for My Company Each Year, Watson peels back the layers, providing information no one teaches--how to break the rising trend of healthcare costs. Watson said, There are all these misaligned incentives that are in place, that when you start digging into them, tick you off a little bit and have you wondering, are the insurance brokers really helping us or are they helping themselves first? And so, I try to empower my peer group, so they know what's going on and can make better decisions. Helping Others Connect Poor communication costs companies an average of $62.4 million per year, according to the Holmes Report. In his role as CHRO, Watson takes to the stage to help professionals move forward in their careers, improve their communication skills, and address the challenge of connecting in the workplace. To do this, Watson helps professionals explore How to Connect Better with CFOs, Learn the Best Way to Connect with HR Professionals, How to Get Your Budgets and Projects Approved, and How to Get a Seat at the Table with the C-Suite. In those talks, he helps others to develop networking skills, to be less nervous around others, how to learn the language ofand partner withHR professionals, and how to put together and promote a budget. Watson will also, even though it could be a hair-raising experience, show his audience how to get a seat at the C-Suite tableand not the hot seat! Watson comes from Utah where his family raised sheep. He then earned degrees in business and international finance before taking a job as finance director and moving to Brazil at the age of 26. Returning with a family in tow in 2009, he took on the role of CFO at a mid-sized company who then asked him to take on the CHRO role as well. He is skilled at keeping many balls in the air at one time. About Steve Watson: Watson is a CFO and Chief HR Officer by day and a Trendbreaker when called for. He is also a nationally known speaker, hosts a podcast three times each week, is a married father of seven, and is bilingual in Portuguese. He loves showing others how to maneuver in the world of insurance benefits, negotiate like a pro, save their budget, and be the hero their company needs. For more information, visit http://www.stevewatsonlive.com/. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 19, 2021) - Red Light Holland Corp. (CSE: TRIP) (FSE: 4YX) (OTC Pink: TRUFF) ("Red Light Holland" or the "Company"), an Ontario-based corporation engaged in the production, growth and sale of a premium brand of magic truffles to the legal, recreational market within the Netherlands, is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, RLH Netherlands B.V. (the "Purchaser"), has completed the acquisition (the "Acquisition") of SR Wholesale B.V. ("SR Wholesale"), one of the Netherlands' premiere distributors for quality psychedelic truffles. In 2020, SR Wholesale generated over $2.44 Million in revenues[1], and over $822,0001 in gross profit, with approximately $400,0001 of cash and working capital currently on hand. SR Wholesale also distributes popular CBD products, cannabis seeds, smart shop items, and headshop products, among others. SR Wholesale has established a distribution network of over 400 companies that sell their products across Europe, including working with sub-distributors which provide products to over 1,000 shops in countries like the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Czech, Greece, UK, France, and Portugal. Founded in 2017, SR Wholesale has grown to become one of the most recognized and trusted distribution companies in the Netherlands. In connection with the Acquisition, Red Light Holland is excited to announce that Mr. Shai Ramsahai, Founder of SR Wholesale, has joined the Red Light Holland team on closing as Vice-President to oversee the integration of SR Wholesale into the Red Light Holland ecosystem, and grow the distribution business for Red Light Holland globally. The acquisition will create immediate synergies and enhance Red Light Holland's growth and expansion strategy by: Creating the necessary scale to support the growth of the continuing trend towards increased usage of psychedelics, including opening up the distribution channels to hundreds of stores for Red Light Holland's iMicrodose Packs Providing access to many new, unique and legendary product offerings within the Psychedelic sector including obtaining sole-ownership of the established Mister Maka Brand (www.MisterMaka.com) which produces Magic Truffles Giving Red Light Holland the instant opportunity to white-label to help with brand growth, exposure and expansion Creating new revenue generation opportunities across Red Light Holland's e-commerce platform at www.iMicrodose.nl Allowing Red Light Holland to have access to established brands and a vast array of products in sectors outside of Psychedelics, including existing inventory to reach sales opportunities and increased profit margins Immediately becoming a distribution leader with expertise and know how, while looking to combine the complementary skill sets to focus on increasing SR Wholesale's market share in the Netherlands and other global markets Instantly, growing the Red Light Holland infrastructure and staff with current leaders in the psychedelic industry, including Mr. Shai Ramsahai, Founder of SR Wholesale, who will join Red Light Holland as the Company's Vice-President Gaining invaluable access to data and personal connections, including a plentiful and important list of email, production, white-label, retail store, retail product and social contacts "The acquisition of SR Wholesale marks the latest step in the Company's growth and expansion strategy, as we continue to move forward with a positive business outlook focused on achieving revenue growth, profitability and value creation for our shareholders. We expect this transaction to serve as a launchpad for Red Light Holland to broaden operations, create new homes for our iMicrodose packs and build brand exposure into multiple European markets. Others companies in the sector can keep telling people or assuming how people should consume psilocybin years from now, while we will continue offering people what they want right now, while concentrating on immediate revenue, profit and growth" said Todd Shapiro, the Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company. "We are quite thrilled, after months of tough negotiations and careful due diligence, to move forward as the largest legal psychedelic distribution publicly traded company in the world.[2] As well, we are truly so pleased to work closely with Mr. Shai Ramsahai, who is one of the brightest, most determined and likeable entrepreneurs I've ever come across. And he is an absolute legend in the Netherlands!" "This is an exciting time for both SR Wholesale and Red Light Holland. After years of hard work we have established an incredible and profitable Distribution company with a huge network across the Netherlands and Europe. I believe that moving forward with Hans Derix (Red Light Holland's President) and Todd Shapiro coupled with our extremely knowledgeable, loyal and committed team, that together we can grow our wholesale business to new heights," said Shai Ramsahai, Founder of SR-Wholesale. "I'm also incredibly proud to be joining Red Light Holland as their Vice-President to help with the smooth transition of SR Wholesale and to then focus on other opportunities for Red Light Holland with my years of experience in the creation and production of consumer goods, a deep knowledge of successful distribution and sales of copious amounts of products and my vast connections and personal relationship within the Psychedelic Sector and beyond." The Acquisition was completed pursuant to the terms of a share purchase agreement (the "Purchase Agreement") between the Purchaser and the sole shareholder of SR Wholesale (the "Seller"). Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, the consideration payable to the Seller for the acquisition is comprised of (i) a cash payment of 900,000, as adjusted to give effect to the amount of cash above or below certain working capital amounts pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, and (ii) an unsecured convertible promissory note to be issued by the Company in the principal amount of 300,000 (the "Convertible Note"). The Convertible Note bears interest at a rate of 5% per annum, payable annually at the end of each year. The principal amount and interest from time to time outstanding under the Convertible Note is convertible into common shares of the Company ("Common Shares") at a conversion price of $0.38. The Company has also approved the grant of 1,000,000 stock options to purchase common shares of Red Light Holland to Mr. Shai Ramsahai. The options have an exercise price of $0.38 per common share and have a term of 2 years. About SR Wholesale B.V. SR Wholesale B.V. is a Dutch company based in Schijndel, Netherlands, specialized in the selection, distribution and export of Products such as Truffles, CBD products, cannabis seeds, Smartshop items, Headshop products, Growshop goods and Cannabis Bake House muffins, cookies and cakes. SR Wholesale has been operating successfully in the exceptionally competitive sales market for more than 4 years, in multiple European countries reaching over 1,000 retail shops. SR Wholesale and the Seller were advised by Mr David Ivtsan, Principle, Moonstone Advisors, the advisory arm of Moonstone Finance Group Ltd. About Red Light Holland Corp. The Company is an Ontario-based corporation engaged in the production, growth and sale of magic truffles to the legal market within the Netherlands, in accordance with the highest standards, in compliance with all applicable laws. For additional information on the Company, please contact: Todd Shapiro Chief Executive Officer and Director Tel: 647-204-7129 Email: todd@redlighttruffles.com Website: https://redlighttruffles.com Forward-Looking Statements Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "potential", "believe", "intend" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Specifically, forward-looking statements in this news release include but are not limited to, statements related to (i) the anticipated benefits of completing the Acquisition, (ii) expectations of future financial performance of the Company; and (iii) the expansion of the Company's operations. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Accordingly. readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Readers are further cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such forward-looking statements (including, but not limited to, the assumption that (i) the Company will be able to execute on its business plan, and will receive one or multiple licenses, permits, and authorizations from time to time necessary to execute on its business plan, (ii) the Company's financial condition and development plans do not change as a result of unforeseen events, (iii) there will continue to be a demand, and market opportunity, for the Company's product offerings, (iv) the Company will be able to establish, preserve and develop its brand, and attract and retain required personnel, (v) current and future economic conditions will neither affect the business and operations of the Company nor the Company's ability to capitalize on anticipated business opportunities, (vi) the Company will be able to realize the anticipated synergies of the transactions contemplated by the Purchase Agreement, and (vii) the continued availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms), although considered reasonable by management of the Company at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and result in actual results differing materially from those anticipated, and as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements, forward-looking financial information and other metrics presented herein are not intended as guidance or projections for the periods referenced herein or any future periods, and in particular, past performance is not an indicator of future results and the results of the Company in this press release may not be indicative of, and are not an estimate, forecast or projection of the Company's future results. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. [1] Based on unaudited results and based on the daily rate of exchange as of March 17, 2021, as published by the Bank of Canada, being 1 = $1.4858. [2] Based on the Company's review of filings made by publicly traded psychedelic companies, specifically relating to revenue from distribution and size of distribution network. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77902 People wait in line March 13 outside the Douglass Center in Champaign at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic hosted by Walgreens that featured the countys first shots of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. San Antonio-area colleges and universities expect to receive nearly $236 million from the latest round of federal COVID-19 relief funds, and if previous rules apply, at least half of it is destined for direct aid to students. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Joe Biden last week includes $40 billion for the nations colleges and universities through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. The largest amounts would go to the Alamo Colleges District, at $99.6 million; the University of Texas at San Antonio, with $86.5 million; and Texas A&M University-San Antonio, with $19.1 million, under preliminary estimates released by the office of U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, whose district includes part of Bexar County. This further investment in U.S. higher education is most welcome, UTSA President Taylor Eighmy said in a statement. We know how critical the student emergency financial aid components are for our students and will work to get those dollars to our students as soon as possible. The money is meant to supplement coronavirus-related expenses for public and private higher education institutions. But at least half of the aid must go to students whose lives have been disrupted, many of whom are facing financial challenges and struggling to make ends meet, according to U.S. Education Department guidelines for previous rounds of aid. At Alamo Colleges, the funds will be distributed among the systems five community colleges: San Antonio, St. Philips, Palo Alto, Northwest Vista and Northeast Lakeview. Out of what we are getting, about $48 million of that is going to go directly to student emergency aid, said Mike Flores, the college districts chancellor. Our students already are on the margins. They are supporting themselves and often others, and they are living paycheck to paycheck. The grants will be distributed to students who already receive financial aid to pay for college and to those who apply for an emergency grant, Flores said. The students dont have to use the new aid only for college-related expenses, he added, as they are intended to supplement any income lost because of the pandemic. The funds have yet to be allocated to the institutions, which also expect to receive new guidelines for the latest round of aid. But officials have preliminary plans based on the requirements of previous relief bills. The University of the Incarnate Word expects to receive nearly $15 million, which university officials also expect will be distributed according to previous guidelines and processes. Each round has had different sets of rules, and we of course follow those, said Darrell L. Haydon, UIWs chief financial officer. In the next round, we are expecting to have a little over $7 million to distribute to students over the next year or so, and thats great news for our students. Haydon said the latest round might also go into institutionalizing some pandemic-related enhancements that have proved useful. I think theres an opportunity to expand our availability to our students, he said. A university is more than a 9 to 5 type of operation. So we are looking into creating a single-point-contact student service center that would allow us to better serve our students. In previous allocations of federal relief, colleges and universities have been allowed to use the other half of the funds to supplement lost revenue, meet payroll and cover pandemic-related expenses, such as distance learning technology and protective equipment. These are needs that have arisen due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the financial pressure it has put on institutions across the nation, Jennifer Lloyd, director of communications at St. Marys University, said in a statement. Lower enrollment and additional expenses to prepare and support students at universities like St. Marys have further compounded these challenges, all the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. St. Marys is expecting to receive about $8.2 million. Other expected allocations include about $6 million for Our Lady of the Lake University and about $4.2 million for Trinity University. danya.perez@express-news.net ISTANBUL Turkeys third-largest opposition party, the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), is under mounting pressure amid a slew of legal proceedings and rising calls for its closure by nationalist politicians in Ankara. Government officials have long accused the party of fostering links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and HDP members are being increasingly targeted after the deaths of 13 Turkish hostages in Iraqi Kurdistan earlier this month, who Ankara claims were executed by PKK militants during an attempted rescue operation. In the fallout from the event, Turkish police detained 718 people on Feb. 15, including HDP officials, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has since vowed to step up a campaign against the party. This comes as ongoing legal proceedings may lead to the lifting of immunities for nine HDP lawmakers to be prosecuted on terror-related charges, while a separate court decision could see one HDP official removed from parliament, possibly this week. At the same time, Erdogan ally and chair of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli, has reiterated calls to close the HDP, saying his party would soon apply to begin the process in a Feb. 16 speech. "Is there a sturdy democrat who knows another formula to cut the PKK's leg in the parliament other than closing the HDP?" Bahceli asked during an MHP parliamentary group meeting that day. Taken together, recent political rhetoric and court actions involving the HDP have raised concerns among human rights advocates over democratic backsliding in Turkey. The developments come after the partys former co-chairs, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, were imprisoned in 2016 on terror charges and more than 50 of 65 HDP mayors elected in 2019 municipal elections have been replaced with state-appointed trustees. Bahceli demanded that [Erdogan] take a harder stance on the HDP; hes asking for a crackdown if not closure, and Erdogan is right now caving to that demand, Merve Tahiroglu, Turkey program coordinator at Washington-based Project on Middle East Democracy, told Al-Monitor. Tahiroglu added, The closure of the party would be a whole new level of repression. Amid Ankara officials responses to the deaths in Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkish authorities Sunday launched an investigation into HDP lawmaker Dirayet Dilan Tasdemir over suspected links to the PKK. Speaking on Saturday to Turkish broadcaster A Haber, Turkeys Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu claimed the deputy had recently visited Gara, the area where the rescue operation took place. Tasdemir denied the allegation in a press event Monday, saying she would file a criminal complaint against Soylu. He gave my name but did not present any evidence, Tasdemir said in Ankara Monday. He committed a character assassination based on rumors." Separately, a Turkish court Friday upheld a jail sentence against HDP deputy Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu for spreading terrorism propaganda. The ruling could lead to the revocation of Gergerlioglus status as a member of parliament as soon as the court decision is read in the chamber. Gergerlioglu would join two other HDP lawmakers who were stripped of their parliamentary seats and jailed last year along with the main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) Enis Berberoglu, who was later released and reinstated into his role earlier this month. Parliamentary Speaker Mustafa Sentop Monday shot down comparisons between Gergerlioglus case and that of Berberoglu in a message interpreted by observers to mean the HDP deputy would soon be removed from the body. Its going to happen soon; thats why they did it, Hisyar Ozsoy, co-spokesperson of foreign affairs and Diyarbakir deputy for the HDP, told Al-Monitor. The reason I think hes being targeted is the debates on strip searches and discussions he introduced, Ozsoy continued, referring to increased scrutiny in Ankara over tactics used by security forces. He was very effective, I would say, in publicizing those kinds of human rights violations. Meanwhile, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutors Office prepared legal proceedings for nine HDP lawmakers Friday, requesting their parliamentary immunities be lifted so they can be tried for allegedly organizing the violent 2014 Kobani protests that left 43 people dead. Along with nearly 100 defendants, the HDP officials charged in the case include Garo Paylan, Huda Kaya, Sezai Temelli, Pero Dundar, Fatma Kurtulan, Serpil Kemalbay, Meral Danis Bestas. Hakk Saruhan Oluc and party co-chair Pervin Buldan. Ozsoy said efforts to lift lawmakers immunities were an attempt to weaken the HDP ahead of elections scheduled for 2023 and he expected pressure on the party to grow in the interim. In the months to come, definitely there will be more criminalization and smear campaigns, Ozsoy told Al-Monitor. The media and some politicians will be very aggressive toward the HDP. Tahiroglu said recent developments were worrying and Bahcelis repeated calls to close the party coupled with recent allegations tying HDP deputies to the hostage deaths in Iraqi Kurdistan could evolve into a full-blown campaign against party lawmakers. Most people shape their understanding based on what is reported in the media, Tahiroglu told Al-Monitor. Much of the [domestic] media just ignores the HDP but theres a whole strong faction of it thats actively slandering the HDP. Sidharth Malhotra is currently shooting for Mission Majnu in Lucknow along with his co-star Rashmika Mandanna. The actors are surely having a blast while shooting for this drama-thriller as they often share fun and candid pictures from the set. Today we got another glimpse of the madness from the set. Rashmika shared a picture along with Sidharth Malhotra and director Amar Bhutala. While Sidharth and Rashmika seem to be following the new-normal and covering their faces for the picture, the director is surely in a fun mood and gives a goofy expression for the click. The actress has captioned this picture saying, Night shoots got us like, and pointing towards their directors fun expression. Looks like Sidharth and Rashmika have given a great take and thats got the director happy! Cute. Rashmika Mandanna has done several films down south and this is her debut film in Hindi. Sidharth Malhotra meanwhile continues his fitness regime and his workout in the outdoors of lucknow. He often shares videos from his fun outdoor workout sessions and one of them saw him hanging upside down from a tree. New York Citys public school system, the nations largest, will give families another chance to enroll their children in in-person classes following new guidance released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Friday. The new C.D.C. guidance allows elementary school students wearing masks to be spaced three feet apart, rather than six feet, in reopened schools. The citys elementary schools, prekindergarten programs and programs for children with complex disabilities will adopt the new distancing guidelines in April, Mr. de Blasio said, allowing classrooms that have been operating at one-third capacity for many months to accommodate more students. With less distancing required between students, schools will be able to fit more children into each city classroom. The city will continue to assess the risks of adjusting distancing rules for middle and high school students, Mr. de Blasio said. The C.D.C. said that its relaxed three-foot guideline only applies to to students in middle schools and high schools where community transmission is not high. (New York State has more recent cases per capita than any state except New Jersey, and the New York City metro area has the countrys second-highest rate of new cases behind only Idaho Falls, Idaho.) The guidance still holds that adults in schools should keep six feet of distance from each other, and from students. New York City teachers have been eligible for the coronavirus vaccine since January. Consider the supposed brilliance of two of the leading self-proclaimed "anti-racism" experts: The irony of American history is the tendency of good white Americans to presume racial innocence. Ignorance of how we are shaped racially is the first sign of privilege. In other words. It is a privilege to ignore the consequences of race in America. Tim Wise Whiteness is dynamic, relational, and operating at all times and on myriad levels. These processes and practices include basic rights, values, beliefs, perspectives and experiences purported to be commonly shared by all but which are actually only consistently afforded to white people. Robin DiAngelo Wise, who is partially of Jewish ethnicity, and DiAngelo, who is of Italian ancestry through her mother, are either ignorant of the history of Jews and Italians in America or they willfully disregard it. And one can see why: Identifying with the White self-hate movement is very lucrative. Wise and DiAngelo have relentlessly promoted themselves as the grand poobahs of the racial grievance industry. Wise's speaking fees range from $10,000 to $20,000 per appearance and DiAngelo's fee ranges from an astounding $50,000$75,000 per event! They have both written books on the subject, and DiAngelo's White Fragility has been required reading in high schools, colleges, and the corporate world. In fact, White Fragility was a New York Times bestseller for more than a year. And one needs to ask whether they are using their "White privilege" to take these high-paying bookings away from anti-racist experts of color. Perhaps they should be canceled for their obvious insensitivity and exploitation of minority professionals. I'll remind Wise and DiAngelo that Jews, Italians, and other European ethnic groups were severely discriminated against and in many cases lynched in our not-to-distant past. The hanging of Leo Frank in Georgia in 1915, as well as the 1891 lynching of 11 Sicilians in New Orleans, speak to their supposed "White privilege." Well into the 20th century, Jews, Italians, and other ethnic groups were excluded from elite country clubs. In fact, Italian-Americans were only allowed on those properties as servants and janitors. Wise and DiAngelo would have us believe that these groups "became White." To that, I say to them, "Speak for yourself." It is a ridiculous notion for those of us who are darker in skin color than the average "White" person. For example, when I was in my 20s, I once worked on a security detail for a PGA tournament that was being held at a local country club. When I reported to the clubhouse to ask where I needed to go, the woman at the front desk immediately assumed that I was working in the landscaping crew, which was comprised entirely of Hispanics. I have also been taken as being of Arab, Middle Eastern, and Indian/Pakistani descent. And this brings me to the "looks like me" diversity argument. Wise and DiAngelo's argument is that employers and colleges discriminate against certain groups. Black and Brown people say that they see very few people who "look like" them in these organizations. Since I'm often taken for Hispanic or Middle Eastern by "Brown people" themselves, I guess that I would qualify as looking Brown. Yet the EEOC classified me as "White" under their standard racial and ethnic definitions. Isn't that interesting? The "looks like me" affirmative action leg up for officially-designated minorities does not apply to southern Europeans who look stereotypically Hispanic or Middle Eastern. This is fine, except that many Hispanic leaders and diversity consultants say that employers discriminate against people who "look like" them. People who are of southern European ancestry aren't looking for an affirmative action preference. We merely want to be evaluated on the qualifications we bring to the table. Period. But that's nearly impossible when people who "look like me" and are officially recognized by the government as "protected classes" are given preferences in hiring and college admission. Tim Wise and Robin DiAngelo never address this issue in their writings and speeches. Why would they? I suspect that it would be detrimental to their lucrative businesses. Michael A. Bertolone, M.S. is a freelance writer focusing on workplace issues, government, and politics. Find more of his American Thinker pieces here. Return to Kauai: A Salve for the Soul I didnt expect to feel a lump in my throat, but as the plane touches down along the lush green fields of Kauai, I feel a rush of emotion. Like so many, Ive missed the ability to travel. Mostly, though, I missed some of my favorite placesand Kauai is one of them. Granted, things are different right now. Im wearing a mask, as is everyone around me, and weve followed Kauais strict travel protocols. Hanalei Town in Princeville on Kauais north shore has restaurants, food trucks, and shops. (Janna Graber) Travel Requirements for Hawaii To visit the Hawaiian Islands, travelers must follow the Hawaii Safe Travels program. To bypass the states mandatory 10-day quarantine, travelers to the islands can present a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of departure. Before traveling to Hawaii, all visitors need to register for Hawaii Safe Travels, the states online portal. After receiving a negative COVID-19 test result, travelers need to upload it to their Safe Travels account. Then, theyll receive a QR code to be presented upon arrival at the airport. The gourmet treats at Holey Grail Donuts in Hanalei Town. (Janna Graber) Travel Requirements for Kauai Due to its small size and limited hospital space, Kauai has its own additional requirements. While all visitors must present a negative pre-travel COVID-19 test as part of the Hawaii State Travels program, mainland travelers to Kauai must also first spend the first three days of their visit at a Resort Bubble. This modified quarantine program allows guests to enjoy time at a specific resort, but they must stay on that property. Participating Bubble Resorts pick guests up from the airport, as travelers cant rent a car until released from quarantine. Electric bikes make pedaling up hills much easier while enjoying the Kauai Coastal Trail. (Janna Graber) At the Bubble Resort, guests will take a second PRC or antigen COVID-19 test after 72 hours. With a negative test result, visitors are then released from quarantine. Kauai has seen recent success in its vaccination program, so Kauais Mayor Kawakami has requested this requirement be removed on April 5, but this hasnt been formally announced yet. There are 10 Resort Bubbles on the island. I can heartily recommend The Cliffs at Princeville, where Ive stayed multiple times. The resort has condos, with full kitchens, overlooking Kauais North Shore. They will arrange to have your personalized grocery purchase in your condo when you arrive, and there are food trucks on property two nights a week. They also have a medical service to offer COVID-19 tests at the resort, with results available in 15 minutes. The view along the Kauai Coastal Trail. (Janna Graber) Island Time on Kauai Yes, there are several steps to go through to visit, but its all worth it to be in Kauai. Even with the additional travel requirements, my pace has already settled into Island Time. The tiny island, home to 67,000 residents, has a relaxed and welcoming feel. Kauai does seem a little different right now, of course. While many restaurants, shops, and activities are open again, others are still closed, waiting for more travelers to return. Though they are very welcoming, like the rest of us, Hawaiians are weary. Theyve been fighting this thing for a year now and have worked hard as a community. Wearing masks when in public is a local mandate and everyone follows it. The sun sets over the Kauai Coast Trail. (Janna Graber) Several locals told me: We are a mask-wearing community. Here its not just about safety, but also a sign of respect for each other, especially our elders. Happily, its easy to follow the guidelines, and you can spend most of your time outdoors in Kauai. The island has miles of hiking trails, beaches, and coastal scenic paths. Kauai Coffee Companys more than 4 million coffee trees benefit from the rich volcanic earth and cool trade winds. (Janna Graber) Princeville Kauai has dozens of beautiful towns and locations to choose from, but there are several main regions that are popular with travelers, including Princeville, Poipu, and Waimea. Princeville is located on the lush North Shore of Kauai and is home to many luxury resorts. Its also home to the tiny community of Hanalei Town, which is quintessential Kauai. I spent an afternoon shopping in Hanaleis small boutiques and art galleries, and then visited the historic Waioli Huiia Church and Mission House. The Napali Coast in Kauai. (Janna Graber) Hanalei has several popular restaurants and food trucks, like Hanalei Tara & Juice Co., which serves authentic Hawaiian food and products from a local farm family. After a yummy Hawaiian lunch, I buy a selection of Taro Donuts from nearby Holey Grail Donuts. They are like delicious works of art. If I wasnt so full, I would also stop for a shave ice filled with macadamia nut ice cream at Wishing Well Shave Ice. Another popular destination nearby is the historic Princeville Ranch. Although I wont have time to visit during this trip, Ive been several times for their popular Ride, Hike, and Swim adventure. After a gentle horseback ride in the shadow of the dramatic Hanalei Mountains, you can take a short hike to an 80-foot waterfall for a picnic and a swim. Its a great way to see the islands nature up close. Just wear your swimsuit under your clothes and take a towel and sunscreen. The beach at Poipu in Kauai. (Janna Graber) Ke Ala Hele Makalae (Kauai Coastal Trail) During this trip, I was excited to explore Ke Ala Hele Makalae, the multi-use coastal trail which follows Kauais scenic Royal Coconut Coast. After picking up a rental at Eco e-Bikes Kauai, I meet up with Tommy Noyes at Lydgate Beach Park for a ride. A passionate cyclist, Tommy has been instrumental in the paths development. He explains how the path was started by paving a short coastal walking trail near Kapaa, taking advantage of abandoned railroad bridges. Since then, Kauai residents have worked together to create the path while preserving and protecting the land. Today, it covers eight miles in two segments that are used by locals and visitors alike. Taro fields in Hanalei Valley. (Janna Graber) Biking the trail is an opportunity to see the islands coastal landscape. At times, the path meanders through quiet neighborhoods; other times, it follows the shore. Eventually, we pedal higher to the top of the hills overlooking the dramatic coastline. With an e-bike, climbing the hills are no problem, and I enjoy every minute of the ride. Later in the week, I return several times to walk the trail, even at sunrise and sunset. Many small restaurants and shops line the trail, so its easy to spend time along the trail. Treats from grocery stores in Kauai. (Janna Graber) Kauai Coffee Estate Another day, I visit the largest American coffee growerKauai Coffee Company. Their more than 4 million coffee trees benefit from the rich volcanic earth and cool trade winds. In normal times, Kauai Coffee Company offers tours and has a small onsite museum. Currently, self-guided tours are available. As a passionate coffee lover, Im enthralled by the tidy rows of trees, some with small white blossoms, as well as the estates hilltop views of the coast. The beach at Poipu in Kauai. (George Frankiv/Shutterstock) Beaches in Kauai One of the most popular reasons to visit Hawaii is to spend time at the beach, and Kauai doesnt disappoint. Some of the best snorkeling and swimming beaches are Kee Beach, Poipu Beach, Haena Beach Park, Anini, and Salt Pond. If you plan to swim at any beach in Kauai, its important to ask for local advice before you go. At certain times of the year, there are large swells and rip currents that can be dangerous. Its best to swim at a lifeguarded beach. Taro fields in Hanalei Valley. (MNStudio/Shutterstock) Poipu Beach Park Thats why I spent several afternoons at Poipu Beach Park on the South Shore. This lovely beach and park is a local favorite, and its especially good for families with children. There is a lifeguard on site, along with restrooms, picnic tables, and showers. The crescent-shaped beach slopes gradually and has a protected lagoon for swimming. Theres even a bodyboarding site near the front of the park for older kids and adults. The reef, which acts as a protective barrier in the lagoon, also promises good snorkeling. Grabbing my snorkel gear, I head into the water. The ocean is rich with sea life. I see tiny angelfish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and more. I even heard the sounds of a large parrotfish crunching on the coral. In the protected bay, there are few waves, so I allow myself to simply float face-down, watching the scene below. Slowly, I feel all the stress and tension Ive been carrying around this past year leave my body. I let it all go, and simply float, soaking in the sights and sounds around me. Tomorrow, of course, there will be more challenges to face. But here, right now, Im in Kauai, and its a moment to savor. Janna Graber has covered travel in more than 55 countries. She is the editor of three travel anthologies, including A Pink Suitcase: 22 Tales of Womens Travel, and is the managing editor of Go World Travel Magazine. Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) Firefighters in central Iowa have rescued a man trapped under a skid loader at a burial vault business in Waterloo. The Courier reports that the incident happened around 6 a.m. Friday when the hydraulics that operate the arms of the skid loader bucket failed, sending one of the arms crashing down on a mechanic and pinning him. Waterloo Fire Department Battalion Chief Ben Peterson says the bucket happened to be titled downward and hit the cement first, relieving enough weight from the arm that it saved the mechanic's life. Petersen says crews cut the skid loader arm off the man's back and took him to a hospital. His condition was not released. This story is part of "Living Hell," a new investigation by the Houston Chronicle. Read it here. For years, they have complained about poor living conditions in their homes. They have pleaded with their elected leaders. They have even filed lawsuits. But tenants living in government-subsidized housing say its not enough - and that the current inspection system does not make their voices heard. Theyre now pushing for a much stronger say over their own homes. Now Playing: Video: Houston Chronicle Shalonda Rivers is a prominent tenant activist who lives in a Florida property owned by Millennia Companies, a Cleveland firm with more than 250 properties across the U.S. that has been criticized by residents who say they have faced health and safety hazards. Rivers went to Congress in 2019 to champion reforms. The proposals she advocated included a way for tenants to put their rent toward repairing broken buildings and the power to call for inspections themselves. Advocates are hopeful theyll get somewhere in the new session of Congress and with new leadership in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The National Alliance of HUD Tenants sent a letter of recommendation to the Biden-Harris transition team, including a bullet-pointed summary of their Tenant Empowerment Act. Heres what reform experts and advocates are suggesting: Where do tenants fit in proposed solutions? The National Alliance of HUD Tenants drafted the Tenant Empowerment Act in 2019. Among the provisions, the Tenant Empowerment Act would allow tenants who are living in buildings HUD has found substandard to put rent in escrow instead of paying it to their landlord. It also would provide for tenants to be included in HUDs physical inspections, accompanying inspectors in common areas and picking five units they wanted inspected. Tenants could trigger a HUD inspection themselves with 25 percent support. Texas Housers, a low-income housing advocacy group, proposes a HUD Field Office Tenant Residents Council that would meet twice a year with HUD officials. The organization also suggests a tenant satisfaction score based on a survey of tenants and incorporating tenant-reported issues with management into the score. The groups proposals also include giving tenants the option to convert to a housing choice voucher on their first and fifth anniversaries at a property. Housing choice vouchers are a subsidy that ties to the tenant and can be used at any property, not just a subsidized one, so that option would give tenants options to move. When Millennia tenant Tina Harris went before Galveston City Council in 2019 seeking help with conditions she said were sickening her daughter, she told the members that she couldnt afford to leave the complex since it would mean leaving behind the subsidy. A bill put forth by Floridas Rep. Al Lawson in 2019, the HUD Inspection Oversight Act, proposed that if an owner was in violation of HUD standards, HUD would need to work with tenants to make a remediation plan. How we got the story In its yearlong investigation, the Houston Chronicle filed more than 2,000 records requests at the federal, state, county and local levels to get complaints, inspections and internal emails between officials. The Chronicle reviewed court records and interviewed tenants, local officials and housing experts from across the country. The scenes described were either witnessed by the reporter or written based on documentation of the events described and extensive interviews. The Millennia Companies owns and manages HUD-subsidized properties across the country under contracts worth millions. Decades-old complexes are plagued by insect infestations, mold, sewage issues and other problems. The Houston Chronicle investigation documents a system that fails tenants and taxpayers and stymies local officials. See More Collapse SEE MILLENNIA'S RESPONSE TO THE CHRONICLE INVESTIGATION Are there any other suggested changes to HUD inspections and follow-ups? Many. The National Alliance of HUD Tenants drafted the Tenant Empowerment Bill, which would require HUD inspectors to consult local code enforcement records, if theyre available. It also would change how HUD deals with safety hazards: It would require inspectors who note what may be environmental hazards, such as potential mold, to get independent environmental testing and create remediation plans. Currently, owners self-certify to HUD that they have fixed health and safety violations. Under a bill drafted by the National Alliance of HUD Tenants, HUD would have to inspect to ensure they are fixed. In a study on project-based rental assistance properties in the Houston area, Texas Housers has suggested including a Community Assessment Score. The score would be based on a neighborhoods crime rate, poverty concentration, environmental health data and school performance measures, and it would be factored into HUDs calculations for how much owners get subsidized. As a consequence for two failing physical HUD inspections in a row, Texas Housers proposes that HUD contracts be immediately terminated and tenants be issued housing choice vouchers. With a housing choice voucher, the subsidy would be tied to the tenant, rather than the complex. Vouchers, however, can present problems of their own; in Texas, landlords are allowed to reject tenant applicants because they have a voucher. Lawsons proposed HUD Inspection Oversight Act included a stipulation that if a property did not correct HUD-identified deficiencies in time, HUD should immediately require a management change. The bill also would have required HUD to fine the owner/manager and put the money toward repairing the property. So all of these are adjustments to the system we currently have. Has anyone suggested a new system? Advocates, especially in the tenant union organizer sphere, have repeatedly called for a move to an entirely new paradigm of subsidized housing. Texas Housers suggests that HUD transfer project-based Section 8 contracts to the tenants themselves and have them run properties like a co-op. Moms 4 Housing set off a movement in Oakland when a group of unhoused mothers took over a vacant house and refused to leave until they were evicted in January 2020. They wound up getting the property back after it was placed in a community land trust. Community land trusts, used all over the country, are generally nonprofits aimed at keeping homes affordable by having people buy their homes, but not the land. Land trusts lease the land, often long term, and the homeowners are able to sell the house theyve bought at a restricted price. The community land trusts arent new, but the movement around taking over vacant houses and putting them in land trusts to house the homeless got traction through Moms 4 Housing. Is there anywhere that does affordable housing well? Vienna, Austria, is held up as a model of how to create quality affordable housing with community and business buy-in. About 60 percent of the population lives in Viennas social housing, and about one-third of new apartments every year are subsidized by the government. (In the U.S., HUD assists about 5 million households not even 5 percent of the population.) Private developers compete for the land and contracts, submitting their plans to juries of housing experts and architects (the private developer competition was introduced in 1995). The proposals are not judged based on cost alone: The juries deliberate on architectural quality, sustainability and eco-friendliness as well as cost. Viennas social housing is paid for by a mix of income tax, a tax on corporations and a housing-specific tax that everyone, regardless of their living status, pays into reinforcing the ethos that everyone has a stake in high-quality social housing, not just the poorest of the poor. The developments wind up with a mixed range of incomes rather than just the lowest income, and rent on most forms of social housing is capped at 25 percent of a family income. (In the U.S., people paying 30 percent or more of their income on rent are considered rent burdened.) While public housing in the United States constantly reassesses tenants income, Viennas social housing is a spot for life. While theres a cap on initial income to qualify, residents who get pay raises can stay in their homes. A few left-wing political candidates, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, have supported similar ideas , but such an overhaul and a shift toward more government influence (and spending, which would require tax increases) on housing would be extremely difficult in the U.S., where HUDs budget routinely gets slashed. But advocates say in the long term, the savings of a social housing model would overcome the short-term cost. The U.S. has a $70 billion backlog in public housing capital for repairs and deferred maintenance and a growing need for public housing that has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Donkeeboy, a visual artist and Houston native, has quite the cool-kid following. Hes a favorite of hip, young chefs, brewmasters and sneaker heads. A self-described entry on his Instagram bio reads remixer of pop culture. Those in the know recognize his use of double entendres, puns and mashups on large-scale murals around town. Graffiti-style script and a heavy dose of Lone Star pride are part of his calling card. Should you meet him in person, say Hey, Alex as in Alex Roman Jr. hold the Donkeeboy. Skeptics called him burro, the Spanish word for donkey, early in his art career; he later reclaimed the knock as his pseudonym. Should you covet his work, get your credit card ready. Last week, Roman added T-shirt designer to his growing repertoire. Hes one of five creatives who partnered with Life Is Good, a positive lifestyle and apparel brand, as part of its new Artist Series Collection. Other participants include Atticus Poetry, Melissa Koby, Shelby and Sandy, and Steffi Tsai. Styles for both men and women cost $28 a pop, plus theres a charitable incentive to add-to-cart. What I like most about the brand is that theyre all about optimism and spreading positivity, Roman said. They donate to kids and give back. I just knew that if I made a design that was strong enough, I would be contributing to that. The retail company donates 10 percent of net profits to the Life Is Good Kids Foundation. The nonprofits signature Playmaker Program provides more than 14,500 child care professionals with training, support and workshops to help them better understand trauma and compassion-informed care. With those initiatives in mind, Roman was inspired by the message of unity. Recently, Id been painting murals that are difficult, about injustice, he explained. It was nice to be able to work on something else that was all positive. Last year, Roman and his mother, Sylvia Roman, aka Donkeemom, teamed to paint two murals: one in Third Ward to honor George Floyd and another at Taqueria Del Sol honoring Vanessa Guillen. We grew up in that neighborhood, Roman said. He and his mom leaned on the community for feedback and support to complete Guillens mural. They were big ones. We had to do a bunch of interviews. Designing T-shirts proved a much more lighthearted process. Roman incorporated some of Life Is Goods existing branding with hands shaking or fists bumping. Even though the apparel company reached out to him about collaborating, there was still pressure to land the gig. You never know if your artwork is going to get through or not. I had to submit work that Id done in the past and why I would be a good fit for this project, he says. I was super nervous and anxious and losing sleep. I love their brand, its been around since the 90s. My friends dads would wear it. This wasnt Romans first retail rodeo. Hes designed T-shirts for 8th Wonder Brewery & Distillery, too, where some of his artwork is on display. Other pieces are currently on view at Riel, Original Ninfas Uptown, Nobi Public House and BBVA Stadium. Those make for a good selfie, but nothing says Life Is Good like wearing it on your sleeve. amber.elliott@chron.com Universitat Oberta de Catalunya A second study is in progress to determine the opinion and willingness to be vaccinated among the general population and health professionals, now that the vaccination process is in full swing. Credit: Artem Podrez_Pexels Approximately eight out of every 10 health professionals in Spain are willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a study led by researchers from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). Published in the open-access journal Vaccines, the study assessed for the first time this population segment's willingness to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 and concluded that the level of acceptance is higher among physicians than among nursing staff. Among the reasons given by health personnel for not wanting to be immunized, fears about the vaccines' safety and the potential side effects stood out. Although vaccination is considered to the most effective method for preventing and eradicating viral infections and stopping their transmission, a significant percentage of the population is skeptical about the role played by these preventive drugs in immunity. One of the consequences of this has been a drop in the number of vaccinated people, leading to outbreaks of diseases that were controlled or even eradicated, such as measles. In fact, the growth of anti-vaccine groups led the World Health Organization (WHO) to include resistance to vaccination as one of the 10 global threats of 2019. One of the main channels for propagating fake or scientifically unfounded information against vaccines are social media, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram and Twitter. In view of this, the researchers, led by Hans Eguia, a doctoral student enrolled on the UOC's doctoral program in Health and Psychology, recruited 1,002 volunteers from Twitter between 10 September and 23 November 2020, most of them healthcare workers, and asked them to complete a questionnaire in which they were asked whether or not they would accept the vaccine and why. Of the 731 people who were Spanish, 164 answered that they would not receive the vaccine. Of these, 17.5% were physicians, 35% were nursing staff and 31.5% were other healthcare professionals. Among the main reasons given for not vaccinating, they mentioned concerns about a possible lack of effectiveness, a lack of safety and possible adverse side effects. "It is an extraordinary thing that the vaccines have been developed in less than a year. This has never happened before and it may give grounds for skepticism, even among some health professionals," explained Francesc Saigi, professor of Health Sciences at the UOC and a researcher at the I2TIC research group, which led the study. "However, we can be sure that all the approved vaccines are safe. The fact that they been developed in such a short time is because they have received an enormous amount of resources. The criteria applied by the regulatory agencies in approving medicines are very strict," he added. The results were obtained when the second wave was just starting in Spain and the vaccines' phase III clinical trials had not yet been completed. "There were no data and this perhaps might explain why some health professionals preferred to wait until more information was available. Perhaps if we repeated the survey today, the results would be different," suggested Marina Bosque, a researcher at the GRESP research group (University of Manresa, UOC). The paper's authors consider that the fact that twice as many nursing staff as medical staff were unwilling to be vaccinated is worrying, because "they are the people who are closest to the patients and, therefore, more likely to influence their opinion, as is already the case in the flu vaccination campaigns," Saigi observed. Although the study was carried out with a small sample before vaccination started, the authors believe that the results are a warning bell that shows that more interventions are needed to improve communication with the public in general and with health professionals in particular. Previous studies have shown that when people have doubts about vaccines, the reluctance diminishes and tends to disappear if they are given clear, powerful messages. A second study is in progress to determine the opinion and willingness to be vaccinated among the general population and health professionals, now that the vaccination process is in full swing. "By understanding the reasons why people do not want to be vaccinated, especially health personnel, it will be possible to design communication and education strategies and even use social media to settle doubts, improve the vaccination rate and, ultimately, achieve the desired herd immunity effect," the authors concluded. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak More information: Hans Eguia et al. Spain's Hesitation at the Gates of a COVID-19 Vaccine, Vaccines (2021). Hans Eguia et al. Spain's Hesitation at the Gates of a COVID-19 Vaccine,(2021). DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9020170 Provided by Universitat Oberta de Catalunya Amy Skinner watched as workers began building tiny colorful structures across from a park where she sometimes slept in North Hollywood. Tiny homes are being used for housing in costly areas of the United States. Others have joined the tiny house movement to live a simpler life. In Los Angeles, California, tiny homes are now being used as temporary shelters for people like Amy Skinner. She has been homeless for three years. In early February, Skinner received the key to one of the 39 tiny homes on Chandler Street. She and her partner, John Golka, moved into the 6-square-meter space with their little dog, Smalls. The tiny home has four windows, two beds, places for belongings, and an air conditioner. The welcome mat at the front door says: This is our happy place. Being able to lock the door and have a place to sleep is huge, said Skinner who is 48 years old. She added, Thats so hard to do when youre on the streets. The tiny home village also has community space, including tables where people can eat and an area for toilets and showers. The project was developed and paid for by the city of Los Angeles. It is part of an emergency effort to solve the worsening homelessness crisis. Similar projects went up in other California cities, including San Jose and Sacramento, and also across the United States in Seattle, Washington; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Des Moines, Iowa. In 2020, there were about 66,400 homeless people in Los Angeles County. That number is an increase of more than 12 percent from a year earlier. More than 150,000 people are homeless across the state of California. The pandemic has forced even more people onto the streets. Homeless shelters had to turn away people to maintain social distancing rules. A 2016 measure to pay for homeless housing has not started. So, officials began looking for ways to solve the problem. City officials selected the land on Chandler Street for the tiny home village because it could not be used for anything else. Not everyone supported the plan. The officials had to promise nearby neighbors that the village would be safe and clean. Ken Craft is head of the non-profit Hope of the Valley which operates Chandler Street village. He asked worried neighbors if they would rather have the tents or the tiny homes on the land. He said the village offers services that can help people out of homelessness. They include mental health treatment, legal aid, and help with job searches. Amy Skinner is getting her Social Security card, which she hopes will help her find a job. The tiny homes cost $7,500 each. And the cost for the entire project was $5 million. Hope of the Valley is building two more villages in North Hollywood. More are planned in other neighborhoods. Pete White is director of the Los Angeles Community Action Network. He said the tiny homes of Chandler Street are too small. He said his group is developing a similar community with slightly larger homes for homeless people. We know that we cant build ourselves out of the crisis. But we are learning that you can make progress, he said, if you can show that projects like these actually work. At Chandler Street, the housing is temporary. The goal is for people to stay a few months and then move on to permanent housing. Ted Beauregard is one of the first persons to stay in the tiny homes. The 63-year-old became homeless for the first time when the pandemic stopped his business. He plans to leave in April. Im using this as a stepping-stone, he said of his tiny house. Im Anna Matteo. Christopher Weber reported this story for the Associated Press. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story park n. a piece of public land in or near a city that is kept free of houses and other buildings and can be used for pleasure and exercise tiny adj. very small key n. an instrument by which the bolt of a lock (as on a door) is turned or by which an engine is started welcome mat n. a small rug that is placed by the door of a person's house, apartment, etc., for guests to wipe their feet on before entering lock n. a fastening (as for a door) in which a bolt is operated (as by a key) table n. a piece of furniture consisting of a smooth flat slab fixed on legs toilet n. a large bowl attached to a pipe that is used for getting rid of bodily waste and then flushed with water shower n. a bath in which water is sprayed on the body or a device for providing such a bath tent n. a portable shelter that is used outdoors, is made of cloth (such as canvas or nylon), and is held up with poles and ropes stepping-stone n. a means of progress or advancement Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. This market research report includes a detailed segmentation of the global medical tourism market by therapeutic area (Dentistry, Cosmetic, Cardiovascular, Orthopedic, In-vitro Fertilization, Neurological, Oncology, and Others), by region (North America (US and Canada), Europe (UK, Turkey, Italy, and Germany), Asia Pacific (India, Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia), and Rest of the World (LATAM (Brazil and Mexico), and MEA (Middle East and Africa))). Overview of the Global Medical Tourism Market Infoholics market research report predicts that the Global Medical Tourism Market will grow at a CAGR of 16.1% during the forecast period 20192025. The global medical tourism market witnessed a flat growth in the past few years but sustained due to high cost of medical treatment in developed countries such as US and UK in fact, most of the outbound medical tourists are from North America and Europe. Click Here to Get Sample Premium Report @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/9732 The industry specific parameters that are driving the global medical tourism market are primarily the increasing healthcare related costs in the patients country of origin, lack of insurance and healthcare coverages, lower cost of medical treatment in destination countries, availability of highly trained, skilled, and qualified specialists in the countries providing services, and increasing costs of long-term care in developed countries. With respect to mega trends or macro factors fueling the growth of the global medical tourism market are the population growth, urbanization, and easy access to popular medical tourism destinations. The certified and accredited infrastructure to provide the products and services related to the medical tourism industry is increasing rapidly in the regions (such as LATAM and Asia Pacific) providing services to the medical tourists. You can Buy This Report from Here @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/9732/Single Though more support from government agencies and organizations and strategic marketing initiatives are needed to grow medical tourism in the developing countries. Industry partnerships with the global medical travel agents, logistic suppliers, hotels, and hospitals have facilitated in offering packaged facilities. For example, Apollo has collaborated with American International Medical University (AIMU) for emerging medical tourism plans in the regions like Bahamas and St Lucia. While looking for a favorable medical destination most of the medical tourists virtually visit several JCI-accredited hospitals providing amenities and exceptional atmosphere for treatment and healing period after a lengthy period of enduring surgical procedures. The growth of the elderly population is also one of the major factors driving the medical tourism market because of the need of high-quality long-term care. The growing lifestyle-related disorders and incidence of cancers are increasing rapidly globally, with high treatment costs cancer treatment is also driving the growth of medical tourism globally. Telemedicine is also increasingly used in facilitating medical tourism. As the various technology barricades have wrecked down, patients and medical staff can discuss data and apprehensions previously and subsequently after surgery. By Therapeutic Class: Dentistry Cosmetic Cardiovascular Orthopedic Invitro Fertilization Oncology Others The cosmetic segment occupied the largest share in 2018. Over 21 million cosmetic surgeries are being performed every year across the world. Breast augmentation followed by liposuction are the two major cosmetic surgeries performed across the globe. By Region: North America Europe APAC RoW Asia Pacific is dominant in the global medical tourism market in 2018. The significant share of the Asia Pacific region comes from India, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia due to the availability of quality healthcare facilities at a comparatively less cost. Medical Tourism Market Research Competitive Analysis Countries like India, Thailand, and Singapore in the APAC region are in the forefront of the market. Not to be left behind other nations of Asia such as Malaysia and Philippines, the South American and Eastern European countries are also emerging as favorable medical tourism destinations particularly for nearshore countries and base locations with shorter journey time. Another substantial reason for medical tourism is the accessibility to the most recent and technologically radical procedures of treatment. For example, the method of Cyberknife robotic surgery used for diagnosis and the treatment of various cancer types. Tomotherapy, the newest radiotherapy apparatus which is currently present in very few state-of-the-art facilities hospitals in South Korea, which is an evolving center for medical tourism. Key Vendors: Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited Asian Heart Institute Fortis Healthcare Limited KPJ Healthcare Berhad Bumrungrad International Hospital Key Competitive Facts Bumrungrad International Hospital in Thailand and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. in India are the top hospitals Focus is on the swift implementation and distribution of technical innovation which is helping the countries to provide better care In 2017 around 2.4 million individuals visited Thailand to seek medical care due to the low cost and decent quality of the medical facilities Benefits This report meets the expectations of a reliable data on global medical tourism. The report provides complete details about the sub-segments of the medical tourism market. Through this report, the key stakeholders can know about the major trends, drivers, investments, vertical players initiatives, and government initiatives toward the disease-burden management in the upcoming years along with details of the existing pureplay companies and new players entering the market. Moreover, the report provides details about the major challenges that are going to impact the market growth. Additionally, the report gives complete details about the key business opportunities to key stakeholders in order to expand their business and capture the revenue in specific verticals and to analyze before investing or expanding the business in this market. Key Takeaways: Understanding the potential market opportunity with precise market size and forecast data A detailed market analysis focusing on the growth of medical tourism industry Factors influencing the growth of the medical tourism market In-depth competitive analysis of dominant and pure-play vendors Prediction analysis of the medical tourism market in both developed and developing regions Key insights related to major segments of the medical tourism market Latest market trend analysis impacting the buying behavior of the consumers Request For Report Discounts @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/9732 Thousands of residents in New South Wales have been ordered to leave their homes as life-threatening floodwaters triggered a series of evacuation orders on Friday night. The State Emergency Service at 11pm told those on low-lying properties in Kempsey, north of Port Macquarie on the mid-north coast, to 'evacuate the high danger area' by midnight. The late-night evacuation order for eastern parts of the regional centre came amid fears the floodwaters could breach the town's levee and cut off road, internet and phone access. In the hours before, low-lying properties on the Lower Macleay, north of Kempsey, were ordered to evacuate as well as areas of Port Macquarie - home to almost 50,000 residents. The weather system will continue to move south to Sydney where 120mm of rain is expected to fall on Saturday, adding pressure to the already at-capacity Warragamba Dam with 90mm of rain enough to see it spill over. Port Macquarie (pictured) received some of the worst flooding on Friday with the weather system to hit the greater Sydney area on Saturday The SES said they were in discussion with Water NSW and would be warned should the dam overflow. Communities in the Hawkesbury-Nepean area are expected to be at risk from a potential spill of Sydney's biggest dam. Western towns and suburbs including St Albans, Marsden Park, Richmond and Windsor are also at risk. Residents have been warned to sandbank their properties, move livestock and be prepared to leave. NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott said there was 'obviously a risk that the dam will spill over', The Daily Telegraph reported. At least 41 people have already been rescued on the mid-north coast from the floodwaters. Rescue crews are pictured saving a group of people in a life raft near Kempsey on the NSW Mid-North Coast A late-night weather warning from the Bureau of Meteorology has warned of heavy rainfall, damaging winds and surf along a vast stretch of the NSW coast including Sydney The Georges, Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers in the Sydney region are also expected to rise from the floodwaters. Authorities have also warned flash-flooding could be 'life threatening' with roads likely cut-off by the floodwaters and an increased risk of landslips. The SES has already rescued 41 people from floodwaters in NSW since Thursday and repeated its warning for drivers to stop trying to cross flooded roads. Severe weather warnings have also been extended to Newcastle, and the Illawarra and Blue Mountains regions with heavy rains, damaging winds and wild surf expected. A landslip at Myers Bluff in Thora, NSW on Friday (pictured) caused a council car to be hit with debris but no-one was injured Residents in parts of Port Macquarie (pictured) are being ordered to evacuate by 8pm tonight as flooding hits the NSW mid-north coast town A huge weather system is battering Australia's east coast with flash flooding and damaging winds expected into Saturday (pictured: a collapsed highway due to floodwater on Foreshore Drive in Corlette, NSW) Surfers in Lennox Head, northern NSW, brave the wild weather and huge swells on Friday for a wave (pictured) Sydney's Warragamba Dam (pictured) is facing the risk of overflowing as the weather system moves towards the city An incredible 600mm of rain could fall in Coffs Harbour over the next 36 hours with meteorologists warning residents to expect 'an absolute deluge' as the 1,200km-long weather system moves gradually southwards towards Sydney. On Friday, the bureau recorded 303.5mm of rain at Seven Oaks and 225.8mm at Kempsey Airport. Two thirds of the country is expected to receive a drenching over the next 48 hours including the Northern Territory. One tram broke down inside a Sydney tunnel on Friday with people have to wade through water to get outside (pictured) The Macksville Bridge (pictured) near Nambucca Heads in NSW was underwater early on Friday night Flash flooding is battering some parts of NSW (pictured) as a huge weather system moves slowly south towards Sydney Meteorologist Agata Imielska from the bureau said the rain was set to be 'substantially heavier' on Saturday in Sydney. 'We are expecting widespread totals for the Greater Sydney area of around 100 millimeters,' she said. 'This will be the difference of potentially what will seem like maybe inconvenient rain to actually something that might be quite dangerous and threatening. 'It's really important for Sydneysiders to be mindful about reconsidering their plans due to potential changes to driving conditions.' A landslide at Thora in New South Wales on Friday (pictured) caused by soaking rains Up to 600mm of rain could fall in Coffs Harbour over the next 36 hours during the wild weather event The Hasting River at Long Flat (pictured left) broke its banks on Friday, while the road to Port Macquarie airport (pictured right) was completely underwater A deluge of water cause paddocks to flood at Macksville (pictured) on Friday Commuters heading into the city on Friday morning were met with flooding at Lewisham station, in Sydney's inner west, as rain water soaked the entrance. The morning commute was thrown into disarray thanks to the weather event. Buses replaced metro services between Castle Hill and Tallawong due to a fallen overhead cable. The deluge is set to continue well into next week and could deliver the heaviest rainfall since February 2020, when Greater Sydney was hit. Earlier, Sky News Weather meteorologist Alison Osborne said there was some uncertainty about where the heaviest falls will be this weekend. 'There is a risk of that flooding reaching Sydney and the rain spreading into northern and eastern parts of Victoria,' she said. She added there could be months' worth of rain in outback NSW in the next few days, where a separate band of rain is moving eastwards from Western Australia. Sydneysiders have been warned their city could be hit by flooding this weekend as a second band of heavy rainfall lashes the east coast A severe weather warning is in place for the New South Wales mid-north coast where as much as 300mm is expected to fall in the next three days. Pictured: Freshwater Beach on Thursday 'In the outback [where there is less rainfall] there could be many months worth of rain in the next few days,' she said. BoM meteorologist Helen Kirkup told Daily Mail Australia that weather system could bring about 60mm of rain to inland areas. 'Isolated parts of the mid-north coast could get up to 200mm in a day - it's not out of the question,' she said. The eastern seabord of Australia is expected to cop a deluge in the coming days. A severe weather warning for heavy rainfall is now in place for the mid-north coast Sydney could see one of the heaviest days of rainfall periods in recent years, with some suburbs predicted to experience more than 120mm. Pictured: worker cleans a closed Freshwater rockpool on Thursday The forecast is a different picture in other parts of the country, with neither Brisbane and Canberra expected to receive more than 20mm of rain a day into the weekend. Melbourne will remain mostly dry as the thermostat reaches as high as 25C. Adelaide residents will also escape the rain, with the next few days bringing sunshine and temperatures around 30C. Hobart will be dry and sunny with days reaching around 25C. Over on the other side of the country, Perth residents will sweat through the week with Friday soaring to tops of 38C and Saturday to 37C. Darwin will be hot with high chances of thunderstorms and rainfall over the coming days. Sydney residents have been urged to stay indoors during the wild weather event Thousands of Queenslanders have been urged to move to higher ground after the state was battered by heavy rainfall that's expected to last for another week (pictured residents in Sunshine Coast) Ankara, March 19 : Turkey has rejected international criticism over the removal of a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) from his parliamentary seat and seeking to shut it down. In a statement on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry in Ankara urged the international community not to "intervene" in the Turkish judiciary, Xinhua news agency reported. The Ministry said that all should respect the ongoing judicial process after the US and the European Union (EU) condemned Turkey for its move. Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu was removed from the seat on Wednesday after an appeals court upheld his conviction on "terrorist propaganda" charges over a social media post. Hours later, a public prosecutor filed the indictment at the Constitutional Court, demanding the pro-Kurdish party be dissolved over its alleged links to outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and seeking a political ban on 687 members of the HDP for five years. The ruling Justice and Development Party and its political ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have long portrayed the HDP as the political front of PKK. The MHP has been urging the government and the judiciary for the closure of the pro-Kurdish party in the past few months. The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU, has been rebelling against the Ankara government for over 30 years, which has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text A plane packed with passengers was briefly delayed due to a broken dust cover on a window, with engineers seen boarding the flight with a roll of tape. Technicians for budget airline Jetstar were called onto flight JQ515 to examine the passenger window prior to take off from Sydney to Melbourne on Friday morning. Photos taken by concerned passengers supplied to Daily Mail Australia show Jetstar maintenance technicians on the plane inspecting a broken window cover while holding a roll of 3M tape. An issue with a window cover delayed flight JQ515 from taking off on Friday morning. Pictured are Jetstar maintenance crew inspecting the problem Passengers said the plane was delayed in Sydney before leaving 20 minutes behind schedule at 9.44am, which is confirmed by flight tracking data. The flight arrived at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport on time shortly before 11am. A Jetstar spokesman told Daily Mail Australia the photos show the issue appeared to be with an internal dust cover, which has 'absolutely no impact on aircraft pressurisation.' Jetstar says the issue with window cover (pictured), which has had 'absolutely no impact on aircraft pressurisation' Maintenance crew quickly fixed the problem while holding a roll of 3M tape (pictured) 'A window dust cover (internal panel) became loose on a flight to Melbourne this morning,' the spokesperson said. 'The part presented no damage upon inspection and was reinstalled by engineers this morning in Melbourne. 'The part shown in these photos is not an aircraft window. It's a dust cover that sits in front of the window.' Domestic airfare prices have plummeted in recent weeks in the wake of recent easing of travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Australians are free to travel across all interstate borders without the need to quarantine for the first time in 12 months after Western Australia reopened its borders to Victorians on Monday. 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. 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If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Hurricane season 2021 is here: How do storms get their names? Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Police say 1-year-old Diore Thomas has been located safely after she was reported abducted earlier Thursday. Although police previously identified a suspect in Thomas abduction, no new information has been released about the case. Police have not said whether charges will be filed. An Amber Alert was issued for Thomas around 5:45 p.m., and police announced she was safe around 8:10 p.m. Cancel - Amber Child Abduction Alert Diore THOMAS has been located safely. PA State Police (@PAStatePolice) March 19, 2021 Read more on PennLive: Advertisement An original Dunkirk 'little ship' that has been converted into a historic home has gone on the market for 300,000. The MV Gainsborough Trader took part in Operation Dynamo, ferrying troops from the beaches of Dunkirk under heavy fire in May 1940. The 70ft Humber Keel cargo vessel, which still sails, was originally a barge for transporting coal and flour. It was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1940, when it was called MFH (Master of Foxhounds), and made repeated trips to Dunkirk. At first it took some of the thousands of stranded soldiers from off the beaches to the larger vessels. It was then ordered to Dunkirk's mole - the stone wall which stretched half a mile out to sea - to pick up 140 exhausted troops and take them back to England. An original Dunkirk 'little ship' that has been converted into a historic home has gone on the market for 300,000. The MV Gainsborough Trader took part in Operation Dynamo, ferrying troops from the French beaches under heavy fire in May 1940 The boat was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1940, when it was called MFH (Master of Foxhounds), and made repeated trips to Dunkirk. Pictured: The boat in its heyday The 70ft Humber Keel cargo vessel was originally a barge for transporting coal and flour. Pictured: The living space with dining area and log burner inside the restored ship It was one of the last boats to leave the mole while under enemy fire. The 2017 film Dunkirk told the story of the evacuation and depicted the role of one of the civilian vessels which helped to ferry troops from the beaches. After the war, Dunkirk MHF was again used to transport coal and flour before being used as a parcel boat in the 1960s. It was saved from the scrapyard in 1995 when its then owners converted it into a house boat with three bedrooms, a kitchen, dining room and lounge. But they also made sure its diesel engine was in good working order so it could be taken elsewhere. The boat's interior has traditional wooden fittings with brass portholes and instruments. Pictured: The stunning original door stands out brightly with its red coat of paint The boat's wheel house is seen above. The boat helped was used to take some of the thousands of stranded Allied soldiers from the beaches at Dunkirk to larger vessels The galley includes a fridge, freezer and dishwasher, a saloon with a wood burning stove, a dining room which seats eight and a bathroom with double sinks and a Victorian-style tub Left: The boat's twin sinks in the faithfully restored bathroom. Right: New owners can relax by enjoying a bath or shower The boat's living space, complete with dining table and wooden floor, shelving and large mirror, is seen in the above image The restored kitchen includes a lavish breakfast bar and Aga, perfect for any new owner who wants to entertain guests In 2015, the Gainsborough Trader was joined by around 50 other 'little ships' as it sailed back to Dunkirk to mark the 75th anniversary of the evacuation The current owner bought it in 2011. A year later it took part in the River Thames flotilla of 670 boats to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. In dates: The life of the Gainsborough Trader 1931: Built by Dunstons of Thorne for Messrs Furley & Co. One of the first steel Humber Keel motor barges to have a diesel engine. Her predecessors used sail or steam The boat was moved from the river Humber to the River Thames after being bought by cargo firm Pickfords. She was mostly used to transport flour and grain. 1937: Pickfords moved her to Newport on the Isle of Wight and changed her name to MFH (Master of Fox Hounds). 1939: The boat had a new engine fitted in 1939. This was refurbished in 1995. 1940: Requisitioned by the Ministry of War Transport for use in Operation Dynamo. After the war: Returned to the Isle of Wight before becoming a postal boat. 1977: Was taken into private ownership and used as a family home 1987: Bought by another private owner 1994: Found on the south coast in very poor condition. Jay and Dawn Jones-Cooper restore her and change her name back to Gainsborough Trader. 2011: Changed hands once again. 2012: Participated in River Thames flotilla of 670 boats to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. 2015: Returns to Dunkirk with other 'little ships' to mark 75th anniversary of evacuation. Advertisement It was an event that set a Guinness World Record for the world's largest boat parade and saw an estimated one million spectators on the banks of the river. The Gainsborough Trader even sailed back to Dunkirk with about 50 other 'little ships' in 2015 to mark the 75th anniversary of the evacuations. The boat is currently moored at South Dock Marine in Southwark, south London. Its interior has traditional wooden fittings with brass portholes and instruments. The galley includes a fridge, freezer and dishwasher, a saloon with a wood burning stove, a dining room which seats eight and a bathroom with double sinks and a Victorian-style tub. A registered National Historic Vessel, she is also a certified Dunkirk Little Ship. Catherine Carpenter, director of Zeewarriors Brokerage, which is handling the boat's sale, described it as a 'piece of history'. She said: 'MV Gainsborough Trader is owned by a man who has kept her in good working order but has decided to downsize. 'She is in a prime location on the marina, with a great back deck that catches the morning sunrise and the sunset, too. 'As the boat has three bedrooms, it could be suitable for a young couple who liked to entertain, or for a small family. 'If people like water sports, such as paddle boarding or kayaking, she'd be a great buy as many people on the dock enjoy these activities. 'Or if people are into maritime history then this could be their ideal home..' Ms Carpenter also believes the boat would suit people who need to live in London for work during the week, or those who wanted to downsize and fancied a life on the water. Ten per cent of the sale price price payable goes to Southwark Council for the transfer of the residential licence fee. About 700 of the Dunkirk 'little ships' - private, commercial, sailing and lifeboats - took part in Operation Dynamo but only 192 of them exist today. The boat is currently moored at South Dock Marine in Southwark, south London The 2017 film Dunkirk told the story of the evacuation and depicted the role of one of the civilian vessels which helped to ferry troops from the beaches The Gainsborough Trader has three bedrooms. Pictured: Two of its single beds, which lie side by side surrounded by ornate wooden panelling There is also a bunk bed set-up on the boat. Catherine Carpenter, director of Zeewarriors Brokerage, which is handling the boat's sale, believes the boat would suit people who need to live in London for work during the week, or those who wanted to downsize and fancied a life on the water The boat was saved from the scrapyard in 1995 when its then owners converted it into a house boat with three bedrooms, a kitchen, dining room and lounge. Pictured: A clock on the boat After the war, Dunkirk MHF was again used to transport coal and flour before being used as a parcel boat in the 1960s. Pictured: The engine room The diesel engine is in good working order after it was restored in the 1990s. Pictured: The engine room Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Ahomosexual, his boyfriend and his godless sister take an Anglican minister and his wife to a gay party in Sydney. It sounds like the start of a joke, but this happened last autumn. William Yang was debuting a new show at the Sydney Opera House, and a rare conspiracy of timing meant my boyfriend Scott, sister Tammy and I were all in the city together. Tammy and her husband Bruce asked their Sydney-based friends to join us an Anglican minister and his wife, who are Asian-Australian as they wanted to introduce them to an Asian-Australian icon they hadnt encountered before. For my sister, boyfriend and me, William Yangs work resonated personally. For my photo-documentarian sister, it was Williams commitment to documenting Chinese-Australian history and community. For my boyfriend, it was how William captured decades of joy and grief in Sydneys queer community, one wed recently joined. For me a gay Chinese-Australian who told stories for a living it was all of the above. Through his photographs, William Yang illuminated my twin cultural heritages: being Chinese-Australian and being queer. His Sydney Opera House show that night was Party (verb) 2019, the story of Sydneys queer underground dance parties spanning the 1970s, when William first arrived in Sydney, through the horrors of the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, to the present day. Told through projected images, monologue and live music, Party (verb) was the latest evolution of the art form William pioneered in the late 1980s, a marriage of spoken word, performance and photography. Photographer William Yang with writer Benjamin Law in Sydney this month. Credit:Louise Kennerley Advertisement Somehow, William had taken a format synonymous with searing dullness slideshow night! and rescued it from the tedious horror of suburban fathers droning on about their latest caravan holidays. What William delivered instead were vital, transformative and soulful acts of storytelling and bearing witness. Its a format thats since been so replicated and emulated that many Australian performing arts circles now use phrases like William Yang-style or William Yang-esque as shorthand. William designed Party (verb) as a tribute to a queer party scene that never stopped, even for the horrors of AIDS. Williams thesis was that, for many, partying was the way through the bleak trauma of that era, and that to party to celebrate and forge joy in community could be an act of defiance. Looking back, it was actually a terrible time. There was a great range of emotions, because you might be at a dance party this weekend, and the next weekend youd be at a funeral. But people partied on right through the whole thing. On the night of Party (verb), we took our seats in the Opera House and the lights went down. Sydney DJ-royalty Stereogamous revved up the music. Williams show-and-tell began and, within seconds, I wondered whether bringing our new Anglican friends was a mistake. The first photo was of a naked man. And his penis projected on the Opera House walls was now rendered huge; it mustve been over a metre long. My sister and I stifled a laugh, then flashed each other a wide-eyed silent scream. What would the Christians think? Lets temporarily park what the Anglican minister and his wife thought. First, I need to tell you what I think, and what William Yangs work means to me. Growing up gay and Asian in Queensland is a singular experience for each person and generation. William is nearly 40 years older than me. His familys history on this continent goes back a century (mine only starts in the mid 1970s), and our ancestors come from slightly different parts of China. Yet when I first saw Williams photographs, I felt like there was some spiritual cord connecting us, as if we were siblings from different generations possibly dimensions who had nevertheless found each other through time and space. All great art gives you that sensation. But there were uncanny biographical parallels too: William and I were both gay, grew up in regional Queensland, and were more or less the only Chinese kids in a sea of white faces in our towns, before we moved to Sydney in our 20s and 30s, respectively. Coincidentally, we both have boyfriends named Scott. Advertisement And there is something about growing up as dual outsiders as homosexuals coming of age in the last mainland state to decriminalise homosexuality, and as Chinese-Australians living in a country that federated on anti-Asian, whites-only policies that bonds people like us. Ben Law, 2016. Credit:William Yang Some would argue that were also both degenerates. By his own admission, William says he likes to watch. I was a photographer, he once said, which means that I was a voyeur. Famously, William first plunged headfirst into photography as an architecture student who had a crush on a classmate. Take off your shirt, William told him, finding it far easier to give instructions with a camera in hand. Lie on the bed. Perhaps one lesson here is that, contrary to popular belief, Asian men can be just as assertive as anyone, given the right tools. Besides his capacity to capture beauty, William Yangs other great superpower is his capacity to disarm. To my mind, hes like the Chinese-Australian photographer version of the American writer Joan Didion, who once said she was so physically small, so temperamentally unobtrusive that people ended up underestimating her capacity to capture them in her work usually against their best interests. Besides his capacity to capture beauty, William Yangs other great superpower is his capacity to disarm. William never works against anyones best interests (as far as I know), and his quietly cheeky charm ensures people are comfortable in that most searingly uncomfortable of situations: being examined and exposed in front of a camera. In Williams presence, you just forget. One moment, youre talking about work and gossiping about friends; the next, youre shirtless, have your face covered in permanent marker, and down to your jocks as he snaps away. And, yes, I speak from experience, via photoshoots that ... may or may not have made their way into this exhibition. Advertisement There is a story William Yang tells in his show Sadness 1999 also inscribed on a childhood photo that hes told audiences so many times its almost become an incantation: When I was about six years old, one of the kids at school called me Ching Chong China man, Born in a jar, Christened in a teapot, Ha Ha Ha. I had no idea what he was talking about but I knew from his expression that he was being horrible to me, so I went home to my mother and I said to her, Mum, Im not Chinese, am I? My mother said to me very sternly, Yes you are. Her tone was hard and it shocked me. I knew in this moment being Chinese was like a terrible curse and I could not rely on my mother for help. Or my brother who was four years older than me, very much more experienced in the world. He chimed in, And youd better get used to it. LifeLines3-SelfPortrait2(1947); Childhood photo of William Yang, which he inscribed for his 1999 show Sadness. Credit:William Yang Collection: University of Queensland Art Museum Its a familiar wrestle for any Australian kid from an immigrant background the discovery of your ethnicity and difference is often coupled with the sense that its somehow also a liability. For the rest of our lives, we teeter back and forth between embracing and rejecting our cultural heritage, and going through phases of insisting our ethnicity shouldnt matter, and periods where it feels like its the only thing that matters at all. In order to survive in this country, to blend in, to assimilate, so many Australian families forfeit cultural connections. Like my family, Williams family shielded him from the most painful parts of their history to protect him. What William discovered is that sometimes in order to find the truth, you have to bypass family and circumvent erasures in Australian history, as well as Chinese families tendency towards silence, and head straight to the archives. In telling my family story, Ive often had to do the same. To engage with Williams work is to recalibrate your understanding of the Chinese in Australia. Its not only an archaeological dig through history, but an excavation of the last five decades of Australian history, art and subculture. Though equally adept at capturing the famous (actor Cate Blanchett, writer Patrick White, painter Brett Whiteley, Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham), Williams real skill is rendering seemingly ordinary Australians iconic. His mother, friends and lovers: he captures them all with fierce tenderness and love. Advertisement Golden Summer 1987/2016. Credit:William Yang. But for all of Williams romances, you get the palpable sense that his first love is the human face. And the face from Williams photographs that has stayed with me most is Allans. In the aftermath of AIDS, for millennials like me, sex was pathologised before we even started having it. But for Williams generation and the generation between us AIDS was a war, obliterating so many lovers, friends and peers to the point where funerals often competed with each other. It was a war with mens bodies, in particular, from outside and within. To imagine the horror of friends writing wills in the prime of their lives and at their most beautiful is something Ill always struggle to comprehend. While the scale of the loss is so difficult to convey in statistics, its Williams story of Allan a sequence of portraits and memories, brutally unsentimental, yet utterly tender that allows you to understand on an emotional level. He seemed like an old man and I had a strong desire to burst into tears, William writes over one photograph. Even if you didnt know Allan and I didnt I defy you not to struggle with tears. Yet Australias queer story is not just pure sadness. For me, seeing Williams images of men, swaddled in their desire, affection and easy love for one another, continues to disentangle something thats been knotted up inside me for as long as I can remember. Asian men occupy a very specific idea in the Australian imagination of being non-sexual, and therefore, undesirable that we all inevitably internalise. The raw, unashamed sensuality of Williams imagery of his unabashed desire for the men he captures, and the framing of Asian male beauty itself is such a potent corrective. His images remind us that desire isnt anything to be ashamed of, and that Asian men are desirable too. The Synthetics, Paddington Town Hall, 1977. Credit:William Yang. Tableaux of gay friendship and sex, mates sharing mattresses on the floor in the aftermath of a party: William Yang made all this worthy of witness and celebration. In an era when queer people were so targeted and vilified by government and so-called men of god, in these quiet scenes, William has broadened our idea of what aspects of Australian life should be considered sacred, and celebrated. Advertisement Washington, March 19 : The US government has threatened new sanctions against companies involved in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, urging them to pull out of the German-Russian project. The US State Department "reiterates its warning that any entity involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline risks US sanctions and should immediately abandon work on the pipeline", said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement on Thursday. He added that the Department is tracking efforts to complete the pipeline and "evaluating information regarding entities that appear to be involved" in the project. Nord Stream 2 is a "bad deal for Germany, for Ukraine, and for our Central and Eastern European allies and partners", Blinken said. "As multiple US administrations have made clear, this pipeline is a Russian geopolitical project intended to divide Europe." The Secretary of State pointed to sanctions legislation passed by Congress against the project and said President Joe Biden would comply with it. So far, the US has only imposed sanctions on the Russian company KVT-RUS, which operates the pipe-laying vessel Fortuna. The measures were announced by former President Donald Trump's administration shortly before the end of its term in January. US officials argue the pipeline, which is supposed to transport 55 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Russia to Germany once a year trhough the Baltic Sea, will make Europe too dependent on Russian energy supplies. Supporters of the gas pipeline, on the other hand, have long accused the US of undermining the project in order to increase sales of their liquid gas in Europe. ANCHORAGE Even before the Biden administrations first face-to-face meeting with senior Chinese diplomats on Thursday, American officials predicted the discussions would not go well. They were right: The traditional few minutes of opening greetings and remarks dissolved into more than an hour of very public verbal jousting, confirming the expected confrontational tone between the geopolitical rivals. U.S. officials said the two days of talks would continue, but immediately accused the Chinese delegation of violating the format for the sensitive discussions that had sought to find some common ground amid the many conflict points between them. Yang Jiechi, Chinas top diplomat, accused the United States of taking a condescending approach to the talks and said the American delegation had no right to accuse Beijing of human rights abuses or give lectures on the merits of democracy. At one point, he said the United States would do well to repair its own deep seated problems, specifically pointing to the Black Lives Matter movement against American racism. At another, after it looked as if the opening remarks had concluded and journalists were initially told to leave the room to let the deeper discussions begin, Mr. Yang accused the United States of being inconsistent in its championing of a free press. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 23:55:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 patients with severe respiratory distress transferred to hospital emergency departments has increased by 35 percent, the head of the headquarters fighting the pandemic in the Greater Tehran area, Alireza Zali, warned on Friday. "This indicates that we are facing worse conditions. With the increase of Nowruz trips and non-observance of health procedures, we may experience a bitter situation in Tehran hospitals in the first week of April," Zali said in a briefing quoted by semi-official Fars news agency. Additionally, Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, on Friday reported 68 new coronavirus-related deaths, taking the death toll of the pandemic in Iran to 61,649. The health ministry also reported 7,620 more infections, raising the overall count to 1,786,265. Meanwhile, 1,528,694 COVID-19 patients have recovered or been released from Iranian hospitals, but 3,879 others remain in critical condition in intensive care units. Enditem WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - 59818 new coronavirus cases and 1611 deaths from the disease were reported in the United States on Thursday. With this, the national total of COVID cases increased to 29667305, according to latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. COVID death toll rose to 539698. California and Texas, the two worst-affected states, together account for more than one fourth of the COVID-related fatalities recorded in the country Thursday. New York had the most number of daily new infections - 5515. President Joe Biden announced that by Friday, 58 days after assuming office, his administration will have met the goal of administering 100 million vaccine shots to fellow Americans. This is far ahead of his target of administering 100 million shots against the virus in the first 100 days of his rule. He said that 65 percent of people aged 65 or above in the U.S. have received at least one shot, and that 36 percent are fully vaccinated. 'We have gone from 1 million shots a day to an average of two and one half million shots a day, outpacing the rest of the world significantly,' Biden said while delivering remarks on the 100 Million Shot Goal. 'Scientists have made clear that things may get worse as new variants of this virus spread. Getting vaccinated is the best thing we can do to fight back against these variants,' he added. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed at a Press Briefing that the U.S. plans to loan 2.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to Mexico and 1.5 million doses to Canada pending FDA approval. In a major development outside the U.S., the European Medicines Agency has concluded that AstraZeneca's COVID vaccine is 'safe and effective'. An extraordinary meeting of the EU medicines regulator on Thursday gave the go-ahead on the continued use of the COVID-19 vaccine. 13 European countries had either temporarily halted AstraZeneca vaccine inoculations or delayed its roll out as a precaution following reports of patients developing blood clots after receiving AstraZeneca vaccine jabs. French capital Paris will be under a month-long Covid lock-down from Saturday over fears a third wave of the pandemic. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Its no secret that the restaurant and hospitality industries took a major hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. State officials say, though, that Indiana is leading the charge in the recovery of these two industries. Patrick Tamm is the President and CEO of the Indiana Restaurant and Lodging Association. On Wednesday, he joined Governor Holcombs press conference live at J. Fords Black Angus in Terre Haute. He spoke about the state of the restaurant and lodging industries after going through a year of COVID-19. First and foremost, Tamm said its clear that both the restaurant and hospitality industries suffered significant losses as a result of COVID-19. Indiana hotels lost over 45% of their top-line revenues last year, and restaurants were the most affected industry during the pandemic. However, in the last 30 days, Tamm says they have turned a strong corner in the State of Indiana. He says Indiana restaurants are recovering significantly better than its peers nationally and is far and away the number one seed in the Midwest in terms of revenue and sales. Owner of J. Fords Black Angus in Terre Haute Kelly Ford agrees that things are looking up. Weve not gone backward ever. Whatever phase weve opened up atweve never had any restrictions that weve walked back on, Ford explained, I think that thats helped with the confidence of the public. We are far off from pre-pandemic employment levels, but we are definitely moving in the right direction, Tamm said. Tamm also spoke about whats led these industries to fare so much better than Midwest and national peers. Tamm says the biggest contributor to Hoosier restaurants leading the way in revenue recovery is the partnership with both state and local health officials. Jeff and Kelly Ford agree. They say the Governors office has been extremely willing to listen throughout the pandemic. Tamm says other states cant say the same, and thats what sets Indiana apart. State, as well as local health officials, are working together overwhelmingly to find creative solutions, utilize outdoor and indoor venues, and also best practices, Tamm explained, Weve seen it time and time again. The Fords agree. They lost 50% of sales last year. They are now down 35-40% and steadily growing again. Tamm says the back half of 2021 looks very positive for restaurants in Indiana. Kelly Ford says it all comes down to customer confidence. Ground control to Elon Musk: Texas safety and security should always come before a persons personal business interests even if that person happens to be one of the richest people on Earth. Its unfortunate this even needs to be said. However, given that SpaceXs third rocket in a row recently blew up in Texas, including at least one that did not receive a waiver to exceed the maximum allowable public risk, this point is apparently not as straightforward as one may think. Sadly, these types of negligent occurrences have become all too familiar for Texas residents, who have had to endure six years of what many categorize as Musks disregard for their wants and needs. Often treated as an inconvenience, Texans have grown increasingly frustrated with their space neighbor, who many now see as an opportunist instead of a community partner. In a tweet, a reporter described Musk as taking over public resources (beaches, wildlife preserves) and other peoples property just because he wants it. Although most Texans have been able to ignore Musks disturbances, his recent decision to go all in on Texas means his destructive behavior could soon become an even bigger statewide phenomenon if local lawmakers dont fight back. Musk recently drummed up talks of creating a new city called Starbase within Texas. He also recently chose Texas as the home for his new Tesla cybertruck factory, an investment many believe will bring jobs and stimulus to the states growing tech community. Although some minor debate took place before the move like if redirecting millions of dollars from a low-income school district to provide tax incentives to a near trillion-dollar company was a good idea it was only a matter of time before officials reached a deal with the company. Maria Anglin: Shoot for the stars and progress Problems with other Tesla factory deals indicate that Teslas new Texas plant may soon face the same accusations of public harm and broken promises that have plagued SpaceXs run in the Lone Star State. Take Teslas New York plant, for example, which has struggled to deliver on the jobs and economic stimulus it promised to the Empire State. As a result, lawmakers passed amendments to the contract, seemingly to help Tesla avoid massive fines and to shield state officials from public criticism. Texas officials cannot afford to let the billionaire get off so easily. For taxpayers sake, they need to hold Musks feet to the fire and ensure that his company upholds the terms of the states contract. However, thus far, Musk has yet to receive much pushback from Texas officials for the controversial actions he has already taken in the state. The lack of consequences he has faced for what locals categorize as poor behavior is likely why complaints against him continue to arise. Texans property and independence are put at significant risk by allowing Musk and his company to operate with such few safeguards and accountability measures in place. Texas remains a leader in business relocation because of its economic-friendly environment. State officials cannot afford to let a man whose company can afford to put over a billion dollars into cryptocurrency while asking our states most vulnerable for millions in tax breaks to abuse these favorable business conditions. If we arent responsible with the handouts Musk receives, Texans hard-earned tax dollars may be the next thing that goes up in smoke. Cathie Adams is the first vice president of the Eagle Forum. She formerly served as chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. Synchronous: These are classes that meet using live video between the instructor and class. Students must log in to Blackboard Collaborate at the scheduled days and times in order to participate in the class. These are classes that meet using live video between the instructor and class. Students must log in to Blackboard Collaborate at the scheduled days and times in order to participate in the class. Blended: These are classes that are mostly live video meetings on specific days and times but also have some online coursework that can be completed throughout the week. These are classes that are mostly live video meetings on specific days and times but also have some online coursework that can be completed throughout the week. Hybrid: These are classes that are mostly online but have 12 class meetings each week using live video on scheduled days and times. These are classes that are mostly online but have 12 class meetings each week using live video on scheduled days and times. Online: These are classes that are 100% online. Students do not have to meet with their instructor at a specific day or time and can complete coursework throughout the week. Attila Nemecz Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator Beaufort County Community College 5337 U.S. Highway 264 East Washington, N.C. 27889 Ph : 252-940-6387 : 252-940-6387 Cell : 252-940-8672 : 252-940-8672 attila.nemecz@beaufortccc.edu The Beaufort County Community College Foundation is proud to announce the following scholarship recipients for the Spring 2021 semester. Registration is now open for the Summer 2021 and Fall 2021 semesters. Summer classes will include a 8-week classes, as well as two 5-week mini-mesters for students. The 5-week mini-mesters are ideal for students who need to complete certain pre-requisites, for students who are home for the summer from a university or for students who only have a smaller window in which to take classes. Qualifying students can receive financial aid . Classes will be offered in a variety of formats , 18, received the Cypress Landing Scholarship. The Pinetown resident is working toward and Associate in Arts. He is the son of Patrick and Angela Best of Pinetown. Best attended Pungo Christian Academy and plans to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Biology at East Carolina University.The homeowners in Cypress Landing subdivision joined forces in 2017 to create this first-of-its-kind endowment at BCCC. Mrs. Helen Sommerkamp and Mr. Chris Harris lead the effort to organize the campaign. This scholarship is awarded to a BCCC student residing in Beaufort County and who demonstrates need., 28, received the Tayloe Memorial Scholarship. The Vanceboro resident is working on her Associate Degree in Nursing. She attended West Craven High School, and plans to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. The mother of one is the daughter of Janet Campbell of Vanceboro. She currently works at Vidant Health as a certified nurse aide.Mrs. Sam Tim (Tay) Carter, with encouragement from her children Libba, Lou, Clay, and Mary, started the Tayloe Family Endowment in 2003, in memory of her grandfather, Dr. David Thomas Tayloe. The endowment also honors his numerous descendants who have made significant contributions to the medical community of Beaufort County. Scholarships generated by this endowment are awarded to BCCC students enrolled in any medically related program., 25, received the Thomas Minges Memorial/Pepsi-Cola Scholarship. The Pantego resident is part of the nursing program. Collier attended Southside High School and holds a certification as a Diagnostic Sonographer and a Bachelor of Science. She is the wife of Eric Collier and the daughter of Larry and Delare Edwards of Chocowinity. She plans to earn her Master of Science in Nursing and work in case management. She currently works as a cook at Delicious Memories.Two Thomas Minges/Pepsi Cola Scholarships are provided annually to qualified students who are enrolled full time and a resident of a qualifying county. Recipients may also be high school students entering college in the fall semester. Students must exhibit academic achievement with a GPA average of 3.0 or better and special awards, job experiences and community activities are considered for final award., 18, received the Frances M. Barnes Memorial Scholarship. The Jamesville resident is part of the nursing program. She is the daughter of Craig and Deborah Daniels of Jamesville. Daniels attended Riverside High School and plans to work in a pediatrics.Frances M. Barnes Trust scholarships are awarded to Martin County curriculum and continuing educations attending BCCC who intend to reside and work in Martin County upon course completion. Students must meet respective scholarship guidelines for the curriculum or continuing education program of study, show satisfactory academic progress and demonstrate financial need., 21, received the Irvin & Frances Hulbert Scholarship. The Greenville resident is part of the nursing program. LeNeave attended D.H. Conley High School. She is the daughter of Jesse and Andrea LeNeave of Greenville. She plans to work as a pediatric nurse.Established in 1991, first to memorialize Harry and Lorraine Alvis - the parents of Frances Hulbert, this endowment was renamed in 2008 by the Hulbert children. Frances Hulbert served on the BCCC Foundation's Board of Directors for many years and her husband Irwin was an Episcopalian minister. The Hulbert scholarships are awarded to nursing students who demonstrate financial need and are in good academic standing. Preference is given to students committed to working with geriatric patients in Beaufort County for a period of one year after graduation., 21, received the Myrtle Cutler Jones Scholarship. The Washington resident is part of the practical nursing program. Lugo-Gonzalez attended Beaufort County Early College High School and holds an Associate in Arts and an Associate in Science. She plans to become a registered nurse after working as a licensed practical nurse.Established in 2002 by the family of Myrtle Cutler Jones, this fund provides an annual scholarship to a second year BCCC student in a medical technology program. Jones, a Beaufort County native, recognized the importance of a medical facility in a rural community. She wanted her estate to benefit students in the medical field. Recipients must have at least a 3.0 GPA., 18, received the Beaufort County Crime Stoppers Linley H. Gibbs Jr. Scholarship. The Pinetown resident is part of the criminal justice program. Radcliffe attended Northside High School and holds a Criminal Justice Diploma. She is the daughter of Penelope and Reid Radcliffe. She plans to transfer to East Carolina University to study criminal justice or forensic studies and currently works at Radcliffe Marine as an administrative assistant.The Beaufort County Crime Stoppers Linley H. Gibbs, Jr. Scholarship commemorates the memory of founding and long-term member Linley Gibbs by providing a scholarship to excelling individuals that exemplify the same corresponding morals and principals. To honor Mr. Gibbs' legacy, Beaufort County Crime Stoppers provides scholarships to students continuing their success in a law enforcement career., 35, received the Bunyan Ruritan Club Scholarship. The Vanceboro resident is working toward her Associate in Applied Science in Medical Office Administration. She attended Washington High School and holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. The mother of two is the wife of Macon Toler, daughter of Donald Dixon of Washington and Kathy Parkhurst of Lawton, Oklahoma and plans to expand her career in the medical office field.Established in 1991, Bunyan Ruritan Club scholarships are awarded to students residing in BCCC service area who demonstrate financial need and strong academic promise. Scholarships are awarded annually for fall and spring semesters. COLUMBIA A federal judge temporarily blocked South Carolina's abortion ban from taking effect March 19, ruling that the so-called "fetal heartbeat" law is likely to be found unconstitutional after lengthier court hearings. U.S. District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis granted a preliminary injunction, which will provide a more lasting halt to the ban than when she issued a brief temporary restraining order against it in February, one day after Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed it into law. In a 22-page ruling, Lewis shot down all of the claims from lawyers representing the state, writing that "it is nothing short of baffling when Defendants here make the fanciful, misbegotten, and misguided argument that the Act is constitutional, although surely, all the while knowing full well that it is not." "This case does not present a close call," Lewis wrote. "In fact, based on the law, the Court is unable to fathom how another court could decide this issue differently than how this Court has decided it." The South Carolina law, similar to bills passed in about a dozen other conservative states, would prohibit abortions after a fetal or embryonic "heartbeat" is detected, which typically occurs around six to eight weeks into a pregnancy. A fetus is generally not considered viable outside of the womb until around 24 weeks into a pregnancy. Lewis noted that courts "have universally invalidated laws that ban abortions beginning at a gestational age prior to viability." "Consequently, because the Court holds the Act bans abortion months before any fetus could be viable, Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claim that the Act is unconstitutional," Lewis wrote. In an extra blow to McMaster and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, Lewis also rejected arguments from the state's lawyers that other parts of the law, such as requirements for physicians to show ultrasounds to women seeking abortions, should be upheld even if the section of the law banning abortions is struck down. As a result, the entire law will be blocked from taking effect as longer court hearings proceed. The expected move kickstarts what is likely to become a years-long legal process. Supporters of the abortion ban say their ultimate goal is to get the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case and reverse or substantially amend its precedent that women have a constitutional right to abortion access before a fetus is viable outside the womb. Planned Parenthood immediately filed the lawsuit hours before McMaster signed the bill into law. Wilson said he believes the law is constitutional and "deserves a vigorous defense to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary." Lewis rebuked the idea that new conservative justices on the Supreme Court are "secretly scheming" to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that found women have a constitutional right to abortion access, saying she "has a much higher opinion of the High Court than that." Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! After all, Lewis noted, many judges who were personally opposed to abortion have upheld that right in other rulings. "Those judges and justices individual opinions on the matter was and is immaterial to their rulings," Lewis wrote. "And, that is as it should be." And Lewis further rebuffed any claims that the politics of the president who nominated her, former President Barack Obama, had anything to do with her decision, saying "judges are not politicians in robes" and suggestions to the contrary are "misinformed at best, and highly offensive at worst." "When the history of the District of South Carolina Court is written, it will show that we were neither liberals nor conservatives, Democrats nor Republicans," Lewis wrote. "It will instead establish that we did our level best to follow the law. That is certainly what the Court has done here." Wilson and the other defendants could now decide whether to appeal Lewis' initial ruling to the higher Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals or proceed to more extensive arguments in her courtroom. In a brief statement after the ruling, Wilson did not indicate what his next steps will be. "It is the constitutional duty of this office to defend in court any law enacted by our General Assembly," Wilson said. McMaster's spokesman Brian Symmes referred to comments the governor made a week before the ruling at a news conference, where he said the abortion lawsuit is "a fight worth having." "The right to life is very important," McMaster said. "This state is overwhelmingly in favor of that bill, and we will do whatever it takes, however long it takes, to see that the right to life is protected in South Carolina." Planned Parenthood officials cheered the ruling, but the organization's president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson also said they "know there is a long road ahead as the fight to preserve abortion access intensifies by the day." "Make no mistake: politicians across the country have made it clear they wont stop until access to abortion is completely out of reach," Johnson said. "Since Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court, we have seen an onslaught of attacks, with more than 280 abortion bills filed. Planned Parenthood and our partners will not back down." The Supreme Court has yet to take up a pending case over a Mississippi law that would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Similar laws to South Carolinas ban in close to a dozen other states have all been held up in the courts. New Delhi, March 19 : The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh under Yogi Adityanath took massive steps against big mafias operating in the state like the Ateeq Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari gangs in a bid to curb corruption and crime, says IANS C-Voter Report Card-UP 2021 survey. More than 15,700 people from Uttar Pradesh participated in the poll between March 8 and March 15, ajust ahead of the Yogi government completing four years on Friday. Of these people, 54.9 per cent said that the action against big mafias like Ahmed and Ansari can be called "strict action against corruption and crime". The people were replying to the query: "How do you see the action against big mafias like Atik Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari?". Around 23 per cent said these actions were "revenge politics", while 22.1 per cent said they "can't say". The Yogi government came to power in 2017. Lodged in jails outside the state, Ahmed and Ansari -- the once-feared gangsters -- are now mere spectators to the gradual implosion of their empires they built using the unholy nexus of crime and politics, dominating Uttar Pradesh using money and muscle power. Their fiefdom invoked fear among commoners and their names inspired awe among followers. But all that is in the past. As many as 19.8 per cent people said they "can't say" exactly what the Yogi government has achieved. Those who took part in the survey are supporters of the ruling BJP, Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and other regional parties who voted during the last Assembly elections in the state. Ahmed, 58, is said to have committed his first murder in 1979. A five-time legislator and a one-time parliamentarian, Ahmed has 96 criminal cases against him including murder, abductions, illegal mining, extortion, intimidation and fraud, among others. He started calling the shots in the Allahabad (now Prayagraj) region after the death of his rival, Shaukat Ilahi, in a police encounter in 1989. Ahmed made his debut in politics the same year, winning the Allahabad West assembly seat as an Independent candidate. In 2003, Ahmed returned to the Samajwadi Party. In 2004, he became a parliamentarian from the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency, a seat once held by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Ahmed's downfall began in 2007 during the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)'s rule, when police mounted pressure on him and his brother, Ashraf. They eventually surrendered in 2008, but were released in 2013, a year after the Samajwadi Party came back to power. Ahmed was arrested in February 2017 from the Naini area in Prayagraj in connection with an attack on employees of a state university. The action came after the Allahabad High Court pulled up the police for their failure to arrest him. The Prayagraj district administration recently ordered the attachment of seven of his immovable properties worth around Rs 60 crore. Another 17 properties have been identified for action even as 16 firms linked to Ahmed and his gang are under scrutiny. A BSP legislator, Ansari has been lodged in a jail in Punjab's Ropar since January 2019; his reign in eastern Uttar Pradesh is all but over. At the dawn of the 1990s, Ansari, who was involved in property business and contract work, began expanding his network in the world of crime. In November 2005, he was linked to the murder of BJP legislator Krishnanad Rai. In 2009, Ansari, who faces 48 FIRs including 10 murder cases, was again named in the killing of Ajai Prakash Singh, a contractor, in Mau. He successfully contested his first assembly election on a BSP ticket from the Mau seat in 1996. Denied the party's ticket in 2002, he contested as an Independent and won the seat in 2002. He retained his seat as an Independent in 2007. In January 2019, he was arrested for allegedly making an extortion call to a Mohali-based builder, who lodged a case. Ansari was arrested in that case and shifted to Punjab's Ropar jail from Banda, where he was incarcerated in March 2017 in a separate case. In May 2020, police stepped up operations against Ansari and his gang. Seventy-two arms licenses linked to him and his accomplices were suspended, properties worth Rs 66 crore seized, and an extortion racket that supplied crores of rupees annually to Ansari and his associates was busted. China has administered nearly 65 million COVID-19 vaccine doses 09:22, March 19, 2021 By Shen Shaotie ( People's Daily A medical worker is about to give a shot of COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Fanchang District, Wuhu, east China's Anhui Province, March 12. (People's Daily Online/Yang Hua) As of March 14, China had administered 64.98 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the public, said Li Bin, deputy director of the National Health Commission (NHC) at a press conference on March 16. The groups at high risk of infection are prioritized in the vaccination program, followed by the elderly and people with underlying health condition, Li said, adding that those who do not belong to the prior two groups but still wish to be inoculated are also covered. According to him, the groups at high risk of infection include essential workers in key sectors, as well as people working in border regions and labor-intensive industries. Relevant departments enhanced efforts to coordinate the demand and supply ends, and standardized vaccine storage and transport to improve delivery efficiency and guarantee supply, Li said. Local authorities also established enough vaccination sites in accordance with situations, he added. The country also established a nationwide tracking platform to strictly implement the control measures for the whole vaccine process, Li introduced. Disease control departments and vaccination sites are also monitoring and recording the temperature of vaccines in storage and transportation to ensure their safety. Massive production of the four conditionally approved COVID-19 vaccines has started, and the vaccination demand is well satisfied, said Yulong, chief engineer at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). China has received positive response for its vaccine aid and export to other countries. Right now, China's vaccine manufacturers are constantly expanding, Tian said, adding that their production capacity is being continuously released and their output will gradually increase. "We are confident that output and production capacity of vaccines in every phase on the year could meet demand," he remarked. China also can ensure the smooth and systematic operation of the entire supply chain for vaccine production, including supplying the necessary raw materials, cold-chain logistics and equipment for administrating the shots. Tian added the safety of vaccines, from production to transportation to inoculation, will be the top priority. While expanding production capacity, China is also ensuring the safety of vaccines on every link of the production chain. According to Tian, the MIIT and medical products administration departments are jointly working to guarantee inspection periods of every batch of vaccines. Yuan Lin, an official with the National Medical Products Administration introduced that after years of efforts, China has established a relatively comprehensive supervision system, a complete legal system, and a system of quality standards for vaccines. Yuan noted that medical products administration departments organized inspections of relevant vaccine workshops to ensure that they were licensed, and arranged for expert inspectors from national and local drug regulatory authorities to carry out inspections and spot checks regularly or periodically. A team of at least two inspectors is stationed in each of the manufacturers to supervise different aspects using various measures, to supervise and guide companies to improve their management system, he added. All COVID-19 vaccines used in China have gone through clinical studies according to relevant standards, and been approved by the National Medical Products Administration, Li said, adding that they were put into use after strict examination. Li said all vaccines must be monitored and have their temperatures recorded at regular intervals to ensure that they meet the requirements regarding temperature environment and transportation. The NHC also expanded its personnel training and asked all medical staff to strictly implement operating instructions to guarantee the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, he added. They are among the slew of reality stars who have relocated to Dubai during the pandemic for 'work purposes'. And Yazmin Oukhellou brought the glamour to PrettyLittleThing's fashion bash, which saw the online retailer light up the Burj Khalifa in pink on Friday. The TOWIE star, 26, showed off her curves in a stunning brown two-piece with pink piping round the edges, while Love Island's Gabby Allen turned heads in her ab-flashing crop top. Busty display: Yazmin Oukhellou brought the glamour to PrettyLittleThing's fashion bash, which saw the online retailer light up the Burj Khalifa in pink on Friday Yazmin flaunted her assets in the off shoulder top with a tie detail at the front and a cut detail midi skirt. The beauty styled her raven tresses in a sleek updo and let her fringe frame her face in loose curls and added a heavy palette of makeup to her pretty features. Yazmin recently embarked on a new career in Dubai, following the breakdown of her relationship with ex James Lock in February. Girls: The TOWIE star, 26, showed off her curves in a stunning brown two-piece with pink piping round the edges, while Love Island's Gabby Allen turned heads in her ab-flashing top Sizzling: Yazmin flaunted her assets in the off shoulder top with a tie detail at the front and a cut detail midi skirt Stunning: Gabby meanwhile, looked sensational as she flashed her abs in a brown animal print crop top which she teamed with a white mini skirt Loved-up: The fitness guru was joined by her boyfriend Brandon Myers Gorgeous: Gabby posed in front of the pink Burj Khalifa wearing a brown PVC jacket and a pair of on-trend brown knee high boots She has turned her back on the new series of The Only Way Is Essex because she 'wants to pursue a career in real estate in the United Arab Emirates'. A spokesperson for TOWIE told The Sun: 'Yaz has decided to stay in Dubai to pursue a career in real estate so she wont be starting this series of The Only Way is Essex. 'We support this decision and wish her well in this new venture. As with other cast, the door remains open should she return to Essex.' Gabby meanwhile, looked sensational as she flashed her abs in a brown animal print crop top which she teamed with a white mini skirt. The fitness guru, who was joined by her boyfriend Brandon Myers, added a brown PVC jacket and a pair of on-trend brown knee high boots to her ensemble. Gabby posed up a storm and added a cream bag with chain details and an array of rings to her look. Pretty pair: Fellow Love Island stars Hayley Hughes, 24, left, and Georgia Harrison, 27, were also at the event and put on a sizzling display in denim Working it: Georgia looked every inch the fashionista as she sported a white crop top and ripped wide-legged jeans which showed off her toned tummy Hot stuff: Georgia showed off her taut midriff in the PrettyLittleThing crop top Designer garb: She proved to have expensive taste as she added a black Balenciaga clutch bag to her look and paired it with black Yves Saint Laurent heeled sandals Having fun: Georgia and Hayley looked delighted to on the girls' night out Leggy: Hayley showcased her svelte pins in a pair of ripped denim shorts and flashed her midriff in a brown crop top Beauty: Yaz looked gorgeous as she posed in front of the landmark The pair were joined at the event by fellow Love Island stars Hayley Hughes, 24, and Georgia Harrison, 27, who also put on a sizzling display. Hayley showcased her svelte pins in a pair of ripped denim shorts and flashed her midriff in a brown crop top. The Liverpudlian beauty added a nude blazer to her ensemble and added height to her petite frame in pair of heeled sandals. She kept her look glamorous by accessorising with some layered gold necklaces and added a metallic quilted bag to her look. The TV star styled her golden locks in loose waves as she cosied up to her friend in one snap. Georgia looked every inch the fashionista as she sported a white crop top and ripped wide-legged jeans which showed off her toned tummy. She proved to have expensive taste as she added a black Balenciaga clutch bag to her look and paired it with black Yves Saint Laurent heeled sandals. The reality beauty slicked her chestnut locks back in two braids and added kept her look cool with a gold chain. The landmark skyscraper was illuminated with vibrant lights, this time celebrating PrettyLittleThing's Arabic website launch during Women's History Month. Strike a pose: Georgia posed up a storm for the camera Boss: PrettyLittleThing's CEO Umar Kamani was also in attendance Last month, The Sun reported that Love Islanders such as Gabby and Olivia and Alex Bowen are claiming furlough cash for their businesses, despite raking in millions since leaving the show. The companies ran by the stars, who featured on the show in 2017 and 2016, all appear on a list of employers using taxpayer money published by the Government. The publication reports Gabby's company is claiming government cash for 'amusement and recreation activities' Any eligible business can claim for taxpayer money from the scheme to help pay staff wages while the pandemic and national lockdowns continue. The Liverpudlian is thought to worth around 1.3m. Apple TV+ unveiled yet another high profile project on Thursday. The subscription streaming service announced that Vera Farmiga will star in a limited series Five Days At Memorial, Variety reported. Farmiga, 47, will play a doctor at a hospital in New Orleans struggling to cope with the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. New role: Vera Farmiga is set to star in Apple TV+ series Five Days At Memorial. The actress, 47, will play a doctor at a New Orleans hospital in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina Based on the bestseller by Sheri Fink, the series, according to Variety, will detail the scenes of rising floodwaters, power outages and the life-and-death decisions caregivers were forced to make. The New Jersey-born actress is best known for the movie Up In The Air and The Conjuring franchise as well TV series Bates Motel. Earlier this month, it was reported that Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong'o are teaming up for the Apple TV+ limited series Lady In The Lake. Drama: Based on the bestseller by Sheri Fink, the series will detail the scenes of rising floodwaters, power outages and the life-and-death decisions caregivers were forced to make Lady In The Lake is based on Laura Lippman's bestseller of the same name and both actresses have also signed on to serve as executive producers on the project. Set in Baltimore, Maryland, in the 1960s, Lady In The Lake centers on housewife and mother Maddie Schwartz who sets out to investigate an unsolved murder in the city. This brings her into conflict with Cleo Sherwood, a working mom and activist who supports Baltimore's Black progressive agenda, according to THR.com. Portman will play Schwartz and Nyong'o takes on the role of Sherwood. High profile project: Oscar winners and Star Wars vets Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong'o are teaming up for the Apple TV+ limited series Lady In The Lake ,it was announced last week The Stalinist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has exercised ideological sway over mass struggles of workers and peasants in the Philippines for a half-century. At every significant political juncture, it has misled and betrayed the working class, subordinating its struggles to the interests of the partys capitalist allies in the name of national democracy. In this way the party aided the imposition of martial law by Ferdinand Marcos in 1972, stabilized the rule of Corazon Aquino in 1986, facilitated the constitutional coup of 2001 that installed Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as president, and provided enthusiastic support for the rise to power of the fascistic Rodrigo Duterte in 2016. In each instance they prevented the emergence of an independent movement of the working class behind the banner of socialism and tied mass unrest to the interests of a section of the ruling elite. Screenshot of video showing the Communist Party of the Philippines (Credit: YouTube, Rappler) A number of organizations broke away from the party over the course of this history and presented themselves to the working class as revolutionary alternatives to the CPP. None of these groups, however, broke with Stalinism. Each represented a tactical variation on the CPPs core program of nationalism and class collaboration. Among the most prominent of the breakaway organizations were those headed by Filemon Popoy Lagman. In November 2020, the WSWS published an article examining Lagmans history and perspective, demonstrating that he was in fact a Stalinist rival of the CPP. The findings of that article can be summarized briefly. Lagman and Jose Ma. Sison, founder and ideological leader of the CPP, despite their tactical differences, shared an underlying programmatic continuity rooted in the nationalist conceptions of Stalinism. Lagman, like Sison, put forward the anti-Marxist perspective of building socialism in a single country. This perspective was the fundamental root of the class collaboration and nationalism of Stalinist parties the world over. Lagman and Sison were in full agreement that the tasks of the revolution in countries of belated capitalist development such as the Philippines were not yet socialist, but national and democratic in character. They both held to the Stalinist perspective of a two-stage revolution. They insisted to the working class, as it entered into open political struggle, that capitalism could not yet be overthrown and the working class could not take power. On the basis of this perspective both the CPP and the organizations of Lagman subordinated workers struggles to the interests of a section of the capitalist class. Lagman represented a tactical opposition to the CPPs orientation to armed struggle in the countryside, focusing instead on trade union work in the cities. To secure the support of workers for his nationalist agenda, he spoke more frequently of socialism than Sison, but like Sison deferred its realization to a supposed second stage in the distant future. Lagman was assassinated in 2001 and the organizations that he founded fractured into various rival groups, all of which retained his Stalinist political perspective. One of these groups, Partido ng Manggagawa (PM, Workers Party), published a response to the WSWS in February. The response of the PM has two basic parts. First, the PM claimed that Lagman fought for a two-stage revolution because it was the only possible form a revolution could take in countries of belated capitalist development. The PM declared, however, that unlike Sison, Lagman never advocated for an alliance with the national bourgeoisie. Second, the PM buttressed the political line of Lagman by presenting an anti-Trotskyist straw-man. They falsely claimed that Trotsky maintained that the revolution should skip the democratic stage entirely and that workers in every country needed to await the eruption of world revolution before carrying out a revolution in their own country. Dividing the revolution into democratic and socialist stages inescapably leads to support for the capitalist class. Intentions and declarations to the contrary cannot alter this objective historical logic. Lagmans proclamations about the independence of the working class, and his statements of hostility to capitalism, served only to disguise the class collaborationism of his politics. In every revolutionary situation the function of a party holding to the two-stage conception is to restrain the working class and to assist the capitalist class, its bourgeois allies in particular, in retaining its hold on power. Both the career of Popoy Lagman and the history of the Partido ng Manggagawa bear this out. Joseph Estrada, president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, cemented his hold on power through a form of working-class populism, built on a persona that he had constructed years earlier as a movie star. During a period of intense labor unrest, in the wake of the Asian Financial Crisis, Estrada attempted to stabilize Philippine capitalism by appeals for labor-capital harmony. Lagman was invited to the presidential palace along with other labor leaders where he publicly declared that he agreed completely with [Estradas] desire to bring peace and harmony to labor-capital relations. He added that the best way to do that was to arrest Lucio Tan, a leading capitalist responsible for labor violations against a union allied with Lagman. This was not the independence of the working class. This was a groveling appeal in the name of labor-capital harmony. When a majority of the Philippine bourgeoisie turned against Estrada, both the CPP and the organizations led by Lagman followed suit. They channeled mass opposition behind the interests of sections of the capitalist class looking to oust Estrada and install his vice president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Lagman staged a joint rally of his union organizations with the Makati Business Club, the leading representative of the Philippine stock exchange. Rigoberto Tiglao, a former leading member of the CPP, was made spokesperson for the Arroyo administration and he issued a statement hailing Lagmans role in the ouster of Estrada. After Lagmans assassination in 2001, all of the organizations that originated out of his split with the CPP attempted to claim the mantle of his legacy and all of them formed alliances with the capitalist class and its political representatives. Popoy Lagman (Facebook) The Partido ng Manggagawa has a particularly egregious record of continuing the class collaborationism of Lagman. Renato Magtubo has served as spokesperson, elected representative and chair of the PM. His speeches are marked by spinelessness and grovelling. In 1999, he delivered a privilege speech in the legislature as representative of the PM, the Workers Party, in which he declared: I appeal to your sense of justness and fairness: not for a just wage or a fair price for the labor of an ordinary workingman which, I grant, is a luxury our country cannot afford. All I am asking is to pay the average worker the value of his labor power and redeem for all workers the lost value of their wages eroded by price increases. [A]mid the complexity of economics, one simple truth stands out: A happy worker is a hard worker. This is the key to economic progress and social justice. Let us give our workers a Merry Christmas, and they will work hard for our country in the coming millennium. Mabuhay ang Uring Manggagawa! [Long live the working class!] Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This speech should be inscribed on the tombstone of the Partido ng Manggagawa. A revolutionary party nurtures in the working class a sense of its own strength, teaches workers to walk upright and to become masters of their fate. Magtubo and the PM, in contrast, prostrate themselves before capitalism, begging for scraps from the table. In 2006 the PM formed close ties with coup-plotting sections of the military, publicly declaring their solidarity with Lt. Sgt. Antonio Trillanes and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim. These were right-wing military figures who staged an armed seizure of the Manila Peninsula hotel and managed to negotiate political careers out of their machinations. Trillanes is now a Senator. Lim ran for Senate in 2010 with the support of the PM, while standing as a guest candidate of the Liberal Party. Magtubo declared that the coup-plotting general was an icon of incorruptible and principled fighters among our workingmen in uniform. Lim was defeated in his senatorial bid, but joined the Duterte administration in 2017 as chair of the influential Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA). By 2019, relations between PM and the Liberal Party, the official party of the bourgeois opposition to Duterte, were so close that Magtubo ran for Marikina City Council on the Liberal Party slate. He was elected to a seat in the citys second district as a member of the Liberal Party. The anti-Trotskyist falsehoods that comprise a majority of the PM article are invoked to cover up this history of betrayals. The PM, like the CPP, insists on the programmatic necessity of constraining the struggles of the working class within the confines of national democracy. To do so it must dismiss the programmatic alternative, Trotskys perspective of permanent revolution. The PM has nothing new to say here, however. They employ the stock arguments of Stalinism. While the PM decries the claim that Lagman was a Stalinist, their own argument demonstrates that programmatically this is their political lineage. The lies recycled by the PM were first put forward in the late 1920s. In the 1930s, when these lies proved inadequate to the task of shoring up the Stalinist bureaucracy, they were supplemented with show trials, mass purges, and assassinations. The PM and Sison both rely on an ignorance of history among their audience when they recycle these threadbare and bloody falsehoods. The program of Permanent Revolution does not advocate the skipping of democratic tasks, jumping ahead to socialism. The democratic tasks confronting workers in countries of belated capitalist development require above all else a revolutionary solution to the agrarian problem through the breaking up of the large landed estates. It is through the achievement of land reform, which is a democratic and not a socialist measure, that the working class wins the support of the majority of the peasantry in its struggle for power. It is impossible, however, to maintain a chronological distinction between the democratic and socialist tasks of the revolution, treating them as stages to be carried out in sequence. The stagist conception, which originated with Plekhanov and the Mensheviks and was adopted by the Stalinists in service to their nationalist interests, is based on an abstract schematism that disregards the historical dynamics of the class struggle. The stagist conception imposes an artificial limitation on the political struggles of the working class, telling workers thus far and no farther. Its effect is to truncate revolutionary struggles and to leave power in the hands of the bourgeoisie. The capitalist class in countries of belated capitalist development no longer has the capacity or interest to carry out the democratic tasks of the revolution. This has been the case over a century. The so-called national bourgeoisie is intimately tied to the landed elite by longstanding economic and familial bonds. It is the class enemy of workers and peasants. Confronting a revolutionary movement of workers, the capitalist class invariably turns on it and suppresses it, resorting to dictatorship and murder should this prove necessary. The twentieth century was the graveyard of revolution after revolution that were defeated and, in some cases, bloodily suppressed because power was left in the hands of the capitalists. Stalinism played the decisive role in each of these catastrophes. The achievement of the democratic tasks of the revolution requires that workers take political power into their own hands. In doing so they will be compelled to make inroads against capitalist ownership. It is impossible for a workers government to preside over capitalist property relations. Every social struggle, every strike, will require the workers government to side with either capitalists or workers. Neutrality is impossible. To retain power, the workers government must begin taking socialist measures. Far from advocating the skipping of the democratic tasks of the revolution, Trotsky established the only effective means of carrying them out: through the permanent revolution. To carry out the democratic tasks, socialist measures were necessary. The revolution could not be divided into stages. The PM, repeating the line of Lagman, echoed another historical lie of Stalinism: Trotsky advocated abstentionism until it was possible to stage a simultaneous world revolution. The durability of this lie rests entirely on political and historical ignorance. Anyone who reads the writings of Leon Trotsky knows that he dedicated every moment of his life to politically preparing revolutionary struggles around the globe. At no point did he instruct any group to wait for a coordinated global uprising. The claim is absurd. As head of the Petrograd Soviet and of the Military Revolutionary Committee, Trotsky led the October Revolution. He and Lenin shared common political conception: that the fate of the Russian revolution, the socialist seizure of power by the working class, rested on the spread of the revolution throughout the advanced capitalist countries. It was impossible to build socialism in a single country. Socialism will be an immense progressive step beyond the achievements of capitalism, including the integrated world system of production and exchange. To move backwards from this achievement into a form of national autarky and to proclaim this socialism was a betrayal of Marxism. The socialist revolution of October 1917 created the Soviet Union as a transitional workers state, not a socialist society. There were two possible historical fates for the October revolution: either the international spread of revolution to the achievement of socialism on a world stage, or the national isolation of the Soviet Union and the eventual restoration of capitalism. The betrayals of Stalinism are entirely responsible for the latter outcome. Trotsky wrote on this point in his work Permanent Revolution, The socialist revolution begins on the national arena, it unfolds on the international arena, and is completed on the world arena. Thus, the socialist revolution becomes a permanent revolution in a newer and broader sense of the word; it attains completion only in the final victory of the new society on our entire planet. Like the CPP, the followers of Lagman peddle class collaborationism and nationalism to the working class. They cover over their betrayals with rhetorical references to Lenin and with lies piled upon lies. The only way forward for the Filipino working class in its life-and-death struggle against capitalist exploitation and the threat of dictatorship is the program of permanent revolution. The CPP and all of its offshoots, including every organization that bears the heritage of Popoy Lagman, are Stalinist to their core. They share a common hatred of Leon Trotsky and the political independence of the working class, for which he and the Fourth International that he founded in 1938, fought. Workers looking for a revolutionary alternative to the repeated betrayals that they have suffered at the hands of the Stalinists should study the program of Trotskyism, contact the World Socialist Web Site and take up the fight to build a section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) in the Philippines, the party of world socialist revolution. We urge workers and youth who want to discuss these issues to contact us. 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. Vice President Joe Biden, left, and his wife, Jill Biden, center, stand with heads bowed as the Rev. Kevin O'Brien says the blessing during a Thanksgiving meal for Wounded Warriors in Washington on Nov. 22, 2010. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo) Biden Inauguration Priest Under Investigation in California: University A priest who presided over an inaugural Mass for President Joe Biden is under investigation, according to a statement from Santa Clara University this week. The university confirmed that the schools president, Father Kevin OBrien, is being investigated for exhibited behaviors in adult settings, consisting primarily of conversations, which may be inconsistent with established Jesuit protocols and boundaries. School officials did not elaborate on the nature of the investigation and provided few details about OBriens exhibited behaviors. I write to you with an important update. I have been informed by the Provincial of the USA West Province that the Jesuit Provincial Office recently received accounts that Father OBrien exhibited behaviors in adult settings, consisting primarily of conversations, which may be inconsistent with established Jesuit protocols and boundaries, the school added. An independent investigation into these accounts is being conducted on behalf of the USA West Province and the conclusions of the Provinces process will be shared with the Santa Clara University Board of Trustees. As a result, OBrien was placed on leave from his position as University President for the duration of the investigation by the USA West Province consistent with its protocols and has agreed to cooperate fully with the investigation and honor the process that he affirms annually as part of his ongoing Jesuit training. OBrien presided over a Mass for Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, their families, and leaders of Congress during the presidents Jan. 20 inauguration. It was held at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C. According to reports, OBrien, described as a longtime Biden family friend, presided over services for Bidens inaugurations when he was vice president. He previously served at Georgetown University, another Jesuit college. Tracey Primrose, a spokesperson for the Jesuits West Province, told the San Jose Mercury News: Jesuits are held to a professional code of conduct, and the Province investigates allegations that may violate or compromise established boundaries As with any organization, the Jesuits West Province has confidentiality practices, which is why I cannot provide any additional information regarding this matter. The university says OBrien joined the Society of Jesuswhose members are known as Jesuitsin 1996. He was ordained into the priesthood in 2006. He has been president of Santa Clara University since 2019. Santa Clara University has an annual undergraduate enrollment of approximately 5,500 students. Democratic California Govs. Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown are counted among its alumni. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) As part of an initiative to provide equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine for the African American community, the organization Umoja Health Bay Area will be providing free vaccine doses for eligible residents at a San Francisco public housing site this weekend. The pop-up event for public housing residents in Potrero Hill will take place on Saturday at 911 Missouri St. between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Residents eligible for getting no cost vaccinations regardless of insurance include seniors over 65 years old, health care workers, educators, child care workers and those in the food and agriculture industry. The event aims to reach the city's Black residents, who often face disparities in relation to COVID-19, including higher than average death rates and low vaccination rates. Umoja Health has partnered with the University of California at San Francisco to stop the spread of COVID-19 in low-income communities and communities of color. UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Associate Director of Community Engagement Dr. Kim Rhoads said, "We are excited about the opportunity to begin vaccinating our senior population and other eligible groups in the Black community who are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 as we continue to work everyday to protect our community and address health disparities during this pandemic." 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. In the recently released The News of the World, Tom Hanks and a young girl take a perilous journey across the Texas of 1870. Its a lovely film. The landscape is stunningly filmed. But not a frame of it was actually filmed in Texas. As the current session of the Texas Legislature begins to heat up, its fair to ask how lawmakers past actions have helped ensure that other states, like New Mexico, where that film was shot, are frequent stand-ins for Texas on film and what can be done to change the economic impact on our state. Back in 2003, the sky was the limit for filmmaking in Texas. Close to $500 million was spent on productions here, and four of the top 10 grossing films in this country were linked to Texas filmmakers. Then our neighboring states began to pump up their incentive programs to attract production away from us. It was eventually so bad that a film titled Dont Mess with Texas was shot in Louisiana. In an attempt to fight back, the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program was created in 2007. In its formula, the money productions would spend in Texas was substantially more than the incentives paid back. Although the program never matched several other state incentive programs, it helped stem the tide for a while. At its height, in 2014 and 2015, $95 million went into the incentive program, and $442 million was spent on productions. During the next session, though, there was pushback against any governmental involvement, and the incentives were cut by two-thirds to $32 million. The consequences were immediate and drastic, with a loss of roughly $300 million in direct production spending. Since then, the program has survived, its funding incrementally increased to around $50 million. In the Texas Film Commissions most recent report summarizing the impact of the incentive program from its inception, $1.66 billion has been spent on film, television and video gaming in the state, creating more than 157,000 jobs, with a 511 percent return on investment. This sounds great until one looks at the explosion of spending and jobs in our neighboring states with much more aggressive incentives. In just 2019, $2.9 billion was spent on film and television productions in Georgia. In New Mexico, Netflix alone, after buying a studio in Albuquerque, spent $150 million in state in 2019. In New Orleans, annual production spending exceeded $1 billion by 2013 and has continued to grow. All three states were at the top of the 2020 Business Facilities ranking of state film production leaders. Texas didnt make the list. Granted, not all Texas classics are the real thing. John Wayne and Montgomery Cliff staged their epic Red River Chisholm Trail cattle drive in Arizona. The stunning Texas landscapes in Terrence Malicks masterpiece, Days of Heaven, were actually golden hour in southwestern Alberta. That said, we can still claim the real locations in The Last Picture Show, Giant, and Boyhood. And there is still quality Texas story television production going on, as it was on series like Friday Night Lights, and The Son. But by not having more incentives and a more stable robust industry here, were too often letting others appropriate our stories and our culture, controlling them and benefiting from them. Texans should be able to tell Texas stories and see the economic benefits from doing so. This is personal for me too. I teach in the Radio-Television-Film Department at The University of Texas at Austin, one of the top film production programs in the country and the most affordable for a diverse student body. Many of our native Texas students would prefer to stay here and grow our states media industries. Fewer incentives mean less business and fewer available employment opportunities after graduation. Opponents of public incentives often talk about not having government choose winners and losers in a free market. Here in Texas, state and local government do just that with tax breaks. Increasing our film incentives guarantees jobs and dollars to Texans and will help build a lasting Texas film industry. Leaving it underfunded guarantees that many of our best and brightest will leave for employment elsewhere. Its a choice worth paying attention to. Stekler is a documentary filmmaker and the Wofford Denius Chair in Entertainment Studies in the Moody College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, have been trading furious trans-Atlantic exchanges after the latter, Wednesday, called the former a killer. Mr Biden had on Wednesday responded to an interview question by ABC News George Stephanopoulos, who asked whether he thought Mr Putin was a killer. Mmm hmm, I do, Mr Biden said, pledging that Mr Putin is going to pay for Russian interference in the 2020 election, which was detailed in an American intelligence report this week. Irate Russia Apparently miffed by the statement, the Russian government reacted angrily on Wednesday by saying the comment was unprecedented and it would further deepen the long-running tension between the two countries. The Kremlin further recalled its ambassador to analyse what needs to be done about the countries relationship which it said has turned very bad. Seated in a gilded chair on Thursday, Mr Putin subtly called Mr Biden a killer too, wished him good health, and challenged him to a live televised debate. He added that he did not want his invitation to be delayed as he proposed Friday for the oratory contest. President Vladimir #Putin proposed to hold an on-line live discussion with @POTUS Joe #Biden. #Putin: I wouldnt put this off for too long. We could do it tomorrow or, say, on Monday. pic.twitter.com/blMjgdpUBP MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) March 18, 2021 I dont want to put this off for long. I want to go to the taiga this weekend to relax a little, Mr Putin said. So we could do it tomorrow or Monday. We are ready at any time convenient for the American side. When I was a child, when we argued in the courtyard, we said the following: If you call someone names, thats really your name, Mr Putin said, quoting a Russian nursery rhyme. When we characterise other people, or even when we characterise other states, other people, it is always as though we are looking in the mirror. Defiant White House has doubled down on Mr Bidens killer comment and has downplayed the possibility of honouring Mr Putins challenge. He gave a direct answer to a direct question, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday, suggesting her principal stands by his comment. Despite long-running tensions which have morphed into diplomatic rows between Russia and the US, analysts believe both nations could hatch out a friendly relationship in areas of common interest, especially with the Biden-administration. But Mr Bidens combative stance to Russia has made that a daunting task, and Russian officials continue to send hard warnings to the west, a bloc Russia believes is backing opposition politicians and states in order to weaken its authority. Any expectations for the new U.S. administrations new policy toward Russia have been written off by this boorish statement, the head of the foreign Affairs committee in Russias upper house of parliament, Konstantin Kosachev, wrote in a post on Facebook on Thursday Mr Kosachev added that if explanations and apologies do not follow from the American side, Russia would respond further to Mr Bidens comments. Meanwhile, the deputy chairman of the eastern European countrys lower chamber, Pyotr Tolstoy, also said that the only language that Americans understand is, unfortunately, the language of force. ADVERTISEMENT Another senior lawmaker, Andrei Turchak, also described Mr Bidens comment as a challenge to our entire nation. Israels, an ally of the United States, defense minister, Benny Gantz, has also called Mr Bidens remarks bizarre and extreme. Big Brother Australia is returning to screens soon for its thirteenth season. And on Friday, the show revealed a new housemate - a 48-year-old real estate agent named Daniel Hayes - who made headlines for the wrong reasons last year. In the promo, the Victorian motorbike enthusiast says: 'People think that I'm a bit of a loose cannon I ride Harley Davidsons where they shouldn't be ridden. I take it right to the edge.' REVEALED: Meet Big Brother housemate Daniel Hayes (pictured) who is convinced he is going to be the show's 'greatest player' 'I don't quit. I'll put my life on the line to win,' he proudly added, insisting that his goal was to be the winner of Big Brother in 2021. Daniel appears to put on a dominant personality in front of the housemates, walking around shirtless and displaying his tattoo, working out and intimidating the competition during challenges. At one point he boastfully told his housemates: 'I'm going to be the greatest player of Big Brother in the world.' 'I take it right to the edge': In the promo, the Victorian motorbike enthusiast says, 'People think that I'm a bit of a loose cannon I ride Harley Davidsons where they shouldn't be ridden' Tough: Daniel appears to put on a dominant personality in front of the housemates, walking around shirtless and displaying his tattoo, working out and intimidating the competition during challenges But he showed his softer side during a chat with Big Brother in the diary room, tearfully telling him: 'it's just a hard game to play.' The name Daniel Hayes may ring a bell for some, after he made headlines in July last year for at the height of the Covid pandemic. The self-described 'Million Dollar Bogan' crossed the Queensland border on 'compassionate grounds' - to get a tattoo and a new tyre for his Harley Davidson Emotional moment: But he showed his softer side during a chat with Big Brother in the diary room, tearfully telling him: 'it's just a hard game to play' He boasting about the trip on his YouTube channel and showed that despite being stopped at the border by a police officer he was somehow allowed to proceed through - despite travelling Victoria which was a Covid hotspot at the time. At his arrival at the checkpoint, he told a police guard a note that he obtained online detailing how a Harley Davidson dealer in Queensland needed to change the rear tyre on his motorcycle. The police officer initially told him he needed to quarantine for 14 days because he had travelled from Victoria where there has been a surge in coronavirus cases. Sounds familiar? The name Daniel Hayes may ring a bell for some, after he made headlines in July last year for travelling at the height of the Covid pandemic. He crossed the Queensland border on 'compassionate grounds' - to get a tattoo and a new tyre for his Harley Davidson Daniel tells the officer will 'be out today' and the officer then remarkably lets him through, saying in the video: 'I will let you through. But technically you shouldn't because you might be full of the lurgy.' Despite his promise to leave Queensland that day, Daniel stayed overnight at the Gold Coast where he got himself a tattoo at a parlour tourist hotspot, Cavill Avenue. But he told A Current Affair that he had no regrets about crossing the border. What's going on here? He boasting about the trip on his YouTube channel and showed that despite being stopped at the border by a police officer he was somehow allowed to proceed through - despite travelling from Victoria, which was a Covid hotspot at the time 'I don't feel like I broke the law. I felt that I was honest with him and he let me through. He added: 'I don't know if I've done anything wrong. I gave him my excuse. I showed him the paperwork, which I filled out. I had a letter from Gasoline Alley, and I crossed the border, and he let me through.' Daniel is one of the hand-picked hopefuls from around Australia vying for the $250,000 cash prize and to be crowned the winner of Big Brother 2021. No regrets: But he told A Current Affair that he had no regrets about crossing the border. 'I don't feel like I broke the law. I felt that I was honest with him and he let me through,' he said He's a winner! Daniel is one of the hand-picked hopefuls from around Australia vying for the $250,000 cash prize and to be crowned the winner of Big Brother 2021. Last year, international model Chad Hurst (pictured) won the series and cash prize Last year, international model Chad Hurst won the series and the cash prize in July's live finale as the result of receiving the most public votes by viewers. Sonia Kruger will return as the host of the highly anticipated second season. Big Brother will return to Channel Seven in the coming months Britain's most dangerous prisoners are more likely to reoffend when they leave jail if they are put on a high-profile rehabilitation programme, the Daily Mail can reveal. A bombshell study reveals that offenders who went through the programme posed a greater risk than those who had not and they went on to commit more crimes after their sentences ended. Yet the Ministry of Justice, which commissioned the study, has still not published the report nearly three years after it was finished. And despite the findings, ministers have continued to use the programme with thousands of inmates. One of the OPD Pathways most notorious graduates is serial sex offender Leroy Campbell (left) who raped and murdered nurse Lisa Skidmore (right), 37, then tried to kill her mother Margaret Skidmore, 80, and burn down her Wolverhampton house in 2016 just four months after being released from a life sentence imposed in 2000 Offenders put on the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway include killers and rapists. The official criteria for admission says entrants must have been convicted of a serious violent or sexual offence, and assessed as presenting a high likelihood of violent offence repetition and high or very high risk of serious harm to others. They will also have been diagnosed with a severe form or personality disorder linked to their offending, such as psychopathy. The OPD pathway budget in 2016, the last year for which figures are available, was 64 million. That year, there were 16,000 inmates undertaking it. Violent crime by previously convicted offenders has been rising steadily. Repeat offenders still on probation murdered 155 people in England and Wales in 2019 almost a quarter of the 623 total, and more than double the figure of 74 in 2015. The ministry spent almost 1 million on the OPD study, which was completed in 2018. It was led by Paul Moran, professor of psychiatry at Bristol University. The killer who made excellent progress One of the OPD Pathways most notorious graduates is serial sex offender Leroy Campbell. He raped and murdered nurse Lisa Skidmore, 37, then tried to kill her mother Margaret Skidmore, 80, and burn down her Wolverhampton house in 2016 just four months after being released from a life sentence imposed in 2000. Campbell had previous convictions for rape, burglary and drugs. In 1983, he broke into a home for nurses, and came close to strangling a woman to death while attempting to rape her. Probation officer Laurence Watkins told the inquest into Miss Skidmores death that Campbell had made excellent progress on the pathway, and he had concluded he was clearly motivated to lead a law-abiding life in the community. Others who were on the OPD pathway include killers Jason Gomez and Paul Wadkin, who stabbed fellow inmate Darren Flynn 190 times after a group therapy session at Kents Swaleside prison in 2015. Advertisement According to ministry documents, the studys overarching objective was to assess effectiveness of the Pathway on reducing reoffending and improving psychological health. The ministry initially promised to release the report in early 2019, and then, last summer, by October. Ministry sources say a firm publication date is still months away, claiming the report has to undergo standard publication processes. Only then can its key findings be interpreted. But friends of Professor Moran said the report was approved and signed off months ago. Penal experts and senior MPs from both main parties last night described the failure to publish the report while continuing to use the programme as a scandal that was putting the public at risk. John Podmore, a former prison governor, said of the OPD and other psychology programmes: They are a financial scandal, and a scandal in terms of their failure to protect the public. Shadow justice secretary David Lammy added: The Governments approach to rehabilitation is failing miserably. This report may shed light on why. The Government must immediately publish the study in full, without any spin. The failure to publish the OPD report echoes the scandal over the Sex Offender Treatment Programme, taken by tens of thousands of rapists and paedophiles. In 2017, it was revealed that a ministry study found those treated were 25 per cent more likely to commit further sex crimes. The findings emerged in 2012, but were kept secret for five years, while the programme continued to be used. Professor Moran and his team followed 28,000 prisoners for six years, comparing those treated under the OPD pathway with those who were not. The programme has several elements, including prison therapeutic communities, where prisoners spend hours every week talking about their crimes and problems, and classroom-based cognitive-behavioural psychological courses. Its supporters say it takes a holistic approach, with a focus on relationship building and dealing with previous trauma. Early last year, Professor Moran gave a series of closed presentations to officials and mental health experts. His audiences were told they could not record them or photograph his slides. He refused to comment when approached, but the Mail has pieced together his findings from several sources who were present. Others who were on the OPD pathway include killers Jason Gomez and Paul Wadkin, who stabbed fellow inmate Darren Flynn 190 times after a group therapy session at Kents Swaleside prison in 2015 The future risk posed by offenders is assessed by psychologists and probation officers using the Offender Assessment System (OASyS). Professor Moran revealed that when he compared the OASyS risk scores of his treatment and control groups before they were released, the difference between the treatment and control groups is statistically significant in favour of the control group. In other words, the risk of future reoffending among those who got OPD treatment was assessed as higher. A whistleblower with access to the data confirmed that the report shows those who went through the programme committed more proven offences after release. Professor Moran did not offer an explanation as to why offenders on the programme did worse. A separate study of a prison psychological course known as Resolve, given to medium and high-risk violent inmates, has shown that it makes no impact on whether they commit further violent crimes after release. The OPD and Resolve schemes are two of more than 30 psychological programmes used in prisons. Most have never been evaluated to discover whether they reduce offending or make criminals worse. They are merely accredited rubber-stamped by a panel appointed by the ministry. The panels membership, the criteria it uses, and its minutes are all secret. Tory MP Bob Neill, chairman of the Commons justice committee, said he was deeply concerned by the failure to publish Professor Morans report High-profile repeat offenders include Leroy Campbell, who raped and murdered nurse Lisa Skidmore in 2016, four months after being released from a life sentence. His record included multiple rape convictions. His murder trial heard that he spent time in a psychologically informed prison environment, an integral part of the OPD Pathway. Graham Towl, professor of psychology at Durham University, who spent eight years as head of psychology for both the Prison Service and the Ministry of Justice, told the Mail that prison psychology programmes had become an industry. He added: It seems to have acquired cult-like characteristics, whereby any evidence or questioning of its efficacy is viewed as an act of disloyalty hence the culture of secrecy. John Podmore, now a professor of applied social sciences at the University of Durham, said: The whole system needs auditing. The public needs to see whether these programmes are making offenders worse, and that their money is being spent effectively. Tory MP Bob Neill, chairman of the Commons justice committee, said he was deeply concerned by the failure to publish Professor Morans report. He added: Just as over the sex offender study, they appear not to have been transparent about a scheme that deals with very serious offenders. Penelope Gibbs, of penal reform charity Transform Justice, added: The whole way that the Government designs, signs off and implements rehabilitation programmes is shrouded in mystery, but it is crystal clear that we dont know whether most of them work. Its not obvious why their impact has not been assessed, nor why the finished OPD evaluation has not seen the light of day. But the credibility of the justice system relies on greater transparency. A government spokesman said: The reports initial findings are expected to be inconclusive and it would be wrong to draw any conclusions at this stage. We will respond once the study has been published but would not hesitate to pull funding immediately if [the programme] was found to be unfit for purpose. In a statement released on March 18 the Armenian Foreign Ministry, in particular, referred to Aliyevs visits earlier this week to the Hadrut district and the town of Shushi [called Susa in Azeri] that fell under Azerbaijans control as a result of the hostilities. Both areas were part of the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous oblast inside Soviet Azerbaijan, with Hadrut being predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians. Statements made by the president of Azerbaijan in the Hadrut district reveal the intention to destroy Armenian settlements and replace them with the Azerbaijani ones, which violates the provisions of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, according to which the displaced people must return to their places of residence. It also proves that the Armenians of Artsakh [the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh] cannot survive under the Azerbaijani control, the ministry said. Moreover, within the framework of its policy of ethnic cleansing, Azerbaijan is undertaking consistent steps aimed at eliminating and appropriating the Armenian cultural heritage of Artsakh. In parallel with the physical destruction of the cultural monuments of Artsakh, which are currently under its control, Azerbaijan at the highest level has resorted to a deplorable practice of falsifying historical facts and alienating religious and cultural values of the Armenian people. It is with this purpose that the president of Azerbaijan misrepresents the nature of the Armenian church of the 17th century in the village of Tsakuri of the Hadrut district distortedly claiming it to be so-called Albanian and labeling the Armenian inscriptions on its walls as fake, thus preparing the ground for yet another act of vandalism, it added. The Armenian Foreign Ministry emphasized that there cannot be a solid and lasting peace if it is based on the destruction of peaceful settlements of Artsakh, its historical-cultural heritage, annihilation of the Armenian population and the replacement of Armenian settlements with Azerbaijani ones. We will continue our struggle for a just and dignified peace by working closely with our international partners, the ministry concluded. Azerbaijan denies it has destroyed or intends to destroy any religious or cultural values of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, stating that the Armenian heritage in the region will be preserved under Bakus administration. Baku considers the whole territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, including currently Armenian-controlled areas where Russian peacekeepers have been deployed as part of the November 9 ceasefire brokered by Moscow, to be an integral part of Azerbaijan. Yerevan argues that the final status of the region has not yet been decided. Responding to the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, official Baku said on Friday that the visit of the president of Azerbaijan to Azerbaijani territories cannot be a subject for commentaries of the Armenian Foreign Ministry. The Armenian side still does not understand that it is necessary that it should move away from such rhetoric and set itself for the realization of the signed trilateral statements, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said. Burma Funeral Services Refuse to Help Dead Myanmar Police Officer Involved in Crackdown A police van in Bago. / Bago Weekly News Yangon Community-based free funeral service organizations in Bago have refused to assist in the funeral of a police captain who died during a crackdown on anti-regime protesters. The police asked some funeral services to help with the funeral but they all refused, said a Bago resident. Another resident, who asked for anonymity, said the funeral of Captain Kyaw Naing Oo was held at Sinpyukwin cemetery on Tuesday at noon with the police providing security. They used the Bago bypass instead of Shwethalyaung Pagoda Road, which is normally used for the cemetery. They didnt use the normal road to the cemetery, suggesting they are suspicious of the public. There are issues between them and the people that cant be seen, said the resident. The 37-year-old died while large numbers of officers were forcibly dispersing student protesters in Ponnasu ward on March 14. According to Bago police, Captain Kyaw Naing Oo served in the office of regional police chief and died from an entry wound. Further details are unknown. Since the Feb. 1 coup, seven people, including a woman, have died in crackdowns by the security forces in Bago. You may also like these stories: With Two More Arrests, A Total of 18 Journalists Detained by Myanmar Regime Four More Myanmar Diplomats Refuse to Work for Military Regime Myanmar Security Forces Rob Local Residents in Yangon Fears have been raised over the risk of spiralling costs after it emerged the expenses watchdog could lease 650 'secure' constituency offices for MPs. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) is looking at 'centralising' the process for managing constituency bases. The move - broadly backed by Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle - would be based on the Australian system where offices are provided directly, rather than being organised by individual politicians. Supporters insist it would take the burden off MPs - many of whom will have no experience negotiating leases - get better value for money, ensure working spaces are fit for purpose', and improve security. It could also remove the potential for abuses when politicians end up renting space from their parties at the taxpayers' expense. But some senior MPs are deeply concerned about the shift, warning that it would require 'many millions' of extra spending by Ipsa, wiping out any other savings that were made. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) is looking at 'centralising' the process for providing constituency bases The move - broadly backed by Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle - would be based on the Australian system where offices are provided directly, rather than being organised by individual politicians The idea was highlighted at a recent hearing of the Speaker's Committee on Ipsa - Scipsa - chaired by Sir Lindsay. Ipsa chair Richard Lloyd was grilled about the concept, with Labour's Chris Bryant noting that it would make people a 'bit anxious'. Mr Lloyd said the watchdog already manages the security contract for offices and wanted to 'explore what is possible' in terms of centralising leases. 'What we want to explore with Members not everyone will want this today is how we can take some of the strain out of 650 MPs, particularly new MPs, having to secure their office accommodation, each individually negotiating in their local market,' he said. 'What more can Ipsa do both to get value for money and to take the strain out of that process, to help MPs to get the accommodation they need that is secure, fit for purpose, accessible and right for them? 'I think there is a big efficiency gain to be made and, rather than Ipsa saying, ''Off you go, MPyou negotiate a lease and find your own way, even if youve never had any experience of doing that in the market'', we can inject some expertise alongside our oversight of the security budget and get a better outcome.' However, senior Tory MP Sir Charles Walker expressed doubts that Ipsa could make the system work. 'I do not think it is possible for any central organisation to go and negotiate value-for-money leases on behalf of MPs,' he said. 'The cost to Ipsa will be enormous, and Ipsa already costs 10million-plus. The idea that it is not going to cost many millions more to have people going around negotiating leases on our behalf is for the birds. 'Any gains you make would probably just be lost through the cost of doing it. 'I am not a fan of the ability of quasi-Whitehall agencies to go and secure value for money for anybodyand that is not just Ipsa, it is any other organisation seeking to do it.' Mr Lloyd replied that he understood there would be 'scepticism' and said the watchdog wanted to discuss 'how we go about this'. But Sir Lindsay said there were many benefits to the proposal - including removing the 'anomaly' where some MPs look to be claiming higher expenses because rents are higher in their consituency. Ipsa chair Richard Lloyd (right) was grilled about the concept at a committee hearing, with Charles Walker (left) voicing concerns 'I asked for this to be brought forward to try and see how not only can we save money, but ensure MPs are in better secured offices. That was the key to it,' he said. The Speaker said office space was already provided directly in Australia. 'Each office is provided to MPs secure. 'Staff have proper accommodation with a kitchen area and working areas. That was the model to look at how we can roll out when we have got the inconsistency of people if you rent in Chorley, it will probably be half the price of what you pay in London.' Sir Lindsay said initially the office could be an 'offer' to MPs rather than compulsory. 'Not only is there a saving when MPs keep moving offices every two years, but the real cost and burden that is being placed on the taxpayer will be taken away by having a proper office in the beginning,' he said. 'In Australia, you go in and you take the sign down. If the MP packs up, somebody else takes it over. 'The other thing we have to watch for, and it does happen in different political parties, is where we see people renting from their own party, and that money then goes into their funds, which is also not good to look at. If we can give alternatives, it will be helpful going forward.' 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 country's largest lender State Bank of India has seen a perceptible increase in the number transactions happening at its multiple digital channels, with the percentage moving from 60 per cent in the pre-pandemic period to 67 per cent currently, Chairman Dinesh Khara said. The rise in the number of at the bank was largely driven by pick up in e-commerce during the pandemic-induced lockdown, which restricted movement, he said. When e-commerce picked up, it was actually the digital channels we are offering that got wider currency and acceptability. That is one of the reasons our have gone as high as 67 per cent now. I think it is a phenomenal number, considering the fact that we are a bank which is serving all kinds of customers - digitally savvy and not digitally savvy, Khara told PTI in an interaction. He said the ecosystem such as round the clock availability of Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) and National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT), which got created recently, also helped the bank in scaling up its I think part of it (higher digital transactions) is coming from the ecosystem and a part of it has come from the bank's own effort, he noted. The lender's digital lending platform - Yono (You Only Need One App) - has achieved significant growth during the current financial year. At present, there are 35 million registered users of Yono and the bank is opening over 35,000-40,000 savings accounts per day with the help of the mobile app, he said. During the current financial year, around Rs 16,000 crore worth of pre-approved personal loans (PAPL) have been disbursed to 12.82 lakh customers through Yono, Khara said. While 59,000 crore car loans aggregating to around Rs 4,000 crore were sanctioned, the bank could generate 15,000 home loan leads worth Rs 4,000 crore with the help of Yono, he added. The platform also helps in distributing products of the bank's subsidiaries including Life Insurance, General Insurance and Card and SBI Mutual Fund. So far in this fiscal, close to 25 lakh personal accident policies and seven lakh life insurance policies have been issued using the Yono platform, Khara said. As more and more users are coming and using it (Yono), we are only ensuring that it becomes all the more robust so that it is in a position to handle and generate more volumes and create value for the bank, while also improving the experience of our customers, he said. The bank is constantly augmenting the infrastructure required to support an increasing number of transactions through all its digital channels, he said. Khara said the bank's topmost priority is to provide safety to customers using its digital channels and has significantly scaled up capabilities to deal with any kind of cyber frauds. We have ensured that the firewalls are strong enough and there should be adequate protection both at the end point as well as the server level, he said adding that the bank continuously keeps reviewing protection levels to ensure that all channels and networks stay protected. According to Kiran Shetty, CEO and Regional Head, India and South Asia for SWIFT, who was also part of the interaction, while the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital transactions and payments, it also necessitated remote working conditions, resulting in and financial institutions further ramping up their security infrastructure as cyber threats continued to grow. The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is a network that enables financial institutions to send and receive information about financial transactions in a secure environment. At SWIFT, we actively support the global financial community in the fight against cyber-attacks by fostering a more secure financial ecosystem, Shetty said. He said SWIFT's solutions such as Payment Controls System allows to mitigate fraudulent attacks by monitoring transactions on a real-time basis and detecting these potentially high risk transactions, alerting the teams and combined with the ability to block payments and transactions, prevents cybercrimes. Shetty said SWIFT also runs a customer security program which its members need to follow. There are 31 principles to protect the environment in which SWIFT infrastructure operates. Khara said products from SWIFT have added to the transparency for customers, both in terms of tracking the status of various payments and the transaction costs. He said going forward, digitisation is more likely a default option as the bank serves a variety of customers in different geographies but physical branches will remain. It is not an 'either-or' situation. Physical and digital will co-exist. Our strategy is going to be phygital, Khara concluded. As the COVID-19 pandemic moved beyond its one-year anniversary, hope appeared in the form of vaccines. On Friday, Massachusetts eclipsed 1 million fully vaccinated people. Along with the vaccines, job growth is another sign that the state may be approaching a finish line of the pandemic. As companies add jobs in 2021, MassLive Media will launch an online job fair beginning Saturday, which will run through April 30. Businesses are looking for employees. They are able to open up and start doing things in different capacities, Marketing Coordinator for MassLive Media Zoe Eckert said. We wanted to give businesses the opportunity to find people they need. And then we also wanted to create an opportunity for our readers. While MassLive already promotes a jobs posting page on its website, the online job fair takes the job searching process a step further featuring local employers searching for local talent. The job fair includes all very local companies, who very specifically want to reach MassLive.com readership, Eckert said. They are companies within our community that are looking for people within our community to join their team. The more than month-long online job fair will begin with seven local companies including Bay Path University, DCU (Digital Federal Credit Union) and Quabbin Valley Healthcare. The number is expected to increase, so Eckert suggests readers check back often. Currently, the online job fair offers a free webinar providing pointers on creating a resume. Eckert said more free webinars will also be added to the job fair in the future. Those interested in the job fair can access the website here. Anyone can browse the page and registration is not required. Each job posting will also include steps on how to apply for the position and what materials such as a resume or references are required. Some companies and industries are finding that they really do still need people and they want to make sure that they have the right teams and candidates, Eckert said. For those industries that are looking for new employees, they have a really big need and it makes it a pretty competitive job market for those positions. The ruling CPI(M)-led LDF on Friday released its manifesto for the April 6 assembly elections promising to create 40 lakh new jobs for the youth and "security pension for all housewives". While releasing the manifesto, CPI (M) state secretary in charge A Vijayaraghavan said, "The election manifesto is highlighting the importance of employment generation. The idea is to provide employment for nearly 40 lakh people in this state." Seeking a second straight term, Vijayaraghavan announced the major points of the manifesto and said that security pension would be given to all housewives, but did not elaborate. "Apart from the security pension, women in the state will be provided training with the technical assistance so that more women can be employed," the state secretary said. The manifesto promises to increase the farmers' income by 50 per cent in the coming term. "The manifesto assures to eradicate poverty, built world-standard public services, women-friendly state, corruption-free governance," Vijayaraghavan said. "The government will identify the most backward section in the society and provide assistance to enhance their living standards," he added. The election for 140-member will be held on April 6. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. (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.) Oracle Perceptron is a platform that connects the DeFi industry and traditional finance by cross-chaining various networks such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Tron, and Quark Chain, and by blockchaining the open banking API of traditional finance. Services provided by Oracle Perceptron include Neuron Assets, operators, wallets (enterprise and personal), Explorer, and Payment Gateway. Among these services, there is Oracle Perceptron Wallet, which is a technology that connect various assets with the real economy and resolves the UX/UI problems that hinder the expansion of the DeFi industry. A public key-based structure that integrates public keys used for encryption and private keys used for decryption by integrating and managing digital certificates of PKI is drawing attention as a technology that solves the problems of the DeFi industry. The Oracle Perceptron wallet is available in two categories: personal and enterprise. With the support of QuarkChain in Oracle Perceptron Wallet's SDK (a technology that is attracting attention from a multitude of people) many developers and users can easily and conveniently develop and use the core functions of the wallet. In addition, users can safely and conveniently manage and store public and private keys while utilizing various real economy services. An official from CenterPrime said, "As QuarkChain, a stable blockchain platform based on sharding, participates in the Oracle DeFi ecosystem, the expansion of the Oracle DeFi ecosystem that connects various services in the real economy to the DeFi industry is expected to accelerate. We look forward to the Oracle Perceptron as a window to a new world for users of the multitude of QuarkChain platforms." For more information about CenterPrime, please visit the website (https://centerprime.technology/). SOURCE CenterPrime ADVERTISEMENT We should all strive to benefit from the 3.94 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that Nigeria has so far secured from India, courtesy of the Covax Facility, which arrived on March 2. This is part of an overall 16 million doses planned to be delivered to Nigeria in batches. Yesterday, I had my first jab of the AstraZeneca vaccine in one of the general hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It was easy; no crowd, no ceremony, no fuss and no pain. I had expected a huge crowd, as all persons of a certain age and with brains between their ears know that it is important for their survival that they take it as soon as possible. I assume all the conspiracy theories against COVID-19 vaccinations have been so discredited that everyone would be eager to have the jab. I asked how many people have had the jab in the FCT and the response was that by end of work on Wednesday, March 17, only 711 people have had it. This is shockingly low. This might be because residents of the capital city did not see their minister or minister of state take it on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). Silly me, no Nigerian believes what ministers do or say, so that cannot be the reason. In Lagos, where their governor took the vaccine on TV, the State Government reported that 12,720 people got vaccinated within the first 48 hours, implying that people there do not want to die from COVID-19. At the national level, 2.3 million Nigerians registered their preparedness to receive the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine jab within 48 hours of the registration of the easy to use e-portal at the beginning of March, signalling some enthusiasm. A survey of 1,100 Nigerians between October and November 2020 by the Edelman Trust Barometer 2021 found that vaccine hesitancy was a high of 59 per cent in Nigeria. Reluctance is 64 per cent globally. Hesitancy, combined with a low trust environment, where only 24 per cent of Nigerians believe in government and trust overall is at 49 per cent (ThisDay, 18/3/2021) is the situation here. No vaccine in human history has had to contend with massive disinformation and conspiracy theories as that of COVID-19. The vaccine, we were told, would be designed (the stories were manufactured before the vaccines) to implant a chip to take over our genes and turn us into robots for Mr. Bill Gates, make Africans infertile, kill us through blood clots, ensure we serve the mission of the devil and hurry us to hell. Maybe it is a wonder that some people are ready to take the vaccine. Having carefully studied all the disinformation and found them to be false, be like me, take it when it is your turn. We should all strive to benefit from the 3.94 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that Nigeria has so far secured from India, courtesy of the Covax Facility, which arrived on March 2. This is part of an overall 16 million doses planned to be delivered to Nigeria in batches. The PTF understood the publics genuine scepticism about the new vaccine and their resistance and undertook the daunting task of reversing such perceptions many weeks before its arrival in the country. It has been messaging constantly to counter the negative perceptions of the vaccines safety and efficacy, and to inform that it has no adverse effect on recipients. The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, which has direct responsibility for administering the vaccine has also been engaged in sensitisation and awareness programmes to correct negative perceptions. At the beginning of the second week of March, most States had received their doses. The plan is to ensure the vaccination of about 70 per cent of the population over the next two years, starting with health and frontline workers, and people over sixty years of age. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has responded swiftly to the matter, saying the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its possible risks. Yesterday, the European Medicines Agency gave its ruling that they have not found any link between the vaccine and blood clots, and that it is safe and effective. It is worrying that nearly two weeks after the rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, some States are yet to begin vaccination. These include Oyo, Yobe, Cross River and Kogi States. Some governors are also yet to publicly take the vaccine, in spite of the fact that at the March 4 Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) meeting, they all resolved to take the vaccine publicly on March 10 with their deputies and to roll out the vaccine immediately thereafter in their States. In keeping with his long-held position, the Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, had said that he would not take the vaccine. In addition, he has been circulating videos disparaging the vaccine and trying to discourage people from taking it. Clearly, he has responsibility for the lives lost to COVID-19 in Kogi State, where he had refused to allow testing from the very beginning. The timing of the arrival of the AstraZeneca vaccine has been rather unfortunate. An alarm has been raised by many countries about its possible dangers. Although largely unsubstantiated, the claims have created panic among those who have taken the vaccine and those hoping to do so. The countries allege that there were serious side effects observed, like blood clotting in some of those administered with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Although such side effects are yet to be proven or backed with official pharmacovigilance reports, all the same, the alarm raised by some European countries like Denmark and the Netherlands has led to the suspension of the deployment of the vaccine by some countries in Europe. The issue also sent fears and jitters to the spines of most people of the world, including those in Africa and Nigeria, where the AstraZeneca vaccine has just been introduced. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has responded swiftly to the matter, saying the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its possible risks. Yesterday, the European Medicines Agency gave its ruling that they have not found any link between the vaccine and blood clots, and that it is safe and effective. As of March 9, WHO said over 268 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered since the start of the pandemic, on the basis of data reported to it by national governments. In all these, it said no case of death has been found to have been caused by the COVID-19 vaccines till date. In Nigeria, Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, while receiving her vaccination in Abuja last week Thursday, explained that agency went through the requisite investigations as soon it got the dossier of the vaccine before it approved it to be administered on Nigerians for the prevention of COVID-19. It is now clear that the suspensions were due to political considerations, rather than scientific ones. It is the British vaccine and that country needed to be punished. Europe, however, soon discovered it was cutting its nose to spite itself. The drama over the vaccine was provoked by Germany, which suspended its use, and pressure mounted on other governments to do the same, lest public opinion punish them if they seemed incautious by comparison, and for the sake of a united European front. Germanys decision set off a domino effect of defections from the vaccine, with a cascade of European countries joining the decision to suspend the AstraZeneca vaccine, dealing a significant blow to Europes already shaky inoculation drive, despite a lack of clear evidence that the vaccine has caused any harm. It is now clear that the suspensions were due to political considerations, rather than scientific ones. It is the British vaccine and that country needed to be punished. Europe, however, soon discovered it was cutting its nose to spite itself. It has provoked a delay in its already late vaccination schedule and can no longer meet the goal of vaccinating 70 per cent of residents by September. Let us not be as stupid as the Europeans, let us all take the vaccine to protect ourselves. Our President and Vice President have taken it, so lets follow their good examples. I have done so. 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 18:06:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Samia Suluhu Hassan (L) is sworn in as Tanzanian president at the State House in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on March 19, 2021. Hassan was on Friday sworn in as Tanzanian president, becoming the country's first female president. The swearing-in ceremony took place at the State House in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, following the death of President John Magufuli on Wednesday. (State House of Tanzania/Handout via Xinhua) DAR ES SALAAM, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Samia Suluhu Hassan was on Friday sworn in as Tanzanian president, becoming the country's first female president. The swearing-in ceremony took place at the State House in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, following the death of President John Magufuli on Wednesday. After the ceremony, Hassan received a 21-gun-salute and inspected a guard of honor mounted by the Tanzania People's Defense Forces. The ceremony was attended by Zanzibar President Hussein Mwinyi, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, former Tanzanian presidents, the speaker of the National Assembly and other dignitaries. According to the Constitution of Tanzania, Hassan will serve as president for the remainder of Magufuli's five-year term that ends in 2025 and she will consult with the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi on the appointment of the vice president. The constitution states that the newly sworn-in president shall propose a vice president and such an appointment shall be confirmed by the National Assembly by votes of not less than 50 percent of all the members of Parliament. Hassan became Tanzania's first female vice president in the general elections in 2015. Hassan and Magufuli were re-elected to a second term in October 2020. Before her tenure as vice president, she served as the member of Parliament for Makunduchi constituency in Zanzibar from 2010 to 2015, and was also the Minister of State in the vice president's office for Union Affairs during the same period. Hassan was born in Tanzania's Zanzibar on Jan. 27, 1960. Enditem Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Gettyimagebank By Yi Whan-woo A Korean who was charged with killing his pregnant wife from Cambodia in a staged car crash was found not guilty by the Supreme Court, Friday. The top court, however, said the man was responsible for causing the accident by falling asleep at the wheel and accordingly sentenced him to two years behind bars. The case infuriated advocates of multicultural families and Cambodian residents, after the man was charged with murder and insurance fraud. The man was arrested for crashing his van into a truck parked on the side of a highway in August 2014. His Cambodian wife, who was seven months pregnant, was in the passenger seat and was killed. He was charged with both murder and insurance fraud after it was revealed that he bought insurance policies for his wife, entitling him to billions of won upon her death. A district court found the man not guilty. But a high court later sentenced him to life in prison. ABIDJAN, Cote d'Ivoire, March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded $19.5 million over five years to Equal Access International (EAI) to strengthen community resilience against violent extremism in northern Cote d'Ivoire. The project, Resilience for Peace (R4P), working with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), INDIGO-Cote d'Ivoire, and the University of Bouake, will help at-risk Ivoirian border communities better counter violent extremism (CVE). R4P will create economic and civic empowerment opportunities, focusing on youth and women, through improvements in natural-resource management and government-service delivery and responsiveness. R4P will educate citizens and launch dialogue networks and town halls to cultivate whole-of-community trust. "Perpetrators of violent extremism often prey on weak and marginalized communities," said U.S. Ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire Richard Bell. "With R4P and through local partnerships, the United States aims to strengthen social, civic, and economic cohesion to make at-risk communities resilient to the threat of violent extremism." R4P was designed with inputs from INDIGO-Cote d'Ivoire, EAI, and NORC. EAI is an international non-governmental organization and a global leader in resilience, behavior change, and CVE programming in Africa and Asia. Initial activities will occur in the northern border areas of Cote d'Ivoire, and expand if needs arise elsewhere. R4P complements other USAID CVE activities in Cote d'Ivoire including the Accountability for Development project (implemented by EAI) and the Political Transition and Inclusion project (implemented by the National Democratic Institute). For additional information about R4P, please contact Sabina Behague , EAI Sr. Communications Manager or Jenny-Christelle Debrimou , USAID Development Outreach Communications Specialist. Learn more about EAI's work in peacebuilding and transforming extremism here . SOURCE Equal Access International Related Links http://www.equalaccess.org Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Rain showers in the morning with numerous thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. Storms could contain damaging winds. High 78F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Melbourne, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 18, 2021) - Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) (TSX: NCM) (PNGX: NCM) is currently assessing the implications of the two-week travel suspension announced by the Australian Government between Papua New Guinea and Australia. Newcrest is working closely with the Australian Government to better understand details of the travel suspension and to determine and mitigate any potential impacts. The Lihir operation is currently undergoing a planned maintenance shutdown and is in the process of progressively starting up. There is currently no anticipated interruption to gold production arising as a result of the travel suspension. As always, the health and safety of Newcrest's people and the local community is of primary concern. A small number of COVID-19 cases amongst the workforce are currently being managed by Newcrest at Lihir, with patients remaining in quarantine where they are being monitored and supported by our medical staff until they are free of the virus. Strict hygiene, social distancing and other COVID-19 management protocols remain in place at Lihir with comprehensive testing, quarantine and precautionary contact tracing procedures enforced. Lihir has a dedicated isolation camp and separate isolation and treatment facility where care and support can be provided. Further updates will be provided through the COVID-19 page on the Newcrest website and the market will be kept informed of any material impacts in line with Newcrest's continuous disclosure obligations. Authorised by the Newcrest Disclosure Committee For further information please contact Investor Enquiries Tom Dixon +61 3 9522 5570 +61 450 541 389 Tom.Dixon@newcrest.com.au Ben Lovick +61 3 9522 5334 +61 407 269 478 Ben.Lovick@newcrest.com.au North American Investor Enquiries Ryan Skaleskog +1 866 396 0242 +61 403 435 222 Ryan.Skaleskog@newcrest.com.au Media Enquiries Tom Dixon +61 3 9522 5570 +61 450 541 389 Tom.Dixon@newcrest.com.au Story continues Annie Lawson +61 3 9522 5750 +61 409 869 986 Annie.Lawson@newcrest.com.au This information is available on our website at www.newcrest.com Forward Looking Statements This document includes forward looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of securities laws of applicable jurisdictions. Forward looking statements can generally be identified by the use of words such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "objectives", "targets", "outlook" and "guidance", or other similar words and may include, without limitation, statements regarding estimated reserves and resources, certain plans, strategies, aspirations and objectives of management, anticipated production, study or construction dates, expected costs, cash flow or production outputs and anticipated productive lives of projects and mines. Newcrest continues to distinguish between outlook and guidance. Guidance statements relate to the current financial year. Outlook statements relate to years subsequent to the current financial year. These forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Newcrest's actual results, performance and achievements or industry results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements, or industry results, expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Relevant factors may include, but are not limited to, changes in commodity prices, foreign exchange fluctuations and general economic conditions, increased costs and demand for production inputs, the speculative nature of exploration and project development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licences and permits and diminishing quantities or grades of reserves, political and social risks, changes to the regulatory framework within which Newcrest operates or may in the future operate, environmental conditions including extreme weather conditions, recruitment and retention of personnel, industrial relations issues and litigation. For further information as to the risks which may impact on Newcrest's results and performance, please see the risk factors included in the Annual Information Form dated 13 October 2020 lodged with ASX and SEDAR. Forward looking statements are based on Newcrest's good faith assumptions as to the financial, market, regulatory and other relevant environments that will exist and affect Newcrest's business and operations in the future. Newcrest does not give any assurance that the assumptions will prove to be correct. There may be other factors that could cause actual results or events not to be as anticipated, and many events are beyond the reasonable control of Newcrest. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements, particularly in the current economic climate with the significant volatility, uncertainty and disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Forward looking statements in this document speak only at the date of issue. Except as required by applicable laws or regulations, Newcrest does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any of the forward-looking statements or to advise of any change in assumptions on which any such statement is based. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77859 Police carried out a number of searches on the Greenway in the vicinity of Woodcot Avenue in Belfast. A child handled a "possible timer power unit" after it was recovered from water in east Belfast. Police are investigating after the discovery of the suspicious object in the vicinity of Woodcot Avenue on Wednesday on the greenway. It was reported shortly before 4.50pm that the item was discovered by members of the public approximately 20 minutes earlier. Police carried out searches in the area after a report from the public. PSNI Detective Sergeant Eric Fairfield said: "The object is a possible timer power unit. The item was handled by a child before the report was made to police. "We have carried out extensive follow up searches on the greenway since the discovery and I would like to reassure the public that we are content that there is nothing else which would pose a danger to them. "Anyone with any information should contact police on 101 and quote reference 1368 of 17/03/21." A report can also be made online using the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/. Information can also be passed to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/. SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) The Jesuit priest who presided over an inaugural Mass for President Joe Biden is under investigation for unspecified allegations and is on leave from his position as president of Santa Clara University in Northern California, according to a statement from the college's board of trustees. Rev. Kevin O'Brien allegedly exhibited behaviors in adult settings, consisting primarily of conversations, which may be inconsistent with established Jesuit protocols and boundaries, according to the statement by John M. Sobrato, the board chairman. O'Brien gave the service at Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, one of the most prominent Catholic churches in Washington, in January for Biden, who is the nation's second Catholic president, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, their families and elected officials before the inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. OBrien also presided over services for Bidens inaugurations as vice president. The priest has known Biden's family for about 15 years, according to the university. OBrien was then serving at Georgetown University, another Jesuit college. O'Brien has been president of Santa Clara University since July 2019. Sobrato's statement, posted Monday to the university's website, did not specify the allegations against O'Brien but said the trustees support those who came forward to share their accounts. Sobrato said that while O'Brien is on leave, the priest will be cooperating with the independent investigation, with conclusions to be shared with the Santa Clara University Board of Trustees. O'Brien didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Tracey Primrose, spokeswoman for the Jesuits West Province, which is overseeing the investigation, did not elaborate on the investigations to The Mercury News. Jesuits are held to a professional code of conduct, and the Province investigates allegations that may violate or compromise established boundaries, Primrose told the newspaper. Story continues Primrose did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment Thursday night. OBrien joined the Society of Jesus in 1996, according to the university, and was ordained to the priesthood in 2006. Located in Silicon Valley, the Jesuit institution has an annual undergraduate enrollment of roughly 5,500 students. Ranked as one of the top 25 schools for undergraduate teaching nationwide, the private university has a million-dollar endowment and counts California Govs. Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown among its alumni. David Dobrik, 24, is one of the best-known YouTubers in Hollywood. He made a name for himself on Vine, the short-form video app that created a generation of online stars. Then he moved on to YouTube, where he and a group of friends known as the Vlog Squad began sharing fast-paced comedic content, often involving stunts. Since 2014, hes amassed more than 18 million subscribers on his primary YouTube channel. But an investigation by Kat Tenbarge at Insider published this week, detailing sexual assault allegations against a former Vlog Squad member, led many viewers to angrily re-evaluate Mr. Dobriks work and their fandom. Now its challenging the success of his growing empire. Mr. Dobrik was dubbed Gen Zs Jimmy Fallon by The Wall Street Journal. Last April, he stepped back from regular vlogging, which had become challenging during the pandemic, and turned his focus to other projects, including launching his own photo sharing app, called Dispo. That apps rating dropped below two stars in Apples app store last week. Apple briefly paused the ability to leave reviews, as people crowded to the space to berate Mr. Dobrik in the form of ratings and reviews. (Natural News) Forcing people to stay at home rather than allowing them to live normal lives is responsible for all the excess deaths in Canada that the medical and political establishments are blaming on the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19). This is according to a leading Canadian national statistics agency, which released a report indicating that the governments response to the Chinese virus not the virus itself is what is killing more people this year compared to previous years. Describing these deaths as indirect consequences of the pandemic, Stats Canada revealed that delayed medical procedures and increased substance use due to the lockdowns are both responsible for the death spike being seen all across the country. In the early months of the pandemic, the weekly number of excess deaths and deaths caused by COVID-19 were closely aligned and mostly affected older populations, suggesting that COVID-19 itself was driving excess mortality in Canada, the group says. However, more recently, the number of excess deaths has been higher than the number of deaths due to COVID-19, and these deaths are affecting younger populations, suggesting that other factors, including possible indirect impacts of the pandemic, are now at play. Stats Canada estimates that in 2020, there were an estimated 296,373 deaths in Canada. This number is 13,798 deaths above and beyond what experts would have expected had there not been an alleged pandemic. This is about 5% more deaths than expected in that period, the report explains. At the same time, there was a spike all last year in overdose deaths, for instance. Drug users who otherwise would have been involved in substance abuse treatment programs were no longer able to attend their meetings, resulting in unabated drug use that killed many of them. For example, in British Columbia, the Chief Coroners Office has reported increases in deaths due to overdoses since the start of the pandemic, the report explains. Similarly, Alberta Health Services reported decreases in both the provision and use of substance use treatment programs as well as increases in opioid-related emergency responses and deaths since the onset of the pandemic. The only people dying from coronavirus are unhealthy senior citizens with preexisting conditions Stats Canada released another report about the social and economic impacts of lockdowns that came to similar conclusions. This one doubled down on the claims made in the first one while adding more examples of the indirect consequences that spiked Canadas mortality rate. Many Canadians have been unable to get cancer screenings, for instance, while others could not see mental health counselors. Both restrictions negatively impacted the health of those who needed such services to the point that some of them died. For colorectal cancers, a six-month suspension of primary screening could increase cancer incidence by 2,200 cases, with 960 more cancer deaths over the lifetime, this second report explains. As for breast cancer screenings, a three-month interruption could increase cases diagnosed at advanced stages (310 more) and cancer deaths (110 more) from 2020 to 2029, it goes on to state, adding that a six-month interruption could lead to 670 extra advanced cancers and 250 additional cancer deaths. According to official government data, only 22,000 Canadians died from Covid-19. This includes the falsely attributed deaths that the above report says were caused by Covid-19 lockdowns rather than by the virus itself. Even so, the vast majority of these deaths occurred in people over the age of 70. Meanwhile, more than 95 percent of those who have ever tested positive for the Chinese virus are now fully recovered. Children, teenagers, and young adults do not have a high-risk for significant negative medical outcomes, including fatality, statistical research shows. To keep up with the latest news about the Wuhan flu, check out Pandemic.news. Sources for this article include: LifeSiteNews.com NaturalNews.com Preparing for your Passover Seder? Whether your celebration is virtual or with quarantine buddies, these kosher recipes will make for an unforgettable spread. This year, the holiday begins at sundown on March 27 and ends Thursday, April 4. If it's your first time having a Passover Seder, keep this Passover guide handy before you begin prep. While some foods, such as matzo and bitter herbs, are required eating on certain nights, others (including leavened bread) are forbidden. To make menu planning easy, here are some of TODAY Food's favorite Passover recipes. Even if you don't celebrate the holiday, these delicious dishes are perfect for any spring evening. The main course Passover Brisket with Carrot and Onion Gravy by David Kolotkin Mouthwatering brisket from David Kolotkin, Prime Hospitality Group's corporate chef, serves up to eight people. The carrots and onions get caramelized from the meat's juices. "My grandmother, Bella, used to make a potted turkey dish with similar ingredients, which my mother later turned into a pot roast," Kolotkin said. "It's perfect for the holidays." Horseradish Brisket by Gail Simmons This one-pot wonder by Food & Wine's Gail Simmons was inspired by her mother's traditional brisket recipe. She adds horseradish to give it a a special kick. Luckily for home cooks, this rich and rewarding dish only takes 15 minutes to prepare. Harissa-Braised Brisket with Green Beans and Red Potatoes by Lazarus Lynch One of the best parts about brisket is that it can be cooked when you have time and then savored either during one dinner or as leftovers reinvented into tasty new meals. If you don't have harissa paste, you can use a combination of tomato paste and crushed red pepper or tomato paste and harissa seasoning. You could also use pot roast or short ribs in place of brisket. Story continues Roast Chicken with Clementine and Rosemary Butter by Clodagh McKenna Brighten up your spread with this roast chicken that pops with color. Taking only 15 minutes to prepare, this dish is bursting with flavor thanks to clementines and rosemary. Perfect Roast Chicken by Alex Hitz There is a reason Ina Garten thinks roast chicken is pure romance. It fills the home with warm aromas, tastes savory and juicy and makes wonderful leftovers (that is, if there's any left). Side dishes and appetizers Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls by Adam Richman "Every good Jewish boy loves his mother's chicken soup," Adam Richman told TODAY. "It's part of our DNA. It is penicillin when we are sick; it is comfort food when we are sad; it is communal food when we are celebrating; and it has its roots in the traditions of relatives that we no longer have with us or ones we never got a chance to meet." Pear, Oven Roasted Tomatoes and Goat Cheese Matzo Pizza by It doesn't need to be Passover to enjoy this creative and crunchy spin on pizza. This dish is a great late night-snack or a shoe-in at the Seder dinner table. Did we mention it's also gluten-free? Salmon and Avocado Tartare by Anthony Scotto and Elaina Scotto and Marion Scotto Perfect for a light meal or elegant appetizer, this tartare has layers of fish, avocado puree and a crunchy, shaved raw vegetables, all topped with a bright, citrusy vinaigrette. Chicken Fat Matzo Ball Soup by Joel Gamoran Make matzoh ball soup the comforting, old-fashioned way with chicken fat, dill and vodka (yes, vodka!). Citrus Salad with Mint and Red Onions by Joanne Weir This refreshing salad will prepare the palate for an unforgettable meal. Since citrus is often in season in the U.S. and Canada around Passover, this makes for the perfect healthy appetizer or side dish. Crispy Rosti Potatoes with Oven-Poached Eggs by Grace Parisi Rather than make individual potato pancakes and poached eggs, take a note from the Swiss and make one big, communal potato cake (known as rosti in Switzerland and Germany) and top it with eggs poached in a muffin tin. Roasted Asparagus with Almonds by Gail Simmons Looking for a simple side dish? Try this easy-to-make, oven-roasted asparagus with fresh garlic and crunchy almonds. Salad of Roasted Heirloom Beets with Capers and Pistachios by Bring fresh spring colors to the table with an heirloom beet salad tossed with tangy capers and buttery pistachios. Desserts 6-Ingredient Chocolate Ganache Souffle Cake by Sandra Holl Finish your meal with this kosher chocolate ganache souffle cake from pastry chef Sandra Holl at Chicago's Floriole bakery. It will add a little decadence to any celebration. Chocolate-covered Matzo Bark by Jamie Geller For something sweet, salty and satisfying, try this chocolate-covered matzo bark. It's easy to serve to a crowd and has a fruity, nutty flavor. Brown Butter Matzo Brei Pie by Joel Gamoran This sweet 15-minute treat can be enjoyed after dinner or for breakfast. It's a wonderfully easy specialty that can be enjoyed whether or not it's Passover. You'll want it all year long. KUNMING, China, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd. ("First High-School Education Group" or the "Company") (NYSE: FHS), the largest operator of private high schools in Western China and the third largest operator in China[1], today announced, on March 15, 2021 the Company completed the closing of its previously announced initial public offering of 7,500,000 American Depositary Shares (the "ADSs"), and the concurrent sale of 1,350,000 Class A ordinary shares to the investor in the concurrent private placement, at an offering price of $10.00 per ADS. Each ADS represents three Class A ordinary shares of the Company. The initial public offering and the concurrent private placement raised $79,500,000 in total, in which $54,500,000 was raised by the Company, and $25,000,000 was raised by Longwater Topco B.V., the selling shareholder in the offering, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions as well as other offering expenses. The Benchmark Company LLC, Valuable Capital Limited and TFI Securities and Futures Limited are acting as the joint bookrunners of the offering and representatives of underwriters. AMTD Global Markets Limited, Maxim Group LLC, Boustead Securities, LLC, Futu Inc., US Tiger Securities, Inc., and Fosun Hani Securities Limited are acting as Co-managers of the offering. FT Global Capital, Inc is acting as advisor to the Company. A registration statement relating to the shares being sold in this offering was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The offering was made only by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained from: (i) Benchmark Company LLC. at [email protected]; (ii) Valuable Capital Limited at Room 2807-09, 28th Floor, China Merchants Tower, Shun Tak Centre, 168-200 Connaught Road Central, Hong Kong / [email protected]; and (iii) TFI Securities and Futures Limited at Room 1108 1111, 11/F, Nexxus Building, 41 Connaught Road Central, Central, Hong Kong / 852 3187 8701 / [email protected]. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. About First High-School Education Group First High-School Education Group is the largest operator of private high schools in Western China and the third largest operator in China[2]. First High-School Education Group has a network of 19 schools, offering 14 high school programs, seven middle school programs and four tutorial school programs for Gaokao repeaters, as of September 30, 2020. All of schools of the Company are strategically located in Western China. The Company aspires to become a leader and innovator of private high school education in China. Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects, as well as any other statements regarding matters that are not historical facts, may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the expected trading commencement and closing dates. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "will," "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: the uncertainties related to market conditions and the completion of the public offering on the anticipated terms or at all, and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the preliminary prospectus filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For Investor and Media Inquiries Please Contact: In China: First High-School Education Group Lillian Liu Tel: +86-13062818313 E-mail: [email protected] The Blueshirt Group Ms. Susie Wang Phone: +86 138-1081-7475 Email: [email protected] In the United States: The Blueshirt Group Ms. Julia Qian Phone: +1 973-619-3227 Email: [email protected] [1] In terms of student enrollment as of December 31, 2019, according to an industry report commissioned by First High-School Education Group and prepared by China Insights Industry Consultancy Limited. [2] In terms of student enrollment as of December 31, 2019, according to an industry report commissioned by First High-School Education Group and prepared by China Insights Industry Consultancy Limited. SOURCE First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd Related Links https://ir.diyi.top/ New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday (March 19) had ordered a slew of restrictions which include the closing of all educational institutions till March 31 and curbs on cinema and mall capacities. In the 11 worst-hit districts, a complete ban has been ordered on all social gatherings, except for funerals and weddings, which will be allowed with only 20 persons in attendance. This will be enforced from Sunday (March 21). The Chief Minister also appealed to people to keep social activity in their homes to the bare minimum for the next two weeks to break the transmission chain, an official statement said, according to ANI. Not more than 10 visitors should be entertained in homes, he urged chairing a meeting of the COVID-19 task force. The Punjab CM also ordered the compulsory wearing of face masks, directing police and the health authorities to take all those loitering in public areas without it to the nearest testing facility to ensure that they are not asymptomatic cases. Restriction of 50 per cent capacity will be there in cinema halls and not more than 100 persons in a mall at any time. In the worst-hit districts, the chief minister has ordered cinemas, multiplexes, restaurants and malls to remain closed on Sundays through home deliveries will be allowed subject to night curfew. The CM also asked the Amritsar Deputy Commissioner to talk to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC) and the management of the Durgiana temple to encourage devotees to wear masks inside the shrines. The rise in cases is a matter of serious concern, particularly in rural areas which had seen much fewer cases last year, said the Chief Minister, directing the departments concerned to launch awareness campaigns in villages. In the 11 worst-affected districts of Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, SBS Nagar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ropar and Moga, the chief minister ordered restrictions on in-person public dealings in government offices with people to be encouraged to visit offices only for essential services. Live TV COHOES Residents of the affordable housing complex Saratoga Sites have long worried about Norlite, an aggregate plant and incinerator, burning shale and other hazardous waste next door. They worry that the burning emits dust that lands on their cars, windows, and enters their lungs. Now, they've gone to court. Attorney Phillip Oswald from Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham last week filed a complaint on behalf of the residents who feel their health has been harmed by the fugitive dust emissions from Norlite. The lawsuit seeks monetary relief and measures to monitor, and potentially stop, the emissions, as well as monitor residents' health. The residents here have a right to a clean, fresh, and livable environment regardless of race and regardless of income, Oswald said at a press conference on Friday. And that is a fundamental right, that is what this case is about. This is a long-overdue case. The complaint alleges that emissions from the plant's burning are coming into the surrounding communities and that those emissions contain hazardous particulates, crystalline silica quartz, and glass, thereby exposing people to health risks and damaging their property, Oswald said. The case includes evidence from first-hand observations of many residents and members of the states Department of Environmental Conservation, a microscopic analysis of the dust particles coming from Norlite, as well as statements by Norlite and Tradebee, Norlite's parent company, about the hazardous nature of the dust, Oswald said. David Walker, a retired Columbia University geology professor who examined the dust, said it contains sharp tiny glass-like shards that can be a respiratory irritant, the Times Union previously reported. Inhaling the dust can cause serious health problems, including silicosis, a progressive and sometimes fatal lung disease, advocates say. Ive seen my community members get sick, suffer, Ive seen my friends, my family have to make sacrifices they should not be making because of this facility, Joe Ritchie, who has lived in the area for 20 years, said at the press conference. People around here cant afford to be sick, they cant afford the constant doctor visits, the constant co-pays, the constant grieving about their health. The complaint references the health concerns of nine specific residents, but also is representing approximately 5,600 people that live within a one-mile radius of Norlite, according to court documents. The lawsuit seeks an injunction including requiring a biomonitoring program of residents health and a monitoring program that would stop fugitive dust emissions altogether, as well as some additional remedial measures. Norlite already is discussing with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation our plans to improve our dust control technology, reads a statement from Norlite about plans for litigation. We will invest the necessary resources to accomplish that goal. A lawsuit is not necessary, but if one is filed, we will respond in court. Our facility has been a part of Cohoes since 1956, and we are committed to being a good neighbor. Community residents who have a question or concern about our facility are encouraged to call us at any time at 518-235-0401. We are also closely scrutinizing all potential sources of fugitive dust, immediately responding to community complaints, and continuing to compile new information in order to hold this facility accountable, said Sean Mahar, DECs Chief of Staff. We are on top of this and we continue to urge residents to immediately report suspected violations to both DEC at 1-800-457-7362 and to Norlite at 518-235-0401. Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler said though he can't speak to the specifics of the lawsuit, there is no question that fugitive dust from Norlite has been a justifiable neighborhood concern for decades. "That is why, for more than a year, I have been working with the regulators, state and federal officials, outside experts, and the community to address the problem," he said. "Though the pace of change has not been as fast as I would hope, we are making progress. The DECs February 10th Notices of Violation against Norlite citing fugitive dust violations is clear evidence that community voices are being heard." Worries about the dust emissions, which residents say have occurred for decades, were renewed last year when it was found that Norlite in 2018 and 2019 had burned 2.4 million pounds of firefighting foam that contained potentially toxic PFAS or per- and polyfluoroctanoic acid, a suspected carcinogen. PFAS incineration has since been banned in New York. Earlier this month, the Department of Environmental Conversation released its study of the water and soil around the facility and found no evidence of widespread PFAS chemical contamination. Bennington Professor David Bond, who was also at the press conference on Friday, said that there are elevated levels of the PFAS compounds at Saratoga Sites and that the DECs report masked the fact that PFAS levels are elevated in the area. We stand by the design of our study and the conclusions we drew, said Mahar from the DEC. These experts have a lot of front-line experience unfortunately in dealing with these emerging contaminants and really know what they are looking at and what they are looking for. Bengaluru, March 19 : Model-turned-make-up artist Hitesha Chandranee, who had accused Zomato delivery boy K. Kamraj of assaulting her, on Friday posted a three-page message on her Instagram account stating that she has not left Bengaluru, despite media reports suggesting so. A section of the media, especially local news channels, ran a story suggesting that she had 'left the city' after her address was leaked online following the barrage of opinions and hate messages about the whole incident. This news was on air after Kamraj filed a counter-complaint against her alleging abuse and assault. However, Chandranee has now taken to Instagram to inform the public that Bengaluru is her home and that she has not ran away anywhere following the controversy. On March 10, taking to Instagram and Twitter, Chandranee had accused Kamraj, a Zomato delivery person, of punching her on the nose after she tried to ask him why her order was delayed. This video clip has already garnered 2.5 crore views till date since it was posted on her Instagram. Her video with a bloody nose went viral. Chandranee filed a complaint with the police against Kamraj for assault. Soon after this video went viral, Kamraj was kept under suspension by the Zomato food delivery platform. But he denied the woman's story and alleged that it was she who assaulted him with slippers due to the delay in delivering the food. While Kamraj was holding his hands up in defence, he claimed the woman hurt herself with her ring. This week, he filed a counter complaint against Chandranee for assaulting and abusing him. Chandranee has now revealed on Instagram that she has been receiving threats ever since the incident went viral. She said that her family has been threatened too. "I have had to take medical treatment for my nose which was fractured due to the incident. I have received many calls from various people using repulsive and threatening words against me," she wrote. "I have been cooperating with the police and have not left Bengaluru...Bengaluru is home for me," she further added. In her post, Chandranee also wrote that she was waiting for a neutral probe by investigative agencies to reveal the truth about what actually happened and requested people to not voice their opinions before the trial is completed. "From the time the incident occurred and while undergoing trauma on what happened to me as what happens to many girls and women who live alone in this city, I've been hounded on social media by tweets, posts and statements by 'celebrities' because of which I have decided to make this statement," she wrote in her post. She also clarified why she had asked for free food. "Online narratives say that I asked for free food, but it was Zomato which had an offer that they would not charge me, if the food was delivered late," she added. Kannur: Just a day before the deadline for submitting nominations for the upcoming Kerala assembly poll, C Raghunath filed his nomination as Congress candidate to contest in Dharmadam against CPI (M) strongman and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Though earlier, Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) was planning to support the mother of Walayar siblings who is fighting the polls as an independent candidate. Later Congress state leadership and AICC decided to field their own candidate to take on Vijayan after the BJP and Left in their campaign alleged that Congress does not even have candidates to fight Vijayan. K Sudhakaran, the face of the party in Kannur rejected the proposal to contest from Dharmadam after meeting with the District Congress Committee (DCC). Speaking to reporters in Kannur, Sudhakaran said that KPCC and the High Command had asked his opinion to contest in Dharmadam but he refrained from it. "I have conveyed my decision not to contest in Dharmadam to the state leadership and also to the High Command. Since I have to campaign across the Kannur district, being working president of KPCC it's not practical to be a candidate at Dharmadam. Also, there was hardly any time for enough preparation as it was asked to me two days back," he said. C Raghunath is Kannur District Congress Committee secretary and the nomination was filed before the official announcement by the party. Meanwhile, the mother of Walayar siblings also filed her nomination papers on Thursday to fight against Kerala Chief Minister. Vijayan who faced the last assembly polls in 2016 from Dharmadam won with a huge majority of 36,905 votes against his rival Mambaram Divakaran of Congress. Earlier, Vijayan was elected to the Kerala Assembly in 1970, 1977 and 1991 from Kuthuparamba while in 1996 he was elected from Payyanur. The election for the 140-member Kerala Assembly will be held on April 6. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. Live TV CHICAGO, March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 3, 2021, Steve Freiberg, Chairman of Rewards Network, announced the appointment of Stephen Fusco to its Board of Directors, effective March 3, 2021. Following the appointment of Mr. Fusco, the Board will consist of eight directors. "We are pleased to welcome Steve to Rewards Network's board," said Ed Eger, Chief Executive Officer of Rewards Network. "Over the last three years, Steve's leadership has been integral to numerous key Rewards Network business advancements, such as new partner relationships and the increasing alignment Steve has brought to our national sales and marketing initiatives. Steve's deep experience in executive leadership, sales, and operations will be invaluable to Rewards Network as we continue to grow and scale our business and pursue our mission to partner in the success of local restaurants." Mr. Fusco is the former Vice President and General Manager of Global Distribution for PayPal, where he served from March 2011 to June 2018. Prior to this, Mr. Fusco served as Area Director, Executive Vice President at Citigroup from August 2005 to March 2011. Since July 2018 Steve has served as President of Rewards Network, responsible for Business Development, Sales and Customer Service. About Rewards Network Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Rewards Network is a privately held fintech company powering the largest card-linked dining rewards programs in the United States and providing financial and marketing services to thousands of restaurants nationally. Since 1984, Rewards Network has offered its dining programs in partnership with major airlines, hotel chains, and other leading loyalty marketing programs in the country. Our millions of members include guests who spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually at participating restaurants and in return, earn cash back, airline miles, hotel points, college savings, fuel discounts, and retail savings. For more information, visit www.RewardsNetwork.com. SOURCE Rewards Network BRUSSELS - The EU executive noted in a statement issued Friday that, ahead of the European Council meeting next week, European Council president Charles Michel and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen held a videoconference with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It added that the eastern Mediterranean was discussed, including imminent talks for a solution for divided EU Member State Cyprus, and progress made in EU-Turkey relations. The EU "underlined the importance of sustained de-escalation and further strengthening confidence building to allow for a more positive EU-Turkey agenda", according to a statement. Missing Murray Man Found Safe By West Kentucky Star Staff CALLOWAY COUNTY - Deputies say 31-year-old Glen Carter has been located and is safe. The Calloway County Sheriff's Office extends its appreciation to the public for their assistance.Previous story:The Calloway County Sheriff's Office is seeking help from the public in locating a missing adult.Deputies say 31-year-old Glen Carter of Murray was reported missing by family members on Thursday. He was last seen near his home on Arbor Drive in Murray on Wednesday afternoon.Carter is a white male with brown eyes, brown hair and a beard. He is 5' 8" tall and weighs approximately 200 lbs. Deputies say Carter regularly takes medication, which he is believed to not have with him.Anyone with information on Carter's whereabouts is asked to contact the Calloway County Sheriff's Office. Popcorn Tacos Pizza Chili Chicken Noodle Soup Chips Seafood Something on the grill Ice cream because I like it cold all the time Jambalaya I could care less, give me summer already Vote View Results The Government has dismissed calls from one of its own TDs to press for sanctions on Brazil over the destruction of the rainforest. Fianna Fail TD Jim O'Callaghan has hit out at "eco vandalism" carried out by Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and has called on his party and the Government to lobby for imposing economic sanctions on the South American country. "The horrific videos of the burning of the rainforest should revolt us all," he said. "Last year, 5m acres of the Amazon rainforest were deliberately burned. This shameful action of eco-vandalism is part of an ongoing strategy by the Bolsonaro regime in Brazil to destroy the rainforest," Mr O'Callaghan said in a video posted on social media. A spokesperson for the Government said climate action and the environment is a "central plan" of the Coalition's strategy in the coming years. However, the issue of any sanctions is "a matter for the European Union as a whole". "The Government has set ambitious targets for a carbon neutral country by 2050 by halving carbon emissions over the next decade," the spokesperson said. Mr O'Callaghan said the Amazon rainforest is "vital" in putting a halt to climate change as it absorbs carbon dioxide that otherwise would go into the environment. We need to protect these lungs of the planet, not just for the people of South America, but for the whole world. The reckless burning of the rainforest is irreparably damaging all of our global efforts to stop climate change. Mr O'Callaghan added that Ireland is a small but influential country, and "people listen to what we have to say". He said pressure now must be put on the EU and the United Nations to act. "Ireland needs to be first country in the world that calls for the imposition of economic sanctions on the Balsonaro regime in Brazil because of its actions." Appealing to the public to contact politicians to ask them to support a campaign for sanctions, Mr O'Callaghan added: "We need to send out a strong message." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. LONDON, ON, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - VersaBank ("VersaBank" or the "Bank") (TSX: VB), a leader in digital banking and cyber security solutions, today announced that David Taylor, President and Chief Executive Officer, will present (virtually) at the Investor Summit March Conference on Tuesday, March 23, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. EDT. A webcast of the presentation will be available in the investor relations section of VersaBank's website at www.versabank.com on the "Quarterly Info, Events and Presentations" page. A replay of the presentation will be available on the same page of the web site following the event. VersaBank will also be participating in virtual one-on-one meetings at the Conference. Institutional investors interested in scheduling a one-on-one meeting should contact Sasha Murray at [email protected] or Lawrence Chamberlain at [email protected]. In his presentation, Mr. Taylor will discuss VersaBank's highly efficient, low-risk digital banking operations, which have generated a compounded annual growth rate in net income of 23% over the past six years based on the Bank's development and application of its proprietary software to address unmet needs in the banking industry. VersaBank's digital banking operations are poised for continued outsized growth as its existing lending channels experience a significant increase in loan origination activity and the Bank prepares for the launch of its third lending channel based on its proven software, which will enable it to enter the $200 billion Canadian home financing market. VersaBank also recently announced it plans to launch a strong encryption based digital currency (cryptocurrency) represented one-to-one by a Canadian dollar bank deposit with the Bank, to be known as VCAD. VCAD is expected to be the first digital currency to represent a fiat currency, as well as the first in the world digital currency issued by and backed by deposits with a North American bank. As such, VCAD will offer the highest level of stability and security amongst all digital currencies in the market today. Mr. Taylor will also discuss the significant growth opportunity for VersaBank's wholly-owned, Washington, DC-based subsidiary, DRT Cyber Inc. ("DRT"). DRT's VersaVault is the world's first digital bank vault for securing cryptocurrency, blockchain-based assets and highly sensitive digital documents. Recently, DRT acquired North American IT security assurances services leader, Digital Boundary Group, as it builds a comprehensive suite of innovative cyber security solutions that address high-demand, underserved segments of this rapidly growing market. DRT's Chief Operating Officer, Gurpreet Sahota, previously spent 16 years at BlackBerry, where he helped build and implement its industry-leading cyber security architecture. DRT is chaired by the Honorable Tom Ridge, the first US Secretary of Homeland Security. ABOUT VERSABANK VersaBank is a Canadian Schedule I chartered bank with a difference. VersaBank became the world's first fully digital financial institution when it adopted its highly efficient business-to-business model using its proprietary state-of-the-art financial technology to profitably address underserved segments of the Canadian banking market in the pursuit of superior net interest margins while mitigating risk. VersaBank obtains all of its deposits and provides the majority of its loans and leases electronically, with innovative deposit and lending solutions for financial intermediaries that allow them to excel in their core businesses. In addition, leveraging its internally developed IT security software and capabilities, VersaBank established wholly owned, Washington, DC-based subsidiary, DRT Cyber Inc. to pursue significant large-market opportunities in cyber security and develop innovative solutions to address the rapidly growing volume of cyber threats challenging financial institutions, multi-national corporations and government entities on a daily basis. VersaBank's Common Shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol VB and its Series 1 Preferred Shares and Series 3 Preferred Shares trade under the symbols VB.PR.A and VB.PR.B respectively. Visit our website at: www.versabank.com Follow VersaBank on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. SOURCE VersaBank Related Links https://www.versabank.com/ Bengaluru, March 19 : In an effort to end the debate over the Ram Mandir fund collection, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sah Sarkaryavah Manmohan Vaidya on Friday categorically rebutted allegations that the RSS marked houses while carrying out the nationwide fund raising activity. Addressing the media at the two-day Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) meeting that was convened in Karnataka capital here, the Joint General Secretary said that the organisation believes that "those who contributed funds for the Ram Mandir are its own people and those who did not are also its own". "We (RSS) never differentiated on any basis," he said while responding to a question adding that it might be the media's perception that the RSS marks houses, but that was not true. The Sah Sarkaryavah added that the RSS launched a fund collection drive to reach out to people and not for funds alone. "Lord Ram and his mandir are not under anyone's mercy, it would come up anyway automatically even if the drive was not launched. We launched this drive to reach out to people and convey the message of Ram Mandir and the reasons behind building such a magnificent temple (in Ayodhya)," he said. He added that over 20 lakh Sangh workers reached 5,45,737 places across the country and through this drive the RSS was able to develop contacts with more than 12.5 crore families in the country. "Our workers reached out even tiniest habitats situated in the most difficult of terrains in Mizoram, Andaman and Ladak with this drive," he explained. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Returning off the back of the huge success of their previous single Lately, Tullamore trio Chasing Abbey take centre stage once more with their new single, Defeated released on March 19. The song is about trying your absolute best, but inevitably failing and the positives and negatives that come from that. Its a song about resilience and the ability to get back up when youre down, the trio explained of the tracks inspiration. Defeated was first written in January of 2020, when Teddy C was going through a difficult time, feeling demoralised, burnt out and finding it tough to stay inspired. Defeated was the very last song we wrote and we were shattered, Teddy C recalled of the writing process, It was kind of like the last throw of the dice to find a song we really loved. Little did we know things were about to get a lot more difficult later in the year. The track is propelled by a drum-clap instrumentation, which builds throughout the opening verse before exploding into its catchy, uptempo, dance bassline-driven chorus reminiscent of artists such as Becky Hill and Topic. The production is the signature of Chasing Abbey down the years. The song was produced with the help of Alan Sampson (ZAYN, Rita Ora) and Swedish Grammy-winning Duo Goldfingers (Little Mix, Tiesto). It was really nice to get two top quality producers ears on it Teddy C adds, We think the track really benefited from it. Defeated marks one of the more touching records in Chasing Abbeys discography so far, with its lyrics purveying a sense of defiance, and an unwillingness to back down in the face of uncertainty and false dawns. The lyrics never once admit defeat, the band explains, they only tell you that they feel defeated. Thats really important because its a song of hope and resilience in hard times they add. Defeated is Chasing Abbeys first single of 2021, and follows the release of their hit single Lately. Upon its release, Lately debuted at No.1 on the Official Irish Homegrown Charts, No.1 on the Irish Shazam Charts and No.26 on the Official Irish Singles Charts (the only independent release in the Top 50). 'Lately' has gone on to amass over 1.5 million streams , and reached No.23 on the Spotify Viral Chart thanks to features on popular editorial playlists such as New Music Friday UK, Dance Rising and Massive Dance Hits. There has been a huge support for Chasing Abbey from Irish radio too, with 'Lately' amassing over 22 million impacts to date. The track has also taken on a life of its own on TikTok, where its audio has been used over 7,500 times, including on viral videos from influencers such as Tadhg Fleming (2.2m followers) and magician Joel (8.5m followers) as well as entering its New Music chart at No.7 and its Dance Music chart at No.6. Its been a whirlwind return for the Tullamore threepiece in what already looks set to be a busy year, with more singles on the horizon, and a number of live stream events in the works. Chasing Abbey continue to showcase their supreme talents and are ready to take 2021 by storm, no matter what obstacles they may face along the way, they refuse to be defeated! A woman was arrested last week after she allegedly refused to follow a bank's policy to wear a mask and refused to leave, in Galveston, Texas, on March 11, 2021. (Galveston PD) 65-Year-Old Texas Woman Arrested Again After Second Mask Standoff A woman who was arrested in Texas last week after she allegedly refused to follow a banks policy to wear a mask has been arrested again after a second mask standoff at a different location, according to reports. According to Texas City police, 65-year-old Terry Wright of Grants Pass, Oregon, was arrested at an Office Depot store in Texas City on Wednesday morningsix days after she was arrested at a Galveston bank after she allegedly refused to wear a mask and subsequently refused to leave the facility when asked by police. Employees at the Office Depot on Emmett F Lowery Expressway called Texas City Police saying that a maskless customer was refusing to leave the store. When officers arrived at the scene, one recognized the 65-year-old from now-viral footage of Wright that was released by the department on March 12 following her initial arrest. According to FOX 26, the officers realized that Wright was wanted on two outstanding warrantsresisting arrest and criminal trespassfrom the March 11 incident, and took her to the Galveston County Jail. Police spokesman Cpl. Allen Bjerke said that she declined to cover her nose and mouth with a mask. No further charges were filed in the Wednesday incident. Gov. Greg Abbott last week lifted statewide orders requiring people to wear face masks in public in Texas, declaring businesses should decide for themselves which COVID-19 precautions to take on their properties. Many businesses have kept their own mask rules in place. In last weeks incident, Wright accused a police officer of taking away her rights. Body camera footage of the ordeal showed that when the officer attempted to take out his handcuffs, Wright tried to evade him. Wow, not wearing a mask people This is what they do to [you]! shes later heard saying while being escorted to a police vehicle. Local reports stated that Wright was taken to the hospital for a foot injury she sustained while being arrested. Wrights bond was set at $3,000 on the misdemeanor charges, police said. She was held in the Galveston County Jail on Wednesday afternoon. Jack Philips and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Fueled by the Grappling Writing is notoriously hard. And writing about, as author Melissa Faliveno calls them, spaces of uncertainty, makes it even more so. In this conversation, Faliveno talks with Bowdoin professor and writer Alex Marzano-Lesnevich about the struggleand the satisfactionthat comes from the process of interrogating our obsessions and each other, and of writing our way in the world through stories. IN FALL 2020, as the country was gripped by a series of unprecedented reckonings, Bowdoin students took a creative writing class designed to have them commingle their thinking about the political questions raging through the country and the personal changes in their own lives. Taught by Assistant Professor of English Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, the classThe Personal (Essay) Is Politicaltook its name from the canonical 1970 Carol Hamisch essay, The Personal Is Political, and featured works by classic and contemporary writers, including James Baldwin, June Jordan, Jennine Capo Crucet, Kaitlyn Greenidge, and Melissa Faliveno, author of the essay collection Tomboyland, who visited the class electronically. Tomboyland was the first book from writer and filmmaker Joey Soloways publishing imprint, and was named a best book of 2020 by NPR; the New York Public Library; O, the Oprah Magazine; and Electric Literature. Announcing plans for their imprint in February 2018, Soloway said, We live in a complicated, messy world where every day we have to proactively re-center our own experiences by challenging privilege. Like Soloways production company, the imprint would be directly named for its political aspirations: Topple. At the time, Soloways words were seen as a response to #MeToo, #TimesUp, and the global reckoning with gender inequality. But of course, by the time the imprint actually began publishing, far more reckoning was happening, with structural racism and with inequality laid bare by the pandemic. Tomboyland entered the world during that upheaval. In January 2021, at a turning point in presidential administrations and as the global pandemic raged on at ever-escalating levels, Faliveno and Marzano-Lesnevich shared the following exchange. Alex Marzano-Lesnevich Assistant professor of English Melissa Faliveno Author of Tomboyland ALEX: How did Tomboyland begin? Did you know you were writing a collection? MELISSA: I worked on this book for ten years. I always knew it would be a collection; it started when I was in the graduate program at Sarah Lawrence College, where I was studying the essay and working with my writerly magnetic north, Jo Ann Beard. It wasnt really a book then, but a mashing together of very disparate essaysI knew it was at least in part a collection about the Midwest, but I didnt know much else. Two of the oldest pieces in the bookOf a Moth and an early version of The Finger of God, without any of the interviews or research, which was eventually published in Prairie Schoonerwere part of my thesis. Jo Ann helped me see a little more clearly what I was writing about back thenthe Midwest, girlhood, destruction, lossand helped me believe that I could actually do this. As I continued writing over the years, after graduate school, eking out writing time whenever I could, I slowly started to think more about gender, and these questions of it. I started to write into that too, and into questions of class, and identity, and all these questions about selfhood that I was very much grappling with at the time. I began to realize it was also about the ways those questions intersect with this idea of The Midwest, and what it means to be Midwesternabout how place can create and complicate our identity, what it means to be of a place and then to leave it. When I got an agent, the brilliant Adriann Ranta Zurhellen, she helped me understand that the book was really centered around gender, and everything else class, violence, the body, the land, guns, sex, isolation, tornadoes, mothswas all connected. ALEX: Youre working in the personal essay forma form that, of course, places the emphasis right away on the personal. What did it mean to you to have the book come out with an imprint whose focus is so explicitly political? How do you think about the relationship between the personal and the political in your work? MELISSA: I really chose to work with Topple because of its mission. For years, as I worked on this book, I never really thought of it as a queer book. Ive identified as queer for a long time now, but quietly; I think (and this is definitely some of my Midwesternness at play) I tried to keep my identity out of my writing. Which is ridiculous. Regardless of what form or genre you write, youre bringing yourself to ityour experiences and questions and fascinations and fears, the things that keep you up at night. And the personal, it turns out, is always political, whether you want it to be or not. After the 2016 election, I just felt something break open in me. I was furious, and scaredfor my friends and my community and myselfand I started grappling with questions Id never really taken a hard look at before: at the way I exist in the world, at how Im perceived because of how my body moves through space. Of being pretty far left and coming from gun people in the working-class Midwest. Of the relationship between gender, class, and violence. When Topple was introduced, I remember being really excited by its missionthat it was helmed by Joey Soloway, that it was specifically dedicated not just to queer voices, but that it put trans and nonbinary writers of color at the very top of that mission statement. My editor, Hafizah Geter, is a queer Black woman who grew up in the Midwest, and as soon as we had a conversation about the book, I knew I wanted to work with her. She just got it, in a way so many other editors didnt. I ended up being the first title on Topple, and theyve been super supportive, and have such a massive reach. In the end, I feel really lucky to have published with themnot just because this book has ended up in the hands of so many people it might have otherwise not, but because its an imprint whose mission is to literally disrupt the long tradition in this business of publishing books by mostly cis white people. To be a part of something from the ground up that says, Were going to do things differently. I hope more publishers (especially the big ones) start to follow suit. ALEX: The literary essay has its roots in the work of French writer and philosopher Michel de Montaigne; famously, the form comes from the French essai, often translated as to test or to try. Joseph Epstein has called personal narrative the genre of discovery, driven by movement toward something irresolvable or unknowable. And indeed, many of your essays seem to engage with a kind of grappling, the chasing of a central question or cluster of questions. Do you begin knowing that question, or how does discovery drive your work? MELISSA: That element of the attempt, and of mysterythat driving at something inherently irresolvable or unknowable, digging around in the darker corners of the self and the worldthats what excites me most about essays. All the best essays are fueled by the grappling itself; the author is working something out, trying to make sense of a questioneven when they know they wont find an answer. The grappling itself is the form. This is really what compels all of my work: theres a central question, though I dont always know what it is when Im starting an essay. I know that Im obsessed with somethingan event, an issue or idea, an interaction, a memoryand Im not sure why. So often I think Im writing toward the question of, Why am I obsessed with this? From what and why was this fascination born, and what connections does it have to other parts of my life or the world that Im not even aware of? Thats what Im always trying to do, I thinkask the question, or maybe just figure out what the question is. I never really seek an answerjust better questions. So much of Tomboyland is about learning to be more comfortablemaybe even at homein those spaces of uncertainty: of the body, of society, of the spirit. Of allowing myself to inhabit those dimly lit spaces and look around as closely as I can to see what I can find. For an essay to be successful, to me, it should feel like the reader is on that journey of discovery with me. I want to share all the revelations, the inconsistencies and incongruities, and I want my reader to feel like theyre a partner in exploration, making those discoveries right along with me. One of the most exciting things about the essay is that you can find so much truthabout yourself, about the worldwithout ever finding an answer. Thats the real art of the form, I think, and to me its magic. Regardless of what form or genre you write, youre bringing yourself to ityour experiences and questions and fascinations and fears, the things that keep you up at night. Melissa Faliveno ALEX: Another remarkable aspect of your work is how capacious the essays are. You make room for so much research, lyricism, even the voices of others. How do you go about assembling the scope or span of the essay? MELISSA: I sometimes consider this my curse as a writer; I cant seem to write any essay under 10,000 words. I never really know going into an essay what it will entailI just follow a strand of thought, get lost in research, make some connection thats really exciting to me, and then end up spiraling out. Then I have to reel it all back in somehow. For this book, I knew I didnt want it to be my stories aloneI wanted other peoples stories too, for this kind of chorus of voices to create a tapestry of thought, of questions and conversation and exploration. Another thing thats so exciting to me about the essay is that it can do so many things at onceit can do anything. So this marriage of personal essay, reportage, interview, researchthats always been the form that Ive been most interested in, from back to my days writing features for an alt weekly in Madison, Wisconsin. Basically, I just love sitting down with people and asking them about their lives, and their memories, and their struggles, and their obsessions, and then figuring out how those stories and understandings and experiences intersect or diverge from my own, and what we might learn from those connections. ALEX: By the time you wrote these essays, you had traversed two American extremes, moving from Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, population 2,000, to taking on the life of a magazine editor in Brooklyn. How did that traversal inform the essays? Does place inform what you think of as political? MELISSA: Absolutely. You know, I didnt realize it at the time, but that connectionbetween place and politics in my essaysdidnt really hit me until Id been gone from Wisconsin for a few years. When I moved to New York, and found myself at a small, private, liberal arts collegelight-years away from a life of public education in WisconsinI found myself feeling like such an outsider. I went to school with people whose parents had PhDs, and mine didnt even have college degrees. I went to literary parties and felt like such a yokel. I had spent a lot of time in my twenties longing to leave WisconsinI traveled abroad a lot and wanted to write about anything other than my home state. And then when I moved to New York, I started to feel very fiercely attached to that home. Especially after Trump was elected, and good liberals and East Coast journalists started talking about Midwesternersespecially working class Midwesterners like many of my family and friendslike they were all idiots, all gun-toting rednecks who voted against their interests. And I didnt always disagree, but this reductive generalizing of a whole swath of peopleit never sat well. So I wanted to interrogate the parts of the Midwestor my Midwest, anyway; the rural, working class, mostly white partin all its complexity; the parts I love and the parts I hate, the parts that seem contradictory, that confuse me. And to write from my vantage point as one who is from there but apart from there now, who is deeply dedicated to progressive politics but who loves, and is loved by, conservative people. I wanted to write into that complexity of place and politics with a critical but open eye. ALEX: What was it like to have a first book come out in such an unprecedented and complex year? MELISSA: Its certainly been interesting! Some of it was greatthe book got way more attention than I expected, and I was able to do more interviews and podcasts from my apartment in Brooklyn than I might have been able to do otherwise. What we're doing as writers is not just an art, or a job; its also a means of progress and change and hope. But some of it was so sad, too: what I wanted most of all when this book came out, what Ive always dreamed about, was to celebrate this ten-year process and lifelong goal with all my family and friends, here in New York and in Wisconsin and across the countrywith people who were so important to the creation of this book (and many of whom are in it). But with a virtual tour I think more people were able to show up, which was a gift. It was sometimes difficult to navigate where this book fit, or to see its purpose, during a time of great social upheaval and racial reckoning, but I received so many messages from queer people, from the Midwest and all over the country, who told me what it meant to them, that they felt seen for the first time, that they felt less alone so that was a useful reminder. But this year definitely made me more aware of the work I need to do to better interrogate whiteness and privilege, in myself and in the places I come from, and how I might address this in my writing more directly. ALEX: What role does creative writing have to play in political change, in imagining a new worldand maybe, as weve been discussing, a new awareness of, and engagement with, complexity and difficultyinto becoming? MELISSA: Creative writing has always played an important role in effecting political changein helping people learn and grow and better empathize with one another, and right now I think were seeing that so directly, in the literature about systemic racism and other social injustice in America. I feel like problems that many people have been made painfully aware of, and struggling against, for generations are finally working their way into the consciousness of more Americans, especially white Americans, and you can almost track that by the books being bought and read in our country right now. Its hopeful, to me, and helps me realize that writing can be such a powerfulsuch a criticaltool in political and social change, in helping people evolve as thinkers and humans, maybe even in changing minds; in helping people better understand experiences outside their own race or gender or sexual orientation or ability or socioeconomic status. I try to keep this in mind when I write and when I teachespecially when Im feeling cynical about the world: that what were doing as writers is not just an art, or a job; its also a means of progress and change and hope. Language, words, art, booksits all a tool of communication, of connection, of empathy, of protest. Of imagining a better world. It can also be a weapon, as the outgoing president and his supporters have proven time and again, with the ability to cause great harm, incite violence, drive us further apart. I think its our job as writers to strike back, to wield that weapon for good. ALEX: As a professor at the University of North CarolinaChapel Hill, a guest lecturer in classes like The Personal (Essay) Is Political, and formerly the senior editor of Poets & Writers, you spend a lot of time engaging with the work of younger writers. As you mentioned, you were a first-generation college student yourself. Why do you feel reaching college students with this form in particular is so important? MELISSA: When I went to college, at the University of Wisconsina public school, with in-state tuition, where I worked several jobs to help pay my way through and still racked up debt Im still paying offI never really believed that I could be a writer. I knew I wanted to write, but I didnt know how. When I took my first creative nonfiction workshop, it was a revelationI knew immediately that I wanted to write essays. That this wildly exciting combination of personal narrative, cultural reportage, politics, social issues, humor, drama, and interrogation, was what I wanted to do with my life. But I didnt believe I was the kind of person who could do it. Not as a job, anyway. A life of creative and scholarly work seemed another world away, something reserved for a different kind of person. And I guess, these days, when I work with young essayistsas well as aspiring essayists who arent young, who have lived whole lives and had whole careers and families before pursuing a dreamI want them to know its possible. That they can do this. And I want to help them look at the world as essayiststo explore it, to make discoveries, to seek the thrill and miracle in that. To read and observe the world and ask questions of itto practice this form, in all its weirdness and complexity, and get experimental. To find and explore the essential queerness in the essay as a form. Mostly, I want them to know that their voices, and experiences, and lives, and questions, and stories are important. That they can write those stories down, and people like me will read them. Alex Marzano-Lesnevich is an assistant professor of English and award-winning author of The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir. They have written for The New York Times, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, The Boston Globe, Oxford American, and Harpers. Keith Negley is an award-winning illustrator and instructor living in Bellingham, Washington. See more of his work at keithnegley.com. A top executive at a Los Angeles investment firm says he will donate his entire $145,000 winnings from his appearance on Wheel of Fortune to charity. Scott Kolbrenner, 50, took home a $100,000 grand prize in addition to the $45,000 he won during Thursdays airing of the popular game show taped in Culver City, California. The episode originally taped on November 5, and Kolbrenner said he and his wife were the only ones who knew of his grand prize winnings as well as his plans to give the money away to charity. During an appearance on ABCs Good Morning America on Friday, Kolbrenner said that he decided to donate all of his winnings in light of the economic hardships faced by many during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its been a dark time and when I went on the show I was doing it for the fun of it, Kolbrenner told GMA. As I went on [the show], I said to my wife, If I do okay here, anything that I get, lets give it charity. Were very fortunate. Lets see if we can support some others who arent as fortunate as we are. Scott Kolbrenner, 50, took home a $100,000 grand prize in addition to the $45,000 he won during Thursdays airing of Wheel of Fortune, the popular game show in Culver City, California Kolbrenner is seen above reacting to his grand prize winnings. The episode, which was taped on November 5, aired on Thursday During an appearance on Friday's Good Morning America, Kolbrenner said: As I went on [the show], I said to my wife, If I do okay here, anything that I get, lets give it charity. Were very fortunate. Lets see if we can support some others who arent as fortunate as we are Kolbrenner said that, save for his wife, he did not tell his friends and family, including his two children, what had taken place after taping concluded on Thursday afternoon. My kids didnt know, my parents, friends, family didnt know so it was complete and utter shock for everyone in our lives and they were elated about it. Kolbrenner, a managing director at the investment firm Houlihan Lokey, said that one of the charities that would receive part of his winnings is the Uplift Family Services based in the heart of Hollywood. The organization, where Kolbrenner has served on the board for two decades, provides behavioral health services to needy families. Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak reveals during Thursday's episode that Kolbrenner won an additional $100,000 grand prize 'Ive been involved with them for 20 years and they do such great work,' Kolbrenner told GMA. 'People think of Hollywood as glitz and glamour, but theres plenty of people you dont see in the bright lights every day. 'What I was hoping to do is shine a light on them.' The other organization that Kolbrenner plans to aid is the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. 'Obviously, their needs have expanded greatly during this time,' Kolbrenner said. 'We've just been thrilled to be able to help these two organizations.' Though he lives in Los Angeles, Kolbrenner is a native of Hewlett, a small hamlet on the south shore of Long Island. He is married to his wife, Caryn, an elementary school nurse, with whom he has two children - teenage son Owen and daughter Abby, 20. Kolbrenner said he went to audition for Wheel of Fortune after he began watching the show routinely as a distraction from the grim news of the pandemic. Its been a dark time and when I went on the show I was doing it for the fun of it, Kolbrenner said. Confetti is seen above as Kolbrenner solves the final puzzle during Thursday's episode What's more comfort-food than turning on Wheel of Fortune and seeing Pat [Sajak] and Vanna [White], whom I'd grown up watching, he told Newsday. As we got into the summer, I was watching it every night and I would yell out the answers like everybody does when they watch. After Caryn encouraged him to audition, Kolbrenner said that he was called back. I sent in a quick video and a one-page application. I got a call back right away for a Zoom interview (which included a mock show with other potential contestants) which was really fun to do, he says. I thought I had blown it because I didn't win a lot of the puzzles, but then a couple of days later I got an email that said, Your taping day is November 5th. We look forward to seeing you. I couldn't believe it! Kolbrenner graduated from George W. Hewlett High School in 1988. He then went on to earn his undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado Boulder before continuing on to Harvard Law School. Oslo, March 19 : Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg is being investigated for a possible breach of coronavirus restrictions, police said on Friday. Solberg last month celebrated her 60th birthday at the southern ski resort of Geilo with members of her extended family, dpa news agency reported. On two occasions there were more than 10 people gathered, violating the cap on public gatherings. The Prime Minister told public broadcaster NRK on Thursday that she "should have been better aware of the rules". The statement and media reports were grounds for the police to begin a probe, the police district said in an emailed statement to dpa news agency. The probe was to clarify if local or national restrictions were breached, and would subsequently be assessed by a prosecutor, the statement read. According to NRK, more than 10 members of Solberg's family had dinner together on two occasions. Once at a local restaurant, when Solberg did not attend. Solberg however, was present at a second gathering in a rented apartment where the 14 people dined, the report said. After questions from NRK, Solberg said she realised the gatherings constituted events covered by the restrictions. National rules in February capped private gatherings at a restaurant to at most 10 people. The country of 5.3 million has reported 84,553 coronavirus cases and 643 deaths since the pandemic began. Cedric Richmond and other senior White House officials reached out to Asian American lawmakers soon after Tuesday night's mass shooting in Georgia, including calling Rep. Grace Meng before 7 a.m. Wednesday. Why it matters: The Asian American and Pacific Islander community has been targeted since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, stoked by rhetoric from former President Trump. The outreach underscored the new administration's increased sensitivity to its concerns. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free "We've had a couple of conversations going back and forth on what can be done," Meng (D-N.Y.) told Axios. Meng wouldn't reveal who gave her the early morning call, but "they really detected, really early ... that the community was hurting." Other people with knowledge of the calls confirmed Richmond was among those making them. Meng, first vice chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said she received another call from Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee. Driving the news: The White House announced Thursday that President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were restructuring their planned visit to Atlanta on Friday. As Axios' Margaret Talev reported, the two scrapped an event celebrating the COVID-19 stimulus and instead will meet with AAPI leaders. The White House also lowered flags in memory of the eight killed, which included six Asian women. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) told Axios he planned to connect with the president to discuss the shootings. Flashback: Biden mentioned the growing assaults on Asian Americans during an address last week, labeling them "vicious hate crimes." "At this very moment, so many of them our fellow Americans theyre on the frontlines 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," he said. This month, Richmond and Domestic Policy Council director Susan Rice held a listening session with members of the AAPI community. It was specifically focused on the increasing rate of hate crimes against Asian American communities, according to a White House aide. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. The lawyer for Sam Burgess says his client has finally been vindicated after the ex-NRL star was acquitted on appeal of intimidating his former father-in-law. Mr Burgess was last month found guilty of intimidation following an argument with Mitchell Hooke, ex-wife Phoebe Burgess father, at his property near Bowral in October 2019. Mr Burgess successfully appealed the conviction on Friday at Goulburn District Court. Last month, Burgess was found guilty of intimidating Mr Hooke during an argument at his former father-in-laws property in the Southern Highlands. Credit:Rhett Wyman He is relieved, Mr Burgess lawyer Bryan Wrench said outside of court. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. If President Abraham Lincoln built your company in 1862, simply maintaining the status quo isnt acceptable. You want to exceed expectations. When you take charge of a college with one of the lowest graduation rates in the country, its hard to look past simply achieving marginal improvements toward the future. But Lance Fritz and Michael Crow, leaders of two such organizations, are driven by the goal of achieving transformative innovation at their workplaces, and the knowledge that doing so isnt easy. Advertisement On March 8, Fritz, the chairman, CEO, and president of Union Pacific Railroad, joined Crow, president of Arizona State University, and New America CEO Anne-Marie Slaughter for a Future Tense conversation on the challenge of innovating at large, complex organizations that have been around for a while. (Future Tense is a partnership of New America, Slate, and Arizona State University, and I work for ASU.) As Slaughter mentioned in introducing the conversation, we tend to think of Silicon Valley and specialized tech firms when we talk of disruptive innovation. But the fact is our economy and democracy rely on plenty of vital institutions born in the 19th century, like transcontinental railroads and public research universities, and we need them to adapt to changing times. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fritz, who joined Union Pacific Railroad more than 20 years ago, inherited a massively complex organization with a behemoth physical infrastructure when he became president and CEO in 2015. We were a very insular company, he said. A lot of our thinking started inside the railroad and looked outward. That insular company had a very storied historyit was created when Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act in 1862. Over the past 150 years, the company had grown to operate over 56,000 freight cars along 32,200 route miles. But you cant stop a moving train, and you cant simply shut down the freight rail industry for several months and reassess how to design a better company model. Fritz had to examine how to affect change while still managing a company of 50,000 employees and millions of moving freight cars. Advertisement Instead of relying on how things had always been done, Union Pacific decided to blow that model up, Fritz said. Rather than gathering two dozen decision makers in a headquarters building to make changes, he and his team started bringing in hundreds of on-the-ground employees to reinvent the zeitgeist of the rail industry for the 21st century. Instead of simply achieving their tasks at hand, they looked at how they could streamline their logistics and push their decision making so it was coming from the true subject matter experts. Advertisement The innovation process is difficult, Fritz conceded. I dont think anyone runs to change, he said. Its a rare human that runs to put more energy in and runs to the challenge. Advertisement Michael Crow blew up Arizona State University in a different way. He entered the school in 2002 under an operational model that he knew had already failed. Instead of trying to course-correct, he redesigned the universitys purpose. The model that they had worked with for 42 years was the classic public bureaucracy model, very much buying into the sociology of the day, Crow said. The old model was completely inadequate to the assignment. He set out to build an institution that operated as a social enterprise, rather than an antiquated bureaucracy. He and his team cut 85 departments and created 40 new ones. They doubled the universitys attendance between 2002 and 2018, admitting students that reflected a student body of equal potential as those who come out of smaller universities. ASU shifted its focus from being faculty-centric to student and community-centric. Advertisement But changing a university, or the freight rail industry, or a think tank, involves changing the minds and motivations of its employees as much as it does the financial model, all three agreed. How, Slaughter wondered, did each convince their respective employees that innovation was worth upending the status quo? Advertisement For the railroad, it was the promise of their initial design when America was being built. I very simply harnessed our desire to be the best, Fritz said. If Abraham Lincoln is the creator of your company, meh doesnt really cut it. Reconfiguring a university means reexamining that universitys purpose. The key, Crow said, is culture change driven by design empowerment, with measurements of success that are understandable to the entire organization. You move away from being faculty-centric to student-centric, he said. You operate under a philosophical driver that questions what would a peoples university look like, in the democracy called the United States of America, which was accessible and committed to the success of our economic democracy? Advertisement An institution that has existed for a long time or lived entrenched in the same model faces other implicit barriers to change besides finding a different motivation or philosophy, Slaughter pointed out. How, she wondered, did both overcome some of the most inculcated resistances in their industries? By overwhelming them with data demonstrating the success of their model, Crow said. Fritz agreed. We have touchstones that we go back constantly to verify that were doing what we said were going to do, he said. We build Americawe connect 7,300 communities. How we do it matters as much as what we do. Ultimately, innovation begins with a willingness to embrace discomfort and live with one foot in the future. Perhaps the biggest barrier, Crow said, is to get people to realize that the only people responsible for our fates is us. Watch the full event here. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenya has recorded 28 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, the highest ever single-day coronavirus-related deaths, which health authorities blamed on the death of elderly people infected mostly within communities President Biden Announces his Intent to Nominate Bill Nelson for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, White House "Most every piece of space and science law has had his imprint, including passing the landmark NASA bill of 2010 along with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson. That law set NASA on its present dual course of both government and commercial missions. In 1986 he flew on the 24th flight of the Space Shuttle. The mission on Columbia, orbited the earth 98 times during six days. Nelson conducted 12 medical experiments including the first American stress test in space and a cancer research experiment sponsored by university researchers. In the Senate he was known as the go-to senator for our nation's space program. He now serves on the NASA Advisory Council." Keith's note: Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine today released the following statement after the Biden administration nominated Senator Bill Nelson to lead NASA. "Bill Nelson is an excellent pick for NASA Administrator. He has the political clout to work with President Biden's Office of Management and Budget, National Security Council, Office of Science and Technology Policy, and bipartisan Members of the House and Senate. He has the diplomatic skills to lead an international coalition sustainably to the Moon and on to Mars. Bill Nelson will have the influence to deliver strong budgets for NASA and, when necessary, he will be able to enlist the help of his friend, President Joe Biden. The Senate should confirm Bill Nelson without delay." How ironic. Nelson used every nasty tool he had to try to thwart Bridenstine's nomination. When Jim finally got in what did he do? He put Bill Nelson - who had been defeated in a re-election bid - on the NASA Advisory Council. There are so few class acts in politics and government today. Jim Bridenstine is one of them. Bill Nelson is not. Let's hope that Nelson is able to rise above his past and become non-partisan and non-parochial and that he runs NASA for the American people and not just for Florida or one big rocket. - Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine Comments on Bill Nelson's Nomination - Chairwoman Johnson and Subcommittee Chairman Beyer Applaud Nomination of Senator Bill Nelson for NASA Administrator - CSF statement on the nomination of Senator Bill Nelson (Ret.) for NASA Administrator - The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration Congratulates the NASA Space Launch System Team as U.S. Prepares to Return to the Moon - 2021 Bill Nelson Wants To Be NASA Administrator - 2017 Bill Nelson Says He's Not Qualified, earlier post - Sen. Nelson's Effort To Undermine NASA by blocking Bridenstine, earlier post (2018) - Bill Nelson Continues To Block NASA Administrator Nominees, earlier post (2009) Kottmann, whose most recent victim is Verkada, a cloud-based surveillance firm, has been charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identify theft. If found guilty, he could get jail time, since wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.The 21-year-old hacker linked with a group called Arson Cats, often referred to as APT as well, has allegedly breached into the networks of Nissan , Intel, and several other corporate and government victims in various countries, as per the U.S. Department of Justice.In some cases, he leaked the stolen data to the web and even claimed credit for the breaches.While Nissan hasnt offered any new statement on the hack, Kottmanns most recent target is Verkada. This company offers cloud-based surveillance services to thousands of organizations, including hospitals, jails, schools, and Teslas production factories.The hacker himself confirmed the breach, which was based on exposed credentials to Verkadas camera feeds, as Kottmann took to Twitter to publish images showing what he claimed to be a Tesla warehouse in Shanghai.Ever wondered what a Tesla warehouse looked like? he tweeted before his account was suspended.The U.S. DOJ claims Kottmann specifically shared all this information to recruit others, grow the scheme, and further promote the hacking activity and [his] own reputation in the hacking community.The Department of Justice, which has also published a list of the hackers most recent high-profile target (also included in the press release embedded below), says the FBI worked with authorities in Switzerland to execute search warrants on March 12.Since 2019, Kottman and coconspirators have hacked dozens of companies and government entities and posted the private victim data of more than 100 entities on the web, the press statement says.The hacker, who is still believed to be in Lucerne, hasnt yet commented on the charges. A new show about transforming trash into treasure will soon premiere on 10Play. And on Friday, The Project's Susie Yousseff and comedian Harley Breen were announced as the hosts of 'Making It Australia'. 'A bit of excellent news for your Friday morning,' Susie captioned a picture of her and Harley holding tools to Instagram. Big news! Channel 10 announced on Friday The Project's Susie Yousseff (right) and comedian Harley Breen (left) would host a new show transforming trash into treasure - premiering later this year 'I get to hang out with old mate @harley.breen and make/watch craft by some of the most brilliant makers in the country!' Meanwhile, Harley added he had been 'sitting on this news for 8 million years' and was 'absolutely pumped' about his new role. 'Originally created by comedy royalty, @nickofferman and #amyPoehler for the US, it's a genuine honour to be the face of the brand new Australian version...' he wrote on Instagram. 'Other than my family and comedy, what I live for is being in a shed - making things. Anything at all will do. Now my worlds are all colliding into one excellent project of comedy and tools and craft and rad!!' 'A bit of excellent news for your Friday morning,' Susie captioned a picture she uploaded of her and Harley holding tools to Instagram. 'I get to hang out with old mate @harley.breen and make/watch craft by some of the most brilliant makers in the country!' Speaking to Mediaweek, Harley said his new role was perfect as he regularly crafted with his three children. 'In addition to craft time with my kids, for as long as I've been able to, I've wanted to be in my shed making things that could otherwise be purchased but not appreciated,' he explained. 'I'm thrilled to be given the opportunity to host a show of this magnitude alongside my very talented friend Susie Youssef, and truly love the idea and subject matter.' 'What I live for is being in a shed - making things': Harley added he had been 'sitting on this news for 8 million years' and was 'absolutely pumped' about his new role. He said the position was perfect as he regularly crafted with his three children The series is based on Making It - the American version of the show - which is co-hosted by Parks and Rec's Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman. The program is going into its third season in the United States - premiering in June. The announcement of the new show and its hosts comes after Channel 10 revealed they were shaking up their programming schedule in February by dumping four major shows from its 2021 line-up. Gone! The announcement of the new show and its hosts comes after Channel 10 revealed they were shaking up their programming schedule in February by dumping four major shows from its 2021 line-up - including AFL-themed drama series Playing for Keeps (pictured) - from its 2021 line-up AFL-themed drama series Playing for Keeps and reality shows Trial by Kyle, Celebrity Name Game and One Born Every Minute Australia were axed, TV Tonight reported at the time. Mystery drama My Life is Murder, however, returned to the network, but production moved to New Zealand. 'We will still broadcast My Life is Murder. I don't think it will be this year but if it is, it wouldn't be much before the end of this year,' Channel 10's Head of Programming, Daniel Monaghan, said. SUV EV The German automaker has become famous for its commitment to boxer engines , the 911 moniker, and high prices. Of course, every now and then, surprises did arise, such as that time in 2002 when Porsche presented its first-evermodel, the now ubiquitous Cayenne.Because Tesla shouldnt be left alone to enjoy the premium high-performancesector, Porsche eventually came up with the Porsche Mission E concept car (at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show). The latter materialized in the spectacular Taycan not long ago, and the company again made the automotive history book with its first-ever fully electric car.The sedan has been updated regularly, both with new versions and body styles, such as the recently-unveiled Taycan Cross Turismo. Yes, its that slightly crossover-esque five-door shooting brake that Porsche touts as being its first model that will be CO2-neutral throughout its use phase.Because its sibling has already proven to be very successful, we expect the Taycan Cross Turismo to also enjoy a fruitful career for years to come. Of course, that doesnt mean the next step for the series is to make it a Tesla Cybertruck rival, though.Still, that crossed the imaginative mind of the virtual artist behind the superrenderscars user on Instagram, so heres the possible (but highly unlikely) pickup truck version. As far as we can tell from this quick render, the Taycan Cross Turismo's front end has been kept unchanged, the modifications starting from the ceiling and B-pillar areas.The latter then becomes the starting point for a rather small truck bed. Come to think about it that would make it a possible competitor for the little Alpha ACE Wolf , rather than something like the hulking 2022 GMC Hummer EV. As far as the power levels would be concerned, though, this virtual EV truck should certainly bring all the 751-hp grunt of the Turbo S version to the party. From time to time, whether motivated by politics or articulating a misinformed position, commentators will seek to claim Trinidad and Tobago is a failing state. I take serious umbrage to that because when one understands what a failing state or economy looks like, it is clear we are very far from that. In fact, by independent measures, we are closer to the opposite side of that spectrum. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says her health department is in discussions with its federal counterpart on playing a larger role in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The state recorded zero new local COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday, as well as five cases in travellers in hotel quarantine. No new cases were on Friday identified in connection with a Sydney hotel security guard last weekend confirmed as virus-positive. His case is genomically linked to two returned travellers. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says her health department is in discussions with its federal counterpart on playing a larger role in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout The guard's close and household contacts have all tested negative so far. Ms Berejiklian on Thursday lamented the problems facing Australia's COVID-19 vaccine rollout, saying it may prove too slow. Almost 400,000 Australians have visited a website to check their eligibility for the AstraZeneca vaccine but thousands were unable to access the site and GPs have been inundated with patients trying to book jabs. NSW Health has already vaccinated almost 45,000 people. Ms Berejiklian on Friday told reporters NSW Health was in contact with the federal government regarding a larger role in the vaccination program. The federal government is meant to take full control of the vaccination effort after phase 1b concludes but Ms Berejiklian wanted NSW to stay involved. Health care workers leave the vaccination hub at Westmead Hospital, Sydney on March 1 The premier said this would help relieve pressure on the GP network. 'I've said from the outset that if we are serious about vaccinating six million people in NSW by the end of October, we need all hands on deck,' she said. 'At the moment (vaccine) supply is at a manageable rate but we'll come to a point when the local vaccine is produced, we'll have lots of doses and the challenge for us will be to get it out in an efficient and quick way.' Phase 1b of the vaccination rollout begins on Monday and includes people aged over 70, Indigenous Australians over 55, younger adults with a medical condition or disability and workers deemed at critical or high risk. The phase incorporates more than six million Australians. It comes after Australian officials on Friday welcomed the European medical regulator's decision to give the AstraZeneca vaccine the green light. A review by European Medicines Agency detected no link between the jab and an increased risk of blood clots. A Laredo police captain has been placed on administrative reassignment in relation to the incident involving Webb County District Attorney Isidro R. Chilo Alaniz, the City of Laredo announced late Thursday. The City of Laredo is deeply concerned with the social media posts involving inappropriate actions allegedly taken by a police captain as it relates to the incident report involving District Attorney Isidro Alaniz at Golds Gym, the statement reads. Capt. Gilbert Villarreal will be placed on administrative reassignment effective Friday. LPD Chief Claudio Trevino Jr. has referred the matter to the FBI and the Texas Rangers. In addition, a department review of the policies and procedures applied in this investigation will also follow to include an independent review. I take these allegations very seriously and will follow through with an independent review and an investigation. sayid City Manager Robert Eads in a statement. On March 10, a 24-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman filed an incident report involving Alaniz for documentation purposes. The incident occurred at the Golds Gym on 2446 San Isidro Parkway. A video first posted by citizen journalist Priscilla "La Gordiloca" Villarreal showed the 24-year-old man shoving Alaniz and escorting him outside the gym. He had accused Alaniz of improperly recording his girlfriend. On Wednesday night, Villarreal aired an interview with the 24-year-old man. He stated he felt coerced into signing an agreement to stay quiet about the incident, as per the video. Alaniz has released a statement regarding the incident. Because there is an ongoing investigation, I cannot comment on the investigation itself. However, I want to state in the strongest terms that I deny any wrongdoing. I will continue to cooperate with the appropriate law enforcement agencies. Updates will be provided as they are received, Alaniz said in a statement. William Luther /Staff Grab your sunglasses to enjoy the outdoors this weekend! After a dusty and warm couple of days San Antonians can expect more spring like weather this weekend. Friday (High 70 and Low 44): Due to dry weather conditions San Antonio can expect chilly mornings over the next couple of days. Friday San Antonians will be waking up to temperatures in the mid 40s and possibly the 30s in the Hill Country. However, by the afternoon high temperatures will only be in the low 70s. Windy conditions could occur with gust up to 20 mph but die down by the evening. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. (SII) has said it will try to supply more doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to the United Kingdom later, based on thecurrent situation and requirement for the government immunisation programme in India. The UK's National Health Service has warned of a significant reduction in weekly supplies of vaccines to protect against COVID-19 by the end of this month. When contacted, a spokesperson for SII said, "Five million doses had been delivered a few weeks ago to the UK and we will try tosupply more later, based on the current situation and requirement for the government immunisation programme in India". Last month, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla had urged other countries to be patient as they wait for the supplies of COVID-19 vaccine, Covishield, as the company has been directed to prioritise the needs of India. Apart from making efforts to meet the requirements of India, the vaccine major is also trying its best to balance the needs of the rest of the world, he had said. "Dear countries and governments, as you await #COVISHIELD supplies, I humbly request you to please be patient, @SerumInstIndia has been directed to prioritise the huge needs of India and along with that balance the needs of the rest of the world. We are trying our best", Poonawalla had said in a tweet. 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 Cassation Administrative Court within the Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit of Kharkiv's lawyer, a member of Chuhuev human rights group Roman Likhachev on appealing the decree of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, which put into effect the decisions of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) on the application of sanctions against three television channels. "When considering the proceeding, the court checked whether the loss of access to information programs broadcast by these television channels was a violation of the plaintiff's rights guaranteed by Articles 8 and 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The court made a decision, which refused to sustain the lawsuits of the citizen," the Supreme Court's press service said on Facebook. The full text of the ruling will be prepared within five working days. The ruling can be appealed to the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court within 30 days from the date of its full text. In addition to the lawsuit considered by the court, ten more claims are still pending before the Cassation Administrative Court within the Supreme Court, in which the president's decree on the application of sanctions against television channels is appealed. Thus, on March 18, proceedings were initiated on the claim of Partner TV LLC, in which they ask to declare unlawful and invalid the sixth clause of the second appendix to the presidential decree, which imposes sanctions on the plaintiff. At a meeting on March 29, the court will consider the claim of Leader TV LLC, in respect of which the sixth clause of the second appendix to the decree is also imposed sanctions. On the same day, March 29, a similar lawsuit by Novyny 24 Hodyny (24 Hours News) and an individual's claim against the decree will be considered. Claims of Novy Format TV LLC, TV Vybir (TV Choice) LLC, Ariadna TV LLC, TV and Radio Broadcasting Company 112 TV LLC and TV and Radio Broadcasting Company Novi Komunikatsii (New Communications) LLC were assigned for consideration. In addition, the court will consider the claim of MP Taras Kozak for recognition as illegal and canceling the decree in part (Appendix 1 to the NSDC decision, which imposes personal sanctions against him). Mar. 19The No. 3 Missouri Southern baseball team returns to Warren Turner Field this weekend for an MIAA series against Central Oklahoma. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday for game one of a doubleheader. The Lions (13-2, 7-2 MIAA) sit a game out of first place behind Central Missouri in the MIAA standings and are ranked third in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Division II poll and 10th in the coaches poll. Southern took two-of-three games last weekend at Missouri Western. The Lions lead the MIAA in doubles, home runs, shutouts, earned run average, strikeout to walk ratio, strikeouts per nine innings and WHIP (walks plus hits per inning). Southern ranks seventh nationally in shutouts, eighth in ERA, ninth in both strikeout to walk ratio and home runs and 10th in doubles and walks allowed per nine innings. Not only that, the Lions' pitching staff ranks 12th in WHIP and 19th in strikeouts per nine innings. Southern's school strikeout king Will Bausinger leads the MIAA in complete games while ranking second in strikeouts (41). Zach Parish, the MIAA record holder in strikeouts, paces the league in punchouts (44) while Zac Shoemaker is third (35). The three pitchers also lead the league in starts, Parish is second in ERA and Cole Woods is first in saves (3). Parish leads Division II in wins and ranks fourth in strikeouts. Bausinger and Shoemaker rank eighth and 16th, respectively, in strikeouts. Troy Gagan leads the MIAA in home runs and total bases, and he's 12th and 20th nationally in those two categories. Tommy Stevenson is second in the MIAA in doubles. Jordan Fitzpatrick (.321) and Henry Kusiak (.302) are both hitting over .300 while Kusiak has 10 RBIs and Dexter Swims has driven in 11. The Lions are hitting .264 as a team this season. The Bronchos (7-4, 4-2 MIAA) come into the series after a midweek win at home over Oklahoma Christian. UCO took two-of-three from both Fort Hays State and Emporia State this year in MIAA play. Ryan Harrell leads the offensive attack for UCO with a .400 batting clip, while Kyle Crowl has a team-high three home runs and Garrett Takamatsu has 12 RBI. Braydon Nelson has a 3-0 record out of the bullpen this year, while Luke Anderson has a team-high 24 strikeouts. MEXICO CITY Gunmen on Thursday ambushed a Mexican government convoy conducting a security patrol southwest of the capital, killing 13 prosecutors and police officers in what appeared to be the deadliest assault on Mexican law enforcement in well over a year, officials said. The attack was a major setback to government security forces and yet another reminder of the severe security challenges facing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The president took office in 2018 promising to make Mexico a safer place, but he has been unable to put a meaningful dent in the violence that has long bloodied the country. Rodrigo Martinez Celis Wogau, security minister for the State of Mexico, called the ambush an affront to the Mexican state and promised to respond with total force. The convoy on Thursday was patrolling in Coatepec Harinas, about 40 miles southwest of Mexico City, the capital, to combat criminal groups who operate in that zone, Mr. Martinez added in a video statement posted on Twitter. Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Sunny, along with a few afternoon clouds. High 86F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 61F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. My leadership style may not always be appreciated by all, however, I endeavor to foster a "round table" approach respecting each persons input and skillsets, and there is a long list of achievements we have made as a city since my joining the council and becoming mayor. Through an inclusive, respectful, and collaborative process, together we have achieved much for our city, despite the many emergencies of the past few years. In that regard, our council team has worked well and accomplished much. I hope that each council member knows my door is open anytime they want to reach out to work collaboratively or discuss issues in a manner appropriate to the Brown Act, including potential criticism of me in the appropriate setting as I always endeavor to improve communication and performance. If someone wants to suggest there is a problem because I reserve the right to free speech or the right to vote how my conscience or as my logic dictates then we have a deeper problem regarding the democratic process. While we may be considered a "team," we swore individual oaths of office and each have a separate duty to faithfully serve our community in the way our own judgment and moral compass compels us. For nearly a year Erez Yalon, a disabled Israeli, has dedicated his life to protesting outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home almost round the clock to demand his departure from office. The highlight has been on Saturdays, when he is joined by thousands of others united in their opposition to Netanyahu, who they accuse of corruption. First launched in June last year, the vocal and colourful demonstrations have gained momentum over the past 38 weeks, with one big rally due to be held ahead of the March 23 elections. Read more: Benjamin Netanyahu: Master politician fighting for survival Netanyahu, in power for a record 12 consecutive years, is hoping to remain in office following Israel's fourth election in less than two years. "I believe we are going to win big-time because people are tired of this corrupt man (Netanyahu)," Yalon told AFP. He also voiced his "disappointment" with supporters of the premier, who affectionately call him Bibi "the king". "You (still) have people shouting, 'Bibi is a king, Bibi is a king', they pray for him, they look at him like he is God and they believe everything he says." When the protests first erupted, Yalon, who suffers from severe visual impairment due to a degenerative eye disease, rallied almost alone in his village of Pri Gan in southern Israel near the Gaza Strip. But then the burly father of three, who lives on disability benefits after losing his job, decided to join the growing anti-Netanyahu movement in Jerusalem. But unlike Saturday night demonstrators, who shout "Yalla lekh Bibi" (Hebrew for "Go away Bibi") and then pack up and go home after the weekly rally, Yalon stays put. He spends most of the week in Jerusalem, camped by day outside Netanyahu's official residence holding up anti-Bibi banners and by night guarding a tent pitched by protesters outside the premier's home. Read more: Netanyahu shelves UAE trip following spat with Jordan When he feels tired, he takes a snooze in a flat used as a headquarters by diehard anti-Netanyahu demonstrators. Sometimes he goes home to spend a few hours with his wife, Limor, in their village, which is dotted with lush green fields and clementine groves. Limor supports her husband's protest activity, saying it "is very important for him", and drives him to a meeting point 40 kilometres (25 miles) so that he can catch a ride back to Jerusalem. Some Netanyahu detractors rail against the premier's management of the coronavirus pandemic and say protracted lockdowns imposed by the government battered the economy and contributed to job losses. Others accuse the prime minister of graft. Netanyahu was the first Israeli premier to be indicted in office for corruption when he was formally charged last year in three cases over claims he accepted improper gifts and sought to trade regulatory favour with media moguls in exchange for positive coverage. "Netanyahu should be in court, not in the prime minister's office," said Yalon, stressing the premier is guilty of "corruption" first and foremost. "Corruption is number one." The combative PM denies wrongdoing and claims he is the victim of a witch-hunt, but he would be forced to resign if convicted with all appeals exhausted. Some protesters also would like to see Netanyahu tried on allegations that some of his associates were involved in the country's purchase of German submarines. Every week, a mock submarine is displayed outside Netanyahu's residence. Recently it has been decorated with signs saying: "Yalla Laqalpi" (Hebrew for "Go vote"). Recent polls show that Netanyahu, 71, a master political survivor, may struggle this time to clinch a necessary 61-seat majority in parliament to keep the premiership. Analysts say the electorate is divided between the right, represented by Netanhayu, and centrist and leftist parties opposed to him, and that protests have played a role in the political landscape. "The protests helped maintain a momentum because it made people realise there is a movement... there is a vocal and committed segment of society that wants change," said political analyst Dahlia Scheindlin. "Reminding the voters of that has had some impact but it is hard to quantify it," she added. During the last three elections, Yalon voted for centrist leader Benny Gantz. But after the ex-military chief struck an alliance with Netanyahu to form a coalition, Yalon said he felt betrayed. "We have lots of things to repair," he said. "I know who I am going to vote for. It was hard to decide but I am going to vote for Merav Michaeli. She is an honest woman," he said of the new leader of the Labor Party. Until then, Yalon is preparing for Saturday's pre-election rally, the 39th anti-Bibi protest since last June. Please note The Sun Chronicle is providing this story and all of our local coronavirus coverage for free so that all readers have access to this important information about the pandemic. Please visit our dedicated coronavirus coverage page for more stories. If you'd like to support our mission, please subscribe. MORELAND HILLS, Ohio Animal bites: SOM Center Road A DoorDash driver reported March 8 that she had been bitten by one of two German shepherds while delivering food around 1:30 p.m. to a home on Route 91 near Hiram Trail. The DeKalb, Ill., woman called police after she had left the area, saying that she had two bites: one on her left arm, just above the elbow where the dog had punctured the skin, and the other on her leg, where the bite had only ripped her pants. She did not go to the hospital, but took pictures of the bites, which were starting to swell and bruise. She believed the residents had a camera by their front door, adding that the owner denied it when she told her she had been bitten. Alarm drop, suspicion: Wychwood Drive, Cotswold Lane A caller reported seeing people with flashlights running around in a house as he was walking past with his dog around 9:40 p.m. on March 9. Dispatchers determined these were police officers responding to an alarm drop at the home in question. Assist other department: Ellendale Road Police attempted to serve a village Building Department summons to a residence at least twice on the afternoon of March 11, with no one home either time. Open burning: Meadowhill Lane Responding to a complaint around 4:15 p.m. on March 13, police advised a resident about the villages open burn ban, noting that a smoker was also in use cooking food at the time. Suspicion: Hunting Trail A homeowner reported seeking someone via Ring security camera who was on their property around 11 a.m. on March 10. Police found a property surveyor on site. Identity theft: Cotswold Lane Police received an unspecified report of I.D. theft from a resident on the morning of March 8. Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun. Sharon Osbourne's future at "The Talk" remains uncertain, as the show's suspension was extended for another week on Tuesday. But with the huge salary she's reportedly receiving from the show, can she just afford to leave? Sharon Osbourne Net Worth 2021 Sharon, one of The Talk's original panelists, is by far the host who makes the most money, and it's all due to her hard work. Sharon Osbourne's net worth is estimated at $220 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. She not only handled her husband, Ozzy Osbourne's, career, but she also collaborated with a variety of musicians, including Electric Light Orchestra, Smashing Pumpkins, and others. Sharon is also the founder of Ozzfest, America's first heavy rock touring festival. Osbourne was named the 25th richest woman in Britain on the 2009 Sunday Times Rich List, thanks to the popularity of The Osbournes and The X Factor and hosting her own talk shows, and winning sponsorship contracts. Osbourne and her husband were ranked 724th richest people in Britain in 2008, with a combined fortune of 110 million ($153 million). READ ALSO: 'The Talk' Canceled: Will the Show Survive Without Sharon Osbourne? Sharon is also the mind behind the popular reality show The Osbournes, has been a judge on The X-Factor and America's Got Talent, and is even a best-selling author. Sharon Osbourne Salary: How Much Money She Makes As with her salary, there is actually no document to verify how much money she makes hosting "The Talk." Celebworth makes a rough estimate of about $3 million monthly or $35 million annually. Celebrity Net Worth estimates it at a higher $5 million. Sharon was reportedly receiving almost $12 million for her appearance in her family's iconic reality show, The Osbournes, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Her second talk show, The Sharon Osbourne Show, was granted a $2 million deal in 2006. Sharon was paid 1.7 million to judge The X Factor in the United Kingdom, according to the Daily Star in 2017. ALSO READ: 'The Talk' Cancelation Extends as Sharon Osbourne - Ali Drama Gets More Intense See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Nay Pyi Taw, March 19 : The main spokesperson for Myanmar's former de factor leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy (NLD) has been detained, a party member said on Friday. The spokesperson, Kyi Toe, and at least one other party member are now in custody, dpa news agency quoted party member Phyo Zayar Thaw as saying. Kyi Toe has been the NLD member most often in contact with the media since the February 1 coup and the most responsible for sharing the party's comments in recent weeks. The other detainee is reportedly a youth member of the NLD. Friday's development came a day after new allegations were levelled against Suu Kyi. In a TV broadcast, U Maung Weik, a business owner, was seen explaining how he handed over envelopes full of cash to Suu Kyi or her associates starting in 2017. In all, Weik said he had handed over a total of $550,000 during four separate incidents. A news reader said the businessman has been found guilty of bribery and that the country's anti-corruption commission is investigating. After Suu Kyi was dislodged by the February 1 coup, the military has piled on charges against her, from illegally importing walkie-talkies to sowing disorder by inducing others to commit offences against the state to mishandling the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic. The coup was staged as the military alleged massive voting fraud in the 2020 general elections, which NLD win a majority of seats in both houses of parliament. In response to the coup, Myanmar has witnessed continued protests demanding the release of the former de facto leader and other senior officials, as well as restoring the democratically elected government. While more than 200 protesters have been killed in firings by security forces across Myanmar, mostly in cities like Yangon, Mandalay and Dawei, over 600 other suffered serious injuries, some life threatening or delibitating. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. High school students across New York City will be able to return to their classrooms on Monday, after buildings were closed in mid-November due to rising coronavirus (COVID-19) cases. Public high school buildings will reopen to students Monday, while teachers and school staff returned this week to prepare classrooms for students. We are ready to go, Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a recent Monday press conference. We have all the pieces we need to bring high school back and bring it back strong, and of course, to bring it back safely. Elementary schools and District 75 schools that serve students with special needs have been open since December. Middle schools reopened Feb. 25. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** New York City closed all school buildings temporarily for teaching and learning starting Nov. 19 when the coronavirus positivity rate surpassed 3%, the threshold to close schools. At that time, all public school students transitioned to fully remote learning. Schools had only been open for in-person instruction since mid-September first to special education and preschool students on Sept. 21, followed by students in K-8 schools and middle and high schools the following week. Now, elementary and middle school students are back in class, as well as District 75 students. High school students return to school on Monday. Heres what you need to know about high schools reopening. Only blended learners will return High school students will return to campus beginning Monday, March 22. If a student opted into blended learning, either at the start of the 2020-2021 school year or during the opt-in period that ended in November, he or she will be able to return to school starting Monday. If you didnt opt into blended learning during the allocated periods, you will continue learn remotely for the rest of the school year. Currently, there isnt another opportunity for students to opt back into blended learning. According to the city Department of Education (DOE), students who opted for blended learning are required to attend in-person on a consistent basis. Your school will reach out if you arent attending in-person regularly, and transition you to fully remote learning if irregular in-person attendance continues. This will allow schools to maximize in-person instructional days for students who are attending in-person. You could have 5-day-a-week instruction Any school that has the space and ability to move to five-day-a-week in-person instruction will aim to follow this preferred model. About half of the citys 488 high schools will be able to offer five days a week of in-person instruction for all or most of their students. With a 0.57% positivity rate, our schools are the safest place to be and we are ready to reopen schools for our high schoolers, said Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter. Approximately half of our high schools will be offering in-person learning five days a week to all or a majority of their students. And we will continue to ramp that up the same way we did with elementary and middle schools. Students could still learn virtually from classroom Due to the complicated nature of scheduling classes, many high school students will still learn virtually from teachers even when on campus. It will be similar to what some high school students experienced when they first went back in October at various sites, including Tottenville High School and Susan E. Wagner High School. Students will be seated in a classroom, but will tune into their lessons via a device. Students will still be able to receive in-person supports, like counseling, social work, and occupational and physical therapies. Safety measures in place Students will return to school with the same safety measures in place as when they first went back at the beginning of the academic year. All students and staff are required to complete a daily health screening when attending in-person instruction. They will learn in smaller class sizes, with desks spaced apart at least six feet for social distancing. Teachers, staff and students are required to wear a face mask or covering while inside. Students are asked to wash their hands and use hand sanitizer more often. Social distancing markers will be placed throughout school buildings to remind kids to keep their distance. Students are required to stay in pods together throughout the day as much as possible, and limit contact with other classrooms to contain any potential spread of the virus to other parts of the school. Testing consent is required Students returning to campus are required to consent to mandatory weekly coronavirus testing. If you have already submitted consent, the DOE encourages parents to submit the consent form again to ensure the latest form is on file. There are two ways to submit the consent form: New York City Schools Account (NYCSA) -- Log into your account, click your students name, click Manage Account, and when a dropdown menu appears, click Consent Forms. Read the page and choose the consent option at the end for your student. Print and sign the form and bring it to your childs school on the first day her or she is back on campus. A printable PDF file is available in 10 languages at the DOEs COVID Testing page. Exemptions to testing Exemptions are only granted in certain limited cases, including: Students who need a medical exemption due to a health condition that makes it unsafe to undergo testing. You will be able to submit a separate form for consideration. This form must be signed by a physician and you must submit medical documentation from a health-care provider. For students with disabilities who cannot be safely tested in school due to the nature of their disability, you will be able to submit a separate request for an exemption. If you dont consent You must submit consent by the day a student returns to their building, according to the DOE. This is the due date, and all students must participate. If they come to school on the first day back for in-person instruction without a consent form on file, the principal and school staff will contact you to obtain consent. After that, those students without a consent form on file who dont have a medical or disability-based exemption must move to fully remote instruction. Protocol for a school or classroom closure School buildings will only shutter if there are multiple confirmed cases. Heres a closer look at what happens if there are confirmed coronavirus cases in a school: One confirmed coronavirus case in a classroom, or at least two cases linked together in the same classroom, would be enough to quarantine the entire class of students for 10 days. The school would remain open. At least two cases in the school in separate classrooms would quarantine both classes for 10 days, with additional school members quarantined based on where exposure was in the school. The school would close for an initial 24 hours. At least two cases linked together by circumstances outside of school would close the school for an initial 24 hours, and all students would quarantine for 10 days. At least two cases not linked together, but exposure was confirmed for each one outside of the school setting, would close the school for an initial 24 hours and quarantine all students for 10 days. If a link is unable to be determined for at least two cases, the entire school building would be closed for 10 days. The city Department of Health, in partnership with the city Test & Trace Corps, will conduct an investigation into any close contacts of those who have a positive test result, and those people will be asked to quarantine and not report to school buildings. All close contacts are referred to the Test & Trace Corps for monitoring during the quarantine period. Schools will communicate to all families and students within school any time a case is laboratory-confirmed. When a school closes or a classroom quarantines, students and teachers move to remote learning. The DOE created a Daily COVID Case Map that shows all known cases of coronavirus at public schools. School Zone: A new newsletter with the updates you need as our schools try to get back to normal. Enter your email address here and hit "subscribe" to receive this weekly newsletter: FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) Malacanang has ordered all government offices under the executive branch to reduce the number of personnel physically reporting to work in areas under general community quarantine, citing the alarming increase in COVID-19 cases. Under a memorandum circular released on Friday, these offices, including government-owned or -controlled corporations, can only allow 30% to 50% of their workforce going to the workplace beginning March 22 until April 4. The rule exempts agencies providing health and emergency frontline services, border control, and other critical services. Other branches of government, independent commissions and bodies, and local government units under GCQ areas are strongly urged to adopt the order, the circular signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said. Offices that will limit their operational capacity should come up with alternative work arrangements to ensure unhampered public service. Under the same order, the heads of agencies now have to seek the Palaces approval before placing their offices on lockdown due to infections among their personnel. The request for clearance should state the duration of the shutdown backed by verified data. No closure shall be implemented until such clearance is obtained from the Office of the President, the Palace said, noting that this order remains in effect beyond April 4 unless lifted. The order takes effect immediately. LIST: Government offices under lockdown due to COVID-19 cases On Friday, the country recorded 7,103 new COVID-19 cases an all-time high since the local outbreak began, beating the 6,968 infections added on August 10, 2020. From mid-October until early March, the country was confirming around 1,000 to over 2,000 cases daily. In an online media briefing, World Health Organization Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe raised concern over the transmission of the virus in the workplace and called on local health authorities to take action. "I think at a city heath office level, or at a regional level also, I think we need to pay increased attention to this, of how we manage the number of people coming into workplaces, how we minimize opportunities for infection and clustering of infection in workplaces," Abeyasinghe said. Much of the country has eased to modified general community quarantine but GCQ stays in Metro Manila and nine other areas. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 19-year-old college freshman is charged with storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 with two other young men, the FBI alleges in court papers. Elias Irizarry is the son of Vincent Irizarry, a longtime soap opera star, NorthJersey.com reported. Several news organizations in South Carolina reported Irizarry is a student at the The Citadel, a military university in Charleston. In a criminal complaint filed against Irizarry and an apparent friend, Elliot Bishai, 20, also of South Carolina, the FBI says they appear in several videos and pictures of rioters, including climbing through a broken window. In one photo, Irizarry held a metal pipe. Also with them was Grayson Sherrill, a North Carolina man charged in a separate complaint. Irizarry and Bishai were identified to the FBI by members of a Civil Air Patrol unit to which both are active, authorities said. Members spotted unique clothing they wore, including Bishais backpack and the way Irizarry wore his boots. Also, a witness told FBI agents that Irizarry and Bishai locations on the social media app Snapchat put them in Washington, D.C. on January 6. Each is charged with three crimes accusing them of disruptive conduct inside a restricted building. They appeared in federal court in South Carolina on Tuesday and were freed on bond pending future court appearances, the Post and Courier newspaper reported. After the hearing, Bishais father and Elias mother, Lorraine Irizarry, told reporters their sons intended no harm and were swept up in the hundreds who stormed inside the Capitol to protest the results of the 2020 presidential election. Lorraine Irizarry said her son stopped to thank Capitol police for their service then cried when he returned home from Washington, saying he did not expect the protest to be so violent, the Post and Courier reported. NorthJersey.com also reported that Irizarry was chairman of the Essex County Teenage Republicans while at Montclair High School, and in 2017 he spoke at a town council meeting against naming Montclair a sanctuary city. We need to put Montclair citizens first, not undocumented foreigners, Irizarry said. Among the hundreds of suspects charged so far with participating in the Capitol attack, 14 are from New Jersey. Two others, Julian Khater and George Tanios, who are charged with assaulting Capitol police officer Brian D. Sicknik, who died a day after the attack. Elliot Bishai, in the middle, and Elias Irizarry, on the right, inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in an FBI photos. Irizarry is from New Jersey. 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 Fermanagh boxer has been jailed for three years and three months after assaulting two senior businessmen at a Cavan filling station two years ago. James Bernard McGovern (24) broke businessman Kevin Lunney's nose and left him with potentially lasting damage to one eye. McGovern, otherwise known as Bernard McGovern, pleaded guilty this month to assaulting the Mannok chief operating officer, causing him harm at Rakeelan filling station, near Ballyconnell, on February 1, 2019. He also pleaded to a lesser charge of assaulting Dara O'Reilly, chief financial officer at the same enterprise, businesses once founded by ex-tycoon Sean Quinn Sr. McGovern was sentenced today to three years and three months for assaulting Mr Lunney, and five months to be served concurrently for the attack on Mr O'Reilly. McGovern, with an address at Springtown Road, Kinawley, first threw a cup of scalding tea in Mr O'Reilly's face before hitting Mr Lunney up to seven or eight times, knocking him to the floor, Cavan Circuit Court was told. The court heard that the attack occurred the day after McGoverns father Sean had his employment as a truck driver with Quinn Industrial Holdings, rebranded as Mannok, terminated. McGovern, 22 years old at the time, was sitting in the filling station cafe a short distance from the two businessmen after they first arrived shortly around 1:15pm. McGovern got up, asked for a fresh pot of boiling water, then poured himself a cup before the Ulster title-winning amateur boxer launched his attack during the height of the lunchtime rush-hour. Despite the best efforts of others present to restrain McGovern, the defendant was able to flee the scene. Expand Close CCTV footage of the attack on Kevin Lunney by James Bernard McGovern Picture courtesy of Irish Daily Star / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp CCTV footage of the attack on Kevin Lunney by James Bernard McGovern Picture courtesy of Irish Daily Star Neither Mr Lunney nor Mr O'Reilly provided victim impact statements. However Mr Lunney said he bears McGovern no ill will following the attack. While shocked and upset at the time, Mr O'Reilly also expressed a desire to put the matter behind him. He hoped McGovern would get on with his life too in a socially positive manner. Karl Monaghan BL, instructed by John M. Quinn solicitors in Dublin, acting for the defence, stated that his client was remorseful for his actions. A gesture of 1,000 was offered to Mr Lunney by way of compensation, which the businessman said could be donated to charity if the court so directed. For clarity, it was stated to the court that McGovern had no involvement in incidents in September 2019, when Mr Lunney was abducted near his Fermanagh home and his tortured body dumped on a rural Cavan back road. McGovern spent almost five months behind bars at Castlerea prison after first being taken into custody in June last year, and up until he successfully applied for High Court bail two days before Christmas. Judge John Aylmer described the attacks as being at the "upper end" of scale of such offending. He also described the attack as "callous" and "premeditated". The judge was asked by McGovern's counsel if consideration could be given to suspending a portion of the sentenced handed down, but he replied given all the factors of the case, that such leniency would not be "appropriate". 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 Animal charity Blue Cross is warning dog owners to be on the lookout for signs that their pup is stressed, which it says can lead to behavioural issues. Obvious signs a dog is stressed include a loss of appetite, aggression, having its tail between its legs or backing away from someone or something, Blue Cross says. Subtle signs of stress that are more easily missed include excessive panting, pacing back and forth, a dog licking its lips when not eating or drinking, and pinning its ears back. The UK charity is concerned that thousands of dogs could be sold or abandoned if the signs of stress are misinterpreted as a personality defect. Subtle signs of stress that an owner can miss or misinterpret are excessive panting, pacing back and forth, licking lips (when not eating or drinking) and pinning its ears back 'Signs of stress can be easily missed or misunderstood,' Karly Smith, animal behaviourist at Blue Cross, told MailOnline. 'For example we might think a dog who yawns is just tired, or if theyre not eating that theyre just not hungry. 'In fact both of these can be signs that your dog is anxious about something.' Blue Cross also fears some dogs may be stressed and develop behavioural issues as routines start to change at home when the Covid 19 lockdown ends. Dogs purchased as puppies in the last year have only ever known what it's like to have their family around them at all times. The sudden change when owners start to commute to the office again could trigger separation anxiety in dogs. Owners should therefore get their dogs used to short half-hours periods of being alone now, to get them used to potentially being alone for much longer periods of time. Obvious signs a dog is stressed include a loss of appetite, aggression, having its tail tucked between its legs or backing away from someone or something, Blue Cross says Over the last year, Blue Cross has received more than 500 calls to its behaviour line from concerned owners needing advice. 'Many of the calls last year were due to pets struggling with changes to their routine, with people and families being at home more,' said Claire Haynes, also an animal behaviourist at Blue Cross. 'Dogs like routine and the new normal may be confusing and stressful for them. 'With routines set to change again, this could come as a shock and lead to more stressed out pets and behaviour issues if the signs aren't spotted early and handled correctly. 'In the most serious cases, stress could lead to unwanted behaviours, such as aggression and health problems.' SUBTLE SIGNS OF STRESS Subtle signs your dog might be stressed include: - Yawning unless your dog is tired - Excessive panting often with a curled tip of their tongue - Pacing back and forth - Licking lips when not eating/drinking - Ears pinned back, perhaps with their head down or turning away - Dilated pupils or red around the eyes - Whites of eyes showing (whale eye) - Lifting up their paw Advertisement OBVIOUS SIGNS OF STRESS Obvious signs your dog might be stressed include: - Loss of appetite - Backing away from someone or something, or even hiding away - Tail tucked between their legs 4. Cowering (shrinking down or crouching) - Diarrhoea or increased bowel movements - Trembling or shivering (when they're not cold or excited) - Aggression Advertisement In the UK, hundreds of dogs bought as puppies during lockdown last year are being abandoned by owners who claim to not have the time or resources to look after them, it was recently revealed. With some people having paid out large sums for new dogs and puppies during lockdown, and prices continuing to surge due to demand, some owners may look to sell their dog online to recoup some of their financial investment they made. Sellers have flooded pet websites with adverts for dogs aged between six and 12 months and many young pups are turning up at rescue centres. Puppies, in particular, have missed out on normal life during in the last year unable to attend training classes due to lockdown measures. This lack of training and socialisation just increases the risk of behavioural issues. Blue Cross is therefore urging people who may be struggling with a pet's behaviour to seek support and advice from a charity or registered trainer, rather than giving up and selling the animal on to a new owner. Dr Roger Mugford, an animal psychologist used by the royal family, has advised dog owners to have 30-minute breaks from their pets several times a day in order to ease them into being alone when the lockdown ends. Blue Cross also believes owners should be planning ahead and making gradual changes to their routines now to ensure their pets are ready for 'the new normal'. In some cases, dog owners might be taking their pets on public transport to keep them company throughout the day. 'If youre going to be travelling into work with your dog, do practice runs of the route with them so that by the time youre going back to the office your dog feels confident travelling in with you on the train or tube,' said Smith. 'If youre planning to leave you dog at home while you go to the office, make sure again you build up the time you spend away from them so that they can get used to you not always being there. 'Wed never advise leaving a dog at home alone for long periods of time, so if needed make sure to arrange a dog sitter or someone your pet trusts or can build up that trust with so that you can be confident of leaving them together. 'Start making any changes to your daily routine slowly.' For more advice, concerned owners can visit Blue Cross' dedicated webpage regarding stress in dogs. A Sussex County man fraudulently obtained $1.9 million in loans using the Paycheck Protection Program, the federal governments economic relief initiative for businesses struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said Thursday. John Jhong, 51, of Sparta, was charged with bank fraud, false representation of a Social Security number and money laundering, New Jersey Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said in a statement. Jhong submitted 10 fraudulent PPP loan applications for purported businesses, according to court documents. He was the self-reported owner, manager, and/or partner on multiple LLCs, a criminal complaint said. As part of the process to receive a PPP loan, applicants apply directly to banks and other financial institutions participating in the Small Business Administration-led program. Loan seekers are required to make various affirmative certifications to determine their eligibility. Some of the required information includes details on average monthly payroll expenses, the number of employees and intent for the loan, ranging from payroll, rent and utilities, according to officials. Jhong made multiple false claims on his paperwork to quality for the loans, including about tax information, according to a federal complaint. Some of the supposed business partners he listed used Social Security numbers for dead people, an IRS criminal investigations special agent said in the document. Based on Jhongs alleged misrepresentations, the lenders approved Jhongs PPP loan applications and provided Jhongs purported business with $1.9 million in federal COVID-19 emergency relief funds meant for distressed small businesses, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a statement. Jhong then converted a portion of the proceeds into a cashiers check that was used to fund a business account. If convicted, Jhong could face a 30 year prison term for the bank fraud charge, 10 years on the money laundering count and a five year term for the Social Security-related offense, according to authorities. Federal prosecutors have brought multiple cases nationwide in varying scams stemming from programs that provide economic help during the pandemic. Officials asked anyone with information about COVID-19-related fraud to contact the Justice Departments National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or visit its website. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (2nd R), joined by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (R), speaks while facing Yang Jiechi (2nd L), director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office, and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) at the opening session of U.S.-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, March 18, 2021. ahead of their first top-level diplomatic talks since President Joe Biden took office, with Beijing rejecting criticism of its human rights record. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confronted his counterpart Wang Yi and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi with criticism of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) polices in Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang, where at least 1.8 million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have been sent to "re-education" camps linked to widespread reports of torture, abuse of women and forced labor from former detainees. Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability, Blinken said of China's actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and of cyber attacks on the United States and economic coercion against U.S. allies. Thats why theyre not merely internal matters, and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here ," he told Yang and Wang during opening remarks ahead of behind-closed-door talks. China has said the camps are vocational training centers, or places where Muslims are "deradicalized," although the authorities routinely suppress everyday aspects of Islamic practice, including fasting, pilgrimage, study of the Quran, and the wearing of veils and beards. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said China was engaged in an "assault on basic values." "We do not seek conflict but we welcome stiff competition," he said. Foreign minister Wang also hit out at U.S. sanctions on 24 of its senior officials linked to Beijing's dismantling of Hong Kong's electoral system earlier this month. "Is this a decision made by the United States to try to gain some advantage in dealing with China?" Wang said, saying it "will not shake Chinas position or resolve on those issues." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) speaks while facing Yang Jiechi (L), director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office, and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (2nd L) at the opening session of U.S.-China talks in Anchorage, Alaska, March 18, 2021. The United States and China traded barbs in Anchorage, Alaska onahead of their first top-level diplomatic talks since President Joe Biden took office, with Beijing rejecting criticism of its human rights record.Secretary of State Antony Blinken confronted his counterpart Wang Yi and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi with criticism of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) polices in Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang, where at least 1.8 million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have been sent to "re-education" camps linked to widespread reports of torture, abuse of women and forced labor from former detainees.Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability, Blinken said of China's actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and of cyber attacks on the United States and economic coercion against U.S. allies.Thats why theyre not merely internal matters, and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here," he told Yang and Wang during opening remarks ahead of behind-closed-door talks.China has said the camps are vocational training centers, or places where Muslims are "deradicalized," although the authorities routinely suppress everyday aspects of Islamic practice, including fasting, pilgrimage, study of the Quran, and the wearing of veils and beards.National security adviser Jake Sullivan said China was engaged in an "assault on basic values.""We do not seek conflict but we welcome stiff competition," he said.Foreign minister Wang also hit out at U.S. sanctions on 24 of its senior officials linked to Beijing's dismantling of Hong Kong's electoral system earlier this month."Is this a decision made by the United States to try to gain some advantage in dealing with China?" Wang said, saying it "will not shake Chinas position or resolve on those issues." There is no way to strangle China' Yang also hit back, saying Washington shouldn't "condescend" to China, nor be so keen to promote its system of governance at a time of great domestic unrest in the U.S. "We believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world," he said. "Many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States." "China will not accept unwarranted accusations from the U.S. side ... There is no way to strangle China, he said. "I think we thought too well of the United States." Blinken said U.S. allies Japan and South Korea had expressed support for renewed diplomatic engagement under the Biden administration, however. "Im hearing deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that we're reengaged, Blinken, who flew back to the U.S. on from Seoul. "Im also hearing deep concern about some of the actions your government is taking." The State Department said the Chinese delegation had exceeded an agreed two-minute time-limit for opening remarks on each side. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Yang and Wang had made a "stern" response in response to U.S. provocation. "It was the U.S. side that ... provoked the dispute in the first place, so the two sides had a strong smell of gunpowder and drama from the beginning in the opening remarks," Zhao told a regular news briefing in Beijing. "It was not the original intention of the Chinese side," he said. The Associated Press quoted a senior Biden administration official as saying that talks had nonetheless been "substantive, serious and direct" behind closed doors, and lasted longer than the two hours originally scheduled for them. National pride in play Zhang Yong, a scholar of international relations from the northern Chinese city of Taiyuan, said Yang and Wang's comments were aimed at a domestic audience. "The tougher they appear, the more popular they will be, and the more they will be able to stoke feelings of so-called national pride at home, both within CCP ranks and outside the party," Zhang told RFA. "A tougher foreign policy is the official party line of the CCP now ... we have to be [seen as] strong," he said. Wu Qiang, former politics lecturer at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said the meeting was a turning point for U.S.-China relations, which are now entering a new cold war era. "[This meeting] will only convince both sides of how wide and deep the differences between them are," Wu said. "It will likely be a turning point after which China and the United States move towards a new cold war." "Both sides will step up their long-term preparations after these talks, and Beijing will prepare for a possible war with the United States in the Pacific." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Michigan restaurant owner in jail for defying virus orders View Photo DETROIT (AP) A western Michigan restaurant owner was arrested before dawn Friday and hauled to jail, a dramatic turn in a monthslong dispute over her persistent refusal to comply with orders and restrictions tied to the coronavirus. Marlena Pavlos-Hackney, 55, will remain in jail until she pays $7,500 and authorities confirm that Marlenas Bistro and Pizzeria in Holland, Michigan, is closed, a judge said. She has put the community at risk. We are in the middle of a pandemic, Ingham County Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said. State investigators said Pavlos-Hackney had allowed indoor dining when it was banned, wasnt enforcing mask rules and was ignoring capacity limits. Her food license was suspended Jan. 20, but the business remained open. A different judge on March 4 declared Pavlos-Hackney in contempt of court and ordered an arrest unless the restaurant was closed. You have selfishly not followed the orders. This is the wrong way to get publicity, Aquilina said. Its the wrong way to be a good citizen. Pavlos-Hackneys attorney, Robert Baker, said she would immediately pay $7,500 and close the restaurant. State police arrested her in Park Township, near Holland, and drove 90 miles (145 kilometers) to the Ingham County jail. Pavlos-Hackney seemed to shrug off the possibility of an arrest as she poured coffee for customers Thursday. We dont want this country to be a communist regime thats going to dictate what we can do and what we cannot do, the native of Poland told WOOD-TV on Thursday. Breakfast still was served by restaurant staff Friday as news of the arrest spread. She reminds me of my dad, never wanting government handouts, said Republican state Rep. Mary Whiteford, whose district includes the restaurant. Every one of her customers has chosen to eat in her restaurant. They refuse to let government dictate their lives. To reduce the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at times has put strict limits on restaurants and bars. In-person dining, with limited capacities, was reinstated Feb. 1 after a 10-week halt. There were other restrictions earlier in the pandemic. State regulators have suspended licenses at businesses that violate the rules. Attorney General Dana Nessel defended the arrest on Twitter, saying Pavlos-Hackney was putting the public at risk. Cant understand how or why this is controversial, Nessel, a Democrat, said. The court hearing got off to a rocky start: A man who acknowledged hes not a licensed lawyer was arrested for contempt after Aquilina said it was improper for him to file a document on Pavlos-Hackneys behalf. The judge then asked her if she would pledge to tell the truth. Pavlos-Hackney didnt reply. I know you want to control this room but this isnt Burger King, Aquilina said. When the sign changes to Burger King you can have it your way. Right now this is my courtroom, and you will answer my questions. ___ Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez By ED WHITE Associated Press The House has voted to unlatch a gateway to citizenship for young Dreamers, migrant farm workers and immigrants who have fled war or natural disasters, giving Democrats wins in the years first votes on an issue that faces an uphill climb in the Senate. On a near party-line 228-197 vote Thursday, lawmakers approved one bill offering legal status to around 2 million Dreamers, brought to the U.S. illegally as children, and hundreds of thousands of migrants admitted for humanitarian reasons from a dozen troubled countries. They then voted 247-174 for a second measure creating similar protections for 1 million farm workers who have worked in the U.S. illegally. The government estimates they comprise half the nations agricultural laborers. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) joined most Republicans in voting no for both measures. In a statement after the votes, President Joe Biden called the action a critical first step toward a more sweeping overhaul hes proposed. He said he wants to work with Congress toward building a 21st century immigration system that is grounded in dignity, safety, and fairness, and finally enacts the long term solutions we need to create an orderly and humane immigration system. Today marks an important day in the United States House of Representatives for the passing of HR 6. It may not be the full comprehensive immigration bill we may want, but it is a huge step in the right direction. We are so very grateful, said Rey Mendez, a dreamer and coordinator of the Staten Island Immigrant Youth Leadership. El Centro has worked tirelessly to see the passage of this bill over the past 20 years. So many young peoples futures in this country are now in the hands of the U.S. Senate, said Michelle Molina, executive director of El Centro in Port Richmond. They have been our frontline medical workers-nurses , EMTs, and patient care assistants, technicians and researchers andnd essential workers in our social service and immunity food programs. They have dug the cemetery ditches for a half million Americans who have died of this virus. Both bills largely hit a wall of opposition from Republicans insistent that any immigration legislation bolster security at the Mexican border, which waves of migrants have tried breaching in recent weeks. The GOP has accused congressional Democrats of ignoring that problem and Biden of fueling it by erasing former President Donald Trumps restrictive policies, even though that surge began while Trump was still in office. While Dreamers win wide public support and migrant farm workers are a backbone of the agriculture industry, both House bills face gloomy prospects in the evenly split Senate. That chambers 50 Democrats will need at least 10 GOP supporters to break Republican filibusters. The outlook was even grimmer for Bidens more ambitious goal of legislation making citizenship possible for all 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally, easing visa restrictions, improving border security technology and spending billions in Central America to ease problems that prompt people to leave. Nine House Republicans joined all Democrats in voting for the Dreamers measure, but 30 GOP lawmakers backed the farm workers bill, giving it a more bipartisan hue. Congress has long deadlocked over immigration, which again seems headed toward becoming political ammunition. Republicans could use it to rally conservative voters in upcoming elections, while Democrats could add it to a stack of House-passed measures languishing in the Senate to build support for abolishing that chambers bill-killing filibusters. Democrats said their measures were aimed not at border security but at immigrants who deserve help. Theyre so much of our country, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said of Dreamers, who like many immigrants have held front-line jobs during the pandemic. These immigrant communities strengthen, enrich and ennoble our nation, and they must be allowed to stay. Neither House measure would directly affect those trying to enter from Mexico. Republicans criticized them anyway for lacking border security provisions and used the debate to lambaste Biden, whos ridden a wave of popularity since taking office and winning a massive COVID-19 relief package. It is a Biden border crisis, and it is spinning out of control, said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. While the number of migrants caught trying to cross the border from Mexico has been rising since last April, the 100,441 encountered last month was the highest figure since March 2019. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said the number is tracking toward a 20-year high. In another measure of the problem, around 14,000 children and teens are in Customs and Border Protection custody or Health and Human Services Department shelters while officials find relatives or sponsors to take them, Biden administration officials told reporters. Democrats were making that problem worse, Republicans said, with bills they said entice more immigrants to sneak into the U.S. and provide amnesty to immigrants who break laws to get here. We dont know who these people are. We dont know what their intentions are, Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., said of immigrant farm workers who might seek legal status. He added, Its frightening, its irresponsible, its endangering American lives. During earlier debate on the Dreamers bill, Democrats said Republicans were going too far. Sometimes I stand in this chamber, and I feel like Im in the Twilight Zone, listening to a number of my Republican colleagues espouse white supremacist ideology to denigrate our Dreamers, said Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y. Maine Rep. Jared Goldens vote against the farm workers measure made him the only Democrat to oppose either bill. The House approved Dreamer and farm worker bills in 2019 by similar partisan margins, and both died in what was a Republican-run Senate. Trump, who as president constricted legal and illegal immigration, would have signed neither. Biden has suspended work on Trumps wall along the Mexican border, ended his separation of young children from migrant families and allowed apprehended minors to stay in the U.S. as officials decide if they can legally remain. He has also turned away most single adults and families. The Dreamers bill would grant conditional legal status for 10 years to many immigrants up to age 18 who were brought into the U.S. illegally before this year. Theyd have to meet education and other requirements. Dreamers get their name from never-passed proposals in Congress called the DREAM Act. To attain legal permanent residence, or a green card, theyd have to obtain a higher education degree, serve in the military or be employed for at least three years. Like others with green cards, they could then apply for citizenship after five years. The measure would also grant green cards to an estimated 400,000 immigrants with temporary protected status or deferred enforced departure status, which temporarily allow people fleeing extraordinary problems into the U.S. The other bill would let immigrant farm workers whove worked in the country illegally over the past two years get certified agriculture worker status. That would let them, their spouses and children remain in the U.S. for renewable 5 1/2-year periods. To earn green cards, theyd have to pay a $1,000 fine and work up to an additional eight years, depending on how long theyve already held farm jobs. The legislation would cap wage increases, streamline the H-2A visa process for legal immigrant farm workers and phase in a mandatory system for electronically verifying the legal status of agriculture laborers. ___ Associated Press writer Ben Fox contributed to this report. Russia will help Armenia extend the life of its nuclear power plant in Metsamor for another 10 years, according to the director of the station. Addressing a conference in Yerevan on the development of nuclear energy in Armenia on March 18, Movses Vardanian said that a working group is being set up jointly with the Russian Rosatom Corporation for that purpose. Vardanian said the extension will add 10 more years to the life of the station, which is currently due to be decommissioned in 2026. The plants sole functioning reactor went into service in 1980 and was due to be decommissioned by 2017. Armenias government decided to extend the life of the 420-megawatt reactor by 10 years after failing to attract billions of dollars in funding for its ambitious plans to build a new and safer nuclear facility. In 2015, the Russian government provided Yerevan with a $270 million loan and a $30 million grant for major safety upgrades. The modernization work is expected to be completed in 2023. The Soviet-built plant, located at Metsamor, 35 kilometers west of Yerevan, generates roughly 40 percent of Armenias electricity. At the initiative of Rosatom and the Armenian nuclear power plant (NPP), we are currently setting up a new technical working group to work on extending the life of the [Metsamor plant] beyond 2026. Rusatom Service will mainly be involved from the Russian side, Vardanian said. Yuri Sviridenko, the Russian head of the project, said that the Armenian nuclear power plant can definitely work after 2026. Preliminary estimates have been made, according to which the station can be operated until 2036. But these, I repeat, are preliminary estimates that still need to undergo an examination and receive approval from the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Commission. We are now at this stage, he said, citing extensions in several European countries of the operation of nuclear plants using the same reactor. According to Tigran Melkonian, the head of the Energy Department of Armenias Ministry of Local Government and Infrastructure, the extension of the operating life of the existing nuclear power plant does not mean that the Armenian government does not intend to start building a new nuclear station. The government will make a decision taking into account the reliability of the energy system, the rates and regimes of export, the amount of funding and sources. Before that, a program will be developed on what capacity the reactor will have and in what time frame and with what funding it will be built, Melkonian said. In any case, this is the goal, and we are adjusting our work, which includes the extension of the life of the existing nuclear reactor and its future replacement with a new one, he said. Ara Marjanian, a United Nations expert on energy in Armenia, said that Metsamor is of key importance for the energy security of the country, and, therefore, its preservation and the construction of a new plant are among the priority tasks of ensuring the national security of Armenia. We have only two facilities that guarantee [the countrys] energy security. These are the Vorotan Cascade hydropower plant and [Metsamor]. It is not without reason that the new strategy states that Armenia must have a harmonious three-component [energy] generation system, and nuclear energy is an integral part of our energy security strategy, the expert said. 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. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Yes, Theyre Open is a web series highlighting local bars and restaurants that are open for takeout, delivery, pickup or dining during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Live streams from the featured restaurants are broadcast on the Advance Facebook page every weekday at around 3 p.m. On Friday, the Advance/SILive.com visited Lebanese Eatery at 1686 Forest Ave., which is open for indoor dining, pickup and delivery from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. To place an order, call 718-556-5556. YES, THEYRE OPEN: Lebanese Eatery is open for indoor dining, pickup and delivery at 1686 Forest Ave. The restaurant is open 11-9 daily. Call 718-556-5556 to place your order. Posted by Staten Island Advance on Friday, March 19, 2021 For more information, visit LebaneseEatery.com. Staten Island restaurant owners: If you would like your establishment featured for free as part of Yes, Theyre Open, email reporter Victoria Priola at vpriola@siadvance.com. WANT MORE YES, THEYRE OPEN? Cantina Mexicana, 140 New Dorp Lane Nurnberger Bierhaus, 817 Castleton Ave. HoBrah, 31 New Dorp Plaza Trackside Bar & Grill, 61 New Dorp Plaza Fig & Vine, 710 New Dorp Lane The Hop Shoppe, 372 Van Duzer St. The wife of the Ondo State governor, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, on Friday presented a cheque of N100,000 each to two rape victims in the state. Mrs Anyanwu-Akeredolu gave the cheques during a meeting of the Foundation for Wives of Ondo State Officials (FOWOSO) at the Government House in Akure. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that FOWOSO was conceived by the wife of the governor to reach out to women in the state in form of socio-economic empowerment. The wife of the governor said the money, which was being given to the victims on behalf of the Nigerian Governors Wives Against Gender-Based Violence, was facilitated by FOWOSO. Mrs Anyanwu-Akeredolu, who is also the Chairperson of FOWOSO, and a key member of the governors wives forum, said that helping rape victims could not be over-emphasised. Advocacy is good, it is more of talk, but you find out that you need to support these victims financially because, most times, they are in need. That is why we thought it fit that, this time around, we have to support them financially. It could be for them to learn a trade or do buying and selling, and even for upkeep because most times, these individuals are from poor homes and dont even have money to eat. No matter how small it is, it is something; we believe that as time goes on, we will be able to do more. She said that some victims of rape might desire to continue education. Again, some of them could express (the) desire to continue their education, like one of the victims we are supporting here. She wants to go to university, and FOWOSO has taken up that challenge to ensure that her educational aspirations are realised. We will definitely do more, she said. Earlier, the wife of the governor tasked FOWOSO members to deny themselves some things in order to transform other peoples lives. She urged the women to explore more areas where they could invest. According to her, FOWOSO is an empowerment programme for women and children. She said the association would do more in the next four years, adding that the women should be proud of themselves for embracing the vision and keeping it alive. She also asked the women to commend the state governor for appointing a woman, Oladunni Odu, as the first female Secretary to State Government. ADVERTISEMENT Mrs Anyanwu-Akeredolu, who lauded wives of local council chairmen in the state for support in the Solayo kits distribution, urged them to see themselves as sources of change Identify a problem and come out with ideas on how lives can be better in your localities. I want you to initiate projects on how problems can be solved. Well-meaning individuals can help when you have good initiatives, she said. The governors wife suggested a health insurance scheme for the associations members, saying that there was the need for women to go for routine health checks. Mrs Anyanwu-Akeredolu also encouraged all FOWOSO members to embrace what she called humanitarian levy meant to support women and children that might be in distress. We have been doing a lot to help women and children in distress and supporting them in time of need. We need to extend little hands of help to somebody that needs it tomorrow, she said. NAN reports that the association also elected new executive members to run the affairs of the association in the next four years. Speaking on behalf of the executive members, Mrs Anyanwu-Akeredolu promised to keep the fire burning, saying that the team would not disappoint the association. Oluwatobiloba Fademi, the Chief Whip of the association, noted that FOWOSO was initiated in 2017 by the governors wife with the aim of empowering women in the state both intellectually and materially. Ms Fademi, a Senior Special Assistant on Media to the governors wife, added that FOWOSOs desired women to stand on their own, socially and economically. Social-economic empowerment of women is the aim of FOWOSO. In the past four years, we have gone round the 18 local government areas of Ondo State, empowering women with skills and others. Another era of FOWOSO has started with the second tenure of our amiable governor. Members have come together -wives of Ondo State officials and female political appointees to continue the project of making people better, she said. According to her, FOWOSO has taken up victims of rape, violence and incest, giving them financial support and succour. Ms Fademi added that FOWOSO had decided to contribute money monthly to help victims of nasty situations. (NAN) China adheres to people-centered philosophy in human rights protection 09:14, March 19, 2021 By He Yin ( People's Daily Photo taken on March 14, 2021 shows a wide road crossing Furongdun Township, Pengze County, Jiujiang, east China's Jiangxi Province, connecting villages and contributing to rural development. (People's Daily Online/Yuan Xin) China recently delivered a joint statement on behalf of more than 100 countries at the 46th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, calling for a people-centered global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. China's perception of human rights addresses the common challenges faced by mankind, and mirrors the common aspiration and expectation of developing countries. Taking people as the central focus is a distinctive feature of China's human rights protection. Human rights are the rights of people, and democracy represent the will of people. The ultimate goal of human rights protection is to safeguard the interests and rights of people, and their sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security shall be enhanced during the process. China has lifted 770 million rural residents out of poverty since the beginning of the reform and opening-up over 40 years ago when calculated in accordance with China's current poverty line, and all 98.99 million poor rural population have been taken out of poverty since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held in 2012. Such an achievement is remarkable because it has not only lifted Chinese people's income and livelihood, but also ensured their rights to education, medication and housing. China has built the world's largest social security system that guarantees basic elderly care, healthcare, living allowance and housing. This is a miracle in the human history of poverty reduction, as well as a vital contribution to the progress of global human rights protection. China's people-centered philosophy in its human rights protection has withstood tests. Facing the COVID-19 epidemic, the country carried out a life rescue mission on an unprecedented scale by mobilizing nationwide efforts, which not only safeguarded the rights to life and health of its own citizens, but also deepened international anti-pandemic cooperation, enhanced information sharing and joint prevention, and made COVID-19 vaccines a public product that is accessible and affordable for global countries, especially developing countries. Joining the global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX of the WHO, China promised to offer 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to meet the urgent need of developing countries. The country has provided and is providing COVID-19 vaccine aid free of charge to 69 developing countries in urgent need, while exporting vaccines to 43 countries. Recently, China announced to donate 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to UN peacekeepers, with priority given to the African mission area. These concrete actions perfectly validate China's people-centered philosophy in its human rights protection. The progress of global human rights protection calls for justice. Belarus delivered a joint speech on behalf of 71 countries at the 46th Session of the UN Human Rights Council to support China's stance and measures on issues related to Hong Kong, and oppose western countries' interference in China's domestic affairs. Cuba also delivered a joint statement on behalf of 64 countries at the session, to praise China's people-centered philosophy and support the country's stance on issues related to Xinjiang, calling on relevant parties to stop making unfounded allegations against China out of political motivations. Besides, representatives from multiple developing countries made a joint statement, condemning relevant western countries that seriously violated human rights by unilateral coercive measures, and urging them to immediately stop such measures. Belarus, on behalf of multiple countries, pointed out that the UK and EU countries have systematic human rights violation, including hate speeches, whitewashing Nazism, racial discrimination, and violations against migrants, refugees and the indigenous. These voices fully demonstrated that justice will always prevail on the issue of human rights. Mankind shares a common goal to enjoy human rights. To respect and ensure human rights has always been a consistent stand of the CPC and Chinese government. There is always room for improvement when it comes to human rights protection. Countries shall follow the principle of justice, fairness, openness and inclusiveness, and advance development through cooperation and promote human rights through development, so as to build a community with a shared future for mankind. Russias multinational energy corporation Gazprom and a British-Dutch oil and gas holding company Shell have signed an agreement of strategic cooperation for a five-year period, expanding the interaction between the two companies. The signing ceremony was held via a video link in the presence of Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell. Particular attention will be given to such areas as research of energy markets, implementation of projects along the entire value chain, cooperation in digitalization of technologies, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Alexey Miller and Ben van Beurden reviewed the current achievements brought about by the cooperation between Gazprom and Shell. In particular, Sakhalin II was discussed. Last year, a record-high volume of liquefied natural gas over 11.6 million tons was produced and shipped to customers under the project. Special mention was made of the European energy sector decarbonization. It was noted that natural gas, due to its eco-friendliness, can play a significant role in meeting Europe's climate goals. Today, we have made a new step in the development of our cooperation. The very signing of the Agreement proves that our joint work has brought good results and that we establish ambitious goals for both the short term and the long term. Without any doubt, the experience we have accumulated guarantees us new future achievements, said Alexey Miller. TradeArabia News Service PERTH, Australia, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- FMG Resources (August 2006) Pty Ltd (the "Company"), an Australian corporation and a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd ("Fortescue") (ASX: FMG), an Australian corporation, announced today that it has amended the terms of the its previously announced offer to holders of certain of its debt securities to tender to sell in exchange for cash any and all of the Company's 4.750% Senior Notes due 2022 (the "2022 Notes") to extend the Expiration Date (defined below) from March 24, 2021 to March 25, 2021 and to extend the Notice of Guaranteed Delivery Date (defined below) from March 26, 2021 to March 29, 2021. The Company also announced today that it is offering holders of certain of its debt securities to tender to sell in exchange for cash any and all of the Company's 5.125% Senior Notes due 2023 (the "2023 Notes" and, together with the 2022 Notes, the "Notes"). The complete terms of the tender offers are set forth in an Offer to Purchase, as amended, dated as of today (the "Amended Offer to Purchase"), the Notice of Guaranteed Delivery, as amended (the "Notice of Guaranteed Delivery"), and the Letter of Transmittal, as amended (the "Letter of Transmittal"), and any amendments or supplements thereto. The expiration date for the tender offers is 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 25, 2021 (the "Expiration Date"), and guaranteed deliveries will be required to be provided no later than 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 29, 2021 (the "Notice of Guaranteed Delivery Date"). The "Total Consideration" payable to holders that validly tender (and do not validly withdraw) their Notes on or prior to the Expiration Date (or in accordance with the guaranteed delivery procedures set forth in the Amended Offer to Purchase) for each US$1,000 principal amount accepted for purchase by the Company pursuant to the applicable tender offer shall be a price equal to the amount shown for such series of Notes in the table below. In addition to the Total Consideration, holders that validly tender (and do not subsequently validly withdraw) their Notes and whose Notes are accepted for purchase by the Company in the tender offers will receive accrued and unpaid interest from the last interest payment date for the Notes up to, but excluding, the applicable settlement date ("Accrued Interest"). The settlement date for Notes accepted for purchase and delivered on or prior to the Expiration Date is expected to be promptly after the Expiration Date and is expected to be March 26, 2021. The settlement date for Notes accepted for purchase and delivered pursuant to the guaranteed delivery procedures set forth in the Amended Offer to Purchase is expected to be promptly after the Notice of Guaranteed Delivery Date and is expected to be March 30, 2021. For the avoidance of doubt, accrued interest will cease to accrue on the applicable settlement date for all Notes accepted in the tender offers, including those tendered by the guaranteed delivery procedures set forth in the Amended Offer to Purchase. The following table sets forth for the Notes, the applicable securities identifiers, the aggregate principal amount outstanding of the Notes and the Total Consideration: Title of Security CUSIP No. ISIN Aggregate Principal Amount Outstanding Total Consideration(1)(2) 4.750% Senior Notes due 2022 144A: 30251GAU1 Reg S: Q3919KAJ0 144A: US30251GAU13 Reg S: USQ3919KAJ09 US$750,000,000 US$1,047.00 5.125% Senior Notes due 2023 144A: 30251GAY3 Reg S: Q3919KAL5 144A: US30251GAY35 Reg S: USQ3919KAL54 US$500,000,000 US$1,070.00 (1) All holders whose Notes are accepted for purchase will also receive the applicable accrued and unpaid interest on the purchased Notes from the last interest payment date for the Notes up to, but excluding, the applicable settlement date. (2) Per US$1,000 principal amount of Notes tendered and accepted for purchase by the Company, excluding Accrued Interest. The tender offers are subject to various conditions, including a condition that the Company shall have completed an offering of senior unsecured notes on terms satisfactory to the Company, providing net proceeds that are at least sufficient to pay the Total Consideration and Accrued Interest for all the tendered Notes, plus all fees and expenses in connection with the tender offers. The issuance of the senior unsecured notes will be made solely by means of the offering circular relating to that offering. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any of the senior unsecured notes relating to that offering. The Company may modify or terminate the tender offers and may extend the Expiration Date or any payment date with respect to the tender offers. This press release, including the following, is qualified in its entirety by the Amended Offer to Purchase and, where applicable, the Letter of Transmittal and the Notice of Guaranteed Delivery. The Company and Fortescue have retained J.P. Morgan Securities LLC ("J.P. Morgan") as the Dealer Manager for the tender offers. D.F. King & Co is acting as the Information Agent and Depositary for the tender offers. For additional information regarding the terms of the tender offers, please contact J.P. Morgan at (866) 834-4087 (toll-free) or (212) 834-4087 (collect). Requests for documents and questions regarding the tendering of Notes may be directed to D.F. King by telephone at (866) 796-7179 (toll-free), facsimile at (212) 709-3328, or by email at [email protected]. Copies of the Amended Offer to Purchase, the Letter of Transmittal and the Notice of Guaranteed Delivery may be accessed at www.dfking.com/fmg. This news release does not constitute an offer or an invitation to participate in the tender offers. The tender offers are being made pursuant to the Amended Offer to Purchase, the Notice of Guaranteed Delivery and the Letter of Transmittal, copies of which will be delivered to holders of the Notes, and which set forth the complete terms and conditions of the tender offers. Holders are urged to read the Amended Offer to Purchase, the Notice of Guaranteed Delivery and the Letter of Transmittal carefully before making any decision with respect to their Notes. The tender offers are not being made to, nor will the Company accept tenders of Notes from, holders in any jurisdiction in which it is unlawful to make such an offer or solicitation. None of Fortescue, the Company, their respective directors, the Dealer Manager, the Information Agent and Depositary or the trustee for the Notes makes any recommendation as to whether holders should tender Notes in response to the tender offers. Neither the Amended Offer to Purchase nor any related documents have been filed with, and have been approved or reviewed by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority of any country. No authority has passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the Amended Offer to Purchase or any related documents, and it is unlawful and may be a criminal offense to make any representation to the contrary. Certain statements in this press release, including those describing the completion of the tender offers, constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only Fortescue's belief regarding future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside Fortescue's control. It is possible that actual results will differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results indicated in these statements. SOURCE Fortescue Metals Group Ltd BRIDGEPORT A man being sought in a 2019 murder investigation was captured Thursday in Ohio. Luis Roman, 25, a suspect in the November 2019 fatal shooting here of Miguelangelo Ismal Afzal, was arrested without incident in Lorain, Ohio, according to Bridgeport Police Lt. Chris LaMaine. He said Roman was being held in lieu of $1 million bond while awaiting extradition back to Bridgeport. On Nov. 21, 2019, Afzal was reported missing by his family. He had last been seen in the area of Barnum Avenue and Pembroke Street, police said at the time. Police searched the area with a dog and on Dec. 8, 2019, found Afzals body in a vacant building on the Remgrit property on Barnum Avenue. Police said Afzal had been shot in the head. LaMaine said Afzal and Roman had been known to be friends and were last seen walking together on the citys East Side. He said Roman left the area after Afzals disappearance and was later located in the Cleveland suburb where he was out on bond on an unrelated assault charge. Cork is set to be transformed with over 405 million announced today for urban regeneration. The funding will see major investment in the City Docklands Project and the Grand Parade Quarter Project as well as investment in towns including Mallow, Carrigaline, Passage West and Ringaskiddy. The Government funding has been allocated under the second round of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF), which aims to deliver more compact and sustainable development, as envisaged under Project Ireland 2040. Announcing the funding allocations for Cork this morning, An Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the investment is a "game-changer" for Cork and "positions the city for major growth over the next decades". Hugely significant day for city as An Taoiseach @MichealMartinTD announces 400m in #ireland2040 funding for Cork City docklands - biggest regeneration project in country - and Grand Parade Quarter inc. progressing 7,700 sq m new library @corkcitylibrary @CBA_cork @CorkChamber pic.twitter.com/kETbTyBh8T Cork City Council #StaySafe (@corkcitycouncil) March 19, 2021 "Its all about making Cork city and county even better places in which to work, live, visit and invest. "The Cork City Docklands Project investment of 353 million will transform the recreational, residential and commercial areas, and prime the docklands for significant follow up private sector development. "It provides funding for the new Marina Park, it provides funding for cycleways, walkways and the Eastern Gateway Bridge, which will further improve connectivity. "The investment will transform the Grand Parade with over 50 million for a new public library, a new central plaza and boardwalk to facilitate cultural and recreational activities making it one of the most attractive features in the centre of our city. "It underpins the strategy of creating strong regional cities outside Dublin, with significant funding also for Mallow town centre regeneration, Passage West, Ringaskiddy and Carrigaline Harbour Cluster," he said. Cork Senator Jerry Buttimer (FG) said the windfall will bring about a major transformation in Cork city and county. The funding for Cork city is the largest allocation for a single local authority in the country with 353 million to drive forward the Cork City Docklands project which will develop over 146 hectares to create a new urban quarter that will be home to over 25,000 people with a mix of homes, schools, sports and recreation facilities as well as transport infrastructure, including two new bridges for the city. For Cork county, 4.7 million has been allocated for Mallow Town Centre regeneration and 817,500 for Passage West-Ringaskiddy-Carrigaline Harbour Cluster. In the county, URDF funding will help regenerate Mallow town centre including the Mallow Castle Visitor Centre and the Main Street Public Realm Plan while funding will also help with design of the Passage West Cycleway, to ultimately link to Cork city, as well as a new civic space for Carrigaline, Mr Buttimer said. This round 2 investment follows on from 14.36m for Cork in the first round of the URDF from November 2018 which has benefited projects in Mallow, Carrigtwohill, Carrigaline, Cobh and Midleton as well as the city. 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, he continued. Mr Buttimer said the support from the URDF for communities in Cork is more vital than ever with the growth in remote and blended working which has seen people spending more time at home locally. 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 this administration of this unprecedented investment in urban regeneration and development, he said. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE A proposal to overhaul New Mexicos medical malpractice law won Senate approval on a 36-5 vote late Thursday and now heads back to the House. The legislation, House Bill 75, was substantially revised while in the Senate a compromise negotiated by health care providers and lawyers representing patients harmed by medical malpractice. We can be proud of this that these two warring factions have come together on this kind of compromise, Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, said as she presented the bill Thursday. The changes are intended to strengthen the finances of a patient compensation fund while also ensuring families harmed by medical malpractice can get justice in court. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Under the current system, theres a $600,000 cap on nonmedical damages. The proposed compromise would raise the damages cap for hospitals to $6 million, with the increase phased in through 2026. The cap for independent physicians and providers would climb to $750,000. The proposal makes a host of other changes, too. It will have to go back to the House for a vote on whether to accept the Senate changes. Emerald Fennell and Carey Mulligan are feeling 'shell-shocked and overwhelmed' after making Oscars history with their nods this week. First-time director Fennell, 35, became the first British woman to be nominated for Best Director with her film, Promising Young Woman, on Monday The filmmaker and star of The Crown has now spoken out about her significant nomination and the 'enormous pressure' to be 'empowering' when telling women's stories. Promising Young Woman has landed five Academy Awards nods; Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Director, as well as Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress for Mulligan, 35. 'Shell-shocked': Emerald Fennell and Carey Mulligan are feeling 'overwhelmed' after making Oscars history with their nods this week (pictured in January 2020) Speaking to The Guardian, Emerald said: 'Carey and I are quite shellshocked and overwhelmed. I still feel my brain is somewhere else... You have to moderate your expectations. And so for this to happen is just amazing.' Promising Young Woman has been classed as a #MeToo revenge movie, with Mulligan starring as Cassie, a 'Vengeance Barbie' on a mission to avenge her best friend's rape and subsequent suicide. It sparked anger at its premiere at last year's Sundance Film Festival and some have been critical at the film's handling of the sensitive themes, such as sex assault. Fennell insists the film was not intended to be political or 'part of a movement' but said she does feel 'enormous pressure' when tackling difficult issues addressed in the movie. Golden girl: First-time director Fennell, 35, became the first British woman to be nominated for Best Director with her film, Promising Young Woman, on Monday She said: 'It's really difficult when you're talking about women's stories there is an enormous pressure to be cathartic and to be empowering.' The film features Cassie, played by Mulligan, a 30-year-old medical school dropout, whose performance has won her an Oscar nomination By day, Cassie has a dead-end job in a cafe but at night she trawls nightclubs pretending to be drunk to get 'nice guys' to take her home. She waits for them to try to take advantage of her and then turns the tables, hurting them or scaring them into changing. #MeToo revenge: The film features Cassie, played by Mulligan, a 30-year-old medical school dropout on a mission to avenge her best friend's rape The actress - who shares daughter Evelyn, five, and son Wilfred, three, with musician husband Marcus Mumford, 34 - admitted she was hesitant taking the lead role of a single woman, following a number of acting roles where she played a mother. 'I'd been exclusively playing mums for a bit,' she said. 'And then, suddenly, I was a bit like: 'Can you still buy me as pre-kids?'' Earlier this year, Carey spoke out about a film review that suggested she wasn't 'hot enough' to play the lead character in Promising Young Woman. In the review, written by freelance film critic Dennis Harvey and first published by Variety in January last year, Mulligan was labelled as an 'odd choice' to play the femme fatale character. 'Can you still buy me as pre-kids?': Carey admitted she was hesitant taking the lead role, of a 30-year-old single woman, after playing a number of acting roles where she was a mother The critic compared Mulligan's costumes in the movie to 'bad drag', and wrote 'even her long blonde hair seems a put-on' and suggests that Margot Robbie, a producer on the project, should have taken on the role instead. The British star reflected on it in an interview in January this year, telling New York Times: 'I read the Variety review, because I'm a weak person.' She said the review suggested she wasn't 'hot enough to pull off this kind of ruse' but she wasn't talking about it because she was hurt, moreso because it missed the mark so much. 'It drove me so crazy,' she said. 'I was like, 'Really? For this film, you're going to write something that is so transparent? Now? In 2020?' I just couldn't believe it.' On set: Promising Young Woman will finally open in the UK this spring a year after its scheduled release Promising Young Woman will finally open in the UK this spring a year after its scheduled release. It is the latest in a string of successes for first-time director Fennell, who has bagged a staggering 18 award nominations this awards season alone, including three each from the Critics Choice Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTA. She has previously received two Emmy nods for the second season of Killing Eve, which she was chosen to pen after friend Phoebe Waller-Bridge left to write Bond. 'I've always wanted to direct. It feels as if everything up until now has given me the tools to do that working with many talented people. It's been kind of life-changing,' she said in an interview last month on the film's release. 'Directing seems to me to be the ultimate way of telling a story, particularly if it's something you've written yourself,' she said. 'Everything we see in this film, we've seen in romantic comedies over the last 50 to 70 years,' she said. 'It's only when you look back through different eyes that you think, "Hang on, maybe this stuff isn't so cool".' As an actress, Fennell is currently best known for playing Camilla Parker Bowles in the third and fourth series of Netflix's The Crown opposite Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles. Charming the prince: As an actress, Fennell is best known to audiences as Camilla Parker Bowles in Netflix epic The Crown (pictured with Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles in series 4) Advertisement British Airways could sell its headquarters at Heathrow Airport as part of plans to let staff work from home more often. Bosses said home-working was one of the 'very few positive aspects' of the pandemic. The airline was last night revealed to be looking at options for its Waterside complex in London, which currently houses 2,000 employees. After many employees worked remotely during the pandemic, bosses are considering whether the same amount of office space will be needed if they continue to do so in future. BA is just the latest firm to look at slashing office space as staff increasingly split their time between home and the office, with HSBC, Lloyds and BP among other top firms that have done so. The firm paid 200million for the land and construction of its headquarters in the 1990s. British Airways is looking at options for its Waterside complex at London Heathrow Airport and could sell the headquarters But Stuart Kennedy, BA's director of people, told staff that now 'it's not clear if such a large office will play a part in our future', according to the Financial Times. 'We'll want to consider what the ideal office layout for the future will be,' he told them. 'Perhaps it's less fixed desks and more casual meeting areas, and we need to consider colleague wellbeing, too.' He said 'one of the very few positive aspects' of the Covid-19 crisis has been how well staff adapted to remote working. However, Mr Kennedy said it was still 'very early days' and insisted no decision had been made. Like other major airlines, BA has been hammered by coronavirus disruption in the past year, with travel restrictions leading to mass flight cancellations. The Queen is shown around BA's Waterside offices in London in May 2019 as part of the airline's centenary celebrations It prompted parent company IAG to bolster its finances earlier this year by securing a 2billion government-backed loan. Last night BA said the pandemic had also 'accelerated our approach to offering more agile and flexible ways of working'. A spokesman added: 'We've also restructured our business to emerge from the crisis and are considering whether we still have the need for such a large headquarters building.' It comes after BP told its 25,000 staff that they will likely never return to working full-time at the office, with the new hybrid arrangements set to affect more than 6,000 workers in Britain. British Airways cabin crew apprentices are photographed after their wings ceremony at the Waterside HQ in April 2019 In recent weeks, banking giant HSBC has also announced plans to slash 40 per cent of its office space and Lloyds Banking Group is cutting 20 per cent. British Gas owner Centrica is among other firms to tell staff they will not return five days per week, while the boss of Unilever said that arrangement 'seems very old-fashioned now'. Yet others have argued that spending more time working from home has disproportionately impacted the younger staff in their 20s and 30s, who have had less opportunity for in-person training and are keener to return. For example, Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon recently insisted that remote working is 'an aberration that we're going to correct as quickly as possible' - with staff at the investment bank ordered to return to their desks by the summer. The airline could sell its Waterside headquarters at Heathrow Airport as part of plans to let staff work from home more often Meanwhile it was revealed today that BAs owner IAG raised 1billion in a bond issue it said would help it survive a potentially longer than expected travel downturn. Airlines are counting on a summer travel reboot after a year of minimal income because of coronavirus restrictions, but rising case numbers in some countries and delays to Europe's Covid-19 vaccine rollout could derail the recovery. IAG, which is burning through about 150million a week as a result of the pandemic, has been cutting costs while flying only 20 per cent of its normal capacity. The owner of Iberia and Vueling in Spain and Aer Lingus in Ireland said last month it had sufficient liquidity to ride out the crisis but would continue to explore new debt options. A photo of a woman passed out on a park bench, oblivious to her baby in a nearby pram, has sent shockwaves through a community accustomed to rampant scenes of drug abuse. The image, captured in the inner-city Melbourne suburb of Richmond, shows a young woman slumped on the seat in front of what appears to be a baby in a pram. The picture, and other shocking images captured in the suburb, have sparked renewed calls for the Victorian State Government to scrap the safe injecting facility, which is situated on Lennox Street in North Richmond. A disturbing image captured in the Richmond area appears to show a young woman passed out on a park bench in front of a baby in a pram Paramedics work on a man who appears to have overdosed on a Richmond street A man lays in a Richmond gutter under the apparent effects of drugs The facility is touted as a 'hygienic place where people can inject drugs in a supervised health setting'. 'This means that if someone overdoses in the room, a staff member can respond immediately,' its website reads. On Thursday, a man was found dead outside a primary school located just 140 metres from the government-backed safe injecting room, which opened in 2018 for a two-year trial. Victoria Police confirmed the grim discovery of the body near the entrance of Richmond West Primary school about 6.50am on Thursday. The death, which saw the school put into lockdown, is believed to be drug-related. The injecting room has drawn mixed reactions from the community with protests calling for the centre to be relocated away from local schools, particularly given the number of used syringes found nearby. Among a host of disturbing images to appear in the hours following yesterday's tragedy was one of a man sprawled across the footpath - his legs dangling off the gutter onto the road - in broad daylight. 'This has to stop. This is not acceptable. This is not fair on our kids', one woman wrote on Facebook. 'Planning laws prohibit brothels being close to schools - why would the government allow an injecting room close to a school? Absolutely disgraceful,' another wrote. A person shoots up in a Richmond street in between two parked cars A drug-affected person slumps in a gutter in an ordinary Richmond street A man on crutches shoots up near the safe injecting facility in Richmond Other locals have called out authorities for normalising the behaviour of local drug addicts. 'I'm in shock how authorities treated this issue. Nothing, absolute silence like it is normal,' another woman said. Another Richmond resident shared a picture of an individual injecting themselves in a local street next to a parked car. 'Thanks to the medically supervised injection room's take away doggy bag, people are now shooting up on the street'. Police were called to the school on Wednesday afternoon after another man was spotted allegedly behaving erratically. The drug-affected man was walking past the school yelling and pouring water over his body before doing push-ups on the ground. That man was charged with trespassing, possessing a controlled weapon and breaching bail. Locals said they avoid sending their children to the primary school due to the unpredictable behaviour of local junkies. A group of drug user are seen shooting up underneath a commission flat building on Lennox Street in North Richmond, right next to the safe injecting room and not far from a primary school and popular shopping strip in August Needles and rubbish are seen left in gutters, car parks and laneways just off Victoria Street in North Richmond in August during stage four lockdown COVID-19 did little to stop Richmond's tragic love affair with illicit drugs, with users openly doing drugs throughout last year's pandemic Argument for Safe Injecting Room National Homeless Collective chief executive Donna Stolzenberg said the medically supervised injecting room is responsible for saving countless lives every year. 'The fact this very unfortunate death happened within the MSIR vicinity has no bearing on the MSIR,' she said. 'Australia has around 1600 unintentional drug induced deaths per year. These deaths are not caused because a person is close to an injecting room or that an injecting room exists. 'Drug deaths happen all over the country and in all places.' 'The MSIR helps addicts to choose better pathways out of addiction and offers help, support and advice on rehabilitation as well as the supervision of the injection and recovery and resuscitation if necessitated. ' Advertisement 'It's sad because l hear it's actually a good school. No way we were going to send our daughter there though,' one parent wrote online. National Homeless Collective chief executive Donna Stolzenberg told Daily Mail Australia closing the facility was not the answer. 'Rather than shut down the (injecting room) we must focus on funding better pathways to addiction support and recovery,' she said. 'The fact people choose to use the facility shows they want support and do not want to succumb to the effects of the drugs they are using.' Ms Stolzenberg said while the location of the facility was contentious due to its proximity to the school, parents were still seeing drug use, drug deaths and drug paraphernalia littered throughout the school grounds well before it was built. 'This has been reduced considerably since the opening of the rooms. 'Given there are schools in almost every suburb in Melbourne there would be virtually no place to move the facility that was not in the direct pathway of a school.' While the images have sparked furore among the wider community, many Richmond locals continue to argue that drug addicts have been present in the area for generations. 'So sometime in the past thirty years - lots of people ignored what the local area was like when they moved there ... Richmond has a drug problem,' one man posted on Friday. Police were called to the primary school on Wednesday after reports a man was allegedly behaving erratically by 'dosing his body in water' (pictured) Inside Richmond's Medically Supervised Injecting Room The Medically Supervised Injecting Room in Melbourne is again under fire Even Melbourne's Stage Four lockdown last year could not stem the area's tragic drug culture. Disturbing pictures captured by Daily Mail Australia in August showed addicts without masks brazenly injecting themselves outside the North Richmond facility. Syringes were later seen scattered across the footpath along with broken glass and discarded cigarette butts. But Health Minister Martin Foley continues to back the injecting rooms location. 'Where the drug market operates, sadly, is in the North Richmond community, and that is where this centre is and that is where it will continue to operate for the rest of this five-year trial that is under way,' he told the Herald Sun on Thursday. 'That is why every independent review that has looked at this process supports it being where the harm is, and that is why this government will continue to support it.' LOS ANGELESAVN Media Network is pleased to announce the launch of the Spring Vibes Contest on AVN Stars. Celebrate springtime on AVN Stars this weekend and win cash with a personal photo. This three-day, 72-hour, fan-voting contest starts at midnight PDT on Friday, March 19 and goes until 11:59 p.m. PDT on Sunday, March 21. 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. 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A man wearing a protective face mask and gloves walks in front of Banco do Brasil (Bank of Brazil) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Sao Paulo By Carolina Mandl SAO PAULO (Reuters) - State-controlled Brazilian lender Banco do Brasil SA's Chief Executive Andre Brandao submitted his resignation on Thursday after months of pressure for his ouster from President Jair Bolsonaro over cost-cutting plans. Brazil's government named Fausto de Andrade Ribeiro, current CEO of a Banco do Brasil small business unit to replace Brandao, who is expected to leave his post on April 1, adding to a wave of turnover at the country's biggest state firms. The resignation comes a month after Bolsonaro moved to replace the CEO of Petroleo Brasileiro SA, known as Petrobras, over fuel price hikes. The head of state power company Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA, or Eletrobras, also quit in January over what he called a lack of political support in Congress for privatizing the company. As Bolsonaro's popularity slips amid a brutal second wave of coronavirus infections, the president has been abandoning the free-market approach that helped elect him in 2019. Eying the 2022 presidential election, Bolsonaro has taken a more populist approach. The constant management changes underline how state-owned companies struggle to set strategy because of the constant political upheaval. After an international career at HSBC, Brandao took the helm of Banco do Brasil in September, following the resignation of former CEO Rubem Novaes, who became CEO in January 2019. In January, the bank announced a raft of measures aiming to save up to $500 million, responding to pressure from minority investors to increase its profitability. The plan included an employee buyout program and the closure of some 360 locations. After that, media reported that Bolsonaro said he would oust the CEO and name a new one, as he did not agree with Brandao's measures. Fearing being ousted, Brandao decided to resign, two sources familiar with the matter said. Shares in Banco do Brasil are down roughly 20% this year, underperforming Brazil's biggest listed banks, following Bolsonaro's interference in state-controlled lenders. (Reporting by Carolina Mandl; Editing by Brad Haynes and Stephen Coates) A MAN who defrauded a pensioner out of thousands of euro following Storm Ophelia has been given a year to raise compensation. Evan Kittler, aged 24, of Sarsfield Park, Lord Edward Street, Limerick pleaded guilty to two counts of deception relating to offences which occurred during October 2017. During a sentencing hearing, Detective Garda Emer OSullivan said the defendant was one of a number of people who called to the womens home in Raheen offering to carry out repairs to the roof which was damaged during the storm. She said the woman had contacted her son-in-law about the damage and believed Mr Kittler had been asked by him to carry out the repair works. While some works were carried out, they were substandard and the cost should have been a fraction of what was paid. The woman paid 2,350 in cash on the day after she was pressured after being put on the phone to another individual. A further 850 was paid when Mr Kittler returned a number of weeks later. John OSullivan BL, prosecuting, said a consultant engineer told gardai the works should have cost no more than 600 and that the workmanship was poor. She was grossly overcharged. The court was told the woman realised a number of days later that the men who had purported to carry out the repairs had not been contacted by her son-in-law. In early November 2017, she received intelligence relating to the defendant and was able to identify him from his Facebook profile. Following his arrest, Mr Kittler admitted his role in the offence and accepted that the work done was sub standard. In a victim impact statement, the woman said she was traumatised and terrified when the realised what had happened and that her mental health deteriorated. She said she was under severe financial pressure having paid over the money and that she is now wary of strangers. Barrister Pat Whyms said his client is the only person to have been prosecuted and he pointed out there is no evidence that he was aggressive or menacing towards the woman. He is deeply ashamed and very embarrassed, he said adding that is willing to pay compensation. Judge Tom ODonnell said the woman had been bullied into handing over money and that it was a mean-spirited offence. While acknowledging that Mr Kittler was not the prime mover, he commented that he was an active participant. He adjourned the matter for twelve months to allow him to pay compensation. THE Mayor of the City and County of Limerick has sold three houses in recent weeks without the purchasers even setting foot in the door. When Michael Collins takes off his mayoral chain he is an auctioneer with Collins & Co, based in Newcastle West. He says there is a shortage of properties across the board. As an example, he has sold three houses without the buyer being able to see the property due to Covid restrictions. If I had five or six or more they would sell as well, said Mr Collins. Many auctioneers across the county and city are seeing the same scenario. Mr Collins said everything is working in reverse. Normally they would go view the house, then they would try and negotiate the price, pay the deposit and the sale process starts, said Mr Collins. However, in two of the three semi-detached homes in Cluain Arra and Daar River Walk respectively the full asking price was offered without having a walk inside the properties. If somebody said to Mr Collins pre-Covid that people would buy a house without even seeing it, what would his reaction have been? I wouldnt have believed it. It is just not normal practice. Its not normal in any shape or form, he said. Mr Collins didnt even advertise one of the homes. I have a few people on my books who want to buy and are mortgage approved. I contacted them and I said, Look, I cant show you the house but this is the price. They offered the full asking price. When the stock is so limited, when a property comes up - once it is in good condition they are ready to go and are prepared to move without viewing the internals of the house. Now I have done virtual walk through videos and sent them to people, said Mr Collins. The interested parties he is seeing are young couples, mortgage approved, wanting to get their foot on the property ladder. The auctioneer with 16 years experience has also seen prices rise in Newcastle West, which again is reflected across the city and county. This time last year he says a semi-d in Newcastle West would have set you back between 150,000 and 160,000. Before Christmas it was 160k / 165k. Now they have gone to 170k / 175k / 180k. They have edged up since Christmas, said Mr Collins. However, those prices still reflect value to compared to popular Limerick city suburbs where a second hand three-bed semi-d will, on average, cost well over 200,000 and nearing 300,000 for a new build. Spring has already sprung in a Pennsylvania hospital where newborns were dressed up as baby chicks to mark the start of the new season. Caitlin Pechin, a nurse at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, hand-crocheted costumes for four lucky babies who modeled their adorable outfits in heartwarming (and COVID safe) photo shoots with their parents. The little ones were each given a bright yellow cap with dark eyes, an orange nose, and a white 'egg shell' on top and then tucked into white crocheted swaddles, giving them the appearance of newly-hatched chicks. Scroll down for video Too cute! Newborns at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were dressed up as baby chicks in celebration of spring Costumes: The little ones were each given a bright yellow cap with dark eyes, an orange nose, and a white 'egg shell' on top and then tucked into crocheted swaddles 'It's really important to bring some cheer to our families and to the staff, especially during this hard time we've been having during COVID,' Pechin said. The nurse, who loves to crotchet, came up with the idea for the spring chick costumes and spent two to three hours on each one. 'I think dressing the babies up in these little chick outfits for spring is really nice because everyone's had a really long winter,' she explained. 'It's just nice to do something fun for spring that is just happy and makes all the families and staff excited.' 'My Chicken Littles': Avary and Nikita Austin were excited to see their newborn twins dressed up as spring chicks before they left the hospital Bringing joy: Nurse Caitlin Pechin hand-crocheted the costumes for the baby, bringing joy to both parents and staffers at the hospital Fun: 'I think dressing the babies up in these little chick outfits for spring is really nice because everyone's had a really long winter,' the nurse explained The babies including a pair of twins were dressed up in their new outfits and had their photos taken with their parents in their private rooms. While sharing the photos on Facebook, the hospital noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines for COVID-19 were followed when they took the precious family pictures. Avary and Nikita Austin were among the new parents who got to see their newborn babies dressed up as baby chicks. The couple welcomed twins earlier this month and were getting ready to leave the hospital. 'It means a lot to me to have them involved in it. I'm really happy, excited,' Nikita said, lovingly looking down at the baby cradled in her arms. 'The chick costumes, they're so cute. My little Chicken Littles.' Process: Pechin, who loves to crotchet, made four chick costumes and spent two to three hours on each one Look it out precious! The babies modeled their adorable outfits in heartwarming (and COVID safe) photo shoots with their parents Bringing joy: Heather Ambrose, director of nursing at the hospital, said these types of celebrations are exactly what patients and staffers need during the COVID-19 crisis The couple couldn't be happier to have twins, with Avary saying he is excited to 'see them grow together, learn together, and be happy together.' 'I just love that they have a forever friend with each other no matter what,' Nikita added. Heather Ambrose, director of nursing at the hospital, said these types of celebrations are exactly what patients and staffers need during the COVID-19 crisis. 'Over the course of the last year, our community and our country have really experienced some devastation with the pandemic,' she explained. 'The opportunity to dress our babies into fun, cute outfits just reminds us there are new beginnings, new life every single day. There are things to celebrate.' Huntington, WV (25701) Today Variable clouds with showers and scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High around 75F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms in the evening, with mostly cloudy skies overnight. Areas of patchy fog developing. Low 61F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. remaining of Thank you for reading! This is your last free article before you will be asked to subscribe. Already have a paid subscription? Sign in The government approved on Friday the threshold of the 2021 guarantees for the Noua Casa/New House programme worth RON 1.5 billion, Prime Minister Florin Citu announced. "In today's government meeting, we approved the decision granting the upper amount for the Noua Casa programme, an important programme at its last year of operation, 2017 - 2021, a ceiling of RON 1.5 billion. I'm sure a lot of Romanians were waiting for this programme," Citu told a press conference at the gov't's venue, the Victoria Palace. AGERPRES Flash Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said Wednesday that China will not compromise on core interests during the upcoming high-level strategic dialogue between top diplomats of China and the United States. "For any dialogue between countries, a basic prerequisite is that both sides should have the spirit of equality and mutual respect," Cui told Chinese reporters at a briefing, one day ahead of the dialogue that is scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Anchorage, a city in the U.S. state of Alaska. "When its core interests are involved, China has no room to back down. This position will also be clearly articulated in the dialogue." Cui said, according to an English translation of the transcript released after the briefing. If some people assume that China will say yes to any unilateral demands from any side just for some "outcomes" from the dialogue, they should give up, said Cui. Cui also said that China does not expect that one dialogue can resolve all the issues between the two sides, adding that it does not have "unrealistic expectations or illusions" about the upcoming high-level dialogue with the United States. The veteran diplomat said he hoped that the dialogue will become a beginning and that the two sides will start a candid, constructive, rational process of dialogue and communication. "If this can be achieved, then the dialogue is successful," Cui said. "I hope that the two sides will come with good will and leave with better mutual understanding." At the invitation of the U.S. side, Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the upcoming high-level dialogue. The dialogue is the first high-level contact between the two countries after their heads of state 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 U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January. Cui's remarks also came as the Biden administration repeatedly said that the United States will work with allies to engage China "from a position of strength." "Some people may think that by talking to other countries before meeting with China, they can give out their voice and show their strength. This is unnecessary, and may not work," Cui said. "If you have issues to talk about with China, do it, face to face." Cui noted that most countries, including some U.S. allies in Asia, actually have some doubts and concerns about U.S. policies. "First, will the United States be a responsible stakeholder in global affairs? Second, will the United States come back with sustained commitment and contributions to multilateral cooperation? Third, will the United States be ready and willing to respect other countries' interests and listen to their voice?" the ambassador asked. These concerns are in the hearts of many countries in the world, including U.S. allies, but some countries just do not say it in public, Cui said. "It is hoped that the United States will understand other countries' concerns." Woodside residents are on alert after a dogs owners said their pet was attacked by a mountain lion, California officials said. The San Mateo County Sheriffs Office said the owners were home on Wednesday night when they heard a noise in their yard, SFGate reported. When they looked out the window, they saw a mountain lion had the dog by the neck, the sheriffs office said, according to the publication. Police said that one of the owners managed to scare the mountain lion off by driving onto the lawn with her car. The sheriffs office said the mountain lion couldnt be found when officers responded to the incident in the outskirts of Woodland around 10 p.m., KRON4 reported. Police wrote on Twitter on Thursday the dog is expected to recover and no one else was injured. The sheriffs office is also working with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife regarding the mountain lion attack. Phil Gregory, who lives near where the incident took place, told KTVU that wild animals are to be expected in the town. This is a rural area, its not like a mountain lion is appearing in the middle of downtown San Francisco, Gregory said. The whole point of living around here is to be rural, around nature, and nature includes mountain lions. Woodside is between San Francisco and San Jose, near a state park and several nature preserves. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates that between 4,000 and 6,000 mountain lions live in the state. Free expression and open inquiry in higher education are under attack by ideologues seeking to impose neo-Marxist critical theories, most prominently critical race theory, which places race at the center of all political and social issues. Critical race theory training, misleadingly characterized as antiracism training, has spread widely throughout higher education and is often compared to Maoist struggle sessions, where dissent incurs public shaming, job loss, and harassment. This training often turns into race-shaming and Kafka-trapping, using denial of racism as proof of racism. The result is self-imposed racial conflict and systemic retaliatory discrimination masquerading as equity. Claims of white privilege and white fragility are used to bully people into submission. Columbia University Professor John McWhorter refers to this delusion as neoracism, which teaches that racism is baked into the structure of society, so whites complicity in living within it constitutes racism itself. Rather than lessening racism, these approaches adopt discriminatory racial practices and verbiage that in any other context would be rightfully deemed racist. Instead of focusing on inherent human worth without regard to skin color, race becomes the obsessive focus and measure. The ubiquitous term antiracist thus is one of the greatest linguistic sleights of hand and deceptions of our time, yet it is unmistakably transforming education in America today. As the Manhattan Institutes Coleman Hughes points out, the modern antiracist movement is not against discrimination. It is against inequity, which in many cases makes it pro-discrimination. The foundational text for this corrosive philosophy is How to Be an Antiracist by Boston University professor Ibram X. Kendi, who insists that [t]he only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination and foments a perpetual struggle session by artificially dividing people into antiracists and racists. According to Kendi, it is impossible to be not racist. Those who do not actively seek to dismantle systemic racism, including in ones own psyche, are racist by this definition. Perhaps worst of all is that the so-called antiracist movement sets up an interracial struggle that never can be absolved. Racial struggle is the entire point of so-called antiracist movement, around which a lucrative industry of authors, consultants, and administrators has been built. Too many people are making too much money from so-called antiracist training for a return to the colorblind ideals of the civil rights movement. This corrosive ideology has swept American culture, especially on college campuses, where it threatens irreversible damage to academic freedom. Cornell University, where I have taught law since 2007, is approaching this abyss under an antiracist initiative launched after George Floyds death. Unfortunately, Cornell may become an example of how a desire to address racism can go horribly wrong. In early June 2020, shortly after the death of George Floyd, Cornell President Martha Pollack designated Kendis antiracism book a Community Book Read to be the focus of virtual discussions over the summer, a move endorsed by the Faculty Senate. On July 16, 2020, President Pollack further declared that we must embed anti-racism across all aspects of campus life. Immediate mandates were placed on staff, including making work on diversity, equity and inclusion part of the performance reviews and mandating equity and cultural competency training. This directive, with specifics to be developed by the Faculty Senate, also called for new requirements for students and faculty, including the creation and implementation of a for-credit, educational requirement on racism, bias and equity for all Cornell students and a systematic review of the curriculum in each of our colleges and schools to ensure that courses reflect, represent and include the contributions of all people. It also demanded a new set of programs focusing on the history of race, racism and colonialism in the United States, and [a]ll faculty would be expected to participate in this programming and follow-on discussions. Additionally, a new Anti-Racism Center and an institution-wide, themed semester focused on racism in the U.S. were on the agenda. In early September 2020, multiple Cornell academic programs and several hundred faculty, students, and staff, including at least nine law professors, issued a Demand List calling for the campus antiracism initiative to include race-based hiring and promotion, the elimination of colorblind hiring and other race-based practices. Some of these proposed employment rules are illegal and in violation of Cornells non-discrimination policies. This manifesto lived up to Kendis call for present discrimination. Regardless of how the Cornell administration may define antiracism, many of the campus faculty and student activists who will design, teach, direct, and implement any final initiatives view antiracism as Kendi sees it. It was startling to see prominent faculty join in such a call, and that ethos has carried into Faculty Senate draft proposals that could be voted on at the end of this month and then quickly go to the president for approval. The latest draft proposal for students calls for mandatory curriculum created by various ethnic and gender studies department faculty, focusing on how Americas colonialization and globalization impacts race, ethnicity and indigeneity. Meanwhile, faculty will be responsible for [e]mbedding antiracist content across academic disciplines to address how such issues affect various professions and fields of study. This portends a breach of faculty academic freedom and the sort of interference -- even in STEM -- that has made headlines recently. Faculty, meanwhile, would need to dismantle racial and cultural barriers and participate in educational programming possibly modeled on the training modules required of staff. There also is an enforcement mechanism that makes obtaining a promotion contingent upon reaching certain diversity, equity and inclusion benchmarks. Student course evaluations would now include assessing a professors antiracism compliance. The cumulative effect of these initiatives is coercive not educational, tying academic and professional performance to a deceptive concept of antiracism that in reality is neo-racist and endangers free expression. Dissent will be silenced when grades, evaluations, continued employment and professional advancement are tied to meeting top-down mandates, creating an environment of compelled activism and compliance in which opposition is defined as inherently racist. Cornell already ranks low in protecting student free expression. Like so many institutions of higher education, it is also now putting at risk its ability to protect academic freedom for its students and faculty. Hopefully, the Cornell senior administration will pull the campus back from this brink. Racial struggle and conflict are not the answer in higher education or elsewhere in our society. As universities across America push neo-racist antiracism ideology, they are damaging themselves and our nation. 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 South Africa: IPP preferred bidders announced Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, has announced eight preferred bidders for the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme. The evaluation process has resulted in the selection of eight preferred bids totalling 1 845 megawatts (MW) and a further three eligible bids totalling 150 MW, Mantashe said. Addressing a media briefing on Thursday in Pretoria on the latest developments in the energy sector, he said the three eligible bids are subject to value for money proposition in line with the provisions in the Request for Proposal. It is important to note that these three bidders are within the 2 000 MW capacity threshold in terms of the evaluation rankings, but their announcement can only be made following satisfactory value for money propositions, Mantashe said. The preferred bidders include: ACWA Power Project DAO; Karpowership SA Coega; Karpowership SA Richards Bay; Karpowership SA Saldanha; Mulilo Total Coega; Mulilo Total Hydra Storage; Oya Energy Hybrid Facility and Umoyilanga Energy. The solutions provided by these preferred bidders are from a combination of a range of technologies that include, Solar PV, wind, liquified natural gas and battery storage. The prices for the proposed solutions range from R1 468 per megawatt hour (per MWh) to R1 885 per MWh. The weighted average price is R1 575 per MWh, the Minister said. These eight projects will inject a total private sector investment amount of R45 billion to the South African economy, with an average local content of 50% during the construction period. South African entity participation from these projects is 51% with black ownership at 41%. About 3 800 job opportunities will be created during the18-month construction period and a further 13 500 during the 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) term. The Preferred Bidders are required to reach financial close by no later than the end of July 2021. Due to the urgency to bring power online, this date is not negotiable. It is for the Preferred Bidders to manage all the risks to reach financial close. It is envisaged that, first power from these projects will be connected to the grid from August 2022, the Minister said. Procurement of additional power The Request for Proposal (RFP) for the procurement of 2 600 megawatts under the Renewable Energy IPP Procurement Programme Bid Window 5 was released to the market at midnight on Thursday. Of the 2 600 megawatts from this Bid Window 5, 1 600 megawatts will be from wind and 1 000 megawatts from Solar PV. Given the energy challenges that we are facing the objective is to get these projects connected to the grid as soon as possible, the Minister said. The closing date for the Bid Submission is 4 August 2021. Government intends to release four more Requests for Proposals within the next 12 months. These will include: - 2 600MW from renewable energy, - 3 000MW from gas, - 1 500MW from coal, and - 513MW from battery storage. In line with the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and the provisions in the electricity regulations of new generation capacity, additional determinations will be issued to Eskom and municipalities as and when requests are received. The Department of Energy is working with the necessary speed to review the licensing threshold for increased embedded generation, Mantashe said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-03-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will turn to the US, Japan and India to get vaccines for Papua New Guinea as the European Union continues to block AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shipments to Australia. PNGs health system has been struggling to cope with a major COVID-19 epidemic, with hospitals at breaking point and half of all the countrys limited tests returning positive results for the disease. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will turn to the US, Japan and India to help secure vaccines for Papua New Guinea. Credit:Jason South Mr Morrison announced on Wednesday that Australia would send 8000 locally produced AstraZeneca vaccines to PNG to help immunise health workers, as well as personal protective equipment and teams of health workers to help fight the widespread outbreak. Australia also asked the EU to redirect 1 million doses of the internationally produced AstraZeneca vaccine originally contracted by the Morrison government to PNG. But Mr Morrison said he is yet to hear from his European counterpart about the request. Israels navy conducted a joint exercise with Cyprus, Greece and France in the eastern Mediterranean this week as the countries continue to bolster defense cooperation amid ongoing tensions with Turkey. Exercise Noble Dina was led by the Israeli navy off Cyprus west coast, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. The exercise, which ended Thursday, included anti-submarine procedures, search-and-rescue scenarios and a scenario simulating battle between ships, the IDF said. Israeli Dolphin-II class submarines also participated in the exercise. The drills build on increased defense cooperation between the four countries in the eastern Mediterranean since Turkey has become increasingly assertive in the region in recent years. Disputes over hydrocarbon rights in the eastern Mediterranean have drawn together governments seeking to limit Turkeys claims, including France and the United Arab Emirates which also oppose Turkeys ambitions in Libya. Amid bitter tensions last year, a Greek frigate rammed a Turkish naval vessel that was escorting a Turkish seismic research vessel in waters claimed by Athens. Tensions have continued despite talks. Israel, Egypt, France and the UAE openly backed Greece last summer amid the dispute. The UAE joined mutual naval exercises with Greece, Egypt and Cyprus for the first time late last year after inking a deal with Athens that would allow for mutual basing on each others territory. Abu Dhabi also signed an agreement with Cyprus in January. Greece has also sought to buy the United States highly advanced F-35 fighter jet. If eventually accepted, Athens would join an exclusive club of nations allowed access to the Joint Strike Fighter, a privilege Washington took away from NATO-ally Turkey after officials there purchased Russias S-400 missile defense system. Speaking about the latest Noble Dina exercise Friday, Rear Adm. Eyal Harel, who leads Israeli naval operations, said the drills are of paramount importance in strengthening the navys connection with foreign fleets who share common interests. Greece, Israel and Cyprus are aiming to complete a major undersea natural gas pipeline to Europe by 2025, and have plans for other joint infrastructure projects. Turkey has voiced opposition the EastMed pipeline and signed an exclusionary maritime zone deal with Libya shortly after its announcement. Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Rain showers in the morning with numerous thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. Storms could contain damaging winds. High 78F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. There are strong pro-choice and anti-abortion lobbies in Northern Ireland (Dominic Lipinski/PA) The Northern Ireland Secretary is considering further legislative action to see new abortion laws implemented in the region. The law was liberalised last year to allow terminations following action taken at Westminster. However, while individual health trusts have set up temporary early medical abortion pathways, Northern Ireland-wide services have not yet been commissioned by the Department of Health. Expand Close Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis (Kirsty OConnor/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis (Kirsty OConnor/PA) Northern Irelands Health Minister Robin Swann previously said the issue is controversial and therefore he cannot act alone and requires agreement by the Executive. Brandon Lewis intends to lay new regulations in Parliament next week to allow him to direct Mr Swanns department to commission the services, the Guardian has reported. Mr Lewis was reportedly prompted by concerns many women are still travelling to Great Britain to access services. A UK Government spokesperson confirmed there is disappointment that full abortion services have not yet been commissioned, adding further legislative action at Westminster is being considered. It is understood DUP leader Arlene Foster met with Mr Lewis earlier on Thursday on the matter. Abortion is an issue which sharply divides opinion in Northern Ireland with strong pro-choice and anti-abortion lobbies. Expand Close Protesters stage a silent demonstration at Stormont against the liberalisation of abortion laws in Northern Ireland (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters stage a silent demonstration at Stormont against the liberalisation of abortion laws in Northern Ireland (Brian Lawless/PA) On Monday a motion by DUP MLA Paul Givan seeking to restrict abortions in cases of non-fatal disabilities passed its second reading. Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill accused the DUP of attempting to roll back abortion progress but her MLAs abstained on that vote. Separately, the party has announced its intention to bring a paper to the Executive calling for Mr Swann to commission full abortion services. A UK Government spokesperson said: We remain disappointed that the Department of Health and Northern Ireland Executive have failed to commission full abortion services, following the change to the law last March. We are continuing to monitor the situation closely, including considering further legislative action at Westminster, given the nature of the legal duties on the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in this context. This story orignally appeared on JewishFoodSociety.org Recipe Roots: Basra, Iraq > Tehran > Ramat Gan, Israel > Istanbul > Basel, Switzerland > Gainesville, Florida and New York City || Berlin > London > Forest Hills, Queens On January 1, 2015 Jake Cohen and Alex Shapiro both swiped right. A week after their first date, they were already seeing one another nearly every day. That spring, they faced one of their first big hurdles as a couple. Both families Jakes Ashkenazi and Alexs Mizrahi wanted them at their Seder tables. In Jakes family, the annual invitation to Seder comes with a heaping side of Jewish guilt and expectation from his mother. If youre in the state of New York, theres no reason you should miss Seder, says Jake, who is the author of the new cookbook Jew-ish: Reinvented Recipes from a Modern Mensch. ADVERTISEMENT But, Jake broke with tradition. That first year, the couple split their time, spending one night with Jakes family and the other with Alexs. The next year, they faced the same challenges of guilt and expectations. But, again, one night was celebrated with Jakes family eating his aunt Susis famed braised brisket and his great-aunt Lottes meringues, and one was spent with Alexs Persian family eating beet kubbeh a soup of dumplings wrapped in rice for the holiday, and tahdig, a prized dish of crispy rice. The Persian Seder was a revelation for Jake. It was unlike anything Id ever experienced and yet still so Jewish, he explains on the Schmaltzy podcast. As Jake and Alexs relationship grew, Jake started to immerse himself in the Iraqi and Iranian cooking of Alexs family. Alexs mother Robina sent him a Persian rice cooker and a copy of the Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies, by Najmieh Batmanglij, a bible of the cuisine. And Jake started to ask various members of Alexs family for the recipes they were best known for including Robinas ghormeh sabzi, an herb-laden stew with beef and kidney beans. At the time, Jake hadnt met Alexs great-aunt Doris yet, but he was already asking around for her recipe for hadji bada, or Iraqi almond cookies that are Alexs favorite sweet. The following year for Passover, to keep the peace, Alex declared that he and Jake would host a Seder for both families. For Jake, it was daunting. Its so many people, its such different traditions, its such big personalities. There are enough big personalities just within one family, he says. He felt the future of their Seders hung in the balance, but he agreed to go along with the plan. Having learned Alexs family recipes, Jake prepared all of the signature dishes from both families braised brisket and tahdig. It was also the night Jake met Doris. She walked into the room and handed him a small piece of folded paper. On it, was her recipe for hajdi bada. Thankfully, the blended Seder worked. That Seder, we became one family, Jake explains on Schmaltzy. Finally, by 2019, Jake was not only ready to welcome both sides of the family to the table, but to blend them. He prepared ghormeh sabzi from Alexs tradition, but with a brisket, nodding to his own family. Jake adds: Its just the perfect representation of this crazy Jewish family my husband and I have built. Ghormeh Sabzi Brisket Makes: 6 to 8 servings Total Time: 4 hours + overnight Ingredients 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 5-to-5-pound beef brisket, untrimmed Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped 1 tablespoon dried fenugreek (leaves) 1 tablespoon dried turmeric 2 bunches parsley, minced (4 cups leaves and tender stems) 2 bunches cilantro, minced (4 cups leaves and tender stems) 2 bunches scallions, minced (12 each) 6 cups chicken stock 6 dried Omani limes 2 cups red kidney beans, soaked overnight and drained Preparation 1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large Dutch oven or roasting pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Dry the brisket with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Sear the brisket, turning as needed, until golden brown, 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer the brisket to a platter. 2. To the pot, add the onions and cook until softened and slightly golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the dried fenugreek and turmeric, and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. 3. Add the parsley, cilantro and scallions to the pot and cook, stirring to scrape up any fond on the bottom of the pot, until the herbs are dark green in color, 4 to 5 minutes. 4. Add the chicken stock and dried limes, then nestle the brisket into the pot and bring to simmer. Cover with a lid (use tinfoil to cover if youre using a roasting pan) and place in the oven for 1 hour. 5. After 1 hour, stir in the soaked kidney beans and, using a paring knife, pierce a hole in each lime to release its flavor into the stew. Continue to cook, covered, until both the brisket and beans are tender, 2 hours more. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, then let cool completely and refrigerate overnight. 6. The next day, skim and discard the solidified fat cap, then transfer the chilled brisket to a cutting board. Cut against the grain into -inch slices, then return to the pot. Return the stovetop and reheat over medium-low heat until hot. Check for seasoning, then serve. Chewy Iraqi Almond Cookies (Hadji Bada) Makes: 24 Cookies Total Time: 35 Minutes, Plus Cooling Time Ingredients 2 cups finely ground almond flour teaspoon ground cinnamon teaspoon kosher salt 2 large egg whites 1 cup (200g) sugar 1 tablespoon rose water, plus more for rolling 24 whole raw almonds Preparation 1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper. 2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cinnamon, and salt to combine. 3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites, sugar, and rose water until foamy. (Note: Youre not making a meringue.) Stir in the almond flour mixture until a smooth dough forms. 4. Fill a small bowl with room-temperature water and add a few drops of rose water, then use this water to wet your hands to prevent sticking as you roll the dough. Roll the dough into tablespoon- size balls and place them on the prepared sheet pans, spacing them 2 inches apart and placing 12 balls on each pan. Push an almond into the center of each ball of dough. 5. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, for about 15 minutes, until the cookies have spread out and their edges are golden. Let cool completely on the pans, then serve. Excerpted from JEW-ISH: A COOKBOOK: Reinvented Recipes from a Modern Mensch 2021 by Jake Cohen. Photography 2021 by Matt Taylor-Gross. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. Lottes Meringue Cookies Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling on Azerbaijan to investigate all allegations of ill-treatment against Armenian prisoners of war from last falls war over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, and to hold those responsible to account. Azerbaijani forces subjected POWs to cruel and degrading treatment and torture either when they were captured, during their transfer, or while in custody at various detention facilities, the New York-based human rights watchdog saidin a statement on March 19. It said Azerbaijan should also immediately release all remaining Armenian POWs and civilian detainees and provide information on those who were last seen in Azerbaijani custody. The abuse, including torture of detained Armenian soldiers, is abhorrent and a war crime, said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at HRW. It is also deeply disturbing that a number of missing Armenian soldiers were last seen in Azerbaijans custody and it has failed to account for them, Williamson added. HRW said it had interviewed four former POWs who described prolonged and repeated beatings while in Azerbaijani custody. One described being prodded with a sharp metal rod, and another said he was subjected to electric shocks, and one was repeatedly burned with a cigarette lighter, the group said, adding that the men were held in degrading conditions, given very little water and little to no food in the initial days of their detention. HRW also cited scores of videos posted to social media showing scenes in which Azerbaijani officers can be seen apparently ill-treating POWs. The watchdog said it had verified more than 20 of these videos, including through interviews with repatriated POWs and family members of servicemen who appear in the clips but have not yet returned. Raising concerns that POWs still in Azerbaijani custody are at risk of further abuse, HRW urged Azerbaijani authorities to ensure that the detainees have all the protections to which they are entitled under international human rights and humanitarian law, including freedom from torture and ill-treatment. Six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan in and around Nagorno-Karabakh ended in November with a Moscow-brokered cease-fire deal. More than 6,000 people were killed during the conflict. Under the truce agreement, a chunk of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven districts around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by ethnic Armenian forces. The agreement also provided for an exchange of POWs and other detained people. The number of Armenian POWs still in custody is unclear. By the end of February, Armenia had asked the European Court of Human Rights to intervene with Azerbaijan regarding 240 cases of alleged prisoners of war and civilian detainees, according to HRW. Armenia has said that its neighbor had returned 69 POWs and civilians. Azerbaijan claimed it had returned all the POWs to Armenia but was still holding about 60 people suspected of terrorism. HRW said it could not verify the claims by Baku or Yerevan about the numbers of people remaining in custody or their status. Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but the ethnic Armenians who make up most of the region's population reject Azerbaijani rule. They had been governing their own affairs, with support from Armenia, since Azerbaijan's troops and Azeri civilians were pushed out of the region and seven adjacent districts in a war that ended in a cease-fire in 1994. Boris Johnson announced the first national lockdown on May 23, 2020 Focused on 27 London bus drivers who had been working in February 202 Enforcing an earlier lockdown would have saved the lives of London's bus drivers who died from Covid-19, an independent review has concluded. The study, carried out by University College London (UCL), found that some of the deaths of workers in March 2020 'would not have happened' if restrictions had been implemented sooner. The report, which was commissioned by Transport for London (TfL), also found that safety measures such as hand sanitisers, enhanced cleaning and covering holes in protective screens were introduced too late for many of those who died. UCL's research focused on the 27 London bus drivers who had been working in February 2020 and died from coronavirus between March and May. An independent report found that some of the deaths of London's bus drivers workers in March 2020 'would not have happened' if restrictions had been implemented sooner. (Stock image) It also found that London bus drivers were three times more likely to die from Covid-19 than the UK average. Professor Sir Michael Marmot, director of UCL's Institute of Health Equity, said: 'It is clear that an earlier introduction of the lockdown on 23 March 2020 would have saved lives. 'However, we do not know whether an earlier introduction of workplace preventative measures would have reduced Covid-19 infection and mortality in addition to the lockdown. 'We know pre-existing health conditions and ethnic composition play a role in Covid-19 infection and mortality. 'The UCL Institute of Health Equity therefore recommends implementing a number of workplace changes to reduce exposure to Covid-19, prevent avoidable ill health and improve the wellbeing of bus drivers.' The report recommended that all bus drivers need 'continued protection' through social distancing and mask-wearing. It also called for early interventions to reduce ill health, financial support for drivers off work due to having Covid-19 symptoms to be maintained, and a review of the impact of working patterns on fatigue. Among the bus drivers who died of coronavirus last year was Emeka Nyack Ihenacho, 36, who drove the number four bus from Blackfriars to Archway, and Kenneth Yeboah- a bus driver for Tower Transit who died from the virus on April 1. In April, London bus driver Mervyn Kennedy, 67, who had no underlying health conditions, was rushed to hospital with breathing difficulties and died the following day from Covid-19. Emeka Nyack Ihenacho (left), who drove the number four bus from Blackfriars to Archway, and Kenneth Yeboah (right) died from coronavirus last year Mervyn Kennedy, (left), 67, was rushed to hospital with breathing difficulties and died the following day from Covid-19 and Ranjith Chandrapala (right), 64, died in May after driving the No 92 bus And Ranjith Chandrapala, 64, died in May after driving the No 92 bus on the Ealing hospital route from the start of the crisis. Transport for London has insisted it 'moved quickly' to ensure bus companies took action to stop the spread of the virus. TfL's chief health, safety and environment officer Lilli Matson commented: 'This awful virus has taken much-loved colleagues from us, leaving devastated family and friends behind. 'It is our duty to do everything humanly possible to keep bus drivers safe in this pandemic. This report helps to reinforce what we are doing and shows where we can redouble our efforts. 'We will work closely with the bus operators to ensure that those suffering or at risk from coronavirus will continue to receive support, with vulnerable drivers having to shield being able to stay at home, with sick pay for those with symptoms and access to a range of services. 'Further measures to improve ventilation on buses are being introduced, and we are working to drive a more proactive approach to drivers' health and wellbeing. 'In addition, we continue with our strong measures to ensure social distancing and the wearing of face coverings, and with our wider radical work alongside the mayor to improve London's air quality.' The study comes as Britain today saw Covid-19 cases fall again, dropping by a quarter from last week to 4,802 positive tests in a day while deaths also dropped by 42 per cent to 101. Two other weekly studies, by the Office for National Statistics and the Covid Symptom Study, also showed cases are still coming down significantly. However SAGE has warned that a resurgence of Covid in Europe could soon lead to a rise in infections in Britain and said the country is at a 'more fragile point' than it was a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 India, apples are mostly grown in the northern region of the nation, especially in states like Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Although there are varieties that are also imported from various markets in Europe, China and nations. Unsplash However, youd be surprised to know that globally, apples first originated in Kazakhstan, and spread across the world in the different avatars that weve all eaten and loved. Finding apple's birthplace This is according to a study conducted by researchers from New Yorks Boyce Thompson Institute who collaborated with researchers from Cornell University, as well as Shandong Agricultural University in China. The researchers sequenced and compared the genomes of 117 diverse apple types to understand their connection with each other. This study included the apple species Malus Domestica -- also referred to as the modern apple, along with 23 other wild species that are found in North America, Asia as well as Europe. The genetic sequencing narrowed down the origin of the domesticated apple from the earlier presumed (and a rather broad area of) central Asia to Kazakhstan, an area west of Tian Shan Mountain. Unsplash Moreover, while looking for the origin of the western apple, they also saw that through the Silk Route the first domesticated apple from the west travelled to the east, and hybridised local wild apples along the way, turning them into the soft, dessert apples that are seen in China today. Zhangjun Fei, BTI professor and lead author of this study explained, We narrowed down the origin of domesticated apples from very broad central Asia to the Kazakhstan area west of Tian Shan Mountain. We pointed out two major evolutionary routes, west and east, along the Silk Road, revealing fruit quality changes in every step along the way. How genome sequencing works As you might know, every human DNA is unique. Genome sequencing basically tries to reveal the sequence of the DNA with the help of DNA sequencing methods and computer software that help in assembling vast amounts of data. To the uninitiated, every DNA is coiled into a shape called the double helix. When unwound, a ladder shape emerges. The lines of the ladder are referred to as bases and a regular DNA could contain around 6 billion of such paired chemical bases. These bases are segregated into four different types -- A,T, G & C. In DNA, however, A and T are always paired together, just like G & C. These line-ups make a unique sequence of their own. Wikipedia Scientists extract the DNA with the help of high-frequency sound waves, roughly 600 bases long, which are then entered into a sequencer that creates multiple clusters of this combination. This is then read by the sequencer that reveals the final sequence of the DNA. Once you have a sequence, it can be compared with existing sequences to identify which one it closely matches with. Genome studies have helped find several other secrets, like how humans originated from sea sponges roughly 700 million years ago or understanding ways of editing the DNA to cure it of genetic diseases. HOLLAND, MI Using very stern language, a judge ordered a West Michigan restaurant owner accused of violating multiple court orders to remain in jail, likely for several days, until its apparent she doesnt intend to reopen her business. Behind bars in Ingham County is Marlena Pavlos-Hackney, the owner of Marlenas Bistro and Pizzeria in Holland, which remained open in defiance of warnings and cease-and-desist orders issued because of its refusal to comply with state requirements intended to curb the spread of COVID-19. She was arrested by Michigan State Police early Friday, March 19, after she failed to turn herself in on a bench warrant issued earlier this month. The warrant charged her with contempt of a court order to close her restaurant, which continued to operate after its license was suspended. Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie E. Aquilina at the arraignment Friday afternoon said Pavlos-Hackney would be released only after she paid a $7,500 fine and the Michigan Attorney Generals office was satisfied the restaurant would remain closed until the court matter is resolved. Were in the midst of a pandemic. You have selfishly not followed the orders, Aquilina told Pavlos-Hackney. Youve not followed them for your own financial gain, and apparently for the publicity that comes with this. Pavlos-Hackney has appeared on national conservative talk shows to proclaim she was standing up for her constitutional rights. She has gained support of others who believe the government has overstepped its bounds with orders intended to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Pavlos-Hackney had defiantly said Thursday that she would remain open, even if she was arrested. So, maam, this is the wrong way to get publicity, this is the wrong way to be a good citizen, Aquilina said. It is the wrong way to assist the public in a pandemic. Related: Michigan restaurant open, packed after owners arrest over coronavirus restrictions Pavlos-Hackney remained silent during the proceeding. In fact, when she initially refused to take an oath to tell the truth, and then attempted to argue with the Aquilina, the no-nonsense judge threatened to arrest her for contempt of court. I know you want to control this room, but this isnt Burger King, Aquilina said. When the sign changes to Burger King, you can have it your way. That was before Pavlos-Hackney had a chance to confer with her attorney, Robert J. Baker of Holland, who was attending the court hearing via Zoom while the defendant was in the courtroom. Prior to Pavlos-Hackneys arraignment, Aquilina did order the arrest for unauthorized law practice of Rick Martin, who indicated he was appearing in court as Pavlos-Hackneys assistance of counsel. Martin had filed a notice with the court that he was legally representing Pavlos-Hackney, the judge indicated. Under questioning by Aquilina, Martin admitted he was not a licensed attorney, but insisted he was permitted to provide legal assistance under the Sixth Amendment. He told the judge he was in the courtroom to assist Pavlos-Hackney, reportedly a Polish immigrant, because she does have understanding problems with the English language. That prompted Aquilina to respond, Apparently, sir, you have problems with the English language. After citing case law, and Michigan legislative law, Aquilina said Martin would be charged with contempt, a 93-day misdemeanor, and he was led from the courtroom by a bailiff. Pavlos-Hackney declined to enter a plea at arraignment and will return for a hearing, which has not been scheduled. Baker, her attorney, said Pavlos-Hackney was prepared to pay $7,500 immediately and to close the restaurant so she could leave jail. Aquilina responded she had heard Pavlos-Hackney mutter that the restaurant had already closed at 2 p.m. The judge then wondered aloud if that was the usual closing time and that it would reopen the following day. Indeed, the restaurants published hours are 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Im clearly convinced that right now, today, (the restaurant) has remained open, and she has no intention of complying with the law, Aquilina said. The judge said she would only be satisfied that the restaurant would remain closed -- and therefore allow Pavlos-Hackney to leave jail -- when Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessels office is satisfied. A representative of the attorney general told Aquilina that the office typically is satisfied after its verified over a number of days by the health department or state inspector that the establishment is closed. The restaurant has continued to operate after its food license was suspended in late January for failing to require workers and customers to wear masks or socially distance. On March 4, Ingham County Circuit Judge Wanda Stokes issued a bench warrant for Pavlos-Hackneys arrest for repeatedly ignoring the food license suspension. That day, Pavlos-Hackney told MLive, Im not afraid. Im fighting for freedom in America. She was given until Thursday to turn herself in, which she didnt do. Pavlos-Hackney, recently featured on Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight and Glenn Becks radio program, said she refused to be bullied by the government. I stay strong because Im not going to let the government intimidate me or put fear in me, she told Beck. Im going to keep fighting for American freedom and my constitutionally protected rights. The restaurant had remained open despite a state order last November that banned indoor dining at restaurants to slow the spread of the coronavirus. At that time, a sign was placed on the front door that read: Welcome. We are a Constitutionally Compliant Business. We are not infringing on anyones inalienable rights. By law, we do not follow any of the governors, mayors, health departments, or other government agency orders or suggestions pertaining to social distancing or mask wearing. Pavlos-Hackney has garnered the support of others who believe the government has overreached its bounds. Despite Pavlos-Hackneys arrest, the restaurant opened Friday, with her supporters packing the eatery for breakfast. In Mason, about a dozen supporters appeared Friday morning outside the Ingham County Jail where Pavlos-Hackney was being held. Her supporters, many of them frequent attendees at patriot events opposing COVID-19 orders, chanted arrest the sheriff and displayed memorabilia in support of former President Trump. Martin was there too, prior to his arrest, and called the coronavirus pandemic a Trojan horse to bring in economic warfare. This woman has ultimate faith in God and she knows whats right, Martin said. A GoFundMe page set up to raise money for Pavlos-Hackneys legal fees, states that Pavlos-Hackney escaped Communism in Poland in 1983 for the Freedoms and individual rights of the U.S., where she became a citizen in 1992. It further compares the unconstitutional lockdowns issued during the pandemic with the communism she had fled. The Michigan Republican Party on Friday issued a statement regarding Nessels complaint against Pavlos-Hackney: Nessel is eager to spend taxpayer-funded resources going after small business owners trying to stave off bankruptcy but refuses to investigate the deaths of thousands of nursing home residents potentially caused by her political-ally Gretchen Whitmer, Ted Goodman, communications director for the GOP, said in the prepared statement. Its a massive abuse of power and shows what her priorities are. Read more: Holland restaurant ignored ban on dine-in service, judge says in upholding suspended license They can arrest me: Holland restaurant owner defies state coronavirus order Holland restaurant owner vows to stay open even after bench warrant issued for COVID-19 violations Sorry! This content is not available in your region Two environmental activists from Cork have been arrested after a live-streamed graffiti attack on the landmark Department of Foreign Affairs offices in Dublin. A man and a woman from Extinction Rebellion Cork threw red paint onto either side of the facade of Iveagh House before spraying graffiti with the words 'No More Empty Promises' multiple times around the entrance. They captured it on their Facebook Page, which said that a member of the group involved was risking violating bail conditions. The Extinction Rebellion Cork page said that March 19 was a global day of action called for by 'Fridays for Future'. The post says: The theme for the global strike was No More Empty Promises, a response to inaction on the climate crisis by global leaders. In the post, the woman involved in the incident said: I am targeting the Department of Foreign Affairs because the climate crisis is a global issue which we need to come together to solve. Ireland is on the UN Security Council. We have an opportunity to be leaders in climate action and justice." In a statement, Garda HQ said: A male in his 20s and female in her late teens have been arrested for an act of criminal damage that occurred on St Stephen's Green this afternoon, Friday 19 March 2021. They are currently being detained under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at Kevin Street Garda station. Investigations are ongoing. The Extinction Rebellion Cork page said that March 19 was a global day of action called for by 'Fridays for Future'. It is understood that they are being questioned on suspicion of criminal damage. The two people involved in the incident streamed a ten-minute video, in which they are seen carrying their material from St Stephens Green across the road to Iveagh House. They lay a small banner on the steps saying 'No More Empty Promises' and said Friday 19 March was the 'International Fridays for Future Global Strike Day'. The man filming the incident said: We are fed up of governments saying and making climate targets and doing nothing about it. We had words and words and words, for more than 40 years. Enough is enough. The red paint is thrown from a bucket onto one side of the facade, before being thrown from a separate bucket onto the other side. The red paint is thrown from a bucket onto one side of the facade, before being thrown from a separate bucket onto the other side. A red spray can is then used to smear the words 'No More Empty Promises' over the double doors and on the building either side. The man said: This is non violent direct action. We had enough and we need to step up again. This is a non-violent protest." Towards the end of the video, two members of the public remonstrate with them and try and stop their actions, pointing out that they are defacing public property. The last Government implementation report on the 2019 Climate Action Plan, published last December, claimed that 78% of the targets have been met. It said headline measures achieved in the last quarter included a Community Enabling Framework in renewable energy auctions, the publication of a Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy and steps to overcome barriers to afforestation. It said the Covid-19 pandemic had caused delays in implementation in 2020. Say hello to the Realme 8 Pro, which has just arrived in our office. The phone will become official on March 24, but this is a sneak preview for you guys of what it looks and feels like. The biggest-selling point of the Realme 8 Pro is its new 108MP main camera, which is capable of starry mode, tilt-shift and portrait effect mode, among others. This is a 1/1.52" Samsung ISOCELL HM2 sensor, which can achieve 3x zoomed-in shots by capturing eight 12MP photos in a row and stitching them into a single image with higher clarity. We'll test that in detail in our review. Not only did Realme send us the Realme 8 Pro with a 108MP camera, but also a separate 108MP unit for scale. Here it is, on its own. The 108MP camera sensor is physically big The Realme 8 Pro will come loaded with RealmeUI 2.0 out of the box. It's based on Android 11 and brings a design, tailored for Gen-Z users. We'll be sure and test it out thoroughly in our review. The rear panel of the Realme 8 Pro is lovely. It has a shimmering quality depending on the way light hits it, and it's nicely textured, which makes the grip a non-issue. The 'Dare to Leap' slogan is gloss to contrast from the rest of the panel. Our full review is underway. Stay tuned for March 24 when Realme 8 Pro will become official and we'll have new information, like the price. Robert Aaron Long, the 21-year-old who's now facing multiple murder charges for killing eight people at three massage parlors in the Atlanta area on Tuesday, struggled with sexual sins he committed in these establishments, a former roommate says. I lived with Robert Aaron Long for a few months. I can tell you right now that this is not racially motivated killing, but the product of an emotionally disturbed young man who was religious to the point of mania and who felt deep shame about why he frequented these places, Tyler Bayless revealed in a Facebook post Wednesday. I wonder how this would have gone if he had been in an environment where he wasnt repeatedly told how sinful he was for the things that drove him. What a tragic loss of life, and a kid that was all around one of the sweeter people youd meet. Bayless, 35, further explained to Reuters that he lived with Long in an Atlanta halfway house for recovering addicts named Maverick Recovery in late 2019 and early 2020. The former roommate who last saw Long in February 2020 said he was being treated for drug addiction while Long was being treated for sex addiction. He revealed that Long admitted to frequenting massage parlors for explicitly sexual activity but would become very emotionally distraught that he frequented these places. Source:The Christian Post It is reported that on the 17th local time, the Japan National Tourism Administration released estimated data that in February 2021, the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan was 7,400, which was a 99.3% decrease from the same month in 2020, and a year-on-year decline for 17 consecutive months, which is also August 2020. Since the beginning of the month, there are less than 10,000 people again. In terms of major countries and regions, the largest number of foreign tourists visiting Japan was 1,700 from China (a decrease of 98.1% year-on-year), followed by 900 from South Korea (a decrease of 99.4% year-on-year) and 600 from India (a decrease of 90.9% year-on-year). %). The report pointed out that since the summer of 2020, the Japanese government has relaxed some restrictions on entry for business and long-term stay. However, with the spread of the new crown epidemic, in January 2021, the Japanese government once again issued an emergency declaration, which changed in principle to not allow new entry of foreigners from all countries. Affected by the decrease in foreign tourists in Japan, the sis2 market is changing rapidly. These changes are indicators of market growth. This year-on-year upward trend in the market indicates that the next February 2021-2026 will show an oval but steady growth. If you are looking for sis2 or buy sis2 in bulk, please send an email to: sales 2 @nanotrun.com . The price of sis2 continues to be affected by factors such as market growth momentum, various opportunities and challenges. However, during the forecast period from 2020 to 2026, the global sis2 sales market is expected to continue to be above average. The growth rate will continue to increase. It is expected that from today to next week, the price of sis2 will increase to a certain extent. Due to changes in consumer demand, import and export conditions, and various investigations on the development of sis2, the cost of sis2 is constantly changing. Taking into account the current market macroeconomic parameters, value chain analysis, channel partners, demand and supply, the cost of sis2 will also be affected to a certain extent. It is estimated that the cost of sis2 will increase slightly from today to next week. However, KMPASS provides high purity sis2 with steady price. In order to feedback to old customers, the company is still in full operations to provide sis2 with competitive price. said Aimee, sales manager of KMPASS. About KMPASS KMPASS is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12 years experience in providing super high-quality chemicals and Nanomaterials. As a leading nanotechnology development and sis2 manufacturer, KMPASS dominates the market. Our professional work team provides perfect solutions to help improve the efficiency of various industries, create value, and easily cope with various challenges. If you are looking for sis2, please send an email to: sales 2 @nanotrun.com OR go to the following link: https://www.kmpass.com/chemicals/Tungsten-Disulfide-WS2-Powder-.html https://www.kmpass.com/chemicals/Molybdenum-Disulfide-MoS2-Lubricating-Material-Powder-.html [March 19, 2021] Abattis and Management Overcome Legal and Regulatory Allegations After Over Two Years of Legal and Regulatory Battles, Abattis & its Management Receive Vindication VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Abattis Bioceuticals Corp. (Abattis or the Company) (OTC:ATTBF) is pleased to announce significant progress regarding its dealings with the British Columbia Securities Commission, the Class Action Lawsuit and its Operations. The Securities Commission On November 26, 2018, the British Columbia Securities Commission (the BCSC), issued a temporary order (the Order) and Notice of Hearing (the Notice of Hearing) which made allegations against 11 issuers and 51 other individuals and companies for events that transpired between the months of February 2018, and August 2018. Abattis was named in Order and the Notice of Hearing, but the Companys officers and directors were not. On January 16, 2019, the BCSC Panel revised the Order and Abattis was removed from it . After the announcement of the Order and the Notice of Hearing, further investigations were launched related to their respective allegations. The Company, its Board of Directors (Board) and Management fully cooperated with the BCSC staff and provided comprehensive responses to each inquiry. The Company also formed a special committee which was made up of a majority of independent directors to investigate the allegations made in the Notice of Hearing. The Company engaged additional legal counsel, separate from its corporate counsel, to directly address the allegations made by the BCSC. There have been no further actions taken by the BCSC of which the Company is aware with respect to the allegations in the Notice of Hearing since late April of 2019. The Cease Trade Order As a result of the increased scrutiny on the Company from the Order and the Notice of Hearing, its auditor refused to sign off on the Companys financial statements. This led to the Company being subjected to a cease trade order (the CTO) on February 4, 2019 by the BCSC due to the Companys inability to file its year-end financial statements within the 120-day deadline required under NI 51-102. Proposed Class Action Lawsuit On July 11, 2019, two investors (Michael Tietz and Duane Loewen, together the Plaintiffs) launched a proposed Class Action Lawsuit (the Class Action Lawsuit) which named the Company, its CEO and former CFO. The Plaintiffs lawyers filed a Notice of Civil Claim against all of the issuers, some of their management and the individuals and other entities named in the November 26, 2018 Order and Notice of Hearing. The claim in the Class Action Lawsuit relates to the allegations made in the Order and the Notice of Hearing. As previously stated, the Company was removed from the Order on January 16, 2019. Some of the claims made in the Class Action Lawsuit are based on the secondary market liability provisions of the Securities Act. However, the Plaintiffs did not apply for leave to commence an action based on those portions of the Securities Act, as is specifically required. To date, leave of the Court has not been granted and there has been no application for certification of the lawsuit as a class action. However, the Company, its CEO and former CFO, have responded to all claims made by the Plaintiffs. Major Changes to get Back on Track The series of events resulting from the Order, the Notice of Hearing, the CTO, and the Class Action Lawsuit put the Company in a difficult position. Because the Company was not able to file its financial statements, the subsequent CTO made it impossible for the Company to raise capital to maintain its operations. In the months that followed the CTO, the Company hired a new CFO and made changes to most of its Board in an effort to resolve the problems and put the Company back on track. In addition to the Board and Management changes, the Company imposed several measures aimed at overcoming the allegations and getting the Companys shares trading again on the Canadian Stock Exchange (the CSE). One of these measures ncluded the request for the resignation of its previous auditor, Dale Matheson Carr-Hilton Labonte LLP (DMCL). After evaluating several new auditors, the Company engaged the services of NVS Professional Corporation (NVS) in June of 2019. The Company then underwent a second very comprehensive audit that included re-valuations of all its material acquisitions. The valuations were not only required for the acquisitions that transpired during the fiscal year being audited, but also for all the transactions that took place subsequent to year end. Through tireless commitment from the Companys CEO, new CFO, directors, consultants, lawyers and accountants, and of course, the exhaustive work performed by its new auditor NVS, on August 8, 2019, the Company filed its annual financial statements (FS) and related management discussion and analysis (MD&A) for year ended September 30, 2018. Application to Revoke the CTO to Resume Trading on the CSE By August of 2019, the Company had paid all of its regulatory fees (including penalties for late filing) and was completely up to date with respect to its required regulatory filings. On August 26, 2019, the Company filed an application for the revocation of the CTO with the BCSC to have its shares resume trading on the CSE. The Company was hopeful its shares would resume trading by Q4 of 2019. However, as part of the revocation process, the BCSC opted to perform its own comprehensive review of not only the Companys 2018 FS and MD&A, but also the 2019 FS and MD&A, which eliminated any possibility for the shares to resume trading in 2019. This review went on for over a year and exhausted all the remaining resources of the Company. Despite not having the resources, the Companys Board and Management remained committed to this process until it was resolved. Over two years later and finally some Vindication From the Securities Commission After an extremely long and exhaustive examination process, Abattis is pleased to announce that on February 3, 2021, the BCSC finally completed its review of the Companys FY2018 FS and MD&A, and its FY2019 FS and MD&A. The Company can now proceed with filing the rest of its FS and continue with the process of applying to have the CTO revoked so that its shares can trade again. From the Class Action Lawsuit The Company and Robert Abenante delivered responsive materials to the Plaintiffs application for leave on August 31, 2020. As a result of those materials, the Company is pleased to report that the Plaintiffs have signed a discontinuance agreement to discontinue the Class Action Lawsuit against the Company and Mr. Abenante, removing them from the Class Action Lawsuit proceedings, without any payment by the Company or Mr. Abenante. The discontinuance agreement with the Plaintiffs of the Class Action Lawsuit includes a covenant that the Plaintiffs cannot sue Abattis or Mr. Abenante for some of the claims raised in the Class Action lawsuit. That covenant applies to Abattis, Mr. Abenante, and their related corporations and entities, and their officers, directors, employees, insurers, and agents, and their respective heirs, executors, administrators, successors, and assigns in the future. The discontinuance agreement does not apply to any other defendants in the Class Action Lawsuit. The Company understands that the Class Action Lawsuit has also been discontinued against its former CFO and several other defendants. Message from the CEO This has certainly been a challenging couple of years for our Company, its Directors and Officers, its shareholders and all of its stakeholders. The pressure from the regulatory inquiries was compounded by the subsequent CTO and Class Action Lawsuit. The time and resources required to defend these allegations and respond to the ongoing inquiries almost put an end to this Company. Throughout these difficulties, the Board and Management stayed resilient and dedicated to proving that the allegations were unfounded. The progress with the BCSC, the discontinuance of the Class Action Lawsuit, the clean audits of our financial statements and the third party-valuations of our acquisitions are all proof of that. I am eternally grateful to our Board of Directors, all the members of the Abattis team and all the service providers who worked tirelessly towards overcoming these major regulatory and legal hurdles. I would also like to personally thank our many shareholders who have stood by me and our Company during this very difficult time and expressed their support towards the turn around of this Company. We could not have achieved these milestones without the overwhelming support of our major shareholders. I made a promise to the Company, its shareholders and its stakeholders that I would not leave this Company until I had completed the BCSC review, received a clean bill of health of the financial statements and proven that the Company and I should not have been named in the Class Action Lawsuit. Now that these significant milestones have been achieved, I can turn over the reins to a new leader that can take this Company back to the heights it once enjoyed. Therefore, I am tendering my resignation as President, CEO and Director of Abattis, effective immediately. A very strong foundation has been built in this Company and there are many very patient and supportive shareholders who are anxious to see this Company succeed once again. Our very capable CFO, who was instrumental in all financial matters during these past two years, will be the acting CEO until a permanent replacement is found. Message from the Board of Directors We would like to thank Rob Abenante for his dedication, leadership and resolve throughout his tenure as CEO of this Company. It has been a great pleasure working with such a resilient and dedicated individual who refused to give up under the immense pressure. While these past few years have taken a toll on Mr. Abenante, his relentless determination and credibility remains intact. We hope that the vindication to date serves to further confirm the credibility that he has worked very hard to earn over his accomplished career. We wish him the very best of luck in all of his future endeavors and are appreciative of all his contributions to Abattis. ON BEHALF OF THE COMPANY, ABATTIS BIOCEUTICALS CORP. investors@abattis.com FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION This press release contains forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words including but not exclusive to anticipate, continue, estimate, expect, may, will, project, intends, should, believe and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: (i) the FS Filings and the expected timing thereof; (ii) the application for revocation of the CTO and the timing thereof; and (iii) the resumption of trading of the Companys common shares (iv) bringing the Company back the heights it once enjoyed. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Additional risk factors are included in the Companys Managements Discussion and Analysis, available under the Companys profile on www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements are made as at the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, where because of new information, future events or results, or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] YEREVAN. I now know that the extra-parliamentary forces will again try to use some resources. National Assembly (NA) vice speaker Alen Simonyan, a member of the majority My Step faction, on Friday told this to reporters the NA, regarding the forthcoming snap parliamentary elections in Armenia. "I assure you that law enforcement agencies can and will engage in activities that will not allow the accepted logic of distributing money and the tricks that were used during the past 20 years," he added. To the question, how he assesses the chances of the government fighting with these forces, Simonyan said that he assesses these chances highly. "Because all the forces you mentioned held the elections with fraud; even when they were in power, they could not be elected without [electoral] fraud." To the question whether the government will manage to go to the aforesaid elections with the new Electoral Code, the NA vice speaker said that respective discussions were in progress. Referring to the question why it was decided to go for snap elections taking into account that before that it was announced that there was no public demand for such elections, Alen Simonyan responded that they did not say that there was no demand for early elections. "We have said that the agenda formed by the opposition is not right; the opposition had not even made that demand. (). The government, in fact, was the only political force that had openly announced and proposed to go for snap elections." To the question, proceeding from the security considerations of the country, to what extent is it expedient to hold elections at this moment, the NA vice speaker responded: "It is proceeding from the country's security considerations that elections should be held today because the country cannot be in constant turmoil." Alen Simonyan did not deny a reporters observation that the popularity rating of the ruling power has decreased. "But I can say that we will try to bring it back during the [election] campaign. I am confident that the ruling force will win the elections again," he added. When asked whether the election campaign will contribute to the increase of the coronavirus cases in Armenia, the NA vice speaker said that there was such an issue. "But there are issues that are much more important," he added. Referring to the actions of the opposition and its closing off of Marshal Baghramyan Avenueacross the parliament building, Simonyan said: "We understand that the opposition wants to provoke any clash (). Today, in fact, the 17 [opposition] forces are in an impasse. They dream that the police will take some action and they will be able to leave that street, saving their face. Simonyan added that PM Nikol Pashinyan will be the acting premier until the elections. And to the oppositionists' remarks that Pashinyan is being surrounded by many policemen in order to go to a state organization, and therefore how he will go to the election campaign, Alen Simonyan said: "All the leaders of the Republic of Armenia have always acted under the same security rules. Also, we [Armenia] are under martial law, and the security of the prime minister is a priority. (). There are security norms that will be observed because there has been an encroachment on the life of the prime minister." CLEVELAND -- The Ohio General Assembly should undertake the steps necessary to enact bail reform in the state of Ohio, and they can look to the state of Illinois for guidance. On Feb. 22, Illinois became the first state in the country to end mandatory cash bail. Ending cash bail does not mean that all arrestees avoid pre-trial detention. Under a no-cash bail system, judges still have the authority to detain arrestees they believe pose a threat to society. Rather, ending cash bail for nonviolent arrestees is intended to address the inequity and unfairness, excessive cost, and arguable unconstitutionality in the criminal-justice system. In Cuyahoga County, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio found that Black arrestees were nearly seven times more likely than white arrestees to be in jail pretrial and that they spent, on average, 36% more time in pretrial detention than white arrestees. This inequity and unfairness in the cash bail system has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the inept response from our county government. Unfortunately, the failures of the cash bail system too often come at taxpayers expense. According to the ACLU of Ohio, the state of Ohio estimated that nearly 12,600 people were incarcerated pretrial on any given day in 2018, with the estimated daily cost of pretrial detention running as high as $87 per arrestee (and often higher). For those keeping score, this comes to an estimated total cost of $300 million to $400 million a year statewide. Our Constitution presumes innocence until guilt is proven. Holding a presumably innocent arrestee pretrial runs afoul of this most basic constitutional protection. Even a few days (or hours) of pretrial detention can be devastating for a defendant who is put at risk of losing their job, home, children and more. This cycle of misery, which unlawfully entraps the most vulnerable in our society, must be reformed at the state level. Lee Weingart, a former Cuyahoga County commissioner, is a 2022 candidate for Cuyahoga County executive. (Photo by Jonathon Hooper) Implementing no-cash bail, as in Illinois, would immediately reduce the Cuyahoga County jail population. Nationally, there were 1.6 million drug arrests in 2018. Nearly 40% of these were for marijuana possession, a minor drug offense in most states and no offense at all in others. There seems little reason to hold someone arrested for a minor drug offense in the County Jail pretrial. And pretrial detention can be deadly, as Shone Trawick found when he was beaten to death in the Cuyahoga County Jail last November. That made him the 12th to die in the Cuyahoga County Jail during the administration of County Executive Armond Budish, who has tried to turn the jail into a profit-making enterprise. Bail reform would also eliminate the need for a new $400 million County Jail, a senseless waste of precious county funds, which will only drive up the jail population and not keep anyone safer. For those who think bail reform is a partisan issue, I caution you to think again. Bail-reform advocates span the political spectrum. There is even a group formed to advocate for bail reform in Ohio called Conservatives for Bail Reform. People of all political faiths understand the basic unfairness and unnecessary expense of a pretrial bail system that befits the 18th century, not the 21st. Fair treatment under the law -- a cornerstone of the American Dream -- is an elusive endeavor for too many. What better way to build a more equitable society than to give those disadvantaged a fighting chance? I will do more than just hope this happens. I am ready to roll up my sleeves and advocate in Columbus for bail reform. Lee Weingart, president of LNE Group, is a candidate for Cuyahoga County executive in 2022. Weingarts vision for county government, Cuyahoga 2030, calls for significant criminal justice reform. Have something to say about this topic? * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com. Samsung is going to launch Galaxy A82, the successor to its Galaxy A80. The reports suggest that Samsung Galaxy A82 will sport a 64MP primary sensor. The 64MP primary camera on the Samsung Galaxy A82 is going to be Sony IMX686 and the in house Samsung ISOCELL GW1. The unique feature of the Samsung Galaxy A80 was the swivel camera module on the smartphone. However, it is not clear hitherto if the same mechanism will make its way to the Samsung Galaxy A82. Technology blog Galaxy Club released the report and it mentioned that Samsung is projecting the Galaxy A82 towards the South Korean market and not towards the European. The smartphone is expected to get a Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) chip which is believed to increase the encryption of the data stored on the device. There is no assurance that it will be projected as an additional layer of security with the existing Samsung Knox system. The information available on the internet has given us an idea about the device. According to the Geekbench listing, the rumoured Samsung Galaxy A82 5G model is codenamed as SM-826S and will sail on Android 11. The processor is codenamed as "msmnile" which has been related to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855+ SoC. This chipset was launched in late 2018. The chipset will be mated to 6GB of RAM. The rumoured smartphone has scored 755 for single-core and 2,630 for multi-core on the Geekbench. Live TV By Ann Wang HSINCHU, Taiwan (Reuters) - Taiwan is drilling wells, seeding clouds and beseeching a gold-faced sea goddess to help the sub-tropical island ride out its most serious drought in about half a century, after rain-soaking typhoons failed to make landfall last year. The drought is worst across a band of western Taiwan, including the major metropolises of Hsinchu, home to many of Taiwan's renowned tech firms, Taichung in the centre of the island, and Tainan and Kaohsiung to the south. Water levels in four major reservoirs have fallen to around or below one-tenth of capacity. Some chipmakers are buying water by the truckload for their foundries, though supplies so far are generally continuing uninterrupted for households. Chiang Ming-lang, director of the Water Resources Agency's northern region, told Reuters they have been piping in water from other reservoirs to the main one for Hsinchu, but it was still not enough and they were now drilling wells. "Nobody wants to lack water. But if the heavens don't open then that's not something you or I can control," he said. "Though some people say this is a short-term phenomenon, it's hard to deny this has become a long-term one." Officials hope the 'plum rain' season that starts around late spring will help, but in the meantime are taking more drastic steps. In Taichung earlier this month the Water Resources Agency took the unusual step of sending its top official for central Taiwan to a three-hour religious ceremony to pray for rain, the first time the event has been held in 58 years. Some 3,000 people, mostly farmers as well as Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen, prayed to the sea goddess Mazu, her gold face signifying her divinity and a popular deity believed to bring good fortune and end drought. Yen Ching-piao, chairman of the Jenn Lann Temple where the prayers were offered, told media it didn't matter who came, only that they were sincere in their request for rain. Story continues "Prayers give hope, and prayers bring blessings," he said. Taiwan's air force has also used C-130 transport aircraft to seed the clouds, while water resources officials back up the effort from the ground by firing chemicals into the air. Agriculture accounts for more than 70% of water consumption in Taiwan, to grow rice and fruit like mango and pineapple. Hsinchu rice farmer Tian Shou-hsi, 63, said his crops were "suffering terribly". "The spring has begun but I haven't seen any rain. I can't plant the three hectares of land I have," he said. "There's no water, so we have nothing to do. Apart from tilling the soil and planting mulch for the ground, I don't know what to do." (Reporting by Ann Wang; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Karishma Singh and Michael Perry) Railways created 14.14 lakh mandays employment under Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan: Piyush Goyal India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Mar 19: The railways generated 14.14 lakh mandays employment under the Centre's Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan in identified districts of six states to expeditiously re-start economic activities post-lockdown, Union minister Piyush Goyal told Rajya Sabha on Friday. In a written reply to a question on estimated job loss or work loss post-lockdown especially for those indirectly dependent on the Railways for their livelihoods, he said the Ministry has not undertaken any such study. "However, to expeditiously re-start economic activities after lifting of lockdown so as to provide employment opportunities to the contract workers engaged by contractors, Railways took a number of measures...Under the GKRA announced by Government on 20.06.2020 for 125 days, Railways generated 14,14,604 mandays employment in 140 projects," he said. Bengal Polls: We don't want BJP, Modi, Duryodhan in Bengal, says Mamata He said employment was generated under the GKRA in identified districts across six states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha. Instructions were issued to release wages/payments to contractual staff directly engaged by the Railways and outsourced staff engaged through contractors, who could not attend duty during the lockdown period upto May 31, 2020, he said. The minister said measures were also taken to increase the cash flow of contractors so that they could expedite the execution of works which could then result in a corresponding increase in the engagement of contract workers on work sites. He said these steps included release of performance guarantee in ongoing contracts proportionate to progress of work and release of security deposit available with Railways to contractors against bank guarantee. Free and fair elections in West Bengal has become a distant reality: TMC delegation to EC In reply to a supplementary on death of railways employees due to COVID-19, Goyal said there is a provision for compassionate appointment to one eligible person in the family of the employee who died in the line of duty. He said the compensation amount has been increased after the implementation of 7th Pay Commission by the government, but added that many states including West Bengal have not implemented this, resulting in railway employees there not getting the increased amount in the event of any mishap. He said Railway Protection Force personnel on duty have been vaccinated and others will also be administered the jabs too. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 19, 2021, 17:02 [IST] The Chief Executive Officer of the Zongo Development Fund, Mr. Arafat Abdulai Suleimana has assured the Chiefs, Imams and Queen Mothers of Zongo Communities in the Bono East region of an open-door policy by the Fund in the quest for transformative development in Zongos. He said the leadership of Zongo Communities have indispensable roles to play in ensuring the sustainable attainment of the goals and objectives that led to the establishment of the Fund by the administration of President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo. Mr. Arafat conveyed this assurance, separately, to Chiefs, Imams and Queen Mothers in Zongo Communities in the Techiman and Kintampo municipalities in the Bono East region, today, as part of an on-going nation-wide COVID-19 Sensitization Vaccination Campaign embarked upon by the Zongo Development Fund. He noted that the debilitating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and reports of negative information on the Vaccination exercise, makes it incumbent upon the Zongo Development Fund to engage the leadership of Zongo Communities in order to ensure the full participation of Zongos in this programme. At Techiman, the team from the Zongo Development Fund was warmly received by the Chief of the Zongo Community, Chiefs of various ethnic groups, Imams of various Islamic sects and women leaders. Speaking on behalf of the leadership of Techiman Zongos, the Chief of Techiman Zongo, Alhaji Fusseni Amadu, commended the Chief Executive Officer of the Fund for the exemplary leadership, he has shown since his appointment. He pledged to work tirelessly, in collaboration with the leadership of Techiman Zongo, to ensure the involvement of the Zongo Community in the vaccination. At a separate sensitization exercise in Kintampo, the Chief of Kintampo Zongo and overlord of the Wangara community in Ghana, Alhaji Yussif Fanyinamah, conveyed the collective gratitude of the entire community to the Zongo Development Fund for the unprecedented intervention in the community. He noted that the rehabilitation of the township road executed by the Fund , which has hitherto not been done in over a hundred years is further evidence of the unparalleled attention the Fund is devoting to the Zongo community in Kintampo. He assured the delegation from the Fund of the commitment of the leadership of Kintampo to the COVID-19 Vaccination programme. The Zongo Development Fund COVID19 Vaccination Team in scheduled to conduct similar exercises in the Bono and Ahafo regions, tommorrow. Ahmed Ayuba Corporate Affairs, Zongo Development Fund. 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 Johnny Depps bid to overturn a High Court ruling in London that he assaulted his ex-wife Amber Heard rests on what she did or did not do with her divorce settlement. Following a three-week trial in July last year, Mr Justice Nicol dismissed the Hollywood stars libel claim against the publisher of The Sun, finding an April 2018 column calling Mr Depp a wife beater was substantially true. The actor is now asking the Court of Appeal to grant permission for him to challenge the ruling, with the aim of having its findings overturned and a retrial ordered. Mr Depp is trying to overturn last years ruling on the basis Ms Heard lied about giving the entirety of her $7m (5.9m) payout to charity. Lawyers for the actor allege the Aquaman actress has been basking in the glow of philanthropy when in fact only a fraction of the millions she promised to two charities has ever reached them. Mr Justice Nicol said at the time he rejected allegations Ms Heard was out to profit from her ex financially, saying: Her donation of the $7m to charity is hardly the act one would expect of a gold-digger. The actors legal team say his ex-wife had effectively tipped the scales against him through exaggerated claims of her own generosity. At a hearing at the High Court, lawyers for Mr Depp submitted evidence allegedly proving that only a fraction has been paid to the two charities it was promised to. They alleged just $100,000 (84,000) was paid to the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles paid directly by her ex-husbands accountants and only $450,000 (336,000) had reached the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In a statement made in August 2016, Ms Heard vowed $3.5m (3.95m) would be given to each charity. Mr Depps lawyers say the fact Ms Heard has appeared to assert publicly that all the money she received from her ex-husband has already been given away undermines her credibility as a witness. Andrew Caldecott QC, for Mr Depp, said the claims had given Ms Heard a considerable boost to her credibility as a person. It had tipped the scales against Mr Depp from the very beginning. In a statement submitted to the libel trial, Ms Heard seemed to confirm the money had already been paid. It read: I remained financially independent from (Mr Depp) the whole time we were together and the entire amount of my divorce settlement was donated to charity. The actors lawyers said the fact the full sum had not been paid came to light following a subpoena in Mr Depps defamation lawsuit against Ms Heard in the US, adding she strongly resisted disclosing the information. Joelle Rich, one of Mr Depps solicitors, said Ms Heard had not been challenged on this during the trial because it had been accepted at face value. In a statement submitted to the court, she said: If Ms Heard wilfully gave false evidence about giving a substantial amount of money to a childrens hospital and an organisation which campaigns on behalf of victims of domestic violence, then it will be submitted on the appellants behalf that she was clearly capable of lying about her relationship with Mr Depp. Adam Wolanski QC, representing The Suns publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN), said the evidence would not have impacted the trial outcome. Mr Depps attempts to characterise Ms Heard as a gold-digger was a misogynistic trope. The new evidence did also not prove Ms Heard had lied. Mr Wolanski said Ms Heard had said she donated the money, not that she had paid it: A donation is not the same as a payment and we know that not least because this is how the charities themselves have understood what Ms Heard has done. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) understood Ms Heard had pledged to pay over 10 years that is a donation. She had paid some $950,000 (797,000) to the ACLU and $850,000 (713,000) to the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Lord Justice Underhill said the court would give judgment at a later date. Northwood University has been named one of the winners of the second annual BlueJeans by Verizon Customer Award. Long a proponent of the BlueJeans by Verizon video conferencing tool, Northwood University has expanded its use of the versatile platform in ways unimagined even a year ago. When the pandemic hit, we knew Northwoods top priority was to ensure our students could continue their education, regardless of whether they were on campus, in quarantine or isolation, or joining their classes remotely, said Kristin Stehouwer, academic vice president and provost. Its thanks to the ingenuity of our faculty and staff that we could do so through the BlueJeans platform. The awards recognize customers who are deploying BlueJeans solutions to achieve outcomes that positively drive their business and society forward. Verizon received more than 100 submissions from customers around the world using BlueJeans to improve the way they communicate, collaborate and meet. Northwood University was named an honorable mention winner in the Most Innovative Case Use category, one of just 10 honorable mentions across four categories. The category recognizes an organization that has demonstrated superior skills in applying video conferencing technology in support of an insightful and creative use case outside of standard meetings. The winner was the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, with a second honorable mention going to Snap Assessment & Education. With the COVID-19 pandemic necessitating more remote collaboration, the use of video conferencing within nearly every industry and organization rose to levels never seen before, said John Knightly, chief marketing officer, BlueJeans by Verizon. Whether our customers already had a unified communication strategy in place or were just starting their digital journey, we saw some truly exceptional uses of our platform to inspire, entertain, educate, and drive real business results over the past year, and we are honored by all of those who have chosen to partner with BlueJeans to support their teams and missions. BlueJeans is a cloud service platform that connects desktops, mobile devices and room systems in one video meeting. Thousands of organizations from growing businesses to Fortune 500 leaders use BlueJeans every day for video meetings and large interactive events, so people can work productively where and how they want. In recognizing Northwood, BlueJeans by Verizon noted Looking to support asynchronous teaching methods at the start of the pandemic and a flexible, choice model thereafter, Northwood University uses BlueJeans Meetings to livestream classes, share videos, whiteboards, and online games; to conduct breakout sessions and team presentations; and to facilitate exams using a real-time online (RTO) approach to teaching. Northwoods entry was submitted by Jeanna Cronk, Center for Excellence co-director. The schools use of BlueJeans has been instrumental in continuing all activities that support its mission to develop leaders of a global, free-enterprise society. The integration of a Real-time Online (RTO) BlueJeans Meetings option within Northwood University's Fall in-person courses gave our students the freedom to make a personal choice based on their comfort level, medical history and family needs, said Cronk. For some students, the RTO format was the only reason they were able to continue their education during the fall 2020 semester. The university engaged employees from academics, student services, information technology, and the Center for Excellence to plan, implement, and support this in-person and RTO hybrid, but it was the faculty members' persistence and willingness to explore this new teaching model that really stood out. Based on Northwoods enterprise usage reports, there was an average of 3,357 BlueJeans meetings conducted each month during 2020. That is a 675% increase over the 433-monthly average BlueJeans Meetings in 2019. In February 2020, just before Northwood University pivoted to fully online courses, there were a total of 468 BlueJeans meetings. In March 2020, there were a total of just over 3,000 (an increase of 541 percent). The total number of BlueJeans Meetings conducted in 2020 at Northwood University was 40,292. To compete in the 2021 BlueJeans Best of Breeds Awards, customers submitted their deployment stories in one of the four categories, where a panel of judges evaluated the submissions based on the creativity, impact and business value. This year's judging panel included Brandt Krueger, meeting and events technical producer and consultant, Event Technology Consulting; David Maldow, CEO, Let's Do Video; John Knightly, chief marketing officer, BlueJeans by Verizon; and Eric Spadafora, Verizon vice president of business sales. Bennett said the only thing the prosecutors proved in the case was that Snyder was poor, and stated that Snyder went to Great Lakes Peterbilt to get a second job as a consultant to support his family. Koster asked the jury to consider how many people get a second job stating I need money and are handed a check for the work upfront. [March 19, 2021] State Street Strengthens Leadership Team with Appointment of Ann Fogarty State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) today announced the appointment of Ann Fogarty to executive vice president and deputy head of Global Delivery with responsibility for State Street's custody, middle office, transfer agency and client service operations. Fogarty will report to Liz Nolan, executive vice president and head of Global Delivery. She will also join State Street's Management Committee. Fogarty joins from BNY Mellon where she was most recently Executive Committee member responsible for leading the Global Operations organization and supporting every stage of the client investment lifecycle and overseeing a team of more than 20,000. She held a variety of senior positions since joining BNY Mellon in 1988, including head of EMEA Investment operations and managing director leading the provision of fund accounting, transfer agency and middle office services to mutual, ETF and alternative fund clients. "Ann brings significant global operations expertise across all ranges of complex fund structures and jurisdictions," said Nolan. "She has a keen understanding of the needs of our clients and her depth and breadth of capabilities, particularly in the custody and fund adminitration space, will help us continue to scale our operating model while providing our clients with continued high quality service and delivery." Fogarty has extensive experience in leading global, cross-business initiatives across all aspects of the trading lifecycle. She also has broad experience with the global regulatory environment having managed teams and projects across EMEA, Latin America and the APAC region. "I look forward to this next chapter of my career and working with the global teams and clients to continue to build on the strong foundation of innovation and service excellence that State Street has established," said Fogarty. About State Street State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is one of the world's leading providers of financial services to institutional investors including investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading. With $38.8 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration and $3.5 trillion* in assets under management as of December 31, 2020, State Street operates globally in more than 100 geographic markets and employs approximately 39,000 worldwide. For more information, visit State Street's website at www.statestreet.com. *Assets under management as of December 31, 2020 includes approximately $75 billion of assets with respect to SPDR products for which State Street Global Advisors Funds Distributors, LLC (SSGA FD) acts solely as the marketing agent. SSGA FD and State Street Global Advisors are affiliated. 2021 State Street Corporation - All Rights Reserved 3482412.1.1.GBL.RTL View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005348/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] We have a tiny bird thats been making a nest in the birdhouse outside our kitchen window and trilling loudly when hes done for two years in a row. I went online and searched for tiny brown bird hoping to get it identified, but I couldnt find any photo of a bird that looked like it. I re Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 was arrested Thursday on suspicion of fatally shooting another man inside a Northeast Portland grocery store the night before. Blake Daniels, 38, is accused of killing Jay Underwood, 60, inside the WinCo Foods on Northeast 122nd Avenue. Officers arrived shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday and found Underwood dead at the scene, Portland police said. They arrested Daniels at a Northeast Sandy Boulevard motel about 8:15 a.m. Thursday after responding to a call about suspicious circumstances, police said. Police did not immediately respond to questions about the circumstances of the shooting or whether Daniels and Underwood knew each other. They said that after the shooting, Daniels held a driver in the WinCo Foods parking lot at gunpoint and drove away in their car. They said the stolen car, a 2003 dark green Subaru Forester with Oregon license plate No. 605JWW, remains unaccounted for. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR TBILISI -- Georgian officials are investigating the death of a 27-year-old Georgian nurse to see if it is tied to her receiving AstraZenecas coronavirus vaccine. Georgian officials said Megi Bakradze went into anaphylactic shock on March 18, soon after being inoculated with the vaccine produced by the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker. She was later transferred from the city of Akhaltsikhe to a Tbilisi clinic, where she died on March 19. The Georgian Health Ministry said an investigation had been launched to determine the cause of the woman's death, which occurred shortly after she had been vaccinated. It was not immediately known if the woman had a history of reactions to medicines. A number of European countries have suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over the past week following reports of serious blood clotting in some recipients. The concerns surrounded reports of around 30 cases of rare brain blood clots after millions of injections. The news sent scientists and governments scrambling to determine if there is a link. However, nearly a dozen countries resumed use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on March 19 as European Union and British regulators said the benefits outweigh any risks. The drugmaker's own review covering more than 17 million people who have received its vaccine in the EU and Britain also found no evidence of increased risk of blood clots. Despite concerns over the side effects, Georgia on March 15 launched a national coronavirus vaccine rollout by inoculating medical workers with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Georgia received the first 43,200 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 13. By the morning of March 19, 3,642 medical workers have been inoculated, according to official data. Georgia expects batches of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine later this month. The South Caucasus nation of some 3.7 million people has reported more than 276,000 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic and over 3,600 related deaths. With reporting by AP If you want a coronavirus vaccination and you have no way of getting there, in Morgan County, there will soon be a solution to that problem. WAAY 31 spoke with the president of the Decatur-Morgan Hospital Foundation about a mobile vaccination unit they are currently working on. The foundation couldn't show us what the unit will look like just yet, but it will not only be for vaccinations. It'll also be for general medical help for those in rural communities. "A part of our mission is to improve the lives we serve, and if we need to take care to them when possible, we want to do that," said Noel Lovelace. Lovelace is the Decatur-Morgan Hospital Foundation president. She told WAAY 31 they are working on building a $285,000 mobile clinic, and they'll be able to administer coronavirus vaccinations for those who need it. Plus, you don't have to worry about the vaccine being too warm and going to waste either. "We will still store it in the pharmacy at the Parkway campus where we store it now. Then, on the days we go out to clinic, we will only thaw out what we need for each event," said Lovelace. The goal of this vehicle is to get vaccinations to those in rural areas and senior citizens, but also general medical help. "We are going to make ourselves available to you if you can't make it to us. It's open to everybody who's been approved," sad Lovelace. Lovelace told us they plan to have the mobile unit up and running by April 1. Mumbai, March 19 : Filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, who has directed films such as "Rang De Basanti", "Delhi 6" and "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", attended a cultural festival on Friday, where he reflected on the evolution of the art of storytelling. Talking at Arth: The Cultural Fest, the filmmaker whose last directorial was "Mere Pyaare Prime Minister", said: "Storytelling is not new and has been here for thousands of years. Travellers in the olden days used to entertain each other with stories about their countries and travels. Even when we look at the etching on the ancient caves, there were storytellers there as well. From there, it moved on and got the expression of folk, songs, writing, photography and then it progressed to moving pictures." Narrowing down to Indian cinema, the filmmaker is of the opinion that Indian filmmaking has always adapted to the country's emotional state of mind. He said: "Indian cinema has always reflected the emotion and story of the country. It could be a feeling of patriotism during the post-Independence days or amplifying the voice of the youth during the era of globalisation and liberalisation. The possibilities are endless." Mehra is gearing up to release his upcoming film "Toofan", which stars Farhan Akhtar. This is the second time the director-actor duo are collaborating after 2013 film "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag". IT Modernization VA plans 'strategic review' of $16B software program Veterans Affairs chief Denis McDonough announced a "strategic review" of the agency's $16 billion Electronic Health Record Modernization program of up to 12 weeks. The move comes 20 weeks after the new system, based on the Cerner Millennium EHR software, went live at the Mann-Grandstaff Medical Center in Spokane, Wash., four outpatient clinics and at an affiliated billing and processing center in Las Vegas. "A successful EHR deployment is essential in the delivery of lifetime, world-class health care for our Veterans," McDonough said in a statement. "After a rigorous review of our most-recent deployment at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center, it is apparent that a strategic review is necessary. VA remains committed to the Cerner Millennium solution, and we must get this right for veterans." Last November, program leaders said the go-live had gone well from a technical perspective, avoiding some of the infrastructure headaches and permissions problems that had plagued the Defense Department's launch of the same software. Just this week, however, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican congresswoman who represents Spokane and serves as ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce committee, wrote to McDonough to air constituent complaints about the new system. "The system is not an improvement," Rodgers wrote. "It has put new stress on the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center, which is a vital lifeline for so many of our veterans and has struggled with staffing and morale for several years." In a statement March 19, Rodgers said that she was "encouraged to see Secretary McDonough respond swiftly to my calls for review of the broken electronic health record system that has caused new stress on veterans and VA staff in Eastern Washington." Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), the ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, said the new system "could revolutionize VA care but it is not on the right track today." Bost called on VA to "fix the process, strategy, and management challenges that led to those problems before moving forward anywhere else." The next go-live is set for Columbus, Ohio, a site selected in the later stages of project development because of its current use of the Cerner scheduling module. According to the VA announcement, the order of subsequent go-live sites could be altered as a result of the review. "It is more important for VA to get [Electronic Health Records Modernization] right than to rush it and put veterans' health at risk," Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement. "This strategic review comes at a critical time, and I'm hopeful that it will ensure Secretary McDonough has an opportunity to examine the prior administrations handling of the project and course correct if necessary." The system was supposed to go live in March 2020, but multiple, overlapping delays caused by software integration problems, workplace restrictions and other issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the launch of the new system to October 2020. The $16 billion price tag for the project includes $10 billion in a 10-year software contract with Cerner and $6 billion in planned infrastructure and hardware upgrade costs. The program is designed to replace VA's homegrown VistA EHR system, which was popular with clinicians but had evolved into more than 130 independent versions that presented interoperability challenges within the VA and with medical records systems at the Department of Defense. The review, according to the VA statement, will focus on workflow issues and improvements to the patient portal. "Cerner supports the decision by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct a strategic program review, Brian Sandager, general manager of Cerner Government Services, said in an emailed statement. "Our number one priority remains the veterans we serve and delivering solutions that drive the transformation of care across the VA." Key Russiagate Investigator: No Closure Without Accountability, Indictments The House Intelligence Committee staff investigator who led the Russia inquiry that exposed malfeasance at the FBI and the DOJ related to the surveillance of Trump 2016 campaign associates told the Epoch Times on March 15 that there would be no closure until the responsible officials are indicted and prosecuted. For me, closure is synonymous with accountability, Kash Patel, who led the House Russia inquiry in 2017 and 2018 before moving on to senior roles at the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Department of Defense. So we either have that accountability in the form of the only place that can give it, which is a Department of Justice indictment, or we dont. And I do think its that binary. Special counsel John Durham is reportedly continuing a criminal inquiry into the origins of the FBIs Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Durham has handed down one indictment to date, which has resulted in the conviction of former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith. Patel believes that falls far short of the scope of wrongdoing he and his colleagues uncovered. We got 14 individuals fired, resigned early or retired early, as a result of our investigation on House Intel, because of the malfeasance we showed they committed, he continued. So theres some measure of accountability from a congressional standpoint, because thats what congressional oversight is supposed to do. But for the American public, and, quite frankly, me, theres no accountability unless you can exact the same punishments over those that committed this conduct internally as they do to others externally. Patels work on the House Intelligence Committee culminated in the release of the report on Russian active measures in March 2018. Two months prior to the reports release, the committee Republicans voted to release the so-called Nunes memo, which summarized the findings about the FBIs use of the infamous Steele dossier to secure warrants to surveil a former Trump campaign adviser. Patels team discovered that the Clinton 2016 presidential campaign ultimately paid for the dossier and that the FBI failed to disclose that fact to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The bureau also failed to disclose the overt bias of the dossiers author, former British intelligence operative Christopher Steele, who was, according to an associate, desperate that then-candidate Trump not be elected president. Considering the amount of money that changed hands and the number of players involved, including top officials at the FBI and DOJ, Patel finds it hard to believe that Clinesmith, the convicted FBI attorney, was a lone wolf. For someone who worked at DOJ, part of the reason I left was the lack of internal accountability for when prosecutors breach the public trust that theyve been bestowed. The most common example is a Brady violationexculpatory evidence, Patel said. We found that time and again in the Russiagate investigation that the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) court was not told of exculpatory evidence as it related to multiple individuals involved in that FISA package, Patel said, referring to the FISA warrants secured against former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page. Its unfortunate and I hope theres more, but I dont know. Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told Congress last year that he would not have signed the FISA applications on Carter Page if he knew what he knows now. The Department of Justice Office Inspector General found 17 significant errors and omissions in the Page FISA applications, implicating every official involved in the process. The Crossfire Hurricane investigation evolved into the special counsel probe headed by Robert Mueller, who after 22 months found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Patel arrived at the same conclusion long before Mueller. Every one of the nearly 60 witnesses his team interviewed said they had no evidence of collusion, conspiracy, or coordination. Patel said he has a number of people in mind, both in the private and public sectors, who he would bring charges against if he were in the Department of Justice. Whether anyone faces charges is ultimately up to Durham, he said. I hope he does, because its the one thing that really separates us from almost the rest of the world our ability to hold even our own officials at the highest levels accountable when they break the law, Patel said. And Im hoping we get there. As the construction of the Ram Temple is in progress in Ayodhya, a stone from Sita Eliya, the place in Sri Lanka where Goddess Sita is believed to have been held as a captive, will be used in the construction of the Ram temple. The stone is expected to be brought to India by Sri Lankan High Commissioner-designate to India Milinda Moragoda. Sita Eliya has a Goddess Sita temple and is said to mark the place where she was held captive by the demon king Ravana and where she regularly prayed to Lord Rama for her rescue. PM Modi laid the foundation stone at Ram Janmabhoomi last year In August, last year, fulfilling the three-decade-long Ram Janmabhoomi movement, PM Narendra Modi performed the Bhumi Pujan ceremony at the Lord Ram's birthplace in Ayodhya, placing a metallic plaque at the base of the temple site. The ceremony was done in the presence of 135 saints, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, UP Governor Anandiben Patel, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, and other eminent dignitaries. The PM visited Hanumangarhi prior to the ceremony, planted a 'Parijat sapling', and then addressed the venue before leaving for Delhi. The temple which will be constructed will consist of two floors comprising of Sompura Marbles - spanning 161ft in length, 140ft in width, and 128 ft in height, having 5 domes. The trust has estimated that construction of the temple will be completed in 3-3.5 years i.e by 2023. PM Modi had said, "In the way, there was a struggle for Independence, the struggle for Ram Mandir was fought for many centuries with many generations' efforts pooled together dedicatedly. Today this is the symbol of that sacrifice made back then. Because of the efforts, I bow down to them on behalf of 130 crore Indians. All individuals attached to this movement are watching this program and are giving blessings to everyone. This Mandir is the gift of Truth, non-violence, and sacrifice." Earlier this month, announcing a 3-year deadline for the construction of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, Ramjanmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust chairman Champat Rai on Saturday, stated that the 45-day fund drive had been completed on February 27. Estimating that around Rs 2500 crores had been received as donations till March 4, Rai said that 10 crore households in 4 lakh villages had been approached by 9 lakh volunteers. Reed Grad Leads the Charge on Climate Crisis Ali Nouri 97 will champion scientific perspective at the US Department of Energy. By Chris Lydgate 90 | Reed grad Ali Nouri 97 will play a key role in the US Department of Energy's response to the climate crisis as incoming chief of the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. A molecular biologist by training, Dr. Nouri recently served as the president of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), where he led an initiative to combat the tsunami of misinformation and disinformation that has accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic. He partnered with top research universities around the globe to create the Ask A Scientist platform, which debunked viral rumors and provided scientific information about the novel coronavirus, its origins, symptoms, treatment, vaccines, and so on. Honored and thrilled to share that I've joined the Biden-Harris Administration, he wrote about his new appointment last month. Ill be leading the Department of Energys Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs with a focus on tackling the climate crisis and helping to build a clean energy future. Dr. Nouri came to Reed College as an undergrad intending to major in sociology, but switched to biology and wrote his thesis on neuropeptides in Aplysia californica, the California sea hare. He went on to earn a PhD at Princeton, served as an advisor in the office of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and worked as a staffer in the US Senate before joining FAS. Im a big believer in a liberal arts education because it gives you the tools you can apply to just about any career, Dr. Nouri told Reed Magazine back in 2016. Especially in this economy, where people change careers every five years or so, you need a solid foundation. Tags: Alumni, Awards & Achievements, Climate, Sustainability, Environmental, Life Beyond Reed YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani forces abused Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) from the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, subjecting them to cruel and degrading treatment and torture either when they were captured, during their transfer, or while in custody at various detention facilities, Human Rights Watch said today. Azerbaijani authorities should investigate all allegations of ill-treatment and hold those responsible to account. Azerbaijan should also immediately release all remaining POWs and civilian detainees and provide information on the whereabouts of servicemen and civilians whose situation is unknown but were last seen in Azerbaijani custody. The abuse, including torture of detained Armenian soldiers, is abhorrent and a war crime, said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. It is also deeply disturbing that a number of missing Armenian soldiers were last seen in Azerbaijans custody and it has failed to account for them. Human Rights Watch interviewed four former POWs who detailed their ill-treatment in custody as well as the ill-treatment of other POWs with whom they were captured or shared cells. They all described prolonged and repeated beatings. One described being prodded with a sharp metal rod, and another said he was subjected to electric shocks, and one was repeatedly burned with a cigarette lighter. The men were held in degrading conditions, given very little water and little to no food in the initial days of their detention. The accounts of torture and ill-treatment raise concerns that Armenian POWs still in Azerbaijani custody are at risk of further abuse, Human Rights Watch said. Azerbaijani authorities should ensure that Armenian POWs and other detainees still in custody have all the protections to which they are entitled under international human rights and humanitarian law, including freedom from torture and ill-treatment. The Victorian government is in final negotiations to contract more hotels to its hotel quarantine program, despite existing sites sitting almost empty and no indication when international flights will be allowed into Melbourne again. The Age can also reveal that the government wants its alternative quarantine facility outside of metropolitan Melbourne to be built and hosting most of the states returning travellers by September or October, with Avalon Airport still the frontrunner. New quarantine hotels are set to be added to Victorias existing supply of 15. Credit:Getty Images In the meantime, hotels in Melbournes CBD will at some point resume hosting returned Australians, who have not been arriving since Premier Daniel Andrews blocked international flights in mid-February in response to another COVID-19 leak from a quarantine hotel. On Friday, a government spokeswoman again refused to detail when flights would return to Melbourne, stating it was appropriate that international arrivals remained paused until a team led by Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng has finished a review of the new, more infectious strains of COVID-19. No timeline has been given for the reviews completion. Jamaican cricketer Chris Gayle has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of India for donating Covid-19 vaccines to his home country, Jamaica, In the video, Gayle is heard saying, "Honorable PM Modi, the Government of India and the people of India, I want to thank you all for your donation of the vaccine to Jamaica. We appreciate it. Thank you so much. India, I will see you soon." Watch the video here Jamaican cricketer Chris Gayle thanks India for sending COVID19 vaccines to Jamaica "PM Modi, the Government of India and the people of India, I want to thank you all for your donation of the vaccine to Jamaica. We appreciate it," he says pic.twitter.com/8iSa3yhYcs ANI (@ANI) March 19, 2021 Also Read | Vaccine utilization rates lower in states witnessing second wave Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said we are delighted that Vaccine Maitri is reaching out to our friends across the world. "Always a pleasure to watch this famous Jamaican send the ball flying to all corners of the park & delighted that #VaccineMaitri is reaching out to our friends across the world. Indian fans look forward to more from this batting genius," he tweeted. Always a pleasure to watch this famous Jamaican send the ball flying to all corners of the park & delighted that #VaccineMaitri is reaching out to our friends across the world. Indian fans look forward to more from this batting genius.@henrygayle @hcikingston @PunjabKingsIPL https://t.co/O6Su7Cu53K Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) March 18, 2021 Earlier this month, Jamaica had thanked India for sending 50,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines. In a tweet, Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness had said, " I am extremely pleased to report that yesterday afternoon, we received our first shipment of 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine donated by the Government of India. We express our deep appreciation to the Government and people of India for this very much-needed support." Last week, former West Indies cricketers Vivian Richards, Richie Richardson, Jimmy Adams and Ramnaresh Sarwan had thanked PM Modi for helping the Caribbean countries by providing Covid-19 vaccines under the Vaccine Maitri initiative. On March 8, Made-in-India vaccines had reached Jamaica under the Vaccine Maitri initiative. West Indies opening batsman Chris Gayle is the highest run-scorer in T20 history. He has played in 103 Tests, 301 ODIs and 58 T20Is since making his international debut in 1999. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The backlash began with the sheriff spokesman's statement to reporters that the mass shooting suspect was having a "bad day." "He was pretty much fed up and kind of at the end of his rope. Yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did," Cherokee County Capt. Jay Baker said Wednesday. He was describing the 21-year-old man accused of killing eight people, mostly Asian and almost all women, in a rampage across three Atlanta-area spas. Then - as the violence stirred fears in an Asian-American community that already felt under attack - Internet sleuths and journalists found Baker's Facebook posts promoting shirts that called the novel coronavirus an "IMPORTED VIRUS FROM CHY-NA." On Thursday, an official said Baker is longer a spokesman on the spa shootings case. The sheriff said "we regret any heartache" caused by Baker's words but defended the captain. Andrea DeCourcey, an executive assistant for the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, said she did not know why or how Baker was taken off his role updating the public about the spa shootings. The sheriff did not immediately respond to inquiries, nor did Baker. In a letter shared Thursday afternoon, Sheriff Frank Reynolds did not address the "CHY-NA" shirt posts but acknowledged that Baker's comments had "become the subject of much debate and anger." "In as much as his words were taken or construed as insensitive or inappropriate, they were not intended to disrespect any of the victims, the gravity of this tragedy, or express empathy or respect for the suspect," Reynolds wrote. Baker had a "difficult task before him" in the wake of the shootings - "one of the hardest in his twenty-eight years in law enforcement," Reynolds added, praising the captain's work and saying he had "personal ties to the Asian community." Baker's comments and social media history had fueled calls to resign and long-running concerns about racism in law enforcement, capping a year in which many warned that phrases such as "China virus" were inciting sometimes violent prejudice against Asian Americans. For critics, they undermined trust in authorities' work on an attack that seemed to many inseparable from the race and gender of its victims, even as authorities say the motive remains unclear. And they minimized the actions of a White suspect who, according to Baker, may have visited the spas before, who said he had a "sexual addiction" and who said he wanted to eliminate a "temptation." Baker is not just any employee of the sheriff's department, some noted, but someone who shapes public knowledge of the attacks that unfolded Tuesday in his county and at two businesses in Atlanta. "All of us have experienced bad days," tweeted Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif. "But we don't go to three Asian businesses and shoot up Asian employees." WSB-TV reporter Nicole Carr reported Thursday that the sheriff said Baker's future with the office is under evaluation and that the sheriff's office consulted with the district attorney about potentially passing its part of the shootings case to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) - but decided against it, given the involvement of the FBI. The GBI and prosecutors did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Washington Post. Baker, whose Facebook profile is public, posted photos of the shirts blaming China for the pandemic in March and April, as Asian American leaders and advocacy groups were already sounding alarms about rhetoric tying the coronavirus to China and Chinese people. "Covid 19," the shirt reads in a font resembling the logo of Corona beer. "IMPORTED VIRUS FROM CHY-NA." The words echoed those from politicians and especially from former president Donald Trump, who used offensive terms such as "Kung flu" and went out of his way to use the phrase "China virus." At one point, a Post photographer snapped a picture of the president's notes in which "corona" was crossed out. "It's racist and it creates xenophobia," Harvey Dong, a lecturer in Asian American and Asian diaspora studies with the University of California at Berkeley, told The Post at the time. "It's a very dangerous situation." Scientists have cast doubt on speculation that the coronavirus came from a Wuhan laboratory, saying it spread to humans from bats through an intermediary animal. Stop AAPI Hate, a group that gathered thousands of reports of anti-Asian bias over the past year, has said many reported incidents involve anti-Chinese rhetoric and specifically language that blames China for the pandemic. Reached by The Daily Beast as criticism mounted over the shirt pictures, Reynolds - who is friends with Baker on Facebook - had said he did not know about the post. "I am not aware of that," Reynolds told the outlet. "I will have to contact him but thank you for bringing that to my attention." Baker's posts about the shirts surfaced after a year of a viral videos, racial justice demonstrations and high-profile killings of Black Americans have raised concerns about racism within police ranks. For some reacting online, the social media posts added to accusations of "white privilege" over the sheriff's captain's remarks about Georgia shooting suspect Robert Aaron Long. "I wonder if these are related . . ." tweeted writer Viet Thanh Nguyen, who is Vietnamese American, after noting both the shirt photos and the "bad day" phrasing. Volunteers Callum Liefting and Louise Densham at the Wellsford CAB anniversary celebration. Wellsford Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) recently celebrated a double anniversary, with local volunteer Louise Densham marking 35 years with the service as CAB itself celebrated 50 years in New Zealand. Louise was one of the original volunteers when the Wellsford branch opened in 1986, when there were no computers and researching information was a far more laborious task. When we started back then it was a challenge, but for the community as a whole, it has been such an asset, with people having come to trust the bureau, she says. The CAB provided a safe place for people to ask their questions. Louise started volunteering with CAB after many years working as a nurse. She saw it as an opportunity to keep busy while serving her local community. At the time, many volunteers were full-time mothers with no other work experience, and she says CAB could be quite liberating for them. Once they started working at the CAB, we empowered them and often many would go on to find other jobs, she says. One of the more recent Wellsford volunteers in Callum Liefting, who now manages the Wellsford branch. He says he and Louise have seen an increase and change in enquiries in the year since the Covid-19 pandemic began, with people wanting to know more about things like the wage subsidy, border controls and various employment issues. Although lockdowns have sometimes meant that the bureau hasnt been able to open physically, volunteers have kept taking phone calls at home. We live in an increasingly complex world and some people are left behind, he says. CAB is playing an important role informing those people of their rights in society. Louise agrees. Everybody has a right to be treated properly and fairly, she says. Wellsford CAB is free, independent and opens from 10am to 2pm, Monday to Friday, at the Wellsford Community Centre. Residents from Puhoi to Bryderwyn are welcome to use the bureau, which also offers a free legal monthly legal clinic, a Justice of the Peace and a budget service by appointment. Info: Call 09 423 7333 A CORK expert in immunology has said that people should not hesitate to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) safety committee, PRAC, ruled it safe and effective. The committees investigation comes after 30 cases of unusual blood disorders were reported, out of a population of 5m people who had received the vaccine. Last week, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) recommended that the administration of the vaccine be deferred on a temporary and precautionary basis, pending the outcome of the EMA committees investigation. Dr Elizabeth Brint of University College Corks pathology department said that the key phrase to come out of the EMAs report was that benefits continue to hugely outweigh the risks. There is no risk. They were unable to find any association between the vaccine and the blood-clotting incidents, Dr Brint said. This is a great vaccine and, very importantly, its making up a fifth of our current vaccinations. For the five days that it has been on hold, 30,000 people didnt get vaccinated this week so its so important that we resume the vaccination programme and that these people now attend when offered the vaccine. There is no worry, she said. She said that the NIACs approval of the vaccine in those ages over 70 further proves its safety. The new advice updates the original advice from NIAC on February 2 which recommended that the vaccine could be used for those aged 65 and older, but where possible and timely, an mRNA vaccine such as Pfizer or Moderna should be used. This vaccine is not just safe, but also shown to be effective in that over 65 population that it was felt that the data was a bit lacking initially, and now theres so much data showing really good effectiveness of this safe vaccine in all populations, she said. HSE National Director of Community Operations, David Walsh, said during a press conference on Thursday that of the 240,000 frontline healthcare workers eligible for vaccination, nearly 202,000 were in receipt of a Covid-19 vaccine as of March 15, of which 91,000 have received their second dose of the mRNA vaccine. Most of the balance are people who received AstraZeneca who will now receive their second dose in May. He said that NIAC will make a recommendation to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) following the outcome of the EMA report, who will then advise the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly before the HSE recommences vaccination clinics. CEO of the HSE Paul Reid said that those who missed out on receiving the vaccine this week, a combination of healthcare workers and people in cohort four - aged 18 to 69 years of age with very high-risk medical conditions - will be prioritised once vaccination using AstraZeneca recommences. In a statement on its website, the EMA said that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of blood clots, however, it said the vaccine may be associated with very rare cases of blood clots associated with thrombocytopenia. These are rare cases around 20 million people in the UK and EEA had received the vaccine as of March 16 and EMA had reviewed only seven cases of blood clots in multiple blood vessels, or disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), and 18 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). A causal link with the vaccine is not proven, but is possible and deserves further analysis, the statement read. Congress leader Friday assured that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will not be implemented in Assam if the party is voted to power in the state in the coming Assembly poll. It will be ensured in the state assembly that the CAA is not implemented in Assam, Gandhi told students of Lahowal College in Dibrugarh district. "In the other states, we will stop it (CAA implementation) after we (Congress) come to power at the national level," he said. Asked to comment on whether BJP is mixing religion and politics, he said that the saffron party does not use religion but hatred to create divisions among different sections of the society. "No religion has asked to use hatred. Where is it written in Hinduism that there should be 'nafrat' (hatred)? It is BJP that spreads hatred to divide society and wherever they do it Congress goes there to promote love, brotherhood and harmony," he said. In an apparent reference to the RSS, the senior Congress leader said that there is a force in Nagpur that is trying to control the entire country. But the youth of today should resist it with love and confidence as they are the future of democracy. Twenty years ago Assam was hit by violence but after Congress came to power it ensured peace and development. "BJP ka kaam hain todna, hamaara kaam hain jodna (BJP's work is to divide but our job is to unite people), he said. Gandhi said there is a direct relation between hatred and unemployment. "If hatred increases, unemployment will increase and vice versa. Can two sections of the society fighting against each other do business together? For business and employment oppurtunities to thrive, there should be harmony and brotherhood". He also accused the saffron party of selling off Assam's resources to outsiders like the tea companies in the state, the Guwahati airport to the Adanis and the tea companies. The senior Congress leader said that at present the country has a 'Hum do, Hamare do ka Sarkar' (a government of two with two others)- one in Parliament (apparently Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah) and two outside (Adani and Ambani likely). "Assam's resources and wealth must go into the pockets of the Assamese. The state must be managed in the interest of the people here", the Congress leader said. The erstwhile Congress government, he said, had laid the foundation for the country's future growth, employment and development by initiating several schemes, including MGNREGA and Food Security. "Can you name the schemes started by BJP? We had promised in Chattisgarh to waive off farm loans and we did it. We have a record of not making promises in the air. We give guarantees", he asserted. In Assam Congress has given '5 guarantees'. They are five lakh government jobs to youths in five years, upto 200 units of free electricity per household, Rs 365 daily wage to tea workers and Rs 2000 per month to housewives besides the assurance not to implement the CAA in the state, he said. Asked by students about rising unemployment and Congress' plans to tackle it, Gandhi said that the priority of the party if voted to power will be to first fill up vacant posts and focus on sectors like health and education for creating new jobs. When a student questioned him about privatisation of education, Gandhi said that it is a "big problem" created by BJP. "Education should not be commercialised as it is a fundamental right. We are against the commercialisation of education". He said, "There are certain places for privatisation, but not in education and health where public sector has a role. We are fighting against BJP on this", he said. The biggest sale is taking place in the agricultural sector and its privatisation is being done through the three farm laws, he claimed. To another question on why protesting students are being sent to jail, Gandhi said "The rulers are scared of the confidence of the youth. They are scared that if more become confident they cannot control. So the youth are sent to jail". When another student pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not visit Assam during floods but only during elections, the Congress leader quipped, "What can you give him during floods? So why will he visit you? But now you can give him votes, so he is visiting you. "You can ensure that he does not come at all and stays at home by your vote. You have to save India's democracy as you are the future of democracy. More youths should enter politics and actively participate in fighting against the wrongs", he added. Gandhi is on a two-day visit to the poll-bound north eastern state from Friday. He will campaign in upper Assam and will release the party's manifesto in Guwahati on Saturday, Congress sources 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.) As construction works at the Nairobi Green Park Bus Terminus near completion, the Nairobi Metropolitan Services says touting will not be allowed at the facility located at the Railways Club. NMS infrastructure and public works engineer, Michael Ochieng, said the move is aimed at eradicating matatu chaos, with technology set to replace matatu conductors. All incoming PSVs will be monitored by cameras. They will queue according to their saccos, and drivers will follow directions from the screens mounted at the terminus, he said. There will be no touting. Well have a management structure, which is receptive to the customers who are using those vehicles and that is what we want to implement; it should be something acceptable to the matatu owners, Eng. Ochieng added. Chairman of matatu operators in the CBD, Jamal Ibrahim, welcomed the move saying their members will now be professional. What we are trying to do is get rid of that bad culture and run the industry like the corporate world. There will be no touting. Things will be done in an orderly manner, where your matatu will come to where you are, board and then take you to your destination, he said. The facility will also have designated parking bays for bodabodas and taxis that are expected to offer last-mile connectivity once commuters alight from matatus. Kenya Railways managing director, Philip Mainga, said they were working with NMS to launch shuttle buses that will ferry people between the terminus and the railway station. After President Kenyatta commissions the park, we will move all these matatus to the new terminus and place our buses here. We are trying to restore sanity in the transport sector in Nairobi, said Mr Mainga. The terminus also has a police station, a Level 2 hospital, a supermarket, eateries and free Wi-Fi. Additionally, Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) director-general, Eng Peter Mundinia, said the authority will build two underground tunnels between the terminus and CBD because putting up a footbridge wont be possible. Dr. Michaela Dodge is a Research Scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy and received her Ph.D. from George Mason University in 2019. Introduction Ten years ago this year, the Romanian Parliament approved an agreement with the United States on the deployment of a missile defense system to Romania. The Aegis Ashore missile defense system became operational in Romania five years ago in 2016. The system has been a visible manifestation of a U.S. commitment to its allies. This Information Series provides an overview of U.S. missile defense efforts in Romania and presents them in the context of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) missile defense cooperation. It also discusses international obstacles to U.S.-Romania missile defense cooperation, including Russias unfounded arms control concerns. The Evolution of U.S. Missile Defense in Europe On September 17, 2009, the United States announced a change in its ballistic missile defense plans for the U.S. homeland and allies. Instead of deploying a radar to the Czech Republic and a two-stage variant of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense interceptor to Poland, the Obama Administration announced it would pursue the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA).[1] The EPAA focused on addressing a regional ballistic missile threat to U.S. forward-deployed troops and European allies, particularly from Iran. The EPAA was to consist of four phases: Phase One (in the 2011 timeframe) Deploy the sea-based Aegis Weapon System with the SM-3 Block IA, and forward-deployed sensors such as the forward-based Army Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance system (AN/TPY-2); Phase Two (in the 2015 timeframe) Deploy a more capable version of the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB in both sea- and land-based configurations, and more advanced sensors; Phase Three (in the 2018 timeframe) Deploy the more advanced SM-3 Block IIA to counter short-, medium-, and intermediate-range missile threats; and Phase Four (in the 2020 timeframe) Deploy the SM-3 Block IIB to help better cope with medium- and intermediate-range missiles and the potential future ICBM threat to the United States.[2] The rationale for the change was the Obama Administrations reassessment of the ballistic missile threatIran reportedly slowed down its progress on long-range missiles and refocused its efforts on short- and intermediate-range ones.[3] The latter threatened U.S. forward-deployed forces and European allies. The United States selected Poland to host the Aegis Ashore land-based EPAA component in 2009.[4] Romania decided to participate in the EPAA in February 2010.[5] Negotiations on the agreement with Romania commenced on June 17, 2010, and took seven rounds to complete.[6] In May 2011, the United States and Romania selected the Deveselu Air Base in Romania as a suitable location to host the Aegis Ashore missile defense system.[7] The site consists of a fire-control radar deckhouse; an associated Aegis command, control and communications suite; and launch modules that contain SM-3 interceptors.[8] The United States and Romania signed an agreement on the deployment of a missile defense system to Romania in September 2011.[9] The agreement emphasized the systems defensive non-nuclear character, its contribution to NATO missile defense efforts, specified that the United States would bear the cost of operating the site and share the cost of securing the site with Romania, and limited the number of U.S. military and civilian personnel to 500, with about 150-200 people deployed to the base on a day-to-day basis.[10] The Romanian Parliament ratified the agreement on December 6, 2011.[11] The agreement entered into force on December 23, 2011.[12] Additional details were agreed upon between the two countries during the negotiations on implementing arrangements between 2012 and 2013.[13] Five implementing agreements were signed in July 2011.[14] Six additional implementing agreements were signed between December 2012 and July 2013.[15] The approach of signing implementation agreements on separate issues rather than making them all a part of the initial ballistic missile defense agreement was cleverit likely allowed the agreement, which required the Romanian Parliament approval, to be negotiated faster than if it had included all the implementation details. Similarly, selected implementation issues could then be negotiated among government experts faster. The implementation agreements did not require the Romanian Parliaments approval. In March 2013, the United States cancelled the fourth phase of the EPAA and terminated development of the SM-3 Block IIB interceptor due to a lack of congressional support and technological problems.[16] Phase Four engendered the most opposition by the Russian Federation and missile defense critics because of the SM-3 Block IIBs capability to intercept longer-range missiles. But the construction of the Aegis Ashore site in Romania retained the U.S. governments support and U.S. and Romanian officials broke ground on the site in October 2013.[17] The site received its operational certification in May 2016.[18] The relative speed of negotiations and the approval of the agreement in the Romanian Parliament were a testament to both countries commitment to the project and to the Romanian governments across-the-board support for it.[19] The Aegis Ashore site hosts 24 SM-3 Block IB interceptors that would be launched from the MK 41 Vertical Launching System.[20] While on ships, the MK 41 system can launch a Tomahawk cruise missile as well as other conventional missile types, but such capabilities are not included in the Aegis Ashore system.[21] The missile defense agreement specifies that the system in Romania, which relies on a U.S. radar network, cannot be used for test launches and can only be used for defensive purposes. In summer 2019, the Aegis Ashore facility in Romania stood down for a scheduled update.[22] The update did not add any new capabilities to the system. An addition of capabilities would most likely have required a renegotiation of the missile defense basing agreement. Russias Opposition to the Missile Defense Site Russia has always opposed U.S. missile defense efforts. In February 2002, two months after the U.S. announcement of its intent to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty that prohibited any significant missile defense systems, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of initiating an arms race and undermining global stability.[23] (On the other hand, not even three months later, in May, Russia went on to sign the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, which mandated the largest strategic offensive arms reductions in historydemonstrating that missile defenses and arms control are not mutually incompatible). Once the United States started to deploy missile defense systems and discuss European participation in the program, Russian representatives issued numerous threatsincluding nuclear threatsto NATO allies interested in missile defense cooperation with the United States.[24] Russia argued that U.S. missile defense systems in Europe are capable of upsetting strategic stability.[25] Following the activation of the Romanian site, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a veiled threat to Romania: If yesterday in those areas of Romania people simply didnt know what it means to be in the cross hairs, then today we will be forced to carry out certain measures to ensure our security.[26] Russia called the defensive system a direct threat and some Russian commentators even stated that Romania could be reduced to smoking ruins due to their hosting of a U.S. missile defense system.[27] Russia is reportedly extremely concerned over NATO and U.S. missile defense systems in Europe.[28] In 2017, a Russian foreign ministry official called Romania a clear threat to Russia.[29] In August 2018, President Putin said Russia must react to the deployment of components of the U.S. antiballistic [missile] system close to our borders.[30] The Russians are reportedly concerned about the system launching nuclear weapons, even though the United States does not currently deploy any nuclear tipped missiles that could be launched from the MK 41 launcher and the agreement with Romania is explicit on the site being able to launch only conventionally-armed defensive interceptors.[31] The Russians are reportedly concerned about a decapitating strike against the Russian leadership from Aegis Ashore sites.[32] No amount of NATO and U.S. assurances, treaty obligations, or hardware and software changes would be sufficient to prevent the Russians from repeating their false narratives, partly because these narratives serve their own political purposes regardless of whether U.S. missile defense deployments to Europe are militarily significant. The Putin regime considers NATO its adversary and presents itself as a protector of Russias interests and sovereignty to score domestic political points.[33] Indeed, given the abysmal state of Russias economy, the regimes authoritarian tendencies, suppression of civil society, and widespread corruption, President Putin does not have many domestic achievements to point to when attracting popular support. Logically, U.S. and NATO missile defenses are no match for Russias missiles and its nuclear weapons arsenal. Russia has thousands of battlefield and over 1,500 long-range nuclear warheads on hundreds of launchers, many times more than U.S. missile defense assets in Europe or in the United States could counter. If Russia chooses to attack NATO with nuclear weapons (or conventional forces for that matter), it can do so effectively despite U.S. and NATO missile defense systems. In December 2015, commander of Russias Strategic Missile Forces General Sergei Karakaev, stated that Russia can destroy NATOs missile defenses in Europe.[34] Therefore, Russias objections to a U.S. missile defense presence on the territory of its former Warsaw Pact ally are clearly based more on political than military considerations. The Romanian government is aware of the dangers posed by Russias antagonism to Romanias membership in NATO.[35] Russia maintains a solid intelligence presence in Romania, according to Teodor Melescanu, Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs.[36] Mihai Fifor, the Romanian Minister of Defense, stated that there is not a single day without a challenge from the Russian Federation from cyber-attacks to political interference.[37] Aegis Ashore and Russias Arms Control Concerns That the Aegis Ashore system cannot launch missiles other than the SM-3 family without substantive modifications is important because Russia alleged that the Aegis Ashore sites in Europe (one in Romania and another one currently being built in Poland) violated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.[38] Russia even demanded that the United States dismantle the missile defense site in Romania due to arms control concerns.[39] But the system did not violate the treaty because it was not able to launch missiles of a prohibited range absent significant software and hardware modifications. Such modifications would likely be apparent to the Russian Federation, would require Romanias permission, and would be counter to the basing agreement that explicitly states that the site is for defensive purposes only.[40] Nevertheless, Russian officials maintain that they cannot understand what tasks the Aegis Ashore system will accomplish in the missile defense areaPerhaps, the problem is that we understand missile threats differently than the U.S. and its allies.[41] Differences between the first U.S. post-INF Treaty test of a missile with a range over 500 kilometers and intermediate-range missiles that the United States would operationally deploy are significant, even if the United States conducted it from the same MK 41 launcher.[42] In fact, Aegis Ashore sites in Europe lack essential elements for launching a land-attack missile, including software, fire control hardware, and additional support equipment, according to Brian McKeon, the Obama Administrations Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (and the Biden Administrations nominee for Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources).[43] Nevertheless, Russia (and other anti-missile defense activists in Europe and the United States) continued to perpetuate the myth that U.S. missile defenses in Europe violated the INF Treaty. The Aegis Ashore site is Romanias most significantthough not its onlycontribution to NATO missile defense and the EPAA. For example, Romania purchased four Patriot Advanced Missile Defense units from the United States[44] and is authorized to purchase three additional Patriot units through the State Departments Foreign Military Sales program.[45] In addition to defending Romania, the system will contribute to NATOs missile defense effort. The total estimated program cost is $3.9 billion,[46] and the Patriot purchase is an indication of Romanias political commitment to the U.S. alliance. The bill approving the procurement of the first Patriot battery passed the Romanian Senate in a 108-1 vote.[47] The Romanian Chamber of Deputies approved the purchase in a 278-1 vote (and one abstention).[48] Cooperation with Romania in the Context of NATO Missile Defense A significant component of the U.S. missile defense effort in Europe has been cooperation within the NATO framework. The foundation for NATO missile defense was laid long before Romania agreed to host an Aegis Ashore site. The Alliance initiated a NATO missile defense feasibility study in November 2002, two years before Romania joined NATO in March 2004.[49] The study examined options for protecting Alliance territory, forces and population centers against the full range of missile threatsconsistent with the indivisibility of Allied security.[50] The study, which concluded that U.S. missile defense plans were compatible with a wider NATO missile defense project and that technical fusion between different elements of the system was plausible, was acknowledged by heads of state and governments at the Riga Summit in November 2006.51] The 2008 Bucharest Summit declaration endorsed U.S. missile defense plans as a contribution to Allied security.[52] Similarly, the 2009 Strasbourg/Kiehl Summit declaration stated that Ballistic missile proliferation poses an increasing threat to Allies forces, territory, and populations, and called for additional work on NATO missile defense.[53] NATO decided to develop a missile defense capability to pursue its core task of collective defense at the 2010 Lisbon Summit,[54] and declared an interim missile defense capability at the Chicago Summit in 2012.[55] While asset contributions are voluntary and national, the 2014 Wales summit declaration states that the Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defense (ALTBMD) command and control systems and their expansion to territorial defense are eligible for common funding.[56] The ALTBMD is a backbone of NATOs missile defense efforts for short- and intermediate-range ballistic missile threats of up to 3000 kilometers. It is the communications, command and control and battle management software that binds national capabilities into an Alliance capability.[57] With regard to the Aegis Ashore site (either in Romania or in Poland in the future), a decision to shoot down an incoming ballistic missile is with the United States, not with Romania or with the North Atlantic Council, although the United States would undoubtedly promptly inform its allies about a decision to shoot down an incoming ballistic missile. As it stands, missile flight times are too short to permit extensive deliberation. NATOs Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised Romanias commitment to helping keep NATOs nearly one billion citizens safe, at the plenary session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Bucharest in 2017.[58] Conclusion Ten years after Romania agreed to participate in U.S. missile defense efforts, it is clear that U.S.-Romania missile defense cooperation has been a success story. A U.S. Aegis Ashore site in Romania became operational in early 2016 and has contributed to NATO missile defense since, despite the Russian Federations objections to the project. Romania has proven to be a valuable U.S. ally, further encouraging national security cooperation between the two countries. The Romanian example also shows that missile defense basing agreements need not be comprehensive and detailed. This example of close U.S.-Romanian defense cooperation is a model that demonstrates promise for other countries seeking to defend their sovereignty and national interests from potential Russian aggression by aligning with the United States and the West. Given ballistic missile proliferation, it is a lesson well worth learning This article appeared originally at National Institute for Public Policy. Notes: [1]. The White House, FACT SHEET U.S. Missile Defense Policy A Phased, Adaptive Approach for Missile Defense in Europe, September 17, 2009, available at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/fact-sheet-us-missile-defense-policy-a-phased-adaptive-approach-missile-defense-eur. [2]. Ibid. [3]. Department of Defense, Ballistic Missile Defense Review Report, February 2010, available at https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/features/defenseReviews/BMDR/BMDR_as_of_26JAN10_0630_for_web.pdf. [4]. Peter Baker, Mending Fences, Biden Assures Poland That U.S. Is Watching Over It, The New York Times, October 21, 2009, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/world/europe/22biden.html. [5]. Kristen Chick, Romania Agrees to Host US Missile Interceptors, The Christian Science Monitor, February 5, 2010, available at https://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2010/0205/Romania-agrees-to-host-US-missile-interceptors. [6]. Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Romanias Participation in the Missile Defense System, available at https://www.mae.ro/en/node/2161. [7]. Ballistic Missile Defense Agreement Between the United States of America and Romania, U.S. Department of State, September 13, 2011, available at https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/09/172258.htm. [8]. Navy Installation Command, Naval Support Facility Deveselu, available at https://www.cnic.navy.mil/regions/cnreurafcent/installations/nsf_deveselu.html. [9]. U.S. Department of State, U.S.-Romania Agreement on the Deployment of Missile Defense, September 13, 2011, available at https://fas.org/irp/world/romania/bmd2011.pdf. [10]. Ibid. [11]. Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Questions and Answers Regarding Romanias Participation in the US Ballistic Missile Defense System | Ministry of Foreign Affairs, available at https://www.mae.ro/en/node/2162?page=5. [12]. Ibid. [13]. U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Agreement Between the United States of America and Romania on the Deployment of the United States Ballistic Missile Defense System in Romania, October 3, 2013, available at https://photos.state.gov/libraries/romania/231771/PDFs/Deveselu-Agreement-English.pdf. [14]. US Scraps Final Phase of European Missile Shield, BBC News, March 16, 2013, available at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-21812161. [15]. Ibid. [16]. Ibid. [17]. Vince Little, US, Romania Begin Work on Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Complex, October 31, 2013, available at https://www.army.mil/article/114203/us_romania_begin_work_on_aegis_ashore_missile_defense_complex. [18]. U.S. Department of Defense, Work Helps to Inaugurate Ballistic Missile Defense Site in Romania, May 12, 2016, available at https://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/758307/work-helps-to-inaugurate-ballistic-missile-defense-site-in-romania/. [19]. Contrast this situation with the Czech Republics efforts under the Bush Administrations Third Site plan. The Czech Parliament never managed to approve neither the Status of Forces Agreement nor the Ballistic Missile Defense Agreement. [20]. Allison Mutler, NATO Shows Off Missile Base In Romania, Calling It Purely Defensive, Radio Free Europe/RadioLiberty, November 25, 2019, available at https://www.rferl.org/a/nato-shows-off-missile-base-in-romania-calling-it-purely-defensive-/30291193.html. [21]. Larry Luxner, Top Pentagon Official Disputes Russian Claims That Aegis Ashore Violates INF Treaty, Atlantic Council Blog, June 26, 2015, available at https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/top-pentagon-official-disputes-russian-claims-that-aegis-ashore-violates-inf-treaty/. [22]. Thomas Shanker and Mark Landler, Putin Says U.S. Is Undermining Global Stability, The New York Times, February 10, 2007, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/world/europe/11munich.html. [23]. Ibid. [24]. See for example Jack Mendelsohn, European Missile Defense: Strategic Imperative or Politics as Usual?, Arms Control Association, October 2007, available at https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2007-10/features/european-missile-defense-strategic-imperative-politics-usual. [25]. Russia Says US Missile System Breaches Nuclear INF Treaty, BBC News, May 11, 2016, available at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36269734. [26]. By Susanna Capelouto, Russian President Vladimir Putin Warns Hell Retaliate against NATO Missiles, CNN Digital, May 28, 2016, available at https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/28/europe/putin-threatens-romania/index.html. [27]. Andrew E. Kramer, Russia Calls New U.S. Missile Defense System a Direct Threat, The New York Times, May 12, 2016, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/world/europe/russia-nato-us-romania-missile-defense.html. [28]. Irina Marica, Russia, Extremely Concerned about NATO Antiballistic Systems in Romania and Poland, Romania Insider, April 28, 2016, available at https://www.romania-insider.com/russia-concerns-nato-antiballistic-systems-romania-poland. [29]. Reuters, Russia Calls Romania a Clear Threat and NATO Outpost: Ifax, Reuters, February 9, 2017, available at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-romania-nato-idUSKBN15O0W0. [30]. Putin Says Russia Must React to Antiballistic Systems in Neighboring Countries, Romania Insider, August 23, 2018, available at https://www.romania-insider.com/vladimir-putin-russia-react-antiballistic-systems. [31]. Pavel Felgenauer, INF Treaty Increasingly in Danger, as Russia Balks at New Missile Defense Base in Romania, Jamestown Foundation, May 12, 2016, available at https://jamestown.org/program/inf-treaty-increasingly-in-danger-as-russia-balks-at-new-missile-defense-base-in-romania/. [32]. Ibid. Russian President Vladimir Putin spends most of his time in either Moscow or Sochi. [33]. Bilyana Lilly, How Putin Uses Missile Defence in Europe to Distract Russian Voters, NATO Review, January 29, 2015, available at https://www.nato.int/docu/review/articles/2015/01/29/how-putin-uses-missile-defence-in-europe-to-distract-russian-voters/index.html. [34]. Irina Marica, Russia Says It Can Destroy NATOs Antimissile Defense Systems in Romania and Poland, Romania Insider, December 17, 2015, available at https://www.romania-insider.com/russia-says-it-can-destroy-natos-antimissile-defense-systems-in-romania-and-poland. [35]. Romania joined NATO in 2004. [36]. Foreign Affairs Minister: Russian Espionage, Present in Romania, Romania Insider, April 2, 2018, available at https://www.romania-insider.com/russian-espionage-present-romania. [37]. Irina Marica, Romanian Defense Minister: I Dont Think Theres a Single Day without a Challenge from Russia, Romania Insider, June 26, 2018, available at https://www.romania-insider.com/defense-minister-challenge-russia. [38]. The Trump Administration withdrew from the INF Treaty in August 2019 as a consequence of Russias violations of the treaty and its unwillingness to come back into compliance with terms of the treaty. [39]. U.S. Says In Compliance With Treaty After Russia Demands Washington Destroy Defense System, RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, February 8, 2019, available at https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-demands-u-s-destroy-missile-defense-system-in-romania-military-drones/29758623.html. [40]. U.S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Press Release: The United States Remains in Compliance with the INF Treaty, U.S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, February 8, 2019, available at https://nato.usmission.gov/press-release-the-united-states-remains-in-compliance-with-the-inf-treaty/. [41]. Moscow Receives US Explanation on Deployment of THAAD System to Romania, TASS Russian News Agency, April 26, 2019, available at https://tass.com/politics/1055978. [42]. Idrees Ali, U.S. Tests First Ground-Launched Cruise Missile after INF Treaty Exit | Reuters, August 19, 2019, available at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pentagon-missiles-russia/after-inf-treaty-exit-u-s-tests-ground-launched-cruise-missile-idUSKCN1V91IV. [43]. Luxner, Top Pentagon Official Disputes Russian Claims That Aegis Ashore Violates INF Treaty, op. cit. [44]. Raytheon Company, Romania to Procure Additional Patriot Air and Missile Defense Systems, November 1, 2018, available at https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/romania-to-procure-additional-patriot-air-and-missile-defense-systems-300742345.html. [45]. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Romania Patriot Air Defense System and Related Support and Equipment, July 11, 2017, available at https://www.dsca.mil/press-media/major-arms-sales/romania-patriot-air-defense-system-and-related-support-and-equipment. [46]. Ibid. [47]. North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO Prague Summit Declaration, November 21, 2002, available at https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_19552.htm. [48]. Ibid. [49]. Ibid. [50]. Ibid. [51]. Peppino DeBiasso, Missile Defense and NATO Security, Joint Forces Quarterly, Vol. 51, September 2008, p. 50. [52]. North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Bucharest Summit Declaration, April 3, 2008, available at https://www.nato.int/cps/us/natohq/official_texts_8443.htm. [53]. NATO, Strasbourg / Kehl Summit Declaration Issued by the Heads of State and Government Participating in the Meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Strasbourg / Kehl, NATO, April 4, 2009, available at http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_52837.htm. [54]. NATO, Lisbon Summit Declaration Issued by the Heads of State and Government Participating in the Meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Lisbon, NATO, November 20, 2010, available at http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_68828.htm. [55]. NATO, Chicago Summit Declaration Issued by the Heads of State and Government Participating in the Meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Chicago on 20 May 2012, NATO, May 20, 2012, available at http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_87593.htm. [56]. Secretary General Stoltenberg: Romania Is Helping Keep NATOs Citizens Safe, Romania Insider, October 9, 2017, available at https://www.romania-insider.com/stoltenberg-romania-keep-natos-citizens-safe. [57]. Ibid. [58]. Ibid. The National Institute for Public Policys Information Series is a periodic publication focusing on contemporary strategic issues affecting U.S. foreign and defense policy. It is a forum for promoting critical thinking on the evolving international security environment and how the dynamic geostrategic landscape affects U.S. national security. Contributors are recognized experts in the field of national security. The views in this Information Series are those of the author and should not be construed as official U.S. Government policy, the official policy of the National Institute for Public Policy or any of its sponsors. For additional information about this publication or other publications by the National Institute Press, contact: Editor, National Institute Press, 9302 Lee Highway, Suite 750 |Fairfax, VA 22031 | (703) 293- 9181 |www.nipp.org. For access to previous issues of the National Institute Press Information Series, please visit http://www.nipp.org/nationalinstitutepress/information-series/. National Institute Press, 2021 Chrissy Teigen unveiled her latest ink on Thursday, showing off new tiny dots on her fingers. The 35-year-old Cravings founder boasts many delicate markings on her body, opting to have her go-to tattoo artist add one more to her ever-evolving canvas. In true Teigen fashion she humorously remarked about her latest finger dots: 'Please don't tell me this means something in morse code,' adding 'I just like dots.' Fresh ink: Chrissy Teigen debuts new tiny finger dots from tattoo artist Winter Stone as she jokes about her latest markings having a 'morse code' meaning Right hand: She opted to get the dots done on her right hand as she told her followers 'I just like dots'; pictured sans-tattoo March 9 When it came to jazzing up her fingers, she looked no further than the fine line artist who did her last two tattoos LA based artist Daniel Winter who goes by the moniker Winter Stone. He has a long list of celebrity clientele including Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga and Joe Jonas. She and husband John Legend, 42, paid tribute to their son Jack who they lost in late September, the cookbook author and musician getting his name in scripture on their wrists. Shortly thereafter she got a spine tattoo in the same delicate font, this time with the lyrics to Legend's song 'Ooh Laa,' as he crooned the lyrics to her while she got it done. Jack: The cookbook author paid tribute to her tragic miscarriage in September by getting his name tattooed on her wrist; November 2 Matching: Legend also has Jack's name in scripture on his wrist Spine tattoo: Teigen got the lyrics to John's song 'ooh laa' tattooed down her spine; January 12 Despite it being a very painful spot for a tattoo, she shared the process with her 34.3M followers where she looked very relaxed on the table before saying 'get the llama,' referring to a stuffed toy they had brought for support. And she and Legend also have tattoos in honor the family they've built together over the last eight years, both getting the other's name along with their two kids Luna, four, and Miles, two. She also has her family's birth dates: 8 5 39. 12 12 61. 12 28 78. 4 14 16. 5 16 18 tattooed on her arm. The first two being for parents Ron Teigen Sr. and Vilailuck 'Pepper' Teigen, and the other three for John, Luna and Miles. Also a fan of tribute ink, her dad hilariously got Chrissy's face tattooed on his bicep in December of 2018. Devoted: The pair have two sets of matching ink to pay tribute to the family they've built over the last eight years; February 1 Family first: The couple opted to get each other's name along with kids Luna and Miles on their right arms; April 2019 Healing: After her miscarriage she had shared that she was 'sad' she would never be pregnant again, but was 'lucky to have two amazing little ones'; December 30 She shared the photo to Instagram as she wrote 'MY DAD GOT A TATTOO OF ME FOR MY BIRTHDAY.' Her mom lives with the family and helps Chrissy develop some of her culinary flavors, and her dad resides right around the corner. Pepper shared in the family's heartbreak when Chrissy tragically lost her son at 20 weeks due to a partial placenta abruption which caused her to bleed uncontrollably until her womb couldn't sustain the baby any longer. She bravely shared photos of she, Legend, and Pepper holding the stillborn baby wrapped in a blanket as she grieved the unexpected loss. Quite the birthday: Her dad Ron Sr. got her face tattooed on his bicep for her birthday in 2018 Cravings: Pepper helps Chrissy with her line of cookbooks which are in part inspired by her mother's Thai heritage; pictured 2018 Chrissy penned a lengthy essay with Medium after taking a month off social media, though the healing process is still ongoing. In December she shared she was 'sad' she would never be pregnant again. 'I love being pregnant, so so much, and I'm sad I never will be again. But I am lucky to have two amazing little ones who are transforming into big little people more and more every single day,' she wrote. In February she shared photos from Legend's Wild video shoot where she was 10 weeks pregnant as she wrote 'I was out of my mind happy.' They had announced their pregnancy news through the music video. She added 'I could have never imagined what would happen over the next 10 weeks...not sure I'll ever be able to watch that video again without sobbing but I hope he feels my tears and knows we miss him so.' Unexpected loss: She candidly shared photos from the hospital after losing the baby at 20 weeks due to partial placenta abruption; September 2020 Overjoyed: In February she shared photos from Legend's Wild video shoot where she was 10 weeks pregnant as she wrote 'I was out of my mind happy,' the pair announcing their pregnancy news through the music video That same month she underwent endometriosis surgery for the disorder where the tissue improperly grows outside of the uterus. The model had spoken of painful periods and cramps that 'felt like baby kicks,' a sad reminder that she would have welcomed her son around that time. To try and speed up the healing process, she embarked on sobriety after having admitted a history of alcoholism in her family and a dependence on it herself. Additionally she sought grief counseling, took up horseback riding as therapy, and even went through a phase where she found happiness in face jewels and even got a nose ring. Teigen said that the transformative period for her occured around her 35th birthday where she felt that the 'intense grief and physical pain was gone,' but still has to take things day by day. One crash victim is fighting for life and 14 others have been treated by paramedics after a mini-bus carrying farm workers and car collided in Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane. Emergency services were called to the intersection of Lake Clarendon Way and Walhuben Road, Glenore Grove, just before 2.30pm on Friday. Emergency services are on scene. Credit:Nine News, Twitter A woman in her 50s has been flown to the Princess Alexandra Hospital by a rescue helicopter with critical abdominal injuries and significant fractures on her body. A second female, in her 20s, was rushed to the Toowoomba Hospital in a serious condition with neck, chest, abdominal and limb injuries. Governor Kate Brown held a press conference on Friday to discuss Oregons response to COVID-19, including accelerated timelines to vaccinate Oregonians. She was joined by representatives from the Oregon Health Authority. State officials this week announced they will comply with a federal directive to make all Oregonians 16 and older eligible for a vaccine by May 1, two months earlier than Oregon planned. As a result, Brown moved up eligibility timelines to sometime in April for certain workers and people with underlying health conditions, to ensure they have an opportunity to secure a spot before the general population. A Spanish language version of the press conference is available on OHAs Facebook page. Una transmision simultanea en espanol estara disponible en la pagina de Facebook de OHA. MILAN, MAR 19 - A 20-year-old Milanese hotel school student saved the life of a neighbour's three-old grandson with the Heimlich maneuver on Thursday, Corriere della Sera said Friday. Simone Mantovani was doing distance learning when his neighbour knocked on his door and showed him her three-year-old grandson who was not breathing. He promptly performed the abdominal thrusts that dislodged a piece of food and saved the toddler's life. Lombardy Governor Attilio Fontana praised the student online, positing a link to the story and saying "the rescue team arrived as soon as it could but Simone's intervention was decisive. Well done Simone!" (ANSA). Teachers were "taken totally by surprise" by the programme of Covid testing to be rolled out in schools. Years 12-14 pupils and staff in post-primary schools are to be offered twice weekly tests from next week. The NASUWT said schools "have not been given the time necessary to ensure the delivery of a competent testing system that will be robust and effective". After the Easter holidays all staff in primary and pre-schools will also be offered regular testing, with plans to make tests available for every pupil later. "The Department of Education must work with unions and schools on a sensible timescale which is backed with the necessary practical and financial support," the union's Dr Patrick Roach said. "We all want pupils and school staff to be as safe as possible, but an unplanned, uncoordinated and unworkable approach to mass testing without adequate resources and additional trained personnel risks undermining rather than enhancing safety." The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said teachers had no idea the testing programme would be rolled out and had not been consulted. "Teachers don't want to see a return to a revolving door of opening and then having to close again," ASCL's Robert Wilson said. "But the announcement came as a total surprise to school leaders and comes on the back of a pilot scheme, the success of which they know very little about. "Schools have not been consulted and communication from the Education Minister has been woefully poor and extremely short on detail. "Teachers have been given precious little time to make arrangements for a major logistical operation they had not been previously warned about and have no experience of." The Northern Ireland Teachers' Council said tests must be managed in a way that does not compromise safety in schools, nor add to the already unacceptably high workload. "School staff cannot be compelled to supervise or support pupils to conduct self-testing in schools," it added. Education Minister Peter Weir said the testing will provide a significant level of reassurance. "While it is for each family to decide if they wish for their child to participate, it will be of benefit to all those in schools... by identifying all those who may be asymptomatic," he said. Schools rapid testing will be rolled out in three phases. In phase 1, from March 22, all staff in post-primary schools and all pupils in Years 12-14 will be invited to familiarise themselves with twice weekly self-testing kits. Phase 2, after the Easter break, will expand the programme to include staff in primary schools The third phase will add nursery, pre-school and, initially, some pre-school education providers. Department of Education advice said the LFD test was not "100% perfect, but the speed and convenience of LFD tests means they are very successful in identifying asymptomatic individuals". So far, he said the county is receiving the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which require two shots, but not the one manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, which requires only one. Currently the one-shot vaccine is being used at mass vaccination centers, but he hopes to get some locally. The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries over the past week could fuel scepticism about the shot far beyond their shores potentially threatening the rollout of a vaccine that is key to the global strategy to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic. For developing nations, the choice is AstraZeneca or nothing, as the vaccine from the Anglo-Swedish drug maker is cheaper and easier to store than many others. It will make up nearly all of the doses shipped in the first half of the year by Covax, a consortium meant to ensure low- and middle-income countries receive vaccines. Expand Close A hospital security guard receives one of the countrys first coronavirus vaccinations using the AstraZeneca jab (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A hospital security guard receives one of the countrys first coronavirus vaccinations using the AstraZeneca jab (AP) With little other choice, most developing countries that had the AstraZeneca on hand pushed ahead with it even as major countries in Europe suspended its use over the past week after reports that unusual blood clots were found in some recipients of the shot despite insistence from international health agencies that there was no evidence the vaccine was responsible. While governments in Africa and elsewhere expressed their determination to continue using the jab, not everyone is convinced. Why should I allow it to be used on me? Are we not human beings like those in Europe? Peter Odongo, a resident of a town in northern Uganda, told the Daily Monitor newspaper this week. The East African country has received 864,000 AstraZeneca doses via Covax so far, but had administered fewer than 3,000 by Tuesday. Authorities blamed logistical challenges in transporting the vaccines deep into the country, but newspaper reports cite resistance to the vaccine. Even before the latest debate over AstraZeneca, vaccine scepticism had been a concern across the world, as many people are hesitant about treatments developed in record time. African countries have faced particular hurdles on a continent wary of being a testing ground for the West. Some leaders have pushed back against scepticism, while others, such as those in Burundi and Tanzania, have fed it by appearing to deny the seriousness of Covid-19. Was a pleasure to receive the visit of Ms @Winnie_Byanyima @UN Under SG & @UNAIDS Exec. Dir. and her team at @AfricaCDC. We had a bilateral meeting discussing global health, strengthening partnership and challenges faced by @_AfricanUnion Continent during the COVID19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/eDfxas2S7t John Nkengasong (@JNkengasong) March 18, 2021 John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters that unfortunate events in Europe will clearly not be helpful for our public confidence, in building public confidence and trust on the use of that particular vaccine and other vaccines for sure. That came hours before the European Medicines Agency said its experts concluded that the vaccine is not linked to an overall increase in the risk of blood clots, though it could not definitively rule out a link to rare types of clots and the vaccine. In response, countries including Italy, France and Germany announced they would resume use of the jab. Even before those reversals, several developing nations had said they would stick by the vaccine. We will continue the inoculations, said Lia Tadesse, health minister of Ethiopia, which received 2.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week. Authorities in India home to the vaccine manufacturer that will likely make a large portion of the doses destined for the developing world said they would continue AstraZeneca inoculations with full vigour as infections jumped in several parts of the country. After initially saying it would delay use of the vaccine, Thailand said it would carry on with AstraZeneca, and the prime minister even received his jab in public. Expand Close A Moroccan nurse administers the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to a health worker (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A Moroccan nurse administers the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to a health worker (AP) Brazils state-run Fiocruz institute delivered the first AstraZeneca shots bottled in Brazil on Wednesday as the health ministry sought to allay concerns about the blood clot reports. Very few developing countries bucked the trend. Congo, for instance, halted use of AstraZeneca, putting its entire vaccination campaign on hold since it has no doses of anything else. On Friday, Indonesia cleared the AstraZeneca vaccine for use again. The benefits of using the Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca outweigh the possible risks, so that we can start to use it, Indonesias Food and Drug Authority said in its announcement. The Indonesian agency said the risk of death from Covid-19 was much greater, Therefore, the community still has to get vaccination against Covid-19 according to the designated schedule. Indonesia has received 1.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 8, through Covax. The AstraZeneca vaccine is the second to arrive in Indonesia after the one made by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac. Indonesia aims to inoculate more than 181 million of its 270 million people by March 2022 as part of a free vaccination drive that began in January. European and other wealthy countries have several vaccines to choose from, but AstraZeneca is currently the linchpin in the strategy to vaccinate the rest of the world. Some developing countries have received doses of Chinese-made or Russian-made vaccines often as donations but, at least in Africa, these allotments have usually been relatively small. The Chinese and Russian vaccines have not yet been endorsed by the WHO and so cannot be distributed by Covax. Africa, with a population of 1.3 billion, hopes to vaccinate 60% of its people by the end of 2022. That target almost certainly will not be met without widespread use of AstraZeneca. Experts have warned that until vaccinations rates are high the world over, the virus remains a threat everywhere. Credit: CC0 Public Domain In light of recent extreme climate eventsfrom wildfires blazing through the western US to snowstorms sweeping Texas into a blackoutclimate scientists and media outlets have repeatedly called out the urgency of tackling the climate crisis. But in a new study published March 19 in the journal One Earth, researchers found that emphasizing urgency alone is not enough to kindle public support for climate change policies. "We had the impression that policymakers shy away from enacting ambitious, stringent climate policy because they're afraid of public backlash. However, if climate change communicators emphasize the urgency of addressing climate change, citizens may become supportive of quick and bold policies," says co-author Adrian Rinscheid of the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. "Then we thought, 'Why don't we do a study looking at the potential effect that the perceived urgency of climate change has on people's policy support?'" To find answers, the researchers surveyed 9,911 people in Germany and the United States. The team found that people who perceive climate change to be urgent also tend to support general mitigation plans, such as long-term temperature and mitigation targets. But when it comes to personal sacrifices, such as cutting meat consumption and reducing the use of fossil-fuel-powered cars, the sense of urgency doesn't convince people to support these "high-cost" plans. However, the researchers did find some strategies that might help policymakers advocate for ambitious climate mitigation policies. They found that giving context and information about the purpose and importance of certain policy measures can increase people's support, even for mitigation approaches imposed on consumers that require behavioral change or are costly to individuals. The researchers noted that politicians can also communicate and link the urgency of climate change to corresponding effective near-term solutions to create "quick wins." "If the governments are open, transparent, engaging, and authentic with climate policies, people actually are more likely to follow, and the risk of public backlash is way smaller," says co-author Lukas Fesenfeld of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. "Citizens are not the main hindrance." The researchers also found that while 80% of Germans and 64% of Americans who participated in the survey agree that climate change is already a serious problem today and for future generations, these respondents are significantly less concerned about the consequences of climate change for themselves. "Extracted information about urgency on its own is probably unlikely to change behaviors and support," says Fesenfeld. "But living in Texas and experiencing snowy days or sitting in a cold flat because your insulation is not made for snowthese real-world experiences and emotional reactions coupled with analytical information might help." One of the team's next steps is comparing and investigating how individuals who experienced extreme climate events react to personalized messages about the urgency of climate change and how they respond to near-term solutions. "Policymakers can and should really act more ambitiously and quickly in order to prevent the public from feeling climate change too strongly in their own lives in the near future," says Rinscheid. "Some are already experiencing the impacts." Explore further Climate change bigger threat than COVID: Red Cross More information: One Earth, Fesenfeld and Rinscheid: "Emphasizing urgency of climate change is insufficient to increase policy support" DOI: 10.1016/j.oneear.2021.02.010 Journal information: One Earth , Fesenfeld and Rinscheid: "Emphasizing urgency of climate change is insufficient to increase policy support" www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltex 2590-3322(21)00116-0 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Samsung chief Lee Kun-hee's family will have to pay an estimated W10 trillion in inheritance taxes, which would be a record for Korea (US$1=W1,129). According to the Financial Supervisory Service on Sunday, Lee's stock holdings were valued at W18.2 trillion at Friday's closing price. As of June this year, Lee owned 4.18 percent of Samsung Electronics including 0.08 percent of preferred shares, 20.76 percent of Samsung Life, 2.88 percent of Samsung C&T and 0.01 percent of Samsung SDS. Heirs are liable to the maximum tax of 50 percent if they inherit more than W3 billion, and a tax rate of 60 percent is applied to heirs when the deceased was a majority shareholder of a conglomerate. That means Lee's children will have to pay around W10.9 trillion in inheritance taxes. If they sell stocks in Samsung companies to raise the money to pay the taxes, their controlling stakes through the Byzantine holding structure that keep the publicly traded empire in family could weaken. Instead, the current Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong and the patriarch's widow and other children could borrow money using their stocks as collateral to pay the taxes or donate some of their stocks to charity. Hurricane season 2021 is here: How do storms get their names? Just in time for the summer, Imperial Beach is giving away free parking across the street from the beach. The city, which pays $5,000 annually to lease the 40-car lot on Seacoast Drive and Elkwood Avenue from the Port of San Diego, will waive the current $2 parking charge on June 1. It is a very rare opportunity for the City Council to have a chance to take a parking lot and make it free, said City Manager Andy Hall. Even though parking will be free, there are some rules. The lot is opened from 5 a.m. to midnight, so no overnight parking, and large trailers and RVs are not allowed, Hall added. Advertisement Because the lot costs money, it is underused. Locals who live nearby would rather park on the street for free even if it means having to find parking a couple of blocks away. With that lot costing $2 and parking in the neighborhood being free, people tend to drive around for half an hour to find a free spot and not pay the two bucks, said Councilman Edward Spriggs. We are trying to eliminate that dynamic. Imperial Beach hopes waiving the parking fee will ease traffic congestion and bring more people to the beach. With the anticipated opening of a brewery nearby and more seaside restaurants, they hope to get more tourists this summer. The lot costs the city monthly lease payments of $417. The lease lasts at least two years. The city is happy to spend the money if it means more people will enjoy their coastline, according to the mayor. For us, I think its really important to make sure that were providing ample access to the coast, said Mayor Serge Dedina. Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 01:50:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Aerial photo taken on July 19, 2020 shows the Puti Island offshore windfarm in Laoting County, north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao) According to a report released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), a Belgium-based international trade association, China broke the world record for most wind power capacity installed in a single year in 2020, with 52 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity -- doubling the country's annual installations compared to the previous year. LONDON, March 18 (Xinhua) -- China secured top position of the global wind power industry after record installation in 2020, British newspaper Financial Times (FT) said Thursday. According to a report released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), a Belgium-based international trade association, China broke the world record for most wind power capacity installed in a single year in 2020, with 52 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity -- doubling the country's annual installations compared to the previous year. "The incredible and rapid growth of wind power in the region has been led by China, which now has more wind power capacity than Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America combined," Feng Zhao, head of market intelligence and strategy at the GWEC, was quoted by the London-based newspaper as saying. "We were expecting an installation rush in China last year due to the phase out of the onshore wind Feed-in-Tariff by the end of 2020, but the Chinese wind market exceeded our original forecasts by over 73 percent," Zhao added. "Top-down policies requiring wind and solar be integrated into the power grid, rather than subsidy support, would probably drive the greater transition to renewables", FT quoted Liang Wanliang, a China director for the GWEC, as saying. Aerial photo taken on June 12, 2020 shows workers installing an offshore wind turbine at a wind farm in Fuqing, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) FT noted the meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs on Monday addressed that China needed "a new kind of electrical system centered around new energy", which "interpreted by analysts as a signal of continued strong policy support for renewables". In addition, China's aim to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, and the Chinese move "sparked optimism for a breakthrough in global climate negotiations", FT said. On the back of the united efforts, the share of clean energy consumption in China has risen from 19.1 percent in 2016 to 24.3 percent in 2020, data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics showed. Photo taken on Aug. 13, 2019 shows wind turbines amid blooming sunflowers in Sitan Township of Jingtai County in Baiyin, northwest China's Gansu Province. (Xinhua/Nie Jianjiang) The Portland school board approved the districts agreement with its teachers union on the conditions for resuming face-to-face teaching Thursday evening, paving the way for elementary schoolers to begin in-person classes after spring break. The agreement passed 6-1. The memorandum of understanding between Portland Public Schools and its teachers union requires students and educators to remain at least 6 feet apart whenever at school. That sparked muted debate among board members as they deliberated ahead of the vote, given signals that national and state health authorities are likely to lower their spacing guidelines to 3 feet within days. Board member Amy Kohnstamm took aim at the 6-foot requirement, saying the district could double the amount of instructional time it offers students if it were willing to follow updated recommendations as they emerge. We know theres no defensible epidemiological guidance that says thats necessary, she said. Kohnstamm didnt have qualms with any other aspect of the agreement and asked the board to send district and union negotiators back to the bargaining table. Board member Rita Moore shot back, saying the district cannot just throw the doors open before telling Kohnstamm it would be irresponsible to decline the agreement. It would take staff four to six weeks to calibrate every element of this return plan, Moore said, later adding, It would defeat the purpose of getting students back to school as soon as possible. Kohnstamm said another round of bargaining wouldnt spike the entire deal, only the spacing requirements, and that such negotiations shouldnt take long. Board members Julia Brim-Edwards and Andrew Scott agreed with Moore, with Scott echoing Moores sentiment that another round of negotiations would prove lengthy and cumbersome. Its a choice between the agreement in front of us and nothing, Scott said. Several board members said theyve received hundreds, if not thousands, of emails from families voicing their opinion on the districts reopening plans. At least two hinted at the homogeneity of the chorus. Im concerned about who we havent heard from, board member Michelle DePass said, noting she was concerned by how few notes shes received from refugee and immigrant families. But, she said, This plan is good enough. It will take us through the end of the year. Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said the agreement provides a viable, in-person hybrid instructional model. Moving into a hybrid model does get us one step closer to a full reopening of schools, he said. We believe with everyones cooperation we can return to campuses in a safe manner. Kevin Perlas, father of two Ida B. Wells High students, urged the school board to vote against the deal. He mentioned that the Lake Oswego and West Linn-Wilsonville districts are already offering almost three times as many hours of in-person instruction a week for their high schoolers as Portland plans. Rashelle Chase, an early childhood educator, local activist and parent of a Portland student, spoke in favor of the agreement. She condemned parents who have threatened to pull their children from the district and those who have lobbed criticism at educators wary of returning to classrooms. Do not allow the sacrifices of the last year to be for nothing by capitulating to privilege, she said. In a recent survey of PPS kindergarten through 5th grade families, 70% (including 60% of families of color) were ready for their students to return to some form of in-person instruction. The Oregon Department of Education currently advises 6-foot spacing as the only safe strategy. But the agency is reviewing that guideline, Gov. Kate Brown said Friday, in light of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announcing it will now recommend 3 feet of distancing in its own guidelines for schools Thursdays vote locked Portland Public Schools into the 6-foot standard for the remainder of the school year. The agreement lays out the order in which the district will begin offering in-person instruction, starting with pre-kindergartners, kindergartners and first-graders on April 1. Schools will phase in second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-graders April 5. Chief of Schools Shawn Bird said the district designed the reentry plans that way to give kindergartners, in particular, time to become acclimated to their classrooms, noting they have never been inside their schools. We want them to have a little bit of time in the building by themselves before older students come back, Bird said. Middle and high school students will return April 19. Until now, the district has only offered in-person instruction for students with acute needs for academic support. As of last week, that was about 1,800 pupils, or about 4% of Portland Public Schools total enrollment. According to Portland Public Schools reopening plans, middle and high school students will get about five hours of in-person time over two afternoons per week. Educators wont go over new material during in-person sessions. Instead, teachers will provide in-person help on lessons teachers delivered virtually that morning. Its focused for continuity of learning, Bird said. Think of the morning time as the direct instruction time with breakout rooms and in the afternoon its the reinforcement time. The agreement requires the district to ensure every school has a safety committee that includes at least two union members. Those committees will help develop a checklist for classroom safety that include such items as cleaning supplies, desk spacing and the presence of air filters. If any of those items are missing, the educator may refuse to use that classroom for instruction. Nathaniel Shue, the boards student representative, asked the board to add a provision requiring a pupil to sit on the safety committee. That didnt happen, but Guerrero said its likely students will be part of that process. I cant imagine any educator would not be open to including our students, Guerrero said. Union President Elizabeth Thiel criticized Browns executive order mandating Oregon public schools to offer in-person instruction by the week after spring break. She said the order unfairly pushed up the timeline for negotiations on the unions agreement with the district. She said some union members wanted the district to keep instruction all virtual for the remainder of the school year so the district could focus on returning to a reimagined more equitable and effective approach in the fall. We have no interest as educators in going back to normal in the fall, she said, because Portland Public Schools has not met our students needs for decades. --Eder Campuzano | 503-221-4344 | @edercampuzano | Eder on Facebook Eder is The Oregonians education reporter. Do you have a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email ecampuzano@oregonian.com. ALBANY, Ore. This year, Linn-Benton Community College is getting creative to recognize graduates even during an ongoing pandemic. A CARmencement drive-through ceremony will be held at the Albany campus this June. "I'm thrilled that we have found a way to celebrate our student's accomplishments with an in-person event this year," said President Lisa Avery. "Our students have shown amazing perseverance and creativity throughout this pandemic and we are happy to finally be able to honor their achievements in a safe and socially-distanced way." During the event, graduates will drive through campus, get cheered on by faculty and staff, and hear commencement speeches. There will also be music, photo stations and more. Then, graduates will be able to get out of the car, walk across the stage, and receive their diploma. Due to state restrictions, last year the college was only able to hold an online commemoration for graduates, so graduates of both the classes of 2020 and 2021 will be invited to participate, college officials said. If you are a graduate-to-be, you can learn more about signing up for a time slot HERE. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Mar. 19A day after Twitter temporarily restricted him for hate speech, U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel doubled down on his criticism of Big Tech at a legislative breakfast in northwest Ohio on Friday. "Yesterday, I was canceled by these ultra-liberal thugs in Silicon Valley. They kicked me off Twitter," Mr. Mandel, a Republican, said to applause from Greater Toledo Right to Life during an event at The Pinnacle in Maumee. "I wear that as a badge of honor. When we speak truth to power, just like [former] President Trump does, Silicon Valley executives who condescend on us, who look down on the heartland, they try to censor us," he said. "But mark my words: we the people will not be censored. We will not be silenced." Mr. Mandel is tapping into outcry from some on the right that liberal tech companies are trying to silence conservative Republicans, which became a closing theme of the 2020 election. Mr. Trump was kicked off Twitter after the Jan. 6 insurrection over fears he would incite more violence. Unlike the former president, Mr. Mandel wasn't permanently booted from Twitter, but the social-media platform suspended features of his account for 12 hours after his official campaign account posted a poll Tuesday asking whether "Muslim Terrorists" or "Mexican Gangbangers" were the "illegals" most likely to commit crimes. Mr. Mandel's campaign sent a news release that showed Twitter flagged him for "violating our rules against hateful conduct," which say users can't "promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability or serious disease." In an interview after his Right to Life remarks, Mr. Mandel said the tweet in question was sent by staffers and he didn't know the details of his suspension. But he said the incident made him "proud" and he didn't see anything wrong with the language used. Story continues Advertisement "It's a signal that [Big Tech] is afraid of our movement of constitutional conservatives and Trump warriors throughout the state. Big Tech tries to silence and censor those they're afraid of, and they're obviously very afraid of me," he told The Blade. There isn't much data about the correlation between illegal immigration and increased crime rates, but studies from the right-leaning Cato Institute, The Marshall Project, and the University of Madison-Wisconsin have found the opposite is true that undocumented immigrants commit crimes at the same or lower rates than legal immigrants and native-born citizens. Mr. Mandel's tweet was an apparent swipe at the Biden administration for a surge in unaccompanied minors at the U.S.-Mexico border who are fleeing violence in Central America. The former state treasurer cited a report that four people matching the descriptions of people on the FBI's terrorist watch list were arrested at that border. "I believe we should do everything we can to protect people against radical Muslim terrorists," he said. After eight women, including six of Asian descent, were killed in shootings this week in Atlanta, Mr. Mandel's tweet struck a chord and was called out as racist. "This type of bigotry in Ohio is what incites hate crime and racism. @JoshMandelOhio is creating a bullseye attack for communities of color because he wants white supremacy to prevail in our state," tweeted state Sen. Tina Maharath (D., Columbus), the first Asian-American woman elected to the Ohio Senate. Mr. Mandel and former Ohio Republican Party chairman Jane Timken are competing for Trump support in Ohio's GOP Senate primary both from his supporter base and from the former president himself. But while Ms. Timken has touted endorsements from state lawmakers and praised a plan to rename a state park in Trumbull County after Mr. Trump, Mr. Mandel has taken to Twitter to attack two fellow Republicans: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for coronavirus mandates and U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Rocky River for voting to impeach Mr. Trump, moves criticized within his own party. "Bigotry MUST stop," state Sen. Matt Dolan (R., Chagrin Falls), who is considering a Senate bid, tweeted in response to Mr. Mandel's immigration Twitter poll. "This type of message distracts from the very real crisis at the border. This message also tarnishes the Republican Party. We must do better. We should be better. We can do better!" At the legislative breakfast, Mr. Mandel, who's Jewish, said the United States was founded on Judeo-Christian values. "And what's the centerpiece of that? The sanctity of life," he told the Right to Life audience. "You look at the Muslim world, the Middle East, people are murdered all the time for speaking their mind. I don't think there they respect the sanctity of life. You look in China, where someone has the audacity to disagree with the government. They get disappeared or get murdered. They don't respect the sanctity of life." Also at the breakfast was Cleveland-area businessman Mike Gibbons, who's on a listening tour of the state as he weighs a Senate bid. Mr. Gibbons is one of a dozen possible Senate candidates from both sides of the aisle weighing a run for the seat now held by Republican Rob Portman, who has declared he will not seek re-election next year. First Published March 19, 2021, 1:02pm Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Rain showers in the morning with numerous thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. Storms could contain damaging winds. High 78F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Refugee students meet in Berlin, Germany, on World Refugee Day 2019. UNHCR/Antoine Tardy Over the past year, weve witnessed the deadly impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the scourge of racism has also devastated many lives with tragic consequences. Violent and deadly attacks against Black, Brown, Asian and Indigenous people, toxic language, and daily and sustained racially charged acts have rightly forced painful - but necessary - conversations to re-examine prejudice, privilege, the way we view the world, and most importantly how we act. We must take this opportunity to work towards a world that is not just against racism, but is actively anti-racist. As the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, I have seen first hand how racism and racial discrimination are a root cause of persecution and displacement. Actively combatting racism and racial discrimination can and will help prevent this. It will also reduce the dangerous discrimination and stigmatization that all too often confronts refugees in their countries of asylum. A failure to eliminate racial discrimination will continue to force innocent people to flee and fear for their lives. But today is not only a recognition of the need for others to act. We must all pause and reflect on ourselves, our organizations, and our actions. UNHCR is looking inwards to build a more diverse and inclusive workforce to deliver on our mandate and respond to the needs of displaced and stateless people around the world. We are working to become better cognizant of our unconscious bias and to eliminate discrimination to become a more anti-racist, non-discriminatory organization. This is my commitment as High Commissioner: to ensure that UNHCR is an organization where diversity is not only valued, but where every colleague feels seen, heard, and represented. This year on International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination I call on all of us to renew our commitment to listen, stand up, speak out, and actively combat racism and racial discrimination. Racism and racial discrimination against anyone of us hurts all of us. More information: UNHCR has issued guidance on addressing racism and xenophobia, providing practical examples and best practices for our operations around the world. The Global Compact on Refugees places ending discrimination of any kind based on the grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, disability, age, or other status at the centre of action to prevent displacement and to ensure peaceful coexistence between refugee and host communities. In pursuit of becoming an anti-racist, non-discriminatory organization, UNHCR has commissioned an independent internal review to establish a baseline and action plan for this work and the establishment of an Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Advisory Group of workforce members drawn from across the organisation. Malaysia ordered its embassy in Pyongyang closed on Friday in a tit-for-tat escalation after North Korea severed diplomatic ties with Kuala Lumpur over the extradition of a North Korean man to the United States to face money-laundering charges. Bilateral ties have been strained since the Pyongyang-linked murder of the estranged half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 four years ago. The Government of Malaysia is now compelled by the decision of the DPRK to close the Embassy of Malaysia in Pyongyang, which operation had already been suspended since 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Friday. At the same time, the government will issue an order for all the diplomatic staff and their dependents at the Embassy of the DPRK in Kuala Lumpur to leave Malaysia within 48 hours from today, 19 March 2021, it said. In a statement carried Friday by state news agency KCNA, nuclear-armed North Korea announced total severance of diplomatic relations, citing the unpublicized extradition this week of North Korean citizen Mun Chol Myong to the United States. Mun, the first North Korean ever extradited to the United States to face a criminal trial, claimed he was the victim of a politically motivated extradition request aimed at pressuring North Korea over its missile program. Malaysias Federal Court earlier this month dismissed Muns final appeal against the extradition to face four counts of money laundering charges and two counts of conspiracy to launder money. North Korea said in the statement that Malaysias extradition of Mun on March 17 as confirmed by Malaysias Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Husseins office Friday was a super-large hostile act against the DPRK in subservience to U.S. pressure. The extradition came as North Korea this week rebuffed U.S. moves to resume talks aimed at ending the hardline communist states nuclear weapons drive. We warn in advance that the U.S. the backstage manipulator and main culprit of this incident that it will also be made to pay a due price, it added. From Singapore to North Korea Mun, a man in his 50s who had lived in Malaysia since 2008, was arrested in May 2019 after the U.S. accused him of supplying prohibited luxury goods from Singapore to North Korea, in violation of United Nations sanctions. He allegedly laundered funds through front companies, and issued fraudulent documents to support illicit shipments to North Korea, while he was working in Singapore, prior to moving to Malaysia in 2008. But Pyongyang claimed in its statement that Mun had been engaged in legitimate external trade activities in Singapore for many years. Therefore, it is an absurd fabrication to argue that he was involved in money laundering. Pyongyang accused the Malaysian judicial system of failing to furnish any proof of Muns offense, despite repeated requests by the North Korean embassy and Muns lawyer to that effect. The statement further claimed, without providing any evidence, that Malaysian legal officials were paid off by U.S. officials to secure the extradition, and that Putrajaya was promised free military weapons and equipment by the United States. Contacted by BenarNews, Muns lawyer, Gooi Soon Seng, said that he did not know about his clients extradition. He said the North Korean embassy should have been informed about it. Decision Unwarranted, Disproportionate The Malaysian Foreign Ministry said it deeply regretted North Koreas decision to sever 48 years of diplomatic ties. Malaysia denounces the decision as unfriendly and unconstructive, disrespecting the spirit of mutual respect and good neighborly relations among members of the international community. It has given the North Korean embassy staff and their kin in Kuala Lumpur 48 hours to pack their bags and leave the country. Malaysia suspended operation of its embassy in Pyongyang in 2017 after it secured the safe return of nine citizens held in Pyongyang in exchange for the release of Kim Jong Nams body. Malaysias once-close ties hit rock bottom after Kim Jong Nam was killed with a banned nerve agent at one of Kuala Lumpurs international airports in February 2017. Malaysia had always considered the DPRK as a close partner since the establishment of the diplomatic relations in 1973, said the statement, adding that Malaysia had continued to support the DPRK even during difficult times, including after the deplorable assassination of Jong Nam in 2017. Therefore, Pyongyangs decision is unwarranted, disproportionate and certainly disruptive toward the promotion of peace, stability, and prosperity in the region, the statement added. It said Muns conviction and extradition were based on the principles of justice and rule of law, adding that the Malaysian government has rejected a series of diplomatic notes from North Korea for the government to intervene in the countrys judiciary and legal system. The extradition was only carried out after the due legal process had been exhausted [and] the rights of Mun Chol Myong while in Malaysian custody were also guaranteed and fulfilled, including his access to his own defense counsel, as well as to consular assistance and visits by his family. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has opposed the cancellation of warrants against Nirav Modi's sister Purvi Modi and his brother-in-law Maiank Mehta. They both had recently agreed to testify against the diamantaire in the Indian court. The ED said they both are yet to confirm a specific date on arriving in Mumbai to record their statements. The ED said both should first give a specific date on which they'll testify before the agency. Special public prosecutor Hiren Venegaonkar said the two should appear before the court and till them, warrants against them cannot be cancelled. Both Purvi and her husband have been on the run since 2018 after the warrants were issued against them. Earlier Purvi Modi, a Belgian national, and her husband Mehta, who is a UK national, had applied to the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, through their lawyer, seeking court's permission to become approvers. They said they could provide "substantial and important evidence" related to Nirav Modi's dealings. In her plea for pardon, Purvi Modi said that she was not a prime accused and has been attributed only a limited role by the investigating agency. Purvi claimed that she has fully co-operated with the ED by providing all required information and documents. On account of being Nirav Modi's sister, she was in a unique position to provide "substantial and important evidence, information, proof, and documents and access to bank accounts, assets, companies and entities that are relevant to Nirav Modi and his actions/dealings", the plea said. Also read: PNB scam: Nirav Modi's sister, her husband opt for pardon, to testify against him After the court allowed their applications in January, the couple sought the cancellation of warrants against them. The couple has also stated they can't travel to India due to Covid-19 restrictions but were willing to record statements via video-conference. However, the court ordered them to present them before it to record their statements. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for next week. Nirav Modi, who's lodged in a UK jail and is facing extradition to India, is the prime accused in a $2 billion bank fraud at state-owned PNB. He has also been charged with intimidating witnesses and tampering with evidence. The UK's extradition and district judge had last month ruled that Nirav Modi will be extradited to India to stand trial. He said Modi has a case to answer for in India, and that Barrack 12 at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai is fit for him. The judge said, "mental health concerns" as cited by Modi were not unusual in a man in his circumstances. Also read: Nirav Modi to be extradited to India; Arthur Road Jail fit for him, rules UK court Reporter Heather Bellow, a member of the investigations team, joined The Eagle in 2017. She is based in the South Berkshire County bureau in Great Barrington. Her work has appeared in newspapers across the U.S. You can say racist, stupid stuff if you want, but Im asking you to please stop using racist terms like Kung flu or Wuhan virus or other ethnic identifiers in describing this virus, Representative Ted Lieu, Democrat of California, told Representative Chip Roy, Republican of Texas. I am not a virus. And when you say things like that, it hurts the Asian-American community. Whatever political points you think youre scoring by using ethnic identifiers in describing this virus, youre harming Americans who happen to be of Asian descent. Mr. Lieus comments came after Mr. Roy, one of the top Republicans on the judiciary panel, used his introductory remarks to issue a lengthy condemnation of the Chinese governments handling of the coronavirus and asserted that objections to what he categorized as nothing more than hawkish messaging about China amounted to policing of free speech. Theres old sayings in Texas about, you know, find all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree. You know, we take justice very seriously, and we ought to do that round up all the bad guys, Mr. Roy said in comments that drew outrage on Twitter. My concern about this hearing is it seems to want to venture into the policing of rhetoric. Representative Grace Meng, Democrat of New York, took exception to the remark. Your president, and your party, and your colleagues can talk about issues with any other country that you want, but you dont have to do it by putting a bulls-eye on the back of Asian-Americans across this country, on our grandparents, on our kids, she said. This hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our community, to find solutions, she added, and we will not let you take our voice away from us. Yesterday evening, in a nationally televised addressed, French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced a set of limited and inadequate lockdown measures in the face of a rapid spread of the virus that is developing out of control. The new rules apply to 16 departments, half of which are in the Ile-de-France region that encompasses the capital of Paris, as well as the Hauts-de-France region to the north, where total case numbers and the saturation of hospital units are particularly high. Stores and small businesses selling non-essential goods are to be closed. The population is to remain indoors, but can go outdoors with no time restriction within a radius of 10 kilometres from their homes. A nurse holds a phone while a COVID-19 patient speaks with his family from the intensive care unit at the Joseph Imbert Hospital Center in Arles, southern France, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020 [Credit: AP Photo/Daniel Cole] The nationwide curfew that has been in place since December is to continue, with the time shifting from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. to account for daylight savings. Most significantly, there will be no restrictions on schools or non-essential workplaces, as during the first lockdown in March, 2020. Castex announced that primary schools and middle schools will continue to operate at normal capacity, while high schools will remain open with classes at half size, as previously in January. Schools are being kept open so that parents can remain at work, and that profits can continue to pour into the banks and major French corporations. The Macron government, like its counterparts in Europe, is continuing a policy of sacrificing thousands of lives to protect the interests of the financial elite. Castex was speaking as the number of cases and hospital admissions has reached, and in some regions surpassed, the high point of the wave in November last year. There were more than 35,000 cases of the virus reported on Thursday, and 30,000 the day before. The seven-day average of total cases is above 26,000, the highest point since November 17, 2020, but is rapidly rising. In a country the size of the United States, this would be approximately 125,000 cases per day. France recorded the third-highest total cases in the world yesterday, after the US and Brazil. In the Ile-de-France region, the case rate is now 446 per 100,000 people in the population, up by 23 percent in one week. More than 25,000 people are in hospital with coronavirus, and 4,246 of these are in intensive care units. Approximately 300 people are sent into ICU each day. In certain regions, hospitalization rates are approaching the already stretched maximum capacities of hospitals. In Ile-de-France, for example, the number of new daily hospitalizations was at 60 in the middle of February, reaching 86 by mid-March, and 105 on March 14. The number of people in ICU in Ile-de-France is over 1,200, more than the peak of last November. Even with the cancellation of elective surgery and other medical appointments, the maximum capacity is reportedly no more than 1,500-1,600. Already last Thursday, Health Minister Olivier Veran had announced that patients from the Paris region would be transferred to hospitals elsewhere in France. In the Hauts-de-France region, patients are being transferred to hospitals in Belgium. The particularly rapid spread of the virus is no doubt attributable in part to the dominance of the more contagious, and more deadly, variant of the virus first identified in Britain last September. Castex reported that the British variant now makes up more than 75 percent of all cases nationally. At the beginning of January, it was estimated at between 3 and 8 percent of total cases. While in January, the proportion of hospitalisations that required admittance to intensive care was approximately 20 percent, it has since increased to 27 percent. The dominance of the new variant also appears to be responsible for a reduction in the average age of those who are being hospitalised. Over the past 15 days, the average age of patients in intensive care has dropped from 64 to 57 years, Yves Cohen, the head of the intensive care unit at the Avicenne Hospital in Bobigny, told Le Monde. We have patients who are a lot younger than during the first wave. Cohen added that we are directly hit by the government decisions and we juggle the available beds. As soon as one is freed, it is immediately taken. We opened eight new beds 15 days ago, and we can push the walls back further, but we dont have enough staff anymore. An average of 259 people are now dying in France every day from the virus. But this figure, which always lags behind the rise in cases, will rise even further in the coming weeks. The total dead since the beginning of the pandemic stands at 91,679. In the course of his speech, Castex presented this catastrophic situation as something completely beyond the governments control, akin to a natural disaster that had nothing to do with the policies pursued by the EU and Macron since the beginning of 2020. He did not attempt to explain the contradiction between the rapid growth of the virus and what he declared were correct policies that the government has implemented. The lockdown measures will not be the same as those put in place in March last year, Castex said. Since the beginning of the pandemic, a year ago exactly, time has passed, the crisis has continued, but we have learned. From January we have opted for a strategy that distinguishes us from other European countries, he added. Contrary to many of our neighbours, we did not impose a nationwide lockdown. We even refused this option at the end of January. And it was the correct decision. In fact, the initial lockdown in March last year, which closed schools and non-essential workplaces, was used to carry out massive corporate bailouts by the EU and protect the wealth of the financial elite. Governments initiated a reopening campaign to insist that the population must return to work and children to school. In every successive lockdown, the government has rejected any measure that would threaten corporate profits. Macron has depended completely on the close collaboration of the trade unions throughout the pandemic, which have opposed any strike action to demand lockdown measures and supported keeping schools open. In his speech last night, Castex said he would be working closely with the social partnersi.e., trade unionsto develop a series of social distancing conditions that could be used to justify keeping workers on the job. 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! 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. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was urged by a senior senator to convey Washington's opposition to India's proposed purchase of Russian air defense systems as he headed to New Delhi on Friday for talks aimed at deepening security ties. Mr Austin is making the first visit by a top member of the Biden administration to Delhi, as part of efforts to forge an alliance of countries seeking to push back against China's assertiveness in the region. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was urged by a senior senator to convey Washingtons opposition to Indias proposed purchase of Russian air defense systems as he headed to New Delhi on Friday for talks aimed at deepening security ties. He has arrived today in Delhi. Mr Austin is making the first visit by a top member of the Biden administration to Delhi, as part of efforts to forge an alliance of countries seeking to push back against Chinas assertiveness in the region. The US Defense Secretary will likely meet National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today, sources close to the development informed news agency PTI. The India- Japan- USA and Australia Quadrilateral initiative on Friday, during its maiden summit decided to built a joint vaccine supply chain to address the current and future pandemic situations in the Indo- Pacific region. Vaccines will thereafter be developed in the US, manufactured in India, financed by Japan and US and supported by Australia through logistics for the Indo-Pacific through states which could contest Chinas influence in the region. It was on Thursday that the the deeply strained relations between the United States and China were on rare public display when their top diplomats levelled sharp rebukes of each others policies in the first high-level, in-person talks of the Biden administration in Alaska. India and China had developed tensions which led the former to draw closer to the USA. Washington has helped New Delhi, leasing surveillance drones and supplying cold-weather gear for Indian troops. During Mr Austins visit, the two sides will be discussing Indias plan to purchase armed drones from the United States as well as a large order for over 150 combat jets for the air force and the navy to help narrow the gap with China, people with knowledge of the matter said. One thorny issue expected to come up is Indias planned purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems which under US law can attract sanctions. Washington has imposed sanctions on Turkey for buying that equipment. The chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez, has urged Mr Austin to make clear to India officials the Biden administrations opposition to deal. However, India had in October 2018 signed a $5 billion deal with Russia to purchase five units of the S-400 air defense missile systems, despite then US President Donald Trumps warning that going ahead with the deal may draw US sanctions. The US had recently imposed sanctions on Turkey under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for purchasing the S-400 missiles from Russia. Also Read: Big blow to Xi Jinping, US, EU sanction China over human rights violation Also Read: Uttarakhand CM ripped jeans comment draws flak; Netizens, celebs, activists lash out If India chooses to go forward with its purchase of the S-400, that act will clearly constitute a significant, and therefore sanctionable, transaction with the Russian defense sector under Section 231 of CAATSA, Mr Menendez said in a letter to Mr Austin, referring to the law called Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. The consequences for India buying Russian Air Defense Systems will be far- reaching. It will also limit Indias ability to work with the US on development and procurement of sensitive military technology. I expect you to make all of these challenges clear in conversations with your Indian counterparts,, commented Mr. Menendez. US firms Boeing and Lockheed are front runners for the multi-billion dollar combat jet deals. An Indian government official said no deals were likely to be announced during the visit and that the talks would cover regional and international security issues. The US and India are close security partners, we expect to have wide ranging discussion with the U.S. side on how to further defense cooperation, the official said. Also Read: Indias Uranium reserve exploration in Arunachal Pradesh rattles China WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate on Thursday confirmed California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as President Joe Biden's health secretary, filling a key position in the administration's coronavirus response and its ambitious push to lower drug costs, expand insurance coverage, and eliminate racial disparities in medical care. The 50-49 largely party-line vote makes the 63-year-old Becerra the first Latino to head the Department of Health and Human Services. The $1.4 trillion agency encompasses health insurance programs, drug safety and approvals, advanced medical research, substance abuse treatment, and the welfare of children, including hundreds of Central American migrants arriving daily at the U.S.-Mexico border. Becerra has been California's attorney general since 2017. He sued the Trump administration 124 times on a range of policy issues, earning the ire of conservatives. Before that he represented a Los Angeles-area district in the U.S. House for 24 years. A lawyer, not a doctor, his main experience with the health care system came through helping to pass the Obama-era Affordable Care Act and defending it when Donald Trump was president. I understand the enormous challenges before us and our solemn responsibility to be faithful stewards of an agency that touches almost every aspect of our lives, Becerra said recently at his confirmation hearing. Im humbled by the task, and Im ready for it. He comes from a working-class Mexican American family; his father was in road construction and his mother was a secretary. Leading Republicans have dismissed Becerra as unfit. But the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association supported his nomination. Two influential lobbying groups, representing the drug industry and health insurers, said after the vote that they look forward to a collaborative working relationship. But to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, "the distinguishing feature of this nominees resume is not his expertise in health, medicine, or administration that part of the resume is very brief. What stands out are Mr. Becerras commitment to partisan warfare and his far-left ideology. Becerra was reliably liberal in nearly a quarter-century in the House, but he was not seen as a left-wing firebrand. His issues were education, immigration and equal treatment for minorities. His profile was of a low-key insider who could work with Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said GOP arguments against Becerra almost verge on the ridiculous. Schumer said Republicans complained loudly that he had no direct experience as a medical professional, even though Republicans voted in lockstep" to make pharmaceutical executive Alex Azar health secretary under President Donald Trump. The Biden administration's COVID-19 response is already in high gear, directed out of the White House. Biden has signed his $1.9 trillion relief bill into law and agencies are making announcements almost daily. But having a health secretary in the mix will make a big difference, said Kathleen Sebelius, who led HHS during much of President Barack Obama's administration. Many of the assets that will be important to this effort are in HHS, and he'll have the key coordinating role within the department, Sebelius said. It adds a force multiplier and expertise to the efforts already under way. Core components of HHS are the boots on the ground of the coronavirus response. The Food and Drug Administration oversees vaccines and treatments. Much of the underlying scientific and medical research comes from the National Institutes of Health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention takes the lead containing the spread of the virus and developing guidance to safely reopen schools and offices. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides insurance coverage for more than 1 in 3 Americans, including vulnerable seniors, as well as many children and low-income people. Becerra also will also be the point man on Biden's health care agenda, which includes insurance for all Americans, deputizing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and tackling persistent racial and ethnic disparities in the health care system. Prescription drugs and health insurance will lead to major legislative battles. Democrats may have to go it alone and again use the special budget maneuver they relied on to muscle the COVID-19 relief bill through the Senate without Republican support. Leslie Dach, a former senior adviser at HHS in the Obama administration, said Becerra appears poised to take advantage of a shift in the politics of health care. Its a different time and its a time of tremendous opportunity in health care, he said. Whereas the Obama years were against a backdrop of tough politics and a (health care) law that still had to earn its stripes, he enters with a proven and popular law, an issue that won for the Democrats. Dach now leads the advocacy group Protect Our Care, which pushes to expand coverage. Becerra's Senate confirmation was a defeat for religious and social conservatives who worked to derail him over his support for abortion rights. During his confirmation hearings Becerra tried to play down the issue, acknowledging Americans have deeply held differences on abortion and assuring senators that he would follow the law. The law says abortion is legal but also that taxpayer money cannot be used to pay for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the woman. On the Senate floor Thursday, Republicans mostly closed ranks against Becerra. But during committee hearings several indicated a willingness to work with on prescription drugs, rural health care and other matters. Although there are issues where I strongly disagree with Mr. Becerra, I believe he merits confirmation as HHS secretary, said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who did vote for him. "I look forward to working with the department to achieve bipartisan results on behalf of the American people. They went public with their romance last year. And Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly proved their romance is still going strong on Thursday as they headed out for dinner at Nobu in Malibu. The actress, 34, caught the eye in a scarlet leather-look coat complete with a faux fur collar, while her boyfriend, 30, debuted his new aqua green hairdo. Stand out from the crowd: Megan Fox caught the eye in a scarlet leather-look coat on Thursday as she headed out with Machine Gun Kelly for a romantic dinner date at Nobu in Malibu Megan teased a glimpse of her pert assets in a black crop top which she paired with vinyl skinny jeans. The mother-of-two boosted her height in sandal heels and enhanced her visage with soft make-up. Her brunette tresses cascaded down in a loose wave while Machine Gun styled his short locks in a textured do. He sported chunky boots with cream laces and leather-look trousers. Smitten: The actress, 34, teased a glimpse of her pert assets in a black crop top which she paired with vinyl skinny jeans while her boyfriend, 30, debuted his new aqua green hairdo It's all in the details: The mother-of-two boosted her height in sandal heels and enhanced her visage with soft make-up while clutching a chic black handbag The rap sensation shrugged a Dickies jacket over a taupe low-cut top as he entered the swanky Japanese restaurant in California. Los Angeles County has endured restrictive dining measures for nearly one year due to the pandemic, and indoor dining was only recently allowed to resume service beginning next week, but outdoor dining resumed recently at limited capacity. Megan and MGK went public with their relationship in May after meeting on the set of Randall Emmett's directorial debut, Midnight In The Switchgrass. She filed for divorce from her husband of 10-years, Brian Austin Green, on the day before Thanksgiving, and the couple are currently trying to figure out a custody arrangement for their three children. Barnet: Her brunette tresses cascaded down in a loose wave while Machine Gun styled his short locks in a textured do Gathering: The rap sensation shrugged a Dickies jacket over a taupe low-cut top as he talked to friends outside the swanky Japanese restaurant in California Machine Gun who's real name is Richard Colson Baker has a 12-year-old daughter from a previous relationship named Casie. The couple made their red carpet debut at the American Music Awards where she revealed a new tattoo likely dedicated to her musician beau with the Spanish words 'el pistolero' scrawled across her collarbone, which roughly translates to 'the gunman.' During an interview on Lala Kent's podcast, Megan said she 'knew right away that he was what I call a twin flame.' She added: 'Instead of a soul mate, a twin flame is actually where a soul has ascended into a high enough level that it can be split into two different bodies at the same time. So we're actually two halves of the same soul, I think.' Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 20:18:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Nyima is seen in Jiuhe Village of Qonggyai County in Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 1, 2020. Jiuhe Zhuo dance, originated in Qonggyai County of Shannan, has a history of more than 1,300 years. It has been a favorite dancing form for local people in Shannan to pray for good luck since ancient times and was dubbed the waist drum dance in Tibet. The 76-year-old Nyima, an inheritor of Jiuhe Zhuo dance, which is a national intangible cultural heritage now, began to learn the dance from his father at the age of nine. Now, Nyima lives with his offspring at a new Tibetan house. After decades of studying, he has formed a unique dancing style and once won a national award for folk arts. Nyima taught his grandson Cering Toinzhub the Zhuo dance, trained dozens of apprentices and formed a Zhuo dance performing team in Jiuhe Village. He hopes the traditional folk art will be inherited and promoted. The plateau region in southwest China will celebrate its 70th anniversary of the peaceful liberation this year. (Xinhua/Purbu Zhaxi) NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The city has a new fire chief with the appointment of Lt. Brent Lefebvre. Mayor Thomas Bernard made the announcement on Friday. Lefebvre, a 12-year veteran of the force, will succeed Fire Chief Stephen Meranti who retired in January 2021 after more than 33 years of service. Meranti had continued in the role of chief until his replacement could be named. "Brent Lefebvre is the right choice to serve as the next fire chief for the city of North Adams," Bernard said in a statement. "In speaking with him, the search committee and I found an experienced firefighter with strong community connections who is ready to assume the fire chiefs leadership and command responsibilities, and to follow the collaborative and distinguished example of Chief Meranti." Lefebvre holds an associates' degree in fire science from Mount Wachusett Community College and earned a bachelor of science in fire science from Ana Maria College in 2020. He served as a firefighter, lieutenant, and captain with the Clarksburg Volunteer Fire Department from 2001-2009. He joined the North Adams Fire Department in 2009 and was promoted to lieutenant in 2017. "I would like to thank Mayor Bernard for offering me this opportunity," Lefebvre said. "It's an honor to be chosen as the city's next fire chief and I look forward to serving the community with the same professionalism and dedication as Chief Meranti has for the last 17 years." Chief Lefebvre will be officially sworn in on Monday, March 22, with a public ceremony to follow at a later date. 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. Chattanooga mayoral candidates Tim Kelly and Kim White will meet for an in-person runoff debate to be filmed at WTCI studios and to be aired for public viewing on Friday, March 26, at 8 p.m., a non-profit coalition announced on Friday. Partnering organizations include the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, Chattanooga 2.0, the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, the League of Women Voters of Chattanooga, the United Way of Greater Chattanooga, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and Venture Forward. WTCI and WUTC are presenting media partners. The runoff debate will be moderated by Ray Bassett, host of Scenic Roots on WUTC 88.1 FM. After brief introductory statements are made by each candidate, the debate will follow a standard format in which candidates will have up to two minutes to respond to questions, followed by up to one minute of response from the opposing candidate. Continuing this collaboration for the runoff debate will allow our members to deepen their understanding of these two candidates, especially as it relates to advocacy for the business sector, said Christy Gillenwater, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber remains committed to advocating for growth in our community, which is a guiding force for us as we participate in this effort. Viewers and listeners should expect candid discussions about our communitys challenges and opportunities and the varying visions and ideas each candidate brings. The focus will remain on substantive issues and solutions. Chattanooga is met with a unique and compelling opportunity not seen in this city since 2005, in which two dedicated community leaders will be debating one-on-one ahead of a runoff, said Bob Culkeen, president & CEO of WTCI PBS. As with the forums we broadcast earlier this month, broadcasting this debate and creating partnerships with agencies of service to provide a community platform of information is important work. Candidates will once again take questions submitted by a range of supporting partners and community leaders, including the Chattanooga Interagency Council on Homelessness, Chattanooga 2.0, ArtsBuild, the League of Women Voters, and others. We look forward to deepening our shared understanding of these two candidates perspectives on key issues for our city. Were proud to be part of this partnership, said Lesley Scearce, president and CEO of United Way of Greater Chattanooga. We know solving community challenges requires creative leadership from nonprofits, business, neighborhoods and government. Lee Seung Gi, Lee Hee Jun, and Kwon Hwa Hoon began to develop a more interesting connection with one another in "Mouse" Episode 6. Go Mu Chi and Jung Ba Reum Land on a New Case to Solve The murderer threatened Go Mu Chi (Lee Hee Jun) to kill his brother if he wouldn't do what he wanted. The detective followed him by kneeling on his knees in order to save his brother, but suddenly, the video ended and Go Mu Chi was not at ease. After the call that they have received from the serial killer during their live broadcast, Detective Go Mu Chi and his team immediately went to the church where his friend, who is a priest, was staying. When they arrived, they saw the body of the priest, Moon Won (Kim Young Jae), covered in blood and was hanging in the middle of the altar. Go Mu Chi couldn't believe it. He ran into him, crying, and wanted to hold him. But since it was an investigation, he couldn't do anything but to see Moon Won's demise. Jung Ba Reum (Lee Sung Gi) was consistent in visiting Go Mu Chi to remind him to take care of himself. After the death of Moon Won, he refused to eat and even went on a leave for work. He was still mourning. Meanwhile, after hearing that Oh Bong Yi (Park Ju Hyun) was hurt and rushed to the hospital after being attacked by the serial killer, who murdered her grandmother and Moon Won, Jung Ba Reum rushed to the hospital. He was worried about Oh Bong Yi. When Jung Ba Reum was about to leave, she confessed that she cut the left arm of the killer and it would give him a mark. After days of mourning, Go Mu Chi started to work again. This time, he became more determined to give his friend justice. He first visited Sung Ji Eun (Kim Jung Nan), to ask some questions about the investigation. She seemed familiar to Go Mu Chi, until he found out that she was the wife of Han Seo Joon, the doctor who murdered his family. Sung Yo Han's World is Getting Smaller Sung Ji Eun's identity gives him new evidence to finally track the murderer. Meanwhile, a new case occurred involving Sung Yo Han (Kwon Hwa Woon). After hearing the name of her boyfriend, Choi Hong Ju (Kyung Soo Jin) went to his apartment and started to look for evidence that could prove her hunch, not knowing that detective Go Mu Chi was outside the house, observing why she's close to Sung Yo Han. The two started to look for more evidence separately, but found nothing. The killer was brilliant enough not to be caught. On the other hand, Jung Ba Reum offered to take care of Oh Bong Yi since she just got discharged from the hospital. The two started to show sweet gestures to each other and enjoyed every moment they get. Detective Go Mu Chi and his team are already connecting the dots, finding more clues about the killer. "Mouse" is getting more attention from the viewers as they find themselves immersed in the story. So, you better start watching this series now! Have you watched "Mouse" Episode 6? What are your thoughts about the drama so far? Share it with us in the comments! For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars. Kdramastars owns this article. Written by Shai Collins Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 20:15:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A village head in southwest China's Chongqing led villagers to carve a road through cliffs in 7 years. The road has changed local people's lives. The village official's story is shared by Chinese President Xi Jinping Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. Story by Angela Couloumbis of Spotlight PA HARRISBURG Declaring it was time to eliminate perks in the legislature, a Democratic state senator this week introduced a bill to prevent lawmakers from cashing in on per diems: the generous reimbursement for lodging and meals during voting days in the Capitol that they can receive without even having to provide receipts. The announcement came days after Spotlight PA reported that despite being allowed to attend voting sessions remotely last year, Pennsylvanias legislators requested and received $726,877 in per diems during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Two Democratic House representatives padded their salaries by an additional $24,000 each, the analysis found. You can see if your lawmaker requested the payments here. Sen. Jim Brewster (D., Allegheny) said he was re-introducing the per diem ban, along with three other government reform bills, because we will have tough decisions ahead as we rebuild our economy and sacrifice has to be shared. The bill has just four co-sponsors a reflection of how difficult it is to garner support in Harrisburg for measures that pare back government perks. Brewster has proposed the same bill three times in the past, with no success. And at least one Republican on the House side has also tried several times and failed. Still, Brewster said he was optimistic: I think the time is ripe for some serious self-reflection in the General Assembly that will give us momentum this time. Members of the public who contacted Spotlight PA agreed. Some expressed outrage. Others questioned why lawmakers receive generous perks. Below are some of their questions and observations: We need to decrease the number of our legislators! Too many/too expensive. Linda C. With 50 members in the Senate and 203 members in the House, Pennsylvania has the largest full-time legislature in the country. Pennsylvania lawmakers earn more than colleagues in 47 states. Over the last decade, there have been several attempts to shrink the legislatures size, but none were successful. Part of the problem: Such a change requires amending the state Constitution, which is a lengthy and time-consuming process. Both chambers have to pass a bill in two consecutive sessions. Voters would have the final say, deciding the matter through a statewide referendum. They should have to punch a time clock and turn in receipts. Bruce S. Over the years, there have been accounts of ghost voting in the legislature when a lawmaker casts a vote on behalf of an absent colleague. In general, lawmakers are required to be on the floor to be marked present in the chamber, but there is flexibility in the Senate for members who are in their districts (and not physically in the Capitol) to cast votes. House operating rules are stricter, stating that, with few exceptions, no member shall be permitted to vote and have his or her vote recorded on the roll unless present in the Hall of the House during the roll call vote. One of the largest, most overpaid, and underproductive legislatures in the country. What a disgrace. Jill A. Pennsylvanias lawmakers make the third-highest salaries for state lawmakers in the country, according to an analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures. The base salary for a Pennsylvania lawmaker is $90,335, but leaders make substantially more. Majority and minority leaders in both chambers, for instance, make $130,884. The Senates president pro tempore makes $141,019. Despite being a full-time legislature, many lawmakers have second jobs and other sources of income, as well. Last month, a Spotlight PA analysis found that out of 140 laws enacted in 2020, only 27 directly addressed problems brought on by the pandemic. Shameful...why cant they ZOOM like everyone else? Doris T. After the pandemic hit, the House approved temporary rules that required certain legislative leaders and committee chairs to be physically present in the Capitol to formally consider legislation. Rank-and-file members, however, were allowed to submit votes remotely, though they could not participate in debate. Though many took advantage of the pandemic-related requirements, lawmakers who decided to show up in person defended their decision, saying it was important to them and their constituents to actively participate in legislative business. Some of those same lawmakers, however, failed to follow health guidelines while on the floor. Why are we paying for their meals? Amount of money they get paid they can afford to buy their own food. Some of them got over $450 a week in per diem. Thats plain wrong to screw us over. Us common folk have to pay for our own meals when we work. Talk about wasting taxpayer money. Greg Y. It is common in states across the country, particularly in geographically large ones, for lawmakers to receive reimbursement for lodging and meals. Still, Pennsylvania has some of the most generous per diem rates. Florida, for instance, paid lawmakers $152 per day in 2020 and capped the number of days they could receive payments at 50 for senators and 60 for representatives. In Pennsylvania last year, the full per diem rate generally ranged from $178 to $200 per day with no cap. This is craziness! They were not even in session half the time! Ron P. Lawmakers typically work under a Monday-through-Wednesday voting schedule when in the Capitol, spending the remainder of the week in their districts. But that doesnt mean the legislature meets for a voting session every week. In 2020, the House had 53 voting days over 24 weeks. The Senate met on 52 days over 23 weeks. Why do we have people doing part-time work getting full-time pay. Steve K. Legislators say that when they are not in the Capitol for a voting day, they are in their districts, meeting with constituents and attending local meetings and events. But many of them do hold second jobs and receive income from other sources. WHILE YOURE HERE... If you learned something from this story, pay it forward and become a member of Spotlight PA so someone else can in the future at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. More from PennLive Lancaster Countys vast, gleaming COVID-19 vaccination center puts pressure on other county officials to do the same Leader of Pa. state universities delivers blunt message: Reorganize or dissolve the system Committed to our strategic partnership, says PM Modi after meeting with US defence secretary Lloyd Austin India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Mar 19: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met visiting US defence secretary Lloyd Austin. According to reports, Lloyd is on a three-day visit to India, the first by a senior minister under Joe Biden's presidency, to further boost bilateral defence and security ties amid China's growing military assertiveness in the the Indo-Pacific region. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said, "Pleasure to meet U.S. @SecDef Lloyd Austin today. Conveyed my best wishes to @POTUS @JoeBiden. India and US are committed to our strategic partnership that is a force for global good." According to reports, Austin is on a trip to Asian countries to boost military cooperation with American allies and foster "credible deterrence" against China, he had earlier said. "Prime Minister outlined his vision for the strategic partnership between the two countries and emphasized the important role of bilateral defence cooperation in India-US ties. He requested Secretary Austin to convey his best wishes to President Biden," PMO said in a statement. West Bengal elections 2021: Speaking against Modi is speaking against democracy, says Suvendu Adhikari During the meeting, Austin reiterated the US government's continued commitment towards strengthening the bilateral defence relations between the two countries, the statement added. The US secretary also expressed "US' strong desire to further enhance the strategic partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond". During Austin's visit, the two sides will discuss India's plan to purchase armed drones from the US as well as a large order for over 150 combat jets for the air force and the navy to help narrow the gap with China. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 19, 2021, 22:56 [IST] For the official record, Georgias hospitals do not oppose patient visitation with family and loved ones. In fact, family-centered care is at the core of how hospitals treat patients and serve their communities. Whether a bedside vigil or a celebration of birth, the inclusion of family in hospital care is crucial. Just as in an airport, supermarket, or school building, it is equally important that health care facilities maintain certain reasonable and necessary rules for the safety of our patients and staff and even for those visitors themselves. Legislation currently being considered by the Georgia General Assembly would leave hospitals unable to protect patients most at risk of infection (think of a burn victim) under the guise of mandating that a legal representative be allowed in-person physical contact with any patient regardless of circumstance. This would extend, according to Rep. Ed Setzler (R-Acworth), the author of HB 290, to even an Ebola patient in a hospital negative-pressure room. Imagine the threat to the community that such a scenario would create. The truth is, while visitation rules must exist, hospitals are currently operating under fairly unrestrictive policies for patient visitation, even with COVID-19 still being transmitted. Temperature checks and mask mandates are usually no more burdensome than what you would experience visiting most retail establishments. Such guidelines have one simple goal: the safety and protection of patients, hospital staff, and the public. These carefully planned safety protocols must be flexible and able to be adjusted quickly depending on a change in circumstance. Again, for these crucial reasons: Health and safety. While the pain and tragedy of family separation and loss of life is undeniable, what is also certain is the threat of disease spread within the community and infection risk for patients. No one understands these dangers more than our front line health care providers. And no one should be trusted more than the hospital doctors and nurses who care for the sickest and most vulnerable patients while putting their own health and the health of their families in jeopardy each day. An ironclad law with no flexibility that would not allow hospitals to rapidly respond to an emergency or a patient-specific condition is not good public policy. Amending HB 290 to recognize the importance of family-centered care and require hospitals to make visitation policies publicly available, while still granting Governor Kemp emergency oversight, is a prudent and logical plan to address visitation concerns and confusion while still ensuring patient access to family. As we all know far too well, we are still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the advent of vaccines and life-saving treatments, as well as continued use of masks, hygiene protocols, and social distancing, we are optimistic there is an end in sight. But we cannot dismiss the still very real threat from this virus. We must remain vigilant lest we are thrown into yet another surge. And we must continue to utilize all available resources to protect our patients and front line health care workers. Earl Rogers President and CEO Georgia Hospital Association * * * I read with interest the letter from Mr. Earl Rogers, president of the Georgia Hospital Association, entitled Family-Centered Care: A Priority for Georgia Hospitals. Mr. Rogers, with his lack of a medical degree, explains to us that legislation being considered by the Georgia General Assembly would leave hospitals unable to protect patients most at risk of infection (citing burn victims) by mandating that in-person physical contact be allowed. He goes on to inform us that, the truth is, while visitation rules must exist, hospitals are currently operating under fairly unrestrictive policies for patient visitation, even with COVID-19 still being transmitted. Sadly, that isnt the truth. Far from it, patients are, in fact, being denied the human right to die with dignity. People are being relegated to solitary confinement for the crime of being ill. For Mr. Rogers to pose these policies as protective or in a patients best interest is disingenuous and absurd. Hospital systems, now run largely by nonmedical businessmen and women are out to protect one thing - profit. Hospitals challenge to legislation pushing for price transparency is a glaring example. The American Hospital Association and sister provider groups state that disclosure of hospital rates will create widespread confusion for patients. The AHA goes on to cite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as a reason to further obfuscate on pricing. This will force overburdened hospitals to divert resources that hospitals desperately need to respond to the surge of COVID-19 cases, and could even jeopardize the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. So, our hospital systems are arguing that patients are too obtuse to understand pricing, therefore why reveal it. They further go on to use fear to try to justify the draconian and self-serving policies that are separating and isolating the sickest patients. It is reprehensible. Nearly all of America locked down in early 2020, but as treatments, PPE and vaccines became available, we recognized the harms of continued lockdowns and made adjustments for the health and sanity of our citizens. Why should hospitals be immune? I am a physician and have been consulted on numerous COVID-19 patients over the last 13 months. My husband, also a physician and Air Force flight surgeon, was deployed on a Collaborative Army / Air Force operation for 115 days in April and May of 2020 to Albany, Ga. to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the hospitals and community. He was doing direct patient care and testing in what at that time was the pandemic epicenter nationally. Neither of us have contracted the virus. How so? This is because you can safely be in the presence of COVID-positive individuals. These are not grenades waiting to detonate- these are human beings. They do not deserve to be locked away to die in these modern-day leprosariums that our hospital systems have created. No hospital administrator should have the authority to impose policies like this. It is inhumane if not an absolute human rights violation. Hospital systems argue that no personal contact policies are a public health must, but is this reality? An August 2020 study from the Journal of the American Medical Association was performed on thousands of healthcare workers in New York City, which at that time was an epicenter for this virus. The findings revealed that the rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection among health care workers was lower than the rate of infection reported for the general public in the surrounding region. Given that health care workers in hospitals are exposed to a much higher density of the virus, this offers strong evidence that PPE practices are, in fact, protective. We know that one can safely be in the presence of a COVID-positive patient with the appropriate protective gear. Front line workers dont just include physicians and nurses. Advanced practice providers, respiratory therapists, speech therapists, physical therapists, physician assistants, janitors, food service workers, medical assistants, etc. all routinely and repeatedly, with appropriate protective wear, work in these patient rooms. To imply that it is too dangerous for a loved one to do the same is illogical. To assert that a loved one is not a vital part of the care team shows a complete disregard for an individuals humanity. In medical school, we are trained in the interdisciplinary biopsychosocial model of health. We know that biology is only one portion of health or disease. Psychology, social engagement, and love are also major players in recovery. Yet, patients are being denied these fundamental necessities of treatment. That visitor isnt there to bring bundt cakes and balloons. That person is there to be an advocate for a critically ill human being. That person is there to facilitate the personal, emotional, and relational components of healing and to undo some of the emotional traumas these patients are suffering. We can no longer continue to focus on biological parameters of the disease while ignoring the human aspects of illness and recovery. The CDC has published data on the result of isolation on human beings. It is as much a risk factor for premature death as smoking and obesity. It is linked to a 50 percent higher likelihood of dementia. The fairly unrestrictive policies for patient visitation that Mr. Rogers touts in his letter look like this: My 74-year-old father fell ill with COVID-19 in December of 2020. My mother, his caregiver, contracted the virus as well but after receiving bamlanivimab, she fortunately recovered. My Dad, not so fortunate, required hospital admission nine days into his illness. He pleaded with us not to take him to the hospital because his greatest fear was dying alone. However, we were unable to meet his needs at home. On New Years Day, he entered the emergency room doors and my family never saw him again. My mother, who had already been infected, had antibodies and recovered, was not allowed to hold him. We were not allowed to pray him into heaven. My family needed that. My Dad deserved it. Sadly, thats just not hospital policy. The fact that hospital systems are making the argument that they deserve to have complete and total authority and ownership of patients should terrify us all. Tanda N. Lane, M.D. * * * Mr. Earl Rogers, president and CEO of the Georgia Hospital Association, through his opinion piece on March 18, would have you believe that GA HB290, the Patient and Resident Representation and Visitation Act, is a bill, which if enacted, would jeopardize the health and safety of all Georgians by allowing patients family members back into the hospitals as casual visitors, free to roam the hallways without screening, supervision, or the inability to be denied access for any reason. This is patently false. HB290 is instead a bill that seeks to reinstate the rights of all hospitalized patients and residents of long-term care facilities to actively participate in an informed manner in their own healthcare, regardless of age, illness, injury, mental status, or other conditions, through the presence of a personal advocate or essential caregiver, usually a family member, at the bedside. These rights have been highly curtailed if not completely ignored since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis more than a year ago, when No Visitation policies were first enacted by hospitals and LTCFs. These policies remain in placelargely unaltered despite the fact that we now know that COVID transmission risks can be successfully mitigated through the proper use of PPE and other measures. These policies are causing inordinate physical, psychological, and emotional harm to both patients and their families. The ongoing use of these policies is not protecting the most vulnerable in our society; instead, it is killing them. Family members are as integral to the proper and safe delivery of patient care as any other member of the healthcare team. The absence of family at the bedside raises patient anxiety, decreases patient compliance with treatment plans, threatens patient safety, and substantially increases workloads of already over-burdened healthcare personnel. Family members act as advocates, historians, care techs, physical and respiratory therapists, and even as safeguards against patient abuse. Family participation in the care of their loved ones is foundational to the modern healthcare model. HB290 recognizes this vital participation and seeks to ensure that a patients right to have family members by their side will never again be taken away by hospital and LTCF overreach. And while the need for patient rights-protecting legislation was brought to light during the COVID-19 pandemic, HB290 is not a COVID-specific bill. HB290 will protect patient rights during any declared public health emergency, COVID-related or not. Per Mr. Rogers, HB290 is an inflexible bill that ties the hands of hospitals in setting and enforcing visitation standards. Again, this is not true. HB290 does require hospitals to allow a patients designated Legal Representative (as defined by the bill) to be physically present for one hour per day, beginning 12 hours after a patient has been at the facility. The exact time and manner of this access, however, would be dictated by the hospital itself and could include any reasonable safety requirements such as screenings and PPE, as deemed necessary by each facility. Similar safety requirements are already in place for healthcare providers and others not involved in direct patient care, but who have access to the hospital. Although physical access to a patient by that patients Legal Representative could not be prevented by a governors Executive Order, it could be restricted for up to 48 hours on a case-by-case basis for patients in certain circumstances, as determined by the patients attending physician. Should a Legal Representative not adhere to the facilitys policy regarding in-person contact with the patient, the facility would have the right to revoke that access, either temporarily or permanently. Additionally, access by Essential Caregivers (as defined by the bill) and casual visitors could still be restricted by parameters included in any gubernatorial Executive Order. These provisions were incorporated into HB290 after discussion with GHA and ensure that the bill complies not only with state and federal law, but also with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and American Hospital Association guidelines. GHAs opposition to the bill is, at least in part, politically motivated, as HB290 ties licensure and re-licensure of a hospital or LTCF to that facilitys compliance with the bill. By opposing HB290, GHA is hoping to bypass that requirement and is also deliberately choosing to ignore the critical role that families play in patient care, safety, and wellness. HB290 guards patients civil and healthcare rights, while simultaneously protecting their physical and mental health, and that of healthcare workers and the greater community. Thousands of healthcare workers and other non-essential personnel across GA come into close physical contact with patients and LTCF residents every single day. HB290 would guarantee that patients maintain similar access to specifically designated individuals without increasing community risks during a declared public health emergency. Deborah S. Gwaltney, RN, BSN, Retired Spring Creek Healthcare to Resume Visitation By West Kentucky Star Staff MURRAY - A skilled nursing and rehab center in Murray is now allowing visitors.Since most of their residents and staff have been given the COVID-19 vaccine, Spring Creek Healthcare will allow visitation in accordance with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) guidelines.Here are their visitation policies:All visits need to be scheduled in advance. The date, frequency and duration will be factored into scheduling so all residents and family members may have opportunities to visit.Preferred visitation will be outdoors, since there is a lower risk of transmission of illness. However, if outdoor visits are not practicable due to weather or heath conditions, then indoor visits will be conducted.All visitors will be screened, including temperature checks and questions about and observations of signs or symptoms of illness.Those experiencing signs or symptoms of illness or those who have had close contact with someone with COVID-19 prior to 14 days of the visit will need to reschedule their visit.Hand hygiene will be required using an alcohol-based hand rub.A face covering or mask must be worn during the visit, covering both the nose and the mouth.Social distancing at least 6 feet between persons during the visit. Visitors should also distance themselves from other residents and staff.Residents of Spring Creek who have fully received the COVID vaccine(s) at least 14 days before to the visit, may choose to have close contact, including touch (holding hands, hugging), with their visitor during the visit. A facemask should still be worn during these times and hand hygiene should be performed before and after contact.Off-site travel is discouraged if the county is in the red based on the Kentucky Long Term Care COVID-19 indicator; however, it is the residents right to leave the facility. There is some level of risk with leaving the facility, even if the resident has received the COVID vaccine. Although being fully vaccinated will decrease the risk of infection and severe outcomes, it will not eliminate all risk.Compassionate Care visits are offered for various reasons based on needs, such as end-of-life, adjustment concerns, declining emotional, physical or medical status, or those who are grieving. The same above guidelines still need to be followed during compassionate care visits.Signs will be posted around the facility that include but are not limited to, education on COVID-19 signs and symptoms, precautions, and guidelines for using a face covering or mask and hand hygiene.Visitors will be required read educational materials on their initial visit and sign a form attesting that they know the facility's expectations for visitors.Window visits and video chats will still be offered if this is the preferred way for visiting. Continued downpours brought some flooding in the Chattanooga area and initially closed a number of roads.. A Flood Warning continues for South Chickamauga Creek until Friday afternoon. At 9:15 a.m. on Friday the stage was 21.7 feet and falling. Flood stage is 18 feet. At 21 feet, Mack Smith Road and Lovell Field Loop become impassable. Water begins to come onto Airport Road, just north of the terminal complex. West Chickamauga Creek increases to near a half mile wide in places, becoming hazardous to adjacent travel in East Ridge. At 22 feet, Airport Road is closed to traffic. At that level, a couple of homes are slightly flooded near the intersection of Mack Smith Road and May Street. Flooding becomes extensive around the north end of the airport. This crest compares to a previous crest of 19.8 feet on Feb. 25, 2016. A Flood Warning continues for the West Chickamauga Creek near Fort Oglethorpe from Thursday morning to late Friday night. At 7:45 a.m. on Friday the stage was 12.6 feet. It is set to fall below flood stage early Sunday morning. Between 11 and 12 feet, minor flooding begins of woodlands and fields near the creek upstream and downstream from the gauge on the Georgia Highway 146 or Cloud Springs Road bridge. Minor flooding of the creek can also be expected further downstream as it crosses the Tennessee border into the south East Ridge area. A Flood Warning continues for Lookout Creek near New England until Friday evening. At 9 p.m. on Thursday the stage was 14.8 feet and falling. Flood stage is 12 feet. Minor flooding is occurring and is forecast. At 15 feet, minor flooding continues to expand along Sells Lane in Trenton, Mason Road near Rising Fawn and Creek Road near New England. These roads and other roads with creeks flowing into Lookout Creek will flood causing the roads to be closed. The water will be a few feet deep on portions of these roads. Also minor flooding will continue to expand downstream as the creek crosses the Tennessee border into the Tiftonia area. That arrangement ended Feb. 20, when Muhammad is accused of injuring Clark and three of the children in a knife attack. While he slashed and stabbed at her, first with one knife and then another, Clark grabbed at the knives with her bare hands and wrenched them away, prosecutors said in bond court last month. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 police vehicle arrives at the side entrance of the Dandong Intermediate People's Court, where Canadian businessman Michael Spavor will be on trial, in the border city of Dandong in China's northeast Liaoning province on March 19, 2021. (Noel CelisS/AFP via Getty Images) Canadian Tried on Spy Charges in China, but No Verdict Announced DANDONG, ChinaChina put on trial one of two Canadians detained for more than two years in apparent retaliation for Canadas arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive. Canada said its consular officials were refused permission to attend the proceedings against Michael Spavor, an entrepreneur with North Korearelated business, who is accused by China of stealing state secrets. Jim Nickel, the Canadian Embassys deputy chief of mission, said he was told by Spavors lawyer that the hearing ended at noon Friday after two hours. No verdict was announced. Nickel declined to give other details, citing rules on protecting Spavors privacy. In a statement posted on its website, the Intermediate Peoples Court of Dandong in the northeastern province of Liaoning Province said it had held a closeddoor hearing against Spavor on charges of spying and illegally sending state secrets abroad. It said Spavor and his defence lawyers were present for the proceedings and the court would pronounce a sentence at a date determined in accordance with law. A hearing for Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat, has been scheduled for Monday. Outside the courthouse, Nickel said Canada still held hope that Spavor and Kovrig could be released through joint efforts with the U.S., whose Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan are holding their first facetoface talks with Chinas top diplomats in Alaska. So were hopeful that, in some measure, this trial may too lead to their immediate release, Nickel said. Chinas Foreign Ministry denied any wrongdoing in their handling of Kovrig and Spavors case, attributing the timing of their trials to little more than coincidence. Global Affairs Canada only learned Wednesday that Spavors court hearing would proceed Friday, one day after the meetings began in Alaska. It is not linked to ChinaU. S. highlevel strategic dialogue, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing Thursday. He insisted that their cases have been handled in accordance with the law and the lawful rights of the individuals concerned. But Canada calls their detention arbitrary and accuses China of lacking of transparency. Kovrig and Spavor have been in custody since December 2018, shortly after Canada arrested Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou at the behest of the U.S. Department of Justice. With files from The Associated Press MANITOBA child care advocates are urging the province to step up funding for non-profit centres, in the wake of a new report showing Winnipeg for-profit facilities charge more than 2.5 times the fees. MANITOBA child care advocates are urging the province to step up funding for non-profit centres, in the wake of a new report showing Winnipeg for-profit facilities charge more than 2.5 times the fees. "The reality is that the child care system in Canada and in Manitoba is in a vulnerable state as a service, even though its more urgently needed than ever," University of Manitoba sociology Prof. Susan Prentice said. The report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, titled "Sounding the Alarm: COVID-19s impact on the child care sector," found enrolment dropped substantially in 2020. While non-profit child care centres logged an average 20 per cent drop in enrolment, for-profit facilities had lost an average of 27 per cent by the fall. Molly McCracken, director of the CCPAs Manitoba office, said the larger drop in for-profit enrolment can be attributed to higher fees. Manitoba, P.E.I., and Quebec are the only Canadian provinces with set child care fees, resulting in lower expenses for families as the government subsidizes operating budgets with provincial funding. According to the report, Winnipeg had the second-lowest median monthly fee rates for infants, toddlers and pre-school children, at $451/month for toddler and pre-school, and $651/month for infants. In the private sector, those fees rocketed to $1,700/month for infants and $933/month for pre-school-aged children 2.6 times the set fee rate. "What this report shows, by comparing across the country, is this model that Manitoba has is working in providing more affordable child care than other places," McCracken said Thursday. Though 95 per cent of Manitoba child care centres are non-profit, advocates said recently introduced legislation has opened the possibility of public funding for private centres which Prentice called a step backward. "It strikes me as ludicrous that anyone could think you could provide more affordability by making more privatized child care," said Prentice. "We need to be shifting and transforming a sector that used to primarily be considered a private service to recognizing that it should be an essential piece of what should be public infrastructure in a modern economy." McCracken noted accessible child care would be essential to allowing family members to re-enter a post-pandemic workforce. "The value of stable funding is then parents, even if they lose work for whatever reason, will be able to still keep their kids in daycare," she said. "The way to keep child care affordable is to fund non-profit centres, and fund more of them." julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @jsrutgers ATLANTA, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Gas South, the largest retail natural gas provider in the Southeast, is celebrating ranking 37th on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's (AJC) 11th Annual Top Workplaces List in the midsize category, which was revealed on Thursday. The AJC's 2021 list highlights the Atlanta area's 175 most dynamic organizations, including large, midsize and small companies. The rankings are determined via employee survey responses, facilitated through a partnership between the AJC and Energage. More than 3,000 companies were invited to participate, representing over 56,000 employees in Metro Atlanta, with nearly 34,000 employees completing the survey. Gas South alone had nearly 200 employees participate in the survey collection process. "We take tremendous pride in our corporate culture, which is a critical component of our mission to 'Be a Fuel for Good,'" said Kevin Greiner, president and CEO of Gas South. "Being included on the AJC's list is meaningful in any year, but it's especially gratifying given the efforts we made to ensure our employees stayed top-of-mind as we transitioned to a successful work-from-home model throughout 2020." In addition to the external surveys conducted for the AJC's Best Workplaces list, Gas South works year-round to get feedback from its employees to assess how to best serve them, including direct questions on ways the company can improve in key areas. "Following our acquisition of Infinite Energy last December, one of our primary goals in 2021 is the seamless integration of the Infinite team," added Greiner. "This gives us the opportunity to grow our culture and have a positive impact on more employees than ever before." Gas South now serves more than 425,000 residential, business and governmental customers in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and New Jersey. For more information, visit www.GasSouth.com. About Gas South: Gas South is a leading provider of natural gas in competitive markets throughout the southeastern U.S. Following the acquisition of Infinite Energy in 2020, Gas South now serves more than 425,000 residential, business and governmental customers in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and New Jersey. Gas South offers simple and straightforward rate plans, outstanding local customer service, and a promise to give back 5% of profits to support children in need. Gas South is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cobb EMC, one of the country's largest electric cooperatives. For more information, visit www.GasSouth.com. Media contact: Adam Schick The Wilbert Group 404-510-9597 [email protected] SOURCE Gas South Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 75F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Overcast with rain showers at times. Low 62F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. His real name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. But Snoop Dogg paid respect to his stage name on Thursday as he donned a 'Doggystyle' bomber jacket which he teamed with track pants as he grabbed dinner with a pal at Nobu Malibu. The rapping veteran, 49, kept things casual in his relaxed ensemble as he exited the expensive eatery in California before heading home. 'Beware of the Dogg!' Snoop Dogg donned a 'Doggystyle' bomber jacket on Thursday which he teamed with track pants as he grabbed dinner with a pal at Nobu Malibu His statement outerwear featured artwork from his debut studio album, Doggystyle, from 1993 created by his cousin, Joe Cool. It featured Snoop reimagined as an actual dog, while perched on a kennel with a sign saying: 'Beware of the Dogg!' The jacket boasted ribbed cuffs, welt pockets on either side and a zip closure trailing down the centre. Snoop completed the colourful outfit with red trousers from Billionaire Boys Club, with the brand's moniker printed down the seam. Nostalgic fashion: The rapping veteran, 49, kept things casual in his relaxed ensemble as he exited the expensive eatery in California before heading home Throwback: His statement outerwear featured artwork from his debut studio album, Doggystyle, from 1993 created by his cousin, Joe Cool, and it boasted ribbed cuffs The rapper's lengthy locks tumbled down his back as he sported a bright blue beanie hat. He was seen wearing a face mask as he strolled past the restaurant's valet service to return to his vehicle. It comes after Snoop and Martha Stewart revealed their plans to build their budding empire with a line of BIC lighters. The 79-year-old chef announced the joint venture in an Instagram post earlier this month as she caught up with her pal while roasting s'mores by a campfire. Trendsetter: Snoop completed the colourful outfit with black trainers and red trousers from Billionaire Boys Club, with the brand's moniker printed down the seam Neat: The rapper's lengthy locks tumbled down his back as he sported a bright blue beanie hat and face mask Martha looked effortlessly cool as she relaxed by the fire wearing a baby blue blouse with billowing sleeves. She paired her loose top with tight white jeans and added a touch of glam with towering gold platform heels. Her bright blonde tresses were parted to the side and worn curled above her shoulders for the indoor shoot. Snoop rocked his classic look, a matching two-piece sweatsuit with red and green stripes running vertically down his arms and legs. Best buds: It comes after Snoop and Martha Stewart revealed their plans to build their budding empire with a line of BIC lighters, as announced in an Instagram post from the 79-year-old He sported a signature pair of gold frames on his eyes as he stood next to his best buddy while plugging the new line of lighters. 'Always fun working with my man @snoopdogg,' she captioned a series of snaps. 'This time on an @biclighter ez reach lighter commercial and other business. Both snoop and I have designed wonderful new lighters for BIC on sale in May 2021.' The unlikely pair first met while sitting next to each other at the Comedy Central roast of Justin Bieber in 2015 where Martha admitted to getting a contact high from Snoop, a story she's repeated through the years. 'She sat next to me, and she stole the show,' Snoop told NBC at the time. 'She was the funniest "roaster" that night. In that moment, I knew I wanted to be alongside this lady for the rest of my life.' They reunited in 2016 for Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party and have since partnered together on multiple campaigns and projects. 'I like his laid-back energy-I like his outspokenness, I like his sense of timing, and I really enjoy to watch him cook,' Martha said. Snoop added: 'She's the big sister I never had. Being able to correct me, to teach me, to show me how to be better, to give me something to aspire to be.' Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 19, 2021) - AIM5 Ventures Inc. (TSXV: AIME.P) ("AIM5" or the "Company") announces that AIM5 and Simply Digital Technologies Inc., dba CoinSmart ("CoinSmart") have mutually agreed to terminate the previously announced letter of intent dated February 11, 2021. As a result, AIM5's proposed qualifying transaction with CoinSmart will not proceed. CoinSmart has advised AIM5 that it intends to pursue an alternative listing transaction. AIM5 will continue to search for prospective opportunities to complete its qualifying transaction and maximize value for shareholders. It is intended that the shares of AIM5 will resume trading on the TSX Venture Exchange on Monday, March 22, 2021. About CoinSmart CoinSmart is a leading Canadian-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange dedicated to providing customers with an intuitive trading platform for buying and selling digital assets, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, combined with the seamless ability to on-ramp and off-ramp fiat. Clients' security and protection is CoinSmart's primary focus. CoinSmart is registered as a money services business with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) in Canada and in multiple jurisdictions. CoinSmart further builds on its mission to make cryptocurrency accessible by providing educational resources tailored to every level of cryptocurrency customer and unparalleled 24/7 omni-channel customer success/support. Offering instant verification, industry leading cold wallet storage, advanced charting with order book functionality and over-the-counter premium services, CoinSmart ensures every client's needs are met with the highest level of quality and care. For more information please visit www.CoinSmart.com. AIM5 Ventures AIM5 was incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) on August 11, 2020 and is a Capital Pool Company (as defined in the policies of the TSXV) listed on the TSXV. AIM5 has no commercial operations and no assets other than cash. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" ("forward-looking information") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that discusses predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information. In disclosing the forward-looking information contained in this press release, the Company has made certain assumptions, including the resumption of trading of the shares of AIM5 on the TSX Venture Exchange. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations of any forward-looking information will prove to be correct. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: availability of financing; delay or failure to receive board, shareholder or regulatory approvals; and general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking information contained in this press release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking information or otherwise. For further information contact: Zachary Goldenberg 647-987-5083 zach@libertyvp.co Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States. 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 United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. All information provided in this press release relating to CoinSmart has been provided by management of CoinSmart and has not been independently verified by management of the Company. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77967 A technology entrepreneur is set to be one of the youngest Australians on the Rich List for a second year in a row - after revealing she created her empire from her mother's couch. Melanie Perkins, 33, and husband Cliff Obrecht co-founded the graphic design platform Canva and are worth a whopping $2.5billion. The pair took out second place in the Young Rich List last year and are one of only 14 names under 40 that will feature in The Australian's overall list of Australia's Richest 250 - which will be unveiled on Saturday. The Perth-born woman became the third richest woman in the country in 2020 as her and her husband's business flourished, and said her biggest aim was to make 'one of the world's most valuable companies'. Melanie Perkins who is now worth more than $2billion is set to feature on the Rich List for a second year in a row Melanie Perkins, 33, and husband Cliff Obrecht co-founded the graphic design platform, Canva, and are worth a whopping $2.5billion Ms Perkins previously told Daily Mail Australia how she dreamed up the idea for a graphics design business from her mother's couch while studying a first-year digital media subject at university in 2005. Canva was first founded in 2012 and now has around 30 million users across almost 200 countries. While studying the 33-year-old fell in love with graphic design and quickly found herself being invited to teach workshops to students in other faculties. Ms Perkins found most people struggled to use the clunky software, so she developed a business idea. 'It was really complex and difficult, and it would take the entire semester to just learn where the buttons were on the software,' she said. 'At the same time Facebook was taking off, and it was so easy to use and everyone was on it. Canva co-founders Cameron Adams, Cliff Obrecht and Melanie Perkins are seen Canva was first founded in 2012 and now has around 30 million users across almost 200 countries 'And I just had this belief that in the future it wasn't going to be as complex to do design work.' MELANIE PERKINS' TIPS FOR SUCCESS Ms Perkins says a big tip for companies to reach success is to 'dream big' Setting realistic goals and how to achieve them will also impact a business' success Create a workplace culture where everyone is working towards the same dream, not competing with each other to be the best Take the time to celebrate when teams reach their goals. 'It means that when a team hits their goal, they feel recognition from the whole company,' she said. Have a workplace where people want to come to work The 33-year-old billionaire also encouraged others to never give up, crediting sheer determination as her biggest success Credit: SmartCompany Advertisement Her first company, Fusion Books, allowed schools and students to make their own yearbooks. She had no business or marketing experience but said her inexperience gave her the confidence that it wouldn't be too difficult to start a company from scratch. 'My boyfriend became my co-founder and we started in my mum's living room,' she said. 'Our naivety in some ways helped us If I knew at the time all the things I didn't know it would have been intimating.' They sold to 15 schools in their first year, 30 in their second and 80 in their third. On the back of that success Ms Perkins decided to expand the Fusion model beyond school yearbooks, which is when Canva was born. Canva was aimed at business groups who wanted to easily crated their own social media graphics, presentations, posters, documents and other visual content. Despite her overwhelming business success in recent years though, Ms Perkins and Mr Obrecht have stressed they want to give away their money to help others. Her social media profile boasts of her lavish trips to international countries - recently sharing a photo of her taking in the Rio de Janeiro skyline in Brazil. The pair have also jetted off to Richard Branson's luxurious privately-owned island Necker Island in the Caribbean's British Virgin Islands. Mr Obrecht said the couple plan to donate their billions to the 'greater good' rather than spend it on themselves. The young couple started their idea of a graphic design software company from the living room of Ms Perkins' mother The internet watchdogs latest campaign with the Ministry of Public Security is aimed at stepping up oversight of new apps to make sure they comply with regulations governing properties of public opinion and capacity for social mobilization. Photo: VCG A new group of Clubhouse-style audio-chat copycats and deepfake visual generators has landed on the radar of Chinas internet regulator, which is concerned over their ability to sway public opinion and mobilize society. The Cyberspace Administration of China said in a Thursday notice that it has summoned staff from about a dozen internet companies to meetings to evaluate relatively new features on their apps, with a special focus on audio-based chatting and deepfakes images in which a person or other parts of the image is replaced with someone or something else. The internet watchdogs latest campaign with the Ministry of Public Security is aimed at stepping up oversight of new apps to make sure they comply with regulations governing properties of public opinion and capacity for social mobilization, according to the statement. The list of summoned companies includes some of Chinas biggest internet names, such as e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd., short video rivals ByteDance Ltd and Kuaishou Technology, and smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. The nations regulators have recently stepped up efforts to rein in those giants, though most of those moves have been focused on their monopolistic practices. The Cyberspace Administrations latest step is more focused on content, which is its main area of oversight. It pays particular attention to sites with large amounts of user-generated content, and stresses that site operators must constantly police themselves to remove material on subjects deemed politically sensitive or morally unhealthy. Other companies on the regulators latest list included Inke Ltd., a Hong Kong-listed livestreaming platform that was one of Chinas fastest companies to roll out a Clubhouse-inspired product after the American audio chat original was blocked in the country last month. It launched its own app called Duihuaba, or Lets Chat, whose functional design and interface are very similar to those of Clubhouses drop-in chat style. Clubhouse became an overnight global sensation earlier this year, and was blocked in China after some mainland-based users flocked to the platform and hosted discussions on sensitive topics like Xinjiang, Taiwan relations and Hong Kong. The operator of photo-editing app Quyan was also among those summoned. One of its features, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, can swap faces in photos or videos with other peoples likenesses. Some people have used this feature to swap faces with high-profile politicians or celebrities in videos and photos that ended up going viral on social media. In addition to the upcoming round of meetings, the cyberspace authority said it should be informed by all app creators when they prepare to launch new public opinion-oriented internet information services, or deploy related new technologies, according to the statement. The latest events resemble Chinas blocking of Western social media sites Facebook and Twitter and video site YouTube more than a decade ago, which produced a similar wave of Chinese copycats. Imitators to come out of that wave included the Twitter-like Weibo and Tencents WeChat, whose popular moments function resembles the main newsfeed function in Facebook. Contact reporter Anniek Bao (yunxinbao@caixin.com) and editor Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com) Download our app to receive breaking news alerts and read the news on the go. Follow the Chinese markets in real time with Caixin Globals new stock database. CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI Three men have been charged with misdemeanor wildlife crimes and fined thousands of dollars for poaching and baiting waterfowl in Southeast Michigan. The December 2020 incident resulted in the killing of 39 waterfowl at least 18 over legal limits, according to a news release from the Department of Natural Resources. Richard Schaller, 52, Robert Kucinski, 49, and Timothy Morris, 58, all of Harrison Township, pleaded guilty to 13 charges, including taking, possessing an over-limit of Canada geese; taking, possessing an over-limit of mallards; taking, possessing an over-limit of hen mallards; and taking, hunting waterfowl over a baited area. Schaller was also charged with one count of placing bait for the purpose of taking waterfowl. On Dec. 6, the DNR Report All Poaching hotline received a tip about a potential waterfowl poaching near a pond off Chesterfield Road in Chesterfield Township, Macomb County. Conservation officers responded to the area and could hear gunshots. They found the men and witnessed them shoot and kill multiple geese. The officers approached when the men had concluded their hunt and began collecting the waterfowl, which clearly exceeded daily limits. Three additional piles of waterfowl were found hidden in nearby brush. The men killed 39 waterfowl that day, including 23 Canada geese (14 over the limit), and 16 mallards (four over the total limit), eight of which were hen mallards (two over the limit). The officers also saw that the pond was littered with corn. Baiting waterfowl is federally prohibited and unlawful in Michigan. One of the men confessed to having placed a 50-pound bag of corn at the pound a few days before to ensure they would have a good hunt. All game, bait and firearms were confiscated as evidence. At sentencing, Schaller, Kucinski, and Morris were each ordered to pay $6,500 in reimbursement to the state $500 per waterfowl, totaling $19,500 plus court fines totaling more than $3,000 collectively. Each man also permanently forfeited the firearms used to take the waterfowl and lost waterfowl hunting privileges through February 2022. Waterfowl are a precious resource to Michiganders and the other 13 states that share and protect this resource within the Mississippi Flyway Zone, said Lt. Todd Szyska, DNR Law Enforcement supervisor in Detroit. Cases like this emphasize the important role our officers play in protecting waterfowl so they can be shared equally. In the past, hunting over-limits of waterfowl led to low population numbers and species protection such as the canvasback duck. It is through effective biological management, established seasons and bag limits, and enforcement that we are able to continue the waterfowl hunting heritage. Anyone witnessing a natural resources crime or having information about such a crime is encouraged to call or text the DNRs Report All Poaching hotline at 800-292-7800. READ MORE: 3 relatives plead guilty to reduced charges in historic elk poaching case from 2019 Michigans Best Ultimate Fish Fry Guide 2021 3 reasons why 70 degrees could happen soon in southern Michigan How Mackinac Islands winter Carhartt Army helps create tourist-season success Tiny plastic particles have been discovered in the organs of unborn baby rats, the first time microplastics have been seen to cross the placenta in live mammals. Researchers found the particles inhaled by the mother travelled across the placenta and into the developing lungs, brain and heart of the foetus. The study also revealed that nanoparticles of polystyrene were able to reach the foetus within 90 minutes of the mother being exposed. One day before the foetuses were due to be born, the babies of mothers who had been exposed to plastic were seven per cent smaller than expected. Scientists do not yet know if the findings also apply to human pregnancy but the findings are a cause for concern, they say. Scroll down for video Tiny 'nanoparticles' of plastic that drift around every surface and substance of our world can pass from a mother's body to her fetus's brain, heart or lungs, a new study in rats suggests Plastics are made of long-chained polymers which shed and degrade over time into smaller fragments known as microplastics. These fibres, less than 5mm in size, are thought to pose a risk to animal and human health but the exact extend of their damage remains unknown. Microplastics have been spotted in the most desolate parts of the world, including the Alps, Antarctica and the 'death zone' of Mt Everest. Nanoplastics however are around 1,000 times smaller than microplastics and even less is known about their impact on human and animal health. Researchers from Rutgers University tried to learn more by creating spherical pieces of polystyrene which measured just 20 nanometres across and forcing lab rats to breathe them in. In reality, nanoplastics are not perfectly round but are irregularly shaped and more closely resemble a flake than a ball, which may alter their ability to infiltrate human systems, but more research is needed to understand this mechanism, scientists say. The spherical nanoplastics were attached to a fluorescent tag so the scientists could see how far they had reached after being given to the rats. The study exposed the animals to about 60 per cent of the amount of particles a human mother inhales every day on day 19 of pregnancy. 'Twenty-four hours later on gestation day 20 [one day before rats give birth], maternal and fetal tissues were evaluated using fluorescent optical imaging,' the researchers write in their study, published in the journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology. Microscope images show microplastics in the livers, lungs, kidneys, hearts and brains of rate fetuses whose mothers were exposed to the nanoparticles (white) Pictured, the intensity of plastic particles found in the tissues of the mothers. Animals which were exposed to microplastics (red) had higher levels of plastic in their lungs, heart and spleen than control tests Pictured, a graph showing the amount of plastic particles seen in rat foetus. Exposed rats (red) had higher levels of plastics in their placenta, whole body, liver and heart than control animals Scientists find microplastics in the 'death zone' near Mount Everest's Microplastics have been found more than 8,000 metres (26,000ft) up the world's tallest mountain in the so-called 'death zone', where oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life. Scientists captured evidence of the particles on the mountain and in the valley below and believe they come from polyester, acrylic and nylon outdoor clothing. But the microscopic pieces of plastic may also have floated up to the peak of Mount Everest on swirling air currents. Microplastics are tiny particles which are less than five millimetres (0.2 inches) in length, and the health impact of these particles remains a concerning mystery. University of Plymouth researchers took 19 high elevation samples from Mount Everest and its surrounding areas. Eleven came from snow while eight were stream water. Base camp was the site with the highest concentration of microplastics, at 79 fibres per litre of snow. But Camps 1 and 2, steadily higher up the mountain, were also polluted. At the Balcony of Mount Everest, 8,440 metres above sea level, the scientists found 12 microplastic fibres per litre of snow. Advertisement Analysis of the animals revealed the foetuses of exposed mothers were seven per cent lighter than was expected. The placenta was also eight per cent lighter than control animals. Microscope images found nanopolystyrene particles in the lung, heart, and spleen of the mother. Polystyrene nanoparticles were also seen in the placenta, liver, lungs, heart, kidney, and brain of the foetus 'suggesting maternal lung-to-fetal tissue nanoparticle translocation in late stage pregnancy', the researchers write. Dunzhu Li from Trinity College Dublin, who was not part of the research, told The Guardian: 'The particles were found almost everywhere in the foetus and can also pass through the bloodbrain barrier - it is very shocking.' While the study was unable to discover exactly how plastic particles impacts on foetal growth, the researchers do have a hypothesis. 'Our working theory is that something in the maternal vasculature changes, so you get a reduction in blood flow, which in turn leads to a reduction in nutrient and oxygen delivery,' Professor Phoebe Stapleton, lead author of the study from Rutgers University, told The Guardian. 'We now know the particles are able to cross into the foetal compartment, but we don't know if they're lodged there or if the body just walls them off, so there's no additional toxicity.' Previous studies have found an average person eats, drinks and inhales up to 142 tiny pieces of plastic a day, according to a 2019 University of Victoria study. This equates to about 74,000 a particles a year, or about a credit card of plastic a week. Plastics are thought to damage health by physically interfering with systems and tissues, such as by restricting nutritional uptake. But they can also carry harmful chemicals which, at high enough doses, may be harmful to human health. Phthalates and bisphenols, for example, have been found to alter hormone levels and negatively affect fertility. Babies have been found to be exposed to microplastic shards from their milk bottles as particles are released from their vessels via the sterilisation process. And scientists had already discovered that these plastics can cross the typically effective blood-brain barrier. 'This study answers some questions and opens up other questions,' Professor Stapleton said. 'We now know the particles are able to cross into the fetal compartment, but we don't know if they're lodged there or if the body just walls them off, so there's no additional toxicity.' The eight people who died in a shooting spree by a 21-year-old gunman in Georgia this week have been identified by police and Fulton County officials. Why it matters: The fact that six of the eight victims are Asian women has left Asians and Pacific Islanders across America fearful and alarmed. Here is what we know about the victims so far: The Fulton County Medical Examiner on Friday released the names of the other four victims: Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; Suncha Kim, 69; and Yong Ae Yue, 63. The victims earlier identified include: Delaina Yaun, 33; Xiaojie Tan, 49; Paul Andre Michels, 52; and Daoyou Feng, 44. Kim was a "grandmother who enjoyed line dancing in her spare time," a family member told the New York Times. "Stay strong in life...when youre happy, Im happy," she would tell her granddaughter in weekly phone calls, according to a GoFundMe fundraiser in her memory. Park assisted in managing one of the spas and provided meals for staff, the Washington Post reports. She'd lived in the New York metropolitan area for most of her life, her son-in-law Scott Lee told WashPost. She stayed with him and her daughter briefly in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, before moving to Atlanta several years ago. She was going to move back into their home in June, Lee said. Yue was a South Korean-born American citizen, "who loved to introduce our family and friends to her home-cooked Korean food and Korean karaoke," said her youngest son, Bobby Peterson, on a GoFundMe page. Grant was a single mother raising two sons in the U.S., her son, Randy Park, said on a GoFundMe page. Randy Park, 23, told the Daily Beast that he and his mom were very close: "She wasnt just my mother. She was my friend." Yaun was reportedly meeting her husband for a couple's massage when the shooter broke in. Her husband made it out safely, though she did not. She was a mother of a 14-year-old son and an 8-month-old daughter. Her loved ones believe she was a first-time customer at the spa, Fox 5 Atlanta reports. Tan, who was originally from China and had one daughter, owned Young's Asian Massage in Acworth, Ga., the New York Times writes. "She did everything for me and for the family," daughter Jami Webb told USA Today. "She worked every day, 12 hours a day, so that me and our family would have a better life." Tan was killed two days before her 50th birthday. Feng had, per the Times, recently begun working at Tan's spa. She was kind and quiet, one of Tan's friends told the Post. Michels was a businessman and U.S. Army veteran. The 52-year-old was one of nine siblings and had been married for over 20 years. Longtime friend Kikiana Whidby said Michels treated everyone like he was their uncle, per the Post. Of the six Asian women at the spa, four were of Korean descent, per South Korea's foreign ministry. The ministry said Wednesday, "Our government is closely watching the situation, holding a deep interest in the safety of our compatriots overseas." Another victim, Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz, suffered a non-fatal shot to the head that traveled into his lungs. He is in intensive care, per CNN. Hernandez-Ortiz was a father and husband to his wife, Flora Gonzalez Gomez. Editor's note: This story will be updated as additional information about the victims emerges. Weve seen the headlines. Around the globe, women are leading the charge when it comes to philanthropy and generous financial contributions to nonprofit organizations. The same is true in Charleston. This month, the American Red Cross of Lowcountry South Carolina received a $1 million donation to support our lifesaving work. And the Charleston woman who wrote the check doesnt even want recognition for it. When she informed me about her seven-figure gift, which is enough funding to provide more than 1,000 families who need help after a home fire, she made it clear. I just dont want any large press announcement surrounding this. Its not about me. Its about them, the people we serve. When it comes to the Red Cross, women leading the charge is a part of our history. This dates back to Clara Barton, who founded our organization in 1881 and served as president for 23 years. And it continues today, with President and CEO Gail McGovern. This recent $1 million contribution, which will support families after home fires and other local disasters and ensure every hospital patient who needs blood has access to it, came during Red Cross Month. Every March since 1943, the work that Red Cross volunteers, financial supporters and blood donors do throughout the year is celebrated. This March, I am not only thrilled to accept this heartfelt gift, but I am proud to be a Red Crosser. And, perhaps, I am even more proud to be a woman. ASHLEY HENYAN Executive Director Red Cross of Lowcountry South Carolina City Hall Lane North Charleston 'Unlock' old station I thank The Post and Courier for the Saturday article about the proposed repurposing of the old gas station on Ashley Avenue. What a great idea. I have walked past this lot for 20 years and would love to see the facility used in such a pleasant and pleasing way. We are getting unlocked from COVID-19. Lets unlock the old gas station and have a charming place to stop for morning coffee. PEGGY W. LEVINSON Pitt Street Charleston Novruz a fun holiday On Saturday, some 400,000 Azerbaijani Americans, among other ethnic groups tracing their origin to Eurasia, will celebrate Novruz Bayram, a traditional holiday that celebrates the New Year and the coming of spring. Novruz celebrations are a wonderful tradition going back several millennia. It is kid-friendly and has many fun traditions and practices associated with it, from planting wheatgrass, coloring eggs and preparing sweets to jumping over bonfires and doing housecleaning. Novruz was inscribed by UNESCO on the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. 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! This ancient, peaceful and fun tradition brings not just Azerbaijanis but all people closer, celebrates nature, increases dialogue between civilizations, and promotes mutual understanding and cultural diversity. We all need more of this. GUNEL MASTALIYEVA Mathis Ferry Road Mount Pleasant Child care needed After such a long, unusual year it is exciting to hear about my friends and family members as they return to their physical work locations. One issue, however, continues to come up over and over again: There appears to be a lack of before- and after-school care, day care and summer day camps for young children. Working parents cannot return to their workplaces full time if they cannot find affordable care for their children. Some day cares and summer camps have reduced the number of children they are accepting. Many summer day camps are either full or so expensive that working parents cannot afford them. So what choice is a parent to make? Even the city of Charleston has so many applicants for spots that it has to have a lottery. As employers have begun calling employees back to their workplaces, do workers give up their jobs and associated health insurance? That is the decision many are faced with now. FRANCES GLANVILLE Savannah Highway Adams Run Why tax dollar? I noted in the March 10 Post and Courier Food section article on the Charleston Wine + Food Festival that the organization is now among the wealthiest nonprofits in the country. Furthermore, according to Board President Steve Palmer and executive director Gillian Zettler, the organization is financially secure, is highly profitable and ended 2019 with $857,249 in assets. In that same year, the city of Charleston gave Wine + Food $140,000. Well over $100,000 of the assets in this highly profitable nonprofit were tax dollars. Why? RUTH MILLER Manchester Road Charleston Editor's note: The Midland County Historical Society is partnering with the Midland Daily News for "A Window to Midland's Past," which will feature historical pieces in print and online at ourmidland.com. This particular piece was compiled from the 1884 Portrait and Biographical Album by retired historical society director Gary Skory. Since the first schools were organized in Midland County, the system of education has undergone a complete change. The vast difference between the old and new methods is plainly apparent. In ye olden times, the preceptors word was supreme law in his little kingdom, and this law was enforced by a generous distribution of strokes from the well-seasoned birch rod. To execute a pencil sketch upon a slate was deemed a misdemeanor, or one which merited at least 12 strokes from the same reformer, wielded by the sturdy arm of an incensed pedagogue. To ask assistance in the solution of a perplexing problem in mathematics more than twice during school hours, consigned the unfortunate pupil to a seat on the dunce block, the most observed, but not the most envied personage in the room. The old straight-backed benches and pine desks, smeared with butter and molasses, and defaced by the big boys jackknives, have been superseded by the modern single desk, where each student has all the comforts and conveniences they can desire. The textbooks were, at that date of a miscellaneous character, nearly every family having preserved the remnants of books which their fathers and mothers had studied during their school days and were now brought into use by their children to save expense, being deemed by the parents quite good enough for anybody. Every pupil possessed a Rays Arithmetic, the only textbook of which there were a half-dozen alike. Geography was represented by Peter Parley, and Monteiths Manual; readers, by McGuffey, Saunders, Eclectic and Natural series; grammar by Pinneo, Clarks Easy Method and Browns Parsing Lessons. Websters Elementary, Cobbs, Worcesters and the Eclectic Spellers were used indiscriminately. The scholars could hardly be classified, much less graded. Now, the systematic manner of grading pupils, the uniformity of textbooks with improved methods of teaching by object lessons and otherwise, give pupils of this day advantages not dreamed of 20 years ago. Students 12 years of age are in many instances further advanced in rhetoric, physiology, and mathematics than were the less fortunate pupils who attended public schools during the entire time prescribed by law now only two decades since. Midland County is rapidly advancing in an educational way. The Township of Midland leads with the number of pupils and value of school property. There are two brick, four frame, and one log schoolhouse, with a total valuation of $28,500. The number of scholars enrolled in the several districts is 863. The amount paid for tuition last year was $4,642.20. The largest school building in the county is at Midland City; this is a magnificent brick structure, three stories in height, exclusive of the basement which is large and airy. The building is heated by furnaces, and special regard has been paid to ventilation and obtaining proper light in its construction. It was erected in 1869, and cost, with its furniture $23,000. Six teachers are employed, in as many departments. A handsome and valuable library, containing 708 volumes belongs to this building, thus adding to the interest of schoolwork. In Hope Township there are two whole districts and two fractional ones. The number of children in the township between the ages of five and twenty is 209. There are two frame schoolhouses and two log, and the total amount of money paid out for wages of teachers for the year 1883 is $938.25 Edenville contains two whole districts and one fractional. The number of children enrolled is 140. One of these three districts is furnished with a frame and the other two with log schoolhouses. The amount of wages paid to teachers was $718.75. Warren has three districts. Two of which are whole and one fractional. The number of children enrolled in the township is 154. Two of the school buildings are frame structures, with modern conveniences, and the remaining one is of logs. The total amount of money paid to teachers is $610. Larkin Township paid a total of $940.50 to its teachers for the year 1883, in this township we find five districts, all entire. The number of children enrolled is 94. Three of the schoolhouses are frame buildings, while two districts still use the log schoolhouse. There are but two organized school districts in Lincoln, both of which are entire. There are only 63 children in the township who are entitled to school privileges, and of these, only 48 attend. One of their schoolhouses is frame and the other is a log building. $345.00 was disbursed during the past year for the payment of teachers salaries. In Jerome Township there are but 91 children who are privileged to attend school, and only 45 of these take advantage of the privilege. One of the buildings is a frame and the other a log schoolhouse. There being but two districts in the township. The total amount of wages paid to teachers during the year was $303. In Geneva, 62 children attend school regularly out of 104, who are entitled by law to these benefits. There are but two districts, both of which are provided with substantial and commodious frame buildings. The total amount paid teachers, male and female, for the past year was $369. Homer has three whole districts, all of which are supplied with good frame buildings. $572.00 was paid out for teachers salaries for the school year of 1883. There are enrolled in this township 572 school children. Lee has paid out to its teachers of 1883 the sum of $467.45. It is divided into four districts, all of which are entire and all together enroll only 54 scholars. Greendale has but one school district, it being an ungraded one. H.L. Voorhese is director for the present year. There are 18 pupils enrolled, 12 of whom attend regularly. A handsome frame building was erected in 1884, costing about $500. The school property is valued at $500, and $120 was paid the teachers in 1883. Ingersoll contains one fractional district, and four whole ones. The number of pupils as shown by the last school census is 322. Each district is provided with an excellent frame school building with all modern conveniences. Ingersoll paid to her teachers last year the sum of $1043.83 Mt. Haley registers 103 children between the ages of five and 20 years, and the three fractional school districts which she controls are provided with log houses for school purposes. The total wages of teachers for the last school year were $530.70 The four whole districts into which Porter Township is divided are furnished with frame school buildings, which are large and roomy and well ventilated. The amount of wages paid to teachers for 1883 was $651.78. The number of children enrolled was 136. Jasper Township has expended the sum of $833 in teachers pay for the last school year. If contains five districts, all of which are whole. The total number of children enabled by law to attend school in this township is 161. Out of the five buildings designed for school purposes only one is built of logs, the rest of frame. For a county containing less than 7,000 inhabitants the above statement is quite flattering. It is now being settled up with good citizens more rapidly than at any time in its history, and the next ten years will nearly double the figures given above. This Sunday, March 21, is officially census day in Northern Ireland. It's quite the undertaking to count everyone in the midst of a pandemic. But there is the added bonus that enumerators will not have to go traipsing around hotel bars trying to get guests to fill out forms, because they're all closed. Officials were particularly keen to go ahead with the census since it happens only every 10 years, as opposed to the Republic, where a detailed picture of the population is revealed every five years. The last census, in 2011, revealed that 48% of Northern Ireland's resident population are either Protestant or brought up Protestant, a drop of 5% from 10 years earlier. At the same time, 45% of the resident population described themselves as either Catholic or brought up Catholic, an increase of 1%. Seven per cent said they either belong to another religion or none. Most observers expect the gap to have narrowed further and some even predict that Catholics may actually be in a majority when the figures are revealed next year. The writing has been on the wall for a while. Already Catholics make up a majority of pupils in schools in the north. Add to that the fact that Sinn Fein is likely to take the largest share of the seats in next year's Assembly elections (and with it the coveted role of First Minister) and Northern Ireland is a place transformed. When the state was established a century ago, with institutionalised discrimination against Catholics, the plan was for a permanent Protestant majority with the infamous mantra, A Protestant parliament for a Protestant people. The census data is likely to fuel further debate and discussion about a united Ireland. Sinn Fein's organisers in the US spent a fortune this week on half-page advertisements in both the Washington Post and the New York Times calling on the Government to prepare and plan for reunification. This is the time for the people of Ireland to have their say, the adverts proclaim, calling for a date to be set for a unity referendum. Of course, the adverts were playing to Sinn Fein grassroots and financiers stateside. To hammer the point home, the Friends of Sinn Fein organisation also took out full-page adverts in both the Irish Voice and the Irish Echo long-considered bastions of the romantic Irish-American community. The problem is that, in the US, the Shinners have too easily reached for anti-British tropes. Like in 2019, when Mary Lou McDonald cheerfully marched behind a banner which read: England get out of Ireland. The backlash resulted in a sorry/not sorry clarification from the Sinn Fein leader, when she said: I suppose all of us have to be conscious of not just what we say and what is meant, but also what is heard and what is understood. Quite. And the fact is that many people, when they listen to Sinn Fein talk about reunification, hear a narrow and sectarian agenda. Rather than inclusivity, they hear Brits out and Up the 'Ra. It is not only the fact that Sinn Fein alienates many unionists from the discussion, it is also not at all a given that all Catholics (or, indeed, people who describe themselves as nationalists) would vote for a united Ireland if there was a referendum in the morning. Identity in the north is complicated and one of the triumphs of the Good Friday Agreement was to create a culture where people could be comfortable with identities that might appear conflicting. People can be British, Irish, Northern Irish, or a combination of all of these, without one single identity being exaggerated at the expense of another. The 2011 census in the north was fascinating, because for the first time, as well as the question about religious background, statisticians asked a question about national identity. Two-fifths (40%) said they had a British-only national identity, a quarter (25%) said they had Irish-only and just over a fifth of people (21%) said they had a Northern Irish-only national identity. It is hugely significant that, while 45% of the population are Catholic, just 25% regard themselves as Irish-only. These figures illustrate the danger of trying to equate someone's religion with their political identity. At the same time, almost three-fifths (59%) of people usually resident in Northern Ireland in 2011 held a UK passport, just over a fifth (21%) held an Irish passport, while 19% held no passport at all. Of course, those findings were pre-Brexit. The north voted to stay and the UK's exit from the European Union has upset the post-Good Friday Agreement consensus that Northern Ireland was a place where nationalists could feel equally at home. Next weekend's census will reveal to what extent Brexit has affected identity and the reality that Britishness is no longer synonymous with being a citizen of Europe. Already, we know many people from a unionist background have opted for Irish passports. It remains to be seen if this will have an impact on how they view themselves. One thing is for sure: the debate around reunification cannot be fuelled by pinning hopes on a sectarian headcount and corralling people into a state they have no stake in, or a desire to be part of. We allowed that a century ago and it was a catastrophe. We deserve no forgiveness if we allow history to repeat itself. Michael Kelly is editor of the Irish Catholic. Italy's pharmaceutical agency has formally lifted its temporary ban on AstraZeneca vaccinations after the European Medicines Agency ruled the shots were safe and effective. It wasn't immediately clear when the first jabs would be administered, but officials said Friday the speed with which they were proceeding with the administrative restart of AstraZeneca shots was a sign of their confidence in the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. The head of prevention at the Health Ministry, Dr. Giovanni Rezza, told a press conference that Italy only reluctantly halted the campaign out of an abundance of caution. But he said Italy needed to ramp it back up quickly to make up for lost time now that EMA had ruled. He said Italy needed to more than double the 200,000 vaccinations per day the country had reached before the suspension to reach its goal of inoculating 80 per cent of the population by September. Top Italian public health officials held a press conference Friday to insist on the safety of the AstraZeneca shot in a bid to build confidence among the general population. They also defended their decision to suspend it as purely precautionary and done in consultation with other European countries in an effort to give EMA a chance to definitively rule on it. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) According to a press release published by The Moscow Times on March 19, 2021, Russia has deployed all six of its Black Sea Fleet submarines as NATO drills kicked off in the area. According to a press release published by The Moscow Times on March 19, 2021, Russia has deployed all six of its Black Sea Fleet submarines as NATO drills kicked off in the area. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link B-871 Alrosa, diesel-electric Kilo-class submarine (Picture source: Twitter) The commander of the Black Sea Fleets submarine flotilla, Captain 1st Rank Anatoly Varochkin, called the deployment unprecedented. The deployment took place as 18 NATO warships with 10 aircraft and 2,400 troops are set to begin Romanian-led multinational exercises dubbed Sea Shield 21. Sea Shield 21 aims to enhance interoperability and cooperation between the Romanian and other NATO members naval forces. From there, NATOs standing maritime group composed of Spanish, Turkish, Bulgarian and Romanian frigates will make port calls in Turkey and the republic of Georgia. Russia views NATOs expansion eastward into its old Soviet sphere of influence as a key national security risk. NATO members perceive Russias missile deployments in the countrys Baltic exclave between Poland and Lithuania as a threat. NATO, a U.S.-led alliance created during the Cold War to provide collective security against the Soviet Union, suspended relations with Russia in response to Moscows annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Russian submarine B-871 Alrosa is a diesel-electric Kilo-class submarine. The Project 877V Alrosa is the only Kilo-class submarine fitted with a pump-jet system instead of the standard propeller. A pump-jet allows for higher speed before the onset of cavitation and lower acoustic signature. The Alrosa was laid down in 1988 and commissioned into service in 1990. For a while, it had been the only operational submarine of the Black Sea Fleet. The Alrosa has an underwater displacement of 3,950 tons, a length of 76.2 m, a submerged speed of 17 knots and an endurance of 45 days. The submarine carries six 533-mm torpedo tubes and a crew of 52. Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Biden administration got itself into two international scuffles this weekone with Russia, one with China. Both involved U.S. leaders criticizing the other countries for human rights abuses, and getting called out for hypocrisy in response. Both suggest that the Biden teams stated goal of returning democracy and human rights promotion to a central place in U.S. foreign policy is not going to be easy. In the case of Russia, Biden agreed with a reporters premise that President Vladimir Putin is a killer, prompting the Kremlin to withdraw its ambassador to the U.S. for consultation and Putin to challenge Biden to a mano a mano televised debate. Then on Thursday, at a meeting with their Chinese counterparts in Alaska, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan opened the sessionwhile reporters were in the roomwith a boilerplate litany of Chinas sins, from Xinjiang to Hong Kong to the South China Sea. Rather than sit there and take it, as the Americans seemed to expect, Yang Jiechi, head of Chinas foreign office, launched into a 15-minute diatribe condemning Americas military interventions overseas and racism at home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. Biden came into office vowing to restore, as he put it, diplomacy rooted in Americas most cherished democratic values: defending freedom, championing opportunity, upholding universal rights, respecting the rule of law, and treating every person with dignity. Obviously, as even he would probably admit, his administration will often fall short of those values. (It has already.) At the very least, though, the Biden team promised, and so far has delivered, a rhetorical contrast with Donald Trump, who rarely even pretended to care about democracy abroad, praised other countries human rights abuses, and openly admitted that he preferred dealing with dictators, the tougher and meaner they are, to democratic leaders. (Some Trump officials, notably Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, often criticized countries like China, Venezuela, and Iran on human rights grounds, but their hypocrisy was blatant even by the historical standards of U.S. pronouncements about freedom and democracy.) Advertisement But it turns out Trumps message is a tough genie to put back in the bottle. If Americas claim on the moral high ground in international affairs was often contradicted by the countrys actions, it could still draw on a record of rhetorical consistency. After four years of a president declaring his contempt for human rightsnot to mention some recent events that have called Americas own standing as a democratic society into questionthe U.S. government cant just go back to lecturing other countries, particularly other global superpowers, about freedom of the press, imprisoned dissidents, and persecuted minorities while expecting them to glumly accept it. American officials will counter, as Sullivan did at the meeting in Alaska, that they never claim the U.S. is perfectthey are working to undo the damage left behind by the last administration, after alland that the difference between democratic and autocratic societies is the ability to criticize and debate their flaws. This may be true, but it puts officials at a disadvantage when they get into shaming contests with governments that are more than eager to point out American hypocrisy while brooking no criticism back home. If these governments can make it clear that public criticism, no matter how pro forma, will inevitably result in a diplomatic crisis that takes days to sort out, they may force the Americans to consider whether such criticism is even worth it. A central premise of Bidens foreign policy is that it should be possible to work on areas of mutual concern with countries like Russia and China without completely selling out on human rights. Hopefully that really is the case, but that doesnt mean those governments will make it easy or pleasant. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form AMSTERDAM, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Staples Solutions today announces that it has entered into an agreement with Lyreco, a leading distributor of office products, to sell Staples Solutions' business units in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria and Poland, as well as its central support services (including IT, eCommerce, Merchandising, Supply Chain Planning and Finance) primarily located in Poland and The Netherlands. The intended sale is subject to completion of certain employee consultation and regulatory procedures. "I could not be more pleased that we found such a strong match with Lyreco, a major player in our industry. Staples Solutions has been on a remarkable journey after separating from its US parent more than four years ago. We put the customer at the core of our decision making, we broadened our workspace solutions, we localized and simplified our operations; returning to profitability at the end of last year. We have become a better business, and reached a natural point in our journey for this transaction. I know that our people will continue to thrive and contribute to Lyreco's success," said Dolph Westerbos, Chief Executive Officer at Staples Solutions. "The Staples Solution team is a highly recognized one within our industry, and we share the same Passion for our customers. I am very much looking forward to welcoming them within our organization to put our common energy together to deliver excellence. I am convinced that this intended acquisition will enable us to provide an even better service to customers of both our companies," states Greg Lienard, Chief Executive Officer at Lyreco. About Staples Solutions Staples Solutions is a leading provider of workplace products, services, and solutions to small, mid-sized, and large businesses in Europe. Through our integrated offering, Staples Solutions is the partner of choice to meet the diverse needs of the workplace of today and tomorrow. You can learn more about Staples Solutions at www.staples.eu. About Lyreco Group Lyreco, a privately owned company since 1926, is a distributor of workplace products and services. The group directly operates in 25 countries in Europe and Asia. Lyreco's 10.000 employees share a common mission: pioneers in delivering sustainably what any workplace needs, so that its people can focus on what matters most. You can learn more about Lyreco at Lyreco Group Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1459356/Staples_Logo.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1459366/LYRECO_Logo.jpg BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday expressed hope that the United States can meet China halfway, and bring bilateral relations back onto the track of sound and stable development. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a daily news briefing in response to questions on the high-level strategic dialogue between China and the United States in Alaska. Zhao said that by agreeing to hold this high-level strategic dialogue with the United States, China is taking an important step in acting on the spirit of the two heads of state's telephone conversation. "It was actually the two presidents' decision to have this meeting." "We believe it can be a good opportunity to enhance communication, manage differences and expand cooperation," Zhao said. "It will help guide bilateral relations going forward. People in both countries and beyond all hope to see practical outcomes from this dialogue." The Chinese delegation has come to Anchorage with full sincerity and a constructive attitude, Zhao said. "Alaska is the northernmost U.S. state. When the Chinese delegation arrived in Anchorage, their hearts were chilled by the biting cold as well as the reception by their American host." "We hope the United States can meet China halfway, and following the spirit of the two heads of state's telephone conversation on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, focus on cooperation, manage differences and bring bilateral relations back onto the track of sound and stable development," Zhao said. "We hope the U.S. side can understand clearly that China is firmly determined and resolved in safeguarding its core interests. The U.S. side should also see with crystal clarity our steadfast position that China's internal affairs allow no interference," the spokesperson said. The family of Jean Charles De Menezes has called for Scotland Yard chief Cressida Dick to resign over her officers' use of 'excessive force' at Sarah Everard's vigil. Vivian Meneses Figueiredo said she was appalled at the sight of officers arresting women at a candlelit vigil in memory of the 33-year-old marketing executive. Miss Figueiredo's cousin Jean Charles was shot dead on a train at Stockwell Underground station in South London on July 22, 2005. The shooting happened when counter-terrorism officers mistook the innocent electrician for one of the terrorists behind an attack on the capital a day earlier. From that day the 37-year-old was never able to set foot in the flat they shared and for years she would cross the road to avoid police. Vivian Meneses Figueiredo with her cousin Jean Charles De Menezes on the beach near their home in Minas Gerais, Brazil, in either late 2004 or early 2005. He was killed in July 2005 Vivian Meneses Figueiredo (left) is the cousin of Jean Charles De Menezes (right), pictured in Paris three months before he was shot dead on a train at Stockwell station on July 22, 2005 Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick at New Scotland Yard on Sunday Mr de Menezes's family led a long campaign calling for police officers to be prosecuted for the shooting and criticising Scotland Yard for its handling of the operation, which was led at the time by Dame Cressida. Today, Miss Figueiredo said she was upset by the ugly scenes of officers restraining women at the vigil for Miss Everard last Saturday in Clapham, South London. When asked whether Dame Cressida should resign, the mother-of-one said: 'Yeah of course, for me she should never have been there (in the role of Commissioner). 'For me, every time I see her in the news and the pictures it brings me a lot of sadness because it makes you think of everything that has happened to Jean. 'I think she is quite arrogant to not step down. I think the way the police handled everything is disappointing because I know that facing this pandemic is very serious but what happened to Sarah was also very serious.' Police officers detain a woman at the vigil for Sarah Everard on Clapham Common on Saturday A woman is pinned to the ground at Clapham Common in London on Saturday during the vigil She said: 'I think that's quite wrong the way they dealt with this whole situation. 'They should have provided more support, allow that it could be more safe and allow them to go there to protest and pay their respects for Sarah. 'Her family and Sarah deserves it and all of us. 'Now everyone is talking about women's rights and things that need to be changed for safety but even in the police force to see people with the power and duty to protect and they are using excessive force against women, that's wrong and this needs to be changed as soon as possible.' Scotland Yard has referred itself to the police watchdog seven times in connection with the Sarah Everard investigation. Police keep watch from the bandstand in Clapham Common during the vigil on Saturday Wayne Couzens (left, in a court sketch at the Old Bailey on Tuesday) is facing trial for the murder and kidnap of marketing manager Sarah Everard (right) who went missing on March 3 The Independent Office for Police Conduct is carrying out three inquiries and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary is also investigating the force's policing of the vigil. A serving police officer, Wayne Couzens, is facing trial for the murder and kidnap of the marketing manager who went missing while walking home from a friend's house in Clapham Common on March 3. Today, Miss Figueiredo said of the Met Commissioner: 'If it's clear she's made so many mistakes which have been made while she's in power, why doesn't she step down? 'That's a very good question I would like to have the answer for. (From left) Jean Charles De Menezes's cousin Patricia da Silva Armani, Yasmin Kan, Vivian Meneses Figueiredo and Erionaldo at Stockwell station on June 22, 2020 - the 15th anniversary Vivian Meneses Figueiredo (left) was related to Jean Charles De Menezes (right), who was shot 'In my situation of course I'm a victim of injustice so I see this maybe differently from all the other people who are supporting her. 'But when you see somebody that has done a big mistake, seeing her just getting promotions, in this very high position, the head, I feel that it is dangerous to see her there.' No police officers involved in Mr De Menezes' fatal shooting ever faced disciplinary action, and Dame Cressida was cleared of any blame by a jury. The Commissioner has resisted calls for her resignation saying the murder of Miss Everard has made her 'more determined, not less' to lead the force. Minister for Education Norma Foley TD and the Teaching Council today (Friday 19 March) announced the publication of the Report and Action Plan of the School Placement Working Group. The School Placement Working Group (SPWG) was convened by the Teaching Council in November 2018 to review the implementation of school placement guidelines and the recommendations of Teaching Council commissioned research on school placement. The Group was also requested to convey recommendations including a costed action plan to the Department of Educations Teacher Supply Implementation Group. The Group has identified a number of key challenges with regard to school placement, including the sourcing and administration of school placement, the financial cost of school placement, and the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders (with a particular focus on supporting teachers who host student teachers). These challenges formed the basis of an Action Plan on School Placement and the final report outlines three priority action areas: The creation of a national central school placement system and integrated online portal. The launching of a demonstration model to include piloting of the placement system and professional learning programme to support Treoraithe (previously called co-operating teachers). Support for the development of school-HEI partnerships in the area of research and recognition for the work of all those involved in school placement. The SPWG recommended that a number of working groups be established to progress actions in each of these areas. Due to the impact of COVID-19 on system resources and work practices, it has only been possible to establish the working groups in 2021. Revised timelines have recently been confirmed by the Teaching Council which focus on priority actions 1 and 2 and include the establishment of the following: School Placement Project Team (Teaching Council, DE, Inspectorate) (Q1 2021) Placement System Working Group (Q2 2021) Treoraithe Professional Learning Working Group in (Q4 2021) Minister Foley said: I welcome the publication of this school placement report, and wish to acknowledge the work of the Teaching Councils School Placement Working Group in developing this report and action plan. The publication of this report today provides a platform for my Department to continue the collaboration with the Teaching Council to bring forward implementation of its key recommendations, commencing firstly with the setting up of the school placement on-line system portal working group. This report on school placement is an important step for initial teacher education (ITE) policy, with school placement having such a central role within ITE, providing an important link on the continuum of teacher education. By initially prioritising work on the development of a school placement system it is reflecting the recommendation that will have the most immediate benefit for students, schools and higher education institutes. My Department looks forward to engaging with the Teaching Council and other education stakeholders to progress the implementation of the key actions in this report. I share the vision of school placements developed by the School Placement Working Group, which recognises that School placement is a central feature of initial teacher education, where student teachers are welcomed and supported by HEI tutors, school principals, class teachers and the school community and student teachers rich contribution to pupil learning and school life is recognised and celebrated. The Chairperson of the Teaching Council, Mr. Sean McMahon said: School placement is a vitally important experience for all our student teachers, our colleagues of the future. We know this from our own professional experiences as teachers. Our school communities benefit from it in the high calibre of persons who qualify as teachers every year. I particularly want to thank all those teachers who have been supporting our student teachers in this process for so long. This includes principals, deputy principals and the middle leaders in our schools. The publication of this report is a great opportunity to give the formal recognition to this work that it so richly deserves. It also gives us the drive and impetus to push ahead with the implementation of its recommendations, as outlined by the Minister. I look forward to our collaboration with the Department of Education and all stakeholders in Irish education in advancing the actions recommended in this report as a matter of the utmost priority. A copy of the report is available here Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 14:33:40|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SYDNEY, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The Controller of COVID-19 National Pandemic Response and Police Commissioner of Papua New Guinea David Manning announced a couple of new control measures on Thursday as the Pacific Island country's COVID-19 cases continue to grow. The measures, which will take effect from March 22, involved international travel, domestic travel, public transport, provincial cooperation, burial of deceased people, customs duties, testing measures, business and social, and COVID-19 vaccination test and trials. Under the new measures, face masks will be mandatory for markets, enclosed space and public transports. Limit was imposed on number of passengers on public transport and taxis. Night clubs and pubs will be closed, and there will be restrictions on the operation of restaurants. Schools, education institutions, markets and shopping centers must comply with social distancing requirements and safe and hygienic practices. "This is a direct and deliberate response to curb the surge that is being experienced, not only in the city but also in other provinces that are experiencing challenging time in contain the COVID-19," said Manning. "The spirit of the measures is to restrict non-essential travel," he said. According to latest number released by the PNG government, the country recorded 128 new cases and five new deaths, making the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 to 2,479 and death toll to 31. A press release from the government said a lack of compliance with the New Normal is a major challenge facing the country in pandemic containment. The spiral outbreaks in PNG also affected the neighboring state of Queensland of Australia, which recorded a record number of cases from PNG in hotel quarantine. On Thursday, Queensland recorded eight cases in hotel quarantine and six of those were returned travellers from PNG. Australia already announced to suspend flights between Port Moresby, PNG's capital city, and Cairns in Queensland, and passenger capacity on flights between Port Moresby and Brisbane will be reduced by 25 percent. Enditem MONTREAL AND PONTYPRIDD, Wales, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- New hydrogen storage technology is a step-closer thanks to a new research and innovation agreement between Hydro-Quebec's Center of Excellence in Transportation Electrification and Energy Storage (CETEES) and the University of South Wales (USW). The two organisations have signed commercial agreements to transfer the patented hydrogen storage technology arising from USW research to Hydro-Quebec, to enable its commercialisation as part of ongoing efforts to decarbonise industry and provide alternative, cleaner sources of energy. This technology allows for the hydrogen to be absorbed into the material at higher concentrations and densities thus increasing its capacity for hydrogen storage. This technology, for which the results were published in 2019, has several key advantages over existing hydrogen storage options, namely: Greater storage capacity Less weight for the same storage capacity Increased safety linked to a lower tank pressure Lower manufacturing costs Simplified infrastructure need No need for liquefaction step, generating savings in large-scale transport The applications for this novel energy storage technology are numerous and include transporting large quantities of hydrogen safely, or being able to have reservoirs of hydrogen-powered vehicles that can hold larger quantities of hydrogen in a smaller space, making hydrogen more viable for a variety of vehicle types while bringing the cost down significantly. Hydro-Quebec will work with the patents developed by USW over the next two years to bring them to the commercialization stage. Quotes : "Hydrogen is considered an important key to allow the decarbonization of several sectors of the economy which cannot easily be electrified. However, several challenges need to be overcome in order to bring it to mass market, with a major one being its storage. We are thus very excited to work with The University of South Wales to tackle one of these major challenges." -- Jean Matte , Senior Director of Hydro-Quebec's research center (CRHQ). to tackle one of these major challenges." -- "The Sustainable Environment Research Centre at USW and colleagues working in Chemistry, have been working to develop hydrogen-based technology for many years. They have built-up considerable expertise in this area by working with our international partners, including Hydro-Quebec. Supporting a sustainable environment is something that we are continually working towards as part of wider efforts to decarbonise sectors such as industry and transport, to improve air quality and limit long-term health impacts. "This agreement with Hydro-Quebec to commercialise our research into hydrogen storage is a fantastic step forward and one which we hope will have a real impact on enabling greater use of green energy and tackling climate change." - Professor Paul Harrison , Pro Vice-Chancellor for Innovation and Engagement at the University of South Wales "This agreement with Hydro-Quebec to commercialise our research into hydrogen storage is a fantastic step forward and one which we hope will have a real impact on enabling greater use of green energy and tackling climate change." - "I am very pleased to see continued collaboration between the University of South Wales and Hydro-Quebec; particularly given Welsh Government support helped to seed the project." "Hydrogen energy is one of the key ways we can shift our reliance away from fossil fuels, and work towards becoming a greener nation, in line with our goal of becoming a carbon net zero nation by 2050. Our recent Hydrogen in Wales report outlines our vision of how we intend to create more opportunities in Wales for a hydrogen-enabled economy, in line with our Low Carbon Delivery Plan. "As well as paving the way towards newer, greener technologies, collaborations such as these accord exactly with our International Strategy, which was published last year. "I wish the collaboration between USW and Hydro-Quebec every success, and look forward to hearing more on its work in future. " - Lesley Griffiths , the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Welsh Government and Hydro-Quebec; particularly given Welsh Government support helped to seed the project." "Hydrogen energy is one of the key ways we can shift our reliance away from fossil fuels, and work towards becoming a greener nation, in line with our goal of becoming a carbon net zero nation by 2050. Our recent report outlines our vision of how we intend to create more opportunities in for a hydrogen-enabled economy, in line with our Low Carbon Delivery Plan. "As well as paving the way towards newer, greener technologies, collaborations such as these accord exactly with our International Strategy, which was published last year. "I wish the collaboration between USW and Hydro-Quebec every success, and look forward to hearing more on its work in future. " "The partnership announced today between Hydro-Quebec and the University of South Wales is in line with government guidelines to position hydrogen at the heart of the energy transition. This collaboration will allow the commercialization of innovative energy storage technologies that aim to reduce GHGs in several sectors, including transportation, which is responsible for more than 40% of GHG emissions. Our government wants Quebec to be recognized as a world leader in the production of green hydrogen on a global scale, just as we are recognized for our electricity. We salute this collaboration, which highlights our expertise and contributes to Quebec's influence around the world." - Jonatan Julien , Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Government of Quebec is in line with government guidelines to position hydrogen at the heart of the energy transition. This collaboration will allow the commercialization of innovative energy storage technologies that aim to reduce GHGs in several sectors, including transportation, which is responsible for more than 40% of GHG emissions. Our government wants to be recognized as a world leader in the production of green hydrogen on a global scale, just as we are recognized for our electricity. We salute this collaboration, which highlights our expertise and contributes to influence around the world." - "As Minister for International Relations and La Francophonie, I am delighted with the announcement of this promising partnership in innovation and hydrogen storage between Quebec and Wales . This collaboration is a perfect illustration of the importance of bilateral cooperation in fostering economic recovery, increased trade, access to markets and supply chains, as well as initiatives aimed at developing business and investment opportunities in both Quebec and Wales ." -Quebec Minister for International Relations and La Francophonie and minister for Immigration, Francisation and Integration Notes to editors In 2020, the Welsh Government and Quebec Government signed a declaration of intent which, among other things, is aimed at intensifying Wales and Quebec's relationship through their joint participation in activities related to the economy, innovation, culture and education sectors. Read more: https://media.service.gov.wales/news/international-ministers-announce-the-signing-of-a-declaration-of-intent-aimed-at-strengthening-quebecs-relations-with-wales About Hydro-Quebec Hydro-Quebec generates, transmits and distributes electricity. It is Canada's largest electricity producer and ranks among the world's largest hydropower producers. Its sole shareholder is the Quebec government. The company uses mainly renewable generating options, in particular large hydro. Its research facilities, collectively called Institut de recherche d'Hydro-Quebec (IREQ), conduct R&D in energy-related fields, including energy efficiency and storage. To find out more: http://www.hydroquebec.com About the University of South Wales (USW) With students from more than 100 countries, the University of South Wales (USW) Group has campuses in three of the region's major population centres, Cardiff, Pontypridd and Newport. It also has two subsidiaries, Wales' national conservatoire, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and The College Merthyr Tydfil. As a leading university for careers, USW works together with employers to achieve its key aims - to make higher education more accessible, build challenge-based learning that equips graduates with transferable skills, to offer flexible learning opportunities, and to strengthen the communities it serves. These objectives are enhanced by USW's partnerships with a number of leading international and local employers, and various public sector bodies, including police forces and the National Health Service. The industrial connections that shape USW's research culture make it genuinely international, multilingual and outward-looking. Our research is directly affecting people and cultures in all parts of the world. Find out more: https://www.southwales.ac.uk/ About USW's Hydrogen Centre USW's Hydrogen Centre is a focal point for new Research, Development and Demonstration of hydrogen energy technology in Wales that provides a platform for the experimental development of renewable hydrogen production and novel hydrogen energy storage. The Centre enables further research and development of hydrogen vehicles, fuel cell applications and overall hydrogen energy systems. The Centre is the focal point for a series of collaborative projects between the University of South Wales and other academic and industrial partners. http://www.h2wales.org.uk/ Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1459651/Hydro_Qu_bec_Hydro_Qu_bec_to_work_on_bringing_to_the_commerciali.jpg Stressing that a lot of what-ifs and contingencies remain due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Easton Area School District on Thursday announced a schedule for the return of more in-classroom instruction for students beginning after Easter. Students in kindergarten through second grade currently in a hybrid of two days in school and three days of remote learning are set to move to four days in school beginning April 6. Grades 3-5 hybrid students are scheduled to move to four days of in-person instruction April 12. The return plans at Easton Area Middle School and Easton Area High School are more complicated, but those students who are not doing well with hybrid learning will be invited back for four days of in-person instruction also beginning April 12, according to the districts announcement. Middle school and high school parents should carefully consider whether or not to return their children to school four days per week, Easton Area schools Superintendent David Piperato said in a letter to parents released late Thursday afternoon to lehighvalleylive.com. We are unable to bring all middle school and high school students back safely as a result of the size of the buildings and the complexity of the programs, he continued. If your child has been academically and emotionally successful within the hybrid model, we encourage you to consider allowing them to remain in their current hybrid model. Wednesdays are set to remain remote with synchronous and asynchronous instruction for all students, with the four days of in-classroom instruction set for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The district administration retooled its re-entry plan after parents blasted the school boards March 9 vote to bring back only grades K-2. That plan lacked a set date, instead basing the return to more in-school days on community spread of COVID-19 dropping to a more acceptable level. Dozens of parents rallied Saturday in Eastons Centre Square, calling out that plan as insufficient. Administrators met with medical advisers from St. Lukes University Health Network and determined the re-entry plan could be adjusted, thanks to the rollout underway of one-shot COVID-19 vaccinations for school faculty and staff. The updated recommendation is contingent upon educators receiving the vaccine and allowing sufficient time for those vaccines to be effective, Piperato wrote in Thursdays letter. Its also contingent on advice that, with the vaccinations, four feet of social distancing instead of six feet should be safe for students and staff, according to Piperato. The success of the re-entry plan will hinge on families continuing to adhere to strict mitigation strategies for the virus, he said. The spread of COVID in our schools can only be controlled by community members, focusing on proper mitigation strategies while our students are outside of our school buildings, Piperato wrote. Because the spread of the virus in Northampton County continues to be substantial, school closings are mandated when positive case counts reach the minimum threshold allowed. The superintendent went on to say the district agreed to closing schools if new cases surpass a set threshold. That agreement was made in attestation forms filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Education to avoid going full-remote amid substantial community spread of the virus. At present, our positive numbers continue to force school closings, and the return of students four days a week to in-person instruction will only exacerbate the problem, Piperato said. The initial, K-2 re-entry will indicate how strongly families are willing to follow mitigation strategies, Piperato said. If the positive case numbers cause us to close schools within the first week upon return from the break, we may have to reconsider our re-entry plan overall, he wrote. Piperato advised middle school and high school families to contact their childs school for more information on whether theyre candidates for the return to more days in school. We will continue to look for creative ways to offer more in-person instruction to our secondary students as conditions permit, he wrote. The district continues to plan for a full return, K-12, to five days a week of in-class instruction this fall, contingent upon mandatory mitigation strategies and the overall transmission levels within our school district, the superintendent said. Families will need to decide by April 22 on full-time in-school instruction or the Easton Area Cyber Academy. The district is not planning to offer a hybrid program. I would like to thank you for your patience and support during this very difficult time. The administration and the Board appreciate all of the feedback and communication that we have received from our community throughout the pandemic, Piperato wrote. We remain committed to making decisions based on the safety and well-being of our students and our staff. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Defibrillator Market Growth & Trends The global defibrillator market size is expected to reach USD 22.2 billion by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.4% from 2021 to 2028. Factors contributing to the growth of this market include supportive legislative reforms, rising incidences of sudden cardiac arrests in the region, presence of integrated technology, and rising awareness for cardiac conditions. Moreover, the COVID 19 pandemic further accentuated the need for defibrillators as many elderly patients suffering from COVID-19, suffered from sudden cardiac arrests, and the device was useful for the resuscitation of such patients. The rising demand for handling sudden cardiac arrests is leading to innovation in implantable as well as external defibrillators. Innovation with regards to implantable devices includes subcutaneous and transvenous devices, that aim to increase the comfort level of patients. Swedish Transport Agency ran a program in 2017 under the test phase, which aimed to deliver AEDs using a drone. This may reduce the delivery time of an AED, increasing the chances of survival with faster treatment. Therefore, the market is anticipated to grow because of technological advancements and product delivery innovations. Major market players are focused on launching technologically advanced products to enhance their presence. For instance, in July 2020, Zoll Medical Corporation launched a new remote view technology feature on its X Series monitor/defibrillator. This enhanced the existing product portfolio. Request a free sample copy or view report summary: Defibrillator Market Report Defibrillator Market Report Highlights The implantable cardioverter defibrillator segment dominated the market in terms of revenue share in 2020 and is projected to witness a CAGR of over 7.2% from 2021 to 2028. Technological advancements by market players are expected to drive segment growth North America held the largest revenue share in 2020, due to the supportive healthcare infrastructure and deeper penetration of the technologically advanced devices The industry participants are focusing on investing in acquisitions, collaborations, product launches, and partnerships to gain a competitive edge The hospital segment held the largest revenue share of more than 91.0% in 2020 owing to the high patient footfall for treatment of their cardiovascular ailments In Asia Pacific, the market is anticipated to witness a CAGR of around 8.1% owing to the presence of emerging economies such as China and India and increasing healthcare expenditure In January 2020, Medtronic received the CE mark for its Crome and Cobalt portfolio of defibrillators. This significantly enhanced the companys cardiac solutions offerings and allowed it to commercialize the products in the market Defibrillator Market Segmentation Grand View Research has segmented the global defibrillator market on the basis of product, end-use, and region: Defibrillators Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028) Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator S-ICD T-ICD Single Chamber Dual Chamber CRT-D External Defibrillator Manual ED Automated ED Wearable Cardioverter Defibrillators Defibrillators End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028) Hospital Pre Hospital Public Access market Alternate Care market Home Healthcare Defibrillators Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028) North America US. Canada Europe UK. Germany France Italy Spain Asia Pacific Japan China India Australia South Korea Latin America Brazil Mexico Argentina Colombia Middle East & Africa South Africa Saudi Arabia UAE List of Key Players of Defibrillator Market Medtronic Abbott Boston Scientific Corporation Stryker Koninklijke Philips N.V. Zoll Medical Corporation Biotronik, Inc. Nihon Kohden Corporation Progetti Srl, Schiller MS Westfalia GmbH AMI Italia Axion Ltd Bexen Cardio Access Press Release of Defibrillator Market@ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-defibrillators-market About Grand View Research Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare. Frederic Brown/AFP via Getty The Biden administrations first senior-level meeting with China quickly deteriorated into finger-pointing between Chinese and American officials, according to reporters present at the talks. Amid heightened U.S.-China tensions, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with their Chinese counterparts, State Councilor Wang Yi and foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi, in Alaska on Thursday. The U.S. officials stopped in Anchorage to attend the talks on their way back from trips to South Korea and Japan. In his opening remarks, Blinken reportedly criticized China for its treatment of Uyghur minorities, its cyber attacks against the U.S., and its tight grasp on Hong Kong. According to Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs, Jiechi responded by saying that the U.S. is the champion of cyber attacks, that it has a deeply rooted human rights problemincluding its history of killing Black peopleand that the country doesnt represent global public opinion. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. CNN correspondent Kylie Atwood tweeted that, as camera crews were about to leave after opening remarks, Blinken asked them to stay because he has more to add before they get down to work. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The Alaska talks were to be a deciding factor on whether U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will be meeting next month, according to earlier reporting by Bloomberg. The fiery exchange on Thursday may have put the prospects of that meeting into question. In his testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, Blinken said that managing our relationship with China was the biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century. The Biden administration has yet to roll back Trump-era sanctions imposed on China, and Sullivan told the top Chinese diplomats on Thursday that while the U.S. does not seek conflict with China, we welcome stiff competition, and we will always stand up for our principles, for our people, and for our friends, according to Reuters. 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. Quaker, one of Indias leading brands in the oats segment, has launched a TVC campaign #OneOatsManyTastes to introduce a first-of-its-kind food flavour innovation in Oats category Quaker Oats with Flavour Mix. Developed to suit the Indian palate, this unique Made for India innovation brings plain oats with 2 different flavours - Homestyle Masala and Tangy Tomato in one pack to offer consumers the choice to consume oats in a wide array of new, tasty, and convenient ways. The new campaign by Quaker showcases how consumers can now enjoy oats in a masaledar or tangy way or simply add their own twist to suit their taste preference. The film opens with two protagonists engaging in a playful banter over masaledar or tangy breakfast choices. This chatter soon comes to a halt, when they discover that both delicious flavours are now available in one pack of Quaker Oats with Flavour Mix. This also highlights how the product can be simply made by adding either of these delicious flavour mix sachets to 40g of plain oats and garnish with vegetables of your choice for one serving. The film closes with the protagonists enjoying their breakfast and bracing for the day ahead. Food and nutrition have become a priority for consumers as they spend more time at home and cook more meals. Millennials today are increasingly adopting mindful eating as they seek nutritious and versatile food options without compromising on taste. In this context, breakfast the first meal of the day has become an important ritual for many people, as it helps them power through the day. Independent researches have shown that millennials prefer savoury options and variety in breakfast and over 90% sales in the oats market are dominated by masala and tomato flavours. Tapping into this consumer preference and accelerating the food flavour innovation, Quaker Oats with Flavour Mix allows consumers to whip up a quick and easy-to-make oat-a-licious meal as they like it. Talking about the new launch, Sonam Vij, Associate Director and Brand Head - Quaker, PepsiCo India said, "As one of the leading brands in the category, we at Quaker Oats follow an innovation-first approach and our latest introduction - Quaker Oats with Flavour Mix, is giving consumers a nutritious yet tasty breakfast option. The new TVC depicts the power of oats in a tasty and indulgent way and showcases how consumers can now use any one of the two delicious 'Homestyle Masala' and 'Tangy Tomato' flavour mix sachets, that come along with their favourite Quaker Oats, to whip up a tasty preparation of their choice. We believe Quaker Oats with Flavour Mix will surely give consumers a delightful experience of enjoying Quaker in a new and flavourful way, every day. Ritu Nakra, WPP Lead at Wunderman Thompson, India added, Life today is a race to do more as we want more fun, more experiences and more opportunities. Our appetite for life is huge and the same goes for whats on our plate too. Consumers are always looking for tasty and nutritious options. Thats why, with the new Quaker Oats with Flavour Mix, we are bringing unique product innovation to your dining table with two delicious new flavours inside every pack. With this tasty flavour mix from Quaker Oats- we are ready for a day full of more ! The campaign film has been Directed by Bauddhayan Mukherji, who is one the leading and a recognized filmmaker. Based in Mumbai, the Director is popular for his advertising films and indie features. Bauddhyan also runs his own production house Little Lamb Films and has produced more than 300 advertising films. Priced at INR 49, Quaker Oats with Flavour Mix (200gm), which serves 4, is available on leading modern and traditional retail stores as well as e-commerce platforms across India. A 360-degree campaign will be launched by the brand for this flavour innovation. AGENCY CREDITS Creative Agency: Wunderman Thompson WPP Lead, India: Ritu Nakra Chief Creative Officer: Senthil Kumar Executive Creative Director: Sumati Singh Strategy Leads: Atishi Pradhan & Arnab Datta Chaudhuri Creative Directors: Sumonto Ghosh & Reshna Banerjee Account Management: Binay Mehra & Gunik Gambhir Production House: Little Lamb Films Director: Bauddhayan Mukherji Producer: Avishek Ghosh In the last week, we watched Joe Biden box check the loony feminist faction of his party. Why, the military is stepping up, droned Biden in a televised appearance. Flight suits will better accommodate pregnant female air personnel. Newer hairstyles will be permitted, lest hipper gal soldiers decide to leave the military in a snit. Nothing frivolous here. Meanwhile, woke Pentagon desk jockeys (doubtless, Obamas handpicked finest) slammed Tucker Carlson for daring to be intrepidly unwoke. Carlson wondered about the absurdity of pregnant warrior pilots and hairdos when the U.S. faces a growing menace from unfree China. Because theres nothing unserious about Chinas threat to Americas vital interests and national security. Then theres Pat Buchanan, who warns of a burgeoning Sino-American Cold War. Thats something Buchanan is against. Wars, cold or hot, are unwanted, but sometimes hard realities make wars inevitable. A cold war with China may be in the offing. Does saying so make one a warmonger? In this era of hyperbole, kneejerk reaction and pigeonholing it pays to confound those making the charge. One can be anti-Wilsonian, oppose the forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and acknowledge the futility of nation-building, yet appreciate the peril posed by Xi Jinpings grand designs. Countering and containing China needs to be the U.S.s chief overseas objective now and in years ahead. Not for Taiwan. Not for other Asia Pacific nations. But for itself. In fact, while the Washington establishment -- in very bipartisan fashion -- rehashed the Cold War, Xi Jinping is diligently building Chinas warmaking capabilities, impressively so. The Chinese military brass has long planned for war with the U.S. Shrugging that off as bluster is perilous. China, in the coming years, means to project power. Its navy is becoming a blue water enterprise, and increasingly lethal. The PRCs long range missile capabilities are improving steadily. Xis advanced missiles are big sticks, and he intends those missiles as deterrents to assert control in Asia Pacific. Chinas army is bigger and getting better. Why all this brawn? China desires hegemony despite a generations worth of U.S. and Western efforts to integrate the PRC into the international order. The U.S. granted China generous trade deals, which provide the revenues for the PRCs war machine (and helped create antiliberty plutocrats in U.S. sectors, like Big Tech). China trade has come at the expense of American industry and workers. Xi and his cronies have strategized globally -- literally. The PRCs Belt and Road initiative, launched in 2013, is ostensibly about China building its commerical ties. Xi is plowing a trillion dollars in infrastructure construction into primarily underdeveloped, resource-rich nations. But theres a sinister undercurrent to Xis aims. From the Council on Foreign Relations, January 28, 2020: India has tried to convince countries that the BRI is a plan to dominate Asia, warning of what some analysts have called a String of Pearls geoeconomic strategy whereby China creates unsustainable debt burdens for its Indian Ocean neighbors in order to seize control of regional choke points. Japan and India have worked in tandem to counter Chinas gambit. Yes, both see China as a longstanding adversary. But that doesnt discount their estimations of PRC intentions. Certainly, BRI can have more than a sole purpose. China is largely a resource-poor land, and its reach across the globe helps ensure supplies of critical raw materials. But it also aims to bind nations, via debt and commerce, to itself. Its likely that China wants to deny the U.S. access to strategic raw materials, longer term. Lately, the PRC menacing Taiwan has garnered media attention. On March 9, the Guardian headlined: China could invade Taiwan in next six years, top US admiral warns. While 23.5 million Taiwanese have every right to protect their liberty, focusing on PRC attempts to subjugate Taiwan misses the big picture -- in terms of U.S. interests. The threat to Americas -- and other nations -- vital interests is the PRCs declaration to own the South and East China Seas -- and the airspace above. Those are international waters and airspace, which Xi is audaciously laying claim to and, in fact, militarizing. Why? A 2016 estimate from ChinaPower claims that $3.4 trillion in cargo transited the South China Sea that year. U.S. trade passing through the South China Sea was $208 billion, which is undoubtedly greater five years later. Per the U.S. Energy Information Administration (August 27, 2018): The South China Sea is a major trade route for crude oil, and in 2016, more than 30% of global maritime crude oil trade, or about 15 million barrels per day (b/d), passed through the South China Sea. EIA then explained: More than 90% of crude oil volumes flowing through the South China Sea in 2016 transited the Strait of Malacca, the shortest sea route between suppliers in Africa and the Persian Gulf and markets in Asia, making it one of the worlds primary oil transit chokepoints. Xi wants strangleholds on commerce in those seas -- and the abundant resources that lie beneath. A stricter understanding of Americas vital interests indicates that Taiwan matters geopolitically. Its located between the South and East China Seas. Taiwan is strategically important, therefore. Thats not to suggest that the U.S. go to war with China on behalf of Taiwan. But the U.S. must be unambiguous: differences between the PRC and Taiwan are to be settled peacefully over time -- and a good deal of time itll take. The Taiwanese arent blind. Xi hasnt hesitated to crush liberties to bring Hongkongers to heel. President Trump, prior to leaving office in January, approved $18 billion in arm sales to Taiwan. The Biden administration has just greenlighted the sale of key submarine technology to the Taiwanese. Arms sales to Taiwan are necessary, as warranted. Taiwans continuing autonomy is leverage in containing Xis ambitions. Xi needs to appreciate that aggression against Taiwan carries with it consequences, most notably economic. Chinas internal stability is more tenuous than Xi leads the world to believe. The U.S. has an evolving loose alliance with Asia Pacific nations whose own critical interests would be harmed by PRC control of both seas. Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Australia are involved with the U.S. Recently, Bidens secretary of state Antony Blinken has leveled sharp criticism at China for undermining stability in Asia. President Trump was on the right track in dealings with Xi. He had sought a long overdue course correction in trade. He pushed bringing U.S. industries home, including the critical pharmaceuticals sector from China. He had made the U.S. energy independent -- and not based on unreliable wind and solar power. For American national security, the fairer the trade with China, the greater the independence in manufacturing and energy, the better the power projection, the stronger the U.S.s hand in deterring an increasingly aggressive PRC. Yet the U.S. does have important commercial interests across the planet. A robust counter is imperative. Whatever Antony Blinkens pronouncements, the Biden administration appears committed to undermining U.S. independence in trade, energy, and manufacturing. Flight suits for pregnant pilots and stylish hairdos -- and, otherwise, using the military as a social experiments petri dish -- reek of unseriousness. You can bet Xi Jingping is taking note. J. Robert Smith can be found on Parler @JRobertSmith, and is new to Gab, again @JRobertSmith. He also blogs at Flyover. Image: Pixabay 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. Utica, N.Y. Police arrested a Utica man who they say sent inappropriate sexual online messages to a 10-year-old girl in Canada. Oneida County Sheriffs arrested Richard D. Kokoszki Jr., 56, of Utica on Monday. Sheriffs Investigator Mark Chrysler opened an investigation on Jan. 18 after the girls stepfather called police to say the girl had been receiving inappropriate messages from an adult man. Chrysler posed as the girl online and continued the conversation. Over the course of several weeks, the messages became sexual, according to Chrysler. On Monday, investigators from multiple police agencies searched Kokoszkis home in Utica. Included in the search were Oneida County Sheriffs, Utica Police, Rom Police, New York State Police and the United States Department of Homeland Security. Sheriffs Investigator Nicholas Dean arrested Kokoszki on Thursday, March 18. Kokoszki is charged with attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor, which is a felony. He was arraigned in Utica City Court and released on his own recognizance. Police say the childs family has requested an order of protection against Kokoszki. 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. Joseph Journel Ostin arrived in Portland from Haiti in 1994, seeking a better life for his family. In so many ways it was an audacious dream, as he spoke no English and had no job and no place to live. He made it happen through sacrifice, enduring optimism and hard work, always thinking about others, not himself, his family says. Ostin died of COVID-19, at age 77, in late January. On his death bed that last day, he made sure everyone knew he had money set aside for his church to be used for members who might need help while struggling with the economic fallout from the pandemic. He was my hero, said his youngest son, Frenel Ostin. He was a great man. Born and raised in Haiti, Joseph Ostin was one of six children and the only child in the family who attended school, completing the equivalent of what would be the sixth grade in the United States. When he was 17, he learned how to sew and opened a tailor shop at his parents home in Roche-a-Bateaux, where he also taught local kids to sew. He married at 22, and he and his wife, Irene Ostin Desir, eventually had seven children. In addition to tailoring, Ostin supported the family by working as a farmer. In 1977, he formed a nonprofit organization to maintain and preserve the natural resources within the community. He also founded a school where he taught young people and adults how to read and write. In 1987, he moved to Port-au-Prince to work in a clothing factory to support his family, pay for their education and fund his philanthropic ventures. Two years later, when he moved back to the country to be with his family, local residents asked him to run for political office. He was elected a district congressman, but became a political target, his son said, when unrest swept through the country. Ostin sought asylum at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti. It was granted and he was assigned to relocate to Portland. He arrived in the city on May 17, 1994. The former political leader, business owner, farmer and teacher had to start over. The only job he could find was work as a janitor. He was an exceptional and proud man, Frenel Ostin said. He never complained. Not once. *** The Ostin family gathers for a 2019 graduation celebration. Ostin traveled to Portland with three of his children, Frenel being the youngest to make the journey. His wife and the other children had to remain in Haiti until Ostin could build a life for them in Portland and grapple with the paperwork to bring them to the United States. I was 12, said Frenel Ostin. We didnt know anything about Portland. People from an agency that helped immigrants met us at the airport and took us to a place downtown to live. While their father worked, the children stayed inside at all times. We didnt know the language and he wanted us to be safe, said Frenel Ostin. My father was extraordinary. When we started to cry for our mother back home, he would hug us and talk to us and say everything would be OK. His father worked two jobs as a janitor at Union Station in Old Town and at a Northeast Portland fast food restaurant. He would save his quarters, said Frenel Ostin. Every other week we would all walk over to a payphone in the Pioneer Square Mall, and my father would call home so we could talk with our mother and our siblings. Ostin enrolled his children in Portland schools, supported them, found a permanent place to live, all the while sending money to his family in Haiti. Even after he was able to bring his wife and the rest of their children to Portland, Ostin worked seven more years to support the family while they got settled and found their way in a new country. He and his wife bought a home in Northeast Portland. My father made us all what we are today, said Frenel Ostin. My oldest brother returned to Haiti and is a national congressman. In my family here, we have a schoolteacher, nurses, a brother who works in an eye clinic, and I own two taekwondo schools. The extended family including children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and in-laws numbers 45. Frenel Ostin said theirs is one of the largest Haitian families in the metropolitan area. With the help of an interpreter, Irene Ostin Desir said her husband loved having a large family and a home that was open to all. He was all about support, she said. He did everything for everyone else. No one knows where Ostin contracted COVID-19. In his home, a lot of people are coming and going, said Frenel Ostin. Maybe he got it from someone visiting. After his father felt ill in early January, Frenel Ostin took him to the hospital, where he tested positive for COVID-19. Three days later, he was discharged and went home. Four days after that, he began to deteriorate and returned to the hospital in an ambulance. While dying, Joseph Ostin made sure his family knew he had money set aside money that he wanted to go to his spiritual home, Divine Grace Haitian Church in Northeast Portland. He had a good life, said Frenel Ostin. The time was for him to go. -- Tom Hallman Jr; thallman@oregonian.com; 503-221-8224; @thallmanjr KENT COUNTY, MI -- As coronavirus cases head up again, Kent County Health Director Adam London is urging people to keep their guard up until more of the population is vaccinated. We need to make sure we get through the next couple of months. We need people to hold steady, London said. The latest statistics in Kent County show a seven-day average of 115 new coronavirus cases per day as of Thursday, March 18, up from 79 cases per day on March 1. The rate of positive cases is now at 5.6 percent as a seven-day average, up from 4.4 percent over the last month. Statewide, the seven-day average for positive cases is at 6.3 percent. Thats also up from 4.5 percent over the last 30 days. Its certainly a concern, London said about the numbers. We hope it doesnt turn into a full-blown wave. While coronavirus vaccinations continue at an increasing rate, he said people need to remain vigilant by wearing masks, social distancing and avoiding gatherings. He said vaccinations are working. The rate of new cases in people 65 and older has been reduced by about 50 percent over the last two weeks. Theres a lot of good and a lot of bad happening simultaneously, London said. Kent County, as of Thursday, has recorded 50,478 COVID-19 cases and 657 deaths. On Thursday, there were 124 new cases. The latest hospital data shows 63 in-patients at Spectrum Health facilities with COVID-19, 10 at Mercy Health St. Marys Hospital in Grand Rapids, and 4 Metro Health-University of Michigan Health. Hospitalizations are down from previous highs set in November -- Spectrum Healths 14 facilities had 289 patients then -- but up from lower numbers earlier this year and last summer. London said the increasing prevalence of variant coronavirus cases, generally considered more contagious, is likely playing a role in the latest upward trend in COVID-19 cases. But he also believes the public may be having COVID fatigue and not following coronavirus protections as much as they did in the past. There also may be some premature enthusiasm with vaccinations underway that caused people to also let down their guard. In Ottawa County, there have been 21,812 coronavirus cases since the pandemics start more than a year ago and 323 deaths. Ottawa Countys rate of positive cases is at 7.3 percent as a seven-day average. Thats up from 4.4 percent over the last month. More from MLive 26% of Michigan adults now fully vaccinated; see numbers in your county More COVID vaccine eligibility coming, but appointments wont be immediate, officials say 6 reasons that Michigans COVID-19 numbers are surging ADVERTISEMENT Ndi Enugu are sick and tired of cosmetic solutions meant to gaslight our people into believing that something good is about to happen but in the end only serves political purposes. Continuing on this self-destructive path of business as usual will not bode well for the coal city state. The journey to 2023 is starting to pick up pace all across the country. The temperature is getting hotter by the day and in my home State of Enugu, there is already the inconvenience of a putrid smell wafting through the air. The Coal City State is not particularly your model of democratic governance, even by South-East standard. Its a State where the family members of a few political dynasties are the unofficial kingmakers. In every administration, they snag up plum positions and dish out commands, while the rest of us hope that one day, a miracle will thrust us forward. Prebendal politics birthed here. In the Coal City State, one cannot earn a ticket to play in that big league, just because you have the whole world to offer in terms of experience or that your expertise stretches from the deep gully swallowing up the narrow track to my country home, all the way to the shuttered doors of Anambra Vegetable Oil Product (AVOP) in Nachi. You have to earn it and that means demonstrating unquestionable loyalty, not to the State but to those who control the levers of power. The barrier of entry is high. Unless, of course, you have a superior Chi. By that I mean the type that propelled the incumbent governor from a very humble beginning to the mountain peak of stratospheric success. Even then, his pathway to the Lion building was not paved in gold. Every election cycle, we host a charade where people are selected and after money must have exchanged hands, the result of the election becomes certified. Truth is, this happens everywhere in Nigeria in one form or the other and so this experience is not unique to my home State. In Enugu, however, the practice has become so commonplace that what we have now is a selective democracy, instead of a representative democracy. And you ask, is that even a thing? Well, let it be known that Wawaland has the proprietary right to a new nomenclature in political lexicography. Some political constituencies, even without prompting, now go to the governor to ask who he wants to represent them. Our politics is so turned on its head that its not the people choosing their leaders, its the leader choosing among the people who he would prefer to work with. Unlike Anambra, our more affluent neighbour brimming with big ballers and political gladiators who fall on top of each other to sell themselves and their candidacy, Enugu politics is boring and retrogressive. Aside the unconstitutional but universally adopted zoning arrangement that obtains almost everywhere in Nigeria of today, our situation goes a little further. There is an unwritten contract among the power brokers that gives the incumbent the prerogative to choose whoever he wants to succeed him. Of course, those who usually end up being the governors choice are most often dictated by the incumbents perception of the candidates loyalty to him as a kingmaker and less about the candidates fitness for the top job. But come 2023, it seems that such time-honoured tradition stands on a shaky ground. Things might just be a little different this time since a new sheriff is in town. Ikeoha is done with the Senate, after such a long stint, and is very determined to reclaim his base. Ike Ekweremadu, the Amachara-Mpu born senator is a consummate politician and a prominent Igbo leader, though some Igbos may take issues with the part about his leadership bona fides. That said, no one can deny the fact that Ikeoha has held many enviable positions, asserted a jumbo-sized influence and commanded a great deal of respect from within and without, much more than many Igbo politicians in recent times. His political resume is dizzying. Prior to serving five terms in the red chamber, many of which he spent as Deputy Senate president, he had been a local government chairman, secretary to the Enugu State government, chief of staff to the governor, just to mention a few. And so its fair that many now expect him to step aside and give others just a little chance. Having been in the public sphere for that long, it was not surprising that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) saw him as emblematic of a failed Igbo leadership and were prepared to teach him a lesson in responsible leadership and accountability. It did not help that the event he attended in Germany was an Igbo original and cultural signature, the New Yam festival. Ndigbo also question his commitment to public service, as opposed to personal enrichment. At a time when he was the highest ranking political office holder from the south-East, Ayogu Eze was the chairman, Senate committee on works, while Pius Anyim was the secretary to Jonathans government. Yet all federal highways in the South-East remained a death trap throughout the entire time. Even when Enugu airport got upgraded to an international airport, the infrastructure on the ground was such a huge joke, with nothing to reflect her new status. And to think that none of these could be achieved in a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government, with a president believed to be sympathetic to the Igbo problem and with whom he enjoyed a personal relationship, was not a good commentary on his leadership. Having been in the public sphere for that long, it was not surprising that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) saw him as emblematic of a failed Igbo leadership and were prepared to teach him a lesson in responsible leadership and accountability. It did not help that the event he attended in Germany was an Igbo original and cultural signature, the New Yam festival. In all fairness though, for a group where the bar of decency has been set too low, he is among the few who have conducted himself reasonably well on a personal level. I heard he is also quite generous with the boys. What happened was not specifically directed at him and any other politician from the South-East could have met a similar fate. It was also ironic that he was attacked by the same group whose leader he once helped negotiate his release. Governor Ugwuanyi is a grassroots man who has built a serious political coalition across the State. He enjoys a broad-based support from the kingmakers across board, which he achieved through his legendary charm offensive and sometimes unsettling political horse trading. He holds the singular honour of rehabilitating moribund politicians already confined to the dustbin of history. Not to mention that as the governor, Ugwuanyi also has to his advantage, the enormous power of the incumbent. But Ikeoha is a weather-bitten, typhoon-blasted political warrior. Over the years, he has also built a tremendous political following across the State, especially in Governor Ugwuanyis Enugu North. As the then Deputy Senate President, he used his influence to secure juicy appointments in federal ministries and parastatal for these followers that turned out to be cash cows. Today, they are ready to sink or swim with him. He is putting everyone on notice that its not going to be business as usual. Underestimate him at your own peril. All you need to do is ask the former governor, Sullivan Chime. As an Enugu man, we should all bury our heads in shame that a people east of the Niger are tainted by such ignominious record; more so if you have been so privileged all these years to be in a position where you could change the narrative. For the famished artisan in Coal camp worried about how to put food on his family table or the unemployed graduate roaming the streets in a depleted job market, the ensuing struggle to control the instruments of power in Enugu is more of the same, namely: a recycled group of privileged few, emptying out the state treasury while living a life of unconscionable opulence. For a State reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) as one of the only two States in the South-East with a poverty rate above the national average, the prebendal politics of king making and crony capitalism will continue to push our State in the direction of grave economic disadvantage. As an Enugu man, we should all bury our heads in shame that a people east of the Niger are tainted by such ignominious record; more so if you have been so privileged all these years to be in a position where you could change the narrative. Enugu is in dire need of infrastructure, access roads, cottage industries and good paying jobs for her teeming youth population. To the extent that we have a leader who can dream big and be ready from Day One to match visionary leadership with result-oriented actions, we could care less if his name is Ikeoha or Ikeje. Changing the States dire economic outloook should occupy the mind of whoever will end up in the Lion building. Ndi Enugu are sick and tired of cosmetic solutions meant to gaslight our people into believing that something good is about to happen but in the end only serves political purposes. Continuing on this self-destructive path of business as usual will not bode well for the coal city state. Osmund Agbo, a public affairs analyst is the coordinator of African Center for Transparency and Convener of Save Nigeria Project. Email: eagleosmund@yahoo.com Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell TV interview with Oprah Winfrey has apparently left Queen Elizabeth II "sad" rather than "angry," but she has secretly promised to help her grandson. During their interview with Winfrey, Harry and Markle made several shocking claims, including that an unnamed member of the royal family had expressed "concerns" over the skin color of their son Archie, who has yet to be born then. Queen Elizabeth II not angry with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle According to The Sun, the 94-year-old queen ordered a private family probe into the allegations as she took personal charge of resolving the bitter rift revealed in the tell-all. The Queen, who is privately said to be not angry with the Sussexes, whom she has described as "much respected family members," is "not mad, she is just sad," a source told the news outlet. "They've always been concerned about Prince Harry, and Queen Elizabeth II is very protective of him," the source told The Sun. "When Meghan came along, they wanted to be supportive of him. When Meghan arrived on the scene, they were all less concerned about him because he seemed to be in such good spirits," the source said. After the sensational CBS News interview, TV host and Markle pal Gayle King said Harry has spoken to his father, Charles, and brother, William, but that their conversations have been "not productive" so far. During the interview, Prince Harry confirmed that he and his grandmother had a "pretty good" relationship and often talked. "The entire royal family is shocked to hear the full extent of how difficult the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan," Buckingham Palace said in a statement after the interview. The issues posed, particularly the one of race, are troubling. Although some recollections may differ, they are all taken seriously and discussed personally by the family, as per Page Six. Magazine Cover Shows the Queen Kneeling on Meghan's Neck Tabloid spy apologizes to Meghan Markle and Queen Elizabeth II Meanwhile, Daniel-Portley Hanks, a private investigator based in Los Angeles, said that he was paid by the tabloid, "The Sun," to dig up information on Markle before she became the Duchess of Sussex. According to Byline Investigates, Hanks collected information illegally. He gained access to a password-protected website and published a 90-page article on the duchess for publication in the tabloid. This included the duchess's and her relatives' contact numbers, social security numbers, and background checks on her previous intimate relationships and family members. On Oct. 30, 2016, he delivered the article at the request of The Sun's U.S. editor James Beal, who was based in New York at the time. During this time, the romance between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle first made headlines, The International Business Times reported. As the tabloid's quest for a story involving the former "Suits" star failed, they resorted to distant relatives with hatreds against Markle's success. Prince William Defends Family Against Interview Claims The press then brushed aside the lengthy article and reported it, citing an "anonymous friend" as a source. Hanks also took pictures of Markle's West Hollywood home for the reporters and paparazzi to spy on the tabloid orders. Emily Andrews, the publication's royal correspondent, wrote the first-ever report on the couple. But, as she told Byline Investigates, she never met Hanks. "I've never been a part of the decision to recruit him or give him a job. I was completely unaware of his presence with all of the issues you mention. It would be entirely incorrect to say, imply, or conclude otherwise." Meanwhile, the retired investigator apologized to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for the invasion of privacy, saying, "I'm sorry to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for targeting her family, including her father, on behalf of The Sun." He also apologized to Queen Elizabeth II for allowing the newspaper to intensify the Royal Family's rift, acknowledging that the damage he caused affected the whole family. Prince Harry Accused of 'Blowing Up Family' @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A new controversial trend of selling coffee and soft drinks in baby bottles across the Mideast region has attracted a backlash for several cafes in the region. First started by Einstein cafe, a dessert chain with multiple outlets located in Dubai, Kuwait, and Bahrain, the practice of storing thick shakes and cold drinks in vibrant and colorful baby-themed plastic bottles took over the market as customers flocked to try bizzare trend, saying that they would check-in with friends and members of the family to try the deal. Pictures of strange fad emerged across social media as waiters were seen carrying several kid-themed bottles in a tray to get them to the customers. Chief Executive of the Einstein franchise in the United Arab Emirates, Younes Molla told The Associated Press, Everyone wanted to buy it, people called all day, telling us theyre coming with their friends, theyre coming with their father and mother . Furthermore, he added, After so many months with the pandemic, with all the difficulties, people took photos, they had fun, they remembered their childhood. The craze had swept across Gulf citizens of all age, with reports of some bringing plastic baby bottles that were designed in their favourite themes as they asked the astounded caterers to fill them up then drank from it. Sources of the news agency revealed that the cafes were clogged and somehow everyone wanted to give one of the colorful kaleidoscopes of drinks a try. Government denounces bottle use While a gigantic wave of customers embraced the baby bottle trend, a handful of others on social media berated them for the insanity. A group of orthodox commenters lambasted the onset of craze labelling it an act that disrespected the teachings of Islam and the Muslim culture and put humanity to shame. People were so angry, they said horrible things, that we were an aeb, an arabic term for dishonour, a local Molla told AP reporter. Meanwhile, the government issued an official statement condemning the use of plastic bottles, saying, Such indiscriminate use of baby bottles is against local culture and traditions. It added, that the use of plastic bottles and their refilling could lead to the spread of COVID-19. In Kuwait, the authorities shut down the Einstein cafe, while in Bahrain the ministry of culture sent the armed law enforcement officers that barged into the cafes with the live cameras that were serving drinks in the baby plastic bottles. The government in Gulf denounced the practice saying that the norm violated Bahraini laws and customs. I remember a trip to Paris for the first time ever and coming across a tiny bar called Zero Bar. They served mixed drinks in baby bottles while old Japanese retro cartoons played on the tv. I'm a lightweight when it comes to booze and man did I get fucking hammered. Dissented (@DISSENT_4_4) March 16, 2021 (Image Credit: AP) 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. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on March 19, 2021 2021/03/19 CNN: Several questions about the US-China talks in Alaska. First, China has said that the US side gravely exceeded the time limit in their opening remarks and broke diplomatic protocols, which is no way to welcome guests. So why did China accuse the US of gravely exceeding the time limit? Second, a US official said that the Chinese delegation seemed to "have arrived intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance." What's your response? Third, China's state media and social media have given a lot of coverage to what the Chinese delegation said, including with eye-catching big character posters. So I wonder if the Chinese side had domestic audience more in mind when making these statements? Zhao Lijian: Chinahas already released readouts on the high-level strategic dialogue with the US. Regarding your first question, an official with the Chinese delegation has held a background briefing on the dialogue. The Chinese delegation went to Anchorage for the strategic dialogue with sincerity, fully prepared to engage in dialogue with the US according to the protocols and arrangements agreed on beforehand. However, as the US side first delivered opening remarks, they exceeded severely the set time limit and wantonly attacked China's domestic and foreign policies, provoking disagreements. These are hardly good host manners or proper diplomatic etiquette. The Chinese side has made a solemn response. As to your other questions, the Chinese side has also made clear its position in the readout. It is because the US side failed to keep to the set time limit and provoked disagreements first that the opening statements were fiery and theatrical, which is not what China wishes to see. Phoenix TV: There seems to be quite a gap between the statements of China and the US on some concerns raised by the latter. Against this backdrop, what, in China's view, is the point in holding this dialogue? Zhao Lijian: By agreeing to hold this high-level strategic dialogue with the US, China is taking an important step in acting on the spirit of our heads of state's telephone conversation. It was actually the two presidents' decision to have this meeting. We believe it can be a good opportunity to enhance communication, manage differences and expand cooperation. It will help guide bilateral relations going forward. People in both countries and beyond all hope to see practical outcomes from this dialogue. The Chinese delegation has come to Anchorage with full sincerity and a constructive attitude. Alaska is the northernmost US state. When the Chinese delegation arrived in Anchorage, their hearts were chilled by the biting cold as well as the reception by their American host. After the opening remarks, there are the main courses. We hope the US can meet China halfway and following the spirit of our heads of state's telephone conversation on the eve of the Chinese lunar New Year, focus on cooperation, manage difference and bring bilateral relations back onto the track of sound and stable development. EFE: You just said that people await practical results from the meeting in Alaska. What will you consider good practical results? Another question is related to Xinjiang. At yesterday's press conference, the regional government of Xinjiang said there would be countermeasures, if the European Union approves next Monday sanctions against China because of Xinjiang. What specific countermeasures will there be? Zhao Lijian: On your first question, as I just said, there will be formal talks after the opening session. The Chinese delegation will release information in a timely manner. Please stay tuned to the updates. On your second question, I made a full elaboration on China's position yesterday. I'd like to refer you to yesterday's press conference. Reuters: I just wanted to ask a more broad question about the talks between China and the US in Alaska. I mean the broad response to the initial meeting between China and the US was that it was very fiery and confrontational, and there's a lot of conflict and very heated discussions, and the two sides clashed over issues that they didn't agree on. Does the Chinese side expect the formal talks to also take this tone? What does the Chinese side hope will happen in those formal talks? And given that you suggested that maybe the Chinese side was surprised by the tone of these opening talks, are they changing the tactic in regard to these talks at all in the coming days? Zhao Lijian: We hope the US can understand clearly that China is firmly determined and resolved in safeguarding its core interests. The US should also see with crystal clarity our steadfast position that China's internal affairs allow no interference. Of course, we hope in the following closed-door meetings, the two sides can have thorough communication on implementing the spirit of the phone call between the two heads of state, and bring the bilateral relationship back to the right track through this dialogue. The Paper: Peter Ben Embarek, head of the WHO origin-tracing mission to China, said in interviews on March 18 that the team hopes the report, now totaling some 280 pages, will be ready for release next week. The "fine-tuning of the text" has centered on scientific issues, while some English-Chinese translation issues were "taking a lot of time," he said. Has China received the text of the report? Do you agree with the content? When is China going to give its assessment and feedback? Zhao Lijian: I understand the work related to the report has been carried out among Chinese and international experts. On March 16, a WHO administrative official said that the report on origin-tracing would be released next week. We immediately checked with relevant parties. To my knowledge, Chinese experts received an English version of the report from WHO experts on March 17, totaling around 300 pages. As we speak, there is no Chinese version available yet. WHO is still working on the translation. With respect to the specific content of the report, I'm not aware of it. Whether the report will be released next week depends on the discussions between Chinese and foreign experts. As for the main conclusions, findings and suggestions of this joint mission on origin-tracing, Chinese and WHO experts already made them public at a joint press conference on February 9. I want to stress that origin-tracing is a scientific issue that should be studied by the science community. China News Service: The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) issued the Trade and Development Report 2020 Update on March 18, saying that China's export recovery in the second half of 2020 is better than expected and projecting China's economic growth at 8.1% in 2021. Do you have any comment? Zhao Lijian: In the face of severe impacts of COVID-19 and deep economic recession worldwide, the Chinese government adopted timely, decisive and effective macro-policies to coordinate epidemic control and economic and social development, making China the only major economy that registered positive growth. The UNCTAD report reflects the international community's confidence in China's economic development. Sustained and steady economic growth in China will make the international community better positioned to fight the coronavirus and promote economic recovery. In the first two months of this year, China's FDI inflow and trade in goods both got off to a good start, up by 31.5% and 32.2% year-on-year respectively. According to a recent report by the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China), 75% of surveyed companies said they are optimistic about the prospects of the Chinese market in the next two years, and 81% said they expected their businesses to grow in China in 2021. China is now the major trading partner for over 120 countries and regions including the US, the EU, Japan and India. The Chinese economy has long been closely integrated and intertwined in the world economy. Now, as China has entered a new development stage, it is following the new development philosophy and formulating a new development paradigm to firmly advance high-quality development. China will open wider to the world, and create broader market space and more cooperation opportunities for countries around the world. Bloomberg: About the trial of Canadian citizen Michael Spavor, my understanding is that it lasted for 2 hours, and there's to be no further hearings. There are also reports that Canadian diplomats did not get access. My first question relates to the trial today in Dandong. Does the foreign ministry have any comment on that? Secondly, I'd like to ask, again, if you could confirm that Michael Kovrig, the second Canadian, will stand trial on Monday as reports have said? Zhao Lijian: I made clear China's position on the cases involving the Canadian citizens yesterday. Chinese judicial organs handle cases independently in accordance with the law and fully guarantee the lawful rights of the individuals concerned. China always handles relevant matters including consular notification in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Consular Agreement between China and Canada as well as Chinese laws and regulations. China's judicial sovereignty brooks no interference. According to Article 188 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China and Article 222 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, cases involving state secrets shall not be heard in open court and no one is allowed to sit in on the trial. Reuters: A Canadian diplomat in Dandong today specifically told Reuters that they believe that China has broken the Vienna Convention and the Consular Agreement between Canada and China by not allowing their diplomats to sit in on the trial. He also complained that China has not allowed diplomats to meet with Spavor since February 3. So I just want to ask specifically on what the Canadian diplomats have said, what the ministry's comment is and whether the ministry has had any contact with the Canadian side over this. Zhao Lijian: I have explained China's position very clearly just now. If China had not notified the Canadian embassy, I would like to ask you how the Canadian embassy official who went to Dandong got to know that there was to be a trial today? As I also made very clear just now, since the case involves state secrets, it is not heard in open court and no one is allowed to sit in on the trial. Regarding the issue of consular access you mentioned, on the premise of mutual respect and accommodating each other's concerns, the Chinese authorities will continue to deal with consular visits for the Canadian citizens in accordance with the law as the epidemic situation evolves. Prasar Bharati: A few Indians in New Delhi who want to return to China contacted the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi and they were told that the Chinese Embassy would make available the Chinese vaccines to them, if the government of India gives approval for making the vaccines available there. So my question is that is China in talks with the Indian side regarding the approval of Chinese vaccines either from Beijing or from the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi? Second question, regarding this new visa announcement, will it be applicable to students? Zhao Lijian: The report you mentioned is not accurate. In the fight against COVID-19, a common enemy to mankind, China stands ready to advance cooperation with other countries including in vaccine research and development, so as to achieve an early victory. With regard to the visa facilitation measure, China provides visa facilitation to incoming foreigners who have received Chinese vaccines and hold a vaccination certificate with a view to resuming international travel in an orderly fashion. As to the specific measures and the eligibility, I'd refer you to notices on the website of the Chinese Embassy in India. The Chinese government attaches high importance to protecting the rights and interests of international students in China. Academic institutions are required to keep in close contact with those students abroad, make good arrangements for online courses, and properly address their legitimate concerns and appeals. On the precondition of observing containment protocols, the Chinese authorities will study this matter in a coordinated manner and keep in communication with relevant parties. Follow-up: What I understood from your response is that, first, it is not yet applicable to the students. Second thing is that Chinese Embassy in New Delhi has not promised anything to Indians regarding the availability of Chinese vaccines. Am I right? Zhao Lijian: It's best if your colleague can ask the Chinese Embassy in India for more information because it knows best the specific conditions with regard to India, including in vaccine cooperation. NHK: In the Chinese delegation's background briefing in Anchorage, and in your remarks just now, the Chinese side mentioned it's fully prepared to engage in dialogue based on protocols agreed by both. We noticed that the Chinese side refers to this event as a high-level strategic dialogue, but the US hasn't adopted this term. I wonder if this reveals some contradictions with the Chinese line of previous agreement. Do you have a comment? Zhao Lijian: As we've said repeatedly, the dialogue was proposed by the United States and China agreed to attend it. MONTREAL - Dorel Industries Inc. is selling one of its Chinese manufacturing facilities acquired in 2014. Dorel President and CEO Martin Schwartz attends the company's annual meeting in Montreal, on May 28, 2004. Dorel Industries is selling a Chinese manufacturing facility in Zhongshan to Guangdong Roadmate Group Co., Ltd. for gross proceeds of approximately US$51 million. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Francois Roy MONTREAL - Dorel Industries Inc. is selling one of its Chinese manufacturing facilities acquired in 2014. The Montreal-based maker of sporting goods, products for young children and home furniture says the sale is part of a strategic move to co-develop new children's products with a diverse supplier base. The juvenile products manufacturing facility in Zhongshan will be sold to Guangdong Roadmate Group Co., Ltd. for gross proceeds of about US$51 million. However, it expects to incur a non-cash loss of about US$8 million. Dorel will maintain its second manufacturing location in Huangshi as well as its product sourcing and quality control organizations in China that service all three of Dorels business segments. The transaction does not include Dorel's domestic juvenile sales operation based in Shanghai that was acquired along with the manufacturing facility in 2014 as part of a deal valued at US$120 million. Dorel says Roadmate will continue to be a key supplier as it co-develops new products. The strategic direction is intended to allow Dorel Juvenile to further lower the required investment to bring new products to market and to deliver a broader product line with much quicker time to market," stated Dorel CEO Martin Schwartz. He said the sale will also decrease complexity, improve cash flow and reduce volatility in the direct costs of manufacturing due to variations in currency and commodity prices. "Dorel expects that the sale of the Zhongshan facility will also simplify the organization and free-up resources so that Dorel Juvenile can focus on product innovation and branding across its various markets." The sale, which is subject to regulatory approval in China, is expected to close before the end of the second quarter. Dorel will use net proceeds to reduce debt. The transaction comes about a month after it terminated an agreement to go private after key shareholders objected to the bid led by Cerberus Capital Management that included the Schwartz family. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2021. Companies in this story: (TSX:DII.B) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. One day after passing the $1.9 trillion COVID-related stimulus package, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks during a news conference at the Capitol Visitors Center in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) The Inequality Act Commentary Our constitutional republic was founded on the proposition that all men are created equal. Supporters of the Orwellian-named Equality Act, which recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is now being considered by the Senate, claim that their bill protects this foundational American ideal. But, in reality, this legislation would deliver inequality for Americans, including small businesses and faith-based nonprofits that serve the most vulnerable. Like sexual orientation and gender identity laws enacted at the state and local levels, the Equality Act would punish creative professionals who happily serve all people but decline to express messages that violate their religious beliefs. In 2018, I had the opportunity to meet one of the more famous victims of these laws: Jack Phillips, owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado, who, after being dragged through court by hostile government officials for years, had just won an overwhelming victory in the U.S. Supreme Court, which declared that the state of Colorado had wrongfully punished Jack for living and working consistently with his religious beliefs about marriage. While Jack gladly serves everyone, like any creative professional, he declines to express messages or celebrate events that violate his deeply held beliefs. For this, Colorado officials attempted to use the states anti-discrimination law to punish Jack, and the Equality Act would allow the federal government to do the same to creative professionals in every state. Punishing people of faith is the opposite of equality. Equality demands that all Americans enjoy the full breadth of their First Amendment freedoms. And respect for good-faith differences of opinion is essential. The government shouldnt be able to force a pro-abortion graphic designer to create art for the March for Life, nor should the government compel a Democratic speechwriter to use his talents to write for a Republican candidate. Similarly, the government shouldnt force artists like Jack to violate their religious beliefs about marriage. In fact, the so-called Equality Act would destroy equality by denying Americans their constitutionally protected freedoms. This fact is further apparent in how these types of laws have been wielded against faith-based nonprofits. Last November, the Supreme Court heard arguments for such a case in Fulton v. Philadelphia, where government officials attempted to bar Catholic Social Services, a religious child-welfare provider run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, from placing children in foster homes because of its religious beliefs. On behalf of the State of Alabama, I joined a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, arguing for the protection of faith-based providers, because when the government ensures a diversity of providers, doing so better serves children, their birth moms, and their adoptive families. Under the Equality Act, children longing to find a forever home would be harmed, and birth moms seeking adoptive families who share their faith would be denied that opportunity. Nobody benefits from policies like this. As we grapple with the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and economic recession, too many charities have already been struggling to survive, leaving vulnerable those suffering from abuse, addiction, hunger, and homelessness. I can confidently say that the people of Alabama do not want this problem compounded by D.C. power brokers shutting down religious charities that selflessly serve our local communities, leaving vulnerable the people who desperately need them. Americans have weathered many threats to their First Amendment rights throughout our history. Today, however, those rights seem to be facing an unprecedented attack across our society, from the halls of Congress to the board rooms in Silicon Valley, with tech oligarchs eager and willing to pick up the baton and run with it whenever constitutional hurdles trip up government officials. Our government cannot forget that its role is to protect all its citizens freedomsnot just those beliefs currently en vogue among elites. Lawmakers should take note: History hasnt smiled on those who deny Americans their First Amendment freedoms. No present piece of legislation would do more violence to those freedoms than the Equality Act. I encourage the Senate to act accordinglyand vote to place this legislation in the dustbin of history, where it rightly belongs. From RealClearWire. Steve Marshall is the attorney general of Alabama. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls displayed in Jerusalem by the Israel Antiquities Authority. MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP Israeli archeologists presentation this week of dozens of Dead Sea Scroll fragments is the first of its kind in six decades. The researchers also found a 6,000-year-old naturally mummified skeleton of a child and an intact woven basket thought to be 10,500 years old. The 2,000-year old fragments of parchment are from the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets, including the books of Zechariah and Nahum. Written in Greek, they match a scroll discovered about 60 years ago. One fragment read: These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to one another, render true and perfect justice in your gates. And do not contrive evil against one another, and do not love perjury, because all those are things that I hate declares the Lord, according to a translation offered by the daily Haaretz. Archeologists had to rappel down as much as 80 meters to the cave in Qumran, in the Judean desert, where they unearthed the items during a survey of more than 100 km of cliffs and caves that required the use of drones. These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to one another, render true and perfect justice in your gates Passage from the newly found fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls The new fragments of manuscript, the skeleton and basket were found in the Cave of Horror, where previously 1,900-year-old skeletons of 40 men, women and children were found. These are new pieces of the puzzle and we can add them to our greater picture of the period and of the text, Oren Ableman of the Israel Antiquities Authoritys (IAA) Dead Sea Scrolls Unit told the Reuters news agency. The original Dead Sea Scrolls were found between 1947 and 1956 by local Bedouin in the caves of Qumran, about 20 km east of Jerusalem. Those texts included sections of the Hebrew bible 1,000 years older than any previously known copy. A 1961 excavation of the Cave of Horror found previous parchment fragments but nothing had been found since then. Israeli archaeologists excavated in the West Bank, in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, acting on fears that looters were aiming to find such items and put them on the antiquities black market. Crews also employed drones to map hundreds of caves, only fully excavating a select few. The new fragments are believed to belong to a scroll hidden in the cave during the Bar Kochba Revolt, an armed Jewish uprising against Rome in the 2nd Century AD. We found a textual difference that has no parallel with any other manuscript, either in Hebrew or in Greek, said Ableman, showing how the texts evolved with the linguistic environment of the time. Of the nearly 1,000 Dead Sea Scrolls recovered so far, only three are relatively complete. Researchers claim that this new discovery will allow them to revise the history of the Greek translations of the Bible, which were then translated into Latin and modern languages. Archaeological discoveries often generate disputes between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. International law prohibits Israel from removing cultural property from occupied territory. A cache of rare 1,900-year-old coins from the period of the Jewish revolt was also found in the Cave of Horrors, confirming the past presence of Jewish people in the Jordan Valley, where many families took refuge after the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD. Researchers still do not know the characteristics of the Jewish sect that took refuge in the Dead Sea almost 20 centuries ago and bequeathed to humanity the first biblical texts preserved until today. The remains found in the Cave of Horrors are not marked by signs of violence, which leads them to believe that Roman troops led a siege until those inside died of starvation. The Dead Sea Scrolls, largely written in Aramaic and Hebrew, were recovered in 11 of the nearly 300 caves surveyed at Qumran. Archeologists, theologians, linguists and paleographers have been sorting and piecing fragments together for more than 70 years. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo attends a briefing at the Office of the Governor of the State of New York, N.Y., on June 12, 2020. (Jeenah Moon/Getty Images) Cuomos Order to Place COVID-19 Patients in Nursing Homes Petrified NY Nursing Home Admins A nursing home admin from Staten Island says that he and other facilities executives were petrified after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomos controversial order that likely accelerated CCP virus outbreaks at their facilities. The administrator of the Silver Lake Specialized Rehabilitation and Care Center, Michael Kraus, told Fox News that he attempted to alert local officials about the infamous March 25 directive after he was cognizant about it, but that his worries were shot down by the authorities. Many facilities vocalized it, Kraus told Fox. They were petrified, but they were more petrified of the Department of Health once [my concern] was shot down, I never spoke [about it] again. Families of COVID-19 victims who passed away in New York nursing homes gather in front of Cobble Hill Heath Center to demand State Governor Andrew Cuomo apologize for his response to clusters in nursing homes during pandemic in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Oct. 18, 2020. (Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo) A disclosure of data last month revealed that nearly 15,000 nursing home residents in New York died of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, after people recovering from the infection were released into nursing homes at the beginning of the pandemic. The number is much higher than the 8,500 figure previously made known. Prior to the release of the full nursing home data, the Cuomo Administration released misleading statistics regarding the number of deaths in nursing homes. We must come together as New Yorkers and demand that OPWDD be transparent about their conduct during the COVID-19 pandemic, wrote New York state Sen. Anthony Palumbo in a letter that was co-signed by members of the Mental Health and Disabilities Committees. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo holds a protective mask to his face as he and Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa arrive for a briefing at New York Medical College in Valhalla, N.Y., on May 7, 2020. (Mike Segar/Reuters) One of Cuomos top aides reportedly apologized to Democratic legislators for holding back data on the CCP virus deaths in the states nursing homes in order to dodge federal prosecution. The acknowledgment of the reported cover-up was made by Melissa DeRosa, the governors secretary, on Feb. 11, during a video conference with Democratic leaders, according to a recording obtained by The New York Post. She's been working hard on her new film, Fresh. And Daisy Edgar-Jones, 22, looked very cosy as she wrapped up in a floor-length green robe while heading to shoot scenes for the movie in Vancouver on Friday. The Normal People actress' co-star Sebastian Stan, 38, was also seen heading to set on what is thought to be their last day of filming in a smart red jumper. Keeping it cosy: Daisy Edgar-Jones, 22, opted for comfort as she wrapped up in a floor-length green robe while heading to shoot scenes for the movie in Vancouver on Friday Daisy certainly caught the eye in her bright blanket-robe ensemble which she paired with some brown boots and a blue face mask. The brunette beauty's locks could just be seen sneaking out from under her hood and she clutched onto several items including a piece of paper and water bottle. Sebastian was also spotted walking around the Vancouver set in a crimson jumper and smart jeans. He also ensured to stay safe and followed Covid guidelines by donning a black face mask for the stroll. Dapper: Sebastian Stan, 38, was also seen heading to the thriller movie's set as he cut a smart figure in a red jumper and black trousers Not much is known about Daisy and Sebastian's upcoming social thriller Fresh, as the studio is currently keeping details about the plot under wraps. The new film will be directed by Mimi Cave and is based on Lauryn Kahn's script, reports Variety. Earlier this month, the British actress was spotted shooting passionate kissing scenes with co-star Sebastian on the streets of Vancouver. The co-stars were also spotted enjoying a day off together at the start of March, with them going sightseeing before stopping for a glass of wine. Comfort first: The Normal People actress, 22, paired her soft robe with some brown boots and a face mask And while their characters enjoy a romance onscreen, The Sun reports that the screen stars have become good friends away from rolling cameras. A source told the publication: 'Sebastian has told friends that he thinks Daisy's a bright spark and set for a massive career in Hollywood. He can't believe she's so young as she's so talented and mature. They get on really well.' A source close to Daisy, who continues to fly high on the success of her BBC drama Normal People, also told The Sun: 'They're colleagues and mates.' MailOnline contacted Daisy and Sebastian's representatives at the time. It comes after Daisy last month split with boyfriend Tom Varey, 29, whom she met in 2018, on the set of their film Pond Life. A source told Page Six: 'They got on really well during lockdown last year, but they're both young and passionate about following their careers. 'Daisy has been inundated with opportunities and feels she has to put them first, Tom's also really dedicated to his acting and wants the best for both of them. They were sad they couldn't make it work, but are still close and there's no hard feelings.' Daisy shot to fame with her role as Marianne in the coming-of-age drama Normal People, based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Sally Rooney. The British actress recently landed her first Golden Globe and Critics' Choice Awards nominations for the role, but lost out to the Queen's Gambit's Anya Taylor-Joy. Dairygold supports future agri-leaders at University College Cork (UCC) Agri-business company Dairygold has awarded two undergraduate bursaries to students undertaking the Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree at University College Cork (UCC). The successful students will receive an annual bursary for the duration of their 4-year undergraduate studies at UCC and will also be offered the opportunity of a work placement with Dairygold. Bursaries will assist first-year students of Agricultural Science at UCC The partnership provides strategic links with the agri-business sector Strengthen UCCs position as a leading university in the area of agricultural science This years recipients are Paul OBrien from Lismore, Co. Waterford and Barry Stratford from Virginia, Co. Cavan, who are both in their first year of the Bachelor of Agricultural Science at UCC. Adrian Beatty, Group Head of Human Resources, Dairygold said: We are delighted to continue this strategic partnership with UCC which will nurture and develop the agri-business leaders of the future. In an ever expanding and growing agri food industry, Dairygold is looking forward to working with graduates who will have developed invaluable knowledge, skills and expertise coming from this degree. This collaboration forms part of our strategy to create a high-calibre pipeline of talent which will ultimately strengthen our organisation. Dairygolds sponsorship of the bursaries began in 2019 to mark the introduction of the first Agricultural Science degree at UCC. The recipients are selected following an application process, inclusive of interview. They are required to submit an annual progress report for the duration of their degree. Professor Andy Wheeler, Head, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences commented: We are incredibly grateful to Dairygold for their ongoing support which enables our students to pursue a career in the exciting and innovative agricultural industry. UCC is ideally situated in the dairy heartland of Ireland, allowing our students the unique opportunity to experience state-of-the art farm management practices alongside the workings of a global food business such as Dairygold. The Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree was launched in 2019 and focuses on the science behind modern agriculture, and on supporting students to gain skills in farm management, business acumen and farm technology. It also includes a placement opportunity which provides students with direct experience of working in the Irish agriculture industry. University College Cork was recently ranked in the top 100 universities in the world for the study of agriculture and forestry. Professor Gerry Boyle, Director of Teagasc, added: "The Bachelor of Agricultural Science at UCC is especially tailored to attract those with a particular passion for dairying. Our target from the outset has been to attract Irelands brightest and best, and as evidenced by this years recipients, we are certainly succeeding in this regard. Grounded in science-based research, this unique and exciting course, delivers the knowledge, innovation, technologies, and business acumen, necessary to underpin the profitability, competitiveness and sustainability of Irish dairying and the wider agri-food industry. Placements among Irelands leading dairy farmers and amidst Irelands key industry stakeholders, forms another key component, providing students the opportunity to obtain direct work experience tailored to their individual interests, deepening their knowledge, and forming a key part of their professional development". The course is taught by the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UCC with input from across the university, and in close collaboration with Teagasc. The resumption of the rollout of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine has been recommended in Ireland. Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said he came to his decision following assessments of the jab by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and Irelands National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac). Dr Glynn said Irelands Health Minister Stephen Donnelly had accepted his recommendation. We saw a signal, we acted upon it, counterparts across the EU acted upon it Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn He told a press conference on Friday evening that the Health Service Executive was meeting as he was speaking about resuming the use of AstraZeneca in Ireland. Dr Glynn said more than 117,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine had been administered in Ireland before the pause last Sunday due to concerns raised over clotting. He said to date there had been no reports of serious clotting events associated with low platelets received by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) in Ireland. People should be reassured that we acted quickly. We saw a signal, we acted upon it, counterparts across the EU acted upon it. They undertook an urgent investigation. They have looked at all the data and they have concluded it is safe to recommence the programme, he said. I would urge anyone now who is offered the vaccine to take it. We know that it is an extremely effective vaccine. We have seen the phenomenal effects that it is having on caseloads in other jurisdictions and were lucky to have it as part of a range of vaccines that are now available to us. Earlier, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said he would have no issue taking the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine if he was offered it. He also said the Government was gearing up to resume administering the jab after its use was temporarily suspended in Ireland in an abundance of caution over the raising of concerns around blood clots. This a405m funding for regeneration is a game changer for Cork. The investment will prime the Docklands and Grand Parade for major growth in the coming decades - as well as significantly boosting Mallow, Passage West, Ringaskiddy and Carrigaline. pic.twitter.com/KsaUJ3DLvh MicheAl Martin (@MichealMartinTD) March 19, 2021 Mr Martin was speaking at the Port of Cork on Friday as he announced 405 million euros of funding for regeneration projects in Cork city and county. Asked whether he would take the AstraZeneca vaccine, Mr Martin said: Yes I would. I would indeed. I expect a decision will be made today in relation to that. Were gearing up in terms of resuming that. Dr Glynn said on Thursday that he welcomed the EMA making its position clear and that the Niac was meeting with counterparts across Europe following the EMAs statement. Dr Glynn also indicated on Thursday that tough restrictions could remain in place until June. Speaking on Friday, the Taoiseach said he would not speculate about changes to the public health restrictions for April and that the Government would inform the public in the next couple of weeks of any changes to the measures. I am not going to speculate but we will give people clear indications in advance of April 5 as to how we see April panning out, Mr Martin said. I dont believe in speculating beyond that and we will certainly make it very clear to people. We are thinking and reflecting on the outdoor situation and outdoor activities and what might be possible there because mental health is very important. He added: We do understand and get it that people are fed up. I want to thank people; I think people have been remarkable. We have brought numbers down from a very high level after Christmas to very, relatively low levels. Theyre still high. Our big concern is the variant. This variant is more transmissible. The deaths of a further 10 people with Covid-19 and another 507 cases were announced on Friday. As of 8am, there were 336 Covid-positive patients in hospital, of whom 87 were in ICU. As of March 16, 632,359 doses of the vaccine had been administered in Ireland. SPRINGFIELD The St. Clair County Transit District (SCCTD) has been selected to receive $200,000 in state funds through the Illinois Bicycle Path Grant Program, State Senator Rachelle Crowe (D-Glen Carbon) announced Wednesday. Bike paths provide a safe public space for residents, families and visitors to be physically active and enjoy the outdoors, Crowe said. This major investment will allow residents to enjoy even more opportunities for safe transportation and recreation, as well as attract visitors to our area. Edith Sorto is used to taking care of her parents medical needs. The 40-year-old mother of three often takes time off from work to drive her parents to doctors appointments. Her father has poor eyesight, so if he does drive, its usually only around their southeast Houston neighborhood. When COVID-19 vaccines were made available for anyone over the age of 65, Sorto quickly jumped into the technological, and often infuriating, process of finding an appointment for her parents. If it was up to them, they wouldnt have gotten the vaccine, Sorto said. They dont know technology; the phone numbers provided, no one answers, so they just give up. Its time consuming. As vaccine supply increases, adult children of immigrants are desperately trying to book shots for their older relatives, managing technological hurdles and language barriers, in their battle against a pandemic that has hit immigrant communities particularly hard. Cant find a COVID vaccine?: Some Houstonians are taking road trips to get one. Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer After many tries, Sorto, who emigrated from El Salvador with her family, was able to find appointments through the medical clinic Centro de Corazon. Their appointment was scheduled at the Capitol Street location 13 miles away from the Scarsdale Family Health Center, a partner of Centro de Corazon, which her parents typically visit. Again, Sorto had to take time off from work, pick them up and drive them to their appointment. Thankfully, Centro de Corazon had Spanish speakers on site to explain the vaccines ingredients and side effects to her parents, who are in their late 60s. Its a lot of jumping through hurdles, Sorto said. A lot of people who havent been able to get the vaccines do finally get an appointment, but once they do, they dont know how to get there. Once they do get there, they dont know where to go. They dont know the process. Help needed About 39 percent of adults who have been vaccinated were aided by another person when booking the appointment, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study. And its likely the rate is higher among immigrant families; children of immigrants feel a sense of unity and responsibility driving them to find the vaccine, said Dr. Melba Vasquez, an Austin psychologist who studies immigrant trauma. Most families of color have close connections, Vasquez said. They care, so they want the best for their families. Those families that believe vaccines save lives will be motivated to get services for their elders. Erika Garfias, an elementary school teacher, called her parents for pictures of insurance and ID cards as soon as she found appointments at an urgent care clinic in Missouri City. Her parents, Juan and Maria Gomez, and grandmother, Julieta Gomez, emigrated from Mexico in the 1960s. Her parents technological skills arent good enough to catch a vaccine appointment. Itd be faster, Garfias rationalized, to do it for them. She registered her parents for a vaccine the weekend before last months deep freeze. Take a jacket, Garfias advised her mom over the phone, in case they had to wait outside the clinic. When she called to check in after the appointment, she learned her grandmother decided against a vaccine at the last minute. IN RETROSPECT: From case No. 1 to case No. 539,861, heres how COVID has changed Houston Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer What do you mean? Garfias asked. This isnt an option. Her grandmother was scared about potential side effects, her parents replied. But Garfias, whose visits mostly consist of conversations through a window, fretted about never seeing her in-person again. A week later, her grandmother changed her mind. She was very sad people werent coming to see her, Garfias said. (My aunts and uncles) had to explain to her its not that they dont want to, its that they cant. So I think she weighed her options and decided it was better to have the vaccine so we can come around and not be afraid to get her sick. Burdens on communities ZIP codes with primarily Hispanic and poorer populations tend to have a lower vaccination rate per capita than their whiter, wealthier counterparts, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of state data. Issues of access, coupled with concerns about data collection and eligibility, create multilayered barriers. Dr. Gary Sheppard, president of the Harris County Medical Society, serves patients in southwest Houston, a dense and diverse area where English is not the primary language. During the pandemic, he has noticed fear, disbelief and distrust in his longtime patients. He worries they dont know if they qualify or where to go. We base so many things on signing up with websites and being communicated with electronic devices, he said. Older patients have problems getting help from children and grandchildren. About 21 percent of immigrants who speak a language other than English have no computer experience, according to the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, which surveys adults skills. The pandemic put a magnifying glass on responsibilities felt by first generation Americans, said Dr. Amelia Averyt, an associate medical director for family practice at Legacy Community Health. Ordinarily, she can go over risks with them to make decisions for their parents. But COVID restrictions limit how many people are allowed in exam rooms, separating older patients from younger relatives who usually help them, she said. Not being able to have those discussions with families in the room has been an obstacle, Averyt said. Youll talk about the vaccine with older patients, and they say, Sure, Ill get the vaccine, but how do I do it? Annie Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Contributor Sorto is one of five children, and the only daughter. In her family, its her responsibility to help her parents pay their bills, fill their medications and keep their medical files handy. If they have an appointment, she goes with them. I cannot choose I have to go, Sorto said. Its just on the women mainly. My brothers will help if I ask them, or their wives will go with them. But I know their medical history, and thats something my brothers dont really know. At Legacy Community Health, Averyts older patients often bring a younger family member with them. Averyt speaks both English and Spanish but has noticed her patients need additional reassurance from loved ones. No matter what I say to them about this vaccine being great, (my non-English-speaking patients) worry about how fast it was developed, Averyt said. Until they hear it from someone they love, their decision around the vaccine wont change. Being in the community Community health organizations need to remove as many barriers as possible, families said. When Rosana Lin Keleher, who grew up in Houston and now lives in Maryland, tried to book an appointment for her mother, Josephine Lin, it took several calls and texts to track down an inoculation site where someone spoke Mandarin Chinese. What should have taken just a few minutes over the phone stretched into days. Lins family physician at Memorial Hermann called two days after they began the search, offering a first dose the first week of January. RESEARCH PERSPECTIVE: Nows not the time to hold the parade for the end of COVID, says Texas A&M virologist Annie Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Contributor Lin Keleher said the experience showed her how difficult it can be to find a vaccine for seniors and immigrants who dont have a support system like her mom does. Having to get on the computer and even calling is beyond her, Lin Keleher said. We dont have anything translated. What are they supposed to do, press one and wait forever? Its worrisome. Community organizations such as HOPE Clinic and the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans believe establishing vaccine sites in immigrant communities will help with equitable distribution. In recent weeks, HOPE Clinic, a nonprofit that works with patients who speak more than 30 languages, has quietly run weekend vaccination sites geared toward Houstons Asian American communities. Some weeks, they receive 500 doses; other weeks, they find 100 on their doorstep. Because the safety-net medical providers vaccine supply varies week to week, its staff opted to call patients and book appointments rather than advertise on social media, said Dr. Andrea Caracostis, the clinics CEO. Many immigrants are essential workers who are motivated to work hard and establish financial stability in their chosen country. Further, some immigrants, particularly those who are undocumented, are hesitant about data collection and eligibility. COVID-19 vaccine providers say they need to build trust with those communities to hit herd immunity. In the last few months, AAMA, which serves people from 32 Latin American countries in expanding voter engagement, food insecurity, health care and employment, has worked to connect Latino communities with vaccines. With our population, they dont have the time or the ability that a lot of professional people have to get on these lists, watching and waiting and responding as soon as they have a link with an opening, said Debbie Ortiz, AAMAs chief development officer. Our people are out working and getting a living, and theyre the ones who need it the most. Fixing the problem WHERE TO GO: Texas COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker Vaccine providers are optimistic theyll reach more of Houstons immigrant communities moving forward. Expanding eligibility and culturally sensitive advertisements on social media will help, said Carol Paret, chief community health officer at Memorial Hermann. The more open it can be, the easier itll be to get 75-year-old grandma there now that her 50-year-old daughter can get it, Paret said. Hopefully we can get households pretty quickly this way. Annie Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Contributor It worked for Garfias family. When she signed up for her vaccine, she also booked appointments for her husband, parents and grandmother and sent the link to her sister-in-law. After receiving their second shots the first weekend of March, Garfias feels a mix of relief and stress: Relief they are now fully protected against COVID-19, yet stressed she and her older brother must make hard decisions to protect the health of the people who raised them. Its a weird shift, Garfias said. Theyre looking at us for advice because they feel we are more knowledgeable on these things. I dont know if Im ready, but here we go. gwendolyn.wu@chron.com julie.garcia@chron.com Renew Houston: Get the latest wellness news delivered to your inbox 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. China's top legislature strongly condemns U.S. sanctions on Chinese officials Xinhua) 08:38, March 19, 2021 BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- A spokesperson for China's top legislature on Thursday strongly condemned the expanded sanctions announced by the U.S. Department of State on Chinese officials. The U.S. move, made in response to a decision of the National People's Congress (NPC) on improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), is a gross interference in China's internal affairs, and is extremely "overbearing and despicable," said the spokesperson for the NPC Standing Committee. The NPC firmly opposes and strongly condemns the sanctions, the spokesperson said in a statement. As the highest state organ of power, the NPC has the power and responsibility to make the decision at the constitutional level to improve the electoral system of the HKSAR, said the spokesperson. The purpose of revising and improving the electoral system of the HKSAR is to remove the existing institutional deficiencies and risks so as to provide a sound institutional guarantee for fully and faithfully implementing "one country, two systems," and fully implementing the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong," the spokesperson noted. Stressing that Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs that brook no foreign interference, the spokesperson said the NPC will, as always, perform its legally prescribed duties and unswervingly safeguard China's sovereignty, security, and development interests in accordance with the law. The NPC will uphold the constitutional order in Hong Kong as stipulated in China's Constitution and the HKSAR Basic Law, and provide legal guarantees for cracking down on "Hong Kong independence" forces, ensuring "patriots administering Hong Kong" and maintaining Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability, according to the spokesperson. Flowers and a poster are left outside Gold Spa following the deadly shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. (Photo : REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton) Atlanta police on Thursday were considering all motives including hate crime in the fatal shootings of Asian women at two spas in the city as a U.S. lawmaker said the Asian-American community was "screaming out for help" to combat discrimination. Robert Aaron Long has been charged with murdering four people at the spas in Atlanta and four more in a spa in Cherokee County about 40 miles (64 km) to its north on Tuesday. Six of the victims were women of Asian descent. Advertisement "Our investigation is looking at everything, so nothing is off the table for our investigation," Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Charles Hampton told a news conference in response to a question about whether police were looking at the killings as hate crimes. Long, a 21-year-old white male, suggested to investigators that a sex addiction led him to violence. Lawmakers and anti-racism advocates have speculated the killings were motivated at least in part by anti-Asian sentiments. In Washington, U.S. lawmakers, professors and actor Daniel Dae Kim said the Asian-American community was reeling from a year of heightened anti-Asian attacks. "Our community is bleeding, we are in pain and for the last year we've been screaming out for help," Democratic Representative Grace Meng, who is of Taiwanese descent, told a House of Representatives subcommittee. The Georgia killings have prompted police departments across the country to step up patrols and visibility in Asian-American communities around New York City, Chicago, Atlanta and San Francisco. Hate crimes against Asian Americans rose by 149% in 2020 in 16 major cities compared with 2019, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. Civil rights advocates have connected the rise in incidents to the COVID-19 pandemic, which originated in China. Some Americans, including Republican former President Donald Trump, started calling the coronavirus the "China virus," "the China plague" and even "kung flu." President Joe Biden ordered that the U.S. flag be flown at half-staff at the White House to honor the victims of Tuesday's rampage. He and Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Atlanta on Friday to offer support to the Asian-American community. Hampton said Long patronized the two Atlanta establishments he is accused of attacking using a 9mm gun. Authorities are not ready to release the names of the victims, he said. Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department said on Wednesday that Long had confessed to the shootings and indicated he had a sex addiction and "wanted to eliminate" the temptation the establishments represented to him. A former roommate who spent several months living with Long in a halfway house for recovering addicts told Reuters Long had been treated for sex addiction, was "deeply religious" and would become "very emotionally distraught that he frequented" spas for "explicitly sexual activity." Long was headed for Florida when he was apprehended, perhaps to carry out further shootings, authorities said. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Asian refineries are grappling with whats expected to be a brief period of weak profits as a demand-sapping Covid-19 comeback across the region coincides with a likely surge in oil-product exports from Iran.The virus resurgence in India and other nations apart from China is reducing consumption of products such as gasoline and jet fuel, squeezing the profit margins of refiners. The market is also bracing for the possibility of a boost to Iranian fuel oil supplies into Asia should a nuclear deal be revived.Thats led to complex refining margins in Singapore, a proxy for Asia, falling from $1.65 a barrel at the end of April to as low as 3 cents in mid-May. While its a setback for processors recovering from the pandemic, margins have rebounded slightly and are expected to resume an upward trajectory as soon as the third quarter with accelerating vaccination rates aiding demand.The average profit from converting crude into gasoline in Asia -- the so-called crack spread -- fell in May from April, snapping a three-month gain. Across the region, restrictions in place from Malaysia, Vietnam to Japan have sapped demand for transportation fuel. Oil consultant FGE sees Indias gasoline consumption as the biggest stumbling block to Asias demand recovery, with an estimated 20% fall in April through June versus the previous quarter.See also: Japans April Fuel Stocks Rise Despite Drop in ProductionExport is not a very attractive option, said N. Vijayagopal, the finance director at Bharat Petroleum Corp., Indias second biggest fuel retailer. Refiners across the country are facing a double whammy caused by weaker regional markets and lower domestic consumption thats prompting them to set aside earlier plans to maintain run rates and reduce operations instead.Complex refining margins in Singapore were at 60 cents a barrel on Monday and averaged about 71 cents in May. That compares with $2.41 in the same period in 2019, prior to the pandemic. The profit from converting crude to gasoline in Asia was at $8.85 on Tuesday after averaging about $8.48 in May.Iran FlowsThe restart of some crude processing capacity after seasonal maintenance will boost fuel supplies and offset some of the expected increase in demand, limiting the gains in refining margins, said Victor Shum, vice president of energy consulting for IHS Markit.Most are expecting a flood of crude should the nuclear accord be renewed with Iran, but its the prospect of rising fuel oil flows -- used to power ships and for electricity generation in some countries -- thats raised concerns for Asian refiners, especially as China boosts output of heavy fuel.Margins for very low-sulfur fuel oil dropped below $10 a barrel in mid-May for the first time since December, easing from a high of almost $16 at the end of February. Cracks in May were also at the lowest average in five months. Margins for high-sulfur fuel oil fell as low -$8.80 in May, from -$3.71 in April.Diesel demand, most notably from China, is proving to be the bright spot and has provided a buffer for overall margins. Consumption in Asia during the first three months of the year was at 9.4 million barrels a day, or about 98% of 2019 levels, and is expected to edge higher during the second quarter, according to Yuwei Pei, a consultant at Wood Mackenzie Ltd.Singapores stockpiles of middle distillates -- a category that includes diesel -- fell through the week ended May 26 to the lowest since April 2020. Covid-19 restrictions and the return of refineries after seasonal maintenance may lead to rising Asian inventories, but regional diesel cracks could increase $3 to $4 a barrel to as much as $10 by December, according to Wood Mackenzie.As the Covid-19 situation in Asia stabilizes and restrictions are eased, improvement in cracks of transportation fuels should support both simple and complex refining margins through the third quarter, said Grayson Lim, a senior oil market analyst at FGE(Updates margins and adds analyst comment in seventh paragraph.)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. WASHINGTON The House on Thursday passed legislation that would create a pathway for undocumented farmworkers to earn a green card, sending the bill to the Senate. The bill, called the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, cleared the chamber in a bipartisan 247-174 vote. Thirty Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the bill. One Democrat, Rep Jared Golden of Maine, voted against the legislation. Unlike the American Dream and Promise Act, which also passed the House Thursday by a slim majority, Republican House leaders did not urge other GOP lawmakers to vote against the bill. American Dream and Promise Act: House passes immigration bill creating pathway to citizenship for 'Dreamers' The legislation would create a process to earn temporary status as Certified Agricultural Workers for people who have worked at least 180 days in agriculture over the past two years. Spouses and children could also apply for temporary status under the act. The legislation would create a pathway for workers to get a green card by paying a $1,000 fine and engaging in additional agricultural work depending on how long they have worked in agriculture in the U.S. The bill would also streamline the process to get an H-2A visa, which allows foreign citizens into the country for temporary agricultural work. Farmworkers have been particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 crisis. Their jobs often come with low wages and little access to the health care, which puts them at risk of the virus. The bill passed the House in 2019 with bipartisan support, with 34 Republicans voting for it at the time. The last comprehensive immigration bill, sponsored by a group of bipartisan senators, was brought up in 2013. That legislation, which included a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants and tighter border security, passed the Senate with bipartisan support but died in the House. It's been more than three decades since Congress last enacted broad immigration changes. Reach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Immigration bill creating green card path for farmworkers passes House With over 145 centers worldwide, OsteoStrong continues global expansion with Master Franchise Partnership in India. This is another massive success for the company and its mission to help people around the world improve their bone health with patented osteogenic loading technology. The partnership's mission is to help 100 million people throughout India and surrounding countries dealing with bone health and related issues. The agreement between Rishi Todi and Chetan Todi of the NPR Group headquartered in Kolkata, along with Perry Eckert, (OsteoStrong's Master Franchisee in Australia) plans to open OsteoStrong locations throughout India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Their first center opens in Kolkata, India late spring 2021. CEO Kyle Zagrodzky says, "Bringing the cutting-edge technology and systems of OsteoStrong into a new country is so exciting for me and my team. Our anticipation of all the life-changing stories to come drives us to excellence every day. With a country as massive as India, the opportunity to expand and serve so many people is such a wonderful gift that gives us so much gratitude!" Motivated by Tony Robbins; Rishi and Chetan Todi were inspired after meeting OsteoStrong's team at a Tony Robbins event in Singapore. "We set out to learn more by visiting centers in the United States, Australia and Stockholm. Seeing the passion and commitment of everyone associated with OsteoStrong led to us embarking on this journey to help people throughout India and beyond." About OsteoStrong: OsteoStrong is a membership-based Integrative Health and Wellness Center with a focus on Musculoskeletal Strengthening technology. OsteoStrong's Spectrum System allows users to unlock their physical freedom through a process called osteogenic loading. This patented four-device circuit takes only minutes once per week to complete and offers users instant biofeedback. Members report significant, measurable improvements affecting the entire body, including posture, balance, bone density, and significant gains in overall strength. Future Growth: OsteoStrong is looking for interested and qualified business partners. For more information visit www.OsteoStrong.me. Follow the brand on Facebook and Instagram. Media Contact: Marketing [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE OsteoStrong Related Links http://www.OsteoStrong.me By Luis Jaime Acosta BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia must dismantle criminal networks and corruption in the Pacific port city of Buenaventura via its legal system and social investment to reestablish security and guarantee human rights for its residents, a United Nations agency said on Friday. Buenaventura, with a population of 432,000, is marked by regular clashes between armed groups fighting for control of the country's main Pacific port and drug trafficking routes, with poverty-stricken civilians getting caught in the middle. "The violence is destroying the culture and social fabric of the black and indigenous communities who live in the region, who represent more than 90% of the population," said Juliette de Rivero, representative for the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights, in a statement following a trip to the city. So far this year Buenaventura has seen 41 homicides, 13 forced disappearances, and the forced displacement of more than 8,000 people, on top of threats to local activists and human rights defenders, the U.N. Office for Human Rights in Colombia has found. The agency urged Colombian authorities to come together to implement agreements reached with Buenaventura residents following recent protests, as well as the peace deal reached in 2016 between the government and the now demobilized guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The peace deal ended the leftist rebel group's part in Colombia's armed conflict, which has left 260,000 dead and displaced millions. The U.N. has called on Colombia to build more presence in remote zones battered by violence and poverty with more social investment and not just rely on the police and military. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Richard Chang) Actor Sharwanand's recently released Sreekaram was expected to weave magic on the big screens, however, its lazy writing and slow pace derailed the film from the track. The cliche concept of the film failed to impress the audience. On the other hand, the film was also compared with Mahesh Babu's 2019 action-drama Maharshi. Talking about Sreekaram's business, though the film collected an impressive Rs 4.07 crore on its opening day, the collection was seen deteriorating with each day. The Sharwanand-starrer which released on March 11, has completed a week of its theatrical run and has so far done a business of Rs 17.1 crore. It requires another 40 lakh to break even. Notably, the film was released along with Naveen Polishetty's Jathi Ratnalu, which received tremendous response from the audience. The other releases were Rajendra Prasad's Gaali Sampath and Kannada actor Darshan's Roberrt (Telugu version) which were average films as per Tollywood standards. Well, with its 8th-day theatrical run, Sreekaram has acquired a collection of Rs 8.58 crore. Check out Sreekaram's closing collection here Day 1- Rs 4.07 crore Day 2- Rs 1.48 crore Day 3- Rs 1.16 crore Day 4- Rs 96 lakh Day 5- Rs 38 lakh Day 6- Rs 23 lakh Day 7- Rs 16 lakh Day 8- Rs 14 lakh Total: Rs 8.58 crore (Rs 14.45 crore Gross) Talking about the cast and crew of the film, written and directed by Kishor B and backed by Ram Achanta and Gopichand Achanta under their banner 14 Reels Plus, the film features an ensemble cast including Priyanka Arul Mohan, Murali Sharma, Sai Kumar, Rao Ramesh, Naresh, Shishir Sharma, Aamani and Sapthagiri, Sreekaram was initially scheduled to hit the theatres on April 24, 2020, however, the makers pushed the date owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. Also Read: Mahesh Babu's Caravan Becomes Talk Of The Town And Its Cost Will Leave You Stunned! Also Read: Chaavu Kaburu Challaga Full Movie Leaked Online For Free Download ALBANY Despite a pandemic that has left millions out of work and financially stressed, Capital Region hospitals have continued to sue patients for medical bills in a practice that appears to disproportionately affect those with low incomes and communities of color. While New York halted the collection of medical debt owed to state-run hospitals last spring, court records show that many nonprofit hospitals have continued to try to collect through litigation often for amounts that have negligible impact on their bottom lines but major impact on patient's lives, advocates say. In some cases patients wages are garnished; in others liens are placed on their homes. Local hospitals amp up pressure on Schumer to increase federal funding Capital Region hospitals lifting some visitor restrictions Data shows vaccine equity still just a goal in New York The first tenet of medicine is to do no harm, said Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), an anti-poverty group that has been investigating the practice. Suing patients harms them economically because they have to choose between paying a medical debt judgment versus paying rent, food, school supplies. CSS found that high rates of medical debt collection activity in Albany County preceded the pandemic. Between 2015 and 2020, five of the Capital Regions nonprofit hospitals sued 2,900 Albany County residents for past-due medical bills, according to an analysis published by CSS last March. After the pandemic hit, the suits continued with area hospitals filing 548 lawsuits against Albany County residents between March and December 2020 alone, the group recently found. That number grows to 738 if you include patients from outside the county. An analysis of a representative sample of lawsuits filed in Albany County courts found that 30 percent of patients sued live in communities with high uninsured rates, 28 percent live in communities where the majority of residents are people of color, and 26 percent live in communities where at least half the households have incomes below $50,000. Credit bureau data tracked by the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Institute sheds further light on these disparities: the latest available data show 26 percent of residents in Albany Countys communities of color with medical debt in collections compared to just 10 percent of residents in white communities. We believe the data here make the case that the aggressive litigation practices of these Albany hospitals not only make Albany a medical-debt hotspot but is what is driving the profound racial disparities in medical debt in Albany County, Benjamin said. The hospitals responsible for the lawsuits include Albany Memorial, St. Peters and Samaritan hospitals, owned by the Catholic-sponsored St. Peters Health Partners; Albany Medical Center; and Ellis Hospital, which is pursuing a merger with St. Peters. The St. Peters network of hospitals is responsible for 71 percent of all medical debt lawsuits filed in Albany County courts between 2015 and 2020, the CSS report found. Albany Medical Center is responsible for 23 percent and Ellis Hospital is responsible for 5 percent. By number of cases alone, Albany Memorial ranks first with 1,195 lawsuits during this period, followed by Albany Med with 682, St. Peters with 456, Samaritan with 410 and Ellis with 130. Hospitals defend lawsuits In response to questions from the Times Union, area hospitals defended the practice of suing for back medical debt, with some calling it a last resort option that is only used after other attempts to collect payment have failed. Robert Webster, a spokesperson for St. Peters, said the hospital system paused its process for collecting unpaid medical bills last March when the pandemic first hit but resumed it in the summer when the state began to reopen some businesses and activities. These cases were ones that had been active since the summer of 2019, well in advance of the COVID pandemic, he said. Hospitals in the St. Peters network filed lawsuits against 653 patients between March and December of last year, including 497 in Albany County alone. Webster said the hospital considers each patient on a case-by-case basis, has exceptions in place for low-income and uninsured patients, provides financial assistance to patients who are identified as eligible, and offers payment plans to patients willing to work with the hospital. In recognition of the emotional and financial hardships that many are still facing at this time, we continue to work with those individuals to identify long-term solutions, he said. Ellis Medicine whose anticipated merger with St. Peters has already raised concerns over access to health care services sued 63 patients between March and December of last year. Spokesperson Philip Schwartz said the hospital uses collection litigation sparingly and only in specific and limited situations in which it believes the patient has ability to pay. Litigation is always a last resort, he said. A review of wage garnishment data by CSS found that many patients who are sued by Capital Region hospitals do not work in high-paying positions. The most common employers were health care providers, followed by retailers like Walmart, the group said. Albany Medical Center sued far fewer patients during the pandemic than other area hospitals just 22 as of December 2020, according to the CSS analysis. But the major regional hospital was more likely prior to the pandemic to have sued patients from communities of color than other local hospitals, the analysis found. Any patient with outstanding payments is contacted twice by mail and numerous times by phone before further action is considered," said Matthew Markham, a spokesperson for the hospital. "Funding, of course, is critical to continue providing the services our community expects and deserves. But our mission to care for our patients comes firstwhatever their needs, regardless of their ability to pay." All three hospital systems reported providing millions of dollars in charity care in 2020 to patients who were unable to pay: Albany Med said it gave $23.5 million, St. Peter's said it gave $16.8 million and Ellis said it gave $3.9 million. Charity care Hospitals receive millions of dollars in funds each year from the states Indigent Care Pool program to help pay for care for those who cant afford it. Hospitals are required to provide financial assistance to eligible patients in order to receive the funds, but an analysis by CSS (and other organizations over the years) has found some hospitals routinely take in more than they give out. In 2019, for example, Albany-area hospitals received roughly $24 million in ICP funds but reported spending only $12 million on financial assistance for eligible patients. During the pandemic, hospitals have also received millions of dollars in federal aid to make up for operating losses related to a decline in emergency room visits and non-urgent care delivery. A review of court records has found instances, though, in which hospitals are failing to provide financial assistance on patients bills even though theyre eligible for it. In 2017, a disabled veteran was sued by Samaritan Hospital for over $5,000 after he failed to pay a bill for care provided after a heart attack, according to documents filed in Gloversville City Court. The case was ultimately discontinued after the Legal Aid Society stepped in and argued the man, who was on public assistance, should have been eligible for and received financial assistance. These are charities, and religious charities to boot, Benjamin said, referring to Samaritans Catholic affiliation. You could ask, you know why are they suing patients during a pandemic? But you could also ask, why are they suing patients at all? The analysis by CSS found that the median amounts claimed by hospitals against Albany County residents is $1,955 and the median judgment is $2,190 indicating that court fees and interest accrued are raising the overall cost for patients. Hospitals can charge up to 9 percent interest on unpaid medical bills. Legislation has been proposed that would shrink the amount hospitals can charge in interest on unpaid medical bills. The Patient Medical Debt Protection Act, sponsored by Gustavo Rivera in the Senate and Dick Gottfried in the Assembly, would also institute a number of other changes in New York designed to simplify medical billing and reduce debt. If you add up all these lawsuits together its not going to make a difference for these hospitals bottom line, Benjamin said. But $2,000 is all the difference in the world for a patient. It means not making their rent. It means not having food. It means not buying school clothes. It means selling your car. ADVERTISEMENT Wireless operator, Airtel Africa, whose mobile money business on the continent is currently valued at $2.65 billion on a cash and debt free basis, has entered an equity acquisition pact with The Rise Fund, the global impact investing platform of leading alternative investment firm TPG, in a transaction that will see the latter take ownership of a minority stake in the business. The proceeds from the transaction will be used to reduce Group debt and invest in network and sales infrastructure in the respective operating countries, Airtel Africa said in a note to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday, seen by PREMIUM TIMES. The transaction estimated to be $200 million enables The Rise Fund to part-own Airtel Mobile Commerce BV, the holding company of most of Airtel Africas mobile money operations, which is now looking to own and run the mobile money businesses across all of the telcos fourteen operating countries. The Transaction is the latest step in the Groups pursuit of strategic asset monetization and investment opportunities, and it is the aim of Airtel Africa to explore the potential listing of the mobile money business within four years, Airtel said in the statement signed by Group Company Secretary Simon OHara. The Group is in discussions with other potential investors in relation to possible further minority investments into Airtel Money, up to a total of 25% of the issued share capital of AMC BV. In the third quarter of last year, the African unit of New-Delhi based Bharti Airtel Limited posted revenue of $110 million ($440 million annualised) and an underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $54 million ($216 million annualised) at a margin of 48.7 per cent. It translates to a year-on-year revenue growth of 41.1 per cent for the quarter in constant currency, essentially driven by 29 per cent growth in customer base to 21.5 million. In most of our markets there is limited access to traditional financial institutions, and little banking infrastructure, with less than half of the population having a bank account across sub-Saharan Africa, said CEO Raghunath Mandava. Our markets therefore afford substantial market potential for mobile money services to meet the needs of the tens of millions of customers in Africa who have little or no access to banking and financial services, and this demand is driving growth. Yemi Lalude, partner at TPG, said financial inclusion is a global issue that is most acute in Africa. Through Airtel Money, Airtel Africa has built a unique platform that is closing the gap between traditional financial institutions and the millions of unbanked Africans across the 14 countries where Airtel Africa operates. We look forward to working with Airtel Africa to enhance their mobile money services, broaden its use cases, and grow into new markets. Britain has almost stopped giving out the Pfizer Covid vaccine to new patients so it can save supplies for second doses, official data suggests. The NHS appears to now be rationing the jab, which was used to kick off the rollout in December, and only used it for one in 10 new patients in the first week of March. In January, when AstraZeneca's vaccine first got approved, Pfizer's still accounted for three quarters of all first doses but this fell to just nine per cent in the first week of March, when only 200,000 new patients were given it. MailOnline understands deliveries of the Belgian-made jab will be smaller from April because of a planned reduction and there is also a risk the EU will try to rescue its shambolic roll-out and try to block shipments from reaching the UK. Ministers must be careful with the supply they do get because they're already over halfway through supplies planned up to June - and they owe around 10m people a second dose. The Department of Health said everyone will get their second doses within 12 weeks as planned. Both the Department and Pfizer declined to comment on the delivery schedule but insist there is no problem with supplies, amid reports on social media of Britons being told there is a shortage. AstraZeneca's vaccine, which is available in much larger quantities, is now taking over as the country's staple vaccine as medics rattle through the priority lists. But a hiccup in supplies of that because of a blocked shipment of 5million doses from India - combined with a need to reserve Pfizer stocks - means the number of people getting first doses will be 'significantly constrained' in April, the NHS has warned. This means millions of people in their 40s will likely have to wait until at least May to get their first doses. But Whitehall insiders are still hopeful that some will get jabs ahead of schedule, amid claims under-50s would be invited by Easter. It came as Britain's Covid vaccine drive hit a record high today after 660,276 doses were dished out in 24 hours, official figures revealed. Latest Department of Health data shows 528,260 first doses were administered on Thursday, on top of another 132,016 second shots. Some 26.2million Britons have now received their first dose, the equivalent of half the adult population in Britain, and 2m have received both injections. Statistics from the MHRA show that while 78 per cent of all first doses were Pfizer jabs between December 8 and January 24, this split reversed between February 7 and March 7 so that it only accounted for 34 per cent. Just nine per cent of all first doses in the week to March 7 (200,000) were supplied by Pfizer Britain's Covid vaccine drive hit a record high today after 660,276 doses were dished out in 24 hours, official figures revealed Figures in the MHRA's Yellow Card reports, which record people's reactions to the vaccines, show that the proportion of first jabs that are Pfizer's has tumbled. While 78 per cent of all first doses were Pfizer jabs between December 8 and January 24, this split reversed between February 7 and March 7 so that it only accounted for 34 per cent. The vaccine was used for 1.2million first doses between December 8 and January 4 before Oxford's got approval. AstraZeneca's came into use on January 4 but by January 24, Pfizer's still accounted for 78 per cent of all first doses - 5.4m out of a total 6.9m. Come February, when AstraZeneca's was being churned out at a rate of 2million per week, the proportion of new patients who were getting Pfizer's jab started to come down but it remained a mainstay of the rollout. It had accounted for 60 per cent by February 7, when AstraZeneca started to gain ground. Weekly data available from early February shows the proportion of weekly first-dose vaccines that were Pfizer ranged between 30 and 50 per cent in February. But it then plummeted to just nine per cent in the first week of March, when only 200,000 people out of 2.2million were given the Pfizer jab. In that most recent week the number of second doses was about equal to the number of first doses, suggesting a pivot in the way the jab is being used. A Department of Health spokesperson said: 'Vaccines will save thousands of lives and reduce hospitalisations and any vaccine approved by the MHRA is proven to be both safe, and effective. Supply figures for the vaccines were always expected to dip in April and May, according to projections published by the Scottish Government in January before the UK had struck a deal for 10million doses from India. Therefore, the India delivery delay is believed to be separate from these figures 'Health services across the UK are working tirelessly to vaccinate those most at risk and more than 25million people have already received their first jab. 'We remain on track to offer a first vaccine to over 50s by 15 April and all adults by 31 July.' The MHRA statistics add to evidence that Britain is phasing out the Pfizer vaccine ahead of an expected drop in deliveries in April. MailOnline understands ministers are preparing to receive smaller batches of Pfizer's vaccine from April and leaked files from Scotland's delivery schedule suggest a reduced supply from the end of March was planned months ago. This means the Pfizer doses the Government can get its hands on will have to be reserved for the people who have had their first dose and been promised a second one. Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at Reading University, told MailOnline: 'We may be getting to the point where they basically stop giving it out as a first dose.' And James Lawson, of the Adam Smith Institute think-tank, said there appears to be a 'very worrying gap' between the number of people vaccinated already and the speed that second dose supplies are coming. Officials factor second doses into their delivery patterns, with supplies reserved for Britons due a top-up jab. But one-for-one stockpiles are not kept on British soil they are managed on a 'rolling basis'. But the plans for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine have been hit as well this week, with a shipment due to arrive from India being suspended. Matt Hancock yesterday admitted a delayed shipment from the Serum Institute of India was a key factor in shortages that will slow the campaign down next month, meaning millions of over-40s will have to wait until May to get their first dose. British ministers have denied that the blame for the delay lays at the feet of the Indian government in New Delhi. But the boss of the Serum Institute, Adar Poonawalla, yesterday said no further doses would be sent to Britain until the Indian Government gave the go ahead. He also said there was no shortage and claimed it had never made a deal to supply the full 10million doses within any given time frame. Whitehall sources said there was a constructive dialogue under way to work through issues with counterparts in India. New Delhi, March 19 : Reiterating the demand of including sexual assault on animals as cognisable offence in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1990, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has again appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Giriraj Singh to pay attention to their appeal made in February. This comes in the backdrop of arrest of a man for allegedly raping a dog in Mumbai earlier this month, the animal rights organisation said. The Group also emphasised on the need for stronger penalties for cruelty to animals. PETA India has been campaigning to strengthen the PCA Act, 1960 and demanding to including sexual assault as cognisable offence under which a police officer has the authority to make an arrest without a warrant and to start an investigation with or without the permission of a court. It includes heinous crimes. It had first made this appeal in 2018 to the Environment Ministry in the wake of reports that eight men allegedly gang-raped and killed a pregnant goat in the town of Mewat in Nuh district in Haryana, leading to arrests. In 2019, following complaints filed with local police by a local animal rights activist and PETA India, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against a man for allegedly raping a female stray dog in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. The year before, a complaint by PETA India and another local animal rights activist led to an FIR being filed against a man for allegedly raping a female stray dog in Jaipur. In 2016, PETA India called for the arrest of Vellore medical students who, according to eyewitnesses, used a blanket to catch a female bonnet macaque and tied her by the hands, legs, and neck. They also thrashed her with sticks and belts, impaled her with a sharp object, broke her legs and jaw, raped her with a rod, and killed her. These are just a few examples. "Violent people often start by abusing animals and then move on to targeting human victims. Therefore, these cases of sexual abuse of animals should worry everyone," said PETA India Associate Manager of Emergency Response Team Meet Ashar. "PETA India calls for anyone found harming animals to be punished to the fullest extent of the law and requests that penalties for abusing animals be strengthened - for the entire community's safety." Acts of cruelty to animals indicate a deep mental disturbance. Research in psychology and criminology shows that people who commit acts of cruelty to animals often don't stop there - many move on to hurting humans. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has found that a history of cruelty to animals is one of the traits that regularly appear in its records of serial rapists and murderers. Examples of such individuals include Ameerul Islam, who used to rape and kill dogs and goats before he was sentenced to death for raping and murdering law student Jisha in Kerala, PETA said. Convicted criminal Joseph Bateson of Northern Ireland - who allegedly sexually assaulted farmed animals - was found guilty of 17 counts of gross indecency with a child and of indecent assault after he sexually abused a 6-year-old boy. American criminal Jerry Cook was convicted of cruelty to animals and assault and battery following an incident in which he raped a dog - fatally injuring her in the process - and attacked the owner of a home he was burgling. Cook's history of violence began nearly two decades earlier, when he was convicted of the first-degree rape of a human. Previously, PETA India had requested that the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Law and Justice retain the criminalisation of bestiality - the sexual assault of an animal by a human being - under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code while amending the wording to decriminalise sexual acts between same-sex human partners and between other consenting adults. That wording has been retained. Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Grocery store workers, restaurant employees and others can start registering for COVID-19 vaccination in Kent County, no matter their age, to potentially receive an early shot. Kent County Health Department Director Adam London said Friday, March 19, his department is encouraging people age 16 and older to start registering for vaccination if theyre in the following industries: critical manufacturing, mass transit, grocery stores and food and agriculture, including restaurants. He said utility workers and others who work in critical infrastructure, postal workers and civil service employees can also register. If youre in one of those occupations, we want you to preregister, London said Friday. And what well do, if vaccine is available, were going to call for appointments, perhaps early, for those groups. A one-stop-shop for registration in West Michigan can be found at this web page: https://vaccinatewestmi.com/register/. Most of those workers arent yet included in the states latest eligibility phase for vaccination. Some municipalities have expanded eligibility before the state. For example, Detroit officials did for food service workers in February. The Grand Rapids Service Industry Workers Coalition has been petitioning the county, like Detroit, to extend vaccine eligibility to food service workers to protect employees and customers as establishments have reopened and increased indoor capacities. Vaccination of service industry workers ensures the safety of both the worker and the customer. By this simple action you will be protecting a vast majority of the residents of the Kent County, the petition states. Workers and customers alike will be able to go out to eat and socialize again with the confidence that those on both sides of the counter are safe and healthy. Keep us safe! A copy of the petition can be found here. Related: As coronavirus cases rise again, Kent County health director urges people to keep guard up London said health workers will continue to prioritize vaccines based on vulnerability and eligibility, but they may call on registered people in the outlined occupations to fill vacant vaccine appointments. We are prioritizing based on vulnerability and based on eligibility, London said, but we do want to make sure that were using all of our vaccine every week, and sometimes that means were going to call from these other groups that may not officially be eligible yet. We need to fill those appointments, so please preregister. The announcement comes just days before Kent County, and all other communities across the state, begin to move into Michigans latest eligibility phase on Monday, March 22. The new eligibility phase includes anyone age 50 and older, as well as those 16 and older who have preexisting conditions such as cancer and diabetes, are overweight, smokers or have other conditions. Currently, statewide vaccination eligibility is only for healthcare workers, staff and residents at long-term care facilities, essential workers, first responders, residents who are age 65 or older, and residents who are age 50 to 64 with preexisting conditions. Read more: Some 16 and older will soon be eligible for vaccination; heres how to register in Kent County Michigan restaurant open, packed after owners arrest over coronavirus restrictions Michigan increases stadium capacity, requires more COVID-19 testing for high school sports Tanzania's new President Samia Suluhu Hassan takes oath of office following the death of her predecessor John Pombe Magufuli at State House in Dar es Salaam NAIROBI (Reuters) - Tanzania's new President Samia Suluhu Hassan said on Friday the country should unite and avoid pointing fingers after the death of John Magufuli, her COVID-19 sceptic predecessor, urging the east African country to look forward with hope and confidence. Wearing a red hijab, she took her oath of office on the Koran in a ceremony at State House in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam. She is the first female head of state in the country of 58 million. Vice president since 2015, Hassan gave a brief and sombre address after she was sworn in, addressing a heavily male crowd that included two former presidents and uniformed officers. "This is a time to bury our differences, and be one as a nation," she said. "This is not a time for finger pointing, but it is a time to hold hands and move forward together." The remarks appeared aimed at dispelling a national mood of uncertainty that developed after Magufuli, criticised by opponents as a divisive and authoritarian figure, disappeared from public view for 18 days before his death was announced. His absence from national life drew speculation he was critically ill with COVID-19. Magufuli died of heart disease, Hassan said when announcing his death on Wedneday. Among the first challenges facing Hassan, 61, will be a decision on whether to procure COVID-19 vaccines. Under her predecessor, the government said it would not obtain any vaccines until the country's own experts had reviewed them. World Health Organisation (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted congratulations to Hassan and said he looked forward to working with her to keep people safe from COVID-19. Tanzania stopped reporting coronavirus data in May last year, frustrating the WHO. Hassan will also have the task of healing a country polarized during the Magufuli years, analysts said. She may face challenges building a political base to govern, given competing factions in her ruling party jostling for primacy after Magufuli centralised power around himself, analysts say. Story continues Tanzania's main opposition leader Tundu Lissu, living in exile in Belgium, said without providing evidence that Magufuli had died of COVID-19, and called his death a cautionary tale. Lissu cited medical, diplomatic, and security sources in Tanzania and Kenya for his information. "Populism can be very dangerous ... when it is anti-science," he told Reuters in an interview, pointing to other world leaders who have played down the virus, such as Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro and former U.S. President Donald Trump. The opposition leader, who lost last years election to Magufuli, survived an attack by unknown gunmen in Tanzania's administrative capital Dodoma in 2017 and underwent treatment in Belgium where he went into exile. 'MY MENTOR' Government spokesman Hassan Abbasi did not immediately respond to a phone call and text message seeking comment on Lissu's remarks. Described as a soft-spoken consensus-builder, Hassan will be the first president born in Zanzibar, the archipelago that forms part of the union of the Republic of Tanzania. Her leadership style is seen as a potential contrast from Magufuli, a brash populist who earned the nickname 'Bulldozer' for muscling through policies and who drew criticism for his intolerance of dissent, which his government denied. She praised the late leader in her remarks, describing him as her mentor, but also thanked the opposition for their "wishes of strength, comfort and solidarity" after Magufuli's death. She later visited Magufuli's widow Janet. Lawyer Fatma Karume said Hassan's remarks suggested she was taking pains to sound conciliatory and not to isolate Magufuli's supporters. Elsie Eyakuze, a columnist and consultant, said Hassan's inauguration made many Tanzanians happy. "This is just not some kind of token appointment. Shes a competent woman, shes been working for four decades in a public capacity," she said. Rights groups say Magufuli's six-year-rule was marred by arbitrary arrests, suspension of critical television and radio stations and the blocking of social media and other abuses. DaMina Advisors, a political risk advisory firm, predicted the new president was likely to make a public U-turn on her predecessor's policy of COVID-19 denial and his generally negative attitudes toward foreign investors. (Reporting by Nairobi newsroom; writing by Elias Biryabarema and Maggie Fick; Additional reporting by Robin Emmott in Brussels; editing by William Maclean) 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 21-year-old driver was charged this week after authorities alleged his excessive speeding caused a crash in Voorhees last year that left a woman dead, local police and the Camden County Prosecutors Office announced Thursday in a joint statement. Ryan Aspinall, of Voorhees, was charged Monday with one count of second-degree death by auto and turned himself in to police on Wednesday, authorities said. Officers responded to the wreck near the intersection of Evesham Road and Acadia Drive around 3 p.m. on Nov. 16 and found the driver of Chevy Malibu, Rita Mohr, 62, of Clementon, had been seriously injured, police said. She was rushed to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. An investigation determined that Aspinall, who was driving an Acura RDX, was traveling down Evesham Road and struck the Malibu driven by Mohr as she was pulling out a parking lot onto the road, the office said. Witnesses told officers they saw Aspinall driving recklessly shortly before the crash and an investigation backed up their claims, officials said. After turning himself in, Aspinall was processed on a summons and released under certain conditions pending further court proceedings, the office 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. Zurich Insurance Group created a new business unit designed to help customers address evolving risks. The global business unit, Zurich Resilience Solutions, is designed to provide services that help compliment traditional insurance products and make a customers business more resilience. Offerings from the unit combine risk advisory services and insights with the latest technology and tools, leveraging data and analytics and also third-party collaborations. Our people, and in particular our more than 750 risk engineers, work with customers day in, day out, and have intimate knowledge of how they operate their businesses, Hanno Mijer, the newly appointed global head of Zurich Resilience Solutions, said in prepared remarks. With Zurich Resilience Solutions, we want to leverage [our] wealth of experience, along with insights from rich pools of data and digital capabilities, for the benefit of our customers. Mijer has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry and brings to the role extensive knowledge and skill in growing businesses and expanding their offerings, as well international consultancy experience, Zurich noted. Mijer joined Zurich in 2007 and most recently served as CEO of Zurichs Cover-More Group. Mijer reports to Sierra Signorelli, CEO Commercial Insurance, and is based in Zurich. Zurich Resilience Solutions has already launched a range of services, including Climate Change Resilience Services, Zurich Cyber Security Services and Supply Chain Risk Management Services and will continue to focus on building new capabilities. The insurer said it plans to further invest in expertise, as well as proprietary services and external collaborations to provide customers with differentiated products and services to help mitigate current and future risks. Source: Zurich Insurance This article first was published in Insurance Journals sister publication, Carrier Management. Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance (Alliance News) - Carnival PLC on Friday announced details of its series of short breaks and week-long cruises around the UK coast in summer as it works around international travel restrictions. The cruise ship operator said there will be cruises aboard MedallionClass ships, Regal Princess and Sky Princess, scheduled to sail from Southampton around the UK coast from late summer. "While international travel remains uncertain, these new cruises mean that UK residents can take a well-deserved holiday around the UK. We are also delighted that our new cruises will offer the choice between scenic voyages and port-of-call itineraries where guests can visit the historic UK cities of Liverpool, Belfast and Glasgow," Carnival said. Carnival was down 2.4% at 1,692.00 pence each in London on Friday. By Greg Roxburgh; gregroxburgh@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Asdas boss has announced plans to step down just weeks after the supermarkets debt fuelled 6.8billion takeover. Roger Burnley, who took charge in 2018, has told the business new owners that he plans to move on. The departure was amicable and he will stay in the job until a successor is found. Stepping down: Asda boss Roger Burnley, who took charge in 2018, has told the business new owners that he plans to move on But it puts further pressure on the Issa brothers and London private equity firm TDR Capital who took on 3.5billion of debt to fund the acquisition of Asda from Walmart last year. Burnley is highly regarded in the industry and spent time at Sainsburys as a director before moving to Asda. Under his tenure, Asda boosted its online sales performance but remains the countrys third largest supermarket, behind Sainsburys and Tesco. His achievements, however, were overshadowed by constant speculation about Asdas future ownership. In 2018, Walmart struck a 15billion deal to merge Asda with Sainsburys, sparking a year-long effort to get the tie-up past the competition watchdogs. His departure gives the new owners the chance to appoint a replacement and it is understood the recruitment process is already under way. Mohsin and Zuber Issa, built their firm EG Group into one of the worlds largest petrol station operators, from a single filling station in Bury, Manchester. They have wasted no time in making changes and last month they announced they would sell Asdas petrol stations to their own EG Group in order to streamline the supermarket. They have also registered offshore companies in Jersey to manage Asda finances and pledged to invest 1billion over three years. In January the billionaire brothers hired the former Marks & Spencer boss Stuart Rose to chair their EG Group business. The appointment was a boost to EGs corporate credentials and its expansion ambitions. In February, Dame Alison Carnwath was then installed on EG Groups board as the head of the audit committee. Asda is one of the UKs biggest private sector employers, with more than 146,000 staff and 600 supermarkets. Burnley said: My decision to leave Asda is personal and something I wanted to communicate to my colleagues as soon as I could. Whilst I remain fully committed to leading this great business for the next year and delivering our strategy, it is right to plan for a managed succession process well in advance. The Issas and TDR Capital jointly said: Roger and his team have protected and enhanced an exceptionally resilient business which we are proud to own. 'We are acutely aware of the responsibility we have in ensuring this great British brand continues to thrive for years to come. Flash The relationship between China and the United States could be repaired, but that would require both sides to take courage and demonstrate foresight, Chinese Consul General in Los Angeles Zhang Ping said. Zhang made the remarks on Wednesday during an online keynote speech entitled "A New Year, A New Vision: China & U.S. Relations" at the President's Lecture Series of San Diego State University. In his speech, Zhang noted that the China-U.S. relationship reached a new crossroad after last year's difficult times, during which both countries were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the hard-won achievements of China-U.S. relations were fanatically eroded by "political virus." Despite the challenges, Zhang stressed China still hoped the relationship could return to "a predictable and constructive track of development," saying the two countries could build a model of interaction that focuses on peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. Zhang stressed the need to properly manage the China-U.S. relationship. "We need to have a correct understanding of each other's strategic intentions, prevent strategic miscalculation and avoid conflict or confrontation," he said. China will stick to the path of peaceful development and work with the United States in the spirit of no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, Zhang said. Yet he stressed that China would stand firm in defending its sovereignty, security and development interests. He called on both sides to understand the meaning of competition, reject a Cold-War mindset and zero-sum mentality, manage differences properly and build a mutually beneficial relationship of win-win cooperation. "China and the U.S. may have competition, but do not have to be adversaries," Zhang said, adding that the two countries can work together to address urgent issues like a response to COVID-19, global economic recovery, climate change, as well as international and regional hotspot issues. "We need to discard ideological prejudice and uphold the principles of mutual respect and non-interference and properly handle those sensitive issues in the bilateral relations," he noted. Emphasizing China's consistent policy of not interfering in other countries' internal affairs, Zhang called on the U.S. side to respect China's core interests, national dignity and the right to development. He urged Washington to cautiously handle the issues that involve China's sovereignty and territorial integrity such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet. Zhang also commended sub-national cooperation and people-to-people exchanges that have constituted an important part of bilateral relations. "We have every reason to believe no matter what challenges the bilateral relations may come across, so long as we have the support of our two peoples, the China-U.S. relationship will have a bright future," Zhang said. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The Donation and Transplantation Institute (DTI) and Immersium Studio, a UOC spin-off, have developed virtual reality experiences that can be used to train health professionals in the area of organ and tissue donation and transplantation. The contents include interviews with relatives of donors and a visit to a hospital to learn about the practices implemented in the Spanish organ and tissue donation and transplantation model. In fact, Spain is currently the world leader in this field and, according to data from the Ministry of Health, accounted for 20% of EU donors and 6% of the world's donors in 2019. Family Approach VR has been the first activity developed, with health professionals from 24 countries participating so far. The experience allows students to perfect the skills required to manage interviews with bereaved family members who may become organ donors. The professionals practise techniques including giving bad news and managing consent for organ and tissue donation. With this virtual reality experience, making decisions has direct consequences that change how the learning experience is given." Luis Villarejo, Immersium Studio's CEO Each student lives a personalized experience that is produced by their decisions, and which may or may not conclude with getting the family's consent for the donation. The situations with which they interact seek to be realistic, using recreations of real cases with professional actors. "The experience offers users constant feedback on their actions, explaining what they did right or wrong, so that they can perfect their knowledge and make corrections, if necessary," added Villarejo. In addition, according to its creators, thanks to this virtual experience, professionals learn how to support a family in coping with the loss of a loved one. Health care professionals from eight leading Spanish hospitals have taken part in this training activity. According to Francisco Muela, transplant coordinator nurse at Barcelona's Hospital Clinic, it is "an opportunity to make contact more real than the role playing we do among team members when we have never given bad news before and we join the Transplant Coordination service". Muela stressed that learning with virtual reality, with the possibility of choosing between different options, helps to "rethink the situation better before rushing in, keeping calm and planning more carefully the strategy for approaching relatives". In addition, the nurse underscored that since the experience is personalized, "it makes it easier to experiment and learn from your mistakes". For Dr Chloe Balleste, DTI's Director of Development and International Cooperation, learning from experience and one's own mistakes provides a way of "learning without upsetting real people, who are already going through a very difficult time". Balleste highlighted that the technology is not simply complementary to traditional training but immerses health professionals in an "individualized live experience that is very difficult to replicate with face-to-face trainers, because of the time needed and the teaching staff it would require". In addition, online training with virtual reality allows it to be done from anywhere in the world, which has meant that the course "has been approached from a universal perspective, so that it can be used profitably by any professional in any country, although we intend to customize it in the future for each location that requires it, adapting to different donation and transplantation models," she said. "The immersive training technique also enables us to organize a visit to a virtual hospital so that participants can understand how it works and how it is organized, without having to travel," she added. Family Approach VR uses voice-based interaction and role changing - users go from being critical care physicians to transplant coordinators - with dramatic shifts in the direction taken by the experience, depending on whether the student makes the right or wrong decisions. The training includes a self-assessment and monitoring system used by the trainers and by the students themselves that lets them see where they are in the learning process. The Spanish model as a reference for organ and tissue donation and transplantation DTI and Immersium Studio have developed a second experience to learn from the Spanish model's best practices in organ and tissue donation and transplantation. The TPM Journey is a virtual visit to a simulated tertiary hospital that allows students to learn from the best practices integrated in the Spanish donation and transplantation model. The core role is the transplant coordinator, who accompanies the user through the hospital's different departments and services, including case follow-up. In each department, students are received by the management staff, who explain what their work consists of. The departments involved include the transplant coordination office, the emergency room, intensive care units, the immunology laboratory, the departments that deal with each of the solid transplantable organs, a tissue donation centre, and the medical director, among other areas. Learning is enriched with the presentation of a number of case studies that students must solve. Thus, TPM Journey takes in all the medical, technical, legal and financial aspects that arise during the donation and transplantation process. As in the previous training activity, it includes immersive interaction, self-assessment and monitoring methods. This experience not only evaluates the knowledge acquired but also how much more the professional wants to know. "The ambition to increase the level of knowledge is sown by putting users in situations in which they are asked questions that they can successfully answer if they have the necessary basic knowledge," explained Villarejo. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 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! Flash Another 6,303 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,280,882, according to official figures released Thursday. The country also reported another 95 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 125,926. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test. More than 25.7 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures. Earlier Thursday, Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) confirmed that the benefits of the vaccine in preventing COVID-19 far outweigh the risks, calling on people to continue to receive the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The statement came after a growing number of countries in the European Union suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precautionary measure, based on reports of blood clots in persons who had received the vaccine. The MHRA said that it made the conclusion after having a detailed review of report cases as well as data from hospital admissions and GP (general practitioner) records. This has been confirmed by the British government's independent advisory group, the Commission on Human Medicines, whose expert scientists and clinicians have also reviewed the available data, said the regulator. Meanwhile, the European Union's medicines agency, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), announced in Amsterdam on Thursday that the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is "safe and effective" to use following an investigation into reports of blood clots in a small number of recipients. The EMA said the benefits outweigh the risks and the vaccine is not linked to an "overall risk" of blood clots. 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. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut has been refused classification in Australia ahead of its planned release on March 30. The Australian Government's classification board said the title was handed a RC (refused classification) rating because it references "matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena." "The computer game is classified RC in accordance with the National Classification Code, Computer Games Table, 1. (a) as computer games that 'depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified,'" wrote the notoriously strict regulator. The Final Cut is an expanded version of Disco Elysium that features English voice acting, new quests, fresh animations, and additional characters. In the words of developer ZA/UM, the choice-oriented RPG lets players "become a hero or an absolute disaster of a human being," building its narrative around a plot with its fair share of crime, violence, and substance abuse. The RC rating means the title cannot be sold in Australia as it stands, meaning ZA/UM will have to make some tweaks if it wants to launch in the region. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The organizers of Locality Bank IO, a digital-first community bank in organization, has filed applications with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for a charter and deposit insurance, and with the State of Florida for a bank charter. Once regulatory approval is received, the group looks forward to opening its home office in Fort Lauderdale to serve the South Florida business community. "Especially during the pandemic, we realized there were not enough community banks in South Florida and now we want to launch one that will be atypical," said Keith Costello, CEO of Locality Bank IO. "Our goal is to provide local businesses with the best of what a traditional community bank can offer while differentiating with cutting edge technology." Locality Bank IO will empower small and medium-sized businesses to maximize their potential by being a relationship-based, multi-channel, comprehensive business resource. Technology and design will be a focal point of the mission to create a friendly and efficient user experience- one that promotes better control of business finances and facilitates more significant revenue opportunities for the businesses that choose Locality Bank IO. "The challenges faced by local businesses today are incredibly complex," said Corey LeBlanc, COO/CTO Locality Bank IO. "We are creating an environment that helps remove the burden of banking for our customers and allows them to do more of what they love, running their businesses. In accomplishing this mission, the bank will be contributing to job creation and help fuel economic growth while building a better future in the communities it serves." To stay up to date on the launch of Locality Bank IO in Fort Lauderdale, Florida visit https://www.localitybank.com. About Locality Bank IO Locality Bank IO is a digital-first community bank in organization that will be based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The bank will serve small to medium sized businesses by offering the traditional services of a community bank as well as user friendly, cutting edge technology. To learn more, contact Locality Bank IO at https://www.localitybank.com or via email at [email protected]. CONTACT: Aimee Adler 561-302-6902 or [email protected] SOURCE Locality Bank IO Erin Molan has been accused of laughing at an 'objectively racist' joke made by Paul 'Fatty' Vautin on the Footy Show during a court case where she is suing Daily Mail Australia for defamation. Molan has alleged that the Daily Mail defamed her by allegedly portraying her as racist, callous and arrogant in an article and tweets about her saying 'hooka looka mooka hooka fooka' on Radio 2GB last June. In its defence, the Mail has alleged that the meanings are substantially true except one and that her conduct on air was 'objectively racist'. Federal Court Justice Robert Bromwich on Friday heard lawyers argue about whether Molan should answer specific written questions ahead of a trial expected later this year. One set of questions proposed by the Mail is about a June 1, 2017 episode of The Footy Show, according to a document tendered in court. During that episode, an Indigenous member of the audience won $6,600 during a segment called 'Pass for Pesos', an affidavit by solicitor Paul Svilans said. After the man won, the host Paul 'Fatty Vautin' told him: 'All your relations in Cairns just went 'how good, wait until he gets back, we're having a drink,' the court heard. The man won $6,600 in a segment called 'Pass for Pesos' with Paul 'Fatty' Vautin wearing a sombrero and exaggerated moustache 'After the making of the Vautin comments, the Indigenous man looked in silence at Mr Vautin,' Mr Svilans alleged in the court document. The document went on to allege that the comment was 'objectively racist, mocked or stereotyped Indigenous persons' and was likely 'offensive.' Molan 'laughed' after Vautin's comments were made, allegedly signalling she approved or tolerated them, Mr Svilans' affidavit said. Barrister Matthew Richardson for Daily Mail Australia said the questions about the on-air moment were necessary and should be answered before the case goes to trial. It was important to know if Molan had said 'no, this shouldn't have happened' or had raised a complaint about what happened at the time. 'In my submission that is a highly relevant piece of information that we would want to know,' Mr Richardson said. 'Equally if the position is she made no complaint Your Honour, that is something it would be useful to know prior to cross examination and prior to trial.' According to court documents, the Indigenous man 'looked in silence at Mr Vautin' following the remark, and Molan laughed afterwards Erin Molan is suing Daily Mail Australia claiming an article about her saying 'hooka looka mooka hooka' on Radio 2GB allegedly portrayed her as racist. The Mail is defending the lawsuit But Molan's counsel Lyndelle Barnett said the 'only conduct' her client was accused of was 'apparently laughing' during the show. Molan's job, Ms Barnett said, was to 'relate' to other commentators and was in the context of a show put forward with a 'degree of humour'. 'It is an incredibly weak position to say that the applicant is racist merely because she laughed at a comment by someone else. 'She's not making the comment herself.' In response, Mr Richardson said: 'What my learned friend says is her job is to laugh, she didn't say the remark and therefore she's not responsible 'Well your honour, our submission is that when these accents and obnoxious racial stereotyping occurs and the applicant either laughs or says things like 'oh is that racist' - that she's complicit, that's the case we make Your Honour.' Molan's lawyer Ms Barnett said laughter can come from 'uncomfortableness at something that was said that shouldn't have been'. Justice Bromwich said the video would be broadcast before him. Generally speaking, he said laughter could be 'anything from laughing at something completely unrelated to a wholehearted endorsement of the comment being made.' 'I don't know where it's going to fall'. Molan is expected to be cross-examined at trial. Justice Bromwich has reserved his decision about the written questions until next week. Gregory Haydel, an avid outdoorsman, has completed his new book Millions on the Bayou": a riveting tale that examines the Cajun culture that is unfamiliar to many and the illegal trade of drugs and all the prosperity and tragedy that comes along with it. Haydel writes, "This story that I have written is about the events of a drug deal of heroin that started in South Africa and what happens after the drugs make its way to south Louisiana. The storyteller in this novel is a Louisiana man that is born and raised in the southern region of Louisiana and is called a Cajun. Cajuns are hardworking, fun loving, and family-oriented people. The beliefs of Cajuns are simple, love of God, country, family, and friends. To give your life for any of these is considered an honor. Published by Page Publishing, Gregory Haydels gripping work is the second novel in his plan to publish multiple works to pass along his creative imagination for readers to enjoy. The characters in this story are many with each one a story in itself. The author has written each chapter to give insight on what happens when events beyond the characters control interfere with normal lives of normal people and cause consequences that will change the future of many in this story. Readers who wish to experience this suspenseful book can purchase Millions on the Bayou" 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. A Government move to direct the commissioning of abortion services in Northern Ireland would have serious consequences for the future operation of devolution, the DUP has warned. The Government is set to take legislative action at Westminster next week to give Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis the powers to force Stormonts Department of Health to roll out abortion services across the region. The DUPs Westminster leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the action would undermine the devolution settlement at Stormont and create a dangerous precedent for future governance in Northern Ireland. I think that is a breach of the devolution settlement and it has serious consequences for the future operation of devolution in Northern Ireland and I think we all need to consider carefully what that means, he said. The move by the Government comes ahead of a forthcoming legal challenge by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission over the ongoing failure to commission services. Abortion laws in the region were liberalised by MPs at Westminster in 2019 at a time when powersharing was collapsed. New regulations came into operation a year ago and while individual health trusts are offering services on an ad hoc basis, the Department of Health has yet to centrally commission the services on a region-wide basis. In the absence of fully commissioned services being available, women from Northern Ireland are still travelling to England to access abortions. Amid an ongoing stand-off within the Stormont Executive on the issue, Mr Lewis is set to act, by way of regulation at Westminster, to direct the department to commission the services. Sir Jeffrey and DUP leader Arlene Foster met with Mr Lewis on Thursday to voice objection, and they have vowed to vigorously oppose the move. Sir Jeffrey told BBC Radio Ulster: In the first instance we will of course oppose these regulations because we think it is wrong for Westminster to go over the head of a fully functioning Executive and Assembly. It represents a fundamental breach of the devolution settlement, we will engage with the other political parties to see how we respond to this but we are very clear we will need to consider carefully what this means for the future operation of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland. Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann has made clear that he will not commission the services without the approval of the wider five-party coalition Executive. However, the issue has yet to be brought forward for consideration by the Executive due to an impasse between the two main parties Sinn Fein and the DUP. Under Stormont rules, controversial decisions in Northern Ireland must be considered by the wider administration and cannot be taken solely by individual departments. Mr Swann has said a decision taken without Executive approval would not withstand a legal challenge. Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann has made clear he will not commission abortion services without the approval of the wider coalition Executive (Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye/PA) Both the DUP and Sinn Fein need to agree for any policy proposal to be placed on the agenda of the Executive. Sinn Fein, which backs the introduction of the services, has accused the anti-abortion DUP of blocking consideration of the issue. Sinn Fein minister Deirdre Hargey attempted to bring her own paper to the Executive this week in a bid to get services commissioned. However, the paper again did not get on the agenda of the meeting. Ms Hargey said it would be regrettable if Mr Lewis has to intervene. She told Radio Ulster: I think its unfortunate and unnecessary when we have our ministers here and an Executive and really commissioning these services should be done locally. I think theres consistent blockages at the Executive and its certainly not coming from Sinn Fein and from some of other parties. We are in support of the commissioning of the services, its been long overdue. Its quite obvious that if that doesnt happen then the British Secretary of State is going to take on powers in order to do that. [March 19, 2021] American Searches for COVID-19 Vaccination Points Increased by 1,900% NEW YORK, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- American COVID-19 vaccinations are being accelerated by the Government, which is distributing doses directly to U.S. retail pharmacies. NordVPN Teams has observed Americans are becoming increasingly anxious to get their jab with Google searches for the vaccine growing by 1,900% since January. The U.S. pharmacy chain Walgreens has received 1 million additional COVID-19 vaccine doses over the last week. The retailer has already offered vaccinations in 27 states with this additional batch ensuring they can offer the same service in a further 16. Walgreens began in-store vaccination in February and has been distributing them via Walmart, CVS Health, and Rite Aid since December. According to Google Trends, together with searches for where to get the COVID-19 vaccine, keywords 'Walgreens vaccine appointment' rose by 7,000% in popularity since the beginning of the year, and 'Walmart COVID vaccine' also saw a +2,100% increase. The comparison of all three search terms demonstrates that the American people are prioritizing Walmart pharmacies over traditional pharmacies and healthcare institutions to get their COVID-19 jab. The query is six-times more popular than general inquiries about vaccination appointments and four times as frequent as Walgreens. Mass vaccination will accelerate phishing campaigns Although a by-product of positive news, increasing online traffic is becoming a cybersecurity risk. According to a report by Verizon, people are now three times more vulnerable to COVID-related phishing scams the number of reported cases has increased by 667% since the pandemic began. We should take extra care online as cybercriminals are looking to take advantage of opportunities that are presented as a result of the mass vaccination campaign as well. "Cybercriminals will target sensitive data by impersonating healthcare institutions or pharmacies, and Americans eager to be vaccinated, could willingly disclose these very personal details. This demonstrates how phishing is a major concern today with these types of opportunistic targets," says Juta Gurinaviciute, the Chief Technology Officer at NordVPN Teams. The general public is also falling victim to profit-seeking cybercriminals who are falsely advertising vaccine availability online an obvious scam that Americans should be more aware of. This is despite COVID-19 vaccines being commercially unavailable and distributed with government approval only. Those already vaccinated should also be cautious. The FBI recently warned against posting CDC vaccination cards on social media, due to a rise in reports of identity theft and fraud. To encourage others to get the jab, people should instead look at other ways to show support update their profile picture on social media with a sticker for example or speaking directly to their peers instead, without the need for sharing personal details publicly. Healthcare institutions responsible for legitimate vaccinations should also consider further security measures to protect patient data, given the level of threat that cyber criminals currently pose. Contact Details: Auste Valikonyte NordVPN Teams | Public Relations auste@nordvpnteams.com nordvpnteams.com Related Images image-unsplash.jpg Image: Unsplash View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-searches-for-covid-19-vaccination-points-increased-by-1-900-301251205.html SOURCE NordVPN Teams [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 In the Atlanta shooting, the suspects claims of sex addiction, meanwhile, ring hollow for some. It is not a condition recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, said David Ley, a clinical psychologist and author of The Myth of Sex Addiction. And while it was cited by celebrities for a time, the Harvey Weinstein case became an emblem of how it can be used as an attempt to avoid taking responsibility for abuse and assault, he said. The spokeswoman said there was no route to complain directly to the Building Commissioner about defects but encouraged complaints to Fair Trading and said it could take action if breaches had occurred. Work continues around the project on Gerbera Place, Kellyville. Credit:Rhett Wyman Ms Behrouz, an engineer, squirrelled away her pay cheques and by 2017 put down a 10 percent deposit on an off-the-plan unit in the $52 million Peony Place development at Kellyville. NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler. Credit:Kate Geraghty I was so excited to buy this unit, she recalled. I was so positive, maybe too positive. The developer, Shanghai-based Boill Holding Group, enlisted local builder Decode. By last August, Ms Behrouzs home was complete. She was accompanied to the pre-settlement inspection by Igor Vavrica, a registered architect, qualified engineer and licensed builder. Mr Vavricas verdict was stark: the building did not comply with the National Construction Code or Australian standards. His laser measurements showed the fire evacuation path and parking space did not meet minimum size requirements and there was insufficient drainage. Mr Vavricas concerns were backed by Paul Curran, the fire safety co-ordinator at Hills Shire Council. An inspection has confirmed that in our view, there are considerable non-compliances, Mr Curran wrote to Mr Vavrica. He said council would issue a fire safety order and refer the private certifier to disciplinary authorities for investigation. Ms Behrouz fired off a letter, demanding the defects be fixed or her deposit be refunded. The developer wouldnt budge. Boills lawyers argued the private certifier had issued an occupation certificate and under the contract this was proof the building was free from major defects. Ms Behrouz and Mr Vavrica eventually obtained a copy of the occupation certificate from council under freedom of information. It was accompanied by signed certificates from each subcontractor confirming their work complied with Australian standards. Mr Vavrica was alarmed that some of the certificates were signed by persons with no qualifications or qualifications in the wrong field. The cladding certificate was signed by a bricklayer with an expired licence, working for an unlicensed company. The formwork certificate was signed by a man whose licence had been cancelled by Fair Trading which usually occurs if it has been fraudulently obtained or the holder has committed a crime or gone bankrupt. The electrical certificates were signed by a person without an electricians licence, who appeared to be a carpenter. Ms Behrouz and Mr Vavrica contacted the private certifier with their concerns, who provided them with his own copies of the documentation. To the pairs astonishment, multiple certificates were now signed by a different person altogether, who was licensed. The documents edit history showed they had been altered the day before by someone called Muzza, who appeared to be employed by one of the projects contractors. Some of the certificates were mismatched because the name had changed but the contact number and email had not. Muzza must have been in a hurry, Mr Vavrica said. A Boill spokesman said the development met all relevant legislative requirements, including the Building Code of Australia. He said Ms Behrouz was the only customer to contest settlement. Boill and Decode each stressed the occupation certificate was issued and project signed off by a fully independent and qualified certifier. They said minor defects were being rectified as they were identified. We are determined to deliver a first-class property and 90 per cent of defects identified have already been rectified, the Decode spokesman said. The private certifier was formerly part of Dix Gardner Group, which has had two certifiers banned after being reprimanded 30 times between them. He strongly denied there were considerable non-compliances in the building. His measurements showed the fire escape was compliant and the drainage and carparks had been confirmed as compliant by engineers, he said. Building certifiers can only capture a snapshot of a building and must rely on certification from relevant specialist consultants and contractors he said. He said the certifier was not responsible if other parties engaged in misleading conduct by retrospectively altering documents. NSW Fair Trading confirmed the head building contractor was responsible for ensuring tradespeople had valid licences, although a certifier had to make reasonable efforts to scrutinise documentation. The builder (head contractor) is in breach of the Home Building Act if they sub-contract residential building work to an unlicensed entity (either individual or corporation), the spokesperson said. Ms Behrouz has been issued with legal demands from the developer to settle the purchase. She abandoned action before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal due to mounting legal costs. I work in the building services and construction industry so when they say that its not compliant I know how serious that is, Ms Behrouz said. Honestly its just a nightmare for me. An Garda Siochana gave issued 268 fines in total to those breaching Covid-19 guidelines on indoor gatherings. Stock image Several hundred fines were issued this week to people either throwing or attending house parties around St Patricks Day. An Garda Siochana gave out 268 fines in total to those breaching Covid-19 guidelines on indoor gatherings. From March 11 to March 18, 46 500 fines were issued to organisers of house parties and 222 150 fines were issued to attendees. Read More An analysis of Garda statistics also shows that in the past week, Waterford, Cork and Louth were the worst offenders when it came to fines for Covid-19 breaches. Waterford was the biggest black-spot for fines over St Patricks Day week, with 559 fines issued per 100,000 population. The second-highest number of recorded breaches was in Cork, where gardai issued 252 fines, the equivalent of 464 per 100,000 residents. Louth ranks third with 450 per 100,000. Limerick remains the area that has received the most fines per head of population since the beginning of the pandemic, including the figures from the past week. It has received 571 fines per 100,000 residents. The second highest number of overall breaches was in Cork with 465 per 100,000 population and Waterford is the third highest with 413 per 100,000 population. In the past week, 445 fines were issued in Roscommon/Longford, 414 in Cavan/Monaghan and 327 fines were issued in Dublin. The lowest number of fines issued in the past week was in Wicklow with 12 fines, equating to 84 per 100,000 residents. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 15,358 Covid-19 fines have been issued across the country by the Gardai. This includes 636 500 fines for non-essential journeys to airports or ports, 269 fines of 80 for not wearing a face covering and 262 fines of 100 for non-essential travel by persons not ordinarily resident in the state. Three-quarters of all offenders are male and a quarter female. More than half of people who have been issued a Covid-19 fine aged between 18 and 25. Out of offenders, 52pc are in the 18-25 age group, 25pc are aged 26-35, 13pc are aged 36-45, 6pc are aged 45-56, 3pc are aged 56-65 and 1pc are aged over 65. Just 33pc of fines have been paid so far but those affected have 28 days to settle the bill or lodge an appeal. Anyone who fails to pay their fine within 28 days will be summoned to a court hearing where they can face a 1,000 fine or imprisonment. Gardai also believe the potential for court hearings being reported on by the media will act as a deterrent for people who might consider not paying. Despite the latest figures, Deputy Garda Commissioner Anne Marie McMahon said the vast majority of people are compiling with the public health regulations. "Thank you and please keep it up, she said. "Your contribution is appreciated by Gardai throughout the country. We know it is hard and it has meant significant sacrifices, but you are helping to save lives and protect those on the front-line. "The best way of keeping safe this weekend is to stay home. If you are going out, please stay within your 5km, limit your contacts with others, maintain social distancing, and regularly wash your hands. New study is the first long-term seroprevalence study from Wuhan, China involving over 9,000 residents who were tested for antibodies after the Wuhan lockdown lifted in April, then again in June and in October-December 2020. 532 of 9,542 participants tested positive for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, which - when adjusted - equated to an estimated seroprevalence of 6.9% in the population. In addition, 82% of participants who tested positive had not experienced any COVID-19 symptoms. 40% of people with antibodies developed neutralising antibodies (those that protect against future infection) in April, and these remained stable for at least nine months, regardless of whether individuals had symptomatic or asymptomatic disease. The authors say that their findings indicate that a large proportion of the population remains uninfected and mass vaccination will be needed to reach herd immunity to prevent further resurgences of the pandemic. The first long-term seroprevalence study of residents in Wuhan, China, has found that 6.9% of people in the city had antibodies against COVID-19 in April 2020, and 82% of these people had an asymptomatic infection. Additionally, 40% of people with antibodies developed neutralising antibodies, and these levels did not decrease between April and October-December 2020. The results are published in an observational study of 9,542 people in The Lancet. The authors say that understanding seroprevalence and how antibody levels change over time in Wuhan will help inform their vaccination strategy, with their findings indicating that mass vaccination is needed to protect against future resurgences of the virus. The latest seroprevalence study from Wuhan adds to previous seroprevalence studies conducted globally, including in Geneva (Switzerland), Spain, the USA, Iceland and the Netherlands, which have attempted to shed light on the true rate of infection in a population. This is particularly important as the rates of asymptomatic infection are uncertain, with estimates ranging from between 6% to 96% globally. Lead author, Dr Chen Wang, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, China, says: "Assessing the proportion of the population that have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and who are immune is of utmost importance for determining effective prevention and control strategies to reduce the likelihood of future resurgence of the pandemic. Given that individuals with mild infections might not seek medical care and that asymptomatic individuals are not usually screened, there may be large discrepancies between the reported COVID-19 cases, and actual infected cases, which has been proven by the experiences and data from other countries." [1] He continues: "Even at the epicentre of the pandemic in China, with more than 50,000 confirmed cases as of April 8, 2020, the estimated seroprevalence in Wuhan remains low, and around 40% of people with antibodies developed neutralising antibodies, suggesting there is still lack of immunity in the population." [1] Participants in the study lived across all 13 districts of Wuhan, with all members of a household invited to take part. All ages were included in the study, but people with serious diseases (such as advanced cancer or severe mental illness) were excluded. Participants completed a questionnaire of demographic and health information, including if they had previously been diagnosed with COVID-19 or had had any COVID-19 symptoms since 1 December 2019. Blood samples were taken to test if antibodies were present in mid-April 2020, mid-June, and between October and December. Infections were classed as symptomatic if a participant reported having had fever and/or respiratory symptoms and was positive for COVID-19 antibodies. The study included 9,542 people from 3,556 families. Of the 9,542 participants, 532 had antibodies against COVID-19. When adjusted, this equated to a seroprevalence of 6.9% in the population of Wuhan. The authors found that women had a higher seroprevalence than men, people aged 66 years or over had the highest seroprevalence than any other age group, health care workers had a higher seroprevalence than other occupations, and people who had visited hospital in the past five months had higher seroprevalence than those who had not (see table 1). 437 (82%) of 532 participants who were positive for antibodies were asymptomatic. The study authors note that this is much higher than past estimates of 40-45% reported worldwide. They say this may be due to recall bias where participants reported their own symptoms five months later, but also say that this is unlikely to overestimate incidence to a large extent in their study because stringent measures were taken in Wuhan to identify every case, and Wuhan residents were vigilant in recording their symptoms during the outbreak. Around 40% of participants (212/532 people) were positive for neutralising antibodies - those that protect against future infection - in April 2020. The proportion of people who had neutralising antibodies remained stable for the two follow-up periods - with 45% (162/363 people) in June 2020, and 41% (187/454 people) in October-December 2020. In addition, looking at the levels of neutralising antibodies in people's blood using data from 335 people who attended all three blood tests, the authors found that these levels did not significantly decrease over the nine months of the study. However, people who had had asymptomatic COVID-19 had lower levels than people who had confirmed or symptomatic COVID-19 disease. Co-author, Dr Lili Ren, Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, China, says: "Little is known of the durability of immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 over a long period. In our study, we found that the proportion of participants with antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 was sustained for at least nine months. Importantly, we found that neutralising antibody titres remained stable for at least nine months." [1] The authors note some limitations to their study, including that they cannot confirm when participants were infected and produced antibodies because most cases were asymptomatic and not confirmed by PCR testing at the outset of their infection. However, they note that there were very few cases of COVID-19 reported in Wuhan between mid-March and April 2020, so assumed infection occurred at least 4 weeks before blood samples were taken. The authors of a linked Comment, Professor Richard Strugnell and Dr Nancy Wang (who were not involved in the study) from Doherty Institute, Australia, say the seroprevalence estimate suggests that the number of infections in Wuhan likely exceeded the number of reported COVID-19 cases in Wuhan. They write: "If the seroconversion rate is an accurate reflection of exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the apparent disparity between low case numbers and high seroconversion rate seems to suggest that most seroconverted individuals produced antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 after asymptomatic infection." They also note that the findings have provided a much deeper understanding of natural seroconversion in a key city in the pandemic, and that the findings underscore the success in controlling the Wuhan outbreak of COVID-19 at a time when testing, tracing, and treatment resources were much less developed: "Efficient global management of COVID-19 will probably succeed or fail on the basis of the immunity induced by natural infection and, especially, vaccination. Given the relative paucity of neutralising antibodies through natural infection, the study by He and colleagues reinforces the need for effective COVID-19 vaccines in the population-level control of the disease. The extraordinary, rapid, and effective control measures implemented in Wuhan might have restricted the spread of the virus, but also reduced naturally-acquired herd immunity by truncating the development of sustained neutralising antibodies." Although other national and local governments have used alternate and usually less effective strategies to control the spread of COVID-19, even in highly endemic communities the prevalence of disease is usually too low to drive sufficient herd immunity to protect the population. "He and colleagues' findings suggest that herd immunity will likely not develop after natural transmission in settings where infection control mechanisms are successfully introduced, underscoring the importance of effective vaccination strategies to control the spread of COVID-19. This study is an important milestone in the description of SARS-CoV-2 infection and our understanding of immunity in the pandemic." ### This study was funded by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, the National Natural Science Foundation, and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. It was conducted by researchers from Wuhan Center for Disease Control & Prevention, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, National Immunization Program, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, Chinese Academy of Engineering. [1] Quote direct from author and cannot be found in the text of the Article. The labels have been added to this press release as part of a project run by the Academy of Medical Sciences seeking to improve the communication of evidence. For more information, please see: http://www. sciencemediacentre. org/ wp-content/ uploads/ 2018/ 01/ AMS-press-release-labelling-system-GUIDANCE. pdf if you have any questions or feedback, please contact The Lancet press office pressoffice@lancet.com IF YOU WISH TO PROVIDE A LINK FOR YOUR READERS, PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING, WHICH WILL GO LIVE AT THE TIME THE EMBARGO LIFTS: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00238-5/fulltext Peer-reviewed / Observational study / People KSHB did most of the heavy lifting on this case, here's the aftermath and a decision that upholds arguments over transparency and law enforcement accountability . . . Read more: Judge orders release of records related to Overland Park officer who fatally shot teen in 2018 A Johnson County District Judge has ordered the city of Overland Park, Kansas, to release records in the 2018 police killing of teenager John Albers. Judge Rhonda Mason said Thursday the severance package for the officer who pulled the trigger is public record. Kendell Shelly and his girlfriend, Kandace Jones Webb, were sitting in the front seat of Shellys car parked in front of an apartment building in Metairie Dec. 23 when a gunman walked up and ended both their lives. A surveillance camera recorded the shootings that night but did little to explain why the couple had been targeted. A subject approached the drivers side, and almost immediately, muzzle flashes were seen, Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office Detective Ryan Vaught said, describing what was captured in the video. But on Wednesday, almost three months after Shelly, 21, and Jones-Webb, 22, were killed, authorities divulged a few new details about the investigation and the man suspected in the double murder. I believe this homicide was the result of an armed robbery, Vaught testified this week during a probable cause hearing in Jefferson Parish for Darrington Hemphill, 24, who faces two counts of first-degree murder in the case. The case is being prosecuted by Louisiana Assistant Attorney Generals Payal Patel and Brooke Harris after the Jefferson Parish District Attorneys Office recused itself. The DAs office declined to comment about the recusal. Vaught didnt say how Hemphill and the victims knew one another. But, according to Vaught, cell phone records show Hemphill communicated with one of the victims, Shelly, to set up a drug deal. +2 After couple is executed in Metarie parking lot, another couple is booked with their murder Almost one month after a couple was gunned down in the parking lot of a Metairie apartment complex, Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office homicide Neither Shelly nor Jones-Webb lived at the apartment building in the 5000 block of Yale Street where they were killed. Deputies discovered their bodies about 11 p.m. on Dec. 23 after a resident noticed the couple sitting in Shellys still-running Volkswagen Jetta, the Sheriffs Office said. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. A dog on the cars backseat was collected by the Jefferson Parish Animal Shelter. 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 Surveillance cameras from nearby businesses and apartment complexes captured the suspect walking nearby. He was wearing a light-colored hooded sweatshirt, a facemask and a backpack, Vaught said. Five days after the homicides, a deputy pulled over a man driving a stolen vehicle in Metairie. Deputies found a 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun in the vehicle that was eventually matched to the double murder through ballistic testing, according to Vaught. The driver, who was not Hemphill, later told authorities the gun was already in the car when it was stolen. The hearing in Jefferson Parish Magistrate Court didnt address how investigators determined the driver wasnt the gunman in the double murder. But detectives began looking at the drivers criminal record and known associates, including Hemphill, according to Vaught. The Sheriffs Office crime lab tested the gun and found DNA from three people: Hemphill; one of the shooting victims; and a third, unnamed person, Vaught said. He did not clarify whether victims DNA belonged to Shelly or Jones-Webb. The search for Hemphill led to an apartment complex in the 3500 block of Apollo Drive in Metairie where Hemphills girlfriend, Jilyani Martin, 22, lived, according to authorities. Investigators found a doorbell camera at Apollo Drive complex that had recorded video of a person wearing the same clothing and matching the description of the shooting suspect leaving about an hour before the homicides, according to Vaught. When investigators questioned Martin, she identified Hemphill as the man in that doorbell camera video, Vaught said. She also told detectives that Hemphill had admitted committing the murders. Hemphill and Martin were arrested Jan. 19. Detectives booked Martin with being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder because she allegedly knew about the homicides but helped conceal them, the Sheriffs Office said. Hemphills attorneys, Anthony Angelette Jr. and Mario Sanchez, argued there was no direct evidence against their client, calling it all circumstantial, at best. But Criminal Commissioner Paul Schneider disagreed. He ruled there was probable cause to continue holding Hemphill and denied a motion to set bond for the first-degree murder charges. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 09:45:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on July 28, 2020 shows the secondary road section from Mansehra to Thakot under the Karakoram Highway (KKH) Phase Two project, in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. (China Road and Bridge Corporation/Handout via Xinhua) "Besides contributing to Pakistan's economic turnaround, CPEC is poised to contribute to regional prosperity," Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said. ISLAMABAD, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Thursday that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a "quintessential" connectivity project. Speaking at the government-sponsored Islamabad Security Dialogue here, Qureshi described CPEC as a hallmark of Pakistan's all-weather strategic cooperative partnership with China. "Besides contributing to Pakistan's economic turnaround, CPEC is poised to contribute to regional prosperity," the foreign minister 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) The main theme of the Islamabad Security Dialogue is "Comprehensive Security Framework" that will enable the country to unfold its untapped potential in becoming a hub of regional development. Pakistan plans to make the dialogue an annual event to parallel the world's leading security dialogues. "We envision Pakistan emerging as the gateway to landlocked central Asia and Afghanistan. We will endeavor to reap peace dividends in Afghanistan in the form of enhanced connectivity with central Asia," said the Pakistani foreign minister. CPEC, a corridor linking the Gwadar port in southwestern Pakistan with Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, highlights energy, transport and industrial cooperation. Authorities in Central Massachusetts are investigating the death of a 49-year-old mother and the womans 12-year-old daughter, who were discovered in a Shrewsbury home on Friday. Shrewsbury Police Chief Kevin Anderson on Friday described the scene as a difficult one to handle. Our condolences go out to the family and the friends of the victims, Anderson said. Its hard on the community right now. Police went to the scene at 18 Ladyslipper Drive after getting a 911 call at 7:36 a.m. It is believed the womans husband dialed 911, Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said at a press conference with the police chief. A husband and son were home at the time, Early said. It was a very difficult scene, Early said. Any time you have a decreased child, and her mother, its just very hard on everyone. Officers first discovered the mother upon arrival at the address, Early said. She was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead upon arrival. While investigating in the residence, officers discovered the deceased daughter, Early said. Anderson said the incident appears to be isolated and there is no threat to the public. The district attorney said the names of the deceased would not be released until family members who are out of the country have been notified. Autopsies will be performed to determine the cause and manner of the deaths, Early said. Asked if the incident was a murder-suicide, the district attorney said he did not want to speculate and would provide more information after the autopsies are complete. Any time you have a 12-year-old girl, Early said, pausing, its just very difficult. Its very difficult for the responders. They all have families. Anderson said the school department has been notified and that grief counseling will be provided for students. The family is not known to police, Anderson said. The case remains under investigation. A search warrant has been issued and officers did not get into the home until the afternoon, Early said. Copperas Cove, TX (76522) Today Partly to mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 66F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 66F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Former Tennessee Titans defensive back Desmond King is moving on in 2021, as he and the Houston Texans have agreed to a one-year deal worth $3.5 million. King was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers before the 2020 deadline and served as Tennessees slot cornerback during a season in which the secondary struggled and was riddled with injuries. Unfortunately, King didnt do much to bolster the secondary over 10 games (including playoffs), although the same can be said for much of the starting unit. Whatever the case may be, King took to Twitter late Thursday night to say goodbye to the Titans, but of course it wont be long until he sees them again with him staying in the division and set to take on his old team twice a year. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. At the moment, it appears the Titans plan to replace him in the slot with cornerback Kevin Johnson, who reportedly agreed to terms with Tennessee just minutes after King was inked in Houston. Its move that wasnt well-received by any stretch, and while many fans are hoping Johnson is simply a depth piece, Titans beat writer Paul Kuharsky reports that the sense is the team views him as a nickelback. If nothing changes, the Titans are currently set to run out a starting secondary with Janoris Jenkins and Kristian Fulton on the boundary, and then Johnson in the slot not exactly ideal. Cornerback has now become arguably the teams biggest need ahead of the 2021 NFL draft, along with wide receiver. Related A retired schoolteacher is suing her former next-door neighbour, who allegedly sent a defamatory letter to a third party purporting to be from her, the High Court heard. Olga Clancy claims she was defamed by Marie Gaughan, a retired nurse, in a letter which allegedly stated I hope you die in Hell ya bastard, and which was headed with Ms Clancys address and was signed Olga. Ms Clancy claims that the letter, sent in July 2020, was written by Ms Gaughan with the intention of damaging her good name and reputation. The parties and their respective families had lived beside each other at St Canices Road, Glasnevin, Dublin, for some time, until late last year when the defendant relocated to England, the court heard. It is also claimed that the defendant engaged in ongoing malicious behaviour deliberately calculated to cause nuisance and interference with Ms Clancys right to a peaceful enjoyment of her home. Ms Clancy said she and her family were the subject of an elaborate hoax in 2014, when they were interviewed by gardai over the murder of a man in Ballymun. This, it is claimed, came about after a public notice issued by gardai seeking information about the killing was altered and sent to Harcourt Street garda station. Details relating to Ms Clancys home address were handwritten on to the notice, she claims. The handwriting on the notice, it is claimed, also falsely implied that an assassin had hidden a weapon in the property. She claims that gardai believe the notice was sent to cause distress and embarrass the Clancy family. Ms Clancy also claims that in 2017 she received a menacing letter. The letter warned that one of the propertys bedroom windows was being carefully watched. In 2012 Ms Clancy says the Circuit Court awarded her damages and injunctions against Ms Gaughan and her spouse for interference with the plaintiffs property rights. As a result of the letter and the other incidents, Ms Clancy has sued Ms Gaughan seeking damages for the alleged defamation, nuisance and malicious conduct. The court heard that no defence has been filed on Ms Gaughans behalf. As a result, Ms Clancys lawyers have brought a motion seeking judgment against Ms Gaughan in default of a defence to the claim against her. The dispute came before the High Court yesterday when lawyers for Ms Clancy sought, but were refused an order freezing the proceeds of sale of Ms Gaughans former home. The court heard that last year Ms Gaughan put the home on the market and is understood to have moved to the UK. Lawyers for Ms Clancy said she fears that the defendant is attempting to put her assets beyond her reach in the event she secures a damages award against Ms Gaughan. The action will return before the court in May. Capitol Hill is gearing up for a showdown over the Pentagon budget as progressive lawmakers urge President Joe Biden to slash spending, even as Republicans stress the need to compete with China. "They [China] are spending to surpass the United States, and I'm afraid their doctrine will be to 'dominate through strength,'" Rep. Mike Rogers, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said Thursday during a speech at the Ronald Reagan Institute. "We will not allow China to become our peer military," he added. "The problem with decreased or flat defense budgets is that our adversaries aren't looking at cutting defense spending. It's the opposite." Read Next: Army Wants to Finally Replace Decades-Old MILES Gear for More Realistic Force-on-Force Training Key Republicans have been pushing Biden to boost the defense budget by 3% to 5% to grow capabilities in cyber, space and naval warfare, and to modernize nuclear weapon capabilities. We can't build back better if the Pentagons budget is just as big as it was under Donald Trump.@RepBarbaraLee, @RepAuchincloss and I led 50 of our colleagues urging @POTUS to cut this year's defense budget. Let's prioritize the American people over defense contractor profits. pic.twitter.com/NKjdGajfku Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) March 16, 2021 This week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., made a similar call, challenging the Biden administration not to listen to the progressive wing of Congress as it urges drastic military cuts. "Our financial commitment to defending America is our most important policy lever in this competition," McConnell said on the Senate floor. "Our allies and adversaries do not heed American presidents because they're charming or good-looking. The world has respected America for our overwhelming military and economic superiority. When that edge erodes, we invite trouble." The calls to boost spending come after 50 House progressives called on Biden to gut the $700 billion-plus Defense Department budget, potentially by as much as 10%. "We urge you to seek a significantly reduced Pentagon topline," Democrats wrote to Biden. "We could cut the Pentagon budget by more than 10% and still spend more than the next ten largest militaries combined." The letter was spearheaded by Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Calif.; Mark Pocan, D-Wis.; and Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass. It was also co-signed by prominent progressives such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. Biden predicted to Stars and Stripes in September that the Pentagon's budget would likely creep up during his administration to boost emerging methods of warfighting. Last month, Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters that he expects "tighter budgets going forward, more flat than rising" as the federal government juggles Defense Department modernization efforts to compete with near-peer threats after unprecedented spending for economic recovery efforts amid the pandemic. -- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon. Related: Republicans Call on Biden to Boost Pentagon Spending to Combat China 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. French ambassador to Romania, Laurence Auer, and Education Minister Sorin Cimpeanu participated on Friday in the conference "Francophonie in Brasov - a passport for the future", an event organized by the Consular Agency of France in Brasov and the French Alliance on the occasion of the International Francophonie Day; the venue was the Transylvania University Hall. "This conference offers us the opportunity to enjoy the French-speaking spirit and the diversity of Francophone values, to celebrate the French language and culture in Brasov. At the same time, we also mark the French-speaking identity of Romania, given that the International Francophonie Day is celebrated on March 20. Today's event is a good opportunity for the representatives of the Brasov public administration authorities to engage in dialogue with the French business people who invest in the municipality and in Brasov County, as well as with the representatives of the cultural and educational milieu, on the topic of the development opportunities Brasov city can take advantage of in the relationship with France," Brasov County Council vice-president Todorica Serban stressed in his address. The conference "Francophonie in Brasov - a passport to the future" included presentations on topics such as institutional Francophonie, the evolution of the French language in Romania and 30 years of French Alliance presence in Brasov, as well as three round-table meetings on "Francophonie and education - Bilingual high schools", "Francophonie and vocational training" and "Francophonie and economics".The cooperation protocol between the French Institute, the French Alliance, the Brasov County School Inspectorate and the central Brasov bilingual colleges "Unirea", "Andrei Saguna" and "Dr. Ioan Mesota" was also signed on this occasion. AGERPRES 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. With the March 16 rally in front of the Hesse state assembly in Wiesbaden, the struggle of the airport ground workers against the WISAG Group has reached a crossroads. For three months now, the workers have been fighting against arbitrary dismissals and wage theft. The WISAG Group is using the pandemic as an excuse to kick out workers with decades of experience, replace them with cheap labour and drive down wage levels for everyone. Airport bus drivers, who had resisted their transfer to a dummy company, have not been paid since October 2020. Rally of the WISAG floor workers on March 16 in front of the Hesse state assembly in Wiesbaden (Photo: WSWS) In the struggle against this, the ground staff proved that workers cannot be led like lambs to the slaughter. Workers have rights, and those who believelike the Wisser family who owns the companythat they can turn them into slaves without rights are mistaken. The workers are determined not to give up, because the right to work is a fundamental right, as is the right to reasonable pay and safe working conditions. The WISAG workers have held at least 10 rallies and demonstrations and even went on hunger strike at Terminal 1 at the Frankfurt Airport, keeping this up for eight days. Most recently, they marched in front of the Wiesbaden state assembly last Tuesday. The workers resigned from the service union Verdi, which did not even notice the dismissals and has not lifted a finger for them. They joined the small sectoral union IGL instead. In Wiesbaden, however, it became clear that the IGL does not advance a different perspective than Verdi. The IGL allowed the representatives of the same political parties responsible for the terrible conditions at the airport to dominate the discussion. The microphone passed from one politician to another, and the Christian Democrats (CDU), Social Democrats (SPD), Free Democrats (FDP) and Left Party only gave the workers a symbolic and real pat on the back, expressed their respective partys solidarity with them and shed hypocritical crocodile tears. The workers had collected 1,000 signatures and held thousands of discussions with acquaintances, colleagues and passers by at the airport during the hunger strike. CDU member of parliament, Ismail Tipi, took these signatures and handed them over to the president of the Hesse state assembly, his CDU party colleague Boris Rhein, in the state parliament building. In which draweror which wastepaper basketthey subsequently disappeared is not known. In any case, the parliamentary plenary discussion was not interrupted for a minute by the process. In Wiesbaden, the IGL showed it was placing the fate of the airport ground workers in the hands of politicians from the CDU, FDP, the Greens, the SPD and the Left Party. The same parties that are responsible for the social misery, the mass dismissals and the political shift to the right; the same parties that sacrificed the lives of tens of thousands of workers for the profit interests of the rich with their policy of opening up the economy in the coronavirus pandemic. The Wisser family, one of the 300 richest business families in Germany, is closely linked to all these parties. For decades, the WISAG Group has organised both facilities management and security at the Frankfurt Trade Fair, the airport, bank towers and public spaces. Claus Wisser donates generously, not only to his own party, the SPD. He also contributes his millions to numerous real estate projects. This also explains why the media, the F rankfurter A llgemeine Z eitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, Hessenschau, etc., was able to isolate the industrial action against the WISAG Group in such a way, only reporting on the hunger strike when it was already over. Again and again, the WISAG workers have declared, We will never give up. But determination alone is not enough. The workers are at a crossroads, and they must decide. Where the road leads advocated by the IGL can be clearly seen. The IGL is appealing to the bourgeois politicians and the main trade unions. Next, a rally is planned in front of the Verdi headquarters in Frankfurt, that is, of all places, in front of the union from which the workers have resigned. This way is leading the workers by the nose and in circles. The slogan Together we are strong will become an empty phrase and in the end it will be Everyone dies alone. Instead, the workers must turn to the only allies they havetheir colleagues at all WISAG branches in Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg, etc., to the workers at other airports, as well as to the production workers and the auto workers who are currently engaged in protest strikes. Workers everywhere are facing the same problems. Their rights are being attacked most fiercely. WISAG is not an isolated case, rather, the brutal actions of the WISAG Group are the new business model. The airport operator Fraport, Lufthansa, Airbus and the big production companies are also planning mass redundancies. Even at automaker Opelwerke, which has its main plant a few kilometres from the airport in Russelsheim, jobs are being destroyed, company pensions cut, temporary workers hired and fired. The corporations and banks worldwide are profiting from the pandemic to push through long cherished restructuring plans at the expense and on the backs of workers. All governments are ruthlessly enforcing the herd immunity policies that have already claimed 2.7 million victims. According to a World Bank estimate, some 120 million people have lost their livelihoods in the pandemic so far, while hundreds of billions have been thrown aside by the banks and corporations. The postwar social market economy is bankrupt. Germanys much vaunted co-determination model of worker representation has transformed the trade union bureaucrats and works councils into supervisory board overlings and junior partners of the corporations. Workers social and democratic rights are no longer compatible with the capitalist economys drive for profits. When workers defend their rights today, as at WISAG, they are confronting a phalanx of companies, political parties and trade unions. Workers who really want to achieve something and not just symbolic protests must therefore organise themselves independently of the unions, into action committees. They must break with the bankrupt begging of the IGL and link up with committees of fellow workers in other workplaces and develop and extend the industrial action together. The action committees must protect and defend all those who are exposed to the arbitrary attacks of the oligarchs. They must contact airports all over Europe to prepare a European-wide general strike. This is the only way to defend jobs and wages. Already, according to WSWS reports, numerous workers initiatives have shown solidarity with the striking WISAG workers. Any serious struggle inevitably brings workers into conflict with the capitalist system and its parties. The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP, Socialist Equality Party) therefore arms workers with a socialist programme aimed at the revolutionary transformation of society according to the interests of working people. No social problem can be solved without expropriating the big corporations and placing them under the democratic control of the working class. This is the perspective for which the SGP is fighting in the federal elections. 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 a Thursday when Berkshire Community College would normally have been bustling with vaccinators, the gym sat empty. Quote They're pouring all the vaccine into the mass vaccination sites. Leslie Drager, lead public health nurse with the Berkshire Public Health Alliance With only a handful of first doses to give out, Berkshire vaccine coordinators held just one clinic in Pittsfield this week. The site, which could administer more than 10,000 vaccines each week, has seen its inoculations slow to a trickle, as the commonwealth channels doses into mass vaccination sites concentrated in eastern Massachusetts. Regional vaccine collaboratives in the Berkshires and around the state say the commonwealth is underutilizing them, despite their capacity to run high-output clinics, and leaving behind residents who live far from mass vaccination sites. As state releases full COVID-19 vaccine eligibility timeline, local coordinators expect registration crunch All Massachusetts residents ages 16 or older will become eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine by April 19, the Baker administration announced Wedne From Pittsfield to Northampton to Milton, local officials are calling on the state to redirect more first doses to regional collaboratives, some of which have seen shipments drop in recent weeks. In the Berkshires, locally run clinics can administer doses at the same pace as some state sites, but the countys regional collaborative leaders say they lack the first doses, financial support and special permissions granted to mass vaccination clinics run by private companies. Theyre pouring all the vaccine into the mass vaccination sites, said Leslie Drager, lead public health nurse with the Berkshire Public Health Alliance. Theyre pouring money into them. Theyre giving them easy access to register. And were not seeing that. Berkshire County vaccine organizers tell The Eagle they get no consistency with their shipments and little advance warning about changes to the rollout. They are also locked out of programs offered at mass vaccination sites, such as the new pre-registration system, which they say will eventually come online for other sites at an unknown date. Most pressingly, first dose allocations have fallen in the Berkshires since the early weeks of Phase 2, according to local coordinators. Though shipments vary widely, the collaborative received just about 1,000 first doses last week to split between three clinics, or 0.6 percent of the first doses allocated to Massachusetts for the week. Berkshire County has nearly 2 percent of the states population, and 2.6 percent of the states 65-and-older population. The same pattern appears to be playing out in other corners of the state, with cutoffs reported earlier this month by the Northampton regional collaborative. Despite challenges, the Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative continues to run efficient clinics at all three sites, with guaranteed second doses from the state. But, the roadblocks facing regional collaboratives capture some of the challenges of the states rollout, as shifting delivery methods and priorities cause widespread confusion, frustration and even fear for residents awaiting their potentially life-saving shot. Quote For them to go and open up state sites and then walk away from everything they were touting, it isnt fair. ... They were touting how great things were out in Berkshire County, the numbers we were doing, and now theyre taking a walk on us. State Rep. John Barrett III, D-North Adams On Thursday, state legislators who represent areas with regional collaboratives wrote to the state, asking leaders to prioritize supply for those collaboratives, which are typically cooperative efforts among medical providers and public health entities, like local boards of health. Weekly doses sent to regional collaboratives have varied widely, often resulting in delivery of significantly fewer vaccine doses to those settings woefully underutilizing them in the statewide vaccination distribution effort, they wrote. The entire Berkshire state delegation signed on to the letter. For them to go and open up state sites and then walk away from everything they were touting, it isnt fair, said state Rep. John Barrett III, D-North Adams. They were touting how great things were out in Berkshire County, the numbers we were doing, and now theyre taking a walk on us. State Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, pointed out that regional collaboratives play a critical role in counties where most residents live far from mass vaccination sites. The state has just one mass vaccination clinic west of Framingham, located in Springfield. With local boards of health and regional coordination, we created a meaningful process here, and then the state pulled away from that, Hinds said. It feels like were becoming further disconnected from statewide strategy. Meanwhile, state Rep. William Driscoll pushed the Commonwealth to channel more doses to regional collaboratives so that they can ramp up capacity for an expected spring surge in vaccine supplies. The capabilities of the regional collaborative (RC) sites ... are understood & its known that they have untapped capacity to administer vax, the Milton Democrat wrote on Twitter. The Berkshire model In his tweet, Driscoll also argued for pressure testing increasing allocations to ensure regional collaboratives can handle a high volume of appointments.In Berkshire County, organizers say each of the countys three public clinics can each administer at least 2,000 doses a day, levels that rival mass vaccination sites. The Fenway Park site has been handling 1,500 daily inoculations, according to NBC Boston, fewer than a busy day at Berkshire Community College. Local vaccine officials say their efficiency is a testament to the success of the regional collaborative model, which took root in January, when the county pitched it to the state. As Berkshire Health Systems wrote to the Department of Public Health in a Jan. 11 email asking for permission to move ahead, the goal was to have most of the countys vaccines shipped directly to the hospital system. Then BHS, Community Health Programs, local boards of health and other providers would work together on clinics. Even as state representatives were pushing the Baker administration to allow the change, the county had effectively put it into place. Major public clinics in the county began Jan. 11. FIRSTRESPONDERSCOVID-2.jpg An EMT administers a COVID-19 vaccination for Williamstown Acting Police Chief Mike Ziemba at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish Center, North Ad In the weeks after the program began, the Berkshires received a shower of Pfizer vaccines, as one of the few providers in the region that could handle the ultracold storage requirement, organizers told The Eagle. Drager said the state once sent a shipment of Moderna and within an hour pulled the vaccines back, redirected them to a mass vaccination site and replaced them with Pfizer doses. By late February, Baker had praised the Berkshire model effusively at press conferences, and regional collaboratives had formed from Northampton to Barnstable. They are playing an important role to fill geographic gaps, said Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito at the time. This approach is designed to ensure vaccines are distributed throughout the Commonwealth in a highly efficient and accessible way. As the rollout has progressed, however, the state has sent fewer first doses to the Berkshire collaborative. While a large volume of doses in early February allowed the county to speed forward with vaccinations, coordinators told The Eagle that a dearth of new shipments in recent weeks means the county has fallen behind in delivering doses to people aged 65 to 74. The Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative says it has vaccinated just about half of that age group, compared to 80 percent of those 75 and older. Across the state, 60 percent of 65- to 74-year-olds have gotten at least one dose. They gave it to us when they had no place else to funnel it, Drager said. Once they had other places, that kind of slowed us down. Meanwhile, the financial and logistical distinctions between locally run collaboratives and state-run sites have caused impediments that have frustrated local coordinators and confused county residents We cant plan When the state launched a preregistration form after weeks of public demand, Massachusetts residents celebrated. For those far from mass vaccination sites, however, nothing changed. According to Laura Kittross, director of the Berkshire County Boards of Health Association, the software used by regional collaboratives PrepMod cannot interface with the preregistration system used at mass vaccination sites. Berkshire coordinators say the state told them they will get access to the system but has not given a timeline. This is not the first time the state has made policy changes at mass vaccination sites and left residents far from those sites in the dark about whether they could access the same benefits. When the state rolled out its buddy system, officials encouraged locally run clinics to offer the doses if they could, said Heather Barbieri, director of emergency management at Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington. Despite that encouragement, staff on the states 211 information line were telling residents that there were no caregiver vaccinations in Berkshire County even as those exact inoculations were underway. Meanwhile, the commonwealth did not set aside extra doses for local clinics to accommodate the policy. Just days after the buddy system went into effect, Massachusetts doubled the number of eligible people, leading to a rush on appointments. The caregiver doses were a huge issue, Barbieri said. We didnt have that extra vaccine. If we had a clinic for 500 people, we already had 500 appointments, and we didnt have vaccine for the 200 people who showed up as caregivers. Funding sources differ for mass vaccination sites, regional collaboratives Local vaccine coordinators were surprised by news reports that the state was paying CIC Health, a private company, more than $1.1 million a week to run the mass vaccination clinics at Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium. A lot of people and organizations in the Berkshires said, We have to get our population vaccinated, and well worry about getting reimbursed later, said Laura Kittross, director of the Berkshire County Boards of Health Association. So its been a bit of a blow to realize that theres this whole alternate system. Kittross wonders if other local public health boards and medical providers, people familiar with their communities, might have been able to step into the void at far less cost than CIC Healths operations. In the Berkshires, local providers have yet to see any money from the effort. When they do get paid, at a tune of some $40 per shot, the company that processes insurance claims will take a 10 percent cut, vaccine leaders told The Eagle. When the state first announced the change, Barbieri was on her way out the door to run that days clinic in Great Barrington. I didnt have time to read the whole announcement, she said. And everyone who came to the clinic had read it. Her predicament channels another complication voiced by many local vaccine coordinators: When Baker announces a significant change to the rollout, clinic organizers sometimes have just 15 to 30 minutes of advance notice. But an even bigger issue, clinic organizers say, is the lack of predictability around dose allotments. Even with limited federal supply, a more reliable allotment would allow coordinators to plan more than a few days in advance. We cant plan without knowing how much vaccine were gonna have, Kittross said. Mass vaccination sites ... can plan a few weeks in advance, which has repercussions for sites, for police details. For us, its hard for our volunteers not to know until two days in advance that were going to run a clinic. Despite the myriad challenges, Berkshire County vaccine coordinators are quick to point out that the countys has had great success, with high rates of people vaccinated though no longer the highest in the state and satisfied recipients. If anything, they say, the Berkshire model should continue to be a template for the state. Regional collaboratives, organizers point out, can get the vaccinations done efficiently, but they can also reach the most at-risk communities, including with low-income senior housing clinics and homebound vaccinations in the Berkshires. We know our partners, said Kittross. We know our community. GREAT BARRINGTON The new owner of a small, elite boarding school for struggling adolescents says it no longer uses any of the controversial tactics espoused by its founder that came to light this week in an online news publication. David Baum, the head of school who bought The John Dewey Academy last year, said aggressive therapy methods used to shock teens into compliant behavior are things of the past. Today, the academy takes a holistic approach to help its students, one that includes a mainstay of psychologists, a student-led philosophy and an academic program designed to engage, inspire and prepare its students for college, Baum said. Baum, a longtime college professor and history teacher at the school since 2015, spoke to The Eagle on Thursday after it reported on a story published by The News Station. In that story, former students they are now adults described emotional abuse as routine under the late Thomas Bratter, who founded the school in 1985 at Searles Castle on Main Street. Bratter died in 2012. The alumni told the online news site that Bratter, who had been prosecuted for sexual assaults, made students wear humiliating signs and dig their own graves. Bratter turned students against each other and repeatedly made sexual, demeaning comments to girls, the former students said. Former students of Great Barrington prep school describe it as 'torture chamber' GREAT BARRINGTON Former students of The John Dewey Academy say that a culture of abuse per On Thursday, Baum said its been years since the school employed the treatment methods brought to light in The News Station article. That was an 80s thing, he said of the struggling-teen industrys attack therapy methods. In the last 10 years, nobody does that. A lot of those [schools] have turned over or got busted like Eagleton School, he said. Baum was referring to the former boarding school for young men in Great Barrington. The state shut Eagleton over abuse allegations that led to prosecutions and lawsuits. We dont yell at kids or put signs on them, he said. Baum, a Yale-educated Renaissance historian who writes about fascism, said he sees himself as anti-Bratter. He said he isnt defending the founder when he says that Bratter also had a devoted following of former students and families. Detractors use the word cult to describe Bratters influence. We have an old Dewey and a new Dewey, Baum said. Whatever he did, thats not what we do. Anxious and withdrawn While in the past, Dewey students often were oppositional drug and alcohol users, that has changed, though rock-n-rollers sometimes attend, Baum said. Its anxiety, depression, video game addiction, and kids who just stop going to school, he added. They tend not to react outwardly; they tend to withdraw. All are smart, Baum said, and part of the therapy is getting them back into that academic personality that they had and abandoned. The academy is like a traditional boarding school, he said, and is still peer-led as it was during Bratters time. Students still clean the 55,000-square-foot castle; they run the kitchen, order the food and cook. They also maintain the grounds. Thats 48 acres of grass to mow, Baum said, adding that students love driving the mower. Its their house thats what we tell them, he said. Thats an adult living skill that they learn. It regulates their day, and the routine gives them structure. By peer-led, Baum said, the faculty tries to be the least invasive in their lives, while still being present. Its not a surveillance state, he said. Plans relocation The school at present has 16 students, but enrollment has ranged over the years from seven to 22. The average class size is three or four students and there is a high staff-to-student ratio one reason why tuition is $98,000 per year, Baum said. And the school, now a nonprofit, is working on its endowment and a capital campaign to help families who cant afford the school, and accept students from various backgrounds. Baum said the school is working on all this and plans to move to Cassilis Farm, an old estate in New Marlborough. The building is under renovation, and the hope is that the school will have fully moved by Nov. 1. Meanwhile, the Bratter family is selling the historic castle. Baum decided to buy the school when the coronavirus pandemic nearly closed the school for good May 31. He said these news stories about the schools history have pained him, in part, since he also is trying to build a rapport with the larger community. Bratter hated Great Barrington and they hated him. And walls got built, he said. He was a contentious man. He seemed to thrive on that battlefield high. Baum said he never met Bratter, but that the controversial schoolmaster keeps coming back. Ive worked really hard for a year to have us not be a boot camp and to be humanistic, he said. The ghost of Tom Bratter has always been around. I guess he just showed up. ANN ARBOR, MI Ann Arbor police are checking to see if a service offering same-day delivery of so-called magic mushrooms in the city is in compliance with the law. Despite both the city and Washtenaw County taking recent measures to loosen restrictions on psilocybin mushrooms, police said they are investigating whether the services offered by Arbor Shrooms, which advertises on colorful flyers throughout the city, are legal. Arbor Shrooms features a variety of mushrooms on its website starting at $20 per gram and describes trip levels from relaxed euphoria to total loss. Plants such as ayahuasca, ibogaine, mescaline, peyote, psilocybin mushrooms and other compounds with hallucinogenic properties are still deemed illegal under state and federal law, but there has been a push to decriminalize the substances in recent years, including a current ballot proposal initiative underway in Michigan. The push for the ballot proposal comes after Ann Arbor decriminalized the use and possession of magic mushrooms and psychedelics in September 2020, declaring it the citys lowest law enforcement priority to investigate and arrest anyone for entheogenic plants and fungi. Ann Arbor OKs move to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms, plants Michigan voters may get chance to decriminalize magic mushrooms But the citys legislation states it does not authorize or enable commercial sales or manufacturing of these plants and fungi, possessing or distributing these materials in schools, driving under the influence of these materials, or public disturbance. From what I can tell, it looks to be a business that is growing and selling, so I would call that manufacturing mushrooms, which as I read the council resolution, falls outside the scope of the council when that resolution was developed, Ann Arbor police Lt. Mike Scherba said in reference to Arbor Shrooms. Scherba later confirmed police would be investigating. We will be looking into this business to ensure they are in compliance, Scherba said. Washtenaw prosecutor wont charge people for marijuana, shrooms, other psychedelics Arbor Shrooms maintains its not a business, however -- it is not registered with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, according to online records -- and its proprietors defended their practices in a statement to MLive/The Ann Arbor News. We have a legal team and believe were operating within the bounds of the current law, the statement reads. We are trying to make it clear that were not an operator at all; we are a service to connect the existing psychedelic community with patients in need who dont have transportation and are in need of delivery and arent in a position to grow their own medicine. Arbor Shrooms is not a corporation, its a community, where patients can connect with mycologists, the farmers and custodians of these sacred medicines. Patients can gain direct and safe access to now decriminalized medicine in the time of a global pandemic and an unprecedented mental health crisis facing our community. Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit has also taken measures to decriminalize mushrooms. He announced in January that his office would not charge anyone for the use, possession or small-scale distribution of entheogenic plants, including magic mushrooms. The policy focuses on prosecuting larger scale distribution. Savit also announced in January that the prosecutors office will support the expungement of old convictions from entheogenic plant offenses. Many of us know people who have used substances like marijuana or psychedelics without facing criminal consequences, Savit said previously. When asked about Arbor Shrooms, Savit referred back to his policy. We will consider that just as we will consider any other warrant request that comes in, he said. I wouldnt prejudge anymore requests or say that we definitely charge anything until we see the evidence. Commercial distributors of entheogenic plants are not covered by our policy. Why Ann Arbor officials decided to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms, plants Arbor Shrooms was founded by an unnamed Ann Arbor woman, according to its statement. The woman is a mother of two and survivor of domestic abuse who began farming mushrooms to treat her own post-traumatic stress disorder, the statement reads. She wanted to help others facing the health condition, and after meeting other like-minded farmers and mycologists, she wanted to connect qualified farmers with those in need, then started Arbor Shrooms, which uses delivery drivers from Ann Arbors veteran community, the statement reads. Drivers work for a delivery charge and gratuity, according to the statement. Ann Arbors Psychedelic Community has existed for decades. However, without a hippie cousin or friend in the know, many Ann Arbor residents have no way of accessing or obtaining this now decriminalized medicine. Growing your own medicine is simply not a possibility for some due to their health, or housing situation, lease restrictions or other factors, adding many do not have access to transportation and rely on delivery for their medicine, according to the statement. MLive/The Ann Arbor News reporter Ryan Stanton contributed to this story. Read more on MLive: Self-driving robot delivery startup raises $4.2 million to expand in Ann Arbor Two new stores to open in Ann Arbors Briarwood Mall Mother-daughter duo run dumpling pop-up in Ann Arbor Hong Kong: Vaccine recommendations published The two scientific committees under the Centre for Health Protection convened a meeting today to provide recommendations on the use of COVID-19 vaccination for those with previous COVID-19 infection. Joined by the Chief Executives expert advisory panel, the committees also discussed the existing evidence on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against different variants. The meeting noted that previous COVID-19 infection usually confers immunity for at least six to nine months for the majority of patients. There is accumulating evidence showing that those previously infected with COVID-19 would be further protected by one dose of mRNA vaccines. After receiving one dose of mRNA vaccine, these people may experience more systemic side effects, such as fatigue, headache, chills, muscle pain, fever and joint pain, when compared to those without prior infection. People who wish to receive the mRNA vaccine should wait for at least 90 days after discharge from previous infection. The meeting also noted that in general, studies have shown that the existing vaccines work well against the non-variant. The effectiveness data against variants differ by vaccines. The Fosun Pharma/BioNTech vaccine is effective against the variants which first emerged in the UK and Brazil, but is less effective against the South African one. There is currently limited efficacy data of CoronaVac developed by Sinovac Biotech (Hong Kong) against variants. The vaccine developed by AstraZeneca in collaboration with the University of Oxford is effective against the UK variants but is ineffective against the South African one. The meeting also agreed that the combination of non-pharmaceutical interventions with vaccination will allow for maximum protection against the virus. There is a need to continue social distancing, good hand hygiene and wearing a mask in public to reduce the risk of transmission. This story has been published on: 2021-03-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cygnal Therapeutics, the first company to build a platform to develop drugs in the new field of exoneural biology, will present two posters at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021, which will take place virtually from April 10-15 and May 17-21, 2021. The posters will describe insights into exoneural biology discovered via Cygnal's Exoneural Medicine Platform (EMP). Poster Title: Neural communication to peripheral tumors regulates cancer cell activity Number: 1450 Presenter: Monica Thanawala, Ph.D. Poster Title: Novel mechanisms of Neuropilin-1 inhibition result in improved tumor growth inhibition in vivo Number: 526 Presenters: Shalini Sethumadhavan, Ph.D., and Eric Zhu, Ph.D. Both posters will be offered virtually, and Cygnal's presenters will be available to answer questions via the AACR's online system during and after the event. The posters will be available for viewing by registered attendees from April 10 until June 21, 2021. About Cygnal Therapeutics Founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2017, Cygnal Therapeutics is the first company to build a platform to develop drugs in the new field of exoneural biology, an unprecedented way of thinking about nerves and peripheral neural pathways outside of traditional neurobiology. Fueled by its proprietary Exoneural Medicine Platform, Cygnal has generated evidence showing exoneurogenesis is a hallmark of cancer, playing a critical role in the invasion, proliferation, and migration of tumors. Cygnal data also suggests that neuroimmune crosstalk plays a role in antitumor immunity, inflammatory diseases, and gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, as well as a host of other diseases. Learn more at www.cygnaltx.com SOURCE Cygnal Therapeutics What's happening? Remember flying? Well for anyone living near an airport or under a flight path, the past year has been a time of glorious silence and I can at last hear my local birdsong as well as the squawking parakeets. However it has of course been disastrous for any business connected to those planes and all their supporting infrastructure. For some companies this period will have been terminal (no airport pun intended), but for others it has been a brilliant opportunity to carry out some unpleasant surgery that would have been far more controversial in normal times. Ready for take off: For some companies this period will have been terminal (no airport pun intended) So who are these Machiavellian beasts and what dark arts are they practising? Well dark arts can also be described as corporate reengineering and redevelopment for the future, and one such beast is the tediously titled IAG or British Airways and a clutch of other names to the rest of us (including Aer Lingus and Iberia). Why Does It Matter? The masters of IAG quite rightly have been planning for a the future, as of course all well managed companies should, but under the cloak of the economic shutdown, the group has been able to carry out radical surgery making them ready for the end of the pandemic. Thus a chance to adjust your fleet of planes, adjust your employment contracts with both pilots and crew, renegotiate with suppliers and any other connections, oh and yes restructure it's capital, debt and cash to survive the period of economic starvation. Painful and controversial maybe, but very effective if you are positive about the future. Oh yes and one other benefit from this terrible time? When they open up again there will be fewer of those pesky competitors around to try and squeeze your margins. What Should I Do? For the moment we should be looking to design our portfolio for the recovery. On the assumption that the planned opening up progresses well, we British will go out and spend and our holidays will be near the top of our list (including mine). So IAG, under whatever brand, is perfectly placed to benefit. Any Suggestions? The company is still only running at 20 per cent capacity but that is bound to change as we see the vaccines work their magic and our economy opens up. The IAG share price was 495p back in June 2018, having dropped to below 1 last summer. Since then the price has already doubled but I think is very capable of moving up strongly from here as both business and tourist confidence grows. Rather than taking the risk on a single company, there is a good passive fund covering the sector on a far broader scale which is iShares STOXX Europe 600 Travel and Leisure ETF. Time then to give your investment some wings. Justin Urquhart Stewart co-founded fund manager 7IM and is chairman of investment platform Regionally. She was recently announced as the lead actress in new drama series, The Essex Serpent, and will play the recently widowed protagonist Cora Seaborne. And Claire Danes was pictured on the set of the new Apple TV+ series with her co-star Frank Dillane for the first time earlier this week in Alresford, Essex. The Homeland actress, 41, beamed as she walked arm-in-arm with Frank, whose character is yet to be revealed, while filming a scene for the upcoming drama. First look: Claire Danes was pictured on the set of the new Apple TV+ series with her co-star Frank Dillane for the first time earlier this week Claire's character Cora was wearing a structured grey jumper with puff shoulders and a flowing grey skirt, which was inspired by the Victorian time period. Her locks were dyed strawberry blonde and styled in ringlets, which were swept off her face and into a carefree bun. She later transformed her look and was spotted wearing a flowing statement jacket with a pair of muddy trousers and boots. Co-stars: The Homeland actress, 41, beamed as she walked arm-in-arm with Frank, whose character is yet to be revealed, while filming a scene for the upcoming drama Character: She later transformed her look and was spotted wearing a flowing statement jacket with a pair of muddy trousers and boots Good spirits: Claire's character Cora was wearing a structured grey jumper with puff shoulders and a flowing grey skirt, which was inspired by the Victoria time period Claire and Frank appeared to share great chemistry as they laughed and joked together, before sharing a sweet hug once the cameras stopped rolling. Frank's character was sporting an all black ensemble, including a black jacket trousers and bowler hat and leather gloves. The character's met outside a pretty white cladded house before enjoying a stroll across the fields. Costume: Claire's character Cora was wearing a structured grey jumper with puff shoulders and a flowing grey skirt, which was inspired by the Victoria time period New look: Her locks were dyed strawberry blonde and styled in ringlets, which were swept off her face and into a carefree bun Dressed up: Frank's character was sporting an all black ensemble, including a black jacket trousers and bowler hat and leather gloves Claire replaced Keira Knightley in the upcoming drama The Essex Serpent back in February. She looked the vision of Victorian beauty when first look images from the period piece were released on Tuesday. Claire wore a high-necked velvet dress and her hair in an elegant up-do as she portrayed the newly widowed protagonist Cora. Greetings: The character's met outside a pretty white cladded house before enjoying a stroll across the fields Aw! Claire and Frank appeared to share great chemistry as they laughed and joked together, before sharing a sweet hug once the cameras stopped rolling The series follows Claire's character as she relocates from Victorian London to a small village in Essex after leaving an abusive marriage. She chooses to move to the town of Aldwinter after becoming intrigued by a local superstition that a creature known as The Essex Serpent lives in the area. Based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Perry, Claire will also be joined on screen by Tom Hiddleston, 40. Plot: The series follows Claire's character as she relocates from Victorian London to a small village in Essex after leaving an abusive marriage New village: She chooses to move to the town of Aldwinter after becoming intrigued by a local superstition that a creature known as The Essex Serpent lives in the area Novel: Based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Perry, Claire will also be joined on screen by Tom Hiddleston, 40 Who is he? Frank's character is yet to be revealed by the casting team The Night Manager actor looked well and truly in character in the newly released images as he donned his reverend costume. Tom plays Will Ransome, the trusted leader of the local community and can be seen in an image from the series sporting a brown coat and black jumper. Variety reported in February that Claire would take on the lead role in the show after Keira dropped out of the project last October due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Taking over: Variety reported in February that Claire would take on the lead role in the show after Keira dropped out of the project last October due to the Covid-19 pandemic Director: Clio Bernard is set to direct the series while writer Anna Symon is adapting the novel for the screen Filming: The duo appeared animated while filming the new series Sweet: Claire walked with her arm around Frank in the picturesque setting Clio Bernard is set to direct the series while writer Anna Symon is adapting the novel for the screen. Tom will next be seen as his Marvel character Loki in an upcoming spin-off series which sees him travel through time and alter human history after stealing the Tesseract during the events of Avengers: Endgame. Tom's Loki has been one of the longest-running recurring characters in Marvels connected film universe, starting with Thor in 2011. Upcoming drama: Claire looked the vision of Victorian beauty when first look images from The Essex Serpent were released on Tuesday BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th March, 2021) The scandal at the US-China talks in Anchorage, located the US state of Alaska, is just a beginning, the most essential part is yet to come, Zhao Lijian, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said on Friday. On Thursday, US Secretary State Anthony Blinken and National Security Adviser to the US President Jake Sullivan held first meetings with two senior Chinese diplomats Director of the Office of the Central Committee for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Anchorage, the US state of Alaska. The first session began with harsh criticism of Beijing by Blinken and Sullivan. According to Politico, the US officials criticized China for Hong Kong events and the alleged genocide against Uighur Muslims in China's Xinjiang region. Their Chinese counterparts responded by blaming the US for hypocrisy. Both sides accused each other of breaking protocol guiding the talks. According to the reports based on video fragments of the meeting, the US opening speech lasted five minutes instead of agreed four, China's - 23 minutes. "We think that this dialogue is a good chance for strengthening contacts between the countries, settling contradictions and developing cooperation ... The Chinese side commits to frank and constructive approach to this dialogue. Having arrived in Alaska, the Chinese delegation felt not only Alaska's cold climate but also the ethics of the US hosts' attitude to the guests. This opening speech was only a snack, the main meal is yet to come, this will be the most essential part," the spokesman said during the briefing. Answering a question why China's speech lasted for more than 20 minutes and still accused the US of violating protocol, Zhao said that it was a response to "the serious violation of time limit by the US delegation." The second session ended late on Thursday and the sides are expected to continue their talks on Friday. 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. Bangladesh and Maldives: Dhaka, Male sign 4 deals focused on connectivity, trade March 19,2021 | Source: The New Age Bangladesh Bangladesh and Maldives on Thursday reached a consensus to strengthen connectivity by establishing direct commercial shipping and air links and sign a preferential trade agreement aimed at increasing trade between the two countries. The two countries also signed four memorandums of understanding to boost cooperation in different areas including fisheries and cultural affairs. The agreements were reached at talks at the level of the heads of the governments of the two sides Maldivian president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and prime minister Sheikh Hasina at the Prime Ministers Office in Dhaka. Foreign ministers of the two countries Abdulla Shahid of Maldives and AK Abdul Momen of Bangladesh briefed journalists about the outcome of the talks. The two top leaders decided to establish a direct commercial shipping link between Male, the capital and seaport of Maldives, and the three seaports of Bangladesh by signing a shipping agreement. Biman Bangladesh Airlines would operate regular commercial flights between Dhaka and Male, Sheikh Hasina announced during the talks. The four MOUs signed between the two countries, after the talks, were on setting up of a foreign minister-level joint commission for comprehensive cooperation, launching an annual bilateral foreign office consultation at the level of foreign secretaries, cooperation in the field of fisheries and pelagic fishing and on a cultural exchange programme for 2022-2025. President Solih and prime minister Hasina witnessed the signing of the MOUs, PMs press secretary Ihsanul Karim said in a briefing after the talks, according to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. Both the countries agreed to hold regular commerce secretary-level meeting to negotiate PTA and expedite the finalisation of the proposed agreement on customs cooperation and signing an agreement on avoidance of double taxation. Bangladesh iterated its policy of extending continued support towards the development of human resources in the Maldives in different fields including higher education in medicine and dentistry. Bangladesh also offered training courses to the Maldivian peacekeepers at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation Training. Bangladesh is a potential trade partner of the Maldives and the PTA will be signed in the near future, Karim said, quoting the Maldivian president. On the Rohingya issue, president Solih said that his country wants to work jointly with Bangladesh at the International Courts Justice to protect the rights of the Rohingyas. Solih appreciated significant contributions made by Bangladeshi expatriate workers in the two economies. The two leaders reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and agreed to expand mutual cooperation in multiple prospective areas, including trade, commerce, investment, youth development, healthcare, education and pharmaceuticals. Sheikh Hasina called upon the Maldives to import various products from Bangladesh to address the bilateral trade issues in details. Solih and Hasina held a one-on-one meeting before the delegation-level talks with participation from foreign minister AK Abdul Momen, commerce minister Tipu Munshi, LGRD and cooperatives minister Md Tajul Islam, fisheries and livestock minister SM Rezaul Karim, state minister for foreign affairs M Shahriar Alam, PMs principal secretary Ahmad Kaikaus and foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen from Bangladesh side. From the Maldives side, foreign minister Abdulla Shahid, economic development minister Fayyaz Ismail and foreign secretary Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed were present. Maldives foreign minister said the two sides also agreed to regularise Bangladeshi workers for ensuring their rights and protections from exploitations. The two countries also agreed to work together for maintaining peace in the Indian Ocean region, he said. Solih was set to join a reception hosted in his honour by president Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban. Maldivian president Solih reached Dhaka on Wednesday morning to attend the celebrations of the birth centenary of Bangladeshs founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of the countrys independence. He was set to leave Dhaka for Male on early Friday. 2021 Media New Age Limited Photo: The Canadian Press Security officers outside court building in Dandong, China. China on Friday put on trial one of two Canadians held for more than two years in apparent retaliation for Canadas arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive. Canada said its consular officials were refused permission to attend the proceedings against Michael Spavor, who is accused by China of stealing state secrets. Jim Nickel, the Canadian Embassys deputy chief of mission, said the hearing ended at noon Friday after two hours. No verdict has been announced. Nickel declined to give other details, citing rules on protecting Spavors privacy. In a statement posted on its website, the Intermediate Peoples Court of Dandong in the northeastern province of Liaoning Province said it had held a closed-door hearing against Spavor on charges of spying and illegally sending state secrets abroad. It said Spavor and his defence lawyers were present for the proceedings and the court would pronounce a sentence at a date determined in accordance with law." Fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig is due to go before a court on Monday. The two were detained in December 2018, days after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested at the request of the U.S. at the airport in Vancouver, British Columbia. Both are charged with spying. The entrance to the courthouse was roped off with police tape and journalists were kept outside, although not detained or told to leave, as often occurs during sensitive legal cases. Police cars and vans with lights flashing passed through the gate to the court complex, located beside the Yalu River that divides China from North Korea. Earlier, Nickel had knocked on a court door seeking entry but was refused. Another 10 diplomats from eight countries, including the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, stood on the street opposite the courthouse in a show of support. International and bilateral treaties required that China provide Canadian diplomats access to the trial, but the court said Chinese law regarding trials on state security charges overrode such obligations, Nickel said. Spavor and Kovrig were detained in December 2018, days after Meng was arrested at the request of the U.S. at the airport in Vancouver, British Columbia. The U.S. is seeking her extradition to face fraud charges related to the telecom giant's dealings with Iran, which is under American financial sanctions. The two Canadians have been held ever since, while Meng has been released on bail. They were charged in June 2020 with spying under Chinas broadly defined national security laws. NEW YORK, March 18, 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 www.pomerantzlaw.com OAKLAND, Calif., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Shield of California, as the state of California's third-party administrator, today announced the state's enhanced COVID-19 vaccine provider network continues to expand, with the number of providers enrolled by the network nearly doubling since last week. More providers are expected to enroll in the state's network in the coming weeks, enabling the network to meet or exceed California's goal of having the capacity to deliver 4 million doses a week by the end of April. The currently enrolled providers represent a wide range of facilities across California that together reach 99 percent of the state's 16-years and older population based on the state's guidance of people having vaccine provider access within 10 miles for urban areas and 30 miles for rural areas. The network also has a deep presence in most vulnerable communities with the network reaching 99 percent of the population in areas California has identified as high priorities for vaccine availability to meet equity goals (lowest quartile Healthy Places Index). "This is a collective effort by providers along with local and state health officials to save lives by making vaccines available to all Californians, especially those living in communities hardest hit by this pandemic," said Paul Markovich, president and CEO, Blue Shield of California. "Together, we are building a provider network that can quickly get vaccines to every corner of our state and the way to do that is to build capacity that's only limited by the number of doses we receive from the federal government." The state's enhanced network includes Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and community health clinics, local provider systems, pharmacies, and all multi-county entities. The network currently has the capacity to deliver over 3 million doses per week. Combined with the mega sites operated by the federal government, California is expected to greatly exceed its goal of creating statewide capacity to be able to administer 4 million vaccinations a week. The third-party administrator, under the direction of the state, continues to work closely with counties and their health officials including equity plans that engage community-based organizations to help ensure vaccines reach all parts of their communities. The latest list of participating vaccine providers can be found at this link. It is important to note that during the March transition period, the providers already administering the vaccine will continue to receive doses to ensure vaccines are available to as many Californians as possible. Blue Shield continues to work expeditiously to have as many eligible providers participate in the enhanced network including FQHCs, community clinics, multi-county entities, hospital systems, medical groups, pharmacies and others. Blue Shield is a nonprofit health plan that's answering the call by the state to support its vaccine distribution efforts to help save lives. The health plan is working closely with each county, their public health leaders, and state officials to build a vaccine network to help meet the state's goal to ensure all Californians have access to the vaccines equitably, efficiently and as quickly as possible. The health plan is taking on this effort at cost without making a profit from the state. Blue Shield is not charging the state for its staff time devoted to this effort. It will only bill the state actual expenses to support the network up to the limit of the contract. About Blue Shield of California Blue Shield of California strives to create a healthcare system worthy of its family and friends that is sustainably affordable. Blue Shield of California is a tax paying, nonprofit, independent member of the Blue Shield Association with over 4.5 million members, over 7,500 employees and more than $21 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1939 in San Francisco and now headquartered in Oakland, Blue Shield of California and its affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare healthcare service plans in California. The company has contributed more than $150 million to Blue Shield of California Foundation in the last four years to have an impact on California communities. For more news about Blue Shield of California, please visit news.blueshieldca.com. Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. CONTACT: Erika Conner Blue Shield of California 510-607-2359 [email protected] SOURCE Blue Shield of California Related Links www.bcbs.com Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 23:40:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOSCOW -- The Kremlin said Friday that it hoped for the best regarding its relations with the United States, yet it was also "prepared for the worst." Russian President Vladimir Putin has already made it clear that Russia wished to maintain its relations with the United States as this would be of advantage for the rest of the world, the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying. (Russia-Kremlin-Putin) - - - - ACCRA -- At least eight people were killed and 22 injured in a road accident in Ghana's northern Savannah Region, police said on Friday. A Mercedes-Benz Sprinter bus traveling from Wa, capital of the Upper West Region, to Kumasi in the Ashanti region on Thursday flipped several times and landed in a nearby bush, which resulted in deaths and injuries, according to the police. (Ghana-Road accident) - - - - LUANDA -- At least five people have died and two went missing due to heavy rain that poured on Tuesday in the Angolan capital Luanda and left 2,770 people homeless, the country's National Service for Civil Protection and Firefighters (SNPCB) said on Friday. According to the SNPCB, at least two people died electrocuted and three were dragged by the strong current of water that swept Luanda. (Angola-Rain) - - - - OUAGADOUGOU -- At least five health workers were abducted on Thursday evening in northern Yagha province of Burkina Faso, security source told Xinhua on Friday in the capital Ouagadougou. "Unidentified gunmen on Thursday evening abducted five workers at Mansila health center, on Seba-Mansila road axis. Research was initiated to locate them", the security source told Xinhua. (Burkina Faso-Abductor) Enditem Interview: Renowned economist highlights vast common interests between China, U.S. Xinhua) 10:09, March 19, 2021 WASHINGTON, March 18 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States have a lot of common interests, and the relationship between the two "huge, complex" countries needs to grow "on a systematic basis," a renowned U.S. economist has said. "China and the United States have a huge amount of common interests. We need to protect the planet. We need to stop the pandemic," Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, told Xinhua in a recent remote interview. Referring to their common aspirations for peace, Sachs said, "I believe that we need good cooperation between China and the United States." In an opinion piece published in late February, the economist, who is also a senior United Nations (UN) advisor, said that U.S. President Joe Biden's China policy "should begin with a search for cooperation rather than a presumption of conflict." "Cooperation is not cowardice as American conservatives repeatedly claim," he said. "Both the United States and China have much to gain from it." Noting that under the Biden administration, the United States is returning to multilateralism, Sachs said he hopes that the "harsh talk and the antagonism will be put aside." Calling himself a "huge fan of the United Nations," Sachs said if both China and the United States follow the UN Charter and build more effective UN institutions, "this is the most important gift for global peace we could have." On technology, Sachs said competition itself is "healthy," but it's not healthy when the United States attacks Chinese companies such as Huawei, or prevents semiconductor technologies from exporting to Chinese companies. "I'm completely against that approach," he said. "That is really not legitimate forms of competition. It's very dangerous." The economist noted that "we need ideas and technologies to flow across the world" as they bring global benefits. Sachs added that cybersecurity issues should be discussed by experts based on evidence instead of accusations. Besides intergovernmental dialogue and discussions, people-to-people exchanges are needed as well, he said. "People like me, an academic who was not part of the government ... we need to be discussing and analyzing ways for cooperation," he said. The professor also noted that there is a tendency in the United States to incite fear of Chinese students, based on concerns over "secret information." "This attitude is absolutely wrong. It would tremendously weaken the United States," he said, adding that one of the country's strengths is its openness to students from across the world, including China. Sachs also encouraged Chinese and U.S. universities to enhance cooperation in clean energy, conservation, and in ending extreme poverty. Noting that China made several breakthroughs in 2020, such as containing the COVID-19 epidemic, ending extreme poverty and in space exploration, the economist said the country is "on the right track" in its policy framework, highlighting its objectives for technological development and the 2060 goal for de-carbonization. Sachs, who first visited China in 1981, said that China has both a motivation and a capacity to speed de-carbonization. The National Schools Inspectorate Authority (NaSIA) has entreated all banks to request from all pre-tertiary schools evidence of their registration with the authority before transacting business with them. It said the proof of registration should be in the form of a provisional certificate, provisional license or full license. This directive applies to any school that operates from kindergarten to senior high school (SHS), a technical, vocational or specialised institution , or any of its international curricula equivalent, a letter dated February 12, 2021 and signed by the Executive Director of NaSIA, Dr Haggar Hilda Ampadu, said. However, following NaSIAs request to the banks, the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS) has expressed its unhappiness about the authoritys decision, saying it amounted to collapsing their schools. GNAPS The National Organiser of GNAPS, Mr Ezra Etsu Datnanyi, told the Daily Graphic that the letter to the banks amounted to, denying us access to our own money and this is an infringement on our right to do business in the country. The private schools are virtually being harassed, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and now, NaSIA he said. The meaning of the letter, he said was that they could not have access to their own money in their accounts. I am receiving calls everyday from our membership and if this is allowed to continue, it would result in the closure of schools as they would not have money to operate, he lamented. Mr Datnanyi, therefore, called on NaSIA to withdraw the letter from the banks and continue its engagements with the schools by encouraging them to register rather than the harsh stance it had taken. Letter The letter from NaSIA said, the authority, formerly the National Inspectorate Board (NIB), is an agency under the Ministry of Education established by the Education Act, 2008 (Act 778) as amended by the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023). It said NaSIA was mandated to develop, publish, promote and enforce quality standards and guidelines for quality education in public and private pre-tertiary educational institutions. Moreover, it said the authority was also responsible for registering and licensing all public and private schools in Ghana. Section 98 (2&3) of Act 1023 requires all public and private pre-tertiary educational institutions also referred to as schools to register with NaSIA. As part of our requirement and processes, all new and existing schools must seek authorisation from NaSIA before operating in Ghana, it said. Source: Graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Sharon Osbourne was seen for the very first time since her defense of friend Piers Morgan raised reports of racist behavior by the The Talk hostess, captured on her way to a vaccine appointment on Thursday. The embattled hostess, 68, looked downcast as she quickly went from her car to the LA-area vaccine site to be inoculated, keeping a low profile in a black bucket hat, cream-hued cardigan and white tee shirt. Sharon was joined by a large, grey-haired man following reports the star had to hire private security after her, her family, and pets were inundated with death threats. Her outing comes while journalist Lisa Ling has offered a defense of the host, saying she dislikes 'cancel culture' and believes Sharon should have a chance to redeem herself. Sighting: Sharon Osbourne was seen in public for the first time since her defense of friend Piers Morgan lead to accusations of racism on the set of The Talk, spotted getting a COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday Emotions: The embattled hostess, 68, looked downcast as she quickly went from her car to the LA-area vaccine site to be inoculated, keeping a low profile in a black bucket hat, cream-hued cardigan and white tee shirt Sharon found herself at the center of scandal after defending friend Piers Morgan for walking off during a tense conversation about Meghan Markle live on Good Morning Britain. Her defense of Piers prompted a heated discussion with co-host Sheryl Underwood, where an emotional Osbourne demanded Underwood - a Black woman - explain how Piers was guilty of racism. 'Educate me!' Osbourne demaned with tears in her eyes. 'Tell me when you have heard him say racist things.' Afterwards accusations Sharon had used racist and homophobic language to describe her co-hosts emerged, claiming Osbourne called Julie Chen a 'won-ton' and Sara Gilbert, who is a lesbian, a 'fish-eater,' among other offenses. And while it's said that Sharon's place at The Talk table is in jeopardy, others have come to her defense, decrying 'cancel culture' and urging people to give the wife of rocker Ozzy Osbourne a second chance. Protection: Sharon was joined by a large, grey-haired man following reports the star had to hire private security after her, her family, and pets were inundated with death threats Keeping a low-profile: The star barely spent any time outside of her car Follow-up: It looked like Sharon was getting her second dose of the vaccine Back home: As soon as the wife of rocker Ozzy Osbourne got her shot, she was off again Tense: Her defense of Piers prompted a heated discussion with co-host Sheryl Underwood, where an emotional Osbourne demanded Underwood - a Black woman - explain how Piers was guilty of racism Low: Sharon definitely looked like the scandal was weighing on her, seen with her head down and shoulders shrugged CNN's Lisa Ling offered her opinion during an impromptu interview at the airport, saying: 'I am not a fan of cancel culture, Sharon has always been kind to me. 'I hope that she recognizes that she has misspoken and said some things that are very hurtful to people and I hope she can reconcile that in herself.' She went on to underscore the power of apologies, saying: 'I have always been someone who believes that if you sincerely apologize you should be given an opportunity to redeem yourself and do better.' Meanwhile, Sharon has slammed any accusations of racism, exclusively telling DailyMail.com the reports were 'all crap' coming from 'little people.' Defender: CNN's Lisa Ling offered her opinion during an impromptu interview at the airport, saying: 'I am not a fan of cancel culture, Sharon has always been kind to me' Do better: She went on to underscore the power of apologies, saying: 'I have always been someone who believes that if you sincerely apologize you should be given an opportunity to redeem yourself and do better' 'Everyone's got an opinion or a story like the wonton story. It's like f**k off with your f**king wonton story. F**k off!' she said. 'Everybody's got an opinion and everybody's got a voice it's fine. It's about knowing somebody's been called out for something and then somebody else is like, 'yes!! I'm going to add something too.' 'Of course, it's a pile on. People want to add fuel to the fire and it comes with the territory and that's fine.' Osbourne has been at the center of a race storm since defending long-time friend Piers Morgan during an episode of The Talk that aired last Wednesday. Explicit denial: The TV veteran, 68, added: 'Everyone's got an opinion or a story like the wonton story. It's like f**k off with your f**king wonton story. F**k off! And on Tuesday the allegations piled on when sources revealed to journalist Yashar Ali that Osbourne has a history of making racist references to her co-hosts. During the show, Osbourne and co-host Sheryl Underwood, 57, became embroiled in an argument about Morgan's take on Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey. The bust-up has left her friendship with Underwood hanging by a thread, angry about the ensuing pile-on and with her career at CBS in doubt. Although she says she is being supported by her friends, family, Morgan and her co-stars albeit Underwood aside - she told DailyMail.com the furor has been tough to take. She said: 'It's been a really, really bad week a lot of mental pressure and heartache.' CBS has extended The Talk's hiatus for yet another week after Sharon Osbourne was accused of frequently calling former co-host Julie Chen a 'wonton' and 'slanty eyes' Osbourne told DailyMail.com that she wasn't warned that a debate was coming and had been prepped beforehand for four completely different segments. She says she was blindsided and stunned to discover her co-hosts were questioning her using cue cards on a part of the show that is usually ad-libbed. Osbourne says it was at this point, she realized she had been set up by producers intent on creating headlines and CBS bigwigs angry with her for defending Morgan who they believe 'tarnished' their top rated Markle interview with his comments. Morgan told Good Morning Britain viewers that he didn't believe a word Markle said and added: 'I wouldn't believe it if she read me a weather report'. Osbourne was later accused of racism for backing Morgan's right to voice an opinion, while Morgan has now left Good Morning Britain after refusing to apologize for his comments. Osbourne told DailyMail.com that she later discovered The Talk's producers had initially asked Elaine Welteroth to lead the questioning but she refused when they were unable to provide her with any evidence of Morgan's alleged racism. She said: 'I found out later on, they'd asked Elaine to start off the segment and she said, no I'm not doing it. 'She kept saying, 'where's the evidence that Piers is a racist? Where's the evidence? Show me'. Of course, they couldn't show her anything because there wasn't anything.' On Tuesday the allegations piled on when sources revealed to journalist Yashar Ali that Osbourne has a history of making racist references to her co-hosts Osbourne (far right) and Underwood (second from left) got into a heated exchange over Osbourne's support for her friend Piers Morgan (third from left), who has come under fire for comments he made about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Morgan posted this photo in February 2020 of the show's former panel from last year. From left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Underwood, Morgan, Marie Osmond, and Osbourne Osbourne said: 'I just think Piers tarnished their perfect interview that's been so well received in America I can't talk for the rest of the world, I can only say here. 'Especially the younger kids here, they are totally behind Harry and Meghan and that's great. 'Piers tarnished it for them and I think they're pissed. Pissed with me for sticking up for him and I think that's it.' Having realized she had been 'set up', she lost her temper and became angrier still when the debate wasn't ended after the first commercial break but allowed to continue for another 20 minutes. She says she was left even more furious when Morgan and her by association were accused of being racist, despite producers 'not having a shred of evidence'. Osbourne said: 'It's hurtful but the thing is, when you're tarred with that, you can't defend it because the more you defend it, the worse it is for you. 'You know, it's like that line that people use oh some of my best friends are black and you come out with ridiculous statements. Well I'm not going to do that. 'Yes, I blew my bloody wad on the show and I went nuts, I went nuts. All these thoughts were going through my head while I was answering these questions and I knew I'd been blindsided. 'They'd set me up. They'd set me up. The producers never told me. If they'd said to me, listen, the execs here aren't happy with what's gone on with you and Piers we've got to try and sort this situation out, the girls are going to ask you these questions, blah, blah. Bring me in on it. Don't blindside me. 'If they'd said these execs aren't happy, I'd have worked on it with them. But give me a chance. Don't bloody surprise attack me on national TV live for 20 minutes when it was meant to be four other segments. Osbourne has faced criticism over her an on-air feud with Underwood after she was accused of being racist for defending her friend Piers Morgan in the wake of his Meghan Markle comments The Talk was initially put on hiatus until Wednesday while executives investigated. Following the Chen and Gilbert allegations, CBS issued a statement saying it had extended the broadcast suspension until next Tuesday 'We were meant to talk about fu**ing Pepe Le Pew and they let this go on.' The fight has now seen the show put on hiatus until next Tuesday while bosses complete an investigation into the episode that was requested by Osbourne herself. Meanwhile, former co-stars Julie Chen and Leah Rimini have publicly come out to complain that Osbourne once referred to Chen as 'a wonton' and Rimini as being 'ghetto'. The claims came shortly after another former co-star, Holly Robinson Peete, also accused Osbourne of saying she was 'ghetto' and allegedly got her fired. The mom-of-two has strongly denied Robinson Peete's claims and added to DailyMail.com: 'In situations like this, you're always going to get people who you've had disagreements with in the past, people who've got axes to grind, who come out of the woodwork and they'll come out with their BS and that's it. It doesn't surprise me at all. It doesn't surprise me.' She added: 'Being accused of racism is no joke. Now they get their sweet revenge. I can't even address it because it's kids in a schoolyard. 'Coming out with stupid, childish comments it's like really? That's all you've got?' Asked if she had ever called Chen a wonton, she added: 'It's all crap. It's all crap. I don't want to go there with her. She makes her living out of outing people. So, it's like come on. 'It's got no real foundation. Allegations of calling a Chinese lady a wonton, it's like is that all you've got? It's like really?' Osbourne added: 'All these little people who want to come out with a story about [Piers] or me from the 70s or 80s or whatever, it's like f**k you all. 'I couldn't care less. And I'm not going to defend myself. It's like, oh shut up I'm too bloody busy.' Osbourne told DailyMail.com that she suspects the row will now cost her place on The Talk but hopes the CBS investigation will at least give her answers to who gave the order blindside her and why. After she faced a backlash and accusations of racism following Wednesday's show, Osbourne issued a statement (above) Friday apologizing 'to anyone of colour that I offended and/or to anyone that feels confused or let down' She said: 'I kind of think they're going use me as a sacrificial lamb and fire me. It's fine. It's fine. It hasn't happened yet but I'm sure it will. 'If that's what they want to do, so be it. I'm a big girl. I lost my cool in there [on the show], I did. I totally lost it and came off so horribly defensive. I can only learn from that. 'I don't know what they'll do. It's a big, ugly mess. But I didn't start it. I didn't start it. It's down to the producers of the show.' Despite the row, Osbourne says she doesn't regret standing up for Morgan and denied apologizing for her defense of him in a social media statement on Friday insisting instead that she was apologizing for losing her temper. She said she is trying to rebuild her friendship with Sheryl and has apologized for making her cry but said she is yet to hear back. Of Morgan, she says she would come to his defense again if she had to, adding: 'And not just Piers everybody has a voice and an opinion. 'I don't agree with his opinion all the way, I don't. But the difference is, he knows Meghan and I don't. it's like, hey, the guy has a right to his opinion I'm sure I say things and he goes, she's f**king nuts! 'Piers and I have got a great friendship. But we fight we have huge fights. I've slapped Piers. Piers has seen my breasts! We get drunk together, we argue a lot over things we don't agree on but at the end of the day, that's it.' Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) found no evidence that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is associated with increased risks of blood cot events, EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke said on Thursday MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th March, 2021) The European Medicines Agency (EMA) found no evidence that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is associated with increased risks of blood cot events, EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke said on Thursday. "The [Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment] Committee has come to a clear scientific conclusion. This is a safe and effective vaccine. Its benefits in protecting people from COVID-19 with the associated risks of death and hospitalization outweigh the possible risks. The committee also concluded that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of thromboembolic events or blood clots," Cooke said during a briefing. The executive director also said that the European Union's regulator would continue to study possible links between the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clot incidents. "We're also launching additional investigations to understand more about these rare cases, and we're conducting targeted observational study," Cooke added. An urgent police search has been launched for a man aged in his 50s after a 15-year-old girl was assaulted on a suburban street. Police said the girl was walking in a quiet street in the southern Perth suburb of Success when a man approached her and forced her to the ground on Tuesday. He is then accused of assaulting her before she struggled free. 'Fremantle Detectives are investigating a reported incident involving a 15-year-old female victim, which occurred on Tuesday 16 March 2021 on Hammond Road, Success,' a Western Australia Police spokesman said. A sketch of the man WA Police are hunting in relation to a 'cowardly' daylight attack on a 15- year-old girl 'The 15-year-old girl was walking along Daviesia Turn in Success when she was approached by an older man.' 'The man followed the girl onto Hammond Road, before forcing her to the ground and assaulting her.' The alleged attack was carried out in broad daylight at 3.30pm. The alleged assault was on Hammond Road at Success in Perth's southern suburbs on Tuesday 'This was a cowardly attack on a vulnerable female that's walking near the bus stop but she was lucky not to have any serious injuries and we support her as best we can,' Detective Senior Constable Rosanna McKee said. 'She's very brave and she did everything that she could to get away from the male ... and she's gone and sought help and contacted the police immediately after.' Police appealed for any information regarding the incident and described the man as 'olive skinned, skinny build, gruff voice, in his 50s, with curly shoulder length hair, blue eyes, thin nose with a red rash all over his face and neck.' An estimated 90 million people have already received their portion of the third round of stimulus checks approved as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The vast majority of those checks were sent out Wednesday morning as the IRS finalized that date as when the payments would be made for the first wave of checks. However, not everyone has received their $1,400 per-person checks. There are several factors that could be causing a delay in payment processing. If you are unsure of when you can expect to receive your check, the IRS Get My Payment tool is available to give you an estimate. It can also tell you some of the issues that need to be resolved before you can receive your check. Here is a look at some of the reasons why your check may not have arrived just yet: You no longer qualify because of your income One of the major issues lawmakers battled over with the bill was income thresholds for those who would qualify for checks. It was eventually agreed on that single tax payers needed to earn less than $75,000 on their latest tax filing in order to receive the full $1,400. Those who earned between $75,000 and $80,000 saw their checks diminish by $100 per $1,000 over $75,000. Single tax payers who earned over $80,000 received nothing. Couples who earned under $150,000 combined were eligible for full checks as well. However, if couple earned more than $160,000 combined, they received nothing. Your 2020 taxes havent been processed yet or you havent filed in two years Because the financial threshold for receiving a check is based on your latest tax return, its possible the government hasnt sent your payment yet because it is processing your 2020 return. Those whove already filed for 2020 may see a delay in their stimulus check because the IRS is reviewing your latest information to determine exactly how much you will receive. If you did not file taxes for 2019 or 2020, that may also delay your payment, even if you dont typically have to file a return. That doesnt mean you wont receive a payment, but that lack of a tax return could be causing a delay for you. You arent receiving the money via direct deposit While millions of Americans received their money through direct deposit at their bank, many others will receive their funds via a paper check or a prepaid debit card. Those checks and cards will be sent out to you directly, but may not have been sent yet. Its also possible your money is being sent that way because there was an issue with your bank account. Banks can reject the funds if youve closed the account the previous checks went to, or if some of your information was incorrect. You are also unable to change bank account information used for the first two rounds of stimulus. You will still be able to receive your money, but it will come in the mail and not direct deposit if you have bank issues. Youre in one of the next waves The IRS says its sending out the money in waves, so while some 90 million checks have already been sent, there are still millions more that need to go out. Its unclear when the next full wave of money will be released, but the IRS says it will be done in a timely manner. Statement from the Wits Council - 19 March 2021 Statement from the Council of Wits University on the funding of higher education in South Africa. The Council of the University of the Witwatersrand is cognisant of the current higher education funding crisis in South Africa. The University has consistently engaged with various constituencies regarding these financial challenges and continues to do so. We have heard the calls at Wits and across the country for access to higher education, for free higher education, and the cancellation of historical debt, and we recognise that these are national challenges that cannot be solved by universities alone. We believe that quality higher education has the power to transform lives and positively impact society. Quality higher education creates new knowledge, develops the sophisticated, scarce and critical skills needed to modernise and advance our economy, and fosters socially conscious and active citizens who stand for justice and advance the public good. We believe that most South Africans appreciate the value of universities in shaping and enhancing our democracy, the role that they play in shaping our world today, and creating a better society for future generations. Wits University occupies a special place in the hearts and minds of South Africans and a valuable and enduring legacy. The University is the heart of activism that seeks a better world for all, but it cannot bear the burden of the sector and the nation on its own. The Council works with the Senior Executive Team to ensure that Wits University remains well-governed and we are duty bound to ensure that it remains financially sustainable so that it can continue to advance society through quality higher education whilst ensuring there are still doors of learning to open tomorrow. We welcome the commitment of the Senior Executive Team to enable access to higher education for academically talented students, within the resources that are available to the University. We know that the University administers over R1 billion in financial aid, bursaries and scholarships annually, and that it commits over R120 million annually from the Council budget to assist students. We recognise that some 27 000 students (out of about 37 500 full-time students) receive some form of financial assistance, and we applaud this contribution from the University. But it is not enough. It is not enough to solve todays funding crisis, let alone address the systemic funding issues facing higher education and South Africa. The higher education funding crisis is entrenched in our countrys debt and economic woes, compounded by a global pandemic and the austerity measures that have been imposed. Although Wits continues with its efforts to financially support academically deserving students, the endeavours of universities are merely stop-gaps in a funding void. Issued by Mr Isaac Shongwe (Chairperson) on behalf of the Council of the University of the Witwatersrand 19 March 2021 (Adds dropped word 'first' to headline) * U.S., Chinese officials engage in rare sparring in public * U.S. says China threatens rule-based order, global stability * China says U.S. abuses national security * Talks scheduled for Thursday, Friday By Humeyra Pamuk, Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom ANCHORAGE, Alaska, March 18 (Reuters) - The first high-level U.S.-China meeting of the Biden administration got off to a fiery start on Thursday, with both sides leveling sharp rebukes of the others' policies in a rare public display that underscored the level of bilateral tension. The run-up to the talks in Anchorage, Alaska, which followed visits by U.S. officials to allies Japan and South Korea, was marked by a flurry of moves by Washington that showed it was taking a tough stance, and by blunt talk from Beijing. "We will ... discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, economic coercion of our allies," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Chinese counterparts in a highly unusual extended back-and-forth in front of cameras. "Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability," he said. The Biden administration has made clear that it is looking for a change in behavior from China, which has expressed hope to reset relations between the world's two largest economies that worsened drastically under former President Donald Trump. China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi responded with a 15-minute speech in Chinese while the U.S. side awaited translation, lashing out over what he said was the United States' struggling democracy, poor treatment of minorities, and criticizing its foreign and trade policies. "The United States uses its military force and financial hegemony to carry out long-arm jurisdiction and suppress other countries," said Yang. "It abuses so-called notions of national security to obstruct normal trade exchanges, and incite some countries to attack China," he added. Story continues 'GRANDSTANDING' AND PROTOCOL BREACHES Throughout Yang's monologue, U.S. National Security Adviser Sullivan and other officials in the delegation passed notes to each other. At the end, Blinken held journalists in the room so he could respond. What is typically a few minutes of opening remarks in front of journalists for such high-level meetings lasted more than an hour, and the two delegations tussled about when media would be ushered out of the room. Afterwards, the United States accused China of "grandstanding" while Chinese state media blamed U.S. officials for speaking too long and being "inhospitable". Both sides accused the other of violating diplomatic protocol by speaking too long in opening remarks. "The Chinese delegation ... seems to have arrived intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance," the official told reporters at the Anchorage hotel where the meeting was taking place. "Exaggerated diplomatic presentations often are aimed at a domestic audience," the official added. Many netizens on China's social media said Chinese officials were doing a good job in Alaska, and that the U.S. side lacked sincerity. Some even characterized the talks as a "Hongmen Banquet", referring to an event that took place 2,000 years ago where a rebel leader invited another to a feast with the intention of murdering him. Still, the two sides reconvened for another meeting on Thursday evening, and a senior Biden administration official said that the first session was "substantive, serious, and direct," running well beyond the two hours originally allotted. "We used the session, just as we had planned, to outline our interests and priorities, and we heard the same from our Chinese counterparts," the official said in the pool report, adding that a third session of talks was scheduled for Friday morning. While much of Biden's China policy is still being formulated, including how to handle the tariffs on Chinese goods implemented under Trump, his administration has so far placed a stronger emphasis on democratic values and allegations of human rights abuses by China. China firmly opposes U.S. interference in what it regards as its internal affairs, issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said it was expecting the United States to brief them about the talks. TERMS OF DISAGREEMENT Washington says Blinken's Asia tour before the meeting with Chinese officials, as well as U.S. outreach to Europe, India and other partners, shows how the United States has strengthened its hand to confront China since Biden took office in January. But the two sides appeared primed to agree on very little at the talks. Even the status of the meeting became a sticking point, with China insisting it is a "strategic dialogue", harkening back to bilateral mechanisms of years past. The U.S. side rejected that, calling it a one-off session. On the eve of the talks, the United States issued a flurry of actions directed at China, including a move to begin revoking Chinese telecoms licenses, subpoenas to multiple Chinese information technology companies over national security concerns, and updated sanctions on China over a rollback of democracy in Hong Kong. Adding to tensions, China on Friday tried a Canadian citizen on espionage charges, in a case embroiled in a wider diplomatic spat between Washington and Beijing. At the talks on Thursday, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi questioned Blinken about whether the sanctions were announced ahead of the meeting on purpose. Washington has said it is willing to work with China when it is in U.S. interests, citing climate policy and the coronavirus pandemic as examples. Blinken said Washington hoped to see China use its influence with North Korea to persuade it to give up its nuclear weapons. Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said tough statements from both sides in the run-up to the meeting had created a risk that it would devolve into an exchange of accusations and demands. "Neither side benefits from this meeting being judged a total failure," Glaser said. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Anchorage and Michael Martina, David Brunnstrom and Simon Lewis in Washington, and Yew Lun Tian in Beijing and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Mary Milliken, Grant McCool, Tony Munroe, Michael Perry and Kim Coghill) Cambodias Health Ministry announced the countrys second confirmed death from COVID-19 on Friday. It said the 62-year-old victim was a Cambodian woman admitted Wednesday to the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in the capital Phnom Penh with underlying health issues, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and lung problems. Cambodia confirmed its first virus-related death on March 11, a 50-year-old Cambodian man who was found to have become infected last month while working as a driver for a Chinese company in the coastal city of Sihanoukville. Cambodia has confirmed 1,578 virus cases during the pandemic. Prime Minister Hun Sen announced in an audio message posted on social media Friday that his government has purchased 1.5 million doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine. He said the shipment will arrive on March 26 and be dispensed nationwide. Hun Sen said 400,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine donated by China will arrive sometime in April. The first batch of 600,000 already is being used in outbreak areas. Cambodia also received 324,000 doses of the Astra Zeneca vaccine through the World Health Organization earlier this month. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 Throughout the pandemic, Charleston County School District parents said one thing has been lacking from the student experience: normalcy. My son always says his senior year was stolen, said Georgia Gruber, whose son Luca attends James Island Charter High School. Gruber hopes her son and his classmates will finally get a sense of the normal high school experience at their in-person graduation ceremony on June 18. The district announced this week that all high school graduations will be held in person in June. The announcement comes as a school year unlike most nears its end. While some students have been in person five days a week, others have spent all of that time learning virtually. For high school seniors, the pandemic meant losing out on many of the activities they looked forward to throughout their time at school. Theres a lightness in their eyes and their spirit that doesnt exist that we saw in the past few years, Gruber said. Even with growing up, troubles and studying, theres a spark in our children that doesnt exist. I hope it comes back. While they cant make up for a stressful year, in-person graduations mean the students will be able to experience a tradition that many take for granted, said Steve Larson, principal at St. Johns High School on Johns Island. Graduation isnt just a celebration for what youve done in the past 12 years, its now more, in my mind, a rite of passage, Larson said. You have earned the right to experience this ceremony. In Larson's opinion, the class of 2021 deserves recognition for more than just completing high school, as those students did it in a time rife with challenges. In addition to having to adapt to online classes and cancellations, the senior class went without supports that often come with school. They were forced to self-discipline and find ways to push through, knowing that favored traditions like pep rallies and school dances wouldn't happen, Larson said. "They've had to endure a less than optimal learning environment. They did it," he said. "They did something monumental." Specific details on the ceremonies at the 15 high schools in the district are still sparse. While officials have outlined dates, times and locations, plans on capacity and COVID-19 restrictions are still being ironed out. Larson is hopeful South Carolinas capacity restrictions will allow each student to bring more than two guests to the ceremony. However, capacity will depend on what the restrictions look like in June, he said. Last July, the district graduated students at 15 schools through a variety of modified in-person ceremonies. At St. Johns High School, the graduates were split up into two groups and each had two guests attending. This year, Larson is confident the school will be able to hold one ceremony for all graduates. We agonized over it last year and we were able to make it happen, he said. This year, with that experience, were able to amplify the experience so that we can recapture everything that was missing in last years ceremony. While Gruber and parents like her are excited at the thought of an in-person ceremony, they are tempering their expectations. Kelly Smoak, whose son Preston also attends James Island Charter High, hopes enough people will have received the COVID-19 vaccine by June to allow for students to invite as many people as they want to the ceremonies. I hope its more of an opportunity for celebration, Smoak said. I would like to think that by June everybody that chooses to attend should be able to. SYDNEY (Reuters) - Some rural communities in the Australian state of New South Wales are suffering their worst plague of mice in decades after a bumper grain harvest, local people said. Eyewitness video obtained by Reuters showed thousands of the tiny rodents swarming around a farm in the town of Gilgandra. "At night... the ground is just moving with thousands and thousands of mice just running around" farmer Ron Mckay told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Supermarkets are storing food in sealed containers and at least three patients in the local hospital have been bitten by the mice, the broadcaster said. "You can imagine that every time you open a cupboard, every time you go to your pantry, there are mice present," said Steve Henry, a rodent expert. "And they're eating into your food containers, they're fouling your clean linen in your linen cupboard, they're running across your bed at night." Farmers who made hay bales for the winter expect to lose many to the fast-reproducing rodents. Local media reported that just one pair of mice can produce on average up to 500 offspring in a season. Intensive baiting programmes have so far had little success against the infestation, and locals are hoping for heavy rain to drown the mice in their burrows. (Reporting by Jill Gralow and Paulina Duran in Sydney; Editing by Gareth Jones) Ill be honest, I never paid much attention to WeWork during its insane rise and even madder implosion. Despite its founders swearing that it was a technology company, in reality it was just another office-lease firm. Unlike the slow-motion car-crash of Theranos, where Id covered it enough to be on the receiving end of its jackbooted PR operation, I only knew the bullet points here. You know: The massive Softbank valuation, the Paltrow-adjacent yoga nonsense and the my lawyers have advised me to use the word interesting interesting way its co-founder did business. But however crazy I thought this story was, WeWork: Or, The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn shows it was much, much worse. The film tells the story of WeWork, a New York coworking company co-founded by Miguel McKelvey and Adam Neumann. They both grew up in communal living spaces a commune in Oregon for McKelvey and an Israeli kibbutz for Neumann. Their dream was outlined as a form of capitalistic kibbutz, which took the form of building a series of expensive and beautiful office spaces in New York City. These facilities were little more than shared, open-plan offices with free food and drink, but Neumann sold it as a new way of living. He wasnt renting desks for freelancers, entrepreneurs, dreamers and startups he was building The We Community. This wasnt just Regus with better furniture. No, this would change the world. If youve seen documentaries like Going Clear, The Inventor or Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, the beats of this movie will be familiar. Theres a supposedly charismatic individual who is able to convince people to buy in to their vision, no matter how off-kilter it is. Then people are put into ever-escalating situations to justify that first decision, first as triumph, then as farce. This may be the story of a business that reached a massively inflated valuation before reality struck, but its framed like a cult. During a panel at this weeks virtual South by Southwest conference, producer Ross Dinerstein who also made HBOs 2020 Heavens Gate: The Cult of Cults sees lots of similarities. People want to be inspired, people want to be motivated, he explained, and be a part of something bigger than the whole. He added that what Adam preached resonated with him until he grew this messianic complex, and the money became silly, and they lost their focus. One thing that Neumann was clearly good at was throwing a party, and WeWork became infamous for its summer-camp style retreats. Clearly, all the best cults involve pulling people from their normal social circle and dragging them to a remote location for further indoctrination. At one point, the event is described as Fyre Festival done right, with a big emphasis on the companys drinking culture. A lot of the film features moments of people downing shots, hosting ragers at the office mini-bars in a way that seems unhealthy. The film neglects to mention the Wall Street Journal story that claims Neumann, after discussing mass layoffs as a cost-cutting measure, had tequila shots brought in for the employees to drink. One of the things that I had missed was the broadening of the We-franchise beyond co-working spaces to include housing complexes. WeLive converted an office block into a series of tiny living apartments with foldaway Murphy beds and spartan furniture. The facilities are communal, and its clear that Wes drinking culture was embedded inside the living quarters, too. In order to sign up, early WeLive tenant August Urbish was asked to write an essay on why he wanted to live there. As people became embedded in the building, they found themselves becoming extraordinarily insular. At one point, Urbish says that he was going to a birthday party for someone who didnt live in the building, and noticed people seemed to be recoiling in disgust. Another venture that gets relatively short shrift in the film is WeGrow, the companys education effort led by WeWorks chief brand and impact officer and Neumanns wife Rebekah. WeGrow was a New York-based private elementary school with a facility designed by Bjarke Ingels which, HuffPost reported, cost between $22,000 and $42,000 a year for tuition. The film makes this out to be little more than a punchline, something crafted to satisfy Rebekah Neumanns apparent ego. Forgetting, of course, that such a venture was backed by someone elses cash, and affected other peoples children. (Yes, its hard to feel sad that wealthy people were spending even wealthier peoples money, but the human element is lost). A lot of these modern-day business failure documentaries often have holes in their center as they fail to grasp the motivations behind their lead characters. In part, this is because the Neumanns refused to contribute to a documentary which would likely paint them in a harsh light. But the filmmakers make a lot about praising Adams messianic, attractive personality, but that doesnt come across here. In addition, the filmmakers seem convinced that Neumann is an ingenue with good intentions. When we started this, said producer Ross Dinerstein, I thought that there would be federal charges, criminal indictments [...] I went into this thinking he was a white-collar criminal, and hes not. Dinerstein added that he felt Neumann played by the rules and people enabled him, the same people who he felt could, or should, have intervened when things looked to be spiralling out of control. The filmmakers said that they believe that the bigger issue is the nature of late-stage capitalism right now, which enables people like Neumann. After all, it only takes you to make one good bet, and you could be a major investor in the next trillion-dollar giant. They laid some of the blame at the feet of Masayoshi Son, the CEO of Softbank and head of the Vision Fund, which handed Neumann a $4 billion-plus check. Their point was to say that venture capitals ability to bankroll money-losing businesses until they become behemoths is a bad thing. But this thesis isnt clearly spelled out in the film itself, which looks to present WeWorks valuation in glossy, 3D-numbers floating in air, Panic Room style, down sunny New York streets. Its frustrating because there seems to be a more sinister story lurking at the fringes of this film, and its a shame that it isnt explored more. Former employees say that Neumann can get anyone to do anything, and he dismissively compares his personal assistant to a female employee walking past during a meeting. The moment when the summer camps are made mandatory, and employees are made to wear tracking bracelets seems off. Not to mention the limited mention of Neumann licensing the We trademark to his company for close to $6 million which he subsequently paid back. Lip service, too, is paid to the reports that he was buying properties out of his own pocket just to lease back to WeWork. I also found my brain itching at moments that were clearly edited out of the narrative to tell a cohesive story, at the expense of explanation. The story feels incomplete until you google some of the answers post-facto, like GreenDesk, and who funded WeWorks initial facilities. Similarly, the business fundamentals of the company are glossed over until later on, when the amount of money its losing falls into stark focus. The film cuts together moments of Neumann potentially misrepresenting WeWorks profitability but never with the weight the subject should be given. During the panel, director Jed Rothstein said that he was more interested in [Adam Neumann] when I finished making this, rather than less. In a way, thats a small indictment of his own film, which fails to really wrestle together a coherent portrait of Neumann. Its something that several documentaries have struggled to achieve, and so I dont blame Rothstein here. Especially given that the film was produced in the midst of a pandemic the only clues being a hat-tip to everyone masking up at the end which deserves praise. But for those faults, WeWork: Or, The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn remains essential viewing, even if it is a tad shallow. When youve finished it, the first thing youll do is start looking for a book or news article that can help you explore this moment of collective insanity even further. Oh, and if you ever aspire to run your own business, dont make your employees chant the company name. Or chant anything else, for that matter, because its a very clear red flag that footage of you is going to end up on a tell-all documentary between five and ten years later. WeWork: Or, The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn premieres April 2nd, on Hulu. ADA, MI Direct sales giant Amway announced Thursday that it plans to cut 900 positions, 90% of which are based at the companys world headquarters in Ada, as part of a restructuring plan focusing on nutrition science, innovation and manufacturing. The private company, founded by the late Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel, says the massive investment needed to strengthen those areas comes amid the financial realities of modest growth coupled with operating margin pressures. That investment includes pumping $52 million into Amways manufacturing capabilities in Ada over the next five years, according to company spokesperson Cindy Droog. It is a difficult business reality that this kind of change doesnt come without affecting people people we love dearly who all passionately believe in what we do to support entrepreneurs all over the world, company CEO Milind Plant said in a statement. Amway, founded in 1959, has roughly 13,000 employees worldwide and nearly 3,000 in Ada. The company sells Nutrilite health supplements, Artistry cosmetics, home care products like soaps, and durable products such as individual water and air treatment systems through close to 3 million distributors. The company says its offering a voluntary separation plan, the terms of which were not released, to eligible employees. It is our hope to achieve as much of this as we can through voluntary departures, and we will offer generous terms that align to our values, treating all employees with openness, dignity and respect, the company said in a statement. Droog said the positions being eliminated are non-manufacturing, professional jobs. Amway has cut at least 210 jobs in Michigan since May 2019. With 90% of Amways planned job cuts happening in Ada, the remaining 10% will occur at the companys Buena Park, California, facility. The company employs about 500 people in California. The company says it expects the majority of the jobs cuts to occur between July starting with executives and the end of the year. A small number of employees will be asked to stay on longer to avoid business disruption, Amway said. In addition to the cuts, Amway plans to retool its Ada manufacturing facilities, rebranding part of them the Center of Nutrition Manufacturing. The change will bring 125 additional manufacturing jobs to Ada in the next two to three years. More from MLive: 25% of Michigans 16+ population has received first dose of COVID-19 vaccine Kentwood man dies in rollover crash on U.S. 131 exit ramp Matthew Stafford speaks for first time since trade to Rams in farewell video to Detroit Hurricane season 2021 is here: How do storms get their names? The first high-level US-China meeting of the Biden administration got off to a fiery start on Thursday, with both sides levelling sharp rebukes of the others policies in a rare public display that underscored the level of bilateral tension. The run-up to the talks in Anchorage, Alaska, which followed visits by US officials to allies Japan and South Korea, was marked by a flurry of moves by Washington that showed it was taking a tough stance, and by blunt talk from Beijing. We will...discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, economic coercion of our allies, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Chinese counterparts in a highly unusual extended back-and-forth in front of cameras. Im hearing deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that were reengaged with our allies and partners, Blinken said. Im also hearing deep concern about some of the actions your government is taking. And well have an opportunity to discuss those when we get down to work. Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability, he said. The Biden administration has made clear that it is looking for a change in behaviour from China, which has expressed hope to reset relations between the worlds two largest economies that worsened drastically under former President Donald Trump. Chinas top diplomat Yang Jiechi responded with a 15-minute speech in Chinese while the US side awaited translation, lashing out over what he said was the United States struggling democracy, poor treatment of minorities, and criticising its foreign and trade policies. The US uses its military force and financial hegemony to carry out long-arm jurisdiction and suppress other countries, said Yang. It abuses so-called notions of national security to obstruct normal trade exchanges, and incite some countries to attack China, he added. Yang said the US side carefully orchestrated the dialogue, according to an official translation reported by NBC. I think we thought too well of the United States, we thought that the U.S. side will follow the necessary diplomatic protocols, Yang said, adding that the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength. Throughout Yangs monologue, U.S. National Security Adviser Sullivan and other officials in the delegation passed notes to each other. At the end, Blinken held journalists in the room so he could respond. With inputs from CNBC One in three black and minority ethnic workers have been unfairly turned down for a job, pay rises or promotion, a new study suggests. The research also indicates that black and minority ethnic staff are twice as likely to be kept on insecure contracts, or forced to reapply for their jobs on worse terms and conditions. The research, carried out by the Trade Union Congress (TUC), shows they are also more likely to say they have been unfairly overlooked for a pay rise or a promotion than white workers. It comes after figures from a separate study, commissioned by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, revealed that in October that 16 per cent of black workers in the capital are in insecure roles, compared with six per cent of white workers. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said the pandemic had 'shone a spotlight on the racism faced by BME workers around the country'. It comes after figures from a separate study, commissioned by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, revealed that in October that 16 per cent of Black workers in the capital (pictured: Library image of Canary Wharf are in insecure roles, compared with six per cent of white workers She said: 'BME workers are far more likely than white workers to be turned down for jobs, pay rises and promotions, and they are more likely to be in low-paid, insecure jobs, with fewer rights and a greater risk of being exposed to coronavirus.' 'Ministers must tackle the structural racism that exists within our economy, and wider society, once and for all.' The TUC, which is holding a black workers' conference this weekend, has launched an anti-racism task force. It will be chaired by NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roach, who will lead a renewed campaign against racism at work. Dr Roach said: 'The evidence of racism at work is incontrovertible. Black workers have been denied the opportunities to secure decent, rewarding and secure jobs, and this situation is getting worse as a result of the adverse economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. 'Structural racism is holding back communities and blighting life chances. 'A national plan is needed urgently to end racial disparities in employment by addressing the root causes head on.' The report was based on a survey of 2,200 workers. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady (pictured left) said the pandemic had 'shone a spotlight on the racism faced by BME workers around the country'. The TUC is launching a new anti-racism task-force. NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roach (pictured right) will chair the group It comes as experts warned that black and ethnic minority people are being put at risk by the UK's 'colour-blind' Covid vaccination strategy. The mammoth operation has prioritised Brits by age after mountains of research and data showed those who are older are more at risk of dying from the virus. But a group of top medics, including a top NHS race official, claims ministers should have focused on ethnic minorities after the over-70s got their first dose. Studies show Covid death rates are highest in BAME communities, which experts say is because ethnic minorities are more likely to get infected in the first place because they live in deprived areas, use public transport, work public-facing jobs and live in overcrowded and multi-generational homes. The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI), which designed the jabs priority list, said, however, that age was the single-biggest risk factor. But Professor Azeem Majeed, a primary care expert from Imperial College London, warned the move had 'disregarded' BAME communities. 'In the first phase of the Covid vaccination programme, large numbers of low-risk people were vaccinated such as NHS and university staff who were not working in patient-facing roles', he told MailOnline. 'These vaccine recipients would have been at much lower risk of severe disease and death than some other groups but were vaccinated ahead of them.' Professor Azeem Majeed, a primary care expert at Imperial College London, said BAME communities should have been prioritised after the over-70s got their first dose Writing in the journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, earlier this month scientists called on ministers to prioritise jabs for BAME communities. They said the drive was disregarding 'the unequal impact of the pandemic on minority ethnic groups' and widening racial inequalities in the UK. They added this could be triggering higher levels of vaccine hesitancy in the groups, possibly because they feel let down by the roll out. 'The invisibility of these vulnerable groups from the priority list and the worsening healthcare inequities are putting ethnic minorities at a significantly higher risk of Covid-19 illness and death,' the authors wrote. 'The UKs colour-blind vaccination model disregards the unequal impact of the pandemic on minority ethnic groups, rendering it an enabler of structures that are known to systematically disadvantage BAME communities.' Last month, the NHS has unveiled a 'blueprint' to improve coronavirus vaccine uptake among ethnic minority groups, after figures revealed higher-rates of vaccine hesitancy. Local faith and community leaders will team up with doctors to host online virtual events where they will answer questions and address concerns people have about the jabs. They will also distribute leaflets in 20 different languages including Arabic, Punjabi and Hindi to reach those who do not speak English fluently or can't be targeted through traditional methods. Number 10's Counter Disinformation Unit will ramp up its efforts and work with social media companies to tackle anti-vaxx misinformation online. Bogus claims that the jabs contain animal products or interfere with fertility have been widely distributed on platforms including WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook. People from black and minority ethnic backgrounds who have already received their first dose could also be recruited to give testimonies and encourage friends and family to get the vaccine. Figures have shown that a significant number health and social care workers from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds have been reluctant to get the jab. Research this week suggested white NHS staff are almost twice as likely as black medics to get the Covid vaccine. A lack of trust in Government is thought to be one of the main reasons behind their hesitancy, numerous surveys have suggested. The company said that its action was designed to ensure that it could improve execution, profitability and accelerate growth and improve its core CDN business, specifically, client performance and operating efficiency. The reduction in workforce will result in a first-quarter pre-tax cash charge of approximately $3 million related to severance, benefits and transition assistance.This reduction in force, while difficult, is an essential part of the disciplined planning and work we need to accomplish to capture the significant opportunity ahead of us, said president and chief executive officer Bob Lyons. Our efforts to date give us confidence that we will be able to achieve 2021 adjusted EBITDA between $20 and $30 million. We will provide additional financial guidance in connection with our first quarter earnings release.The recovery strategy will focus on a number of key areas. The first is improving core CDN business by pursuing what the company says will be a leadership position in proactive client performance while improving cost structure and Limelight said that the actions it was take would result in improved growth and profitability by expanding core business and securing greater share of traffic and spend from existing customers. Additionally, it was exploring opportunities that extend its core business.Including the workforce reduction, the company said that it was confident that what it called improved organisational productivity would see annual cash cost savings of approximately $15 million. The domestic stock market, Sensex and Nifty, are likely to open lower on Friday, tracking weak global cues and negative trading at Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange. Among the individual stocks, shares of Future Retail, Reliance Industries, Easy Trip Planners, auto stocks, Bharti Airtel, GAIL India, Edelweiss Financial Services, Adani Green Energy will be in focus in today's trading session. Stocks to watch today: Here is a list of top stocks that are likely to be in focus Friday's trading session. Future Retail, Reliance Industries: The Delhi High Court upheld the order by Singapore International Arbitration Centre prohibiting Future Retail from going ahead with its deal with Reliance Retail. Singapore's Emergency Arbitrator (EA) had restrained the Rs 24,713-crore acquisition deal against a plea by global retail major Amazon. Easy Trip Planners: Shares of Easy Trip Planners is scheduled to make its stock market debut today. The Rs 510-crore IPO of online travel company was subscribed 160 times, while quota for non-institutional investors was subscribed 384 times. The price band for the issue was Rs 186-187 per share. Auto stocks: Shares of auto companies will be eyed as the government has announced that commercial vehicles older than 15 years and passenger vehicles more than 20 years old will have to be scrapped if they fail to pass fitness and emission tests. Bharti Airtel: The telecom major has said that TPG-owned The Rise Fund to invest $200 million in Airtel Mobile Commerce (AMC) BV, the mobile money business of Airtel's Africa unit. GAIL India: The government-owned oil and gas company has signed concession agreement with Ranchi Municipal Corporation for setting up compressed biogas plant in Ranchi. Edelweiss Financial Services: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has ordered a probe into the books of Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company, part of Edelweiss Financial Services, after whistleblower complaint of fund diversion and irregularities. The company has clarified that Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company has not received any intimation of any inspection being conducted by the MCA. Adani Green Energy: Billionaire Gautam Adani-led company has raised $1.35 billion in debt from 12 banks for its under-construction renewable energy projects via definitive agreements signed with a group of 12 international lenders. The 12 international banks that will provide loans are Standard Chartered Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Cooperatieve Rabobank U.A., DBS Bank ,Mizuho Bank, BNP Paribas, Barclays Bank PLC, Deutsche Bank AG, Siemens Bank GmbH and ING Bank N.V. Share Market Live Updates: Sensex, Nifty seen opening lower; Future Retail, Easy Trip Planners stocks in focus 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. Scott Morrison has lashed the European Union for refusing to send lifesaving Covid vaccines to Australia so he can donate them the Papua New Guinea which is suffering a severe outbreak. European nations including Italy have recently blocked AstraZeneca vaccines made in Belgium from leaving the continent as they struggle to secure enough doses for their own populations. Australia, which has not had a single Covid death this year, has received only 700,000 of its 3.8million contracted doses. Scott Morrison has written a letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen (pictured) Mr Morrison (pictured) revealed on Friday that he has not received a response and blasted Europe for not helping On Wednesday Mr Morrison wrote a letter demanding the EU release one million doses directly to northern neighbour Papua New Guinea as cases surge in the developing nation of nine million. He revealed on Friday that he has not received a response and blasted Europe for not helping. 'I haven't as yet and we'll be following this up, I can assure you. 'It is not right for advanced countries in Europe to deny the supply of vaccines to developing countries who need it desperately like Papua New Guinea,' he said. 'We'll do our bit. We'll pay the freight, as we are, and for the product. 'They won't be out of pocket, but they will be helping a country that is in desperate need of receiving those vaccines.' A European Commission spokesperson said: 'We confirm that the President of the European Commission has received a letter from the Australian Prime Minister on this topic and we will reply in due time.' A hearse carrying the coffin of Papua New Guines's first prime minister Michael Somare during his funeral ceremony on March 11. The country is struggling with a surge in cases Amid fears three quarters of Papua New Guineans could be infected, Mr Morrison is handing over 8,000 vaccines to jab frontline health workers, as well as one million surgical masks, 100,000 gowns, 100,000 goggles, 100,000 pairs of gloves, 100,000 bottles of sanitiser, 20,000 face shields and 200 non-invasive ventilators. Mr Morrison on Wednesday demanded co-operation from the EU in sending the vaccines Down Under, adding: 'I expect and would hope to get the cooperation out of Europe for this. 'We've all said that we need to get vaccines where they're needed. 'This is not Australia seeking to do this for our own direct benefit, although we've contracted them and you would expect them to be supplied.' French President Emmanuel Macron has previously urged wealthy nations to donate vaccines to poorer countries and Mr Morrison is now holding his feet to the fire. 'Those vaccines and their deployment would therefore, I think, be following through on the very public statements that have been made in the European Union about their commitment to ensure there is no vaccine protectionism and that vaccines do go to those most in need and that's why we're putting that forward,' he said. Papua New Guinea is struggling with a Covid-19 outbkreak. Pictured: Port Moresby Harbour Papua New Guinea - 150km north of Australia - is one of the poorest countries in the world and has struggled to stand up an effective testing and tracing system. About half of women going to hospital to give birth are testing positive for the disease. 'The capacity to manage Covid-19 in a developing country is starkly different to what it is in an advanced country like Australia,' Mr Morrison said. PNG Prime Minister James Marape fears said the country has suffered a huge explosion of cases in recent days. 'The number is quite staggering,' Mr Marape told reporters in Port Moresby. 'If we don't do a corrective response to this, our health system will be clogged and we won't be able to sustain it.' From Saturday all passenger flights from PNG into Cairns will be suspended for two weeks, with charter flights also halted except for medevac and other critical routes. 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. Weeks before the May 1 deadline in withdrawing all US forces from Afghanistan, the United States President Joe Biden administration is now considering the US troops extension in Afghanistan for six months, based on a defense official. Joe Biden Weighs US Troops Extension in Afghanistan Based on the official, other options are still on the table. Among the options include the full withdrawal of the US troops by May 1. But a sign of the current thinking of Biden came this week as the president shared that he did not think that it would not take a lot longer and he added that the full withdrawal by May 1 could happen but it is tough. According to CNN, the defense official shared that the Biden administration also wants the Taliban to agree on the extension. But the official clarified that no final decision has been made yet and the US troop's six-month extension is under consideration. Moreover, Biden has some domestic political cover as a number of members in the Congress are worried regarding the full drawdown. Biden has been sharply critical regarding the details the administration of Trump negotiated. Defense Secretary Says US Troops Are Ready to Fight After North Korea's Threats to Biden In an interview, Biden shared he is in the process of making a decision on when the US troops leave. He also added that it is a fact that the deal negotiated by the former president is not a very solid deal that is why consultations with other allies as well as the government were currently made and it is in the process right now. In addition, there is a report from an influential Afghanistan study group which was co-chaired by former Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford. He recommended a more flexible timeline based on condition, as the reduction of violence. Also, one critical problem is the current agreement with the Taliban, as they do not acknowledge potentially hundreds of special operations forces by the US in the country that is not part of the current group of 2,500 US troops there. Also, if the US troops will be staying to help with counter-terrorism missions beyond a drawdown, the US may have to broadly acknowledge the presence of the troops. Numerous defense officials previously mentioned in their interviews that the US-led NATO alliance would like to have the decision on or before April 1 due to the challenges of pulling out the weaponry and the equipment of the US and also to the concerns regarding some of the weaponry may fall into Taliban's hands, Forbes reported. Biden Warns Putin Will 'Pay the Price' for Attempting To Sabotage 2020 US Presidential Election Meanwhile, in a report by the Pentagon, they stated that the full withdrawal could be devastating to the survival of the Afghan state as it will be hard. But as the US president weighs his options, the US troops continue their operations in Afghanistan, conducting airstrikes and targeting the Taliban. In a tweet on Wednesday, US Forces Afghanistan spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett mentioned that the recent US airstrikes targeted fighters of the Taliban who were actively attacking and maneuvering on the positions of Afghan National Security Forces in Kandhar. But the airstrikes were strongly condemned by the Taliban as their spokesman Qari Mohammad Yusuf Ahmadi confirmed that their members who were killed and injured but he did not specify the numbers, NBC News reported. Also from HNGN: Stimulus Checks Availability Enrages JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo Customers Stimulus Check Dispute Leads to Four Deaths in Indiana @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Denmarks centre-left government plans to reduce the number of non-Western residents in housing areas across the country to 30pc or less within 10 years in the latest in a succession of tough proposals on immigration. The Social Democrats proposed mixed neighbourhood bill gives municipalities the right to set up prevention areas where they can refuse to rent to those who are not originally from Denmark, the EU or EEA or Switzerland. For far too many years, we have closed our eyes to the development that was under way, and only acted when the integration problems became too great, Kaare Dybvad Bek, the interior minister, said. Municipalities and housing organisations, he said, had in the past failed to intervene in time as large public housing areas entered a negative spiral. By denying non-European immigrants the right to public housing in some areas, the bill aims to engineer a large-scale and targeted change in the current composition of residents in many of the countrys public housing areas. To do this, it will also give municipalities the power to force private landlords with 20 or more apartments to rent to non-Western immigrants so that they can move into predominantly ethnic Danish areas. The government also plans to stop using the term ghetto introduced by the previous government to refer to housing areas with a large proportion of immigrants, replacing it with the terms transformation area and parallel society. Even the parties left of the Social Democrats broadly supported the new policy, with Halime Oguz, housing spokesman for the Socialist Left party, telling the Altinget website that she hoped that breaking up parallel societies would free immigrant Danes from social control. On the right, Alex Ahrendtsen, housing spokesman for the populist Danish Peoples Party complained about the decision to drop the ghetto term. In the Danish Peoples Party, we will continue to call them ghetto-areas, he stated. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] A chronic shortage of foster care placements in Texas has grown markedly worse, in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic. One sign of the crisis: In growing numbers, children are having to sleep in offices of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services because appropriate placements cannot be found. Across Texas last month, 186 children spent at least two nights in the state agencys offices under staff supervision more than in any other month in at least five years, state officials said. During the same month last year, there were just 34 children without placement. The number of children lacking placement has exceeded 100 each month since October. In January, it reached 148. The monthly average of children without placement has climbed steadily since 2017, when it was 36. In 2019, the monthly average was 56, and in 2020 it reached 70, according to the family services department. Often, those who lack placements are teenagers with complex psychological or emotional needs. It takes longer to find appropriate settings for them, said Melissa Lanford, spokeswoman for the department. The agency tries to provide beds when possible for those sleeping in state offices, but children may end up sleeping on cots or air mattresses if there is no alternative, Lanford said. Certainly, staying temporarily in an office building isnt ideal, which is why the protective services agency has expanded efforts to work with community agencies and churches to find alternatives that provide more of a homelike feel, Lanford said. Mary Walker, spokeswoman in Bexar County for the state agency, said finding suitable placements is a challenge across Texas. Building high-quality, appropriate capacity particularly for older youth has been a statewide struggle for years, but has been especially impacted in the last year by COVID, court oversight and other factors, Walker said. Providers have been immensely affected by COVID-19, court orders and the historic winter storm. They have faced challenges with recruiting, training and retaining new foster homes and appropriate staff. Katie Olse, CEO of the Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services, called the number of children lacking placement incredibly high. In Bexar County, an organization called Family Tapestry is under contract to find placements for children who are in state custody either temporarily or permanently. Under that contract, children cannot be allowed to sleep in state offices. But if no foster care placement can be found, children are housed at Family Tapestrys intake center in San Antonio. In February, 25 young people were staying in individual rooms at the center. Anais Miracle, spokeswoman for Family Tapestry, said their average age was 15 and their average length of stay was 13 days. Children who are without paid placements usually have a very long history of behaviors, Miracle said. These are teenagers. Were talking about young people who were potentially removed (from their families) when they were small children, and they have very specialized needs. The children who stay at the center have beds, eat meals in a small cafeteria and have access to a family room, where they can watch TV. The best option for youth is to have them placed in a paid placement that can serve their therapeutic needs, reunified with a parent and/or with a relative caregiver, who is provided wrap-around service to ensure the youth can safely remain in their care, Miracle said. Walker said the family services department is working to streamline its placement practices to quickly identify available beds for youth awaiting placement. She added: DFPS is also working closely with community and faith-based organizations to find temporary placements that provide a homelike setting. Beyond a bed, children who have been neglected or abused in their homes require support, clinical services and therapy, as well as typical needs such as schooling and play time with friends. In the state office spaces, children are under the supervision of state caseworkers, not trained caregivers, said Olse of the Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services. Theyre not homes theyre offices, Olse said. Its what you would imagine it to be like, as a child without a home living in an office. The number of children removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect has declined in the last two years, Olse said. The number fell to about 16,500 in fiscal year 2020, after hitting a peak of more than 20,600 in 2018, according to the alliance. But a reduction in children entering the system does not translate into greater access to placements. Thats because kids removed from their homes are staying longer in foster care and typically have greater needs, Olse said. About half the children removed from their homes in 2019 are still in foster care. Its really not just about the number of kids and the number of beds, Olse said. We do not have enough foster care placement and services for the highest-needs children in care. The pandemic has created new challenges. Olse said foster care workers often are coping with their own personal problems related to the pandemic, and caretakers in group homes can find it difficult to persuade children to wear masks, socially distance or quarantine. Some foster care homes went offline as caretakers in high-risk groups declined to accept more children, but Olse said most caretakers are doing everything they can. The pandemic also has disrupted the courts, slowing juvenile and child protection cases. The state is responsible for instituting foster care reforms demanded by U.S. District Judge Janis Jack in response to a 2011 class-action lawsuit. In February, Jack said she would give state officials until May to make progress on her orders before she imposes sanctions. Last year, the judge held Texas officials in contempt of court for failing to comply with her orders. anna.bauman@chron.com Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 19, 2021) - American Aires Inc. (CSE: WIFI) (the "Company") announces the appointment of Mr. Andrew Michrowski to the Company's Board of Directors, effective today. Mr. Michrowsk replaces outgoing director, Mr. Tony Di Benedetto. Mr. Michrowski attended the Politecnico di Milano, Architecture, Urbanism & Regional Planning, with engineering & sciences. He is currently a consultant with an international scientific NGO at the United Nations: Planetary Association for Clean Energy, which focuses on advanced clean energy systems and monitors technological threats. Prior thereto, Mr. Michrowski served as Chief Planner with Indian and Northern Affairs, and previously, he held positions as forecaster, policy analyst and program evaluator with the Secretary of State. He has headed multi-year Canadian EMF in housing study for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation team. Mr. Michrowski commented, "By my joining the Board at Aires tech, it is hoped that the networking of advanced scientific thinking into this breakthrough technology may allow significant developments in the marketplace." Dimitry Serov, Chief Executive Officer commented, "We are very pleased to make such a strong addition to our board and management team at this stage of the business as it continues to mature and evolve." Management and the Board would like to thank Mr. Di Benedetto for his contribution to the Company and wishes him well in his future endeavours. The Company's board of directors also approved the grant of incentive stock options to Mr. Michrowski to purchase up to an aggregate of 500,000 common shares of the Company at an exercise price of $0.50 per share expiring on March 19, 2024. About American Aires Inc. American Aires Inc. ("Aires") is Canadian-based nanotechnology company which has developed proprietary silicon-based microprocessors that reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR). The technology was developed by a team of highly credited scientists and confirmed by independent third-party validation including peer reviewed studies and publications in scientific journals. Aires' Lifetune products specifically target EMR emitted by consumer electronic devices such as cellphones, computers, baby monitors, Wi-Fi radiation, including the rapidly expanding next-generation high-speed 5G networks. Aires is listed on the CSE under ticker 'WIFI'. Learn more at www.airestech.com . On behalf of the board of directors Company Contact: Dimitry Serov, CEO Email: dimitry@airestech.com Telephone: (905) 482-4667 Website: www.airestech.com For further information please contact: Investor Cubed Inc.: Neil Simon, CEO Email: wifi@airestech.com Telephone: (647) 258-3310 Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Not intended for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of United States Securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77899 Since the coronavirus pandemic started last year, many Asian Americans have felt uneasy while out in public. Even for those who were born in this country, and have lived here our entire lives, we knew to be cautious while dining, traveling or even walking through a city during these past 12 rough months. Kevin Tien, the owner and executive chef of modern French-Vietnamese restaurant Moon Rabbit, has felt a particular fear using chopsticks in front of strangers. Maybe its in my mind, or maybe its not, but I cant help how I feel while Im out in public afraid to accidentally cough, Tien says. When Im traveling Im worried, like, Can I use chopsticks in public? Will people think using chopsticks is too Asian? Why the hell do I need to be afraid to use an eating tool that Ive been using my whole life, all of a sudden? Unfortunately, there is good reason for that concern. Social justice organization Stop AAPI Hate, which began tracking violence and harassment against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on March 19 last year, has reported a staggering 3,795 incidents over the course of a year. The groups latest report adds another 503 anti-Asian hate incidents between January 1st and February 28th of this year. Tien says he has chef friends in Los Angeles who have been verbally and physically assaulted; when he hears stories of attacks against the elderly, he says he cant help but think how his grandmother could have been a victim. Asian-owned restaurants across the country have also seen a major increase in things like vandalism and theft, from recent reports of racist graffiti and death threats in Texas to four Asian-owned businesses in Maryland getting looted and vandalized at the start of Lunar New Year. Asian restaurants have also struggled to stay afloat during the pandemic, as misinformation drove away many customers. Chef Kevin Tien Moon Rabbit Stepping up to help About a month ago, a group of AAPI chefs including Tien,Tim Ma, Erik Bruner-Yang, and others rallied to put together a pick-up dinner benefitting Stop AAPI Hate. Inspired, Tien and his fellow chefs decided to continue that work. Working with his fellow chefs from around the DC area, Tien envisioned a much larger series of dinners, to benefit the same organization. Luckily, he says, folks were happy to help. A common theme amongst conversations with DC chefs is the unique bond felt within the DC culinary community, as restaurant and bar owners are typically inclined to help one another as soon as the bat signal is sent out. So, on March 25, the weekly Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate dinner series will officially commence, with five chefs each lending one dish to a five-course, take-home meal. Their first meal of the series has already sold out, so patrons looking to participate should keep an eye on their Tock page and book as soon as possible. Each meal is designed for two and costs $150, most of which will be donated. If able to nab a spot, diners can expect dishes from some of the most esteemed Asian chefs in the city, like Seng Luangrath of Thip Khao, Tom Cunanan and Paolo Dungca of Pogiboy, Henji Cheung of Queens English, Patrice Cleary of Purple Patch and Jong Son of Tiger Fork. Also on the menu will be dishes from non-Asian allies such as Elias Taddesse of Melange, Johnny Spero of Reverie, Amy Brandwein of Centrolina and Michael Rafidi of Albi. Tien says hes now working with chefs and local organizations in other cities around the country as well, from Philadelphia to San Francisco, to see if the dinner series can be expanded beyond the borders of the District. Contributing your voice Participating chef Tim Ma of Lucky Danger told InsideHook that even as a man of Asian descent, he was confused at first where to donate or how exactly to support the cause of preventing hate crimes against AAPI people. I think its good to have a mechanism like this where theres a function to raise money, and then you know those funds are going to an organization that will actually use that money for good, says Ma. Thats why I participated sometimes it just takes somebody to coalesce these things and put them together and then you just kind of jump on for the ride. Both Ma and Tien are also hyper aware of the high price point for the dinner, and that there is a limited number of meals available. They urge supporters of Stop AAPI Hate to share their concerns and findings on social media, and to keep those around them informed on developing issues. Jose [Andres] always talks about the power of food, and I am a true believer in that. I think food can unite, food can heal, and it can nourish. I think that if we can get people to come together over something terrible thats been happening across like the US, it firstly spreads knowledge and awareness. So every person that picks up an order of food not only is supporting their local businesses, theyre also supporting an organization to stop these hate incidents across the US, says Tien. Its not often you get to have a meal from five very talented chefs and or restaurants in DC at one pickup point, and I mean, participating helps in every single way. The post 45 DC Chefs Assemble to Fight Anti-Asian Hate Crimes appeared first on InsideHook. The man that District of Columbia police arrested with a semiautomatic rifle near the vice president's residence this week is a U.S. Army veteran. Former Spc. Paul Michael Murray served as an unmanned aerial vehicle operator from March 2010 to April 2014, Army spokesman Gabriel Ramirez said in a statement. Police found an AR-15 style rifle, 113 rounds of ammunition and five 30-round magazines in Murray's car, which was parked about a block away, according to a CBS story detailing the police report. Read Next: 13-Year-Old Stepson Kills NCO After Watching Him Allegedly Assault His Mother, Police Say Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband have not moved in yet because of renovations to the home in Northwest D.C., near the U.S. Naval Observatory. Murray was seen on Massachusetts Avenue and detained by Secret Service officers stationed near the residence. Police charged Murray, of San Antonio, Texas, with carrying a large-capacity ammunition-feeding device, a dangerous weapon, a rifle and unregistered ammunition. CBS News reported that Murray "had been experiencing paranoid delusions of the government and military being after him." Police said Murray's mother received a text from him Wednesday morning saying "he was in Washington and would be taking care of his problem," CBS reported. On March 10, police in Texas issued a bulletin about Murray that said he had told authorities he had been medically discharged from the Army for schizophrenia and that he owned an AR-15, according to Task & Purpose. Ramirez would not confirm the reasons behind Murray's discharge because of privacy concerns. Murray had no combat deployments during his time in the Army, Ramirez said in the statement. Murray's awards and decorations include the Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon and Aviation Badge. -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: Man Arrested on Weapons Charge Near Vice President's Residence at US Naval Observatory The Hamilton County Health Department has added a total of 3,600 new first dose and 3,165 new second dose Pfizer appointments to the schedule. New First Dose Appointments : March 21 and 23-25 at Tennessee Riverpark New Second Dose Appointments : March 26 at Enterprise South Nature Park March 27 and 28 at Tennessee Riverpark 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 to make an appointment over the phone: First dose appointments: 423-209-5398 Second dose appointments: 423-209-5399 Spanish appointment line: 423-209-5384 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. The Health Departments general COVID-19 hotline 423-209-8383 is available to connect people to vaccine and testing resources. 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. For a full list of eligible phases, visitvaccine.hamiltontn.gov and click on the Current Phases/Eligibility tab. To see the list in Spanish, visit the Spanishwebsite and scroll to the bottom. 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 ecord 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. The bench criticised the tribunals for issuing orders and arriving at conclusions based on revenue records. (Photo: PTI) Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has pulled up revenue special tribunals for issuing orders in over 15,000 pending cases without giving the litigants a hearing. Taking a serious note of this, a division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy has directed the government to hear all those cases de novo by providing sufficient chance to the litigants to submit their contentions. The issue related to violation of natural justice and unilateral disposal of cases by the special tribunals in a scurry and hurry manner, without allowing the parties or their advocates to make submissions in their cases. The government had constituted 32 special tribunals had been constituted by the government under the Telangana Rights in Lands and Pattadar passbooks Act 2020, to dispose of the revenue and land disputes expeditiously. The court said the objective of constituting the tribunals was laudable, but it was worrying that these tribunals having judicial capacity disposed of the cases without arranging a hearing from the parties and acted, perhaps, only on the basis of records. The bench criticised the tribunals for issuing orders and arriving at conclusions based on revenue records. Out of 16,256 cases, orders in 4,891 cases were issued based on the records. The court said it was deeply concerned about the facts before it that litigants or their advocates were allowed to give submissions in only 10 per cent of the cases (1,850 cases out of 16,256). It is not appropriate passing directions in a vague manner over the properties of the citizens, the court said, and asked the government to set aside the orders that were already passed and recommence the hearing process afresh by giving an opportunity to the parties. The bench directed the government to give wide publicity about this court order so that concerned parties would approach the tribunals and submit their arguments in writing. If this did not happen in any case, the tribunals are free to pass orders. President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Abuja said he remains fully committed to seeing more Nigerian women in leadership positions, both at national and international institutions, assuring that access to credit will be further eased, and more space will be created for women to participate in politics. Speaking at the State House, where he received National and International Working Groups of the Supporting Advancement of Gender Equity (SAGE) Initiative to commemorate the 2021 International Womens Day, President Buhari commended women for their invaluable contributions in sustaining the socio-economic fabric of the country, from the corridors of decision making to rural communities. This administration places a premium on promoting womens inclusiveness in National Development as we have demonstrated with those holding key portfolios in this administration. They include Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Minister of Womens Affairs, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Minister of State for Environment, he said. The president said other positions given to women include: Minister of State for Transportation, Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Chair, Federal Character Commission and Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). I am very proud of the achievements of my former Minister for Environment and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Fatima Mohammed Kyari as the African Union Permanent Observer to the United Nations and the newly elected Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. We will continue to support them to succeed. And we shall continue to advocate for our women who qualify to lead international fora, the president noted. He said women are a credible force in strengthening democracy and promoting the culture of peace and food security, adding: I am most grateful for the role women have played and continue to play in our Government. President Buhari noted that the theme for 2021 International Womens Day, Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World, calls for more concerted efforts and Nigeria will be more than ever committed to join in raising the bar for womens representation at all levels. This administration has demonstrated this by engaging in intense diplomacy to support the aspirations of Nigerian women to provide leadership at the global stage. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant problems, including the spike in gender-based violence, this administration promptly responded by declaring zero tolerance to Gender-Based Violence in the country. I have since directed the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in collaboration with the Minister of Womens Affairs to immediately inaugurate an Inter-Ministerial Gender Based Violence Management Committee to address all forms of violence against women and children in the country. This body is already in place and running, he said. The president also said he had approved that 45 per cent of the Small and Medium Scale Enterprise Funds be reserved exclusively for women, while five per cent go to other vulnerable groups, apart from the immediate palliatives targeting them. We have also expanded our social intervention programmes to further address the needs of the most vulnerable women in our society. Education of the girl child and the empowerment of mothers are fundamental to achieving an increase in the number of female leaders in the country and our objective of lifting 100 million of our citizens out of poverty in 10 years. At the commissioning of the Ministry of Womens Affairs Headquarters Building in January 2020, I had pledged to address child marriage and boost girl-child education across the country. This is borne out of my concern on the increasing number of out-of-school children in the country. This Government would sustain on-going efforts to address this issue, he added. President Buhari said the twin evils of limited access to education and poverty, and gender-based violence remain a strong inhibitor to womens participation in politics and governance. However, our resolve remains unshaken in tackling these issues. Despite the spike of incidents of abduction of school children and other security challenges, this government remains resolute in its pursuit of a just and credible society devoid of inequities and promotion of the rule of law. Let me assure you all that we remain committed to working with groups such as yours to address these challenges. As a leader of the governing party, I will lend my voice to the amendment of the party constitution which is ongoing now and is the entry point for effective and meaningful participation of women in elective offices. Once again thank you for your efforts and support to our women, the president noted. ADVERTISEMENT He assured that the ministries of women affairs and justice will work with the National Assembly to ensure necessary reforms are passed in the ongoing constitutional and electoral reform processes. In her remarks, the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, thanked the president for his support in ensuring that Nigerian women gain more recognitions and positions within the country, and across the globe. Ms Tallen said women needed more, particularly in economic empowerment, quality education and legislation that will favour participation in politics. APC party chieftain and former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, said the governing party already had an opportunity of leaving a legacy as the political party that gave women the greatest chance to rise in the history of the country, adding that it will also improve the partys fortunes in elections. Former President of the Republic of Malawi, Joyce Banda, also gave a goodwill message at the event. Femi Adesina Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) March 19, 2021 Thiruvananthapuram: Keralas Sabarimala Temple opened for the 'Uthram festival' on Friday morning. The temple will remain open for devotees till March 28. COVID19 negative certificate is mandatory for devotees visiting the famous temple With this, the issue of womens entry into the popular Hindu shrine is back in the limelight in Kerala, as both the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and BJP-led National Democratic Front (NDA) are using it as a major poll plank in the assembly election campaign. On Thursday, when Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state government will take a decision after consulting with all believers once the final verdict on Sabarimala comes, both Congress and BJP mounted pressure on the Left to clarify if they would submit a new affidavit in Supreme Court on Sabarimala. Kerala: Sabarimala Temple opened for the 'Uthram festival' today morning. The temple will be open for devotees till 28th March. COVID19 negative certificate is mandatory for devotees visiting the temple pic.twitter.com/OwVO603VPm ANI (@ANI) March 19, 2021 BJP candidate Shobha Surendran, who is facing Kerala Devasom Minister Kadakampally Surendran under whom Sabarimala also comes, started her poll campaign on Thursday after visiting an Ayyappa temple amid slogans of party workers shouting Swamiye Sharanam Ayyappa, a chant usually used by devotees when climbing the hill shrine. Speaking to reporters, she said that it may be her `destiny` to face him in assembly polls and that she is sure the voters would give a befitting reply to the Devasom Minister. "The Left government was trying purposefully to violate the rituals in Sabarimala and send in activists. The believers will definitely react against this and defeat Kadakampally Surendran. The NDA will win Kazhakootam with a thumping majority," she said. Congress leadership including both Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala also reacted sharply against Vijayan`s remarks on Sabarimala. Chandy referring to Kadakampally`s statement that he regretted the incidents that happened in 2018 in Sabarimala, said, "If there is sincerity in Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran`s regret, the affidavit submitted by the Left government to the Supreme Court should be withdrawn immediately." Chennithala said that Vijayan should publicly accept the mistake and should apologise to devotees. Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan reacting to the CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury remark that the party stands by its policy on Sabarimala and demanded Vijayan should clarify. "The CPI(M) general secretary said the party stand by the decision and policy taken by them earlier. Now, it is Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who should clarify what is the stand of the CPI(M) politburo regarding the entry of women to Sabarimala. Kerala Devasom Minister said that he is deeply pained against the atrocities committed to devotees and even apologised. The Kerala Chief Minister should clarify what is the stand of the party as he and Yechury are members of the highest decision making body in CPI(M)," he said. CPI Kerala secretary Kanam Rajendran defending the Left government said that the incidents in 2018 were the fallout of the Supreme Court verdict. "Everyone is bound to respect the rule of law in the country. Now, the case is in the Supreme Court larger Bench there are seven questions of law which the nine-judge Bench will be deciding. Presently, there are no issues in Sabarimala and problems are there only in certain people`s minds. Let the verdict come out," he said. The election for 140-member Kerala Assembly will be held on April 6. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. Live TV Vladimir Putin wished Joe Biden good health as allies of the Russian president claimed his 78-year-old opposite number suffers from dementia. Staring into a TV camera, Mr Putin said he wanted the US president to be well and that he was not joking. He made the remarks after the US president called him a killer with no soul. In response to that allegation, Mr Putin said: It takes one to know one. The high-stakes spat plunged relations between the White House and the Kremlin to their lowest ebb since the Cold War. Russia recalled its ambassador for the first time since 1998, and demanded an apology from Mr Biden. The tensions erupted after a US intelligence report concluded Mr Putin was behind clandestine attempts to damage Mr Bidens reputation to assist Donald Trump in last years US election. In a TV interview on Wednesday, Mr Biden said Mr Putin would pay a price for that. Asked if he thought Mr Putin was a killer, he replied: I do. State television in Russia had since been reporting unfounded suggestions that Mr Biden was confused. Mr Putin responded during a video call marking the seventh anniversary of Russias annexation of Crimea. He was asked about Mr Bidens comments by a woman in the region. Mr Putin said: I would tell him, Be well. I wish him health. And I say that without any irony or joking. Referring to Mr Bidens killer remark, the Russian leader went on to recall a game from his childhood. He said: When we argued in the courtyard with each other we used to say, It takes one to know one. And thats not a coincidence, not just a childrens saying or joke. The psychological meaning here is very deep. We always see our own traits in other people and think they are like how we really are. Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president, said: It seems that time hasnt been kind to him [Mr Biden]. I can only quote Freud: Nothing in life is more expensive than illness and stupidity. Andrei Turchak, leader of the main pro-Kremlin United Russia party, claimed Mr Bidens remarks reflected the US political marasmus and its leaders dementia. Relations between Washington and Moscow had deteriorated over the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition figure, last summer. But the US and Russia have continued to work together on stopping nuclear proliferation, and the Afghan peace process. The White House later said Mr Biden did not regret calling Mr Putin a killer and would not hold back in words or actions. Mr Putin invited Mr Biden to continue our discussion in a live broadcast event. He said it would be interesting for the people of Russia and the US to see. Mr Putin also lambasted the US for dropping atom bombs on Japan in the Second World War, its treatment of Native American tribes, and racial injustice. He said: Otherwise, where would the Black Lives Matter movement come from? Read More Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] Huntington, WV (25701) Today Variable clouds with showers and scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High around 75F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms in the evening, with mostly cloudy skies overnight. Areas of patchy fog developing. Low 61F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. According to Sharon Stone, the film in which she plays a calculating killer and Douglas is the investigating homicide detective who becomes obsessed with her revealed 'the dark side of myself'. She says: 'It was terrifying' The scene has been hailed as the most heavily scrutinised in film history. That leg-crossing and uncrossing moment in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct, in which on close inspection Sharon Stone really wasn't wearing any underwear as she toyed with a roomful of male police officers, was instrumental in making her a superstar and one of Hollywood's most intimidating sex symbols. It was also a shameful betrayal, according to Stone, who has described how she slapped her director Paul Verhoeven in fury and walked out of a preview of the lurid drama after discovering his assurances that it wouldn't show up on screen had been a lie and that the audience could as she put it 'see all the way to Nebraska '. Verhoeven has claimed she is the one who is lying but, in a deeply revealing new memoir that is bound to roil Hollywood, Stone has made clear she is not letting the matter drop. In a further broadside directed at the Dutch director, she describes making Basic Instinct, released in 1992, as 'terrifying'. The actress has, in the past, been ridiculed for her diva-like behaviour and for shamelessly exploiting her own sexuality, posing naked for Playboy twice, the first time to get the Basic Instinct role and the second when she was 57. Now, with the post-#MeToo era portraying notoriously hard-nosed Hollywood women such as her in a kinder light, she has come out all guns blazing against a misogynistic film industry with the morals of the gutter. In The Beauty Of Living Twice, an excerpt of which has appeared in Vanity Fair, she is combative but also very defensive as she discloses that one of her directors insisted she sat on his lap during filming, while predatory film bosses pressured her to sleep with male co-stars to strengthen their on-screen chemistry. Stone, now 63, has appeared over the years to revel in her reputation for having 'the biggest balls in Hollywood', but surprisingly she insists in her forthcoming memoir that, even when she was cast in Basic Instinct alongside Michael Douglas, she was 'still so shy and introverted'. With the post-#MeToo era portraying notoriously hard-nosed Hollywood women such as her in a kinder light, she has come out all guns blazing against a misogynistic film industry with the morals of the gutter She reveals that making the film was a nightmare for her, especially when, while nakedly astride an actor with whom she had moments before been filmed making love, she hit him so ferociously with a fake ice pick that he passed out and she feared she'd killed him. Stone also confides that, after years of dead-end acting roles, she was so desperate to get the Basic Instinct job that she had her manager use his credit card to unlock the door of the casting director's office to obtain a copy of the script. However, it's what she has to say about her front-row seat to Tinseltown's seedy sexual proclivities that is bound to cause the most unease in an industry that nowadays is far more switched on to even a hint of predatory sexual behaviour. Stone had already made the sci-fi thriller Total Recall (in which she had a small part as Arnold Schwarzenegger's wife) with Verhoeven. But, she says, Michael Douglas demanded a bigger co-star and didn't want her to get the Basic Instinct role, despite it having been turned down by a succession of actresses reportedly including Julia Roberts, Geena Davis and Meg Ryan because of the amount of nudity involved. Douglas finally agreed to do a screen test with Stone after 12 other actresses had rejected the part, she writes, adding: 'Michael and I are friends now.' One of the film's producers compounded her feeling of insignificance by always calling her 'Karen', she says. Verhoeven has vehemently dismissed her claims that she was taken by surprise in the leg-crossing scene, saying: 'Any actress knows what she's going to see if you ask her to take off her underwear and point there with the camera.' Verhoeven, who said that as a Dutchman he didn't turn a hair at 'total nudity', insists he'd already shown Stone the scene on a monitor, but she became embarrassed when the people around her (incorrectly as it turned out) warned it would ruin her career. She reveals that making the film was a nightmare for her, especially when, while nakedly astride an actor with whom she had moments before been filmed making love, she hit him so ferociously with a fake ice pick that he passed out and she feared she'd killed him However, she now describes it very differently. While she had expected to watch the film alone with Verhoeven, they were instead joined by a roomful of agents and lawyers, few of whom had anything to do with the film, she says. She continues: 'That was how I saw my vagina-shot for the first time, long after I'd been told 'We can't see anything I just need you to remove your panties, as the white is reflecting the light, so we know you have panties on.' Yes, there have been many points of view on this topic, but since I'm the one with the vagina in question, let me say: The other points of view are bull****.' She recalls she went outside and phoned her lawyer who said she could get an injunction as it wasn't legal under Hollywood union rules to 'shoot up my dress in this fashion'. He also said the film would probably require an X-rating, which would have hamstrung its box-office chances. Reminding herself how hard she had fought to get the role, and acknowledging that she'd have left in the scene if she was director, she eventually did nothing. According to Stone, the film in which she plays a calculating killer and Douglas is the investigating homicide detective who becomes obsessed with her revealed 'the dark side of myself'. She says: 'It was terrifying.' She found herself sleepwalking three times during production, twice waking fully dressed in her car. She had 'hideous nightmares'. She describes how they stopped filming an early stabbing sequence in the film and the actor she had been manically attacking 'just lay there, unconscious'. Stone panicked, convinced the retractable ice pick she was using hadn't actually retracted. The actor was prostrate on a bed under which a special-effects man was lying, pumping fake blood through a prosthetic chest. As the director kept screaming 'hit him, harder, harder!' and 'more blood, more blood!', Stone says she became faint with her exertions. It appeared she had hit the actor so many times that he'd passed out. 'I was horrified, naked, and stained with fake blood,' she recalls. It seemed there was virtually nothing the director wouldn't ask of her to make the film. Stone says she found the violence and anger she had to show in Basic Instinct by 'tapping into the rage' from an unhappy childhood in which she had suffered 'deep cuts and broken bonds of security'. The daughter of a factory worker and an Avon lady, she grew up in straitened circumstances in a backwater town in Pennsylvania, where she was a 'nerdy, ugly duckling' with an IQ of 153. She worked in a McDonald's but, fiercely ambitious, managed to break out by becoming a beauty pageant queen and a model. Stone got her acting break when she was cast as a 'pretty girl on train' in Woody Allen's 1980 film Stardust Memories, but then waded through a mire of forgettable parts in bad films or TV series before she got a decent role in Total Recall. However, she kept her clothes on in the film and her then manager warned her, she says in her memoir, that no one would hire her because she wasn't regarded as 'sexy'; 'I wasn't, as they said in Hollywood at the time, f***able'. Six weeks later, she was cast in Basic Instinct. Stone says she admits she was opinionated and stood up to the men who ran Hollywood, only to be labelled as difficult. And she was. 'Oh, I used to cause some trouble . . . It was so easy to wind people up,' she concedes. 'I think I liked to have control of people's minds, and it was so easy to get them off their rockers.' But that's all in the past, insists Stone, who says she has become a much more pleasant and peaceful person since she started practising Buddhism. Others attest that the old Stone is still there, once popping out eight years ago when she interrupted an interview to monster her doctor's surgery down the phone while referring to herself as 'we'. Off-screen, Stone also had to help her brother, Michael, recover his life after he was jailed for being a cocaine dealer. In 2014, Michael's son, Colin, compounded the family tragedy when he died aged 22 from a suspected heroin overdose. Stone's own health problems also sparked drama when, in 2001, she suffered a serious brain haemorrhage which led to her vertebral artery being repaired with 22 platinum coils. Her messy love life only added to the pain, prompting Stone with typical sharp wit to admit that 'if I'd had one more thing go wrong I'd have been a country and western song'. She was married to producer Michael Greenberg for three years before divorcing him. She then had an affair with another producer, Bill MacDonald, who ditched his wife for Stone. She then ditched him, returning his engagement ring by Federal Express. She married newspaper editor Phil Bronstein in 1998 and, unable to have children because Stone had contracted an autoimmune disease, they adopted a son. Bronstein divorced Stone in 2004, citing irreconcilable differences, and he was given primary custody of their child, Roan. Stone later adopted two more boys. Although she insists she's done with romance, the actress signed up to the online dating site Bumble in 2019, only to be blocked from it because everyone thought it couldn't really be her. Stone now admits she was consumed by her career being an actress was 'everything' to her but appears bitter at how it played out. Hollywood preferred its female stars to be 'ornaments' and do what they were told, she claims. Learning she was seen as an 'intimidating' presence to men in her industry makes her 'want to cry', she says. 'I was often alone on a set with hundreds of men.' And not just alone but sometimes naked, too. She's often asked, she says, what it was like for her at the height of her fame. 'It was like this. Play ball or get off the field, girl,' she says. Without naming names, Stone reels off ugly stories about the executives she encountered. She claims a director of a big-budget film, in which she was the star, wouldn't shoot with her because she refused to sit on his lap. The actress also mentions a producer of another of her films who urged her to sleep with her co-star to improve their 'on-screen chemistry' Unfortunately, this particular producer wasn't alone in his tawdry theory. 'I've had other producers on other films just come to my trailer and ask: 'So are you going to f*** or aren't you? You know it would be better if you did'.' Sex, says Stone, and not just sexuality onscreen, has long been expected in the film business. Although she's remained in work, recently appearing in Ratched, a Netflix series spin-off of the film One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, her subsequent acting career has never come close to matching her Oscar-nominated performance as the chaotic, drug-addled wife of Robert De Niro in the 1995 gangster film Casino. Stone tries to be philosophical about a career in which she was usually cast simply for her looks, admitting: 'I was not the chosen one, not the golden gal, just the sex symbol.' For the actress, whose sudden rise to superstardom hinged not just on a film but a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in a film, it takes some nerve to knock being a sex symbol. A convicted killer who was on the run for more than 24 hours after escaping from the Cullman County Jail was taken into custody Friday afternoon after a citizen found him and held him at gunpoint until lawmen arrived. Leo Santioago Chavez was recaptured in the Hanceville area, authorities announced shortly before 7:30 p.m. Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry confirmed that he was held at gunpoint by a citizen in the area of Arkadelphia Road. Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail posted a Facebook Live video where he interviewed some of the officers who helped in the capture, as well as resident Lawrence Baker who said he was eating supper when he saw Chavez in his driveway. I grabbed my gun and come out and asked him if he was the one they was looking for and he said, Yes sir, Baker said I told him he needed to get down on the gravel. Hanceville showed up pretty quick and put him in the car and that was a wrap on that. Baker said Chavez told him he was cold. Lawmen hade fanned out over multiple counties since Thursday evening as the hunt continued for the convicted murderer who, along with three other inmates, kicked his way out of the Cullman County Jail Thursday evening. The four inmates Leo Santiago Chavez, 20, Robert Alan Peak, Tyler Dooley and Justin Long made their getaway about 6:33 p.m. By Fridays early-morning hours, all but Chavez were back in custody. Chavez was convicted in the 2017 killing of his parents and sentenced just two months ago to two consecutive life sentences. Anytime you have somebody out with his convictions, its very concerning,' Gentry said earlier Friday, and were not going to stop until we catch him. There were several reported sightings of Chavez in Blount County Friday morning, said Sheriff Mark Moon. Deputies have been responding to multiple 911 calls,' Moon said. Chavez was being held in Cullman County while awaiting transfer to the Alabama Department of Corrections to begin his lengthy prison term. The reason he was being held in Cullman was because prosecutors prefer co-defendants be separated and a co-defendant is still being held in the Blount County Jail. COVID-19 has drastically slowed the transfer process. ADOC officials, who said their K9 Unit is assisting in the search, said the department has conducted modified intake due to the pandemic since April 20, 2020. It remains committed to the orderly and efficient transition of inmates to state custody while taking into account the circumstances of the pandemic and need for virus mitigation,' according to the statement. That is a struggle that we have faced at the sheriffs office, and I think every sheriff around the state of Alabama, since the COVID outbreak has happened,' Gentry said. We are not able to get the amount of inmates to DOC that we need to. Chavez is now back in the Blount County Jail and his co-defendant is being transferred to Blount County. All four escaped inmates will face new charges. Multiple law enforcement agencies took part in the search, including the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force. The USMS had offered a $5,000 reward for information that led to the recapture of Chavez. Gentry on Friday announced he would match that so the reward stands at $10,000. Mayor Nail joked with Baker about a shopping trip in the future of Bakers wife, and Gentry said Saturday he will be meeting next week with Baker about distributing the reward money. Leo Santiago Chavez, center, has been convicted in the December 2017 slayings of his mother, Adalberta Chavez Ruiz, left, and his father, Ricardo Santiago Gonzales, right. Gentry on Friday afternoon went into more detail about the brazen escape. He said the group escaped by crawling through an air vent next to the showers inside of the holding block of the jail. They crawled through the vents until they came in contact with a brick wall, which they kicked until they made a hole big enough to escape through. It was like something youd seen in a movie,' Gentry said. Once they got the vent loose, they got into the internal guts of the jail. They were able to start breaking out brick enough to slide through and drop two stories,' he said. It took a lot of work. It wasnt like an easy thing to do. He said the escape was deliberately planned to take place during shift change, when deputies are rotating in and out of service. Gentry said the inmates were skinned up from their getaway. He said he spoke with the inmates who had been recaptured and one of them told him, Its our job to try to get out. Its your job to try to catch us and keep us in. That is the mindset of the people you deal with. They have 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to think about how to get out,' the sheriff said. This was something in our facility that weve never come across, it was something new and weve been working diligently all morning with a company that does nothing but jails to ensure those get fixed ASAP. Cullman County Jail Escapees March 18, 2021. Three minutes later, Gentry said, a woman called 911 after seeing four men in jail jumpsuits running through the parking lot. Sheriffs deputies and police departments in the area then set up a perimeter, Gentry said. They were able to capture two of the four inmates Dooley and Long in less than an hour. Dooley was charged with murder in August following a shootout that left two men dead, was recaptured and taken back into custody at the jail. The incident in New Canaan started as a robbery. Long was being held in the Cullman County Jail for the U.S. Marshals Service on drug charges. Authorities said Long broke his foot during the getaway. Peak was taken into custody early Friday. A pursuit began in Blount County where authorities say Peak was in a stolen 2004 Chevrolet Corvette. The high-speed pursuit went from Blount County into Cullman County where they lost sight of him. Then, as they continued to patrol the area, authorities received word that a pickup truck pulling a horse trailer had been stolen. They spotted the truck, and a second chase was on. It ended on Highway 278 near Berlin after multiple spike strips were deployed. Police have not found the Corvette and said Chavez could be driving it. Peak was arrested in Cullman County in November 2020 for first-degree theft of property and unlawful breaking and entering of a motor vehicle. Chavez was sentenced in January to two consecutive life sentences plus 10 years for the 2017 murders of his mother, Adalberta Chavez Ruiz, and his father, Ricardo Santiago Gonzales, at their home on Covered Bridge Road. The couple was shot, wrapped in garbage bags and then dumped in a shallow grave in Oneonta. He was convicted in March of three counts of capital murder after a seven-day trial and just two hours and 45 minutes of jury deliberation. Jose Gamaliel Villanueva, 20, and Jose Guevara-Valadez, 23, as well as a juvenile are also charged in connection with the case. Gonzalez and Adalberta Chavez were discovered missing on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017 by family members who were concerned about their welfare. They went to the couples home in Cleveland and found blood inside the trailer. Thats when lawmen were notified, and the family began a search of their own that has spanned weeks and countless hours. The investigation led them to the slain couples son, who was 17 at the time. He was charged three days later, even before the bodies of his parents were found. Two of the charges are for the deaths of his parents during a robbery and the third capital charges is for the murder of two or more people at one time. Chavez was also convicted of theft of property and two counts of abuse of a corpse. During the sentencing hearing, which was held in late summer, District Attorney Pamela L. Casey asked the court to sentence Leo Santiago Chavez to the most severe punishment possible- life without the possibility of parole due to the nature and circumstances of the offense and the defendants role in planning and orchestrating the murder of his parents and hiding their bodies in a wooded area. Chavez was not eligible to receive the death penalty because of his age at the time of the offense. In Alabama, juveniles who commit capital murder may be sentenced to life with possibility of parole or life without the possibility of parole. A life sentence with possibility of parole requires at least 30 years in prison prior to parole consideration. Chavez would be required to serve 60 years before parole consideration. Sentencing had been delayed due to COVID-19. Just before the sentence was pronounced, Assistant District Attorney Scott Gilliland indicated that Chavez apologized to family members who were present in the courtroom and asked for their forgiveness. He then advised the court that he took his case to trial because the offers he received from the state were too much. Several members of the family of Adalberta Chavez Ruis and Ricardo Santiago Gonzalez were present in the courtroom when the sentence was imposed. This family has been through a lot,' Casey said at the time. They spent weeks walking through the woods and along roadways trying to locate their loved ones. They assisted with the investigation of this case and have been present for every hearing, including a week-long trial, to show their love and support for the memory of Adalberta and Ricardo. It is very rewarding to work with such families to obtain justice for their lost loved ones. On Thursday, the Columbia Law Review published one of the most important and topical scholarly articles in recent memory, Delegation at the Founding. Its authors, Julian Davis Mortenson and Nicholas Bagley, put forth a sweeping argument: They assert that an ascendant legal theory championed by conservative originalists has no actual basis in history. That theory, called the nondelegation doctrine, holds that the Constitution puts strict limits on Congress ability to let the executive branch set rules and regulations. Congress, for instance, could not direct the Environmental Protection Agency to set air quality standards that protect public health, and let the agency decide what limits on pollution are necessary to meet that goal. Nondelegation doctrine has enormous consequences for the federal governments ability to function, since Congress typically sets broad goals and directs agencies to figure out how to achieve them. The theory is supported by a majority of the current Supreme Court; in 2019, Justice Neil Gorsuch signaled his eagerness to apply the doctrine, and at least four other conservative justices have joined his crusade. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. Gorsuch and his allies in academia insist that the men who wrote the Constitution believed in the nondelegation doctrine, giving the theory an originalist pedigree. Yet Mortenson and Bagley, both law professors at the University of Michigan and former Supreme Court clerks, have painstakingly debunked originalists claims of historical support for the doctrine. The publication of their article presents a grave challenge to conservative originalists like Gorsuch who purport to follow the evidence even when it leads to an outcome that clashes with their political preferences. As Mortenson and Bagley put it: You can be an originalist or you can be committed to the nondelegation doctrine. But you cant be both. On Thursday, I spoke with the authors about their paper and the response it has already provoked among academics with near-dogmatic faith in the doctrine they debunk. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Advertisement Mark Joseph Stern: What is the nondelegation doctrine? Julian Davis Mortenson: Nondelegation is a judicially created doctrine that has had exactly one year of actual existence, 1935, over the 2 centuries of the American republic. It says, in essence, that only Congress can make rules that govern private conduct, and all administrative agencies can do is apply the rules and maybe fill in some small details about the rules in the course of doing their work. Advertisement What happened in 1935? Mortenson: The Supreme Court was very hostile to the New Deal, to economic interventionism. And it issued two opinions concluding that Congress had given the president too much discretion without giving him enough guidance. Those decisions happen, and then the doctrine is gone for many years. Advertisement Nicholas Bagley: Its pretty much dormant until the 1980s and 1990s, when the conservative legal establishment starts to poke around for doctrines that might be able to restrain the federal government at a time when they felt it was too big, too powerful, and doing too much at the states expense. Conservative scholars glom onto nondelegation and start pushing for its reinvigoration in the courts. The Supreme Court slapped that down in 2001 in a unanimous decision written by none other than Justice [Antonin] Scalia. He said: Look, were not going to play this game. Theres no principled way for a court to draw these distinctions. Were going to trust Congress to take care of protecting its own prerogatives. Advertisement At the same time, Justice [Clarence] Thomas writes separately to say: Im open to reviving the doctrine. Start making an argument to me based in originalist materials that might allow me to get to that result. So originalist scholars start to build an argument. They write long law review articles and books that give the theory a patina of historical credentials. That was new, because until then, nondelegation was not primarily a claim about what the Framers believed in. It was a claim about how we ought to properly structure our government todaywe want the legislature to make the important decisions, not beady-eyed bureaucrats. Advertisement You spent an enormous amount of time reviewing these originalist theories and assessing them in light of tens of thousands of pages of historical evidence. What did you find? Advertisement Bagley: When you talk about the founding era, theres an awful lot to draw on because founders talked about their new Constitution all the time. If nondelegation was a thing, you should expect to find direct evidence of it. Youd expect it to arise in debates over laws that empower the president to act without much guidance from Congress. And when you look at those debates, it never crops up. It never shows up at all. And when you look at the practice before ratification, the founders delegated power all the time. Its not a surprise that when they formed this new Constitution, they continued that pattern. If you take a hard look at the evidence people claim for the nondelegation doctrine, it falls apart in your hands. As a matter of historical inference, it cant stand. History is not a game. Its not infinitely flexible. You cant read into it whatever you want. Advertisement Scholars often look to practice at the founding to determine the meaning of the Constitution. What did you learn about delegation in this period? Advertisement Mortenson: Delegation was deeply embedded in the operating system of governance throughout the founding period and throughout the 18th century. There is pervasive delegation in every direction throughout Anglo-American governance. The standard move for nondelegation theorists, faced with this avalanche of evidence that this is how the founders governed, is to say: Ah, the Constitution changed everything. The fact that it has vesting clauses, which vest power in the different branches of government, changed everything. If that were true, youd think the founders might have said so at some point during the writing and ratification of the Constitution, which had highly learned debates about its meaning. But they didnt! The story of radical discontinuity just doesnt add up. Advertisement Proponents of the theory often claim to have James Madison on their side. Why? Bagley: The best evidence originalists have mustered is a debate in the second Congress over the location of post roads. At first, Congress thought, lets specify every single town that these roads will run through, because we want them in places that are important politically and financially. Then a proposal was put on the floor to say, lets not do this ourselveslets give this to the president. Several members of Congress, including James Madison, object; Madison says the proposal would be unconstitutional. The other members laugh at them and say, you think this is somehow unconstitutional? Youre making up an argument because you want to retain control over the roads! In the end, Congress retains the authority over the post roadsbut delegates additional authority to the president to create new post roads at his discretion. Thats exactly what Madison claimed was unconstitutional! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No originalist has proposed reviving a doctrine like the one they think they find in the second Congress. It doesnt align with any of the extant theories about what a nondelegation doctrine would look like. If you assume that the nondelegation doctrine would preclude the president from doing something as banal as choosing the location of post roads, you basically are consigning the entire federal government to the rubbish heap. So the best originalist evidence for nondelegation is based on opportunistic arguments roundly rejected by the very coalition that, originalists claim, universally believed in the existence of this doctrine. Mortenson: Originalists core piece of evidence is a set of losing claims invented more or less on the spot by a minority of one house of Congress that is completely at odds with the basis of the theory theyre advocating today. Its all reverse-gerrymandered to pretend that overwhelming evidence to the contrary can be explained away if you just dance your feet fast enough. Advertisement Drafts of your article have been circulating for some time now. How have originalist proponents of the doctrine responded to it? Mortenson: The retreat has been to claims about the necessary implications of structure and deep values that you can glean if you press your forehead against the text of the Constitution. Its just making stuff up and calling it constitutional law. These are policy claims. And theyre shockingly similar to the arguments for unwritten rights in the Constitution that conservative originalists have derided for decades. When those arguments about structure and values and penumbras and emanations are made in service of abortion and LGBTQ equality, they are derided by originalists as contemptuous of democracy. For decades Ive been told, Keep your policy claims out of our Constitution. I dont see why the shoe doesnt go on both feet. Advertisement Bagley: The nondelegation doctrine is at the heart of the conservative legal movements reform agenda. To the extent that its unavailable given their methodological commitments, thats a real problem. The public responses have been to deny the force of the historical evidence that we supply, to insist that the historical record says something it doesnt. I dont find these historical responses persuasive. Im struck by how thin they seem to me. And Im struck by how otherwise smart people can endorse them. If you want to tell me its better to have this rule, fine. But youre making a claim about the living Constitution as it evolves to deal with certain circumstances. Do you have any hope that originalist judges like Gorsuch will read your paper and change their mind? Mortenson: I have hope. I read Justice Gorsuch as very earnest and thoughtful. I think our research is so overwhelming that he might be willing to listen. Bagley: [Pause.] When I clerked for Justice Stevens, he would circulate an opinion or a dissent and say, You know, Nick, I think were going to persuade some people with this one. Then hed circulate it and he would get zero votes. I admired the optimism. SALT LAKE CITY, March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Extra Space Storage Inc. ("Extra Space") (NYSE: EXR), a leading owner and operator of self-storage facilities in the United States and a member of the S&P 500, today announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 1,600,000 shares of its common stock for gross proceeds of approximately $207.7 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by Extra Space. Citigroup and Wells Fargo Securities are acting as the joint book-running managers for the offering. Extra Space has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 240,000 shares. The offering is expected to close on or about March 23, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. Extra Space intends to use the net proceeds of this offering to fund potential acquisition opportunities, to repay amounts outstanding from time to time under its lines of credit, and for other general corporate and working capital purposes. The shares will be issued pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale is not permitted. The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus, copies of which, when available, may be obtained from Citigroup, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717 (Tel: 800-831-9146 or email to: [email protected]), or from Wells Fargo Securities, Attention: Equity Syndicate Department, 500 West 33rd Street, New York, New York, 10001, at (800) 326-5897 or email a request to [email protected]. A prospectus supplement related to the offering will also be available free of charge on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. About Extra Space Storage Inc.: Extra Space Storage Inc., headquartered in Salt Lake City, is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, and a member of the S&P 500. As of December 31, 2020, Extra Space owned and/or operated 1,921 self-storage properties, which comprise approximately 1.4 million units and approximately 149.2 million square feet of rentable storage space offering customers conveniently located and secure storage units across the country, including boat storage, RV storage and business storage. Extra Space is the second largest owner and/or operator of self-storage properties in the United States and is the largest self-storage management company in the United States. Forward-Looking Statements: Certain information set forth in this release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning the terms, timing and completion of the offering of securities by Extra Space, including the anticipated use of proceeds therefrom. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "believes," "estimates," "expects," "may," "will," "should," "anticipates," or "intends," or the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy. All forward-looking statements are based upon our current expectations and various assumptions. Our expectations, beliefs and projections are expressed in good faith and we believe there is a reasonable basis for them, but there can be no assurance that management's expectations, beliefs and projections will result or be achieved. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in or contemplated by this release. Such risks and uncertainties include without limitation those associated with market risks and uncertainties and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions for an offering of securities, as well as the risks referenced in the "Risk Factors" section included in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements apply only as of the date of this release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. SOURCE Extra Space Storage Inc. Related Links http://www.extraspace.com The Orange County Sheriffs Department told The Epoch Times in February that it has observed a 650 percent increase in catalytic converter thefts throughout the past year. (Courtesy of The Orange County Sheriff's Department) The Consequences of Catalytic Converter Thefts Are Becoming Deadly Catalytic converter thefts are on the riseand apparently the costly metals found inside are precious enough to warrant risking ones life for. Victims who are about to head off to work for the day start their car to find it has become extremely loud without the sound muffling device, while others come out to find that a thief has been crushed under their car due to a failed jack stand. Thats what happened when Anaheim police were called to the 1600 block of North Placentia Avenue early March 17, where they found a man wedged underneath a Toyota Prius, crushed to death by the weight of the vehicle while apparently attempting to steal the cars catalytic converter. The Orange County Sheriffs Department (OCSD) told The Epoch Times in February that it has observed a 650 percent increase in catalytic converter thefts throughout the past year. Three more deaths involving a catalytic converter theft occurred March 12, when two men inside a Dodge Ram 1500 truck that was being chased by police crashed into another vehicle then veered through a block wall where it landed upside down in a residential swimming pool. Both men inside the truck, Joseph Mendoza, 24, and Sal Fernandez, 34, were pronounced dead when officers discovered them in the pool. Michael Clugston, who was in the other vehicle, was also found dead. The crash occurred near Euclid Street and Orangewood Avenue, and home renter Renee Robinson told The Orange County Register that it sounded like an explosion. After searching the destroyed truck, police found a catalytic converter, a power saw, and a pistol. Mendoza and Fernandez were chased after police saw them speeding through a parking lot and they failed to pull over. The trend of catalytic converter thefts isnt unique to Orange County. The San Bernardino Sheriffs Department served a search warrant on March 17 on a resident they suspected of running a catalytic converter fencing operation. After searching the home, police said they found approximately 400 catalytic converters worth an estimated $400,000, as well as a stolen vehicle on the property. Converter thefts continue to be on the rise in Orange County, where reported stolen catalytic converter thefts totaled 86 last November, 77 last December, and 108 in January, according to the latest figures from the OCSD. In Orange County, police havent found more than a few stolen converters in any single bust, an OCSD spokesperson said. Grants have been awarded to 10 crofters to improve or build new homes in some of Scotlands most remote and marginal farming communities. The Croft House Grants scheme aims to retain and attract people to rural and remote areas, and the latest round of funding totals 353,002. The funds will be used to improve crofters' housing or build new homes, which is then hoped will generate economic activity. Since the scheme first launched in 2007, more than 22.1 million has been awarded to 1,033 families and individuals in rural and island communities. Figures by the Commissions Register of Crofts (ROC) shows that overall, there are 21,186 crofts in Scotland, of which 15,137 are tenanted and the remainder owned. Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing said crofters had been working hard during the pandemic, contributing to the sustainability of rural and island communities. "The future sustainability of these areas depends on our ability to attract and retain people, particularly young families, and the grant has proved successful in doing just that. In the last year we have awarded over 1.8 million in grant funding to help build and improve homes for 59 crofters and their families." Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 02:40:27|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi lays a flower wreath during an activity to mark the first National Day of Remembrance for COVID-19 victims in Bergamo, Italy, March 18, 2021. Italy on Thursday marked the first National Day of Remembrance for COVID-19 victims. According to the Health Ministry's data updated to Wednesday, Italy's death toll reached 103,432. Overall, it counts more than 3.2 million coronavirus cases, which included the deaths, plus over 2.6 million recoveries, and over 539,000 active infections. (Pool via Xinhua) ROME, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi chose the northern Bergamo city on Thursday to mark the first National Day of Remembrance for COVID-19 victims, the number of which has so far exceeded 103,000 in the country. "This place is the symbol of the pain of an entire nation," he said at a ceremony in a park, renamed the Wood of Remembrance, near the city's main hospital. "We cannot hug each other today, yet this is when we must all feel closer than ever." The province of Bergamo in the wealthy Lombardy region was Italy's (and Europe's) first large pandemic hotspot last year between late February and early March. The city of around 120,000 inhabitants counted at least 670 victims, and its province, with a population of 1.1 million, tallied some 6,000 fatalities, mayor Giorgio Gori said at the ceremony. Here is where long columns of army vehicles were seen at night carrying away hundreds of coffins from Bergamo's engulfed crematorium to various cemeteries around the region. That occurred on March 18, 2020, and Italian authorities chose this date to mourn the victims. "There is no one in this city who has not had a family member or acquaintance affected by the virus," Draghi recalled, before laying a wreath at the cemetery. Yet, he highlighted Bergamo's ability "to react and turn its grief into a desire for regeneration." "Its example is precious to all Italians who I am sure cannot wait to hold their head up again... and release the energies that have made this country wonderful." "I am here... to commit myself to rebuild without forgetting, along with you all," Draghi said. As the prime minister led the official celebration in Bergamo, national flags in public buildings were lowered at half-mast across the country in mourning. According to the Health Ministry's data updated to Wednesday, Italy's death toll reached 103,432. Overall, it counts more than 3.2 million coronavirus cases, which included the deaths, plus over 2.6 million recoveries, and over 539,000 active infections. After being the first country in Europe to be overwhelmed by the pandemic last year, and having suffered a serious second wave after summer, Italy was now putting great efforts into avoiding a full third wave, which could endanger the ongoing vaccination campaign. Thus, after putting more than half of the country back into a semi-lockdown from March 15 to April 6, Draghi on Thursday restated the pledge to boost vaccination efforts, despite a recent debate around the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Italian health authorities have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca jab (along with many other EU countries) as a precautionary measure earlier this week, pending a decision from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). "Whatever its (EMA) decision, the vaccination campaign will go on with the same intensity and goals," Draghi stressed. "An increase in some vaccine supplies will help offset the delays from other drug companies." So far, Italy has administered 7.2 million vaccine doses, and 2.2 million people have received both shots of the vaccines. Enditem WASHINGTON, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Fragrance Creators Association announced today that it hosted an educational "Fragrance 101" briefing for Members of Congress and staff, in conjunction with the Congressional Fragrance Caucus. Fragrance Creators' industry experts from across the fragrance value chain shared how fragrance is created and its many benefits to public and environmental health and wellness. They also engaged on key policy issues, including the Food and Drug Administration's regulation of cosmetic fragrance safety; the Environmental Protection Agency's approvals of newer, greener ingredients; cleaning products ingredient communication; trade policy; and more. Fragrance Creators Association "We are grateful to the Members of Congress and staff, especially members of the Fragrance Caucus, who engaged in this productive discussion on fragrance and how our members can drive more sustainable innovation, STEM education, jobs, and more," said Farah K. Ahmed, President & CEO. "I thank our member companiesCosmo Fragrances, Procter & Gamble, and Robertet USAfor providing meaningful education on the vital role fragrance and scent play in our lives, including promoting public health, combating malodor, and improving quality of life and well-being." "Fragrance Creators leads in the development of sound science-based fragrance legislation across the country," said Amanda Nguyen, J.D., Vice President, Government Affairs & Legal, Fragrance Creators. "As a trusted resource to policymakers, we know our outreach is important as we promote understanding and appreciation for the fragrance value chain's contributions to the American economy and everyday life, and advance policies that are good for people, perfume, and the planet." Chaired by Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12) and Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11), the Congressional Fragrance Caucus serves as a bipartisan platform for engagement on priority issues affecting fragrance, including its critical presence in products for cleaning, disinfecting, and personal hygiene that are essential in protecting public health in the face of COVID-19. First introduced in 2018 in the 115th Congress, the Fragrance Caucus has grown as Fragrance Creators continues to expand its footprint and Congress works to advance policies that address federal ingredient communication, including legislation focused on cosmetics and cleaning products, Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act implementation, trade, and more. A contributor of over $22.4 billion to the U.S. economy, the fragrance industry invests heavily in sustainable R&D and innovation and provides more than 200,000 well-paying jobs. Fragrance Creators' diverse membership of 60 member companies reflects the majority of fragrance manufacturing in the U.S. The association's dynamic fragrance value chain spans from small, family-owned businesses to large, multinational corporations, with all companies having an equal opportunity to shape the industry's policy positions. As responsible industry stewards, Fragrance Creators' members are committed to ensuring all association policies are grounded in sound science and advance positive impacts, not only for business, but the public and the environment as well. Fragrance Creators Association is the principal fragrance trade association. The organization represents the majority of fragrance manufacturing in the U.S. and Canada on a comprehensive array of issues. Fragrance Creators' diverse membership includes innovative 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 also 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-fragrance-101.jpg Fragrance Creators Fragrance 101 Briefing SOURCE Fragrance Creators Association The Society Of Editors Press Awards has been postponed. A statement from the industry body for the UK press said: The Society of Editors has decided to postpone the National and Regional Press Awards until later this year. New dates will be announced in due course. Charlene White last week pulled out of hosting the awards (Ian West/PA) In the meantime the society will continue its work in championing freedom of expression and supporting diversity in newsrooms, and will also plan for this years annual conference. Last week Ian Murray stood down as executive director of the society following a row over its reaction to comments made by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex about racism in the media. The awards were previously going to be hosted by ITV News presenter Charlene White, however last week she said she would no longer take part in the ceremony after the controversy over the bodys response to Meghan and Harrys comments. Investors that had their fingers burnt but stayed put in Woodford Income Focus are wondering whether to jump ship or if things are finally starting to look up. While fallen star manager Neil Woodford's flagship Equity Income fund hogged the headlines and was wound up, his lower profile Income Focus fund remained invested and got new managers. But one year on from its reopening what should investors in Woodford's forgotten fund do? We take a look. Neil Woodford has long been a well-known investment name but for the best part of the last two years that has been for the wrong reasons after his flagship fund collapsed It has been an uphill battle for Woodord Income Focus's new managers Aberdeen Standard Investments, who took over the fund from Neil Woodford at the end of 2019, before overhauling and reopening it in February last year minus the tainted name. Investors now hold a fund called ASI Income Focus, with 36 holdings and a 3.5 per cent yield and after a good clearout and rejig, some experts say it looks a reasonable prospect. Darius McDermott, of Chelsea Financial Services, said the fund is 'definitely one to hold now'. ASI Income Focus top ten holdings (February 2021) Company % of portfolio BHP Group 6.4 OSB Group 5.3 Close Brothers 5.3 Inchcape 4.5 Weir Group 4.0 RELX 4.0 John Laing Group 3.9 Rio Tinto 3.9 National Grid 3.6 Mondi 3.3 Source: Aberdeen Standard Investments 'The fund has underperformed since the new managers took over but they had a lot to sort out and then Covid-19 happened and most equity income funds have struggled in that time,' he said. Woodford Income Focus top ten holdings (October 2019) Company % of portfolio New River REIT 7.28 Barratt Developments 5.28 Paypoint 4.41 Provident Financial 4.33 Taylor Wimpey 4.33 Amigo Holdings 4.09 Redde 4.06 Crest Nicholson 3.83 Imperial Brands 3.48 Morses Club 3.30 Source: Morningstar 'The dividend has been cut, but it's still a reasonable level all things considered. Personally I'd give the managers a bit more time. We rate them very highly and it is now in a good place. 'It yields 3.5 per cent, so they are trying to meet the original objective of the fund and have a big focus on the dividend.' Woodford's Income Focus was set up to cash in on the manager's astonishing early success with his own-name brand. In its early years, his main Woodford Equity Income fund raked in billions of pounds from investors and had decent performance. Income Focus offered a similar style to the main fund but honed in on income for investors by backing dividend-paying shares. Due to that, Income Focus investors were not hit as hard as hard as those in the now collapsed Woodford Equity Income fund, where the manager went off piste and started investing heavily in risky and illiquid early-stage and biotech companies. Yet, many investors are still in the red as poor stock-picking even among steadier dividend-payers affected Income Focus during the saga that began when the flagship fund was frozen in summer 2019 and and continued into early 2020. While it has a long way to go before many investors will break even, the renamed ASI Income Focus fund has been on an upward trajectory over the 12 months to 11 March, returning 9.5 per cent, although that has been during the recovery from the Covid-19 crash. But between 12 March 2019 and 11 March 2020, it crashed by 50 per cent. Since it was launched on 20 March 2017, it is down 35 per cent. My family has lost 4,000 70-year-old Chris Pearce, from Bridgend, invested in the then Woodford Income Focus fund shortly after it launched in 2017 on behalf of himself, his wife and his 94-year-old father-in-law. Between them they have suffered a loss of 4,000, with his father-in-law taking the biggest hit, down 2,500. Chris invested through Hargreaves Lansdown and like so many others, was attracted by the platform's promotion of Neil Woodford and his funds. 'I've been using Hargreaves Lansdown for more than a decade and have never had a problem,' he said. 'They kept recommending Woodford's funds and I invested because he's been very good in the past.' 'But we took a hit when everything happened and have realised it will take a long time before we get back to profit. Chris said he thinks moving the Income Focus fund to a different manager was a better option than closing it like the Woodford Equity Income fund. He knows it's been a tough journey for all involved, including the new managers and investors alike, but that he will stay and 'see it through'. He added: 'I've lost a lot but as a long-time investor I've also made a lot. All you can do is grumble when things go wrong. 'I am, however, confused that everyone is focusing on the liquidated fund even though investors in the Income Focus fund have also lost thousands.' Commenting on Woodford's 'comeback' which was announced last month, Chris said he understood why there was a lot of anger. He said: 'It's not on when you're sitting on big losses and [Woodford's] continuing to take fees even while the fund is going under. 'Now he's saying he's coming back while people are still struggling. Of course people are going to be angry. The trade bodies aren't very reassuring either. Their silence is deafening.' Jason Hollands, managing director at Tilney Investment Management Services, noted that ASI Income Focus featured prominently in Bestinvests Spot the Dog report last month. He said: 'Being down 35 per cent over the past three years made it the worst performing UK equity fund in the whole report. 'While much of the blame can be laid at the door of Neil Woodford, two other UK income funds managed by the new managers at Aberdeen Standard (ASI UK Income Unconstrained Equity and ASI UK High Income Equity), also made the dog fund list which is hardly encouraging.' Jason Hollands of Tilney says there may be better alternatives to Income Focus Yet there is a possibility that conditions that have been holding the funds back, including Income Focus, have now changed and the future will favour them better. The funds invest heavily in unloved UK firms with a value tilt, two things that the market has shunned but recently warmed to after the vaccine rally and Brexit deal. Hollands said the funds have suffered by having relatively high exposure to domestic UK business (as opposed to global earners) and because the managers have focused on cheap shares during a period when markets have heavily rewarded growth companies on premium earnings. 'There may be some light at the end of the tunnel, as since the breakthrough in coronavirus vaccinations last November, markets have started to reassess some of the areas hard hit last year in expectations of an economic rebound and so income funds, including those with a value bias have had a better run,' he added. 'However as the chart below shows, the ASI Income Focus fund has performed in-line with the average fund in its sector since November, rather than shot the lights out.' 'The ASI Income Focus fund has performed in-line with the average fund in its sector since November, rather than shot the lights out,' says Tilney's Jason Hollands What are the Income Focus alternatives? Hollands thinks UK equity funds could have a 'cracking year' in 2021, as Brexit fears have faded, the market is relatively cheap and there is a high chance of a sharp recovery as the vaccination programme allows the economy to rebound. 'But I feel there are much higher conviction funds out there,' he added. 'In particular, if youre not drawing income, then I like Fidelity Special Situations in the current environment. If you want income, then try Threadneedle UK Equity Income instead.' I feel there are much higher conviction funds out there Jason Hollands, Tilney Investment Management Services McDermott said interesting alternatives include the GAM UK Equity Income and Man GLG Income funds for investors looking for a similar value style. He recommends the Montanaro UK Income and TB Evenlode Income funds for those after more of a 'quality' portfolio. Meanwhile, Tom Poulter, head of quantitative research at Square Mile Research, said the AXA Framlington UK Equity Income, Majedie UK Income, Liontrust Income and M&G Dividend funds were the only four funds of 81 in the UK Equity Income sector to grow their income last year. 'For 37 per cent of funds in the sector, their yield either stayed the same or grew,' he said. 'In the IA Sterling Corporate Bond sector, income growth was slightly better with 19 of the 85 funds (22.4 per cent) growing income in 2020. But only 7.3 per cent of funds grew their yield. 'I would add the dividend cuts started coming through in March, so any fund that paid annual or semi annual dividends in January or February would have benefited.' Huntington, WV (25701) Today Variable clouds with showers and scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High around 75F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms in the evening, with mostly cloudy skies overnight. Areas of patchy fog developing. Low 61F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Pipes for the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline are stored on a site at the port of Mukran in Sassnitz, Germany, (Photo : REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo/File Photo) The U.S. State Department is tracking efforts to complete Russia's Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline and evaluating information on entities that appear to be involved, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday. "Any entity involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline risks U.S. sanctions and should immediately abandon work on the pipeline," Blinken said in a statement, adding the Biden administration is committed to complying with 2019 and 2020 legislation with regards to the pipeline and sanctions. Advertisement Shortly after Blinken's statement, Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican and an opponent of the pipeline, lifted a hold he had placed on two of President Joe Biden's nominees, including William Burns for director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Nord Stream 2, led by Russia state energy company Gazprom with its Western partners, would double the capacity of an existing link to take Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Biden believes the project is a "bad deal" for Ukraine and Central and Eastern European allies, Blinken said. The pipeline would bypass Ukraine, likely depriving it of lucrative transit revenues and potentially undermine its efforts against Russian aggression. Sanctions law that went into effect this year require the State Department to sanction companies that help Nord Stream 2 lay pipeline or provide insurance or certification of its construction. Nearly 20 companies, mostly insurance firms, recently quit the project after Washington warned them in recent months that they could be sanctioned. Cruz said he would maintain a hold on Wendy Sherman, who Biden has nominated to be the No. 2 official at the State Department until the administration imposes full sanctions on ships and companies involved in the project. Sherman easily passed through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week and a hold would only likely delay a full Senate vote on her nomination. A federal appeals court judge in Washington, D.C. has penned a scathing dissent accusing the media of being a 'trumpet' for the Democratic Party, while calling on his colleagues to overturn a Supreme Court landmark decision protecting the press. Senior Circuit Judge Laurence Silberman lamented that conservatives are being oppressed by overwhelmingly liberal news media, academia and tech companies creating 'a frighteningly orthodox media culture.' The judge responded to a decision on Friday to toss a libel suit filed by two former Liberian officials against human rights group Global Witness, over a report implying they had accepted bribes from an oil company. Silberman, who was appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1985, was the only judge to dissent in the case, which found the plaintiffs could not prove 'actual malice', under New York Times v. Sullivan 1964. D.C. Circuit Senior Judge Laurence Silberman (pictured receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W Bush in 2008) penned a scathing dissent Friday accusing the media of liberal bias Silberman, who was appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1985, slammed The New York Times and Washington Post as 'virtually Democratic Party broadsheets' The 85-year-old judge criticized the legal precedent in his dissent for increasing the power of the media, something he described as 'so dangerous', 'because we are very close to one-party control of these institutions.' He then went on to launch an attack on media organizations as well as Silicon Valley, which he claims is responsible for the increasingly anti-conservative bias in the news. The 85-year-old senior circuit judge criticized the 1964 Supreme Court decision on New York Times v. Sullivan that gave legal protection to the press 'Two of the three most influential papers (at least historically), The New York Times and The Washington Post, are virtually Democratic Party broadsheets,' Silberman wrote, adding that the news section of The Wall Street Journal also leans left. 'Nearly all televisionnetwork and cableis a Democratic Party trumpet. Even the government-supported National Public Radio follows along,' he added. Silberman warned that a 'one-party control of the press' was cause for concern because it poses a threat to a 'viable democracy.' He named Fox News, The New York Post, and The WSJ's editorial page as the 'few notable exceptions to Democratic Party ideological control.' The judge, however, bemoaned the 'sobering' fact that those organizations are controlled by a 'single man and his son' - referring to News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan. 'Will a lone holdout remain in what is otherwise a frighteningly orthodox media culture? After all, there are serious efforts to muzzle Fox New,' he added without further elaborating. Silberman bemoaned the anti-Republican bias in the media in a dissent published on Friday He named Fox News, The New York Post, and The Wall Street Journal as the 'few notable exceptions to Democratic Party ideological control' The judge went on to accuse Silicon Valley and social media giants of helping perpetuate the liberal bias that is apparently so widespread in the news. Meanwhile, new conservative news networks that have launched in recent years have faced 'bans' or 'censorship' on social media, Silberman argued. 'After observing my colleagues' efforts to stretch the actual malice rule like a rubber band, I am prompted to urge the overruling of New York Times v. Sullivan.' 'Justice Thomas has already persuasively demonstrated that New York Times was a policy-driven decision masquerading as constitutional law,' Silberman said, citing the fellow conservative judge. 'As with the rest of the opinion, the actual malice requirement was simply cut from whole cloth. New York Times should be overruled on these grounds alone.' Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 19, 2021) - 10557510 Canada Corp. ("Canada510" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed a non-brokered private placement of 15,183,999 units ("Unit") of the Company at a price of $0.30 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD $4,555,200 (the "Offering") which was closed in two tranches. Each Unit consists of one common share ("Common Share") in the capital of the Company and one half () of one Common Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant a "Warrant"). Each Warrant is exercisable to acquire one additional Common Share at an exercise price of $0.40 for a period of 24 months following the closing dates of the Offering. The first tranche closed on February 26, 2021 with the issuance of 2,212,332 Units for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD$663,700. The first tranche of the Offering was completed as an equity Offering. The second tranche closed on March 5, 2021 with the issuance of 12,971,665 Units for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD$3,861,500. The second tranche of the Offering was completed as Subscription Receipts, the proceeds of which will be held in escrow pending completion of the acquisition of not less than 90% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Royal Wins Pty Ltd. and receipt of approvals to list for trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE"), subject to an outside release date of the escrowed funds of May 31, 2021. Finder's fees totalling $318,864 and 1,062,880 broker warrants have been, or will be, paid in relation to the Offering. Each broker warrant will allow the broker to purchase one (1) common share of the Company at $0.40 for a period of 24 months from the dates of the closing. Canada510 will use the proceeds of this offering for corporate G&A and for product development, marketing and customer acquisition following a successful acquisition of Royal Wins Pty Ltd. of Sydney, Australia, a leader in the online gaming and eSports market. For more information please contact: 10557510 Canada Corp.: Nicholas Konkin Communications Director Phone: 1 416 642 1807, ext 312 E-mail: investors@grovecorp.ca Forward Looking Statements Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's unaudited financial results and projected growth. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, including, but not limited to: dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; investing in target companies or projects which have limited or no operating history and are subject to inconsistent legislation and regulation; change in laws; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; hindering market growth and state adoption due to inconsistent public opinion and perception of the medical-use and recreational-use marijuana industry and; regulatory or political change. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. 1055710 Canada Corp. disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and the Company does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein. No securities regulator or exchange has reviewed, approved, disapproved, or accepts responsibility for the content of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77977 External Article 19 March 2021 In the U.S., 72% of hotels are affiliated with a brand. Ever since Kemmons Wilson started his first Holiday Inn in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1952, the makeup of the hospitality industry has become more and more heavily focused on brands. This trend is hardly surprising, as standardized hotel products are well liked by guests and owners alike. As importantly, over the years the performance of a branded hotel could easily be tracked and then used by lenders to underwrite more properties of the same type, allowing for an easier way to model future results. In addition, loyalty programs that provide owners and operators with access to a strong customer base make brand affiliations attractive, despite their associated costs. As large companies try to offer their customers new experiences, brands have proliferated. CoStar's hospitality analytics firm, STR, currently counts 278 brands with hotels in the U.S. The trend toward branded hotels can also be observed when looking at the past 12 months of hotel openings. Despite the pandemic, more than 100,000 rooms opened in the 12-month period ending in February. Of those rooms, 94% were affiliated with a chain and only 6,800 rooms were opened in independent hotels. YAKUTSK, Russia -- A shaman in the Siberian region of Yakutia who has had several attempts to march to Moscow by foot to drive President Vladimir Putin out of the Kremlin stopped by authorities, has been officially found by a court to be "mentally unfit" and can be placed in a psychiatric clinic. Aleksei Pryanishnikov, the legal coordinator of the opposition group Open Russia, told RFE/RL on March 18 that the court ruled that Aleksandr Gabyshev cannot be held accountable for allegedly "attacking a police officer" because of his mental state. Last month, police in Yakutia's capital, Yakutsk, launched a probe against Gabyshev, accusing him of a "violent act against a police officer" when he was forcibly taken from his home to a psychiatric clinic in late-January. According to Pryanishnikov, it has yet to be decided whether the medical conclusion finding Gabyshev "mentally unfit" will be appealed. Police say the incident between Gabyshev and a law-enforcement officer took place on January 27, less than three weeks after the shaman had announced his plan to resume his trek to the Russian capital to drive Putin out of the Kremlin. Gabyshev first made headlines in March 2019 when he called Putin "evil" and announced that he had started a march to Moscow to drive the Russian president out of office. He then walked more than 2,000 kilometers, speaking with hundreds of Russians along the way. As his notoriety rose, videos of his conversations with people were posted on social media and attracted millions of views. In July 2019, when Gabyshev reached the city of Chita, he led a 700-strong rally under the slogan "Russia without Putin!" At the time, Gabyshev said, "God told me that Putin is not human but a demon, and has ordered me to drive him out." His march was halted when he was detained in the region of Buryatia later in September and placed in a psychiatric clinic in Yakutia against his will. His forced stay in a clinic was equated by many with a Soviet-time practice to muzzle dissent. Shamans have served as healers and diviners in Siberia for centuries. During the Soviet era, the mystics were harshly repressed. But in isolated parts of Siberia, they are now regaining prominence. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Efforts to quadruple wind power in the North Sea will cause loss of marine life, peers were told yesterday. Building large numbers of turbines will require concrete foundations to be laid in the seabed and cables to connect them to the mainland. But this will affect species such as porpoises, which are disturbed by the sound of drilling in the ocean, and sand eels, whose sandbank habitats are lost when cables are laid, the House of Lords EU environment sub-committee heard. Building large numbers of turbines will require concrete foundations to be laid in the seabed and cables to connect them to the mainland. But this will affect species such as porpoises Melanie Austen, Professor of Ocean and Society at Plymouth University, said: Were talking about effectively urbanising the sea by introducing these structures. Introducing hard structure through cables and the turbines themselves is going to change the ecology and the ecosystem. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for the UK to become the 'Saudi Arabia of wind power' - aiming to quadruple windpower from 10gigawatts to 40 gigawatts. But this quadrupling of windpower will require building large numbers of wind turbines which require concrete foundations and cables to connect them to the mainland. House of Lords EU Environment sub-committee which was looking at the environmental impact of new energy developments in the North Sea. Efforts to quadruple wind power in the North Sea will cause loss of marine life, peers were told yesterday The panel's chairman Lord Teverson asked what risks the North Sea faces from the huge expansion of wind power which is necessary for the UK to reach its target of producing 'net zero' emissions by 2050. Professor Austen told the hearing: 'We have to acknowledge what we're doing, that we are transforming the sea the seabed and the state of the sea, in not too dissimilar a way to how we've modified habitats on land. 'But when we modified the habitats on land we did that rather largely over 1000s of years through farming.' RSPB policy officer Helen Quayle told the committee: the 'North Sea as in a currently poor site as poor state this is reflected notably in our sea beds and an ongoing damage to the seabed. 'The North Sea is now is littered with cabling from energy infrastructure and this changes the habitat of the seabed. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for the UK to become the 'Saudi Arabia of wind power' - aiming to quadruple windpower from 10gigawatts to 40 gigawatts 'So for example if you had a sand bank, and you put cabling through that that is then covered with rock armoring to protect the cabling. 'If you're a sandeel and you need to live in a seabed that's a big problem, it's modified your environment. 'Sandeels are really important species in the North Sea, they're a keystone species part of many food webs for other fish species for our seabirds.' She added: 'We've also got problems for harbour porpoise, which is a cetacean they're affected by underwater noise, and if we stopped, keep developing, we're creating a more noisy environment and if you are a citation that relies on sound to find your food, detect predators and find mates.' Using piledrivers to put in wind turbines can displace marine animals who shun the noise, the panel heard. Asked how well the North Sea underwater environment is understood on a scale of 1-10, Professor Austen and Ms Quayle put it at between 1 and 2 and called for better monitoring of marine life in the North Sea. On the night before the riot at the Capitol, prosecutors say, a group chat among the Proud Boys was abuzz with orders from a leader: Be decentralized. Use good judgment. Avoid the police. And then, in a nod to the groups hard-drinking habits, Dont get drunk until off the street. The account of these communications on an unidentified encrypted app was contained in an indictment unsealed on Friday that accused four leaders of the far-right nationalist group of conspiring to resist law enforcement officers at the Capitol and storm the building on Jan. 6 in a plot to disrupt the final certification of the presidential election. The indictment, filed in federal court in Washington, provides perhaps the most thorough look to date at how the Proud Boys planned and participated in the assault. Two of the defendants Joseph Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Fla., and Ethan Nordean, of Auburn, Wash. were already facing charges in connection with the riot, accused of having led a mob of about 100 Proud Boys and supporters into a restricted area at the Capitol. The two other men named in the indictment Zach Rehl, the president of the Proud Boys Philadelphia chapter, and Charles Donohoe, a chapter leader from North Carolina were arrested on Wednesday, weeks after photos of them in the mob had circulated online and in the media. The Proud Boys, who have emerged in recent years as some of former President Donald J. Trumps most vocal and violent supporters, have long described themselves as Western chauvinists and have a history of bloody street fights with left-wing antifascist activists since shortly after their founding in 2016. But the group achieved new prominence in September after Mr. Trump told its members during a presidential debate to stand back and stand by. But we need to know more. Too many relevant episodes go unreported, partly because of little faith that anything will be done about them and partly because of the often politicized disputes over what constitutes a hate crime. (TNS) Electric vehicle owners are going to have to pay for their own power, the City Council voted on Monday.What theyll be buying when they use one of the towns seven public charging stations is the electricity only, however, not network or administration fees. While the town had originally proposed a $1 per kilowatt-hour fee, which would have covered all costs, the council endorsed an amendment from Mayor William Sapelli reducing the fee to 60 cents per kilowatt-hour. The town has operated free charging stations since December 2019, with taxpayers footing the bill.Councilor Dino Mercadante said the 60-cent fee is an attempt to be fair both to electric vehicle drivers, who can purchase power elsewhere more cheaply, and taxpayers who dont own electric vehicles.I dont want the taxpayer to have to subsidize these vehicles, Mercadante said, but you cant price this thing so far out of reach that youre going to send them to other communities to purchase electricity. You have to find that happy medium.According to Councilor Paul Cavallo, the 60-cent fee will cover the full cost of supplying electricity to charging station users. The town will cancel its contract with Chargepoint, a California-based company that administers and markets charging stations, which accounted for roughly 40 cents of the proposed $1 fee. At previous council meetings, town resident Susan Grossberg had criticized the proposed $1 fee, saying it costs her only 35 cents per kilowatt-hour at commercial charging stations, and electricity costs 21 cents per kilowatt-hour at home.Residential customers pay a lower electricity rate than municipally owned charging stations. Councilor Rosemary Sandlin suggested that the council lobby the state Department of Public Utilities to lower the municipal electric rates to a more competitive figure. Councilors voted 9-1 to approve a 60-cent fee. They have to confirm the vote at their next meeting, scheduled for early April, before it can take effect.Mario Tedeschi was the only councilor to vote against the fee. He said regardless of the supply cost, it makes no sense for the town to charge a fee thats so much higher than the market rate. Whos going to buy it? he asked. Is it such a convenience that someone is going to pay two or three times more? No ones going to top off at the park, or anywhere else, because its 300 percent more expensive.He said he would have supported a fee of 25 cents per kilowatt-hour. Councilor Gerald Smith said whatever the towns cost is, he wouldnt want to set the charging station rate any lower, as taxpayers should not be paying for electric power for a handful of drivers in town.Electric vehicle owners already get many perks, Smith said. They get rebates, theres tax breaks at the state and federal level. They chose to buy the electric vehicle. The fees will apply to electric vehicle charging stations in municipal parking lots at Agawam High School, the Agawam Public Library, the Agawam Senior Center, Borgatti Park, Shea Field and on both sides of School Street Park. CVS Pharmacy plans to open two new stores in Portland within the next month. The drugstore will open a 10,000-square foot store in the Hollywood District at Northeast 33rd Avenue and Northeast Hancock Street on March 28. A week later, on April 4, CVS will open a 7,000-square foot, two-story store at Pioneer Courthouse Square downtown. The new stores are the latest in a rapid expansion into Portland the company initiated two years ago. CVS opened its first three standalone stores in Portland in 2019. Previously, the pharmacy chain only had a presence inside Target stores within the city. With the new stores, CVS will have six Portland storefronts. It does not have any other standalone stores in Oregon. Matt Blanchette, a company spokesperson, said he could not comment on the drugstores plans for any future expansion. Weve been thrilled with the feedback from the local community and look forward to adding locations to help our customers continue on their path to better health, Blanchette said. -- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra played to a standing-room-only crowd for its first concert 90 years ago on March 19, 1931. The next day in The Patriot, a reporter said the orchestra made a pleasing debut. Its debut last night elated an audience which filled William Penn High School auditorium to a degree which brought out the standing room only signs. And the audience went away with the realization that this new musical group had earned a place in the citys life, and with the hope that this place will made permanent. Made up for the most part of instrumentalists to whom music is daily fare and lifes ambition, the orchestra proved its skill as an organization in symphony music, which must have delighted its organizers, its patrons and its director, George King Raudenbush. The entire orchestra should feel proud of its performance last night, just as its friendly audience was proud of the orchestra. In addition to hearing good music well done, the audience had a personal thrill which comes only from an acquaintance with the performers. There was a happy bond of fellowship between auditorium and stage as those in the audience recognized friends, neighbors, teachers, business partners among the performers. These radio days have placed a premium on personal art. A performance on the air, splendid though it may be, lacks some of that interest born only of personality. Thus, we note a recent reaction which has benefitted organizations such as Community Theatre, a Mozart Chorus, a Brahms Chorus, a Schubert Chorus, a Civic Opera Company, where a song is something more than a voice, and harmony more than a concord of sweet sounds. The orchestra grew from the Harrisburg Music Center, owned by Jacques Jolas, a piano teacher from the Juilliard Foundation in New York City. He came to Harrisburg in 1930. The first concert was held at William Penn High School in the auditorium. The orchestras conductor was George King Raudenbush. On March 6, 1931, The Patriot reported that the orchestra had been formed just three months ago and that concert tickets were on sale at the Majestic Theater and at the J.H. Troup Music House. On March 13, The Patriot wrote that interest was so high in the orchestra performance that it was expected to be standing room only. Large as that hall is, indications are that it will be too small to accommodate the audience which will want to hear the 65-piece orchestra on its initial appearance. Only 25 of the 65 members are professional musicians, according to Jacques Jolas, local representative of the Juilliard Music Foundation. But a surprise is coming to Harrisburg music lovers, said Jolas last night. Less than half the orchestra may be professionals, but the entire personnel is composed of true musicians. They have been rehearsing for weeks under the direction of George Raudenbush of New York. Last Sunday, for example, they began at 1 oclock in the afternoon and laid aside their instruments at 6:45. Nearly six hours of constant, arduous work without pay. The orchestra personnel includes barbers, chain-store managers, plumbing inspectors, dentists, students, Capitol employees, housewives, insurance salesmen, credit managers, cabinet makers, teachers, paperhangers, piano tuners, a painter and professional musicians. One of the members is S.E. McElhoes, a state highway department employee and well-known cellist. Mac, as he is known on the Hill, was a member for years of the Capitol orchestra, which disbanded when the Legislature stopped making an appropriation. That was a good orchestra, said McElhoes last night, but not to be mentioned in the same breath as this. Weve really a wonderful organization, and Im hoping all Harrisburg will agree with that statement when they year us next week. On March 14, The Patriot printed the roster of musicians: Violin George W. Updegrove, Sara Lemer, D. Harold Jauss, Harold Malsh, Marguerite Herr Whitmarsh, formerly concert meister Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, Mrs. John LeVan, H.A. Benner, Charles R. Bressler, Margaret Schmidt, Noah M. Klauss, John D. Whitman, Dr. John C. Read, Luther A. Eppinger, John Horvath, A.W. Bushman, Dora Kinderman, Lawrence Koplivitz, Hubert Taylor, Doris Powell, Esther Cohan and Elizabeth Coloviras. Viola H. Leon Stoll, George R. Naugle, F. William Froehlich and Harry Langlets. Cello Margaretta Kennedy, Mrs. W. B. Henninger, Gerry Zeger, Oscar Steger and S.E. McElhoes. Bass William P. Brandt, H.G. Neumyer, Ira J. Laird, Waiter Steger, W.D. Sweger, Robert Weaver and A.F. Stopper. Flute Carla Havnes and Samuel Tucci. Oboe Raph Schecter, Edgar Wire, Harry Peters and W. Dewey Williamson. English horn Ralph Schecter Clarinet Salvadore Colangelo and Brenneman Fortney Bass clarinet Frank Blumenstine Bassoon Ed. T. Heikes, Richard Smith and J.C. Painter Horn Paul Kurzenknabe, Charles J. Fickes and C. David McNaughton Trumpet Dr. E.I. Shirk, J. Foster Shirk and Eugene Erb. Trombone Meredith Germer, Leslie Saunders, Frank Colangelo and Gilbert Miller Tuba Jack Adams and Dr. Foster L. DeHart. Harp Thelma Snyder Percussion Louis W. Cohan, Thomas E. Wagner, Walter Wire and Jacob Sheaffer Piano and organ Jacques Jolas On March 18, the newspaper released the program for the first concert: The first number will be Overture to Iphigenia in Aulis, by Christoph Gluck, to be followed by Franz Schuberts unfinished Eighth Symphony in B minor. Jacque Jolas, director of the Harrisburg Music Center and sponsor of the orchestra, will be pianist for Robert Schumanns Piano Concerto in A minor, which will be played before intermission. Two orchestral poems by Gabriel Faure, Prelude and Spinning Song, from the play, Pelleas et Melisande, will make up the fourth number. Two Slavonic dances, one in A flat major and the other in G minor, will constitute the fifth selection, and the program will close with Finlandia, symphonic poem by Jean Sibelius. George King Raudenbush of New York City, director of the orchestra, in an interview yesterday, expressed his enthusiasm over the development of the local musicians who have been practicing under his direction. After the first rehearsal, Mr. Raudenbush made a long concert tour through the South, leaving the orchestra to be developed by Mr. Jolas and George W. Updegrove, concertmaster. At the first rehearsal after my return I was simply amazed, he said. The orchestra had grown in size, but better still had begun to sound like a real symphony orchestra. He praised the small group of influential citizens of Harrisburg who were aware of what we were trying to accomplish, and who were far-seeing enough to have faith in us and to come together and shoulder the operating expenses so we could go ahead and peacefully prepare for a concert. Prior to the first concert, the orchestra received a telegram from the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in Los Angeles, Calif. Doctor Rudzinksi, director, the management and the orchestra personnel of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, said the telegram, join in hearty congratulations and send all good wishes for the continued success of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra and may your opening on March 19 be a most glorious one. Alfred Brain, manager of the orchestra, signed the telegram. Honorary patrons for the concert were Gov. and Mrs. Gifford Pinchot. The symphony also recognized sustaining patrons - Mrs. James M. Cameron, Miss Mary Cameron, Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Cumbler, Mrs. Berne H. Evans, Miss Anne McCormick, Mrs. Vance C. McCormick, Mr. and Mrs. Ehrman, B. Mitchell and the Wednesday Club. The orchestra today has 75 members and is led by conductor and music director Stuart Malina. concertmaster is violinist Peter Sirotin. The orchestra will give a virtual performance celebrating its 90th anniversary on March 20 that will include two of Dvoraks Slavonic Dances that were performed during the first concert on March 19, 1931. Tickets are $20 for access through March 28. Stuart Malina is the music director and conductor of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary. Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. Three Romanian women have been jailed after forming a pickpocketing gang to steal phones and purses from unsuspecting students. Ribana Mihai, 24, her sister Luminita, 21, and cousin Rebecca State, also 21, were caught by an undercover police operation after ten victims a day were targeted outside Manchester Metropolitan University. The women - all Romanian nationals - loitered outside lecture halls and used hand signals to communicate as they selected students walking to or leaving classes. Plain clothes officers pounced on December 1 last year after the thieves were spotted trying to steal a 1,000 iPhone XR and purse from the pocket of a female international student as she walked with a friend. The victim was unaware she had been targeted until officers stopped her to ask if she still had all her belongings. Ribana Mihai, 24, her sister Luminita (right), 21, and cousin Rebecca State (left), also 21, were caught by an undercover police operation after ten victims a day were targeted outside Manchester Metropolitan University Police said the women would regularly switch clothing and cover their heads with hoods to confuse potential witnesses before selling the items they stole on the black market. The thefts caused such widespread concern a Facebook group was set up to give international students advice on how to avoid becoming a victim. At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, mother-of-four Ribana, from Clarksfield, Oldham, was jailed for 20 months. Lumita got 16 months imprisonment while mother-of-one Rebecca, who lives at the same address in Levenshulme, Manchester, was jailed for 14 months. The three, who all have previous convictions for similar matters, were also banned from Manchester city centre until 2026 under a Criminal Behaviour Order. If they're caught entering a forbidden area they could face another five years behind bars. They admitted attempted theft after their not guilty pleas for conspiracy to steal were accepted. A man they were seen with escaped capture and has not been traced. Sentencing the women, judge Mr Recorder Mark Rhind told them: 'All three of your have no real regret or remorse for what you've done and appear to be entrenched in a pattern of offending whereby you find it acceptable to go out and steal to make money. The women - all Romanian nationals - loitered outside lecture halls and used hand signals to communicate as they selected students walking to or leaving classes. Pictured, Brooks building at Manchester Metropolitan University 'Previous efforts to correct your behaviour have been unsuccessful. In fact you have a history of completing sentences then reoffending again. 'This area was a hotspot for pickpockets like you and the impact on the public, in particular students, has been significant and has caused a great deal of concern. 'I am satisfied that there is a compelling need to treat this offence as more serious because of the area in which it occurred. 'You were spotted and recognised by police because of your previous offending and because of intelligence they had about all of you. 'You were acting suspiciously, you were walking up and down the street and clearly targeting students. 'You were pointing out students using hand signals between each other and changing clothes to make it more difficult for others to recognise and identify which of you was doing what. 'In this case when the victim was stopped, she was surprised that she had not felt a thing but that shows how practised experts you were. It is clear you are an organised group and you went out to that area in order to steal together. 'You were targeting students in an area where students were prevalent. You were stealing or trying to steal high value items to make significant amounts of money. This was not done out of desperation or need.' The court heard Greater Manchester Police launched an operation codenamed 'Orion' following a spike in reports of pickpocketing outside the university. At Minshull Street Crown Court (pictured), Manchester, mother-of-four Ribana, from Clarksfield, Oldham, was jailed for 20 months Sarah Johnston prosecuting said: 'At its peak there were ten such offences being committed every day in the city centre. On the day of the arrests, three officers were on plain clothes duty when they saw these three women shortly before 1pm clearly targeting members of the public. 'They were communicating with each other via a system of hand gestures and would repeatedly come together then separate and change items of clothing. They were seen to pull their hoods up over their heads in attempts to evade detection. 'One officer watched as Lunmita got close behind two young women and reached into the coat pocket of one of them. The officers radioed a colleague who stopped the complainant, identified herself and asked her to check her pocket. She produced an iPhone and a small purse and was unaware of the attempted theft upon her. 'All the defendants were arrested and when interviewed gave no comment.' Lumita had 16 offences on her record including theft from the person, shoplifting and begging and had just completed a community order imposed for obstructing police. Rebecca had four offences, including pickpocketing and begging, on her record whilst Ribana had six offences for pickpocketing and shoplifting. In 2019 Ribana was jailed for 28 weeks for stealing mobile phones. In mitigation for Luminta, defence counsel Mr Martin Callery said: 'There was some degree of planning but it was not significant or sophisticated planning. 'There was no property stolen in this instance and the targeted victim did not lose either phone or purse.' For Ribana, defence counsel Mr John Kennerley said his client had been locked up since her arrest and had not been able to see her children aged four, three, 23 months and eight months. Miss Gwen Henshaw said Rebecca, who came to the UK as a young child, missed her daughter's fourth birthday since her arrest. She added. 'She is still a young adult. She comes from a Roma background and was begging at the age of 15.' A single mother today lost her legal bid to keep her brain-damaged daughter alive after Court of Appeal judges ruled her life support treatment should end. Paula Parfitt, 41, of Strood, Kent, thinks five-year-old Pippa Knight should leave hospital and wants specialists to stage a home-care trial. Doctors treating Pippa, who is in a vegetative state at the Evelina Children's Hospital in London, disagree and say life-support treatment should end. A High Court judge earlier this year ruled against Ms Parfitt. Mr Justice Poole decided that treatment could lawfully end and said Pippa, who suffers from acute necrotising encephalopathy, should be allowed to die. In February, Ms Parfitt asked appeal judges to overturn Mr Justice Poole's ruling. Lady Justice King, Lord Justice Baker and Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing delivered a ruling today and upheld the decision. Paula Parfitt (pictured at the Royal Courts of Justice) today lost a Court of Appeal fight to keep her daughter Pippa, five, alive Pippa Knight suffers from acute necrotising encephalopathy and a court ruled doctors can lawfully end her treatment. Pictured: Paula Parfitt (right) and daughter, Pippa Knight, outside Evelina London Children's Hospital in London Ms Parfitt said she was devastated and today pledged to continue her fight at the Supreme Court. 'I am once again devastated as a result of the judgment of the Court of Appeal today, to uphold the decision that it is not in Pippa's best interests to have a two week trial of portable ventilation to find out whether she could come home,' she said. 'I find it inexplicable that the court and [hospital] trust will not allow Pippa to trial portable ventilation for two weeks to see if she can return home when the hospital allows Pippa to go outside for long periods on portable ventilation with no issue.' She added: 'I will be seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. I want Pippa to have every possible chance to come home and be with her family.' Doctors treating Pippa, who is in a vegetative state at the Evelina Children's Hospital in London, say life-support treatment should end Lord Justice Baker had said in the appeal ruling that Ms Parfitt could not have done more. 'Every parent dreads the prospect of their child contracting a terminal illness,' said Lord Justice Baker. 'No parent could have done more than Pippa's mother to care for her child or fight for her future. 'As [Mr Justice Poole] observed at the end of his judgment, however, in this case the law vests responsibility for decisions in the court, not the parent.' He added: 'I am entirely satisfied that [Mr Justice Poole] was entitled to conclude and declare that it was lawful and in Pippa's best interests that life-sustaining treatment be withdrawn for the reasons he gave in his judgment.' Pippa was born in 2015 and developed normally, but in December 2016 she became unwell and began to suffer seizures and a court has heard she is now unaware of her surroundings In February, Ms Parfitt asked appeal judges to overturn Mr Justice Poole's decision. Lady Justice King, Lord Justice Baker and Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing delivered a ruling today and upheld the ruling The other two appeal judges said they agreed. Campaign group the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children is paying for lawyers to represent Ms Parfitt. Mr Justice Poole heard evidence at a trial in the Family Division of the High Court in London in December, and delivered a ruling in January. The judge, who heard that Pippa's father was dead, described the case as 'heart-rending'. Pippa was born in April 2015 and initially developed normally, but in December 2016 she became unwell and began to suffer seizures, the judge heard. Doctors had diagnosed acute necrotising encephalopathy. 'I am once again devastated as a result of the judgment of the Court of Appeal today, to uphold the decision that it is not in Pippa's best interests to have a two-week trial of portable ventilation to find out whether she could come home,' said Ms Parfitt. 'I will be seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.' BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Croatia's jobless rate declined marginally in February, figures from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday. The registered unemployment rate decreased to 9.7 percent in February from 9.8 percent in January. In the same month last year, jobless rate was 9.4 percent. A similar rate of unemployment was seen in April 2018. The number of unemployed persons decreased 1.8 percent to 162,386 in February from 165,345 in the previous month. Employment fell to 1.506 million persons in February from 1.515 million in the preceding month, data showed. 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. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close A group of 13 disgruntled first-year analysts at Goldman Sachs has made waves by assembling a professional-looking presentation in the companys style about their experiences at the investment bank. The resulting Working Conditions Survey (polling the 13 analysts who created the slide deck) that circulated on social media this week said they worked an average of around 100 hours per week, with most saying they considered themselves victims of workplace abuse. The analysts rated their job satisfaction as two out of 10 and said they were unlikely to stay at Goldman in six months if working conditions remained the same. In addition to the long hours, the analysts cited unrealistic deadlines, being ignored in meetings and micromanagement as major sources of stress. Among other things, the analysts said 80 hours per week should be the limit of how much theyre expected to work. In their own words, some of the analysts described their angst in stark terms: There was a point where I was not eating, showering or doing anything else other than working from morning until after midnight. My body physically hurts all the time and mentally Im in a really dark place. I didnt come into this job expecting a 9am-5pms, but I also didnt expect consistent 9am-5ams either. The DealBook newsletter writes that the episode raises an important question: In a highly paid industry, when do the hours worked become exploitative? There are two sides to the debate: The no-sympathy crowd says that first-year analysts at Goldman and other similar firms have no right to complain about long hours. They are highly educated and chose to go into investment banking, in part, because it pays $150,000 or more straight out of college with the promise that within a decade compensation can reach seven figures. A first-year analyst instantly becomes a member of the 0.1 percent for their age and experience. The long hours shouldnt come as a surprise: Every recruiting website, book and Hollywood film about Wall Street makes that part of the job clear. It is, in truth, the pact that employees make with employers in exchange for lots of money. The violin-playing crowd says that Wall Street isnt focused enough on the mental health of young workers. Nobody should be forced to work that much. Whats more, the long hours are inefficient, unproductive and simply part of an ego-driven hazing ritual by older bankers who suffered the same fate in less enlightened times. Abuse is abuse, no matter how much money someone is paid. Banks, they say, misrepresent the workload during the hiring process by talking about improving work-life balance but not doing anything about it. We recognize that our people are very busy, because business is strong and volumes are at historic levels, Goldman said in a statement. A year into Covid, people are understandably quite stretched, and thats why we are listening to their concerns and taking multiple steps to address them. Researchers in the UK have provided important insights into the impact that vaccination against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may have on infection rates, disease prevalence and immune escape by the virus. The study was conducted by members of the JUNIPER consortium (Joint UNIversities Pandemic and Epidemiological Research), which brings together leading mathematical and statistical modeling experts from seven universities in the UK. Julia Gog from the University of Cambridge and colleagues say the study suggests that vaccination focused on reducing prevalence may be more effective at reducing disease than directly vaccinating vulnerable people. The findings also suggest that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 escaping vaccine-induced immunity is most likely to occur at intermediate levels of vaccination. "This work demonstrates a key principle that the careful targeting of vaccines towards particular population groups could reduce disease as much as possible, whilst limiting the risk of vaccine escape," writes the team. A pre-print version of the research paper is available on the medRxiv* server, while the article undergoes peer review. Multiple vaccines are already being rolled out In response to the global public health risk posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have developed multiple vaccines in record time that have been approved for emergency use and rolled out in mass vaccination programs. However, the rapid evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has led to the emergence of new variants that are more transmissible, cause more lethal disease, and potentially threaten vaccines' effectiveness. The widespread deployment of highly effective vaccines, particularly while the infection is still widespread, could quickly exert pressure on the virus to select mutations that confer escape from vaccine-induced immunity. "However, the strength of this selection and the likelihood of vaccine escape is unknown at this time," says Gog and the team. Vaccine shortages prompt prioritization strategies In many countries, vaccine shortages have placed authorities under pressure to prioritize the best order of prioritization for vaccination. In the UK, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that the prevention of COVID-19-related deaths and the protection of health and social care staff should be the first priorities of the vaccination program. Summary outputs However, "at the time of the initial prioritization, extremely limited data were available from clinical trials on vaccine efficacy for preventing infection and onward transmission," says Gog and colleagues. For the second phase of the vaccination program, the Department for Health and Social Care asked JCVI to provide advice on the optimal strategy to further reduce COVID-19-related mortality, morbidity and hospitalization. The JCVI recommended proceeding with age-based prioritization, with operational considerations as part of the justification on account of the speed of vaccine uptake being paramount. Where does the current study come in? In the current study, the team asked how vaccine escape risk might modulate the optimal vaccine priority order. "In particular, if infection in vaccinated individuals contributes to pressure to generate vaccine escape, how do the risks depend on the parts of the population that have been vaccinated?" write the researchers. Gog and colleagues developed and analyzed a population model with differing vulnerability and contact rates to understand the relationships between epidemiological regimes, vaccine efficacy and vaccine escape. Population variability in vulnerability and mixing was captured by dividing the model population into two halves: those vulnerable to disease (vulnerable group) who have fewer contacts with non-vulnerable individuals who have more contacts (mixer group). What did the model show? Overall, the effective reproduction ratio decreased as the number of people vaccinated increased, providing vaccination had a transmission-blocking effect. The overall number of severe infections also decreased as the number of people vaccinated increased. The researchers say it is intuitive that vaccinating more people in any group would decrease cases in that group, owing to the transmission-blocking and disease-blocking effects of vaccination. "However, the question remains of which group it would be most effective to vaccinate to reduce severe disease," they add. Gog and colleagues explored this question by considering a situation in which only enough vaccine is available to vaccinate a proportion of either group. Overall, the results suggested that vaccinating the mixers is more effective at reducing the total amount of disease than vaccinating the vulnerable individuals. The researchers say that although it may seem intuitive to focus vaccination on the vulnerable group, the results are hinged on the transmission-blocking effects of vaccination. "Bringing down R overall means fewer cases in the vulnerable and the most efficient way to do that is to vaccinate the mixers," they write. "Overall, the results in this model show that the effects of vaccination on the reduction of cases can give a counter-intuitive optimal strategy: vaccinate the mixers to best protect the vulnerable." What about vaccine escape pressure? When no mixers were vaccinated, then vaccinating more vulnerable people generally increased vaccine escape pressure. However, when no vulnerable people were vaccinated, then vaccinating the mixers initially increased vaccine escape pressure, but later decreased it as vaccine uptake increased among the mixers. "Increasing vaccination of mixers increases the proportion of cases who are vaccinated, but decreases the overall absolute number of cases," says Gog and the team. The researchers say the highest risk for vaccine escape can therefore occur at intermediate levels of vaccination. "In particular, vaccinating most of the vulnerable and few of the mixers could be the most risky for vaccine escape," they write. What do the authors advise? The researchers say the model considered here illustrates the key principle that carefully targeting vaccines towards particular groups allows case numbers to be reduced, while limiting the risk of vaccine escape. "We hope that the proposal of general principles under this abstracted system will motivate further investigation under more detailed models," they write. "We recommend that vaccine escape risks should be included as part of considerations for vaccine strategies, and that further work is urgently needed here," concludes the team. *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. Ida Peloquin, 82, center, chats with her daughters Cheryl Guyette, of Millville, left, and Lisa Chaves, of Woonsocket, right, before enjoying a piece of cake during her surprise party honoring her for 65 years of service at Landmark Medical Center Thursday. Four women have filed a 75-page federal lawsuit against Schuylkill County, Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr. and others for what they claim was long-term sexual harassment, including, in at least one case, sexual contact at the courthouse. The women, all county employees who did not reveal their names in the lawsuit, alleged Halcovage engaged in unwelcome and unwanted sexual comments and/or demeaning and discriminatory sexist comments as soon as he took office in 2012. As time progressed the frequency and intensity of Halcovages comments intensified, the complaint reads in part. In their lawsuit filed Tuesday, the women asked for unspecified actual and punitive damages, including back pay, attorney fees and costs. They also demanded a jury trial of the case. In addition to the county and Halcovage, the women also named County Administrator Gary R. Bender, Assistant County Solicitor Glenn T. Roth Jr., and former and current Human Resources Directors Doreen Kutzler and Heidi Zula as defendants. Each plaintiff alleged she did not reveal her name due to the extreme hardship such revelation of her identity would cause and the need to protect victims of sexual crime, according to the lawsuit. None of the defendants has been charged with any state or federal crime. The state attorney generals office recently declined to charge Halcovage with any crimes. Each plaintiff in the lawsuit, who were all county employees identified as Jane Doe, Jane Doe 2, Jane Doe 3 and Jane Doe 4, alleged Halcovage made unwelcome advances. In the case of the first woman, the advance turned into something worse, according to the lawsuit. Halcovage began kissing (Jane Doe) and ultimately (exposed himself, the lawsuit reads in part. (Jane Doe) feeling emotionally overwhelmed and uncomfortable, due to Halcovages behavior, his substantial position within the county and within the community, and his position of authority over her, begrudgingly performed (a sex act on him). All four alleged they felt pressure not to make trouble at work. (They) felt compelled to maintain a good relationship with (Halcovage) to keep their jobs, according to the lawsuit, which was filed on their behalf by Philadelphia lawyer Catherine W. Smith. Other allegations made by the women against Halcovage included the following: Telling them to register as, and do political work for, Republicans if they wanted raises or promotions. Making sexually charged comments, including ones about the freeze pops one of the women ate to prevent dehydration. I like the way your mouth is around that, was one such comment Halcovage made, the lawsuit reads in part. Looking at the women in a sexually suggestive manner. Making unwelcome comments about their appearances and clothes. Concerning Jane Doe 2, saying she was one of his girls and implying they had a sexual relationship, thereby causing considerable friction between her and her female colleagues and resulting in her divorce. Concerning Jane Doe, interjecting himself in (her) personal and work life making her feel threatened, including visiting her home, calling her work phone for nonbusiness reasons (often just to sing into the phone) and joining the same gym where she worked out. Halcovages behavior distressed her greatly, the lawsuit reads in part. Interfering with the staffing of the offices. Failing to complete his county-mandated sexual harassment training. Requiring the plaintiffs and other female employees to pose for photos with him having his arms around them. These photos humiliated and caused (the four women) extreme distress, the lawsuit reads in part. Disrupting the work of the offices. Disobeying the directives of Sheriff Joseph G. Groody as to where he should park and disrupted his efforts to ensure the safety of women who complained about him. The women also allege the county and Halcovage discriminated against them because they are women. (They) have exhibited a pattern and practice of not only harassment and discrimination but also hostile work environment and retaliation, the lawsuit reads in part. Plaintiffs also allege Bender and Roth knew of Halcovages actions and did nothing to stop them, thereby helping to create a hostile work environment. The conduct of the defendants violated both state and federal laws on workplace discrimination and retaliation, according to the lawsuit. Bender and Roth each declined Thursday to comment on the lawsuit. I cant comment as to litigation matters, Roth said. Gerard J. Geiger, Stroudsburg, Halcovages lawyer, and Smith could not be reached Thursday for comment on the lawsuit. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Malachy E. Mannion, Scranton. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. And so another week draws to a close, we are wiser people than when we started it and hopefully you have kept Covid at bay. At the weekends on the farm, I sleep in a little later knowing that, like the great Daoists say, everything will eventually get done like the stream facing that big stone we will eventually get through the chores at hand. Saturday also means a running appointment with the television because Tommy Tiernan will be on and the world can go to hell in a handbasket for the hour or so that he is televised. Its like our ceili visits of old where a stranger or neighbour comes through the door and we are regaled with chat, song and sometimes poetry. Its our time to listen. Its been a good week to be Tommy Tiernan. His podcast is ripping through the iTunes charts, his TV show has just beat The Late Late Show viewing figures at 453,000 viewers to 441,000 respectively and, as a nation, weve come to value him as a treasured son. Tommys chat show is, on the face of it, a very simple format. Two people sit down having not met or talked beforehand and have a chat about life. The topics are not predestined, there is no great agenda and perhaps most lovingly of all, no one is trying to sell anything. I have always loved the long-form interview since my own early days in journalism and broadcasting. It was in this format that the greatest conversations could occur. The subject could feel that perhaps they could cover the silence and in the doing reveal more of themselves. Its in the long-form that a real interviewer can show off their chops and Ryan Tubridy too is a master of this (one only has to think of his recent powerful interview with comedian Stevo Timothy which set the nation talking.) But back to Tommy. His show has revealed many things about the guests he has on. From Fr Brian DArcys comments on being sexually abused, to the wit and wisdom of our President Michael D Higgins, the show has become the hearth of our nations collective house, while the Late Late is the flame. Perhaps its because Tommy is not a journalist. Perhaps it is that he understands timing from his comedy. But it seems like Philip Larkin, the poet, said, he has created a serious house on serious earth. That line comes from Larkins wonderful piece Church Going and maybe in a time when our churches are not open for service, this medium has become our sort of church. A collective place where we tune in, hear truth and reflect on it. I find Sunday mornings on the farm are dominated by the chat between my father and me about who Tommy had on and what they said. We make sense of the people and their stories. From Manchan Magans straw bale house to the honesty of actor Liam Cunningham about his strange career. Television has changed remarkably since I started working in production 14 years ago in Australia. In those days, this sort of programme would never have been commissioned. Chat shows in that country were about big-name stars and getting the pitch across about a book or a movie or a TV show. We were trained in university to try and get the hook out of the interviewee, to try and get to the heart of the story as quickly as possible because we had a commercial break coming up or another guest, or simply to keep up the pace. The pacing of The Tommy Tiernan Show is, however, different, like those Daoists and that river it flows along gently. Tommy is, it seems, a spiritual man. He has commented on his love for church and religion in many interviews and said that he does go to mass, albeit not so regularly. When Larkin wrote Church Going, he was adamant that the poem was not a religious poem, though it had religion as its subject. That the poem was in fact asking questions as to the importance of these buildings. Larkin is not religious himself but feels a reverence in being in that serious house and that while the building might not be important to him, it has been to its congregation. Larkin is secular in his view and perhaps thats something that Tommy has unknowingly captured a religious space where the serious can be said but one that is at the same time secular and reflective of a changing Ireland. Its perhaps good to remember too that it was the early Irish church that invented and introduced the confession to the Christian world. Our elders, even then, knew the power of cleaning out the soul and the power of talking. Freud once remarked the Irish were impervious to psychoanalysis. Perhaps that is not the case, rather we just need the space to be given to talk and be heard. And in the talking, we can come to know ourselves better and find a new way to walk through this world. Tommy too is lucky he is not shouldered with the enormous weight of carrying one of the best and longest-running chat shows in the world upon him. His journey has been of his own making and has evolved in its own peculiar way. I often remark to my wife that it is wonderful that we now have two chat shows to watch on RTE each week. We are a nation that loves talk, its about time we had two great intellects setting our souls alight. Like those ancient monks, maybe in these new formats of television we have found our speakers who can hear and give a tired nation some absolution. Dont call me on Friday or Saturday night, Ive an appointment with some great storytellers. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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) The US is closing in on President Biden's goal of injecting 100 million coronavirus vaccinations weeks ahead of his target date, the White House says. The president announced Thursday that the US is on the cusp of meeting his 100-day injection goal "way ahead of schedule." "I'm proud to announce that tomorrow, 58 days into our administration, we will have met our goal," Biden said. He promised to unveil a new vaccination target next week, as the US is on pace to have enough of the three currently authorized vaccines to cover the entire adult population just 10 weeks from now, the AP reports. The 100 million-dose goal was first announced on Dec. 8, days before the US had even one authorized vaccine for COVID-19, let alone the three that have now received emergency authorization. story continues below Still, it was generally seen within reach, if optimistic. By the time Biden was inaugurated on Jan. 20, the US had already administered 20 million shots at a rate of about 1 million per day, bringing complaints at the time that Biden's goal was not ambitious enough. He quickly revised it upward to 150 million doses in his first 100 days. Now the US is injecting an average of about 2.2 million doses each dayand the pace is likely to dramatically rise later this month in conjunction with an expected surge in supply of the vaccines. According to data from the CDC, injections of 96 million doses have been reported to the agency since Bidens inauguration, but those reports lag the actual date of administration. Vaccination trend lines pointed to Biden breaking the 100 million mark on Thursday, with the numbers likely to be confirmed by the CDC as soon as Friday. (The administration has plans to "loan" 4 million doses to Canada and Mexico.) Bangladesh: Halda river to be renamed 'Bangabandhu Biodiversity-rich Heritage Halda' March 19,2021 | Source: The Financial Express The government has decided to rename the Halda river 'Bangabandhu Biodiversity-rich Heritage Halda'. Halda river is the country's largest water body for carp fish breeding. The decision was taken at the first meeting of the National Committee on Biodiversity, held at the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on Thursday. Environment Minister Md Shahab Uddin presided over the meeting. He said the National Biodiversity Committee constituted under the Bangladesh Biodiversity Act- 2017 will give advice for identifying and declaring important areas of biodiversity and give regular instructions on how to manage the declared areas. The minister said necessary steps will be taken to facilitate the reproduction of carp fish, dolphin conservation, pollution reduction and overall biodiversity and environmental conservation in the Halda river. "The government is responsible for the conservation and development of biodiversity as per Article 18A of the Constitution of Bangladesh, he added. 2021 - The Financial Express This is a story of unlikely alliances: a family of alpine cattle graziers and environmentalists joining forces for the first time in an attempt to stop logging in Victorias high country. The Treasure family which has grazed cattle in the Dargo high plains area for 140 years has formed a new relationship with two Gippsland environment groups to oppose logging plans in forests south of Dinner Plain. Environmentalists and graziers (left to right): Louise Crisp, Robyn Grant, John Hermans, Rhonda Treasure, Christa Treasure, Ray Anderson and Bruce Treasure meet on the Dargo high plains to discuss logging threats. Credit:Lisa Roberts The state government logging agency, VicForests, intends to log a total of 11 coupes, or sections, of mature forest in the headwaters of the Little Dargo River, an area of state forest that abuts the Alpine National Park. One coupe has already been logged. The graziers and environmentalists said this forest is irreplaceable: a swathe of old mountain ash and other tree species that hasnt burnt since 1939. Rome, March 19 : Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi chose the hard-hit northern city of Bergamo to mark the first National Day of Remembrance for Covid-19 victims. "This place is the symbol of the pain of an entire nation," he said at a ceremony on Thursday in a park, renamed the Wood of Remembrance, near the city's main hospital. "We cannot hug each other today, yet this is when we must all feel closer than ever." Bergamo located in Lombardy region was Italy's (and Europe's) first large pandemic hotspot last year between February and March, reports Xinhua news agency. The city of around 120,000 inhabitants accounted for at least 670 victims, and the province, also known as Bergamo with a population of 1.1 million, tallied some 6,000 fatalities, Mayor Giorgio Gori said at the ceremony. On March 18, 2020, long columns of army vehicles plied across the streets of Bergamo carrying hundreds of coffins to various cemeteries. "There is no one in this city who has not had a family member or acquaintance affected by the virus," Draghi recalled, before laying a wreath at the cemetery. Yet, he highlighted Bergamo's ability "to react and turn its grief into a desire for regeneration". "Its example is precious to all Italians who I am sure cannot wait to hold their head up again and release the energies that have made this country wonderful. "I am here to commit myself to rebuild without forgetting, along with you all," Draghi said. As the Prime Minister led the official celebration in Bergamo, national flags in public buildings were lowered at half-mast across the country. Italy's death toll currently stands at 103,855, the sixth highest in the world, while the overall caseload has increased to 3,306,711. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. WASHINGTON President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris offered their support to the Asian American community during a trip to Atlanta Friday in the wake of the spa shootings that left eight people dead, six of whom were women of Asian descent. The visit comes as law enforcement officials continue to investigate whether the shootings were racially motivated amid growing frustration from the Asian American community, who have experienced a sharp increase in anti-Asian attacks this past year. "Whatever the motivation, we know this: Too many Asian Americans have been walking up and down the streets worrying," Biden said in a speech at Emory University. "Theyve been attacked, blamed, scapegoated and harassed." "Silence is complicity. We cannot be complicit," he said. "We have to speak out. We have to act." Harris, the first Asian American to be vice president, spoke to the larger historical context of racism in the country, referencing laws that dated back to the 1800s that discriminated against Asians. "Racism is real in America and it has always been," Harris said, speaking before the president. "Xenophobia is real in America and always has been. Sexism too." Ahead of their speeches, Biden and Harris met with Asian American community leaders and state lawmakers to discuss the impact of the shootings and the increased attacks, a conversation that the president later described as "heart wrenching." Biden and Harris' visit, their first joint trip since taking office, had initially been scheduled as part of the administration's "Help is Here" tour promoting the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package. But the trip took on new weight after the shooting, with the White House announcing Thursday that the political event would be postponed. Still, Biden touted the Covid-19 relief Friday, tying it to Georgia Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, whose elections narrowly delivered Democrats control of the Senate. Story continues "If anyone ever wondered if voting can change a country, Georgia just proved it can," Biden said. "But for their votes, this would not have happened." While in Atlanta, Biden met with Ossoff, Warnock, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Stacey Abrams, the White House said. Biden and the vice president began their visit with a stop at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, to receive an update on the fight against the pandemic. Biden, whose own personal loss of his first wife and infant daughter in a car accident and his son to cancer has made him uniquely suited to console the nation during a time of grief, addressed the families of the victims directly, saying, "The day will come when their memory brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye, as believable as that is now." "It will take a while, but I promise you it will come." The Atlanta area shootings have sparked a fresh wave of fear and anger among the Asian American community, with some local officials and community advocates calling on law enforcement officials to swiftly characterize the killings as a hate crime. A 21-year-old white man was charged with eight counts of murder and homicide and one count of aggravated assault, police said Wednesday. Authorities said that Long claimed the attack was not racially motivated. The suspect told investigators that he had a "sex addiction" and that he saw the spas as "a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate." Law enforcement officials said Long was believed to have previously visited the spas he targeted. Democrats and community leaders in Georgia have said that race cannot be ignored as a motive, especially considering that Anti-Asian American hate incidents have dramatically increased during the pandemic, with a disproportionate number of attacks directed at women. "Words have consequences. Its the Coronavirus. Full stop," Biden said Friday, alluding to the impact of the offensive race-based language former President Donald Trump often used to refer to the coronavirus. While headed to Atlanta on Friday morning, Biden appeared to trip on the stairs as he was boarding Air Force One. White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the president was "doing just great" and that it was very windy and she almost fell herself. [March 19, 2021] First Advantage launches Vendor Screening Solution MUMBAI, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Helps minimize company's potential risk by screening current and prospective agencies, customers, vendors and suppliers. First Advantage, India's leading Background Screening firm, announced the launch of Vendor Screening solution for pre- and post-screening services for empanelment of vendors. Vendors have a pivotal role in the growth of an organization and in many cases represent the face of a brand to its consumers and audience. Lack of vendor screening can lead to unwanted consequences like law suits due to wrong partnerships, potential fraud and abuse, financial failure leading to breach of contract which can result in serious ramifications on a company's public image. Vendor Screening solution from First Advantage delivers complete view of third party's risk profile and helps minimize a company's potential liability by screening its current agencies, prospective customers, vendors and suppliers. It also helps businesses take decisions to expand operations by verifying vendor's credentials. Vendor Screening solution from First Advantage includes: Company erification Online Research Company verification site visit TAN Validation Validation of Certificate of Incorporation Court Record Research Address Verification India Database checks Global Database checks Amit Singh , Head Commercial of First Advantage India says, "For any organization, checking a vendor's credentials, as well as those of its owners is an essential practice before providing a vendor access to business assets, facilities and workforce. This may protect a company from downtime besides potential loss in revenue and future liability. Vendor Screening Solution launched by First Advantage serves to reduce risk and enhances employees, client & brand safety, reveal a company's past performance trends, history & reputation and deliver quality verification with faster turnaround time." For more details log in to www.fadv.co.in. About First Advantage First Advantage is a winning combination of searches and service that provides insights to reduce risk while improving the quality of the talent and the reliability of the renters, standing out in the tech industry as a whole. First Advantage achieves success through innovation - whether that means innovative product development or enhancement to the candidate experience. Powering this through agile transformation, robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, block chain, products for the next generation employees - monitoring, fraud, facial recognition, and many others. As a trusted partner to over 35,000 organizations, First Advantage has offices in 25 locations across 15 countries and conducts 75 million international background screens. To learn more, please visit https://fadv.co.in/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form 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, March 19 : "China Room" by 2015 Booker Prize nominee Sunjeev Sahota, a riveting novel about two characters separated by more than half a century but united by blood inspired in part by the authors own family history, is to be simultaneously published by Penguin Random House India and Penguin Random House in the UK and in North America. Mehar, a young bride in rural Punjab of 1929, is trying to discover the identity of her new husband. Married to three brothers in a single ceremony, she and her now-sisters spend their days hard at work in the family's 'china room', sequestered from contact with the men - except when their domineering mother-in-law, Mai, summons them to a darkened chamber at night. Curious and strong-willed, Mehar tries to piece together what Mai doesn't want her to know. From beneath her veil, she studies the sounds of the men's voices and the calluses on their fingers as she serves them tea. Soon, she glimpses something that seems to confirm which of the brothers is her husband. A series of events is set in motion, which will put more than one life at risk. As the early stirrings of the Indian independence movement rise around her, Mehar must weigh her own desires against the reality - and danger - of her situation. Spiralling around Mehar's story is that of a young man who arrives at his uncle's house in Punjab in the summer of 1999, hoping to shake off an addiction that has held him in its grip for more than two years. Growing up in small-town England as the son of an immigrant shopkeeper, his experiences of racism, violence and estrangement from the culture of his birth lead him to seek a dangerous form of escape. As he rides out his withdrawal at his family's ancestral home - an abandoned farmstead, its china room mysteriously locked and barred - he begins to knit himself back together, gathering strength for the journey home. At once sweeping and intimate, lush and propulsive, "China Room" is a stunning achievement from a contemporary master. Sunjeev Sahota is the author of "Ours Are the Streets" and "The Year of the Runaways", which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Dylan Thomas Prize, and was awarded a European Union Prize for Literature. In 2013, he was named one of Granta's twenty 'Best of Young British Novelists' of the decade. Commenting on the book, Meru Gokhale, Publisher, Penguin Press, Penguin Random House India, says: "China Room" is "one of those books that stays with you long after you've put it down. Set in rural Punjab, spanning across generations, this story is full of moments of pain that are carefully layered within the plot - the pain of what it was like to be a woman in the 1920s, forbidden to love, and the pain of a young man today who has lost his identity. Sunjeev Sahota is one of the most gifted fiction writers I have read, and we are so delighted to be publishing him." 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. Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall are packing their bags for Greece. The royal couple announced on Friday that they will visit Athens, Greece, later this month to celebrate the bicentennial of Greece's independence. The Bicentenary Event's Independence Day celebrations will take place from the evening of Wednesday, March 24 and will conclude on Thursday, March 25. The visit marks their first trip abroad since the most recent period of lockdown in the U.K. amid COVID-19. Their last trip oversees was to Germany in November 2020 to take part in Berlin's Central Remembrance Ceremony. Charles and Camilla will attend a reception at the newly reopened National Gallery of Greece hosted by the President of the Republic, Her Excellency Katerina Sakellaropoulou. Their Royal Highnesses will also attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Syntagma Square and a traditional military parade on March 25. "The Royal Household will take all necessary measures to comply with COVID-19 regulations and guidance in Athens during the course of this event," Clarence House said in a statement. Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! Samir Hussein/WireImage Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles CHRISTIAN MANG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall in Berlin on Nov. 15, 2020 Charles and Camilla last visited Greece in May 2018. The prince's very first visit to Greece was in 1998. The trip comes amid turmoil within the royal family following Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's revealing Oprah interview. Harry opened up about his strained relationship with his father during the March 7 sit-down, revealing that the couple's exit from royal life left "a lot to work through" between them and that his father stopped taking his calls for a period of time. Story continues "I feel really let down, because he's been through something similar," said Harry, referring to his late mother Princess Diana. "He knows what pain feels like. And Archie's his grandson." Get the premiere issue of PEOPLE Royals for glamorous new photos and inside stories royals fans haven't seen or read elsewhere! Subscribe at peopleroyals.com/launch CBS/Youtube Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during their interview with Oprah Winfrey on CBS. Harry continued, "I will always love him, but there is a lot of hurt that's happened. I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try to heal that relationship. But they only know what they know." Prince Harry, 36, also shared that he didn't think he could leave royal life before meeting Meghan, 39. "I didn't see a way out," he said. "I was trapped, but I didn't know I was trapped. Trapped within the system like the rest of the family. My father and my brother are trapped. They don't get to leave, and I have huge compassion for that." 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. Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. Advertisement 'Serial Stowaway' Marilyn Hartman is being held on $100,000 bail after her latest arrest at Chicago O'Hare A judge has ordered 'Serial Stowaway' Marilyn Hartman to be held in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, two days after she was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, where she was forbidden from entering under court order. Hartman, 69, was busted at O'Hare earlier this week when the ankle bracelet monitoring her home confinement stopped pinging, just days following the airing of her first TV interview detailing her decades of illegally boarding flights. 'You didnt just go for a walk, you went to the one place you specifically can't go ... O'Hare Airport,' Cook County Judge David Navarro told Hartman on Thursday before ordering her held in lieu of $100,000 bail on a charge of escaping from electronic monitoring. Hartman's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Andrea Lubelfeld, said Thursday that Hartman visited the airport for the first time in a year after becoming upset after seeing a TV news interview with her. 'She has a mental illness that was triggered by something out of her control, and she reacted not, perhaps, in making the best choice,' Lubelfeld said, according to the Chicago Tribune. 'But I would say her mental illness affects her ability to make choices.' Hartman's attorney said Thursday that Hartman visited the airport for the first time in a year after becoming upset after seeing a TV news interview with her. Hartman is seen above at arraignment this week Hartman, 69, was busted at the O'Hare CTA station (seen in a file photo) earlier this week when the ankle bracelet monitoring her home confinement stopped pinging In Hartman's interview with WBBM-TV, she said that she has bipolar disorder. The station tweeted Thursday after the court hearing, 'We have her on tape agreeing to do the interviews and record them.' While the new bail order means Hartman would have to post $10,000 to secure her release, she may be in custody until trial, because her visit to the airport violated previously bail and probation terms on earlier cases. She will be held without bail on those issues until at least Monday, when she goes before a judge on those matters. Thursday's hearing was the latest chapter in the story of a woman who has for years illegally boarded or tried to board jets at airports across the United States. Two weeks ago, a judge rejected a plea deal that would have given her probation for a previous stowaway attempt. On Tuesday, her electronic monitor was activated when she allegedly left the facility where she was staying, allowing Cook County Sheriff's deputies to track her and arrest her as she neared the airport on a train. Hartman is seen in mugshots from several of her many arrests over the years. She estimated that she managed to get onto at least 30 flights illegally since 2002 Hartman in the interview detailed her stunning history of illegal joyrides around the country and across the world, estimating that she managed to get onto at least 30 flights illegally since 2002. Asked how she managed to get by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints, Hartman's explanation was startling simple. Airports where the 'Serial Stowaway' has been caught trying to board passenger flights San Francisco International Airport Los Angeles International Airport Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport St. Paul International Airport (Minneapolis) Jacksonville International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport Chicago Midway International Airport Heathrow Airport (London) Advertisement Hartman, an unassuming older woman, said that she slipped through checkpoints by pretending to be accompanying other groups of people. 'I got by them - this is the thing that is so crazy - by following someone they would be carrying like a blue bag,' she said. 'And the next thing I know, I get into the TSA line and TSA lets me through, and they think I'm with the guy with the blue bag.' Once through the security checkpoint, she would often look for a boarding pass that had been discarded by another passenger, or slip onto a plane and wait in the lavatory until she could take an empty seat. A WBBM review of court records and police reports showed that Hartman was repeatedly caught carrying a boarding pass from another passenger or arriving in another country without documentation to get through Customs. But those accounts only tell part of Hartman's story, as she claims to have flown under the radar for 12 years before authorities first caught on to her scheme. Records show Hartman was arrested in at least 20 airport incidents between 2014 and 2019. Over that period TSA agents became well acquainted with her face and ultimately started calling for back-up as soon as they spotted her. Her notoriety was exemplified in an audio recording obtained by CBS2, in which a TSA agent was heard saying: 'There's been a Marilyn sighting over here.' Hartman said she had been taking flights illegally well before 2014, but no one noticed. 'The first time I was able to to get through I flew to Copenhagen,' she said. 'The second time I flew into Paris.' The first few times she was caught in airports without a ticket, she was interviewed by police and released. Her first arrest came on August 14, 2014, when she flew from San Jose, California, to Los Angeles without a ticket. Hartman's name was subsequently added to the TSA's 'trespass list' and a judge let her off with a warning to never do that again - but she didn't listen. Hartman estimated that she managed to get onto at least 30 flights illegally since 2002. She is pictured in airport surveillance footage from one of her many arrests in 2018 She was arrested again seven months later in Jacksonville, Florida, after flying in from Minnesota without a ticket. The court overseeing that case determined that she was not mentally competent to face prosecution. But Hartman insisted that concerns about her mental state were overblown. 'I know they keep emphasizing the mental illness. Law enforcement would like to have that in place. But umm no, I'm pretty good,' she told CBS2 with a laugh. 'I don't mind if people say: 'She's a nut.' Because when I look at it objectively, that's how I see it, is craziness. I purposely remained a mystery, because of the crazy factor. It was like something out of a movie.' In the four years after the Jacksonville arrest, Hartman had at least seven more brushes with law enforcement at Chicago's main airports - O'Hare and Midway. The last time she successfully boarded a plane without a ticket was in January 2018, when she slipped past security at O'Hare and took a seat on a British Airways flight to London Heathrow. But her plan was foiled upon arrival in the United Kingdom, where border officials discovered that she didn't have proper documentation. Hartman was then shuttled back to Chicago, where she was charged with felony theft and misdemeanor trespass. She was released from custody and ordered to wear an ankle monitor and undergo psychiatric evaluation. She later pleaded guilty to the trespassing charge and was sentenced to 18 months probation. Hartman's last trip to O'Hare came in October 2019, when officers spotted her trying to get through a security checkpoint without a boarding pass. She was charged with burglary, criminal trespassing, and probation violation. She is expected to enter a plea sometime this spring. Serial Stowaway Marilyn Hartman has been caught more than once at Chicago O'Hare International Airport (file) In the year and a half since her final arrest, Hartman became pen pals with CBS2 investigator Brad Edwards, who conducted the series of phone interviews in the outlet's latest report. Hartman said she wanted to apologize to law enforcement and the TSA, saying: 'It was not my intention to make their jobs more difficult.' She said that her bipolar disorder was behind the relentless urge to travel, explaining that she took the flights whenever she fell into a depressive episode. 'When I took the plane ride, I wasn't happy,' she said. 'It wasn't, 'Oh, I'm going here or there' - I was actually in a depressed state of mind.' 'I'm bipolar. And this is something I've rejected for years,' she added. Hartman explained that she had a troubled childhood, saying: 'There was so much violence and mental illness in the household.' As for why she decided to speak out now, Hartman said she had waited to give an interview 'until I was confident that I wouldn't take an illegal flight again.' Hartman appeared at a court hearing in early March to discuss details of a plea agreement in her latest case. Prosecutors had proposed dropping the burglary charge and sentencing Hartman to 18 months probation with mental health counseling. But Judge Peggy Chiampas declined that proposal, saying: 'I will not be giving her a third probation.' 'I have real tough judge on this case,' she said. 'Judge Chiampas is pi**ed at me for the situation in which I found myself.' The CBS2 report also questioned whether others should be held responsible for the fact that Hartman was able to sneak through airports so many times. 'For her to be able to repeat that over and over, that is just mind boggling,' aviation security expert Jeff Price told the outlet. 'The genius of her mode of operation is in its simplicity. It's the unsophisticated types of plans are often the most successful.' Price, who once led security at the Denver International Airport, called for the TSA to use Hartman's example in its training of new agents. 'They literally should have a curriculum designed around how she's able to get through security and that should be taught to every Transportation Security Officer out there,' he said. Singapore has opened a purpose-built bubble facility, dubbed Connect@Changi, to support Covid-safe meetings between foreign business travellers and Singapore residents. (TRAVPR.COM) SINGAPORE - March 18th, 2021 - Located five minutes from Changi Airport, the venue will initially launch with 150 guest rooms and 40 meeting rooms. Offering the test-stay-work-meet experience for a business trip to Singapore, the quarantine-free hotel and conference centre is the first of its kind worldwide. It also features amenities such as an indoor courtyard and gym pods. By May, Connect@Changi will expand to about 660 guest rooms and 170 meeting rooms, which can each seat four to 22 attendees and have floor-to-ceiling glass partitions. As reported previously by Business Traveller, the opening was postponed from January to allow for finishing touches to the facility. The project was developed by a consortium led by Temasek Holdings, which includes Changi Airport and hospitality giant The Ascott. Robin Hu, Head of International Policy and Governance at Temasek, said: Without such a facility, travel options are essentially binary either stay at home due to travel restrictions, or fly overseas and endure long periods in quarantine. After close to four months of intense, round-the-clock construction and collaboration with our partners, various government agencies, vendors and subcontractors, we are now ready to offer business travellers the option of resuming in-person meetings in a safe and contained manner, and do our part to catalyse economic recovery for Singapore and across the region. Room rates start at S$384 (US$289) for a 24-hour stay, which includes three meals, round-trip airport transfers, and mandatory Covid-19 tests. ### The weather is warming, the days are looking brighter and the number of people getting vaccinated is on the rise. So can we finally celebrate the spring holidays together like we used to, back when we could see the bottom halves of everyones faces? Well, not exactly. Although coronavirus cases and deaths are declining nationwide and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued new, looser safety guidelines for vaccinated people, the agency recommended against unmasked indoor gatherings with unvaccinated people except in certain circumstances. We asked public health experts to help us understand the latest guidance and offer advice on how to safely observe upcoming holidays like Easter, Passover and Ramadan. Do we need to wear masks and stay six feet apart? According to the C.D.C., if the people in your home have been fully vaccinated, meaning at least two weeks have passed since each persons final shot, you can spend time together unmasked with the unvaccinated members of one other household either indoors or outdoors without physical distancing. But this holds true only if all of the unvaccinated people are not at increased risk of severe illness if they were to contract Covid-19, the agency said. Lily Collins was feeling nostalgic as she celebrated her 32nd birthday on her Instagram page this Thursday. The daughter of Phil Collins shared a heartwarming snap of herself as a little girl prancing around in a tutu with a bow in her hair. 'Birthday baby! Thank you guys for all the love today!' she gushed in her caption for her more than 23 million followers. So sweet: Lily Collins was feeling nostalgic as she celebrated her 32nd birthday on Instagram this Thursday 'You truly know how to inspire, support and celebrate. Im beyond grateful and ready for all the adventures and memories of 32!...' Lily is Phil's daughter by his second of three ex-wives Jill Tavelman whom he was married to from 1984 until 1996. Her latest birthday comes just two months after Phil finally got his third ex-wife Orianne Cevey court-ordered out of his mansion in Miami. Phil's victory was the end of a months-long legal battle in which he sued Orianne for 'an Armed Occupation and Takeover' of the property. Looking fab: Lily is pictured last month dressed up for the virtual Golden Globes in Yves Saint Laurent and Cartier 'Love you so much!!': Lily also got profuse birthday wishes from her pal Ciara who posted a throwback snap of them in what appeared to be Halloween costume He claimed she enlisted 'three or four heavily armed individuals' to provide security and accused her of changing the entry codes. Orianne, who split up from Phil in 2008, was living in the 1.2 acre residence with her new husband Thomas Bates but they vacated the building in late January. Once Orianne and Thomas were court-ordered out of the house Phil managed to unload the property for a whopping $40 million. Lily has previously said that the emotional upheaval of her father's divorce from Orianne in 2008 contributed to her developing anorexia and bulimia as a teenager. Acclaimed: The Tolkien actress recently appeared in the David Fincher movie Mank which is about Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz The Tolkien actress recently appeared in the David Fincher movie Mank which is about Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz. Mank, in which Lily played the title character's secretary Rita Alexander, now has the most Oscar nominations of any movie this year. Although Lily is not nominated the film has a total of 10 nods including for best picture, best director and best actor for Gary Oldman. Amanda Seyfried also got a best supporting actress nod for her role as Marion Davies who was widely and falsely assumed to be the basis for the gold-digging talentless performer Susan Alexander in Citizen Kane. Washington DC: While India is hosting US Defense Secretary Austin, Sikhs For Justice a Pro Khalistan group hired Washington lobbyist Blue Star Strategies to lobby with Biden administration SFJs agenda of secession of Punjab from India. Democratic government affairs firm Blue Star Strategies has registered to lobby for a New York non-governmental organization that supports the secession of Punjab from India. CEO Karen Tramontano is lobbying for Sikhs for Justice to raise awareness of the treatment of the Sikh community in India and efforts by the Sikh-American diaspora in the U.S. to draw attention to these issues, according to the firms registration under the domestic Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA). The group was founded and is primarily headed by lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The Indian government banned the group in 2019 and designated Pannun a terrorist last year for promoting secessionism in his bid to create an independent Khalistan. The lobbying registration comes as the Indian government has reportedly asked the US Department of Justice for assistance regarding the groups advocacy, including its support for the massive farmer protests that have partly paralyzed the country for months. Live TV US-based venture capital firm has advised company leader to prepare for economic growth in the second half of 2021, publishing a post a year after its Black Swan memo about the Covid-19 crisis. While the pandemic is far from over, we see an important window of opportunity opening right now, said Sequoia, an early investor in Apple, Google, Oracle and WhatsApp. In India, Sequoia counts Byju's, Zomato and Freshworks among its top portfolio The company said last July that Sequoias Limited Partners has collectively committed $1.35 billion to two new India funds. This includes a $525 million venture fund and $825 million growth fund. The current moment in our road to represents an opportunity. If you feel confident about your business post-vaccine, now is the time to start carefully stepping on the gas (or accelerator pedal, if youre driving electric), said its post for founders and CEOs. Enduring are built around long-term trends and behaviour. So take advantage of this window while keeping your sights trained on what you could accomplish over the next decade, said Sequoia, which is based in the Silicon Valley. No one can say for certain what the future holds. Sequoias advice for founders and CEOs in this uncertain environment is to remain deliberate and measured. "But dont be afraid to dream and be optimistic about where the world is going. This will enable them to focus on long-term aspirations while navigating the next few quarters, no matter what they bring. While Sequoia couldnt foresee the scale of suffering or the extent to which the pandemic would expose societal inequities, it was able to see early on how it was impacting global business. It suggested the company founders and CEOs use the brief calm before the storm to pause, challenge assumptions, and reassess priorities. The firms made really hard decisions during the pandemic. But they also realized how nimble and efficient the became by zero-based budgeting and disciplined recruiting. They found more cost-effective ways to reach customers when they reset marketing spend and started from scratch. Dont lose your hard-earned operating rhythm, even if you believe the future is bright. As the storm of the pandemic begins to clear, uncertainty will continue to linger. The companies have been advised to continue the best practice of scenario planning that helped them navigate the pandemic. Knowing when to upshift and downshift in changing conditions will be important moving forward. No one really knows what the post-vaccine world will look like. There will be just as many surprises coming out of the pandemic as there were going in. Sequoia told the founders and CEOs to remember how diligent they were at the beginning of the pandemic to listen to customers, study their behaviour, and find solutions for their pain. Continue to innovate on behalf of your customers, said Sequoia. Dont get distracted by vanity metrics. Technology is flattening the world and bringing people together in new ways. Remote work has already begun expanding geographic hiring opportunities, combating bias and broadening entrepreneurship. We see many green shoots as we enter a post-vaccine world. It asked companies to keep an open dialogue about challenges that employees face. Strong leadership that puts people first will continue to be critical. The US is poised for stronger economic growth in the second half of 2021 than Sequoia has seen in decades. As vaccines bring an end to lockdowns closer, consumer debt has dropped, savings have risen and more stimulus is on the way. The recently established Cross-Canada Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee (CERSC) was prevented from sharing its founding statement on the Quebec Parents Stand Together Facebook pagea page whose ostensible purpose is to organize opposition to the right-wing provincial governments criminal response to the coronavirus pandemic. In response to this act of censorship, Laurent Lafrance, a leading member of the CERSC and an educator at a Montreal-area school, addressed the following letter of protest to the pages administrators. * * * Teachers at Montreals Westmount High School staged a protest Jan. 18 against the Quebec governments reckless school reopening policy. (Photo Credit: Robert Green) To the administrators of the Facebook page Quebec Parents Stand Together: I am writing to you on behalf of the Cross-Canada Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee (CERSC) to strongly protest your arbitrary decision not to publish our founding statement on your page. I urge you to reverse this decision so that all your members can be made aware of our committees struggle to close schools and save lives. When one of our members asked for an explanation as to why our statement has been censored, one of your administrators responded with two interrelated arguments to which I wish to respond: first, that our statement is strongly political; and second, that our strategy is not legal as it does not conform to the structures of tripartite governmentmanagementunion cooperation enshrined in Quebecs reactionary labour laws Whether you like it or not, educators and parents are already involved in a political struggle. We have just marked the sad first anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemica pandemic that was foreseeable and foreseen. As in capitalist countries the world over, the Quebec government led by Francois Legaults CAQ, as well as the federal Liberal government and provincial governments across Canada, have prioritized corporate profits and safeguarding the wealth of the financial elite over protecting human lives. The main reason they reopened schools at the end of the summer and have kept them open as COVID-19 cases have soared more than eight-fold is so that parents can be freed from childcare obligations and pushed into returning to work and churning out profits for big business. In doing so, governments and school boards have flouted the recommendations of health experts, over everything from the need for better ventilation to the reopening policy itself, and ignored numerous scientific studies that show schools are important vectors in COVID-19 transmission. The results have been catastrophic: a second wave that claimed more than 10,000 lives across Canada, and a rapidly emerging third wave driven by even more-infectious variants, whose very existence testifies to the criminality of the back-to-work/back-to-school policies pursued by big business governments around the world. The British Medical Journal, one of the worlds most renowned medical publications, aptly summed up the ruling elites response as social murder. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the political establishment and their media mouthpieces have called for national unity, claiming that we are all in this together. The reality is that while the wealthiest have gotten richer like never before, working people and their families are being exposed to deadly conditions. By censoring political discussion, whether you are conscious of it or not, you are assisting the Legault government, its political allies, and corporate backers in suppressing social opposition to its ruinous mishandling of the pandemic. Yet the facts demonstrate that unless and until educators, parents and the working class as a whole intervene, a science-based response based on saving lives not profits will not be pursued. Rather, the selfish profit interests of the capitalists will prevail. As for your second argument, we strongly object to the claim that as educators fighting to protect our health and lives, we are engaged in illegal activity because we refuse to subordinate ourselves to the unions. Workers have every right to refuse to work in unsafe conditions, not to mention the fundamental democratic right to openly debate and discuss the political programs and policies necessary to advance their interests without the autocratic interference of the employer or its union partners. The basis of your argument is that workers must submit to the tripartite governmentmanagementunion system codified in pro-employer labour relations systems in every province across Canada. This is the same mechanism that has ensured that schools remain open in the midst of a pandemic, and that has suppressed any opposition by educators and parents to the CAQs murderous policies. It is through this mechanism that the establishment, in collaboration with the unions, have divided Canadian workers along provincial lines to prevent the united action of workers across the country. If it is not legal within this system to talk about how to protect the lives of teachers, students, and their relatives amid a raging pandemic that has claimed the lives of over 2.6 million people worldwide, this only goes to show that the system itself is rotten and a political struggle is required to replace it. We argue that it is only through a pan-Canadian mobilization, independent of the corporatist trade unions and state institutions, that workers in Quebec and Canada can defend themselves and save lives. You may be opposed to our perspective, but the members of your page have every right to learn about it and to make up their own minds. For these reasons, I reiterate my request that you review your decision and immediately publish our statement on your page. Sincerely, Laurent Lafrance for the Cross-Canada Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee The CERSC will hold its next meeting on Sunday, March 21, at 1 p.m. Eastern time. For more information on how to participate or get involved in the committees activities, visit the CERSC Facebook page or e-mail cersc.csppb@gmail.com. Vaccine sh--show You can interpret these outflows in many ways but one thing they are not is a vote of confidence in eurozone growth and recovery, or indeed the political management of the EU. The exodus is likely to gather pace this quarter as American reflation and the vast funding needs of the Biden treasury suck capital out of the global system. But the accelerant is what the German vice-chancellor calls the vaccine sh-- show, made more destructive by the failure of every major EU state to heed the lesson from Britain and to let the B117 variant run rampant. The waning epidemic from the old variant and the rising epidemic from the new variant created an illusory stability in case numbers. Epidemiologists issued warnings. Politicians again refused to listen. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video French President Emmanuel Macron is close to admitting that his political gamble has failed and that greater Paris will have to be shut down within days. He took a Jupiterian decision to keep France open, overruling his scientists, his health minister and his premier. He now owns a disaster. What baffles me is that an astute technocrat - au fait with numbers, curves and lag effects - could misread the data so badly. The consequences of a mushrooming third wave in an unvaccinated population, with no herd immunity until September, is to protract what Keynes called the long dragging conditions of semi-slump for many more months, inflicting such damage that the recovery may be sickly even when it finally comes. While the US is spending $US2.8 trillion ($3.6 trillion) or 13 per cent of GDP in fast fiscal relief - two thirds this year - the EU has nothing of the kind. The Recovery Fund is for rebuilding later. It is a medium-term investment plan. It doesnt do much in the short term, said Lorenzo Codogno from LC Macro Advisors. Going small The Recovery Fund will in theory dish out 87 billion later this year in grants and loans (less relevant) if recipients meet all conditions. That is just 0.7 per cent of GDP. It is why the European Central Banks Isabel Schnabel has warned that the fund may be insufficient, opening a political Pandoras box. There is fiscal stimulus worth 2 per cent of GDP at a national level but the Atlantic gap is huge. Washington is going big even though the US output gap will be closed by June, so big that the OECD now thinks America will regain its pre-pandemic trajectory by next year - along with China in this elite club. Yet Europe is going small even though the output gap in the eurozone is still a dire 8 per cent of GDP, reaching 10 per cent in Italy and Spain (IIF data). It is Atlantic decoupling like never before in modern times. If these daily antics from Brussels and Berlin continue, the eye-wateringly large capital outflows from the eurozone that have already been occurring may accelerate into something closer to outright capital flight. The story that has yet to gain media traction is cross-Channel decoupling. It is no longer implausible to imagine Britain leaving Europe far behind over the course of 2021, a remarkable thought given the counter-story in the British lay press is that post-Brexit trade has been a calamity. Britain benefits Markets have shrugged off the 41 per cent collapse in exports to the EU in January, deeming it transient noise. One cannot infer much from trade flows that month - except that firms were not ready, and the EU aims to be bloody minded. Companies had stockpiled before and were holding back afterwards in case of border chaos. Only if these patterns continue into March will there be serious grounds for alarm. For now sterling is in rude good health. The pound has hit a one-year high of 1.17 against the euro this week and is nearing the top end of its post-referendum trading range. Bank of America says the pound is undergoing a cyclical rehabilitation. Fears that inward investment would dry up have proved unfounded. There are clear signs of pick-up in flows into UK Plc, it said. Loading There has been steady buying of sterling during New York opening hours by US funds. Japans giant life insurers and pension funds are scooping up gilts. RBC Capital says they purchased a net $US5.5 billion of UK bonds in January alone, the highest in five years. BNY Mellon, the worlds top custodian bank with $US25 trillion under watch, says its iFlow data is detecting a marked shift into UK assets by global fund managers. It is not just a one-off story after the Brexit deal. It has been going on since last year. Funds are rotating back into UK equities, said Geoffrey Yu, the banks Europe strategist. The UK will reopen and return to growth months before the eurozone. The measurement distortion that overstated the UKs economic contraction by roughly 2 per cent of GDP last year will flatter growth this year with a mirror-image distortion on the way back up. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-20 00:12:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RIYADH, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said in a statement on Friday that an attack by drones caused a fire in an oil refinery in the capital city of Riyadh. The attack took place on Friday morning, resulting in a fire that has been brought under control, the statement said. The ministry also confirmed that the attack did not result in any injury or death nor was the supply of oil or its derivatives affected. The ministry condemned the attack, saying "such acts of terrorism and sabotage, repeatedly committed against vital installations and civilian facilities." Saudi Arabia reported earlier this month attacks attempted to target the Ras Tanura oil port and Saudi Aramco's residential area in Dhahran in the Eastern Province. The ministry said that these attacks do not target the kingdom alone, but more broadly the security and stability of energy supply to the world, as well as the global economy. It called on all nations and organizations of the world to stand together against such acts of terrorism and sabotage, and to stop all groups carrying out or supporting these attacks. Saudi Arabia has been accusing Iran of supporting Houthi militia by supplying them with weaponry and missiles. The militia has been targeting the kingdom with missiles and drones, in which most of the attacks were foiled before reaching their targets. 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A court in Houston has removed Harris County Emergency Services District No. 11 (ESD 11) commissioners as individual defendants in a lawsuit brought by its current ambulance provider, Cypress Creek EMS (CCEMS). In her ruling, Judge Latosha Lewis Payne in Harris County's 55th Judicial District Court also dismissed claims that ESD 11 violated the Texas Open Meetings Act. "These are big wins for ESD 11," said Brian Trachtenberg of Greathouse Holloway McFadden Trachtenberg in Houston, who along with firm attorney Anna Phillips represents ESD 11. "There was no basis whatsoever for the commissioners to be added to this suit as individuals. That was just harassment, pure and simple, by a government contractor that was fired. The Texas Open Meetings Act claims were completely frivolous. I'm glad the court saw it that way, too." ESD 11 previously contracted with non-profit CCEMS for emergency medical services for approximately 600,000 people in north Harris County. Last year, ESD 11 gave CCEMS 360 days' notice that its contract is canceled and has been making plans to run its own ambulance service beginning in September. In response, CCEMS filed suit against ESD 11, claiming breach of contract. A counterclaim filed by ESD 11 alleges a number of issues, among them the fact that CCEMS cannot account for a $10 million budget discrepancy. Additional claims in ESD 11's filing include: CCEMS management acknowledged it has been using its maintenance facility to service private vehicles owned by employees and friends of CCEMS while on the clock and ESD 11's dime. One of the cars serviced was that of CCEMS CEO Wren Nealy. CCEMS overbilled for 9-1-1 Communications Center services. Initial estimates show that CCEMS has overcharged ESD 11 $3.3 million since 2016. since 2016. CCEMS wrongly used taxpayer money to pay administrative and other employees, contrary to agreements that tax funds would pay for EMS and Communications Center staff only. CCEMS secured a loan using ambulances owned by ESD 11 as collateral without ESD 11's knowledge or consent. The case is Cypress Creek Emergency Services Association v. Harris County Emergency Services District No. 11, et al., Cause No. 2020-61450, in the 55th Judicial District Court in Harris County, Texas. Contact: April Arias [email protected] 281-630-0129 SOURCE Greathouse Holloway McFadden Trachtenberg Television pundit Ana Navarro is being accused of racism after she posted a tweet on Friday that included a joke considered derogatory toward Asians. Me so vaccinated! Navarro wrote in a tweet that was deleted soon afterwards. Last week, Navarro expressed glee that Piers Morgan left his morning show Good Morning Britain after he was accused of racism for his views on Meghan Markle. The tweet was also posted just days after a white gunman fatally shot eight people, including six women of Asian descent, at several spas in Atlanta. On Thursday, journalist Alexi McCammond resigned days after being named editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue after staffers at the magazine protested tweets mocking Asians and gays that she posted as a teenager 10 years ago. Ana Navarro (seen above on January 19), a pundit who appears frequently on CNN and ABC's The View, posted a tweet on Friday that was slammed by some as racist toward Asians Me so vaccinated! Navarro wrote in a tweet that was deleted soon afterwards. Navarro, the CNN commentator and occasional co-panelist on The View, was reacting to a tweet on Friday from a fan who called on ABC to bring her back onto the daytime talk show Navarro, the CNN commentator and occasional co-panelist on The View, was reacting to a tweet on Friday from a fan who called on ABC to bring her back onto the daytime talk show. See! This is another reason to #BringBackAna @ananavarro She collaborates with Uncle Luke @unclelukreal1, tweeted Alesha K. Russey. Take Care of Your Vaccine Business People. Get it! Get it! #VaccinesSaveLives #TheView #COVID 19. The tweet included a photo of Uncle Luke, a rapper whose legal name is Luther Luke Campbell. Navarro replied to the post by writing: Me so vaccinated! The comment was apparently an attempt at humor by using a play on words of the phrase Me so horny. The phrase was uttered in a famous scene from the 1987 war film Full Metal Jacket. In the scene from the Stanley Kubrick drama about the Vietnam War, a Vietnamese prostitute in Da Nang offers her services to two American GIs named Joker and Rafterman, played respectively by Matthew Modine and Kevyn Major Howard. Peter Forester tweeted: 'This would be grossly racist any other week. But this week, after a terrorist murdered six Asian women in Georgia...repulsive' Another Twitter user commented: 'Hooooooly s***' 'Hearing about people getting shot just like dad used to do it gets you hot and flustered, and the racism just spill out, huh?' tweeted another Twitter user Another Twitter user wrote: 'Gotta say, I expected better than this from the daughter of a Contra' James Bradford tweeted: 'You didn't actually just paraphrase a legendarily anti-Asian racist trope on the heels of a hate crime based mass murder of Asian women. I must be seeing things' Well, baby, me so horny. Me so horny. Me love you long time, the Vietnamese escort tells the two American soldiers in the film. DailyMail.com has reached out to Navarro, CNN, and ABC seeking comment. Reaction on Twitter was scathing. Peter Forester tweeted: 'This would be grossly racist any other week. But this week, after a terrorist murdered six Asian women in Georgia...repulsive.' Another Twitter user commented: 'Hooooooly s***.' 'Hearing about people getting shot just like dad used to do it gets you hot and flustered, and the racism just spill out, huh?' tweeted another Twitter user. Navarro is the daughter of Augusto Navarro, a wealthy Nicaraguan landowner who fought with the Contras against the left-wing Sandinista government in the late 1970s and 1980s. Navarro's tweet was a play-on-words of a famous line from the 1987 Stanley Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket. In the scene from the movie about the Vietnam War, a Vietnamese prostitute (right) in Da Nang offers her services to two American GIs named Joker and Rafterman, played respectively by Matthew Modine (center) and Kevyn Major Howard (left). Well, baby, me so horny. Me so horny. Me love you long time, the Vietnamese escort, played by Papillon Soo Soo, tells the two American soldiers in the film The Contra rebels who were supported by the Reagan administration have long been accused of atrocities against Nicaraguans, including murder, rape, and torture. After fleeing the turmoil in her country and emigrating to the United States in 1980, Ana Navarro has long stated that the Reagan administration's support for the Contras was what led her to becoming a lifelong supporter of the Republican Party. Another Twitter user wrote of her tweet on Friday: 'Gotta say, I expected better than this from the daughter of a Contra.' James Bradford tweeted: 'You didn't actually just paraphrase a legendarily anti-Asian racist trope on the heels of a hate crime based mass murder of Asian women. I must be seeing things.' Another Twitter user posted a meme from The Simpsons with the caption: 'You should be more ashamed of yourself than usual.' Before her career as a television pundit, Ana Navarro was a prominent activist in Republican politics having worked for former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the late Senator John McCain, and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. Ana Navarro has been a frequent media commentator, particularly since emerging as a 'Never Trump' Republican during the Donald Trump presidency from 2016 until 2020. Morgan on Tuesday branded his former CNN colleague Navarro a 'treacherous little back-stabber' after she celebrated his departure from Good Morning Britain amid criticism over his comments about Markle. Piers Morgan (left) branded his former CNN colleague Ana Navarro (right) a 'treacherous little back-stabber' after she celebrated his departure from Good Morning Britain amid criticism over his comments about Meghan Markle Navarro, a CNN political commentator and frequent co-host on The View, took to Twitter last week following Morgan's announcement that he was leaving his anchor post at GMB after facing pushback for his reaction to Meghan and Prince Harry's bombshell Oprah interview Morgan, who hosted his own CNN show from 2011 to 2014, hit back at Navarro on Tuesday and refuted her suggestion that he was fired from GMB's outlet ITV or CNN Morgan (left) resigned from Good Morning Britain a day after he stormed off set during an on-air row with colleague Alex Beresford, who criticized him for 'continuing to trash' the Duchess of Sussex. Morgan is seen left alongside GMB co-host Susanna Reid on March 8 Navarro took to Twitter last week following Morgan's announcement that he was leaving his anchor post at GMB after facing pushback for his reaction to Meghan and Prince Harry's bombshell Oprah interview. 'If no other change comes out of the #OprahMeghanHarry interview, that it lead to @piersmorgan getting fired again from yet another job, seems like a good outcome for the benefit of humanity,' Navarro tweeted. Morgan, who hosted his own CNN show from 2011 to 2014, hit back at Navarro on Tuesday and refuted her suggestion that he was fired from GMB's outlet ITV or CNN. 'Hi Ana, I wasn't fired by ITV (I'm still working for them) just as I wasn't fired by CNN (I was offered a new 2-year deal - ask Jeff),' Morgan tweeted, referring to CNN President Jeff Zucker. 'But great to see you're just as big a treacherous little back-stabber now as you were when I worked at CNN,' he added. Sources at ITV have said that Morgan 'will continue to make programs for the channel' after his departure from GMB, according to iNews. This is likely to include his popular celebrity interview program, Life Stories, which has been on air since 2009. Morgan resigned from GMB on March 9, a day after he stormed off set during an on-air row with co-host Alex Beresford, who criticized him for 'continuing to trash' the Duchess of Sussex. The polarizing host had said he 'didn't believe a word' of Meghan's interview with Oprah, where she talked about experiencing racism within the Royal Family and feeling suicidal when she was pregnant with son Archie. There were more than 41,000 complaints received by Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, including one from Meghan herself following the clash. The duchess is said to have raised concerns with ITV about the effect Morgan's comments may have on the issue of mental health generally and those attempting to deal with their own problems. Morgan later repeated his condemnation of the interview when he told reporters outside his West London home: '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.' Soon after he announced his resignation and tweeted his thanks to the GMB team, praising them for their 'hard work and dedication' that led to them beating their main breakfast TV rival. In the wake of his departure at least three petitions calling for Morgan to be reinstated on GMB garnered more than 240,000 signatures. Morgan ruled out a return to the show but called the petitions a 'pleasant surprise' in an Instagram statement last Saturday. 'I won't be going back, but thanks to everyone who has signed these petitions. Normally, people start petitions to have me fired or deported, so this is a pleasant surprise,' he wrote. Earlier this week, Teen Vogue editor Alexi McCammond resigned over racist, anti-Asian tweets she wrote as a teenager surfaced online Posting tweets perceived as racist against Asians cost McCammond an opportunity to helm Teen Vogue. Saying her past anti-Asian and homophobic tweets have overshadowed her work, McCammond said on Thursday that she and publisher Conde Nast have decided to part ways at Teen Vogue. 'I should not have tweeted what I did and I have taken full responsibility for that,' the journalist said in a statement posted on social media. 'I look at my work and growth in the years since, and have redoubled my commitment to growing in the years to come as both a person and as a professional.' McCammond, who is black, was tapped as the incoming editor in chief to replace Lindsay Peoples Wagner, but the tweets from when she was a teenager and college student in 2011 resurfaced after the appointment was announced. Calls for the magazine to replace her were mounting, with more than 20 Teen Vogue staff members posting a statement last week saying they had written management in support of readers and others alarmed by the now-deleted tweets. They noted that McCammond's appointment comes at a time of 'historically high anti-Asian violence and amid the ongoing struggles of the LGBTQ community.' In an internal email, Conde Nast's 'chief people officer' Stan Duncan told US staff that McCammond's departure comes as the 'best path forward' so as not to 'overshadow' Teen Vogue's work to become more equitable and inclusive. McCammond, 27, was appointed earlier this month by the digital-only Teen Vogue. She had worked as a political journalist in Washington for Axios and was an on-air contributor for MSNBC. Duncan noted she had disclosed the tweets during the hiring process but that Conde Nast was 'dedicated to making her successful in this role.' People on Friday view a makeshift memorial set up in front of an Atlanta spa that was targeted by a gunman on Tuesday. Robert Aaron Long, a white man, is accused of killing several people, most of whom were of Asian descent, at massage parlors in the Atlanta area So what changed? McCammond was due to take over as editor in chief March 24. Last week, one of Teen Vogue's major advertisers, the popular skincare and cosmetics retailer Ulta Beauty, announced it had paused ad spending there, saying it stands with the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. It did not disclose its Teen Vogue ad budget. On Thursday, after word broke that McCammond was out at Teen Vogue, Ulta Beauty said in a statement: 'We saw today's news and are still in discussions with Conde Nast to determine next steps. For the time being, our advertising spend remains paused.' The tweets first surfaced in 2019, when McCammond said she was 'deeply sorry' and that the posts 'do not reflect my views or who I am today.' She apologized again after her Teen Vogue appointment, saying on social media 'there's no excuse for perpetuating those awful stereotypes in any way.' On Thursday, McCammond said she became a journalist to 'lift up the stories and voices of our most vulnerable communities,' and hopes to do that as a journalist once again. Additional booster vaccines against the coronavirus will be needed in the future, said a leading British scientist who is studying the virus. A booster is an extra shot that increases or renews the effect of an earlier vaccine. Boosters will be needed because the coronavirus continues to change, or mutate. Sharon Peacock is the head of COVID-19 Genomics UK, COG-UK. She said countries must work together in their fight against the virus. We were always going to have to have booster doses; immunity to coronavirus doesnt last forever, Peacock told Reuters. She added that scientists were already changing the vaccine to fight virus variants as they are found. Peacock, a professor at Britains Cambridge University, said she was sure that regular booster shots would be needed to deal with future variants. However, she said that the booster doses could be developed and given to people over time. Peacock set up COG-UK exactly a year ago with the help of the British governments chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance. The group is made up of public health experts and scientists from several British universities. It now holds more information about the viruss genetics than anywhere else in the world. At places across Britain, COG-UK scientists have sequenced over 349,000 genomes of the virus out of a worldwide effort of about 778,000 genomes. There are three main coronavirus variants, which were first identified: Britain, known as B.1.1.7; Brazil, known as P1; and South Africa, known as B.1.351. Peacock said she is most worried about the South Africa variant. Not only does it spread more easily, but it also has a change in a gene mutation that can lower immunity. That gene mutation is known as E484K. With 120 million cases of COVID-19 around the world, it is getting hard to keep track of all the different variants and names. So, Peacocks teams are thinking in terms of constellations of mutations, she said. Constellation in this case means a group of people or things that are similar in some way. She explained that scientists are thinking about what mutations or constellation of mutations are going to be important biologically and different combinations that may have slightly different biological effects. Peacock added that she and other experts have had to accept they will be wrong about some of their COVID-19 predictions. One of the things that the virus has taught me is that I can be wrong quite regularly - I have to be quite humble in the face of the virus that we know very little about still, she said. There may be a variant out there that we havent even discovered yet. The coronavirus has killed 2.65 million people worldwide since it began in China in late 2019. There will be other pandemics in the future. Peacock hopes that scientists will take what they have learned from the coronavirus and be better prepared for the next worldwide health crisis. Im Susan Shand. The Reuters News Agency reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story mutate v. to cause (a gene) to change and create an unusual characteristic in a plant or animal regular adj. happening over and over again at the same time or in the same way immunity n. the power to keep yourself from being affected by a disease dose n. the amount of medication to be taken at one time variant n. different in some way from others of the same kind sequence v. a group of things that come one after the other humble adj. not thinking of yourself as better than others We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, and visit our Facebook page. At least 13 police officers were killed in a series of daytime ambushes by alleged members of the La Familia Michoacana cartel in central Mexico on Thursday. Local media outlets reported that the cops were assigned to the state police and state prosecutor's office in the State of Mexico. The first incident took place between 1pm and 2pm local time when the gunmen opened fire at a unit of four state police officers and two agents from the state attorney general's office investigative police division as they were preparing themselves for a patrol tour in Llano Grande, an area in the city of Coatepec Harinas. All six officers and agents were killed. Moments later, the gang intercepted another three agents enlisted to the state attorney general's office and killed them while they were driving their pickup truck. Three Mexican law enforcement agents were left lying next to their pickup truck after they were ambushed by alleged members of La Familia Michoacana on Thursday in a series of attacks that left 13 police officers dead Police in State of Mexico, Mexico, cordon off an area where four cops were shot dead inside their patrol vehicle on Thursday Police officers work at a crime scene where gunmen killed at least 13 Mexican police officers in an ambush, in Coatepec Harinas, Mexico The assailants unleashed their third attack approximately 50 minutes later in the municipality of Zacualpan, executing another four cops while they were sitting inside a patrol SUV. In an audio call for backup for one of the worst mass slayings of security forces to rock the country in recent years, a cop could be heard saying, 'Ask for support for the Carmen (unit), we are being shot at, please, they're shooting at us in Llano Grande.' 'This attack is an affront to the Mexican state. We will respond with all force and support of the law,' said Rodrigo Martinez-Celis, the security minister for the State of Mexico. Rodrigo Martinez-Celis, the security minister for the State of Mexico, called Thursday's killings of 13 cops 'an affront to the Mexican state. We will respond with all force and support of the law.' Pictured above are the bodies of at least four cops who were executed by alleged members of La Familia Michoacana Heavily armed security officers drive into the area where 13 law enforcement officers were killed after their convoy was ambushed by suspected drug traffickers in Coatepec Harinas, State of Mexico The Attorney General's Office said agents Ricardo Mondragon, Jose Luis Gomora, Abraham Legorreta, Juan Carlos Villalobos and Jonathan Lazcano were among the victims. The state police has yet to identify its fallen members. State of Mexico attorney general Alejandro Gomez said the state police and prosecutor agencies were already providing assistance to families of the fallen officers. Mexico's National Guard militarized police and the armed forces are searching by land and air for the gunmen. It was unclear if any of the suspected criminals were killed or wounded in the incident. La Familia Michoacana is led by Jonatan 'El Pez' Hurtado and his brother, Jose Alfredo 'El Fresa' Hurtado. El Pez or 'The Fish' has been on the State of Mexico Attorney General's radar since 2011, meanwhile they have been hunting for 'El Fresa' or 'The Berry' since 2014. The bodies of five cops were left lying face down after they executed by an armed gang Two rewards of $24,600 has been offered for information leading to their capture. The brothers were accused by authorities of infiltrating a military battalion and ordering its soldiers to unleash an attack that left 10 members of the rival Guerreros Unidos dead. According to the Mexico's Attorney General's Office, La Familia Michoacana influenced local politicians and law enforcement agents in Teloloapan, Apaxtla de Castrejon, Cuetzala del Progreso, Balsas, Acapetlahuaya, Tlalchapa and Ametepec - all cities in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero. The cartel was officially broken up in 2011 with the arrest of its leader, Jose de Jesus Mendez, according to United States authorities. However, it continued to operate in the states of Guerrero and State of Mexico along with Mexico City, the nation's capital. The criminal organization's fracture led to the creation of the New Familia Michoacana, which operates out of Guerrero and Michoacan, and forced the Hurtado brothers to forge a union with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the two most powerful criminal syndicates in the country. The Drug Enforcement Administration 2020 National Drug Threat Assessment lists La Familia Michoacana as one of the nine transnational criminal organizations from Mexico who 'are the greatest drug trafficking threat to the United States.' A socially distanced classroom in a Cedar Rapids School (Photo: Cedar Rapids Community School District) Iowa Closes Its Schools for the Year During the spring school closure, and throughout the summer, the district provided more than 25,000 meals a week to students who depended on its food programs. (Photo: Cedar Rapids Community School District) Providing Food, Health Care and Education Senior Year Disruptions The Kennedy High School Choir performs during the Class of 2020 virtual graduation. (Image: Cedar Rapids Community School District) Changing Expectations On Aug. 10, a derecho struck Cedar Rapids, damaging every one of its schools. (Photos: Cedar Rapids Community School District ) Derecho Damages Cedar Rapids Schools Remote instruction kept students connected during spring school closures, and is still available for those who choose to study from home. (Photo: Cedar Rapids Community School District) A 'Spooky' Disease A Year of Learning Sixty percent of K-12 students in America started the 2020-2021 school year fully remote, according to estimates from McKinsey and Company . Just over a year since schools shut their doors to slow the spread of coronavirus, the great majority of statewide orders have been lifted. It has largely fallen to district leaders to find a way forward that can satisfy public health officials, parents, teachers and politicians.One in particular has gained national attention for navigating the path forward for students and teachers. Noreen Bush, superintendent of the Cedar Rapids Community School District (CRCSD), works in one of five states where state officials have already ordered all schools to provide in-person instruction. Like her colleagues across the country, shes been buffeted by the uncertainty, risks, educational setbacks, misinformation, resource demands and constant need for reinvention that the pandemic has brought to public schools.This past year has pointed us in so many different directions in response to things that have happened, she says. But it always comes back to the same direction of serving our kids and doing whatever we need to do to get them what they need.As it happened, the greatest public health crisis in a century was just one of the harrowing twists and turns that Superintendent Bush encountered as she and her staff worked to stay the course. Her ability to rise above the challenges hasn't gone unnoticed. Bush has received the 2021 Women in Leadership Award from the American Association of School Administrators.CRCSD is the second-largest district in Iowa, serving more than 16,000 students. About half qualify for free and reduced lunch, says Bush, and English language learners in the district speak 60 languages. Bush is the districts first woman superintendent, selected in February 2020 by its Board of Education.Since 2017, she has worked as associate, deputy and interim superintendent. When the continuing spread of the coronavirus forced the district to reimagine its operations, it had the benefit of being in the hands of someone who knew it well.On March 13, 2020, Gov. Kim Reynolds recommended that Iowa schools close for four weeks. The district got to work on a plan for continuous learning during what was expected to be a short break. At the beginning of April the break was extended until April 30, and before that date arrived, Reynolds ordered schools to remain closed for the remainder of the school year.Iowa schools were directed to develop plans that took them through the spring and into the beginning of the new school year in August. We knew right away that if we were going to give families the option to stay remote, wed have to get devices in the hands of every child, says Bush.In the 2019-2020 school year, all high school students in the district had been given Chromebooks. These were also available to middle school students at a two-to-one ratio, but they had not been allowed to take them home. After deciding on Chromebooks for children at elementary through high school levels, and iPads for preschool and kindergarten children, the districts executive director of digital literacy and tech manager reached out to vendors to make sure they could get the devices they needed.We knew that would be the first thing to do, says Bush. Im so glad we decided to do it quickly, because by June the vendors had run out, with delays until October or November.The hardware needed for August was in the pipeline, but the spring semester extended through May and students and families still needed their schools in the moment.Schools have come to fill a range of needs, says Bush, from nutrition and emotional support to wellness services such as dental, vision and hearing screenings. Academic progress was not the only thing at stake if connection to the community suffered.Thousands of students depend on CRCSD for food, and while the schools were closed, the district distributed more than 25,000 meals a week a warm lunch and breakfast for the following day available at multiple pickup sites throughout the district. USDA funding made it possible to continue this service through the summer, with meals available to anyone 18 years old or younger whether they were members of the district or not.The delivery of new educational content was stopped, in part because there was no guarantee that every student would have equal access to it. That was heartbreaking, to not give kids what you want to give them from a learning point of view, says Bush. But we also kept in mind what was most important, which was their health and their safety and trying to keep them as engaged as possible.For high schoolers, grades were frozen where they had been at midterm, and students could let that grade stand or improve it through remote help from a teacher, work study groups or independent study, followed by an online assessment. Younger students in the district, whose performance is evaluated in relation to established standards, were also helped to improve.Reinforcement packets were available at lunch pickup sites or mailed to students. The district had some online course offerings for high school students, and check-ins and online meetings were available to families, but not all students had Internet access.It was a true pronouncement of inequity across our system, says Bush. To say the spring was bumpy would be an understatement.High school seniors were a special case. Rites of passage such as graduation, prom and senior awards, culminating experiences of 13 years in public education, could not go forward as in-person gatherings of cherished friends and families.A lot of grieving happened in the spring, says Bush. It was real trauma and real loss.The community pooled resources to create the best experience possible for the Class of 2020. Yard signs were printed for graduates, and drive-through distribution was set up at schools for seniors to collect a sign and their cap and gown. Planted in neighborhoods throughout the city, the signs marked routes for celebratory parades of decorated cars.Each graduate was filmed crossing a stage with their diploma and then adjusting their tassel. Complete video ceremonies , one for each high school, were aired on local television and webcast so out-of-town relatives could join. (They can now be seen on the districts YouTube channel .)Special efforts were also needed to help seniors make the transition to college. That was an acute operation for our high school counselors and advisers, down to each individual student, with lots of phone calls and Zoom and Google meetings, making sure that they got what they needed, says Bush.CRCSDs IT staff spent the summer preparing thousands of new devices for students, and the instructional and administrative staff reviewed lessons learned during the spring. In July, the Iowa governor issued a new order allowing remote learning, but requiring all schools to deliver at least 50 percent in-person instruction, a surprise to schools that had planned to start the year in a remote environment. The district fine-tuned its Return to Learn plan based on feedback from parents and its Board of Education and offered a choice of remote or in-person learning for preschool through eighth grade.For high school students, CRCSD settled on a hybrid model, with students coming in person one week and working online the next, alternating with another cohort. Our largest high school is 1,800 kids, says Bush. Having all 1,800 in one space at one time would be very challenging.High school families were also allowed to choose virtual instruction only, and during an August registration survey, 60 percent chose in-person learning and 40 percent remote. Teachers present curriculum in a classroom of socially-distanced students, delivering instruction on a screen that is also seen by those joining online.In addition to making the adjustments necessary to include remote learners in the classroom, teachers at all levels reworked curriculum plans to help students catch up what they missed in the spring. Staff were given the choice of teaching remotely or in person. All who wanted to work from home were accommodated, and the district had to recruit additional remote teachers to meet student needs.The work Bush and her staff did during this period gave them what they needed to contain the confusion the pandemic had generated, but nature brought a disruption they had not anticipated. On Aug. 10, Cedar Rapids bore the brunt of a derecho , a rare thunderstorm event that brings a wall of high wind that can travel hundreds of miles in a relatively straight path, causing as much destruction as a tornado.Gusts as high as 140 miles per hour were recorded in Cedar Rapids. The city lost 65 percent of its tree canopy, and the storm damaged every one of CRCSDs 31 schools. All of its high schools, and half of its middle schools, were too damaged to accomodate in-person learning without significant repairs.The districts 21 elementary schools were less affected. This, combined with the fact that demand for in-person instruction was highest among elementary-aged children and their families, made them a priority for repairs. Plans for students enrolled in middle and high schools made unsafe by the storm had to be reimagined, and strategies developed during the spring closure found new application.The pandemic allowed us to be prepared for remote instruction, and then it became necessary because of the derecho, says Bush.The district invested in hot spots and distributed them to students. Several organizations in the community allowed groups of students to gather in their buildings for online study. Teachers who had chosen in-person instruction joined them in these hubs, and principals rotated to them as well. Packets of material were again supplied to students.Building by building, the damaged schools were brought back online, with the last, a high school, welcoming students in JanuaryAs Bush led the district through the spring and into the fall, she was engaged in more than one elemental struggle. In April 2020, after weeks of working from 6 a.m. to midnight to redefine operations after orders to close her schools, she wasnt feeling right.She contacted her doctor and told him about her symptoms. They werent signs of COVID-19, and he asked her to come in for an assessment. A CT scan showed a mass in her pelvis, and other tests showed cancer had spread to her liver.Ill just say that cancer is spooky, says Bush. The diagnosis is not one that you want to hear.Within days, she had begun the first of six rounds of chemotherapy. She worked throughout them, holding calls and Zoom meetings even during the day-long infusions she received every three weeks.All of her staff and colleagues were also remote and this unusual circumstance made it easier for her to stay in stride while working from home, supported by her husband and sons. As a patient, it doesnt get any better than to be surrounded by the people you love every day, she says.By the time CRCSD schools began to reopen, she was well enough to come to them in person, especially since the COVID-19 safety protocols the district had put in place helped protect her from other exposures that could challenge a weakened immune system. Her cancer appeared to be dormant in August, but the immune therapy intended to keep it at bay wasnt fully successful, and she has begun another round of chemotherapy.True to her calling, shes posed a steady stream of questions about the science of what shes experiencing to her oncologist. I feel like I learned nothing in my AP biology classes, says the superintendent. I actually understand what all this stuff is now so yes, relevance matters.Gov. Reynolds continues to press for a return to 100 percent in-person instruction in Iowa, signing a bill in January that required all schools to give this option to all parents by mid-February, subject to waivers if a sufficient number of teachers at a school need to quarantine. Not all school leaders agree with this order, and one of Bushs colleagues in Des Moines has been threatened with loss of his administrators license for continuing with remote learning.Bush and her team have become acclimated to continuous changes in the decisions and information coming at them from external sources, whether the governor, the Public Health Department or their Board of Education. Filtering this input in a way that keeps the focus on serving kids and the community depends on close cooperation between staff, teachers and parents, she says, and these relationships have deepened.Bush and her teachers continue to push forward, but she worries about the long-term impact of ruptures in the support systems that schools offer to young people. Its one thing to help a first grader recover phonemic skills, but another to fill the hole left by time away from friends, teachers and familiar surroundings. On the other hand, she believes her students may have reserves of strength in their memories of a period when the business of life was suspended and families spent more time together and shared more meals than they would have otherwise.For now, she lives every day in problem-solving mode, finding ways to meet the needs of those who need and want support from her schools and teachers.It's been a year of learning, that's for sure, says Bush. Im humbled when I reflect that we did a whole lot of heavy lifting and incredible, amazing things for kids then on the other side I think, If I had to do that again, I might do something different. (Newser) A former state senator in Florida is facing felony charges for allegedly recruiting a "ghost candidate" to help a fellow Republican win last November. After Democratic state Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez lost his seat by a razor-thin margin of 32 votes out of more than 215,000 cast, the party started asking questions about another Rodriguez on the ballot who received more than 6,000 votes but never campaigned, the Washington Post reports. Police say former state Sen. Frank Artiles paid Alexis Rodriguez, a friend in financial trouble, more than $44,000 to run as an independent in a scheme to "confuse voters and siphon votes from the incumbent." Both men were charged with election law violations Thursday. Authorities say state Sen. Ileana Garcia, who won the race, has not been implicated in the scheme. story continues below According to an arrest warrant, Artiles told Rodriguez to change his affiliation to independent and use paperwork with an old address so he would qualify to run in the state's 37th District, the Miami Herald reports. "Artiles explained that Rodriguez would not be involved in any part of the campaign, nor would he have to participate in any decision making," the warrant states. The only campaigning done on Rodriguez's behalf involved political mailers funded by a mystery donor through two political action committees. A lawyer for Rodriguez says he is now cooperating with investigators. The lawyer says Artiles "cynically targeted and used" a vulnerable friend "to confuse voters and steal the election." Authorities say they are also investigating two other suspicious candidates in Florida races. (Read more Election 2020 stories.) AfriAg Global Plc - Notice of GM for Apollon Acquisition 19 March 2021 AfriAg Global plc ("AfriAg" or the "Company") Posting of Admission Document Confirmation of 2.5m Fundraising Application to AQSE Growth Market (subject to AQSE approval) Proposed Appointments and Resignations Proposed Change of Name to Apollon Formularies General Meeting to Approve the Acquisition of Apollon Formularies Ltd Posting Admission Document and Notice of General Meeting Further to previous announcement regarding the proposed reverse take-over of medicinal cannabis company Apollon Formularies Ltd ("Apollon") (the "RTO" or the "Proposed Acquisition") on 23 February 2021, AfriAg is pleased to announce today the posting of its admission document and notice of general meeting to be held at 7-9 Swallow Street, London, United Kingdom, W1B 4DE at 10 a.m. (London Time) on 12 April 2021. As a consequence of COVID-19, the General Meeting will be run as a closed meeting and Shareholders will not be able to attend. Application to AQSE Growth Market, subject to AQSE regulatory approval Proposed re-admission of the Enlarged Share Capital of 748,376,677 Ordinary Shares to the AQSE Growth Market and to trading ("Admission"). The Company has published an Admission Document and has made application for Admission to the AQSE Growth Market, as the transaction constitutes a reverse takeover under the AQSE Growth Market Rules Placing and Subscription undertaken by Peterhouse Capital, to raise 2,500,000 at 5 pence per share, conditional on Admission The terms of the Proposed Acquisition, pursuant to which the consideration will be satisfied by the issue and allotment of 666,666,666 Ordinary Shares of no par value ("Ordinary Shares") to the shareholders of Apollon at a deemed price of 6 pence per share The proposed appointment of existing directors of Apollon as directors of the Company; Dr Stephen Barnhill as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman and Nicholas Barnhill as a Non-Executive Director. The Company will also welcome Kevin Sheil and Nicholas Ingrassia as Non-Executive Directors and will accept the resignation of David Lenigas, Hamish Harris , and Donald Strang as Directors of the Company with effect from Admission (which is subject to, and conditional upon, inter alia, completion of the Proposed Acquisition and Admission) On Admission and subject to Shareholder and regulatory approval, the Company proposes to change its name to Apollon Formularies PLC Apollon Formularies, Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Stephen Barnhill, said: "We are delighted to be coming to market at such an important time for medical cannabis across the UK. The reaction to newly listed cannabis-related businesses has been remarkable, and we look forward to bringing Apollon, with its full suite of licences and THC inclusive formulations, to the London market. "Apollon's strong research and development ability will make us one of the few listed cannabis companies in Europe that is able to treat patients with formulas inclusive of THC, and the licences held in Jamaica mean that all our formulas are backed by medically supervised treatments. Our conditional fundraise of 2,500,000, as announced on 23 February, has shown a strong appetite for our company and we are pleased that we are able to provide the market with a truly unique investment opportunity." Availability of the Admission Document The Admission Document will be made available shortly online at www.afriagglobal.com. A copy of the Notice of General Meeting is set out in full below in this announcement without material amendment or adjustment. The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement. -ENDS- For additional information please contact: AfriAg Global PLC David Lenigas lenigas@monaco-capital.com Apollon Formularies Tel: +44 207 907 9314 Kevin Sheil kevin@apollon.org.uk Stene Jacobs stene@apollon.org.uk Peterhouse Capital Limited (Corporate Adviser) Tel: +44 207 220 9795 Guy Miller gm@peterhousecapital.com Blytheweigh (Financial PR/IR-London) Tel: +44 207 138 3204 Tim Blythe tim.blythe@blytheweigh.com Megan Ray megan.ray@blytheweigh.com AFRIAG GLOBAL PLC (a company incorporated and registered in the Isle of Man under the Isle of Man Companies Act 2006 with registered number 002845V) NOTICE OF GENERAL MEETING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a general meeting of the shareholders of AfriAg Global Plc (the Company) will be held at 10 a.m. (London Time) on 12 April 2021 (London time) to consider and, if thought fit, pass resolution 1 and resolution 2 which will be proposed as ordinary resolutions and resolution 3 and resolution 4 which will be proposed as special resolutions. It should be noted that only the Independent Shareholders will be allowed to vote the waiver Resolution 2. The physical meeting will be held at 7-9 Swallow Street, London, United Kingdom, W1B 4DE, but please note the instructions set out in this document with respect to the arrangements in place for this meeting. No Shareholder will be allowed entry into to the physical meeting . THAT, subject to passing of resolutions 2 and 3, the offer by the Company to acquire the entire issued share capital of Apollon Formularies Ltd (Apollon) from the existing shareholders of Apollon not already owned by the Company (Offer) on the terms and subject to the conditions contained in the offer document to be posted to the shareholders of Apollon be and is hereby approved and that the Directors of the Company be and are hereby authorised to take all steps necessary or, in the opinion of the Directors of the Company, desirable, to complete and give effect to the Offer. THAT the waiver to be granted by the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers of any obligation under Rule 9 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers on any or all of the Concert Party (as defined in the Company's Admission Document dated 17 March 2021 (the "Admission Document")) to make a general offer to Shareholders of the Company which obligation might otherwise have arisen as a result of the issue to the members of the Concert Party of, in aggregate of 484,573,459 Ordinary Shares of no par value as consideration under the agreement entered into by the Company in relation to the Offer, as a result of which the Concert Party will own in aggregate up to 64.75% of the enlarged share capital of the Company, be and is hereby approved. This resolution 2 can only be voted on by the Independent Shareholders. THAT the Directors of the Company be authorised and empowered to allot and issue ordinary shares of no par value in the Company (Ordinary Shares) and rights to subscribe for Ordinary Shares (together equity securities) for cash or other consideration in accordance with Article 5.1 of the Company's articles of association in respect of 816,666,666 new equity securities as if the restrictions on the allotment and issue of equity securities in Article 5.2 of the Company's articles of association did not apply to any such allotment and issue, such power to expire on the date occurring 15 months from the date of this special resolution or (if earlier) the conclusion of the annual general meeting of the Company to be held in 2021, provided that the Company may, before the expiry of this power, make an offer or agreement which would or might require equity securities to be allotted and issued after the expiry of this power and the Directors may allot and issue equity securities in pursuance of such an offer or agreement as if the power had not expired. The allotments in respect of 816,666,666 Ordinary Shares shall be limited to: the allotment of 666,666,666 new Ordinary Shares pursuant to the Offer; the allotment of 50,000,000 new Ordinary Shares in the capital of the Company in connection with the Placing and Subscription; and the allotment (other than under paragraphs (a) to (b) above) of additional equity securities up to an aggregate amount of 100,000,000. 4. THAT, conditional upon Admission, the name of the Company be changed to "Apollon Formularies Plc" and that the Company's memorandum and articles of association be amended to reflect such change of name. Registered Office 34 North Quay David Lenigas Douglas by Order of the Company's Board Isle of Man17 March 2021 IM1 4LB The so-called millionaires tax is back on the minds of the public and legislators. Also known as the Fair Share Amendment, the proposal would raise the levy on those making more than $1 million per year. The proposal for the constitutional amendment passed both the Massachusetts House and Senate in 2019 by a vote of 147 to 48. If passed again, the proposal will be decided as a ballot question in the 2022 elections. If passed, the amendment would impose a 4% surtax on income above $1 million. Massachusetts currently imposes a 5% flat tax rate on earners. Quite simply, those that support the tax claim the revenue, earmarked toward education and transportation sector, is vital to address the effects of the pandemic and offers a long-term stream of revenue. But others claim imposing such a tax will chase out business and industry to other states that dont have such policies -- leaving Massachusetts without vital sources of income. This is the more likely scenario and is already happening in other states that have imposed higher tax rates. The private sector has been hit hard by the pandemic, and business and industry have acclimated their business operations to allow more mobility. A small or mid-sized business could simply leave Massachusetts to set up in a state like Florida or New Hampshire that dont have such tax policies. Most voters in the Bay State dont make a million dollars a year so the measure is popular. A MassINC poll in January indicated 72% of participants supported the surtax regardless of what the funds supported. Taking aim at millionaires is a popular political sport these days, but some who support the amendment, like public sector unions, for instance, seem to ignore the reality that it will chase jobs and tax revenue elsewhere. According to a Pioneer Institute report, Massachusetts has already seen a net loss of $20 billion to other states, especially New Hampshire and Florida where taxes are much lower. This tax competition, the race to the bottom, has been going on among states for decades and its becoming clear that there are no real winners. As the U.S. begins an economic recovery from the pandemic, there needs to be more discussion on the most effective ways to generate revenue without undercutting neighboring states. Our economy should be more dependent on cooperation rather than competition. Stormonts Health Minister urged continued vigilance in the battle against Covid-19 as he reflected on the first anniversary of the first coronavirus death in Northern Ireland. Robin Swann insisted better days were to come but warned of the threat still posed by the virus. The Covid-linked death of an older man with an underlying health condition was reported on March 19, 2020. The fatality was announced three weeks after the first confirmed case of the disease was reported in the region. Commenting on the anniversary of first confirmed Covid-related death, Health Minister Robin Swann has assured all those bereaved through #COVID19 that the thoughts of people across Northern Ireland are very much with them.https://t.co/cpSDSl08b2 pic.twitter.com/YbIh9FD3UA Department of Health (@healthdpt) March 19, 2021 Within days of the first death, schools across Northern Ireland were closed as the first lockdown began. We are all very aware of the devastation caused by Covid-19 in the past year, said Mr Swann. Our thoughts are very much with the families and friends of those who have died. I know I speak for people across Northern Ireland in saying that. We can see better days ahead in the battle against the virus, but we must never forget the pain and loss it has caused, nor can we ever overlook its capacity to inflict more suffering. We must remain vigilant and keep taking the steps that we know will stop Covid-19 spreading. The deaths of a further three people who previously tested positive for Covid-19 were reported by Mr Swanns department on Friday. The fatalities took to 2,103 the total number of deaths recorded by the Department of Health since the pandemic began. Expand Close Northern Ireland Chief Medical Officer Michael McBride receives his first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine at the Ulster Hospital (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Northern Ireland Chief Medical Officer Michael McBride receives his first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine at the Ulster Hospital (Liam McBurney/PA) The overall number of deaths linked to the virus is higher, as the departmental data only relates to those who have tested positive. The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) collates information on all deaths in which Covid-19 has been recorded on a death certificate by a medical professional, whether the person had tested positive or not. The Nisra toll, which is reported with a week lag, stood at 2,877 on March 12. As of Friday lunchtime, 726,290 vaccines had been administered in the region 655,581 first doses and 70,709 second doses. Health authorities in the region have moved to reassure the public that recent problems with the UK supply of AstraZeneca jabs will not have a significant impact on the rollout plan for Northern Ireland, with a delay of around two weeks estimated. German meat giant Toennies is reportedly exploring a sale of the business led by family member Clemens Toennies. A sale of the family-owned company could possibly fetch as much as EUR4bn (US$4.8bn), Bloomberg reported, quoting unnamed sources familiar with the proceedings, who added the meat processor could start talks with potential interested parties in the next few weeks. The publications sources said Toennies plans to approach global meat peers Tyson Foods, Brazils JBS and Chinas WH Group, which also owns US pork processor Smithfield Foods. No final decisions have been made around the disposal and there is no guarantee whether planned talks will lead to a deal, Bloomberg reported, adding Toennies and Tyson had declined to comment on the matter, while it had not received replies from JBS or WH Group. just-food has also approached Toennies for comment this morning. CEO Toennies holds a 45% share in the company, while his nephew Robert Toennies owns 50%, with Bloomberg's sources saying they are both willing to sell their stakes "in any deal". Some of Toennies' German factories were hit by Covid-19 outbreaks last year, with around 1,000 positive cases recorded at a single plant in the north west of the country at one stage. A school captain whose elite Brisbane school was mentioned in testimonies by women who say they were sexually assaulted has delivered a rousing speech and called on his peers to speak up on the issue. Brisbane Boys' College captain Mason Black stood in front of his peers on Thursday and told them he 'feels sick' about the claims of sexual assault and that the 'narrative needs to change'. 'It makes me feel sick and it makes me feel embarrassed that our school is featured in the testimonies of young women who are victims of sexual assault,' he said. Brisbane Boys' College is one of several schools in Australia that has been named in testimonies from private and public school girls who say they were either sexually assaulted, harassed or raped. Brisbane Boys' College captain Mason Black stood in front of his peers on Thursday and told them he 'feels sick' about the claims of sexual assault and that the 'narrative needs to change' Mr Black said sexual assault was an issue that hit close to home with his family: 'My own mother, at the age of 10, against her will, was sexually abused before she learned about the birds and bees' Thousands of school girls shared their experiences after Kambala School alumni Chanel Contos, 22, launched a petition on February 18, demanding students be taught about consent. Mr Black said his mother had been sexually abused when she was a little girl, and later told Channel 7's Sunrise he only found out by searching her name on Google. 'My own mother, at the age of 10, against her will, was sexually abused before she learned about the birds and bees,' he said. 'Are you brave enough to ask your mum about her experiences?' He said. 'What about your sisters? Friends? You shouldn't have to ask women these questions.' Mr Black mentioned three-high profile cases that had recently made headlines in Australia. The first was Australian of the Year Grace Tame, who was groomed and raped by her maths teacher on the classroom floor when she was 15-years-old. The second was former liberal staffer Brittany Higgins who claims she was raped by a colleague in then defence industry minister Lindsay Reynold's office in 2019. The third was Sarah Everard, 33, who was allegedly abducted and murdered while walking home from a friend's house in London. 'Why is it that almost every day we hear of new cases and examples of abuse against women?' Mr Black said. 'I wish I grew up in an Australia where the narrative that one in three women will be physically or sexually abused at some point in their life wasn't true.' Brisbane Boys' College is one of several schools in Australia that has been named in testimonies from private and public school girls who say they were either sexually assaulted, harassed or raped Thousands of school girls shared their experiences after Kambala School alumni Chanel Contos, 22, launched a petition on February 18, demanding students be taught about consent 'How can it be that even with all of our money and laws every day women around our country continue to be abused, raped, psychologically vilified and denied the basic human rights that most males take for granted?' Mr Black also put down NSW Police commissioner Mick Fuller after he suggested lovers use a consent app before having sex. The phone app, similar to Denmark's 'iConsent', would be a way of establishing whether or not two parties had agreed to sex before it happened. 'What you really need is a basic acceptance and respect, and that boys is on all of us,' Mr Black said. 'Boys, if a woman wants to say no, and she says no, we have to listen, understand and accept this. 'This rape culture is so deeply ingrained into today's world, and it needs to be addressed.' The petition kickstarted by Ms Contos demands consent be included earlier in sexuality education Mr Black told Sunrise on Friday he only found out about his mother's sexual abuse from googling her name. 'How it came about was I found out one night at the boarding house, I was googling my mum's name and she wrote a book that talked about her early life called Motherhood,' he said. 'I found this chapter which was all about her story and on Mother's Day I printed it out and gave it to her.' Mr Black said since making the speech his friends had opened up to him on the issue and he had received plenty of support from his peers. 'The support has been amazing,' he said. 'Not a single man has come up to me and gone against what I said, and it is so inspirational.' Brisbane Boys' College headmaster Paul Brown told Daily Mail Australia the school was teaching its students about 'respecting women, the importance of consent, and domestic violence.' 'While much good work is being done, I believe that we can do more to ensure that young girls and women are not subject to objectionable behaviour or worse at the hands of boys and men.' 'The testimony of so many women who have suffered discrimination and assault is indeed shocking and unacceptable. We must do more and assist our students to set new standards of respect for the dignity of all girls and women.' Mr Black also put down NSW Police commissioner Mick Fuller after he suggested lovers use a consent app before having sex OTSEGO COUNTY, MI Three relatives have pleaded guilty to reduced charges in what DNR conservation officers have called a historic elk poaching case in Northern Michigan. The men were accused in the December 2019 killing of three cow elks. They pleaded not guilty in January to eight wildlife crimes. This week, Christian White, 29, of Gaylord, and Harry White, 70, of West Branch, each pleaded guilty to one count of taking an elk without a kill tag, WPBN/WGTU reports. Ronald White, 56, of West Branch, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the taking of an elk without a kill tag. Penalties for those crimes include fines, forfeiture of weapons used in the poaching and a 15-year revocation of hunting privileges. RELATED: Three Michigan relatives charged in historic elk poaching case from 2019 RELATED: Michigans worst year for elk poaching continues after 3 more are found killed Conservation officers began investigating the men more than a year ago after receiving anonymous tips from the public that eventually placed the suspects north of Hardwood Lake Road near Bobcat Trail, east of Vanderbilt, on the day the three elk were found lying together. Without our officers professional commitment to pursuit of the facts, these suspects would have gotten away with one of the worst elk poaching incidents I have ever seen, said Sgt. Mark DePew, who supervised the investigation. During the investigation, the Whites confessed to conservation officers that they poached the three elk, according to a news release. READ MORE: Michigans Best Ultimate Fish Fry Guide 2021 3 reasons why 70 degrees could happen soon in southern Michigan How Mackinac Islands winter Carhartt Army helps create tourist-season success Laird Elizabeth Nelson moved to Seattle, sight unseen, in 2015 to work as an in-house lawyer at Amazon. As a newcomer, she heard the common refrain Seattle residents are friendly and nice to you but will freeze you out. Local residents have long had a reputation for keeping to themselves. Its known as the Seattle Freeze. Casey Patrick McNerthney, she learned, was the polar opposite. Mr. McNerthney, 40, spotted her profile in 2018 on the Hinge dating app one morning before work. Without overthinking it, he sent her a message before zipping down the freeway to KIRO-TV, a CBS affiliate in Seattle, where he was the executive producer of digital media until last year. Mr. McNerthney, who graduated from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash., is now the director of communications at the King County Prosecuting Attorneys Office in Seattle. You pick the neighborhood, and Ill pick the place, he messaged Ms. Nelson, 37, who graduated with honors from Johns Hopkins University, received a diploma from the School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna, Italy, and a law degree from Columbia. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) Two cities in Metro Manila announced the suspension of Holy Week activities due to the spike in COVID-19 cases. In a radio interview on Friday, Mayor Isko Moreno said all related activities will be canceled, including the rituals of penitensya, Visita Iglesia, and caridad. Moreno said it was logical to do away with mass gatherings that could turn into superspreader events, especially with the COVID numbers rising. Ang importante sa Semana Santa, 'yung relasyon natin sa Diyos (Whats important during the Holy Week is our relationship with God), the mayor said. Moreno said the local government cannot afford to take chances, citing the increasing occupancy rates in their district hospitals. He added authorities will continue to strictly enforce health protocols and implement localized lockdowns. Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi also announced a similar move, except for the conduct of masses. However, churches were asked to maintain 30% seating capacity. Fresnedi said it is imperative to carry out such restrictions especially since Muntinlupa shares its border with San Pedro, Laguna, and cities in Cavite areas that are under more lenient quarantine rules. Meanwhile, Antipolo City in Rizal also announced that its annual Alay Lakad and other Holy Week activities will be cancelled this year. The Philippines logged an all-time high 7,103 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, pushing the nationwide tally to 648,066. Metro Manila continues to be the epicenter of the pandemic, with over 260,000 cases as of the Health department's latest data. JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- A study by the University of Southern Mississippi says the expected return of passenger rail service to the Mississippi coast in 2022 could have an economic impact on the state of nearly half a billion dollars. Amtrak says it remains on schedule to restore passenger service from New Orleans to Mobile in 2022, perhaps as early as the first quarter. The Mississippi coast is scheduled to have four stops on the route -- Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport and Bay St. Louis. Amtrak last offered passenger rail service to the area in 2005. In 2016, Officials with Amtrak and the Southern Rail Commission toured the railway between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Fla.. Amtrak president Joe Boardman and other officials rode the rails to examine the CSX railroad infrastructure and economic opportunities along the Gulf Coast. In January, the company confirmed it was moving forward with plans to return service to the New Orleans to Mobile route in 2022. The USM study suggests an estimated financial impact statewide of $485,924,479 -- with the bulk of the impact -- $441.5 million -- on the Mississippi coast. The report suggests an annual increase of tourism spending in each of the three coastal counties: $33.4 million in Jackson County $370.6 million in Harrison County $37.5 million in Hancock County In addition, its estimated the return of passenger rail service could create more than 7,000 new jobs in the tourism industry along the coast. We are very much looking forward to the introduction of a passenger rail service that would not only connect our 12 coastal communities, but further connect Coastal Mississippi with our neighboring destinations of Mobile and New Orleans, said Milton Segarra, CEO of Coastal Mississippi. The proposed rail services would have an immense economic impact on not only our region but the entire state. Coastal Mississippi offers such a variety of unique experiences, and we look forward to welcoming many more visitors from our neighboring states. The bottom line from health experts is this: It is important for as many people as possible to get vaccinated as quickly as possible. Most states are beyond vaccinating the highest priority groups, like health care workers or people who live in nursing homes, and are offering the vaccine at least to essential workers. But as you note, some states have lowered the age of eligibility while others have not. Vaccination in the United States has always been the province of the states, and the guidance put out by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is just that guidance. That said, President Biden has ordered all states to make all adults eligible for the vaccine no later than May 1. As the vaccine supply grows, we are going to soon see a reversal: Instead of having too little vaccine for a public that is clamoring for it, we will have more than enough and the problem will be getting people who dont want it to take it. Biden said last week that the federal government would secure another 100 million doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. How soon will those vaccines be available? Are we nearing a point where supply more or less equals demand? Those doses are not likely to be available until the second half of this year. The White House envisions that they would be available to vaccinate children, or for booster doses, or to reformulate vaccines to combat emerging variants. That said, we are indeed nearing or at least heading toward a point where supply equals demand. The administration expects to have enough vaccine on hand to vaccinate every adult American by the end of May. Public opinion polls have shown that there is stubborn reluctance to take the vaccine among certain demographics in the country particularly Republican men, about half of whom said in a recent survey that they wouldnt take a vaccine even if it became available. Does this worry public officials, and are leaders taking steps to address that reluctance? That's Wild: 1.5 Million Cicadas per Acre Remember 2004? Facebook was launched as a kind of student directory at Harvard University. Atmospheric carbon dioxide was still below 400 ppm and would stay that way for almost a decade. It was the second year of the Iraq War. It was also the last time the famous 17-year cicada brood, called Brood X, erupted in the eastern United States with a single-minded focus on reproduction. During that spring and summer, billions of these flying bugs as many as 1.5 million cicadas per acre swarmed rural Indiana, blanketed trees in Washington, D.C., and laid billions of eggs across 14 states. Their young then crawled underground, where they've been ever since. But the cicadas will be erupting again this year, as The Washington Post reports. The first wave could emerge just weeks from now. ULAN-UDE, Russia -- In 2017, Sergei Krasikov won a national competition for best young forest ranger in Russia. "It was a contest among all rangers under the age of 30," said one of Sergei's colleagues at the Altacheisky State Nature Preserve in the Siberian region of Buryatia who asked that his name be withheld. "They looked at everyone's work in its entirety -- how many cases had been filed, how many weapons had been confiscated, how many criminal and administrative cases were sent to the courts. And Sergei took first place in the whole country." Now Krasikov is the target of a criminal case on charges that he exceeded his authority during the October 2020 arrest of five alleged poachers in the protected area, which is part of the ecosystem of Russia's world-famous Lake Baikal. "I came home from work one evening when I saw something in my mailbox," Krasikov, 32, told RFE/RL. "It was a letter and that's how I found out that a criminal case had been opened against me." "No one spoke to me," he continued. "No one even called.... Later, reading the Internet, I learned that I was accused of striking someone with a rifle butt and shooting at someone's leg. And it was a case from last year when we detained five poachers in the field who tried to run me over with their vehicle while trying to escape." Although the case remains under investigation, Krasikov could face up to 10 years in prison if tried and convicted. Krasikov's case, observers say, reflects the enormous challenges facing those who have dedicated their lives to protecting Russia's natural heritage. Rangers across the country face sometimes lethal danger from poachers and others who often turn out to have connections with local police, prosecutors, or politicians. "Russia's forests are defenseless," said Igor Shpilenok, a forest ranger at the Bryansk Forest reserve in western Russia. "We have a poacher mafia that has merged with law enforcement agencies, while those who are genuinely engaged in providing security have no resources or power." "We have some wonderful people who really want to protect nature," Igor added. "The biggest problem with the management of Russia's nature reserves is not even the lack of funding. The trouble is the lack of state will and state policy. It is the lack of competent overall management of protected areas." Kleptocracy By Nature? The political system created by longtime President Vladimir Putin has been described by some analysts as an authoritarian kleptocracy in which the impunity of law enforcement and security personnel fosters corrupt and criminal connections. The late political scientist Karen Dawisha, in her 2014 book Putin's Kleptocracy, wrote that "in the 10 years from 2002 to 2012, hundreds of thousands of businessmen were actually imprisoned, not just questioned or arrested, primarily as a result of rivals paying corrupt police, prosecutors, and judges to put away the competition." Despite Putin's personal efforts to portray himself as a friend of nature and a champion of the law, rampant poaching has been one problematic manifestation of such corruption. In May 2009, Irkutsk region Governor Igor Yesipovsky and three others were killed when their helicopter crashed while they were allegedly using high-powered rifles to illegally hunt bear from the air. In January of the same year, the Kremlin's envoy to the State Duma, Aleksandr Kosopkin, and six others were killed when their helicopter crashed in the Altai region. Leaked photographs from the scene showed the carcasses of two endangered argali sheep on the ground near the wreckage. Forest ranger Krasikov has worked in the 78,000-hectare Altacheisky State Nature Preserve for 10 years. His father and brother are also rangers in the reserve, which is home to more than 40 mammal species, including seven that are listed as protected in Russia. The reserve is part of a network of protected areas that form the Baikal State Natural Biosphere Reserve , at the heart of which lies the UNESCO-recognized Lake Baikal. A Forest Chase At Night "Rangers like Krasikov in our reserve system can be counted on the fingers of one hand," said Artur Murzakhanov, deputy director of the Protected Baikal Region state environmental enterprise. "He is one of those people who really loves nature and is ready to lay down his life for it." Krasikov's current ordeal began last autumn when he discovered vehicle tracks inside the protected area near a place where rangers leave forage for wildlife. "A few days later, a photo trap that we set up sent us an alarm that the car had returned," he told RFE/RL. "On the night of October 4, my father, my brother, and I set out to try to catch them. The first guy presented no problem. He was alone and at first took us for his friends." Soon, Krasikov said, the rangers came upon a car parked in the forest with its lights and engine off. They identified themselves as rangers and called on the people inside the vehicle to exit. "Immediately, the lights and engine came on," Krasikov recalled. "The car took off and headed straight for me. I knew that they intended to run me down and escape." Krasikov said he fired one shot into the front of the vehicle before diving out of the way. "Later it turned out that I had broken my wrist and suffered a concussion," he said. "But there was no time to think about that then. They helped me up and we went after the car." The suspects soon realized their car could not move quickly through the dark forest, and they began jumping from the moving vehicle. The rangers were able to quickly round them up. In all, five men were detained and the rangers confiscated weapons and two animal carcasses. When police arrived on the scene, none of the detainees complained that they had been beaten or shot at. An officer asked one detainee how his forehead had been injured and he said it happened when he jumped from the car. "No one complained about anything," Krasikov said. The detainees gave various explanations for their appearance deep in the protected reserve in the middle of the night. They said they were on the way to the village of Podlopatki to slaughter a bull and that they had stopped in the forest to relieve themselves. "It was 3 a.m.," Krasikov said. "And 7 kilometers into the reserve!" Now, however, investigators say the detainees claim Krasikov jumped in front of their car and fired into the passenger cabin. He then allegedly struck one of the men in the abdomen with the butt of his rifle and fired another shot at the legs of another suspect. The detainee who was struck purportedly suffered a broken rib. The management of the Baikal reserve told the state news agency TASS that the suspects' claims were absurd. "The detained poachers are not peasants who were trying to put food on their tables," reserve Director Vasily Sutula said. "We believe that powerful protectors from Ulan-Ude stand behind these poachers. We note that they have already changed their story three times in order to create their complaint that they were supposedly shot and beaten." 'Tip Of The Iceberg' "The injustice in Buryatia...is just the tip of an enormous iceberg of injustice," Bryansk ranger Shpilenok said. "If Sergei had been a National Guard officer or even just a dressed-up Cossack, those poachers would have been sitting in jail that morning. But he was protecting nature instead of protecting the regime. "But they weren't throwing snowballs or paper cups at him," he added, referring to examples of anti-Kremlin protesters who were prosecuted for assaulting police officers for such offenses. "They tried to run him down with a car. His wrist was broken; he had a concussion; he spent a long time in rehabilitation. Now, four months later, the government rewards him with a criminal case." Shpilenok added that there was a monument to forest rangers who lost their lives in the line of duty in Siberia's Sayano-Shushensky Preserve. He noted that the monument was not erected by the government, but by the nongovernmental environmental group Protected Country and the staff of the preserve itself. Baikal Reserve Director Sutula on March 15 published on Facebook the results of his open-source research on the accused poachers. According to social-media pages, one of the suspects, Sergei Randin, works for a company called Titan, which is owned by Ulan-Ude municipal lawmaker Vadim Vredny of the ruling United Russia party. Vredny and his wife are Randin's "friends" on the VK social-media site. Viktor Solntsev, retired police colonel and former deputy head of the Buryatia branch of the Interior Ministry, is also among Randin's social-media "friends." One of the other suspects, Sergei Rusin, who claimed that Krasikov struck him with the butt of his rifle, is married to Randin's sister, and both Rusin and his wife work for the state savings bank Sberbank. A third suspect, Vyacheslav Afanasyev, has a private VK page, but it asserts that he graduated from the Eastern Siberian Institute of the Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation in 2011. "We hope for an objective investigation into this matter, which is why we researched these people, whose testimony has been taken more seriously than that of a ranger of a state nature preserve," Sutula wrote. "This case has quickly become well-known and has attracted the attention of officials at the federal level, which has increased the odds that it will be resolved objectively. The influential protectors of these poachers had best stand aside." None of the alleged poachers responded to requests to comment for this article. No charges have been filed yet in connection with the incident. Written by Robert Coalson based on reporting from Ulan-Ude by Viktoria Polyanskaya of Siberia.Realities Dani Dyer headed out for a drizzly stroll with her boyfriend Sammy Kimmence and their baby son Santiago in Essex on Thursday. The former Love Island star, 24, wrapped up in a black padded jacket as she stepped out for a walk with her stockbroker beau, 24, while their baby boy, seven weeks, was nestled in a pram. Dani, who welcomed her son in January, revealed on Thursday she feared she was suffering from postnatal depression after several days of struggling with low moods. Out and about: Dani Dyer, 24, headed out for a drizzly stroll with her boyfriend Sammy Kimmence and their baby son Santiago in Essex on Thursday Dani cut a laid-back figure with her brunette tresses pulled back into a sleek up-do as she strolled along with her boyfriend Sammy. Sammy sported a medical face mask as he and his girlfriend enjoyed their daily exercise, while much of England remains under lockdown restrictions. Dani has openly documented adjusting to motherhood on social media, and candidly revealed earlier this week she'd been struggling with feeling low since the birth of her son. Outing: The former Love Island star wrapped up in a black padded jacket as she stepped out for a walk with her stockbroker beau, while their baby boy was nestled in a pram Simple: Dani cut a laid-back figure with her brunette tresses pulled back into a sleek up-do as she strolled along with her boyfriend Sammy Off for a walk? Sammy sported a medical face mask as he and his girlfriend enjoyed their daily exercise, while much of England remains under lockdown restrictions Speaking on her podcast Sorted with the Dyers on Thursday, Dani admitted her moods had sparked fears she was suffering from postnatal depression. She said: 'I think when you've just had a baby you really start worrying, thinking, "Am I suffering with a bit of postnatal depression?"' On the show, which she shares with her father Danny Dyer, 43, Dani said that this winter had been 'awful. The Love Island star explained: 'The other day I was really struggling, I had a couple of days where I made a shepherd's pie but I just felt so down.' Concerned: Dani has openly documented adjusting to motherhood on social media, and revealed her fears she was suffering from postnatal depression on Thursday Tough: Speaking on her podcast Sorted with the Dyers on Thursday, Dani admitted her moods had sparked fears she was suffering from postnatal depression Emotional: She said: 'I think when you've just had a baby you really start worrying, thinking, "Am I suffering with a bit of postnatal depression?"' Tough: On the show, which she shares with her father Danny Dyer, 43, Dani said that this winter had been 'awful' A common problem, post natal depression affects more than 1 in every 10 women within a year of giving birth, according to the NHS. Dani continued: 'I know this sounds weird but I made the shepherd's pie but it was like I wasn't making it. 'I had a couple of days of just really not feeling me and then I went on a walk and I felt back to myself. I felt so low.' And the new arrival has been an emotional experience for the entire Dyer family. The reality star also revealed on Thursday that her co-host and father couldn't stop crying after baby Santiago was born. Lost: The Love Island star explained: 'The other day I was really struggling, I had a couple of days where I made a shepherd's pie but I just felt so down' Low: Dani continued: 'I know this sounds weird but I made the shepherd's pie but it was like I wasn't making it' Not feeling herself: She added: 'I had a couple of days of just really not feeling me and then I went on a walk and I felt back to myself. I felt so low' Speaking on the Made By Mammas podcast she said: 'My dad didn't realise [he would be so emotional about being a granddad]. 'He has been so emotional around Santiago, the other day he was really crying, 'He went: "I love babies, but your baby. I have never felt anything like it. I didn't think I'd feel like this". 'He hasn't experienced being a granddad yet, I made him a first time granddad. It has hit him more now. 'He did see me pregnant and getting bigger but seeing me with the baby, it's like, "this is real now".' Touching: The reality star also revealed on Thursday that her co-host and father couldn't stop crying after baby Santiago was born All Rhode Island residents ages 16 and older will be eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine starting April 19, Gov. Daniel McKee said Thursday. That will be possible because the state has learned that it will be getting significantly more vaccine from the federal government in the near future, the Democratic governor said at a news conference. President Joe Biden promised last week that all of the nations adults would be eligible for coronavirus vaccines by May 1. If Rhode Island can get the vaccine supply we need, we can achieve and beat this goal, he said. We are confident the president will deliver. He warned that it will likely take two weeks or so for everyone who wants an appointment to book one, but the goal is to provide a first dose of the vaccine to everyone who signs up by the end of May, McKee said. The state this week received about 48,000 doses, an amount expected to grow to about 51,000 next week and continue to increase gradually moving forward, Thomas McCarthy, the states COVID-19 response teams executive director said. Health officials previously announced the state will start receiving at least 16,000 weekly doses of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The state has already given more than 282,000 vaccine first doses while more than 136,000 people, or about 12% of the state population, have been fully vaccinated, state Department of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott said. But she said mask-wearing is still important. If 70% of the state population is vaccinated, the state could lift COVID-19 emergency restrictions, McKee said. McKee pledged to bring back Newports jazz and folk festivals, as well as other large outdoor events, this summer after they were canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic. We are working closely with the Newport Folk and Jazz Festival on a plan that could allow them to host a safe event this summer that involves testing and other safety protocols, he said. The good news is there will be music in Newport this summer. He made the announcement now because he knows it takes several months to plan such large-scale events. Folk festival organizers in a Facebook post welcomed the news. Governor McKee of Rhode Island has indicated that we will be able to have events this summer with modified capacities. Though Newport Folk wont look exactly the same, we are thrilled to be bringing music and artists back to the Fort. The Rhode Island Department of Health on Thursday said the state has more than 400 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus and six more virus-related deaths. There have now been more than 132,600 known cases and 2,594 fatalities. The number of COVID-19 patients in the states hispitals continues to fall, and was down to 125 as of Tuesday, down from 131 the previous day. Dr. Ashish Jha is recommending that states continue their COVID-19 restrictions for a few more weeks because the number of new cases nationwide has stopped declining. The nation is reporting about 50,000 infections every day, about where we were at the height of the summer, Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and coronavirus expert said in a Wednesday tweet. Jha thinks the numbers are being driven by the U.K. variant of the virus. We are still at a high level of infection, he wrote. We have stopped declining. Am I sure well see cases rise? No, but worried. Lets finish vaccinating high risk folks, then smartly relax public health measures. That will allow us to enjoy what should be a great summer. Several Stop & Shop supermarket locations in Rhode Island are now offering COVID-19 vaccinations, according to the companys website. The immunizations are available by appointment only to people who live, work or go to school in the state and are eligible under state guidelines. The company warned that vaccine supply is very limited. The one-dose Johnson & Johnson shots are available at the Lincoln, East Providence, and North Smithfield stores and at the Warwick Avenue location in Warwick. OAKLAND, Calif., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente, the nation's largest integrated, nonprofit health system, has committed $5.4 million to combat the surge in violence against people of Asian descent and to support the rights, health, and wellness of the Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Racial prejudice toward these groups predates the COVID-19 pandemic but has recently increased as pejorative associations of COVID-19 and people of Asian heritage have fueled xenophobic, anti-Asian sentiment and hate crimes. Approved by its board of directors on March 10, Kaiser Permanente's commitment is intended to help prevent further racist acts, provide interventions when they occur, and promote healing in communities that have been discriminated against. Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders represent 34% of Kaiser Permanente employees, and 23% of its 12.4-million-person membership. "Kaiser Permanente recognizes the pain that many of our employees, members, and communities are experiencing due to the unacceptable increase in assaults, harassment, and hate crimes directed at people of Asian descent including the tragic March 16 attacks in Atlanta," said Greg A. Adams, Kaiser Permanente chair and chief executive officer. "As a health care organization, we understand that it is fundamentally impossible to achieve emotional or physical well-being when subjected to violence, racism, and other forms of discrimination, and so stand firmly against all forms of social injustice." The grant recipients include two organizations that advocate nationally for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities: Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC and Stop AAPI Hate. According to Stop AAPI Hate, the group received reports of 3,292 incidents in 2020 involving verbal harassment, avoidance/shunning, physical assault, vandalism, and other forms of discrimination. Nearly 45% of those incidents took place in California. Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC, a national nonprofit in Washington, D.C., that advocates for the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and underserved allied communities, will assist in redistributing grant funds to community-based organizations where Kaiser Permanente operates and will work with the four other independent organizations in the Advancing Justice affiliation. "Advancing Justice AAJC is honored to be in partnership with Kaiser Permanente," said John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC. "Too often Asian American communities are overlooked because of the harmful 'model minority' myth or targeted because of the perpetual foreigner stereotypes that exist. This significant funding provides a robust opportunity to address anti-Asian hate through collaboration between local community organizations and a national response." Grant funding will be used to: Advance the civil and human rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders through education, advocacy, and community building Address misinformation and xenophobia, and increase reporting of hate targeting the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities Strengthen infrastructure within regional community-based organizations for preventing racist attacks, intervening when they occur, and promoting healing These grants are part of Kaiser Permanente's broad, established commitment to improve health equity and address racism in the communities it serves. Partnering with organizations that have a trusted presence within communities is a long-standing priority for the organization. About Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 12.4 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, contact: Hilary Costa, [email protected] SOURCE Kaiser Permanente Related Links http://www.kaiserpermanente.org She had been a server and grill operator at the Waffle House, Mr. Beck said, arriving in the morning blasting gospel music and often buying eggs and grits for homeless people who had no money for food. She was raising a son by herself, but she also kept a motherly eye on Mr. Beck, checking in regularly to make sure he was OK. Her big dream, Mr. Beck said, was to get married. And last year, she did just that, marrying Mario Gonzalez, whom Mr. Beck said she had met at the Waffle House when he showed up as a customer. They soon had a daughter. It was real love, Mr. Beck said. A U.S. Army veteran Paul Andre Michels, who was among those killed at Youngs Asian Massage, was one of nine siblings, his brother John Michels said. We did almost everything together, said Mr. Michels, 52. Image Paul Andre Michels Credit... Kennesaw Police Department, via Facebook His brother, he said, was a businessman and a veteran of the U.S. Army infantry, where he served in the late 1980s. Paul Michels had been married for more than 20 years and was a Catholic as well as a strong political conservative, his brother said. He grew up in southwest Detroit and moved to Georgia about 25 years ago for work. My brother was a very hard-working, loving man, Mr. Michels said. A survivor: Ive been shot! Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz, the man injured in the Acworth attack, was making his way to a money exchange business next door to Youngs Asian Massage when shots rang out, his wife, Flor Gonzalez, said. Moments later, he desperately reached for his cellphone. Ive been shot! Mr. Hernandez-Ortiz told his wife, she later recalled. Please come. Ms. Gonzalez, 27, said she rushed to the hospital that evening and was unable to see her 30-year-old husband until after midnight. Doctors told her that he had been wounded in his forehead, throat, lungs and stomach. NEW YORK, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MoneyLion, an award-winning data-driven, digital financial platform, has been invited to present at the BofA Securities 2021 Electronic Payment Symposium being held virtually on March 22-23, 2021. MoneyLion management is scheduled to present on Monday, March 22 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time, with one-on-one meetings to be held throughout the day. The company's presentation will be webcast live and available for replay here. For additional information, please contact your BofA Securities representative. On February 11th, MoneyLion entered into a definitive agreement with Fusion Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: FUSE) that will result in MoneyLion becoming a publicly listed company in the first half of 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. About MoneyLion MoneyLion is a mobile banking and financial membership platform that empowers people to take control of their finances. Since its launch in 2013, MoneyLion has engaged with 7.5 million hard-working Americans and has earned its members' trust by building a full-service digital platform to deliver mobile banking, lending, and investment solutions. From a single app, members can get a 360-degree snapshot of their financial lives and have access to personalized tips and tools to build and improve their credit and achieve everyday savings. MoneyLion is headquartered in New York City, with offices in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Sioux Falls, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. MoneyLion has achieved various awards of recognition including the 2020 Forbes FinTech 50, Aite group best digital Wealth Management Multiproduct offering, Finovate Award for Best Digital Bank 2019, Benzinga FinTech Awards winner for Innovation in Personal Finance 2019 and the Webby Awards 2019 People's Voice Award. For more information, please visit www.moneylion.com or download the app. About Fusion Acquisition Corporation Fusion Acquisition Corporation is a special purpose acquisition company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The Company was founded by and is led by CEO John James (who also stands behind the global fintech, BetaSmartz, as well as co-founding emerging opportunities investment company, Boka Group), and Chairman Jim Ross (senior advisor to State Street and former Chairman of State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs). Fusion is focusing on businesses with an enterprise value of approximately $750 million to $3 billion that are applying, providing or changing technology within the fintech or asset and wealth management sectors. For more information, visit fusionacq.com. Media Contact: [email protected] Additional Information About the Proposed Business Combination and Where to Find It The proposed business combination will be submitted to shareholders of Fusion for their consideration. Fusion intends to file a registration statement on Form S-4 (the "Registration Statement") with the SEC which will include preliminary and definitive proxy statements to be distributed to Fusion's shareholders in connection with Fusion's solicitation for proxies for the vote by Fusion's shareholders in connection with the proposed business combination and other matters as described in the Registration Statement, as well as the prospectus relating to the offer of the securities to be issued to MoneyLion's shareholders in connection with the completion of the proposed business combination. After the Registration Statement has been filed and declared effective, Fusion will mail a definitive proxy statement and other relevant documents to its shareholders as of the record date established for voting on the proposed business combination. Fusion's shareholders and other interested persons are advised to read, once available, the preliminary proxy statement / prospectus and any amendments thereto and, once available, the definitive proxy statement / prospectus, in connection with Fusion's solicitation of proxies for its special meeting of shareholders to be held to approve, among other things, the proposed business combination, because these documents will contain important information about Fusion, MoneyLion and the proposed business combination. Shareholders may also obtain a copy of the preliminary or definitive proxy statement, once available, as well as other documents filed with the SEC regarding the proposed business combination and other documents filed with the SEC by Fusion, without charge, at the SEC's website located at www.sec.gov or by directing a request to Cody Slach and Matt Glover, (949) 574-3860, [email protected]. Participants in the Solicitation Fusion, MoneyLion and certain of their respective directors, executive officers and other members of management and employees may, under SEC rules, be deemed to be participants in the solicitations of proxies from Fusion's shareholders in connection with the proposed business combination. Information regarding the persons who may, under SEC rules, be deemed participants in the solicitation of Fusion's shareholders in connection with the proposed business combination will be set forth in Fusion's proxy statement / prospectus when it is filed with the SEC. You can find more information about Fusion's directors and executive officers in Fusion's final prospectus dated June 25, 2020, filed with the SEC on June 29, 2020. Additional information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests will be included in the proxy statement / prospectus when it becomes available. Shareholders, potential investors and other interested persons should read the proxy statement / prospectus carefully when it becomes available before making any voting or investment decisions. You may obtain free copies of these documents from the sources indicated above. No Offer or Solicitation This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of 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. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of section 10 of the Securities Act, or an exemption therefrom. SOURCE MoneyLion Related Links http://www.moneylion.com Rewa: In an unusual way of extending support to farmers protest against the Centres farm laws, a couple tied the knot on Thursday (March 18) at an agitation site in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh. Speaking to reporters after marriage, the groom, Sachin Singh said, "The farmers agitation is going on since January 3. Farmers have been demanding the repeal of three black laws as they are not in the interest of farmers. Farmers will organise every function here. Birthdays have also been celebrated here. We will not leave until these laws are repealed." Sachins father Ramjit Singh who is affiliated with Madhya Pradesh Kisan Sabha said they wanted to deliver a strong message to the government that they will not leave the site until farm laws are repealed. "We wanted to give a strong message to the government that we will not leave this site until we win this fight," said Ramjit Singh. Farmers have been protesting against the three newly enacted farm laws- Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Live TV Mexico is bracing for a new migration crisis at the border with the United States, as word of the softening of policy under the administration of Joe Biden trickles down to communities who have waited out the pandemic for this moment. The number of people caught while trying to cross the US-Mexico border exceeded 100,000 last month, according to the US authorities, and is on track to hit a 20-year high. While the United States is using public health legislation to turn away most arrivals, citing the Covid-19 pandemic, unaccompanied teens and children are now able to enter and begin claims for residency or asylum, in a break with the Trump administration. The Mexican government is confronting this upsurge in an electoral year, and after converting the country into a hard stopping point for those fleeing violence and poverty in Central America under Trump. Although the border is officially still closed, in the last three weeks a steady flow of unaccompanied children and Mexicans leaving their own country have tried to slip through, and have been met with spot checks, arrests and deportations. The message for migrants is: dont move. Unfortunately people dont pay attention Juan Antonio Sierra Vargas, head of Casa del Migrante in Matamoros For Alberto Hernandez, president of the Colegio de la Frontera (Border College), the problem is twofold: Central Americans who see Biden as their savior, and a newer group of Mexicans who are leaving for financial reasons related to the pandemic. There was a very large decrease in Mexican migration in recent decades, and this is now being reversed, he said. The influx of Central American migrants into Mexico in 2019 marked the first year in power of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and only abated due to the pandemic. The effect of Covid-19 reduced asylum requests to Mexico itself by 42% compared with the previous year, according to Mexicos Refugee Aid Commission. But Bidens ascension to the US presidency has coincided with a markedly different tone towards immigration, and the appointment of Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas, who arrived in the United States as a Cuban refugee. His empathetic rhetoric has filtered through to thousands of Central Americans returning to the Mexican-US border with renewed hopes of crossing, and more still preparing to make the journey. The Biden administration began to allow a group of 25,000 asylum seekers into the country with the aim of halting Trumps cruelest practices in February. Beyond that group, only a few more have been able to enter and in March so far, the daily average of arrests now sits around 4,000, setting a pace that could result in a higher monthly total. They think that with Biden [crossing] the border is much easier, and they have the false idea that with children or families that will also make it easier Alberto Xicotencatl, activist Authorities in both countries have insisted that the doors remain closed to all those who do not have US residency or citizenship. We are expelling most single adults and families. We are not expelling unaccompanied children, said Mayorkas on Tuesday. Poverty, high levels of violence, and corruption in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries have propelled migration to our southwest border for years. The adverse conditions have continued to deteriorate, he added, referring to two hurricanes that hit Honduras. In Mexico, concern over a new wave of arrivals is palpable in the government, which has insisted in recent days in statements published by its embassies in Central America that irregular arrivals will not be permitted through its southern border. Alarm is also ringing through Mexicos migrant shelters, where arrivals are also spiking. Dozens of activists held an online summit last weekend to decide how to deal with the situation. The message for migrants is: dont move, warned Juan Antonio Sierra Vargas, in charge of the Casa del Migrante (Migrant House) in Matamoros, a town in the border state of Tamaulipas. Unfortunately people dont pay attention they have no reason to come because there is no way for them to cross over [into the United States], he added. The activist Alberto Xicotencatl estimated an increased flow of 50% in the last few weeks to a shelter in Saltillo, Coahuila State. They think that with Biden [crossing] the border is much easier, and they have the false idea that with children or families that will also make it easier, said Xicotencatl. The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the situation in the shelters because fewer people can stay due to social distancing and hygiene measures. Xicotencatl also complained about a lack of support from the Mexican government, which this year cut support for migrant associations from the budget. The Mexican authorities have intensified their own controls. The National Migration Institute (INM in its Spanish acronym) detained some 1,200 people traveling by train through the south and center of the country between January 25 and February 16 alone. Another 800 were detained in the same regions traveling by bus or on trucks, the INM told Reuters. In-country arrests of this kind have become common practice, a former INM chief told the agency. Hernandez, the migration analyst, notes that Mexico continues to deport more migrants than the United States. This year our country is going to continue this posture of containment, he added. Meanwhile, the country faces legislative elections that have every politician on the alert for potential leverage. Its a complicated situation for the government: if it exerts too much pressure, it can work against it at the polls, but if it relaxes too much, that could also backfire. A reenactment of one of the torture methods employed by CCP officials to coerce Falun Gong practitioners into renouncing their faith. (Courtesy of Minghui.org) CCP Seeks to Redefine Human Rights in Attack on America Commentary Under the guise of highlighting alleged human rights abuses in the United States, a new report set to be released soon by the Chinese Communist Party aims to completely redefine the very concept of rights. This is extremely dangerous. Of course, the irony of having the most murderous dictatorship in all of human history accuse the freest nation in human history of being a serial human rights abuser is off the charts. Literally, no government in world history has slaughtered as many people as the CCP over its decades in power. And no government in human history has protected key freedoms of as many people as the American experiment. Naturally, the upcoming CCP report, expected to be released shortly after the U.S. government releases its own human rights report on China, has been almost universally ridiculed or ignored in the West. But it is no laughing matter. Ignore the hypocrisy for now, if you must. But there is a very real threat to genuine human rights buried in the report that goes far beyond semantics. The real problem is global. Unfortunately, the CCP-backed campaign to replace in peoples minds real rights with government-granted privileges has allies in high places around the worldand even in America, at some of the nations most prestigious educational institutions and in the halls of government. At the forefront are the CCPs allies around the world and its operatives in the United Nations. The CCP attack on America, titled The Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2020, is the latest version of an annual screed by the regimes State Council Information Office. It was launched as a response to U.S. criticism of the CCPs record. Each year, the CCP gets more and more unhinged in its criticism of the United States. Phony Concerns At the top of the CCPs list of supposed human rights concerns about the United States last year was the governments alleged failure to sufficiently protect people from the CCP virus unleashed on the world by the CCP itself. Yes, seriously. Citing the high death toll from the pandemic and Americas advanced medical technology, the regime argued that this proved the U.S. government was incompetent and was failing in its duty to protect the alleged human right to health. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc around the world, posing a major threat to human security, says a preview of the 15,000-Chinese-character report offered by CCP propaganda organs. It went out of control in the United States following the governments reckless response. Of course, the CCP is very familiar with the U.S. Constitution, whereby people and states retain most powers for themselves while granting a few limited authorities to their agent known as the federal government. And under that Constitution, as the CCP knows very well, the federal government doesnt have totalitarian CCP-style powers to fight the virus with tyranny. Instead, the Constitution protects God-given rights from infringement by the federal government by limiting federal power. Ironically, though, even the states that used the most vicious and draconian policies to fight the CCP virusthink California and New York, among othershad similar or worse outcomes than states such as Florida and South Dakota that didnt weaponize the virus against individual freedoms. In other words, protecting real rights is perfectly compatibleand almost always associated withbetter health and economic outcomes. In its upcoming report, pre-release previews show that the CCP also faulted the Trump administration for bullying international organizations and promoting isolation and unilateralism in the face of the pandemic. Thats a reference to President Donald Trumps decision to stop funding and supporting the CCP-backed leader of the disgraced World Health Organization (WHO), which helped Beijing peddle its lies about the CCP virus. How ending funding for a CCP mouthpiece in a United Nations bureaucracy was a violation of human rights isnt immediately clear. Another alleged human rights abuse in the United States: People of African heritage were more likely to be killed by police than those of European heritage. The report ignored the obvious explanations well known to researchersblack Americans are far more likely to be involved in the criminal justice system, in part due to the larger number of fatherless homesand presented the data point without context as proof of widespread racism among U.S. law enforcement. This is a basic logical fallacy that a well-educated elementary student should be able to detect. In reality, studies and surveys show that America is among the least racist societies on the planet. Studies also show that American police officers are actually less likely to shoot black suspects than white suspects. Real Violations by CCP Meanwhile, the irony of having the CCP suggest that American government officials are racist in their alleged violations of human rights defies belief. Just this month, the Montreal-based Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and the D.C.-based Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy concluded that the CCP is currently engaged in a genocide against the minority Uyghur ethnic group in Western China. China, as a state, is committing acts of genocide against the Uyghurs with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the group as such, as exemplified by state-orchestrated mass internment, forced birth prevention and campaigns of eradication, explained principal report author Yonah Diamond, who serves as legal counsel for the Raoul Wallenberg Centre. The Dutch Parliament also passed a motion last month finding that the treatment of the Uyghur minority in China constitutes a genocide. Now that is real racism and a real human-rights violation! In discussing the report, research fellow Lu Xiang at the CCPs Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, widely cited in CCP media, even compared Western concerns about the ongoing Uyghur genocide in western China to lies by National Socialist (Nazi) Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. With no apparent sense of irony, the upcoming CCP report goes on to cite money in politics as a supposed human rights violation. Of course, in free countries, citizens are allowed to participate in the political process by supporting candidates or issues of their choice, whether that be with their money, their time, their media outlets, or their speech. The real violation of real rights, obviously, is that the CCP regime does not allow its victims to participate in politics or govern themselves by choosing their own leaders. Now that is a real human rights violation. At a media briefing on the subject, a spokesman for the CCPs foreign ministry blasted Americas record. We hope the U.S. will abandon double standards, and face up to serious human rights issues such as racism and violent law enforcement, and take concrete measures to protect human rights, the spokesman said. Like any successful propaganda effort, the CCP attack on Americas human rights situation does contain some elements of truth. In fact, during the pandemic, governors, and mayorsespecially Democrats in blue statesruthlessly trampled on the constitutionally guaranteed human rights of citizens. But that isnt what the CCP report means. In previous years, the CCP also made its agenda clear in its reports on alleged human rights violations in the United States. For example, a similar report released in 2012 pointed to violations such as the view that the U.S. government exercises lax firearm possession control, causing rampant gun ownership. Despite numerous polls showing overwhelming public support for the constitutionally guaranteed right to keep and bear arms, the CCP report even argued that U.S. authorities were ignoring the complaints of the U.S. people and multiple protests supposedly demanding that the government strictly control the private possession of arms. This year, the CCP report is again expected to demonize the Second Amendment for supposedly producing gun violence. The argument, though, is absurdespecially as the United States has a lower murder rate than most of the world, and gun-rights have always been regarded in America as the ultimate protection for all other rights, including those that the CCP refuses to acknowledge even exist. Switzerland, with some of the highest gun-ownership rates on Earth, also has among the lowest murder rates. Meanwhile, nations such as Venezuela and Mexico, where private gun ownership has long been virtually illegal, have among the highest murder and crime rates on the planet. The real violation of human rights is the CCPs total denial of its victims right to keep and bear arms. But then again, dictatorships and tyrants never trust their victims with weapons. The Threat: Real Rights Versus Fake Rights The real danger of the CCP report isnt that Americans will suddenly read the document and revolt against their supposedly oppressive government. Nor is there a serious risk that the CCPs hypocrisy would be taken seriously, though the regimes talking points and the woke mobs ramblings are increasingly difficult to differentiate. Rather, the danger is that the CCP screed is just the tip of the iceberg in a global campaign to completely redefine the very concept of rightsnot as God-given, but as government-granted. Indeed, the regime in communist China and its totalitarian allies around the world use human rights as a pretext to control the lives and restrict the liberties of their victims. For instance, under the guise of a human right to a government-controlled education, tyrants indoctrinate children with lies and prohibit alternatives. Under the guise of a human right to government-provided health care, tyrants hijack control of medical systems and restrict individual freedom, making their victims completely dependent on their abusers. Under the guise of a human right to a decent standard of living, tyrants seize control of whole economiesand the people who make up the economy. These are all known as positive rights, and they all purport to require that the government do something to you or for you at the expense of others that you couldnt ethically do on your own. As an example, you could never go rob your neighbor and claim you needed his money for your college or your health care. But if you have a positive right to college or health care, government can be authorized to go take your neighbors wealth to spend on you. Importantly, because they depend on government, all of these positive rights can also be revoked by government on a whim, using flimsy pretexts. Obviously, this is an extremely dangerous view of human rights. By contrast, the traditional American and Christian concept of rights rooted in the Bible and Western traditions couldnt be more different. Perhaps the most significant difference is that these genuine human rights are unalienable. Think freedom of speech, freedom to own property, the right to worship God according to the dictates of ones conscience, the right to protect ones family and property, and so on. These are all negative rights, in that they entail freedom from abuses, coercion, and more. Just like you can protect your property from a robber, you can delegate authority to a sheriff to help you protect your property. As Americas Founding Fathers declared in the Declaration of Independence, individuals are endowed by their Creator with these unalienable rights. That means these rights exist independent of government. Because government didnt and doesnt grant these rights, it has no legitimate authority to revoke or restrict them. Instead, the governments role is limited to the protection of these God-given rights from infringement. The Declaration of Independence even argues that this is the very reason governments are instituted. The timeless words and principles in that document echoed statements made years earlier on the subject by Sam Adams, widely known as the Father of the American Revolution. In the first letter circulated by his Committees of Correspondence in 1772, Adams laid out his case. Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can, he wrote. He also argued that the Rights of the Colonists as Christians could be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament. Unfortunately, the U.N. and many of its member governments (and even a growing segment of influential voices in America) come down firmly on the side of the CCPs perverse view of rights, rather than the American and Christian view. The U.N. view is extremely dangerous, and the global body frequently echoes CCP-style talking points about free speech or gun rights in America supposedly being a violation of human rights. But this isnt new. In Article 29 of the U.N.s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the global body even claims that these rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. That would be the equivalent of having a First Amendment that prohibited using ones free speech or freedom of assembly or right to petition in order to criticize Congress. It is self-evidently absurd. As if to highlight the absurdity of its own position, on Feb. 22, the U.N. Human Rights Council gave a platform to CCP State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, marking the first time that a CCP leader addressed the increasingly discredited U.N. body. Incredibly, the regime was elected to serve another term on the disgraced U.N. body last year. Increasing peoples sense of gains, happiness and security is the fundamental pursuit of human rights as well as the ultimate goal of national governance, Wang declared at the 46th session of the U.N. body, claiming to support peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom. Wang, who claimed the CCP operates the most representative democracy, also suggested that a slight increase in the Chinese peoples standard of living in recent years is evidence of the regimes devotion to human rights. Most incredibly, perhaps, Wang described Beijings murderous scheming in Xinjiang and Tibet as shining examples of Chinas human rights progress. Yes, seriously. Apparently, genocide is a shining example of human rights, at least in the CCPs understanding of the term. The Chinese government attaches high importance to the promotion and protection of human rights, Wang told the regimes propaganda megaphone Xinhua news agency, which according to whistleblowers doubles as an intelligence-gathering front. Other brutal dictatorships on the U.N. Human Rights Council echo those preposterous claims on a regular basis. What Next? If the effort to redefine rights is successfuland its already making great progresstrue human rights could be lost forever, written out of the history books. Such a development would leave the people of the world at the mercy of oftentimes brutal governments subscribing to the CCP-backed grotesque perversion of rights that literally flips the concept on its head. Instead of having a duty to protect the God-given, unalienable rights of the individual, tyrants everywhere would be empowered to oppress and abuse their victims in the name of human rights. Increasingly, like the CCP, governments and international outfits are already peddling the notion that gun rights and self-defense arent rights, but violations of rights. Similarly, even free speech is now being painted as a violation of peoples supposed human right not to be offended. With help from corrupted education systems and dictator-dominated international organizations, a major transformation is already happening around the world and even in Americaespecially in the minds of younger generations. Millions of children now are being conditioned to demand their supposed right to tax-funded college, health care, abortion, and transgender surgeries, while, at the same time, demanding censorship and draconian curbs on religious liberty in the name of human rights. This is a recipe for catastrophe. If it continues, the next generation of Americans may look at the CCPs silly reports and actually take them seriously. Its time to fight back on the battlefield that matters: the essence and definition of human rights. The genocidal CCP must not be allowed to win. The surest way to do that is by Americans returning to a true understanding of rightsGod-given and unalienableas enumerated in the nations founding documents. Alex Newman is an award-winning international journalist, educator, author, and consultant who co-wrote the book Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using Government Schools to Destroy Americas Children. He also serves as the CEO of Liberty Sentinel Media and writes for diverse publications in the United States and abroad. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Anna Wintour tried to save the incoming editor of Teen Vogue, Alexi McCammond, it has been revealed - but could not stop her from being forced out less than two weeks after taking the job. McCammond, 27, was fired over anti-Asian tweets she wrote as a teenager, in 2011, which surfaced online and cost Conde Nast a seven-figure ad campaign. McCammond's resurfaced tweets include one in which she wrote: 'Googling how to not wake up with swollen Asian eyes'. Another now-deleted tweet read: 'Give me a 2/10 on my chem problem, cross out all of my work and don't explain what I did wrong thanks a lot stupid Asian T.A. you're great.' Wintour, the chief content officer and the global editorial director of Vogue, was aware of the decade-old racist tweets and discussed them with leaders of color at Conde Nast before the job was offered, The New York Times reported. Teen Vogue editor Alexi McCammond has resigned over racist, anti-Asian tweets she wrote as a teenager surfaced online. It emerged on Thursday that Conde Nast boss Anna Wintour knew about the tweets but gave McCammond the job anyway They felt she had learnt from her mistakes, but they were not aware of homophobic tweets or a photo, also from 2011, that was recently published by a right-wing website showing her in Native American costume at a Halloween party. The vetting process did not turn up the additional material because it had been deleted, the executive added. Wintour tried to build support for the would-be Teen Vogue editor, the paper said, and included her in team meetings. McCammond met one-on-one with staff, to try and ease their concerns, and explained her actions in a note. 'You've seen some offensive, idiotic tweets from when I was a teenager that perpetuated harmful and racist stereotypes about Asian Americans,' she wrote in a note to her new colleagues, obtained by The Daily Beast. 'I apologized for them years ago, but I want to be clear today: I apologize deeply to all of you for the pain this has caused.' Conde Nast's human resources department also met with the Teen Vogue staff, and the staff were reminded of a company policy requiring them to check with the communications team before making public statements. The staff members were also told they should keep their criticisms 'in the family' - further adding to their anger. On Monday a meeting, scheduled for Wednesday with Wintour and top Vogue executives, was abruptly canceled and not rescheduled, indicating to McCammond that her position was no longer tenable. The Daily Beast reported that Conde Nast management called a meeting with staffers for Thursday afternoon to discuss the new editor's exit. The offensive tweets were deleted in 2019, when McCammond was working as a political reporter for Axios. They resurfaced after she was named as the new editor on March 5. It's unclear if she ever started the job. On March 9, the tweets had gone viral and she was apologizing for them. Conde Nast initially stood by her and allowed her to keep the position. Staffers were irate that she was allowed to keep her job and said it sent the wrong message during a time of increased attacks on Asian Americans, but she stayed on. They also complained that she was inexperienced, having never worked as an editor or manager before, and that there were other black women within Conde Nast who would have been better suited to the job. They wrote an open letter demanding that she be replaced and also complained directly to CEO Robert Lynch. Beauty store chain Ulta then pulled a seven-figure ad campaign with Teen Vogue over the scandal. There were also talks among sales teams that it could cost the company even more in advertising revenues. It has also emerged that in an email to staff around the same time Conde Nast HR boss Stan Duncan revealed that Anna Wintour and CEO Roger Lynch knew about the decade-old racist tweets but hired her anyway. On Thursday, McCammond tweeted that she and the company were 'parting ways'. It sparked a mixed reaction - some said it was appropriate given what she'd done but others called it cancel culture gone too far. They criticized Conde Nast for seemingly hanging her out to dry. 'I want to be fully transparent with you about our decision-making process regarding her appointment. 'When Alexi was was a teenager she made racially charged statements on social media about Asian people. 'Alexi was straight forward and transparent about these posts during our interview process and through public apologies,' HR boss Stan Duncan said in an internal memo. 'Given her previous acknowledgement of these posts and her sincere apologies, in addition to her remarkable work in journalism elevating the voices of marginalized communities, we were looking forward to welcoming her into our community. 'In addition, we were hopeful that Alexi would become part of our team to provide perspective and insight that is underrepresented throughout the media. 'We were dedicated to making her successful in this role and spent time working with her, our company leadership and the Teen Vogue team to find the best path forward. 'To that end, after speaking with Alexi this morning, we agreed that it was best to part ways, so as to not overshadow the important work happening at Teen Vogue,' he went on. In a Twitter statement on Thursday, McCammond said she and the company had decided to 'part ways'. McCammond's resignation also comes after her boyfriend was fired from his role as Deputy White House Secretary for threatening to 'destroy' a female reporter if they exposed their relationship. Before working at Vogue, McCammond was working as a political reporter at Axios. McCammond is dating disgraced former Deputy White House Secretary TJ Ducklo who was fired after threatening to destroy a reporter if she exposed their relationship. Before working at Vogue, McCammond worked at Axios TEEN VOGUE EDITOR RESIGNATION IS THE LATEST IN A STRING OF RACE SCANDALS UNDER ANNA WINTOUR McCammond's resignation is the latest in a string of race scandals under Anna Wintour's leadership at Conde Nast. The brand has for years been accused of not putting enough black or women of color on the cover of its publications, particularly Vogue. She tried to explain it away by saying: 'Undoubtedly, I have made mistakes along the way, and if any mistakes were made at Vogue under my watch, they are mine to own and remedy and I am committed to doing the work.' Wintour has been at the helm of the magazine since the late 1980s but the issue has reared its head over the last year amid a cultural shift in attitudes towards racism and diversity. Wintour's relationship with Andre Leon Talley, the former editor-at-large, also crumbled under years of what he called a toxic workplace In June, Wintour did not take part in a company-wide call about how to promote black staffers. There were enormous calls for her to resign but Conde Nast stood by her. She released a statement saying: 'I want to say plainly that I know Vogue has not found enough ways to elevate and give space to Black editors, writers, photographers, designers and other creators. We have made mistakes too, publishing images or stories that have been hurtful or intolerant. Written by a British journalist called Hamish Bowles, it sought to argue that the UK media was institutionally racist and, more specifically, suggested that racist intent lay behind a decision by the Daily Mail to use the word 'niggling' in the headline of an article about the couple's engagement that was written by my colleague, Sarah Vine, back in 2017 'I take full responsibility for those mistakes. It can't be easy to be a Black employee at Vogue, and there are too few of you. 'I know that it is not enough to say we will do better, but we will and please know that I value your voices and responses as we move forward. I am listening and would like to hear your feedback and your advice if you would like to share either.' Her relationship with Andre Leon Talley, the former editor-at-large, also crumbled under years of what he called a toxic workplace. 'Anna Wintour's a colonial broad...her stiletto heel was on my neck,' he told the Daily Mail after her statement, adding: 'At one point, I was the only black person on Anna's staff. 'This statement, for me, is devoid of sincerity. It comes from the world of whiteness and privilege. Anna probably feels that her apology will be a defining moment but knowing her, it will soon be back to business as usual. 'She'll click, clack, clicketyclack down the hall in her Manolo Blahniks and move on. It's a corporate stance, directed at future advertisers. 'It's Anna striking a pose, as the Madonna song says. Why? Because as a powerful businesswoman and head of all Conde Nast editorially she wants to be on the right side of history, not the wrong side.' In October, a collection of black, former Vogue staffers demanded that Wintour relinquish control of the magazine. They described a toxic work environment at a publication that promoted a 'thin, white and rich' mentality. 'Fashion is bitchy. It's hard. This is the way it's supposed to be. But at Vogue, when we'd evaluate a shoot or a look, we'd say 'That's Vogue,' or, 'That's not Vogue,' and what that really meant,' one said. The racial connotations of the pet's name were, of course, overlooked. And the author of this puff piece? Why, that would be Hamish Bowles (pictured) Despite its own issues with race relations, Vogue ran a piece by Hamish Bowles where he claimed the Daily Mail had been racist in its coverage of Meghan and Harry, and claimed inaccurately that the use of the word 'niggling' in one article headline had racial undertones. The headline was: 'Why do I have a niggling worry about this engagement picture?' 'Niggling' means 'to gnaw at' or a 'persistent annoyance'. But Bowles said the use of it was racist. 'In 2017, the Daily Mail, featuring Harry and Meghan's touching engagement picture on the front page, saw fit to run the headline from their columnist Sarah Vine: 'Yes, they're joyfully in love. 'So why do I have a niggling worry about this engagement picture?' (Webster's defines the word niggling thus: 'bothersome or persistent especially in a petty or tiresome way'. 'Nevertheless, the word seemed a surprising choice and jumped from the page, as presumably it was intended to,' Bowles wrote. Conde Nast defended him, calling the choice of word 'surprising'. Advertisement On Thursday, amid a swell of outrage over anti-Asian violence after a gunman killed six Asian women at three massage parlors in Georgia, she said: 'Hey there: I've decided to part ways with Conde Nast.' 'My past tweets have overshadowed the work I've done to highlight the people and issues that I care about - issues that Teen Vogue has worked so tirelessly to share with the world - and so Conde Nast an I have decided to part ways. 'I should not have tweeted what I did and I have taken full responsibility for that. 'I look at my work and growth in the years since, and have redoubled my commitment to growing in the years to come as both a person and as a professional,' she said. McCammond issued a lengthy apology on March 9. 'What an awful introduction we've had to each other this week. 'This has been one of the hardest weeks of my life in large part because of the intense pain I know my words and my announcement have caused so many of you. 'I've apologized for my past racist and homophobic tweets and will reiterate that there's no excuse for perpetuating those awful stereotypes in any way,' she said. The tweets were all written in 2011, when she was in high school, long before she took a job in journalism. Before Axios, she also worked at MSNBC. Originally after the tweets surfaced, she called them 'idiotic' and 'offensive' but not racist. She then came under pressure to acknowledge that they are racist from stars including Olivia Munn. On March 11, Ulta halted advertising with Teen Vogue. 'Diversity and inclusion have always been core values at Ulta Beauty. 'We stand against racism in all forms and as we've publicly shared in our social channels, we stand in unity with the AAPI community. 'We believe it's important that our partners share our values. 'Our discussions with Conde Nast are actively underway as we seek to better understand their next steps and determine ours,' the beauty brand said in a statement. Optical tweezers and associated manipulation tools in the far field have had a major impact on scientific and engineering research by offering precise manipulation of small objects. More recently, the near-field manipulation with surface plasmons has opened opportunities not feasible with conventional far-field optical methods. The use of surface plasmon techniques enables excitation of hotspots much smaller than the free-space wavelength; with this confinement, the plasmonic field facilitates trapping of various nanostructures and materials with higher precision. It has become commonly used in trapping of micro- and nanometre-sized objects in various fields of science. In a new review paper published in Light Science & Application, a team of scientists, led by Professor Xiaocong Yuan from Nanophotonics Research Center, Shenzhen University, China, and co-workers have reviewed the principles, developments, and applications of the plasmonic tweezers techniques, including both nanostructure-assisted platforms and structureless systems. According to excitation situations, surface plasmon can be divided into two types: localized surface plasmon in bounded geometries such as nanoparticles and all-optical excited structureless surface plasmon polaritons on a smooth dielectric-metal interface. Accordingly, the plasmonic tweezers system can be divided into structural type and all-optical modulated type. The structural platform provides an effective approach to trap micro- and nano-scale objects with the advantages of high precision; while the all-optical modulated type is an effective complement for dynamic manipulation and expand the trapping size range to mesoscopic and Mie range. These two kinds of plasmonic tweezers complement each other and have fostered numerous and expanding applications. Owing to great strides in fundamental science, plasmonic tweezers have been used to manipulate many kinds of matter with various shapes, properties, and compositions. By feat of this technique, small objects can be manipulated dynamically to be sorted and transported for on-chip lithography and fabrications. In particular, biological particles of all sizes are important targets for trapping, and the plasmonic platforms exactly provide stable noninvasive probes for manipulation and detection of them. Moreover, plasmonic hotspots can be selectively generated as specific traps through the design of structures or modulation of the polarization and phase distribution of excitation laser beams. Such hotspots have the advantages of strong near-field energy, providing the possibility of enhancing spectroscopic measurement of molecules located in the region through techniques such as SERS, infrared absorption, and fluorescence emission spectroscopy. The nanoscale precision of the method enables manipulation and detection at the molecular level, making plasmonic tweezers an important tool for physics, chemists, and life scientists. "The mechanism and relevant phenomena in nonlinear light-matter interactions, and the intracellular manipulation and detection applications will be the possible development directions and breaking points of the plasmonic tweezers technique in the future." the scientists forecast. "There are still challenges to be overcome in terms of the inherent properties to extend the applicability of the technique. Regardless, we are confident that the uses of plasmonic tweezer techniques will continue to grow in the near future, and many new applications in this area will be developed. " they added. ### Growing up in Houston as the daughter of a railroad worker, I learned early that our city, besides being the Energy Capital of the World, was in the transportation business. Houston is a critical gateway for moving people, goods and services along the tracks, across the water, through the air and into space. Following in my fathers footsteps, I joined Southwest Airlines as a reservations agent in 1989 and got a union card at IAM Local 2198 here in Houston. Eventually, I became the current General Secretary-Treasurer of the The Machinists Union, the worlds largest airline union and the biggest airline union in Houston. During my journey from entry-level employee to international labor leader, I experienced firsthand how much the airline industry means to Houstons economy. The Houston Airport System is directly responsible for more than 230,000 jobs and has a local economic impact of more than $27 billion annually. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic devastated the airline industry last year. Global travel hit historic lows. Many Houston-area airline workers such as mechanics, baggage handlers, gate agents, catering workers, flight attendants and pilots received pink slips. In turn, the pandemic caused a downturn that jeopardized the livelihoods of thousands of other Houstonians who feared the loss of their homes and life savings. But the grit and determination of Houstons airline workers will put us back in the position of being a global leader. After strong union advocacy, thousands of Houston airline workers are now tearing up their pinks slips. Even more, Houstonians will keep their jobs as the sector roars back to life. Earlier in the pandemic, our industry was able to survive thanks to the Airline Payroll Support Program (PSP), a provision of the CARES Act signed into law in March 2020 and extended late last year. This program provided $25 billion in direct payroll support to the airlines to keep paying their employees through the end of September 2020. The Machinists Union and our allies in labor strongly urged the administration and congressional leadership to include the airline PSP in the CARES Act to avoid mass layoffs in the airline industry. As a result of our zealous advocacy, we were able to save thousands of airline jobs at the beginning of the global pandemic. And the recent passage of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) will provide an additional $15 billion to extend the Airline Payroll Support Program through Sept. 30, 2021. The Machinists Unions dedicated legislative team, working on behalf of its members in Houston and across the nation, reached out to President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi to highlight the merits of the program and what it would mean to Houstons working families in the airline industry. We believe our local air transportation industry will come back even stronger. I know because I have witnessed firsthand after 9/11 how our industry can come back from a tragic event or period. With the future of our industry secured, small businesses in Houston can keep their doors open. In turn, employees across the city will benefit from the recovery of Houstons airline industry. The American Rescue Plan and the Airline Payroll Support Program is a lifeline for Houston airline workers and our community. Our city has come a long way since Louis Paulhan flew the first airplane in Houston. The continued collaboration of labor, management, the community and our elected officials will restore this crucial local industry to its pre-pandemic strength. Cervantes is the general secretary-treasurer of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the worlds largest airline labor union. Cervantes, the first Latina to serve on the IAMs executive council, began her career as a Southwest Airlines reservations agent in Houston. Tom Hallberg covers a little bit of everything, from skiing to long-form feature stories. A Teton Valley, Idaho, transplant by way of Portland and Bend, Oregon, he spends his time outside work writing fiction, splitboarding and climbing. WASHINGTON It was the focus of his first White House prime-time speech last week, and he doubled down on the marker Thursday. But President Joe Biden's directive to states to make COVID-19 vaccines available to all adults no later than May 1 doesnt create an especially high bar. Former health officials said that wasn't the point. The move was part of a broader strategy to jolt states into action without rankling Republican governors who may be concerned about federal overreach as the country prepares for a surge in vaccine doses. "It was conservative, but it was supposed to be conservative," said Dr. Kavita Patel, former White House health policy director under the Obama administration. "I think the timeline will be moved up again, not by the president of the United States, but by states in conjunction with (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) and other vaccinators and that's deliberate." Governors of both parties have said their states will have no trouble meeting the May 1 deadline as long as the federal government supplies state health officials with enough vaccination doses. National Governors' Association spokesman James Nash said no governors have expressed concern about the president laying down the May 1 marker or that it's an unrealistic goal. Some states had already planned to expedite eligibility before hearing from the president. Hours before Bidens address last week, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, outlined a May timeline for the general public to become eligible for vaccines in his state. The next morning, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, another Democratic ally of Biden, revealed all Michiganders 16 or older will be eligible by April 5 nearly a month before the presidents benchmark. This week, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, moved up overall vaccination eligibility to the same April 5 date. "Over the course of the next month, I think youre going to find that everybody has vaccines and appointments available to them," Lamont said of the situation in his state. Story continues 'Independence from this virus': President Biden shifts from 'darkest days' to hope on the horizon 'We have to fight this together as one': President Biden tells governors of pandemic response A strategy of setting expectations In all, 24 states are currently planning to open COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all adults on or before May 1, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health care nonprofit tracking the rules, while other governors said they are in position to do the same. Biden adopted an early strategy of setting manageable expectations in the fight against COVID-19, notching political victories as he expands on the vaccine production effort set in motion by his predecessor. The president initially pointed to the end of July as when vaccines would be available for all Americans, before moving that timeline up to May. Biden said Thursday the USA is on track to meet his goal of 100 million shots in his first 100 days on Friday, his 58th full day in office. "I'm glad to see that several states are already taking that step to make more and more Americans eligible even before May 1," Biden said in remarks from the White House celebrating the 100 million-shot milestone. "Next week, I'll announce our next goal to put shots in arms." The May directive is aimed at empowering states as the Biden administration builds a national strategy absent from President Donald Trump's approach to the pandemic while striking a balance between federal and state tensions, according to Patel. "It's accomplishing what we want, which is to open up eligibility way beforehand without the federal government coming in and overtaking state efforts already underway," she said. 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. Trump largely relied on states to procure their own testing materials and other critical equipment as COVID-19 tore through the country last year, which resulted in shortages and some states pitted against each other in bidding wars. Both Democratic and Republican governors complained of the "backup role" Trump said the federal government was playing as the COVID-19 crisis unfolded. Biden came to office on the promise of nationalizing the response but has faced pushback as some Republican governors defied his guidance on fighting the spread of the coronavirus. That resistance includes Texas' Gov. Greg Abbott, who earlier this month ended a statewide mask mandate this month, allowing businesses to operate again at 100% capacity. 'A strong signal to states' This week, Texas opened vaccine eligibility to anyone at least 50 years old, putting the state on pace to meet Abbott's stated goal of making shots available to anyone who wants a vaccine by spring. Abbott's press secretary, Renae Eze, said in a statement that Texas was on track to meet its goal but pointed to two factors that have hindered more progress: "a limited vaccine supply and outdated population data from the federal government." She said Texas' weekly allocation of vaccines is smaller relative to other states because the federal government relies on data that doesn't take into account Texas' massive growth. Joshua Sharfstein, a former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner and a professor at Johns Hopkins University, said Biden's executive order is less about setting a target and more about sending a message to states to prepare for an influx of supply. State officials have viewed the vaccine rollout with a "week-to-week mentality" as early distribution was hampered by logistical hurdles, inconsistency in data, supply shortages and weather delays, Sharfstein pointed out. President Joe Biden tours the Harris County Emergency Operations Center with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, in Houston. "Now there are really no excuses," Sharfstein said. "This is a way to get the country moving, and this was a clear statement from the federal government that the vaccine supply is going to be there." Kristina Box, Indiana's state health commissioner in Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb's administration, called the latest directive a "reasonable goal" during a panel discussion Tuesday at the Forum at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "Hopefully by May, if we truly receive that much vaccine, yes, we can open that up and and allow Hoosiers (Indiana residents) to decide if they're ready to be vaccinated," she said. States brace for a boost in supply in April In a weekly call with governors Tuesday, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients told states to expect to receive more vaccine doses during the first week in April, when Johnson & Johnson anticipates a dramatic boost in its doses, according to Democratic Gov. John Carney of Delaware. The Johnson & Johnson shot is the only one of three vaccines authorized for use in the USA that does not require a follow-up appointment for a second dose, meaning more Americans will be fully vaccinated sooner. "That allotment will be considerably more than what we've been getting, and it will stay at that level for the weeks after that," Carney said. "So we need to be prepared ourselves to move those vaccines in people's' arms." Delaware, Bidens home state, made vaccines available Wednesday to Delawareans 50 years or older. Nearly 332,000 people in Delaware, 20% of its population, have received at least one vaccine. Carney said the state is on its way toward meeting the May 1 directive. Were moving in that direction anyway because of the increased supply and our focus on fast and fair," Carney said. The USA averaged 2.4 million daily vaccinations over the past seven days, according to Andy Slavitt, a White House senior adviser on COVID-19 response, up from 2.2 million the week before. Nearly 30% of all adults and two-thirds of seniors 65 or older have received at least least one vaccination shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 16 million vaccine doses, a record allotment, are being distributed to states this week, the White House said, totaling 22 million doses when including vaccines sent to pharmacies and health centers. Most of the doses are from Moderna and Pfizer. The Johnson & Johnson allotment is likely to add 4 million to 6 million next week. Biden's directive doesn't mean states must ensure all adults are vaccinated by May, but people can at least sign up by then. We anticipate having enough vaccine to be able to open up before May 1. That would be my goal," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said last Friday at a retirement community in Port Orange. He lauded his state's progress vaccinating its large population, asking residents on hand to raise their hands if they'd gotten a shot. See, most of them have had it," DeSantis said. He said he expects the state to make vaccines available to residents 55 and older in March before expanding to all adults in April. States have generally made vaccinations available to citizens in tiers beginning with front-line workers, seniors 65 or older and teachers before moving to adults younger than 65 with health conditions before expanding to the general population. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, called Bidens directive a big challenge" but a doable one that depends on the federal government delivering enough doses and expanding beyond the 500 vaccination sites in his state. Beshear expects every adult in Kentucky who wants a shot will be able to get one by the end of the May. And I think were going to beat his goal in opening up vaccinations up to everyone before May 1, he said. Govs. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas and Bill Lee of Tennessee are among other Republican governors who, through spokespeople, said they're on target to meet the May 1 deadline. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, one of the few Republican governors who openly pushed for passage of Bidens recently approved $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, expressed optimism as well. Were confident were going to be ready to be able to pull that off here in West Virginia, Justice said. Were on the glide slope to being able to get our lives back to normal. And thats what we want more than anything. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice says he's confident his state will meet vaccination goals. Contributing: The Associated Press Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison. Reach Courtney Subramanian on Twitter @cmsub. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Governors bullish about beating Bidens May 1 vaccine directive The other most prominent figure in Metzs book is Demis Hassabis, who grew up in London and is now in his mid-40s. He is a former chess prodigy and electronic-games entrepreneur and designer who founded a company called DeepMind, now a leading force in the quest for the grail of A.G.I., or artificial general intelligence. Superintelligence was possible and he believed it could be dangerous, but he also believed it was still many years away, Metz writes of Hassabis. We need to use the downtime, when things are calm, to prepare for when things get serious in the decades to come, he has said. The time we have now is valuable, and we need to make use of it. Making use of that time is the entire theme of Futureproof. Rooses book has two sections: The Machines, about the surprising potential and equally surprising limits of automated intelligence, and The Rules, which offers nine maxims for how people and organizations can best respond. In structure the book might look like a familiar, business-oriented Secrets of Success tract. But it is actually a concise, insightful and sophisticated guide to maintaining humane values in an age of new machines. In the books first section, Roose lays out distinctions between jobs and industries in which A.I. is likely to dominate, and those where it still disappoints. Computers are unmatchable in speed and complexity within known boundaries the rules of chess, even the way points an airplane must follow through the sky. (Todays airlines can use A.I. guidance to autoland without a pilot, whereas todays cars cant safely autodrive down your street, in part because no pedestrian is going to lurch into a planes descent path.) But the more fluid the setting, the greater the difficulties. Most A.I. is built to solve a single problem, and fails when you ask it to do something else, he writes. And so far, A.I. has fared poorly at what is called transfer learning using information gained while solving one problem to do something else. Roose links this technological transformation to the many others that societies have undergone. Nearly all have eventually made humanity richer overall in the long run. But, he writes, we dont live in the aggregate or over the long term. We experience major economic shifts as individuals with finite careers and life spans. Futureproof offers suggestions for individual pursuits and for social policy. But the most eloquent parts of the book come when Roose moves from preserving livelihoods to protecting basic humanity. Social-media algorithms, he points out, are ever more precisely honed to attract and hold your attention. Click on the next video, scroll to the next tweet. Thus technology becomes humanitys master, rather than the reverse. There are established ways to train our brains to better guard our attention, writes Roose who, it is worth noting, is a millennial-era writer who specializes in digital technology. For me, the best attention-guarding ritual of all is reading sitting down to read physical, printed books for long stretches of time, with my phone sequestered somewhere far away. Technologys effects are driven by technology itself, but even more by human choice. Roose warns against treating technological change as a disembodied natural force that simply happens to us, like gravity or thermodynamics. Instead we all should realize that none of this is predetermined. Regulators, not robots, decide what limits to place on emerging technologies like facial recognition and targeted digital advertising. The message from both of these books is that the sky is not falling but it could. There is time to make a choice. The United States is urging Somalia's leaders to promptly hold presidential and parliamentary elections, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Friday WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th March, 2021) The United States is urging Somalia's leaders to promptly hold presidential and parliamentary elections, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Friday. "We urge Somalia's leaders to safeguard the country's future and find agreement to immediately conduct parliamentary and presidential elections," Blinken said. Blinken pointed out that the United States is concerned by the electoral impasse as it undermines achieved progress, delays reforms as well as hinders the fight against terrorism. "We call on Somalia's Federal and member state leaders to set aside narrow political objectives, uphold their responsibilities to the people of Somalia, and agree to immediately hold transparent and inclusive elections," he said. "The United States supports the right of Somali citizens to protest peacefully and firmly opposes the use of violence by any party. " Somalia has been divided since 1991 and the federal government is not in control of large parts of the country that are dominated by militant groups and separatist movements. The legislative and presidential elections in Somalia were initially scheduled to be held last year but were put off several times due to the coronavirus pandemic and clashes with Islamic militants from the al-Shabab terror group, which is linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist organization (banned in Russia). The talks between the central government and all five federal states to organize the presidential election to replace incumbent Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed have been stalled since the country passed the February 8 agreed-on election deadline. TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan will begin its COVID-19 vaccination programme on Monday using AstraZeneca Plc shots, its health minister said on Friday, with Premier Su Tseng-chang volunteering to be inoculated first to underscore confidence in its safety. Taiwan's first vaccines - 117,000 doses of the AstraZeneca shot - arrived on the island earlier this month from a South Korean factory. Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters that officials had now given the go-ahead for the shots to start being administered from Monday at 57 vaccination sites around the island. Around 60,000 people are in line to get the first vaccinations and Taiwan is prioritising health workers to get the shots. In December, Taiwan said it had agreed to buy almost 20 million vaccine doses, including 10 million from AstraZeneca. More than a dozen European countries suspended use of the vaccine this week amid concerns about its safety, though the World Health Organization's European director said on Thursday the benefits of the shot far outweigh any risks, and its widespread use resumed on Friday. Chen said he would have "no problem" taking the shot himself, and Taiwan's Premier Su said he would be happy to be inoculated first. "Premier Su believes he should let people have more confidence in imported vaccines, so he expressed his willingness to take the lead in getting the AstraZeneca vaccine," Su's office said in a statement. Arrangements are up to health authorities to decide, it added. Taiwan's government has played down concerns about the late start to the vaccination programme, saying that with such a low case rate there is not the urgency that exists in other countries where the pandemic remains rampant. Only 35 people remain in hospital being treated for COVID-19 in Taiwan. The island has kept the pandemic well under control thanks to early and effective prevention, including largely closing its borders. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Jan Harvey) NEW DELHI (AP) Indian health experts and activists on Friday said it was hypocritical for Britain to blame vaccine delays on Indias Serum Institute, amid a debate over equitable access stirred by comments from top officials in London. Activists are saying the Serum Institute wasnt meant to make vaccines for wealthy countries like Britain, and that after hoarding vaccines, London is now trying to get at supply chains meant for poorer nations. However, the exact details of the licensing agreements between the Serum Institute and AstraZeneca aren't known. A deep level of hypocrisy and self-serving behavior is on display, said Malini Aisola of the All India Drug Action Network, a health watchdog. According to K.M. Gopakumar of the advocacy group Third World Network, the Serum Institute is licensed to supply a billion doses for developing nations, while vaccines made in Europe were intended for wealthier countries like the U.K. In June, AstraZeneca said its partnership with the Serum Institute highlighted a commitment to broad and equitable access. On Thursday, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said a delayed delivery of AstraZeneca vaccines made by the Serum Institute, in addition to the need to retest them, would postpone its immunization program. The same day, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the country would receive fewer vaccines than planned a week ago, in part because of a shortfall from the Serum Institute. Britains deal to import 10 million doses of vaccines from India was part of an earlier order of 100 million doses from AstraZeneca, which was announced on March 4. Britain says the Serum Institute made assurances that these doses wouldnt jeopardize supplies to poor nations. The Serum Institute, meanwhile, said no stipulated timeline exists for the delivery of these vaccines, and that it's already sent 5 million doses some weeks ago. The rest will be sent later on, but will depend on Indias own requirements, the institute said. Story continues The Indian government has not officially commented on the vaccine delays in Britain. Meanwhile, vaccine makers and experts in India are concerned the U.S. is not allowing enough vaccine supplies to be exported under the Defense Production Act. Although the Serum Institute confirmed this wasnt a factor delaying vaccine doses to Britain, they said it's potentially a major obstacle going forward. Dr. K. Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India, said blocking critical raw materials needed to make vaccines could reduce the capacity to make vaccines globally. This will hobble the industry, Reddy said. Indias need for vaccines is likely to increase even more, he added. So far, the country has focused on immunizing the most vulnerable. But with infections increasing after months of decline, India needs to cover other age groups in locations with the highest cases, he said. And scale is where the Serum Institutes role is pivotal. The companys ability to increase manufacturing was aided by a $750 million grant from vaccines alliance Gavi and CEPI, a coalition for epidemic innovations, and it makes around 60 million doses of vaccine each month. It aims to increase this number to 100 million by April. But Indias domestic needs would strain even this increased capacity, said Gopakumar of the Third World Network. He estimated that for India to vaccinate 70% of its population, it needs enough vaccines for at least 900 million people. They are sourcing vaccines from the beggars bowl, he said. ___ Associated Press writers Ashok Sharma in New Delhi and Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. BEREA, Ohio A Cleveland man, 28, was told never to return to Tower in the Park apartments, 55 Barrett Road, after he was seen punching an 18-year-old woman in the parking lot. It happened at about 3:15 p.m. March 15. According to one witness, the man pinned the woman, a Tower in the Park tenant, against a wall on the buildings third floor. Then, as the woman was entering an elevator, the man grabbed her arm and pulled her off the elevator. The witness left, then returned with a second witness. They both saw the woman lying on the floor. Her head was bleeding, and the man was standing over her. He said, Its not what it looks like. The woman told witnesses she was OK and said she had fallen. The man and woman went to the parking lot. where a third witness saw him push her against her car and punch her in the head. One of the witnesses called police, who, when they arrived, saw the man running from the rear parking lot toward Dollar General, just west of Tower in the Park on West Bagley Road. The woman was standing in the parking lot of Ross Wine & Liquor, between the apartment building and Dollar General. Her head was still bleeding. The woman refused to tell police what happened, saying only that she had fallen. Police caught up with the man in Dollar General, but he denied attacking the woman. Police told the man never to return to Tower in the Park or they would arrest him. Islamabad: Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Thursday (March 18) that it was time for India and Pakistan to "bury the past and move forward" as he asserted that the peace between the two neighbours would help to "unlock" the potential of South and Central Asia. Addressing a session of the first-ever Islamabad Security Dialogue here, Gen Bajwa also said that the potential for regional peace and development always remained hostage to the disputes and issues between Pakistan and India, the two "nuclear-armed neighbours". "We feel it is time to bury the past and move forward," he said, adding that the responsibility for a meaningful dialogue rested with India. India last month said that it desires normal neighbourly bilateral relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence. India has said the onus is on Pakistan to create an environment free of terror and hostility. India has also told Pakistan that "talks and terror" cannot go together and has asked Islamabad to take demonstrable steps against terror groups responsible for launching various attacks on India. "Our neighbour will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in Kashmir, Gen Bajwa said, adding that any effort to improve ties without addressing the core issue would be vulnerable to external political factors. "The Kashmir issue is at the heart of this. It is important to understand that without the resolution of the Kashmir dispute through peaceful means, the process will always remain susceptible to derailment to politically motivated bellicosity, he said. The powerful army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 70 plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy. Gen Bajwas remarks came a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan made a similar statement at the same venue. Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday said India will be benefited economically by having peace with Pakistan as it will enable New Delhi to directly access the resource-rich Central Asia region through Pakistani territory. "India will have to take the first step. Unless they do so, we cannot do much," Khan said while delivering the inaugural address at the launch of the two-day Dialogue. Khan said that having a direct route to the Central Asian region will economically benefit India. Central Asia is rich in oil and gas. Central Asia, in the modern context, generally includes five resource-rich countries including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Gen Bajwa also said that peace between Pakistan and India would help to "unlock the potential of South and Central Asia" by ensuring connectivity between East and West Asia. Though, both Prime Minister Khan and Gen Bajwa didnt specify the minimum steps that India should take but many experts in Pakistan believe that some positive measures in Kashmir could ease pressure on the Pakistan government before entering into talks or restoring the normal diplomatic ties. Gen Bajwa also talked about poverty which he said was linked with the regional tension that had hindered the regional connectivity and integration. "Despite being impoverished, we end up spending a lot of our money on defence, which naturally comes at the expense of human development," he said. However, he added that Pakistan was resisting the temptation to become part of the arms race or increase defence budget despite rising security challenges. "This has not been easy, especially when you live in a hostile and unstable neighbourhood. But having said that, let me say that we are ready to improve our environment by resolving all our outstanding issues with our neighbours through dialogue in a dignified and peaceful manner," he said. India and Pakistan had announced on February 25 that they have agreed to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and other sectors. Ties between India and Pakistan nose-dived after a terror attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016 by terror groups based in the neighbouring country. Subsequent attacks, including one on Indian Army camp in Uri, further deteriorated the relationship. The relationship dipped further after India's war planes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan on February 26, 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed. The relations deteriorated after India announced withdrawing special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation of the state into two union territories in August, 2019. Talking about the concept of national security, Gen Bajwa said that it was not just about protecting countries from an external and internal threat. "Today, the leading drivers of change in the world are demography, economy and technologyHowever, one issue that remains central to this concept is economic security and cooperation, he said. Bajwa added that since national security involved ensuring human security, national progress and development, it was not solely the function of the armed forces and required a national effort to safeguard a nation. Live TV European priests plan to bless same-sex unions in defiance of Vatican decree Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Some European Catholic priests have announced their intentions to continue blessing same-sex unions despite a Vatican statement this week saying that Catholic churches cant bless sinful relationships. The Austrian Priests' Initiative, which has supported the practice of blessing same-sex unions, released a statement this week expressing their intention to disobey Mondays decree from the Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The group of priests stated that they were deeply appalled by the new Roman decree that wants to prohibit the blessing of same-sex loving couples." This is a relapse into times that we had hoped to be overcome with Pope Francis, the groups statements reads, as reported by CBS News. In solidarity with so many, we will not reject any loving couple in the future who wants to celebrate God's blessing, which they experience every day, in a church-service. The initiative, founded in 2006, has about 350 members who mostly reside in Austria. The group argued that same-sex couples can be as loving as heterosexual couples. Reality has long since shown that same-sex couples connected in love can very well celebrate God's blessing in church. A state-of-the-art theology establishes this responsible practice, the group added. In a statement authored by Spanish Jesuit Cardinal Luis Ladaria, Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declared that it is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage. As is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex. The presence in such relationships of positive elements, which are in themselves to be valued and appreciated, cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing, since the positive elements exist within the context of a union not ordered to the Creators plan, the Vaticans statement reads. Supporters of the decree, among them Kevin Miller, professor of moral theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, have argued that it fits longstanding Church teaching. In an emailed statement, Miller stated that "[t]his teaching is so grounded in Scripture and Tradition that it cannot be otherwise. 'Intrinsically' means that, as the response says, no matter what positive elements (like friendship and the care for another that goes with it) there might also happen to be in a particular same-sex relationship, the relationship as a whole, insofar as it includes same-sex acts, is 'not ordered to the Creators plan, said Miller. To bless something that is intrinsically at odds with Gods plan would be a kind of contradiction in terms, an abuse of what a blessing, by its nature, is. It is not so much forbidden as impossible. Critics of the Vatican statement, including Jamie Manson, president of the progressive group Catholics for Choice, argued that the Vaticans stance was an act of profound cruelty to invalidate LGBTQ families in any form. The Vaticans needless attack on same-sex marriages seems to reflect an intention to put up walls that separate people and divide families instead of building bridges between all people, stated Manson. By insisting that genital complementarity is an absolute requirement for marriage, the hierarchy places limits on Gods power to work within all of the relationships of all Gods beloved children. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, which claims to be the United States largest Catholic civil rights organization, told The Christian Post that the Vaticans statement clarifies Pope Francis position on the matter. Last year, Pope Francis reportedly called for the legalization of same-sex civil unions in the civil sphere. But a Vatican official later clarified that the pontiffs remarks did not change Catholic Church teaching. The Church will never bless cohabitation, Donohue said. This is not just with homosexuals. There are guys and gals who live together outside of marriage, and the Church does not recognize that. This is not strictly about homosexuals, although they are the ones who are pushing for it, obviously. But it would apply to any union that is outside of [licit marriage]. Advertisement Blood is seen splattered on the floor in the first photos from inside Young's Asian Massage Parlor where gunman Robert Aaron Long, 21, opened fire and killed four in the first stop of his crime spree. Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show the interior of the spa, with the bodies removed but drops of blood still visible on the floor at the entrance and in the hallway leading to the massage rooms. Other photos show massage tables with the sheets disheveled as workers and spa-goers rushed out of the building in a hurry to save their lives. According to surveillance video obtained by DailyMail.com, Long spent 72 minutes inside the first shooting site, supporting widespread speculation that he received a massage before opening fire. DailyMail.com took exclusive photos Thursday showing the interior of the Young's Asian Massage Parlor, with the bodies removed but drops of blood still visible on the floor at the entrance and in the hallway leading to the massage rooms Four people were killed at this location before the gunman moved on to two other spas in the Atlanta area A massage bed is seen inside the Young's Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth, Georgia after the fatal shooting Just outside, the sidewalk was adorned with flowers and hand-written notes, one listing the names of the victims and declaring 'Say Their Names.' A young man held a sign stating 'Stop Asian Hate' The hallway of the Young's Asian Massage is now a crime scene as police investigate the gunman's motives The reception area desk is seen inside the spa in Acworth, Georgia. The spa was the first of three massage parlors the killer targeted It appears the spa was gearing up for St. Patrick's Day, as a green hat and bow are seen next to a sign advising customers to be cautious of Covid Small droplets of blood can be seen on the ground next to flowers and cards memorializing the victims of the shooting A bullet hole is seen at the business next door to the spa. The bullet went into Gabby's Boutique after shots were fired next door Long pulled up to Youngs Asian Massage in Acworth Tuesday afternoon and spent an hour parked outside in his vehicle stalking people entering the spa, video shows. He then walked inside and spent more than an hour there. The shooting took place around 5pm, police said. After opening fire and killing four people, video shows the door swing open and Long exiting, hopping into his vehicle and speeding off on his way to two more spas where he killed Ann other four people. Robert Aaron Long, 21, killed eight people - six Asian women, a white woman and a white man - in a three-hour crime spree at three different spas on Tuesday Long bought his 9mm handgun hours before the rampage. He was on his way to Florida to carry out more attacks when he was caught. Now just outside the spa, the sidewalk is adorned with flowers and hand-written notes, one listing the names of the victims and declaring 'Say Their Names.' A young man held a sign stating 'Stop Asian Hate.' It appears the spa was gearing up to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, with green bows and hats along the reception desk next to a sign advising customers to take Covid precautions. Next door to the spa at Gabby's Boutique, DailyMail.com shows a bullet hole that pierced through the wall. Long shot dead eight people including six Asian women at three parlors - one in Acworth and two in Atlanta - on Tuesday. He then went on the run and was driving to Florida to target porn-industry locations when he was arrested 150 miles south of Atlanta. Police rammed his Hyundai off the road to take him into custody. Atlanta police said Thursday that 'nothing is off the table' in the investigation of the deadly shootings at Georgia massage parlors, including whether it was a hate crime. 'Our investigation is looking at everything, so nothing is off the table,' Deputy Atlanta Police Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said at a news conference. Four of the eight victims have now been named as; Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33; Paul Andre Michels, 54; Xiaojie Yan, 49; and Daoyou Feng, 44. Elcias R Hernandez-Ortiz was injured but survived. Friends of Yaun say that she and her husband were there for a couple's massage. He escaped but she was killed. Not all of the victims were staff. Yaun's friends say she was a paying customer who was in the parlor to get a couple's treatment with her husband. Initially, police said they were probing whether race was a factor in the attacks because six of the eight victims were Asian women. But on Wednesday morning, they said Long told them that was not why he carried out the attacks. Instead, he said he is addicted to sex and porn, and wanted to remove the 'temptation' of the parlors. Long bought his 9mm handgun hours before the rampage at Big Good Woods Gun Range. He was on his way to Florida to carry out more attacks when he was caught. A 9mm similar to the one Long used is pictured Video shows Robert Aaron Long sat in car for an entire hour, exactly 60 minutes, before stepping out One man who'd been getting a massage with his wife sat outside in handcuffs, as his wife lay dying inside. Police still hadn't identified a suspect, so restrained him as a precaution. Within minutes the video shows a few lucky survivors exiting the spa, followed by the arrival of cops and paramedics as one victim is seen on the sidewalk with blood flowing from a bullet wound to the head DailyMail.com has obtained yearbook photos of a younger Robert Aaron Long from 2016 and 2018 He told police that he saw the parlors as an 'outlet' for his sex addiction. Detectives have not clarified if he had ever engaged in sex acts with any of the staff there. He has been charged with four counts of murder and aggravated assault in Cherokee County, where the first salon is that was targeted. He hasn't yet been in charged in Atlanta. 'He claims that it was not racially motivated... he has an issue that he considers a sex addiction and sees these locations as something that allows him to go to these places... it's a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate,' Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee Sheriff's Office said at a Wednesday press conference. Baker added that it had been a 'very bad day' for the suspect, and said: 'He was at the end of his rope'. He didn't elaborate on what had happened earlier in the day. Exclusive video shows gunman Long parked outside Young's Asian Massage Parlor Tuesday afternoon, sitting patiently in the driver's seat of his black Hyundai Tucson for exactly an hour and eerily watching people enter before he stepped inside and opened fired, killing four. Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, was killed in the first parlor in Acworth. Her friends claim she was a customer and had gone to the parlor in Acworth to get her own massage when she was killed The surveillance video obtained by DailyMail.com, shows the door swing back open and Long step out. The 21-year-old rushes back to his vehicle, hops in and speeds off to continue his massacre at two other Atlanta area spas. Moments after he drove off, the video shows a few lucky survivors exiting the spa, followed by the arrival of cops and paramedics a few minutes later. One victim was carried out and left on the sidewalk with blood flowing from a bullet wound in the back of their head. One man who'd been getting a massage with his wife sat outside in handcuffs as his wife lay dying inside. Police still hadn't identified a suspect at the time and restrained him as a precaution. Alex Acosta, who works with his wife Rita Barron at Gabby's Boutique next door, was washing his hands in a sink in the back of his shop when the first shot rang out. He told DailyMail.com he heard four shots in short succession. Running to the front of the store, he saw three woman who'd just exited the spa and were standing on the sidewalk. 'Somebody inside, they shot, they shot!' one of the women, of Asian dissent, cried out to him, her English limited. Acosta called out to his wife, directing her to 'call 911!' Barron was inside the shop, which one of the bullets pierced, leaving a tiny hole in the shared wall. Acosta saw the man who'd been placed in handcuffs. He recognized him as Mario Gonzalez, whose wife Delaina was inside with a fatal bullet wound. 'Mario looked at me and he told me his wife was still inside,' Acosta recalled. 'He told me to tell the police.' When Acosta's wife told a cop about Delaina, the officer replied, 'I know.' Rita Barron had know Delaina for years. She said Delaina would shop in her boutique. Barron would also see her at a nearby Waffle House where Delaina worked as a waitress. 'I feel sad for all the families because we knew all the people who were involved,' Barron said. Four of the eight victims have now been named as; Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33; Paul Andre Michels, 54; Xiaojie Yan, 49; and Daoyou Feng, 44. Elcias R Hernandez-Ortiz was injured but survived More and more flowers, signs and balloons were put in front of the spa overnight to memorialize the lives taken 'I feel sad for all the families because we knew all the people who were involved,' shop owner Rita Barron said. Her friend Delaina was killed in the spa Long went on the run and was driving to Florida to target porn-industry locations when he was arrested 150 miles south of Atlanta. Police rammed his Hyundai off the road to take him into custody Three shootings at spas and massage parlors around Atlanta left eight people dead and police on the hunt for those responsible Tributes are paid to the shooting victims Thursday with signs that read '#StopAsianHate' Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told CNN on Wednesday that she wanted the most severe charges possible against Robert Aaron Long, 21. 'I think whatever the stiffest most appropriate charges there are, this guy should face those charges,' said Bottoms. 'In Georgia, you can be charged with a hate crime. It covers a variety of areas and I personally think it would be appropriate, but I will defer to the prosecutors to make that determination.' Long, who was arrested shortly after the shootings, has told police that his attack was not racially motivated. He said he was suffering from a sex addiction, and wanted to 'remove temptation'. Yet Bottoms said it was hard to ignore that Asian Americans were singled out. 'This is a man who murdered, eight people in cold blood, so it's very difficult to believe what he says,' said Bottoms. 'It's difficult to ignore the fact that many of the victims were Asian, all of the victims in Atlanta were Asian, in fact, and that he targeted these Asian massage parlors.' Bottoms said it is important that people stand in solidarity with the Asian American community at this time. 'They are being targeted unfairly and in Atlanta, what we've seen the worst has happened,' she said. She spoke hours after Georgia police were branded racist for saying the gunman was having a 'bad day' when he killed six Asian women, a white woman and a white man. The January attack on the U.S. Capitol had a larger impact than previously known on corporate political giving, new campaign finance filings indicate. Why it matters: The immediate and intense political fallout over the insurrection pushed scores of companies to announce a pause or end to political donations. New numbers suggest an even larger chilling effect, with companies that had been quiet publicly also forgoing donations. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free. Corporate PACs for some firms that didn't announce post-Jan. 6 changes to their political giving such as Sysco, Assurant, Citizens Financial and Pioneer Natural Resources didn't give a dime to federal candidates in the first two months of the year. All four donated to at least one political candidate during the first two months of the 2020 election cycle. Other companies that announced internal reviews appear to be remaining on the sidelines. United Airlines, CVS and Chevron announced they would reevaluate those policies. None donated to a federal political candidate in January or February. Firms that did announce changes to their political donation policies appear to be staying true. The corporate PAC for financial services company Charles Schwab dissolved entirely this week, after the company said it would abandon its political giving program. The PAC donated its remaining funds, nearly $150,000, to charity. Companies that said they would suspend all political donations including McDonald's, General Motors and BAE Systems reported following through. Even companies that swore off donations just to the members of Congress who opposed certifying President Biden's Electoral College win appear to be going even further. Mastercard and Walgreens both reported zero federal political contributions in January and February, significant drops from their giving in the first two months of 2019. Eli Lilly donated $30,000 in February to the Democrats' House and Senate campaign arms, but none to the equivalent Republican groups a departure from bipartisan giving during the equivalent periods of past election cycles. What they're saying: "I definitely think that (the Jan. 6 attack) will have an impact long term" on political giving, said Kristin Brackemyre, director of political action committee and government relations at the Public Affairs Council. Story continues "Organizations are much more aware that every single contribution they make, they need to be really thoughtful and ... need to evaluate whether this could be controversial, and who it would be controversial to," Brackemyre said. Yes, but: Not all of corporate America has been so reticent to reengage. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently announced it would not cut off members of Congress just because they voted against certifying the election. Nor have corporate PACs that swore off donations been the moderating force that many hoped. In fact, they could have the opposite effect, encouraging fringe donors. Firebrand Republicans such as Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) also have found that any loss in contributions they may have faced has been supplanted by a growth in grassroots support. The bottom line: The Jan. 6 attack didn't just turn many major companies against some prominent GOP lawmakers; it showed how toxic American politics are right now. That's forcing companies to balance the possibility of controversy with their immediate goals in Washington. "Overall, I think corporate America wants to be politically engaged," Brackemyre said. "They just want to make sure that they're doing it in a responsible and tactful way." Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. A Covid-19 situation at the National Insurance Board (NIB) led to late pension cheques this month, says Social Development Minister Donna Cox. And the ministry yesterday apologised for any inconvenience caused to pensioners and other recipients of social welfare as a result of the late payment of benefits. Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. Press Release 19 March 2021 Avani Hotels and Resorts, one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing hospitality brands targeting travellers who are socially conscious, curious about cultures, open-minded and adventurous, has jumped on the #TikTokTravel bandwagon with the launch of its own TikTok channel @AvaniHotels. Advertisements TikTok launched the #TikTokTravel challenge as a way to encourage users to upload their best travel memories and share the stories behind them. So far, it has attracted over 32 billion views as cabin-fevered globe-trotters flock to the app in search of inspiring travel-related content while waiting for the international borders to reopen. The brand currently counts over 30 properties in 15 countries in its portfolio. Each was carefully designed to showcase local cultures through wanderlust-inducing destinations, Instagram-able spots and local guides curated by resident experts. The brand's popular AvaniMe Insider Guide programme makes it easier to explore from Bangkok's buzzing destination all the way to Zambia. By partnering with local taste-makers to produce highly curated city guides, Avani takes culturally-curious guests to districts that usually see very little tourist traffic. Avani also places a high premium on sustainable dining, with chefs working directly with local smallholders and giving indigenous flavours centre stage. By launching its own dedicated TikTok channel, Avani will be collaborating with leading TikTok-ers to curate and share the Avani Hotels journey and discover under-the-radar experiences around the world through the lens of TikTok content creators. Digital travellers can look forward to short videos spotlighting architectural gems in the area, breezy behind-the-scenes hotel tours or styling tips for the perfect selfie from the pros. Guests are invited to share their short video journey and experiences when staying with Avani simply by mentioning @AvaniHotels in their TikTok to get featured. Sniffer dogs have been used to detect drugs, weapons, as well as dead bodies. Recently, NASCAR has recruited trained dogs to sniff out COVID-19 in human sweat. Race officials had hired two teams of dogs from 360 K9 Group to monitor infected guests and personnel during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway scheduled on Sunday. According to a New York Post report, some studies claimed that well-trained sniffer dogs have the ability to detect individuals with COVID-19 by simply smelling their sweat samples at reported rates of 94 to 98 percent. If proven effective, the sniffer dogs could be helpful to public health officials, who could put the skilled canines in high-traffic hubs such as train terminals, airports, and public events. In this trial program, NASCAR said the dogs would have to check and sniff everyone who would enter the Atlanta track to determine if they have COVID-19. If they smell the virus in their 30 seconds of screening, the sniffer dogs will alert their handler, and the individual infected with COVID-19 will have to undergo secondary screening from the doctors of the American Medical Response Safety Team, The Hill reported. NASCAR noted that it is the latest development in an evolving process that could present an efficient, highly accurate, and cost-effective supplement to the existing procedures intended to limit the disease's spread. "We think that these dogs and this capability is going to allow us to rapidly confirm that all of those people entering the essential footprint on Sunday - that's race teams, that's NASCAR officials, that's the vendors that work inside the garage - all those folks are COVID-free or not," NASCAR's managing director of racing operations, Tom Bryant, said in a statement. Bryant added that "the ability to do that has kind of been the math problem" that they have continuously tried to solve since March last year. READ NEXT: NBA Postpones Rockets-Thunder Game After COVID-19 Contact Tracing Sniffer Dogs in Latin America Latin America's police sniffer dogs are also being trained to detect COVID-19, like in El Salvador, where police are using artificial aromas the same as the sweat of a person with COVID-19. Wilber Alarcon, a canine handler from the Central American nation's anti-narcotics police, said it is not easy as the COVID-19 strain seems to be changing a lot. Alarcon said known coronavirus variants had been synthesized, and pseudo-aromas have been extracted to train the canines, AFP News reported. He added that once the sniffer dog detects and marks the infected person, there will be a strict biosafety protocol to reduce the risk of catching or spreading the virus. Researchers said canines are known to have up to 300 million olfactory receptors that give them their superior sense of smell that is far from humans. Dogs could reportedly detect the coronavirus even in asymptomatic patients. Similar programs are being carried out in Mexico, as well as in Chile, where the Police Canine Training School has been deployed in the capital Santiago. In January, NBA's Miami Heat allowed a limited number of fans to attend games with the help of sniffer dogs that could detect COVID-19, according to an ABC 7 report. Matthew Jafarian, the executive vice president of business strategy for the Miami Heat, said the sniffer dogs are amazing as their noses are way more powerful than humans. Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not signed off on this method of screening. READ MORE: Scientists Warned The World About COVID-19 in 2007, Why Didn't We Listen? WATCH: Sniffer Dogs Trained to Detect Coronavirus in Less Than a Second - From BBC An international team of scholars studied how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Europeans' stress levels and their trust in their national governments and the healthcare systems. They found that respondents were most stressed by the state of the national economy, and only after that, by the risk of catching COVID-19 and possibly being hospitalized. The results of the study were published in Royal Society Open Science. The authors of the study represent over 50 universities. Among them is Dmitrii Dubrov, Junior Research Fellow at the HSE Center for Sociocultural Research, who developed and organized the global survey, COVIDiSTRESS. The researchers studied the psychological consequences of the current pandemic-related crisis, as reflected in stress levels. Over 150,000 respondents from over 50 countries participated in the study. The results (below) include answers from 75,570 respondents in 27 countries of the European Union (EU), who were surveyed from March 30 to April 20, 2020. The general level of respondents' stress was measured on a 10-grade scale developed by psychologists Cohen, Kamarck, and Mermelstein (1983). This scale illustrates people's stress levels over the course of a recent week. The study participants were asked, for example, whether they experienced a lack of control over events, felt pressure due to growing difficulties, or disappointment due to unexpected change. Scores over 2.4 points were considered moderate, while those over 3.7 were considered high. 'Stress is a natural human reaction to negative change. We wanted to find out how humans would behave under stress, during the pandemic, whether they would follow recommendations by the WHO and authorities on how to protect oneself and others from COVID-19,' explains Dmitrii Dubrov, Junior Research Fellow at the HSE Centre for Sociocultural Research. In many EU countries, levels of stress were moderate or even low. Poland and Portugal demonstrated the highest levels of stress in Europe, while the lowest rates were registered in Denmark and the Netherlands. Women worried more about the pandemic's consequences than men. The respondents were 74.18% female and 24.63% male. The study participants also talked about the reasons of stress. The results showed that Europeans are most of all concerned about the state of the national economy, with the risk of catching COVID-19 and being hospitalized coming in second place. A total of 24 factors were indicated, including concerns about family and friends, work, or feeling isolated. The respondents were also asked about their trust in the six key institutions, such as the healthcare system, the WHO, the police, social services, and national governments. Europeans demonstrate the highest levels of trust in their national healthcare systems and the WHO. Trust in national governments was lower than in other institutions. Finland and Denmark demonstrated the highest levels of trust in their governments. On the contrary, people in Bulgaria and Poland were much less inclined to trust their respective national governments. The participants also evaluated the adequacy of anti-COVID measures implemented by their governments. Citizens of Slovenia and Slovakia believed the national measures to be excessive, while people in Hungary and France thought they were insufficient. Populations in countries were people trust their governments' efforts better, also better comply with social distancing guidelines. 'We have learned that COVID-19 denial depends on people's trust in social institutions, a belief that the government won't leave them on their own with their problems. Institutional trust in impacted by many factors, such as the level of corruption in the country. The results of our study can be used to prepare recommendations on how governments should communicate with people in situations of uncertainty. As we discovered here, the problem is global, which means that systematic work with citizen's demands is needed,' Dmitrii Dubrov said. Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park invites the public to participate in a virtual program exploring the life and legacy of Bill Lewis, a well-known African American blacksmith who lived and worked in 19th Century Chattanooga. This program will be held on Saturday, April 10, at 2 p.m. and will be accessible on the parks Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/chickamauganps) and YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/chchnps). Instructions on accessing an audio described version of the program will be provided on the parks social media platforms as well. Who was William T. Bill Lewis? According to his obituary in the Chattanooga Daily Times, published on Sept. 3, 1896, he came to Chattanooga when it was known as Ross Landing, in 1837, thus making him one of the citys oldest residents. He plied his trade as a blacksmith so diligently that he purchased his own freedom and that of his mother, brother, and sister by 1851. By 1862, as the Civil War crept ever closer to the Gateway City, Mr. Lewis blacksmith shop forged the shackles for James Andrews and his famed raiders, temporarily jailed in the city. The program will delve deeper into these and other stories associated with one of Chattanoogas most well-known African American residents and blacksmiths. For more information about programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, contact the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at (706) 866-9241, the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at 821-7786, or visit the park website at www.nps.gov/chch. A Louisiana teen has been indicted on federal hate crime and kidnapping charges for allegedly trying to kill and dismember another teenager he met on the gay hookup app Grindr. Chance Seneca, 19, faces life behind bars if convicted, after being charged by a federal grand jury on Thursday. According to a statement released by the Department of Justice, evidence shows that Seneca attempted to kidnap three men by luring them to his home after chatting with them on Grindr. On June 19, 2020, Seneca was successfully able to coax 18-year-old Holden White to a residence in Lafayette Parish, where the victim was strangled, stabbed and battered - but ultimately managed to survive. White spent days in a coma and nearly a month in the hospital and still does not have full use of both hands. On Thursday, the Justice Department alleged that Seneca 'intended to dismember and keep parts of White's body as trophies, mementos and food'. While police initially said the evidence did not support a hate crime charge, the DOJ stated that Seneca deliberately targeted White due to his sexual orientation. The hate crime charge was added in spite of the fact that Seneca is himself a gay man. Chace Seneca (left) has been indicted on federal hate crime and kidnapping charges for allegedly trying to kill and dismember Holden White (right), who he met on the gay hookup app, Grindr White, 18, is pictured before he was stabbed and strangled by Seneca last year In an interview conducted back in January, White revealed that he decided to meet up with Seneca after they exchanged messages on Grindr for a month. White told The Acadiana Advocate that Seneca picked him up and took him to a relative's home to play video games. White said his next memory is of being pulled backward by a cord and choked so hard that blood vessels ruptured all over his face. He said he woke up in a bathtub as Seneca sliced his wrists. 'The water is running, and its cold,' he told the newspaper. Lafayette police said Seneca called police shortly after claiming he had killed a man. Authorities responded to the scene where White was found with cuts to both wrists that were so deeps his hands were nearly severed. He also sustained six stab wounds to the neck and blunt force trauma to the back of his head. However, he miraculously managed to survive. White survived being repeatedly stabbed, beaten, slashed and strangled after going out on a Grindr date with Seneca (pictured after his release from the hospital) Along with Thursday's federal indictment, a police affidavit was also unsealed pertaining to the case. The affidavit was filed in August by an FBI agent and was based on information from Lafayette police and a conversation the agent had with Seneca. It said Seneca told police he had called 911 after the attack "in a self-described effort to be put into a mental institution." Seneca is in state custody, and has already pleaded not guilty to an attempted murder charge filed in Louisiana. His public defender, Clay Lejeune, did not say how Seneca would plead to the new federal charges handed down on Thursday. Federal hearing dates have not yet been set. Meanwhile, White says the attack has left him with diminished function in his left hand, but he is determined to move on. 'I'm a survivor,' he told The Advocate. White told a local news network that he is confident that the attack was a pre-planned hate crime, in which he was targeted for being openly gay. '[Seneca] went on an app designated for gay people. He chose to choose someone who is gay and very proud of his sexuality,' he said. 'He knew what he was doing.' Meanwhile, White continues to date on Grindr, but now only in public places. 'You cant let other people control your story because its your story,' White told News 10. A state legislator has reintroduced a bill that would offer emergency support to tenants, landlords and homeowners struggling to make payments in the midst of the pandemic. House Bill 2877, known as the Federal Emergency Rental Assistance Act, would create a process for allocating funding for rental support that was made available in federal stimulus packages since December. It also would expand the sealing of eviction records in the state through July 2022. State Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, who previously introduced the legislation during the lame duck session in January, said the new bill offers a comprehensive approach to addressing what she referred to as a crisis of housing instability as a result of COVID-19. Since the outset of the pandemic, Ramirez has been working to introduce legislation that would provide additional support to renters, landlords and homeowners who are unable to make rent or pay their mortgage because of financial hardship during the pandemic. The legislation Ramirez originally introduced in January aimed to back Gov. J.B. Pritzkers eviction moratorium by enshrining the executive order in state statute and extending it into late 2022. Since January, weve been working really hard to make some technical changes to address concerns from opponents in the finance industry, Ramirez said. We have now come to an agreement. Ramirez and proponents of the legislation said the new version primarily would aim to protect rental tenants from additional financial hardship if faced with an eviction notice. Emily Coffey, a housing attorney with the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, called the bill a vital step in the right direction to offer support to tenants, landlords, and homeowners. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a housing crisis that has long existed, but became all the more urgent to address, Coffey said. (The bill) ensures that tenants who are unable to pay their rent do not have lasting permanent consequences, and that landlords are able to access a rental assistance fund, she added. The bill also ensures that homeowners and small landlords have additional time to avoid foreclosure. Opponents of the bill, including State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, R-Elmhurst, cited concerns that the legislation does not require a written lease to apply for additional rental support, which she argued could lead to fraudulent claims. That failure to have some type of two-factor authentication for someone without a written lease, I think, is going to be an invitation to fraud, Mazzochi said. Ramirez responded that to attain additional rental assistance in accordance with federal requirements, residents would have to provide written documents proving their residency that their landlord would need to sign. Ramirez also said the U.S. Treasury Department was clearer on eligibility requirements in the latest COVID relief package, allowing the state to ensure that residents who most need rental support would be the ones receiving it. The federal government will be auditing the administering agencies to ensure theyre living up to the federal guidelines, Ramirez said. Ramirez said new stipulations from the federal government focusing on Area Median Income data from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development data also would allow the state to ensure that rental relief is going to those who need the most support. Those that need it the most are able to access this assistance, and we can prevent people from becoming homeless, Ramirez said. HB 2877 was advanced to the House floor with support from only Democrats. The bill was one of three advanced by the House Housing Committee. The other two bills would aim to give additional rental support to low-income individuals and those living with mental illness. House Bill 449, introduced by Rep. Kathleen Willis, D-Addison, would create a Housing is Recovery pilot program. The five-year pilot program would offer bridge rental subsidies to those who are at high risk of unnecessary institutionalization and overdoses related to mental illness. House Bill 648, introduced by Rep. Denyse Stoneback, D-Skokie, would establish new, more flexible rules for family median income level requirements to qualify for subsidized housing. The bill as amended would allow residents to qualify for subsidized housing through the states Rental Housing Support program if their household income is at or below 30% of their area median income. More assistance is on the way, but we must do more to ensure continued housing stability for the people of our state, Stoneback said of the bill. Both HB 449 and HB 648 passed committee by a unanimous vote. . Total cases in west-central Illinois counties as of Thursday, according to individual county health departments, were: Brown County 675 total, 659 recovered, seven deaths Cass County 1,908 total, 1,868 recovered, 33 deaths Two new cases. Greene County 1,370 total, 1,313 recovered, 47 deaths Jersey County 2,505 total, 2,444 recovered, 47 deaths Macoupin County 4,597 total, 4,228 recovered, 108 deaths Nine new cases. Morgan County 3,734 total, 3,598 released from restrictions, 101 deaths Four new cases. Pike County 1,698 total, 1,637 recovered, 47 deaths Sangamon County 16,528 total, 227 deaths 57 new cases. Schuyler County 660 total, 640 recovered, 16 deaths Scott County 453 total, 450 recovered, one death Statewide, 2,325 new cases of coronavirus disease and 34 deaths were reported Thursday, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. There have been 1,216,090 cases and 21,022 deaths in Illinois. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will conduct simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities for an aggregate amount of Rs 10,000 crore each on March 25. The central bank will purchase and sell government securities through multiple price auction method. "On a review of current liquidity and financial conditions, the Reserve Bank has decided to conduct simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities under Open Market Operations (OMO) for an aggregate amount of Rs 10,000 crore each on March 25, 2021," the central bank said in a release on Thursday. Also read: Economy out of crisis; to move upwards in FY22, says RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das While RBI will purchase three government securities using the multiple price auction method, it will sell two government securities. "The Reserve Bank will continue to monitor evolving liquidity and market conditions and take measures as appropriate to ensure orderly functioning of financial markets," it said. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, in his address after the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee on February 5, had said that the central bank will continue to maintain an "accommodative liquidity stance" to support growth in the economy battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. RBI's market operations amid the pandemic have dispelled illiquidity fears and bolstered financial market sentiment, he said. On government's market borrowing, Das said the central bank will ensure "orderly" completion of Rs 12 lakh crore borrowing programme in a non-disruptive manner. The government raises money from the market through bonds and treasury bills to fund its fiscal deficit. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech, had pegged India's fiscal deficit at 6.8 per cent of GDP in financial year 2021-22, down from 9.5 per cent in 2020-21. Also read: RBI likely to delay monetary policy normalisation by 3 months amid rising COVID-19 cases Calvert City Woman Vying for Mrs. America Crown By Bill Hughes CALVERT CITY - A western Kentucky woman arrived in Las Vegas Thursday to compete in the Mrs. America pageant.Kim Robinson of Calvert City won the Mrs. Kentucky pageant on August 22, and told West Kentucky Star it was her fifth attempt at the title, representing this region of the state as Mrs. Kentucky Lake.Robinson said, "It took me five years, but through those five years I've had personal growth, and you know, it's really been my own journey of building that self-confidence and being comfortable on stage."She hopes one specific part of her story will help others to face their challenges in life."I grew up with the disability of a speech impediment, so this has really helped me get comfortable being uncomfortable and speaking in front of people, and now it's just a very natural thing and I hope to inspire others through this journey of mine," Robinson said.Robinson has a degree in exercise science from Ball State University and manages two locations of Snap Fitness in Benton and Calvert City.At the Benton location, she has held adaptive recreation classes for people with special needs, working with the Marshall County Exceptional Center and local Special Olympics athletes.Robinson said, "That's part of my platform - Defying Disabilities - which bridges the gap between those with disabilities and the world around them."She's appeared all over the state since she won the title, but has been forced to do more of them virtually than in person."It's been challenging this year with COVID, with not as many opportunities. Hopefully as things start opening up I'll be able to be in person more often," Robinson said.Robinson and her husband Andrew, who accompanied her to Vegas, are proud dog parents. She said she's, "super proud," to wear the Kentucky sash and represent the state in Las Vegas, and thanked everyone for their support leading up to this week.The pageant will take place over the next ten days. She'll have a personal interview with the judging panel on March 24, which counts for half of her pageant score. The on-stage competition will be on Saturday, March 27.There are plans for the event to be live-streamed, but details haven't been released. Robinson plans to post more details on her Facebook page (see link below).On the Net: Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Advanced Ceramics are used in a wide range of end-user industry applications owing to their excellent chemical & heat resistance and mechanical stresses properties. It is extensively used in applications such as medical devices, transport equipment, armor material, semiconductors, insulators, and others. The rising growth of the pharmaceutical and automotive industry across the globe is substantially affecting the growth of the advanced ceramics market. The global advanced ceramics market is being driven by a range of applications in the various end-use industries such as automotive, electrical and electronics, pharmaceuticals, military & defense, and others. Moreover, it is estimated that the electrical and electronics industry is set to witness the highest growth due to the growing consumption in insulators, conductors, piezoelectric, and magnetic applications over the forecast period, 2017-2023. Access Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/advanced-ceramics-market-1604 Market Segmentation The global advanced ceramics market is segmented into product type, material, and end-user. On the basis of the product type, the market is segregated into monolithic ceramics, ceramic matrix composites, ceramic coatings, and others. The market by the material is segmented into alumina advanced ceramics, titanate advanced ceramics, zirconate advanced ceramics, ferrite advanced ceramics, and others. The market by the end-user is further categorized into electrical & electronics, automotive, machinery, pharmaceuticals, military & defense, and others. Market Scenario The electrical and electronic segment followed by the automotive end-user segment is anticipated to observe a higher CAGR during the forecast period 201. The properties such as corrosion resistance, heat resistance makes the use of advanced ceramics in applications such as other electronic components. Regional Analysis The global advanced ceramics market is spanned across five key regions: Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Among these, Asia Pacific holds a major share of the market and is expected to be the fastest growing at an exponential CAGR. The presence of the most populated countries of the world such as India and China has augmented the demand for various sectors such as the electronics and automotive among others, which, in turn, is anticipated to fuel the demand for advanced ceramics in the region. Moreover, the growing investment in the defense budget has augmented the demand for advanced ceramics, mainly in India and China, which, in turn, is expected to positively affect the growth of the market. The European region is estimated to witness a significant growth in the countries owing to the burgeoning pharmaceutical and automobile industry. The increasing use of advanced ceramics owing to its enhanced strength, chemical, and heat stability among others has increased the adoption rate in the region. Moreover, the growing application in the environmental engineering coupled with the increased government participation in conservation of the environment is further burgeoning the usage of the product in this region owing to its low VOC content. The North American advanced ceramics market is mainly driven by the US and Canada. The presence of the developed end-user industries such as automotive and electronics coupled with the increasing adoption rate is contributing significantly to the growth of the market. Moreover, the growing investment in the energy and defense sector is further expected to add fuel to the growth of the market. Get a FREE Sample Copy @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1604 Competitive Analysis Some of the prominent players operating in the global advanced ceramics market Kyocera Corporation (Japan), CeramTec GmbH (Germany), CoorsTek Inc. (US), Saint-Gobain Ceramic Materials (US), Morgan Advanced Materials Plc (UK), 3M Company (US), Rauschert Steinbach GmbH (Germany), Dyson Advanced ceramics Limited (UK), Superior Advanced ceramics (US), and NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. (Japan). DETROIT A woman was found dead of multiple stab wounds this week and her live-in boyfriend has been charged with murder in what is Detroits ninth alleged fatal domestic violence incident of 2021, authorities said. Police found Valencia Burden lying on her bedroom floor with multiple stab wounds to the chest area at 11:30 p.m. on Monday, March 15, in her apartment on the 7200 block of Rutland in Detroit, according to a news release from the Wayne County Prosecutors Office. A relative had requested a welfare check. Burden was pronounced dead at the scene. Earlier that day, Burdens live-in boyfriend, Kevin Henry, of Detroit, allegedly fatally stabbed her and then fled in her vehicle. That same day, Henry turned himself in to police and was taken into custody. Henry was arraigned on Thursday on charges of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. He was remanded to jail. This is our ninth alleged domestic violence homicide in 2021, said prosecutor Kym Worthy. If this continues, we will far exceed the cases from last year and they were a record high. The numbers of non-fatal domestic violence cases have also exploded. We had over 10,000 non-fatal warrant requests in 2020. These trends are truly terrifying. READ MORE: Shooting leaves Saginaw woman dead, relative in custody Michigan boy, 13, stabbed by 15-year-old brother, police say Michigan man, 57, fatally shot by his 50-year-old brother during argument Northern Michigan man, 56, found dead, police suspect homicide Nairobi: Tanzanias new President Samia Suluhu Hassan said on Friday the country should unite and avoid pointing fingers after the death of John Magufuli, her COVID-19 sceptic predecessor, urging the east African country to look forward with hope and confidence. Wearing a red hijab, she took her oath of office on the Koran in a ceremony at State House in the countrys commercial capital Dar es Salaam. She is the first female head of state in the country of 58 million. Tanzanias new president Samia Suluhu Hassan is sworn in at State House in Dar es Salaam. Credit:AP Hassan, vice president since 2015, gave a brief and sombre address after she was sworn in, addressing a heavily male crowd that included two former presidents and uniformed officers. This is a time to bury our differences, and be one as a nation, she said. This is not a time for finger pointing, but it is a time to hold hands and move forward together. POTTSVILLE A Pottsville man will go to state prison after a Schuylkill County judge sentenced him Thursday for violating the terms of his Megans Law sanctions. John J. Guman Sr., 59, must serve two to seven years in a state correctional institution, President Judge William E. Baldwin ruled. I think the commonwealths request is a very reasonable request, Baldwin said in imposing the sentence that First Assistant District Attorney Michael J. Stine sought. In a one-day trial over which Baldwin presided, a jury found Guman guilty on Feb. 5 of failure to verify address or be photographed. Pottsville police allege Guman did not register with the Pennsylvania State Police as required by Megans Law on Oct. 17, 2019. Guman has a conviction from 2011 for indecent assault that requires him to register for 10 years under the law, police said. Hes an individual who does not comply, Stine said in making his request. Guman already is an inmate at the county prison, and Baldwin conducted the hearing by videoconference. Nearly seven million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Africa, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Thursday. WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, while speaking during a virtual press conference, said countries in the region have accessed vaccines through various deals including the COVAX Facility and are targeting high-risk groups in the vaccination exercise. Altogether 38 African countries have received more than 25 million COVID-19 vaccines and 30 have started vaccination campaigns, Ms Moeti said. Through the COVAX initiative which is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the World Health Organization (WHO) in partnership with UNICEF more than 16 million vaccine doses have so far been shipped to 27 countries. More than four million COVID-19 cases have now been reported on the African continent, with 43,000 new cases in the past week, and 108,000 lives lost, data from Worldometers shows. Ms Moeti said although the region received COVID-19 vaccines late and in limited quantities, a lot of ground has been covered in a short space of time. She said that the initial rollout phase in some African countries has reached a far higher number of people when compared with countries in other regions that accessed vaccines much earlier. This is due to the continents vast experience in mass vaccination campaigns and the determination of its leaders and people to effectively curb COVID-19, she said. According to Ms Moeti, Ghana, the first African country to receive COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility, has administered more than 420,000 doses and covered over 60 per cent of the targeted population in the first phase In the first nine days, it is estimated the country delivered doses to around 90 per cent of health workers. In Morocco, more than 5.6 million vaccinations have taken place in the past seven weeks, while in Angola, vaccines have reached over 49,000 people, including more than 28, 000 health workers in the past week, She said. Nigeria received 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in early March through the COVAX facility Nigeria commenced vaccination on March 5 with Cyprian Ngong, a medical doctor becoming the first person to receive the jab in Nigeria. The rollout started with healthcare workers who are often at the risk of exposure to infections being the first responders to patients. Health authorities on Monday said over 8,000 Nigerians have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines. A few countries in Africa and Europe suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine following reports of blood clots and possible deaths from the usage of the vaccines. Following its investigation, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday declared the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine safe and effective for use against the virus. The agencys safety committee said the vaccine is safe but it would continue to study possible links between very rare blood clots and the vaccine. We still cannot rule out definitively a link between these cases and the vaccine, Emer Cooke, the agencys Executive Director said at a press conference. ADVERTISEMENT WHO also said the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh its risks and recommends that vaccinations continue. Limited doses Ms Moeti said there is an urgent need for more doses of the COVID-19 vaccines as Ghana, Rwanda and other countries are on the brink of running dry. She explained that the initial vaccine doses are being limited to priority population groups including health workers, older people and people with health conditions placing them at higher risk of severe COVID-19 illness. Countries are clocking an impressive vaccination pace, but we must ensure this speed doesnt slow down to a crawl, Ms Moeti said. Additional supplies are urgently required to narrow the gap between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is seen in Washington on Nov. 12, 2020. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images) Twitter Says It Locked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes Account Due to an Error Twitter on Friday said it locked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes (R-Ga.) personal account due to an error and reinstated access. We use a combination of technology and human review to enforce the Twitter Rules across the service, a spokesperson for the San Francisco-based firm told news outlets on Friday afternoon. In this case, our automated systems took enforcement action on the account referenced in error. This action has been reversed, and access to the account has been reinstated. Greene was writing on Twitter Friday afternoon, confirming that her account was reinstated. I was just told @Twitter suspended me for 12 hrs in error, on the same day Dems introduced a resolution to expel me from Congress. What a coincidence? she wrote. Twitters little error wasnt resolved until after 12 hrs. The Republican lawmaker then asked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, which employee made the error? Reply to my email, Jack. Previously, Greenes office told The Epoch Times that Twitter provided no explanation as to why her account was locked. Greene also posted a screenshot of the message Twitter sent to her personal account that said, We have determined that you have violated the Twitter Rules, so weve temporarily limited some of your account features. I was just told @Twitter suspended me for 12 hrs in error, on the same day Dems introduced a resolution to expel me from Congress. What a coincidence? Twitters little error wasnt resolved until after 12 hrs.@jack which employee made the error? Reply to my email, Jack Marjorie Taylor Greene (@mtgreenee) March 19, 2021 On Friday, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) introduced a resolution signed by about 70 other Democrats that would expel Greene from Congress. However, the move is a long shot, as it requires a two-thirds super-majority to expel a House member. Gomez argued that Greene should be expelled due to her posts on social media. In February, the House voted to strip her of committee assignments. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters Friday that she doesnt agree with the resolution and said Gomezs proposal was not supported by Democratic leadership. Members are very unhappy about whats happened here. And they can express themselves the way they do. What Mr. Gomez did is his own view. And that is not a leadership position, Pelosi said. Twitter has drawn widespread criticism after it suspended former President Donald Trumps account and many other prominent conservatives and groups. Republicans and Trump have suggested that Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act should be revoked or changed as they have argued that it serves as a liability shield for Big Tech firms. Dr. Benjamin Yates trombone isnt the only instrument hell take to the Dominican Republic when he travels to the Caribbean nation to perform with professional orchestras. The assistant professor in the School of Music and Performing Arts at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette plans to bring flutes, clarinets, saxophones, bassoons, oboes, trumpets, horns, violins, and other band instruments. Yates needs help packing, though. Hes seeking donated instruments working instruments or those needing minor repairs that will be passed on to student musicians in cities such as Santiago, La Vega, San Pedro de Macoris and Santo Domingo. Maybe you have a family member who started in band in fifth grade then dropped out on high school. Or, youve got an old instrument thats been sitting in the attic forever that you dont know what to do with. Whatever it may be, I can find a home for it, Yates said. Hes helping two professors from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa Tony Guzman and Michael K. Smith coordinate the donations. Yates studied under Guzman and Smith at the college, where he earned a bachelor's degree in music education and trombone performance in 2008. The Dominican Trombonists Association invited the trio to be featured artists and clinicians at its 2021 conference from Aug. 4-8. Theyll play with the Moca Youth Concert Band and the La Vega Youth Symphony Orchestra and teach a master class. Theyll also visit several community ensembles, groups of amateurs ranging from schoolchildren to adults that dont receive funding from school systems or governments. Theyll provide instruction to the ensembles, and instruments for the students. Its inconceivable to some of us, but many players in these ensembles dont have the money to repair or replace instruments, so many of them are left with instruments that barely work, Yates explained. Its a dynamic hes seen firsthand. During a previous visit to the Dominican Republic, Yates watched someone play a trombone that had a water key missing from the end of the slide. They plugged the hole with a piece of gum and wrapped some tape around it. The educators have also established a GoFundMe page with a $2,500 goal to cover repairs needed for donated instruments and shipping costs. Any money left over will be used to purchase moderately-priced used instruments that are in working condition from outlets such as eBay, Yates explained. For more information about the project, where to bring instruments or how to donate, contact Yates at benjamin.yates@louisiana.edu or (337) 482-5219. The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has launched a publicity and preparation campaign dubbed 100 Days Countdown to the 2021 Population and Housing Census in Accra to prepare the citizenry for this most important national programme of gathering data on the population and housing situation in Ghana. Among other innovations, the 2021 Population and Housing Census, which begins on the night of Sunday 27th June, will be the first fully digital census, with the use of tablets for data capture instead of traditional paper questionnaires. According to officials of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), going green will save the country from the printing of over seven million household questionnaires. It will also use Geographic Positioning System (GPS) to capture the location of all structures, and employ interactive area maps for accurate identification of enumeration and supervision areas. The PHC of 2021 will also see the implementation, for the first time, data linkage technology that is intended to harmonize and improve statistics in the West Africa subregion. The implementation of the Harmonising and Improving Statistics in West Africa Project (20202024) is intended to ensure efficient data production through cooperation and partnership with National Statistics Offices of seven West African countries as well as 20 MDAs. The questionnaires have also been expanded to include comprehensive information on key areas to support the tracking of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators such as housing and living conditions, water and sanitation, and difficulty in performing activities on daily living during the approximately 28-day PHC. When completed and analysed, the Census is expected to provide comprehensive and reliable data to both the private and public sectors to inform policy and programme formulation to spur economic growth and development. The data collected on socioeconomic and housing conditions will allow for the identification of vulnerable individuals, groups, and households for targeted policy and programme interventions. Speaking during the launch on Friday 19th March 2021 in Accra, Vice President indicated that the next 100 hundred days are very important to the conduct of the countrys 3rd Population and Housing Census, which goes beyond the mere counting of people. Despite a couple of slips in the conduct of Population Censuses in Ghana in our modern history, Ghana has been fairly consistent in counting, knowing and understanding its population size, structure and dynamics. While many people often think of Population Censuses as only the count of persons, the full dimension of the census goes much deeper. How many are we, what is the gender mix, the age mix, the birth and death and migration, what we do for a living, even where we live, the quality of our housing, and our access to public services health and education. So we do more than just count people. The 2021 Census will provide important data for the formulation of policies to transform Ghanas economy and spur economic development. Knowing the dynamics of how the population is changing helps us in planning our education needs, where to locate health facilities, how to allocate our social expenditures and identify those who need help the most in our society, he emphasised. Touching on the importance of the various modules in the survey, Vice President Bawumia singled out the housing conditions module, which he said will provide data to assess the quality of housing, availability of utilities in the dwelling units as well as to determine housing tenure arrangements. The module will also capture, better than before, the sanitation conditions in our communities. He continued, I am highly impressed that the GSS has incorporated ICT module in the Census to ascertain the level of digital application and access in the country. Indeed, the Census will provide comprehensive data on ICT access and usage in the country to enhance development in the sector. We are interested in the penetration in the rural areas, internet usage, ownership of ICT devices, usage of mobile phones for financial transactions, and how ICT may be changing lives and affecting livelihoods. Vice President Bawumia called on persons living in Ghana to cooperate with the Census officials to ensure a successful programme, saying We are asking for your support in the lead up to the Census Night. Within the next 100 days, GSS will spearhead a nationwide publicity, education and advocacy campaign aimed to mobilise resources, sensitise stakeholders, develop strategic partnerships, and build public trust for the Census. The Census is a priority development activity and requires mobilisation of state resources and utilisation of the existing state infrastructure. As such, the President is committed to ensuring that the Ghana Statistical Service receives the required support from all Ministries, Departments and Agencies and from all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies. We thank you in advance for your support and we look forward to working with you to conduct a successful 2021 Population and Housing Census. 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. 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The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. The companys Kalgoorlie Project is about 30 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie near the Broad Arrow townsite and the Norton Gold Paddington operations. Drill sites are also being finalised for RC drilling to begin at the Leonora project this month. ( ) executive director George Bauk has demonstrated confidence in the companys gold exploration strategy focused on Western Australia through the purchase of shares in an on-market transaction. On March 12 Bauk acquired 88,030 shares in an indirect interest at an average price of $0.15017 per share. This increased the number of securities held in that interest to 409,110 shares with another 2,096,010 held in a separate indirect interest. Kalgoorlie Project drilling program The company has fast-tracked an auger drilling program originally scheduled for next quarter at its Kalgoorlie Project testing near-surface gold anomalism on two tenements following the availability of a Kalgoorlie-based auger drill rig to complete the work. This will see PVW take advantage of this early availability to complete part of the program, with the remainder continuing in quarter two. Drilling will start on E27/571 with 100 holes planned at the southern end of the tenement and then move to E27/614. Results are expected within 3-4 weeks from sample arrival at the Perth-based laboratory. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first state visit to Nay Pyi Taw has ben overshadowed by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. The visit, although focused on 'the emotional bond' between two nations, is clouded by genocide of Rohingya community - a community of Muslim, Myanmar claims, belongs to India. The minority Muslim community, described by the United Nations in 2013 as one of the most persecuted communities in the world, was denied citizenship under the 1982 Burmese citizenship law, claiming that they belonged to Bengal and settled there during British rule. The community however contests the claim, producing prove that they have been residents of Rakhine region since at least 2000 years. According to estimates, around 87,000 Rohingya refugees have attempted to flee to Bangladesh, since violence erupted in neighbouring Myanmar on August 25. Bangladesh, already bearing the load of lakhs of refugees settled there over decades, had turned most of them back towards the line of fire. Heart-rending visuals of atrocities and outright genocide against Rohingya community have surfaced in media, which is generally heavily censored against any reports supporting non-governmental view. But the attention failed to draw little more than international criticism of Aung San Suu Kyi. But Indian Govt is not only yet to condemn the violence, PM Modi is even paying a state visit to the country during the genocide, which begs the question of how (or if) the prime minister will express objection to ongoing state-sponsored atrocities. Read | Bangladesh forces 90 Rohingyas to return amid violence; 96 dead in Myanmar Will India help? Even though Myanmar claims that Rohingya community belongs to India, Indian government does not even recognize the current immigrants residing in and around Delhi as official refugees. According to Indian home ministry estimates, there are around 40,000 Rohingya Muslims living as undocumented refugees in various parts of India, of whom more than 10,000 are said to be in Jammu. On April 3, Union home ministry officials reportedly held a meeting to discuss the Centres plans to identify illegal Rohingya settlers, for possible arrest and deportation under the Foreigners Act. India also host a number of Rohingyas in Delhi, Hyderabad, Kashmir, West Bengal, Telegana and Northeast India. Read | Border guards open fire along Bangladesh border, Rohingya woman shot dead Deportation of Rohingyas violation of International law According to human rights body Amnesty, deportation of the community would be a blatant violation of Indias commitments under international law since it would amount to sending the Rohingya community back to a place where they have faced horrific abuses. Amnesty called upon India to sign and ratify the international Refugee Convention of 1951, as well as the 1967 Protocol Related to the Status of Refugees. India is one of the few democracies that has not ratified the Refugee Convention, which governs how distressed refugees are treated in nations where they seek asylum. Deporting Rohingyas violation of domestic govt guidelines Home Ministry documents say that in the absence of a refugee law, India has a standard operating procedure (SOP) which allows for granting legal status to those escaping religious persecution. According to these guidelines, "any cases which are justified on a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, sex, nationality, ethnic identity, membership of a particular social group or political opinion), can be recommended to MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) for grant of Long Term Visa within thirty days from the date of claim by the foreigner." International bodies have clearly defined the violence against Rohingyas as religious persecution. The UN's Human Rights agency, UNHCR, it is the result of a "purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas". "A foreigner whom Long Term Visa has been permitted by the Ministry of Home Affairs, will not be considered an illegal immigrant for the purposes of Citizenship Act, 1995," the Home Ministry guidelines say. Further, it says "No such foreign national will be deported without specific clearance from the MHA." These guidelines although issued under the UPA government in 2011, were reaffirmed as a press note by the Modi government on August 6, 2014. But the government curiously seems to have ignored its own guidelines. Read | Rohingya violence: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres restraint by Myanmar forces to avoid 'catastrophe' Does India have responsibility towards Rohingyas? Ethnically Indians or not, Rohingya community deserves protection and right to dignified life under Human Rights Charter, to which India remains signatory. Besides, internationally it is deemed incumbent upon strong economies to extend a helping hand towards those in distress and not deport them putting them in line of danger. If India aims to increase its clout as a superpower, mere resounding GDP gorwth will not suffice. It is time that India must think beyond numbers and earn goodwill by standing up against injustic against humanity, even if it is a in a foriegn land. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are personal opinions of the writer and do not reflect the views of News Nation. The website does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. A DoorDash driver in Detroit is out of a job after he was caught on a video camera stuffing a pizza back into a box after dropping it on a homeowner's front porch. The driver in the video hasn't been named, but he was caught by Rodney King Jr. after he ordered the pizza from the delivery service. 'She didn't feel like cooking, I didn't feel like cooking, so we decided to order a pizza,' King shared with FOX 2. He and his wife happened to have their eye on their Vivint home security camera at the time of the delivery, located on the porch. Scroll down for video A DoorDash driver in Detroit is out of a job after this pizza slid outside of his delivery bag The driver was carrying the bag vertically, worrying since pizza should be held horizontally The whole incident was captured on the Vivint front porch camera of the homeowner When the driver appeared to deliver the pizza, however, he was holding the bag he was carrying vertically, which is far from the proper way to carry a pizza in its proper box. While its unconfirmed, the packaging of the box in the video suggests the pizza was from Little Caesars. 'When the guy was walking up to our porch, we saw that he was holding the pizza vertically, so from there I knew for a fact that the pizza was outside of the box,' King stated after the fact. That's when the moment of disaster struck. As the driver pulled the pizza out of the box vertically, it was already escaped from the box and wound up on the porch floor. After the delivery drop, the driver proceeded to try scooping the pizza back into the box After he scooped the pizza back in the box, he left without saying a word about what happened Rather than ringing the doorbell and telling King about what had happened, the unnamed driver instead decided to scoop the pizza back into the box as neatly as he could. Then, the driver walked away. 'He picked up all the crumbs and everything and walked off,' King said. The Detroit man was hoping for an apology or a refund, but didn't even get a phone call in regards to the pizza he no longer wanted. 'As soon as I saw the pizza hit the floor, my heart sank a little bit,' King said. 'I was hungry but I was really hoping that he would do the right thing.' King contacted DoorDash to file a complaint, which led to the delivery driver losing his gig with the company. Pictured: Homeowner Rodney King Jr., who filed a complaint after seeing the drop on his cam DoorDash apologized for the incident and deactivated the account of the driver 'This inappropriate and unacceptable behavior is never tolerated on the DoorDash platform,' the company said in a statement. 'The dasher involved was immediately deactivated, and we have been in touch with the customer and fully refunded the order. We sincerely regret that this incident fell short of the experience we strive to provide every day.' While this incident ended up being relatively tame, a DoorDash driver was caught on camera snatching a dog from a Detroit home back in January. The driver was later caught and confessed to the crime, according to WXYZ, and the dog was returned to its family. King isn't believed to be related to Rodney King, the victim of a 1991 beating at the hands of the LAPD who died in 2012. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 23:41:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Holding a report in his hand summarizing China's reform progress in the past seven years, President Xi Jinping said that the document was rather "heavy." "Great historic achievements have been made in deepening overall reform," Xi announced at the 17th meeting of the central committee for deepening overall reform at the end of last year. Since the third plenary session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, a key meeting in November 2013 that gave the clarion call for overall reform, China has rolled out 2,485 reform plans covering areas including politics, economy, culture, society, and rule of law. "The targets and missions set at the session have been basically accomplished as scheduled," Xi said. FRESH BEGINNING Since Xi took the helm as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in 2012, he has personally led the country's relentless efforts on deepening reforms, breaking institutional barriers and cracking the "hard nuts" along the way. He chose south China's Guangdong Province, the pioneer of China's reform and opening up, as the first stop for an inspection trip after taking office. During the trip in December 2012, Xi made important statements that would later guide the country through the arduous journey of reforms. "Reform and opening-up is a crucial move that will determine the destiny of contemporary China. It is also a crucial move that will determine the delivery of the two centenary goals and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," he said. He also talked about the direction and principles of reform. "Of course, we need to hold high the banner of reform, but our reform must be a reform that is moving along the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We will neither take the old and rigid closed-door path nor take the erroneous path of abandoning our principles," Xi said. INNOVATIVE THINKING In 2013, the epoch-making third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee adopted a decision on some major issues concerning deepening overall reform. The decision, a programmatic document Xi drafted, is of historic significance. It set forth for the first time the overarching goal of deepening overall reform -- to improve and develop the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advance the modernization of China's governance system and capacity. Since then, Xi visited every single landmark of contemporary China's reform drive, including Xiaogang Village in Anhui Province, the birthplace of China's rural reform, Hainan Province, the new highland of opening up, and Shanghai's Pudong New Area, a vivid demonstration of socialist modernization. He put forward the value orientation, main direction, roadmap, scientific methods and effective paths for deepening overall reform, forming the most systematic reform methodology in more than four decades. "Reform should focus on what the people care about and what they want, so that the people will have a greater sense of gain," Xi once said. He stressed that the starting point and goal of reform should be promoting social fairness and justice and improving the well-being of people. Such value orientation won the heartfelt support of the people. "MAGIC CODE" Xi revealed the "magic code" for the country to deepen overall reform scientifically and effectively at a meeting of the central committee for deepening overall reform, which is strengthening the Party's leadership and taking a holistic and systematic approach. He urged efforts to focus on major reforms that provide structural support, prioritize fundamental reforms, and coordinate reform tasks. He also underscored the importance of rule of law while advancing reform, stressing that "every major reform must have a legal basis." The fourth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in 2014 adopted a decision to advance the rule of law. He attached great importance to the implementation of reform measures. "We should resolve problems with force and tenacity as a hammer drives a nail," he said in February this year. SOLID PRACTICE Compared to the past, the reform and opening-up in the new era has many new connotations and features, Xi said, noting that the reform faces more deep-seated institutional problems. Advancing ecological construction, reforming national defense and armed forces, advancing higher-level opening-up and fighting poverty are key areas of the country's reform drive. Xi led CPC Central Committee to adopt documents on accelerating ecological construction and reforming the ecological civilization system. Under such a programmatic framework, China introduced the "river chief" scheme and the national park system, among other innovative measures. To push forward the reform of national defense and the armed forces, Xi visited more than 690 military and civilian units, held more than 800 symposiums and discussions, and revised the plan for reforming and strengthening the armed forces more than 150 times. Under Xi's leadership, China, through eight years of sustained work, has lifted the entire rural poor population under the current standard out of poverty and nearly 100 million poor people have shaken off poverty. In the meantime, China's new system for a higher-level open economy is taking shape at a faster pace. The country coordinated the development of 21 pilot free trade zones, implemented the foreign investment law and signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, among others. Last year, China's governance system and capacity withstood the "stress test" and the country became the only major economy in the world to achieve positive economic growth despite the COVID-19 epidemic. "We have advanced reforms with the fundamental purpose of making our nation stronger and more prosperous. We also aim to achieve a higher degree of impartiality and justice in society so that people can live a better life," Xi has said. Everyone has been a participant in the reform as well as a beneficiary. From food, clothing to education, medical care and elderly care, the reform plans have involved almost all aspects of daily life. By merging the basic health insurance systems for rural and non-working urban residents, China has established the world's largest basic health insurance system that covers a total of 1.35 billion people. LOOKING FORWARD "I will fully commit to the people and never fail them," Xi has pledged. With the people's expectations on his shoulders, Xi steers China into deeper waters in its reform agenda to touch upon issues that are far more complicated, sensitive and challenging. In March, Chinese lawmakers adopted 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 at the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress, opening a new chapter in the country's march toward modernization. Standing at a critical juncture where the time frames of its two centenary goals converge, the central committee for deepening overall reform also held three tone-setting meetings in less than four months on furthering reforms in the new stage. Stressing full, accurate and comprehensive implementation of the new development philosophy, the latest meeting called for focusing on the task of establishing a new development paradigm, introducing more targeted reform plans and pushing forward reform to a deeper level. "Where does the right path come from? From the masses. We should keep our sights down to earth and combine top-level design with public advice," Xi has said. Enditem A lack of hospital staff in regional areas was raised as a serious issue at a parliamentary inquiry which heard one NSW hospital was left without a doctor for four months and staff working 48-hour shifts elsewhere. Witnesses said the states hospitals faced an over-reliance on visiting medical officers (private practitioners contracted to public hospitals without sufficient staff) and telehealth services. Tumbarumba nurse Kristyn Paton told the inquiry her hospital was left without a doctor for four months last year. Credit:NSW Parliament webcast Coffs Harbour surgeon and councillor with the Australian Medical Association Dr Shehnarz Salindera told the inquiry it was not uncommon for on-call doctors to have a 48-hour shift during their week at a hospital. Last week Dr Salindera said she completed a day of work before being called to the hospital at night, completing a surgery from 2am to 5am, then going home for breakfast before returning at 8am. Director of Health Promotions at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Dacosta Aboagye has disclosed that all health workers in the country will next week be vaccinated even though some of them have already taken part in the vaccination exercise. According to Dr. Dacosta Aboagye, there is enough vaccine to vaccinate all the health workers in the country; thus the health workers have already been engaged to take part in the exercise which begins next week. Explaining the purpose of the vaccination exercise on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, the Director of Health Promotions mentioned that the health workers are the most vulnerable as they risk their lives to attend to all sick people. From next week, all our health workers in the country will be vaccinated; we have enough to vaccinate them. We have already engaged our health workers about this exercise, he disclosed. They are the most vulnerable because our health workers attend to all sick people and for that matter, they are at most risk. And if they take the jab, it serves as encouragement for those who have the fear to take the vaccine, he added. Watch Video Below 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 BLOOMFIELD, N.J., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- QX Global Group has appointed Ravi Kurani as Country Head for North America. In this role, Ravi develops, leads, supervises and controls all strategic and business aspects of QX's North America growth strategy. Ravi re-joined QX in February 2021 after serving as a Head of Business Development with a financial solutions provider based out of the Greater Boston Area. Ravi was a part of the QX Global Group from 2007 to 2018. In his last role, he was a Global Head of Business Development at QX, applying business transformation thinking into the front, middle and back-office areas of its clients' businesses to drive innovation and automation. Bringing a diverse set of skills, Ravi will help QX's clients in the Accountancy, Student Housing, Manufacturing, Property Management, and Hospitality sectors to improve their performance and unlock untapped value by leveraging best-in-class outsourcing solutions, services, and technology partnerships. Frank Robinson, Global CEO for QX Global Group said: "I am delighted to have Ravi onboard as QX Global Group's Country Head, North America. Under his leadership, he helped grow QX into an accounting outsourcing powerhouse and expanded our recruitment offerings. His vast experience will be invaluable as we invest to help our American clients transform every aspect of their business using a clever combination of people, process and technology. " "Following a short period of onboarding, he will relocate to North America - initially to the Toronto region to support SVP, Business Operations, Niraj Mehta with the TaxAssist Accountants Master Franchise, and then will base himself at our Bloomfield, New Jersey office," he added. In order to achieve its growth ambitions in North America, QX will draw on its global expertise to deliver best-in-class outsourcing solutions. This includes enabling digital transformation and innovation across a range of sectors. Ravi Kurani said, "I saw this role as a wonderful opportunity to join a fast-growing organization like QX. Having previously worked across many business streams in the company, I have seen first-hand the difference and additional potential we have made to our clients in the UK and European markets. We want to ensure we build this capability into our North American offering for our clients." About QX Global Group QX Global Group is a leading provider of business process management services. With over 17 years of accounting and recruitment process outsourcing experience, we help our clients unlock business value by improving process efficiencies and automation in the accounting and recruitment function to enable business transformation. We are based out of the UK with offices in the USA, Canada, Australia and India. Contact Information: For further information, contact: Vishal Kurani, VP, Marketing & Communications Tel: +1 800 310 9312 Email: [email protected] SOURCE QX Global Group How to start a successful security guard company "There are hundreds of questions that I get from people who are looking to start a security guard company. 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With his nearly 20 years in the security guard industry, hes learned two things: 1) its not easy starting or managing a security guard company, and 2) there are not enough resources out there for security guard company startups. Download our free eBook today to ensure your new security guard business is a success. OfficerReports.com Download Now We build user-friendly security guard applications and tools that are easy-to-setup and implement in the real-world. Unlike other companies that build complex systems that require hours or even weeks of training for security company owners, supervisors, and security officers, OfficerReports.com is designed to be used by even the most technology-challenged security professionals. Media Contact: Courtney Sparkman info@officerreports.com 888-511-9811 Watch our video - https://youtu.be/yx-2EBHgSO8 Visit our website Watch us on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Chat with us on Facebook Connect with us on LinkedIn 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, March 19 : Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday sought support and assistance from the officials of Haryana and Punjab to tackle the issue of stubble burning. Rai chaired a meeting with a delegation of officials from Haryana and Punjab at Delhi Secretariat, where he asserted the need for a centralised arrangement to resolve the stubble burning issue. The Minister also emphasised that each district should have a monitoring system for bio-compositing and bio-decomposer should be distributed free of cost to the farmers. Rai further said officials from Haryana and Punjab have come here to study the bio-decomposer effect which was implemented by Delhi government to contain stubble burning in the national capital. "The officials from Haryana and Punjab have come to Delhi to understand the impact of the bio-decomposer by the PUSA Institute in solving the stubble burning issue," he added. The Minister further said that both the short term and long term policy will have to be needed to tackle the problem of stubble burning. "Scientists of PUSA Institute and officials of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab should work on this jointly," he added. Mumbai, March 19 : Director Shoojit Sircar has a unique question about cameras. He asks if it is a weapon or a pen to write for a filmmaker. Shoojit posted a picture of a film and wrote: "Filmmaker's weapon or filmmaker's pen to write." The director did not share details about what he is currently shooting for, or where he posted the picture from. Shoojit's next is "Sardar Udham Singh" starring Vicky Kaushal. The film is about Udham Singh, a revolutionary freedom fighter best known for assassinating Michael O'Dwyer in London to avenge the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- I was about 9 years old when another boy at my neighborhood swimming pool called me a Chinese (N-word). I never forgot it. I bring this up not to seek sympathy 40 years later, but to illustrate anti-Asian hate isnt new. What is new: the 150% increase in hate crimes targeting Asians in major U.S. cities. The incidents are among the 3,795 racist anti-Asian acts tracked by Stop AAPI Hate since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those numbers, combined with viral videos of Asians being violently attacked and their own experiences of racism, have stirred up fear and anxiety among members of the AAPI community across the country. In Cleveland, for example, Asian people have been spit on while grocery shopping. LJ Shanghai, a Chinese restaurant, has been the target of harassing phone calls. OCA Asian Pacific American Advocates has recorded 30 hate incidents in Ohio since 2020. I worry about the safety of my Dad, Titas and Titos every day. These unsettling feelings that Asian Americans have been experiencing for the better part of a year turned to horror and heartbreak this week when a gunman killed eight people, including six Asian women, during a rampage at three Atlanta-area spas. The ensuing media coverage became a point of even more anger and frustration when the local sheriffs spokesperson, who, it was later discovered, has a history of anti-Asian posts, said the suspect had a really bad day. The inexcusable effort to humanize or absolve the shooter was accompanied by a rush to say the attacks werent racially motivated. Instead, the word of a monster, who blamed his actions on sex addiction, was accepted as truth over a Korean newspapers account of a witness who heard the man say, Im going to kill all Asians, before opening fire. The massacre and the reaction to it underscored the reality that anti-Asian hate is still met with ignorance, skepticism or ambivalence despite the recent wave of well-meaning platitudes posted on social media by celebrities and corporations. None of this is surprising, yet its still exhausting. How many Americans are familiar with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, spent more than a day in history class studying the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II or know who Vincent Chin is? How many accept the model minority myth at face value, not realizing it was created by the white majority as a means to push Black and Native Americans further down the racial hierarchy? How many see the exotic racial stereotypes of Asians in movies, television and books and dont think twice about it? How many think Donald Trumps repeated use of the phrases China virus and Kung flu is harmless? But anti-Asian hate is indeed real, and the former president should be held complicit for racist rhetoric that gave the coronavirus an ethnicity and put a target on the backs of Asian Americans. Whats more, his defeat in November and baseless claims about election fraud have exacerbated the problem. The use of terms including China, Wuhan and flu have surged of late in far-right forums, the Washington Post reported. Perhaps you find the connection dubious, particularly coming from the guy nicknamed TheMoronaVirus by the trolls in the old cleveland.com comments section and who normally writes about movies and TV. Then take the word of the family of Juanito Falcon, the Filipino grandfather in Phoenix who was punched in the face, fell, hit his head and died in February; or listen to the loved ones of Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old Thai American in San Francisco shoved to the ground and killed in January. There are thousands more to believe. Anti-Asian hate is a national crisis, whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. Its taken a toll on our collective psyche and contributed to that feeling of invisibility and perpetual foreignness many of us have felt since our families arrived here. This week has been a long year for Asian Americans. But there are ways to help. The first step is to acknowledge anti-Asian racism exists and educate yourself on its ugly history. If you have AAPI friends, reach out to see how theyre doing, if they feel safe or need help. See something? Say something by using sites like the OCAs hate crimes reporting tool. Support local AAPI businesses in Clevelands AsiaTown and beyond. And consider donating to organizations that directly support Asian communities. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders make up the fastest-growing racial group in the U.S. There are now 23 million of us. That makes this hatred an American issue, not just an Asian American one. Were strong and united. But we cant be the only ones fighting it. WOOD RIVER Local and state unemployment rates jumped in January, up more than a whole percentage point from the month before. However, Tony Fuhrmann, director of Madison County Employment and Training, said it was something they were expecting. If we went back and looked historically, you would see a similar bump from December to Januarys unemployment rate, he said. The Illinois Department of Employment Security released local January unemployment figures on Thursday. According to data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the unemployment rate for the St. Louis MSA, which includes Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties, was 6.6 percent. 5.4 percent. That number was up from 5.4 percent. While much smaller than the double-digit unemployment figures seen early in the coronavirus pandemic, the local figure is the highest since September, and almost two points above Novembers 4.7 percent rate. Part of that is the traditional bump in unemployment as the holiday season winds down, but that has been exacerbated by COVID-related shutdowns. I would expect to see it go up after the holidays and with colder weather, he said, adding the restaurants didnt come back until about February. Those figures are expected to be released in early April. Part of the reason Januarys figures are late is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics readjusts its figures at this time of year. Statewide, the unemployment rate was 8.5 percent, up from Decembers 7.5 percent rate. While the unemployment rate and job markets continue to be impacted by the ongoing effects of COVID-19, with vaccination rates continuing to increase, we are focused on building a strong recovery on the other side of this pandemic, said Deputy Governor Dan Hynes. Locally, unemployment rates by county ranged from 4.2 percent in Monroe County to 7.6 percent in St. Clair County. Madison Countys rate was 6.3 percent, up from 5.3 percent. Jersey County was at 6 percent, Calhoun County at 6.5 percent, Macoupin County at 6.2 percent, and Greene County at 6.2 percent. By cities, Altons rate was 9.1 percent, up from 7.8 percent in January, Edwardsvilles rate was up one-half percent, to 4.6 percent, Collinsvilles rate was 7 percent and Granite Citys rate was 7.7 percent. Over the past year, the St. Louis MSA labor force decreased by 12,127 to 330,720 in January, down from 342,847 in January 2020. The number of employed people was down 21,626 during the same period to 308,989. There were also 21,731 on unemployment, an increase of 9,499 from the previous year. The biggest decreases in employment over the year were in the leisure and hospitality industry, and educational and health services, according to the IDES. The largest gains were in transportation, warehousing and utilities, and professional and business services. Fuhrmann noted that there are jobs available, but people simply are not looking right now. He said there are several reasons. Part of it is that people are staying home with their children. Thats sort of easing up now, he said. More and more school district are going back to in-person. I think well see our big push in early summer and late fall. He said the extension of, and additional federal support for unemployment benefits has also had an impact. The American Rescue Act is expected to extend benefits through September, give those on unemployment additional money, and make part of unemployment tax-free. Sarah Lorio, MCETs work-based learning coordinator, who deals with businesses, said they are still seeing a lot of jobs in a number of different industries. That includes healthcare, retail transportation and, increasingly, the hospitality industry. Theyre having a hard time getting people back to work, she said. Fuhrmann said MCET, located in the countys Wood River Facility, has a large number of resources, ranging from job postings to help with resumes and money for training. For information call 618-296-4301, visit the Madison County website at https://www.co.madison.il.us/ or visit the departments Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MCETD. Patna, March 19 : Leader of opposition and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav on Friday alleged that 64 per cent of the ministers in the Nitish Kumar cabinet were tainted. Yadav also handed over a list of the tainted ministers to Assembly speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha. Yadav said that two days ago, when he had mentioned the tainted ministers in the Assembly, the speaker had sought evidence. "That is why I have submitted the list of ministers today." He said that a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has revealed that 18 out of 31 ministers, which comes to 64 per cent of the ministers, have criminal cases registered against them. "Of these 18, 14 have serious criminal cases against them. I am going to submit to the Speaker the personal data related to these cases," he further said. In the House, Speaker Sinha said the ADR report is in the public domain and refused to make it part of the House proceedings. "I thought you had some different information. This list even includes people who are accused of violating the model code of conduct." Opposition party members raised slogans in the legislature premises before the commencement of assembly proceedings. While the Left party members raised slogans about rising prices, RJD MLAs demanded that Bihar's iconic CM, Jan Nayak Karpuri Thakur, be bestowed with the Bharat Ratna honour. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text JACKSON, MI Several retail pharmacies are offering COVID-19 vaccinations in Jackson County now that vaccine allocations have increased in recent weeks. CVS, Meijer, Walmart and Rite Aid are offering vaccinations to eligible residents as the supply allows. Several local pharmacies also have begun giving shots in recent weeks, including Genoa Health Care Pharmacy, Grass Lake Community Pharmacy, Weatherwax Pharmacy, Browns/Country Market Pharmacy and Hometown Pharmacy. Vaccine eligibility expand to Jackson County residents age 50 and older on Monday, March 22. All Michigan residents age 16 and older can get vaccinated beginning Monday, April 5. Even with the increased eligibility, residents are advised to be patient in getting vaccination appointments, Jackson County Health Department officials said. There are still many Jackson County residents age 65 and older waiting to receive an appointment to be vaccinated, officials said. People must pre-register for an appointment through the health departments Online Vaccine Interest Survey 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 is now hosting vaccine clinics in partnership with Henry Ford Allegiance Health on Thursdays. Eligible residents do not need an appointment, but scheduling one will save time and should guarantee a spot in line, officials said. Call 517-788-4067 to schedule an appointment. 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 contact information provided in the health systems online database, which can be found at mychart.hfhs.org. As of March 17, 54,138 vaccine doses have been given to county residents by the Jackson County Health Department, Henry Ford Allegiance Health, pharmacies and other providers, state data shows. READ MORE FROM THE JACKSON CITIZEN PATRIOT: COVID-19 exposure closes 2 Jackson District Library branches Stipends, benefits and retirement beefed up Jackson city manager salaries in 2020 Student struggles prompt in-person class increase, COVID-19 variant hits Jackson: Top headlines March 6-11 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 VICENZA, MAR 19 - A Vicenza court on Friday sentenced former Banca Popolare di Vicenza savings bank president Gianni Zonin to six and a half years in jail for irregularities that led to the bank's bankruptcy. Former deputy general manager Emanuele Giustini got six years and three months while the other ex-deputy GMs, Paolo Marin and Andrea Piazzetta, got six years. A prosecutor had requested a term of 10 years for Zonin. Zonin told a parliamentary commission of inquiry into Italy's banking crisis that he had never received orders from the Bank of Italy "to make any acquisitions". The bank was accused, among other things, of pressuring clients to purchase Popolare di Vicenza shares and convertible bonds by making it a condition for issuing loans, mortgages, and other lines of credit. There were also allegations that 975 million euros worth of shares in the bank were bought during the 2012-2014 period via Popolare di Vicenza loans, in breach of banking regulations. Banca Popolare di Vicenza was rescued by Italy's Atlante private-sector fund for weaker banks after a capital increase failed. An ill small saver committed suicide after losing hundreds of thousands of euros in shares in the bank. The bank was probed for criminal conspiracy as well as false accounting. Zonin was placed under investigation over alleged stock manipulation and obstruction of regulatory authorities at the medium-sized Italian lender. Zonin denies wrongdoing and will appeal. (ANSA). New Delhi: Government doctors posted in Uttar Pradeshs Farrukhabad district went on mass leave to show their distress over the charges framed against the senior doctors of a state-run Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where 49 infants died within a span of a month due to lack of oxygen, on Tuesday. Office bearers of the state medical associations informed that they have decided to be on leave till September 7 disrupting medical services in the government hospitals. Office bearers also told the media that emergency and post-mortem services will not be disturbed. The Provincial Medical Services (PMS) in a memorandum sent to Uttar Pradeshs health principal secretary Prashant Trivedi have demanded withdrawal of FIRs against the three doctors immediately. Also Read|Farrukhabad tragedy: UP govt denies lack of oxygen caused 49 child deaths The PMS has accused the Uttar Pradesh government of acting hastily and under pressure. They have also warned the government to stop victimisation of innocent doctors immediately. The PMS has also urged the state government to form a technical team to evaluate the deaths of infants. The association claims that a non-technical team has been probing the deaths of 30 infants in the neonatal critical unit and 19 in the delivery room due to lack of oxygen. Also Read| Uttar Pradesh: 49 children die due to lack of oxygen in one month at a Farrukhabads hospital President of the district PMS Association Ashok Yadav told the media that doctors work hard to save lives with limited resources and manpower. An FIR was lodged on Monday against the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) and a senior child specialist of the hospital following directives from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Pauline O Shea, who was diagnosed with heart failure at 38, pictured with her daughter Ali (9). Photo: Irish Heart Foundation/PA Wire There have been calls for an urgent review of the vaccine priority list to include heart failure patients, as studies show more than half of this group who contract Covid-19 subsequently die. The data came from the Irish Heart Foundation and the HSE. Younger people living with severe heart failure are not deemed at very high risk under the national immunisation programme. It has prompted the HSEs National Heart Programme to call for under-70s, along with inpatients awaiting cardiac surgery, to be moved from level seven to level four on the priority list. Many people with heart failure say they have stopped hugging their kids when they return from school because they are terrified of contracting Covid-19. Pauline OShea, who was diagnosed with heart failure at 38, said she and many patients across Ireland were warned of the risk Covid-19 poses to those with heart and respiratory issues, but they remain at level seven. Read More Before my nine-year-old daughter returned to school this week, she wrote in her homework, my mum has a heart condition and Im worried Ill give her Covid, Ms OShea said. This week alone, my children are in three different classrooms with anywhere from 10 to 30 children in each; that means I am indirectly exposed to up to 70 people, any of whom might be carrying Covid 19. Ms OShea (47), who lives in Ardnacrusha in Co Clare, had open heart surgery in 2012 after developing spontaneous coronary artery dissection a tearing of the wall of the artery. I have had three heart attacks, gone into cardiac arrest, been in ICU, on a ventilator. I dont need to go back there with Covid, she added. I know another heart patient with two younger children who change out of their uniforms before she can safely give them a hug. Her condition is so serious that she cant risk getting Covid-19 because she knows it could rob those children of their mother. UK research shows the 30-day mortality rate of patients with acute heart failure nearly doubled during the pandemic, while a Dutch study showed Covid-19 patients with severe heart failure are 37pc more likely to die compared with other Covid patients in hospital. HSE data to mid-December showed that of 1,866 Covid-19 deaths, 93pc had a known underlying condition, and 41pc of these had chronic heart disease the most common type of condition. The Irish Heart Foundations medical director, Dr Angie Brown, said there is broad consensus among cardiologists and the National Heart Programme that younger heart-failure patients and those awaiting cardiac surgery should be vaccinated without delay. Studies emerging on the impact of Covid on heart failure patients are extremely worrying, Dr Brown said. We are calling on the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, to order an urgent review of the priority level for these patients to ensure lives are not put at risk. Pharmaceutical company's expansion will add 74 jobs in Brevard BREVARD Raybow USA, the American operations of Raybow Pharmaceutical, announced today plans to invest $15.8 million in its existing Brevard headquarters. The expansion project will sustain 26 fulltime jobs and create 74 additional positions. New positions will include research chemist, pilot-plant personnel and supervisors. Once the projects new jobs are in place, the region will benefit from nearly $5.7 million in new direct payroll. This expansion represents a collaboration between the company, the state of North Carolina and local leadership. Over the next five years the company plans to add 34,000 square feet to their existing site in Brevard. The additional facilities will allow the company to triple their employment and triple the number of projects they can address at a given time. The investment will coincide with a significant expansion to the companys existing facility in Brevard, adding new technology, laboratory space and specialized equipment. At the conclusion of the expansion, Raybow USA is expected to support one of the most advanced pharmaceutical research operations in the region. Raybow USA was established as PharmAgra Labs in 1999 by entrepreneurs, Roger Frisbee and Peter Newsome. The company has been located in Brevard since 2003. Today, the company is the North American headquarters of Raybow Pharmaceutical, a publicly-held, contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) and chemistry services provider with 1,700 employees. The company serves many of the leading pharmaceutical names across Asia, Europe, and North America. These investments fit perfectly with our long-term goal of expanding our operations in Transylvania County, Peter Newsome, Co-President of Raybow USA said. Roger Frisbee, Co-President of Raybow USA, added: We are excited about expanding our operations in Brevard and supporting future economic development in Transylvania County. Pete and I look forward to continuing our work, which now includes increased global capabilities and reach. We are excited by the opportunity this project brings to Transylvania County," Jason Chappell, chairman of Transylvania County Board of Commissioners said. "Raybow USA offers high-wage, high-tech job opportunities to our community. We commend the continued investment and commitment to Transylvania County and look forward to growing this partnership in the years ahead. This is a major economic development announcement not only for Transylvania County, but for our region and North Carolina. The success and investment of this business is a testament to the strength and vitality of Transylvania County, and our dedication to expanding and growing our economic base. I would like to extend our warmest thanks and appreciation to Raybows local leadership team, along with CEO, Mr. Bin Wang and Chairwoman Ms. Hua Lirong for placing the companys trust in Transylvania County. We look forward to being a continued partner in their endeavors in Transylvania County and wish them all the best success. The project was made possible by performance-based economic development grants from the One North Carolina Fund and Transylvania County Economic Development Incentive program. Using these critical tools, companies receive no money upfront and must meet job creation and capital investment targets to qualify for payment. FILE PHOTO: AstraZeneca logo is reflected in a drop on a syringe needle in this illustration photo By Ludwig Burger and Matthias Blamont FRANKFURT/PARIS (Reuters) - Europe's medicines watchdog concluded on Thursday that AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine still far outweighed any risks after investigating reports of rare blood clotting disorders but said it would add a warning to the product leaflet. "A causal link with the vaccine is not proven, but is possible and deserves further analysis," the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said. The World Health Organization has previously also said there was no proven link and that the benefits far outweighed any risks. At least 13 EU member states including Germany, France and Italy have suspended use of the shot pending the outcome of EMA's probe. Here's what we know so far: WHAT HAS HAPPENED? More than 45 million shots by various manufacturers have been administered across the EU and the European Economic Area since vaccinations started almost three months ago. The AstraZeneca vaccine was given to 5 million people in the EU. EMA said it had reviewed seven cases of blood clots in multiple blood vessels, called disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and 18 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) in people who had received the AstraZeneca shot, most of whom were women. In Germany, eight people have been diagnosed with CVST within about two weeks of vaccination among the 1.6 million recipients of the shot as of Wednesday, according to the health ministry. Normally 1 to 1.4 cases would have been expected during that time, the ministry added. Germany's vaccine authority Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) has said the majority of the cases were young to middle-aged women and that there had been three deaths. WHAT HAVE OTHER COUNTRIES AND ASTRAZENECA SAID? In Britain, where more than 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered, the medicines regulator said on Thursday it was investigating five cases of CVST among recipients but it reiterated that the benefits of the shot far outweighed any possible risks. Story continues Canada has said health experts are sure all COVID-19 vaccines being administered in the country are safe, including AstraZeneca's. AstraZeneca said on Sunday a review of safety data of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the United Kingdom and European Union with its vaccine had shown no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots. WHAT WAS THE EMA INVESTIGATING? EMA investigators checked if the frequency of incidences was higher in the vaccinated population than normal background rates. The normal frequency is drawn from public health statistics or insurance records. This would be combined with a medical analysis of each case and insight from scientific literature. EMA's head of safety monitoring, Peter Arlett, said on Tuesday the rarity of CVST meant the watchdog would have to rely more heavily on case-by-case analysis rather than on statistical data. A spokeswomen for Germany's vaccine authority, which is part of the investigation, said prior to the safety review that EMA would not rule on causality. Instead, EMA would assess the likelihood of an increased risk of the condition and weigh that against the benefits of fighting COVID-19. For example, the vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna have been linked with increased risk of anaphylaxis, but they are still recommended because benefits outweigh the risks of the side effect, which can be treated. WHAT DID THE CLINICAL TRIALS SHOW? AstraZeneca and European regulators have said that concerns about blood coagulation disorders did not emerge during human trials. Safety monitoring after approval is key because extremely rare side-effects, or those affecting only a small subset of the population, are near impossible to identify during clinical trials, according to Germany's PEI. ARE THERE PRECEDENTS OF VACCINE SAFETY SCARES? In Japan, a governmental recommendation for use of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to prevent cervical cancer has been suspended since June 2013, due to media reports of an alleged pain syndrome. This has drawn criticism from the WHO. A study published in The Lancet Public Health last year concluded a continued suspension would lead to thousands of cancer deaths over the next decades. In Ukraine, deep mistrust of vaccines has allowed measles to grow into an epidemic. Vaccine hesitancy there is rooted in corruption and mistrust of authority but also in a temporary government suspension in 2008, when a 17-year-old boy died shortly after receiving a measles-rubella vaccine. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Matthias Blamont; Additional reporting by Kate Kelland in London and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Editing by Josephine Mason, Nick Macfie, Elaine Hardcastle and Frances Kerry) This is the shocking moment a motorcyclist is almost struck by a speeding train at a level crossing in Indonesia. Muhlis Jajang of the Indonesian Railroad Lovers Facebook group posted the footage as a warning to other railway users. He wrote: Dont copy it. The incident took place in West Java and footage shows the motorcyclist ignoring loud sirens while crossing the tracks. The motorcyclist entered the level crossing in West Java, Indonesia as a large train approached The motorbike cleared the level crossing just moments before the train arrived on the scene As well as death, the rider risked a 40 fine and three months in prison according to a spokesperson for the Indonesian railway network The level crossing was not protected by any barriers. The video shows the motorbike cross the tracks moments before the train rumbles into shot. The train driver is forced to blow his horn to warn the motorcyclist who seemed unaware of the massive locomotive. Almost 300,000 people have viewed the footage since it was uploaded earlier this week. According to Kompas.com, the incident took place at 6pm on March 14 and involved the Malabar Train in Nagreg. Joni Martinus, spokesperson for Indonesias rail network said people misusing level crossings face fines of up to 40 and could spend up to three months in prison. Martinus added: For this reason we urge all road users to behave in a disciplined manner at level crossings. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-18 22:33:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Aerial photo taken on Aug. 17, 2020 shows a photovoltaic power station, also a poverty-relief project, at the green industrial development park in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Hainan, northwest China's Qinghai Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Long) BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The 2021-2025 period will be crucial for China to control carbon emission as the country reiterates its carbon emission peak and carbon neutrality goals in its new development agenda, experts say. Commenting on a high-profile meeting earlier this week, Chang Jiwen, a researcher on resources and environmental policies with the Development Research Center of the State Council, highlighted government calls to incorporate carbon-related goals into the country's long-term development. To peak carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality is an extensive and profound systemic reform for the economy and society, and should be incorporated into the overall layout of building an ecological civilization, according to the meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs. China announced last year that it will strive to bring its carbon emissions to a peak before 2030 and become carbon-neutral before 2060. Therefore, less than 10 years away from its first goal, emission control efforts in the next five years have become especially crucial. Toward this end, the meeting stressed work in the energy system, key industries, carbon sequestration and international cooperation, as well as technologies, lifestyle, policy support and market building related to green and low-carbon development. "There is no shortcut to emission peak and carbon neutrality," said Pan Jiahua with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who considered the measures proposed at the meeting as very precise. Among all the actions to be taken, the top priority is to control the use of fossil fuels, according to Pan. While China's economic rise over the past decades was largely powered by coal, the share of fossil fuels in China's energy mix still stands around 85 percent. Aerial photo taken on Aug. 19, 2020 shows wind turbines in Jiucaiping scenic spot in southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Xinhua/Liu Xu) The best scenario is that China will achieve zero growth in coal consumption during the 2021-2025 period, and see usage peak and start to decline by 2025, said He Jiankun, deputy director of China's national expert committee on climate change. "By 2030, the newly increased energy demand for economic development will be basically met by newly added non-fossil energy, and the consumption of fossil energy will not increase on the whole," He told Xinhua earlier this year. Pan called for increasing the use of renewable energy while building new power systems that mainly serve new energy. There is great potential in the development of green industrial supply chains as well as green buildings in the next five years, according to Chang. The campaign for green energy would also enable the public to embrace a more eco-friendly lifestyle, which is already shown by the country's booming sales of new energy vehicles. Meanwhile, starting in February, China implemented a set of interim rules for the management of carbon-emissions trading designed to drive down the emissions of big power users. Under the scheme, firms that exceed the emission caps can buy emission quotas from others with a lower carbon footprint. A total of 2,225 power firms are included in the project. More fields, such as the steel and aluminum production sectors, will be included in future carbon trading. "Peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality is a tough battle, and it is also a major test of the Party's capabilities in governing the country," the meeting has stressed. Chang said carbon emission control is a long-term, arduous task, urging local governments to strengthen capabilities of green and low-carbon development. Dominic Cummings faced the media on May 25 to give a day-by-day account of his battle against coronavirus and his controversial journey to his parents' farm in Durham. The Prime Minister's top aide faced an hour-long television grilling at Downing Street after it emerged on Saturday he had travelled 260 miles north from London with his family amid the coronavirus lockdown in March. He recounted his own battle with the virus, which his wife Mary Wakefield also caught, while insisting he had acted 'reasonably and legally' in a 'very tricky, complicated situation'. News of the trip sparked fury from NHS staff, bishops and Tory MPs, twenty of whom demanded Mr Cummings' resignation as Boris Johnson maintained his adviser acted 'responsibly and with integrity.' Giving a timeline of events in his own words, Mr Cummings said: March 26 At around midnight on Thursday, March 26, I spoke to the prime minister. He told me that he tested positive for Covid. We discussed the national emergency arrangements for No 10, given his isolation and what I would do in No 10 the next day. March 27 The next morning, I went to work as usual. I was in a succession of meetings about this emergency. I suddenly got a call from my wife who was at home looking after our four year old child. She told me she suddenly felt badly ill. She'd vomited and felt like she might pass out. And there'll be nobody to look after our child. None of our usual childcare options were available. They were alone in the house. After very briefly telling some officials in No 10 what had happened, I immediately left the building, ran to a car and drove home. This was reported by the media at the time who saw me run out of No 10. After a couple of hours, my wife felt a bit better. There were many critical things at work and she urged me to return in the afternoon and I did. That evening, I returned home and discussed the situation with my wife. She was ill. She might have Covid, though she did not have a cough or a fever. March 27: Dominic Cummings is pictured running out of Downing Street on the day Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock test positive for coronavirus At this point, most of those who I work with most closely, including the prime minister himself and others who sit within 15ft of me every day, either had had symptoms and had returned to work or were absent with symptoms. I thought there was a distinct probability that I had already caught the disease. I had a few conflicting thoughts in my mind. First, I was worried that if my wife and I were both seriously ill, possibly hospitalised, there was nobody in London that we could reasonably ask to look after our child and exposed themselves to Covid. My wife had felt on the edge of not being able to look after him safely a few hours earlier. I was thinking, what if the same or worse happens to me? There's nobody here that I can reasonably ask to help. The regulations make clear, I believe the risks to the health of a small child were an exceptional situation, and I had a way of dealing with this that minimised risk to others. Second, I thought that if I did not develop symptoms, then I might be able to return to work to help deal with the crisis. There were ongoing discussions about testing government staff in order to keep people like me working rather than isolating. At this point, on the Friday, advisers such as myself had not been included in the list of who were tested. But it was possible that this might change the following week. Therefore, I thought that after testing negative, I could continue working. The Prime Minister's top aide faced an hour-long television grilling at Downing Street today after it emerged on Saturday he had travelled 260 miles north from London with his family Third, there had been numerous false stories in the media about my actions and statements regarding Covid. In particular, there were stories suggesting that I had opposed lockdown and even then I did not care about many deaths. These stories had created a very bad atmosphere around my home. I was subject to threats of violence. People came to my house shouting threats. I was also worried that given the severity of this emergency, this situation would get worse. And I was worried about the possibility of leaving my wife and child at home all day and off into the night while I worked in No 10. I thought the best thing to do in all the circumstances was to drive to an isolated cottage on my father's farm. At this farm, my parents live in one house. My sister and her two children live in another house, and there was a separate cottage roughly 50 metres away from either of them. My tentative conclusion on the Friday evening was this: if we are both unable to look after our child, then my sister or nieces can look after him. My nieces are 17 and 20. They are old enough to look after him, but also young enough to be in the safest category. And they had extremely kindly volunteered to do so if needed. But, I thought, if I do not develop symptoms and there is a testing regime in place at work, I could return to work if I tested negative. In that situation, I could leave my wife and child behind in a safe place, safe in the form of support from family for shopping in emergencies, safe in the sense of being away from home which had become a target and also safe for everybody else because they were completely isolated on a farm and could not infect anybody. Parents' home: The home of Cummings's parents in Durham, 260 miles away, which he visited during lockdown There are no neighbours in the normal sense of the word. The nearest other homes are roughly half a mile away. So in this scenario, I thought that they could stay there for a few weeks. I could go back to work, help colleagues and everybody, including the general public, would be safe. I did not ask the prime minister about this decision. He was ill himself and he had huge problems to deal with. Everyday, I have to exercise my judgment about things like this and decide what to discuss with him. I thought I would speak to him when the situation clarified over coming days, including whether I had symptoms and whether there were tests available. Arguably, this was a mistake, and I understand that some will say that I should've spoken to the prime minister before deciding what to do. So I drove the three of us up to Durham that night, arriving roughly at midnight. I did not stop on the way. March 28 When I woke the next morning, Saturday, March 28, I was in pain and clearly had Covid symptoms, including a bad headache and a serious fever. Clearly, I could not return to work any time soon. For a day or two, we were both ill. I was in bed. My wife was ill, but not ill enough that she needed emergency help. I got worse. She got better. April 2 During the night of Thursday, April 2, my child woke up. He threw up and had a bad fever. He was very distressed. We took medical advice which was to call 999. An ambulance was sent, they assessed my child and said he must go to hospital. I could barely stand up. My wife went with him in the ambulance. I stayed at home. He stayed the night in the hospital. April 3 In the morning, my wife called to say that he had recovered, he seemed back to normal. Doctors had tested him for Covid and said that they should return home. There were no taxis. I drove to the hospital, picked them up, then returned home. I did not leave the car or have any contact with anybody at any point on this short trip. A few days later, the hospital said that he tested negative. After I started to recover, one day in the second week, I tried to walk outside the house. At one point the three of us walked into woods owned by my father, next to the cottage that I was staying in. Some people saw us in these woods from a distance, but we had no interaction with them. We had not left the property. We were on private land. April 11 By Saturday, April 11, I was still feeling weak and exhausted. But other than that, I had no Covid symptoms. I thought that I'd be able to return to work the following week, possibly part time. I sought expert medical advice. I explained our family's symptoms and all the timings, and I asked if it was safe to return to work on Monday, Tuesday, seek child care and so on. I was told that it was safe and I could return to work and seek childcare. April 12 On Sunday, April 12, 15 days after I had first displayed symptoms, I decided to return to work. My wife was very worried, particularly given my eyesight seemed to have been affected by the disease. She didn't want to risk a nearly 300-mile drive with our child, given how ill I had been. We agreed that we should go for a short drive to see if I could drive safely. We drove for roughly half an hour and ended up on the outskirts of Barnard Castle town. We did not visit the castle. We did not walk around the town. We parked by a river. My wife and I discussed the situation. We agreed that I could drive safely, and we should turn around and go home. I felt a bit sick. We walked about 10 to 15 metres from the car to the river bank nearby. We sat there for about 15 minutes. We had no interactions with anybody. I felt better. We returned the car. An elderly gentleman walking nearby appeared to recognise me. My wife wished him Happy Easter from a distance, but we had no other interaction. We headed home. On the way home, our child needed the toilet. He was in the back seat of the car. We pulled over to the side of the road, my wife and child jumped out into the woods by the side of the road. They were briefly outside. I briefly joined them. They played for a little bit and then I got out of the car, went outside. We were briefly in the woods. We saw some people at a distance. But at no point did we break any social distancing rules. We then got back in the car and went home. 'We drove for roughly half an hour and ended up on the outskirts of Barnard Castle town,' he said Robin Lees says he saw someone who 'looked like' Mr Cummings here in Barnard Castle on April 12, and the 'distinctive' number plate he took down corresponds to Mr Cummings' car April 13 We returned to London on the evening of Monday, April 13, Easter Monday. I went back to work in No 10 the next morning. At no point between arriving and leaving Durham did any of the three of us enter my parents' house or my sister's house. Our only exchanges were shouted conversations at a distance. My sister shopped for us and left everything outside. In the last few days, there have been many media reports that I returned to Durham after 13 April. All these stories are false. During this two-week period, my mother's brother died with Covid. There are media reports that this had some influence on my behaviour. These reports false. This private matter did not affect my movements. None of us saw him. None of us attended his funeral. In this very complex situation, I tried to exercise my judgment the best I could. Mr Cummings (pictured today) recounted his own battle with the virus while insisting he had acted 'reasonably and legally' in a 'very tricky, complicated situation' News of the trip sparked fury from NHS staff, bishops and Tory MPs, twenty of whom demanded Mr Cummings' resignation as Boris Johnson (pictured today) maintained his adviser acted 'responsibly and with integrity' I believe that in all circumstances I behaved reasonably and legally, balancing the safety of my family and the extreme situation in No 10 and the public interest in effective government to which I could contribute. I was involved in decisions affecting millions of people, and I thought that I should try to help as much as I could do. I can understand that some people will argue that I should have stayed at my home in London throughout. I understand these views. I know the intense hardship and sacrifice that the entire country has had to go through. However, I respectfully disagree. The legal rules inevitably do not cover all circumstances, including those that I found myself in. I accept, of course, that there is room for reasonable disagreement about this. I could also understand some people think I should not have driven at all anywhere. Sri Lankan police arrested Muslim political leader Azath Salley on Tuesday at the orders of Attorney General Dappula de Livera, following provocative statements last week by former rear admiral, now Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekera. Salley has been detained for three months under the countrys draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). De Livera advised the Criminal Investigation Department to arrest the Muslim leader, claiming credible information that he had committed offences under the Penal Code, the PTA and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in a recent speech. Gotabaya Rajapaksa (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena) Enacted in 1979, the PTA has been widely used to detain and arrest individuals allegedly linked to the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and other Tamil groups, beginning with Colombos bloody communalist war in 1983. It has also been employed by Sri Lankan governments to suppress political opponents and militant workers. Confessions extracted forcibly by the police under this law can be used as evidence against the victims. The ICCPR, which was adopted in Sri Lanka in the early 1990s, was introduced under the guise of curbing hate speech. It has, however, been used to witch hunt individuals, accusing them of defaming Buddhism or preaching Muslim extremism. Azath Salley (Facebook) Salley leads the National Unity Alliance (NUA) and was Western Province governor under the previous government. He has been taken into custody for allegedly declaring that Muslim Sharia law and the Koran cannot be changed, and that his community will only respect these laws. While the Socialist Equality Party does not support Salleys politics, or the NUAs Islamic communalist agenda, we oppose his arrest and detention, which is a part of an anti-Muslim campaign initiated by the Rajapakse government. Salleys persecution is a warning to all political critics of the government and a threat to the democratic rights of the working class. It followed provocative comments last week by Weerasekera, who told the media, We will arrest him, question him and take the necessary legal action. Further allegations have been hurled against Salley since his arrest. Police spokesman Ajith Rohana told the media that the Muslim leader was also being questioned over the April 21, 2019 terrorist bombing on three Catholic Churches and two tourist hotels. The Easter Sunday attacks, which were carried out by ISIS-backed Islamists, killed over 270 people and injured another 500. The bombings were immediately seized on by the government, and the parliamentary opposition parties, to witch hunt the Muslim community. This provoked violent attacks on Muslims and was also used to divert attention from Colombos austerity measures against the working class and the poor. Muslim shop destroyed by anti-Muslim thugs at Munuwangoda (WSWS Media) Gotabhaya Rajapakse, with the backing of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), won the Sri Lankan presidency by rallying support from Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinist groups and the military and by promising a strong and stable government. Weerasekera told parliament on March 11 that the government would act to ban Madrasas [Islamic schools] and the burqa. He claimed these measures would prevent the recurrence of Islamic extremist activities in Sri Lanka. Weerasekera later told a press conference that The burqa is something that directly affects our national security and that he had signed a cabinet paper to outlaw it. Cabinet spokesmen claimed that the public security ministers proposal had not come up at this weeks ministers meeting. The foreign ministry also said a decision had not yet been made and described it as merely a proposal under discussion. The latter statements, however, appear to be a tactical move by Colombo, which wants to downplay the issue at the moment because it is attempting to win support from Muslim countries in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Next Tuesday, a UNHRC meeting will discuss a resolution prompted by the US and its allies over Sri Lankan war crimes committed during Colombos war with the LTTE, as well as ongoing attacks on democratic rights. The US and other Western powers, which have themselves committed numerous war crimes, have little concern about human rights violations and the suppression of democratic rights in Sri Lanka. Washington, which is intensifying its geo-strategic and military preparations against China, is using the resolution to pressure the Colombo regime to distance itself from Beijing. Last Friday, President Rajapakse gazetted new additions to the repressive PTA, which are supposed to de-radicalise those holding violent extremist religious ideology and are clearly targeted against Muslims. Under these rules any one can be detained on suspicion of being a person who by words, either spoken or intended to be read or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, causes or intends to cause commission of acts of violence or religious, racial or communal disharmony or feelings of ill will or hostility between different communities or racial or religious groups. In fact, anybody could be arrested and detained under these vague and sweeping regulations. The new measures also allow a magistrate to order anyone found guilty of extremist ideology to be sent for as long as 18 months to a so-called rehabilitation centre controlled by the commissioner general of rehabilitation. The communal, discriminatory character of the governments actions is revealed in its attitude towards Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), a fascistic Buddhist group. The recent Presidential Commission of Inquirys report into the Easter Sunday terror attack recommended, among other things, the banning of BBS for causing religious disharmony. On March 8, however, SLPP chairman and Minister of Education G.L. Peiris told the media the commission of inquirys recommendation to ban the BBS wasnt acceptable to the government. BBS is one of the extreme right formations that campaigned for Rajapakse to become president and backs his government. The Rajapakse government, which faces an unprecedented economic crisis, with rising foreign debts and falling export income, is systematically provoking racial and religious tensions in order to divide and weaken rising working class opposition to its attacks on jobs and social rights. The Sri Lankan ruling elite, from the outset of so-called national independence in 1948, and whenever faced with a political crisis since, has systematically discriminated against the countrys minorities, principally the Tamils, to defend capitalist rule. Predictably, the Sri Lankan media backed the governments anti-Muslim campaign, publicising the Switzerlands recent banning of the burqa and earlier similar measures in France and Belgium. The media, however, failed to mention that these bans were promoted by fascistic elements. Gayantha Karunatilleke, an MP from the main opposition party the Samagi Jana Balavegaya, condemned Salleys remarks. Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Vijitha Herath said it was diversion and advised the government to speak to the communities and religious and political leaders about banning the burqa. These parties, which are mired in reactionary Sinhala communal politics, have no differences with Rajapakses anti-democratic measures or his moves towards the establishment of a presidential dictatorship. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta will retire next week, but he will leave the judiciary hounded by controversies. The "Bloody Sunday" incident that left nine activists dead has reached the attention of the Supreme Court, with justices pushing for their own recommendations on how to go about the rules on search warrants. The high court is currently considering a proposal to require the use of body cameras for law enforcers when executing warrants. But Peralta said this will take time, and the tribunal is "very careful" in exercising its power to promulgate rules. "When you amend the rules, you invite all parties, because it's only in the deliberations that we will receive suggestions, not only from police or lawyers but also from the academe and retired magistrates, or known luminaries, experts in remedial law," he said. A source told CNN Philippines the judges are "doing it right" in issuing warrants based on the SC's initial investigation. "It is in implementation by police where there are complications," the source related. Peralta explained it is premature for him to say if the SC can intervene. In a report prepared by Court Administrator Midas Marquez on the simultaneous service of search warrants on March 7, the Manila court received 62 applications and granted 42. Meanwhile, the Antipolo court processed nine applications and granted four. But Marquez pointed out that the issuance of search warrants by judges and their implementation are two separate acts. "The issuance of search warrants is judicial in nature. As such, judicial remedies are available to those aggrieved by their issuance. Any action at this time on their issuance may preempt any judicial recourse any party may take," he said. The chief magistrate noted law enforcers must report to the lower courts what happened to the service of search warrants, and until such time, the Supreme Court cannot comment because they do not know what would be the report of the police officers, Peralta added. "Kung mali ang pag-serve ng search warrant [If the way the warrant was served was wrong], those who are affected by the service of search warrant ang remedy doon ay [the remedy there is] judicial. They may file a motion to quash the search warrant because of the unreasonable search," he explained. Red-tagged judge Peralta said the high court has already provided "concessions" that Mandaluyong Judge Monique Quisumbing-Ignacio requested, but he declined to disclose details. Ignacio was red-tagged in a tarpaulin displayed along EDSA weeks after ordering the release of journalist Lady Ann Salem and trade unionist Rodrigo Esparago. "Of course we are always after the welfare of our judges but whatever her decision is, that's her decision, to quash the search warrant, whatever it is we respect her decision," Peralta said. "If her life is threatened, the first thing that we do is protect her because she's our employee." Ignacio voided the search warrant issued by Quezon City Judge Cecilyn Burgos Villavert, effectively dismissing the illegal possession of firearms and explosives cases against Salem and Esparago. Various groups condemned the red tagging. In a statement, La Salle Green Hills Alumni Lawyers Association said it was a clear attack not only on Ignacio but also on the entire judiciary and legal profession. "We believe that is reckless and barbaric to red-tag judges like Judge Monique," the group added. Killings in legal profession Responding to the letter of the University of the Philippines College of Law seeking SC intervention to protect its lawyers, Peralta said it will be part of next week's agenda. "I cannot speak for the other members of the court but what I can do is place in the agenda and let that petition be raffled and let us see what would be the recommendation of the member in charge," he said. Almost 900 UP Law faculty and lawyers signed the letter requesting the high court to convene a "Special Committee to Protect Lawyers," which will investigate the letter sent by Calbayog police to a local court requesting the names of lawyers representing "Communist Terrorist Group" personalities. The committee will also look into all similar requests and explore the need to promulgate rules to protect lawyers. They also want the SC to order the Philippine National Police to explain the letter. Peralta said it can be done. "But we have to follow the process, let us see the development. As I said, as of now, what we know are those we read from newspapers and claims we read from other persons and let us see what will happen in next en banc session," Peralta added. Next Tuesday's en banc session will be Peralta's last before he retires on March 27. Yang Jiechi (R), director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office for China and Wang Yi (L), China's Foreign Minister arrive for a meeting with U.S. counterparts at the opening session of U.S.-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska on March 18, 2021. (Fredrick J. Brown/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Off-The-Charts Arrogant: Lawmakers, Analysts Slam Chinese Diplomats Fiery Display at US-China Talks The first face-to-face talks between the Biden administration and Beijing on March 18 got off to a testy start after Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials lashed out at the United States over a range of alleged infractions. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan met Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and a senior foreign policy official Yang Jiechi in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday for two days of talks between the two sides. Blinken in his opening remarks said the Biden administration is united with its allies in pushing back against Chinas increasing authoritarianism and assertiveness at home and abroad. Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability, Blinken said of Chinas actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and of cyberattacks on the United States and economic coercion against U.S. allies. Thats why theyre not merely internal matters, and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here today. Sullivan amplified the criticism, saying China has undertaken an assault on basic values. We do not seek conflict but we welcome stiff competition, he said. Yang responded angrily, saying: It was my bad. When I entered this room, I should have reminded the U.S. side of paying attention to its tone in our respective opening remarks, but I didnt. He then accused the U.S. side of speaking in a condescending way. He then lashed out over what he said was the United States struggling democracy, poor treatment of minorities, and criticizing its foreign and trade policies. We believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world, Yang said. China will not accept unwarranted accusations from the U.S. side, he added. Wang also blasted the United States slapping sanctions on Chinese officials over Beijings rollback of democracy in Hong Kong a day before the talks, saying I dont think this is the way you should normally treat a guest! Blinken appeared to be annoyed by the tenor and length of the comments, which went on for more than 15 minutes. He said his impressions from speaking with world leaders and on his just-concluded trip to Japan and South Korea were entirely different from the Chinese position. Im hearing deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that were reengaged, Blinken retorted. Im also hearing deep concern about some of the actions your government is taking. Afterward, the United States criticized the Chinese side for violating an agreed-upon two-minute time limit for opening statements. Yang ended up speaking for more than 15 minutes. The Chinese delegation seems to have arrived intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance, the official said. Exaggerated diplomatic presentations often are aimed at a domestic audience, the official added. Arrogance Gordon Chang, China expert and author of The Coming Collapse of China, said the CCP officials did not go to Alaska to talk with the Biden administration, but rather to dictate terms. The regime is off-the-charts arrogant at the moment, Chang told The Epoch Times in an email. He said that Chinese Leader Xi Jinping has been pushing the propaganda narrative that the East is rising, and the West is declining as he aims to expand his power domestically and abroad in the post-COVID world. To make significant concessions to America would undermine that appearance of national strengthand threaten Xis hold on power, Chang said. The CCPs aggressive display before the talks was consistent with its abrasive wolf warrior diplomacy which has gained steam over the past year, James Jay Carafano, vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at Washington-based think tank Heritage Foundation, told The Epoch Times. He said the CCP in the past months has drawn a lot of global blowback over various actions including its coverup of the pandemic, crackdown in Hong Kong, as well as threats posed by Chinese technology, such as Huawei. Their response to that [blowback] is to try to bluster their way through it, Carafano said. If the U.S. administration expected them to walk in the door and play nice, I think that was pretty naive, he added. Carafano said the Chinese diplomats remarks should help the Biden administration recognize that there is no room for cooperation with the CCP. Blinken had previously said that the administrations relationship with China would be competitive when it should be, collaborative when it can be, and adversarial when it must be. The reality is on all the key issues, China and the U.S. are at very different places, and the healthiest, most constructive thing is to recognize that, Carafano said. The Biden administration is still formulating its China policy, but has broadly intimated it would continue former President Donald Trumps tough-on-CCP stance. The Trump administration enacted an array of hardline actions targeting a variety of threats posed by the CCP, including sanctions on CCP officials over rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, designating the regimes repression against Uyghurs a genocide, and a ban on U.S. investments in Chinese companies that aid the military. Chang similarly criticized the Biden administrations expressed willingness to cooperate with China where possible, such as on climate change and nuclear non-proliferation. Unfortunately, Biden has yet to realize that Communist China and the democratic United States cannot coexist over the long term, Chang said. As much as we would like to think otherwise, Chinas insecure, militant ruling group, fueled by an ideology that demands compliance from all, is innately incompatible with stability. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said the events in Anchorage show that there does not need to be a reset in U.S.-China relations, as Beijing had hoped after Biden took office. Just as the Chinese delegation refused to comply with the agreed-upon rules of the meeting, Beijing refuses to comply with the rules-based international order, Blackburn told The Epoch Times in an email. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) told The Epoch Times that it was not surprising the meeting didnt go well, noting that Communist China is our enemy, plain and simple, and cannot be trusted. The Biden Administration cannot appease General Secretary Xithey must stay strong and be clear that the United States will not waver in its commitment to human rights and the protection of our national security. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) rejected the Chinese officials characterization of its genocidal campaign against Uyghurs and crackdown in Hong Kong as internal mattersa label repeatedly used by the CCP to fend off international condemnation of its widespread domestic rights abuses. Every single American should unite against Beijings tyrants, Sasse said in a statement on Friday. Secretary Blinken and National Security Adviser Sullivan were right to say its never good to bet against America and should continue to hold firm exposing Chairman Xis fraudulent lies. Frank Fang and The Associated Press contributed to this report. By Kathryn Henne, Professor and Director, School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University Shutterstock Yesterday, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller suggested technology should be part of the solution to growing concerns around sexual assault. He encouraged serious discussion about using a digital app to record positive sexual consent. In our research, we have studied a wide range of mobile applications and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots used in attempts to counter sexual violence over the past decade. We found these apps have many limitations and unexpected consequences. How apps are being used to address sexual abuse Apps aimed at responding to sexual harassment and assault have circulated for at least a decade. With support from government initiatives, such as the Obama administrations 2011 Apps Against Abuse challenge, and global organisations, such as UN Women, they have been implemented in corporate environments, universities and mental health services. These apps are not limited to documenting consent. Many are designed to offer emergency assistance, information and a means for survivors of sexual violence to report and build evidence against perpetrators. Proponents often frame these technologies as empowering tools that support women through the accessible and anonymous processing of data. In the case of the proposed consent app, critics have noted that efforts to time-stamp consent fail to recognise consent can always be withdrawn. In addition, a person may consent out of pressure, fear of repercussions or intoxication. If a person does indicate consent at some point but circumstances change, the record could be used to discredit their claims. How digital apps fail to address sexual violence The use of apps will not address many longstanding problems with common responses to sexual violence. Research indicates safety apps often reinforce rape myths, such as the idea that sexual assault is most often perpetrated by strangers. In reality, the vast majority of rapes are committed by people the victims already know. Usually marketed to women, these apps collect data from users through surveillance using persistent cookies and geolocational tracking. Even anonymised data can often be identifiable. Digital tools can also enable violence. Abusive partners can use them for cyberstalking, giving them constant access to victims. Apps designed to encourage survivors to report violence raise similar concerns, because they fail to address the power imbalances that lead to authorities discrediting survivors accounts of violence. Apps dont change the bigger picture The introduction of an app does not itself change the wider landscape in which sexual violence cases are handled. The high-profile sex abuse scandal involving Larry Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor convicted of a range of sex offences after being accused by more than 350 young women and girls, led to reforms that included the SafeSport app. This resulted in 1,800 reports of sexual misconduct or abuse within a year of the apps introduction. However, a lack of funding meant the reports could not be properly investigated, undermining organisational promises to enforce sanctions for sexual misconduct. Read more: Anti-rape devices may have their uses, but they don't address the ultimate problem Poor implementation and cost-saving measures compromise users safety. In Canada and the United States, the hospitality industry is rolling out smart panic buttons to 1.2 million hotel and casino staff. This is a response to widespread sexual violence: a union survey found 58% of employees had been sexually harassed by a guest and 65% of casino workers experienced unwanted touching. Employers are now required by law to provide panic buttons, but they are turning to cheap and inferior devices, raising security concerns. Legislation does not prevent them using these devices to monitor the movements of their employees. Who owns the data? Even if implemented as intended, apps raise questions about data protection. They collect vast amounts of sensitive data, which is stored on digital databases and cloud servers that are vulnerable to cyberattacks. Read more: The ugly truth: tech companies are tracking and misusing our data, and there's little we can do The data may be owned by private companies who can sell it on to other organisations, allowing authorities to circumvent privacy laws. Last month, it was revealed US Immigration and Customs Enforcement purchased access to the Reuters CLEAR database containing information about 400 million people whose data they could not legally collect on their own. In short, apps dont protect victims or their data. Why we need to take this bad idea seriously Fuller, the NSW police commissioner, admitted his recommendation might be a bad idea. His idea was built on the premise that the important issue to address is making sure consent is clearly communicated. It misunderstands the nature of sexual violence, which is grounded in unequal power relations. In practice, a consent app would be unlikely to protect victims. Research shows data collected through new forms of investigation often result in evidence that is used against victims wishes. There are other reasons why the consent app is a bad idea. It perpetuates misguided assumptions about technologys ability to fix societal harms. Consent, violence and accountability are not data problems. These complex issues require strong cultural and structural responses, not simply quantifiable and time-stamped data. Kathryn Henne receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian National University Futures Scheme. Jenna Imad Harb receives funding from The Australian Government through The Australian Government Research Training Program International Scholarship. Renee M. Shelby received funding from the American Sociological Association Fund to Advance the Discipline and the Carnegie Mellon/ACLS Foundation. Originally published in The Conversation. Three hospital patients have been bitten by mice as regional New South Wales' out-of-control rodent plague shows no sign of slowing down. The patients received minor bites at facilities in Tottenham, Walgett and Gulargambone, NSW Health confirmed. 'The current mouse infestation across western NSW is a natural occurrence,' a spokeswoman said. 'NSW Health staff are responding with appropriate control measures.' NSW Western Area Health Service has also reported a case of leptospirosis - a rare disease which can cause kidney failure and meningitis - as a result of mice in domestic dwellings. Three hospital patients have been bitten by mice as regional New South Wales' out-of-control rodent plague shows no sign of slowing down (stock) The mice plague is not just affecting residents' health, but their livelihoods. NSW Farmers is seeking urgent action from the government as the mice plague continues to decimate crops and destroy stored hay. President James Jackson said grain growers hold grave concerns about the winter crop planting season, which is due to start within weeks. 'Farmers need some more control options. We are requesting that an Emergency Use Permit be issued for Zinc Phosphide to treat seed,' Mr Jackson said on Wednesday. 'This will allow farmers to have their own grain professionally treated, removing the biosecurity risks posed by using foreign seed. 'It will also reduce the cost of sourcing sterilised or de-vitalised grain by farmers using their own treated seed to be sown for winter cropping.' NSW Farmers is also seeking some financial assistance through a small grants program. 'Mouse control is very costly. The severity of the current plague has resulted in the need for multiple aerial and ground bait applications in cropping regions,' Mr Jackson said. Dead mice are seen at a property in Coonamble in central west NSW, Tuesday, February 2, 2021 'Potential options we are putting up include a rebate on rodenticide products or a subsidy for ground and aerial baiting. Action is needed now. This mice situation is only getting worse.' Rodent numbers have exploded just as rural communities across New South Wales and Queensland were recovering from droughts and fields were beginning to return to green. Favourable crop-growing conditions in recent months have provided the rodents with the ideal environment for eating and breeding. Shocking video recently emerged showing thousands of the rodents swarming across crops and highways. In Coonamble, about two hours north of Dubbo, resident Anne Cullen said mice were running rampant across the town - and she even woke up with one in her hair. Hay crops have been contaminated by the mouse plaugue (left) with their burrows visible in the hay stacks (right) 'It's terrible. It's unbelievable. I came home after a couple of nights away staying down in Dubbo with my daughter, and I went into the house, there were just mice running everywhere,' she told the Today show. 'They have eaten my clothes. They have gotten into my wardrobe. There are holes in the couches. They are eating everything.' In an attempt to reduce their numbers, she dumps $250 worth of rodent poison around her sheds and sets water traps before the mice emerge in the evenings. She said farmers in the town were having to burn crops that weren't safely stored in silos because of contamination. 'The hay is a worry. Apparently, the mouse droppings and the urine all through, it's very damaging. It can disease cattle. It might be ruined.' The mice breed very quickly, with females having up to 10 pups every month-and-a-half, and it's believed the dramatic increase in numbers is being caused by a good crop season, Ms Cullen said. She said the smell of dead mice was now hanging over the town but the only way to keep their numbers down was to keep poisoning them. Eventually locals are confident the mice will start to back off once their food source dwindles, but before that they will clean up some of the mess by munching on their fallen comrades. In early February, Ben Storer filmed a wave of the mice as he drove through them in a ute on his family farm in Warren in central northern NSW. The video showed mice running in all directions, surrounding an empty grain shed and crawling over a surface drill. Mr Storer's wife Tanya said 'everything is being affected' by the mice plague, which hit their family farm after the last harvest in November 2020. 'It's terrible, everything is being affected because they're in the cupboards, there's dead mice everywhere,' Ms Storer told Daily Mail Australia. 'They're in the car eating up the car seat. I had to throw out my microwave, coffee maker and mixer because they get into everything.' BELLOWS FALLS If the U.S. Congress restores earmarks, its former method of funding favorite or pet projects, it could translate into the r Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Nigerians have been jailed in the United Kingdom (U.K.) for defrauding the government to the tune of 489,000 (about N259 million at official exchange rate) under the coronavirus relief Bounce Back loan scheme. The U.K. Metropolitan Police said in a statement on its website, Thursday, that the convicts Timilehin Olasemo, 39, and Olufumi Akinneye, 33, had already obtained 297,000 (about N157 million) before the remaining amount was stopped by the bank The statement said the convicts were jailed after they pleaded guilty to the crime before the Southwark Crown Court in London. According to the statement, Ms Olasemo, of Bedale Road, Romford, was sentenced to three years and two months imprisonment for conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation. Mr Akinneye of Cowthorpe Road, Lambeth, was sentenced to a total of five years and six months imprisonment for fraud, money laundering charges. He was also convicted for his involvement in romance fraud. They had both pleaded guilty to the offences levelled on against then by the Economic Crime Unit, part of the Metropolitan Police Command on November 12, 2020 at Southwark Crown Court. The fraud The U.K. government created had created the Bounce Bank loan scheme to support businesses struggling through the lack of economic activity as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The government-backed loan was managed through U.K. banks. The size of the loan is determined by turnover demonstrated by the business to the satisfaction of the bank. The U.K Met Police said the convicts exploited the government scheme by creating fake businesses by using the identities of real people, to apply for the loan. As the business account had been registered to a separate address to the personal account holders address, its existence would not become apparent to the real personal account holder until the bank chased them for the loan repayments, the U.K Met police said. According to the report, an investigation into the organised criminal activities began after the Mets North West Economic Crime Unit, of the Metropolitan Police Services Central Specialist Crime Command, discovered that 489,000 worth of fraudulent loan applications were made using 10 identities. It added that about 297,000 worth of loans were successfully obtained by the pair and dissipated. The remaining amount was successfully stopped by the banks. The police said Mr Akinneye was the first out of the two to be identified, while details of fraud linking to Ms Olasemo were later discovered from evidence seized during the formers arrest on August 2020. According to the report, Ms Olasemo was thereafter arrested on October 16, last year, at her home. They were both charged and remanded in custody the same day. The report said Ms Olasemo sought advice from Mr Akinneye as her accomplice in the fraudulent scheme. The police explained that Mr Akinneye provided Ms Olasemo with guidance about laundering the proceeds of the frauds and safe addresses to use as correspondence for accounts. According to the report, Mr Akinneye also acted as a middle-man between people who were willing to sell their bank accounts for use in the fraud and other fraudsters who needed mule accounts to receive money obtained from diversion frauds. ADVERTISEMENT The police said investigations also revealed that Ms Olasemo had obtained and used the personal details of eight individuals to fraudulently apply for the loans. She was said to have stolen these identities after accessing employee records containing personal information during her employment. They fraudulently obtained monies paid into the business bank account before being dispersed into mule accounts and later withdrawn from cash machines. Romance fraud Mr Akinneye was also convicted for his involvement in romance fraud. Analysis of his phone revealed that he had set up a false persona pretending to be a woman online to ensnare men fabricating several stories in order to request money for flights, accommodation and a replacement passport. Investigators said in some instances, victims of the romance scam were duped into becoming money mules themselves by allowing fraudulent funds to be paid into their own bank accounts. He Akinneye was arrested on August 20, 2020 by officers from the Mets North West Economic Crime Unit. He was charged and remanded the same day. Police reaction Meanwhile, Chris Collins, of the Mets North West Economic Crime Unit, said, Todays result serves as evidence of the zero-tolerance approach the MPS takes to individuals found guilty of fraud. Mr Collins, a Detective Constable of the Met Police added that We will continue to crack down on individuals who are found to be exploiting government schemes for their own monetary gain. Opinion Article 19 March 2021 Although at times it can feel longer, this week marks the one-year anniversary of when hotel bookings most steeply decelerated around the world, as countries closed borders and commercial travel was suspended. On the SiteMinder World Hotel Index, one look at the comparison to last year serves as a reminder of just how rapidly hotel booking momentum ground to a halt only 12 months ago. One year and some 400 million vaccines later, we're now able to reflect on the year that's been, and using the five stages of the hotel booking resetdomestic acceleration, plateauing, flux, embracing, and international accelerationanalyse how the world might begin to come out on the other side. SiteMinder World Hotel Index as at March 16, 2021 Photo: SiteMinder Asia Pacific In the Asia Pacific, we find the three hotel markets (the Maldives, Australia and Taiwan) that have seen the greatest recovery to date, and where we see the strongest possibility of international acceleration occurring in the second half of the year. In fact, the Maldives, with booking momentum at over 125% of 2019 levels, has been fully open to international travel since July and is one of few countries that have completed all five stages of the hotel booking reset already. In Australia, despite very few international guests, booking momentum nation-wide has surged to 98% of 2019 levels, although we continue to see differences between regional towns and major capital cities. Hotel booking volumes in Newcastle, for example, now sit at 128% of 2019 levels, while they are at only 60% in Sydney. Nevertheless, planning for a travel bubble with Singapore, New Zealand and potentially Fiji from July or August is underway, with South Korea and Japan likely to follow. And, in Taiwan, currently at 93% of 2019 levels, further discussions with Palua, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam are currently taking place. We can see in the World Hotel Index that this corresponds to a greater share of international bookings emerging from August. So, if we are to predict where we will see most countries complete the five stages of the hotel booking reset, at this current time it's looking very likely that the answer to that is the Asia Pacific. The Americas In the Americas, too, we are seeing consistently growing hotel booking momentum in many locations. While parts of South America have sadly struggled to control the coronavirus in recent weeks, in the United States, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico, cases are now easing from their January spike, and an upward trend in booking momentum is the result of increased confidence. For Costa Rica, approximately three-in-four travellers currently booking their stays are from abroad, which is higher than in April of 2019. Similarly, in Mexico, we can see that the share of international bookings is also outpacing 2019 levels. This trend could continue across the Americas region, but it will be vital that case numbers are contained in the second half of the year. EMEA Looking to EMEA, where there continues to be a high number of national lockdowns and curfews, we are naturally seeing the least evidence of international acceleration currently taking place. However, despite this, hope for increased movement in the second half of 2021 is evident in our data. In the case of Spain, which has seen booking momentum rise to 42.77% of 2019 levels as local case numbers have fallen, we can see that of the arrivals expected during the second half of the year, the majority will be international holidaymakers. The same can be said for locations like the Netherlands and Norway, which can expect a strong uptick in international guests later this year. With global booking momentum edging above 50% of 2019 levels for the first time in 2021, it remains a time of planning and steady growth for our industry. The data should give us all assurance that a brighter year is ahead, and, as always, as situations evolve throughout 2021, you'll see it first from the World Hotel Index. Be sure to subscribe to real-time updates and monthly analyses like this at siteminder.com/world-hotel-index. Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the lawsuit against NRI USA, LLC, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today. The San Bernardino employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a lawsuit against NRI USA, LLC alleging the company violated Labor Code 2699, et seq. seeking penalties for DEFENDANTs alleged violation of California Labor Code 201, 202, 203, 204, 210, 226(a), 226.7, 351, 510, 512, 558(a)(1)(2), 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 1198, and 2802. The lawsuit against NRI USA, LLC is currently pending in the San Bernardino County Superior Court, Case No. CIVSB2028407. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here. The lawsuit filed against NRI USA, LLC alleges PLAINTIFF and other AGGRIEVED EMPLOYEES were from time to time unable to take thirty (30) minute off-duty meal breaks and were not fully relieved of duty for their meal periods. California labor laws require an employer to provide an employee required to perform work for more than five (5) hours during a shift with, a thirty (30) minute uninterrupted meal break prior to the end of the employee's fifth (5th) hour of work. PAGA is a mechanism by which the State of California itself can enforce state labor laws through the employee suing under the PAGA who do so as the proxy or agent of the state's labor law enforcement agencies. An action to recover civil penalties under PAGA is fundamentally a law enforcement action designed to protect the public and not to benefit private parties. The purpose of PAGA is not to recover damages or restitution, but to create a means of "deputizing" citizens as private attorneys general to enforce the Labor Code. For more information about the lawsuit against NRI USA, 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, Sacramento County, Santa Clara County, Orange County and San Francisco County. The firm has a statewide practice of representing employees on a contingency basis for violations involving unpaid wages, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other types of illegal workplace conduct. ***THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT*** Angela Merkel has said she will have the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after lifting her government's ban in a stunning U-turn. The German Chancellor is among several European leaders to have resumed AstraZeneca inoculations after suspending them for fear they caused blood clots. European regulators have insisted the vaccine is safe and that the tiny handful of clotting cases - out of millions of jab recipients - is not linked to the injections. Challenged yesterday if she would now take the AstraZeneca vaccine, Merkel said: 'Yes I would take the AstraZeneca vaccine... I would like to wait until it's my turn but I would in any case'. The 66-year-old had previously said she was 'too old' to have the AstraZeneca jab as it was restricted to under-65s in Germany. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who has also resumed inoculations of the AstraZeneca vaccine, also confirmed he will received it. France meanwhile continues to cast doubt on the vaccine's efficacy and said the jab use will be restricted to those aged over 55 - a reversal of the country's earlier position that only young people should get it. Last night the UK's former vaccine tsar Kate Bingham scolded European leaders for undermining confidence in the jab. 'I would not be happy to have leaders undermining a vaccine that is effective in older people,' she told the Telegraph. 'If you've got leaders basically saying "I'm not taking that vaccine" it's completely irresponsible, there's no other word for it.' Ms Bingham, who has since stepped down as head of the UK's vaccine taskforce, is hailed as masterminding the rapid procurement of jabs for Britain. The UK has vaccinated more than half of all adults and cases and deaths are plummeting - while Europe is braced for a third wave. Angela Merkel has said she will have the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after lifting her government's ban in a stunning U-turn Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who has also resumed inoculations of the AstraZeneca vaccine, also confirmed he will received it The countries in green have already reinstated the AstraZeneca vaccine while those in red have yet to make an announcement or say that they will not immediately restart the jabs. Those in orange banned a particular batch of doses, while the countries in grey - including the UK - remained unmoved by the blood clot fears all along German Covid cases are rising exponentially and there is not enough vaccine to stop them, health chiefs have warned, raising the prospect of Europe's largest economy going back into lockdown in the coming weeks. Jens Spahn said it would take weeks to vaccinate the country's most vulnerable people, even after a week-long ban on using AstraZeneca jabs was lifted after regulators found it is safe. Covid cases are also surging in France, which has been forced to put several regions including Paris back into lockdown starting at midnight tonight, a day after the country also lifted its block on Astra jabs. France is not the only country to continue restricting AstraZeneca jabs. Norway, Denmark and Sweden have said they will continue their own investigations into blood clots before ruling the jab is safe, with decisions not expected until next week. Meanwhile there has also been no reaction so far from governments in Ireland or Iceland, where use of the jab remains suspended. That is despite a majority of European countries seeing Covid cases rise driven by new and more-infectious forms of the disease, while experts warned that 'thousands' of lives will be lost due to scaremongering around AstraZeneca's jab. Germany's infection rate has leaped upwards again with the daily average now at 12,000 cases per day, stymying efforts to re-open the economy even as frustration with lockdown grows The death rate is well below where it was two months ago but Germany's health minister warns there is not enough vaccine to protect vulnerable people from the looming third wave Like most of the EU, Germany is lagging far behind Britain in its vaccination campaign and has not immunised enough people to hold back a third wave of the disease Travel agencies offer 'vaccine vacations' to Germans As Germany limps along in its vaccine roll-out, travel agencies are lining up 'vaccine vacations' in which Germans could pay to get a jab abroad. A travel agency called World Visitor is offering two trips to Russia - one for each dose - in a 1,025 package advertised specifically for Germans, according to DW. There is also a 2,560 option in which people can stay in a Russian health resort in between their two doses of Russia's Sputnik V jab. Another alternative would allow them to spend their trip in Turkey but make short trips to Russia to get the vaccine in an airport terminal. Germans arriving in Russia would have to provide a negative PCR test even if they are only transiting through the country, according to the foreign ministry in Berlin. A separate travel agency, Fit Reisen, says it has had enquiries about whether its usual health getaways could be expanded to include vaccine trips. Israel, Serbia and the UAE have all attracted interest as destinations with higher vaccination rates than the EU. Fit Reisen says its plans have been put on hold but argued that the holidays would have both health and economic benefits. Some German politicians are arguing in favour of Russia's Sputnik V being approved in the EU to speed up Europe's jab roll-out. Hungary and others have already turned to Sputnik V but its use in a Western country such as Germany would amount to a major propaganda coup for the Kremlin. Advertisement Peter Openshaw, a professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said the temporary stoppage in more than a dozen EU countries was likely to 'translate into many, many lives lost due to Covid'. 'Because of this delay, and because of the uncertainty now of the vaccine in some people's minds...I think it will probably run to thousands of lives that have been lost,' he told Times Radio. Italy has already had to scrap 200,000 injections because of the AstraZeneca delay, while a survey published this week found that 49 per cent of Italians had their confidence in vaccines shaken by the furore. German immunologist Carsten Watzl warned of more deaths after tens of thousands of appointments were missed - urging people to take AstraZeneca's jab rather than wait for the Pfizer/BioNTech one co-developed in Germany. Angela Merkel is due to meet with leaders of Germany's 16 states on Monday to discuss whether to extend a lockdown that has been in place since mid-December. The long lockdown and vaccine chaos have sapped public confidence in Merkel's party, which took a kicking from voters at two regional elections last Sunday. But plans to ease restrictions may now have to be shelved as cases climb well above the threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 seen as a benchmark for re-opening society. The current rate is 95.6 after Germany added nearly 84,000 new cases in the last week, a sharp jump from 63,000 the week before. Cases reached a peak of 181,000 per week in December, but health experts warn those levels of contagion could return because of the feared British strain. Germany's Robert Koch diseases institute says the UK variant - believed to be more transmissible - is now making up more than half of new confirmed cases. Lars Schaade, vice-president of the RKI, today warned that Germany could be in a similar situation by Easter as it was at Christmas. That would mean 'very high case numbers, many severe cases and deaths, and hospitals that are overwhelmed,' Schaade said. It would scupper the plans drawn up at Merkel's last round of talks to gradually re-open the economy, with some shops already open by appointment only. Schaade urged people not to travel over the Easter holiday period because case numbers were rising exponentially. Merkel's government is also under fire over the vaccine chaos, with Spahn accused of caving in to political pressure by suspending AstraZeneca jabs this week. Germany joined more than a dozen EU countries in pausing AstraZeneca shots over fears of blood clots which have not been proven to result from the jabs. EU regulators gave their definitive ruling on Thursday, saying the shot was safe and effective - prompting Germany to reinstate the AstraZeneca jab. German immunologist Carsten Watzl warned of more deaths after tens of thousands of appointments were missed because of the suspension. The EU's slow progress on vaccinations is putting countries at risk of devastating third waves, with nations including Germany, Italy and France all seeing infection rates climb again this month Germany's health minister Jens Spahn at a press conference in Berlin today where he warned that the EU's biggest economy may have to tighten its restrictions again But progress was slow even before then, with many Germans preferring to wait for the Pfizer/BioNTech product that was co-developed by a German firm. Official figures show Germany has handed out only 10.3million doses so far, compared to 27.6million in the UK which has a smaller population. Around 8.5 per cent of Germany's population has had a first injection, while 3.8 per cent have had their full two doses. While Germany has received more than three million doses of AstraZeneca's product, only around 1.8million of these have been administered so far. Germany initially restricted the product to over-65s - prompting Merkel, 66, to say she could not take it as an example to the population. There has been no word on whether the chancellor will take the jab now that it has been opened up to all age groups. To add to Merkel's woes, her party has been embroiled in a corruption scandal that began with claims of lawmakers making money from mask procurement. Merkel's conservative bloc - which enjoyed a bounce in the polls in the early months of the pandemic - is now polling at just 29 per cent nationally. Ursula von der Leyen has told Britain to hand over doses of AstraZeneca vaccine or else risk seeing jab exports from the continent blocked, despite the fact that most of Europe has halted its use Some German politicians have called for the Russian-made Sputnik V jab, pictured, to be deployed in the EU to speed up Europe's flagging vaccine campaign Meanwhile as doubts continue over Europe's AstraZeneca campaign, calls have been growing in Germany to turn to Russia to get hold of its Sputnik V jabs. The Russian-made shot defied sceptics by proving highly effective in trials and its use in the EU would amount to a major propaganda coup for the Kremlin. Several German state premiers have this week given their backing to Sputnik V, which has not yet been ruled on by EU regulators. They include Bavarian leader Markus Soeder, who is seen as a contender for Merkel's job when she steps down following elections later this year. 'It's important to accelerate approval procedures, especially in the case of Sputnik,' Soeder said after state premiers held talks with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. He added that studies of the Russian vaccine had shown that it was 'highly safe' and 'in some cases better than vaccines which have already been approved'. Other politicians to back the jab include state premiers from the former East Germany where Russian-made vaccines were commonplace. Sputnik V's developers claimed this week to have production deals with companies in Italy, France, Spain and Germany, although the nature of these is not clear. France and Spain they were not aware of any formal contracts, while German pharmaceutical company IDT Biologika said it was 'still in talks' with Russia. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 remote-working trend in the consulting sector emerged long before the coronavirus pandemic. That familiarity with different workplace models has proved crucial in the past year for firms that specialize in professional and business services. While their industry has not escaped the pervasive job losses unleashed by the global public health crisis, their ability to provide auditing, tax services and other consulting has experienced much less disruption than industries that require in-person interaction. Now, a year into the pandemic, those firms are taking on ambitious projects and looking to hire. 2020 created a whole new way of working for our own teams and our clients, Allan Colaco, the Stamford managing partner for KPMG one of the Big Four professional-services firms said in an interview. Weve tried to make the best out of the situation and the hand weve been dealt. A year of change COVID-19s spread in early 2020 sparked a mass migration of office-based jobs to work-from-home setups. But for professional-services firms, the switch did not come as a shock. Their business models had long depended on employees spending much of their time working in other locations, including at clients sites. At EY, we have long encouraged flexible working for our people, said Bud McDonald, Stamford managing partner for EY, another of the Big Four firms. So when the pandemic hit, we had the tools in place to rapidly shift to remote work and continue providing exceptional service for our clients. In the following months, clients needs quickly evolved. Companies were looking to push their ESG (environmental, social and governance) initiatives looking at different business models to increase their focus on sustainability, looking at their supply chains and where they made investments from a social standpoint, Colaco said. We had a lot of positive interactions and projects with clients in those spaces. Officials at Deloitte, another of the Big Four firms, have also seen robust demand despite the economic downturn. This year, our team is focused on helping businesses, government and nonprofit organizations on their recovery journeys, said Heather Ziegler, Deloittes Stamford managing partner. For example, we see opportunity to help organizations become more agile and efficient by leveraging cloud and artificial-intelligence technologies to increase productivity and enhance their digital platforms. We advise clients on managing risk and securing their operations, including but not limited to cyber security and supply chain. And we help them navigate crisis to emerge stronger and more resilient, all while re-imagining the future of work. At the same time, executives said that they have worked to maintain a cohesive and inclusive work culture despite the lack of in-person interaction. Colaco, who was appointed Stamford managing partner in February 2020, last summer held virtual meet-and-greets with all of KPMGs approximately 350 Stamford-based employees. We had to be a little bit more intentional and deliberate about nurturing that culture and supporting our people, with simple things like reaching out and asking them what they needed and how they were doing, Colaco said. Getting through every single (meet-and-greet) was certainly an exhausting process, but it was one that I felt I had to do because I hadnt had that chance to do it in person. More Information The professional and business services sector experienced major job losses in 2020, but it remains one of the largest industries in Connecticut. January 2020: 219,400 professional-services jobs in Connecticut; 1,698,000 total jobs in Connecticut January 2021: 202,900 professional-services jobs in Connecticut (-7.5% year-over-year); 1,570,700 total jobs in Connecticut (-7.5% YOY) Deloitte: ~ 1,400 employees today in Connecticut EY: ~600 employees today in Connecticut KPMG: ~525 employees today in Connecticut Sources: Connecticut Department of Labor, Deloitte, EY and KPMG See More Collapse Major employers in Connecticut Between January 2020 and January 2021, professional and business services lost 16,500 jobs in the state, or 7.5 percent of its total, according to data from the state Department of Labor. The decline mirrored the 7.5 percent decrease in Connecticuts total workforce during the same period, with employment falling in every major industry. The main reason clearly is COVID-19, said David Lewis, founder and CEO of Norwalk-based HR services firm Operations Inc. The shutdown of offices, the movement to remote work, the slowdown in business activity overall all are factors that have impacted the markets. Frankly, I am encouraged by this number as I would have expected it to be far worse. Despite those job losses, professional services still employed about 203,000 statewide in January. The total ranked third-highest among private-sector fields in Connecticut, after education and health services and trade, transportation and utilities. KPMG employs about 525 statewide, compared with approximately 600 for EY and 1,400 for Deloitte. A message left for PwC, the other Big Four company, was not returned. Cementing their commitment to the state, KPMG, Deloitte and PwC each qualified during then-Gov. Dannel P. Malloys administration for multimillion-dollar state subsidies tied to targets for retaining and adding jobs. I do think a number of the incentive programs were effective in helping our professional-services companies stay and grow in Connecticut, said state Rep. Caroline Simmons, D-Stamford, who is co-chairwoman of the state legislatures Commerce Committee. But we must do more to help support these businesses who have suffered job losses amid this recession and do everything we can do to keep them in Stamford. Simmons is challenging Stamford Mayor David Martin for the Democratic nomination for mayor in this years municipal election. Martin was not immediately available to comment. Each of the Big Four firms also maintains offices in Hartford with work connected to the state legislature and state agencies driving demand there. While they have maintained large workforces in the state, the likes of Deloitte, EY and KPMG will not be rushing back to their offices in the coming months. They all plan to make gradual returns, with public health data guiding their decisions. We continue to primarily operate virtually, are monitoring the landscape and are continuing to prepare our offices for transitional return when the time is appropriate, Ziegler said. KPMG will not require any employees to report back to its offices or client sites before July. There will be a new normal when we return, Colaco said. I do expect it to be different than how it was before. In the meantime, the industrys jobs outlook is improving. Deloitte, EY and KPMG said that they are hiring across numerous departments. EY is always looking for exceptional talent at every level across all of our service lines... and at any given time has a number of roles open in our Hartford and Stamford locations, McDonald said. With the current disruptive market forces, companies are focusing even more on digital and transformation initiatives, leading to high demand for EY consulting talent to help companies re-imagine their business. Smaller firms are also growing. Operations Inc. has hired about 15 since last October. Our business is experiencing some of the most significant expansion we have seen in our 20 years of existence, Lewis said. The post-COVID workplace presents a multitude of challenges and adjustments for just about every company, and we are optimally positioned to provide expert thought leadership and guidance for what is now an exponentially growing base of clientele. pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter; @paulschott They loved to decorate the bosss office at the Bureau of Criminal Intelligence (BCI) with stolen property until he would bark get that out of here. The boss was my father, Fred Silvester. Soon Robertson was given a new mission: He was to go deep undercover to infiltrate Australias best armed robbery crew, the men behind the 1976 multimillion-dollar Great Bookie Robbery. It would very nearly cost him his life and now 43 years later his bravery has been recognised with a prestigious Police Valour Award after a group of old colleagues lobbied on his behalf. At BCI in 1978, he was told armed robber Rex James Bicky McAdam had approached a Mayne Nickless employee for inside information on payroll deliveries. The two men had met at Bickys club in Surfers Paradise and the crook was now pressuring the guard to leak information. Robertson was employed at the security firm for about a month before he was introduced to Bicky by the original company contact. Bicky McAdam was the front man but the real power lay with three others Ray Patrick The General Chuck, Dennis William Fatty Smith and Linus Patrick The Pom Driscoll. Linus Patrick Driscoll: supplied the weaponry for the Great Bookie Robbery. Credit:The Australasian Criminal Register 1973 In the Bookie Robbery Chuck had been the mastermind, Driscoll provided the high-powered firearms and Smith was a getaway driver who later laundered the millions taken in the raid. At an early meeting between Brian Wilson and McAdam at a coffee shop near the Victoria Market, McAdam left for a short time. I was sitting having a coffee when I saw Chuck go by and then Fatty Smith go by. I thought well, this is interesting. Bicky came back and said, Theyve had a good look at you and reckon you are all right. Russell Cox: Spent 11 years on the run. Credit:Police mugshot Wilson was in. At the Werribee races he was introduced to Kelvin - another gang member. He was a fit-looking bastard, says Robertson. Indeed he was. He was a vegetarian who ran 15 kilometres every morning. Though police didnt know it then, Kelvin was none other than Russell Cox, who had escaped from Sydneys maximum-security Katingal jail six months earlier. Brian Wilson had upgraded from the VW to a flash Holden Statesman De Ville. From the back seat Cox, a counter-surveillance expert, observed: You drive on your mirrors. Wilson responded: I always do because you dont know who could be following you. Wilson told the gang leaders he would tip them into a $600,000 payroll, at first refusing to identify the target. Having whetted their appetites he told them he was one of the drivers that delivered the Country Roads Boards payroll to their office in Denmark Street, Kew. With the hook set, Wilson said the job had to be pulled on May 4, 1978, because the payroll would swell to $900,000 due to penalties and a backdated pay rise. Wilson was to be paid 10 per cent of the haul with a down payment before the job and the rest, in clean money, the week after the raid. I told them it would be massive, that it was going to be huge, says Robertson. He drove Bicky and Kelvin to the building, which was already rigged with police cameras. I took them out to Denmark Street and told them next time we meet Ill show you the layout. Kelvin said Ive already had a look. Hed put on an old dust coat and walked through [pretending to be staff]. No one noticed him. We used to do the same thing. The day before the expected raid, Wilson met with Kelvin outside the Victoria Market, where they were to rendezvous with Bicky for the down payment of $5000. This was the most dangerous part of the police operation, codenamed Osprey. Its final confidential report is missing from police files but not from mine. Robbo Robertson receives his Police Valor Award from Deputy Commissioner Wendy Steendam for an undercover operation 43 years ago. Credit:Joe Armao This was a critical meeting and an extremely dangerous one for Robertson. In the circumstances that existed it was conceivable that he would be abducted and murdered. He had ceased to be of use to the criminal organisation. In fact, he had become a liability, the report states. Robertson was aware of the risks and invented his own insurance policy: I told him I had notified my solicitor and if I didnt turn up there physically hes going to ring the cops. So you think about the money. Cox seemed impressed. He said: You are a smart one. But at that moment a City West patrol car with three police in it pulled up. Senior Constable Bill Bandy was a good mate of Robertsons and as he approached he realised the cop was undercover. I thought Shit, here we go, Robertson recalls. Bandy asked for identification and I produced mine as Brian Wilson and Cox pulled out his identification, which was a .38 long-barrelled revolver with his finger on the trigger. Graeme Henderson (aka Alan Phillips) with Robbo at the Police Valor Award ceremony on Thursday. Credit:Joe Armao No one knew at the time that Kelvin was the escaped Cox, prepared to kill to remain free. He was going to shoot us all, says Robertson. I have no doubt about that. I said, Dont shoot em, well put them in the rubbish bins. He said good idea. He knew shooting coppers would bring down a world of pain. I took their guns and pulled their radio out and threw them on the roof. Billy [Bandy] was saying Give me a gun and I am whispering, Shut up, hell kill all of us. Then Kelvin/Cox started behaving like a character from a English war novel. He said You are a true Briton then bang, he fired a shot in the air and ran off. Another police car arrived and Robertson ran to them with his hands in the air. I told them to contact Detective Superintendent Fred Silvester at BCI by phone, but they did it over radio. All the crooks had scanners and were listening thats how they were tipped off. The next day the Special Operations Group lay in ambush at Denmark Street. But the gang had cleared out. Bicky went back to Queensland. Fatty Smith moved to Manila to run a vice bar, returning to Melbourne to be busted dealing drugs from his Rolls Royce, and Chuck was shot dead the next year inside the Melbourne Magistrates Court. Driscoll, probably the most feared for removing the toes of rivals with bolt cutters, was deported to Britain and Cox was arrested in 1988 at Doncaster after 11 years on the run planning another armed van robbery. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 WHITE CITY, Ore. -- Southern Oregon college students interested in construction careers can soon take courses that help prepare them for the industry. Rogue Community College is offering a new short-term course that helps prepare students for entry-level jobs. The course will introduce students to basic fundamentals of residential construction. It also includes lessons on job site safety and safe use and care of hand and power tools. Officials say they want to create equitable, inclusive programs that reach all learners. It allows us to meet the needs of all students and all ages. It really supports that lifelong learning and investing in yourself, learn a new skill and try something new. You never know where that's going to lead, said Kim Freeze, Dean of Instruction, Art, Science and Technology. The class is offered through RCC Continuing Education & Workforce Development. Its supported by a $50,000 grant from the RCC Foundation. The class will meet at the Table Rock Campus in White City. You can find more information here. Mexico to tighten borders against COVID-19 as U.S. offers vaccine help People queue to cross into the U.S. at the Paso del Norte border crossing bridge, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico (Photo : REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez) Mexico's government said on Thursday it would apply travel curbs on its southern border with Guatemala to help contain the spread of COVID-19 as officials said the Biden administration planned to loan Mexico vaccines to fight the pandemic. The foreign ministry's announcement that Mexico would restrict movement on its border with Guatemala comes just as the country plans to step up enforcement efforts in the area against illegal immigration, according to a Reuters report. Advertisement President Joe Biden is under increasing pressure to reduce a recent surge in migrants from Central America reaching the U.S. border while Mexico has been pressing the U.S. government for a loan of vaccines to help its drive to tackle COVID-19. A U.S. congressional source said the mutually beneficial news on the vaccines and the border curbs was no coincidence. A Mexican official did not immediately reply to a request for comment on whether the two announcements were linked. Confirming details reported by Reuters, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that Mexico and the United States were crafting a deal for 2.5 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine and that he would reveal more on Friday. "This would be the best start for a broad cooperation on vaccines," Ebrard said on Twitter. A U.S. official told Reuters that under the loan deal, the United States would send Mexico 2.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that it is not using. Canada is also set to receive 1.5 million doses under the arrangement. In a statement, Mexico's foreign ministry said restrictions for non-essential activities on its borders with the United States and Guatemala would take effect starting on Friday, and would remain in place until midnight of April 21. During the past few months, Mexico had announced extensions to restrictions along its border with the United States as part of bilateral efforts to stem the spread of the pandemic. Those monthly communiques did not mention the border with Guatemala, where average COVID-19 cases are now lower than they were in January, though they have been ticking up. Mexico's own infections have fallen sharply in the last few weeks, and the two southern states covering over 85% of the border with Guatemala are two of only three in the country at the lowest COVID-19 alert level, health ministry data show. Mexico has 31 states. Advertisement Boris Johnson today joined the millions of vaccinated Britons after receiving his first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab. The Prime Minister, 56, gave a triumphant thumbs up after having his inoculation at St Thomas' in central London - the same hospital he was admitted when struck down with Covid in April last year. Encouraging others to also get jabbed, he said he 'literally couldn't feel a thing' when his nurse, Lily, injected him in his left arm. By receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine himself, Mr Johnson is sending the strongest possible signal he believes it to be safe following hesitancy from European leaders. Countries including France, Germany and Italy had suspended use of the jab after a handful of recipients - out of millions - experienced blot clotting. Faced with comparably sluggish rollouts and low take-up, their action was widely condemned as a political calculation which has now been reversed after the regulator declared it safe. Italian PM Mario Draghi tonight said he will have the AstraZeneca vaccine. Taking a thinly-veiled swipe at his Continental counterparts, the Prime Minister added: 'Listen to the scientists, listen to what the European Medicines Agency had to say, to what the MHRA [the British regulator] has said. 'The risk is Covid - this is a great thing to do.' Britain has now vaccinated over half of its adult population and the rollout yesterday hit a record pace after 660,276 doses were dished out. Boris Johnson today joined the millions of Britons to be vaccinated after receiving his first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab The Prime Minister, 56, gave a triumphant thumbs up after having his inoculation at St Thomas' in central London - the same hospital he was admitted to when struck down with Covid in April last year PM gets jab almost a year after fighting for life with Covid Boris Johnson's Covid jab tonight comes almost a year after he was severely struck down with the disease. After testing positive on March 27, 2020, the Prime Minister was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital with 'persistent symptoms' on April 5. On April 6, he was moved into intensive care and was unable to carry out his prime ministerial duties, forcing Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputise. Mr Johnson later said 'it could have gone either way' and paid tribute to the medics who saved him. Pinning the blame for his vulnerability on his weight, he subsequently resolved to get fitter and started early morning runs in the grounds of Buckingham Palace as well as cutting back on his penchant for cheese and wine. The Prime Minister has since declared he is 'bursting with antibodies'. Advertisement Taking to Twitter shortly after being jabbed, Mr Johnson said: 'I've just received my first Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine dose. Thank you to all of the incredible scientists, NHS staff and volunteers who helped make this happen. 'Getting the jab is the best thing we can do to get back to the lives we miss so much. Let's get the jab done.' Latest Department of Health data shows 528,260 first doses were administered on Thursday, on top of another 132,016 second shots. Fellow cabinet ministers including Grant Shapps, Therese Coffey and Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi have also been jabbed. The PM's jab will put him among the thousands of Britons expected to receive their vaccine today. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said a 'mammoth team effort' had led to Britain hitting record pace, while health minister Lord Bethell pointed out it meant nearly 1 per cent of the country had been jabbed in a single day. The programme had been steadily gaining pace this week, after 529,119 total doses were given out on Tuesday and 581,855 on Wednesday. Some 26.2million Britons have now received their first dose, the equivalent of half the adult population in Britain, and 2m have received both injections. Despite the promising week, the NHS is gearing up for a significant shortage of vaccine doses next month due to supply issues in India. A shipment of 4million AstraZeneca shots from has been delayed, for reasons that aren't totally clear, with No10 holding secret talks with New Delhi to get the roll-out back on track. It means Britons aged over 40 who were expecting to be called for their appointments next month will need to wait until at least May while ministers prioritise current stock for over-50s and for people due their second doses. Meanwhile, MailOnline today revealed Britain has almost stopped giving out the Pfizer Covid vaccine to new patients so it can save supplies for second doses. The NHS in England appears to now be rationing the jab, which was used to kick off the rollout in December, and only used it for one in 10 new patients in the first week of March. The Prime Minister previously said he is 'bursting with antibodies' after contracting coronavirus in early April last year NHS England figures show 79 per cent of over-55s in the country had at least one dose of the vaccine by March 14, but London is significantly lagging behind in uptake No10's vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi got his first dose of a coronavirus vaccination this morning in Lewisham. He was jabbed by NHS England's director of primary care Dr Nikki Kanani It comes after NHS figures revealed how vaccine uptake rates differed across the country, with only 60 per cent of over-55s in parts of London receiving their first doses compared to almost 90 per cent in parts of Worcestershire. There are 21 areas of the country that have yet to hit more than 70 per cent of this age group, and 17 of them are in London. For comparison, the Isles of Scilly has vaccinated 822 of its 876 over-55s giving it an uptake of 93.8 per cent and Stafford, Mid Suffolk and the Wyre Forest in Worcestershire have all jabbed more than 89 per cent. MINISTERS SCRAMBLE TO DEFUSE STAND-OFF WITH INDIA BY INSISTING IT ISN'T BLOCKING SHIPMENTS Ministers were today scrambling to defuse the standoff with India over 5million missing doses of AstraZenecas Covid vaccine, with No10 holding secret talks with New Delhi to get the roll-out back on track. Matt Hancock yesterday admitted a delayed shipment from the Serum Institute of India was a key factor in shortages that will slow the campaign down next month, meaning millions of over-40s will have to wait until May to get their first dose. But in front of the entire nation last night, Boris Johnson who is due to travel to India in the coming months to secure a lucrative post-Brexit trade deal claimed Narenda Modis government had not stopped any exports. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden today waded into the confusion and repeated the claims of the Prime Minister, saying India was not withholding vaccines and that the SII had some supply issues. Asked if Mr Modis administration was blocking exports, Mr Dowden told LBC: No. India is not withholding vaccines, and I pay tribute to the work of the Serum Institute. They have had some supply issues with 5million doses. It comes as one of the Governments top scientific advisers insisted today that Britains vaccine in shortage in April wont hamper the UKs inoculation drive. Professor Lockdown Neil Ferguson, an Imperial College London epidemiologist whose grim modelling spooked ministers into the first blanket shutdown last March, dismissed fears that the hold-up could threaten plans to ease lockdown. He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme the delay was slightly disappointing but insisted it shouldnt have an enormous effect. And he added that No10 still has enough supply to continue with the programme which has already vaccinated almost 26million Britons. Another Imperial scientist today said it was unrealistic to imagine the first dose roll-out will be as fast. Professor Robin Shattock, who is involved in vaccine research, said the delay was manageable, however. Advertisement Uptake figures are based on the latest population estimates by Public Health England's National Immunisation Management Service (NIMS). Officials insist vaccines are divvied out evenly across the country, suggesting poor uptake is to blame. Health chiefs are concerned about high levels of vaccine hesitancy among black and ethnic minorities, fuelled by anti-vaxx messages on social media. England's vaccine roll-out was widened to over-50s this week but a shortfall in the vaccine supply next month is expected to mean millions of over-40s won't be inoculated until May. Health Secretary Matt Hancock this week revealed supplies would be used to mop up the over-50s who haven't already been jabbed, while ensuring Britons don't miss out on crucial top-ups. Diverting supplies to inner-city neighbourhoods with low uptake rates will stop areas leading the way from moving down the priority list. MailOnline's analysis of the latest vaccine statistics shows most parts of the country are well on their way to achieving the target of offering first doses to all over-50s by April 15. But most of the capital is seriously lagging behind in the roll-out to over-55s, with more than half a million in the age group yet to receive a jab in London. Uptake was worst in Hackney (59.2 per cent), Newham (60.2 per cent), Kensington and Chelsea (61.1 per cent), Southwark (61.3 per cent) and Westminster (61.4 per cent). Nearly 90,000 over-55s still have to come forward for a jab in those boroughs alone. On the other end of the spectrum, 35 areas of the country have vaccinated more than 85 per cent of people in that age group. The Isles of Scilly, Stafford, Mid Suffolk and Wyre Forest had jabbed more than 89 per cent, followed by the Isle of Wight (88.7 per cent), Wyre (88.3 per cent), Babergh (87.9 per cent), Malvern Hills (87.4 per cent) and Harborough (87.2 per cent). East Suffolk has vaccinated 88.5 per cent of its over-55s despite being one of the very few local authorities in the country to have more than 100,000 people in the age group. The data also showed just 64 per cent of carers working in people's homes have taken up the offer of the vaccine. Uptake among the group who work with the most vulnerable people in society is lowest in Barnet in north London (28.5 per cent), Barnsley in south Yorkshire (29.3 per cent) and Bath and North East Somerset (29.3 per cent). Meanwhile, official data suggests Britain has almost stopped giving out the Pfizer Covid vaccine to new patients so it can save supplies for second doses. The NHS appears to now be rationing the jab, which was used to kick off the rollout in December, and only used it for one in 10 new patients in the first week of March. In January, when AstraZeneca's vaccine first got approved, Pfizer's still accounted for three quarters of all first doses but this fell to just nine per cent in the first week of March, when only 200,000 new patients were given it. MailOnline understands deliveries of the Belgian-made jab will be smaller from April because of a planned reduction and there is also a risk the EU will try to rescue its shambolic roll-out and try to block shipments from reaching the UK. Ministers must be careful with the supply they do get because they're already over halfway through supplies planned up to June - and they owe around 10m people a second dose. TOP 10 AREAS FOR VACCINE UPTAKE AMONG OVER-55s Isles of Scilly Stafford Mid Suffolk Wyre Forest Isle of Wight East Suffolk Wyre Babergh Malvern Hills Harborough 93.8 per cent 89.4 per cent 89.2 per cent 89.1 per cent 88.7 per cent 88.5 per cent 88.3 per cent 87.9 per cent 87.4 per cent 87.2 per cent Advertisement BOTTOM 10 AREAS FOR VACCINE UPTAKE AMONG OVER-55s Hackney Newham Kensington and Chelsea Southwark Westminster Lambeth Hammersmith and Fulham Islington Lewisham Tower Hamlets 59.2 per cent 60.2 per cent 61.1 per cent 61.3 per cent 61.4 per cent 62.0 per cent 63.7 per cent 64.7 per cent 64.8 per cent 65.3 per cent Advertisement The Department of Health said everyone will get their second doses within 12 weeks as planned. Both the Department and Pfizer declined to comment on the delivery schedule but insist there is no problem with supplies, amid reports on social media of Britons being told there is a shortage. AstraZeneca's vaccine, which is available in much larger quantities, is now taking over as the country's staple vaccine as medics rattle through the priority lists. But a hiccup in supplies of that because of a blocked shipment of 5million doses from India - combined with a need to reserve Pfizer stocks - means the number of people getting first doses will be 'significantly constrained' in April, the NHS has warned. This means millions of people in their 40s will likely have to wait until at least May to get their first doses. But Whitehall insiders are still hopeful that some will get jabs ahead of schedule, amid claims under-50s would be invited by Easter. Figures in the MHRA's Yellow Card reports, which record people's reactions to the vaccines, show that the proportion of first jabs that are Pfizer's has tumbled. While 78 per cent of all first doses were Pfizer jabs between December 8 and January 24, this split reversed between February 7 and March 7 so that it only accounted for 34 per cent. The vaccine was used for 1.2million first doses between December 8 and January 4 before Oxford's got approval. AstraZeneca's came into use on January 4 but by January 24, Pfizer's still accounted for 78 per cent of all first doses - 5.4m out of a total 6.9m. Come February, when AstraZeneca's was being churned out at a rate of 2million per week, the proportion of new patients who were getting Pfizer's jab started to come down but it remained a mainstay of the rollout. It had accounted for 60 per cent by February 7, when AstraZeneca started to gain ground. Weekly data available from early February shows the proportion of weekly first-dose vaccines that were Pfizer ranged between 30 and 50 per cent in February. But it then plummeted to just nine per cent in the first week of March, when only 200,000 people out of 2.2million were given the Pfizer jab. In that most recent week the number of second doses was about equal to the number of first doses, suggesting a pivot in the way the jab is being used. A Department of Health spokesperson said: 'Vaccines will save thousands of lives and reduce hospitalisations and any vaccine approved by the MHRA is proven to be both safe, and effective. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Danish health authorities say they will hold off for now on resuming use of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19, despite an all-clear from the European medical regulator EMA. "Our decision to put vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca on hold until week 12 (March 22-28) remains in effect," the head of the Danish Health Authority, Soren Brostrom, said in a statement late Thursday. "In the coming days, the Danish Health Authority and the Danish Medicines Agency will assess the impact of EMA's review of the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca on the Danish vaccination programme," he added. Last week, Denmark was the first country to suspend use of the AstraZeneca jab, a decision then followed by more than a dozen other mostly European countries. The Health Authority, which was to hold a press conference later Friday, noted that even though the EMA emphasised the benefits of the vaccine and called it "safe and effective," the Amsterdam-based agency had said it "cannot rule out that there is a link between the few known cases of rare but severe blood clots and vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca." The Scandinavian country is currently investigating 10 cases, including one fatality, where blood clots or blood clot symptoms arose after more than 140,000 people received the jab made by the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker. Sweden, Norway and Iceland have all suspended the use of AstraZeneca's vaccine due to the risk of blood clots. Sweden and Norway have also said they will wait before resuming its use as they investigate further, while Iceland has yet to announce its decision. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Oregon State Police investigators have combed through 180 tips so far in their effort to identify the remains of a young girl found in December in the woods near a rest area in Lincoln County. Detectives have ruled out matches with 61 missing children nationally, agency officials said Thursday. A DNA analysis is still pending and will yield key details about the child, such as eye and hair color, race and ethnicity, as well as whether she had any genetic conditions. She was dressed, but investigators have declined to say what clothing she was wearing. Investigators believe the child was between 6 1/2 and 10 years old and stood between 3-foot-10 and 4-foot-6. She had long black or dark brown hair. The girl was discovered mid-morning on Dec. 10 by a motorist who had stopped at the rest area along the H.B. Van Duzer Forest State Scenic Corridor. Investigators believe she died at least 30 days before her remains were found. The rest area is located along a densely wooded stretch of Oregon 18. The childs remains were along the banks of the Salmon River, about 75 to 100 yards from the rest area parking lot on the eastbound side of the highway. The sketch was released by Oregon State Police and shows what the child might have looked like. The highway is a major thoroughfare from the northern Willamette Valley to the Oregon coast. An estimated 8,000 vehicles pass by the rest stop each day, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. State police ask anyone with information about her identity or the circumstances of her death to call them at 800-442-0776 or *OSP (*677). -- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie ADVERTISEMENT Atlas Mara-backed Union Bank of Nigeria Thursday reported a drop in 2020 profit by N1.203 billion in a year the global economic environment took a battering from the coronavirus pandemic. The audited financials of the lender published by the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday and seen by PREMIUM TIMES showed gross earnings declined 3.75 per cent to N160.292 billion from N166.545 billion a year earlier. A surge in total expenses by 10.5 per cent from N71.017 billion to N78.467 billion hurt earnings. Profit before income tax climbed 4.5 per cent from N24.844 billion to N25.974 billion. But a sharp rise in Union Banks loss from discontinued operations net of tax as well as income tax spend contracted its full year profit. The loss resulted from the tier 2 lender discontinued operations of subsidiaries held for sale in line with the banks divestment plan. Union Bank is about consummating sale of Union Bank UK and is currently awaiting regulatory approval. Profit after tax shrank by 6.1 per cent from N19.875 billion to N18.672 billion. Shareholders fund edged up by 4.7 per cent from N252.342 billion to N264.318 billion. The core of this performance is driven by the growth in our loan book, with 23.8% increase in gross loans, to 736.7bn from 595.3bn in 2019, said CEO Emeka Emuwa The pandemic accelerated trends in customer behaviour and we have seen rapid increase in digital adoption with a 38% YOY increase in active users on our UnionMobile channel with total active users now at 2.9 million. Meanwhile, the banks board of directors is proposing a dividend of N0.25 per share for the 2020 financial year, the same amount it declared for the preceding year. Investors whose names appear on the companys register of members by March 31 will be eligible for the dividend payout, the lender said in a separate note. Union Banks shares were trading at 13:18 West African Time in Lagos on Friday at N5.05 per share, recording no movement. Don't even think about heading to Denton's Legends Diner if you're not planning to wear a mask. The fee is $50 if "we have to explain why a mask is mandatory," Legends Diner owner Wayne LaCombe told Chron. Posted right outside LaCombe's restaurant is a bright pink sign with the rules: "Our new surcharge: $50 if I have to explain why masks are mandatory; $75 if I have to hear why you disagree." LaCombe and his wife, Kat, have asked their customers and employees to continue to wear masks after the Texas mask mandate was lifted on March 10. "Customers laugh at the sign and think it's great," LaCombe told Chron. "I just wanted to get the message out. The sign has served its purpose. We had more trouble before than we do now." DOCTOR'S NAME CLEARED: Texas Medical Board clears Houston-area doctor accused of stealing COVID-19 vaccine Legends Diner co-owner Kat is a retired nurse who worked 28 years in oncology. In a Facebook post, she underscored the real threat of the virus and her desire for customers to stay vigilant. "All we ask is that customers wear a mask as they walk past another person that is eating and not wearing a mask," Kat posted. "Sure doesn't seem like a lot to ask...but apparently it is. I with my husband try to protect and respect the people who come to our restaurant. The sign was a sort of joke....it was aimed at the people who feel the need to try to argue (and of course they're not wearing masks at the time)." The tongue-in-cheek sign has actually brought in brisk business for the restaurant. "We had a record day yesterday. About 500 came into our restaurant," LaCombe told Chron. "I'm getting calls from all over the country. I got a call today from Virginia, saying 'Thank you!' We even got flowers. It's awesome." It's not just Texans supporting Legends Diner's message, but Americans all across the nation have weighed in on their safety-conscious decision. "Thank you for standing up for intelligence and science and the CDC," Jerm Tzu wrote on Facebook. "I LOVE your sign! I wish we lived down there--we'd be regulars for sure!! Thank you for being responsible," Jan Hood added. Yes, even Chicano literary giants need the COVID-19 vaccine, amigos. Sandra Cisneros is back in San Antonio, and she was spotted receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. University Health System shared a photo of Cisneros in her signature embroidered Mexican tunic and market bag. Per the post, the House on Mango Street author and poet "thanked her nurse and autographed her most recent book, Puro Amor, for her." RELATED: S.A. COVID-19 Vaccine Updates: Alamodome reschedules vaccine appointments in April Per Cisneros' website, she's a "dual citizen of the United States and Mexico." She previously lived and wrote in San Antonio and held a writer-in-residence position at Our Lady of the Lake. Jess Elizarraras is the managing editor for MySA.com. Send pitches, memes, story ideas to jess.elizarraras@mysa.com. Follow her at @JessElizarraras. 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. 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. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 19, 2021) - Andean Precious Metals Corp. (TSXV: BKH), formerly, Buckhaven Capital Corp., ("Andean") is pleased to announce that it has completed its previously announced transaction involving a three cornered amalgamation where 1271860 B.C. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Andean, amalgamated with 1254688 B.C. Ltd. (the "Target") a private British Columbia corporation with operating subsidiaries in Bolivia which are engaged in the exploration, exploitation, treatment, refining and commercialization of ore containing silver and gold, which it extracts from its own mining rights and also through purchases from third parties' ore (the "Transaction"). In connection with the completion of the Transaction, the Target completed (i) a non-brokered private placement offering in August, 2020 pursuant to which it issued 19,854,738 subscription receipts raising gross proceeds of $10,000,000 USD; and (ii) a brokered private placement offering in February, 2021 pursuant to which it issued 13,657,000 subscription receipt raising gross proceeds of $13,657,000 CAD, in respect of which Sprott Capital Partners L.P. acted as agent (the "Agent"). The subscription receipts issued in the two offerings are collectively referred to herein as the "Subscription Receipts". The Subscription Receipts issued in both closings converted into common shares of the Target on a one for one basis immediately prior to the completion of the above referenced amalgamation. Immediately prior to the closing of the Transaction, Andean consolidated its issued and outstanding common shares on a 1.5-for-1 basis (each post-consolidation common share, a "Common Share") and changed its name from "Buckhaven Capital Corp." to "Andean Precious Metals Corp." Andean's new CUSIP number will be 03349X101 and its new ISIN will be CA03349X1015. Shareholders of Andean are not required to take any further action with respect to the consolidation or the name change and are not required to exchange their existing share certificates for new certificates bearing Andean's new name. Andean's transfer agent, Computershare Investor Services Inc., will send registered shareholders a new Direct Registration System advice (DRS) representing the number of post-consolidation Common Shares held by such shareholders. Upon completion of the Transaction, the issued and outstanding share capital of Andean consists of 157,006,838 Common Shares with 2,527,826 options outstanding to acquire an additional 2,527,826 Common Shares, 66,667 Agent's warrants, and 7,200,000, restricted share unit grants (which are subject to disinterested shareholder approval). Final acceptance of the qualifying transaction will occur upon the issuance of the Final Exchange Bulletin by the Exchange. Subject to final acceptance by the Exchange, Andean will be classified as a Tier 1 issuer pursuant to Exchange policies. The Common Shares are expected to commence trading on the Exchange under the symbol "APM". Andean will provide a further news release with respect to the commencement of trading on the Exchange. In connection with the Transaction, Andean's board of directors has been reconstituted and is now comprised of the following individuals: Alberto Morales, Robert Buchan, Luis da Silva, and Peter Gundy. In addition, the board has appointed Alberto Morales as Executive Chairman, Luis da Silva as Chief Executive Officer, Simon Griffiths as Chief Operating Officer, Jeff Chan as Chief Financial Officer and Michael Bluestein as Corporate Secretary. Immediately prior to the closing of the Transaction, each Subscription Receipt was automatically converted into one (1) common share of the Target (the "Conversion"). In connection with the above referenced amalgamation, all common shares of the Target were exchanged for Common Shares on a 1:1 basis. Andean issued a total of 154,536,838 Common Shares in connection with the completion of the Transaction. Full details of the Transaction and certain other matters are set out in the filing statement of Andean dated March 15, 2021 (the "Filing Statement"). A copy of the Filing Statement can be found under Andean's SEDAR profile located at www.sedar.com. Early Warning Disclosure as a result of completion of the Transaction Prior to completion of the Transaction, 2176423 Ontario Inc. ("2176423 Ontario"), an Ontario corporation beneficially owned by Mr. Eric Sprott, acquired beneficial ownership and control over 21,854,738 Subscription Receipts. The Subscription Receipts were converted into common shares of the Target and, thereafter, such shares were converted into Common Shares on a 1:1 basis upon completion of the Transaction. Accordingly, 2176423 Ontario now owns 21,854,738 Common Shares representing approximately 13.9% of the outstanding Common Shares on the completion of the Transaction. Mr. Sprott acquired the Common Shares for investment purposes and currently does not have any plan to acquire or dispose of additional securities of Andean. However, 2176423 Ontario may acquire additional securities of Andean, dispose of some or all of the existing or additional securities it holds or will hold, or may continue to hold its current position, depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other relevant factors. 2176423 Ontario's address is 200 Bay Street, Suite 2600, Royal Bank Plaza, South Tower, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2J1 Prior to completion of the Transaction, PMB Partners LP, an Ontario limited partnership ("PMB") with its head office located at 22 Adelaide Street West. Suite 3400, Toronto, ON, M5H 4E3 acquired control over 82,325,000 common shares of the Target, which were converted into Common Shares on a 1:1 basis upon the completion of the Transaction. Accordingly, PMB owns 82,325,000 Common Shares representing approximately 52.43% of the outstanding Common Shares on the completion of the Transaction and PMB acquired the Common Shares for investment purposes and currently does not have any plan to acquire or dispose of additional securities of Andean. However, PMB may acquire additional securities of Andean, dispose of some or all of the existing or additional securities it holds or will hold, or may continue to hold its current position, depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other relevant factors. The foregoing disclosure regarding 2176423 Ontario and PMB is being disseminated pursuant to National Instrument 62-103 The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issuer. Copies of the early warning reports with respect to the foregoing will appear on Andean's SEDAR profile located at www.sedar.com and may also be obtained by contacting Andean's Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Chan at jchan@andeanpm.com or 416 953 4858. For additional information concerning the Transaction and the foregoing matters in connection therewith, please refer to Andean's press releases dated November 3, 2020, February 12, 2021, February 18, 2021, March 16, 2021 respectively and the Filing Statement, all of which are available under Andean's SEDAR profile located at www.sedar.com. Additional Information Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the Filing Statement filed in connection with the Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Andean should be considered highly speculative. All information contained in this press release with respect to Andean and the Target was supplied by the respective parties, for inclusion herein, and each party and its directors and officers have relied on the other party for any information concerning the other party. For further information please contact: Andean Precious Metals Corp.: 777 Hornby Street, Suite 600 Vancouver, BC V6Z 1S4 Luis da Silva, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Chan, Chief Financial Officer Telephone: 416 953 4858 1254688 B.C. Ltd. Fraser Buchan, Director Telephone: 416-473-4099 Notice on Forward-Looking Information Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, Inc. 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. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the polices of the TSX Venture Exchange) has in any way passed upon the merits of the Qualifying Transaction and associated transactions and neither of the foregoing entities has in any way approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release. This press release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of Andean with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Forward-looking statements are often identified by the words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" or similar expressions. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but instead reflect Andean's expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Although Andean believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed thereon, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of Andean. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are the following: changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; changes in applicable laws and regulations both locally and in foreign jurisdictions; compliance with extensive government regulation; the risks and uncertainties associated with foreign markets. These forward-looking statements may be affected by risks and uncertainties in the business of Andean and general market conditions, including COVID-19. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although Andean has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended and such changes could be material. Andean does not intend, and do not assume any obligation, to update the forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the Filing Statement prepared in connection with the Qualifying Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Qualifying Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Andean should be considered highly speculative. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77944 President Joe Biden said on Friday he will speak to Vladimir Putin 'at some point' after the Russian leader offered to hold an online chat with him to discuss rising tensions between the two nations. 'I'm sure we'll talk at some point,' Biden told reporters at the White House before he left for a trip to Atlanta. His comments came after Russia reacted in a fury following harsh comments from the American president in an interview with ABC News. In the interview, Biden didn't hold back, calling Putin a 'killer' and describing his Russian counterpart as without a soul. Biden's words led to a back-and-forth tit tat between American and Russian officials, each snapping at the other and putting the blame on their opponent. President Joe Biden said he will speak to Vladimir Putin 'at some point' after the Russian leader offered to hold an online chat And the White House doubled down on Thursday, saying Biden had no regrets about his strong words. 'No, the president gave a direct answer to a direct question,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded when asked if Biden regrets his comments, which the Russians saw as an insult. In return, the Russian president upped the stakes, offering to hold public talks via an online method - such as Zoom - with Biden and directing his foreign ministry to reach out to the Americans. Psaki responded Biden is 'quite busy.' The White House press secretary pointed out Biden called Putin in January as part of a series of calls he made to world leaders after his election. 'I would say that the president already had a conversation already with President Putin even as there are more world leaders that he has not yet engaged with,' Psaki said. And in a provocative move, Putin appeared on stage Thursday during a concert marking the seventh anniversary of Crimea annexation, despite strong condemnation of the 'occupation' by the Group of Seven. Meanwhile, Putin has been snapping back at Biden since the president made his comments in an interview with ABC News, including wishing his American counterpart 'good health' and recalling the Russian ambassador from the United States. Putin made the sinister quip in an interview on state TV. Western officials have accused Putin ordering the assassination attempt of his most vocal domestic critic, Aleksei Navalny, which Putin has denied. And Putin gave his own strong response to Biden's 'killer' accusation, saying that 'it takes one to know one.' 'We always see in another person our own qualities and think that he is the same as us,' Putin said. In the interview, he criticized Biden for America's past atrocities, including the slaughter of Native Americans and holding black people as slaves, and argued that has led to current racial tensions in the United States. 'Otherwise where would the Black Lives Matter movement come from,' Putin argued. He then offered his own message to the American president. 'I would say to him: I wish you good health,' Putin said. 'I say that without irony and not as a joke.' Psaki declined to comment on Putin's comments to Russian state TV and what they might mean. 'I've been doing this long enough not to try to get in the mind of President Putin,' Psaki, who served as a spokesperson in the State Department during the Obama administration, said. The White House said President Joe Biden has no regrets in calling Vladimir Putin a 'killer' White House press secretary Jen Psaki warned the United States would not 'hold back' in words or actions when it comes to the Kremlin Russian President Vladimir Putin, seen above speaking during the concert marking the seventh anniversary of the reunification of the Crimea with Russia, offered to hold a public call with Biden amid escalating tensions Russia is demanding an apology from the United States for Biden's 'killer' comment. The provocative comments prompted the Kremlin to make the highly unusual move on Wednesday to recall Anatoly Antonov, its ambassador to the US, for urgent consultations over the future of US-Russia ties. Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said it was a 'very bad statement by the U.S. president' that made it clear that 'he doesn't want to normalize relations.' 'He clearly does not want to improve relations with our country, and we will be proceeding based precisely on this,' Peskov told reporters on a conference call on Thursday. 'There hasn't been anything like this in history.' In an ABC News interview, Biden said 'I do' when asked if he believed the Russian president was a killer and promised his counter part in the Kremlin would pay a price for alleged Russian meddling in the 2020 presidential election, something the Kremlin denies. Konstantin Kosachyov, deputy chairman of parliament's upper house, said Biden's comments were unacceptable, would inevitably worsen already bad ties, and ended any hope in Moscow of a change of U.S. policy under a new U.S. administration. He said Moscow's recall of its ambassador was the only reasonable step to take in the circumstances. 'I suspect it will not be the last one if no explanation or apology follows from the American side,' Kosachyov said in a Facebook post. 'This kind of assessment is not allowed from the mouth of a statesman of such a rank. This kind of statement is not acceptable under any circumstances,' he added, calling it a watershed moment in US-Russia ties. Meanwhile Artur Chilingarov, a pro-Kremlin lawmaker in the lower house of parliament, called for a 'tough reaction' from Moscow in comments made to Russia's Ekho Moskvy radio station. The comments come after the White House has spent weeks telegraphing a tougher posture toward Russia under a Biden administration and Moscow has once again bristled at accusations that it serves as a 'malign' influence in global affairs. Fueling the rising tensions is a startling new assessment by U.S. intelligence that lays out Russia's campaign to influence the 2020 elections on the heels of the Treasury Department slapping sanctions on officials as retaliation for the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny with a chemical agent. Among those hit with sanctions was the director of Russia's foreign intelligence service, the FSB. And the comments mark the latest time when the new Biden team has sought to draw a sharp line on Russia distinguishing it from former President Donald Trump who repeatedly praised Putin and even appeared to take Putin's side when he denied allegations of election interference during their infamous summit in Helsinki. Russian President Vladimir Putin wished Joe Biden 'good health' in what was seen as a veiled threat to U.S. president Joe Biden said in a sit-down with ABC News that aired Wednesday morning that Russia would 'pay a price' for interfering in the 2020 U.S. election Konstantin Kosachyov, deputy chairman of parliament's upper house, said Biden's comments were unacceptable in a Facebook post Despite Trump's repeated efforts to forge better ties with Moscow even after its election hacking, his administration tightened sanctions on Russia under laws enacted after his election meant to add pressure to sanctions already in place following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Biden made his comment about the 'price' Putin would pay just after the U.S. Director of National Intelligence released a report that assessed Russian intelligence officials fed disinformation to Donald Trump allies about the Bidens during the 2020 campaigns as part of an election influence effort. It even said proxies for Putin himself pushed 'misleading or 'unsubstantiated' allegations about Biden during the campaign. Some of those attacks were amplified by President Trump, who regularly went after Biden for 'corruption' and brought up Hunter Biden's dealings in Ukraine, and who the intel report assessed Russia preferred in the election. 'Our administration is going to take a different approach in our relationship to Russia than the prior administration,' Psaki said in her briefing on Wednesday, pointing to Biden's comments in the interview with ABC News. Biden not only ripped into Putin but vowed the Russian strongman would 'pay a price' for alleged election interfering Meanwhile Russia made the startling move of recalling its ambassador to the United States. 'The Russian ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonov, has been invited to come to Moscow for consultations conducted with the aim of analyzing what should be done and where to go in the context of ties with the United States,' according to a statement by Russia's foreign ministry. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova blamed the U.S. for bringing bilateral ties to a 'dead end,' adding that 'we are interested in preventing their irreversible degradation, if the Americans are aware of the associated risks.' Russian officials now say they will consult with its Washington envoy on the Kremlin's ties with the U.S. but stressed it wanted to prevent an 'irreversible deterioration' in relations. Even with the high stakes drama between nuclear powers, recalling an ambassador can sometimes be less than meets the eye. In 1988, Russia recalled its ambassadors to the U.S. and Great Britain to protest joint raids against Iraq. But it had little effect. 'Recalling an ambassador for consultations means absolutely nothing,' said former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jack Matlock. 'It's just a gesture.' he said as quoted in a lengthy thesis by Olivia McCaffrey: 'Silent Statecraft: The Revocation of Ambassadors as a Diplomatic Tool.' Recalled: Russia's ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov was returned to Moscow for 'consultations' after Joe Biden called Vladimir Putin a 'killer' The U.S. had already hinted that additional sanctions on Russians are coming before the release of the 15-page declassified version of the report. Asked about Biden's 'killer' comment at the White House Wednesday, Psaki responded: 'I don't have anything more for you to provide analysis on that.' She also defended Biden's posture, saying he 'does not hold back on his concerns about what we see as malign and problematic actions' by Russia. She listed election interference, reported bounties on U.S. troops, and the poisoning of Navalny. On August 20, 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a Novichock nerve agent. Navalny was flying into Moscow when he became extremely ill and was hospitalized in Omsk, Russia after an emergency landing. On August 20, 2020, arch Putin critic Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a Novichock nerve agent The opposition leader was transferred to a hospital in Berlin, Germany two days later - and ended up being hospitalized for more than a month. He was discharged on September 22. Russian prosecutors refused to open a criminal probe into Navalny's poisoning, claiming there was no evidence a crime had been committed. Navalny returned to Russia after fleeing the country following his poisoning. His conviction and sentencing, which followed his claims of evidence showing corruption by Putin, led to nationwide protests. On Wednesday the Commerce Department said it was ratcheting up sanctions on some Russian exports in response to Navalany's poisoning. They related to aviation and space equipment. It tightened sanctions put in place following the 2018 poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer in Great Britain. 'He's not going to hold back on his direct communications,' Psaki said, 'nor is he going to hold back publicly. And we have still found ways to work together on areas where we have mutual interests.' Biden lashed out at the Kremlin in an interview that aired Wednesday morning. 'He will pay a price,' Biden told ABC News host George Stephanopoulos, without offering specifics. 'So you know Vladimir Putin. You think he is a killer?' Stephanopoulos asked Biden. He responded: 'Uh-huh, I do.' A bit earlier, the ABC anchor pointed out: 'You said you know he doesn't have a soul.' 'I did say that to him, yes,' the president affirmed. 'And his response was, 'We understand one another.' I wasn't being a wise guy. I was alone with him in his office. That's how it came about,' he described. 'It was when President Bush said he looked in his [Putin's] eyes and saw his soul. I said, 'I looked in your eyes and I don't think you have a soul.' He looked back and said, 'We understand each other.'' Biden noted: 'We had a long talk, he and I. I know him relatively well and the conversation started off, I said, 'I know you and you know me. If I establish this occurred then be prepared.' When pushed on what the consequences would be, the president said: 'The price he's going to pay, well, you'll see shortly.' Biden said he wouldn't reveal exactly what consequences he would levy, but did indicate it is in America and Russia's 'interest to work together.' 'We had a long talk, he and I. I know him relatively well,' Biden said of his Russian counterpart, adding that he said during the talk: ''I looked in your eyes and I don't think you have a soul.' He looked back and said, 'We understand each other'' RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE IN THE 2020 ELECTION Here are some of the stories the Kremlin pushed: - Corruption allegations against Biden's son Hunter, claiming he had communicated with a Ukrainian official about meeting his father who at the time was vice president. The report released Tuesday details that Derkach and Kilimnich 'helped produce a documentary that aired on a US television network in late January 2020.' Likely referencing conservative outlet One America News, which announced January 2020 a three-part documentary series called 'The Ukraine Hoax: Impeachment, Biden Cash, and Mass Murder with guest host Michael Caputo.' - Moscow engaged in 'information laundering' by launching a massive propaganda campaign where Russia-affiliated news websites created fake reports with the expectation the stories would be spread by more legitimate news outlets. Some were picked-up by large U.S. outlets, causing certain disinformation campaigns to go viral. - Media narratives were also 'heavily amplified' by a slew of fake accounts on Facebook and Twitter some run by bots pushing disinformation. The DNI report indicates the message was pushed by 'Russian state media, trolls, and online proxies, including those directed by Russian intelligence.' The goal from these accounts was to amplify election-related content and stir up conspiracy theories, especially related to the COVID-19 pandemic and media censorship hot topics in the U.S. political sphere. - Hunter's laptop scandal is one of the most notable instances of potential Russian influence in the 2020 elections although it's still unclear what is true and not. The New York Post released a story last year detailing the contents of Hunter Biden's harddrive, which was supposedly left at a laptop repair shop and turned over by the owner to then Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. While the contents of the article are still a topic of debate, 50 former senior intelligence officials signed onto a letter claiming the story 'has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.' Advertisement President Joe Biden's Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines found Russia did not target U.S. election infrastructure in 2020 The case, which the doctors called a COVID to COVID transplant, is significant because about 30 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with the virus. If those people were ruled out as eligible donors, there would be a shortage of available lungs at a time when doctors expect the need for lung donations to increase due to the long-term health complications of some who have recovered. The Chinese military has reportedly banned Tesla cars from entering its housing complexes, citing security concerns over cameras installed on vehicles manufactured by the U.S. auto company. Several sources made the claim to Reuters on Friday, amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing. The directive - which is said to have come from top Chinese military officials - advises Tesla owners to park their cars outside military property. The Wall Street Journal has additionally reported that China's government is restricting the use of Tesla cars by personnel at other state-owned enterprises in sensitive industries and key agencies, including aerospace firms. The Chinese military has reportedly banned Tesla cars from entering its housing complexes, citing security concerns over cameras installed on vehicles manufactured by the U.S. auto company The Wall Street Journal has additionally reported that China's government is restricting the use of Tesla cars by personnel at other state-owned enterprises in sensitive industries and key agencies, including aerospace firms. A Tesla Model S is pictured in Beijing The military's apparent concerns about Tesla underscore a broader issue for automakers as they equip more vehicles with cameras and sensors that capture images of a car's surroundings. Who controls how those images are used and where they are sent and stored is a fast-emerging challenge for the auto industry and regulators around the world. Tesla cars have several external cameras to assist with parking and self-driving and Chief Executive Elon Musk has often spoken about the value of the data Tesla vehicles capture that can be used to develop autonomous driving. Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y also have cameras in the rear view mirror for driver safety that are disabled by default. In 2019, Tesla opened its first overseas factory in Shanghai and sales of their electric vehicles are strong across China. Tesla sold 147,445 cars in China last year, or 30 percent of its total deliveries. The new ban could pose a potential conundrum for Tesla and CEO Elon Musk. 'Even if such [security] concerns are exaggerated, it can create dislocation for the companies directly affected,' business analyst Pavel Molchanov told Reuters. 2019, Tesla opened its first overseas factory in Shanghai (pictured) Molchanov also stated that the latest restrictions on Tesla were a close parallel to the U.S. government's hostility towards Chinese-owned phone company Huawei on concerns that Beijing could have access to U.S. telecoms infrastructure. In May of 2019, Republican Senator Tom Cotton stated: 'Chinese telecom companies like Huawei effectively serve as an intelligence-gathering arm of the Chinese Communist Party'. Last February, the Department of Justice brought criminal charges against Huawei, accusing the Chinese tech giant of being engaged in a 'decades-long' effort to steal trade secrets from a slew of US companies. Tensions between the two world superpowers are rising and, thus, concerns about each other's high-tech companies are only likely to continue Tensions between the two world superpowers are rising and, thus, concerns about each other's high-tech companies are only likely to continue. The Chinese military's restrictions on Tesla surfaced as senior Chinese and U.S. officials held a contentious meeting in Alaska, the first such face-to-face interaction since U.S. President Joe Biden took office. It was not immediately clear whether the Tesla decision was related to heightened U.S.-China tensions. A Chinese state regulator said in February that government officials had met representatives from Tesla over reports from consumers about battery fires, unexpected acceleration and failures in over-the-air software updates. However, Chinas State Council Information Office did not respond to a request for comment about the reported banning of Tesla cars from military bases. Meanwhile, Musk is scheduled to speak online on Saturday at a state-hosted annual global economic gathering in Beijing called the China Development Forum WASHINGTON (AP) Americas top diplomat is heading to Europe next week as the Biden administration moves to restore closer U.S. ties with European and NATO allies after four years of snubs and tension under former President Donald Trump. The State Department announced Friday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Brussels for the administrations first in-person talks with transatlantic leaders. It said Blinken would focus on concerns over Afghanistan, China, Iran and Russia, climate change, cybersecurity, terrorism and energy security. The meetings in Brussels reaffirm the United States commitment to our allies and European partners on our shared agenda, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. Blinkens trip is centered on the annual spring meeting of NATO foreign ministers but will also include talks with top EU and Belgian officials. The Biden administration has placed great emphasis on repairing relations with U.S. allies around the world, including in Europe, where Trump had strained them with a series of demands ranging from increasing defense spending to trade and cooperation on threats posed by Russia and China. The trip to Brussels will be Blinkens second overseas journey since becoming Americas top diplomat. He will return to Washington early Saturday from Japan, South Korea and Alaska. In Anchorage, he and national security adviser Jake Sullivan held contentious talks with top Chinese officials in which they maintained the U.S. is forging a common front with allies against Russia and China. By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 council approved in a 5-4 vote to lay on the table the ordinance officially changing the title. To lay the ordinance on the table is a parliamentary procedure that allows the council to deny a yes-no decision and prevent public discussion on the measure while keeping it from moving forward indefinitely. The measure effectively kills the ordinance without calling a yay or nay vote. San Francisco, March 19 : Elon Musk-run Tesla is once again under the lens in the US for a vehicle crash when the Autopilot mode was in use -- a third crash involving Tesla vehicles in recent weeks. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) swung into action after the driver of a Tesla Model Y smashed into a state trooper's cruiser near Michigan. Michigan police said the driver was using Autopilot, Tesla's advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS), at the time of the crash, The Verge reported on Thursday. "NHTSA is aware of the incident involving a Tesla vehicle near Lansing, Michigan. Consistent with NHTSA's vigilant oversight and robust authority over the safety of all motor vehicles and equipment, including automated technologies, we have launched a Special Crash Investigation team to investigate the crash," a NHTSA spokesperson said in a statement. The other two crashes occurred in Houston and Detroit that are also under the scanner. There have been at least two fatal crashes in which a Tesla owner has smashed into a stopped vehicle, and the electric car-maker "has yet to address it in any meaningful way". The company recently rolled out a beta version of Autopilot called "Full Self Driving", calling its the next step towards secure driving. Last year, US federal agencies opened probe into the circumstances that led to a fatal collision involving Tesla vehicles in March. The agencies, Washington-headquartered National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and NHTSA were investigating a collision between a Tesla Model 3 and a semi-truck in Delray Beach, Florida in which 50-year-old Jeremy Beren Banner was killed. The accident came almost two years after the NTSB said the design limitations of the Autopilot system played a major role in the 2016 crash that killed Tesla driver Joshua Brown in Florida. In 2018, US safety regulators launched investigation into a crash in the city of Utah in the US that occurred when a Tesla Model S plowed into a fire department vehicle while it was on "autopilot" mode in the month of May. NHTSA has begun investigations into 13 Tesla crashes dating back to 2016 in which the agency believes Autopilot was operating. The agency is yet to issue any regulations. South Korea's transport safety agency has also launched a preliminary investigation into causes of a deadly accident involving a Tesla electric vehicle. -- Syndicated from IANS Xi sends message to mark centenary of Bangladeshi founding father's birth, 50th independence anniversary Xinhua) 11:05, March 19, 2021 Chinese President Xi Jinping sends a video message to an event held by Bangladesh in commemoration of the centenary of its founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth, also in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the country's independence on March 17, 2021. On behalf of the Chinese government and Chinese people, Xi extended sincere greetings and best wishes to Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and the Bangladeshi government and people. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday sent a video message to an event held by Bangladesh in commemoration of the centenary of its founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth, also in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the country's independence. On behalf of the Chinese government and Chinese people, Xi extended sincere greetings and best wishes to Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and the Bangladeshi government and people. Stressing that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman founded the People's Republic of Bangladesh 50 years ago, Xi said Rahman, an old friend and a good friend of the Chinese people, visited China twice and developed friendship with Chinese leaders of the older generations. Xi said the two sides should keep in mind contributions made to the bilateral relations by leaders of the older generations and carry forward bilateral friendship. Since its independence, Bangladesh has made remarkable achievements in national construction, Xi said, adding China is glad about that as a friendly neighbour. China and Bangladesh have been friendly neighbouring countries since ancient times, and the friendship spanning over a thousand years was witnessed by the Silk Road, Xi said. Over the last 46 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two sides have always treated each other with mutual respect and on an equal footing, offered mutual support and worked hand in hand, Xi added. As China and Bangladesh are both at a crucial stage of national development, Xi said the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation and the dream of Sonar (golden) Bangla are interconnected, and the pragmatic cooperation between the two countries has delivered tangible benefits to the two peoples. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries have been making joint efforts to overcome the difficulties and rendering mutual help, Xi said. Major projects in Bangladesh Chinese enterprises participated in have made groundbreaking progress, and the treatment of zero tariff for 97 percent of the taxable items imported from Bangladesh into China has officially taken effect, Xi added. Stressing that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Bangladesh ties, Xi expressed the hope to work with Bangladesh to better align the two countries' development strategies and jointly promote the construction of the Belt and Road, so as to take the China-Bangladesh strategic partnership of cooperation to new heights. Prime Minister Dr. Hon. Ralph Gonsalves made it clear, that this countrys government is not legally obligated to pay severance to employees of the airline. Over a million dollars is owed to former employees of LIAT (1974) Ltd., who had been stationed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines up to the time of the airlines closure court appointed administration. However, there is no legal obligation by this countrys government to pay severance to these former employees of the airline. According to Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, as he responded to a question posed by East Kingstown Parliamentary Representative Fitzgerald Bramble during the March 16 sitting of Parliament,information he received from the court appointed Administrator- Cleveland Seaforth, in response to a January 2021 letter from him, there were 39 workers stationed here up to the time of LIATs closure. They were owed retroactive payments amounting to EC$10,910.48; severance payments totaling EC$887,588.73; and holiday pay of EC$245,040.22. The grand total of indebtedness stood at $1,143,539.43. The information received from Seaforth also detailed the names of all former employees of LIAT (1974) Ltd. stationed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who were severed as a consequence of the closure of the airline and its placement in administration. No request was made for information as it related to Vincentians who worked for the airline elsewhere, e.g. pilots who were employed in Antigua. A request was made to provide details for the computation of a possible payment of severance, salaries, holidays with pay and length of service for each of the employees under the specified category. Dr. Gonsalves told the Parliament that he received from Seaforth in February, the draft severance computation for the workers here. The Prime Minister, though, had made it clear in his January letter that, "The government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines as a shareholder of LIAT(1974) Ltd., does not acknowledge that it has a legal obligation to make any severance payment or accord holidays with pay beyond that which, if any, arises from the administration of the company. He alluded to a promise of a compassionate payment to former workers by the Antiguan government, i.e. 50% of what was owed in cash, land or government bonds. But, he maintained that the SVG government did not owe, nor was it obligated to pay any severance, and stressed that he was awaiting the process from the Administration and did not want to preempt anything. Early last year, as Border Patrol agents in Texas escorted an international news crew into what authorities say is the most remote area along the entire southwest border, someone in the group noticed a man sitting in a ravine, hidden behind brush. Pedro Diego-Francisco, a Guatemalan migrant, had been there for three days, with no way to call for help as he suffered through temperatures that fell to 18 degrees at night. A smuggler brought him and other migrants to the desolate piece of land on their way into the United States, but the entire group abandoned Diego-Francisco after he injured his leg. "He was wearing every piece of clothing he possessed to try and keep warm," according to a Border Patrol statement. When agents carried Diego-Francisco to safety, they said he declared, in Spanish, "They have saved my life. God repay them. I thought I was going to die." MORE: GOP lawmakers slam Biden after visit to migrant detention center at border Stories like that are becoming more common as the U.S. braces for what Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said this week would be the highest number of individuals stopped by Border Patrol along the southwest border in 20 years. National attention recently has focused more on the record numbers of unaccompanied children detained along the southwest border, but that's only part of the increasingly grim story, as current and former law enforcement officials described it to ABC News. "These people are desperate," Jeff Self, a recently retired Border Patrol agent, said of migrants seeking to enter the United States. "I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing if I were down in El Salvador or those Central American countries, having to deal with the corruption, the poverty and the violence." PHOTO: The view from inside a helicopter flying along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. The helicopter was carrying Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan and an ABC News crew. (June 2018) (ABC News) As if that reality weren't enough to drive migrants from their homes, two devastating hurricanes ravaged parts of Central America last year, making living conditions "even worse, causing more children and families to flee," Mayorkas said. Story continues That's translating into more than just a surge in apprehensions at the border. The rate of search-and-rescue missions conducted by Border Patrol agents in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California has nearly doubled. In fiscal years 2019 and 2020, the U.S. Border Patrol conducted about 5,000 such rescues each year. In just the past five months, agents have conducted nearly 4,000. Current and former law enforcement officials say the spike underscores how callous smugglers can be but also how that risk is still worth it for so many migrants. "Border Patrol gets painted with a broad brush as being unsympathetic, as if we don't care about why they're running from their country," said Self, who over 13 years served as a senior Border Patrol agent in Washington, Texas and Arizona. "A part of the mission every day is humanity." MORE: Georgia sheriff's department under fire after official says spa shootings suspect had 'really bad day' On Wednesday, agents from the Border Patrol's Las Cruces, New Mexico, station rescued a man "in severe distress" after being "abandoned in the desert by human smugglers," according to a statement from the agency. The man was found in an area so "remote" and "hostile" that a Border Patrol agent had to carry him to a dirt road so an ambulance could take him to a local hospital, where he was admitted in critical condition. "[T]his subject may have perished," El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez said in the statement. "Once again, the [cartels] recklessly placed another human being in harm's way after smuggling and later abandoning him in a remote desert location." Three weeks ago, Border Patrol agents from the station in Van Horn, Texas, rescued a woman who had been "left for dead" for nearly a week in the midst of the winter storm that paralyzed much of the state's electrical grid. She was suffering from hypothermia and "severe frostbite," according to an agency statement. PHOTO: Photo of migrant body bags in Arizona, Aug. 30, 2005. (John Miller/AP) Also last month, a Border Patrol agent from the Santa Teresa, New Mexico, station carried an "unresponsive" woman half a mile, in near-freezing temperatures, to his vehicle so she could be transported to a local hospital. She later tested positive for COVID-19, underscoring yet another threat facing border agents. But many migrants seeking U.S. soil don't get rescued. Last year, even as the COVID-19 pandemic created a significant drop in the number of migrants encountered at the southwest border, there was a significant spike in the number of unidentified bodies found along the border in Arizona, according to a report in the Arizona Daily Star, citing statistics compiled by the group Humane Borders. In all, the remains of 181 migrants were found in Arizona, the most since 2013. MORE: FBI releases new videos of Capitol attack, asks for help identifying suspects The Tucson, Arizona-based newspaper also reported that humanitarian groups and county officials blamed the rising deaths on years of border security policies that pushed migrants toward risker routes. "It's kind of like stopping water: If you block it up in one place, it's going to go somewhere else," then-Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier told the newspaper. "We're seeing the results of that as an increase in deaths." A Customs and Border Protection spokesman said the agency had not compiled death statistics for the broader southwest border last year. But in fiscal year 2019, right before the pandemic struck, Border Patrol agents found more than 300 unidentified migrant bodies along the border, the most since 2016. These statistics are "a somber reminder of human smugglers' cruelty and the hazards migrants face in their dangerous journey to the U.S.," CBP said in a statement last year. Self, the former Border Patrol agent, noted that smugglers often lie to migrants about what awaits them at the U.S.-Mexico border. Smugglers only care about "the bottom dollar," Self said. Migrants are "just like a piece of beef" to them. Beyond child detentions, other surging stats reflect grim reality of border crisis originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 19, 2021) - Pac Roots Cannabis Corp. (CSE: PACR) (OTCQB: PACRF) (FSE: 4XM) ("PacRoots" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that on Thursday March 18, 2021 it has commenced trading in Europe on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "4XM". Pac Roots is also quoted on OTC Markets under the symbol "PACRF" and continues to be listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") under the trading symbol "PACR". In conjunction with our recently acquired OTCQB listing the new Frankfurt listing will allow us to grow our shareholder base throughout Europe and the U.S. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is the world's twelfth largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It is the largest of Germany's seven stock exchanges and it is an international trading centre, which is reflected in the structure of its participants. Of the approximately 200 market participants, roughly 50% are from countries other than Germany. President & CEO of Pac Roots, Patrick Elliott, commented, "With the cannabis industry gaining momentum in Europe, this additional listing will help increase our visibility and open doors to new investors as well as enable exciting business opportunities." ABOUT PAC ROOTS Pac Roots Cannabis Corp. is the future of genetics. By focusing on elite cannabis genetic development, the Company maximizes the quality of its products, by keeping yields and profit margins high. Pac Roots subsidizes costs with several strategic partners; Phenome One, one of the largest live genetic libraries in Canada composed of over 350+ live cultivars as well as their JV partnership with Rock Creek Farms and Speakeasy Cannabis Club which leverages existing infrastructure, equipment and access to land on a 100-acre Hemp Project. This combination has the company positioned to be cash-flow positive within their first year of trading. ON BEHALF OF PAC ROOTS CANNABIS CORP. (signed) "Patrick Elliott" Chief Executive Officer For further information, please contact: Pac Roots Cannabis Corp. Telephone: 604-609-6171 www.pacroots.ca Certain statements included in this press release constitute forward-looking information or statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including those identified by the expressions "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "should" and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Company or its management. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect current expectations regarding future results or events. This press release contains forward looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and various estimates, factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions, including the effects of COVID-19. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that the statements will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. The Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by law. Readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77874 By 2030, 10.8 million Californians will be age 60 or over, explains AARP California State Director Nancy McPherson. That means older adults will make up one quarter of the states population, nearly double the number 10 years ago a growth rate larger than any other age group. The cost of being unprepared for this shift is unaffordable and untenable. The Master Plan for Aging (MPA) outlines five bold goals, as theyre officially designated, along with 23 long-term strategies and more than 100 initiatives meant to launch within two years. (See the box at the end of this page for details.) Each goal is assigned to a lead agency, which will work in partnership with businesses, nonprofits, the federal government, the state legislature and other entities. The MPA Local Playbook offers guidance for getting projects up and running. Members of the public can monitor progress via an online Data Dashboard for Aging that will be updated over time. The Master Plan for Aging promotes an age-friendly California for all, McPherson says. It lays out a broad vision of actions we all must take residents, advocates, the public and private sectors to ensure older adults can remain in their communities as they age, while living, working, playing, and accessing care and services where and how they choose. Its the required blueprint for driving action on the goals and ensuring transparent accountability for the results. In Yerevan, noisy but small meetings of the non-systemic opposition with demands for resignation of Premier Minister Nikol Pashinyan are taking place almost every day. One of the most outraged street groups is the nationalist party of Sasna Tsrer (The Sasun Brave) founded in autumn 2018. The core of the party consists of members of the namesake armed group which took a Police Patrol-Guard Service regiment hostage in Yerevan in July 2016 during protests against then-president Serge Sargsyan. As a result of the groups attack at the PGS, policemen died. Today nationalists call Armenians for a fight for Armenia standing against Russia, Nikol Pashinyan, and the systemic opposition. In an interview to Patrick Lancaster, an American journalist working in Yerevan, members of Sasna Tsrer said that Russia occupied Armenia and didnt help Armenians during the Second Karabakh War. We dont need such help. Its not help, its occupation We want go to Europe, the West, civilization Armenias history is more than three thousand years We are fighting for three thousand years We are against Russian fascism, demonstrators said. Internet users commented Lancasters report: Three thousand years of betrayal, laziness, and malice led Armenia to self-destruction. Three thousand years, and you still havent learnt how to live with other people. I havent seen them in videos from Karabakh last autumn. During the war, Europeans did nothing to help Amid a new wave of retrenchments and course closures across Australias 39 public universities, the main trade union covering university workers is seeking to strengthen its collaboration with the managements that are implementing these cuts. Hundreds more jobs are currently being eliminated, on top of an estimated 90,000 last year. In one of the latest announcements, the Australian National University plans to shut its research in neuroscience, the field in which it won a Nobel prize, cutting another 22 jobs, on top of the 450 already eliminated. University of Melbourne staff and students protesting in 2020 (WSWS Media) At several universities, including Sydneys Macquarie University, academics and professional staff alike are being compelled to compete with each other in spill and fill operations for the remaining positions. This marks a deepening of an unprecedented offensive against educators and students. The devastating impact of the failure of governments worldwide to protect lives and livelihoods from the resurging COVID-19 pandemic is compounding the damage done by years of funding cuts and pro-business restructuring by both Labor and Liberal-National governments. The response of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) is to appeal to the employers to sit down collectively with the union to address the new and different realities via a fresh round of enterprise bargaining agreements. That was the plea issued this month, in the first edition for 2021 of Advocate, the NTEUs online magazine, by union general secretary Matthew McGowan. As two-thirds of university enterprise agreements expire this year, the union will be looking to address this weeping sore in our economy. But we cannot assume an easy path, he wrote. It should be possible for the union and the sector to discuss the future of work and the issues we face, as professional staff and academic staff enter new and different realities. This should be a warning to university staff. A year ago, at the start of the pandemic, the NTEU scurried into backroom talks with the employers, offering wage cuts of up to 15 percent. This was fraudulently dressed up as a job protection framework, even though the union said it would still accept thousands of redundancies. When outraged university workers objected, rejecting the scheme, some university employers pulled out of that national deal, concerned that the NTEU could not enforce it against its members. But the NTEU then proceeded to strike comparable agreements with individual universities, bulldozing them through despite members discontent, paving the way for job losses, sacrifices of pay and conditions, and increased workloads. McGowans Advocate article signalled even closer relations with the managements. He said it was necessary to heal the scars of 2020. The most significant scar was the lack of trust, which was on show in spades during 2020. McGowan wrote: Many current and now former staff suffer deep scars resulting from the way in which the cuts and job losses were handled. And when I say job losses, I mean careers destroyed, people and families left with no income, despair in those losing their livelihood, and those left behind to pick up the pieces. But it was the NTEU, together with the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), the other union covering university staff, that bears the central responsibility for these terrible outcomes. The unions opposed any unified struggle by university workers against the assault. NTEU national president Alison Barnes struck a similar tone in her Advocate column, defending the unions record over the past 12 months. Despite 2020s pervasive gloom, last year also demonstrated the resilience generated by standing together, she claimed. Barnes relayed the estimates of the peak employers body, Universities Australia, that the overall operating revenues of Australian universities fell by $1.8 billion in 2020, and would drop a further $2 billion in 2021. She echoed Universities Australias statement that more than 17,300 jobs were lost in the sector last year, while admitting that figure was unlikely to include all of the casual and fixed-term positions that have gone. The only resilience that the NTEU cares about is its own survival, and its place at the bargaining table with the employers. This year we must focus on building our workplace structures and our delegate networks, Barnes wrote. We need to grow our workplace strength by asking our friends and colleagues to stand with us and join the union. Barnes also supported the managements in pushing staff and students back onto campuses and into crowded classrooms despite the continuing dangers of the pandemic. Campuses are resuming face-to-face teaching and related activities, but may be hampered by periodic restrictions as state governments cope with COVID outbreaks, she wrote. Why anyone would want to join the union, Barnes did not say. Its workplace structures and delegate networks are mechanisms for straitjacketing university workers in the enterprise bargaining system, which bans industry-wide and solidarity strikes, and for sacrificing jobs and conditions to help each employer compete for survival in the tertiary education market. This industrial policing function of the trade unions was institutionalised under the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Accords with the Hawke and Keating Labor governments in the 1980s and 1990s, and reinforced under the Rudd and Gillard Labor governments of 2007 to 2013. Alongside this muzzling of the working class, Labor spearheaded the commercialisation of tertiary education, initiated by the Hawke governments reintroduction of fees for both domestic and international student fees. Next came the Rudd-Gillard 2008 education revolution, which forced universities to fight each other for enrolments, particularly from full-fee paying international students, and then cut tertiary funding by $2.7 billion in 2013. Labors market-driven Education Revolution was backed by the Greens, which kept the Gillard government in office, and endorsed and policed by the NTEU, underlining their own commitments to meeting the strategic, vocational and profit-making demands of the Australian corporate elite. As a result, over the past decade, successive rounds of enterprise agreements have helped transform universities into one of the most casualised industries in the country, with only about a third of employees now in secure, continuing positions. Once again, the NTEU is peddling illusions in Labor and the Greens. It is trying to divert the discontent of university workers back into the deadend of the parliamentary establishment, despite the failure of all its parliamentary lobbying efforts last year for a financial support package for universities. The March Advocate promoted Labor leader Anthony Albaneses vague and empty claims that a future Labor government would address some of the worst aspects of insecure work. It advertised an online seminar on casualisation addressed by Labor and Greens senators, effectively re-endorsing the same parties that delivered the 2008 revolution. Against the unions and their backers, the Committee for Public Education and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality are urging educators and students to create rank-and-file action committees, totally independent of the NTEU and CPSU. These are essential to organise a unified struggle to defend all jobs and basic rights, protect staff and students from unsafe COVID-19 conditions, and link up with workers and youth internationally who are facing similar critical struggles against the impact of the worsening global crisis. California Grocers Association Sues Irvine, Santa Ana Over Hero Pay The cities of Santa Ana and Irvine are being sued over recently approved ordinances to hike the hourly wages of grocery and pharmacy workers during the pandemic. The California Grocers Association (CGA) filed the lawsuit on March 17 at the Orange County Superior Court and seeks to declare the ordinances invalid and unconstitutional by singling out grocers and ignoring other frontline workers. Irvine became the first city in Orange County to approve the hero pay in February, with its ordinance to take effect on March 25. Santa Ana became the countys first city to implement the measure after passing an urgency ordinance that took immediate effect on March 2. In both cities, grocery workersand some pharmacy workerswill receive an extra $4 per hour in hazard pay for 120 days. CGA President Rob Fong said the mandates will hurt both customers and workers. A $4 per hour mandate amounts to a 28 percent average increase in labor costs for grocery stores, Fong said in a March 17 statement. That is too big a cost increase for any grocery retailer to absorb without consequence. Options are few. Either pass the costs to customers, cut employee or store hours, or close. Already five stores in Los Angeles County have closed after extra-pay mandates were enacted. Irvines ordinance requires big box retailers, grocery stores, and pharmaciesincluding Ralphs, Food 4 Less, Target, Walmart, CVS, and Rite-Aidto comply with the mandate. Councilmembers React Irvine councilmember Larry Agran said he does not agree with the CGAs claim that the city is being selective toward certain frontline workers. Nevertheless, he said he was not surprised by the lawsuit. This was always of course a possibility, he told The Epoch Times March 19. They more or less threatened to sue in the run-up to the citys adoption of the ordinance. My belief is that the city does have the legal authority to enact premium pay for those who are at risk on the frontlines in the COVID pandemic. Agran said that hero pay only applies to large corporations that are profiting from the pandemic. Were not talking about corner grocery stores, employing just a few people, he said. Were talking about multibillion-dollar corporations that have these massive stores, and are indeed getting a windfall in terms of revenue and profit during the course of this pandemic. It seems to me those who are on the frontlinesof their own health and even their lives at riskare entitled to mandated premium pay. Santa Ana passed a similar ordinance that took immediate effect on March 2. Santa Ana Councilmember Nelida Mendoza was among the dissenting votes for her citys hero pay measure. I did not want to expose Santa Ana to a potential lawsuit, which is exactly what happened, Mendoza told The Epoch Times via email. This is a state and federal issue, not for local government. Grocery and pharmacy employees are not the only essential workers. Mendoza said she opposed the measure because she wanted to protect our businesses, our essential workers, and the great City of Santa Ana. Many grocers already provided bonuses, PPE, paid leave, and other benefits without being mandated. [The] mandate is detrimental to employers, employees and ultimately the cost is handed down to consumers. The cost to employers increases. Thus, may cause employee layoffs, she said. The CGA, representing more than 300 retailers, has been battling against hero pay mandates since they arose. It claims the mandates violate the National Labor Relations Act and equal-protection clauses. It has filed lawsuits against Long Beach, Montebello, Oakland, San Leandro, West Hollywood, Daly City, and San Jose. Grocery store workers are front-line heroes, and thats why grocers have already undertaken a massive effort to institute measures to make both workers and customers safer in stores, Fong said. Firefighters, police officers, health care workers, as well as transportation, sanitation, and restaurant workers, are essential, yet grocers are the only businesses being targeted for extra pay mandates. These ordinances will not make workers any safer. The CGA said local officials have ignored the losses that grocers have incurred as a result of the pandemic, such as low profit margins and significant operational costs. The grocery outlet Kroger recently announced the closing of two Ralphs locations and one Food 4 Less in Los Angeles as a result of the ordinances. According to Kroger, the mandate will cost an additional $20 million in operating costs over the 120 days after it is set to go into effect, making those stores financially unsustainable. The stores are set to close on May 15. New Delhi: Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will be visiting New Delhi next month and will be the first head of government to visit India amid the COVID pandemic. She is expected to visit India in mid-march, around the 15th. There has been significant outreach from New Delhi to Nordics and from Nordics to India. Last year saw a virtual summit between Denmark's PM and Indian PM Modi, the first such summit of the latter with a Nordic country. India and Denmark have a unique "Green Strategic Partnership" that will see both sides focusing on "green and climate-friendly technologies", said a joint statement released after the September virtual summit. Interestingly, the Indian Prime Minister will be travelling to Denmark later this year for the 2nd India Nordic summit. The last such India- Nordic summit was in 2018 in the Swedish capital Stockholm. Around 200 Danish companies have invested in India in sectors such as shipping, renewable energy, environment, agriculture, food processing, smart urban development. Around 25 Indian companies are present in Denmark in IT, renewable energy and engineering. So far India has held a virtual summit with 3 Nordic countries-- Denmark, Sweden and Finland. During the 3 virtual summits, a number of issues like technology, clean energy, COVID pandemic have been discussed. During the India Sweden virtual summit, Sweden's PM Stefan Lofven said, "India and EU as democratic superpowers" and "we join forces, to build back more inclusive societies, it is more important than ever to reaffirm our shared values and mutual commitment to democracy, rule of law, gender equality, human rights and fundamental rights". Both Denmark and Sweden have joined India's International Solar Alliance (ISA). While during the pandemic, there have been visits--both incoming and outcoming at foreign ministers' level, no head of state or government has visited so far. The last visit to India at the head of state was in February. The then Myanmar President U Win Myint had visited India from February from 26th to 29th during which he had visited Agra and Bodh Gaya. February also the visit of the then US President Donald Trump, during which he visited Ahmedabad and Agra. Live TV A divided Jersey City school board gave its initial approval of a trimmed-down $812 million budget for the 2021-22 school year, but still raises homeowners taxes nearly $1,000 annually. Superintendent Franklin Walkers first budget, presented Monday, was $827.4 million and include $17.9 million in new investments. But the budget provided to the board Wednesday night cut $15 million in investments and reduced the projected property tax increase on the average home from $1,168 to $993 annually. The current 2020-21 budget included a $550 annual tax increase for property owners. Board President Mussab Ali and board members Gerald Lyons, Lorenzo Richardson, Marilyn Roman and Gina Verdibello voted in favor of the budget, while Alexander Hamilton, Noemi Velazquez, Joan Terrell-Paige and Vice President Lekendrick Shaw voted against the spending plan. Board members say aid coming from the federal governments American Rescue Plan can help the district lower the levy in the future. The board has been forced to raise taxes because of the state-mandated reduction of more than $200 million in state aid over seven years. The state cut $3 million in 2018-19, $27 million 2019-20, $55 million in 2020-21 and another $71 million reduction is expected for the 2021-22 school year. There are additional funds that are going to be given to this district, Ali said. Were confident that those funds are coming to this district I personally believe every single thing that was in that budget on Monday, every single thing will be funded. Ali said he and the district do not yet know how much they will receive in coronavirus aid from The American Rescue Act. Jersey City has been allotted $145.8 million. We have to come up with a permanent solution, Hamilton said. I dont know how many times we got to keep saying that. I dont think the tax levy is the only solution. Despite the spike from $189 million to $278 million, the school tax levy is still below the local fair share the states estimate of a districts ability to contribute funding toward its local schools. The Education Law Center, based in Newark, estimates that Jersey City taxpayers should be funding roughly $522 million of the budget. Now the budget will be sent to the county superintendent for approval, and the BOE will then revisit the budget once again. In May, the board will finalize the budget before sending to the state. The school budget adds 216 additional full-time employees, including teacher assistants, teacher aides, instructional specialists transitional specialists and $17.9 million in programs that allow students to get eyeglasses, establish fencing programs and fund smartboard repairs. But in the second budget, Walker cut down a $10 million investment in technology, $2.5 million toward smartboards lowering program investments to $4.6 million. Another $1.6 million was reduced in operation investments that included an emergency repair reserve. Karis Jones & Jessica Taube, leaders with Jersey City Togethers Education Team, said the board should continue to use the local levy to build its budget. We are thankful for the ongoing leadership of Superintendent Walker and Trustees Ali, Verdibello, Richardson, Roman and Lyons who stood up for children and passed Jersey Citys first fully funded schools budget in more than a decade, Jones and Taube said in a statement. As the budget process continues, we encourage the board to use the local levy to build toward a fully funded, sustainable budget this year and for the future. Psaki did not clearly answer access to Border Facilities despite getting hammered by several reporters. The White House claims transparency, but it's the opposite. One of the toughest jobs to do in the White House is to be the press secretary, especially now. With so many questions but no answers for them, the border issues are giving the Biden administration a black eye. Access to Border Facilities not GRANTED The Biden administration is dragging one leg when it comes to transparency. They stress they are committed to it at each press conference held. However, there has been no attempt to provide reporters a time and venue they can go to. The White House has a credibility problem now, reported Epoch Times. Requests to see firsthand the holder centers for immigrant has not been approved. The border policy has been the subject of controversy with Biden, not insight. It pushed the press to force a solo press conference without Psaki sidestepping the issue. Trump's policies are reversed Biden's open border policy has been disastrous for US Border patrol dealing with a surge. Illegals from adults and minors are making the trip because Biden invited them. Reporters see a story in the child migrants and want to see what is happening. The GOP echoes concern over the crisis at the border that affects U.S. security. Despite the question of access to border facilities, they were met by silence. Psaki ignores their inquires that indicate the opposite. During Trump's time, McEnany filled the press in on all policies. Migrants at the US-Mexico Border Wear Shirts Pleading Biden to Allow Entry into the US Psaki answered during a White House press last Wednesday, and they were committed to getting it done. But that was contradictory to what was said about the border crisis earlier. Efforts are getting done by the administration with all essential services to make the press request feasible. They see the facilities, but they are not bothered by the illegals billeted in these facilities-especially the COVID protocols to prevent spreading the disease. Psaki, barraged by questions, like keeping under wraps what the facilities are, repeated that they are not keeping things hidden from the press. Several reporters were denied access to Border Patrol ride-along by their agents. Psaki said she'd come back to the reporter's questions. Later she added that the press could address the Department of Homeland Security about access. Ironically this was odd as the White House defers a decision that Biden can decide on. He was quick to repeal Trump's border and energy policies. It should be easy to decide for him. Recently, illegal migrants were tagged by the cartels and handlers, as the Epoch Times reported. Biden took away policies that kept the U.S. border secure but ruined it with his orders. GOP lawmakers had called him out in the Senate and the House, and even his own Democrats. The border has been in chaos after it was advised not to end Trump-era policies. Still, Psaki defended the disaster at the border that could have been avoided. Access to border facilities should be decided on soon. People want to know what is happening. Ranchers to Biden: 'Do the Right Thing' about Mexico Border Biden Promises Migrants Entry at the Border White House Still Denies Surging Border Crisis @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Younger motorists may find it hard to believe what follows and even my own jaw drops a little when I look back on it. But some of my own generation (I'm 67) may have had similar experiences to a family holiday we took in the car in the mid-1960s, when I was about 12 years old. I'm thinking of the time when no fewer than seven of us crammed into my parents' Fiat 500 (pictured) then, even tinier than today's model with our luggage for a fortnight in the West of Ireland piled on the roof-rack. True, there were a mere six of us in that matchbox-sized car when we set off from London for the 300-mile drive to Anglesey for the ferry to Dublin: my mother at the wheel, my blind father chain-smoking beside her and the four of us siblings, aged eight to 14, sardine-packed into a back seat designed for a maximum of two toddlers. But once in Dublin, we were joined in the car for the 130-mile drive to our rented Nissen hut in Sligo by my father's twentysomething secretary, Thelma, who had travelled separately from London by train. I'm thinking of the time when no fewer than seven of us crammed into my parents' Fiat 500 (pictured) This meant that my youngest sister had to sit on our father's knee in the front, with the ten-year-old on Thelma's in the back, head bent against the roof, and my 14-year-old brother and me squashed in beside them. Crashes With Thelma's suitcase added to the mountain on the roof, the car looked as if it might topple over at the first puff of wind. Naturally, none of us wore a seat belt. Indeed, it wasn't until 1983 that these became compulsory and then only for drivers and front-seat passengers. These days, of course, my mother would have been pulled over and charged with driving a dangerously overloaded vehicle before we managed to travel half a mile. But, back in that heady age before health and safety became a religion, we somehow managed to get all the way to Sligo and back to London, this time via the Rosslare-Fishguard ferry without mishap. That's a round trip of 910 miles. I was reminded of that less-than-luxurious journey when I read the survey of motoring memories commissioned to mark Sunday's start of the 30th series of the BBC's Top Gear (a pale shadow, I fear, of its former incarnation when Jeremy Clarkson and Co were at the wheel). After interviewing 2,000 adults, the researchers ranked the most common car-related experiences of the past 40 years, now being consigned to the history books. Top of the list, cited by 54 per cent of respondents, was: 'Unfurling of maps and arguments between parents over directions.' Others included: 'Using a coat hanger as a radio aerial' (34 per cent); 'Endless tuning to get a radio signal' (34 per cent); and 'Classic in-car games such as I Spy' (also 34 per cent). However, while all these experiences will have been familiar to millions of us, hardly any of my own most vivid memories of our family journeys feature among those most commonly cited. The Fiat Nuova 500 two cylinder 470cc has ample space for four passengers or three along with luggage. (stock image pictured) Indeed, I was surprised that none of the top ten related to breakdowns, crashes, punctures, running out of petrol (a constant hazard in the austerity years of my childhood) or problems starting the engine. That's not to mention the blithe disregard for safety shown by so many of my parents' wartime generation. I suppose it's because I'm so old or perhaps simply because my parents' cars were a long succession of fifth-hand bangers that I recall a childhood in which it was always touch and go whether the car would start. Do you remember the fine art of getting the manual choke exactly right too little and the petrol mixture wasn't rich enough, too much and the engine would flood? Fought Each car my parents owned in turn, from the Hillman Husky to the Maigret-style Citroen Traction Avant and then an ancient battle-tank of a Peugeot estate, required a different technique to get it going. As often as not on a winter morning, we'd have to crank the engine manually with the handle (remember them?) inserted at the bottom of the radiator grille. When this failed, as it often did, we'd all have to pile out and push. While I was still in short trousers, it sometimes fell to me to sit behind the wheel as my mother and siblings pushed the car down the High Street, since I displayed an early gift for jump-starting. As for safety considerations, our parents thought nothing of letting us travel in the boot of the Husky or Peugeot, rolling around at every bend. Indeed, this was a privilege for which we fought like cats. So much more exciting than sitting on a seat. But the best fun of all came in the summer after that trip to Ireland, when we spent our holiday at a country house owned by friends of my parents. Aged 13, I was allowed to drive the family Fiat 500, unsupervised, around the 100-acre park. I found that by setting the hand-throttle and opening the sunroof, I could zoom along, sitting on the roof and steering with my feet. In the spirit of this more cautious age, I suppose I should now pull a solemn face and warn younger readers: 'Don't try this at home!' Oh, and don't get me started on my dear late mother's attitude to the drink-driving laws. Enough to say that almost to the end of her days, she would say as she left after a convivial lunch: 'Don't worry about me. I'm protected by my grey hairs.' She was talking, I'm sorry to say, about the risk that she might be stopped by the police. It never seemed to occur to her that she might harm herself or injure others. Carefree All of which brings me to perhaps the most surprising finding of the survey the fact that as many as 68 per cent of those questioned said they cherished their childhood memories of car journeys. I just wonder whether their memories might be playing tricks with them. Yes, it was a more carefree age for motorists in the days before road humps, speed cameras, annual MoT tests, bus lanes, cycle lanes, red routes and exorbitant charges for parking. And yes, I myself had moments of pure exhilaration in my childhood, as when I sat on the roof of the Fiat 500, tearing through that 100-acre park. But why is it, I wonder, that when we look back at our childhoods, so many of us remember only the good bits while forgetting about those miserable afternoons spent staring through the car window at the rain and the waves, when we finally arrived at the seaside? Have those 68 per cent forgotten the sheer, mind-numbing boredom of being cooped up in a car with siblings for hours on end, playing I Spy or listening to the youngest whining: 'Are we nearly there?' Did they never have to endure furious rows between parents over whose fault it was that we missed our turning, eight miles back or suffer the stench, all the way home, after a sister was copiously car-sick? Were they fortunate enough never to have to get out and push on an icy morning, trudge miles to the nearest garage with a petrol can or wait for hours by the roadside for the AA to turn up, as steam belched from the car's bonnet? True, childhood motoring holidays had their moments. But give me satnav, a reliable audio system, a heater that actually works, a car that never breaks down and an engine that starts, first time, every time, whatever the weather. Where driving is concerned, you can keep the 1960s. Give me 2021. Three men have been charged with insurance fraud violations after an investigation into a two-vehicle accident involving a private school bus, Louisiana State Police. The LSP arrested 44-year-old Michael Simon of New Orleans after an LSP Insurance Fraud/Auto Theft Unit investigation into the falsification of insurance certificates by representatives of Scholar First LLC. Melvin Williams, 42, of Gonzales, and 40-year-old Jeramy Jackson of New Orleans both face charges in connection with the falsification of insurance documents as well. In 2019, the LSPs insurance fraud field office in New Orleans received a complaint that a privatized company called Scholars First LLC, which provided school bus transportation to several charter schools in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge area, was involved in a minor two vehicle crash in Orleans Parish. According to LSP, upon exchanging information on scene between both drivers, a representative from Scholars First LLC presented the school bus insurance card that later proved to be fraudulent. The discovery of the fraudulent insurance card led investigators to inquire into the liability and integrity of Scholars First LLC. During the LSP investigation, request was sent to the schools management organization, requesting Certificates of Liability Insurance. The majority of all of the certificates received from the schools management organization were verified as being fraudulent by the insurance companies listed on the certificate. Detectives determined that Simon along with the two owners of Scholar First LLC, Williams and Jackson, both provided falsified documents to several charter schools. Simon was booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center; arrest warrants are out for Williams and Jackson. The Louisiana State Police Insurance Fraud/Auto Theft Unit is responsible for investigating referrals of suspected fraudulent insurance acts. Source: LSP Topics Louisiana Fraud Abuse Molestation Education K 12 With an aim to rediscover, reconnect and revisit the different narratives connected with India and its culture, Zee Live's one-of-a-kind cultural festival, Arth A Culture Festis all set to begin its highly-anticipated Season 3 finale. After an extremely successfulKolkatachapter, the upcoming fest will feature a host of riveting discussions around topics of national importance while deep diving into the rich Indian heritage and culture on 19th-20th March. The two-day event will be live streamed on the Facebook and YouTube channels of Zee News & Arth-A Culture Fest, enabling the audience to enjoy sessions helmed by eminent personalities right from the comfort of their homes. Audiences can register online on https://www.arthlive.in to be a part of this exhilarating event. The cultural festival, built across multiple themes, will touch upon topics that are of extreme relevance for the entire nation. These riveting knowledge-sharing discussions will shed light on the effects of COVID-19 and its impact on the economy, medical professionals will share their experience on being frontline warriors in these testing times, the new education policy, the culture of Indian families and its relevance during the pandemic, and Farmer protests and Indias agriculture policy explained. Gracing these sessions will be various dignitaries including Honourable Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises- Shri Nitin Gadkari, Honourable Minister of Railways and Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal, Director, AIIMS - Dr. Randeep Guleria and other noted personalities like Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Ashutosh Gowariker, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Sonu Sood,Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sudha Murty who shall share their point of view. Speaking about the festival, Shreyasi Goenka, Founder, Arth - A Culture Fest and Co-Director, Saat Saath Arts Foundation said, After an immensely successful Kolkata edition, we are delighted to present Arth National Edition. With Arth- A Culture Fest, we aim to keep the dialogue between tradition and modernity alive with respect to our culture, arts and literature in a manner that is collectively interesting, informative, and also enriching. Hosting this event on a digital realm allows us to transcend all geographical barriers and have a resounding impact on those who join us. We are looking forward to reaching audiences spread across the world through this edition as we present engaging panel discussions, carefully designed keeping in mind the current scenario in the country. Arth A Culture Fest boasts of a stellar line-up of dignitaries and personalities sharing their thoughts on subjects that the nation has been discussing. Sudhir Chaudhary, Editor-in-Chief & CEO, ZEE News, WION, ZEE Business & ZEE 24 Taas, Being associated with a culture fest of this magnitude and stature is an immensely proud feeling for me. Thanks to the biggest names, across industries supporting us, we have been able to promote India's rich culture and heritage through Arth - A Culture Fest and take it to new heights. Audience can surely expect a host of intriguing and engaging conversations and discussions on prevalent subjects that affect us all." Swaroop Banerjee, Chief Operating Officer & Business Head, ZEE Live added, Arth, through its previous editions, brought forward different narratives of Indian history and culture evolving throughout the years. Successfully carving its way forward, the culture festival once again brings another chapter of the third edition. With a successful Kolkata Chapter of Arth under our belt, we are excited to bring a national edition to our audience with an amazing line-up of sessions and personalities right to the comforts of their homes. Sharing his thoughts, Vikram Sampath, Festival Director, Arth - A Culture Fest, Author and Historian said, "Our lives have transformed significantly since the outbreak of the pandemic. Even as we sorely miss the vibrant and enthusiastic crowds in New Delhi gathering in large numbers at our aesthetically done venue, we have tried to make the best of what the digital platform has to offer. A wide and eclectic range of themes of topical interest have been curated and celebrated artists, speakers and scholars are gracing the ARTH virtual stage this year. Our endeavour to rediscover our roots continues unabated despite these limitations and I am sure that the presence of such eminent names would enthuse our audiences who can partake of this cultural feast from the comfortable confines of their homes in larger numbers than the on-ground event." Third edition of Arth-A Culture Fest, Kolkata Edition witnessed eminent speakers such as Honourable Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, Smriti Irani, Dilip Ghosh, Swapan Dasgupta, Bhaichung Bhutia, Harshavardhan Neotia, Imtiaz Ali, Irshad Kamil, Ila Arun, and many more, discussing topics such as the undying passion for cinema, politics, culture to the never-ending love affair with sports. 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. -- Rich diversity of cutting-edge ECP science represented in Mallinckrodt's 2021 research award -- DUBLIN, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A project that will analyze the immunomodulatory effects of extracorporeal photopheresis therapy (ECP) through innate cells has won Mallinckrodt plc's 2021 Advances in Immunomodulatory ECP research award. This is the fourth year that Mallinckrodt, provider of approved, fully integrated systems for the administration of immunomodulatory therapy via ECP, will present the 50,000 prize during the annual meeting of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplant (EBMT). The winning project, submitted by the RIGHT institute (UMR1098) in collaboration with the University Hospital Besancon, France, seeks to investigate mechanisms of cell death generated through ECP and the direct effects on the innate cells involved in the resolution of inflammation. The team is led by Dr. Etienne Daguindau. Research funded from the inaugural investigator award, which was founded in 2018 to mark the 30th anniversary of Mallinckrodt's pioneering THERAKOS ECP ImmunomodulationTM, was also presented at this year's EBMT. Part of the Company's ongoing commitment to the science of immunomodulation through ECP across therapeutic applications, the initiative was designed to recognize individuals and institutions whose research contributes to the advancement of knowledge in this broad area of medicine. Steven Romano, M.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Mallinckrodt, said: "Entries to this year's investigator award, as ever, covered a broad spectrum of disease settings demonstrating the vast ambition and vision of our research community and the potential, wide-ranging applications of ECP." Entries were invited from clinicians and scientists working on translational or outcomes-based research, as well as collaborative projects. Submissions were assessed on a range of criteria, including scientific merit, originality, and feasibility. Congratulating the winning team, Romano added: "As a pioneer in ECP immunomodulation, Mallinckrodt is proud to support the work of those who continue to investigate this exciting field of medicine. I congratulate Dr. Daguindau and his team and look forward to seeing their results." In 2018, the prize went to a team from the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust Department of Haematology. Led by Dr. Nick Matthews, the study evaluated the effect of ECP on monocytes in the setting of graft versus host disease (GvHD). Dr. Matthews said: "It meant a lot to the team to be selected for the research award. We were very honored, very surprised, and very relieved because we needed the funding to continue our work. "It is such a wide research field, with lots of competition and many pressing research questions, but this award is purely for ECP immunomodulation research, which makes it very special." The 2022 Advancing ECP Immunomodulation Investigator Award will be open for entries in September. For full details on how to enter, go to https://www.therakos.eu/healthcare-professionals/research-opportunities-educational-grants/educational grants ABOUT THERAKOS Mallinckrodt's therapeutic platforms, including the latest generation THERAKOSTM CELLEXTM Photopheresis System, are used by academic medical centres, hospitals, and treatment centres in more than 30 countries and have delivered more than 1 million treatments globally. For more information, please visit www.therakos.eu ABOUT MALLINCKRODT Mallinckrodt is a global business that develops, manufactures, markets and distributes specialty pharmaceutical products and therapies. Areas of focus include autoimmune and rare diseases in specialty areas like neurology, rheumatology, nephrology, pulmonology and ophthalmology; immunotherapy and neonatal respiratory critical care therapies; analgesics and gastrointestinal products. The company's core strengths include the acquisition and management of highly regulated raw materials and specialized chemistry, formulation and manufacturing capabilities. The company's Specialty Brands segment includes branded medicines and its Specialty Generics segment includes specialty generic drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients and external manufacturing. To learn more about Mallinckrodt, visit www.mallinckrodt.com . Mallinckrodt uses its website as a channel of distribution of important company information, such as press releases, investor presentations and other financial information. It also uses its website to expedite public access to time-critical information regarding the company in advance of or in lieu of distributing a press release or a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosing the same information. Therefore, investors should look to the Investor Relations page of the website for important and time-critical information. Visitors to the website can also register to receive automatic e-mail and other notifications alerting them when new information is made available on the Investor Relations page of the website. CONTACTS Investor Relations Daniel J. Speciale Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations Officer 314-654-3638 daniel.speciale@mnk.com Trade Media Inquiries James Tate Managing Director The Henley Group M: +44 7976 794 398 james@henley.co.uk Mallinckrodt, the "M" brand mark and the Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals logo are trademarks of a Mallinckrodt company. Other brands are trademarks of a Mallinckrodt company or their respective owners. 2021 Mallinckrodt. Item code: EU-2100042. Date of preparation: March 2021. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/167103/mallinckrodt_plc_logo.jpg MOSCOW, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) announces the approval of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Republic of the Philippines. The vaccine was registered under the emergency use authorization procedure. Sputnik V is approved for use in 52 countries with total population of over 1.4 billion people. Sputnik V ranks second among coronavirus vaccines globally in terms of the number of approvals issued by government regulators. The vaccine had been approved earlier in Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea, Tunisia, Armenia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Republika Srpska (entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Montenegro, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Gabon, San-Marino, Ghana, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Guyana, Egypt, Honduras, Guatemala, Moldova, Slovakia, Angola, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Sri Lanka, Laos, Iraq, North Macedonia, Kenya, Morocco, Jordan, Namibia and Azerbaijan. Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said: "Philippines was among the first to show interest in the Sputnik vaccine after it was registered in Russia. The vaccine was granted an emergency use authorization in the Philippines today after a thorough review of the data and will become one of the key tools to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country. Philippines is one of the most populated nations of the South East Asia. Diversification of the national vaccine portfolio through registration of Sputnik V provides people of the Philippines with access to one of the best vaccines, which is already saving lives around the world." Sputnik V has a number of key advantages: Efficacy of Sputnik V is 91.6% as confirmed by the data published in the Lancet, one of the world's oldest and most respected medical journals; it is one of only three vaccines in the world with efficacy of over 90%; Sputnik V provides full protection against severe cases of COVID-19. The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years. Sputnik V uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots. The safety, efficacy and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines have been proven by more than 250 clinical studies over two decades. The developers of the Sputnik V vaccine are working collaboratively with AstraZeneca on a joint clinical trial to improve the efficacy of AstraZeneca vaccine. There are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V. The storage temperature of Sputnik V at +2+8 C means it can be stored in a conventional refrigerator without any need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure. The price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world. Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF's management company is based in Moscow. Currently, RDIF has experience of the successful joint implementation of more than 80 projects with foreign partners totaling more than RUB2 tn and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ more than 800,000 people and generate revenues which equate to more than 6% of Russia's GDP. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 18 countries that total more than $40 bn. Further information can be found at www.rdif.ru Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1140939/Russian_Direct_Investment_Fund_Logo.jpg She's one of the biggest names to come from the sixth season of Married At First Sight, which is currently airing in the United Kingdom. But Martha Kalifatidis' time on Channel Nine's social experiment wasn't as euphoric as it seemed when it aired in Australia in 2019, with the reality star now describing her experience on the show as 'traumatic'. Speaking with OK! Online, the 32-year-old explained she felt she could not trust anybody after starring on the dating series. Speaking her truth: Martha Kalifatidis (pictured), 32, has labelled her experience on the sixth season of Married At First Sight as 'traumatic'. Speaking with OK! Online , the 32-year-old explained she felt she could not trust anybody after starring on the dating series 'I think that what the contestants go through is so traumatic and polarising that afterwards they feel they can't trust anyone,' the former bride said. Martha said her appearance on the show, where she met 'husband'-turned-boyfriend Michael Brunelli, had her feeling as if she was unable to speak with family or friends because she 'just couldn't relax'. 'You become distanced from your friends and family because it feels like no one can understand you, since they haven't experienced it themselves, which then isolates you even more, and then it becomes a viscous cycle,' she said. The beauty's comments come after the Kim Kadashian lookalike and her beau Michael happily signed up to appear on the MAFS reunion special earlier this year. Meanwhile, the brunette also revealed in her interview with the publication that she and Michael, 29, were in the early stages of planning a wedding. The pair are considering walking down the aisle again - but this time in a legally binding ceremony. 'I think there may be a wedding on the cards but I guess that's a question you'll have to ask Michael!' she said. Anxiety: Martha said her appearance on the show, where she met 'husband'-turned-boyfriend Michael Brunelli, had her feeling as if she was unable to speak with family or friends because she 'just couldn't relax' Colombo, March 19 : Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will undertake a state visit to Bangladesh from Friday to Saturday, on an invitation by his counterpart Sheikh Hasina, according to an official statement. The PM's office said the visit will coincide with the celebration of the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the Golden Jubilee of the Independence of Bangladesh, reports Xinhua news agency. Local media reported that Sri Lanka's Health Ministry had granted approval to undertake the state visit to Bangladesh within a bio-bubble while adhering to strict Covid-19 preventive measures. During the visit, Rajapaksa will hold high-level bilateral meetings with Hasina, President Mohammad Abdul Hamid, as well as Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and the Governor of the Bangladesh Bank. Administratorii portalului nu poarta raspundere pentru continutul postarilor si materialelor plasate de utilizatorii site-ului. Utilizati informatia din acest articol pe propriul risc. Says Chancellor Robert Jones: 'Our university must be leading the way to help our university and community and state and nation and society resolve the pressing and persistent issues of racism and social injustice.' Bosnias capital is tightening measures against the new coronavirus as authorities struggle to cope with rising infections and a spike in deaths caused by Covid-19. Sarajevo has mourned dozens of victims this month, as daily new cases in Bosnia rose from just a few hundred to more than 1,700 this week. Twenty-one new deaths were reported in the capital on Friday alone. This is a war without weapons, said an elderly resident who identified himself only by his first name, Hajrudin. In the streets, lines of death notices are placed on the main mosque and people cried as they prayed in the old part of the city, thousands of whose residents were killed during a wartime siege in 1992-95. Another Sarajevan, Ekrem, said the situation was a catastrophe. Expand Close View of graves at Sarajevo cemetery Vlakovo, Bosnia (AP Photo) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp View of graves at Sarajevo cemetery Vlakovo, Bosnia (AP Photo) The Balkan nation of 3.3 million has seen the virus surge after relaxing restrictive measures and keeping its ski resorts open through the winter, unlike most areas in Europe. Many parts of Central and Eastern Europe are seeing surges in new infections that experts blame on more transmissible virus variants such as the one first found in Britain. To counter the trend, the Sarajevo cantonal government decided to impose an overnight curfew starting Friday evening, while the citys bustling bars and restaurants will be shut down on Saturday, except for food delivery. Authorities have cited the dramatically worsened epidemiological situation in the city as the reason for the lockdown. Those violating the rules will be punished. We appeal to citizens to help us implement the measures, said Arman Sarkric, from the Sarajevo virus crisis team. In total, Bosnia has reported around 150,000 cases of infections and more than 5,000 deaths among the highest death rates in the region. Experts say this is partly because Bosnias health system remains weak decades after the war. The mounting numbers of patients in recent days has put pressure on Sarajevo hospitals, with the main one the University Clinic warning it is running out of space. The Sarajevo morgue, too, has been overwhelmed. At the Sarajevo General Hospital, doctor Bilal Oglecevac, said his teams work is like a constant war against the virus. Sometimes we win the battles, sometimes, unfortunately we lose, he said. General Secretary Vadra on Thursday took a dig at leaders over the 'ripped jeans' controversy, tweeting pictures of various saffron party leaders in 'khaki' half pants with the caption: "Oh my God!!! Their knees are showing." Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat had stirred a controversy on Tuesday when he said that due to a lack of values, young people, including women, follow strange fashion trends these days by wearing jeans ripped at the knees. leader Alka Lamba also attacked the over the remarks, alleging that many leaders have made similar comments against women in the past, and the country is angry as the latest remarks have come from a Chief Minister. "The strongly condemns this kind of thinking towards women. We demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should ask the Uttarakhand Chief Minister to apologise immediately," she said. Lamba also warned that if Rawat didn't apologise, the will have to replace him as the women of the country will launch an agitation and expose the BJP leaders and their mindset. "The Congress feels that the women of the country have complete freedom to eat, wear or speak whatever they want according to the Constitution. They will not tolerate any such remarks," she said. On Tuesday, Rawat had said, "Showing bare knees by wearing ripped jeans just to look like rich kids is the value given now which is just a race towards westernisation when the western world today are following us. Ripped jeans pave the way for societal breakdown and is a bad example for children." He had also said that youngsters go to the market to buy ripped jeans, and if they do not find one, they cut their jeans using scissors. --IANS miz/arm (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: The first in-person talks between top US and China officials since Joe Bidens inauguration have got off to a fiery start, with Americas top diplomat warning his counterparts that China will create a far more violent world unless it respects global rules. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan made a point of abandoning traditional niceties by inviting TV cameras and reporters back into the meeting room to capture them trading barbs with their Chinese counterparts in Alaska on Friday (AEDT). Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from right, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, right, in talks with Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi, and Chinas State Councilor Wang Yi in Anchorage, Alaska. Credit:AP The meeting was supposed to begin with two-minute statements from each side before the media departed but the opening exchanges extended well beyond that as rival diplomats tried to have the last word. Chinese officials said it was hypocritical of the US to complain about Chinas human rights record and accuse it of cyber espionage, given the history of racism against African Americans. They also accused the US of being a global champion of cyber attacks. 'This Is Jim Crow in New Clothes' In his first speech as a US senator, the Rev Raphael Warnock warned Americans of a rightwing attack on voting rights. Here are his remarks 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 House of Representatives has greenlighted some immigration bills, including farmworkers and "dreamers," who were brought to the U.S. illegally as minors. The legislation was passed with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposing the immigration bills, according to a CNBC report. A bipartisan immigration deal on immigration is on top of the list of U.S. President Joe Biden's administration. It has been complicated due to the recent border crisis. The American Dream and Promise Act passed 228-197 votes, with nine Republicans joining all Democrats voting in favor of the bill, according to a New York Post report. The bill would be advantageous for young migrants and refugees with Temporary Protected Status. The other bill that the House passed was The Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which was okayed with 247-174. Thirty Republicans joined most Democrats and voted in favor of the bill. One Democrat voted in opposition. READ MORE: Biden's Broad Immigration Reform Bill Lands in Congress: Here's What Would Change Debate on The Bill Meanwhile, several Republicans argued that the bills were poorly timed with the current migrant influx at the border. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said that the legislation ignores the current problem and worsens the situation. McCarthy accused Biden of causing a surge in migration with his presidential campaign rhetoric and border policies he is eyeing to implement. "During a press conference this morning, Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi had a sign up that said 'Home is here.' This is the wrong message at the wrong time," he was quoted in a report. They also attacked the Dreamer bill, saying that the southwest border needs to be secured first before taking steps on immigration reforms, according to a Reuters report. Meanwhile, around 1.8 million young immigrants or also called Dreamers, embarked a dangerous journey on their own, with hopes to escape the gang violence in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Many of these young migrants have spent their lives in the United States and have been to U.S. schools. Meanwhile, Democratic Representative Pramila Jaypal said that she came from India to the United States alone at the age of 16. Jaypal said that they should stop criminalizing immigrants. On the other hand, Republican Rep. Chip Roy said that Democrats were doing nothing to address cartels who have hands on their border right now. He added that now, they are pushing a measure that would prove to be a magnet to traffic more children inside the country. The White House supported both the migration bills. However, they encouraged lawmakers to adopt broader reforms. "I urge Congress to come together to find long term solutions to our entire immigration system so we can create a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system, tackle the root causes of migration and legalize the undocumented population in the United States," Biden was quoted in a report. The Dreamers bill would help a separate group of migrants who originated from nations plagued by civil wars and natural disasters. It would also include those who were eligible for temporary protection in the U.S. The Biden administration has also kept former President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. READ NEXT: Biden Administration Eyes Army Base to House Migrant Children WATCH: House Democrats Pass Immigration Bill to Give 'Dreamers' Pathway to Citizenship -from Bloomberg Quicktake: Now NASA's Mars Ingenuity helicopter could finally take to the Martian skies next month after spending its first month strapped to the Perseverance rover while it charges. The US space agency confirmed that the 30 days 'test flight window' for the rotorcraft will begin 'no earlier than the first week of April'. Ingenuity arrived on Mars strapped to the underside of the NASA Perseverance rover on February 18, following a hair raising '7 minutes of terror' journey to the surface. Before it can make the first flight of an aircraft on the Red Planet, Perseverance needs to 'drop it off' in a clear, safe area - likely to happen in the coming weeks. The team behind the 4lb chopper are narrowing down on a launch site, that will become the first 'airfield on another world' when Ingenuity makes its maiden flight. An illustration of NASAs Ingenuity Helicopter on Mars. The space agency confirmed that the 30 days 'test flight window' for the rotorcraft will begin 'no earlier than the first week of April' Perseverance is continuously sharing new images of the Red Planet, included of the rock-strewn landscape that mission command are using to find a take-off location for Ingenuity NASA's Ingenuity helicopter preps for its 'Wright brothers moment' NASA is set to fly where no one has flown before Mars' atmosphere. Named Ingenuity, the craft will fly at an altitude that is similar to 100,000 feet on Earth, allowing it to gather geology data in areas the rover can't reach. NASA is comparing this mission 'to the Wright brothers moment,' as it will be the first time in history an aerial vehicle has flown on another world. It will first spend up to 60 days charging strapped to the Perseverance rover, before being released. If it survives the hard -90C Martian night, NASA will make the first flight attempt within 30 days. 'Since the Wright brothers first took to the skies of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, December 17, 1903, first flights have been important milestones in the life of any vehicle designed for air travel,' NASA said in a statement Advertisement Ingenuity, a technology demonstration experiment, will be the first aircraft to attempt powered, controlled flight on another planet. Before that can happen there are several processes the agency have to go through to prepare for deployment. This includes the correct positioning of Perseverance when it drops Ingenuity on to the Martian soil and the best location for deployment, NASA explained. The exact timing of the first flight will remain fluid as engineers work out details on the timeline for deployments. Perseverance is continuously sharing new images of the Red Planet, included of the rock-strewn landscape that mission command are using to find a take-off location for Ingenuity. The rover will deploy the helicopter and provide environmental monitoring and imaging support once a suitable location has been found. The rover also hosts Ingenuitys base station, enabling communication with mission controllers on Earth. After it detaches from Perseverance NASA will want to ensure it can charge itself from solar panels and survive the brutal average -90C overnight temperatures found on the Red Planet. Within a week of landing NASA mission control in Southern California received the first status report from Ingenuity via the space-based Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The downlink confirmed that the helicopter, and an electrical box on the rover that routes and stores communications with Earth, were both performing as expected. Ingenuity, a technology demonstration experiment, will be the first aircraft to attempt powered, controlled flight on another planet. Artist impression The rover will deploy the helicopter and provide environmental monitoring and imaging support once a suitable location has been found. Artist impression 'There are two big-ticket items we are looking for in the data: the state of charge of Ingenuity's batteries as well as confirmation the base station is operating as designed,' explained Tim Canham, Ingenuity project lead at JPL. The base station works to command heaters to turn off and on and to keep the helicopter's electronics working within an expected range, he added. Once the batteries have been charged by Perseverance and mission control are happy it is working as expected, the little craft will be released. NASA will then work to ensure the helicopter is able to charge its batteries through its onboard solar panels and that it can survive the hard freezing Martian nights. The team behind the 4lb chopper are narrowing down on a launch site, that will become the first 'airfield on another world' when Ingenuity makes its maiden flight PERSEVERANCE ROVER COMES WITH 23 CAMERAS There are 23 cameras mounted to the Perseverance rover including: Nine engineering cameras, seven science cameras and seven for entry, descent and landing. The engineering cameras give detailed information in colour about the terrain the rover has to cross. They measure the ground for safe driving, check out the status of hardware and support sample gathering. There are Hazcams for hazard detection and Navcams for navigation. Science cameras record in more detail and can even capture 3D images. The Mastcam-Z on a 2 metre arm has a zoom feature for focusing on distant objects and can film video. The Supercam fires a laser at mineral targets beyond the reach of the rovers arm to analysed the chemical composition of the rock. Advertisement Before deployment Perseverance will ensure Ingenuity has enough stored energy to maintain heating and other vital functions for its first solo night on Mars, the agency said. It will also make sure the craft can maintain optimal battery health, as this is all essential to the success of the Mars Helicopter, the space agency explained. Initially Perseverance gave Ingenuity a 'one-hour power-up' that boosted the rotorcraft's batteries to about 30% of its total capacity. A few days after that, they were charged again to reach 35%, and since then there have been weekly charging sessions. After Perseverance deploys Ingenuity to the surface, the helicopter will then have a 30-Martian-day (31-Earth-day) experimental flight test window. If Ingenuity succeeds in taking off and hovering during its first flight, over 90% of the project's goals will have been achieved. If the rotorcraft lands successfully and remains operable, up to four more flights could be attempted, each one building on the success of the last. 'We are in uncharted territory, but this team is used to that,' said MiMi Aung, project manager for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at JPL. 'Just about every milestone from here through the end of our flight demonstration program will be a first,' she explained. Adding that 'each has to succeed for us to go on to the next. We'll enjoy this good news for the moment, but then we have to get back to work.' Assuming Ingenuity is succesful, future Mars missions are likely to include an aerial component in the form of a rotorcraft - descendants of Ingenuity. These advanced robotic flying vehicles would offer a unique viewpoint not provided by current orbiters high overhead or by rovers and landers on the ground. Perseverance's primary goal is to look for 'biosignatures' signs of past or present microbial life as well as gathering rock samples which will be picked up by another mission in 2026. However, it is equipped with a host of tools which will perform a variety of tasks They will provide 'high-definition images and reconnaissance for robots or humans, and enable access to terrain that is difficult for rovers to reach,' NASA explained. NASA's $2.2 billion Perseverance rover and accompanying helicopter successfully landed on Mars on February 18 following a 239 million-mile journey. Perseverance touched down at the base of an 820ft-deep (250m) crater called Jezero, a former lake which was home to water 3.5 billion years ago. The Martian surface is littered with craters but what makes Jezero Crater so special is that it has an inflow and outflow channel, which suggests it was filled with water some 3.5 billion years ago. Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 50 History Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 208 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 208 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 50 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school. Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top History Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-history-degree-programs/ 2021 History Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): American Public University System Arizona State University The Baptist College of Florida Berea College Chaminade University, Honolulu Clayton State University Columbia College Drury University Eastern Oregon University Florida International University Fort Hays State University Granite State College Harvard University Holy Apostles College and Seminary King University Liberty University Louisiana Tech University National University Nicholls State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana Northwestern University Oregon State University Ottawa University Regent University Sam Houston State University Slippery Rock University Southern Methodist University Southwestern Adventist University Southwestern Assemblies of God University Sterling College Texas State University University of Arizona University of California, Berkeley University of California, Los Angeles University Of Central Florida University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University Of Illinois, Springfield University of Louisiana, Monroe University Of Maine, Presque Isle University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth University of Memphis University Of North Alabama University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill University Of North Carolina, Wilmington University Of Pennsylvania Valley City State University Washington State University West Texas A&M University Western Kentucky University Westfield 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/. (Natural News) Journalists with the largest and most influential media outlets disseminated an outright and quite significant lie on Tuesday to hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions, on Twitter. While some of them were shamed into acknowledging the falsity of their claim, many refused to, causing it to continue to spread up until this very moment. It is well worth examining how they function because this is how they deceive the public again and again, and it is why public trust in their pronouncements has justifiably plummeted. (Article republished from Greenwald.Substack.com) The lie they told involved claims of Russian involvement in the procurement of Hunter Bidens laptop. In the weeks leading up to the 2020 election, The New York Post obtained that laptop and published a series of articles about the Biden familys business dealings in Ukraine, China and elsewhere. In response, Twitter banned the posting of any links to that reporting and locked The Post out of its Twitter account for close to two weeks, while Facebook, through a long-time Democratic operative, announced that it would algorithmically suppress the reporting. The excuse used by those social media companies for censoring this reporting was the same invoked by media outlets to justify their refusal to report the contents of these documents: namely, that the materials were Russian disinformation. That claim of Russian disinformation was concocted by a group of several dozen former CIA officials and other operatives of the intelligence community devoted to defeating Trump. Immediately after The Post published its first story about Hunter Bidens business dealings in Ukraine that traded on his influence with his father, these career spies and propagandists, led by Obama CIA Director and serial liar John Brennan, published a letter asserting that the appearance of these Biden documents has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation. News outlets uncritically hyped this claim as fact even though these security state operatives themselves admitted: We want to emphasize that we do not know if the emailsare genuine or not and that we do not have evidence of Russian involvement just that our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case. Even though this claim came from trained liars who, with uncharacteristic candor, acknowledged that they did not have evidence for their claim, media outlets uncritically ratified this assertion. This was a topic I discussed extensively in October when I announced my resignation from The Intercept after senior editors for the first time in seven years violated the contractual prohibition on editorial interference in my journalism by demanding I significantly alter my reporting about these documents by removing the sections that reflected negatively on Biden. What I found particularly galling about their pretense that they have such high-level and rigorous editorial standards standards they claimed, for the first time ever, that my article failed to meet was that a mere week prior to their censorship of my article, they published an article by a different journalist which, at a media outlet we created with the explicit purpose of treating government claims with skepticism, instead treated the CIAs claims of Russian disinformation as fact. Even worse, when they quoted the CIAs letter, they omitted the part where even those intelligence agents acknowledged that they had no evidence for their assertion. From The Intercept on October 21: Their latest falsehood once again involves Biden, Ukraine, and a laptop mysteriously discovered in a computer repair shop and passed to the New York Post, thanks to Trump crony Rudy Giuliani.. The U.S. intelligence community had previously warned the White House that Giuliani has been the target of a Russian intelligence operation to disseminate disinformation about Biden, and the FBI has been investigating whether the strange story about the Biden laptop is part of a Russian disinformation campaign. This week, a group of former intelligence officials issued a letter saying that the Giuliani laptop story has the classic trademarks of Russian disinformation. Oh my, marvel at those extremely rigorous editorial standards: regurgitating serious accusations from ex-CIA operatives without bothering to note that they were unaccompanied by evidence and that even those agents admitted they had none. But, as they usually do these days, The Intercept had plenty of company in the corporate media. That those materials were Russian disinformation became so reflexively accepted by the U.S. media that it became the principal excuse to ignore and even censor the reporting, and it also helpfully handed the Biden campaign an easy excuse to avoid answering any questions about what the documents revealed. I think we need to be very, very clear that what hes doing here is amplifying Russian misinformation, said Biden Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield when asked about the prospect that Trump would raise the Biden emails at the debate. From the CIAs lips to the mouths of corporate journalists into the hands of the Biden campaign. As the U.S. media disseminated this disinformation tale, nobody including the Bidens has ever claimed let alone demonstrated that a single document was anything other than genuine something that would be exceedingly easy to do if the documents were fraudulent. The Biden team has rejected some of the claims made in the NY Post articles, but has not disputed the authenticity of the [laptop] files upon which they were based, acknowledged The New York Times. Ample evidence corroborates that the documents are genuine. As for the claims of Russian involvement in the laptop story, there was never any evidence for it: none. The CIA operatives who invented that storyline acknowledged that. The week that tale emerged, The New York Times reported that no concrete evidence has emerged that the laptop contains Russian disinformation and the paper said even the FBI has acknowledged that it had not found any Russian disinformation on the laptop. The Washington Post published an op-ed by Russia fanatic Thomas Rid who candidly pronounced: We must treat the Hunter Biden leaks as if they were a foreign intelligence operation even if they probably arent. And the only time the U.S. Government has ever spoken on this question was when the Director of National Intelligence stated: Hunter Bidens laptop is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign. These documents raised important questions about the presidential frontrunners knowledge of or participation in his family members attempt to profit off of their association with him, questions implicating his integrity, ethics and honesty. Yet those documents were suppressed by a gigantic fraud, perpetrated by the CIA and their media allies, which claimed that the documents were forged and that they came from Russia. That is the critical context for the lie spread yesterday by numerous mainstream journalists. On Tuesday morning, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declassified a short 12-page report entitled Foreign Threats to the U.S. 2020 Elections. It reviewed the actions of numerous countries with regard to the 2020 election. The intelligence community claimed without presenting any evidence whatsoever that Russian President Putin authorizedinfluence operations aimed at denigrating President Bidens candidacy and the Democratic Party, supporting former President Trump, undermining public confidence in the electoral process, and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the U.S. The New York Times largely credulous article about this report contained this admission, one you would think (or, rather, hope) would matter to journalists: The declassified report did not explain how the intelligence community had reached its conclusions about Russian operations during the 2020 election. Despite that glaring omission, media outlets predictably treated the evidence-free assertions from the security state as fact. Vladimir Putin did it again, trumpeted Mother Jones David Corn without an iota of skepticism. CNNs Marshall Cohen actually said this: The report confirms what was largely assumed, and barely hidden, last year: Trump and his allies publicly embraced Russia's disinformation campaign against Biden, met with Kremlin-tied figures who were part of the effort, and promoted their conspiracies https://t.co/Wjhss5U6Nk Marshall Cohen (@MarshallCohen) March 16, 2021 Think about that: to a CNN reporter, evidence-free assertions from the U.S. security state are tantamount to confirmation. That they really do think this way is nothing short of chilling. But that is the standard liberal media posture of harboring reverence for the U.S. intelligence community and treating its every utterance as Truth without the need for any corroborating evidence. It is one of their defining attributes. But in this case, many of them went far beyond mere regurgitation of CIA claims. Well beyond it: here, they fabricated a claim that report also demonstrated that the Hunter Biden laptop materials were as they claimed before the election engineered by Russia. In reality, the report did not even mention the Hunter Biden laptop materials or allude to it, let alone claim that it was produced by the Kremlin, let alone supply evidence that it constituted Russian disinformation. But no matter: numerous journalists united to spread the false claim far and wide that the report confirmed this storyline. The first journalist to publish the falsehood was Patrick Tucker, an editor at the journal Defense One. The tweet quickly went viral as liberals clicked retweet and like so fast that at least several of them likely suffered digital cartilage damage or at least a mild sprain: The claim that this report corroborated Russian involvement in the Hunter laptop story picked up significant steam when MSNBC host Chris Hayes endorsed it to his 2.3 million followers: From there, the claim was further spread by Hayes NBC News colleague Ben Collins, who ironically works in what the network calls the disinformation unit, combatting the spread of disinformation (by which Collins means tattling on 4Chan teenagers and Facebook boomers, while never challenging the lies of real power centers such as those from the intelligence community; those lies are ones he amplifies): With this MSNBC host and the NBC disinformation agent on board, it was off to the races. Journalists from across the corporate media sphere spread this lie over and over. Here was CNNs Asha Rangappa: Perhaps the most embarrassing example was from S.V. Date, the White House correspondent of HuffPost which, just last week, had dozens of its reporters laid off perhaps because, while they have numerous talented reporters, this is the sort of thing they routinely do, causing them to lose trust among the public. Date did not just repeat the lie but used it to mock those who actually did the reporting on these documents (note that the section he underlined in red says nothing about the Hunter Biden documents, nor does it say anything about Russia other than it amplified various news stories): Hey, New York Post and everyone else who got suckered into the ridiculous Hunter Biden Laptop story. Take a bow. pic.twitter.com/H8mHZs1ij6 S.V. Date (@svdate) March 16, 2021 As this false claim went massively viral, conservative journalists and only they began vocally objecting that the report made no mention whatsoever of the Hunter Biden laptop, let alone supplied proof for this claim. That is because, with a few noble exceptions (such as The Washington Posts media critic Erik Wemple), liberal journalists at corporate outlets will eagerly endorse but never denounce or correct each others falsehoods. For that reason, if you confine yourself to the liberal corporate media bubble, and refuse to follow conservative journalists as well, you will be propagandized and deceived. Hayes, to his credit, was one of the only journalists who helped spread this falsehood and then quickly retracted it. He first acknowledged that, upon reading the report, it did not appear that it actually made any reference to the Hunter laptop, and then announced he would delete his original tweet, conceding that the original claim was false. Note how the original false claims go mega-viral, while the tweets which subsequently acknowledge their falsity are seen by very few people: With one of his earliest boosters having jumped ship, Tucker himself, the originator of this lie, first began backtracking while vowing he would never delete the tweet, only to then relent and delete it, acknowledging its falsity. Again compare the meager audience that learns of the backtracking and acknowledgment of falsity compared to the huge number exposed to the original false claim: In his first appearance at a parliamentary committee hearing since standing down, while an investigation is carried out on his relocation expenses, James Shipton appeared in control. The last committee meeting was October and Shipton didnt look like he would survive the year. But on Friday he said he would stick around until a new leader was found, which could take months. Until then, ASIC is in a transition phase. Outgoing ASIC chair James Shipton Credit:Eamon Gallagher Not surprisingly, the commissioners wanted to make it clear it was focused on a number of investigations including Greensill Capital, which it began in November. Deputy chair, Karen Chester, who reconfirmed she had tipped her hat in the ring for the top job, said ASIC was looking at a number of areas related to the collapsed supply chain financier, including working with the prudential regulator, which she said was looking at Greensills relationship with three insurers. ROME, MAR 19 - Italy is set to resume vaccinating people with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab on Friday after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) pronounced it safe and effective after a review Thursday, saying there was no causal link with blood clots. "The Italian government welcomes EMA's pronouncement on the AstraZeneca vaccine," Premier Mario Draghi said.. "The government's priority remains that of achieving the highest number of vaccinations in the shortest time possible". The health ministry said vaccinations with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab would resume at 15:00 Friday. (ANSA). No sooner has Joe Biden finished offending the Russians by labelling Vladimir Putin a killer than his secretary of state, Antony Blinken, offends the Chinese. At a ceremonial opening session at the Sino-American summit in Anchorage, Alaska, Mr Blinken subjected the Chinese delegation to a devastating barrage. Accusations of human rights abuses and other serious complaints rained down on the unsuspecting diplomats. Mr Blinken, oblivious to Chinese pride, informed his interlocutors: We will ... discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyberattacks on the United States, and economic coercion of our allies. Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 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! Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam Peoples Army, Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Phuong Nam, led a delegation of the Ministry of National Defence to attend the 18th ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces Meeting (ACDFM-18). Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam Peoples Army, Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Phuong Nam (R) attends the 18th ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces Meeting (Photo: VNA) The meeting was held via videoconference on March 18 under the chair of Brunei Delegates exchanged opinions on the regional and international situation, especially traditional and non-traditional security challenges directly affecting ASEAN, assessed the outcomes of cooperation, and set forth orientations to boost substantial and effective cooperation between the armies of ASEAN countries. Nam affirmed that, in 2021, Vietnam will maintain its support for and close cooperation with Brunei and other ASEAN member states to move on with results from 2020 and realise the goals set out for the ASEAN Year 2021. The theme We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper, chosen by Brunei for its ASEAN Chairmanship 2021, reflects the shared aspiration of the ASEAN Community to heighten collective efforts to increase local living conditions. Amid the complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, security challenges have remained unstable, including sea-related security issues, he said, adding that Vietnam pledges to responsibly participate in cooperative activities between the armies of ASEAN countries, especially as co-chair of the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM ) Experts Working Group on UN Peacekeeping Missions during 2021-2024, with Japan, and as chair of the ASEAN Peacekeeping Centres Networks meeting. He backed and appreciated ACDFM-18s joint statement stressing ASEAN countries commitment to maintaining peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of aviation and navigation in the East Sea, building trust, fully and effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and soon completing a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), in conformity with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Vietnamese officer expressed his belief that this meeting will put forward new initiatives to increase the quality of cooperation between the armies of ASEAN states, thus contributing to peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and the world. Concluding the meeting, Brunei handed over the ACDFM Chairmanship to Cambodia which will work as Chair of ASEAN in 2022./. VNA 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. CLEVELAND -- Arcades and salad bars. Shuttle services and fitness centers. Barbers and baristas. Before the pandemic, companies had transformed their offices Into amenity-filled destinations. But at the pandemics height over the summer, 40% of the U.S. labor force was working from home full-time, according to a Stanford study. And as America marks the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, theres significant uncertainty over how, when and if workers will come back to the office. Just 12% of employers expect all employees will return to the office post-pandemic, according to a new future-of-the-office survey by Vocon, a national architecture, design and workplace strategy firm, with headquarters in Cleveland. Altogether,103 corporate leaders, who employ nearly 1 million workers at 72 companies nationwide, took the recent survey. The biggest takeaway: Flexible work policies like remote employment will endure. In fact, nearly 70% of employers are retaining flexible work policies post-pandemic to attract and retain talent, and 51% are doing so because employees are demanding it. A full 66% of employers are implementing a hybrid model with on-site office and remote work, while 44% anticipate employees will mostly work in the office in addition to spending several days at home. Megan Spinos is a principal and strategy director at Vocon, a national design firm with headquarters in Cleveland. Remote work will continue, partly because its worked remarkably well. Eighty percent of Vocons survey respondents report their teams performance has stayed consistent or improved during the pandemic, while only 20% saw a performance decrease. Of course, remote work also has its drawbacks. Employers are citing a long list of challenges with remote work, including professional development (mentioned by 58% of corporate leaders), onboarding new employees (51%), keeping employees connected to corporate culture (62%) and burnout (43%). Remote work also limits serendipitous encounters and prevents incidental learning and collaboration among workers. And it can inhibit communication while contributing to isolation. Clearly, workplace designs must evolve to support both corporate culture and the enrichment of employees as individuals and team members balancing the social effects of flexible work schedules. A successful hybrid model is not simply a matter of physical changes. It requires that leaders recognize results matter, not just where, how and when a remote worker does a task. To maintain a strong work culture and encourage co-worker relationships requires an intentional effort to train leaders to manage remote teams, and for employees to work productively within a hybrid labor ecosystem. As for how offices are evolving, companies are already adapting spaces to improve safety and accommodate a post-pandemic reality. Thirty-three percent of the firms Vocon polled are implementing room reservation systems; 28% are using hoteling or hot desk models in which workers store goods on-site and reserve open, unassigned desks; 22% are adding health-screening kiosks, apps or other safety devices like thermal imaging: 21% are installing touch-free access controls and 18% are placing occupancy and capacity sensors in their buildings. Before a year of remote work, many viewed showering, donning work clothes and commuting to the office as a bother and even an unnecessary sacrifice. Now, there is increasing recognition that gathering together at a workplace helps make employees who (and companies what) they are, even as America continues to decide what future offices will be. Megan Spinos is a principal and strategy director at Vocon, a national design firm focused on creating people-driven work environments, with headquarters in Cleveland and offices in New York and Los Angeles. Have something to say about this topic? * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan welcomes the final joint statement of extensive "Troika" peace talks in Moscow, calling it a step forward towards serious negotiations to achieve a lasting peace commensurate with the will of the Afghan people. We welcome the statement's emphasis on the UN Security Council Resolution 2513 and consider its implementation important for holding the Taliban responsible and accountable for fulfilling their obligations, including ending violence and targeted killings and severing ties with terrorist organizations. As noted by the statement, Afghanistan's territory must not be used by individuals or terrorist groups to threaten the security of other countries. The Afghan Government has always emphasized a peaceful settlement that can lead to a just and lasting peace, and on a free, independent, united, peaceful, democratic, and self-sufficient Afghanistan that is at peace with itself and its neighbors. We are delighted that this aspiration of the Afghan Government and people has also been reflected in the Moscow statement. We also support the statement's emphasis on a political solution that protects our citizen rights and affirm that the preservation of political, economic, and cultural achievements, including the human rights of citizens and democratic institutions, is the most important prerequisite for achieving a just and lasting peace in the country. The Afghan Government welcomes the statement's candidness stating that: "we do not support the restoration of the Islamic Emirate ..." and stresses upon the principle that the "Islamic Republic" is the only inclusive and acceptable structure for ensuring political participation, pluralism, citizen equality and preserving law and order in a diverse and pluralistic society like Afghanistan. While supporting the Moscow meeting's final statement, we reaffirm that the Government of the IRoA is committed to engaging in substantive and serious negotiations on key issues, including establishing a ceasefire and achieving a comprehensive political settlement that ends the war and brings about sustainable peace in the country. We support and commend the efforts of all countries in the region and the world to ensure peace in Afghanistan and acknowledge the significance of the United Nations role in strengthening the peace process. We also wish to thank Qatar, Russia, and Turkey for hosting the talks. Pelosi: Biden Administration Getting Border Situation Under Control President Joe Bidens administration is getting a handle on the border crisis, a top Democrat said Friday. I think that the administration is pulling this thing under control. And I think its important to know that, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters during a briefing in Washington. The difference between the attitude toward the people and the children is so different in just these two months, versus what happened in the past four years, she added, describing the administrations approach as values-based, humanitarian in its aspects, and pragmatic with a plan to get things done. The United States saw a jump in illegal border crossings from Mexico in February, Bidens first full month in office, after he rolled back a number of key Trump orders, such as the requirement that asylum seekers wait in Mexico for their claims to be heard. Experts told The Epoch Times that the reversal of the previous administrations orders led to the explosion in border crossings. Administration officials also offered mixed messaging. Some insisted migrants should not travel to America at all, while others indicated they could come, but not now. We are not saying Dont come. We are saying, Dont come now because we will be able to deliver a safe and orderly process to them as quickly as possible,' Homeland Secretary Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters on March 1. A number of those who were attempting to illegally cross the border have said they came when they did because Biden entered office. Border Patrol agents apprehend about two dozen illegal immigrants in Penitas, Texas, on March 11. 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Pelosi said that as spring arrives, more people will come to the border, before pointing to how the president said this week, Dont come. But since they are coming, they fall in different categories. And the administration has plans in place to take care of the children in a much more humane way than before. And that means that we have to have more facilities, more beds, and the rest until we transition these children to [guardians], with nearly half having a parent in the United States that they can be transferred to, she added. The administration is addressing the immediate concerns. There has to be, though, the recognition that COVID is playing a role and how people need to be separated, and, so, this adds to the challenge when more people come, she also said. Administration officials have said part of the solution is tackling issues in these aliens home countries, to make it less likely that more will come in the future. Pelosi agreed, saying shes taken congressional delegations to Central America and seen corruption, violence, and crime, as well as droughts effecting farmland contributing to people heading north. In order to keep people home, we have to address the root causes of the migration. And thats not a big price to pay to have the impact that it will have, she said. Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu addressed on Romania's behalf today's ministerial meeting of the International Coalition for the Sahel, highlighting in this context the participation of Romanian experts in EU military and civilian training missions in the region. The Romanian chief diplomat "welcomed the operationalization of the Takuba Task Force, expressing appreciation for this military initiative in the Sahel, as Romania follows with interest the relevant developments," the Foreign Ministry said in a release. Aurescu pointed to the emphasis placed by Romania on the development of institutional capacity in the region and on the educational component, an aspect highlighted in the relationship with the Sahel states. Thus, the ForMin mentioned the doctoral scholarships offered to students from the Sahelian states, the organization of training courses for Sahel experts in the field of post-conflict reconstruction and stabilization and Romania's financial contribution to UNICEF, in support of educational projects in the Sahel.The Romanian Foreign Minister reiterated support for all the four pillars of the International Coalition for the Sahel - the fight against terrorism, strengthening the capabilities of the G5 Shael states' armed forces, supporting the return of state institutions and authorities in the territory, and providing development assistance. He also mentioned the importance of the international coordination of all the efforts aimed at ensuring the security and development of the states in the Sahel region. In this thread, Aurescu evoked Romania's contribution to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) of 120 troops and four military helicopters, which carried out highly specialized actions between October 2019 and October 2020.Finally, the Romanian top diplomat highlighted the important role played by all international actors present in the Sahel region, reaffirming Romania's commitment to the common goals of the European Union, the International Coalition for the Sahel and the G5 Sahel group regardin security and development in this region.The video conference that brought together the European institutions and the EU member states, the Sahel states (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger), the African Union, the United Nations and other state or institutional partners, was aimed at coordinating the efforts of the international community towards stabilization and strengthening state capacity in the Sahelian countries.The International Coalition for the Sahel was launched at the Pau Summit (13 January 2020), which brought together the G5 Sahel member countries' heads of state and the French President, in the presence of the UN Secretary General, the President of the European Council, the High Representative of the EU, the President of the African Union Commission, and the OIF Secretary General.Subsequently, the establishment of this coalition was sanctioned at the EU-G5 Sahel video conference of April 28, 2020, based on four main pillars of action: fighting terrorism, strengthening the capabilities of the national forces, the return of state authority in the territory, and development assistance. The coalition does not replace other existing structures, but aims to coordinate and streamline all current and future activities of international actors in the Sahel.The G5 Sahel group (Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger) was formed in order to address the major security challenges in these countries, which are mainly caused by terrorist groups operating in the Sahel. AGERPRES About 1,024 deprived households in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region, have been newly enrolled onto the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme, the Department of Social Welfare has stated. The beneficiary households were drawn from 19 communities namely; Yorogo Bulungu, Soe Yipaala, Dorogo Asaanabisi, Dorogo Abugnabisi, Zaare East, Zaare Asigribisi and Abrusi Saazongo. The rest are Yorogo Gabiisi, Yorogo Kunkoa, Basengo Nyakoroko, Sirigu Kunkoa, Zaare West, Abrusi Naayire, Sumbrungu, Sumbrungu Kulbia, Sumbrungu Dazongo, Nyanriga and Tindonbisi. Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Madam Mercy Pwavra, the Municipal Director of the Department of Social Welfare, explained that the due processes would be exhausted for the beneficiaries to receive payments from next month. She said 158 old beneficiaries were recently paid their stipends and the new persons would also receive benefits soon. Madam Pwavra said the LEAP stipend ranged from GH 64.00 for one eligible member household and GH 76.00 for two eligible members household. She said a household of three eligible members received a stipend of GH83.00 whereas a household of four eligible members or more received an amount of GH 106.00. The LEAP, implemented in 2008 by the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), is a soft-conditional cash transfer programme to reduce poverty by smoothening consumption and promoting human capital development among extremely poor households. Beneficiaries of the intervention are orphans and vulnerable children, persons aged 65 years and above without support, persons with a severe disability who cannot work, and extremely poor pregnant women with infants (under one year). The Beneficiaries of the LEAP Programme are paid electronically on the e-zwich platform provided by Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), through Participating Financial Institutions (PFI's). The e-zwich payment platform requires biometric fingerprint verification of beneficiaries for payment to be effected. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The former Ohio congresswoman expects to get 130,000 homeless people off the nations streets within 12 months Homelessness has hit a new high in the nation according to a new housing report confirming 580,000 people are without shelter in the country. During a visit at the White House on Thursday, the newly confirmed HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge answered questions from the press. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House on March 18, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Read More: Marcia Fudges HUD nomination is a win for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. During the question and answer session, Secretary Fudge revealed President Joe Bidens priority for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the first 100 days will focus on homelessness, vouchers and the expansion and addition of new affordable housing. Fudge said the American Rescue Plan and the $40 billion earmarked for HUD will be a great help. Within that funding is $5 billion specifically earmarked to address homeless issues. The former Ohio congresswoman said she is expecting to get 130,000 homeless people off the nations streets within 12 months. A railroad bridge provides an extra level protection from the elements for the dozens of men and women living there in tents and where health officials say that people living with homelessness are at higher risk of contracting the coronavirus March 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Another urgent matter is the current moratorium on evictions. Secretary Fudge said the HUD moratorium on evictions expires June 30, however, the CDC is trying to determine an appropriate way forward. Another immediate housing concern is the increasing price of homeownership. Fudge explained the average price of homes is higher and the inventory is much less than hoped. One of the major problems, she noted, is that credit is not available and accessible for people who do actually qualify. Fudge says, since FHA is in her purview they will work with issues of restructuring, access to credit, and the down payment as part of the solution for this issue. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House on March 18, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Were gonna make sure people who qualify have access to credit, she added. During her 13 minutes at the White House podium, Fudge acknowledged that she shares the same vision as President Biden to include in this plan policies aimed at closing the racial wealth gap which is bigger today than it was 50 years ago. Story continues Secretary Fudge is pushing to do the work to fix the numerous housing issues plaguing the nation. However, the task will not be easy as she acknowledged a staffing shortage, saying the department is thousands of people short of where it should be. Have you subscribed to theGrios podcast Dear Culture? Download our newest episodes now! TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today! The post HUD Secretary Marcia Fudges agenda targets homelessness and homeownership appeared first on TheGrio. This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size A few years after being elected to Parliament, Marise Payne had a fight on her hands. It was the year 2000 and a group of leaders from the NSW Liberal Partys Moderate wing were meeting to decide where she should be placed on the partys Senate ticket for the next years election. Factional disputes can be esoteric affairs but in this case there were consequences. Liberal senator Helen Coonan was threatening to leave the Moderates and join the Right faction; her price for staying was to be placed number one on the ticket, relegating Payne to third spot. Whoever was given the third position was still all but guaranteed to be re-elected but Payne was not expected to be forthcoming. After the factional heavyweights debated how to tell Payne that she needed to make way for Coonan, senior NSW MP John Brogden deputised former Deputy Leader Ron Phillips to deliver the bad news. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, Brodgen told Phillips. My friend go forward. Its been 23 years since Marise Payne was elected to the Senate. Next year she will become the longest continuously serving female MP in the history of Federal Parliament. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen A few days later Phillips phoned his colleagues. It didnt go well, she wont move, he reported back. With Payne refusing to budge, Coonan defected to the Right and nabbed the first spot on the Senate ticket anyway. While both women were re-elected, Coonan went on to be a cabinet minister in the Howard Government, while Payne spent the next seven years on the backbench. Some colleagues say the incident personified the best and worst of Payne. Her extreme caution backfired and cost the Moderates a key MP. On the other hand she stood up for what she believed was right. Its been almost 24 years since Payne was elected to the Senate. Next year she will become the longest continuously serving female MP in the history of Federal Parliament. She is Foreign Minister as well as Minister for Women, making her the most senior federal female politician. But Payne has never been under more scrutiny than now. As the Morrison government faces intense criticism over its handling of rape allegations by former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins and separate sexual assault claims against Attorney-General Christian Porter, Payne, at times, appeared to be missing in action. Advertisement This perception may be unfair. This week Payne did a radio interview, a television interview, a press conference, a quick doorstop in Parliament House and sat down for this profile. Those who follow her work closely say she is the most substantive foreign minister in decades - a deep thinker and methodical decision-maker whose restrained quiet diplomacy is perfectly suited to navigate the very complicated geopolitics we are currently facing. With the rise of China, Australia is navigating the most uncertain period in foreign policy since the end of World War II, and those in her corner argue a steady and reserved hand is needed and she is racking up a solid list of achievements. Others are fed up with what they see as Paynes lack of advocacy and provocativeness, saying she has gone from failing to trumpet Australias foreign policy achievements on the world stage to damaging the Coalition on the domestic front. Her critics say she fails to get ahead of issues on the horizon and prosecute the governments case, occasionally letting an otherwise small matter turn into something bigger. Payne, 56, is more passionate in private than in public. In a private Whatsapp group set up for female Coalition MPs, Payne regularly offers support for other women. On December 2 - a month after the ABCs Four Corners aired complaints about the conduct of Attorney-General Christian Porter and then Minister for Cities Alan Tudge - Payne posted Helen Reddys feminist anthem I am Woman. She told the women it was for any time you need a dose of inner strength. But this passion has been noticeably absent in public. Last weekend, Payne indicated she would snub the historic Womens March 4 Justice on Parliament House on Monday, telling organisers she would receive their petition via correspondence rather than in person. On Sunday morning, Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued an open invitation for a delegation from the womens march to meet with him in Parliament House. Later that day Morrisons office formally invited the organisers of the march, adding that Payne could also attend but the organisers of the march declined the invitation. The sequence of events made it look like Payne wasnt kept in the loop, which Payne denies. Not in the least - the processes of the rally itself I think were very dynamic. We certainly found that when talking to them [the organisers] about an opportunity to meet both with the Prime Minister and with me, she tells The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Advertisement Payne, who has always championed the role of women in politics, looked frustrated when questioned by Leigh Sales on the ABCs 7.30 program on Monday night. She agreed to appear on the program after days of declining requests for an interview from multiple media outlets. Leigh, both the Prime Minister and I offered the opportunity to meet with the organisers of todays protest, on a number of occasions and in a number of contexts, and those offers were very politely declined. Thats a matter for them, Payne said. Chased by reporters in the halls of parliament the next day, Payne was asked if she understood why many Australian women felt let down by her for not attending the march. I understand the march yesterday made some very important points about issues that are of concern to many Australian women, she said, while adding that she and Morrison do not attend marches. Brittany Higgins speaks at the March for Justice rally outside the Australian parliament. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Asked whether she should have done more in her role as Minister for Women in recent weeks, Payne says the last few weeks have been tough for a lot of people, especially those who have reported being mistreated. I think they havent been tougher for anyone than the people who have been subjected to assault or harassment [as well for] those who have, frankly, not been able to speak about their experience - I feel for those people as well. Paynes apparent reluctance to front the media over the mistreatment of women is a hot topic but this issue is nothing new for national security observers. Payne was appointed the countrys first female Defence Minister by Malcolm Turnbull in 2015. While she was deeply respected by her department, senior members of the Turnbull government soon came to the determination that she didnt have the propensity to promote the billions of dollars in new defence acquisitions such as submarines, fighter jets and frigates. Less than a year later, the self-assured Christopher Pyne was appointed as Defence Industry Minister to take over the job of selling the largest modernisation of the Australian Defence Force since World War II. Asked why he appointed Payne to her first Cabinet position, Turnbull says she is very capable, hard-working and knowledgeable in defence and strategic matters - in short, eminently qualified for the role. I thought she was very effective as Defence Minister, my only regret was that she is not as active in the media as she could be. Most politicians do more media than they should, Marise is the reverse. It speaks to a certain reserve. She is measured, thoughtful and humble, but at times you need to blow your own trumpet as loudly as you can. Always a trailblazer Payne had a typical middle-class upbringing growing up in southern Sydney, attending Bardwell Park Infants School and Earlwood Primary, which counts John Howard as among its alumni. Weekends and holidays were spent at the familys Southern Highlands farm. She enrolled in an arts-law course at the University of NSW, and her plan was to become a lawyer first, and then go into politics. But a serious accident at the age of 19 changed all that. Payne was a passenger in a car that suddenly rolled at Michelago, 54 kilometres south of Canberra, in 1983. She was taken to Woden Valley Hospital and told shed be fine. Advertisement My parents came to get me, they took me back to our farm on the Southern Highlands, and it became more and more and more painful. Then we went back to our house in Sydney, and by the next morning it was unbearable, so my father took me to see a friend of his who was a neurosurgeon, Payne says. They did an MRI and the results came back and he said: Dont move, and I lent forward and he said I mean dont move. Payne had fractured her odontoid process, effectively breaking her neck. The incident prompted Payne to change course and go straight into politics after completing her degree. By her late 20s, she had been president of the NSW Young Liberals, the partys first female national Young Liberals president and a staffer to politicians Ted Pickering, Andrew Peacock, Robert Hill and John Fahey. She was championed by the moderate wing of the party and despised by some conservatives. After a stint as the vice-chair of the Australian Republican Movement, serving under Turnbull who was then-chairman, she was elected to the Senate on the NSW Liberal ticket in 1997 after three failed attempts. NSW Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman, a long-time friend and Canberra housemate, says Payne was always a trailblazer for women in the party. And in the early days some of the causes she pursued - like Republicanism and support for people living with HIV - were not popular, but as a matter of principle she was not prepared to move away from what was important to her personally, he says. Finance Minister Simon Birmingham, who is also a good friend and Canberra housemate, says the past few weeks would have had a deep impact on Payne. She thinks intently about how to continue the march towards equality, how to ensure womens safety and also especially how to ensure other women want, and choose, to come and work in parliament and serve in parliament, Birmingham says. Advertisement Marise was a very young woman when she first sought parliamentary office herself and has personally seen enormous changes through the years, and I think she has a deep and abiding passion to ensure more women want to follow in footsteps like hers. Payne has always faced chauvinism within the Liberal Party, but never more so than on one day 28 years ago. After the landslide 1993 federal election loss, Payne remarked at a meeting of senior Liberal members that the party had performed especially poorly among young voters. She said that the post-election review panel should include at least one younger member to give a different perspective. A senior Victorian powerbroker belittled the suggestion. Yeah, and we should have a black person, a disabled person and a lesbian as well, the well known Liberal figure said. Asked about the exchange, Payne says: Im not going to comment on the events of a federal executive meeting of the Liberal Party 30 years ago. Throughout the Howard years she was never promoted, instead using the time to develop extensive contacts in defence and diplomatic circles in her role as chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. She continued to take stands on social issues, and her opposition to Howards 2007 Intervention into Northern Territory - which included the deployment of uniformed ADF members into Indigenous communities - particularly angered some members of the government. I never thought what am I doing here?. I always knew what I was doing here, and the opportunity to chair [the committees I was on] was a huge set of jobs, Payne says. Payne met her partner, NSW state Liberal MP Stuart Ayres, while campaigning in the NSW federal seat of Lindsay in 2007. Ayres is Tourism and Jobs Minister in Gladys Berejiklians government. Payne is a sports nut whose passions include cricket, the St George-Illawarra Dragons rugby league team and Geelong Cats and GWS Giants AFL sides. She enjoys farming on the Southern Highlands property she owns with her brother. Payne takes immense pride in the racehorses she owns with Ayres, and the couple are a regular fixture at the Sydney races. Their three-year-old filly Dunara won her first race at Port Macquarie on March 4. Dunaras sire was from a property in the upper Hunter in NSW where Australian poet Dorothea Mackellar once lived, and Dunara is named after McKellars childhood home in Point Piper in Sydney. Naming horses is a very complex process, Payne says. She is one we bred, so that is a very special thing. Advertisement In December, Massachusetts became one of the first states to pass statewide regulations limiting the use of facial recognition technology, a controversial piece of software criticized for its potential to violate individuals civil liberties and for its inaccuracies, particularly when attempting to identify people of color. Although the commonwealth has some of the strictest rules in the country surrounding the use of the technology, advocates and lawmakers who have fought to limit its deployment dont believe their work is over. Further restrictions on the use of the biometric form of surveillance, including a measure requiring police to get a warrant before using the software, are in the pipeline. Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts, has argued further restrictions are direly needed, as the bias in the software isnt just theoretical. Multiple Black men have been wrongfully arrested based on facial recognition searches elsewhere in the country. Marking the first known case of someone being wrongfully arrested in the U.S. because of the technology, Robert Williams, a Black man living in a suburb of Michigan, was incorrectly identified by a facial recognition search last year. He was taken into custody in front of his family and detained for around 30 hours for a crime he did not commit, according to the ACLU. Face recognition technology is dangerous when it works and when it doesnt, and theres a lot of reason to believe that the technology doesnt work very well, said Crockford. A study conducted here in Massachusetts at MIT by computer-science student Joy Buolamwini found that facial recognition systems, even those made by some of the most prominent technology companies in the world, dont work very well for dark-skinned women, for example. A very scary and effective form of social control Buolamwinis study showed multiple technology companies facial recognition programs failed up to 35% of the time when trying to classify the faces of Black women. Contrastingly, the softwares worked nearly 100% of the time when attempting to identify the faces of white men. Along with expressing concern about the technologys apparent racial disparities, critics of the software also fear it could be abused to target certain demographics. In China, for example, facial recognition has been deployed by the government on its network of thousands of surveillance cameras to surveil the Uighurs population. According to The New York Times, Beijing has used the form of artificial intelligence for years to track the largely Muslim minority group. Its a very scary and effective form of social control, Crockford said. Crockford doesnt want the U.S. to become China. To avoid that, the advocate believes there needs to be proper safeguards in place to protect the public from the potential dangers the software poses. In Massachusetts, Crockford has been the face of the movement to limit the use of facial recognition, working with several communities Boston and Springfield among them to ban the technology at the municipal level. For months, the ACLU of Massachusetts, through its Press Pause on Face Surveillance campaign, was also putting pressure on legislators to implement a statewide moratorium on the embattled softwares use. Such a ban didnt wind up being signed into law, but that doesnt mean the organizations efforts are done. What were trying to do is ensure that in Massachusetts, we have laws that protect the public interest so that 20 years from now, were not living in this kind of dystopia, where if you walk outside of your house, youre automatically injecting yourself into this surveillance system, Crockford told MassLive in Facebook Live interview last week. Striking down common-sense provisions The organizations efforts came to a head with the passage of the state policing reform bill in late December that included first-of-its-kind limitations on the use of facial recognition. Under the law, police will have to get a court order to request a facial recognition search through Massachusetts State Police, the state Registry of Motor Vehicles and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Only during an emergency can they use the technology without judicial approval. The bill also establishes a commission to explore more stringent regulations on the governments use of the technology. However, the bill wasnt what opponents of the software had in mind. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker had struck down what Crockford deemed common-sense provisions of the proposal, one of which would have restricted law enforcement from using the RMVs massive database of drivers license images in facial recognition searches without a warrant. The legislation, which is set to go into effect this summer, only requires that a facial recognition inquiry be relevant and material to an ongoing investigation for police to be allowed to conduct such a search. The target of the search doesnt need to be suspected of serious criminal activity for the inquiry to be made, which, Crockford argued, is problematic. It was an improvement over what we had before, which was no rules, no rules at all, but its not even close to where we need to be, Crockford said about the legislation. You really should only be performing these searches if theres a serious crime and you have a warrant that you can give to the RMV or to an agency like the FBI that has its own facial recognition system. To fill in the gaps in the current law, State Sen. Cynthia Creem and Reps. Dave Rogers and Orlando Ramos sponsored a new piece of legislation, called An Act to Regulate Face Surveillance, that would add some of the restrictions Baker rejected. Formerly a Springfield City Councilor. Ramos was instrumental in getting his communitys ban on the software passed last year. The state legislators new bill would require law enforcement to disclose to a criminal defendant if and how facial recognition was used in their case. It would also prohibit government agencies from using the software to track or monitor the general public in places like schools, libraries, parks and municipal buildings, another provision that Baker had struck from the policing reform bill in the winter, according to Crockford. The piece of legislation would add a warrant mandate as well, requiring law enforcement to obtain a regular probable cause warrant before conducting a facial recognition search, except in emergency situations. The lawmakers goals with the bill: To curb facial recognitions use, ensure defendants identified by the technology are given their due process in court and to improve transparency surrounding when the software is deployed. One of the biggest problems surrounding facial recognition, according to Crockford, is that for so many years it has been used in the dark with next to no oversight. If a person in a criminal case was identified by the software, they likely didnt know it. One of the problems with law enforcements use of the technology up till now is that they havent been telling criminal defendants when theyve used facial recognition to identify them in their cases, and that, as far as were concerned, is a massive due process violation, Crockford explained. When you are arrested and prosecuted, the government has an obligation to give you information about that criminal investigation that led to your arrest. Bringing the technology out of the shadows To help bring information about the softwares use out of the shadows, the ACLU of Massachusetts unveiled a sweeping database earlier this month showing the widespread use of the controversial software in the commonwealth. The database, which is on the ACLUs Data for Justice Project, is composed of more than 1,400 public records obtained through 400-plus requests filed by the organization. What those records show is a lot, Crockford noted. They show ... that even though we havent seen any regulations on this technology up until now in Massachusetts or in most parts of the country, weve seen that government has nonetheless at varying levels gone ahead and acquired and deployed these technologies with no protections in the law for civil rights or civil liberties or privacy or racial justice or due process, Crockford said. The records also showed that surveillance companies that stand to make a buck off of the publics money are aggressively marketing their technologies to schools, police departments and other governmental agencies, according to Crockford. Crockford pointed to hundreds of pages of emails obtained from the Plymouth Police Department as an example. In the messages, the CEO of a company called Suspect Technologies was attempting to get the towns police chief to install the start-ups facial recognition software on more than a dozen surveillance cameras in the town. In the emails, the CEO acknowledged the companys technology only works around 30% of the time, though. The department didnt wind up going through with the proposals, according to Crockford. It would misidentify people 70% of the time, and this is what hes using as a selling point, Crockford said. This is just one example of so many cases in which technology companies are taking advantage of municipal government actors at schools, at police departments, people who in many cases really are trying to do the best on behalf of their communities with limited budgets. Among the other insights gleaned from the records was the extent to which the RMV has allowed local, state and even federal agencies to access its facial recognition system without any external oversight, the ACLU of Massachusetts noted. According to Crockford, the RMV obtained its facial recognition system in 2006 to make sure that when someone is applying for a drivers license, they dont already have one under a different name. The goal was to identify and prevent fraud in the licensing process. Since then, however, that goal has been warped. The RMV almost immediately sent a letter to state and local law enforcement announcing it had a facial recognition system and that police could use it in their investigations. Law enforcements use of the RMVs system went unaudited for years, with essentially no checks and balances, Crockford pointed out. It wasnt until the ACLU of Massachusetts sued the RMV that the agency handed over records to the civil liberties organization detailing how its facial recognition system was used by law enforcement. The findings were disturbing, according to Crockford. Not a single facial recognition request sent to the RMV by police went denied, indicating, Crockford claimed, nobody was checking to see if the request was reasonable. In many of the requests to the RMV, police didnt even give a reason for the need for a search, the civil liberties advocate added. This is obviously a problem, because there is no law that authorizes this use in Massachusetts in 2006 up to the present, Crockford said. There is no protection in the law that requires, for example, a warrant. Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, pointed out the documents the organization obtained also detailed how Massachusetts police and prosecutors have been using facial recognition in their investigations for years. Troublingly, both Crockford and Rose noted, law enforcement has largely failed to disclose the existence of evidence derived from the technology to defense attorneys and defendants, raising what the ACLU of Massachusetts believes are serious due process concerns. These records make clear that government officials have been using face recognition technology for years, in secret and without any democratic oversight, said Rose. Our state has taken a first step toward reining in this dystopian technology, but Massachusetts must do more to ensure all residents are free from the threat of pervasive government tracking every time we leave our homes. Related Content: 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. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 19, 2021) - NEO Battery Materials Ltd. (TSXV: NBM) ("NEO" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it welcomes Mr. Jaehong Hur and Mr. Suk Joong Hwang to its Scientific Advisory Board. Mr. Hur is the former CEO of L&F Co., Ltd, ("L&F") a publicly traded company in South Korea with $2.5 billion market capital, and a global top-tier company in the cathode material business. Currently, Mr. Hur is the Chairman of the Board of Directors at L&F. He has over 15 years of experience in Li-ion battery material development and commercialization throughout South Korea. Mr. Hur has been widely respected and known as one of the world's experts in the use of cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries. Mr. Hur is also the CEO of JH Chemical, a Company that produces precursor materials for L&F's cathode materials. Mr. Hur received his BA in Chemical Engineering from the Yonsei University of Korea and his MS from the University Southern of California (USC). Mr. Joong Hwang has over 20 years of experience in process engineering in the chemical and polymer industry. He has achieved several successes on process design for scaling-up from lab-scale to commercial-scale via pilot plants. Mr. Hwang is an expert in converting batch process to continuous process, which has much advantage in mass production. He also works as a consultant on polymer formulations and composite-materials, as well as process engineer. Mr. Joong Hwang received his BA and MS in Chemical Engineering from the Yonsei University of Korea. About NEO Battery Materials Ltd. NEO Battery Materials Ltd. is a Vancouver-based junior resource company focused on battery metals exploration in North America. The Company has staked new mining claims in Golden, BC, along a strike with a quartzite bed, targeting silica in the quartzites for a total of 467 hectares. The Company focuses on exploring and producing silicon, which, when added to anode materials in the production of lithium-ion batteries, provides improvements in capacity and efficiency over lithium-ion batteries using graphite in their anode materials. The Company intends to become an integrated silicon producer and anode materials supplier to the electric vehicle industry. For more information, please visit the Company's website at: https://www.neobatterymaterials.com/. On behalf of the Board of Directors Spencer Huh President and CEO 604-697-2408 sbhuh1450@gmail.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77983 The Army is to form a new elite unit which could be thrust into battle against Islamic State and Russian proxy groups in Africa as early as next year. The 1,000-strong force, to be called the Ranger Regiment, will be sent to conflict zones to train and fight alongside the troops of countries such as Somalia. The move comes just two days before the Government announces controversial cuts to the overall size of the Army of up to 10,000 soldiers. Troops serving in battalions facing the axe will be able to apply to transfer to the Ranger Regiment and undergo a rigorous selection process, or to other regular units unaffected by the Ministry of Defence's Integrated Review of defence, security and foreign policy. The Army is to form a new 1,000-strong force unit which will be called the Ranger Regiment. Pictured: Royal Marine Commandos storm a compound during training at Bovington Camp in Dorset The unit could be thrust into battle against Islamic State and Russian proxy groups in Africa as early as next year. Pictured: Members of the Army training at Bovington Camp in Dorset Members of the group will train and fight alongside the troops of countries such as Somalia The Rangers will form part of the new Army Special Operations Brigade (ASOB), which will bring super-fit infantry soldiers together with electronic warfare, cyber and intelligence specialists. The new regiment will have four battalions of around 250 troops each, with the first ready for operations by the end of 2021. The force, which is a Tier 2 unit, will also support the SAS and the SBS - who are Tier 1 units. According to the MoD, they will be capable of 'operating discretely in complex, high-threat environments, deterring adversaries and contributing to collective deterrence'. Rocket launcher 'deadly at 300 miles' A high-precision rocket launcher used by the Army is to have its range extended to keep British troops out of harms way. The Multi-Launch Rocket System (MLRS) has been enhanced by technological breakthroughs to achieve a range of 300 miles. The weapon, used in Iraq and Afghanistan, had a previous range of around 45 miles and is known as the 70km sniper for its precision at that distance. It is manned by three people and can fire up to 12 rockets in under 60 seconds. Senior defence sources are confident it will be highly accurate even when firing 200lb high-explosive warheads over longer distances. An official defence policy document obtained by the Mail confirmed: There will be a growing emphasis on long-range precision weapons, such as the upgraded MLRS, as well as un-crewed vehicles and cyber warfare. Advertisement The regiment will also work with 'influence and outreach' troops specialising in social media and online communications to gather information about the enemy and the battlefield. Last night, the head of the Army, General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, said the formation of the Rangers and ASOB were about developing a force 'for the information age rather than the industrial age'. General Carleton-Smith said: 'Modernised armies will now longer be defined purely by scale, rather by their utility, relevance and deployability. Today's battlefield is more disperse, less dense, without fewer soldiers on either side. The Ranger Regiment is designed to operate at the higher end of the threat spectrum. But is not just about fit young men and women, but a broader range of skills and brain power. 'The future is nearly impossible to predict. But we do know that the pace and scale of the technological revolution will favour an army that's prepared for a much more technological battlefield.' British soldiers have deployed abroad for decades to train local forces. But the difference of the Ranger Regiment will be that it both advises and accompanies these troops in action. Senior defence sources hope the regiment and the ASOB can thwart jihadists in the Middle East and Africa and the increasing influence of the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company financed by the Kremlin but not officially part of Russia's military apparatus. Yet the Army may be less likely to mount independent operations, such as in Sierra Leone in 2000 and the Falklands conflict, after the latest changes. It comes just days before the Government announces cuts to the overall size of the Army of up to 10,000 soldiers. Pictured: A drone drops a package at Bovington Camp in Dorset The new regiment, which is a Tier 2 unit, will support the SAS and the SBS - who fall under Tier 1 units. Pictured: Royal Marine Commandos at Bovington Camp Pictured: Members of the Army next to an unmanned utility delivery vehicle at Bovington Camp in Dorset Royal Marine Commandos line up before storming a compound during a demonstration at Bovington Camp The UK is expected to meet future threats such as China with the help of its allies. An official government document obtained by the Daily Mail last night said: 'We expect to fight in coalition in the future.' Defence Secretary Ben Wallace last night said: 'Our eyes are wide open about China. Where China does things that we don't agree with we call them out and we will continue to work with our friends and allies.' The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) intends to launch a public communication campaign, in the context of efforts to include Romania in the Visa Waiver program, but also initiatives in the US Congress, so that Romanian citizens should not need a visa to travel to the USA, in the short term, announces the relevant minister, Bogdan Aurescu. He explains, in an interview with AGERPRES, that a Romanian-American working group is analyzing our country's goal of being included in the Visa Waiver. "We are considering the launch of a new public communication campaign regarding this Visa Waiver program in the next period, because the last criterion we still have to meet is that of the refusal rate. The refusal rate is provided in the American legislation at 3% of the number of applications for a short-stay visa in the United States. It is important to use all the levers, including public awareness, on the chances of a Romanian citizen to obtain a visa, so that this level drops to 3%," the minister shows. In addition, a number of initiatives are being considered at the level of the United States Congress to see to what extent it is possible to amend legislation or make US legislation more flexible, which provides for this 3% ceiling, so that for strong allies, strategic and dedicated partners, such as Romania, a number of exceptions could be possibly identified." In the context of the Romanian - American Strategic Partnership, Bogdan Aurescu states that Romania supports an increase in the American military presence. "We are encouraged that the normative act authorizing U.S. military spending for this fiscal year, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), provides a task for the State Department and the Pentagon to assess the U.S. military presence not only globally but also in the region, including Romania," the Romanian minister of foreign affairs points out. While the drug tamoxifen reduces the risk of developing breast cancer and prevents recurrence, the side-effects cause many women to discontinue their treatment. A study involving researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has now found that a much lower dose than the standard produces a good effect with fewer adverse reactions in women who have yet to enter the menopause. The study, which has been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, can play a significant role in the treatment of cancer. The anti-hormone drug tamoxifen has been used for over 40 years to reduce the risk of relapse in women who have been treated for hormone-related breast cancer. It is also approved as a prophylactic for women with an inherited higher risk of breast cancer. Women with dense breasts, which is to say breasts with relatively high amounts of firbroglandular tissue to fat tissue, run a four to six-times higher risk of developing breast cancer. Both dense breast tissue and tumors appear white in mammograms, which makes cancer difficult to detect. Tamoxifen reduces the mammographic density of the breast. Adverse reactions Despite the fact that tamoxifen reduces the risk of breast cancer by up to 40 per cent, it is used relatively infrequently as a prophylactic for healthy women with an increased risk of the disease. Almost half of the women who take tamoxifen to prevent recurrence after a lumpectomy discontinue treatment prematurely due to a number of known adverse reactions, including menopausal like symptoms such as flushes, sweats, insomnia and various gynecological problems. Radiologists, oncologists and researchers at Stockholm Sodersjukhuset Breast Centre, Lund University and Karolinska Institutet have examined the effect of tamoxifen on breast density at a lower dose than the standard 20 mg. Lower doses of tamoxifen The Karisma study started in 2016 and monitored 1,440 women between the ages of 40 and 74 for just under three years. The women were randomly assigned to six groups of 240, five experimental groups that received a particular dose of tamoxifen (1 2.5, 5, 10 or 20 mg) plus a placebo group. Before and after the six-month treatment, their mammographic breast density was compared. The women were also asked to report any side effects on a specially designed app. Tamoxifen has been shown to reduce mammographic density in women and could be viewed as a proxy for therapy response. The established tamoxifen dose is 20 mg, but it turned out that 2.5, 5 and 10 mg reduced the density just as much as 20 mg. At the same time, the adverse reactions reported by the 2.5 mg group were reduced by 50 per cent compared to women who received the 20 mg dose." Per Hall, Principal Investigator and Professor, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet The next step for the researchers is to interrogate whether 2.5 mg tamoxifen also reduces the risk of developing breast cancer and can therefore be used to prevent both a first occurrence and recurrence. "Such a dose-reduction could potentially increase the number of patients who complete their treatment," he says. AI analysis of mammograms There are currently hardly any preventative strategies for reducing breast cancer with the exception for a small group of women with an inherited increased risk. Per Hall welcomes more work on prophylactic treatments: "One of the problems is that there is no acceptable medication. Another is that there is no effective method of identifying women at a high risk of breast cancer. At present, we're engaged in a project in which we use AI, Artificial Intelligence, to examine mammographic images to find changes that identify women who will develop breast cancer." Without question Mayor Q saved lives by providing shelter for the homeless during a historic Kansas City arctic blast. However, concerns about security and anti-police rhetoric that launched the project ruined what would have been a valiant humanitarian effort. Unfortunately, as usual, Mayor Q paid far too much attention to the chatter from activists and their hype in support of Black Panthers working as security soured the mission. The mayor's fear of aggravating progressive allies kept him silent as he relied on wordplay to deflect questions from JoCo newsies. Over time the situation deteriorated and fighting was a constant at the facility. Even worse . . . AN EPIC BRAWL AT MAYOR Q'S DOWNTOWN KANSAS CITY WARMING CENTER SPARKED VANDALISM AGAINST POLICE IN HOPES OF STEALING FIREARMS FOR REVENGE!!! Documentation . . . KCTV5: Court records: Man broke into KCPD patrol car in effort to steal shotgun Here's the important part . . . "In an interview, THE SUSPECT said he had gotten into an altercation with someone at the Warming Center inside Bartle Hall. He said he used a rock to break the patrol car's window (which was caught on surveillance) in an attempt to steal a shotgun in the rack." "THE SUSPECT planned to take the shotgun back and use it on the person he got into an altercation with. When he wasn't able to remove the shotgun, he damaged other equipment in the vehicle. A preliminary estimate puts damages at just over $1,000." Special thanks to AWESOME TKC READERS who sent the important part of this report our way. The lesson here: The Mayor's noble intentions were tarnished by his inability to stand up to local activists who are blinded by an ongoing effort to defund an abolish police. Meanwhile, the chaos that resulted in and around this homeless hangout offers a glimpse at the end game of so many activists who demand reform and systemic change without a real plan for what happens after they win their bitter feud with authorities. You decide . . . Thank you for joining our live coverage of the floods. Well be back tomorrow with another live blog tomorrow. Be sure to stay across the SES evacuation orders and warnings overnight. The Bureau of Meteorology is also regularly updating its flood, marine and other weather warnings. To recap the events of today, Andrew Taylor writes that towns along the NSW North Coast, including Port Macquarie and Taree were inundated by floodwaters as rivers broke their banks in what Prime Minister Scott Morrison labelled absolutely heart-breaking scenes. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned that rivers near Sydney may flood and the SES is urging residents to prepare for possible evacuations. The state is preparing to experience heavy rain and strong winds on Sunday, with Sydney CBD likely to receive between 25 and 45mm of rain, Penrith is expected to see up to 120mm and Richmond up to 80mm. NSW State Emergency Service Commissioner Carlene York urged residents across the state to prepare for possible evacuations, particularly those in the north and Mid North Coast. I would rather people plan and feel it was a wasted effort and find their home and goods are destroyed because they didnt think the flood event was going to affect them, she said. This is a slow-moving event; that is why it is of such risk. Often events for rain pass through in small peaks and start to ebb away. That is not the circumstance for this event. The rain is continuing for a period of time towards the end of the week. Stay safe and goodnight. STILL fancy your chances of hitting your favourite sunspot for a break this summer? Well, its not entirely out of the question, as the EUs policy-guiding Commission is seeking agreement on a plan for Covid travel certificates. The aim is to overcome considerable internal opposition and have it agreed by June, allowing holiday travel inside the EU. Yet even if this plan does come together in time, it could still be obstructed by the ongoing EU vaccination debacle, with chronic lack of supply compounding roll-out problems, leaving just one in 10 citizens half-vaccinated so far. The dire situation is now compounded by a simmering row about EU vaccine exports mainly targeting the United Kingdom, which is speeding ahead with its vaccination campaign. Both interlinked issues will come to a head at an EU leaders summit next week when Taoiseach Micheal Martin joins his colleagues for crunch discussions. So far all signs are that Ireland has doubts about both the travel idea and about moves to curb vaccine exports. To qualify for the travel plan people will need either proof of vaccination, or, a negative test result, or, evidence of having suffered Covid and recovered from it. Its Brussels response to clamours from sun countries, like Greece and Spain, to use vaccination certificates alone to allow travel and save a chunk of the 2021 season after a total write-off last year. Ireland has so far been in the travel sceptics corner, along with France and Germany, who fear there are far too many obstacles in the way of a premature plan. The EU Commissions three-pronged travel authorisation is an effort to dial down earlier Franco-German opposition to the vaccination certificates due to fears of discrimination against non-vaccinated citizens. We also have to note the slow rate of vaccination progress in both Germany and France. By yesterday in France, a country of 67 million people, just 5.6 million had got their first vaccination and only 2.3 million people were fully vaccinated. The temporary halting of AstraZeneca vaccines has added to the high rate of vaccine resistance among the French. It also seems ironic that the EU announced its travel certs plan on the same day it also kicked off a major international vaccine brawl especially targeted at the United Kingdom. Yesterday it became clear that heavy hitters, including France, Germany and Italy, all backed a veiled threat made on Wednesday by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to block Covid-19 vaccine exports to countries not supplying any vaccines to the EU. Ireland, along with Netherlands and Belgium, took a more cautious stance on the idea of EU vaccine export curbs. All three have considerable pharmaceutical sectors and are heavily dependent on export revenues and multinational jobs. So far the EU has clung to the market reality that it could not block exports. In the first quarter of the year some 40 million shots of vaccine have been exported from the EU to various countries including the US and UK, which got 10 million EU-made vaccines. Despite EU export-ban threats in late January, only one small vaccine consignment has so far been blocked, involving an order from Italy bound for Australia. Ms von der Leyen let her frustration be known at a lack of reciprocity whereby the UK had supplied absolutely no vaccines to the EU. Brussels diplomats yesterday confirmed that the latest tough talking from the EU is driven by serious under-delivery by the Anglo-Swedish firm AstraZeneca. Last week, AstraZeneca conceded that it would deliver about 100 million vaccine doses to the EU by late summer. That is about one third what had originally been hoped for by the EU authorities and key member governments. The UK has flatly denied that any vaccine export ban is in place. Brussels officials say AstraZeneca has said contractual obligations with the UK government prevents supplying the EU from two of its British-based manufacture plants. The US does have a straight-out vaccine export ban. But the EU is reticent to stoke this issue too much right now as it also depends on US pharmaceutical raw materials which are not export banned. On the travel issue, there is considerable pressure from tourism-dependent countries like Greece which is already in unilateral tourism talks with Israel and other countries like the UK, Canada and US. Airlines are also working on a vaccine certificate plan to help free up travel once more. But there are practical obstacles to the new EU compromise plan, including the continuing lack of knowledge about how reliable negative tests are; the risk of vaccinated people, or those recovered from the virus, still being Covid carriers. There are also worries about the use of vaccines such as the Russian and Chinese vaccines which are not recognised by the EU. The Russian vaccine may be authorised soon but the Chinese one is another issue. However, it is clear that more ordered progress on vaccinations would go a long way towards finding a solution for an entire continent which badly needs a break from those recurring lockdown blues. New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport said last weekend's passenger traffic rose to the highest level since the beginning of the pandemic, an indication that tourism is starting to rebound as coronavirus vaccinations increase and more people feel comfortable flying again. On Thursday, Kevin Dolliole, the airports head of aviation, told the aviation board that he expects business to continue to improve in the months ahead after traffic on Sunday rose to 12,000 passengers, the highest single-day number since last March. At its worst in April of last year, fewer than 500 passengers a day went through the airport. While he cautioned that it might take years to get back to pre-pandemic travel levels, the weekend data offered a hopeful sign that business would start improving for New Orleans' important hospitality industry. American Airlines is adding non-stop service from New Orleans to this popular Texas destination New Orleans travelers flying to and from Texas' fourth-largest city will soon have another option in a welcome bit of good news for Louis Arms "We hope to see another significant boost in passenger activity by late summer as the vaccine becomes more widely distributed," Dolliole told the monthly meeting of the airport's oversight board. "But industry experts still say we may not see pre-COVID traffic again until 2024." The boost came on the weekend of spring break for many schools and reflected an uptick in travel nationally. The Transportation Security Administration last week reported that their officers screened almost 1.4 million passengers on Friday, March 12, the highest level nationally since the start of the pandemic. The traffic total was up 20% compared to the same day last year, though it was still 38% lower than a comparable March weekend in 2019. In recent months, passenger traffic at New Orleans airport has been slowly creeping higher. And now, some flights that are critical to the airport's long-term plans to offer more domestic and international connections are also arriving. American Airlines said earlier this month that it will be adding a new, non-stop service from New Orleans to Austin, Texas. And on Thursday, Southwest Airlines confirmed that it expects to resume its non-stop flight to Cancun on April 17, the first international flight from the airport in more than a year. Among the larger carriers operating from the airport, Southwest, which accounts for just over a third of traffic from Louis Armstrong, had about 108,000 passengers coming and going from New Orleans in January. That's down more than 70% from January last year. But Southwest spokesperson Brian Parrish said that the federal relief funding that airlines have received over the past year has meant that all 235 of the airline's employees in New Orleans have kept their jobs. Southwest rescinded its Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice of possible job losses at the start of the year. 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 New Orleans airport traffic is slowly rebounding: See the latest trends Passenger traffic at New Orleans' Louis Armstrong International Airport recovered more lost ground in November, but still remained sharply bel "When the COVID-19 economic relief package which included an extension of the Payroll Support Programwas signed into law in late December 2020, Southwest Airlines rescinded all WARN notices," Parish said. "Southwest does not currently anticipate the need to conduct any furloughs or pay cuts in 2021, including at MSY," he said, referring to the industry's abbreviation for New Orleans' airport. Drake Castaneda, a spokesman for Delta Airlines, the second-largest operator at New Orleans airport with 17% of flights, also said the airline does not expect any staff cuts in New Orleans. Southwest Airlines to add new flights between New Orleans and one of its most popular stops Southwest Airlines has announced it will add more flights from New Orleans to Houston, already one of Louis Armstrong New Orleans Internationa Like other airlines, Delta reduced its global headcount by more than 20,000 through voluntary early retirement and 40,000 employees took unpaid leave during the pandemic, while ground staff saw hours cut by 25%. Delta's CEO Ed Bastian said at an industry conference earlier this week that the company is losing about $12 million to $14 million a day, though that represents an improvement from the $100 million a day loss at the worst point last year. He expects the airline to be profitable again by the third quarter. Despite the resumption of Southwest's Cancun flights, it is not yet clear when the other nine carriers with international flights from New Orleans will resume service. British Airways had been taking bookings to resume flights from London to New Orleans in early March, but tight international travel restrictions between the two countries meant those flights had to be postponed. And overall traffic remains far below its peak. The latest official monthly numbers available on New Orleans passenger traffic, from January, showed that passengers enplaning and deplaning totaled 326,000, down 70% from the same month a year ago. Still, after a dismal year, the steady improvement in visitors to the airport has offered some hope, particularly for concessionaires and others that rely on passenger traffic. Mark Heintzman of Delaware North, which operates about two dozen food concessions, said that Leahs Kitchen, Ye Olde College Inn, Folse Market and City Greens are all expected to start operating again with the next few weeks. The airport currently has 27 of its total 46 food and non-food concessions open, compared to just 13 last spring. Average daily sales were down 52% in February from November 2019, when the new terminal opened. This story has been updated from an earlier version to correct from the source the date that Southwest Airlines restarts its Cancun flights. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Albuquerque Economic Development launched a new online tool to help companies find customers and see how they stack up against their competition. During AEDs quarterly luncheon Thursday, the organization announced the launch of SizeUp. SizeUp is an online tool that provides companies with data on how they compare to others in their industry, advertising insights and ways to identify potential customers, according to AED. AED president Danielle Casey said SizeUp will help companies make data-driven decisions about their future. The program, funded through the Albuquerque Forward Fund, is free to use and available at www.abq.org/SizeUp/. Casey said AED will also offer support and training videos on the website. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ 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. Yves here. Richard Murphy is writing from a UK vantage, and the UK has reasons to curb its cheer. Even if the Covid front looks oh so much better, its still awfully close in geographical terms to the EU, which is undergoing yet another surge. And theres Brexit to dampen the economy too. But the optimism in the US seems to be running ahead of events too (although Lamberts one-stop Greed & Fear index was only at a mildly elevated 58 yesterday). Remember that the US is 8th in vaccination progress. From Statista as of March 17: And Nature explained on the 18th why herd immunity to Covid is probably impossible (hat tip Michael M): That threshold is generally achievable only with high vaccination rates, and many scientists had thought that once people started being immunized en masse, herd immunity would permit society to return to normal. Most estimates had placed the threshold at 6070% of the population gaining immunity, either through vaccinations or past exposure to the virus. But as the pandemic enters its second year, the thinking has begun to shift. In February, independent data scientist Youyang Gu changed the name of his popular COVID-19 forecasting model from Path to Herd Immunity to Path to Normality. He said that reaching a herd-immunity threshold was looking unlikely because of factors such as vaccine hesitancy, the emergence of new variants and the delayed arrival of vaccinations for children. Gu is a data scientist, but his thinking aligns with that of many in the epidemiology community. Were moving away from the idea that well hit the herd-immunity threshold and then the pandemic will go away for good, says epidemiologist Lauren Ancel Meyers, executive director of the University of Texas at Austin COVID-19 Modeling Consortium. This shift reflects the complexities and challenges of the pandemic, and shouldnt overshadow the fact that vaccination is helping. The vaccine will mean that the virus will start to dissipate on its own, Meyers says. But as new variants arise and immunity from infections potentially wanes, we may find ourselves months or a year down the road still battling the threat, and having to deal with future surges. The main points in the article are: Its unclear whether vaccines prevent transmission Vaccine roll-out is uneven New variants change the herd-immunity equation Immunity might not last forever (an understatement!) Vaccines might change human behaviour However, its detailed vaccination progress chart paints a cheerier picture for the US than the overall one above did: But in the US we also have some other big shoes to drop, despite the size of the stimulus package that is rolling out, like what to do about the residential and commercial rent arrearages that are too large for most of the tenants to pay off? Now to Murphys take. By Richard Murphy, a chartered accountant and a political economist. He has been described by the Guardian newspaper as an anti-poverty campaigner and tax expert. He is Professor of Practice in International Political Economy at City University, London and Director of Tax Research UK. He is a non-executive director of Cambridge Econometrics. He is a member of the Progressive Economy Forum. Originally published at Tax Research UK The FT has reported this morning that: The planned reopening of the economy, the Budgets renewed support for workers and businesses, and the rapid vaccine rollout have boosted UK consumer confidence to the highest level since before the first lockdown last March, fuelling hopes of a spending rebound. It is said that the fool and their money are easily parted, and I cannot help but think that there is a great deal of foolishness in the mood of the nation at present. The only comfort in that is that the so-called Covid bounce for the government may be as misplaced. To be blunt, I very much doubt that we are going to see the summer that so many (me included, if I am completely honest) would like to look forward to. Europe is already heading into third wave Covid lockdowns. The NHS is actively preparing for the same to happen here, before the summer. The widespread assumption that the Covid pandemic us over as far as the UK is concerned could well be wrong. For a start, we now face a different pandemic from that which we faced last year : the virus has mutated. And in the face of that England (but not Wales and Scotland, where vaccination has been considerably better managed) faces the nightmare scenario of having a half vaccinated, and so still intensely vulnerable, population in which the opportunity for the rampant spread of vaccine immune variants is high. We know such spread is possible. Healthcare is collapsing in Brazil right now. We also know that the AZ vaccine offers little protection against variants; Pfizer maybe a bit more, and Moderna has yet to appear on the scene. And it is now apparent that in the politically motivated rush for single jabs which do not provide vaccination, whatever politicians might claim, but which are simply the first dose of a course that might do so, there has already been gross mismanagement because it is now becoming apparent that sufficient vaccine to guarantee the delivery of the absolutely essential second doses may not have been held back. In the meantime cases are rising, most especially amongst the young. There are arguments to be had about the testing: lateral flow tests are notoriously unreliable. But the problem is that this was also the pattern last September. In fact, the apparent euphoria of this moment feels rather like last August, which was very obviously a false period of hope when seen in retrospect. So too might this moment be just that. If cases rise, vaccines are denied, second doses do not happen on time, and the progression that the NHS fears towards another outbreak occurs rather than the virus following the governments roadmap, then we are in deep trouble. And this moment of optimism will be shown to have been deeply misplaced. I could be wrong about this, of course. I would like to be. But my instincts tell me that this mood of optimism in the country is misplaced. This also suggests something else. That is that the sense of disappointment that might follow the crushing of hope that the government has unwisely created will be intense. It might even turn to anger. We may not be in for the summer we hoped for, but that does not mean it may not be eventful, in all the wrong ways. On Wednesday, Paul Michael Murray, a San Antonio man, was arrested after he was found outside the residence of Vice President Kamala Harris with an assault-style rife and high capacity magazine. Texas law enforcement agencies warned Washington, D.C., authorities that Murray may have been in the city and experiencing a mental health crisis. His mother received a text from Murray Wednesday morning that said he was "in Washington DC and was going to take care of his problem, according to the warning from Texas authorities. ON EXPRESSNEWS.COM: San Antonio man found with assault-style rifle near Vice President's house in Washington Secret Service arrested Murray at around noon near the Navel Observatory, which is where the official home of the vice president is located. He was charged with carrying a dangerous weapon, carrying a rifle or shotgun outside of a business, possession of unregistered ammunition and possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device. Here is what you need to know about Paul Michael Murray: Who is he: Murray, 31, is from San Antonio but also has a residence in Bryan, near College Station. His voter registration says he was living in the 1400 block of Vance Jackson Road from 2015 to 2019. Military background: Murray was a former Army remote pilot operator who received a medical discharge in 2014. He served four years in the military, held the rank of specialist and had no deployments, CNBC reported. Mental health issues: Murray suffers from schizophrenia and recently told police that he stopped taking his medication because he didn't like the side effects. In a bulletin from Texas authorities, Murray was said to be experiencing paranoid delusions and warned that he expressed a desire to kill military and government officials. He also had recently purchased an AR-15. Known to law enforcement: Texas police have been aware of Murray since at least October 2020, the Express News reported. According to the bulletin, Murray showed up to the Brazos County Sheriff's Office to report that he had been drugged or poisoned on a recent trip to Japan. On March 1, Murray went to the College Station Police Department to lobby a complaint that he wasn't "getting enough support from the Veterans Administration or the police" about an unknown matter. Then on March 3, he contacted the sheriff's office again to say that he had been attacked by a group called "3 Stones" overseas and that he may hurt someone "if it was justified." On at least two of his contacts with authorities, Murray said he was armed. taylor.pettaway@express-news.net WASHINGTON Despite the inclement weather, Uyghur protesters gathered in front of the U.S. State Department Thursday, calling on the Biden administration to recognize East Turkistan as Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with officials from the Chinese government. Protesters affiliated with the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement and the East Turkistan Government in Exile gathered in front of the Harry S. Truman Building, home to the State Department. The East Turkistan National Awakening Movement describes itself as an international movement striving for the restoration of East Turkistans independence as an open, pluralistic Republic guaranteeing Human Rights and Freedoms for all. What the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement refers to as East Turkistan is officially recognized by the rest of the world as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Uyghurs are a group of Muslim religious minorities residing in Xinjiang, a region which those affiliated with the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement argue China has been occupying since 1949. In recent years, a spotlight has been cast on China's so-called training education centers that Uyghurs have been subject to, which the U.S. government has characterized as concentration camps. Source:The Christian Post People including foreign residents wait in a long line at a makeshift COVID-19 testing center in front of Guro Station in Seoul, Friday, to undergo testing. Controversy has intensified over Seoul City and Gyeonggi Province's administrative orders forcing all foreign workers to undergo COVID-19 testing, with critics calling the orders "racial discrimination." Yonhap Human rights watchdog launches investigation into alleged racial discrimination By Jun Ji-hye The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Friday withdrew its controversial administrative order forcing all foreign workers in the capital region to undergo COVID-19 testing, after having faced mounting criticism over alleged discrimination and violations of foreign residents' human rights. The city said its order, issued on Wednesday, was changed to an "advisory" for foreign workers to receive a test by the end of the month if their workplaces have a high risk of infection. Workplaces with high risk of infection refer to concentrated, closed and confined environments. "The advisory also applies to Koreans working at the same workplaces," a city official said. The decision was made after the central government asked the city administration to rescind its recent order for mandatory COVID-19 tests on foreign workers "promptly," amid mounting controversy. "Our request is aimed at preventing any antivirus measures from causing discrimination and human rights violations against both Koreans and foreign residents," said an official from the Central Disaster Management Headquarters under the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The request came as the city government's administrative order has invited criticism from various quarters including universities and embassies here. Earlier on Friday, Seoul National University said it had sent its official statement to the city government the previous day, asking it to retract its order. Some 2,000 foreign professors, employees and students are working or studying at the university. "The root cause for infection clusters is poor, concentrated and confined working and residential environments, and is not related to the nationality of workers," the university's Human Rights Center said in its statement. "The city's administrative order constitutes an act of discrimination and violates the right to equality as guaranteed in South Korea's Constitution." The center noted that the order, which generalizes all foreign workers here as "groups with a high risk of infection," could aggravate hatred or fear of foreigners. Rep. Lee Sang-min of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea also urged the city government to withdraw its order "immediately." "The order is an act of unfair racial discrimination against foreigners and a human rights violation that will make us an international disgrace," the five-term lawmaker wrote on Facebook. "This is why the legislation of the Anti-Discrimination Act is necessary." British Ambassador to Korea Simon Smith said in a video posted to Twitter that the British Embassy "has made clear to the national government and to the Seoul and Gyeonggi administrations that we consider these measures unfair. They are not proportionate, nor are they likely to be effective." He added the embassy had raised the issue as a matter of urgency with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK). British Ambassador to Korea Simon Smith speaks in a video posted on Twitter, Thursday, saying Seoul City and Gyeonggi Province's administrative orders forcing all foreign workers to undergo COVID-19 testing were unfair. Captured from Twitter Tesco Ireland has today announced that it will dedicate the latest round of donations from its Community Fund to causes throughout Leitrim that support the vulnerable and those most impacted by Covid-19. The latest round of funding will see Tesco stores donate 2,000 to local causes, such as Drumsna Meals on Wheels, North West Cancer Care, Ballinamore Community Nursing Unit and Primary Care Centre among other local charities. Launching the latest round of donations, Rosemary Garth, Communications Director, Tesco Ireland said, We are pleased to be able to support the groups and organisations across Leitrim that have continued to help the vulnerable members of their communities during this time. As we reach a year since the start of the pandemic, restrictions continue to have an impact on individuals, families and communities around the country. We hope that this latest round of Community Fund donations will help charities and causes at both local and national level continue to carry out the vital work they do for the people in their communities. During 2020, Tesco Ireland donated over 1 million in Covid supports to causes nationwide through a series of donations, food collections and fundraising to help those most in need. This included a 150,000 donation split among three national charities - ALONE, Age Action and Family Carers Ireland - to support their efforts in helping the elderly, family carers and the most vulnerable members of local communities throughout the country. In January 2021, Tesco announced that its Community Fund had reached a milestone of 5 million in donations to local communities across Ireland since its establishment. Every eight weeks, each Tesco store donates up to 1,000 which is shared between three local causes in its community. Anyone can nominate a community group or good cause via the Tesco website https://tescoireland.ie/ sustainability/places/ community-fund/ Alabama has now at least partially vaccinated nearly 22 percent of its adult population against COVID-19. And some counties - including several in the Black Belt - have reached even higher numbers. The Alabama Department of Public Health released a slew of new COVID vaccination numbers on Wednesday, including vaccination numbers by county - something that up til now had not been public. [Cant see the map? Click here.] The data shows how many residents of each county have received at least one dose of any coronavirus vaccine. Three vaccines have been approved for use in Alabama and two of them - the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines - require two doses a few weeks apart for full protection. Alabama has administered more than 1.3 million vaccine doses to nearly 840,000 people, meaning the state has partially or fully vaccinated at 21.9 percent of its adult population. Current restrictions limit who can get the vaccine in Alabama. None of the vaccines have been approved for use in children, though the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for those 16 and older. A handful of counties in the Black Belt - one of the poorest and least populated regions in Alabama - are leading the way in vaccination rate here. In Wilcox County, home to just 8,100 people 18 or older, 29.1 percent of adults have received at least one dose. Thats the highest percentage in the state. Perry County, just to the north of Wilcox, is second at 28.9 percent. Russell County, on the border with Georgia, has partially or fully vaccinated the smallest percentage of its adult population at just 9.8 percent. Its the only county below 10 percent. There are nearly 30,000 doses missing from the county vaccination data, meaning some counties are showing smaller vaccination rates than they actually have. Among Alabamas largest counties, Jefferson is leading the way in vaccination rate. Its administered at least one dose to 23.2 percent of its adult population. Mobile is just behind at 23 percent, while Madison and Montgomery sit at 21.3 and 21.1 percent, respectively. Clearer vaccine timeline The state also released detailed vaccination data by day. ADPH had previously only reported weekly vaccination data. [Cant see the chart? Click here.] The data, which runs through March 16, shows a steady increase in vaccinations since the rollout began last December. It also shows a huge decrease in vaccinations on weekends. There was also a noticeable dip in vaccinations given on Feb. 16, when much of Alabama was locked down under travel advisories due to winter weather. Its possible there will be a dip in this weeks numbers, too, after the state experienced a number of tornados and strong storms Wednesday. Do you have an idea for a data story about Alabama? Email Ramsey Archibald at rarchibald@al.com, and follow him on Twitter @RamseyArchibald. Read more Alabama data stories here. Political activist, NPP Abanga has asked the opposition NDC to stop twisting facts with their propaganda with the 2021 budget read by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu on behalf of the Finance Minister-designate, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta. According to him, the NDC has decided to twist the budget and make it look like the government is asking the good people of Ghana to pay for the freebies they enjoyed during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. "I find this distasteful and an attempt to paint the government of the day black in the eyes of Ghanaians, which must be condemned by all, he said in statement copied to Peacefmonline. NPP Abanga further iterated that; "Even though the government knew it was going to have dire consequences on our finances and the economy as a whole, the President made it clear that he knew how to recover the economy and not people from death, hence the tough decision to bring some reliefs to the people of Ghana. Nevertheless, the NDC kicked against these freebies, because, they thought it will destroy their chance of winning power in the 2020 elections, so I am at a loss how they are all of a sudden acting like they care for the good people of Ghana." He also urged Ghanaians to disregard the NDC propaganda but help the President to move Ghana to the promised land. Read full statement below: Read the full statement below; Over the past few days, there have been some conversations about the 2021 budget, which was read by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu on behalf of the Finance Minister-designate, Hon. Ken Ofori Atta. In this budget, the President in his own wisdom and having so much love for the country, introduced some new taxes to help the economy recover from the shocks and attack of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has engulfed even some world great economies into negative growth. But in an attempt to score some cheap political points, the NDC has decided to twist the content of the budget and make it look like, the government is asking the good people of Ghana to pay for the freebies they enjoyed during the peak of the Covid pandemic. I find this distasteful and an attempt to paint the government of the day black in the eyes of Ghanaians, which must be condemned by all. We all know that the free water, Lights, and other freebies are given by the President, was because of the economic struggles Ghanaians were facing during the pandemic and not for the sake of the 2020 elections as the NDC is making it look like. Even though the government knew it was going to have dire consequences on our finances and the economy as a whole, the President made it clear that he knew how to recover the economy and not people from death, hence the tough decision to bring some reliefs to the people of Ghana. Nevertheless, the NDC kicked against these freebies, because, they thought it will destroy their chance of winning power in the 2020 elections, so I am at a loss how they are all of a sudden acting like they care for the good people of Ghana. It's worthy to note that, this tough decision by the government will help us recover the economy and bring back life to normalcy when the Covid-19 pandemic is finally over, hence, Ghanaians need to support the President to achieve this feet. Ghanaians must not give listening ears to the NDC because anything they say is full of propaganda and lies. The President care for the average Ghanaian, especially the youth and want to build a strong economy for the country so tye youth can have decent work to do. We should therefore disregard and reject the propaganda of the NDC and help the President to move Ghana to the promised land. With God/Allah, we know this too shall pass and Ghana will get back to winning ways. God bless President Nana Addo God bless NPP God bless Ghana NPP Abanga Obiabedidi *0246846134* 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 Photo: The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will continue to hold Iran to account after its military shot down a passenger jet in January 2020. Trudeau says he will work with international partners to demand justice and transparency on behalf of Canadian families who lost loved ones among the 176 victims of the tragedy. A group representing the families is demanding Canada impose sanctions against Iran's Revolutionary Guard to pry out more information on the shootdown. They want Canada to take the Iranian regime to the International Court of Justice if talks stretch beyond three months. Iran's civil aviation body released a final report this week that blames "human error" for shots fired at Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran on Jan. 8 last year. The Canadian government has rejected the report outright, describing it as "incomplete" and devoid of "hard facts or evidence" on the factors that led to the death of 55 Canadian citizens, 30 permanent residents and dozens of others with ties to Canada. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment In most African churches today, warfare prayers have assumed a dimension that does not indicate that worshipers have come in contact with Jesus Christ and His teachings. Most often, it is difficult to distinguish between the prayers of Christians and incantation of herbalists or witch doctors. It is disheartening to hear Christians praying for their human enemies to die, for people who have offended them to run mad, and for poverty to visit the household of their perceived enemies. The most worrisome aspect of this trend is that worshipers come out before the congregation to testify how they prayed and somebody died and the entire congregation celebrates. Many of the proponents of this dangerous prayer argue that if Christians do not pray their enemies to death, definitely the enemies will eliminate them through their witchcraft powers. Pastors usually cite Exodus 22:18: "Thou shall not suffer a witch to live". They also make reference to some portions of the book of Psalms where David prayed against his enemies. The Old Testament scriptures that support Christians dealing with their physical enemies without mercy are incongruous with the teaching of Christ and the New Testaments teaching on spiritual warfare. Jesus is of the opinion that we should love our enemies and show them kindness (Mathew 5:44). Apostle Paul told us that our weapons of warfare are not carnal. He also identifies who our real enemies are: For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens" (Ephesians 6:12). The early Christians had many enemies who persecuted them. Did they pray against them? After Peter and John were released by the council with a warning never to speak in the name of Jesus again, they came back and gave the report to the church and they all lifted their voice to God with one accord and prayed. We are going to look at the prayer points and see whether it is in harmony with the prayers in our African churches today. "When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. Sovereign Lord, they said, you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one. Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus (Acts 4:24:30 NIV). A critical analysis of the prayer reveals the hearts of the disciples who have denied themselves and carried their crosses to follow Jesus. They first extolled God and reminded Him of His wonderful creation. They equally referred to God's word as written in the book of Psalms. Then they presented their adversaries before God and all their threats and persecutions, asking God to give them the boldness to continue preaching the Gospel. They pleaded with God to stretch out His hand to heal and perform signs and wonders, as His presence in their ministry will inevitably strengthen them and give them boldness to continue speaking in the name of Christ. They did not pray against their persecutors. Had the disciples killed Apostle Paul with prayers, who would have evangelized the gentile nations? Who would have written the epistles of the New Testament? They had good reasons to pray against Paul and others who conspired and killed Stephen, but they did not. Even Stephen in his dying state did not pray against them. Rather, he prayed that God should forgive them because they did not know what they were doing. Jesus prayed the same kind of prayer for those who crucified Him. Where are we basing these wicked prayer points against enemies that are prevalent in our churches today? .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Harsh times and heartbreak abound in the Russo brothers gritty addiction epic Cherry, but theres poetry in the language of the script, and in certain moments of wonder and hope, of dark comedy, of love and redemption. Early on, we get the sense Tom Hollands Nico is an unusual guy, with a Holden Caulfield-esque way of looking at the world. I grew up around here, he says as he walks his Cleveland neighborhood. The trees are nice. I dont understand them, but I like them. I think I like them all. It would have to be a pretty fed up tree for me not to like it. When Nico meets a woman on a local university campus, they talk about inconsequential matters she likes his sweater, their English class sucks but its as if everything around them were slightly blurry, and they were the only two people on that campus and in this world, and anyone who has ever felt that youthful rush of meeting someone and being almost totally completely sure youre going to fall in love will recognize and relate to this moment. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ In a wordless sequence late in the film, and well say no more about it, the music by Henry Jackman swells and soars as we see someone going through certain paces that will either break this person or reset their soul and give them one last shot. Its beautiful stuff. Anthony and Joseph Russo have achieved mega-success with four films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Avengers: Endgame, but they return to their hometown of Cleveland to tell a much more intimate, real-world story. Cherry is based on the autobiographical novel of Nico Walker, who came home from the war in Iraq with undiagnosed PTSD, became addicted to drugs, and funded his habit with 10 bank robberies in and around Cleveland before he was caught and given an 11-year prison sentence. (The bidding war for the rights to Walkers book reportedly took place in increments, as Walkers phone privileges from federal prison were limited.) Tom Holland is the best Peter Parker/Spider-Man to ever grace the big screen, but he shifts into a whole other and enormously impressive gear as Nico, who serves as the narrator for the story, which is broken into seven chapters with such titles as Basic (for basic training), Cherry (when you kill someone in action for the first time, you lose your cherry), Home and Dope Life. The visual tone varies from sequence to sequence, with the works of Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino as clear influences. After a prologue hinting at the troubles to come, we see the beginnings of romance between Nico and Emily (Ciara Bravo in a devastatingly effective performance). Like Nico, shes a whip-smart, funny with a good heart whos a bit tightly wound, a bit intense at times. Out of nowhere, perhaps because things are too good to be true and Emily isnt used to that, she announces shes leaving Cleveland to go to school in Montreal, and they might as well break up because theyll be living in different countries. Nico is destroyed. On a mad impulse, he joins the Army only for Emily to come back to him and say shes made a mistake. They get married at the local courthouse, but its only a matter of days before Nico has to ship off to basic training, where he becomes a medic and is deployed to Iraq, where the s is hitting the fan daily. The basic training sequences with the maniacal drill sergeants are reminiscent of Full Metal Jacket, while the war scenes are effective, but nothing we havent seen before. (Sly and wickedly funny small touches are sprinkled throughout. Authority figures are given such names as Sgt. Whomever and Dr. Whomever and Father Whomever, and when Nico returns home to a heros welcome in a school gymnasium, Disco Inferno blares on the sound system and Nico breaks the fourth wall to tell us he doesnt deserve the medal hes receiving.) Cherry is at its most compelling in the scenes after Nico has returned home, clearly struggling with PTSD, and abusing opioids, cocaine and eventually heroin to self-medicate. Emily quickly transitions from enabler to fellow addict; we want to scream at her to run for her life, but she loves Nico with everything she has, and now she loves getting high as much as he does, and the train is flying off the rails. In one of the films most heartwrenching scenes, Emily overdoses and is fighting for her life when her mother (Presciliana Esparolini) says to Nico in a measured tone: I know youre broken, but please dont break my daughter. If you love her, then youll be a man and walk away. You get up and walk away, or Ill f you up. Sadly, it seems that, even if Nico does walk away, Emily will follow, even as he begins robbing banks to pay off his debt to a menacing drug kingpin known only as Black (Daniel R. Hill), even as he stops caring whether hes caught and in fact seems hellbent on getting caught. Cherry is at times almost overwhelming in its raw and real depiction of addiction, and how it can destroy lives, but also chill-inducing with its promise of a possible lasting light at the end of the tunnel. CHERRY 3.5 stars RATED: R (for graphic drug abuse, disturbing and violent images, pervasive language and sexual content) WHEN: Now streaming WHERE: AppleTV+ MLA on Thursday alleged that one of the luxury cars used by arrested police official Sachin Waze was parked outside the office of a MLA. The NIA, which is probing Waze's alleged role in the placing of an explosives-laden vehicle near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's house, has seized a total of five vehicles including two Mercedes cars. Speaking to reporters, Rane alleged that the day Waze was arrested by NIA, one of the Mercedes cars allegedly used by him was parked outside the office of a Sena MLA. "(Sena MP) Sanjay Raut had said that everyone has something to hide in politics. I want to tell him that he must be having something to hide, but it is not the case with us. We want truth to come out in this case," Rane 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.) Two top Democratic senators have urged US Secretary of State to raise with the Indian leaders the issue of treatment of peaceful farmer protesters and journalists even as they acknowledged that it is for the people and the Government of India to determine the path forward on its recently enacted farm laws. In a letter to Blinken, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday urged the Biden administration to further engage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government over its treatment of farmers in India who have been peacefully demonstrating against the passage of new farm laws. Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops. The government has denied allegations that it was trying to put an end to the MSP and the mandi system. India has also emphasised that the protests by farmers must be seen in the context of India's democratic ethos and polity and the Ministry of External Affairs last month said that some vested interest groups have tried to mobilise international support against the country. In their joint letter to Blinken, Menendez and Schumer noted that India is a "long-term strategic partner with deep ties to the United States thanks to our many shared values and our large and valued Indian American community." "In light of these shared values and strong connections, we write with serious concern regarding the response of the Indian government to the farmer protests, they said. In their letter, released to the press on Thursday, the two senators urged Blinken to raise the importance of freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest in conversations with his Indian counterparts and to ensure that State Department officials at all levels do so as well. After becoming the Secretary of State, Blinken has spoken with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar multiple times. The readouts of the phone calls do not indicate that Blinken raised this issue, under pressure from his party leaders, with Jaishankar. The Biden administration has insisted that the two countries share democratic values. Schumer and Menendez said the months-long demonstrations have been met with orders from the central government and local authorities to shut off internet access in protest areas, cut off water and electricity supplies for the tens of thousands living in protest camps, and impede the work of journalists reporting on the protests. India's people and the government will determine the path forward on these laws, and peaceful dialogue and respect for the viewpoints of all peaceful actors should drive that decision," they said. "As the US pursues a more perfect union here at home, including efforts to bolster the rule of law and our democracy, those efforts reinforce the importance of addressing challenges to democracies abroad as well, they wrote. The letter by Schumer and Menendez comes a day after the latter wrote a similar letter to Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is visiting India this week. There has been no response from either Austin or Blinken if they plan to raise these issues with their Indian counterparts, especially when the Biden administration is going out of its way in its outreach with the Modi government given the serious challenge it is facing from China. Blinken and the US Security Advisor have met their Chinese counterparts in Anchorage, Alaska. This is the first in-person meriting that the Biden administration is having with the Chinese leadership. In their letter, Menendez and Schumer said following the passage of new farm laws last fall, the farmers have engaged in over 100 days of peaceful demonstrations to express their opposition to certain policies. While we do not take a position on internal Indian policy matters, we recognise and condemn that on January 26, a small faction of protesters engaged in unacceptable violence at the Red Fort in New Delhi, but protest leaders quickly condemned the violence and the vast majority of protesters remained peaceful. "However, Indian authorities at different levels of government have used that day's events as a pretext to undertake a broader and sustained crackdown on peaceful protesters, journalists, and government critics, they alleged. Noting that they are alarmed by the sedition charges against a leading Opposition politician and a 22-year-old climate activist related to the protests, the two senators said that the central government has repeatedly ordered Twitter to shut down accounts that relate to or report on the protests, including those of media organisations and journalists, and threatened to arrest Indian Twitter employees if the microblogging site fails to comply, as reported by CNN. At the same time, Indian authorities have also sought to hinder the work of journalists reporting on the protests. Indian authorities have filed criminal complaints against at least 10 journalists for their reporting on the protests, including charges of sedition. "Reporters Without Borders said the accusations represent a headlong assault on press freedom, and Indian press freedom groups have characterised them as an intimidation tactic to stifle the media, the senators wrote. In the past, both Schumer and Menendez have spoken about the important role that India has in the US' China policy. They have both called for a strong relationship with India. Both have been sponsors of some key legislations on the matter. Prominent among them include the Democracy Technology Partnership Act which says that the world's major liberal-democratic nations must work together in a technology partnership to ensure that these technologies advance democratic institutions, norms, and values, contributing to global peace and prosperity. The Democracy Technology Partnership Act establishes an inter-agency office at the US Department of State to lead in the creation of a new partnership among the world's tech-leading democracies. Multiple rounds of talks between the Indian government and farmer unions have not been able to resolve the deadlock over the new agri laws. The government has said it has shown the utmost respect for protests by farmers and has remained engaged in dialogue with them to address their concerns. (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.) Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category With all the K-dramas genres that are available today, it gives us the freedom to choose what kind of series we should watch every after the other. It may be about romance, action, music, thriller, or suspense; we have our own choice. Primetime Drama "Mouse" Continuous to Attract Viewers But these days, more and more viewers are getting interested in watching suspense dramas. Things that involved criminal cases, lots of investigation, and compelling actors who can evidently immersed themselves in their characters. And one of the highly anticipated series today is Lee Seung Gi's new psychopath drama "Mouse." tvN's primetime drama "Mouse" has been giving lots of buzz on the internet lately, netizens were impressed by the intriguing and genuine storyline of the drama. Every week the audience is served with new cases and people who leave traces about the ongoing investigation in the drama. These avid viewers keep on increasing every week, and the continuous high viewership ratings are proof that the series is getting more interesting in every episode. After airing Episode 6 on March 18, Lee Seung Gi and Lee Hee Jun's drama was able to achieve an average viewership rating of 6.6 percent nationwide and 7.5 percent in the metropolitan area, according to Nielsen Korea. These are higher than their previous record during the broadcast of Episode 5, which garnered an average viewership rating of 5.7 percent nationwide. More Intense Cases and New Evidence About the Headhunter Meanwhile, after detective Go Mu Chi (Lee Hee Jun) found out that Sung Yong Han (Kwon Hwa Woon) is the son of Han Seo Joon, the man who murdered his family years ago, the detective became more persistent in knowing the true identity of doctor Sung Yong Han. On the other hand, Oh Bong Yi (Park Ju Hyun) had an unexpected encounter with the serial killer when she was about to help Go Moon Won (Im Young Jae), the brother of Go Mu Chi. She confessed to Jung Ba Reum (Lee Seung Gi) that she was able to give the killer a small stab wound on his left arm, making it easy to look for him because of the mark. The investigation about the ongoing murder cases involves more people, but Go Mu Chi already has someone in mind of who the real culprit is. He is just cautious about his next move in order for him to catch the serial killer first hand. Stay tuned for the next episode of "Mouse" coming this March 24 at 10:30 pm only on tvN! Are you also hooked on this ongoing drama of Lee Seung Gi? What's the most interesting part for you so far? Share your thoughts with us in the comments! For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars. Kdramastars owns this article. Written by Shai Collins. (Natural News) Before leaving the White House, the Trump administration quietly revealed that Americans vaccinated for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) under Operation Warp Speed (OWS) will be monitored and tracked by Google and Oracle for at least the next two years. This public-private partnership, as Trumps vaccine czar Moncef Slaoui described it, allows for Chinese virus vaccine recipients in the United States to be surveilled using incredibly precise tracking systems that Slaoui says will ensure that patients each get two doses of the same vaccine and to monitor them for adverse health effects. Both Google and Oracle were contracted to manage this tracking system, though Slaoui did not specify their precise roles beyond helping to collect and track vaccine data. One day before The Wall Street Journal published a story about this, The New York Times published one of its own, calling the technology a very active pharmacovigilance surveillance system. This is what Slaoui called it about a month prior during an interview with the journal Science, though he apparently left out the word surveillance. Still, the surveillance component was implied, and Slaoui further clarified that the purpose of the system is to make sure that when the vaccines are introduced that well absolutely continue to assess their safety. Later on, Slaoui himself started using the words tracking and surveillance to describe the program. Perhaps it was clear at that point that Americans were not at all concerned, or were perhaps too engrossed in the 2020 election drama to even know what was happening. Operation Warp Speed documents reveal that vaccinated Americans are to be tagged and tracked like cattle Many Trump supporters were too busy defending their mascot at the time to notice what the presidents OWS scheme entailed. Two official OWS documents released in mid-September reveal a plan so Orwellian that had Barack Obama presented it, the conservative right would have skewered him as a tyrant. Because it was Trump pushing his great vaccines to the public, OWS got a free pass even though very few people had any idea about its full ramifications. The released documents show that those injected with Chinese virus vaccines would be monitored for a full 24 months after the first dose. This monitoring is to be handled by a pharmacovigilance system, the documents explain. Since none of the Wuhan flu vaccines being pushed by the government are officially licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), everyone who gets one is inadvertently participating in a global vaccine trial. This is openly admitted in the released documents. According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DoD), there is limited previous data concerning the safety of these vaccines when injected into humans. Consequently, the long-term safety of these vaccines will be carefully assessed using pharmacovigilance surveillance and Phase 4 (post-licensure) clinical trials. The key objective of pharmacovigilance is to determine each vaccines performance in real-life scenarios, to study efficacy, and to discover any infrequent and rare side effects not identified in clinical trials, the documents go on to explain. In other words, everyone getting jabbed for Chinese germs is now a participant in a massive human clinical trial taking place all around us rather than inside a laboratory. Since the long-term adverse effects of these experimental gene therapy injections is unknown, OWS has granted Google and Oracle the privilege of surveilling all vaccine recipients as part of a long-term public trial. You can learn more about what this mass surveillance program entails at this link. You will also find more related news about the Orwellian implications of Trumps Operation Warp Speed program at Tyranny.news. Sources for this article include: UnlimitedHangout.com NaturalNews.com YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS. Three independent members of parliament of Armenia Taguhi Tovmasyan, Anna Grigoryan and Sophia Hovsepyan, are forming a new initiative called Artsakh, MP Tovmasyan announced their initiative during the extraordinary session in the Parliament today. She informed that she and MP Anna Grigoryan have just returned from Artsakh and made a decision together with another MP Sophia Hovsepyan to form Artsakh initiative, but not in a legal formation as the legislation doesnt allow. We are going to be the voice of Artsakh in this short-term parliament because now we have this format only the friendship group with Artsakh. We have similar friendship groups with different countries. I think that we should have a special attitude regarding Artsakh, she said, emphasizing the need to pay constant attention to the Artsakh issue. We will continue to keep Artsakh under our spotlight, she noted. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Daishin Securities headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of Daishin Securities By Park Jae-hyuk Shareholder proposals were blocked during Daishin Securities' general shareholders meeting, Friday, most likely to prevent discussion of increased dividend payments made by U.S. hedge fund SC Fundamental. A regulatory filing by Daishin Securities showed its shareholders agreed to the company's plan to pay out 1,200 won ($1) in dividends per common stock for its 2020 earnings and to set a maximum limit of 10 billion won in payment to directors. Before the shareholders meeting, Daishin faced calls by activist shareholders demanding the company raise its dividend payments to 1,500 won per ordinary stock and lower the maximum limit of payment to directors to 5 billion won. SC Fundamental, which owns less than a 5 percent stake in the Korean brokerage, was mentioned as the proposer because the activist fund is also said to have sent Daishin a letter in 2019 seeking larger dividends and the retirement of treasury stocks. But the request for more dividends has been considered unreasonable, in light of the fact that the securities firm has maintained one of the highest payout ratios among listed firms here. In addition, financial authorities have recommended local financial companies to reduce their dividends to maintain financial soundness amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Some market insiders speculated that SC Fundamental may have sought to maximize its short-term profit. Over the past few years, the activist fund submitted various shareholder proposals to other companies, including GS Home Shopping and Motonic, asking them to buy back stocks and increase dividends, sometimes without holding enough of a stake to qualify for making such proposals. From that standpoint, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis reportedly advised investors to oppose the proposal of increased dividends. According to industry sources, however, the two global proxy advisers disagreed on the limit of maximum amount of payment to directors, with ISS pointing out that Daishin's owner family has received increased payments, despite the securities firm's low return on equity compared to its local peers. Concerns therefore existed over the possibility of the U.S. hedge fund achieving part of its goals, but most Daishin shareholders supported management's side. On the same day, Hyundai Motor Securities and Samsung Securities held general shareholders meetings. Although the Center for Good Corporate Governance, a progressive proxy adviser in Korea, opposed Hyundai's plan to appoint former Financial Supervisory Service official Yun Suk-nam and KAIST professor Kang Jang-koo as nonexecutive directors, shareholders supported the company. Samsung Securities was also able to reappoint CEO Chang Seok-hoon and appoint former Financial Services Commission Chairman Lim Jong-ryong as a nonexecutive director as planned. The nonexecutive directors from financial authorities are expected to help the two brokerage firms cope with various financial regulations. (JNS) Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla was scheduled to arrive in Israel on Monday to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials. One ostensible purpose of the visit slated to coincide with the completion of the delivery of 10 million doses of BioNTech was to examine the possibility of Pfizer building a vaccine-production plant and R&D center in Israel. On Thursday, however, Pfizer announced that it was postponing the trip. According to the pharmaceutical giant, Bourla and the members of his team who were part of his entourage are not yet fully vaccinated. Certain H... Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The developer of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine said Friday it had signed a partnership with an India-based drugmaker for the production of 200 million doses of the two-dose jab. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which backed the development of Sputnik V, said in a statement it had partnered with Stelis Biopharma "to produce and supply a minimum of 200 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine". Stelis Biopharma is expected to be able to start supplying the vaccine from the second half of the year. RDIF, added that Stelisthe biopharma unit of global pharmaceutical company Strideswill work with the Russian wealth fund to provide supplies "beyond the initial agreement". RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev said that the "significant vaccine volumes" produced with Stelis "will help widen access to the vaccine on a global scale". RDIF said Friday that 52 countries have approved the use of Russia's Sputnik V, named after the Soviet-era satellite. Moscow registered the jab in August before large-scale clinical trials, but leading medical journal The Lancet has since said it is safe and over 90 percent effective. Some Western countries have been wary of Sputnik over concerns the Kremlin would use it as a soft power tool to advance its interests. 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. Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. Since day one of this virus, Chicagos vaccination plan has been focused around equity and reaching those who need this lifesaving treatment the most, Lightfoot said. Unfortunately, in recent days, stories have surfaced alleging providers who had an obligation to follow CDPH guidelines, ignored those restrictions and instead allowed well-connected individuals to jump the line to receive the vaccine instead of using it to service people who were more in need. Recall Newsom Campaign Appears Confident as Signature Gathering Efforts Conclude The signature deadline for recalling Gov. Gavin Newsom has passed, and campaign members voiced optimism as the last petitions were turned in. Members of the Recall Gavin 2020 campaign submitted nearly 22,000 signatures March 17 at the Orange County Registrar of Voters office in Santa Ana. Today is a historic day, volunteer Sky Jones of Yorba Linda told The Epoch Times. Were turning in the last signatures, and I want everyone to see this. The effort to recall Newsom was launched last June after some took issue with the states handling of the CCP virus pandemic. Campaign organizers have said they collected more than 2.1 million signatures from 58 counties, surpassing the nearly 1.5 million verified signatures needed to trigger an election. If enough signatures are verified, the recall election will take place within 60 to 80 days of the signature verification. Government Overreach? Jones said she began supporting the recall initiative last summer after witnessing what she said has been an overreach of the governors power. We are one of the last states to open, she said. Other states have been open; people have been going to school, eating out. Why is California one of the last states to open? Mercedes DeLeon, from Riverside, said she has been working independently to collect recall signatures since last June. Im very proud of what I witnessed out on the streets and the thousands of people that I spoke to, DeLeon told The Epoch Times. My rights were being infringed on and countless others, millions of Californians were put out of business. Were talking about able-bodied healthy Americans were put out of business over nonsense. She said she was outraged by Newsoms violation of his own policies, when he was caught dining at an upscale restaurant, French Laundry, during a time when Napa County was on lockdown. He is doing things he told us not to do, and recommended that we shouldnt do, but did it himself, she said. If youre not going to fulfill your position, and youre abusing power, then youre going to lose your position and youre going to lose the privilege of serving We the People. Richard Walser and Francine Berbarg volunteered for a campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Jack Bradley/The Epoch Times) Government Accountability Sam Hunt, of Costa Mesa, was wearing a shirt that read Even My Cat Hates Gavin Newsom. Hunt named a list of issues he took with Newsom ranging from the passing of AB5which eliminates contract workers and makes them employees for many professionsto spending billions of dollars on masks made in China that were delayed. Hes a horrible governor, Hunt said. He needs to be held accountable for this stuff. Hunt joined the Recall Gavin 2020 campaign since the petition was available in June. Lorrie Bayer, of Fountain Valley, said she became involved with the recall efforts because of school closures. I have nine beautiful grandchildren, all ages 12 down to three, Bayer told The Epoch Times. We need to stand up and do something for our children, and we need to do something about our schools. Shutting the schools down is absolutely absurd. Stella Song, of Fountain Valley, is the current regional coordinator for Recall Gavin 2020. When I heard that Orange County was going to start [the latest effort], I just jumped right on, Song told The Epoch Times. Song migrated from Singapore more than 40 years ago, at a time when she said California was a different place. This was a golden state, but its now a homeless state, she said. Next Steps Song said the recall is setting a precedent for residents in other states to take their power back. California is setting a pace in a sense that other states are thinking, Wow, we can do it too, she said. This is becoming a trickling effect, and its causing a lot of people to wake up and really know whats happening. Though the signature collection efforts are over, Song said this is just the beginning. We are not resting; we are just getting rejuvenated for the next chapter, she said. Because we need to fight. We need to mobilize our people and get people informed and aware and how they can get involved. Otherwise, we wont have a country anymore. Vanrick Williams, First Vice President (Acting) of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Union (SVGTU, issued a strong message to the Ministry of Education. Vanrick Williams, First Vice President (Acting) of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Union (SVGTU), made it clear to the Ministry of Education that their members will not be bullied into taking the COVID-19 vaccine. He made the position clear during a press conference hosted by the Union at its McKies Hill headquarters, last Tuesday, to inform the media about decisions made at a general meeting of the SVGTU held last Sunday. This position comes on the heels of a Ministry of Education directive to teachers that they should make themselves available for a Professional Development Exercise from last Wednesday, March 17, to today, Friday, March 19. From what could be discerned from Williams presentation, teachers are suspicious that the Professional Development Exercise was a "veiled attempt by the Ministry of Education to get teachers into the schools, so they can be vaccinated. Citing safety and security concerns as reasons, the Union, instead, proposed that the Professional Development Exercise be conducted virtually, "either during the last week of this term, or the first week of the Easter break. The Union is firm that members must be allowed to exercise their right to make their own decision with respect to the COVID-19 vaccine. "Teachers feel intimidated, Williams asserted. He declared that members will not be "bullied nor pressured, into any situation. He asserted that any effort intended to force vaccines on teachers, amounted to a form of modern slavery, and he reminded the authorities that, "Slavery has been abolished. Notwithstanding their position regarding the Professional Development Exercise, teachers are not opposed to returning to the classroom on April 12, as proposed by the government. However, the SVGTU is insisting that: "All COVID-19 protocols must be in place, including social distancing and adequate sanitization stations, Williams said. He, however, warned that there could well be a breach of the protocol as it related to social/physical distancing. Given that the students would not have interacted for some time, it was likely that they will engage in physical greetings, fisting, handshakes, even hugging, even under the watchful eyes of teachers. Transportation was another bone of contention for the Union with Williams, on behalf of teachers, wanting to know if the Ministry of Education would ensure that reliable transportation was in placed to serve the students. He reminded that the government had enacted an SR&O, which expires on March 27, which cut in half the number of passengers that minibuses buses are allowed to carry. All in all, the SVGTU First Vice President (Ag) is of the view that the government ought to be grateful for the approach the Union is taking, as it makes a success of the Education Revolution when persons are engaged in "critical thinking. "You can see it is coming from teachers, Williams said. Advertisement The Queen has hailed the 'wonderful' work of the army of volunteers who stepped forward during the pandemic, telling them they have been a 'great, great help over this difficult year'. The 94-year-old monarch, who has been patron of the Royal Voluntary Service for almost 70 years, held a video call with the Duchess of Cornwall, the organisation's president, and RVS volunteers on Tuesday. Her Majesty, calling from Windsor Castle, appeared thrilled to see her daughter-in-law, starting the call with a cheery: 'Ah good morning. Hello Camilla! ' The Duchess, speaking from her London base, Clarence House, replied: 'Good morning, how are you? ' 'Fine, thank you,' replied the Queen. 'Very nice to see you,' Camilla said warmly. The footage released today shows the first time the Queen has appeared since she was reunited with her 99-year-old husband Prince Philip on Tuesday at Windsor after he was released from King Edward VII's Hospital in London after a 28-day stay in hospital. It also comes as Buckingham Palace continues to deal with the fallout from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7. Harry and Meghan, who faced calls to postpone the interview because Philip was unwell, accused an unnamed royal, not the Queen nor the duke, of raising concerns about how dark their son Archie's skin tone would be before he was born. Queen Elizabeth II is pictured during a video call to thank Royal Voluntary Service volunteers for their work earlier this week The Duchess of Cornwall, the organisation's president, also took part in their video call from Clarence House in London (Top row, from left) Camilla, RVS chief executive Catherine Johnstone, RVS volunteer Sue Cadwallader, (middle row from left) NHS volunteer responders Anderson Akponeware and Simon Holmes, RVS volunteer Tracy Clarke and (bottom) the Queen Meghan also told of how she begged for help when she was suicidal, but said the institution gave her no support. The Queen, 94, said the issues were concerning, but that 'some recollections may vary' and the matter was a family one that would be dealt with privately. Queen sends sympathies to Tanzanians after death of country's president The Queen has conveyed her 'deepest sympathy' to the people of Tanzania following the recent death of the country's president, John Magufuli. In a short message posted on the official royal family Twitter account the Queen said she and the Duke of Edinburgh were saddened to learn of his death. The death of President Magufuli, aged 61 and a prominent Covid-19 sceptic in Africa, was announced on Wednesday by Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who said the president died of heart failure. 'Our beloved president passed on at 6pm this evening,' said Ms Suluhu on national television. She said that Mr Magufuli died at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, the Indian Ocean port that is Tanzania's largest city. John Magufuli has died aged 61 Although the vice president said the cause of Mr Magufuli's death was heart failure, opposition politicians had earlier alleged that he was sick from Covid-19. The Queen said in her message: 'Prince Philip and I were saddened to learn of the death of President John Magufuli. I wish to convey my condolences to his loved ones and my deepest sympathy to the people of Tanzania.' Ms Hassan has now been sworn in as Mr Magufuli's successor as president. Advertisement As for the RVS scheme featured in the video released today, more than one million new volunteers have signed up to help since last March, bringing the total to a staggering 12.7million. As RVS chief executive Catherine Johnstone introduced the Queen to four of them, the monarch, dressed in a blue floral dress, smiled broadly and said: 'Thank you very much indeed. Very interesting to hear what you been doing. 'I think it's wonderful work and I do thank everybody for, and all the others too, who have been volunteering. It's been a great, great help, over this very difficult year. Very nice to meet you all.' The call was organised to mark one year since the launch of the NHS Volunteer Responders to tackle the pandemic. The Queen and Camilla listed intently as they were told about the 1.6million tasks carried out by NHS volunteer responders since the initial call to arms, including 'Check in and Chat' calls, delivering food and picking up prescriptions. The scheme has been rolled out for the vaccination programme, they were told. RVS volunteer Sue Cadwallader from Northumberland said volunteering brought her close to her son Sam and gave her 'direction' and 'purpose' after retiring. She said: 'I love it, it's so much fun. It's meeting new people, it's getting the community involved with each other... I've been supporting the health and wellness calls and supporting clients if they need anything at all, so if its prescriptions [or] they just want to chat, I phone them regularly once a week to see how they getting on and we had great fun. It's always filled with laughter. 'When you retire you think I'm going have a lot of time on my hands and it is going to be lovely. But I actually lost my way little bit and then I felt that I needed some direction. I'd had lots of direction. I was very busy and all of a sudden I wasn't. It's given me a purpose and I love doing it.' NHS Volunteer Responder Anderson Akponeware, based in Middlesbrough, dedicated his spare time to supporting his community whilst juggling studying for his PhD and home-schooling. He said: 'When the call was made by the NHS and the RVS to support the vulnerable and those who were shielding, I didn't think twice before signing up - so for close to a year now I've been a Check in and Chat volunteer. 'People have been living in their own small bubbles, and I wouldn't have known how isolated those small bubbles could be until I took on this role.' The Queen asked: 'You managed to find time between your studying and volunteering?' Anderson described how he shared everything with his wife. He added: 'My wife and I try to think more about those in our community and all we can do to make their lives better.' Simon Holmes, an NHS Volunteer Responder from Stockton-On-Tees, shared how accessing mental health services himself had encouraged him to sign-up to the RVS. One sad note came as it emerged that 86-year-old Doris Winfield who was befriended by the Duchess of Cornwall as part of the RVS 'check in and chat' scheme', had died in January. Camilla spent several hours over the past year speaking to Doris, on the phone and met her in person at a Royal Voluntary Service Lunch Club in Rickmansworth in October (pictured above) The Duchess of Cornwall speaks to a NHS volunteer responder steward during a visit to Wembley Vaccination Centre in North West London as part of her role as Royal Voluntary Service president, on February 23, 2021 He said: 'I decided I wanted to do something - if I could give back just in a little way.' 'The whole experience is very humbling.' Camilla said: 'Thank you all very much for all you've done throughout the year, throughout the pandemic. We couldn't have done it without you.' Retired police officer Tracy Clarke, from Gateshead, told the royals how she worked at the RVS Gateshead Home Library Service delivering books to isolated people. The Queen replied: 'Rather different work from the police I should think.' She went on to say: 'Yes and books are very important to people.' The Duke of Edinburgh leaves King Edward VII's Hospital in London on Tuesday after 28 days in hospital The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in conversation with Oprah Winfrey in their interview which first aired on CBS on March 7 One sad note came as it emerged that 86-year-old Doris Winfield who was befriended by the Duchess of Cornwall as part of the RVS 'check in and chat' scheme', had died in January. Camilla spent several hours over the past year speaking to Doris, on the phone and met her in person at a Royal Voluntary Service Lunch Club in Rickmansworth in October. Ahead of the call this week, she recalled how she had enjoyed 'lots of happy conversations' with Doris. On the video call, held over WebEX, Mrs Johnstone CBE, told the royals: 'I couldn't be prouder of the way in which Britain has stepped forward to volunteer.' Uyghur protesters demand Biden admin. 'recognize East Turkistan' as Blinken meets with Chinese officials Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment WASHINGTON Despite the inclement weather, Uyghur protesters gathered in front of the U.S. State Department Thursday, calling on the Biden administration to recognize East Turkistan as Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with officials from the Chinese government. Protesters affiliated with the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement and the East Turkistan Government in Exile gathered in front of the Harry S. Truman Building, home to the State Department. The East Turkistan National Awakening Movement describes itself as an international movement striving for the restoration of East Turkistans independence as an open, pluralistic Republic guaranteeing Human Rights and Freedoms for all. What the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement refers to as East Turkistan is officially recognized by the rest of the world as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Uyghurs are a group of Muslim religious minorities residing in Xinjiang, a region which those affiliated with the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement argue China has been occupying since 1949. In recent years, a spotlight has been cast on China's so-called training education centers that Uyghurs have been subject to, which the U.S. government has characterized as concentration camps. Shortly before former President Donald Trump left office in January, his administration designated Chinas treatment of Uyghurs as genocide and crimes against humanity. The Chinese government firmly rejects allegations of wrongdoing. Protesters chanted several phrases at the State Department headquarters, including boycott China, sanction China, boycott the 2022 Olympics, Nazi China, terrorist China, act now America, act now to end the genocide in East Turkistan, act now to free East Turkistan, bring East Turkistan to the agenda of the U.N. Security Council, and grant refuge to Uyghurs. In an interview with The Christian Post, Salih Hudayar, prime minister of the Washington, D.C.-based East Turkistan Government in Exile, explained the reasoning behind the protests: Were out here in front of the U.S. State Department today to call on the U.S. government to act upon its genocide designation by taking strong meaningful action, statements of displeasure or concern are not enough. He also called on the U.S. government to bring the East Turkistan issue to the agenda at the U.N. Security Council, to urge the U.N. to implement its Genocide Convention and its commitment toward the responsibility to protect, to boycott the upcoming 2022 Beijing Olympics, which we call the Genocide Olympics, and grant refugee status to our population across the globe. According to Hudayar, the Chinese government's actions against the Uyghurs constitute a holocaust. Hudayar added that he was deeply outraged by President Joe Bidens suggestion that Chinas treatment of the Uyghurs is the result of different norms. However, he praised Blinken, asserting that he has continued (former) Secretary (Mike) Pompeos stance by reiterating that the U.S. sees this as a genocide and that there would be strong actions against it. The Chinese government is not going to stop the genocide of Uyghurs and the Turkic peoples in East Turkistan until there is some strong action by the international community. And when I mean strong actions raising the concerns and then saying, Oh yeah, we want to cooperate with you on climate change is not going to pressure China or saying, youre committing a genocide is not enough. There needs to be an increase on tariffs, there needs to be more sanctions, he continued. Ideally, what we want is the U.S. government to ban all goods that are made in East Turkistan because, more than likely, those goods are being made with slave labor. We want western companies to pull out of East Turkistan because Chinas engaged in genocide there. And therefore, these western companies would be paying taxes to the Chinese government. The funds from that would be used to engage in the genocide in East Turkistan, so there has to be economic and political costs on China. Hudayar contended that by buying Chinese goods, we are essentially paying the Chinese government to further engage in its genocide and other atrocities against the Uyghurs. "So we must stop that, we must buy things that are made in America because everything that we buy from China, it only empowers China, even if its like 1% of that goes to the Chinese government, theyre going to spend a portion of that for their military and theyre going to spend a portion of that for their security forces engaging in these atrocities. After his interview with The Christian Post, Hudayar addressed the small crowd of protesters and journalists gathered in front of the Truman building, where he referred to China as an evil empire. Amannissa Mukhlis, the Women and Family Director of the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement, spoke to the crowd about the atrocities experienced by Uyghur women and children at the hands of the Chinese government. Both Hudayar and Mukhlis repeatedly used the word genocide to describe Chinas actions against the Uyghurs. For decades, China has been forcibly aborting Uyghurs and other Turkic babies in (an) attempt to prevent the growth of our population and eradicate the future of our nation, she said. Over the course of the last 40 years, the Chinese government, according to their statistics, aborted over 4 million babies in East Turkistan under the pretext of family planning, Mukhlis added. In recent years, the Chinese government has forcibly sterilized hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other Turkic women across East Turkistan, resulting in a decline of our population as women can no longer give birth. The Chinese government is forcing tens of thousands of young Uyghur and other Turkic women who have not been sterilized to marry Chinese in a bid to assimilate and eradicate us, she continued. Furthermore, Uyghur and other Turkic women are being subject to systematic state-sponsored sexual abuse and rape inside the concentration camps and prisons. Over 850,000 Uyghurs and other Turkic children have been forcibly separated from their families and sent to state-run orphanages and boarding schools to be assimilated and raised as loyal Chinese citizens. Children from Pre-K to (grade) 12 are brainwashed to denounce their own identity, to denounce their own existence as Uyghurs and embrace Chinese identity, culture and language. Mukhlis reported that Children who even dare to speak in their native tongue are beaten into submissions. Our language, our culture, our history and our very physical existence is being eroded by the Chinese government. As her speech concluded, she urged people across the world to boycott Chinese goods and services, to spread awareness on the issue and to call on their governments to act now. As Hudayar told CP, the Chinese government also uses religious minorities for slave labor. According to a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 80,000 Uyghurs have been transferred out of Xinjiang to work in factories across China between 2017 and 2019. The study also found that more than 80 multinational companies, including Apple, Nike, Adidas, Google, Microsoft and Tommy Hilfiger are directly or indirectly benefitting from the forced labor of Uyghurs. While many additional companies such as Amazon, Dell, Gap, General Electric and Victorias Secret continue directly or indirectly benefitting from Uyghur labor, the report noted that a small number of brands including Abercrombie & Fitch advised they have instructed their vendors to terminate their relationships with these suppliers in 2020. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has introduced the Slave-Free Business Certification Act, which would require businesses with worldwide receipts of more than $500 million to investigate the presence or use of forced labor by direct suppliers, secondary suppliers, and on-site service providers. Hudayar expressed support for the legislation during his interview with CP. A kangaroo has had a lucky escape after it got caught in raging flood waters as wild storms continue to batter New South Wales. Jenny Farrrell was filming the torrential rain outside her home in Lansdowne on the state's mid-north coast on Friday when she suddenly spotted the animal jumping into the water. Within seconds the kangaroo was being forced down the rapids as it desperately tried to jump onto the nearby land. 'Come on buddy, get out, get out,' Ms Farrell is heard saying in the footage. Luckily for the kangaroo, it managed to pull itself out of the water and jump onto the grass and hop away - much to the relief of the worried homeowner. Meanwhile, the wild weather battering NSW isn't expected to ease up any time soon. A potentially life-threatening downpour that has flooded rivers and triggered evacuations along the NSW coast has now made its way to Sydney with residents urged to stay indoors. A kangaroo has had a lucky escape after it got caught in raging flood waters as wild storms continue to batter New South Wales The poor kangaroo is seen caught in the rapids before it luckily managed to escape and hop onto the nearby land BoM issued a severe weather warning on Saturday morning covering an area from the mid-north coast to the far south coast of NSW as well as Canberra. The bureau warned of intense rainfall 'potentially leading to life-threatening flash flooding' and damaging winds averaging 60-70km/h with gusts exceeding 90km/h. 'Brace yourself NSW, more heavy rain, dangerous flooding and thunderstorms are on their way,' NSW SES tweeted on Saturday morning. SES crews undertook at least 57 flood rescues and responded to more than 1300 calls for help, as a dozen rivers along the NSW coast flooded. Sydneysiders have been urged to stay inside with the rain not expected to ease up anytime soon. Residents in low-lying areas in Port Macquarie and Kempsey have been evacuated, while those in Taree's CBD, Taree Estate, Dumaresq Island and Cundletown have been told to leave now. New Delhi/Islamabad, March 19 : Just a few days after India and Pakistan armies announced ceasefire along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan once again resorted to political 'jumlebazi' by terming Kashmir as the only issue in way of better ties between the two countries. Addressing the first edition of the Islamabad Security Dialogue, a two-day summit organised by Pakistan's National Security Division in collaboration with the country's leading think tanks, he said: "India will have to take the first step for improving bilateral relations by addressing Kashmir." It seems Khan has forgotten that India took a decisive step vis-a-vis Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, by abrogating its special status and merging it completely into Union of India. Rhetoric Again His assertion that his country would make efforts for peace but it cannot move forward due to the decisions taken by India on August 5 has no takers. It appears that the Pakistan Prime Minister is once again trying to threaten India. It seems that he has forgotten that soon after August 5, 2019, he had used similar language and had dropped enough hints about a war breaking out between the two countries. But all his rhetoric was punctured when he realised that his army could not match the skills of Indian Army and any misadventure could lead to even Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) falling into India's lap. Prime Minister Khan is aware of the fact that his country is not in a position to fight a conventional war with India as it has no resources. If he wants Pakistan to survive, he and others should give up their obsession with Jammu and Kashmir. After August 5, 2019, Khan knocked the door of every country in the world to build pressure on India but he didn't get any support. Even the Muslim countries turned their back towards the Pakistan Prime Minister. In his speech, he once again raked the outdated United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. "We still hope that they (India) give the Kashmiris the rights they were given by the UN Security Council to decide their own lives. It will be as beneficial for India as for Pakistan," he said. J&K people have made their choice It looks like that Prime Minister Khan is unable to digest that people of Jammu and Kashmir have already made their choice and are very much happy with India. No one in J&K even talks about the UNSC resolutions as people of Kashmir have no interest in Pakistan. The stooges who were hired by Pakistan and used to talk in the language of their bosses sitting across the Line of Control (LoC) have become a history. No one in J&K wants to carry forward their legacy. UNSC Resolutions Dead and Buried The UNSC resolutions that Khan is talking about are dead and stand buried. Despite Pakistan waging a proxy war in J&K in 1990 by sending militants and hiring people to orchestrate street protests, region has witnessed tremendous development as New Delhi has ensured that people of J&K live a decent life. On the other hand PoK that's under the illegal occupation of Pakistan has remained underdeveloped and has emerged as the terror hub. It houses terror training camps that produce terrorists who spread hate and violence. The visible difference between divided Kashmirs is enough to prove how sincere Pakistan and its leaders are. Prime Minister Khan should stop worrying about Jammu and Kashmir and look towards the PoK where people have no idea about what peace, prosperity and development mean. Height Of Hypocrisy From the day Imran Khan has taken over as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, he is trying to project himself as the Messiah of Muslims. But the irony is that he has been unable to stop human rights violations being committed by his own army against the people of Gilgit and Baltistan - under Pakistan's control. If someone asks him about the atrocities being faced by Uighur Muslims in China, he says that he is unaware about it. About 10 million Uighurs live under state surveillance in Xinjiang, and there are reports that since 2017, hundreds of thousands have been confined in internment centres. The detainees who have stayed in these detention centers have revealed that Uighurs and other Muslims are made to eat pork on Fridays and are harshly punished if they refuse. But the Pakistan Prime Minister lacks courage to condemn the acts of Chinese Government as he knows that he cannot annoy Beijing as Pakistan's survival is directly linked to China's help and financial aid. Whenever Khan was asked about the Uighurs, he came up with different excuses like "knowing little about the issue" or "I am discussing the matter privately with China". One of Khan's advisors in October 2020 had said that Pakistan Government is "100 per cent satisfied" and the situation of Uighur Muslims was a "non-issue". China has been claiming that its policies toward Uighurs are aimed at curbing terrorism and extremism, and it is their internal issue. Give Up Obsession Prime Minister Khan needs to be told that people of Jammu and Kashmir are living their lives happily and they have got full religious freedom. In J&K, Muslims enjoy equal rights as India is a secular country and it's an abode of unity in diversity. Before talking about human rights of minorities in other countries, he should see how his own country and China treat the members of other communities. If he really wants to do something for Pakistan, he should persuade his masters, on whose tunes he dances, to give up their obsession with Jammu and Kashmir and allow him to do something for his own country. If he keeps on harping about Kashmir, his country may vanish from the world map. The New India cannot tolerate anyone interfering in its internal matters. No power on earth can snatch Kashmir from India. During the past 70-years every attempt made by Pakistan to look towards J&K has been thwarted and if it doesn't mend its ways it would have to pay a heavy price for beating round the bush. J&K India's Integral Part Khan's assertion that road to peace passes through Kashmir is an old political stunt which has lost its relevance. He should stop worrying about the "big benefits" that India will get, he needs to show some concern towards the nation he heads. He seems unaware about the fact that Pakistan is caught in the quagmire of uncertainty and it can crumble under its own weight at any point of time. He needs to muster courage and tell his countrymen the truth that J&K is an integral part of India and if they want Pakistan to prosper they should forget Kashmir and move on. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 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. Earth's first interstellar visitor is neither an alien aircraft nor a comet, as some scientists previously speculated when whizzed through our Solar System in 2017. A new study from Arizona State University suggests Oumuamua is nothing more than a chunk from a Pluto-like planet that was blasted off from its home some 400 million years ago. The team also determined that the remnant is not shaped like a cigar, as previously stated, but is flat like a pancake with a surface of frozen nitrogen. However, Oumuamua may not have ejected as a flat chunk, but melted into the form when it traveled closer to the sun. Alan Jackson, an astronomer and planetary scientist at Arizona State University, said: 'Being made of frozen nitrogen also explains the unusual shape of Oumuamua.' 'As the outer layers of nitrogen ice evaporated, the shape of the body would have become progressively more flattened, just like a bar of soap does as the outer layers get rubbed off through use.' Scroll down for videos Oumuamua is nothing more than a chunk from a Pluto-like planet that was blasted off from its home some 400 million years ago, a study suggests. The object is also flat like a pancake and not shaped like a cigar as previously speculated Jackson, along with his colleague Steven Desch, analyzed observations of Oumuamua captured in 2017, allowing them to determine several characteristics in order to determine its makeup. 'In many ways 'Oumuamua resembled a comet, but it was peculiar enough in several ways that mystery surrounded its nature, and speculation ran rampant about what it was.' All of the remnant's initial observations suggested it was comet, there are some characteristics that have never been observed in one soaring through the solar system it is 10 times as long as it is wide and extremely flat. The team combined data on its size, shine and shape, which led them to conclude that Oumuamua is most likely a gradually eroding chunk of icy nitrogen. The object is our first interstellar visitor was spotted whizzing through the solar system in 2017, which led to a number of theories - some said it was an alien craft. Pictured is a concept image created from previous observations However, Oumuamua may not have ejected as a flat chunk, but melted into the form when it traveled closer to the sun. Scientist say it traveled from a distant solar system into our own Desch and Jackson's conclusion holds weight after they determined solid nitrogen matches the object's features. And since solid nitrogen ice has been observed on the surface of Pluto, it is possible Oumuamua's parent planet was similar. 'We knew we had hit on the right idea when we completed the calculation for what albedo (how reflective the body is) would make the motion of 'Oumuamua' match the observations,' Jackson said. 'That value came out as being the same as we observe on the surface of Pluto or Triton, bodies covered in nitrogen ice.' 'Although Oumuamua's comet-like nature was quickly recognized, the inability to immediately explain it in detail led to speculation that it is a piece of alien technology.' The team analyzed observations of Oumuamua captured in 2017, allowing them to determine several characteristics in order to determine its makeup Researchers combined data on its size, shine and shape, which led them to conclude that Oumuamua is most likely a gradually eroding chunk of icy nitrogen. Since solid nitrogen ice can be seen on the surface of Pluto (public), it is possible Oumuamua's parent planet was similar 'Everybody is interested in aliens, and it was inevitable that this first object outside the solar system would make people think of aliens,' Desch said. 'But it's important in science not to jump to conclusions. It took two or three years to figure out a natural explanationa chunk of nitrogen icethat matches everything we know about Oumuamua.' That's not that long in science, and far too soon to say we had exhausted all natural explanations.' The idea that the object was an alien aircraft came from Harvard physicist Avi Loeb who believes it is a discarded rocket. Perhaps 'Oumuamua was like a buoy resting in the expanse of the universe,' writes Loeb. Oumuamua was discovered in October 2017 by a telescope in Hawaii millions of miles away. The red-tinged rock is estimated to be possibly 1,300 feet long and zooming away from the Earth and sun at more than 16 miles per second Like a trip wire left by an intelligent lifeform, waiting to be triggered by a star system. Loeb's ideas have placed him at odds with fellow astronomers. Writing in Forbes, astrophysicist Ethan Siegel called Loeb a 'once-respected scientist' who, having failed to convince his peers of his arguments, had taken to pandering to the public. Loeb, for his part, protests a 'culture of bullying' in the academy that punishes those who question orthodoxy -- just as Galileo was punished when he proposed the Earth was not the center of the universe. A Covid-19 situation at the National Insurance Board (NIB) led to late pension cheques this month, says Social Development Minister Donna Cox. And the ministry yesterday apologised for any inconvenience caused to pensioners and other recipients of social welfare as a result of the late payment of benefits. Oskar Lapp (1921-1987) carved himself a place in German business history. Oskar Lapp (1921-1987) carved himself a place in German business history. Florham Park, NJ, March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oskar Lapp was a great inventor and a passionate entrepreneur. Together with his wife Ursula Ida Lapp, he has created a company with a global reputation. The LAPP Group founder would have turned 100 on 20 March 2021. His inventions have shaped connection technology worldwide to this day. The Lapp family and employees all over the world honoured this great entrepreneurial personality by laying a wreath at the old cemetery in Stuttgart-Vaihingen and by holding various commemorative events. Our father is still a major role model today. The LAPP company would not exist without Oskar Lapp. We continue his life's work with the deepest gratitude. The fact that the third generation has now taken over the running of LAPP would definitely make him very proud, says Andreas Lapp, Chairman of the Board of LAPP Holding AG. My husband was brave and God gave him a lot of talents, says Ursula Ida Lapp (90) of her husband, who died on 25 April 1987. He was born on 20 March 1921 in Benshausen in the eastern part of Germany, one of four children from a craftsmans family. From an early age, he showed an impressive talent for technical things and an inventive spirit. After being a prisoner of war and subsequent fleeing across the green border to escape the former Communist GDR, in the mid-1950s he began a new life with his family in West Germany. Starting again was tough, as he had left behind everything he owned when he fled to the west. Oskar Lapp initially worked for Harting, where he was responsible for the Southern Germany region. And his innovative ideas also started to attract attention. For example, he developed the first rectangular connector for industry for the company. Thanks to his many meetings with customers, Oskar Lapp knew exactly what users needed. The electrical connection in particular was very laborious: The cores were all black or grey and the electrical engineers had difficulty assigning the cores to the correct ends when connecting. This required a complex process, known as continuity testing. Oskar LAPP invented a flexible cable made of coloured cores. OLFLEX was born. It was the first industrially manufactured power and control cable - an invention that revolutionised connection technology. It was innovative in another way too: Oskar Lapp was the first entrepreneur ever to give an industrial product a brand name. Today, the OLFLEX brand still stands for exceptionally oil-resistant and flexible control cables across the world. In 1959, the Lapps founded their company with the assistance of a 50,000 Mark bank loan. As Oskar Lapp was still employed at Harting, Ursula Ida Lapp was entered in the commercial register as the companys founder. The company name was created at the kitchen table: U.I. LAPP KG - U.I. Stands for Ursula Ida. As with so many start-ups today, the Lapps business began from the garage of their house in Stuttgart-Vaihingen. Oskar Lapp took care of sales while Ursula Ida Lapp looked after the accounts, orders and logistics from home, while taking care of their young children. With OLFLEX, Oskar Lapp set quality standards that are still applicable all over the world in cable production today. He was even offering ready made cable harnesses with up to 130 coloured cores. Demand was huge. LAPP was also one of the first suppliers to offer and cut the cable harness length to customer requirements. OLFLEX was the right product at the right time and sales grew rapidly. Later, UNITRONIC data transmission systems, HITRONIC fibre optic cables, SKINTOP screwed cable glands, SILVYN cable protection and guiding systems, EPIC industrial connectors, ETHERLINE data transmission systems for ETHERNET technology and FLEXIMARK marking systems were added. In 1963, the company opened the first factory of its own to produce OLFLEX cables. In 1965, the company moved from the family home in Stuttgart-Vaihingen to Schulze-Delitzsch-Strae, where it is still based today. Because of his painful experiences as a Soviet prisoner of war, Oskar Lapp was always committed to establishing international business relationships and friendships in the west. He found his first sales partners in Switzerland and Israel back in 1960. Oskar Lapp founded the first international subsidiary in the USA in 1976, which he no doubt saw as the exact counterpoint to the Soviets during the Cold War. At the same time, he positioned his company as a one-stop shop in connection technology and this principle remains a successful formula to this day. Our father led our company to success with hard work and ambition and with a clear view of what is really important. He exhibited persistence, entrepreneurial spirit and innovation and these are still part of LAPPs DNA today, says Siegbert Lapp, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at LAPP Holding AG. When Oskar Lapp died in 1987, his wife Ursula Ida Lapp and his two sons Siegbert and Andreas Lapp took over the running of the company. At the end of the 90s Oskar Lapps widow handed over day-to-day operations to her sons. Under their aegis, there has been greater internationalisation and a focus on solutions. Today, LAPP is one of the leading suppliers of integrated solutions and branded products in the field of cable and connection technology. LAPP currently employs approximately 4,575 people across the world, has 20 production sites and around 43 sales companies. It also works in cooperation with around 100 international representatives. Andreas Lapp is currently Chairman of the Board of the global holding company LAPP Holding AG, while his brother Siegbert E. Lapp is Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Ursula Ida Lapp is Honorary Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board and is present at important events in the company. Two grandchildren have also already taken on responsibility within the company. Matthias Lapp assumed the position of CEO for Europe, including South America, Africa and the Middle East in 2017. Alexander LAPP is responsible for digitisation and e-business at the holding company. In memory of Oskar Lapp, the founding family set up the Oskar Lapp Foundation in 1992. This provides young scientists with incentives to effectively engage them in cardiovascular research. The Oskar Lapp Research Prize, worth 12,000 Euro, is presented annually, while the Oskar Lapp Grant, which provides up to 20,000 Euro for equipment, is awarded every two years. For more information visit www.lappusa.com Ends About LAPP: Headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, LAPP is a leading supplier of integrated solutions and branded products in the field of cable and connection technology. The companys portfolio includes standard and highly flexible cables, industrial connectors and cable entry systems, customized system solutions, automation technology and robotics solutions for the intelligent factory of the future, as well as technical accessories. LAPPs core market is in the industrial machinery and plant engineering sector. Other key markets are in the food industry as well as the energy and the mobility sector. LAPP has remained in continuous family ownership since it was founded in 1959. In the 2019/20 business year, it generated consolidated revenue of 1,128 million euros. LAPP (including also non-consolidated entities) currently employs approximately 4,575 people across the world, has 20 production sites and around 43 sales companies. It also works in cooperation with around 100 foreign representatives. Story continues Attachment CONTACT: David Arentsen LAPP +1 973-660-9700 x6812 darentsen@lappusa.com Russias Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov and Ambassador of Iceland to Russia Arni Thor Sigurdsson discussed bilateral cooperation within the Arctic Council and the regional agenda. In May 2021, Iceland will cede its chairmanship of the Arctic Council to Russia that will preside in the Council for two years, until 2023. The officials discussed the current state of Russian-Icelandic relations and the prospects for the resumption of political contacts as restrictive measures are lifted, as well as topical regional affairs, including cooperation within the Arctic Council, taking into account the upcoming transition of chairmanship from Iceland to Russia in May 2021 for the next two years, according to the Russian Foreign Ministrys website. Earlier, Nikolai Korchunov, the Russian Foreign Ministrys Ambassador at Large for International Cooperation in the Arctic, said Russia would continue efforts to minimize anthropogenic environmental damage to the Arctic during its chairmanship of the Arctic Council. The Arctic Council was established in 1996 under the Ottawa Declaration and is a high-level inter-governmental forum for facilitating regional cooperation, especially in the field of environmental protection. Member countries include Denmark with Greenland and the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Canada, Norway, Russia, the United States, Finland and Sweden. New delhi: India reported a massive surge of nearly 40,000 COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours. Country recorded the highest single-day spike since November 29 on Friday (March 19) as per the government data. Now, India's total caseload stands at 1,15,14,331. The country also reported 154 deaths in the last 24 hours taking the total number fatalities to 1,59,370. Maharashtra logged its highest-ever daily case count of 25,833, while 15 other states/Union territories reported their highest single-day tally in 2021. Maharashtra logged its highest-ever daily case count of 25,833, while 15 other states/Union territories reported their highest single-day tally in 2021. Several restrictions have been put on restaurants, movie halls, social gatherings, amongst other activities in the state. Maharashtra accounts for 63.21 percent of the daily new cases, followed by Kerala and Punjab. In the view of rising COVID-19 infections in the city, Amritsar authorities on Thursday (March 18) have imposed a night curfew as a precautionary measure against the spread of the virus. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also extended the night curfew in nine worst hit districts by two hours daily, by advancing it from 9 p.m. onwards. The nine districts where the night curfew has been extended were Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Ropar, all daily getting 100 plus positive cases. Additionally, following a sudden surge in Coronavirus cases, the authorities in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city have decided to increase the night curfew timings by an hour. Live TV Last year, the Wake County Public School System, which serves the greater Raleigh, North Carolina area, held an equity-themed teachers conference with sessions on whiteness, microaggressions, racial mapping, and disrupting texts, encouraging educators to form equity teams in schools and push the new party line: antiracism. The February 2020 conference, attended by more than 200 North Carolina public school teachers, began with a land acknowledgement, a ritual recognition suggesting that white North Carolinians are colonizers on stolen Native American land. Next, the superintendent of Wake County Public Schools, Cathy Moore, introduced the days program and shuffled teachers to breakout sessions across eight rooms. Freelance reporter A.P. Dillon obtained the documents from the sessions through a public records request and provided them to City Journal. At the first session, Whiteness in Ed Spaces, school administrators provided two handouts on the norms of whiteness. These documents claimed that (white) cultural values include denial, fear, blame, control, punishment, scarcity, and one-dimensional thinking. According to notes from the session, the teachers argued that whiteness perpetuates the system of injustice and that the districts whitewashed curriculum was doing real harm to our students and educators. The group encouraged white teachers to challenge the dominant ideology of whiteness and disrupt white culture in the classroom through a series of transformational interventions. Parents, according to the teachers, should be considered an impediment to social justice. When one teacher asked, How do you deal with parent pushback? the answer was clear: ignore parental concerns and push the ideology of antiracism directly to students. You cant let parents deter you from the work, the teachers said. White parents children are benefiting from the system of whiteness and are not learning at home about diversity (LGBTQ, race, etc.). Therefore, teachers have an obligation to subvert parental wishes and beliefs. Any pushback, the teachers explained, is merely because white parents fear that they are going to lose something and find it hard to let go of power [and] privilege. This isnt an aberration. In fact, the districts official Equity in Action plan encourages teachers to override parents in the pursuit of antiracism. Equity leaders [should] have the confidence to take risks and make difficult decisions that are rooted in their values, the document reads. Even in the face of opposition, equity leaders can draw on a heartfelt conviction for what is best for students and families. In other words, the school should displace the family as the ultimate arbiter of political morality. The equity plan outlines this new ideology in chart format, announcing the districts commitment to a series of fashionable pedagogies, including color consciousness, white identity development, critical race theory, intersections of power and privilege, and anti-racist identity and action. The equity program in the Wake County Public School System is a massive enterprise. Founded in 2013, the districts Office of Equity Affairs has now amassed a $1 million annual budget and hosts an ongoing sequence of school trainings, curriculum-development sessions, and teacher events. In 2019, for example, the office hosted a series of courageous conversations about race and a five-night discussion program about the podcast Seeing White, which asks listeners to consider how whiteness contributes to police shootings of unarmed African Americans, acts of domestic terrorism, and unending racial inequity in schools, housing, criminal justice, and hiring. According to Wake County Public Schools, the purpose of these programs is to achieve equity, which it defines as eliminating the predictability of success and failure that correlates with any social or cultural factor. This is naive, at best. Cultural traits such as family environment, transmitted values, and study habits have an enormous influence on academic outcomes. The radical-left educators believe that this is an injustice. They see their job as leveling cultural differences, grouping students into the categories of inborn identity, and equalizing outcomes. The administrators have the logic backwards. Rather than seek to level cultural factors, they should seek to uncover and then cultivate the cultural traits that lead to academic success across all racial groups. Despite all the recent focus on racial issues in education, the greater disparity in student outcomes today is, in fact, related to social class. As Stanfords Sean Reardon has shown, the class gap in academic achievement is now twice as large as the race gapprecisely the opposite of what it was 50 years ago. This news should suggest an opportunity to school administrators. They could pursue pedagogical strategies that help struggling students of all racial backgrounds. Sadly, rather than seizing this opportunity, teachers in Wake County are busy planning conference presentations on toxic masculinity, microaggressions, trauma-informed yoga, peace circles, and applied critical race theory. North Carolina might be a red state, but in its largest county, the school system has fully bought in to the latest progressive dogmas. Parents across the U.S. should not assume that their local district is immune to these trends. The new political education is spreading everywhere. Source: Critical Race Theory in Wake County, NC Schools | City Journal (city-journal.org) China has forcibly separated Uighur Muslim families by holding children in state orphanages, according to a new report by Amnesty International. The human rights group said children as young as five are forbidden from reuniting with their exiled parents. Many Uighurs left their children with relatives when they fled the country for fear of persecution by the state. Amnesty's china researcher Alkan Akad said these parents are in an 'impossible situation'. 'Children are not allowed to leave, but their parents face persecution and arbitrary detention if they attempt to return home to care for them,' he said. The organisation claims that one million Uighurs have been held in mass detention facilities in Xinjiang province since 2017. Beijing insists these are 're-education' centres, but Western observers say they amount to political indoctrination, forced labour and torture. The organisation claims that one million Uighur's have been held in mass detention facilities in Xinjiang province since 2017, officially known as 're-education centres' A Uighur women and a child walk to board a passenger plane at the Airport in Kuqa, in western China's Xinjiang region, in 2018 For the report, Amnesty interviewed families who fled persecution and are now seeking refuge in Australia, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. One couple, Mihriban Kader and Ablikim Memtinin, fled Xinjiant for Italy in 2016 after being harassed by police and pressured to give up their passports. They left their four children, aged 12-16, with their grandparents, but soon the grandmother was taken to a camp and the grandfather taken for interrogation. After obtaining a permit from the Italian authorities for their children to join them, the kids travelled alone across China to the Italian consulate in Shanghai - but were intercepted by government officials and taken to the orphanage. Mihriban said: 'Now my children are in the hands of the Chinese government and I am not sure I will be able to meet them again in my lifetime. 'The thing that hurts most is that, to my children, it's as if their parents don't exist anymore; as if we passed away and they are orphaned.' Amnesty also spoke to Omer and Meryem Faruh, who also left their daughters, five and six, with their grandparents when they fled for Turkey in 2016. The girls have since been taken to an orphanage, and the grandparents to camps. Omer said: 'We haven't heard the voices of our daughters for the last 1,594 days. 'My wife and I cry only at night, trying to hide our sorrow from our other kids here with us.' Uighur protesters holding photographs of relatives they say they have not heard from in years, near the Chinese Embassy in Ankara, Turkey Earlier this month, another report said China's 're-education' camps, mass imprisonment, forced sterilization, rape, and transfer of Uighur children to state institutions violated all five definitions of genocide laid out by the UN. The Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy said China 'bears state responsibility for an ongoing genocide against the Uighurs'. Beijing has vehemently denied all claims of genocide in its western Xinjiang province, calling reports 'preposterous' and 'a total lie'. Ministers in Britain have stopped short of calling China's treatment of Uighur's a genocide, but are coming under pressure to act. Tory MP Nus Ghani, a member of the Commons business committee, has called on the Government to step up requirements for companies to stamp out forced labour from their supply chains. She told MailOnline: 'We can no longer ignore the mounting inhumane abuse the Uighur are suffering. 'With millions forced into slave labour or re-education camps we have the barbaric removal of children from their parents to break that family bond and institutionalise for the Chinese state. 'Our allies the Americans have declared this a genocide - which means a destruction of a group of people - the vilest of all crimes against humanity. We must now step in and play our part in upholding international law and our hard fought values.' A Chinese Government official recently replied to one of her tweets to accuse her of 'ridiculous lies'. Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. Burma Singapore Military Chief Expresses Grave Concern to Myanmar Regime Leader Singapore military chief Lt-Gen Melvyn Ong (center) and his team join the 18th ASEAN Chiefs of Defense Forces Meeting on Thursday. / MINDEF, Singapore / Facebook Singapores military chief told his Myanmar counterpart that he had grave concern over Myanmar security forces deadly crackdowns on unarmed civilians who have been staging protests against military rule in the country, and urged him to refrain from using lethal force against them. The city states Chief of Defense Force Lieutenant-General Melvyn Ong made the comments while participating in the 18th ASEAN Chiefs of Defense Forces Meeting (ACDFM), which was held virtually on Thursday. Myanmar military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing joined the meeting along with other leaders of armed forces in the ASEAN region. He ousted the countrys democratically elected National League for Democracy government in a coup last month, detaining the countrys President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Since the coup, nationwide protests against the regime have erupted, calling for the release of the countrys leaders and others detained by the junta. The security forces have responded with lethal force, killing more than 200 people so far. In a post on its Facebook page on Thursday, Singapores Ministry of Defense said that during the meeting, [Lt-Gen] Ong also expressed grave concern over the situation in Myanmar, urged for the military authorities to exercise utmost restraint, and to refrain from the use of lethal force against unarmed civilians. ASEAN member states seldom comment on other members internal issues due to the blocs non-interference policy. Its not clear how the Myanmar military chief responded to Lt-Gen Ongs comments or if any other participants expressed similar concerns. Reporting on the meeting, the Myanmar military-owned Myawaddy Television channel simply said the senior general discussed the global impact of COVID-19, its aftermath and the participation of the armed forces of the relevant countries in COVID-19 response teams and committees to alleviate the consequences of the global pandemic and to prevent and control the virus. Early this month, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in an interview with the BBC that to use lethal force against civilians and unarmed demonstrators, I think it is just not acceptable. That is disastrous not just internationally, but disastrous domestically. The countrys Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan also said the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was key to achieving a long-term peaceful political solution to the countrys current unrest. Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has called for the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other detainees, adding that if the situation worsened, it would be a setback for regional peace, stability and prosperity. You may also like these stories: KIA Uses Artillery on Myanmar Police in Jade-Mining Hub Can China Prevent Further Bloodshed in Myanmar? Myanmar Regime Charges Rival Vice-President with High Treason The Communications Director for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Buaben Asamoa, has hinted at a possible punishment for government appointees who are championing to contest for the flagbearership position of the party. Yaw Buaben Asamoa has described as worrying the high rise of appointees who are busily working cloak-and-dagger to announce their ambition to lead the Elephant party in the next election in 2024. He warned in an interview with NEAT FMs morning show, Ghana Montie that those persons are prone to be sanctioned by the party. Its unfortunate, the President has just started his second term and his budget has just been read. I dont know why others are busily working on their agenda when they have to serve this government." What is their motive? This shows some are not serious to help this government to achieve its aim. The party will not stop anyone from achieving its aim, but the right thing must be done at the right time, he noted. The former lawmaker however warned persons with presidential ambition to advise their supporters from flooding social media with campaign posters. They should warn their supporters to escape any form of punishment from the party, he told host Mc Jerry Osei Agyemang. This follows posters of possible candidates who will be joining the NPP presidential race aside Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen and former Railway Minister, Joe Ghartey who political analysts believe will be the main contenders to take over the baton from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Watch video below Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video While most people who have had Covid-19 are protected from catching it again for at least six months, elderly patients above 65 years of age are more prone to reinfection, says a new study published in The Lancet journal. The scientists from Denmark's Statens Serum Institut analysed data collected as part of the country's national Covid-19 testing strategy, through which more than two-thirds of the population (four million people) were tested in 2020. According to the scientists, while prior infection gave those under the age of 65 years around 80 per cent protection against reinfection, for those 65 and older it conferred only 47 per cent protection, indicating they are more likely to catch Covid-19 again. In the study, the researchers calculated the ratios of positive and negative test results taking account of differences in age, sex, and time since infection, using which they produced estimates of protection against reinfection. Also read: India adds nearly 40,000 fresh Covid-19 cases, biggest single-day jump in 3 months Among people who had Covid-19 during the first wave between March and May 2020, they said only 0.65 per cent tested positive again during the second wave from September to December 2020. The rate of infection was five times higher, at 3.3 per cent, among those who returned a positive test during the second wave having previously tested negative. Among those under the age of 65 who had Covid-19 during the first wave, 0.60 per cent tested positive again during the second wave, the study noted. However, the rate of infection during the second wave among people in this age group who had previously tested negative was 3.60 per cent. The researchers noted that older people are at greater risk of reinfection, with 0.88 per cent of those aged 65 or older who were infected during the first wave testing positive again in the second wave. During this second wave, 2 per cent tested positive among those 65 or older who had previously not had Covid-19, the study noted. Due to the time frame of the study, the scientists said it was not possible to estimate protection against reinfection with Covid-19 variants, some of which are known to be more transmissible. They said further studies are needed to assess how protection against repeat infection might vary with different Covid-19 strains. Based on the analysis, the researchers suggested that people who have had the virus should still be vaccinated, as natural protection particularly among the elderly cannot be relied upon. They believe the findings highlight the importance of measures to protect elderly people during the pandemic, such as enhanced social distancing and prioritisation for vaccines, even for those who have recovered from Covid-19. CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH "Our study confirms what a number of others appeared to suggest reinfection with Covid-19 is rare in younger, healthy people, but the elderly are at greater risk of catching it again," said study co-author Steen Ethelberg, from the Statens Serum Institut. "Since older people are also more likely to experience severe disease symptoms, and sadly die, our findings make clear how important it is to implement policies to protect the elderly during the pandemic," Ethelberg said. Citing the limitations of the study, the researchers said clinical information was recorded only if patients were admitted to hospital, adding that it was not possible to assess whether the severity of Covid-19 symptoms affects patients' protection against reinfection. While PCR tests are believed to be highly accurate, the authors expect only around two false positives for every 10,000 tests in uninfected people and around three false negatives for every 100 tests in people with the infection. The scientists said there was no evidence yet that protection against repeat infection with Covid-19 waned within six months. Since Covid-19 was only identified in December 2019, they said the period of protective immunity conferred by infection has still to be determined. "In our study, we did not identify anything to indicate that protection against reinfection declines within six months of having Covid-19," said study co-author Daniela Michlmayr. "The closely related coronaviruses SARS and MERS have both been shown to confer immune protection against reinfection lasting up to three years, but ongoing analysis of Covid-19 is needed to understand its long-term effects on patients' chances of becoming infected again," Michlmayr added. As COVID-19 vaccinations continue to be given, there is no room for waste and health departments in the area are making sure every last drop of available vaccine is used. Andrew English, public health coordinator at Cass County Health Department, said the Cass department has been fortunate not to waste anything. We do keep a list of people who have shown interest in vaccines, English said. If the department has leftover vaccines at the end of a clinic, department staff get on the phone to people on the waiting list, bringing them in immediately. It does make for a little bit longer of a day, but we feel like its worth it to not be wasting these vaccines, English said. Brown County Health Department also has lists, including one made up of people who may not meet the departments immediate criteria but could still get a vaccine if theyre willing to come in right then. If theyre willing to be on a call list and come in right away within 10 or 15 minutes, were going to call them so we dont waste the vaccine, said Lori McClenning, a registered nurse at the department. Vaccines have been in high demand, she said. The Brown department has a vaccine clinic every Friday, averaging between 140 and 160 people being vaccinated at each. One clinic saw more than 200 people vaccinated, McClenning said. Brown County Health Department also has partnered with Adams County, so Brown County residents can go to Adams County to get their vaccine. When staff at the Brown County department near the end of a vial of vaccine, they check to see if there might be an extra dose left in the bottle, McClenning said. When we draw the last dose out of the No. 10 syringe out of a vial, we try to see when we can get an 11 dose out of it, she said. If theres not quite enough left for that 11th extra dose, the remaining bit is thrown away because the vaccine in the individual vials cant be mixed, McClenning said. If we can get 11 out of it, we use it, she said. Pike County Health Department also does what it can not to let any of its vaccine supply of vaccines go unused. We have back-up lists if we have people that dont show up and we will call those people on our back-up list, said Sharon Bargmann, nursing director at the Pike department. The department will call those people who want vaccines and stay late if need be; as a result, the department hasnt wasted a dose, Bargmann said. People have to have an appointment to get their vaccine and the Pike department schedules appointments as the vaccine is available so it doesnt run out. Each vial of Moderna vaccine holds 10 doses while vials of the Pfizer vaccine hold six doses. The Pike department makes a point of using all of its available Pfizer vaccine within five days, because the department lacks the ultra-cold storage needed to keep it longer, Bargmann said. Once it starts thawing and we pick it up from our stock pile supply house through Illinois Department of Public Health, that starts the countdown and you have five days to use it, Bargmann said. It was easy to root for Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship last weekend. The little boy who learned to play golf left-handed by standing opposite his right-handed dad and mirroring dads swing has long been a crowd favorite. He is not only immensely gifted; he is imaginative and willing Even before the pandemic arrived, some Connecticut consumers were aggressively exploring ways to keep their electric bills down. After consistent $600-$700 (a month) summer electric bills for a 2000 square foot house without a pool, we looked into everything, said Stef Stern-Carlson of Cheshire. We had an energy audit, we didnt qualify for solar (too many trees), and we even considered moving back to Washington State, where cost of living expenses are about 24 percent less. Stern-Carlson and her family arent giving up just yet. They recently installed a new furnace and Stern-Carlson said she is hoping that because it is more efficient, it will reduce their electric bill somewhat. No one can guarantee it will help, but were crossing our fingers, she said. Otherwise, we cant afford to stay in Connecticut. Connecticut has never been a low-cost state when it comes to consumers electric bills, but a recent rate hike proposal before state utility regulators seems to have rekindled public ire about how much we pay to keep the lights on. For decades, the state has been at or near the top of the list of states with the highest electric rates. A recent study from the real estate web site Ownerly reported that Connecticut has the nations second highest electric rates, trailing only Hawaii. The average residential electric bill in Connecticut is $160.52, according to the study, an average increase of 9.9 percent when comparing April-December 2020 compared to the same months in 2019. When broken out by the states two largest electric utilities, Eversource Energy customers saw their monthly bills jump by 11.45 percent, while their counterparts with The United Illuminating Co. saw a 12.92 percent increase, according to the study. Part of the reason for the increase is attributable to people working from home during the pandemic. Eversource saw a power usage surge of 15 percent while United Illuminating Co. saw an increase of 17 percent. Ways to reduce your electric bill Joel Gordes, a West Hartford-based energy consultant, said that consumers can take charge of their monthly electric bills in a few small steps. Turning off lights when you arent in a room and using LED light bulbs is a good start, along with installing more insulation in your home. There is energy efficiency money (at the state level) that can take care of a large share of the costs associated with changing out your lights, Gordes said. Other methods, like installing a photo voltaic solar array on your roof, are larger undertakings with greater upfront costs, but could pay off over time. Gordes said he installed solar panels five years ago. Most months we dont have an electric bill, he said. If your solar array produces more electricity than you use in a given period, the excess energy is delivered back onto the grid, giving you a credit on your bill from your local utility. In months when a solar array doesnt produce enough electricity for your needs, you can tap into those credits to reduce the costs associated with the electricity from your provider. Some homeowners are now installing batteries to store some of the electricity their solar arrays produce, Gordes said. Ken Allen of Cheshire and his wife Peggy are in the process of having a pair of 10 kilowatt batteries in stalled at their home. The two batteries, Ken Allen said, are the size of two very large trunks, with each unit costing $10,000. Allen said he and his wife have had a solar array at their home for eight years. It has paid for itself, he said. The couple installed batteries after mounting frustration with power losses; their solar panels can still produce energy, but there is no way to make use of it since the system is tied into the distribution grid. Once the battery system is up and running, Ken Allen said they will be able to power their home in the aftermath of a power outage by using the electricity stored in the batteries. And on sunny days, when the rest of the neighborhood is without power, their solar panels will replenish the electricity being drawn from the batteries. Even if there is no sun, the company that sold them (the batteries) to us said that depending on how much electricity you use, you will have enough power to last from one to four days, Ken Allen said. Rate hikes by electric utilities drive customer traffic to solar array installers like Aegis Solar in Branford, according to company owner Chris Lenda. People are getting kicked in their wallets right now, and that has really piqued an interest in the business, Lenda said. The goal when installing a photo voltaic array is to design it so that produces 100 percent of your annual energy usage. And in many cases we are able to do that. As for his own home, Lenda said his monthly electric bill is typically under $10 per month. Essentially, what Im paying for is renting the electric meter, he said. Lenda said that while local solar array installers saw their businesses take a hit during the early days of the pandemic, hes gotten busier in recent months. Demand is just as strong or stronger than before, he said. Restarting the debate At the beginning of March, Eversource Energy filed a request with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in an attempt to revisit a rate increase that regulators had approved last summer, then suspended efforts amid public outcry over the size of increases to customer electric bills during the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest filing does not reflect costs the company incurred making repairs to its distribution network following Tropical Storm Isaias, which hit the state last summer. Jim Judge, Eversources chief executive officer, told energy industry analysts last month that company officials would seek to recover an additional $230 million in costs incurred as a result of the storm. Isaias was one of the largest power outage events in the state's modern history. Thousands of residents remained without power more than a week after the storm hit and countless roads were blocked by damaged trees and power lines. Nearly 80 percent of those costs are attributed to bringing in mutual aid crews, hiring independent contractors and vegetation management crews and conducting environmental cleanup. The Eversource filing has resulted in renewed frustration among the utility's ratepayers and in public rebukes by elected officials. Last week, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, sent a letter to PURA urging regulators to freeze the electric rates Eversource charges its customers at current levels. Such flagrantly failed service should not be rewarded by forcing ratepayers to pay more money to a company already reaping substantial profits and highly compensating its executives, Blumenthal said in his letter. For consumers who have suffered deeply from Eversources utility malpractice, raising rates piles on insult and injury. A week after Eversource announced its latest filing, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong criticized the utility company; at the same time, he announced a $46.5 million plan negotiated by state officials with United Illuminating to decrease and stabilize electric rates into 2023. It makes such a difference to have corporate leadership firmly committed to Connecticut, Tong said of UI officials. Eversource, the ball is in your court now. Mitch Gross, an Eversource spokesman, said officials at the utility understand the impact the pandemic has had on customers, which is why weve proposed spreading the costs over time, relieving customers of the burden of paying the costs all at once lessening the impacts to customer bills. The expenses outlined in our filing represent actual costs that were incurred to safely run the electric system and provide reliable service to Connecticut customers, Gross said. Tong isnt backing down. On Friday, he said Connecticut residents pay far too much for our energy. Families are right to be mad, Tong said. Scrutinizing every rate request and holding utilities accountable for the service they provide and every penny they charge is a core function of my office. luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com Azerbaijani forces subjected POWs to cruel and degrading treatment and torture either when they were captured, during their transfer, or while in custody at various detention facilities, the New York-based human rights watchdog said in a statement on March 19. It said Azerbaijan should also immediately release all remaining Armenian POWs and civilian detainees and provide information on those who were last seen in Azerbaijani custody. The abuse, including torture of detained Armenian soldiers, is abhorrent and a war crime, said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at HRW. It is also deeply disturbing that a number of missing Armenian soldiers were last seen in Azerbaijans custody and it has failed to account for them, Williamson added. HRW said it had interviewed four former POWs who described prolonged and repeated beatings while in Azerbaijani custody. One described being prodded with a sharp metal rod, and another said he was subjected to electric shocks, and one was repeatedly burned with a cigarette lighter, the group said, adding that the men were held in degrading conditions, given very little water and little to no food in the initial days of their detention. HRW also cited scores of videos posted to social media showing scenes in which Azerbaijani officers can be seen apparently ill-treating POWs. The watchdog said it had verified more than 20 of these videos, including through interviews with repatriated POWs and family members of servicemen who appear in the clips but have not yet returned. Raising concerns that POWs still in Azerbaijani custody are at risk of further abuse, HRW urged Azerbaijani authorities to ensure that the detainees have all the protections to which they are entitled under international human rights and humanitarian law, including freedom from torture and ill-treatment. Six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan in and around Nagorno-Karabakh ended in November with a Moscow-brokered cease-fire deal. More than 6,000 people were killed during the conflict. Under the truce agreement, a chunk of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven districts around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by ethnic Armenian forces. The agreement also provided for an exchange of POWs and other detained people. The number of Armenian POWs still in custody is unclear. By the end of February, Armenia had asked the European Court of Human Rights to intervene with Azerbaijan regarding 240 cases of alleged prisoners of war and civilian detainees, according to HRW. Armenia has said that its neighbor had returned 69 POWs and civilians. Azerbaijan claimed it had returned all the POWs to Armenia but was still holding about 60 people suspected of terrorism. HRW said it could not verify the claims by Baku or Yerevan about the numbers of people remaining in custody or their status. Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but the ethnic Armenians who make up most of the regions population reject Azerbaijani rule. They had been governing their own affairs, with support from Armenia, since Azerbaijans troops and Azeri civilians were pushed out of the region and seven adjacent districts in a war that ended in a cease-fire in 1994. Fifty-two Pottsville Area High School students are in quarantine after three of them tested positive for COVID-19, acting Superintendent Jared A. Gerace told parents and guardians in an email on Thursday. He said the state Department of Health was contacted and that contact tracing resulted in the additional quarantines. Individuals affected will be contacted by the high school administration, he said. No staff members needed to quarantine, Gerace said. County numbers down Fourteen new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Schuylkill County on Thursday, bringing the total to 12,391. There were no new deaths, and that number remained at 377. After 88 deaths and 3,392 cases in the county in January, there were 32 deaths and 818 cases, about 29 nine per day, in February. Through the first 18 days of March, the county has reported nine deaths five of those coming in the past six days and 349 cases, or about 19 per day. Statewide, the Department of Health reported 3,126 additional cases Thursday, bringing the total to 976,847. There were 17 new deaths attributed to COVID-19 for a total of 24,706. There are 1,500 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19. Of that number, 284 are in intensive care. The trend in the 14-day moving average number of hospitalized patients per day is about 4,500 lower than it was at the peak on Dec. 25. The current 14-day average is now also below what it was at the height of the spring peak on May 3, the department reported. In Schuylkill County, 14 people were reported hospitalized on Thursday, two of them in intensive care. The 14-day moving average of hospitalizations was at 15.3, down from a peak on Jan. 14 of 74.9. Statewide percent positivity for the week of March 5-11 stood at 5.7%, while the countys was at 6.4%, down from 7% the week prior. The number of cases from March 5-11 in the state totaled 12,483, down 1,059 from the previous seven days. In the county it was 106, down from 108 in the prior seven-day span. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Taking note of the low vaccination numbers in the state, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday asked all private and government hospitals and health facilities to offer hassle-free vaccination services for at least 8 hours daily, 7 days a week, till March 31. There should be no requirement of a separate certificate if an eligible 45+ years person brings the medical record regarding co-morbidities, he further directed. The directions came during the Covid review meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, who pointed out with concern that of the 1291 registered private facilities, 891 have reportedly not administered a single dose. He asked the district administration to come down strictly on such hospitals, stressing that private hospitals need to join the government battle against Covid for the survival of the state and its people. Rates to take the vaccine in private healthcare institutions must be publicised and overcharging should not be permitted, he directed the Health Department. Captain Amarinder Singh While he was happy to note that vaccine services were being offered at all PHCs and Government Hospitals 7 days a week, the Chief Minister said this was not enough and IEC activities needed to be immediately ramped up to urge all eligible to take the vaccine by publicising the benefits of the same, and the fact that these vaccines are safe. He asked all elected and local leaders to make efforts to reach out to the public and address vaccination hesitancy. Community participation through Lok Sanjhedari should also be reorganised and mobilised to address vaccination hesitancy and COVID appropriate behaviour, said the Chief Minister. Captain Amarinder directed the Health Department to be proactive in reaching out to, and ensuring coverage of all frontline workers. This must include all those who provided essential services or were on COVID duty during the curfew and the lockdown, he added. Covid-19 vaccine Adequate stocks of medicine, availability of manpower and resources should be ensured at healthcare facilities in all districts. Bed capacity for COVID patients in L2 &L3 hospitals should be ramped up and elective surgeries should be postponed/deferred till further orders, he further directed, adding that referral mechanism to L3 facilities must be in place and functional. The Chief Minister said the Covid incidence in Punjab has remained relatively low over the last one year, and the state has consistently remained at the 18th position among all states in India in terms of the no. of Covid cases. Though the death rate has been a matter of concern, but at 206 Deaths per million population, Punjab compares well against Delhi at 542 and Maharashtra at 431, he added. However, it was a matter of concern, said the Chief Minister, that after bringing the problem under control by the end of the last year, the state is again seeing a surge for the last one month. From a low of around 200 cases daily and deaths in single digits, Punjab has gone to around 2000 cases per day, and the deaths are also increasing, he noted. We have to be prepared for this second surge, said Captain Amarinder, pointing out that the 1918 Spanish flu had four spikes. We have to be prepared for a long battle, he warned. The Chief Minister assured, however, that his government was fully prepared to deal with the second wave. He thanked all the concerned departments and officers/staff for their hard work in these challenging times and expressed the confidence that with their collective collective efforts, Punjab will succeed in containing the pandemic. Please be safe, get vaccinated & take care of yourselves even as you shoulder the responsibility of keeping others safe, he appealed to them. Capt Amarinder Earlier, participating in the meeting, DC Ludhiana said all the health facilities in the district were prepared to deal with the situation, while DC Jalandhar disclosed that testing in his district had been ramped up to 5000 a day, while contact tracing was at 18.6. The DC Jalandhar further said that Covid monitors had been put at marriage palaces and CCTV footage was being retained for 45 days. He disclosed that positivity rate in the district had come down among police personnel post vaccination. He said the district administration was making it mandatory for chemists and private practitioners to report people who come for treatment with flu symptoms. He urged the Chief Minister to empower Transport Department to issue challans in case of mask violation. Pointing to 5% positivity case in the district this month, DC Patiala said more cases were being reported from the Patiala Corporation area. The district administration was increasing sampling to 4000 a day in the next couple of days, he said, adding that the next two weeks were critical. DCs of Mohali and other districts, also updated the Chief Minister on the situation in their respective districts, as well as the measures being taken to check the spread. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal Detectives have charged a 14-year-old boy from Las Vegas in the deaths of a man and his father at their home in Villanueva last month. New Mexico State Police spokesman Ray Wilson said Enrique Duran-Garcia, who turned 14 in January, is charged with two open counts of murder and one count each of intimidation of a witness, tampering with evidence and larceny of a firearm in the Feb. 14 deaths of Kevin Gutierrez, 32, and Guadalupe Gutierrez, 59. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Duran-Garcia was booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center, according to State Police. Its unclear if he has an attorney. State Police said Kevin Gutierrez was the ex-boyfriend of Duran-Garcias mother, although the mans family said they were just friends. Its horrific, Frances Maestas, Kevin Gutierrezs mother, told the Journal. And then, whats even worse, is to find out a kid killed them. She said she met Duran-Garcia and his mother in December. The boy took a liking to her son. I had met that child one time, Maestas said, adding that she felt sorry for him because his father had died and his mother had been in jail. He was real, real quiet. His mom even said to me, Hes such a good boy, hes so quiet, Maestas said. I think he was just holding in so much on his own hardly even said any words. Wilson said the father and son were found dead on Valentines Day inside a home at 52 Dodge Drive, along a rural stretch outside town. Through the investigation, he said, police found that Duran-Garcia had told Kevin Gutierrez that he had run away from home and wanted to stay with him. Wilson said Duran-Garcia showed up to the house with a 15-year-old friend and took Kevin Gutierrezs handgun and fatally shot him with it before Guadalupe Gutierrez was subsequently stabbed and shot and killed. Enrique and his friend hitchhiked back to Las Vegas, he said. Enrique then threatened his friend not to talk to the police about the crime. Its unclear if the 15-year-old is facing any charges in the case. Maestas said Kevin Gutierrez, her only son, was a very loving, giving individual who had a real big heart when it came to children. She said he graduated from West Las Vegas High School and loved to remodel homes with his father, who was an excellent carpenter. She said her son enjoyed fishing in Villanueva, collected vintage comic books and, like his mother, was a metal head who enjoyed bands like Five Finger Death Punch and Metallica. She said why Duran-Garcia killed her son and his father is the million dollar question. I dont know what would have triggered a child to do such a she said, her words trailing off. President Joe Biden tripped three times while ascending a staircase to board Air Force One on Friday, at one point slamming his left knee into the metal structure and nearly ending up all fours. Biden made the staircase stumble while boarding the presidential plane to depart for Atlanta from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Video of the fall showed Biden holding on to the railing of the staircase as he began walking up. But about halfway up, the president could be seen losing his footing before tumbling three times, finally ending up on his left knee while still clasping the railing with his right hand. He quickly got back up on his feet and ascended the rest of the staircase before saluting the U.S. Marines who flew him by helicopter from the White House to the airport. Biden does not appear to have sustained any injuries in the fall, and White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters onboard Air Force One that hes doing 100% fine. The Friday fall was not Bidens first since winning the 2020 election. The 78-year-old president fractured his right foot in late November while playing with his dog. This article is written by Chris Sommerfeldt from New York Daily News and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com. [March 19, 2021] Voltas introduces the new 2021 range of Voltas Fresh Air Coolers; launches 'Ab Garmi Ke Mazey Lo, Bina Garmi Ke' campaign The new range of Voltas Fresh Air Coolers comes with dynamic features - smart humidity controller, 3 & 4 sided honeycomb padding, turbo air-throw, mosquito repellant, and more MUMBAI, India, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Voltas, India's undisputed leader in Cooling Products, and the No. 1 AC brand, from the house of the Tata's, widens its 2021 product portfolio with a dynamic range of 'Voltas Fresh Air Coolers' available in a wide range of tank capacities and five different sub-categories - Room Air Coolers, Desert Coolers, Tower Coolers, Window Coolers, and Personal Coolers. A total of 48 SKUs have been launched this year. The launch consolidates its leadership position in the Cooling Products space. Specially designed to deliver in all kinds of Indian climate, the new gamut of best in class air coolers comprises of one-of-a-kind features in select models; such as eco cool mode, mosquito repellent, WiFi connectivity, smart humidity controller, turbo air-throw, and presoaking cooling pads. The range also consists of Windsor with 4 sided cooling advantage, Epicool with contemporary design and ultra-cooling, Virat with a sturdy metal body for the entry level segment, and Alfa fresh with purification advantage. Commenting on the launch of the new range of Air Coolers, Mr. Pradeep Bakshi, Managing Director & CEO, Voltas Limited, said, "At Voltas, we have always kept customer-centricity at the core of innovations. Our latest range of Air Coolers is a perfect addition for Indian homes this summer. Whether it is for dry conditions of North & Central India, or the humid conditions of South and the coastal belt, we have a range of Air Coolers to suit different requirements. With the IMD's summer forecast of above normal temperature, we look forward to an increase in demand for this category." In line with the motto of 'Keeping India Cool' since 1954 and being the 'cooling experts of India', Voltas has also launched its Air Cooler campaign 'Ab Garmi Ke Mazey Lo, Bina Garmi Ke'. The campaign taps into the emotions of India summer and highlights that with Voltas' Air Fresh Coolers, the consumers can enjoy all the good things that summer season brings along, and say goodbye to humidity and sweat. About Voltas Limited: Voltas Limited is a premier air conditioning and engineering solutions provider and a Projects specialist. Founded in India in 1954, Voltas Limited is part of the Tata Group, and in addition to Air Conditioners, Air Coolers, Water Dispensers, Water Coolers, and Commercial Refrigeration products; Voltas offers engineering solutions for a wide spectrum of industries in areas such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning, refrigeration, electro-mechanical projects, electrification, textile machinery, mining and construction equipment, water management & treatment, cold chain solutions, building management systems, and indoor air quality. Voltas is among the top ten companies within the Tata group and is the undisputed market leader in room air conditioners in India. It has also launched its range of Voltas Beko Home Appliances, through its new JV in India, in equal partnership with Arcelik of Turkey. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1459813/Voltas_Range_of_Coolers.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global automotive radar market is anticipated to reach $15,658.6 million by 2026 according to a new research published by Polaris Market Research. In 2017, the adaptive cruise control application dominated the global market, in terms of revenue. In 2017, Europe accounted for the majority share in the global Automotive Radar market. The expanding global automotive industry, along with increasing popularity of autonomous vehicles majorly drives the market growth. Higher frequency radar systems are being used in vehicles owing to their improved performance, increased reliability, and higher accuracy. The adoption of automotive radar systems has increased significantly owing to increasing road traffic, growing incidences of road accidents, and growing need to improve road safety. Other factors driving the market growth include growing disposable income, technological advancements, and changing lifestyles. New emerging markets, emerging consumer demographics, and stringent government regulations would provide growth opportunities for Automotive Radar market in the coming years. Get sample copy of this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/global-automotive-radar-market/request-for-sample Automotive radars use 76 GHz to 81 GHz technology platform for easier development and use of individual sensors for multiple purposes. Use of wider bandwidth provides higher resolution and enhanced object recognition. The 79 GHz project founded by the European Commission aims to speed up global agreement to use the 79 GHz band for vehicular radars. The Russian Federation, Ukraine, Turkey and the Balkan region have approved the use of the 79 GHz band for automotive high-resolution short range radars. In 2017, Europe accounted for the highest share in the global Automotive Radar market. Established automotive industry, technological advancements, and high investment in R&D are factors expected to drive the market growth in the region. The introduction of stringent government regulations for vehicular and road safety accelerates the adoption of automotive radars. Asia-pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This is due to economic growth in countries such as China and India, leading to rising living standards and high disposable income. Expansion of global players into these countries to tap market potential boosts the market growth. The well-known companies profiled in the report include Delphi Automotive PLC, Denso Corporation, Continental AG, Infineon Technologies AG, Analog Devices, Inc, ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, NXP Semiconductors, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Autoliv Inc., and Hella KGaA Hueck & Co among others. These companies launch new products and collaborate with other market leaders to innovate and launch new products to meet the increasing needs and requirements of consumers. Make Inquiry about this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/global-automotive-radar-market/inquire-before-buying Automotive Radar Market Size and Forecast, 2017-2026 by Range Short Range Medium Range Long Range Automotive Radar Market Size and Forecast, 2017-2026 by Vehicle Type Passenger Vehicles Commercial Vehicles Automotive Radar Market Size and Forecast, 2017-2026 by Sales Channel OEM Aftermarket Automotive Radar Market Size and Forecast, 2017-2026 by Frequency 2X-GHZ Radar Systems 7X-GHZ Radar Systems Automotive Radar Market Size and Forecast, 2017-2026 by Application Blind Spot Detection Adaptive Cruise Control Intelligent Parking Assistance Autonomous Emergency Braking Others Automotive Radar Market Size and Forecast, 2017-2026 by Region North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany UK France Italy Asia-Pacific China India Japan Latin America Brazil Mexico Middle East & Africa Avail discount on this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/global-automotive-radar-market/request-for-discount-pricing About Polaris Market Research Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. Contact us- Polaris Market Research Phone: 1-646-568-9980 Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com Web: www.polarismarketresearch.com Hurricane season 2021 is here: How do storms get their names? In January 2019, we saw scenes in the lower Darling (Baaka) River that looked like something from an Old Testament plague. A million dead fish. The Baaka, no longer a river, but a series of pools the colour of a moon of Saturn, full of toxic algae. The next summer, there were those horrendous fires. Dont think of these cataclysms as one-offs. This is what the future likely looks like. Earlier this month, the Murray Darling Basin Authority the federal agency charged with implementing our most important environmental law hosted a Basin Climate Resilience Summit. When it comes to climate change, the MDBA moves with the speed of a riverboat on the Murray, on a leisurely 13-year cruise. The aftermath of a massive fish kill event in the Darling River at Menindee in January 2019. Credit:Graeme McCrabb In October 2008, the CSIRO produced a report titled Water Availability in the Murray Darling Basin. This was before our government shredded the research being conducted in Australia into climate change adaptation. This report is pretty scary, unless you dont believe in the laws of physics. We knew then, and with more certainty now, that its going to get a lot hotter and drier in our part of the world. For every degree increase in the average daily temperature, we will have 15 per cent less run-off into our already hydrologically feeble rivers. Then think week after week of 40-plus-degree days. In July 2009, the MDBA was preparing the Basin Plan. Their main task was calculating based on the best scientific knowledge how much water has to go out of consumptive uses (like irrigated agriculture) and be returned to the rivers. Returned so we stop killing our environmental treasures, like the 16 internationally listed wetlands of the Basin, which stretch from southern Queensland down to the Coorong near the Murrays (dredged) mouth. The CSIRO told the MDBA that in order to properly do its sums (computer modelling) on the yearly average amount of water that would have to go back to the rivers, future climate scenarios that the CSIRO had prepared needed to be incorporated into the modelling. The investment supports the increase of production capacity, by including three new production lines, and the expansion of its distribution center, augmenting the current logistics capacity. The Avenches production center acts as Nespresso 's global distribution center, shipping capsules to over 80 countries around the world, and is dedicated to the production of Nespresso Original and Professional coffees as well as Starbucks by Nespresso . "This investment speaks of our long-term sustainable business approach," said Guillaume Le Cunff, CEO of Nespresso. "All Nespresso coffees sold worldwide are produced in Switzerland. Over the past eight months we have announced a total of CHF 270 million investment in both our Romont and Avenches production centers. We are very proud to be able to continue to invest in Switzerland and support our economy, even more so in challenging times such as these." "In the current context, I consider Nespresso's announcement as very good news. This very important investment demonstrates the attractiveness of this region, including in the industrial sector. By creating several dozen additional jobs, Nespresso is expanding its Avenches site and strengthens the positioning of the Swiss Food Nutrition Valley, an initiative launched by Nestle and the Canton of Vaud to promote Switzerland as an innovation hub in the field of food and nutrition," emphasized Philippe Leuba, Director of the Department of Economy, Innovation and Sport of the Canton of Vaud. Growing consumer demand has led to the need to expand Nespresso's logistics operations in Avenches, ensuring higher turnover in order processing and dispatching, as well as increased production capacity. The expansion of the distribution center is set to start in July 2021 and expected to be fully operational by September 2022. The three new production lines are planned to be operational by March 2022. Nespresso opened its production center in Avenches in 2008, with an initial investment of CHF 300 million, later complemented with CHF 200 million invested in its infrastructure and operations in Avenches, a total of CHF 500 million since 2009. This announcement today joins the CHF 160 million investment communicated July last year for the expansion of the brand's Romont production facility, which will result in the creation of up to 300 new jobs in the next 10 years. A positive impact on the local economy Over the past 10 years, in addition to ongoing investment in its business, Nespresso has invested CHF 700 million in its three Swiss-based production centers in the cantons of Vaud and Fribourg. Sustainably grown coffee beans are transformed into the highest quality coffees through the know-how and passion of more than 1,000 skilled factory employees. In 2020, and despite the pandemic situation, Nespresso recruited over 150 new employees for its three production centers in Switzerland. "As the Mayor of Avenches, I welcome the expansion project and I am delighted with the 50 additional jobs that will boost and sustain the attractiveness of our local economy," said Roxanne Meyer Keller, Mayor of the Avenches town. Over the past 10 years, Nestle has invested, on average, CHF 300 million every year in its infrastructures and operations in Switzerland. Strongly rooted in its home country, Nestle has 11 production centers and 4 Research & Development sites located in Switzerland. Sustainable operations While investing in supporting its operations, Nespresso is also committed to its sustainability ambition, that every cup of Nespresso coffee has a positive impact on the world. All three Nespresso production centers are 'zero waste to landfill' and production processes have been optimized to ensure heat and water are recovered and reused whenever possible. 100% of the green coffee is delivered by rail to our production centres. In the Avenches production facility, the energy generated during the production processes is used to heat the factory, saving, per year, the equivalent of the electricity consumed in 700 households in Switzerland. The green coffee pre-heating system in place allows to save a total of 357,000 m3 of natural gas per year. Facts and figures about the Nespresso Production Center in Avenches Second Nespresso production center in Switzerland (2008), after Orbe (2002). Romont (2015) worldwide production in Switzerland production center in (2008), after Orbe (2002). Romont (2015) worldwide production in Total investment in infrastructures and operations (since creation): CHF 560 million Total investment in production facilities in Switzerland since 2010: CHF 700 million since 2010: Total site area: 16,587 m 2 Total site area after expansion: 21,310 m 2 Current number of employees on the site: 730 Production of Nespresso Original, Professional coffees and Starbucks by Nespresso About Nestle Nespresso Nestle Nespresso S.A. is the pioneer and reference for highest-quality portioned coffee. The company works with more than 110,000 farmers in 15 countries through its AAA Sustainable Quality Program to embed sustainability practices on farms and the surrounding landscapes. Launched in 2003 in collaboration with the NGO The Rainforest Alliance, the program helps to improve the yield and quality of harvests, while protecting the environment and improving livelihoods of farmers and their communities. Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, Nespresso operates in 82 countries and has 13,900 employees. In 2020, it operated a global retail network of 816 boutiques. The brand currently has more than 100,000 points to collect its used capsules globally, enabling 91% of its consumers to recycle. For more information, visit the Nespresso corporate website www.nestle-nespresso.com. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1457432/Nespresso_Avenches.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1201367/Nespresso_Logo.jpg Related Links https://nestle-nespresso.com/ SOURCE Nespresso Courtesy Two San Antonio TV personalities are speaking out against the hate Asian American communities have seen both nationally and locally. Asian-owned Noodle Tree was the target of vandals over the weekend following a CNN interview in which the owner criticized Gov. Greg Abbott's new COVID-19 guidelines in Texas. Mike Nguyen's San Antonio restaurant was vandalized with hateful words smeared along windows and property. Just days later, deadly shootings at three Atlanta-area spas left eight people dead, six were Asian women, according to a CNN report. The events that unfolded have left the Asian American communities on edge. "I will never understand how someone could carry so much hate that they think violence or vandalism is the way. As for the victims and their families, my heart aches for them, KENS 5 anchor Sharon Ko told MySA. "Absolutely no one deserves that kind of pain and suffering." Ko's parents immigrated to the U.S. in the early '80s from South Korea. As a first generation Korean American, she says racial discrimination hits close to home for her. READ ALSO: San Antonio plans to stand up against anti-Asian hate crimes with vigil downtown "My family and I have experienced discrimination simply because we talk or look different. I know exactly what it feels like to be judged for who you are," Ko said. News 4 San Antonio and Fox29 reporter Gloria DeLeon said when she first heard about the news on Noodle Tree, she felt fear for her Asian community. She shared she too has faced racial discrimination that started as a kid. "Its heartbreaking to see and to hear about. Unfortunately, discrimination and racism against people of Asian descent isnt new. This has been going on for decades, centuries even," DeLeon said. "In fact, Ive been called so many names and made fun of, since elementary school. I continue to fear for peoples lives. This isnt a joke. I fear for my mom. I worry about her, every day. Because even though I believe she lives in a safe community, right now, you cant be too careful." DeLeon is half-Korean. Her mother is from Busan, South Korea. She met DeLeon's dad, who was serving in the U.S. Army in South Korea, and moved to the United States in 1987. She became a U.S. citizen in the 1990s. DeLeon, a new mom, worries for her son Archie who is half Hispanic and a quarter Asian. "Will he go through the same name-calling I did? I hope not. I pray he doesnt. I tell my son every day, my only wish for him is to be kind. If nothing else, just be kind." H-E-B continues to make headlines for its decision to not enforce masks on customers. On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal released an article about the San Antonio grocery chain, titling it "Texas Grocer H-E-B Is Caught in the Middle of Mask Divide." In the article, an H-E-B employee told the newspaper he saw 38 people without face masks in about five hours during one of his shifts last week, which is when Gov. Greg Abbott's mask lift began. The employee remained anonymous and was from an H-E-B in the Bryan-College Station area. According to the report, the employee said they wish H-E-B would take a stronger approach when it comes to enforcing masks but added he understands why it would be difficult to police. H-E-B released a statement after Abbott's announcement, saying they urge customers to wear them in stores. H-E-B PRESIDENT: President Scott McClelland talks mask policy with Chron Earlier this month, H-E-B President Scott McClelland told Chron.com the company wouldn't enforce it because of belligerent customers who caused nearly 2,000 in-store incidents involving masks at Houston stores alone. This isn't the first time an employee has spoken out against H-E-B's new mask policy. Last week, a partner who also chose to remain anonymous, told MySA.com a face mask requirement for shoppers would help protect the employees from the novel coronavirus. The employee and other partners created a Facebook page, Community for H-E-B, shortly after H-E-B released its statement. The page launched an event days later where they asked the public to call corporate and demand a change. While H-E-B is taking a lot of heat from its decision, it is not the only company that isn't enforcing masks on customers. Whataburger, another Texas favorite, released a statement that it encourages customers to wear face masks. It did not, however, say it was required. MySA.com reached out to H-E-B for a comment on the report from the Wall Street Journal. The company declined to provide one. Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Probe into Murmansk man accused of attack against police at illegal Moscow rally completed RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 14:52 19/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 19 (RAPSI) Investigation into the Murmansk Regions resident Alexander Glushkov charged with assault on a police officer at an unauthorized rally in central Moscow in winter has been completed, according to the Investigative Committees press service. A case is forwarded to prosecutors for the indictment approval. Then the matter is to be sent to court for trial. According to investigators, on January 23, the accused participating in the illegal rally in central Moscow beat a police officer several times. During interrogation he pleaded guilty. He is in detention now. Unauthorized rallies in support of Navalny were held in Moscow and other Russian cities in late January and early February. Grace Vaughn, a graduate of Long Beach City College with an associate degree in speech communication and University of Long Beach State with a bachelors degree in English/creative writing, has completed her new book Saving Grace: Fighting for LGBTQ Rights and Marriage: a gripping and potent look at the authors lifelong advocacy for LGBTQ rights. Published by Page Publishing, Grace Vaughns stirring tale follows the author from when she was born in Georgia. Racism and discrimination were part of her daily life and she was introduced to them at an early age. Graces struggles were further magnified later in life because she is also a lesbian, and she was discriminated against for that as well. This book follows Grace as she leads the reader through the story of her lifeher struggle to come to terms with being a lesbian and the roads down which her choices led her, including how she fought for her right to marry in 1974 in Ohio. Throughout this story, the reader will feel Graces pain as she discusses past relationships, her thoughts on human sexuality, and her place within the LGBTQ community. Readers who wish to experience this inspiring work can purchase Saving Grace: Fighting for LGBTQ Rights and Marriage 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. MEXICO CITY - Omliver doesn't know who Joe Biden is. Nor does he know anything about the president's immigration policies. But as the 17-year-old Guatemalan migrant heads north through Mexico, he clings to an idea he heard from friends: It's now easier to cross the U.S. border. "They say it's because President Trump is gone," he said. A rising number of migrants are streaming to the U.S. southern border - more than 100,000 were detained in February alone. U.S. officials expected the influx to hit a 20-year high this year, posing a major challenge to Biden and his promise to adopt more humane immigration policies. Why are migrants trying at this moment? The economies of countries such as Honduras and Guatemala have been battered by the coronavirus pandemic. Two hurricanes pummeled Central America in November. Latin America already suffered from poverty and violence. Now there's another factor, according to migrant assistance groups: the change in the White House. "Migration is like the stock market - it reacts to any sign, positive or negative," said the Rev. Alejandro Solalinde, a migrant advocate based in the southern city of Oaxaca. "Since Biden was a candidate, he gave hope to migrants, although he never said the United States was going to open its doors to all migrants." Republicans accuse Biden of causing a migration crisis by halting construction of former President Donald Trump's border wall and scrapping a policy that required asylum seekers to wait in Mexico or apply from other countries. Biden denies the claims. Migration also ebbed and flowed under Trump, in part due to perceptions of how difficult it was to cross the border in a given moment. To Americans, the most obvious sign of the crescendoing migrant influx is children. The Biden administration is continuing a Trump-era policy of expelling most unauthorized adult migrants. But officials have decided to accept unaccompanied children. More than 9,000 were in the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday, according to Reuters - the most in two years. The surge is even more evident in parts of Mexico. Around 3,000 migrants arrived in 2020 at the 72 shelter in the southern city of Tenosique. This year, that number has already doubled. "With the change of government and Biden's arrival, many people have begun to leave their countries," said the Rev. Gabriel Romero, the shelter's director. Around 1,000 people have poured into an impromptu tent camp near the U.S. border in Tijuana, said the Rev. Pat Murphy, director of the Casa del Migrante there. They came after the Biden administration jettisoned Trump's Migration Protection Protocols, or MPP, which required asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their U.S. court dates. But while MPP applicants are now being allowed into the United States, most in the tent city don't qualify. "Nobody knows what to do with them," Murphy said. "It rained here for five days, but they kept multiplying." In many cases, advocates for migrants say, the Biden policies are just one more factor in a complex decision by people to leave their countries. "The situation in El Salvador is not good right now," said Mayra Machado, immigration coordinator at Adelante CIMITRA, a civic organization in San Salvador. "It's expensive. There's no employment." The pandemic has exacerbated long-standing problems of poverty. "A lot of teens and children are leaving right now because during the pandemic all schools are closed," she said, and many have no access to the Internet. Meanwhile, countries are removing coronavirus restrictions that had stymied travel, releasing pent-up demand. "Once they relaxed the measures, people returned to migrating, and there were people who were even more desperate to leave," said Victor Castro, coordinator of the migration team at the San Salvador office of Caritas. Human smugglers are telling migrants Biden's directives will mean an easy trip across the border, shelter directors say. Castro emphasized that the main drivers of migration from El Salvador are problems such as domestic violence and gang intimidation. He said the Biden policies could be the final push for those who had been considering migrating. "People leave because they need to leave to survive," he said. "They've been thinking about it for a while." Omliver, the 17-year-old Guatemalan, said he'd decided to go to the United States because he wanted to help his grandfather and aunt, with whom he'd been living in the western municipality of Huehuetenango. The shelter where he was staying in Oaxaca allowed him to be interviewed provided his last name was not published. Like many migrants, Omliver has family in the United States: an uncle in Florida who has agreed to take him in. His friends told him it's easier to enter the United States now. But he said the timing also reflects the fact his relatives have finally accumulated enough money for him to make the trip. "I'm not worried" about being detained, he said. "I know I'm going to reach my uncle, and I'm going to be able to work." Victor Cartagena, 25, a call-center worker in San Salvador, said he's weighing whether to set out for the United States. He has a 10-year-old daughter there, and it's difficult to find work in El Salvador that pays well. But he's been deported by U.S. authorities once, in 2019, and is wary of being detained. Some friends and family have urged him to make the trip, saying it has become less difficult to cross the border. "I don't really keep on top of" U.S. politics, Cartagena said. "But every time something good happens, it gets to your ears." In fact, the Biden administration has not eased entry for most irregular migrants. It's continuing to expel thousands under Title 42, a measure used by the Trump administration to inhibit the spread of covid-19. U.S. authorities say they've allowed more migrant families to stay because Mexico is unable to hold them. A new Mexican law bars the government from housing children and families in adult detention centers. Biden and his top officials have appealed to migrants not to rush to the border. "Don't come over," Biden said in an interview with ABC News this week. "Don't leave your town or city or community." But many migrants are unlikely to hear the message. And when they do, it's likely to fall on deaf ears. "People now have inflated expectations - even though we don't believe that they are grounded in fact - because of the change of government and in the face of an increasingly worse situation in their home country," said Juan Jose Hurtado Paz y Paz, the director of Asociacion Pop No'j, a community organization in Huehuetenango. In the Mexican border town of Reynosa, a group of would-be migrants gathered one recent day near the bridge into Texas. Several said relatives or smugglers or Facebook commenters had suggested they would be able to cross the border without problems now that Biden was in office. But they had been returned to Mexico, left to search for a place to sleep outside with their children in a city haunted by drug cartels. Near them sat a distraught Guatemalan father and his 7-year-old son. They had just been expelled by the U.S. Border Patrol. "The American president said we could come in," the man said, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to security concerns. "But they sent us back here." - - - Brigida reported from San Salvador. Sieff reported from Reynosa, Mexico. The price of petrochemical products in Saudi Arabia continues to increase. Driven by oil prices rising by more than 30%, coupled with the optimism of global new crown pneumonia vaccine distribution for health needs, the average price of polymer products in the first quarter of this year increased by 4-15% from the previous quarter. According to data from Al Rajhi Capital Research, the recent supply disruptions caused by the winter blizzard in the United States, coupled with rising upstream costs and healthy downstream demand, have made spot prices 18-56% higher than the average price in 2019. "We predict that polymer prices will remain at a high level for at least most of the year, due to tight supply and gradual improvement in global demand. However, the average raw material price in the first quarter of this year increased by 30% year-on-year. It is mainly driven by rising oil prices, which may partially offset the improvement in spreads for most products." Al Rajhi said: "Nevertheless, due to seasonal factors, we expect the prices of key raw materials (propane and butane) for Saudi producers to gradually decline in the next few quarters." In general, Saudi oil producers are likely to benefit from the recent surge in oil prices, and profits may recover strongly in 2021 (close to the level of most companies in 2018), which means that there may be higher dividends this year. Affected by the eight Saudi petrochemical product prices rise, the product name market has changed rapidly. These changes are indicators of market growth. This year-on-year upward trend in the market indicates that the next November 2020-2026 will be oval but stable The growth. 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If To find the Optoelectronic materials, please send an email to: sales1@ozbo.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. United Nations, March 19 : The UN Network on Migration has launched its first online platform to share "knowledge, expertise, good practices and initiatives" on migration-related issues, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. The platform, named Migration Network Hub, aims to be a community tool for use by the UN member states, the IOM said in a statement on Thursday. The tool was designed to encourage online discussions, and resource and publication-sharing and its users can attend webinars, the IOM said, adding that later this year, "governments will have access to migration-related services and support", Xinhua news agency reported. "The launch of the hub is a milestone as it allows us to work better together, learn from each other's experiences and exchange ideas on how to foster the implementation of the Compact at all levels," said Antonio Vitorino, coordinator of the UN Network on Migration. The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration is an inter-governmental agreement prepared under the auspices of the UN. The hub is expected to disseminate peer-reviewed information from different sources, such as reports by international organisations, academic articles and government statistics. One of the key challenges this platform is supposed to address is the "proliferation of competing (and sometimes contradictory) information on migration", the IOM said. The UN Network on Migration was established in December 2018 to strengthen cooperation on migration, with the IOM playing a central role in the institution. Does money rule Norwegian hospitals, even with universal healthcare? If so, this practice could impact people with chronic or long-term illnesses. Eighty-four per cent of hospital doctors believe that the hospital management now places greater emphasis on profitability than before." Pal Erling Martinussen, Professor, Norwegian University of Science and Technology's Department of Sociology and Political Science Many Norwegian hospital physicians therefore think management prioritizes profitability more than they did before the Norwegian goverment restructured the health sector a few years ago. So what happened? One factor is that people are different now. Change in financing Until 1997, it didn't matter to Norwegian hospitals what kind of patients they treated. Hospital financing in Norway wasn't linked to patient ailments. But that year brought changes to the financing of the Norwegian health service. Hospitals were paid more on a per-patient basis, and were paid differently depending on the type of illness patients had. "Patients with chronic conditions and other people who need treatment over time are generally less profitable for hospitals than patients who require less follow-up and can move quickly through the system," Martinussen says. This approach was reinforced in 2002, when the Norwegian statetook over responsibility for the hospitals and organized them as local enterprises. But does this matter in practice for how patients are prioritized? The changes were designed to inspire increased staff effort and to reduce health queues. But at the same time it became tempting to prioritize the simple-to-treat patients and the quick money. This is called "cream skimming" - even in professional circles. "Our research group wanted to find out what consequences these changes had had," says Martinussen. Hospital doctors surveyed A survey among hospital doctors in Norwaywas first conducted in 2006 when the latest reorganization was still relatively recent, and then again in 2016 when the scheme had been in place for a few years. The first time the study was sent to 2500 doctors, the second time to 3000, and the research group has now analysed the results. The hospital doctors were asked three questions: Does the new system encourage prioritizing more profitable patients? Does this lead to hospitals actually prioritizing these patients? Does the top management at the hospital place an emphasis on profitability? The first two questions were slightly different in 2006 and 2016. This means that the two surveys are not directly comparable, but some results are clear nonetheless. Hospital doctors still sceptical In 2006, a majority of doctors in Norway believed that the Norwegian hospital reform in 2002 provided an incentive to focus on profitable patients and in fact led to profitable patients being given priority. Martinussen says the 2016 picture is less clear in relation to doctors' views on whether profitable patients are actually given priority. We still know very little about whether profitable patients are actually given priority. But very few of the doctors believe that the reforms have made it less tempting to prioritize the profitable patients, or that this is happening to a much lesser extent than before. Managers less worried But the managers themselves are not that worried. "Doctors who are also managers appear to be less concerned about the current system providing an incentive to prioritize profitable patients," says Magnussen. It's hard to say who's right. "A majority of the doctors believe that the management places too much emphasis on financial performance in operating the hospitals," Martinussen says. The researchers believe one possibility is that the changes may have led to a division of labour, where managers are forced to pay more attention to finances than before, but ethics are still being upheld by most hospital doctors at all levels. CALGARY - The decision by Chevron Canada Ltd. to stop funding its proposed Kitimat LNG project on B.C.'s north coast isn't surprising given its failed attempt to sell its stake over the past 15 months, an analyst says. A Chevron logo appears at a gas station in Miami on July 25, 2011. The Canada Energy Regulator says it has approved an application from Chevron Canada to export natural gas from the Kitimat LNG project for a term of 40 years over environmental opposition. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Lynne Sladky CALGARY - The decision by Chevron Canada Ltd. to stop funding its proposed Kitimat LNG project on B.C.'s north coast isn't surprising given its failed attempt to sell its stake over the past 15 months, an analyst says. "This is a portfolio-specific decision by Chevron to be pretty choosy about how they allocate capital," said Matt Murphy of Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. on Friday. "There was ample opportunity for other parties to come in and take over the project and proceed with it. I think the fact no one did is just further support for industry broadly being fairly choosy in how they're allocating capital." In an update this week, the Canadian arm of California-based Chevron Corp. said it has been continuing to work on Kitimat LNG activities that add value or were required for regulatory and operational compliance since putting its 50 per cent stake on the sales block in December 2019. "At this time, it is Chevrons intent to cease Chevron-funded further feasibility work for the proposed Kitimat LNG project," it said on its website. Company officials did not immediately respond to a request for more detail. Chevron is the operator of Kitimat LNG. The other 50 per cent is owned by Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd. staff in Australia and at its Calgary office said they were unable to immediately comment on the project's status on Friday. In an update posted to its website on Friday, however, Woodside acknowledged Chevron Canadas decision and reiterated its commitment to the project. "Woodside continues to work with Chevron to find a mutually acceptable solution that enables the project to progress and Chevron to exit," it said. "Woodside is continuing to work with our stakeholders to improve the cost competitiveness of the proposed project." Kitimat LNG was included as part of a Chevron asset impairment charge of US$2.2 billion in 2019. Woodside also recorded a 2019 writedown in its Kitimat LNG stake of US$720 million. The project includes natural gas producing assets in the Liard and Horn River Basins in northeast B.C., the proposed 471-kilometre Pacific Trail Pipeline and plans for an LNG liquefaction and export terminal at Bish Cove near Kitimat, B.C. At one time, about 20 LNG terminals were proposed for the West Coast but the $40-billion LNG Canada project headed by Shell Canada is the only one to reach the construction stage. Canada's lack of existing natural gas pipeline capacity from wells in northeastern B.C. to the West Coast makes it difficult for any Canadian liquefied natural gas export terminal to compete with other projects in the global LNG market, Murphy said. "All of these companies around the world Chevron is a great example they're being very selective with how they're allocating their dollars so that's fewer megaprojects, more selective brownfield expansions,' he said. "Greenfield LNG off the West Coast of Canada doesn't fit the bill for them." Canada has advantages such as its proximity to Asian LNG markets but projects in Russia, Mozambique and Qatar, for example, are closer to their gas sources, Murphy said. Canada's LNG setbacks aren't expected to greatly affect its natural gas producers, he added, because there is sufficient pipeline capacity and demand to continue to supply markets in Eastern Canada and the United States. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2021. An Upstate New York congressman, seen as a potential challenger to Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the next gubernatorial election, has been accused of sexual misconduct by a former lobbyist. Nicolette Davis told The Washington Post that U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, NY-23, groped her in an Irish pub in Minneapolis when she was 25 and he was 45. Davis said she grew uncomfortable with the Republican from Corning, N.Y., while out with other lobbyists. A drunk congressman is rubbing my back. HELP HELP, Davis texted a friend and co-worker at Aflac. Davis alleges Reed had his hand outside her blouse, unhooked her bra, and then moved his hand to her thigh, inching upward. Davis asked a person sitting on the other side of her to help, and he pulled the GOP lawmaker from the table and out of the restaurant. Reed denied the allegations in a statement: This account of my actions is not accurate. Reed, now 49, was first elected to Congress in 2010 and was re-elected to a sixth term representing New Yorks 23rd Congressional District in 2020. Hes been an outspoken critic of Cuomo, a Democrat, and said he is considering running for governor in 2022 as Cuomo faces multiple sexual harassment allegations. These incidents of sexual harassment and pattern of abuse are abhorrent and have absolutely no place in our society, let alone the highest rungs of government, such behavior is disturbing and unacceptable. Governor Cuomo must be held accountable under the law to ensure justice is served, Reed told WIVB. Range uses Lighting technology range created by Linea Light Group using High Intensity Narrow Spectrum (HINS) light developed and patented by the University of Strathclyde Linea Light Group presents an antibacterial light that protects everyday health and wellbeing in any setting The new Environment Care Lighting technology range created by Linea Light Group using High Intensity Narrow Spectrum (HINS) light developed and patented by the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, will enable the Woofer and Rollip appliances from the i-LeD Professional collection to decontaminate surfaces and prevent infection, destroying up to 70-80% of bacteria with continuous use. By using a light wavelength of 405 mm, the Environment Care Lighting can light and decontaminate rooms, avoiding the need for more expensive Ultraviolet technologies which use frequencies between 240 and 260 nm, require rooms to be empty during disinfection, and can cause degradation effects on photosensitive mater The action of two light sources, a violet-blue-dominated LED combined with a white power LED, enables the Environment Care Lighting technology to offer two functions at the same time: lighting and protection of human health. Linea Light Group will be the first European-based company to use the HINS-light patent in combination with lighting appliances, making it available for the Woofer and Rollip collections. Thanks to the exceptional versatility of Linea Light Group products, these new functions can be used in offices and public spaces, hospitals and healthcare settings and residential areas and multi-purpose buildings. The HINS-light technology was developed in The Robertson Trust Laboratory for Electronic Sterilisation Technologies (ROLEST) at the University of Strathclyde thanks to the work of a team of experts led by Professor Scott MacGregor, Vice-Principal of the University, with Professor John G Anderson, Dr Michelle Maclean and Professor Gerry Woolsey. Gianluca Salciccia, Linea Light Group's Sales Director, said: "Linea Light Group's approach to luminaire design has always been unconventional, and we have a new way of thinking about the product that allows our R&D team the freedom to be creative. "Experts in microelectronics, geometric optics, material science, digital information technology, and developers of mechanical prototypes and specialized machine operators speak daily with fashion designers, supermarket managers, executives of large hotel chains and of course professionals such as architects and lighting designers, to create innovative products for technology and application. "Linea Light Group's products and projects put people in the spotlight. Lighting technology can be an important tool for wellbeing and improving people's quality of life. Linea Light Group's new Environment Care Lighting light range could also add a third dimension of physical wellbeing, with products capable of decontaminating the environments in which people live and work, protecting their health". Professor John G. Anderson, Research Fellow in Electronic & Electrical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde and a member of the HINS-light technology research team, said: "The Environment Care Lighting represents a unique method of disinfection as it does not employ harmful chemicals or dangerous UV light but instead uses only visible light which is harmless to humans. "The system works by using selected visible wavelengths which activate light sensitive molecules contained within microbes. This process creates biocidal chemicals which are lethal to bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, and Clostridium difficile, known as C.diff. The process can be operated continuously to achieve whole room disinfection in both the presence or absence of occupants." Professor Scott MacGregor from the University of Strathclyde said: "HINS-light technology is a great example of how the University of Strathclyde is producing innovation that also benefits society. The technology is harmless to people, so it can be used continuously in different spaces, thus improving disinfection and preventing the spread of infection. Linea Light Group's new Environment Care Lighting products means that many more people in healthcare, public spaces and in commercial, work and residential environments can benefit from this technology." ### Notes to Editor: For more information please contact: Lynn McPherson, University of Strathclyde E. Lynn.mcpherson100@strath.ac.uk T. 0141 548 4941 Ghenos Communication for Linea Light Group - Gabriella Del Signore press@ghenos.net http://www. ghenos. net Picture captions: 1. Professor John Anderson from the University of Strathclyde and a member of the HINS-light research team (Picture credit: University of Strathclyde) 2. Experimental work in the ROLEST laboratory of the University of Strathclyde during the development of the High Intensity Narrow Spectrum Light (HINS-light) technology. The picture shows a Petri dish culture plate containing bacterial colonies being held over a HINS-light source which is producing the violet/blue bactericidal light with peak wavelength at 405 nm. (Picture credit: University of Strathclyde) About University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde is a leading international technological university based in the centre of Glasgow, founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, Inspired by our founding principle as 'a place of useful learning', our mission is to make a positive difference to the lives of our students, to society and to the world. Strathclyde students benefit from an innovative and practical educational experience enhanced by its integration with our research capabilities, high-quality academic resources and an unparalleled industry engagement programme. The excellence of our research is evidenced by our position amongst the UK's top 20 research-intensive universities, according to the Times Higher Education's analysis of REF2014, and by the growth in range and scale of our research collaborations. We have also redefined how we collaborate and work with industry, government and the third sector to ensure innovation and knowledge exchange are fundamental activities that deliver tangible impact. Strathclyde was named the Times Higher Education UK University of the Year 2019, the Sunday Times Good University Guide Scottish University of the Year 2020 and in November 2019 was awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its excellence in energy innovation. The University of Strathclyde's flagship entrepreneurship programme, Strathclyde Inspire, supports and encourages entrepreneurship for all. It's available to students, staff and alumni who want to explore their entrepreneurial potential, start a business or commercialise their research, and provides support at every stage of the entrepreneurial journey. The launch of Strathclyde's new five-year Entrepreneurship Strategy to 2025 sets out the University's plans to transform entrepreneurship. About Linea Light Group In 1976 it was Minulamp, specialised in components for light fixtures; then, thanks to the union with other realities in Veneto, in 1985 the current name, Linea Light Group, was born. At the beginning of 2000, the Treviso-based company was one of the first companies in Europe to be specialized in LED technology, the perfect answer to the needs of energy efficiency, lighting efficiency, color fidelity and design versatility. The experience gained over the years has allowed us to acquire cutting-edge know-how with Made in Italy design, electronics made entirely in-house and an R&D department consisting of 85 dedicated professionals. With 6 production plants, 20 offices worldwide and more than 550 employees, today Linea Light Group is distinguished for its mission that is attentive to the peculiarities and needs of local partners in a "Think global, act local" perspective, guaranteeing global coverage and offering personalized and timely service worldwide. The company has thus been able to develop a market approach aimed at giving maximum space to ideas, returning the power of creativity to those who design, in every way, with every means. Nearly 15 million more Americans could be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, getting back to work and seeing their families - but millions vials of AstraZeneca's vaccine are sitting unused in a manufacturing plant. That's because the shot - which, along with its highly successful delayed dosing program - that has helped the UK speed ahead of most of the rest of the world in its vaccine rollout has not been authorized in the U.S. In fact, AstraZeneca hasn't even applied for authorization. 'I hope it does so and does so quickly because...there is a lot sitting in the stockpile waiting to be used. Those vials of vaccine help nobody sitting in a warehouse,' former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official Peter Pitts told DailyMail.com. AstraZeneca 'has had problems of late, and that might be one explanation why they haven't filed with the U.S. FDA,' Pitts said. But on Thursday, EU regulators declared AstraZeneca's vaccine safe after several countries paused its use over fears it was causing blood clots. Now, under pressure from the U.S.'s neighbor to the South, President Biden announced Thursday that four million out of about 30 million doses of AstraZeneca's two-shot vaccine to Mexico and Canada, in part because the unapproved doses are currently useless to Americans. So far, just 23 percent of Americans have had at least one dose of vaccine, and just over 12 percent are fully vaccinated. By comparison, nearly 39 percent of Britons have had one dose, with a large portion getting the cheap, easily stores AstraZeneca shot. Pitts added that Biden could 'encourage' the firm to submit its application for emergency approval quickly and guarantee it speedy FDA review. Officials have speculated that AstraZeneca's highly-anticipated shot will be authorized in April, but the Biden administration has otherwise said nothing to indicate that it is 'encouraging' AstraZeneca and the FDA to make the shot available more quickly. So just what is taking so long? DailyMail.com breaks down the red tape and missteps standing between Americans and nearly 30 million doses of the AstraZeneca that's been hailed a 'game-changer.' AstraZeneca's vaccine has been approved in more than 50 countries - but not in the U.S. where it hasn't applied for authorization, despite a stockpile of nearly 30 million doses sitting in an American facility (file) With the help of the AstraZeneca jab and its delayed dosing schedule, new COVID-19 cases have plummeted by 90% (and by more than 80% per million people, pictured) since the January peak, while new infections have fallen by less than 80% in the US Vaccine development and approval processes are notoriously protracted, but the pandemic has changed that for most developers in most countries, with the approval of AstraZeneca's vaccine, designed by Oxford University, in the U.S. 'People have been clamoring for it to be approved and everybody wants it to go faster,' Dr Amesh Adalja, a senior researcher at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security told Kaiser Health News last month. Dr Adalja has advocated for the drug regulatory bodies in the U.S., UK and the EU - the FDA, the Medicines and Healthcare products Agency (MHRA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA), respectively - to sync up, so that an approval from one agency would equate to approval across all three. 'The question would be from a policy standpoint, would the FDA be willing to say that what the EMA does is equivalent to them and they would have full confidence in the EMA decision? The fact that AstraZeneca simply hasn't yet asked the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization (EUA) of its vaccine is the primary and most obvious reason it isn't yet approved. 'The FDA can't take action on an application it hasn't received,' says Pitts. 'Clearly the FDA didn't delay in fielding US trials [of AstraZeneca's vaccine] so why hasn't AstraZeneca applied for an EUA at this point?' The answer, so far, is no. The FDA has been stalwart in its insistence that it won't cut corners, including by accepting data from trials conducted elsewhere, even though that data was good enough for the World Health Organization (WHO) and many nations to accept. In fairness, there's no precedent for the FDA basing its decision on non-U.S. trials, and in the context of the pandemic and emerging variants, data - including from AstraZeneca's trials - show that a shot formulation that is highly effective in one country may be less so in another. But the bottom line is that the shot offers very good protection, there are millions of doses already made and ready to distribute in the U.S., and hundreds of millions of Americans with no protection whatsoever from COVID-19. And while U.S. health officials like Dr Anthony Fauci continually repeat that the U.S. is in a race between vaccines and variants, the protocols of the oldest drug regulatory agency in the world are not keeping up. Meanwhile, the some-protection-is-better-than-none approach has done wonders for the UK, which has relied heavily on its supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine (although it is currently facing supply shortages). New COVID-19 cases there have declined by 90 percent since their January 9 peak (and by more than 80 percent per million people), according to tracking from Our World in Data. In the US, new coronavirus infections have decreased by less than 80 percent since the January 11 peak. 'Britains free-fall in cases is all the more impressive,' Dr Robert Wachter, chair of the University of California, San Francisco's Department of Medicine, told the New York Times newsletter. 'Clearly their vaccination strategy has been highly effective.' Daily deaths in the UK have also declined sharply in recent weeks - especially among those 65 and older, nearly all of whom have had one or more shot. In total, 38.5 of the British population has had at least one dose, fueling the free-fall in cases and deaths despite the fact that less than three percent of its population has had both doses of shots made by AstraZeneca, Pfizer or Moderna. The US, by contrast, has fully vaccinated more than 12 percent of its population, but only 22.7 percent of Americans - 115.7 million - have had a first dose, according to Bloomberg tracking. However, Wachter noted that at this point in the rollout, introducing a delayed dosing schedule in the U.S. would likely result in more confusion and mistrust in a nation where a quarter of Americans still say they don't want to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Speculation swirled last year that President Trump was pressuring vaccine-makers and the FDA to move quickly, amid criticism from cautious public health experts that corner-cutting could result in unsafe shot. Now the U.S. has three clearly safe shots, but is missing a cheap, easily stored fourth that's ready to ship. 'Back channels are useful,' Pitts said of closed-door negotiations between leaders vaccine-makers. 'But I think that calling out AstraZeneca publicly would actually be a bad thing because it would cast negative aspersions on a company that has worked very long and very hard.' Mar. 19This story was originally published by Mountain State Spotlight. For more stories from Mountain State Spotlight, visit www.mountainstatespotlight.org. l l l The West Virginia Legislature, overwhelmingly made up of white lawmakers, is considering two bills that hit particularly close to home for Black constituents one that would prevent the removal of Confederate monuments, and one to ensure Black West Virginians can wear their natural hair free from discrimination. White lawmakers in powerful positions at the Legislature decide whether those bills have a chance at becoming law, because they decide whether those bills will be placed on a committee agenda, which is the next step in the legislative process after a bill is introduced. On Monday, lawmakers in the House of Delegates Government Organization Committee passed the "West Virginia Monument and Protection Act of 2021," sponsored by Delegate Chris Phillips, R-Barbour. Meanwhile, with the legislative session more than halfway over, lawmakers haven't prioritized a bill to ban discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race, such as natural Black hair or dreadlocks. Delegate Danielle Walker, D-Monongalia, re-introduced that bill this year, which, like the monument protection bill, was sent to the House Government Organization Committee. Walker introduced the Crown Act last year, after Matthew Moore, a freshman basketball player at Woodrow Wilson High School in Beckley, was told his dreadlocks weren't "neat" enough to play. But so far, the bill hasn't been put on the agenda of the committee that's chaired by a delegate in Matthew's county, Republican Brandon Steele of Raleigh County. Tarsha Bolt, Matthew's mother, is concerned lawmakers, while they work to preserve remnants of history, aren't equally focused on people experiencing discrimination right now. Bolt said she planned to contact Steele about the bill. "I just want him to understand that maybe something that's not important to him is so important to constituents in his area," she said. "He is aware of the Crown Act, but unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the Crown Act is important to him." Story continues Preserving history House Bill 2174 would prohibit the removal of monuments and memorials unless the West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office grants a waiver. Delegate Joe Jeffries, R-Putnam and a co-sponsor, noted that while there have been efforts across the country to remove Confederate monuments, the bill isn't limited to just these relics. "I think that might be some of the reasons that some people may have supported it," he said, following the committee meeting Monday. "I'm not sure I can speak for them. But for me, it's to protect all the monuments." While nearly 100 Confederate monuments were removed across the country in 2020 and in Charleston, just across town from the Capitol, Stonewall Jackson Middle School was renamed many monuments remain. That includes the statue of Jackson on the Capitol grounds; he was a Confederate general. "But he's from West Virginia," Jeffries said of Jackson. "He's from the Clarksburg area and I think that he deserves his place on Capitol grounds just like any of the other statues." During the meeting, Democrats raised concerns the bill could end up stopping local governments from doing things like renaming streets. They also attempted unsuccessfully to amend the bill so that only monuments for members of the military who fought on behalf of the United States government would be protected. Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, noted that Confederate monuments could still be placed in museums, "where the historical significance can be preserved." After that amendment was rejected, he suggested that since the bill would clearly protect Confederate monuments, lawmakers should call it the "West Virginia Confederate Monument and Memorial Protection," but that amendment was rejected as well. Delegate Barbara Fleischauer, D-Monongalia, said Monday was a "sad day" when lawmakers were "giving a place of honor to some people who were murderers, who were slaveholders who thought it was OK to own human beings." She noted that West Virginia was formed because the western counties of Virginia would not agree to leave the Union and join the Confederacy. "I don't know about you guys but I remember West Virginia leaving to join the Union to not be part of all that," she said. The bill's supporters argued that it doesn't say specifically that Confederate statues cannot be removed; they could be removed with a waiver from the West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office. The bill passed the committee 19-6, and would still have to be passed by the full House and Senate to become law. Discrimination, past and present For Tarsha Bolt, whose son's experience inspired the state-level version of the Crown Act, protecting monuments and memorials isn't necessarily a bad thing. But she also wants to see lawmakers focus on problems Black people continue to face every day. "We are making history right now," she said, referencing ongoing policy decisions at the Legislature. "If you want to protect monuments, OK. "What about living, walking humans right now that we are trying to just protect the right to live, the right to go to school, the right to get an education, the right to the pursuit of happiness? That is equally important, if not more important right now." House Bill 2698 would make it illegal to discriminate based on hair texture or hair style. While discrimination based on race in housing, public accommodations and employment is already illegal under the state Human Rights Act, the bill clarifies that racial discrimination includes mistreatment based on hairstyles typically associated with race. Walker, the lead sponsor, said her first year in the Legislature, she overheard lawmakers in the hallways saying her natural hair made her "unapproachable." "And I backed up, and I looked at them, and I said 'I'm the most approachable person,'" she said. "Regardless of how I'm feeling about something, I will stop and be respectful and listen. And you have to characterize me by the strands from my head. I'm going to pray for you a little bit harder tonight." She said she didn't give the lawmakers a chance to respond. She just walked away with tears in her eyes. Although much of the attention last year was directed toward Bolt's son's experience, both Walker and Myya Helm said hair discrimination isn't something that happens in isolated incidents. It's something Black people have had to think about their entire lives, they said. "I haven't been denied a job because of my hair, because I've always been taught to wear my hair a certain way whenever I'm interviewing or meeting potential employers for the first time," Helm said. She's currently Walker's intern and a Black student at West Virginia University. She said she has been treated differently based on how she wears her hair, including if she braids it or wears it naturally. Managers have told her she looked "unprofessional." She said she notices people, "usually people that have some type of power over me," will be more likely to talk down to her or see her as "aggressive." That treatment may be "unconscious" on the part of her bosses, she said. But she's also always been hyper-aware of those biases, and worked harder because of them. So the idea that her hair makes her less professional stings. Hair discrimination is still very much on Tarsha Bolt's mind, too. She said this year, her son wasn't selected for the basketball team, which she worries is retaliation for all the publicity. He's also dropped out of ROTC. She said last year, kids made memes about him and asked him why he didn't just cut his hair. He told the Register-Herald, at the time, that he was sitting in the locker room ripping out his own dreadlocks by the second game. "When in reality, his hair is neat," his mother said. "His hair looks good. Dreadlocks are acceptable. Dreadlocks are a cultural hairstyle. It's one way to maintain natural African-American coarse hair." She teaches her son to be respectful and keep his head up, and that he could always be stereotyped. Like Helm, she noted that Black people are constantly asked to "assimilate." She said that nobody "should have to ask for permission to be themselves in the way that God made them." Several states have already passed versions of the Crown Act. But Bolt said her son felt like last year's effort was pointless when the bill died. "He didn't understand that sometimes you gotta fight a little bit harder and a little bit longer, and things are not going to happen automatically," she said. "You have to be persistent and persevere." Power and Priorities One way to view legislative priorities is by watching how many committees or hurdles a bill has to pass before it makes it to the floor of the House or the Senate for a vote. The Crown Act has been assigned to two committees on the House side, and an identical bill has been assigned to two committees in the state Senate. For it to become law this legislative session, either bill would have to pass two committees by March 28. It would then have to pass both the House and Senate. Meanwhile, Republican leaders decided the monument and memorial protection bill needed less scrutiny. It was only assigned to one House committee, so following the committee meeting Monday, that bill was sent straight to the floor where it's scheduled for a final vote this week. As the committee chairman, Steele decides, with input from other delegates, which bills his committee will consider. "There's a significant number of members in our caucus that wanted to see [the monument bill] run and I haven't seen that same support for the Crown Act," he said on Monday. Steele said before the Crown Act would be introduced, "We need to find out whether we have the support for it." Walker said she believes the support is there from constituents if not from lawmakers. "There is a whole coalition in support of the Crown Act," she said. "And I'm not understanding why the Crown Act could not have been placed on today's agenda by the chairman, versus a bill that we're speaking about dead people. That is alloys and metals." And while lawmakers have said they want to focus on growing West Virginia's population, including retaining young people and attracting new people to the state, Helm said the disconnect between Black young people and people in power in West Virginia makes her think about leaving every day. "From a young age, it kinda seemed like this state doesn't want me," she said. She remembers growing up in north central West Virginia, where schools taught that the Civil War was about "states' rights." They didn't say what that really meant, she said "states' right to own slaves." So far, Helm has stayed in West Virginia because of the Promise Scholarship. But she's not sure what the future will bring. "Right now I think if I had to make a decision, I probably would not stay in state," she said. "A lot of these things seem like they're constantly working against me and my literal existence." She reaches out to mentor Black high school students from her region, but she's starting to feel like she could make a bigger difference in Black people's lives somewhere else. "I don't want other Black people to experience West Virginia the same way I had to experience it, and I want to change it for the better," she said. "But it is just so difficult and emotionally draining ... It's the constant fight. There's never a break." 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 compared the idea to using apps to check into bars and restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Getty Images/Jub Rubjob An Australia police commissioner wrote an op-ed suggesting creating a smartphone app to consent to sex. Politicians and sexual assault advocates blasted the idea, saying it would make it harder for women to prove rape. Amid the backlash, the commissioner said the app could be a "terrible idea." Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. An Australia police commissioner has suggested people use a smartphone app to record consent to sex, BBC News reported. In a Thursday op-ed in Sydney's Daily Telegraph newspaper, New South Wales police commissioner Mick Fuller compared the idea to using apps to check into bars and restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Just as we've had to check-in at the coffee shop to keep people safe, is there a way consent can be confirmed or documented?" Fuller wrote. He added in the op-ed that only "a tiny percentage" of reported sexual assaults end up with a successful prosecution. "We need a discussion about innovative solutions and how we can gauge positive consent," he wrote. Fuller is the police commissioner for New South Wales, which includes the capital of Sydney. Getty Images/James D. Morgan The police commissioner's article provoked immediate backlash from politicians and sexual assault advocates who said the idea of a consent app was simplistic rather than innovative and that it would protect the accused rather than victims. Rachael Burgin, cofounder of Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy and a law lecturer at Swinburne University of Technology, said Fuller's proposal showed "a lack of understanding" about sexual violence. "The reality is people consent or agree to sex because they are coerced, forced or there is violence involved," Burgin told ABC, Australia's national broadcasting network. "An app doesn't capture the nuance of true consent." Tanya Plibersek, a politician in Australia's Labor Party, told the Guardian that the app idea was flawed because consent could be withdrawn. "So the fact that you've signed up, in the beginning, doesn't mean that you're up for everything that your partner suggests," Plibersek said, adding, "We really need to be teaching consent to our kids, as part of a respectful relationship program that's age-appropriate, in our schools, in our homes." Story continues A freelance journalist wrote on Twitter that such an app's utility would be "that a person with power can later use it as 'evidence' against a rape allegation, ignoring context, coercion, withdrawal of consent, etc. It's designed by men to make it harder for women to prove rape." The day the op-ed was published, Fuller already seemed to backtrack on his proposal for a consent app. "The app could be a terrible idea, but maybe in 10 years' time that will be seen as the normal dating [method]," he said in an interview with Sydney radio station 2GB on Thursday, per the Guardian. "If you swipe left and right and there's another option if you want to have intimacy." Fuller could not be reached for comment for this story, and the New South Wales Police Force's public affairs director did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Another #MeToo in Australia The police commissioner's controversial suggestion for dealing with issues of consent came three days after thousands marched across Australia in protests against gender inequality and sexual violence and harassment. Last month, former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins said an older male colleague - who has not been publicly identified - raped her at Parliament House in a minister's office in 2019. Four other women have since accused the same man of sexual assault or harassment. Protesters rally in response to the treatment of women in politics following several sexual assault allegations, as part of the Women's March 4 Justice rally in Canberra, Australia, March 15, 2021. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas via REUTERS And Australia's Attorney General, Christian Porter, has been accused of raping a 16-year-old girl in 1988, when he was 17. The woman died by suicide last year. Porter has denied the allegations and filed a defamation lawsuit against the journalist who reported on them. Read the original article on Insider Ukrainian troops land from Mi-8 helicopter, built with Motor Sich's engines, during an air force exercises in western Ukraine on Oct. 12, 2018. (Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images) Ukraine to Return Ownership of Jet Engine Maker From Chinese Investors The Ukrainian government announced it will return ownership of an aircraft engine manufacturer from Chinese investors last week, ruling out the possibility of it falling into the power of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Motor Sich, one of the top jet engine makers worldwide, is a Ukrainian privately-owned company based in Zaporizhia, although being majority-owned by Chinese companies. decision has been made according to which the Motor Sich enterprise will be returned to the Ukrainian people, will be returned to the ownership of the Ukrainian state in a legal, constitutional way, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said on March 11. Ukraine, being in a state of war, cannot afford to hand over the enterprise, on which the Ukrainian defense capability depends, into the wrong hands, Danilov explained, according to the Kyiv Post, an English-language newspaper in Ukraine. The decision of the Ukrainian government will likely disappoint Beijing Skyrizon Aviation, the Chinese company that has put a long-term effort into applying to the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine since 2017, seeking to acquire control over the company, which has not yet been approved. Decoupling in a New Cold War The return of Motor Sich is a technology decoupling war in the context of the new Cold War between the United States and China, said Tang Jingyuan, a U.S.-based China affairs commentator. Ukraine, due to its relationship with Russia, relies heavily on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the United States for support in diplomacy, military, etc., to resist Russian aggression at the forefront, Tang said. On the other hand, China has become Ukraines top trading partner in recent years. According to a 2020 report (pdf) published by the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, from January to November last year, China accounted for 15.3 for imports of goods and 14.3 percent of Ukraines exports. The latter saw double-digit growth by 98.6 percent from 7.2 percent in 2019, including agricultural and food industry products. Ukraine was torn between its chief foreign military backer and Chinese buyers as tensions between China and the United States were reaching a higher level. On Jan. 14, The U.S. Department of Commerce blacklisted Beijing Skyrizon Aviation, as a manufacturing entity with significant ties to the CCP and its army. Skyrizons predatory investments and technology acquisitions in Ukraine represent an unacceptable risk of diversion to military end use in the PRC [Peoples Republic of China], the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine said in a statement. Frank Tian Xie, John M. Olin Palmetto Chair Professor in Business at the University of South Carolina Aiken, warned of the potential consequences. It [Skyrizon] could even take the entire Ukrainian company back to China with its people, factories, and technology, he said. On Jan. 29, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy imposed sanctions on Beijing Skyrizon Aviation and three other Chinese companies actively seeking to control the aerospace company, by freezing assets and restrictions on trade, entry, capital outflows, and securities transactions. The return of the jet engine manufacturer, which may bring up a billion-dollar lawsuit, shows that Ukraine stands with the U.S. even at considerable cost, said Anders Aslund from the Atlantic Council, a think tank in the field of international affairs, The Wall Street Journal reported on March 16. This was an excellent step that the U.S. should greatly appreciate, Aslund said. Skyrizons Parent Company Known as the Second Huawei Motor Sich produces about thirty different types of engines, which power Mi- and Ka-series military helicopters, as well as Antonov An-124 Ruslan and An-225 (Mriya) freighters. Seven years ago, while China was looking for opportunities to boost its military capabilities, the Russian incursion into Ukraine had caused an operational crisis for the aerospace engine manufacturer. After Kyiv imposed sanctions on Moscow, nearly half of Motor Sichs engine output, which was supplying the Russian military, was cut off. China then became the biggest buyer of Ukrainian arms, at more than $100 million annually, purchasing engines for trainer planes, helicopters, and army tanks, as well as gas turbines for naval vessels, according to the Kyiv Post. Beijing Skyrizon Aviation, the largest stockholder for Motor Sich, is a subsidiary of Beijing Xinwei Technology Group, current affairs commentator Qin Peng said. Xinwei, known as the second Huawei, is a company involved in defense, military, and public security. The groups executives indicate a military background, he mentioned. Zhang Jixiang, for example, the vice president of Xinwei Group since 2014, was the chief of staff of the Communications Department of the Beijing Military Region, one of seven military regions for Chinas Peoples Liberation Army. Outsiders take it [Skyrizon] as an agency of the CCPs military, Qin said. Skyrizon holds around 75 percent of Motor Sichs shares, according to a government source cited by Interfax Ukraine. The shares were frozen in 2017 pending an investigation by Ukraines security service In December 2020, Chinese investors claimed a total of $3.5 billion compensation from Ukraine. Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged Ukraine on March 12 to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and investors. Secretary Danilo made a response on the same day that, We will only recognize the money that has officially entered the bank accounts that are located in Ukraine, the Kyiv Post cited. Chinese Interest in Crimea Days after Mr. Danilov announced Motor Sich ownership would be returned to Ukraine, a delegation of Chinese businessmen visited Crimea. Crimea, the strategically valuable Black Sea Ukrainian peninsula, was invaded and annexed by Russia in 2014. On March 14, the Chinese delegation met with officials of the Russian-backed government, which raised questions by Ukrainian Parliament Member Vadim Rabinovich over Beijings change in its strategy toward Crimea. China has long retained a neutral position on the Crimea, Rabinovich posted on Facebook. He said the Chinese businessmen had agreed to establish relations with local enterprises, promote tourism in Crimea, and invest in the resort business. Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Yevhen Enin commented on March 16 that the recent visit rudely violate[s] the current legislation of our state. China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian commented on the matter at a regular news briefing this week. Such commercial activities should not be politicized, Zhao said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky intends to make a major Asian tour across countries when the pandemic subsides, including China, South Korea, Indonesia, etc. Yet the destination list has not been finalized. The UK government is set to give the Northern Ireland secretary powers to force Stormont to speed up the rollout of new abortion laws. The law was liberalised last year to allow terminations following action taken at Westminster. However, while individual health trusts have set up temporary early medical abortion pathways, Northern Ireland-wide services have not yet been commissioned by the Department of Health. Northern Ireland's health minister Robin Swann previously said the issue is controversial and therefore he cannot act alone and requires agreement by the executive. But Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis intends to lay new regulations in parliament next week to allow him to direct Mr Swann's department to commission the services, The Guardian has reported. Mr Lewis was reportedly prompted by concerns many women were still travelling to Great Britain to access services. Read more: A UK government spokesperson confirmed there was disappointment that full abortion services had not yet been commissioned, adding "further legislative action at Westminster" is being considered. A DUP MP warned the party would vigorously oppose any action to see new abortion laws implemented in the region. DUP leader Arlene Foster and the partys Westminster leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson met with Mr Lewis over the matter earlier on Thursday. Abortion is a devolved matter, Sir Jeffrey said. Any move by an NIO minister to legislate over the head of the Northern Ireland Executive would raise serious questions about when and in what areas the Government can make interventions in a devolved administration. The DUP would warn the Northern Ireland Office against legislating on a matter which is wholly devolved and we will vigorously oppose such steps. Abortion is an issue which sharply divides opinion in Northern Ireland with strong pro-choice and anti-abortion lobbies. On Monday, a motion by DUP MLA Paul Givan seeking to restrict abortions in cases of non-fatal disabilities passed its second reading. Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O'Neill accused the DUP of attempting to "roll back abortion progress" but her MLAs abstained on that vote. Separately, the party has announced its intention to bring a paper to the executive calling for Mr Swann to commission full abortion services. A UK government spokesperson said: "We remain disappointed that the Department of Health and Northern Ireland executive have failed to commission full abortion services, following the change to the law last March. "We are continuing to monitor the situation closely, including considering further legislative action at Westminster, given the nature of the legal duties on the secretary of state for Northern Ireland in this context." Additional reporting by PA Crimea is Russias holy land, a sacrosanct place and center of the nations spiritual unity, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a gala show on the occasion of the 7th anniversary of Crimeas reunification with Russia. "Of course, it is a holy land for us, for Russia," he said. Putin congratulated all participants in and the audience of the gala show upon the day of Crimeas and Sevastopols reunification with Russia. "It is a holiday for the Crimeans. We saw that for ourselves in the spring of 2014 in the process of preparing for and holding the referendum, and, which is still more important, in its results. The Crimeans and the people of Sevastopol returned to the family of Russias fraternal peoples," Putin said. He stressed that "it is a holiday for our entire vast country." "If you take a big map, Crimea and Sevastopol will look on it like a tiny spot. But we are talking about the restoration of historical justice, we are talking about the importance of this land for our people," Putin said. He stressed that "our ancestors have developed this territory from time immemorial and in the 10th century a large share of it became part of the ancient Russian state." "There, on that land, in Korsun and Kherson, Prince Vladimir and his troops took baptism. This means that this is a sacred place, the center of our spiritual unity, which eventually formed the basis of the Russian nation and an integral centralized Russian state," TASS cited the Russian leader as saying. He said "it is a very important place for our heart and soul." He stressed that in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries these lands returned to their legitimate owner, the Russian Empire. "In 1853-1856 during an invasion by foreign hordes and in 1941-1945 during the war with Nazi Germany every inch of that soil was soaked with the blood of Russian and Soviet soldiers," The Russian president concluded. Consumers do not get timely, or often any information to protect themselves from elevated levels of lead in drinking water, Robert Kaplan, the EPAs former acting regional administrator in Chicago, wrote in a 2017 memo to the agencys top water official. Public needs to know when water is acceptable to drink based on the level of lead, or if a water filter or bottled water should be used. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Mexico City, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Mar, 2021 ) :Mexico announced Thursday restrictions on non-essential crossings at its border with Guatemala to curb the spread of Covid-19, a move that coincides with increased migrant flows towards the United States. The government also prolonged the closure of its northern border with the United States to all but essential land traffic in response to a pandemic that has left more than 196,000 people dead in Mexico. "To prevent the spread of Covid-19... restrictions will be imposed on land transit for non-essential activities on the northern and southern borders," the foreign ministry said on Twitter. It said the restrictions would begin on Friday and remain in effect at least until April 21. The Mexican-US border has been closed to non-essential land traffic such as tourists and occasional visitors for the past year, but it is the first time such measures have been imposed on the border with Guatemala. Mexico's southern border has been patrolled since 2019 by the National Guard to stop migrant caravans crossing over. The new border restrictions coincide with an increase in arrivals of migrants, mainly Central Americans, heading to the United States to flee violence and poverty in their countries. US President Joe Biden this week urged migrants not to come to the United States. Minister Gangula Kamalakar thanks Chief Minister K. Chandrashehar Rao for allotting Rs 100 crore for the Manair riverfront development, in Hyderabad, on Thursday. DC Image Karimnagar: Minister Gangula Kamalakar on Thursday expressed thanks to Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for allotting Rs 100 crore for the Manair riverfront (MRF) in the state Budget. Kamalakar said that Karimnagar, which is the gateway to north Telangana, is heading towards development in all the sectors. The government has sanctioned Rs 25 crore primarily for the establishment of the MRF project and had allotted Rs 100 crore in the Budget. The government decided to develop 9 km from the Manair dam gates as the riverfront. It has already released Rs 87.9 lakh for the construction of five check dams on the river and the works are going on at a brisk pace. In the first phase under the MRF project, the beautification works will be done from Chegurthi to Lingapur village of Manakondur mandal and in the second phase from Manakondur to Vegurupally, Kamalakar said. By declaring the area as a fish zone, tall trees like silver oak, pagoda and mahogany will be grown on either side of the river and the Lower Manair Dam covering 10.5 kilometres, he added. Ponnam Prabhakar working president of the state Congress, alleged that large amounts of money were allotted to Khammam and Warangal in view of the upcoming municipal elections. Prabhakar said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had said that Karimnagar city would be developed like London and New York but had betrayed the people by not allocating funds. Development in Karimnagar is lagging behind in all sectors, he said. The TRS government did not even allot funds for the establishment of a medical college in Karimnagar which it had promised earlier, he added. In a recent editorial in the journal Emergent Materials, Dr. Huseyin C. Yalcin from Qatar University Biomedical Research Center and Dr. Ajeet Kaushik from Florida Polytechnic University announce several important developments in their timely special issue entitled Materials Science in the Battle against COVID-19. The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmitted via human to human, has resulted in the ongoing global health and economic crisis. Despite the introduction of several vaccines (with varying success among different countries), our lives may still be revolving around other preventative measures for years to come. Although healthcare providers are on the front lines, scientists and engineers have their role in exploring better treatments, diagnostic approaches, and safety protocols. In this unprecedented race against time, materials science can definitely be considered one of the fields contributing substantially, primarily due to a significant cumulative knowledge that can be swiftly translated to the clinical milieu. Hence, as the Editors of the Springer journal Emergent Materials, Dr. Yalcin and Dr. Kaushik aimed to put forth a representative assembly of reviews and original studies that cover and highlight all relevant themes in the field of materials science such as biosensors, nanomedicine, and nanoparticles, personal protective equipment, medical devices, additive manufacturing and biomaterials. Smart masks and deactivating surfaces One notable example is the study that highlights the importance of blending new biomaterials within smart face masks to prevent the transmission and subsequent enhancement of antiviral activity, where environmentally acceptable material usage in order to minimize the long-lasting effect on the environment is also accentuated. This was done with the use of computer-aided design tools and computational fluid dynamics. Furthermore, antimicrobial surfaces can potentially halt the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and other viral infections. A study that is also included in this special issue highlights gold hard anodized (GHA) materials with antimicrobial surface traits, but also with enhanced tribological and mechanical properties suitable for various biomedical applications. Likewise, conducting polymers with antiviral/antimicrobial properties can be introduced in personal protective equipment (most notably gloves, coverall suits and face shields) for frontline health workers in order to ward off not only COVID-19, but also bacterial infections that are pervasive in hospital settings. The potential of using 3D printing in applications relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic has also been highlighted, such as printing personal protective equipment, swabs, but also whole isolation wards. This may be a part of additive manufacturing to tackle the growing demand for supplies. 3D printed face shields. Image Credit: PN Photography / Shutterstock Speeding up the detection of SARS-CoV-2 This pandemic reminded us once again of the importance of testing that enables rapid and direct detection of respiratory viruses. On top of that, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests require well-trained personnel and expensive equipment, and this can also be extended to instances when cell culture is used. On the other hand, microfluidic technologies may open the door for precise detection of respiratory tract viruses, which is why several papers have been included in this special issue that delineates novel biosensor technologies for improved diagnostics of SARS-COV-2. For example, one paper elegantly explains the use of different nanomaterials in diagnostic microfluidic platforms for COVID-19, while another describes in-depth how high-affinity biosensors could be developed with quantum dots for SARS-CoV-2 detection. Moreover, electrochemical, plasmonic, and magnetic biosensors that focus on SARS-COV-2 protein detection are also highlighted, and one study goes into extraordinary depth when describing biosensing for microfluidic platforms for viral diagnostics. We strongly believe that this issue will serve as a best platform of knowledge transfer and help the multidisciplinary community to identify a key direction for the science and technology towards advanced emergent materials applications to fight the SARS-COV-2 and relevant complications, conclude the authors of this Editorial. EARLIER this week, the Supreme Court of Canada heard a challenge from the City of Toronto related to the Ontario governments 2018 decision to unilaterally reduce the number of wards in Torontos municipal election from 47 to 25. The decision was widely seen as imperious since campaigning was already well underway. The governments decision threw the Toronto election into chaos. Opinion EARLIER this week, the Supreme Court of Canada heard a challenge from the City of Toronto related to the Ontario governments 2018 decision to unilaterally reduce the number of wards in Torontos municipal election from 47 to 25. The decision was widely seen as imperious since campaigning was already well underway. The governments decision threw the Toronto election into chaos. The Ontario government almost certainly had the constitutional authority to meddle in Torontos civic election. As I always tell students in my Canadian politics classes, Canadas constitution gives power to the federal and provincial governments. In contrast, municipal governments and other elected bodies such as school boards and regional governments only exercise power because the provincial governments give them some of their own powers. And what provincial governments give, provincial governments can take away. Toronto has put forward some novel arguments to counter this strict formal interpretation. In particular, the city argued that democracy and representation are important unwritten aspects of the Constitution and Canadian governance, and that the Ontario government violated these by messing with Torontos election. We will see if the Supreme Court justices are persuaded by these arguments. Its fitting this case was heard the day after the Manitoba government introduced its far-reaching reforms to the provincial K-12 education system. The most important change is the decision to abolish almost all school divisions, along with each of their elected boards of trustees. This decision has, not surprisingly, not gone over well with current trustees and the Manitoba School Boards Association. Like the City of Toronto, the president of the MSBA objected to provincial dictates by arguing they would hurt democracy. "By outlining todays plan," argued president Alan Campbell, "government has said that there is no need for democratic voice in the provision of education in local public schools." Decentralized, elected school boards allow many important decisions about public schooling to be made closer to the people. The idea underlying such decentralization is that locally elected and responsive school trustees can tailor certain aspects of public schooling to local needs and concerns. The Winnipeg School Division and the Hanover School Division based in Steinbach, for example, might decide quite different things on the same question in response to local input, and thats a good thing. Popular elections of trustees is key since the board is bound to local concerns, and trustees who fail to be responsive could be turfed in the next election. This is the same logic for why we have provincial governments in Canada rather than a single unitary government in faraway Ottawa making decisions for the entire country. Conservatives have traditionally been proponents of this form of decentralization. But the primary motivation for abolishing the elected boards appears to be to cut costs. I dont personally think attaching a price tag to democratic practices is a good idea. And Premier Brian Pallister, in defending his legislation, argued that abolishing popular election of education officials would make the system more, not less, accountable to the people. This is an argument only our premier could make. Centralization of decision-making power in a new provincial education authority might seem like a great idea to the PCs now. One wonders if theyll think the same thing when the NDP eventually takes office and the newly NDP-appointed members of the education authority begin dictating to the residents of what was formerly the Hanover School Division. That all having been said, its important to be realistic about the democratic and representational vitality of the current system of electing trustees. "Right now," NDP leader Wab Kinew argued, "if you have an issue with your childs schooling, you can take it up with your local school trustee or the local school division." But its not at all clear that many Manitobans see trustees as elected representatives whom they could approach to help them with problems related to their kids and public schooling. Turnout in trustee elections, despite being held alongside municipal elections, is often quite low. Its a bit of a puzzle why people vote the way they do. Name recognition appears to play a major role in vote choice, and existing trustees enjoy a massive incumbency advantage. Needless to say, this is not something we typically associate with vibrant local democracy. But these issues should have led to reforms within the context of the current system of school trustee elections. No one is proposing to abolish the provincial legislature because theyre dissatisfied with the conduct of Manitoba politics. Axing the entire system is overreach, especially when the overriding goal is to achieve savings that may never actually materialize. Theres little doubt in my mind that the Manitoba government, like the Ontario government when it meddled in Torontos local election, has the power to do what it proposes in this legislation. But, also like the Ontario governments dictate, the decision to do away with locally elected school boards is democratically dubious. Royce Koop is an associate professor in the department of political studies and co-ordinator of the Canadian studies program at the University of Manitoba. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. [March 19, 2021] Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Achieves $500 Million Milestone and Presses Forward on Grantmaking Legacy Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, a private foundation that honors the legacy of Virginia Galvin Piper, recently surpassed a grantmaking milestone of investing more than $500 million since its inception (21 years ago) in nonprofits and programs that enhance the lives of people in Maricopa County. The half-billion-dollar investment is made possible by Virginia Piper's endowment of $590 million and strong fiscal stewardship that puts the Trust in an excellent position to continue its unique, regional philanthropic legacy. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005462/en/ Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust reaches $500 million grantmaking milestone in Maricopa County, AZ (Graphic: Business Wire) Piper Trust's investments in organizations and initiatives that enrich health, well-being, and opportunity for the people of Maricopa County have significant economic and social impact. Since it began awarding grants in 2000, the Trust has focused on healthcare and medical research, children, older adults, arts and culture, education, and religious organizations. According to staff director and senior researcher at the L. William Seidman Research Institute, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, Dr. Anthony Evans, the economic impact of $500 million+ philanthropic dollars on Maricopa County (granted over 20+ years) is estimated at more than 4,015 job years of employment; more than $213.1 million in labor income; and, more than $495.3 million in total contribution to the state's gross domestic product (GDP). "These economic impacts are a significant but nevertheless conservative estimate of Piper Trust's total contribution to Maricopa County. These numbers don't factor in social impact-things like the numbers of people who have benefited from health, human services, or educational programs funded by the Trust; or the number of arts and culture initiatives that have improved the quality of life within the local community," Dr. Evans said. "If we could accurately measure all of those things, the absolute impact of the Trust's support for nonprofits and programs over the last 20 years could be at least double or triple the GDP impact." Strengthening the region's nonprofit sector is a core investment strategy of Piper Trust. Strong nonprofits are key to building community resilience. "Nonprofits have a profound and immeasurable influence on individual lives, families, and communities, and it's impossible to fully quantify the level of impact the sector has on our region," said Chris Camacho, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. "Nonprofits serve as a critical frontline multiplier alongside the public sector in meeting the needs of our community that can't be accomplished by any one domain alone. Piper Trust's dedication to grantmaking in Greater Phoenix allows that multiplier effect to take hold by providing a hand up to our region's most vulnerable which impacts present and future trajectories." Typically the Trust awards approximately $22 million annually to Maricopa County nonprofits. The past year has not been a typical one as the Trust has awarded more than $37 million, much of it a response to COVID-19. "It is an honor to carry out Virginia Piper's legacy through the endowment that she graciously left to this community that she loved. We are so grateful for the stewardship of our Trustees and the exceptional financial advisement of the Trust's dedicated external investment committee members-Jeffrey Coles, Jacque Millard, and Kent Misener-this collective leadership has helped our corpus remain strong and resilient for the fuure," said Mary Jane Rynd, president and CEO, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust A $10 million grant to Creighton University for a medical partnership with The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) to expand medical education, training, and clinical practice pushed Piper Trust's grantmaking beyond the $500 million mark. This grant will support a transformational collaboration between Creighton University and SVdP in Phoenix, which will provide improved access and quality care to those most in need while growing skilled medical professionals for Arizona. The partnership is designed to reduce growing health disparities that disproportionately affect low-income populations and people of color. "I think Virginia Piper would be so proud that the Trust reached this poignant $500 million milestone through the $10 million grant award to Creighton University for its collaboration with St. Vincent de Paul-this dynamic medical partnership will enrich our community in ways we don't even realize yet," said Rynd. "We're incredibly fortunate for a partner like Piper Trust who shares Creighton's deep commitment to make the world a better place, especially for those in the community who are vulnerable and underserved," said Creighton President the Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD. "Their thoughtful and generous gift will have a positive and lasting impact on the accessibility of healthcare in Phoenix for years to come." "We are deeply grateful for the generosity of Piper Trust that has not only helped us grow and expand our charitable outreach in Maricopa County these past 20 years but also given us access to unmatched educational opportunities and leadership development through Piper Academies and the Piper Fellows Program," said Shannon Clancy, SVdP Associate CEO. "Our organization would not be the largest St. Vincent de Paul in the country if not for Virginia Piper's legacy of kindness, compassion, and love that Piper Trust has continued to honor over many years." "This Creighton University-St. Vincent de Paul partnership holds immense promise for the health and health outcomes of the people of Maricopa County, Arizona, and beyond. These organizations know that by leveraging collaborations and expertise-our community can be a model for improving access and reducing inequities in healthcare," said Rynd. Trust support can range from modest-size to multi-million dollar investments through both responsive and Trust-Initiated grantmaking. For example, in 2013 a $20,000 grant to Xico, Inc. supported a feasibility study that resulted in the creation of culturally-specific lithography arts programming for youth; in 2017, a $1.4 million grant to First Place AZ supported pre-development and construction of a facility for special populations which has grown into a world-renowned model of residential living for neurodiverse individuals. Additional thematic investments include: Community Response in Real Time-while the Trust is a place-based foundation grounded in strategy, the Trust responds in the moment when communities are in need. Since inception, the Trust awarded more than $35 million to support crisis situations such as: In response to the Great Recession, 89 organizations received $6.5 million to aid during the economic downturn (2008-2011). Community emergencies such as immediate relief during heat waves, fire, or nonprofit crisis were awarded $1.7 million (2005-2017). In response to the migrant crises of 2017-2018, the Trust supported the establishment of the Phoenix Welcome Center for Asylum-Seeking Families, which provides comprehensive and coordinated services for families with pending asylum status. Since January 2020, the Trust awarded $27.4 million in grants initiated by the Trust to support 135 nonprofits during to the COVID-19 crisis. Nonprofit Capacity Building-truly partnering alongside nonprofits, allowing them to step back and step out in ways that can strengthen them for the long-term such as: The Piper Fellows Program-now 81 Fellows strong representing 60 organizations; the program supports nonprofit leaders with opportunities to retool and revitalize through self-designed professional development plans that can include in-depth learning at renowned educational institutions, site visits, and grants that help implement learnings. Trust-initiated projects that strengthen the effectiveness of organizations through ATLAS-designed to fortify the organizational and operational structures of a nonprofit by equipping them with innovative management tools, and AGILE-designed for mid-sized arts organizations to examine their "capacity + capitalization" so they become more nimble and effectively carry out their missions in any circumstance. To date, the Trust has invested $13.8 million in the ATLAS and AGILE programs that have supported 44 nonprofit organizations. Good Governance Project-Boards of Directors play a significant role in organizational strength. The Good governance Project focuses on the intentional development of board leadership through programming and small grants. The Trust has supported more than 100 grantees through this project since 2013. Piper Academies-since 2002, the Trust has hosted more than 50 Piper Academies featuring renowned thought leaders such as Angela Duckworth, David Grant, and Hilda Polanco. These special convenings for grantee organization leaders, board members, and volunteers provide in-depth and actionable learning; convenings are designed with a specific aspect of organizational capacity building in mind such as financial management or new approaches to impact assessment. About Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust: Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust supports organizations that enrich health, well-being, and opportunity for the people of Maricopa County, Arizona. Since it began awarding grants in 2000, Piper Trust has invested more than $512 million in local nonprofits and programs. Piper Trust grantmaking areas are healthcare and medical research, children, older adults, arts and culture, education, and religious organizations. For more information: visit pipertrust.org | @PiperTrust | Facebook. Review Piper Trust's Annual Financial Report: Fiscal Year Ending March 2020 at: FY20 Financial/Grants Report. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005462/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Avinyann delivered his address at the sixty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. The address reads as follows: "Dear Chairperson, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Im honored to address the sixty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. The key theme of the session provides an opportunity to thoroughly discuss the existing inequalities and discrimination faced by women in political and public life, and the impact of the pandemic on violence against women, including domestic violence. Protection of womens rights and addressing the discrimination against women and girls is one of the fundamental priorities of Armenia being also a key pillar of our Human Rights Council 2020-2022 membership. In this context, a broad range of programs aimed at the promotion of gender equality are currently carried out in Armenia along with the legislative reforms. The Gender Policy Implementation Strategy of Armenia for 2019-2023 sets the government's priorities for equal participation of women in decision-making processes achieving gender equality in science, education and socio-economic spheres. Within the framework of the COVID-19 pandemic response and rehabilitation programs, the Government of Armenia has undertaken targeted actions to mitigate the implications of the crisis on the most vulnerable groups with a special focus on the needs of women and girls. In Armenia, the implementation of gender equality policy is institutionalized at the national, provincial and community levels. As a coordinating mechanism, the Council on Womens Affairs of the Republic of Armenia is committed to ensuring the equal participation of women and men in political and socio-economic processes. Emphasizing the significance of the SDG 5 and its main targets Armenia has also undertaken reforms to ensure equal access of women to economic resources and creating favorable conditions for the economic empowerment of women. The recent aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, with the involvement of foreign terrorist fighters posed an existential threat to the population of Artsakh, making the issue of their protection an urgent priority. Azerbaijans indiscriminate and disproportionate military attacks, shelling and bombardments have resulted in civilian casualties and mass displacement and heavily affected the regions civilian infrastructures, including a maternity hospital and other healthcare institutions. Safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the civilian population in Nagorno-Karabakh is crucial to address the life-saving needs of women and girls. There is an urgent necessity to implement individual social and rehabilitation programs targeting all women affected by the conflict, including those who were forced to flee to Armenia. Another pressing humanitarian issue is the immediate return of the Armenian prisoners of war and civilian hostages, including women captured in war and post-war period by Azerbaijan. Distinguished delegates, Armenia will continue taking innovative approaches to the promotion of women's rights and achieving gender equality. As a leader of the "Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality" Action Coalition of the "Generation Equality" Forum, Armenia will utilize modern technologies to promote gender equality. Armenia is committed to full and inclusive participation of women in public life, protection and promotion of their rights for building back better, transforming the world and shaping a bright future for the generations to come." London: Hong Kongers who fled Chinas crackdown have urged British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to recognise their qualifications in order to make their resettlements in Britain an easier experience. Johnson held a 30-minute conversation with four families whove moved to Britain under a special program for British overseas nationals established after Chinas national security law was imposed last year. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the families he was proud to be able to offer them a pathway to British citizenship and had no doubt they would feel very much at home in Britain. Credit:Getty Up to 130,000 people are expected to take up the offer, which provides a pathway to British citizenship in the first year. Between 7000 and 9000 Hong Kongers have already having relocated. Britain opened visa applications in January and has already received 27,000 applications. A Canadian national detained by the Chinese authorities days after the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou stood trial in the northeastern province of Liaoning on Friday for "spying." Michael Spavor, who was detained amid allegations of stealing state secrets more than two years ago, stood trial behind closed doors at the Intermediate People's Court in Dandong city. The Dandong Intermediate People's Court in Liaoning province held the trial behind closed doors of Canadian defendant Michael Spavor, on charges of spying for foreign countries and illegally leaking state secrets," the court said in a statement on its website on Friday. "Michael Spavor and his defense lawyers appeared in court and participated in the proceedings," it said. It said the court would pronounce sentence at a later date. Journalists and diplomats sent to observe the trial were denied access to the court, according to news photos at the scene. The entrance to the courthouse was roped off with police tape and journalists were kept outside, although not detained or told to leave, as often occurs during sensitive legal cases, according to the AP. Police cars and vans with lights flashing passed through the gate to the court complex, located beside the Yalu River that divides China from North Korea, it said. The trial ended around 12:00 p.m. after just two hours in session with no verdict announced, according to Jim Nickel, the Canadian Embassys deputy chief of mission, who was himself denied entry to the court. Nickel declined to give other details, citing rules on protecting Spavors privacy, the AP report said. But he said the refusal to admit Canadian diplomats was in breach of international and bilateral treaties. Also accused Fellow Canadian national Michael Kovrig will stand trial on Monday, on linked spying charges. Kovrig is accused of acting as a source of information for Spavor. 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," Chinese state media have reported. Spavor's charges rest on the allegation that he was "a key source of intelligence" for Kovrig, according to the Global Times newspaper. 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 hired by their families or the embassy, and they have had visits only from consular staff, which have been suspended since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. 'Top priority for Canada' Canadian foreign minister Marc Garneau confirmed that he had received notification of the trials, with Kovrig's trial scheduled for Monday. The arbitrary detention of Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor is a top priority for the Government of Canada and we continue to work tirelessly to secure their immediate release," Garneau said. "We believe these detentions are arbitrary, and remain deeply troubled by the lack of transparency surrounding these proceedings," he said. Canadian officials are seeking continued consular access to Mr. Spavor and Mr. Kovrig, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the China-Canada Consular Agreement, and have also requested to attend the proceedings," he said. Meng was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1, 2018 pending a U.S. extradition request. China has repeatedly called for her 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. 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. Reported by Liu Fei for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Fong Tak Ho for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. The Charger Blog Steven Atilho 22 is grateful for the many opportunities he has had as a computer science major, particularly the chance to attend a recent talk that enabled him to connect with leaders in the fields of cybersecurity and finance including a successful first-generation alum. By Renee Chmiel, Office of Marketing and Communications Steven Atilho 22 at his home work station. When Steven Atilho 22 was growing up, he was grateful for the many sacrifices that his parents, who immigrated to the United States from rural Portugal, made for him. They did not have the opportunity to pursue higher education themselves, and they worked hard, often in physically demanding jobs, to ensure their children had the opportunities they never had. A computer science major, Atilho is most thankful for everything his parents have sacrificed, as well as the myriad opportunities he has had at the University of New Haven. I view education as a gift that cannot be taken for granted, explains Atilho, who grew up in Bridgeport, Conn. I push myself to my absolute limits and take every opportunity I can, not only to make my parents proud, but to reach the point in my career where I can give back by ensuring that others don't have to struggle anymore. Frank Martire 77 MBA shared his story during the virtual talk. A gateway to achieving a lasting and secure career Atilho became interested in computer science as a member of his high schools FIRST Robotics Competition team, which enabled him to explore mechanical and electrical engineering as well as computer science. As he learned about programming and saw that he could use coding to instruct the robot, he became fascinated by the potential of computers. As a first-year student at the University, it was Atilhos eagerness to continue to explore new opportunities that led to his discovering the Universitys hacking team. Although he had limited knowledge of hacking or networking when he started attending the clubs weekly meetings, he says he was welcomed with open arms. Hes now been a member of the team for three years, and he has taken part in a variety of competitions that, he says, enabled him to gain hands-on experience and further his knowledge of computer science. A member of the Universitys Cyber Operative Research Scholars Program (CORES) program, which is funded by the Office of Naval Research, Atilho is writing a research paper on investigating dark web cyber criminals who sell personally identifiable information, such as social security numbers and bank account information. He hopes his research will help law enforcement agencies reduce the sale of such information on the dark web. He is grateful that the opportunity has enabled him to gain experience as a professional researcher, develop skills in areas such as ethics and leadership, and opened doors for him to publish his work. Being a first-generation student means I am always stepping out of my comfort zone and taking risks, he said. I am doing things I've never seen anyone in my family do before. Applying for financial aid, college, and scholarships was a process I had to learn myself. This is a chance for me to provide upward mobility for my whole family. I see college as a gateway to achieving a lasting and secure career. Instilled hope and motivation in me Steven Atilho 22. A memorable opportunity Atilho recently had at the University was the chance to attend a talk by Frank Martire 77 MBA, executive chair of NCR Corporation, a leader in banking and commerce solutions; and Greg Montana, chief risk officer for FIC, a Fortune 500 company and a leading provider of technology solutions for merchants, banks, and capital market firms around the world. The talk, titled Generating Business Success Through Technology and Cybersecurity Leadership, was part of the Universitys Success and Leadership Series. Held via Zoom, it enabled students such as Atilho to interact with Martire and Montana. Martire, who was also a first-generation college student, grew up in Bridgeport as well, and he and Atilho briefly discussed the city when Atilho asked him a question. The grandson of Italian immigrants, Martire told students about his own pursuit of education. Discovering this about him and seeing the heights he has reached in his career instilled hope and motivation in me, said Atilho. It showed me that through perseverance and hard work, you can achieve aspirations that past generations did not have the opportunity to achieve. Greg Montana offered advice to students. I got so much out of it While taking classes at the University of New Haven at night, Martire worked at Connecticut National bank during the day, sometimes returning to work after class. He said that although technical skills are important, interactions with people are paramount. It was a bit challenging, but I got so much out of it, he said. It was the best time, and I learned a lot. I think what will make the biggest difference in your career, whatever you may do, will be how you relate to, work with, and motivate others. Presented by the Pompea College of Business, Tagliatela College of Engineering, and the Connecticut Institute of Technology, the event celebrated the launch of the online M.S. in Cybersecurity Leadership and Management. It enabled students to ask Martire and Montana questions and to listen to a lively discussion that also examined attracting investors, building a team, cryptocurrency, and the impact of the coronavirus global pandemic on finance and cybersecurity. Martire and Montana also offered advice to students. Surround yourself with the most competent people you can possibly find, said Montana. Have faith in them, and make sure you have strong people around you. Steven Atilho 22 competes with the Universitys hacking team remotely. Cybersecurity is critical Atilho says the discussion was a wonderful opportunity that enabled him to prepare for another opportunity he is looking forward to: his internship this summer at BNY Mellon, a leading corporate investment banking company. He will serve as an infrastructure engineer as part of the 2021 Student Technology, Agile & Readiness Training (S.T.A.R.T) program, and he looks forward to gaining hands-on experience in platform security, cloud architecture, and automation. As an incoming infrastructure engineer intern at a bank, I found this talk to be a great experience that enabled me to learn how both business and tech executives work together to create policies and plans that ensure the security of merchants, banks, and markets across the globe, he said. Mr. Martire and Mr. Montana discussed how cybersecurity has become essential in all job fields, not just information technology. With new technology applications being created every day, cybersecurity is critical to ensuring that the data in and operations of these systems are protected from malicious individuals. Deputy Director of Legal Affairs of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Baba Jamal says his former Deputy General Secretary, Koku Anyidoho is wrong to accuse the partys National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo of not punishing Sammy Gyamfi for his verbal attack on the NDC leadership in Parliament. According to him, Koku Anyidoho being a former Deputy General Secretary of the party knows it is impossible for the National Chairman of the party to single-handedly carry out punitive measures against any member who may have gone wrong in the party. So if Koku Anyidoho says that the National Chairman should come out to punish him or he should resign then he is expressing his opinion but not the position of the NDCs constitution as he mentioned. This is because the constitution of the NDC must be respected, and the constitution states the process to go through to penalise a member of the party, he explained. Citing Koku Anyidohos suspension on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show to buttress his point, the former Member of Parliament(MP) for Akwatia Constituency said that just as Koku Anyidohos suspension went through constitutional processes before it came out, Sammy Gyamfis case must pass through the same processes. He added that in the spirit of fairness, Koku Anyidoho should know that Sammy Gyamfis case should officially be reported to the party and then the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) will have to meet to decide his fate, then refer the matter to the Disciplinary Committee and not the party Chairman. So, everybody deserves to be treated right. If we took him [Koku Anyidoho] through the processes and he was referred to FEC before a decision to suspend him was taken, even though I have heard that he said he has not received any suspension letter, officially as far as I am concerned, FEC took that decision to suspend him and a letter has been written to that effect, he indicated. It went through the process because some of us will not sit aloof as we have suffered for this party. Someone like Koku Anyidoho, we know the role he played in terms of worshipping this party, but if it gets to a point where things are not going right, we need to be fair to people, he stressed. 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 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Illustration: John Shakespeare Credit:The Sydney Morning Herald I was abused by a family member, groomed from the age of eight. Its affected my whole life and the decisions I have made. Its a common story you hear from anybody in that situation and its a good example of why we need to have a national conversation about these things. It is such a prevalent issue. The speed with which Janine Hendrys spontaneous tweet how many women would you need to form a circle surrounding Parliament House? turned into a 100,000-person national rally is a pretty good clue. It took only two weeks. It was not a celebrity-led event; it had no organisational backing, no money. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity now for real change, says Archer. Youve got your head in the sand if you cant see the momentum behind this push for justice, for change, for people to have their voices heard. But its the policy of the government to put its head in the sand. The leadership is trying to move on to its preferred topics, its preferred political battlegrounds of the economy, the vaccination program, national security. Scott Morrison judged at the outset that the demand for justice for women was just a passing enthusiasm. That was a month ago. He was wrong. Hes hated every moment of the campaign, the news, the noise. Two of his cabinet ministers are on leave, the government has lost ground in the polls, its lost control of the political agenda. Loading The government has bungled badly and just wants the whole women problem to disappear, as if 52 per cent of the electorate is some special-interest clique that can be relegated with a couple of standard crisis-management techniques and talking points dictated by political backroom apparatchiks with all the life experience of an introverted monk in a cloistered order. Morrison declined the invitation to join the rally. Instead, he offered to meet three or four delegates in his office. The organisers declined: Given that so many have come to the steps of Parliament to make their voices heard, the question is, why cant the Prime Minister take the last few steps through the front door and hear them directly? In the event, at least 15 Coalition MPs and senators were prepared to venture outside their high-security hideout to meet their fellow citizens. Should Morrison have taken those last few steps? Bridget Archer says its hard for her to know whether it would have been helpful. I think what would be good now is to follow up, she says. We have to keep the momentum or it will be lost. Loading Another Liberal backbencher, Russell Broadbent, has written to Morrison proposing a national summit of womens groups to discuss the subject. Archer supports this idea. I dont think the Prime Minister or the Opposition Leader is to be expected to magically fix it all. But we cant point to the record amount we are investing in health or in domestic violence, even though its true, because its not enough. It doesnt matter how much youre tipping in if the bucket has a hole in it. Weve done that with sexual violence and its got worse. Something is not working. The missing piece is cultural change, and that is a structural issue. We cant presume to know it all. You have to listen. Something along the lines of a national summit would be a really good start, and then build on that. It would need to be bipartisan if it was to work. Archer says she is consulting womens groups about such an idea. In the next couple of days I will certainly be putting my views to the Prime Minister. Loading Shell be up against the conventional political playbook for such inconveniences. And she knows it. She summarises accurately the political play to date: The Labor Party has been saying for a few weeks that the Liberals have a problem with women. Now the Liberal party has been saying you, Labor, dont have the moral high ground, which has been one of the reasons that the Prime Ministers office has been cheerleading the Liberals Nicolle Flint as she repeatedly accuses Labor of tacitly endorsing a sexist hate campaign against her at the 2019 election. This week is the closing of the political loop on that yes, both sides are guilty of mistreating women, Archer says. We are missing the point. The whole country has a problem of culture, of increased levels of violence and disrespect against women. Chanel Contoss petition, with thousands of testimonials of current and former schoolgirls detailing sexual assault, is one indicator. Another is the NSW Police Commissioner, Mick Fullers expression of frustration this week with the annual 15,000 reports of sexual assault: Men continue to get away with it less than 2 per cent of the reports lead to guilty verdicts in court. His proposal for an app as a way of registering sexual consent may be impractical, but it was a genuine effort to find new ways to deal with an intractable problem. Loading Closing the loop on the political play the two major parties inflicting damage on each other is not the end of the story and it isnt even the beginning, says Archer. The other element of the standard playbook is the look busy trick. The government is busy with urgent priorities just now. Archers response: The Australian people rightly expect their government to walk and chew gum at the same time. Yes, there is a vaccine rollout, and there is an economic recovery plan. You know what? This is an equally important issue of national significance. What are you saying if you say other things are more important? Thats the problem. Thats exactly the problem. The politics is the process of strangling the humanity. The political week started with the rally demanding attention for the women of Australia; it ended with a parade of politicians talking about themselves and each other. We have to turn our gaze away from ourselves and back onto the people of Australia, Archer urges. If the national interest isnt compelling enough, theres also a political incentive. The Coalition once enjoyed an enormous lead over Labor in its share of womens votes. In 1967 the Coalition had an advantage of 9 per cent over Labor, as the ANUs Australian Electoral Study shows. Thats been declining consistently and went to nothing towards the end of the Howard period, says the ANUs Ian McAllister. Women were exactly divided between the main parties in their support for a while. The long-term trend of women to be less conservative and more progressive is witnessed across much of the Western world, for three reasons, McAllister explains: a growing proportion of women went into higher education; likewise they went into the work force; and women, once more religious then men, lost that tendency. Under Julia Gillard, Labor won a surge of women voters, its advantage 7 per cent for a while. Most of that has gone, but Labor still held a 2 per cent edge over the government among women at the 2019 election. Former prime minister Julia Gillard welcomed another woman to Labors ranks when Senator Marielle Smith delivered her first parliamentary speech in September 2019. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen STOCKHOLM, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- HANZA Holding AB (publ) has today acquired Suomen Levyprofiili Oy ("SLP"), a successful Finnish manufacturer of sheet metal mechanics. The deal is an important step in HANZA's ongoing work to expand the Group's development clusters. SLP has just over 100 employees and operations in a modern production facility in Joensuu, close to HANZA's other factories in Finland. The acquisition complements HANZA's existing manufacturing technologies in Finland, and thus follows the company's business model of creating customer value by linking different factories and offering complete contract manufacturing. "Regional and complete manufacturing clusters are a recipe for success for our customers, something that has become especially clear during the pandemic," says HANZA's CEO Erik Stenfors. "SLP is a well-managed company that strengthens our offering in Finland, and we welcome their talented employees to HANZA." The SLP vendors are investors connected to the Finnish investment company Helmet Capital Oy. HANZA will take over immediately and will during 2021 work to develop and integrate the factories in Finland in close collaboration with existing customers. "We are pleased to now be part of the HANZA Group," says Aku Lampola, MD of SLP. "Our customers demand a broader manufacturing offer, and now we will be able to develop faster in Joensuu as well as internationally together with other parts of the HANZA Group." Financial information and information about the transaction SLP has a turnover of approx. SEK 150 million with earnings before depreciation (EBITDA) of approximately SEK 14 million (9.3%). The net debt amounts to approx. SEK 22 million. The valuation for 100% of the shares SLP amounts to approx. SEK 33 million. Furthermore, HANZA will take over a shareholder loan to SLP of approximately SEK 15 million upon accession. The valuation of SLP, including the shareholder loan, thus corresponds to approx. 3.4 times EBITDA and an EV / EBITDA multiple of about 5. The purchase price consists of a cash fixed purchase price, a cash additional purchase price, and a share part of 1.8 M shares in HANZA issued with the support of the Annual General Meeting's authorization. The shares are covered by a so-called lock-up (may not be sold) until and including 1 April 2022. The share capital is thus increased by SEK 180,000 and the number of shares in HANZA after the issue amounts to 32,779,928. The new issue entails a dilution of approx. 5.5%. Integration costs are estimated at approx. SEK 6 million and are to mainly be charged to the first quarter of 2021. With consideration to integration and acquisition costs, SLP's contribution to HANZA's operating profit during the first year (in 2021) is thus expected to be limited. The full impact of the acquisition on the HANZA Group will be determined by the purchase price allocation in accordance with IFRS, which has not yet been completed. Invitation to presentation regarding the acquisition HANZA invites to a combined teleconference and audiocast where CEO Erik Stenfors and CFO Lars Akerblom will present the acquisition and answer questions. The presentation will be held in English. You can access the presentation material on HANZA's website shortly before the conference begins. Date and time : Friday March 19 at 11.00 am CET : at Link to webcast: https://tv.streamfabriken.com/press-conference-2021-6 https://tv.streamfabriken.com/press-conference-2021-6 Phone number for the conference: Sweden : +46 8 566 426 51 United Kingdom : +44 333 300 08 04 USA : +1 855 857 06 86 During the conference call, a presentation will be given. To access the presentation please follow the link https://tv.streamfabriken.com/press-conference-2021-6 or download it from HANZA's web site www.hanza.com/en before the event. After the presentation there is an opportunity to ask questions. Please find more streaming information at: https://financialhearings.com/event/13797 For further information please contact: Erik Stenfors, CEO, Tel: +46-709 50 80 70, e-mail: erik.stenfors@hanza.com Lars Akerblom, CFO, Tel: +46-707 94 98 78, e-mail: lars.akerblom@hanza.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/hanza-holding-ab/r/hanza-expands-in-finland-with-new-acquisition,c3310001 The following files are available for download: Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Invasive zebra mussels nearly impossible to eliminate have been documented in Raystown Lake in Huntingdon County. According to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported suspected observations of zebra mussels in the 8,300-acre lake on March 11. Commission biologists subsequently made positive identifications of the species in the lake. Zebra mussels small, D-shaped, striped, thumbnail-sized bivalves have been deemed among the worst aquatic invasive species in the United States. After being introduced to a new water, they quickly spread through aquatic ecosystems and filter plankton, which disrupts aquatic food webs. They also are known to harm infrastructure by clogging industrial freshwater intake pipes and fouling boat docks, beaches and the hulls of boats. According to the commission, At this time, it is unknown how the invasive species was introduced to the lake. Sean Hartzell, aquatic invasive species coordinator for the commission, said, Adult zebra mussels can attach to surfaces and can be spread easily between waters if they become attached to boats or fishing gear. The microscopic larvae of the zebra mussel can also be spread through undrained water transported on boats or gear. Unfortunately, little can be done to eliminate Zebra Mussels once they become established in a water body. Kris Kuhn, director of the commissions Bureau of Fisheries, added, This discovery of zebra mussels gives us a great amount of concern for the aquatic resources within Raystown Lake and the potential for spread to other waters. Given the size and popularity of Raystown Lake for recreational fishing and boating, the probability that this invasive species will be spread to other waters is high. We need every angler, boater, and conservation-minded visitor to the lake to help us stop the spread. To prevent the spread of zebra mussels and other aquatic invasive species in Pennsylvania waters, the commission suggests that anglers, boaters and others on the water properly clean, drain and dry their boats and gear after each trip. Boaters should completely drain and dry ballast, live wells, motors and other onboard water before and after boating. Boats moored at a lake should be visually inspected for zebra mussels and any specimens should be removed. Washing boats with hot or high-pressure water, such as at a commercial carwash, is strongly encouraged. The commission also recommends that boats be allowed to dry for several days before being used in another water body. Fishing gear or other materials should be drained on-site and allowed to dry for at least 48 hours before use at another water body. Anglers also are encouraged to leave live bait behind and either give it to someone using the same body of water or discard it in the trash. For further instructions on cleaning boats or gear, visit the Clean Your Gear section of the commission website. Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com. Melody Tan was walking along Brays Bayou one afternoon last summer when a white man on a bike swerved at her and yelled something in fake Chinese. The 29-year-old doctoral candidate was startled, then angry. Daily walks became more stressful than calming. Her anxiety mounted with escalating reports of harassment, verbal abuse and attacks against Asian Americans. Last March, a teen stabbed a man and his young children in Midland because he reportedly thought they were Chinese and spreading the virus. Tan texted the article to her Singaporean and Indonesian parents, begging them: Be careful. A year of dread, anxiety and stress from shouldering dual pandemics coronavirus and racism culminated Tuesday in the Asian American communitys worst fear when a gunman killed eight people in three Atlanta-area spas, six of them Asian women. Tan stopped scrolling when she saw the news on Twitter. Her blood ran cold. It was just a matter of when, Tan said. The community has been speaking up. We knew this was going to happen. This was the end result of all of these subtle or less explicit forms of racism they were all leading up to this. While authorities have not said whether race motivated the Atlanta mass shooting, the killings come on the heels of a wave of violence and hate incidents targeting Asian Americans. The news reports rattled exhausted communities across the country. Officials have recorded no increase in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans in Houston or Harris County, but community leaders said the national incidents, including horrific attacks against Asian American seniors in San Francisco and New York, have stoked fear. Anti-Asian American sentiment has soared during the pandemic, Houston community members said, describing stories of online attacks, racist remarks and verbal harassment. HOUSTON REACTS: 'Stop Asian Hate' vigil, rally held at Discovery Green The virus is our enemy, the common enemy of mankind, said H.C. Chang, president of the Houston chapter of the OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates. We should collectively do something against it not point fingers, not scapegoat. In response to the Atlanta shooting, the Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriffs Office are increasing patrols in Asian American neighborhoods where people are on edge, though police said there are no credible threats. Officials and community groups are planning a town hall meeting. Many elected officials and groups have spoken out to condemn the violence, and one group has planned a Saturday afternoon vigil to mourn the victims and decry rising hate. Mayor Sylvester Turner called the Atlanta shooting an unspeakable tragedy and urged Houstonians to recognize the fear and pain of their Asian American neighbors, call out racism and make people feel safe. The attacks on the Asian American community are an outrage, he said, and its on all of us to stop it. Months ago, President Joe Biden issued a memorandum condemning and combating the racism and xenophobia while horrific attacks against Asian American seniors in San Francisco and New York triggered alarm. In his first prime-time address from the White House, Biden called the violence un-American. In the last year, nearly 3,800 hate incidents were reported across the country, according to a report released by Stop AAPI Hate hours before the Atlanta shooting. The organization, formed early in the pandemic in response to xenophobia, said verbal harassment and shunning account for the majority of reported incidents. Nearly half of the reports were from California while Texas ranked fourth. Roughly 68 percent of reportees were women and 42 percent were Chinese, the organization said. Were easily scapegoated In April, shortly after the Midland stabbing, hostility struck closer to home. A woman verbally assaulted employees of a Vietnamese restaurant in a Houston parking lot, telling them: Get out of our country. At the same time, Republican congressional candidate Kathaleen Wall launched an ad in Houstons media market with a false claim: China poisoned our people. Former President Donald Trump referred to the coronavirus in racist terms. Meanwhile, Houstons Asian American residents were fighting the pandemic alongside the entire city. Members of the Chinese Community Center raised funds, distributed personal protective equipment and delivered hot meals to front-line workers, said Chi-mei Lin, the organizations CEO. The community prefers to let their actions speak for themselves, but with anti-Asian sentiment gaining traction, leaders made sure to publicize their efforts. We care and we want to be part of the solution, Lin said. We dont want people to see us being the problem we are not. Anti-Asian sentiment is nothing new in this country, said Debbie Chen, a leader of the national Organization of Chinese Americans and member of the groups local branch. But the pandemic has exacerbated the problem. Politicians chose divisive, inflammatory and irresponsible language to describe the virus, giving people permission to falsely blame Asian Americans for the countrys plight, she said. Asians have always been perceived or portrayed as either the model minority or the perpetual foreigner, Chen said. So were easily scapegoated. When the pandemic struck, people needed an outlet to channel their emotional frustration as they confronted job loss, economic despair, sickness and grief, said Chang, the same groups chapter president. Misguided by political rhetoric, people chose to direct their anger toward Asian Americans, he said, resurrecting a sentiment that has darkened the countrys history for centuries. Unfortunately, that is a chapter within our history that we thought went away, only to find that it was not really very far from us, he said. The surging hostility created underlying fear among Asian American communities, with many people altering their schedule or habits to avoid falling prey to racial harassment or attacks. Seniors stayed home instead of enjoying fresh air, Lin said, afraid they would be vulnerable while walking in the park. Chen, the community leader, said she spends extra time circling parking lots when shopping. She looks for a spot close enough to her destination that people would see her if anything happened. Dr. Oriana Chen, a Houston ER doctor, said she stopped grocery shopping and opted for online delivery in part to avoid being targeted by racist comments or harassment. At work, Chen said, stories of discrimination and harassment are widespread. One patient refused to be treated by a Filipino nurse. Another hospital guest asked a doctor whether she spoke English. Friends across the profession said patients have walked out upon realizing they would be treated by an Asian American professional. Entire families feel under attack. Parents worry their children will be picked on at school while children worry their older parents will be attacked on the street, Lin said. Sometime last year, Lins organization hosted a Zoom webinar to address concern about school bullying. Parents were worried that classmates would point fingers at their children, call them names or shun them from the lunch table. Lin, who grew up in Taiwan and immigrated in the 80s as a student, dedicated her career to working in human services, making an effort to care for those in need through various nonprofits. Its very sad and disheartening to see whats going on under the pandemic, she said. Its the caring, the love that we want to share. Somehow it got twisted. Of course, the virus has left no community unscathed, devastating Asian American families just like countless others. We share the sorrow of it, Lin said. We share the loss. Prevalent harassment Clad in scrubs and a mask, Dr. Charles Chow was walking from his parked car to his front door one night after work when a white man unleashed a torrent of verbal abuse punctuated by obscenities, anti-mask rhetoric and the vague, othering words: You people. Chow, a health care provider, realized with shock that the yells were directed at him. He chose not to engage, scrambling to unlock his door and get inside his home in a west Houston neighborhood. The man, who was walking a tiny white dog, circled back down the block and kept screaming. The disturbing part is that Im assuming he lives in the community, Chow said. Hes one of my neighbors. Chow informed neighborhood security of the verbal assault but never heard back. He did not see the aggressor again. It was unclear whether the attack was racially motivated, Chow said. Incidents of verbal harassment, racial comments, shunning, bullying or dirty looks targeting Asian Americans are prevalent in Houston. Often, the stories go unreported because they do not rise to the level of a criminal offense. Even if an incident would prompt a criminal investigation, some victims do not come forward due to fear of retaliation, cultural stigma or language barriers, community leaders said. I can only imagine incidents like that are far more frequent than what we read about in local news, Chang said. This month, a group Zoom-bombed a conference hosted by the national chapter of Changs organization in celebration of multicultural womens heritage. Attackers hurled racial remarks, he said. Last summer, Emmett Schelling was reaching for cheese at Trader Joes on South Shepherd when a white woman yanked her son away from him and stormed off. She told the child: Those people are dirty. He was thrown off, wanting to believe he had misheard her. What I look like does not elevate or increase my chances of having this virus any more than you, said Schelling, a Texas transgender rights advocate. Adopted from Korea by a white family in rural Ohio, Schelling said he grew up navigating a world in which kids tugged at their eyelids and called him mean names. He was never racially harassed in Houston before. To avoid similar situations, Schelling started shopping at H Mart, a Korean American supermarket in Sharpstown. Besides, there was an upside: Customers and staff, mostly Asian American, were much better at following pandemic safety protocols. He said he feels sad for the Trader Joes customers child, who looked like he was old enough to remember the comment and likely has Asian American classmates and teachers. I dont believe this is who the city is in any form, I really dont, Schelling said. My hope is that it gives us an opportunity to see where were more connected than disconnected and move through it together. anna.bauman@chron.com twitter.com/abauman2 A LIMERICK man has appealed for people to join the donor card register after losing one of his best friends while she was awaiting a heart transplant. John McMahon of Kennedy Park, has agreed for his organs to be donated once he passes away, and is a regular blood donor. Mum-of-two Lindsey Fallon from Athlone, sadly died in the Mater Hospital while awaiting a heart transplant last month, and its led John to make the appeal. I would appeal to anyone when they are filling out applications, be it for a passport or a driving licence, theres a question on it do you want to be an organ donor? Please pick yes. Some people deserve a second chance. Poor Lindsey didnt get a second chance and she thoroughly deserved one, John said. I know someone who tragically passed away from drugs a couple of weeks ago, and he had thousands of chances. Poor Lindsey didnt get one, he said. John said he has agreed to have everything but his eyes donated. No-one is getting my eyes, he smiled. What else will happen to someone's organs? They will just decay and die. Its better to give someone a second chance of life. I know people say they dont want their bodies cut open. But when you pass on, you are not in your body. You have gone to heaven which is something I believe in as a Christian, John added. John who has given blood around 20 times said: Id just appeal to people to give someone else a second chance because there are people out there who are unfortunately very ill. And none of us know whats going to happen tomorrow. He recalled first meeting Lindsey when he went out to Australia just after being made redundant from Dell in 2009. When I got to Sydney, the first place I stayed was Pitt Street hostel, then after that I met a couple of people from Limerick. There was this house at 181 Bondi Road. Ill never forget it, it was brilliant, he grinned. It was there he first met Lindsey, saying: She was rubbing my hand and said hi Johnny, and promised to look after me. From that moment on, we had this inseparable bond. Like sister and brother. She was just so energetic, she was very charismatic. Just a very good person. When she was in a room, everyone knew she was there. She had a wonderful smile. The energy off her was so positive she always looked out for others, always put everybody first. John said he didnt realise that his friend was ill until he was asked to record a video message to keep her spirits up while she was in hospital. I was taken aback when I heard she had passed away. My memories of her are just so real, and so vivid, he added. John holds a blood donors card, which when scanned, shows he is willing to have his organs donated. You can become an organ donor by carrying a donor card or having your wishes noted on your driving licence. For more information click here, free text the word 'Donor' to 50050 or telephone 1890-543639. UPDATE 7:13 p.m.: Chavez is back in custody, according to the Blount County Sheriffs Office. UPDATE: Robert Alan Peak was taken into custody overnight. A pursuit began in Blount County where authorities say Peak was in a stolen vehicle. The pursuit went from Blount County into Cullman County and ended on Highway 278 near Berlin. EARLlER: A man convicted in the 2017 slayings of his parents is among two Cullman County Jail inmates still at large after four inmates, including one charged with murder, escaped from the facility Thursday night, the Cullman County Sheriffs Office said. Leo Santiago Chavez was convicted in March of the 2017 murders of his parents, Adalberta Chavez Ruiz and Ricardo Santiago Gonzales, at their home in Blount County. Make sure to take extreme caution with Chavez, Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry urged the public should they come into contact with him. He said the public should be diligent and lock their doors. Multiple law enforcement agencies, including U.S. Marshals, the Blount County Sheriffs Office, Cullman Police Department and the Winston County Sheriffs Office, are searching for Chavez and Robert Alan Peak, who was charged in November with first-degree theft of property and unlawful breaking and entering of a motor vehicle. The U.S. Marshals are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Chavez, and $2,500 for information leading to the arrest of Peak, Gentry said. Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon said K-9 units have been deployed to capture Chavez and Peak. Earlier this evening, four inmates escaped from the Cullman County Detention Center and fled on foot. Two of the... Posted by Cullman Sheriff on Thursday, March 18, 2021 Around 6:33 p.m. Thursday, the four inmates escaped by crawling through an air vent next to the showers inside of the holding block of the jail, said Gentry. The inmates crawled through the vents until they came in contact with a brick wall, which they kicked until they made a hole big enough to escape through, he said. Sheriffs deputies and police departments in the area then set up a perimeter, Gentry said. They were able to capture two of the four inmates. Tyler Dooley, who was charged with murder in August following a shootout that left two men dead, was recaptured and taken back into custody at the jail. The incident in New Canaan started as a robbery. Also back in custody is Cullman County Jail inmate Justin Long. Chavez was described as 5-feet 7-inches tall, 180 pounds and was wearing a green jumpsuit when he left the jail. Peak was described as 5-feet 8-inches tall, 170 pounds, with multiple neck tattoos. He was wearing a green jumpsuit when he escaped but later changed into a light blue or gray shirt, Gentry said. Anyone who spots Chavez or Peak should dial 911, the Cullman County Sheriffs Office at 256-734-0343 , the Blount County Sheriffs Office at 205-625-4912 or 205-625-4913 or send a message to the Cullman County Sheriffs Offices Facebook page. You could very nearly hear the sighs of relief across the city of Portland as the Prime Minister flew in to announce a deal that will give the biggest employer in the region, Alcoas aluminium smelter, an extra five years of life. Out at the huge plant, which sprawls across a sea-bound peninsula a few kilometres south of the city, smelter manager Ron Jorgensen choked up as he heralded the business reprieve, speaking of the 500 employees as members of his own family. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Trade Minister Dan Tehan at the Portland smelter with plant manager Ron Jorgensen and Alcoa Australia president Michael Gollschewski on Friday. Glenelg Shire chief executive Greg Burgoyne underlines Alcoas importance to Portland by declaring that if its contribution to the economic and social infrastructure of the city of around 10,000 were to be dislocated, it would have a catastrophic effect on our community. Apart from the 500 smelter workers, the Alcoa operation supports an estimated 2000 other jobs in south-west Victoria. Ben Ephson, pollster and managing editor of the Daily Dispatch says the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) cannot be blamed for the scramble by some ministers to succeed President Akufo-Addo. Speaking on Asaase Radio Thursday (18 March), Ephson said, I agree with Freddie Blay, you cant blame the leaders. You cannot. I mean, why, should they issue a fiat? So that nobody should even mention Alan Kyerematens name or vice-president Bawumias name? So its going to be difficult. What Kwadwo Mpiani said is virtually out of the window. When Kwadwo Mpiani was chief of staff to ex-president J A Kufuor, there was only one election; the one they had with 17 people and the party [NPP] has broken it up. So this one, Im sure there will be a mini congress to select the five [to contest in the main flagbearer election], he added. Ephson said he is not surprised that there is a scramble among cabinet ministers to succeed President Akufo-Addo because the NPP traditionally has had problems electing a new flagbearer. In an interview on Asaase Radio Thursday, Kwadwo Mpiani, chief of staff in the government of President John Agyekum Kufuor described the scramble among cabinet ministers to succeed President Akufo-Addo as a very worrying development in the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). The former chief of staff attributed the jostling for position to a lack of discipline and failure on the part of the current party leadership of the NPP. He did not mince his words, describing the infighting as the product of a lack of discipline and failure on the part of the leadership of the New Patriotic Party. He mused on the cause, saying: I dont know why, but maybe [its because of] overambition, or maybe lack of discipline in the party [the NPP]. I think it is so wrong. He recounted how the party carried out research to identify which candidates were viable after 17 candidates expressed an interest in the race for the partys flagbearer position in 2006. The move, Mpiani said, led to the party placing limits on the number of candidates who could run for the leadership of the NPP. Post Below- 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 China's Geely plans to roll out electric vehicles under a new marque with different branding and sales strategies, people familiar with the matter said, as the Volvo owner looks to take on its main EV rival Tesla with higher-end vehicles. The brand, positioned in the premium segment and named "Zeekr", will be housed under Geely's to-be-launched EV entity Lingling Technologies, according to three people, who declined to be named as the plan is not yet public. Reuters reported the plans for Lingling last month. Geely, the owner of Volvo Cars and 9.7% of Daimler AG, will roll out models under the new marque based on its open-source EV chassis, announced in September and called Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA), the sources said. It will be a new attempt to go up-market by Geely, and backs founder and Chairman Li Shufu's long-held ambition to make premium cars "like Mercedes-Benz" in a bid to take on EV leader Tesla Inc. Geely will open showrooms, or "hubs", in city centres to sell cars at a fixed price, departing from traditions to sell cars through dealerships - marketing tactics pioneered by Tesla, which last year saw sales expand quickly in China, the world's biggest car market. The plan follows a flurry of tie-ups by Geely earlier this year as the automaker pursues its goal of becoming a leading EV contract manufacturer and engineering service provider. "Traditional gasoline cars and electric vehicles are two race tracks of business. Geely does not have a clear advantage in electric vehicles at the moment so it appears that it wants to complete its own innovation by creating a new brand," said Alan Kang, analyst at auto consultancy LMC Automotive. China's automakers largely compete with entry-level and mass-market manufacturers including Volkswagen and Toyota, but EV maker Nio Inc sells cars with higher prices and counts BMW as a rival. Hangzhou-based Geely also plans a broad array of sales and marketing strategies to seek deeper relationships with the EV buyers. It will open lifestyle lines for clothing and accessories and launch a car owner's club, tactics used by Nio, sources said. Zeekr is also considering rolling out a share ownership plan that allows customers to become shareholders of Lingling, which management hopes will boost sales and the relationship between brand and customers. Geely declined to comment. Shares of its Hong Kong-listed company Geely Automobile fell 3% on Friday as Chinese equities dropped after a rise in global bond yields prompted selling in high-priced consumer and material stocks. Many conventional automakers have used a new brand to launch their EV units. Geely's rivals including Great Wall, and SAIC Motor have rolled out their respective new standalone EV brands. China's government has heavily promoted new energy vehicles (NEVs) - such as battery-powered, plug-in petrol-electric hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell cars - in response to chronic air pollution and a warming climate, spurring interest from technology companies and investors alike. China forecasts NEVs will make up 20% of its annual auto sales by 2025 from around 5% in 2020. Also read: Jeep launches 'Made in India' Wrangler at Rs 53.9 lakh; cheaper by Rs 10 lakh thanks to local assembly Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 03/19/2021 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. couple Loren Goldstone and Alexei Brovarnik have announced they are expecting their second child together.Loren from Hollywood Beach, FL, and Alexei from Nazareth Illit, Israel -- who appeared on Season 3 of followed by the first two seasons of : Happily Ever After? -- both announced Friday on Instagram that Loren is pregnant again.Loren and Alexei are already parents of a son, Shai Josef, who was born on April 14 , 2020 and is soon approaching his first birthday."It's true, we are expecting Babybrov #2! We figured why not have another, and Shai is so excited to become a big brother in late summer!" Loren captioned a slideshow of family photos on Friday.In one photo, Alexei was wearing a "Cool Dad" shirt, Loren was sporting a "Proud Mama" shirt, and Shai was giggling in his "big brother" shirt."We need to think of a nickname for our little embryo -- please help us out and comment one below! #teambrovarnik #babybrovpartdeux #herewegoagain #2under2," she added.And Alexei shared similar photos around the same time and wrote on his own Instagram account, "Yes it's true we are expecting baby number 2 !!!! #teambtovarnik #blessed #babybrov."The couple told People in a statement of the pregnancy, "We can't believe we're doing it again!""Honestly, we'd be lying if we said we weren't nervous. Two under 2 is going to be quite an adjustment, but we are so excited for BabyBrov No. 2!" the pair said.Loren and Alexei apparently have yet to find out the baby's sex."Every time we tell Shai he's going to be a big brother, he gets the biggest smile. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl -- as long as it's a healthy baby, we're happy! Yalla, let's do it!" the pair gushed.Loren and Alexei celebrated their five-year wedding anniversary in September 2020.Loren wrote on Instagram at the time, "And they said it wouldn't work. Jokes on them! 5 years and a baby later! Happy anniversary @alex_brovarnik.""I absolutely love doing life with you! And can't wait for more to come!" she added. "Cheers to a lifetime of laughs and balagan! I love you!"Loren and Alexei's love story was documented on the franchise. After meeting on Loren's birthright trip to Israel, she visited Alexei five times in one year before he popped the question.Alexei said he applied for a Tourist Visa twice but got denied and so the couple decided to apply for a K-1 visa instead.Once Alexei got approved for the K-1 visa and traveled to America, the couple had to overcome some challenges, such as Loren having strippers at her bachelorette party, but they still got married during his 90-day visit in September 2015.Loren and Alexei also subsequently had a second ceremony in Israel in July 2016 so both of their families could celebrate and witness their union.Alexei initially feared passing down the Tourette syndrome gene to their future children, but he came to realize there are "more worse things in the world" and they'd just deal with it if that happened.It didn't take long for Loren to get baby fever, but Alexei really wanted to wait until he received his American citizenship first.Loren and Alexei announced they were expecting Baby No. 1 in late October 2019, just one month after they celebrated four years of marriage. Two months later, the couple shared Loren was pregnant with a baby boy."Timing really is everything, and the fact he already became a citizen right before the whole coronavirus thing really broke out, we are just really, really lucky," Loren told the camera on : What Now?: Loren & Alexei's Birth Special that aired in June 2020."I can't even imagine being stuck in that process right now."Loren was diagnosed with preeclampsia, a complication characterized by high blood pressure, during her first pregnancy, so she had to undergo an emergency c-section at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, FL.Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage! Guwahati/New Delhi, March 19 : The full bench of the Election Commission (EC) led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora will visit West Bengal and Assam next week to review the preparedness for the ensuing Assembly elections in both the states, officials said on Friday. Election officials said that the CEC accompanied by the two Election Commissioners -- Sushil Chandra and Rajiv Kumar would arrive in Assam on March 22 and after holding a series of meetings in the poll-bound state, would go West Bengal the next day. "The full Election Commission accompanied by senior officials would study the preparations of the Assembly elections in Assam. The Commission after arriving in Guwahati on Monday and then leave for Tezpur where the Commission in a meeting will review the latest preparation and present scenario with the Deputy Commissioners and Superintendent of Police of the districts going to poll in the first phase on March 27," a senior election official told IANS. The EC's three special general, police and expenditure observers, Assam Chief Electoral Officer Nitin Khade, State Police Nodal Officer Deepak Kedia, Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) Coordinator, various Divisional Commissioners would participate in the meeting. The Deputy Inspector General of Police of different regions and other official would also attend the meeting. The Commission, after returning to Guwahati from Tezpur, would hold another review meeting with Assam Chief Electoral Officer Nitin Khade. The Commission will be accompanied by its officers -- Secretary General Umesh Sinha, Director General Dharmendra Sharma, Additional Director General of Press Information Bureau Sheyphali B. Sharan. The full bench of the EC headed by Arora had earlier visited Assam for three days on January 18-20 and held meetings with political parties, officials and others. According to a senior election official, the full EC would go to Kolkata on Tuesday and during their stay would hold several meetings with the political parties and senior officials including Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, Home Secretary H. K. Dwivedi and Director General of Police (DGP) Virendra. The full EC had earlier on January 20-22 had visited West Bengal and held several meetings with the political parties and top officials.Elections to the 126-member Assam Assembly will be held in three phases. Phase one will see polling for 47 constituencies on March 27 while in the second phase, polling would be held for 39 seats on April 1. The remaining 40 constituencies will go to the polls on April 6. Balloting to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in a staggering eight phases starting from March 27 to April 29. The results will be declared on May 2 in the five states --Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry besides Assan and West Bengal. This is something you don't see every day. A pod of rare killer whales swam alongside a fishing boat out in Galveston on Wednesday, according to boating company Galveston Party Boats, Inc. "Rare killer whale sighting from the New Buccaneer's 30-hour trip today," the boating company posted on Facebook. "These beautiful creatures put on quite the show - enjoy." Check out the video below: READ MORE: Farewell, River Oaks Theatre: Negotiations fail, forcing venue to close The fishing boat left on a 30-hour trip for tuna fishing and saw the creatures Wednesday morning about 130 miles south of Galveston, the Galveston Party Boats, Inc. told MySA.com. This was the first time the captains have ever seen killer whales in the Gulf of Mexico, the business said. Captains Matt Smith and Sam Hardeman, who weren't available for an interview at the time this article was published, told Fox 26 Houston that they first thought they were pilot whales, but then quickly realized they were orca whales. Smith said they stayed swimming alongside them for about 30 minutes. "I've never seen an orca out of Galveston before," Hardeman told Fox 26 Houston. "I was very surprised to see them." Smith said they had about 30 people on the boat for that trip, adding he's never seen anything like this. He said he's only ever seen them at SeaWorld. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told MySA.com it's "uncommon" to see whales off the coast of Galveston. NOAA also shared a 2020 preliminary report that estimated 267 killer whales live in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The most recent final stock assessment in 2012 estimated just 28 orcas in that region. READ MORE: He told cops he hit a deer with his car. The gunshot wound proved otherwise. Galveston Party Boats are original operators of catamaran fishing vessels in Galveston, according to its Facebook page. The species is not listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, but like all marine mammals, is protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The killer whale, also known as orca, is one of the top marine predators. It is the largest member of the Delphinidae family or oceanic dolphins. Found in every ocean in the world, they are the most widely distributed of all cetaceans (whales and dolphins). Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre New Partnership Builds on Cloud Offering Momentum CHICAGO, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Relativity today announced a definitive agreement for a strategic growth investment from Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing. The investment highlights Relativity's compelling position in enterprise data solutions and will support Relativity's mission to enable customers to organize data, discover the truth and act on it. Relativity is the industry leader in e-discovery software, with more than 300,000 annual users in 49 countries managing more than 145 billion files. Relativity's customer base has been paramount to the company's growth and is the driving force in leading the industry's adoption of cloud-based e-discovery and artificial intelligence (AI), where Relativity software has been used to make billions of predictions on over 10 billion documents. In the past 12 months, the number of customers and amount of data under management more than doubled for its cloud product, RelativityOne. Relativity's growth is also a result of its customers' global expansion in order to solve some of world's most difficult unstructured data challenges. RelativityOne is currently available across nine global geographies, with four more to be added in 2021. Silver Lake's strategic partnership is designed to help Relativity accelerate growth, innovation and technology differentiation. Moreover, it will allow the company to devote even more resources to its AI-powered communication surveillance platform, Relativity Trace. Relativity Trace is used by compliance teams at some of the largest global financial institutions and corporations to proactively detect regulatory misconduct like insider trading, collusion and other non-compliant behavior to help protect against financial and reputational damage. The partnership will also support ongoing global expansion and reinforce recent major investments in its cloud technology across the EMEA and APAC regions. As part of the transaction, ICONIQ Growth will remain a key investor. Representatives of Silver Lake also will join the company's Board of Directors. "Silver Lake is one of the most respected voices in technology, and their investment in Relativity signifies their confidence in our commitment to innovate and deliver best-in-class technology across the industries we serve," said Mike Gamson, Chief Executive Officer at Relativity. "We are fortunate to welcome Silver Lake as our new partner and look forward to their participation on our Board of Directors. This partnership will help us continue to build upon our strong foundation with our dynamic global community of users, customers and partners as we carry out our mission and drive the industry forward." "Relativity is not only the clear leader in software for the legal sector, but also an increasingly strategic company in enterprise technology generally, as proliferating data across multiple formats both on-premise and in the cloud need to be collected and analyzed for a wide range of compliance purposes," said Joe Osnoss, Managing Partner of Silver Lake. "Our investment is designed to accelerate the realization of Relativity's potential in partnership with the talented management and employees, founder Andrew Sieja and our colleagues from ICONIQ Growth." Silver Lake's strategic partnership with Relativity is also expected to help the company accelerate its offerings to law firms where 198 of the Am Law 200 use Relativity and 168 of the Am Law 200 use RelativityOne. In addition, the partnership is intended to help expedite the extension of Relativity's offerings to its global network of service providers, as well as corporate and government customers, who continue to broaden the types of problems they solve with Relativity's technology. Corporations leverage RelativityOne for internal investigations, data subject access requests, third-party subpoenas, incident response and a number of other unstructured data challenges. In addition, Relativity recently launched RelativityOne Government, its FedRAMP authorized cloud-based offering, to work with its government customers responding to cloud mandates and rising needs associated with litigation and Freedom of Information Act requests. Qatalyst Partners acted as financial advisor to Relativity. Reed Smith LLP acted as legal advisor to Relativity. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal advisor to Silver Lake. About Relativity Relativity makes software to help users organize data, discover the truth and act on it. Its SaaS platform RelativityOne manages large volumes of data and quickly identifies key issues during litigation and internal investigations. The AI-powered communication surveillance platform, Relativity Trace proactively detects regulatory misconduct like insider trading, collusion and other non-compliant behavior. Relativity has more than 300,000 annual users in 49 countries serving thousands of organizations globally primarily in legal, financial services and government sectors, including the U.S. Department of Justice and 198 of the Am Law 200. Relativity has been named one of Chicago's Top Workplaces by the Chicago Tribune for 10 consecutive years. Please contact Relativity at sales@relativity.com or visit http://www.relativity.com for more information. About Silver Lake Silver Lake is a global technology investment firm, with more than $79 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital and a team of professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia. Silver Lake's portfolio companies collectively generate more than $190 billion of revenue annually and employ more than 441,000 people globally. For more information about Silver Lake and its portfolio, please visit www.silverlake.com. About ICONIQ Growth ICONIQ Growth partners with exceptional entrepreneurs and leaders who drive global impact and change. We are inspired by visionaries defining the future of their industries by building company cultures that endure. Our unique investment platform harnesses the power of ICONIQ Capital's vibrant ecosystem of founders, pioneers, and business leaders with the goal of delivering tangible value and amplifying our portfolio companies' success from early growth stage to IPO and beyond. ICONIQ Growth's portfolio of innovators include Adyen, AirBnB, Alibaba, Alteryx, Automattic, BambooHR, Braze, Chime, Collibra, Coupa, Datadog, Docusign, Gitlab, Marqeta, Miro, Procore, Red Ventures, Relativity, ServiceTitan, Snowflake, Sprinklr, Truckstop, Uber, Wolt, and Zoom, among others. For more information and a complete list of portfolio companies, please visit iconiqgrowth.com. Media Contacts Relativity Mike Gilhooly 708-814-5281 PR@Relativity.com Silver Lake Jennifer Stroud 646-565-1792 MediaInquiry@SilverLake.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/445801/Relativity_Logo.jpg It had been the epicenter of the pandemic in Europe since January, and large numbers of deaths and hospitalizations overwhelmed a health care system that had already been overstretched by the first wave last year. But the country now appears to be walking out of the pandemic, while places like France, Germany and Italy face a third wave of infections. Still, there are growing concerns that new variants will soon spread in Britain, in addition to the first discovered in the country late last year an emergence that led to strict lockdown measures and travel restrictions around the world. Neil Ferguson, a former adviser to Mr. Johnson on the pandemic, said on Friday that he was concerned about the spread in Europe of the variant first discovered in South Africa. Early research suggests that the variant, which accounts for a significant portion of new cases in countries like France, may weaken the efficacy of some vaccines. That includes the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is central to Britains inoculation drive. The head of Englands National Health Service, Simon Stevens, 54, also received his first injection of the AstraZeneca vaccine this week, as did Prime Minister Jean Castex of France, 55, who flashed a thumbs-up at television cameras after getting his shot at a military hospital southeast of Paris. The nearly simultaneous public inoculations of Mr. Johnson and Mr. Castex underscored how public officials in Europe have tried to restore public confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine, after several countries in the European Union, including France, paused its use this week. But Britain and France have found themselves in very different situations: Britain, which left the European Union last year, has vaccinated its population at a more rapid pace than France and other countries of the bloc. And British officials have been staunch defenders of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was developed in conjunction with the University of Oxford. Mumbai: In light of the rising number of coronavirus cases, the Maharashtra government on Friday imposed restrictions on drama theatres and auditoriums in the state, asking them to operate only at 50 per cent of their capacity till March 31. Similarly, private offices, except those related to health and other essential services, will be allowed to function only at 50 per cent of their capacity, a government notification issued on Friday said. Coronavirus In case of government and semi-government offices, the head of the office will take a decision regarding the staff attendanceand ensure adherence to COVID-19 protocols. The order comes a day after the state saw a single-day rise of 25,833 coronavirus cases, the highest daily surge since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. As per the notification, drama halls and auditoriums will not be used for religious, political, cultural and social gatherings. If the order is violated, the drama theatres and auditoriums concerned will have to remain closed for a period until the COVID-19 pandemic stays notified as a disaster by the central government, it said. Cinema halls Violations shall attract penalties under the law for the owner of the premises. On March 15, the state government had notified that cinema halls, hotels, restaurants and offices, except those related to health and essential services, will function at 50 per cent of their capacity. But the Friday's order has included drama theatres and auditoriums as well. The order, however, allowed the manufacturing sector to function at full capacity, but advised that the workforce be reduced to ensure adequate social distancing on the production floor. Coronavirus For the purpose of maintaining social distancing, manufacturing units may be allowed to increase working shifts as approved by local authorities. No entry will be allowed without proper wearing of masks, temperature measuring devices to be used to ensure no one with fever gets an entry, it said. KYODO NEWS - Mar 19, 2021 - 11:16 | World, Feature, All Dozens of Taiwanese rushed to government offices over the past few days seeking to change their names to "salmon" to qualify for a restaurant promotion offering free sushi, local media reported Thursday. Mirror Media reported that a total of 133 people had changed their names to "salmon" over the past two days after Japanese sushi restaurant Sushiro offered the two-day deal on Wednesday and Thursday. Under the deal, any customer whose ID card contained "Gui Yu," the Chinese characters for salmon, would be entitled to a free all-you-can-eat sushi meal along with up to five friends. Only those whose name contained the two Chinese characters could claim the free meal, with those who had one or two of the Chinese characters homophonic to the fish able to get a 10 or 50 percent discount. A 22-year-old man in New Taipei City, northern Taiwan, changed his three-character name to one consisting of the maximum allowable 50 characters, including the two for salmon, according to the United Daily News. The Ministry of the Interior warned that a person can only change their name three times, and a miscalculation could result in the change becoming permanent. Related coverage: FOCUS: Chinese ban on Taiwanese pineapples boosts sales in Japan FEATURE: In-home chef services cooking with gas during pandemic FEATURE: Shaping international ties through "omusubi" rice balls March 18, 2021 Three men from Harrison Township, Michigan, were arraigned and sentenced today in the 42nd District Court in New Baltimore on charges related to illegally hunting and baiting waterfowl in December. Richard Schaller, 52, Robert Kucinski, 49, and Timothy Morris, 58, pleaded guilty to a total of 13 misdemeanor charges, including: Taking, possessing an over-limit of Canada geese. Taking, possessing an over-limit of mallards. Taking, possessing an over-limit of hen mallards. Taking, hunting waterfowl over a baited area. Additionally, Schaller was charged with one count of placing bait for the purpose of taking waterfowl. On Dec. 6, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Report All Poaching hotline received a tip about a potential over-limit of taken waterfowl near a pond off Chesterfield Road in Chesterfield Township, Macomb County. Shortly after, Conservation Officers Brad Silorey and Kris Kiel arrived at the area and, hearing gunshots in the distance, soon located the men and witnessed the group shoot and kill multiple geese. Silorey and Kiel approached as the men concluded their hunt and began collecting a number of waterfowl that clearly exceeded daily limits from a pond littered with corn. The officers also located three additional piles of waterfowl hidden in nearby brush and received a confession that one of the men had placed a 50-pound bag of corn a few days earlier, because he wanted his hunting party to "have a good hunt." Baiting waterfowl is federally prohibited and unlawful in Michigan. All game, bait and firearms were confiscated as evidence. In total, the men killed 39 waterfowl, including: 23 Canada geese (14 over limit). 16 mallards (four mallards over the total limit), of which eight were hen mallards (an over-limit of two hen mallards). Each man was ordered to pay $6,500 in reimbursement to the state - $500 per waterfowl, totaling $19,500 - plus court fines totaling more than $3,000 collectively. Each man also permanently forfeited the firearms used to take the waterfowl and lost the right to hunt waterfowl through February 2022. "Waterfowl are a precious resource to Michiganders and the other 13 states that share and protect this resource within the Mississippi Flyway Zone," said Lt. Todd Szyska, DNR Law Enforcement supervisor in Detroit. "Cases like this emphasize the important role our officers play in protecting waterfowl so they can be shared equally. In the past, hunting over-limits of waterfowl led to low population numbers and species protection - such as the canvasback duck. It is through effective biological management, established seasons and bag limits, and enforcement that we are able to continue the waterfowl hunting heritage." Anyone witnessing a natural resources crime or having information about such a crime is encouraged to call or text the DNR's Report All Poaching hotline at 800-292-7800. Michigan conservation officers are fully commissioned state peace officers who provide natural resources protection, ensure recreational safety and protect residents by providing general law enforcement duties and lifesaving operations in the communities they serve. Learn more at Michigan.gov/ConservationOfficers. GREENWICH The total number of COVID-19 cases reported in the Greenwich Public Schools since the start of the scholastic year is nearing 500. In its biweekly Friday update on the coronavirus, the school district reported 11 new cases since Tuesday and 19 new cases in a week, bringing the total since the start of school to 495. Of those cases, 58 have been reported in March. Currently, there are 25 active cases of COVID-19 in the district, with 12 schools currently affected. Vaccines continue to be administered to educators and the general public and, on Friday, residents age 45 and older became eligible to receive the vaccination. Despite the push to vaccinate increasingly more of the population, the state as well as Greenwich Public Schools has seen a small bump in its number of positive cases, while hospitalizations and deaths have mostly remained flat. Aside from those who opted for all remote learning, students in elementary and middle schools in Greenwich have been receiving in-person classroom instruction five days per week since September. Until this week, Greenwich High students and staff were working on a hybrid cohort model, in which each cohort attended school in person two days a week and virtually three days per week, with all students virtual on Wednesdays. As of March 17, Superintendent of Schools Toni Jones reinstated Wednesday as an in-person learning day for high schoolers. The two cohorts will alternate in-person learning on Wednesdays each week. Also, on Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance that three feet of distance between students is sufficient for all elementary students and for most middle- and high-school students. The move paves the way for students across the country to return to in-person learning. But in Greenwich, where the district was already using state protocols of 3 to 6 feet distance, the change in guidelines may not have a profound effect. The American Academy of Pediatrics also shared this guidance as well; and the district has been utilizing 3 to 6 feet of social distancing since our return to in-person learning began last fall, Jones said Friday. And we have been grateful that districts like GPS have been able to demonstrate that 3 to 6 feet of social distancing has been effective in keeping our students and staff in school safely throughout this year. Proper social distancing and mask wearing continue to be our greatest mitigation tactics. justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586 As Russia pursues vigorous "vaccine diplomacy," offering its Sputnik V vaccine to other countries, its own citizens can't get the much-needed shot in the arm. Russia has fully vaccinated just 1.5 percent of its population, and people around the country told Current Time that their appointments had been canceled as vaccines had run out. While the issue of the payment of severance to former LIAT (1974) Ltd. workers is crucial, there is another sector of persons whom the airlines owes, that is also of concern. Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said in Parliament on March 16, in response to a question posed by East Kingstown Representative Fitzgerald Bramble, that he had written to LIATs Administrator Cleveland Seaforth seeking, not only information as it related to what was owed to former employees stationed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines up to the time the airline closed, but also about what was owed to small creditors here. Additionally, he requested of Seaforth a list of the persons who had purchased tickets for travel out of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and the sums owed in each case. He told the sitting of parliament that while he received information that LIAT owed EC$275,000 to 22 entities here, he did not receive any information about the tickets. (Natural News) Fake news outlet CNN has accused Fox News host Tucker Carlson of wanting people to die after the conservative pundit aired a segment about the dangers of Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19). John Berman and Erica Hill were discussing the matter when Berman started whining about Carlsons apparent vaccine skepticism. Rather than admit that Carlson made some very good points based on current data, Berman instead launched into a hyperbolic, fear-mongering tirade. Does Tucker Carlson really want his viewers to live? Berman asked. Look, this guy bemoans so-called cancel culture more than anyone on earth, but he should look in the mirror because you cant get any more canceled than dead. Considering the fact that thousands of people are dying from the vaccines, Bermans statements are both foolish and moot. Secondly, these so-called vaccines are actually experimental gene therapy injections that bear no resemblance to traditional vaccines, at least in the way that Big Pharma defines them. Before going on his rant, Berman aired a short clip from Carlsons segment, which had aired the night before. This very small portion of the segment depicted Carlson warning about Joe Bidens statements urging Americans to get vaccinated, especially in light of the fact that there are still many unknowns about the jabs long-term impacts. Berman conveniently cut off the segment and told viewers that Carlson simply went on and on and on about things that were unimportant. The truth is that Carlson explained himself, revealing why people might want to avoid getting injected. Tucker isnt telling people not to take the vaccines, reported The Right Scoop. Hes simply saying that there are people who have legitimate concerns and the folks in charge should stop treating them like anti-vaxxers. Instead they should rationally address these concerns instead of telling people that you wont be able to grill in your backyard on the fourth of July unless you take the vaccine That was his point. CNN is killing people by claiming WuFlu shots are safe and effective Try as they might to denigrate all who question Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines as anti-vaxxers, these mainstream media talking heads are actually doing a great disservice to the American people by pretending as though this is all just political. Questioning the safety and effectiveness of chemical injections that have not undergone proper testing, and that have never been formally approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is not an anti-vaxxer sentiment. It is called critical thinking, which is something journalists used to do before they became mouthpieces for the establishment. Weighing the pros and cons of getting vaccinated is also just plain smart, especially since Chinese virus vaccines have the potential to completely destroy a persons life. Worse than that is the fact that the jabs manufacturers are immune from all liability in the event of injury or death. Is it really worth it, in light of all this, to take a shot for an alleged virus that most people would not even know they have were it not for faulty PCR tests that are known to generate loads of false positives? Ironically, CNN and the other fake news outlets that are withholding this critical information from their viewers are the ones trying to kill people by tricking them into thinking that Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines are safe and effective. CNN is of their father Lucifer, the father of all lies, wrote one commenter at The Right Scoop. Its CNN, so why give them attention? asked another. More related news stories about injuries and deaths caused by Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines can be found at Pandemic.news. Sources for this article include: TheRightScoop.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Bail for the man who fatally shot ex-NFL star Will Smith in New Orleans in 2016 has been set at $225,000. A state judge set the bond Thursday for Cardell Hayes. It wasn't immediately clear when he would be able to leave jail once the bail is obtained. Hayes was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a manslaughter conviction. But the jury's verdict wasn't unanimous and has since been ruled unconstitutional. Hayes insisted he shot Smith in self-defense during a confrontation over a traffic crash. Thursday's bail was much lower than the $1.7 million bail he faced on his original 2016 charge of second-degree murder. Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has expressed reservations about the actions of some cabinet ministers barely four months into the second term of the Akufo-Addo government. He has therefore asked those with presidential ambition going about canvassing for votes and delegates to immediately resign and focus on their interest. The world is in crisis. Ghana is part of the world. Therefore, Ghana is in crisis. Which part of this, dont you get, Mr Cabinet Member! Governments everywhere have a big multi-task of fighting the virus, fighting economic hardships, fighting for food and jobs, fighting the debt and deficit and, here in Ghana, we are also fighting for transformation. This is not the time to be planting for delegates and votes, Gabby, as he is popularly known, said on Facebook. Otchere-Darko wants the presidents appointees to put the interest of government and the New Patriotic Party above their parochial interest. If your focus, as a member of Akufo-Addos government, is to first fight for your own ambition and transformation, then, please, feel free to move over to move on. Please note: NPP in power must first succeed for NPP to succeed NPP! Build on this power we have now for your own power trip not to be tripped by your priority tripped wires. Be wise! Misplaced priority Meanwhile, Kwadwo Mpiani, a chief of staff in the government of President John Agyekum Kufuor, has described the scramble among cabinet ministers to succeed President Akufo-Addo as a very worrying development in the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). Speaking on The Asaase Radio on Thursday (18 March), Mpiani said, Theres going to be an election for somebody who will take over from the president. The law makes it impossible for the president to go for a third term and therefore there is bound to be an election to select somebody who will take over from him [Akufo-Addo] But I believe its so wrong to start this early when the government is barely in place. The former chief of staff advised ministers rather to rally behind the president to perform well in his second term. Look, if you dont put the party on sound footing, if the government doesnt do well, you may even want to put Jesus Christ there [but] I dont think He can win. So lets support the government to do well, he said. You see, the government is in a very unfortunate situation now, because of this COVID-19 and all. The economy is not doing well and it is something universal, Mpiani said. So, our attention should be on how to perform well, so that when we put up a candidate he will not have too much of a problem. Instead of doing that, when the government is not even in place, we are thinking of who will take over from Nana Addo. Its a misplaced priority. Leadership failure The former chief of staff did not mince his words, describing the infighting as the product of a lack of discipline and failure on the part of the leadership of the New Patriotic Party. He mused on the cause, saying: I dont know why, but maybe [its because of] overambition, or maybe lack of discipline in the party [the NPP]. I think it is so wrong. He recounted how the party carried out research to identify which candidates were viable after 17 candidates expressed an interest in the race for the partys flagbearer position in 2006. The move, Mpiani said, led to the party placing limits on the number of candidates who could run for the leadership of the NPP. You cant serve two masters The former chief of staff said that although 17 people ran for the position of NPP flagbearer in 2008, that leadership contest took place two years to the end of tenure of the then president, in line with party rules. The current jockeying for preference is badly timed, badly advised and born of overweening ambition, he said. Ministers cannot pretend to be working for the current government and yet be pursuing their ambition to lead the party, he argued. Mpiani said the president would not be wrong to sack such ministers from his government to give them the space to focus on their ambition. 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 Credit: Shutterstock Yesterday, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller suggested technology should be part of the solution to growing concerns around sexual assault. He encouraged serious discussion about using a digital app to record positive sexual consent. In our research, we have studied a wide range of mobile applications and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots used in attempts to counter sexual violence over the past decade. We found these apps have many limitations and unexpected consequences. How apps are being used to address sexual abuse Apps aimed at responding to sexual harassment and assault have circulated for at least a decade. With support from government initiatives, such as the Obama administration's 2011 Apps Against Abuse challenge, and global organizations, such as UN Women, they have been implemented in corporate environments, universities and mental health services. These apps are not limited to documenting consent. Many are designed to offer emergency assistance, information and a means for survivors of sexual violence to report and build evidence against perpetrators. Proponents often frame these technologies as empowering tools that support women through the accessible and anonymous processing of data. In the case of the proposed consent app, critics have noted that efforts to time-stamp consent fail to recognize consent can always be withdrawn. In addition, a person may consent out of pressure, fear of repercussions or intoxication. If a person does indicate consent at some point but circumstances change, the record could be used to discredit their claims. This is *not* how consent worksit's an ongoing process & can be withdrawn, renegotiated etc. Not to mention the perp could force someone to sign the app, or do it for them. Sounds like the NSW police commissioner could do with some consent education.https://t.co/jCV7lpLcfN Dr. Bianca Fileborn (@snappyalligator) March 17, 2021 How digital apps fail to address sexual violence The use of apps will not address many longstanding problems with common responses to sexual violence. Research indicates safety apps often reinforce rape myths, such as the idea that sexual assault is most often perpetrated by strangers. In reality, the vast majority of rapes are committed by people the victims already know. Usually marketed to women, these apps collect data from users through surveillance using persistent cookies and geolocational tracking. Even "anonymised" data can often be identifiable. Digital tools can also enable violence. Abusive partners can use them for cyberstalking, giving them constant access to victims. Apps designed to encourage survivors to report violence raise similar concerns, because they fail to address the power imbalances that lead to authorities discrediting survivors' accounts of violence. Apps don't change the bigger picture The introduction of an app does not itself change the wider landscape in which sexual violence cases are handled. The high-profile sex abuse scandal involving Larry Nassar, a former U.S. Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor convicted of a range of sex offenses after being accused by more than 350 young women and girls, led to reforms that included the SafeSport app. This resulted in 1,800 reports of sexual misconduct or abuse within a year of the app's introduction. However, a lack of funding meant the reports could not be properly investigated, undermining organizational promises to enforce sanctions for sexual misconduct. Poor implementation and cost-saving measures compromise users' safety. In Canada and the United States, the hospitality industry is rolling out smart panic buttons to 1.2 million hotel and casino staff. This is a response to widespread sexual violence: a union survey found 58% of employees had been sexually harassed by a guest and 65% of casino workers experienced unwanted touching. Employers are now required by law to provide panic buttons, but they are turning to cheap and inferior devices, raising security concerns. Legislation does not prevent them using these devices to monitor the movements of their employees. Who owns the data? Even if implemented as intended, apps raise questions about data protection. They collect vast amounts of sensitive data, which is stored on digital databases and cloud servers that are vulnerable to cyberattacks. The data may be owned by private companies who can sell it on to other organizations, allowing authorities to circumvent privacy laws. Last month, it was revealed US Immigration and Customs Enforcement purchased access to the Reuters CLEAR database containing information about 400 million people whose data they could not legally collect on their own. In short, apps don't protect victims or their data. Why we need to take this 'bad idea' seriously Fuller, the NSW police commissioner, admitted his recommendation might be a bad idea. His idea was built on the premise that the important issue to address is making sure consent is clearly communicated. It misunderstands the nature of sexual violence, which is grounded in unequal power relations. In practice, a consent app would be unlikely to protect victims. Research shows data collected through new forms of investigation often result in evidence that is used against victims' wishes. There are other reasons why the consent app is a bad idea. It perpetuates misguided assumptions about technology's ability to "fix" societal harms. Consent, violence and accountability are not data problems. These complex issues require strong cultural and structural responses, not simply quantifiable and time-stamped data. Explore further Slutpage visits may be common among US college students This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) Senator Joel Villanueva on Friday said he supports the proposal to prioritize Metro Manila residents in the governments COVID-19 vaccination program amid the continuous spike in cases in the region. We should be open to that proposal, Villanueva told CNN Philippines The Source. You can see the numbers in NCR May basis yung (There is a basis for that) proposal. Why dont we look into it? I agree with it, yung Metro Manila, nandyan yung surge, nandyan yung spike, unahin na natin, he continued. [Translation: I agree with it. The surge, the spike, is in Metro Manila, so we should prioritize it.] The idea to focus on Metro Manila for the vaccination rollout was first floated by OCTA Research Fellow Dr. Guido David, who, in a radio interview, pointed out that the capital region affects the situation in the whole country. Villanueva echoed the sentiment. Citing prior data, he said that cases in nearby regions also decreased once the situation in NCR also eased. The senator also expressed hope the countrys inoculation drive will continue to pick up in the coming months, as he labeled the program slow. I pray that we will be better today than yesterday, than last year, and we will continue to improve every single day, he said. Recalibrate policies Like his colleagues, Villanueva likewise expressed concern over the rising COVID-19 numbers in the country, which has been logging new daily cases reaching over 4,000 and 5,000 in the past week. He then proposed that the government immediately recalibrate the countrys system including ramping up surveillance testing and quickly enforcing lockdown measures in areas of concern. Pasay, for example. From the very start, we find out that this new variant is in this place, then doon pa lang (from the very start), lets act on it, Villanueva argued. FAST FACTS: New coronavirus variants detected in PH Asked if Metro Manila should be placed under a stricter quarantine measure, Villanueva said he will continue to favor the governments decision if they are using data to make informed ones. COVID-19 cases in the Philippines spiked to over 640,000 on Thursday, with the Health Department reporting 5,290 new infections. Andrew Cuomo accuser Lyndsey Boylan has leveled fresh allegations at the New York governor, claiming he said he would 'mount her' during one 2018 incident. Boylan, a former Cuomo aide, was the first woman to accuse the Democrat of sexual harassment on Twitter in December. She revealed more about her allegations and her experience with the governor in a Medium post in late February. Now she has spoken with The New Yorker in more detail about her claims, sharing the alleged 2018 incident in which she says the governor's pet dog Captain jumped up near her. Boylan says Cuomo then told her if he were a dog he would 'mount' her too. She added: 'I remember being grossed out but also, like, what a dumb third-grade thing to say.' She also says the Democrat had a Bill de Blasio dartboard at his governor's mansion and describes an aide crying after Cuomo allegedly mocked her new haircut. Another was called fat by the governor, she says. It's since been revealed that in the wake of Boylan's December allegations a team of Cuomo's top aides, including Melissa DeRosa, Rich Azzopardi and Steven M. Cohen, moved to leak her personal files, which included allegations of bullying. Boylan has called that move 'victim-blaming bulls***'. Cuomo is facing allegations that he sexually harassed or behaved inappropriately toward six women, including several former staffers in his administration. The accusations range from groping under a woman's shirt and planting unwanted kisses to asking unwelcome personal questions about sex and dating. The Democratic governor has said he 'never touched anyone inappropriately' and 'never made any inappropriate advances' and that 'no one ever told me at the time that I made them feel uncomfortable.' He has called some allegations false. A spokesperson said: 'As we said before, Ms. Boylans claims of inappropriate behavior are quite simply false.' Andrew Cuomo accuser Lyndsey Boylan has leveled fresh allegations about the New York governor, claiming he said he would 'mount her' Now she has spoken with The New Yorker in more detail about her claims, sharing an alleged incident where she says the governor's pet dog Captain jumped up near her. Boylan says Cuomo told her if he were a dog he would 'mount' her too. She added: 'I remember being grossed out but also, like, what a dumb third-grade thing to say' Lyndsey Boylan alleges: In 2018, Gov. Cuomos dog Captain jumped up near her and Cuomo told her if he were a dog he would 'mount' her too; Cuomo kissed her on the lips in his New York City office; The governor went out of his way to touch her on the lower back, arms and legs; Cuomo had a Bill de Blasio dartboard at his governor's mansion; During a October 2017 flight, Cuomo suggested they play strip poker; The governor made Stephanie Benton, the director of the Governors offices, cry after he mocked her new haircut; Cuomo made fun of a male aide for being fat . Boylan's alleged harassment took place when she was as an economic adviser for the Cuomo administration between 2015 and 2018. She has previously claimed that Cuomo tried to kiss her on the lips in his office and that during a 2017 flight, suggested they play strip poker. It was last week alleged Cuomo aide DeRosa coordinated an effort to dig dirt on Boylan after she made reports of sexual harassment against him in December. The governor's office called at least six former employees to find out if they had contact with Boylan, and tried to find out information to discredit her in a manner the ex-staffers described as intimidating, the Wall Street Journal said. DeRosa is also the aide embroiled in the nursing home COVID deaths scandal. Boylan told the New Yorker of that alleged smear campaign that it was 'victim-blaming bulls***'. She added: 'I dont want to take anything away from a woman that may have had a negative interaction with me...Theres no real H.R. function that would be independent of the Governor and his closest aides.' Governor Andrew M. Cuomo Introduces Captain, New York's First Dog on February 12, 2018 Boylan goes on to describe more of the alleged inappropriate behavior she says she experienced working for Cuomo and the 'toxic' environment he created. She said: 'He would find a way to, like, touch me in passing. He frequently stared at my legs.' Alleging that Cuomo mocked Stephanie Benton, the director of the Governors offices, over her new haircut, Boylan said: 'I remember, Stephanie had a haircut that he kept making fun of her for all day in front of other people. And she was crying.' Benton - who still works for the state government - denies this incident, adding: 'If I felt otherwise, I would speak for myself.' After her political hero, Hillary Clinton, refused to call for Cuomo to resign, Boylan said: 'Theres no way you dont know who this man is if youve worked with, or around, him for decades.' Boylan says Cuomo had a Bill de Blasio, pictured, dartboard at his governor's mansion On Tuesday it was revealed Cuomo's office has opened its own inquiry into allegations by an aide that he groped her last year. The woman's attorney said the inquiry by Cuomo's team, at the same time as AG Letitia James's prosecutors investigate the same allegations, was deeply troubling. The unnamed female aide, who is said to be much younger than Cuomo and is still employed by the state, claims the 63-year-old governor summoned her to his residence in the Executive Mansion, where he put his hand under her shirt and fondled her. She said she was summoned by the governor who told her he needed help with his cellphone. Her accusations were first reported by The Albany Times Union on March 9. On March 11 Cuomo referred himself to the police, in an incident that may have 'risen to the level of a crime', officials confirmed. A spokesperson for the department, Steve Smith, said that police had not received a formal complaint from the aide, but they have reached out to a representative for her. This does not 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. It was last week alleged Melissa DeRosa, left, coordinated an effort to dig dirt on Boylan after she made reports of sexual harassment against him in December Cuomo has been facing calls to resign amid the backlash from the allegations, added to the criticism of his handling of the data on deaths of nursing home residents from COVID-19 earlier in the pandemic. An impeachment investigation was launched by state Democrats to look into both scandals. New York Attorney General Letitia James is also overseeing an investigation into the complaints by the accusers and how they were handled by Cuomo's administration. His other accusers include 25-year-old Charlotte Bennett who claims he asked about her sex life and whether she had relationships with older men while she was working as his aide last year. The fourth unnamed aide claims the governor touched her inappropriately during an encounter at the Executive Mansion last year. Cuomo has apologized if he made the women feel uncomfortable but denies touching anyone inappropriately. #PongoElHombro ???? | Conoce mas sobre la vacunacion de la COVID-19. ??? Para mas informacion ingresa a: https://t.co/fPze9SIFow pic.twitter.com/wSlxx7WXAS TORONTO, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Franco-Nevada Corporation announced that its Annual Information Form, Consolidated Annual Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2020 have been filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Franco-Nevada has also filed its Form 40-F for the year ended December 31, 2020 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these documents may be obtained via www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov (for the Form 40-F). Shareholders may also receive a copy of these documents without charge upon request to Franco-Nevada's Investor Relations Department, 199 Bay Street, Suite 2000, P.O. Box 285, Commerce Court Postal Station, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5L 1G9 or to [email protected]. Details for Virtual Analyst Day Franco-Nevada's management team will host a Virtual Analyst Day webcast, April 15, 2021 from 10:00 am ET to 12:00 pm ET to review its assets and to announce the release of the 2021 Asset Handbook and 2021 Environment, Social and Governance Report (ESG Report). Interested analysts and investors are invited to participate as follows: Virtual Analyst Day Webcast: April 15th at 10:00 am ET to 12:00 pm ET Dialin Numbers: North American Toll Free: 18883900546 Local and International: 4167648688 Webcast URL: www.franconevada.com Replay (available until April 22nd): North American Toll Free: 18883900541 Local and International: 4167648677 Pass code: 475883 # Corporate Summary Franco-Nevada Corporation is the leading gold-focused royalty and streaming company with the largest and most diversified portfolio of cash-flow producing assets. Its business model provides investors with gold price and exploration optionality while limiting exposure to many of the risks of operating companies. Franco-Nevada is debt free and uses its free cash flow to expand its portfolio and pay dividends. It trades under the symbol FNV on both the Toronto and New York stock exchanges. Franco-Nevada is the gold investment that works. SOURCE Franco-Nevada Corporation Related Links www.franco-nevada.com COLUMBUS, Ohio - Recent generations show a worrying decline in health compared to their parents and grandparents when they were the same age, a new national study reveals. Researchers found that, compared to previous generations, members of Generation X and Generation Y showed poorer physical health, higher levels of unhealthy behaviors such as alcohol use and smoking, and more depression and anxiety. The results suggest the likelihood of higher levels of diseases and more deaths in younger generations than we have seen in the past, said Hui Zheng, lead author of the study and professor of sociology at The Ohio State University. "The worsening health profiles we found in Gen X and Gen Y is alarming," Zheng said. "If we don't find a way to slow this trend, we are potentially going to see an expansion of morbidity and mortality rates in the United States as these generations get older." Zheng conducted the study with Paola Echave, a graduate student in sociology at Ohio State. The results were published yesterday (March 18, 2021) in the American Journal of Epidemiology. The researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1988-2016 (62,833 respondents) and the National Health Interview Survey 1997-2018 (625,221 respondents), both conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. To measure physical health, the researchers used eight markers of a condition called metabolic syndrome, a constellation of risk factors for heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes. Some of the markers include waist circumference, blood pressure, cholesterol level and body mass index (BMI). They also used one marker of chronic inflammation, low urinary albumin, and one additional marker of renal function, creatinine clearance. The researchers found that the measures of physical health have worsened from the Baby Boomer generation through Gen X (born 1965-80) and Gen Y (born 1981-99). For whites, increases in metabolic syndrome were the main culprit, while increases in chronic inflammation were seen most in Black Americans, particularly men. "The declining health trends in recent generations is a shocking finding," Zheng said. "It suggests we may have a challenging health prospect in the United State in coming years." Zheng said it is beyond the scope of the study to comprehensively explain the reasons behind the health decline. But the researchers did check two factors. They found smoking couldn't explain the decline. Obesity could help explain the increase in metabolic syndrome, but not the increases seen in chronic inflammation. It wasn't just the overall health markers that were concerning for some members of the younger generations, Zheng said. Results showed that levels of anxiety and depression have increased for each generation of whites from the War Babies generation (born 1943-45) through Gen Y. While levels of these two mental health indicators did increase for Blacks up through the early Baby Boomers, the rate has been generally flat since then. Health behaviors also show worrying trends. The probability of heavy drinking has continuously increased across generations for whites and Black males, especially after late-Gen X (born 1973-80). For whites and Blacks, the probability of using street drugs peaked at late-Boomers (born 1956-64), decreased afterward, then rose again for late-Gen X. For Hispanics, it has continuously increased since early-Baby Boomers. Surprisingly, results suggest the probability of having ever smoked has continuously increased across generations for all groups. How can this be true with other research showing a decline in overall cigarette consumption since the 1970s? "One possibility is that people in older generations are quitting smoking in larger numbers while younger generations are more likely to start smoking," Zheng said. "But we need further research to see if that is correct." Zheng said these results may be just an early warning of what is to come. "People in Gen X and Gen Y are still relatively young, so we may be underestimating their health problems," he said. "When they get older and chronic diseases become more prevalent, we'll have a better view of their health status." Zheng noted that the United States has already seen recent decreases in life expectancy and increases in disability and morbidity. "Our results suggest that without effective policy interventions, these disturbing trends won't be temporary, but a battle we'll have to continue to fight." ### Contact: Hui Zheng, Zheng.64@osu.edu Written by Jeff Grabmeier, 614-292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu A day before Expedition 64 relocates the Soyuz MS-17 to another port on the International Space Station, the seven-person crew continued studies on the effects of microgravity on humans, plants, and materials, along with a couple outreach events. NASA astronaut Victor Glover took part in two media events, each accompanied by a different crewmate. First up, Glover and Kate Rubins spoke with Fox 11 "Good Day L.A." about living and working aboard the space station. About two hours later, Glover joined Shannon Walker for an outreach event with U.S. Rep. Norma Torres of California, where they answered questions submitted by students. Glover teamed up again with Rubins for an eye ultrasound. Receiving guidance from the ground, Glover served as operator for Rubins' examination. Spaceflight, especially for prolonged missions, can affect vision and eye health. These ongoing checks provide invaluable data for researchers and test the accuracy and functionality of the portable medical equipment station crews rely upon -- tools that will prove even more critical as explorers venture farther from Earth. Meanwhile, NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins continued closing out spacesuit tools and equipment used during the previous Saturday spacewalk he and Glover completed to service the orbiting laboratory's cooling system and communications gear. The veteran astronaut also swapped out a crystal growth chamber in support of the Industrial Crystallization Facility (ICF). The ICF is used for growing crystals in space that are not possible on Earth -- specimens large enough for commercial use. These crystals are not only interesting to look at, but integral to the research and development of new materials. JAXA's (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's) astronaut, Soichi Noguchi, was engrossed in an investigation that studies fast-growing plants, called Asian Herb in Space. Future space travel, especially to destinations like Mars, will rely on plants for sustenance, traditional medicine, and flavor. This experiment will add to the growing body of research on plant growth, plus provide new information on the formation of aroma compounds in herbs. Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos cultured various types of cells with the Kaskad investigation, while his counterpart, Commander Sergey Ryzhikov, was focused on setup and preparation for the Soyuz relocation activity. On Friday, March 19, viewers can watch the Soyuz MS-17 undock and take a spin in the orbital neighborhood, so to speak, and later reattach to the Poisk module, which will free up the Rassvet port for the docking of Soyuz MS-18. Live coverage of the maneuver on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency's website will begin at 12:15 p.m. EDT. Undocking from Rassvet is anticipated at 12:38 p.m., with redocking at Poisk targeted for 1:07 p.m. The new vehicle, MS-18, will embark to the station after a planned April 9 launch, carrying NASA's Mark Vande Hei and Roscosmos' Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov. On-Orbit Status Report Payloads Asian Herbs in Space: The crew preserved samples in a Minus Eighty-Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) and closed out the Asian Herb 30-day plant growth experiment. Microgravity affects the growth of plants and understanding the nature of these changes is important for future missions that will rely on plants for food. Asian Herbs in Space studies fast-growing plants used for traditional medicine and flavoring food, examining differences in their aroma that may result from microgravity-related cellular changes. This investigation benefits future plant growth efforts in space and provides new information on the formation of aroma compounds in common herbs. Dose Distribution Inside the ISS - 3D (DOSIS-3D): The crew checked the DOSIS Main Box LEDs in order to gather information on the DOSIS Main Box Status. ISS crewmembers are continually exposed to varying levels of radiation which can be harmful to their health. DOSIS-3D uses several active and passive detectors to determine the radiation doses inside the ISS. The goal is a three-dimensional radiation map covering all sections of the ISS. Industrial Crystallization Facility (ICF): The crew swapped out the Single Crystal Growth Chamber (SCGC) module in the ICF. There was some initial difficult getting a good connection, but this was resolved. The ICF is a small chamber that allows crystals to grow over time into large crystals appropriate for use in science labs on Earth. When grown in the microgravity environment of the ISS, the crystals are of much higher quality than those currently grown on Earth. JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD)-16 Removal: Following the deployment of the satellites on Sunday, and in preparation of the next satellite deployer to use the JEM airlock, the J-SSOD-16 hardware was removed from the slide table. The J-SSOD provides a novel, safe, and small satellite launching capability to the ISS. The J-SSOD is a unique satellite launcher, handled by the Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS), which provides containment and deployment mechanisms for several individual small satellites. Life Support Rack (LSR): As part of the LSR maintenance, the crew replaced the hydrogen sensor with a spare unit. LSR is a Technology Demonstrator for Closed Loop Air Revitalization. LSR captures carbon dioxide from cabin air and recovers 50% of its oxygen for use by the astronauts. LSR operates for a minimum of one year on the ISS to demonstrate the robustness of the technology for future Exploration Missions. Systems Post Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Activities: The crew completed several activities to prepare EVA equipment for long-term stow. First, the crew stowed EVA tools. Next, the crew performed a cooling loop scrub and iodination for Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) 3009. Finally, the crew terminated the final Metal Oxide (METOX) regeneration cycle. Temperature and Humidity Control (THC) Intermodule Ventilation (IMV) Flow Measurement: As part of system health monitoring, the crew used a Velocicalc tool to measure the amount of airflow through selected ventilation inlets and outlets. Today's measurements were taken in Node 1, Node 2, Node 3, the Oxygen Generation System (OGS) rack, Cupola, and LAB. Additionally, the crew used the Carbon Dioxide Monitor (CDM) to take CO2 measurements in the SM, LAB, and Node 3 modules to ensure good Carbon Dioxide dispersion across the United States On-orbit Segment (USOS). Crew-1 Rock Catcher Construction: The crew constructed a "Rock Catcher" which will eventually be installed over the IMV inlet in Node 2 that leads to the Node 2 zenith docking port. The Rock Catcher is a device that is built on-orbit to create a barrier for the IMV inlet to ensure that the airflow path to the Visiting Vehicle (VV) is protected. Although Crew-1 is currently docked to Node 2 forward, Crew-1 will relocate to Node 2 zenith prior to Crew-2 arrival. Treadmill 2 (T2) Monthly Inspection: As part of regular maintenance to ensure that the T2 exercise device is in good operational condition, the crew inspected all four Snubber Arms for any sign of free play as well as make any necessary adjustments to reduce the free play. Completed Task List Activities: None Today's Ground Activities: All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. Brine Processor Assembly (BPA) Activation WPA Troubleshooting for Catalytic Reactor Ops EMU Loop Scrub Commanding IMV Flow Measure Commanding Look Ahead Plan Friday, March 19 (GMT 078) Payloads: AC Touch Confocal Microscopy FIR IPSU-G Troubleshooting Food Acceptability Fridge-2 Troubleshooting ISS HAM Pass J-SSOD-M2 Install Kermit Repository RTPCG-2 Standard Measures Systems: 63S Port Relocation EVA Tool Stow EVA HECA Install EVA REBA Hardware Checkout Saturday, March 20 (GMT 079) Payloads: Crew Off-Duty Systems: Crew Off-Duty Sunday, March 21 (GMT 080) Payloads: HRF Saliva and Urine Collection Setup PK-4 Familiarization/Audit Systems: Crew Off-Duty Today's Planned Activities: All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. HRF Generic Urine Collection Male Standard Measures Post-sleep Questionnaire Asian Herb Closeout and MELFI Insertion JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (SSOD) (Resupply and Multi) Removal from Multi-Purpose Experiment Platform (MPEP) Industrial Crystallization Facility (ICF) SCGC Swap Exchange of Hydrogen Sensor 2 with Hydrogen Sensor 1 S/N 16 US Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Tools Stow Columbus PPSB Fuses Reinstallation Food Acceptability Survey Light Ions Detector Relocate Actiwatch Plus HRF Rack 1 Setup & Stow Preventive maintenance of MRM1 Passive Docking Assembly () and Soyuz 747 hatch sealing mechanisms Reconnection of Feed Water Hose to Life Support Rack Panel 5 Reconnection of Feed Water Hose to Life Support Rack Z-Panel Transfer Cygnus Cargo Operations FOTOBIOREACTOR. Transfer of - thermostat No.07 from SM to MRM2 Changing and checking load modes of Soyuz 747 Kazbek-UM chair shock absorbers In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Pivot Fitting Install HRF Generic MELFI Sample Retrieval and Insertion Operations Electron deactivation Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Cooling Loop Maintenance Scrub CASKAD Operations Vozdukh [] deactivation Deactivation of Potok Air Purification System [] in SM and FGB In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Rock Catcher Build Preventive maintenance of DC1 Passive Docking Assembly () and Progress 445 Active Docking Assembly [] (DC1) hatch sealing mechanisms Wanted Poster for CEVIS Ergometer Temperature and Humidity Control (THC) Common Cabin Air Assembly (CCAA) Swap Activation of Progress 445 (DC1). Air Duct Removal Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Cooling Loop Maintenance Iodination DOSIS Main Box LED Check Galley Refrigerator/Freezer 2 Hardware Gather Temperature and Humidity Control (THC) Intermodule Ventilation (IMV) Flow Measurement Survey DC1-Progress 445 hatch closure Countermeasures System (CMS) Treadmill 2 System (T2) Monthly Inspection In Flight Maintenance Hardware Restow DC1-[] and []- Progress 445 Hatch Leak Check Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) - JEM Comm check and ops from Soyuz 747 via RGS Health Maintenance System (HMS) Ultrasound 2 Scan EVA Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Cooling Loop Scrub Deconfiguration Metal Oxide (METOX) Regeneration Termination CB/ISS CREW CONFERENCE Flight Director/ISS CREW CONFERENCE Standard Measures Pre-sleep Questionnaire Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. More than 850,000 people have been supported with the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) at some point during the pandemic, with 11.5bin spent on welfare support in the last 12 months. The Department of Social Protection today released a breakdown of the welfare supports the Government has provided since the pandemic began. Its shown that just under 20 million PUP payments have been made in the last year, providing income support of more than 6.3bn to date. Estimates say that on March 13 alone, around 30,000 people visited their local Intreo Centre to seek income support after losing their jobs. PUP peaked in the first week of May 2020, when some 602,000 were in receipt of it. Staff at the Department have received and answered more than 10 million phone calls, with their webpages being the most used across the public service. Details were also released about the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, which allows employers to keep their employees on the payroll and receive a refund from the department. Read More 650,000 workers, employed by just under 70,000 employers, were supported by the scheme by 2.7bn. The scheme was later replaced by the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme on September 1. Since then, the scheme has supported just under 550,000 workers, employed by just under 50,000 employers, to a value of 2.3bn. Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys commented on the support that has been put in place since the Covid-19 pandemic began in Ireland, saying: I am particularly pleased that so many have made use of our online channel by applying through MyWelfare. Last year MyWelfare processed more than 2.9 million customer transactions, compared to 450,000 in 2019. Our officials introduced new IT systems and an online application process through MyWelfare in record time. The Department also introduced the Enhanced Illness Benefit for workers who fell ill, with almost 142,000 people having been medically certified for receipt of the benefit, with approximately 88m paid. This week 12,353 people closed their PUP claims, with 10,073 of these stating that they were doing so because they were returning to work. Dublin had the greatest number of people closing their claims to return to work (2,466), followed by Cork (1,07) and Meath (518). Issued weekly payments valued at 136.46m to 456,580 people were also given out this week to people receiving the PUP. 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. Members of Congress have asked the manufacturer of a popular flea collar linked to the deaths of nearly 1,700 pets to voluntarily recall it and issue millions of dollars of refunds. The Seresto flea and tick collar for cats and dogs has been linked to at least 1,698 pet deaths since being introduced in 2012, but the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which regulates the industry, has not yet issued a warning to the public. Earlier this month an investigation by USAToday and The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting found 75,000 incident reports relating to use of the pesticide collar for both pets and humans, including 907 humans injured. Today, the manufacturer Elanco, who bought the product from German developer Bayer in 2020, was urged by Congress' economic and consumer policy subcommittee, to issue the recall and full refunds to customers whilst investigations were carried out. An estimated 25million customers have bought the collars, according to the company. A popular brand of flea collars, Seresto (file image), that have been linked to the deaths of nearly 1,700 pets yet the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not issued a warning to the public. Today Congress urged the manufacturer Elanco to issue a voluntary recall Congress Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois), chairman of the subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, wrote to manufacturer Elanco urging them to issue a voluntary recalls well as refunds Rhonda Bomwell came forward to say reveal that she believes her dog, Pierre (left and right) died from wearing the collar Last year, Bomwell bought the Bayer's Seresto flea collar for her nine-year-old Papillon service dog, Pierre, and attached it around his neck. But just a day later, Pierre had a seizure, collapsed and stopped breathing Ron Packard, of Massachusetts, said his dogs, Danny, 10, and five-year-old Dominic, died in June 2019. Packard is pictured with both of his dogs before they died Before their deaths, Packard said his dogs had seizures, became lethargic and started vomiting before refusing to eat. He then took them to a veterinarian who couldn't figure out what was wrong with the dogs. Both Danny and Dominic died two weeks later Congress also called for the company to release any internal documents relating to the toxicity of the collars, which contain pesticides that are supposed to kill fleas and ticks but be safe to cats, dogs and humans. Congress representative, Raja Krishnamoorthi, chair of the sub committee, said in his letter to the company: 'We believe that the actual number of deaths and injuries is much greater, since the average consumer would not know to report pet harm to EPA, an agency seemingly unrelated to consumer pet products', as reported by USAToday. The collars were created by German pharmaceutical company Bayer, which reported a revenue of $300million from the collar in 2019, before it sold the item to Elanco for $7.5billion last year. Pet owners who believe their beloved dogs fell victim to the dangers of the flea collars have also come forward. Alex Jaeger and his mother, Eleanor, told CBS that two months after they put a Seresto collar on their golden retriever Blake, he developed seizures, but despite epilepsy medication he has never been the same. 'I don't want anyone to ever go through this,' Eleanor Jaeger said. Karen Pisano told CBS that one of orange tabby Oscar died overnight in August, just two days after the four month old wore the collar. Rhonda Bomwell told USA Today that she had never used a flea collar until her veterinarian recommended she use one. Last year, Bomwell bought the Bayer's Seresto flea collar for her nine-year-old Papillon service dog, Pierre, and attached it around his neck. Alex Jaeger and his mother, Eleanor, told CBS that two months after they put a Seresto collar on their golden retriever Blake (pictured) he developed seizures. They say their veterinarian gave Blake epilepsy medication, but the dog has never been the same Sprocket wore a Seresto collar from the age of eight. He was 17 months old when he died, said his owner in a post on Facebook Karen Pisano said her orange tabby, Oscar, (pictured) began twitching after putting the collar on two days earlier, and died overnight Eight year old Shih Tzu Sammie died last year after suffering health problems after he started to wear the collar, he owner posted on Facebook But just a day later, Pierre had a seizure, collapsed and stopped breathing. She called police who arrived to help her lift Pierre into her car. But it was too late. Pierre died before he could even receive medical treatment. She told the news outlet that she didn't even think about the collar being a cause to his seizure, saying: 'I just didn't put it together.' On March 5 Amazon announced that it would reconsider selling the products. A spokesman for Elanco told USAToday that it was 'co-operating' with the investigation but not whether it had issued the voluntary recall. Dr. Tony Rumschlag, senior director for Technical Consultants at Elanco, told USAToday that there was 'no medical or scientific basis to initiate a recall of Seresto collars'. He added: 'We are disappointed this is causing confusion and unfounded fear for pet owners trying to protect their pets from fleas and ticks.' Keri McGrath, a spokeswoman for Elanco, which sells Seresto, told DailyMail.com on March 2, when the initial investigation was published: 'We take the safety of our products very seriously, and thoroughly investigate potential concerns related to their use.' She added that only .3% of more than 25 million pets that have used the collar, reported any side-effects. Bayer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Conservatives need to learn from our foes when it comes to forcing the major institutions of our society away from the left's agendas, back toward sanity. For far too long, we have let the left combine infiltration (pressure from within) with demonstrations and organized influence campaigns (pressure from without) to capture governments, corporations, schools, and nonprofits and bend them to the service of its own goals. An example of how this can be effective comes from Tufts University, where a very reluctant university administration was forced against its will to expel the Chinese communist propaganda organ knows as a Confucius Institute from campus. Jack Beyrer reports in the Washington Free Beacon: Tufts University announced on Wednesday it will close its China-backed Confucius Institute after months of protests from students and local activists. The university's closure of its Confucius Institute came after months of protests from local Taiwanese, Uighur, Tibetan, and Hong Konger citizens who, along with several student groups, saw the Chinese organization as a threat to political and academic freedom on campus. (snip) Howard Fass, the president of the Massachusetts chapter of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, a nonprofit that advocates for Taiwanese independence, said months of relentless commitment from activists and students helped push China off campus. "Tufts did not [close its Confucius Institute] because they wanted to. In fact, they did everything they could to keep it as long as they could," Fass said. "They finally closed it because they saw that our collective resolve was unbending and that we would not give up with our peaceful protest for truth." For weeks, activists protested on campus and outside the home of Tufts University president Anthony Monaco. The activists said they sent the university and multiple members of Congress more than 600 letters urging the school to close the institute. Protesting in front of the home of an official strikes some conservatives as out of bounds. I used to think so, myself. We have a tradition of civility, after all, and yes, the world would be a better place if more people acted with restraint and let the private lives of others even political opponents be separate from their official duties. When that state of affairs is restored, then by all means, let's respect it. But face reality: the left has grabbed institutional dominance in 21st century America by a combination of infiltration and intimidation. These tactics work. And if only one side uses them, then only one side will predominate and shape the future. And if the other side shuns such tactics, their foes have no incentive to stop using them. It is analogous to the nuclear war doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction. Nations in possession of nuclear weapons have so far shunned their use because they know that nuclear retaliation will come if they do. The reason why Iran's nuclear program is so worrisome is that this thinking does not work with the Mullahs, who eagerly anticipate nuclear Armageddon, believing the Twelfth Mahdi will return form the dead and lead humanity to its final stage of perfection. I don't believe the left has any comparable beliefs about students rising up against them and ushering in paradise. Hat tip: Ed Lasky. Specialist Risk Group, a London-based insurance broker, have hired a team of 16 from AFL Insurance Brokers, led by Jonathan Bines, AFLs former CEO. SRG said this announcement marks its first London market team hire of the year and is aimed at further expansion of the brokers specialist insurance and reinsurance broking activities, in particular beyond the UK & Ireland. AFL had no comment about the move or how it will change its ongoing business offering. (Editors note: As AFLs media team was listed on the SRG press release, the move appears to be a friendly one). Bines has been CEO at AFL since 2019, having previously held leadership positions at JLT and Integro. The incoming team from AFL includes Chris Cavani, David Thomas, Sarah Stephen, Neil Cullis and Chris Gagg, who have particular expertise in U.S., Canadian and Australian specialist wholesale, binding authorities and London market facultative reinsurance. SRG said it has agreed with AFL an orderly transfer for the team and its clients and is working closely together to ensure a smooth transition. I am thrilled that Jonathan and his colleagues are joining SRG as we expand our specialist team which now numbers more than 400, said Warren Downey, SRG group CEO. The incoming team will be welcomed with open arms to SRG, and I am looking forward to working with them as we expand our international reach and relevance. Jonathan is an experienced leader who will bring great value to the SRG executive committee as he leads this endeavor, Downey continued. Ever mindful of client service and disruption, we are pleased to have agreed an orderly transfer with AFL, he said. We are delighted to be joining Specialist Risk Group at such an exciting stage of their growth journey. We have been working closely with the SRG team to ensure a smooth transition, and I am confident this will be achieved in the coming weeks, said Bines. We have a fantastic opportunity to build on the offering we have created to date and to provide even better solutions for our producers and clients who now more than ever need specialist and expert advice which is delivered with energy, passion, and determination. I am excited to be joining SRGs leadership team as we extend our international ambitions, Bines continued. SRG commented that this team hire tops off a busy first quarter of acquisitions, which included UK broker KBIS British Equestrian Insurance; GB Underwriting, a UK MGA that provides property and liability solutions in the building, construction and associated trades; UK trade credit specialist The Channel Partnership; Emrose Insurance Brokers, and CLS RS, a UK managing general agent that provides risk solutions for real estate development projects. Source: Specialist Risk Group Related: Topics Agencies Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. 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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. Each day, the Los Angeles County Public Health Department is administering anti-Covid vaccines to between 12,000 and 20,000 people. The shots are reserved for those in the most at-risk categories: workers in specific industries, people over 65, and those with disabilities or certain medical conditions. Checking people's eligibility is a difficult task. Make the I.D rules too restrictive, and the most vulnerable may be excluded. Too loose, and others may slip in on a technicality. In L.A., it seems the preference is to get as many people vaccinated as possible. The county says the total number who are being turned down for lack of documentation is a mere handful -- only about 30 a day. "We're trying to be as flexible as we can. The goal here is not to turn people away," said Fabian Herrera of the L.A. County Fire Department, who was staffing the county-run clinic at the Forum in Inglewood. A woman directs drivers into the Covid-19 vaccine clinic at the Forum (Sharon McNary/LAist) DIFFERENT FORMS OF I.D. The vaccine scene at the Forum on a recent Saturday was fairly cheerful. As cars backed up a bit on Kareem Court, a security guard waved them in with directions in English and Spanish. Drivers were guided into seven orange-coned lanes of traffic to their first checkpoint. Here, they check to make sure people arriving have put their information into the county's vaccine data system. And they also get their temperature taken. At the second station, a nurse checks a woman's ID to make sure her name matches what she put in the appointment website, and then asks for evidence of her employment. Here's one dilemma facing public health authorities. In Southern California, many people don't have traditional IDs such as a driver's license. They may be food or farm workers who are in the country without authorization. Or they could be older residents who don't drive. Or they could be experiencing homelessness, and have lost their ID. So, officials will accept many different types of identification, such as a utility bill that has their name on it that shows they live or work in L.A. County. Some immigrants use a Mexican government ID called a matricula. The rules to prove your work eligibility are similarly flexible, although not a free-for-all. You could bring an employee ID badge, or a pay stub. But if you work casually -- or are paid in cash -- you could also bring something like a work schedule that has your name on it. You could even write your own letter attesting that you work in any of the eligible categories or have an eligible disability. Los Angeles County actually provides templates in English and Spanish on its Covid-19 vaccine website to help workers write their own letter. Nurse Lola Harvey talks with food worker and USC student James Deleray. (Sharon McNary/LAist) FLEXIBLE WITH ALL The final place to show ID is the drive-through vaccination tent. That's where a nurse checked the drivers licenses of James Deleray and a friend, who drove to the Forum together. Deleray said he and his friend worked at restaurants in Long Beach but didn't get vaccinated in that city, which rolled out shots for food workers weeks before Los Angeles County did. Deleray said that's because, "We go to USC now and then we're probably going to need it next semester anyway to even go on campus. So that's that's the main reason we're getting it." To show they were eligible, "We just showed them our tax forms, like where we worked and the name of our owners. That's all they asked for," he said. It turns out that the very same rules that are loose enough for undocumented farmworkers and food handlers to get the vaccine are also flexible enough to let a couple of USC students who used to work in restaurants get it too. "We have to be fair," Herrera said. "If we're going to be flexible with some people, We have to be flexible with all." Fabian Herrera, with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, a spokesman for the vaccine clinic at the Forum. (Sharon McNary/LAist) TURNED AWAY The vaccine centers do turn a few people away, said Kenichi Haskett, a county fire division chief who is a spokesman for the county Public Health Department's vaccine centers. He witnessed one incident where a woman "did not bring any type of documents showing she worked at a restaurant. I waited with her, to have her employer send a screen grab or picture via her cell phone confirming she was employed by their restaurant," Haskett said. "But after 30 minutes she left because her employer never called her back. She said she was going to go home get a paystub." Haskett estimates that only 30 people a day are turned away from county vaccine clinics, based on calls he made to the five large county clinics and two walk-up clinics. Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen came back to Israel March 9, after two days of visiting Sharm el-Sheikh in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. Cohen met with his Egyptian counterpart Nasser Fahmi and with other senior Egyptian intelligence officials to discuss a series of security issues, including Egyptian efforts to increase the security of Sinai resorts so tourists will return. The visit was exceptional not only for its length and publicity, but also because the delegation also included several Israeli businesspeople, senior figures in Israels food, tourism, agriculture and energy industries. The inclusion angered Economy and Trade Minister Amir Peretz, who was apparently not consulted beforehand. It appears that Israels ambassador to Egypt Amira Oron was not consulted either. The Israeli businesspeople met with several heads of Egyptian companies hoping to enter the Egyptian market. Bilateral trade currently concerns low-tech industries such as construction and textiles, and Israel the economy department at the embassy in Cairo is working diligently to change that. There was a concrete change in commercial ties last week. Reports from March 5 revealed that the Egyptian national carrier Egyptair had submitted a request to operate Tel Aviv-Cairo flights. The company reportedly plans to operate 21 weekly flights on the route. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, flights between Tel Aviv and Cairo were operated on the Egyptian side by Air Sinai, a subsidiary of Air Egypt with a single airplane company established in the framework of the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty. It flew with no logos or flag. Air Sinai became a symbol of Cairos attitude toward Israel: The peace treaty was respected but at the required minimum and without drawing any attention. Clearly, the Abraham accords signed last year with the United Arab Emirates and with Bahrain and the reestablishment of relations with Morocco are forcing Egypt to rethink its cold peace with Israel. The expected arrival of several Arab carriers to Israels Ben Gurion airport, including Etihad Airways, Gulf Air and Royal Air Maroc, breaks a long taboo and beyond questions of politics and diplomacy, Egypt must be betting that a Tel Aviv-Cairo flight route will become profitable. Of course, the strongest positive sign in recent months was Egyptian Energy Minister Tarek el-Mulla's Feb. 22 visit to Israel. In the first ministerial visit from Egypt in Israel in five years, the Egyptian minister was received by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Israeli counterpart and friend Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and President Reuven Rivlin. Jerusalem was understandably enthusiastic about el-Mullas visit. It reflected the growing energy ties between the two countries, fruits of years of efforts by Steinitz and other Israeli officials. Still, prominent Arab Affairs correspondent Jacky Hugi poured some cold water over the Israeli enthusiasm. In a Maariv article after the visit, Hugi noted that Egyptian press had not reported on the visit. The media coverage simply noted that the meeting had taken place, a very different reception from that in Israel. Hugi explained that Egypt needs Israel on the natural gas and other energy issues and that this was the only reason for the ministerial visit. Of course, Hugi is right. For years, Cairo kept relations with Israel on a back burner, and many in the Egyptian government oppose any change. The same is true for Egypts intellectuals. Few dare to challenge Egypt's anti-Israel stance. Still, the above progress might signal that even Cairo understands that times have changed. Ideologically, it may not want to warm to Israel, but the reality of the new Middle East, with rapprochement between Israel and the Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, might force it to make some adjustments. Yoram Meital, a professor of Middle East studies at Ben-Gurion University, has been involved for several years on a unique project to safeguard Jewish heritage in Egypt. He told Al-Monitor that though the project, which concerns the preservation of synagogues, cemeteries, schools and valuable Judaica artifacts in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt, is not linked directly to Egyptian and Israeli bilateral relations, any improvement in the ties between Israel and its Arab neighbors naturally creates a better political atmosphere and may contribute, among other things, to the expansion of such projects. "Under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian authorities are undergoing a significant positive attitudinal shift toward preserving the heritage of the Jewish community and its assets. This shift echoes a changing trend in public and cultural discourse that is developing in Egypt in recent years, according to which the Jewish community is seen as part and parcel of Egyptian society and its history,'' said Meital. He added that though they are in the minority, these voices offer a more positive view of the Jewish community. While the Egyptian regime is now working to preserve Jewish sites, that interest does not necessarily mean Cairo is looking to warm ties with Israel. Still, for all Israeli friends of Egypt, any step forward by either side is a positive development. Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. KHABAROVSK, Russia -- The chief of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's network in Russia says police have swept through the Far East city of Khabarovsk and detained several Navalny activists, local opposition politicians, and journalists. Leonid Volkov wrote on Twitter on March 19 that Aleksei Vorsin, the head of Navalny's team in Khabarovsk, was arrested and that his pretrial restrictions will be decided by a local court on March 20. Vorsin, Artyom Mozgov, a coordinator of the Libertarian party in Khabarovsk, and Andrei Pastukhov, a candidate for the city council, said earlier in the day via Telegram that police had searched their homes. The three said that they were then detained for questioning, along with the former chief of Navalny's team in the city, Mikhail Savelov. Mozgov, who was released hours later, told RFE/RL that he had been informed that he was a witness in a case, the details of which Mozgov did not give, as he had signed a document barring him from talking about it. Police in Khabarovsk also detained journalist Maria Nuikina, another member of Navalny's team, on suspicion of disobeying police in December. Volkov wrote on Twitter that Nuikina will remain in police custody until the court decides on her pretrial restrictions. Another journalist, Aleksandra Runova of the Arsenyevskiye vesti newspaper, was also detained on March 19 on unknown charges. The wife of local activist Valentin Kvashnikov said police also searched their home on March 19, detaining her husband and saying that he was a witness in an unspecified case. She told RFE/RL that police confiscated all of Kvashnikov's computers, telephones, flash-memory cards, and other equipment. The ongoing crackdown on Navalny's associates and supporters has been under way since Navalny himself was arrested on January 17 upon his arrival from Germany, where he was treated for poisoning in Siberia in August with what was determined by several European labs as a Novichok-like nerve agent. On February 2, Navalny was found guilty of violating the terms of his suspended sentence relating to an embezzlement case that he has called politically motivated. The court converted the sentence to 3 1/2 years in prison. Given credit for time already spent in detention, the court said the Kremlin critic would have to serve two years and eight months behind bars. That ruling sparked new mass protests across the country that were also violently dispersed by the police. More than 1,400 people were detained in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other Russian cities that day. Khabarovsk has been the site of ongoing rallies protesting the arrest of former Governor Sergei Furgal in July 2020 on murder charges more than a decade old. Furgal has rejected the charges. A Northern Ireland film-maker has taken the unusual step of casting for someone with congenital facial abnormalities to star in his companys latest production. Michael Costello, from Apex Pictures, is in the throes of producing, along with colleague Carleton Rodgers, a short film, which has been funded by Northern Ireland Screen, about a young woman struggling with confidence issues about the way she looks. And, for authenticity and equal opportunity purposes, the Belfast man is hoping to cast a person in the role of Frankie who actually lives with the condition, rather than using an actress with make-up. Their industry advert features a montage of women who have congenital facial abnormalities. We have searched acting agencies around the island of Ireland, north and south, and, so far, have been unable to locate anyone affected by this, said Mr Costello, who has been producing movies for 14 years. Weve now decided to look further afield for someone to play Frankie. Acting experience is not essential. According to the films up-and-coming director, Josh Lynas, Frankie tells the story of a woman, aged between 18 and 22, who was born with the condition. Expand Close Casting call ad / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Casting call ad Angry and frustrated at the world, she hides herself away from society, until one night she is forced to reveal her true self. The film, which is currently in pre-production, will be mostly shot in Portrush and Belfast. Mr Costello said he is aware that the unusual casting request may raise a few eyebrows but added: I dont really see why it should. Its all about equality of opportunity. Why, for instance, should anyone cast an able-bodied actor in the role of person with a disability when someone who actually has a disability is available? Or have a white person playing someone of a different ethnicity, such as Alec Guinness playing an Asian man in A Passage To India and regretting it for the rest of his life? The 29-year-old producer added: This film is providing a voice for a minority of people affected by this condition. For that reason, wed like to offer someone this opportunity. Meanwhile Mr Lynas, who also wrote the script, said he wanted to challenge the negative stigma and combat peoples pre-existing prejudice. He said he also wanted to create a conversation, to give a voice to the under-represented in todays society. It would be a disservice to just cast an actor and use prosthetics. We are hoping people will come forward and believe in the film, said Mr Lynas. The main message is to celebrate people for who they are inside regardless. It is an important message that people need to hear. The 20-year-old added: As the writer and director, I am so excited for the short film and thankful to NI Screen for funding it. Frankie will be the second film to be directed by Mr Lynas and funded by NI Screen. His previous project, Lost in Transit, about a young girl in pursuit of her long-lost father, won the Best Narrative award at last years Fresh Film Festival. They are particularly keen to hear from actors from underrepresented ethnicity groups. Craniofacial abnormalities are birth defects of the face or head. Some, like cleft lip and palate, are among the most common of all birth defects. Others are very rare. Most of them affect how a persons face or head looks. Anyone interested in applying for the role should send a photograph and resume to michaelcostello@apexpicturesltd.com President Joe Biden misspoke on Thursday while offering updates on the inoculation progress in the United States. He pertained to Vice President Kamala Harris as "President Harris." Biden's Slip: 'President Harris' According to Biden, when he and "President Harris" undertook a virtual tour of a vaccination center in Arizona not long ago, one of the nurses providing vaccinations said that each shot was like administering a dose of hope. Harris joined the president for his White House speech, but her reaction to his slip of the tongue was not recorded in the official video feed, reported New York Post. Under the president's tenure, the federal government has undertaken an effort to swiftly immunize the population. It seems on track to distribute 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in Biden's first 100 days in office. Also, Biden recently signed a coronavirus relief package worth $1.9 trillion into law. Biden also earlier appeared to forget Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's name during his remarks on March 8 over the nomination of two female Air Force generals. According to Biden, "It's my great honor to serve as your commander-in-chief." He looks forward to hearing their active duty and recommendations of how they will coordinate to keep the American public safe and meet challenges in the 21st century. He added that he wants to thank them both, reported Daily Caller. Biden, 78, stated the hardest hit and suffered the most were particularly Latino, Black, Native American, and rural communities. He did not acknowledge his mistake and went on to expound on the benefits of the vaccine dissemination. Moderna Begins Study of Vaccine in Children The 78-year-old made a similar mistake back in December 2020 when he was talking about publicly taking the novel coronavirus vaccine. He stated, "I took it to instill public confidence in the vaccine. President-elect Harris took hers today for the same reason." reported Mediaite. At the same time, Biden declared the administration would achieve its goal of 100 million vaccines administered in 100 days on Friday. It would be the 58th day of the Biden administration. At this point, he stated 65% of people aged 65 and older had been administered at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. During the 2020 presidential campaign, then-President Donald Trump accused Biden multiple times of being in mental decline. He claimed Democrats would cite the 25th Amendment to replace Biden with Harris. Biden remarked they believe in speed and efficiency that should be parallel with fairness and equity. Prone To Gaffes The president is prone to making gaffes. He once described himself as a "gaffe machine." He conceded that he has a tendency to misspeak. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden made multiple verbal mistakes. He even got into heated engagements with voters and reporters. Harris' Potential as the Next President Biden's remarks come after a UK-based bookmaker flagged Harris as a potential 2024 Democratic frontrunner previously this March. Ladbrokes odds displayed she is the most favored to be next president, with 22.2 percent implying the probability to Biden's 20 percent chance and Donald Trump's 14.3 percent probability. According to White House Press Secretary Jen Psak on Tuesday, Biden will hold his first solo press conference on March 25. This week, Biden and his key advisors are traveling to celebrate the recently signed COVID-19 relief package. COVID-19 Relief Package Provides Families $3,600 per Child @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Fort Polk, LA (71446) Today Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi, center, and China's State Councilor Wang Yi, second from left, speak at the opening session of US-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, March 18, 2021. AP U.S. and Chinese officials traded barbs Thursday in Alaska as they met for the first time under the new administration of President Joe Biden. During the meeting in Anchorage, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States intended to discuss "deep concerns" about some of China's actions internationally, while Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi accused the United States of hypocrisy in regards to cybercrimes and human rights abuses, CNN reported. Blinken told reporters before the meeting that China's cyberattacks, internment of Uighur Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, new restrictions in Hong Kong, action against Taiwan and trade tensions with Australia "threaten the rules-based order" responsible for maintaining global stability. "That's why they're not merely internal matters and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here today," he said. Yang countered by staying that the United States is the "champion" of cyberattacks and questioned the state of U.S. democracy, while Wang said China wouldn't accept "unwarranted accusations from the U.S. side." Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from right, joined by national security adviser Jake Sullivan, right, listen as they meeti Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi and China's State Councilor Wang Yi at the opening session of US-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, March 18, 2021. AP-Yonhap "We believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image and stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world," Yang said. "Many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States." Following extended opening remarks by the Chinese officials, CNN reported that Blinken called for media to return as he retorted by saying that he had heard "deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that we're re-engaged with our allies and partners" during talks with other nations. "I'm also hearing deep concern about some of the actions your government is taking," he said. He also responded to the criticism of U.S. affairs, saying that the nation is on a "constant quest to, as we say, form a more perfect union" which acknowledges "that we're not perfect." "We make mistakes. We have reversals, we take steps back. But what we've done throughout our history is to confront those challenges openly, publicly, transparently not trying to ignore them, not trying to pretend they don't exist," Blinken said. "Sometimes it's painful. Sometimes it's ugly. But each and every time we've come out stronger, better, more unified, as a country." The Captain Cook Hotel is pictured in Anchorage, Alaska, where talks are underway between U.S. and Chinese delegations on Thursday, March 18, 2021. AP Chennai: Tamil Nadu's daily Covid-19 cases breached the 1000-mark, after months of decline in cases. As per the health bulletin issued on Friday, the state recorded 1087 new cases, of which 421were from Chennai, whereas Coimbatore and Chengalpattu also recorded over 100 cases each. While the rise in cases are in line with a pan-India trend, it is a cause for concern particularly in Tamil Nadu, where the crucial assembly polls are due on April 6. Currently, the state has 6,690 active cases. Since late 2020, Tamil Nadu had been witnessing a decline in Covid-19 cases and by end of January the state had eased almost all restrictions and returned to normal, as the daily cases were well below the 400 mark on average. The current spike in cases has been building up over the last two weeks, where daily case numbers have more than doubled. Earlier this week, Chief secretary Rajeev Ranjan held a meeting with top officials from the civic authorities, police, health, revenue departments and the district administration. It was stated that the reasons for the current spike are public and private events, schools, banks etc. where mask wearing and physical distancing norms are violated, in addition to flouting of home quarantine norms. To enforce Covid-19 norms and increase efforts towards controlling the pandemic, the chief secretary ordered the violators of Covid protocols be find under the Public Health act, it was also added that resumption of temperature screening and availability of sanitizer be ensured at all workplaces, factories and hotels. Government authorities have been instructed to ensure that the norms are strictly followed across banks, government and private venues, factories, wedding halls, schools, places of worship, tourist places etc. Health department has been asked to conduct fever camps and devise special strategies for areas reporting many cases or case clusters. Monitoring of home quarantined persons would also continue, in line with the previous year. Tamil Nadu's health secretary Dr. J. Radhakrishnan said on Friday that a large number of cases were family clusters of those who attended functions, events, rather than a widespread outbreak. He also added that the micro-containment zone would be established in case there were three cases in a single block or apartment complex and that detailed contact tracing and testing of contacts would continue. With nine deaths on Friday, 12,582 persons have lost their battle to the pandemic in Tamil Nadu, whereas 8.45 lakh person have recovered, out of the 8.64 lakh infected persons. Live TV Sofia Vergara is best known for her role as Gloria Pritchett on ABCs hit comedy Modern Family. Now that the series is over, Vergara will be taking on new roles, and fans will get to see her flex her acting skills. Or maybe shell just retire. After 11 seasons, Vergara made more than enough money as Gloria to quit acting altogether and live the good life with her husband, Joe Manganiello. (L-R) Joe Manganiello and Sofia Vergara | Presley Ann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello have been together for 7 years RELATED: Joe Manganiello Shares Details About Falling in Love With Wife Sofia Vergara Manganiello isnt the household name his wife is, but hes a successful actor in his own right. He had parts in True Blood and Magic Mike before meeting his now-wife Vergara. The two met in 2014, at the White House Correspondents dinner. At the time, Vergara was engaged to Nick Loeb, a businessman. But Manganiello was photographed checking Vergara out on the sly at the event. When they went public with their relationship, people speculated that something went down at the Whitehouse between the two, but according to Manganiello that wasnt the case. Although the two met at the dinner, Vergara was totally loyal to Loeb. The two may have spoken briefly, and perhaps there was a spark, but nothing came of it. When Vergara broke up with Loeb, she and Manganiello got back in touch. Things moved quickly from there, and the two were married in 2015. What is Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiellos combined net worth? RELATED: Is Ellen DeGeneres Mean? Her Jokes At Sofia Vergaras Expense Would Suggest So Vergara came to the relationship with Modern Family money. The cast negotiated several raises over the course of the show. By the end of season 11, Vergara was making around half a million per episode. That adds up quickly, giving Vergara a net worth of around $160. Manganiello may not be as big a star, but he was quite rich in his own right. His net worth hovered somewhere around $16 million when he and Vergara met. That pushed their combined net worth to over $170 million and climbing. After getting married, the two lived in a $10 million California home and bought a vacation home in the Bahamas. But apparently, the 11,000 square feet of living space in their Cali mansion wasnt enough. Despite the fact that their house had a home theater and a gym, People reports that two upgraded in June of 2020. Their new home cost more than twice as much as the old one. Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello just bought a $26 million home RELATED: Sofia Vergaras Childhood in Colombia Was Way Scarier Than We Thought Vergara and Manganiello have moved to a new home in Beverly Park, a gated community in Los Angeles. The house cost a whopping $26 million, but they didnt have to sell their old house to buy it. Apparently, their net worth is high enough that the two could keep their $10 million starter home, in addition to the new digs. Their new house was formerly home to baseball star Barry Bonds. He lived in it for over a decade before selling, but he wasnt the one who sold it to Vergara and Manganiello. The home changed hands a few times before the couple bought it. Although they paid $26 million, they actually negotiated down from an asking price of $30 million. The Beverly Hills mansion sits on almost 2 acres of land. The home itself has more than 17,000 square feet of living space. It presumably has all the same perks as their old home and more. Its hard to imagine having 17,000 square feet of house without a gym and home theater. But this house also has more than 10 bathrooms and 7 bedrooms. Pump prices continued to rise this week, with regular unleaded gasoline jumping by an average of 10 cents per gallon in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro area to $2.61. The state average rose to $2.64, up 7 cents for the week and 70 cents from the same period a year ago, despite a lack of demand so far from increased driving as people prepare for coronavirus restrictions to wind down. Texans are paying about 18 percent more to fill up today, compared to February, AAA Texas spokesman Daniel Armbruster said in a statement. Prices are expected to continue climbing through the remainder of March, but potentially in smaller increments. Warmer weather and the increased pace of vaccinations are having some impacts, but federal data say demand spikes dont fully explain the price increase. The U.S. Energy Information Administrations last report showed U.S. demand dropped slightly week-to-week and crude oil prices had started to stabilize after some speculation from traders. Fuel prices often spike in the spring, as schools wrap up and Americans increase their travel. Most analysts today also cite lower than average drilling and reduced U.S. refinery utilization, a measure of how close producers are to operating at capacity. The utilization numbers have steadily increased since Februarys winter storms disrupted several key refineries in Texas. Gulf Coast refineries increased their utilization by 10 percent compared to last week, but they are still running at about 70% capacity. Patrick De Haan, an analyst for GasBuddy, attributed the recent price hikes primarily to a national economic recovery and steep drilling declines in early 2020 related to the pandemic. Were headed for higher (price) territory until the market sees more crude oil, whether thats supplied from the U.S. or Canadian interests or OPEC, De Haan told USA Today. We are in a pretty significant imbalance. Demand has screamed higher, and production has been moving at a turtles pace, and part of that is because the depths of the crisis were so severe for oil companies. De Haan has predicted gasoline could reach $3 a gallon at the pump in most of the U.S. by the end of the year, but there were signs Thursday afternoon that prices may even out again for the short term. Another potential drop in oil prices could push pump prices down 3 to 7 cents per gallon over the next several days, according to De Haan and GasBuddy. The Beaumont-Port Arthur prices are among the lowest in Texas. Drivers in El Paso, for example, can expect to pay $2.97 or so per gallon. The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded is $2.88, up 5 cents for the week and up 66 cents from the same time last year. Oil closed at $59.33 a barrel on Thursday, down 54 cents from the day before. jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/jd_journalism Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Yes, along most or all of the coast Yes, but only places where an entry fee can cover their cost No, people can continue swimming at their own risk Vote View Results 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. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Dawn exercise has enhanced the capabilities of Bahraini maritime combat units in protecting the territorial and economic waters of the Kingdom, said Bahrain Defence Force Commander-in-Chief. The maritime combat units are highly-capable with well-qualified Bahraini youngsters, said Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa. Shaikh Khalifa was inspecting the final stages of the joint naval tactical exercise Dawn of Storms / 25. He hailed the Royal Bahraini Navy as the protective shield of Bahrain that deters threats to navigation in the territorial and economic waters of the Kingdom. The exercise was carried out by the Royal Bahraini Navy, with the units from the BDF, the Ministry of Interior, and the National Guard. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Junior Goldman Sachs bankers have begged to work just 80 hours a week, after a leaked survey highlighted how inhumane expectations were leading to mental health issues among staff. In a presentation titled Working Conditions Survey, a group of 13 first-year analysts at the investment banking giant revealed the stresses of being a junior banker. Their complaints included being forced to put in 100-hour weeks and facing workplace abuse from management. This led to worsening mental and physical health and poorer relationships with family and friends, they said. Inhumane: Respondents in the survey had worked an average of 108-hours - equivalent to working 9am to midnight Monday to Sunday. Credit:Generic office worker picture from 123rf.com The analysts shared their findings with managers and proposed solutions including capping working weeks at 80 hours and avoiding last-minute changes to presentations for client meetings. They added that Goldmans Friday night and Saturday exemption policy needed to be respected. Were a nation of globe-trotting, last-minute flight booking, thong-wearing, beer-swilling, incorrigible travellers, stereotype would have it. Leaving aside whether we all really live up to that Golden Standard, whats certainly true is that our horizons have been drastically shortened this last twelve months. Rather than Ibiza, Mykonos, Barcelona, and The Amalfi Coast (challenge us to a cliche off I dare you), Australians have been enjoying all sorts of alternatives to their dream destinations. RELATED: The Stunning Maldives Alternative Few Tourists Know About Though this started off as a trickle, with car conversions gradually popping off and Airbnb bookings gently massaging themselves back to life, over the last few months weve seen the van life movement explode in a mess of photogenic fear and loathing and scintillating domestic flight offers enticing Australians back into the skies. Relatively reliable border openings have helped too. The upshot? We are more willing to explore our home country than perhaps ever before. And with international tourism bookings in a steady zero holding pattern, we have more reason to travel domestically than ever before. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Claire Wood (@clairey_wood) Providing its done responsibly, tourism operators need our help more than ever. Fortunately, in that regard, Australians appear to be responding to the challenge. In a recent survey conducted by KPMG, 61 percent of Australian respondents said they were planning on booking a holiday between January and June 2021 and 72 percent said they would book a holiday between July and December 2021. In the same vein, Jetstar is predicting domestic bookings in 2021 to exceed pre-COVID levels as travel demand for low fares travel rises. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Coline & Jerem (@lesbonsvoyageurs) As DMARGE reported this morning, this comes with its challenges (see: Iconic Australian Destination Closed After Disrespectful Tourist Behaviour). On a more positive note, however, it also comes with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enjoy flexible flight booking. As DMARGE correspondent recently discovered, after booking a Qantas flight to Melbourne (and then, due to illness, being forced to postpone it), we are currently sitting in a golden zone where airlines are still offering incredible deals to entice people back into the air, but in which not enough people are travelling (yet) for those deals to become obsolete, uneconomical, and swept off the table. Last week there were $200 one-way flights being slung to Melbourne (and $99 flights being slung to Adelaide), with a generous flexibility program meaning even if you ended up not being able to travel when you planned, you could make use of your ticket another time via a flight credit system. This is enabling Australian domestic travellers to be more whimsical than ever before (note: we say this not to recommend everyone abuse this feature a drain on the airline but to make the point theres never been a better and more flexible time to fly than right now). Cabins are also still nicely uncrowded (when compared to normal times) too. Oh and the $200 Sydney to Melbourne fares were, last week, on offer even during peak times like Friday and Monday. I started feeling unwell on Thursday, the aforementioned DMARGE source, told us of the credit system. So cancelled and rebooked two more times over this weekend without it costing a single cent. I was cancelling a few hours out when I woke up. I eventually admited defeat and didnt fly just to be on the safe side but rescheduled for following weekend. However, even since our correspondent told us this (last week) fares are starting to go up. Generally, now, there are less $200 fares and more $250-$300 fares. Perhaps the golden period is ebbing fast. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Australias Best Luxury Hotel (@sofiteldarlingharbour) Our take? These are the Halcyon days of domestic travel. Get in while you still can. Read Next While were well aware that in Australia, on average, one woman a week is murdered by her partner, incidents of domestic violence have significantly escalated since the pandemic restrictions. After being cross-examined by Robert Richter QC for several excoriating hours, ABC journalist Louise Milligan wrote Witness (2020) in which she argues that most rape victims, even those courageous enough to go to court, are almost inevitably re-traumatised by a paternalistic legal system. As a writer, Debra Oswald has always been attuned to the zeitgeist. Credit:Justin McManus And in the past few weeks alone, allegations of rape, sexual harassment and cover-ups have flowed out of federal Parliament itself with the persistence of a leaking tap. At the heart of Debra Oswalds latest novel there is a sense of despair and resignation that men are never going to stop killing and hurting women. This sense is based on the knowledge that it doesnt matter how enlightened we think we are how many times we roll our eyes in horror this extraordinary offensive against women cannot be stopped. As a successful novelist, playwright and creator of the popular TV series Offspring, Oswald has always been attuned to the zeitgeist and it is this ability to nail a cultural issue that has enabled her to stay relevant over a long career. Hence in The Family Doctor, she addresses a situation that goes to the heart of the matter domestic violence. Update: Wednesday, May 26, 2021 - The case against Cameron Hooker was on the court calendar on Tuesday and was continued until July 29, the Tehama County District Attorney said. The case was continued for both sides to determine whether they have all the necessary documentation in the case. Hooker is still in state prison pending the proceedings. -- TEHAMA COUNTY, Calif. - Tehama County District Attorney provided an update on Cameron Hookers incarceration for years-long imprisonment and numerous sexual assaults on Colleen Stan. In 1985, Hooker was convicted for the brutal, years-long imprisonment and sexual assaults on Stan that happened in the late 1970s until the early 1980s. Hooker was sentenced to 104 years, which was later reduced to 74 years. His last parole hearing was in 2015 and eligibility for parole hearing was denied until 2030. Due to beneficial changes to state law for inmates, specifically, the good conduct credit, Hooker is now eligible for parole in September. In November 2019, after learning Hooker might be eligible for parole, Tehama County District Attorney Matt Rogers began to write a letter to campaign Hooker should be evaluated as a Sexually Violent Predator and to make sure that the evaluation was not overlooked by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. After the Red Bluff Police Department, Tehama County Sheriffs and Corning Police also wrote letters to the California Department of Corrections to advocated Hooker be evaluated, the corrections office personally responded to the letters saying Hooker would be evaluated as a Sexually Violent Predator. In August 2020, District Attorney Matt Rogers wrote a second letter to remind the Department of Correction of their obligation to evaluate Hooker as a Sexually Violent Predator. Locked state hospitals will provide a rigorous treatment program, which can take up to 10-20 years, when Sexually Violent Predators meet certain criteria under the civil commitment program called The Californias Sexually Violent Predator program. The state hospital performed an evaluation of Hooker who was deemed positive for classifications as a Sexually Violent Predator. The San Mateo County District Attorneys Office is handling the Sexually Violent Predator proceeding against Hooker due to public garner. The trial, sentencing and prison commitment took place at the venue of San Mateo County. The San Mateo County Superior Court case number is 20CIV05343 and the case returns to court on March 30 for the setting of probable cause hearing. Hooker remains incarcerated in state prison, or the San Matteo County Jail, pending trial. The Tehmam County District Attorneys Office will continue to keep the community up to date on the case. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The Vigo County Prosecutor has dropped murder and robbery charges against two people originally charged in the killing of Dwayne French. Prosecutor Terry Modesitt dismissed the charges against Shane Johnson and Jeffrey Recupido without prejudice, which means the charges could be refiled at any time if the investigation warrants it. Modesitt said there's new evidence that requires further investigation. He told News 10 he didn't want to risk a double jeopardy situation if the cases went to trial and the defendants were found not guilty. "It's far from over. Based upon some of the new evidence we just received within the last two to three weeks, there's going to be quite a bit of follow-up investigation now," said Modesitt. He added when that investigation is complete, the office will decide if and when more charges are appropriate. According to police, French was attacked and robbed in August of 2020 in Terre Haute. He was taken to a hospital in Indianapolis where later he died on September 2. Police arrested Johnson, Recupido, and Loghan Morris. Authorities upgraded their charges to murder after French died. After French's death, News 10 spoke with his mother. "It wasn't supposed to be this way. He's supposed to bury his mother not his mother burying him," said Sandra French. Mumbai: Amid the spike in COVID infections, BMC has made RT-PCR COVID-19 test report mandatory for people entering the shopping malls in Mumbai. In an announcement, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) revealed that it has set up Rapid Antigen Test facilities at all malls to take samples from visitors for conducting COVID-19 tests. The BMCs new rule will come into effect from March 22. If visitors don't have a negative Covid-19 test report, they will have to get a Rapid Antigen Test done at the entrance of the shopping mall. "A team will be designated at the entrance for this very purpose. The details are being worked out," said Mumbai civic body. The BMCs announcement comes a day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had asked divisional commissioners to make necessary arrangements to ensure that restrictions are implemented strictly. Earlier, CM Thackeray had met mall owners and had conveyed last warning to them. Additionally, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar had stepped forward and urged the residents to work together to curb the spread of the COVID-19 infection, if they want to avoid the imposition of a lockdown. "I think imposing a night curfew is necessary right now. We are also considering shifting the crowded markets to new sites. All Mumbaikars need to work together to prevent the imposition of a lockdown," said Pednekar. The concerned authorities have been delivering numerous stern warnings to the people to take COVID-19 guidelines seriously, which is the only way to avoid a second lockdown. Amid the ongoing rumors of COVID-19 lockdown, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope, clearing the air said that lockdown isn't the solution to rising infections in the state. Mumbai on Thursday reported 4,811 new cases and 21 deaths, which took its overall caseload to 7,71,389, while the death toll stands at 19,995. Meanwhile, Maharashtra recorded 25,833 new coronavirus cases on Thursday which is the highest one-day spike since last March when the first coronavirus infection was detected. It took the caseload to 23,96,340, said a health official. With 58 fatalities, the death toll jumped to 53,138. The earlier record was 24,886 cases, reported on September 11 last year. The state is at the beginning of the second COVID-19 wave, a central team report had said earlier this week. Live TV Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 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. The AIM-listed investor is acquiring 18.5% of the company for a total consideration of US$750,000 ( ) said it has signed an investment agreement with Armada Exploration Ltd, a Mauritian holding company owning 100% of Armada Exploration. The investor said Armada holds two exploration licences, prospective for magmatic nickel-copper sulphide, in Gabon, covering a total area of nearly 3,000 square kilometres. It added that the licence holding is considered to present a frontier district-scale exploration opportunity. The location along the Congo Craton margin with a complex regional-scale fault network has permitted extensive volumes of mafic melt to intrude into sulphide-bearing country rocks assisting the potential formation of magmatic nickel-copper sulphide deposits. Copper and nickel sulphide occurrences have been mapped at surface at three top ranked targets. The 20km-long Libonga-Matchiti Trend is drill ready and Armada is planning a drilling programme of 3,000 metres in the second half of 2021. The AIM-listed firm has subscribed for 5mln new ordinary shares at a price of US$0.15 in Armada for a total consideration of US$750,000 via a promissory note with US$350,000 to be invested up-front and with the $400,000 to be paid in monthly instalments of US$80,000 over the next five months. In the event of a public listing Metal Tiger will need to settle any outstanding amounts under the promissory note in full at the time of the public listing. This is because Armada is targeting an IPO for 2021 coinciding with drill rig mobilisation. Following completion, Metal Tiger will own 18.5% of the issued ordinary share capital of Armada and will be given the right to appoint a director to the board of Armada, though it noted that it has not yet opted to take up this right. This frontier is significantly under-explored, which makes it so exciting, and we welcome the longer-term proposal for Armada to undertake an IPO, said Metal Tigers chief executive Michael McNeilly in a release. Armada has completed significant work to create a compelling geological model that has delineated multiple drill-ready projects. Should the initial work programme prove successful it has the potential to create significant value uplift across all of the untested targets and increase the overall attractiveness of the district. Given its experienced leadership team, who have a successful track record of involvement in major discoveries and operational experience in Central and Southern Africa, we look forward to the results of Armadas upcoming operational phase. Shares rose 3% to 21.37p on Friday morning. --Adds shares-- Police search for man in pursuit ASHLAND State police at Frackville are looking for a Schuylkill Haven man who they say led officers on a 10-mile pursuit that started on Walnut Street in Ashland around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. Police said they attempted to stop a 2002 Subaru for a registration violation but the driver, Charles Stan Brilla, 28, failed to stop and fled. A pursuit began and continued for about 10 miles through multiple jurisdictions with Brilla driving recklessly through an active work zone placing construction workers in danger, police said. At one point, troopers from the Schuylkill Haven station successfully deployed stop sticks that deflated two of the vehicles tires but Brilla continued for about a half-mile with the deflated tires before exiting the road, getting out of the vehicle and fleeing on a dirt trail into the woods. Two passengers in the vehicle were taken into custody but a search for Brilla was unsuccessful. Police said it was later learned that Brilla has multiple active warrants for his arrest. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Brilla is asked to call police at 570-874-5300. Man arrested on rape charges POTTSVILLE A Pottsville man was arrested March 11 by Pottsville police on rape charges. Police said Frank Chen, 36, was charged with rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors and indecent exposure. Police said the charges are the result of an investigation by Detective Joseph Krammes that showed Chen sexually abused a 15-year-old girl at various locations in the city over the past 12 months. Chen was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge James K. Reiley, Pottsville, and committed to Schuylkill County Prison unable to post $100,000 bail, police said. Haven man facing drug charges SCHUYLKILL HAVEN A Schuylkill Haven man is facing drug charges by state police at Schuylkill Haven after a traffic stop at Route 183 and Kiehner Road in Wayne Township around 3:10 p.m. Monday. Police said they stopped a 2006 Nissan Altima driven by Brandon Symons, 21, for speeding and found him to be in possession of a small amount of marijuana. One injured in crash in Pine Grove Twp. PINE GROVE One person suffered serious injuries in a crash that happened at Mountain Road and Spruce Drive in Pine Grove Township around 12:20 p.m. Saturday. State police at Schuylkill Haven said a 17-year-old Pine Grove girl was driving a 2005 Volkswagen Jetta south on Spruce Drive when she failed to negotiate a right curve and overcorrected, causing her to lose control of the car. The car rolled during the turn, causing it to become airborne and land on its roof on Mountain Road, police said. Police said the teen suffered serious head injuries and was taken to Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, by Pine Grove EMS for treatment. Her passenger, a 17-year-old Pine Grove boy, was not hurt. The driver was cited for driving at an unsafe speed and police said Pine Grove firefighters assisted. Minor injuries in 2-vehicle crash CRESSONA State police at Schuylkill Haven investigated a two-vehicle crash that happened at the intersection of Pottsville Street and Old Mill Road in North Manheim Township around 7:07 p.m. March 12. Police said Charlotteann Petlansky, 83, of Auburn, was driving a 2009 Jeep Patriot north on Route 183 when she stopped to make a left turn onto Old Mill Road. The woman then proceeded to make the turn and struck a 2017 Nissan Versa being driven south on Route 183 by Kristen Kohr, 41, of Pine Grove. Petlansky suffered minor injuries while Kohr was not hurt, police said. Cressona firefighters and Schuylkill EMS assisted. Man possibly injured in crash WARRIOR RUN As Ashland man suffered possible injuries when the car he was a passenger in crashed in Northumberland County around 2:10 a.m. March 12. State police at Milton said Victoria Mowry, 28, of Milton, was driving a 2011 Ford west on Interstate 80 in East Chillsquaque Township when she lost traction, went onto the south shoulder of the road and struck a guiderail. The car then traveled across both lanes of travel, spun 180 degrees and went off the north shoulder of the road and struck an embankment coming to a stop facing east. Mowry was not hurt, but police said her passenger, Daniel Leary, 27, suffered possible injuries and was taken to a hospital by emergency personnel from Warrior Run. Encountering Guizhou cuisine as Intangible Cultural Heritage in Qing Dynasty house in Shanghai By:Zhao Chunyuan | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-03-19 09:04 Fried pickled vegetables with glutinous rice balls; Wujiang River fish in sour soup; boiled-steamed chicken; Guizhou-style fresh gastrodial. All of these dishes are from the cuisine of Guizhou, known as Qian Cuisine, which is one of China's eight famous cuisines. It is called Qian Cuisine because Qian is the Chinese short name for Guizhou province. Now it is possible to visit an old house to taste these Guizhou delights. The old house, located in Hongzhong Road, Minhang District, Shanghai, is now the home of Qianxiang Pavilion 1877. It was the idea of the brand's founder, Mr. Li Jianzhong, to allow people to enjoy Guizhou-style food in such an atmospheric house. It is said that the house was built in 1877, the second year of the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty, and was originally a two-story mansion in Quzhou, Zhejiang Province, which was cleaned, disassembled, numbered, and then shipped to Shanghai to be pieced back together. Qianxiang Pavilion 1877 is a cultural and creative base in the Greater Hongqiao area, and one of the cultural landmarks in Shanghai, where many movies were filmed, such as To Youth and Lord of Shanghai. The restaurant offer traditional classic Guizhou cuisine and innovative Shanghai influenced Guizhou cuisine. Some of the dishes also incorporate aspects of Guizhous intangible cultural heritage. For example, the main ingredient of Guizhou-sytle fresh gastrodial is Rose Candy, an intangible cultural heritage of Guizhou, which is produced in Qingyan ancient town, in the southern rural area of Guiyang City, Guizhou Province. The combination of high-quality roses, honey and sweet well waterfrom Qingyan ancient town, supported by a unique production and fermentation process, make this dish taste extra sweet and a great pre-dinner dessert. Every time a dish is served, a short film about the dish is shown, which is only one or two minutes long, but it is a great way to increase diners knowledge and perception of the intangible cultural heritage of Guizhou cuisine. Photos: official website of Qian Restaurant Overnight reports from Jacksonville police: Jayden P. Norton, 20, of 21 Westfair Drive was booked into the Morgan County jail at 8:39 a.m. Friday on charges of reckless homicide and reckless driving. Karley R. Piper, 19, of 28 S. Arch St., Winchester, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 2:57 a.m. Friday on charges of illegal possession of adult-use cannabis by a passenger, illegal transportation or possession of liquor by a passenger and consumption of alcohol by a minor. Styles L. Cockerill, 19, of 2005 E. Strawns Crossing Road, Ashland, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 2:18 a.m. Friday on a charge of driving while license is revoked or suspended. A woman told police she was assaulted with pepper spray about 9 p.m. Thursday in the 900 block of West Morton Avenue. Jacksonville police are investigating a reported road rage incident during which a vehicle was damaged about 5:13 p.m. Thursday in the 1800 block of West Morton Avenue. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Saudi Arabia, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates emerged as the top trading partners of Bahrain during February, with the Kingdom exporting BD189 million and importing BD429 million worth of products. According to the latest foreign trade report, Brazil ranked first when it comes to imports to Bahrain, as Saudi Arabia grabbed the top position among countries receiving Bahraini exports of national origin. The United Arab Emirates emerged top in the category of countries re-exported from the Kingdom. The Information &eGovernment Authority report revealed that the value of imports increased by 9% to BD 429 million in February, from BD394 million in the year-ago month. However, Bahrains export of national origin products decreased 4% to BD189 million during February from BD196 million in the prior-year month. Imports: Brazil ranks first The top 10 countries - Brazil, China, Saudi, UAE, India, Italy, Australia, USA, Germany, and Korea- accounted for 72% of the imports. The remaining countries accounted for 28%. Brazil ranked first with total imports of BD89 million, China second with BD53 million, and Saudi Arabia was third with BD30 million. Iron ore top imports Non-agglomerated iron ores and concentrate emerged as the top product imported into Bahrain, with a total value of BD88 million. Aluminium oxide was second with BD25 million, and four-wheel drive cars third with BD14 million. Exports hit BD189 million The value of exports of national origin products decreased by 4% to BD189 million in February from BD196 million in the same month of the previous year. The top 10 countries accounted for 82% of the total purchase from Bahrain, with the remaining countries accounting for 18%. 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. ALBANY This November voters will decide whether the state constitution should be amended to include a right to clean air and water, as well as a healthy environment. Getting that proposition on the ballot took years of pushing by environmental organizations. They say it places the idea of a clean environment on the same level as other basic rights such as freedom of religion, trial by jury, freedom of speech and even the right to play bingo (yes, that is specified in the state constitution's Bill of Rights). New York loses lawsuit to further dredge PCBs from Hudson River Neighbors worry about hazardous dust around Norlite plant Activists fear PFAS exposure could aggravate COVID-19 Moreover, the concept of a "Green Amendment" sounds like something that would easily be approved by voters. After all, who doesnt want clean air and water and a healthy environment? But months ahead of the vote, the proposal has become a source of debate, with opponents calling it a boon for trial lawyers and another impediment to doing business in New York. "This proposed Green Amendment will lead to an explosion of litigation, said Tom Stebbins, executive director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York. He sees such an amendment as a giveaway to New Yorks politically powerful and deep pocketed trial lawyers who he says are constantly looking for new ways to pursue lucrative lawsuits. The Business Council of New York State also says its members fear the litigation and uncertainty over lawsuits that could result. Courts would have to situationally determine what exactly constitutes a healthful environment. This degree of uncertainty would prove remarkably cumbersome, reads a Business Council memo against the measure. But supporters say the fears are overblown and they note that court precedents will shape the contours of how these new rights, if approved, are enforced. "If the voters approve it in November, this language will finally put in place safeguards that require the government to consider the environment and our relationship to the Earth in decision making. If the government fails in that responsibility, New Yorkers will finally have the right to take legal action for a clean environment because it will be in the state constitution, said Manhattan Democratic Sen. Robert Jackson, who sponsored the bill in his chamber. Having the right to a healthy environment in the state constitution could also course correct the history of putting polluting industries near or in disadvantaged communities, added Eddie Bautista, executive director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. Enshrining a right to clean air and clean water into our state constitution will help empower those who suffer the effects of pollution, said Bautista. Specifically, the amendment if passed would say that "Each person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment. Christine Primomo, a Coeymans activist who has battled the town's LaFarge Holcim cement plant over air emissions, said she would welcome the amendment but doesn't believe it would be a cure-all for environmental problems. "Yes and no," she said. "It states that we have a right to clean air. It's a simple proposition," she said. But it might not get to the level of state or local legislation that would, say, allow or prevent LaFarge's proposal to burn discarded tires in its kiln, which has been a source of controversy. New York has no system in which the public can petition to have a state constitutional amendment put on the ballot. Instead, legislators over two sessions in a row must approve putting an amendment before the voters. Lawmakers recently approved putting the Green Amendment on the November ballot. Other successful pushes to amend the constitution included the 2013 vote to allow Las Vegas-style casinos (apart from those on Native American lands) to operate in New York. More modest propositions for constitutional amendments have also passed over the years such as a 2013 change that allowed a North Country mine to expand into the constitutionally protected Adirondack Forest Preserve. In exchange, the mining firm provided more land to the preserve. A Green Amendment codifying environmental rights would be a landmark move that could have sweeping impacts on how New Yorkers deal with pollution issues and on how industry operates going forward. But certain industries fear that having such rights in the constitution might spur lawsuits against air or water polluters that are operating under existing legal emissions permits granted by the state. It also could put municipalities and even state government on the hook for allowing or permitting operations that violate the right to a clean environment and make companies think twice before starting or permitting new projects that could result in air or water pollution. There are already a number of ways that people can go to court to fight pollution. But passage of the proposition would create another avenue outside of the legislative and regulatory arena, since Bill of Rights cases are the province of the courts. We have thousands of laws on the books dealing with environmental issues but if you look at them they are all about permitting pollution or abating pollution. None of them are about thinking about it prospectively, said Kate Kurera, deputy director of Environmental Advocates NY, one of some 70 groups and supporters who welcomed the bills recent passage. Other supporters included the Adirondack Mountain Club, Food and Water Action, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter and the AFL-CIO. The fossil fuel industry, which has been hit by both price volatility and the states push toward renewable energy, is worried. Everyone is entitled to clean air and water, but the legislature has not defined what constitutes these rights, leaving it to the courts and endless litigation to determine, according to New Yorkers for Affordable Energy, a group of energy industry companies. If neighbors of, say, a local landfill like the S.A. Dunn landfill in Rensselaer or the Norlite incinerator in Cohoes sued on the grounds that emissions or dust or odor violated their right to a healthy environment, the courts, rather than state regulators such as the Department of Environmental Conservation, could ultimately decide an outcome. More for you News Climate Leadership group starts to lay out path for... All of this will have to be tested in court, said Kurera. There will be certain test cases that will be needed to articulate what this right will be. While some unions involved in fossil fuels dont like the bill, Mario Cilento, president of the states AFL-CIO, believes it will foster new clean energy jobs. If enacted, this constitutional amendment will enshrine those rights and in turn promote investment in water infrastructure and new energy technologies, he said. Still unknown is whether there will be heavy, and expensive, campaigns for or against the proposition. That happened in 2017 when the states public sector unions successfully fought a vote for a constitutional convention. They feared that anti-union activists could use such a convention to dismantle some of the civil service protections they currently enjoy under the state constitution. A number of ballot propositions have gone to voters over the years A number of statewide ballot proposals including a bond issue went before voters over the past decade. Some made minor, targeted changes in the state constitution to allow land exchanges on constitutionally protected forest preserve lands. Another, to approve casino gambling, made for a major change to the state's guiding document. 2020 Would issue $3 billion in bonds for the environment, water infrastructure and climate change resiliency - Postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic. 2017 As is the case every 20 years, asked voters if they want a constitutional convention that would allow multiple changes to the state constitution all at once - Defeated Allow judges to reduce or revoke state pensions of public officials convicted of felonies in relation to their jobs - Approved Create a 250-acre land bank in state forest preserve land to allow for exchanges as needed - Approved 2014 Create redistricting commission to draw political district lines every 10 years - Approved Allow lawmakers to work with electronic rather than paper versions of proposed bills - Approved Authorize $2 billion in bonding to fund technology upgrades in schools - Approved 2013 Allow casino gambling - Approved Give veterans with combat-related disabilities extra points in seeking civil service promotions - Approved Allow municipalities to keep exceeding their debt limits for sewage facilities - Approved Attempts to solve dispute among private landowners in the Adirondack Forest Preserve - Approved Allow a land exchange in Adirondack Forest Preserve for a mine expansion - Approved Raise the mandatory judicial retirement age to 80 - Defeated See More Collapse As of mid-March, neither supporters nor opponents signaled that any such ad or publicity campaign like in 2017 or with the push to approve casinos in 2013 was in the offing. Additionally, the final vote in the Legislature to put it on the ballot came up fairly quickly during this years legislative session and opponents had little time to lobby against it, according to insiders. Approval also came as lawmakers might revisit another environmental ballot measure the $3 billion bond act that was originally planned for November 2020. That bond, which would have funded a variety of environmental cleanup, land purchase and resiliency projects, was put aside last year amid the economic uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic. But there was an indication in the Legislature's budget proposals over the weekend that it is back for consideration in the state's 2021-22 spending plan; it was not included in Gov. Andrew M. Cuomos budget proposal, however. Those on both sides of the issue agree that the term Green Amendment would draw a lot of support on the face of it. But there is also room for confusion. The National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, which supports such amendments, takes pains to explain that this is different from the Green New Deal, the massive, nationwide public works program that some federal lawmakers have called for. Pennsylvania and Montana both have similar amendments in their bills of rights and four other state legislatures are considering constitutional amendments: Maryland, New Jersey, Vermont and West Virginia. Ultimately, it will be up to the voters in New York to decide, observed Blair Horner, executive director of NYPIRG, which favors the amendment. Its not a done deal until it goes to the voters, he said. New 2Mta plant planned for Cambodia 19 March 2021 Cambodias Conch KT Cement (Phnom Penh) plans to build a US$263m cement factory in Aoral, Kampong Speu province, with a 2Mta capacity, according to the Phnom Penh Post. Conch KT Cement is a joint venture between Chinas Conch International Holding (HK) Ltd and Battambang KT Cement. The joint venture currently operates another 2Mta facility in Ratanak Mondol district, which started up in 2018. Conch KT Cements feasibility study on the project is reportedly almost complete, as the company is preparing the necessary documents to apply for the relevant permits and formal government approval. Published under A top prosecutor from Pennsylvania who earned $130,000 was demoted and branded 'selfish and stupid' after being caught making DoorDash deliveries instead of working on cases. Gregg Shore, 49, first assistant district attorney in Bucks County, outside of Philadelphia, was a 10-year veteran of the office who had prosecuted some of the toughest criminal cases in the state. But unknown to his superiors, in the last few months he had been using public time to top up his generous salary with his side hustle as a food delivery courier. He was caught by an eagle-eyed member of the public, demoted to deputy, docked $22,000 on his pay and forced to forfeit vacation time to pay back the hours lost. Public records showed that he previously earned $129,474. DoorDash pays its 'Dasher' drivers between $2-10 per delivery, plus tips. Gregg Shore, pictured in 2017 discussing the murder trial of Cosmo DiNardo and Sean Kratz, has been demoted from first assistant district attorney for Bucks County, Pennsylvania, after being caught making DoorDash deliveries on county time Shore, a ten-year veteran of the office, has been docked $22,000 in pay and made to pay back the time lost when he was doing his side hustle, despite earning nearly $130,000 Shore apologized and said he took the job due to 'personal circumstances' and that he had let the citizens of the county down The attorney took a part time job with the food delivery app DoorDash, (pictured in a stock photo) to earn some cash on the side Drivers for DoorDash (pictured in a stock image), make between $2-10 per delivery plus tips District Attorney Matthew Weintraub, said in a statement to The Philadelphia Inquirer today, that Shore's actions were 'indefensible, thoughtless, selfish, and so stupid. He added: 'It makes no sense. ... I dont know why he did this, but I am so angry and upset. It shows a lack of leadership and is the reason I have decided to demote him.' Shore was caught when he was spotted by a member of the public who told his office. He admitted making the deliveries during office hours when he should be working on public cases. The attorney apologized and said he had been forced to make the choice due to 'personal circumstances'. Matthew Weintraub, the Bucks County district attorney, pictured in 2017, said that Shore had been 'stupid and selfish' Shore said: 'I worked a second job delivering food during the pandemic, mostly on nights and weekends, but I sometimes made the incredibly poor decision to do so during the workday. By doing so, I betrayed my colleagues, my boss, and the citizens of Bucks County.' He has been replaced by Jennifer Schorn, a 22-year veteran of the office. Weintraub said that Schorn, who previously served as chief of trials for the office, oversees the countys grand jury investigations and has helped prosecute high-profile cold cases, said: 'I liken her to a warrior general leading her troops, who are us, into battle against the worst of our enemies.' Shore worked for four years in the DA's office between 1996 and 2000. After working at the Lehigh County Prosecutor's Office and the state attorney general's office, he returned to the Bucks County DA's office in 2015. Shore was one of the lead prosecutors who brought charges against Cosmo DiNardo (left) who pleaded guilty to all four murders and was sentenced to life in prison in 2018 for the murders of four men on a farm in Pennsylvania. His cousin Sean Kratz, 22, (right) was convicted of first-degree murder and other offenses He is known for starting the office's Insurance Fraud Unit and serving as lead prosecutor in 2017's murder trial of Cosmo DiNardo, and his cousin Sean Krantz, who were accused of murdering four men on a farm in Pennsylvania. DiNardo pleaded guilty in 2018 in a deal that spared him the death penalty. All of his recent cases are currently being reassessed. Curriculum Changes: Equity and Increased Offerings As from this September, and for the first time ever, boys and girls in Gibraltar will have identical options presented to them as they choose the subjects they will take for GCSE. In order to meet the Governments vision for Education in Gibraltar, the Department of Education has announced changes to the Key Stage 4 (KS4) programme of study which will come into effect in September. There will now be equity in the opportunities afforded to students when choosing their options at KS4. The Department of Education has worked closely with both secondary schools senior leadership teams in achieving this fundamental aim of achieving equity at KS4 by September. The deadline of the academic year 2021/2022 was a critical time frame as the current Year 9 cohort of students in our secondary schools is the first fully coeducational cohort and it was a curriculum priority to ensure equity in opportunities for these young people. This is the first time that both our secondary schools will provide young people across both schools with an equal offering of courses. There have been historic curriculum imbalances with respect to the subjects and qualifications offered at each of the two secondary schools with respect to the qualifications offered at Level 2 (GCSE or equivalent). The Government says it feels that these changes were long overdue, and the significant move to coeducation has enabled the necessary curriculum changes to be effected in a phased approach as the first coeducational cohort has moved up through the secondary schools. The changes that will be rolled out for this September will result in both schools delivering Child Development, Certificate of Personal Effectiveness, Dance, Design Technology and Sociology at KS4. These were subjects that were previously on offer at only one of the two schools and had not been available for students of both schools. The Department of Education is exploring an exciting vocational route in Fashion and Textile Design to replace the outgoing Art and Design (Textiles) offering. This new vocational route, envisaged to be implemented in September 2022, will join the new Hair & Beauty and Digital Technologies vocational qualifications currently offered by the schools. These further curriculum developments highlight the Governments continuing commitment to introduce vocational qualifications in schools. Additionally, and as part of the ongoing curriculum development, both Secondary Schools will be offering a GCSE in Computer Science in September 2021 as part of the KS4 programme of study. This will offer students two equally valuable pathways to develop their digital skills. Students can opt to embark on the vocational Digital Technologies qualification or they can pursue the more academic GCSE in Computer Science. These two qualification pathways will help to fill a much needed skills gap identified by local and international industries. The Department of Education is continuing to work on the development of an access curriculum for those students in KS4 who may, for differing reasons, struggle to access the full range of Level 2 qualifications offered in our secondary schools. It is envisaged that this access curriculum will allow students to develop and achieve certification for critical skills alongside their Level 2 choices. 'This offering will allow students to fulfil their potential in our schools and will ultimately be to the benefit of our community which will stand to gain from a more competent future workforce who will feel more confident in their own abilities and who will be able to contribute more effectively to our society.' Minister for Education, John Cortes commented: This is a really significant step in the history of Education in Gibraltar. For the first time ever, all our children will have exactly the same opportunities offered to them at this critical stage in their Education. Up to now, for example, a boy was not able to do a GCSE in Dance and a girl would not have been able to do a GCSE in Design Technology. That was clearly not an acceptable situation. The equalisation of opportunity and the expansion of vocational alternatives available to our young people are key to our Education policy, which continues to progress, with much more to come in the future. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) The Inter-Agency Task Force ordered some businesses to temporarily stop operations for two weeks, but Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Friday said there will be no drastic lockdowns to curb the ongoing spike in new COVID-19 cases. Driving schools, cinemas, gaming arcades, museums and cultural centers in areas under general community quarantine will be closed starting Friday until April 4. The order issued by the IATF also temporarily bans social events in establishments accredited by the Department of Tourism. Meanwhile, meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) events will be limited to 30% of the venue's capacity. Restaurants, cafes and personal care services are restricted to serving 50% of their guest capacity. These sectors were recently reopened and expanded in a bid to spur economic activity in the country. Roque added religious gatherings will be cut down from 50% down to 30% of the venue's capacity provided there is no objection from the local government units. Metro Manila, Baguio City, Apayao, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Batangas, Tacloban City, Iligan City, Davao City, and Lanao Del Sur are under GCQ for March. The IATF resolution on temporarily closing some businesses and the restriction on the entry of foreign travelers are some of the measures implemented by the national government in a bid to stop the spread of the virus in the country. Roque said the members of the task force did not agree to enforce a "circuit breaker" period. "Hindi napagkasunduan kahapon sa IATF so walang 'circuit lockdown,'" he said in a media briefing. Singapore carried out a "circuit breaker" period in April 2020 wherein residents were only allowed to leave their homes for work, to buy necessities, and other essential trips similar to the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the Philippines. Government officials have shunned proposals for entire regions or provinces to shift to ECQ or even its modified version despite alarming rise in new coronavirus infections in the country, arguing there should be a balance between health and economy. The country recorded 5,290 new cases on Thursday, bring the total number of infections to 640,984. It is not too late to ensure the well-being of all essential workers in Napa just like other cities in the Bay Area have done such as San Leandro, Oakland, San Jose and Santa Clara County as well as Berkeley and San Francisco along with Seattle and Long Beach, Monty Schacht, a 31-year employee at Nob Hill Foods on Trancas Street, wrote council members. Thanks for considering this subject. We literally have put our lives on the line. Despite the need to help essential workers before the COVID-19 threat recedes, Councilmember Bernie Narvaez urged Napa to carefully study the consequences of a hazard pay requirement including whether it would burden independent grocers lacking the deep funding of national chains, and if a pay boost could leave workers ineligible for other kinds of assistance. My biggest concern is, will (businesses) lay anybody off? he said. I dont want people losing their jobs. We need to do some research on the implications of that. People have been putting themselves at risk, so its important to talk about this. We know the cost of living in Napa is very high, so if people get a few dollars more an hour, will there be implications for some of the help that they receive, based on income level? Bengaluru-based Stelis Biopharma has partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to produce at least 200 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine. India has now become one of the biggest producers of Sputnik V, outside of Russia. Other countries producing the vaccine are South Korea, Brazil and China. The announcement was made by parent company Strides Pharma Science on Friday. This announcement comes days after Gland Pharma said it was producing and distributing 252 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine. Hetero is also producing 100 million doses of the Russian vaccine. Along with Gland and Hetero, India's total production of the shot has reached over half a billion doses. Stelis and the RDIF plan to start supplying the vaccine doses in the third quarter of this year, said Strides Pharma. It is yet to be ascertained which countries the doses would go to. Sputnik V, developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Institute is touted to have an efficiency of 91.6 per cent. It has been approved in 22 countries. RDIF is signing supply deals with over 13 countries. Meanwhile, Dr Reddy's Laboratories is also working with RDIF to hold domestic clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine. The company also sought emergency use authorisation approval last month. However, the company has been asked by the drug regulator to provide immunogenicity data. So far in India, two vaccines have been approved for usage -- Bharat Biotech Covaxin and Serum Institute's Covishield. Also read: Hyderabad's Gland Pharma to manufacture 252 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine Los Angeles police said Thursday they had opened an investigation into rape allegations made against US actor Armie Hammer after a former partner filed a complaint. The 24-year-old woman detailed her accusations Thursday morning during a virtual press conference with her lawyer, women's rights attorney Gloria Allred. The alleged victim said Hammer -- who was nominated for a Golden Globe for his starring role in 2017's "Call Me by Your Name" -- "violently raped" her for "over four hours" in 2017. She added that the 34-year-old actor, whom she had met over Facebook the year before, also "repeatedly slammed" her head against the wall and beat her feet with a riding crop to the point where she was unable to walk. The woman recounted the way she said she was "mentally, emotionally and sexually" abused by Hammer over the course of their four-year on-off relationship. LA police did not specify whether their investigation was looking at her complaint or allegations made by someone else. Hammer denied the allegations through his lawyer Andrew Brettler, who said last month his client had only ever had "completely consensual" sexual relationships. Brettler in a statement said that the 24-year-old alleged victim had sent his client a text message in July 2020 containing explicit sexual requests, which he claimed casts doubt on her claims. The lawyer has already denied en masse accusations from other women of violent and sadistic sexual acts by Hammer. The actor's agency cut ties with him last month as the allegations circulated on social media. Hammer has also recently left several film projects, according to trade publications, including a movie starring Jennifer Lopez called "Shotgun Wedding." ban/caw/ft Even though the price of car insurance is constantly rising, there are many methods that can help families save money on car insurance, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. Car insurance is a major investment for any family. However, many families are struggling to pay for ever-increasing insurance premiums. Dropping coverage is not an option, because many are using their vehicles to do their daily routines. Nevertheless, there are some methods that can help anyone save money on insurance. Drivers who want to save money on insurance can follow the next tips: Shop around for better insurance deals. Shopping around using a brokerage website is one of the best methods used to save money on car insurance. Certain events like moving to another area, getting divorced, or getting a job in a place that is far away from home can make car insurance to be more expensive. In these cases, drivers will be required to find better insurance deals to save money. After completing an online form, brokerage websites will display multiple insurance offers from multiple insurers. Drivers only need to pick one insurance offer that can satisfy their needs. Ask for the available discounts. Insurance companies are offering discounts for various reasons. Drivers who got married, who moved to a better neighborhood, or graduated a defensive driving course can pay lower insurance rates. Check the low mileage discount. Some policyholders are driving fewer miles than usual for various reasons. These drivers should contact their insurers to find out if they are eligible for the low-mileage discount. Keep a good credit score. In most states, insurance companies are allowed to determine the premiums using the credit score. Drivers with a poor credit score are considered to be less responsible and are more likely to file a claim. For these reasons, insurers will charge extra on their premiums. On the other hand, drivers with a good or excellent credit score are seen as more responsible and are less likely to file a claim., and for these reasons, they will pay lower insurance rates. Park the car in a garage. A well-monitored garage is an ideal place to keep a vehicle. The garage can protect the vehicle against severe weather events and can lower the chances for car theft to happen. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit http://compare-autoinsurance.org Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. Julian Hill: "Julian Assange is an Australian citizen. He has never been convicted of any crime." A federal Labor MP has called for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be brought home to avoid his possible extradition to the US to face alleged charges of espionage. Julian Hill, the member for Bruce, told Parliament on Thursday in an impassioned statement that Assange was still locked up even though he had never been convicted of any crime. "Julian Assange is an Australian citizen. He has never been convicted of any crime," Hill said. "Yet he has been locked up and confined for years, facing extradition to the US and an effective death sentence, on trumped-up, politically motivated charges. "Two months ago, a UK court found on humanitarian and health grounds that he should not be extradited to the US. Bring Julian Assange home NOW. Stop his extradition to the United States. Labor calls on Scott Morrison to bring this to an end. Respect the UK Court's decision & save his life. #JournalismIsNotACrime #FreeAssangeNOW #Assange #Wikileaks #NoExtradition #DropTheCharges pic.twitter.com/iuG78DHyH8 Julian Hill MP (@JulianHillMP) March 18, 2021 "Yet still, today, bail is withheld and Julian is locked up, isolated in a maximum security UK prison with murderers and rapists, at risk of death from COVID-19 because of his conditions. His health continues to deteriorate." On 4 January, British District Judge Vanessa Baraister ruled that Assange should not be extradited to the US, saying the risk he would commit suicide in an American jail were too high. The Australian faces criminal charges for publishing classified information that was leaked to WikiLeaks by an American soldier, then known as Bradley Manning, but now, after gender reassignment surgery, known as Chelsea Manning. On the day of the judgment, the US was given a fortnight to decide whether it wanted to appeal against the judgment. After saying it would be doing so, the administration of Joe Biden confirmed on 10 February that it would be continuing its bid to extradite Assange. Hill said: "As the Labor leader [Anthony Albanese] has said clearly, this has gone on for long enough. The Prime Minister [Scott Morrison] and his 'do-nothing' Foreign Minister [Marise Payne] need to act now to bring Julian Assange home and prevent his extradition to the US. "I want to remind everyone its been 2 years since Julian Assange has been in a high security prison. He faces 175 years in prison for the same reason he has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize."@suigenerisjen https://t.co/UjanFKsqi7 #FreeAssangeNOW #JournalismIsNotACrime pic.twitter.com/eKBZkZzSXk Bean #DropTheCharges? (@SomersetBean) March 18, 2021 "His health and his life depend on it - as the UK court found. If Assange is extradited to the US, he will face extreme isolation for 175 years. And, charges carrying the death penalty could be laid once his feet are on US soil. "No national security defendant has ever succeeded in the Eastern District Court of Virginia [the court where Assange is to be tried if extradited]. Assange would be buried alive in the US justice system. Ironically, treated worse than those responsible for America's war crimes in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, which he and WikiLeaks exposed." "Should he even survive, his case would circle the US justice system for years and decades, as lawyers, academics and judges argued over whether the cherished First Amendment rights even extended to him." Assange has been given time until 29 March to respond to the US appeal to revoke the British judge's decision. This is something you don't see every day. A pod of rare killer whales swam alongside a fishing boat out in Galveston on Wednesday, according to boating company Galveston Party Boats, Inc. "Rare killer whale sighting from the New Buccaneer's 30-hour trip today," the boating company posted on Facebook. "These beautiful creatures put on quite the show - enjoy." Check out the video below: READ MORE FROM PRISCILLA: I visited a San Antonio 'living land museum' you can only access 2 Saturdays a month The fishing boat left on a 30-hour trip for tuna fishing and saw the creatures Wednesday morning about 130 miles south of Galveston, the Galveston Party Boats, Inc. told MySA.com. This was the first time the captains have ever seen killer whales in the Gulf of Mexico, the business said. Captains Matt Smith and Sam Hardeman, who weren't available for an interview at the time this article was published, told Fox 26 Houston that they first thought they were pilot whales, but then quickly realized they were orca whales. Smith said they stayed swimming alongside them for about 30 minutes. "I've never seen an orca out of Galveston before," Hardeman told Fox 26 Houston. "I was very surprised to see them." Smith said they had about 30 people on the boat for that trip, adding he's never seen anything like this. He said he's only ever seen them at SeaWorld. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told MySA.com it's "uncommon" to see whales off the coast of Galveston. NOAA also shared a 2020 preliminary report that estimated 267 killer whales live in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The most recent final stock assessment in 2012 estimated just 28 orcas in that region. READ MORE: Here's why San Antonio's Northside looked dusty earlier this week Galveston Party Boats are original operators of catamaran fishing vessels in Galveston, according to its Facebook page. The species is not listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, but like all marine mammals, is protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The killer whale, also known as orca, is one of the top marine predators. It is the largest member of the Delphinidae family or oceanic dolphins. Found in every ocean in the world, they are the most widely distributed of all cetaceans (whales and dolphins). Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre Image by iStockPhoto [enlarge] The rural island of Kauai in Hawaii is one of the world's most sought-after vacation destinations, but it has been nearly impossible to visit for most of the past year because of quarantine and other coronavirus restrictions. 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. 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In the first visit by a top Biden administration official, Lloyd J Austin arrived in India on Friday on a three-day visit, aimed at further boosting bilateral defence and security ties in the wake of China's growing military assertiveness in the region including in the Indo-Pacific. India is the third stop for Austin during his three-nation first overseas tour as the Defence Secretary, and the visit is seen as a reflection of the administration's strong commitment to its relations with its close allies and partners in the region. The visited Japan and South Korea before India. The US official was received at the Palam airport by senior Indian military officials and diplomats from the American embassy. Ways to further accelerate India-US strategic ties, boosting cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, China's aggressive behaviour in eastern Ladakh, challenge of terrorism and the Afghan peace process are expected to be focus of the talks between the two sides, people familiar with Austin's visit said. They said India's plan to procure around 30 multi-mission armed Predator drones from the US for the three services at an estimated cost of over USD 3 billion is also expected to figure in the talks. The medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) Predator-B drones, manufactured by US defence major General Atomics, are capable of remaining airborne for around 35 hours and can hunt down targets at land and sea, they said. India's plan to acquire 114 fighter jets at a cost of around USD 18 billion could also figure in the talks as American defence majors --Boeing and Lockheed -Martin-- are eyeing it, the people said. Secretary Austin is scheduled to meet Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Friday evening while he will have extensive talks with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday. He is also likely to meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Before his departure on Sunday, Austin is likely to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His visit to India came days after the top leadership of the Quad grouping of India, the US, Japan and Australia vowed to expand their cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. Ahead of Austin's visit, Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote a letter to the US Defence Secretary, urging him to take up with Indian leaders the issue of New Delhi procuring Russian S-400 missile defence system. Though democracy and human rights issues do not come under the domain of the Pentagon, Menendez also urged Austin to raise these concerns with Indian leaders. In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning from the Trump administration that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions. Recently, the US imposed sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for purchase of S-400 missiles from Russia. The evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific region in the wake of China's increasing military muscle flexing has become a major talking point among leading global powers. The US has been favouring making Quad a security architecture to check China's growing assertiveness. The visit is also taking place at a time when India and China are looking to achieve the objective of disengagement from all friction points in eastern Ladakh after completing withdrawal of troops in the North and South banks of Pangong lake areas. Austin and Singh had a telephonic conversation on January 27. The Indo-US defence ties have been on an upswing in the last few years. In June 2016, the US had designated India a "Major Defence Partner". The two countries have also inked key defence and security pacts over the past few years, including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016 that allows their militaries use each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies as well as provides for deeper cooperation. The two sides have also signed COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) in 2018 that provides for interoperability between the two militaries and provides for sale of high end technology from the US to India. In October last year, India and the US sealed the BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) agreement to further boost bilateral defence ties. The pact provides for sharing of high-end military technology, logistics and geospatial maps between the two countries. (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.) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form The mother of conjoined twins who were successfully separated at 14 months has revealed her daughters are 'resilient' six months on from the life-changing operation. Sarabeth and Amelia Irwin of Petersburg, Michigan, were born 'hugging each other' and were connected from their chests to their belly buttons. Each had their own arms and legs and heart, but their livers were connected. In August 2020, the twins underwent an 11-hour surgery at at Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital and were successfully separated. They are now living independent lives at home with mother Alyson, 33, father Phil, 32, and their four-year-old sister Kennedy. The mother of conjoined twins who were successfully separated at 14 months has revealed her daughters are 'resilient' six months on from the life-changing operation. Pictured, Sarabeth and Amelia in hospital after undergoing the operation to separate them in August 2020 Sarabeth and Amelia Irwin of Petersburg, Michigan, were born 'hugging each other' and were connected from their chests to their belly buttons. Each had their own arms and legs and heart, but their livers were connected They are now living independent lives at home with mother Alyson, 33, father Phil, 32, and their four-year-old sister Kennedy. Pictured, the family before the girls' operation last year Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Alyson recalled the first time she was able to hold her daughters after the procedure, which involved more than 24 medical staff. 'Seeing them in two beds, the farthest away theyd ever been from each other, was amazing,' she said. 'Looking at their little bellies had me in tears. 'Cradling them was the thing Id been waiting for and it was incredible.' She explained there had been concerns over how the girls would develop being apart, but they were short-lived. Alyson continued: 'Sarabeth was rolling on her stomach in the cot and it was the happiest wed seen her. Wed been worried about the psychological impact of being apart, but they were both saying look how resilient we are!' Alyson and Phil had learned about the conjoined twins at their 20-week scan in 2019. The twins were born prematurely and shared a liver before being separated. Pictured, in hospital before their operation Pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Richard Ohye (right) speaks with Alyson (center) and Phil (left) Irwin as twins twins Sarabeth and Amelia Irwin await their surgery on August 5 2020 Until that point, Alyson had been convinced she was having a 'big old boy' because the pregnancy had felt different to the one she had with Kennedy. It came as a shock when the ultrasound revealed conjoined twins. 'It kind of felt like the worst news you could receive, you know?' Alyson previously told the Detroit Free Press. 'Especially because the statistics are not good.' The 11-hour procedure to separate the twins Before the operation 3D printed models of the girls' bodies were made so doctors could plan for every step of the surgery. Plastic surgeons, who had placed tissue expanders in the twins to provide them with extra skin, made the initial incision while cardiac surgeons separated the chest structures and pediatric surgeons divided the merged liver. After separation, the girls were repositioned at opposite ends of the same operating room table while the surgeons divided into two groups working in concert to reconstruct the chest and abdomen and make separate belly buttons. Every detail was carefully planned down to color-coding in the OR to identify which team was in charge of which patient after separation. Amelias pink painted fingernails matched the surgical hats for her team while Sarabeths were yellow. Source: Michigan Health Blog Advertisement She added that her prenatal team had 'had never seen anything like that before. So they said their hearts were breaking for us but there wasn't anything they could do.' The Irwins were then referred to a high-risk obstetrician, which led to their meeting with Michigan Medicines Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment Center director Dr Marcie Treadwell, and the news that the twins had their own sets of arms and legs, but were conjoined at the chest and abdomen. Prenatal imaging indicated that the girls had all separate organs, but shared a liver. Mott's Mychaliska said that he told the Irwin's separating the twins would involve a lot of of planning and evaluation. Although he said he 'didn't want to be too optimistic because this was (going to be) a really long journey for us,' he recalled 'being very hopeful with the family, that it's something that certainly was possible.' To explain what the twins would look like to big sister Kennedy, doctors gave the toddler two dolls that had been sewn together in the middle, the way the twins were conjoined. As a result, Kennedy 'understood it before we had them, and then it was never a big deal to her at all,' Alyson said. Doctors saw that the babies were showing signs of distress at 34 weeks, due to a blood flow abnormality in the umbilical cord they shared, which lead to the need to perform a c-section before the planned 35 and 36 weeks gestation period. On June 11, 2019, when doctors lifted the twins out of Alyson's womb, the two girls - each weighing 4.5lbs - had their arms wrapped around each other. The Irwins knew the girls might not survive long enough for surgery, but they did. 'I remember them briefly putting the girls on my chest. It was very sweet and special being able to hold them and see them for the first time,' Alyson told the newspaper. The surgery to divide the twins had been planned for February, but the girls developed pneumonia and then the coronavirus pandemic followed. The surgery was canceled and the twins were sent home to isolate following their recovery on March 17, shortly before Michigan's quarantine order came down. The surgery (pictured) took nearly 11 hours to complete and involved giving the girls artificial sternums, Gore-Tex patches for their pericardiums and creating new belly buttons The surgery was rescheduled for August 5, giving the twins time to continue using tissue expanders which would help create enough skin to cover the areas where they would be separated. The surgery started at 11.19am and, by 1.11pm, the twins were separated and moved to opposite ends of the operating room table so that the surgeons could start to reconstruct their chests and abdomens. More than two dozen doctors, nurses and specialists were involved in the procedures. Among the things that had to be created for the girls were artificial sternums - they had shared one - made of titanium bars and Gore-Tex patches to replace holes in their pericardium, which they'd also shared. They also each got a belly buttons crafted for them. Alyson and Phil weren't allowed into the hospital due to coronavirus restrictions and spent the nearly 11-hour surgery time waiting in their car outside the building. Sarabeth came home in late August, followed by Amelia on September 5. Although the girls may require future surgeries as their bodies develop and currently require physical and occupational therapy, doctors are optimistic that they'll grow up like children who hadn't been born the way they had. Alyson added: 'We look forward to a wonderful life for them. But will never forget the journey that got us here.' CHICAGO, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, 6,327 osteopathic medical students and 270 past DO graduates matched into postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) residency positions through the 2021 National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) Match. That is a net increase of 359 DO students from the prior year. Of the expanded applicant pool, a total of 89.1% of the 7,101 (a 7.9% increase from last year) DO students matched into residency programs in 39 specialties, which represents a modest increase in specialty areas, compared to last year's first combined Match. Final placement numbers, including residencies secured through the NRMP's Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP), will not be available until May, but the percentage of secured residencies is expected to align with the 99% rate reported in 2020. The specialty breakdown is consistent with the osteopathic profession's historic emphasis on careers in primary care, with 55.8% choosing family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and combined primary care residencies. "As a family physician, my heart swells with pride to see the number of DOs entering family medicine and primary care positions," said Dr. Thomas Ely, the 124th president of the American Osteopathic Association. "And, with equal enthusiasm I applaud our new generation of osteopathic physicians who have chosen to pursue psychiatry, anesthesiology, surgery and other specialty residencies." Specialty Areas For graduating fourth-year osteopathic medical students, the top 15 specialties by number of PGY1 matches are: Internal medicine Family medicine Emergency medicine Pediatrics Psychiatry Transitional Year (PGY1 only) Anesthesiology Surgery OB-GYN Internal medicine-preliminary (PGY1 only) Neurology Orthopedic surgery Pathology Physical medicine and rehabilitation Surgery-preliminary (PGY1 only) In all, 2,918 positions were filled in non-primary care specialties. View the NRMP data. "Regardless of specialty, the osteopathic philosophy, principles and practice teach a whole-person, patient-centered approach to care that is essential today," said AOA CEO Kevin Klauer, DO, EJD, FACEP. "Doctors of osteopathic medicine are entering the medical profession during a time of critical need and their growing contribution to our nation's health care system provides reason to celebrate." This year's NRMP Match reflected an increase in U.S. candidates who matched to PGY-1 positions. Notably, DOs increased at a higher rate than their MD counterparts: 6% compared to 1.8%, respectively. Other Match Outcomes While 6,327 seniors and 270 prior DO graduates matched into a Postgraduate Year 1 (PGY1) residency position through the NRMP Match, additional DO applicants found their residencies earlier this week via the NRMP's Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP). SOAP numbers will be available in early May. "Matching with a residency program is a process, and this year's NRMP Match was a very successful initial step for our osteopathic graduates," said Dr. Klauer. "Once the full residency placement cycle is complete, we expect that 99% of DOs will achieve a training location, a remarkable number that emulates last year's success." Additionally, this match season, 269 graduating osteopathic fourth-years and 76 graduates were placed via the military match, which places applicants into programs run or sponsored by the military. A small number of graduating osteopathic fourth-years and recent graduates were placed into programs via smaller specialty matches such as the Urology Match and San Francisco Match. "Congratulations to our 6,597 newly matched DO residents! You've earned this momentous honor, and the AOA is so proud to support you on your tremendous journey ahead," said Dr. Ely. About the American Osteopathic Association The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) represents more than 151,000 osteopathic physicians (DOs) and osteopathic medical students; promotes public health; encourages scientific research; serves as the primary certifying body for DOs; and is the accrediting agency for osteopathic medical schools. To learn more about DOs and the osteopathic philosophy of medicine, visit www.osteopathic.org. SOURCE American Osteopathic Association Related Links www.osteopathic.org Due to a word deemed offensive to some people, a school in Illinois will replace the plaque honoring a couple of its alumni who were missionaries killed in South America. Wheaton College moved to replace the plaque dedicated to Jim Elliot and Ed McCully, who were speared to deaths by the Aucas in Ecuador during a missionary trip. "For generations all strangers were killed by these savage Indians. After many days of patient preparation and devout prayer, the missionaries made the first friendly contact known to history with the Aucas," the plaque reads. In an email, President Philip Ryken said that the word "savage" used in the plaque appeared offensive and thus, has to be reworded, The Spectator reported. "Recently, students, faculty, and staff have expressed concern about language on the plaque that is now recognized as offensive. Specifically, the word 'savage' is regarded as pejorative and has been used historically to dehumanize and mistreat indigenous peoples around the world," Ryken wrote. The college president continued by saying that the school will appoint a task force to review the wording. "Any descriptions on our campus of people or people groups should reflect the full dignity of human beings made in the image of God. With this in mind, the Senior Administrative Cabinet will appoint a task force to review the wording of the plaque and to make a specific recommendation by May 1 for its careful rewording and replacement," he further stated. The plaque, which was placed at the Edman Chapel, was already removed on Wednesday. It was given to the college by the classmates of Elliot and McCully 64 years ago. In January 1956, Elliot and McCully, along with three other missionaries, Roger Youderian, Peter Fleming and Nate Saint, flew to Ecuador in a mission to establish an interaction with the Huaorani people, also called as the Aucas. The tribe is known for its violence both to its own people and outsiders who entered their territory. In September 1955, the missionary group already initiated a connection by making regular flights in the settlement to drop gifts. After a few months of exchanging gifts, the missionaries went to camp in the "Palm Beach" along the Curaray River and near the settlement, to make a contact with the tribal people. Three days later, two women and a man from the jungle made a friendly contact and even rode in the aircraft. But on January 8, the Aucas attacked and killed the missionaries. The news of their deaths was broadcast internationally, covered by "Life" magazine. Their heroic act for mission sparked America into funding the evangelism movement worldwide. After two years, the sister of Saint, Rachel, and Elliot's wife, Elisabeth, along with their daughter, went to evangelize the Aucas for three years. Because of their effort, the tribal people, as well as six of those who killed the missionaries, turned their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. Economists and political activists have been issuing warnings about growing economic inequality, or the widening economic disparity between social groups, in the U.S. for years. Economic inequality includes income inequality and wealth (or ownership) inequality, and its impact can be measured in how social outcomes for people differ based on their race, gender identification, education, health care, geography, and intergenerational wealth. PW talked with a variety of publishers about acquiring and publishing books on economic inequality, whats in the market now, and plans for the topic going forward. Those who weighed in were Dana Bliss, editor, Oxford University Press; Amanda Cook, v-p and editorial director, Crown; Tara Grove, editor-in-chief, New Press; Hollis Heimbouch, senior v-p and publisher, Harper Business; Sarah Humphreville, editor, Oxford University Press; Steve Piersanti, founder and editor, Berrett-Koehler; Lynne Rienner, president and editorial director, Lynne Rienner; and Glenn Yeffeth, publisher, BenBella. Check out our listing of new and forthcoming titles on economic inequality. Does your house have a history of publishing works on economic inequality? Grove: The New Press has published books about inequality from our earliest days nearly 30 years agoits one of our core categories. Classic backlist titles, some of which date back to the 1990s, include Economic Apartheid in America, The Color of Wealth, and books by such renowned progressive thinkers as Joseph Stiglitz, Richard Wilkinson, and Peter Edelman. Lisa Dodsons The Moral Underground was a groundbreaking social study on how everyday Americans enact economic civil disobedience, and Moshe Adlers Economics for the Rest of Us is also a bottom-up examination of these issues, a quintessential New Press approach. In 2018 we published Hypercapitalism by Larry Gonick and Tim Kasser, a marvelous graphic book on the human costs of commercialism. Yeffeth: BenBella has long been interested in the topic of economic inequality. Back in 2013 we published George Tylers What Went Wrong: How the 1% Hijacked the American Middle Class... and What Other Countries Got Right, which was one of the first books to demonstrate the tremendous growth of income inequality in the U.S., and that a governmental role in ensuring a level of economic equality is a fundamentally American practice that was abandoned in the Reagan era. We also published the follow-up title, Billionaire Democracy, which demonstrated the malevolent role this level of income inequality plays in our political life. In 2018 we published The New Human Rights Movement: Reinventing the Economy to End Oppression by Peter Joseph, founder of the Zeitgeist Movement, the worlds largest grassroots social movement. Piersanti: Berrett-Koehler has a long history of publishing books on economic inequality and related topics of income and wealth distribution, going back to the founding of our company in 1992. One of the first books we published was The Fourth Wave: Business in the 21st Century, which dealt extensively with these topics. Then, in 1995, we published the landmark bestseller When Corporations Rule the World, which sold over 150,000 copies and influenced a generation of other authors, activists, and researchers in this area. A few years later we published The Divine Right of Capital, another groundbreaking book. We publish many books in this area, because they are central to our companys long-standing mission of Connecting People and Ideas to Create a World That Works for All. And one of our four main publishing agendas is BK Currents, which we describe as tackling the root causes of social, economic, and environmental injustice with systemic new solutions. Cook: We have certainly expanded this part of our list over the past decade. Dorothy Browns The Whiteness of Wealth is the most recent example, but we also published Atlantic economics writer Annie Lowreys book on universal basic income, Give People Money, which feels newly relevant now, and Matthew Desmonds Evicted, which showed how the majority of poor families in this country are spending over half of their income on rentand facing eviction and homelessness as a result. Heimbouch: Weve always tried to publish books that speak not only to our readers interests and needs right now but that set the agenda for the future. Rienner: Yes, we do. In the U.S. context, Hunger in the Land of Plenty comes to mind. We have a growing list of books on homelessness, such as Ending Homelessness: Why We Havent, How We Can, and many offerings on the economic impact of racial inequalitytwo examples being Black Asset Poverty and Metaracism. We publish on these issues in the global context, as wellamong many others, Promises Not Kept: Poverty and the Betrayal of Third World Development and Getting Globalization Right: The Dilemmas of Inequality. Humphreville: Across all our lists, from the humanities through medicine and, of course, the social and behavioral sciences, we have put forward insightful, well-researched work on issues of inequalityits histories, influences, and wide-ranging effects. What is your acquisitions strategy for titles on economic inequality? Cook: Inequality has many dimensions, which makes it particularly provocative terrain. Acquisitions are mainly driven by editors particular interests, though we are all, of course, responding to the zeitgeist. Robert Livingstons The Conversation looks at the difficulties faced by Black employees trying to gain a foothold and advance in the corporate world. Brittany Barnetts A Knock at Midnight shows how drug laws impact communities where economic opportunity has dried up and selling small quantities of drugs is a means of survival. I think were always trying to start a new cultural conversation, often by drawing attention to an underreported issue, like we did with Evicted. Health care and education are critical drivers of inequality, and I continue to hope readers will be more interested in books about these topics. Sometimes I think we all get worn down by daily coverageor in some cases, experiencing the problems ourselvesand then are less receptive to book-length treatments. Heimbouch: We always keep an eye on the market to understand what types of books readers most need and then look for books that help shift the conversation around those topics. Its clear that the prevailing model of shareholder value and lack of regulation isnt working for the vast majority of people, and we are always looking for books that address these issues and also provide tangible solutions to these problems. Associate editor Rebecca Raskin acquired Dave Buckmasters Fair Pay because the book addresses the realities of pay inequality using data and analysis from someone who works in the compensation field. Grove: We seek authors who take an intersectional approach, so a great many of our books on economic injustice also touch on race and gender, and explore inequality through the lens of education, health care, the environment, and labor struggles. The New Press is always looking to publish on the cutting edge of the inequality discourse, and we publish two MacArthur genius fellows who exemplify that effort. In her book Waste, Catherine Coleman Flowers sheds light on the environmental and health hazards facing poor rural communities that dont have the privilege to flush and forget, and Ai-Jen Poos Age of Dignity examines the challenging lives of underpaid care workers in America, a crisis that has now come into sharp relief during the pandemic. Rienner: I would love to brag about our brilliant strategy, but I really cant. From the beginning, we simply published books that felt right, within the context of peer-reviewed scholarshipand that often involved publishing about important social issues. Other scholars, seeing those books in our catalogs, brought their own work to us, and that pattern continues today. Initially our focus was on issues of development in the Global South, but that broadened many years ago to encompass the United States, Europe, etc. Humphreville: My area of focus is public health, which allows me to seek out conversations with authors who are furthering our understanding of just how interwoven issues about economic inequality are with the foundational values we care most deeply about, from health to racial and gender equity. Im drawn to ambitious, interdisciplinary projects that arent afraid to go after classic topics with fresh insights and new perspectives, and Im lucky to be building on OUPs rich tradition of publishing similar projects. The topics Im interested inhuman rights and social justice, maternal and child health access, social epidemiology, the ethics of consumer health technologiescertainly respond to the current moment. But these topics have been relevant for decades. The authors I seek reflect an openness to embracing new ideas, as well as an understanding of where things may have gone sideways in the past and how we can build upon work being done at the local, state, and national level to share knowledge and enact change. Yeffeth: BenBella publishes broadly on issues of social justice that extend beyond economic issues to include issues of race, gender, and body image. Our goal isnt to follow current trends but to identify works of substance that we believe can make a difference and remain relevant as popular concerns change. Piersanti: We publish a wide range of titles about economic, social, and environmental inequityand systemic approaches to combatting injustices and creating greater equity. These have ranged from pathbreaking critiques of our economic system, such as The Post-corporate World and The Great Turning by David Korten, to powerful critiques of social inequities, such as our new bestseller The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor, to far-reaching rethinking of environmental laws and worldviews, such as The Ecology of Law by Fritjof Capra and Ugo Mattei. What are some of your most successful titles in this category? Piersanti: Our biggest titles on economic inequality are Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins and its recent update, The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, which together sold over 1.5 million copies and spent 70 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Affluenza by John de Graaf, David Wann, and Thomas Naylor has sold over 170,000 copies. John Hope Bryants How the Poor Can Save Capitalism has sold over 50,000 copies. And Bryants more recent book, 2017s The Memo: Five Rules for Your Economic Liberation, has sold over 30,000 copies. Thom Hartmanns Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle ClassAnd What We Can Do About It has sold over 65,000 copies. Edgar Villanuevas Decolonizing Wealth has already sold over 40,000 copies, and has a new edition coming out this year. Yeffeth: The New Human Rights Movement by Peter Joseph, noted previously, sold very well, and our latest title in this category, Broke in America by Joanne Goldblum and Colleen Shaddox, had a very successful launch, with a significant amount of media interest and positive reviews. Grove: Weve witnessed the ongoing success of Mary Ottos Teeth, a phenomenal book on inequality in oral health, which seems unusual until you think about the intimate and universal nature of the subject. The economics and inequality of American education have proven to be evergreen topics of interest. Recently A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door by Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire has been taking off in this category, and we published a searing book on the segre-nomics of education, Cutting School by Noliwe Rooks, that connects dots in ways that are mind-blowing. Weve also published some very successful collections about inequality, including Divided: The Peril of Our Growing Inequality, an anthology edited by David Cay Johnston. Heimbouch: Particularly since the financial crisis of 2008, weve published a number of books that examine the dark side of neoliberalism and the myths of shareholder capitalism: Broke, USA by Gary Rivlin examines how the working poor have become big business, and The Golden Passport by Duff McDonald offers a critique of Harvard Business Schools power and influence on generations of business leaders. Competition Overdose by Maurice Stucke and Ariel Ezrahi explores how free market thinking turned citizens into market servants, and Accountable by Michael OLeary and Warren Valdmanis makes the case for citizen capitalism and other market reforms. On the topic of diversity and allyship, we are pleased to have published NYU professor Dolly Chughs The Person You Mean To Be, which offers a model for addressing bias and discrimination; economist Sylvia Ann Hewletts #MeToo in Corporate America, which features the first survey in the aftermath of that movement; Inclusify by professor Stefanie Johnson, which explains how to build truly inclusive and diverse teams; and TV anchor Alicia Menendezs The Likeability Trap, which confronts the bind successful women experience. Power Moms by Wall Street Journal columnist Joann Lublin views womens success and power through a generational lens, showing how expectations have changedor notthrough the lives of mothers and daughters. Humphreville: Medicare for All: A Citizens Guide by Abdul El-Sayed and Micah Johnson is such a wonderful example of two brilliant multihyphenates who communicate the seriousness of the public health crisis of underinsurance. Other areas receiving high interest are the various ways we can tackle the realities of climate change. Im looking forward to publishing leading thinkers with creative ideas on these and related topics. Bliss: Mark Ranks previous book with us, Chasing the American Dream, shined a light on some of the misperceptions of the social and economic mobility at the core of the mythology of the American dream. Making Education Work for the Poor by William Elliott and Melinda Lewis made a case for a national childrens savings account policy to address the inequities in our education system. What have you heard from agents, distributors, or retailers about demand for titles on economic inequality in the current market? Grove: Agents bring us projects on these topics, our sales reps at Two Rivers are always excited to bring our ahead-of-the-curve books into stores, and retailers themselves, particularly our partners in independent bookselling, are increasingly aware of inequality in the U.S. and the unique power of books to illuminate it. We see steady demand and media attention on both our frontlist and backlist. Cook: I think theres been a real hunger for books in this space over the last five years or so. Perhaps thats no coincidence. Four years of Trump and then the pandemic have exposed the fault lines of our society; weve been forced to confront the inequality head-on. But I do worry about what happens after this. What will a return to normal do to our willingness to face these issues, read about them, and then take action? As with racial injustice, these moments of awakening have a way of flashing bright and then flickering out. I worry that might happen here, too. Its of course the role of writersand publishersto keep shining the light. Rienner: As scholarly publishers, we tend to stay the course in terms of what we publish, rather than respond to the ebbs and flows of popular demand. Of course, we do have an upcoming book called Pandemic Medicine by Kathryn C. Ibata-Arens, so we are not immune to the lure of current events. Piersanti: The area of greatest current interest in the marketplace relating to economic inequality is diversity, equity, and inclusion, with anti-racism books being especially hot. DEI has been a major emphasis of our company since our founding, and we have published dozens of books in this space, some of which deal explicitly with economic and social inequalitysuch as our new books Erasing Institutional Bias by Tiffany Jana and Ashley Diaz Mejias and Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit by Mary-Frances Winterssome of which address other DEI dimensions. What are your plans for future titles in this category? Yeffeth: BenBella will continue to publish in the economic and social justice space for as long as we find quality titles. In the pipeline, well be looking at the backlash to the coming nonwhite majority in Igniting White Fear by journalist Roland Martin. Well be publishing a history of feminism in South Korea in Flowers of Fire by journalist Hawon Jung and Heard by Angela Marshall, founder and CEO of Comprehensive Womens Health, a guide to getting quality health care despite the biases that impact women, people of color, and the economically disadvantaged. Piersanti: Many forthcoming Berrett-Koehler titles deal with economic inequality, including Edgar Villanuevas Decolonizing Wealth, Second Edition; Thom Hartmanns The Hidden History of American Healthcare; Minal Bopaiahs Equity: How to Design Organizations Where Everyone Thrives; Rohini Anands Leading Global Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; Chandran Nairs Dismantling Global White Privilege; and Majora Carters Reclaiming Your Community. Cook: Im especially excited about Matt Desmonds next book, Poverty, by America, which looks at the stories we tell ourselves about why people are poor. It signals a shift in the conversation. I also think the category will take us in some surprising directions. Im working on a book by two sociologists who have done remarkable fieldwork on the unclaimed dead in Los Angeles. In a sense, its about the afterlife of inequality, the final manifestation of a lifetime of disadvantage. Ultimately, its about where were headed as a societyand what we owe one another. And thats true of all the best books in this space. Heimbouch: We have projects under development that will speak to these issues. Were keen to find books that not only address the limitations but also offer solutions and new proposals for creating a more equitable society. For instance, in March, well publish Mission Economy by acclaimed economist Mariana Mazzucato. It offers proposals for rethinking shareholder capitalism and increasing innovation to solve pressing problems such as inequality and climate change. Rienner: We intend to continue publishing as many good books on economic and social inequalities as possible. Coming up soon is Education and the Future of Latin America by former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo Manrique. Humphreville: We are keen to continue publishing and elevating a diverse pool of authors offering bold ideas in facing the rise of borderless, multifaceted threatsauthors such as Alice Hill, whose The Fight for Climate after Covid-19 is coming in September, and Sandro Galea, whose forthcoming The Contagion Next Time ensures that readers can understand how the ongoing fights against racial injustice, with their entwined economic and political histories, cannot be severed from conversations about our collective health. Grove: Our challenge remains staying out ahead and seeking out underrepresented views and voices. Later this year well publish One Fair Wage by activist Saru Jayaraman, which excoriates the forces that enable millions of jobs to legally pay less than the already pitiful minimum wage. We have two more titles on inequality this spring that are very au courant: On the Job by Celeste Monforton and Jane M. Von Bergen, the story of worker centers, a new labor movement for health, dignity, and wages; and Tax the Rich! by Morris Pearl, Erica Payne, and the Patriotic Millionaires, a title that speaks for itself! Our commitment to publishing on economic inequality, and on social and racial justice more broadly, has and always will be a mainstay for the New Press. This is the second installment of In Focus, a series examining how publishers are responding to todays most pressing social problems. In the May 17 issue, well talk with publishers about books on Indigenous publishing. Check out our listings of economic inequality titles When the COVID-19 pandemic forced medical students out of classrooms and clinical rotations this time last year, the state of Georgia's only public medical school had to quickly rethink its traditional curriculum. Faculty and staff at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University were able to quickly adapt and provide an online platform for learning about the pandemic and initiating student-led service projects to aid frontline workers and help educate the public, MCG faculty and students write in a review article in the journal Medical Science Educator. The University System of Georgia suspended in-classroom learning in mid-March, so faculty at MCG shifted first- and second-year in person classes to online. Lectures were replaced with recorded materials and other in-person activities like small groups, clinical skills training and anatomy labs were either suspended or transitioned online. "Our faculty were able to make that transition as smooth as possible by constantly listening to students' feedback - asking what worked and what didn't," says second-year student Amanda Delgado, one of the article's co-authors. Later in March, the Association of American Medical Colleges called for a "pause" in patient contact and clinical training for third- and fourth-year medical students across the country. The medical school's administration knew that "steps to ensure an enriching alternative to clinical education" had to be taken, the students write. The medical school's solution? Stand up a novel online Pandemic Medicine Elective -- one it already had a model for. An existing summer program, Areas of Concentration, had been traditionally offered to rising second-year students as a four-week elective that covered topics like ethics, leadership, global and public health, health policy and artificial intelligence and machine learning. Faculty with extensive knowledge in each field facilitated lectures on each topic. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, MCG's academic administration was able to restructure that program to create the new elective. It consisted of four weeks of instruction -- two hours of lectures, four days a week, and one day dedicated to experiential learning and service. Teams of physicians and educators from across the medical school and guest lecturers from other colleges and universities collaborated to educate students on topics ranging from the basic science of SARS-CoV-2 to the challenges it created for health care and the public sector, from how to deliver health care in a crisis to professional and personal responsibility. The second version of the elective, launched in mid-May, was offered to rising second-year students, as well as a limited number of students and oral and maxillofacial surgery residents from the Dental College of Georgia and some students from The Graduate School. "With summer research programs cancelled, students were eager to engage with faculty and content experts on relevant health topics," the students write. The elective also offered rich experiences like the listening to interviews with physicians battling the pandemic in China and Germany and participating in a live question and answer session with a physician who compared her experience working in Guinea during the Ebola crisis to that of fighting COVID-19 in New York City. As the pandemic raged on through the summer, a third iteration -- called a "selective" because it was offered to a select group of students whose clinical rotations were being delayed -- was launched in late June and focused on preparing students for what the clinical environment would look like when they returned to clinical activities during the pandemic. "While (it) included topics from previous iterations of the elective, it focused more heavily on the impact of the pandemic on providers and their delivery of care," says MCG infectious disease physician Dr. Rodger MacArthur, the article's senior author and the group's faculty advisor. A common thread among each version of the elective was student-led service learning projects. Some of those included developing a website to publish local COVID-19 news and resources, aiding frontline workers by purchasing and delivering N95 masks, gloves and face shields, raising $15,000 to purchase personal protective equipment and collaborating with musicians to provide them comfort. At the medical school's regional campuses across the state, students worked with public health departments to help with contact tracing and work in their call centers. By the completion of the elective, a total of 6,198 service hours had been logged by MCG students. So many people rose to the occasion and everyone worked together to help us continue our education and help our communities at the same time." Joseph Elengickal, Second-Year Student and Study Corresponding Author, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University Next steps include conducting surveys and focus groups on students' experiences during the elective with an eye toward improving students' other educational experiences. Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained 14 members of the Ukrainian neo-Nazi youth community M.K.U. in the Russian cities of Gelendzhik and Yaroslavl, the FSB said in a statement on Friday. "As part of criminal proceedings under Article 282.1 of the Russian Criminal Code (arranging the activities of an extremist organization), the Federal Security Service and the Investigative Committee exposed an organized group of supporters of the M.K.U. Ukrainian radical youth community, which was created by Ukrainian national Yegor Krasnov, born in 2000, whose online alias is Yegor Yakovlev," the statement reads. Thirteen members of the group were detained in Gelendzhik and another one in Yaroslavl. "A large amount of neo-Nazi materials, bladed weapons, communication means containing manuals for making explosive devices and firearms were seized from their homes," TASS cited the FSB as saying. The detained are making confession statements, the FSB noted. According to them, the group was established in 2019 under Krasnovs guidance. "The group later received orders from him and other Ukrainian members of the M.K.U., based in Kharkov and Kiev, to make weapons, carry out terrorist attacks and mass murders and take violent actions against common people," the statement said. "They gained practical skills through beating homeless people and members of youth subculture communities," the FSB noted. The groups members put a replica of the Victory Banner on fire to prove their commitment to Nazi ideas. In 2020, the M.K.U. leader called online on his supporters to step up terrorist activities in Russia. Drew Angerer/Getty Images(WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- With vaccinations up and a steadying of the nation's COVID-19 infection rate, several states have begun loosening health and safety restrictions -- as well as mask mandates -- a move that Dr. Anthony Fauci says is not wise. Fauci, the nation's chief disease expert, referenced the uptick in COVID-19 cases in Europe and, now, in several states on Thursday. He also said vaccination efforts aren't where they need to be in order to ensure the population is safe from new variants. In a speech to the Senate's Health committee, Fauci warned, "Im concerned that if we pull back in our enthusiasm for the fact that vaccines are rolling out, and things look good, if we pull back prematurely, we may trigger another surge. And that would really set us back in all the things that were trying to do." Continued Fauci, "Europe is generally about three to four weeks ahead of us in the dynamics of their outbreak. And what they saw a little while ago was a plateauing of their decrement. They were coming down nicely, and then they plateaued. And then, just as you might have predicted, they then, one, started to go up." Poland, Italy and France is reporting a spike in cases and have doubled down on prevention measures. However, vaccination rates in Europe are lower than the pace of vaccinations in the U.S., adds Fauci. Despite that, he still says America is not out of the woods yet as several states are already seeing a climb in daily infection rates. Although the average COVID-19 infection rate has fallen about 32.5 percent over the last month, the news comes as at least a third of all states report a 10 percent rise in the average number of cases. Those 15 states are: Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon and West Virginia. Of those states, Delaware, Idaho, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon and West Virginia have seen a rise by at least 25 percent. NEW YORK, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- American Jewish Committee (AJC) is disappointed by the California State Board of Education's adoption of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC). After a two-year, highly contentious process, this fourth and final version of the curriculum is fundamentally flawed. AJC has been supportive of the efforts in California to develop an ESMC. K-12 students should be able to learn the role of ethnicity, race, and religion in the life of all the state's residents and their diverse communities. Quality ethnic studies courses can help to meaningfully address issues of racial injustice and strengthen our democracy. AJC advocated strenuously for improvements both to the content and process that preceded today's vote. In coalition with Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Hindu, and Korean advocacy organizations, AJC successfully advocated for the curriculum to represent California's rich diversity and illuminate its multiple perspectives more fully. AJC is encouraged that the histories of African Americans, Asians, Latinx, Native Americans, Arabs, Jews, and many others will be explored in California classrooms. Additional AJC recommendations are included in the final, approved model curriculum. Significantly, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism is integrated into the curriculum. Two sample Jewish lesson plans are also included, acknowledging the diversity of the Jewish community. And the antisemitic material pervasive in the first draft was removed. Revisions of curriculum were a salve but ultimately not curative of the fundamental flaws at the heart of the original curriculum, much of which represented a rigid ideological (but sharply contested) world view. For the state with the largest public school system in the nation, this ESMC, which will potentially serve as a model for other states, falls short, and vigilance will be needed as it is introduced into classrooms. SOURCE American Jewish Committee Related Links http://www.ajc.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. (Natural News) The Israeli parliament just passed a law mandating that all arrivals to the state wear electronic tracking bracelets while undergoing mandatory Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) quarantines at home. The legislation allows the government to force all new arrivals from abroad or from specific countries to choose between quarantining at home or in a state-run hotel. Quarantine exemptions will be provided for special humanitarian cases and for children under 14. (Related: Extended coronavirus lockdowns having severe negative effect on mental health of children report.) Those who choose to quarantine at home must wear electronic tracking bracelets to ensure their compliance. People who refuse to wear the bracelets will be forced to quarantine at a state-run hotel for two weeks. Bracelets handlers claim it will not violate personal privacy The bracelet will monitor the wearers location via Bluetooth and GPS technology and connect to the users cell phone, reads a press release from the Knesset, Israels parliament. The bracelet monitor will notify authorities should they violate the mandatory isolation period. If people are not able to get an exemption on the basis of age or special humanitarian cases, they will be allowed to present proof that they have been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Alternatively, they can present a medical note stating that they were previously infected with the coronavirus and have since recovered. People who qualify under this requirement will be released from the quarantine requirement following a mandatory blood test. According to the bill, the tracking operation will be carried out by SuperCom, a private company hired by the Israeli Ministry of Health. The information collected by the operation will be stored in servers owned by the government but maintained by designated private corporations. The data collected will supposedly be deleted at the end of the quarantine period as long as there are no reported infractions or in no longer than 30 days. According to SuperCom president and CEO Ordan Trabelsi, the bracelet cannot monitor any details about the person wearing it other than to determine whether the person is complying with quarantine rules. If a person wearing a tracking bracelet violates quarantine, the device will not be used to locate the person. Instead, SuperCom will alert the authorities who will take over the case. The bills passage comes right after Israel conducted a pilot program involving the electronic monitoring bracelets. In early March, 100 new arrivals at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv were presented with the bracelets as an alternative to spending two weeks at a state-run hotel. If they agreed to wear the bracelets, they would be allowed to spend quarantine at home or in another designated location. On March 5, SuperCom said the trial program was successful. We are very pleased with this pilot, utilizing our proprietary technology with persons under home quarantine in Israel, said Trabelsi. And we are proud to help Israel validate an important strategy to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. According to SuperCom, the participants of the program expressed very positive and comfortable experiences with a high rate of satisfaction for choosing the program. Passage of new quarantine bill was very contentious The controversial legislation was passed by the Knesset on Wednesday, March 17. Because of the contentiousness of the law, only five of the Knessets 120-members voted on the bill. Four of the parliamentarians present voted in favor, while one voted against. Adherents of the bill believe it to be an essential tool in stepping up the Middle Eastern countrys quarantine enforcement. Police officers and other relevant authorities have described it as necessary in order to allow Israels borders to reopen, at least to its citizens. But critics of the bill, including the lone member of the Knesset who voted against it, believe that the bill violates a persons right to privacy. While the bill was being debated in the Knesset, the countrys Supreme Court ruled that the government-imposed regulation limiting the number of Israeli citizens who can return to the country to 3,000 per day must be rolled back. Furthermore, the court canceled the order that citizens who are vaccinated and wish to leave the country, including children, must obtain permission from a special government committee. According to the Supreme Court, both of these regulations will be canceled effective on Sunday, March 21 and cannot be renewed. Despite this ruling, local media outlets reported that government officials met on Wednesday to try to find a solution to maintain some kind of limit on the freedom of movement of visitors and Israeli citizens. These officials are concerned that the new and supposedly more dangerous variants of the coronavirus will enter the country. The Israeli government is considering tightening restrictions on the freedom of movement despite the fact that the COVID-19 outbreak in the country is improving. The number of serious coronavirus cases in the country has dropped below 600 for the first time since December. According to the latest figures, there were 578 active patients in severe condition, of whom 263 were critical and 214 were intubated. On Tuesday, 1,538 people contracted the coronavirus, marking another significant decrease from the 2,108 cases that were identified on Monday and the 2,416 cases identified last Thursday. The positive rate has also dropped to its lowest level since December, at 2.1 percent. Furthermore, the reproduction rate, the number that measures how many people each positive coronavirus case infects on average, dropped to its lowest level in months at 0.7. Even though the situation in Israel is improving, the Military Intelligence Directorate warned the public against relaxing and urged people to continue wearing masks and following social distancing protocols. Learn more about how governments are using the coronavirus pandemic to expand their surveillance apparatuses by reading the latest articles at Pandemic.news. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk JPost.com Newsweek.com New Delhi: Ahead of the cabinet reshuffle on Sunday, a series of meetings took place in New Delhi on Saturday. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan met BJP president Amit Shah at his residence. Pradhan may get higher portfolio in the cabinet. PM Modi to include nine new faces As per reports in news agency ANI, nine new ministers will be inducted into cabinet on Sunday. Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Shiv Paratap Shukla, Virendra Kumar, Anantkumar Hegde, Raj Kumar Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Satya Pal Singh, Alphons Kannanthanam to take oath on Sunday. Satyapal Singh said that he has not been officially informed, but whatever is party and PM's decision he is ready for it. "Have always fulfilled responsibilities the party leadership gave me. Thank PM, Amit Shah and senior leaders," said Virendra Kumar. "Want to thank PM that he trusted me with such a responsibility, it's a chance to work for country," said Gajendra S Shekhawat. "I will try to justify the faith that PM Modi entrusted to me," said Ashwini Kumar Choubey. "I will believe the information to be authentic only when I get it from official sources," said Shiv Pratap Shukla. As per sources, Shankarbhai Vegad, Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat, is also coming to Delhi. He can get a berth in cabinet. Andhra Pradesh BJP state president and Visakhapatnam MP K Hari Babu may take oath on Sunday. He is on his way to Delhi along with family. Sources in the party say that party wants to introduce fresh faces in Cabinet. A source said that Karnataka BJP MP Prahalad Joshi and Bagpat MP Satyapal Singh could be inducted in the government. It is said that Giriraj Singh could be asked to resign while Union minister Uma Bharti has wished to quit citing health reasons. Source also say that Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari is likely to get Railways and incumbent minister Suresh Prabhu could get the charge of Ministry of Environment. It is also believed that AIADMK's Thambidurai could be given cabinet berth if his party (AIADMK) joins NDA. Sources said that Union minister of state for energy Piyush Goyal may get the charge of Ministry of Defence. JD(U), AIADMK not in list Earlier, there were reports suggesting that JD(U) and AIADMK may also be included in the cabinet. However, uncertainty looms large over them joining cabinet as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has denied about any information regarding inclusion of JD(U) in the cabinet. He asserted that there are no talks about it. Reports also say that both JD(U) have yet not been apprised about the cabinet reshuffle. JD(U) MP Kaushalendra Kumar said that it would have been good for Bihar if they would have been included. Ahead of the reshuffle, three union ministers have resigned from the government. Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sanjeev Balyan and Mahendra Nath Pandey tendered their resignation on Thursday. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Rockley's unique sensing platform enables continuous health and wellness monitoring of multiple biomarkers, paving the way for the next generation of consumer wearables and medical devices Transaction will advance the commercial launch of Rockley's transformational monitoring sensors and the development of commercial opportunities in personal health, medtech and beyond Transaction values Rockley at a pro forma enterprise value of $1.2 billion Transaction includes a fully committed $150 million PIPE, with participation from top-tier institutional investors including Senvest Management LLC and UBS O'Connor and participation from Medtronic Founder Dr. Andrew Rickman, a pioneer in silicon photonics, will remain as CEO and Chairman Rockley Photonics, Ltd. ("the Company" or "Rockley"), a leading global supplier of integrated silicon photonic chips and modules across multiple markets, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to combine with SC Health Corp. ("SC Health") (NYSE: SCPE), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. The transaction will result in Rockley becoming a publicly traded company on the NYSE under the symbol RKLY and values the Company at a pro forma enterprise value of $1.2 billion. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005191/en/ Transforming healthcare through revolutionary "clinic-on-the-wrist" monitoring technology The transaction will accelerate the commercial launch of Rockley's unique sensing platform, which is positioned to revolutionize consumer health and wellness by enabling continuous, non-invasive monitoring of multi-modal biomarkers such as lactate, glucose, hydration, blood pressure, and core body temperature. Built on its highly disruptive silicon photonics platform, Rockley's "clinic-on-the-wrist" technology is significantly more accurate than LED sensors commonly used today in wearables such as smart watches and fitness bands and allows for continuous monitoring of key vitals in a way that was previously possible only with clinical machines. By bringing laboratory precision diagnostics to wearables, Rockley will enable consumers to detect diseases earlier, better manage nutrition, and focus on preventive healthcare so they can live better and healthier lives. Rockley is working closely and deeply with some of the world's largest consumer electronics and wearables companies to provide them with a full-stack solution, including co-packaged hardware devices, biosensing algorithms, firmware, and data analytics to enable these customers to provide meaningful and actionable insights to their users. Beyond consumer electronics, Rockley is partnering with clinicians and MedTech companies to expand the application of its revolutionary monitoring platform to medical devices to improve disease detection and prevention. Rockley's platform supports cost-effective, high-volume manufacturing. Its manufacturing ecosystem, with capacity reserved, and proprietary process flows will enable rapid scale-up for volume production of its highly integrated optical/electronic devices. Rockley has also applied its integrated photonics technology to deliver best-in-class chipsets for high-speed data communications and machine vision applications, including LiDAR. Its technology is protected by over 120 patents and the Company has raised $390 million in funding from over seven years of product development from non-recurring engineering, investors, government grants, subsidies and a range of world-class health-tech and technology VCs, strategic investors, and financial institutions. Management Comments Dr. Andrew Rickman, Rockley's founder and CEO, commented, "Our partnership with SC Health positions us to accelerate our time-to-market for our compelling health and wellness solutions. Our proven sensor technology, world-class partners and a relentless focus on execution will enable Rockley to deliver life-changing benefits to an enormous number of people. We believe that bringing laboratory diagnostics to the wrist will transform patient monitoring, healthcare delivery, and overall consumer health and wellbeing." A.J. Coloma, CEO of SC Health, commented, "We could not be more excited to be working with the pioneer of silicon photonics, Dr. Andrew Rickman. We are healthcare investors, and we very quickly understood the transformational nature of Rockley's technology and the way it will revolutionize consumers' ability to track, monitor and better understand their day-to-day health and wellness. Based on Rockley's large addressable market, world-class team, and the myriad applications that their silicon photonics platform enables, we view Rockley as one of the most compelling opportunities in the entire healthcare space." Transaction Overview The transaction is expected to deliver up to $323 million of gross proceeds to the combined company, including the contribution of up to $173 million of cash held in SC Health's trust account. The combination is further supported by a $150 million PIPE at $10.00 per share, with participation from top-tier institutional investors including Senvest Management LLC and UBS O'Connor and participation from Medtronic. Proceeds of the transaction will support the Company's continued growth through ongoing product development in close collaboration with its initial customers. Existing Rockley shareholders will roll 100% of their equity into the combined company, demonstrating their conviction of Rockley's continued growth trajectory. The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by SC Health's board of directors and the independent directors of Rockley's board of directors, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, subject to approval by SC Health's shareholders and other customary closing conditions, including any applicable regulatory approvals. Advisors Cowen and Company LLC is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Rockley and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is serving as legal counsel. BofA Securities is serving as exclusive financial advisor to SC Health and Ropes Gray LLP is serving as legal counsel. BofA Securities and Cowen and Company LLC served as placement agents on the PIPE. Blueshirt Capital Markets also is serving as investor relations advisor to Rockley. Investor Conference Call Management of Rockley and SCH will host a recorded investor conference call on March 19, 2021 to discuss the proposed transaction and review an investor presentation. An audio webcast of the call will be available on www.netroadshow.com/nrs/home/#!/'show=212b7316. About SC Health SC Health is a special purpose acquisition company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. SC Health is currently listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). SC Health intends to acquire a target with operations or prospects in the healthcare sector in the Asia Pacific region, which may be a platform in the Asia Pacific region or a global platform with a meaningful Asia Pacific growth thesis. To learn more about SC Health, visit www.schealthcorp.com. About Rockley Photonics Rockley is a leading integrated photonics chipset developer and module supplier for high-volume sensor and communication products. Formed in 2013, Rockley is led by Dr. Andrew Rickman, the founder of the first commercial silicon photonics company, Bookham Technology. Rockley has positioned itself for hyper scale manufacture with a uniquely capable platform that can address multiple huge and emerging markets, including health monitoring in consumer devices, data communications and machine vision. Rockley has partnered with multiple Tier-1 customers across the markets it serves to deliver the complex optical systems required for transformational product realization. To learn more about Rockley, visit www.rockleyphotonics.com. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" regarding SC Health, Rockley, and the combined company. Statements in this press release that are not historical in nature may constitute such forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to SC Health's, Rockley's, or the combined company's future expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, financial conditions, assumptions, performance, projections, forecasts, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intends," "may," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "would," and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the following: SC Health's or Rockley's management team's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future; the potential impact of the transaction on Rockley and the combined company, including accelerating the commercial launch of Rockley's unique sensing platform; the anticipated or potential features, benefits, and applications for Rockley's products and technology and timing thereof; the market opportunity for Rockley's products and technology; the anticipated timing of the closing of the transaction; and the anticipated gross proceeds the transaction is expected to deliver to the combined company. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond SC Health's or Rockley's control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) SC Health's and Rockley's ability to complete the transaction, including the PIPE financing, during anticipated timeframe or at all; (ii) Rockley's success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, officers, key employees, or directors following the transaction; (iii) the funds in the trust account being available to SC Health or the combined company; (iv) SC Health's or the combined company's ability to obtain additional financing to complete the transaction; (v) SC Health's public securities' liquidity and trading; (vi) the lack of a market for SC Health's securities; (vii) the use of funds not held in the trust account or available to SC Health from interest income on the trust account balance; (viii) the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; (ix) general economic conditions and Rockley's financial performance; (x) the impacts of COVID-19; (xi) the number of SC Health shareholders voting against the business combination proposal; (xii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Business Combination Agreement and Plan of Merger; (xiii) the ability to achieve and maintain the listing of the combined company's shares on a national securities exchange following the business combination; (xiv) changes adversely affecting the businesses in which Rockley is engaged; (xv) management of growth; (xvi) Rockley's ability to execute on its business strategy and plans; (xvii) the result of future financing efforts; and (xviii) Rockley's or the combined company's ability to obtain any required regulatory approvals, including any required FDA approvals, in connection with Rockley's anticipated products and technology as well as the factors described under the heading "Risk Factors" in SC Health's registration on Form S-1 (File No. 333-232240), the registration statement on Form S-4 discussed below and other documents filed by SC Health from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). The forward-looking statements contained herein are based on SC Health's and Rockley's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting SC Health and Rockley will be those that have been anticipated. SC Health and Rockley undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Additional Information and Where to Find It This press release relates to a proposed transaction between Rockley and SC Health. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or exchange, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or exchange, any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, sale or exchange would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. SC Health intends to file a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC, which will include a document that serves as a prospectus and proxy statement of SC Health, referred to as a proxy statement/prospectus. A proxy statement/prospectus will be sent to all SC Health shareholders. SC Health also will file other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. Before making any voting decision, investors and securityholders of SC Health and Rockley are urged to read the registration statement, the proxy statement/prospectus and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction as they become available because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the registration statement, the proxy statement/prospectus and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC by SC Health through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. The documents filed by SC Health with the SEC also may be obtained free of charge at SC Health's website at www.schealthcorp.com or upon written request to 108 Robinson Road, #10-00, Singapore 068900. Participants in Solicitation SC Health and its respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from SC Health's shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction. A list of the names of such directors and executive officers and information regarding their interests in the business combination will be contained in the proxy statement/prospectus when available. You may obtain free copies of these documents as described in the preceding paragraph. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005191/en/ Contacts: For Rockley Media Paul Kranhold, John Christiansen Sard Verbinnen Co Rockley-SVC@sardverb.com Investors Mark Roberts Blueshirt Capital Advisors Investors@rockleyphotonics.com For SC Health Contact@schealthcorp.com Madrid, March 19 : Spain's Congress of Deputies or the lower house of Parliament gave its definitive approval to a law that makes euthanasia legal in the country. The motion, which was passed on Thursday with 202 votes in favour, 141 against and two abstentions, makes Spain the fourth European nation (along with Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) to approve such a measure, reports Xinhua news agency. Euthanasia will be available in the Spanish public health system for a person of legal age who is suffering from "a serious and incurable disease" or a "serious, chronic and incapacitating condition" that affects autonomy and causes "constant and intolerable physical or mental suffering". The law will come into effect three months after its publication in the Official State Gazette. During these three months, each of Spain's 17 autonomous communities have to set up Guarantee and Evaluation Commissions, consisting of doctors, nursing professionals and legal experts. The law specifies a series of steps a patient must go through to be granted permission to undergo euthanasia, starting with a written request that has to be submitted twice within a fortnight. In this request, the patient (who can end the process at will) has to show a clear determination to end their lives and demonstrate they have been given the correct information on their condition and the options open to them. Upon a receipt of the second request, the case has to be passed on to the corresponding commission, which will appoint two experts not connected to the case to make their recommendation. If permission is granted, a person has the right to die in a public or private health centre or at home. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 But that does not make the anti-Asian hate speech online less insidious. Melissa Ryan, chief executive of Card Strategies, a consulting firm that researches disinformation, said the misinformation and racist speech has led to a dehumanization of certain groups of people and to an increased risk of violence. Negative Asian-American tropes have long existed online but began increasing last March as parts of the United States went into lockdown over the coronavirus. That month, politicians including Representative Paul Gosar, Republican of Arizona, and Representative Kevin McCarthy, a Republican of California, used the terms Wuhan virus and Chinese coronavirus to refer to Covid-19 in their tweets. Those terms then began trending online, according to a study from the University of California, Berkeley. On the day Mr. Gosar posted his tweet, usage of the term Chinese virus jumped 650 percent on Twitter; a day later there was an 800 percent increase in their usage in conservative news articles, the study found. Mr. Trump also posted eight times on Twitter last March about the Chinese virus, causing vitriolic reactions. In the replies section of one of his posts, a Trump supporter responded, U caused the virus, directing the comment to an Asian Twitter user who had cited U.S. death statistics for Covid-19. The Trump fan added a slur about Asian people. In a study this week from the University of California, San Francisco, researchers who examined 700,000 tweets before and after Mr. Trumps March 2020 posts found that people who posted the hashtag #chinesevirus were more likely to use racist hashtags, including #bateatingchinese. Theres been a lot of discussion that Chinese virus isnt racist and that it can be used, said Yulin Hswen, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco, who conducted the research. But the term, she said, has turned into a rallying cry to be able to gather and galvanize people who have these feelings, as well as normalize racist beliefs. Representatives for Mr. Trump, Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Gosar did not respond to requests for comment. Misinformation linking the coronavirus to anti-Asian beliefs also rose last year. Since last March, there have been nearly eight million mentions of anti-Asian speech online, much of it falsehoods, according to Zignal Labs, a media insights firm. The backlash began with the sheriff spokesman's statement to reporters that the mass shooting suspect was having a "bad day." "He was pretty much fed up and kind of at the end of his rope. Yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did," Cherokee County Capt. Jay Baker said Wednesday. He was describing the 21-year-old man accused of killing eight people, mostly Asian and almost all women, in a rampage across three Atlanta-area spas. HPD RAMPS UP: Houston police increasing presence in Asian communities after racist attacks escalate around U.S. Then - as the violence stirred fears in an Asian-American community that already felt under attack - Internet sleuths and journalists found Baker's Facebook posts promoting shirts that called the novel coronavirus an "IMPORTED VIRUS FROM CHY-NA." On Thursday, an official said Baker is longer a spokesman on the spa shootings case. The sheriff said "we regret any heartache" caused by Baker's words but defended the captain. Andrea DeCourcey, an executive assistant for the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, said she did not know why or how Baker was taken off his role updating the public about the spa shootings. The sheriff did not immediately respond to inquiries, nor did Baker. In a letter shared Thursday afternoon, Sheriff Frank Reynolds did not address the "CHY-NA" shirt posts but acknowledged that Baker's comments had "become the subject of much debate and anger." "In as much as his words were taken or construed as insensitive or inappropriate, they were not intended to disrespect any of the victims, the gravity of this tragedy, or express empathy or respect for the suspect," Reynolds wrote. Baker had a "difficult task before him" in the wake of the shootings - "one of the hardest in his twenty-eight years in law enforcement," Reynolds added, praising the captain's work and saying he had "personal ties to the Asian community." Baker's comments and social media history had fueled calls to resign and long-running concerns about racism in law enforcement, capping a year in which many warned that phrases such as "China virus" were inciting sometimes violent prejudice against Asian Americans. For critics, they undermined trust in authorities' work on an attack that seemed to many inseparable from the race and gender of its victims, even as authorities say the motive remains unclear. And they minimized the actions of a White suspect who, according to Baker, may have visited the spas before, who said he had a "sexual addiction" and who said he wanted to eliminate a "temptation." Baker is not just any employee of the sheriff's department, some noted, but someone who shapes public knowledge of the attacks that unfolded Tuesday in his county and at two businesses in Atlanta. "All of us have experienced bad days," tweeted Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif. "But we don't go to three Asian businesses and shoot up Asian employees." WSB-TV reporter Nicole Carr reported Thursday that the sheriff said Baker's future with the office is under evaluation and that the sheriff's office consulted with the district attorney about potentially passing its part of the shootings case to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) - but decided against it, given the involvement of the FBI. REBUKED: Texas Rep. scolded after using Atlanta murders to attack China The GBI and prosecutors did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Washington Post. Baker, whose Facebook profile is public, posted photos of the shirts blaming China for the pandemic in March and April, as Asian American leaders and advocacy groups were already sounding alarms about rhetoric tying the coronavirus to China and Chinese people. "Covid 19," the shirt reads in a font resembling the logo of Corona beer. "IMPORTED VIRUS FROM CHY-NA." The words echoed those from politicians and especially from former president Donald Trump, who used offensive terms such as "Kung flu" and went out of his way to use the phrase "China virus." At one point, a Post photographer snapped a picture of the president's notes in which "corona" was crossed out. "It's racist and it creates xenophobia," Harvey Dong, a lecturer in Asian American and Asian diaspora studies with the University of California at Berkeley, told The Post at the time. "It's a very dangerous situation." Scientists have cast doubt on speculation that the coronavirus came from a Wuhan laboratory, saying it spread to humans from bats through an intermediary animal. Stop AAPI Hate, a group that gathered thousands of reports of anti-Asian bias over the past year, has said many reported incidents involve anti-Chinese rhetoric and specifically language that blames China for the pandemic. Reached by The Daily Beast as criticism mounted over the shirt pictures, Reynolds - who is friends with Baker on Facebook - had said he did not know about the post. "I am not aware of that," Reynolds told the outlet. "I will have to contact him but thank you for bringing that to my attention." Baker's posts about the shirts surfaced after a year of a viral videos, racial justice demonstrations and high-profile killings of Black Americans have raised concerns about racism within police ranks. For some reacting online, the social media posts added to accusations of "white privilege" over the sheriff's captain's remarks about Georgia shooting suspect Robert Aaron Long. "I wonder if these are related . . ." tweeted writer Viet Thanh Nguyen, who is Vietnamese American, after noting both the shirt photos and the "bad day" phrasing. Saudi Arabia will launch on March 28 Made in Saudi, a national policy aiming at supporting national product and services, Arab News reports. The initiative, the media notes, stems from the keenness of crown prince Mohamed bin Salman (MbS) to support national products and increase their competitiveness both at home and abroad, as well as raising awareness of, and confidence in, their general level of high quality. MbS is spearheading the kingdoms 2030 vision aiming at modernizing the kingdom. Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef, minister of industry and mineral resources, and chairman of the Saudi Exports Development Authority will unveil the initiative at a virtual event. WASHINGTON, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk released the following statement after today's nomination by President Joe Biden of Bill Nelson to serve as the 14th NASA administrator: "I'm pleased President Biden has nominated former U.S. Senator Bill Nelson to lead our agency. Bill has a proven history of supporting our work here at NASA, and has helped advance America's position in human exploration, science, aeronautics, and technology. While the Senate must confirm the nomination, I look forward to continuing to work with Bill and the Biden-Harris administration to carry out NASA's many critical missions in the years to come. "The men and women at NASA are an incredible national asset and will continue to take on the most pressing issues facing our country. As we look to the future and with Bill at the helm we will continue to take on and find solutions to problems once thought unsolvable, and educate and inspire the next generation of American scientists, engineers, and workers." Nelson represented Florida in the Senate from 2001-19 where he served as ranking member on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Previously, he represented Florida's 9th and 11th Congressional Districts in the U.S. House of Representatives. While chair of the House space subcommittee, Nelson flew aboard the space shuttle Columbia as a payload specialist on the STS-61C mission in 1986. He was appointed to the NASA Advisory Council by former Administrator Jim Bridenstine in May 2019. For information about NASA's missions, discoveries and activities, visit: https://www.nasa.gov SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov Net profit from the operating activities of NCB increased more than two times on-year Statistics show that NVB produced one of the most positive movements in the stock market. Since September 2020, NVB shares have continuously maintained an upwards momentum of more than 70 per cent in value. Its share price has peaked at nearly VND16,000 (69.56 US cents) per share. Also, NVB was among the stocks that foreign investors were net buying on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) at VND300 billion ($13 million) in the first two months of 2021. Factors stimulating the impressive increase of NVB shares The impressive growth of NVB shares is attributed to the banks stable, efficient, and sustainable business performance despite the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, NCB's consolidated financial statements showed that net profit from operating activities of the bank increased more than two times on-year. Accumulated for the whole year of 2020, this figure was VND850 billion ($36.96 million). Total assets reached VND90 trillion ($3.9 million), up 11.5 per cent against the beginning of the year. Besides stimulating business activities, NCB focuses on improving its operations towards efficient and sustainable development. In the past year, NCB has achieved a capital adequacy ratio according to Basel II standards as prescribed in Circular 41 by the State Bank of Vietnam. NCB is completing documents to ask the State Bank for approval to apply and carry out Basel II in accordance with regulations. Furthermore, NCB makes efforts to boost market and operational risks as well as credit quality control. Despite concerns about the banking sector's bad debts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to stringent credit quality control, by the end of 2020, the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of NCB remained below 2 per cent. Continue to pass its peak Financial expert Nguyen Tri Hieu forecast that Vietnam's stock market will continue to rise in 2021 with banking stocks to outperform. Banking stocks will continue to outperform in 2021 His view is in line with the results of the banking sector in 2020. Specifically, despite the global health crisis, banks also achieve positive profits last year. Meanwhile, the non-performing loans (NPL) ratio remains at a low level. "During the pandemic, the banking sector has been stable and is expected to continue to stand firm in the coming time, contributing to the growth of banking stocks this year," Hieu added. Looking at the leading stocks of various industries, experts said that banking stocks still play a key role in the market due to its good fundamentals and large market capitalisation. Thus, banking stocks that are still below their potential such as NVB are expected to continue to make a breakthrough in 2021. NCB has a safe and sustainable development strategy with impressive business results and a low NPL ratio. There is one factor to bring a positive impact on NVB shares in the coming time. Specifically, NCB will offer 150 million shares to existing shareholders in the first and second quarter of 2021 with the offering price of VND10,000 (43.5 US cents) per share. The total offering value is equivalent to VND1.5 trillion ($65.2 million). The bank also plans to issue 3,000 convertible bonds separately in 2021 with par value of VND1 billion ($43,480) each. With additional capital through the sale of additional shares to the public and the separate issuance of convertible bonds, NCB will improve its financial capacity, creating strong growth momentum for itself. This is good news. Increasing capital will lay a foundation for NCB to develop strongly in the near future. It will also help NCB's shares continue to break through in 2021," Hieu emphasised. Advertisement France's chaotic vaccine roll-out took a bizarre twist today as the country resumed using AstraZeneca jabs - but said only people aged 55 and over should get them. It marks a complete U-turn from France's old position which was that the jab should be limited to those aged under 65 because there was not enough data to prove it was effective in older people. Now, bafflingly, the country says younger people should avoid getting the jab to minimise the risk of life-threatening blood clots - even after Europe's regulators ruled on Thursday that the risk is vanishingly small and the jab is safe in all ages. It came as Irish official announced they would resume the roll-out of the AstraZeneca jab within days, though patients would be advised of the blood clot risk. France announced its latest move just hours before 55-year-old Prime Minister Jean Castex was injected with the shot in an attempt to prove to his countrymen it is safe, after weeks of scaremongering from his own government. Meanwhile the country's 64-year-old ambassador to the UK was also immunized using the AstraZeneca vaccine, inadvertently undermining her own government's message by tweeting: 'Done. Safe.' Her NHS vaccine card shows she was given the jab on March 16, while it was still banned in her own country and Britain powered ahead with its roll-out. France has now restricted AstraZeneca's vaccine in one form or another for as long as citizens have been eligible to receive it - despite a rising third wave of cases driven by the more-infectious UK variant of the virus. Several regions, including Paris, will be plunged back into lockdown starting at midnight tonight after hospitals overflowed. In other vaccine developments on the continent today... The WHO reiterated that there is no link between AstraZeneca's vaccine and blood clots and that the benefits outweigh the risks, saying it has 'tremendous potential to prevent infections and reduce deaths' Finland became the latest country to suspend its use of AstraZeneca jabs over clot fears, despite regulators saying just hours earlier it was safe to use Norway, Denmark and Sweden announced they will continue to block the use of Astra jabs while they carry out their own investigations into blood clots Parisians fled the city hours before a month-long lockdown came into effect, with trains crammed and roads full of traffic German health chiefs warned cases are rising exponentially, there are not enough vaccines to stop them, and the country may have to go back into lockdown in the coming weeks Health experts warned that European dithering and delay over vaccines will cost 'thousands' of lives Jean Castex, the 55-year-old prime minister of France, winces as he receives the AstraZeneca vaccine hours after health regulators in the country ruled that anyone younger than him should not get it at all France's ambassador in the UK, Catherine Colonna, 64, had the Oxford jab on the NHS today and praised Britain's vaccine roll-out by saying that her injection was 'Done. Safely' Colonna (right) was administered with the jab on March 16 in the UK, even while the injection was banned in her own country Most EU countries which had blocked the use of AstraZeneca jabs have now resumed their use (in green), while some continue to hold one batch of the drug aside (in yellow). Ireland and Iceland have yet to react to the jab being declared safe, while Demark, Sweden and Norway have said they will carry out their own investigation. Bizarrely Finland, which until today had continued using the jab, suddenly restricted its use over fears about blood clots The AstraZeneca chaos has contributed to France having a slow rate of vaccinations compared to the UK, with only 5.6million people given a first dose compared to 25.7million in Britain Passengers pack into the Gare Montparnasse in Paris today as people flee the French capital hours before new lockdown measures take effect for a third of France's population Parisians walk along a platform to catch a train leaving from the Gare Montparnasse which serves the west and southwest of France Roads leading out of Paris were congested on Friday as city-dwellers wanting to avoid a month-long lockdown that is due to be imposed from midnight tonight fled Parisians piled on to trains in an exodus from the French capital today hours before a third of the country is plunged into a new month-long lockdown. Trains heading west to Brittany and south to Lyon were fully booked on Friday with platforms packed at the Gare Montparnasse as 12million people in the Paris region brace for the new restrictions. French PM Jean Castex announced the new measures last night amid a third wave of Covid-19 cases which has thrown Paris hospitals into crisis, with vaccines coming too slowly to protect large chunks of the population. Across the whole of Europe, a majority of countries are now seeing cases rise as a third wave of infections takes hold while governments dither and delay getting vaccines to people. After a week-long delay, most European nations which has stopped the use of AstraZeneca's vaccines - including the likes of Germany, France, Italy and Spain - resumed their use today. But the wait will drag on for citizens of Denmark, Sweden and Norway as their governments insisted they will carry out their own investigations into the clots - despite the European Medicines Agency, the World Health Organization, Britain's MHRA and AstraZeneca itself assuring them that the vaccine is safe. Meanwhile Iceland and Ireland, which also stopped use of the jabs, have yet to react to the news. In a bizarre move Finland, having waited for European regulators to declare the jab safe, announced it is halting its use. Peter Openshaw, a professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, warned bluntly that such vaccine restrictions will cost 'thousands' of lives. France's new recommendation is based on the fact that the blood clots which led to the jab's suspension in much of Europe had occurred only in people under 55. EU regulators gave their definitive verdict on Thursday by saying that the vaccine was 'safe and effective', and did not recommend any age-related restrictions. They were back by the World Health Organization's vaccine safety experts which on Friday gave renewed backing to the AstraZeneca jab, having reviewed safety data related to potential blood clotting. The WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety said the AstraZeneca jab 'continues to have a positive benefit-risk profile, with tremendous potential to prevent infections and reduce deaths across the world.' 'The available data do not suggest any overall increase in clotting conditions such as deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism following administration of Covid-19 vaccines,' the committee said in a statement. But French regulators now claim there is a 'possible increased risk' of thrombosis among under-55s, meaning younger people will not be given the jab. Meanwhile in Germany, health minister Jens Spahn warned today that Covid cases are rising exponentially and there is not enough vaccine to stop them, raising the prospect that Europe's largest will be back in lockdown in the coming weeks. Spahn said it would take weeks to vaccinate the country's most vulnerable people, even now that the AstraZeneca ban has been lifted. German immunologist Carsten Watzl warned of more deaths after tens of thousands of appointments were missed - urging people to take AstraZeneca's jab rather than wait for the Pfizer/BioNTech one co-developed in Germany. PARIS: People queue up outside Ikea in Paris as they make last-minute purchases before the store is closed along with all non-essential retail as lockdown comes into effect PARIS: People line up outside clothing retailer Zara in the French capital to spend a few minutes browsing before the shop is forced to close for at least a month LILLE: People queue up outside shops in Lille to do a final bit of shopping before all non-essential retail closes for at least a month to combat the country's third wave of virus LILLE: Chairs are stacked up in front of a cafe in the French city as bars and restaurants prepare to close for at least a month under the terms of a new lockdown NICE: Shoppers grab some last-minute time browsing their favourite stores in Nice before a new lockdown is imposed and all non-essential retail is forced to close NICE: People queue outside shops after Jean Castex announced a new month-long lockdown will be imposed on the city from midnight, meaning non-essential retail will close The EU's slow progress on vaccinations is putting countries at risk of devastating third waves, with nations including Germany, Italy and France all seeing infection rates climb again this month France's infection rate has reached its highest levels since a November lockdown, prompting Macron's government to impose new restrictions on 21million people Angela Merkel is due to meet with leaders of Germany's 16 states on Monday to discuss whether to extend a lockdown that has been in place since mid-December. The long lockdown and vaccine chaos have sapped public confidence in Merkel's party, which took a kicking from voters at two regional elections last Sunday. But plans to ease restrictions may now have to be shelved as cases climb well above the threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 seen as a benchmark for re-opening society. The current rate is 95.6 after Germany added nearly 84,000 new cases in the last week, a sharp jump from 63,000 the week before. Cases reached a peak of 181,000 per week in December, but health experts warn those levels of contagion could return because of the feared British strain. It marks the third change to France's vaccine policies in quick succession amid a chaotic roll-out lagging way behind Britain's in the global league table. On February 2, France approved the AstraZeneca vaccine but only for under-65s, amid concerns about limited data on older people in clinical trials. Macron poured fuel on the fire by claiming the jab was 'quasi-ineffective' in what was seen as an act of post-Brexit ill-will amid an angry row between the EU and AstraZeneca. Real-world data from England and Scotland subsequently showed that the AstraZeneca jab was highly effective at stopping severe illness in older people. On March 2, France changed tack and said that people under 75 with existing health problems could get the jab, while still blocking it for its oldest citizens. Then, on Monday, France joined the tide of EU countries blocking the jab altogether over sporadic reports of blood clots among millions of people given a dose. Many of those countries including Germany and Italy have since announced they will resume the AstraZeneca campaign in full after the EMA's ruling on Thursday. But France is set to continue limiting access to the jab, even as Castex tries to rally public support by taking it himself. France's failure to produce its own vaccine has caused political hand-wringing in a country with a proud history of intellectual and scientific achievements. Emmanuel Macron has previously said that he would take the AstraZeneca shot if offered, but as a 43-year-old he would not be eligible under the new recommendation. Dominique Le Guludec, head of the French health regulator HAS, said blood clots in those who had received the vaccine were 'very rare' but also 'serious.' Passengers board a high-speed train at Montparnasse railway station in Paris as they flee the city to avoid lockdown Railway stations in Paris were packed with people eager to avoid being shut in their houses for another month Paris has been hard-hit by France's third wave of coronavirus with patients having to be evacuated from the city's hospitals as their intensive care units overflowed A Covid patient evacuated from the Paris region is taken out of a plane after landing at Biarritz in southwestern France Paris will go into a month-long Covid lockdown starting tonight to try and stem a rise in Covid cases that has caused hospitals to overflow as unvaccinated citizens fell seriously ill Emmanuel Macron, pictured, has come under fire at home and abroad after presiding over a chaotic vaccine roll-out and a third wave of the epidemic in France Travel agencies offer 'vaccine vacations' to Germans As Germany limps along in its vaccine roll-out, travel agencies are lining up 'vaccine vacations' in which Germans could pay to get a jab abroad. A travel agency called World Visitor is offering two trips to Russia - one for each dose - in a 1,025 package advertised specifically for Germans, according to DW. There is also a 2,560 option in which people can stay in a Russian health resort in between their two doses of Russia's Sputnik V jab. Another alternative would allow them to spend their trip in Turkey but make short trips to Russia to get the vaccine in an airport terminal. Germans arriving in Russia would have to provide a negative PCR test even if they are only transiting through the country, according to the foreign ministry in Berlin. A separate travel agency, Fit Reisen, says it has had enquiries about whether its usual health getaways could be expanded to include vaccine trips. Israel, Serbia and the UAE have all attracted interest as destinations with higher vaccination rates than the EU. Fit Reisen says its plans have been put on hold but argued that the holidays would have both health and economic benefits. Some German politicians are arguing in favour of Russia's Sputnik V being approved in the EU to speed up Europe's jab roll-out. Hungary and others have already turned to Sputnik V but its use in a Western country such as Germany would amount to a major propaganda coup for the Kremlin. Advertisement She said that while waiting for additional information, those under 55 should get vaccinated with Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson products. In France, out of 1.4 million AstraZeneca doses administered, cases were seen in a 51-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, she said. EMA chief Emer Cooke said on Thursday that the watchdog had seen a small number of cases but that the overall risk was no higher than in the general population. She warned that 'we still cannot rule out definitively a link between these cases and the vaccine', but the EMA says the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks. The EMA had recommended adding a warning to product information with the AstraZeneca shot. The latest vaccine chaos comes as Parisians piled onto trains on Friday hours before the capital and a third of the country is plunged into a new lockdown. Trains heading out of Paris were fully booked on Friday with platforms packed at the Gare Montparnasse as 21million people brace for the new restrictions. Castex announced the new measures last night amid a third wave of infections which has thrown Paris hospitals into crisis, with vaccines coming too slowly to protect large chunks of the population. The EU's blood clot fiasco has added to the bloc's vaccination chaos after supply problems, bureaucratic health systems and stashes of unused AstraZeneca shots left the bloc languishing behind Britain in the vaccine race. AstraZeneca's product was already struggling for popularity in Europe after top officials feuded with the firm in a post-Brexit row over supplies and then cast unfounded doubts on its efficacy in over-65s. The EU is threatening to block shipments to Britain as it plays hardball over supplies, prompting anger in Whitehall with cabinet minister Robert Jenrick saying today he was 'surprised and disappointed' by Brussels' stance. But Europe is struggling to shift the jabs that it does have - with former Finnish PM Alexander Stubb claiming that 40 per cent of the vaccines bought by the EU are 'laying around in various storage in European member states'. The head of a Spanish vaccinology group warned that the suspensions have already caused 'fear and panic', telling El Pais that 'we will have to move heaven and earth to recover the credibility of this vaccine'. Passengers wait at Montparnasse railway station in Paris as they leave the city on the eve of another lockdown People hold their luggage as they wait to board a train out of Paris today despite the government's insistence that the lockdown is less severe than last year's measures Parisians walks along a platform to catch a train leaving from the Gare Montparnasse serving the west and southwest of France The Department of Health and Social Care said 25,273,226 in the UK have received their first dose of AstraZeneca of Pfizer vaccine between December 8 and March 16 Macron is under fire in France with opponents saying that 'when you hit the emergency brake, with a weekend lockdown for example, it's because you've failed with all the rest'. 'Let's be clear, we're in a third wave mostly down to the rise of this famous British variant,' Macron said on Wednesday after a day of talks with medical staff and local mayors in the Paris area. The French president had previously been criticised for rubbishing the AstraZeneca vaccine as 'quasi-ineffective' in older people in what was seen as an act of post-Brexit ill will. England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam weighed in to defend the vaccine on Wednesday, saying that the jabs 'don't save lives if they're in the fridge'. Van-Tam said there was 'a lot of evidence emerging now that is reassuring, that there is no overall excess signal or increased risk' of blood clots or related events. The World Health Organization also said on Wednesday that it was better to take the AstraZeneca vaccine than not - adding that it was looking into available data on the shot. The cases which have surfaced include a handful of people taken to hospital in Norway, an Austrian nurse who died soon after the shot and a specific type of blood clot which Germany says is happening more than usual. But none of these have been proven to result from the vaccine, and both UK and EU scientists have said the number of blood clots overall does not seem to be higher than in the general population. Last years wildfire season raged across the West Coast with unprecedented severity. With it came dangerous air quality as residents were exposed to more intense levels of pollution for longer periods of time. Now, a new report from IQAir, an air purifier company that does annual surveys of global air quality, has concluded that the fires helped make North America the only place in the world where air quality worsened in 2020. Collecting data from governments and non-governmental organizations that monitor air quality, IQAir found that 77 of the worlds 100 most polluted cities were concentrated in California, Oregon, and Washington this past September, which tracks with the wildfire season. In 2020, 38 percent of U.S. cities included in their database surpassed the World Health Organizations target levels for PM2.5, or fine particulate matter. This is a marked uptick from 2019 when 21 percent of cities outpaced the recommendations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The decrease in air quality happened despite COVID-19 restrictions, which limited travel and industrial activity, causing improvements in most places. The fact that climate change somewhat counterbalanced that is alarming, considering IQAir estimates that pandemic restrictions were accompanied by a 10 to 30 percent short-term reduction of PM2.5. PM2.5, the type of fine particulate matter addressed by the report, refers to microscopic particles that are too small for the respiratory tract to block out and are easily absorbed into the bloodstream once they enter the lungs. Produced primarily by combustion, they are considered to be the most adverse to human health and are linked to a range of diseases. Theyve been shown to increase the risk of asthma, cancers, respiratory inflammation, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, hospital visits, and premature death. Advertisement An increase in air pollution is bad in any year. But even in parts of the country where the air quality was less affected by the wildfires than by pandemic restrictions, the toll of COVID-19 tracked the racial geography of air pollution. A Harvard study published in November found that counties with historically elevated levels of PM2.5 also had higher COVID-19 mortality rates due to an overlap in comorbidities. The study also found that counties with PM2.5 rates greater than or equal to 8 g/m3 have higher rates of poverty, fewer hospital beds, and a higher percentage of Black residents. Advertisement Each year, around 200,000 people die in the U.S. from illnesses related to air pollution as it is defined by the EPA. (And the EPAs air quality standards are severely lacking in the breadth of their assessment.) People living in poverty, men, and Black folks are the most at-riskand a 2017 Harvard study found that Black people are three times as likely as the rest of the population to die from exposure to poor air quality. IQAirs report also notes that people of color face elevated exposure to PM2.5, specifically, and, as has been well reported, Black Americans have among the most disproportionately adverse outcomes should they contract COVID-19. Advertisement As the restrictions from the coronavirus loosen, its likely that air pollution rates will rise. COVID infection rates could increase, too, due to new variants of the disease. Then the everyday effects of air quality on human health during the pandemic will coincide with a spike in infections and deaths. And mass death itself has already had an effect on air quality: In southern Caliifornian, the South Coast Air Quality Management District usually limits the number of cremations per month to restrict emissions. In January, those mandates were lifted at the request of the Los Angeles County coroner and the countys public health department because the death rates had doubled, and the pandemic had left too many bodies in the morgue. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 13:17:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SUVA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Fiji reported one new imported COVID-19 case on Friday. According to a statement by Fiji's Health Ministry, the new case is a 55-year-old male who travelled to Fiji from Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, arriving in Fiji's third largest city of Nadi on a flight from Brisbane, Australia on March 12. The man returned a positive test result during routine testing while undergoing the 14-day quarantine at a Fijian government supervised border quarantine facility in Nadi. He has been isolated at the Lautoka hospital, about 24 km north of Nadi. It has now been exactly one year since Fiji reported its first case of COVID-19 on March 19 last year. Since its first case was recorded, the island nation has reported 67 cases, with one active case, 64 recoveries and two deaths. The last 49 cases have been international travel-associated cases detected in border quarantine. It has been 335 days since the last case was detected outside border quarantine on April 18 last year. Currently, a total of 34,782 lab tests have been conducted, with a daily average of 210 tests per day over the last seven days, and a weekly average of 1,615 tests per week over the last two weeks. Fiji still maintains a strict travel restriction to date for foreign visitors alongside a nationwide curfew effective from March 30, 2020. Enditem (Natural News) Two black teens have been charged with assault and arson in connection to the brutal death of a mentally ill white man in Rochester, New York. (Article by Amanda Prestigiacomo republished from DailyWire.com) The two reportedly sneaked into the home of the man on Friday afternoon, sprayed him with an ignitable fluid and set him on fire until 70% of his body was covered in second and third-degree burns. A man, identified as either a mail carrier or a gas and electric worker, burst into the apartment to try to put out the burning man, who was apparently left to die. By the time the 911 call was made and police arrived, it was too late. The victim fought for his life for four days in a burn trauma unit before he passed. The story was reported by local station WHAM 13 News, but the races of the individuals involved were not specified. Rochester journalist and radio host Bob Lonsberry made the races public and highlighted the double-standard in news coverage that has contributed to the deterioration of Rochester, a city engulfed in an at-times violent campaign against police officers over alleged racism. The mentally ill white man set afire Friday by two black teens died this morning. #ROC Bob Lonsberry (@BobLonsberry) March 16, 2021 Citing law enforcement sources, Lonsberry reports that the teens instructed the victim during the incident to tell authorities that it was two white men who perpetrated the crime. A police source confirmed Lonsberrys reporting to The Daily Wire. A man has died after suffering second and third-degree burns over 70 percent of his body days after Rochester Police say he was intentionally set on fire by two teenage boys, WHAM 13 reported on the heinous crime. Investigators said the man, whose name has not been released, was sitting in a chair in his apartment on Lyell Avenue near Murray Street on Friday. According to officers, the two teenagers ages 14 and 16 sprayed the man with an ignitable fluid, then set him on fire. Both teenagers were charged with first-degree assault, the report added. The 16-year-old is charged second-degree attempted arson, while the 14-year-old was charged with second-degree arson. Lonsberry noted Monday, If two white teens had set a mentally ill black man on fire last Friday on Lyell Avenue, how many floors at the Strathallan would be set aside for national media today? #ROC. If two white teens had set a mentally ill black man on fire last Friday on Lyell Avenue, how many floors at the Strathallan would be set aside for national media today? #ROC Bob Lonsberry (@BobLonsberry) March 16, 2021 As Lonsberry highlights, there has been a near blackout on any national reporting of the story with a total blackout on the races involved. The New York Post and USA Today (reprinting the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle story) gave the report some air, but race was not mentioned. The races of those involved may not prove to be relevant in the end, as we do not yet have any motive for the crime. At this early stage of the investigation, there are no reported connections between the teens and the man. If police sources are correct, however, race was a factor when the teens reportedly told their victim to say he was set on fire by white men. Due to this claim, the racial connection is stronger than in many other national stories the media framed through a racial lens. News reports of the incidents concerning Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner and George Floyd, for example, were not shown to be connected to race, other than the medias injection of the issue into the tragic incidents. In a world where everything anymore seems to be about race, nobody wanted to mention the fact that the teens where black and the old man was white, and they watched him burn a bit, after they sprayed him and lit him, and they told him to say it was two white guys who did it, Lonsberry wrote. Nobody will ask if it was a hate crime, he added. Read more at: DailyWire.com and RaceWar.news. 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. Alphabet Inc.s Google asked that an antitrust lawsuit filed in Texas by more than a dozen state attorneys general be moved to California, where the company is based. A Google lawyer told U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan on Thursday during a hearing in Plano, Texas, that the case has no special connection to Texas and mirrors claims in lawsuits already filed in California. The company is battling three government claims of abuse of monopoly power. Googles search business was targeted in separate lawsuits filed by the U.S. Justice Department and a group of states. The complaint in Texas focuses on digital advertising. Google lawyer Eric Mahr told the judge that similar suits in Texas and California could result in conflicting court decisions, and that the states had chosen Texas as a venue for their case because the court there has a track record of moving to trial quickly. The dangers of rushing a case like this are great, Mahr said during the hearing. Ashley Keller, a lawyer for the states, argued that the Texas court was the appropriate venue because there are publishers, advertisers and consumers in the state affected by Googles advertising business. He also acknowledged the states want to get to trial quickly because Google is engaging in harmful conduct every nanosecond of every day. Jordan didnt immediately rule on Googles request. The Jewish Pavilion's program director, Cantor Nina Fine, entertained the residents at The Westminster Orlando on Feb. 26 with Shabbat music, a Purim play, songs, dancing and treats outside. Cantor Fine's son Dylan Caio, 13, accompanied her on keyboard. Pavilion volunteers Sandi and Dick Trainor and their friend Mary McEntegart volunteered their time to help out and make the event and the Purim play a success. Dick was a strong King Ahasuerus, Sandi played the brave and beautiful Esther and Mary was the banished Vashti. The Westminster's Rev. Brenda Loyal made a wonderful Mordechai and Dyl... Crimea and the Crimean Tatar people are the cornerstones of the Ukrainian statehood, and this should be affirmed by the participation of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People in the inaugural summit of the Crimean Platform. Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said this on the air of the Right to Power TV program. The Foreign Minister noted that Ukraine's policy towards the Crimean Tatars until 2014 was unfair and we should be frank about it. The Ukrainian state now bases on the fact that both Crimea and the Crimean Tatar people are the cornerstones of the Ukrainian statehood, and this should be a fundamental principle... When we prepared the Crimean Platform, developed this format, we spoke with the Mejlis [of the Crimean Tatar People] and, of course, we will see the Mejlis representatives at the inaugural summit of the Crimean Platform, because it is impossible to imagine Crimea without the Crimean Tatars, without the Mejlis, Kuleba said. At the same time, he added that it was necessary to make every effort in order to gather the biggest possible number of participants in the Crimean Platform and achieve the most concrete result to move on further. As reported, the Crimean Platform is a new consultative and coordination format initiated by Ukraine to improve the efficiency of the international response to the occupation of Crimea, respond to growing security challenges, step up international pressure on Russia, prevent further human rights violations, protect victims of the occupying power and to achieve the de-occupation of Crimea and its return to Ukraine. The Crimean Platform is to be launched officially at an inaugural summit in Kyiv on August 23, 2021. ol Low plasma levels of protein TGFB1 and polymorphisms in gene TGFB1 act as biomarkers for the prognosis of gastric adenocarcinoma, according to a study led by the University Complutense of Madrid (UCM). In particular, these variants are 12% more frequent in patients with metastatic tumors, "which indicates their importance in the clinical progression of this disease", stated Jose Manuel Martin Villa, Professor of Immunology and researcher at the Department of Immunology, Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology of the UCM. In addition to identifying patients with poorer progression and high mortality, these markers also identify individuals at risk of developing this stomach tumor. The finding, published in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, "helps establish newer and more appropriate therapeutic regimens", according to Martin Villa. In addition to the UCM, the study counted on the participation of the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery of University Hospital Principe de Asturias (Alcala de Henares, Community of Madrid, Spain) and the Gregorio Maranon Healthcare Research Institute (Madrid, Spain). Possibility of extrapolating the data Regarding the detected serological marker, Martin Villa explains that, "the role of the TGFB1 protein in the progression of cancer, modulating the immune response, is controversial. However, these data indicate that this cytokine has a direct effect on the disease, because its absence causes these tumors to become malignant and more invasive, aggravating the patients' condition". To reach these conclusions, the researchers obtained genetic material from a Spanish population and determined the variants using molecular biology techniques. The patients were stratified according to internationally established criteria for disease stages (I to IV). Statistical approaches were employed to determine the association between these genetic markers and the development and progression of the disease. This study was conducted over the course of 5 years, which has enabled us to associate these genetic variants with patient survival in the medium term." Jose Manuel Martin Villa, Professor of Immunology and Researcher, Department of Immunology, Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, UCM Martin Villa also leaves the door open to the possibility that the identified genetic and serological markers are also involved in other tumors such as colorectal cancer. Professor George K.T. Oduro, the Immediate Past Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, has advised the newly sworn-in Sector and Regional Ministers to stay above partisan interests. He said told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Thursday that a crosscutting focus of the Presidents advice and the National Anthem pointed to Service in the interest of the National rather than the NPP Party. The first line of our National Anthem reads: God bless our homeland Ghana. It doesn't read God bless our Political Party. The President also tasked the Regional Ministers to be guided by the Constitution and promote the general well-being of citizenry of their respective regions. The President did not task Ministers to work towards serving partisan interests - the emphasis was on the Region and by extension Ghana. A very nationalistic advice. But how do we ensure that this nationalistic advice does not remain a swearing-in ceremony rhetoric? He said. Prof. Oduro said between 2017 and 2020, he said the President preached Ghana First and tasked Ghanaians not to sit on the fence but act as citizens. Another nationalistic advice. But what did we see? Some Ministers acted as political party agents rather than government representatives. Extreme exclusion of political opponents in national policy discourses were experienced. Intolerance of diverse opinions was recorded and political opponents branded as enemies, he said. The former Pro Vice-Chancellor said partisan commitment deepened in matters of recruitment, promotions, transfers and consultancies in the public sector and that such a partisan orientation created unhelpful tensions and undermined policy implementation because non-party members were compelled to act to as spectators rather than citizens. He said, This partisan orientation of Ministers must change. The 8th Session of our 4th Republic needs Ministers who will perform their roles through the lens of Ghana's Constitution rather than the lens of their political party. We need Ministers who will tap the expertise of citizens relevant to regional and national development, irrespective of the political orientation of such experts. Prof. Oduro advised individuals appointed in present and future administrations to desist from behaving like Chairmen or Secretaries of their political parties and provide leadership that would promote inclusiveness and create a sense of belongingness in all citizens irrespective of their political, gender, religious or ethnic orientation. As Ministers, they must remember they are remunerated through taxes paid by the citizenry not through dues paid by political activists. If the President's regional and national interest agenda can be fulfilled by the Ministers, then Political Parties must give them room to operate. Political activists must not interfere in the operational plans of the Ministries and Regional Coordinating Councils. While I congratulate all the regional and other sectoral Ministers, I urge them to be guided by the words of the second stanza of our National Anthem, he said. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video NEW DELHI: Beauty queen Urvashi Rautela, who often breaks the internet with her scintillating photos and videos, recently shared a chat window with her mother and disclosed that she sent her an old photo of Virat Kohli to the actress. In the photo, sent by Urvashi's mother, a much younger Virat Kohli is seen helping his mother in the kitchen. Sharing the photo and the chat screen, Urvashi asked her followers to decode the motive of her mother for sending the photo. "Hey guys, I need y'll help! My mom Meera Rautela just sent me this picture on a message. What do you think? What does she want me to do? What's her hidden motive? Scared," read Urvashi Rautela's caption. Her fans thronged to her wall to express their views on the photo and the message was common. "Help her out in the kitchen," they mentioned in the comment box. Now, in a follow-up to her last photo, Urvashi shared another picture of herself and mentioned that she is heading to the kitchen. "off to kitchen," wrote the actress in the caption along with the photo, which appears to be a Behind-the-Scene moment from a shoot. On the work front, Urvashi Rautela is shooting for her upcoming web series 'Inspector Avinash', in which we will be seeing her with Randeep Hooda playing the lead. One of the most exciting ones is an international project with the Egyptian superstar Mohamad Ramadan and several others like a bilingual thriller 'Black Rose' and a Hindi remake of 'Thirutu Payale 2'. The upcoming 'Inspector Avinash' is a real-life story of police officer Avinash Mishra, directed by Neeraj Pathak. According to the sources, Urvashi Rautela has signed a three-film deal with Jio Studios. The actress dazzled in her music video 'Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si', she also recently acted in the movie 'Virgin Bhanupriya'. German Covid cases are rising exponentially and there is not enough vaccine to stop them, health chiefs have warned, raising the prospect of Europe's largest economy going back into lockdown in the coming weeks. Jens Spahn said it would take weeks to vaccinate the country's most vulnerable people, even after a week-long ban on using AstraZeneca jabs was lifted after regulators found it is safe. Covid cases are also surging in France, which has been forced to put several regions including Paris back into lockdown starting at midnight tonight, a day after the country also lifted its block on Astra jabs. But in an astonishing move, French leaders today said the jab's use will be restricted to those aged over 55 due to continuing blood clot fears - a reversal of the country's earlier position that only young people should get it. France is not the only country to continue restricting AstraZeneca jabs. Norway, Denmark and Sweden have said they will continue their own investigations into blood clots before ruling the jab is safe, with decisions not expected until next week. Meanwhile there has also been no reaction so far from governments in Ireland or Iceland, where use of the jab remains suspended. That is despite a majority of European countries seeing Covid cases rise driven by new and more-infectious forms of the disease, while experts warned that 'thousands' of lives will be lost due to scaremongering around AstraZeneca's jab. Germany's infection rate has leaped upwards again with the daily average now at 12,000 cases per day, stymying efforts to re-open the economy even as frustration with lockdown grows The death rate is well below where it was two months ago but Germany's health minister warns there is not enough vaccine to protect vulnerable people from the looming third wave Like most of the EU, Germany is lagging far behind Britain in its vaccination campaign and has not immunised enough people to hold back a third wave of the disease The countries in green have already reinstated the AstraZeneca vaccine while those in red have yet to make an announcement or say that they will not immediately restart the jabs. Those in orange banned a particular batch of doses, while the countries in grey - including the UK - remained unmoved by the blood clot fears all along Travel agencies offer 'vaccine vacations' to Germans As Germany limps along in its vaccine roll-out, travel agencies are lining up 'vaccine vacations' in which Germans could pay to get a jab abroad. A travel agency called World Visitor is offering two trips to Russia - one for each dose - in a 1,025 package advertised specifically for Germans, according to DW. There is also a 2,560 option in which people can stay in a Russian health resort in between their two doses of Russia's Sputnik V jab. Another alternative would allow them to spend their trip in Turkey but make short trips to Russia to get the vaccine in an airport terminal. Germans arriving in Russia would have to provide a negative PCR test even if they are only transiting through the country, according to the foreign ministry in Berlin. A separate travel agency, Fit Reisen, says it has had enquiries about whether its usual health getaways could be expanded to include vaccine trips. Israel, Serbia and the UAE have all attracted interest as destinations with higher vaccination rates than the EU. Fit Reisen says its plans have been put on hold but argued that the holidays would have both health and economic benefits. Some German politicians are arguing in favour of Russia's Sputnik V being approved in the EU to speed up Europe's jab roll-out. Hungary and others have already turned to Sputnik V but its use in a Western country such as Germany would amount to a major propaganda coup for the Kremlin. Advertisement Peter Openshaw, a professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said the temporary stoppage in more than a dozen EU countries was likely to 'translate into many, many lives lost due to Covid'. 'Because of this delay, and because of the uncertainty now of the vaccine in some people's minds...I think it will probably run to thousands of lives that have been lost,' he told Times Radio. Italy has already had to scrap 200,000 injections because of the AstraZeneca delay, while a survey published this week found that 49 per cent of Italians had their confidence in vaccines shaken by the furore. German immunologist Carsten Watzl warned of more deaths after tens of thousands of appointments were missed - urging people to take AstraZeneca's jab rather than wait for the Pfizer/BioNTech one co-developed in Germany. Angela Merkel is due to meet with leaders of Germany's 16 states on Monday to discuss whether to extend a lockdown that has been in place since mid-December. The long lockdown and vaccine chaos have sapped public confidence in Merkel's party, which took a kicking from voters at two regional elections last Sunday. But plans to ease restrictions may now have to be shelved as cases climb well above the threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 seen as a benchmark for re-opening society. The current rate is 95.6 after Germany added nearly 84,000 new cases in the last week, a sharp jump from 63,000 the week before. Cases reached a peak of 181,000 per week in December, but health experts warn those levels of contagion could return because of the feared British strain. Germany's Robert Koch diseases institute says the UK variant - believed to be more transmissible - is now making up more than half of new confirmed cases. Lars Schaade, vice-president of the RKI, today warned that Germany could be in a similar situation by Easter as it was at Christmas. That would mean 'very high case numbers, many severe cases and deaths, and hospitals that are overwhelmed,' Schaade said. It would scupper the plans drawn up at Merkel's last round of talks to gradually re-open the economy, with some shops already open by appointment only. Schaade urged people not to travel over the Easter holiday period because case numbers were rising exponentially. Merkel's government is also under fire over the vaccine chaos, with Spahn accused of caving in to political pressure by suspending AstraZeneca jabs this week. Germany joined more than a dozen EU countries in pausing AstraZeneca shots over fears of blood clots which have not been proven to result from the jabs. EU regulators gave their definitive ruling on Thursday, saying the shot was safe and effective - prompting Germany to reinstate the AstraZeneca jab. German immunologist Carsten Watzl warned of more deaths after tens of thousands of appointments were missed because of the suspension. The EU's slow progress on vaccinations is putting countries at risk of devastating third waves, with nations including Germany, Italy and France all seeing infection rates climb again this month Germany's health minister Jens Spahn at a press conference in Berlin today where he warned that the EU's biggest economy may have to tighten its restrictions again But progress was slow even before then, with many Germans preferring to wait for the Pfizer/BioNTech product that was co-developed by a German firm. Official figures show Germany has handed out only 10.3million doses so far, compared to 27.6million in the UK which has a smaller population. Around 8.5 per cent of Germany's population has had a first injection, while 3.8 per cent have had their full two doses. While Germany has received more than three million doses of AstraZeneca's product, only around 1.8million of these have been administered so far. Germany initially restricted the product to over-65s - prompting Merkel, 66, to say she could not take it as an example to the population. There has been no word on whether the chancellor will take the jab now that it has been opened up to all age groups. To add to Merkel's woes, her party has been embroiled in a corruption scandal that began with claims of lawmakers making money from mask procurement. Merkel's conservative bloc - which enjoyed a bounce in the polls in the early months of the pandemic - is now polling at just 29 per cent nationally. Ursula von der Leyen has told Britain to hand over doses of AstraZeneca vaccine or else risk seeing jab exports from the continent blocked, despite the fact that most of Europe has halted its use Some German politicians have called for the Russian-made Sputnik V jab, pictured, to be deployed in the EU to speed up Europe's flagging vaccine campaign Meanwhile as doubts continue over Europe's AstraZeneca campaign, calls have been growing in Germany to turn to Russia to get hold of its Sputnik V jabs. The Russian-made shot defied sceptics by proving highly effective in trials and its use in the EU would amount to a major propaganda coup for the Kremlin. Several German state premiers have this week given their backing to Sputnik V, which has not yet been ruled on by EU regulators. They include Bavarian leader Markus Soeder, who is seen as a contender for Merkel's job when she steps down following elections later this year. 'It's important to accelerate approval procedures, especially in the case of Sputnik,' Soeder said after state premiers held talks with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. He added that studies of the Russian vaccine had shown that it was 'highly safe' and 'in some cases better than vaccines which have already been approved'. Other politicians to back the jab include state premiers from the former East Germany where Russian-made vaccines were commonplace. Sputnik V's developers claimed this week to have production deals with companies in Italy, France, Spain and Germany, although the nature of these is not clear. France and Spain they were not aware of any formal contracts, while German pharmaceutical company IDT Biologika said it was 'still in talks' with Russia. Neetu Chandra In Talks With Prominent Hollywood Directors For Her Next? National award winner Neetu Chandra has recently grabbed all the attention for bagging one of the lead roles in Sony Motion Pictures' Never Back Down: Revolt. The actor recently inaugurated the showroom of Indian top designer-Rohini Bedi in Los Angeles, but what's next on Neetu's plate? Is it a movie she would produce? Or another Hollywood movie? View this post on Instagram A post shared by Neetu Chandra Srivastava (@neetunchandra) As per a very close source to the actor shared, "Neetu is in talks with multiple directors and production houses in Los Angeles. Something really big is being planned for her! Apparently, her stunning acts for earlier movies have made her a preferred choice for various projects. In fact, Neetu is keeping herself busy by reading scripts and attending a few narrations as well." The uber talented actor Neetu has paved through the hearts of the viewers with her outstanding performance in movies like Oye Lucky Oye, Traffic Signal, Garam Masala, Rann to name a few. The first actress ever from Bihar who bagged one of the lead roles in the Hollywood movie- Never Back Down, Neetu will be seen stepping into the shoes of a cold brutal fighter in Never Back Down: Revolt. Mar. 18The Maine State Police said it has looked into and has not substantiated allegations that its 2019 Trooper of the Year award was given to a trooper accused of racial profiling during multiple traffic stops as a rebuke to the Black Lives Matter movement. The review of allegations about Trooper John Darcy came in response to a February complaint from state Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos, an independent from Friendship. Evangelos rejected the findings this week and demanded that Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck conduct a "credible investigation" into the allegations. On Wednesday, Sauschuck told Evangelos that the state's Office of Employee Relations reviewed the allegations against Darcy in connection with the Trooper of the Year award and said that "they were not substantiated." Saushuck's email to Evangelos did not directly address the racial profiling allegations and also did not say if allegations about racial profiling were being investigated. Evangelos, who shared copies of his communications with Sauschuck with the Bangor Daily News, rejected Sauschuck's findings, pointing to 27 traffic stops that the legislator said are evidence of racial profiling. "The culture of cover up of systemic misconduct within the Maine State Police and our county sheriff's departments continues unabated," Evangelos said. "Clearly, we are experiencing a police state in Maine, unaccountable to the rule of civilian law." Evangelos, who serves on the Legislature's Judiciary Committee, which has been gathering information on racial profiling by police in Maine, filed his complaint on Feb. 10. Darcy received the coveted honor in November. Allegations of Darcy's racial profiling became public last fall after the U.S. attorney's office dropped criminal charges against a Black man the trooper pulled over in August 2019. The defense attorney in that case pointed to Maine State Police video of the traffic stop as evidence of racial profiling, the Portland Press Herald reported last October. Story continues Darcy can be heard in the video saying the driver looked "like a thug" because "he's wearing a wifebeater" and "he's got dreads." He is then heard telling the other trooper in the cruiser that he is not racially profiling the driver, the Press Herald reported. In at least three other cases, federal judges are considering motions to suppress evidence based on Darcy's traffic stops in which drugs were confiscated from Black defendants. In a fourth, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine will support a federal defender's efforts to suppress evidence Darcy collected at a traffic stop. Evangelos had also asked Sauschuck to examine "the motives behind the presentation of this award to Darcy by the high command of the Maine State Police." In response, Sauschuck said the nomination process for the 2019 Trooper of the Year award began in February 2020. "Trooper Darcy was selected as the Trooper of the Year well before the allegations of racial profiling were brought forward," he said. He received the award about two months after the U.S. attorney's office dropped charges against the man Darcy had pulled over. Evangelos rejected that statement. "Your choice to reference timing rather than the actual substance of Darcy's racial profiling incidents further undermines the public's confidence in law enforcement," he said. "When the state police high command went through with this award on November 10, 2020, they most certainly did know about Darcy's racial profiling and good and honest practice should have resulted in the award being withdrawn before it was made." Fettes College in Edinburgh, the school attended by former Prime Minister Tony Blair, thas issued an unreserved apology admitting that abuse took place (PA Images via Getty Images) A former pupil who claims he was sexually abused at a top private school is calling for a ban on in-house investigations. The ex-student rejected a 'paper thin' apology by Fettes College after evidence of child abuse at the prestigious school came to light. The school,in Edinburgh, counts former prime minister Tony Blair among its alumni and this week apologised for abuse suffered by pupils during their time there. The former pupil, who spoke through his solicitor on condition of anonymity, believes future allegations and victims could be swept under the carpet unless there is legislative change. This week the college admitted that on occasions it did not act responsibly or appropriately, when evidence of abuse came to light ahead of evidence at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI). The alleged victim, who also gave evidence to the SCAI, rejected the schools apology and described the schools actions as an attempt to disguise criminal activity. Evidence of abuse came to light ahead of evidence at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Getty) The former pupil said he believes there should be no in-house investigations, so that future attacks can be prevented, and perpetrators held accountable. He spoke as the college issued a statement ahead of the latest phase of the SCAI which is now looking into abuse allegations at boarding schools. He said: I utterly reject Fettes Colleges paper thin apology. These are real children psychologically maimed and lives blighted by inaction and deliberate attempts to disguise criminal activity. In my case the man who sexually assaulted me was reported to the school at the time and the school did not attempt to investigate the matter even though I had witnesses. Instead the school chose to put my abuser on one months sabbatical so he could get his head together. The inaction at resulted in the abuse of dozens more children over the years and as far as I am concerned they have simply done everything they can to sweep allegations and indeed the victims under the carpet. Story continues Police Scotland have launched an independent investigation into the claims (Getty) I believe the only way forward to stop institutional abuse whether schools, religious groups or sports clubs is to make it a statutory offence to not report the matter immediately to the police. When it comes to allegations of abuse there should be no in house investigations these are crimes we are talking about so it makes sense to have Police Scotland conduct impartial investigations. In a statement read by Jonathan Brodie QC, the school said: We want to offer a full and unreserved apology to those who suffered abuse while at Fettes College. While words of apology may have limited worth, we fully accept and recognise in the past there was sexual, physical and emotional abuse of pupils while at Fettes College. Read More From Yahoo News UK: Private school faces racism claims from former pupils Two robins die after getting stuck on glue trap designed to catch mice The region where COVID infections 'showing early signs of increase' Watch: How to stop bullying in the workplace That has been the result of certain members of staff and by failing to prevent peer-to-peer bullying. The school recognises that on occasions it did not act responsibly or appropriately, when evidence of abuse came to light. It is a matter of profound regret. What the school seeks to do now is to listen. That there have been past occasions of abuse is evident in the review of school records ,and speaking with former teachers and with former pupils. Two former teachers admitted sexual abuse and were required to leave. The school promises to listen and reflect on what is contained in the account and all evidence in the inquiry. The survivor is pursuing legal action with Digby Brown Solicitors. Kim Leslie, specialist abuse lawyer at Digby Brown, said: We are pursuing a court action to make Fettes liable for the actions of their former employee. The failure to report matters to the police at the time and the recent COPFS decision not to seek extradition closed doors to the alleged abuser being prosecuted. But lack of prosecution does not mean a survivor cannot take further action as a conviction is not always required in the civil courts. We will continue to support our client in his case against Fettes College but as it is ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further. Watch: How the UK will leave lockdown Photo: (Photo : Getty Images: Handout / Handout) Meghan Markle is about to give birth to her second child after two years since they welcomed their firstborn Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The pregnancy news was announced by Meghan Markle herself during a photoshoot released with black and white themes through their spokesperson and friend, Missan Harriman. The remote photo shoot was showing Meghan's baby bump. The photo confirms her pregnancy while wearing a dress by Carolina Herrera. Everyone has been excited to know everything from Meghan Markle's second pregnancy. People are in the run to ask if the baby is a girl or a boy. Or will the baby be an American, or is the baby a Brit, or maybe both? When will it be due? What's the palace's reaction after hearing Meghan Markle's second pregnancy? Here's what we're eager to know about her pregnancy. READ: 5 Family Secrets Revealed During the Meghan and Harry Interview All the deets of Meghan Markle's second pregnancy The due date During the couple's candid interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7, Prince Harry, 36, and the former Suit star Meghan Markle, 39, revealed that their baby would be due in the summer. But other specific details on when exactly the second baby will see the outside is not yet revealed. Who will handle the delivery? As the couple has stepped down from the royal palace, people expect that the couple will take Meghan Markle in giving birth to a site far from the palace's sight. Meghan Markle is having her pregnancy in California which the couple is officially calling their home. People expect that the Duchess in Sussex will deliver her second child in the United States. But as we all know, other information about the delivery plan is kept a secret, just like Meghan's delivery with their first child Archie. But rest assured, the couple will share the news once the second baby has come out from her belly. ALSO READ: Why Baby Archie Doesn't Have a Royal Title, Prince William Denies Racism Will the second baby be a girl or a boy? Oprah also asks the same question, just like some of us want to know. Will their second baby be a girl or a boy? Meghan answers on behalf of the couple, and she happily shares to the world the coming new member of the family is a girl. Who else knew of the pregnancy? Harriman knew about the Duchess of Sussex pregnancy since he was the one who took the photoshoot that has left the world in excitement. But it is still unclear who else knows about Meghan's pregnancy before it was announced to the world, but for sure, some of the couple's closest friends probably knew of the best news. Does the couple want more kids? About the question of adding more babies to the family, Prince Harry responded straightforwardly to Oprah. "Now we've got our family, and we've got four of us." the prince even added on his answer that baby#2 is enough in the family, "Two it is." end of quote. READ MORE: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry To Expect a Second Baby! A New Addition To The Royal Family 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. New York, NY--March 19, 2020--Columbia Engineering researchers, working with Brookhaven National Laboratory, report today that they have built designed nanoparticle-based 3D materials that can withstand a vacuum, high temperatures, high pressure, and high radiation. This new fabrication process results in robust and fully engineered nanoscale frameworks that not only can accommodate a variety of functional nanoparticle types but also can be quickly processed with conventional nanofabrication methods. "These self-assembled nanoparticles-based materials are so resilient that they could fly in space," says Oleg Gang, professor of https:/ / www. cheme. columbia. edu/ chemical engineering and of applied physics and materials science, who led the study published today by Science Advances. "We were able to transition 3D DNA-nanoparticle architectures from liquid state--and from being a pliable material--to solid state, where silica re-enforces DNA struts. This new material fully maintains its original framework architecture of DNA-nanoparticle lattice, essentially creating a 3D inorganic replica. This allowed us to explore--for the first time--how these nanomaterials can battle harsh conditions, how they form, and what their properties are." Material properties are different at the nanoscale and researchers have long been exploring how to use these tiny materials--1,000 to 10,000 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair--in all kinds of applications, from making sensors for phones to building faster chips for laptops. Fabrication techniques, however, have been challenging in realizing 3D nano-architectures. DNA nanotechnology enables the creation of complexly organized materials from nanoparticles through self-assembly, but given the soft and environment-dependent nature of DNA, such materials might be stable under only a narrow range of conditions. In contrast, the newly formed materials can now be used in a broad range of applications where these engineered structures are required. While conventional nanofabrication excels in creating planar structures, Gang's new method allows for fabrication of 3D nanomaterials that are becoming essential to so many electronic, optical, and energy applications. Gang, who holds a joint appointment as group leader of the Soft and Bio Nanomaterials Group at Brookhaven Lab's Center for Functional Nanomaterials, is at the forefront of DNA nanotechnology, which relies on folding DNA chain into desired two and three-dimensional nanostructures. These nanostructures become building blocks that can be programmed via Watson-Crick interactions to self-assemble into 3D architectures. His group designs and forms these DNA nanostructures, integrates them with nanoparticles and directs the assembly of targeted nanoparticle-based materials. And, now, with this new technique, the team can transition these materials from being soft and fragile to solid and robust. This new study demonstrates an efficient method for converting 3D DNA-nanoparticle lattices into silica replicas, while maintaining the topology of the interparticle connections by DNA struts and the integrity of the nanoparticle organization. Silica works well because it helps retain the nanostructure of the parent DNA lattice, forms a robust cast of the underlying DNA and does not affect nanoparticles arrangements. "The DNA in such lattices takes on the properties of silica," says Aaron Michelson, a PhD student from Gang's group. "It becomes stable in air and can be dried and allows for 3D nanoscale analysis of the material for the first time in real space. Moreover, silica provides strength and chemical stability, it's low-cost and can be modified as needed--it's a very convenient material." To learn more about the properties of their nanostructures, the team exposed the converted to silica DNA-nanoparticles lattices to extreme conditions: high temperatures above 1,0000C and high mechanical stresses over 8GPa (about 80,000 times more than atmosphere pressure, or 80 times more than at the deepest ocean place, the Mariana trench), and studied these processes in-situ. To gauge the structures' viability for applications and further processing steps, the researchers also exposed them to high doses of radiation and focused ion beams. "Our analysis of the applicability of these structures to couple with traditional nanofabrication techniques demonstrates a truly robust platform for generating resilient nanomaterials via DNA-based approaches for discovering their novel properties," Gang notes. "This is a big step forward, as these specific properties mean that we can use our 3D nanomaterial assembly and still access the full range of conventional materials processing steps. This integration of novel and conventional nanofabrication methods is needed to achieve advances in mechanics, electronics, plasmonics, photonics, superconductivity, and energy materials." Collaborations based on Gang's work have already led to novel superconductivity and conversion of the silica to conductive and semiconductive media for further processing. These include an earlier study published by Nature Communications and one recently published by Nano Letters. The researchers are also planning to modify the structure to make a broad range of materials with highly desirable mechanical and optical properties. "Computers have been made with silicon for over 40 years," Gang adds. "It took four decades to push the fabrication down to about 10 nm for planar structures and devices. Now we can make and assemble nanoobjects in a test tube in a couple of hours without expensive tools. Eight billion connections on a single lattice can now be orchestrated to self-assemble through nanoscale processes that we can engineer. Each connection could be a transistor, a sensor, or an optical emitter--each can be a bit of data stored. While Moore's law is slowing, the programmability of DNA assembly approaches is there to carry us forward for solving problems in novel materials and nanomanufacturing. While this has been extremely challenging for current methods, it is enormously important for emerging technologies." ### About the Study The study is titled "Resilient Three-Dimensional Ordered Architectures Assembled from Nanoparticles by DNA." Authors are: Pawel W. Majewski 1,2, Aaron Michelson3, Marco A. L. Cordeiro1, Cheng Tian1, Chunli Ma1, Kim Kisslinger1, Ye Tian1, Wenyan Liu1, Eric A. Stach3, Kevin G. Yager1, Oleg Gang1, 3, 5 1Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory 2Department of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Poland 3Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University 4Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania 5Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University The study was supported by US Department of Defense, Army Research Office, W911NF-19-1-0395. This research used resources of the Center for Functional Nanomaterials and the National Synchrotron Light Source II, which are U.S. DOE Office of Science Facilities, at Brookhaven National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-SC0012704. The DNA design work was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Grant DE-SC0008772. The authors declare no competing interests. LINKS: Paper: https:/ / advances. sciencemag. org/ lookup/ doi/ 10. 1126/ sciadv. abf0617 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abf0617 http://advances. sciencemag. org/ http://engineering. columbia. edu/ https:/ / www. bnl. gov/ world/ https:/ / www. engineering. columbia. edu/ faculty/ oleg-gang https:/ / www. cheme. columbia. edu/ https:/ / www. apam. columbia. edu/ https:/ / www. bnl. gov/ cfn/ research/ biological. php https:/ / www. bnl. gov/ cfn/ https:/ / www. nature. com/ articles/ s41467-020-19439-9 https:/ / pubs. acs. org/ doi/ abs/ 10. 1021/ acs. nanolett. 0c05023 Columbia Engineering Columbia Engineering, based in New York City, is one of the top engineering schools in the U.S. and one of the oldest in the nation. Also known as The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School expands knowledge and advances technology through the pioneering research of its more than 220 faculty, while educating undergraduate and graduate students in a collaborative environment to become leaders informed by a firm foundation in engineering. The School's faculty are at the center of the University's cross-disciplinary research, contributing to the Data Science Institute, Earth Institute, Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Precision Medicine Initiative, and the Columbia Nano Initiative. Guided by its strategic vision, "Columbia Engineering for Humanity," the School aims to translate ideas into innovations that foster a sustainable, healthy, secure, connected, and creative humanity. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 COLUMBIA Lexington Medical Center cut the ribbon on its new $80 million medical center in northeast Columbia with the exception of two critical departments a surgery center and an MRI unit. Providence Health in Columbia and KershawHealth in Camden, both affiliates of Tennessee-based LifePoint Health, filed suit in S.C. Administrative Law Court, blocking the opening of those two service areas at the facility near the corner of Clemson and Longtown roads and arguing they are not needed. It's just the latest legal fight in an ongoing struggle for market share among the various Columbia area hospital systems. "Those are very important to what we're doing so we can provide the full gamut of services out here," Lexington Medical's Vice President of Community Medical Centers, Lara Lott Moore, said of the outpatient surgery and MRI. "Unfortunately we're still fighting the battle with the (state certificate) process. Once we're able to open those facilities there's not going to be anything our folks can't do out here." South Carolina law requires medical providers to apply to state Department of Health and Environmental Control for Certificate of Need when constructing certain new facilities. The purpose, according to regulators, is to "promote cost containment" and "prevent unnecessary duplication of health care facilities and services," as well as ensure quality. While the building marks Lexington Medical Center's first outpatient surgery facility in the county to the east, the medical provider has been operating there for years it says. It currently has 13 doctors' practices in Richland County, nine of which are located in northeast Columbia. And from October 2017 through September 2018, they treated approximately 70,000 patients, according the hospital system's application with DHEC. That number is only expected to rise, Lexington Medical argues. The population living within a five-mile radius of the new center is 107,278. Located in the fast-growing northeast area, that number is expected to increase 7 percent over the next five years. Combined with an expanding number of surgical procedures that can be performed on an outpatient basis, Lexington Medical told DHEC it does not anticipate this project will significantly affect the patient load at other area medical facilities. Providence Health, with its own 74-bed northeast hospital just 3 miles away, believes otherwise, calling Lexington Medical's projections flawed. "The proposed service area really is a market share play for LMC to try to gain volume from an area where it historically has little presence. This additional volume will most definitely come at the expense of existing providers," Providence said in a letter to DHEC. 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! And Providence said its own northeast facility is already underutilized, only performing 1,247 outpatient surgeries in 2018. This number is down from 1,943 operations for years earlier. The arguments of market share grab and not enough patients to go around mirror those made by Providence and what was then Palmetto Health during the decade leading up to 2011. Lexington Medical Center was seeking to provide open heart surgeries, procedures already performed by its competitors. It took a partnership with Duke University School of Medicine for Lexington to final get the necessary state approval. Providence files this legal challenge as it faces one of its own from Lexington Medical Center. The for-profit LifePoint Health sought to sell downtown and northeast Columbia locations of Providence Health and Camden-based hospital KershawHealth, as well as an emergency care center in Fairfield County, to the Palmetto State's largest health care provider, Prisma Health. If the sale were to go through, it will take the Capital City down to two major health care providers Lexington Medical Center sued the competing hospitals and DHEC over the purchase process, alleging state regulators did not give it a proper review. The case is awaiting a hearing before the S.C. Court of Appeals after Administrative Law Court Judge Ralph King Anderson called into question whether the buyout qualifies for antitrust protections. If allowed to open in Richland County, Lexington Medical's northeast facility will have three operating rooms, two of which will take the place of operating rooms at the provider's urology center and one of which will take the place of its Irmo surgical center. Lexington Medical CEO Tod Augsburger said the new building adds convenience so patients won't have to travel for surgery. In 2018, Lexington Medical doctors performed surgeries on 1,997 patients living in the five Richland County zip codes immediately surrounding the facility. Providence's two hospitals, by comparison, performed 3,223 outpatient surgeries on patients from that same area. Richland County residents also account for 3,905, about 20 percent, of MRI recipients at Lexington Medical facilities. Providence Northeast gave 969 MRIs in 2019, about 19 percent of the hospital's operating capacity. When fully operational, the five-story Lexington Medical northeast building will house offices employing more than 300 health care workers, Lott Moore said. There are 80 people working there now. Rating: 3.0 /5 Star Cast: Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie Director: Kari Skogland Duration: 6 Episodes / 40-50 mins Language: English Story: The Falcon And The Winter Soldier follows Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson after the events of Avengers: Endgame and the death of Captain America. While Bucky now as a civilian has to deal with the guilt of being a Hydra agent, Sam returns as the Falcon to work with the air force. Review: Directed by Kari Skogland, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier brings the audience back to the roots of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The show brings in some nostalgia from MCU's phase one, as we mainly see people fighting people with guns and machines as opposed to magical stones and runes. The six-part series starts with the aftermath of the blip. Sam Wilson who had disappeared for five years has now started working with the US Airforce. At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Captain America (who is now known as Old Steve Rogers) had handed over his shield to The Falcon but he decides to not take up the mantle. He believes that the shield will always belong to Cap and he is the only one who should use it. On the other hand, Bucky Barnes is now a civilian with a vibranium hand who goes on dates, takes his 90-year-old friend for dinner and goes to therapy. He is also trying to make amends for all the bad things he did while under Hydra's control. Sebastian Stan as Bucky has been one of the best MCU casting decisions, the actor brings out the crazy just as easily as he makes the audience feel Bucky's pain. The makers have revealed very few things in the first episode including Bucky's age, Falcon's fame level which is pretty low, how the heroes got paid while Stark Industries was in control, Sam wanting to talk to Bucky, and the biggest reveal of all, U.S. Agent's origin. While Sam gave up the shield, the Department of Defense had other plans for it. At the end of the episode, Wilson is caught off guard when he finds out a new Captian America is being introduced to the world. While it is unclear if U.S. Agent will turn out to be a good or a bad guy, we do get to see some action with one of the villains of the show. A superhuman is seen wreaking havoc in Switzerland and quickly comes under The Falcon's radar, who hopefully with catch up with Bucky soon. After WandaVision, the expectations are high for The Falcon And The Winter Soldier. Since the first episode gives nothing away, it is hard to tell how the show will contribute to Phase Four of MCU. For the unversed, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier was set to release before WandaVision which introduced the Multiverse. So the timeline for the show maybe a bit off as the makers possibly focused on the blip's aftermath (similar to Spider-Man Far From Home) more than introducing the story into Phase Four. While The Falcon And The Winter Soldier may not live up to WandaVision, it certainly has the classic MCU charm and immense love for Captain America's character played by Chris Evans will keep the audience hooked up. ALSO READ: The Falcon & The Winter Soldier: Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan Reveal How They Found Out Who Gets The Shield ALSO READ: Tom Hiddleston & Owen Wilson Unveil Loki's New Poster, Duo Compete With The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Hal George gives instructions to the Jewish Academy of Orlando second graders. Jewish Academy of Orlando second-graders raised funds in the grade's annual Fun Run to benefit a Habitat for Humanity house. The students later visited the house and presented the check to the organization. The annual program at JAO begins with a cross-curricular study of economics. Students learn about the three basic human needs: food, clothing, and shelter, while also learning the differences between a want and a need. They also conduct a Fun Run to raise money to support Habitat for Humanity. After completion of their studies, students visited a construction site for a Habitat... New Delhi, March 19 : At least 53 per cent people in Uttar Pradesh feel safe in the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government, which came to power in 2017, a survey said on Friday. According to IANS C-Voter UP report card survey carried out on over 15,700 people, 35.3 per cent people said they don't feel secure under the Yogi Adityanath government. The survey said that 53 per cent in India's most populous state feel safe from crime under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while 11.8 per cent people said that they had no comment to make. Improving law and order in the state has been one of the major promises of the BJP in the state. The Yogi Adityanath government has taken several decisions to tackle the issue of law and order and brought several laws to tighten the noose on criminals. The BJP came to power in 2017 in the state by winning 312 out of 403 Assembly seats. The Congress had won seven, Samajwadi Party 47, Bahujan Samaj Party 19, Rashtriya Lok Dal nine seats respectively. The Assembly polls in the state are scheduled early next year. Former national security adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (Ret.) speaks at the Let the Church ROAR National Prayer Rally on the National Mall in Washington on Dec. 12, 2020. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn Endorses Oklahoma Pastor Jackson Lahmeyer for Senate Run Lahmeyer looks to unseat Sen. Lankford Former national security advisor Michael Flynn traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Tuesday to announce his endorsement of Pastor Jackson Lahmeyer for the U.S. Senate. Lahmeyer is looking to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. James Lankford in 2022. We need to have strong warriors who are consistent in their beliefs and their values, who are willing to take the hard or right path, the retired lieutenant general said at Tuesdays press conference. Jackson Lahmeyer, a 29-year-old pastor in Tulsa, said Lankfords inconsistency on policy was why he is looking to challenge the senator for his seat. Lahmeyer said he believes that the current political situation facing his state requires a strong fighter. I watched our senator flip-flop like a fish out of water, Lahmeyer said in the press conference. I couldnt tell you one day where he was at to the next day. It was absolutely embarrassing and I saw fear all over him on January the 6th. He caved in like an absolute coward. Ill be a consistent conservative, Lahmeyer said. A double-minded person is unstable in all their ways. You have to make up your mind, you have to know what you believe in. Lahmeyer said that his public service will be based on three principles, being Biblical, Constitutional, and being grounded in common sense. In addition to pastoring at the Sheridan Christian Center, Lahmeyer also is the state director of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, an organization is run by Franklin Graham. Flynn also emphasized the importance of faith in public service, and said he was looking forward to Lahmeyer bringing an enhancement of the faith to the country. So I am here today to stand strong with this young man and his beautiful family, and the great state of Oklahoma, because theres a fabric that this man brings and this state brings, that our country continues to have, that fabric is the fabric of faith, and the faith-based system in our constitution, Flynn said. Flynn agreed with Lahmeyer that the country is experiencing an unprecedented time, and said that the country needs somebody who can stand up for their values and beliefs, and not backdown or give in. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) speaks in Washington on Sept. 16, 2020. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) Sen. Lankford was one of the 11 senators who initially said they would oppose the states Electoral College votes and called for an emergency audit of the election result. He then dropped his objection after the Capitol breach. Despite Lankfords last-minute change of mind, Tulsas Black community leaders condemned his initial objection to the election results and said he should resign. Lankfords office didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Correction: A previous version of this article misstated Flynns former military position. The Epoch Times regrets the error. BALTIMORE MD, March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- Global Boatworks Holdings, Inc. (OTC: GBBT), ("Global" or "the Company") an innovative provider of better-contextualized data to businesses for the 1-in-3 Americans living with a criminal record, and consumers with thin credit files, today announces it has partnered with Whats Next Washington (WNW). WNW is a Seattle, Washington nonprofit led by Susan Mason, a champion for workforce inclusion for people with records. We are delighted to announce this working relationship. Customers who use R3 Score to assess job seekers are able to leverage our tool to expand their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals and yet they often request additional technical assistance in addressing their policies, practices and programs that could be unintentionally disqualifying candidates, said Laurin Leonard, CEO of GBBT. Providing the best decision-making tools while ensuring our customers have access to the resources and support they need to fully implement R3 Score is one of the unique benefits of this product. As Leonard often says, Tech for techs sake wont allow us to see the real impact of this product. The power of R3 Score enables companies to grow through expanded talent pools. Customers requesting technical assistance to help them gain internal support for hiring candidates with records and how to retain this new talent demographic will now have the support from the countrys leading innovator, Whats Next Washington. WNW identifies this large talent pool as FIT, or formerly incarcerated talent. Whats Next Washington, a Seattle, Washington based 501(c)3 nonprofit, has developed a signature program called The Partnering For An Inclusive Workforce Project (PIWP). The Strategic Partnership with R3 Score now ensures the Companys HR Customers starting in April 2021 can receive technical assistance from the nonprofit. Specifically, HR customers requesting support will be able to receive PIWPs one-of-a- kind, how-to roadmap. The roadmap has been developed through a series of employer convenings and in-house bias training. It was this service offering which led to the creation of a forthcoming HR guidebook called: The Get FITTMGuide (GFG), a hiring manual for HR recruiters and hiring managers. From the moment I learned about R3 Score I felt like a partnership between our two entities could really drive business growth, help corporations reach their DEI goals and in doing so provide meaningful work opportunities for qualified talent in all sectors, even those that are heavily regulated, all while maintaining safe and productive workplaces, said Susan Mason, the co-founder and Executive Director of Whats Next Washington. R3 Score HR customers will have exclusive access to the technical assistance to support ongoing job performance projects. Laurin noted, Growing the Company means listening to the needs of R3 Scores customers. We are committed to providing our customers with the best tools and resources and our Customers have let us know they desire support long after weve offered our risk models to aid in their initial decision-making. About Global Boatworks Holdings, Inc. and R3 Holdings, Inc. Global completed a definitive Share Exchange Agreement with Baltimore, Maryland-based R3 Technologies, Inc. on September 23, 2020. R3 Holdings, Inc. is a SaaS company that provides a more contextualized criminal background report and alternative credit score for use by businesses of all sizes and in every industry. R3s AI-enabled, financial software platform uses proprietary data-driven scoring designed to unlock new valuable information about employees and financial services consumers utilizing a multi-factor algorithm based on 11 factors assessing character, capacity, and current choice. To learn more about R3 Score, visit www.R3Score.com . About Whats Next Washington Whats Next Washington (WNW) is a nonprofit organization of formerly incarcerated individuals and allies working to help people with conviction histories reintegrate into society and achieve long-term economic stability. We believe that everyone is entitled to a life of dignity and full participation in society, that those closest to a problem are closest to the solutions, and that stakeholder collaboration is the most efficient and innovative way to solve complex problems. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the current view about future events. When used in this presentation, the words anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, future, intend, plan, or the negative of these terms and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management, identify forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements contained in this presentation relating to the view of the management of R3 Score Technologies, Inc. (the Company) concerning its business strategy, future operating results, and liquidity and capital resources outlook. Forward-looking statements are based on the Companys current expectations and assumptions regarding its business, the economy, and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. The Companys actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. They are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees of assurance of future performance. We caution you, therefore, against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. Factors or events that could cause the Companys actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all of them. The Company cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. Except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States, the Company does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results. Contact: Info@R3Score.com Investor Relations Contact: TraDigital IR Kevin McGrath +1-646-418-7002 kevin@tradigitalir.com A man accused of killing a South Jersey resident and suspected in the deaths of his ex-wife and three others in New Mexico has claimed he killed 16 people in all, according to prosecutors. Sean M. Lannon, 47, is charged with the killing of his youth mentor, 66-year-old Michael Dabkowski, who was found beaten to death in his East Greenwich Township home on March 8. Flash Russia, China, the United States and Pakistan signed a joint statement here on Thursday, calling on all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan to reduce the level of violence, and urging the Taliban not to pursue a spring offensive. The statement on a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan was released by the Russian Foreign Ministry after a regular meeting of the four countries, or the extended "Troika," with the participation of representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban. Russia, China, the United States and Pakistan in the 10-point statement asked all Afghans to ensure that terrorist groups and individuals do not use Afghan soil to threaten the security of any other country. The four countries called on participants in the intra-Afghan negotiations to engage immediately in discussions on fundamental issues to resolve the conflict. "At this pivotal moment, our four states call on the parties to negotiate and conclude a peace agreement that will bring an end to over four decades of war in Afghanistan," the statement read. 101 Shares Share As the anniversary for March 11 anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic has come and gone, nurses across Canada are at their breaking point. We are exhausted, burned out and angry. Nurses are on the frontlines of the pandemic and our health-care system every day. We see its problems in brutal detail, and we have the experience to know whats needed to fix them. We have repeatedly called on decision-makers to address critical staffing shortages and provide basic protections to keep workers safe. We continue to be disregarded, and the result has been devastating. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the number of COVID-19 cases among health workers has tripled since July 2020. As of January 15, 65,920 health workers have been infected with the COVID-19 virus, representing 9.5 percent of all infections in Canada. More than 40 health workers are known to have died from the illness. In our troubled long-term care system, insufficient staffing and safety protocols have contributed to a national tragedy. About 25,000 health-care worker infections are in long-term care. More than 14,000 vulnerable residents have died from COVID-19, representing about 70 percent of all deaths in Canada. It didnt have to be this way. As early as January of last year, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions began urging governments across Canada to heed the lessons of SARS and adopt a precautionary approach. This meant assuming the virus was airborne and protecting health-care workers potential vectors of transmission accordingly. Despite similar efforts by unions across the country, health-care workers have been put at unacceptable risk, with implications for their families, patients, and communities. Most health-care workers, even those caring for COVID-19 patients, were only provided flimsy surgical masks, and in many jurisdictions, masks were reused until they were soiled and damaged. Faced with supply issues, N95 respirators were often locked away. It took the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) until January 2021 to acknowledge what unions and many experts have said all along. Health-care workers are at risk of airborne transmission when in close proximity to an infected person. Yet PHAC still does not require health-care workers in COVID-19 units and hot zones to wear protection from airborne transmission, such as N95 respirators. Similarly, provinces across Canada have failed to update their guidance to adequately reflect what we now know about the virus and how its spreads. Only Quebec has followed the scientific evidence to its natural conclusion: As of February 11, 2021, Quebec requires health-care workers in COVID-19 hot zones to wear an N95 respirator or superior level of protection. As new variants circulate in Canada, dramatically increasing the rate of transmission, burned out health-care workers are under even more pressure. Without action, health staffing, which is already in short supply, could become depleted even further. We must not let this happen. We know from experts and evidence that there is a desperate need for more staff, not less. The long-standing cycle of budget cuts, short staffing, and higher workloads has eroded the health care workforce and quality of patient care. A major investment in the retention and recruitment of nurses is needed now or it is likely we will see an exodus from the profession as burnout takes its toll. Its time for governments across Canada to take their heads out of the sand and show their respect and appreciation for health care workers. A good first step would be to act on our calls for better workplace safety and safe staffing. Had decision-makers heeded the nurses warnings prior to the pandemic, perhaps many more lives could have been saved. Linda Silas is a nurse and president, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions. Image credit: Shutterstock.com DRAIN, Ore. The Top of the Bowl strip club willingly surrendered its liquor license to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission as of last week. Rik Marin, the manager of the controversial club told KEZI 9 News they made the decision after they were served another violation from OLCC, right after their 50-day suspension ended in January. RELATED: DOUGLAS COUNTY STRIP BAR REOPENS AFTER OLCC SUSPENSION In October, the OLCC temporary suspended their license after they were accused of violating COVID-19 protocols like mask wearing and social distancing inside the club. They pushed and pushed us and we had to finally figure out a way to do what were doing without all the control, said Marin. Without their license, the club cannot serve alcohol. However, Marin decided to convert the Top of the Bowl into a private, member-only club. They will be charging people yearly or monthly memberships to get into the club. Marin said they will no longer sell alcohol. However, he said members will be able to bring in bottles if they would like. We own the building. Its our building to do what we want with it and now were a private club. Gateway Family Fellowship pastor Ray Perry, which sits right next to the strip club, said he was shocked when he learned that Marin surrendered the license. However, he said he was frustrated to learn that they are taking the easy way out. They bucked the system so far and theyre continuing to buck the system, said Perry. OLCC spokesperson Bryant Haley said there is nothing illegal with the Top of the Bowl converting into a private club, especially if they are not serving alcohol. However, he said they will be keeping a close eye on the club to make sure their new business model is compliant. Well see how this model works for them and what theyre actually doing, said Haley. Its sometimes really hard to, depending on what the business model is until we actually talk to a licensee. However, Marin said he is hopeful they wont hear from OLCC anytime soon. Its eliminating the OLCC and us fighting them again, he said. South Africa: More artisans to be trained by Water dept A partnership between South Africa and Japan will see the Department of Water and Sanitation train artisans to deal with water losses in communities. Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and the Ambassador of Japan, Norio Maruyama, are on Monday, 22 March, expected to officially hand over a multimillion rand training yard and launch the training programme on non-revenue water. The training yard, which is in Roodeplaat, Gauteng, covers the basics of training artisans to deal with water losses in communities. The design of the training yard was done by the departments engineers, with technical support from the Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA). A South African company was contracted by JICA to construct the training yard. The Japanese government, through JICA, funded the construction of the training facility. The handover of the facility takes place on the last day of South Africas National Water Week, commemorated from 15 - 22 March 2021. DWS engineers will handle all the activities, including the maintenance of the training yard, to ensure sustainability of the programme. The training yard is completed and ready to be handed over to the South African government by the Japanese government, said Water and Sanitation spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-03-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. According to Pastinfos information, officers from the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia on Wednesday paid a visit to Administrative Court Judge Mher Petrosyan, under whose proceedings the lawsuit by the chief of the General Staff of the Armed ForcesOnik Gasparyanis being examined, and they tried to enter the judge's office. Moreover, the visit took place before the court examined the motion of Gasparyan's lawyers to apply a means of securing the lawsuit. The judge immediately informed the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) about the visit of the NSS officers. Pastinfo managed to contact Judge Mher Petrosyan, who confirmed this information, noting that the NSS officers had indeed visited the court and wanted to meet with him, which he refused. "Yes, there was such a visit, I did not meet with them at all, I refused to meet, proposing to organize the meeting, if necessary, only through the SJC, and I immediately informed the SJC," the judge said, adding that the visit of the NSS officers visit had taken place after he had already made the decision to accept the lawsuit in a well-known case and it was inputted in the program of the judicial system. At the same time, he confirmed the information that the visit took place before the decision on applying the security measure of the lawsuit. As for the SJC's response to this incident, Judge Petrosyan said that he was quite grateful to the SJC in this connection. He noted that, first, before this incident, when such rumors were already circulated in the morning, they called him, inquired, and after that they informed that all the SJC members were aware and, if necessary, would exercise their powers by using the levers defined by the relevant law. "But it did not reach that," the judge added. Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, Onik Gasparyan, has filed three lawsuits with the Administrative Court, challenging the legality of the decision to dismiss him from the aforesaid post. The lawsuits were assigned to Administrative Court Judge Mher Petrosyan, who accepted one of the lawsuits and granted the motion to apply the means of securing the lawsuit filed within its framework. Group releases PSAs for Arbor Day to encourage planting and protecting trees RALEIGH, NC / ACCESSWIRE / March 19, 2021 / The North Carolina Urban Forest Council (NCUFC) released two public service announcements to encourage communities across the state to properly plant, protect, and care for urban trees - the trees where we live, work and play. The announcements help support efforts of North Carolina Arbor Day on March 19 and National Arbor Day on April 30 and were partially funded by the North Carolina Forest Service. The Importance of Urban Trees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMAPKvW-wtI The Importance of Proper Tree Care: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHL0ymU8u_k "Trees are often the answer to economic, health, safety, and environmental issues all communities face," said Leslie Moorman, NCUFC Executive Director. "North Carolina communities participate in wonderful planting and tree care projects every Arbor Day, but we encourage them to go further and plant and protect urban trees year-round." Trees in all North Carolina cities and towns help: Clean the air and water; Save energy; Create healthy lifestyles; and Stimulate the state's economy. In fact, according to a study US Urban Forest Statistics, Values, and Projections by David J. Nowak and Eric J. Greenfield, North Carolina's urban forest saves the state $706.9 million a year by removing air pollution and helping us avoid energy and emissions use. Research also proves spending time around trees and looking at trees reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, and improves mood - valuable benefits for people during the pandemic. "We must properly care for and protect our urban trees every day to continuously get their benefits," said Moorman. "We can all help North Carolina be green for generations to come." To properly care for urban trees: Plant trees at their correct depths; Place thin layers of mulch away from tree trunks; Make proper pruning cuts; and Hire a certified arborist to help if needed. Residents can visit www.ncufc.org for a Tree Owner's Manual, to find out how to hire an arborist, for more information about NCUFC programs, or to become a sponsor or member. The North Carolina Urban Forest Council (NCUFC) consists of individuals, citizen groups, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and agencies from around the state that share an interest in community and urban forestry. We are many different voices protecting trees where we live, work, and play. NCUFC is a nonprofit organization that helps communities strengthen the efforts of local groups by serving as a resource, a forum for networking and discussion, and an advocate of the urban forest. The Council seeks to encourage and support these communities in their urban forest management efforts. For more information, visit www.ncufc.org. @ncurbanforests CONTACT: Leslie Moorman, 252-653-6277 Executive Director, NC Urban Forest Council SOURCE: North Carolina Urban Forest Council View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/636472/North-Carolina-Urban-Forest-Council-Shows-Economic-and-Health-Benefits-of-Caring-for-Urban-Trees-Year-Round Working visit of H.E. Prof. Robert Dussey in Berlin 1- Prof. Robert DUSSEY, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Togolese Abroad, paid a working visit to Berlin from March 15 to 18, 2021. 2- During his stay, he met H.E. Heiko Maas, German Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs. The two personalities exchanged views on subjects relating to bilateral cooperation, the situation in West Africa and the Sahel. Their discussions also focused on multilateralism. 3- Bilaterally, the two Ministers praised the quality of the historic relations of friendship and cooperation that exist between their countries. They welcomed the economic performance recorded by Togo thanks to the bold reforms carried out by the Togolese Government as well as the significant and laudable support from Germany. 4- With regard to the situation in the West African sub-region and in the Sahel, the two Ministers welcomed the initiatives underway with a view to neutralizing terrorist actions and safeguarding peace. They reaffirmed the common will of the two countries to work together to bring peace and stability to West Africa and the Sahel. 5- With this in mind, they welcomed the meeting, on March 8, 2021, of the Support and Support Group for the transition in Mali and encouraged the Group to continue its mission for a peaceful and well-completed transition in the country. interest of the Malian people. 6- Appreciating the efforts of Togo, Minister Heiko Maas paid tribute to the President of the Togolese Republic, HE Faure Essozimna GNASSINGBE, for his commitment and tireless efforts in the management of crises and conflicts as well as in the constant search for peace and security in West Africa and the Sahel. 7- On the question of multilateralism, Togo and Germany greatly appreciated this mode of organization and management of inter-state relations that the two countries share and intend to contribute to its revitalization in order to allow the achievement of the Millennium Goals. For the development. 8- In addition, Prof. Robert DUSSEY also had a working session with Dr. Gerd MULLER, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development. During this meeting, the two Ministers praised the positive and remarkable development of cooperation relations between their countries. They explored the ways and means necessary to intensify their cooperative relations. On this occasion, they signed the joint declaration of intent on the opening of partnership negotiations to encourage reforms within the framework of the G20 Compact with Africa initiative. 9- By this declaration, the two Parties reaffirmed their common objectives aimed at improving the framework conditions for private investments in order to ensure massive job creation as well as inclusive and sustainable growth. 10- The two ministers also had specific exchanges on the Togolese diaspora. They agreed on the principle of a strategic partnership project that will train Togolese from the diaspora living in Germany in promising professions for development, and support them in carrying out projects in Togo. 11- Ministers Robert DUSSEY and Gerd MULLER also addressed the issue of African diasporas and Afro-descendants by recalling that during the 34th African Union Summit on February 6 and 7, 2021, the Conference of Heads of State and Government, on a proposal from Togo, decreed 2021 2031 : Decade of African Roots and Diasporas. In this capacity, Minister Robert DUSSEY presented to his German counterpart, Dr. Gerd MULLER, the Lome initiative as an unprecedented framework for exchanges and international cooperation, particularly in economic, social, financial and cultural matters involving Afro-descendants and African diasporas. They agreed to prepare a partnership and support project for Germany to accompany the Decade of African Roots and Diasporas. 12- In addition, Prof. DUSSEY had discussions at the Federal Chancellery and successively met members of the German Foundation for Africa, the parliamentary group Friends of Togo, the German-Togolese Association as well as German entrepreneurs, members of the Federation of Small and medium enterprises. 13- At the end of his stay, Prof. Robert DUSSEY expressed his warm thanks and his deep gratitude to the German authorities for the warm welcome extended to him as well as for the facilities granted to him during his stay. 14- He took this opportunity to invite Ministers Heiko Maas and Gerd Muller to make working visits to Togo. These invitations have been accepted, their completion dates will be determined. Berlin, March 17, 2021 MIAMI - Two Royal Caribbean cruises will resume in June ending a yearlong hiatus, but passengers 18 and older must test negative for COVID-19 before getting on a ship. FILE - In this March 14, 2020 file photo, Royal Caribbean International cruise ship docked at PortMiami, among other cruise ships, as the world deals with the coronavirus outbreak in Miami. Royal Caribbean Group is putting its cruising toes back in the water this summer. The cruise company said Friday, March 19, 2021 that two of its lines Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises will resume Caribbean sailings in June. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File) MIAMI - Two Royal Caribbean cruises will resume in June ending a yearlong hiatus, but passengers 18 and older must test negative for COVID-19 before getting on a ship. The company's Celebrity Cruises subsidiary said its Celebrity Millennium ship will relaunch on June 5 from St. Maarten. One itinerary will stop in Aruba, Curacao and Barbados, and another will stop in Tortola, St. Lucia and Barbados. CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said returning to the Caribbean "marks the measured beginning of the end of what has been a uniquely challenging time for everyone." Royal Caribbean Group's namesake line will start a week later with a voyage leaving from Nassau, the Bahamas on the Adventure of the Seas. In both cases, passengers 18 and older will be required to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of boarding the ship. Shares of Miami company rose more than 1% Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has held up cruise ship operations in U.S. waters since March 2020, although it has laid out guidelines for cruises to resume with conditional sailing certificates. The Caribbean is a popular destination for American customers. So is Alaska, but the Canadian government has banned cruise ships carrying more than 100 passengers through February 2022, which will stop many ships from visiting Alaska this summer. The ships accounted for most of Alaska's 1.3 million visitors in 2019, before the pandemic. Christine Livingston, who retired from the NHS in 2014, completed ten hours of online learning with St John Ambulance in February Volunteers with medical backgrounds who have completed hours of training to give Covid-19 vaccinations are being turned away from the job, it has emerged. St John Ambulance has trained 30,000 volunteers across three roles since the vaccination rollout began in December, including former healthcare workers who have offered their time to give jabs. However, volunteers in Yorkshire have claimed many roles are instead being filled by registered GPs and nurses - some of whom are allegedly being paid overtime. Christine Livingston, who retired from the NHS in 2014, completed ten hours of online learning in February before undertaking an interview and a day of in-person training with SJA. Since finishing the course, the former senior clinician claims she has been unable to work as a vaccinator despite trying to book shifts at several sites in Yorkshire. Another retired nurse, who worked in healthcare for 35 years, yesterday completed her third shift in Sheffield, but said SJA volunteers were only used to guide the public through the centre or to offer support following vaccinations. The ex-Macmillan nurse, who asked to remain anonymous, added around 20 registered nurses are typically in attendance: 'Which seems like an awful lot of waste really.' St John Ambulance has trained 30,000 volunteers across three roles since the vaccination rollout began in December, including former health workers who have offered their time to give jabs. Pictured: Stock image Volunteers have claimed many vaccinator roles in Yorkshire are instead being filled by paid GPs and nurses - some of whom are allegedly being compensated with overtime rates She added: 'It's just really frustrating because there are lots of us there who are capable of vaccinating. 'As there are fewer Covid patients now being admitted, services are going back to normal so it seems like the right time to hand over the majority of vaccinations to non-NHS staff. 'Obviously there need to be some there to monitor, but it's just such an intensive thing. '[On Thursday] there were 16 booths open [for vaccines] and there might be 20 registered nurses which seems like an awful lot of waste really.' Ms Livingston believes people with medical backgrounds, like herself, should be giving jabs so current NHS staff are able to work in hospitals, addressing a backlog in treatment which has grown during the pandemic. 'I haven't been able to find any volunteering shifts except in a post-vaccination carer role,' she said. 'As a retired healthcare professional I find it quite an affront, I'm willing to do it for free as are several people in my social circle who are in the same situation. 'I think it's quite scandalous to be honest. We could release many of the registered staff so they can support the hospitals and address the surgical backlog or backfill to allow exhausted ITU staff some much needed time off.' The former NHS worker has attempted to secure shifts in Doncaster, Sheffield, Hull and Huddersfield but has so far been unsuccessful. Last week, four shifts she volunteered for at the John Smith Stadium vaccination centre in Huddersfield were cancelled with little explanation. In a memo seen by MailOnline, the SJA noted it was aware volunteers had been 'disappointed' that they were unable to vaccinate at the site. They added there had been a 'delay in the sign off on some NHS paperwork' which allows SJA volunteers to give jabs at the stadium. 'I think we are all feeling incredibly frustrated and we think it is a bit disingenuous because all these people are capable and places are being filled [by medics] when it's not necessary,' Ms Livingston said. 'SJA have responded to the challenge magnificently to fulfil the contract the NHS set, developing the training programme, recruiting and assessing the volunteers.' A second retired healthcare worker - who was a nurse for 35 years - has also volunteered her time to SJA. But despite her medical background, she has been unable to vaccinate, and has spent her three shifts in Sheffield helping support people following their jabs. She said: 'They tend to put the SJA volunteers at the back where people come out after the vaccine, so if anyone feels a bit faint then were there to help and provide information.' Volunteers learn how to administer an injection during a vaccinator training day lesson ran by the St John's Ambulance in Canary Wharf, east London in January Nick Gray, a St Johns Ambulance vaccinator gives the AstraZeneca vaccine at St John's Church, in Ealing, London, in March Regardless of her frustration, the former nurse has commended SJA - which is largely made up of volunteers - for doing a 'fantastic job' when recruiting thousands. SJA has trained Britons in three roles: vaccinator, care volunteer and patient advocate. The latter two roles are not clinical, and can also be carried out by those trained to vaccinate. Volunteers are operating in 18 vaccination sites across the North East and Yorkshire, but SJA was unable to confirm how many sites currently have active vaccinators. It was announced in November that SJA had been contracted by the NHS as a 'workforce partner' to prepare thousands of volunteers for the vaccine rollout. More than 25million people in the UK have so-far received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, including three million in the North East and Yorkshire. Four shifts Ms Livingston volunteered for at the John Smith Stadium vaccination centre in Huddersfield (pictured) were last week cancelled with little explanation The charity's 30,000 volunteers are all required to meet 'strict selection criteria' before receiving 'appropriate clinical training, including official courses developed in partnership with and approved by NHS England.' SJA also confirmed last year that all vaccinators will be 'supervised by clinicians'. Those who have completed training are able to book shifts through an app, but Ms Livingston claims the only available roles close to her home in Doncaster are in the advocate or post care positions. She said: 'There's absolutely none anywhere locally, it's just advocates or post care, but no vaccinator roles at all.' The mother-of-one, who worked for the NHS for 42 years, suggested some medics and nurses may be 'racing in' to take on extra hours in place of those who have volunteered. When questioned on this allegation, NHS England did not deny that medics in the North East and Yorkshire are being paid overtime rates to give jabs. Ms Livingston said: 'All these people who are being trained by SJA have given time and enthusiasm. They're trying to come forward to help and then being sidelined because registered healthcare professionals are covering the centres. 'I just think we could be using registered health professionals more efficiently in the hospitals and leave people like us, with supervision, to do the bulk of the vaccination work.' Queues of Britons wait outside the John Smith's Stadium vaccination centre in Huddersfield She alleged that her local co-ordinator admitted SJA volunteers are not being used to vaccinate anywhere in Doncaster, Sheffield, Hull, Scunthorpe and Huddersfield. Ms Livingston worked for the NHS for 42 years, with the last 26 spent as a senior clinical midwife in charge of a Delivery Suite at Doncaster Royal Infirmary. SJA told MailOnline its volunteers have given 75,000 hours of their time since January, with 'much more to come.' The charity stressed that the demand for each role depends on the needs of the local area, adding: 'Our people are delivering everything that's asked of them'. A statement said: 'NHS demand for St John volunteers has varied depending on local needs. 'We know people are keen to make a positive difference to their communities, and we're grateful for our volunteers' patience as activity ramps up across the whole country. 'St John Ambulance is active at more than 100 vaccination centres across England with further sites coming on line in late March and early April.' The NHS said it currently has enough volunteers to deliver the vaccine available, and has been recruiting more people who will be drafted in as supplies are secured. A spokesman for NHS North East and Yorkshire said: 'Vaccinating over three million people in the North East and Yorkshire has been supported thanks to the hard work and dedication of thousands volunteers, alongside NHS staff, and they will continue to play a key part in our vaccination drive in line with available supply as our programme continues to accelerate.' The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, restrained the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from inviting, harassing and threatening to arrest or detain Mike Ozekhome, for criticising the former acting chairman of the commission, Ibrahim Magu. Delivering the judgment, the judge, Inyang Ekwo, held that serial acts of intimidation and constant invitations of Mr Ozekhome, a well-known Senior Advocate of Nigeria, by the EFCC, were illegal, unlawful, wrong and unconstitutional. The lawyer had told the court that the intimidation, invitations as well as threats to arrest, detain and humiliate him were because of publications and speeches he made about alleged apparent opaqueness and lopsidedness of the anti-corruption fight of the EFCC under the leadership of Mr Magu. The court held that the action of the agency constituted a violation of Mr Ozekhomes fundamental rights as enshrined in sections 35, 37, 39 and 41 of the Nigerian constitution. The court said the action of the anti-graft agency also contravened Articles 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12 & 14 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights Ratification and Enforcement Act, Cap. A9 LFN 2004. Rights enforcement suit The judgement was on a fundamental rights enforcement suit instituted by Mr Ozekhome. The EFCC, Mr Magu and one operative, Abubakar Madaki, were named as the first to third respondents in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/324/2018. Mr Ozekhome had told the court that aside from repeatedly summoning him to appear for questioning, the EFCC froze his bank account after he was paid his legal fees totalling N75 million by the former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose. The lawyer maintained that one of the reasons the EFCC made him its primary target was that he secured so many legal victories against it in various courts in the country. He said he did not commit any offence to warrant the incessant invitations and threats to arrest, detain or declare him wanted by the respondents. The lawyer told the court that the account from which the N75 million was paid to him belonged to the former governor of Ekiti, whom he said had not been convicted by any court to warrant labelling the money as proceeds of crime. Mr Ozekhome also said it took the intervention of the Federal High Court in Lagos to unfreeze his bank account. He, therefore, prayed the court to, among other things, declare that he was entitled to receive legal fees for professional services he rendered to clients. The lawyer further asked the court to compel the respondents to publish an unreserved apology to him in three prominent dailies for the breach of his rights. He also asked the court for an order directing the respondents to jointly and severally pay N5 billion to him as damages for the violation of his rights. EFCCs objection However, the EFCC, in a counter-affidavit deposed to by one of its operatives, Usman Aliyu, urged the court to dismiss the suit. The commission told the court that Mr Ozekhome was being investigated for a lot of cases bordering on money laundering and tax evasion based on an intelligence report from the Nigeria Financial Intelligent Unit (NFIU). It told the court that Mr Ozekhome received various sums of money at different times from DAAR Investment & Holding Company Limited, Ekiti Government and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) without payment of taxes due to both the federal and Ekiti State governments. ADVERTISEMENT The EFCC also told the court that further investigation revealed an attempt by the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience Jonathan, to launder money through Mr Ozekhome in the sum of N1 billion. Ozekhomes suit succeeds Mr Ekwo said, in his judgment, that he was satisfied that Mr Ozekhome established a case of intimidation and harassment by the respondents. He held that though the court would always restrain itself from interfering in the functions of statutory bodies like the EFCC. That is only in so far as such agency is demonstrably shown to be acting pursuant to the veritable spirit of the law, Mr Ekwo said. He added, Where the act of such statutory body is shown to be manifestly predicated on ill will, malice and animosity, the law will intervene. The court will never allow the law to be used as instrument of vendetta or vindictiveness as established in this case. On the whole, I find that the applicant has established a clear case of animus by the respondents in the manner of incessant invitations to him. The judge, however, declined to either award damages in his favour of the plaintiff or compel EFCC to apologise to him. (NAN) Katie Brennan, the state official who publicly accused a former top aide to Gov. Phil Murphy of raping her during Murphys 2017 campaign, is leaving her New Jersey government job, NJ Advance Media has learned. Brennan, chief of staff at the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, is taking a new position in New York City Mayor Bill de Blasios administration, said Brennans attorney, Kathryn Katy McClure. Brennan will be senior advisor to the citys deputy mayor of housing and economic development. Her last day working for New Jersey is March 29. Katie has played an integral role in our agency over the past three years and she will be greatly missed, said Melanie R. Walter, executive director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency. Her commitment to the development of housing and healthcare programming helped propel these NJHMFA initiatives to national prominence. We wish Katie much success in her future endeavors, and are appreciative of all she has done for NJHMFA during her time here, Walter added. She will be a great asset to her new organization. Brennan became the center of the New Jersey political world in late 2018 when she publicly accused Albert J. Alvarez, the Latino and Muslim outreach director of Murphys first campaign, of raping her after a campaign gathering in 2017, when she was a volunteer for the campaign. Alvarez, who was hired to become chief of staff of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority after the campaign, has repeatedly denied the allegation and was not charged after two law-enforcement investigations. Brennans allegations prompted a bipartisan panel of state lawmakers to hold high-profile hearings into how Murphys team responded to the accusations. Brennan testified in a December 2018 hearing that she told multiple members of Murphys inner circle about her allegations but her pleas went unanswered. She said Alvarez was given a job in the administration after she first alerted Murphys team about the accusations. Administration officials said Alvarez was told to leave state government in March 2018 and again in June but remained until October of that year, when he resigned only after he was asked for comment from a newspaper reporter about Brennans allegations. In 2019, the legislative panel that investigated the matter delivered a scathing report that concluded Murphys top staffers failed Brennan every step of the way. Murphys administration ordered its own independent investigation, which cleared Murphys aides of wrongdoing and blamed a flawed system for failing Brennan. The Democratic governor has maintained he did not personally know about Brennans allegations until October, when Alvarez stepped down. Last year, Brennan settled a lawsuit against the state, with the state and Murphys campaign agreeing to pay $1 million $600,000 of which would go to a charity of Brennans choice and $400,000 to her attorneys. Neither side admitted any wrongdoing. It remains unclear who in the Murphy administration hired Alvarez. Meanwhile, Murphy signed a number of bills into law last year inspired by the Brennan scandal to improve the way the state responds to sexual assault claims. He has said his goal is to make New Jersey a leading state for survivor-centric policies. In 2019, Alvarez filed a lawsuit against the state for unlawful termination and told NJ Advance Media he became a pariah in the public, making it difficult for him to find a job. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Developed by researchers at the University of Sao Paulo, the non-invasive methodology facilitates identification of immature or poor-quality seeds without destroying them or creating residues. In Brazil, researchers affiliated with the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA) and the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), both part of the University of Sao Paulo (USP), have developed a methodology based on artificial intelligence to automate and streamline seed quality analysis, a process required by law and currently done manually by analysts accredited with the Ministry of Agriculture. The group used light-based technology like that deployed in plant and cosmetics analysis to acquire images of the seeds. They then turned to machine learning to automate the image interpretation process, minimizing some of the difficulties of conventional methods. For example, for many species, optical imaging technology can be applied to an entire batch of seeds rather than just samples, as is the case currently. Furthermore, the technique is non-invasive and does not destroy the products analyzed or generate residues. The light-based techniques consisted of chlorophyll fluorescence and multispectral imaging. Among plants that are relevant as both crops and experimental models, the researchers chose tomatoes and carrots produced in different countries and seasons and submitted to different storage conditions. They used seeds of the Gaucho and Tyna commercial tomato varieties produced in Brazil and the US, and seeds of the Brasilia and Francine carrot varieties produced in Brazil, Italy, and Chile. The choice was based on the economic importance of these food crops, for which world demand is high and rising, and on the difficulties faced by growers in collecting their seeds. In both tomatoes and carrots, the ripening process is not uniform because the plants flower continuously and seed production is non-synchronous, so that seed lots may contain a mixture of immature and mature seeds. The presence of immature seeds is not easily detected by visual methods, and techniques based on machine vision can minimize this problem. The researchers compared the results of their non-destructive analysis with those of traditional germination and vigor tests, which are destructive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. In the germination test, seed analysts separate samples, sow them to germinate in favorable temperature, water, and oxygen conditions, and verify the final quantity of normal seedlings produced in accordance with the rules established by the Ministry of Agriculture. Vigor tests are complementary and more sophisticated. The most common are based on the seed's response to stress and seedling growth parameters. Besides the difficulties mentioned, traditional methods are time-consuming. In the case of tomatoes and carrots, for example, it can take up to two weeks to obtain results, which are also largely subjective, depending on the analyst's interpretation. "Our proposal is to automate the process as much as possible using chlorophyll fluorescence and multispectral imaging to analyze seed quality. This will avoid all the usual bottlenecks," said Clissia Barboza da Silva, a researcher at CENA-USP and one of the authors of an article on the study published in Frontiers in Plant Science. Silva is the principal investigator for the project supported by Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP. The lead author of the article is Patricia Galletti, who conducted the study as part of her master's research and won the Best Poster Award in 2019 at the 7th Seed Congress of the Americas, where she presented partial results of the project. Chlorophyll as a marker of quality Chlorophyll is present in seeds, where it supplies energy for the storage of nutrients needed for development (lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates). Once it has fulfilled this function, the chlorophyll breaks down. "However, if the seed doesn't complete the maturation process, this chlorophyll remains inside it. The less residual chlorophyll, the more advanced the maturation process and the more and higher-quality the nutrients in the seed. If there's a lot of chlorophyll, the seed is immature and its quality is poor," Silva said. If light at a specific wavelength is shone on the chlorophyll in a seed, it does not transfer this energy to another molecule but instead re-emits the light at another wavelength, meaning that it fluoresces. This fluorescence can be measured, she explained. Red light can be used to excite chlorophyll and capture the fluorescence using a device that converts it into an electrical signal, producing an image comprising gray, black, and white pixels. The lighter areas correspond to higher levels of chlorophyll, indicating that the seed is immature and unlikely to germinate. Artificial intelligence In multispectral imaging, LEDs (light-emitting diodes) emit light in the visible portion of the spectrum as well as non-visible light (UV and near-infrared). To analyze seed quality based on reflectance, the researchers used 19 wavelengths and compared the results with quality assessment data obtained by traditional methods. The best results were obtained using near-infrared in the case of carrot seeds and UV in the case of tomato seeds. Seeds contain proteins, lipids and sugars that absorb part of the light emitted by the LEDs and reflect the rest. The reflected light is captured by a multispectral camera, and the image captured is processed to separate the seeds from the support in the device, which corresponds to black pixels with zero value, while the seeds are gray-scale. The values of the pixels in the image of a seed correspond to its chemical composition. "We don't work with an average result for a sample. We perform individualized extraction for each seed," Silva said. "The larger the amount of a given nutrient the seed contains, the more light of a specific wavelength it absorbs so that less is reflected. A seed with a smaller nutrient content contains fewer light-absorbing molecules. This means its reflectance is higher, although this varies according to its components, which behave differently depending on the light wavelength used." An algorithm identifies the wavelength that obtains the best result. The process provides information about the seed's chemical composition, from which its quality can be inferred. For the researchers, it was not enough to reach the imaging stage, as this is still an operation that requires human observation. "We then deployed chemometrics, a set of statistical and mathematical methods used to classify materials chemically," Silva said. "The idea was that the equipment should classify quality on the basis of the image it captured." The methods used by the scientists in this study are widely used in medicine and the food industry. Next, they leveraged machine learning to test the models created using chemometrics. "We taught the model to identify high-quality and low-quality seeds. We used 70% of our data to train the model, and used the remaining 30% for validation," Silva said. Quality classification accuracy ranged from 86% to 95% in the case of tomato seeds, and from 88% to 97% in the case of carrot seeds. The two main techniques were both accurate and time-saving, given the speed of image capture. The chlorophyll fluorescence instrument captured one image per second, while the multispectral imaging analyzer processed 19 images in five seconds. Unexpected results An unexpected result produced in the course of the project proved highly important. Chlorophyll fluorescence and multispectral imaging are also efficient techniques for plant variety screening, an essential part of seed lot evaluation to avoid economic losses. "Growers buy seeds with the expectation of a certain crop yield, but production will be affected if seeds with different genetic characteristics aren't properly separated," Silva said. Screening is currently done by analysts trained in the skills needed to grade seeds by color, shape, and size, as well as molecular markers where possible. In the study, both techniques proved efficient to separate carrot varieties but multispectral imaging was unsatisfactory in the case of tomato varieties. "The study produced novel results with regard to the use of fluorescence to screen varieties," Silva said. "We found no prior research in which fluorescence was used for this purpose. Some studies show multispectral imaging to be efficient for this purpose, but not with the instrument we used." Instrument sharing A good way to transfer the knowledge produced by the research to the productive sector, Silva said, would be to have firms develop the equipment for sale to seed producers. "It would be possible to use the results of our research to develop an instrument that used only UV light to characterize tomato seed quality and bring it to market, for example," she surmised. ### The three devices used in the study are housed at CENA-USP, where they are now available to researchers from other institutions via the multiuser equipment system. The fluorescence device was created specially for this research. The manufacturer owns the intellectual property rights to plant analysis technology and customized the instrument for use in seed analysis. More information is available in Portuguese at http://www. cena. usp. br/ pesquisa/ emu/ multiusuario7 . Use of the multispectral imaging instrument can be requested at http://www. cena. usp. br/ pesquisa/ emu/ multiusuario8 . The researchers also acquired an X-ray machine to find out whether the seeds contained tissue specializing in nutrient storage, and if so, how much. This instrument can be booked at http://www. cena. usp. br/ pesquisa/ emu/ multiusuario9 . The study was also supported by FAPESP via five projects: 18/03802-4, 18/03793-5, 18/01774-3, 18/24777-8), and 18/03807-6). About Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Its no surprise that the Biden administrations first meeting with Chinese officials went badly. Secretary of State Antony Blinken all but said in advance that it would, calling the session a one-off, rather than the start of negotiations, and saying hed use it as an opportunity for an airing of grievances about Chinas bad behavior. It is surprising, though, that the meeting went so badly, and even more surprising that Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who led the U.S. delegation, seemed surprised that it did. Advertisement Blinken started Thursdays session, held in Anchorage, Alaska, reading a two-minute statementwith reporters and cameras presentcondemning Chinas suppression of democracy in Hong Kong, genocide in Xinjiang province, cyberattacks on America, and myriad violations of the rules-based world order. It should have come as no shock that Chinas top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, would return fire with a 16-minute barrage against Americas sinsits endless invasions abroad, its coercive brand of diplomacy, its own cyberattacks (at which the U.S. is the champion), the killings of Black Americans, and the deterioration of American democracy. Advertisement Advertisement Soviet diplomats ran the same game plan in the 1950s, answering any American criticism of the Kremlins mass oppression and political prisons by citing lynchings in Alabamaand, though the two superpowers systems were far from morally equivalent, the reply stung and had an impact in many third-world countries with Black or brown majorities, where Washington and Moscow were competing for influence. In more recent decades, Chinese diplomats too have taken umbrage at public criticism of what they regard as internal matters. Advertisement Yet Blinken seemed startled and kept the reporters in the room while he issued a long rejoinder. Sullivan chimed in, telling the Chinese across the table, A confident country is able to look hard at its own shortcomings and constantly seek to improveand that is the secret sauce of America. Yang then denounced Sullivan for speaking condescendingly, adding, The United States does not have the qualification to say it wants to speak to China from a position of strength. In the weeks leading up to this trip, Blinken and other officials had publicly said that they would be meeting with the Chinese from a position of strengthalways a mistake, as it seems designed to provoke and also conveys an impression of weakness, as those truly occupying a position of strength generally dont feel compelled to say they do. Advertisement Advertisement It might have been better if Blinken had replied to Yangs initial fusillade with a terse, witty sentence or twoanticipating such a barrel bomb, he could have written it in advance (Yang no doubt wrote his remarks days ahead of time)and then moved on to the behind-doors session. The Chinese behaved oddly as well. Hua Chunying, the foreign ministrys spokeswoman, chided Bidens team in a tweet for saying that the U.S. wont improve relations with China until China stops subjecting Australia to economic coercion. The U.S. is now switching from America First to Australia First? Hua tweeted. This line will no doubt pleaserather than alienateAmericas Asian allies. What were all of these diplomats doing? Bill Bishop, a longtime China watcher who writes the Sinocism newsletter, tweeted that Yang was aiming his remarks at an audience of oneChinese President Xi Jinping. Yang has been criticized for being too soft on America, Bishop added, he has to perform. (In his demand for subordinates total loyalty, Xi seems to be similar to Donald Trump.) Advertisement On the other side, Blinken and Sullivan may have had one eye on dispelling the concern, especially among Republicans back home, that Biden might appease China. But judging from their reactions to Yangs torpedo, it seems more likelyand disconcertingthat they were simply unprepared for this. Advertisement We dont yet know what happened after the reporters and cameras left the room. A senior official said Thursday night, that, after the stormy public ripostes, the two sides got down to business and held substantive, serious, and direct discussions that went well beyond the two hours we had allotted. This languagesubstantive, serious, and directis reminiscent of the term frank and businesslike invoked by public-affairs officials in the Cold War era to describe particularly tense meetings between U.S. and Soviet diplomats. Advertisement The U.S. and Chinese delegations are meeting again on Friday. Nothing is expected to come out of the session. The best hope is that it wont put the kibosh on the possibility of joint actionwhich both nations need to takeon climate change, counterterrorism, nuclear nonproliferation, and other issues where they have common or converging interests. Bidens policy toward China is to contain Beijings aggressiveness by coordinating with traditional U.S. allies. Biden, Blinken, and Sullivan have all said that allies give the U.S. an edge in the competition, since we have them and China does not. The view is a refreshing contrast to Trump, who saw China as a threat (except when he was touting Xi as a great friend and leader) but alienated the allies who were needed for a coordinated response. Advertisement Advertisement In this respect, the Biden teams Asian voyage has been a mixed bag so far. Leaders of Japan, South Korea, and India have seemed pleased to be treated to the new administrations first foreign trip, but it has highlighted conflicting interests as well as common ones. The joint statement released after Blinkens meeting in Seoul, for instance, said nothing about denuclearization of North KoreaBidens security objective in the regionor about China. South Korean President Moon Jae-in avidly wants a peace deal with the North and, to that end, wants to avoidmuch less join an alliance built onconfrontation with Beijing. When Blinken goes to Europe next week for the annual meeting of NATO ministers, he will find that several allies therenotably Germany and Francewant no part of what they see as a cold war with China, either. They rely on China for trade, dont view the distant Pacific as a theater for national-security concerns, and so dont view China as any sort of threat. Advertisement In any case, Biden and his team may have let their China Threat rhetoric get out too far ahead of them. China does have ambitions to tilt the world order in its favor; its military strength is growing in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea; it is embedding its technology and supply lines throughout the world. But China has many vulnerabilities. Its air force and navy arent yet capable of sustaining military operations far off its shores; its Belt and Road Initiative, to lock developing countries into exclusive economic relations, is spawning backlash; it is heavily dependent on the West for semiconductor chips and other advanced technologies. Biden seeks to exploit these vulnerabilities; other countries in the Indo-Asian regionalarmed by Xis aggressive behavior and harsh rhetoricare more willing than a few years ago to make a pact with the U.S. on this front. Theres nothing wrong with calling out the Chinese leaders on their destabilizing actions, but it is dangerous to match them in confrontational rhetoric. Doing so projects a lack of confidence and an insouciance toward escalating tensions. Nobody wants war with China, least of all the countries that Biden is recruiting in a more cohesive alliance. The main aim of countering China is to prevent and deter war. That should govern the substance and tone of the next meetings. ATELIER Playa Mujeres all-suites luxury resort The interior design of ATELIER Playa Mujeres was created for ATELIER de Hoteles by Curioso and Francisco Hanhausen Arquitectura & Diseno. ATELIER Playa Mujeres, an all-suites luxury resort, property of ATELIER de Hoteles the Mexican hotel chain recognized for its innovative concept of Handcrafted Hospitality, announced that it won recognition in the categories of Best Resort and Best Guestroom Upscale from the Gold Key Awards. The awards are given annually by Boutique Design magazine for excellence in hospitality design around the world. The interior design of ATELIER Playa Mujeres was designed in collaboration between Curioso and Francisco Hanhausen Arquitectura & Diseno from their studios in Chicago, Merida, in the Mexican state of Yucatan, and Mexico City. Commenting on the awards, Oliver Reinhart, CEO of ATELIER de Hoteles, said: "At ATELIER Playa Mujeres, we are very proud of winning two of the most important recognitions from the Gold Key Awards: Best Resort' and Best Guestroom Upscale. This a coveted honor for hospitality designers around the world. We are a hotel company that was founded to reimagine the luxury hotel experience in Mexico, the interior design created for us by Curioso and Francisco Hanhausen is a testament to our distinctive Handcrafted Hospitality philosophy. Daniel Pierce, Founder and Partner of Curioso, who led the design of ATELIER Playa Mujeres, remarked: Receiving accolades for our design work at the highest level is a testament to our teams commitment to making meaningful and memorable places. We are particularly grateful to be honored for a project located on the Yucatan Peninsula where we proudly have a studio. We crafted the design of the ATELIER hotel experience with the beauty and simplicity of that landscape in mind. A calming, subdued material palette pervades every space allowing the guest to appreciate the unspoiled natural vegetation that surrounds. The rooms are sanctuary-like, celebrating craftsmanship and the artisanal hand and providing a place for respite and inspiration. Francisco Hanhausen, founder of his eponymous, Mexico City-based practice, Francisco Hanhausen Arquitectura y Diseno expressed his inspiration for the resort: I have worked in this region of Mexico for 10 years, designing homes, restoring haciendas, and creating luxury hotels. With ATELIER Playa Mujeres, I was interested in a contemporary combination that celebrates the material simplicity of the Yucatan with the natural beauty of this coastal location. A sense of luxury can be made with simple materials like stone, chukum and wood when done in harmony with nature. ATELIER Playa Mujeres is a new expression of Mexican luxury. Now in their 40th year, the Gold Key Awards for Excellence in Hospitality Design recognize outstanding hospitality design worldwide for properties completed or renovated within the past 18 months. This years edition saw a record number of entries of over 350 submissions globally. The winners of the Gold Key Awards were chosen by a high-profile jury of leading experts in design, architecture, operation, development, and investment in the hospitality industry. An indicative of the global reach of the awards, is ATELIER Playa Mujeres was chosen as Best Resort and Best Guestroom Upscale amongst finalist hotels in the British Virgin Islands, China, Italy, Japan, and the Maldives. The winners of the Gold Key Awards were chosen by a group of recognized leading experts in design, architecture, operation, development, and investment in the hotel sector. Both winners and finalists will be published in the winter edition of the Boutique Design magazine. All related information from this award is available at https://goldkeyawards.com/honorees/ It is worth mentioning that ATELIER Playa Mujeres is an all-inclusive 5+ star concept for adults only and individuals older than 16 years of age. This hotel seduces its guests through the experience of contemporary Mexican art and its innovative environment, which harmoniously blends in with its surroundings, highlighting the natural beauty of the Mexican Caribbean. About: ATELIER de Hoteles is an innovative and ground-breaking Mexican hotel chain born in 2015, with contemporary Mexican art setting it apart and acting as the common denominator in its concepts, which include strategy, passion and commitment. ATELIER de Hoteles offers in its four brands, ATELIER, ESTUDIO, OLEO and MET, relaxed luxury with the highest in-service standards in its properties, currently located in the Hotel Zone and Playa Mujeres, both in Cancun, Quintana Roo, and with openings planned in the near future for the most important beach and business destinations in Mexico. All related information for Curioso is available at: https://www.curioso.us/atelierplayamujeres All related information for Francisco Hanhausen Arquitectura y Diseno is available at: https://www.hanhausen.com All related information from this award is available at: https://goldkeyawards.com/honorees/ Syracuse, N.Y. A potentially problematic invasive algae has been found in Skaneateles Lake. Known by the cheery name of starry stonewort, the algae could cause problems for the lake, an anglers haven and the unfiltered source of drinking water for Syracuse and suburbs. Its like many aquatic invasives in that it can take over and push out natural vegetation, said David Carr, project manager for the starry stonewort collaborative in the Finger Lakes. It can ruin fish habitat, and if it gets thick enough you cant pull a boat through. The stonewort is not related to the blue-green algae that exploded in the lake in 2017, infiltrating water pipes at the north end of the lake and forcing the city to inject extra chlorine to keep toxins from taps. Starry stonewort likely arrived in the Great Lakes the same way the zebra mussel did, by stowing away in ship ballast water. First spotted in the St. Lawrence River in 1978, starry stonewort has now been confirmed in at least five Finger Lakes and in 16 counties in New York, from Western New York to the Adirondacks. Its likely far more extensive than that because its easily spread from lake to lake by clinging to boats. Starry stonewort is in a lot of places, and my general feeling its been underreported thus far, Carr said. I dont think in past years its been given the attention and importance that some of the other invasives have. The algae has spread across the Upper Midwest, becoming a serious pest in lake-dense states like Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. Starry stonewort, a highly aggressive and rapidly spreading invasive macroalgae, continues to infect Michigan inland lakes at an alarming rate, the Michigan Lake & Stream Association said. Though its an algae, starry stonewort looks like a plant with a long, slender stem anchored by root-like structures to the soft lake bottom. It can grow to 7 feet tall and form dense mats that look like pillows, according to the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation. The plant can cover over fish-spawning areas, and can outcompete phytoplankton, the tiny plants that form the basis of the food chain in many lakes. Starry stonewort is named for the quarter-inch, white star-like reproductive structures found on the filamentous roots. (And its a little easier to pronounce than its scientific name, Nitellopsis obtusa.) While there are male and female stoneworts in their native Europe and Asia, only males are found in the U.S. Here, they reproduce asexually from fragments. Starry stonewort is hard to control. The loosely rooted stems can be easily pulled out by humans or harvesting machines, that can send fragments floating through the water that can anchor and grow. Chemical treatments can be effective, but the dead algae then decompose, adding nutrients to the water that could become fodder for other algae, including the unwanted blue-green algae. Thats our big concern with any of those plants that are prolific, said Frank Moses, executive director of the Skaneateles Lake Association. Were looking at what the phosphorous and nitrogen content of these plants are and how they could be feeding into the system. In Keuka Lake, where the stonewort was first spotted in 2015, local groups have removed the algae by hand and through a mechanical harvester. The work was done under a three-year grant from the DEC, but its difficult to tell how successful its been, said Patrick Killen, a Yates County legislator. Covid-19 restrictions stopped the work last year, he said. Complete eradication is probably not feasible, but hopefully were slowing its progress, Killen said. For now, the Skaneateles Lake Association will monitor the stonewort. The only sighting has been on an underwater shelf at the southern end of the 16-mile-long lake, far from the tourist area and water intake pipes at the north end. I dont think well do anything about it yet, said Buzz Roberts, who directs the lake associations invasive species efforts. Were going to keep an eye out to see if it pops up in other parts of the lake, because it can easily spread. - The invasive species starry stonewort has recently been spotted in Skaneateles Lake. They are so named because of the star-shaped reproductive structure found on the root-like tendrils. Paul Skawinski, Aquatic Plants of the Upper MidwestPaul Skawinski, Aquatic Plants o Tianjin, China - Container storage explosion On August 12, 2015, a series of explosions killed approximately 173 people and injured hundreds of others at a container storage station in the city's port. Responders to initial reports of a fire at the site were not able to bring the blaze under control because, unknown to the firefighters, vast amounts of sodium cyanide and other chemicals which react with water were being stored at the site. There were two initial explosions within 30 seconds of each other at the facility, the second of which was far larger because it was the result of 800 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploding. Fires at the site, which released tonnes of harmful substances into the air, were left uncontrolled due to the sheer scale of the explosion. Of the 173 fatalities, 104 were firefighters. On August 12, 2015, a series of explosions killed approximately 173 people and injured hundreds of others at a container storage station in the city's port Gazipur, Bangladesh - A boiler explosion During a restart of equipment on July 3, 2017, following a 10-day shutdown for Eid, Multifabs Limited confirmed that there garments factory boiler exploded, collapsing a section of its multi-story factory in the district of Gazipur on the outskirts of Dhaka. Worringly, the company was quoted as saying some 50 people were inside the building while the six-year-old boiler was having maintenance work done to it. Over the next 24 hours, rescuers found seven bodies in rubble, and three other victims died in hospital. The death toll would remained at 10. 'I heard a big bang when I was having tea outside,' factory driver Hafiz Mostafa said, as dozens thronged the factory site and firefighters moved rubble in search of missing persons. 'I saw windows, doors, glasses, machinery and a section of the wall of the building go flying.' 'The boiler was running well,' Mahiuddin Faruqui, Multifab's chairman told Reuters at the time. 'After servicing when workers were trying to restart it, it went off.' Cyprus navy base - Munitions dump blast In one of the worst defence industry disasters this century, 13 people, including the head of the Cypriot navy, a navy base commander and six firefighters were killed by a blast at a munitions dump which knocked out the island's biggest power station. Firefighters were called to the Evangelos Florakis navy base on the south coast of the island on 11 July, 2011, to tackle a blaze at the dump, which burned for about an hour before causing the explosion. The blast almost levelled the nearby Vassilikos power plant, which produces nearly 60 percent of the island's energy, damaged buildings in nearby villages and rained metal on a motorway. All the victims were Cypriots. The country's defense minister and army chief quit hours after the explosion at the dump, which held confiscated Iranian armaments. A government spokesman ruled out sabotage. The blast wounded 62 people, shredded the outer walls of two multi-storey buildings and shook olive groves and farming villages for miles around the base. 'My tractor jumped about half a meter in the air,' said farmer Nicos Aspros, who was tilling his field at the time of the blast. 'There isn't a house in the community which hasn't been damaged.' Firefighters were called to the Evangelos Florakis navy base on the south coast of the island on 11 July, 2011, to tackle a blaze at the dump, which burned for about an hour before causing the explosion Lagos, Nigeria - Armoury explosion The armoury explosion was the result of an accidental detonation of a large stock of military high explosives at a storage facility in the Nigerian capital on 27 January 2002. The fires created by the debris from this explosion burnt down a large section of Northern Lagos, and created a panic that spread to other areas. Also thrown up by the blast were thousands of as yet unexploded military munitions, which fell in a rain of exploding shells, grenades and bullets casting further destruction across most of the northern section of the city. As people fled the flames, many stumbled into a concealed Ejigbo canal and drowned. The explosion and its aftermath are believed to have killed at least 1,100 people and displaced over 20,000, with many thousands injured or homeless. The government of Nigeria launched an enquiry, which blamed the for failing to properly maintain the base, or to decommission it when instructed to do so in 2001. Enschede, Netherlands - Fireworks disaster The city of Enschede was built up around the SE Fireworks depot, the only one in the Netherlands to be located in a residential area. On 13 May, 2000, firefighters were tackling a small fire at the warehouse when the explosion ripped through the building sending debris and fireworks into the air. Unaware of the oncoming disaster, locals had been watching the firefighters tackle the blaze - and at least one was filming the fire - when the factory exploded. The first explosion had a strength of 800kg TNT equivalence. However the majority of the damage was caused by the last explosion which had a strength within the range of 40005000kg TNT equivalent. A total of 400 homes were destroyed and 1500 buildings damaged. The blasts killed 23 people including four firefighters, and injured nearly 1,000 people. One week prior to the explosion, SE had been audited. The company was judged to have met all official safety regulations while the legally imported fireworks had been inspected by Dutch authorities and deemed safe. Dutch firefighters continued to work in harsh conditions, and with the help of German firefighters from a town a short distance over the border, the blaze was put out by the end of the day. It is in everyones interests for Congress to pass this legislation. Now is the time to highlight the great many benefits of the EB-5 Program to the U.S. when it is facing unprecedented challenges," said Tom Rosenfeld, President and CEO at CanAm Enterprises. Today, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), leading members and former Chairmen of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act, which proposes key integrity measures and 5-year reauthorization of the EB-5 Program. Widely supported by the EB-5 stakeholder community, this bipartisan-endorsed legislation brings about requirements that will standardize best practices for EB-5 operators, address concerns of national security, and will be the first 5-year reauthorization of the EB-5 Program since 2003. We see a real opportunity to end the streak of consecutive short-term reauthorizations and temporary lapses, and to secure a long-term extension of the EB-5 Program with the passage of the bipartisan integrity provisions long sought by Senators Grassley and Leahy, said Tom Rosenfeld, President and CEO at CanAm Enterprises. We believe that the passage of these integrity provisions will address important concerns of key legislators and create an opportunity to engage in good faith discussions regarding the EB-5 industrys long-sought increase in annual EB-5 visa availability and provide more assurance for our investors and help obtain the immigration benefits they seek, added Rosenfeld. Administrated by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program (EB-5 Program) has been bringing economic growth and vitality to the American economy by leveraging capital from high-net-worth foreign nationals in return for lawful permanent resident status for their families. It is estimated that more than $41 billion of foreign direct investment has been injected into the U.S. economy via the EB-5 Program. However, the EB-5 Program is currently set to sunset on June 30, 2021, which imposes great risks to the investors, stakeholders, and many businesses and communities that rely on this crucial financing. At a time when the U.S. is facing unprecedented challenges post COVID and with a Biden Administration that continues to emphasize its sincere pro-immigration intentions, we believe it is critical to passing this EB-5 legislation when Program can contribute greatly to the recovery of U.S. economy. It is in everyones interests for Congress to pass this legislation, said Rosenfeld. Now is the time to highlight the great many benefits of the EB-5 Program to the U.S. when it is facing unprecedented challenges. I, and other stakeholders, watched the EB-5 Program help lift this great country out of a recession in 2008. The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2021 provides all of us with an opportunity to unite behind a clean 5-year extension. With a long-term extension in place, people around the world can once again see opportunity and security in the EB-5 Program. Stakeholders must use this newfound goodwill to attract investors and once again help ignite a U.S. economy in severe distress by creating thousands of jobs for American workers. About CanAm CanAm is an integrated, multinational investment management firm that specializes in immigration-linked investment funds, private equity, and wealth management. With over three decades of experience, CanAms strategic approach to utilizing investor capital and managing risk has raised over $3 billion in private placement funds. Headquartered in New York City with offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, New Delhi, Dubai, and Singapore, CanAm is proud to serve an international community of investors with a broad spectrum of investment needs and provide long-term value to the firms international and domestic clientele. (@FahadShabbir) National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser Thursday said he would reach out opposition, as well as the entire parliamentary leadership, to bring electoral reforms through legislation ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Mar, 2021 ) :National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser Thursday said he would reach out opposition, as well as the entire parliamentary leadership, to bring electoral reforms through legislation. Talking to a private television channel, he said the electoral reforms were the need of hour and imperative to hold transparent elections in the country. He expressed the hope that the opposition would extend support to the opposition for bringing electoral reforms. Asad said Shahbaz Sharif should partake in the process of electoral reforms as he was an opposition leader in the National Assembly. He also hinted at issuance of Shahbaz Sharif's production order and said it would be issued if needed. Both the government and opposition had expressed reservations over the Senate elections as well as the general elections held in the past. Therefore, it was a high time for the government and opposition parties to make joint efforts to legislate over the issue so that transparent elections could be ensured in the country, he added. He said he would contact the opposition leaders to convince them for legislation on electoral reforms in the Parliament. "I have also met with Senator Shibli Faraz and Minister for Science and Technology and asked them to contact the opposition in that regard," he said. He said it was imperative for all the parliamentarians to sit together and develop mutual consensus for effective legislation on electoral reforms. In response to a question, he said that the government could not be toppled through a long march. "It will be an inappropriate for opposition to waste this opportunity," he said adding all the reservations regarding elections could only be removed by enacting legislation. Asad Qaiser said the parliamentary committee would also work on judicial reforms for timely disposal of the cases. The government and the opposition should be on one page for the reforms agenda and for that purpose he would issued production order of opposition leaders, he concluded. Mumbai, March 19 : As Mumbai crossed the daily count of 3,000-plus Covid-19 cases on Friday for the first time since the pandemic hit the country, and Maharashtra's total tally zoomed past 24 lakh, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray warned that "a lockdown is an option in future". Adding 25,681 new cases - compared with highest 25,833 new patients on Thursday, the state tally now stands at 24,22,021. Similarly, Mumbai added another 3,063 new cases and the city total jumped to 355,914, sending shockwaves among the civic health authorities. "Lockdown is an option for the future as I can see it... But I expect voluntary cooperation from all people," a grim Thackeray told media persons in Nandurbar after reviewing the ongoing vaccination programme in some remote tribal areas. Health Secretary Pradeep Vyas cautioned that if the cases continued to increase at the current rate, by April 1st week, the state's active cases could double from the present 1.77 lakh to 3 lakh. Thackeray also made it clear that those who have been vaccinated and those awaiting their turn would have to compulsorily wear masks, maintain physical distancing and ensure sanitisation. "It is now a year since we are battling the pandemic. We brought it under control, but now there's a sudden surge which is matter of concern," he said. Rattled by the fresh wave, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday asked all hospitals to ensure a minimum 1,000 people are vaccinated daily to achieve 100,000-vaccinations per day in the city of around 1.75 crore. Simultaneously, the state government reiterated its orders of last week, and ordered all private offices to function at 50 percent staff strength, barring those in the manufacturing sector, while adhering to full Covid-19 protocols. The government has also ordered all cinema halls, auditoriums, drama halls, etc to operate at only 50 percent capacity and following all other norms. With 70 more deaths recorded during the day, the state death toll increased to 53,208. The state death rate was 2.20 percent, the recovery rate stood at 90.42 percent, with the number of active cases, jumping to 177,560 now, with the highest figure of patients in Pune, Mumbai and Thane, respectively. The number of people sent to home isolation shot up to 867,333 while those shunted to institutional quarantine increased to 7,848 on Friday. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 The core stage of NASAs Space Launch System (SLS)the largest rocket element the space agency has ever builtis now readying for launch. NASA tested the rocket on Thursday, March 18 to assess whether it would be able to move on to the next stage of preparation for the Artemis I mission to the moon. It passed with flying colors. The official NASA website explains that the test the SLS rocket underwent is called a hot fire, which is meant specifically to test the ignition of the rockets engines. The first time a hot fire test was run on the SLS rocket was back in January, although that one didnt last as long as planned. The SLS is the most power rocket NASA has ever built, and during todays test the core stage of the rocket generated more than 1.6 million pounds of thrust within seven seconds, explains Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk. The SLS is an incredible feat of engineering and the only rocket capable of powering Americas next-generation missions that will place the first woman and the next man on the moon. What this means is that the engines were able to ignite In the fashion needed to get the rocket and its occupants to the moon. Now that this test has been completed, the CLCs core stage will be refurbished, shipped to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, then assembled in preparation for the actual Artemis I mission. Jurczyk concludes, Todays successful hot fire test of the core stage for the SLS is an important milestone in NASAs goal to return humans to the lunar surfaceand beyond. Lowes Elementary to Close Permanently By West Kentucky Star Staff GRAVES COUNTY - The Graves County Board of Education voted Thursday to close Lowes Elementary School permanently.Board members voted 4 to 1 to close the facility on June 30. Only Kenneth House voted against the measure.In December, the school district drafted a plan that listed the school as a priority 1 project with $10.8 million in needed renovations. The plan was sent to the Kentucky Department of Education for comments.The state indicated that the school's enrollment would not allow it to receive that much money, with the school only qualifying for $6 million.Superintendent Matthew Madding recommended changing the school's status from a permanent facility to a transitional facility, meaning the district's long-term plans would not include using the facility.On the Net: The death of a Spanish teacher had no connection with the AstraZeneca vaccination she received ten days earlier, a preliminary autopsy has found. Pilar Gonzalez Bres, 43, a mother-of-two, died on March 13 after suffering a brain haemorrhage. An autopsy indicated that her death was caused by an aneurysm, which is the rupture of a blood vessel in the brain, which caused the haemorraghe. Tests showed that the maths teacher had a predisposition to suffering a cerebrovascular incident. The preliminary autopsy showed that no signs of thrombosis were detected but further tests will have to be carried out. Health authorities in Spain had launched an investigation after the death of Ms Gonzalez, who complained of suffering from headaches after receiving the vaccination on March 3 and went to a hospital. Read more: Doctors initially attributed her headaches to the normal side effects associated with the vaccine. The woman returned to the hospital in Marbella in southern Spain on March 13 but specialists did not at first detect any serious problem. Four hours later, a scan revealed fluid accumulation on the brain and she was operated on immediately. She died shortly afterwards. Nearly a dozen countries resumed use of AstraZenecas COVID-19 shots on Friday as EU and British regulators said the benefits outweighed any risks after reports of rareinstances of blood clotting that temporarily halted inoculations. The end of vaccine suspensions will be a key test of public confidence in the vaccine and drug regulators conclusions as the virus variants spread and the global death toll, now at nearly 2.7 million, rises. The Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF), the kingdom's main financial enabler for its industrial transformation, has approved 212 loans worth $4.5 billion in 2020. These loans were for a total of 201 companies involved in different fields such as industry, mining, energy, and logistic services. The approved loans covered different tiers, out of which 84% of total loans were dedicated to SMEs, ensuring the fund's strong continuous support to the key contributors of the economic growth in the kingdom, said the statement from SIDF. These exceptional results have proven to be the largest in the history of the fund's history, thus demonstrating, despite the economic pressures of the pandemic, the strength, and resilience of the Saudi private sector, it stated. Over the past years, the Saudi government has implemented programs to realize Vision 2030 structural, economic, and financial reforms that aim to diversify the economy. Such efforts have played a crucial role in the economy's sustainability in times of global crisis, it added. At the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, SIDF said it proactively supported small, medium, and large companies and offered financial initiatives tailored to their specific needs during these difficult times. The initiatives SIDF offered, which were part of a wider package of governmental support, resulted in three urgent financial aids that exceeded $1.3 billion; the aids were in the form of restructuring installments of 546 loans due in 2020, amounting to $1 billion, said the statement. The financial liquidity of the companies was augmented by credit instruments to finance the operating expenses of the companies, especially the ones impacted by the lockdown, out of which 86 companies have benefited from the initiative for a total amount of $127 million, it added. Finally, launching an accelerated working capital loan amounting to $172 million directed to finance the raw material requirements of the companies involved in the medical sector to help in boosting the local medical content and the kingdom's pharmaceutical security. SIDF pointed out that its 2021 strategy aims to stimulate investments in priority economic sectors, improve client experience, enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations besides strengthening governance and risk management, and focus on human capital development. The strategy will position SDIF in driving its support to realize the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, it added.-TradeArabia News Service India's antitrust body on Friday told a court that a Reuters report showing Amazon.com Inc gave preferential treatment to a small group of sellers on its India platform corroborated evidence it had received and which had triggered an investigation of the U.S. e-commerce giant. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) announced in January 2020 that it was investigating Amazon and Walmart Inc's Flipkart following a complaint from a trader group that they were promoting preferred sellers. But the probe into alleged violations of competition law was put on hold as the two firms mounted a court challenge. While arguing on Friday for restarting the probe, Madhavi Goradia Divan, an Additional Solicitor General of India representing the CCI, read parts of the Reuters report to the judge in the Karnataka High Court, saying it "corroborates what was said" in the original complaint. The Reuters story, which was published last month, was based on internal Amazon documents dated between 2012 and 2019. It revealed that Amazon for years helped a small number of sellers prosper on its platform, giving them discounted fees and helping one cut special deals with big tech manufacturers. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Divan's statements in court. Amazon has said it "does not give preferential treatment to any seller on its marketplace," and that it "treats all sellers in a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory manner". The CCI's arguments in the case come after the watchdog this week submitted media clippings, including the Reuters story, as part of its exhibits to the court. Referring to the Amazon documents cited in the Reuters story, Divan said the CCI's director general of investigations might call for the documents from the company and examine them. Indian retailers, who are a crucial part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's support base, have long alleged that Amazon's platform largely benefits a few big sellers and that the e-commerce company engages in predatory pricing that harms their businesses. The company says it complies with all Indian laws. Divan read to the court from the Reuters story for roughly 15 minutes. This included a finding that some 35 of Amazon's more than 400,000 sellers in India in early 2019 accounted for around two-thirds of its online sales. She also referred to documents cited in the story that showed Amazon was deeply involved in expanding a big seller on its platform named Cloudtail - in which it has an indirect equity stake - even though it said publicly that Cloudtail gets the same privileges as other vendors. "Do you do it for all the sellers," Divan said, referring to Amazon. "These are questions that have to be asked." Following publication of the Reuters story, India's financial-crime fighting agency, the Enforcement Directorate, asked Amazon for information and documents related to its operations in the country, Reuters reported last week. Also Read: Future Group urges Singapore court to review ruling in Amazon case The illegal animal trade is a global scourge but a lucrative one, worth $8 to 10 billion annually, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) trailing only human, drug and weapons trafficking in value. With so much money to be made, conservationists and wildlife rangers face overwhelming odds against well-organized poaching operations fueled by incessant demand for illicit animal products. The results of this protracted conflict have been nothing short of devastating for the species caught in the middle. At the start of the 20th century, more than 100,000 tigers are estimated to have roamed throughout Southeast Asia. Today, due to a combination of habitat loss and aggressive poaching, fewer than 4,000 currently remain in the wild. On the black market, products made from a single tiger can fetch as much as $50,000. Rhino populations have been similarly decimated, dropping from around 500,000 individuals at the start of the 20th century to only 50,000 today. Overall, the World Wildlife Fund estimates that mammal, bird, fish and reptile populations have declined by 60 percent since 1970. Poaching is the illegal hunting, capturing or killing of wild animals and it's done for a number of reasons, Erwin Gianchandani, Senior Advisor in the Office of the Director of the National Science Foundation, said during a panel discussion at SXSW 2021 on Tuesday. Some folks poach because they want to be able to claim the land that the animals reside on for human use. In other cases, folks poach because they want to be able to retrieve and use rare animal products, things like ivory or fur, even organs and skin. They often do this because they feel that these products can have religious, medicinal, nutritional, or financial value. It's not just that the poachers go after the animals, he added, but they are often so motivated, that they will actually end up harming or even killing wildlife rangers to elude the detection or capture of their poaching. Just this January, a half dozen rangers were ambushed and killed in the line of duty while on patrol at the Virunga National Park in Congo, home to a third of the worlds mountain gorilla population. Though wildlife rangers are often outnumbered and stretched thin in their attempts to patrol broad swaths of nature preserves, AI and machine learning systems are poised to drastically improve rangers effectiveness by helping them not only track where poachers have been but also predict where they are most likely to turn up. PAWS (Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security) is one such system. Professor Milind Tambe, co-founder of the USC Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society (CAIS) and Director of the Center for Research on Computation & Society at Harvard University, oversaw its development after attending a Global Tiger Initiative conference in 2013. I found out just how stark things were for animals that Id read bedtime stories to my kids about, he told NatGeo . PAWS leverages poaching data from the open-source SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool) system developed by the World Wildlife Foundation and uses security games a subset of game theory where the player must optimize limited resources to mitigate threats and attacks to suggest the most efficient routes for rangers to take given that historical data. Tambe and his team first trialled PAWS in 2014 at Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. The park is home to a variety of endangered species, as well as thousands of traps and snares set by poachers. Whats more, the 2000 square-kilometer park only has around 100 rangers to patrol it. PAWS works by first splitting the parks area into individual 1km squares then assigns a risk factor to each square based on where snares had been previously discovered a decades worth of that data collected through SMART. It then suggests patrol routes through the highest risk areas. These suggestions change over time as poachers adapt to the rangers actions. The time of year; trail, river and road locations; weather and topographic conditions also factor heavily into the PAWS estimate. Over a six-month test period, QNEP rangers were blindly assigned a mix of patrol routes through high- and low-risk areas of the park. What we found was, where PAWS made predictions of higher risk, indeed more snares were found, Tambe said. Where paws made predictions [for lower risk] rangers found less number of snares. But like all machine learning systems, PAWS is constrained by the quality of data that it ingests. The data that park rangers are collecting is not perfect and there is some uncertainty with the data, Shahrzad Gholami, a data scientist at Microsoft, said during the SXSW panel. So the locations that they visit, they may not find any activity, any poaching signs, but it doesn't mean that poaching activity did not exist. It might be because the snares were well hidden. Even when rangers find a snare, they can only glean so much information from it. They cannot, for example, know if the trap was set recently or had been sitting undisturbed for weeks or even months before being discovered. Whats more, PAWS can only address the specific act of poaching, not a poachers underlying motivations for doing so. Buoyed by their success at QNEP, Tambes team partnered with the WWF in 2018 to bring PAWS to conservation areas managed by the wildlife organization, such as the Sepak Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia. Located along the countrys eastern border with Vietnam, Sepak is home to a sizable Asian elephant population as well as bongos, antelope, deer, macaques and leopards. Tigers used to roam the region as well, though none have been seen since 2007 and are thought to be locally extinct. The WWF plans to reintroduce the species beginning in 2022 and has identified Sepak sanctuary as an ideal site to do so. But first, they need to get a handle on poaching activity in the region which threatens both the tigers themselves and their prey. Like QNEP, Sepak covers a massive area, roughly 1400 square kilometers, but has just 72 rangers to patrol it. The Cambodian wildlife refuge also offered a number of unique challenges in training the PAWS AI not encountered in the Uganda test such as monsoons. The PAWS team worked closely with conservationists at Sepak to develop an effective model and that collaboration led to some surprising discoveries. For example, it helped us discover that in addition to just modeling distance from roads, Gholami said. We should actually specifically model the distance from one particular road called route 76 which was a major highway through the park. The team also found that poaching practices varied depending on the poachers country of origin. That is, poachers crossing the border from Vietnam behaved and reacted differently than local the Cambodian poachers. The time of year also proved to be an important factor as poachers would dramatically alter their snare placements and distribution during monsoon season compared to the dry months. Still, the PAWS system proved to be highly effective. They found five times more snares in the one month that the field test was going on compared to any other month on average in 2018, Gholami explained. These are promising improvements, but wildlife conservationists still face an uphill battle against poaching. Conservation biologists have estimated that rangers are only effective at removing about 10 percent of all snares in these parks, said Lily Xu, a Harvard PhD candidate involved in the PAWS project. One of the most effective mechanisms for preventing poaching and other conservation crimes are through deterrence, so when rangers conduct patrols in certain areas, they dissuade poachers from coming back. However, poachers pushed out of one area of a nature preserve will often simply move their operations to a neighboring area, endangering the wildlife there instead. Despite the challenges, Tambes team remains undaunted. Through partnerships with the WWF and other conservation organizations, Tambe hopes to implement PAWS in as many as 600 protected areas worldwide as well as expand its scope to protect marine sanctuaries and forests in the near future. Nairobi: Tanzanias new President Samia Suluhu Hassan said on Friday the country should unite and avoid pointing fingers after the death of John Magufuli, her COVID-19 sceptic predecessor, urging the east African country to look forward with hope and confidence. Wearing a red hijab, she took her oath of office on the Koran in a ceremony at State House in the countrys commercial capital Dar es Salaam. She is the first female head of state in the country of 58 million. Tanzanias new president Samia Suluhu Hassan is sworn in at State House in Dar es Salaam. Credit:AP Hassan, vice president since 2015, gave a brief and sombre address after she was sworn in, addressing a heavily male crowd that included two former presidents and uniformed officers. This is a time to bury our differences, and be one as a nation, she said. This is not a time for finger pointing, but it is a time to hold hands and move forward together. 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. Amritsar: In the view of rising COVID-19 infections in the city, Amritsar authorities on Thursday (March 18) have imposed a night curfew as a precautionary measure against the spread of the virus. The orders came on the same day when the city reported 230 fresh cases of COVID-19. "The Chief Minister has ordered a curfew in the city between 11 pm and 5 am," said Parvesh Chopra, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Central). Ahead of upcoming festivals including Holi, shopkeepers in Amritsar said their businesses are adversely affected due to rising cases of COVID-19 in the area. On the other hand the state overall reported 2,387 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, as per state health department bulletin on Thursday. Earlier, Jalandhar District Collector Ghanshyam Thori and Ludhiana District Collector Varinder Sharna also imposed a night curfew in the respective districts on Thursday. The night curfew will remain in place from 9 pm to 5 am until further orders by the authorities. With the fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the cumulative caseload in the state now stands at 2,05,418. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday extended the night curfew in nine worst hit districts by two hours daily, by advancing it from 9 p.m. onwards. The nine districts where the night curfew has been extended were Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Ropar, all daily getting 100 plus positive cases. Live TV CHICAGO, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- To celebrate World Oral Health Day on March 20 and put Mars Wrigley's Better Moments, More Smiles purpose in action, the Mars Wrigley Foundation announced $1.5 million in grant funding to provide oral care treatment and education for underserved communities around the world. "As a purpose and principles-driven business, we believe in the power of better moments that make the world smile," said Andrew Clarke, Global President of Mars Wrigley. "We're thrilled with the Mars Wrigley Foundation's continued efforts to create happier, healthier smiles across the world by connecting partners and helping to care for the communities where we have the privilege to live and work." As a 10-year partner in providing oral care to those with limited access, the Mars Wrigley Foundation will continue to support Save the Children with a $700K commitment. Since 2011, Save the Children and the Mars Wrigley Foundation have reached 2.4 million children, parents, teachers and oral health workers, and have delivered over 500,000 oral health services in six countries. "In honor of World Oral Health Day, Save the Children thanks the Mars Wrigley Foundation for 10 years of partnership and support of our school health and nutrition programs around the world," said Save the Children Chief Development Officer Luciana Bonifacio. "We look forward to building on the work the Mars Wrigley Foundation has helped make possible. Together, we are working to achieve lasting local and global impact for the world's most vulnerable children, enabling them to stay in school and reach their full potential." Since 2010, the Mars Wrigley Foundation has reached more than 6.5 million individuals through investments in oral health, including its signature Healthier Smiles grant program. These grants have enabled national dental associations with the networks to provide underserved populations access to treatment, education and screening programs. As one of the leading indicators of overall health according to the World Health Organization, oral health is among the leading health issues affecting school age children around the world. Oral diseases affect nearly 3.5 billion people, often leading to pain, discomfort, social isolation, loss of self-confidence, lost hours at work or school, and are linked to other serious health issues.i With the pandemic, patient visits to the dentist are down 15 to 20 percent compared to normal.ii This year, seven organizations with significant reach in countries including the U.S., Australia, China, Germany, Ireland and New Zealand were selected to continue the Foundation's mission at a time when access to oral health care is challenged by the impacts of the pandemic. For more information, please visit www.marswrigleyfoundation.com. About Mars Wrigley Foundation The Mars Wrigley Foundation partners with organizations around the world to help people and communities flourish. Founded in 1987, the Foundation works to provide oral health education and care, improve lives in mint- and cocoa-growing regions, prevent litter and waste, and create vibrant communities. About Save The Children Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding more than 100 years ago, we've changed the lives of more than 1 billion children. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children every day and in times of crisis transforming their lives and the future we share. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. i SOURCE: FDI World Dental Federation ii SOURCE: Advanced Dermatology Contact: Stephanie Swiatek Mars Wrigley [email protected] SOURCE Mars Wrigley Related Links http://www.marswrigleyfoundation.com The photograph looks like a publicity still from the old Untouchables TV series. A band of beefy men in fedoras heft shotguns as they stand around a black sedan. Three of the men stare balefully at the camera. But this was real life, a portrait of Portlands signature mobile shotgun squad in 1947. The roving teams call to action came from Portland Police Chief Leon V. Jenkins decision to take unprecedented steps in response to a postwar crime wave in the city. This included putting all officers on 12-hour shifts and setting up blockades at bridges and other main roads. The police forces five shotgun squads, deployed in the most powerful cars in the bureaus fleet, would be the greatest threat to safecrackers and fast-moving hold-up men, Jenkins said. The Oregon Journal called the plan an aggressive ploy to win a burgeoning crime war. Downtown Portland in 1947. (The Oregonian) Clearly, something had to be done. The end of World War II had sent the U.S. economy yo-yoing, falling as soldiers returned home en masse to compete for jobs, bouncing up as the end of rationing led to an explosion of pent-up consumer demand. Crime flourished at both ends of this arc, and Portland had ended up a popular destination for a floating network of criminals operating between Seattle and Mexico. The police bureaus extraordinary crime-prevention program came after a brazen murder and five armed holdups all occurred on a single January night. The overall police effort included designating more than 100 vehicles for patrol, including a mothballed armored car left over from Prohibition days and a seven-passenger Cadillac borrowed from Mayor Earl Riley. Portland Police Chief Leon V. Jenkins instituted the anti-crime crackdown in 1947. We intend on cracking down on the riffraff and hangers-on in the city, a senior officer told the press. Pool halls, beer joints and nightclubs will be closely checked in our drive to rid the city of its undesirables. Too many of these people came here during the war and too few have left the city. Problem was, some of the riffraff werent going anywhere no matter how many man-hours, check points and armored cars the police chief put into action. The reason: Some of the cops were part of the problem -- such as a rising young captain who allegedly worked for local vice king James Elkins on the side. That officer, 37-year-old Jim Purcell, was the man Jenkins had put in charge of the shotgun squads. In the years that followed, Purcell, who died in 1968, would come to be known as Diamond Jim and face an assortment of corruption charges. Don DuPay, a detective in the police bureau in the 1960s and 70s, would insist that Purcell ran a trap line of prostitutes to supplement his income. But in 1947, the newspapers heralded Purcell as one of the college-boy cops who joined the force to make a career of it. News coverage praised his role in the anti-crime push. James Purcell rose quickly in the Portland Police ranks after World War II. (The Oregonian) The crackdown, however, did not offer quick results. And then, two weeks into the effort, a merchant-ship captain named Frank Tatum was found with a broken neck at the bottom of an embankment. The man had been brutally beaten. This latest murder captured the citys interest. Reporters swarmed over the bars, flophouses and streets where Tatum had spent his last hours. Evidence pointed to a former boxer known as Pat ODay. As it turned out, ODay was an enforcer for Elkins. Officers brought the suspect in, and, with a reporter in attendance, Purcell led the interrogation. The captain sounded tough, but the questioning was soft and didnt lead anywhere. Are you ready to make a statement? Yes, ODay said. Do you want to make it in your own words? No. Would you like for us to ask you questions, then? No. Do you intend to make a statement? No. Purcell nodded, then ordered that the man be taken to a cell for the night. ODay, his hands still bruised and cleaved in a way that suggested they had been used to administer a beating, walked out of the interrogation room, whistling. The police captain wasnt done. In the days that followed, Purcell took control of the [Tatum murder investigation], often interrogating witnesses himself and making no reports, according to the 2014 book Portland on the Take. Portland enforcer Pat O'Day was convicted of murder in 1947. He was paroled 12 years later. (The Oregonian) But if Purcell was trying to hamstring the investigation, it didnt work. Two men ultimately told police they had dumped Tatums body at ODays direction after ODay and Tatum had had a barroom fight. The medical examiner believed the ship captain was unconscious but still alive when he was thrown down the embankment. ODay would be convicted of murder. In April, with crime-war headlines still dominating the newspapers, the police bureau started to expand its efforts. In an operation headed by Purcell, officers set up a surprise overnight blockade of all downtown bridges to determine just what kind of people are traveling around at such late hours of the night. They stopped every car and questioned everyone inside. At times this led to a fairly long backup at the bridges, and whenever vehicles turned around and headed back the way they had come, motorcycle officers peeled out, gave chase and pulled them over. The goal, Purcell said, was to make this town uncomfortable for anyone with criminal intentions. The next day the captain insisted the bureau had received numerous phone calls praising the police for undertaking the blockades. After a few months, the showy crime crackdown fell away, the roadblocks lifted, the regular 8-hour shifts returned. There had been no drop in crime. But Jim Purcell, after weeks of being quoted in the newspapers, had a higher profile than ever. In 1953, he became Portlands police chief. -- Douglas Perry dperry@oregonian.com @douglasmperry NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NOVA LEAP HEALTH CORP. (TSXV: NLH) (Nova Leap or the Company), a home health care organization ranked #2 on the 2020 Report on Business ranking of Canadas Top Growing Companies, is pleased to announce that Chris Dobbin, President & CEO of Nova Leap, will present at the Q1 Virtual Investor Summit event to be held March 23-25, 2021. About the Q1 Virtual Summer Summit The Investor Summit is an exclusive, independent conference dedicated to connecting smallcap and microcap companies with qualified investors. The Q1 Investor Summit will take place virtually, featuring 100 companies and over 300 institutional and retail investors. Mr. Chris Dobbin, President & CEO of Nova Leap, will be presenting at the event by way of webcast on Tuesday, March 23, 2021 at 11:00 AM Eastern Time / (8:00 AM Pacific Time). The unique link allowing access to the Companys webcast is: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jhy9m82bT8W7LDBn6Ez1Dg About Nova Leap Nova Leap is an acquisitive home health care services company operating in one of the fastest-growing industries in the U.S. & Canada. The Company performs a vital role within the continuum of care with an individual and family centered focus, particularly those requiring dementia care. Nova Leap achieved the #2 ranking on the 2020 Report on Business ranking of Canadas Top Growing Companies and the #10 Ranking in the 2019 TSX Venture 50 in the Clean Technology & Life Sciences sector. The Company is geographically diversified with operations in 7 different U.S. states within the New England, South- Central and Midwest regions as well as Nova Scotia, Canada. FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION: Certain information in this press release may contain forward-looking statements, such as statements regarding future expansions and cost savings, the Companys expected annualized recurring revenue run rate and plans regarding future acquisitions and financings. This information is based on current expectations and assumptions, including assumptions concerning general economic and market conditions, availability of working capital necessary for conducting Nova Leaps operations, and Nova Leaps ability to integrate its acquired businesses and maintain previously achieved service hour and revenue levels, that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. Risks that could cause results to differ from those stated in the forward-looking statements in this release include the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or any recurrence, including government regulations or voluntary measures limiting the Companys ability to provide care to clients (such as shelter-in-place orders, isolation or quarantine orders, distancing requirements, or closures or restricted access procedures at facilities where clients reside), increased costs associated with personal protective equipment and sanitization supplies, staff and supply shortages; regulatory changes affecting the home care industry, other unexpected increases in operating costs and competition from other service providers. All forward-looking statements, including any financial outlook or future-oriented financial information, contained in this press release are made as of the date of this release and included for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to the Company. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Roseburg, OR (97470) Today Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable. The fall semester in 2018 was my first semester at Quinnipiac. Earlier that semester, I met with student government leaders to introduce myself and the Peoples United Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. One of the student leaders was a Chinese national international business major who was active on campus and offered to volunteer to help the new center. I welcomed her help. She helped by marketing our activities on campus and arranging for me to meet with other student groups on campus. One day near the end of the semester I offered my friend, whose name I will not use, a ride to her dorm at Hilltop. On the way up the hill, I asked what she was doing for the holiday break. She informed me she would staying in her dorm for the month. After saying goodbye, I went home and informed my wife that a Chinese national was staying in a near-empty dorm during the holiday, with no car and little access to food. We were about to have our extended family over for Christmas. Our holiday celebration included my son, my daughter-in-law (who was born in Iran), my grandson, my daughter, and two of my daughters graduate school classmates. One of my daughters classmates was a Korean national and the other was a Taiwanese national; neither of my daughters classmates had anywhere to go during the break. This was the second year of this international gathering where we broke bread together and played music. I told my wife I would like to invite my new friend to dinner. Christmas came and my student friend took Metro-North to Bridgeport. I picked her up and once again we had an enjoyable Christmas dinner with plenty of stories about our lives. When it was time for my friend to go, I knew from the look in her eyes that she did not want to go. So, we invited her to stay over. She stayed for six weeks. We had a marvelous time. We took her to New York City to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When we visited the Chinese section in the museum, she gave us insights into the art and the history of China. We were extremely impressed with the detail of her knowledge of Chinese art and history. At first, I could not believe what she was telling us was accurate. But after hearing her description, and then reading the description near the art, it turned out she was 100 percent correct. We took her to our favorite restaurants. One of those restaurants was our favorite Chinese restaurant in Westport, one my wife and I had been to many times. The owner came by to take our order, and asked our Chinese student in Cantonese if she spoke the language. They struck up a conversation that neither my wife nor I could understand. When the owner left with our order, our student told us that the restaurateur wanted to know what her relationship was to this black couple. Our Chinese friend told her that my wife and I were her parents. This is what led to the extended conversation between our student and the restaurant owner. This demanded an explanation. From that day on, our Chinese student referred to us as Mom and Dad. We lovingly accepted our new child and our new roles. I tell this story to say that my Chinese daughter is afraid to walk the streets of Connecticut for fear that she will be randomly attacked. As her adopted father, I am also afraid for her safety and all our Asian brothers and sisters. This fear is not without merit. My daughter has been verbally assaulted during this pandemic on numerous occasions by complete strangers. For those who do not think this is real it is real. What can we do about it? In one of my columns last year, I said that Americas virus is racism. While not unique to America unfortunately, there is racism in far too many places racism is a sickness. Racism must be fought it cannot be allowed to fester untreated. Children of all races must be taught to look beyond color and see the humanity in all of us. Some adults are beyond repair, but racists must feel that their behavior, their attitudes and their comments are not acceptable and racist actions will be punished by the full extent of the law. People of goodwill must stand in solidarity with our Asian brothers and sisters and say these attacks will not be tolerated. Martin Luther King famously stated that: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Speak up if you see Asians being verbally abused or threatened. And more importantly, if we are to fight racism, everyone must try to get to really know people who are racially and ethnically different from ourselves. When we do this, we will recognize our common humanity. Fred McKinney is the Carlton Highsmith Chair for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and director of the Peoples United Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Quinnipiac University School of Business. He is on social media at @drfredmckinney. For the first time researchers from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Radboudumc, Maastricht UMC+ and international colleagues have gained insight into the "hidden genetic defects" of the general European population. This is important because these defects, if inherited from both father and mother, can lead to all kinds of illnesses in their children. Research in the Dutch and Estonian population shows that every person has two to four such hidden genetic defects. In 1 in 100 couples, this leads to a situation with an increased risk of a genetic disease for future children. In the case of consanguinity, even 20 percent of the couples appear to be at high risk. This research is published in The American Journal of Human Genetics and Genetics in Medicine. The genes of a every person are half maternal, half paternal. Therefor you have two copies of each gene. Sometimes one of those two copies is defective, without making you sick because the other gene still functions properly. In this case we call it a 'hidden genetic defect' (in scientific terms: an autosomal recessive gene). Such a hidden genetic defect can cause problems if a child inherits the same hidden defect, the same mutated gene, from both father and mother. Both parents are healthy and have never suffered from the hidden genetic defect. But when these two hidden genetic defects (maternal en paternal) come together in the child, the disease manifests itself. Hidden defects in sight How often such hidden genetic defects occur in the general population has been unclear. By screening all the genes of nearly 6,500 people in the Dutch and Estonian population researchers from Radboudumc and Maastricht UMC+ have now obtained insight into how often such hidden defects that can lead to disease are present in a single individual. Christian Gilissen, researcher at Radboudumc: "Every human being appears to have on average 2 to 4 such hidden genetic defects. Therefore the chance that a European couple is at risk of having a sick child due to two such defects is about 1 percent. The risk increases sharply in consanguineous couples. In a relationship of cousins, about sixteen percent of the couples are at high risk, with a particularly increased risks for skeletal disorders or intellectual disabilities." Higher risk with consanguinity In addition to this research, published in The American Journal of Human Genetics, research was also conducted in the hospital's clinical practice coordinated by Maastricht UMC+, together with Radboudumc and Amsterdam UMC. This study, published in Genetics in Medicine, addresses the question of risk determination of hidden genetic defects in cousin relationships prior to a desired pregnancy. Clinical Molecular Geneticist Aimee Paulussen of Maastricht UMC+: "We mapped the risk in 100 consanguineous couples. About 20 percent of these couples were found to have an increased risk of serious disorders in their offspring through these hidden genetic defects. These results from clinical practice confirm the data already found in the population study mentioned above." Valuable testing Professor Han Brunner, head of the Department of Clinical Genetics Maastricht as well as the Department of Genetics Nijmegen, is involved in both studies. He sees them as a clear incentive to make genetic testing available to couples with a possible increased risk because of such hidden genetic defects: "Certainly for these couples, this information can help them to make an informed decision when starting a family. They can consider pre-implantation diagnostics and IVF to allow selection of embryos without these defects." ### *Paper published in The American Journal of Human Genetics: The landscape of autosomal-recessive pathogenic variants in European populations reveals phenotype-specific effects - Hila Fridman, Helger G. Yntema, Reedik Magi, Reidar Andreson, Andres Metspalu, Massimo Mezzavila, Chris Tyler-Smith, Yali Xue, Shai Carmi, Ephrat Levy-Lahad, Christian Gilissen, Han G. Brunner *Paper published in Genetics in Medicine: Diagnostic exome-based preconception carrier testing in consanguineous couples: results from the first 100 couples in clinical practice - Suzanne C. E. H. Sallevelt, Alexander P. A. Stegmann, Bart de Koning, Crool Velter, Anja Steyls, Melanie van Esch, Phillis Lakeman, Helger Yntema, Masoud Zamani Esteki, Christine E. M. de Die-Smulders, Christian Gilissen, Arthur van den Wijngaard, Han G. Brunner, Aimee D. C. Paulussen The need to excel inspires young property businessman Pulkit Vij to innovate every day, every hour of his life. In this regard, the head of KamalAssociates, a firm with 20-years of experience in this field, has come up with a unique cash-back scheme for buyers of affordable housing in Delhi. Under this scheme, the company will provide a good discount to buyers who book their flats with a down payment of at least Rs. 5 lakh. Kamal Associates is going to provide them a monthly rental guarantee, for at least next 12 months, starting from the date of down payment. Talking about this new scheme launched recently, Pulkit informs, We are committed to provide a good return to the buyer on his property. If you pay me Rs 5 lakh down payment, we will hand over rent receipts worth Rs 5,000 each for the next 12 payments, right then and there. So, in effect you are paying me only Rs. 4,40,000. That is the kind of rental income comparable to what the big builders are offering in Gurugram/Noida. And our aim is to reach their scale in the coming years. This is a new type of cash-back concept in property business that Kamal Associates is introducing for small-scale buyers, who need, rather than want, a home for themselves. The scheme is also an attempt to keep the property prices within an affordable bracket for their loyal clients, who are growing in numbers with each passing day, thanks to Pulkits charming presence on social media like Facebook. Kamal Associates was launched by Pulkits father about two decades ago and today, this dynamic young businessman is taking it to new heights. Their motto is Apna Ghar, Sabka Ghar and Pulkit works hard to make this daily mission a reality for his clients. Besides, his amazing YouTube videos on his channel also generate a lot of interest in his business, owing to the honesty with which he presents the facts to prospective buyers. The company even helps buyers arrange for upto 100% loans for their chosen properties, usually ranging between 1BHK and 3 BHK. Their properties means affordability and that is what drives their business too. In fact, each year, Kamal Associates successfully deliver 500-700 units to their clients. Announcing this huge incentive to home-buyers, Pulkit Vij, the charismatic property builder, says, We are keen to stick to our commitment of providing affordable homes and offices to our buyers. Though we excel in builder floors for now, our eyes are set on including all types of residential and commercial properties into our portfolio in the coming years. We want to grow beyond Delhi and NCR & for that I realise that we need to continue to build up our clientele. He is an avid social media user and tries to propagate his business ideas on platforms like Instagram too. Through such popular schemes, Kamal Associates is bound to reach where they want to reach! (Disclaimer: This is a featured content) Community leader honored for years of service Arthur Schechter Arthur Schechter, senior counsel at Schechter, McElwee, Shaffer & Harris, LLP law firm, is a recipient of the coveted University of Texas Friar Society Distinguished Alumni Award for 2020, honoring him for a lifetime of public service. Schechter has been an active member of the Texas Bar Association since he commenced practice in 1964. He graduated from The University of Texas with a B.A. in 1962 and an L.L.B. in 1964. Schechter served as a United States ambassador in the administration of President Bill Clinton. He has served in numerous charitable boards and foundations over the years, including chair of the Term Limits Commission in Houston; co-chair of Teach for America; president of Congregation Beth Israel; president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston; founding member and chair of the advisory board for the William A. Lawson School and Foundation in Houston, which provides educational services and a private school curriculum for now 300-plus students from generally underprivileged families, frequently providing meals for those children five days a week and, in some cases, for the weekend. Schechter also has been on the board of Interfaith Ministries; founding and board member of SEARCH (institution for the homeless); Career and Recovery Resources, whose services include finding jobs and schooling for veterans, physically/mentally impaired people and others in the community. He has been honored by many of these organizations with awards from them for his service. He also has served as chair of the Admiralty Section of the American Trial Lawyers Association. Schechter continues to work actively in the community. Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly retorted to U.S. President Joe Biden's "killer" remarks with "It takes one to know one" on Thursday aired on their state television. "I remember in my childhood, when we argued in the courtyard with each other we used to say: it takes one to know one. And that's not a coincidence, not just a children's saying or joke. The psychological meaning here is very deep," the Daily Caller reported Putin in saying. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that Putin commented using a childhood expression, "I know you are, but what am I?", that meant Biden was simply mirroring his own weaknesses on Putin. He cited American's killing of Native Americans, slavery, and said that every country had its own history of "bloody events." "Each nation and every state has very hard, dramatic and bloody events in their history. But when we assess other people or even when we assess other states and other nations, we always sort of look in the mirror. And we always see ourselves there because we always attribute to other people that which we breathe ourselves and what we essentially are," Putin pointed out while on video call to Crimean residents during the anniversary of their 2014 annexation from Ukraine. In line with this, the Daily Caller cited reports from The Washington Post and The Atlantic that former President Barack Obama's Administration has been previously criticized for killing civilians that included Americans borne from drone strikes to Pakistan. The Daily caller cited Russian parliamentarian Konstantin Kosachyov reacting in Facebook to Biden's remarks in saying that America caused the "deaths of 500 thousand people" since 2001 for the bombs the U.S. releases "someplace on the planet every 12 minutes." The Washington Post, on the other hand, added that Putin then sincerely wished Biden "good health." "I say that without irony and not as a joke," the Russian President clarified. As per the Daily Caller, this spite between the two presidents began when the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence released reports on Tuesday that Russia and Iran had attempts to interfere with America's 2020 elections and to undermine through a campaign the spread of discord and the lack of confidence in the U.S. elections among Americans. Biden on Wednesday, the Daily Caller added, answered "I do" after George Stephanopoulus of ABC News asked him on during an interview if he regarded Putin as "a killer." He also said Putin had "no soul" and will "pay the price" for Russia's alleged interference in the recent U.S. elections. Putin has also challenged Biden on Thursday to a "live" debate on his "killer" comment that he wished to happen as early as Friday, the Daily Caller said. "I want to propose to President Biden to continue our discussion, but on the condition that we do it basically live, as it's called," Putin said. "Without any delays and directly in an open, direct discussion. It seems to me that would be interesting for the people of Russia and for the people of the United States." The Washington Post added that immediately after Biden's comments, Putin temporarily recalled Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov, an occurrence that hasn't happened in two decades. Antonov is said to be leaving on Saturday for Moscow "to discuss ways to rectify Russia-U.S. ties that are in crisis" according to a statement released by the embassy. 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. Founder and chairman of JD Wetherspoon, Tim Martin. Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA via Getty Images JD Wetherspoon (JDW.L) boss, Tim Martin has lambasted the UK government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its "changing guidelines" for hitting sales at the pub chain. Martin used the company's outlook statement to claim that the government was "unscientific" in its approach by not considering evidence that curfews and requirements for customers to order food with drinks would not reduce COVID infection rates. It comes as the pub chain posted a 46.2m ($64.4m) loss in its half year results as Britains lockdown restrictions cut sales for the company in half. It had posted a 57.9m profit in the same time period last year. In its results for the 26 weeks to January 24 2021, the FTSE 250 (^FTMC) revealed that revenues plunged 53.8% to 431.1m. Like-for-like sales fell 53.9% "It is disappointing that so many regulations, implemented at tremendous cost to the nation, appear to have had no real basis in common sense or science for example, curfews, 'substantial meals' with drinks, and masks for bathroom visits," Martin said. He added that the "future of the industry, and of the UK economy, depends on a consistent set of sensible policies, based on scientific evidence, rather than on political expediency." According to prime minister Boris Johnson's four stage roadmap out of lockdown, indoor drinking won't be able to resume until 17 May, and the company has brought the certainty of that timeline into question. It is speculating that despite the successful COVID vaccine rollout, there could be "more knee-jerk reactions" in government policy to the latest news updates. Shares in the company declined 1.3% around 8:30AM in London. Chart: Yahoo Finance Wetherspoons has also announced it will scrap its interim dividend for its shareholders. "In the current circumstances, the board has not recommended the payment of an interim dividend." The pandemic has taken a sledgehammer to Wetherspoons business model, which is focused on pulling in high volumes of punters while keeping prices low. The stop start nature of the business during the crisis has seen a yo-yo effect to some extent, but overall the picture was of a sharp decline. Like for like sales plunged by 53.9% as lockdowns and strict social distancing measures turned packed venues into empty caverns. Given the pre-tax loss of 61.4 million, it comes as no surprise the interim dividend has been scrapped," Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst, said. Story continues READ MORE: Wetherspoons to open 60 pubs in Scotland from 26 April Earlier in March the pub chain announced that it will open its outdoor spaces, including beer gardens, rooftop gardens and patios, at 394 of its pubs in England from 12 April. WATCH: Wetherspoon chairman makes case for safe reopening The pubs will be open from 9am to 9pm (Sunday to Thursday) and 9am to 10pm (Friday and Saturday), although some have restrictions on closing times and in those cases will close earlier. They will offer a slightly reduced menu and food will be available from 9am to 8pm seven days a week. Customers will be able to order and pay through the Wetherspoon app, but staff will be able to take orders and payment at the table from those who dont have the app. Wetherspoons announced on Wednesday that it will open 60 of its pubs in Scotland from 26 April, along with seven hotels. The news came as first minister Nicola Sturgeon said that the country's "stay at home" order in place since December will be lifted on 2 April. The reopening of hairdressers and some shops will be phased in from 5 April, with restrictions expected to be significantly reduced from 26 April. "In accordance with Scottish government rules the pubs will serve food and non-alcoholic drinks inside the pubs and the pubs will also be able to serve alcohol (without the requirement for a meal) in external areas" Wetherspoon said. Regional manager for Scotland, Helen Dumbreck, said our pubs play an important part in the social life of their respective towns and cities and it is great news that they will be able to reopen soon," adding that each pub will observe necessary safety rules for COVID-19. WATCH: What UK government COVID-19 support is available? The AH-64 E Helicopter adds arms up with Spike NLOS Missiles as a mounted weapon. In addition to the AGM-114 Hellfire missiles that have been killing armor since introduction. Apache Guardian has had continual upgrades to make it a potent anti-armor personnel weapon system; one of the best weapons for close air support (CAS) of troops in combat. AH-64 E Helicopter gets better In the quest to make the Apache Guardian more lethal with Spike NLOS (Non-Line Of Sight) missile-armed, tests were done to see the remote-control missile on a boat on the Florida Coast as a moving target. Clients of Boeing for the E-Guardian include Australia and India acquiring them for armed scout missions. The US Army's advance gunship had its capabilities increased to destroy hidden targets with NLOS (Non-Line Of Sight) missiles. AGM-114 Hellfire is the best anti-armor missile, but sometimes targets are hidden. When hidden, especially of the visual range, it makes hitting accurately a bit harder. Improved chances of busting up moving targets and faster vehicles can strengthen lethality. Testing with NLOS might find its way to client nations who bought the E- Guardian Apache. It was used by the Indian Army in the Ladakh border conflict with glowing results. More nations are opting for the Apache-E as replacements for air cavalry. India will need a platform like the AH-64 E Helicopter to fire their Israeli Spike LR (long-range) Anti-tank missiles. They are similar to the Spike NLOS under trials with the US Army Apache Guardian units. The increasing offensive capability of armor gunships is a priority of the US Army and similar operators. Futuristic 'Defiant X' Flies to Be the Next Generation Long-Range Assault Helicopter of the US Army The value of American attack helicopters has been proven and adding extra weapons like Spike ATGMS is important. Skirmishes in the air between India and Pakistan prompted it. Spike Missile Developed by Israel, this a 4th generation homing ant-tank rocket that has four versions available. Models are portable ones fired by infantry or mounted on attack helicopters. One of them is the Apache Guardian, and it is sold in 35 countries. Spike variants are the Spike SR (short-range), medium-range, long-range, extended-range for all distances to attack targets. But, the Spike NLOS is chosen to be used for the Apache Guardian. Still under trials by the US Army units that intend to add it to the Apache's arsenal. Chances are India will get the NLOS variant for its own attack choppers. The range of the Spike NLOS is 25-km and rated as long-range for standoff ranges than other variants. Much larger weapon weighing about 70 kg. Capable of launching from the ground or airborne. This is why the trials are underway. Weapon testing Carried by the Apache attack helicopter from Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) in Florida, it is supported by the 96th Test Wing. Once fired by the gunship that hit the boat at 20 miles away, this was beyond visual range and a target in the water, which indicates the application in the maritime environment soon. A year ago, the US Army had indicated the Spike NLOS missile would be part of the AH-64 E Helicopter arsenal. Which adds to the dangerous Hellfire it carries onboard. According to sources, the test was a success and without a hitch. The missile has two ways to ways to reach its target. US Army Has the Most Advanced Apache Helicopter Gunship with Updated Features Apache Chain Guns to be Equipped with US Helicopter Gunship US Air Force Searching for Army's Next High-Technology Rotorcraft @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. NISKAYUNA Dibao Zhou didnt used to feel unsafe. But amid the pandemic, hes been accosted several times with anti-Asian slurs. The atmosphere is not friendly to me, Zhou said. I do feel personally that its getting more frequent. When Im on the street, I dont feel as safe as before. Now Zhou, a semiconductor professional who lives in Halfmoon, approaches even ordinary tasks with an additional layer of alertness, and hes taken to rolling up the windows in his car. Anti-Asian bias has long gurgled under the surface, according to local community members of Asian descent. But the racism and xenophobia that has been simmering in the coronavirus era exploded earlier this week when a white gunman was arrested and charged with killing eight people, six of them Asian women, at Atlanta-area massage businesses. Theres something rising, said Jennifer Zhao, an adjunct professor at Russell Sage College. Its very concerning. The sense of unease that even creeps into nature preserves, where Hope Cheng wonders if shell be verbally confronted or attacked while hiking. I dont feel safe now, said Cheng, a research scientist who lives in Bethlehem. John Aung, a semiconductor industry worker who lives in Saratoga Springs, questioned the prolonged impact of the national tenor on his children. We need to acknowledge and prevent this from happening, Aung said. As Asians, we need to acknowledge we have equal rights. As a first-generation American, I never feel as if Ive belonged here, and Ive always been viewed as a foreigner, said Sue Lee, a pastry chef who lives in Niskayuna. Anti-Asian attitudes have waxed and waned throughout history, with cycles of intensified rhetoric pinned to the political climate tending to peak when people feel threatened, said Angie Chung, a sociology professor at the University at Albany. The cycle began when Chinese emigrants ventured to California for the 1849 Gold Rush, continuing into World War II and well into the 1980s amid the economic rivalry between the U.S. and a rising Japan. The fear surrounding the coronarvirus pandemic is just a continuation of falling back on xenophobia when confronted with perceived threats. This idea of a threat from Asia is really not a new one, Chung said. Over time, Asian-Americans were used as a pawn by the U.S. government who furthered the model minority stereotype in an effort to drive a wedge between Asians and other ethnic groups, said Mary Szto, a teaching professor at Syracuse University College of Law. Now Szto believes the U.S. is entering a new era of Asian exclusion, one many believe has been fanned by former President Donald J. Trump and other Republican officials repeated attempts to underscore the connection between China and the coronavirus, often using racist terms as a descriptor. As a result, anyone who looks Asian falls victim to scapegoating and becoming a possible target of radicalized behavior. This is coming right from the top of the nations body politic and that narrative permeates into society, said Aliya Saeed, a psychiatrist and community activist who lives in Niskayuna. The anti-hate group Stop AAPI recorded over 3,800 incidents over the course of the past year. The Asian community has historically been fragmented, Zhao acknowledged. But now in the wake of tragedy, local APPI members hope to steer their anger and fear into durable relationships and a climate of activism similar to the Black Lives Matter movement. "We want allies, Zhao said. Whether you're Black, Latino or white, as long as people are willing to learn and make a stand against racism, thats where we start." Raj Benki, former president of the Tri-City India Association, said the Indian community stands with East Asians who have been targeted and shares in their outrage and grief. It's a situation India's Sikh community knows all too well, having been targeted in the aftermath of Sept. 11 attacks under the mistaken belief that they were Muslim, he said. Now its time to band together, Benki said, and set aside the historical rivalries that have often exacerbated tensions, including Chinas ongoing border dispute with India which has heated up in recent years. I think we should start something like Asian Lives Matter, Benki said. We should not bother with whats happening back home because once we get to the U.S., America is our home. Asian culture is not a monolith, and Chung acknowledged deep-rooted historical tensions, including between China, Japan and Korea, have proven to be stumbling blocks in the past. Yet sustained pan-ethnic coalitions tend to come from the second generation of U.S. immigrants, most of them college-educated. The murder of Vincent Chin in 1982 by two autoworkers upset over Japanese automakers entry into the U.S. market was a major turning point, she said. But more work remains. You cant really get things changed unless you have allies, Chung said. But it will take several generations. For now, solidarity would be a good start. That includes speaking out and coming to someones defense when hearing a slur, or if someone engages in racist behavior even if unintended or bad attempt at humor. The biggest defense where this needs to happen is countering the narrative, and the narrative is the poison spreading through our communities, Saeed said. And unless somebody stands up and fights the narrative, its almost inevitable that these attacks keep happening. Anti-Asian rhetoric is also often infused with sexism and misogyny, which erupted in the Atlanta Spa shootings, Chung said, and Asian women are often targeted because theyre seen as sexual objects. The depiction of these women is embedded with a lot of racial and sexual stereotypes, Chung said. The number of attacks is almost surely unreported. While Stop AAPI has accrued an ongoing database of incidents, experts say the number is likely higher due to engrained cultural attitudes about declining to speak out. Chung acknowledged a cultural element of not wanting to air what can be perceived as dirty laundry. But attacks also carry a blend of fear, anxiety and hopelessness. Its difficult to react to it, Chung said. When youre victimized, its difficult to think about it, much less report it. A recent series of assaults have also targeted the elderly, including a fatal assault of a 84-year-man in San Francisco. Members of the AAPI community are tentatively assembling a rally on Monday in Albanys Academy Park, an event organizers hope will continue to drive awareness and display unity. Saratoga Springs-based attorney Ronald Kim is well-acquainted with racism, having not only experienced racist comments growing up in the U.S. but also during his time in public service, including a stint as the citys public safety commissioner and 2009 run for mayor, a race marred by racist commentary on local news websites. At one point, he had to ask a local newspaper to scrub references to then-North Korean leader Kim Jong Il from the comments section of their website. Slurs like "Dictator Kim and "Kim Il Ron still rub him raw, he said, as well as the superimposed image of his head on a dogs body. If any good comes out of something terrible like this, its people who say they need to speak up, Kim said. Szto, the Syracuse professor, believes the U.S. must directly confront its often-tumultuous relationship with Asians as part of a national reconciliation process. While Congress eventually apologized for the Exclusion Act and World War II-era internment camps that locked up American citizens of Japanese descent, they were low-key affairs. Whats needed are national holidays and events celebrating Asian-American history. We need to tell the story of the past and celebrate the heroes, Szto said. But we have to tell the story of anti-Asian violence. Unless we tell the story, and admit the story, were going to repeat the story. Bengaluru, March 19 : Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) highest decision-making body Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) commenced its two-day meeting here on Friday which will end with the election of the new Sarkaryavah (General Secretary) on Saturday. While, this will be the seventh ABPS meeting in Karnataka, but for Bengaluru, the city will be the first one to elect a new Sarkaryavah outside the RSS-based headquarter in Nagpur. RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat and current Sarkaryavah Suresh aka Bhaiyyaji Joshi offered floral tributes to the portrait of 'Bharat Mata' heralding the commencement of the meeting. Bhaiyyaji's term expires on Friday. The ABPS meets once in a year and also elects the Sarkaryavah who is the top executive head, with each term having three years, every third year. The ABPS' election meeting is being regularly held in Nagpur but this year due to the Covid pandemic, it has been shifted to Bengaluru. The 2019 ABPS was held in Gwalior, while the 2020 meeting was scheduled in Bengaluru but was cancelled in the wake of the pandemic. The number of participants has been reduced to 450 from 1,500 as part of the Covid protocol. The remaining delegates will participate in the ABPS meeting from their respective states through videoconferencing. "This year the ABPS was scheduled in Nagpur but due to the spike in Covid-19 cases, it was later shifted to Bengaluru," said Manmohan Vaidya, Sah Sarkaryavah of the RSS. The RSS has 11 zones called kshetras which are further organised as 44 working units called prants (regions). Many delegates from these kshetras and prants will attend the ABPS online. The two-day Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal meeting that concluded on March 18 in Bengaluru has decided the agenda of the ABPS and the resolutions to be presented and passed. Vaidya said the ABPS meets every year to deliberate on the year gone by and plan for the next year. "The ABPS will review its activities of 2020 and plan for the coming year's programmes besides electing the new Sarkaryavah for the next three years. The participants will also deliberate on expansion of Sangh work and the organisational activities," he added. He said that RSS Shakhas and other Sangh events had completely stopped between March to June last year due to the pandemic and the Shakhas gradually resumed only in July. "In comparison to March last year, most of the Shakhas have become active again. Around 89% of the Shakhas have recommenced and the remaining will resume gradually," Vaidya added. Indonesia's president urged a halt to violence in Myanmar on Friday and asked leaders of Southeast Asia to hold a summit on the crisis. President Joko Widodo said in a televised speech that Indonesia urges the use of violence in Myanmar be stopped immediately. He also offered his condolences to the victims and their families. More than 200 people have been killed by security forces since the coup, according to credible tallies. Nearly 2,000 people are estimated to be imprisoned, and media outlets are being targeted. Among those held are Thein Zaw, an Associated Press journalist taken into custody in a chokehold by authorities on February 27. Widodo, the leader of Southeast Asia's largest economy, said that he will immediately hold talks with the Sultan of Brunei as the Chair of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to set up a meeting of ASEAN leaders to address Myanmar's political turmoil. Widodo's move came weeks after foreign ministers of the 10-member ASEAN held their first meeting early this month since the Feb. 1 coup, when Myanmar's military detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders. Brunei, which heads ASEAN this year, issued its own chairman's statement following that meeting, in which the ministers apparently failed to agree on a declaration after Myanmar's top diplomat briefed other ASEAN foreign ministers. During the March 2 meeting, Southeast Asian foreign ministers called on all parties in Myanmar to refrain from instigating further violence, where the military seized power from an elected government and is escalating its use of mass arrests and deadly force against peaceful protesters. ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) KYODO NEWS - Mar 20, 2021 - 01:44 | Japan, All Three Chinese naval vessels including a large guided-missile destroyer have been spotted in the Strait of Tsushima, north of Japan's Kyushu main island, sailing into the Sea of Japan, the Defense Ministry said Friday. The Renhai-class vessel is among China's largest naval destroyers and Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force confirmed the ship in waters near Japan for the first time, the ministry's Joint Staff said. The three vessels did not enter Japan's territorial waters nor take action to pose any threat to MSDF ships or planes, it added. The development came after Japan and the United States expressed concern over a controversial Chinese law when the two countries held security ministerial talks on Tuesday in Tokyo. The Chinese law that recently took effect enables its coast guard ships to fire on vessels around the Japanese-controlled, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The Defense Ministry is analyzing China's intentions in sending the naval ships near Japan at this time. According to the Joint Staff, two MSDF ships and a P-3C reconnaissance aircraft spotted the three Chinese naval vessels in the sea about 250 kilometers southwest of Tsushima city at around 11 a.m. on Thursday. The three vessels sailed through the Strait of Tsushima and entered the Sea of Japan. China deployed its first Renhai-class missile destroyer in January 2020. Equipped with vertical-launch missiles, the destroyer is believed to be capable of launching long-range cruise missiles as well as supersonic antiship missiles. We look forward to playing a key role in removing the barriers to behavioral health care and determining the best way to make these services a fully integrated component of primary care in Santa Clara County Santa Clara Family Health Plan announced it will partner with five local health care providers to improve the integration of behavioral health services into primary care through the Behavioral Health Integration Incentive Program (BHIIP). The BHIIP, funded by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), will provide $6.7 million to these Santa Clara County providers over two years. Demand for behavioral health services is on the rise, especially in response to heightened anxiety levels and feelings of isolation caused by the pandemic. However, many people lack access to the appropriate behavioral health screening and treatment services or they face other obstacles to getting care, such as homelessness, language barriers or cultural stigmas. To address this critical need, Santa Clara Family Health Plan is working with AACI, Gardner Health Services, North East Medical Services, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, and School Health Clinics of Santa Clara County. These providers work primarily in underserved, low-income and multicultural communities where there are frequent barriers to care. The BHIIP participants projects are as diverse as their patient populations, yet all have the common goal of creating a clearer path to incorporating behavioral health services into their primary care practices. Project objectives: AACI: Develop a comprehensive medication management program using telehealth visits for people with co-occurring chronic medical and behavioral diagnoses and create a comprehensive care coordination program for patients with co-occurring diabetes and serious mental illness. Gardner Health Services: Increase the number of primary care patients identified with and provided treatment for mental health and substance use disorders. North East Medical Services: Improve physical and behavioral health outcomes for patients with co-morbid disorders specifically diabetes and high blood pressure by redesigning clinic treatment plans to focus on depression screening, alcohol screening, and follow-up services. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center: Address maternal access to mental health and substance use disorder screening and treatment by creating a robust screening and follow-up process. School Health Clinics: Expand current school-based clinic model to three additional school-based clinic sites to provide integrated behavioral health and physical health services. The gap in access to mental health care among the most vulnerable in our county is a challenge we have struggled with for many years, and the pandemic has only worsened the situation, said Stephanie Kleinheinz, Chief Executive Officer of School Health Clinics of Santa Clara County. This project enables us to embed behavioral health providers from Uplift Family Services right into our clinics, giving our patients immediate access to mental health care coordinated by a team they know and trust. Its a game changer for our organization and our patients. As the participating providers identify and treat people for behavioral health issues, they will gain, measure and share real-world insight into the most effective models of behavioral health integration for the larger communities served. This includes the development of comprehensive programs to coordinate care, manage medication and make behavioral health services more accessible, paving the way toward improved patient outcomes. Maternal mental health is often overlooked as an integral part of ensuring a healthy pregnancy and birth experience for both mom and baby, said Sarah Isquick, MD, Medical Director of the BHIIP program for Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. That led us to prioritize integrating behavioral health into our care delivery. Through our participation in this project, we are developing a comprehensive multidisciplinary behavioral health team to provide a more holistic approach to prenatal and postpartum care. The BHIIP program began in Medi-Cal managed care in January 2021 and will continue through December 2022. In its administrative role, Santa Clara Family Health Plan will manage the providers efforts to share data and ensure progress toward quarterly milestones and overall outcomes. Santa Clara Family Health Plan also will deliver DHCS funding to contracted providers for the duration of the two-year program. Its very exciting to be part of such a significant investment in meeting this critical need among the communities we serve, said Christine M. Tomcala, Chief Executive Officer of Santa Clara Family Health Plan. We look forward to playing a key role in removing the barriers to behavioral health care and determining the best way to make these services a fully integrated component of primary care in Santa Clara County. About Santa Clara Family Health Plan SCFHP is a local, community-based health plan dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the residents of Santa Clara County. Working in partnership with providers and community organizations, we serve our neighbors through our Medi-Cal and Cal MediConnect (Medicare-Medicaid Plan) health insurance plans. SCFHP began offering coverage in 1997 and is now proud to provide services to over 274,000 residents of Santa Clara County. Through devotion to outstanding service and care for the community, SCFHP is committed to providing quality, affordable health insurance to the underserved in Santa Clara Countys diverse population. For more information, visit http://www.scfhp.com The Loretto Hospital is apologizing again for giving people the COVID-19 vaccine out of turn. Video Transcript - Judy, Loretto Hospital is the spot where Chicago kicked off its vaccination campaign months ago, and now tonight for the second time in a week, they are trying to explain themselves after being caught in a bit of a vaccination controversy. Tonight Loretto Hospital is again apologizing for vaccinating people out of turn. This time hospital staff confirms some Cook County judges and their spouses received the shot. In a statement, a spokesperson for the hospital said in part, no judges were officially invited or prioritized by the hospital for vaccinations. Any vaccination that did take place were indicative of an existing level of confusion among medical teams at Loretto and other facilities regarding the nuances and differences between the city and states 1B and 1B-plus eligibility requirements as they applied to elected officials. The city of Chicago is currently in the 1B phase of vaccinations which includes six different categories of frontline essential workers. According to those guidelines, none of those categories include judges though it does include continuity of government and postal workers. - We obviously want to make sure that people are being vaccinated when it is their turn. - A spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Judge says the judges were told they did not take from any eligible persons but made use of shots that would have gone to waste. The vaccine priority failure at the west side hospital comes after Loretto Hospital admitted to recently vaccinating 72 Trump Tower employees at a private event. - We have had conversations with Loretto Hospital related to that event, and we have asked for some more details related to who was vaccinated. - A spokesperson for the hospital emphasized that their statement was not meant to escape any guilt here they said they were simply mistakes made they are working with both the staff and leadership at the hospital to make sure they say that this does not happen again. Articles about Americas high levels of child poverty are a media evergreen. Heres a typical entry, courtesy of the New York Timess Eduardo Porter: The percentage of children who are poor is more than three times as high in the United States as it is in Norway or the Netherlands. America has a larger proportion of poor children than Russia. Thats right: Russia. Outrageous as they seem, the assertions are trueat least in the sense that they line up with official statistics from government agencies and reputable nongovernmental organizations like the OECD and UNICEF. International comparisons of the sort that Porter makes, though, should be accompanied by a forest of asterisks. Data limitations, varying definitions of poverty, and other wonky problems are rampant in these discussions. The lousy child-poverty numbers should come with another qualifying asterisk, pointing to a very American reality. Before Europes recent migration crisis, the United States was the only developed country consistently to import millions of very poor, low-skilled families, from some of the most destitute places on earthespecially from undeveloped areas of Latin Americainto its communities, schools, and hospitals. Lets just say that Russia doesnt care to do thisand, until recently, Norway and the Netherlands didnt, either. Both policymakers and pundits prefer silence on the relationship between Americas immigration system and poverty, and its easy to see why. The subject pushes us headlong into the sort of wrenching trade-offs that politicians and advocates prefer to avoid. Heres the problem in a nutshell: you can allow mass low-skilled immigration, which many on the left and the rightand probably most poverty mavensconsider humane and quintessentially American. But if you do, pursuing the equally humane goal of substantially reducing child poverty becomes a lot harder. In 1964, the federal government settled on a standard definition of poverty: an income less than three times the value of a hypothetical basic food basket. (That approach has its flaws, but its the measure used in the United States, so well stick with it.) Back then, close to 23 percent of American kids were poor. With the important exception of the years between 1999 and 2007following the introduction of welfare reform in 1996when it declined to 16 percent, child poverty has bounced within three points of 20 percent since 1980. Currently, about 18 percent of kids are below the poverty line, amounting to 13,250,000 children. Other Anglo countries have lower child-poverty rates: the OECD puts Canadas at 15 percent, with the United Kingdom and Australia lower still, between 11 percent and 13 percent. The lowest levels of allunder 10 percentare found in the Nordic countries: Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Finland. How does immigration affect those post-1964 American child-poverty figures? Until 1980, it didnt. The 1924 Immigration Act sharply reduced the number of immigrants from poorer Eastern European and southern countries, and it altogether banned Asians. (Mexicans, who had come to the U.S. as temporary agricultural workers and generally returned to their home country, werent imagined as potential citizens and thus were not subject to restrictive quotas.) The relatively small number of immigrants settling in the U.S. tended to be from affluent nations and had commensurate skills. According to the Migration Policy Institute, in 1970, immigrant children were less likely to be poor than were the children of native-born Americans. By 1980, chiefly because of the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act, the situation had reversed: immigrant kids were now poorer than native-born ones. That 1965 law, overturning the 1924 restrictions, made family preference a cornerstone of immigration policyand, as it turned out, that meant a growing number of new Americans hailing from less-developed countries and lacking skills. The income gap between immigrant and native children widened. As of 1990, immigrant kids had poverty rates 50 percent higher than their native counterparts. At the turn of the millennium, more than one-fifth of immigrant children, compared with just 9 percent of non-Hispanic white kids, were classified as poor. Today, according to Center for Immigration Studies estimates, 31.1 percent of the poor under 18 are either immigrants or the American-born kids of immigrant parents. Perhaps the most uncomfortable truth about these figures, and surely one reason they dont often show up in media accounts, is that a large majority of Americas poor immigrant childrenand, at this point, a large fraction of all its poor childrenare Hispanic (see chart below). The U.S. started collecting separate poverty data on Hispanics in 1972. That year, 22.8 percent of those originally from Spanish-language countries of Latin America were poor. The percentage hasnt risen that dramatically since then; its now at 25.6 percent. But because the Hispanic population in America quintupled during those years, these immigrants substantially expanded the nations poverty rolls. Hispanics are now the largest U.S. immigrant group by farand the lowest-skilled. Pew estimates that Hispanics accounted for more than half the 22-million-person rise in the official poverty numbers between 1972 and 2012. Robert Samuelson of the Washington Post found that, between 1990 and 2016, Hispanics drove nearly three-quarters of the increase in the nations poverty population from 33.6 million to 40.6 million. Ironically, then, at the same time that Americas War on Poverty was putting a spotlight on poor children, the new immigration system was steadily making the problem worse. In 1980, only 9 percent of American children were Hispanic. By 2009, that number had climbed to 22 percent. Almost two-thirds of these children were first- or second-generation immigrants, most of whose parents were needy. Nowadays, 31 percent of the countrys Hispanic children are in poverty. That percentage remains somewhat lower than the 36 percent of black children who are poor, true; but because the raw number of poor Hispanic kids5.1 millionis so much higher (poor black children number 3.7 million), they make up by far the largest group in the child-poverty statistics. As of 2016, Hispanic children account for more than one-third of Americas poor children. Between 1999 and 2008 alone, the U.S. added 1.8 million children to the poverty rolls; the Center for Immigration Studies reports that immigrants accounted for 45 percent of them. Lets be clear: Hispanic immigration isnt the only reason that the U.S. has such troubling child-poverty rates. Other immigrant groups, such as North Africans and Laotians, add to the ranks of the under-18 poor. And American Indians have the highest rates of child poverty of all ethnic and racial groups. These are relatively small populations, however; combine Indians and Laotians, and you get fewer than a half-million poor childrena small chunk of the 14-plus million total. Even if we were following the immigration quotas set in 1924, the U.S. would be something of a child-poverty outlier. The nations biggest embarrassment is the alarming percentage of black children living in impoverished homes. Unsurprisingly, before the civil rights movement, the numbers were higher; in 1966, almost 42 percent of black kids were poor. But those percentages started to improve in the later 1960s and in the 1970s. Then they soared again. By the 1980s and early 1990s, black child poverty was hovering miserably between 42 percent and almost 47 percent. Researchers attribute the lack of progress to the explosion in single-parent black families and welfare use. The current percentage of black kids living with a single mother66 percentfar surpasses that of any other demographic group. The 1996 welfare-reform bill and a strong economy helped bring black child poverty below 40 percent, a public-policy successbut the numbers remain far too high. Policymakers and pundits prefer silence on the relationship between Americas immigration system and poverty. Immigrant poverty, though usually lumped within a single child-poverty number, belongs in a different category from black or Native American poverty. After all, immigrants voluntarily came to the United States, usually seeking opportunity. And immigrants of the past often found it. The reality of American upward mobility helps explain why, despite real hardships, poor immigrant childhood became such a powerful theme in American life and literature. Think of classic coming-of-age novels like Betty Smiths A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (about Irish immigrants), Henry Roths Call It Sleep (Jewish immigrants), and Paule Marshalls Brown Girl, Brownstones (West Indians), all set in the first decades of the twentieth century. With low pay, miserable work conditions, and unreliable hours, the immigrant groups that such novels depicted so realistically were as poor asand arguably more openly discriminated against thantodays Mexicans or Bangladeshis. Their children, though, didnt need a ton of education to leave the hard-knocks life behind. While schools of that era were doubtless more committed to assimilating young newcomers than are todays diversity-celebrating institutions, sky-high dropout rates limited their impact. At the turn of the twentieth century, only 5 percent of the total population graduated from high school; the rate among immigrants would have been even lower. That doesnt mean that education brought no advantages. Though economist George Borjas notes that endemic truancy and interrupted studies had ripple effects on incomes into following generations, the preWorld War II industrial economy offered a range of blue collar opportunities for immigrant children, as sociologists Roger Waldinger and Joel Perlman observe, and it required only modest educations to move a notch or two above their parents. It may have taken more than one generation, but most immigrant families could expect, if not Horatio Algerstyle ascents, at least middle-class stability over time. Americas economy has transformed in ways that have blocked many of the avenues to upward mobility available to the immigrant families of the past. The kind of middle-skilled jobs that once fed the aspirations of low-income strivers are withering. Modest educations will no longer raise poor immigrant children above their parents station. Drop out of high school, and youll be lucky to be making sandwiches at a local deli or cleaning rooms at a Motel 6. Even a high school diploma can be a dead end, unless supplemented by the right kind of technical training. Get a college degree, however, and it is a different, happier, story. Yes, some immigrant groups known for their obsessional devotion to their childrens educational attainment (Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants come to mind) still have a good shot at middle-class stability, even though the parents typically arrive in America with little skill or education and, working in low-wage occupations, add to poverty numbers in the short term. But researchers have followed several generations of Hispanicsagain, by far the largest immigrant groupand what theyve found is much less encouraging. Hispanic immigrants start off okay. Raised in the U.S., the second generation graduates high school and goes to college at higher rates than its parents, and it also earns more, though it continues to lag significantly behind native-born and other immigrant groups in these outcomes. Unfortunately, the third generation either stalls, or worse, takes what the Urban Institute calls a U-turn. Between the second and third generation, Hispanic high school dropout rates go up and college-going declines. The third generation is more often disconnectedthat is, neither attending school nor employed. Its income declines; its health, including obesity levels, looks worse. Most disturbing, as we look to the future, a third-generation Hispanic is more likely to be born to a single mother than were his first- or second-generation predecessors. The children of single mothers not only have high poverty rates, regardless of ethnic or racial background; theyre also less likely to experience upward mobility, as a mountain of data shows. The Hispanic U-turn probably has many causes. Like most parents these days, Hispanics say that they believe that education is essential for their childrens success. Cultural norms that prize family and tradition over achievement and independence often stand in the way. According to a study in the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, Hispanic parents dont talk and read to their young children as much as typical middle-class parents, who tend to applaud their childrens attempts at self-expression, do; differences in verbal ability show up as early as age two. Hispanic parents of low-achieving students, most of whom also voiced high academic hopes for their kids, were still happy with their childrens test scores even when the children performed poorly. Their children tended to be similarly satisfied. Unlike many other aspiring parents, Hispanics are more reluctant to see their children travel to magnet schools and to college. They also become parents at younger ages. Though Hispanic teen birthrates have fallenas they have for all groups, apart from American Indiansthey remain the highest in the nation. The sheer size of the Hispanic population hinders the assimilation that might moderate some of these preferences. Immigrants have always moved into ethnic enclaves in the United States when they could, but schools and workplaces and street life inevitably meant mixing with other kinds, even when they couldnt speak the same language. In many parts of the country, though, Hispanics are easily able to stick to their own. In fact, Generations of Exclusion, a longitudinal study of several generations of Mexican-Americans, found that a majority of fourth-generation Mexican-Americans live in Hispanic neighborhoods and marry other Hispanics. Other affluent countries have lots of immigrants struggling to make it in a postindustrial economy. Those countries have lower child-poverty rates than we dosome much lower. But the background of the immigrants they accept is very different. Canada, New Zealand, and Australia are probably the best points of comparison. Like the United States, they are part of the Anglosphere and historically multicultural, with large numbers of foreign-born residents. However, unlike the U.S., they all use a points system that considers education levels and English ability, among other skills, to determine who gets immigration visas. The Brookings Institutions Hamilton Project calculates that, while 30 percent of American immigrants have a low level of educationmeaning less than a high school diplomaand 35 percent have a college degree or higher, only 22 percent of Canadian immigrants lack a high school diploma, while more than 46 percent have gone to college. (Canada tightened its points system after a government study found that a rise in poverty and inequality during the 1980s and 1990s could be almost entirely attributed to an influx of poorer immigrants.) Australia and New Zealand also have a considerably more favorable ratio of college-educated immigrants than does the United States. The same goes for the U.K. The immigration ecosystem of the famously egalitarian Nordic countries also differs from the U.S.s in ways that have kept their poverty numbers low. Historically, the Nordics didnt welcome large numbers of greenhorns. As of 1940, for instance, only 1 percent of Swedens population was foreign-born, compared with almost 8.8 percent of Americans. After World War II, Nordic immigration numbers began rising, with most of the newcomers arriving from developed countries, as was the case in the U.S. until 1965. In Finland and Iceland, for instance, the plurality of immigrants today is Swedish and Polish, respectively. In Norway, the majority of immigrants come from Poland and Lithuania. Note that these groups have low poverty rates in the U.S., too. Sweden presents the most interesting case, since it has been the most welcoming of the Nordic countriesand it has one of the most generous welfare states, providing numerous benefits for its immigrants. For a long time, the large majority of Swedens immigrants were from Finland, a country with a similar culture and economy. By the 1990s, the immigrant population began to change, though, as refugees arrived from the former Yugoslavia, Iran, and Iraqpopulations with little in common culturally with Sweden and far more likely to be unskilled than immigrants from the European Union. By 2011, Sweden, like other European countries, was seeing an explosion in the number of asylum applicants from Syria, Afghanistan, and Africa; in 2015 and 2016, there was another spike. Swedens percentage of foreign-born has swelled to 17 percenthigher than the approximately 13 percent in the United States. How has Sweden handled its growing diversity? We dont have much reliable data from the most recent surge, but numbers from earlier this decade suggest the limits of relying on copious state benefits to acclimate cultural outsiders. In the U.S., immigrants are still more likely to be employed than are the native-born. In Sweden, the opposite holds. More than 26 percent of Swedish newcomers have remained unemployed long-term (for more than a year). Immigrants tend to be poorer than natives and more likely to fall back into poverty if they do surmount it. In fact, Sweden has one of the highest poverty rates among immigrants relative to native-born in the European Union. Most strikingly, a majority of children living in Sweden classified as poor in 2010 were immigrants. Despite its resolute antipoverty efforts, Sweden has, if anything, been less successful than the U.S. at bringing its second-generation immigrants up to speed. According to the OECDs Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey, Sweden has declined over the past decade [between 2005 and 2015] from around average to significantly below average . . . . No other country taking part in PISA has seen a steeper fall. The Swedish Education Agency reports that immigrant kids were responsible for 85 percent of a decline in school performance. Outcomes like these suggest that immigration optimists have underestimated the difficulty of integrating the less-educated from undeveloped countries, and their children, into advanced economies. A more honest accounting raises tough questions. Should the United States, as the Trump administration is proposing, and as is already the case in Canada and Australia, pursue a policy favoring higher-skilled immigration? Or do we accept higher levels of child poverty and lower social mobility as a cost of giving refuge and opportunity to people with none? If we accept such costs, does it even make sense to compare our child-poverty numbers with those of countries like Denmark or Sweden, which have only recently begun to take in large numbers of low-skilled immigrants? Recent events in Denmark and Sweden put another question in stark relief. How many newcomersespecially from very different culturescan a country successfully absorb, and on what timetable? A surge of asylum seekers beginning in 2015 forced both countries to introduce controls at their borders and limits to asylum acceptances. Their existing social services proved unable to cope with the swelling ranks of the needy; there was not enough housing, and, well, citizens werent always as welcoming as political leaders might have wished. The growing power of anti-immigrant political parties has shocked these legendarily tolerant cultures. And yet one more question: How long can generous welfare policies survive large-scale low-skilled immigration? The beneficent Nordic countries are not the only ones that need to wonder. The National Academies of Sciences finds that immigration to America has an overall positive impact on the fiscal health of the federal government, but not so for the states and localities that must pay for education, libraries, some social services, and a good chunk of Medicaid. Fifty-five percent of Californias immigrant families use some kind of means-tested benefits; for natives, its 30 percent. The centrist Hamilton Project observes that high-immigrant statesCalifornia, New York, New Jersey, among othersmay be burdened with costs that will only be recouped over a number of years, or, if children move elsewhere within the United States, may never fully be recovered. In short, confronting honestly the question of child-poverty rates in the United Statesand, increasingly, such rates in other advanced countriesmeans acknowledging the reality that a newcomers background plays a vital role in immigrant success. Alternatively, of course, one can always fall back on damning worries about our current immigration system as evidence of racism. Remember November 8, 2016, if you want to know how that will play out. A young girl eats at a Salvation Army Thanksgiving dinner in Santa Ana, California. (ALLEN J. SCHABEN/LOS ANGELES TIMES/GETTY IMAGES) " " "The Abduction of Helen" by Luca Giordano (1632-1705) from the Musee des Beaux-Arts, Caen, depicts the abduction of Helen, wife of king Menelaus of Sparta, by the Trojan prince Paris, which led to the Trojan War. Art Images/Getty Images When a figure is known for having "the face that launched a thousand ships," they're bound to pique plenty of interest and curiosity. While many people may be familiar with this Christopher Marlowe line from "Doctor Faustus," they may not be as familiar with his inspiration: Helen of Troy. Otherwise known as Helene or Helen of Sparta, the mythological figure is a character in Homer's epic poem, "The Iliad," who is described as the most beautiful woman of Greece. She's also been blamed for inadvertently sparking the Trojan War (which some might say is unfair considering the fault really lies with the men fighting over her). But there's much more to Helen than many realize, and her story is one more piece of the fascinating, interconnected puzzle of Greek mythology. Like many players in Greek mythology, Helen's family life is a little complicated. "The most important part of Helen's bio aside from the fact that she was the immediate reason for the Trojan War being fought is that she's the daughter of the chief god Zeus," says Richard P. Martin, Antony and Isabelle Raubitschek professor in classics at California's Stanford University, in an email interview. "Her mother was a mortal, Leda, who was married to Tyndareus of Sparta." According to Martin, Zeus a master of disguise took on the form of a swan to seduce Leda and she produced two eggs, resulting in four offspring: the girls Helen and Clytemnestra, and the boys Castor and Polydeuces (better known by their Latin names Castor and Pollux the "Gemini" or twins). "Helen and her sister grew up to marry two brothers, Menelaus and Agamemnon, respectively," Martin says. Helen's history as an important mythological figure runs deep. "Helen was worshipped as a goddess in Sparta in historical times," Martin says. "She was especially associated with springs of water and trees. Rituals carried out by girls nearing the age of marriage were dedicated to her." Advertisement Helen and The Trojan War So why is Helen implicated in the start of the Trojan War, the legendary Bronze Age conflict between the early Greeks and the people of Troy? Experts still debate which portions of the war were based in reality and which were fabricated by creatives like Homer and Virgil. So how does Helen fit into the most popular version of the story? " " A bust of Helen of Troy by an unknown sculptor at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England. Dunk/Flickr (CC By 2.0) "Helen was the most beautiful woman in Greece and had many suitors," Martin says. "Her father made them all swear that they would come to the aid of whichever suitor won Helen's hand in marriage, should anything happen to her. He chose Menelaus to be her husband. The pair lived in Sparta and had a daughter, Hermione." According to Martin, while Helen and Menelaus started their domestic life together, a young prince from Troy on the other side of Aegean Sea named Paris was asked to judge a beauty contest among the goddesses: Hera (Zeus's wife), Athena and Aphrodite. "Each promised success in her own special field," Martin says. "Hera offered rule as a king, Athena offered wisdom, and Aphrodite dangled Helen as a bribe and of course Paris proceeded to judge the sex goddess to be the fairest." Martin says that when Paris went to visit Menelaus, he seduced Helen and sailed back with her to Troy, prompting the leading warriors of Greece (who, had until recently, been the ones vying for Helen's attention) to join Agamemnon and Menelaus in taking her back from Paris. "But he would not let her go, and so a ten-year siege of Troy by the Greeks began, ending only with the ruse of the Trojan Horse that enabled the Greek fighters to secretly enter the citadel and set it aflame," Martin says. "Menelaus finally got his wife back when the Greeks conquered the city." Advertisement The "Face That Launched a Thousand Ships" As far as that famous line about her face, Martin explains how Helen came to be defined by a 17th century literary description. It refers to the Greek fleet that went in pursuit of Helen, and it comes from a line in a play called "The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus," published in 1604 by a contemporary of Shakespeare named Christopher Marlowe," he says. "The main character, Faustus, wants power at all costs and makes a deal with an associate of the devil, that he will sell his soul provided he is given the service of evil spirits for 24 hours. So he gets the ability to summon spirits of the long-dead, the most impressive being Helen of Troy, whom he takes as a lover." For further context, here are the lines with which Faustus greets Helen: Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships, And burnt the topless towers of Ilium Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss. [kisses her] Her lips suck forth my soul: see, where it flies! Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again. Here will I dwell, for heaven is in these lips, And all is dross that is not Helena. But while Helen is often known for her role in Greek mythology, she has universal appeal. "The story of Helen has deep connections with a folktale plot that is found all over the world, starting in ancient Egypt the 'beautiful wife abducted,'" Martin says. "There is a terrific recent book on all the many versions, written by Lowell Edmunds: "Stealing Helen: The Myth of the Abducted Wife in Comparative Perspective." HowStuffWorks may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Now That's Interesting The mainstream version of Helen's story at the center of Homer's work is largely considered the most popular depiction of her narrative. But according to Martin, a sixth century B.C.E. version of her tale is quite different and involves the gods sending "a kind of clone of Helen a ghostly image or eidolon, appearing to be the real thing to Troy in her place." He says that while the clone went off to Troy, "the real Helen sat out the war in Egypt, where she had stopped over during her original voyage out of Sparta" and that this version was "given a comic twist by the radical playwright Euripides in his drama titled "Helen," produced in Athens in 412 B.C.E." Saudi Arabia and Germany have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost cooperation on the production and exploitation of hydrogen. According to Independent Commodity Intelligence Services, Saudi Arabias Minister of Energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, said the MoU will build on existing Saudi-German dialogue on energy developments aimed at achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, with a focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The worlds first large scale green hydrogen plant is currently under construction at Neom city, on the Red Sea coast. Officials hope the $5 billion Air Products JV will be the first phase of a mission to turn the country into a global hydrogen hub. Last year, Saudi Aramco shipped the worlds first cargo of blue hydrogen, with ammonia identified as a key carrier for hydrogen given existing shipping and logistics infrastructure and relatively lower transport costs. On the German side, the MoU was signed by Peter Altmayer, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy. Tradearabia News Service Chinese Real Estate Tycoons Son Allegedly Wanted for His Online Speech Pan Rui, son of Chinese real estate magnate Pan Shiyi, is allegedly wanted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) public security for his speech on Chinese social media website Weibo about the actual deaths of the Chinese military in border clashes with Indian soldiers in June 2020, according to Chinese state media reports. Pan Shiyi is a businessman and the founder of Soho China. According to the latest data in Forbes, he and his wife Zhang Xin have assets of $3.4 billion as of Mar. 18, 2021. On Mar. 15, Beijings Haidian District Public Security Bureau released a notice on its official Weibo account that a male internet user surnamed Pan, 30, made a comment on Jun. 23, 2020, vilifying the Chinese heroes who died on the Sino-Indian border. The notice said Pan had remained outside China since Feb. 2, 2020, whose Weibo account had been suspended, and police were seeking and urging him to return to China as soon as possible for an investigation. In June last year, the bloodiest clashes between China and India in the past 45 years broke out in the Galwan River valley. On Jun. 16, the Indian army said 20 soldiers were killed in violent incidents with the Chinese troops in the Galwan area. In contrast, the Chinese side remained silent about the deaths of its own soldiers for eight months after the confrontation, which sparked speculation. On Jun. 23, 2020, Pan Rui replied to a friends post on social media, claiming he heard a rumor that at least one camping site was buried alive. It was this statement that led to the warrant for his arrest on a charge of insulting heroes, a new Chinese law enacted in April 2018. The man surnamed Pan is believed to refer to Pan Rui, son of the billionaire Pan Shiyi, according to Shanxi Youth Daily. A Chongqing law professional also surnamed Pan told Radio Free Asia (RFA) on Mar. 15 that Pan Ruis online speech was far from slandering the border heroes. He suspected the move was more aimed at those Chinese officials, like Pan Shiyi, who sent their children to study abroad and posed a threat to Beijing. Public data shows Pan Rui went to study in the UK at the age of 13. Later, he received higher education in Engineering Business Management at Warwick University. Zhang Pingben, an active internet user, told RFA on Mar. 15 that Pan Rui had awakened from the CCP-indoctrinated Chinese history and heroes based on lies after absorbing liberal ideas in the free West world. On Dec. 28, 2020, Pan Rui made a post to show his support to Chinas citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who was sentenced to four and half years in jail after she conducted a firsthand probe into the novel coronavirus of unknown cause in Wuhan, the epicenter of the pandemic. So far, there have been at least seven people who have questioned the number of Chinese troops who died on the Indian border and who have been threatened, detained, or had an arrest warrant posted online, before this notice for Pan Rui was posted, according to the Chinese-language Epoch Times. Hitesh Chandranee, the Bengaluru woman who accused a Zomato delivery boy of punching her on the face, has said she has not left Bengaluru and that her words have been twisted to turn the narrative against her. Chandranee, who is being accused of framing the Zomato delivery boy now, released a statement on Instagram, saying she was worried about her safety. Chandranee said posts by certain celebrities holding her responsible have also hurt her. "The posts made by certain celebrities which accuse me of being responsible for the incident have hurt me immensely as these are the people I look up to. The comments of such people have an impact," she said. Defending her earlier statement of accusing the delivery boy of hitting her, Chandranee said she wouldn't risk her life and career by making false accusations. "I would not risk my life, reputation, respect and peace of mind by orchestrating anything as attributed to me. I appeal to all netizens not to express any opinion till the trial is completed by the appropriate legal forum," she wrote. The women said Bengaluru is home to her and that she was worried over her safety for the past few days. "I live by myself in Bengaluru and the past few days have been very difficult for me and I am worried about my safety. A neutral probe by the investigative agencies will bring out the truth and I look forward to it," she wrote. The women said she lives alone in the city and that she was hounded on social media by people tweeting against her, including celebrities. Notably, actor Parineeti Chopra had earlier appealed to Zomato to find the truth and "penalise the women" if the delivery boy is innocent. "Zomato India - PLEASE find and publicly report the truth...If the gentleman is innocent (and I believe he is), PLEASE help us penalise the woman in question. This is inhuman, shameful and heartbreaking...Please let me know how I can help...#ZomatoDeliveryGuy (sic)," Parineeti Chopra tweeted on March 14. Earlier, it was reported that Chandranee reportedly left Bengaluru as cops contacted Chandranee for questioning following Kamaraj's counter-complaint. The investigating officer said she had left the city and is at her aunt's house in Maharashtra. The police said they have given her time to make her statement once she returns, and added, "If she fails to come before police, we will arrest her". Hitesha has been charged with wrongful restraint, assault, intentional insult, and criminal intimidation based on a complaint by the Zomato delivery man Kamaraj. According to the officer, Kamaraj said Hitesha had hit him with slippers, accused him of defaming her and hurling abuses at him on March 9. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Bhubaneswar, March 19 : Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain on Friday informed the Odisha Assembly that paddy would be procured from all registered farmers in the state by March 31. The House had witnessed pandemonium over alleged irregularities in paddy procurement and mandi issues in the last six days. Addressing the House, the Minister informed that in the current Kharif marketing season, 61.24 lakh metric tonne paddy worth Rs 11,441 crore has been procured in the state so far. He said the procurement process will continue till March 31. The total paddy procured in this Kharif season is 18 per cent higher than that of Kharif season last year. A total of 51.73 lakh metric tonne paddy was procured during this time last year while 53.31 lakh metric tonne paddy were procured during last Kharif season. The Minister said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has directed to ensure that registered and bonafide farmers did not face problems in selling their produce in the state. Till date, 11.5 lakh farmers have sold their paddy to the government against 9.3 lakh last year which indicates more participation of farmers, Swain added. The Minister called upon the MLAs to report if they find any genuine farmer deprived of selling his paddy so that necessary steps can be taken to resolve the issue. The government is taking all possible steps to ensure smooth and hassle-free procurement of paddy in the state, Swain added. However, the Minister's statement failed to pacify the Opposition members. Leader of opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik said the government has cheated them and asserted that they would not allow the House to function until all paddies are procured from the farmers. After criticising the government, Congress legislature party leader Narasingha Mishra sat on dharna near the Speaker's podium as he was not given more time to speak on the paddy procurement issue. Other party MLAs also joined Mishra and sat on dharna. Speaker Surya Narayan Patro adjourned the House multiple times following din in the House. Foreign diplomats gather near a court building in Dandong in northeastern China's Liaoning Province, March 19, 2021. China was expected to open the first trial Friday for Michael Spavor, one of two Canadians who have been held for more than two years in apparent retaliation for Canada's arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive. (Ken Moritsugu/AP Photo) Secret Trials in China for Spavor and Kovrig Are Disappointing, Trudeau Says Michael Spavor tried in Chinese court, no verdict announced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the trials being held without transparency for the two Canadians who have been detained in China for two years are disappointing. Michael Spavor was tried in court Friday but no verdict was announced. Michael Kovrigs trial is scheduled for Monday. It is disappointing that the trial that Michael Spavor went through and possibly the trial that Michael Kovrig will go through on Monday are happening in secret without transparency, without access by Canadian consular officials, Trudeau said during a press briefing on Friday. Trudeau said his government has been working with allies to pressure Beijing for their release and will continue to do so. China needs to understand that it is not just about two Canadians, it is about the respect for the rule of law and relationships with a broad range of Western countries that is at play, with the arbitrary detention and coercive diplomacy they have been engaged in, he said. In a statement posted on its website, the Intermediate Peoples Court of Dandong in Liaoning Province said a closed-door hearing was held for Spavor on March 19 on charges of spying and illegally sending state secrets abroad. The statement said Spavors defence lawyers were present for the proceedings and the court would pronounce a sentence at a date determined in accordance with law. Canadian consular officials said they were denied permission to attend the hearing. Jim Nickel, the deputy head of mission for the Canadian embassy in Beijing, said Spavors lawyer had told him that the hearing ended at noon Friday after two hours. Nickel declined to give further details, citing provisions from the Privacy Act to protect Spavor. Nickel said Canada still holds out hope that the two Michaels can be released with the support from the United States, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan are holding their first face-to-face meetings with Chinas top diplomats in Alaska this week. Were hopeful that, in some measure, this trial may too lead to their immediate release, Nickel said. Kovrig and Spavor have been in custody since December 2018, shortly after Canada arrested Huawei telecoms chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou at the behest of the U.S. Department of Justice. U.S. officials want Mengs extradited on charges of fraud and conspiracy. Meng and her company allegedly lied to multiple financial institutions in an effort to evade American sanctions against Iran. Chinas Foreign Ministry has denied any wrongdoing in their handling of Kovrig and Spavors case, attributing the timing of their trials to little more than coincidence. Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau released a statement on Thursday expressing concern about Chinas treatment of the two Canadians. We believe these detentions are arbitrary, and remain deeply troubled by the lack of transparency surrounding these proceedings, Garneau wrote. On Friday morning, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa called Garneaus statement erroneous and fact-distorting, and insisted that the two Canadians were arrested and prosecuted in accordance with law for suspected crimes undermining Chinas national security. Critics and allies alike have described the detention of Kovrig and Spavor as part of the retribution against Canada for Mengs arrest. China has also sanctioned imports of Canadian agricultural products, such as canola seeds. With files from The Canadian Press. In a united opposition against China's intimidation in the South Sea, the UK, and are sending warships to the Sea to pushback Beijing's assertiveness in the region. Jamie Seidel, in an article in news.com.au - Australia based news site - wrote that "With diplomatic efforts meeting a wolf-warrior response, forums gagged, and trade used as a coercive cudgel, is reacting with growing alarm at China's aggressiveness." "The dispatch of warships by the UK, and to the Indo-Pacific could draw a backlash from and create new tension. But its positive effects - in terms of deterring Chinese adventurism in the Taiwan Strait and the - arguably outweigh its negative ones," wrote Hiroyuki Akita, a Japanese security commentator. "This would set a higher bar for a Chinese decision on military action." The move to deploy warships in the came after Beijing's motives for building the world's largest navy. At this week's Two Sessions, National Assembly of the Chinese Communist Party, Chairman Xi Jinping reasserted his desire to build a world-beating fleet. "Our country's current security situation is largely unstable and uncertain," Xi told the assembled delegates. Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe added to the drumbeat, declaring China had "entered a high-risk phase". China officially possesses the world's largest navy, with some 360 ships in active service. By 2035, Xi wants 40 major combatants afloat, reported news.com.au. "Already commanding the world's largest naval force, the People's Republic of China is building modern surface combatants, submarines, aircraft carriers, fighter jets, amphibious assault ships, ballistic nuclear missile submarines, large coast guard cutters, and polar icebreakers at an alarming speed," warns the US Pentagon's recent Advantage at Sea report. In December last year, NATO for the first time issued a report putting China on an equal threat footing as Russia. has led the way since in signalling its renewed interest in the "Far East" as it has territories in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It maintains military facilities on Reunion Island, New Caledonia and French Polynesia. Britain has announced its new aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth will spearhead a multinational task force in its first active deployment later this year. This small fleet is expected to conduct exercises in the South China Sea. Also, the United States has publicly praised Germany's decision to send a frigate through the South China Sea to Japan in August. "We welcome Germany's support for a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific," a US State Department release reads. "The international community has a vital stake in the preservation of an open maritime order." A handful of warships will, on their own, appear insignificant to Beijing. But, the UK, France, and The Netherlands are signalling their willingness to at least show their flags in opposition to China's regional intimidation, wrote Seidel. Moreover, the European countries' ships are modern, capable and designed to operate seamlessly with the US and their crews regularly train with each other around the globe. This makes them ideal for providing moral and physical support for the evolving Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) between India, Japan, Australia and the United States, wrote Seidel. Meanwhile, Beijing finds itself increasingly friendless - mainly because of its own 'wolf warrior' diplomacy and military intimidation. Now it must consider the cost of broad international fallout if it were to make any aggressive move. "If China takes military action in the Indo-Pacific involving the US, for instance in the Taiwan Strait, is unlikely just to watch and do nothing," Dr Nicolas Regaud of France's Institute for Strategic Research told The Nikkei. (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.) Claims under the CICP must be filed in writing and be submitted no later than one year following use of the drug. The Quinism Foundation has sent correspondence to Xavier Becerra, the newly confirmed Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), encouraging liberal consideration of claims under the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP) for certain injuries or death caused by use of hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, and related antimalarial quinoline drugs in the COVID-19 pandemic. Exactly one year ago, on March 19, 2020, the former President made public comments suggesting the imminent regulatory approval of these drugs for use against COVID-19. [1] Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine were subsequently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). These EUAs were later revoked by FDA for concerns of safety and lack of efficacy. [2] We believe that beginning on this date [March 19, 2020], the public reasonably could have believed in good faith that administration or use of antimalarial drugs of the quinoline class against COVID-19 was pursuant to the administrations appropriate emergency authorities," wrote Remington Nevin, MD, MPH, DrPH, executive and medical director of The Quinism Foundation. As noted by Dr. Nevin, administration or use of such drugs in good faith would potentially meet criteria for their being considered a covered countermeasure under the law, and subject to potential compensation under the CICP. Accordingly, we are asking HHS to consider as a covered countermeasure any administration or use of hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, and other related antimalarial quinolines, including mefloquine, tafenoquine, or quinine, from any source, and of any formulation, from the time of the former Presidents initial public comments on this matter, March 19, 2020, until the date of the withdrawal of the FDA EUAs. "Quinoline drugs are idiosyncratic neurotoxicants, and in susceptible individuals induce a medical disorder termed chronic quinoline encephalopathy marked by a range of potentially irreversible neuropsychiatric effects, whose signs and symptoms reflect the known localization of neurotoxic injury from these drugs, wrote Dr. Nevin. [3,4] Although purely psychiatric conditions, even if serious, are not covered by the CICP, Dr. Nevin noted in his letter that quinoline encephalopathy causes actual physical biochemical alterations leading to physical changes and serious functional abnormalities at the cellular or tissue level within the central nervous system, as required for eligibility under the program, and thus when such encephalopathy is associated with a significant loss of function or disability', this meets the definition of serious injury necessary to be considered a covered injury under the CICP. In his letter, Dr. Nevin therefore asked HHS to recognize as a covered injury any sign or symptom of encephalopathy caused by use of antimalarial quinoline drugs, associated with significant loss of function or disability. Dr. Nevin noted that compelling, reliable, valid, medical and scientific evidence exists to establish a rebuttable presumption that certain illnesses, disabilities, injuries and conditions consistent with quinoline encephalopathy were caused by administration or use of these drugs. These include suicide, attempted suicide, and various mental, neurologic, and vestibular disorders. Dr. Nevin noted in his letter that although "it might be argued by HHS that eligibility under the CICP is strictly limited only to those administered these drugs in hospitalized settings under the terms of these drugs respective [EUAs] approved March 28, 2020, and excludes any use outside of this, we believe such an interpretation would be inconsistent with the good faith clauses of the law. Accordingly, Dr. Nevin encouraged those who took hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, or a related quinoline antimalarial drug in good faith for use against COVID-19, and subsequently experienced neuropsychiatric adverse effects resulting in significant loss of function or disability, to file an appropriate claim with the CICP. Dr. Nevin emphasized that such claims can only be filed in writing, by completing a Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program Request for Benefits Form, and must submitted no later than one year following use of the drug. Dr. Nevin noted that more information on how to file a claim could be found at https://www.hrsa.gov/cicp/filing-benefits, or by visiting the website of The Quinism Foundation, at https://quinism.org. About The Quinism Foundation The Quinism Foundation, founded in January 2018, in White River Junction, Vermont, promotes and supports education and research on quinism, the medical disorder caused by exposure to quinoline drugs, including tafenoquine, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, and mefloquine. Dr. Nevin is a board-certified occupational medicine and preventive medicine physician and former U.S. Army medical officer and epidemiologist. He is author of more than 30 scientific publications on malaria and the quinoline antimalarials. References 1. CNN. Trump says FDA will fast-track treatments for novel coronavirus, but there are still months of research ahead. March 19, 2020. Available at: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/19/politics/trump-fda-anti-viral-treatments-coronavirus/index.html. 2. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Revokes Emergency Use Authorization for Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine. June 15, 2020. Available at: https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-revokes-emergency-use-authorization-chloroquine-and. 3. Nevin RL. Neuropsychiatric Quinism: Chronic Encephalopathy Caused by Poisoning by Mefloquine and Related Quinoline Drugs. In: Ritchie EC, Llorente MD, eds. Veteran Psychiatry in the US. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2019:315-331. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-05384-0 4. Nevin RL. Idiosyncratic quinoline central nervous system toxicity: Historical insights into the chronic neurological sequelae of mefloquine. International journal for parasitology Drugs and drug resistance. 2014;4(2):118-125. doi:10.1016/j.ijpddr.2014.03.0 This story is part of the In-Between, Slates series on how life is slowly getting back to normal. 2020 led to a boom in a lot of things: hand sanitizer sales, bread making, racial reckoning, existential despair. Not on that list? Weddings. According to a survey by The Wedding Report, almost half of couples planning to get married in 2020 postponed their weddings to 2021and that was before the second wave of the pandemic forced additional delays. For couples who had weddings planned for 2020, the past year has been a cycle of rescheduling and rescinded invitations, all governed by a patchwork of rules that not only differ between the venue and the county and the state, but can also change from one week to the next. For wedding planners, the pandemic has forced them to become some combination of health official, logistics coordinator, and therapisteven as they watch their business take hit after hit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wedding planners have spent much of the past year un-planning weddings, says Joan Glenn, creative director of 6 Degrees of Celebration. Its very hard to ask for money for that. It was a very, very stressful and sad time for all of these people [] and so I certainly wasnt about to say, Oh, you have to pay me to find you a new date. But that was at the beginning of the pandemic, when clients were moving their dates to the summer. Now Glenn has clients who are on their third postponement. And now theyre saying, Forget it. Im just going to elope. Its a tough position for wedding planners, who have to negotiate with vendors and venues and guests with every postponement, only to have couples cancel entirely. Its difficult for venues too, who have seen their prime 2021 wedding season dates go to postponed 2020 weddings. Any venue that has the ability to offer an outdoor wedding is just completely booked for 2021, Glenn says. But since a significant portion of those bookings arent new business, venues and vendors might expect to see a loss in 2021 even as theyre busier than ever. Theres only so many weekend days, says Annie Lee, principal designer of Daughter of Design. Not only does it screw new couples who want to look for availability and dates, but the vendors [who] for two years have no regular income because youre just trying to honor [old] contracts. Advertisement Advertisement Couples who chose to postpone (and postpone and postpone) their weddings are stuck in a holding pattern that, with the arrival of vaccines, has only just begun to show signs of ending. But the couples who chose to move forward with a scaled-down version of their original wedding plans still risk more than losing a deposit. Glenn told me about one of her clients who postponed their original June wedding to December: They were extremely respectful of all of the protocols that they thought would make their guests feel more comfortable and that the venue required of them. Those protocols included masks for all 55 guests, who were to be seated six feet apart. The couple had even hired a doctor to administer rapid COVID tests in the hotel parking lot as guests arrived. Advertisement But the day before the wedding, as the families checked into the hotel for the rehearsal, the mother of the groom tested positive for COVID. They had all been exposed to her, Glenn said. They were staying at her house because they had traveled in from out of town. And we had to literally cancel the wedding 20 hours before. It was brutal. The couple did end up still getting married. The venue, understandably averse to exposing anyone else, allowed them use of an outdoor space on the property. The florist and I, and his staff, shoveled out this like half of an acre for their 30 guests to stand there and watch them get married, Glenn said. They came, they got married, and they left. They didnt have a party. They didnt get to eat anything. They didnt do all of those other things that they had planned for a year and a half. Advertisement Advertisement Not every pandemic wedding has been so dramatic. Glenn put on 13 weddings last year, Lee just one. All of them were what the industry calls a micro-wedding, which typically have no more than 50 guests. Lees single micro-wedding was for Eunice Kennedy Shriver (the granddaughter of John F. Kennedys sister) whose wedding was featured in Vogue, so while the guest list only included 32 people, the budget was nowhere near micro. And while most couples wont have Kennedy money to spend or a vintage Dior dress handed down from their grandmother, Lee foresees some of the trends of the Shriver wedding trickling down to lower-budget affairs. What Im seeing with these micro weddings is the fashion budget remains, if not goes up, as does the photographer, Lee explained. She recalled the aesthetic that emerged out of the 2008 recession, where lavish, banquet-hall events either werent feasible or simply looked insensitive. She points to the corresponding Etsy boom, bolstered by new demand for vintage decorations for barn weddings. My god, I never want to see a Mason jar again, she said. All of that came in because it looked less ostentatious. [My clients] were still spending the same amount of money, but the decor didnt feel as lavish. Now were seeing the whole backyard vibe. The micro wedding is really setting a tone in terms of how it should look and feel. Advertisement Advertisement Lees not sure if the micro-wedding trend will continue once vaccines are more widely distributed. She told me that when the Pfizer vaccine was first announced, her inbox started to fill up like normal times. But large-scale, 300-person indoor events of the kind that Lee used to plan still seem far out of reach. And most couples dont need a full-service wedding planner for what is essentially a very fancy dinner party. Lee thinks the future is in by-the-hour style booking and shes created a website called Plannie for that purpose. Its a network of local event planners in cities worldwide that you can work with on an hourly basis, or even like a day-of person, she said. Its just meant to really democratize access to an event planner. Plannie was up and running before the pandemic, but Lee says its become especially useful since local planners are better equipped to deal with the ever-hanging morass of pandemic guidelines than someone who works in multiple cities. Advertisement In Texas, for example, Gov. Greg Abbott recently ended the statewide mask mandate and allowed businesses to open at 100% capacity, which means on a statewide level, there is no limit on how many guests can attend a wedding. Individual venues, however, might choose to require guests to wear masks or to limit guest capacity. In California, masked religious gatherings are allowed, with capacity limitations varying from county to county, while wedding receptions are largely verboten. In New York City, wedding receptions are allowedbut with only 50 masked guests and indoor dining is prohibited. Thats without even considering how different states have different requirements for out-of-state travelers. Advertisement Advertisement While postponing ad infinitum until everyone has been vaccinated seems the easiest option for the recently engaged, couples who intended to get married in 2020 are still stuck with a set of impossible choices. A lot of these couples want to have a baby, Lee said, Theyre not trying to wait two more years, so they dont want to keep postponing the wedding another year, another year. [And] once you have the baby and youve gone on into your family life, youre like, Ugh. To go back and be excited about the wedding is a little bit hard. Its even harder for the venues and the vendors and the planners who have seen at half a year or more worth of revenue disappear, with the end barely in sight. 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 on Friday sealed a deal with state-run Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) to acquire 4,960 anti-tank guided missiles at a cost of Rs 1,188 crore for the Indian Army. The missiles, having a range of 1,850 metres, can be fired from ground as well as vehicle-based launchers and their induction is planned to be completed in three years, the ministry said. In the last few months, the ministry finalised a range of procurement projects for the three forces to enhance their overall combat capabilities. "The acquisition wing of the Ministry of Defence signed a contract with defence public sector undertaking Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for supply of 4,960 MILAN-2T anti-tank guided missiles to Indian Army at a cost of Rs 1,188 crore," the ministry said in a statement. The missiles are being produced by BDL under license from French defence major MBDA Missile Systems. "These missiles can be fired from ground as well as vehicle-based launchers and can be deployed in anti-tank role for both offensive and defensive tasks," the ministry said. "Induction of these missiles will further enhance the operational preparedness of the armed forces. Induction is planned to be completed in three years," 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.) 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. Doris Jones blue-gray house in Simonton has endured many storms. The damage from the so-called Tax Day floods in 2016 forced Jones out of her home for more than a year. Then, during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, her house filled with 4 feet of water Last months bitter cold snap, which triggered mass power outages across the state, brought busted pipes and no heat. But the 77-year-old is keeping the faith. Community members recently rallied to raise money for the beloved seamstress and upholsterer to help rebuild her home in far-western Fort Bend County after multiple disasters. Her experience is illustrative of the struggles faced by many people in the Houston region, which was hit before the recent freeze by major flooding in 2015 and 2016 and was affected by severe tropical storms or hurricanes in 2017, 2019 and 2020. Im just excited because I have never had anything like this happen for me, Jones said about the rebuild of her home. When you struggle all your life to get to a certain point, then when something really good happens, its kind of hard to believe. Learned to sew Growing up in Clarksville, located northeast of Dallas, Jones learned how to sew from her mother. Her mom had a group that made quilts. She also sewed clothes for Jones and her brother. Jones enjoyed watching her mom sew and began picking up the habit for herself. I liked it because when youre sewing and doing this you're focusing regardless on what kind of problem you have youre focusing on what youre doing and the problems not even there anymore, Jones said. As an adult, she began sewing clothes for her three daughters. After her husband was killed in Vietnam, Jones raised her children with the help of her late husbands mother. Id work all day and sew practically all night, Jones said, laughing. But for Jones, sewing wasnt just a hobby. Eventually, she would secure multiple jobs based on her sewing skills in Houston. She worked in the city for more than 50 years, making blinds, draperies and even large covers for 18-wheelers. Jones eventually settled in Simonton, purchasing a home after a real estate agent, whom she did alterations for, located one she could afford. Happy to be alive Then came the Tax Day floods of April 17-18, 2016. During that deadly flooding event, Jones lost almost everything in her home but managed to save a few items, including her sewing machines. I was just happy to be alive, Jones said. Yeah Ive lost everything, but Im happy to be alive. For the next year, Jones lived in a friends apartment inside her barn as her own home was repaired and renovated. Joned moved back during the summer of 2017, but then Hurricane Harvey dumped historic levels of rain on the Houston area, leaving more than 70 people dead across the state. She had only been home for two weeks and her house was heavily damaged again. After the storm, a local contractor came in to help repair Jones home, but he couldnt fix it all. Nearly four years later, theres still a hole in the wall from where the air-conditioning unit was removed and some baseboards still have damage. A friendship forms When Kayleen Nelson first moved to Fulshear, she needed some sewing work done and began asking her neighbors. They were like, You need Ms. Doris Jones, said Nelson, 55. Since then, Jones has sewn numerous items for Nelson over the last two decades, including drapes and pillows. The two really bonded, however, after they shared the experience of trying to get rid of a snake in Jones yard. She did all of the hard stuff, said Nelson, laughing. This woman is my hero. After Harvey, Nelson enlisted her teenage son and his classmates to help muck out Jones home. More recently, she wanted to help her friend again. She knew Jones had applied to the Texas General Land Offices Harvey reconstruction program, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Jones had qualified for a new home to be built and raised 5 feet, but the funding didnt cover all of the costs. In February, Nelson created a GoFundMe page to help raise $2,500 to cover the gap in funding. In a matter of days, the full amount was raised. Thats a testament to her character, her work ethic, her commitment to this community too, Nelson said. Doris perseveres During last months freeze, when Jones power was knocked out, her neighbors stepped up again. One cooked gumbo and let her stay over all day to get warm. Another neighbor brought over hot coffee and soup. Her pipes burst, and another neighbor fixed them. Despite the setbacks, Jones is still busy at work. She sews and does upholstery work in the front part of her house. Different colored spools of thread line a rack. An old framed photo of Jones mom, who will turn 102 this year, sits on a high shelf. Nelson said she admires Jones perseverance. There are so many attributes to her character that we would all aspire to. Theyre the kind of character attributes that make a person truly successful in life, said Nelson. Its not about what you have, its about who you are. Thats why shes so well-loved because shes very well-respected. brooke.lewis@chron.com (@FahadShabbir) Dar es Salaam, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Mar, 2021 ) :Tanzania's Samia Suluhu Hassan was on Friday sworn in as the country's first female president after the sudden death of John Magufuli from an illness shrouded in mystery. Hassan, 61, a soft-spoken Muslim woman from the island of Zanzibar, will finish Magufuli's second five-year term, set to run until 2025. Wearing a bright red headscarf, Hassan was sworn in as the country's sixth president, at a ceremony in Dar es Salaam, where neither she nor the majority of attendees wore a mask, in the Covid-sceptic nation. "I, Samia Suluhu Hassan, promise to be honest and obey and protect the constitution of Tanzania," said the new president, as she took the oath of office before inspecting troops at a military parade and receiving a cannon salute. She becomes the only other current serving female head of state in Africa alongside Ethiopia's President Sahle-Work Zewde, whose role is mainly ceremonial. Hassan was little known outside Tanzania until she appeared on state television on Wednesday night to announce that Magufuli had died aged 61 from a heart condition after a mysterious three -eek absence from public view. But questions have been raised over the true cause of his death, after multiple rumours that Magufuli -- one of the world's most fervent Covid-sceptic leaders -- had caught the virus and had sought treatment abroad. Main opposition leader Tundu Lissu insists his sources said Magufuli had Covid-19 and had actually died a week ago. And Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper, which last week reported an "African leader", in clear reference to Magufuli, was in a Nairobi hospital, on Friday gave more details of his illness, also indicating Magufuli had in fact died last week. Citing sources, the paper said Magufuli was discharged from Nairobi Hospital on life support after it was determined he could not be resuscitated, and returned to Dar es Salaam where he died last Thursday. The paper details his initial evacuation to Nairobi on March 8 in a medical plane, as he suffered "acute cardiac and respiratory illnesses." The main question hanging over the new president is whether she will usher in a change in leadership style from her predecessor, nicknamed the "Bulldozer", notably in the handling of the pandemic. - 'A new chapter' - Magufuli leaves behind a complex legacy, after a swing to authoritarianism which saw him crack down on the media, activists and free speech, while refusing to take any measures against Covid-19. He called for prayer instead of face masks, refused to publish case statistics or implement lockdown measures, and championed alternative medicines. In May last year he revealed a papaya, quail and goat had tested positive for the virus in a secret operation, proving "sabotage" at the national laboratory. However by February, as cases soared and the vice president of semi-autonomous Zanzibar was revealed to have died from Covid-19, Magufuli conceded the virus was still circulating. The opposition and rights groups have urged Hassan to change course. "As we continue mourning, let us use this period to open up a new chapter for rebuilding national unity and respect to freedom, justice, rule of law, democracy and people-centred development," said Freeman Mbowe, the chairman of opposition group Chadema, in a statement Thursday. He urged Hassan to "lead the nation toward reconciliation". Meanwhile Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the new government "has a chance for a fresh start by ending problematic past practices." - 'Hold your breath' - However analysts say Hassan will face early pressure from powerful Magufuli allies within the party, who dominate intelligence and other critical aspects of government, and would try and steer her decisions and agenda. "For those who were kind of expecting a breakaway from the Magufuli way of things I would say hold your breath at the moment," said Thabit Jacob, a researcher at the Roskilde University in Denmark and expert on Tanzania. Hailing from Zanzibar, the semi-autonomous island in the Indian Ocean, Hassan rose through the ranks over a 20-year political career from local government to the national assembly. A ruling party stalwart, she was named Magufuli's running mate in the 2015 presidential campaign. The pair were re-elected in October last year in a disputed poll marred by allegations of irregularities. Hassan must consult the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) about appointing a new vice president. The party is set to hold a special meeting of its central committee on Saturday. Tanzania is observing a 14-day mourning period and details on Magufuli's funeral have yet to be announced. Magufuli is the second East African leader to die under mysterious circumstances. Burundi's equally Covid-sceptic leader, Pierre Nkurunziza, died from "heart failure" last June after his wife was flown to Nairobi to be treated for coronavirus. courtesy of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office After a five-hour manhunt, authorities arrested a 28-year-old man who allegedly shot his parents Thursday night, killing his mother, according to the Montgomery County Police Reporter. Gabriel Garcia Cardona, 28, is being charged with murder and aggravated assault on a family member, a first-degree felony, according to Montgomery County Jail records. Garcia Cardona is being held with no bond. Yet on Thursday, facing Greens and ALP opposition and having failed to persuade enough crossbench senators, Mr Morrison gutted key provisions of the bill. He pushed through only useful but fairly limited changes to the definition of casual employment. The bill establishes a clear process for switching from casual to permanent work after 12 months and also overrides a Federal Court decision that found many workers who had been paid as casuals should have additionally received the entitlements for permanent employees, including paid holidays. It is not beyond Australians to put aside differences to find co-operative solutions to specific problems, especially at a time like this, Mr Morrison said last May. The bill, which set out far more modest changes than WorkChoices, was the governments attempt to show it could sit down with unions and employers and invoke the spirit of national solidarity created by the COVID-19 crisis to strike a compromise on one of the thorniest of political issues. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ended a difficult week by admitting defeat on what was supposed to be an important economic reform for his government. Mr Morrison has spent the past 10 months pushing for the first broad changes to industrial relations law since 2013, when his predecessor Tony Abbott said a repeat of the Coalitions WorkChoices law was dead, buried and cremated. Employers who feared the court decision would allow many workers to double dip and claim up to $39 billion of backpay, chalked that provision up as a win. For most Australians who enjoy casual work and had never heard of the court decision, it will maintain the status quo. Yet the government dropped more far-reaching changes to industrial awards, wage bargaining and conditions for workers on big construction projects that were supposed to improve productivity. It also ditched provisions criminalising serious cases of underpayment of workers by employers. The government will, with some justification, blame its decision to gut the bill on intransigent opposition from unions, Labor and the Greens, as well as the flakiness of the crossbench. Unions can claim a victory in halting most of the governments plans but resent the casual changes, correctly believing they will not restrict the growth of insecure work. Overall, the result will do nothing to rebuild their membership or their centrality to wage bargaining. But ultimately this is a blow to the government: it was an economic priority and the government has failed to deliver. Part of the problem lies in its tactics. It was always going to be hard to pass this legislation so close to an election once partisan politics displaced Team Australia, one reason the government appeared eager to deal with the issue this week. It was always unfortunate that the government used criminalising wage theft as a bargaining chip to try to secure union support for other measures. Wage theft should have been a bipartisan issue. Honest employers support this measure just as much as unions since it protects them from unfair competition from businesses that underpay their workers. The government could have easily won Senate support and retained wage theft in the bill. It is now in the difficult position of having to explain the decision to withdraw it. More broadly the government must ask why it failed to convert its success in managing the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic into votes on the Senate floor. Unemployment fell below 6 per cent this week, much faster than expected only a few months ago, suggesting the Coalition may be a victim of its own success, with economic recovery denting the case for reform to the system. Shares of (GPL) slipped 5 per cent to hit a seven-week low of Rs 1,273 on the BSE in Friday's intra-day trade, extending its decline to 17 per cent thus far in the month of March. The stock of Mumbai-based developer was quoting lower for the sixth straight trading day. It has corrected 19 per cent from its 52-week high level of Rs 1,573 touched on March 1 and was currently trading at its lowest level since February 1. With a continuous fall in the market price of the company, the stock is currently trading below its qualified institutional placement (QIP) price of Rs 1,450 per share. GPL on March 16 had announced that it has successfully raised Rs 3,750 crore through the route. The company said it saw a strong mix of investors with nearly 90 per cent of the book being allocated to long-only investors. GPLs largest existing external shareholder, GIC, strongly backed the with an investment of $110 million while the largest investment in the was from a new investor, Invesco Developing Fund and certain other funds managed by Invesco Advisers, Inc., who put in $150 million. GPL has identified several growth opportunities and intends to use the net proceeds received from this issue for augmenting long-term capability building and scaling the business rapidly in the years to come, the company said. GPL has a development portfolio with significant exposure to key of Ahmadabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and NCR. Its land bank strategy includes both outright purchase of land and joint agreement with landowners in the form of revenue and profit share. Additionally, it also ties-up with developers as a Development Manager entailing GPL to earn 10-11% of project revenues in lieu of marketing, selling and branding of the project. At 02:33 pm, the stock was trading 3.5 per cent lower at Rs 1,298 as compared to a 1 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 1.9 million equity shares had changed hands on the counter on the NSE and BSE so far. The final draft of the plan includes support of continued training with focuses on de-escalation techniques, diversity and racial bias training and making a framework for continued community outreach. Assistant Corporation Counsel Nate Garland said he believes there were "four fairly in-depth and very thoughtful pieces of public comment" during the two-week period, which were added to the plan "without any sort of edits for content." Following the council's approval, the plan will be sent along to Albany. "Perhaps it's just one man's opinion, but I think we went above and beyond what the minimum requirements were, and the plan, I believe, reflects that," Garland said. Councilor Jimmy Giannettino praised the plan and everyone involved, adding that the APD"s leadership was reaching out to community groups long before the executive order arrived. ROME, MAR 19 - AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccinations, suspended earlier this week until an all clear from the European Medicines Agency Thursday, restarted in Italy Friday. People resumed getting the Oxfod-AZ jab in the defence ministry drive-through at Milan's Trenno park, the biggest in Italy. They then resumed at other defence ministry drive-thru centres in Rome, Caserta and Cosenza. Italy resumed vaccinating people with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab on Friday after EMA pronounced it safe and effective after a review Thursday, saying there was no causal link with blood clots. "The Italian government welcomes EMA's pronouncement on the AstraZeneca vaccine," Premier Mario Draghi said. "The government's priority remains that of achieving the highest number of vaccinations in the shortest time possible". The director general of Italian drugs agency AIFA, Nicola Magrini, told a press conference earlier Friday that the jab had been re-authorised after the all-clear from EMA. Magrini said that "the vaccine is safe without age limits or side effects" and that a link between the jab and rare blood clots or thrombosis had not been shown. Magrini said women on the pill should have no qualms about getting the jab. Magrini however advised against the use of aspirin and heparin as blood thinners. Speaking at the same press conference, health ministry prevention chief Gianni Rezza said putting the brake on the vaccine rollout would be very risky given the high rate of cases, and that after the pause in the AstraZeneca programme, vaccinations would now be doubled. Rezza said there would be no chance in vaccination procedures but that the leaflet on informed consent would be updated. EMA has said it will continue to investigate very rare blood clots that have occurred after vaccination. Higher Health Council (CSS) chief Franco Locatelli said there had been 25 clots out of more than 20 million vaccinations, and COVID was by far the greater danger. Locatelli said those who refuse the AstraZeneca jab would be contacted to get other vaccines. He said there was "no reason" to stop giving the jab to the under-55s, as France has done. (ANSA). New Delhi, March 19 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday said it has carried out searches at the premises linked to Indian Technometal Company Limited and its directors Rakesh Kumar Sharma and Vinay Kumar Sharma in connection with a bank fraud case to the tune of Rs 555.65 crore. A CBI spokesperson here said that the agency teams carried out searches at the premises of the company and its directors, based in Himchal Pradesh's Kangra. He said that several incriminating documents have been seized during the searches. The official said that the agency had registered a case against te Technometal Company Limited and its directors and other unknown public servants and other persons on a complaint from Union Bank of India, erstwhile known as Corporation Bank. In its complaint, the bank alleged that the company, through its directors, in a conspiracy with others, defrauded a consortium of banks of Corporation Bank (Now Union Bank), the State Bank of Hyderabad (now State Bank of India), Punjab National Bank, Punjab and Sindh Bank, UCO Bank, Syndicate Bank, Central Bank of India, Karur Vyasya Bank and JM Financial ARC on the basis of misrepresentations or concealment of facts and false documents or information, thereby causing losses to the tune of Rs 555.65 crore to the consortium of banks. Kolkata: Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday called the BJP a party of cash balloon and gas balloon, alleging its rampant use of money power for horse trading and using falsehoods to fight the Assembly elections. She also asked Mr Modi and his party to explain where they were when the state was hit by Cyclone Amphan and the Covid-19 pandemic last year. Vowing to stop the BJP from coming to power in the state, the TMC chief further urged the public not to allow any tiger or snake waiting outside to entire their homes. Our government always provides financial support to the public in any natural calamity or disaster. In Cyclone Amphan, people were severely hit. There were anomalies in relief distribution only in one or two cases. Otherwise, thousands of crores of funds were distributed to the affected. But where was Mr Modi and the BJP? Where were their followers?" Ms Banerjee wondered at a TMC rally at Garbeta in West Midnapore in the Jangalmahal area, at a time when Mr Modi was spewing venom on her rule from a neighbouring district Purulia. She said: When an election comes, they also come out with cash balloons and gas balloons of lies. They make the flow of cash, as water flows in a hose pipe, for horse trading. Whose money is it? It is yours and my money after all. All the hotels in Bengal are booked. A hundred flights have been taken on rent. Innumerable helicopters are there also. Thousands of leaders from outside are roaming around here. They are dreaming of looting votes. The two-time CM also tore into the BJP government at the Centre over the hikes in fuel and LPG prices. She also narrated her pain from her leg injuries to stoke public sentiments. Ms Banerjee said: I was in Kolkata the day before. Dressing and plaster had to be done again. I found a blood clot there. It is difficult to move my leg. Still, I have rushed here to tell you that if you find a tiger or a snake hiding at your doorstep for entry, do not allow it. When I fight, I do it like a bagher bachcha (tiger cub). But I never bow down my head to a party like the BJP which does not think about the masses. The TMC chiefs attack on the BJP during the intense campaign in the Jangalmahal districts, which are going to the polls on March 27, the first of eight phases, assumes significance as the saffron party has made significant inroads there since the last Lok Sabha polls in 2019. AKRON, Ohio One man was injured late Wednesday night in a shooting outside a residence in the Kenmore neighborhood, police say. Police were called to the 200 block of 13th Street SW at about 10 p.m. on reports of shots fired. Officers at the scene found shell casings in front of a home that had been hit by gunfire, but there was no victim. Officers were notified moments later that a 31-year-old man had walked into Cleveland Clinic Akron General Medical Center with a gunshot wound. The man told police he was standing outside the residence on 13th Street SW when someone got out of a vehicle and began firing. No arrests have been made and police did not have a description of a suspect. The victims wounds were not life-threatening, police say. Anyone with information can call police at 330-375-2490 or Summit County Crimestoppers at 330-434-COPS. Individuals can send tips by texting TIPSCO to 274637. Callers can remain anonymous. More crime-related content on cleveland.com: Suspect in New Philadelphia fatal shooting arrested in Warrensville Heights Men imprisoned since 2006 get new trial after Cleveland police officers contradict fellow officers testimony Man fatally shot in West Akron Man stabbed with box cutter outside Lakewood bar St. Patricks Day night Cleveland man attacks, punches woman at Tower in the Park apartments in Berea Part of why its so difficult to talk about the discrimination Asian-Americans face is that there is no such thing as a unified Asian-American experience far from it. Some of our families have been in the United States for generations, and some have come from dozens of countries under many different circumstances, including as refugees. [Read more about how racism and sexism intertwine to torment Asian-American women.] Members of Asian-American communities have varying levels of education and English proficiency and can land at different places on the American political spectrum, sometimes depending on the issue. Some, particularly first-generation immigrants, are less inclined to call out racism, while their children might be more willing to speak up. One tie that binds Asian-Americans, though, is our history, Americas history, of treating people of Asian descent as anonymous sources of labor, foreign objects to be expelled. And that discrimination has tended to peak in times of national crisis, Lok Siu, an associate professor of Asian-American and Asian diaspora studies at the University of California, Berkeley, told me. In the early 20th century, there was, she said, a chain of exclusion acts, meant to keep Asians from immigrating to the United States. During World War II, Japanese Americans were incarcerated in internment camps. During the Cold War, Chinese American organizations were targeted. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, there was a rise in violence against Asian Muslims and Sikhs. Now, of course, were living through a catastrophic pandemic and anti-Asian violence is rising again, experts have 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. For many of us our sleeping patterns have been disrupted throughout the past year, as we adapt to flexible working and more screen time for leisure. However, a lack of good quality sleep can sabotage any weight loss attempt and ruin the immune system, with those who have less than five hours per night being four times as likely to catch a cold than those who get a healthy eight hours. Tamara Willner who lives in London, is a qualified nutritionist with an NHS-backed healthy eating plan and shares her health advice on Second Nature. To mark World Sleep Day, she's revealed the factors to consider when assessing your need for sleeo, saying: 'On average, teenagers need about 8-10 hours of good quality sleep, whilst adults need about 7-9 hours. A common myth is that we need less sleep the older we get as adults.' Here, Tamara reveals the simple trick that will help you calculate exactly how much rest you should be getting, insisting that everyone's need will be different. Tamara Willner who lives in London, has revealed the precise amount of sleep for optimal health varies depending on the individual (file image) How much sleep do we need for our age? Tamara revealed we spend one-third of our lives sleeping and the longest a human has ever gone without sleep is 11 days. 'Its important to note that the precise amount of sleep that we each need varies as were all unique,' she said. 'For example, the amount one adult needs will be different from the amount another adult of the same age needs. 'Sleep experts note that we need just as much sleep in our 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s as we do when were younger adults. However, as we age our brains are less capable of giving us that deep sleep and our sleep becomes more fragmented (more bathroom trips, aches or pains etc), which results in less sleep overall. 'To figure out the right amount of sleep for you, try this exercise the next time youre able to take an extended period of time off work, of two weeks at least (which is more challenging for those of us with children!). 'Use the first week to unwind and the second week to sleep uninterrupted each night until you wake up. Taking an average of how many hours you sleep in that second week will give you a good idea of how much sleep is ideal for your body.' Why not getting enough good quality sleep can prevent you from losing weight Tamara explained that scientists are starting to better understand why poor sleep results in weight gain, as many people experience stronger food cravings and less willpower to resist unhealthy snacks after having a miserable night's sleep. Tamara said: 'A recent scientific study showed that, when people had at least 8.5 hours of sleep, the part of their brain that controls feeding and appetite had a very low level of activation. 'They were less hungry, had a lower energy intake, and lower activation of their reward and addiction systems in their brain. Tamara cites a study that found metabolic rates of healthy participants declined after total sleep deprivation (file image) 'When the scientists reduced the participants' sleep to 4.5 hours, participants reported increases in hunger and appetite. In addition, they were more likely to choose snacks with 50 per cent more calories than people with 8.5 hours of sleep. 'Finally, the sleep-deprived people were unable to resist snacks such as cookies, ice cream, and crisps, even though they had consumed a large meal two hours beforehand. Tamara's easy tips on how to achieve a better nights sleep 1) Limit screen time 1 hour before bed Our bodies have an internal clock in the brain, which regulates our circadian rhythm. Mobiles, laptops and TVs emit blue light, which sends signals to our brain to keep us awake. 2) Address your racing mind Take 5-10 minutes before you go to sleep to sit with a notebook and write down a list of anything that you need to do the following day. 3) Avoid caffeine after 12pm If you want a hot drink in the afternoon or evening, go for a decaffeinated tea or coffee. 4) Keep a cool bedroom temperature Keep bedroom thermostats to around 18C. During spring/summer try sleeping with your bedroom window open to reduce the temperature and increase ventilation. 5) Limit alcohol in the evenings While you might initially fall into deep sleep more easily, you then wake up frequently during the night and have poorer deep sleep overall. 6) Supplement vitamin D Vitamin D plays a role in sleep. Vitamin D is widely available online and from most pharmacies. If you are unsure if this is appropriate or how much you need, please seek advice from your GP. 7) Ensure sufficient intake of magnesium and zinc Foods high in magnesium include spinach, kale, avocado, bananas, cashews, and seeds. Foods high in zinc include meat, oysters, crab, cheese, cooked lentils, and dark chocolate (70%+). Advertisement 'On top of this, research has shown that sleep loss decreases how much energy our bodies use up in two ways. First, and more intuitively, physical activity significantly decreases on the day following sleep deprivation. 'Secondly, a study demonstrated that after total sleep deprivation, metabolic rates of healthy participants declined, which led to less energy expenditure. 'The combined effect of increased energy intake and decreased energy expenditure demonstrates how a lack of sleep could facilitate weight gain or prevent weight loss.' Tamara explained sleep also effects our immune system, saying: 'When we sleep our body goes into immune stimulation mode. During this process, our immune system army restocks, and we can fight infection better. 'On the flip side, being sleep deprived can stress our immune system. Evidence suggests that those whore only sleeping five hours per night are four times as likely to catch a cold than those who get a healthy eight hours. 'One fascinating study suggested that just one night of sleep deprivation in healthy people results in a 70 per cent drop in natural killer cells. Natural killer cells are like immune assassins that attack cancer cells, which naturally appear in your body every day, and fight infection. 'So, we need an adequate amount of sleep to support our immune system in fighting regular infections and, on top of this, emerging evidence suggests that consistently getting enough good quality sleep can reduce our chances of developing chronic diseases, like Alzheimers, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. 'Not only does sleep affect our physical health, but it also has a huge impact on our mental health. Interestingly, theres no psychiatric condition out there where sleep is undisturbed. 'When we look inside our brains, using fMRI scans, even healthy people whore deprived of just one night of sleep demonstrate a 60 per cent increase in reactivity in the area of our brain that generates strong emotions, called the amygdala. 'As well as emotional stability, research suggests that our social skills suffer from sleep deprivation. A study demonstrated that emotional empathy (our ability to recognise and respond to other peoples emotions) significantly decreases after sleep restriction. The result is that we might struggle to feel sympathy and compassion when were overtired, which explains why we can be cranky or have a short fuse after a bad night.' As Republican state lawmakers across the country wage what critics are calling the most sweeping voter suppression campaign since the Jim Crow era, two notable swing states have been spared the onslaught of proposed legislation. In Ohio and North Carolina, where former President Donald Trump triumphed in November, the GOP-controlled legislatures seem content to maintain the status quo. To date, no bills regarding access to ballots have been proposed in either state. The same cannot be said of places where electoral defeats doomed Trump's reelection bid. In Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire, an attempted overhaul of the voting system is well underway, with hundreds of bills being introduced to slash expanded voting regulations that found favor in recent years and at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, like expanded access to absentee and early voting. The divergent fate of voting rights in similar swing states reflects a worrisome trend for voting-rights supporters: Where Trump lost, Republicans are seeking to rewrite the rule book in their favor, regardless of how down-ballot candidates performed. In states that Trump won -- nothing. "It's troubling to think that our democracy is so fragile that the outcome of one race would in fact give people the impetus to overhaul the franchise in their state and erect barriers to voters' participation," said Tammy Patrick, a former election official in Arizona and a senior adviser at the Democracy Fund, a nonpartisan election advocacy group. MORE: 'A great clash': Mail-in voting emerges as main target in renewed voting-rights battle "So much is being done, not based on how a party did in a state, but how one candidate did," Patrick said. Never before has one candidate's political fortunes led to such a drastic shift in American democracy, said experts who spoke with ABC News. From absentee ballot rules to the selection of judges, Republican state legislators are taking aim at every conceivable element of the voting process. Story continues Since January, more than 250 bills that would restrict access to voting have been introduced in 43 statehouses, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. The bulk of proposed legislation resides in states carried by President Joe Biden. Some experts believe that if Biden had won additional states, there may be an even broader effort to enact new rules dictating access to ballots. "If the result in Ohio had been that Biden won, it is extremely difficult for me to imagine that we wouldn't have a dozen bills already in the legislature now," said Mia Lewis of Common Cause Ohio, a nonpartisan democracy watchdog. PHOTO: A voter casts his early voting ballot at drop box outside of City Hall on October 17, 2020, in Philadelphia. (Mark Makela/Getty Images, FILE) In North Carolina, where Trump soundly defeated Biden, "there isn't much of an appetite to change things" in the Republican-controlled legislature, said Tomas Lopez of Democracy North Carolina, a nonprofit group focused on increasing voting access. "If you look at the states that are similar to Arizona and Georgia in composition, because the former president won in those states, they aren't seeing the same kind of onslaught," Patrick said. Republicans say their ballot-access proposals in places like Arizona and Georgia reflect broader efforts to improve the security of elections -- despite scant evidence of the widespread fraud claims promoted by Trump and his allies in the wake of the 2020 election. "Most people want voter ID laws, safeguards for absentee ballots, and fair rules that make it both easy to vote and hard to cheat," said Jason Snead, the executive director of the Honest Elections Project, a group that is advocating for tight election laws. "But progressive groups disagree, and are trying to distract from the fact that they are advancing a deeply unpopular agenda." MORE: House Democrats pass election reforms as GOP moves to change voting laws In Georgia, a fierce election battle is underway after Trump and two incumbent GOP Senators lost in the most recent election cycle. Republican lawmakers in the state have drafted bills to eliminate no-excuse absentee voting, shorten the early voting window, and restrict use of drop boxes. On Wednesday, Republicans introduced a last-minute bill with additional voting restrictions. "This is a part of a long-term, strategic plan for Republicans to hold power as long as possible," said Hillary Holley, the organizing director for the Georgia-based voting rights group Fair Fight. The move comes even as fallout continues from Trump's last-ditch efforts to challenge the outcome of the election. Last month the Fulton County district attorney formally launched a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the election in Georgia, which included the Jan. 2 phone call in which he pleaded with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to help him "find 11,780 votes," the exact number he needed to win the state. A grand jury was expected to be seated in the investigation earlier this month. PHOTO: Hundreds of people wait in line for early voting in Marietta, Ga., Oct. 12, 2020. (Ron Harris/AP, FILE) In Pennsylvania, where a slew of lawsuits filed by Trump and his allies challenging Biden's electoral victory failed to pass muster in the courts, Republicans are now targeting the methods by which judges in the state are elected. "Our understanding is there is a significant amount of animosity toward the appellate courts by the Republicans, and it came about in legislation," said Khalif Ali, executive director of Common Cause in Pennsylvania. "It's a direct response to the results of the November election," Ali said. "There's an idea going out that if democracy doesn't give you what you want, it must be broken." And in New Hampshire, where Republicans gained control of the state legislature but failed to deliver a victory to Trump, GOP lawmakers are locked in a bitter dispute to curb the voting rights of college students in the state. MORE: Voting machine company sues pro-Trump pillow man over false election claims "These bills are totally not necessary and counterproductive in that they could potentially create all these burdens on the right to vote for no good purpose," according to Henry Klementowicz, a staff attorney with the ACLU in New Hampshire. In the meantime, voting rights advocates in North Carolina and Ohio remain cautiously optimistic that their states can escape Republicans' efforts. But with the 2022 midterm elections looming -- and with competitive U.S. Senate seats up for grabs in both states -- experts say there may yet be challenges to voting rules. "Just because we haven't seen any activity now doesn't mean we won't later," Lopez said. 'A direct response': How Trump's 2020 loss is dictating the future of elections in battleground states originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The latest stimulus package to be signed into law creates a new tax break for tens of millions of workers who received unemployment benefits in 2020. While many Americans will receive $1,400 checks in this third round of stimulus payments, another benefit was included in the package that President Joe Biden signed into law last week. Previously, jobless benefits had to be reported as taxable income to the IRS, meaning many would likely owe federal income taxes on those benefits. (Pennsylvania doesnt tax unemployment compensation on the state level, however.) As part of the American Rescue Plan, however, many taxpayers will not be required to pay taxes on up to $10,200 in unemployment benefits received in 2020. It aplies to those who made less than $150,000 in adjusted gross income last year. A married couple filing a joint return is limited to that $10,200 amount each, even if their total together is less than $20,400. What if you already filed your 2020 return, before the law was enacted? Well, you should wait. The IRS is advising those taxpayers not to do anything yet until they have updated the rules. It could take the federal government tax agency 30 to 45 days to reprogram computer systems to account for the American Rescue Plan. Its a wait-and-see if taxpayers will need to file amended returns or if theyll automatically get any refund automatically. Also helping people who are unemployed, the plan continues expanded unemployment benefits approved last year and extends a weekly $300 federal supplement payment through Sept. 6. Information from The Detroit Free Press, the Akron Beacon-Journal and The Associated Press. More: The $1.9 trillion stimulus plan: How much will your school district or municipality receive? Pa. personal income tax filing deadline extended to May STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New York City will offer public school families a new opt-in period for in-person learning amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the mayor announced Friday. The announcement comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new guidelines for K-12 schools, reducing the recommended distance between students from 6 feet to 3 feet. The agency said students can safely sit just 3 feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear a mask, but should be kept the usual 6 feet away from one another at sporting events, assemblies, lunch or chorus practice. This will be a great relief to a lot of parents to know there is a chance to get their kids back into school, said Mayor Bill de Blasio at a press conference Friday afternoon. The new opt-in period will begin next week, de Blasio said. He added that the younger students who choose to opt-in now will be back in school buildings next month. These include students in 3-K, pre-K, elementary school and those in District 75 schools. He explained that, while older students are included in next weeks opt-in period, more work needs to be done in bringing those additional middle and high school students back to campus. Before bringing additional older students back through this opt-in we want to work with the CDC to understand the guidelines better, he said. He added that details about the opt-in period and bringing students back in this new round would be forthcoming. Both the mayor and New York City Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter stressed that despite this change in CDC guidelines, all other school safety protocols will stay in place. The focus on health and safety will not change, Porter said, adding that three feet gives us a whole new option. As New York City prepared for the current school year amid the coronavirus pandemic, students were able to choose to attend school remotely full-time or participate in a blended learning model, in which students were on campus a few days a week, learning remotely the rest of the time. Currently, many schools across the city are offering students five-day-a-week in-person instruction. The goal is to have the maximum number of kids back in school and five days a week wherever possible, de Blasio said. The city last offered parents an opt-in period in November, and at that time it was unclear if there would be another opportunity for remote-only learners to return to campus. I think there are more and more parents who are going to want their kids back in school, the mayor said about this new opportunity for families to opt-in to in-person learning. Both de Blasio and Porter expressed confidence about what the new CDC guidelines mean for schools come fall. We are confident about the fall right now ..., de Blasio said. We hope that every child who wants to be back in the fall is accommodated. This is Porters first week in the role of schools chancellor, replacing Richard Carranza, who announced his resignation last month. Porter visited Staten Islands PS 45 in West Brighton Friday morning as part of a five-borough tour of the school system. 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. Unpleasant Surprise Thousands of Claims Being Ripped Off Battling the Fraud (TNS) Employed Floridians who mysteriously received unemployment checks should not consider it money in the bank. Chances are their identities have been stolen and its time call the local police, the IRS and the major credit rating agencies.Identity thieves are having a field day stealing billions in unemployment benefits from Florida and other states across the nation, fraud detectives say.And as a new round of federal benefits starts flowing to help continue the fight against COVID-19, millions more are landing in the wrong hands, hurting both employed and unemployed people whose identities were stolen as well as potentially short-changing employers.The challenge that states have now is the federal government has appropriated funding for benefits, but not for cybersecurity, which kind of defies common sense, said Blake Hall, CEO and co-founder of ID.me, a private company based in Alexandria, Va. Its equal to having train full of gold on the tracks and not investing in any security guards. As the pandemic wore on, Florida spent much of its time and money on catching cheaters who lied about their work backgrounds to acquire benefits, said Haywood Talcove, CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which also specializes in identity verification and fraud-prevention.What the state was not focusing on is this thing called imposter fraud, he said. Thats where all of the fraud is happening across the country. Ive stolen your ID. I have your name and your date of birth. I file on your behalf and I get the benefit.More than two weeks ago, the Broward County Public Schools learned that for the third quarter of 2020, more than $4.1 million had been charged against its account with the state Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, which is responsible for distributing state and federal unemployment benefits to jobless Floridians.The districts bill for the same period in 2019: more than $251,000.The district intends to protest the multimillion-dollar figure and obtain a refund from the state for those claims that were found to be fraudulent, said Alan Strauss, the school districts chief human resources and equity officer, in a memo to the school board on March 1.In a separate memo, the board was told that an unspecified number of employees on the districts payroll received unemployment checks. Thats a clear indicator their identities were stolen and benefits in their names are being diverted to fraudsters, experts say.The checks arrived because the Department of Economic Opportunity typically sends them to the unemployed to cover their first week of benefits. Thereafter, the money is paid through direct deposit into a persons bank account or by loading a weeks benefits onto a bank card. But its highly likely that identity thieves are receiving subsequent payments because they set up bank accounts in the names of unwitting school employees.The school districts communications department did not answer a list of questions submitted by theabout what measures the district is taking to curtail the fraud or how many of its employees got unemployment checks.The Department of Economic Opportunity in Tallahassee also did not answer thes questions about employer liability, how much unemployment money has been lost to fraud during the pandemic and what employed people should do if they received jobless benefits they did not seek.In recent weeks, the agency has declared that tens of thousands of potentially fraudulent jobless claims were filed in January, prompting officials to summon a fraud detection and prevention company to add layers of protection to the Department of Economic Opportunitys benefits application system.Suspicious claims examined by the agency hit a high of more than 55,000 over the past several weeks, according to a new fraud detection category on an agency dashboard. As of Wednesday, the figure had declined to 23,500, an apparent sign that new interception measures may be working.Those measures include a new online fraud form that offers jobless applicants the opportunity to report benefits fraud or identity theft.Newly unemployed workers also are required to verify their identities through the company ID.me. Besides Florida, the ID.me firm is helping 20 other states combat the theft of jobless benefits.Last year, the Department of Economic Opportunity retained the company to help people who had been locked out of their accounts due to various problems with the agencys CONNECT computer system.It is unclear how many Floridians have had their identities stolen for the purpose of stealing jobless benefits.But the raids on the public purse which started almost immediately after the coronavirus pandemic is manifesting itself in several ways.People whose identities were stolen may find bank accounts set up in their names without their knowledge, and stolen jobless benefits are counted as income for federal tax purposes.Employers are being charged extra money by the state for unemployment taxes.Hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars earmarked for the jobless are being diverted to identity thieves,Donna Ballman, a Fort Lauderdale employment lawyer, said a person she knows only learned of a fraud was committed when an employer asked why the person applied for unemployment.When they looked into it, they found out about the fraud, Ballman said. They notified the police and unemployment. They also signed up for LifeLock, which watches for fraudulent activity.Once someone has stolen your identity for one purpose, you are at risk for other identity theft.It takes time to straighten it out. You have to be proactive and report it right away.The person I know is lucky the employer was understanding, Ballman added. Some employers would simply fire the employee without allowing an explanation. Then the person has a double fight because some or all of their weeks of unemployment will have been used up by the fraudster.In mid-January, the Department of Economic Opportunity acknowledged that a three- to fourfold spike in reported unemployment claims was the product of fraud. We are seeing fraud rates of over 50 percent consistently, Hall said.Nationally, Hall said, the losses are now in the range of $200 billion to $300 billion. He could not comment on loss figures by state, but said a stunning half of all unemployment claims are fraudulent.The sense of urgency for getting benefits into the bank accounts of financially troubled Americans has created openings for thieves.In this day and age, states want to help the unemployed as quickly as possible, said Frank Suponcic, a fraud analyst for Marcum, the national financial advisory firm. They are trying to be customer friendly and help people out. A man watches a TV screen showing a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, March 29, 2020. AP North Korea's nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) pose a threat to its neighbors and the international community, a State Department official said Thursday, reaffirming U.S. efforts to denuclearize the North. Jalina Porter, deputy spokeswoman for the department, reiterated that the ongoing review of U.S. policy toward North Korea will evaluate all available options. "North Korea's WMD programs, as reflected in multiple UN Security Council resolutions, are unlawful and constitute a threat to international peace and security," she told a daily press briefing. Porter was responding to a question about a possible difference between South Korea and the United States over how to approach the North Korean nuclear issue, given that Washington frequently stresses the need to denuclearize North Korea but that Seoul often uses an expression such as the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The spokeswoman did not offer any direct answer. However, when asked if the U.S. planned to again reach out to North Korea for engagement, the department official said the U.S. remains committed to the denuclearization of North Korea. "But we will say that we remain concerned about North Korea's nuclear activities and we're committed to denuclearization of North Korea," she told the telephonic press briefing. The U.S. earlier said it has reached out "multiple times" to North Korea since mid-February, but that the reclusive North has so far remained unresponsive. In what Seoul officials have called the North's own way of sending messages to the U.S., First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said on Wednesday that Pyongyang will continue to ignore U.S. overtures until Washington drops its hostile policy toward the North. The U.S. is currently undergoing a comprehensive review of its policy that it says will lead to a new and best approach toward how to deal with the North Korean nuclear issue. Pyongyang has so far conducted six nuclear tests, the last one in September 2017. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said diplomacy will be at the center of U.S. foreign policy, including its efforts to denuclearize North Korea. Porter said the North Korea policy review will evaluate "all options available." (Yonhap) NTD International Piano Competition: A Lifeline After the Chaos The jurists of the New Tang Dynasty International Piano Competition are classical musicians as well. They are pianists and teachers, and when the pandemic last year brought the world to a halt, they were keenly aware of how classical musicians were affected worldwide. Under this abnormal situation, the world has been chaotic. There has been suffering, and everyone is isolated, but traditional classical music can play the role of soothing and comforting the soul, said Becky Yao, head judge and music department professor at Fei Tian College. Great music is capable of elevating people, giving people peace, giving people courage, and giving people hope. The NTD International Piano Competition was originally developed to promote and revive Western classical music, but in this special period its come to play a different role, Yao said. In our post-pandemic world, people have been reflecting on many things, changing their lifestyles, and seeking guidance as they plan for the future. Great music can aid in our reflection during these times, she explained. It will allow people to reflect on the true meaning of life, and regain hope in life so that that they have the courage, she said. We can find a way out of this confusion. And this competition, scheduled for October 2021 in New York, affirms the importance of classical music. Applications recently opened and the deadline for applying is Sept. 23. Information can be found on www. competitions.ntdtv.com/piano Were all friends in the music industry, and classical musicians can at this time support and encourage each other, she said. This competition represents that overcoming of difficulty. Divine Inspiration The competition puts the spotlight on music from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras. Save for a work commissioned especially for the competition, which the pianists will play by heart in the semifinals, the competition repertoire is entirely music written between 1600 and 1900. The music of these three periods is the most representative of the most orthodox and traditional of the art of piano music; it has been tempered by and withstood the test of history and passed down to this day, Yao said. This is music that will last forever. These are masterworks that are an example of divine inspiration. Yao notes that early music was largely for the purpose of expressing respect and praise for the gods, and over time it developed into the structured and complex form we know as classical music. Music theory, melody, harmonic structure, counterpoint, dynamics, and rhythm formalized during this time, she further explained, and even the development of musical instruments came to a head, setting a standard for the kind of ensembles and academies that still endures. Then there is a whole set of performance skills and training and musical analysisall of this together has been left to us as a gift from the divine, Yao said. Yao recommends that young musicians acknowledge the gift the divine has given us. Use this universal music to express your devotion to the most beautiful and purest gift given to us by God, Yao said. As for herself, she listens, and thanks God for His tolerance and redemption. The most important thing is that we must have kind thoughts in our hearts and be grateful to God, then we have the opportunity to welcome a hopeful tomorrow. In this respect, holding the competition this year is especially meaningful, Yao said. The purpose of the competition is to uphold those musical traditions that have withstood the test of time. We hope to return to this tradition, and foster this talent, she said. Purity of Performance Every artist is concerned with more than just their technique. Part of what the judges will be looking for in the pianists is purity of performance, which will really be put to the test when semifinalists have to perform the commissioned piece. Like the rest of the repertoire, it follows tradition. But it will be a unique challenge because it is based on a Chinese piece. Jurist Susan Liu is arranging a Chinese vocal piece by Shen Yun Performing Arts Artistic Director D.F. for the piano. Divinely inspired ancient Chinese melodies will be expressed through Western classical music forms with the power and precision of the piano. It is also one of the most notable features of our competition, Yao said. This will be the third year the competition has commissioned a special piece. It is the use of the Western piano to condense the harmonies, pentatonic scales, and traditional Chinese culture with Western classical music, Yao said. There are deep connotations in the Chinese melody that a pianist can fully demonstrate. The music is beautiful and magnificent and the perfect combination of Chinese and Western music. Many pianists are new to Chinese music, and the judges typically advise them to watch a performance of Shen Yun, and experience how the companys unique orchestra blends East and West with Chinese instruments that sit in the pit with the classical Western orchestra, and how the Western instruments pick up Chinese melodies. Its a musical treasure to be cherished, and worthy of careful consideration, Yao said. If a pianist can play in a way that reflects his or her pure spirit, the soul feels joy, and it feels that it has reached that very pure and selfless state, she said. The piano performance requirements are very high. The whole person must be involved in the performance, and the person and piano are integrated. Therefor, the piano must be played to the most perfect, best sounding, and highest level. The performers themselves must have that moral state, a peaceful state of mind, she said. Only with that pure heart, that awe and heart to glorify God, is the music one plays the best. That kind of melody can penetrate peoples hearts and stay for a long, long time, moving the listener and inspiring the listener. When a government agency responds to an innocent briefing request with a prevaricatory wall of dont-call-us-well-call-you, your antennae start to twitch. When that agency is running a public land development that dwarfs the ghastly Barangaroo yet withholds even a simple list of buildings, its definitely time to get suspicious. At Central Station, Transport for NSW is driving the biggest public urban development in our history. Tens of billions. Yet all theyll give me is outtakes from media release fluff. What are they hiding? Transport used to be the sweet edge of government. The main roads boys reliably behaved like the Baskerville hounds of rampant destruction but transport was gentle. Transport was a repository of train nuts, bus lovers and people who believed in the public aspect of public service. They were principled. Thoughtful, even. Sane. An artist's impression of Atlassian's 40-storey headquarters to be built near Sydney's Central Station. Not any more. Now, theyre playing cowboys. Its as though they think their new badge TfNSW should read as Tuff NSW, or maybe Testosterone for NSW. Suddenly TsNSW is gung-ho to flank a little downtown pedestrian bridge with 12 metre electronic advertising billboards; force light rail through the fragile Cumberland Hospital heritage precinct; flood Sydney with driverless, union-busting metro trains and encourage huge towers on public land at every station including Waterloo, North Sydney and Martin Place. A white Kentucky man who gunned down two Black people at a grocery store in October 2018 pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and firearm charges. Federal prosecutors said Thursday that Gregory Bush, 53, of Louisville, targeted the victims because of their race. The shootings happened just before 3 p.m. Oct. 24, 2018, at a Kroger store in Jeffersontown. Bush said during his plea hearing that he drove to the store armed with a Smith & Wesson pistol, according to a Department of Justice press release. After walking inside, he followed a Black man who was shopping with his grandson. Prosecutors said Bush shot the man, Maurice Stallard, 69, in the back of the head and then shot him several more times in the torso, killing him. Bush then re-holstered his gun and "calmly walked out the store," according to the press release. In the parking lot, Bush walked up to Vickie Lee Jones, 67, and shot her several times in the head and body. Jones, a Black woman, died at the scene. Federal prosecutors said that Bush did not know the two victims and chose to shoot them because of their race. Seconds after Jones was killed, a Black man approached Bush and asked what was going on. Without responding, Bush walked toward the man with his gun drawn. The man, who was in lawful possession of a handgun, fired at Bush. Prosecutors said that Bush shot at the man and then walked away. Authorities previously said that the man, identified by local media outlets as Dominiic Rozier, was not struck. "Bush had no prior relationship with the third victim and chose to shoot at him because of his race," the DOJ said. Rozier told NBC affiliate WAVE in an October 2018 interview that he fired at Bush to protect his wife. "I could have died," he said. "She could have died. A lot more people could have died. According to prosecutors, a white man, who was legally armed, also encountered Bush in the store's parking lot. Bush told that man not to shoot him and said that "whites don't shoot whites," the press release states. Story continues Todays guilty plea will ensure that a violent and disturbed man will never get another chance to target and terrorize the Black community, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan said in a statement. It wont bring back two pillars of the Louisville community, whose tragic and senseless deaths we mourn, but we hope it sends the message that the Justice Department will work tirelessly to bring perpetrators of bias-motivated violence to justice. Jeffersontown police had previously said that Bush tried to enter the First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown about 15 minutes before the shootings at Kroger. He could not get into the predominately Black church because the doors were locked. Authorities said they could not confirm if Bush was armed at the time he tried to get inside the church. Bush faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on June 24, 2021. He is already serving a life sentence in state prison after pleading guilty but mentally ill to local charges of murder, attempted murder, and wanton endangerment. His attorney could not be reached on Friday. (CNN) A first face-to-face meeting between US and Chinese officials got off to a heated start in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's statement that the Biden administration would bring up "deep concerns" about some of China's actions around the world was met with immediate pushback from Chinese counterparts, sparking an unusually public exchange of diplomatic barbs. By evening, the Chinese had accused the US delegation of being "condescending" in its tone, while a US official said the representatives from Beijing seemed "intent on grandstanding." The meeting quickly veered away from the usual diplomatic throat clearing that takes place in front of the cameras before the real meetings get underway. As the two sides traded the unusually intense remarks, Blinken called the cameras back to counter the Chinese officials' comments -- particularly their slights about US democracy -- setting off an unexpected chain of rebuttals as each side responded to the other's remarks. The clash demonstrated that the relationship Blinken has called "the biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century" will be fraught and difficult as the Biden team grapples with an ascendant and increasingly assertive China abroad while it faces serious challenges at home that Beijing will seek to exploit as it attempts to underscore US weakness. Following the public exchange, a US senior administration official said the Chinese seemed to have arrived with a focus "on public theatrics and dramatics over substance." "They made that clear by promptly violating protocol; we had agreed to short (two-minute) opening statements by each principal," they said in a statement to the traveling press. While Blinken's and national security adviser Jake Sullivan's opening remarks stuck close to that allotment, the Chinese delegation spoke for more than 20 minutes as the conversation got increasingly more tense. "The United States delegation came to Anchorage committed to laying out the principles, interests, and values that animate our engagement with Beijing," the official said. "We have continued on with our planned presentation, knowing that exaggerated diplomatic presentations often are aimed at a domestic audience." "We still have a lot of business to conduct. We will use the remaining hours to outline for the Chinese delegation in private the same messages we have consistently delivered in public," they said. Blinken had initially said the US intends to defend the "rules-based order" without which there would be a "much more violent world" and said that Chinese activities in places like Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as its cyber attacks on the US and economic coercion of US allies, "threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability. That's why they're not merely internal matters, and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here today." China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi pushed back, warning the US against meddling in China's "internal affairs," contesting the US right to speak for other countries, charging that the US is the "champion" of cyber attacks, mocking US domestic stability and challenging America's own record on human rights. "We believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image, and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world," Yang said, in extended opening remarks. "Many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States," Yang said. "According to opinion polls, the leaders of China have the wide support of the Chinese people." Yang challenged the US claims to global leadership saying that "the US does not represent the world, it only represents the government of the United States," before State Councilor Wang Yi weighed in to say China would not accept "the unwarranted accusations from the US side." 'Hold on one second' After Wang finished and aides started to usher cameras out of the room, Blinken interjected, "Hold on one second please." The top US diplomat motioned for the press to return. "Hold on one second," he said. "Director, state counselor, given your extended remarks, permit me please to add just a few of my own before we get down to work." The top US diplomat said that in calls with nearly 100 counterparts, he was "hearing deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that we're reengaged with our allies and partners. I'm also hearing deep concern about some of the actions your government is taking." And then Blinken addressed the jabs at US domestic affairs. A hallmark of US leadership at home is "a constant quest to, as we say, form a more perfect union. And that quest by definition, acknowledges our imperfections, acknowledges that we're not perfect," Blinken said. "We make mistakes. We, we have reversals, we take steps back. But what we've done throughout our history is to confront those challenges -- openly, publicly, transparently -- not trying to ignore them, not trying to pretend they don't exist," Blinken continued. "Sometimes it's painful. Sometimes it's ugly. But each and every time we've come out stronger, better, more united, as a country." Blinken then referred to a meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden when both were vice presidents. "Biden at the time said, it's never a good bet to bet against America," Blinken told the Chinese officials. "And that remains true today." The combative remarks opened two days of meetings in Anchorage for what US administration officials described as "a broader strategic conversation" about the wide range of US concerns about Chinese behavior, as well as areas of potential mutual interest. Blinken and Sullivan had used their opening remarks to stress their interest in a global order and the concerns they have heard from allies about China's behavior. "Our administration is committed to leading with diplomacy to advance the interests of the United States and to strengthen the rules-based international order," Blinken said. "That system is not an abstraction. It helps countries resolve differences peacefully, coordinate multilateral efforts effectively and participate in global commerce with the assurance that everyone is following the same rules. The alternative to a rules-based order is a world in which might makes right and winners take all. And that would be a far more violent and unstable world for all of us." The message closely aligned with the theme administration officials had stressed in the days leading up to the Alaska meeting: the US will not shift from the increasingly tough position on Beijing taken by the Trump administration, but Biden's team has said it plans to apply those tougher standards more effectively by working closely with allies -- and they'll seek to do it without the internal divisions that plagued the Trump administration or the former President's name-calling, which many analysts say undermined US-China policy in the past. "Sometimes you heard one thing in public but seemed to see something different -- coming from elsewhere," a senior administration official said of the Trump administration. "One of the things for us to also demonstrate here is a sense of coordination and sort of a unified approach, that it was not potentially the case in the last administration." The White House made clear that it was "important" that the meeting happen on US soil, and senior administration officials stressed that the presence of both Blinken and Sullivan demonstrate a strong united front. "This is a very deliberate and visual demonstration of that from the get-go that we think is really important for helping to inform and shape how China seeks to engage with us," one senior official told reporters this week, adding that "the games that China has played in the past to divide us or attempt to divide us are simply not going to work here." Blinken arrived in Alaska after a high-profile trip to South Korea and Japan alongside US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The top US diplomat used his visits to Seoul and Tokyo to emphasize US unity with its Asian allies. He also unveiled a swath of sanctions against Hong Kong and Chinese officials for their actions in Hong Kong, underscoring US impatience at Beijing's increasing aggression. Russia and China set to meet next week The meeting comes as Russia and China announced their own bilateral gathering next week, a diplomatic show of force that highlights their growing cooperation. Moscow announced Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would travel to South Korean to meet officials there as well. US officials have portrayed the Alaska meeting as a forum for airing their concerns directly with Chinese officials, "to demonstrate to our counterparts that there is no difference between what we say in public and what we say in private," as Blinken said this week. "It's just important to make sure we understand each other, and in particular that our Chinese counterparts understand the concerns that we have, understand why so many countries are increasingly worried about the actions that China is taking, again, whether it's with regard to human rights at home or some of its aggressive actions in the region," he said in an interview with TV Asahi Wednesday. Those concerns range from China's aggression in the South and East China Seas to its economic practices to its human rights abuses in Xinjiang, which the administration has said amounts to genocide. Thursday's meeting is not expected to result in "specific negotiated deliverables" nor will there be a joint statement, the senior official said. "This really is a one-off meeting," the official said. "This is not the resumption of a particular dialogue mechanism or the beginning of a dialogue process." Blinken said last week that any potential follow-on meetings "really have to be based on the proposition that we're seeing tangible progress and tangible outcomes on the issues of concern to us with China." "Beijing has been talking about its desire to change the tone of the relationship," a second senior administration official told reporters. "And of course, we're going to be looking at deeds not words on that front, and we're of course coming to these discussions with a very clear eyed view about the (People's Republic of China)'s pretty poor track record of keeping its promises," the official said. Blinken has called China "the biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century" and President Joe Biden has vowed to "out-compete" with the country, but the administration has also said that they will work with China where it is in US interest to do so, on issues such a climate change. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Thursday it accepted the proposal for the talks as "a constructive gesture showing our sincerity towards resuming China-US dialogue and exchange and improving and developing China-US relations." However, spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that the US should not expect a change on the range of issues it considers to be internal matters. "On issues that bear on China's sovereignty, security and core interests, no one shall expect China to make any compromise or trade-offs," he said. "China is determined and resolute in safeguarding its core interests." This story has been updated with further developments Thursday. This story was first published on CNN.com, "US and China trade barbs after Blinken warns of need to respect global order or face a 'more violent world'." 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. Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty regained footing on Friday after five days of losses as investors snapped up RIL, FMCG and IT stocks even as global markets tumbled amid concerns over rising US Treasury yields. Participants shrugged off a spurt in COVID-19 cases in multiple states, though reimposition of localised lockdowns can pose a threat to economic recovery, traders said. After opening with significant losses, the 30-share BSE Sensex made a U-turn to end 641.72 points or 1.30 per cent higher at 49,858.24. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty surged 186.15 points or 1.28 per cent to finish at 14,744. NTPC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 4.58 per cent, followed by HUL, PowerGrid, Reliance Industries, ITC, UltraTech Cement and HCL Tech. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries accounted for the lion's share of the gains. On the other hand, L&T, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and Titan were among the laggards, slipping up to 1.20 per cent. During the week, the Sensex sank 933.84 points or 1.83 per cent, while the Nifty declined 286.95 points or 1.90 per cent. "The highly volatile domestic markets witnessed a smart recovery from its morning weakness and was swinging between gains and losses during the day owing to strong buying seen in FMCG, Pharma and Energy stocks. However, auto stocks were under pressure after the announcement of the government's new scrapping policy. "The unsettling pace of US bond yields and a surge in COVID cases worldwide resulted in the global markets trading deep in red," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. Sector-wise, BSE power, utilities, energy, FMCG, basic materials and metals indices rose up to 3.25 per cent, while BSE realty and capital goods closed with losses. Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices rallied up to 1.35 per cent. World equities stayed on the back foot as investors fretted over elevated US bond yields and the slow pace of COVID-19 vaccine roll-outs in many countries. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a negative note. Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading with losses in mid-session deals. Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.36 per cent higher at USD 64.14 per barrel. The rupee ended just 1 paisa higher against the US dollar at 72.52. Live TV #mute Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market as they bought shares worth Rs 1,258.47 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Recent research suggests that climate change is the main cause of changes in water running in rivers globally. More frequent than ever before, water readily accessible in rivers around the world is at the mercy of climate change. That's according to a recent study by an international scientist, released 12th March 2021, in the journal Science peer-reviewed. The Water Cycle However additional factors, such as land and water management, influence changes in the quantity of water in the world's rivers, the study suggests that climate change is the main cause. Michigan State University's study co-author Yadu Pokhrel disclosed in a report. He said: "It's a significant discovery because as climate change affects massive flows, it could be aggravating flooding or boosting water shortage in dry seasons." The portion of readily accessible water in rivers also relies on components such as land-use change or direct interventions in the water cycle. For instance, the researchers explained, if the water is used for regulation via reservoirs or irrigation, or forests are cleaned and monocultures thrived in their place, this can have a consequence on river flow. To crack the impact of these aspects, the study group assessed data from 7,250 examining stations around the world collected from 1971 to 2010, and again assessed computer simulations from nine hydrological models worldwide. They concluded that, around the world, man-made climate change alter long-term regular river flow as well as the flow within the dry seasons. ALSO READ: Global Carbon Cycle Regulated by Rivers Complex Patterns The research disclosed complicated patterns. For instance, several areas such as Northeastern Brazil and the Mediterranean had turned drier, while elsewhere, such as in Scandinavia the amount of water had intensified. Pokhrel explained that flows in streams and rivers can change year by year, but they don't go up or down over a long time scale without significant impact from altering human or climate activity. A recent study has indicated that river flows have been altering worldwide over time though the factors causing such change were not understood. This research suggests that the alteration in streamflow yearly or within droughts periods was mainly influenced by climate change during the previous 30 years. The World's Largest Rivers This implies that we are on point to forfeit extra and more water in rivers as climate change persist, which could severely weaken our capacity to sustain water supplies for industries, food production, drinking, and food production. Pokhrel said. How do rivers run from the earth's biggest mountain range taking advantage of a role in diminishing climate? Rivers are the network of the World, transmitting nutrients and water to help the words' ecosystems, even human's life. Some of the world's largest rivers flow from Asia to the tallest mountain ranges to massive floodplains under and ultimately in the ocean. Like networks, these rivers link the rocks in the mountain to the remnant at the ground of the ocean and offer life to all things in between. While several nutrients are crucial to the survival of life, there is one component moved by water in rivers that retains the clue to life and the fate of our planet. RELATED ARTICLE: Colorado River Drying Up Due to Climate Change For more news, updates about change in climates and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! Lloyd Austin on Friday expressed his country's strong desire to further deepen strategic ties with India to address the "most pressing" challenges facing the as he began a three-day visit to the country that is aimed at expanding cooperation with close partners amidst China's growing assertiveness in the region. Austin, who arrived here as part of his three-nation first overseas tour as the Defence Secretary, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed international, regional and bilateral issues of mutual interest, following which Modi tweeted that India and the US are committed to their strategic partnership that is a "force for global good". The also held wide-ranging discussions with Security Advisor and almost all key issues of mutual concerns, including China's aggressive behaviour in the region are learnt to have figured in the deliberations. After the Prime Minister's discussions with Austin, a PMO statement said the reiterated Washington's continued commitment towards strengthening the bilateral defence ties and "expressed strong desire" to further enhance the strategic partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the region and beyond. "Pleasure to meet US Sec Def Lloyd Austin today. Conveyed my best wishes to POTUS Joe Biden. India and US are committed to our strategic partnership that is a force for global good," Modi tweeted. Austin's visit is seen as a reflection of the Joe Biden administration's strong commitment to ties with its close Asian allies and partners. Austin visited Japan and South Korea before India. "Thrilled to be here in India. The breadth of cooperation between our two nations reflects the significance of our major defense partnership, as we work together to address the most pressing challenges facing the region," the US Defence Secretary tweeted. A readout by the US government said Secretary Austin commended India's leadership role in the Indo-Pacific and growing engagement with like-minded partners across the region to promote shared goals. "The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to promote a free and open regional order. Both sides exchanged perspectives on shared challenges confronting the region and committed to further strengthen their broad ranging and robust defence cooperation," it said. Welcoming Austin, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said his visit to India is definitely going to further deepen the cooperation and partnership between two countries. "Looking forward to our meeting tomorrow," Singh tweeted. On Saturday, Austin will lay a wreath at War Memorial in the morning, and will be given a guard of honour at Vigyan Bhavan before his talks with Singh, officials said. Ways to further accelerate India-US strategic ties, boosting cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, China's aggressive behaviour in eastern Ladakh, challenge of terrorism and the Afghan peace process are expected to be focus of the talks between Austin and Singh, people familiar with the US official's visit said. They said India's plan to procure around 30 multi-mission armed Predator drones from the US for the three services at an estimated cost of over USD 3 billion is also expected to figure in the talks. The medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) Predator-B drones, manufactured by US defence major General Atomics, are capable of remaining airborne for around 35 hours and can hunt down targets at land and sea, they said. India's plan to acquire 114 fighter jets at a cost of around USD 18 billion could also figure in the talks as American defence majors --Boeing and Lockheed -Martin-- are eyeing it, the people said. His visit to India came days after the top leadership of the Quad grouping of India, the US, Japan and Australia vowed to expand their cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. Ahead of Austin's visit, Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote a letter to the US Defence Secretary, urging him to take up with Indian leaders the issue of New Delhi procuring Russian S-400 missile defence system. Though democracy and human rights issues do not come under the domain of the Pentagon, Menendez also urged Austin to raise these concerns with Indian leaders. In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning from the Trump administration that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions. Recently, the US imposed sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for purchase of S-400 missiles from Russia. The evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific region in the wake of China's increasing military muscle flexing has become a major talking point among leading global powers. The US has been favouring making Quad a security architecture to check China's growing assertiveness. The visit is also taking place at a time when India and China are looking to achieve the objective of disengagement from all friction points in eastern Ladakh after completing withdrawal of troops in the North and South banks of Pangong lake areas. Austin and Singh had a telephonic conversation on January 27. The Indo-US defence ties have been on an upswing in the last few years. In June 2016, the US had designated India a "Major Defence Partner". The two countries have also inked key defence and security pacts over the past few years, including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016 that allows their militaries use each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies as well as provides for deeper cooperation. The two sides have also signed COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) in 2018 that provides for interoperability between the two militaries and provides for sale of high end technology from the US to India. In October last year, India and the US sealed the BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) agreement to further boost bilateral defence ties. The pact provides for sharing of high-end military technology, logistics and geospatial maps between the two countries. Ronan O'Meara has been scouring the TV schedules to find films to watch over the next week as we approach the Easter holidays. Here are his choices....enjoy! Land Of Mine: Saturday, BBC4 @ 9pm World War 2 has just ended. The beaches of Denmark are riddled with landmines after the German occupation. Who better to do the dangerous work of clearing them out than the German POW's themselves. A horribly tense look at the brutality of war and the dehumanising effect it has on all sides involved. Roland Mller as the captain in charge of one group of prisoners does mighty work as a man who realises the enemy aren't what they initially seem. Love & Mercy: Saturday, BBC2 @ 11.20pm Brian Wilson, the brains and the heart behind 1960's supergroup The Beach Boys was the very definition of a troubled genius. This unique biopic is a look at his life in both the 1960's and the 1980's and the relationship that could save him from the bad influences around him. Paul Dano (who I usually hate) & John Cusack both put in marvellous performances as Wilson with Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti offering solid support. I Went Down: Saturday, RTE One @ Midnight Two criminals travel into the wilds of middle Ireland to carry out a kidnapping at the behest of a man who owns them both. Things don't work out exactly as planned. For my money this is one the the best Irish comedies ever made. Brendan Gleeson is on fire as Bunny Kelly and Peter McDonald is good craic in his film debut. As always with Irish films the laughs come with a healthy dose of pathos and the two blend brilliantly. Dorian Gray: Sunday, RTE2 @ 12.30am Based on Oscar Wilde's famous 19th century novel, Dorian Gray tells the story of a young man and the special deal he makes to ensure he stays looking exactly the same as he did the day he gets that infamous portrait done. A lavish and surprisingly bloody take on the story, with a couple of it's own unique twists and turns. This film might offend some but it's an interesting watch led by a decent turn from Ben Barnes. Manchester By The Sea: Sunday, RTE2 @ 9pm Lee Chandler's brother has just died, making him to go home to deal with funeral arrangements. The trip home also forces him to revisit the ghosts of his past. Kenneth Lonergan's 2016 drama is a stunning watch, pushing us headfirst into the ongoing effects of grief and loss and all their repercussions. It's brutal, but it's humane and even humorous in places. Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams are both incredible. Conan The Barbarian: Sunday, ITV4 @ 11.05pm After the notorious warlord Thulsa Doom destroys his village and kills his family, young Conan is taken and made a slave. As he ages his muscles grow and his skill with a sword becomes legendary. Now he must take his revenge. This blood and carnage packed 1982 sword and sorcery action fest is an 80's classic. It's not a story to think too deeply on but it's depiction of a chaotic, lawless world is impressive. Arnold Schwarzeneggar rocks the lead. Once Upon A Time In The Midlands: Sunday, Film4 @ 11.45pm Jimmy is a petty criminal living a crappy life in Glasgow. One day on TV he catches sight of a roomful of faces from his past and he realises that he needs to make a trip home. This early Shane Meadows film is a lighter one than his later work and it's filled with characters you'll be more than happy to spend time with. Western fans will get a giggle from some of the set ups too. Robert Carlyle, Kathy Burke & Rhys Ifans add to the fun. Dogman: Monday, Channel 4 @ 1am When his income from his dog grooming services can't keep him afloat a man called Marcello decides to enter the drug business. It's not a life he's cut out for and one of his customers is starting to make things very difficult for him. A harsh watch, that shows a side of criminal life rarely explored on screen, but a first rate, sympathetic performance from Marcello Fonte will keep you watching to the end. Call Northside 777: Monday, Talking Pictures TV @ 3.40pm 11 years after a seemingly cut and dried murder case wraps up the prisoner's mother, pleading that her son is innocent, puts up a reward for new info, prompting a reporter into the case again. At first it looks like the right verdict was met, until.... The great James Stewart leads this unusual and rather gripping blend of documentary style drama and film noir and does a fine job of course. Kasia Orzazewski and Lee J. Cobb offer nice support. Copycat: Monday, TCM @ 11.25pm After an almost fatal attack years before, renowned criminal psychologist Helen Hudson's a recluse, afraid of the world. Now a series of familiar murders see her team up with a San Francisco cop to solve them. This 1995 thriller is a very entertaining watch, one that's kind of brutal in places but the duo of Sigourney Weaver and Helen Hunt will keep you glued to the screen. Harry Connick Jr makes for a queasily memorable bad guy. Rio Bravo: Tuesay, TCM @ 4.15pm After he arrests the brother of a violent criminal and sets off a countdown to violence, a sheriff trying to defend his little town enlists an unlikely crew of people to help him do his job. One of the quintessential westerns, this Howard Hawks directed movie is gorgeous to look at and an absolute pleasure to watch and sees John Wayne give a performance that shows just why he was so popular. Dean Martin & Walter Brennan are class as always too. The Look Of Love: Wednesday, Film4 @ 1.30am Paul Raymond. Father, business man, porn baron. When he's hit by the biggest tragedy a person can suffer he decides to look back over his life and how he came to be in his place. The always deadly Steve Coogan brings a human touch to the seedier side of London life. The film itself is slightly unfocussed as it tries to fit too much in but splendid work from Imogen Poots, Tasmin Egerton and Anna Friel alongside Coogan will keep you going. Heist: Wednesday, Sony Movies @ 11.05pm An aging thief loves his work but a mistake on a job is forcing him to take early retirement, A decision that doesn't sit well with others who rely on him. So they blackmail him to keep earning. David Mamet writes and directs this 2001 thriller and while it mightn't cover any new ground it's still highly enjoyable and carried out in his inimitable style. Gene Hackman, Delroy Lindo and Danny Devito head a packed cast. She's Funny That Way: Thursday, Channel 4 @ 1.55am Albert's directing a play. His wife Delta is the star. Albert has also promised the starring role to a call girl, Izzy, he's been seeing. Because Albert is a dope. Chaos ensues. Peter Bogdanovich directs this and it feels like something he might have made in his 70's heyday. It's light, it's breezy, it's morally loop de loop and it's filled out with an amazing cast that includes Owen Wilson, Kathryn Hahn, Jennifer Aniston, Imogen Poots and Rhys Ifans amongst others. The Shape Of Water: Friday, Film4 @ 9pm A lonely cleaner called Elisa falls for an amphibious being that's been held captive in the facility she works in. Their shared alienation from the world brings them together. Guillermo Del Toro's fishy love story won the best picture Oscar in 2018 and it's easy to see why. It's a beautifully odd tale about the strange places romance can blossom. Sally Hawkins is a knockout lead and Michael Shannon does nasty work as the bad guy of the piece. The Promise: Friday, RTE2 @ 10pm Ana, Chris and Mikael are in Constantinople and both men have a bit of a thing for Ana. Overshadowing their love triangle is one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. The romantic stuff is old hat but it's the bigger picture that makes this a worthwhile watch as it's a story that has sadly been ignored in Western cinema. Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon and Christian Bale all do a sad story justice. Green Room: Friday, Channel 4 @ Midnight A young punk band's night descends into chaos when they unwittingly play a gig at a neo-nazi club and stumble upon the aftermath of a crime. The late and much missed Anton Yelchin headlines this blisteringly violent thriller from director Jeremy Saulnier. It's tough going but stick with it. Blackly funny, excruciatingly brutal and a frightening insight into a scary American subculture. There's effective backup from Patrick Stewart and Imogen Poots too. As always visit hamsandwichcinema.blogspot.com/ for more film and tv chat. The government will shortly release the guidelines for the CDF. DC Image Hyderabad: Finance minister T. Harish Rao announced that each legislator and MLC will get Rs 5 crore as Constituency Development Fund (CDF) in the upcoming financial year year, in Budget 2021-22. The sum was Rs 3 crore last year. Accordingly, the budgetary allocation has been increased from Rs 480 crore last year to Rs 800 crore. When Harish Rao read out the proposal, legislators cutting across party lines responded with prolonged applause. The minister could not continue with his speech for some time, and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had to signal them to quiten down. The government had done away with the CDF in the 2019-20 Budget due to the economic slowdown but resumed it last year after MLAs and MLCs pointed out that they were unable to take up developmental works which the people had requested. The government will shortly release the guidelines for the CDF. When the TRS government assumed office in 2014, the CDF was Rs 1 crore. The government increased the amount to Rs 1.5 crore in 2014-15 and to Rs 3 crore in 2016-17. Two patients in the northern Hai Duong Province, who had been cured of COVID-19 after receiving treatment in local hospital, were found positive with the novel coronavirus once again on Tuesday. The two relapse patients were found in Kim Lien Commune of Kim Thanh District in Hai Phong Province, confirmed Vu Ngoc Uong, chairman of Kim Lien Ward Peoples Committee, in a discussion with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday. They were later identified as Hoang Van T. and Nguyen Thi H., who live in Co Phuc Bac Village. According to Uong, T. was discharged from a local hospital on March 8 after showing signs of recovery from the disease. After undergoing self-isolation at home as recommended by the authority, he received another positive test result on COVID-19 on Monday. T. was sent to the Makeshift Hospital No. 2 of Hai Duong Province the same day. Meanwhile, H. was also sent back to the hospital after her test result for COVID-19 came out positive on Tuesday, despite her just receiving discharge from COVID-19 treatment a day earlier. In light of the positive test results, the surrounding of T. and H.s house has been fumigated by local officials. Kim Lien Commune has been considered an outbreak site in Hai Duong Province, Vietnams current COVID-19 epicenter. After the latest wave of COVID-19 emerged in the country on January 27, Kim Lien Commune has recorded 28 cases of COVID-19, with two relapses among 11 recoveries. Starting from March 12, Hai Duong Province has documented a total of ten COVID-19 relapses. Vietnam has recorded 2,570 COVID-19 cases as of Friday morning, with 2,198 recoveries and 35 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, has a remarkable range and number of rock art sites, rivalling that of Europe, southern Africa and various parts of Asia. Several thousand sites have been documented and each year new discoveries are made by various research teams working closely with local Aboriginal communities. Today, in the journal Australian Archaeology, we and colleagues introduce an important previously undescribed rock art style. Consisting of large human figures and animals, the style is primarily found in northwest Arnhem Land, and has been named Maliwawa Figures by senior Traditional Owner Ronald Lamilami. A Maliwawa macropod found in the Namunidjbuk clan estate of the Wellington Range. Photo: P Tacon We recorded 572 Maliwawa paintings at 87 rock shelters over a 130-kilometre east-west distance, from Awunbarna (Mount Borradaile) to the Namunidjbuk clan estate of the Wellington Range, a region home to unique and internationally significant rock art of various types. Maliwawa Figures consist of red to mulberry naturalistic human and animal forms shaded with stroked lines. Occasionally they are in outline with just a few strokes within. Almost all were painted but there is one drawing. The figures are often large (over 50 cm high), sometimes life-size, although there are also some small ones (2050 cm in height). Various lines of evidence suggest the figures most likely date to between 6,000 to 9,400 years of age. Infographic summarising some of the main features of Maliwawa rock art . Infographic: P. Tacon; digital tracing: Fiona Brady Animal-human relationships In the Maliwawa paintings, human figures are frequently depicted with animals, especially macropods (kangaroos and wallabies), and these animal-human relationships appear to be central to the artists message. In some instances, animals almost appear to be participating in or watching some human activity. Another key theme is a male or indeterminate human figure holding an animal, often a snake, or another human figure or an object. Such scenes are rare in early rock art, not just in Australia but worldwide. They provide a remarkable glimpse into past Aboriginal life and cultural beliefs. Scene of two male Maliwawas with ball headdresses reaching down to a shorter indeterminate human figure with a snake behind the male on the right and behind the left male a female and a macropod, Namunidjbuk. An indeterminate human figure with a cone and feather headdress is above. Photo: P Tacon Maliwawa animals are usually in profile. Some macropods are shown in a human-like sitting pose with paws in front, resembling a person playing a piano. Depictions of animal tracks (footprints) and geometric designs are rare. Macropods, birds, snakes and longtom fish are the most frequent animal subjects, comprising three quarters of total fauna. But, more generally, mammals are most common. There are seven depictions of animals long extinct in the Arnhem Land region, consisting of four thylacines and three bilby-like creatures. At one Namunidjbuk site there is a rare depiction of a dugong. Digital tracing of panel of three bilby-like animals, Awunbarna. Digital tracing: Fiona Brady A third of human depictions were classified as male because they have male genitalia depicted. Females, identified because breasts were shown, are rare, comprising only 5% of human depictions. Almost 59% of human figures could not be determined to be either male or female because they lack sex-specific characteristics. Human figures generally have round-shaped or oval-shaped heads; some have lines on the head suggestive of hair. 30% of human figures are shown with headdresses, of which there are ten different forms. The most common is a ball headdress, followed by oval, cone and feather. Large male Maliwawa human figures from an Awunbarna site. The largest male is 1.15 metres wide by 1.95 metres high. Photo: P Tacon. Maliwawa males are usually in profile and often have a bulging stomach above a penis. A few Maliwawa females are also shown with an extended abdomen. National significance Most Maliwawa Figures are in accessible or visible places at low landscape elevations rather than hidden away, or at shelters high in the landscape. This suggests they were meant to be seen, possibly from some distance. Often, Maliwawa Figures dominate shelter walls with rows of figures in various arrangements. We first found some of these figures during a survey in 2008-2009 but they became the focus of further field research from 2016 to 2018. Back-to-back Maliwawa macropods in the piano player pose, Namuidjbuk. Photo: P. Tacon In Australia, we are spoiled with rock art paintings, drawings, stencils, prints, petroglyphs (engravings) and even designs made from native beeswax in rock shelters and small caves, on boulders and rock platforms. Often in spectacular and spiritually significant landscapes, rock art remains very important to First Nation communities as a part of living culture. There are as many as 100,000 sites here, representing tens of thousands of years of artistic activity. But even in 2020, new styles are being identified for the first time. What if the Maliwawa Figures were in France? Surely, they would be the subject of national pride with different levels of government working together to ensure their protection and researchers endeavouring to better understand and protect them. We must not allow Australias abundance of rock art to lead to a national ambivalence towards its appreciation and protection. The Maliwawa Figures demonstrate how much more we have to learn from Australias early artists. And who knows what else is out there waiting to be found. This article by Paul S.C.Tacon and Paul S.C.Tacon originally appeared in The Conversation and has been reprinted here under the Creative Commons license. Infamous serial stowaway, Marilyn Hartman, was arrested for the 22nd time on Tuesday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, after sneaking away from her residential facility without permission, CNN reported. Around noon on Tuesday afternoon, Hartman reportedly slipped out from the facility where she was being monitored, the Cook County Sheriff's Office explained in a statement to the news outlet. "Staff attempted to contact Hartman using the phone built into the device, but Hartman did not answer," according to the statement, leaving officials to track her anklet, a move that may have confirmed some of their worst fears the serial stowaway was heading towards her old stomping ground, Chicago's largest airport. Continue Reading Below Advertisement As 69-year-old Hartman meandered towards O'Hare, investigators followed. Amid the chaos, the city's police force was informed that she was en route to the transportation hub's first terminal around 1:38 p.m., approximately 90 minutes after her stealthy escape. However Hartman's hasty getaway was shortly thwarted an alarm built into her anklet was activated and she was ultimately captured by the authorities before she could enter any restricted areas, the sheriff's office noted. Charged with escaping electronic monitoring, according to the Chicago Tribune, Hartman is currently being held on a $100,000 bond, with CNN reporting that she will be returned to the Cook County jail, as officials look to slap the serial stowaway with felony escape charges. She was left brokenhearted after she failed to find a connection with Diesel mechanic Russell Duance on this year's season of Married At First SIght. But it appears as if Beth Moore, 39, may have her sights on another groom, after she shared a cryptic post to her social media account on Wednesday. Uploading a cosy selfie with Coco Stedman's ex Sam Carraro, 32, to her Instagram, she wrote: 'Leaving the experiment with new friends and lots of laughs was a bonus.' Something to tell us? Married At First Sight's Beth Moore, 39, (left) has sparked romance rumours with Coco's ex Sam Carraro, 32, (right) after she shared a cryptic post to Instagram Posing cheek-to-cheek, the photo shows the pair enjoying some alone time together during a date night while filming the show in Sydney. While it's not clear when exactly the photo was taken, it could suggest that they have formed an unlikely new friendship, or return to the show as a couple. It comes after the pair were spotted looking well and truly comfortable with each other during a night out in Sydney, two days before filming the show's reunion last month. Who knew? Uploading a cosy selfie with Sam to her Instagram, Beth captioned the post: 'Leaving the experiment with new friends and lots of laughs was a bonus' Spotted: It comes as the pair were spotted looking well and truly comfortable with each other during a night out in Sydney, two days before filming the show's reunion episode last month Sam and Beth were spotted walking the streets of Sydney with their arms around another as they made their way into several CBD popular bars. The unlikely duo couldn't wipe the smile off their faces as they walked behind their fellow cast members. According to an eyewitness, fellow groom Jake Edwards appeared confused by their display of affection for one another. New couple? Sam and Beth were spotted walking the streets of Sydney with their arms around another as they made their way into several CBD popular bars Cozy: The unlikely duo couldn't wipe the smile off their faces as they walked behind their fellow cast members 'It was totally unexpected and Jake was looking at them confused,' they said. 'Jake was completely caught off guard as [Beth and Sam] haven't spoken about their friendship with anyone else.' The Perth-based retail worker was paired with Russell, 37, but decided to quit the experiment during Sunday's commitment ceremony. Married At First Sight continues on Sunday at 7pm on Nine Photo: drhurd.com We recently passed the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a global pandemic. While I continue to be impressed by the spirit of Kelowna-Lake Country, there is no doubt that the physical, mental, and economic impacts of COVID-19 have been severe. Ive heard from many in our community who are not only concerned about their own physical health and that of loves ones, but those whose mental health has suffered due to the pandemic. Many people are struggling financially as businesses have shuttered and personal or business savings have dried up. A report published by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, the COVID Misery Index, rated overall well-being and misery due to COVID-19 policies. It showed that of 15 similar advanced countries, Canada has the fifth highest number on the scale, with higher scores indicating more misery showing Canadians have suffered more than many other countries as a result of the pandemic. Three main categories captured the disease impact, economic impact, and management response of each nation by measuring performance on 16 metrics. Its time for the Liberal government to step up and show a clear data-driven plan for a path out of the lockdown. It is also the federal governments responsibility to provide an economic roadmap. As we rebuild our economy, fiscal transparency and accountability are more important than ever. However, the federal government has continually delayed the release of a budget for two years now. The government prorogued parliament last summer in order to give themselves a new mandate, and yet seven months later, Canadians still do not have an economic recovery plan or budget. While the federal government has spent a lot of time talking about a budget, referring to it as the most significant one of our lifetimes, the reality is every G7 country made it a priority to present a budget to its citizens in 2020, as did all Canadian provinces and territories. It is the role of the Official Opposition to hold the government to account and put forward recommendations. Like all Canadians, we want a successful vaccine rollout as well as utilization of other tools to get us through this pandemic. On March 11, we put forward an Opposition Day motion calling on the government to include in the next federal budget support for workers in sectors heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic including industries such as hospitality, tourism, charities, airlines, and small-and medium sized business. Weve recommended practical measures such as providing repayable loans to airlines in exchange for consumer refunds, job guarantees, and restrictions on executive compensation, and the restoration of regional routes. We also called for improvements to support and lending programs to prevent a wave of bankruptcies and layoffs. We cannot allow the pandemic to destroy livelihoods in many sectors. By helping those most impacted, we can secure jobs, and quicken our economic recovery. The government continues to bring forth bills in no logical order on their legislative agenda in parliament. Instead of prioritizing legislation on Canada-U.K. trade so that a deadline would be met in order to continue having tariff-free trade, the government instead prioritized legislation so they can have an election. The Official Opposition were able to negotiate debating the trade agreement so businesses have certainty, and this bill passed in the House of Commons. I was slated to debate on what would have been my third speech last week, but did not have an opportunity because the government, supported by the Bloc Quebecois, shut down debate on Bill C-7. This bill came back to Parliament from the Senate dramatically expanding medical assistance in dying (MAID) to include those whose sole underlying condition is mental illness. This expansion goes far beyond the original C-7 and against the serious concerns mental health and disability groups brought forth to the Justice committee. Im continuing with my small business spotlight features and on my social media youll also see several short videos about a number of topics such as International Womens Day and the Kelowna Canadian Italian Clubs 55th anniversary. There are a couple community clean-ups being planned, so reach out to my office if you are interested, and as details come in, we can pass the contact information on. If you need any assistance with programs or have any thoughts to share, feel free to reach out. 250-470-5075 or [email protected]. 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. John Pombe Magufuli, the son of a peasant farmer who became Tanzania's president in 2015, has died aged 61. Once praised for his no-nonsense approach, he went on to become a controversial leader, especially over his response to the coronavirus pandemic. He was elected for a second term in 2020 amid opposition accusations of fraud and intimidation. Before he was president he acquired the nickname "the bulldozer" for driving a programme to build roads as minister for works, and later was hailed for his anti-corruption stance and his distinct dislike for wasting money. As president he was also accused of cracking down on dissent and curtailing certain freedoms, but following his death reflections on his time in power will be dominated by his idiosyncratic handling of Covid-19. 'Coronavirus is the devil' When Covid-19 arrived in Tanzania, President Magufuli did not believe in people staying at home. He wanted them to get into the churches and mosques to pray. "Coronavirus, which is a devil, cannot survive in the body of Christ... It will burn instantly," Magufuli, a devout Christian, pronounced from the altar of a church in the capital, Dodoma. Since June 2020, when he declared the country "Covid-19 free", the president, along with other top government officials, mocked the efficacy of masks, doubted if testing worked, and teased neighbouring countries which imposed health measures to curb the virus. There was little testing and no plans were made for a vaccination programme, leaving the country as an outlier. But when he was sworn in as president in October 2015, Magufuli seemed to be the sort of person Tanzania needed - an efficient, incorruptible leader. 'Bulldozer' gets to work His results-oriented actions were also framed as applicable to other African countries - a dose of what the continent needed to deal with its governance issues. On the very first day of his presidency, he sent a stark message that he would not tolerate the country's chronic absenteeism in its civil service, when he visited the finance ministry offices, asking for the whereabouts of those not at work. He also purged thousands of so-called "ghost workers" - essentially non-existent employees - from the public payroll, and fired officials considered corrupt or under-performing, in public. Sometimes this was even done live on television. And he clamped down on what he saw as extravagant spending, cancelling Independence Day celebrations for the first time in 54 years. Instead, he ordered a public clean-up, getting his own hands dirty by picking up rubbish outside State House. He also banned all foreign trips for public servants. In the first year of Magufuli's presidency, this approach earned him a great deal of praise, inspiring the Twitter hashtag: #WhatWouldMagufuliDo. While some posts mocked the president's austere policies - for example: "Was about to buy myself an oven then I asked myself #WhatWouldMagufuliDo" with a photo of a saucepan suspended over candles - others called for more African leaders to emulate his leadership style. In 2017, a Kenyan professor went so far as to call for the "Magufulication" of Africa during an address at the University of Dar es Salaam. But from the outset, it was also clear there was a darker side to his leadership - that a number of his initiatives would slowly chip away at the country's democratic space. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Hospice & Palliative Care Centers Market Set to Witness Surge in Demand over the Forecast Period of 2019 to 2027 NBU conducting internal probe into cooperation with Kroll in case of withdrawal of $5.5 bln from PrivatBank NBU official The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) is conducting an internal investigation into the cooperation of the National Bank with the forensic company Kroll Inc., the consulting firm AlixPartners, as well as the law firms Hogan Lovells and Asters in the case of withdrawing $5.5 billion from PrivatBank prior to its nationalization, First Deputy Governor of the NBU Kateryna Rozhkova has said. "Today, inside the NBU, internal investigations are underway regarding our cooperation with the Kroll agency and legal advisors, the cooperation, the purpose of which was and is to protect the interests of the state," she wrote on Facebook on Friday. The first deputy governor added that these actions inflict a powerful blow on the reputation and image of Ukraine in the international arena, since today the attention of international partners is focused as much as possible on the investigation of fraudulent activities in PrivatBank. The press service of the NBU told Interfax-Ukraine that the National Bank continues defending the lawfulness of the decisions to nationalize PrivatBank and firmly adheres to the position that those guilty of abuses should be held accountable for bringing the largest bank in Ukraine to bankruptcy. "The NBU... facilitated the investigation of these abuses by law enforcement agencies. Interaction of the National Bank with all law enforcement agencies is taking place... in compliance with the NBU requirements regarding the secrecy of the investigation and the legal regime for disclosing bank secrets," the press service said. The regulator also called on the media to refrain from disseminating unconfirmed information about the illegal withdrawal of funds from PrivatBank until they receive official comments from law enforcement agencies. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-20 00:50:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WINDHOEK, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The Namibian government on Friday started to roll out its COVID-19 inoculation program following the arrival of the Sinopharm vaccines donated by the Chinese government. Deputy Minister of Health Utjiua Muinjangue became the first person in the country to receive the injection, kicking off the vaccination campaign that aims to vaccinate over 60 percent of the 2.5 million Namibians. In an interview, she said she was happy to have been the first to lead by example and encouraged other Namibians to also follow suit. "It is an honor for me to be one of the first people to get the injection. Despite concerns from people around the world who are scared to get vaccinated, I am not concerned at all, I have even encouraged my children to also get the vaccination," she said. The vaccines will be distributed in the country's two big provinces where most cases were recorded which are Khomas and Erongo regions. Muinjangue was also joined by a group of other health officials who work at two of the country's biggest state hospitals in Windhoek to receive their jabs as part of the government's efforts to encourage other citizens to take the vaccine. Speaking after receiving his jab, Doctor Theo Ben Kandetu, said his decision to get vaccinated is to protect himself from COVID-19 infection and severe disease. "I did so because of the overwhelming early tests that this vaccine is safe and effective and I would like to encourage everyone else to do the same," Kandetu said. Rayleen Ruan, a Chinese national residing in Namibia was also among the first people to get the shot and also encouraged people to get vaccinated. "Everybody needs to get the vaccine at this stage. I know a lot of people are worried but it is safe," she said. Ruan who owns one of the few Chinese restaurants in Namibia got vaccinated together with a number of Chinese nationals from the Chinese embassy in Namibia. According to the Health Ministry, Phase 1 of the vaccination will prioritize frontline health workers, community health workers as well as those stationed at entry points to ensure that they are protected and that the health system remains functional and responsive to meet the needs. The first phase of the vaccination period will run from Friday until April 19. Speaking at the delivery and handover of the COVID-19 doses on Tuesday, Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Zhang Yiming said COVID-19 has impacted economic and social development of several countries. "The vaccine is the most powerful weapon against the virus and brings hope as it saves lives. It is a milestone for Namibia's fight against COVID-19. China has been making a contribution towards making the vaccine and has pledged to assist over 60 developing countries," Zhang said. Namibia has so far recorded 41,684 positive cases, 39,105 recoveries and 483 deaths, numbers which the ministry hopes will start going down now that vaccination has start. Enditem has completed a crucial hot fire test of the core stage of Space Launch System (SLS) rocket which is designed to power future Moon missions under the agency's Artemis programme. The successful test is a critical milestone ahead of the agency's Artemis I mission, which will send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on a test flight around the Moon and back to Earth, paving the way for future Artemis missions with astronauts, said on Thursday. The team will use data from the tests to validate the core stage design for flight. "The SLS is the most powerful rocket has ever built, and during today's test the core stage of the rocket generated more than 1.6 million pounds of thrust within seven seconds," acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk said in a statement. "The SLS is an incredible feat of engineering and the only rocket capable of powering America's next-generation missions that will place the first woman and the next man on the Moon." NASA previously conducted a hot fire test of the SLS core stage January 16. But at that time the test did not go as planned. Following data analysis, NASA determined a second, longer hot fire test would provide valuable data to help verify the core stage design for flight, while posing minimal risk to the Artemis I core stage. During the second hot fire test, the stage fired the engines for a little more than eight minutes, just like it will during every Artemis launch to the Moon. The longer duration hot fire tested a variety of operational conditions, including moving the four engines in specific patterns to direct thrust and powering the engines up to 109 per cent power, throttling down and back up, as they will during flight, NASA said. Next, the core stage for SLS will be refurbished, then shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA said that SLS is the only rocket that can send the Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon on a single mission. The exploration of the Moon with NASA's Artemis programme includes preparations to send astronauts to Mars as part of America's Moon to Mars exploration approach. --IANS gb/na (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 violent thief attacked a Tory politician and threatened to kill him after snatching his iPhone X while on a train bound for Manchester. Leslie Thorley, 42, punched Robert Largan in the face and threw a brick at him after the pair became involved in a tussle over his 1,200 smart phone. Minshull Street Crown Court heard how Thorley threatened to murder the politician, who would win the High Peak constituency for the Conservatives three months later. Unbeknown to Mr Largan, 33, Thorley was out of prison on licence at the time for manslaughter committed in 2013. Convicted killer Leslie Thorley, 42, punched would-be MP Robert Largan, in the face and threw a brick at him after the pair became involved in a tussle over his 1,200 smart phone In a victim statement, the politician said the theft of his phone had been a 'significant financial loss' for him, and was said to be deeply upset and shaken by the attack. Mr Largan had been waiting for a train from Glossop in High Peak to Manchester Piccadilly on September 4, 2019, when he noticed Thorley 'staring' at him on the platform. The court heard that both men boarded the train at around 10pm and that Thorley made his way to sit next to Mr Largan, despite the train being nearly empty. The would-be MP thought it was 'strange' that Thorley, who smelled of alcohol and who was drinking from a can of beer, sat beside him and asked him 'who are you... what do you do?' Minshull Street Crown Court heard how Thorley threatened to murder the politician, who would win the High Peak constituency for the Conservatives three months later Prosecutor, Zaiban Alam told the court: 'The defendant attempted to engage in conversation with the complainant and then took his phone from his hand and put it in his pocket. 'Mr Largan tried to get his phone back and there was a tussle. The defendant refused to give it back. 'The defendant told him (Mr Largan) to give him back a can of beer or he would smash his face in.' The court heard that the politician was told by Thorley that if he wanted his phone back, he'd have to hand over 'all of his money.' Thorley then punched Mr Largan in the face, the court heard. 'He picked up a brick and threw it at the complainant who was able to duck,' Ms Alam said. 'The defendant said if he didn't stop following him that he would murder him. The complainant stopped pursuing Mr Thorley after this comment.' In a victim statement read to the court, Ms Alam said: 'The iPhone was worth 1,200 and Mr Largan said this amounted to a significant financial loss for him. 'The incident upset him a great deal and he is now more aware of his surroundings then before. 'This also caused a lot of difficulty as he could not be contacted by his employer.' Thorley, who has a number of previous convictions for violence, was on licence at the time of the attack for an offence of manslaughter. Mr Largan had been waiting for a train from Glossop (pictured, the station) in High Peak to Manchester Piccadilly on September 4, 2019, when he noticed Thorley 'staring' at him on the platform He has since been recalled to prison where he will serve the remainder of his licence period - until 2024. At Minshull Street Crown Court, Thorley was jailed for 44 months to run concurrent to that jail term after admitting offences of theft and battery. Thorley was also sentenced for an offence of GBH following a separate attack on a man a few weeks before on August 9, 2019. The court heard that during that incident, Thorley and a co-defendant attacked a couple outside their home in Glossop following a row over a bag of cannabis. Thorley's victim was left with a broken jaw, nerve damage and had to stay in hospital for five days following the attack. He was eventually arrested by police on September 16, who were forced to break entry into the property he had been sharing with his girlfriend. Thorley's defence barrister, Robert Elias, urged the court not to impose an extended sentence on his client, claiming the attack on August 9 was not premeditated. Mr Largan took the High Peak constituency for the Conservatives during the December general election, beating Labour's Ruth George by 590 votes. Thorley, who was out on licence, was recalled to prison Sentencing, Judge Paul Lawton said: 'You were on license for manslaughter at the time of these offences. 'For anyone who had killed another man in the street, one would think you would avoid violence in the future, but you have not. 'The only reason I am not passing an extended sentence is because you have been recalled on licence until 2024, and the law does not allow me to pass a consecutive time of imprisonment for these offences.' Thorley was sentenced to 44 months imprisonment to run concurrently with his extended licence period. This means the jail term for the two recent offences will not make any difference to Thorley's current release date in 2024. Mr Largan took the High Peak constituency for the Conservatives during the December general election, beating Labour's Ruth George by 590 votes. He overturned a 2,322 vote majority to replace Ms George, who was elected in 2017. He unsuccessfully contested the Bury South constituency for the Tories in the 2017 general election. After a Magistrates Court hearing in 2020, Mr Largan said: 'I just want to thank the police for their comprehensive and speedy response. They have been brilliant from start to finish.' 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. The BBC has issued a statement concerning its Burmese reporter Aung Thura (pictured) There are growing fears that a BBC journalist has been abducted by military forces in Myanmar as the broadcaster said it is 'extremely concerned' for his safety. The BBC has issued a statement concerning its Burmese reporter Aung Thura who was reportedly abducted in the capital Naypyidaw earlier today. It said it was now calling on local authorities to help locate him and confirm his safety as the country continues to round up members of the media following the coup on February 1. The corporation said that Thura was 'taken away by unidentified men' in the Burmese capital at approximately midday local time (5am GMT) on Friday. The statement read: 'The BBC takes the safety of all its staff in Myanmar very seriously and we are doing everything we can to find Aung Thura. 'We call on the authorities to help locate him and confirm that he is safe. Aung Thura is an accredited BBC journalist with many years of reporting experience covering events in Naypyidaw.' Local media outlet Mizzima also said that one of its own reporters, Than Htike Aung, was 'arrested' along with Thura. Myanmar has been in turmoil since a February 1 coup that saw civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi removed from power and detained. The coup triggered a mass uprising that has seen authorities deploy increasingly deadly force to quell dissent. The coup triggered a mass uprising that has seen authorities deploy increasingly deadly force to quell dissent (protestors pictured behind barricades earlier today) The junta has also gone after the country's press corps, revoking the licenses of five independent local broadcasting services, raiding newsrooms, and arresting journalists working to cover the news. Since the coup, more than 30 journalists have been arrested, with at least 18 still in detention, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners - a local monitoring group that tracks arrests and deaths. Among the detained is Thein Zaw, a photojournalist with the Associated Press. Thein Zaw was arrested while covering a protest in Yangon - the nation's biggest city. He has been charged with 'causing fear, spreading false news or agitating directly or indirectly a government employee'. The junta amended that related law after the coup, increasing the maximum sentence from two years in jail to three. Former MTV correspondent SuChin Pak has revealed that she was the target of racist comments from a colleague while working at the music television network, but that her complaints were downplayed and she was encouraged to move on without repercussions for the offending colleague. Pak, who worked for MTV from 2001 to 2008, made the accusations on Instagram on Wednesday, recalling how the male colleague made a sexually explicit racist joke at her expense in front of a room full with people. She wrote: 'Years ago, when I was a news correspondent at MTV, I overheard a colleague of mine, while watching me do the news that evening, tell a room full of people that I looked like a "me sucky sucky love you long time" w****.' But when she pursued the issue with the company, demanding that the colleague be 'removed,' she was only offered attempts to 'reconcile' and a letter of apology with an executive telling her she was 'responsible' for this man's livelihood. Former MTV correspondent SuChin Pak, 44, has revealed that she was the target of racist comments from a colleague while working at the music television network Pak, who worked for MTV from 2001 to 2008, made the accusations on Instagram on Wednesday (pictured with Fergie and Snoop Dogg) She said: 'I overheard a colleague of mine, while watching me do the news that evening, tell a room full of people that I looked like a "me sucky sucky love you long time" w****' The colleague had made the comment 'in a room full of people, mostly women' and was 'overlooked and dismissed' Pak, 44, detailed the experience in a lengthy Instagram post, recalling how she felt when the colleague made the 'love you long time' comment. The line comes from a scene in the 1987 movie Full Metal Jacket, in which a Vietnamese prostitute says this to an American soldier. 'I was young, afraid as usual to cause a fuss or be seen as difficult or too "sensitive" being the only female in the news room, so I didnt say anything in the moment.' But the next day, she woke up feeling differently about it, realizing that the colleague had made the comment 'in a room full of people, mostly women, who somehow now think subconsciously or consciously that this kind of misogynistic, violent, racist language could be overlooked and dismissed, and that worse, someone like me would just swallow it and shrink into the small space I had been allowed to occupy.' So, Pak said, she 'worked hard to have this person removed.' 'I stopped coming into work. The executives tried to mediate to reconcile but I refused. It dragged on for months. Pak 'worked hard to have this person removed,' recalling: I stopped coming into work. The executives tried to mediate to reconcile but I refused. It dragged on for months' Pak said she hired a lawyer, who 'believed that I could not walk back into a place that harbored this kind of hate' but she admits that having a lawyer was a 'luxury' that not everyone has She said: 'One last attempt was made to ask me to swallow my dignity, my identity, my rage to make a white man feel like he was still OK, loved, and respected' 'I did not do this because I had an agenda or even courage, I just had this sinking feeling in my gut that I had to do this. It's the kind of sinking feeling though that doesn't give you strength, or bravery, it was the kind that kept me in bed for a month, crying, scared and uncertain about everything.' Pak said she hired a lawyer, who 'believed that I could not walk back into a place that harbored this kind of hate' but she admits that having a lawyer was a 'luxury' that not everyone has in the same situation. But she accused MTV of 'fighting to keep this man in a place of visibility and power, to shrink me down to submission and silence.' 'One last attempt was made at "reconciliation" as if that was even appropriate,' Pak said. 'One last attempt was made to ask me to swallow my dignity, my identity, my rage to make a white man feel like he was still OK, loved, and respected. 'A letter written by the man was handed to me as a final gesture, to bring me to submission. 'I was reminded once again by the white male executive, that someones livelihood was on the line, that I was somehow responsible for that. I walked out and never opened the letter.' 'My dignity is something that can never be bargained with, isn't something for me to put away so someone else can feel comfortable,' she said In her Instagram post, Pak went on to share a wider message about racism against Asians, particularly in light of the mass shooting in Atlanta that killed eight people Pak worked at the network for nearly a decade, sharing news and interviewing celebrities like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen (pictured in 2003) Pak pictured with John Mayer (left) and Jewel (right) said Asian 'jokes are just the timid veneer that hide violence, hate, misogyny, racism, and white supremacy' Pak seemed to indicate that the letter of apology was the only consequence that the colleague faced for the racist comment. 'My dignity is something that can never be bargained with, isn't something for me to put away so someone else can feel comfortable,' she said. In her Instagram post, Pak went on to share a wider message about racism against Asians, particularly in light of the mass shooting in Atlanta that killed eight people. 'Asians have been the butt of jokes, but these jokes are not to be dealt with lightly. These jokes are just the timid veneer that hide violence, hate, misogyny, racism, and white supremacy. 'Our grandparents, our elders, our brothers and sisters are being spit on, punched, shot, attacked, and murdered while these "jokes" are being spit in our faces.' DailyMail.com has reached out to MTV for comment. (CNN) -- The European Union's medicines regulator has concluded that the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe to use after several EU countries suspended their rollouts following reports that it could be linked to blood clots. The European Medicines Agency (EMA)'s executive director Emer Cooke said the agency had "come to a clear scientific conclusion: this is a safe and effective vaccine." Cooke said the group did not find that the vaccine causes clotting, though it could not rule out definitively a link to a rare blood clotting disorder, of which seven cases have been reported out of several million doses given in the UK. She said the benefits of using the vaccine outweighed the risk. The committee "concluded that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of thromboembolic events, or blood clots," Cooke said. The agency's decision comes after more than a dozen European countries halted their use of the vaccine, citing reports of a handful of patients across Europe who developed clotting after being inoculated. Most of the countries said they would await the EMA's green light before resuming rollouts, but concerns remain about the impact of the suspensions on vaccine hesitancy across the continent. "I want to reiterate that our scientific position is this: this vaccine is a safe and effective option to protect citizens against COVID-19," Cooke said at a press conference Thursday. "It demonstrated that at least 60% efficacy in clinical trials and preventing coronavirus disease, and in fact the real world evidence suggests that the effectiveness could be even higher than that." The group said it recommended raising awareness of blood clot reports so that they could be further analyzed. But they said those reports were rare, and that more than 7 million people have received the vaccine in the EU. Virtually all of western Europe had temporarily stopped using the shot in recent days, even amid a third wave of coronavirus infections across the region, after a small number of reports of clots emerged. The death of a person in Austria, a woman in Denmark and a third patient in Norway sparked the suspensions. But the decisions were criticized by much of the medical community, and other countries continued to back the use of the vaccine -- including the UK, which has given out more than 11 million AstraZeneca doses so far. In the EU, leaders will now face the question of how to rebuild any trust in the AstraZeneca vaccine that has been lost over the past week. The bloc's rollout of the jab has stumbled from one obstacle to another since it was approved for use in January, with governments scrambling to secure limited supplies of the jab while simultaneously casting doubts over its efficacy and safety. Milan's largest vaccine center told CNN it would resume AstraZeneca vaccinations on Friday if given the green light from the EMA, and would overbook appointments in an attempt to make up for the shortfalls of the past few days. Ireland's Prime Minister had earlier told CNN he hoped his country could "catch up fairly quickly" once the vaccination program resumed. But experts fear that some damage has already been done. In France, an Elabe poll showed this week that only 22% of the population now trusts the AstraZeneca vaccine. Remi Salomon, a senior French hospitals official, told BFM TV on Thursday that "people are being overly cautious" in the country and that he feared "people will not interpret" the suspensions in "the right way." "A scare like this has the potential to increase vaccine hesitancy," Michael Head, senior research fellow in Global Health at the University of Southampton in Britain, told CNN earlier in the week. "These vaccines are to protect against a pandemic virus. There is an urgency to the rollout." 'Safe and effective' The EMA did not explicitly advise countries to resume their rollouts, though most have indicated they would do so if the agency reached this conclusion. But Cooke noted during Thursday's press conference that "a lot of member states are waiting for this outcome," and said the conclusions would allow those countries to "make informed decisions." Shortly before the EMA's announcement, Britain's regulatory agency ruled that "the available evidence does not suggest" the vaccine caused clotting. It said it will continue to review five reports of blood clots in the country, out of more than 11 million people it had vaccinated. "There is no evidence that that blood clots in veins is occurring more than would be expected in the absence of vaccination, for either vaccine," MHRA chief executive June Raine said, referring to the Pfizer vaccine which the UK is also rolling out. "You should therefore continue to get your jab when it is your turn," she said. AstraZeneca has itself repeatedly insisted its product is safe. Real-world data from the UK, where far more doses have been given, has shown that it is already having an impact there; a single dose of the vaccine reduced 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. Cooke cited such data during the briefing, calling the vaccine "a safe and effective option to protect citizens against COVID-19." AstraZeneca isn't the only vaccine available in Europe. Doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are currently being rolled out to Europeans, while the first deliveries of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine aren't expected to arrive until mid-April. On Tuesday, Pfizer agreed to accelerate delivery of 10 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the EU, days after AstraZeneca said it would have a "shortfall" in planned vaccine shipments to the bloc. This story was first published on CNN.com, "EU regulator declares AstraZeneca safe for use after clotting concerns. Will anyone take it?" A 53-year-old Jersey City man has been charged with aggravated sexual assault of a 15-year-old boy who was in his care, authorities said Friday. The alleged assault by Francisco Espinal occurred earlier this month, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. Espinal was arrested at the prosecutors offices Special Victims Unit on Thursday and was charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact, second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and third-degree hindering apprehension. A detention hearing for Espinal is tentatively scheduled for March 24, the prosecutor said. For states COVID contact tracing apps, privacy tops utility The digital contact tracing effort in Virginia is 2 million phones strong. Roughly a quarter of the adult population has downloaded the states COVIDWISE app or opted in on their iPhones to receive exposure notifications. Almost 26,000 times, a notification has been sent to let someone know they were likely exposed to a person with COVID-19. But thats the bulk of the information the state health department can glean. The system doesnt track user locations, so officials dont know where exposures happened, according to Jeff Stover, an executive adviser to the commissioner of Virginias Department of Health. Officials cant follow up on notifications to see whether exposed residents are isolating. Nor can they pinpoint potential hotspot locations. The fact that we do not collect name or location data makes it a little more difficult to evaluate effectiveness, he said. Yet Stover and other health department officials say the limited data is the tradeoff required to assuage privacy concerns while still using the technology to slow the virus spread. I think the privacy concern of individuals is real, he said. It is a real issue and something we have to make sure we are getting right. I think we did do this right. Over the past year, 24 states and Washington, D.C., have spent millions developing and promoting the Apple and Google-based apps or systems. The tech giants made the basic platform free, but states have spent anywhere from $9,600 in North Dakota to $3 million in Washington state on app development and marketing. More than 28 million people in the United States have downloaded the mobile apps or activated exposure notifications on their smartphones. The systems use Bluetooth technology and are both voluntary and anonymous. Critics say the technology has overemphasized privacy at the cost of usefulness. I have yet to see any convincing evidence that theyre worth it, said Ryan Calo, a University of Washington law professor who has written critically about the apps for months and testified in front of a congressional committee last April, in an interview with Stateline. A lot of money, a lot of attention, a lot of oxygen has gone into developing this app. That time and money should have been put other places, he said, such as testing and manual contact tracing. The states that haven't gone the route of digital contact tracing cite a range of reasons, from privacy concerns to a preference for manual contact tracing. Still, even as the COVID-19 vaccine supply ramps up, the number of cases drops and states begin loosening restrictions, a few states have recently launched or are still planning to launch contact tracing apps. State officials and experts argue such systems add to their toolkits. They say the apps help to reach younger people and provide an alternative for those skeptical of traditional contact tracing, which relies heavily on public health employees reaching people by phone. And they say the technology has a role to play as Americans begin to travel again -- and face the uncertain effects of virus variants. There is a possibility that we could have another spike in cases coming up later this summer or in the fall, said Sam Gibbs, deputy secretary for technology and operations of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. He hoped the states app would draw 500,000 people; its been downloaded 785,000 times. This is a time where we don't want to let our guard down, Gibbs said. We need to continue to be conscious of the disease even if we have been vaccinated. The perfect app would have failed In spring 2020, as states began shoring up responses to the pandemic, state officials realized cellphone data could be used to track the spread of COVID-19. Privacy advocates balked. Polling showed Americans were divided on whether it was acceptable for the government to use phones to track people who tested positive for the virus, according to the Pew Research Center. (The Pew Charitable Trusts funds the center and Stateline.) In response to the public concern, Apple and Google forged an unlikely partnership to develop a form of digital contact tracing with a tamer namean exposure notifications system. The Bluetooth-based setup is opt-in only and anonymous. When a person opts in to exposure notifications, their phone emits a signal that is exchanged with nearby phones that also have opted in to the system. If a person tests positive for the coronavirus and enters a code from a public health authority into the system, notifications are sent to people whose phones picked up the infected persons signal in the previous 14 days. Codes change regularly, and the warnings are anonymous. Youre told you were possibly exposed, but not where and by whom. Googles Android phones use an app that each user must download. Apple offers apps but also has integrated the exposure notifications system into its operating system, iOS. States can use that to send notifications to users, encouraging them to opt in, without requiring them to download an app. Only public health authorities can activate the system. This was architected in a way to secure privacy, said Calo, the Washington professor. They sacrificed the ability to effectively measure if it worked. Press Release March 19, 2021 Gatchalian seeks sustained psychosocial support to learners amidst surge in suicide cases Following the Philippine Statistics Authority's (PSA) report that deaths related to suicide are up by 25.7 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, Senator Win Gatchalian seeks the continued provision of psychosocial support to the country's K to 12 learners. According to the PSA, cases of intentional self-harm recorded in 2020 increased to 3,529 from 2,808 in 2019. The past year also saw an increase in the number of calls to the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH). From May 2019 to February 2020, the center received 400 monthly average calls, which increased to 953 calls from March to May 2020. From March 17 to October 6, 2020, the monthly average calls were 907. The monthly average calls related to suicide were 53. Gatchalian pointed out that the country's learners are especially vulnerable because they had to bear the brunt of a yearlong school shutdown and home confinement. Prior to the pandemic, the Filipino youth was struggling with mental health woes. A 2015 survey by the World Health Organization (WHO) showed that 16.8 percent of 8,761 student-participants aged 13-17 attempted suicide one or more times a year before the survey. In an advocacy brief, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned that containment measures and school closures make children feel isolated. Among the consequences of these are anxiety and sleep problems, which are also caused by increased gadget usage, irregular eating habits, and reduced physical activity. Aside from isolation, other stressors include health-related fears and financial losses. "Dapat nating bigyan ng prayoridad ang kapakanan at mental health ng mga kabataan, lalo na't isang taon na nilang hindi nakakasalamuha nang personal ang kanilang mga guro at kamag-aral,"said the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture. Gatchalian proposed that psychosocial support programs train both teachers and learners in identifying risky behavior, including those related to suicide, so they can be addressed or reported to proper authorities. The lawmaker also pointed out that under Republic Act 11036 or the Mental Health Act, educational institutions are mandated to raise awareness on mental health issues, provide support and services for individuals at risk, and facilitate access, including referral mechanisms, to treatment and psychosocial support. # # # Gatchalian: psychosocial support sa mga mag-aaral dapat ipagpatuloy Matapos iulat ng Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) na ang mga kaso ng pagkamatay na may kinalaman sa suicide o pagpapakamatay ay umakyat ng halos dalawampu't anim (25.7) na porysento noong 2020 kung ikukumpara noong 2019, isinusulong ni Senador Win Gatchalian ang patuloy na pagbibigay ng psychosocial support sa mga mag-aaral ng K to 12 sa bansa. Ayon sa PSA, ang mga kaso ng intentional self-harm na naitala noong 2020 ay umakyat sa mahigit tatlong libo't limang daan (3,529) mula sa mahigit dalawang libo't walong daang (2,808) naitala noong 2019. Matatandaang umakyat din ang bilang ng mga tawag na natanggap ng National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) noong nakaraang taon. Mula Mayo 2019 hanggang Pebrero 2020, ang average na bilang ng mga tawag na natatanggap ng NCMH kada buwan ay apat na raan (400). Umakyat ito sa mahigit siyam na raan at limampu (953) mula Marso hanggang Mayo 2020. Mula Marso 17 hanggang Oktubre 6, 2020 naman, ang average na bilang ng mga tawag kada buwan ay nanatiling mahigit siyam na raan (907). Base pa sa datos, ang average na bilang ng mga tawag na may kinalaman sa pagpapakamatay ay limampu't tatlo (53). Ayon kay Gatchalian, may pinsala sa kapakanan ng mga kabataan ang isang taong pananatili sa kanilang mga tahanan at hindi pakikihalubilo sa kanilang mga mag-aaral at mga guro. Bago pa tumama ang pandemya, isang hamon na sa mga kabataang Pilipino ang kalagayan ng kanilang mental health. Sa 2015 survey ng World Health Organization, halos labing-pitong (16.8) porsyento sa mahigit walong libong (8,761) mga mag-aaral na may edad labintatlo (13) hanggang labing-pito (17) ang nagtangkang magpakamatay sa loob ng isang taon bago isagawa ang survey. Dahil hindi nakakalabas ang mga kabataan at hindi nakakapasok sa mga paaralan, nagbabala ang United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) na nagdudulot ito ng pakiramdam ng pagkalumbay. Ilan sa mga pinsalang dulot nito ay ang anxiety at kakulangan sa tulog na sanhi rin ng mas madalas na paggamit ng gadgets, hindi pagkain ng wasto, at kakulangan sa physical activity. Sanhi rin ng pagkabahala ng mga kabataan ang kalagayan ng kanilang kalusugan at ang problemang pinansyal ng kanilang mga pamilya. "Dapat nating bigyan ng prayoridad ang kapakanan at mental health ng mga kabataan, lalo na't isang taon na nilang hindi nakakasalamuha nang personal ang kanilang mga guro at kamag-aral," ayon sa Chairman ng Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture. Panukala ni Gatchalian, dapat maturuan ang parehong mga guro at mga mag-aaral sa pagtukoy ng kilos na naiuugnay sa suicide. Ito ay para mabigyan ang problema ng agarang aksyon o kaya ay maiulat sa mga kinauukulan. Dagdag pa ng senador, mandato sa mga paaralan sa ilalim ng Republic Act 11036 o ang Mental Health Act na paigitingin ang kaalaman sa mga usapin ng mental health at magbigay ng suporta at serbisyo sa mga taong nasa panganib, kabilang ang pagbibigay ng rekomendasyon para sa pagpapagamot at psychosocial support. # # # Locals in parts of New South Wales were given less than two hours warning to evacuate amid torrential rain and dangerous flooding that has also prompted alerts for millions of residents in Greater Sydney. The State Emergency Service issued an evacuation order at 7pm on Friday night for low-lying properties on the Lower Macleay north of Kempsey to evacuate by 8.30pm. Hours earlier low-lying areas of Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast were told to evacuate by 8pm as were North Haven, Laurieton, Camden Head and Dunbogan residents south of the city. The towns of Macksville and Kings Point near Nambucca Heads have been placed on alert. Authorities warn flash-flooding could be 'life threatening' with roads likely cut-off by the floodwaters and an increased risk of landslips. Severe weather warnings have also been extended to Sydney, Illawarra, and the Blue Mountains regions with heavy rains, damaging winds and wild surf expected. A landslip at Myers Bluff in Thora, New South Wales on Friday (pictured) caused a council car to be hit with debris but no-one was injured Residents in parts of Port Macquarie (pictured) are being ordered to evacuate by 8pm tonight as flooding hits the NSW mid-north coast town A huge weather system is battering Australia's east coast with flash flooding and damaging winds expected into Saturday (pictured: a collapsed highway due to floodwater on Foreshore Drive in Corlette, NSW) Surfers in Lennox Head, northern NSW, brave the wild weather and huge swells on Friday for a wave (pictured) The Bureau of Meteorology forecasts the intense weather system will continue with areas between Kempsey and Bulahdelah in the mid-north coast of NSW copping the brunt on Friday night. Newcastle, Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra region is forecast to be hit with torrential rain on Saturday as the system travels south. Two thirds of the country is expected to receive a drenching over the next 48 hours including the Northern Territory. The SES said they have already rescued 41 people from floodwaters in NSW since Thursday and repeated warnings against trying to cross flooded roads. Up to 600mm of rain could fall in Coffs Harbour over the next 36 hours with meteorologists warning residents to expect 'an absolute deluge' as the 1,200km-long weather system moves gradually southwards towards Sydney. Port Macquarie (pictured) is receiving the most of the flooding on Friday with the system to hit the greater Sydney area on Saturday One tram broke down inside a Sydney tunnel with people have to wade through water to get outside (pictured) The Macksville Bridge (pictured) near Nambucca Heads in NSW was underwater early on FRiday night Flash flooding is battering some parts of NSW (pictured) as a huge weather system moves slowly south towards Sydney On Friday, the bureau recorded 303.5mm of rain at Seven Oaks and 225.8mm at Kempsey Airport. Meteorologist Agata Imielska from the bureau said the rain was set to be 'substantially heavier' on Saturday in Sydney. 'We are expecting widespread totals for the Greater Sydney area of around 100 millimeters,' she said. 'This will be the difference of potentially what will seem like maybe inconvenient rain to actually something that might be quite dangerous and threatening. 'It's really important for Sydneysiders to be mindful about reconsidering their plans due to potential changes to driving conditions.' The Georges, Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers in the Sydney region are expected to rise from the floodwaters. The Warraamgamba Dam, providing Sydney's water supply, could be set to spill with 90mm of rain enough for the near full dam to open the floodgates. The SES said they were in discussion with Water NSW and would be warned should the dam spill. A landslide at Thora in New South Wales on Friday (pictured) caused by soaking rains Up to 600mm of rain could fall in Coffs Harbour over the next 36 hours during the wild weather event Sydney could see 50mm fall on Friday, before up to 100mm is dumped on the Harbour City on Saturday. Pictured: A cyclist rides through rain in Sydney's CBD The Hasting River at Long Flat (pictured left) broke its banks on Friday, while the road to Port Macquarie airport (pictured right) was completely underwater A deluge of water cause paddocks to flood at Macksville (pictured) on Friday Commuters heading into the city on Friday morning were met with flooding at Lewisham station, in Sydney's inner west, as rain water soaked the entrance. The morning commute was thrown into disarray thanks to the weather event. Buses replaced metro services between Castle Hill and Tallawong due to a fallen overhead cable. Emergency services have warned conditions will remain dangerous and are telling motorists to take 'extreme care' around flood warning areas. The deluge is set to continue well into next week and could deliver the heaviest rainfall since February 2020, when Greater Sydney was hit. The bureau said the low-pressure system was a 'significant system' bringing peak gusts of more than 90km/h. The bureau has warned the 'intense rainfall' may lead to 'life-threatening flash flooding' Sky News Weather meteorologist Alison Osborne said there was some uncertainty about where the heaviest falls will be this weekend. 'There is a risk of that flooding reaching Sydney and the rain spreading into northern and eastern parts of Victoria,' she said. She added there could be months' worth of rain in outback NSW in the next few days, where a separate band of rain is moving eastwards from Western Australia. Sydneysiders have been warned their city could be hit by flooding this weekend as a second band of heavy rainfall lashes the east coast A severe weather warning is in place for the New South Wales mid-north coast where as much as 300mm is expected to fall in the next three days. Pictured: Freshwater Beach on Thursday 'In the outback [where there is less rainfall] there could be many months worth of rain in the next few days,' she said. BoM meteorologist Helen Kirkup told Daily Mail Australia that weather system could bring about 60mm of rain to inland areas. 'Isolated parts of the mid-north coast could get up to 200mm in a day - it's not out of the question,' she said. Meteorologists have warned those living on the east coast to expect 'an absolute deluge' as the weather system moves gradually southwards towards the Harbour City The eastern seabord of Australia is expected to cop a deluge in the coming days. A severe weather warning for heavy rainfall is now in place for the mid-north coast A flood watch is already in place for the Orara, Bellinger and Nambucca Rivers in northern NSW. 'Those river catchments require widespread rainfall to flood but we could see that flood watch upgraded to a warning in the coming days,' Ms Kirkup said. Sydney could see one of the heaviest days of rainfall periods in recent years, with some suburbs predicted to experience north of 100mm. Pictured: worker cleans a closed Freshwater rockpool on Thursday The forecast is a different picture in other parts of the country, with neither Brisbane and Canberra expected to receive more than 20mm of rain a day into the weekend. Melbourne will remain mostly dry as the thermostat reaches as high as 25C. Adelaide residents will also escape the rain, with the next few days bringing sunshine and temperatures around 30C. Hobart will be dry and sunny with days reaching around 25C. Pictured: The severe weather warning in place in the mid-north coast and Hunter regions of New South Wales Over on the other side of the country, Perth residents will sweat through the week with Friday soaring to tops of 38C and Saturday to 37C. Darwin will be hot with high chances of thunderstorms and rainfall over the coming days. Meanwhile Sydney will be drenched by up to 35mm of rain forecast for Friday and 50mm for Saturday Thousands of Queenslanders have been urged to move to higher ground after the state was battered by heavy rainfall that's expected to last for another week (pictured residents in Sunshine Coast) Scientists are learning that a lesser-studied region on the pandemic coronavirus is recognized by COVID-19 infection-fighting antibodies. These antibodies were identified in blood samples from previously infected patients, and were found to potently prevent the virus from infecting cells. The coronavirus spike protein is the key that unlocks the door to the cell, and antibodies bind to the spike protein to jam this function. Much attention has been given to studying antibodies that target the receptor-binding domain on the coronavirus spike protein. (The receptor-binding domain of the spike is responsible for triggering the merging of the virus with a host cell to achieve a takeover.) However, some of the recovered patients' antibodies blocked the coronavirus by binding to a different place on the virus spike -- the N-terminal domain. These antibodies were as strong as those that bind to receptor-binding domain, a recent study shows. Using electron cryo-microscopy (cryoEM) to map where these antibodies bound showed that all the antibodies that prevent infection bind a single place on the N-terminal domain. The research published in Cell demonstrated that these antibodies protected Syrian hamsters from SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in people. Additional recent findings indicate that the virus is slowly defying these antibodies that people are acquiring. The virus is adapting to these antibodies by accumulating mutations that help the virus escape these defenses, becoming so-called variants-of-concern. Some of these variants, such as those first detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, contain mutations that appear to make the virus less vulnerable to the neutralizing power of the N-terminal domain antibodies. "Several SARS-CoV-2 variants harbor mutations within their N-terminal domain supersite," the researchers noted. "This suggests ongoing selective pressure." They added that investigating these neutralization escape mechanisms is revealing some unconventional ways the N-terminal domain on the virus is acquiring antibody resistance, and are why N-terminal domain variants warrant closer monitoring. The senior authors on the Cell paper are David Veesler, associate professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, as well as Matteo Samuele Pizzuto and Davide Corti of Humabs Biomed SA, a subsidiary of Vir Biotechnology. The lead authors are Matthew McCallum of the UW medical school's Department of Biochemistry, and Anna De Marco of Humabs Biomed. The N-terminal domain antibodies in this study were derived from memory B cells, which are white blood cells that can persistently recognize a previously encountered pathogen and re-launch an immune response. N-terminal domain-specific antibodies likely act in concert with other antibodies to wage a multi-pronged uprising against the coronavirus. The N-terminal domain antibodies appear to inhibit virus-cell fusion. In conjunction, another part of the antibody, called a constant fragment, might also activate some of the body's other approaches to eliminating the virus. This study shows that NTD-directed antibodies play an important role in the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 and they appear to contribute a key selective pressure for viral evolution and the emergence of variants." David Veesler, Associate Professor, Biochemistry, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Continuing research on the N-terminal domain neutralizing antibodies may lead to improved therapeutic and preventive anti-viral drugs for COVID-19, as well as inform the design of new vaccines or the evaluation of current ones. For example, patients who have recovered from COVID-19 and later received a first dose of an mRNA vaccine might experience a boost in their N-terminal domain neutralizing antibodies. Also, a cocktail of antibodies that target different critical domains on the coronavirus might also be a promising approach for medical scientists to examine to see if it provides broad protection against variant strains. The researchers stressed that, although current vaccines "are being deployed at an unprecedented pace, the timeline for large-scale manufacturing and distribution to a large enough population for community immunity still remains uncertain." Antiviral drugs, they explain, are expected to play a role in controlling disease during the ongoing pandemic. They are likely to be particularly helpful, according to the researchers, for unvaccinated individuals and for those who didn't get a strong enough immune response from their vaccinations. Antivirals could also prove vital when immunity from previous infection or from vaccination wanes, or as mutant strains that break through the shield of vaccination emerge. [March 19, 2021] Vaccination in the workplace: CAE takes action to help accelerate vaccination against COVID-19 in Quebec MONTREAL, March 19, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - (NYSE: CAE) (TSX: CAE) At a press briefing with the Quebec Minister of Health and Social Services held at its headquarters, CAE announced today that it is helping the government in accelerating mass vaccination against COVID-19 and reducing pressure on the healthcare system. CAE will work to establish a vaccination centre, at its own expense, at its headquarters in the Saint-Laurent borough, which will allow for the vaccination of its employees and their families as well as the surrounding community. "As a leading company in the fight against COVID-19, we want to make a difference in the vaccination effort and play a role in getting the economy back on track. That's why, on behalf of CAE's 4,000 employees in Quebec, I am offering CAE's help to accelerate vaccination in order to support and reduce the pressure on the healthcare system. I would like to thank my fellow business leaders who are stepping up and providing resources to open up workplace vaccination hubs, and I invite all companies who can contribute to do so," said Marc Parent, President and CEO of CAE. "I would also like to highlight the receptiveness shown by the Quebec government, which will contribute to a faster economic recovery for all Quebeckers." In the last few months, CAE has initiated a mobilization effort with many large Quebec and Canadian companies so that they can participate in the vaccination operation, a collective responsibility to help save lives, allow for economic recovery and a return to normal life. Several companies have offered this support at their own cost, and together, have committed to the ambitious goal of vaccinating up to 500,000 Quebeckers, working in collaboration wit the health system and following the order of priority established by public health. CAE is also seconding to the government a full-time Director with extensive expertise in large-scale project management, performance management and process optimization. Marie-Christine Cloutier, Director of Business Performance and Strategic Growth at CAE, will act as the liaison between the ministry's team and participating businesses. She will directly support the director of the vaccination campaign in Quebec by consolidating service offerings and coordinating the vaccination effort with all companies setting up vaccination centres. CAE's role since the beginning of the pandemic Since the beginning of the pandemic, CAE has been quick to respond to COVID-19, initially by developing a respirator to meet the global shortage and contribute to Canada's self-sufficiency, and then by developing an application to train COVID-19 vaccine providers. With a pan-Canadian presence, CAE will continue initiating discussions with other provincial governments to make a difference in the immunization effort across the country. About CAE CAE is a high-tech company at the forefront of digital immersion, providing solutions to make the world safer. Backed by more than 70 years of innovation, we continue to reinvent the customer experience and revolutionize training and operational support solutions in the civil aviation, defence and security, and healthcare industries. We are the partner of choice for customers around the world who operate in complex, often dangerous and highly regulated environments where success is critical. As a result of our customers' ongoing need for our solutions, more than 60% of CAE's revenue is generated from recurring business. We have the largest global presence in the industry, with approximately 10,000 employees in 160 locations and training centres in more than 35 countries. www.cae.com Follow our Twitter accounts @CAE_Inc and @CAE_Defence Facebook: www.facebook.com/cae.inc LinkedIn : www.linkedin.com/company/cae SOURCE CAE INC. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Support of local foresters: KIT and EDI GmbH develop an AI-based assistance system for forest management. (Montage: Dominic Hohlbaum/ Triebfeder) Drought, heat, and pest infestation: Climate change is threatening forests in Germany and represents a big challenge in forest management. A joint project of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and EDI GmbH, a spinoff of KIT, now provides support. Together with partners in the forestry sector, they are developing the EDE 4.0 assistance system. Based on artificial intelligence (AI), it helps foresters preserve and sustainably manage forests. Climate change also affects forests in Germany. Currently, the biggest forest dieback since the 1980s is taking place. In Baden-Wurttemberg, 43 percent of all forest areas are damaged. Science will now help take countermeasures and make forest ecosystems more resistant: Mixed forests with hornbeam, maple, or wild cherry cope with the new conditions much better than spruce forests, but are less profitable. When planting trees, soil properties play an important role, says climate researcher Dr. Joachim Fallmann from the South German Climate Office of KIT. Forest management has to respond and to carefully balance various aspects. To help foresters make optimal data-based decisions, EDI GmbH, a spinoff of KIT specialized in intelligent industry software, the South German Climate Office, and KITs Institute of Geography and Geoecology develop a cloud-based decision support system based on artificial intelligence (AI) methods. The interdisciplinary project EDE 4.0 (German acronym of Extended Dynamic Planning of Logging) is carried out in close cooperation with partners in the forest management sector and is aimed at supporting sustainable forestry. Intelligent Assistance System for Forest Management The assistance system is based on a software solution made by EDI GmbH. The EDI hive IoT framework was originally designed for machine learning in the aerospace and mechanical engineering sectors. Our development work will result in a mobile app that can be operated intuitively and uses AI to support local foresters when deciding where to log or when to plant new trees. Moreover, the system will output success perspectives when planting a tree at a specific location, says Dr. Thomas Freudenmann, one of the founders of EDI GmbH. For the system to supply relevant results, it first has to recognize relationships and patterns. For this purpose, many data from various areas are merged. These are data on medium-term climate development provided by the German Weather Service and KITs Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research. The Institute of Geography and Geoecology of KIT supplies specific forestry-related data. The forestry sector contributes information on the market environment. In addition, the assistance system will consider the local knowledge and expertise of foresters. (mhe) Further Information: http://ede4.0.edi.gmbh/de/ Associated Partners and Funding The EDE 4.0 project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) based on a decision by German Parliament. The project management agency is Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. (FNR), the central project-coordinating agency in the area of renewable resources. Associated partners are the Baden-Wurttemberg Ministry of Rural Affairs and Consumer Protection (MLR), Forstliche Versuchs- und Forschungsanstalt Baden-Wurttemberg (FVA), Rottenburg University of Applied Forest Sciences (HFR), and the City of Karlsruhe. Interactive Video Presents the Project The EDE 4.0 project is presented by the third video of the interactive series Sachen machen mit KI (things to do with AI). For the video, click: https://www.sek.kit.edu/video/ede40/ (in German) Note: The video data are stored by an external provider (vimeo). When clicking the player, you will leave the website of KIT. When playing the video in the interactive video player, you can change between different image and sound tracks to watch and listen from several perspectives. By a few steps, the interactive videos can also be integrated in own records via the embed code. More about the KIT Climate and Environment Center: https://www.klima-umwelt.kit.edu/english/ Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,600 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 23,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence. The question of what will become of the Republican Party in the post-Trump era seems to be on everyone's lips. A New York Times survey found that Republicans themselves have five distinct views of Donald Trump, including 35% who are either "Never Trump" or "Post Trump." But 65% fall into the "Die-hard" camp (27%), the "Trump Booster" faction (28%), or the "InfoWars" segment (10%). Whatever the future of the Republican Party will be, the shape-shifting J.D. Vance sheds light on the dynamics of how we got here and where the Republican Party is headed. This week, billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel announced that he is donating $10 million to a super PAC supporting Vance's potential run for the United States Senate seat from Ohio. Vance today is a fixture of the Trumpist right, but that isn't the way he debuted. Not at all. Rarely does a nonfiction book make the kind of splash "Hillbilly Elegy" did in 2016. I was part of the cheering section. Vance emerged as an authentic voice of the working class -- a self-styled "hillbilly" no less -- to declare that the problems of many working-class people were largely self-inflicted. Or perhaps a better way to say it is that their problems are a matter of personal choices. Drug abuse, welfare dependency, domestic violence, irresponsible spending and family disintegration were all omnipresent in Vance's family and community. The stories of his upbringing are harrowing. He described his home life as "extraordinarily chaotic." His grandmother once attempted to murder his grandfather by dousing his bed with gasoline and lighting a match (he survived). In a 2016 interview, Vance told Rod Dreher that his mother probably cycled through 15 husbands/boyfriends during his childhood. Family disintegration was the greatest handicap Vance and others like him were saddled with. "Of all the things that I hated about my childhood," he wrote, "nothing compared to the revolving door of father figures." His depiction of working-class life wasn't a complete rejection of his origins. He stressed that he loved his family, and that a majority (even if a bare majority) of his community does work hard. For children trapped in dysfunctional homes, one can have nothing but sympathy. And he believed that elites did fail to evince much understanding for people who were struggling. On the other hand, he was keen to counter the pervasive sense of helplessness in the community he was raised in. "There is a lack of agency here -- a feeling that you have little control over your life and a willingness to blame everyone but yourself." In a sense, Vance was the anti-Trump. He was a true son of Appalachia striving to lift his community, in contrast to the faux populist from Manhattan seeking to flatter and exploit them. Vance felt that they needed hope and a generous dose of honesty. Trump offered fantasies and cunningly curated hatred. During his 2016 book tour, Vance was not shy about his disdain for Trump. When NPR's Terry Gross asked how he planned to vote in November, he said: "I can't stomach Trump. I think that he's noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place." And appearing on the podcast I hosted at the time, "Need to Know," Vance recalled texting his editor to say that, "If Trump wins it would be terrible for the country, but good for book sales." But a funny thing happened after the introduction of J.D. Vance, anti-Trump voice of the working class. He began to drift into the Trump camp. I don't know why or how, but Vance became not a voice for the voiceless but an echo of the loudmouth. Scroll through his Twitter feed and you will find retweets of Tucker Carlson, alarmist alerts about immigration, links to Vance's appearances on the podcasts of Seb Gorka, Dinesh D'Souza and the like, and even retweets of Mike Cernovich. But the tweet that really made my heart sink was this one from Feb. 12: "Someone should have asked Jeffrey Epstein, John Weaver, or Leon Black about the CRAZY CONSPIRACY that many powerful people were predators targeting children." By citing the cases of Jeffrey Epstein and John Weaver, one a convicted abuser of underage girls and the other an accused abuser of teenage boys, he is whitewashing the QAnon conspiracy. Jeffrey Epstein was a despicable creep. John Weaver seems to have done bad things (though he has not been convicted of anything yet). But the QAnon conspiracy teaches that a cabal of leading Democrats and Hollywood celebrities sexually abuses not teenagers but little children, and then eats them. No decent human being should in any way remotely suggest, far less with all caps, that those conspiracies might not be so crazy. I'm not sure which is worse: that Vance, who just four years ago lamented the rise of conspiracy theories on the right, is now helping to foment one of the worst, or the fact that the Republican base is so warped that ambitious men feel the need to sink into the sewer in search of political success. Vance's slide from path-breaking writer to Trumpist troll tracks perfectly with the decline of the Republican Party. Peter Thiel clearly believes his new incarnation will win votes. And it may. But to quote Vance back at himself, if he does win, "it will be terrible for the country." COPYRIGHT 2021 CREATORS.COM Two Macomb County men were arrested Thursday and charged with federal crimes for allegedly breaking into the U.S. Capitol during the destructive riots on Jan. 6. Daniel Herendeen and Robert Bobby Schornak are charged with disorderly conduct, aiding and abetting, entering a restricted building and obstructing Congress. An FBI investigation found the two were friends who stormed the Capitol while wearing body armor and posted pictures and videos of themselves inside to social media. Both men were scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan for a preliminary hearing Thursday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Morris released them on $10,000 unsecured bonds pending preliminary examinations scheduled for April 7 in Detroit. Court records show the FBI worked with associates of both men, who forwarded information about their activities on Jan. 6 and helped officials identify them. An associate of Herendeen took pictures of gear Herendeen showed them before leaving Michigan. Herendeen was equipped with body armor, a knife, a canister of what he called ANTIFA spray, goggles, a combat styled belt, and American flag face covering, according to the FBI. Another person who knew Schornak since high school provided screenshots of a Facebook post where Schornak admitted to being on the front line, according to court records. Schornak was identified in a photo wearing tactical gear and a red Make America Great Again hat while holding a megaphone and a flag reading Trump 2020 No More Bulls--t. Herendeen allegedly recorded a 17-second video of himself inside the U.S. Capitol Crypt and uploaded it to Facebook, according to court records. The video was posted with the caption Front line, and the FBI said other Facebook users praised Herendeen for standing up for our American rights. Schornak also uploaded a selfie from inside the Capitol, according to the FBI. An image provided in the criminal complaint shows Schornak posing with another person wearing tactical gear making a hand gesture associated with white supremacists. The FBI reviewed security camera footage from the Capitol and found Schornak was recorded posing for the selfie at 2:33 p.m. No information about how Shornak or Herendeen allegedly entered the Capitol was included in the criminal complaint. The FBI complaint includes Facebook messages between Schornak and Herendeen discussing their plans to attend the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C. Cant stay home, I would not be able to live w myself, Schornak said. Thats how I feel, Herendeen replied. Im supposed to go with [redacted], but it sounds like he might back out. I heard it might be hard to get to DC. I go regardless. Hard, nothing easy ever worth doing, Schornak said. Just call me bro. Good point! Wanna make a plan? Herendeen said. State business records show Herendeen owns a Chesterfield epoxy business. Schornaks public Facebook page shows him at a stop the steal rally in Detroit on Nov. 12. Schornak also advertised a Nov. 6 rally organized by The American Patriot Council outside the TCF Center in Detroit. For anyone and everyone not OK with the left actively committing voter fraud to steal the election, time to stand up, Schronak said in the Facebook post. READ MORE ON MLIVE: Anti-Asian hate instances, attacks spike but people are reluctant to report to police Federal judge denies bond for Michigan man charged with assaulting police at Capitol riot Court invalidates Michigan rule on how to verify absentee ballot application signatures Michigan National Guard returns from U.S. Capitol after months-long deployment OCN has just unveiled the new still for Lee Joon Hyuk's much-awaited role for the upcoming drama "Dark Hole." The network shared a series of photos over their official Instagram showing the 37-year-old actor as he portrays the character of Yoo Tae Han, who found himself in the middle of chaos in his hometown, Mujishi. Fans React to Lee Joon Hyuk's Still for "Dark Hole" Following this, fans expressed their excitement over the comment section and mentioned how they couldn't wait to see the "Strangers" actor for his new project. "I can't wait any longer I'M SOOOO EXCITED FOR LEE JUN HYUK," one user wrote, while another pointed out that he's back with OCN. "LJH OCN again," another fan wrote. On the other hand, the third user lauded how good-looking he is and commented, "Lee Joonhyuk getting hotter," while the fourth fan expressed the exact thought and posted, "Woah.. Lee Jun Hyuk is on," followed by two fire emoji. Interestingly, an individual echoed the same sentiment and said, "He's getting younger and younger or what?" Kim Ok Bin's Stills as Detective Lee Hwa Sun for "Dark Hole" Prior to this, OCN dropped stills for Kim Ok Bin's first look for the forthcoming action-drama series. She takes on the role of Lee Hwa Sun - a police detective at the regional investigation unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency who witness the transformation of humans into dangerous creatures after breathing a mysterious dark smoke from a sinkhole. In a recent report, a production crew praised the two lead stars and their "synergy" as they gave justice to their respective characters, saying: "The contrast between these two sides was developed even further by Lee Joon Hyuk's detailed work in character analysis. The synergy between Lee Joon Hyuk and Kim Ok Bin as their characters attempt to rescue the people around them was off the charts. Please look forward to Yoo Tae Han's acts of justice." "Dark Hole" Cast, Release, and Synopsis Directed by Kim Bong Joo, whose works include the 2015 movie "The Phone" and "Granny, Good Shot!!" OCN's new series is set to debut on April 3. Described as a monster-action thriller, it follows the story of a group of survivors who attempt to fight for their lives against humans who have mutated into dangerous living creatures. The dilemma arises when Lee Hwa Sun receives a phone call from her husband's killer, instructing her to go to the town of "Mujishi." To her surprise, the whole town is in commotion and appears to be in a post-apocalyptic scene. There, she met Yoo Tae Han, who is a native of Mujishi, a wreck car driver, and a former police officer. Both Lee Hwa Sun and Yoo Tae Han try to survive and figure out the chaos in the said town as they meet certain individuals along the way with the same goal of staying alive. Aside from Lee Joon Hyuk and Kim Ok Bin, other cast members include Yoon Jung Hoon as Woo Sang, Park Keun Rok, who is set to play the role of Choi Seung Tae, Jang Sung Won as Lee Young Tae and Lee Ha Eun as Yoon Saet Byeol Kdramastars owns this article. Written by Geca Wills Advertisement Parisians piled on to trains in an exodus from the French capital today hours before a third of the country is plunged into a new month-long lockdown. Trains heading west to Brittany and south to Lyon were fully booked on Friday with platforms packed at the Gare Montparnasse as 12million people in the Paris region brace for the new restrictions. French PM Jean Castex announced the new measures last night amid a third wave of Covid-19 cases which has thrown Paris hospitals into crisis, with vaccines coming too slowly to protect large chunks of the population. The vaccine shambles took yet another twist today when France said that only over-55s should get the AstraZeneca shot - a 180-degree reversal from its earlier ruling that older people should be denied the jab. Health officials said the new rule resulted from the fact that the blood clots which threw the EU's roll-out into further crisis this week had only been seen in under-55s. But EU safety experts ruled yesterday that the jab was safe and effective for all age groups - saying there is no increased risk of blood clots linked to the vaccine. French people waiting at Montparnasse Train Station to flee Paris as new lockdown will take place on Friday at midnight, on March 18 Trains leaving Montparnasse station - which serves destinations in Brittany and the southwest - were completely full after a rush of bookings late on Thursday The move comes after France on Wednesday announced its biggest daily rise in Covid cases since its most recent lockdown was lifted in late November last year Passengers pack into the Gare Montparnasse in Paris today as people flee the French capital hours before new lockdown measures take effect for a third of France's population Passengers wearing protective face masks walk to board a train at Montparnasse railway station to go to the provinces to avoid the third lockdown As in previous lockdowns, a form written out or downloaded on a phone will be needed to justify why a person has left the home in areas under the new restrictions Parisians walk along a platform to catch a train leaving from the Gare Montparnasse which serves the west and southwest of France People hold their luggage as they wait to board a train out of Paris today despite the government's insistence that the lockdown is less severe than last year's measures France's infection rate has reached its highest levels since a November lockdown, prompting Macron's government to impose new restrictions on 21million people Parisians walks along a platform to catch a train leaving from the Gare Montparnasse serving the west and southwest of France Parisians arrive to catch trains leaving from the Gare Montparnasse on Friday Emmanuel Macron is under fire at home and abroad over his handling of the crisis, with opponents saying that he had 'failed' to prevent new measures being needed. 'Let's be clear, we're in a third wave mostly down to the rise of this famous British variant,' Macron said on Wednesday after a day of talks with medical staff in Paris. Macron had previously been criticised for rubbishing the AstraZeneca vaccine as 'quasi-ineffective' in older people in what was seen as an act of post-Brexit ill will. France initially said that over-65s should not get the vaccine because of limited data on older people in clinical trials. It later revised its stance to say that 65-to-74-year-olds could get the jab after more data from the UK showed that the vaccine is highly effective. Now, France has lurched the other way by saying that older people should not only get the vaccine but have exclusive access to it - with under-55s now banned. France is moving slowly even by the EU's standards in the vaccine race and is languishing way behind Britain in protecting its population against Covid-19 A Parisian crosses the Seine near the Eiffel Tower as the city and its surrounding areas face a third spell of lockdown amid another resurgence in Covid-19 cases in France People walk over a deserted bridge in a cloudy Paris, where people will once again have to fill out a form to justify their movements to authorities The Porte d'Orleans in Paris was filled with traffic on the ringroad leading to highways in the direction of South and West of France Large queues were seen at Port d'Auteuil heading in the direction of the west of France as millions across the country prepare to enter a month-long lockdown Large numbers of passengers were seen with suitcases at Monparmasse railway station in Paris as the country prepares to go into another lockdown Passengers wait to board their trains with suitcases at Montparmasse railway station in Paris this afternoon Amid the chaos, France is lagging way behind Britain in vaccinating its population, meaning that most of the population is still susceptible to the third wave. In all, just over 5.5 million people in France have had at least one vaccine shot and nearly 2.4 million have received both doses, official data show. That is compared to 25million people in the UK who have had at least one dose of the vaccine, and 1.7million people who have had two doses. While the government claims the new lockdown measures are lighter than last year's national lockdowns, Parisians will still have to show papers to justify leaving their homes - prompting many to seek refuge outside the cramped capital. Trains leaving Montparnasse station - which serves destinations in Brittany and the southwest - were completely full after a rush of bookings late on Thursday. People, wearing face masks, were seen queueing outside a shop in Nice as the country prepares to enter a third month-long lockdown People with masks to protect from coronavirus queue in front of a perfume store in Lille, northern France, after the government backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and other regions In Nice, France, people were seen queueing wearing masks outside shops as the country prepares to head into another lockdown A spokesman for national rail operator SNCF said trains to some destinations were fully booked after having a 60-70 per cent level of occupancy on previous Fridays. Maiwenn, a 19-year old student clutching a suitcase, said she had decided to leave Paris to spend the rest of the university year with her family in in Brittany. 'I'm going to stay there until the end of the term,' scheduled for mid-April, she said. 'It's been roughly a year that our courses have been on distance learning so we're starting to get used to it.' France had hoped to stave off new lockdowns with a nationwide 6pm curfew and weekend shutdowns but the new measures affect around a third of the population. The other regions affected by the new measures notably include the Hauts-de-France region of northeast France which covers the city of Lille, and the Alpes-Maritimes on the Mediterranean, as well as Seine-Maritime and the Eure in the north. People, wearing protective face masks, queue outside a H&M clothing store on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris as the French capital will enter at midnight On the Champes Elysees avenue in Paris people were seen queuing outside several clothing stores, including H&M and Zara In Lille, northern France, residents gathered together outside in the sunshine as parts of the country prepare for another lockdown Health minister Olivier Veran expressed hope that this regional lockdown would be the last, with the situation helped by the onset spring and the vaccination campaign. As in previous lockdowns, a form written out or downloaded on a phone will be needed to justify why a person has left the home in areas under the new restrictions. Outdoor exercise is allowed up to six miles from home for an unlimited amount of time but non-essential shops will have to close. However bookshops - deemed as essential to public wellbeing - can stay open and hair salons could also remain open with reinforced sanitary protocols. The move comes after France on Wednesday announced its biggest daily rise in Covid cases since its most recent lockdown was lifted in late November last year. While Covid deaths in France have been steadily falling since last year, there are fears the trend could reverse as hospital intensive care wards are overwhelmed Paris has been at the forefront of France's third wave of Covid, with patients evacuated from hospitals in the city on Monday after intensive care beds ran out Macron, who visited hospitals in Paris on Wednesday, said any new measures would be 'proportionate' and made on a territory-by-territory basis The streets of Nice are deserted. The people of Nice took advantage of the last hours of 'freedom' to rush into the shops which will have to close on Saturday Mumbai, March 19 : Actress Aahana Kumra on Friday sought the help of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to get Covid-19 vaccination certificates for her parents. Aahana tweeted saying her parents got vaccinated a few days ago but the record shows wrong time, and also she is unable to download the certificate. "My parents Mr. Sushil Kumar Kumra and Mrs. Suresh Balyan Kumra got vaccinated on 9th March 2021 at the @bkchospital at 10 53 am but the record shows the wrong time and the certificate doesn't download. Can anyone help!?" tweeted the actress. My parents Mr. Sushil Kumar Kumra and Mrs. Suresh Balyan Kumra got vaccinated on 9th March 2021 at the @bkchospital at 10 53 am but the record shows the wrong time and the certificate doesn't download. Can anyone help!? Aahana Kumra ll (@AahanaKumra) March 19, 2021 Commenting on Aahana's tweet, a user wrote: "Better to check again and ask the hospital to show the real data records that written on books. Maybe some misunderstanding happens. Ask the doctors too. @drharshvardhan please see this matter." To this, Aahana replied tagging Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan: "Yes we have been following up with the centre with no revert from their end. I'm sure this is happening with a lot of people! @drharshvardhan please help!" On the work front, Aahana recently concluded shooting for her upcoming film, Madhur Bhandarkar's "India Lockdown". The film also features Prateik Babbar, Sai Tamhankar, Shweta Basu Prasad and Prakash Belawadi in key roles. -- Syndicated from IANS Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 09:37:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TRIPOLI, March. 18 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Thursday that it has sent 118 illegal migrants from Libya to their home country Nigeria this week. "A medical escort was on board the flight and all migrants were tested for COVID-19 prior to departure," the UN agency said. It estimated that this year, 4,129 illegal migrants who tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea have been rescued and returned to Libya so far. The agency helped those in Libya, many of whom are stranded in overcrowded reception centers, return to home countries via its Voluntary Humanitarian Return program, a part of the larger EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration. In 2020, 11,891 illegal migrants were rescued and returned to Libya while 381 migrants died and 597 others went missing on the Central Mediterranean route, according to the IOM. Enditem Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A Senate committee grilled federal officials about the shortage of vaccines to protect Americans against a pandemic virus. Two months later, the U.S. public had lost interest in the virus, and millions of vaccines were sitting in warehouses although poor countries still needed them. This happened during the 2009-10 swine flu pandemic. One official on the hot seat was Dr. Nicole Lurie, who was in charge of preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services. Today, she's a senior adviser at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which is helping to vaccinate the world against Covid. And she's worried about history repeating itself. Lurie told Congress back then that vaccine production was unpredictable. In any case, the swine flu virus turned out to be relatively tame, but the experience holds a lesson for today, she said: Pandemics shift directions quickly, so it's best to be prepared for threats and opportunities anywhere in the world. In particular, Lurie and others are urging the Biden administration to make plans for getting surplus U.S. Covid vaccine supplies overseas once Americans are vaccinated. They note that the administration has secured at least 700 million doses of vaccines more than enough to fully vaccinate every adult and child in the U.S. by the end of July. The current focus must be the United States, which has had more Covid cases and deaths than any other country. But in the longer term, global immunization will be crucial. "We need to take care of the problem everywhere to be able to take care of it anywhere," said Dr. Mark Feinberg, president and CEO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, a remark echoed in a petition circulated by leading U.S. scholars. "Even if we get high-level vaccine coverage here, we'll still be vulnerable to imported variants that are less responsive to the first-generation vaccines. It's going to be an ongoing problem." Vaccine experts and activists give the Biden administration high marks for reengaging with the World Health Organization and its global partners. They also understand that the United States has to take care of itself first. "Until we have enough for Philadelphia, I don't see them wanting to give vaccine away," said Feinberg, who is 64, lives in Philadelphia and had yet to be vaccinated as of March 18. "We have a long way to go." In the coming months, however, many believe the Biden administration should at least partially pivot to a global approach. The Trump administration wisely spread its risk on vaccine development, spending $14 billion on contracts with eight different companies. Five now have vaccines authorized for use in the United States or overseas. "Now that there are five vaccines that work, the hedging is looking a lot more like hoarding," said Tom Hart, North American executive director of One, a global anti-poverty group. "You don't need more than one or two inoculations to become immune. As soon as you become immune, you need to share." Biden is committed in principle to sharing vaccine doses with the world. On Day One, the administration issued a national security memorandum calling on the secretaries of state and HHS to promptly deliver Biden "a framework for donating surplus vaccines, once there is sufficient supply in the United States, to countries in need." In a largely symbolic move, the administration on Thursday said it planned to provide 1.5 million doses of vaccine to Canada and 2.5 million to Mexico. The donation would come from a cache of vaccine produced by AstraZeneca, which has yet to apply for its use in the United States. The administration also has promised other countries cash for vaccines. It pledged $4 billion to the COVAX facility, the coordinating group that aims to distribute 2 billion Covid vaccines to low-income and middle-income countries by the end of the year. Half of that money has been paid out. The administration is also helping to expand vaccine manufacturing in the developing world a key objective to protect these countries against Covid, as well as routine childhood diseases and future pandemics. Biden and the leaders of India, Australia and Japan just signed an agreement that calls on the U.S. International Development Finance Corp., which supports projects in poorer countries, to help Biological E., an Indian pharmaceutical company, produce 1 billion Covid vaccine doses by the end of 2022. Johnson & Johnson, Novavax and AstraZeneca have partnered with several Indian manufacturers over the past year in unusually cooperative arrangements. But donating vaccine would be the quickest way to help and here the picture is murkier. The administration hasn't said when or how it will determine there is a "sufficient supply" of U.S. vaccine to be shared. Federal officials are working on the framework for future donations, an HHS official said. "Our primary focus is to vaccinate Americans first. However, the U.S. will not be completely safe until the entire world is safe," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week that Biden "wants to be overprepared and oversupplied," with extra doses that could be used for "booster shots." That's a fuzzy goal, however, since it's unclear when or whether or what type of booster shots could be needed. It's also not clear whether vaccine donations would all go through COVAX, which decides where to send them, or would be given out bilaterally to allies like Mexico. This is a shame, said Hart, of One, because vaccine sharing could have a big payoff in building goodwill. China and Russia, which already have donated or sold their vaccines in Africa, the Mideast and Latin America, "are increasing their spheres of influence through vaccine diplomacy," he said. "People don't soon forget when you saved their lives and the lives of their families." Now is the time to think about these issues, Lurie said. During the swine flu pandemic, tens of millions of unused U.S. influenza vaccines were held in warehouses for months, awaiting shipment overseas, because of cumbersome rules imposed by the U.S., the World Health Organization and overseas governments. "There were 68 steps that no one knew about," Lurie recalled. "My favorite was the fumigation certificate required for the wood pallet for exporting doses to the Philippines." Merck faced similar problems when it tried to ship its Ebola vaccine to West Africa during the 2014-16 epidemic there. Commercial and trade rules, Food and Drug Administration regulations and other red tape make shipping an unlicensed vaccine out of the country very complex, said Feinberg, who was then a senior Merck scientist. "It took a lot of jumping through hoops to even send the vaccine to Guinea or Liberia or Sierra Leone." The donations to Canada and Mexico would apparently come from some 30 million doses that AstraZeneca has reportedly warehoused in Ohio while the company prepares to submit data to the FDA for authorization of the vaccine. The U.S. could put those doses to good use by exporting them if they are not going to be used here, Lurie said. "That would be a fine alternative to having the vaccine just sitting in a warehouse." However, several countries have suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine while European drug regulators study reports that the vaccine might cause blood clots. Exporting U.S.-made supplies of this vaccine now would be a mistake, Feinberg said, because it could undermine confidence with the perception that the U.S. was offloading a vaccine the FDA hadn't deemed worthy. "The administration has been thoughtful in addressing the key issues," he said. "In the long term and maybe even the short term, that may be better than a one-time donation of doses." This story was produced by KHN, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. CLEVELAND, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, said he would not have voted for the recent federal stimulus package passed by Democrats, saying it wasnt bipartisan. At the same time, DeWine touted Ohios ability to use billions of dollars from the bill on issues like helping kids catch up in school or launching infrastructure projects like expanding broadband internet access across the state. DeWine, a former U.S. senator, said during an appearance at the City Club of Cleveland that there are parts of the law a $1.9 trillion package that includes direct payments to individuals as well as $350 billion for state and local governments that he agreed with, though he did not elaborate on which parts. No Republicans voted for the bill, which was signed into law by Democratic President Joe Biden last week, although recent polls have shown the package has widespread public support from both Republicans and Democrats. I wish that it wouldve been a bipartisan bill, DeWine said. I think when youre dealing with things like this, its best to have both sides in there. The stimulus package is the first major piece of legislation signed into law by Biden since he took office in January. Among its provisions are $5.4 billion for local governments in Ohio more than twice the states $2.7 billion rainy day fund that DeWine has avoided tapping to offset budget shortfalls to cover budget deficits caused by the slowed economy over the past year. That includes more than $541 million for the city of Cleveland. DeWine noted that while counties, cities and villages were all eligible for the aid, technical changes to the bill before passage may have omitted townships, where around 4 million Ohioans lived as of the last census. Organizations lobbying for townships believe the exclusion can be fixed through administrative action and wasnt the intention of the Biden administration. DeWine did not give any indication that he wouldnt accept the money. But he did say he supported a lawsuit from Republican Attorney General Dave Yost, challenging a portion of the bill that says governments cannot use the onetime payment to pay for tax cuts. Did they mean to tell a school district or did they mean to tell a county that they cant cut taxes? I dont think thats what the federal government should be involved in, DeWine said. DeWine covered a bevy of topics during the hourlong conversation with Tom Beres, former lead political correspondent for WKYC-TV. Most of the discussion was geared toward the past year during the coronavirus pandemic, with DeWine pleading with Ohioans to get the vaccine and continue to wear masks in a public setting. He called the past year one of the most trying of his four-decade political career. I think whats particularly different about the pandemic decisions you make is every decision you make is essentially a life and death decision, he said. The 2022 election DeWine said he did not think U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, a Rocky River Republican, should resign after Gonzalezs vote to impeach Republican former President Donald Trump following Trumps role in stoking the violent Jan. 6 riot in Washington when the Capitol was overrun by Trump supporters. Gonzalez has become a target in some Republican circles for his perceived lack of devotion to Trump, especially from former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Jane Timken and former Treasurer Josh Mandel. Timken and Mandel are locked in an already ugly primary race for the U.S. Senate, with the two spending much of their time trying to prove their loyalty to Trump. He was voting his conscience, DeWine said of Gonzalez. He made that call. That was his decision. I think hes been a good member of Congress. Despite his belief that Trump bears responsibility for the riot, DeWine said he would gladly accept his endorsement for re-election in 2022. He said he hadnt spoken with Trump since then but talked to former Vice President Mike Pence a few days ago. DeWine himself has become a target for Republicans over the past year. Most recently, Mandel has repeatedly attacked DeWine for the ongoing statewide health orders meant to curb the spread of coronavirus, including mask mandates. One person running has decided he wants to act like hes running against me. Its OK, DeWine said. Ive been called so many things in my career, particularly in the last year, DeWine added. Its politics. My focus has got to stay on Ohio. House Bill 6 The governor also demurred on several questions about House Bill 6, the nuclear plant bailout that is at the center of a federal corruption investigation. In July, the U.S. Justice Department charged Republican former House Speaker Larry Householder and four allies, saying they colluded in a $60 million bribery scheme funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy to pass the $1.2 billion bailout package to rescue two nuclear plants the utility previously owned. The Republican-led legislature has generally avoided repealing the law since the revelation, although recently has begun advancing bills that chip away at parts of it. Lawmakers also have not moved to expel Householder, who ran unopposed in November and still holds his legislative seat. DeWine defended his decision to support House Bill 6 and said its consistent with his belief that the law was needed to keep the plants open and lower Ohios carbon emissions. The fact that many of his political staffers have connections to FirstEnergy and that the company has donated more than $1 million to his election efforts since 2017 was a nonfactor, he said. My position on nuclear energy has nothing to do with any campaign contributions, DeWine said. I think, taking back to the speeches I gave in the Congress in support of nuclear energy, this was a well stated position in the campaign. DeWine declined to take a stance on whether Householder should be unseated by the Ohio House, despite earlier saying he should resign. Republicans said in 2020 they intended to wait until this year to remove Householder from his seat, though House Speaker Bob Cupp, a Lima Republican, has delayed bringing the matter to a floor vote. This is a separate branch of government and Im not going to get into that discussion, DeWine said. That is their decision on who to seat and who to keep there. Read more politics coverage: Gov. Mike DeWine names former Franklin County judge head of state utilities commission Has the dip in Ohio coronavirus cases flattened out? Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose declines deposition from Summit County GOP in case over rejected Elections Board member By Aziz El Yaakoubi DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthis say a U.S. plan for a ceasefire in their six-year war against a Saudi-led military coalition does not go far enough, and are ramping up pressure on Riyadh to lift a sea and air blockade before any truce deal is agreed. With the United Nations warning of a looming large-scale famine, U.S. special envoy on Yemen Tim Lenderking toured the region this month to press the warring sides to agree a nationwide truce to revive U.N.-sponsored peace talks on ending the conflict. But making clear the Houthis believed the plan must go further, Chief Houthi negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters: "We have discussed all these proposals and offered alternatives. We continue to talk." Saudi Arabia, which leads a military coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015, has been trying for over a year to exit the war but wants more assurances from the armed Houthi movement on the security of its borders and on curbing the influence of its rival, Iran, in Yemen. Tehran denies arming the Houthis. A main sticking point is the Houthi demand that the coalition lift the blockade - which has largely contributed to Yemen suffering the world's worst humanitarian crisis - before any truce deal is agreed, three sources involved in the talks said. The Saudi-led coalition controls Yemen's airspace and waters, including off the Houthi-held Hodeidah port on the Red Sea which handles more than 70% of Yemen's imports. The Houthis hold most of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa. "The issue is seen as an existential threat in Saudi Arabia. Free shipping and daily flights between northern Yemen and Iran would cause real anxiety in Riyadh," said a source familiar with the talks. "It is a case study on how to end a war that you didn't win." Lenderking has not provided details in public of what he called a "sound plan". But Abdulsalam said it included allowing flights to Sanaa airport from some destinations with prior coalition authorisation. Story continues He said the Houthis agreed to inspection of ships heading to Hodeidah and verification of bank transfers and goods' origins, but that the coalition says port revenues must go to Yemen's Saudi-backed government. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Lenderking has presented a fair proposal for a nationwide ceasefire, with elements that would immediately address Yemens dire humanitarian situation. "The Houthis must demonstrate their willingness to adopt and adhere to a comprehensive, nationwide ceasefire and enter negotiations," the spokesperson said. DEVIL IN THE DETAILS The challenge, the sources and analysts said, is finding middle ground. "From what I understand, the Saudis are willing to make concessions," said Peter Salisbury, a senior analyst at International Crisis Group. "But there is a lot of devil in the details to be worked out, in terms of what a ceasefire looks like and what an easing of restrictions looks like." The stakes are high as the Houthis step up missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, including on oil facilities, and make gains in an offensive to take Yemen's gas-rich Marib region, the last stronghold of the internationally recognised government that the Houthis ousted from power in Sanaa. Biden has said the United States will no longer support offensive operations by the coalition while continuing to help Saudi Arabia defend itself. "I think the military escalation in Marib and elsewhere shows that Iran wants to pressure the U.S. indirectly on the nuclear file, I do not see another reason for it," a Saudi official, who declined to be named, said. Abdulsalam rejected this. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said this month that Tehran supports a truce in Yemen "with lifting of the blockade". Biden aims to restore a 2015 international nuclear pact with Iran that his predecessor Donald Trump quit in 2018, but Washington and Tehran cannot agree on who should move first. The Biden administration has used a carrot and stick approach on Yemen, including lifting terrorist designations on the Houthis imposed by the Trump administration and later sanctioning two of the group's military leaders. Lenderking has said Washington will work with the Yemeni and Saudi governments to find a way to deliver fuel to Yemenis and restore humanitarian aid funding for the north. But time is running out. Fuel shortages have knocked out water pumps, generators in hospitals and disrupted aid supplies in a country where 80% of the population need help. U.N. special envoy Martin Griffiths said on Tuesday that no fuel imports had been permitted to enter Hodeidah since January. As of March 17, at least 13 fuel tankers were held -- some for more than six months -- by coalition warships off Hodeidah despite them having U.N clearance, U.N. data showed. Four ships cancelled and left without docking at the port after waiting for months. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay in Washington; Editing by Ghaida Ghantous and Timothy Heritage) U.S. dispatches senator to Ethiopia over humanitarian crisis, gives additional aid Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) during Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee (Photo : Demetrius Freeman/Pool via REUTERS/) U.S. President Joe Biden is sending Senator Chris Coons to Ethiopia to meet with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and convey Biden's "grave concerns" over the humanitarian crisis in the Tigray region, where thousands have died following fighting. Washington also said it will provide nearly $52 million more in aid to address the humanitarian crisis in the region, but called for hostilities to end and human rights abusers to be held accountable. Advertisement Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces, an end to the Ethiopian government's deployment of regional forces in Tigray and increased humanitarian access. "The humanitarian situation will continue to worsen without a political solution," Blinken said in a statement. Fighting between government troops and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has killed thousands of people and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes in the mountainous region of about 5 million. The United Nations has raised concerns about atrocities being committed in Tigray, while Blinken has described acts carried out in the region as ethnic cleansing. Ethiopia has rejected Blinken's allegation. "(The accusation) is a completely unfounded and spurious verdict against the Ethiopian government," Ethiopia's foreign ministry said on March 13, reacting to the allegation of ethnic cleansing. "Nothing during or after the end of the main law enforcement operation in Tigray can be identified or defined by any standards as a targeted, intentional ethnic cleansing against anyone in the region," it said. "The Ethiopian government vehemently opposes such accusations." Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement that Coons - a longtime Biden ally who represents the president's home state of Delaware - would also consult with the African Union. "Senator Coons will convey President Biden's grave concerns about the humanitarian crisis and human rights abuses in the Tigray region and the risk of broader instability in the Horn of Africa," Sullivan said. The senator serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's subcommittee on Africa and global health policy. Officials in the prime minister's office and at the foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Coons said he looked forward to engaging with Abiy and conveying Biden's concern. "The United States is gravely concerned by the deteriorating situation in the Tigray, which threatens the peace and stability of the Horn of Africa region," Coons said in a statement. Ethiopia's federal army ousted the TPLF from the Tigray capital Mekelle in November, after what it said was a surprise assault on its forces in the region bordering Eritrea. The government has said most fighting has ceased but acknowledged there are still isolated incidents of shooting. Ethiopia and Eritrea have denied the involvement of Eritrean troops in the fighting, although dozens of witnesses, diplomats and an Ethiopian general have reported their presence. Comfort food be it cheese on toast, spag bol or three packets of Monster Munch eaten back-to-back is vital always, not just in the midst of a pandemic. Sometimes your brain needs as much culinary escape as your tastebuds though, and thats when its time to pore over a cookbook, pull up a deep-dive article on a particular cuisine, or thoroughly investigate a food writers Instagram feed. These are just a few writers we look to for just that 1. Nigella Lawson Turn to any random page in Nigellas seminal How To Eat, and things will suddenly feel a little better. Soothing, encouraging and brooking no unnecessary faff, Nigella who has faced so much strife and loss in her own life knows how to take hunger and put it to good use. 2. Samin Nosrat Chef and star of Netflix documentary series Salt, Fat Acid, Heat no one in the food world is as effervescent and heartening as Iranian-American writer, Samin Nosrat. Pick up her cookbook or plug into her podcast Home Cooking and feel instantly buoyed. You can totally see why shes involved in Michelle Obamas new kids cookery show, Waffles + Mochi. 3. Helen Rosner Whether shes discussing the drudgery of lockdown cooking, or the simple joy of chicken tenders, New Yorker food writer Helen Rosner always taps into the food feeling of the moment, and nails our changing relationships with trends and the worlds of our kitchens. Read more: 4. Javier Cabral Javier Cabral, aka The Glutster knows almost everything there is to know about tacos. The LA-based writer is a cookbook author, associate producer of Taco Chronicles on Netflix, and editor of news and food website, L.A. TACO. Most of all though, he draws you into the delicious intricacies and cultural nuances of taco making and eating. Its really transporting stuff. 5. Rachel Roddy Rachel Roddys words are just so calm and reassuring, whether shes describing an out-of-print cookbook shes unearthed, or a tangle of cherry tomato pasta. A British cook in Rome, her recipes are absorbing stories rather than instructions for dinner and were very excited about her latest cookbook, An A To Z Of Pasta, out in July. 6. Soleil Ho American podcaster, graphic novel writer and prestigious San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic Soleil Ho will make you think and challenge your thoughts on food, from where it originates, to whos cooking it. Plus, every dish she tries, youll want eat too. 8 militants, 2 soldiers killed in northern Afghanistan's clashes Xinhua) 09:46, March 19, 2021 FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, March 18 (Xinhua) -- At least eight Taliban militants and two Afghan security forces members were killed during clashes in the country's northern Badakhshan province early Thursday, a local official confirmed. The clashes erupted between Taliban militants and security forces at about 2:00 a.m. local time in Abkhora area of Baharak district, killing eight attacking militants and two security personnel, Abdul Halim Hamdard, district chief of Baharak told Xinhua. There were also five soldiers and five militants wounded in the three-hour-long conflict, he said. The mountainous province has been the scene of heavy clashes in recent years. The Taliban militants fighting government forces in the region did not immediately comment on the report. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Roman Pasechnik. Credit: Gunnar Ingelman For 50 years, the research community has been hunting unsuccessfully for the so-called Odderon particle. Now, a Swedish-Hungarian research group has discovered the mythical particle with the help of extensive analysis of experimental data from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland. In 1973, two French particle physicists found that, according to their calculations, there was a previously unknown quasi-particle. The discovery sparked an international hunt. The Odderon particle is what briefly forms when protons collide in high-energy collisions, and in some cases do not shatter, but bounce off one another and scatter. Protons are made up of quarks and gluons, that briefly form Odderon and Pomeron particles. And now a research team, involving researchers from Lund University, has succeeded in identifying the Odderon in connection with an advanced data analysis study at the particle accelerator CERN. "This is a particle physics milestone! It feels fantastic to contribute to an increased understanding of matter; the fundamental building blocks of our world," says Roman Pasechnik, particle physics researcher at Lund University. Through extensive data analyzes of elastic proton-proton and proton-antiproton collisions, the researchers were able to hone in on the new particle. The analysis took several months, but finally paid off. "We worked with some of the world's best particle physicists. They were astonished when we published our results," concludes Roman Pasechnik. Explore further Physics researchers break new ground, explore unknown energy regions More information: T. Csorgo et al. Evidence of Odderon-exchange from scaling properties of elastic scattering at TeV energies, The European Physical Journal C (2021). T. Csorgo et al. Evidence of Odderon-exchange from scaling properties of elastic scattering at TeV energies,(2021). DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-08867-6 How to explain Joe Biden's ideological transformation over the years? Perhaps it's the same as the explanation of why the chameleon's complexion changes when he moves from desert to forest: adaptation to local terrain. About the Biden transformation there can be no question. The senator who opposed government financing of abortions for 30-some years now supports it -- and up through the ninth month of pregnancy. The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman who sponsored and bragged about the tough provisions of the 1994 crime bill now decries systemic racism and echoes almost the entire Black Lives Matter mantra. The politician who supported the welfare reform bill that House Speaker Newt Gingrich kept pressing until then-President Bill Clinton, facing reelection, decided to sign it in 1996 has now concocted "COVID relief" legislation that includes multi-thousand-dollar payments to single mothers with no work requirements. Joe Biden came to public office in the 1965-75 decade, when violent crime and welfare dependency roughly tripled, and as a senator, he supported measures to reverse those trends and reduce the ensuing ill effects, which were particularly devastating in America's black neighborhoods. As presidential candidate in 2019 and 2020, and as president now, however, he is supporting policies that threaten to recreate that vicious cycle, for murders skyrocket at a rate exceeding those of 1965-75 and the immediate need for welfare payments seems minimal at a time when employment looks set to rise as COVID-19 restrictions fade. Biden began his Senate career just as the unintended consequences of the 1965 immigration act were kicking in, ultimately resulting in 11 million illegal immigrants and lowered wages for low-skilled American citizens and legal residents. Now he's presiding over reversal of the effective border controls former President Donald Trump finally put together. He's inviting untold thousands who will likely swell the illegal population. That's some ideological transformation. It represents adaptation to significantly changing local terrain. If the United States were starting from scratch, we wouldn't create a separate state of Delaware. Its existence is a fillip of ancient colonial history, and it houses only one-quarter of 1% of the nation's population. Its share of land area is even tinier. Some 57% of its residents live in New Castle County, mostly affluent suburban turf that's part of the Philadelphia metro area. But Delaware has made its contributions. It was the first state to ratify the Constitution. It was a slave state, but 92% of its blacks were free by 1860, and it stuck with the Union. It's the home of DuPont, an innovator in chemicals since 1802. During the first half of Biden's career, Delaware was also a political bellwether. It voted within 2% of the national average in presidential elections from 1960 to 1992. And in this small state, voters are used to having close, personal contact with their high elected officials. The Thursday after elections is Return Day, when winning and losing candidates of both parties appear in parades in Georgetown, in southern Sussex County. Joe Biden, temperamentally gregarious, was a natural in this environment. I remember interviewing him by phone in May 1972, when the 29-year-old New Castle County council member explained exactly how he'd defeat a popular Republican who'd held statewide office for 26 years. He didn't need political consultants to tell him how to talk -- and listen -- to voters. As senator, Biden famously returned by train to Delaware every night, with plenty of chances to schmooze with voters while shopping, after church, lunching with the kids. He was alert to voters' concerns, amplified by Philly local TV news, about crime and urban decay. His voting record reflected those concerns, and it also dissuaded potential strong competitors. For 30 years, he and his Republican colleague William Roth were easily elected and reelected. But in the 1990s, the local terrain changed. Affluent suburbs in the Northeast and Midwest trended Democratic, and so did Delaware. Starting in 2000, it has averaged 57% Democratic in presidential races, 7% above the national average. Roth lost that year, and Delaware is now rated safe Democratic. That left Biden with zero worries about reelection and more in sync with a Senate Democratic caucus that, in my observation over the last 20 years, has been more cohesive and like-minded than Senate Republicans. Then, in 2008, Biden was elected vice president and, installed in the West Wing and the VP's residence for the next eight years, less exposed to nonliberal opinions, even as the Democratic administration and party became more lockstep liberal. By the 2020 campaign cycle, he was taken to voicing woke opinions, suggesting that perhaps this family man has been influenced by woke young family members. That's my explanation for why one of the few politicians who has personally witnessed over a half-century the damage inflicted by policy mistakes on crime, welfare and immigration seems determined to make the same policy mistakes again. Anyone have a better explanation? COPYRIGHT 2021 CREATORS.COM A father who has long objected to his minor daughter taking testosterone as part of an experimental gender transition has been jailed in British Columbia for contempt of court. Robert Hoogland was arrested Tuesday after a warrant was issued by a judge earlier this month for telling the public his name and showing his face, according to sources close to the situation. He will reportedly remain in police custody pending a decision on his release to be made at 9:30 a.m. Friday in the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver. Sources told The Christian Post this week that at the Friday hearing, Hooglands attorney will ask that the arrest warrant be voided and that he be released on the basis that the detention is unlawful. Hoogland has been outspoken in his opposition to what is now known as gender-affirming medical care in hopes of preventing his daughter from undergoing irreversible harm. Hooglands ex-wife, who is supported by the Canadian medical and legal system, is proceeding with their child's transitioning against his wishes. Source:The Christian Post Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 18, 2021) - Discover Wellness Solutions Inc. (formerly RMMI Corp.) (CSE: WLNS) ("Discover Wellness" or the "Company"), a licensed producer and processor under the Cannabis Act (Canada), announces the filing of its financial results for the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2020. For more information, please see the consolidated financial statements of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2020 and the related management's discussion and analysis, which are available electronically on SEDAR under Discover Wellness' issuer profile at www.sedar.com. "The year 2020 was a transformational year for the Company in-terms of a shift away from capital intensive cultivation business model to a flat structure extraction and processing facility. Additionally, we recapitalised, are being prudent with our cash outlay, completed a transaction with SynerGenetics Bioscience Inc. ("SG") on the procurement side and signed an MOU with Quad Play of Thailand on the global distribution side," commented Peter Cheung, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Highlights - Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2020 In June 2020 the Company made a strategic shift towards hemp and production of high quality and high purity CBD products. Essentially, the Company undertook a strategic shift in its business model away from capital intensive cannabis cultivation to focus on processing and extraction of hemp biomass into CBD concentrates. In October 2020, the Company entered into strategic alliance and hemp purchase agreement with SG, a leading plant genetics technology company that develops novel hemp strains with high-CBD content and other hemp-derived cannabinoid cultivars. In December 2020, the Company closed a $2.7 Million Private Placement at $0.20/ share to progress the buildout of the expansion area in the Company's 23,400 square foot extraction and processing facility and for general corporate and working capital purposes. Near the end of the year SG delivered 550,000 lbs of hemp which resulted in working capital savings of over $5MM. The shareholders approved the name change to Discover Wellness Solutions Inc. to better reflect the Company's focus on the non psychoactive space. Subsequent events In February 2021 the Company received a license to sell Industrial Hemp which significantly reduces regulatory overheads and fits well with the cost leadership strategy. In March 2021, signed an MOU with Quad Play to enter Thailand's deregulating hemp extract market. This business relationship serves as a beachhead for Discover Wellness to gain access to the Asian hemp-infused market which is expected to grow to over $5.8 billion by 2024. Discover Wellness' initial contribution secures a toehold equity stake of 4% in Quad Play with the option to acquire control of QP once regulations in Thailand allows for control by foreign companies. Other updates Discover Wellness has granted 100,000 stock options with an exercise price of $0.49 and 50,000 Restricted Share Units to a Company director. The Board of Directors has extended the expiry date of 1,874,000 warrants with an exercise price of $1.25, issued in late 2017 and early 2018. The expiry date of the warrants has been extended from June 30, 2021 to June 30, 2022. The exercise price of $1.25 per warrant and all other terms of the warrants will remain unchanged for the extended exercise period. No action is required by warrant holders as a result of the extension of the warrant expiry date. A warrant holder who wishes to exercise warrants will be required to submit a warrant exercise form to the Company. Discover Wellness Solutions Inc. Discover Wellness (formerly RMMI Corp.) is a Canadian company licensed, through its subsidiary, to cultivate, produce, process and sell cannabis in various forms. The Company's vision is to enhance shareholder value by establishing cost leadership in hemp processing and CBD extraction coupled with a global distribution strategy. More information about WLNS is available online at https://discoverwellness.solutions/ Contact Information: Manish Grigo, Chief Strategy Officer mgrigo@discoverwellnesssolutions.ca 416-569-3292 Peter Cheung, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer ir@discoverwellnesssolutions.ca 403-910-9191 Terry Uppal, Investor Relations +1-888-228-5128 Certain information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements or information ("forward-looking statements"). By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond the Company's control, including the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, environmental risks, operational risks, competition from other industry participants, stock market volatility, and the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. Although the Company believes that the expectations in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, its forward-looking statements have been based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. Risks, uncertainties, material assumptions and other factors that could affect actual results are discussed in our public disclosure documents available at www.sedar.com. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this document are made as of the date of this document and, except as required by applicable law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of WLNS should be considered highly speculative. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77885 [March 19, 2021] Better Cellular Services Coming to Eastern Ontario Residents and Businesses Eastern Ontario Regional Network Awards Contract for Cell Expansion to Rogers Communications PETERBOROUGH COUNTY, ON, March 19, 2021 /CNW/ - Strong and reliable cellular services are critical to help rural communities take part in the economy, create jobs and improve public safety. Together, Canada, Ontario and municipal governments across Eastern Ontario are supporting the Eastern Ontario Regional Network's Cell Gap Project that will improve both the reach and quality of cellular services throughout the region. Today, the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Canada's Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development and the Honourable Laurie Scott, Ontario's Minister of Infrastructure, joined Warden J. Murray Jones, Chair of the Eastern Ontario Regional Network, Warden Debbie Robinson, Chair of the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus and Mayor Diane Therrien, Chair of the Eastern Ontario Mayors' Caucus to announce that Rogers Communications has been awarded the contract to improve the coverage and capacity of cell networks in the region. Rogers Communications' investment brings the total value of the public-private partnership to more than $300 million. This includes investments from the federal and provincial governments who each contributed $71 million and an additional $10 million from the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus and most municipalities within the Eastern Ontario Mayors' Caucus. Rogers Communications was selected through a competitive bidding process to identify a telecommunication partner who offered both the expertise and best value for expanded cell coverage. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has designated both mobile and fixed broadband as basic services for all Canadians. The project is designed to improve cell coverage across the area where people live, work and travel. It aims to provide: 99 per cent of the area with voice calling services. At least 95 per cent of the area with standard-definition (SD) level services, such as video-app calls, basic app usage and streaming of SD video. At least 85 per cent of the area with service levels that can support streaming high-definition video and more data-intensive apps. Additional investments will increase capacity of networks in high density, high usage areas. To better serve rural Eastern Ontario, an area of some 50,000 square kilometres, the project will involve construction of more than 300 new telecommunication sites and will upgrade more than 300 existing sites over the next four to five years. Upgrades and construction will begin as early as this spring. Powered by Ericsson, Rogers brings the latest generation in 5G wireless network technology, which over time will deliverunprecedented speed, instant response times, and fast, reliable connections that transform how people live and work. New services will be activated as groups of towers are built or upgraded. The project is to be completed in 2025. About EORN EORN, a non-profit created by the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus (EOWC), works with governments and community organizations to improve and leverage cellular and broadband access to fuel economic development and growth. From 2010 to 2014, EORN helped to improve broadband access to nearly 90 per cent of eastern Ontario through a $175 million public-private partnership. The network was funded by federal, provincial and municipal governments and private sector service providers. As a result of the project, 423,000 homes and businesses are now able to access services of up to 10 Mbps download. It also spurred more than $100 million in additional private sector investment in the region, over and above their initial commitments. About the EOWC Since its inception, the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus (EOWC) has worked to support and advocate on behalf of the 750,000 property taxpayers across rural eastern Ontario. The EOWC covers an area of 45,000 square kilometres from Cobourg to the Quebec border, and includes 13 upper-tier and single-tier municipalities as well as 90 local municipalities. All members work together as a team, striving to ensure that conditions are in place to make Eastern Ontario the greatest place in the world to reside and do business. About the EOMC The Eastern Ontario Mayors' Caucus (EOMC) is made up of the Mayors of the 11 urban municipalities (separated, single tier) of Eastern Ontario. The committee meets quarterly as a group with the municipal CAOs in attendance to discuss common issues relevant to municipalities in eastern Ontario. About Rogers Rogers is a proud Canadian company dedicated to making more possible for Canadians each and every day. Our founder, Ted Rogers, purchased his first radio station, CHFI, in 1960. We have grown to become a leading technology and media company that strives to provide the very best in wireless, residential, sports, and media to Canadians and Canadian businesses. Our shares are publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RCI.A and RCI.B) and on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: RCI). Quotes "Reliable cell service in our region will improve our health and safety, and lead to economic growth. Our community has been firmly behind the EORN cell gap project, and I am thankful to my colleagues in neighbouring ridings for championing it. This project will connect the residents of Eastern Ontario to fast, reliable cellular service. In addition to this, the Government of Canada is connecting Ontarians to high-speed internet by committing over $233 million into 23 projects that will connect 33,649 households across the province. Congratulations to all involved in today's important announcement. " - The Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development "Eastern Ontario has waited long enough for reliable connectivity. That's why today's announcement of the partnership between the Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN) and Rogers Communications brings hope and optimism for residents. This partnership is one more step towards delivering better connectivity for families and individuals and is an example of the decisive action we're taking to connect more people." - The Honourable Laurie Scott, Ontario's Minister of Infrastructure "Rogers is thrilled to join this public-private partnership bringing reliable wireless mobile connectivity to the 113 municipalities and Indigenous communities of Eastern Ontario. We are proud to serve the region with vital 5G infrastructure, bringing its residents, businesses, and visitors a safer, more prosperous, and connected future." - Rogers President and CEO, Joe Natale "The investment that Rogers Communications is making in our region has exceeded our expectations and we look forward to working with their team to strengthen cellular networks across the region. We also appreciate the support of our federal and provincial partners. Together we're building on the investment we've already made in broadband infrastructure to deliver value and quality in closing the gap in mobile services." - EORN Chair J. Murray Jones "Improved cell service has been the EOWC's top priority for years. The demand for mobile broadband is growing exponentially, but our region is deeply lacking the needed infrastructure to keep up. While we initiated the project well before COVID-19, we know it will be key for the region's economic recovery and to improve quality of life and public safety for our communities." - EOWC Chair Debbie Robinson "Members of the Mayors' Caucus understand that for our region to keep pace with technology, we need to ensure we have not only minimum cell coverage, but enough capacity to meet the rapid growth in demand for mobile broadband. The digital economy has never been more critical for our communities to prosper. We are looking forward to seeing robust and reliable cellular services serve our residents and businesses." - EOMC Chair Diane Therrien SOURCE Eastern Ontario Regional Network [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community. Submit here Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Lucknow, March 19 : The Yogi Adityanath government will be launching a special drive to vaccinate all inmates lodged in the state prisons. Sources said that while a decision to this effect has been taken, the standard operating procedure for the same is being drafted. There are more than 1.16 lakh inmates lodged across 74 jails, including central jails, in Uttar Pradesh. According to a health department officer, "Jail inmates belong to the vulnerable group. That is mainly because they live close to each other in barracks and following social distancing at times is not possible. In fact, many of them had taken ill because of the pandemic last year." In fact, on Thursday, ten jail inmates in Kanpur tested positive for the coronavirus infection. Earlier in January, 117 inmates and several jail officials in Basti had tested positive. Similar incidents were reported in Siddhartha Nagar, Agra and Jhansi as well. Last year, during the lockdown, most inmates were sent home on parole so that the population inside the jail could ease. Talking about the SOP, sources said: "Local administration will moderate and hold vaccination camps on the jail premises. Ambulance network will be kept ready for transportation and management of inmates in case of any adverse event following immunization. However, so far, less than one per cent of people have reported side effects and no serious event has been recorded." The officer also said that the data of inmates is already available with the state home department and also with district authorities. Going by the numbers, all inmates may be covered in two days. Once everything falls in place, the vaccine drive may take next week. Experts noted that cases in jails always come in bulk and isolation of suspected and positive patients is a tough task. "Even a single positive case means launching a mammoth exercise to trace all possible contacts which may mean testing everyone in the jail. Therefore, vaccinating them is a logical idea," said an officer of the state home department. NASCAR's Tony Stewart has announced his engagement to drag racer Leah Pruett after a year of dating. 'So excited to spend the rest of my life with a truly amazing woman,' Stewart, 49, said in an Instagram post. 'Shes motivated, hard working, funny as hell, and as dedicated to her sport as anyone Ive ever known. Love you babe.' Pruett, 32, shared a shot of her engagement ring Stewart gave her this past weekend in an Instagram post. Fast lane: NASCAR's Tony Stewart, 49, has announced his engagement to drag racer Leah Pruett, 32, after a year of dating 'Thought no better time to share our engagement than right now, after the Tour De Florida clutch dust settled,' she said. 'The undeniable level of love, happiness, and soulfulness we have together is monumental. 'He might run in circles, but is the straightest shooter and the salt of this earth... looking forward to a lifetime of sunrises and sunsets that the Lord has gifted us together. Love you babe!' The pair initially met two years ago and emerged as a couple last year, spending most of their lockdown with one another. Stewart, who was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, was past engaged to actress Pennelope Jimenez in 2017, but they ended it two years later. Stewart said his 'personal life is the best its ever been, by far' amid his romance with Pruett Romance: The pair initially met two years ago and emerged as a couple last year, spending most of their lockdown with one another Speaking with the AP in January, Stewart said his 'personal life is the best its ever been, by far' amid his romance with Pruett. 'She gets me. And I enjoy going to her events and being the one doing the supporting,' he said. 'I mean, if she wanted me to support her at basket-weaving competitions, I probably wouldnt enjoy it, but I am very happy with this relationship and where my life is right now.' Pruett was previously wed to racer Gary Pritchett, but the marriage ended in 2019. House Republicans Vote to Lift Caucus Ban on Earmarks Following Democrat Revival Cruz says he hopes GOP senators will resist House Republicans during a party meeting voted to lift their decade-old self-imposed ban on earmarks, which will allow members to secure funds for their favored projects via large federal spending bills. In a 102-84 vote on Wednesday, the House Republican Conference passed a resolution by Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers to remove a 2011 ban on earmarks, so long as lawmakers publicly disclosed them with a written justification for why projects are an appropriate use of taxpayer funds, and verify that neither the lawmakers nor their immediate family members have a financial interest in the proposed projects. The resolution follows the House Democrats approved the return of earmarks, which they dubbed community project funding, last month. The vote ends a weeks-long debate within the House Republican caucus about whether to lift the earmarks ban. Last week, 35 Republicans strongly objected to the revival that they said would worsen the federal debt problem. House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) announced on Feb. 26 that from 2022, all members of Congress will be able to designate up to 10 earmarks each year. Names of earmark sponsors and details of the projects to be funded are to be made public, among other reforms. The Republican Party should be ashamed of itself for embracing earmarks when the American people are staring at $30 trillion in debt, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said after the vote. He was one of 18 House Republicans who told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a letter that they would not participate in the practice. Roy was joined by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who said that House Republicans had made a serious mistake and that he hoped his colleagues in the Senate would resist the effort to bring back earmarks. Its unfortunate, Cruz said, reported the Wall Street Journal. Earmarks played a major role in the out-of-control spending we have in Washington, played a major role in entrenching the swamp from both parties, and when the Republican revolution led to banning earmarks, it was a major step towards limiting the power of the swamp. And today, House Republicans turned back on that problem. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks during his weekly press briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 18, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) While the caucus leadership didnt express a position on the issue before the vote, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said after the vote to lift the ban that if Republicans are not involved in directing where money gets spent, Democrats will. Theres a real concern about the administration directing where money goes. This doesnt add one more dollar. I think members here know whats most important about whats going on in their district, not Biden, McCarthy told the reporters. I think members want to have a say in their own district. The Democrats, following the 2020 general election, called for the return of earmarking, with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) saying that the practise will help reaching more deals and passing more bills with bipartisan support. Former President Donald Trump at one stage expressed support for reviving earmarks as something that brings people together. We should think about it and put better controls because it got out of hand, he said during a bipartisan meeting in 2018. New Delhi: After staring defection, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday summoned all 27 Bihar Congress MLAs to Delhi on Wednesday. According to sources in Congress, Rahul will meet all party legislators after media reports suggested that the grand old party legislators are in touch with JD (U) and BJP. It is said that Bihar congress president Ashok Chaudhary shares good rapport with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. A few days back, Ashok Chaudhary and Sadanand Singh were summoned to Delhi. After meeting party high command, Singh had refuted defection possibility. The leaders had also claimed that the meeting was called to discuss the future course of action and strategy to strengthen the party in the state. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. 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. A woman has been critically injured and another eight people left in a serious condition after a minibus carrying 15 farm workers collided with a car. The crash at Glenore Grove in the Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane at 2.25pm on Friday was so severe all 15 minibus passengers had to be transported to Queensland hospitals - including three in rescue helicopters. The critically injured woman, aged in her 50s, was treated at the scene for 'abdominal injuries and significant fractures' and was flown to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. The car collided with the minibus about 2.25pm on Friday. Pictured is the wreckage of the minibus in the aftermath of the crash Ambulance crews have rushed to Glenore Grove in the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane after a minibus carrying 15 passengers collided with a car Ambulance crews were rushed to the scene, where police said the car flipped on its roof and multiple passengers became trapped inside the minibus. Services on the scene treating victims included two emergency helicopters, critical care paramedics and the high acuity response unit. Police said victims trapped in the minibus were released and rushed to hospital. All 15 passengers sustained injuries that required treatment at three Queensland hospitals. A man in his 20s with head and abdominal injuries, and a woman in her 50s with head and chest injuries, and fractures to both arms, were also flown by rescue helicopter to Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, both in 'a serious condition'. Another woman, in her 20s, was taken by ambulance to Toowoomba Hospital with neck, chest and abdominal injuries. She was in 'a serious but stable condition'. A woman in her 30s was taken to Ipswich Hospital with abdominal pain, as was a man in his 30s with neck and shoulder pain. Police said the car flipped on its roof and multiple passengers were trapped inside the minibus Four other patients were taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. They were a man in his 20s with head and chest injuries, a woman in her 30s with a shoulder injury, another woman in her 30s with a head injury and chest pain and a female in her 20s with neck and back pain and a leg injury. A further five patients were taken to Ipswich Hospital with 'minor injuries'. Queensland Ambulance Service transported 12 injured people from the horror smash scene to three local hospitals They included: two men in their 20s, two women in their 20s and another woman in her 30s. A witness from the scene, who is manager of the company driving the farm workers, told The Courier Mail his friend was driving the minibus. 'They were working on the farm and finished at 2.20pm and were heading to Brisbane after like one minute this happened,' Innocent Cyzia said. 'All of them they are a bit scared and some of them got hit from the chest and arms.' Queensland Police said investigations are continuing with their forensic crash unit. A grandmother died in an accident at the same intersection in 2018. Probe opened into 14 alleged extremists in Krasnodar Region RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 11:11 19/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 19 (RAPSI) A criminal case has been opened against 14 alleged members of an extremist organization operating in the Krasnodar Krai, the Investigative Committees press service reports. Two local citizens aged 19 and 20 years are suspected of illegal organization of an extremist community, 12 others aged from 16 to 30 are suspected of participating in this group, the statement reads. According to the probe, in 2018, a resident of the town of Gelendzhik along with his accomplices created the extremist organization to commit crimes against persons leading antisocial lifestyle and without a fixed place of residence and to incite national hatred and enmity. The suspects also drew nationalist images on buildings in Gelendzhik. Between November 2019 and December 2020, they stroke at people along ethnic lines and beat them, the case papers read. Five alleged members of the extremist group have been arrested. Eight people, six of them Asian women, were killed on Tuesday in a string of shootings at Atlanta-area spas. Information about the victims has been hard to find and slow to emerge, in part because some of them were not carrying official forms of identification and were only known to immediate acquaintances by their last names, making it harder for investigators to confirm their identities and release them to the press. But today, we know all their names, and some friends and family members have started speaking publicly about their loved ones lives. Heres what we know about the people killed on Tuesday. Advertisement Xiaojie Tan died the day before her 50th birthday at the spa she owned, Youngs Asian Massage, in Acworth, Georgia. Her only child, daughter Jami Webb, told USA Today that Tan, who sometimes went by Emily, worked every day, 12 hours a day, so that me and our family would have a better life. 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. Jamis adoptive father, Michael Webb, met and fell in love with Tan in her home city of Nanning, China, in the early 2000s. They soon married, and Michael went on to become an adoptive father to Jami. Tan was full of smiles and laughter. She was just a pleasure to be around, he told USA Today. Even after they divorced in 2012, the same year Tan became a U.S. citizen, the couple stayed close. Shed always say, we family, Michael said. Advertisement People who knew Tan describe her as a shrewd, hardworking businesswoman who opened her first business, a nail salon, within months of moving to Georgia in 2010. A loyal customer of six years called her the sweetest person youd ever meetshe greeted him at the spa with a cake for his birthday last year. Tan would host parties at her spa for Lunar New Year and Fourth of July, and she kept a list of places shed like to travel to upon retirement, often inspired by the travel tales her customers told. Jami said the family hasnt been able to face telling Tans mother, in China, about her daughters death, for fear that the news would make her ill. When Jamis grandmother called for Tans birthday, Jami said, She kept asking to talk to my mom. We told my grandma that my mom lost her phone and couldnt answer. Advertisement Advertisement Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, was also killed at Youngs Asian Massage on Tuesday. She and her husband, Mario Gonzalez, had arranged child care for their 8-month-old daughter so they could spend the evening relaxing with massages. Gonzalez was able to escape the shooting without harm. The two had wed just last year. Loved ones describe Yaun as a generous and caring family member. She was a single parent to her 13-year-old son before she met Gonzalez. When her sister divorced a few years ago, two of her children went to live with Yaun as well. To support her family (her mother also lived with her), Yaun worked the third shift at a Waffle House, where shed been a server since 2013. Shed recently trained to operate the grill, a promotion. Her dreams were finally coming true. Things were falling into place with her, a friend of Yauns told the Washington Post. Another friend and former colleague told the Los Angeles Times that Yaun would arrive at work in the morning singing gospel tunes. She was a beautiful person, 100 percent caring, the friend said. Advertisement The other victims of the shooting at Youngs Asian Massage were Daoyou Feng, 44, a recently hired employee, and Paul Andre Michels, 54, a former Army infantryman and businessman. Feng had worked at the spa for only a few weeks. She was originally from China, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution described her as having a kind smile. Michels, a Catholic who was raised in Detroit, had eight siblings and had been married for 20 years. One of his brothers, John, suspected that Michels may have been at the spa on Tuesday to talk to Tan about her business, because he was considering opening his own spa. Michels had also been doing handiwork for the spa. He was a good, hard-working man who would do what he could do to help people, John Michels told the Associated Press. Hed loan you money if you needed it sometimes. You never went away from his place hungry. Advertisement Advertisement The two sons of Hyun Jung Grant, 51, who was killed at Atlantas Gold Spa, have been vocal about their love for their mother in the days since her death. In an Instagram post, Eric Park wrote that his mother was the greatest person in my life and always pushed me to do my best. Supporting me when I wanted to be a chef and letting me take culinary classes or even getting connections when I had an interest in hairstyling. She was everything you could ask for in a mom she did everything she could to take care of me and my brother as a single mother. Grants other son, Randy Park, also posted a photo and remembrance on Instagram. She lived her whole life only to support her two sons all on her own and to see her taken away from us like this is unfair, he wrote. I cant describe how I feel. Shell never get to see my brother and I get married, own homes, graduate college, and see her grandchildren. On a GoFundMe page thats raising money for the Park brothers expenses after the loss of their only parent, Randy wrote, She was one of my best friends and the strongest influence on who we are today. Advertisement Randy told the Daily Beast that his mother worked her ass off as an elementary school teacher in Korea and as an employee at the massage parlor after she came to the U.S. He noted that he never knew his father, and his mother raised them as a single parent. She devoted her life to supporting her sons, but she didnt let hard work get in the way of a good time. Grant loved dancing, Randy said, and she would always try to convince me to go out. She loved going to clubs. She loved Tiesto. She was like a teenager. The two would frequently go out for sushi together before her shifts. I could tell her anything, he said. Advertisement Suncha Kim, 69, who also died at Gold Spa, enjoyed line dancing, according to the New York Times. She immigrated from South Korea to give her children a better life, a family member told the Times. She had been married for more than 50 years and was a grandmother. Soon Chung Park, at 74 the oldest person killed in the shootings, had moved to Atlanta from New York, according to the Times. She remained close to her family there. Advertisement Advertisement Yong Ae Yue, 63, was killed at the Aromatherapy spa. She had immigrated from South Korea in the 70s after meeting her husband when he was stationed at an Army base. The couple remained close after divorcing in the early 80s. They had two sons. According to the Journal-Constitution, she loved kids and grandkids, soap operas, reading, feeding hungry people and doting over a Shih Tzu named Iyong. She was also described as generous with her money, time, and support to anyone who needed help. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. File photo At a March 11 meeting of the Trumbull Board of Education Policy Committee, the Board of Education members on that committee voted unanimously to recommend the rescinding of Board Policy 9140 at an upcoming Board of Education meeting. A short history lesson: policy 9140 is titled Teacher Representative and is specifically designed to give Trumbull teachers an unfiltered voice at Board of Education meetings. The board said their rationale for this decision is based on several recommendations that they sought from the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education or CABE. According to CABE, these changes are needed based on several factors, such as the grievance process outlined in the CBA between Trumbull teachers and the board, the monthly meetings between the superintendent and TEA leadership, the fact that teachers present their work at monthly meetings, and the notion that only Trumbull has this particular policy in the state of Connecticut. It is important to note that CABE does not recommend rescinding board policy 9140.1, which is the student representative on the Board of Education. It is no surprise that CABE would agree with the BOE on their request. Not only does the Trumbull Board of Education pay CABE a yearly subscription fee, but one look at CABEs 2021 Whole Agenda communicates why they would support the silencing of unionized teachers. Some of CABEs lobbying stances for 2021 include: changing teacher tenure, teacher certification, arbitration rules, and salary scales for current and retired teachers. Dont let its small size and $129 price tag fool you: Andover Audios Songbird music streamer flies high and sings almost as sweetly as competitors that cost three or four times more. The Songbird also offers near best-in-class ease of use and connectivity. Nurtured by Boston audio community vets, Songbird is targeted primarily to the gazillions of people who bought nice sound rigs in the pre-internet age: Built-tough, classically styled stereo gear still functioning quite well, thank you, though maybe gathering dust because the vinyl, tape, and CD content it was designed for seems like dark-ages stuff from the times of Tower Records and Sam Goody. Jonathan Takiff / IDG The diminutive Songbird is just the ticket for older audio components that predate digital audio inputs, such as this vintage Sansui receiver. Rejoice! Songbird can get you and that rig humming again, with instant access to hundreds of thousands of fresh, free, streaming radio stations and podcasts, plus tens of millions of on-demand music selectionsold and newthat can be summoned in an instant for about the cost of one album a month. Barely larger than a tin of breath mints at 3.25 x 3 x 1 inches (WxDxH) and nesting in a nondescript plastic case, Songbird is intentionally made small and light and supplied with short-run cables so it can easily be stashed behind your receiver. That low-budget exterior allowed a healthier percentage of manufacturing moolah to be spent on the guts inside, where it counts. Jonathan Takiff / IDG On the Songbirds front panel (left to right): A USB power-supply port, an LED thats very bright when the unit is powered on, and a dual-function push button for selecting inputs or performing network configuration via Wi-Fi Protected Setup. Andovers director of engineering and product development, Bob Hazelwood, told me he was inspired by a low-cost NAD receiver from the 1970s that wasnt much to look at but had great sound. And also by a legendary audio guy he met while working at Cambridge Soundworksco-founder Henry Klosswho championed the cause of affordable, everyman hi-fi rather than sky-high-priced esoteric stuff. The Songbird really delivers once connected to your home network via ethernet or Wi-Fi (2.4GHz only). The iOS/Android streaming applicensed from Linkplay Technologyis stable, responsive, intuitive to operate, and nice to look at. I love the rotating album covers that spin as the music plays. The streaming platform, also from Linkplay, currently supports the high-res music services Qobuz and Tidal (although not the latters MQA-encoded Masters tier), as well as the more plebian services Spotify, Napster, TuneIn Radio, iHeart Radio, and Amazon Music. While the app doesnt provide any visual confirmation that Im getting the bumped-up Amazon HD content Im paying extra for, the software team promises Im receiving CD-quality streams from that source, and that support for Amazons ultra high-res content is coming soon. Jonathan Takiff / IDG The Songbird appshown here in three viewsis easy to use and attractive to look at. Linkplay also is contemplating Andovers request to add onboard app access for Pandora, SiriusXM, and Apple Music. To land those services on Songbird today, youll need to throw them to the player via Bluetooth (2.1 + EDR) or Airplay (version 1) from your mobile device or computer. Chromecast is not supported. Andovers expertise comes to the fore in the selection of componentsand the tweaking thereofthat process those incoming streams. This includes a Cirrus Logic DAC that can convert up to 24-bit/192kHz digital audio to a full-throated analog rendering through the Songbirds RCA stereo outputs. With the aid of a clean power supply and a good output buffer, I had no problem at all detecting the difference between 320Kbps Napster streams and the dramatically richer, livelier, CD-quality or better renderings of the same material from Qobuz and Tidal. This included well-recorded new releases by Lake Street Dive (Obviously) and Willie Nelson (Thats Life), which I didnt mind hearing multiple times over. That pick-me-up differential even proved potent when I compared the streams playing on a 15-year-old Bose Acoustic Wave Music System II and a pre-digital-age Sansui RZ-9500AV receiver (connected to ADS and Niles Audio in-wall speakers). And for good measure, I also auditioned this sweet little box with a recent-vintage high-end Yamaha RX-A3060 A/V receiver playing through big-bubba Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus 803 floor-standing speakers. Jonathan Takiff / IDG The Songbird doesnt have a headphone amp, but it should sound great with any self-powered set of cans that accommodates a cable, such as the Bose QC-35 II shown here. This little bird also tweets sweet when plugged into self-powered headphones, such as the recently reviewed Bose QC 35 II. The combo makes for a great little personal audio system useable wherever Wi-Fi and AC power are available. How does Songbird compare to Sonos? I performed A/B comparisons of this and several competing streamers with the Yamaha/B&W rig, switching first between the Songbird and the likewise connected Sonos Port ($449), and then the higher-striving Russound MBX-PRE ($399) and Bluesound Node 2i ($549). All were whistling the same happy tunes through their internal DACs and analog outputs. I listened to Keith Jarretts revealing My Song set (my reference standby); Dua Lipas pop smash Future Nostalgia; Kings of Leons newbie When You See Yourself; and a sterling set of high-res Beethoven and Brahms: Violin Concertos, spotlighting Gil Shaham and the Brooklyn-based ensemble The Knights. The Songbird held up quite well against these much more expensive competitors. It has a slightly harder-edged tone than the Sonos Port, though Id say its within a hairs breadth of matching it in terms of overall dynamics, sensitivity, and clarity. The Russound and Bluesound units delivered a shade more vocal warmth and presence, a fuller rounding out of instrumental sounds, and better overall depth of field (i.e., an airy spaciousness) to my hyper-critical ears. But the differences werent apples and oranges; more like clementines versus tangerines. If youre not doing a direct and obsessive comparison, Id wager youd never notice the Songbirds sonically inconsequential shortcomings and would be fully satisfied with it. I certainly am, at least when this loveys the only one Im with. Andover Audio The Andover Audio Songbird is equipped with analog and digital inputs, as well as outputs, rendering it useful with both modern and older audio gear. Why does the Songbird down-sample? I was less impressed with the Songbirds down-sampling of higher-res digital signals to 16-bit/44.1kHz for output to its Toslink optical digital audio output. The products designers put that in place so the data stream would be fully compatible with both older receivers limited to accepting 16-bit streams and newer receivers that max out at 24/96 streams. Resampling is also performed to facilitate networked multi-room deployments. Songbird provides the user with variable level control over the digital output signal, which is a blessing if you dont have a remote for your receiver; you can control the volume from the Songbird app. Altering the output of a digital signal, however, is fraught with danger because it involves step-down processing with the potential to make music sound flattened and compressed. I ran into the same problem when reviewing the Sonos Port, which does a more brutal job than Songbird at scaling down the volume-related bits. But at least the Port gives users the option to switch to a fixed-level digital output thats free from those problems; this first-generation Songbird does not offer such an accommodation. The Russound and Bluesound streamers, meanwhile, avoid the problem altogether by only offering fixed-level optical digital audio outs. Jonathan Takiff / IDG The Songbird endowed this 15-year-old music box with renewed relevance. The good news is that the Songbirds onboard DAC puts out such terrific analog sound that theres really no reason to connect the streamers digital output to an outboard DAC. And no damage is done to the analog signal when you raise and lower its volume. By the way, when I voiced my concerns about all this to Andovers Hazelwood, he said the Songbirds optical digital audio output performs best when left at 100-percent volume, so that all volume adjustments are performed on your receiver or amp. Less problematic to my ears is the fact that the Songbird offers the user menu options to step up or step down the maximum resolution of incoming digital signals from 24 bits (with sampling rates of either 96- or 192kHz) to 16/44.1 or even down to MP3 at 320Kbps. Thats helpful for reducing bandwidth-induced signal dropouts when more than one Songbird is flying on your home Wi-Fi network. Andover suggests up to five Songbirds can coexist with synchronized or standalone streaming on the average Wi-Fi system. Interestingly, this data-download level adjustment is done in the cloud: The Songbird just sends out a message that its ready to synch at a specified rate. Is the Songbird a plug-and-play streamer? I cant emphasize enough how easy the Songbird is to set up and use. Voice prompts help you connect to the internet and audibly acknowledge when youve changed source. In addition to streaming sources, the box has both 3.5mm analog and Toslink digital inputs for plugging in other audio sources. With just the tap of the line-in icon on the Songbird app, I was able to switch from a streaming station to an Ivan Lins tribute disc spinning on a Sony CD Walkman, with the tune emerging from a UE Boom powered portable speaker plugged into the Songbirds aux out. If I had two or more Songbirds on my network with speakers connected, Id be able to enjoy the same balmy Brazilian tunes playing in multiple rooms. Alternatively, Id be able to direct the left and right channels of the recording to separate Songbirds and speakers for a wide stereo effect. Theres also an ethernet port for a wired network connection, with gapless playback if you use Airplay or DLNA. But sorry, there was no room or budget for a USB port on this product. Guess well have to wait for a second-generation Songbird for that. I was also impressed with how quickly the Songbird boots up, which is a great feature when you decide to decamp and move your listening session to another room. The Songbird app on my iPhone 12 Pro and iPad were equally speedy and resilient in adjusting to such changes, which is more than I can say of some of the Songbirds higher-priced and more finicky rivals. Bottom line Theres plenty to like about Andover Audios Songbird, a network music streamer offering oodles of connectivity and sourcing options for a very affordable price. While some will balk at the notion of the Songbird down-sampling a high-res music stream to 16/44.1 before routing it to its optical outputs or sending it over a network, less particular listeners will just enjoy the musicand the savings. By the early 1970s, following in the steps of the US movement, Australian women were angry and motivated. What followed was the rise of second-wave feminism one of the biggest social movements of the 20th century. While Australia was at the forefront of womens rights at the dawn of the 20th century, with Australian women the second in the world to be given the right to vote (after New Zealand), by the 1960s, the lot of women had barely progressed. This feature documentary from first-time director Catherine Dwyer is a compelling film, and in light of recent events, its a must-watch, offering an often-shocking history of the Australias womens movement. Five years in the making, Brazen Hussies features some extraordinary archival footage some not seen before, much not seen for years as well as interviews with more than 25 of the movements key players, tracked down by Dwyer in her research. The result is bizarrely, given much of the action here took place 50 years ago the first comprehensive chronicle of the Australian movement. Watching it, viewers are likely to experience a similar turbulence to the times. Brazen Hussies is a rollercoaster informative, yes, but also angry, emotional and often shocking. While some of the acts of activism in the doco will be widely known Merle Thornton chaining herself to the bar at Brisbanes Regatta Hotel to protest against the fact that women couldnt drink in public bars, and unionist Zelda DAprano locking herself to the Commonwealth building during the 1969 protests for equal pay Dwyer has uncovered footage from the movements earliest years, such as the consciousness raising meetings that proved turning points for many women. Women who had no access to childcare, who couldnt work after they got married, or open a bank account without a husbands signature. While the movement gathered pace into the 1970s, Australia suddenly briefly raced back to the forefront of progressivism when, in 1973, academic Elizabeth Reid was appointed adviser on womens affairs to Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, the first such role anywhere in the world. Reid, who is interviewed in the film, achieved extraordinary advances for women funding for health services, childcare and rape crisis centres among them yet even working within the government, she was mocked by the press for not smiling enough, not wearing make-up, and even not wearing a bra. The coronavirus pandemic hit the UK and the world at the worst time for young people trying to enter the jobs market. Employment opportunities have been limited as businesses focused on survival and adapting to the new normal. This has left many young people on their own at the start of their careers. But, on the upside, it has led to a boom in young entrepreneurship. The pandemic job market Getting a job is tough in any market but the pandemic has limited hiring. Office for National Statistics figures show the number of job vacancies in November 2020 to January 2021 was 26 per cent lower than a year ago. There were also an estimated 599,000 vacancies; this is 211,000 fewer than the estimated 809,000 vacancies a year earlier, prior to the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Many young people at the start of their careers are now competing against each other, as well as older workers who may have become unemployed, for fewer jobs. But not all are settling for this and the situation has sparked a new age of entrepreneurship among 1624-year-olds. Research by website builder and e-commerce tools provider GoDaddy has found that one in ten 16 to 24-year-olds have started their own business since February 2020. Three quarters said there were not enough employment opportunities for them in the current economic climate, while one in five said they had tried and failed to find work in their chosen field. These youngsters arent focusing on the traditional methods of hitting the high street or shopping centres to sell their products and services but are instead using the power of the internet to build their brands. Heres how going online is fostering a new age of entrepreneurship among young people. Thinking big Nine in ten of the 2,500 16-24-year-olds surveyed said having a website, social media channels or e-commerce capabilities, such as online sales and web and email marketing tools, were important for their business. In contrast, the average for UK business founders of all ages is 88 per cent, with only 59 per cent of entrepreneurs over the age of 55 agreeing an online presence is important, according to GoDaddy. Ignoring the potential of the internet could mean lost sales. Being online gives you a virtual office anywhere in the world and means you are always open to provide a more convenient way for customers to shop. This is especially important during lockdown restrictions as they can make contact-free purchases. But a well-optimised and user-friendly website and online strategy can also help you reach customers who you may not have attracted previously through new channels such as social media and search engines Make a plan There is plenty of opportunity to sell your product or service through the internet. More transactions are shifting online as households rely more on deliveries amid shop shutdowns. Office for National Statistics data shows internet sales made up more than a quarter of retail sales last year, rising to a third during the first and second lockdowns in March and September. That is up from a fifth in 2019 and has been rising each year. It is, however, still important to check that there is enough demand or that you can offer something particularly unique before investing time and effort. Have you spotted a gap in the market or can you compete on price, service or value for money? Will there still be online demand for your product once lockdown restrictions ease? Consider what is the best way to sell your product and service online and how to reach the right people as well as any costs you may face such as web hosting or delivery fees. Make sure your online presence is targeting the right customers or otherwise you are effectively just shouting into the world wide web. Your virtual brand GoDaddys research found young entrepreneurs derive 12% more revenue from online sales than the average business owner. Their online sales were reported as having increased 10%, from 32% before the pandemic, to 42% since February 2020. Your website should be user-friendly so customers are encouraged to make a purchase. Language and layout are important as you want to use attractive words and imagery that keeps people on your site. Your website is just one aspect of your brand though. Most customers will start their search for a product or service via search engines, so you will need a well-optimised website using the right language (SEO) and imagery to get featured high in search results. Additionally, monitor and respond to feedback on social media or on review websites; a bad review can be damaging to your brand and create lost sales. Also, think about your email address. A lot of peoples first email may have been setup when they were a teenager but that may not seem professional if you named it after your favourite band or pet. Customers may also feel more comfortable sending messages to an official sounding address. Stay social A website isnt the only place youngsters are relying on to attract business online. Many younger customers will rely on recommendations and make purchases through their social networks. Being available and accessible on these websites helps maintain the personal touch with current and potential clients. That may sound complex and time consuming but GoDaddys Website + Marketing product lets you manage and post content to social media, your own website and send personalised email marketing from one place. Customers of all ages using GoDaddy Website + Marketing product have seen an average increase of 13 per cent in business revenue within 12 months. Sakshi Anand, senior director at GoDaddy UK and Ireland, said: Despite the challenges of 2020, our research shows that young entrepreneurs have managed to make the most out of a difficult situation and have demonstrated the ability to flourish in a challenging economic environment brought on by the global pandemic. In addition to those young entrepreneurs who have already started a business over the last year, and with 91% surveyed as already selling online or planning to sell online, were excited to see what 2021 will bring for our new generation of UKs entrepreneurs. Yes, no matter what Yes, but it depends on variety No, for medical reasons, uncertainty No, principle Vote View Results COLUMBIA With few exceptions, all long-term care facilities in South Carolina must open their doors to loved ones under new guidelines announced March 19. And when they do, hugs and kisses are newly allowed. Under new rules posted by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, nursing homes and assisted-living centers must allow indoor visits, unless fewer than 70 percent of their residents have been fully vaccinated and community spread is high. In that scenario, visits can be withheld from unvaccinated residents only. Other exceptions include not allowing visits with a resident who has COVID-19 or is in quarantine for being a close contact of someone who's sick. The lone circumstance in which the facility can bar all visitations is when a resident or employee newly tests positive. If so, everyone inside must be tested. The lockdown should continue only if testing discovers cases in other areas of the facility. Otherwise, the doors should reopen, according to the new rules, effective immediately. While it's been necessary to protect the state's most vulnerable from a disease that preys on the elderly, it's time to open up, with safety protocols such as face masks and temperature checks still in place, said Nick Davidson, DHEC's senior deputy for public health. "Residents of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, as well as their families and friends, benefit emotionally, mentally and physically from being able to see their loved ones," he said. "The exceptions are rather few, and they're quite limited." DHEC's update follows the federal government further loosening rules that have kept loved ones behind locked doors for the past year. Even after limited visits were allowed last fall, strict social distancing guidelines have mandated 6 feet of separation for the duration of time-limited, appointment-only interactions whether indoors or out, unless a plastic "booth" kept them apart. However, exceptions have been allowed for dying patients and other "compassionate care" scenarios. While the latest rules still don't bring a full return to pre-pandemic visitations, they do mark a big step in that direction, including specifically allowing a long-awaited embrace. Except for compassionate-care visits, rules previously posted by DHEC barred "hugging, kissing, holding hands, or any other physical contact." Then the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services changed the rules. "Facilities should allow indoor visitation at all times and for all residents (regardless of vaccination status), except for a few circumstances," the federal agency wrote last week in guidelines adopted by DHEC. While the federal update still recommended families adhere to 6 feet of separation as the "safest way to prevent the spread of COVID-19," the Medicaid agency acknowledged the toll taken by forced separation and isolation. "We also acknowledge that there is no substitute for physical contact, such as the warm embrace between a resident and their loved one," the agency wrote. That's why the new rules allow residents who are fully vaccinated to touch and be near their visitor, as long as they're "wearing a well-fitting mask" and washing their hands before and after. Visitors still must stay 6 feet away from everyone else in the facility. And while each individual facility can set time limits on visits, they're no longer mandated by DHEC. Gone from DHEC's rules is the 30-minute clock for any visitor without a recent negative test result in hand, who had up to an hour to sit or stand 6 feet away. Also gone from the newly posted guidelines are restrictions keeping out children under 12. Currently, some type of visitation indoor, outdoor or both is allowed at 82 percent of the 688 long-term care facilities regulated by DHEC, while 17 percent are completely closed to visitors. It's unclear what's happening at the seven facilities that did not submit their weekly status report to DHEC as required. That's an improvement from a week ago, when 72 percent of the facilities allowed visitations of some kind. The new rules should "greatly expand" on those allowing indoor visits, Davidson said. As for the exceptions for those unvaccinated, not a single county in South Carolina is posting high community spread, which had been the chief reason cited by facilities not allowing any indoor visitation. It's unclear how many have vaccination rates under 70 percent, Davidson said. Vaccinating South Carolina's long-term care residents and staff began Dec. 28 through a federal contract with Walgreens and CVS pharmacies. Most have had the opportunity to get vaccinated, as the pharmacies have visited every nursing home and nearly all assisted-living centers twice. Third visits should wrap up by month's end, according to DHEC. Nearly 36,300 residents and more than 22,000 employees have received at least their first of two shots. There are roughly 40,000 in each group, according to DHEC. People aren't considered fully vaccinated until two weeks after their final shot. Since October, DHEC's website has posted what kind of visits, if any, the facilities allowed. Newly added to the public reporting this week is the reason facilities are giving if they're not allowing visitation, as directed by Gov. Henry McMaster. The governor said he believes that's an importance piece of transparency for South Carolinians who are eager to see their loved ones and told they can't. They should know why and be able to question whether the cited reason is accurate or an excuse, said his spokesman, Brian Symmes. The weekly online reports will begin reflecting the new guidelines the week of March 30, according to DHEC. DHEC officials invite anyone who thinks their loved one's facility isn't following the new guidelines to submit a complaint, either online or by phone, and the agency promises to follow up. There have been 19,546 confirmed coronavirus cases in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, 62 percent of them residents, according to DHEC data. That's an increase in cases of less than 1 percent in recent days. So far, 1,890 residents and 29 workers have died from the virus, collectively accounting for 24 percent of all South Carolinians who have died with COVID-19. Of the 688 facilities DHEC regulates, there are active outbreaks at 95 of them, which means at least one case has been detected in the past two weeks. That's a 38 percent drop since the beginning of March. Cleve O'Quinn contributed to this report from Charleston. More Americans are eligible for doses States are racing to expand vaccine eligibility to all adults as part of a sprint to meet President Bidens goal of universal vaccine access by May 1. At least 18 states have said they will open vaccination appointments for the general public in March or April. Officials expect a surge of doses to become available in the coming weeks, which should increase the pace of inoculations from the current rate of about 2.5 million a day. In Utah, universal eligibility will begin next week. In Ohio, it starts March 29; in Montana, its April 1; and in Connecticut, April 5. Illinois, Kentucky, Rhode Island, Maryland and Missouri have all said that every adult will be allowed to sign up for a dose in April. Florida plans to open eligibility for all adults in the coming weeks. President Biden said yesterday that the U.S. was already set to hit his goal of administering 100 million vaccine doses in 100 days six weeks ahead of his self-imposed deadline. So far, the country has delivered more than 151 million doses to the states, with about 77 percent of those having already been administered. Colombian Vice Minister of Creativity and Orange Economy Adriana Padilla Leal, in Colombian clothes depicting the mountainous terrain of the South American country, poses for photo, during her visit to The Korea Times headquarters in downtown Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul When John Berkeley died in 1678, he likely had no idea that his name could one day signify a low-key Charleston restaurant serving Northeastern-style food. But Marc and Elizabeth Hudacsko, who are weeks away from opening Berkeleys in the former Uneeda Sicilian space, hope it conveys exactly that. Naming a restaurant is probably the toughest part, Hudacsko said. But in doing some digging, we found out Berkeley County and Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, where Elizabeths from, are named for the same person. It just felt like a cozy neighborhood name. Immediately prior to the pandemic, the Hudacskos operated a pop-up called We Flew South, named for the couples 2016 relocation. At venues such as The Daily and Daps Breakfast and Imbibe, We Flew South gained a following for its cheese steaks, meatballs, clam sauce and chicken parmesan. While a few of those favorites will reappear at Berkeleys, Marc Hudacsko stressed that the forthcoming restaurant wont be so strictly themed. A pop-up needs more of a hook, he said. Were not trying to be a New Jersey restaurant. We want to be an awesome restaurant on the corner of Rutledge and Huger. Hudacsko described Berkeleys as located both physically and conceptually at the halfway point between Moes Crosstown Tavern and Little Jacks Tavern, where both he and Elizabeth Hudacsko worked. Sign up for our food & dining newsletter. We publish our free Food & Dining newsletter every Wednesday at 10 a.m. to keep you informed on everything happening in the Charleston culinary scene. Sign up today! Email Sign Up! She added that the planned lineup of sandwiches and suppers should appeal to neighborhood families. Were not going to not have a childrens menu, Hudacsko said, referring to a strategy popular with downtown restaurants eager to attract an of-age clientele. (Berkeleys will serve beer and wine, but its license doesnt cover liquor.) Because Berkeleys came together during the pandemic, Marc Hudacsko said they were able to develop the restaurant around contemporary concerns. For instance, theyre renovating the space to maximize outdoor seating and only offering food that performs well when given the takeout treatment. The cheesesteak is actually better after a few minutes, he said. Additionally, Berkeleys will have a small retail section for to-go customers seeking locally made provisions to round out their dinners, such as Tiller Baking Co. bread or Jack Rudy Tonic Syrup. The Hudacskos are aiming to open Berkeleys in May, but allow that projected opening dates are never guaranteed. Theyve already run up against a few permitting delays related to the pandemic. John Berkeley, first Baron Berkeley of Stratton, might not have been so cautious. He was the hottest, fiery man in discourse, without any cause, according to legendary diarist Samuel Pepys. A day after the Delhi High Court restricted Future Retail from going ahead with the Rs 24,713-crore deal with Reliance Industries, the Kishore Biyani-led company said that the judgement will not hinder the proceedings before company law court in the matter. On Thursday, the single-judge bench of Justice JR Midha pronounced its detailed order on a plea by Amazon challenging the acquisition deal between Future Retail and Reliance Retail, basis an order by Singapore's Emergency Arbitrator. This judgement provided reasons for the ad-interim order passed in the matter on February 2. The latest Delhi High Court order also barred the deal from progressing, ordered penalties against Biyani and others as well as attachment of their properties, and issued a show cause as to why they should be incarcerated in civil prison for "wilfully" neglecting the arbitration. The court imposed a cost of Rs 20 lakh on Future Group as well as its directors and directed them to deposit the amount in Prime Minister's Relief Fund within two weeks for being used for providing COVID-19 vaccination to senior citizens of Below Poverty Line (BPL) category of Delhi. However, this order will not have any impact on the proceedings related to the deal between Future and Reliance currently ongoing at National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Future Retail stated. "It is to be pointed out that the portions of the operative part of this detailed order, already covered by the ad-interim order dated February 2, 2021, have been stayed by the Division Bench of Delhi High Court in an appeal filed by Future Retail Limited in which the Division Bench prima facie came to certain conclusions. Amazon has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the order passed by the Division Bench," the company said. "The Supreme Court, in its order in Amazon's appeal, has not vacated the stay granted by the Division Bench (which stay is still in operation). The Supreme Court has directed that, in the meantime, the NCLT proceedings will be allowed to go on but will not culminate in any final order of sanction of scheme," it further added. We are advised that this order does not come in the way of continuance of the ongoing NCLT proceedings, being inconsistent with the order dated February 22, 2021, of the Supreme Court, Future Retail stated. The company also said that its promoters will take appropriate remedies with respect to other directions passed by the Delhi High Court. On August 29, 2020, Future Group had announced that its retail and wholesale business, Future Retail Limited, would be sold to Reliance Retail, the retail arm of Reliance Industries, in a Rs 24,713 crore deal. ALSO READ: Future-RIL deal: Delhi HC halts Rs 24,713 crore acquisition; orders attachment of Biyani's assets In October 2020, Amazon dragged Future Group to arbitration at Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), arguing that Future violated the contract by entering into the deal with rival Reliance. On October 25, 2020, an interim award was passed in favour of Amazon with a single-judge bench of V K Rajah barring Future Retail from taking any step to dispose of or encumber its assets or issuing any securities to secure any funding from a restricted party. Future Group, however, turned to Indian regulators to secure approval for its deal with Reliance. The Future-Reliance deal has already received clearance from CCI, SEBI and bourses, and the scheme of arrangement is now awaiting the nod from the NCLT and shareholders. On January 25, Amazon had approached the Delhi High Court seeking enforcement of the interim order of the Emergency Arbitrator (EA) at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) that had restrained FRL from going ahead with the deal with Reliance. ALSO READ: Future Group urges Singapore court to review ruling in Amazon case Walking has never had it so good. What used to be a chore is now the highlight of the day - part of our precious hour of outdoor exercise. It's good for us, of course. Apart from reducing the risk for everything from certain cancers to type 2 diabetes, walking has a positive effect on mental health. 'People say they will continue to walk more when the Covid restrictions have ended,' says Tom Platt, of The Ramblers Association. Ramble on: A walker on the coast path in Northumberland, home to Hadrian's Wall So expect to see demand spiralling for homes near one of our 16 national trails or other scenic paths. Here are four favourites: Wander around Wales Spreading from the cockle beds of Penclawdd on the north of the Gower Peninsula, past surfing beach Rhossili and picturesque villages including Port Eynon, before winding up on Swansea Bay, this 39-mile stretch of the Wales Coast Path is a mass of contrasts. A stretch of the Wales Coast Path close to the village Port Eynon, north of the Gower Peninsula 'My favourite stretch is between Langland Bay and Mumbles,' says retired accountant Cuan O'Shea, 68, who owns a flat in Langland. 'There is a bay around every corner, seals play on the rocks and a drink waiting at Oyster Wharf in Mumbles.' Property prices vary hugely. Detached homes sold for on average 175,000 in Penclawdd last year, according to Rightmove, while the average asking price in Mumbles has risen by 47 per cent since 2015, a larger five-year increase than any coastal area in Britain. A terrace cottage there now costs about 300,000. Slightly inland, Bishopston, with its two good pubs, shops and excellent comprehensive school, has three-bedroom semi-detached homes which sell for about 320,000. It is a short walk to Pwll Ddu, which re-connects to the coastal path. Trevone Bay is one of the popular locations on the path between Padstow and Newquay Cornish adventure In three days after Julia Bradbury's recent television programme walking the path between Padstow and Newquay, estate agents John Bray sold 16.3 million worth of homes. The villages, with their dramatic sea views and surfing beaches, are outrageously popular, none more so than Trevone and Constantine Bay. Other villages, considered a bit tired a few years ago, are also getting in on the act. Dated bungalows at Mawgan Porth are being knocked down and replaced by Grand Designs fantasy homes. Even Newquay, which has been dogged by stories of messy stag weekends, is seeing an upturn. A four-bedroom terrace on Pentire Avenue will set you back 695,000. 'Look inland for the best value,' says Josephine Ashby, managing partner with John Bray. 'St Merryn and Penrose are only a short drive from the coast path, yet their prices are considerably lower. 'St Columb has interesting architecture and is a proper working village. You will pick up a good four-bedroom house for about 400,000.' Thames challenge The Thames Path runs for 180 miles between Woolwich, London and Kemble in Gloucestershire, but the most romantic Jerome K. Jerome stretch is between Henley and Oxford. Henley on Thames (pictured) is overlooked by a beautiful Chiltern landscape of wooded hills and green fields. The average house sale was more than 700,000 last year Here, you will find classic pubs such as The Miller of Mansfield at Goring, where the late pop star George Michael liked to drink, and vast riverside homes. 'Thames frontage adds 30 per cent to the value of a home,' says Nick Warner, of Knight Frank. 'The most prized locations are those with flood plains on the opposite bank, ensuring nobody can build there.' The average house sale was more than 700,000 in Henley last year and Warner suggests buyers look in Wallingford for better value. 'It's an attractive riverside town with good amenities,' he says. 'And it is probably 20 per cent less expensive than Henley.' In Roman footsteps A stretch of Hadrian's Wall near Houseteads Roman Fort. The Hadrian's Wall trail has become incredibly popular over the past year 'The Hadrian's Wall trail has become incredibly popular over the past year,' says James Middleton, regional partner at Garrington home search. 'The most popular stretch with walkers is between Hexham and Haltwhistle.' Humshaugh, six miles from Hexham, has one main street, a tangle of lanes and some lovely old houses. A terrace cottage costs about 160,000. In Haltwhistle, close to a part of the wall that is spectacularly intact, a three-bedroom terrace house can be bought for less than 200,000. The Liberals got their way after they won the 1996 election. As the first step of an educational campaign, it commissioned the first national survey on Australian attitudes about race, and the results werent flattering. It concluded that a substantial proportion of respondents, and hence, the Australian population, hold very negative views toward segments of our society, views that need to be addressed. It also warned that focusing the campaign on racism would be ineffective because many Australians had a hard time admitting that their country could be racist. Those who support racist views see their attitudes as justified. In addition, the report said, those who felt they rarely saw or experienced racist incidents would question the credibility of any message that paints a picture of the Australian community as one rife with disharmony and racist acts. Andrew Jakubowicz, a emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Technology Sydney and an expert on Australian race relations, said in an interview that the survey showed that even to talk about racism made people incredibly uncomfortable, because it challenged their self-delusions about their own beliefs and practices. He believes it was for a similar reason that the government declined to publicly release the research findings until 2011 despite multiple inquiries, including his own public records requests. Instead of talking explicitly about racism, the report recommended a subtle approach centered around shared values. Start with something positive that most people could agree with and get on board with, the thinking went, and then build up to talking about more contentious antiracism messages. The argument that people respond better to positive than negative messaging is supported by psychologists when it comes to other campaigns, like climate change. Finding a new value that everyone could gather around might also lift concerns some Australians held about a loss of national identity as the country gradually moved from a primarily Anglo culture to a more diverse one as new migrants arrived, the report said. That in itself could help in reducing racism. 404 The world's largest container ship, the MSC Gulsun, arrives at the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, in September 2019. Photo by Shutterstock/Catstyecam. Swiss logistics firm Mediterranean Shipping Company has announced the launch of a shipping service that will connect Vietnam and Chinas Yantian District with the U.S.s east coast. To start in May this year, it would be the fastest shipping service from Vietnam and Yantian to the U.S.s Atlantic ports of Savannah and Charleston, according to the company. The ships will sail through the Panama Canal to the Atlantic, the shortest route between Vietnam and the U.Ss eastern seaboard. The service will relieve the pressure on other U.S. ports like Los Angeles and Long Beach, which are currently overwhelmed by an import surge that began in the second half of last year, according to JOC Group, a company that supplies trade information. Data from PIERS, a database of U.S. waterborne activity, shows that the east coasts imports from Asia increased by 1.97 percent in 2020. In the last five years, Vietnam has gradually become a major retail supplier for the U.S. For instance, its share of footwear sold in the U.S rose by 11 percentage points to 29 percent while Chinas dropped 11 percentage points to 30 percent, according to PIERS. Mediterranean is also set to begin a container shipping service connecting Southeast Asia with the U.S.s west coast in early April. It will start in Singapore and travel through Thailands Laem Chabang City, Vietnams Vung Tau City, the U.Ss Long Beach City, and Chinas Shanghai, Ningbo and Xiamen cities, and return to Singapore. An Uber passenger, who horrified social media after she was seen coughing at and assaulting a San Francisco Uber driver in a video, could face up to 16 years in prison. Arna Kimiai, 24, was charged on multiple counts on Wednesday, March 17, the San Francisco District Attorney's Office told local media. One of the felonies she is charged with is for assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury against a transportation driver. The other charge is for first-degree attempted robbery on a transit operator. In addition, Kimiai was also charged with a misdemeanour count of battery on a transportation driver and one count for contravention of a COVID-19 health order, CBS Bay Area reported. If convicted on all the above counts, Kimiai could face $3,000 in fines with up to 16 years in state prison. Also Read: 'F*** the masks': Uber passengers cough on, pepper spray driver The shocking incident came to light on March 7 when Subhakar Khadka, a 32-year-old driver, was assailed by a woman who along with two others hailed his vehicle. Khadka was coughed upon and assaulted by three women who also racially abused him after he denied them service for not wearing facemasks. The attack, captured on Khadka's car camera, shows one of the women coughing in his direction before hunching forward to snatch his phone and then rip off his mask. The women can be seen berating the driver using expletives. The Uber driver also said that another woman then pepper-sprayed inside the car and towards him after leaving the vehicle. Meanwhile, the San Francisco police affirmed that they are probing the matter and asking for help in identifying the women riders. Meanwhile, Uber has said it has suspended the account of the woman who hailed the ride. In the footage, three women are seen sitting in the back seat of Khadka's vehicle. When he pulls over to tell them to wear their facemasks, the women can be heard telling the driver: "F*** the masks." As they continue to scream at Khadka, one of them bends forward to grab his mobile phone before ripping off his facemask. See video here: UBER RIDERS COUGH ON, ASSAULT, PEPPER SPRAY DRIVER Driver Subhakar Khadka, who is South Asian, says he believes he was targeted because of his race. He picked up 3 women in the Bayview yesterday afternoon on San Bruno Avenue. https://t.co/Tzr7kTfyKQpic.twitter.com/f8PiHDZ9CZ a Betty Yu (@BettyKPIX) March 9, 2021 "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," Khadka told CBS. He said that the argument started when he asked one of them to put her mask on, when she refused, he pulled into a gas station so that the woman could buy one. It was then that the women began with their rants insulting Khadka and hurling racial slurs. Following this, one of them even pepper-sprayed him as they left the vehicle. Also Read: Unregistered Uber driver rapes 26-year-old woman in Greater Noida; accused arrested The Uber driver, who moved to the US from Nepal eight years ago to support his family, said, "You guys are animals to treat other human beings like this." "She pepper-sprayed inside my car, from the passenger window that was open a little bit, that was the only window open in my car," Khadka added. "If I was another complexion, I would not have gotten that treatment from them. The moment I opened my mouth to speak, they realised I'm not among one of them, so it's easy for them to intimidate me," he told the channel. "Since you were born and raised here in the United States, don't think the other person is less human," Khadka told the women. Meanwhile, Uber said in a statement that the "behaviour seen in the video is appalling. The rider no longer has access to Uber." The cab aggregator also gave Khadka $120 in cleaning funds. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 Ernest Luning writes on politics, from the serious to the humorous, in his weekly column Trail Mix. Here are a few of his best columns from 2020 to today. Novo Resources (TSE: NVO- OTCQX: NRSPF) Chairman and President Dr, Quinton Hennigh joined Steve Darling from Proactive to share news about the company recently had a major milestone pouring their very first bar of gold at the Beaton Creek Gold Project in Western Australia. Hennigh talked about the production they are expecting moving forward. He also shared with Proactive their plans moving forward. FOREST CITY, Iowa A man linked by fingerprints to a Winnebago County burglary is pleading not guilty. Andrew Jon Sterrenberg, 35 of Forest City, is scheduled to stand trial beginning May 5 on charges of second-degree theft and third-degree burglary. Sterrenberg is accused of stealing about $2,000 in personal property from a home in the 200 block of N 9th Street in Forest City on September 29, 2020. Investigators say Sterrenbergs fingerprints were found on a flashlight left behind at the scene. Authorities say Sterrenberg claimed he had never been in the home and had no idea why his fingerprints would be there. A man is in the Lawrence County Jail for possession of child pornography. The Lawrence County Sheriffs Office arrested Jordan Pace, 21, of Hartselle for the charge on Wednesday. It says the arrest is the result of a collaborative investigation with the county District Attorneys Office. The investigation is still ongoing as of Thursday. Sheriff Max Sanders said of the arrest I would like to thank the Lawrence County District Attorney Errek Jett, the Colbert County Sheriffs Office, and our investigators for their work on this case. I am proud of the job they do daily to protect the citizens of our county. 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. Michigan reported 3,730 new coronavirus cases and 15 new deaths Friday, March 19 -- the highest one-day addition of new cases in 10 weeks The state is averaging 2,339 new COVID-19 cases and 16 new deaths per day over the last week. This is the third straight day the daily average for cases has exceeded 2,000 and the highest such average since Jan. 15. Since the start of the pandemic, Michigan has reported 622,151 confirmed cases and 15,850 deaths related to COVID-19. The state has also reported 65,664 probable cases and 1,007 probable deaths, in which a physician and/or antigen test ruled it COVID-19 but no confirmatory PCR test was done. Wayne County, the states largest county which is home to the city of Detroit, surpassed 100,000 cases Friday, with a total of 100,517 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began. (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, 78 reported new cases Friday. Counties that did not report new cases were located in the Upper Peninsula, including Baraga, Menominee, Gogebic, Iron and Luce. Wayne County led in new cases with 684, followed by Macomb with 549 and Oakland with 505. Other top reporting counties included Genesee with 148, Kent with 147, St. Clair with 116, Ingham with 114, Kalamazoo with 100, Ottawa with 80 and Livingston with 74. Eleven counties reported new deaths, and one county -- Ionia -- removed one death from its total. Oakland reported the most new deaths with three, while Wayne, Saginaw and Clinton each reported two. Counties that reported one new death each included Macomb, Genesee, Washtenaw, Lapeer, Huron, Otsego and Missaukee. (The above chart shows Michigans 7-day rolling average of deaths involving confirmed coronavirus cases. You can put your cursor over a bar to see the number. You also can click on the option just below the headline to see the actual number of new deaths reported by day.) Hospitals across the state were treating 1,294 patients with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 on Friday, including 294 patients in the ICU. Thats a jump from 981 hospitalizations with 249 patients in the ICU last Friday, March 12. Of the 44,526 diagnostic tests processed on Thursday, 7.3% came back positive for SARS-CoV-2. This is the highest daily positivity rate since Jan. 22. The average positivity rate over the last seven days is 6.8%. As of Wednesday, Michigan had administered more than 3.41 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. This includes about 2.2 million first doses and about 1.2 million second doses. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines recommend two doses administered weeks apart, but the Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one dose for full immunization. About 26% of adults in Michigan have gotten at least one dose of vaccine as of Wednesday. 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: 6 reasons that Michigans COVID-19 numbers are surging 26% of Michigan adults now fully vaccinated; see numbers in your county Tell us your stories about heroic nurses and doctors who guided us through the pandemic Ford Field prepares to vaccinate 6,000 a day at mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic Michigan increases stadium capacity, requires more COVID-19 testing for high school sports How Michigan concert halls, bowling alleys and dance clubs have adjusted after a brutal year Silk Road **** Too much government is a bad thing, decides Ross Ulbricht (Nick Robinson), a young 21st century libertine who puts his political beliefs into action by inventing the Silk Road (15A), a dark web site on which anything can be sold although mainly, as it turns out, narcotics. Utilising Bitcoin and Tor, and thus assuring his rapidly expanding customer base of anonymity, Ulbricht creates an Amazon for drugs, and gradually comes to the attention of Rick Bowden (Jason Clarke), a DEA agent whose old-school methods are supposedly obsolete in a world dominated by the latest technology. Adapted by writer-director Tiller Russell from David Kushners 2014 Rolling Stone feature, the story presents Ulbricht as a naive idealist who invented Silk Road in a bid to change the world, but who quickly discovers himself way out of his depth. Thats a generous reading, to the say the least of it, and it means that Ulbrichts descent from idealistic entrepreneur to Scarface-style thuggery is a little too precipitous to ring true, even if Nick Robinson is well cast as the haughty, callow provocateur who is somehow surprised to learn that a website that thrives on selling illegal drugs might quickly be colonised by dealers peddling heroin and crystal meth. Rick Bowdens story, which is loosely based on that of a real-life DEA agent, offers a more satisfying arc: the grizzled Bowden, played as a barely functioning burn-out by Clarke, is far more pragmatic about his own limitations and doesnt attempt to finesse his greed and ambition by dressing it up in philosophical concepts. Tiller Russells script investigates both main characters for what they represent as much as who they are, and the result is a thought-provoking drama that satirises the fundamental human flaws in Ulbrichts on-line utopia while simultaneously mocking the Sisyphean wastage of the War on Drugs. (digital platforms) The Winter Lake **** The Winter Lake: a taut Irish thriller The Winter Lake (15A) opens rather ominously, with English teenager Tom (Anson Boon), recently relocated to the northwest of Ireland with his mother Elaine (Charlie Murphy), out scavenging in the fields for old sheep skulls. When he discovers a sack containing a babys skeleton in a seasonal lake, Tom is at first shocked, then darkly thrilled, and it comes as no surprise when Elaine reminds Tom, who seems very fond of sharp blades, that they have been forced to move to Ireland due to his latest mess. With Toms character locked and loaded, writer David Turpin introduces Holly (Emma Mackey), a confident teen who lives on the next farm over with her father, Ward (Michael McElhatton), and who seems inexplicably keen on cultivating a friendship with the sullen, incommunicative Tom Dont be fooled by the bleak countryside setting (the film was shot in Sligo): The Winter Lake is pure noir, with the bull-headed Tom as the flawed and beguiled hero and Holly a femme fatale whose antecedents stretch all the way back to Medea. Director Phil Sheerin eschews the usual noir conventions instead of dramatic chiaroscuro, for example, the lighting here is entirely naturalistic, as befits the drab rural backdrop and focuses instead on tightening the emotional screw, drawing the respective parents, Elaine and Ward, into a plot that exerts all the malign gravity of a black hole. The result is an impressive feature-length debut from Sheerin, a taut psychological thriller that blends social realism and coming-of-age tropes into the classic noir scenario, with Anson Boon and Emma Mackey brilliantly gawky and emotionally fumbling as the teenage leads. (digital platforms) The Adventures of Wolfboy *** Eve Hewson in The Adventures of Wolfboy The Adventures of Wolfboy (12A) stars Jaeden Martell as Paul, a 12-year-old who suffers from congenital hypertrichosis, which results in abnormal hair growth on his body and face. When his father Denny (Chris Messina) tries to protect Paul from his daily humiliations by sending him to a special school, Paul finally snaps and sets out on a cross-country trek to find the mother who abandoned him as a baby. Here, at last, Paul encounters people as weird and wonderful as himself: the carnival owner Mr Silk (John Turturro), the mermaid Aristiana (Sophie Giannamore), and the pirate queen Rose (Eve Hewson, sporting a very fetching eye-patch) who embroils the unwitting Paul in an impromptu crime spree. Writer, Olivia Dufault, plays up the fantastical elements of Pauls odyssey, introducing each new episode as if it were a chapter in a book of fairytales and populating Pauls world with devils, dragons and similarly exotic creatures, all of which renders Paul a kind of latter-day Pinocchio as he journeys towards what he hopes will be a life-redeeming meeting with his mother. Director, Martin Krejci, frames the story with a deliberately prosaic surrealism reminiscent of David Lynchs early work, delivering an undemanding but charming celebration of diversity and difference. (digital platforms) Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced this week that the countrys National Security and Defense Council had approved a strategy that is aimed at retaking Crimea and reintegrating the strategically important peninsula. Crimea, a peninsula in the Black Sea, was annexed by Russia in March 2014, following a US-backed, far-right coup in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. Map of the Black Sea region Announcing the move on Twitter, Kuleba wrote, The signal is clear: we dont just call on the world to help us return Crimea, Ukraine makes its own dedicated and systemic efforts under President [Volodymyr] Zelenskys leadership. As part of its 3 pillars strategy for retaking Ukraine, Kuleba notably stated that Zelenskys administration sought full Ukrainian sovereignty over not just Crimea but that of the port city of Sevastopol as well, which serves as the home of the Russian Navys Black Sea Fleet. Following Kulebas comments, Ukrainian President Zelensky announced via Twitter the creation of a Crimean Platform Initiative which the Ukrainian government described as a new consultative and coordination format initiated by Ukraine to improve the efficiency of the international response to the occupation of Crimea, respond to growing security challenges, step up international pressure on Russia, prevent further human rights violations, protect victims of the occupying power and to achieve the de-occupation of Crimea and its return to Ukraine. The first summit of the newly created group is planned to take place in August and Zelensky reported having already spoken with the EU, Canada the United Kingdom and Turkey regarding the groups creation. Following the Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union, the port of Sevastopol had been leased to Russia by several successive Ukrainian governments. Its potential loss following the US-backed ousting of the President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 was widely seen as one of the primary motivators in Russia annexing the militarily strategic peninsula. As Kuleba and Kiev are well aware, any attempt to impose its full sovereignty over one of the Russian Navys most important warm water ports on the Black Sea would result in a full-scale war that threatens the outbreak of a third world war. On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced Kulebas and Zelenskys comments as a thinly veiled threat of war over Crimea. All efforts by Kiev to reclaim Crimea are illegitimate and cannot be interpreted in any other way but a threat of aggression against two Russian [federal] subjects. We reiterate that we will consider participation of any states or organizations in such activities, including the Crimean Platform initiative, as a hostile act against Russia and direct encroachment on its territorial integrity," Zakharova said. Kievs escalation of the conflict with Russia over Crimea comes under conditions where the country remains mired in a civil war in eastern Ukraine that has now lasted for almost seven years. The war has claimed the lives of over 14,000 people, displaced 1.4 million and left 3.5 million in need of humanitarian assistance. UNICEF recently noted that millions in the war zone still lack access to clean drinking water and some dont have regular access to any water, even as COVID-19 cases are again rising sharply across the country. The move of the Ukrainian government follows a series of anti-Russian political crackdowns and military buildups that have exacerbated the threat of a full-scale war. In February, the Zelensky government undemocratically shut down three popular television stations run by pro-Moscow opposition leader and oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, on the grounds of national security. Medvedchuk was later sanctioned and Kiev has continued to charge opposition politicians and reporters with treason for backing a negotiated settlement with Moscow over the separatist-controlled regions of eastern Ukraine. The crackdown was predictably condemned by the Kremlin, which argued that it demonstrated that Kiev was attempting to solve the problem of [Donbass in Eastern Ukraine] by force. International monitors in eastern Ukraine have also recently reported a rapid increase in the number of ceasefire violations by both Ukrainian soldiers and Russian-backed separatists. This year, already 10 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed. While Zelensky was initially elected in 2019 on the basis of a rejection of the far-right militaristic nationalism espoused by his predecessor Petro Poroshenko, Zelensky is now adopting a potentially even more reckless strategy. Much indicates that he is being supported in this by the United States. Last week, an op-ed in the Washington Post suggested that Zelensky is desperate to receive a phone call from US President Joe Biden but is yet to receive one. The op-ed backed Zelenskys recent political crackdowns and urged him to move even more aggressively against Russia. Mr. Zelensky now has the opportunity to forge a partnership with Mr. Biden that could decisively advance Ukraines attempt to break free from Russia and join the democratic West. He should seize on it, the papers editorial board urged. Speaking to Politico, a former US official close to the Biden administration was quoted as saying, There is merit to having Zelensky sit and wait his turn for a call. He is not struggling with all his might to fight corruption. In fact, pro-Russian oligarchs in Ukraine have gained immense power since Zelensky took over. So there needs to be tough love with Zelensky when that one-on-one conversation does happen. Ukraine is highly dependent on military aid and backing from the US in its confrontation with Russia. On Monday, the Pentagon announced a $125 million military aid package for Ukraine, the first distribution of aid to Ukraine under the Biden administration. There is still $150 million left in the allocated 2021 Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding appropriated by Congress. However, this money will not be released until the Defense and State departments jointly certify that there has been sufficient progress made by Kiev on military reform efforts. While Biden has yet to speak with Zelensky, on the seventh anniversary of Russias annexation of Crimea the White House released a statement backing Ukraine in the dispute, stating, The United States does not and will never recognize Russias purported annexation of the peninsula and we will stand with Ukraine against Russias aggressive acts. In its reckless military escalation, the Zelensky government is also driven by a deep social and political crisis in Ukraine itself. Its political support has fallen sharply as the countrys economy and health care system have been devastated by COVID-19, with no significant vaccination effort in sight. There is a real danger that the Ukrainian ruling class, driven by a deepening domestic crisis, is trying to divert these internal tensions outward, resulting in a war that would threaten the lives of millions. KAN Development is preparing to open revenues houses in the Respublika and Fayna Town complexes, KAN Development founder Ihor Nikonov said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. "In certain sections in Respublika and Fayna Town we made repairs, furnished them and we will lease them ourselves. We have thought out a set of measures for relations with tenants in order to minimize the risk of damage or non-payment. More surveillance cameras, more control," Nikonov said adding that the sections are not yet operational. Only long-term lease format is provided, he said. According to Nikonov, revenues houses will help reduce the risks of rental housing from the point of view of other residents of the complexes. "Regulating the work with rental housing is a very serious process, first of all, from the point of view of security. Permanent residents do not welcome the frequent change of tenants-neighbors. From the point of view of operation, ensuring a balance of interests, this is a headache," Nikonov explained. According to him, most of the investors, 80-85%, buy housing for themselves. The option of transferring the apartment, which was bought for further lease, to the management of KAN Development has not yet been envisaged. "We do not yet have such a format of services. It is possible, but it should be systematic. It makes no sense to take one or two apartments into management, and if a person buys 100 apartments, then why not. No one will do it better than us anyway," Nikonov said. New Delhi, March 19 : The IntrCity SmartBus, one of the branded intercity bus fleet in India on Friday said that it has expanded to 630 plus routes by widening its presence from Amritsar to Ahmedabad, Varanasi to Vijayawada, and Kashmir to Kanyakumari. In a statement, it said that it is currently operating an all-time high fleet of branded buses and is clearly the widest network of intercity buses by any private player in India. It said that it also plans to add 25-30 buses every month backed by strong consumer traction it is generating due to differentiated experience it has been able to deliver. On the company's footprint and milestones, CEO and co-founder Manish Rathi said: "IntrCity SmartBus as a brand stands for comfort, convenience and safety, and we are happy to now provide it acoss 630 plus routes in India." Rathi said that the Intrcity Railyatri gives a lot of weightage to understand the customer's requirements and offer the best travel experience. "The number of satisfied customers being serviced by us is growing each day and this is one metric which I personally look at the most. This is a matter of pride for us," he said. The company said that expansion to 630 plus routes across India includes more than 300 routes in north, primarily connecting prominent cities in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan with Delhi. It said that there are 270 plus active routes in south India which connects tier two and tier three cities like Vijaywada, Coimabatore, Ernakulam, Tirupati, Mdurai, Vishakapatnam, Nagercoil, Guntur and Pondicherry to Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. It said that the company has small presence in west India with only 60 plus routes but is growing rapidly across Maharashtra and Gujarat. According to the Intrcity Railyatri, the platform currently attracts more than one lakh travelers every month and recently it crossed a loyal base of more than four lakh travelers who take their buses frequently. The childrens clothing section at Uniqlo in China has gained an unexpected new clientele: adult women. In the latest viral challenge to sweep Chinese social media, women pose for dressing-room selfies in childrens T-shirts from the Japanese fashion giant. The trend has ignited a heated debate about whether it promotes body shaming, with experts raising concerns that it reinforces the countrys unhealthy standards of beauty. This is a dangerous trend, not just in terms of a drive for thinness and the pressure this puts on women and girls, but also in terms of the overt sexualization of women, said Tina Rochelle, an associate professor in social and behavioral sciences at the City University of Hong Kong who researches the influence of gender and culture on health. She said that the small clothes are likely to be tighter and more form fitting on a womans body. On Weibo, a microblogging platform, where the hashtag Adult tries on Uniqlo childrens clothing has been viewed 680 million times, criticism is split between those who object to the unrealistic beauty standards the challenge promotes and those who express the more practical concern that women are stretching out the clothes and rendering them unsaleable. As his two predecessors did, President Biden has pledged to end the war in Afghanistan. But also as his two predecessors did, he could end up tragically perpetuating it. Outnumbered by a national security establishment fixated on continuing this misadventure, the Biden team will need courage and clarity if it is to finally disentangle America from what has become a futile struggle. It is fortunate to have an opportunity to do so. Last year, after a decade of negotiation, the United States and the Taliban reached an agreement calling for a complete withdrawal of American troops by May 1. The administration is now attempting to broker peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. That effort should not come at the expense of this commitment. But the administration is reportedly considering a six-month extension of the deployment of American troops. If the United States gets the Taliban to agree to such an extension, those troops become mere leverage in a complicated diplomatic drama. If it doesnt and delays withdrawal anyway, the agreement that has prevented any U.S. combat casualties for the past year dissolves. Regardless, it will be tough to get American troops home by the deadline, as Mr. Biden told ABC News this week. As vice president, Mr. Biden opposed the surge of troops in Afghanistan in 2010. Last year, he wisely recognized it is past time to end the forever wars. His secretary of state, Antony Blinken, asserted two years ago that it was time to cut the cord in Afghanistan. This month, Mr. Blinken insisted military action would be taken only when the objectives and mission are clear and achievable and with the informed consent of the American people. According to polling my colleagues and I have conducted, the American people support the details of the U.S.-Taliban agreement by six to one. Why, then, is leaving Afghanistan so tough? True, the country presents dilemmas: Despite decades of American intervention and investment, it remains weak and poorly governed. Like other weak and poorly governed states, it could attract violent extremists. This is a real concern but not an impossible one to overcome: Mr. Biden will need to maintain diplomatic ties and intelligence capabilities to thwart groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Austen Kroll from Southern Charm is not interested in discussing the rumors about Madison LeCroys involvement with Alex Rodriguez, according to Shep Rose. Rose appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and was asked about the reunion, but also the rumors that dogged LeCroy, Rodriguez, and his fiance Jennifer Lopez. Rumors sparked that Lopez and Rodriguez split due to his involvement with LeCroy. The couple refuted the rumor and said they were still together. Nonetheless, Kroll but also LeCroy are not addressing the drama. Craig Conover, Shep Rose, and Austen Kroll at BravoCon | Dia Dipasupil/Bravo Hes a sensitive guy, Shep Rose says about Austen Kroll WWHL host Andy Cohen asked Rose if he had spoken to Kroll and Craig Conover about the fallout. Austen does not wanna hear about it, Rose said. He really doesnt. He I dont know, hes a sensitive guy. And hed rather just block it out and act like thats the past. And keep it in the past. Although I told him, uh buddy, thats gonna be difficult to do if we continue doing the show, Rose continued. Rose also said he is surprised that his remark about how Rodriguez made LeCroy sign an NDA blew up too. RELATED: Southern Charm: Alex Rodriguez Made Madison LeCroy Sign an NDA, Reveals Shep Rose Kroll and Conover werent in Charleston during the LeCroy drama. They were rumored to be filming Bravos new show Winter House in Vermont. He and Conover then shared a number of videos and photos on their Instagram stories hanging out in New York City. Roses remark about how Kroll feels about the LeCroy drama seems pretty accurate as Kroll probably wasnt watching WWHL. Im finally back home in Charleston after 31 days and put on the happiest thing I could find because Im kinda depressed, he said in an Instagram story. Kroll showed his television and was apparently watching a wildlife program. And here I am. Back at it with the blanket around the neck. Showbiz Cheat Sheet reached out to Bravo for comment from Kroll about Roses remark. Will Southern Charm return? Rose said Kroll will need to get used to dealing with the rumors if Southern Charm returns. Considering the rise in ratings last season and how the show continues to have a life of its own off-season, its pretty likely the series will return for another season. However, Rose shared that the cast has not been given the green light just yet. Im waiting to hear from the powers that be about that, he recently told Decider about whether the show will be picked up for another season. With COVID, who knows, but maybe in a month or two potentially, we would start. #SouthernCharm star @ShepRose opened up about his relationship with Taylor Ann Green and shared that he has deleted all of his past booty calls from his Instagram. #WWHL pic.twitter.com/0YeddXZdYw WWHL (@BravoWWHL) March 19, 2021 RELATED: Southern Charm: Shep Rose Shares Season 8 Hasnt Been Greenlit yet and if He Will Return But I havent decided if Im going to do it yet, he continued. I mean, its a decision every year and it should be treated as such. I think I had a really nice season last year with my little relationship with Taylor. It has crossed my mind that I should ride into the sunset while Ive still got a horse underneath me. Dorothy King, the owner of two beloved Everett & Jones Barbeque restaurants in Oakland and a leader in the Black community, has died. She was 69. Kings mother, Dorothy Everett, founded the Everett & Jones empire in 1973 that eventually grew to several Bay Area locations. But it was King who opened the flagship restaurant in Jack London Square in 1999 and it was known for much more than its tender brisket, smoky pork ribs and sweet-peppery sauce. Under her leadership, it became a vital community hub: a place for live blues, political events and fundraisers, where King also fed the homeless every day. She was a survivor of breast cancer and a stroke, but her health started deteriorating in recent years. Her daughters will continue to run the restaurants. She touched so many people, said her daughter Dorcia White. Its hard for African American businesses to go past one generation and then two generations, and now were the third generation. Born in Alabama, King moved to West Oakland as a baby during the Great Migration. Before she set her focus on restaurants, she was a fierce advocate for the disenfranchised. She was inspired by her own experiences with homelessness, as well as the visible suffering of single mothers in Oakland. In 1989, she worked with the Oakland Union of the Homeless and Dignity Housing West to convert vacant properties into housing for the homeless. When government officials werent responsive, she and other activists kicked in the door of a vacant house and stayed there until Housing and Urban Development agreed to give the building to the homeless for $1. One one occasion, she was arrested for trespassing, but the experience left her unfazed. At Everett & Jones, she continued her advocacy work by hiring the formerly incarcerated, the formerly homeless and others who found difficulty gaining employment. She turned the Jack London Square restaurant into a blues venue at night to help local musicians, and the restaurants reputation as a community fixture led to celebrities and politicians regularly dropping in. Former President Bill Clinton, future Vice President Kamala Harris and Warriors star Steph Curry and his entrepreneur wife, Ayesha Curry, are a few of the big names who have dined at the restaurant. We had debate watch parties; City Council candidates wanted to get her endorsement, White said. If you wanted to be elected, you came through. King never stopped fighting for others. In the past several years, she began feeding more than 100 people experiencing homelessness every day after the Jack London Square restaurant had closed for the night. Dorothy was an icon in our community and in the African American community especially, said Derreck Johnson, a friend who owned neighboring restaurant Home of Chicken and Waffles. The legacy shes going to leave is one of hope, one of aspiration and one to show anything is possible. At the restaurant, she was warm and welcoming to all even perceived rivals. Patrick Davis of KCs BBQ, another long-running barbecue restaurant in Berkeley, said customers always tried to pit the two barbecue families against each other. But he loved going to Everett & Jones to listen to live music. On one visit, King introduced him to her daughter as a customer shouted, You guys should have a barbecue competition! Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. She grabbed our hands and said, Youre only supposed to support and uplift each other. I dont want to hear you guys in competition, Davis recalled. She was really a great lady, open to helping anybody. White described her mother as the ultimate truth-teller, someone who always spoke her mind no matter what. People respected her, knowing they werent going to hear anything fake from King. She was the perfect spokesperson for her business, for her candidates, for social justice, White said. She had a knack for being able to command a room. The Oakland restaurants (at 126 Broadway and 4245 Macarthur Blvd.) remain open, as does a Berkeley location (1955 San Pablo Ave.). A memorial service is being planned for this month. King is survived by her husband, John Jernegan; sisters, Annie Jones, Hellen Bellamy, Mary Everett and Shirley Everett Dicko; brother, George Allen Everett; four daughters; two sons; nine grandchildren; and many other family members, friends, customers and her Yorkshire terrier, Saucey. Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker Meghan Markle revealing her emotionally taxing experience living out her duties as a member of the royal family remains a hot topic. Actor LisaRaye McCoy says she relates to Meghan, sharing similarities that she experienced while she was married to the prime minister of Turks and Caicos. Like Meghan, McCoy says she gave up a huge part of her life to acclimate herself into her husbands world. (L to R) LisaRaye McCoy and Meghan Markle | Jemal Countess/FilmMagic Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images LisaRaye McCoy quit acting while she was married At the height of her acting career, McCoy married Misick. The ceremony was lavish, with the two exchanging vows in front of 300 guests. As the First Lady of the Turks & Caicos Island, McCoy focused on attracting more tourism to the island. She also infused more American culture on the island by creating music festivals and hosting her Hollywood friends on the island often. Source: YouTube Related: LisaRaye McCoy Says Like Tisha Campbell, She Too Walked Away From Her Marriage Penniless McCoy was the star of the hit UPN sitcom All of Us at the time. However, she left her life and career in LA and moved full-time to the island to support Misick. The two split amid rumors of Misick misappropriating government funds and infidelity. For several years, McCoy fought for a divorce settlement but was unsuccesful. She once alleged she left the marriage penniless, having to return to LA to rebuild her acting career. McCoy later admitted that at the time of their wedding, she was not in love with Misick. Instead, she said she felt they could grow in love and that she was attracted to Misick because of his power. The actor says she empathizes with Meghan Markle While holding back tears, McCoy compared the experiences of her and Meghan during the Cocktails and Queens segment of Out Loud with Claudia Jordan. I get it. I understand, she began. I absolutely understand when she [Meghan] said that she had to turn over her passport, and her keys, she stopped driving, she had to have security, and part of your life becomes tunnel vision. McCoy continued, saying, You leave all that you know. You leave all your friends, you leave all your family behind for this whole new world that you want to be accepted in and that you have turned your back on all that you know to become this and when youre not accepted, thats a big ass blow. Not only to your ego, to your self-esteem, but to your life and what your commitment was to your husband to start this brand new life in his place. Source: YouTube Related: Why Actress Lisa Raye Is Pissed off With Eddie Murphys Ex-Wife, Nicole McCoy has spoken out in the past of her belief that Misick did not protect her when things became tough. She praises Prince Harry for stepping in and intervening before things became worse for his family. Of Harry, McCoy said: What I love is that [Harry] love her enough to say Lets go.But to be someplace where you feel youre not supported, youre not accepted, youre not fulfilled, you feel no love, and you gotta hide it, and you gotta be on, come on, you didnt sign up for that Im glad that they got outIm so glad that she has the courage and her husband to be able to stand in their truth and to be able to say it because this is 2021. Were not back in the 1800s anymore. You cannot rule the same way. LisaRaye McCoy on Meghan Markle on Out Loud with Claudia Jordan McCoy insists Meghan and Harrys life will only get better now that they are rebuilding in America and sharing their truth. Explained: How smaller parties are likely to play bigger role in Assam elections? India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Dispur, Mar 19: In the upcoming Assam elections, several regional parties are expected to play a major role as their influence in certain pockets and the alliances they have formed. Some of the important regional parties are the Bodoland People's Front (BPF), United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP), Raijor Dal (RD) and Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM). With the state set for a triangular contest, these parties have tied up with the BJP-led alliance, the Congress-led alliance and a third alliance of the AJP-RD. United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) This regional party in the Bodoland region of the state, came to prominence late last year after it joined hands with the BJP to form the ruling alliance in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). The party is led by Promod Boro, former president of the All Bodo Students Union. It can be seen that he was one of the signatories of the peace and development accord signed by the Centre with different Bodo groups. Force born in Nagpur trying to control whole country: Rahul Gandhi in Assam Bodoland People's Front (BPF) The BPF is an influential party in the Bodoland region that led by Hagrama Mohilary that was in alliance with the BJP and had three ministers in the outgoing government. The BPF recently joined hands with the Congress-led grand alliance. The BPF holds 12 seats in the outgoing Assembly. In the elections to the BTC in December, 2020, out of the 40 elected seats, UPPL won 12, BJP nine, GSP one, Congress one and the BPF won 17 seats. A prominent leader of the BPF and Rajya Sabha member Biswajit Daimary resigned to join the BJP last year and is contesting on the party's ticket this time too. Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM): A new party formed by veteran journalist and Rajya Sabha MP Ajit Kumar Bhuyan. They are contesting from two seats in the alliance. Third alliance The anti-CAA movement in Assam gave birth to two new regional parties - Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and the Raijor Dal (RD) - late last year. The AJP has the backing of the two most influential youth bodies of Assam, the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP). Peasants' leader Akhil Gogoi, who has been in jail for over a year now, and will contest elections from prison, leads the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS). The Raijor Dal party was formed last year by the KMSS and 70 other organisations representing ethnic communities. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 19, 2021, 17:08 [IST] The informal Quad grouping of powers Australia, India, and the has always seemed more like an aspiration than an alliance. The four democracies all have very different economies and interests. They prefer not to make explicit the one thing they share: worries about Chinas rise. Even equally disparate groupings such as the BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa are far more institutionalised. Judging by this months meeting of leaders, however, the grouping may have matured. Most importantly, the four nations seem finally to have realised that to be effective, they need to provide the region not just with a military counterweight to China, but a financial and economic alternative. One big reason for the shift has been the Covid-19 pandemic, which has upended assumptions about everything from supply chains to international cooperation. The most dramatic initiative to emerge from the recent summit was a promise that the four nations would pay for excess manufacturing capacity in India to be used to produce a billion doses of the Novavax and Johnson & Johnson vaccines for use in Southeast Asia. Countries in the region are struggling to acquire the doses that they need; Indonesia may be paying nearly $15 a shot for the Chinese Sinovac vaccine. This is a blueprint for what the needs to do to be taken more seriously. First, many countries in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in Southeast Asia, worry that the is some sort of exclusive club. A joint project directly targeted at those nations should ease their concerns. Second, the Quad nations now appear to understand the form that competition with will have to take. The billion-vaccine project is focused on new directions for finance, new connections between markets, harmonised regulations and new supply chains. However much they may agree on their common security concerns, the Quad countries have previously diverged sharply on economics particularly in terms of how to handle Chinese dominance of supply chains. Now, the pandemic has clearly taught politicians that diversified supply chains are security issues. And that realisation extends well beyond the Quad itself. No country in the region believes that unrestrained economic cooperation with will lead to anything but dependence; nor, after recent events, could any of them believe that the current Chinese leadership will hesitate to weaponise that dependence. These countries arent aiming to prevent Chinas rise, even if that were possible. What they need most is for the free world to provide a robust alternative to China when it comes to trade, institutions, investment and, yes, vaccines. Ultimately, the Quad should focus on giving a well-defined shape to that democratic and inclusive alternative. That will require building out new institutions that help direct finance to countries, fund their infrastructure and induce new multipolar supply chains. One possibility is a development finance institution that helps prepare sustainable infrastructure projects in the for investment by global capital, prioritising those that feed into a broader vision for regional connectivity and which meet their common standards for transparency and inclusion. The working group on emerging technologies the leaders announced, meanwhile, should stake out shared principles on data regimes and digital standards that could then be applied elsewhere in the region and the emerging world. Naturally, the Quad countries must continue to work on deepening their defence ties as well promoting interoperability, joint exercises and shared security commitments. They should expand that remit to issues such as the security of their infrastructure, including domestic power grids. The Quad could also offer an entry point for democracies outside the Indo-Pacific to engage strategically with the region. For example, Prime Minister Boris Johnson talked at length about a tilt to the Indo-Pacific in his outline for a new British foreign policy this week. Cooperating with the Quad would help answer questions about whether countries such as the UK can afford to have a strategy for the region in the first place. But the Quads priority should be the same as the rest of the regions: promoting growth and development that is healthy, rules-based and less dependent on China. The grouping has proved more robust than its critics would have anticipated. Its survived the loss of US leadership under the Trump administration and the departure of its strongest backer, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In and India, both of which had to endure a year of sharply higher tensions with China, cooperation with other democracies has achieved close to a bipartisan consensus. Now the Quad needs to help the rest of the region become more resilient, too. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Every year it seems there are a few prospects whose offer sheets dramatically outweigh their recruiting rankings. In the class of 2016, for example, future Oregon Ducks wide receiver Dillon Mitchell held early offers from Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State, but was a three-star prospect until late in the process. One of this years early candidates is Kings Road Christian School (Georgia) offensive tackle Dayne Shor, a transfer from IMG Academy who missed his junior season due to a shoulder injury. Shor is rated by 247Sports as a three-star prospect and the nations No. 49 offensive tackle. But the 6-foot-6, 295-pound lineman already holds more than 30 scholarship offers, highlighted by Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, USC and others. This week, Shor has begun to announce his five official visits, starting with Oklahoma and USC. On Thursday, the Georgia product indicated Oregon will get one of his five trips: Oregon has not only prioritized offensive line play in the Mario Cristobal era, but have found plenty of success on the recruiting trail with the position group. In the 2021 recruiting cycle, the Ducks secured Adidas All-American Bowl offensive tackles Kingsley Suamataia, 6-foot-8 guard/tackle Jonah Miller and Under Armour All-American center Jackson Light, the No. 1 player in the nation at his position. So far in the 2022 class, Oregon has made the cut list for a number of elite offensive linemen and secured the commitment of 6-foot-9, 360-pound offensive tackle Percy Lewis. -- Andrew Nemec | anemec@oregonian.com | @AndrewNemec U.S. Embassy notes there are no special conditions for telephone conversation between Biden and Zelensky media The telephone conversation between U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will definitely take place, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine said. The Embassy's spokesperson Daniel Langenkemp said in response to a request from the European Truth newspaper that they are convinced that this call will take place. He clarified that Biden undertook a number of obligations in the framework of international cooperation, including with respect to Ukraine. It is noteworthy that the current U.S. administration pays a lot of attention to Ukraine ... Secretary of State Blinken held talks with Minister Kuleba on February 1, almost immediately after his appointment. Defense Minuster Taran spoke to his U.S. counterpart Austin on February 19. Several other high-ranking officials have also already contacted or are planning negotiations, the Embassy noted, and also recalled the support from the United States on the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, as well as the financial assistance provided to Ukraine in the field of security in March. The Embassy also clarified that the United States does not have any special conditions for a telephone conversation between the presidents. The Embassy said that Ukraine is a partner for them, and in relations with partners they do not put forward demands, and there are no conditions for dialogue. They added that they are inspired by how Zelensky had resorted to powerful actions in recent weeks against dishonest interests that still drag Ukraine down. The delay in the telephone conversation of the presidents, as the embassy clarified, is due to Biden being busy with internal issues. President Joe Biden talks to reporters as he departs the White House in Washington on March 19, 2021. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Biden to Meet Russias Putin When the Time Is Right: White House President Joe Biden will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the right time, the White House said Friday. The president will meet with President Putin when the time is right, Karine Jean-Pierre, the administrations principal deputy press secretary, told reporters aboard Air Force One. Biden and Putin have offered competing statements in recent days. The spat started when George Stephanopoulos, an ABC host who used to be an aide in former Democratic President Bill Clintons administration, asked Biden whether he agreed that Putin was a killer. Yes, I do, Biden responded. Biden also vowed that Putin would pay a price for allegedly interfering in the 2020 election. Putin then challenged Biden to a live debate in the near future. Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said Thursday the debate wouldnt happen. Biden was asked a direct question, and he gave a direct answer, and hes not going to back off, hes going to be very frank and very open about that relationship especially when he is asked directly, Jean-Pierre added on Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting on social and economic development of Crimea and Sevastopol, via video conference in Moscow, Russia, on March 18, 2021. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Biden and Putin have different perspectives on their respective countries but in areas they agree, they should continue to look for ways to work together, she said, pointing to the U.S.-Russia New START nuclear arms control treaty that was hammed out in the early days of the Biden administration. But Biden will not stay his hand when he sees Russia carrying out crimes, such as the attempted murder of opposition candidate Alexei Navalny, she continued. From the first phone call with President Putin, President Biden has been clear that the United States will also respond to a number of destabilizing Russian actions, she said. You saw the first such response when [we] announced several actions in response to Russias use of a chemical weapon and the attempted murder of Navalny. As the president has said, there will be more soon and Russia will pay a price for his action. The Kremlin, meanwhile, said Friday that Putin offered to speak with Biden over the phone to stop bilateral ties from completely falling apart over Bidens killer affirmation, the Associated Press reported. Putin conveyed that it makes sense to have a talk to maintain Russia-U.S. relations instead of trading barbs, and he wanted to make the conversation public to help calm the temperature after Bidens very bad remarks, said his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov. Biden told reporters before leaving Washington for Georgia on Friday that Im sure well talk at some point. From 15 to 17 March 2021, the WCO Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme for Customs organized its annual coordinators meeting via KUDO, gathering more than 50 representatives from 17 A-CIP current partner administrations. The workshop aimed at supporting in particular the delivery of WCO A-CIP results through project management skills enhancement among A-CIP coordinators, as well as taking stock of lessons learned and best practices under the Programme over the past year, including adaptations that were made in light of COVID-19. A-CIP partner administrations who joined the Programme last year had the opportunity to provide feedback on the conduct of the Customs Integrity Perception Survey (CIPS) in their country as well as how its results would be utilised. The meetings also included feedback on the remote technical assistance and capacity building activities organised over the past months, especially in the areas of stakeholder engagement, internal control, and building a culture of integrity. An overview of future activities related to human resources management, training institution support and risk management was also provided, all relating to the ten key factors of the WCO Revised Arusha Declaration, key instrument of the A-CIP Programme. During the last day of the workshop, representatives of all 17 current partner administrations were invited to share their ideas and key messages to support and enhance the Programme. There was unanimity among participants that the WCO A-CIP Programme and its objectives are needed now more than ever in the face of global crisis. There were also calls to further enhance the exchanges among the A-CIP coordinators under the Programme to share knowledge and experience as well as progress towards Programme results. As it was underlined by Ms. Nikita Dhawan, representing the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), funding the Programme, the WCO A-CIP Programme offers an innovative results-based approach for Member administrations committed to the fight against corruption. Her words echoed those of WCO Capacity Building Deputy Director, Mr. Ebenezer Gebding Tafili, who emphasized the availability of new integrity-related tools at the WCO, such as the new integrity e-learning module and upcoming enhanced Integrity Development Guide. For more information, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org The Secretary of State Brandon Lewis is set to take action to speed up abortion services in Northern Ireland. It is thought Mr Lewis will present new regulations in Westminster within the next week, which will allow him to direct the Northern Ireland Department of Health to commission more widespread abortion services. Amnesty International Northern Ireland have previously criticised the Health Minister Robin Swann for forcing women to travel as part of a lack of adequate abortion services. Read More Individual health trusts have set up temporary early medical abortion pathways, but Northern Ireland-wide services have not yet been commissioned by the Department of Health. Minister Robin Swann has argued that, as a controversial issue, it is for the Executive to agree to set up the services. According to the Guardian newspaper, the new regulations set to be laid down by Mr Lewis in parliament would impose a statutory duty on the Department of Health, and other relevant bodies, to ensure that full local access to abortions will be available. The new regulations would give the Secretary of State the power to direct the actions of Mr Swann and the Department of Health in relation to abortions. Mr Lewis had previously tweeted that he would welcome a renewed focus from the Executive on the issue of abortion services. I would welcome a renewed focus on the NI Executive securing the abortion services that women and girls are legally and morally entitled to. We should all take our obligations on this issue incredibly seriously - it is a human right to be able to access quality healthcare. Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) March 13, 2021 The DUP's Sir Jeffrey Donaldson hit out at the reports on Thursday. In a statement he said the issue was a devolved matter and that such a move by the Northern Ireland Office to legislate for this issue would be "vigorously opposed". "Any move by an NIO Minister to legislate over the head of the Northern Ireland Executive would raise serious questions about when and in what areas the Government can make interventions in a devolved administration. "Our Party Leader Arlene Foster and myself had an urgent meeting today with the Secretary of State. We underscored that this matter rests with the Health Minister Robin Swann and the Government should leave it with the devolved structures to make such decisions," he added. Responding to the reports, Paula Bradshaw from the Alliance Party said: "I share the frustration of thousands across Northern Ireland that Unionist ministers continue to resist every single inch of progress and deny rights to people in Northern Ireland which have long been enjoyed by UK citizens elsewhere. "Reports that the Secretary of State is having to intervene to have health services for pregnant women delivered on an equitable basis in Northern Ireland as in the rest of the UK, as required in the Abortion Regulations, are just the latest bewildering example. "I firmly believe in devolution, but it requires Ministers who are willing to take responsibility for actual delivery. Hiding behind the lack of legal obligation or pretending that an issue that is clearly within his Departments competence is cross-cutting will not suffice." It comes after a bill to amend Northern Irelands abortion laws to prevent procedures being carried out in the cases of non-fatal disabilities was passed to its second stage in the Stormont Assembly on Monday. Read More Sinn Fein said the issue was the responsibility of Robin Swann and they urged him to "fulfil his legal obligations" in providing abortion services for women. "The legislation is in place and needs to be implemented," said Emma Sheerin. "There should be no further delays in the commissioning of modern health care services." Northern Irelands previously restrictive laws were changed by MPs at Westminster in 2019 at a time when the Stormont administration was collapsed. The laws allow abortion in all circumstances up to 12 weeks. Terminations are permitted up to 24 weeks when there is a risk to the womans physical or mental health. In a statement to the Belfast Telegraph on Thursday evening, the Northern Ireland Office said: "We remain disappointed that the Department of Health and Northern Ireland Executive have failed to commission full abortion services, following the change to the law last March. "We are continuing to monitor the situation closely, including considering further legislative action at Westminster, given the nature of the legal duties on the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in this context." The Department of Health have been approached for comment. Agartala, March 19 : Tripura Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma on Friday presented a Rs 22,724.50 crore tax-free Budget for 2021-22, containing several new plans including for 'Atmanirbhar state', for agriculture and farmers, children and students besides for rural areas. The fourth budget of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government shows a Rs 773.43 crore defit against Rs 511.41 crore deficit of current year (2020-21). Tabling the Budget on the first day of the weeklong Assembly session, Dev Varma, who holds the Finance portfolio, said no new tax is proposed in the budget and the deficit would be covered by better fiscal management, tax compliance, transparency, austerity besides smart tax collections. He said that the government in the budget has given thrust in five key sectors - tourism, information technology, agriculture and allied, health and education sectors. "Emphasis is also given on sustainable development and green technology. More 15,000 hectares areas would be brought under organic farming as against 6,000 hectares existing area. Based on green technology, ten new bio-villages are proposed," he said. A new scheme, "Chief Minister's Swanirbhar Parivar Yojna" has been proposed for "Atmanirbhar Tripura". Noting that a National Law University proposed to be set up in Agartala, Dev Varma said several other new schemes and missions including "Rubber Mission" were also to be undertaken in the new financial year. "Under the Rubber Mission scheme, the state government has planned to take up rubber plantations in new 30,000 hectare areas in the next five years for rapid economic development and proper utilisation of land," he said. Tripura is the second largest natural rubber producing state in the country after Kerala, currently cultivating natural rubber in 85,500 hectares and producing 62,000 tonne annually. "Doubling the farmers' income by 2022 was the motto of the present government. The state government has taken up a three-year plan for the purpose," Dev Varma told the house, adding that for dissemination of latest technology in agriculture, 19 'Krishak Bandhu kendras' have been opened under the different agricultural subdivisions. Later, the Deputy Chief Minister told the media that in spite of difficulties during Covid-19 pandemic, the state government has managed its finances well in such a situation when some state governments have given lesser salaries to their employees and stopped giving dearness allowances and dearness relief, Tripura announced DA to the state government employees and pensioners with effect from March 1. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 CHICAGO (dpa-AFX) - The US Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, on Wednesday said it will inspect the four newly-produced 787 Dreamline jets, stripping off the company's authority to sign off the jets. 'The FAA is taking a number of corrective actions to address Boeing 787 production issues,' the agency said in a statement. 'One of the actions is retaining the authority to issue airworthiness certificates for four 787 aircraft. The FAA can retain the authority to issue airworthiness certificates for additional 787 aircraft if we see the need.' The FAA has tightened the scrutiny of Dreamliners just four months after the agency lifted a 20-month flight ban on Boeing's best-selling 737 Max, which was grounded in March 2019 after two deadly crashes in five months. The FAA also retained its authority to sign off on Max planes that Boeing produced since the grounding. Previously, FAA allowed Boeing to sign off on its behalf, allowing the company to issue the airworthiness certificates. In response to FAA's latest statement, Boeing said it is 'encouraged' by the progress made on rectifying production issues. ?We are encouraged by the progress our team is making on returning to delivery activities for the 787 program,' Boeing said. 'We have engaged the FAA throughout this effort and will implement their direction for airworthiness certification approval of the initial airplanes as they have done in the past.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX BOEING-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de Offaly school has been given the go ahead to demolish prefabs to allow for the construction of a new art room. The Sacred Heart School in Tullamore applied for permission from Offaly County Council to demolish existing prefabs on the south east of the site to make way for the construction of a new single-storey art room and all associated site development. The plans also include the construction of a canopy at the school. Planning permission was granted by Offaly County Council with five conditions attached. News: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath flagged off the maiden run of the Lucknow Metro in Uttar Pradeshs state capital on Tuesday. The doors of development open naturally in a city which has Metro train service, Singh said during the flagging off ceremony. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath promised to implement similar Metro projects in other cities of the state. The first train was flagged off from Transport Nagar metro station by Singh, who represents the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat and the chief minister Yogi Adityanath. The Phase-1 of the Lucknow Metro corridor measures 8.5 kilometers and has over eight stations will be open for public from September 6. In the initial days the metro services will be operational between 6 am and 10 pm everyday. Also Read: Central Industrial Security Force trains 61-member UP Police team for Lucknow Metro Security Managing Director of Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) Kumar Keshav said, The corridor is part of a 23 km North-South Metro corridor which is being executed by LMRC from Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport to Munshipulia. He added that the the second proposed corridor, which is 11 km-long is called the East- West corridor. The Lucknow Metro will also have the most advanced signaling and train control system, called Communication Based Train Control System (CBTC), which will enable trains to virtually operate on driverless mode. Former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav had flagged off the trial run last year. The foundation stone for phase-1 of the North-South Metro Rail Corridor project was laid by ex Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on March 4, 2014 and it took over three years to build the network. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Welcome to the weekend! Immerse yourself in the world of virtual reality, or, if 360 films are too overwhelming, stick to our extended St. Patrick's Day film celebration. Furthermore, we're celebrating Bob Dylan's first album, covering an aerial photography exhibition and touching upon a children's book launch. The choice is yours! 1. Discover virtual reality pavilion - even from home! What: Simulated, three-dimensional experience Where: Neimenster, 28 Rue Munster, 2160 Luxembourg When: Starting Tuesday, 23 March at 10am (until May) - free entry, info here Virtual reality is not just the future - it's happening right now. Thanks to the Luxembourg City Film Festival, PHI Montreal and Film Fund Luxembourg, the public will be able to discover a selection of 360 films, ranging from documentaries, animations and concerts. Immerse yourself in a new world! Also worth discovering is the innovative concept "VR to Go" which offers virtual reality headsets for hire and thus allows you to experience innovative immersive content from the comfort of your home. 2. Relisten to Bob Dylan's first album What: The birth of a folk legend Where: A comfy place with a lovely drink When: Anytime (early rainy morning or late chilly evening) You may be wondering: Wait, what? Indeed, listening to Bob Dylan may not be a self-evident suggestion that would make it on our "What's On" agenda necessarily. But on 19 March, 1962, Bob Dylan released his self-titled debut album on Columbia Records. Actually it didn't receive much attention at all, only charting in the UK three years after its release, but its the start of a legend. His Luxembourg show in 2018 was a disaster (your editor, along with hundreds of other listeners, walked out 45 minutes into the rambling gig), but his recordings to this day are a joy to listen to. 3. See Yann-Arthus Bertrand photography of Bangladesh What: Stunning aerial photography Where: Friendship Pop-Up Store, 33 Grand Rue, L-1661 Luxembourg When: Friday, 19 March and Saturday, 20 March between 11am-6pm - info here For the past 40 years, French environmentalist and photographer Yann-Arthus Bertrand has been travelling the world, taking shots of planet Earth from the sky. This idea of revealing the beauty of our planet would bring him worldwide fame. "Our land is art, the photographer is only the witness", he would say. In his exhibition on Bangladesh, Bertrand captures the vast water landscapes of this rich and diverse country. All of this can be discovered at the Friendship Pop-Up store in Luxembourg City. 4. Attend children's book launch What: Poetic stories and lovely illustrations by Marina Fonseca & Lisa Junius Where: Kulturfabrik, 116 Rue de Luxembourg, L-4221 Esch-sur-Alzette When: Friday, 19 March between 6pm-9pm - info here "Waking the Mountain", published in March 2021 by Editions Zoom, is a sweet and hopeful story about friendship, solidarity and the protection of nature. The warm and colourful illustrations by Lisa Junius and the poetic text by Marina Fonseca take the reader on a journey around the world, making new friends along the way. This event at the Kulturfabrik marks the official launch of this children's book. On this occasion, a signing session will be organised and the original works of the book as well as the sketchbooks will be exhibited. The book will be available for sale, too. Note: 10 people are permitted per 30-minute time block. 5. Binge-watch Success Story What: Luxembourg-based initiatives Where: On RTL Play - info here When: Anytime Are you familiar with the UK TV programme "Dragon's Den"? Budding entrepreneurs get several minutes to pitch their ideas to top business folk who are willing to invest their own cash, time and expertise to kick-start the business. While a little less bombastic in terms of funding and prizes, Luxembourg has its own "Dragon's Den", called "Success Story", produced by RTL. We've translated all Luxembourgish episodes into English, and they're now available on RTL Play here. Some of the candidates are still around today! 6. Enjoy lazy morning aperitif concert What: Soothing end to the weekend Where: Philharmonie, 1 Place de l'Europe, 1499 Luxembourg When: Sunday, 21 March at 11am - info & tickets here Haoxing Liang, Grigory Maximenko, Ilia Laporev and Pascal Meyer, all musicians from the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, are presenting a wonderful Sunday morning programme of Mahler, Schubert and Martinu. Of course, no Luxembourgish weekend concert would be the same without cremant, but this editor is unsure whether the Philharmonie's bar is open...so better have one cold & ready upon your return home for the big weekend brunch. 7. Extend St. Patrick's celebrations with home cinema edition What: Beer, snacks and movies! Where: Online from home When: Friday, 19 March - Sunday, 21 March - info & tickets here The British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg has teamed up with the Irish Film Institute to bring you two Irish films to enjoy online during St Patrick's week: 'The Winter Lake' and 'Wild Fire' can be viewed online from 15 to 22 March (so this weekend is your last chance). Tickets are 9 per film screening. Each ticket allows your household to view the film, unlike in-cinema screenings when a ticket is just for one person. From the time of purchase the film will stay in your library for 72 hours. Cheers! Is there an event you think we'd enjoy and like to share with our audience? Feel free to let us know through audience@rtltoday.lu and we may consider it for next week's agenda. 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. Prison Music Project Zoe Boekbinder, Ani DiFranco and others collaborated on the Prison Music Project, in which they recorded songs written by prisoners at New Folsom Prison in California for the album Long Time Gone. The CAC presents a Prison Music Project concert hosted by Boekbinder and featuring DiFranco, Princess Shaw, BL Shirelle. The viewing link is available Friday, March 26, through Sunday, March 28, via the CAC website. "COINTELSHOW: A Patriot Act" California-based activist and theater professor Larry M. Bogad is the director of the Center for Tactical Performance and co-founder of the Clown Army. His show, COINTELSHOW: A PATRIOT ACT exposes government security operations that spied on Americans, such as the COINTELPRO, which spied on Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and others. Mondo Bizarro presents an online presentation of the work in progress at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 25, through Saturday, March 27. Find links to view the performance on Mondo Bizarro's website. The French Film Festival brings features, documentaries and short films to Broadside March 23-31 The lineup includes more than 20 features and short films exploring francophone culture from Vietnam to Africa Rebirth Brass Band A week after headlining the reopening of The Howlin Wolf, the Rebirth Brass Band returns for two shows on Friday, March 26. The Hot 8 Brass Band, a longtime regular at the Wolf, is in the house for an early show Sunday, March 28. Find tickets at The Howlin' Wolf's website. Mikey B3 Band with Bo Dollis Jr. The Mikey B3 Band, is joined by Bo Dollis Jr., Big Chief of the Wild Magnolias, for a funky set at Zony Mash Beer Project at 7 p.m. Friday, March 26. Find tickets at Zony Mash Beer Project's website. Soul Brass Band Percussionist Derrick Freemans Soul Brass Band plays an afternoon set at the Broadside at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 27. Find tickets at the Broadside website. Tribute reading with Alan Cumming, Ann Manguson, Blair Underwood and others highlights Tennessee Williams Festival events March 24-28 Though Tennessee Williams reached the height of his success relatively early in his career with Broadway and film success in the 1940s and 50 Sinn Fein has criticised a suggestion by Secretary of State that the victims pension should be paid for with funds set aside for the New Decade New Approach deal. Belfast and London have been at loggerheads over who should meet the cost of the Troubles Permanent Disablement Scheme, which has been estimated could reach 1.2 billion. In a series of tweets on Friday, Brandon Lewis stood by his position that the Stormont Executive is well-funded through the block grant as well as its own revenue raising capabilities. However he also said he has taken the exceptional approach of offering access to funds set aside for the New Decade New Approach deal to help the Executive manage the cost of the scheme. However, to enable the Executive to make progress for victims and recognising the higher pressures in the early years of the scheme, I have taken the exceptional approach of offering access to NDNA funds that will help the Executive manage the cost of the scheme. (3/3) Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) March 19, 2021 Among the financial commitments the UK Government made in the New Decade New Approach deal to restore powersharing was 140 million of funding to address what were described as Northern Irelands unique circumstances. This included issues related to the legacy of the Troubles. It is understood that Mr Lewis is proposing that 100 million of this pot could be used to part fund the victims payments scheme. Stormont Finance Minister Conor Murphy dismissed the suggestion as not conducive to finding a solution for victims and also claimed Mr Lewis has refused to meet with Executive ministers on the matter. He contends that as Westminster legislated for the scheme, it should provide funding. Mr Murphy insists the scheme developed by the Government has a wider scope than the version agreed by local parties in the 2014 Stormont House Agreement. The minister suggested that the funding should be spilt, with the Executive covering the costs of what the original scheme would have paid out and the Government paying for the rest. On March 3 I wrote to the Secretary of State recommending that the Executive cover in full the costs of the scheme envisaged at Stormont House, with the British Government funding the rest of the scheme, the Sinn Fein man said. This was a reasonable solution that would provide certainty for victims. In the subsequent two weeks Mr Lewis declined to meet Executive colleagues and I to discuss this proposition. Via social media the Secretary of State has today offered to divert money which is already set aside as part of New Decade New Approach and which is not additional. This is not a constructive approach to finding a resolution for victims. Last month, the Court of Appeal in Belfast ruled that Stormont was under a legal duty to fund the payment scheme for injured victims of the conflict. It made no finding on the source of that funding and gave the Executive and Northern Ireland Office four weeks to agree a solution. A UK Government spokesperson denied the claim Mr Lewis refused to meet with Executive ministers. He has remained in contact with all the relevant Executive ministers on this issue. The Secretary of State has made clear the high priority which he places on having the Victims Payments scheme open and receiving applications as soon as possible, they said. This scheme is a devolved matter, and devolved matters are funded from the Block Grant. However, to enable the Executive to make progress for victims and manage the higher pressures in the early years of the scheme, we have taken the exceptional approach of offering access to NDNA funds that will help the Executive manage the cost of the scheme. This flexibility will substantially reduce the costs in those years where costs are more significant, meaning there is nothing now standing in the way of the Executive delivering the scheme as set out in legislation. State and local leaders breathed a sigh of relief on passage of the American Rescue Plan, with its $350 billion in relatively unrestricted funding for governmental functions. Certainly, many cities and counties battered by COVID-19 as sales taxes, income taxes and other revenues dropped need help. Property taxes, which lag the economy, will fall as property is reassessed. And the hospitality industry and the tax revenue it generates, which support so many medium and large cities, were decimated.The new $1.9 trillion stimulus package allows state and local governments to use the funds to assist public employees, households, nonprofits, small businesses and workers harmed by COVID-19, especially in heavily impacted industries such as tourism, travel and hospitality. It permits expenditures to provide government services to the extent that revenues fell below the most recent full fiscal year, as well as allowing investments in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.The best approach would be to invest in these permitted uses but to do so in a manner that modernizes the way government performs its work. We saw a similar situation with respect to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 , which helped local governments avoid significant public-employee layoffs coming out of the Great Recession. But the ARRA funding ended without many places using it as an opportunity to make material changes in how government operates.One example to the contrary highlights the opportunity now. As ARRA funding was ending, New York City invested in digital water meters. With the new technology, the city could more quickly detect leaks, identify pipes in need of repair and alert residents to service issues. Rather than simply filling a financial hole, the city invested in a transformational change that improved responsiveness and sustainability. So what would it look like to use the new funding to move beyond simply plugging operational deficits to driving operational excellence?With federal regulators approval, city officials deciding how to use the federal relief funds should deploy the money in a way that modernizes public work while improving services for the long term. Put another way, in conjunction with backfilling revenue shortfalls, policymakers should strive to leverage the funding to create meaningful value for residents over time. These investments might include the following:Cities too frequently send their workers out on routine service calls rather than utilizing predictive analytics to identify unusual trends. Using data analytics to anticipate problems earlier allows cities to invest resources at the point where they can make the most difference.Public employees need to find better ways to capture community input. Chicagos 311 system combines modern software with a GIS capability that allows community groups to not only understand localized trends but to respond. These GIS layers allow the connection of different events so that communities can identify what causes specific issues.As cities contemplate how to return their cores and neighborhoods to their pre-pandemic vibrancy, they should look for ways to best use the lessons from the pandemic to support mobility, urban space planning and hospitality. For example, rather than thinking about the legacy (and competing) silos of bikes, on-street parking, scooters and cafes as separate uses, they should use technology tools to better manage curbs and sidewalks just one item of city-owned infrastructure that can be redeployed as an asset.The federal legislations specific reference to water and sewer infrastructure investments creates compelling opportunities. Faced with the twin challenges of hundreds of billions of dollars in unfunded infrastructure needs and an emerging affordability crisis, water and sewer systems need to rapidly innovate and automate. While some utilities may choose to spend money on core infrastructure (which might be the optimal investment in a system dealing with water safety issues or lead pipes), the available funding cant possibly solve infrastructures long-term funding gap and service affordability issues. The investment options are numerous, including green infrastructure, energy management, remote monitoring tools, and predictive maintenance tools such as vibration and oil analysis for large equipment.While the pandemic laid bare the digital divide in K-12 education, the end of the pandemic will not eliminate that challenge. Working collaboratively, local government and schools (which also received pandemic-related funding) have a unique opportunity to ensure that all students have adequate digital access, even as we return to in-person learning. The most effective solutions are likely to involve multi-party collaboratives and public-private partnerships that seek to leverage the needs and expertise of various stakeholders. Broadband solutions that serve multiple users, potentially including commercial partners, are likely to be the most sustainable and cost-effective.While the transition was painful, public entities have shown incredible adaptability during the last year. Service and cost-saving innovations that might have previously been seen as impossible or requiring years to implement enhanced online resident services as well as the efficiencies and worker benefits of government employees working from home were suddenly achievable because there was no other option. Local governments should build on those solutions for the future.Federal funding can be thought of as filling a leaky bucket. Or it can be used to create a newer, more modern bucket and then filling it in ways that enhance public services and governmental efficiency for the post-pandemic future. We advocate the latter.GoverningGoverning Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), Goonhilly Earth Station (GES) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a collaboration agreement for Commercial Lunar Mission Support Services at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs today. This innovative commercial partnership for exploration aims to develop a European lunar telecommunications and navigation infrastructure, including the delivery of payloads and nanosats to lunar orbit. Credit: SSTL ESA's Lunar Pathfinder mission to the moon will carry an advanced satellite navigation receiver, in order to perform the first ever satnav positioning fix in lunar orbit. This experimental payload marks a preliminary step in an ambitious ESA plan to expand reliable satnav coverageas well as communication linksto explorers around and ultimately on the moon during this decade. Due for launch by the end of 2023 into lunar orbit, the public-private Lunar Pathfinder comsat will offer commercial data relay services to lunar missionswhile also stretching the operational limits of satnav signals. Navigation satellites like Europe's Galileo constellation are intended to deliver positioning, navigation and timing services to our planet, so most of the energy of their navigation antennas radiates directly toward the Earth disc, blocking its use for users further away in space. "But this is not the whole story," explains Javier Ventura-Traveset, leading ESA's Galileo Navigation Science Office and coordinating ESA lunar navigation activities. "Navigation signal patterns also radiate sideways, like light from a flashlight, and past testing shows these antenna 'side lobes' can be employed for positioning, provided adequate receivers are implemented." Just like people or cars on the ground, satellites in low-Earth orbit rely heavily on satnav signals to determine their orbital position, and since ESA proved higher-orbit positioning was possible, a growing number of satellites in geostationary orbit today employ satnav receivers. The complete Galileo constellation will consist of 24 satellites along three orbital planes, plus two spare satellites per orbit. The result will be Europes largest-ever fleet, providing worldwide navigation coverage. Credit: ESA-P. Carril But geostationary orbit is 35 786 km up, while the moon is more than ten times further away, at an average distance of 384 000 km. In 2019 however, NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission acquired GPS signals to perform a fix and determine its orbit from 187 166 km away, close to halfway the Earth-moon distance. Javier adds: "This successful experimental evidence provides us high confidence since the receiver we will embark on Lunar Pathfinder will have a significantly improved sensitivity, employ both Galileo and GPS signals and will also feature a high-gain satnav antenna." This high sensitivity receiver's main antenna was developed through ESA's General Support Technology Programme, with the receiver's main unit developed through ESA's Navigation Innovation and Support Programme, NAVISP. The receiver project is led by ESA navigation engineer Pietro Giordano: "The high sensitivity receiver will be able to detect very faint signals, millions of times weaker than the ones received on Earth. The use of advanced on-board orbital filters will allow to achieve unprecedented orbit determination accuracy on an autonomous basis." Navigation satellites such as Europe's Galileo, the US GPS, Russias Glonass or their Japanese, Chinese and Indian counterparts aim their antennas directly at Earth. Any satellite orbiting above these constellation can only hope to detect signals from over Earths far side, but the majority are blocked by the planet. For a position fix, a satnav receiver requires a minimum of four satellites to be visible, but this is most of the time not possible if based solely on front-facing signals. Instead, satnav receivers in higher orbits can make use of signals emitted sideways from navigation antennas, within what is known as side lobes. Just like a flashlight, radio antennas shine energy to the side as well as directly forward. Credit: ESA Lunar Pathfinder's receiver is projected to achieve positioning accuracy of around 100 mmore accurate than traditional ground tracking. The availability of satnav will allow the performance of 'Precise Orbit Determination' for lunar satellites, notes Werner Enderle, Head of ESA's Navigation Support Office: "Traditional orbit determination for lunar orbiting satellites is performed by radio ranging, using deep space ground stations. This Lunar Pathfinder demonstration will be a major milestone in lunar navigation, changing the entire approach. It will not only increase spacecraft autonomy and sharpen the accuracy of results, it will also help to reduce operational costs." While lunar orbits are often unstable, with low-orbiting satellites drawn off course by the lumpy mass concentrations or 'mascons' making up the moon , Lunar Pathfinder is planned to adopt a highly-stable 'frozen' elliptical orbit, focused on the lunar south polea leading target for future expeditions. Earthand its satnav constellationsshould remain in view of Lunar Pathfinder for the majority of testing. The main challlenge will be overcoming the limited geometry of satnav signals all coming from the same part of the sky, along with the low signal power. A high-definition image of the Mars Australe lava plain on the moon taken by Japans Kaguya lunar orbiter in November 2007. Credit: JAXA/NHK Lunar Pathfinder's demonstration that terrestrial satnav signals can be employed to navigate in lunar orbits will be an important early step in ESA's moonlight initiative. Supported through three ESA Directorates, moonlight will go on to establish a Lunar Communication and Navigation Service. "Over this coming decade, ESA aims to contribute to building up a common communications and navigation infrastructure for all lunar missions based on dedicated lunar satellites," explains Bernhard Hufenbach, managing commercialisation and innovation initiatives for space exploration at ESA. "moonlight will allow to support missions that cannot use Earth satnav signals, such as landers on the far side and is planning to cover the current gap towards the needs expressed by the Global Exploration community, targeting positioning accuracy below 50 metres." Lunar exploration relies on the extensive expertise that is on hand across ESA. As a new lunar economy emerges, it will create new opportunities involving robots, habitats and transportation. Missions to the moon share similar communication and navigation needs that could be satisfied using a constellation of lunar satellites. Under the agencys "Moonlight" initiative, ESA is exploring with industry the necessary technical solutions along with delivery models for the provision of lunar telecommunication and navigation services. Credit: ESA - European Space Agency As well as facilitating lunar exploration, these satnav signals might one day become a tool for science in their own right, used, for example, to perform reflectometry across the lunar surface; sounding the scant dusty 'exosphere' that surrounds the moon or by providing a common time reference signal across the moon, to be used for fundamental physics or astronomy experiments. So as well as marking a first in the history of satellite navigation, Javier notes that Lunar Pathfinder's satnav experiment will have larger consequences: "This will become the first ever demonstration of GPS and Galileo reception in lunar orbit, opening the door to a complete way to navigate spacecraft in deep space, enabling human exploration of the moon." Explore further Video: Connecting Earth with the moon SAN DIEGO (AP) House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Monday during a visit to El Paso, Texas, that, It's more than a crisis. This is human heartbreak. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday called the wave of migrants a difficult challenge but nothing new. Spin and semantics aside, migration flows to the U.S. from Mexico are surging in a major way for the third time in seven years under Republican and Democratic presidents and for similar reasons. HOW HAVE FLOWS CHANGED SINCE JOE BIDEN BECAME PRESIDENT? Border encounters a widely-used but imperfect gauge that tells how many times U.S. authorities came across migrants rose sharply during Donald Trump's final months as president, from an unusually low 17,106 last April to 74,108 in December. Last month, encounters topped 100,000 for the first time since a four-month streak in 2019. That's only part of the picture, though. Who's crossing is just as important a gauge as how many are making the attempt, if not even more. Mexican adults fueled last year's rise, a throwback to one of the largest immigration waves in U.S. history, from 1965 through the Great Recession of 2008. Last March, the Trump administration introduced pandemic-related powers to immediately expel people from the United States without an opportunity to seek asylum. Facing no consequences, Mexican men kept trying until they made it. The percentage of encounters that were repeat crossers hit 38% in January, compared to a 7% rate in the 12-month period that ended in September 2019. The recidivism rate was 48% among Mexican adults during one two-week stretch last year in San Diego. Families and children traveling alone, who enjoy more legal protections and require greater care, became a bigger part of the mix after Biden took office. They accounted for 29% of all encounters in February, up from 13% two months earlier. The Border Patrol encountered 561 unaccompanied children on Monday, up from an average daily peak of 370 during Trump's presidency in May 2019 and 354 during a peak in Barack Obama's presidency in June 2014. A U.S. official provided Monday's total to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it was not intended for public release. The daily average was 332 in February, up 60% from a month earlier. WHY ARE FAMILIES AND CHILDREN SUDDENLY COMING NOW? Trump, responding to a massive increase in Central American families and children that peaked in May 2019, expanded his Migrant Protection Protocols policy to force asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court. It was unquestionably effective at deterring asylum less than 1% have won their cases, according to Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse but asylum-seekers were exposed to violence in Mexico, as documented by advocacy group Human Rights First and others. Attorneys were extremely difficult to find in Mexico. Other Trump-era policies included fast-track asylum proceedings inside U.S. Customs and Border Protection holding facilities, where access to attorneys was next to impossible. Agreements were struck with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador for the U.S. to send asylum-seekers to the Central American countries with an opportunity to seek protection there instead. Biden quickly jettisoned those Trump policies as cruel and inhumane, making good on campaign promises. He has kept in place Trump's pandemic-related expulsion powers but exempted children traveling alone. Biden wants Congress to give $4 billion to address root causes of migration in Central America such as poverty and violence, which have driven people to the U.S. for decades, including a surge of children in 2014. WHAT IS THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION DOING? In addition to ending Trump policies and seeking foreign aid, the Biden administration wants to speed the release of children to parents, relatives and others in the United States, avoiding detention conditions that drew widespread criticism during surges in 2014 and 2019. The administration was scheduled to begin processing unaccompanied children as early as Wednesday at the Dallas Convention Center, days after establishing a makeshift facility in Midland, Texas. The U.S. official who spoke to the AP said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was looking at additional holding facilities at Moffett Federal Airfield, near San Francisco, and in Pecos, Texas, as well as expanding into Donna, Texas, in a joint effort with Customs and Border Protection. Nearly 1,900 of about 2,500 unaccompanied children in custody in the Rio Grande Valley on Monday were there longer than the 72-hour limit established in agency policy, the official said. About seven of every 10 encounters in February resulted in expulsion under pandemic powers, limiting need for detention space. Mexican and Central American adults and families were sent back to Mexico. Mexican authorities have resisted taking back Central American families from Texas' Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings, prompting U.S. authorities to fly them to El Paso, Texas, and San Diego to be expelled. Others picked up at the border may be released in the United States with notices to appear in immigration court. The Biden administration is also stepping up efforts to have children apply for asylum from their homes in Central America instead of making the dangerous journey to the U.S. border. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 beady-eyed shark surrounding its prey is a typical phase known to some ocean enthusiasts. Except this fascinating circling behavior is not all it appears to be, according to recent research that has noticed sea turtles, whales, and penguins also swimming in circles. Marine Megafauna Demonstrates Identical Circling Behavior The University of Tokyo, Japan marine biologist and lead author of the study Tomoko Narazaki explained that they have discovered a broad variety of marine megafauna demonstrating identical circling behavior, in which animals circled sequentially at a fairly steady speed more than twice. Tracing their activities in three dimensions and watching when and where tailed creatures were willing to circle, the scientists have emerged with a legion of likely reasons why. Though of course, the study brings up more likelihoods to examine than it has answers, so let's get into it. The scientists initially observed these incredible circling characters in green sea turtles, which had been tracked and marked using 3D data loggers as an inclusion in another research. Narazaki explained that he doubted his eyes when he initially looked up the data because the turtle circles so steady, exactly like a machine. Narazaki has also researched on why sea turtles swim so sluggishly. Read More: The Mysterious, Violent Purpose Behind the Narwhal's 'Unicorn' Tusk [VIdeo] 19 Creatures Traced He said when he got back in his lab, he reported this intriguing finding to his colleagues who use the exact data loggers to research a broad range of marine megafauna taxa. What they discovered was that sea turtles were not on their own: penguins, sharks, and whales demonstrated more or less the exact circling actions as well To research this wide range of marine animals, the scientists cooperated with field volunteers and local scientists in Japan, the Comoro Islands off the east coast of the Crozet Archipelago, and Africa further south in the Indian Ocean, with some assistance from the British Antarctic Survey also. They traced 19 creatures in total, including king penguins, Antarctic fur seals, goose-beaked whales, a whale shark, and tiger sharks. Prior to this, marine life has been traced wide and far, but either horizontally across the ocean surface or down to high-pressure depths with the use of depth satellite tags or scribes. Documented Circling Scenes The kinds of multiple-sensor data loggers of which this research group used, have now rendered it practical for scientists to assess fine-scale animal activities across depth, longitudes, and latitudes, and down to a duration-scale of seconds - a remarkable feat in the world's expansive oceans. You'd imagine swimming in a direct line would be the best effective means to move about - and it is, from the standpoint of conserving energy. Though in a wide ocean that has blue in all paths, animals are creating a beeline from one spot to another may be swimming directly past a banquet of an opportunity, so better be curious, and circle. Many of the circling scenes were documented in places where the animals normally forage for food. For example, Galeocerdo cuvier (four tiger sharks) marked off the coast of Hawaii circled up to 30 times and down to almost 426 ft (130 meters) in their feeding arena. Related Article: Mystery Solved: Scientists Identify Weird Monstrous Sea Creature in Indonesia For more news, updates about animals swwimimg in circle and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! Advertisement Rare photographs of San Francisco's Chinatown in the late 1800s have been brought to life in colour, showcasing the USA's rich Asian-American history as the threat of hate crimes against the community is prevalent in 2021. The photographs were taken by German-American photographer Arnold Genthe whilst on a visit to Chinatown. Arnold became fascinated with this area of the city after moving to San Francisco to become a tutor. But in 1906, San Francisco was struck by one of the worst earthquakes in the US' history. Measuring eight-point-three on the Richter scale, the earthquake destroyed 80 per cent of the city including Chinatown. Arnold's photographs are the only known images of the area before the catastrophe that killed over 3,000 people. Pictured: A group of men walk down the street in San Francisco's Chinatown in a rare colorised photograph from the 1890s. The men are shown wearing dark-coloured traditional Chinese male changshans - a form of dress robe. The photographs showcase the USA's rich Asian-American history as the threat of hate crimes against the community is prevalent in 2021 The photographs were taken by German-American photographer Arnold Genthe whilst on a visit to Chinatown in the city. Arnold became fascinated with this area of the city after moving to San Francisco to become a tutor. Picture left: A man stands outside a shop in Chinatown. Chinese lettering hangs above him, while a busy street is seen behind him. Right: A Chinese shoemaker, wearing traditional clothing, leans on a railing as he takes a break in Chinatown Pictured: A group of male customers queue at a lily street vendor's stall to purchase flowers in San Francisco's Chinatown. The vendor stands at the front of the queue holding a bunch of flowers, while a woman dressed in pink with a flower hat is seen pushing a pram behind the group while looking at the flowers In one image, a group of men walked along the city streets in 1896 wearing dark-coloured traditional Chinese male changshans - a form of dress robe. In another, two young girls held on to their mother's hand as they navigated the region's streets amidst buildings adorned with Chinese lanterns. Others showed a group of men lining up to buy flowers from the local lily vendor, and a shoe maker smoking through a Chinese tobacco pipe outside of his store. San Francisco's Chinatown, established in 1848, is the oldest in the United States. It is one of the most significant Chinese cultural hubs outside of Asia, and today it is a major tourist attraction that brings in more visitors than the Golden Gate Bridge. But it also gained a reputation for vice, with gangs, who ran 'Tongs', and prostitution rings operating in the area during the late period of the California gold rush. Pictured: One of Chinatown's bustling streets. A woman is seen walking across the road at an intersection hold a young child's hand, with shops displaying Chinese lettering in the background. One man, who has spotted the photographer, smiles for the camera as he crosses the road Pictured: Children on the streets of Chinatown have their photographs taken by photographer Arnold Genthe in the 1890s. His pictures often show children walking through the area's streets, often with their parents, but in some cases without adults. Left: A young child has their photograph taken on the street in Chinatown. Right: Two young children have their first ever photograph taken by Arnold Genthe in the 1890s as they walk up the road holding hands Pictured: A group of children play outside the doors to a building in San Francisco's Chinatown. The three girls all have long plaited hair running down their backs that is almost touching the floor, as they talk to another boy wearing a traditional hat. To the left, another younger boy wearing what appears to be a suit and a flat cap, is seen watching the group Around the time the photographs were taken, Chinatown's exotic and infamous reputation began to attract tourists, with local guides emphasising the vice-ridden elements found in the area and encouraging visitors to take a professional guide with them or a police escort as they ventured through the streets. However, the tours often included staged reenactments, exacerbating the area's reputation as problematic, meaning deeper issues of poverty, racial discrimination and problems with overcrowding were ignored. Chinatown suffered a string of disasters. The first was when a Chinese-born man was found dead of the bubonic plague in March 1900, leading to the whole of the area to be quarantined and the police force preventing people from Asian heritage from either entering or leaving the area. But in 1906, San Francisco was struck by one of the worst earthquakes in the US' history. Measuring eight-point-three on the Richter scale, the earthquake destroyed 80 per cent of the city including Chinatown. Pictured: Children and their parent cross the road in Chinatown. Opposite the street, a row of shops with Chinese lettering can be seen lining the road on a hill The images give insight into the clothes worm by the people living in Chinatown during the late 1890s. Many of the men in the photographs are shown wearing dark-coloured traditional Chinese male changshans - a form of dress robe. Left: A street merchant walks down the road in Chinatown. Left: A young Chinese boy holds his parent's hand as they walk down the street Pictured: Young children and their families queue at the side of the street. San Francisco's Chinatown has the largest Chinese cultural identity outside of Asia, and today it is a major tourist attraction that brings in more visitors than the Golden Gate Bridge, which can be seen from the area The 1906 earthquake and subsequent fire laid waste to huge swathes of San Francisco, including the city's Chinatown Eventually, the lockdown was lifted, and a federal court ruled that public health officials could not close Chinatown without any proof that Chinese Americans were any more susceptible to the plague than others. But then in 1906, the whole neighbourhood was destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fire that levelled most of the city. Despite opposition and a push to relocate, Chinatown was rebuilt where it is today. By 1947 - after the Second World War that for people of Chinese origin was preceded by Japan attacking the Manchurian city of Mukden, Chinatown had again established itself as a central tourist destination and a rapidly developing community. The town has been an important and influential part of the history and culture of Chinese immigrants to North America, and to this day continues to retain its customs, languages, places of worship, social venues and identity. The release of the photographs comes at a time when the issue of hate crimes against the community is at the forefront of national debate after a shooting spree left six Asian American women dead. Pictured: San Francisco police officer William Ma walks down the middle of the street while on a foot patrol in Chinatown on March 18, 2021. The release of the photographs comes at a time when the issue of hate crimes against the community is at the forefront of national debate after a shooting spree left six Asian American women dead San Francisco Police patrol their beat in Chinatown in San Francisco, California, USA, 18 March 2021. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have said they will meet with Asian-American leaders on Friday when they visit Atlanta, Georgia, as the trip shifted from politics to personal after the shooting Pictured: Signs against violence against Asians is posted in front of a store in Chinatown on March 18, 2021 in San Francisco, California President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have said they will meet with Asian-American leaders on Friday when they visit Atlanta, Georgia, as the trip shifted from politics to personal after the shooting. The president and vice president were already scheduled to be in the city for their 'Help is Here' tour - a way the administration is promoting its $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. But the trip shifted tone after Tuesday's trio of shootings at Atlanta spas left eight dead. Instead, a meeting was set up with Asian-American state legislators and community advocates. They will meet with Asian-American leaders at Emory University and Biden will give remarks, where he is expected to address the surge in hate crimes. There were nearly 3,800 incidents against Asian Americans in the last year, the group Stop AAPI Hate reported, and 68 per cent of those were against women. In January 2021, In New York, Seattle and San Francisco, where businesses and restaurants have suffered for months as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Chinatown marked a year since it first started feeling the effects of the global outbreak, that continues to this day. In the early days on the pandemic, as fear grew that the virus first reported in China would spread to the United States, growing anti-Chinese sentiment caused people to avoid the district, causing harm to the communities' economies even before the first American case of COVID-19 was confirmed. The impact worsened as former President Trump continuously branded COVID-19 the 'China virus' or 'plague'. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with Asian-American leaders Friday when they visit Atlanta, Georgia The oldest Chinatown in the United States, has been fighting against closures due to the Covid-19 Asian American small businesses have been among the hardest hit by the economic downturn during the pandemic. While there was a 22 percent decline in all small business-owner activity nationwide from February to April, Asian American business-owner activity dropped by 26 percent, according to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Despite the younger generations coming to the communities' aid, the promise of a faster vaccine rollout, and the aid of donations and loans, Chinatown businesses are still daunted by the uphill battling facing them in surviving 2021. Govt should deploy all resources in saving lives than in building PM Modi's new house: Priyanka Gandhi Countless lives lost due to Centre's negligence; it must be held accountable: Priyanka Gandhi Priyanka tweets collage of PM Modi, Gadkari in khaki shorts to take a dig over 'ripped jeans' remark India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Mar 18: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi took a dig at BJP leaders over the 'ripped jeans' controversy, posting photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. "Oh my God!!! Their knees are showing," she wrote, sharing the photos on Twitter of PM Modi, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat in khaki shorts. Oh my God!!! Their knees are showing #RippedJeansTwitter pic.twitter.com/wWqDuccZkq Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) March 18, 2021 Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat had stirred a controversy on Tuesday when he said that due to a lack of values, young people, including women, follow strange fashion trends these days by wearing jeans rippe Rawat said due to a lack of values, youngsters these days follow strange fashion trends and consider themselves to be big shots after wearing jeans ripped at the knees, while women also follow such trends. He said youngsters go to the market to buy ripped jeans and if they do not find one, they cut their jeans using scissors. Rawat went on to describe the attire of a woman, who once sat next to him on a flight. He said the woman was wearing boots, jeans ripped at the knees and several bangles in her hands with two children travelling with her. "She runs an NGO, goes out in the society and has two children, but she wears jeans ripped at the knees. What values will she impart?" he asked. Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said he was "shocked" by Rawat's statement. The United States national flag flies at half-staff over the White House in Washington, DC, USA, March 18, 2021. EPA-Yonhap President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered the U.S. flag to be flown at half-staff in honor of the eight people killed in a series of shootings at Atlanta-area spas this week. He issued a proclamation saying flags at all public buildings, grounds, military and diplomatic posts must be flown at half-staff through sunset Monday. "To the loved ones of those we lost on Tuesday, know the nation mourns with you," Biden said Thursday in a tweet announcing the decision. Robert Aaron Long, who police say confessed to all three shooting attacks, was supposed to be arraigned in Cleveland County court Thursday but the hearing was canceled after a request from Long's attorney. It wasn't initially reported when a new arraignment hearing might occur. Formal charges were filed against Long on Wednesday. He faces eight counts of murder for all the dead victims and one count of aggravated assault for injuring a man at Young's Asian Massage in Acworth. The other attacks occurred at Gold Spa and Aromatherapy Spa, both located in northeast Atlanta. Investigators say Long admitted to being the gunman in all three attacks, which occurred within close proximity to one another and all were reported to police within an hour. Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Charles Hampton told reporters Thursday afternoon that police were working to determine a motivation for the shootings. Speaking specifically of the four unnamed victims at the two spas in Atlanta, he said: "We had four Asian females that were killed, and so we are looking at everything to make sure we discovery and determine what the motive of our homicides were." Hilary Hill Nc holds sign during the "Asian Solidarity March" rally against anti-Asian hate in response to recent anti-Asian crime on March 18, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AFP-Yonhap Six of the eight victims were of Asian descent, fueling suspicion the shootings were racially motivated or connected to increasing attacks against Asian Americans related to anger over the COVID-19 pandemic. Two of the dead were White and the survivor is a Hispanic man. The South Korean government said four of the victims were of Korean descent. According to investigators, Long told police the shootings weren't racially motivated but were instead fueled by a sex addiction. The indication, authorities said, is that Long went on the shooting spree because he often frequented such massage parlors and wanted to break his habit. "It was something that absolutely would torture him," Tyler Bayless, who knew Long from an addiction recovery group and said he was deeply religious, told CNN. "He would often go on tangents about his interpretation of the Bible." Hampton said Long may have frequented the three spa locations targeted in the shootings. He said he's not prepared to take a stance on whether the shootings should be considered hate crimes. "Again, it's very important to let you know that we are not done. In most cases of homicides, we don't have a quick apprehension, there's usually a lengthy investigation, especially when it involves multiple victims, and we're working diligently to ascertain all the facts so we can have a successful prosecution, and that's what is most important now." Investigators were looking into Long's background, which includes being active in his Southern Baptist congregation. CNN reported Wednesday that officials were investigating reports that Long had been kicked out of his parents' home the night before the attacks. Long told investigators that he considered suicide, but opted instead to "help" others with sexual addictions by attacking the Atlanta spas presumably to remove the temptation, CNN's report said. People march through a neighborhood to protest against anti-Asian violence on March 18, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AFP-Yonhap The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Kenya's tea farming industry, one of the world's largest, is facing job losses after a court ruled against a labor union's attempt to ban tea leaf harvesting machines. Workers fear the machines will take their jobs, while tea farm owners say mechanization will make the industry more productive. The Louisiana Department of Health reported 107 more confirmed coronavirus cases and nine more confirmed deaths in its noon update Friday. The number of hospitalizations decreased by 15 patients, which dropped the latest hospitalization number below 400. The data reflects hospitalizations for yesterday. The number of patients in need of ventilators increased by two. The Louisiana Department of Health noted Friday that some data was not processed in time for the Friday report. "Due to a technical issue some lab data were not processed in time for reporting on 3/19. These data will be included in the 3/22 update." There are now a total of 376,655 confirmed coronavirus cases and 63,082 total "probable" coronavirus cases in Louisiana, according to the agency's dashboard. Zoos, scientists push for COVID vaccines for animals after zookeepers transmitted virus SAN DIEGO The coughing among the western lowland gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in January was the first warning sign. Soon the f These are another few key statewide statistics as of Friday: Total confirmed cases: 376,655 Total "probable" cases: 63,082 Total confirmed deaths: 9,199 Currently hospitalized: 399 Currently on ventilators: 68 Vaccine series initiated: 987,523 (updated twice weekly) Vaccine series completed: 568,968 Presumed recovered: 426,243 as of March 15 (updated weekly) Vaccine news in your inbox Once a week we'll update you on the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Note: The Advocate and The Times-Picayune staff calculates daily case count and confirmed death increases based on the difference between today's total and yesterday's total of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths. The Louisiana Department of Health releases a daily case count on its dashboard that includes probable cases as indicated by a positive antigen test. That case count can be different than the one listed here. Here are some of the parishes with the highest single-day increase in confirmed coronavirus cases, based on the Friday report: Calcasieu: 21 Jefferson: 19 Acadia: 17 Bossier: 14 Rapides: 14 East Baton Rouge: 7 Orleans: 3 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. This story is part of The Chronicle's climate change newsletter MicroClimates. Sign up here for more. You may have heard an ad on the radio, a billboard along the highway or seen a notice in your bill: Over the course of the next year, PG&E and other utilities across California are moving customers to a new kind of rate plan for their electricity bills. For todays MicroClimates, were taking a deeper look at what these changes mean for your electricity bill and what it has to do with climate change. Whats a time-of-use rate? For most California residents right now, the cost of electricity is the same throughout the day, no matter if youre using it 2 a.m. or 6 p.m. Time-of-use rate plans increase the cost of electricity during the time period of highest demand, and when its most expensive to provide it usually in the late afternoon and evening. For PG&E customers, the utility plans to shift most customers over to a time-of-use plan where electricity is more expensive from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. each day, on the order of a few cents per kilowatt hour. The difference between the peak and off-peak price is larger during the summer months as well. The move to time-of-use plans is actually driven by a mandate from the states utility regulator, the California Public Utility Commission. When is this happening? PG&E is moving most customers over between April 2021 and March 2022. First up in the Bay Area are eligible customers in Sonoma County in April, followed by Alameda County in May, Santa Clara in June, San Francisco in July, San Mateo in September, and Contra Costa, Marin, Napa and Solano in March 2022. Not everyone will be automatically moved over: customers in the medical baseline program and those who are eligible for discounted rates in hot climate zones (which doesnt apply to the Bay Area) wont make the switch, and anyone will be able to opt out at any point before or afterwards. The utility will be notifying customers months before hand and offering a personalized look at the difference in the rates on customers online account, says Katie Allen, a spokesperson for PG&E. What does this have to do with climate change? California produces more and more solar power throughout the day but it begins to ramp down at the same time period more people are using electricity across the state. To serve the combination of more demand and less solar during those hours, more electricity is generated through natural gas and other fossil fuel burning energy sources to make up the difference. By cutting down and shifting some of that electricity use to different parts of the day, the state hopes to lessen the planet-warming emissions produced overall and make the grid more flexible. Lowering peak demand is an important part of the puzzle, to meet Californias goal of 100% emissions-free energy, says Meredith Fowlie, an environmental economist at UC Berkeley. Local news for a global problem More local climate change stories and solutions in the MicroClimates newsletter. SIGN UP How am I supposed to lower my energy usage during these hours? The biggest impact you can make is shifting your households largest uses of energy away from the evening, especially if you have the means to do so easily. This may mean not doing laundry during the early evening or delay your dishwasher cycle so it runs well past dinnertime. Programmable electric water heaters can also shift when theyre using the most energy. While turning off lights or unplugging devices cant hurt, those behaviors dont move the needle very much, says Nicole Sintov, a professor of environmental behavior change at The Ohio State University. Heating and cooling are often a households largest use of energy, so weatherstripping to prevent leaks and pre-cooling or heating the house before those evening hours will also help. If you have an electric vehicle, dont charge it during those hours. (In fact, utilities tend to have separate rate structures for EV owners for this reason.) Will it be more expensive? Does this actually work? On the scale of the whole grid, shifting most utility customers in California to this plan will probably lead to some reduction in peak energy demand. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District piloted a time-of-use rate a decade ago and Fowlie found residents there responded to the new rate and shifted energy use, whether they actively opted in or were moved over but could opt out. PG&E and other California utilities saw reduction in peak demands during their own pilots and a study of studies of these kinds of shifts found the greater the difference in prices, the greater the effect on demand. But will it make individual households energy bills more or less expensive? Thats a big depends. If your energy usage is already spread out across the day, or if you have the flexibility to move it and do so, youll probably save money compared to what your electricity bill would have been on the old rate. At the end of the first year, if your bills were more expensive than they would have been otherwise, PG&E will credit the difference on your bill. Right now customers get no price signal, Fowlie said. If you go to the grocery store and Brussels sprouts are out of season, theyre going to be more expensive, so maybe you choose broccoli instead. Theres real benefits to sending people price signals, especially when its low cost to shift. Youll notice some of the easiest ways to shift energy use are available to residents with more updated appliances and opportunity to better insulate their homes. Despite the ability to opt-out at any time, theres still concerns about how rates might affect those struggling with their energy bills. While the findings across the country on whether low-income families can shift energy use are mixed, Sintov said a common problem is the continuing effects of historical housing discrimination: Individuals are forced to live in areas where theres been less investment in insulation and efficiency, especially when it comes to heating and cooling use. PG&Es own pilot showed customers on discounted rates as a group had reduced their peak energy use less in summer than the overall reduction. The person in the leaky house, even if they do the exact same behavior as the person whose house is well sealed, is not going to see as significant of a change in energy use or savings, Sintov said. These rates are not going to work the same way for all different people. The bigger picture, Fowlie said, is if California can move its energy demand to better match when renewable energy is available, utilities will spend less on capital investments that can raise rates even further. But more on that in the next question. I heard PG&E is raising their rates? Is this related? PG&E reached a settlement agreement late last year to raise monthly bills by an average of $5.69 per month to help fund wildfire safety investments. The rate rise still requires judicial review and final approval by the commission, but the mandate to move to time-of-use plans predates that request. In a recent paper, Fowlie and her colleagues argued Californias electricity prices already have too much built in that obscures what it actually costs to power homes and businesses. These are real costs that have to be recouped, but recovering them in the rates makes electricity look really expensive, Fowlie says. Who wants to push for electrification when electricity costs look so high? Have you switched over to a time-of-use plan? What have you noticed about your electricity bills? Reply to this email or send a message to climate@sfchronicle.com. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. The Big Number 40,000 Thats the number of potential new oil and gas wells in Kern County that could be drilled over the next 15 years under a newly approved policy by leaders in the heart of the states oil industry. This would mean an increase of more than 30% more drill sites in California. Kurtis Alexander reports on whats changing for oil permitting in the county because of the new policy, the lawsuits already filed and worries from environmental groups Climate Chronicles Gregory Urquiaga / UC Davis 2018 Feeding cows seaweed can drastically reduce the methane in their burps, UC Davis study concludes with big implications for climate change. Opponents of new power plants in California get a new legal option. The Bay Area migration has turned the Central Valley into a suddenly hot housing market what will that mean for transportation emissions long term? Young people seeking to change federal policy on climate change try new tactic. The western monarch and other butterflies are on the brink of extinction. Climate change plays a role. Changing California The San Francisco Bay once teemed with oysters. What happened? Rising seas, worsening wildfires endanger California parks (CalMatters). Energy company to breed endangered California condors to replace birds killed by wind turbine blades (L.A. Times) Wells Fargo pledges goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions including from the companies and projects it finances by 2050, but its not cutting off fossil fuel investing yet. (CNN) Ample is trying to make battery swapping for EVs a reality, starting with Uber drivers in the Bay Area (CNBC). MicroClimates is The Chronicles climate change newsletter, written by Taylor Kate Brown and sent every other week. Email newsletters@sfchronicle.com or taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com. Burma Myanmar Protest Death Toll Climbs As Regimes Troops Keep Shooting Soldiers and police tortured an arrested civilian on March 19. Some said they rode on his shoulder, while some said he was strangling. But details have not been confirmed. / CJ At least 11 people were killed Friday by military junta security forces in southern Shan state, Yangon and Mandalay. Fridays bloodshed brings the death toll across Myanmar to 231 since the Feb. 1 coup. That grim number is expected go higher because many others have been severely wounded in the juntas crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. In Aungban Township of southern Shan state, at least eight people were shot dead when soldiers and police fired live rounds into a crowd gathering to stage an anti-coup protest. Several protesters were also seriously wounded during the shooting. The gunfire started about 9 a.m. and did not let up until evening. Plainclothes men who were among the security forces fired on the crowd, according to locals. One man who was shot in the head was dragged away by soldiers and police before he could be identified, leaving behind a trail of blood. About 20 protesters were arrested and many of them were wounded. In the capital of Kayah state, a midwife and 47-year-old U Shan Pu were shot with live rounds in a violent crackdown on an anti-coup protest by soldiers and police. The latter died later about 2 p.m., according to a social worker based in Loikaw. Some protesters were arrested. A 27-year-old man, Aung Ko Ko Khant from Myingyan, Mandalay region, also died on Friday morning. He had been shot in the face on March 15 by soldiers and police. In the March 15 crackdown, six protesters, including four teens, were killed and several people were wounded. Despite the juntas continuing efforts to terrorize protesters with violence and torture, anti-coup demonstrations continue in several cities. In Yangon, which has seen the highest death toll across the country since the Feb. 1 coup, young protesters returned to the streets Friday and staged more protests against the repressive military regime. A number of protesters were wounded in Thaketa Township as security forces opened fire and bulldozed roadblocks. In KyaukMyaung, the juntas security forces also used gunfire and tear gas to disperse a crowd. Locals said at least 10 people were arrested. Soldiers and police also broke into some homes in South Dagon in the evening. Locals reported at least two residents were shot. One died on the spot after being shot in the head. The juntas security forces also arrested civilians in many townships, forcing them to remove roadblocks. Some were kicked and beaten. In a video taken by a citizen journalist in Tamwe township, soldiers and police deliberately humiliated a man, who was being used as forced labor, by ordering him to crawl along a street. International ambassadors to Myanmar said in a joint statement that the brutal violence against unarmed civilians by security forces in Hlaing Tharyar and elsewhere in Myanmar, often under the cover of darkness, is immoral and indefensible. We call on Myanmars military to cease all violence against people of Myanmar, release all detainees, lift martial law and the nationwide state of emergency, remove telecommunications restrictions and restore the democratically elected government. You may also like these stories: Villagers Flee Their Homes as Myanmar Military Regime Vows Action Funeral Services Refuse to Help Dead Myanmar Police Officer Involved in Crackdown With Two More Arrests, A Total of 18 Journalists Detained by Myanmar Regime Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. ICE officers apprehend fugitive criminal aliens for alleged involvement in the illegal narcotics trade, in Boston, Mass., on Nov. 4, 2019. (ICE) Former ICE Chief: Whole Nation a Sanctuary for Illegal Immigrants Actions taken by the Biden administration have created a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, shielding them from immigration enforcement across the nation, according to Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). During his first day in office, President Joe Biden issued a slew of executive orders on immigration and border security. Aside from halting border wall construction, the administration issued a memo to temporarily suspend deportations of illegal aliens, a key aspect of ICEs mandate. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the administration, and a federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the executive order; the judges suspension of the order has now been extended indefinitely as the case continues to play out in court. The Department of Homeland Security also has issued new guidelines for ICE agents that prohibit them from apprehending a large proportion of the illegal alien population unless agents first get permission from their field office leadership. What Joe Biden and this administration has done is made our whole nation a sanctuary city, Homan told The Epoch Times. He said deportation relies on detentionotherwise, illegal aliens tend to abscond. Thats why theres 672,000 fugitives whove been ordered removed and havent left, and they cant be found, he said. Homan, who worked under the ObamaBiden administration during the 2014 and 2015 border surge, said detention was a key factor. We stopped it by building detention facilities and detaining people until they saw a judge. So he forgot all the lessons learned, and now, hes trying to stop detention, Homan said. The [administration] is turning immigration law enforcement on its head. Sanctuary Cities Homan said ICEs new priorities, which narrow the agencys focus to illegal aliens with aggravated felony convictions, still wouldnt capture that population in sanctuary cities. ICE tries to gain custody of illegal aliens in jail settings to reduce risk and resources. Instead, sanctuary cities often release illegal immigrant criminals back into communities without communicating with ICE. In those cities, local and state politicians have introduced policies that prohibit law enforcement from cooperating with ICE, when the agency asks them to hold a subject to transfer custody. Homan said its meaningless for the Biden administration to say public safety threats are a priority when they havent done anything about sanctuary cities. Sanctuary cities have been releasing sexual offenders every day for the past several years. Theyre not going to change, Homan said. The ICE Alerts Twitter account hasnt posted since Jan. 21, 2021, the first full day of the new administration. The account was previously used to post notices about illegal immigrant fugitives who were wanted for crimes against children, rape, assault, weapons charges, and many more. Most of the posts highlight aliens who were released from jails in sanctuary cities such as New York, San Francisco, Houston, and Chicago. Before the new changes, Homan said ICE had already prioritized public safety threats. In fiscal year 2020, the agency removed almost 186,000 individuals, of which 92 percent had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, according to ICEs end-of-year report. ICE also conducted more than 103,000 interior arrests, about 90 percent of which had a criminal conviction or charge. Those arrested included aliens with criminal charges or convictions for 1,837 homicide offenses, 37,247 assault offenses, and 10,302 sexual assault or sex offenses. Every crime committed by an illegal alien is a preventable crime, Homan said. If we had true border security, true immigration enforcement thousands of crimes every day could be preventedbecause theyre not here. Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. U.S. had better quit political threatening 09:40, March 19, 2021 By Zhong Sheng ( People's Daily The U.S. Department of State issued a so-called statement Wednesday, in which it slandered the decision of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China to improve the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and threatened to implement financial sanctions against Chinese officials. Such practice of hegemony and interventionism seriously violated international law and the norms governing international relations, and interfered in China's domestic affairs. It fully revealed the vicious intention of the U.S. to disrupt Hong Kong and hinder China's stability and development. Citizens display China's national flag in support of implementing the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" at Tamar Park in Hong Kong, south China, March 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang) Wielding the big stick of sanctions, the U.S. is not able to stop the HKSAR from returning to orders. In recent years, the U.S., under the disguise of so-called human rights, democracy, and freedom, did everything to support anti-China forces, trying to make troubles in Hong Kong and destroy the prosperity and stability of the special administrative region. However, the so-called sanction is nothing but a piece of useless paper. Since China implemented the law on safeguarding national security in the HKSAR, Hong Kong's rule of law and orders have been well protected, and the human rights of Hong Kong citizens effectively guaranteed. The international society is more confident in the HKSAR's prosperity and stable development, and so are foreign investors. In recent days, the HKSAR government and society expressed wide support for the NPC's decision to improve the electoral system of Hong Kong, which fully indicated that the decision is an unstoppable trend that conforms to the will of the people. It is the best and most powerful response to the slandering made by certain countries. Facts prove that Hong Kong's future is decided by the 1.4 billion Chinese people, including Hong Kong compatriots. Foreign interference does nothing good to Hong Kong and will not be supported. Hong Kong is China's Hong Kong. How to design and improve Hong Kong's electoral system is totally a domestic affair of China, and no country has the right to point fingers. Recently, nearly a hundred countries reiterated their support for China to implement the "one country, two systems" principle in the HKSAR at the UN Human Rights Council, stressing non-interference in domestic affairs of sovereignty countries is an important principle of the UN Charter and a basic norm governing international relations. They urged relevant countries to respect the sovereignty of China, and stop their interference in China's domestic affairs, including issues related to Hong Kong. It demonstrated the wide support received by China on its stance on Hong Kong affairs. The arbitrary sanctions placed by the U.S. on other sovereignty countries have already triggered unanimous opposition and condemnation from the international society. During the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, a UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights criticized the U.S. for its sanctions against other countries in accordance with its domestic laws. The UN Special Rapporteur sternly pointed out that U.S. sanctions have seriously violated the human rights of relevant countries. Being ignorant to justice and wielding the big stick of sanctions, the U.S. will only once again expose its hypocrisy and hegemony. China is firm in its determination to implement the principle of one country, two systems and to oppose any external interference in Hong Kong affairs. No interference or slander can shake China's resolution to safeguard national sovereignty, security, development interests, and the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong, or stop its firm strides of development. The U.S. had better quit political threatening as soon as possible. (Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy.) A woman who currently works in the office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he looked down her shirt and made suggestive remarks to her and another aide, according to a newspaper report. Alyssa McGrath told The New York Times that Mr Cuomo called her beautiful in Italian, referred to her and her female colleague as mingle mamas, asked why she was not wearing a wedding ring, and inquired about her divorce. Ms McGrath is the first current aide to come forward publicly on the mounting allegations of sexual misconduct against Mr Cuomo, who is the subject of an impeachment investigation by the New York Assembly over those accusations and questions about the governors handling of data about Covid-19 nursing home deaths. Ms McGrath told The New York Times that her female colleague was the same woman the governor is accused of groping in the Executive Mansion, an allegation that was revealed in a report last week in the Times Union of Albany. That aide has not been identified publicly. Ms McGrath did not accuse the governor of inappropriate touching. Mr Cuomo, a Democrat, has repeatedly denied allegations of sexual misconduct. A lawyer for him told The New York Times that Mr Cuomo has indeed used Italian phrases like ciao bella, which means hello beautiful in Italian, and greeted both men and women alike with hugs and a kiss. None of this is remarkable, although it may be old-fashioned, lawyer Rita Glavin said. He has made clear that he has never made inappropriate advances or inappropriately touched anyone. For their Clients' Convenience, the Team from the New Location in Melbourne Offers 100 Percent Digital Conveyancing and Online Conveyancing MELBOURNE, VIC / ACCESSWIRE / March 19, 2021 / The founders of LEAD Conveyancing, a company that helps their clients with the often-complicated process of buying or selling a home, are pleased to announce the opening of their new LEAD Conveyancing Melbourne location. To learn more about the new LEAD Conveyancing Melbourne location and the services that they offer, please visit https://leadconveyancing.com.au/victoria/conveyancing-melbourne/. As a company spokesperson noted, the new Melbourne office brings the number of LEAD Conveyancing locations in Victoria to three: it joins the Dandenong office and the Frankston office. The team from LEAD Conveyancing Melbourne is able to assist with a variety of properties, including apartments, units, flats, houses, townhouses and carparks. Because the founders know that many people are continuing to stay home as much as possible due to the global pandemic, they are proud to offer 100 percent digital conveyancing and online conveyancing. This means that people throughout the Melbourne area who need help from a conveyancing solicitor and/or assistance with purchasing or selling a property do not have to meet with anyone in person. "You do not have to arrange to meet with us physically to complete your transaction, you can do so completely remotely and from the convenience and safety of your own home," the spokesperson noted, adding that offering complete digital conveyancing services is one of the ways the friendly and experienced team from LEAD Conveyancing Melbourne is committed to outstanding customer service. "We pride ourselves on putting our people first. As our customer, you can expect to be treated as a person and not just a file, your needs will be heard, and your concerns made into our top priority." For people who are unsure about the process of conveyancing and why they may need it, the LEAD Conveyancing Melbourne website also includes a helpful section that explains everything about the legal process of conveyancing and what services a conveyancer offers. About LEAD Conveyancing Melbourne: At LEAD Conveyancing Melbourne, clients will have access to a Melbourne conveyancing lawyer at their fingertips. They will lead clients through the maze of requirements in buying and selling residential properties. And they will offer the most practical and cost-effective outcome at a guaranteed fixed fee. So, if anybody needs conveyancing in Melbourne or a pre-signing section 32 contract review, the team from LEAD Conveyancing Melbourne will be there. For more information, please visit https://leadconveyancing.com.au/. LEAD Conveyancing Melbourne Collins Square Tower Five, 727 Collins St Docklands VIC 3008 03 8657 4328 Contact: Trinh Thai leadmarketing@leadconveyancing.com.au 03 8657 4328 SOURCE: LEAD Conveyancing Melbourne View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/636535/New-LEAD-Conveyancing-Melbourne-Office-is-Now-Open-for-Business Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues 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official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia 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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 Prison wardens in southern Vietnam unleashed a hunting dog on a political prisoner serving an 11-year sentence for subversion to silence his complaints about solitary confinement in a cramped cell, his family told RFA. Democracy advocate Nguyen Van Duc Do has been incarcerated since late 2018 at the Z30A detention center in Xuan Loc district of Dong Nai province for activities aimed at overthrowing the government. Arrested in November 2016, Do and four other activists were convicted on Oct. 5, 2018 in a Ho Chi Minh City court after being found guilty in a one-day trial of involvement in the Vietnam National Self-Determination Coalition, a group that authorities deemed to have challenged Vietnams Communist one-party system. Dos inability to exercise in the small eight-square-meter (about 87 square feet) cell resulted in his physical condition deteriorating to the point where he often had chest pains and difficulty breathing, his brother said. My brother told me that yesterday, March 15, he banged on the door of his cell to call for help because he had pains in his chest and back that made it hard for him to breathe, Dos younger brother, Nguyen Van Duc Hai told RFAs Vietnamese Service. He said that the prison was very large, so no one can hear you if you dont shout. This is why he banged on the door shouting Prisoners of conscience also need to live! said Hai. This is when Do said the guards brought in a hunting dog to silence him. My brother said the dog was about to pounce on him, so he jumped back inside. Though it didnt bite him, the dog barked loudly at him while standing at the door, Hai said. RFA attempted to contact the prison for comment but telephone calls went unanswered. Dos group had been charged under Article 79 of Vietnams Penal Code, one of a set of vague provisions in the law used to detain writers, activists, and bloggers, and had been held without trial for almost two years. The group had previously been active in protesting the governments handling of a massive chemical spill in April 2016 that devastated the countrys central coast, leaving fishermen and tourism workers jobless in four central provinces. Group leader Luu Van Vinh was given 15 years. Nguyen Quoc Hoan was sentenced to 13 years, Tu Cong Nghia to 10 years, Phan Trung to 8 years, and Nguyen Van Duc Do to 11 years. Nguyen Van Duc Hai said his brother Do had been in solitary confinement since May 2020, and since then had not been allowed to go out, even for exercise. Hai also said that Do was being pressured by prison staff to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence. My brother Do said they often bring him papers to file a guilty plea and asked him to sign, but he responded I am innocent. The verdict was wrong. Am only a patriot! Hai said. They told him that if he pleads guilty, they can reduce his sentence by two months for every five years. But my brother said I am innocent. How can I plead guilty? I was convicted wrongfully, said Hai. Do also told Hai that prisoners at Xuan Loc are often beaten to the point of serious injury. RFA reported in June 2020 that Dos family had filed a petition demanding better treatment at Xuan Loc after he told them he had been physically assaulted, spent two days shacked in solitary confinement, then fed prison rations mixed with feces. In October 2019 RFA reported that Do had joined other prisoners of conscience held at Xuan Loc who had also stopped eating to call for beater treatment at the facility. According to a friend interviewed in that report, political prisoners at Xuan Loc were being charged four or five times higher for food than other prisoners there. According to the 88 Project, an Illinois-based NGO that tracks political prisoners, Vietnam is currently holding 240 prisoners of conscience. Trial for journalist Authorities have set a trial date for detained journalist Tran Thi Tuyet Dieu on charges of creating, storing, disseminating information, documents, items and publications against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam as stated in Article 117 of the 2015 Criminal Code. Dieu, also known by her pen name Dieu Anh, will stand trial at the Phu Yen Peoples Court on March 22. Dieu was arrested on Aug. 21, 2020 for posting on social media hundreds of stories, images, and video clips that authorities say were content that opposed the Party, State and People, smearing President Ho Chi Minh and many other leaders of the Party and State. The Peoples Public Security Newspaper accused her of posting the content using multiple accounts on Facebook and other social media websites. She was also accused of writing stories that distorted Vietnams Revolutionary history, inciting the overthrow of the peoples government, demanding multi-party pluralism, disseminating wrong information about the activities of law-enforcement bodies, showing uncooperative and opposing attitude when being invited to work with responsible authorities. If convicted Dieu could receive a sentence ranging from five to 12 years. Dieus lawyer Nguyen Kha Than told RFA that Dieu will plead innocent and had refused to sign interview records compiled by investigation agencies. These days it seems Facebook users who post words that are different than the normal thinking of others are often prosecuted on this charge. Ms. Dieu said she was arrested after having quit Facebook for several months, Than said. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 23:19:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ACCRA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and 22 injured in a road accident in Ghana's northern Savannah Region, police said on Friday. A Mercedes-Benz Sprinter bus traveling from Wa, capital of the Upper West Region, to Kumasi in the Ashanti region on Thursday flipped several times and landed in a nearby bush, which resulted in deaths and injuries, according to the police. "A wooden box fell off a minibus into the lane of the Sprinter bus. The Sprinter bus ran over the box, bursting one of its front tires. This caused the bus to somersault and land in the bush," said the police. The bodies of the dead were deposited at the Wa Regional Hospital mortuary and the injured are also receiving treatment at the same hospital, the police said. Enditem Dr. Stiles has built a reputation for his "patient-first" approach, which includes his pioneering use of minimally invasive surgery for early tumors, such as sublobar resection for small lung cancers, which preserves vital lung tissue and speeds recovery. Dr. Stiles will also play a key role in addressing well-documented health disparities in lung cancer by increasing screening to vulnerable populations and conducting more molecular testing to identify and cure early stage disease. "Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in New York City, and disproportionately impacts our patient population," said Robert Michler, M.D., surgeon-in-chief; chairman, surgery; chairman, cardiothoracic and vascular surgery; co-director, Montefiore Einstein Center for Heart and Vascular Care; and professor of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery and of surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "Dr. Stiles' expertise in thoracic surgical oncology expands the clinical options we can provide our patients with lung disease. Through his clinical and translational research, Dr. Stiles has significantly contributed to the medical community's understanding and management of lung cancer. We are honored to have him join our team." Dr. Stiles joins Montefiore from New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell, where he and his team discovered the role that a protein, ADP-ribosyltransferase 1 (ART1), plays in helping lung cancer cells evade the immune system. His current research, which is supported by a Department of Defense grant, is focused on translating this discovery into new therapies. "I have long admired Montefiore and Einstein's dedication to tackling entrenched health disparities in the Bronx," said Dr. Stiles. "We've recently learned that women and Black patients are developing lung cancer sooner, regardless of a history of smoking. This development, coupled with too few cancer screenings, is causing delayed diagnoses, undertreatment and poorer outcomes. One of the ways we plan to address this disparity is to increase screening in our community so we can diagnose and treat our patients sooner." Throughout his career, Dr. Stiles has helped raise money for lung cancer research through his involvement with the Lung Cancer Research Foundation; an organization at which he has been chair of the Board of Directors since 2017 and serves as the vice-chair of the Scientific Advisory Board. He is also a member of the American College of Radiology Lung-RADS Steering Committee. About Montefiore Health System Montefiore Health System is one of New York's premier academic health systems and is a recognized leader in providing exceptional quality and personalized, accountable care to approximately three million people in communities across the Bronx, Westchester and the Hudson Valley. It is comprised of 10 hospitals, including the Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital and more than 200 outpatient ambulatory care sites. The advanced clinical and translational research at its medical school, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, directly informs patient care and improves outcomes. From the Montefiore-Einstein Centers of Excellence in cancer, cardiology and vascular care, pediatrics, and transplantation, to its preeminent school-based health program, Montefiore is a fully integrated healthcare delivery system providing coordinated, comprehensive care to patients and their families. For more information please visit www.montefiore.org. Follow us on Twitter and view us on Facebook and YouTube. About Albert Einstein College of Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine is one of the nation's premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. During the 2020-21 academic year, Einstein is home to 721 M.D. students, 178 Ph.D. students, 109 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and 265 postdoctoral research fellows. The College of Medicine has more than 1,900 full-time faculty members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates. In 2020, Einstein received more than $197 million in awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in aging, intellectual development disorders, diabetes, cancer, clinical and translational research, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Its partnership with Montefiore, the University Hospital and academic medical center for Einstein, advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. Einstein runs one of the largest residency and fellowship training programs in the medical and dental professions in the United States through Montefiore and an affiliation network involving hospitals and medical centers in the Bronx, Brooklyn and on Long Island. For more information, please visit www.einstein.yu.edu, read our blog, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook , and view us on YouTube. SOURCE Montefiore Health System; Albert Einstein College of Medicine The resolution says the representative has violated his oath to the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of Illinois and, through his continued actions and instigations, has created an environment that potentially threatens not only the sanctity of the Illinois General Assembly but also the safety of the members and their staff. Joe, we get it. You won't be putting many hot dogs on the grill over the Fourth. Your choice. But a lot of people intend to party hardy, and no permission from you is requested. In his COVID-19 anniversary address, President Joe Biden gave us that patronizing bit about the Fourth of July holiday. We were told there is a "good chance" that "small groups" might get together for "a cookout" if "we all do our part" in adhering to his own gloom and doom about the epidemic now quickly fading. Is Biden really that detached from the growing number of Americans who reckon this thing is all but over, if not in the sense that seasonal contagion is headed toward extinction, then in that it's settling to a tolerable endemic level, and sooner rather than later? The Fourth is more than three months off! The spirit of crisis tires. Headlined panic grows old. Ever less heed is paid to government diktats that have evolved from the cautious to the inscrutable. What are the cops going to do if youthful protesters, bare-faced as they were a while back at a Target in Florida, start dancing through other big-box stores while whooping, "Take off your masks and breathe"? Gloom and doom. That's been the enduring message from the Biden White House from day one. Biden forecast a protracted winter of misery when we would need his long labors to check the momentum of the virus. Actually, less than a month after he moved into the Oval Office, though misery there had been, the daily death tallies were already coming off their winter highs. Maybe he'll know he's out of sync with the nation if not only more red states, but blue ones follow Florida and Texas and Montana and Mississippi in opening for business and freeing people to manage their own risks. How many times can he spit "Neanderthal" at governors who defy him? The repetition will make him seem still more dour, to say nothing of confounding his platitudes about national unity. Gloom and doom. Biden complained that the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed had botched the start of the vaccine roll-out. It was he who would get daily distribution up to a million doses. Actually, distribution surpassed that level on Inauguration Day, and scores of millions of people in this country, now arguably even a number approaching half the population, already had some degree of immunity bought at the cost of infection. Maybe he'll recognize that the nation isn't about to put up with ever-extended restrictions if still more parents with their kids in tow march on schools to demand full re-openings like, you know, full like kids in classrooms five days a week like without nagging to maintain six feet of distance. Or is that now three feet? Gloom and doom. Biden insisted that Congress would have to blow up the federal fisc, once again, to juice the economy. Actually, he hadn't been in his new job for two weeks before the Congressional Budget Office, noting an economic expansion under way since mid-2020, projected that real GDP would return to its "pre-pandemic" (i.e., pre-lockdown) level in mid-2021 and without the $1.9-trillion progressive wish list of a bill he just signed. Maybe he'll understand he should lighten up if a recall movement gains force not only against a hard-lockdown governor in California, but others, including that Emmy winner in New York. Which is diving fastest: the COVID toll, the unemployment rate, or Andrew Cuomo's political prospects? Joe, normal beckons. Old normal. Come on, man. Toss more dogs on the grill. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. COVID-19 origin: Either it is emerged naturally or it was laboratory accident, says US Intel community US Defence Secretary arrives in India today: China to top agenda India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 19: US Defence Secretary Llyod Austin arrives in India this evening and top on his agenda would be the Chinese aggression in eastern Ladakh. Austin's visit is being seen as an effort to bolster a front against China. This is Austin's first visit abroad after the Quad summit and would be the fist in-person engagement between the Modi government and Joe Biden administration. Austin, it may be recalled had told the Senate confirmation in January that China presents the most significant threat going forward since China is ascending. Our goal is to make sure that we have the capabilities and the operational plans and concepts to be able to offer credible deterrence to China or anybody else who wants to take on the US. US senator urges Defence Secy to discuss human rights issues, Russian defece deal during India visit During his visit, Austin is expected to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after 6 pm today. The meeting would deliberate upon deepening bilateral defence cooperation and further Quad. Further meetings with National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval are on the cards, where discussions would be held on counter-terrorism and bi-lateral cooperation. Tomorrow Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh would host Secretary Austin. Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 153 Doctorate in Education Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 50 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 153 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 50 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school. Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Doctorate in Education Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-doctorate-in-education-degree-programs/ 2021 Doctorate in Education Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Andrews University Arizona State University Baylor University Boise State University Boston University Carson-Newman University Central Michigan University Concordia University Texas Drexel University East Tennessee State University Edgewood College Fordham University Grand Canyon University Harvard University Idaho State University Indiana University Bloomington Johns Hopkins University Kennesaw State University Lamar University Liberty University Maryville University Morehead State University New Mexico State University North Carolina State University Northwest Nazarene University Oakland City University Rowan University Saint Thomas University Sam Houston State University Texas A & M University, College Station Texas Tech University Union University University of Arkansas University of Findlay University of Florida University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Kansas University of Louisiana, Monroe University of Memphis University of Missouri University of New England University of Northern Colorado University of South Carolina University of Southern California University of the Cumberlands University of Virginia University of Wyoming Valdosta State University Vanderbilt University William Carey 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/. ST. PAUL, Minn., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson // Becker, PLLC is a nationwide products liability law firm with experience representing burn injury victims of defective pressure cookers and pressure cooker explosions. Johnson // Becker represents over 300 clients in pressure cooker lawsuits who have been severely burned by exploding pressure cookers defectively designed and sold by numerous manufacturers. Johnson // Becker filed this Complaint on behalf of Mr. Alex Barnes, a resident of Michigan, alleging that NuWave, LLC., the manufacturer of the Nutri-Pot pressure cooker, misrepresented the safety of its pressure cookers. Mr. Barnes' NuWave pressure cooker exploded while under pressure on April 8, 2019. As a result of the explosion, Mr. Barnes sustained severe burn injuries. According to the Complaint filed, the NuWave pressure cooker is marketed as having a "Sure-Lock Safety System" which is supposed to prevent the unit from both building pressure if the lid is not closed properly, as well as the lid from being removed until all the pressure is released. However, Mr. Barnes alleges that the NuWave pressure cookers contain defects which allow unsuspecting consumers to remove the lid while the pressure cooker is still under pressure causing a pressure cooker explosion, which causes scalding hot contents to be projected from the unit. About The Pressure Cooker Lawyers at Johnson // Becker This pressure cooker lawsuit is filed by Michael K. Johnson, Kenneth W. Pearson and Adam J. Kress of Johnson // Becker, PLLC. Michael K. Johnson is a founding partner of Johnson // Becker, PLLC. The lawyers at Johnson // Becker exclusively handle injury cases, with an emphasis on pressure cooker explosion lawsuits. The experienced pressure cooker lawyers at Johnson // Becker believe that holding manufacturers responsible for their clients' injuries not only helps their clients, but prevents future, unnecessary injuries by forcing manufacturers to evaluate and improve the safety of their products. They have a page on their website that links to some of the lawsuits filed against various manufacturers and different brands of pressure cookers on behalf of some of the 300 people they have helped who have been burned by exploding pressure cookers. To learn more about other pressure cooker lawsuits on file, or to arrange a Free, no-obligation review of your potential case, Johnson // Becker suggests that you visit their website at https://www.johnsonbecker.com/product-liability/pressure-cooker-lawsuit/ or contact them directly by calling (800) 279-6386. SOURCE Johnson // Becker, PLLC 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 new poll exclusively obtained by City & State shows a majority of likely voters want Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign. The poll is the latest to show declining public support for the embattled governor, who faces allegations of sexual harassment and assault from multiple women as well as an ongoing scandal over all alleged cover-up of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. Just 18% of likely Democratic voters said they would vote to reelect Cuomo to an historical fourth term, according to the Data for Progress poll, which also showed 41% of respondents saying they strongly or somewhat approve of the job he is doing as governor. That is a big change from weeks ago when Cuomos job approval was unquestionably still above water following a year when he received much praise for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the findings of the new poll from the left-leaning think tank must be taken with a grain of salt. The survey was conducted online, which could explain why its findings show more antipathy towards Cuomo than a Quinnipiac Poll released yesterday that showed 49% percent of registeredvoters saying Cuomo should resign. That is the same percentage as respondents in the Data for Progress poll who said the governor should resign when the question was put this way: Do you think Andrew Cuomo should resign immediately, or that he should not resign? The number of respondents calling on him to resign immediately rises to 58% and 59% respectively once the question includes mention of the outstanding sexual misconduct allegations or the fact that nearly every elected state and federal leader in the state has already called on him to step down even before an ongoing probe by state Attorney General Letitia James concludes. Despite these numbers, there are still some reasons for optimism within the Data for Progress poll, which was conducted between March 13 and March 16. Cuomo has said he is not going to resign, especially considering his ongoing support among Black voters and registered Democrats in general. While the new poll has a relatively small sample size of 484 people, it shows both groups still supporting him in higher numbers than likely voters overall. About a third of Black voters and likely Democratic voters say he should be impeached if he does not resign. The governor appears to be playing for time as he awaits the results of the James probe and a nascent impeachment inquiry in the Assembly, but the Data for Progress poll is the latest sign that while he does not appear to be in immediate danger of losing his job midway through his third term in office, things sure look like they are getting worse by the day. Federal investigators are probing the liability protections for nursing homes that the Cuomo administration inserted into the state budget. A March 18 story in the New Yorker highlights additional instances of alleged sexual misconduct. A week ago, there were not any polls that showed a majority of likely or registered voters wanting him to resign. Two polls in the past day have suggested that somewhere close to half of New Yorkers want him to do that. If the survey from Data for Progress shows anything, it is that things just keep getting worse for Cuomo as he and top aides like Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa continue to fight for their political survival amidst the ongoing scandals. A previous version of this article has been clarified to better reflect the results of a Quinnipiac Poll released March 18 Read the crosstabs of the Data for Progress poll below. Data for Progress poll by ZacharyEJWilliams 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. President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda welcomes Ukraine's initiative to establish a Crimean platform and stresses the need to keep sanctions against Russia until the occupied territories are returned to Ukraine's control. "Although seven years of military aggression have passed, which destroyed the international order and harmony in Europe, we, Lithuanians, continue to say firmly: Crimea is Ukraine We support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and welcome Kyiv's initiative to create an international Crimean platform, the Lithuanian president said in his speech in the Ukrainian language in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Nauseda called on Russia to implement the requirements of the Minsk agreements. "Sanctions against Russia should remain until it leaves the illegally occupied territories of Ukraine," Nauseda added. As reported, the Crimean Platform is a new consultative and coordination format initiated by Ukraine to improve the efficiency of the international response to the occupation of Crimea, respond to growing security challenges, step up international pressure on Russia, prevent further human rights violations, protect victims of the occupying power and to achieve the de-occupation of Crimea and its return to Ukraine The Crimean Platform is to be launched officially at an inaugural summit in Kyiv on August 23, 2021. iy YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Avinyan participated in a teleconference on March 18 in the sidelines of the sixty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women of the UN. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Deputy PM, Avinyan particularly said, ''Dear Chairperson, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Im honoured to address the sixty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. The key theme of the session provides an opportunity to thoroughly discuss the existing inequalities and discrimination faced by women in political and public life, and the impact of the pandemic on violence against women, including domestic violence. Protection of womens rights and addressing the discrimination against women and girls is one of the fundamental priorities of Armenia being also a key pillar of our Human Rights Council 2020-2022 membership. In this context, a broad range of programs aimed at the promotion of gender equality are currently carried out in Armenia along with the legislative reforms. The Gender Policy Implementation Strategy of Armenia for 2019-2023 sets the government's priorities for equal participation of women in decision-making processes achieving gender equality in science, education and socio-economic spheres. Within the framework of the COVID-19 pandemic response and rehabilitation programs, the Government of Armenia has undertaken targeted actions to mitigate the implications of the crisis on the most vulnerable groups with a special focus on the needs of women and girls. In Armenia, the implementation of gender equality policy is institutionalized at the national, provincial and community levels. As a coordinating mechanism, the Council on Womens Affairs of the Republic of Armenia is committed to ensuring the equal participation of women and men in political and socio-economic processes. Emphasizing the significance of the SDG 5 and its main targets Armenia has also undertaken reforms to ensure equal access of women to economic resources and creating favourable conditions for the economic empowerment of women. The recent aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, with the involvement of foreign terrorist fighters posed an existential threat to the population of Artsakh, making the issue of their protection an urgent priority. Azerbaijans indiscriminate and disproportionate military attacks, shelling and bombardments have resulted in civilian casualties and mass displacement and heavily affected the regions civilian infrastructures, including a maternity hospital and other healthcare institutions. Safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the civilian population in Nagorno-Karabakh is crucial to address the life-saving needs of women and girls. There is an urgent necessity to implement individual social and rehabilitation programmes targeting all women affected by the conflict, including those who were forced to flee to Armenia. Another pressing humanitarian issue is the immediate return of the Armenian prisoners of war and civilian hostages, including women captured in war and post-war period by Azerbaijan. Distinguished delegates, Armenia will continue taking innovative approaches to the promotion of women's rights and achieving gender equality. As a leader of the "Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality" Action Coalition of the "Generation Equality" Forum, Armenia will utilize modern technologies to promote gender equality. Armenia is committed to full and inclusive participation of women in public life, protection and promotion of their rights for building back better, transforming the world and shaping a bright future for the generations to come''. Omans Supreme Committee decided to impose a ban on all direct flights from the UK, except cargo flights, and prohibiting entry of passengers arriving from the UK or who were in transit there over the past 14 days. The ban takes effect from 12 pm, Friday, March 19 and continues till further notice, reported Oman News Agency (ONA), adding that Omani citizens are exempt from the ban. The Supreme Committee has also decided to downsize to 70% the number of employees at the workplace in units of the States Administrative Apparatus and other legal entities with effect from March 21 till April 1. The Supreme Committee urges all departments to continue to take precautionary and preventive measures to curb the spread of the disease and to follow up the commitment of all to the instructions. It has also issued directives to extend the closure of all commercial activities in all governorates of the Sultanate from 8 pm to 5 am till April 3. An exemption from this covers fuel filling stations, health establishments, private pharmacies, tire sale and repair outlets based at filling stations, transport, cargo and unloading services and the operation of factories without the option of receiving clients and customers, home deliveries, the handing over of food orders to customers in their vehicles from restaurants, cafes, mobile cafeterias and licensed street vendors, as well as offering guests-only service at restaurants located within hotel establishments. As Massachusetts education officials require districts to offer full-time learning for interested students next month, the Worcester Public Schools is seeking a waiver to delay that process until May. Worcester wants to delay the start of full in-person learning for K-8 students until May 3. School committee members on Thursday night voted unanimously to approve the submission of a waiver to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for that plan. DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley is requiring districts to offer full-time in-person learning for K-5 students by April 5 and for grades 6-8 by April 28. However, parents who want to keep their children remote can for the rest of the school year. The department is making waivers available for districts that have been primarily remote this academic year. Those waivers are due Monday. With Worcesters proposal, the full-time return for K-5 students would be delayed by about a month and the return for middle schoolers would only be delayed by a few days. DESE will determine whether or not to allow Worcesters plan. The district this week started hybrid learning for students with high needs. On March 29, about 12,600 more students will come back to classrooms for hybrid education. Superintendent Maureen Binienda told committee members on Thursday that the district needs a few weeks to get comfortable with hybrid first before bringing students back full-time. Were asking for this waiver because we really need to have three weeks of transitioning both for our staff and our students prior to April school vacation, Binienda said. And then were requesting the additional week after that for concern about the staff and students who may travel during the vacation and then would have to quarantine. DESE requires a minimum of 3 feet distancing in schools as a COVID-19 mitigation effort. Worcester has stuck to 6 feet. The department has said it wont grant waivers in cases where schools cite space constraints but are using more than 3 feet of distance. In Worcester, whether or not classrooms can maintain 6 feet of distance will depend on how many students opt-in for in-person learning, Binienda explained. Though, there are 13 schools in particular where there are concerns that students cannot fit in buildings even at the smaller amount of 3 feet distance. Other concerns for the district are having enough space at lunchtime, when students must be 6 feet apart because they are not masked. Transportation is another concern, as Worcester needs to provide transportation for more than 13,000 of its roughly 24,000 students. The district also said it has limited substitutes for when staff members test positive or have close contacts. Some parents have expressed frustration with the district, saying that students are suffering through remote learning. But, for other parents, there are worries about having students possibly 3 feet apart, rather than 6 feet, as the pandemic continues. Related Content: This article contains spoilers for both versions of Justice League. Theres never been anything like Zack Snyders Justice Leagueand not just because its a four-hour, $370 million superhero movie that premiered on a streaming video service. Innumerable movies have been taken away from their directors and finished by unhappy producers, and a generous handful of those directors have been invited back years later to restore a semblance of their original vision. But theres never been a circumstance where two different directors effectively completed finished versions of the same movie, making two films that more or less share the same plot but are wildly divergent in terms of characterization, pacing, and tone. Comparing the twoshould you have the combined six hours to watch both Snyders version and Joss Whedonsoffers an unparalleled opportunity to see how much difference even small changes can make, how much a few scenes or a few lines can change the shape of a story, and, in the digital age, how much of a movie can be effectively reshot without setting foot on the set. Should Wonder Womans theme music play when she first appears, or when she enters her first battle, and should that theme be played by the string section or an electric cello? Film schools might balk at devoting a class to Justice League, but they ought to at least consider it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Snyders Justice League and Whedons are so distinctaccording to one report, Whedon reshot as much as three-quarters of the filmthat running down all their differences would be long and unenlightening. (The short answer to whats different in Snyders version is: everything.) But some changes have more pronounced effects than others, so weve separated out the most consequential, most dramatic, and just plain weirdest differences between the two to help you know what to keep an eye out for. Sign up for the Slate Culture newsletter The best of movies, TV, books, music, and more, delivered to your inbox three times a week. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. In the Beginning Theres no better way to summarize the difference between Joss Whedons and Zack Snyders Justice Leagues than describing how they begin. Whedons version opens with a viral video of a smiling Superman being questioned on the street by two adorable-sounding kids, who ask him, among other things, whether hes ever fought a hippo. Snyders cut opens with an extreme close-up on the kryptonite-tipped spear that pierced the Man of Steels heart at the end of Batman v Superman. While Whedons version introduces the movies central threat with a goofy scene in which Batman chases a gun-wielding thug across a rooftop, Snyder shows Supermans dying cries literally echoing around the globe, ripping outward like shock waves until they make contact with the slumbering Mother Boxes. The contrast in tone could hardly be more stark, and the divergent openings also set up two very different buy-ins for the viewer. In Whedons version, a cornered Parademon self-destructs and his luminescent blood leaves a gooey splatter in the shape of three Mother Boxes on the wall, which tells you that the movie is going to a do a lot of a wizard did it hand-waving in the name of speeding the plot along. Snyder, meanwhile, tells you hes moving in a straight line, and hes going to take his time getting there. Nips and Tucks Whedon massively reworked Snyders version of Justice League, but he also did what any filmmaker would do when preparing a movie for traditional theatrical release, cutting scenes that didnt appreciably advance the plot or deepen the characterswhat editors call shoe leatherand trimming others back so they dont retard the flow of the narrative. Snyders cut puts it all back, even parts he might well have slimmed down himself if hed had to finish the film for theaters. (Its telling that the unfinished assembly Snyder left the production with was a reported four hours long and so is the completed Snyder cut.) When the Amazon queen, Hippolyta, needs to warn Wonder Woman that an invasion is coming, she notches an ancient arrow to her bow and lets it fly, landing miles away and lighting a signal fire that gets Dianas attention. Snyder takes two full minutes and 21 shots to get to Whedons starting point, with shots of the Amazons retrieving the arrow from an even more ancient-looking box and Hippolyta gazing meaningfully at it and offering a prayer to the gods. Advertisement Advertisement In story terms, those two minutes add next to nothing; everything about the Amazonians is ancient and ritualized, so it stands to reason their ceremonial warning arrow would be as well. But the sequence adds weight and a sense of myth that Whedonwho is famous for subverting tropes, not supersizing themsimply isnt interested in. The trouble is that you can only demythologize a story about unfathomably powerful beings fighting over the fate of the universe so much, and once youve lost that mythic feeling, whats left starts to seem a little bit silly. Snyders version also has a lot of, to use the technical term, weird shit. Whedons is trimmed to a fault, prizing narrative momentum above all, while Snyders stops for a group of villagers to sing a Icelandic folk song as Aquaman returns to the sea, a sequence that ends with one of them huffing the sweater he left behind.* Whether any movie needs that shot is an open question, but if you feel like superhero movies have gotten too safe and predictable, Snyders Justice League serves up endless helpings of WTF. A Wolf in Different Clothing Advertisement Advertisement The assault on the Amazon stronghold also serves as the introduction of Steppenwolf, and comparing the two versions underlines a fascinating truth about contemporary large-scale filmmaking. So much of Justice League, in any version, exists only inside of a computer that in parts its effectively an animated film, which means that you can make major changes to the content of a scene without needing to reshoot a thing. Whedons and Snyders Steppenwolves look hugely different, with the latter gaining a suit of armor composed of thousands of tiny pieces of metal that can spring to attention like a blowfishs spines. Ironically, its now Whedons version that looks unfinished, wearing what looks like a bog-standard version of medieval garb, while Snyders looks truly stellar. Whedons Steppenwolf is also quippier and creepier, referring to the boxes as mother like hes cosplaying Mike Pence, and seems particularly fixated on getting under Wonder Womans skin. Snyders is fearsome but also more pathetic, an exiled soldier desperately trying to win back his commanders approval. Meet the Flash. Meet Cyborg. Advertisement Advertisement Justice League was given the imposingand, as it turned out, impossibletask of introducing three new characters to the DC universe: Aquaman, Cyborg, and the Flash. Whedon cut material related to all of them, but the latter two took the biggest hits. Gone from Whedons version is the scene that introduced the Flash, in which he breaks away from a job interview at a doggy day care to rescue a damsel in distressand oh, his future wifefrom a car crash, and a flashback recounting Cyborgs backstory. That last bit is especially key because without it, the present-day character can seem a bit, well, robotic. More importantly, in Snyders version, Cyborg and the Flash play key roles in the films denouement, disrupting the merging of the three Mother Boxes into the Unity that will allow Steppenwolf to effectively end life as we know it on earth. Snyders version establishes Cyborg as immensely powerful, with the ability to hack into any system, even an extraterrestrial one, and that makes him the only person who can get inside the Mother Boxes and prevent them from joiningbut he needs the Flashs help to do it. Not only does the Flash give Cyborg the electrical jolt he needs to stop the Unity, but he actually turns back time after Cyborg fails to stop the Unity the first time. Not even Superman (or at least this version of Superman) can do that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Whedons finale, the Flash spends most of his time running around rescuing a family of Russian civilians from Steppenwolfs Parademons. Its the culmination of an arc, added by Whedon to the earlier attack on the Parademon nest, designed to ease the Flash into the role of hero. But it also feels like a conspicuously lesser task, like the ones Whedon set for Marvels less powerful members during The Avengers Battle of New York. (Remember when Iron Man fought aliens in the sky, while Hawkeye shot arrows at them in a bank?) Rather than feeling like full-fledged members of the Justice League, the Flash and Cyborg feel like the second string, helpful in a pinch but not equal to the heroes whod either gotten or were about to get their own stand-alone movies. A Tale of Two Wonder Womans Advertisement Advertisement In mid-2016, Warner Bros. flew several journalists, including me, to the set of Justice League, as part of a campaign to convince the world that the movie would take a more lighthearted approach than Snyders Batman v Superman. (Among other things, they showed us the completed scene where the Flash tries to explain the presence of his heat-resistant supersuit by saying hes into competitive ice dancing.) That campaign, however, hit a snag when the internet got hold of an offhand comment that the crimson in Wonder Womans breastplate came from centuries of congealed blood from her victims. Whedons Wonder Woman is more in line with the one from Patty Jenkins movie, a self-identified believer who fights with the power of her convictions. Advertisement Both versions of Justice League include a moment of sexual tension between Diana and her Justice League colleagues, but Snyders is a little more in the vein of a classic rom-comDiana and Bruce Wayne brush hands while reaching for the same thing, and they both rush to apologizewhile Whedons is, well, a little grosser: The Flash shoves Diana out of the path of some falling debris and winds up lying atop her prone body, his head pointedly nestled between her breasts. Lest the moment pass unobserved, Whedon cuts into a close-up of the Flash wobbling his eyes wildly as steam pours from his body. Advertisement Oh, and in Whedons version, Wonder Woman stands by, panting, as Steppenwolf is consumed by his own Parademons. In Snyders version, she avenges her fallen Amazonian sisters by cutting his head off with a sword. Daddy Issues Advertisement In Whedons Justice League, both the Flash and Cyborg have troubled relationships with their fathers: The Flashs dad has been wrongfully imprisoned for murder, and Cyborgswell, theres the whole thing of bringing his nearly dead son back to life as a mostly machine freak to expiate the guilt of his absent parenting. But, in large part because of the expanded role those characters play in Snyders version, those issues become the movies spine. Both the Flash and Cyborg work through their personal crises at the same time as theyre saving the world: The Flash talks to his dad while hes in the Speed Force turning back time, and Cyborg, inside the Unity, is tempted with a vision of his family made wholehis parents alive, his body restoredthat he rejects in favor of accepting the world as it is. A revived Superman hears the voices of both his fathers, earthly and Kryptonian, as hes pondering whether to join the Justice League in their fight, and Aquaman concludes the movie by saying he needs to go look up his dad (which also sets up the plot of his solo movie). As for Bruce Waynewell, we know what the deal with his parents is, although for once we dont actually see them snuff it. Advertisement Advertisement Its possible this is how Snyders Justice League would have ended all along. But given the circumstances under which he left the production, theres a heartbreaking poignancy to the movies closing movement, in which Cyborgs father, who has sacrificed his own life to help the Justice League track down Steppenwolf, speaks to his son via tape-recorded message, recounting the ways he failed as a father and telling his child how proud of him he is. Its a film suffused with a fathers regrets, and a wish that his child know he has people to lean on. When Cyborg rejects the Unitys temptation, he yells, Im not alone, echoing the motto seen on what might be this versions most important addition: a billboard for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. To Be Continued Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Snyders original vision was for a Justice League story that continued into a sequel (and possibly two), and though its unlikely that well see a second Justice League, he restores the setup for that movie. Most notably that means the inclusion of Darkseid, the world-dominating, near-godlike entity for whom Steppenwolf is merely a henchman. Whedons version mentions Darkseid once, but hes a major character in Snyders version, and a major factor in Steppenwolfs desire to conquer Earth. (Although Steppenwolf is canonically Darkseids uncle, his aching need to convince his commander hes worth trusting once again feels like daddy issues, galactic-style.) Snyders story would have had Darkseid conquer Earth himself, killing Wonder Woman and Aquaman in the process, and turning Superman evil after murdering Lois Lane. (Remember in Batman v Superman when a time-traveling Flash popped through Bruces computer screen to yell LOIS IS THE KEY!!!? This is that.) When Cyborg uses a Mother Box to revive Superman, Snyder gives him visions of the future: Wonder Womans body atop a funeral pyre, Aquaman skewered with his own trident, and Superman cradling Lois charred, fleshless skeleton. And he returns to the Knightmare timeline for a long epilogue in which he and the surviving Justice League members are traveling through a desiccated hellscape. (Also the Joker is there, and feeling very chatty.) Both versions end with Superman restored to his role as protector of Earth, taking to the skies once more. But Snyder continues the story to emphasize that, while Superman may temporarily be on Earths side, hes a fundamentally alien being whose allegiances could shift at any moment, to be admired but also feared. For more on the Snyder Cut, listen to Sam Adams and Karen Han discuss the movie in spoilerific detail. A 54-year-old man from Mexico who was trying to cross illegally into the United States at the border in California was previously convicted of rape. He already had been deported from the U.S. once, Customs and Border Protection officials said. Aurelio Sandoval-Valdivia, 54, was apprehended by agents on Monday night It wasn't clear whether his rape conviction was from when he was previously in the U.S., or whether it occurred in Mexico; CBP didn't say. The apprehension of the convicted rapist comes as the number of would-be migrants trying to reach the United States is reaching 'critical' levels, according to Border Patrol officials. President Joe Biden's commitment to undo the policies of Donald Trump may be related to the uptick of migrants currently trying to cross the border. In a release by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency announced they apprehended Aurelio Sandoval-Valdivia, 54, on Monday night. Agents at the station in Yuma, Arizona caught Aurelio Sandoval-Valdivia around 11:30pm on Monday night near Andrade, California, along with 17 others. Sandoval-Valdivia was convicted of felony rape in the past, CBP said. The Mexican national also held misdemeanor convictions for willful cruelty to a child and driving while intoxicated. The CBP didn't indicate whether those convictions were in the U.S., or in Mexico, and it wasn't immediately clear in public records. Sandoval-Valdivia had been deported from the United States in the past and was 'processed along CBP guidelines,' the agency said. CBP didn't say whether it's holding Sandova-Valdivia, or whether agents have given him to Mexican authorities. DailyMail.com has contacted the agency for comment and additional details. While Sandova-Valdivia is a convicted criminal, many migrants are coming from Central America to escape violence, as well as economic hardship and natural disasters. According to Reuters, the administration is beginning to change its messaging to become more aggressive in light of the current surge at the border. Pictured: Construction of the border wall in Coronado National Forest, Arizona. Agents from the Yuma, Arizona station were the ones to apprehend the 18 migrants on Monday Part of that language shift is removing the implication that migrants will be welcome later, instead suggesting illegal migration won't be tolerated ever. 'Were going to be more aggressive, more agile about getting our message out, were going to try and combat the smugglers messages and make sure that people understand the truth,' said Roberta Jacobson, the White Houses southern border coordinator. Approximately 100,000 migrants were caught at the border in February, the most for a single month in almost two years. As of Thursday, around 4,500 children were stuck being held at border facilities. Despite the public statements of Biden officials, more than 9,500 migrant family members caught at the border last month were released, many into the United States. The migrant crisis along the border is reaching a critical mass. Pictured: Migrants in custody at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection area in Mission, Texas on Thursday Press secretary Jen Psaki called the situation at the border a 'crisis' this week, before backtracking. Psaki confirmed to DailyMail.com that Biden has seen photographs from inside facilities where unaccompanied children are being held upon crossing the border. The administration has confirmed that, in some cases, the children are held for more than the three days which is what what federal law permits for such facilities. 'He is committed to expediting the processing at the border - one of the reasons he wanted a briefing from people who have been in there so he can see himself, what it looks like,' Psaki said of Biden. "Our posture's gonna be that we're posted outside of DC, awaiting the president's orders. We hope he will give us the orders. We want him to declare an insurrection, and to call us up as the militia." Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, in November, looking ahead to Jan. 6 [March 19, 2021] Celebrate Spring with "Bleach: Brave Souls" Stamp Rally and A MASAYA ONOSAKA New Young TV Collaboration TOKYO, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- KLab Inc., a leader in online mobile games, announced that its hit 3D action game Bleach: Brave Souls will start the Spring of Brave Souls Stamp Rally starting Friday, March 19 from 15:00 JST (UTC+9). Players from around the world will work together to complete the four Spring of Brave Souls campaign challenges. If all the missions are cleared by the end of the campaign, everyone will receive one 5 star Summons Ticket. See original press release (https://www.klab.com/en/press/release/2021/0319/bleach_brave_souls_spring.html) for full details. Spring of Brave Souls Stamp Rally Official Website: https://www.bleach-bravesouls.com/en/campaign/spring_cp_2021/ *Please check the in-app notifications for more details. Furthermore, Masaya Onosaka (voice of Shinji Hirako)'s program New Young TV will host a second collaboration with Bleach: Brave Souls on Sunday, March 28 at 17:00 JST (UTC+9). Katsuyuki Konishi (voice of Shuhei Hisagi and Keigo Asano) will also join as a host for the program. Don't miss out on new Brave Souls information during this special collaboration. A MASAYA ONOSAKA New Young TV Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExysNytv Watch it here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJQb0Pou939pDubqrvTSRSA *Japanese audio with subtitles available in English, French, Korean, Thai, Traditional and Simplified Chinese. *Guests and broadcast content are subject to change without notice. There will also be a retweet campaign related to the show. Enter for a chance to be one of three lucky winners to get autographs from Masaya Onosaka and Katsuyuki Konishi! How to Enter 1. Follow the Bleach: Brave Souls official Twitter account ( @Bleachbrs_en ). 2. Retweet the tweet from the official account with the MASAYA ONOSAKA?New Young TV Collaboration: Spring full of Shinjis link. Overview of Bleach: Brave Souls Smartphone Support: Android 4.1+, iOS 10.0+ * Not available on some devices. PC (Steam) Support: Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit OS Required) Genre: 3D Action Price: Free-to-play (In-game purchases available) Supported Regions: Global Official Website: https://www.bleach-bravesouls.com/en/ Official Twitter Account: @bleachbrs_en Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/BleachBS.en Official Instagram: @bleachbravesouls_official Copyright: Tite Kubo/Shueisha, TV TOKYO, dentsu, Pierrot KLabGames Download here App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1003168863 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.klab.bleach Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1201240/BLEACH_Brave_Souls Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1458001/1.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] LONDON, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Second citizenship has become the latest luxury item to have in today's climate. Many are acquiring a dual nationality as a means of bettering their circumstances, whether financially or otherwise. Interestingly, millennials, particularly those in the tech field, are beginning to plan for their future by acquiring second citizenship to better access mobility, security and a better quality of life. As much of the world, diverts to remote working, many of these young professionals are looking to become digital nomads to expand their economic opportunities. The developing world, particularly countries in Africa and Asia, is home to the world's youngest populations and the fastest-growing demographic of high net-worth individuals, making it a source for untapped potential within the Citizenship by Investment market. Within the last year, the popularity of Citizenship by Investment Programmes - an initiative that grants citizenship in exchange for an investment into the nation's economy - has surged, bringing it to the mainstream stage. The programme was first introduced in 1984 in St Kitts and Nevis, a dual-island nation in the Caribbean, to diversify the economy. Now, St Kitts and Nevis's CBI Programme is recognised as a Platinum Standard brand due to its longevity and adaptability. "We have the longest experience in citizenship by investment programmes around the world. Every programme that has come after 1984 is a permutation, if you will, of the St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Programme," said Prime Minister Timothy Harris during a recent webinar. A single applicant must only invest $150,000 in the Sustainable Growth Fund and pass the necessary security checks to become a citizen of St Kitts and Nevis. Successful applicants unlock a range of benefits, including visa-free access to over 150 nations across the globe, the right to live, work and study in the nation and lastly, alternative business prospects that will have you on the door front of the world's largest economy - the United States. Furthermore, millennials who invest in St Kitts and Nevis's CBI Programme recognise the measurably positive social benefit they make to the nation. Revenue generated under the programme is channelled back into national development areas that span from tourism and climate change to infrastructural development and education. Lastly, those who choose to reside in St Kitts and Nevis can create a home in a stable democratic nation that prioritises its citizens and protects the rule of law. "Second citizenship is the perfect tool for millennials with successful innovative tech start ups who are looking to become digital nomads," says Paul Singh, Director at CS Global Partners, a leading government advisory and marketing firm specialising in Citizenship by Investment. Contact: +44 (0)7867 942505 pr@csglobalpartners.com www.csglobalpartners.com Fundraising campaigns set up on behalf of the two older people of Asian descent who were assaulted in San Francisco Wednesday in what police believe was an unprovoked attack had raised a combined total of more than $700,000 by Friday. A GoFundMe campaign set up by the Community Youth Center of San Francisco identified one of the attack victims as Ngoc Pham, an 83-year-old Vietnamese man. The campaign said he was shopping for groceries at a farmers market when he was attacked. Phams injuries included a broken nose and unspecified fractures in his neck, according to the campaign, and he will undergo further tests to determine the seriousness of the neck injuries. Photos show Pham on the ground, bleeding heavily from his nose with a bag of groceries by his side. But he remains in good spirits, the campaign said. Ngoc has always had a positive outlook on life as a result of him surviving 17 years in a Vietnamese concentration camp, the campaign said. More than $113,000 have been raised to support his recovery. The other person attacked, identified by KPIX as Xiao Zhen Xie, suffered from two serious black eyes, including one bleeding unstoppably, according to a separate fundraising campaign set up by her grandson, John Chen. The GoFundMe campaign said Xie is a cancer survivor, who has now been severely affected mentally, physically and emotionally by the attack. The campaign for Xie, which was at one point the most-viewed GoFundMe, had raised more than $600,000 by Friday morning. The man accused of attacking the pair, Steven Jenkins, 39, faces two charges of assault likely to produce great bodily injury and two charges of elder abuse. Police said they were still working to determine whether racial bias was a factor in the attacks, which they believe were unprovoked. According to San Francisco police, Jenkins had been involved in an altercation at U.N. Plaza Wednesday morning. Following that fight, he allegedly approached Pham and attacked him, police said. Witnesses alerted a security guard, who chased Jenkins on foot. While he was being chased, he allegedly attacked Xie. Jenkins was detained by the security guard until police arrived. Michael Williams is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: michael.williams@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michaeldamianw Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. EDITORS NOTE: On April 13, NJ Cannabis Insider hosts a virtual networking event, featuring professionals in the legal cannabis industries. Tickets are limited. Legislation allowing banks to offer credit cards and checking accounts to legal marijuana businesses was reintroduced Thursday in the U.S. House, which passed the bill in the last Congress only to see it fail in the Senate. The Secure and Fair Enforcement, or SAFE, Banking Act was the first piece of pro-cannabis legislation ever to reach the House floor and passed on a bipartisan vote in September 2019. Though the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on the issue, the bill never reached the floor for a vote in that chamber. The measure also was included in two House-passed stimulus bills, known as the HEROES Act, which also failed to get a vote in the Senate. This year, however, Democrats control the Senate, increasing the chances of cannabis legislation getting through Congress at a time when more states, including New Jersey, have legalized the drug for medical or recreational use. Because marijuana is illegal on the federal level, federally-regulated financial institutions have shied away from building banking relationships with cannabis operations or even businesses that provide services to them. That has forced employers to pay their workers in cash, making them targets for robbery, according to bill supporters. Thousands of employees and businesses across this country have been forced to deal in piles of cash for far too long, and it is the responsibility of Congress to step up and take action to align federal and state laws for the safety of our constituents and communities, said the bills chief sponsor, Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo. In many states, the industry was deemed essential yet forced to continue to operate in all cash, adding a significant public health risk for businesses and their workers. Two New Jersey lawmakers are co-sponsors, Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-9th Dist., and Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-12th Dist. Chanda Macias, first vice chair of the National Cannabis Roundtable, whose honorary chairs are former House Speaker John Boehner and former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, called the bill a win, win, win, for providers and their communities It will create more jobs, more opportunity and more public safety, Macias said. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., plans to reintroduce similar legislation in the Senate. U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez is a co-sponsor of that bill. Menendez has introduced separate legislation allowing legal cannabis operations to buy insurance just like any other business. NJ Cannabis Insider is a weekly subscriber-based trade journal and events group produced by NJ Advance Media, which also publishes NJ.com, The Star-Ledger and other affiliated papers. For more information, email staff here. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @JDSalant. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... One important reform that has quietly advanced during this years legislative session is House Bill 163, which would make a one-semester course in financial literacy a graduation requirement for New Mexicos high school students. The bill is being co-sponsored by Reps. Moe Maestas, Meredith Dixon and Melanie Stansbury, all D-Albuquerque, and Willie Madrid, D-Chaparral, and Jane Powdrell-Culbert, R-Corrales. House Bill 163 passed the House unanimously and has been awaiting a vote of the full Senate for several days. This bill matters because New Mexico scores very poorly on measures of financial literacy. For example, WalletHub, the personal finance website, ranked New Mexico 47th for overall financial literacy in 2019. Financial literacy courses teach students critically important life skills like budgeting, saving, investing, credit scores and the costs of borrowing. New Mexicos students need these tools to break out of generational cycles of poverty. When students become more financially knowledgeable, they often teach what they have learned to their parents, benefitting the whole family. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ New Mexico is one of a shrinking number of states that do not require students to take a course in financial literacy before they graduate from high school. Twenty-one states have made financial literacy a high school graduation requirement, with 17 of them adding it in the last decade. States with financial literacy requirements include three of New Mexicos neighbors: Texas, Utah and Arizona. In our most recent policy report, Think New Mexico recommended New Mexico follow the lead of these states and make financial literacy a graduation requirement for our students. Since 2008, financial literacy has been available as an elective course for high school students in New Mexicos public schools. Yet, only about 11% of New Mexicos high school students completed one of these classes during the 2019-2020 school year. Making financial literacy a graduation requirement would not only give students the tools they need to better manage their finances, it could also help raise New Mexicos low graduation rate. One reason why students drop out is that they do not see the relevance of schoolwork to their lives. A benefit of finance courses is that they are tailored to be highly relevant to students, with focuses on things like the cost of college and student loans, or budgeting and saving as they begin their first jobs. This will help keep students engaged and in school. Along with Think New Mexico, House Bill 163 is supported by groups including the League of Women Voters New Mexico, the American Association of University Women, the Credit Union Association of New Mexico, Independent Community Bankers Association of New Mexico, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and Michael Riordan, President and CEO of the Jennifer Riordan Foundation. At a time when New Mexico families are facing severe financial distress, we need to both address immediate needs and also look to the future by giving our students the tools to make the best financial decisions for their families. If you agree that we should make financial literacy a high school graduation requirement, please visit the Action Center on Think New Mexicos website at www.thinknewmexico.org and urge your legislators to pass House Bill 163 and the governor to sign it into law. Think New Mexico is a nonpartisan, results-oriented think tank serving New Mexicans. Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page A remarkable transformation has suddenly taken place at the very top of Scottish politics. Nicola Sturgeon, until recently the unassailable Queen of Scots, mistress of all she surveyed, has morphed into a wounded bear, lashing out in foul and angry mood at any and all who dare to challenge her. The parliamentary inquiry investigating her governments lamentable handling of its internal investigation into accusations of sexual harassment against former first minister Alex Salmond is now in her bad books even though she approved its establishment and vowed to observe its conclusions because it has had the temerity to contradict her version of events. She now smears it as partisan, stacked with people who had pre-judged her long before they heard any evidence. Sturgeon is on the ropes and her natural instinct is to strike out at all who assail her. It is not a pretty sight, writes ANDREW NEIL Senior Tory backbencher David Davis, who raised some inconvenient truths about her government in the House of Commons last week, is attacked as a member of the old boys club and part of an old pals act with Salmond. It is true Davis is friendly with Salmond. But it would be hard to imagine any Tory MP less likely to be in an old boys club. Salmond himself recently described by Sturgeon as one of the closest people to me in my life is now dismissed as a male dinosaur who, typical man, always expected to get his way. Such words were never uttered, of course, during the many years when she enjoyed his patronage and bathed in his reflected glory. Even leading Scottish Tory Ruth Davidson, who often bests Sturgeon at First Ministers Questions in the Holyrood parliament, is not to be taken seriously, according to this newly defensive leader, because she is deserting Scotland for the House of Lords. Sturgeon is on the ropes and her natural instinct is to strike out at all who assail her. It is not a pretty sight. But I would not underestimate her resilience. She is determined to lead the SNP into the crucial Holyrood elections in May, campaigning for an overall majority to reinforce her demand for a second Scottish independence referendum. Interestingly, even some of those pro-Union politicians publicly calling for her to resign hope privately that she stays in situ. They think the fallout from the Salmond-Sturgeon civil war has turned her into a liability who could scupper the SNPs hopes of an overall majority. Examine the charge list. While Salmond was acquitted of all sexual assault charges when his case went to court, nobody has taken responsibility by resigning, or been punished with the sack, for the egregious and expensive mistakes made in the handling of the Scottish governments inquiry, which so signally failed the women at the heart of the complaints. There are copious indications that an SNP-Scottish government cabal tried to destroy Salmond. As a result, Nicola Sturgeon, widely regarded as the partys biggest asset, could now be the politician that stops the SNP from fulfilling its dreams, says ANDREW NEIL Sturgeons evidence to the Holyrood inquiry, it is claimed, was riddled with contradictions and gaps. There are copious indications that an SNP-Scottish government cabal tried to destroy Salmond. Many heavy-handed attempts were made to stifle the Scottish medias attempts to tell the full story. All the above have combined to bring a previously untouchable leader down to earth with a thump. As a result, a politician who has always been head and shoulders above all her rivals inside and outside the SNP and widely regarded as the partys biggest asset could now be the politician that stops the SNP from fulfilling its dreams. The constitutional stakes for the future of the United Kingdom could not be higher. It is by no means certain that Boris Johnson would grant Sturgeon a second referendum even if she still managed to win an overall majority. But it is certain that without such a majority the chances of a second referendum any time soon would be zero, kicking the SNPs dream of Scottish separation into the long grass and securing the Union for the foreseeable future. That would be reinforced if the SNP also failed to secure 50 per cent of the vote on a manifesto calling for another referendum. Westminster would simply insist that it was not even a matter for negotiation, since a majority of Scots would have voted for pro-Union parties. There is no question that the long drawn-out Salmond affair, despite its sometimes baffling intricacies, has taken its toll on Sturgeon and the SNP. After a long run of opinion polls showing a gradually growing Scottish majority in favour of independence, theyve suddenly become much more ambiguous, with some even showing a majority for staying in the Union. Other polls show the SNP now struggling to win the high share of the vote required to win that crucial overall majority. Its unlikely that matters will improve for Sturgeon or the SNP any time soon. The leak from the parliamentary inquiry, which is expected to officially report its findings next week, concerns Sturgeons claim, under oath and in affidavit, that she did not indicate to Salmond, when she first discussed the complaints with him on April 2, 2018, that she would intervene in the internal inquiry. Salmond testified that she had. Crucially, he secured the corroboration of his QC, who in written testimony to the inquiry said he was at the meeting and recorded Sturgeon saying: If it comes to it, I will intervene. This was enough, according to the leak, for the inquiry to conclude that Sturgeons evidence was inaccurate and therefore a potential breach of the ministerial code as it involved misleading parliament, which is normally a resigning matter. But it is by no means her only problem. There are alleged to be a host of other accusations that she misled parliament in her explanations of crucial events in the spring of 2018 and if the inquiry concludes she did indeed mislead parliament on multiple occasions, then her position will be more perilous. It will become touch and go whether she survives if a second inquiry comes to the same conclusion. James Hamilton QC, once Irelands top prosecutor, has been tasked with investigating possible breaches of the ministerial code. Andrew Neil is chairman of The Spectator, the magazine that went to court to win the right to publish details of Alex Salmonds submission to the Holyrood committee This behind-closed-doors inquiry has always had the potential to be more treacherous for Sturgeon. It too reports next week. But the expectation in Edinburgh is that Hamilton will fudge it. After all, as the Scottish government reminded us this week, Hamilton was Sturgeons adviser on the code, he provided her with advice and said it was up to her how to respond. Unless he explicitly says she knowingly broke the code and misled parliament, Sturgeon will be minded to brazen it out. Even if all of this denies Sturgeon a majority over all the other parties in parliament, she is still clear favourite barring a knockout blow from either inquiry to form another minority government. That might seem like a decent consolation prize in the circumstances. It is more likely to be a bed of nails. Like all parties that have been in power too long (remember the Tories under John Major?) the SNP, once a model of discipline, is now riven with faction-fighting on various fronts, from independence tactics to transgender rights. It has also descended into a cesspit of sleaze. The SNP chief whip in Westminster has had to stand down pending an investigation into accusations of sexual harassment. An unnamed female SNP MP has been accused of the same thing. An SNP finance minister had to resign for sending inappropriate texts to a teenager. The rural minister is being investigated for bullying civil servants, accusations he denies. And still the Scottish government hasnt got its procedures straight. The countrys leading civil service union complains that staff being bullied and harassed by ministers have no recourse to justice because official procedures are more harrowing than the original incident. This is all likely to get much worse with four more years of minority government. With no prospect of a second referendum, party discipline will atrophy further. Sturgeon will have no red meat to throw at her fundamentalist wing, for whom independence is all that matters. The wheels are already coming off the SNP. In the next parliament it could be left sitting on its axles. With independence no longer an option, Scots will look more closely at the SNPs domestic record. A school system whose underperformance has been masked by removing Scotland from most of the main international comparisons. A university sector which poor pupils have much less of a chance of getting into than their English equivalents. A health service which hardly ever meets its targets. Loss-making, state-owned industries whose main activity is to gobble up taxpayers money. And the worst drug problem in Europe. I would not be surprised if Sturgeon decided sometime in the next parliament to pack it in and go off to a more pleasant life managing some global quango. If Mays elections produce a result which secures the Union for the foreseeable future and those who cherish the Union should start to breathe a little more easily what would be the point in hanging around? Andrew Neil is chairman of The Spectator, the magazine that went to court to win the right to publish details of Alex Salmonds submission to the Holyrood committee SC stops Maj Gen from being sent to jail, saves Army of an embarrassment India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 19: The Supreme Court averted a major embarrassment for the Indian Army, when it stated an order of a Telangana court sending Major General R K eneral Officer Commanding of Telangana Andhra Sub Area, to two months in a civil prison. The Major General had allegedly disobeyed a court decree in a land dispute case between the military and civilians which has been going on for nearly 50 years. Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta told a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, S A Bobde that it was unthinkable for the Army GOC to be sent to jail over a civil litigation. The Bench stayed the order of the trial court. The land on which the TASA establishment is set up was initially acquired by the Nizam of Hyderabad for military purposes over 100 years back. In 1971, the defence establishment filed a suit claiming ownership of 9 acres of land, which it claimed was encroached upon by civilians. The Army also produced a Survey of India map of 1900 to substantiate its claim. The civilians said that the possession of the land by them for over 160 years. They argued that the continuous adverse possession by them had completely extinguished the ownership rights of the cantonment. A civil court in Secunderabad had dismissed the suit filed by the Army and the same had also been upheld by the High Court. The civilians moved the trial court for execution of the order as the Army continued to claim ownership over the land. The trial court on January 27 said that the GOC and defence estate officer be sent to civil prison for two months for wilful disobedience and violation of the decree of permanent injunction. Following an appeal by the Centre, the Telangana HC had on March 9 adjourned hearing without staying the trial court's order. Darbhanga : , March 19 (IANS) An eight-year-old student was electrocuted and at least four students injured on Friday in Bihar's Darbhanga district. Police station in-charge, Yashodananda Pandey said eight-year-old student Chanchala Kumari lost her life when a damaged live wire came in contact with an iron gate at her school. He said, at least four other girl students and teachers were also injured in the incident. The injured have been admitted to a referral hospital for treatment. There was panic in the school after the incident. Locals surrounded the school and raised slogans against the school administration demanding the suspension of the headmaster. The villagers could only be pacified after senior police officers rushed to the school and spoke to them. Further investigations are on. Judge Dismisses Journalist Lawsuit Against Rod Rosenstein for Allegedly Spying on Her Family A federal judge this week dismissed investigative journalist Sharyl Attkissons case against former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who she alleged had illegally spied on her and her family. Attkisson, the former CBS reporter who uncovered the Fast and Furious operation, had filed the lawsuit in January 2020 against Rosenstein and several Justice Department (DOJ) officials, claiming that she and her family were targeted by a multi-agency task force that was overseen by Rosenstein. The complaint alleged that the officials conducted unauthorized and illegal surveillance on her and her familys computers and phones from 2011 to 2014. At the time, Attkisson was reporting on a federal drug-trafficking investigation during the Obama administration that was later known as Operation Fast and Furious. The Attkissons alleged that following the broadcast of one of those CBS reports, government officials began to actively probe for government leakers who were providing information to Attkisson and CBS. She was seeking compensatory damages for violations of their First and Fourth Amendment rights as well as violations of various federal legislations. Despite a yearslong court battle with the DOJ, Attkisson has had little success with the effort because her legal team had been unable to secure the names of the officials involved in the surveillance operation. After a person involved in the wrongdoing came forward with information, Attkisson was able to revive her claims in the January 2020 lawsuit. The informant alleged that Rosenstein, who was acting as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland at the time, order co-defendants Shawn Henry, Sean Wesley Bridges, Robert Clarke, and Ryan White to conduct home computer surveillance on the Attkisson family in March 2011, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Bennett said in his ruling (pdf). Attorney General William Barr speaks alongside Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, right, and acting Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Edward OCallaghan, left, about the release of a redacted version of special counsel Robert Muellers report during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, on April 18, 2019. (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo) In April 2020, Rosenstein and Henry asked the court to dismiss the case against them on several grounds, including a failure to state a claim. Bennett on March 16 granted their request and dismissed the case against all defendants after accepting their argument that Attkisson had failed to state a claim for relief. The Plaintiffs have failed to allege any factual allegations with respect to actual conduct related to the purported surveillance of their Virginia home which occurred in Maryland, Bennett wrote. But he provided Attkisson with an opportunity to remedy the deficiencies identified in his ruling, saying that her legal team could file a second amended complaint by March 31. In a statement on March 18, Attkisson said she and her legal team have yet to decide on their next legal steps. We are not surprised by the Courts ruling in light of the Fourth Circuits earlier opinion, but we are disappointed. It would have been nice if the government had told the truth before the case was decided in Virginia and the Fourth Circuit, but at least we now know that our own government was directly responsible for conducting illegal surveillance of a journalist and that Mr. Rosenstein was involved, and that Rosenstein is hiding behind alleged legal immunity and legal estoppel arguments to avoid responsibility, the statement said. Although as despicable as this conduct is and was, the goal was to find the truth. As everyone knows, I attempted to avoid litigation, but the government lied to me, lied to Congress, and concealed the truth of what transpired. The truth is all we as a family ever wanted. I hope and pray this never happens to another family. Multiple independent forensic examinations have established that Attkissons computers and phones were breached and surveilled. On Aug. 31, 2018, a former FBI unit chief signed a sworn affidavit affirming that Attkissons computers were hacked using sophisticated software only available to government entities like the FBI, CIA, and NSA. Sharyl Attkisson is a Contributor to The Epoch Times. Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report. (JNS) In an effort to create a more culturally relevant curriculum that encourages students to feel more personally empowered, the State of Californias Department of Education has been mandated with adopting an Ethnic Studies Curriculum. However, despite two revisions in response to concerns that were articulated by Jewish organizations, the curriculums representation of Jews lacks authenticity and persists in inviting anti-Jewish sentiment. The curriculum includes a fact sheet on Jewish American Diversity that states, Jewish American ethnic identity may be expresse... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE By the slimmest margin, New Mexico legislators granted final approval Thursday to a proposal to ban traps, snares and wildlife poisons on public land. The state House voted 35-34 in favor of the measure after three hours of intense debate that touched on ranching, outdoor recreation and animal cruelty. The proposal won Senate approval last week, and it will head next to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. But Thursday's vote was a cliffhanger. The measure was tied on a 34-34 vote until Rep. Susan Herrera, D-Embudo, called out to register her vote in favor. The debate didn't fall entirely along party lines, with opposition from some Democrats representing Native American communities and rural areas. The legislation, Senate Bill 32, was described by supporters as a commonsense step that would prevent the suffering of pets caught or killed in traps and snares. They call the measure Roxy's Law, named after a dog strangled to death by a snare during a 2018 hike. This bill is about making sure New Mexicans can enjoy their public lands, Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, said. People want to be able to feel safe coming here and enjoying them. Legislators on both sides of the debate offered some gruesome stories. Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell, a Roswell Republican and rancher, described finding a pack of coyotes eating a calf during birth. Traps, she said, are a reasonable way to manage predators. I've seen my animals be devastated by some of these creatures out there that literally kill for fun, Spence Ezell said. If signed into law, the measure would make it illegal to use a trap, snare or wildlife poison for purposes of capturing, injuring or killing an animal on public land. There would be exceptions for Native American ceremonies and ecosystem management by government agencies. Cage traps would also be permitted in some circumstances. McQueen, a co-sponsor of the legislation, said the bill would boost outdoor recreation. Hikers, for example, wouldn't have to worry about encountering a trap or snare as they enjoy New Mexico's natural beauty. Since the most recent trapping season began, at least nine dogs have been caught in privately set traps and snares on public land, according to Animal Protection Voters and WildEarth Guardians. The state Senate passed the bill on a 23-16 vote last week. Sponsoring the bill are Sens. Roberto Bobby J. Gonzales of Ranchos de Taos and Brenda McKenna of Corrales and Reps. McQueen and Christine Chandler of Los Alamos, all Democrats. If signed into law, the bill would go into effect April 1 next year. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ An official working at the Midland, Texas, facility said most of the Red Cross volunteers staffing the site dont speak Spanish, even though the teenagers they care for are overwhelmingly from Central America. When the facility opened, there werent enough new clothes to give to teenagers who had been wearing the same shirts and pants for several days, the official said. And no case managers were on site to begin processing the minors release to family elsewhere in the U.S. The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has strongly condemned the Juju loving Ewe textbook which has generated some controversies across the country. The party in a statement signed by its Communication Director, Yaw Buaben Asamoa described the publication as incompetent and inept material paraded by some publishers as books. According to the NPP, In our world today, there is no profit to ethnic dominance or subjugation considering the universal values that globalization imposes on us. Read full statement STATEMENT ON EDUCATION MATERIALS The New Patriotic Party (NPP) hereby condemns the incompetent and inept material paraded by some publishers as books of instruction for our children. Distortions of history and bigoted stereotyping of ethnic groups cannot be the basis upon which the social identity of our children is nurtured and established. In our world today, there is no profit to ethnic dominance or subjugation considering the universal values that globalization imposes on us. Current global values project universal human rights, encompassing respect for all peoples irrespective of nationality, ethnicity, religion, culture or gender. Economies are being built on digital technology and innovation, creativity and skills development. These are what will drive international competitiveness for Ghana and open opportunities for our young people to master their talents and fulfil their dreams. Whilst we note that the National Council for Curriculum Accreditation (NACCA) has not approved the publication, the NPP is urging them to refine and enforce their rules without fear or favour. That way, products certified by NaCCA can help bring up well-balanced children, imbued with global values and pride in their country and its diverse culture. In conclusion, the NPP is urging political and social leaders to speak to the issues with the intention to bind us together as one people with one nation and one destiny. We are proudly Ghanaian! SIGNED Yaw Buaben Asamoa, ESQ 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. Administratorii portalului nu poarta raspundere pentru continutul postarilor si materialelor plasate de utilizatorii site-ului. Utilizati informatia din acest articol pe propriul risc. EDWARDSVILLE A 16-year-old Woodson Terrace, Missouri youth has been indicted on two counts of first-degree murder by a Madison County grand jury in the January shooting death of a Southern Illinois University Edwardsville student. Jacob S. Godoy, 16, was indicted Thursday on two counts of first-degree murder, both Class M felonies. He had previously been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm. Grocery giant Coles has unveiled a new upmarket supermarket offering, featuring an in-store food court, on-demand vegetable chopping and a swathe of sustainability initiatives as the retailer said it is aiming to cut its carbon emissions 75 per cent by 2030, stepping up its targets. Located in the Melbourne suburb of Moonee Ponds, the site is Coles second premium grocerant supermarket-restaurant hybrid, the first of which launched last year in Tooronga. Presenting the new store, the $20 billion retailer pledged to fuel all of its 800-plus sites across the country with renewable energy by 2025 and slice emissions by three-quarters by 2030, a move lauded by advocacy groups Greenpeace and the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility. Coles is following rivals Woolworths and Aldi in dialling up its emissions targets, having faced pressure from advocacy groups at its last annual general meeting, where it was urged to increase its uptake of renewable energy and set firmer emissions targets. The retailer had previously only had emissions targets set up until 2020. Coles chief executive Steven Cain at the new Moonee Ponds store. Credit:Jason South The company has been trialling a number of different store formats to suit different demographics and locations, including smaller-format, customised Coles Local stores and the larger-format grocerant locations. Chief executive Steven Cain described the new grocerant concept as the retailers top-shelf store format. Burma Myanmar Security Forces Rob Local Residents in Yangon Military personnel and police loot civilians in Twante on March 18. / CJ Myanmar security forces looted personal belongings worth nearly 20 million kyat from villages in Twante Township on the outskirts of Yangon on March 18, reported local residents. Soldiers and police stole cash, gold and jewelry, cameras and food at gunpoint from houses in Phayagyi and Ziphyugon villages in Twante. In Phayagyi village, the security forces looted a house that sells ice-cream. They reportedly took one million kyat kept in a cupboard, gold items worth more than six million kyat, according to market prices, an iPad, a camera worth two million kyat and two branded watches. They came into my house and took ice-creams. They also took the cash box. I hadnt even counted the money that I had made from selling ice-creams. The total amount [stolen] will surely be more than 10 million kyat, said the house owner. It is worth losing our belongings if we can achieve democracy. I dont want to lose them for no good reason, he said. Police also stole gas cylinders, gas stoves, dried fish and jewelry from a house in the same village that sells gas cylinders and dried fish. The value of the stolen goods is over seven million kyat, according to the house owner who was robbed. It was an armed robbery. Once they [security forces] stopped their truck, they came into my house, shooting. They also shot open the door of my house and looted everything, he said. A villager in Ziphyugon said security forces stole 1.5 million kyat and food from the fridge of his house and broke cooking utensils. They also ransacked other homes in the village, he said. Activists and those financially supporting the protests against the military regime were targeted by the security forces in the looting, said local residents. Four trucks full of soldiers and police rampaged through four other villages in Twante and broke into at least five houses, ransacking property and looking for evidence. You may also like these stories: NLDs Information Team Member Arrested by Myanmars Military Regime Myanmar Regime Sues 10 University Academics on Strike Singapore Military Chief Expresses Grave Concern to Myanmar Regime Leader Mumbai, March 19 : For Indian trade, 2020 was a year dominated by unprecedented challenges, irregular manufacturing and buying patterns, disrupted trade environments and lack of predictability, Maersk report said on Friday. With the Covid-19 pandemic spreading across the world in a staggered manner and in varying proportions, the impact on containerised trade was felt the most in Q2/2020 when exports contracted by 34 per cent. As societies began to find ways to coexist with Covid-19, trade started recovering in the second half. Exports ramped up sharply in Q3, not only recovering from Q2 slump, but even increased by 14 per cent year on year, however the economic impact on consumers led to substantially lower imports, which dropped by 28 per cent as compared to the same period of 2019. The last quarter of the year showed growth in both imports and exports, thus making solid strides towards returning to normalcy. The demand for Indian exports across multiple categories continued to remain exceptionally strong, much of it driven by consumer demand in North America and Europe. Steve Felder, Managing Director, Maersk South Asia, said, "Despite unprecedented challenging conditions, stakeholders across supply chains -- from manufacturers to consumers, from government bodies to logistics enablers -- all stood up cautiously to fight the pandemic. Without the contribution from all the moving parts in the complex machinery of global trade, the path back to normalcy would not have been possible." During Q4 of 2020 (October to December), Indian containerised trade grew 13.2 per cent as compared to the same period in 2019. This was the first time in the year when both exports and imports grew in a quarter. Exports from India had shown a V-shaped recovery since mid-Q3, whilst imports had remained subdued for a long time owing to low demand in the market. In Q4, this trend changed notably, with exports stabilizing at a high level and imports bouncing back significantly by 36.3 per cent over the previous quarter, thus moving the needle for overall trade recovery. During the year, exports contracted in the first half and increased in the second half, consequently posting a full-year marginal growth of under 1 per cent as compared to 2019. Imports delivered a full-year 14 per cent contraction as compared to 2019. Exports grew through the year, riding on the rising demand for Indian textiles and apparels, especially in the North American markets. Seeds, beans, cereal and flour exports to the African and Gulf countries also contributed to the recovery. Rounding off the top three commodities being exported in containerised trade was metal, which has considerable demand in Far East Asia and Oceania regions. Amongst the refrigerated cargo, pharmaceuticals export out of India rose steeply during 2020, with Q4 alone recording 47 per cent higher volumes as compared to the same period in 2019. Meat and shellfish exports also rose during the last quarter of 2020. Imports of paper, metal, appliances and kitchenware topped the list of commodities that were brought into India in 2020. While paper and metal imports mainly came in from North America and North Europe, appliances and kitchenware were mostly imported from the Far East. The imports of refrigerated cargo grew in the last quarter of 2020 with fruit and nuts, chemicals and vegetables imports topping the list of commodities. The US and China continued to be India's top export and import trade partners respectively in 2020. While both these trade partners maintained their top positions, the trade with both dropped considerably. Over the year, the exports to the US contracted by 16 per cent while imports from China shrunk by 41 per cent. The Covid-19 pandemic created unprecedented disruptions in the market. Manufacturers lost production days in the first half of the year impacting supply, while consumers spent cautiously, impacting demand in the market. As the pandemic started getting under control and it became apparent that there was a path to vaccines, retail behaviours started returning to normalcy. However, the impact of the trade disruption caused earlier will have long lasting effects. The imbalance in exports and imports, where exports recovered much quicker than imports resulted in an acute container shortage in various pockets of the Indian hinterland. Container manufacturing also reduced due to Covid-related shutdowns, and the pent-up consumer demand in North America and Europe ultimately resulted in a worldwide container shortage. Commenting on the current situation and outlook, Steve Felder said, "The challenges that we face today and the extraordinary situation we are in is not going to last forever. This is a temporary phase that will pass, and we are already on our way towards normalcy. We can see overall trade improving and economies getting back on track. The vaccination drive is picking up pace worldwide, and this is going to be the single most important aspect to bring trade -- and life -- back to normal." He added, "We have also seen accelerated transformation in the last year -- developments that would have otherwise taken several years took just a few months. Continued efforts to increase digitalisation, improve ease of doing business, create favourable conditions for global trade and dedicated investments in improving infrastructure will propel India's import and export growth in the medium to long term." A.P. Moller -- Maersk is an integrated container logistics company working to connect and simplify its customers' supply chains. As the leader in shipping services, the company operates in 130 countries and employs roughly 80,000 people. Washington: During the US election campaign, Donald Trump and his Republican allies tried to paint Joe Biden as soft on China, nicknaming the Democratic nominee Beijing Biden. But since coming into office, Biden and his top foreign affairs officials have made it clear they will take a hard-nosed, sceptical approach to Beijing while leaving room for co-operation on issues such as climate change. A central player in the Biden administrations China strategy will be Kurt Campbell, who has been nicknamed the administrations Asia policy tsar. It just so happens he is an especially close friend of Australia. Who is he? The 63-year-olds official title is Bidens Indo-Pacific Co-ordinator. Campbells specially created role, which sits within the National Security Council, is the culmination of decades of foreign policy experience in the US capital. A four year old boy who died after sustaining a critical head injury in an apparent fall at a house in Limerick last weekend, is to be laid to rest this Sunday. Little Mason TJ OConnell-Conway from Carriage Court, Dublin Road and Rathbane in Limerick, died at Childrens Hospital Ireland, Temple Street, Dublin, last Tuesday. Last Tuesday Gardai said they were investigating all of the circumstances around the boys death but were maintaining an open mind in their enquiries. Read More Gardai stated that the results of a post mortem on the boys body will determine the course of the investigation. Gardai have not made any further comment or statement. A funeral notice published this evening stated the boy passed away following an accident and was sadly missed by his heartbroken parents, mother Elizabeth and father John Paul, brothers and sisters Michaela, Aaron, Bonnie and Kyle, Elizabeths partner Aaron, John Pauls partner Tegan, and his grandparents, Breda, Tony and John. The boys remains will be reposing at his grandmothers home at Scanlan Park, Castleconnell on Saturday, 20th March, for family and friends only. The boys funeral mass will be held at St Josephs Church, Castleconnell, at 11.30am Sunday, with burial afterwards in St Josephs cemetery, Castleconnell. The boys family has requested mourners to please adhere to Government guidelines regarding social distancing during the funeral. President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered the American flag to fly at half-staff at the White House, military grounds and other federal government buildings through Monday "as a mark of respect" for the eight people killed in Tuesday's spree shooting at three Atlanta-area spas. Biden, who called the shooting "senseless," likewise lowered the flag at all embassies and other international U.S. facilities. Six of the victims were Asian women. All eight were fatally shot at three different massage parlors a massacre that comes as violence has been rising against Asian Americans, experts say. Local investigators have said that the suspect, a 21-year-old man, seemed to have a sex addiction and the spas were "a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate." He "may have frequented some of these places in the past," the Cherokee County, Georgia, sheriff said Wednesday. The investigation is ongoing. "Whatever the motivation here, I know Asian Americans are they are very concerned, because as you know I have been speaking about the brutality against Asian Americans for the last couple of months and I think it is very, very troubling," Biden said Wednesday, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office. RELATED: 'Hate Is Deadly' Lawmakers Speak Out After Ga. Spree Shooting Kills 6 Asian Women Patrick Semansky/AP/Shutterstock The White House in January Last week, Biden, 78, condemned racism against Asian Americans during a primetime television address about the COVID-19 pandemic, calling hateful rhetoric and violence "un-American" and urging it to end. "At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans, they're on the front lines of this pandemic trying to save lives," Biden said. "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." Story continues Numerous other local and national political figures have spoken out in the wake of the violence. On Wednesday morning, Vice President Kamala Harris said the shooting was "tragic." "Knowing the increasing level of hate crime against our Asian American brothers and sisters, we also want to speak out in solidarity with them and acknowledge that none of us should ever be silent in the face of any form of hate," said Harris, 56, the first person of Asian descent to become vice president. "We're not yet clear about the motive," she added. "But I do want to say to our Asian American community that we stand with you and understand how this has frightened and shocked and outraged all people." To learn more and to report crimes, go to: Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Stop the AAPI Hate, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA, and Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council. 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. 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. Officer Assault Case Bound to Grand Jury By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - A Paducah man facing multiple charges, including the assault of a police officer, was in court Thursday.A court official said 38-year-old Mauricus Haynes appeared in District Court for a preliminary hearing. His case was bound to a grand jury, and an arraignment was scheduled for May 6 at 8:30.Paducah Police arrested Haynes on February 14 after his vehicle was pulled over. An officer allegedly saw a handgun in the driver's side door and attempted to arrest him. He reportedly resisted, kicking an officer and striking him in the face. Haynes was arrested later that morning at his home.Police say he is a felon who reportedly has a lengthy criminal history.You can see his complete list of charges at the link below.On the Net: New Delhi, March 19 : US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived here on Friday for discussions on cooperating to face "most pressing challenges" in the Indo-Pacific. The first visit by a member of US President Joe Biden's cabinet to India came as leaders of the US and China clashed at a meeting in Alaska symbolising the growing aggressiveness by China. It is particularly seen in the Indo-Pacific region and the US is responding by working closely with allies and partners. India has seen a year of violent attacks by Chinese military against India along the Line of Actual Control in the Himalayas. Austin tweeted: "Thrilled to be here in India. The breadth of cooperation between our two nations reflects the significance of our major defence partnership, as we work together to address the most pressing challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region." He is scheduled to hold discussions with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. The Pentagon said that he will also be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On his arrival in New Delhi, Austin was met by representatives of the three India armed forces and by US Defence Attache in New Delhi, Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher. The visit reflects President Biden's focus on the Indo-Pacific region to meet the Chinese challenge. Last week Biden held a virtual summit with other leaders of the Quad, Prime Ministers Modi of India, Scott Morrison of Australia and Yoshihide Suga of Japan, at which they discussed security issues in the face of Chinese aggressive actions. Before coming to India, Austin had visited two US treaty allies, Japan and South Korea, on the frontlines of Chinese aggressiveness at sea in the region, and the military headquarters of the Indo-Pacific headquarters in Hawaii. He and Secretary of State Antony Blinken held 2+2 ministerial meetings with their counterparts in Seoul and Tokyo. The meeting of Blinken and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan with senior Chinese officials, State Councilor Wang Yi and Communist Party Foreign Affairs Director Yang Jiechi opened on Thursday in Anchorage, Alaska, with open hostility. Blinken said: "We will always stand up for our principles for our people, and for our friends." Yi retorted that the US was trying to "obstruct normal trade exchanges and incite some countries to attack China". Outlining Austin's agenda in India, Acting Assistant Defence Secretary for Indo-Pacific, David Helvey, said that he will "discuss operationalising the major defence partnership that we have with India, including through enhanced information sharing, regional security cooperation, defence trade, and cooperation in new domains." The Indian Defence Ministry said that Singh and Austin "are expected to discuss ways to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation and exchange views on regional security challenges and common interests in maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region." It added, "Discussions regarding defence cooperation would also focus on how both countries could consolidate military-to-military cooperation and defence trade and industry cooperation." PITTSBURGH, March 19, 2021 - Non-circulating memory T cells, whose main function is to provide local protection against re-infection, contribute to chronic transplant rejection, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers reveal in a paper published today in Science Immunology. The scientists show that these "tissue-resident memory T cells" are harmful in situations where antigens that the cells recognize are present in the body for a long time, such as in cases of an organ or tissue transplant. This finding is an important step toward improving therapies to help prevent organ rejection in transplant recipients. "Tissue-resident memory T cells serve an important surveillance function," said co-senior author Martin Oberbarnscheidt, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of surgery at Pitt. "If these cells encounter the same pathogen more than once, they can help quickly eliminate it. But studying these cells in transplants gives us a unique opportunity to look into what happens when the antigen persists--a new organ transplant is a big piece of tissue which, unlike an infection, stays in the body for a long time." Immunologists and transplant surgeons have long been aware that T cells--a subset of immune cells central to the development of acquired immunity--play a critical role in acute rejection of a transplanted organ. But until now, the role of resident memory T cells in transplant rejection was overlooked. "Resident memory T cells turn from being protective against an infection into a problem in a transplant setting as they fight off a life-saving organ," said lead author Khodor Abou-Daya, M.D., research assistant professor in Pitt's Department of Surgery. "It's an elephant in the room--T cells are present at a chronic stage of the kidney transplant rejection, but no one knew if these cells were functional." Using a mouse model of kidney transplantation, the researchers showed that, over time, activated T cells that infiltrate a transplanted organ morph into resident memory T cells. They discovered that if they surgically conjoin blood circulation of two mice, both of which received identical kidney transplants, memory T cells formed in transplanted organs don't travel from one mouse to the other. Similarly, if a transplanted kidney was then removed and re-transplanted again to yet another mouse, resident memory T cells stayed in the transplanted kidney and didn't disseminate anywhere else in the recipient's body, establishing that these cells reside in the tissue permanently. It also is remarkable that, despite the presence of the ubiquitous antigen, these tissue-resident memory T cells didn't become "exhausted," as commonly happens to these T cells during chronic infections and in tumors. Instead, the cells remained functional, proliferating and producing signals that sustained a prolonged immune response. Moreover, their formation precipitated kidney graft rejection. "There is an assumption that T cells in transplanted organs or tissues are exhausted and dysfunctional and may not contribute significantly to tissue rejection," said Abou-Daya. "Our work shows that tissue-resident memory T cells are functional and destructive." Specifically targeting these cells could improve clinical transplant outcomes while preserving the immune system's ability to fight off infections, reducing the side effects of current systemic immunosuppressive therapies. ### Other authors on the manuscript include Rayan Rammal, M.D., of the American University of Beirut, Lebanon; Roger Tieu, Daqiang Zhao, M.D., Faruk Sacirbegovic, Ph.D., Amanda Williams, M.S., and Warren Shlomchik, M.D., all of Pitt. Fadi Lakkis, M.D., of Pitt, is a co-senior author. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants AI049466, AI145881, HL143349, AI074490, DK124925, GM008208, 1S10OD011925-01 and 1S10OD019942-01). It also was supported by the Ben J. Lipps Fellowship from the American Society of Nephrology and the Thomas E. Starzl Postdoctoral Fellowship in Transplantation Biology. To read this release online or share it, visit https:/ / www. upmc. com/ media/ news/ 031921-oberbarnscheidt-abou-daya [when embargo lifts]. About the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences The University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences include the schools of Medicine, Nursing, Dental Medicine, Pharmacy, Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and the Graduate School of Public Health. The schools serve as the academic partner to the UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center). Together, their combined mission is to train tomorrow's health care specialists and biomedical scientists, engage in groundbreaking research that will advance understanding of the causes and treatments of disease and participate in the delivery of outstanding patient care. Since 1998, Pitt and its affiliated university faculty have ranked among the top 10 educational institutions in grant support from the National Institutes of Health. For additional information about the Schools of the Health Sciences, please visit http://www. health. pitt. edu . http://www. upmc. com/ media Contact: Anastasia Gorelova Mobile: 412-491-9411 E-mail: GorelovaA@upmc.edu Contact: Allison Hydzik Mobile: 412-559-2431 E-mail: HydzikAM@upmc.edu [March 19, 2021] Shareholder Alert: Robbins LLP is Investigating CytoDyn Inc. (CYDY) on Behalf of Shareholders Shareholder rights law firm Robbins LLP is investigating CytoDyn Inc. (OTC: CYDY) on behalf of shareholders to determine whether certain CytoDyn officers and directors violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and breached their fiduciary duties to the Company. If you suffered a loss due to CytoDyn Inc.'s misconduct, click here. CytoDyn Inc. (CYDY) Misled Shareholders About the Viability of its Drug for the Treatment of COVID-19 CytoDyn is a biotech company that - prior to the COVID-19 pandemic - was focusing on the development and commercialization of the drug "Leronlimab" for the treatment of patients with HIV. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, CytoDyn has aggressively touted Leronlimab as a treatment fr COVID-19, including that it had sought emergency use authorization ("EUA") from the U.S. Federal Drug Administration ("FDA") and planned to move forward with Operation Warp Speed. This, in turn, caused CytoDyn's stock price to skyrocket. Having traded at less than $1 per share throughout 2019, CytoDyn's stock reached its peak on June 30, 2020, trading at over $10 per share. While the stock price was artificially inflated, insiders dumped millions of shares for almost $26 million. Thereafter, the Company's scheme began to unravel. On August 26, 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that CytoDyn was not being considered for Operation Warp Speed. On September 16, 2020, CytoDyn's CEO admitted the Company had not actually made the request for EUA from the FDA. Beginning on March 5, 2021, the Company revealed that the primary endpoints of its Phase IIb/III data on Leronlimab was not statistically significant. On this news, CytoDyn's stock plummeted over several trading days, to close at just $2.35 on March 9. 2021. CytoDyn Inc. (CYDY) Shareholders Have Options Contact us to learn more: Lauren Levi (800) 350-6003 llevi@robbinsllp.com Shareholder Information Form Robbins LLP is a nationally recognized leader in shareholder rights law. To be notified if a class action against CytoDyn Inc. settles or to receive free alerts about companies engaged in wrongdoing, sign up for Stock Watch today. Attorney Advertising. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005491/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A division bench of Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy was dealing with some PILs seeking court directions to the government for steps to contain the spread of coronavirus in the state. (Representational Photo: PTI) Hyderabad: Expressing concern over the recent spurt in Covid-9 infections, especially among students, the Telangana High Court on Thursday advised the government to be more cautious and monitor how the standard operating procedures (SOPs) are being followed by schools, colleges, universities and hostels. A division bench of Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy was dealing with some PILs seeking court directions to the government for steps to contain the spread of coronavirus in the state. Referring to reports that a school in the Mancherial district became a hotspot for Covid infection, CJ Hima Kohli asked Advocate General B.S. Prasad how the state is ensuring implementation of the social distancing norms and SOPs in schools and colleges, which are recently re-opened after a fall in Covid cases. CJ Kohli observed, "It is imperative that the state focuses attention on this aspect and ensure that there is no spread of the virus. We keep hearing that a second wave of coronavirus has hit many countries and we don't want Telangana go that way." The CJ asked what steps the government has put in place to prevent large gatherings for celebrations and festivals so as to contain the spread of the Coronavirus and what steps have been taken to screen passengers entering Telangana state through bus terminals and railway stations from neighbouring Maharashtra and Karnataka, as also via airports. Was there proper screening of people thronging commercial establishments, the CJ asked. Cautioning that construction sites would be susceptible, prone and exposed to coronavirus, the court stressed that this section of people should be focused upon. The court expressed deep concern over reports that tests are insufficient in the state. The court had advised the government to conduct 50,000 tests per day, but less than 20,000 tests were done a day. It questioned the Advocate General as to what was the reason for such a fall in the number of tests and asked the state to file a report by April 6, with details of the tests done through RTPCR and RAT(Rapid Antigen Test), in a tabulated form. (Natural News) Sometimes 2+2 could equal 5. You know, just like a born male can sometimes suffer menstrual cramps. (Article by Robert Bridge republished from Strategic-Culture.org) Perhaps the greatest tragedy of the leftwing cancel cult now running amok through the unguarded halls of academia is that highly intelligent people, with absolutely no racial or political ax to grind, are being forced to defend themselves and their respective fields from the most outrageous accusations, time that would be much better spent on valuable research. While mathematicians over the millennia have successfully solved some of the most perplexing problems, like the Poincare Conjecture and Fermats Last Theorom, they will probably have more difficulty arriving at a solution for appeasing the woke mob now banging on their door. Difficult as it may be to fathom, the radical progressive inquisition has a beef with the cloistered community of number crunchers, made up as it is, according to the woke crowd, of closet racists and white supremacists. Needless to say, this latest accusation has sent shockwaves through the academic community. This month, Sergiu Klainerman, professor of mathematics at Princeton University, explained to the journalist Bari Weiss how he has personally witnessed the decline of universities and cultural institutions as they have embraced political ideology at the expense of rigorous scholarship. Klainerman admitted that he had naively thought that the STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) would be not be touched by this ideological takeover. Much to his chagrin, he was mistaken. I was wrong, he admitted. Attempts to deconstruct mathematics, deny its objectivity, accuse it of racial bias, and infuse it with political ideology have become more and more common perhaps, even, at your childs elementary school. The story gets better. As an emigre of the formerly communist regime of Romania, Klainerman makes an observation that should give any freedom-loving American tremendous pause. The former denizens of the totalitarian Soviet state, he explained, viewed the field of mathematics as a great equalizer: those from socioeconomically disadvantaged families had a chance to compete on equal footing with those from privileged ones. Mathematics also granted me an escape from the intoxicating daily drum of party propaganda a refuge from the crushing atmosphere of political and ideological conformity [italics added]. Today, Klainermans dramatic life has come full circle as he finds himself struggling against a different sort of oppression, that is, the cancel cult what some have called Cultural Marxism that has descended on college campuses around the country like a brain fog. Its not communist theory, however, which is promulgating the lie of racism inside of the mathematic disciplines, but rather one of the wealthiest capitalists of our time, Bill Gates. Klainerman takes issue with a shocking document financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and endorsed by various State of California educational entities, entitled, A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction, Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction. The very first paragraph gives away the entire scheming plot: This tool provides teachers an opportunity to examine their actions, beliefs, and values around teaching mathematics. The framework for deconstructing racism in mathematics offers essential characteristics of antiracist math educators and critical approaches to dismantling white supremacy in math classrooms by visibilizing the toxic characteristics of white supremacy culture. [This opening paragraph provides a citation to a 2001 paper entitled, White Supremacy Culture, yet that document fails to mention either the study of mathematics, or the university setting where such implied racism is said to occur. In other words, racism in mathematics is a priori accepted as fact]. Political correctness. pic.twitter.com/9scWze34uD James Lindsay, top expert in sexiness (@ConceptualJames) March 10, 2021 How do you know if your classroom is wittingly or unwittingly promoting a white supremacy culture? According to the document that happens when [T]he focus is on getting the right answer, apparently an anal retentive trait of the fastidious Caucasian tribe. The quotation marks around right, incidentally, appear in the original, suggesting that there really is no right answer in the field of mathematics. That sort of thinking was tossed around back in August when James Lindsay, of New Discourses, posted a memorable meme that quipped: 2+2=4: A perspective in white, Western mathematics that marginalizes other possible values. This blew up the Internet when enraged wokesters, who have made it their life mission to rage against every sort of scientific, biological and mathematical fact, responded that sometimes 2+2 could equal 5. You know, just like a born male can sometimes suffer menstrual cramps. It is worth considering how these same people would respond at their local grocer if the cashier tried to charge them for five apples instead of four. But I digress. To take the observation a bit further, Klainerman was not really going out on a limb when he said that without the precision of mathematical certainty, bridges would collapse, planes would fall from the sky, and bank transactions would be impossible. Other clues that your math class is a hotbed of white supremacist ideology is when your teacher requires students to show their work in only one way; math is taught in a linear fashion and skills are taught sequentially; expectations are not met. The reader is not informed as to what those expectations are. The irony is that in this effort to root out racism in the classroom, the authors of this document are themselves guilty of the very same sin as they attempt to assign attributes and stereotypes to an entire race of people. It requires little imagination to guess what the response would be if such racial profiling were turned around and applied to other races of people. Meanwhile, the notion that mathematics could be rooted in racism is simply absurd. The beauty of mathematics is that there can only be one correct answer to every problem, and talented students regardless of skin color all have the freedom to pursue this discipline. Indeed, mathematics is the most straightforward of all disciplines, which means that the final result is not determined by any subjective feelings of the teacher. Although there may be isolated cases where a particular educator may give preferential treatment to some students at the expense of others, that cannot be a logical reason to forward the preposterous charge that the world of mathematics is brimming with white supremacists. In fact, the field of mathematics, which has been built on the work of the ancients, like the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Egyptians, is in reality the very least segregated, the least racist, of disciplines. It is open to anyone who is willing and able to excel at number crunching, which may make it an easy target to be tarred as an exclusive white mans club. Academics must begin confronting this unfounded criticism head on, lest the radical progressives succeed in convincing the world through aggressive bully tactics that 2+2 really does equal 5, and that math teachers are imbued with innate racism. Otherwise, the very foundation of Western civilization, dependent as it is on mathematical precision, will simply collapse from within. Read more at: Strategic-Culture.org and IdentityPolitics.news The White Tiger Director Ramin Bahrani Expresses Gratitude After His Film Gets Nominated For An Oscar Filmmaker Ramin Bahrani has thanked Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for giving him his maiden Oscar nomination for his Netflix feature The White Tiger. The filmmaker said it is an honour for him to be nominated in the best adapted screenplay category at the upcoming 93rd edition of Academy Awards. The director is pitted against Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller of The Father, Nomadland director Chloe Zhao; One Night in Miami... writer Kemp Power; and the team behind Borat Subsequent Moviefilm in the category. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Priyanka Chopra Jonas (@priyankachopra) "Thank you to the Academy for recognising The White Tiger' it is an honour to be named among such brilliant writers," Bahrani said in a statement. "I want to thank Ted Sarandos, Scott Stuber and everyone at Netflix for their support; my producing partners Mukul Deora, Priyanka Chopra-Jonas and Ava Duvernay; my incredible cast, including Adarsh Gourav, Rajkummar Rao and Priyanka, for making the dialogue sing," he added. Based on Aravind Adiga's Booker Prize winning novel of the same name, The White Tiger follows Balram's (Gourav) rise from a poor villager to a successful entrepreneur in India. The movie showcases how hunger and lack of opportunity can build and drive a human being's animal instinct of survival. View this post on Instagram A post shared by RajKummar Rao (@rajkummar_rao) Bahrani also expressed his gratitude to the film's crew for welcoming him with "warm hearts and tremendous talent". "Most of all, I want to thank my college friend and author Aravind Adiga - this nomination is as much his as it is mine. Thank you all for helping me tell a story about an oppressed man who will do anything to be free," he added. The Oscar nominations were announced by Chopra Jonas and her pop star husband Nick Jonas from London on March 15. Streamer Netflix amassed 35 nominations across categories for 16 titles with David Fincher's Mank bagging 10 nods, including best picture, best director, best actor for Gary Oldman. The 93rd edition of the award ceremony will take place on April 25, after being postponed from its usual February date in the wake of the pandemic. MYRTLE CREEK, Ore. Two men from southern California were arrested on Wednesday following a months-long drug investigation. Detectives with the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team arrested Mark Scherer, 42, of Roseland and Jose Izar, 40, for drug crimes after a traffic stop on Wecks Road near Pacific Highway in the Myrtle Creek area. A drug detection dog was used on the vehicle and alerted authorities to the presence of controlled substances. About four pounds of methamphetamine and one ounce of heroin were found in a search. Scherer faces charges of unlawful possession and delivery of meth, and Izar faces charges of unlawful possession and delivery of meth and heroin. Deputies with the Douglas County Sheriffs Office assisted detectives. 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. Professor Chunghun Lim and his research team in the Department of Biological Sciences unveiled a neuroprotective pathway that suppresses Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS). Nucleocytoplasmic transport (NCT) defects have been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, such as C9ORF72-associated amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia (C9-ALS/FTD). In this study, the research team has identified a neuroprotective pathway of like-Sm protein 12 (LSM12) and exchange protein directly activated by cyclic AMP 1 (EPAC1) that sustains the nucleocytoplasmic RAN gradient and thereby suppresses NCT dysfunction by the C9ORF72-derived poly (glycine-arginine) protein. The research team found that the LSM12-EPAC1 pathway is an important suppressor of the NCT-related pathologies in C9-ALS/FTD. The EPAC1 protein, which was expressed in this genetic pathway, normalizes the abnormal RAN gradient that determines the transport direction between the cell nucleus and the cytoplasm, thereby restoring its cellular function. In general, the RAN proteins are more abundant in the cell nucleus, but in patients with Lou Gehrig's disease, they begin to leak out into the cytoplasm, thereby resulting in abnormal concentration differences. Their findings revealed that the EPAC1 protein, which was expressed through the LSM12-EPAC1 pathway, indeed helped EPAC1 return to the cell nucleus, thereby restoring the RAN gradient. The research team also identified that the EPAC1 protein, which was expressed through the LSM12-EPAC1 pathway, regulates the distribution of RAN proteins. The EPAC1 protein increases the binding force between the nuclear pore complex (NPC) and the RAN proteins. Because of this, RAN proteins lost within the cytoplasm are, then, captured by the NPC and returned to the nucleus. "Although the distribution of RAN proteins is critical for the nucleocytoplasmic transport (NTC), its molecular biological mechanism has relatively been unknown," says Professor Lim. "In this study, we have identified that LSM12-EPAC1 defines a neuroprotective pathway that sustains the nucleocytoplasmic RAN gradient." He adds, "Our findings are expected to contribute greatly to the prediction and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as frontotemporal dementia and Lou Gehrig's disease, as well as for the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying aging." ### The findings of this research have been published in the PLOS Biology. This study has been supported by the mid-career researcher program and the advanced research center project through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF). It has also been supported by the Suh Kyungbae Foundation and the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the KHIDI, funded by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare. Journal Reference Jongbo Lee, Jumin Park, Ji-hyung Kim, et al., "LSM12-EPAC1 defines a neuroprotective pathway that sustains the nucleocytoplasmic RAN gradient," PLOS Biology, (2021). Republicans Call for Hearing on How Border Crisis May Threaten National Security and Safety of Americans Ten Republican lawmakers have called for a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security to examine how the surge of illegal immigrants from south of the border may be impacting national security and the safety of Americans. Led by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), the Republicans made the request in a March 18 letter to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), who heads the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. Calling the spike in illegal crossings a crisisa label that the White House has pointedly avoided usingthe Republicans alleged it was the Biden administrations immigration policies that are fueling the surge of alien encounters along the U.S. southern border. The subcommittee should hear directly from officials from the Department of State, Department of Justice, and Department of Homeland Security about what the Biden Administration is doing to address the criminal activity caused by the Biden Administrations radical policies, they wrote. The White House and Rep. Lee did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times. Fueling safety and security concerns was a recent report that four people arrested at the southern border since Oct. 1 matched names on the FBIs terror watchlist, the GOP lawmakers noted in their letter. Echoing the fear that the surge in illegal border crossings raised the risk of terrorists entering the United States was Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who recently told Sean Hannity in an interview that policy shifts around immigrationaway from former President Donald Trumps tough approachare a disaster in the making and the worst is yet to come. This border insecurity is a great way for terrorists to come into our country, Graham said, adding that, unless the Biden administration restores some Trump-era policies, the rush on the border will only intensify. One of the Republicans who signed onto the letter, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, echoed that sentiment in a tweet: In January, President Trump said: If our border security measures are reversed, it will trigger a tidal wave of illegal immigrationa wave like youve never seen before. He was right. Border Patrol agents conducted 100,441 apprehensions or expulsions of migrants at the border with Mexico in February, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statistics show, the highest monthly total since a border crisis of 2019. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently said, we are on pace to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years, while Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott warned that the border surge will grow tenfold and a hundredfold, especially because of the way the Biden administration has handled this. Biden administration officials have pushed back against claims that their policies have led to reduced border security. The border is secure and the border is not open, Mayorkas told members of Congress during a Wednesday hearing. The White House has also called on people not to undertake illegal border crossings. Mayorkas, in an interview Thursday on CBS News, said: It is not safe to take the journey, it is not safe in a time of pandemic to arrive at the border. Families and single adults are being expelled. Let us rebuild, if I may, a safe, orderly way for you to apply for humanitarian relief under the laws of our country. Mimi Nguyen-Ly contributed to this report. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Thursday said that his administration has halted the use of the Line messaging app among the government officials as the probe is ongoing into the alleged data breach by the Chinese engineer. Earlier, reports emerged that the Japanese app provider Line Corps Chinese affiliate had access to the personal information such as the phone numbers, email, and home addresses of nearly 86 million Japanese Line app users. The Prime Minister of Japan Suga vowed efforts to step up the information and digital security following the data breach as he spoke at a House of Councillors Budget Committee meeting. "We will stop using [the app] until all relevant concerns in this regard are eliminated," Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Friday, according to an ANI report. All employees of Sugas administration as well as those working in the government sector were asked to dismiss the use of the Line app with immediate effect. At the presser, Japans Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Ryota Takeda said the central government issued a notice asking all state administrations to submit reports about their use of Line messengers by March 26. Furthermore, Takeda asked the ministers to halt collecting questionnaires, feedback, or opinions and providing local services or receiving applications on the app owing to the looming security threats. The government found at least 32 server links of the Line Corp. registered with Beijing. It was first reported by Japans Kyodo news agency that the engineers of Chinese origin at a Shanghai affiliate entrusted with SoftBanks Z Holdings companys system management had access to the Japanese customers' confidential details. China was able to trace telephone numbers, home, and email addresses, etc of the Line app users without their consent which dated as far back as 2018. Line denies allegations In a statement posted on its website, the Japanese messaging app firm Line Corp said: No unauthorized access or information leakage has occurred to "LINE" from the outside. it added, Users' Talk texts on "LINE" and highly private personal information (name, phone number, email address, LINE ID, talk text, etc.,) is confidential. Further, the company stated that the texts and call contents between users on its platform are encrypted, and it is not possible to check the contents of the data just by accessing the database. Customers data is protected via end-to-end encryption protocol called "Letter Sealing" developed by LINE, the firm explained, adding that such information cannot be viewed even by our server administrators. Police come under attack after searches in Creggan A PSNI operation in the Creggan area of Londonderry has concluded, after police came under attack while carrying out a search. The PSNI said they had seized a "considerable amount" of material for further examination during the search operation and added that they had come under attack during the search. Read More In a statement, District Commander Chief Superintendent Darrin Jones said: "A search operation in the Creggan area of Derry/Londonderry, conducted by detectives from the Police Service of Northern Irelands Terrorism Investigation Unit, with assistance from District Policing colleagues and Operational Support Department, has now concluded. The main priority for police is the safety of the local community however we strongly believe that sinister elements connected to violent dissident republicans manipulated local youths into attacking police and disrupting todays search activity. "It is also our understanding that they attempted to disrupt local services into the area but were unsuccessful despite some localised disorder. The vast majority of the public welcome the action we are taking against those who are causing serious harm to the community and it is detestable that our young people are being used in this manner. We are grateful for the support of our partners who continue to engage with young people we would once again ask that parents and guardians be mindful of where their children are and what they are doing. In a statement, Sinn Fein MLA Karen Mullan accused the PSNI of "heavy-handed policing". I am deeply concerned following reports of heavy-handed policing during an incident in Creggan today," she said. "The PSNI have questions to answer over scenes which appeared on social media showing officers using heavy-handed tactics on women. This has become symptomatic of how the PSNI carry out policing operations in Creggan and a concern which we have continually raised. The public rightly expects the very highest policing standards and we will hold the police to account when their actions fail to meet those standards. We will be raising these concerns directly with the local leadership of the PSNI." IRELAND's Young Filmmaker of the Year 2021 has moved one step closer to crowning its winners by announcing its finalists. The competition announced which short films would move on to the finals at its regional heats which took place online this year. Among the finalists was 18-year-old filmmaker Shane Joyce from Mungret, with his film Coffee Break, a dark dystopian story about a computer who controls an employee to make him work harder. Shane said, This year I entered my short film Coffee Break into Fresh Film. I made the film under 72 hours by myself in my bedroom during the first lockdown. The film is about daily routine of everyday being the same which is kind of related to the film Groundhog Day, spending every day at a desk and the effect that has on you. I made the film during lockdown and I made it myself, I was acting in it and editing it myself in my room. He added, Its my second year entering Fresh and it is an opportunity and a chance to as a young filmmaker to meet other people who have the same interest as me, so it gives me a place to get my film seen, and to meet people. I guess moving forward I want to be able somehow to make a living making films and being creative. Also through to the final was 17-year-old Cian Rowley from Pallaskenry with his film Painting. Cian commented, 'My film is experimental and is about how people perceive things which is what I was going for, its an interaction between two people who have never met each other and how you perceive strangers and how they interpret what they are doing. Covid impacted my film because I couldnt get any actors for my film, so I had to paint my Dad in blood, and had to film at 2am and without equipment as I had to film with my phone, it wasnt simple but went better than expected. He added, This is my first time entering the Festival. It is just a really good way to get into film, if you like film and if you're passionate about it, Fresh Film is a great way as it encourages you to make something, and thats really what I wanted to do. Ill keep making films and see where it takes me, I like it so Ill just keep at it and see where I go with it." Also through to the finals is Soapbox from Limerick Youth Theatre. Soapbox was filmed at the beginning of Taoiseach Micheal Martin's tenure and the theme centres on what leadership means to young artists. The film was a project born of necessity and unbridled stubbornness. When Covid scuppered plans for the annual Limerick Youth Theatre Summer Production, members put their heads together and developed a unique idea. With 30 young artists LYT have combined verbatim/documentary theatre with the idea of a large-scale Story Exchange inspired by the work of Narrative 4, an organisation who use art and storytelling to build empathy between students. Via Zoom and WhatsApp, members shared beliefs, frustrations, and personal stories through the framework of the15 Ministries of the newly formed 33rd Dail. Other Limerick films through to the finals include A Beautiful Mess by Cian OSullivan who attends the school Scoil Mhuire agus Ide and A Part by Rachel Sheil from Limerick Youth Dance Company. All the films shortlisted for the final will be screened at Fresh International Film Festival 2021 which takes place online this year from Monday, March 22 to Sunday, March 28 and features an alumni showcase and a week of film screenings and workshops with the Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year Junior Finals taking place on Thursday, March 25 and the Seniors Finals on Friday, March 26 via a YouTube live stream with presenter and documentary filmmaker Stephen Byrne and comedian and social creative Justine Stafford hosting this years awards. Jayne Foley, Founder and Artistic Director of Fresh Film said, The films entered this year in the Festival are a glimpse into how young people in Ireland are dealing with the challenges of the pandemic. Films are a powerful form of expression and an effective way to educate, create awareness, improve understanding and encourage action. Thanks to the Arts Council, Limerick City and County Council, The BAI and Screen Skills Ireland the Fresh International Film Festival amazing programme of activities is 2021 is free. This years virtual programme includes: Monday, March 22 Classic Fresh, a screening as part of the 25th anniversary celebrations. This is the first of three Classic Fresh screenings featuring the best short films from the Fresh archive. The screenings run at 7 pm Monday, March 22, Tuesday, March 23 and Wednesday, March 24. All screenings on www.freshfilmfestival.com/programme. Tuesday, March 23 The Image You Missed Feature Screening from 10 am. This multi award winning film explores history, identity, filmmaking and storytelling and would be a unique discussion piece for your classwork on The Troubles. For information on how to access the film please contact info@freshfilmfestival.net. The screening of the International Youth Cinema Network awards winners films from 11:30 am - 12:30 pm at www.freshfilmfestival.com/programme. Wednesday, March 24 Take 25, a special programme about Fresh's 25 years will be released via Fresh International Film Festivals YouTube at 6.30 pm. Fresh Film Director Jayne Foley is joined by a host of graduate Fresh Filmmakers to reminisce and celebrate 25 years of Fresh. From early winners of The Irish School Video Competition to Irelands Young Filmmakers of the Years! Thursday, March 25 Screening the Junior finalist films and some International films via the festival website plus the announcement of the Ireland's Junior Young Filmmaker of the Year award winner via YouTube. At 7PM tune in for Meet the Director with Dr Tony Tracy in conversation with Donal Foreman, Director of The Image you Missed, via Zoom. Booking via Eventbrite. Friday, March 26 Screening the Senior finalists films on Friday, March 26 plus the announcement of the Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year Senior award winner via a YouTube live stream. Saturday March 27 Young Filmmaker Masterclasses, with the Screen Composers Guild of Ireland, Hubbard Casting and Dominic Power. This day of film skills is for young teenage filmmakers and places can be booked via Eventbrite. You can book for the full day or for specific elements of the day. For the full programme of events visit www.freshfilmfestival.com/programme. A Time to Kill was the movie that made Matthew McConaughey a star. It was based on John Grishams first book, but the fourth to make it to the screen after The Firm, The Pelican Brief and The Client. Now, trades Variety and Deadline report that HBO is developing a miniseries based on Grishams sequel, A Time for Mercy, and McConaughey is going to return. Matthew McConaughey | Rick Kern/WireImage A Time for Mercy is set to be a 10 episode limited series. The book just came out in 2020 so its still too early for spoilers, but here are a few things we would love to see in the sequel to A Time to Kill. Matthew McConaughey must sweat in A Time for Mercy like he did in A Time to Kill A Time to Kill is set in Mississippi. The summer drama was sweaty all around. Sweaty in the courtroom, sweaty outside, sweaty at night. It wont be Jake Brigance unless McConaughey sweats through several layers of clothing. Give Sandra Bullock a Roark cameo in A Time for Mercy Theyve already gotten the most important cast member back with McConaughey reprising his role as Brigance. This will be a rare occasion for an actor to continue a role in a different medium. Roark may not be in the book, but Sandra Bullock was such a significant part of A Time to Kill, it would be meaningful if they got her to appear in at least one episode. Its a death penalty case and she was a death penalty activist. Shes surely seen new developments since the Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson) case and may have some advice or support to offer Brigance. Matthew McConaughey and Sandra Bullock | Warner Brothers/Getty Images RELATED: Matthew McConaughey Was Supposed to Play a Different Role in A Time to Kill While were on the subject of A Time to Kill cast members, Ashley Judd played Brigances wife, Carla. Judd is still working, too. Even if shes not in Grishams book, McConaughey can come home to her. He should check in on Carl Lee Hailey and his daughter, too. They went through a lot and had a long road to recovery. Matthew McConaughey must deliver another impassioned closing argument Courtroom dramas are juicy material for actors because there are lots of long speeches. A Time to Kill ends with Brigance describing the rape of Haileys daughter to the jurors. His cinches it when he tells them, Now imagine shes White. Its a shining moment for McConaughey. L-R: Samuel L Jackson and Matthew McConaughey | Warner Brothers/Getty Images RELATED: Matthew McConaughey Telepathically Told A Time to Kill Director Joel Schumacher How to Film His Memorable Closing Argument Writers for A Time for Mercy can surely pore through Grishams book and find some soliloquies of equal magnitude, or make up a new one. McConaughey is even more intense now than he was in 1996. After roles like Dallas Buyers Club, Magic Mike, True Detective and Mud, the new Brigance will have the jury in the palm of his hand. Jake Brigance should be successful now A Time to Kill was not only the movie that made McConaughey a star, it was the case that made Brigance a successful lawyer. It would be nice to see Brigance enjoying some of the fruits of his labors. Of course, every case is unique. A Time for Mercy centers on a 16-year-old on trial for murder. Brigance may have a few more resources now, but its never easy. Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey exit court | Warner Brothers/Getty Images RELATED: Matthew McConaughey Got This Movie Role By Accident Theres also the issue of timing. Grishams first book was set in the 80s but the movie was present day in 1996. A Time for Mercy is set five years later, making the book a 1990 period piece. The show will come out at least 25 years after the movie, so even if they backdate it, a lot of time should have passed. There was also a middle Brigance book Grisham wrote. Perhaps A Time for Mercy can show some love for Sycamore Row. Everything counts in a franchise! Sources: Variety, Deadline Finance house Greensill Capitals Australian arm could face as much as $5 billion in claims from creditors including a cohort of German banks as administrators raised the prospect of the once high-flying group heading into liquidation. Greensills local administrators Grant Thornton told the first meeting of creditors on Friday they had received formal claims totalling $1.75 billion, including from its main shareholder Softbank, its financial backer Credit Suisse and other creditors including employees. Grant Thornton partner Matt Byrnes said the administrators have also been put on notice of a potential future claim of 2 billion ($3.06 billion) from the Association of German Banks, though administrators are yet to receive a formal creditors claim from the group as it is contingent on a number of factors. The meeting also heard the local Greensill entity has filed a claim of about $1 billion against Greensill UK (which is also in administration). A single mother who wants doctors to keep treating her brain-damaged five-year-old daughter is planning to ask the Supreme Court to consider the case after losing a Court of Appeal fight. Paula Parfitt, 41, of Strood, Kent, thinks Pippa Knight should leave hospital and wants specialists to stage a home-care trial. Doctors treating Pippa, who is in a vegetative state at the Evelina Childrens Hospital in London, disagree and say life-support treatment should end. A High Court judge earlier this year ruled against Ms Parfitt. Mr Justice Poole decided that treatment could lawfully end and said Pippa should be allowed to die. Expand Close Pippa Knight (Family handout/Sinclairslaw/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pippa Knight (Family handout/Sinclairslaw/PA) In February, Ms Parfitt asked appeal judges to overturn Mr Justice Pooles decision. Lady Justice King, Lord Justice Baker and Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing delivered a ruling on Friday and upheld Mr Justice Pooles decision. Ms Parfitt said she was devastated and aimed to continue her fight. I am once again devastated as a result of the judgment of the Court of Appeal today, to uphold the decision that it is not in Pippas best interests to have a two week trial of portable ventilation to find out whether she could come home, she said. I find it inexplicable that the court and (hospital) trust will not allow Pippa to trial portable ventilation for two weeks to see if she can return home when the hospital allows Pippa to go outside for long periods on portable ventilation with no issue. She added: I will be seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. I want Pippa to have every possible chance to come home and be with her family. Expand Close Ms Parfitt and her daughter (Handout/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ms Parfitt and her daughter (Handout/PA) Lord Justice Baker had said in the appeal ruling that Ms Parfitt could not have done more. Every parent dreads the prospect of their child contracting a terminal illness, said Lord Justice Baker. No parent could have done more than Pippas mother to care for her child or fight for her future. As (Mr Justice Poole) observed at the end of his judgment, however, in this case the law vests responsibility for decisions in the court, not the parent. He added: I am entirely satisfied that (Mr Justice Poole) was entitled to conclude and declare that it was lawful and in Pippas best interests that life-sustaining treatment be withdrawn for the reasons he gave in his judgment. The other two appeal judges said they agreed. Campaign group the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children is paying for lawyers to represent Ms Parfitt. Mr Justice Poole heard evidence at a trial in the Family Division of the High Court in London in December, and delivered a ruling in January. The judge, who heard that Pippas father was dead, described the case as heart-rending. Pippa was born in April 2015 and initially developed normally, but in December 2016 she became unwell and began to suffer seizures, the judge heard. Doctors had diagnosed acute necrotising encephalopathy. 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 After two postponements, a postmortem exercise on the body of Jennifer Wambua was finally conducted on Thursday. The family of the slain National Lands Commission (NLC) deputy director had requested for the autopsy to be pushed to yesterday at the Montezuma Monalisa funeral home on Mbagathi Way. Government pathologist Johanssen Oduor conducted the portmortem, with lawyer Daniel Maanzo (MP Makueni) releasing th results to the media. The lawmaker said Jennifer Wambua was strangled to death using bare hands. The oesophagus had collapsed showing she was strangled by use of hands, he said. The body also had other bruises in the face and legs. The pathologist said further tests will be done to establish if she was sexually assaulted. Meanwhile, the Director of Public Prosecutions has piled the pressure on the Inspector General of Police to conduct speedy investigations into the murder. Homicide detectives have since established that Jennifer Wambua received dozens of strange calls in the five days leading to her murder. Police are looking into the possibility that she was either being trailed or some people were demanding some things from her since most of the calls were from unknown people. Sources close to the investigation revealed that some of the callers were hanging up even before Wambua could respond. Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti refused to comment on the status of the investigation but promised to release preliminary findings as soon as they have everything in place Burma Four More Myanmar Diplomats Refuse to Work for Military Regime Young anti-coup protesters march in Nyaung-U Township, Mandalay on Friday morning, showing their support for the civil disobedience movement and rejecting military rule. / Nyaung-U CJ Four more diplomats from Myanmars foreign missions have announced that they will no longer work for the military regime, citing the juntas continuing use of deadly violence against peaceful civilians protesting the militarys Feb.1 coup. Two second secretaries from the Myanmar embassy in Paris, France said on March 18 that they have joined the civil disobedience movement (CDM) and will no longer work for the junta. Another two diplomats from the Myanmar embassies in Tokyo, Japan and Rome, Italy also announced that they would join the CDM, starting from March 19. Daw Phe Grace Mee and Daw Wutt Yee Phyo Chit, who work at the Myanmar embassy in Paris, said that they had decided to take part in the CDM as they are deeply saddened and disturbed by the overthrowing of the democratically- elected civilian government and the use of lethal force against peaceful anti-coup protesters. As of Thursday, more than 230 civilians have been killed by the security forces during their brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations. Diplomats have urged the military regime to respect the result of Nov.8 election and to return power to the people. Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi led the National League for Democracy (NLD) party to a landslide win in the Nov.8 election. The military launched their coup just a few hours before the new NLD-dominated Parliament was set to convene in Naypyitaw, Myanmars capital, claiming that the election had been marred by fraud. The diplomats who have joined the CDM said that they are practicing their own right of peaceful expression and are standing together with the people of Myanmar. They are refusing to resign from their positions at embassies around the world. Thousands of civil servants have been participating in the CDM, despite the threat of arrest from the military regime. Over two dozen diplomats based at Myanmars foreign missions are now refusing to work for the junta, including staff from the embassies in the US, UK, Japan and Switzerland. Some of the diplomats from the Myanmar embassy in Tokyo who have joined the CDM said that the junta had notified them in mid-March that they had been dismissed from their jobs. In late February, U Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmars envoy to the United Nations (UN) broke ranks with the regime during a speech to the UN General Assembly, saying that he represented the ousted NLD government and appealing to the world for help to restore democracy in Myanmar. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Security Forces Rob Local Residents in Yangon NLDs Information Team Member Arrested by Myanmars Military Regime Myanmar Regime Sues 10 University Academics on Strike BP is planning to build the UKs largest hydrogen plant as it ramps up efforts to go green. The FTSE 100 oil supermajor said the proposed facility on Teesside in north-east England could provide energy for local industry and homes by 2027 or even sooner. The plans are a major boost for the region, which has struggled economically after losing heavy industry in the 1980s and is part of the so-called Red Wall where Boris Johnson won Labour-held seats in the 2019 election. BP is understood to be looking at the Teesworks site Europe's largest expanse of brownfield land where the Redcar steelworks once stood as a location for UK's largest hydrogen plant The prospect of further investment comes hot on the heels of Chancellor Rishi Sunaks Budget announcements for a free port in Teesside and a northern outpost of the Treasury in nearby Darlington. Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen said the area was uniquely placed for BPs plant, adding: This is a huge vote of confidence in our region. BP chief exec Bernard Looney's wants to turn the company into a carbon-neutral green energy giant by 2050 The Government is keen to set up what is described as a clean hydrogen industrial cluster in Teesside. The BP project dubbed H2Teesside could generate one gigawatt (GW) of power by 2030, a fifth of the Governments 5GW target. It is understood that the Teesworks site Europes largest expanse of brownfield land where the Redcar steelworks once stood is being lined up as a possible location. The company will make a final decision on whether to build the proposed plant in 2024. It has not said how much it would cost. Hydrogen is a clean energy source that does not produce carbon when it is burned and is already being used to fuel buses and cars. However, H2Teesside would make so-called blue hydrogen, which is created with natural gas and releases huge amounts of carbon. BP plans to capture these emissions and funnel up to 2m tonnes of CO2 a year into empty areas under the North Sea. It has already agreed to work with chemicals group Venator to see if it could provide power to the companys flagship Teesside factory. Grid shifts from fossil fuel National Grid has struck a 14billion deal to take over Britains biggest electricity producer in its latest shift away from fossil fuels. The company will buy Western Power Distribution (WPD) from its American owner PPL. And National Grid will also put a majority stake up for sale in National Grid Gas, which owns the UKs national gas transmission network. The WPD deal means National Grid is putting itself in pole position for the electric car revolution and the fight against climate change. Electricity generated by renewables is expected to take a far greater role in the network in the coming decades as the UK aims to become carbon neutral with gas gradually being phased out. National Grid will also sell Narragansett Electric Company, its Rhode Island gas and electricity business, to PPL for 2.7billion. Hydrogen is a key pillar of the Prime Ministers strategy to cut Britains carbon emissions and get the country to net-zero by 2050. But critics argue blue hydrogen is only an interim solution at best, and ministers should focus on green hydrogen, which uses renewable power and electrolysis in water and does not produce any carbon. Plans for the site are part of BP chief executive Bernard Looneys wide-ranging strategy to turn the company into a carbon-neutral green energy giant by 2050. It will invest billions of pounds in the coming years and has already made big investments in offshore wind power despite its profits being hammered during the Covid crisis. Looney said: Hydrogen will be a hugely important part of the energy future and today weve announced plans for the UKs largest hydrogen project. This project can drastically cut emissions, support thousands of local jobs and help the UK move towards its net zero goal. [March 19, 2021] HANZA expands in Finland with new acquisition STOCKHOLM, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- HANZA Holding AB (publ) has today acquired Suomen Levyprofiili Oy ("SLP"), a successful Finnish manufacturer of sheet metal mechanics. The deal is an important step in HANZA's ongoing work to expand the Group's development clusters. SLP has just over 100 employees and operations in a modern production facility in Joensuu, close to HANZA's other factories in Finland. The acquisition complements HANZA's existing manufacturing technologies in Finland, and thus follows the company's business model of creating customer value by linking different factories and offering complete contract manufacturing. "Regional and complete manufacturing clusters are a recipe for success for our customers, something that has become especially clear during the pandemic," says HANZA's CEO Erik Stenfors. "SLP is a well-managed company that strengthens our offering in Finland, and we welcome their talented employees to HANZA." The SLP vendors are investors connected to the Finnish investment company Helmet Capital Oy. HANZA will take over immediately and will during 2021 work to develop and integrate the factories in Finland in close collaboration with existing customers. "We are pleased to now be part of the HANZA Group," says Aku Lampola, MD of SLP. "Our customers demand a broader manufacturing offer, and now we will be able to develop faster in Joensuu as well as internationally together with other parts of the HANZA Group." Financial information and information about the transaction SLP has a turnover of approx. SEK 150 million with earnings before depreciation (EBITDA) of approximately SEK 14 million (9.3%). The net debt amounts to approx. SEK 22 million. The valuation for 100% of the shares SLP amounts to approx. SEK 33 million. Furthermore, HANZA will take over a shareholder loan to SLP of approximately SEK 15 million upon accession. The valuation of SLP, including the shareholder loan, thus corresponds to approx. 3.4 times EBITDA and an EV / EBITDA multiple of about 5. The purchase price consists of a cash fixed purchase price, a cash additional purchase price, and a share part of 1.8 M shares in HANZA issued with the support of the Annual General Meeting's authorization. The shares are covered by a so-called lock-up (may not be sold) until and including 1 April 2022. The share capital is thus increased by SEK 180,000 and the number of shares in HANZA after the issue amounts to 32,779,928. The new issue entails a dilution of approx. 5.5%. Integration costs are estimated at approx. SEK 6 million and are to mainly be charged to the first quarter of 2021. With consideration to integration and acquisition costs, SLP's contribution to HANZA's operating profit during the first year (in 2021) is thus expected to be limited. The full impact of the acquisition on the HANZA Group will be determined by the purchase price allocation in accordance with IFRS, which has not yet been completed. Invitation to presentation regarding the acquisition HANZA invites to a combined teleconference and audiocast where CEO Erik Stenfors and CFO Lars Akerblom will present the acquisition and answer questions. The presentation will be held in English. You can access the presentation material on HANZA's website shortly before the conference begins. Date and time : Friday March 19 at 11.00 am CET : at Link to webcast: https://tv.streamfabriken.com/press-conference-2021-6 https://tv.streamfabriken.com/press-conference-2021-6 Phone number for the conference: Sweden : +46 8 566 426 51 United Kingdom : +44 333 300 08 04 USA : +1 855 857 06 86 During the conference call, a presentation will be given. To access the presentation please follow the link https://tv.streamfabriken.com/press-conference-2021-6 or download it from HANZA's web site www.hanza.com/en before the event. After the presentation there is an opportunity to ask questions. Please find more streaming information at: https://financialhearings.com/event/13797 For further information please contact: Erik Stenfors, CEO, Tel: +46-709 50 80 70, e-mail: erik.stenfors@hanza.com Lars Akerblom, CFO, Tel: +46-707 94 98 78, e-mail: lars.akerblom@hanza.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/hanza-holding-ab/r/hanza-expands-in-finland-with-new-acquisition,c3310001 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/6093/3310001/1389740.pdf HANZA press release Finland https://news.cision.com/hanza-holding-ab/i/aku-lampola-slp-and-erik-stenfors-hanza,c2891168 Aku Lampola SLP and Erik Stenfors HANZA [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The ruling was given at the Supreme Court (Yui Mok/PA) Carers who have to sleep at their workplace in case they are needed overnight are not entitled to the minimum wage for their whole shift, the Supreme Court has ruled. Claire Tomlinson-Blake, a Mencap support worker in the East Riding of Yorkshire, appealed against a Court of Appeal ruling that carers are only entitled to the minimum wage when they are required to be awake for work and not while asleep. She challenged the decision at the UKs highest court at a hearing in February last year alongside a linked appeal brought by John Shannon, a Surrey care home worker whose case was heard along with Mrs Tomlinson-Blakes at the Court of Appeal. On Friday morning, the Supreme Court dismissed both Mrs Tomlinson-Blake and Mr Shannons appeals. We would like to share our response to today's judgment by the Supreme Court. Our statement can be found on our website here: https://t.co/Pf2jBHVKMG pic.twitter.com/tuRMDRecBr Mencap (@mencap_charity) March 19, 2021 In the courts written ruling, Lady Arden said that sleep-in workers are not doing time work for the purposes of the national minimum wage if they are not awake. She added: The sleep-in worker who is merely present is treated as not working for the purpose of calculating the hours which are to be taken into account for national minimum wage purposes and the fact that he was required to be present during specified hours was insufficient to lead to the conclusion that he was working. I consider that the reasons for dismissing this appeal given by the (employment) tribunals and the Court of Appeal were correct. The judge also said: The arguments in this case were completed before the first coronavirus lockdown, which has introduced stay-home measures for many workers. We have therefore had no argument as to any effect of those measures on the calculation of the national minimum wage. I wish to make that clear. Speaking after the judgment, Mrs Tomlinson-Blake said: This case was never about the money. It was about the principle of treating staff fairly. @CareEngland the largest representative body of independent adult social care providers, has today welcomed the clarity provided by the Supreme Court with the Sleep In judgement delivered this morning https://t.co/6lMxKcYcIt Care England (@CareEngland) March 19, 2021 Sleep-in shifts arent about just being on call its work. Staff are constantly on guard to protect the most vulnerable in society. The sound of a cough in the night could mean someones in danger. It was nice to be clapped by the nation, but that was only temporary. The care workforce should be valued permanently. Respect for staff shows that the people we care for matter too. Edel Harris, chief executive of the learning disability charity Mencap, said many care workers will be disappointed by the ruling, and called on the Government to reform legislation covering sleep-in payments, which she described as out of date and unfair. She said: Mencap contested this case because of the devastating unfunded back-pay liabilities facing providers across the sector. This was estimated at 400 million. Sleep-ins are a statutory care service which should be funded by local authorities and, ultimately, Government. Care England, the body that represents independent care providers, said it welcomed the ruling. Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: After a lot of uncertainty it is useful to have this ruling from the Supreme Court. Our staff are our best resource and need to be valued as such. Supreme Court sleep-inA appealA decision isA blowA forA aeveryone inA social care, says UNISON https://t.co/N4PoWUayuL UNISON - UK's largest union (@unisontheunion) March 19, 2021 This is all part of the broader picture of the much-needed reform of the adult social care sector which we will continue to press the Government on. Matthew Wort, a partner at Anthony Collins Solicitors, which represented Care England in its intervention in the Supreme Court case, said the decision meant care providers no longer face a potentially catastrophic financial outcome. He said: This case was not about what care workers should be paid. Instead, it focused on the interpretation of national minimum wage regulations, with the law and previous government guidance making clear that carers are not working while asleep. Todays judgment puts an end to many years of uncertainty. It should be seen as a line in the sand, with the focus now on ensuring changes are made in how workers are remunerated to ensure appropriate pay for time asleep. However, trade union Unison described the decision as a huge disappointment and a huge blow to care workers. Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: No-one is a winner from todays judgment. Everyone loses until the Government intervenes to mend a broken system that relies on paying skilled staff a pittance. This dire situation was ignored by the Government for years before Covid, and again in the recent budget. Todays judgment shows ministers cant disregard the desperate need for major reform a moment longer. TRIESTE - Over the past five years, Italy has gone from 50th place to 25th in the World Happiness rankings, the president of the Ernesto Illy Foundation Andrea Illy told ANSA, noting that "thus I think something is changing". "I think that there is a new sort of awareness," he added, "in part because of the crisis, since Italians express a great deal of solidarity among themselves in moments of difficulty." The latest World Happiness Report shows that, despite the severe consequences of the pandemic, in a single year the country rose three places in the rankings, from 28th to 25th place, and over the past five it halved the distance between it and first place. The Ernesto Illy Foundation and IllyCaffe are among the supporters of the report, which is the result of an annual survey by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, chaired by the US economist and essayist Jeffrey Sachs. Illy noted that he had previously stressed in a book of his published a few years ago the "markedly individualistic behavior of the Italian population, which does not manage to work as teams. This creates problems in complex organizations like the public administration, as well as private enterprises, compared with the effectiveness in dealing with daily problems of other populations that, through altruism, manage to have a more collaborative attitude". However, Illy said, "I also said that altruism is nothing but another form of egoism. In Italy, in serious crises, solidarity surfaces" and the country changes considerably. Normally, match day surrounds medical students with cheering family and friends as they learn where theyll go for their residencies. COVID-19 denied some of that to the University of South Alabama College of Medicines Class of 2021 on Friday -- but not the important part. The supporters whod normally have swarmed them had to watch via livestream as 67 classmates learned where each other will be spending the next few years. But for the students whod had to complete their education amid a pandemic -- and who will enter their fields amid its decline and aftermath -- the occasion was triumphant. Today was just very hopeful for me, said Ravi Rajendra. When we got that news, when you get your envelope, youve been waiting for it for years. But this is the year where things could go wrong. Weve seen so many things go wrong. And to finally have something go right is incredibly special. Im really proud of our class, said Zach White. The battle is still not over. Were still doing what we can to fight this COVID-19 pandemic. Were going to be on the front lines when it comes to managing this pandemic. Rajendra came to South from Montgomery and served as the 2015-16 student body president as an undergraduate. Hell be working in orthopedic surgery at LSU in New Orleans. My family is in New Orleans right now, he said. Were going to celebrate over there. White, whos from Birmingham, will practice radiation oncology at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. Hes the president of the class, and keenly aware of the challenges the group had to overcome to get to this point. When COVID-19 came in, and started in March of last year, it was tough because it removed a lot of us from our normal clinical lives as medical students, White said. Thats different for a medical student, to have to learn all those different things on Zoom and not be in that clinical environment. Even the process of interviewing at different residency programs was turned upside down. In-person visits were no longer the norm. When we applied for residencies, instead of being able to fly to different places, we actually interviewed virtually for our residency spots, he said. So a lot of places that weve interviewed at, weve never even been before. Thats one problem that Ian Garrison and Kendal Dekle wont have to worry about. Theyre both from Mobile and will be staying within the USA Health system -- him in orthopedic surgery, her in ob-gyn. That facilitates the other big development in front of them: Their wedding in April. Its been a little crazy, she said of the process following their engagement in 2019. Nothing has really been set in stone throughout the planning. Weve had to be very versatile and play it by ear. Once constant in news reports over the last year has been accounts of medical personnel fighting exhaustion during the pandemic. Several students said theyd seen it firsthand, or had reason to think about the unusual circumstances amid which theyll be starting their careers. I got a text from the chairman and he said get ready to work hard, Rajendra said of the program hell be joining. Dala Eloubeidi said that it came up during the interview process: Older residents told her things had been chaotic during the first phase of the pandemic, with residents facing the same extraordinary demands as veterans. But as health care systems had come to grips with the challenges, she was told, they had continued to prioritize residents need for education. I would say its kind of proven to me that medicine as a field always finds a way to push through, said Eloubeidi. From Birmingham, shell be doing her residency in internal medicine at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Seeing what our health care workers have been through the last year or so, it proves how the field really wants to push forward, she said. I think its given me hope. There was an exhaustion, Garrison said of the facilities he learned in, but I think that gave everybody the opportunity for new growth. And the opportunity to try harder than they had in the past. South has done a really great job, honestly, on trying to get us as much clinical experience as we can in kind of a bad situation, said Dekle. Im very thankful for that. I think the class has been very courageous, Eloubeidi said. It has been very flexible in trying to make the best out of a bad situation. I think it shows how resilient our class is too, Rajendra said of reaching match day. Its a group of people who love to persevere. We really just all take care of each other. Rotunda Rumblings Should he stay or should he go? While lawmakers say there are enough votes to expel state Rep. Larry Householder from the Ohio House, House Republicans still are split about whether to bring a resolution to actually kick him out. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, House Democrats, meanwhile, are also trying to decide whether to take the initiative in trying to oust the former speaker, whos facing a federal corruption charge. Supply side: Gov. Mike DeWine said he now expects Ohio will get 500,000 shots the week of March 29, when eligibility will expand to all Ohioans 16 and older, and he expects the coronavirus vaccine levels to remain consistent after that. As Andrew Tobias writes, DeWine said he hopes the extra supply, about 100,000 per week more than right now, will help the state tamp down the more contagious COVID-19 variant thats present in Ohio and neighboring states. Welcome wagon: DeWine said Thursday hed like to greet Democratic President Joe Biden at the airport when Biden visits Columbus next week. Per Tobias, DeWine said his goal is to have a good relationship with any U.S. president. I had a good relationship with President Trump, and I have a good relationship with President Biden, said DeWine, who previously served with Biden in the U.S. Senate for more than a decade. And if theres an opportunity to welcome the president of the United States to Ohio, I will certainly do that. Local criticism: Biden will be coming to Ohio to promote the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan stimulus bill, which includes more than $5.4 billion in funding for Ohio, and the same amount for local governments. Lt. Gov. Jon Husted issued a statement on Thursday praising Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yosts lawsuit seeking a court to throw out a requirement that the bill cant be used to cut taxes. Husted, a Republican, said the restriction as described is so open-ended it could conceivably block the state from granting tax credits as part of an economic development incentive. Ohio Tax Day postponement? Nothing is cast in stone yet, but expect Ohios income tax filing deadline to be postponed to May 17 to match the new deadline for filing federal tax returns with the IRS. Thats exactly what Ohio did last year, in changing the deadline then to follow the IRS postponement in 2020. This time, another state law change may not be necessary, Rich Exner reports. The census 2020 delay: A lot of reasons, not all of them related to the pandemic, explain why census 2020 results are delayed this year. A lot of the work now taking place involves checks to make sure people arent double-counted and that some households were not missed, Exner reports. Adding internet reporting options increased the need for these checks. And the final checks are taking place later than usual because data collection was delayed a year ago amid the pandemic. Thursday figures: The state experienced a bump in newly confirmed coronavirus cases on Thursday, with 2,104 cases reported, an increase of more than 500 over Wednesdays new cases, Richardson reports. Its the first time the state was above 2,000 daily reported cases since March 2. Rates and alerts: Ohios progress toward meeting DeWines goal for lifting health orders slowed this week but continued in the right direction, as the state reported 143.8 new cases per 100,000 residents with an onset of symptoms in the last two weeks. Thats down from 155 a week ago, but well short of DeWines goal of 50, Exner reports. Meanwhile, the latest version of the states alert map improved again, with 60 counties now on red alert in comparison to 66, 76 and 80 the last three weeks. Nursing home cases: The number of coronavirus cases at Ohio nursing homes dropped again this week, to 570 patients and 423 staff. This is down from 614 patient cases and 438 for staff at the long-term care facilities a week ago. The number of deaths is less clear following changes in Ohio Department of Health reporting. The state is now reporting 6,903 patient deaths, down from the 7,462 it had reported two weeks ago, Exner reports. Schools cases: New cases for the week of March 8 ticked down among K-12 students and staff compared to the week before, Emily Bamforth reports. Schools that received vaccines from the state for staff were mandated to return to buildings March 1, though some did not make the deadline. Summit smackdown: The Ohio Secretary of States Office is seeking to prevent Secretary Frank LaRose and Elections Director Amanda Grandjean from being deposed by lawyers for the Summit County Republican Partys Executive Committee. Robin Goist reports the latest in the suit that challenges LaRoses rejection of Bryan Williams reappointment to the county elections board, which is before the Ohio Supreme Court. Investigation update: Police in Florida on Thursday said they suspect Columbus lobbyist Neil Clarks death earlier this week was a suicide, Tobias writes. Clark was one of the most prominent lobbyists in Columbus for decades, and was facing a federal charge as part of the federal bribery probe into the approval of House Bill 6. Heres the story, which includes information on mental-health resources for people in crisis. Charged up: An investor in the Lordstown Motors Corp. filed a federal lawsuit against the electric truck-maker Thursday, saying it offered false and misleading information about the vehicle and the time needed to get its production started. As John Caniglia reports, Matthew Rico filed the lawsuit days after a published report said the companys orders are largely fictitious and used as a prop to raise capital and confer legitimacy. Amid the report, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation into the business. Date night: DeWine announced Thursday that the primary for the now vacant 11th Congressional District, previously held by U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge, will take place Aug. 3, Seth Richardson reports. The general election to officially fill the seat, heavily gerrymandered to favor Democrats, will be Nov. 2. Fudge weighs in: A week after being sworn in as HUD Secretary, Fudge made her first appearance at a White House press conference to boost efforts to fight homelessness to be undertaken with money from the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill that President Joe Biden signed last week, Sabrina Eaton writes. She declined to endorse a candidate in the crowded race to succeed her in Congress, but said she believes that Democrats can win the 2022 race for the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by Republican Sen. Rob Portmans retirement. I havent written off Ohio, said Fudge. I believe we can win the Senate race. Put that in your pipe: Yost has joined 20 other Republican AGs in suing the Biden Administration over its cancellation of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline. As Pelzer reports, even though the pipeline wouldnt go anywhere near Ohio, Yost argues that Bidens decision is unconstitutional and bad for the environment, Ohioans wallets and American jobs. Con-tinuing: Scammers are continuing to target Ohios unemployment system, as nearly 20,000 claims filed last week have been flagged for fraud. As Pelzer writes, the wave of bogus claims indicates that scammers still see the Buckeye State as vulnerable, even though state officials recently signed contracts worth more than $10 million with anti-fraud companies. Trump fundraises for Gonzalez challenger: Former President Donald Trump will headline a fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida next week for Max Miller, a former Trump aide who mounted a GOP primary challenge to incumbent Rocky River Rep. Anthony Gonzalez after Gonzalez vote to impeach Trump, the New York Post reports. Admission costs $5,800 per person or $11,600 per couple, the publication reports. Job training: Gonzalez on Thursday teamed up with Portman and a group of bipartisan cosponsors to re-introduce legislation that would allow Pell Grants to be used for some short-term training programs to help more Americans gain access to industry recognized credentials. Weve got a lot of great job training programs in Ohio, but to many students are finding that the programs they want to take are not covered by the Pell Grant because they are shorter than the 15 week course requirement, said a statement from Portman. Rescue plan revolt: Holmes County GOP U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs on Thursday led a group of Republican Ohio Congress members in a letter that urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to ensure that accepting money under the American Rescue Plan wont restrict states ability to set their tax policy. Daytons Mike Turner, Mariettas Bill Johnson and Gonzalez joined Gibbs in the letter, which followed up on a lawsuit that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed this week. Gibbs posted a statement on Twitter that said Ohio should reject this attempted coercion and not take the funds if the federal government cant resolve the matter. Picking up the Aftab: Democrat Aftab Pureval can remain on the primary ballot for Cincinnati mayor, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday. As Scott Wartman of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports, the court ruled 6-1 against conservatives who claimed Pureval didnt submit the proper affidavits with his candidate petition. Buckeye Brain Tease Question: Ohio is often known as the Mother of Presidents, but three vice presidents were also born in the Buckeye State. Who is the most recent one to serve? Email your response to capitolletter@cleveland.com. The first correct respondent will be mentioned in next weeks newsletter. Thanks for responding to last weeks trivia question: Hard cider played a significant role in this Ohioans presidential campaign. Answer: William Henry Harrison. While Harrison grew up as part of one of Virginias elite families (his father Benjamin signed the Declaration of Independence), ahead of the 1840 presidential election, a Democratic newspaper wrote of Harrison: Give him a barrel of hard cider and settle a pension of 2,000 a year on him and he will sit the remainder of his days in his log cabin. Harrison (who by then lived in the Cincinnati area) and his campaign ran with the quote, distributing campaign paraphernalia of cider barrels as well as helpings of cider itself. Capitol Letter reader Tim Ross was the first to submit the correct answer. Birthdays Friday 3/19: Matt Damschroder, interim director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services; Kathleen Doherty, legislative aide to state Rep. Cindy Abrams Saturday Saturday 3/20: State Rep. Ron Ferguson; Ex-Ohio House Minority Leader Fred Strahorn Sunday 3/21: Marcus Benjamin, Ohio Senate Republicans senior policy adviser; Joseph Vance, Ohios 13th governor (1786-1852) Straight from the Source I just think that they are on the path of Wile E. Coyote -- theyre going over the cliff, theyre going to hang there for about two seconds and then theyre going to collapse while the Democrats begin to build trust with the American people. - Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles in a C-SPAN interview, contrasting what he said was Republicans focus on culture wars with Democrats focus on rebuilding the country. Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Sonoma County, California, is adding artificial intelligence to its wildfire-fighting arsenal. The county has entered into an agreement with the South Korean firm Alchera to outfit its network of fire-spotting cameras with software that detects wildfire activity and then alerts authorities. The technology sifts through past and current images of terrain and searches for certain changes, such as flames burning in darkness, or a smoky haze obscuring a tree-lined hillside, according to Chris Godley, the county's director of emergency management. But emergency workers will first have to "teach" the system to differentiate between images that show fire smoke, and others that might show clouds, fog, or vapor from geothermal geysers. The software will use feedback from humans to refine its algorithm and will eventually be able to detect fires on its ownor at least that's what county officials hope. "It's kind of like learning how to read," Godley said. "What letters can I put together to make up a word?" The county activated the technology Wednesday and received 16 positive reports of smokeall of which turned out to be permitted burns, he said. Once a seasonal ban on controlled burns goes into effect in April or May, the county plans to ramp up the testing and feedback phase. The hope is that by November, the system will no longer need to be "taught" and can start providing reliable intelligence, Godley said. "This is really cutting-edge work, to bring this capability into the hands of local first responders," Godley said. "It's going to take us awhile to make sure we get the bugs out, as it were, and that we really can depend on it because ultimately this is a lifesaving mission." The technology is intended to help officials investigate potential fire starts earlier so they can get personnel out to them more quickly and issue necessary evacuation advisories. It will be particularly useful in spotting fires at night, when fewer bystanders are likely to see smoke and flames and call authorities, as well as in remote areas, Godley said. Sonoma County chose Alchera because it has performed similar work with wildfires in Australia, and offered a competitive rate as it was eager to test the system in the U.S. market, Godley said. Three-quarters of the funding for the $300,000-agreement will come from a hazard mitigation grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The county will provide a $75,000 local match. The remainder of the $2.7-million FEMA grant is being used to strengthen the county's existing wildfire surveillance network by adding six cameras, which brings the total to 26. The grant will also be used to reinforce the communications network that supports the cameras, ensuring that they are able to reliably transmit data back to emergency responders, even if power goes out or is turned off, Godley said. Sonoma County's cameras are part of the ALERTWildfire system, a network of about 746 cameras statewide that are linked by a common viewing platform coordinated by UC San Diego, the University of Oregon and the University of Nevada, Reno. Local dispatch centers can maneuver the cameras by rotating, panning and zooming in or out, and the public can watch the feeds online. Sonoma County sometimes uses the cameras to scope out road conditions or check for flooding near river areas, but they're mostly used to inform firefighting efforts, Godley said. The county started to install the cameras on radio communication towers after a series of devastating fires in 2017, including the Tubbs fire, which killed 22 people and destroyed more than 5,000 homes. The network has already proven helpful to local firefighting efforts, Godley said. When a fire breaks out, crews study the footage to determine its exact location and to glean key details about its behavior, such as how quickly it's spreading, where it's headed and what local wind conditions are like, he said. Such information is crucial to determining what areas might need to be evacuated. "This is not just to support firefighters," Godley said. "But also, critically, it's to help us educate and inform our warning efforts." Sonoma County's contract with Alchera runs through February 2023. If the technology is successful, officials expect other places will adopt it, particularly since it plugs into the camera network that's already in place statewide. "We ultimately believe its potential could be realized in a year or two," Godley said. "And it could really have a dramatic impact here in California." Explore further 70 high-tech cameras installed in Southern California provide eyes on fire prone areas 2021 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Twenty-five residents of a Far West Side apartment building were displaced early Friday after a fire, officials said. Firefighters were called to the Candleridge Apartments on West Military Drive shortly after midnight. They found heavy flames showing from the first and second floor of a building. Each of the building's residents got out safely with no injuries. The fire gutted four units and the other two had to be evacuated because the power went out. READ ALSO: San Antonio man arrested outside vice president's residence told police he was 'looking for help' One of the residents told the San Antonio Fire Department's investigators that she had been cooking, then left the apartment. When she returned, the fire had already taken hold. The fire forced 25 people to seek shelter elsewhere, officials said. Damage to the apartment building was estimated at $115,000. McLaren is hoping to kick off the 2021 season with a podium. Many analysts believe that the famous British team could have its nose slightly in front of an extremely tight midfield this season. The 2021 McLaren's clever exploitation of a loophole in the new diffuser rules have also received praise. "It will be interesting to see how this will develop in the next few weeks," team boss Andreas Seidl told the German broadcaster RTL. "Whether teams are hoping for a leap if they try to recreate the solution. "It's great to see though and I'm happy for our aerodynamics team that they found this solution," he added. As for the goal ahead of the 2021 season, Seidl admitted: "We would be very, very satisfied with a podium in the first race." He admits that Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris did a qualifying simulation in Bahrain testing recently but "of course we don't talk about how far we were from the limit". "It's very difficult to read where anyone is," Seidl added. "But I think we are well prepared and that we are in a very close battle again." He also agrees with those who think Lando Norris could be about to take another step forward in 2021. "Daniel is a great benchmark for Lando," said Seidl. "He (Ricciardo) has shown that he can win races with the right material, and that helps Lando to take the next step. "We can't forget how young he is," he said of the 21-year-old. "From what I've seen, he is taking that step." (GMM) The issue received bids for 3.20 crore shares as against 1.35 crore shares shares on offer. The initial public offer (IPO) of Suryoday Small Finance Bank received bids for 3.20 crore shares as against 1.35 crore shares on offer, according to the stock exchange data at 17:00 IST on Friday (19 March 2021). The issue was subscribed 2.37 times. The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday, 17 March 2021, and it will close today, 19 March 2021. The price band for the IPO was set at Rs 303-305 per share. The issue comprised of 1.90 crore equity shares comprising a fresh issue of up to 81.50 lakh equity shares and an offer for sale of up to 1.09 crore equity shares. Ahead of the IPO, the bank finalized allocation of 55.77 lakh shares to anchor investors at a price of Rs 305 per share, aggregating to Rs 170.12 crore. The bank proposes to utilize the net proceeds from the offer towards augmenting bank's tier I capital base to meet future capital requirements. The listing of the bank is also in line with terms of the RBI in-principle approval, RBI final approval and SFB licensing guidelines, requiring the bank to list its equity shares on the stock exchanges within three years from the date of commencement of business. The small finance bank (SFB) reported a net profit of Rs 54.87 crore and a net total income of Rs 418.20 crore in the nine months ended on 31 December 2020. Suryoday Small Finance Bank is among the leading Small Finance Bank (SFBs) in India in terms of net interest margins, return on assets, yields and deposit growth and had the lowest cost-to-income ratio among SFBs in India in FY2020. It has been serving customers in the unbanked and underbanked segments in India and promoting financial inclusion for over a decade, operating as a Non-Banking Finance Company prior to converting to SFB. The company started operations as an SFB on 23 January 2017 and it was included in the second schedule to the RBI Act on 24 July 2017. Over the years, the bank has diversified its loan portfolio to include non-micro banking loans thereby reducing dependence on micro banking business. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With more than 2 million Americans getting covid-19 vaccination shots each day, many are asking a simple question: When can we resume normal life? The answer should be pretty simple as well as soon as your immunity kicks in. But the Biden administration is telling the covid-weary country: Not so fast. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released complex guidelines, full of conditions and stipulations, listing what vaccinated people can and cannot do. You can visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing and visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk. But all people, regardless of vaccination status, should adhere to current guidance to avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings. So, no church services, sporting events, concerts or long-delayed weddings. Even more absurdly, the CDC advises after getting the vaccine, you should continue to delay travel and stay home. How long will these restrictions persist? In his address to the nation last week, President Joe Biden said if we are on our best behavior for the next four months, then by the Fourth of July small groups will be able to get together for backyard cookouts, but that doesnt mean large events with lots of people together. This is ridiculous. I asked Marty Makary, a physician and professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, what the guidance should be. After you have a first dose, give it four weeks for the vaccine to kick in, and then live a normal life, he told me. Its that simple. Hes right. Studies show that the Pfizer vaccine has a 94.8% efficacy in preventing covid infection after the second dose. But writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, Canadian researchers found that even before the second dose, [the Pfizer vaccine] was highly efficacious, with a vaccine efficacy of 92.6%, a finding similar to the first-dose efficacy of 92.1% reported for the [Moderna] vaccine. And that is the efficacy rate in preventing any covid infection whatsoever. Its 100 percent effective in preventing death after four weeks, Makary says. The booster shot is essential for longer-term immunity, but you get incredible protection from the first dose in the short term. If youre around unvaccinated people at risk of bad outcomes, use precautions. Wear a mask indoors for a few more weeks or months just to be on the safe side. But a new study by the Israeli Health Ministry found that the Pfizer vaccine reduces asymptomatic transmission by 94%. The Israeli study showed that you really dont transmit it once you get the vaccine, Makary says. As more Americans get their shots, the combination of vaccinated immunity with natural immunity from prior infection will help us reach herd immunity this spring. Weve already hit herd immunity for health-care workers, he says, because so many have either been vaccinated, infected or both. The same will soon be true in nursing homes, and then in the general population. Suzanne Judd, an epidemiologist in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, agrees that based on the vaccination rates and the number of people already infected, the nation may reach herd immunity by May. As that happens, Makary says that hospitalizations are going to plummet to almost nothing, deaths are going to plummet ... over the next two months. Monica Gandhi, an infectious-disease specialist and professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, is similarly confident. Data point after data point shows that countries with a rapid vaccine rollout are seeing the expected, but still thrilling, decline in cases and hospitalizations, she writes in the Atlantic. At this point, the end of the pandemic is not just a glimmer in our eye, but a reality coming closer and closer. Makary expects that even when hospitalizations and deaths plunge some cases are going to linger, but the vast majority will be young people who are last in the vaccine line and will have mild or asymptomatic infections. And continued covid lockdowns pose a greater danger to these young people than covid. According to one recent study, cases of intentional self-harm among kids aged 13 to 18 in the Northeast increased more than 300% from August 2019 to August 2020. Other studies found that young people are experiencing an epidemic of loneliness, with almost half of Americans 18 to 24 showing symptoms of depression and over a third reporting thoughts of death and suicide. The CDC guidance says, The risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection in fully vaccinated people cannot be completely eliminated. But that is true of other diseases as well. If somebody asks me, Hey, if I leave my home, can I get bacterial meningitis? the answer will always be, yes, Makary says. But the risk is so minuscule. Its low enough that the risk of profound isolation and loneliness is far more likely to kill you. Theres light at the end of the tunnel, but many in the public health establishment seem to want to keep us in darkness. Perhaps thats because experts like Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, got it so wrong at the start of the pandemic on detection, on testing, on masking that they are afraid they will get it wrong again at the pandemics end. Fortunately, Makary is willing to say what they wont: Get your vaccine. Give it four weeks. Live your life. MARC A. THIESSEN is a columnist for The Washington Post. A man found to be in possession of a number of parts from a BMW hybrid car worth six figures has been given an eight month prison sentence, which has been suspended for three years. Darius Darguzas, 25 Creevaghglass, Ballymahon, also paid a fine of 1,000 as well as donating 2,000 to the court poor box, which will be distributed among local charities in November. The court heard that on October 16, 2018, gardai received a report of an unauthorised taking of a BMW from a Dublin garage. Following an investigation, a search warrant was obtained for a local garage at which Mr Darguzas is a manager and, during the search, the BMW battery was discovered inside a different vehicle. The battery had a GPS tracker in it, the court heard, which allowed gardai to discover its location. Other parts of the car were discovered at the rear of the premises. The value of the parts found at the garage was 20,010.65, the court heard. In his defence, hed only just started the business and probably just bought the parts off the wrong people, said Sgt Enda Daly on behalf of the state. Solicitor for the defence, Frank Gearty, explained that there was a tracker on the battery and that the people who stole the vehicle took the whole thing apart and turned up with parts at this mans garage where he was manager. They were Romanian guys. They asked for 3,000 but we gave them 2,000, said Mr Darguzas, adding that the business sells used car parts to individuals or to other garages Judge Hughes pointed out that the car is gone now and that it has been dismembered into many parts. Id safely say gardai have an uncompleted investigation on their hands, he said. Its a crime ring and this man is a cog in the wheel. This is a serious matter. You bought unique parts of a very, very expensive car - which would be a six figure sum - stolen from Dublin. Im sorry to say this carries a prison sentence. Unfortunately, Longford has come to the forefront nationally for having chop shops and has actually been on TV for it. This deserves a prison sentence, which I will suspend, said Judge Hughes, handing down the eight month sentence. CNN Philippines (Metro Manila, March 18) The local Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization to Russian firm Gamaleya's COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V. "After a rigorous and thorough review by regulatory and medical experts of the currently available published and unpublished data, the FDA is granting emergency use to the Sputnik V," FDA Director General Director Eric Domingo announced Friday in a media briefing. "It is decided that all conditions for an EUA are present and that the benefit of using the vaccine outweighs the known and potential risks," he added. Sputnik V is the fourth COVID-19 vaccine to be approved for emergency use in the country. Coronavirus shots made by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Sinovac earlier received EUA from the Philippine drug regulator. Meanwhile, the EUA application of India-based Bharat Biotech for its vaccine called Covaxin is undergoing regulatory review. Domingo said the Sputnik V shot can only be administered to clinically healthy individuals aged 18 years old and above. An analysis of Phase 3 clinical trials published in the scientific journal The Lancet showed that Gamaleya's vaccine had an efficacy of 91.6% when two doses were given 21 days apart. Nearly 20,000 took part in the study. Domingo said 25% of the Sputnik V trial participants have comorbidities, but they responded well to the vaccine. 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. Paul Robson on CCTV at a service station on the M74 (CPS/PA) A cage fighter accused of blackmailing then murdering his ex-lover he met while he was behind bars told detectives he was emotionally spent and could not answer their questions. Paul Robson, 50, denies murdering Caroline Kayll, 47, at her home in Linton, Northumberland, and severely injuring a 15-year-old boy with whom she was having sex. Newcastle Crown Court has heard Robson found out about her relationship with the boy and blackmailed her about it. The prosecution alleged Robson, who met Mrs Kayll when she taught at HMP Northumberland where he was an inmate, drove from Glasgow to confront her in November at the home they had until recently shared. Robson is alleged to have possibly stamped on her head and strangled her, as well as attacking the youth with scissors and a meat cleaver, and sprayed both with ammonia before he fled back to Scotland. Expand Close Teacher Caroline Kayll was killed last November (Northumbria Police/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Teacher Caroline Kayll was killed last November (Northumbria Police/PA) The defendant claims it was the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, who killed her. When Robson was arrested and interviewed by police, his solicitor handed detectives a prepared statement. It said: When I heard about Carolines death I intended to arrange to surrender to the police. I am emotionally spent, I am finding it very difficult to concentrate. I never intended to kill anyone. I cannot believe Caroline is dead, I cannot believe she is gone. This is like a nightmare, like a bad dream. I cannot believe shes not here, I am so tired and I am devastated. Expand Close The court was shown images of Robson stopping on his journey to Northumberland from Glasgow (CPS/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The court was shown images of Robson stopping on his journey to Northumberland from Glasgow (CPS/PA) Robson said he had been at her house that night and they had argued before he was hit from behind, causing him to fall. I recall feeling something around my throat, his statement continued. I was feeling all sorts of emotions. I remember being dazed and feeling sick and scared. I just felt like everything was unravelling. I may have asked for help, I just cannot clearly recall at this stage. When I learned Caroline was dead I contacted my solicitor. I feel broken. Jurors have been told of Paul Robsons cage fighting experience (CPS/PA) Jurors were told Robson was interviewed for two hours but did not reply. He denies murder, attempted murder and blackmail. The trial continues on Monday. Things are bad for Canadian businesses, especially in the small-medium enterprise (SME) sector. The general sentiment is sombre: Owners of SMEs feel that they are being treated like cannon fodder, says Vincent Guenette, vice-president of national affairs at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, adding that the pressure of the lockdown is being felt by small businesses like restaurants and gyms that have been among the first to close due to the coronavirus lockdowns. As a result, it appears that SMEs are two times more likely to suffer, notes the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions conducted by Statistics Canada and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and published November 13, 2020. But that survey doesnt give a full measure of how bad things are on the ground for SMEs, which account for 10.8 million workers, or 89.5% of total private jobs in Canada, according to Statistics Canada. Businesses with +500 employees account for 1.3 million jobs. A recent survey by the CFIB, completed online by 3,554 members and published February 1, 2021, paints a gloomy picture. COVID-19 is putting a majority of small businesses in a precarious financial situation, it reports, as only a quarter are making normal sales and over seven in ten report having taken on debt. With four in ten businesses saying it will take them longer than a year to return to profitability, the financial threat to thousands of small businesses is very real, it notes. How real? We calculate that 180,000 SMEs run a very real risk of shutting down because of COVID, states Guenette. That represents one in six SMEs, representing about 2.4 million jobs. Already, 58,000 have closed their doors because of the pandemic. Debts Pile Up SMEs have taken on a total additional debt burden of $135 billion since the onslaught of the pandemic in February 2020, reports the CFIB. It represents 7.7% of Canadas total GDP of $1.73 trillion in 2019. This is 33% of what the federal government has spent ($407 billion) on COVID-19 health and safety measures, and to provide relief measures for Canadians, businesses and other employers so far, reports the CFIB survey. Of course, that burden is unevenly distributed. The average debt amount is $170,000, but in the social services sector, it stands at $68,714 while in the agriculture and natural resources sector, it rises to $328,887. Hospitality and the arts and recreation sectors house the highest proportion of companies that took on debt: 91% and 87% respectively, with averages of $213,000 and $240,000. As Guenette points out, none of that debt is productive debt, earmarked for investment and expansion; it serves only to keep peoples noses above water. Government programs are the most prominent suppliers of financing that SMEs called on: 59% received support from the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) and 52% from the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy. Other sources are personal and retirement savings (33%), credit cards (24%) and banks (12%). While this debt piles on, only 25% of SMEs continue registering normal levels of sales. The remaining 75% have lower sales, little or no profits, and increasing debt. Its no surprise that tens of thousands of businesses and millions of jobs are at risk, concludes Guenette. Bankruptcies Not Rising One might expect that filings for insolvency and bankruptcy to be dramatically rising. It is not the case, reports Ksenia Bushmeneva, economist at TD Economics. They have declined, mostly for individual businesses were they have gone down by 40% compared to 2019, by 17% for corporations. However, filings for creditor protection have doubled in 2020. Bushmeneva doesnt see there any sign for optimism: When all factors are taken into consideration, she notes, depressed insolvency rates offer more reason for concern that optimism, as it likely captures increased reliance on borrowed funds as well as higher business exits. Bushmeneva thinks that bad news could be ahead of us, and we could see the consequences unfold over one, three, even five years time. Putting the pieces together, she adds, paints a picture of businesses under intense pressure. 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Standards of Long-Term Success Learn what to expect from your equity management here Advertisement BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty has been 'reminded of her responsibilities' by the corporation after liking a series of anti-Conservative tweets after she and co-host Charlie Stayt ridiculed Robert Jenrick for having a Union flag and a portrait of the Queen in his office. Miss Munchetty's co-presenter Mr Stayt mockingly told the Housing Secretary that his large flag was 'not up to standard size' and was 'just a little bit small' yesterday, before she laughed at his remarks. Mr Jenrick smiled politely but did not comment as the camera returned to the studio, where Miss Munchetty broke an awkward silence by adding: 'The picture of the Queen there as well though, in the Westminster office I assume.' Later yesterday, despite social media users accusing the presenters of breaching BBC impartiality rules, 195,000-a-year presenter Miss Munchetty liked tweets praising her and Mr Stayt over the incident, further fuelling the row. Charlie Stayt (left) mocked Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick over his Union flag before Naga Munchetty (right) laughed Naga Munchetty later apologised about liking a series of tweets about the row after being 'reminded of her responsibilities' Naga Munchetty liked the above tweets praising her and Charlie Stayt over the incident with Robert Jenrick on BBC Breakfast Mr Jenrick tweeted the picture of the Queen and Union flag, saying: 'We're always proud to fly the Union Flag at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It's a symbol of liberty and freedom that binds the whole country together' The tweets 46-year-old Miss Munchetty liked included one which said 'the flag sh**gers will be up in arms' and this 'should be done every time the Tories roll out one of their talking head ministers'. How Naga was rebuked over Donald Trump comments - before Lord Hall overturned decision Naga Munchetty was rebuked by the BBC two years ago after commenting on US president Donald Trump's call for a group of female Democrats to 'go back' to their own countries. The corporation initially ruled that the presenter had breached editorial guidelines before then director-general Tony Hall reversed the decision. The row began when she responded to Mr Trump's words in July 2019, telling her co-presenter Dan Walker: 'Every time I have been told, as a woman of colour, to go back to where I came from, that was embedded in racism'. She added: 'I'm not accusing anyone of anything here, but you know what certain phrases mean.' The BBC's Executive Complaints Unit then ruled in September that year that Ms Munchetty had breached editorial guidelines. But this decision was itself labelled racist by broadcasters including Sir Lenny Henry and Krishnan Guru-Murthy who said it should be reversed. Following the outrage over the BBC's ruling, Lord Hall sent an email to staff claiming the decision 'sparked an important debate about racism and its interpretation'. He added: 'I don't think Naga's words were sufficient to merit a partial uphold of the complaint around the comments she made.' In July 2020, she was again backed by the BBC after being accused of 'endorsing criminal behaviour' during a report on Black Lives Matter when discussing a replacement statue in Bristol to replace that of slave trader Edward Colston. A second incident in the same month saw her accused of showing 'political bias' against Chancellor Rishi Sunak when questioning him about his 'mini-budget', but she was again supported by bosses for a 'professional and fair' interview. Last year it was claimed Miss Munchetty charges 15,000 a time for speaking engagements through international agency Speakers Corner. She was also criticised after being paid to appear in a corporate PR video for Aston Martin and filming business interviews for NatWest. Advertisement But the presenter then apologised last night, tweeting at about 7.30pm: 'I 'liked' tweets today that were offensive in nature about the use of the British flag as a backdrop in a government interview this morning. 'I have since removed these 'likes'. This do not represent the views of me or the BBC. I apologise for any offence taken. Naga.' A BBC source told MailOnline: 'Naga has been reminded of her responsibilities in response to her liking the tweets about the comment.' A spokesman added: 'It was a light-hearted, off the cuff comment. No offence was intended.' Mr Jenrick was on the show yesterday discussing Britain's vaccine programme after European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen's threat to impose an export ban on jabs from the European Union. At the end of the interview Mr Stayt thanked the politician before making the comments about the Union flag in the corner of his room. He said: 'I think your flag is not up to standard size government interview measurements.' Mr Stayt added: 'I think it's just a little small, but that's your department, really. Just a thought.' Mr Jenrick smiled as the camera went back to the studio where Miss Munchetty made the comment about the Queen picture. Later, Mr Jenrick tweeted the picture of the Queen and Union flag, saying: 'We're always proud to fly the Union Flag at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. 'It's a symbol of liberty and freedom that binds the whole country together.' And today, BBC News presenter Huw Edwards jokingly made a reference to the row, tweeting a picture of the Welsh flag and saying: 'Flags are now mandatory - very pleased with my new backdrop for BBC News at Ten.' But soon after, Mr Edwards removed the tweet and wrote: 'Gutted. My pro-flag tweet been cut down in its prime. By order. But it will be back tomorrow - by popular demand Meanwhile enjoy this magnificent flag - one of my favourites. #SixNationsRugby #FRAvWAL.' Yesterday, Tory MP James Cleverley hit back at Mr Stayt and Miss Munchetty, tweeting: 'It's not a small flag. It's in the far corner of the room.' And former BBC political journalist Andrew Neil added: 'Sometimes the BBC forgets what the first B stands for.' Baroness Hoey, the former Labour MP for Vauxhall, said the exchange was 'exactly why' BBC News 'should no longer be allowed to charge a licence fee', saying it was 'always snidy about anyone standing up for our country'. And actor Laurence Fox asked why the BBC was 'so comprehensively stocked with sneering moral supremacists' who looked down on people that 'love their country'. ConservativeHome chief executive Mark Wallace said: 'What a bizarre thing for the BBC to sneer and snigger at. What's wrong with ministers of the British government having the flag and the monarch on display?' He added: 'Even more fundamentally British than the flag and the Queen: smiling awkwardly when someone does something rude or weird.' Tory MP James Cleverly said: 'It's not a small flag. It's in the far corner of the room.' Today, BBC News presenter Huw Edwards jokingly made a reference to the row, tweeting a picture of the Welsh flag (left) and saying: 'Flags are now mandatory - very pleased with my new backdrop for BBC News at Ten.' But soon after, Mr Edwards removed the tweet and wrote (right): 'Gutted. My pro-flag tweet been cut down in its prime. By order. But it will be back tomorrow - by popular demand Meanwhile enjoy this magnificent flag - one of my favourites. #SixNationsRugby #FRAvWAL' Robert Jenrick smiled but did not comment as the camera went back to the studio where Naga Munchetty was laughing How 195,000-a-year Naga Munhetty rose to become a BBC star and even appeared on Strictly Naga Munchetty, 46, with her husband James Haggar in 2017 Subha Nagalakshmi Munchetty-Chendriah grew up in South London and once told how she was given the name 'Naga' by her mother because it means cobra - and she dreamed of snakes when she was pregnant. Her father, from Mauritius and her mother, who is from India, met in Wales and married in London. Now known as Naga Munchetty, she studied English at Leeds University before taking a postgraduate degree in newspaper journalism and had her first jobs writing financial reports for the London Evening Standard and the Observer. Miss Munchetty, who is married to television consultant James Haggar, took her first job in TV at Reuters Financial Television, before working for CNBC Europe, Channel 4 News and Bloomberg Television. She then joined the BBC Working Lunch team in 2008 before becoming a lead presenter on BBC Breakfast in 2014, where she now earns 195,000 a year. Among the politicians and celebrities Miss Munchetty has interviewed are Hillary Clinton, David Cameron, Tony Blair, Sir Mick Jagger and Benedict Cumberbatch. In her spare time, the 46-year-old started playing golf in 2008 and now plays off a handicap of nine, while she also ran the London Marathon in 2013. She appeared in the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing and was a judge on the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction, both in 2016. Advertisement Patrick O'Flynn, former MEP for the East of England, said: 'Classic example life on Planet BBC. If Jenrick had told them: ''Screw you for mocking our flag and our monarch'' he'd have been a superstar by lunchtime.' BBC rules state that news staff must adhere to an online code of conduct, which says: 'Nothing should appear on your personal social media accounts that undermine the perception of the BBC's integrity or impartiality.' In September 2019, Miss Munchetty was embroiled in a race row after she condemned then-US president Donald Trump for telling some female politicians to 'go back' to where they came from. She was found to have breached editorial guidelines by the corporation's complaints unit, but the ruling was reversed by Lord Hall after an outcry. Emily Maitlis was also accused of violating the BBC's impartiality guidelines after she delivered a highly critical monologue about the Dominic Cummings lockdown controversy last year during an episode of Newsnight. She said Mr Cummings had 'broken the rules' when he travelled from London to Durham during lockdown and 'the country can see that, and it's shocked the Government cannot'. Anger flooded in from some incensed by the initial broadcast, which they believed showed bias, while others were furious about the corporation's rapid climb down, after it issued a statement saying she had broken the rules. It comes as the BBC unveiled plans to 'better reflect' all parts of the UK with more programmes made outside of London and a soap set in the North of England on the cards. It will shift away from London over the next six years in what it bills as its 'biggest transformation in decades'. News and current affairs programmes like Newsnight will be presented from different UK bases. Radio 4's Today show will be co-hosted from outside London for at least 100 episodes a year. Viewers will see a 'noticeable shift in portrayal of different parts of the UK in drama, comedy and factual' shows, the BBC pledged. The BBC, which was accused of failing to understand the vote for Brexit, hopes the move changes the tone of its programmes and journalism. The decision could also result in a BBC rival to ITV soap Coronation Street. The broadcaster said it would air two new long-running drama series - one from the North of England and the other from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Viewers would see about 30 or more episodes a year of the show. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said fugitive businessmen like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi will come back to India to face the law. The government is actively pursuing the extradition of Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi from the UK, while Choksi is believed to be in Antigua. While replying to a question on the Insurance (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman said Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi will be extradited to India to face law of the land. Notably, Mallya has been accused of loan default of Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. He has been in the UK since 2016 and is facing extradition trial. Nirav Modi, along with his maternal uncle Choksi, is accused of defrauding Punjab National Bank of Rs 14,500 crore. While Nirav Modi is in the UK jail, Choksi is believed to be in the Caribbean island. Also read: Vijay Mallya granted access to GBP 1.1 million of court-held funds to meet legal, living costs The FM's remarks came more than a month after the Centre told the Supreme Court that it is taking all efforts to extradite Mallya but the process is being delayed due to legal issues involved. The Ministry of External Affairs has raised the issue of extradition with the UK government and the Centre is taking all serious efforts to extradite Mallya, the government's counsel told the apex court. In the Nirav Modi case, the UK's extradition and district judge had last month ruled that Modi will be extradited to India to stand trial. He said Modi has a case to answer for in India, and that Barrack 12 at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai is fit for him. The judge said, "mental health concerns" as cited by Modi were not unusual in a man in his circumstances. In the latest development in the Choksi extradition case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 14.45 crore belonging to Gitanjali Group and Choksi in relation to the Punjab National Bank fraud. Earlier, ED had attached properties worth more than Rs 2,550 crore in the matter. Choksi is currently in Antigua and an extradition request has been sent by the Indian government to bring him back. Also read: Nirav Modi extradition verdict: Too early to celebrate, say legal experts Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Meng Wanzhou's lawyer has accused a Canadian border agent of falsifying testimony about how the Huawei Technologies executive's phone passwords ended up in the hands of Canadian police. Canada Border Services Agency officer Scott Kirkland had told Meng's extradition hearing in October that his handwritten note with the passcodes was accidentally turned over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, in a pile of other documents, after Meng was arrested at Vancouver's airport on December 1, 2018. Handing over the passcodes breached privacy laws and was a "heart-wrenching" mistake, Kirkland testified. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. But this was a "complete fabrication", Tony Paisana, a lawyer for Meng, said at the hearing on Thursday, as he pressed the case that it had been part of an illegal and covert effort to gather evidence against Meng on behalf of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. Paisana noted that the supposed mistake had not been documented anywhere by the CBSA: "The inescapable conclusion to draw ... is that BSO [Border Services Officer] Kirkland shared those passcodes not by error or by accident but on purpose." "Kirkland has been untruthful to you," he told Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes, in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The handwritten note of Meng Wanzhou's phone passcodes provided by Canadian border officer Scott Kirkland to Canadian police on the day of her arrest, in breach of privacy laws. Photo: Supreme Court of British Columbia alt=The handwritten note of Meng Wanzhou's phone passcodes provided by Canadian border officer Scott Kirkland to Canadian police on the day of her arrest, in breach of privacy laws. Photo: Supreme Court of British Columbia Meng's lawyers contend that Canadian police and border officers unlawfully colluded with the FBI to gather evidence against Meng, in an abuse of process that violated her rights. Story continues The violations, they say, included the border agents' seizure of Meng's electronic devices; compelling her to turn over their passcodes; and questioning her about Huawei's activities that related to US fraud charges against her. The information obtained during border procedures at the airport, in the hours before Meng's arrest, was then shared with police and others in violation of the policies and laws that govern the Canada Border Services Agency, her lawyers argue. Canadian government lawyers, representing US interests in the case, said in a written submission that the border officers had a legitimate interest in conducting the examination, amid concerns about Canadian national security and possible criminality by Meng. Holmes suggested that the border officers' questioning of Meng about Huawei's activities had been cursory. "It's not exactly a grilling examination," she told Paisana, and had their goal been to gather evidence for the FBI, they could have done a much better job. Paisana responded that "the fact that they didn't do a great job of violating her rights does not mean they did not violate her rights". The arguments came during an important phase of Meng's two-year fight to avoid extradition to the US to face fraud charges. The US Justice Department has indicted Meng, Huawei's chief financial officer, on charges that she lied to HSBC about Huawei's business dealings in Iran, thus putting the bank at risk of breaching US sanctions on Tehran. Meng Wanzhou leaves her home in Vancouver on Thursday. Photo: AP alt=Meng Wanzhou leaves her home in Vancouver on Thursday. Photo: AP The US wants Meng to face trial in New York. She denies the charges. Her lawyers are calling for Meng - a daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei - to be released because of the alleged abuses of process. They also say that the US has no jurisdiction over Meng's activities at the heart of the case, which took place during a 2013 presentation in Hong Kong. On Wednesday, Paisana said that Canadian officers showed a "flagrant disregard" for Meng's rights, then staged a cover-up to obscure their behaviour. This phase of hearings will continue to April 1, as the extradition battle nears its end game. A final stage of arguments and a committal hearing are scheduled for April 26 to May 14, after which Holmes will decide whether to free Meng or approve her being sent to the US for trial. But the final decision on whether to extradite her will be up to Canada's justice minister, and appeals could drag out the process for years. Meng's treatment has roiled China's relations with Canada and the US, with Beijing repeatedly calling for her release. Two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, were detained in China in the days following Meng's arrest; they are accused of espionage and will go on trial on Friday and Monday respectively. Canada considers their arrests retaliatory and that both men are victims of arbitrary detention. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2021 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2021. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Goco Hospitality is set to join hands with Brew Bay Village Development Corporation to develop a luxury wellness retreat and residential destination, the Goco Retreat Brew Bay Village, on the coast of the Salish Sea, British Columbia in Canada, focused on adventurous outdoor lifestyle and personal wellbeing. A globally recognised spa and wellness development and management company, Goco Hospitality said it has teamed up for the wellness retreat and its associated real estate project with a vision to create a world-class destination that focuses not only on personal wellbeing but explores the healing properties of nature through the combination of curated wellness experiences and genuine cultural interaction. As wellness becomes even more relevant in the wake of the pandemic, more and more people are seeking to boost their immune system and strengthen their mental and physical wellbeing, said Ingo Schweder, its CEO and Founder. "I believe the west coast of Canada has all the ingredients to become a perfect home for the first world-class wellness-specific retreat destination in the region, and I am proud to have an opportunity to co-develop a destination so exquisite as Goco Retreat Brew Bay Village," stated Schweder, who also sits on the advisory boards of Amaala, a $16 billion luxury wellness destination in Saudi Arabia developed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF. Once completed, Goco Retreat Brew Bay Village will become a five-star wellness retreat destination located in Brew Bay, close to the town of Powell River, on the sunshine coast of British Colombia. Known for its moderate climate and unparalleled natural beauty, the retreat will take advantage of the clean air, crystal clear water and native forests for which the location is best known. In addition, the Goco-branded retreat will be home to the first dedicated Oriental Healing Centre in the region, situated on a south-facing oceanfront area of the site and focusing on Ayurveda, TCM and other Eastern healing modalities. The masterplan for the destination was created by Goco Hospitality Group Director of Design & Technical Services, Josephine Leung, herself a proud Canadian and licenced architect with an extensive portfolio of award-winning master planning, mixed-use development, wellness communities, and hospitality projects that span the world. As Goco Hospitality enters the design and technical services stage of the proposed development, they will also focus on developing a concept that reflects the destination through intimate and personalised wellness experiences that embrace local culture, creating an immersive and authentic environment that allows guests to explore at their own leisure against the ever-changing seasonal tableau of nature. In addition to the retreat, the destination will also feature extensive wellness real estate and a vibrant collection of community spaces for both guests and local residents to enjoy. Such amenities proposed include a Marine Science Centre for education and research, an adventure centre that spans both aquatic and forest experiences, a floating restaurant featuring wellness-centric dining, an art gallery featuring Indigenous art, a local farmers market and a range of boutique and artisanal retail businesses.-TradeArabia News Service Chandigarh, March 19 : While neighbouring state Punjab has deferred wheat procurement till April 10 owing to spike in Covid-19 cases, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday said the procurement centres would be increased to ensure hassle-free procurement commencing April 1. He said 100 per cent direct online payment transfer in the accounts of the farmers should be ensured. Last year, the state had transferred over 50 per cent of the payments directly to the accounts of the farmers and the rest was made through arhtiyas or commission agents. "In view of the increasing Covid-19 cases, the health safety arrangements must be ensured and the Deputy Commissioners should ensure safety protocols are strictly followed at each procurement centre," he said. The Chief Minister also issued directions to strengthen the 'mandi' system along with making timely arrangements for the availability of labourers, gunny bags, etc. "Suitable transportation arrangements should be made for lifting of the crops from the 'mandis' on time and if any transporter fails to lift the crops within 48 hours, then alternative transport arrangements should be made," said Khattar. Actor Hina Khan escaped to the Maldives on March 18 to enjoy a short break and has been sharing many glimpses of her vacay on Instagram. Hina gave a sneak-peek into her stay on Friday morning and also flaunted her vibrant outfit in a series of pics. The Unlocked actor stunned in an abstract printed two-piece and complimented her look with a pair of flashy square-shaped sunglasses. Hina remarked that travelling brings more power and wrote, The Maldives is my kind of happy place, Love it. Amruta Khanvilkar was one of the firsts to drop an endearing comment on Hina Khans photos. In another post, she donned a chic tee and teamed it with denim jeans. "Travelling in style with the largest seaplane operator in the world. An experience you wouldnt want to miss," she penned. Hina says 'travelling brings more power' This is not the first time when Hina Khan's photos from Maldives surfaced on the internet. Earlier, in February, she posted yet another picture from the same destination with beau Rocky Jaiswal. She then went on to pen a heartfelt note on the occasion of his birthday. Hina was wrapped in Rocky's arms as they posed by the beach. "You and Me. Painting Love all over. Happy Birthday, Love. My Valentine Forever," she wrote. On January 12, Khan celebrated her glorious 12 years in the industry. She wrote, "When life gives you lemons, dont wait to make that lemonade. But what if you cant differentiate between lemons and oranges?". Hina remarked that she had the potential and that she did jump on to grab the opportunity the first time she was offered something. She continued that she has always been instinctively spontaneous and that it made her choose the right fit for her career at every single step. She expressed gratitude to all the people who have liked her craft, appreciated her work, and encouraged her to persistently pursue her passion. On the work front, the actor was last seen in the music album titled Main Aur Tu, alongside Jitendra Rai, Namita Lal and Monica Aggarwal. The emotional number is voiced by Mohit Pathak and Rutikka Brahmbhatt. 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. Adams' K9, Kumar, is assured of a successor as he prepares for retirement. Adam's Hometown Market Supporting New K-9 Unit Upon Kumar's Retirement ADAMS, Mass. Adam's Hometown Market will fund a new K-9 unit in the Adams Police Department for five years. At Wednesday night's Selectmen's meeting, the Police Department announced that grocery will fund a new K-9 unit named Adam. "Adam's Hometown Market has taken on a huge help especially in these times," Police Chief Scott Kelley said. "What a wonderful thing this is and we are so happy to be part of this " Kumar was brought on as the department's K-9 unit in 2014. The German shepherd came to Adams at 2 years old. He was originally from the Netherlands so many of his commands are in Dutch. But at the age of 8, Kumar has to start thinking about retirement. Kelley said the program donates a dog and for five years, the Adams Hometown Market Foundation will support training and care on the dog. This includes veterinary bills, food and equipment. "They do five years. This is more than putting a dollar amount on it because these things can vary," Kelley said. "For any department it is a great expense that they have taken on and a huge help." Kelley said Adam's Hometown Market has done this for 18 police departments through Massachusetts and Connecticut. "Adam's Hometown Market is about community. We are a community, and you will find us in small communities," Robert Pytko, manager of the local market said. "We want to make sure people know that we are part of the community and that we are here for them." Officer Curtis Crane, Kumar's handler, noted that over the years supporting Kumar came down to fundraising on his own part. He said it will be nice to have some consistent support. The town actually had a carved Kumar statue in Town Hall with a collection bucket to help support the dog and program. He did say other K-9 officers around the county are jealous. "We are very grateful," Crane said. "I mentioned it around the country and people were pretty jealous." Kumar isn't going anywhere quite yet, but the department felt that once it does hire a new K-9 unit, Adam would be the most fitting name. Kelley said Adam will follow in Kumar's footsteps. "Kumar has been a huge community asset, more than just a police K-9," he said. "There is no question that we will continue this ... I am looking forward to the future. I know what Officer Crane has done over the past 8 years and I can't wait to see it move forward. The Selectmen were happy Kumar was getting ready to enjoy a well-deserved retirement. They also thanked Adam's Hometown Market for the partnership. "I think the keyword is hometown," Selectman Joeseph Nowak said. "That is something we here in Adams should be proud of ." In other business, Detective Travis Cunningham said the department will utilize the Ring Neighbors Application to create a "virtual neighborhood watch" program throughout town. "It is just another good social media tool and outlet for the community to contact us and for us to reach out to the community," Cunningham said. Cunningham said people can download the free app and do not need to have an actual Ring device. He said the app allows the police to reach out to app users in specific areas of town with crime and safety alerts. He said the police can also request specific information from the public which they can contribute anonymously. "A lot of people may have trepidations that it is something that we can pull data from people but we can't," he said. "We can only request data from people." He said the data the police are allowed to see is anonymous. Users can report incidents through the app that the police will see. Cunningham said posts can be anything form suspicious activity to a bear walking through a neighborhood. Tim Fischer/Midland Reporter-Telegram Midland is heading toward its first sub-100 COVID case week this year, according to statistics provided Thursday by the Midland Health Department. Statistics show 43 cases through Wednesday of this week, which was 26 less than through Wednesday of the previous week. The Midland Health Department reported the fewest cases of any week in 2021 took place last week (105). UW Board of Trustees to Meet March 24-25 Via Teleconference The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees will receive updates on a range of topics during the boards regular meeting Wednesday and Thursday, March 24-25. The meeting will be conducted via teleconference. Among the issues slated for discussion are UWs COVID-19 response; campus mental health and wellness; enrollment management; strategic scenario planning; and construction and financing of new campus housing. Several committees of the board will meet through the day Wednesday, starting with the Vice President and Dean Search Committee at 7 a.m. Thursdays meeting of the full board will begin with an executive session at 7:30 a.m., with the public session slated to start at 9 a.m. Public testimony will be accepted at 11:15 a.m. Thursday. Those wishing to offer verbal testimony should go to www.uwyo.edu/trustees/public-comment/web_form.html to fill out the web form. The deadline is 5 p.m. Monday, March 22. The public sessions of the board and its committees may be observed by the public via UWs WyoCast system and YouTube. Links may be found at https://wyolinks.uwyo.edu/trusteesmarch. The complete agenda, along with a report that includes background information on agenda items, is available at www.uwyo.edu/trustees/2021-meeting-materials/march_24-26_2021_meeting.html. He recently enjoyed a fun trip to the Gold Coast with ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Sobinoff. And on Friday, Seb Guilhaus showed off his bronzed Adonis-like physique in a selfie on his Instagram story. The 31-year-old stripped down to just a pair of swim trunks, revealing his washboard abs. Bronzed babe! Married At First Sight star Seb Guilhaus (pictured) showed off his washboard abs and bronzed physique in an Instagram post on Friday He accessorised his look with a pair of aviator sunglasses as he carried other items of clothing in one hand. 'Sea and sun,' the Adelaide native wrote in the caption, hinting he was ready to head out to one of South Australian capital's finest beaches. Seb's day at the beach comes after he revealed the status of his relationship with ex Elizabeth Sobinoff earlier this month. Friends: Seb's day at the beach comes after he revealed the status of his relationship with ex Elizabeth Sobinoff (left). He revealed that they are just 'close friends', after they holiday on the Gold Coast together, earlier this month He revealed that they are just 'close friends', as they holiday on the Gold Coast together, earlier this month Seb explained in an Instagram post that the trip was the 'first time' the former couple had seen each other since 'separating'. 'I've just gotten back from a lovely four nights in the Gold Coast,' he began the lengthy post. Seb wrote in an Instagram post: 'It has been a lot to process... Liz and I seeing each other for the first time after separating... wondering how we would feel... where we might want to head... anything thats gone unsaid' 'It has been a lot to process... Liz and I seeing each other for the first time after separating... wondering how we would feel... where we might want to head... anything thats gone unsaid.' He went on to say that they handled the meeting with 'total respect and pure communication', and while they 'love each other', they are just 'close friends'. 'We had so much fun... we showed each other that even after our title and our conditions had changed... we still have each other's back,' he added. Love and respect: 'We will always have each other's back... because we love each other... we respect each other... but for now and possibly for the rest of our lives we are close friends' 'We will always have each other's back... because we love each other... we respect each other... but for now and possibly for the rest of our lives we are close friends.' He signed off by wishing Elizabeth a happy 30th birthday for Sunday adding: 'I'm so proud of you'. The reality stars confirmed their break-up on January 11, after dating for about a year. Over 180 school districts made changes to the way students learned this week, as schools continue to bring students back into the classrooms during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As of Monday, March 15, 532 districts were hybrid, 99 remote, and 143 were fully in-person. Thirty-seven districts have different educational formats for different schools. Thirty-four more schools were in-person this week than last week, while the number of remote schools dipped by 28. Although the numbers in each category saw slight changes from last week, 186 districts changed their formats. Thirty-four districts switched from hybrid learning to either remote or a combination of formats, while 106 districts switched from entirely in-person learning to a combination of formats. Three schools sent students home, going from entirely in-person to remote learning this week. This is the seventh week in a row to see more schools opt for some form of in-person learning, as President Joe Biden pushes to see most K-8 students back in the classroom by April. The list provided by the Department of Education is self-reported by the districts, spokesman Mike Yaple said. Some schools have remained entirely remote since last March, while other districts have changed formats as virus conditions have changed. Parents have also been given the choice to keep students virtual even if their district reinstitutes in-person learning. Gov. Phil Murphy said he expects all schools to return to in-person learning for the start of the 2021-2022 school year in September, but said on Wednesday districts should begin bringing students back now. Now is the time for all of our schools to meaningfully move forward with a return to in-person instruction, whether it be full-time or with a hybrid schedule, Murphy said during his regular coronavirus briefing in Trenton. Districts have cited concerns about the viruss spread as the main reason for choosing to remain remote; at least one district has said it intends to stay virtual through the end of the year, and a number of large districts say they will remain remote until mid-April. There have been 188 outbreaks and 890 cases of the coronavirus linked to schools in New Jersey. For cases to qualify as an outbreak, they must be confirmed to have been transmitted in the classroom or during academic activities. All 21 counties have seen an in-school outbreak. Teachers are now eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, and some districts, including Edison, have begun partnering with health agencies to distribute vaccines to teachers. No vaccine has been approved for children under 16, although studies have begun on younger children. Three districts switched from in-person to virtual learning: Thirty-seven districts moved away from remote this week, bringing students back for either hybrid learning, or using a combination of plans across the district: Garfield Public School District Burlington County Special Services School District Delran Township School District Lenape Regional High School District Mansfield Township School District North Hanover Township School District Pemberton Township School District Woodland Township School District Freedom Prep Charter School Woodbine School District Deerfield Township School District South Orange-Maplewood School District BelovED Community Charter School Harrison Public Schools Secaucus School District Weehawken Public School District Delaware Valley Regional High School District Achievers Early College Prep Charter School Paul Robeson Charter School for the Humanities Dover Public School District College Achieve Paterson Charter School Community Charter School of Paterson Passaic Arts and Science Charter School Paterson Arts and Science Charter School Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology Alloway Twp School District Creativity CoLaboratory Charter School Oldmans Township School District Penns Grove-Carneys Point Regional School District Pennsville School District Quinton Township School District Salem City School District The Lower Alloways Creek School District Woodstown-Pilesgrove Regional School District Township of Union School District Union County TEAMS Charter School-High School/College LA Harmony Township School District Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. Ishkhan Saghatelian, a coordinator of the alliance called Homeland Salvation Movement, said on Friday that they had sufficient reasons to doubt that Pashinian genuinely intends to resign and hold elections on June 20. Pashinian announced the date of the vote following talks with Gagik Tsarukian, the leader of the largest opposition Prosperous Armenia faction in the Armenian parliament. Edmon Marukian, the leader of the other opposition Bright Armenia faction, said later that day that he had a telephone conversation with Pashinian and confirmed that holding early elections on June 20 was acceptable to his party. Even though the Pashinian-led alliance enjoys a comfortable majority in the Armenian parliament, the prime minister has sought a sort of agreement with the two opposition factions to ensure that they will not field their own candidates if he resigns and thus will pave the way for the parliament to be dissolved and new elections to be appointed. Members of Pashinians political team have said this is needed to exclude the risk of upheavals. The Homeland Salvation Movement, of which Prosperous Armenia is a member, holds Pashinian responsible for the Armenian defeat in last falls six-week war against Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh. In recent months it has been holding anti-government demonstrations in Yerevan and other parts of the country in a bid to force Pashinian to hand over power to an interim government. Since late February the opposition alliance has been blocking part of a central boulevard in Yerevan where the Armenian parliament and several other government offices are located. Talking to media on Friday, Saghatelian said that the movement may introduce some tactical changes in its struggle, but will stick to its main agenda according to which Pashinian must resign and a provisional government be formed before preterm elections can be held in at least a year. The Homeland Salvation Movement has named Vazgen Manukian, a 75-year-old opposition politician who led Armenias government in the early 1990s, as a candidate to replace Pashinian as prime minister. It says Manukian and his political party will not take part in the eventual early elections, which, according to the movement, will ensure his neutrality as the organizer of the vote. Saghatelian said that Pashinians announcement of early elections was yet only a statement and that the opposition has no reason to trust it based on the previous experience. At the same time, the coordinator of the opposition movement warned that if elections are held with the Pashinian government left in charge of organizing the electoral process, the vote may trigger a new crisis instead of settling the ongoing one. We find that snap parliamentary elections are a necessary condition for getting out of the current situation, but if Pashinian continues to act as prime minister during the election period, there is a great risk that the elections will not be competitive and that there will be no equal conditions [for participants]. And there is a great chance that such elections will be rigged. In that case, instead of becoming a way out of the current crisis, these elections may trigger a new crisis, the coordinator of the Homeland Salvation Movement concluded. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Telegram has updated its voice chat feature in the latest update. Starting now Telegram will support unlimited participants in voice chats. In other words, Telegram is removing the limit on participants in voice chats. Last year Telegram announced voice chat feature and this is the biggest update so far. Previously, Telegram allowed users to broadcast a call for thousands of listners. The new update allows millions of live listners accross both public group and channels. Furthermore, the raise hand feature allows muted participants to get noticed and ask the admin to unmute. Telegram also lets you to record voice chats to the saved messages folder. A red dot will appear while recording to all the participants will come to know that the call is being saved. Users will also get an option to create separate links for speakers and listeners. If privacy is a concern you can choose to stay private without displaying channel username. So you can join as your personal account or your channel name. For example, the Presidents of Brazil and Turkey could meet for a talk in Pavel Durovs Channel and answer questions from users without the risk of having their chat lists flooded with fan mail. It is fairly common for users to send message to the wrong group. If you choose to forward the wrong chat by mistake then you can press the X button to cancel before sending. Telegram now resumes play back when listening to long voice message. Our Take It is evident that Telegrams revamped voice chat feature rivals Clubhouse. Early this month, Instagram introduced a Clubhouse rivalling feature called Live Room. Clubhouse is a new type of social media based on drop-in audio chat. People can discuss, listen and talk to each other in groups. Telegram has an edge over Clubhouse when it comes to privacy features. You are here: World Flash Days after Pakistani president received a Sinopharm vaccine jab, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday also received his COVID-19 jab with Sinopharm vaccine. Khan, 68, received his COVID-19 jab in Islamabad, Special Assistant to the Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Faisal Sultan confirmed. The Pakistani prime minister was administered the vaccine dose during the second phase of the vaccination process in the country in which people over 60 years of age are receiving vaccine doses. On the occasion, Khan stressed that people across the country should follow the standard operating procedures to fight against the third wave of COVID-19 in the country, according to a statement from the Prime Minister Office. On Monday, Pakistani President Arif Alvi and his wife Samina Alvi received their COVID-19 jabs with the Sinopharm vaccine in Islamabad. Pakistan on Wednesday received the second batch of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government. Pakistan officially launched its National COVID Immunization Program across the country in early February shortly after receiving the Chinese government-donated Sinopharm vaccines, with the frontline healthcare workers given the priority for inoculation. A Louisville police officer filed a lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Police Department accusing the department of bias and discrimination when promoting and assigning officers to specialty units. The lawsuit was filed on Monday on behalf of officer Philip Satterthwaite by Sam Aguiar, an attorney who also represents the family of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman fatally shot by police officers executing a no-knock search warrant last year. Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, sued three Louisville Metro Police Department officers in late April, accusing them of wrongfully causing her daughter's death. In the suit, Satterthwaite, a Black officer who joined the department in 2012, claimed the LMPD's "buddy system" allowed friends and family members to advance within the department over better-qualified candidates, particularly Black officers. "The nepotism within LMPD is longstanding, and it is a substantial contributing factor to depleting morale amongst those officers who know that they, regardless of their accomplishments and history of being great police officers, face a stacked deck each time they seek a promotion where others within department connections are also in the candidate pool," the lawsuit said. In a statement Thursday, a police spokesman told NBC News that the department doesn't comment on pending litigation. According to the suit, Satterthwaite said he was rejected from positions at the department's Crimes Against Children Unit and Robbery Unit in 2020 because he was scored unfairly during the hiring process, despite past positive performance reviews. Satterthwaite said he was also denied access to his interview files. "Race plays a direct and indirect role in advancement opportunities at LMPD," the lawsuit said. "Until the middle of the 2000's Black officers simply did not make the rank of Sergeant." Satterthwaite was later chosen as the Diversity and Inclusion Officer, under then-Deputy Chief Lavita Chavous, to "focus on equal opportunity for advancement and openness within the department," the lawsuit said. Story continues Satterthwaite and Chavous "recognized the inherent flaws in a system where unit commanders were selecting friends and 'clique' members for their positions" and uncovered that officers "regardless of race or gender, were losing out on promotions to others who had connections within the department." However, in 2021, after Louisville Police Chief Erika Shields took over the top post at the department, Satterthwaites position was eliminated, the suit alleges. Instead of addressing issues surrounding equal opportunities and transparency within the department, Satterthwaite was tasked with a "window-dressing job" to recruit Black individuals to join the department. The lawsuit is asking for compensatory and punitive damages and for Satterthwaite to be reinstated into his role. Aguiar said Satterthwaites efforts to fix lack of diversity within specialty positions was courageous and honorable. Everyone deserves to know that they will be promoted based upon their qualifications, rather than who they know, Aguiar said. Officer Satterthwaite was placed in a position to make this happen, only to be retaliated against. By Bay City News San Mateo County residents who replace their methane gas water heaters with electric water heaters could receive at least $2,500 in rebates, Peninsula Clean Energy announced Tuesday. The rebates are a partnership between Peninsula Clean Energy, San Mateo County's official electricity provider, and the Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN). Peninsula Clean Energy would provide a $1,500 rebate and an additional $1,000 would come from the BayREN Home+ program, which provides rebates for energy-efficient home improvements. Residential water heating accounts for more than a quarter of methane gas emissions from buildings in San Mateo County, according to Peninsula Clean Energy. Switching to electric heat pump water heaters helps reduce emissions and the electric heaters are more efficient than gas heaters. Residents who participate in the California Alternate Rates for Energy or Family Electric Rate Assistance plans, can also receive an additional $1,000 rebate from Peninsula Clean Energy. Rebates will be given for heat pump water heaters installed by participating BayREN contractors on or after Jan. 1 this year. A list of participating contractors is available at https://www.peninsulacleanenergy.com/heat-pump-water-heater/. Peninsula Clean Energy will also provide $1,500 in rebates to offset the cost of electrical panel upgrades if needed to run the new water heater. Robert Whitehair, homeowner and vice chair of Sustainable San Mateo County, a sustainability nonprofit, said in a statement that replacing a water heater is one of the best things people can do to help decarbonize their homes. "And with these rebates, we were able to replace ours with a state-of-the-art, ultra-clean and efficient model for about the same net price as the standard and dirtier methane gas variety. It was a no-brainer for us," Whitehair, said. Peninsula Clean Energy CEO Jan Pepper said that residential water heating is a big culprit in creating methane gas emissions. "These rebates, paired with emission-free power provided to all our customers, should make a sizable dent in solving that problem in our communities," Pepper said in a statement. Peninsula Clean Energy serves 295,000 customers with 100 percent carbon-free electricity, with the goal of delivering 100 percent renewable electricity by 2025. To learn more, visit https://www.peninsulacleanenergy.com/heat-pump-water-heater/. 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. Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. On Monday we posted a statistics report noting that Apple crushed their global competiton in wearables for Q4 2020. IDC noted in their report that while Apple registered a 22% gain year over year, it was slower growth than experience in Q3 and Q2. It was a small trend to note and not worry about. However, the timing of IDC's noting that particular slowing trend now coincides with Apple's retail stores again allowing customers to try on AirPods before buying them. Bloomberg stated in a report today "that it was yet another sign of the companys retail operations heading toward normalcy, according to employees. Apple stopped letting customers try on the earbuds when Covid-19 began to spread last year. The company is now allowing try-ons in the U.S. and other regions at stores that are open for customer walk-ins, either with or without an appointment. The ability to try on AirPods has been available at locations in Asia for months already." While the Biden administration wants to double down on wearing masks and keeping schools closed, Apple's move to relax COVID-19 restrictions in respect to AirPods seems like an odd move at this point in time. Though it should lead to delivering higher growth for AirPods to stop the slowing sales trend. A brave student was forced to take dramatic action after a disgruntled punter began to pelt billiard balls at bartenders who had refused the man service. Leo Bodycomb, 18, was enjoying a game of pool with friends at the Adelaide UniBar on Wednesday evening when he heard a glass smash, then a loud bang. A man - who had been refused service at the bar - had retaliated by throwing billiard balls from a nearby pool table where Mr Bodycomb stood with friends. Leo Bodycomb, 18, (right) was enjoying a game of pool with friends at an Adelaide UniBar on Wednesday night when he heard a loud bang from a nearby table Within seconds the popular university bar had emptied, with patrons rushing from the bar to watch the action unfold from outside as terrified staff took cover behind the bar. Mr Bodycomb told Daily Mail Australia the tension in the air felt akin to that of a shooting, with his friend being hit by a ricocheting ball as he fled. 'It was a really scary experience because we didn't know what he was going to do once he ran out of balls,' he said. University students huddled at the doorway while Mr Bodycomb assessed the situation inside and subconsciously made the decision to do something. 'I'm six foot three, I wouldn't say I'm very strong but I'm quick,' he said. Propelled by adrenaline Mr Bodycomb ran back into the university bar and launched himself onto the alleged assailant's back, successfully throwing him off balance. He then used his arms to hold the man's neck in a tight 'sleeper hold', wrenching the disgruntled patron backwards as hard as he could. Mr Bodycomb said they hit the ground and separated, saying at that moment he felt fully prepared to come to blows with the man. Mr Bodycomb launched himself onto the man's back successfully throwing him off balance and ending his violent rampage, pictured: Adelaide UniBar Luckily coming to his aid was bartender Will who rushed out from the bar to help Mr Bodycomb pin the man to the ground, joined by the student's friends and one chef. Ten minutes later police and security arrived on the scene and arrested a 32-year-old Clovelly man, charging him with property damage and disorderly behaviour. The Bachelor of Arts student said it was a 'pretty exciting start' to his university years, the incident occurring just three weeks into his first semester. His heroic act earned him and mates a jug of free beer and another the next day when bar staff recognised Mr Bodycomb. 'It was exciting, I've got a lot of recognition from friends but I'm not flaunting it online, I'd rather be like Batman and quietly take credit,' Mr Bodycomb joked. (Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Friday and not separately reported by Alliance News: Supermarket Income REIT PLC - real estate investment trust dedicated to investing in supermarket property - Raises GBP150 million via share issue and a further GBP3 million under a PrimaryBid offer. The board increased the size of the issue to GBP150 million from GBP100 million, after careful consideration of the strong level of support and quality of demand from investors in the issue. "Notwithstanding this increase, investor demand substantially exceeded the maximum size of the issue and, accordingly, a scaling back exercise was undertaken," company says. Trident Royalties PLC - mining royalty and streaming company - Plans to buy 60% interest in an existing gross revenue royalty over the Thacker Pass lithium project operated by Lithium Americas Corp from an Orion Mine Finance Fund for USD28 million. The consideration is payable in USD26.0 million in cash and 4.2 million Trident shares issued to Orion. In order to finance the cash component of the consideration for the acquisition, Trident has conditionally raised around GBP20.2 million via a share placing. Further, it has raised gross proceeds of GBP510,000 via a retail offer which was closed early after being significantly oversubscribed. "When added to the fundraise announced at 7:00am today, Trident is also pleased to announce that in aggregate it has conditionally (conditions being admission of the shares to AIM and fulfilment of the placing agreements) raised approximately GBP20.7 million," the firm says. Henry Boot PLC - construction firm - Unveils "significant" deal at Wakefield Hub, one of the largest industrial developments in the North of England. HBD, the group's property development business, will deliver a 260,000 square foot industrial unit on behalf of a German pharmaceutical company. Subject to securing planning in mid 2021 work is expected to start on site in the second half of 2021 with the total gross development value in excess of GBP30 million. CML Microsystems PLC - Maldon, England-based radio frequency semiconductor maker - Says that the order intake improvement seen during the final weeks of the first half period continued through the second half. Notes that for the financial year to March 31, the group's profitability will be "overwhelmingly dominated" by the exceptional profit arising from the sale of the Storage division and will also include a nine month contribution to group profit from the division. BATM Advanced Communications Ltd - laboratory diagnostic equipment distributor - Completes sale of NG Soft Ltd to Aztek Technologies (1984) Ltd following the receipt of approval from the Israel Competition Authority and the transaction becoming unconditional in all respects. BATM has received a total of NIS93.7 million, worth around USD29 million. "The group intends to invest the proceeds of the sale to strengthen its innovation and commercialisation engine, both organically and through acquisition, to enable the group to accelerate its core activities - in particular, in network function virtualisation and molecular diagnostics," company says. Idox PLC - Reading, England-based management software provider - Agrees to sell its Netherlands-based Grants Consultancy and databases business to an affiliate of SilverTree Equity Partners for up to EUR8.1 million. The consideration comprises an initial EUR4.3 million of cash, earn-out of up to EUR1.0 million in cash and a 6% non-amortising loan note of EUR1.4 million and a further earn-out of up to EUR1.5 million of cash. "Following the recent sale of Idox Compliance, the sale of the Grants Consultancy business marks the disposal of the remaining business within Idox's Content Division, with the Group now exclusively focused on its core Idox Software activities," company says. Separately notes that Dye & Durham does not intend to make an offer for Idox. Says it engaged "constructively" with Dye & Durham and is confident in its future as an independent company. "We have now completed the intended reshaping of our group with the recent disposals of all remaining parts of our Idox Content division, and will look to scale our group further through carefully selected bolt-on acquisitions. These disposals, together with positive momentum from current trading, have significantly strengthened the group's balance sheet, which in turn offers greater strategic optionality for shareholder value creation," says Chief Executive David Meaden. AEX Gold Inc - Greenland-focused gold miner - Says it has consulted with the holders of the vast majority of its shares and has been "greatly encouraged" by the high level of support expressed, and believes there is widespread acceptance among its shareholders that the board's decision to defer the Nalunaq development plan and avoid committing the bulk of the company's available liquidity during a period of such high uncertainty was the correct one. Has engaged Ausenco to conduct a thorough, independent, review of all technical aspects of the mine development for Nalunaq. Says 2020 full-year results, which were due to be announced March 25, will now be deferred until April 29, though anticipates these to be in line with management expectations. OTAQ PLC - Lancaster-based marine aquaculture technology company - Elects to convert all of its 6% convertible loan notes issued by US-based aquaculture technology company Minnowtech LLP into shares. In addition to this, OTAQ agrees to a further equity investment of USD150,000 in Minnowtech. Following all of this, OTAQ will hold just over a 15% interest in Minnowtec. "The additional investment and the agreement for OTAQ to supply Minnowtech on an exclusive basis with sonar hardware for its shrimp biomass analysis systems strengthens the development agreement entered into in early 2020, giving both parties a stronger relationship and capability in innovative product and market development," OTAQ says. Supply@ME Capital PLC - London-headquartered fintech platform - After on Wednesday saying it had signed heads of terms agreement for the acquisition of an unnamed fintech-powered commodities trade enabler focused on small and medium-sized enterprises based in Singapore, confirms the identity of the target business is TradeFlow Capital Management Pte Ltd. Ten Lifestyle Group PLC - London-based lifestyle and travel service platform company - Says net revenue in half-year to February 28 was GBP17.4 million, with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation broadly in line with board expectations. Says its future performance is closely linked with the global recovery from Covid-19. "Whilst demand is beginning to return in some countries, the continuing effects of Covid-19 globally, combined with the recent strengthening of sterling, is expected to delay the recovery of net revenue and adjusted Ebitda in the second half of the financial year," says Ten Lifestyle. Xtract Resources PLC - miner with projects in Mozambique and Zambia - Says laboratory assays have been received from the first drill hole (BRDD-20-001) completed on the phase one diamond drilling programme at the Racecourse Mineral Resource on the Bushranger copper-gold exploration project, Australia. Says results confirm mineralisation at Racecourse forms a very substantial copper-gold mineral system and there is significant potential to expand the mineral resource. "The assay results from the first hole at the Racecourse deposit are exciting in that they confirm mineralisation for almost a kilometre down-plunge. The overall grade of 0.33% CuEq is very pleasing and I am particularly encouraged by the grade uniformity over the entire intercept," says Chair Colin Bird. Frontier IP Group PLC - London-based intellectual property commercialisation firm - Says portfolio company Fieldwork Robotics, a spin out from the University of Plymouth, has raised GBP675,000 through an equity fundraising from existing and new investors. The proceeds will be used to support the company's development of its flexible agricultural robot technology for harvesting soft fruit and vegetables. The funding round means Frontier IP's equity stake in the business is now just over 22%. HeiQ PLC - textiles technology firm - Signs exclusive licence and chemicals supply agreement with ICP Industrial Inc, a division of ICP Group, which is expected to deliver USD30 million of royalty revenue. The five-year contract, which is subject to renewal after the first two years, will give ICP exclusive worldwide rights to apply HeiQ Viroblock to coatings for printing processes such as commercial print, food, beverage and pharma packaging. The two companies are currently completing the product development, due to be finalised by August 1, following which the exclusivity period begins. By Lucy Heming;A lucyheming@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Meng Wanzhou's lawyer has accused a Canadian border agent of falsifying testimony about how the Huawei Technologies executive's phone passwords ended up in the hands of Canadian police. Canada Border Services Agency officer Scott Kirkland had told Meng's extradition hearing in October that his handwritten note with the passcodes was accidentally turned over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, in a pile of other documents, after Meng was arrested at Vancouver's airport on December 1, 2018. Handing over the passcodes breached privacy laws and was a "heart-wrenching" mistake, Kirkland testified. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. But this was a "complete fabrication", Tony Paisana, a lawyer for Meng, said at the hearing on Thursday, as he pressed the case that it had been part of an illegal and covert effort to gather evidence against Meng on behalf of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. Paisana noted that the supposed mistake had not been documented anywhere by the CBSA: "The inescapable conclusion to draw ... is that BSO [Border Services Officer] Kirkland shared those passcodes not by error or by accident but on purpose." "Kirkland has been untruthful to you," he told Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes, in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The handwritten note of Meng Wanzhou's phone passcodes provided by Canadian border officer Scott Kirkland to Canadian police on the day of her arrest, in breach of privacy laws. Photo: Supreme Court of British Columbia alt=The handwritten note of Meng Wanzhou's phone passcodes provided by Canadian border officer Scott Kirkland to Canadian police on the day of her arrest, in breach of privacy laws. Photo: Supreme Court of British Columbia Meng's lawyers contend that Canadian police and border officers unlawfully colluded with the FBI to gather evidence against Meng, in an abuse of process that violated her rights. Story continues The violations, they say, included the border agents' seizure of Meng's electronic devices; compelling her to turn over their passcodes; and questioning her about Huawei's activities that related to US fraud charges against her. The information obtained during border procedures at the airport, in the hours before Meng's arrest, was then shared with police and others in violation of the policies and laws that govern the Canada Border Services Agency, her lawyers argue. Canadian government lawyers, representing US interests in the case, said in a written submission that the border officers had a legitimate interest in conducting the examination, amid concerns about Canadian national security and possible criminality by Meng. Holmes suggested that the border officers' questioning of Meng about Huawei's activities had been cursory. "It's not exactly a grilling examination," she told Paisana, and had their goal been to gather evidence for the FBI, they could have done a much better job. Paisana responded that "the fact that they didn't do a great job of violating her rights does not mean they did not violate her rights". The arguments came during an important phase of Meng's two-year fight to avoid extradition to the US to face fraud charges. The US Justice Department has indicted Meng, Huawei's chief financial officer, on charges that she lied to HSBC about Huawei's business dealings in Iran, thus putting the bank at risk of breaching US sanctions on Tehran. Meng Wanzhou leaves her home in Vancouver on Thursday. Photo: AP alt=Meng Wanzhou leaves her home in Vancouver on Thursday. Photo: AP The US wants Meng to face trial in New York. She denies the charges. Her lawyers are calling for Meng - a daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei - to be released because of the alleged abuses of process. They also say that the US has no jurisdiction over Meng's activities at the heart of the case, which took place during a 2013 presentation in Hong Kong. On Wednesday, Paisana said that Canadian officers showed a "flagrant disregard" for Meng's rights, then staged a cover-up to obscure their behaviour. This phase of hearings will continue to April 1, as the extradition battle nears its end game. A final stage of arguments and a committal hearing are scheduled for April 26 to May 14, after which Holmes will decide whether to free Meng or approve her being sent to the US for trial. But the final decision on whether to extradite her will be up to Canada's justice minister, and appeals could drag out the process for years. Meng's treatment has roiled China's relations with Canada and the US, with Beijing repeatedly calling for her release. Two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, were detained in China in the days following Meng's arrest; they are accused of espionage and will go on trial on Friday and Monday respectively. Canada considers their arrests retaliatory and that both men are victims of arbitrary detention. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2021 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2021. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close In Chicago, where students in the nations third-largest public school system have returned to classrooms, and where parks, bars and movie theaters are reopened, city officials announced that restaurant employees, construction workers and people who have pre-existing health conditions would be newly eligible for vaccination by the end of March. Cook County, which includes Chicago, has averaged between 600 and 700 cases each day for nearly a month, down from about 4,500 cases a day at its November peak. Weve weathered a lot of storms over the course of this year, Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago said after visiting a vaccination site this week. Weve got to stay diligent. Weve got to continue to work hard. But we are moving exactly in the right directions. Still, the citys usual outsize enthusiasm for observing a springtime ritual going out on St. Patricks Day was muted, at best. On Wednesday, few pedestrians were wandering on downtown streets, typically packed with revelers on the holiday. The Chicago River had been dyed its traditional bright shade of green, but the popular Riverwalk alongside it was nearly empty. Jacob Roberts, 29, was downtown on Wednesday, taking a vacation from his home in Washington State. The trip to Chicago was a bucket-list visit he had always wanted to take. I was cooped up in Washington and getting sick of everybody looking kind of down in the dumps, he said. But its honestly the same thing everywhere you look right now. Though tourism has yet to return in force in places like New York and Chicago, the countrys outlook in battling the virus appears far better than when winter began. No state is reporting case numbers anywhere near record levels, and the sort of explosive case growth seen in hard-hit areas through 2020 has almost completely abated. Kansas is averaging about 215 new coronavirus cases a day, down from more than 2,000 in early January. In California, around 2,900 cases are reported most days, down from about 40,000 in mid-January. And North Dakota, which has the countrys most known cases per capita, is now regularly adding fewer than 100 cases a day, in a state with a population of 762,000. HOLYOKE Less than nine months into his tenure as the the state-appointed head of the citys public schools, Receiver Alberto Vazquez Matos has submitted his resignation. State officials announced in February that Vazquez Matos was on leave, a day after he participated in a Feb. 8 school committee meeting. No reason has been given for his leave or his resignation. Officials from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education have described the situation as a personnel matter. In a statement announcing the resignation, state education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley thanked Vazquez Matos for his service. The commissioner also thanks the educators and staff who work within the district and with families and the community to accomplish this work, a statement said. Vazquez Matos also thanked families, students, staff, and faculty but that statement did not elaborate on his resignation beyond saying, Dr. Vazquez Matos looks forward to pursuing other professional interests in education. Vazquez Matos previously worked in the public school district in Hartford, Connecticut. Anthony Soto, the Holyoke school districts chief financial and operations officer, will continue working as acting receiver. He was hired in 2016 by former Receiver Stephen Zrike, is now superintendent of schools in Salem. School Committee Member Devin Sheehan, also a mayoral candidate, said he has full and complete confidence in the school districts leadership team and staff. They will face this challenge with the same level of professionalism and commitment that they have approached all of their work, he said. Additionally, I know that it has been challenging to do their work as we continue to face the COVID-19 pandemic. Related content: BERLIN (AP) The scientist who won the race to deliver the first widely used coronavirus vaccine says people can rest assured the shots are safe, and the technology behind it will soon be used to fight another global scourge cancer. Ozlem Tureci, who co-founded the German company BioNTech with her husband, was working on a way to harness the body's immune system to tackle tumors when they learned last year of an unknown virus infecting people in China. Over breakfast, the couple decided to apply the technology they'd been researching for two decades to the new threat, dubbing the effort Project Lightspeed. Within 11 months, Britain had authorized the use of the mRNA vaccine BioNTech developed with U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, followed a week later by the United States. Tens of millions of people worldwide have received the shot since December. It pays off to make bold decisions and to trust that if you have an extraordinary team, you will be able to solve any problem and obstacle which comes your way in real time, Tureci told The Associated Press in an interview. Among the biggest challenges for the small, Mainz-based company that had yet to get a product to market was how to conduct large-scale clinical trials across different regions and how to scale up the manufacturing process to meet global demand. Along with Pfizer, the company enlisted the help of Fosun Pharma in China to get assets, capabilities and geographical footprint on board, which we did not have," Tureci said. Among the lessons she and her husband, BioNTech chief executive Ugur Sahin, learned along with their colleagues was "how important cooperation and collaboration is internationally." Tureci, who was born in Germany to Turkish immigrants, said the company, which has staff members from 60 countries, reached out to medical oversight bodies from the start, to ensure that the new type of vaccine would pass the rigorous scrutiny of regulators. The process of getting a medicine or a vaccine approved is one where many questions are asked, many experts are involved and there is external peer review of all the data and scientific discourse, she said. Amid a scare in Europe this week over the coronavirus shot made by British-Swedish rival AstraZeneca, Tureci dismissed the idea that any corners were cut by those racing to develop a vaccine. There is a very rigid process in place and the process does not stop after a vaccine has been approved, she said. "It is, in fact, continuing now all around the world, where regulators have used reporting systems to screen and to assess any observations made with our or other vaccines. Tureci and her colleagues have all received the BioNTech vaccine themselves, she told the AP. Yes, we have been vaccinated, she said. As BioNTech's profile has grown during the pandemic, so has its value, providing funds the company can use to pursue its original goal of developing a new tool against cancer. The vaccines made by BioNTech-Pfizer and U.S. rival Moderna uses messenger RNA, or mRNA, to carry instructions into the human body for making proteins that prime it to attack a specific virus. The same principle can be applied to get the immune system to take on tumors. We have several different cancer vaccines based on mRNA," said Tureci, who is BioNTech's chief medical officer. Asked when such a therapy might be available, Tureci said thats very difficult to predict in innovative development. But we expect that within only a couple of years, we will also have our vaccines (against) cancer at a place where we can offer them to people. For now, Tureci and Sahin are trying to ensure the vaccines governments have ordered are delivered and that the shots respond effectively to any new mutation in the virus. On Friday, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier awarded the wife and husband one of the country's highest decorations, the Order of Merit, during a ceremony attended by Chancellor Angela Merkel, rained scientist herself. You began with a drug to treat cancer in a single individual, Steinmeier told the couple. And today we have a vaccine for all of humanity. Tureci said ahead of the ceremony that getting the award was indeed an honor. But she insisted developing the vaccine was the work of many. Its about the effort of many: our team at BioNTech, all the partners who were involved, also governments, regulatory authorities, which worked together with a sense of urgency, Tureci said. "The way we see it, this is an acknowledgement of this effort and also a celebration of science. ___ Follow APs pandemic coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine, and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The United States will not accept Russia's attempts to distance itself from the conflict in Donbas and present itself as a "mediator", since the Russian Federation started this conflict and continues to fuel it. Charge dAffaires of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE Courtney Austrian said this at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday, March 18, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "We will not accept, nor will we ignore, Russias constant attempts to distance itself from a conflict for which it is solely responsible. And we will not accept the Kremlins efforts to cast Russia as an impartial mediator," the diplomat said. She emphasized that Russias aggression started this conflict, Russias support fuels it, and Russias obstructionism at peace talks prevents its peaceful resolution. Austrian noted that although the additional measures to strengthen the ceasefire, which took effect on July 27, 2020, brought about historically low levels of violence, the situation in eastern Ukraine remains fragile. At the same time, Russian-led forces are again using heavy weapons and continuing to block the freedom of movement of SMM patrols. "In recent weeks, we have noted a troubling shift in Russias messaging on the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Russias latest stream of disinformation appears designed to predict and pre-assign blame for an escalation of violence," she said. ish This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions Vietnam Poyun Electronics Co., Ltd. in Hai Duong Province is closed and turned into a quarantine camp after many workers tested positive for Covid-19, February 2021. Photo by VnExpress/The Quynh. A Hai Duong industrial area including a Taiwanese firm where hundreds of Covid-19 cases were recorded in Vietnam's recent outbreak has resumed operations. All businesses in the Cong Hoa industrial zone including Vietnam Poyun Electronics Co., Ltd. resumed operations Thursday after nearly two months of suspension due to Covid-19, the Hai Duong Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control said Thursday, local media reported. Poyun Electronics, with around 2,200 workers, was where a 34-year-old employee became one of the first cases were recorded in a coronavirus wave that eventually swept 13 cities and provinces. She came into contact with a colleague who tested positive for the coronavirus upon arriving in Japan a few days prior. Within a single day, January 28, 72 more Covid-19 cases were detected, all associated with Poyun Electronics. Chi Linh Town, where the firm is located, was then forced to enter lockdown until March 3. Throughout the entire wave, around 300 Covid-19 cases were employees of Poyun Electronics. On Thursday, around 600 workers of Poyun had returned to work, according to a union representative of the company. The rest of the workers are either being treated for Covid-19 or are in quarantine, it was added. Previously on Monday, around 2,885 workers at the industrial zone, including over 1,200 employees of Poyun Electronics, had their samples taken for Covid-19 testing. So far, all results have returned negative. While businesses in Cong Hoa were allowed to resume operations, they would still have to undergo Covid-19 prevention measures like social distancing. Throughout the third Covid-19 wave, Hai Duong is the nations biggest hotspot with 724 cases. Most industrial areas in the province have now resumed operations, with around 8,400 workers returning to work. Haiti - Economy : ADIH deplores and condemns acts of destruction and looting In a note, the Association of Industries of Haiti (ADIH) deplores and condemns the acts of destruction and looting recorded this week during the violent protests in the capital, which have caused damage at the expense of companies and members Population. "[...] The ADIH condemns the behavior of violent agitators who take advantage of socio-political unrest to settle issues outside the framework of demands of those who announced the said demonstrations. ADIH maintains that the Private Sector, one of the pillars of the national economy, by creating jobs that it provides to the country, cannot accept violations of the rule of law through endless acts of destruction of life and property. These actions carried out against many companies, including the company UNIVERSAL MOTORS https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33264-haiti-flash-violence-vandalism-and-looting-in-port-au-prince.html too often without remedies, will only increase the reluctance of more than one to want to invest in Haiti despite its great potential. In these circumstances, the ADIH sympathizes with all the victims in human and material lives. It urges the State and the Government to take all the necessary and useful sovereign measures, URGENTLY, in order to find a way out of this crisis which has been going on for too long already, leading to the collapse of our Nation. The economic growth we all advocate for a Collective Wellness must necessarily go through respect for lives and goods and lasting political stability." See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33264-haiti-flash-violence-vandalism-and-looting-in-port-au-prince.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33266-haiti-flash-moise-declares-a-state-of-emergency-in-several-areas-of-the-country.html HL/ HaitiLibre Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. DES MOINES, Iowa The State of Iowa is in line to get nearly $775 million in federal aid for Pre-K-12 schools. The money to pay costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic is Iowas share of the $122.7 billion in emergency school relief in the American Rescue Plan recently passed by Congress and signed by President Biden. The Iowa Department of Education says the nearly $775 million is more than double what the state received in the previous federal COVID aid legislation and roughly 10 times as much as was included in the first coronavirus bailout bill. With Iowas schools open for learning, this new round of funding will provide critical support to address current needs and plan for the future, says Iowa Department of Education Director Ann Lebo. Schools can use this funding over the next two and a half years to cover a variety of pandemic-related expenses and strategies. This includes addressing disruptions to teaching and learning, meeting students social, emotional, behavioral health needs, providing summer school and other extended learning and enrichment programs, hiring additional personnel to keep schools safe and healthy, supporting educators in the effective use of technology and meeting the connectivity needs of remote learners. The Iowa Department of Education says 90 percent of the nearly $775 million will be available to school districts, with the rest going to state-level educational efforts to address urgent issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Details on how the money will be distributed are expected soon. ST. LOUIS, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) today issued a reminder that it will release its 2021 first quarter financial results at approximately 6 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Tuesday, April 27, 2021, and host a conference call afterwards at approximately 8:30 a.m. (Eastern Time) to review the results. Michael F. Neidorff, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Jeffrey A. Schwaneke, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, of Centene Corporation will host the call. Investors and other interested parties are invited to listen to the conference call by dialing 1-877-883-0383 in the U.S. and Canada; +1-412-902-6506 from abroad, including the following Elite Entry Number: 9872494, to expedite caller registration; or via a live, audio webcast on the Company's website at www.centene.com, under the Investors section. A webcast replay will be available for on-demand listening shortly after the completion of the call for the next 12 months or until 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at the aforementioned URL. In addition, a digital audio playback will be available until 9 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, by dialing 1-877-344-7529 in the U.S. and Canada, or +1-412-317-0088 from abroad, and entering access code 10153375. Later that same day, the company will host its Annual Shareholder Meeting in a virtual format at 11:00 a.m. ET. Information on and shareholder registration for the meeting can be found at: www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/CNC2021. About Centene Corporation Centene Corporation, a Fortune 50 company, is a leading multi-national healthcare enterprise that is committed to helping people live healthier lives. The Company takes a local approach with local brands and local teams to provide fully integrated, high quality, and cost-effective services to government-sponsored and commercial healthcare programs, focusing on under-insured and uninsured individuals. Centene offers affordable and high-quality products to nearly 1 in 15 individuals across the nation, including Medicaid and Medicare members (including Medicare Prescription Drug Plans) as well as individuals and families served by the Health Insurance Marketplace, the TRICARE program, and individuals in correctional facilities. The Company also serves several international markets, and contracts with other healthcare and commercial organizations to provide a variety of specialty services focused on treating the whole person. Centene focuses on long-term growth and the development of its people, systems and capabilities so that it can better serve its members, providers, local communities, and government partners. Centene uses its investor relations website to publish important information about the company, including information that may be deemed material to investors. Financial and other information about Centene is routinely posted and is accessible on Centene's investor relations website at: https://investors.centene.com/. SOURCE Centene Corporation Related Links http://www.centene.com SOFIA -- Bulgaria says it has detained and charged six people suspected of passing classified information to Russia. A spokeswoman for the Prosecutor-General's Office, Siika Mileva, said on March 19 that the suspects were part of an espionage group led by "a former senior member of the Defense Minister's Military Intelligence Service. Russia's embassy in Sofia responded by saying the move was a consequence of "incessant attempts to drive a wedge in the Russian-Bulgarian dialogue and once again demonize our country." It did not say who was responsible for the alleged anti-Russian efforts. In a Facebook statement, the embassy said its understanding was that Bulgarian prosecutors said their investigation was not yet complete and the Russian side hoped "speculation" on the case would cease in the absence of conclusions on Sofia's side. The Russian Embassy statement said that it expected "the judicial investigation [to] be conducted on a depolitical, impartial, and objective basis in strict compliance with the norms of Bulgarian and international legislation." The group purportedly recruited Bulgarian officials who had access to classified information about Bulgaria, NATO, and the EU, Mileva said, adding that his wife had dual Russian-Bulgarian citizenship and "played the role of intermediary between the ex-officer and an employee of the Russian Embassy. She said that it was "the first time in our recent history" that such a spy ring had been uncovered. The Foreign Ministry welcomed the disclosure of another spying case for the benefit of the Russian Federation. Relations between Sofia and Moscow have been hit by several spy scandals in recent years. Since October 2019, the EU and NATO member state has expelled five Russian diplomats and employees of the Russian Embassy accused of conducting intelligence work. The latest case is of particular importance for the security of Bulgaria, the EU, NATO, and the United States," according to Prosecutor-General Ivan Geshev. The Defense Ministry said two members of Bulgarias armed forces were among those detained. Military prosecutor Elin Aleksov said the spy group had been active for a long time, collecting technological and military secrets. The action to detain the suspects began in several locations in Sofia on March 18. Investigators said police conducted random inspections of cars leaving the capital on the Trakia highway to prevent one of the suspects from fleeing. The man was eventually arrested near the Russian Embassy, Mileva said. After a 40-year hiatus, the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) has re-launched the Ghana YearBook (GYB), an annual publication that takes stock of the very important developments of the preceding year in the country. The GYB, whichs publication started in the 1950s was a value addition product of the GCGL that became popular through the 1970s before the publication ceased. At the event to relaunch the publication in Accra Thursday [March 18, 2021], the Managing Director of the GCGL, Mr Ato Afful said the all new GYB would maintain the quality that endeared its predecessor editions to readers. In addition to an improved content, it captures the nations events as they unfolded in the previous year which includes the swearing in of the fifth President of the Fourth Republic, the election of the first Speaker of Parliament from an opposition party, the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, the demise of his Excellency JJ. Rawlings, the 2020 elections, the Graphic @70 anniversary among others. Record He said the publication also captures historical dates, facts about the country, corporate information on companies and government institutions and each chapter in the book presents a theme with adequate information to readers, and would help connect them to the countrys history. Mr Afful noted that the rebirth of the GYB had become possible due to the immense support of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the GCGL, Professor Kwame Kakari and the former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye who urged the management of GCGL to reintroduce the publication. Prof. Karikari told Graphic Online in an interview after the launch of the book that as a thriving democracy, the country needed such publications to help build on its strong democratic credentials. We now have a thriving democracy but democracy survives on accurate, reliable and relevant information for the citizens and the Ghana Year Book will provide that service for the entire society in documenting, keeping and making available the very salient issues especially about our institutions, business entities and personalities that drives our society, he said. Relaunch The colour event which was held at the plush Alisa hotel, brought together notable personalities in the country including the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin who launched the book, the Managing Director of the ADB Bank, Dr John Kofi Mensah, the Director General of the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng and Brigadier General Benjamin Amoah-Boakye who represented the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Also present at the event were the Executive Secretary of the Advertisers Association of Ghana, Mr Francis Dadzie, the Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Kobby Asmah among others. Brigadier General Amoah-Boakye bought a copy on behalf of the CDS for GH5,000 while Mr Asamoah Boateng made a bid of GH3,000 for a copy of the book. The auctioneer who led the sales of the first copies of the book, Mr L. A. Apanga Esq bought a copy of the 20 books that were sold at the event for GH1,000. On sale Copies of the book will be on sale at all the regional offices of the GCGL and later at all book shops and shopping malls across the country at GH150 for a copy. Meanwhile copies of the publication would be donated to Vice Chancellors of the various public universities in the country while two copies would be donated to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi. Copies of the book would also be made available at some public libraries across Ghana. After outdooring the publication, the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin purchased an autographed copy signed by the GCGL MD, Mr Afful, for GH20,000. Mr Dadzie bought a copy for GH12,050 on behalf of the Advertisers Association of Ghana while the MD of ADB Bank, Mr Mensah won the bid to buy the second auctioned copy of the book for GH12,000. 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 A protester outside RTE headquarters in Dublin is outnumbered by gardai on Wednesday. Photo: Damian Storan/ PA A robust policing plan is in place for a planned anti-lockdown protest tomorrow, with gardai worried that extremist elements may attempt to hijack the demonstration. A policing plan was drawn up yesterday afternoon when senior gardai met to discuss the weekends protests after the successful operation on St Patricks Day in which there were no violent incidents. Officers are due to meet again today to analyse any fresh intelligence about what role extreme right-wing or left-wing protesters may be planning. Three chief superintendents under the command of Assistant Commissioner Anne Marie Cagney will again monitor the protest, with one full public order unit being deployed and others on standby. Read More From a policing point of view, St Patricks Day was a success story there were multiple different protests but they all passed off peacefully, a senior source said. The arrest figure on Wednesday was considerably less than on a St Patricks Day before the pandemic began. Twenty-one people 17 males and four females were arrested in connection with public order offences and breaches of Covid-19 legislation in Dublin. Fourteen of these have appeared before a special district court sitting. Yes, St Patricks Day was a success but gardai have not switched off for Saturday because of that, a senior source said yesterday. There is only one planned protest at the weekend while there was over a half-dozen separate ones on Wednesday. The big danger is that extremist elements may have infiltrated the demonstration or may attempt to hijack it. Of course there is always the worry that criminal elements from the inner city and beyond may just get involved in violence for the sake of it as we have seen before. So, therefore, a robust policing plan will be in place and gardai are satisfied that adequate resources are in place to deal with whatever may happen, the source added. There will be numerous garda checkpoints in suburbs on roads in both the northside and southside of Dublin tomorrow. People will be asked for their reason for travelling, and face being turned back if they do not have an essential reason for going into the city centre. Like on Wednesday, officers will be present at train stations, bus stops and Luas and DART stops all across the capital to ensure that people are complying with Covid-19 regulations and not making what are deemed to be unessential journeys into the city centre. Meanwhile, gardai representatives met Justice Minister Helen McEntee over the issue of vaccinations. The minister was receptive to our position that the current place of gardai in the queue for vaccination fails to reflect either the risk of infection faced by members or the key role they play trying to suppress the virus, said Garda Representative Association president Frank Thornton. BEIJING, Mar. 19 -- According to the notices released by Chinas Dalian Maritime Safety Administration on March 12 and March 19, military exercises are being held in waters of Chinas Bohai Strait and northern Yellow Sea from March 14 to March 28, 2021. BOHAI STRAIT AND NORTH YELLOW SEA MILITARY EXERCISES IN AREA BOUNDED BY THE LINES JOINING: 1. 385141N 1213812E 2. 383412N 1213812E 3. 383355N 1210751E 4. 384813N 1211403E FROM 140800UTC TO 210800UTC MAR.ENTERING PROHIBITED. LIAONING MSA CHINA BOHAI STRAIT AND NORTH YELLOW SEA MILITARY EXERCISES IN AREA BOUNDED BY THE LINES JOINING: 1. 385141N 1213812E 2. 383412N 1213812E 3. 383355N 1210751E 4. 384813N 1211403E FROM 210800UTC TO 280800UTC MAR.ENTERING PROHIBITED. LIAONING MSA CHINA According to the notice released by Chinas Lianyungang Maritime Safety Administration on March 17, live-fire drills are being conducted in the south of Yellow Sea daily from 6:00 AM to midnight, local time, during the period from March 18 to 26, 2020. LYG0015SOUTH YELLOW SEA GUN FIRING 2200UTC TO 1600UTC DAILY FROM 17 TO 26 MARCH IN AREA BOUNDED BY THE LINES JOINING 34-11N 120-16E34-11N 120-40E33-57N 120-40E33-57N 120-21E. ENTERING PROHIBITED. LYGMSA CHINA. Medcare Women & Children Hospital, a part of the Aster DM Healthcare Group, has signed an agreement with the world-renowned Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, Israel, which was recently ranked by Newsweek magazines prestigious list of Top Ten Hospitals in the World. This partnership will facilitate knowledge exchange between both institutions across various specialities, collaboration among doctors to bring the best to UAE and further enhance the quality of care for patients, encourage advanced medical training, upscaling of skills and capabilities at the hospital. Once the Abraham Accord was signed and ties between UAE and Israel Agreement were established, we started to explore opportunities for association with healthcare providers in Israel. We zeroed in on Sheba, which has been recognised as one the top 10 best hospitals in the world by Newsweek magazine, says Dr Azad Moopen, Founder Chairman and Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare. We are excited as this partnership will help to serve as a collaboration model between the two institutions in clinical services and lead to an increase in innovation and research initiatives. This new collaboration between Medcare Women & Childrens Hospital and Sheba Medical Centre, represents yet another giant step forward in building bridges between our two nations and offering hope without boundaries to anyone who seeks medical care, reveals Prof Yitshak Kreiss, Director General of Sheba Medical Centre. This ground-breaking partnership will see an exchange of knowledge between Medcare Women & Children Hospital and Sheba Medical Centre that will focus on specialised care for womens health, in the areas of Endometriosis, Minimal Invasive Surgery, Reproductive Endocrinology and Fetal Medicine. This will expose Medcares medical practitioners to cutting-edge research programmes, training and innovative treatments which in turn, will help to advance the clinical care that is offered to patients across these specialties. Sheba is world renowned for their quality healthcare delivery across the hospitals 159 medical departments with its 2000 bed capacity and 75 laboratories. Its highly qualified doctors have been known to introduce many innovative treatments and cutting-edge research, which has set benchmarks in the medical field. With specialised women and childrens health centres the organisation has been known to find favourable solutions for some of the most complex cases. For example, its Neonatology department has been consistently recognised as the best in the country. Its world-renowned Gynaecologic Oncology Department offers a variety of treatments for gynaecologic cancers and is engaged in research of new cancer treatments. Furthermore, the Reproductive Endocrinology and Fertility Unit provides fertility-sparing procedures and fertility treatments, such as cryopreservation of oocytes and microsurgical tube reconstruction. Sheba is proud to offer our best doctors in the womens health arena, where we are integrating some of the most advanced technological treatments in the world to Medcares patients. Through this collaboration, we know that we will be able to maintain Medcares dedication to superior healthcare for the people in the UAE region, adds, Yoel Har-Even, Director of Sheba International. Dr Shamsa Abdullah bin Hammad, Chief Operating Officer of Medcare Women & Children Hospital comments: Dubai has a vision to further develop its healthcare facilities in the city and this partnership between Medcare Women & Children Hospital and Sheba will support this growth and ensure that our patients are continuing to receive superior, world-class treatments. This collaboration will help to increase our doctors exposures to an advanced sharing of resources and exceptional medical breakthroughs in our focused specialties, which in return will contribute to achieving an overall degree of clinical excellence, and allow us to continue on the path to becoming pioneers in the medical industry within the region. -- Tradearabia News Service The recent death of Bunny Wailer, the last surviving founding member of the Wailers has seen outpourings of grief and appreciation all over the world. But in the wake of the triple Grammy award-winners passing at 73, the pioneers contributions to reggae are being revisited by those who understand the full scope of his impact on reggae and many more genres besides. I met Bunny during the Wailers 1973 UK tour in Manchester, when members included Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny himself. My student band wanted to replicate the reggae sound we heard in songs like Stir it Up, when Bunny and Peter sang harmonious backing vocals for Bob. Bunny was deep and considered when talking about his music, checking to see if we understood the central messages of resistance, Rastafarianism and black liberation. The Wailers were about to change the face of popular music then. But to grasp how they shaped their iconic sound, you should understand the surroundings that moulded them as musicians. The birth of the Wailers Bunny was born Neville ORiley Livingston in Kingston, Jamaica, on April 10 1947. He moved to the district of Nine Mile, a rural region in the St Ann parish of Jamaica, as a child. It was there that he met Bob years before either of them made their stamp on the world. St Anns strong history of producing other luminaries, such as pan African leader Marcus Garvey, wouldve provided fertile ground for Bunnys budding interest in black power and independence politics. Moving from the tranquil, easy-living countryside of Nine Mile to the harshness of downtown Kingston wouldve had a similar effect on Bunnys views and music, strengthening those interests into something more concrete through the citys proliferation of sound systems and recording studios. By 1957, Bunny and Bob began to learn their craft through Joe Higgs, an influential musician and producer who worked with famous sound system innovator and record producer Coxsone Dodd. While developing, mentoring and recording new music talent in the 1960s, Higgs introduced the pair to Peter Tosh, who became the third original Wailers member. Jamaicas music renaissance The three teenagers were stimulated by the fast-paced 1960s Kingston music scene, where enterprising musicians and budding entrepreneurs developed new styles like ska, rocksteady, roots reggae and dub, setting trends that became popular and eventually influenced global music. Suddenly, after years of relative obscurity, Jamaican musicians, producers and songwriters had opportunities to promote and distribute their records into the UK and then around the world. This mindset of innovation was the backbone of Jamaican sound systems. As well as the wider Jamaican music industry, the Kingston scene also shaped the early Wailers ska sound. By 1964, Bob, Bunny and Peter had their first number one hit in Jamaica, Simmer Down, a message to gangs in Kingston to cool down crime and political-related violence. By the time the Barrett brothers joined the band to play drum and bass, the Wailers sound had evolved from ska to an intoxicating mix of political lyricism, strong rhythms, rock guitar riffs and synthesisers. This formed the basis of roots reggae (as heard on the Wailers fifth album, Catch a Fire). Rastology (a term used by scholars and Rastas to represent Rastafarian philosophy, spirituality, lifestyle and cultural practices) has remained a constant throughout the genre. As reggae and its sub-genres like dub and dancehall have evolved, Rastology has been appropriated and expressed through what I term sonic livity. In Rastology, livity denotes the Rastafarian way of living and being. Its the consciousness that flows from the belief, experience and expression of Jah (God) in oneself. This is often voiced in Rasta vernacular as I and I. The first I describes Jah (God) connecting to the second I, the individual. The I and I relationship is believed to be intensified through sonics (sound frequency vibrations). Whether expressed through Nyabinghi drumming, worship, singing, rhythms, dub or sound systems, sonic livity aims to be upful (positive) and intentional music created to promote one love in humanity. When Bunny left the Wailers in 1973 following a creative clash of ideas with the group, he grounded himself even further in these concepts, rooting himself in Jamaica, where he continued to live his semi-rural Rastafarian lifestyle. His first album, Blackheart Man (1976), shows the extent of that influence, with songs like Fighting Against Conviction (Battering Down Sentence) reinforcing his ideas and experiences about Rastafarianism, black identity and politics. Bunnys peers (some of whom also died recently) were also integral to Jamaicas musical renaissance following the countrys 1962 independence from the UK. The likes of Desmond Dekker, Alton Ellis, Marcia Griffiths, Toots and the Maytals, U Roy, Lee Scratch Perry, Milly Small and others created catalogues of musical hits that anchored Jamaicas place in global pop culture. Through the work of musicians like these, reggae has been recognised by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity worthy of protection and preservation. In the past decade, a new generation of young Jamaican musicians like Protoje, Jah9, Chronixx, Jessie Royal, Koffee, Kelissa and Kabaka Pyramid have emerged, inspired by roots reggae musicians like Bunny Wailer. Theres a resurgence of conscious reggae reggae music with life-affirming, positive and political lyrics. With lines like Africa inna we soul but a Jah inna we heart, Protojes hit song Who Knows is a perfect example. Songs like I Can by Chronixx and In The Midst by Jah9 also echo sentiments of Jah, love, self-development and liberation, all of which appeared throughout Bunnys discography. By embracing social and new technology emerging reggae artists are pushing the boundaries of the genre, reaching wider audiences and continuing in the tradition of spreading spirituality and positivity through song. With few of the pioneers of the genres that inspired this new cohort left, it seems their messages about resistance, equality, black power, and social justice have endured. Les Johnson, Visiting Research Fellow, Birmingham School of Media, Birmingham City University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The court on Friday denied the defense's motion to lift the attachment on the property of Armenias third president Serzh Sargsyan, in connection with a criminal case involving him and several other defendants. In its motion, the defense had argued that the investigator's decision to place an attachment on Sargsyan's property was illegal, clearly unfounded, and unreasoned. "During the attachment of the property, many articles of the Criminal Procedure Coderegulating the application of the given measure of judicial enforcementwere violated," the defense had stated. According to the indictment of the aforesaid criminal case, being organized by then President Serzh Sargsyan, then Minister of Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan had squanderedfrom January 25 to February 7, 2013AMD 489,160,310 of subsidy allocated from the government's reserve fund for the 15,391,765 liters of diesel fuel that was used during the implementation of state assistance programs. Serzh Sargsyan has been charged under the Criminal Code article on large-scale embezzlement or squandering. The third president, however, does not accept the charge against him. And his lawyer Amram Makinyan claims that the charge is concocted. New Delhi, Mar 16 (UNI) India and Finland on Tuesday emphasized upon the unprecedented global efforts in speeding up the development and scaling up of manufacturing of vaccines to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. During their virtual summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart from Finland Sanna Marin, the two leaders held discussion on a wide range of issues. It was the first India-Finland virtual summit since 2019 when Ms Marin assumed office as Prime Minister of Finland. Prime Minister Modi expressed satisfaction over announcement of a new partnership with Finland on Information and Communications Technology (ICT), mobile technology and digital education. In a tweet later, Mr Modi said that India and Finland are also beginning a high level dialogue between the two ministries of education. Mr Modi invited Finland to join International Solar Alliance and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure. He stressed that both the countries believe in rules-based, transparent, and democratic set up. He noted that India-Finland have robust cooperation in the fields of technology, innovation, clean energy, environment and education. At a special virtual briefing, Neeta Bhushan, Joint Secretary, Central Europe in the Ministry of External Affairs said that the two Prime Ministers exchanged views on the COVID-19 pandemic , including vaccine solidarity. During virtual meet, Mr Modi pointed out that in the recent weeks India has supplied 58 million doses of Corona vaccine to 70 countries and last year had despatched medicines and other essential items to 150 countries. She said that Startup Indian and business Finland have started India-Finland tech hub, a virtual platform for startups and entrepreneurs to network with their mentors, incubators and investors. It has been recently launched. Replying to a query, she said that both the Prime Ministers expressed concern over the recent developments in Myanmar and mentioned that rule of law must be upheld. ``As we share land and maritime border with Myanmar, we have highest stakes in peace and stability in the country,' she said. UNI VT The executive director of the League of Women Voters of Colorado told Colorado Politics her early passion for social justice stems from two sources: she's a product of a "very liberal and politically active" Episcopalian church and, like Vice President Kamala Harris, experienced LA County's desegregation busing as a child. The latter experience, Hendrix said, made the United Farm Workers' strikes particularly meaningful. Braintree had the largest number of student COVID-19 cases in the state in the past week with 26 positives, according to state data, though pooled testing for the virus in schools indicates low levels of positivity across Massachusetts. From March 11 to 17, there were a total of 669 coronavirus cases reported in schools. Those cases were among 476 students and 193 staff members who tested positive for the virus within seven days of being inside a school building, according to a weekly report from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Of the positives in this weeks report, 466 student cases and 189 staff cases were at local school districts, three student cases and three staff cases were at education collaboratives, and seven student cases and one staff case were at approved special education schools, per DESE data. This shows an increase in cases compared to last week, when the state reported 523 virus cases, split between 377 students and 146 staff members. That report was a slight increase from the week prior, with 476 virus cases. Following Braintrees 26 cases, North Attleborough and Dennis-Yarmouth both had 12 student cases, Quincy had 11, according to the data. District staff cases were highest in Brockton with 16, followed by Boston with eight and New Bedford with six. Find numbers for your district or school in this searchable database. If youre having trouble accessing the database, click here. Pooled COVID-19 testing in schools has pointed to a small number of virus cases. As of last week, a total of 177 school districts, charter districts and collaboratives have applied to participate in the states pooled testing program, representing more than 1,000 schools and 325,000 students, state 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, officials said. Only 0.7% of those pools have been positive. Because most pools have contained only one positive individual, the prevalence among the tested school population is likely less than 0.2%, according to officials. Related Content: Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Now part of Accenture Interactive, CreativeDrive, a global creative content production company, has appointed Penny Verbe, global strategic consultant and co-founder of Smoke & Mirrors, as Head of Content for the UK and EMEA. Penny Verbe joins CreativeDrive as head of content UK & EMEA Congrats on being appointed to the role of Head of Content UK & EMEA at CreativeDrive. How do you feel about it? How and when did this come about? When do you take up this position? What will your new role entail? You have over three decades of experience. What are some of your notable achievements? What do you love most about your career, the industry and what you do? Our industry welcomes people from any background, class, ethnicity; if you are good at what you do, work hard and are nice to people you can get anywhere. In your career, you've founded and managed several media companies. What's your recipe for 'success'? You learn more from your mistakes than your successes - never be afraid to look stupid Innovation and creativity is key, especially in the time of Covid-19. What can organisations no longer ignore when it comes to strategy? This is a real life reset to remind us the importance of looking after each other, working in different ways to accommodate a better work/life balance or providing support and reassurance in such uncertain times. Verbes appointment comes at a pivotal time in CreativeDrives evolution six months after the business was acquired by Accenture Interactive to complement its existing content, digital marketing, media and commerce offerings. CreativeDrive helps brands meet the ever-increasing pace of digital and commerce channel activation.Thank you! Im over the moon to be honest - Ive been looking for a role like this to get my teeth into for a long time. Theres so much potential here, its incredible. I havent been this excited since we set up Smoke & Mirrors which was a very, very long time ago!Towards the end of 2020, I joined in February of this year. Myles Peacock the global CEO had been in touch as we knew each other via the wonderful Jillian Gibbs, CEO of APR. Also, separately the Head of HR at London CreativeDrive had contacted me via Linkedin and Luke Hammersley (my predecessor) and I had been in conversation for the past year as Id long admired what CD were doing. Given Id been chatting to all three different people at the same company, without either of them being aware of it, it all seemed very serendipitous. Plus Id long been watching what Accenture Interactive were doing in the marketplace so when I knew they were in play, my interest was hugely magnified!My title is Head of Content for UK & EMEA for CreativeDrive. We are a fantastic content production agency recently acquired by Accenture Interactive, with 25,000ft of studios and facilities in Notting Hill, London. Im helming the ship, so overseeing all growth, development, performance and success for what once we would call EMEA and now sadly we have to add the UK to, not being part of Europe anymore.Being a young and hungry VFX producer for 007 filmwhen none of us knew what we were doing and working out how to bring an impossible scene to life. That cemented my relationship with Sean and Mark who went onto be my co-directors at Smoke & Mirrors. Working out how to fund the business using our houses as collateral in 1995 when no one would lend us money.Also working with some of the best directors and producers on the planet including Jon Glazer, Danny Kleinman, Chris Palmer, Frank Budgen, Stuart Douglas, Anthea Benton, Vaughan Arnell, Jake Scott, and way too many more to mention.Buying a building in London, setting up in New York, surviving numerous recessions. Executive producing a film about the life of legendary cinematographer Jack Cardiff and going to the Oscars in 2001 to see him receive an honorary Oscar, in the same year my husband at the time got his Oscar for. Selling to Tag and staying on a further six years to take it to the next level, setting up in Shanghai when it really was the wild, wild East.That someone like me who didnt go to university and was from a working class background from Yorkshire and knew absolutely no one in the industry, got to do what I did.Every day is different, and I relish that I get to work with the most brilliant hearts, minds and souls!Basically work hard, play hard, be nice to people and treat them how you would want to be treated. And if you mess up, own it and apologise.. The most intelligent people I know are both humble and also always ask questions. There are no stupid questions as they say.Our shared humanity. People are suffering, have lost families, friends, faith, homes, livelihoods. We should be doing all we can to help in whatever way we can.People are always going to want to consume goods, but now its more important than ever they can trust who is selling them and know they are not a faceless, inhumane corporation. Understanding and humility finally have a chance to come to the forefront in business which I think can only be a good thing. I would like to bring attention to the issue of fair funding for the Auburn Enlarged City School District. Auburns situation is unique because of an uneven funding model used by New York state. This model favors some and penalizes others. Other school districts in the region, and throughout the state, are more fairly funded. The bottom line: Auburn is not getting an equitable amount of school funding from the state while other districts are. Please join me in requesting that our state representatives carry these concerns forward in the budget process. We have been underfunded by New York state for more than 20 years. Our funding has been taken away little by little and it negatively compounds every year. We are at the point where Auburn schools are in the bottom 1% in the state. This is unacceptable, especially when other districts are getting more. Underfunding has made our schools a different place than when we attended: class sizes have increased, art and music have been reduced, West Middle is closed, we have fewer counselors to assist our students; and college admissions departments are rating our high school graduates as less competitive. Over the pandemic year, people took to appreciating the renewable delights of this ragged and tortured planet like never before. In this country, many national parks saw record crowds in 2020, and eight million more Americans went hiking than in the year before. You may have noticed, had you tried to snare a rare parking place at the Fourth of July Trailhead in Colorado or won the lottery for a hiking permit in the Enchantments in Washington State, that the outdoors are crowded with refugees from the stifled indoors. This is a moment to seize to fortify and expand the constituency for conservation enough to make politicians tremble. Its been too easy, for too long, for too many in office to pass off climate change as a hoax, or allow another species to disappear from the earth with a shrug. In the last presidency we saw the largest rollback of federal land protection in the nations history, the slashing of Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent and of Grand Staircase-Escalante to about half its previous size, both in Utah. And along with propping up atmosphere-gagging coal plants, the Trump administration opened the largest national forest, the Tongass in Alaska, to industrial logging. The time to act has long been upon us. Sergio Rossi is enlarging its product offering with a new shoe line. Named Si Rossi, the collection, debuting with the spring 2021 season, targets a younger audience thanks to a bold design and slightly more accessible price points. More from WWD For the new collections first lineup, Sergio Rossi looked at 1970s silhouettes to deliver sandals, pumps and mules featuring squared toes, platforms and chunky, sculptural heels. Crafted from napa or suede, the shoes are worked in a color palette that spans from neutral tones of nude, brown and black to bright red, light blue and acid green. The first Si Rossi collection, which retails from 385 euros for the more basic sandals to 557 euros for ankle strap heels, will be available starting from the end of the month at Sergio Rossi flagships and its online store, as well as at a range of multibrand boutiques and department stores, including Antonia in Milan, The Room Hudson Bay in Toronto and Vancouver, 51 East in Doha and at Bloomingdales Kuwait. As reported in January, there is speculation about a possible M&A deal for the Sergio Rossi brand. The footwear company is currently controlled by European investment house Investindustrial, which took control of the brand in December 2015 from Kering. Sergio Rossi, which closed 2020 with revenues of 60 million euros, currently operates 48 stores worldwide. See also: Sergio Rossi Pays Tribute to Namesake Founder A Footwear Icon Is Making a Comeback: Scholls Wooden Clog Former Stuart Weitzman Executive Relaunches 1980s Footwear Brand Launch Gallery: Sergio Rossi Launches Si Rossi Footwear Line Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The European Synchrotron works like a giant microscope: it allows us to see inside everything around us, down to the tiniest speck of dust. Each year, more than 9000 scientists from all over the world come to the ESRF and carry out experiments day and night in this laboratory. What is it for? Around us, there are tiny invisible particles that we cant see: they are called atoms. They make up matter, for example the sand on the beach, the water in the sea, the concrete in buildings, the leaves on the trees or the cells in our bodies. The tiniest speck of dust contains millions of them. In order to see them, scientists have built a huge microscope, called a synchrotron. How does it work? When you use a microscope you need a light to be able to see what you are studying. The synchrotron being a giant microscope, it needs a lot of light! But how can you produce it? Researchers built this machine which looks like a giant doughnut and it produces an amazing light, the most intense in the world. Thanks to this light, we can see the atoms inside the objects. What can we discover with the synchrotron? It was possible to decipher the Greek letters in a rolled-up papyrus which had been burnt during the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius in South Italy, in A.D. 79, almost 2000 years ago. We discovered that the famous painter Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa with his fingers. We found out that some 125 million-year-old fossilised eggs found in China were in fact lizard eggs and not dinosaur eggs as everyone thought before using the synchrotron to look inside them. We can help to invent new medicines, for example researchers try to understand how the flu virus works so that they can come up with more efficient medicines or vaccines to fight against it. We can improve our understanding of our planet, so familiar and yet so strange and also our understanding of the Universe (Exoplanets). Researchers also get inspiration from nature to create new materials: a spiders web is as strong as steel, yet very elastic. By studying the silk the spider weaves to make a web, scientists will try to copy nature, for example to make more resistant clothing. Experiments Create a rainbow. Place a bucket full of water near a window. When the sun shines on it, put a mirror in the water so that the light reflects onto a white wall. Take your time to place the mirror in the best way, be patient and soon enough your rainbow will appear. Make a kaleidoscope At the ESRF, scientists use mirrors to focus our bright X-ray light onto objects to see inside them. Here you will find out how to make your own kaleidoscope and see how mirrors reflect light to make beautiful patterns. PDF instructions. Take our quiz! What do you know about the ESRF? Test your knowledge with our quiz and impress your friends! As Iranians prepare to celebrate Norouz, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is calling on Irans government to grant pardons to the 21 journalists and citizen-journalists it says are unjustly imprisoned in the country. The 21 men and women, whose only crime was to do their duty to report the facts, are preparing to spend the Persian New Year celebration on March 21 behind bars in Iran, instead of at home with their families, the Paris-based media freedom watchdog said in a statement on March 18. No security detainees the term used by Iranian authorities for prisoners of conscience, including journalists -- have never been granted traditional Norouz pardons, according to RSF. Reza Moini, the head of RSFs Iran-Afghanistan desk, said that the 21 journalists arbitrarily detained, unjustly convicted, and denied their rights must be freed immediately so that they can spend the Norouz festivities with their families, from whom they should never have been separated. Iran, one of the worlds biggest jailers of journalists, ranked 173rd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2020 World Press Freedom Index. The group said the past year has been especially tough for Iranian journalists because of the coronavirus pandemic and the censorship imposed on most reporting about the disastrous handling of the crisis and the real figures for infections and deaths. It mentioned 54 cases of Iranian journalists being questioned, arrested, or convicted since March 2020, adding that the authorities also persecute the families of journalists, sometimes arresting relatives and in some cases even sentencing them to imprisonment. RSF cited the case of Farangis Mazloom, the mother of imprisoned photojournalist Soheil Arabi. An appeals court earlier this month confirmed Mazlooms 18-month prison sentence on charges of meeting and plotting against state security and anti-government propaganda. Arabi was convicted of insulting the Prophet Muhammad on Facebook and sentenced to death in 2014. Earlier in the week, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged Iranian authorities to stop prosecuting journalists on false charges and allow the press to work freely. The New York-based group cited reports as saying that on March 14 alone, five newspaper and news agency employees had been convicted on charges of spreading false news. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Vietnamese corporations have made great strides in the agricultural sector. Many deals have been successful and there are also ongoing deals that promise to create new "empires" in the region. Representative of Dabaco Vietnam (DBC) Nguyen Nhu So revealed that several large corporations had proposed cooperating with DBC in the field of Livestock activities. During the recent meeting with investors, DBC Chairman Nguyen Nhu So said that some domestic corporations had proposed cooperation with DBC in the field of livestock and wanted to hold 60% of DBC shares. DBC currently ranks first in the country for pig productivity, with more than 40,000 sows and a closed processing factory with 60,000-70,000 pigs, second only to the Thai group CP for pork in Vietnam. In 2020, Dabaco earned revenue of over VND10 trillion (up nearly 40%), while after-tax profit increased nearly 5 times to VND1.4 trillion. Vietnamese giants built agricultural empires Meanwhile, Masan Group of billionaire Nguyen Dang Quang has invested heavily in meat processing and distribution in recent years, under the brand name Meat Deli. Recently, Masan Meatlife has expanded its operations into the chicken market through a 51% stake in 3F Viet Joint Stock Company. By the end of 2020, total assets of Masan Meatlife increased by VND3.2 trillion to nearly VND18 trillion. Masan Meatlife has 3 directly-owned subsidiaries, and 17 indirectly-owned and associate companies. Its indirect-owned companies are all big names such as International Agricultural Nutrition Joint Stock Company (Anco), Vietnam - France Animal Feed Producing JSC (Proconco), or affiliated companies such as Vissan, where Masan Meatlife holds 24.9%. Masan's meat segment grew strongly in 2020, thanks to brand expansion at 1,606 points of sale in both the South and North, in VinMart, VinMart +, supermarket chains Coopmart, BigC, Lotte, and Aeon. The appearance of Vietnam's large meat processing enterprises is a good sign for Vietnams agriculture, which is weak in modern breeding, slaughtering and distribution. More than a decade ago, Thai businesses came to Vietnam. Charoen Pokphand Group (C.P Group) of Thai billionaire Chearavanont stirred up Vietnam's agricultural market, from animal feed to pig slaughtering, chickens, eggs and processed products. Masan made an impressive debut in the field of livestock and pork processing worth $10 billion. Masan Meat Life was also started and only a few months after launch, it achieved huge turnover. Its distribution network has also skyrocketed, partly thanks to the retail segment purchased from Vingroup. In the past decade, many Vietnamese corporations have poured billions of US dollars into the agricultural sector with long-term calculations of building brands for Vietnamese agricultural products, and not thinking about making money in the short term. Vinaseed (NSC) of Mr. Nguyen Duy Hung has recently been successful with some of the best rice brands in the world (such as ST25); and Mr. Doan Nguyen Duc (Boss Duc) - Chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG) has shaken hands with billionaire Tran Ba Duong of Thaco to build a new agricultural empire. Boss Hien's T&T Group has also quietly entered the agricultural sector. T&T Group is a strategic shareholder of many State-owned enterprises, including a series of agricultural brands such as Vigecam, Vinafor, Vegetexco, Unimex and Vinafood. V. Ha As politicians hurl blame and lies about the unrelenting surge of migrants at the border, the Biden administration is engaged in an unprecedented effort to transform a broken immigration system. The U.S. Border Patrol apprehended nearly 100,000 refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border in February, the 10th consecutive month of increased apprehensions and a return to levels last seen in mid-2019, according to the Pew Research Center. During a hostile grilling in a House committee hearing Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas predicted the southwest border was on pace to see more refugees than in the past 20 years. Mayorkas said the department was reactivating detention facilities in Texas and Arizona, and deploying FEMA to help care for the overwhelming number of migrant children flooding the border until they can be returned or placed with sponsors. The border is not open most single adults and families who cross illegally are expelled to Mexico. Migrants shut out by former President Donald Trumps zero tolerance immigration policy are making perilous journeys out of hope desperately fleeing conditions in Central America unimaginable to most Americans. Thousands are sending their children to the United States in hope they will have a better chance of asylum. About 8,500 children are being held too long in facilities in South and West Texas in conditions where no one, especially children, should stay, especially during a pandemic. Transformation is messy, and while there are no quick fixes, progress must be swift. Yet the familiar political rhetoric is deterring progress. Arguing on Twitter and during a congressional hearing about whether it should be called a crisis or a disaster, incorrectly stating that President Joe Biden opened the border, making border visits that are more political theater than substantive, and holding news conferences to complain and blame are not helpful. This is more than a crisis, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters in El Paso, where he and others toured a detention facility. This is a human heartbreak. Indeed. But this isnt the first surge, and there is plenty of blame to share. Like many Republicans, McCarthy did not express outrage in 2019 when a record number of migrant children almost 70,000, many unaccompanied were held in U.S. custody, according to the Associated Press. There wasnt a word of concern from Gov. Greg Abbott or Sen. Ted Cruz or others who are now speaking so loudly. Where was the outrage then? Where was their anger when in 2020 it was widely reported that the parents of 545 children who were separated at the border could not be found? Was their indignation and concern for migrants muted because a Republican was in the White House? Referring to a Biden border crisis, McCarthy said terrorists were trying to cross into the United States via Mexico a claim Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., chairman of the House subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations called wrong or a lie, according the Washington Post. A day after lifting COVID-19 restrictions, Abbott accused migrants of spreading the virus and then refused FEMA reimbursement for the testing and quarantine of immigrants. Immigration has been broken for decades and we need a bipartisan effort for systematic change. And while perfection is impossible, the Biden administration should have been more prepared for the surge. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, said the border is always a politicized issue: There are some in politics who use the surge to paint the idea that there are a bunch of brown people coming here to hurt Americans; that is not the case these are desperate people trying to flee desperate situations. Enough with the partisan bickering and lies. If concern about the border is genuine, then get to work on comprehensive reform, including substantive relief to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Roberta Jacobson, Bidens coordinator for the southern border, shared the administrations plan to seek $4 billion over four years to address the root causes of migration including corruption, violence and economic devastation exasperated by climate change. We cant build a better immigration system one that exemplifies humanity and security with rote partisan responses. China Interference is a fact, and the intelligence report never mentioned it. The CCP went after Trump despite what the reports said. Intelligence reports have suggested that Beijing has a lesser role in the 2020 elections. But that is not the case with some pointing that the CCP wanted Trump to lose. China Interference in 2020 A narrative that Beijing was a minor player in election meddling is getting a redo. A few intelligence people doubt the official version; instead, the Chinese Communist did affect the election outcome. Trump's victory was definite but was compromised by tools used by Beijing, reported the Epoch Times. Why the intelligence reports downplayed CCP manipulation is not defined. But, prior reports show that CCP operatives have worked in politics and even universities. The CCP has made alleged inroads that have affected the United States. Intelligence did not protect the election; instead allowed a foreign power to influence the 2020 election. The loss of Trump was due to many factors behind the scenes, not just election fraud. A report from the National Intelligence Council on March 10 mentioned Russia as a more dominant player than Beijing. It said that Biden was denigrated and Trump was the preferred candidate in the 2020 elections. According to them, there was no Chinese meddling and assured the judgment was correct. The report said the CCP was not maligning anything to keep good relations with the US. It was not worth it for the Chinese to get caught red-handed for meddling. Intelligence officers explain that China interference can be done with traditional influence tools. Attacking economic measures, lobbying for interests and interest groups will not catch attention. Top Intelligence Officer Tells Congress: No Security Briefings on US Elections It was clear that some US intel officials believe that China did undermine Trump. The reports said otherwise, which was contradictory. The National Intelligence Officer for Cyber asserted that Beijing sought to affect Trump's re-election done through social media, official public statements, and media that Democrats took advantage of. NIO agreed with the intelligence community that CCP counters anti-Chinese rhetoric. There is a spillover that included influencing candidates, political processes, and what voters want to influence elections. Overall, the NIO said that there is no proof the CCP did all that. The National Intelligence Officer (NIO) addresses those issues referring to election challenges. According to the Washington Examiner, election interference is anything that affects an election. The majority view said that Beijing would move if the candidate will challenge the CCP. Trump has been the greatest counter they want out of the picture. According to then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe that the CCP did interfere during the 2020 elections. Charged that intel of the CCPs actions was kept by the CIA intentionally. They kept analysts from supporting Chinese meddling. In a concerted effort to suppress that Beijing is a player in election interference that includes several agencies. They are the FBI, DHS, and a cybersecurity agency that said no foreign government meddled in US elections. Added the 2020 elections had no China interference especially. Ratcliffe added that the minority view is more reliable than what is official. CIA Pressures Analysts to Suppress Intel on Chinese Interference in 2020 US Election Beijing on US Election: Alleged to Cause All the Trouble Report: CCP has Links to Australia's Largest Chinese Media Outlets, Connected to Beijing's United Front @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Law studies, with new statutes to interpret, countless articles to remember and a vast range of cases to analyze, is often seen as tedious and frustratingly difficult. Professor Luo Xiang, however, has brought the subject to life through online video lectures which combine creative storytelling and deadpan humor. The 44-year-old obtained his doctorate in criminal law from Peking University and is now a professor at the Criminal Justice School of the China University of Political Science and Law. Luo opened an account at the invitation of Bilibili, a streaming site particularly popular with younger people born between the mid-1990s and early 2000s. Since posting his first video on March 9 last year, the criminal law professor has taken the internet by storm racking up 1 million followers within the first two days and more than 13 million to date. Often edited from recordings of Luo's lectures on the national judicial exam and lasting fewer than 10 minutes, his videos use references from current affairs and bizarre cases to explain legal concepts. Coupled with Luo's witty and entertaining remarks, the online classes are both informative and engrossing. "I never expected that so many students would be interested in my classes," Luo said. "I hope to impart more criminal law-related knowledge through the Bilibili platform and help students really understand what the rule of law is." Besides citing real cases to explain legal terms, Luo also refers to some "funny" or "odd" scenarios and elucidates the legal basis behind them. For instance, is it against the law to tear up someone else's homework? Is intentionally spreading AIDS equal to intentional homicide? And under what circumstances can a dog owner be jailed if their dog bites someone else? By conveying complicated legal ideas through vivid and interesting cases, viewers can easily grasp the legal terms despite not having a professional background. What's noteworthy is that the legal anecdotes Luo mentions usually involve several fictional protagonists, such as the "nefarious" Zhang San a placeholder name analogous to "John Smith" in English. In the legal examples offered by Luo, Zhang seems to be a "professional" culprit who has, so far, poisoned people, robbed them, driven while intoxicated, and even scammed prostitutes. Zhang is such an indispensable role in Luo's lectures that fans have even created a Bilibili account for him. In addition, several hotly debated topics including "doxing," protecting oneself against domestic violence and whether capital punishment should be abolished, are also discussed in Luo's videos. The law professor often emphasizes the importance of reading. He has quoted Frank Kafka by saying "a book must be the ax for the frozen sea inside us," and stresses that the purpose of reading is to "nurture wisdom rather than show off." Luo likes to intersperse his humorous lectures with quotations from Socrates, Epictetus, Isaac Newton and other respected figures. He warns students, "Freedom, unrestricted, will inevitably lead to the exploitation of the weak by the strong," and that "everyone should restrain their inner Zhang San'." Despite his increasing popularity, Luo prefers to keep a low profile. "I'm just picking seashells on the beach and want to show my students their beauty through this platform. Nonetheless, instead of showing off the shells in my hands, it's important to help more students appreciate the vast and beautiful sea of knowledge behind them." One Nation, One Ration Card programme now in 32 states India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 19: The One Nation, One Ration card programme is now operational in 32 states. The digital programme is aimed at enabling countrywide access to subsidised woodgrains for 80 million migrant workers. Data cited by Hindustan Times shows that there were 230 million transactions through the digitised system. The government also rolled out a Mera Ration mobile app, available to 67 per cent of the population or over 800 million beneficiaries of subsidised grains under the National Food Security Act. The app would show the beneficiaries real time data of ration stocks, their share and nearest fair price shops from where they can procure cheap grains, the report also said. One Nation One Ration Card will give free hand to the beneficiaries, as they will not be tied to single PDS shop. It also lessens their dependence on shop owners and curb corruption. The scheme will also allow portability of food security benefits. A large migratory population of the country, who migrate from one part of the country to other in search of job/employment, marriage, or any other reason and find difficulty in accessing subsidized foodgrains will be of benefit. A migrant will be allowed to buy a maximum of 50 per cent of the family quota. As many as 81 crore people will be benefited from this scheme because they will receive wheat at Rs 2 per kg and rice at Rs 3 per kg. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, my friends. I congratulate you on this holiday the Day of the reunification of Crimea and Sevastopol with Russia. This is a holiday for the residents of Crimea and Sevastopol. We understood this and saw it ourselves in the spring of 2014 during preparations for the referendum, and most importantly, following its outcome. As a result of the referendum, the residents of Crimea and Sevastopol returned to their family of origin, the family of the fraternal peoples of the Russian Federation. But this is also a holiday for our enormous country. I refer to it as enormous since Russia remains the worlds largest territory. If you look at our map, our big map, Crimea and Sevastopol look like a small dot, but we are talking about the restoration of historical justice. We are talking about the importance of this land for our country and our people. Why? It is very simple. Our ancestors have been developing this territory since ancient times. In the 10th century a large part of it was simply incorporated into the Ancient Russian State. Prince Vladimir and his warriors were baptized here in Korsun or Chersonesus. This means that this is a sacred place, the centre of the formation of our spiritual unity. Eventually, this place became the foundation of the Russian nation and a united centralised Russian state. This place is vital to our heart, soul and faith. But there is more to it. Later, in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries these lands fully returned to their lawful owner, the Russian Empire. When foreign hordes invaded our country in 18531856, and when it was attacked by Nazi invaders in 19411945, every part of this land was soaked in the blood of Russian and Soviet soldiers. Of course, this is a holy land for us, for Russia. In the 1920s, the Bolsheviks, as they formed the Soviet Union, gave away vast territories, geopolitical spaces, for reasons still hard to understand, to quasi-state entities. Later, as they themselves collapsed, collapsed the party from within and destroyed the Soviet Union, Russia lost great territories and geopolitical spaces. However, I would like to say that we are ready to live under todays geopolitical conditions. Moreover, we treat our neighbours not only as geographical neighbours, we treat the peoples of those countries as fraternal peoples; we are ready to lend them our shoulder and give them a hand to ensure progress, to move ahead together by using our competitive advantages, which are many. But we will never tolerate one thing someone using Russias rich gifts to damage the Russian Federation. I hope this will be heard. The result of the 2014 referendum is not only a return to historical justice, the restoration of historical justice. We once again distinctly and clearly showed ourselves and the world that our people have the ability to unite around the interests of the Motherland. And I certainly know the answer to the question I would like to ask todays audience, yet I cannot resist the temptation to ask, and I cannot deny you the pleasure of giving me a positive answer. Please, take a deep breath and answer this: Do we love Russia? Response: Yes! Vladimir Putin: It is this love of our Motherland that runs in our blood, character, and the genes of our people that makes us strong and unites us around common challenges. We have done a lot, yet there is much to be done in Russia in general and in the development of Crimea and Sevastopol. But we will do it, because we are a single, large, powerful force. Because we are united. I congratulate you on this day, the Day of Crimea and Sevastopols Reunification with Russia. I wish you happiness. Thank you. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Mar, 2021 ) :Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), General Nadeem Raza, during his official visit to Iraq, called on Defence Minister of Iraq Juma Enad Sadoon Khattab Al Jibori and Iraqi military leadership. Chairman JCSC also held separate meetings with Iraqi Chief of Staff General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yar Allah Al Lami and Commander Iraqi Air Force Lieutenant General Shahab Jihad Ali, said an Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) media released received here on Friday. During the meetings, both sides deliberated upon various areas of interest including security, defence cooperation and prevailing regional environment. The dignitaries dilated upon measures to enhance the level and scope of bilateral military engagements and cooperation between both countries and reaffirmed to continue to forge deeper ties. Chairman JCSC also visited Defence University for Higher Military Studies (DUFHMS) and called on its Rector Lieutenant General Saad Mizhir Muhsin Hashim Al Allaq. During the interaction, CJCSC highlighted the positive role of Pakistan in countering violent extremism and also shared Pakistan's efforts for regional peace and stability especially in Afghanistan. Earlier upon arrival at Ministry of Defence, Chairman JCSC was presented Guard of Honour by a smartly turned out contingent of Iraqi Armed Forces. Labour's candidate for the upcoming Hartlepool by-election described Saudi Arabia as a modern, progressive country after going on a junket organised by its autocratic regime, it has emerged. Paul Williams said the stage-managed trip to the oil-rich monarchy had totally changed my view of the country and recounted telling his embassy handlers that his previous ideas had been blown out of the water. Parliaments register of interests shows Dr Williams accepted the trip as an 8,762 donation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its shura council, the countrys toothless parliament that is entirely appointed by the king. He was picked by his party on Thursday to contest the seat of Hartlepool, which Labour is hoping to retain after its MP Mike Hill resigned over allegations of sexual harassment, which he denies. Until 2019 Dr Williams was an MP half an hour down the road from Hartlepool in Stockton South, but was ousted by voters at that years election. He went on the Saudi Arabia trip a year earlier in 2018 while he was a sitting MP. The former MP was the only candidate included on Labours candidate longlist for the by-election, and was reportedly favoured for the contest by Keir Starmers chief advisor Jenny Chapman, another former MP who lost her seat in 2019. Read more: Following the visit to Saudi Arabia on 12 April 2018, Dr Williams tweeted: Asked by Yousef, from the Saudi Embassy in UK, whether my perceptions of Saudi Arabia have changed after this trip, I said that my previous notions have been blown out of the water. Ive seen a modern, progressive Saudi Arabia that has totally changed my view of this country. Amnesty International has criticised Saudi Arabia for using torture, staging public beheadings, banning protests, heavily restricting free speech, discriminating against women, and banning human rights organisations. The country has also been criticised for its military intervention in neighbouring Yemen, which the UN says has contributed to a humanitarian catastrophe, and for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was critical of the regime. In October of that year after the killing of Mr Khashoggi, Dr Williams tweeted: The whole Khashoggi incident is appalling. It appears the Saudi security services have done a disgraceful thing and they should be help to account. Doesnt change the fact that I met progressive people working to improve their country when I visited though. I did see progressive things and meet progressive people on a trip to Saudi. That doesnt make me a supporter of their government and it appears that atrocious things have been done by the Saudi government. Im independent-minded enough to criticise where its due. Dr Williams was also forced to apologise for past tweets, including one reading: Do you have a favourite Tory MILF? Mind-blowing dinner table conversation @ppw11. Another, about Conservative MP Liam Fox, said: Am I the only one to read the sentence containing Liam Fox, burglary and young man in spare room to think of a scene in Withnail and I? After Keir Starmer said it was inappropriate to use the word milf, the candidate said: These tweets were inappropriate and I am sorry for using such language. They were from a decade ago, which doesnt diminish the fact that they were wrong, but I want to reassure people that I wouldnt dream of making comments like this now. Allan Hogarth, head of policy and government affairs at Amnesty International UK, told The Independent: Wed urge Dr Williams and others accepting the hospitality of the Saudi Arabian authorities to be aware that Riyadh operates a well-honed PR machine, involving everything from expenses-paid political visits to multimillion-pound sportswashing ventures. 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Show all 10 1 /10 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In October 2014, three lawyers, Dr Abdulrahman al-Subaihi, Bander al-Nogaithan and Abdulrahman al-Rumaih , were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for using Twitter to criticize the Ministry of Justice. AFP/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2015, Yemens Sunni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced into exile after a Shia-led insurgency. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has responded with air strikes in order to reinstate Mr Hadi. It has since been accused of committing war crimes in the country. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Women who supported the Women2Drive campaign, launched in 2011 to challenge the ban on women driving vehicles, faced harassment and intimidation by the authorities. The government warned that women drivers would face arrest. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Members of the Kingdoms Shia minority, most of whom live in the oil-rich Eastern Province, continue to face discrimination that limits their access to government services and employment. Activists have received death sentences or long prison terms for their alleged participation in protests in 2011 and 2012. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses All public gatherings are prohibited under an order issued by the Interior Ministry in 2011. Those defy the ban face arrest, prosecution and imprisonment on charges such as inciting people against the authorities. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2014, the Interior Ministry stated that authorities had deported over 370,000 foreign migrants and that 18,000 others were in detention. Thousands of workers were returned to Somalia and other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses, with large numbers also returned to Yemen, in order to open more jobs to Saudi Arabians. Many migrants reported that prior to their deportation they had been packed into overcrowded makeshift detention facilities where they received little food and water and were abused by guards. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses The Saudi Arabian authorities continue to deny access to independent human rights organisations like Amnesty International, and they have been known to take punitive action, including through the courts, against activists and family members of victims who contact Amnesty. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1000 lashes and 10 years in prison for using his liberal blog to criticise Saudi Arabias clerics. He has already received 50 lashes, which have reportedly left him in poor health. Carsten Koall/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Dawood al-Marhoon was arrested aged 17 for participating in an anti-government protest. After refusing to spy on his fellow protestors, he was tortured and forced to sign a blank document that would later contain his confession. At Dawoods trial, the prosecution requested death by crucifixion while refusing him a lawyer. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 aged either 16 or 17 for participating in protests during the Arab spring. His sentence includes beheading and crucifixion. The international community has spoken out against the punishment and has called on Saudi Arabia to stop. He is the nephew of a prominent government dissident. Getty Its vital that those who travel to Saudi Arabia arent duped by the PR. They need to remember that under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabias crackdown on human rights has been ferocious and is still ongoing, while the Saudi air forces indiscriminate bombing of Yemeni homes and hospitals has been an obvious scandal for the past five years. Questioned on social media about the trip at the time of his original comments, Dr Williams said it was important for MPs to hear both sides of an argument. Weve made our own links and met a range of different people (as well as some things that the government wants us to see, and probably some being hidden). I thought Id find most people to be deeply conservative, obvious state restrictions on individual behaviour and a stifling bureaucracy. Labour did not respond to a request for comment on Dr Williamss views. Amanda Milling, co-chair of the Conservatives, describe the Labour candidate as a failed former MP who has already been rejected by the people of the northeast. India and the UK are keen to strengthen their economic partnership in the wake of Brexit and the pandemic. Both countries are working to facilitate trade and investor ties as well as enhance collaborations in the areas of technology and pharmaceuticals. India has the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world and the UK has the third largest number of unicorns presenting opportunities to work together, create jobs growth, and compliment market access and capacity. While there is no bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in place, since last summer, trade officials from both countries have been laying the groundwork for an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP). The ETP is expected to be made official during the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnsons visit to India, currently scheduled for the end of April this year. In this article, we briefly discuss UK investment trends in India, which sectors would interest British investors, and what incentives could draw in UK companies to India. Current UK investment in India Both countries have made significant investment into each others economies, but there is space for further growth. Data released by the UK governments Department for International Trade (DIT) in 2019 stated that India was the second largest investor in the UK, having invested in 120 projects and creating close to 5,429 jobs. In its Britain Meets India Report, consultancy Grant Thornton Bharat, in collaboration with the DIT and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), stated that the UK was Indias sixth largest investor, having invested a total of US$29.56 billion during April 2000 to September 2020. This is about six percent of all foreign direct investment (FDI) received by India. The FDI inflow from the UK to India increased from US$898 million in 2015-16 to US$1.42 billion in 2019-20. In fact, according to Grant Thornton Bharat: 572 UK companies in India, with a combined turnover of INR 3.39 trillion (US$46.73 billion), employed 416,121 people directly. Out of these, 91 companies showing an average growth rate of 26 percent, expected to see their fastest growth in 2021. Below are some examples by company, sector, and state where they are located: Dyson Technology (consumer, retail, and e-commerce; Haryana) Aviva Life Insurance (financial services; Haryana) Diageo Business Services (business services; Karnataka) RMD Kwikform (construction and real estate; Delhi) FMC Technologies (energy and power; Telangana) Safeguard World Payroll Services (business services; Haryana) Other key findings that the Britain Meets India Report highlights are: India-UK bilateral trade in goods and services amounted to US$26.7 billion in 2020. Top sectors of interest for UK companies were Indias industrial, business services, technology, consumer retail and e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, financial services, and energy. Leading investment destinations for UK companies are Maharashtra, Haryana, and New Delhi, followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh. Combatting the coronavirus pandemic has deepened trade and investment partnerships due to collaboration in research, design, and manufacture of vaccines. India also ensured UKs access to its pharmaceutical products and equipment, such as surgical masks. Top UK companies by revenue in India include Vedanta (energy and power; Maharashtra), Vodafone Idea (telecommunication; Gujarat), Hindustan Unilever (consumer, retail, and e-commerce; Maharashtra); United Spirits (food and beverage; Karnataka), Ashok Leyland (automotive; Tamil Nadu), JCB (industrials; Delhi). Top UK employers in India include G4S plc (135,000 employees), Vedanta Resources (79,378), and HSBC Holdings plc (36,544), Camellia plc (23,208), Barclays plc (23,000), Unilever plc (21,400). Indias sector-wise pitch to UK investors In the interest of increasing the scope and level of bilateral trade and investment engagement, India has begun promoting targeted sectors to the UK. The below table provides information on key sectors and sub-sectors, what is their specific appeal, suitable locations based on concentration of companies, leading players, investible projects, and FDI rules. WEBINAR Path to Asia: Opportunities for Doing Business in India 2021 (April 7, 2021) Indias economy is set to bounce back strongly post COVID-19. Nomura expects India to be the fastest-growing Asian economy in 2021 at 9.9%. Join us to hear from Rohit Kapur, India Managing Director at Dezan Shira & Associates, who will share updates on Indias improving business environment and the increasing scope of opportunities it offers UK investors. This webinar will take place on Wednesday, 7 April 2021 | 10:00 11:00 GMT REGISTER TODAY Spotlight on Maharashtra state In general, the UK continues to view India as an attractive investment destination due to its huge and continuously growing consumer market, availability of a skilled labor workforce, infrastructural capabilities and political stability. Many UK companies have set up in Maharashtra due to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the UK India Business Council and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) on July 3, 2020. The purpose of this agreement was to enhance the Indian states business relationship with the UK, particularly through increased manufacturing and trade. For foreign investors, Maharashtra has traditionally been Indias leading investment destination due to its business-friendly environment, logistics infrastructure and location, which is why it is the top contributing state to Indias GDP as well as for exports. Maharashtras new industrial policy, launched in 2019, aims to further ease doing business and strengthen the existent industrial ecosystem. Towards this, a dedicated investor facilitation cell and online single window portal under the Maharashtra Industry, Trade and Investment Facilitation Cell (MAITRI) has been set up for the purpose of monitoring the applications of various industry-related proposals. Also, various industrial units have been established to increase manufacturing capacity in the following sectors: Automobiles located in Aurangabad and Pune Cement and steel located in Marathwada and Vidarbha Chemicals located in Aurangabad, Pune, and Thane Engineering located in Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Pune, and Nashik Electronics system design and manufacturing located in Pune Fast-moving consumer goods located in Pune Food processing located in Ahmednagar, Amravati, Nagpur, and Solapur IT and ITES located in Amravati, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, and Thane Logistics located in Amravati, Mumbai, Nagpur, and Thane Pharmaceuticals located in Aurangabad, Pune, and Thane Textiles located in Amravati, Kolhapur, Nagpur, and Solapur For more information on setting up or doing business in India, please feel free to contact our professional service advisors at india@dezshira.com. AMHERST A chemical found in cosmetics and many consumer products may lessen protection against breast cancer that pregnancy hormones normally convey, according to research conducted at the University of Massachusetts. Considered an endocrine disruptor, propylparaben at low doses may interfere with hormones that comprise the bodys endocrine system, according to data submitted by researchers from UMass and Baystate Medical Center and published March 16 in the journal Endocrinology, We found that propylparaben disrupts the mammary gland of mice at exposure levels that have previously been considered safe based on results from industry-sponsored studies, said Laura N. Vandenberg of UMass Department of Environmental Health Sciences and School of Public Health and Health Sciences. We also saw effects of propylparaben after doses many times lower, which are more reflective of human intake. The man-made chemical is commonly used in cosmetics as a preservative, and its presence was found in the urine in the majority of some 2,548 participants aged six years and older who took part in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study in 2005. The study measured exposure from such use in the general population to paraben compounds whose presence as harmful endocrine disruptors continues to be debated. Questions raised in the debate include whether studies in animals reflect levels of exposure and metabolism for humans, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is among government agencies to say its scientists continue to review published studies on the safety of parabens. Propylparaben is among the paraben compounds that has been investigated for how exposure might inhibit or disrupt the functioning of estrogen, sometimes referred to as the female sex hormone. The question investigated in Vandenbergs study with mice was would exposure to propylparaben during pregnancy and lactation alter the mammary gland long-term and in a way that could interfere with normal hormonal changes seen to help prevent breast cancer in humans? Vandenberg said it did and plans further follow-up studies. Pregnancy results in the breast organ being subjected to many hormonal-induced changes in preparation for producing milk. In addition, these changes are increasingly being linked to lowering a womans risk for breast cancer. Although our study did not evaluate breast cancer risk, these changes in the mammary tissue are involved in mitigating cancer risk in women, she said. The European Union is seen by many as having a tougher approach to the regulation of chemicals in consumer products and Vandenberg likes an approach firmly rooted in safety data. For chemicals that are used in personal care products, the expectation really should be that they are guilty until proven innocent, said Vandenberg who called her study one of only a few involving controlled exposures in rodents to propylparaben. She said it also involved the ability to wait the equivalent of many months in a mouse life and observe effects that were present from these exposures. This concerns us because generally there is this assumption that has been made that with chemicals, they might have effects on adults but when you take the chemical away the adult should go back to normal, Vandenberg said. This study suggests we should not treat pregnant women in the same category because pregnant mice when they were exposed appear to have effects that are at least long-term if not permanent. Vandenberg said those involved in the study are looking at the pups who were exposed when they were in the womb because we dont know enough about propylparaben. There is just a wide-open world of questions to ask, said Vandenberg who plans a follow-up study involving evaluation of cancer risk in mice exposed during pregnancy and lactation to the compound. There is a lot of controversy out there about whether parabens might be a cancer risk and that comes from data that is now 20 years old on humans where researchers found parabens in breast tissue and in breast tumor tissue and so the worry is if it is there, what is it doing? And the answer is that in the rodent we do not know. Propylparaben exposure in Vandenbergs study appeared to resulted in fewer types of immune cells that generally increase in the breast during pregnancy. Other changes included less-dense epithelial structures that help form the ducts where milk is produced and thinner connective tissue in the mammary gland. Pregnancy is a period in which there is maturation of the breast tissue, said study participant D. Joseph Jerry of breast changes that occur in preparation for lactation. The arc of the results indicates that relatively modest levels of propylparaben during pregnancy can erode the process of maturation in breast tissue. Therefore, the data point to a potential for concern. D. Joseph Jerry, a professor in the veterinary and animal sciences department of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, is science director of the Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute and co-director of the Rays of Hope Center for Breast Cancer Research. (Photo by Anne-Gerard Flynn, Special to The Republican) A professor of veterinary and animal sciences at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Jerry is science director of the Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute, a research partnership between Springfield-based Baystate Medical Center and UMass, and co-director of the Rays of Hope Center for Breast Cancer Research. His research has long investigated changes at the cellular level that could contributed to the risk for breast cancer and while he noted the current study had limitations in regard to diversity of population exposed, he said its results highlight the need for regulation of the levels humans are exposed to. This study used mice that are genetically uniform, said Jerry whose doctorate is in nutrition. In contrast, responses in humans would be expected to range from extreme sensitivity in some while a minimal affect in others. This reflects the beauty that exists in the diversity of populations. Nonetheless, this study in mice provides data that informs the need for regulation of the levels humans are exposed to. He added that in terms of breast cancer risk, the length of study in mice did not allow us to directly test for tumors in the mice. However, separate experiments published by our team demonstrated that propylparaben could damage DNA in breast cancer cells in culture raising concerns, Jerry said. This work also showed that, in mice, another chemical common in personal care products, benzophenone-3, also known as oxybenzone, was more potent in damaging DNA. This highlights the need to consider the risks, not of a single chemical in isolation, but within the context of the mixtures of chemicals in our environment. Joshua Mogus, a doctoral student in Vandenbergs lab who tested five weeks out from exposure to propylparaben for results in the mother mice, is scheduled to present those results at the March 20 to 23 virtual meeting of the Endocrine Society. Other study co-authors included Charlotte LaPlante, Ruby Bansal, Klara Matouskova, Shannon Silva, Elizabeth Daniele, Mary Hagen and Karen Dunphy, all of UMass; Sallie Schneider, who holds a doctorate in immunology and is director of PVLSIs Biospecimen Resource and Molecular Analysis Facility at Baystate Medical Center, and Benjamin Schneider, also with that facility. Their research received funding from the University of Massachusetts Commonwealth Honors College Grant, the Endocrine Societys Summer Research Fellowship and the National Institutes of Health. Related content: Russia the Likely Suspect Behind Nest of Spies in Australia: Expert Defence experts believe Russia is the most likely suspect behind the nest of spies uncovered by Australias domestic spy agency. On Wednesday, Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), delivered the Annual Threat Assessment and outlined how, over the past year, ASIO had dealt with a significant number of spies or proxies, and that threats were wide-ranging and not just from China. He detailed how the agency combated the evolving twin threats of espionage and extremist activity in Australia and revealed that ideology-based extremism now accounted for 40 percent of the agencys caseload. Australian Security Intelligence Organisation ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess preparing for his annual speech at ASIO headquarters in Canberra, Wednesday, March 17, 2021. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) While COVID-19 has forced many spy networks to shift their activities online, the agency was still disrupting traditional espionage efforts, including infiltration, coercion, or the recruitment of sources. It follows Burgess warning last year that Australia faced an unprecedented level of foreign espionage in the country, saying there was more activity than during the Cold War. The spy chief revealed how just last year, ASIO confronted a spy network working on behalf of a foreign intelligence service, heavily hinting that it was not Beijing. The spies developed targeted relationships with current and former politicians, a foreign embassy and a state police service, he told attendees. They monitored their countrys diaspora community. They tried to obtain classified information about Australias trade relationships. They asked a public servant to provide information on security protocols at a major airport, he added. Travellers walk towards the departures gate at the International Airport in Sydney, Australia, on March 25, 2020. (Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images) They successfully cultivated and recruited an Australian government security clearance holder who had access to sensitive details of defence technology. ASIO intercepted the individual and cancelled their security clearance. The agency also confronted the foreign spies and quietly and professionally removed them from Australia. And before you jump to conclusionsand to underline my point that multiple countries are trying to conduct espionage and foreign interference in AustraliaI want to point out that the foreign intelligence service was not from a country in our region, Burgess added. Michael Shoebridge, defence director at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told The Epoch Times, This operation was conducted by a foreign power not from Australias region (not an Indo-Pacific power). So, looking at a combination of capability and intent involved, it would be reasonable to suspect it was a Russian operation. He said Russias interest could be in military and intelligence technologies developed in Australia, particularly U.S.-backed innovations. Vaccine-related insights and research are no doubt of interest too, he added. Prime Minister Scott Morrison takes a tour at the AstraZeneca laboratories in Macquarie Park, in Sydney, Australia, on Aug. 19, 2020. (Nick Moir/Pool/Getty Images) However, without internal government knowledge, its not possible to be definitive on this. Joseph Siracusa, adjunct professor at Curtin University and expert in international security, believed it could only be Russia. Theres no one else who can invest that type of time and money, he told The Epoch Times. He said the possibility of Russian spy rings operating in Australia was not new. However, what was notable was the timing of such alleged activities. Its at a time when the world is in flux between Russian revanchism and Chinese assertiveness, he added, saying Russian military officials were still driven by Soviet-era doctrine. Russias President Vladimir Putin attends a video conference during the World Economic Forum (WEF) of the Davos Agenda in Moscow, Russia, January 27, 2021. (Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via Reuters) Siracusa said Australian secrets were not the main target. But its personnel, who were interoperableversed in the operational capabilitiesof other nations militaries, were valuable. Theyre (Australian diplomatic and military personnel) embedded in all the naval staffs, like the U.S. Seventh Fleet. They would probably have two to three degrees separation from the Pentagon, he said. US-related state secrets, patents, and research was the sort of information that was sought-after. Clive Williams, visiting professor at the Australian National Universitys Centre for Military and Security Law, said Russian activities had focused traditionally on pressuring and blackmailing individuals for information connected to national security. Chinese activities differed in that they focused on advancing Beijings economic interests and gaining political influence, Williams wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald. Meanwhile, Shoebridge warned that despite ASIOs Burgess not singling out Beijing in his speech, the overall threat assessment he delivered hinted at the scale and capacity of the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) espionage activities. Operations like the nest of spies ASIO dismantled are very likely being conducted by Beijing in Australia right now, he said. And the degree of difficulty in discovering them before they inflict security damage is obvious from ASIOs assessment. Zac Efron has been travelling around his adopted home of Australia, filming for his Netflix docuseries, Down To Earth. On Friday, video emerged of the 33-year-old raving about one of his most recent filming locations - Kangaroo Island in South Australia. In a clip shared on Adelaide Now, he spoke fondly of destination, saying it was a 'beautiful island'. 'What a gem of a place': Zac Efron (pictured) raved about South Australia's Kangaroo Island after filming part of his Netflix series Down To Earth. In a clip shared on Adelaide Now, he spoke fondly of destination, saying: 'All of it is just amazing, it's a beautiful island' 'All of it is just amazing, it's a beautiful island, there's nature absolutely abundant, everywhere, it's really come back in a big way since the fires which were pretty devastating,' Zac opined. 'What a gem of a place, I just love it here,' the delighted High School Musical actor added. The star was recently on Kangaroo Island and shared a few social media posts of his time there. What an experience! The High School Musical star shared a few social media posts of his time on Kangaroo Island, including him swimming with dolphins. He said in the video: 'I've never been that close to dolphins, that was mind-blowing' He had swum with dolphins and said in the video of the experience: 'I've never been that close to dolphins, that was mind-blowing.' In addition to swimming with dolphins, Zac got up close and personal with an adorable little joey in his arms. The sweet marsupial gently nibbled the Hollywood actor's nose, and he clearly had no problems as he cradled it. Cute: In addition to swimming with dolphins, Zac got up close and personal with an adorable little joey in his arms. The sweet marsupial gently nibbled the Hollywood actor's nose, and he clearly had no problems as he cradled it Family fun: Zac's second photo featured him beaming alongside his younger brother Dylan, 29, (left) carrying the joey The second photo featured him beaming alongside his younger brother Dylan, 29, carrying the joey. Zac is currently travelling around Australia with wellness expert Darin Olien for their Netflix series Down To Earth. The Netflix series will follow their search for healthy and sustainable ways to live, as well as embracing the local food, culture and customs of the country. The Greatest Showman actor arrived in Australia in March last year, escaping the pandemic in the US. He then travelled to South Australia to film a Stan Original movie called Gold. GONZALES The new Ascension Parish Registrar of Voters is taking a pay cut, or receiving a raise, depending on the perspective. Shanie Bourg will receive 7.2 percent less than what she received as an elections administrator at the Secretary of State's office. At $91,500, though, she will also receive 16.5 percent above the standard starting pay of $78,526 for parish registrars. The parish is kicking in an extra $12,974. Bourg is replacing the longtime Registrar of Voters Robert Poche', who retired in late January after nearly 40 years on the job and with a salary of around $114,570 per year. The lifetime appointee maintains the list of eligible, registered voters in the parish and helps ensure local elections run smoothly. 17 vie to be Ascension registrar of voters, including Painter and state election officials GONZALES Murphy Painter, a former top law enforcement official in Louisiana who is suing Ascension Parish's president and others over allege Council Chair Teri Casso said the salary level was negotiated among Bourg and other parish officials. "We came up with something that was not quite what she wanted and in keeping with her experience and ability to get the job done," Casso said. The salary can be reviewed later. 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 At the Secretary of State's Office, she earned $98,571. +3 Shanie Bourg, state elections official, next registrar of voters in Ascension GONZALES Shanie Bourg, an elections administrator for the Louisiana Secretary of State's Office, beat out a field of 13 people, including fo The council adopted Bourg's pay rate Thursday with no discussion and no opposition. Bourg said the office has a $30,000 surplus that could have been used to boost her pay further, but she said the office could use an extra position to improve the diversity of the office and to meet her goals to increase voter registration levels. "I would rather take that money and try and diversify this office and get it where it needs to be," she said. Diversity was one of the consistent questions of council members during interviews earlier this month of candidates that included a handful of Black candidates, though none became a finalist. Under Poche' in recent years, the office had been made up entirely of White women, except for him. Bourg is a White woman. Lonely Planet travel guides often 'downplay' the harassment that women travellers suffer from men, a new research paper argues. The paper, by Middlesex University, states: 'Lonely Planet often downplays harassment and the idea that it is not worth getting angry about presents itself again and again in the entries.' Researchers studied the free online version of Lonely Planet's women's section and analysed entries relating to harassment in specific countries identified as 'high-risk' for female travellers on the Asher and Lyric Fergusson travel blog. A paper by Middlesex University states: 'Lonely Planet often downplays harassment and the idea that it is not worth getting angry about presents itself again and again in the entries' The countries (listed below) were graded based on the following factors: Whether it is safe to walk alone at night; intentional murder of women; non-partner sexual violence; intimate partner violence; legal discrimination; global gender gap; gender inequality index (UNDP) and violence against women attitudes. The research paper highlights how 'harassment is downplayed and anger should be suppressed' with examples such as: In Argentina, catcalling is described as 'highly irritating', in Bahrain it is called 'a nuisance' and in the Dominican Republic the advice is 'although it may be unwanted, it's more of a nuisance than anything else'. In the advice for Iran, it states 'violence against foreign women is almost unheard of in Iran, even if the odd grope in a savari [shared taxi] isn't (consider yourself warned)'. For Egypt, the guide states 'for many women travellers being catcalled in Egypt can be particularly unnerving if you can't understand what is being said. Once you know what the wannabe Lotharios are actually muttering as you walk past, you may find it more cringeworthy than scary.' In Brazil, it states 'you should be able to stop it by merely expressing displeasure', with the paper arguing that the words 'merely' and 'displeasure' belittle women travellers and their emotions. In Thailand, the guide encourages putting a man's feelings above their own because of the local culture, stating: 'A Thai man could feel a loss of face if conversation, flirting or other attention is directed towards him and then diverted to another person. In extreme cases (or where alcohol is involved), this could create an unpleasant situation or even lead to violence. Women who aren't interested in romantic encounters should not presume that Thai men have merely platonic motives.' Sian Stephens, Senior Lecturer in International Business, said: 'It's as if part of the authentic experience of travelling is that you are constantly harassed' The paper adds: 'The absence of anger in the advice allows for the inference that anger at misogyny and gender-based violence is an inappropriate emotion at least when a woman is not at home and represents the assumption that feeling or displaying anger when abroad is culturally inappropriate. You are told as a woman in guide books you must go abroad and have a brilliant, liberating time and if you actually have a pretty terrible time when everybody harasses you, it can feel like you have done something wrong or are travelling wrong Sian Stephens, Senior Lecturer in International Business, Middlesex University 'The insistence that women suppress their anger when pursuing leisure is particularly damaging not because a woman is likely to be in more danger when travelling but because the frustration wrought by being promised freedom and self-discovery while being simultaneously denied the opportunity to experience one of the most fundamental human emotions will be profound.' Sian Stephens, a Senior Lecturer in International Business who co-authored the paper, said: 'It's as if part of the authentic experience of travelling is that you are constantly harassed. 'You are told as a woman in guide books you must go abroad and have a brilliant, liberating time and if you actually have a pretty terrible time when everybody harasses you, it can feel like you have done something wrong or are travelling wrong. 'Good advice would be that it's unsafe to draw attention to yourself if you are unhappy with the attention you are receiving, but the advice that this is just a cultural practice, this is what to expect on holiday and it's better to ignore what's happening diminishes the reality of the experience.' Co-author Heather Jeffrey, a Senior Lecturer at the Middlesex University Dubai School of Business, said: 'The subversion of anger in women's travel guides to some extent helps to normalise harassment and gender-based violence. 'The insistence that women suppress their anger when pursuing leisure is particularly damaging' - Middlesex University study (stock image) THE WORLD'S 20 MOST DANGEROUS COUNTRIES South Africa Brazil Russia Tunisia Iran The Dominican Republic Egypt Morocco India Thailand Malaysia Saudi Arabia Turkey Argentina Chile Cambodia Bahrain Tunisia USA Ukraine Source: Asher & Lyric Fergusson (2019) Advertisement 'It's not for Lonely Planet to say get angry or don't get angry, but neither is it their place to shape how we feel about being harassed. 'The aftermath of Sarah Everard's death shows there is growing anger at everyday harassment, which Lonely Planet seems to imply is part of a cultural experience.' The research paper states the guides tend to be aimed at young, single white female travellers and should cater for all age groups and races. It concludes: 'Future guidebook entries aimed at women travellers should be informed by feminist researchers and activists and should offer specific, useable details which a woman may then use to inform her decisions and actions not her emotions. 'A key advancement in travel writing would be to acknowledge the intersectional characteristics of womanhood and provide more useful advice to women with disabilities, women of colour, single women, married women, pregnant women, young women, and older women for example.' A spokesperson for Lonely Planet said: 'At Lonely Planet, we take our responsibility as custodians of the safety of all travellers, including women, incredibly seriously. This responsibility as a trusted guide goes to the core of Lonely Planet's mission. 'Our aim is for people to travel with confidence. We are constantly working to protect travellers' safety while not viewing the world through a lens of fear. 'Lonely Planet's advice to female travellers, and those of all backgrounds, is under constant review to ensure it is factual, balanced and nuanced. When we don't get this right, we are committed to addressing it. 'We continue to be committed to ensuring our content reflects diverse and inclusive perspectives, and we are undertaking a comprehensive content audit to ensure we meet the standards we set ourselves.' 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. [March 19, 2021] STACK INFRASTRUCTURE Closes $400 Million in Latest Round of Structured Debt Financing DENVER, March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- STACK INFRASTRUCTURE (STACK or the Company), the digital infrastructure partner to the worlds most innovative companies, announces the issuance of $400 million in securitized notes (the Notes). STACKs latest securitized notes offering is priced at a fixed rate coupon of 1.877%, a rate that breaks the Companys own record-setting rate of 1.893% achieved during STACKs August 2020 issuance, reflecting the leading quality of the issuance. In addition, the rate coupon reflects the lowest spread to benchmark treasury rates at the time of issuance in data center industry history. In four total transactions, STACK has raised $1.8 billion of Notes rated A- by Standard & Poors. The Company will use the capital to fund several client-focused initiatives, including the construction and delivery of its popular Basis of Design, along with continued initiatives for sustainability, safety, and technology. Just over five months since its previous issuance raising $325 million and fresh off a series of new executive hiring, partnerships, facility openings, and expansions, STACK is once again positioning itself to continue its record-breaking 2020 leasing activity. An industry leader in the development of data centers built to the unique specifications of its hyperscale cloud and enterprise clients, STACKs continued expansion is fueled by the widespread adoption of cloud infrastructure, the rise of new, workload-intensive technologies like artificial intelligence, cross-industry digital transformation, and the emerging need of every organization to support increasingly remote workforces. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated absorption in all the major U.S. markets, leading to the data center industry's extraordinary growth. New analyst data from Omdia reports record leasing of more than 700MW and the addition of nearly 17 million square feet in 2020, with approximately 57% of this capacity dedicated to large cloud providers. Our latest capital raise demonstrates continued investor confidence in the Compays unwavering ability to deliver speed and scale to support the growth of our hyperscale and large enterprise clients, said Heather Paduck, Chief Financial Officer of STACK. With cloud companies thriving like never before, STACK is well positioned to deliver critical capacity where our clients need it most. 2020 saw enormous expansion for the Company, as it broke ground on an 84MW campus in Portland, with plans to deliver the first phase of 24MW in Q3 of 2021. STACK is also constructing a 32MW multi-story data center on its campus in San Jose, California, and announced an expansion in Atlanta. Even more additions are planned for 2021 in the most critical data center markets. STACK also offers several other opportunities for growth in key regions throughout the United States, including: A 125-acre hyperscale data center campus with 250MW of potential critical capacity in?Prince William County, Virginia?in partnership with the Peterson Companies. A 400-acre hyperscale data center campus with 400MW potential critical capacity in AllianceTexas, a master-planned development in Fort Worth, Texas, in partnership with Hillwood. A New Albany, Ohio 42MW data center campus with immediately available and build-to-suit expansion opportunities. A new 79-acre hyperscale data center campus in Avondale, Arizona, with 150MW of potential critical capacity. The Notes have not been, and will not be registered, under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or registered or qualified under any applicable state securities laws and may not be offered or sold absent such registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements thereunder and STACK is not obligated to register the Notes. This press release is neither an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any Notes, nor shall there be any sale of the Notes in any state or jurisdiction in which the offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. For more information about STACK, please visit www.stackinfra.com . ABOUT STACK INFRASTRUCTURE STACK provides digital infrastructure to scale the worlds most innovative companies. With a client-first approach, the Company delivers a comprehensive suite of wholesale build-to-suit, colocation, and powered shell solutions in eight markets today: Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas; New Albany, Ohio; Northern Virginia; Portland, Oregon; Phoenix, Arizona; and Silicon Valley, California. Its offerings include hyperscale campuses and build-to-suit data centers ( HYPER STACK ), immediately available wholesale commissioned capacity ( READY STACK ), and powered shell options ( POWER STACK ). With unparalleled existing and flexible expansion capacity in the leading availability zones, STACK offers the scale and geographic reach that rapidly growing hyperscale and enterprise companies need. The world runs on data. And data runs on STACK. For more information, visit www.stackinfra.com, or follow us on LinkedIn. Media contact: Kevin Wolf TGPR (650) 483-1552 kevin@tgprllc.com Daniela Narcisco, a Brazilian cookbook author and food historian based in Florianopolis, the capital of Santa Catarina, Brazil, describes moqueca as a wonderful addition to any Easter celebration. And this seafood stew, built on a few simple yet deeply flavorful ingredients, is pleasing: Its vibrant broth is luscious and light, and evokes the essence of the sea. Although moqueca is not reserved for saints days, it is well suited to meals for Easter, Good Friday or any other time religious observances require a pescatarian-friendly dish. Ideal for both small gatherings and celebrations, moqueca also serves as an everyday meal across Brazil. Variations exist throughout the country. In the northeast state of Bahia, moqueca draws from the rich culture of its Afro-Brazilian population. It begins with sauteed garlic, onion, tomatoes and sweet peppers, followed by coconut milk and the freshest seafood you can find. An added hot chile is critical for depth, as is red palm oil, known as azeite de dende in Portuguese. Another well-known version is the Indigenous- and Portuguese-influenced moqueca capixaba from Espirito Santo, south of Bahia, that has a base of olive oil and annatto seeds. And everywhere, theres a vegetarian alternative that replaces seafood with yellow plantains. TKC double bonus crypto (redeemable nowhere) for any old school denizens who can tell us the restaurant that occupied the space BEFORE the chicken king flew the coop. Good enough link tease for tonight . . . Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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) Police confirmed on Thursday that Robert Aaron Long, the suspect in Tuesday's shootings at three Atlanta-area massage parlors that left eight dead, had been a customer of at least two of the sitesAromatherapy Spa and Gold Spa. Authorities don't know or aren't saying whether Long had received more than a massage at either place, per the New York Times. Timeline-wise, police and a friend who talked to the Washington Post say Long, 21, had been kicked out of his parents' home the night before the attack. Per their accounts, Long's parents had become fed up with his obsession with sex, which led to him viewing porn for hours online and visiting the massage parlors, which have been rumored to offer sexual services. His family also backed up his claims of sex addiction, noting he'd gone to rehab for it. story continues below Police say Long bought a handgun on Tuesday, the day after he was booted out of his home, and headed first to Youngs Asian Massage in Acworth, where the shootings started around 5pm. Although Long has told police the shootings weren't racially motivated, the Post notes they've "hit the country where it hurt mostin its anguished struggles over race, gender, and the allure of gun violence." The Times notes that many view the shootings as "the culmination of a racialized misogyny" long directed toward Asian American women. Still, Tyler Bayless, one of Long's former roommates from his 2019 stint at an Atlanta halfway house, says he was shocked to hear his former roommate was a suspect in the shootings, per CNN. "I'll never forget him looking at me and saying, 'I'm falling out of God's grace," he tells the Times, noting his ex-roommate had been plagued by a "religious mania" (more here on that). Long, who has been charged with eight counts of murder, is being held without bail. (Read more Robert Aaron Long stories.) Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-18 21:22:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Students attend a Chinese language class at a campus of the Roots Millennium Schools in Islamabad, Pakistan, March 11, 2021. Currently, there are five Confucius Institutes and two Confucius Classrooms across Pakistan. According to the Pakistani think-tank Pakistan-China Institute, between 26,000 and 30,000 students are studying the Chinese language at various levels in Pakistan. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal) by Misbah Saba Malik, Li Hao ISLAMABAD, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Muhammad Mateen Hashmi, a lecturer at the Chinese language department of the Islamabad-based National University of Modern Languages (NUML), said he has seen local residents take an increasing interest in the Chinese language. This is because of the strengthening of friendship between Pakistan and China, he said, adding that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has prompted more people to learn the Chinese language for getting jobs or working better there. "People-to-people friendship and knowing each other are deepening every year ... and in the near future I foresee more and more Pakistani people learning Chinese," he said. Hashmi was a student in Shanghai Normal University in 2012 and got a degree in Chinese language teaching. "I had interest in the Chinese language since I was a kid, rather than the popular language English. Even in my childhood, I knew that I would be learning Chinese when I grew up," he said. His study of Chinese started as early as 2008. In 2009, he attended a summer camp in Beijing. "During the summer camp, I had the first hand interaction with native speakers and saw the beauty of the language, so I ended up making my mind to live with the Chinese language by learning and teaching it for the rest of my life," Hashmi said. In the Confucius Institute in NUML, Zhang Daojian, 47, has been working for more than eight years. The Confucius Institute, which was jointly established by Beijing Language and Culture University in 2005, is the first of its kind in Pakistan. "Our main work is to conduct Chinese teaching activities and Chinese proficiency tests. We also collaborate with famous Pakistani universities and schools to teach Chinese. We have over 2,000 students per year on average," said Zhang, vice president of the Confucius Institute, Islamabad. To help Pakistani students have a better understanding of the Chinese culture and history, Zhang said, his institute each year holds more than 20 cultural events and have organized summer camps to send students to China. "Our cultural activities include performance, calligraphy exhibition and traditional practices related to various Chinese festivals. The focus is to let local students experience it by themselves, which can stimulate their interest in further exploring the Chinses culture," he said. Last month, Zhang spent his ninth Spring Festival in Pakistan. "The hospitality and friendliness that the Pakistani people show to the Chinese people in Pakistan are priceless, and I'm deeply touched," he said. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. Their bilateral friendship has been enriched over the years, with the people-to-people bond being cemented, Zhang said. Zhang said he is happy his work of teaching Chinese helps enhance the people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. Currently, there are five Confucius Institutes and two Confucius Classrooms across Pakistan. According to the Pakistani think-tank Pakistan-China Institute, between 26,000 and 30,000 students are studying the Chinese language at various levels in Pakistan. The Millennium Education is cooperating with China's Henan Normal University in operating the Millennium Confucius Classroom in Pakistan. Sabina Zakir, director for language, outreach and communication in the Millennium Education, said that currently there are over 8,500 students of Chinese language in different schools related to the education organization across the country. The purpose of offering Chinese language courses is for enhancing the people-to-people contact between the two brotherly countries, she told Xinhua. "These children are going to be tomorrow's leaders, and they will understand not only the language, it's understanding the culture," Zakir said. Hashmi said, "The friendship is being passed on to the coming generations with more strength because in the future there will be more people with basic understanding of the Chinese language and more with a fluency in it." 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. CITIC Telecom CPC Launches SmartCLOUD Object Storage Solution Based on Cloudian Object Storage Platform Global ICT Service Provider Introduces Ransomware Protection with Object Lock in Highly Scalable and Cost-effective Geo-distributed Storage Offering HONG KONG AND SAN MATEO, Calif., Mar 18, 2021 (ACN Newswire) CITIC Telecom International CPC Limited (\CITIC Telecom CPC\), a wholly owned subsidiary of CITIC Telecom International Holdings Limited (SEHK:1883), and Cloudian today announced that CITIC Telecom CPC is introducing SmartCLOUD(TM) Object Storage solution based on Cloudian\-\-s HyperStore object storage platform. The offering, which will be part of CITIC Telecom CPC\-\-s SmartCLOUD(TM) solutions portfolio, includes backup with ransomware protection, archiving and big data management. As a VMware Cloud Provider Principal Partner with VMware Cloud Verified status, CITIC Telecom CPC\-\-s SmartCLOUD(TM) Object Storage solution further extends the array of service offerings running on a VMware-managed environment. CITIC Telecom CPC\-\-s customers will also benefit from Cloudian\-\-s limitlessly scalability, industry-leading security and cost effectiveness. Enterprises face a growing challenge of efficiently storing and managing large volumes of unstructured data, including video and other multimedia content. At the same time, as data has become an increasingly strategic asset, it is also increasingly vulnerable to ransomware and other cyber attacks. As a result, CITIC Telecom CPC turned to Cloudian via the VMware Cloud Provider Program to provide a robust, modern storage foundation that would enable the company to continue delivering value-added services that address its customers\-\- evolving data protection and management needs, including meeting various regulatory and compliance requirements. CITIC Telecom CPC\-\-s SmartCLOUD(TM) Object Storage solution includes: Ultra-secure data protection Offsite data backup with Object Lock for ransomware protection that creates an immutable data copy for fast, easy recovery of data in the event of an attack. Data archive for compliance needs Addresses customers\-\- regulatory and compliance requirements, including audits, with the ability to make data unchangeable for a set period of time. Seamless accessibility Customers gain multi-cloud accessibility to datasets running on S3-based applications for greater convenience with lower overhead. Scalable big data management Provides highly scalable, cost-effective storage for large datasets, with advanced metadata that facilitates artificial intelligence, machine learning and other analytics applications. Great variety of connectivity options Supports connection with Internet, VPN (such as MPLS), point-to-point leased line and cross-connection within the same datacenter and SmartCLOUD(TM) Cloud Services Centers. Simple billing model Basically only includes storage and data transfer out; API call for data access is free of charge. In addition to limitless scalability, benefits of Cloudian\-\-s award-winning HyperStore object storage include: Fully native S3 compatibility Ensures seamless integration with the expanding ecosystem of S3-based applications. Advanced security Including Object Lock-based data immutability, secure shell, RBAC/IAM access controls, AES-256 server-side encryption for data at rest and SSL for data in transit, as well as certification with the most rigorous international security requirements. Multi-tenancy Supports for secure, self-managed storage within a shared platform. Geo-distribution Easy to manage storage across multiple locations, all from a single pane of glass. \After considering various object storage solutions, we selected Cloudian for its rich feature set-particularly its geo-distribution, multi-tenancy and security-and its seamless integration with VMware,\ said Taylor Lam, Senior Vice President, Product Development & Management at CITIC Telecom CPC. \With the rising regulatory and compliance stringency on data management, we\-\-re excited about the new SmartCLOUD(TM) Object Storage solution for delivering a cost-effective storage service with enhanced data protection and management to our customers.\ \CITIC Telecom CPC has been at the forefront in enabling enterprises to leverage new technologies to drive greater competitive advantage, strategic agility, and faster time to market,\ said Brian Burns, Vice President, Asia Pacific, at Cloudian. \We look forward to helping CITIC Telecom CPC continue to deliver on this strong customer commitment and further grow its business.\ About CITIC Telecom CPC We are CITIC Telecom International CPC Limited (\CITIC Telecom CPC\), a wholly owned subsidiary of CITIC Telecom International Holdings Limited (SEHK: 1883), serving multinational enterprises the world over by addressing their specific ICT requirements with highly scalable tailored solutions built upon our flagship technology suites, comprising TrueCONNECT(TM) private network solutions, TrustCSI(TM) information security solutions, DataHOUSE(TM) cloud data center solutions, and SmartCLOUD(TM) cloud computing solutions. As a leading Global Local ICT Solutions Partner with worldwide footprint across East to West and native presence, we truly live our motto, \Innovation Never Stops.\ Being a preferred Digital Society Enabler, we lead our key markets at the forefront of pioneering ICT development, embracing AI, AR, Big Data, IoT, and other cutting-edge emerging technologies to transform technical potential into real-world value for our customers, helping them achieve higher productivity, agility, cost-efficiency, and ultimately, Digital Globalization. As one of the first managed service providers in Hong Kong to achieve ISO 9001, 14001, 20000, 27001, and 27017 ICT-related certifications, CITIC Telecom CPC delivers on our superior quality commitment through a broad global self-managed infrastructure encompassing some of the highest growth markets in Asia, Europe and Africa, with over 160 points of presence, 18 Cloud service centers, 30+ data centers, and two dedicated 247 Security Operations Centers. For more information please visit www.citictel-cpc.com. About Cloudian Cloudian is the most widely deployed independent provider of object storage systems, with the industry\-\-s most advanced S3 compatibility and an extensive partnership ecosystem. Its award-winning flagship solution, HyperStore, provides limitless scalability and cloud-like technology, flexibility, and economics in the data center. Cloudian\-\-s global data fabric architecture enables enterprises to store, find and protect object and file data seamlessly across sites, both on-premises and in public clouds, within a single, unified platform. Learn more at cloudian.com. CITIC Telecom CPC Media Contact Rowena Leung CITIC Telecom International CPC Limited rowena.leung@citictel-cpc.com +852-2170-7536 Cloudian Media Contact Jordan Tewell 10Fold Communications cloudian@10fold.com +1-415-666-6066 More details are emerging about the Texas man who was arrested outside of Vice President Kamala Harris' residence in Washington D.C. on a weapons charge. According to the Associated Press, Paul Murray, a 31-year-old San Antonio man was arrested by D.C. police when he was found near the Naval Observatory home, which is traditionally the residence of the vice president. Harris and her family were not at the home at the time, as it is undergoing renovations. No one was hurt in the incident. RELATED: Since the arrest, news of the local tie has spread throughout the city. Though reported as a San Antonio man, his local presence is not profound. Most of his connections are tied to the Brazos County area. See below for what we've learned so far. He lived on the North West Side at some point Records show a North West Side address in San Antonio for Murray, but it is unclear how long he lived there. He last lived in Brazos County Local media outlet KBTX reported Murray last lived in Bryan, which is outside of College Station. Murray attended Texas A&M University KBTX also found that Murray was previously enrolled as a graduate student at Texas A&M. University officials told the news station he is not enrolled for this semester. He was a U.S. Army drone pilot CNBC reported the U.S. Army confirmed Murray served from March 2010 to April 2014 as an unmanned drone pilot. He was arrested with multiple weapons and plenty of ammunition A D.C. police report obtained by MySA shows Murray was in possession of an "AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, 113 rounds of registered ammunition and five 30 round magazines." Earlier this month, he said he wouldn't hurt himself, but might hurt others On March 3, the College Station Police Department released an Intelligence Bulletin on Murray after the Brazos County Sheriff's Department conducted a wellness check. Murray told officials he didn't want to hurt himself, but could hurt someone else "if it was justified," according to the widely spread bulletin. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. A bill that would provide a path to legal status for more than a million farmworkers in the U.S. passed the U.S. House of Representatives for Top U.S. and Chinese officials meet for first time in Anchorage, Alaska. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs head Yang Jiechi attacked each other's country policies. Yang accused Washington of fomenting retaliation against Beijing for criticizing it on human rights and other issues. The two sides were utterly opposite to each other and to the rest of the world in the first meeting of top US and Chinese officials after Joe Biden took over as President of the United States. Keep the idea in mind. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs head Yang Jiechi attacked each others country policies at the start of the two-day talks in Alaska. This is very unusual behavior for any serious diplomatic conversation. Owing to the moods of both sides, it seems that personal conversations would be more riotous at this conference. This meeting in Anchorage would serve as a new test for the two countries strained relations. In Tibet, Hong Kong, and Chinas western Xinjiang region, the two countries disagree on issues ranging from trade to human rights. There are also disagreements between Taiwan and China, as well as the Corona Virus outbreak and Chinas increasing supremacy in the South China Sea. Also Read: US Defence Secy Lloyd Austin to be in India on a 3-Day Visit; all eyes set on his talks with Rajnath Singh According to Blinken, the Biden administration is united with its allies in the presence of Chinas rising hegemony. Yang responded by issuing a list of Chinas grievances against the US, accusing Washington of fomenting retaliation against Beijing for criticizing it on human rights and other issues. On March 18, the United States and China came face to face for the first time in a long time in Anchorage, Alaska. The US had previously stated that they would only speak to China about the massacre of the Uygars. Dragon will be asked to clarify the situation on a number of topics, including Taiwan, Tibet, Hong Kong, and the South China Sea, during the talks. Also Read: Uttarakhand CM ripped jeans comment draws flak; Netizens, celebs, activists lash out 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 illicit drug trade remains one of the most pernicious threats to U.S. public health and security, as well as to international stability, said State Department spokesperson Ned Price. The newly released 2020 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report highlights the importance of working with source and transit countries to reduce supplies of these drugs, as well as efforts to reduce demand for illicit drugs and expand access to treatment. In Europe, demand for cocaine from South America increased, as seizures and demand for treatment remained at record levels. Methamphetamine production, trafficking, and use, often manufactured with Chinese-origin precursor chemicals, also remained at record levels in many regions, especially in Southeast Asia and parts of Africa and North America. The report notes that the enormous challenges in 2020 led to mixed results in the fight against illicit drugs. For example, the Andean region has long been, and remains, a key area of concern among drug source and transit countries. Colombia and Peru are committed U.S. partners, yet coca cultivation and cocaine production in those countries are at all-time high levels. Border closures and travel restrictions due to COVID-19 disrupted trafficking routes and precursor chemical supply chains. However, traffickers quickly adopted alternative routes and methods, and drug availability in many regions reached new historic highs by years end. Nevertheless, there were also bright spots. Colombia reported record seizures in 2020 and has continued to become a regional leader in counternarcotics efforts. Meanwhile, Venezuela once again failed demonstrably to uphold its obligations under international drug control agreements. The illegitimate Maduro regimes corruption and mismanagement of the economy has made the regime dependent on funds derived from narcotrafficking and other illicit activities. Mexico, another country of major concern, remains the primary source of heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine bound for the United States. Beyond the Western Hemisphere, methamphetamine manufacturing in Burma, bolstered by the heavy flow of drug precursor chemicals originating from China, is driving a methamphetamine surge throughout Asia and Oceania. While the Chinese government banned all fentanyl analogues, the United States has urged China to take a more proactive role in disrupting the flow of precursors to manufacture illicit fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficked globally. The United States recognizes that political will is the most important determinant of success in a global fight to achieve a reduction in drug production, said spokesperson Price, and we will remain committed to working with likeminded governments to reduce illicit drug flows and drug use. A $7.5million haul of marijuana including 100kg of dried cannabis leaves has been seized and three men charged after a raid on a remote property, police said. After receiving a tip, police searched a Southern Highlands farm 80km north-west of Goulburn in New South Wales, on Thursday at around 10am. They claimed to have found 3,513 marijuana plants and three large-scale outdoor greenhouses in the search, in addition to the large amount of dried pot. $7.5million worth of weed including 100kg of dried cannabis leaf has been seized and three men charged after a raid on a remote property which police said had three outdoor greenhouses growing hash. Pictured: One of the alleged marijuana greenhouses Three men aged 26, 27 and 35 were arrested and taken to Goulburn police station. They were charged with cultivating a large commercial quantity of a prohibited plant and supplying prohibited drugs. Police estimate the street value of the hidden hash is well into the millions. All three alleged drug growers were refused bail to appeal before Goulburn Local Court on Friday. After receiving a tip, police searched a Southern Highlands property 80km north-west of Goulburn in New South Wales on Thursday at around 10am. Pictured: Alleged dried weed seized at the property Cops claimed to have found 3513 cannabis plants and three large-scale outdoor greenhouses in the search, in addition to the large amount of dried pot (pictured) Police burned the cannabis once it was seized, and provided video showing the plants up in flames on the property (pictured) Photos shared by New South Wales Police show clumps of dehydrated grass stacked in trays and being blown by fans. Thousands of tall green plants are seen growing in what looks like makeshift greenhouses protected by white coverings. Police burned the cannabis once it was seized and supplied video shows the plants up in flames on the property. 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. BETHEL The states lifting of more COVID-19 capacity restrictions on Friday doesnt mean that your favorite gym, shop or restaurant will be wall-to-wall with people this weekend. The reason: People arent ready to crowd into popular stores and eateries the way they used to, even as news about COVID-19 continues to improve in Connecticut, with more vaccinations and fewer hospitalizations. At some point there is going to be an explosion of business, where people finally feel that they can go out and enjoy themselves, and that life is back to normal, says Dan Mottola, owner of Putnam House restaurant in downtown Bethel. But no buses are going to be pulling up here anytime soon, because wed rather be safe than pack them in here by offering 10 percent discounts. Lisa Weir The sentiments are similar in Ridgefield the Danbury areas restaurant capital. We dont want to be put in a situation where we reopen so quickly that we have to step back, said Sarah Grossman, executive director of the Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce. The negatives of moving too fast in this pandemic seriously outweigh any benefit. As a result, residents shouldnt take it personally if it seems that some businesses arent putting out the red carpet this weekend by offering discounts to mark the official start of spring and the latest round of lifting restrictions. 3 1 of 3 Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Certainly, chambers of commerce are boosting their social media activity to get the word out to people that restaurants and small businesses need their support. Nor does the caution among some businesses about opening to 100 percent capacity mean that owners arent pleased that Connecticut is lifting restrictions on Friday, provided that people still wear masks, sanitize and stay six feet apart. From my conversations there is a sense of optimism from businesses, especially in the hospitality industry, that we are heading in the right direction, said P.J. Prunty, executive director of the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce. What we want to see is for consumer confidence to increase, and this (restriction lifting) helps to do that. The latest round of easing COVID rules lifts capacity restrictions for a range of businesses and organizations from fitness centers to houses of worship. Starting Friday more people can gather for weddings and parties in commercial places: up to 100 people indoors and up to 200 people outdoors. Some restrictions remain in place including the 11 p.m. closing time for restaurants and the provision that bars must serve food to remain open. Bars that only serve alcohol will stay closed. Movie theaters and performing arts venues will remain at 50 percent capacity. In April, more restrictions are expected to be lifted for outdoor events, amusement parks and indoor stadiums, with the requisite requirements for masks, sanitizing and social distancing, the state says. Spring promise The latest lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in Connecticut comes one day before the official start of spring, a turning point that business leaders have been anticipating. In the Danbury area, the city and the chamber of commerce are promoting virtual restaurant month in March to encourage people to support local restaurants. The warmer weather is going to help these restaurants, and that is why we are promoting restaurant month, to remind customers that restaurants have been the hardest hit by this pandemic, and its important to support them, Prunty said. Even restaurants that dont have a lot of outdoor space for dining have come up with creative ways to deliver or provide the dining experience outside. In Newtown, which began a rebranding campaign nine months before the coronavirus outbreak, economic development officials bought advertising on social media and in print in February, and have been sending out email blasts to promote restaurants. Everyone still has to be careful to do social distancing and masks, so that we dont take a step backwards, said Christal Preszler, Newtowns deputy director of economic and community development. But Im happy that some of the restrictions are being lifted so businesses have the highest capacity that they can safely offer. The lifting restrictions come two weeks after Connecticut marked the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus crisis. While some residents are certainly weary of the need to continue masking and distancing in public, there is also a sense that people are becoming more comfortable accepting the new normal. Our Main Street has a Norman Rockwell feeling, but people seem to be pretty good at masking, and not running up and hugging each other, said Grossman from the Ridgefield chamber. Everyone we see is masked, even when they are eating ice cream. All this means residents should expect to see shops, retail stores and restaurant dining rooms doing business at 50 percent capacity or perhaps a bit more this weekend especially if the Danbury area forecast holds for partly sunny weather with temperatures in the 50s. Social distancing and staying at 50 percent capacity seems to be a safe way to go with customers at the moment, said Mottola, the Bethel restaurant owner. Something about saying were open at 100 percent still makes customers feel a bit weird about it. rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342 Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 18:52:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SUVA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Fijian President Jioji Konrote on Friday stressed the importance of forests in the fight against climate change. "We all know that the world desperately needs to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. So forests are in the front lines in the fight against climate change. We need our forests as much as we need to breathe to stay alive," said Konrote as the island nation celebrated the International Day of Forests which falls on March 21. He said that forests are critical for people's survival and present people with a valuable solution, noting that forests provide homes for native animals, purify people's water and air, protect people's watershed, prevent flooding and soil erosion, and store carbon. Forest restoration involves the replanting of forests that have been lost, helping protect biodiversity and fight climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it. But restoration is only a part of the work, said the president, adding that people must also save their existing native forests that are working overtime to lock up carbon stocks and provide them with so many benefits that they take for granted. Sustainably managed forests have a key role in meeting several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and providing solutions for growing a green economy, he said. According to the president, Fiji loses some 4,000 hectares a year to deforestation. This is alarmingly high, given that Fiji's forest cover is about 1.1 million hectares, which is about 60 percent of the island nation's total land area of 1.8 million hectares. However, only about half of this are intact native forests, which are now often fragmented and surrounded by degraded forests. Human activities that drive forest degradation and deforestation include the demand for fuelwood and charcoal, illegal logging and human induced fires. In 2019, Fiji launched its tree-planting campaign, which started off as 4 million trees in four years. The nation's new target now is 30 million trees in 15 years. Currently, more than 6 million trees have been planted in Fiji, an island nation with a population of around 900,000. The president urged all Fijians to participate in tree planting and growing to expand its forest areas and tree cover. In 2011, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 21 as the International Day of Forests which celebrates and creates awareness on the importance of all types of forests and on the need to preserve and care for the world's woodlands. This year the theme for the International Day of Forests is "Forest Restoration: a path to recovery and well-being." Enditem An Owasco town justice has resigned after the state Commission on Judicial Conduct commenced investigations into misconduct allegations. Mark DiVietro, a justice since 2011, resigned effective March 15. He sent his resignation letter to Owasco Supervisor Ed Wagner and two judges Lawrence Marks, the chief administrative judge of the New York State Unified Court System, and Craig Doran, the administrative judge of the 7th Judicial District, which includes Cayuga County. The commission notified DiVietro in July 2020 that it was investigating multiple complaints against him, including allegations that he sent text messages to his then-girlfriend that contained threats about a former partner. According to the commission, the messages were "vulgar, crude, demeaning and/or featured extreme gender-based slurs and profanity." The other allegation against DiVietro stemmed from an arraignment at the Owasco town court in 2019. He was the justice who arraigned Robert Brown, a former Cayuga County sheriff's deputy who was accused of falsifying time cards while working as a Moravia police officer. The European Medical Agency(EMA) on Thursday said that the COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca is safe. They said that the benefits of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risks involved after taking the jab. The conclusion of EMA comes after they investigated the reports of blood clots as the European nations had suspended its use. European Union countries resume AstraZeneca vaccine After the verdict from the EMA, leading European Union countries including Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia and Bulgaria have said they would soon resume AstraZeneca vaccination, reported The Daily Mail. Sweden and Norway have continued to keep a ban on the vaccine. The EMA safety committee Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee(PRAC) confirmed, The benefits of the vaccine in combating the still widespread threat of COVID-19 (which itself results in clotting problems and may be fatal) continue to outweigh the risk of side effects. They further added that vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of blood clots in the people who have taken the shot of AstraZeneca vaccine. Italy was the first country that announced that it would resume using the AstraZeneca vaccine, reported The Daily Mail. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said that the government's priority remains to vaccinate people as quickly as possible. After that French Prime Minister Jean Castex said he will take the shot of the vaccine on Friday afternoon. EMAs safety committee (PRAC) concludes that the benefits of the #COVID19Vaccine AstraZeneca still outweigh its risks despite possible link to rare blood clots associated with low levels of blood platelets. Read more: https://t.co/WCdaKqOPxB pic.twitter.com/0NO8kh5a48 EU Medicines Agency (@EMA_News) March 18, 2021 John Carlson of the Swedish Public Health Agency said that they need a few days to analyse the situation and how the AstraZeneca vaccine can be used in Sweden. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health said that it was 'premature' to make conclusions and they would announce their opinion by the end of next week. Emar Cooke, the chief of the EMA said in a press conference that it is a safe and effective vaccine. She added that when millions of people are vaccinated, there can be chances of rare instances of illnesses that will occur after taking the vaccination. The EMA safety committee said that there is no evidence of a problem that is related to specific batches of the vaccine or particular manufacturing sites. They further added that the vaccine may be associated with very rare cases of blood clots associated with thrombocytopenia which means the low levels of platelets. The World Health Organization(WHO) said that it was better to take the AstraZeneca vaccine than not take it. The WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan on Twitter said that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh the risks. She added that for now, investigations continue. Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard are on the outs with the Duggar family. And since leaving Counting On, Dericks been quite vocal in why he dislikes the show and doesnt associate with the Duggars anymore. Now, he just made a huge accomplishment when it comes to law school and none of Jills family interacted with the Instagram post. Heres whats going on. Is Derick Dillard still in law school? It seems he graduated Jill Duggar Dillard (L) and husband Derick Dillard visit Extra at their New York studios | D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra Not every member of the Duggar family chooses higher education, but Derick made the choice to attend law school years back. Back in 2018, Jill made the announcement on her family website. We will be remaining stateside for now as Derick is beginning law school at the University of Arkansas, she wrote. We look forward to seeing how God will continue to direct our family in this new chapter of life! By August 2020, Derick was entering his last year of school. And fans continue to wonder what hell use his degree for. Derick even took to Twitter to explain why hes getting his degree in law. Help people who are taken advantage of, among other things, he told a fan. Some fans have also speculated that Derick might use his degree against the other Duggars. The Counting On stars been quite outspoken against Jim Bob Duggar. According to Derick, Jim Bob doesnt allow Jill in the family home without his permission, and he doesnt want Jill to interact with her younger siblings. No one from the Duggar family congratulated Derick Dillard after recent post RELATED: The Duggar Family Just Gave Derick Dillard an Unexpected Shoutout It looks like Dericks finishing up law school. On March 18, he posted a photo to Instagram showing him pointing to a certificate. Like many states, Arkansas certifies students to represent people in all aspects of their case & appear in court on their behalf, he captioned the post. Im thankful to serve clients through the UA legal clinic! None of Jills immediate family commented on the post. Amy Duggar, a Duggar family cousin whos spoken against Jim Bob and Michelle, left a sweet note, though. Congrats!! she wrote. Time to celebrate! Jill also wished Derick well, of course. Love you and everything youre doing!! she added. Thats my man! So proud of you babe! And praise the Lord for bringing you this far! I know He will carry you through the rest of the way! Why did Derick Dillard leave Counting On? Derick Dillard Resurfaces After Firing From Counting On Find Out What He Had To Say! https://t.co/cMk7klRZkl pic.twitter.com/FWDvh2LEHq OK! Magazine USA (@OKMagazine) November 16, 2017 Fans of Counting On noticed long ago that Jill and Derick arent with the rest of the Duggars on the show. So, why did they leave? It was initially reported that Derick was fired from TLC for posting transphobic tweets about network co-star Jazz Jennings. Now, Derick and Jill claim they left on their own accord. We left the show three years ago now because, basically, our family goals that we had for ourselves didnt align with what we found out we ended up finding out that we didnt have as much control over our lives as it related to the show, Jill said in a YouTube video. We had to make a decision at that time to put the show aside to pursue our own goals. Will the couple ever return to the show with the rest of the Duggar family? They noted theyre open to the idea, but a lot would have to change. For now, it looks like Dericks focusing on his career and Jills cheering him on. Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form 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. Fernando Cruz said this about his book: " PORQUE ASI LO SIENTO is a collection of poems where the reader can find different ways and means to express the most sublime of feelingslove! through his poems, where it can be appreciated, in a simple and profound way, that each octave is an invitation to the imagination and where each rhyme is a sweet melody to enjoy and share. It is a message of faith, of hope, where almost anything is possible. It is a very encouraging message for all those who have lost, a little, the way to arrive and share the most beautiful emotions that love can give us, as an inexhaustible source for a happy coexistence. The door is left open to enter the wonderful and attractive world called PORQUE ASI LO SIENTO !" Published by Page Publishing, Fernando Cruz's new book PORQUE ASI LO SIENTO will enrapture the readers with evoking poems that proclaim the unparalleled wisdom and beauty of love that shapes the soul. On his YouTube channel, under the name of: "POEMAS PARA TI" you can listen to 12 poems that are included in this book. Consumers who wish to feel and understand the quaintness of love can purchase PORQUE ASI LO SIENTO online at Apple iTunes, Amazon.com, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries, you can contact Page Publishing, through the following number: 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional full-service publishing house that handles all of the intricacies involved in publishing its authors' books, including distribution in the world's largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not bogged down with complicated business issues like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and the like. Its roster of authors can leave behind these tedious, complex, and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at www.pagepublishing.com. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1459446/Fernando_Cruz.jpg SOURCE Page Publishing Related Links https://www.pagepublishing.com Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, say goodbye to law and order Joe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The autopsy on Marbella teacher Pilar Gonzalez Bres, who died from a brain haemorrhage two weeks after her first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine was injected, suggests that the vaccine is not related to the cause of death. Sources have told SUR that during the autopsy specialists detected that the 43-year-old mother of two children had a predisposition to suffer from strokes. Indications are that she had an aneurysm, which is the rupture of a blood vessel in the brain, which would have triggered the massive haemorrhage that caused her death. According to the sources the preliminary studies show no signs of blood clotting issues being detected in the victim's body, although further detailed test results are awaited. The autopsy was performed at the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella, which has its own pathological anatomy service, after the courts, at the request of the family, ordered that an examination of the body be carried out to clarify the cause of death. The woman died at noon on Tuesday at the Quiron Hospital in Marbella, which she had visited three times when she felt unwell after being vaccinated with the AstraZeneca formula. The first time she visited the emergency department was on 4 March with a severe headache but she was discharged believing that it could be a reaction to the vaccine, which had been administered the day before. According to her teaching colleagues, she continued to have headaches and fever and last Saturday she returned to the emergency unit where a doctor ordered a CT scan. The scan did not reveal anything significant and she was discharged from the hospital. However, she continued to feel ill and returned to the hospital the next day, Sunday. By then, she was showing signs of a neurological problem, so a CT scan was repeated, which this time revealed that she was suffering from a brain hemorrhage. On Monday, Pilar underwent surgery to drain the blood from her head, during which they discovered that she had an accumulation of fluid in the brain. Her condition continued to deteriorate until she died in the intensive care unit on Tuesday. (Newser) As restrictions start to ease in other parts of the world, European countries are locking down again. Paris and 15 other areas of France with a total population of 21 million will be on lockdown as of midnight Friday, though restrictions won't be as tight as they were during the country's two national lockdowns, the BBC reports. People will be allowed to exercise outside up to 6 miles from home. Schools and essential businesseswhich, in France, include bookstoreswill be allowed to stay open. French authorities say case numbers are rising sharply in a "third wave" of infections, which they say is mostly due to the B117 variant first detected in Britain, France24 reports. The first national lockdown began a year ago this week and lasted 55 days. story continues below A second lockdown began in late October and ended in mid-December, though new case numbers never reached the target of below 5,000 a day; around 38,000 new cases were reported Thursday. "The second wave did not end, the lockdown was interrupted too soon, to let people go shopping for Christmas," French epidemiologist Catherine Hill tells CNN. Vaccine rollout has been slow in European Union countries, especially after numerous countries suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns about blood clots. In Germany, authorities are warning that an "exponential" rise in cases is threatening to overwhelm hospitals, the Guardian reports. Authorities say variants are behind rising case numbers. Ditto in Poland, which entered lockdown on Monday as it battles its own third wave. (Germany announced Friday that it is lifting the suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine.) Samuel Rodriguez warns Biden's immigration policies give 'green light' to cartels, traffickers Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A prominent Christian leader has raised concerns about the Biden administrations immigration policies, asserting that lax enforcement procedures amount to a wink and a nod for cartels and human smugglers. The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, issued a statement in response to the surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico Border that has followed the election of President Joe Biden. He contended that through his words and actions encouraging economic migrants to come to the U.S., Biden has given a haphazard and de facto green light to human traffickers around the world to apply their profane trade on the dreams of the most vulnerable. Shortly after taking office, Biden reversed former President Donald Trumps actions designed to limit the flow of illegal immigration at the southern border, including the Migrant Protection Protocols, which required those seeking asylum to wait in Mexico, and Title 42, which enabled border officials to turn back those seeking entry into the country in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Now that U.S. immigration enforcement has dramatically changed course, the number of people entering the country at the southern border has exploded. In February, Customs and Border Control detained 100,441 people, including 71,598 single adults, nearly 9,500 unaccompanied minors, and 19,246 individuals in family units. This marked a 28% increase from January when over 78,000 individuals were detained. Border detention facilities have far exceeded their capacity to the point where children are sleeping on the floor. According to Rodriguez, Bidens wink and nod has come with dire consequences. It is a dream come true for the coyotes, cartels, and human traffickers. The American people and desperate, innocent immigrants are losing not only their security but often their lives. Its over time for the Biden administration to work with Congress to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform that will protect our border, and incorporate advanced technology to vet those seeking entrance to our country. In the meantime, the southern border must be secured, now. In a previous interview with The Christian Post that took place before Biden took office but after the 2020 presidential election, Pastor Hector Silva, who runs a shelter home in Mexico for refugees seeking to enter the U.S., acknowledged that Bidens election created a surge in the number of people traveling north: They are more confident that the government will not send them back. I dont really know, but thats what they think. Its what Im thinking too. Im also thinking that theyre going to get an improvement to the way they enter the U.S. Theres going to be lots of change, he added. ABCs George Stephanopoulos brought up this perception held by many seeking to enter the country during an interview with Biden earlier this week. A lot of the migrants coming in say theyre coming in because you promised to make things better, he told the president before asking him was it a mistake not to anticipate this surge? The president denied that his words had an impact on the number of people trying to enter the country, pushing back on the idea by asserting that theyre coming because they know Im a nice guy and I wont do what Trump did. Biden pointed to previous surges under the Trump administration as proof that his words and policy proposals did not necessarily influence the number of border crossings. On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris refused to answer a question about the border crisis, maintaining that she hadnt been briefed on the issue. In the wake of criticism from congressional Republicans, members of the Biden administration have attempted to send a message to migrants seeking to enter the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas stressed that we are saying dont come now, although his plea was preceded by an assertion that we are not saying dont come at all. Biden echoed those comments during his interview with Stephanopoulos, telling would-be migrants dont come. Meanwhile, the House has passed two pieces of legislation that critics describe as amnesties that will only encourage more illegal immigration and do little to stem the situation at the border. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act passed the House by a vote of 247-174. The vote on the legislation, which would provide a path to legal status for illegal immigrant farm workers, came down along mostly party lines with all but one Democrat voting in favor and all but 30 Republicans voting against it. The Dream Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of immigrants age and younger who were brought to the country as children, passed the House by a narrower margin, with all Democrats voting in favor of it and all but nine Republicans opposing the bill. The future of both bills remains uncertain in the Senate, where legislation requires 60 votes to pass. If signed into law, it would " ... provide conditional permanent resident status for 10 years to a qualifying alien who entered the United States as a minor and (1) is deportable or inadmissible, (2) has deferred enforced departure status or temporary protected status, or (3) is the child of certain classes of nonimmigrants. The bill imposes various qualifying requirements, such as the alien being continuously physically present in the United States since January 1, 2021, passing a background check, and being enrolled in or having completed certain educational programs." Democrats have a narrow 50-50 majority in the Senate, with the vice president casting the tie-breaking vote, meaning that 10 Senate Republicans would need to support the bills for them to become law. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic changed the higher education experience for students across the United States, with more than 90 percent of institutions reporting a shift in education delivery with the arrival of COVID-19. The rapid transition to remote study came with its own learning curve for students and faculty alike. But for many students with disabilities, the shift offered new educational modalities as well as challenges - and the hope that some changes will continue after the threat of the virus subsides. This was a really unique, historical moment. Remote learning, online learning, had been percolating for a while, and then there's this moment where everything went online. For the group that we research - college students with disabilities - this is an especially unique time, because most of the services they receive at the college level are set up for in-person learning. This shift made us wonder, how do these services and these supports, these accommodations that they receive, how do they translate to this online world?" Nicholas Gelbar '06 (ED), '07 MEd, '13 Ph.D., an associate research professor with the Neag School of Education Gelbar is a co-author of a new study, recently published in the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, that examined the impact of the rapid transition to online learning during the spring 2020 academic semester on college students with disabilities. The researchers conducted a national survey of more than 340 students in both two and four-year programs to measure the perceptions of college students with disabilities about their experiences. The online survey was conducted in August and September 2020. Overall, the researchers found that, despite certain drawbacks, the students surveyed felt supported by their institutions, faculty, and disability services offices. "What we found is that the students said there were things that were kind of advantageous and there were things that were harder in the online environment," Gelbar says. "They found the learning management systems accessible. They were able to change how they took notes, because they were able to watch an online lecture and then watch it over again, so they could take notes multiple ways. They said their instructors were really helpful about communicating any changes to assignments or projects that happened." Gelbar continued, "The drawback was that they reported having family demands that impacted their learning. They talked about how home isn't always the best place to do their studying - there's distractions. They said they felt less connected to other students and to their instructors." A major, positive change reported by the students was the shift to online communication with disability service providers at their universities, who typically help students access the accommodations they need to conduct their studies, things like extended deadlines on assignments, more time for test taking, and assistance with taking notes. "There were lots of universities that responded by saying, 'well, you aren't on campus anymore, so how do we get you changes to your accommodations?'" says study co-author Michael Faggella-Luby, a professor of special education at Texas Christian University, director of the Alice Neeley Special Education Research and Service (ANSERS) Institute, and a former associate professor at the Neag School of Education. "We can't do it the old way, where, you come in and meet with us, we write you a letter, you take the letter to your professor, they sign it. We can't do this anymore, so some universities responded by moving the whole process online. Well, now everybody wins. It's much easier to do those things." It's also more private, Faggella-Luby says - allowing students to discuss their need for accommodations with their professors outside of an open classroom environment. "We know only half the college kids who have disabilities when they get to college file the paperwork to get the services that they have an entitlement to," says Faggella-Luby. "Why? Well, at least for some, they don't want to be one of those kids who has to stay behind at the end of the first class with a piece of paper in their hand, basically saying, 'Hi, I'm a kid with a disability.' What this did was expedite, but also destigmatize - create an opportunity for folks to be able to communicate in a private way about something that is very private, and yet still maintain a high level of services. That to me was essential." "Some students with chronic health issues talked about how even going to meet with the disability service staff was a challenge because of the health issues - just getting across campus - but being able to check in virtually made all the difference," says Joseph Madaus, professor of educational psychology with the Neag School of Education; director of UConn's Collaborative on Postsecondary Education and Disability, or CPED; and principal investigator for the study. Communication, the researchers said, was at the heart of the responses they received, which they said were highly bimodal - respondents had either very positive or very negative feelings about how things went at their university. "When the students talked about what worked well and what was important, it was clear, consistent, early, proactive communication and flexibility," says Madaus. "And then when students talked about what didn't go well, it was that the communication wasn't clear and it wasn't proactive and things were just not stable anymore." "We were concerned that maybe kids lost access to their accommodations, and then just got railroaded and totally forgotten about," Faggella-Luby says. "In fact, that wasn't what they were telling us. Instead, there were these positive ways of communicating. People were seeing if they needed additional accommodations. The professors going online and making the video pause-able, which they've never done before, now allowed them to have completely different, enhanced access, without having to ask for it." The students also noted the benefits of changes - like the availability of closed captioning and transcripts for recorded lectures, and flexibility on assignments and due dates - which Madaus noted are also principles of Universal Design for Learning, a framework for teaching faculty to incorporate methods that support multiple ways of learning while maintaining quality educational standards. "The students didn't voice this, but what they said fell into categories of Universal Design, where faculty are presenting material in multiple ways," Madaus said, "and that benefits not only the students with disabilities, but it will benefit a wide range of learners within the environment." The researchers noted their sample included mostly women, that most participants were from the eastern portion of the country, and that the study represented only a snapshot in time - focusing on period when the pandemic was new. "We've wondered if maybe the students had a higher tolerance, because they sort of appreciated that this shift that happened was unprecedented and that everyone was basically doing the best that they could," Gelbar says. The research team is currently crafting a second survey to look at how students with disabilities perceived their educational experiences into 2020-2021 academic year, when the pandemic had been ongoing for months and faculty would have presumably had more time to prepare for a completely remote experience. They also intend to ask additional questions about the impact of quarantine on learning as well as the pandemic's overall impact on student mental health. But what the study did show, the researchers said, is that, for disability service providers, offering some form of remote services is beneficial, as is proactively providing course offerings in different modalities that can make course materials more accessible to all students. "In the online format, we can make things more accessible to students," Gelbar says, "and the more that we do that proactively, it's not only benefiting students with disabilities, but all students." "The benefits of high-quality training for university faculty and these Universal Design practices help every single discipline," says Faggella-Luby, "and what comes out of it is better content-area learning, And it's not one more thing to do, it's the right thing to do, and kids learn better. Your degree means more, their mastery is better. It's a horrible situation that we had to go through, but I hope that's something that lives from this." This study was also co-authored by Lyman Dukes III '01 PhD, a professor of special education in the College of Education at the University of South Florida. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-20 00:38:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LONDON, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Another 4,802 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,285,684, according to official figures released Friday. The country also reported another 101 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 126,026. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test. More than 26.2 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures. Britain also broke its record for the most coronavirus jabs given out in one day with a total of 660,276 doses being administered nationwide on Thursday, the government figures showed. According to the British Department of Health and Social Care, almost 50 percent of all British adults have received a jab. The National Health Service (NHS) England has warned that Britain is going to face a "significant reduction" in vaccine supplies from March 29 onwards. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Thursday that a need to retest 1.7 million vaccine doses as well as delays to doses arriving from India are the reasons why Britain is facing a "tighter" supply in COVID jabs next month. But the government insisted that the country is on course to offer all adults a dose by the end of July. To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines. Enditem Astroscale will launch its End of Life Services (ELSA-d) on a mission to clean up over 9,000 tons of space debris. A demonstration to test the new technology will launch on Saturday, March 20, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, according to Katie Hunt with CNN. ALIEN BACTERIA: Bacteria found on the ISS could be key to growing plants UK science minister Amanda Solloway describes why the mission to clean up space is vital in a press release. The removal of hazardous space debris is not only environmentally important but is also a huge commercial opportunity for the UK, with companies like Astroscale leading the way in demonstrating how we can make space safer for everyone, Solloway said. According to the release, the launch is a groundbreaking mission for not only space debris removal, but is also leading the way in "undertaking complex rendezvous operations in space, such as end-of-life services. " The space junk in question is the combination of old satellite parts in addition to entire satellites and rocket bodies, Hunt wrote. A Soyuz 2 rocket with a 175-kilogram spacecraft and attached satellite will launch into space to carry out the mission. "The spacecraft and the 17-kilogram satellite the debris to be cleaned up will separate and then perform a high-stakes game of cat and mouse over the next few months," Hunt said. The mission will test whether the spacecraft can clench and dock with the satellite as it hurtles through space. Also, the rocket will be traveling at speeds of 17,500 miles per hour, according to Hunt. John Auburn, managing director of Astroscale UK and group chief commercial officer said now is the time to take action, Hunt wrote. "Now is the time to take the threat of debris seriously by committing to debris removal programs and preparing satellites for future removal at their end of life," Auburn said. "Avoiding catastrophic collisions will help to protect the space ecosystem and ensure all orbits can continue to thrive sustainably for generations to come." Astroscale is planning to broadcast the launch via live stream. The stream starts at 2 p.m. (JST) on March 20 and will feature speakers including Astroscale founder and CEO Nobu Okada. Keeping Up With The Kardashians star Kim Kardashian has a new SKIMS line coming out this month. The 40-year-old estranged wife of Kanye West shared the news on Friday that her brand is partnering with French company Jacquard. In the promotional images the mother-of-four can be seen posing in silky bras and pajama pants as she is at a dinner table with sisters Kourtney and Khloe as well as some of her best friends La La Anthony, Steph Shep, Jen Atkin and Allison Statter. More sales: Keeping Up With The Kardashians star Kim Kardashian has a new SKIMS line coming out A way to go: The 40-year-old estranged wife of Kanye West shared the news on Friday that her brand is partnering with Jacquard 'It's a Skims dinner party!!!' began the daughter of Kris Jenner who had opened bottles of champagne on the table under decadent chandeliers. She then shared: COMING SOON: @SKIMS JACQUARD. Jacquard is a French design company. 'MY FAVE Skims collection! I always say this but we keep outdoing ourselves LOL,' said Kim. 'A glossy new collection of ultra-luxe and silky smooth loungewear patterned with a Jacquard SKIMS logo,' added the star who already has perfume and makeup brands. She is trying her best: Though she is going through a divorce, Kim has never looked better 'Drops in 4 colors and in sizes XXS - 4X on Tuesday, March 23 at 9AM PT... Swipe to see this fun campaign w my besties!!!' Kim was dancing and sipping on a drink as she wore two crosses necklaces filled with diamonds. She wore a soft pink satin bra with bottoms and a jacket as she raised her arms and moved her hips. In another image, Kim wore the same outfit but in silver as she added chunky diamond necklaces. Party on: In the promotional images the mother of four can be seen posing in silky bras and pajama pants as she is at a dinner table with sister Kourtney and Khloe as well as some of her best friends There was also a pink SKIMS face mask on the table where it looked like the ladies were having one amazing party. Also in the images were Kim's good friends La La Anthony, Steph Shep, Jen Atkin and Allison Statter, among others. On the SKIMS Instagram page it reads: 'Stay up all night with a glossy new collection of ultra-luxe and silky smooth loungewear patterned with a Jacquard SKIMS logo. Join the waitlist now via the link in our bio for early access to shop.' On the SKIMS website it says the company is 'setting new standards by providing solutions for every body. From technically constructed shapewear that enhances your curves to underwear that stretches to twice its size, our goal is to consistently innovate on the past and advance our industry for the future.' The bad girls club: Khloe stands over older sister Kourtney who have fun on the shoot This launch comes exactly one month after Kim filed for divorce from Kanye. They cited 'irreconcilable differences' as the reason behind their split. The reality star filed for divorce from the rapper after seven years of marriage on February 19 and court documents have revealed the reasoning behind the marriage breakdown. They also confirm that Kim has asked for joint legal and physical custody of her and Kanye's four children - North, seven, Saint, five, Chicago, three, and Psalm, 21 months. The court documents reveal that the star has requested to terminate spousal support and references a prenup Kim and Kanye have in place when it comes to separating property. Meanwhile, a source has claimed that Kim has a 'different vision of the world' to her estranged husband and the pair would clash over their differing opinions, especially when it came to raising their kids. An insider told People magazine: 'They have a different vision of the world and how their kids should be raised. Kim will always support Kanye and his causes and encourage him with their kids, but her future with work, family and life in general are strictly up to her. She makes it happen. 'Kim will continue with her projects and so will Kanye. What they want in life and for their kids doesn't always match.' Despite their different views, Kim and Kanye were also recently reported to be dedicated to doing the best for their brood. Another insider claimed: 'Kim thinks it's important that the kids have a relationship with their dad and that he is a big part of their lives. For now, the kids have primarily been with Kim and living at the house. Any time Kanye wants to see them, he can. She is not stopping him. Kim is not sure what the future will be like, but she has made it clear to Kanye that he is welcome to spend time with them whenever he wants.' Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) Businessman Dennis Uy's Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. is disposing of its entire stake in 2GO Group Inc. to Sy-led SM Investments Corp., seeking to save itself from further losses amid the pandemic. The sale was disclosed by the involved parties through separate statements to the local bourse on Friday. Through its subsidiary KGLI-NM Holdings Inc., listed Chelsea is selling its remaining stake of around 31.73% in the shipping line to SMICthe listed conglomerate of the Sy familyat 31.73 per share. Sale conditions will be completed within the next three months, Chelsea noted. Proceeds from the divestment will be used to pay its debt used for the acquisition of the shares. Chryss Alfonsus V. Damuy, its president and chief executive, said the move was necessary to keep Chelsea from sinking with 2GO as the global health crisis continues to batter the shipping industry. "With the divestment, Chelsea will not be impacted by 2GO losses, which will aid the Company in recovering from the current COVID-19 pandemic," he was quoted as saying in the filing. 2GO's net loss in the first nine months of 2020 widened to 1.043 billion from 971.5 million losses in 2019. This, as total revenues dropped to 13.69 billion versus the 16.22 billion booked a year earlier. For the same period, Chelsea swung to a net loss of 2.6 billion, a reversal from a profit of 20 million in 2019. "With our numerous group-wide initiatives currently being undertaken, we are confident that Chelsea will be best prepared and positioned to take advantage of the recovery of the industry as we move forward," the Chelsea executive added. After the acquisition, SMIC will gain majority control in 2GO as its stake will be boosted to 62.22 percent, making the shipping company a subsidiary of SMIC. Currently, SMIC holds 30.49% in 2GO. In a filing, SMIC also said that its board of directors approved the conduct of a mandatory tender offer to all remaining stockholders of 2GO, also at an offer price of 8.50 per share. SMIC is engaged in retail, property, and financial services businesses. It also has equity investments in other industries such as premium commercial buildings, leisure, logistics, food, and mining. Leaders in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern province of Binh Phuoc on Thursday agreed on the construction of a VND36 trillion (US$1.5 billion) expressway linking the two localities. The Ho Chi Minh City - Thu Dau Mot - Chon Thanh Expressway will stretch 70 kilometers from Chon Thanh District in Binh Phuoc Province to Go Dua Intersection in Ho Chi Minh City. The route will also run through Thu Dau Mot City in Binh Duong Province. The investment capital is estimated at VND36 trillion ($1.5 billion), of which 47 percent is expected to be funded by the state budget. The expressway will consist of three main sections. The first section stretches 1.5 kilometers in Ho Chi Minh City, costing approximately VND3 trillion ($130 million). The second section spans 57 kilometers in Binh Duong Province, including 28 kilometers of elevated roads and 10 overpasses, which will cost VND30 trillion ($1.29 billion). The third section is about 11.5 kilometers in Binh Phuoc Province, costing VND3 trillion ($130 million). This section will be designed with six lanes to facilitate the connection with the Dak Nong - Chon Thanh Expressway. During a working session in January, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc assigned Binh Phuoc Peoples Committee to coordinate with relevant units to work on capital arrangement and construction format of the project. The premier also requested the Ministry of Planning and Investment and related sides to map out a plan on channeling state budget into the implementation of the project. Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Binh Phuoc will also submit their proposals regarding the construction of the expressway. Once approved, the expressway is expected to be built within the 2021-30 period under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) form. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Syracuse, N.Y. Onondaga County will conduct a drive-thru coronavirus vaccine clinic next week at ShoppingTown Mall in DeWitt. The county has begun taking appointments for Monday and Tuesday at the site. Between 1,100 and 1,200 doses will be administered each day, said Dr. Indu Gupta, county health commissioner. County Executive Ryan McMahon said the outdoor vaccine clinic may appeal to people who are reluctant to go indoors with large numbers of people. Ordinarily, the county gives shots inside the Oncenter in downtown Syracuse. At the drive-thru operation, people will remain in their car while they receive the shot. Then they will wait 15 minutes in the car before driving off, he said. The county acquired the vacant mall in December as part of a court settlement over taxes owed by the former owner. McMahon said the county is starting to have trouble filling all its vaccine appointments. He has urged state health officials to loosen restrictions on who can get a vaccine. To make shots more available, the county today started a waiting list for people between 50 and 60 years old. Any day the county has unused vaccines, officials will contact people on the list to offer them a shot, McMahon said. In New York state, vaccines are currently limited to people 60 and older. But Onondaga County officials will contact younger adults if there is a risk of vaccines going unused, McMahon said. McMahon said he would like to open eligibility to all adults, but that decision rests with the state health department. The county today confirmed 76 new cases of coronavirus, 70% of which occurred in people 40 or younger, McMahon said. It will be difficult to drive down the number of new cases until vaccines are available to people 18-40, he said. The positive test rate in Onondaga County, averaged over the past seven days, was 0.8%, according to the health department. There were no new virus-related deaths since Wednesday, McMahon said. Some 40 Covid-19 patients were being treated in Syracuse hospitals today, McMahon said. Thirteen of the patients were in intensive care. To sign up for a vaccine from the county, click HERE. Do you have a news tip or a story idea? Contact reporter Tim Knauss of syracuse.com/The Post-Standard: email | Twitter | | 315-470-3023. More than 100 revellers gathered on a hill to watch a sunset in breach of coronavirus lockdown rules, footage has revealed. Police are keen to track down the organiser of the party at Bolehills, near Crookes in Sheffield, so they can be slapped with a 10,000 fine. Footage shot by someone on the hill shows a large crowd of people sitting in tight groups despite lockdown restrictions. There are reports a DJ played music and barbecues were lit on Wednesday. Police are keen to track down the organiser of the party at Bolehills, near Crookes in Sheffield, so they can be slapped with a 10,000 fine South Yorkshire Police officers were called at around 5.40pm to reports of a breach of lockdown restrictions. A spokeswoman for the force said: 'Police were called at around 5.40pm on Wednesday night with reports of a large gathering at Bole Hill Recreation Ground in Sheffield.' The force revealed a man thought to be the organiser was seen 'evading officers'. The spokeswoman added: 'On arrival, officers dispersed the group of around 100 people. 'Whilst the majority dispersed on seeing police, a man believed to be the organiser of the event was identified evading officers. Enquiries are ongoing to trace the organiser, with a view to serving Fixed Penalty Notices. Footage shot by someone on the hill shows a large crowd of people sitting in tight groups despite lockdown restrictions 'Our neighbourhood officers will be carrying out extra patrols throughout the area tonight and into the weekend and are asking that people continue to adhere to Covid-19 restrictions.' Recently, two people who organised a snowball fight in Leeds were fined 10,000 by West Yorkshire Police - the maximum penalty for breaking the lockdown restrictions. Sergeant Simon Kirkham of the Walkley Team had a message for people who are thinking about breaking the rules. He said: 'We must all continue to follow the restrictions, which are in place to protect people and save lives. 'The vast majority of the public are still working so hard to adhere to the rules, it is frustrating to see people willing to put the wider community at risk, please think about the consequences of your actions.' LikeThatGirlMarloThomas: Was an honour and a privilege to rally with mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, aunts. Fitzy26170: Thanks for the photos. The very large rally in Melbourne was moving and powerful. SKB: These women are the true heroes of the nation. I am one man who pledges to stand with them. There was an outpouring of respect and gratitude for two women in particular, former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins and Australian of the Year Grace Tame, for speaking up about their experiences. Higgins, who alleges she was raped on a couch in her Ministers office by a male colleague in early 2019, addressed the crowd at the Canberra march. My story was on the front page for the sole reason that it was a painful reminder to women that it can happen in Parliament House and can truly happen anywhere, she said. Loading Praising Higgins, reader Splash wrote: Agree it is unfathomable we are still fighting this same stale, tired fight. And shameful too. Thank you for your bravery. Middle aged balding white man: She is all class. She should definitely run in Cook as an independent. Then we can see if Morrison really does believe her. Thucydides: Are not Higgins and Tame extraordinarily eloquent and logical?...Could they not form a political party between them? Call it the Bleedin Obvious Party........My guess is they would wipe the floor with the major parties, WA-style. petermini: Well said Brittany. Politicians hang your heads in shame. Visagie: Brittney Higgins should be the Minister for Women in any federal government, Labor or Coalition, because she says it like it is. Senior reporter Jewel Topsfield, who covered the Canberra march, says while the rage was palpable, there was also a sense that the country is facing a reckoning over sexual assault and discrimination against women. The protesters were not just political activists championing progressive causes, she says. One single mother in her early 50s, told me she had never attended a march before, but was moved to drive to Canberra from Wollongong, because she felt that Higgins could have been her own daughter. Loading Scott Morrisons decision not to attend the rally angered many readers. The Prime Minister instead invited a small delegation of protest organisers inside Parliament House to meet him - an offer they declined. Later in Parliament he outlined the actions his government is taking on the issues raised in the March 4 Justice petition. He also lauded Australias vibrant liberal democracy that allowed peaceful protest. Not far from here, such marches, even now, are being met with bullets, but not here in this country. Not here in this country. This is a triumph of democracy when we see these things take place, he said. These words astounded many readers. SW: Is the PM implying we should be grateful that we protesters arent being shot? Wow, talk about condescending, dismissing and TOTALLY MISSING THE POINT. He wilfully refuses to hear the howls of rage and pain coming from women and girls all over Australia. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video RM: Women may get raped but at least we dont shoot them for speaking out. Good point, Scotty from Marketing. That should silence the whingers. How good is Australia? philgil: It sounds like its time for Jen and the girls to have another family chat with the PM. He still doesnt seem to get it. windmill: I can only presume that he didnt have the smarts to ask Jenny first if he should use that appalling bullets and marches line. NO NO NO Scomo. What on earth were you thinking of. Seems like you werent thinking at all. Loading softly softly......: Morrison stayed inside as he seriously thought it would be a bad PR move if he took one step outside the confines of Parliament. How cowardly of you, Scott Morrison. Albanese described Morrison to a T. Morrison and his ministry is all about political management, nothing more, nothing less. Newshound: Scotty from Marketing has just shown his true colours by not even addressing the crowd. It is time these crimes and indignations against women are stopped in their tracks. Action is needed that embraces and supports women in any workplace. Chatty Panda: Scott Morrison has failed empathy 101, and is comprehensively failing leadership 101. However some readers thought the anger was misdirected: there is only so much the federal government can do on the issues raised. phil: Amongst all the emotion, and obviously this is incredibly emotional for all people, but particularly for women and girls - there needs to be some practical outcomes. Whilst some of those issues can be addressed in Canberra, there is equally as much to be done at state level across the nation. Lampooning just Morrison might make people feel better for a moment, but it wont change anything, by itself. People give him too much credit/blame. This is bigger than him, bigger than one party, bigger than one state. Nixon: So much anti-Morrison commentary. There is absolutely nothing Morrison could have said today that would have made one iota of difference. He could have stood on the steps of Parliament with 55 recommendations carved in stone and it would not have appeased his detractors. Bruce: This not a government problem to fix. Politicians will not fix this issue. Marching to Parliament House is a complete waste of energy. They can band-aide the problem with numerous education programs. This is a generational social problem and needs to start with our kids education, and it is incumbent upon us as community members to instil an attitude change within them. Paddy: Not sure what the government is expected to do. There are already laws in place. Parents and teachers encourage and foster children to be respectful and lawful as they grow up into adulthood. And some will become criminals and its the governments fault? Andrew-Reservoir: So what do the protesters want exactly? Gender equality? How? Cultural change? How? Loading Topsfield says the task ahead was to harness the rage and implement meaningful reforms that will reduce the level of sexual assault and discrimination. This is the hard part, and as some readers observed, the challenge will be to develop a coherent list of what needs to change and continue this fight long after the dust from the marches has settled, she says. When some readers asked what would have been gained by Morrison attending the rally, other readers were quick to reply. Pjma42: He would HEAR what they are saying. POTTSVILLE Jose E. Cruz will spend more than a decade behind state prison bars after a Schuylkill County judge sentenced him Thursday for crimes stemming from a March 2019 incident in Pottsville where he pointed a gun at police. Cruz, 34, of Allentown, must serve 10 1/2 to 21 years in a state correctional institution, President Judge William E. Baldwin ruled. Baldwin said Cruz is fortunate he is heading to state prison instead of lying in a cemetery. Youre extremely lucky ... the police officers were as professional as they were, Baldwin said. When you pointed the gun at them, they had a right to be concerned about their own lives. Just before he was to go on trial, Cruz pleaded guilty Feb. 10 to prohibited possession of an offensive weapon, carrying a firearm without a license, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possessing an instrument of crime, resisting arrest, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and four counts of recklessly endangering another person. State police at Schuylkill Haven charged Cruz with pointing his unlicensed and unlawfully possessed gun at police, resisting arrest and possessing a salable amount of heroin, plus paraphernalia, around 12:40 a.m. March 8, 2019, near 507 Mahantongo St. in the city. Shoot him, shoot him, hes pointing it at me, was one of the exchanges by police recorded on body camera video during the incident, which ended with police shooting Cruz. Cruz deserved his sentence, according to First Assistant District Attorney Michael J. Stine, who had asked Baldwin to impose the term of imprisonment that he did. There should be a lengthy sentence, Stine told the judge. These are separate and distinct offenses. Acknowledging the seriousness of what Cruz did, Assistant Public Defender Andrea L. Thompson, the defendants lawyer, asked for a minimum prison term of eight or nine years. When asked, Cruz had nothing to add. Not right now, was the defendants response to Baldwins asking him if he wanted to speak. After the hearing, Stine said the city is good to be rid of Cruz. There were three problems that he caused in Pottsville, those being having a large amount of heroin, a firearm he wasnt allowed to have and also placing members of law enforcement at risk, Stine said. Thats why we asked for such a large sentence. Baldwin also sentenced Cruz to pay costs and $661 restitution to the state police crime laboratory in Bethlehem. Cruzs total prison term consists of four consecutive sentences of five to 10 years, 45 to 90 months, nine to 18 months and one to two years for prohibited possession of offensive weapon, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, resisting arrest and one of the counts of recklessly endangering another person, respectively. Cruz already is an inmate at the county prison, and Baldwin conducted the hearing by videoconference. Defendant: Jose E. Cruz Age: 34 Residence: Allentown Crimes committed: Prohibited possession of an offensive weapon, carrying a firearm without a license, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possessing an instrument of crime, resisting arrest, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and four counts of recklessly endangering another person Prison term: 10 to 21 years in a state correctional institution by Tran Hung Foxconn Technology Group, which is furthering economic cooperation in Vietnam, has invested US$ 1.5 billion in the country. Since 1987, bilateral trade has grown 27 times. Taiwanese investment has increased 28 times. Taiwan has 2,476 ongoing projects in Vietnam for a total capital investment of US$ 29.4 billion. Hanoi (AsiaNews) Vietnam opened its doors to the development of a market economy in 1987, officially enacting the Foreign Investment Act. Since then, many countries have established economic relations with the Southeast Asian nation. Among international investors, Taiwan has become one of the main sources of foreign capital in Vietnam. In 2015, the two countries held a forum on "Promoting Economic Cooperation" with the largest exchange between the two sides ever. More than 500 participants from Vietnam and Taiwan attended this economic conference in Taipei. One of the main Taiwanese companies investing in Vietnam is Foxconn Technology Group which reported US$ 3 billion in revenues in 2019, US$ 6 billion in 2020, and is expected to reach US$ 10 billion in 2021. By the end of last year, Foxconn had invested US$ 1.5 billion in Vietnam. Recently, on 10 March 2021, Taiwan News reported that the company, the world's leading electronics manufacturer, will invest another US$ 700 million in Vietnam this year. The Group's latest plant is expected to create 10,000 jobs for Vietnamese workers in 2021. In addition, the company has a target of US$ 40 billion in revenue in Vietnam over three to five years (2021 to 2023-2025). In early 2021, on Foxconns Vietnamese website, the company published a recruitment notice for electronic component assembly workers and factory engineers in Bac Ninh and Bac Giang provinces. Workers assembling electronic components will start with a basic salary of 4,900,000 VND (about US$ 210) per month, plus allowances for meals and accommodation, if they do not use the dormitory. With other allowances, Foxconn workers could earn about 8 million Vietnamese dongs (about US$ 345) per month. This month, Taiwan's Pegatron Group began making MacBooks in Vietnam. This is the first time the MacBooks have been made in Vietnam. For more than three decades (since 1987), economic cooperation between Vietnam and Taiwan has developed nonstop with bilateral trade growing 27 times. Capital invested by Taiwanese companies rose 28 times. Since 1990, trade relations between Vietnam and Taiwan have developed rapidly and strongly. This is evident in terms of volume. At present, Taiwan has 2,476 ongoing projects with total investment capital of US$ 29.4 billion in Vietnam. In addition to bilateral economic relations, these two sides have worked on and developed many other aspects of trade, investment, culture, tourism . . . The Xinghua Village (literally "Apricot Blossom Village") in Chizhou City, Anhui Province is a scenic spot famous for a well-known poem, Qingming, written by the eminent Chinese poet Du Mu of Tang Dynasty during his trip here. Its history also won it the name of "the village of poems". Spring is the best season to visit this antique village as the apricot flowers here are now in full bloom. These blossoms cover the hills and roads like clouds and mountain snow, creating a ethereal atmosphere. Tourists can also wander in the antique buildings and watch traditional performances to experience the classic charm of Chinese culture in this world of light pink. Washington, March 19 : US states have set their own eligibility lists for Covid-19 vaccines and have varied widely when it came to inmates being inoculated against the virus, according to a media report. The likelihood that an inmate has been offered a vaccination at this point depends largely on which state their prison is in, Xinhua news agency quoted The New York Times report as saying on Thursday. The report comes as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended prioritising prisoners for vaccines with other vulnerable groups. Nearly half of roughly 8,700 state prison inmates in Kansas have received a vaccine, and state officials said that all prisoners who want shots will have gotten at least a first dose by the middle of April. However, in Florida, no inmates in state-run correctional institutions have gotten shots, corrections officials said, not even those who would qualify under the state's age and health guidelines if they were not behind bars. "There's no way you're going to get some prisoner a vaccine over a senior citizen," Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was quoted as saying by The New York Times report. About half of states, including California, Connecticut and Kansas, have included all inmates in early phases of their vaccination plans. Florida has yet to make state inmates eligible at all, while Texas and Arkansas this week announced that they would begin allowing some inmates to get shots, the media said. Many of the remaining states have chosen to vaccinate inmates based largely on their eligibility if they were not in prison; older inmates, for instance, are getting shots in many states, while young, healthier ones are not, it added. Health experts, including the American Medical Association, urged to give preference to inmates in vaccination because social distancing is nearly impossible behind bars, overcrowding is common and ventilation often is poor. Health officials are particularly worried about the risks of more readily transmitted Covid-19 variants in settings such as prisons. Case rates among inmates are more than four times as high as those of the general public, and the death rate is more than twice as high, according to the report. The virus has killed over 2,600 prison and jail inmates and infected more than 515,000 others, according to a New York Times database. Syracuse, N.Y. Upstate Medical Universitys 175 graduating medical students still partied, but not as hearty as usual, when they learned today where they will spend the next three to eight years training to become full-fledged doctors. The annual event, known as Match Day, happened simultaneously at medical schools nationwide when the National Resident Matching Program informed applicants where they will do their residencies. Match Day is normally celebrated with all students crowded together, simultaneously ripping open envelopes to discover whats in store for them. Last years Match Day event was conducted entirely online because of Covid-19. This years event followed a hybrid format. Upstate students gathered in small groups to learn of their matches. They then visited a larger space on campus in shifts to share their matches with Upstate officials and with family and friends online. Upstate said 75 students will enter primary care specialties including family medicine, psychiatry, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology. Ninety-one students, more than half the class, will remain in New York state. Thirty-two will stay in Syracuse: 27 at Upstate and five at St. Josephs Health. Match Day is always one of the best days of the year at Upstate, said Dr. Mantosh Dewan, Upstates president. These students have worked incredibly hard under difficult circumstances so to see them succeed and be able to celebrate the next chapter in their medical careers is wonderful. James T. Mulder covers health and higher education. Have a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com A Passaic County man was shot and killed late Thursday in New Jerseys third largest city, authorities said. Paterson police officers responded to a report of shots fired near a restaurant on North Main Street at 11:43 p.m. Thursday, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said in a statement. Officers found Rasheed Davis, 22, of Paterson, inside the restaurant with gunshot wounds, the statement said. He was pronounced dead at the scene 20 minutes later, the statement said. Police continue to investigate the fatal shooting and no additional information was released as of Friday afternoon. Anyone with information is asked to call the prosecutors office tips line at 1-877-370-PCPO or email tips@passaiccountynj.org. Tipsters can also call the Paterson police detective bureau at 973-321-1120. 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. "Agradezco a la empresa por su gran compromiso social que ha sido demostrado en la pandemia, y quiero resaltar la importancia del trabajo coordinado entre el Estado y el sector minero en beneficio del pais", manifesto el titular del @MinemPeru, Jaime Galvez. pic.twitter.com/IJN386ePB4 NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 19, 2021 / DigiCrypts Blockchain Solutions Inc. o/a DIGIMAX GLOBAL SOLUTIONS (the "Company" or "DigiMax") (CSE:DIGI) is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced private placement of equity securities (the "Offering"). The Offering was for gross proceeds of approximately CAD$13.2 million and consisted of the sale of 37,793,715 common shares, along with warrants to purchase an aggregate of up to 37,793,715 common shares, at a purchase price of CAD$0.35 per common share and associated warrant. The warrants have an exercise price of CAD$0.365 per common share and exercise period of three and one-half years (on or before September 17, 2024). The net proceeds of the private placement will be used by the Company for working capital and general corporate purposes and may be used to fund strategic partnerships that may include an acquisition of all or part of existing companies operating in similar artificial intelligence, or blockchain/crypto spaces. However, no agreements have been signed, nor any terms agreed on, in respect of any such transactions. H.C. Wainwright & Co. acted as the exclusive placement agent for the private placement. H.C. Wainwright & Co. received (i) a cash commission equal to 8.0% of the gross proceeds of the Offering and (ii) 3,023,497 non-transferable broker warrants (the "Broker Warrants"). Each Broker Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share at an exercise price of CAD$0.4375 at any time on or before September 17, 2024. No securities were offered for sale or sold to Canadian residents. The securities issued under the Offering are subject to customary resale restrictions in the United States with no resale restrictions in Canada. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. This press release shall not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities have not been, nor will they be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act, 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 DigiMax DigiMax is a company formed to utilize advanced financial technologies, together with predictive analytics derived from artificial intelligence-based machine learning, to provide customers with high value products and services in multiple market sectors. The recent acquisitions of 100% of the DataNavee shares, and Darwin Ecosystem assets have given DigiMax a globally competitive artificial intelligence platform from which to offer these products and services. DigiMax currently has two such products available at present: its Projected Personality Interpreter (PPI) offered to large organizations to assist with assessing personality traits of existing and potential employees, and CryptoDivine. Ai that is a subscription-based information tool that assists investors in determining when price trend changes are likely to occur for Bitcoin and Ethereum. DigiMax expects to increase the number of valuable product offerings made available to small businesses and individuals in the coming months. Contacts DigiMax: Martti Kangas Investor Communications 647-521-9261 mkangas@digimax-global.com Chris Carl President & CEO 416-312-9698 ccarl@digimax-global.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements or information". Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: anticipate, intend, plan, goal, seek, believe, project, estimate, expect, strategy, future, likely, may, should, will and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include, among others, statements we make regarding the use of proceeds from the private placement, and information about future plans, expectations and objectives of the Company. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. The Company may not actually achieve its plans, projections, or expectations. The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company, including expectations and assumptions concerning the use of net proceeds of the private placement. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following:the adequacy of our cash flow and earnings, the availability of future financing and/or credit, and other conditions which may affect our ability to expand the App Platform described herein, the level of demand and financial performance of the cryptocurrency industry, developments and changes in laws and regulations, including increased regulation of the cryptocurrency industry through legislative action and revised rules and standards applied by the Canadian Securities Administrators, Ontario Securities Commission, and/or other similar regulatory bodies in other jurisdictions, disruptions to our technology network including computer systems, software and cloud data, or other disruptions of our operating systems, structures or equipment, the impact of Covid-19 or other viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate, consumer sentiment towards the Company's products and services, failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations, government regulations, competition, loss of key employees and consultants, and general economic, market or business conditions, the impact of technology changes on the products and industry, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in disclosure documents filed by the Company with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com. Given these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. SOURCE: DigiMax Global Solutions View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/636457/DigiMax-Announces-Closing-of-CAD132-Million-Private-Placement-with-Institutional-Investors-to-Fund-Future-Expansion Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) Russia has committed the first delivery of Sputnik V doses in the first half of April, noting that the Philippines is "a great priority" amid the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine. "We will start the first shipment in the first half of April and we are already registered in 52 nations around the world. There is definitely great demand for Sputnik V but [the] Philippines is a great priority for us," Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, told CNN Philippines' News Night. Dmitriev said the volume to be shipped will still be determined and will later be announced by the Philippine government. He gave assurances they will be able to produce enough doses to supply the needs of the country's vaccination program, adding that they recently had a partnership that will enable them to produce another 200 million doses this year. On March 18, Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government is planning to negotiate with Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute to purchase two million doses of its Sputnik V vaccine by April. The company that funded the production of Sputnik V said they are also eyeing to manufacture the vaccine in the Philippines. They are currently in the final negotiation process, and if an agreement is established, production can start within the next 4 to 5 months, Dmitriev noted. Sputnik V is currently being manufactured in countries like India, Brazil, China, and South Korea. On its effect against COVID-19 variants, Dmitriev said the vaccine is efficient against the variant first detected in the UK, while its efficacy against the variant from South Africa will be released in the next weeks. He noted that it shows "very high efficacy" so far. There is currently a partnership with AstaZeneca to make its shots more efficient, an approach seen to be vital in fighting future variants, Dmitriev added. Sputnik V is the fourth vaccine to be granted Emergency Use Authorization by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration. FDA Director General Eric Domingo earlier said the Russia-made vaccine can only be administered to clinically healthy individuals aged 18 and above. However, Dmitriev said they already started testing Sputnik V on children, and results will be out in the following months. MT. LAUREL, N.J., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pinnacle Treatment Centers, a leader in providing accessible, affordable treatment for individuals struggling with substance abuse, has opened Athens Treatment Services, Hamilton Treatment Services and Solon Treatment Services in Ohio. Athens Treatment Services is located at 8978 United Lane, Suite 102, in Athens; Hamilton Treatment Services is located in 8500 Bilstein Blvd in Hamilton; and Solon Treatment Services is located at 29201 Aurora Road, Suite 500, in Solon. The community-based programs are among Pinnacle's 19 outpatient opioid addiction treatment centers in the Buckeye State with more on the way. In addition, Pinnacle operates a detox unitRecovery Works Portagein Ravenna; a residential treatment centerRecovery Worksin Columbus; and intensive outpatient programs with recovery homes, also in Columbus. 2020 proved to be a devastating year, not just because of COVID deaths, but because of the overdose deaths that also resulted from the coronavirus pandemic. A news release issued by the office of the Ohio Attorney General David Yost in January stated that more Ohioans died of an opioid overdose during a three-month period last year than at any time since the opioid epidemic began. Athens, Butler, and Cuyahoga Counties are three of the many areas that have seen an increase in drug-related deaths and continue to be afflicted by opioid abuse. "Ohio needs more treatment. We're trying to meet that need as quickly as possible with quality, affordable care," said Joe Pritchard, CEO, Pinnacle Treatment Centers, which offers a full continuum of care throughout Ohio. A U.S. Navy veteran, Pritchard went through his own recovery journey more than 45 years ago and has made it his personal mission to help others overcome the disease of addiction. "Addiction can affect anyone, your neighbor, your friend, your co-worker, your loved one. And this is how we can be impactful, by being embedded in the communities that need help the most." Medicaid-friendly, all three centers provide medication-assisted treatment (MAT), particularly methadone, at the facilities. MAT is the gold standard of care for opioid addiction and includes methadone, buprenorphine, Vivitrol, and counseling. The FDA-approved medicines work to curb withdrawal symptoms from heroin and pain pill addiction; prevent relapse; and help ease the physical discomfort that accompanies opioid recovery. Individual and group counseling is provided as part of a holistic approach to patient care. Relapse prevention, nutrition education, life skills counseling, meditation strategies, and trigger identification and management are a few areas of focus. Holly Broce, president of Pinnacle's opioid treatment program division, said, "It's been a painful year for so many individuals. Unfortunately, many have turned to drugs and alcohol to cope. Overdoses have spiked almost everywhere, but it's important to remember, any amount of overdoses is too many." The ultimate goal of MAT is full recovery, including the ability to live a self-directed life. This treatment approach has been shown to improve patient survival; increase retention in treatment; decrease illicit opioid use and other criminal activity; increase patients' ability to gain and maintain employment; and more. All three centers accept Medicaid, commercial insurance, and offer reasonable self-pay rates. Their hours are Mondays through Fridays, 6 a.m.- 2 p.m., and on Saturdays, 6 a.m.- 9 a.m. Individuals can call Athens at 740-274-4246; Hamilton at 513-285-9583; and Solon at 440-337-4349 for a free confidential assessment. About Pinnacle Treatment Centers Headquartered in New Jersey, Pinnacle Treatment Centers is a recognized leader in comprehensive drug and alcohol addiction treatment serving nearly 33,000 patients daily in California (Aegis Treatment Centers), Georgia (HealthQwest), Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. With more than 115 community-based locations, Pinnacle provides a full continuum of quality care including medically-monitored detoxification/withdrawal management, residential treatment, partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programming with recovery homes, and outpatient medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder. For more information, visit pinnacletreatment.com or call 800-782-1520. SOURCE Pinnacle Treatment Centers Related Links https://pinnacletreatment.com/contact/ Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. Microsoft has taken a further step to mitigate attacks on its Exchange Server product by including a mitigation tool that it released a couple of days ago in its Defender Anti-Virus program. In an advisory, the Microsoft 365 Defender Team said: "...we have taken an additional step to further support our customers who are still vulnerable and have not yet implemented the complete security update. "With the latest security intelligence update, Microsoft Defender Antivirus and System Centre Endpoint Protection will automatically mitigate CVE-2021-26855 on any vulnerable Exchange Server on which it is deployed. "Customers do not need to take action beyond ensuring they have installed the latest security intelligence update (build 1.333.747.0 or newer), if they do not already have automatic updates turned on." On 3 March, Microsoft disclosed that four zero-day exploits were being used to attack on-premises installations of Exchange Server. Proof-of-concept code was released on GitHub on 10 March but was taken down by the Microsoft-owned code repository. The code was again uploaded to GitHub a day or two later, by people other than the original poster. However the company has not leaked any further information about claims emerging last Friday that exploit code for attacking Exchange Servers had been leaked by one of its own security partners, raising the possibility that this was a red herring. The Wall Street Journal cited "people familiar with the matter" as making the claim. A wave of attacks used code similar to that which Microsoft provided to anti-virus companies on 23 February, the report claimed. An information sharing program known as the Microsoft Active Protections Program was set up in 2008 and includes about 80 companies. Some of them were sent the code by Microsoft. iTWire has sought comment from Microsoft as to why there has been no further word on this alleged leak. But there has been only silence from Redmond. The Microsoft advisory said: "The Exchange security update is still the most comprehensive way to protect your servers from these attacks and others fixed in earlier releases. "This interim mitigation is designed to help protect customers while they take the time to implement the latest Exchange Cumulative Update for their version of Exchange. "Microsoft will provide guidance to our security partners so that they have the option to make available similar, simple mitigations in their products as well." NAMANGAN, Uzbekistan -- An Uzbek official has been sentenced to two years in prison for failing to act when a woman set herself on fire in the Central Asian nation's eastern city of Namangan after being evicted from her home. The Namangan City Court said on March 18 that the previous day it found a bailiff of the branch of the Prosecutor-General's Office in the city, Jobir Sobitkhonov, guilty of inactivity that led to the death of 35-year-old Gulandom Dedabaeva, who set herself on fire protesting her eviction from her house in September. Sobitkhonov was sentenced the same day. Dedabaeva's death on September 29 shocked the country and caused a public outcry. When local authorities came to evict the single mother of two boys from the house she bought in 2018, Dedabaeva poured gasoline on herself and made a 13-minute statement accusing local authorities and a court of illegally taking her house away. She then set herself on fire. Sobitkhonov was standing next to Dedabaeva and ignored her threats to set herself on fire. Although the flames were extinguished, Dedabaeva sustained severe burns and died hours later in a local hospital. In recent years, there have been several self-immolation acts performed by Uzbek men and women to protest evictions in different parts of the country. Many of the acts have resulted in the deaths of the protesters. Dedabaeva's case started in June when a court in Namangan ruled that even though she paid for the house, the money was given to a person who in fact was not the owner of the property but a relative of the real owner. The court also said that the person who "sold" the property to Dedabaeva had used forged documents showing he was the property's owner. The court then ruled that Dedabaeva must pay $12,700 to the real owner within three months and placed her under house arrest for four years and two months for "illegally" purchasing the property. After Dedabaeva refused to pay the sum, saying she had already paid $13,000 for it, authorities arrived on September 29 to evict her. The latest self-immolation act was performed by a 42-year-old woman, Fatima Usmanova, in the eastern city of Ferghana, when local officials came to evict her from her house in January. Usmanova survived as her neighbors managed to extinguish the blaze. US President Joe Biden, on Thursday (local time), hosted Permanent Representatives from the UN Security Council, where he reaffirmed the US commitment to values-based global leadership and re-engagement with international institutions, in particular the United Nations. India was a part of this virtual gathering where India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti outlined New Delhi's commitment to reformed multilateralism and rule of law. "Privileged to virtually call on @POTUS Biden with Ambs/PRs of #UNSC. Underlined India's commitment to: Reformed multilateralism; Democracy, Pluralism and Rule of Law; Maritime Security, UN Peacekeeping and Counterterrorism; Development for All, #VaccineMaitri & #COP26," Tirumurti wrote in a tweet. According to a readout from The White House, Biden reiterated the importance of working with global partners and through multilateral institutions to end the pandemic, improve global health security, and ensure "that our nations drive an equitable and sustainable economic recovery." "President Joe Biden hosted Permanent Representatives from the UN Security Council, where he reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to values-based global leadership and re-engagement with international institutions, in particular the United Nations... President Biden also announced to the gathering that the United States intends to formally join the United Nation's Group of Friends on Climate and Security," stated the readout. Thanking U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield for her stewardship as the United States holds the Presidency of the Council this month, "the President also noted the need for the UNSC action on a range of regional crises, including those in Burma, Ethiopia, Libya, Syria, and Yemen." Biden was also joined by Special Presidential Envoy on Climate John Kerry and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, who briefed the group on U.S. priorities regarding climate change and regional security issues, respectively. (ANI) Also Read: China using pressure tactics on family members to intimidate Uyghur scribes Wanted man located Police say a wanted man has been located on Island. Officers issued an appeal yesterday to find Christopher Christian. He is the subject of a direction order as a returning resident and as such should not be in the community. Christian was arrested overnight and remains in police custody. MEKELLE, Ethiopia The calm is deceptive. A stubbled crater attests to a recent artillery barrage, but with its bustling streets and shops, the highland Ethiopian city of Mekelle has an air of relative peace. Then the stories start spilling out. Of the hospital that begins its days with an influx of bodies bearing gunshot or knife wounds people killed, relatives and Red Cross workers say, for breaching the nightly curfew. Of the young man who made the mistake of getting into a heated argument with a government soldier in a bar. Hours later, friends said, four soldiers followed him home and beat him to death with beer bottles. Of a nightlong battle between government forces and local militia fighters in a nearby town and its aftermath, when soldiers returning to collect their dead stormed into nearby homes, firing indiscriminately. RTHK: North Korea cuts ties with Malaysia over extradition North Korea severed diplomatic ties with Malaysia on Friday, abruptly shutting down a once-close relationship that took a major downturn following the shock assassination of Kim Jong Un's estranged half-brother in Kuala Lumpur airport four years ago. Pyongyang's foreign ministry said it was responding to Malaysia's extradition of a North Korean citizen to the United States earlier this month a move it labelled an "unpardonable crime" carried out under "blind obedience" to US pressure. Malaysia had been one of the nuclear-armed country's few allies until the North Korean leader's relative, Kim Jong Nam, was murdered with a banned nerve agent as he waited to catch a flight from Kuala Lumpur. Ties plunged after the Cold War-style hit but had started to get back on track with Malaysia announcing the re-opening of its Pyongyang embassy but Friday's surprise move put a swift end to that. North Korea's foreign ministry announced the "total severance of the diplomatic relations with Malaysia", according to state news agency KCNA, saying the citizen being extradited had been involved in "legitimate" trading activities in Singapore. The move came after a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin to South Korea, the second leg of an Asian tour to bolster a united front against the nuclear-armed North and an increasingly assertive China. On Thursday, the North accused the new US administration of adopting "lunatic theory", ruling out any engagement with Washington unless it changed course. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2021-03-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. The worlds largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, increased its crude oil exports to 6.582 million barrels per day (bpd) in January 2021, up from 6.495 million bpd in December 2020, data from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Friday. Total Saudi oil exports, including crude oil and total oil products, rose slightly again month-on-month by 44,000 bpd to 7.75 million bpd in January 2021, according to JODI, which compiles self-reported data from the countries. Saudi Arabia has been raising its crude oil exports every month since June last year when the Kingdom saw its crude oil exports drop to their lowest on record at just below 5 million bpd, as OPECs de facto leader led efforts from the OPEC+ group to withhold a record amount of crude from the market in response to the crash in demand. This year, Saudi Arabias crude oil exports are set to dip after January, as the worlds top oil exporter has been cutting its production by an extra 1 million bpd since February on top of its OPEC+ quota, while the only members of the alliance allowed to raise output since February are non-OPEC producers Russia and Kazakhstan. In January 2021, the Saudis surprised the market with the decision for a unilateral cut of 1 million bpd, while the OPEC+ group was only slightly easing the cuts due to the concessions to Russia and Kazakhstan. At the latest OPEC+ meeting in early March, Saudi Arabia surprised the market yet again, saying it would keep the extra cut into April, instead of only in February and March as originally planned. OPEC+ decided not to ease the cuts in Aprilexcept for a combined 150,000 bpd increase for Russia and Kazakhstanas the group is looking to tighten the market and keep its powder dry until it sees tangible proof of rebound in global oil demand. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first substantive bilateral meeting on Tuesday after the Doklam standoff, which had put ties between the two countries under strain. The meeting is the prime ministers last official engagement before flying off to Myanmar on a bilateral visit. Modi is in China for two-day BRICS Summit. During the meeting, which is taking place amids efforts from the two sides to leave the bitterness caused by the 73-day face-off between their troops in Dokalam in the Sikkim sector, sources said the two leaders are expected to discuss ways to create confidence building measures. Read | BRICS 2017 Summit: JeM, LeT in declaration due to violent activities, says China Here are highlights: #12:30 PM: I thank the Chinese government & people for their warm hospitality during the BRICS Summit. Leaving for Myanmar for a bilateral visit. #11:53 AM: Both of us know what happened this was not backward looking conversation it was forward looking: FS on if Doklam was raised in Modi-Xi meet #11:47 AM: There was a sense that if relationship is to go forward then peace & tranquility on border areas must be maintained: FS on Modi-Xi meet #11:46 AM: Important point made during meeting was peace & tranquility in the border area is prerequisite for further development of relationship: MEA #11:45 AM: Counter terrorism issues were taken up during the course of BRICS, they were not discussed in this meeting: FS Jaishankar on Modi-Xi meet #11:42 AM: Discussion constructive. Agreed at Astana that will not let differences become disputes, that was reaffirmed: FS Jaishankar on Modi-Xi meet #11:40 AM:MEA briefs media on Modi-Jinping meeting, says terrorism, defence, security featured high on agenda #11:35 AM: MEA briefs the media in Xiamen, China #11:30 AM: Xiamen, China: Meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping concludes #11:19 AM: A healthy and stable China-India relationship serves the interests of people in both countries: President Xi Jinping to PM Modi in Xiamen PM @narendramodi meeting H.E. Mr. Xi Jinping, President of China, on the sidelines of 9th BRICS summit in Xiamen, China pic.twitter.com/hDqfm54suD PIB India (@PIB_India) September 5, 2017 #11:00 AM: India and China are each other's major neighbors, we are also two of the world's largest & emerging countries: Pres Xi to PM Modi #10:55 AM: China is prepared to work with India to seek guidance from the five principles of Panchsheel: Chinese Pres XI Jinping to PM Modi #10:55 AM: The Chinese delegation comprised President Xi Jinping, Chief Spokesperson Lu Kang, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and State Councilor Yang Jiechi. China: PM Narendra Modi held bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Xiamen on the sidelines of #BRICS2017. pic.twitter.com/cWWUXEb4Fz ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2017 #10:45 AM: I congratulate you for the successful execution of BRICS Summit: PM Modi at bilateral with Chinese Pres Xi Jinping Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Xiamen on sidelines of #BRICS2017. pic.twitter.com/k5Icm8puRn ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2017 #10:47 AM: Xi Jinping slams lack of international effort to combat climate change #10:25 AM: The meeting between PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping begins #8:50 AM: PM Narendra Modi addresses 'Dialogue of Emerging Market & Developing Countries' -PM speaks at Dialogue: I am pleased to exchange perspectives with you on shared priority of achieving comprehensive sustainable devel't -Recently India completed its first voluntary review of SDGs. The bedrock of our dev agenda lies in the notion of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas -PM: Our programmes are geared to accomplish these priority goals in a time-bound manner. -PM: India has a long tradition of partnerships with fellow developing countries, while pursuing our own aspirations for growth -PM: Earlier this year, we launched the South Asia Satellite to benefit willing regional partners in meeting their developmental goals. -At the Third IAFS in 2015, with participation of all 54 African countries, we decided to double the number of ITEC scholarships to 50,000 -Our dev partnerships projects are providing water, electricity, roads, healthcare, tele-medicine, and basic infra in dozens of countries -PM: Our no strings attached model of cooperation is driven purely by the requirements and priorities of our partner countries -India is gorwing at a rapid pace: PM Modi PM suggests that BRICS leadership for global transformation can be achieved through Ten Noble Commitments pic.twitter.com/w12HnDXcXM Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) September 5, 2017 -Our efforts should be targetted at making next decade a golden one: PM Modi -We need coordinated action and cooperation in areas such as counter terrorism, cyber security and disaster management: PM Narendra Modi -We need to work together to create a greener world and mitigate the menace of climate change: PM Narendra Modi -PM @narendramodi calls for an inclusive world, where the poorest of the poor are integrated into the financial mainstream. -PM urges BRICS nations to work collectively for a digital world, skilled world, healthier world, equitable world and harmonious world. PM @narendramodi at BRICS Emerging Markets and Developing Countries Dialogue for promoting mutually beneficial coop'n for Common Development pic.twitter.com/S37vOgdpkT Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) September 5, 2017 PM Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping & Russian Pres Vladimir Putin arrive at Dialogue of Emerging Market & Developing Countries in Xiamen. pic.twitter.com/v1hq1pzC4r ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2017 China: PM Narendra Modi arrives at International Conference Centre, Xiamen for group photo of #BRICS leaders and leaders of guest countries pic.twitter.com/6h7g07hyGQ ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2017 Read | PM Modi, Chinese president Jinping display bonhomie on day 1 Doklam Standoff The Chinese and the Indian troops were engaged in a standoff since June 16 after the Indian side stopped the construction of a road by the Chinese Army.On August 28, Indias External Affairs Ministry announced that New Delhi and Beijing have decided on expeditious disengagement of their border troops in the disputed Dokalam area. Asked if there was any link between the BRICS declaration which for the first time named Pakistan-based terror groups for their violent activities and resolution of the Dokalam standoff, Secretary (East) in the MEA Preeti Saran answered in the negative, saying BRICS is a multilateral forum where outcomes are based on consensus. It cannot be linked, she added. Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang told the media in Beijing that details of the meeting we will release in due course. Read | BRICS countries have responsibilities to uphold global peace: Xi Jinping Apart from Xi, Modi will also hold a bilateral meeting with the President of Egypt, which is among the five counties -- Mexico, Guinea, Thailand and Tajikistaninvited by China as part of BRICS Plus outreach exercise. Xi and his wife hosted a banquet for the BRICS leaders on Monday evening followed by Chinese cultural extravaganza. Modi, who attended the banquet along with other leaders, also interacted informally with the leaders of the guest countries. (With Inputs from PTI) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. COVID. Codes. Cash. What do they have in common? Cybercriminals. In a virtual media conference, global cybersecurity company Kaspersky unmasked the latest cyberthreats banking and financial services industry should be on guard against, as the pandemic continues in Southeast Asia (SEA). Kasperskys cybersecurity expert noted the main trends witnessed in the cyberspace last year, and will continue in 2021. These include the abuse of COVID-19 theme, the exploit of researches related to the pandemic, and the scams and misinformation about the virus and the vaccines. It is becoming clear that these threat actors will keep on using topics related with the pandemic to trick the human mind. While vaccines are here, the situation continues to be uncertain. Countries are still implementing lockdowns, virtual learning and working are both here to stay, and digital payments are on the rise. This means IT infrastructure remains outstretched, further opening loopholes for threats targeting beyond Windows and internet-facing network devices as well as multi-platform and supply chain attacks, reveals Park, Senior Security Researcher, Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) at Kaspersky. As of last year, more than 80,000 COVID-related domain connections and malicious websites were detected by Kaspersky in SEA alone. Malaysia registered the highest number followed by Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. This trend is expected to continue until 2021 as the region continues its battle against the pandemic and rolls out vaccines in different phases. Cybercrime groups targeting banks, cryptocurrency exchanges in Southeast Asia Banks remain charming targets for cyber adversaries. In fact, data from Kasperskys GReAT revealed that banks and financial institutions were the second and third most targeted sectors last year, globally. The Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) landscape last year according to Kasperskys Global Research and Analysis Team One of the campaigns singling out banks in SEA is JsOutProx malware. Even though this malware is currently not a highly sophisticated strain, Kaspersky experts noted its continued attempts to infiltrate banks in the region. The cybercriminals behind this module malware exploit file names associated with bank-related businesses and use heavily obfuscated script files, an anti-evasion tactic. This social engineering technique particularly preys on bank employees to get inside the institutions network. Once in, Park shares that JSOutProx can load more plugins to perform malicious acts against its victims including remote access, data exfiltration, command and control (C2) server takeover, and more. The other lucrative target for cybercriminals is the emerging cryptocurrency business in SEA. As the worth of cryptocurrency surge, many cyber threat groups are now waging online attacks against this sector. A Kaspersky researcher recently identified that one of the cryptocurrency exchange in the region was compromised. As a result of thorough forensic investigation, it was confirmed that the Lazarus group was behind this attack detected in Singapore. Another cryptocurrency-related threat is SnatchCrypto campaign, which was being conducted by the BlueNoroff APT. This gang is a subgroup of Lazarus which particularly attacks banks. It was also allegedly associated with the $81M Bangladesh Bank Heist. Kaspersky has been tracking this SnatchCrypto since the end of 2019 and discovered the actor behind this campaign has resumed its operations with similar strategy. In terms of the factors behind the increased threats against the sector, Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky comments, Cryptocurrency is steadily being embraced in SEA, hence it is a natural progression for cybercriminals to set their eyes here. Its growth is part and parcel of the regions digital transformation, and is parallel to the increased adoption of e-commerce and digital payments. As we continue to move our money to the online world, we have also witnessed massive data breaches and ransomware attacks last year which should serve as a warning for financial institutions and payment service providers. It is crucial for banking and financial services providers to realize, as early as now, the value of intelligence-based, proactive defense to fend off these costly cyberattacks, Yeo adds. The last cybercrime group discussed by Park is the Kimsuky APT. Kaspersky first reported about Kimsuky in 2013 and it has since evolved in terms of tactics, techniques, and victimology. It initially targeted think-tanks in South Korea, particularly for cyberespionage. However, recent telemetry showed that the versatile and agile group now has strong financial motivation. We have been monitoring Kimsukys strong presence in South Korea. Our research showed they are using two infiltration techniques --- attacks via spearphishing and attacks against supply chain. Either way, they target cryptocurrency investors to exfiltrate data and for remote access. With the group showing strong financial motivation, it is highly possible that their attacks can go beyond South Korea, particularly towards its neighboring regions like Southeast Asia, explains Park. To improve banks and financial organizations cyber defences, experts in Kaspersky suggest the following: This article is part of the Free Speech Project, a collaboration between Future Tense and the Tech, Law, & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law that examines the ways technology is influencing how we think about speech. During World War II, Unit 731 of the Japanese military undertook horrific medical experimentation in Manchukuo (Northeast China). Among other things, members of Unit 731 intentionally infected people with the plague as part of an effort to develop bioweapons. The units crimes have been well documented. But if you read the Japanese Wikipedia page on Unit 731 in January, you wouldnt get the full story. The article said that it is a theory that human experiments actually took place. It was just one example of the whitewashing of war crimes on Japanese Wikipedia, as I discovered when I was researching the war. Advertisement Around the same time, Wikipedia celebrated its 20th birthday and received praise in the U.S. and U.K. media for the accuracy of its articles. But the coverage focused on the English version, even though Wikipedia is just as influential in other languages. Japanese Wikipedia is the most visited edition of Wikipedia after English. On average it receives 1 billion page views per month. Japanese Wikipedia pages are consistently the top result on most search engines. But Japanese Wikipedia is not an outlierthere is a wider misinformation and disinformation problem on non-English editions of Wikipedia. Advertisement Advertisement If you look at The Nanjing Massacre () page on Japanese Wikipedia, the name has been changed to The Nanjing Incident (), and it says, The Chinese side calls it the Nanjing Massacre, but the truth of the incident is still unknown. It includes no pictures of the massacre or events leading up to it, even though such pictures exist. One of the most troubling is the page on Comfort Women a euphemism for the mostly Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military. The page uses the word baishun(), meaning prostitution, to describe them, implying that they were not forced. In an apparent attempt to minimize the phenomenon, the article discusses the practices of other nations. In one passage, it says, there were three types of battlefield sex policies during WWII: free love (British, U.S.), comfort station (Japan, Germany, France), rape (Soviet Union, Korea). This is not only false but also incomprehensible, and that seems to be the point. The article is not designed to inform the readers but to confuse them and cast a seed of doubt in their minds. Advertisement The misinformation on Wikipedia reflects something larger going on in Japanese society. These WWII-era war crimes continue to affect Japans relationships with its neighbors. In recent years, as Japan has seen an increase in the rise of nationalism, thenPrime Minister Shinzo Abe argued that there was no evidence of Japanese government coercion in the comfort women system, while others tried to claim the Nanjing Massacre never happened. Advertisement Each Wikipedia page has a talk section that shows the history of discussions the editors have had about the article. On the talk pages of controversial historical topics, I found records of people repeatedly raising concerns and making numerous unsuccessful attempts to correct the content. Before 2010, there was a page for The Nanjing Massacre, but an editor suggested renaming it The Nanjing Incident. Only one another editor agreed to the proposal, but it was adopted within a week. Later, several editors protested the change, claiming that renaming happened too quickly, that they werent even aware of the proposal, and that the former name was more commonly used. But their views were dismissed. Advertisement Similarly, I discovered that the old version of the Unit 731 page contained a section called Human Experiment that included witness accounts of both victims and perpetrators. But in 2020 a new version deleted the section, replacing it with a much smaller subsectionthe one that calls the experimentation a theory. It says, In recent years, U.S. official documents have been declassified and studied, but no records of inhumane experiments conducted by Unit 731 have been found. A user who attempted to restore the old version was accused of excessive quotations and had his account blocked indefinitely. Ive also found other blocked accounts belonging to the users who had challenged revisionists views. Advertisement Historical revisionists in the community often invoke neutrality, one of the pillars of Wikipedia, to defend their positions, claiming their views are neutral. Other times, they employ rules such as copyright issue to delete edits, controlling the platform. Advertisement In January, the Washington Post ran a piece headlined On Its 20th Birthday, Wikipedia Might Be the Safest Place Online. The thrust of this article was that unlike other big tech platforms, Wikipedia had learned to fight misinformation and disinformation. One of the ways this was possible, the Post noted, was that it had only one page for each subject. This point was repeated by Katherine Maher, Wikimedia CEO, in the interview with Al Jazeera, in which she said, the fact that we only have one page, its the same page thats viewed by absolutely everyone across the globe is really important. But Wikipedia exists in 302 languagesthus more than one page for each subject exists across the globe. The statement by Maher itself reveals a false assumption: Yes, the English Wikipedia is viewed by people across the globe. But other language versions, such as Japanese, are primarily viewed and edited by people of a particular nation. Advertisement English is recognized as an official language in a total of 67 different countries. People of different nationalities and backgrounds speak English. In contrast, Japanese is primarily spoken in Japan. This difference explains, at least partially, the reason Japanese Wikipedia has a problem with disinformation. Non-English Wikipedia communities tend to be much more isolated, resulting in inherent bias on certain topics. We have seen this on Wikipedia editions besides Japanese. For instance, since 2013, the Croatian Wikipedia has received international attention for whitewashing the crimes of WWII, according to the Croatian Wikipedia page. Its also accused of promoting a fascist worldview. Advertisement Cultural differences also play a major part in the way technology platforms are used. In a recent interview, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales said the online encyclopedia was more of an enlightenment project. Some of the important values of the Enlightenment are freedom of speech, using reason to arrive at truth, and freely discussing societal problems in the public sphere. Advertisement But these Western values are not necessarily practiced in the rest of the world. Take the concept of the public sphere, for instance. In the West, people have been coming together to freely discuss societal problems and ideas for hundreds of years, but Japanese dont discuss social problems in public. In fact, were encouraged not to discuss controversial subjects for the sake of social harmony. There is no tradition of a public sphere in Japan. These cultural differences are reflected in the way people use Wikipedia. The talk pages on Japanese Wikipedia show how a group of editors often silence those with opposing views. Users who challenge them risk being accused of political activism or violating rules and have their accounts blocked. Its similar to ijime (bullying), a societal problem in Japan. The community is far from what the public sphere is supposed to be. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Japanese Wikipedia also has the lowest number of administrators per active user of all language editions. Administrators have the ability to block users, protect pages, edit protected pages, delete pages, rename pages without restriction, and so on. According to Wikidata, Japanese Wikipedia has 15,774 active users and only 41 administrators (0.26 percent of the user base), while the English Wikipedia has 144,828 active users and 1,109 administrators (0.77 percent). This means that a few dozen people within the Japanese Wikipedia have power over what goes on in the platform. Administrators in the Japanese Wikipedia are known to protect articles (which means restricting who can edit the entry) that become the sites of edit wars. Currently, that includes the Unit 731 page. Advertisement When I wrote about the problems with Japanese Wikipedia recently in my Japanese blog, I received overwhelming responses. Many said that theyve been concerned about historical revisionism in the Japanese Wikipedia. One person wrote, Ive tried to fix these pages many times, but my edits are almost immediately erased. Now Ive given up trying. Another wrote, The notion that the more people continue to edit, the better it gets is uniquely American. This doesnt happen to the Japanese version because its isolated. Advertisement After several attempts to contact the Wikimedia Foundation, I finally got a response. We werent aware of the content issues you highlighted until now. With more than 300 language versions of Wikipedia it can be hard to discover issues like this, it said. But when the Daily Dot reported on historical revisionism in the Croatian Wikipedia in 2013, the response from the foundation was similarly vague. A spokesperson said they were looking into the issue. In the meantime, Wikipedia has an immeasurable impact on the minds of Japanese readers who stumble upon pages filled with historical revisionism. One frustrated person left a comment on my blog, I think Japanese Wikipedia is becoming a convenient propaganda tool for those who want to control public opinions. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. AMSTERDAM, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Staples Solutions B.V. earlier today announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its business units in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria and Poland. This follows announcements earlier this year that the company has divested its UK Distribution Center business, and sold its International Contracts business. In the coming months, Staples Solutions intends to also divest its remaining business units in Portugal, the Benelux and Finland. The company has engaged a number of interested parties to that effect. Dolph Westerbos, Chief Executive Officer at Staples Solutions, expanded on the group's journey since 2017 when Staples Inc sold its European business to create the standalone company. "Staples Solutions has undergone a radical transformation in just a few years. We changed from a centrally-driven functional organization into a local country-based structure to better serve our customers. We simplified our business by focusing on contract B2B customers, and divesting non-core units in the early years. We broadened our workspace solutions so that the majority of our revenues now derive from higher margin categories beyond traditional office supplies. We invested in customer service and ecommerce, significantly improving our customers' experience. The relentless hard work paid off by returning the company to profitability." Westerbos continued: "We have created a better business and a strong entrepreneurial culture, with the unfailing support of our shareholder Cerberus at every step. With the successful completion of our transformation, now is the right time for our shareholder to exit. I am pleased that we have secured strong futures for our business units, and I am proud that our people and customers will be an asset to the great strategic players they are joining." About Staples Solutions Staples Solutions is a leading provider of workplace products, services, and solutions to small, mid-sized, and large businesses in Europe. Through our integrated offering, Staples Solutions is the partner of choice to meet the diverse needs of the workplace of today and tomorrow. You can learn more about Staples Solutions at www.staples.eu. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1459356/Staples_Logo.jpg Related Links https://www.staples.eu/ SOURCE Staples Solutions 03/19/2021 Photo (c) 4X-image - Getty Images Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.) Total U.S. confirmed cases: 29,677,422 (29,611,598) Total U.S. deaths: 539,868 (538,182) Total global cases: 122,036,229 (121,400,246) Total global deaths: 2,694,915 (2,683,381) Economy shows signs of shaking off the pandemic Vaccinations are up, and cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) are down. As a result, more Americans are traveling and dining out, pleasures largely put on hold over the last 12 months. The Wall Street Journal reports that not only are restaurants filling up, but so are hotels and planes. Economists questioned by the newspaper now estimate that the U.S. economy will grow nearly 6 percent this year. Youre looking at the biggest surge in economic growth that most people who are working today have ever experienced in their working lives, Tim Quinlan, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities, told The Journal. European health regulators clear AstraZeneca vaccine European health officials have given a green light to the resumption of vaccinations using the AstraZeneca vaccine. Several countries stopped using it in the last week after it was linked to potential blood clots in recipients. After an investigation of these reports, health officials issued a statement saying the vaccine is safe and effective and does not contribute to blood clotting. Following the statement, officials in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands said they would resume vaccinations because the benefits of the vaccine appear to outweigh its potential risks. Masks still provoke arguments Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White Houses chief COVID-19 adviser, got into a tense exchange during a Senate hearing this week with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), over whether vaccinated people still need to wear masks in public. Fauci, citing the COVID-19 variants, insisted that masks are still necessary. Paul, who is also a physician, was just as insistent that masks arent necessary and accused Fauci of engaging in theater by wearing two masks, even though he has been vaccinated. Can I just state for the record that masks are not theater, Fauci shot back. I totally disagree with you. Doctors say Tamiflu could be an effective COVID-19 treatment Even after most people are vaccinated, health experts believe people will still get COVID-19 from time to time. There will be far fewer cases, and they wont be as severe. A growing number of physicians say having an easy-to-obtain, easy-to-administer treatment will help keep the virus from becoming a major health threat. They suggest that taking Tamiflu pills early in the illness may become the preferred treatment. "One of the real things for controlling the pandemic is making sure that drugs can get to the people who need them," Merck researcher Dr. Jan Butterton told MedPage Today. "An oral drug for COVID-19 would be something that people could take quickly. You wouldn't have to go to a clinic to get an infusion or have a van drive around and bring the infusion to you. It could be something that you could just order and pick up at a pharmacy." Three major retailers join Ad Council campaign Theres no question that millions of Americans have been eager to roll up their sleeves and get the COVID-19 vaccine. At the same time, there are some people who have expressed doubts about getting vaccinated. CVS Health, Walgreens, and Walmart have joined with the Ad Council to overcome vaccine hesitancy by providing information about the process. The campaign features pharmacists addressing common questions about COVID-19 vaccinations. "As people across the country seek answers to their questions about the COVID-19 vaccines, we know local pharmacists are among the most trusted resources for the latest information," said Lisa Sherman, CEO of the Ad Council. "This extraordinary coalition of companies CVS Health, Walgreens and Walmart plays a critical role in getting Americans the information they need about COVID-19 vaccination so they can make the right choice for themselves and their families." Around the nation The United States plans to send roughly 4 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine that it is not using to Mexico and Canada in loan deals with the two countries, yielding to requests to share vaccines with allies. Mexico will receive 2.5 million doses of the vaccine and Canada is to receive 1.5 million doses, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "It is not fully finalized yet but it is our aim," Psaki told a daily briefing. "Ensuring our neighbors can contain the virus is ... mission critical to ending the pandemic." The Biden administration has come under pressure from countries around the world to share vaccines, particularly its stock of AstraZeneca's vaccine, which is authorized for use elsewhere but not yet in the United States. AstraZeneca has millions of doses made in a US facility, and has said that it would have 30 million shots ready at the beginning of April. The company's shares rose slightly after Reuters first reported the news. The deal to share the vaccine does not affect President Joe Biden's plans to have vaccine available for all adults in the United States by the end of May, a senior administration official said, and it does not reduce the supply of available vaccine in the United States. Two officials said the vaccine would be delivered in "short order" once the deal was completed, but they declined to give a more specific timetable. The "releasable" or ready-to-use vaccines are being lent under a deal in which the United States expects to be paid back with doses in return. The senior administration official said that would take place later this year. Psaki said the United States had access to 7 million releasable doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine but had no plans to share them with any countries at this time other than Canada and Mexico. "We ... have a number of requests from a range of countries around the world and certainly we'll continue those conversations," she said. Asked why Mexico and Canada were chosen, the administration official said: "They are our neighbors, they are our partners." Mexico's government said on Thursday it would restrict movement on its southern border with Guatemala amid rising apprehensions of migrants trying to enter the United States, many of them unaccompanied minors. Asked if the vaccine doses were being shared as an incentive for Mexico to help with the immigration issue, Psaki noted only that the two countries were discussing multiple issues at once. 'MORE WORK TO DO' Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had requested the vaccine. The administration official said the countries were in touch about the vaccine loan. "We've been working through the diplomatic channels," he said. Mexico has in recent weeks leaned increasingly on China and Russia to secure vaccines to carry out its inoculation plans. A senior Canadian government source said: "We're having positive conversations with the US Those conversations are fairly advanced but there's more work to do." Reports of blood disorders have prompted more than a dozen nations to suspend use of AstraZeneca's vaccine, but the European Union's drug watchdog said on Thursday that after an investigation, it was still convinced the benefits of that vaccine outweighed the risks. A spokeswoman for AstraZeneca declined to comment on the deal but noted that its doses in the United States were owned by the US government. Biden has said if the United States has a surplus of vaccine, it will share it with the rest of the world. The White House has focused on vaccinating people in the United States, which has seen more than 530,000 people die from the virus, the most of any country. Biden said on Thursday that his goal of having 100 million vaccine shots administered in the United States during his first 100 days in office would be met early, on Friday. Biden took office on Jan. 20. "That's weeks ahead of schedule," he said. The country is getting prepared to roll out the AstraZeneca vaccine domestically if it gets authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration, the White House said. The United States has pledged $4 billion to the global COVAX vaccine program that aims to deliver coronavirus vaccines to poor countries. The United States does not need the AstraZeneca shots to meet its target of having enough doses for all US adults by the end of May. The three authorized vaccine makers - Pfizer Inc-BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson - have promised to deliver nearly 500 million doses to the United States by then. Also read: COVID-19 vaccines: US lawmakers call upon Biden to support India, South Africa at WTO Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (bottom L) reads his work report, proposing "in-depth planning to promote 'Science and Technology Innovation 2030'"during the opening session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 5, 2021. (Leo Ramirez / AFP via Getty Images) CCPs New 5-Year Plan Creates More Aggressive Thousand Talents Plan: Chinese Expert Making a greater effort to attract top experts from around the world was listed as a priority in Chinas 14th Five-Year Plan, which was just passed in the regimes recent Two Sessions meeting in Beijing on March 11. When talking to Radio Free Asia, American-based Chinese economist Cheng Xiaonong said the new Five-Year Plan is an extension of Chinas previous Thousand Talents Plan. The essence is the same; both plans intend to steal foreign intellectual property and advanced technology by poaching experts from overseas. Only the new Five-Year Plan is more aggressive. Previously, the so-called poaching was mainly done through spies in the field of technology. Later on, the U.S. government imposed tougher control on [spying], they thought about poaching experts, together with the technology. If you succeed in poaching experts, you naturally get the technology too, said Cheng, who is also an Epoch Times contributor. He said the goal of the new Five-Year Plan is still in key areas related to military expansion. It lists the following key areas: quantum information, photonics and micro nanoelectronics, internet communications, artificial intelligence, biomedicine, modern energy systems, integrated circuits, life and health, brain science, bio-breeding, aerospace technology, deep sea, deep earth, polar exploration, and so on. According to the plan, more investment will be poured into basic research, and experts will be heavily rewarded. The so-called Thousand Talents Plan is the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) program to identify and recruit high-level overseas experts; its been in place since December 2008. Apart from the national level Thousand Talents Plan, the CCP also has other plans, such as the Hundred Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Changjiang Scholars Program of the Chinese Ministry of Education, as well as a number of local government recruitment programs. Between 2008 and 2016, local governments of China recruited about 53,900 talents from overseas, while more than 7,000 experts were recruited through the Thousand Talents Plan and the Hundred Talents Program. More Aggressive Policies to Attract Foreign Experts To create and train a high-level talent troop and to provide an internationally competitive and attractive environment for overseas scientists to work in China, the plan requires the implementation of a more open talent policy: constructing a scientific research and innovation highland to attract and gather outstanding experts from home and abroad. Policies that can enable high-end foreign experts and professionals to stay and work in China, as well as a permanent residence system for foreigners, should be perfected, the plan says. In the meantime, the establishment of a skilled migration system should be explored. Systems should be established to ensure that foreign experts and professionals can have better salaries and benefits, social security, tax incentives, as well as good education for their children, and so forth. The plan says that in order to actively promote open cooperation in science and technology, a more open and inclusive, mutually beneficial, and shared international science and technology cooperation strategy should be implemented. China should also take the lead in designing and initiating international scientific programs and projects, allow the science funds to play a unique role, increase the opening of national science and technology programs to the outside world, launch a number of major scientific and technological cooperation projects, study the establishment of global scientific research funds, and implement scientist exchange programs. China should also support the establishment of international scientific and technological organizations in China and allow foreign scientists to hold posts in Chinas scientific and technological academic organizations. Multiple Thousand Talent Plan Scholars Indicted According to a 109-page report (pdf) released in November 2019 by the U.S. Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, the FBI has been slow to respond to threats posed by Chinese talent recruitment plans. The report states, Despite the Chinese governments public announcements in 2008 of its intent to recruit overseas researchers with access to cutting-edge research and absorb, assimilate, and re-innovate technologies, the FBI did not identify Chinese talent recruitment plans as a threat vector until 2015. China is the most aggressive among countries that seek to exploit Americas openness to advance their own national interests, the report states. Federal agencies are not prepared to prevent China from transferring taxpayer-funded research and stealing intellectual property. Since 2018, the FBI has increased the number of arrests and prosecutions of Thousand Talents scholars. In April 2019, former GE engineer Xiaoqing Zheng was charged by the FBI with economic espionage and theft of GEs trade secrets. Meanwhile, the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas removed three of five scientists who had ties to the Thousand Talents Plan and were identified by U.S. federal authorities as being involved in Chinese efforts to steal American research. Before the U.S. government ordered the CCP to close its Houston consulate in July 2020, the FBI in Houston had been investigating Chinese nationals efforts to funnel advanced research from Houstons University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center back to China. Keping Xie, a former professor in gastroenterology research at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, and a member of Thousand Talents Plan, was part of the FBIs focus. In September 2019, Thousand Talents Plan scholar Yiheng Zhang, a former professor at Virginia Tech, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud, including charges that he used $1.1 million in research funding he applied for in the United States for research projects in China. In May 2020, Xiao-Jiang Li, a former Emory University professor and Thousand Talents Plan participant, was convicted and sentenced for filing a false tax return. He was accused of replicating his U.S. research for the Chinese Academy of Sciences and earning at least $500,000. In June 2020, Charles Lieber, former chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, was indicted on charges of making false statements to federal authorities regarding his participation in Chinas Thousand Talents Plan. He was accused of receiving $50,000 per month in salary, $158,000 per year in living expenses, and more than $1.5 million in research funding from Wuhan University of Technology in China. In September 2020, Turab Lookman, a former employee of Los Alamos National Laboratory, was sentenced to five years of probation and fined $75,000 for lying about his participation in the Thousand Talents Plan. Emily Weinstein, a research analyst at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University, is in charge of the Chinese Talent Program Tracker, a catalogue of Chinese Party-State-sponsored initiatives aimed at cultivating Chinas domestic talent pool in support of Chinas strategic civilian and military goals, according to its website. She said in December 2020: At this point, it would be really hard to find people putting [their participation in] Thousand Talents on a resume in the U.S. That doesnt mean that all talent programs are gone. Thousand Talents was merged into a different talent program with a new nameit is now the High-End Foreign Expert Recruitment Program. Bupa has confirmed it will fork out a total of 125million to eligible customers affected by 'temporary' disruption to some private healthcare services during the pandemic last year. In 2020, Bupa announced it planned to pay back any exceptional financial benefit it saw as a result of coronavirus to its health insurance customers. From April this year, eligible individual Bupa customers, and small and large business customers funding health insurance for their staff, can expect to receive a payment equivalent to around one months premium. Payment: Bupa has confirmed it will fork out a total of 125million to eligible customers affected by 'temporary' disruption to some private healthcare services in 2020 While the 'vast majority' of affected customers look set to receive the equivalent of around a month's premium, some may get 'more or less' depending on certain calculations and whether or not premiums were paid in full or for part of the time when private treatment disruption was at its peak. Alex Perry, chief executive of Bupa UK Insurance said: 'We are determined to do the right thing for our customers. From the start of the pandemic we invested heavily in providing new and additional healthcare services from home, such as our Digital GP service, to help people access the care they need. 'Thankfully many of the face-to-face services that were impacted were delayed rather than cancelled. More and more customers have been accessing health services as they resumed. 'We were the first major health insurer to commit to a customer rebate and are now acting on this pledge. As an organisation without shareholders our customers come first, and we continue to support them throughout these times.' Bupa said the one-off payment to eligible customers formed part of its wider package of measures aimed at helping people with their health at home. Promise: Aviva and Axa have both promised to rebate any profit made as a result of reduced services during the pandemic The group, which is one of the biggest health insurers in the country and is privately owned, expanded the range of health services that customers could access from home including telephone and video consultations with nurses, GPs and consultants. It also bolstered its 'chemotherapy at home' services for cancer patients during the pandemic. At the height of the pandemic last year, many private healthcare facilities were only able to offer patients limited services, prompting concerns that insurance firms would continue to rake in premiums while customers were left without viable options. Aviva and Axa have both promised to rebate any profit made as a result of reduced services during the pandemic. Not-for-profit insurer WPA has already provided affected customers with rebates worth around 40 per cent of their monthly premiums amid disruption last year. Celebrities and tech luminaries turned Clubhouse into the surprise hit of 2021 by letting loose on a freer, more casual audio format. A growing number of big-name investors now hope to replicate that phenomenon in a far more unlikely arena. Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. have begun testing audio-only chats in their platforms. Even smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. is now toying with the concept. All are looking for the next decacorn or $10 billion hit -- sightings of which have been few and far between in a WeChat-dominated arena -- and risking Beijings ire. The Clubhouse model has caught on organically in China since Elon Musk supercharged the original apps popularity, in part because its exclusivity and audio-only format seem to thwart surveillance. Beijing, ever worried about the conversation spiraling out of its control, has since banned the app -- but to aspiring entrepreneurs and their backers, that only creates a vacuum for a savvy operator to exploit. The Chinese social media scene is long overdue for an upstart disruptor -- even if its copied off a Western concept initially. ALSO READ: Invite-only audio chatting app Clubhouse gets banned in China We see a turning point every couple of years, said China Creation Ventures founder and managing partner Zhou Wei, who made an early bet on $1.5 billion podcast network Ximalaya while at Kleiner Perkins. Clubhouse has the potential to become a $10 billion company. Even the smallest teams would have a chance in China as long as they can stay patient. Dizhua is one such Clubhouse contender. Launched in mid-2019, the app -- its name evokes someone raising their hands -- has some 10,000 daily active users sending virtual gifts or posting messages to speakers in its chat rooms, with topics ranging from pets to pop culture. Thanks to the Clubhouse buzz, its developers are starting to gauge investor interest in a pre-A funding round that could raise as much as 50 million yuan ($7.7 million). Over 10 funds have expressed interest, and the company has already held follow-up discussions with about half of its suitors. It could be the next big wave of the internet, so everyone is willing to take a leap of faith, said Li Awei, Dizhuas operational head. If we dont get a cash injection fast and spend it on R&D and marketing, well get eliminated. Like Dizhua, 25-year-old app maker Joshua Meng drew interest only after Musks endorsement of Clubhouse. The Shanghai entrepreneur first tried to model his five-person project Juju (meaning Together) after Discord, before revamping it along the lines of the U.S. app last year. No one returned his calls until February, when offers suddenly flooded in and reached $1.5 million. But it was too late, Meng had by then decided to throw in the towel and move on. China doesnt have its own A16Z, said Meng, referring to Clubhouse investor Andreessen Horowitz. If there isnt a direct analog from Silicon Valley, he said, investors would give you a death sentence once you say you are doing social. Mengs experience is a reminder of the harsh realities of Chinas startup industry, where investors and corporations like Alibaba and Tencent tend to gravitate toward proven business models from Silicon Valley rather than untested innovations. The countrys No. 1 social app WeChat was originally inspired by WhatsApp and even ByteDance Ltd.s TikTok, hailed as Chinas first truly global internet product, was created through an acquisition of the Musical.ly video platform serving American teens. The dominance of Alibaba and Tencent has also meant a sizable proportion of VC funds flow to the startups they back. Chinese tech startups attracted some $25 billion in 2020, a fifth of which were invested in companies associated with the two giants, according to data from Preqin. The odds are against the countrys upstarts as better-capitalized tech giants like Xiaomi and Kuaishou Technology roll out their own Clubhouse-like products. Tencents WeChat has started allowing users to connect with a live-streamers feed with audio-only chats. Even Alibaba, which dabbled in social over the years, tested a function called MeetClub inside its work app. First-mover advantage is key, as wannabes with names like Clubhorse and Clubtalk enter the fray. Aiding the rush is Shanghai-based Agora Inc., which sells the template to build the real-time communication functions inside Clubhouse and most of its Chinese clones. With Agoras help, Beijing-based startup JingData crafted its own version of Clubhouse in less than 10 days. Its Capital Coffee app has attracted some 20,000 users, mostly from Chinas venture capital community, said JingData Chief Executive Officer Chai Yuan. You dont see American social products change too much over the years, whereas Chinese ones fail fast, learn fast and improve fast, said CCVs Zhou. Like Clubhouse, these up-and-coming apps face the risk of Beijing cracking down at any moment. Authorities recently summoned 11 firms including Alibaba, Kuaishou, ByteDance and Tencent over the use of audio-based social media and deep-fake technologies, asking them to review and report on online services that have the ability to shape or mobilize public opinion. Developers like Capital Coffees Chai are taking steps to ensure they dont run afoul of censors. We are working to improve our content moderation and will launch a report feature in the app, he said before the recent scrutiny. The bottom line is that no user will be able to spread illegal content on our platform. Some of the investors now taking an interest in the sector say they arent looking for carbon copies of Clubhouse. Instead, entrepreneurs should develop their own understanding of the audio app and make tweaks in areas like use cases and designs, said Wu Jing, a partner with Qiming Venture Partners, which has previously backed local social-media hit Bilibili Inc. To give but one example, why doesnt Clubhouse have a function for recording? Different teams should have different answers to that, she said. You dont have to be Chinas Clubhouse. By Zheping Huang Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Russia's President, Vladmir Putin has reacted to US President Joe Biden calling him a killer and saying that he would pay a price for 2020 US election interference. When asked about Bidens comments during a video call on Thursday March 18, that was aired on Russian state TV, Putin said he wished his counterpart in Washington good health and was saying that "without irony", but charged that the comments reflected America's own troubled past. The Russian leader who praised the American people, said the legacy of slavery and the country's treatment of Native Americans weighed heavily on its dealings abroad. He added that for Biden to call him a killer, it takes one to know one. Putin said; "In the history of every people, every state, there are a lot of hard, dramatic and bloody events. But when we evaluate other people or even other governments, we always look as if into the mirror. We always see ourselves in it. "I remember when I was young and I got into fights with my friends, we always used to say 'whoever calls names is called that himself. It takes one to know one. "And thats not just a childrens joke. The meaning is quite deep psychologically. We always see our own qualities in another person and think that he/she is like ourselves. And coming from that, evaluate his/her actions and evaluate him/her overall. As he [Biden] said, we know each other personally. What would I reply to him? I would say: I wish you health. I wish you health. I say that without any irony or joke. Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian parliaments upper house, had also said that Moscow would likely take further steps if the American side does not offer an explanation or apology. Kosachev said Bidens comments were not acceptable under any circumstances and sent any hopes of an improvement of relations under the new administration down the drain. Russia also recalled its ambassador to the United States on Wednesday for "consultations" just hours after Biden's remarks, which the Kremlin later said were very bad and without precedent. 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 Stocklys Spirit Tech (St. Martins, May.) details how spiritual entrepreneurs and tech-savvy religious practitioners are using technology to modify spiritual experiences. Whered the idea for the book come from? Since about the 1990s weve seen a huge increase in our understanding of the brain. Along with this came interest in things like altered states of consciousness, insights about how meditations and prayers are actually generated in the brain, and a related interest in how meditation and prayer can affect the brain, mind, and body. These kinds of insights have totally transformed the way people think about their inner lives and their well-being. We were interested in a burgeoning community that was harnessing these new forms of brain science to examine expert meditators, religious practitioners, monks, nunsbasically, the types of people who have really devoted their lives to seeking enlightenment connection with God. What does research into brain science and spiritual experience reveal? What they found were that these experts brains display markedly different types of connections and brainwave patterns than we see in the average persons brain. And so, scientists were able to kind of intuit that there might actually be something that we could do to coax or encourage the brain into these states. This is where we see the spiritual entrepreneur type come in. They see the development of spirit tech as their vocation. Are particular traditions or practices more suitable for technological innovation? There are some traditions that are hesitant to engage in these kinds of things. However, othersfor example the Dalai Lamaare very comfortable with the idea that enlightenment and equanimity and nirvana are traceable in the brain. There are theological questions about how you get there with a process aided by brain stimulation versus 10,000 hours of meditation, but the causal questions about the authenticity of the experience are a little less complicated in Dharma traditions than they are in the more monotheistic, I think. What might you say to those who are skeptical of spirit tech? I identify with a certain level of doubt. Its an appropriate reactionone that I shared at the beginning of the research. However, this skepticism, although totally valid, is based on a relationship with technology that currently exists in our society that doesnt have to be. I found myself more and more compelled by spirit tech as I continued to research it. This isnt about peak performance or just playing around. Theres an authentic interest in exploring ways to heal our relationship with technology. Technology is here to stay; we might as well try to harness it for good. I think that if people with good intentions dont become part of the conversation, we are going to have more problems. Albert Mohler denounces Canada's plan to expand physician-assisted suicide to people with disabilities Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler Jr. has denounced legislation in Canada to expand assisted suicide to include those with disabilities. Canada legalized physician-assisted suicide what has been termed "medical aid in dying" in 2016. The Parliament recently advanced a measure known as Bill C-7 to expand the parameters to include individuals who have a disability but are not facing a terminal illness. In an episode of Mohlers podcast The Briefing posted online Tuesday, the Southern Baptist leader said the legislation showed the slippery slope nature of legalized physician-assisted suicide. The Canadian Parliament have now extended the logic that they had insisted would be limited to those who had a reasonable expectation of death in a short time. You've seen that that promise never is kept, said Mohler. Once you buy into the logic of physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, you find yourself in almost every case just extending the logic further and further. Mohler went on to stress that when you open the door of physician-assisted suicide or any form of euthanasia, you're responsible for everything that passes through that door. He cited Belgium and the Netherlands as examples. The logic that began with physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia for those who were terminally ill was extended to adults, terminally ill. Then it was extended to adults who weren't terminally ill but had some diagnosis that they did not want to deal with, Mohler added. Then it was extended to those who had a form of depression or some kind of psychiatric diagnosis. And then it was extended to children, and then it was extended beyond adolescents to younger children. What we're looking at here is that in Canada, it has now been extended to the disabled. Mohler then warned that if such ideas were prevailing in Canada, it would not be long until they gain traction in its neighbor to the south, the United States. Don't believe for one minute that the logic that is here chillingly revealed in this action in Canada will stay in Canada. Furthermore, honesty requires that we admit that this logic is already right here, and horrifyingly enough, it's gaining ground, he concluded. According to the Canadian Department of Justice, Bill C-7 would amend the countrys criminal code to allow for medical assistance in dying for those whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable, but would not allow it for those solely suffering from mental illness. At present, Canada permits physician-assisted suicide for a person suffering from a grievous and irremediable medical condition who is at least 18 years old, mentally capable of making their own health decisions, eligible for government-funded health services, and makes a voluntary request based on informed consent. Last week, Bill C-7 passed the House of Commons with the support of most Liberal and Bloc Quebecois members while being opposed by Conservatives, New Democrats, and others. Bloc House leader Alain Therrien said in comments reported by The Canadian Press that he supported the legislation out of compassion. There are people suffering. There are people waiting for us to do our work and it is time for us, after all of this debate, to act and be compassionate towards them, argued Therrien to the House of Commons. Gov. Andy Beshear speaks during a memorial service on the first anniversary of Kentucky's first COVID-19 case. PHOTO:Gov. Andy Beshear Facebook page With COVID incidence rates falling statewide, Kentucky restaurants and bars have been allowed to increase capacity for indoor dining. PHOTO:AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File Kentucky Relaxes Curfew for Bars, Restaurants By The Associated Press FRANKFORT - As Kentuckys rate of positive cases fell to 3.23% on Thursday -- the lowest level since July 3 -- the governor has relaxed the coronavirus-related curfew on bars and restaurants.Gov. Andy Beshear said the curfew will be extended one hour, starting today. He said bars and restaurants can serve food and drinks until midnight local time and stay open until 1 a.m.Beshear said Thursday that capacity limits at bars and restaurants will remain at 60% and the spaced-out seating rule still applies. Floridas insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., has become the insurer of first resort as thousands of new policies flood into it each week and the private homeowners insurance market continues its downward spiral. The reality is the marketplace in Florida is shutting down, Citizens President and CEO Barry Gilway said at a rate hearing before the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation this week. Gilway painted a dire picture of the Florida domestic market to state regulators at the March 15 hearing, noting that five years of sustained losses from excessive litigation, contractor schemes, major catastrophes and the increasing cost of reinsurance has led to diminished insurance capacity and higher costs for consumers. Florida carriers net underwriting losses for 2020 are expected to reach a combined $1.6 billion, Gilway said, with income losses totaling nearly $840 million. Companies that are operating in the market are not profitable, have not been profitable, and frankly some of them are having to pay high rates of return just to get the capital in order to continue writing the level of business that they are writing today, he said. Florida insurers are taking significant steps to reduce their exposure in areas where there is high litigation rates or high reinsurance costs, he said. The result is four companies in Florida are now closed for new business; at least 12 companies have strict underwriting restrictions such as limits on new business/renewals based on location, age of home, age of roof; required minimum Coverage A limits and policy cancellations. In addition to coverage restrictions, carriers are offsetting their losses with rate increases. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has approved 105 rate changes, 90 of which were for rate increases, over the last year, with 55 of those for rate increases of more than 10%. Ratings agency Demotech, which rates 66% of the Florida market, is also requiring the companies it rates to restrict their writings geographically and the types of homes they write in order to retain their FSR rating. They are doing that basically to improve the overall profitability of these companies and make sure that when the insured does get insurance there is sufficient financial wherewithal on the part of the company to support any anticipated claims volume, he said. Theres a lot of restrictions on the market. Gilway told regulators Citizens is growing by 5,000 new policies per week and is expected to reach a policy count of 700,000 by the end of the year as carriers continue to raise rates and cut back on capacity. Citizens rate of growth is further exacerbated by the competitiveness of its rates, Gilway said, noting that its homeowners policies are priced lower than the average private market rate 91% of the time. The capacity in the marketplace has shrunk to the point where unfortunately Citizens is becoming not the market of last resort but, in many cases, the market of first resort, he said, adding that is never the intention for a residual market mechanism. The concern is that Citizens could return to its 2011 policy count level where there was an assessment risk of $11.6 billion to all Florida policyholders in the event of a 1-in-100 year event. Gilway said at that point, the insurer wrote 23% of the Florida market. Its top priority is protecting the companys surplus so it can pay claims and keep all Floridians from being stuck with paying assessments. As we grow, then the potential for assessment grows, Gilway said. Citizens has its own share of litigation troubles as well. Gilway told regulators that 800 lawsuits were filed against the insurer in February and 78% of the claims it receives are from nonweather water losses. While assignment of benefits reforms passed two years ago have cut its AOB litigation in half, litigated claims are still a significant driver of its rate need. 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; and renters rates would increase 4% on average. The proposed commercial lines increase is 9.5%. Citizens is required by law to recommend actuarially sound rates, while complying with a legislative glide path that caps individual rate increases at 10%. The insurers uncapped rate indication is 25.9% for homeowners and 85.6% for commercial lines. The proposed 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. Citizens is also seeking approval by OIR to charge new policyholders actuarially sound rates instead of allowing them to join the insurer with capped premiums that existing Citizens policyholders receive, as is the case now. The exception would be in Monroe County where rates would be capped at 20% because Citizens is essentially the only insurer option. If approved by OIR, the recommendation would increase rates for new business by an average of 21%, Citizens said previously. OIR will accept public comments on the proposed rates through March 26. If approved, the 2021 rates would go into effect for policies renewed after August 1. Related: Topics Trends Florida Property Market Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 09:22:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MEXICO CITY, March 18 (Xinhua) -- A police convoy was ambushed Thursday afternoon in Coatepec Harinas, a town in central State of Mexico, killing 13 officers, said the local government. According to the state's Security Secretary Rodrigo Martinez-Celis, members of the local police and the prosecutor's office were ambushed while patrolling. Eight police officers and five prosecutors were killed in the attack, the official confirmed, blaming the ambush on organized crime. "This attack is an affront to the Mexican government. We will respond with full force to uphold the law," he added. Enditem Celebrating Maines First Medical School When Maine achieved statehood in 1820, one of the first things legislators did was establish the states own medical school, said Marieke Van Der Steenhoven. The schools creation was inextricably tied to Maines independence from Massachusetts and the desire of this new state to train its own doctors. What better place to do this than at Bowdoin College, where medical students could have access to a wealth of intellectual resources? The Medical School of Maine was established in June 1820 and, during its one hundred and one years of existence, was situated on the Bowdoin campus. It was an interesting relationship, said Van Der Steenhoven, because, although the medical school was not actually part of Bowdoin, it was overseen by the College president and its governing board. Furthermore, she explained, Bowdoin faculty would sometimes lecture at the schoolnotably Bowdoins first professor of mathematics Parker Cleaveland, who also taught natural historywhile Bowdoin undergraduates would often attend classes there without taking the medical degree. These included Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and John Brown Russwurm, who all attended lectures in the 1820s. In the case of Russwurm, this made him one of the first Black students in the country to receive formal medical instruction. Van Der Steenhoven is special collections education and outreach librarian at Bowdoins George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, where a new exhibition about the medical school recently opened. This is the first major physical exhibition since the pandemic struck, she said. The last one was about Maine and its journey toward statehood, so this seems like an ideal follow up. The exhibition draws on materials from Special Collections & Archives to examine the establishment and demise of the school, the faculty, and the curriculum, as well as the students themselves and the tools they used. During its century of existence, the school educated around two thousand physicians, who not only served the state but also practiced medicine across the world, said Van Der Steenhoven. Among them, she explained, were the second and third African Americans to graduate from an American medical school: John Van Surly DeGrasse and Thomas Joiner White, both Class of 1849. Their story is fascinating, as they are among those African American doctors whose medical training was funded by the American Colonization Society in its efforts to train Black doctors in the US for work in Liberia, said Van Der Steenhoven. (Note: the African republic of Liberia was established by the society in 1847 as a settlement for freed American slaves.) Neither of them ended up going to Liberia, but DeGrasse especially had an interesting life, she said. The grandson by adoption of a French admiral, DeGrasse also studied in France and New York and went on to serve in the US Civil War as an army surgeon. The experience of a nineteenth-century medical student was a far cry from that of his modern equivalent, said Van Der Steenhoven. The medical degree was considerably less than the four years it takes today. No premed degree was required, and the students would attend two twenty-week terms, going to lectures, studying books, and giving recitations for the theoretical side of their education, she said. For the practical side, they were given cadavers to dissect, but also required to work, effectively, as interns with practicing doctors. In the 1880s, Maine General Hospital in Portlandnow Maine Medical Centerbecame the clinical facility for Maine medical students after the construction of a surgical amphitheater there to observe procedures. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis sure stepped in it this time. The Democrat's proclamation declaring Saturday as "MeatOut Day" is generating a national controversy with real economic implications. Catch up quick: The proclamation says that refraining from eating animal products reduces the risk of disease and helps with climate change. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free. In response, the Colorado Cattlemen's Association launched a campaign to make it "MeatIn Day" and rural counties joined the cause. The governors in neighboring Wyoming and Nebraska declared Saturday "Hearty Meat Day" and "Meat on the Menu Day," respectively. Why it matters: The agriculture industry is Colorado's No. 2 economic driver behind oil and gas, and beef is the state's most lucrative export. Oklahoma's governor said "the folks in Denver turned their back on the ag industry." He is using Polis' repeated snubs to lure stock shows and other agricultural investments. What's new: The administration is now in damage control mode. The governor's office is downplaying the proclamation as non-binding and ceremonial. Polis declared Monday as "Colorado Livestock Proud Day." He also shared his own brisket rub recipe and called beef jerky "his favorite snack." Yes, but: It's not working. Polis even had the audacity to suggest his original proclamation started "a grassroots movement of support" for the beef industry. This story first appeared in the Axios Denver newsletter, designed to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news unfolding in their own backyard. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. NEW YORK, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dia & Co, the leading clothing and lifestyle brand for style in sizes 10-32, announced today the launch of it's newest category: swimwear continuing their mission to provide every woman access to stylish options that make her look and feel her best. The collections represent Dia's belief in the power of style to transform, and provide customers with fun, fresh, fashion-forward swimwear. A digital-only retailer and community of more than 5 million women, Dia & Co is launching with top swim brands to offer its community an expansive selection of swimwear across a broad range of styles, silhouettes and sizes. Dia & Co's expansion into swimwear features notable female-owned brands such as Andie Swim, Kitty and Vibe and Nomads Swimwear, with limited-edition curated capsule collections from each brand. Together, the collections will feature more than 30 pieces. Notably, this launch represents the broadest size availability ever offered by each brand. Styles will be available from size large to 5X across all three brands, marking the first expansion above a size 3X for Andie Swim and Kitty and Vibe, and the first expansion beyond a 4X for Nomads Swimwear. In addition, Dia will be adding new collections throughout the summer from brands that are new and beloved by our community. "As we all look forward to warmer weather this Summer we couldn't be more excited to launch this collection of swimwear. Whether you live by the beach, have plans to jump into a blow-up pool in the back yard or even just to take a soak in a bathtub, avoiding the dread of bathing suit shopping while enjoying some much needed R&R with these fun, perfectly-fitting pieces is something we can all look forward to." said Dia & Co, CEO Nadia Boujarwah. Available at www.dia.com , the collections will provide exclusive drops through May with prices ranging from $45-$145. About Dia & Co Dia & Co is the leading clothing and lifestyle brand for style in sizes 10-32. The company offers a range of brands through the Dia Shop and a personalized shopping experience through the curated Dia Style Box subscription service. Through Dia & Co's personalized styling service each customer receives curated boxes of clothing selected to fit her body, her budget, and her lifestyleall to try on in the comfort of her own home. Dia & Co was founded by Nadia Boujarwah and Lydia Gilbert in 2015 to revolutionize the shopping experience for plus size women an underserved group of more than 100 million women. Since then, the direct-to-consumer-company has built a dedicated and diverse community, working with millions of customers across all 50 states. Visit dia.com for more information. About Andie Swim Andie knows that when a swimsuit fits perfectly, enjoying yourself comes naturally. Their size-inclusive styles designed for women, by women take the struggle out of swim shopping. Using data points from thousands of women, Andie's Swim-Fit Quiz helps find a fit for every preference, every activity, and every body. For more information, please go to www.andieswim.com About Kitty and Vibe Kitty and Vibe is the first swimwear brand to use inseam measurements as a revolutionary way to address the wide variation in sizing that was never previously addressed in the category. Founder and CEO Cameron Armstrong's objective was to build a swimwear brand that would address all body types. She has created a revolutionary sizing metric, named the "Kitty Size", that takes into account both hips and butt resulting in 2 butt sizes for every hip size. Sizing currently ranges from A - G cup in tops and S1 - 3XL2 in bottoms (equivalent to sizes 0-24). Kitty and Vibe's mission is to awaken and fuel self-love for a kinder world. Since launch, the brand quickly established a significant following and has built a loyal fan base among consumers and the press, including being dubbed "the future of swimwear" by Forbes magazine. Kitty and Vibe has expanded its size range exclusively for Dia & Co, with a new bikini top size H, bikini bottom sizes 4XL1 - 5XL2, and one piece sizes 4XL & 5XL available in both regular and long torso options. About Nomads Swimwear As a plus-size model, Taylor Long saw how truly limited the swimwear options are for curvy women. She grew tired of the matronly, modest styles and lack of size inclusivity in the swimwear industry, so she created Nomads Swimwear to offer chic, bold swim styles for women of all sizes. Nomads Swimwear is now working alongside Dia & Co. to show that real size inclusion is possible! Nomads Swimwear is a size-inclusive swimwear brand that features unique cuts and styles, one-of-a-kind prints and long-lasting fabrics. Inspired by Long's global travels and experiences as a plus-size model, the designer brand is comprised of fun, sexy styles designed for women of all shapes and sizes. Designed with love in the U.S. and manufactured in Colombia, Nomads Swimwear is committed to providing bold swim styles for the modern woman. For more information, visit www.nomadsswimwear.com or @nomadsswimwear on social media. SOURCE Dia & Co Related Links https://www.dia.com/ The JobSeeker rate will be permanently increased by $50 a fortnight from April 1 after legislation passed the parliament on Thursday night. Unemployed Australians will now get $620.80 every two weeks, or about $44 a day. The government's increase was supported by Labor and opposed by the Greens who wanted the figure to be almost double at $1,120. Farmers have reported being unable to employ people to pick fruit and vegetables in the regions The law also requires recipients to apply for 15 jobs a month, rising to 20 from July, and an employer reporting line will be set up to dob in Jobseekers who decline a job. The prime minister is frustrated that 54,000 jobs are going begging in regional Australia - including at pubs, cafes and farms - despite the government's $6,000 relocation payment. 'Unemployed Australians are simply and regrettably not filling these jobs,' he told the AFR business summit in Sydney earlier this month. 'If there is a job available, and you are able to do that job, then it is reasonable for taxpayers to expect that it will be taken up, rather than continue to receive benefits.' Farmers have been struggling to hire workers due to a shortage of backpackers who have been unable to enter the country during the Covid-19 pandemic. The prime minister warned that produce going unpicked on farms meant that food prices will rise for every Australian and described the waste as a 'tragedy. During Covid, the JobSeeker allowance was boosted by $550 per fortnight, a figure that has been tapered down to $150. Frustrated: Scott Morrison has declared that unemployed Australians who refuse to take jobs should have their Centrelink benefits withdrawn Greens senator Rachel Siewert prepared a speech, which she did not have time to read, sharing stories of Australians who are fearful for when the coronavirus supplement ends. 'I stood in here a year ago and thanked the government for doubling the JobSeeker payment when the pandemic hit, saying I had tears in my eyes when I heard,' the West Australian planned to say. 'Well, I had tears in my eyes when I heard about this pathetic increase - tears of distress, anger and despair.' A Greens amendment for the JobSeeker rate to be above the poverty line only had support from crossbench senators Jacqui Lambie, Stirling Griff and Rex Patrick. Labor argues it did not try to increase the payment so the bill would pass, and has not settled on a figure it thinks is adequate. 'Constitutionally, only the government can legislate money bills. Futile amendments do nothing but cruelly offer false hope to people who need the new JobSeeker rate the most,' the opposition's social services spokeswoman Linda Burney tweeted. 'Labor will not be party to cruel stunts or games of chicken with people's lives.' UnitingCare Australia's national director Claerwen Little has said the charity is preparing for an 'avalanche' of people who will no longer be able to pay their bills, afford groceries or accommodation. Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said the increase would cost $9 billion over four years. 'These changes strike the right balance between support for people while they look for a job and incentives to work while ensuring the sustainability of our social security safety net.' With AAP Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of 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rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 Amanda Kloots and her late husband Nick Cordero's best friend Zach Braff were spotted sharing dinner with a group of friends at Pace in Los Angeles on Thursday evening. The actress - who turned 39-years-old on Friday - appeared to be enjoying the company of her pals as she shared a pre-birthday celebration. This year is the first that the performer will celebrate her birthday after losing her second husband Cordero, who tragically passed away in July of last year after succumbing to the effects of COVID-19. Quality time: Amanda Klootswas with Zach Braff during a shared pre-birthday dinner at Pace in Los Angeles on Thursday evening with other pals Kloots was dressed in a white t-shirt worn underneath a black jacket during her pre-birthday celebration. Her gorgeous blonde hair fell onto her shoulders and provided a colorful contrast to the neutral tones of the rest of her outfit. Braff kept his attire relatively casual for the birthday celebration, as he was pictured wearing a black hoodie underneath a sizable brown jacket. The 45-year-old actor paired his top choices with a set of light green pants and brown suede Chelsea boots for the night out. Mournful occasion: This will be the television personality's first birthday since the death of her husband Nick Cordero, who passed away last July after battling COVID-19 Extra layers: The Scrubs actor wore a sizable brown jacket on top of a black hoodie to keep himself warm in the winter weather The Scrubs actor wore a large black facial covering to keep himself protected from COVID-19 while standing in the restaurant's parking lot. His girlfriend Florence Pugh was not seen. Although the television personality appeared to be enjoying the company of her friends, she had previously taken to her Instagram account to publicly mourn her late husband Nick. The Tony-nominated actor passed away last July after spending three months in a hospital, where he battled the effects of COVID-19. The Bullets Over Broadway actor had also welcomed a son named Elvis, aged one, with his wife just a year before his death; the two had tied the knot in 2017. Looking back: Earlier this week, the daytime talk host took to her Instagram account to publicly mourn the passing of her late husband Nick Cordero Prior to her marriage to the stage actor, the daytime talk host was married to David Larsen for six years. In the caption for her photo, Kloots recalled that her late husband, in light of the implementation of early COVID restrictions, had promised to make her following birthday much more special. She wrote, 'Our last family photo taken on my birthday last year... Nick kept telling me that day, "next year Ill give you the best birthday ever." It was early quarantine days so we felt lost, unable to do anything.' Making it known: Kloots wrote a lengthy message in the post's caption, and noted that she and her late husband 'felt lost, unable to do anything' in the early stages of the pandemic The actress went on to express that she was still processing the loss of her husband during her birthday week, which she had not expected to do. 'The truth is, this is week is very hard and Im sad. Ive been dreading it and its caught up to me. This isnt easy for me, but I truly believe in honoring the highs and lows in grief,' Kloots noted. The performer concluded her message by urging her followers to make the most of their lives and to reflect on the blessings that they may have. 'Life is precious. Time is precious. Health is precious. Treasure it all and dont take it for granted because its the best birthday gift you can give yourself and to anyone,' she added. 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 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. 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| 2021-03-20 00:06:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MANILA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine Navy commissioned BRP Antonio Luna (FF151) on Friday, putting the Philippines' second brand new missile-capable frigate into active service. The Philippine Navy placed its first brand new frigate, BRP Jose Rizal (FF150), in July last year. A South Korean shipbuilder built the two ships. Acting Navy Flag Officer-in-Command Rear Admiral Adeluis Bordado said the FF151's commissioning officially completed the Philippine Navy frigate acquisition project, "a monumental turning point in our Navy's history that puts us on the map of modern and more capable navies." The Armed Forces of the Philippines said the two frigates are the first-ever Philippine Navy warships capable of conducting anti-air, anti-surface and anti-submarine warfares, as well as electronic warfare operations. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-20 01:57:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan attend a high-level strategic dialogue in the Alaskan city of Anchorage, the United States, March 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) -- The United States should stop its interference in China's internal affairs, and avoid confrontation between the two major countries, said Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee. -- The United States is not qualified to talk to China in a condescending manner, and the Chinese people will not accept that, said Yang. -- The U.S. escalation of sanctions against China over Hong Kong-related issue is a gross interference in China's internal affairs, which has aroused strong indignation among the Chinese people, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. ANCHORAGE, the United States, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The icy Alaskan city of Anchorage on Thursday witnessed a highly-charged opening of a high-level strategic dialogue between China and the United States. The Chinese side arrived with sincerity for the dialogue at the invitation of the U.S. side, but the hearts of the delegation's members were chilled by how their American hosts treated their guests. As the dialogue is ongoing, the international community still hopes for healthy China-U.S. relations through effective communication. PROVOCATIVE MOVES The minimum and most basic prerequisite for dialogues and communication between any countries is that both sides should have a spirit of equality and mutual respect, said Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai one day ahead of the dialogue. The dialogue is the first high-level contact between China and the United States after their heads of state 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 U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January. Regrettably, the U.S. side kept taking provocative steps before and at the start of the dialogue. When delivering opening remarks first, the U.S. side seriously overran the agreed time and provocatively launched groundless attacks and accusations against China's domestic and foreign policies, according to an official with the Chinese delegation on Thursday. It is not the proper way of hosting guests, nor is it compatible with diplomatic protocol, according to the briefing. Moreover, just ahead of the dialogue, Washington announced fresh sanctions against Chinese officials, falsely claiming that the actions of the designated officials "have reduced Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy." On Tuesday, a U.S.-Japan joint statement was issued after "2+2" talks between foreign and defense ministers of the two countries, which maliciously attacked China's foreign policy, seriously interfered in China's internal affairs and attempted to damage China's interests. CHINA'S STANCES Concerning U.S. groundless attacks, the Chinese senior officials attending the talks have responded firmly and expounded China's staunch stances in solemen responses. The United States should stop its interference in China's internal affairs, and avoid confrontation between the two major countries, Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks on Thursday. Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, puts forward China's stands on relevant issues at the start of the high-level strategic dialogue with the United States in the Alaskan city of Anchorage on March 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) It is hoped that the U.S. side will change its zero-sum mentality, abandon such wrong practices as "long-arm jurisdiction," and does not abuse the concept of national security to interfere with normal trade between the two countries, Yang said. The United States is not qualified to talk to China in a condescending manner, and the Chinese people will not accept that, said Yang, adding that it must be based on mutual respect to deal with China, and history will prove that those who seek to strangle China will suffer in the end. Yang also noted that the United States has its own model of democracy, and China has its own style, adding that any attempt to change China's social system is futile. Also attending the dialogue, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the U.S. escalation of sanctions against China over Hong Kong-related issue is a gross interference in China's internal affairs, which has aroused strong indignation among the Chinese people. If the United States wants to enhance its so-called advantage over China through the act, it is totally miscalculated as this just exposes the inner weakness and powerlessness of America, Wang said, adding this practice will not at all affect China's legitimate position, nor will it shake the firm will of the Chinese people to safeguard sovereignty and dignity of the nation. COMMUNICATION FOR HEALTHY RELATIONS As Yang said, the Chinese and American people, as well as the wider international community are looking forward to practical outcomes from the dialogue. With the dialogue still underway, experts also expected that strengthening communication will help return China-U.S. relations to the track of healthy and stable development. A man walks on the street in Anchorage, Alaska, the United States, March 17, 2021. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling) "It is hoped that the dialogue will promote the resumption of China-U.S. cooperation and promote the development of China-U.S. relations," said Wang Fan, vice president of China Foreign Affairs University. There are certainly differences between the two countries, the scholar said, emphasizing the differences should be handled in a way that features mutual respect and equality. Healthy China-U.S. relations "are beneficial to both sides," he said. "It is certain that dialogue and consultation are still an important, or the only and best way to resolve, stabilize and restore China-U.S. relations," said Diao Daming, an associate professor with Renmin University of China. "Dialogue and consultation must be conducted with an attitude of mutual respect and in a win-win manner, otherwise it will be meaningless," Diao said. "We hope the United States can meet China halfway and following the spirit of our heads of state's telephone conversation on the eve of the Chinese lunar new year, focus on cooperation, manage difference and bring bilateral relations back onto the track of sound and stable development," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian. Savannah Guthrie made a fashion statement in a mixed-patterned dress on the Today show Thursday, but the reviews for the polarizing frock were, well, mixed. The 49-year-old co-anchor took to Instagram after the broadcast to share a few of the vastly different comments she received about her funky $380 dress by the British brand RIXO. 'I adore you, but that dress, Really?!' one fan tweeted, while another commented: 'Obsessed with your dress today!' Fashion statement: Savannah Guthrie, 49, donned a $380 mixed-patterned dress by the British brand RIXO on the Today show Thursday Eye catching: The frock was like three dresses in one with its floral bodice, black and white zebra print sleeves, and a pink plaid skirt Savannah also posted a close-up of the frock, which was like three dresses in one. The design featured a floral bodice, black and white zebra print sleeves, and a pink plaid skirt. Viewers seemed to be strictly divided viewers into two camps: the lovers and the haters. While some fans couldn't stop gushing about the fashion-forward look, others were begging the journalist to fire her stylist. 'That is the coolest dress I've ever seen,' one person gushed, while another added: 'Oh my that dress is so beautiful!!!!!' Others weren't as kind, though a number of the critics claimed to love Savannah while they were bashing her frock. Can't please them all! The Today co-anchor took to Instagram after the broadcast to shared two of the vastly different tweets she had received as well as a close-up of the frock 'This dress today has pushed me to the edge. Where do they find such hideous fashion?' one viewer griped. 'You are beautiful and smart PLEASE get a new stylist stop letting them dress you like Holly Hobby!' But Savannah took the comments in stride and cracked a joke when she shared some of them, writing: 'Reviews are in and much like the dress they are mixed.' The Today star received plenty of support in the comments, including some love from her co-stars. 'Well, as your fashion contributor I approve!!!!' Jill Martin wrote, while Sheinelle Jones responded, 'Hahahaha,' and added a heart emoji. Polarizing dress: While some fans couldn't stop gushing about the fashion-forward look, others were begging the Today co-anchor to fire her stylist 'I am still taken back people feel they can be so rude and send negative comments. Treat others as u want to be treated,' one person noted. 'Good heavens! Just because you have a thought doesnt mean you need to voice it! Just keep doing you!' someone else told the co-anchor. This isn't the first time Savannah has had to defend her wardrobe. Back in 2018, one particularly rude commenter slammed the Today show producers for letting her wear a 'fugly' $2,295 Derek Lam frock on air. 'I dress myself! Dont blame the producers!' Savannah hit back. New Seismic Monitoring Unit team leader, volcano-seismologist Dr. Roderick Stewart is bent on having local persons/volunteers trained to assist with the ongoing monitoring of activity at the La Soufriere volcano. Speaking on the UWI SRCs La Soufriere Today programme on Tuesday, 9th March, the scientist admitted that, "We [the team] have been working with volunteers before I came, but I am particularly working with some of the volunteers to try and teach them some elements of seismology, also how to keep the computers running because thats the most important part keeping the data processing running. Dr. Stewart proffered that the best situation for monitoring would be to read the data while looking at the volcano. "It is not the optimal thing to do the monitoring from either Trinidad or from Montserrat, he candidly stated. "Some of it, he stressed, "can be done but we need local capacity because its very important as a seismologist, as well as looking at the data around me, I see the volcano at the same time. He lauded the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and NEMO for making sure that the observatory here at Belmont and the Soufriere Monitoring Unit have resources that will allow the volcano to be properly monitored, and that there are technicians in place to maintain/service the large number of monitoring equipment on the ground, especially at Belmont. "We really dont know how long this is going to go on for, Dr. Stewart reasoned. "Even if it stops tomorrow, we will want to keep monitoring it closely for quite a long time. So, we need to build our local capacity and of course, they will be supported. They will have the support of people in Trinidad, people in Montserratalways happy to do that because we are all part of the same team, but we do have to get some local capacity. Each year, through the James C. Gaither Junior Fellows program, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peacea non-partisan foreign-policy think tank with centers in Washington D.C., Moscow, Beirut, Beijing, Brussels, and New Delhioffers approximately 12 one-year fellowships to uniquely qualified graduating seniors and individuals who have graduated during the past academic year. James C. Gaither Junior Fellows work as research assistants to Carnegies senior scholars. In order to apply, you must contact NCA by the Intent to Apply Deadline. Deadlines Application Opens: October 2021 Intent to Apply Deadline: November 1, 2021 Campus Deadline: December 1, 2021 National Deadline: January 15, 2022 Micromax In 1 has just launched in India in the budget segment and follows the Micromax In series that debuted last November. This is the third phone in the Micromax In lineup and bridges the gap between the In 1B and In Note 1. The Micromax In does not have any groundbreaking flagship features, instead, it focuses on doing the basics right. The Micromax In 1 share its features with the In Note 1 but has been toned down a bit to appease people who dont want to spend in excess of Rs 10,000 on a smartphone right now. The In 1 goes up against the likes of the Poco M3, Samsung Galaxy M12 and more. Here we are taking a look at the price and specifications of the Micromax In 1 and how it compares against the Poco M3 that launched earlier this year in India. Micromax In 1 vs Poco M3: Price and availability The Micromax In 1 has launched in India starting at Rs 10,499 for the base variant with 4GB+64GB storage and Rs 11,999 for the 6GB+128GB storage option. As for the Poco M3, it is priced starting at Rs 10,999 for the 6GB+64GB option and Rs 11,999 for the 128GB variant. Micromax In 1 vs Poco M3: Design and Display The Micromax In 1 and the Poco M3, both are budget smartphones that have a plastic built. The In 1 has a gradient matte finish on the back panel while the Poco M3 has a textured rear panel. Micromax In 1 measure 8.95 millimetres in thickness and weighs 195 grams and the Poco M3 measures 9.6 millimetres, weighing in at 198 grams. Micromax In 1 features a 6.67-inch Full HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) resolution display with a punch-hole cutout in the middle. The screen has a 20:9 aspect ratio and is protected by a layer of Rainbow glass that prevents scratches. Meanwhile, the Poco M3 features a 6.53-inch Full HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) resolution display with a waterdrop notch for the selfie camera. The screen is topped with a layer of Gorilla Glass 3 for added protection. Micromax In 1 vs Poco M3: Under the hood The Micromax In 1 is powered by the MediaTek Helio G80 processor with an octa-core CPU and Mali-G52 GPU. The CPU consists of two Cortex-A75 cores clocked at 2.0GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores running at 1.8GHz. This is paired with upto 6GB RAM and 128GB storage options to choose from. Micromax In 1 run on stock Android 10 out-of-the-box and will receive an update to Android 11 by May. As for the Poco M3, it is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor with an octa-core CPU clocked at upto 2.0GHz with Adreno 610 GPU. This is paired with upto 6GB RAM and 128GB storage options to choose from. It runs on MIUI 12 based Android 10 out-of-the-box. Both phones support microSD card for storage expansion. The Poco M3 also has dual stereo speakers while the Micromax In 1 make do with a single unit. The Micromax In 1 has a fingerprint reader on the back while the power button on the Poco M3 doubles up as a fingerprint sensor. Micromax In 1 vs Poco M3: Cameras Both phones, Micromax In 1 and Poco M3 have triple cameras on the back with the same specifications. There is a 48MP primary camera with an f/1.8 aperture, 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor. The front-facing camera is an 8MP unit housed within the notch on both phones. Micromax In 1 vs Poco M3: Battery The Micromax In 1 is equipped with a 5,000mAh battery that supports 18W fast charging while the Poco M3 has a larger 6,000mAh battery that also supports 18W fast charging. 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 Dublin woman who was arrested after leading gardai on a high-speed car chase on the M50 says she is moving to Spain. Gemma Greene (24), from Coolock, who faces a court date later this month after her motorway antics, recently returned from a holiday there. She has now indicated that she may move there, after posting on Instagram, Moving to Spain next month one hundred percent, alongside a 100 per cent emoji. Read More Brazen Gemma also recently asked her Instagram followers to vote on whether she should join the subscription-based platform OnlyFans. In a story, she has shared a poll asking: "Will I make an only fans (sic)." OnlyFans allows viewers to pay a monthly fee to access creators main feeds and has been used to host adult-only content. In a recent interview, Ms Greene said the high-speed M50 chase earlier this month started after she was driving out of her estate and spotted a garda and thought he was going to pull her over. I said Im not f**king listening to this today. He didnt even put the blue lights on. He didnt even pull me to stop. I put the foot down and went for it," she told the Irish Star. Dozens of garda vehicles joined in the chase along with the Garda helicopter and Greene drove to the Kilmacanogue exit of the N11 before turning around and heading back north towards Ballymun. In a livestream of the chase shared on Instagram, she can be heard singing along to music and boasting about how shes outrunning gardai in her car. The chase eventually stopped when Greenes car stopped at Hampton Wood in Ballymun. A video of the incident shows Greene exiting the vehicle before numerous gardai tackled her to the ground. She later said the only reason she stopped was because she was running out of fuel. After her release from custody, she posted laughing emojis at the amount of hits her Instagram page was getting. That is mad. Two million impressions, she said. Meanwhile, we recently revealed how the Mercedes C220 car that she was driving during the dramatic car chase is being held by gardai as part of a major money laundering investigation. The car was originally seized from her due to the alleged road traffic offences that she committed but gardai are now holding onto it because it could be important evidence in an ongoing money laundering investigation, a senior source said. Some of Ms Greenes close associates are suspected of being heavily involved in criminality in Ballymun, the source added. The young woman has been officially warned by gardai of an active threat against her life and because of this it is unclear whether she will be fined for breaching coronavirus regulations by going on holiday to Spain. Level 5 restrictions currently ban international travel for non-essential reasons. Foreign spies are targeting Australias mining and agricultural industries in a bid to get sensitive information on how the nation is diversifying trade away from China. In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said a number of countries were trying to steal trade secrets from top Australian companies. Director-General of Security Mike Burgess warns foreign spies are targeting Australias resource export industries. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Mr Burgess also revealed counter-espionage agency ASIO had already used a new power granted to it in December to place tracking devices on cars without a warrant, while it was also about to use its powers to forcibly question foreign spies for the first time. He warned that a broad range of export and research industries were being targeted by foreign intelligence agencies. Australia is looking to end its over-reliance on Chinese trade after Beijing slapped more than $20 billion worth of tariffs on Australian exports over the past year. Updated Saturday, March 20 A Multnomah County grand jury has indicted a Portland man on a murder charge in the 2018 killing of another man. Alphonzo Johnson, 46, is accused of killing Kenneth Lamont Coleman, who was 44 at the time of his death. Johnson has also been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Police responded to a Northeast Portland Goodwill store June 29, 2018, on reports of an unconscious person nearby. They found Coleman dead in a wooded area near the store. A Multnomah County District Attorneys Office spokesperson said the Portland Police Bureau arrested Johnson on Jan. 22 in Northeast Portland on a matter unrelated to the homicide. The district attorneys office would not divulge information Thursday about the circumstances of the killing or how investigators identified Johnson as a suspect. Colemans family said he was not homeless at the time of his death, according to police. Police believe there are witnesses and others with information about the case who have yet to come forward. They ask anyone with information about Johnson or the case to contact Detective Anthony Merrill at Anthony.Merrill@portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-4033. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR Imports to Ireland from Great Britain dropped by more than 900m in January following the end of the Brexit transition period. New data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed a 65pc drop 906m to 497m in January compared with the same month last year. The beginning of 2021 marked the end of the Brexit transition period, bringing an end to the free movement of goods between Great Britain and EU member states. CSO senior statistician Orla McCarthy said: Traders reported that a combination of factors contributed to the large reduction in imports from Great Britain in January 2021. These included the challenges of complying with customs requirements. Read More Other factors identified by traders were stockpiling of goods in Q4 2020 in preparation for Brexit, substitution with goods from other countries, and a reduction in trade volumes due to the impact of Covid-19 related restrictions throughout January. The largest decrease was in the imports of live animals, falling by 75pc or 187m to 62m. It was followed by mineral fuel imports such as coal and gas, which fell 71pc or 139m to 57m. Chemicals, machinery and transport equipment also saw significant drops. Exports to Great Britain also fell, by 14pc or 149m to 946m. GB accounted for just 7pc of exports from Ireland. The largest declines were in exports of food and live animals, which fell by 33pc or 92m to 188m. Machinery and transport equipment decreased by 106m to 101m, a decline of 51pc. But chemicals and related products increased by 56pc, up 157m to 437m. Since January 1, all trade in goods with Great Britain is treated as non-EU trade. This brings considerable red tape that has caused significant delays for hauliers at ports. During the Brexit transition period, trade rules remained the same as when the UK was an EU member state. However, since that period ended at the beginning of 2021, incoming trade from Great Britain has remained persistently low. Customs officials say Brexit alone is not to blame for this, with high levels of stockpiling and the coronavirus pandemic also contributing. But the Department of Transport has voiced its concerned, saying it would like to see trade volumes pick up quicker. Lucknow: Following the state cabinets meeting, chaired by CM Yogi Adityanath, which approved amendments to the old reservation policy of the panchayat elections, the new reservation list will witness a big reshuffle in reservation allocation in Bijnor district but the number of seats will remain the same. The new list for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh panchayat elections has been issued in accordance to the 2015 list and the amendments proposed by panchayati raj department. The decision comes days after the High Court struck down the old policy. In the new mandate, the post of the District Panchayat President remains unreserved. There has also been no reshuffle in the post of block chief and the head of four women will adorn the crown of block chief. The latest three-tier panchayat elections will witness government of women in 378 gram panchayats. Reservation issued from the government will continue as before: Scheduled Tribes Women -1 SC Women -87 Sc male -163 OBC Female -105 OBC Male -199 Unreserved woman -185 Unreserved -383 The Bijnor district has 1123 gram panchayats, out of which polls in five gram panchayats are over. The authorities said that the reservation exercise will complete by March 27, after which the commission could announce the election schedule. Live TV Medical staff meets in a room of a patient affected by COVID-19 virus in the ICU unit at the Ambroise Pare clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, Friday, March 19, 2021. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced new coronavirus restrictions as the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units spikes. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) When nurse Anaelle Aeschliman started her 12-hour night shift caring for unconscious patients with COVID-19, the French prime minister was announcing new restrictions to combat the resurgent coronavirus epidemic in Paris. She was not impressed. The 26-year-old had been hoping for a full nationwide lockdown to slow the streams of gravely ill patients filling ICUs like hers, in the west of Paris. Instead, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced a mishmash of measuresincluding closures of nonessential shopsthat are mostly limited to Paris and northern France and don't oblige people to spend most of the day indoors. Announced Thursday night, they take effect on Friday night, when Aeschliman will be back in the ICU, for another 12-hour shift. "Locking down region by region isn't enough. I think it's a sanitary suicide," she said Friday morning, as she went home for a shower and some sleep after working through the night. "I admit I was a bit disappointed that we aren't being locked down nationwide," she said. "When you look at the numbers, they're unsustainable, and it is going to become ever-harder as the virus continues to circulate." In March 2020, when France first locked down with some of the toughest restrictions in Europe, the government exhorted people to stay home. This time, it is, in effect, urging them to go out and get some fresh air. Nurses Stephanie Dias, center, and Segolene Poux, right, tend to a patient affected by COVID-19 virus in the ICU unit at the Ambroise Pare clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, Friday, March 19, 2021. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced new coronavirus restrictions as the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units spikes. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) People in the Paris region and in the north of the country covered by the new rules can walk as long as they like in a day, within a 10-kilometer (six-mile) radius of their homes and carrying a paper authorizing the stroll. Schools will remain open. The new measures affect about 21 million people in the country of 67 million. At the same time, however, a change in the nationwide curfew will give citizens an extra hour of freedom. It will start at 7 p.m. instead of the previous 6 p.m., and run until 6 a.m. Restaurants, bars, cinemas, gyms, museums, theaters and concert halls have been shut for almost five months. For Pierre Squara, the doctor in charge Friday at the ICU unit of the Ambroise Pare private hospital where Aeschliman also works, encouraging people to leave their Paris apartments makes sense, especially with spring around the corner. Nurses Stephanie Dias, right, and Segolene Poux tend to a patient affected by COVID-19 virus in the ICU unit at the Ambroise Pare clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, Friday, March 19, 2021. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced new coronavirus restrictions as the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units spikes. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) "Now that good weather is coming and people will be able to go outside, it will disperse the virus a bit more," he said. "It is better to be outside than to be four people in an apartment of 25 square meters. Because Paris apartments are small." Dr. Anousone Daulasim, coming off a night shift in the ICU unit, said the new measures were "absolutely necessary" to take pressure off medical teams. He was reserving judgment on how effective they might be against surging infections. "We'll see in the future if this new type of lockdown will be sufficient," he said. Doctors are hoping that the new restrictions will buy some more time for France's vaccination campaign to make additional headway against the virus. The campaign was slow to get off the ground, targeting most first jabs at the elderly, especially the 700,000 residents of medicalized care homes that were hardest-hit by previous surges of the pandemic. They accounted for more than a third of France's 91,706 deaths. Nurses Stephanie Dias, right, and Segolene Poux, prepare to tend to patients affected by COVID-19 virus in the ICU unit at the Ambroise Pare clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, Friday, March 19, 2021. The French prime minister was announcing new restrictions to combat the resurgent coronavirus epidemic in Paris when nurse Anaelle Aeschliman started her 12-hour night shift caring for comatose patients with COVID-19. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Nurse Stephanie Dias tends to a patient affected by COVID-19 virus in the ICU unit at the Ambroise Pare clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, Friday, March 19, 2021. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced new coronavirus restrictions as the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units spikes. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Nurse Stephanie Dias washes a patient affected by COVID-19 virus in the ICU unit at the Ambroise Pare clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, Friday, March 19, 2021. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced new coronavirus restrictions as the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units spikes. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Nurse Stephanie Dias prepares to wash a patient affected by COVID-19 virus in the ICU unit at the Ambroise Pare clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, Friday, March 19, 2021. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced new coronavirus restrictions as the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units spikes. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) A patient affected by COVID-19 virus in the ICU unit at the Ambroise Pare clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, Friday, March 19, 2021. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced new coronavirus restrictions as the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units spikes. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Nurse Stephanie Dias tends to a patient affected by COVID-19 virus in the ICU unit at the Ambroise Pare clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, Friday, March 19, 2021. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced new coronavirus restrictions as the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units spikes. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) A nurse comes out of the room of a patient affected by COVID-19 virus in the ICU unit at the Ambroise Pare clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, Friday, March 19, 2021. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced new coronavirus restrictions as the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units spikes. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) But ICU doctors believe they are now seeing the beginnings of the benefits of the vaccination campaign, taking in fewer elderly patients who are gravely sick. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said the government had sought to draw conclusions from better scientific knowledge of the virus and from France's two previous lockdowns in spring and autumn. "Everything we can do outside, we need to do it outside," he told RTL radio. Attal urged people to limit social interactions, keep wearing masks outdoors and limit gatherings to six people maximum. As the measures apply for at least four weeks and travel between regions will be forbidden without a compelling reason, many people were rushing on Friday to Paris train stations to leave for other less-affected regions. French authorities also announced that the country is resuming shots with the vaccine made by AstraZeneca on Friday. Castex was to be vaccinated in the afternoon, aiming to show "confidence" in the product. France on Thursday reported about 35,000 new confirmed infections in 24 hours nationwide, numbers that have steadily increased in recent weeks. The variant first identified in the U.K. accounts for most infections, and around 250 people are dying each day. 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. Five years ago, Evan Greenberg led ACEs nearly $30 billion acquisition of Chubb, morphing Chubb into its current status as a global property/casualty insurance giant he continues to guide as CEO. Now, the insurer is gunning for even larger size and reach with an offer to pay $23 billion for The Hartford, an industry icon with origins dating back to 1810. Even though The Hartford hasnt yet formally responded to Chubbs offer, analysts and observers have been generally positive about the idea, suggesting the combined company would offer both value and significant marketplace clout. Such a move could also create significant disruption in the personal lines space, one expert said. A transaction like this would further add size and scale to Chubbmoving the company to fifth-largest P/C insurer in the U.S. based on 2020 net written premiums and adding to Chubbs position as the largest primary commercial insurer in the U.S., said James Auden, managing director for Insurance at Fitch Ratings. Why Its Bid for The Hartford Is a Personal Lines Chess Move by Chubb Chubbs Offer to Acquire Rival Hartford: $23.2 Billion Auden added that expansion of the overall business will boost diversification, expand distribution capabilities and provide opportunities to invest in technology for more operating efficiency. KBW Managing Director Meyer Shields told Carrier Management that Chubb buying The Hartford helps it gain significant scale in small commercial in a way that could take quite a long time to build organically. He said that The Hartford is a smart target, calling it underappreciated in terms of the consistency of its profitability and the value of its analytics in this sector. In a subsequent market report, Shields pointed out that The Hartford also would give Chubb significant scale and demonstrated expertise in the middle market and global specialty areas, along with scale in both standard personal lines and group benefits. Elyse Greenspan, senior equity analyst with Wells Fargo Securities, observed that The Hartfords small commercial platform would be a major win for Chubb to acquire. The small commercial platform is the crown jewel of [The Hartford], in our view, and would be what is enticing to Chubb, she wrote in an analyst note. Greenspan added that Chubb could generate some major savings through the deal, based on the strategy in play when ACE acquired Chubb in 2016. The small commercial platform is the crown jewel of [The Hartford], in our view, and would be what is enticing to Chubb, said Wells Fargos Greenspan. If Chubb was able to pull 16 percent of expenses out of [The Hartford], that would translate into $720 million of savings, Greenspan said, noting that The Hartford is already in the midst of its Hartford Next cost-cutting campaign, which is designed to reduce expenses by $500 million. As well, both Greenspan and Shields suggested that the industry is far enough along in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic so loss predictions are now easier to calculate and makes a P/C acquisition a more reasonable bet today than it might have been when the pandemic started. Personal Lines and Regulators Robert Hartwig, an economist at the University of South Carolina and former head of the Insurance Information Institute, said The Hartfords personal lines business is also a big draw for Chubb. If an acquisition happens, Hartwig said the deal could shake up the personal lines space. With the acquisition, Chubb would be entering personal lines markets where it does not have a very significant presence today and be placing itself in direct competition with the likes of Allstate, State Farm, Progressive, GEICO and others, said Hartwig, who is also director of the Risk and Uncertainty Management Center at the University of South Carolina. Even before the Chubb announcement, Hartwig predicted there would be consolidation in the personal lines business. He believes the Chubb move is going to act as a catalyst for further consolidation and cause a great deal of reshuffling. He suggested that the large personal lines writers will take note of Chubbs move because until now they have only competed with Chubband with AIGin the high-net-worth market, a somewhat limited market. Now, this would literally put them head-to-head with one another, he said. There are going to be sleepless nights in the C-suites of many personal lines carriers, Hartwig added. With that in mind, he said The Hartford could receive competing bids from the likes of Berkshire Hathaway, Travelers, Liberty Mutual and Zurich, among others. If The Hartford ultimately accepts Chubbs offer, there would be at least one major obstacle to a sale of this magnitude, Shields noted. The most obvious potential challenge is from the regulators, particularly in Connecticut, who would likely be concerned about employment in Hartford, Shields said. I dont think either companys shareholders would object if the price was reasonable. The insurance regulator for Connecticut, where The Hartford is based, declined to comment. Both Chubb and The Hartford use independent agents for distribution. Bob Rusbuldt, president and chief executive officer of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (Big I), declined any comment on the proposed deal at this time. *Wells Media Group Chief Content Officer Andrew Simpson contributed to this story. Topics Chubb Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) convention in super spreader event-friendly Florida was a perverse celebration of all that Donald Trump did to corrupt our country, its people, its values and ideals. Trump and his fellow speakers made clear that dissent from Trumpism will not be tolerated as many of his devoted followers contemplate with delight and excitement the possibility that he would run for president again in 2024. Many paid homage to their man by worshipping a golden statue of him as if he were a deity. Trump predictably repeated the lie that the November 3, 2020 election was rigged. The man, to whom revenge is most important to deal with the disloyal, mentioned those who had dared to vote to impeach him for his criminality, reserving special venom for Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney. Liz Cheney is one of the most independent and courageous leaders in the GOP, and one who has not forgotten what her party and our country used to represent and revere. I suppose we should be thankful that Trump did not incite the convention mob to storm the Capitol as a way to fight his ideological foes: to get rid of em all, as he so eloquently requested. Who would put inciting another murderous insurrection beyond him? Forty-three Republican U. S. Senators were not so sufficiently troubled by what Trump did on January 6 as to hold him accountable by voting to convict in his second impeachment trial. Ironically, the convention theme was America Uncanceled, this as it attempts to cancel, censure, and banish from the party those who dare to challenge Donald Trump. It is precisely the type of grand hypocrisy that we have come to expect of todays Republican Party, which has been twisted like a pretzel and broken into two. Oren Spiegler, Peters Township Pa. It was a massive relief when the second batch of children returned to school this week but its tough for the 200,000 secondary kids who remain at home. In our house, despite not being overly enthusiastic on Monday morning, it was clear at pick-up they were content. They skipped home ahead of me in deep conversation with their pals and when my 12-year-old disappeared into Tesco Express (wearing a mask) to buy sweets, and then informed me he was off to the park with two friends, instead of moaning about the sugar, I was delighted. He had been communicating via video games with his pals for the last couple of months, and not leaving the house much, and it was just so reassuring to see them slide seamlessly into the real world again. Parents were very careful not to congregate but it was easy to get the grateful glee across without standing around chatting: the exuberant thumbs-up and smiling eyes above the masks said it all. By Tuesday, however, my sense of entitlement had crept back with the day off for St Patricks Day bringing into sharp focus how fast the Easter holidays were approaching. Staring down the barrel of another fortnight with everyone at home with nowhere to go got me thinking, was there any scope to shorten it? It sounds outrageous to meddle with the school holidays but there is a recent precedent because in January the Christmas school break was extended for three days so everyone could follow health advice and minimise contacts. Checking the departments website it seems the terms and conditions allow the break to be reduced up to three days with the school remaining open up to, and including, the Wednesday before Easter. Is it so cheeky to suggest primary-school children go in for March 29, 30 and 31 the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Easter Sunday this year? And fifth-years also? Teachers have been working hard and need a decent break, of course they do, but it will make their job easier in the long run as the three days could be used for revision. I know my kids could do with this. I am focused on getting them back into the routine and ensuring they are content, but niggling at the back of my mind I wonder how far they have fallen behind? My daughter in fourth class seems to have kept up but Im not so certain about my sixth-class pupil, and my second-class child told me he had a little cry on Tuesday because he did not understand an Irish question that was put to him and, having to speak in front of the class, he panicked and felt embarrassed. A childs happiness is paramount but keeping up with the class is linked to this. They feel anxious if they cant keep up. There are Irish orals for the Leaving Cert the first week of the Easter break so it would be complicated to get sixth-years in for the extra three days, and as for the poor devils who have not yet returned, they definitely need a clear fortnight off from all things school so three extra days of remote learning would be a disaster. From what I am hearing from friends and family, some are doing OK, but for most it has been soul-destroying to sit learning on screens. Even if they are there in person on the Zoom call, often they are not present in spirit. I feel lucky my oldest is in sixth class: its heartbreaking first-year students have had their foray into secondary stunted. Thankfully the end is in sight and the message around the schools should be that the final leg of the return is a juggernaut that cant be stopped, regardless of how the cases go. If everything else has to be stalled to ensure these teenagers get back into their classrooms, so be it. Parents are anxious when news reports warn of cases not going down fast enough, or how there were a handful of outbreaks in schools; they worry their children wont get the green light to return on April 12. Many fear their kids may be falling behind, with recent research from the CSO showing more than a third felt the closures have had a major negative impact on their childs learning. For parents of primary-age children, it was 15pc. We do need a benchmark to see where we are and perhaps standardised tests for all primary classes should be rolled out in May. Usually the Drumcondra tests are just for second, fourth and sixth class but it would be useful to gauge how everyone was doing. And some sort of standardised test would be good for secondary schools as well. I asked some excellent teachers and all said while wellbeing is on a par in importance with academic results, if standardised tests could be done without creating anxiety, it would be good to know the extent of what catch-up plans were needed, though the results would need to be properly communicated to parents. Parents play a huge role in a childs progress and they need to be more on board to maximise what schools can do. Parental support programmes should be rolled out for all schools, eg. Parents Plus by John Sharry and evidence-based training and resilience programmes such as The Incredible Years and Friends For Life. Teachers tell me many children will need help when they return on April 12 and its crucial the National Educational Psychological Services (NEPS), along with speech and language therapists and occupational therapists, becomes fully operational again as soon as possible. And they also mentioned teacher wellbeing should be looked at more. Which makes perfect sense because teachers are exactly like parents: to have the capacity to be fully there for their pupils, they need to be feeling OK. I think homeschooling has made us appreciate how important their role is in our childrens lives. Though having said that, how nice it would be to get those three days shaved off the looming Easter break all the same. Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post has written a column with the unwieldy title Not racially motivated?: The Atlanta spa shootings show why the media should be wary of initial police statements. Actually, the shootings demonstrate, for the millionth time, that the public should be wary of mainstream media statements. The initial police statement about the shootings was that they did not appear to be racially motivated. Instead, they were the result of what [the killer] considers a sex addiction. He sees these locations [message parlors] as something that allows him to go to these places and its a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate, the police explained. The mainstream media quickly rejected this explanation. It insisted that the killings were racially motivated. They were the symptom of rampant anti-Asian sentiment fueled, to a significant degree, by former President Trump. Seizing on the Atlanta shootings, the Post has for days been running article after article about hate crimes directed at Asian-Americans Monica Hess of the Post tried to counter the sex addiction explanation this way: [The killer] could have stopped at strip clubs, pornographic video stores or multiple shops lined with wall-to-wall dildoes. But he didnt. He drove 27 miles to Gold Spa, where he allegedly killed three Asian women, and then crossed the street to Aromatherapy Spa where he allegedly killed one more (the names of the victims at the final two establishments have not been released). He chose businesses where the employees were not just women, but Asian women, not just Asian women, but lower-wage Asian women in a fetishized profession. It seems, however, that the shooter drove to these spas because they were ones he had patronized. If thats true, then the shooters choice of locations is fully consistent with the theory that he was motivated by guilt over sex. It neither supports nor refutes the suggestion of bias against Asians. Other evidence strongly supports the sex addiction theory. According to USA Today, the killer had been in rehab for sex addiction and was wracked with guilt about his sexual urges, according to two people who lived with him in transitional housing. Moreover, he was deeply religious and could not control his desire to visit massage parlors and engage in sexual acts, something that sent him into deep bouts of depression. (Emphasis added) What evidence, other than the identity of the victims, backs up the view that racial basis motivated the killings? None of which Im aware. And its worth noting, as John Sexton does, that a highly-publicized attack on an elderly Asian man in Oakland by a black suspect has not been charged as murder even though the family believes race was clearly a factor. Both of the killers housemates say they never heard him use racist language or disparage non-white people. Both say he was rarely online and, to their knowledge, didnt frequent racist internet message boards or websites. Two former high school classmates added that he didnt express political opinions in public and was not overtly racist. Does the fact that the shooter chose to patronize Asian message parlors show some form of anti-Asian animus? I dont think such animus can be inferred from the source of his efforts to achieve sexual gratification. In fact, according again to USA Today, the shooter told his housemates that he preferred these message parlors because he thought the spas were safer than paying for sex elsewhere. As the matter is investigated further, perhaps evidence will emerge supporting the medias conclusion that the shooter was a racist whose deadly actions were motivated by hatred of Asians. As of now, though, this view lacks support. By contrast, the sex addiction theory has a solid foundation. So why has the media adopted the hate crime narrative? Thats an easy one. As Liz Sheld of American Greatness says, the media is bent on sowing suspicion and division among Americans. When bad things happen, it will always pick the explanation that casts Americans in the worst, most racist light, even if a more plausible alternative is staring us in the face. As will Democrats, including Joe Biden. Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu told AGERPRES in an interview that the Euroatlantic Resilience Centre is an extremely important project of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which he wants completed this year. "Works are already in an advanced stage on a Government Decision regulating the organization and operation of this centre that will report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is a necessity, the resilience concept is increasingly present in the area of concern of both the European Union and of the North Atlantic Alliance," Aurescu said. "We have positive reactions from NATO and EU member states, because this resilience concept is very, very important, including in the context of the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. For a start, the centre will function as a Romanian institution, but in a short time we will move to internationalize its activities by co-opting foreign experts who will work together with Romanian experts on several tiers, in the first place on reducing risks through an early warning activity, on adaptation, collection of best practices in the field of resilience and also research on resilience, education, training and joint exercises," the ForMin explained.According to the Romanian top diplomat, this centre will be in the service of both NATO allies and EU member states, it will obviously benefit Romania, because resilience has both an internal and an external component, and at the same time it will be dedicated to the neighboring partners, NATO and EU partners."This centre will be a combination of military-type elements, but in a broader sense, in a broader sense of security, with its various components, from misinformation to hybrid aspects, taking care not to overlap the centre's activity with that of other already existing centres of excellence or of hubs of a similar type, which target certain components of response to the various risks and threats we are experiencing at this time internationally. It will promote a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, so it will also deal with the societal aspects of resilience. It will deal with a whole range of concerns in response to a host of risks and vulnerabilities we face around the globe today," Bogdan Aurescu also said in the interview. AGERPRES Breaking cover without breaking is Samsung's new XCover 5, billed as "meeting the needs of an increasingly mobile workforce, fit for field and factory work, with complete protection against dust and water". Number 5 is alive! This particular model is the new Samsung Galaxy XCover 5, "a rugged yet sophisticated device designed to handle demanding jobs while meeting the needs of an increasingly mobile workforce." Samsung says it is "engineered for the field and factory," and "combines durability with comfort for a product that is sleek and easy-to-hold, yet rugged enough to withstand tough work environments. Its built to power todays mobile business with improved touch sensitivity for use with gloves, and comes with an easy-to-charge, replaceable battery for all day productivity." Danny Mandrides, Head of Enterprise & Government Mobile Business at Samsung Electronics Australia said: The Samsung Galaxy XCover 5 is an incredibly strong option for Australian businesses seeking a device that can handle the challenges of demanding workplaces and environments, as well as support their enterprise security requirements for up to five years. Samsung has invested heavily in developing its rugged portfolio of smartphones and tablets by combining our heritage in mobile innovation, security services through Knox, as well as hardware design and leadership. The Galaxy XCover 5 extends the range further with improved design and specs, as well as the introduction of Enterprise Edition software maintenance." Mandrides continued: We are also proud to announce that the Galaxy XCover 5 comes with security maintenance of up to five years, giving enterprises peace of mind when it comes to the longevity and security of the device. Furthermore, with Knox Capture & Knox Suite, the device is not only designed to secure technology for enterprise use, but its barcode scanning tool enrichens the potential use cases and industries it can benefit. From helping healthcare facilities and retailers to manage inventory with barcode scanning, to mining and construction workers communicating onsite via the phones Microsoft Teams Walkie Talkie, with all the robust features that make it durable in even the toughest conditions, the Galaxy X Cover 5 is a truly versatile device. Its price point at RRP $449 Inc. GST also makes it the ideal fit for most fleet deployments, enabling enterprise mobility at scale, Mandrides added. Here's Samsung's official XCover 5 video, after which there's plenty more info on the features and benefits, please read on! Built for Tough Environments We're told "the Galaxy XCover 5 is equipped with various features to handle demanding jobs and activities. Enhanced shock absorption enables the Galaxy XCover 5 to withstand drops of up to 1.5 meters and IP68-rated dust and water resistance means it can be submerged in over a meter of water for longer than 30 minutes with complete protection against dust. "And, as professionals in the field are required to wear gloves due to health and safety precautions, the Glove Touch feature increases touch sensitivity allowing users to operate the device while wearing gloves for quick and convenient use. "In addition to being physically built for lasting durability devices must protect sensitive information critical to business operations. "The Galaxy XCover 5s hardware is protected by Samsung Knox, the companys defence-grade security platform offering true end-to-end protection with security embedded across every single layer of the device, from the chip all the way up to the apps. Samsung Knox protects confidential business information in real-time and pre-emptively responds to increasingly advanced malware and malicious threats." Integration with the Samsung Partner Ecosystem "The Galaxy XCover 5 is also enhanced with unique partner-enabled mobility solutions for use in a wide range of business scenarios, including the ability to integrate the walkie talkie function in Microsoft Teams. The push-to-talk function allows users to stay in contact with anyone throughout the day with a simple push of a button, making it easier for colleagues to communicate with one another. "You can also configure which apps can be launched with the XCover Key a customised feature that offers single-touch access to your most frequently used apps such as LED flashlight, emergency calls or maps." Greater Performance "Equipped with the powerful Exynos 850 processor, 4GB RAM and up to 64GB internal storage, the Galaxy XCover 5 has the power to keep up with the stringent demands of your business. The long-lasting, replaceable 3,000mAh battery also supports fast charging through USB and POGO pins so you can spend less time plugged in and more time on the task at hand." Professional Grade Camera "The Galaxy XCover 5 comes equipped with a single 16MP (F1.8) rear camera that provides impeccable sharpness making it effortless to capture professional-grade images and videos. The Live Focus feature allows the subject of your shot to stand out and the 5MP (F2.2) front camera is ideal for video conferencing. Furthermore, the inclusion of Samsung Knox Capture also allows enterprise-grade scanning right on your phone at a competitive value, without compromising device performance." Convenient Features "The Galaxy XCover 5 is also packed full of other convenient features that will aid users work and outdoor activities. The LED flashlight on the rear of the phone next to the camera can be used like a torch light, assisting your vision in darker environments. The Galaxy XCover 5 also comes equipped with an NFC chip allowing the phone to be used as a wallet or transportation card, making it ideal for professionals who use public transport to commute to work." Availability The new Galaxy XCover 5 will be available starting March 2021, including but not limited to select markets in Asia, Europe and Latin America, with availability expanding to other regions at a later date. The Galaxy XCover Pro, which launched earlier this year along with a report on ruggedised technology, has a street price of around $700 to $800 AUD, so at A$449 the XCover 5 is great value. More information is here. Here are the specifications: Dimension 147.1 x 71.6 x 9.2mm Display 5.3 HD+ TFT (Full Front) AP (Application Processor) Exynos 850 (Octa 2.0GHz) Memory 4GB RAM with 64GB internal storage Camera (Main) 16M AF (F1.8) (Front) 5M FF (F2.2) Battery 3,000mAh Removable (15W Fast charging support) OS Android 11 SIM Dual SIM or Single SIM - SIM support type varies by market. NFC NFC (EMV L1) Rugged IP68 Water and Dust Resistance MIL-STD810H certified Sensor Accelerometer, Proximity, Geomagnetic, Light, Gyro Pogo Pin Charging only Biometric Security Face recognition Hot Key One programmable key 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 Milling Machines market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Milling Machines 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 7.00%-8.00%. Identify favorable opportunities in Milling Machines 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 Milling Machines suppliers listed in this report: This Milling Machines procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies. DMG MORI Co. Ltd. Doosan Corp. JTEKT Corp. AMADA Co. Ltd. Georg Fischer Ltd. Komatsu Ltd. Okuma Corp. Yamazaki Mazak Corp. Dalian Machine Tool Group Corp. ZAYER SA 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 Charleston, WV (25301) Today Rain and scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 79F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms in the evening will give way to cloudy skies overnight. Areas of patchy fog developing. Low 62F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Burnleys departure was described as amicable and in a statement today he said it was a personal decision Asda PLC has confirmed that chief executive Roger Burnley is to leave next year. The news comes six months after the grocer was sold by Walmart to a consortium comprising petrol station billionaires the Issa brothers and private equity group TDR Capital for 6.8bn. Burnleys departure was described as amicable in a report by Sky News last night and in a statement today he said it was a personal decision. Whilst I remain fully committed to leading this great business for the next year and delivering our strategy, it is right to plan for a managed succession process well in advance. Burnley, 54, has been chief executive since January 2018, having joined the business in 2016 as deputy CEO. During his time in charge Walmart tried to merge the business with Sainsburys, but the deal was effectively blocked by the UK competition authorities. Mohsin and Zuber Issa and TDR Capital jointly said: Roger will continue to lead Asda over the next year and deliver the strategy that he and his leadership team have set in motion, whilst at the same time working with us on identifying his successor. The new owners have wasted little time in putting their mark on the grocery chain. In February, they unveiled a restructuring programme affecting up to 5,000 jobs with the Dartford and Heston home shopping centres set to close and back office store functions facing an overhaul. That followed the sale of the supermarket's petrol forecourts to the Issas own business EG Group for 750mln. The brothers have made their fortune through the EG Group, which is now one of the largest forecourt retailers in Europe. Irelands deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn has expressed regret at frustration in response to a suggestion that coronavirus restrictions could remain until June. Dr Glynn said caution is needed in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic until a majority of the country is vaccinated by the end of June, pointing to surging case numbers in the other European countries. However he also insisted there is hope and that the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) is grateful for the general compliance with health advice. Strict rules aimed at limiting social contact remain in place across Ireland, however a phased return to schools is under way. Expand Close Anti-lockdown demonstrators during a protest outside Leinster House, Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Anti-lockdown demonstrators during a protest outside Leinster House, Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) There have been a series of anti-lockdown protests in Ireland in recent weeks. A suggestion by Dr Glynn at a press conference on Thursday that some restrictions may potentially be required until June sparked frustration among some. Responding on Friday, Dr Glynn said Nphet could improve our messaging. We have sought over and over again over the past year to acknowledge the fatigue, the frustration, the exhaustion that people are feeling with these measures, Dr Glynn told a Nphet press conference on Friday. We know how difficult it is for people in this country, we do not make recommendations lightly. Dr Glynn said that despite having made good progress over the past 10 weeks, Ireland remains in a precarious position in terms of the coronavirus pandemic. As a result of that I simply said that we need to be cautious over the next two months because none of us want a fourth wave, we all remember what happened as a result of Christmas and New Year, and none of us want to see that happen again, he said. I would ask people, all parts of society, to stick with the key messages over the coming weeks which is that there is hope eight out of 10 people will receive the vaccine by the end of June. We can all look forward collectively to much brighter days. Things will get gradually easier over the coming short months if we can stop a fourth wave. The infamous quack doctor Mugo wa Wairimu says his 11-year prison sentence with an alternative fine of Sh1.4 million was unfair and excessive. Speaking Wednesday during an interview with K24, Mugo said he wishes he committed a serious crime because he was heavily penalised for operating a clinic without a license. He argued the offense was minor and did not warrant such a harsh sentence. When I come out of the prison, I would like to commit a serious offense like drug trafficking or robbery with violence since its like I am serving the same sentence, saaid the fake doctor. Mugo, who appeared before Nairobi Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi on another matter of rape, told the court he has already adapted to prison life. He also faulted Nairobi Resident Magistrate Martha Nanzushi for issuing a sentence to be served consecutively. I have to serve the 11 years. I have been told that where there is an additional fine, the sentence does not run concurrently. I have to serve one sentence after the other for each count, he lamented. Mugo has already served six months. The convict asked the court to compel Ruiru Prison to take him to Kenyatta National Hospital for treatment. While granting the request, Magisrate Andayi said: They should ensure that the convicts rights and freedoms are not violated. Mugo, who was transferred from the Industrial Area Prison to Ruiru Prison, said the food there(Ruiru) is better and he occupies his time with farm work. Local News, Crime By Long Island Published: March 19 2021 Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini has announced the guilty plea of a Huntington Station woman for conspiring to hire hitmen to kill her ex-husbands mother This is a shocking and disturbing case, District Attorney Sini said. The defendants intentions were very clear that she wanted this person murdered, and she was ready and willing to pay for it. Thankfully law enforcement was notified and able to intervene before anyone got hurt, and todays guilty plea ensures she is held accountable. Elsy Rodriguez-Garcia, 27, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a class B felony. Pursuant to the plea agreement, she is expected to be sentenced to two to six years in prison. In July 2019, Rodriguez-Garcia contacted a co-conspirator via WhatsApp to orchestrate the murder of her ex-husbands mother and daughter. She asked the co-conspirator to hire hitmen to execute the murder in Ecuador, where she believed the targets were visiting. Rodriguez-Garcia provided photographs of one of the targets to the co-conspirator in furtherance of the plot as well as a description of the residence in which she believed the targets were staying. Rodriguez-Garcia agreed to pay for the murder, which she would wire to the hitmen once she received proof that the murder had occurred. Rodriguez-Garcias ex-husband became aware of the murder-for-hire plot and reported the threat to the Suffolk County Police Departments Third Precinct. An investigation into the conspiracy was conducted by the District Attorneys Office and the Suffolk County Police Department. Pursuant to the investigation, a doctored photo purporting to show the targets of the conspiracy was sent by the co-conspirator to Rodriguez-Garcia as proof that the murder had been carried out. The photo, which was created by the Suffolk County Police Departments Identification Section, appeared to show a deceased woman and child in the countryside of Ecuador. Following the investigation, Rodriguez-Garcia was arrested on July 13. Rodriguez-Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced in front of Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice John Collins on April 15. She is being represented by William Ferro. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Anne E. Oh, of the Enhanced Prosecution Bureau. Lucknow, March 19 : It is said, "Notice the small things. The rewards are inversely proportional." This Liz Vassey quote fits perfectly in to the political scenario of Uttar Pradesh. There are parties that, at the moment seem small and seemingly insignificant, but they have the potential of upsetting the apple cart of bigger parties. They may not win seats for themselves but they can make others lose a few. The latest IANS-C voter indicates an increase, albeit marginal at this stage, in the projected seat share. From 10, these parties categorized as 'others', have increased to 16. These smaller parties in Uttar Pradesh are mainly caste- or class- centric and, over the years, have developed a strong following at the grass root level. Apna Dal For instance, the Apna Dal, a fledgling political outfit till a decade ago, was an almost non-existent force in state politics. The party began by winning one seat in the state assembly in 2012 and then scored a hundred per cent result in the 2014 when it contested two Lok Sabha seats and won both. It repeated its performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections while it won nine seats in the 2017 assembly elections. The Apna Dal, today, is a bigger political force than even the Congress when it comes to the number of seats in the assembly. The Apna Dal is a Kurmi-centric party and its MP Anupriya Patel says that she is carrying forward the work initiated by her father, late Sonelal Patel. "I am simply trying to consolidate Kurmis so that they can emerge as a force on their own. This is what my father wanted," she said. Though Kurmis are next to the powerful Yadav community among the OBC castes, the community has a two to three per cent population in majority of the constituencies in UP. At present, the Apna Dal is an ally of the BJP but indications are that the party may move out of the alliance. It has already announced that it would contest the upcoming panchayat elections on its own. An Apna Dal MLA, who spoke to IANS on condition of anonymity, said that if his party moved away from the BJP before the 2022 assembly polls, the BJP would suffer considerable damage. "Even a two per cent shift in votes will lead to a loss of several seats," he explained. The party finds its support base mainly in the farming community in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh. AAP Another 'small' party that could change political fortunes in Uttar Pradesh is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). AAP will be making its debut in the state's electoral politics for the first time in 2022. "There is a definite vacuum in the political space here because all parties are either focusing on religion or caste. No one is talking about crucial issues. We have the Delhi model of governance with us and we will showcase it to the people," said AAP MP Sanjay Singh. Singh has been extensively touring Uttar Pradesh since August last year, building up his party's organizational structure at the grassroots level. The AAP strategy for 2022 polls is aimed at denting the ruling BJP's votebank. AAP will be focusing on the middle class that has remained alienated in the BJP brand of politics. The party is gradually elbowing out the Congress and this explains the constant stream of leaders form the Congress which is joining AAP. "We are talking about school fees, electricity bills and health facilities. The middle class has been bearing the brunt of lack of governance in these sectors. We will place our Delhi model before them to show that nothing is impossible if the government wants," the MP said. Political analyst H I Siddiqui said, AAP may or may not win seats for itself but it will definitely play a spoiler for the bigger parties. "Their leaders have been working at the grassroots level - reaching out physically to families in distress. What is more, no one in AAP talks about temple, caste, Muslims etc. They talk of bread and butter for the people, employment and good education which is attracting people. Other bigger parties are restricting themselves to waging wars on the social media," he said. Bhim Army The 'small' party that is being touted as a possible gamechanger in Uttar Pradesh in the next assembly election is the Bhim Army. The story of Bhim Army encapsulates the rise of Chandra Shekhar Azad, from a local leader in western Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district to become the face of Dalit empowerment and a rallying point for the resistance against the Modi government, especially with an aparent vacuum created by an all but dormant Mayawati and her BSP. The Dalit leader, who made it to the headlines in the 2017 Saharanpur caste riots, has emerged as a highly popular young Dalit leader. Chandra Shekhar is proving to be a perfect foil to the beleaguered Bahujan Samaj Party which, till now, has been the sole custodian of Dalit votes. It was this factor that led the BSP to win 10 Lok Sabha seats in 2019. The C-Voter survey shows the BSP doubling its seats in the projections. A BSP MLA said: "The problem with our leader (Mayawati) is that she does not move out of her residence. Whether it is the Hathras incident or the Unnao incident, she has not bothered to meet the families of the Dalit victims while Chandra Shekhar has always reached out to them." Chandra Shekhar, who faces about two dozen cases, has been wooing the Dalit youth with a vengeance and hopes to takes away a piece of the BSP vote. Parties like the Congress are ardently wooing him and not without a reason either. Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party Another 'small' party that is making tall claims in Uttar Pradesh is the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) , led by former minister Om Prakash Rajbhar. A former BJP ally, Rajbhar has already tied up with All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and plans to stitch up an alliance with Samajwadi Party and Shivpal Yadav-led Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL). "I will show the BJP what it means to humiliate the Rajbhar community. We have a strong presence in Purvanchal -- almost 18 per cent in some constituencies -- and we will show our strength in 2022," he said. These parties may or may not win seats for themselves but they will undoubtedly make others lose a few. Belarus denied reversal of $3.2 mln recovery ruling in favor of Russian firm RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 10:45 19/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 19 (RAPSI) The Moscow Commercial Court has dismissed a bid of the Republic of Belarus, represented by the countrys Council of Ministers, to reverse a ruling on the recovery of $3.2 million in favor of Russian construction firm Management Company Davinchi, according to court records. In June 2020, the petitioner asked the Moscow Commercial Court to reverse a decision of the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation of March 12, 2020. On June 25 the hearings were stayed due to paperwork irregularities; nevertheless these irregularities have not been corrected by a deadline set by the court. Davinchi, in turn, asked the Moscow Commercial Court to issue a writ of enforcement of the Commerce Chamber award granted on March 12, 2020. Leading up to the 2021 NFL draft, which starts April 29, Yahoo Sports will count down our top 100 overall prospects. Well count them down in groups of five for Nos. 100-51, followed by more in-depth reports on our top 50 players, with help from our scouting assistant, Liam Blutman. We reserve the right to make changes to players grades and evaluations based on injury updates, pro-day workouts or late-arriving information from NFL teams. Other prospect rankings: Nos. 100-96 | 95-91 | 90-86 | 85-81 | 80-76 | 75-71 | 70-66 | 65-61 | 60-56 | 55-51 | 50. OT Liam Eichenberg | 49. WR Terrace Marshall Jr. | 48. LB Chazz Surratt | 47. EDGE Joe Tryon | 46. OT-OG Alex Leatherwood | 45. CB Asante Samuel Jr. | 44. DL Levi Onwuzurike | 43. LB Jabril Cox | 42. DT Daviyon Nixon | 41. EDGE Ronnie Perkins | 40. LB Nick Bolton | 39. CB Ifeatu Melifonwu | 38. WR Elijah Moore | 37. OT Jalen Mayfield | 36. EDGE Carlos Basham Jr. | 35. CB Elijah Molden | 34. RB Travis Etienne | 33. WR Kadarius Toney | 32. EDGE Jayson Oweh | 31. LB Zaven Collins | 30. DT Christian Barmore | 29. QB Mac Jones | 28. CB Caleb Farley | 27. RB Javonte Williams | 26. C-OG Landon Dickerson | 25. S Trevon Moehrig | 24. CB Greg Newsome II | 23. WR Rashod Bateman | 22. EDGE Greg Rousseau | 21. OT Christian Darrisaw | 20. RB Najee Harris | 19. LB-S Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah | 18. EDGE Jaelan Phillips | 17. OT Teven Jenkins | 16. EDGE Kwity Paye | 15. CB Jaycee Horn | 14. OT-OG Rashawn Slater | 13. OG-OT Alijah Vera-Tucker | 12. WR DeVonta Smith | 11. EDGE Azeez Ojulari | 10. CB Patrick Surtain II | 9. OT Penei Sewell | 8. QB Zach Wilson | 7. LB Micah Parsons | 6. QB Trey Lance | 5. WR Jaylen Waddle | 4. QB Justin Fields | 3. WR Ja'Marr Chase | 2. TE Kyle Pitts | 1. QB Trevor Lawrence Here are how we use our prospect grades for the 2021 NFL draft. (Albert Corona/Yahoo Sports) 45. Florida State CB Asante Samuel Jr. 5-foot-10, 180 pounds Yahoo Sports draft grade: 5.89 potential starter TL;DR scouting report: Undersized playmaker on the outside who takes after his father but tackles and plays more physically than expected Story continues Games watched: Florida (2020), Florida State (2020), North Carolina (2020), Pitt (2020) The skinny: A 4-star Rivals recruit (No. 46 nationally), Samuel signed with FSU symbolically on the anniversary of his grandmothers death and saw the field right away as a true freshman. In 2018, he started three of 12 games, making 17 tackles (one for loss) and nine pass breakups. The next season Samuel made 48 tackles (one for loss), one interception and an ACC-best 14 passes defended (eighth nationally). As a junior, he started the first eight games in 2020, making 31 tackles (one for loss), three interceptions and six pass breakups prior to opting out for the remainder of the season and declaring for the 2021 draft. Upside: Very good athlete. Nicely sculpted physique for a smaller frame. Extremely quick and agile feet. Stops on a dime and closes fast and hard. Enough speed to carry receivers vertically. Good balance transitioning from his backpedal. Possesses lower-body strength and explosion. Great pass-coverage instincts. Breaks on the ball faster and drives on out-breaking routes than most corners in this class. Trusts his instincts and showed more of an attacking mentality later in his college career. Crowds and annoys receivers with his sticky coverage. Likes to get in guys faces hornet-like presence. Feisty, scrappy corner not a finesse player by any means. Plays big for his size. Doesnt back down from physical challenges. Heck of a tackler for his size might go low but comes in hard. Highly competitive and confident play. Watch from his 2019 against Boston College as Samuel chops down 250-pound RB A.J. Dillon, a second-round draft pick of the Packers in 2020: Samuel is giving up more than 60 pounds to the Boston College back but has no problem cutting him down. Times up passes well. Great ball production four INTs, 29 passes defended on 137 career targets, per PFF. Allowed 51.3 percent career completions, and that includes a true-freshman season in which he was frequently picked on. Limited big plays in 2020 long reception allowed of only 38 yards. Showed some return potential ran back his three 2020 picks back for 74 yards, including 38- and 36-yard returns. Scheme-diverse. Has operated in man and zone coverage and has improved press technique. Very comfortable and natural playing outside. Has played enough inside to be thrown into nickel duties as well. Handles quickness well inside or outside. Has NFL bloodlines. Downside: Very small frame and not getting any bigger anytime soon. Can get worked by bigger, stronger receivers especially in man coverage. Less-than-ideal length to make plays at the catch point 30 1/8-inch arms and 72 1/4-inch wingspan, both bottom 10th percentile. Small hands, too (8 7/8 inches). More of an ankle/drag-down tackler than a hitter. Even some quarterbacks broke out of his tackle attempts (see North Carolina). Cant detach readily from receivers blocks to make a play. Flagged five times in eight 2020 games grabby downfield. Tries to get away with downfield contact and sometimes does but will need to be more subtle about it. Multiple pass-interference calls against him the past two seasons. Might be best in a zone system. Lacks great length for press coverage and gives too big a cushion in off-man, even with his excellent click-and-close ability. Will overplay receivers off the line to cross his face and allow quick, easy completions on slants and drags. Needs to work on bail/side-saddle technique. Looks less sure of himself with his back to the ball guilty of too much face guarding. Not much experience as a blitzer. Has said he prefers to play outside. Florida State CB Asante Samuel Jr. will get physical with receivers despite his size. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) Best-suited destination: We see Samuel thriving best in a heavy zone and off-man system, possibly as a nickel. He should be given a chance to perform outside before making that call. Samuel might be on the small side and lose some physical battles, but he has the temperament to make it work in the long run. Any team seeking more playmaking in its secondary should make a run at him. Did you know: As you might have guessed from the name, Samuel is the son of the four-time Pro Bowl and two-time Super Bowl champion cornerback with the New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons. Samuel Jr. spoke to Yahoo Sports earlier this year about his father and what he's working on to prepare for the 2021 NFL draft. Im just trying to make my own way, Samuel said. Its not about not wanting to be him, or whatever. Just me trying to showcase my ability to cover and make plays. Some of it is genetics, but I mean, I have always assumed nothing is just going to be given to me because of my name. I want to work for everything I have a shot at. Thats where the hard work pays off. If you dont put in the time, eventually youll fail. I dont want that to happen. Player comp: A smaller Jaire Alexander. Expected draft range: Top 50 More from Yahoo Sports: Beijing Tightens Control Over Voice Software, Deepfake Technologies on Chinese Social Media Platforms After the ban of U.S. audio-based social media app Clubhouse last month, the Chinese regime issued an official notice on March 18 to tighten internet control over voice software on Chinese social media platforms, pressuring domestic technology firms to implement surveillance measures. Chinese users had been using the audio chat of Clubhouse to join real-time global discussions about sensitive topics censored by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), such as the persecution of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, Hong Kongs pro-democracy movement, and the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. The audio messaging app can conceal the identity of its usersit can alter voices, and the messages dont leave a public record, preventing Chinese authorities from monitoring online speech. Consequently, the CCP blocked Clubhouse in China after it was launched in April 2020. Following the popularity of Clubhouse, Chinese tech companies such as Xiaomi have launched similar audio social media platforms, which use deepfake technology to alter voices. Xiaomi makes smartphones and mobile apps. The online audio messages and voice apps pose a challenge to Chinas internet surveillance system, and therefore, the regime is taking action to control them. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) released an official notice on its website on March 18 stating that the CAC and the Ministry of Public Security have instructed local cybersecurity and public security agencies to strengthen the security assessment of voice social software and new internet technologies and applications involving deepfake technologies, in order to maintain national security and public order. The CAC and the Ministry of Public Security have summoned the heads of 11 major Chinese technology companies, including Alibaba, NetEase Cloud Music, Xiaomi, and Tencent, to pressure them to ban the voice software on their platforms, according to state-run Xinhua. According to the CAC, the 11 companies havent been diligent with carrying out security assessment procedures regarding the audio messaging apps on their social media platforms and voice-altering software involving deepfake technologies. The agency urged them to conduct security assessments and rectify potential threats to internet security in a timely manner, and to submit reports to the CAC and public security agencies. A Chinese internet activist surnamed Ding told Radio Free Asia (RFA) on March 18 that the CCPs recent move shows it intends to continue its tight control of the internet and to eventually take over privately owned tech companies. I think the control is getting stricter. The next step would be to nationalize the big tech firms like Tencent and Alibaba, she said. Chinese internet activist Shen Zhi told RFA that when the authorities require internet service providers to carry out security assessments and submit data and reports, it indicates that these privately owned companies are joining the Chinese regimes surveillance system and becoming part of the government. An IT technician surnamed Zhan explained the process of online monitoring to RFA. These internet service companies have a mechanism to collect your initial voice in the audio messages either on TikTok or other platforms, and record and store them on their servers. Its not available to the public and to other companies, but its connected to the public security agencies, he said. He said that in the future, Chinas domestic mobile phone software or social media platforms will collect biometric information, including voice, as well as other personal data. It is equivalent to a public security agency. They [tech companies] have a mechanism to trace you and hold you accountable. It is already being implemented in the [tech] industry. I know that in public places that have internet and computer services, such as internet cafes and business centers in five-star hotels, the CAC has [installed] a mirror port at the data entrance there, and the data you enter and receive must pass through the data port, which is the data port of the Public Security Bureau. Chinese authorities also require tech companies to submit reports to the government for security review if they plan to add new functions or new information services that have the ability to mobilize society, according to the CAC. Car thefts in 2019 were at their lowest rate since the state started collecting data in 1985, according to recent research conducted by the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy at Central Connecticut State University. After a peak of 26,254 motor vehicle thefts in 1991, there were 5,964 in 2019, a 77 percent decrease, compared to a 43 percent reduction nationwide. Preliminary data from 2020 show there was an increase in motor vehicle thefts in Connecticut compared to the previous year, mirroring national trends. A National Insurance Crime Bureau report published in January found that motor vehicle thefts rose more than 9 percent between 2019 and 2020. The researchers hypothesized the uptick could be due to the pandemic, economic downturn, a loss of juvenile outreach programs and public safety budgetary limitations. This is not a Connecticut problem. This is not isolated to Connecticut, said Ken Barone, the project manager at the IMRP. Plus, Barone added, those preliminary numbers from 2020 are still 3 percent lower than they were in 2018. 2019 is really the outlier year, not 2020, Barone said. We can really explain and understand the theft rate increase in 2020. More so than we can explain the significant reduction in motor vehicle thefts in 2019. Barone presented the research to members of the Juvenile Justice Policy and Oversight Committee Thursday. He told the legislators, police officers and advocates on the virtual hearing that the state should study 2019 so that officials can replicate its success in future years. The questions Im starting to ask are: were there programs put in place? Were there changes made in communities that caused such a significant decrease in 2019, and as a result of the pandemic, did those programs have to go away? Did they have to get put on hold? And did that help to fuel some of the increase in 2020? Legislators have passed a series of reforms aimed at helping children ensnared in the criminal legal system. The first was in 2007, where they passed legislation that raised the age at which young peoples criminal cases were automatically sent to the adult justice system placing the majority of 16- and 17-year-olds into the juvenile system and gave teachers and school administrators options for dealing with troubled students other than calling the police on them. Barone noted that motor vehicle thefts increased in Connecticut between 2013 and 2018, fueling concerns that raising the age was responsible for the increase. Republicans have introduced at least four bills this legislative session dealing with car thefts committed by children. Each measure would attempt to deter kids from stealing cars by increasing the penalties associated with the crime, aiding police and states attorneys in investigating and prosecuting auto thefts, or creating a task force to make recommendations to reduce car thefts. But Barones presentation pointed out that motor vehicle theft rates were 19 percent lower in 2017 compared to 2008. Although motor vehicle thefts increased in Connecticut starting in 2014, that followed a national trend. There is no evidence to support a claim that Raise the Age laws have caused an increase in motor vehicle thefts here in Connecticut, said Barone. Plus, Barone said, minors make up a comparatively small proportion of the people arrested for stealing cars. Between 2010 and 2019, children under age 18 made up 28 percent of all motor vehicle arrests; on average, between 1992 and 1997, minors made up just under half of all motor vehicle theft arrests. The data Barone presented also showed that motor vehicle thefts are reported at a higher rate than other crimes, but police make fewer arrests in these cases. We only ever solve about 11 percent of these offenses, Barone said. Barones presentation detailed what he called the spoke and wheel trend, that as motor vehicle thefts have declined in Connecticuts major cities, they have increased in surrounding suburban communities. I think that just goes to show the shifting nature of where the crime is primarily occurring, said Barone. And the clearance rates for car thefts in the suburbs are even lower than the rest of the state. So the state average is about 11 percent. And the clearance rate in most of these suburban communities, particularly in central Connecticut, is about 5 percent, Barone said. Increased penalties for these offenses will, again, likely have little or no impact on the overall offense rate, because very few individuals, and in particular very few juveniles, are even arrested for committing these offenses. One notable exception: Waterbury. The city and its surrounding communities have seen significant increases in motor vehicle thefts between 2010 and 2019. There were 424 car thefts in Waterbury in 2010. In 2015, there were 809. The numbers plateaued in later years; in 2019, there were 541 car thefts. The simplest way to prevent a car from being stolen is by locking it. Barones presentation showed that, since 2013, there has been a 93 percent nationwide increase in motor vehicle thefts where keys were left in the car. Twelve kids After Barones presentation, Fernando Spagnolo, Waterbury chief of police, responded on behalf of law enforcement. Spagnolo said there were 546 reported car thefts in Waterbury in 2020 and that police recovered 317 cars stolen outside the city and returned to Waterbury. In total, Waterbury police responded to 863 reports of car thefts. Our concerns dont necessarily lie only with the stolen motor vehicle rates, Spagnolo said, but rather, the harmful behaviors after the cars are stolen. Spagnolo said police have identified 48 youths who have repeatedly stolen cars. Officers reached out to the minors through community programs in an attempt to help them stay out of the justice system. But, Spagnolo said, there are 12 children that police have been unable to reach. The average age of those 12 youths is 15. They have been arrested for auto theft about eight times between the end of 2017 and 2020. During that same time, 11 of those children were arrested for possessing a firearm. The twelfth died by homicide and had had a stolen gun on him when he was admitted to the hospital after getting shot. Eleven of the minors had 55 or more disciplinary incidents within their schools, Spagnolo said. All 12 of these kids accounted for 84 of the vehicles that were stolen inside of the city of Waterbury throughout the calendar year 2020. And theyve been arrested for that, Spagnolo said. Over that same time, Waterbury police responded to calls for service an average of 30 times for each child, Spagnolo said. Those are calls placed when someone is in a crisis, like when an individual is a victim of a crime, in a medical emergency or had been in an accident. The outcomes really arent good for this group, Spagnolo said, outlining the trajectories of their lives. One is dead. Five are now adults incarcerated in prison on serious charges. Of the six who are still minors, three are in juvenile detention centers. A few days ago, several of the minors still in the community were involved in a stolen vehicle incident in Naugatuck, Spagnolo said. We can certainly do better when it comes to arresting juveniles, we can certainly do better in diverting arrests, especially for minor misdemeanor offenses, Spagnolo said. But our major concern right now is the harm to this small percentage of juveniles in our community that we cant get our hands around. Spagnolo acknowledged that advocates dont see detention as a solution to helping young people with serious needs who keep winding up in the justice system. But hes at a loss as to what to do with the children he and his officers cannot connect with. He called their current efforts a complete and total failure. Theyre losing their lives. And theyre putting not only themselves, but our community, at risk. Advocates on the committee noted that it is not police officers job to provide all the services that children from under-resourced communities need. We talk a lot, at the Alliance and with other police officers, too, about the over-reliance on police, said Christina Quaranta, executive director of the Connecticut Justice Alliance. So I think I think it would behoove all of us to be at the same table, as you are here, to talk about solutions. Those solutions for high-risk, high-need youth, Quaranta suggested, could include 24/7 youth advocate programs that exist in 29 states but not Connecticut. I think we need to start really branching out and changing what were doing if were going to expect to have positive outcomes that kids and families deserve, Quaranta said. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Kuwaits new Cabinet was sworn in on March 3, six weeks after the previous Cabinet had resigned after mounting tensions between the government and the National Assembly and amid a growing sense of urgency in the political and economic challenges facing the country. The inclusion of four new ministers in the Cabinet lineup, and especially the appointment of a former member of parliament as Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister, is an attempt to bridge the differences between the government and parliament that have so often been the source of political gridlock in Kuwait. Kuwaits National Assembly, which often challenges the government on a wide range of issues, is illustrative of arguably the most advanced, if sometimes raucous, democracy in the region. The 50-member National Assembly, founded in 1963, is directly elected by Kuwaits citizens. While some have lamented that the assembly sometimes contributes to gridlock on government initiatives, especially economic and development planning, Kuwaitis generally take pride in a democratic institution now entering its seventh decade. This latest clash between the government and the National Assembly has its roots in a series of interlocking crises that formed the backdrop to a year featuring the smooth leadership change in Kuwait with the death of Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al Sabah in September 2020. Allegations of large-scale corruption, including one linked to the explosive fallout from the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia, have, since 2019, roiled the Kuwaiti political and economic elite, including members of the ruling family and senior officials. These allegations emboldened Kuwaits political opposition, which secured 24 of the 50 seats in the most recent election National Assembly election in December 2020. There had been hopes that Kuwaits smooth leadership transition, in which the new Emir, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al Sabah, swiftly appointed a Crown Prince without any of the factional infighting and jockeying for position that some had predicted, would herald a new and more consensual approach to politics. A meeting between Sheikh Nawaf and opposition representatives shortly before Emir Sabahs September 29 passing had kindled some expectation of a detente that might draw a line under the fractious relationship that opposition figures had with Emir Sabah, dating back to political upheaval in 2011-12. This was evident in requests from the opposition that exiled political figures be allowed to return to Kuwait and an amnesty granted to people convicted of storming the National Assembly in November 2011. Any initial sense of goodwill largely evaporated in December when the government and parliament locked horns over the re-election of Marzouq al-Ghanem to the Speakership of the National Assembly he has held since 2013. A scion of two of Kuwaits oldest and most influential families, al-Ghanem faced immediate demands from his removal from a majority of MPs but was re-elected amid turbulent scenes with the support of Cabinet members who cast their votes as ex officio members of the National Assembly. This initial confrontational approach set the tone for what followed as 38 MPs backed a motion to question the Prime Minister over claims of constitutional irregularities in forming the government, leading ultimately to the Cabinet submitting its resignation on January 13. The latest formation of a government took place after consultations between the Prime Minister and representatives of Kuwaits parliamentary blocs and a one-month suspension of parliamentary sittings. While only four of the sixteen members of Cabinet were ultimately changed, they included the Minister of Interior, Anas al-Saleh, who had become a lightning rod for opposition criticism, whose secondary role as deputy prime minister was taken by one of the new appointees, Minister of Justice Abdullah al-Roumi. Bader al-Saif, an assistant professor of history at Kuwait University, observed that, as a former MP and deputy speaker, al-Roumi was well respected by opposition and government and that the composition of the new Cabinet signaled an attempt at reconciliation on the part of the government. Moving forward, the priority for the new government will be whether they can work with the National Assembly to pass an urgently needed debt law that would enable Kuwait to address a rapidly deteriorating fiscal and balance of payments crisis. However, a new public debt bill that would allow Kuwait to return to international markets for the first time since 2017 and borrow up to US$65 billion has been stalled for months, in part due to the mistrust between parliament and government over the handling of public finances. While oil-rich Kuwait remains one of the wealthiest countries in the world, its liquidity crunch has already caused Fitch to downgrade its outlook on Kuwaits sovereign debt from stable to negative and the Ministry of Finance to warn that it could run out of money to pay public sector salaries. In the absence of progress on the debt law, Kuwait has resorted to short-term measures, such as withdrawals from its General Reserve Fund, to plug immediate gaps, that are poor substitutes for a long-term solution. The challenge for policymakers in Kuwait is that questions of public finance tend to form the sharpest flashpoints between government and parliament and bring out the populist streak among MPs. The at times raucous politics of the Assembly sometimes thereby inhibits effective economic and development planning for the medium- and longer-term, such as what is needed to address the debt issue, and contributing to gridlock . The economic challenge has of course been complicated by the coronavirus pandemic. The more likely scenario for Kuwait may therefore be that the political standoff continues, especially if opposition MPs that already have vowed to file another motion to question the Prime Minister follow through, and that Emir Nawaf eventually calls for fresh elections to break the impasse, especially over the debt law. Meanwhile, building on the tradition of the late Emir Sabah as one of the most respected and revered elder statesmen in the region, Emir Nawaf and the government have not missed a beat in pressing ahead with the Kuwaits widely admired role in regional security, and in facilitating dialogue and reconciliation among the GCC states. The (WHO) exhorted the world to keep administering AstraZeneca's Covid-19 shots on Friday, adding its endorsement to that of European and British regulators after concerns over blood clotting. "We urge countries to continue using this important Covid-19 vaccine," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva. He was speaking after the global health body's vaccine safety panel said available data about the shot did not point to any overall increase in clotting conditions. European and British regulators also said this week that the benefits of AstraZeneca's shot outweighed the risks, prompting various nations to lift their suspensions. "The vaccine is especially important because it accounts for more than 90% of the vaccines being distributed through COVAX," Tedros added, referring to a WHO-led global vaccine-sharing scheme. "There is no question. Covid-19 is a deadly disease, and the Oxford- vaccine can prevent it. It's also important to remember that Covid-19 itself can cause blood clots and low platelets." The WHO's global advisory committee on vaccine safety said in a statement that the AstraZeneca vaccine had a "positive benefit-risk profile" and "tremendous potential" to prevent infections and reduce deaths. The WHO panel of 12 independent experts, who met virtually on Tuesday and on Thursday, reviewed safety data from Europe, the United Kingdom, India, and WHO's global database. "While very rare and unique thromboembolic events in combination with thrombocytopenia, such as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), have also been reported following vaccination with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Europe, it is not certain that they have been caused by vaccination," it said. Nearly 93 million years ago, a strange shark that eats plankton unlike other widely known marine invertebrate drifted through the sea which is now northeastern Mexico making use of curiously lengthy wing-like fins that made its body broader than it was. Aquilolamna milarcae On Thursday, researchers reported the finding of a nearly full fossil of the shark, known as Aquilolamna milarcae, that existed throughout the Cretaceous Period at a time when the land was ruled by dinosaurs. Its proportions are bizarre as the fin span is about 1.9 meters (6-1/4 feet) and the distance from head to tail is about 1.65 meters (5-1/2 feet) which left the researchers surprised. The name of Aquilolamna's means "eagle shark," an acknowledgment to its slim pectoral fins, which predominantly served as an efficient stabilizer, according to Romain Vullo, Vertebrate Paleontologist and lead author of the research released in the journal Science. Romain Vullo, after partnering with Geosciences Rennes, a research center involving the Rennes University and National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France said lots of adjectives can be used to explain this shark as it is strange, rare, exceptional, odd, extraordinary. And it is the only shark that is broader than long. Read Also: Monstrous Shark with Goblin-Like Jaws Found in the Deep Sea The Defunct Creature Vullo continued that Aquilolamna is really a good example of a defunct creature showing an unpredictable new morphology. This solidly advocates that other exceptional body shapes and morphological adaptations may have been in existence through the shark's evolutionary history. Just like all sharks and the similar rays and skates, Aquilolamna had a cartilaginous skeleton and It also had a similiar body shaped like a torpedo and shark's tail but its pectoral fins were quite strange. The scientists said Aquilolamna turns out to have been a shark that swims slowly and feeds on plankton with the use of filter-feeding, just like basking sharks and whale sharks that eat plankton do today. The fossil, discovered in the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, did not show Aquilolamna's filter eating mechanism. Rays like the manta ray, with their leveled bodies and big pectoral fins inserted all the way to the head, dive through the water as if they are flying in the air. It (Aquilolamna) looks to have done something related. The Biggest Predator in the Ocean Aquilolamna existed in the open ocean at a period when the seas were inhabited with marine reptiles, ammonites (squid relatives with big shells), different bony fishes, and big sharks. The biggest predator in the ocean was a shark known as Cretoxyrhina, with a size of about 6 meters (20 feet long) Before the arrival of dinosaurs, the fish group emerged roughly 380 million years ago. Aquilolamna is not the only strange shark that has drifted oceans of Earth. Sharks and their families have adopted many sizes and shapes which includes an ancient one known as 'Helicoprion' that had a mouth that looks like a spiral saw, another ancient one called Stethacanthus, with its dorsal fin looking like an ironing board, and also sawfish sharks and odd goblin that we have today. Related Article: Great White Sharks Eat Four Times As Much As Previously Estimated (VIDEO) For more news, updates about sharks and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 socialite who attended a prestigious school and enjoyed a life of luxury in high-end clubs and bars is being jailed after committing yet another fraud. Annabel Walker, 32, was sentenced to 14 months behind bars with a seven-month non parole period after stealing $3,100 from a friend to spend on booze and bikinis. The conwoman was jailed last year on separate charges after defrauding her employers, landlords and friends out of thousands of dollars. Socialite Annabel Walker (pictured left), who was often seen frequenting posh bars and clubs, is being jailed after committing yet another fraud The 32-year-old (pictured) was sentenced to 14 months behind bars with a seven-month non parole period after stealing $3,100 from a friend and running a Gumtree rental scheme in 2019 'Belle' Walker used to show off her lavish lifestyle on social media, drinking champagne at expensive Sydney eastern suburbs restaurants, wearing designer handbags and holidaying in luxurious resorts. It all fell apart when she was charged with fraud offences in 2017 and then found to have extorted $17,000 from her employer at a Sydney courthouse last year, reported Bowral News. Walker had also stayed at the lavish Rae's on Wategos resort in Byron Bay and bought products from a Harvey Norman store, none of which she paid for. At the time, she received an 18 month sentence with a 12 month parole period. Walker's release date has now been pushed back further after she was found to have stolen money off a friend's credit card in November 2019, before she was jailed. She also plead guilty to a rental fraud in which she cancelled someone's booking and faked a refund receipt. The conwoman (pictured) was jailed last year on separate charges after defrauding her employers, landlords and friends thousands of dollars Walker's (pictured) release date has now been pushed back further after being found to have stolen money off a friend's credit card in November 2019, before she was jailed Her former friend said Walker seemed 'sweet and charming'. 'You'd never think in a million years that she would do something like that when you met her. But that's why she gets away with it so much,' she said. Walker spent $1,500 on alcohol and $600 on bikinis and obtained her friend's credit card details by offering to cook her a homemade meal. The friend said she ignored warnings by a local about Walker. 'I did get warned by a local lady who knew of some people who had been ripped off,' she said. Magistrate Mark Douglass at Moss Vale Court rejected her lawyer's plea for leniency in sentencing calling the crime a 'significant breach of trust.' John Yurkovich Jr. (in mug), 45, had to be subdued with a shot of Benadryl by other passengers after he allegedly bit a man's ear and punched him in the face on a United Airlines flight to Miami A New Jersey man, 45, had to be subdued with a shot of Benadryl by other passengers after he allegedly bit a man's ear and punched him in the face on a United Airlines flight to Miami. John Yurkovich Jr. was arrested Wednesday morning when the flight crew diverted the plane to land in Charleston, South Carolina, following the alleged attack on board Flight 728. Yurkovich, who authorities said was found to be carrying 1.5 grams of suspected meth, reportedly flipped out during the flight from Newark, New Jersey to Miami, Florida, pulling off his mask before assaulting a fellow passenger. Other passengers were forced to step in to restrain the 45-year-old, tying him up with zip ties and a belt, while a doctor traveling on the flight sedated him with the drug. Charleston County Aviation Authority Police said the drama unfolded after Yurkovich returned to his seat after a trip to the restroom, reported The News & Observer. Police said he became 'agitated' and 'restless' and got out of his seat to get 'what appeared to be pills from his carry-on bag in one of the overhead bins.' After he sat back down in his seat, the suspect allegedly started to 'scream and thrash around', pulled off his mask and shouted in the face of the passenger next to him. Yurkovich shouted 'don't f**king talk to me' and 'don't touch me' close to the man's face, according to a federal criminal complaint. When the man didn't respond, Yurkovich allegedly punched him several times, breaking his glasses and causing him to bleed 'excessively from his ear'. Several other passengers stepped in and managed to restrain the 45-year-old with zip ties and a belt, authorities said. Flight crews asked passengers for a medical kit and a doctor subdued the suspect with a Benadryl shot in the buttocks, they said. Yurkovich was arrested Wednesday morning when the flight crew diverted the plane to land in Charleston, South Carolina, following the alleged attack on board Flight 728 The plane was diverted to land in Charleston where police boarded the flight to find Yurkovich with a shirt covering his face and his hands tied behind his back, authorities said. Officials also found 1.5 grams of suspected meth in his pocket and he was arrested for possession with intent to distribute the drug. A federal criminal complaint was also filed accusing him of assault and committing a criminal act on an aircraft. Two of the people who helped restrain him reported also being punched in the face in the ruckus with one left with a suspected broken nose. The passenger who had been seated next to Yurkovich needed seven stitches following the alleged attack, authorities said. Other passengers were forced to step in to restrain the 45-year-old, tying him up with zip ties and a belt, while a doctor traveling on the flight sedated him with the drug. he flight was diverted to Charleston, South Carolina (above) United Airlines confirmed the plane had been diverted 'due to a disruptive passenger.' 'On Wednesday, United flight 728 from Newark to Miami diverted to Charleston, South Carolina due to a disruptive passenger on board,' the airline said in a statement to DailyMail.com. 'Law enforcement officials met the aircraft upon landing.' An attorney for Yurkovich said the incident was out of character. 'This entire incident is very uncharacteristic of John,' Rose Mary Parham told McClatchy News. 'He is a loving husband and father and successful businessman.' He was released on $50,000 bond. Bengaluru, March 19 : Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sah Sarkaryavah Manmohan Vaidya on Friday said the RSS is keen on reaching grassroot-level among students and village clusters by 2024. "There is a growing curiosity to know about RSS. All may not join us but it is certain that they are eager to work with it. Based on our past and present experiences we will discuss how to increase the number of shakhas (branches) and expand our role," he explained. "In the next three years, we would like to cover and complete building our shakhas across the country," he said. Speaking to the media in between the two-day hybrid virtual meet, the Joint General Secretary said members of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, highest decision making body will be focussing on expansion Sangh network across the country in the next few years. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Manmohan Vaidya and other top RSS leaders also participated in the programme on Friday. There were 1,500 members participating in the hybrid event with around 450 participating in Bengaluru while the remaining through online facilities set up at various RSS headquarters across states. Addressing the media, Vaidya said the ABPS meeting discussed the Sangh's activists during Covid pandemic and fund raising drive for Ram Mandir and it gave the RSS a clear picture about, how its network can be expanded. According to him, RSS has shakhas (branches) in 85 per cent 6,495 taluks across the country, while it has active branches in 40 per cent of 58,500 mandals (clusters) (mandal is a cluster of 10-12 villages) and 20 per cent of these clusters have just contact centers and does not have full fledged shakhas. Vaidya added that among shakhas too there are three categories - students, youngsters and above 40 years. "Our main aim is to reach out to youngsters, therefore, RSS focusses on building Shakhas attracting students and youngsters. "Among existing branches, 60 per cent are dedicated to catering students, above 18 years and below 40 years are 29 per cent, while only a 11 per cent of shakhas cater to above 40 years age," he explained but refrained from giving exact number of shakhas in the country stating that it would be furnished on Saturday. The Sah Sarkaryavah further added that RSS's social arm Seva Bharati was able to cover 92,656 places through its more than 5,00,000 activist during the Covid pandemic (March 2020 onwards). "During this period we distributed 73 lakh ration kits, 4.5 crore food packets, more than 60,000 units of blood, 90 lakh masks and more than 20 lakh migrant workers including 2.5 lakh nomadic people during the period," he added. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text 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. PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- On Thursday, March 18, the vaccination campaign against the COVID-19 virus reached another milestone. At the Belair Community Center, the 5000th vaccine was administered to 68-year-old, Rudy Peter St. Luis. Originally from Dominica but calls Sint Maarten his home for the past 49 years, St. Luis main reason for taking the vaccine is that he expects that they're going to require a person to be vaccinated in order to be able to travel in the future, and he would like to travel again. He would like to encourage those who are still doubtful of taking the vaccine to take it: ''It didn't hurt at all, and I feel normal, so I will tell all my friends to come by and take it too.'' The Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (Ministry VSA) Collective Prevention Services (CPS) is currently vaccinating the second priority risk group, consisting of persons 60 years and older. The total amount of registrations is gradually increasing. However, the number of registered people 60 years and older are still low. The Vaccination Management Team (VMT) hopes this number will grow as this group is most at risk of the severe side effects from the COVID-19 disease. Persons in this priority risk group are encouraged to register because the Pfizer vaccine is especially effective within this age group. A low number of registrations might affect the next supply of vaccines coming from the Netherlands. The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is shown to be effective against the British COVID-19 variant, of which there are known cases on the island. This variant has caused a sudden peak rise in active cases and hospitalizations in for example Aruba. CPS reminds the community that although active cases currently are relatively low, persons should remain cautious and practice COVID-19 public health safety guidelines. The CPS and the VMT hope that others will also register to take the vaccine just like Mr. St. Luis and 5000 other fellows Sint Maarteners. You can still register, even if your 'priority group' has not been called. The more registrations received, the easier and faster the VMT can plan the appointments and request the next shipment of vaccines from the Netherlands. Registration can be done via the online registration form which is available in English, Spanish, and Creole, and can be found via the following link: https://forms.sintmaartengov.org/form.aspx?v=OGtn05kNmb If you have a friend, parent, neighbor, or relative that may need assistance with registration, transportation, or emotional support, CPS asks the community to 'please do your part'. More information about the vaccine or help with the registration process will also be provided by the Cole Bay Community Helpdesk and Dutch Quarter Community Helpdesk which are currently equipped to help you with this between 8:30 AM and 12:30 PM from Monday to Friday. Do not forget to bring a form of identification. Organizations who would like to organize an information session for their employees can contact the following email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The paper-based COVID Vaccine Registration Form can be picked up at several locations, including CPS at the Vineyard Office Park Building, the Division of Labor Affairs at the Simpson Bay Public Service Center in Simpson Bay, doctors offices, the Government Administration Building, and select pharmacies. If you need help with the registration process, your appointment, or wish for more information about the vaccination campaign, you can also call CPS at 914 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Sint Maarten, protected together. President Joe Biden's tax hike is not advisable, according to Rep. Meuser. He warned that tax gains during the Trump would be eradicated. The Democrats and Joe Biden don't want to stop the tax hike. Under Trump, the U.S. economy gained a lot. But the DEMS are keen those high earners to subsidize those will low earnings. They want equity so others can get a free ride. President Joe Biden's Tax Hike Will Slow down Economy Rep. Dan Meuser, from Pennsylvania, warned the administration that a tax increase is not beneficial. The Democrats are after the improvements of Trump-era tax policies and put in theirs. They have hidden some provisions that are only for Democrat gains, reported Newsmax. He said the Democrats are hiding their agenda, do not want Republicans touching their bill. Even removing the Filibuster to ram in the Senate which can be devastating for the U.S. economy, saying the Biden administration is not transparent about its intentions. Meuser said that President Trump had approved a tax act that was passed. The economy moved forward, and everyone benefited from higher salaries for many. One high point is that there were more jobs for willing workers. Compared to the Trump administration, even Obama's business was less booming under Democrats. It was the middle class that benefited from Trump's tax policies and gave small businesses more gains. He added that C- corporations were doing better. President Joe Biden's tax hike's socialist agenda seeks to undo all that; it's not America first. Reporters Demand Date for Solo Biden Press Conference, Psaki Stalls Them with no Exact Time Taxed too much? Biden wants to push the Democrat tax bill at the cost of taxpayers who earn more than others. Charging corporations increased tax from 21% to 28% was not acceptable to the GOP. Another is taxing those with more income that will not be good for many. If anyone makes $400,000 for a family or $200,000 for one person, expect to pay more. On the administration wish list is an expansion of real estate tax that has several features. Anyone earning $1 million annually will have an increased capital gains tax rate for individuals. But if it is a pass-through business, that will get fewer taxes. In an ABC interview with Biden last Wednesday, saying the GOP will not see his way. To achieve the passing of the tax bill, which will be a partisan approach with Democrats. The president complained that the Republicans disagree with his tax and fighting it. Citing the 39.6 percent in federal taxes during the George Bush presidency, that earned $230 billion. He said the GOP was against providing a tax credit for the poor and middle class. Despite his complaints, the DEMS rammed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief aid via partisan means. But the GOP objected because of items that were included at the last minute. The GOP said that it was less for COVID but more for Democrat bailouts. Trump had a better plan, in 2017, Trump made tax cuts, and Jobs Act passed in 2017 that worked and improved the economy. However, biased media would counter the facts. Obama charged a whopping 35% corporate tax, but Trump dropped it to 21% for most Americans. Rep. Meuser said that the GOP is pushing against President Joe Biden's tax hike. Or the consequence will affect the economy. Biden Approves $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill Ready for Rollout Republican Study Committee Exposes Hidden Agenda of Democrat Stimulus Bill; not all Pandemic Related Items Democrats To Approve $1.9T COVID Aid Plan @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Danish Prime Minister unwittingly posted a picture from an official school visit praising pupils who had returned to the classroom before eagle-eyed followers spotted a teenager flipping her off in the background. Mette Frederiksen had been visiting the Bavneskolen School in Dalby, Zealand, on Thursday before posing against a backdrop of schoolchildren. She later uploaded the snapshot alongside a caption that read: 'Thank you for an incredibly lovely visit this morning. It's splendid to experience both children and teachers who are just happy to be back at school.' But it seemed Frederiksen's media team had failed to spot that one of the students, later identified as 15-year-old Nick Larsen, was raising his middle finger in apparent disapproval. The Danish Prime Minister unwittingly posted a picture from an official school visit praising pupils who had returned to the classroom before eagle-eyed followers spotted a teenager flipping her off in the background (pictured) She uploaded the snapshot alongside a caption that began: 'Thank you for an incredibly lovely visit this morning' (translation above) Larsen, who is in the ninth-grade, could be seen sitting in the front row wearing a grey hoodie and making the gesture with his right hand. He has since spoke to broadcaster TV2 and said that he had assumed the photo was only being taken for the class, rather than for national publicity, insisting that the middle finger was not aimed 'specifically' at Frederiksen. The teenager said: 'It was just an impulsive act but I didn't especially want her to visit... It was my sister and my friends who let me know that it was suddenly all over the place.' But he added that he is 'allowed free expression just like everyone else is'. Larsen, who is in the ninth-grade, insisted that the middle finger was not aimed 'specifically' at Frederiksen (pictured during the visit) The publication stated that the teenager had been dissatisfied after being sent home from school for almost five months. Larson later told BT, a separate news outlet, that he is 'not a fan of [Frederiksen] and what she does'. 'I think she should listen more to others. It's as if she's the only one who's allowed to do things,' he said. The photo has not yet been removed from the Prime Minister's Instagram page. Stand up paddling from Motiti Island to his home at the end of Papamoa Beach has been a challenge on Jimmy Dows horizon for some time now. A keen surfer and dirt biker, the solo thrill of an exciting challenge always gets Jimmys pulse racing. So while he was happy to take on the challenge as a personal pilgrimage, the chance to raise money for a good cause just made perfect sense. I have been wanting to paddle to or from Motiti, for some weird reason, for a long time, explains Jimmy. Then I thought: if I am going to do it, I might as well do it for a fundraiser. With four kids of his own, Jimmy has chosen to raise funds for the non-profit Wairakei Kindergarten in Papamoa. They hope to use the funds raised to improve their outdoor area and playground. That includes the planting of yellow Pohutukawa trees which, coincidentally, originate on Motiti Island. So far, there is no date set for the paddle as Jimmy admits he is a slave to the elements, which will dictate when he can give it a nudge. I just need a weather opportunity, he admits. I would like to do it at the end of March. I just need the weather, the wind, the swell and all that stuff on my side. He will be dropped off at Motiti then begin the paddle back to home shores. To be honest, I actually wanted to paddle there and back, but I just wasnt get the training in with work and family commitments. I have probably been surfing and riding my dirt bike too much to get on my paddleboard, he jokes. Thankfully, considering his self-confessed lack of training, he will not be alone. The point is I want to do it because I like that whole solo mission. But my missus wont let me do it on my own. We are going to have my mate on a jet ski and the old man in a boat, with my wife and kids following me at a distance. As for how long it will take, Jimmy admits to being somewhat in the dark. But the one thing he does promise is to complete the challenge. I dont actually know how far it is. I dont even really know how long it is going to take. I just know my head is way tougher than my body, so I will make it. I have to now, Jimmy laughs, whilst hoping for a little help from the ocean. If I get a little 10-knot northerly swell on the way home, that will be mint. Ill cruise it. For more details or to donate, visit Jimmys Givealittle page, Motiti Island Mission - Jimmys Paddle Home. Spain will restart Covid-19 vaccinations using the Oxford-AstraZeneca medication from Wednesday of next week. That was the unanimous decision taken yesterday by the Inter-Territorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS), which brings together the central Health Ministry and the countrys regional healthcare chiefs. The move came after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) concluded that the vaccine was safe after concerns were raised across the European Union (EU) due to the detection of cases of blood clots after its administration. Update Autopsy on Spanish teacher rules out any connection between her death and the AstraZeneca vaccine As the European Medicines Agency has clearly stated today, the benefits of the vaccine in combating Covid-19 continue to outweigh the risks of side effects, Stella Kyriakides, the EUs Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said on Thursday in a statement. It is an effective and safe vaccine that greatly contributes to the efforts to address the impact of Covid-19 and the very serious health risks of an infection. Before this part of Spains vaccination campaign restarts, health experts will meet to determine which sector of the population will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine. The Spanish government initially opted to only administer it to the under 55s, due to a lack of clinical testing in older age groups. But since then the authorities have been considering raising the age group for the medication given the ever-growing range of scientific proof of its efficacy. The authorities will also revise the EMAs latest conclusions and decide whether any specific group should be excluded from being given AstraZeneca. With these reports, the CISNS will meet on Monday and take a definitive decision on how to proceed. Health Minister Carolina Darias during a press conference on Thursday. Fernando Alvarado / EFE With the available data, it would appear certain that the Spanish authorities will raise the age group that will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine above 55. The blood clots that have been detected in recipients of the medication have been mostly among women aged around 40, although there has been no direct link established to the medication. In the United Kingdom, which is giving the AstraZeneca vaccine to all age groups, fewer events of this type have been reported than in the EU. After Spain opted to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier this week, Health Minister Carolina Darias said that a decision would be made as to how to move forward once the EMA had reached its conclusions. The suspension came after a number of European countries, including Spain, detected cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis blood clotting in the brain after the vaccine had been administered. Despite the EMA advising that the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks, around 15 European countries opted to suspend the shots until the agency had studied these thrombosis cases in depth. In Spain, for example, a 43-year-old teacher from Marbella who had been given the AstraZeneca vaccine died after brain hemorrhaging was detected and emergency surgery failed to save her life. Italy, France, Germany and Portugal will also restart the use of AstraZeneca after the EMAs conclusions. Rejection of the vaccine One of the problems that some experts now fear once the use of AstraZeneca is restarted is a rejection of the vaccine among the population. Jose Maria Martin Moreno, a doctor in epidemiology and public health from Harvard University, believes that a situation of mistrust has been created with confusing communication. The population is scared that this vaccine could be dangerous and there has not been a unified response from European countries at the time for action. For citizens, this creates total confusion, and they dont know what they should believe, he explains. While the EMA insists that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh its risks, it has not completely ruled out its association with very rare cases of blood clots related to thrombocytopenia a condition characterized by abnormally low levels of platelets in the blood. The EMA is going to put a warning on the products information and will advise those who receive the vaccine to seek emergency treatment should they notice any of the symptoms related to the condition. Angela Dominguez, coordinator of the vaccination working group from the Spanish Epidemiological Society, says that these processes should create confidence among the public because they are a sign that the pharmacovigilance monitoring system works. She adds that the benefits of the vaccines should be explained in order to create confidence among the population. State of the campaign According to the latest data from the Spanish Health Ministry, a total of 7,684,265 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been distributed to the countrys regions, which are in charge of administering them. Of these, 5,993,363, or 78%, have been injected. A total of 1,886,813 people in Spain have received the two doses of the three vaccines being used so far Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca to give them the full protection offered by the shots. The Spanish government is aiming to vaccinate 70% of its 46.7 million residents by the summer. So far the campaign has focused on care home residents and staff, healthcare professionals, the over-80s and essential workers, including teachers and law enforcement officers, among others. Latest data According to the latest coronavirus report released on Thursday by the Spanish Health Ministry, a total of 6,216 new infections have been registered by Spains regions, and 117 Covid-19 deaths were added to the overall total, which now stands at 72,910 since the pandemic began. Over the last seven days, 410 people died after testing positive for Covid-19. Meanwhile, the 14-day cumulative number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants rose slightly for the second day in a row, from 127.91 to 128.17. Madrid remains the region with the highest incidence, which came in at 225.34 on Thursday. English version by Simon Hunter. Firefighters extinguished a house fire in Kingwood Township in the early hours of Friday morning. New Jersey State Police Kingwood Station responded to a fire at Kleinhans Farm on Locktown Road at approximately 12:13 a.m. There was interior damage to the building, but the fire was primarily confined to the first floor with some extension to the second, Frank Floyd, chief of the Kingwood Township Volunteer Fire Company, said. The house remains structurally intact. First responders were dispatched to a fire at Kleinhans Farm on Locktown Road located at approximately 12:15 a.m., confirmed Frank Floyd, chief of Kingwood Township Volunteer Fire Company.Rich Maxwell | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com The cause of the level 3 house fire has not been determined, but Floyd said that it originated in the kitchen. Preliminary information indicates that the cause does not appear to be suspicious, police confirmed. No injuries were reported, as no residents were home at the time of the fire. The home is not currently suitable for living, although the owner has another residence they can stay in, Floyd added. First responders were dispatched to a fire at Kleinhans Farm on Locktown Road located at approximately 12:15 a.m., confirmed Frank Floyd, chief of Kingwood Township Volunteer Fire Company.Rich Maxwell | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Units responding to the fire included New Jersey State Police Kingwood Station, Kingwood Township Volunteer Fire Company, Quakertown Fire Company and it EMS Division, Sergeantsville Volunteer Fire Company, Stockton Fire Department, Milford Fire Department, West Amwell Township Fire Department, and the Kingwood Township Rescue Squad. All units cleared the scene shortly after 2 a.m. First responders were dispatched to a fire at Kleinhans Farm on Locktown Road located at approximately 12:15 a.m., confirmed Frank Floyd, chief of Kingwood Township Volunteer Fire Company.Rich Maxwell | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com The incident is currently being investigated by the state Fire Marshals Office and the Hunterdon County Prosecutors Office. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Caroline Fassett may be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com In a sign that was already happening, Erin OToole, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, on Thursday accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government of doing nothing and having no plan to help the men. Mr. OToole, who has called for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing to be moved to another country, wrote on Twitter, We must work with allies and stand up to these bullies. Mr. Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on Friday that the arbitrary detention of the Canadians was completely unacceptable and criticized the court proceedings lack of transparency. Earlier this month, he accused Beijing of fabricating the charges against the Canadians. 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, he said. A group of 10 diplomats representing eight countries, including Canada and the United States, sought access to the trial in Dandong, a seaside city near Chinas border with North Korea, but were turned away. The court said the trial, which lasted only about two hours, had been held in private because it involved state secrets. The two men, held in separate prisons in northern China, have been largely cut off from the world and at times forced to go months without visits from diplomats. They have had limited access to defense lawyers. During at least parts of his confinement, Mr. Kovrig has been unable to go outside, has been interrogated and has at various times forced to live on rice with boiled vegetables. Vina Nadjibulla, Mr. Kovrigs wife, said on Friday that it was urgent for Canada and the United States to intervene to free the two men. She said Mr. Kovrig had not had a consular visit since January and was sustaining himself by reading novels and books about human resilience, while doing yoga and walking steps in his claustrophobic cell. President will visit from March 20 to 22, a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday said. He will reach Bhubaneswar on Saturday evening. The president will grace the 18th annual convocation of NIT Rourkela on Sunday. On the same day, he will inaugurate a super specialty hospital in the Rourkela steel plant, it said. On March 22, the president will visit the India Oil Foundation Trust Interpretation Centre at Konark, before returning to New Delhi, the statement said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 01:19:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close An Iraqi soldier checks on vehicles at a mobile checkpoint set up as part of the restrictive measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Baghdad, Iraq, on March 19, 2021. (Photo by Khalil Dawood/Xinhua) BAGHDAD, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported on Thursday 5,443 new coronavirus cases, raising the total nationwide infections to 779,458. It also reported 36 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 13,896, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 3,892 to 702,667. A total of 7,540,606 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, with 42,246 done during the day. Meanwhile, member of the ministry's media office, Kamel Haider, said in a press release that COVID-19 vaccines were carefully tested through a lot of researches and clinical trials, and the "Chinese vaccines are among the safest vaccines so far." "The Chinese vaccines are made in the traditional method," Haider said, adding that there is no need for citizens to fear such vaccines. Iraq has taken a series of measures to curb the recent rise in infections after the health ministry announced on Feb. 15 the detection of a new strain characterized by faster transmission and a higher level of severity. On March 2, Iraq received a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government to help combat the pandemic. The Iraqi National Board for Selection of Drugs has approved the emergency use of the Sinopharm vaccines, in addition to AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Sputnik V vaccines. Enditem Hurricane season 2021 is here: How do storms get their names? At a meeting of the Council of Presidents of Ukraine and Lithuania, the delegations of the two countries discussed reforms, the situation in Donbas, as well as the European and European integration aspirations of Ukraine. The meeting was chaired by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda, Ukrinform reports with reference to the press service of the Ukrainian leader. Zelensky, in particular, spoke in detail about the reforms being implemented in Ukraine, focusing on land reform, which will boost the Ukrainian economy and establish fair market relations in the agricultural sector. In turn, Nauseda stressed that Lithuania will always support Ukraine on the path to Euro-Atlantic integration. He noted the important role of Zelensky in the implementation of reforms and welcomed the efforts to reform Ukraine's defense sector. The parties discussed the situation in Donbas. The president of Ukraine spoke about the full and comprehensive ceasefire, noting that the number of violations has increased recently. According to Zelensky, the issue of humanitarian access of the OSCE and ICRC missions to the inhabitants of the occupied territories is very important. "The issue of Donbas is not only the cessation of the war, but also the de-occupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories," the president said. At the same time, Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksiy Reznikov stressed that Ukraine has fulfilled all the agreements reached at the summit of the Normandy Four leaders in Paris, and noted that it is important to work out a plan for reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba thanked the presidents for their real leadership in strengthening the Ukrainian-Lithuanian dialogue, which today corresponds to the content and spirit of the strategic partnership. Kuleba noted that on the initiative of Volodymyr Zelensky, next year is declared the year of Ukraine in the EU. The participants of the meeting stressed the importance of returning to the issue of providing Ukraine with a NATO Membership Action Plan. In addition, the issue of cooperation in the field of cybersecurity and combating hybrid threats was raised. Representatives of the Ukrainian party stressed that the ultimate goal of the Crimean Platform should be the de-occupation of Crimea. Support for this initiative from other countries is growing day by day. Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Kryklii spoke about the implementation of one of the most ambitious projects - Great Construction. He called on Lithuanian companies to join public-private construction projects in Ukraine. He thanked Lithuania for supporting the Open Skies Agreement, which Ukraine plans to sign in July. The parties also discuss the issue of expanding cooperation in the energy sector. The Lithuanian party reaffirmed its commitment to oppose the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project and expressed support for Ukraine in this matter. Acting Energy Minister Yuriy Vitrenko noted that Ukraine would like to be less dependent on electricity imports and increase its exports. Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko thanked Lithuania for supporting Ukraine in the international arena. He spoke about the Great Restoration project, which could become a driver for tourism development. The minister also reminded of the document signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky on Ukraines accession to European tourist routes, which provides new opportunities for the development of the tourism industry and cultural ties. Volodymyr Zelensky invited Gitanas Nauseda to take part in the events marking the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. "Without a doubt, Ukraine and Lithuania are great friends," Zelensky stressed. President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda is on an official visit to Ukraine on March 18-19. ish 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. Essential 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. CPR - American Heart Association Healthcare Provider certification NRP- Required within one year of hire at AAMC 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. 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 Inspector General of Police, Prayagraj, has asked the district magistrate to ensure a ban on the use of loudspeakers between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. This is in response to a complaint filed by Allahabad University Vice Chancellor Sangita Srivastava seeking restrictions on the use of loudspeakers, early morning in mosques. The ban will cover use of all loudspeakers and public address systems at public places. In a letter to the district magistrates and Senior Superintendents of Police in the four districts that fall under the Prayagraj Range, IG K.P. Singh said the officials must implement orders of the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court. The letter directs the district magistrates and police chiefs to implement a ban on use of loudspeakers between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. in accordance with environment laws and past court orders. In her complaint, Prof. Sangita Srivastava has stated that she is 'forced to wake up too early every day' due to 'azaan' being recited on a loudspeaker. This, she stated, leads to headache through the day and impacts her work. Sangita Srivastava had sent her complaint to District Magistrate Bhanu Chandra Goswami on March 3. In January 2020, the Allahabad High Court had ruled that no religion advocates use of loudspeakers for worship. The petitioner had challenged an administrative order in the Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh where the use of loudspeaker for azaan had been banned. The high court had said, "No religion prescribes that prayers are required to be performed through voice amplifiers or by beating of drums. If there is such a practice, it should not adversely affect the rights of others, including that of not being disturbed." Delivering its order, the high court cited a Supreme Court judgment from 2000 in which the court held that the freedom to practice religion was subject to public order, morality and health. Prof. Sangita Srivastava had cited the court order in her letter. Chloe Ferry and Wayne Lineker were seen meeting up at a London music studio on Thursday, as they teamed up to record a new 'summer track'. Former Geordie Shore star Chloe, 25, put on a busty display in a plunging black crop top as she met up with Wayne, 57, following his claims they're seeing each other. As the pair made their way into west London's Powerhouse recording studios ahead of their day of work, they playfully greeted one another with an elbow bump. Making sweet music: Chloe Ferry and Wayne Lineker were seen meeting up at a London music studio on Thursday, as they teamed up to record a new 'summer track' During their day of recording, Chloe and Wayne each took to their Instagram accounts to document the events, as they teased details of the track. Their track in question is a collaboration with Damon Hess and Mia Falls, with Chloe guaranteeing that it'll become the quintessential 'summer track'. Speaking on her Instagram Stories, she enthused: 'I can wait for everyone to hear. Honestly, I can't wait. It's gonna be huge. 'I have been lucky enough to be in a new track for summer, which is the perfect summer song... I can't tell you too much yet, but honestly I'm so grateful.' Plunging: Former Geordie Shore star Chloe, 25, put on a busty display in a plunging black crop Travel: The Newcastle-based TV personality travelled to London for the day to record the track Body of work: The reality star teamed her eye-popping top with a pair of form-fitting leggings Golden girl: Chloe accessorised with a delicate gold necklace and a pair of large hoop earrings Collaborator: She was seen chatting with track collaborator Damon Hess outside the studios She went on: 'Everyone has that summer song that gets them in the mood to get on holiday. Ibiza, Ocean Beach, get a pina colada down ya. But this gonna be the one, I promise you now. 'Everyone knew that I wanted to be Chris Brown's backing dancer when I couldn't dance, so this is the next best thing!' Wayne shared a snap of himself posing with Chloe in the studio, as he wrote: 'In the studio today with Chloe working on something very exciting with @damon_hess @milafalls #summervibes #tune. NGL shocked at your voice @chloegshore1.' Last week, Wayne claimed that he and Chloe are 'seeing each other' and said that they are 'always flirting' after their fake engagement. Catching up: As the pair made their way into west London's Powerhouse recording studios ahead of their day of work, they were seen chatting outside Claims: Last week, Wayne claimed that he and Chloe are 'seeing each other' and said that they are 'always flirting' after their fake engagement Bumping: Chloe and DJ and producer Damon also shared an elbow bump outside the studio Shoes: The pair soon turned things up a notch, as they bumped their fresh Nike shoes together The Celebs Go Dating Star said the pair are going to 'see what happens' when former Geordie Shore star Chloe spends the summer in Ibiza where Wayne owns his bar O Beach Ibiza. It comes after the couple sparked engagement rumours before admitting their stunt was a wind up and they had staged their post-proposal photo. Appearing on FUBAR Radio with host TOWIE's Bobby Norris, Wayne was asked who his celebrity crush was, responding: 'Oh, that's Chloe [Ferry] obviously!' TOWIE star Bobby then said: 'Miss Ferry. I saw all about this engagement! How did it come about Wayne?' Upbeat mood: TV personality Chloe appeared to be in an upbeat mood as she chatted outside Keeping it casual: Wayne arrived for his recording session wearing a luxury Givenchy tracksuit Artist: Chloe, Wayne and Damon have also teamed up with musical artist Mia Falls for the track Club owner Wayne went on to explain: 'Me and Chloe just have a laugh all the time. We're in the mansion and she had a wedding ring. 'She went, "Come on, Wayne, let's pretend we're getting married". And we took all the pictures and everything and we didn't end up doing it, we just forgot about it. 'And she phoned me up last week. Because, I mean, we are seeing each other a little bit and having a bit of flirtatious banter and we'll see what happens in the summer. 'But she said, "Come on let's post it! Let's have a laugh!" I said, "You know it's going to go viral don't you?" She went, "Yeah of course I do!" Picture: Wayne took to his Instagram account to share a snap of the pair together in the studio Joy: Chloe commented under his post that she was 'excited' while he complimented her outfit 'But yeah, me and Chloe are really tight. She came on my podcast last week, No Excuse for Abuse, and she was amazing you know. But yeah, we're really really close and she's coming to Ibiza for the summer. And so, we'll see what happens. ' Bobby then asked: 'So Wayne, when you say 'seeing each other', what? Romantically?' To which Wayne replied: 'We're always flirting, Bobby.' Late last month Wayne wanted to trick his friends and Celebs Go Dating fans into thinking he was set to wed the Geordie Shore star, who is 32 years his junior. Photo: For her part, Chloe also took to Instagram to share a snapshot of herself in the studio Big promises: Speaking on her Instagram Stories, Chloe enthused of the track, 'I can wait for everyone to hear. Honestly, I can't wait. It's gonna be huge' Summer track: She went on, 'I have been lucky enough to be in a new track for summer, which is the perfect summer song... I can't tell you too much yet, but honestly I'm so grateful.' Record: As Chloe shared snippets of their day, Wayne was seen enjoying his time in the studio A friend of the star claims Wayne fessed up when they contacted him to congratulate him on his engagement news. They told the Sun: 'Wayne is a real joker and this is exactly his kind of humour. He's told people it was just a wind up over text. He and Chloe are definitely not engaged. The friend added: 'They got on really well when they met in Celebs Go Dating and will be mates for life.' Wayne and Chloe left Celebs Go Dating fans baffled after claiming they had got engaged during the show. Rumours: Last week, Wayne claimed that he and Chloe were 'seeing each other' and said that they are 'always flirting' Love? Appearing on FUBAR Radio with host TOWIE's Bobby Norris, Wayne was asked who his celebrity crush was to which he said Chloe They posed for a loved-up Instagram snap from the E4 show mansion, with Chloe showing off a huge dazzling diamond ring. Wayne captioned the shot: 'She said YES! Love you @chloegshore1'. The shock claims left many fans scratching their heads, with most claiming the post 'has to be a joke'. Wayne wrapped his arm around Chloe, who held up her hand to show off the sparkling ring. Chloe replied to the post: 'Love you'. While many of Wayne's celebrity pals rushed to congratulate the pair, many followers took to comment section saying they thought the whole thing was a hoax. Hoax? It comes after the couple sparked engagement rumours before admitting their stunt was a wind up and they had staged their proposal photo Faked: Late last month Wayne wanted to trick his friends and Celebs Go Dating fans into thinking he was set to wed the Geordie Shore star, who is 32 years his junior. Pictured in their 'engagement' photo Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media ANSONIA Police are asking for information after a complaint Thursday morning about a person impersonating a police officer and trying to pull drivers over in the city. Police responded to a complaint about an unmarked vehicle with blue and red flashing lights trying to pull vehicles over in the area of Wakelee Avenue and Franklin Street, Lt. Patrick Lynch said. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 See Full Image Gallery >> Porsche has confirmed it will not pelt the 911 into EV territory, but it also announced that electrified cars will represent at least 80% of its global sales by 2030. It also pledged to become entirely CO2-neutral by that year. Company CEO Oliver Blume told Autoblog that EVs will represent a big chunk of Porsche's electrified sales by 2030, though plug-in hybrids will remain part of the range. And, the 911 will account for most of the non-electrified 20%. It will play in both camps, though: Blume said the next-generation model will likely get a hybrid variant. As of writing, there are two electric cars in the Porsche lineup: the Taycan sedan and the recently-introduced Taycan Cross Turismo wagon. We know that the next-generation Macan will exclusively be offered as an EV and is expected to make its debut in 2022, and additional Taycan offshoots remain on the table. An electric, Cayenne-like SUV is on the horizon, too. Launching more EVs will help Porsche achieve CO2 neutrality in under 10 years. Porsche's German factories are already CO2-neutral, because they're powered by renewable energy and bio-gas. Looking ahead, it will ask its suppliers to make the same commitment even the ones it buys battery cells from. Speaking of suppliers, Porsche made headlines this month when it increased the stake it holds in Rimac to 24%. Lutz Meschke, the deputy chairman of Porsche's executive board and the company's board member for finance and IT, called the 11-year-old Croatian firm a valuable partner, pointing out that the company still has the start-up spirit, but he confirmed that there are no plans to buy more of it. "It is not our intention to control Rimac." Maintaining a profit margin of about 15% while investing in electrification is difficult; going hybrid and electric saps resources. Porsche isn't worried about its profitability, and it's open to exploring other revenue streams, like digital services (including over-the-air e-commerce) and flying taxis, which it's developing jointly with Boeing. Story continues "Mobility in big cities will change significantly in the next couple of years. With autonomous driving, we have to define a new role for Porsche regarding the mobility in these cities. Therefore, it's very important to think about different possibilities to take part in this new business, and that could be vertical mobility," Meschke predicted. Porsche isn't in the air yet, and it's keeping its feet on the ground. Meschke recognized that limited-edition cars, like the 911 Speedster, are "a very important pillar" of the range, and he announced the firm will "invest a lot" into launching new variants of its current cars in the coming years. In other words: stay tuned, enthusiasts. Related video: An Irish Catholic priest has said that he would bless same-sex couples, after a recent memo from the Vatican which advised against it. Earlier this week, in an official doctrine from the Vatican which was approved by Pope Francis, it was said that the Catholic church does not have the power to bless same-sex unions. But some Catholic priests do not hold the same opinion, said Fr Tim Hazelwood of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland. There were pieces of weed that grow in the ground and I blessed them, he told RTEs Morning Ireland today. I blessed shamrock. Now, if two people stand in front of me and they love each other, and theyre committing to each other for the rest of their lives, and I bless shamrock and I wouldnt bless them; no, I don't think theres a doubt or a question there. He added that: Our experience is that there are lovely couples [who would wish to be blessed]. The priest also wondered how this may affect gay people and their engagement with the Catholic church. To hear something like that, that their relationship is sinful, I wonder how many of them know and meet and interact with those families and those people, he said. Bishops have said, that they want people especially on the margins to be part of [the church]; would any gay person come near a church that says things like this? However, he noted that some in the church have been welcoming to gay people, saying: The German bishops have said, some of them openly, that theyre going to be blessing same-sex unions. Theres an awful difference between someone in Rome making a promulgation and whats the lived experience of the church. And I think a lot of priests would say, if Christ was here with us now, what would Christ do? He would do the caring and loving thing. He was the one who challenged all the rules himself. Former President Mary McAleese also expressed her unhappiness with the recent message from the Vatican. If Pope Francis and the congregation had merely said that: Look, we really dont think offering these blessings is consistent with church teaching, and if theyd had left it at that, I think I could probably have lived with that, she said. But thats not what they did. They added an explanatory memorandum in language which is simply unacceptable. She also made a similar point to Fr Hazelwood, saying: To say of gay couples - as this document does - that they cannot receive or express grace, thats the astounding thing, to say that when at the same time you can bless a pot plant or a pet - this is not acceptable. This is not asking the church to marry gay people in a sacramental marriage, Id never ask for that, absolutely, she added. On a final note, Fr Hazelwood mentioned that while Pope Francis has previously said positive and inclusive things about gay people, this recent statement was upsetting. To listen to that statement, it was so disappointing, it was awful really, he said. The Pope had previously said in October of last year that he believes gay people should be allowed to enter civil unions. And while he has said previously that gay people should be accepted within the church, he has yet to fully endorse same-sex marriages. Before becoming Pope, he strongly opposed the same-sex marriage bill that went through in his home country of Argentina in 2010. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! SPRINGFIELD Illinois House Democrats adopted a resolution Thursday night condemning state Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, for attending a Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C., which immediately preceded the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol building. The resolution also condemned the lawmaker for displaying the insignia of an extremist militia group on his truck. Miller defended his presence at the Save America Rally where former President Donald Trump spoke. He denied taking any part in the violent storming of the Capitol that followed the rally. Miller said he was in lockdown with his wife, U.S. Mary Miller, R-Oakland, in a Capitol office building while the riots occurred until 8 p.m. that evening. I condemn any and all violence, he said. I can assure you that my dedication to the safety and security of our state and our countrys citizens is second to none. We may disagree on policy, but at the end of the day, all of our commitments to our constituents is making Illinois a better place, and all these ideals are one in the same. The resolution, introduced by Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, also criticizes Miller for allegedly adorning his truck with decal for an anti-government militia group known as The Three Percenters. House Resolution 132 claims Miller violated his oaths to the U.S. and Illinois constitutions by actively and publicly promoting the actions of an internationally recognized para-military hate group, for having the decal on his truck. While he did not comment on the decal during his remarks on the House floor, Chris Miller has denied being a member of The Three Percenters, and stated he removed the sticker from his truck, according to news reports. The resolution also claims Chris Miller, through his continued actions and instigations, has created an environment that potentially threatens not only the sanctity of the Illinois General Assembly but also the safety of the members and their staff. The House resolution also references a complaint filed by Morgan with Illinois Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope to investigate Millers actions on Jan. 6. The Legislative Inspector General is responsible for investigating complaints of violations of any law, rule, or abuse of authority or other forms of misconduct by members of the General Assembly. House Leader Jim Durkin, of Western Springs, said the resolution is premature because the Legislative Inspector Generals investigation is not complete. Within your resolution you make very bold, broad claims and conclusions, which you are asking us to assume is factualI think a prudent person would say, Why dont we wait to find out what the conclusions are? Because there is a chance that the IG will determine that this is an unfounded complaint, and that well have a resolution, which is completely opposite, Durkin said. What were doing is were setting a new precedent, a new standard, of how the men and women in this chamber are to be judged in their private lives with this resolution, Durkin added. This will open the Pandoras box. Thats reality. I will just state that there is a place for someone to lodge their objections or complaints. And thats with the legislative inspector general. Morgan framed his resolution as raising one question: What is conduct unbecoming of a legislator? Morgan read the statement Miller made in a Facebook Live post on Jan. 6 at the Save America Rally. I think its important to know we are engaged in a great cultural war to see which worldview will survive, whether we will remain a free people under free market capitalism or whether they will put us under the tyranny of socialism, communism and the dangerous Democrat terrorists that are trying to destroy our country, Miller, 66, said in the video that has since been removed from his page. Morgan said Miller stood with the insurrectionists on Jan. 6. Thats an indisputable. But if Rep. Miller regretted his words or was remorseful for his actions, he hasnt shown it. That I think is really the most critical element of all this, Morgan said. The resolution was adopted, 57-36, almost entirely along partisan lines, with several members voting present or not voting at all. House resolutions only need a simple majority to pass. Only one Democrat, Rep. Mark Walker of Arlington Heights, crossed party lines to vote against the resolution. WASHINGTON U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, delivered the following remarks at a hearing entitled, Fighting Forced Labor: Closing Loopholes and Improving Customs Enforcement to Mandate Clean Supply Chains and Protect Workers. The text of Ranking Member Crapos remarks, as prepared, is below. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a very important hearing. The International Labor Organization estimates nearly 25 million people in the world are victims of forced labor. The criminals behind this tragedy reap nearly $150 billion in profits every year. As horrifying as that is, nearly 30 percent of the victims are also victims of forced sexual exploitationand generate $99 billionor 2/3 of the profits I just referenced. The fight against forced labor is not a Democrat issue or a Republican issue; it is an issue that unites all Americans. That is critical to remember. Americans, including consumers, workers and businesses, are all committed to this fightand doing everything possible to combat this scourge. The problem lies not with them, but with foreign autocrats, and individuals who lack all sense of basic humanity. Our fight is with them. For example, Chinas government has pressed nearly 100,000 Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities into forced labor, while euphemistically calling it poverty alleviation. As the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy explained in a report last week, Chinas treatment of the Uyghurs meets every criteria of genocide under the United Nations' Genocide Convention. That reports findings join declarations by foreign legislatures, including Canada and the Netherlands, and track with a similar determination made by the State Department during the Trump Administration. Accordingly, Senators like Marco Rubio and Jeff Merkely, and many others, are showing leadership on this issue through their proposed Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. Their efforts should be matched by the current Administration. The U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor are meeting today in Alaska with their Chinese counterparts. Forced labor is among the human rights issues they need to press with them. Critically, this all reinforces we need to broadly empower Americans and other good citizens of the world to be able to more effectively respond to this challenge. This includes effectively utilizing technology to identify where goods made with forced labor can enter the supply chain. It means our laws and regulations must be transparent and provide informative and thoughtful guidance so Americans know how to avoid importing such goods. It means we need to know the ongoing efforts of our businesses so that the government can help leverage them in the fight against forced labor. Many of them have developed best practices to stamp out forced labor from their supply chains. We need to leverage their experience and expertise. Finally, it means we must partner with civil society to raise awareness on this important issue. The witnesses we have today can speak to each of these points. Their expertise and knowledge will help this Committee address this important matter. Mr. Chairman, I am glad this is an issue we both care about deeply. Thank you for organizing this hearing. I look forward to the testimony from our witnesses. CHEYENNE Wyoming is one of six states where marijuana remains fully illegal without any sort of decriminalization. But that could change in the near future, as state lawmakers advanced a bill Friday that would open the door for wide-ranging forms of cannabis to be grown and sold in Wyoming. Members of the Legislatures House Judiciary Committee considered two marijuana-focused bills during their meeting Friday, one of which would require the state health officer to establish a report on the implementation of medical marijuana in Wyoming. While that proposal did not receive the committ... The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a New Jersey resident with defrauding investors, most of whom were members of the Orthodox Jewish community, who invested millions based on false claims about investments in real estate. The SEC's complaint alleges that Seth P. Levine, the president and owner of Norse Holdings, LLC, a real estate investment and management company, sold membership interests in limited liability companies that purchased and owned apartment complexes. According to the complaint, from at least February 2015 through August 2019, Levine raised millions of dollars from more than 60 investors, including family, friends, and other investors, many of whom belonged to the Orthodox Jewish community. In offering the interests, Levine allegedly used misleading and false representations that masked Norse Holdings' underlying financial problems and its inability to pay promised returns without using new investor monies or proceeds from a related mortgage fraud. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Levine provided investors with documents reflecting false and inaccurate information concerning the profitability of the apartment complexes; sold overlapping ownership interests to investors using false operating agreements and, at times, forged signatures; frequently commingled investor funds to prop up real estate holdings that were struggling; and paid investors with fake profits generated by the mortgage fraud Levine conducted using the same properties. The SEC's complaint charges Levine with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Levine has agreed to settle the charges against him. The settlement, which is subject to court approval, would permanently enjoin Levine from violating the charged provisions of the federal securities laws and provides that the court will decide the amounts of disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties at a later date. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced criminal charges against Levine in connection with certain of the conduct underlying the SEC's action. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Suzanne C. Abt of the Philadelphia Regional Office and supervised by Scott A. Thompson. The litigation will be led by John V. Donnelly III and supervised by Jennifer Chun Barry. The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy encourages investors to review the Investor Alerts, Have Something in Common with Someone Selling an Investment? It May Make You a Target for Fraud and Avoiding Investment Fraud in Your Faith-Based Community, and to access the investor protection resources at Investor.gov. Investors can also learn more about Ponzi scheme red flags and check out the background of their investment professional by using the free and simple search tool at the SEC's Investor.gov website. As new Covid-19 cases are being reported from welfare hostels and university campuses, the government might close all these hostels. (Representational Photo: DC/ Narayana Rao). Hyderabad: The state government is seriously considering a proposal to stop offline classes and promote all students to higher classes without exams till Class IX. This is in view of the fresh rise in Covid-19 cases and the disruption caused to the academic schedule in the 2020-21 academic year. According to official sources, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao would make an announcement on this in the Assembly on March 22. All schools had remained closed from March 2020 until February 2021 following the Coronavirus-linked lockdown. The schools were reopened in February for students from Class VI to X as was directed by the state government. Students were confined to their homes, attending online classes for the most part of the academic year 2020-21. The government allowed schools to conduct offline classes for Class IX and X students from February 1 and for Class VI, VII and VIII students from February 24. However, with a fresh rise in Coronavirus cases in schools especially in government-run schools, residential schools and hostels, the government is planning to order the closure of these institutions again and promote students to higher classes. In the previous academic year, all the students till Class XII (Intermediate) were promoted to higher classes without exams as the final exams could not be held due to the corona lockdown. This time, the government is keen on conducting board exams for SSC and Intermediate students. The government is examining a proposal about whether to allow online or offline classes even for SSC and Inter students. As new Covid-19 cases are being reported from welfare hostels and university campuses, the government might close all these hostels. will receive a consignment of Covaxin, India's indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine, on Friday, announced the High Commission of India in Port Louis on Thursday. Taking to Twitter, the High Commission said that India stands strong with in the tough times, describing it as 'a time-tested and enduring partnership'. " arms itself with COVAXIN, India's indigenously developed vaccine, in its fight against COVID19. India stands strong with Mauritius in these tough times. Consignment to arrive tomorrow. A time-tested and enduring partnership," tweeted India in Mauritius. The Indian High Commission in Mauritius also said that Covaxin is effective against the UK variant and other heterologous strains. "Developed & manufactured by @BharatBiotech, COVAXIN has demonstrated 81% interim efficacy in preventing COVID19. COVAXIN is effective against UK variant strain & other heterologous strains. EUA received in 8 countries till date, 20 more to follow," it said in another tweet. Under the 'Vaccine Maitri' initiative, India has been providing vaccines to its neighbouring countries. On Wednesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar under the 'Vaccine Maitri' programme, 72 countries were given vaccines including Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, as also Mauritius, Seychelles and Gulf nations. He also said that India has provided medical supplies to 150 nations during the COVID-19 pandemic, out of which 82 were given as grants. (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.) (Natural News) The former head of the Cream City Foundation, which sponsors Drag Queen Story Hour in Milwaukee, has been arrested on charges of possessing child pornography. (Article by Paul Joseph Watson republished from Summit.news) Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Brett Blomme was taken into custody by special agents following an investigation into multiple uploads of child pornography through a Kik messaging application account in October and November 2020, according to a statement. 38-year-old Blomme had uploaded 27 videos and images containing child pornography, including two files that were uploaded at the Milwaukee County government building. Blomme, who is currently assigned to Milwaukee County Childrens Court, Was the head of the board of zoning appeals for the City of Milwaukee, appointed to the post by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, and head of the Cream City Foundation, which provides grant money to LGBTQ groups in the Milwaukee area, reports the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. A longtime LGBTQ activist, Blomme previously was director of major gifts at the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin for 18 months, following a stint at the Madison City Attorneys Office. From 2011 to 2015, he practiced criminal defense with the State Public Defenders Office, states the report. Blomme, who championed himself as the progressive alternative during his last political campaign, is married to a man and has two adopted children. According to the Cream City Foundations official website, Drag Queen Story Hour is A fun and entertaining way to educate all ages about progressive social justice & human growth and development issues through literature and reading. The foundation also invites people to financially support Drag Queen Story Hour in Milwaukee by donating on the website. According to OpIndia, Blommes connections to the Cream City Foundation are now being scrubbed from the Internet. Blommes arrest will bolster concerns that individuals connected with Drag Queen Story Hour, a nationwide program, are predators who shouldnt be allowed anywhere near children. In 2019, it was revealed that the Houston Public Library allowed a registered sex offender to read to children as part of Drag Queen Story Hour. One of the programs drag queens, 32-year-old Alberto Garza, was convicted of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old boy in 2008. We have highlighted numerous instances where drag queens have engaged in overtly sexual behavior in front of children during Drag Queen Story Time events, including an incident in the UK where a drag queen taught toddlers how to twerk and another who flashed children a glimpse of his crotch during an event in Minnesota. Read more at: Summit.news and Indoctrination.news. ROCHESTER, Minn. - Minnesotans are starting to brace themselves to jump into cold water for the annual Rochester Polar Plunge, all to support Special Olympics Minnesota. One thing that's not changing is plungers taking the dive at Foster Arend Park. Although instead of a jump, it'll be more of a run and jump. Travis Whitcomb is a Rochester Flyer and he's competed in the Special Olympics for over 25 years now. He even participated in the very first Polar Plunge 21 years ago and hasn't stopped since. This past year though brought on new challenges, not just for Whitcomb, but the entire organization. The Rochester Flyers had to cancel a lot of their fundraisers because of COVID-19. Whitcomb said having the opportunity to still do the Polar Plunge is huge for Special Olympics Minnesota, plus he's excited about it, too. "Well we raise a lot of money for Special Olympics and it's a lot of fun," he explained. "I just like to be around a lot of people, my friends, my family." All the proceeds from the event go back to support Special Olympics Minnesota as well as the Rochester Flyers team. LeAnn Bieber with the team said while they won't be able to have a big crowd cheering them on like usual, they're still going to make the best of it. "I think we still will have that positive vibe and the fun that we have," she explained. "So even though it's a little bit different, it's just another way to look at it I guess." The Rochester Polar Plunge is happening at Foster Arend Park on Saturday. They have a goal of raising $150,000 and almost $1,300 of it is coming from Whitcomb alone. Esri Recognizes Partners for Innovation and Excellence Esri, the global leader in location intelligence, honored select partners for their outstanding application of GIS software at the Closing Session of the virtual Esri Partner Conference (EPC). The award-winning companies are members of the Esri Partner Network and use Esri's tools to solve complex business problems that impact users worldwide. EPC award categories and winners include the following: Analytics to Insights Award-Delivering analytics and insights to users through location intelligence ArcGIS Adoption Award-Demonstrating highly aligned solutions built with the ArcGIS system GBS delivers world-class location intelligence solutions across a wide range of industry sectors in New Zealand, South Korea, the USA, and Australia. It specializes in consulting and implementing tailored Esri solutions. delivers world-class location intelligence solutions across a wide range of industry sectors in New Zealand, South Korea, the USA, and Australia. It specializes in consulting and implementing tailored Esri solutions. Symology Trimble Forestry Creative Content Award-Delivering creative content to ArcGIS users Environics Analytics Locatus helps retailers, real estate firms, and municipalities invest in the right retail locations. Locatus' mobile workers use Esri software to collect detailed data and unlock information for customers online. helps retailers, real estate firms, and municipalities invest in the right retail locations. Locatus' mobile workers use Esri software to collect detailed data and unlock information for customers online. UberMedia Fostering Engagement Award-Compelling use of Esri technology to drive user engagement Clearion empowers utility companies and infrastructure organizations with native Esri solutions to automate every stage of their vegetation management and asset maintenance programs. empowers utility companies and infrastructure organizations with native Esri solutions to automate every stage of their vegetation management and asset maintenance programs. Timmons Group Vega Montioramento High Potential Award-Substantial opportunities for growth with Esri Equinox Geospatial , LLC , offers enterprise implementation services, web mapping, and mobile survey development to its vast range of clients in natural resources and architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sectors. , offers enterprise implementation services, web mapping, and mobile survey development to its vast range of clients in natural resources and architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sectors. SymGEO Marketplace Provider Award-Outstanding presence on ArcGIS Marketplace Geospark Analytics enables users to make better decisions faster by identifying and forecasting emerging events on a global scale to mitigate risk, recognize threats, and assess geopolitical stability. enables users to make better decisions faster by identifying and forecasting emerging events on a global scale to mitigate risk, recognize threats, and assess geopolitical stability. Spatial Labs New Collaboration Award-Innovative technical or business collaboration with Esri and partners System Implementation Award-Ensuring customer success by implementing the ArcGIS system Web GIS Transformation Award-Evolving customers and solutions to the Web GIS pattern with SaaS (News - Alert) The Esri Partner Conference was held virtually on March 15-17, 2021. During this annual gathering, organizations in the Esri partner community collaborate and network, hear about Esri's vision and new opportunities, build business relationships, learn from Esri experts, exchange ideas, discover the latest technology releases, and make plans for growing their businesses. To learn more about the Esri Partner Network, visit go.esri.com/EsriPartnerNetwork. About Esri Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping, helps customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969 in Redlands, California, USA, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations globally and in over 200,000 institutions in the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, nonprofits, and universities. Esri has regional offices, international distributors, and partners providing local support in over 100 countries on six continents. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial information technology, Esri engineers the most innovative solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics. Visit us at esri.com. Copyright 2021 Esri. All rights reserved. Esri, the Esri globe logo, ArcGIS, The Science of Where, esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005316/en/ New Delhi: A delegation from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party comprising Saugata Roy, Mahua Moitra and Yashwant Sinha met the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday (March 19) in Delhi. They met the EC to discuss issues related to free and fair conduct of elections in West Bengal. Speaking to ANI, TMC MP Mahua Moitra said: "We met Election Commission today and raised three points - the rule under which they are proposing to put only central forces within 100 metres of the polling booth, only five per cent of VVPAT checking as supposed to 100 per cent and the incident involving the attack on chief minister on March 10. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had alleged that she was pushed by a few unidentified people during her election campaigning on March 10. 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. She was discharged from the hospital on March 12. West Bengal is witnessing a high-octane battle between the BJP and the TMC for the upcoming Assembly polls. Elections to the 294-member state 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. (With inputs from ANI) Live TV You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close With the explosive increase in cases and deaths from COVID-19, as well as the threat of a health system collapse, Sao Paulo, Brazils most populous and wealthiest state, last Monday entered the most restrictive phase of its supposed pandemic containment plan, dubbed Plano Sao Paulo. The so-called emergency phase was announced last week by right-wing Governor Joao Doria (PSDB) and is scheduled to last until March 30. The emergency phase restricts the functioning of services that the government has considered essential since the beginning of the pandemic, such as industry, construction and business, and establishes a curfew between 8 pm and 5 am. Facebook post of a meeting held Thursday between members of the "Escolas Abertas" movement, Sao Paulo's Vice-Governor, Rodrigo Garcia, and Secretary of Education, Rossiei Soares (together in the center of the photo). A little more than a month after schools partially reopened for the start of the school year, the Sao Paulo government was also forced to suspend in-person classes in the state public education system for two weeks. Private schools can continue to operate with up to 35 percent of students in classrooms. In mid-December, education was considered an essential service, allowing schools to reopen even as the pandemic worsened. However, since mid-February, many mayors, who are responsible for regulating services and schools, had already adopted additional measures to contain the pandemic, including the closure of schools. In the state capital, Sao Paulo, Mayor Bruno Covas (PSDB) announced last week the closure of public and private schools until April 5. On Thursday, when the first death due to lack of ICU capacity was registered in the city, he announced the moving up of five holidays until April 4 to reduce the circulation of people. Sao Paulo, like all of Brazil, is experiencing the worst moment of the pandemic. On Tuesday, the state registered a daily record of 679 COVID-19 deaths. In the last two weeks, the moving averages of deaths and cases have increased by 62 and 42 percent, respectively. As of Thursday, Sao Paulo had recorded 2.2 million cases and almost 66,000 deaths. With the slow pace of vaccinationonly 7 percent of the population has received the first dosethe decrease in temperature as winter approaches and the refusal to adopt more restrictive measures, experts warn that the pandemic may continue to worsen in the coming weeks and months. The occupancy rate of ICU beds in public and private hospitals in Sao Paulo is 91 percent. At the end of February, private hospitals of the Brazilian ruling elite in Sao Paulo reached 100 percent occupancy of ICU beds, and this week many of them requested beds in public hospitals. Admitting the severity of the pandemic, Governor Doria said on Wednesday, We have a pretty dramatic situation.... [with the state] on the verge of collapse. However, Domingos Alves, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo, told BBC Brasil, saying [Sao Paulo] is on the verge of collapse is poetic license. Pointing to the deaths of 90 people waiting for an ICU bed in the state, he added: If this is not a collapse of the health system, I dont know what is. The Doria government has blamed this situation on the prevalence of the more contagious Manaus variant in Sao Paulo. However, Marlei, a teacher at a municipal public school in Sao Paulo, disagrees. This collapse, which has been occurring since last year, is a consequence of the lack of a plan to contain the pandemic, mainly to reduce the movement of people, she told the World Socialist Web Site. People who must go to work are taking crowded trains, crowded subways, crowded buses. It is this agglomeration that has generated this chaos. Even in the emergency phase of the Plano Sao Paulo, this is far from changing. On Monday, the UOL website reported that the most restrictive phase ... [began] with crowded public transportation. With industry and business still functioning, on Wednesday, the social isolation rate increased by only 2 percentage points from last week, reaching 43 percent. That rate is far from the ideal of 70 percent, according to the very group of experts guiding Plano Sao Paulo. Alves has been one of the experts most critical of Plano Sao Paulo. At the beginning of the second wave in the state in November, he said that what is behind the plan is the thesis of herd immunity ... another name for mass murder. He told BBC Brasil that its time for a complete lockdown, not that clownish thing of doing it only on the weekend or some days, as Doria has been doing since December. In placing profits over human lives, Doria and the entire Brazilian ruling elite, from Brazils fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro to the Workers Party (PT) governors in the Northeast region, are responsible for the greatest health and hospital collapse in Brazils history, according to a report by the epidemiological institute FIOCRUZ. On Tuesday, when the report was published, Brazil registered a daily record of 2,798 deaths. After a 48 percent increase in the moving average of deaths in two weeks, on Thursday, the country had a total of 11.7 million cases and 287,000 deaths from COVID-19. Ivan, also a teacher at a public municipal school in Sao Paulo, said, This will be remembered in history as a great genocide, these authorities will be forever remembered for the actions they carried out ... In the future, ... people will be shocked that there was so much omission and neglect in a period like this. The premature reopening of schools is part of Dorias herd immunity policy. For Marlei: Its obvious that the reopening of schools [in February] contributed to the increase of cases. What is the most effective prevention measure? It is to reduce the number of people circulating. With open schools, there are more people circulating, she said. By early March, there were more than 4,000 confirmed cases in Sao Paulos state and private public schools and 21 COVID-19 deaths, including of two students. Sao Paulos education secretary, Rossieli Soares, has been working with the most powerful sections of Brazils ruling elite to reopen the states schools. As Ivan explained, these sectors include the major [private] educational institutions, ... [that] generate profits and cannot stop. These sectors have tried to posture as a civil society movement through the Escolas Abertas (Open Schools) group, led by parents of elite school students and frantically promoted by Education Secretary Soares in his social media posts. The main pretext advanced by Soares and Escolas Abertas for keeping schools open is the psychological damage suffered by children due to social isolation. This same issue is echoed by Brazils fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro in his war on lockdowns. This story of pediatricians going on TV and saying, children are psychologically shaken, they need socialization... this is all bullshit, its common sense that the media goes on to echo, to justify the unjustifiable... there are ways to solve the psychological issue of children ... and life is more important, obviously, Marlei replied. Soares has also been working closely with the corporate media and the state capitalist justice system. Last Saturday, the court overturned the second decision against reopening schools in Sao Paulo. Commenting on the fact that this decision took a week to be overturned during which schools remained open, Felipe, a private school teacher, said, Sao Paulo didnt comply with the decision because of a sense of impunity. They somehow came to bring public opinion in favor of opening the schools even without many conditions. The media supported it, and in that whole context they felt comfortable to violate the judicial decision. The pandemic in Sao Paulo would be worse were it not for the decision of the vast majority of working class parents not to send their children to school and the strikes that began in February of state and municipal public school teachers. All the teachers the WSWS spoke to expressed a principled position against the early reopening of schools. Amilde, an elementary school teacher, said that this is a strike for life, its not a wage issue, but a survival issue. Its thinking about lives in general, all lives. She also stressed the fact that the children have no way to follow the protocols, and can get sick.... [and] carry the virus from one place to another. For Marlei, the health strike is necessary not only to save lives, but to show all this lack of planning that led to this collapse. She also believes that we have to provoke situations in society that show the importance of the movement. We have to call for motorcades, lets stop the main avenues of Sao Paulo, lets make a more aggressive movement to disrupt, to show that we are on strike for life. Ivan also said that it is necessary to close the streets, to fight. If its not a movement of struggle, really confrontation, I dont think well ever get attention. For Amilde, what needs to happen for this movement to move forward is unity. This strike would have greater strength if everyone were to strike, Marlei said. However, according to her, there isnt a movement within the unions with this perspective ... In fact, I dont see a commitment from the unions to the strike itself. Both the city of Sao Paulo teachers union, SINPEEM, and the state teachers union, APEOESP, have done everything they could to sabotage and isolate the teachers strike against the reopening of schools. In last Saturdays virtual assembly, all the political groups in the leadership of the APEOESPthe PT, the Maoist Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) and the Morenoite and Pabloite tendencies of the pseudo-left Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL)decided to shut down the strike in the face of the Doria governments partial retreat of suspending in-person classes. Subordinating the teachers struggle to the capitalist courts, they wrote in the APEOESP Bulletin, justifying the end of the strike, Our struggle is for full and immediate compliance with the court decision, i.e., the [unions] priority is to file warrants for compliance with the court decision. This position leaves teachers unprepared for the Doria governments next steps in its offensive to reopen schools. Instead of preparing a unified movement with other sections of the working class who are also fighting for their lives in the midst of an out-of-control pandemic, the unions are cooling down a movement that is set to explode. No doubt, the bureaucracy fears that this movement will get out of control of the unions, which have long ceased to be working class organizations. As the Socialist Equality Group (Brazil) wrote in its latest statement, The logic of development of the movement that is beginning to take shape in different sections of the Brazilian working class is toward the unification of these growing struggles into a general strike, one that closes down all non-essential economic activities. For this to be carried forward, we call for the formation of rank-and-file committees independent of the unions in the different workplaces and neighborhoods, armed with a socialist and internationalist program. Washington: US President Donald Trump is set to scrap a programme that grants work permits to immigrants who arrived in the country illegally as children, a move likely to impact more than 7,000 Indian-Americans, a media report said on Monday. The programme Deferred Action for Children Arrival (DACA) was a key immigration reform of the former US President Barack Obama. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters on Friday that Trump would take a decision on the issue on Tuesday. However, Politico in an exclusive story reported Sunday that Trump has already decided to rescind this programme and senior administration officials are now discussing the rollout of his decision which could come later this week. However, senior administration officials have cautioned that there might be changes in Trumps decision until it is formally announced, Politico reported. ALSO READ: Pakistan National Assembly rejects Donald Trump's new South Asia policy Such a decision by the US President, which is one of his poll promises, is expected to draw widespread criticism including those from his own Republican party. The move is likely to impact some 75,000 undocumented workers including more than 7,000 Indian-Americans. In a radio interview Paul Ryan, Speaker of the US House of Representatives said that Trump should not terminate DACA as these children know no other country than the US. I actually dont think he should do that. I believe that this is something that Congress has to fix, Ryan said on radio station WCLO in Janesville, Wisconsin. India ranks 11th among countries of origin for DACA students, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services statistics available till March 31, 2017. Deporting patriotic, courageous young men and women who are American in every way would be disastrous for our communities, our economy and our nation, said Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leader in the US House of Representatives. In a study released last week, CATO Institute said that termination of DACA, which would result in possible deportation of these students could cost over USD 200 billion to the American economy and the cost to the government would be USD 60 billion. The average DACA recipient is 22 years old, employed, and a student. 17 per cent of them are on track to complete an advanced degree. ALSO READ: Trump, Moon agree to lift cap on missile payload of South Korea For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Former Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson who was arrested in a corruption probe last year has insisted he has never taken a bribe. The city leader, 63, was sensationally arrested in December and also held on suspicion of witness intimidation. However, Mr Anderson has now broken his silence on the incident, describing it as 'bizarre' and revealing that he is suing Merseyside Police for wrongful arrest. He insists that the allegations are baseless and that he has 'never taken a bribe in his life'. The arrests came as part of a long-running police probe into financial irregularities in the awarding of building contracts in the city. Mr Anderson says he is mystified by the decision to raid his house and suspicious of the timing of his arrest, ahead of mayoral elections in May. Joe Anderson's arrest came as part of a long-running police probe into financial irregularities in the awarding of building contracts in the city He was sensationally arrested in December and also held on suspicion of witness intimidation He told the Telegraph: 'I have never taken a bribe in my life. I want to say as much as I'm allowed to say and I want to actually let people know the absurdity of what I'm being accused of. The idea there has been a mass conspiracy to make things happen is quite frankly absurd.' Derek Hatton, the former Trotskyist deputy leader of Liverpool City Council, was also arrested as part of the investigation. Mr Anderson described Mr Hatton's arrest as an attempt to 'sex up' the case against him. The 72-year-old was the ringleader of the Trotskyist Militant tendency in the 1980s which set an illegal budget in Liverpool - causing 'grotesque chaos' in the city - and brought about bitter divisions in the party. The arrests come as part of Merseyside police's Operation Aloft - a 15-month operation looking into agreements between property developers and the council. Mr Anderson was elected mayor of Liverpool in 2012, having been on the council since 1998. His son David, 33, was also arrested over allegations he had benefited from contracts awarded by Liverpool City Council. Mr Anderson was questioned over the sale of the family's four-bedroom house to his son for 190,000. The mayor then bought a smaller house close by for 135,000. Police also asked him about a caravan in north Wales he jointly owns with his son. These questions were revealed by Mr Anderson who believes that the police think he awarded his son city council contracts in return money. However, Mr Anderson claimed that his son's health and safety consultancy had never been awarded a contract by the council. Derek Hatton, the former Trotskyist deputy leader of Liverpool City Council, was also arrested as part of the investigation It had gained work from private contractors working on council projects but he said these contracts were won fairly. Mr Anderson also slammed police for claiming he had received a 20,000 bribe for his mayoral election campaign, claiming they confused him with the Lord Mayor. He claims police had confused the payment with a 20,000 donation to the Lord Mayor's fund, a charitable body overseen by someone else. Mr Anderson also slammed the suggestion he was conspiring with Mr Hatton on the day of his brother's funeral over a witness intimidation case concerning FOI requests sent to Liverpool council. Who is Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson? Joseph Anderson was born in 1958 in Liverpool to a cleaner and a Merchant Navy officer. He joined the Merchant Navy after leaving school and then went onto work for P&O Ferries He went to Liverpool John Moores University and got a post-grad diploma in social work. He went onto be a social worker in Crosby. He became a councillor in 1998 and, in 2003, became the Leader of the Labour Group on Liverpool City Council. He became council leader in 2010 and then was elected Mayor in 2012. Last year he secured the Labour Party selection to run to be Mayor of the city for a third term at May's delayed elections. Advertisement It is claimed the FOI requests were sent from fake emails with the intention of undermining the city council's chief executive. This was done while the chief executive helped police to investigate corruption within the council. However, Mr Anderson again refutes the claims he was involved. In a wide-ranging interview, he also criticised Labour's leadership and claimed he was dismissed from the party too hastily. He is even considering running against Labour as an independent mayoral candidate. Lawyers for Mr Anderson have launched a judicial review in the High Court against the Chief Constable of Merseyside Police. They argue his arrest was 'unnecessary and therefore unlawful'. The ex-mayor added: 'Nothing has been proven. I haven't even been charged.' Mr Anderson hit the headlines in October with his vocal criticism of the Government's tiered lockdown system, which he branded a 'shambles'. Liverpool was the first English region to be put into the top Tier Three - prior to the country's second national lockdown - as cases surged in the city. He accused the Government of railroading through its Tier Three measures for the city without local leaders agreeing to anything back in October. His pushback came alongside criticism from Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who also blasted the rules - with affected vast swathes of the North. Shares in Fevertree plunged after the closure of bars during the pandemic took the fizz from the tonic maker's sales. The FTSE 250 company said its UK revenues tumbled by 22 per cent to 103.3million last year, as hospitality venues were forced to close because of national lockdowns. It meant that overall revenues fell 3 per cent to 252.1million as drinking at home failed to make up the difference with profits down 29 per cent to 51.6million. Sales slump: Fevertree said its UK revenues tumbled by 22 per cent to 103.3m last year, as hospitality venues were forced to close because of national lockdowns After the results were announced, shares in Fevertree dropped 12.3 per cent, or 312p, to 2225p. Fevertree said there were bright spots too. The company's sales in the US rose by 23 per cent, while sales in the rest of the world outside Europe were up by 58 per cent. And it said a 62 per cent drop in on-trade sales those from pubs, restaurants and bars had been cushioned by a 22 per cent rise in off-trade sales, which are those from shops and online. Stock Watch - Eve Sleep Eve Sleeps shares fell despite the online mattress seller narrowing its losses. The company said sales during 2020 rose by 6 per cent to 25.2million, while losses were cut from 12.1million in 2019 to 2million. Eve said it had been boosted by the launch of well slept products, including hot water bottles, socks and pyjamas. Boss Cheryl Calverley said an overhaul of the website, supply chains and delivery services had also been completed. However, shares fell 7.6 per cent, or 0.48p, to 5.8p. New products including premium soda water and sparkling pink grapefruit mixer were also launched. Fevertree now expects to see things improve this year as the vaccination rollout continues to gather pace, helping the economy to reopen. Tim Warrillow, the firm's co-founder and boss, said: 'Although 2020 presented many unforeseen challenges, our resilient performance highlights the strength of the business and the Fevertree brand, which is testament to the proactive and entrepreneurial way our team and our partners responded. 'Whilst our on-trade business remains impacted by the continued shutdowns and restrictions across many of our regions, we have had a very positive start to 2021 across the off-trade.' Fevertree said it was recommending a final dividend of 15.7p per share, an increase of 4 per cent compared to the previous year, 'as a reflection of confidence in the financial strength of the group'. It came on another choppy day for the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250, which both struggled to get liftoff. The blue-chip index edged up 0.3 per cent, or 17.01 points, to 6,779.68, while the mid-cap index rose by just 0.05 per cent, or 10.01 points, to 21,568.56. Blue chip riser Informa was up 4.1 per cent, or 23.6p, to 598.6p following news that its World of Concrete event will be one of the first to return to Las Vegas this summer. The firm is behind other shows that will resume as well, including Vegas Cosmetic Surgery and the International Roofing Expo. Fellow Footsie member BT was down 0.8 per cent, or 1.2p, to 151.3p, however, despite what was seen as a positive regulatory decision on its rollout of fibre broadband. Ofcom yesterday cleared the way for the firm and rivals to charge higher prices for top speed internet connections, which BT argues is necessary to properly fund the national upgrade. BT boss Philip Jansen said Ofcom's decision was 'good news' and vowed to 'build like fury' to get 20m premises connected with fibre by the mid to late 2020s. The Gym Group rose 2.1 per cent, or 5p, to 245p despite the firm slumping from 6.2million profit to a 47.2million loss during 2020. Because of Covid-related restrictions, the company was forced to close its gyms for large periods of the year sending revenues plunging 47 per cent to 80million. However, bosses said they are focused on reopening sites in England from April 12 and have retained more members during the current lockdown than during the others. Some 97 per cent of members say they expect to return to the gym as soon as possible, the firm said, with 75 per cent saying fitness will be more important to them than before the pandemic. Richard Darwin, chief executive, said: 'People are really raring to get back and we think there will be plenty who are also keen to become members.' Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Tribal leaders advocate for more effort in solving crimes against Indigenous people, boost their numbers in Alaskas aviation industry and more remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. [March 19, 2021] Best's Commentary: New Trinidad & Tobago Insurance Rules, a Decade in the Making, Heightens Regulatory Oversight New insurance regulations have been passed in Trinidad & Tobago after a decade of consideration. Some market participants believe this potentially could lead to some companies becoming acquisition targets in the long term, according to an AM Best commentary. The new rules, which took effect at the start of 2021, include a significant minimum capital requirement increase, as well as guidelines aimed at strengthening internal controls, risk and capital management and corporate governance. The initial draft of this legislation was introduced in 2011. The Best's Commentary, "New Trinidad & Tobago Insurance Rules Finally Implemented in 2021," notes that the new rules set a five-year transition period for existing insurance companies to meet the required guidelines, which will moderate the impact of the increased capital requirements. The new required minimum stated capital for all companies is TT$15 million, and companies also must also maintain a minimum regulatory capital ratio of 150%. Under the old regulations life insurance companies were required to have share capital of TT$3 million, while insurance companies writing short-term insurane business (i.e., general insurers) were required to have capital of TT$1 million. Given that the more-stringent measures could stress balance sheets and test the ability of some companies to enhance capitalization, some companies ultimately could become involved in merger and acquisition activity. For the Trinidad & Tobago-domiciled insurers that AM Best rates, the 2020 Act will not be impactful, as these companies maintain capitalization levels well in excess of the new required minimum threshold, and have already implemented enterprise risk management programs that appropriately address corporate governance and internal controls. To access the full copy of this commentary, please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=306913. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright 2021 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005463/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Some European Catholic priests have announced their intentions to continue blessing same-sex unions despite a Vatican statement this week saying that Catholic churches cant bless sinful relationships. The Austrian Priests' Initiative, which has supported the practice of blessing same-sex unions, released a statement this week expressing their intention to disobey Mondays decree from the Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The group of priests stated that they were deeply appalled by the new Roman decree that wants to prohibit the blessing of same-sex loving couples." This is a relapse into times that we had hoped to be overcome with Pope Francis, the groups statements reads, as reported by CBS News. Source:The Christian Post [March 19, 2021] Behavioral Health Platform, TPN.health, Partners with New Orleans Nonprofit Son of a Saint NEW ORLEANS, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Trusted Provider Network ( TPN.health ), a digital platform for behavioral health professionals, is partnering with Son of a Saint to provide their team of clinicians with accessible virtual Continuing Education training. TPN.health offers access to unlimited CE's, high-quality educational opportunities, and visibility into a community of vetted behavioral health clinicians and services. This partnership provides the Son of a Saint's clinical specialists with additional learning resources to support fatherless boys in the Greater New Orleans area. "We are honored to be in a position to partner with Son of a Saint - to bring professional clinical education and services for their on-staff clinicians. Our mission is simply to improve behavioral health outcomes, and we see no better organization to support with this mission than Son of a Saint," says Trevor Colhoun, CEO of TPN.halth. Son of a Saint launched in 2011 to address the burgeoning problem of fatherless boys in the New Orleans area. Under the direction of Bivian "Sonny" Lee III, the 501(c)(3) organization is dedicated to its mission of transforming the lives of young males through mentorship, emotional support, development of life skills, exposure to constructive experiences, and formation of positive, lasting peer-to-peer relationships. For more information or to get involved, visit www.sonofasaint.org . "Our partnership with TPN.health provides free access to high-quality CEUs through a virtual platform. This allows our team of specialists to utilize them at our best convenience," says Son of a Saint Mental Health Specialist Tara Gremillion Lark. "As CEU providers are shifting between virtual or in-person settings, it's more than helpful to have this consistent resource at our fingertips." To find more information about upcoming Continuing Education events, visit TPN.health or follow them on Facebook , LinkedIn , Twitter , or Instagram . Mia Fenice Social Media & Content Coordinator TPN.health mia@tpn.health View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/behavioral-health-platform-tpnhealth-partners-with-new-orleans-nonprofit-son-of-a-saint-301250649.html SOURCE TPN.health [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] From Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath to Margaret Atwood and Elizabeth Strout, the literary world has always been full of outstanding women fiction writers, many of whom write unique, beautiful prose about seemingly everyday life like family, love, marriage, and growing up. Womens History Month is an excellent time to explore recent novels by female authors; some light and entertaining and others that will take you into realms of fantasy, mystery, and relationships of every kind. Already a New York Times notable book of 2020, winner of the Kirkus Prize, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and longlisted for other literary awards, Luster by Raven Leilani tells the story of twentysomething Edie who lives in New York and has a low-paying job in publishing until she gets laid off. Having dated around, she is now in a relationship with an older man who is in an open marriage. While Edie and Rebecca, Erics wife, are white, the couple has an adopted 12-year-old Black daughter. When Edie ends up living in the familys home, things get uncomfortable. Leilani writes about age, status, race, sex, and money with great energy, honesty and excitement. Clark has more than 30 years of experience in a variety of industries and geographies with human resources leadership across pharmaceutical, medical device and diversified industrials. Most recently, Lynn was chief human resources officer for Colfax Corporation, a leading diversified, medical technology company. She began her career in university career counseling before moving into sales and marketing and has successfully moved from large divisional roles at Fortune 500 companies like Bristol Myers Squibb, Lucent Technologies and Allied Signal. "We're pleased to welcome Lynn to the Perdue Farms leadership team," said Day. "Her experience and demonstrated track record in leading an enterprise-first mindset make her a great fit for Perdue. I look forward to her leadership as we navigate our company's second century." Clark, based at the company's headquarters in Salisbury, holds a bachelor of science degree in education and a master of science in college student personnel from Bowling Green University in Ohio. About Perdue Farms We're a fourth-generation, family owned, U.S. food and agriculture company. Through our belief in responsible food and agriculture, we are empowering consumers, customers, and farmers through trusted choices in products and services. The premium protein portfolio within our Perdue Foods business, including our flagship PERDUE brand, Niman Ranch, Panorama Organic Grass-Fed Meats, and Coleman Natural, as well as our pet brands, Spot Farms and Full Moon, is available through retail, foodservice, and our direct-to-consumer website, PerdueFarms.com. Perdue AgriBusiness is an international agricultural products and services company. Now in our company's second century, our path forward is about getting better, not just bigger. We never use drugs for growth promotion in raising poultry and livestock, and we are actively advancing our animal welfare programs. Our brands are leaders in no-antibiotics-ever chicken, turkey, pork, beef and lamb, and in USDA-certified organic chicken and beef. Learn more at Corporate.PerdueFarms.com. SOURCE Perdue Farms Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenia national boxing team in Paris, to compete for passes to Olympic Games Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center PSG reach agreement with Gianluigi Donnarumma "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Ousmane Dembele not rushing to extend contract with Barcelona Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Tottenham Hotspur negotiating with Antonio Conte Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Renowned footballer becomes Wolfsburg's manager Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia Brazilian right-back joins Barcelona Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Premieres in June: Let's go to the cinema! Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Human bones found just yards from Prince Harry and Meghan Markles LA mansion 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 Romy Walthall, Face/Off actress, dies at 57 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 Robin Williams saves 14-year-old "Mrs. Doubtfire" actress from depression, drugs 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? Matches of the day Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Poland play draw with Russia at home Messi buys his 5th hotel 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 Angulo's goal helped Armenia tie score with Croatia Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Henrikh Mkhitaryan: I've fallen in love with AS Roma and Rome over the last two years Roma extend contract with Henrikh Mkhitaryan Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Croatia-Armenia 1-0 (after first half) Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 18, 2021) - CGX Energy Inc. (TSXV: OYL) ("CGX Energy" or the "Company") announced today the release of its audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, together with its Management Discussion and Analysis. These documents will be posted on the Company's website at www.cgxenergy.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All values in this news release and the Company's financial disclosures are in United States dollars unless otherwise stated. Gabriel de Alba, Co-Chairman of CGX Energy, commented: "CGX commenced 2021 with the management team continuing its progress toward optimizing the Company's financial performance and strengthening its balance sheet and on maximizing its unique opportunities in its highly prospective blocks in the Guyana basin. Operationally, we are focused on executing a world-class exploration program on our Corentyne and Demerara offshore blocks, which cover 2.7 million gross acres in one of the world's most promising offshore basins. To support this effort, we have built a best-in-class technical and operational team, which gives us further confidence in successfully implementing our plan, evaluating strategic opportunities and realizing this opportunity in a prolific basin that has immense interest in the industry." Mr. de Alba added, "We have also resumed construction of the Berbice Deep Water Port, the aim of which is to accommodate the rapidly growing exploration activities across the Guyana-Suriname basin, as well as to support growth of the Guyanese economy by supporting agricultural, containerized and general cargo. We are excited about our opportunities to generate value for our shareholders." Suresh Narine, Executive Co-Chairman, added: "Looking ahead, CGX Energy is now poised to launch an exciting exploration plan for the Kawa-1 and Makarapan-1 wells on the Corentyne and Demerara Blocks, leveraging the strategic and technical support of the Company's key shareholder and joint venture partner, Frontera Energy Corporation. As we enter 2021, we are excited for these multiple opportunities to create value for CGX Energy's stakeholders in the years to come." 2020 Highlights and Key Events Subsequent to Year End The Company continued to strengthen its board of directors with the additions of Mr. Gabriel de Alba in January 2020 and Professor Mark D. Zoback in February 2021. In February 2021, the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, CGX Resources Inc. (" CRI "), received an addendum to the Demerara Petroleum Agreement, extending the February 12, 2021 deadline for drilling an exploration well on the Demerara block to no later than February 11, 2022. In February 2021, ON Energy Inc. received an addendum to the Berbice Petroleum Agreement, constituting an extension and modification to the workplan on the Berbice block from completing a seismic program by August 12, 2021 to completing a seismic program and commencement of drilling an exploration well no later than June 15, 2022. The Company holds a 62% interest in ON Energy Inc. In November 2020, CRI received an addendum to the Corentyne Petroleum Agreement, extending the November 27, 2020 deadline for drilling an exploration well on the Corentyne block to no later than November 26, 2021. CRI, as Operator of the Corentyne and Demerara blocks, contracted, on September 10, 2020, McDaniel and Associates Consultants Ltd., an independent qualified reserves evaluator, to complete an independent Prospective Resource study and report (the "Resource Report") in respect of the Corentyne North Area, Corentyne Main Area and Demerara Block. The Resource Report was prepared as of August 31, 2020 in accordance with the resource definitions and standards set out in National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities and the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook. As disclosed in the press release on February 16, 2021, a total of 32 prospects have been identified in both blocks (5 in the Demerara block and 27 in the Corentyne block) with CRI's Net Prospective Resources mean volume of 4,940 MMboe unrisked and 884 MMboe risked. CRI contracted pore pressure analyses of the Corentyne Kawa-1 prospect and the Demerara Makarapan-1 prospect, which were completed by Baker Hughes in September 2020 and October 2020, respectively. CRI contracted a Quantitative Interpretation study to further high grade the prospect inventory on the Corentyne block. It was completed in Q3 2020. In October 2020, CRI entered into an agreement with WesternGeco LLC for the reprocessing of a 3D seismic survey acquired over the Demerara Block. The project commenced on November 6, 2020 and is expected to be completed by the end of May 2021. The project is currently 50% complete. The total cost is expected to be $1,065,000. In October 2020, Grand Canal Industrial Estates Inc. ("Grand Canal"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, entered into various contracts to recommence work on its Berbice Deep Water Port project. Grand Canal is completely renovating a 3.1 km road leading from the Corentyne Highway to the port. The contract for the road commenced on October 18, 2020, and is expected to be completed at a cost of approximately $703,000. A contract for the construction of a bridge connecting the Corentyne Highway to the road being renovated was awarded in February 2021 and is expected to be completed at a cost of approximately $450,000. Grand Canal has also entered into contracts for the relocation of utility services along the renovated roadway. Updated engineering designs for the port yard along the Berbice River have been completed, at a cost of $34,840. The tendering of the port yard civil work, restricted to local contractors, began. A contract, at a cost of $27,200, was awarded for the re-design of the dredging of the harbor to enable both Handymax Vessels and Offshore Support Vessels to access the port, so that the expanded port project can handle both oil and gas offshore operations support as well as agricultural and general cargo. A contract at a cost of $42,500 was awarded for an updated marketing study and revenue model for the expanded scope of the port project. A contract at a cost of approximately $25,000 was awarded for the review of the engineering design of the laydown yard, new road and new bridge. Engineering design of a new alternate access road from the Eastern Access Roadway of the Berbice Bridge to the port site and new connecting bridge across the Grand Canal is expected to be completed by mid-2021. CRI contracted PGS Geophysical AS ("PGS") to provide acquisition and processing of a full broadband marine 3D seismic survey over a northern segment of the Corentyne Block located offshore Guyana. The seismic acquisition was completed on November 2, 2019 and produced seismic data covering approximately 582 km2 of the northern portion of the Corentyne Block. PGS completed Time (PreStack Time Migration) and Depth (PreStack Depth Migration) processing of these data on June 5, 2020. CRI has completed a preliminary evaluation of the recently processed 3D seismic data and has identified two highly prospective, large channel/fan complexes. These complexes are located in the northern region of the Corentyne Block and interpreted to contain multiple high potential prospects. These prospects are in close proximity to the Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana and Block 58, and offshore Suriname. Discoveries in the Stabroek block include Pluma, Haimara, Tilapia, Yellowtail, Tripletail, Mako, Uaru, and Redtail, all between 2 and 10 miles from the North Corentyne prospects. In Block 58 discoveries include Maka Central, Kwaskwasi, Sapakara West and Keskesi East, which lie 7 to 20 miles from the border of the northern region of the Corentyne Block. The prospects mapped in the Northern Corentyne Block are interpreted to be at the same geological interval as the nearby significant discoveries already proven in the Stabroek Block and Block 58. The discoveries in Stabroek and Block 58 are largely stratigraphic, and the same holds true for the Corentyne prospects. These prospects also share the same proven, hydrocarbon source kitchen as recent discoveries, greatly reducing the source and migration risk into Northern Corentyne. The prospects in Northern Corentyne have been mapped across the Upper Cretaceous, Santonian, and Miocene intervals. Work is ongoing to rank these prospects and to further reduce geological risk when possible. These prospects are located in 500 to 3,600 feet of water and at drilling depths of 11,000 to 21,700 feet TVDSS (3,353 to 6,614 meters ("m")). The current high-graded prospect identified in the northern region of the Corentyne Block, Kawa, has been named after the iconic Kawa Mountain which overlooks the village of Paramakatoi in the Pakaraima Mountains of Guyana. The primary target is a Santonian age, stratigraphic trap, interpreted to be analogous to the discoveries immediately to the east on Block 58 in Suriname. The Kawa-1 well is anticipated to be drilled to a total depth of approximately 6,500 m in a water depth of approximately 370 m. Numerous additional prospects on the northern portion of Corentyne have been identified and are being matured by the Company. During 2020, the Company identified an Aptian stratigraphic prospect on the Demerara Block, named Makarapan, for the Precambrian mountain overlooking the Rupununi Savannahs. The Makarapan-1 well is expected to be drilled to a total depth of approximately 3,500 m in a water depth of approximately 1,000 m. Additional prospects on the Demerara Block are being matured by the company. About CGX Energy CGX Energy is a Canadian-based oil and gas exploration company focused on the exploration of oil in the Guyana-Suriname Basin. 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: This news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "would", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur in the future. These forward-looking statements are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by CGX Energy. CGX Energy believes the expectations and assumptions on which it develops forward-looking statements are reasonable; however, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. In addition, other risks that may affect the forward-looking statements in this news release are outlined further in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and CGX Energy undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. For further information, please contact: Tralisa Maraj, Chief Financial Officer at (832) 300-3200 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77883 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 SARS-CoV-2 virus under a microscope. Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Using molecular dating tools and epidemiological simulations, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues at the University of Arizona and Illumina, Inc., estimate that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was likely circulating undetected for at most two months before the first human cases of COVID-19 were described in Wuhan, China in late-December 2019. Writing in the March 18, 2021 online issue of Science, they also note that their simulations suggest that the mutating virus dies out naturally more than three-quarters of the time without causing an epidemic. "Our study was designed to answer the question of how long could SARS-CoV-2 have circulated in China before it was discovered," said senior author Joel O. Wertheim, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine. "To answer this question, we combined three important pieces of information: a detailed understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 spread in Wuhan before the lockdown, the genetic diversity of the virus in China and reports of the earliest cases of COVID-19 in China. By combining these disparate lines of evidence, we were able to put an upper limit of mid-October 2019 for when SARS-CoV-2 started circulating in Hubei province." Cases of COVID-19 were first reported in late-December 2019 in Wuhan, located in the Hubei province of central China. The virus quickly spread beyond Hubei. Chinese authorities cordoned off the region and implemented mitigation measures nationwide. By April 2020, local transmission of the virus was under control but, by then, COVID-19 was pandemic with more than 100 countries reporting cases. SARS-CoV-2 is a zoonotic coronavirus, believed to have jumped from an unknown animal host to humans. Numerous efforts have been made to identify when the virus first began spreading among humans, based on investigations of early-diagnosed cases of COVID-19. The first cluster of casesand the earliest sequenced SARS-CoV-2 genomeswere associated with the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, but study authors say the market cluster is unlikely to have marked the beginning of the pandemic because the earliest documented COVID-19 cases had no connection to the market. Regional newspaper reports suggest COVID-19 diagnoses in Hubei date back to at least November 17, 2019, suggesting the virus was already actively circulating when Chinese authorities enacted public health measures. In the new study, researchers used molecular clock evolutionary analyses to try to home in on when the first, or index, case of SARS-CoV-2 occurred. "Molecular clock" is a term for a technique that uses the mutation rate of genes to deduce when two or more life forms divergedin this case, when the common ancestor of all variants of SARS-CoV-2 existed, estimated in this study to as early as mid-November 2019. Molecular dating of the most recent common ancestor is often taken to be synonymous with the index case of an emerging disease. However, said co-author Michael Worobey, Ph.D., professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at University of Arizona: "The index case can conceivably predate the common ancestorthe actual first case of this outbreak may have occurred days, weeks or even many months before the estimated common ancestor. Determining the length of that 'phylogenetic fuse' was at the heart of our investigation." Based on this work, the researchers estimate that the median number of persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 in China was less than one until November 4, 2019. Thirteen days later, it was four individuals, and just nine on December 1, 2019. The first hospitalizations in Wuhan with a condition later identified as COVID-19 occurred in mid-December. Study authors used a variety of analytical tools to model how the SARS-CoV-2 virus may have behaved during the initial outbreak and early days of the pandemic when it was largely an unknown entity and the scope of the public health threat not yet fully realized. These tools included epidemic simulations based on the virus's known biology, such as its transmissibility and other factors. In just 29.7 percent of these simulations was the virus able to create self-sustaining epidemics. In the other 70.3 percent, the virus infected relatively few persons before dying out. The average failed epidemic ended just eight days after the index case. "Typically, scientists use the viral genetic diversity to get the timing of when a virus started to spread," said Wertheim. "Our study added a crucial layer on top of this approach by modeling how long the virus could have circulated before giving rise to the observed genetic diversity. "Our approach yielded some surprising results. We saw that over two-thirds of the epidemics we attempted to simulate went extinct. That means that if we could go back in time and repeat 2019 one hundred times, two out of three times, COVID-19 would have fizzled out on its own without igniting a pandemic. This finding supports the notion that humans are constantly being bombarded with zoonotic pathogens." Wertheim noted that even as SARS-CoV-2 was circulating in China in the fall of 2019, the researchers' model suggests it was doing so at low levels until at least December of that year. "Given that, it's hard to reconcile these low levels of virus in China with claims of infections in Europe and the U.S. at the same time," Wertheim said. "I am quite skeptical of claims of COVID-19 outside China at that time." The original strain of SARS-CoV-2 became epidemic, the authors write, because it was widely dispersed, which favors persistence, and because it thrived in urban areas where transmission was easier. In simulated epidemics involving less dense rural communities, epidemics went extinct 94.5 to 99.6 percent of the time. The virus has since mutated multiple times, with a number of variants becoming more transmissible. "Pandemic surveillance wasn't prepared for a virus like SARS-CoV-2," Wertheim said. "We were looking for the next SARS or MERS, something that killed people at a high rate, but in hindsight, we see how a highly transmissible virus with a modest mortality rate can also lay the world low." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak More information: Jonathan Pekar et al, Timing the SARS-CoV-2 index case in Hubei province, Science (2021). Journal information: Science Jonathan Pekar et al, Timing the SARS-CoV-2 index case in Hubei province,(2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abf8003 Rochester, N.Y. Currently serving 23 years in prison for the murder of her former boyfriends mother, Kaitlyn Conley has lost her appeal of her conviction and sentence. Conley was convicted of first-degree manslaughter in November of 2017 for the death of Mary Louise Yoder, of Whitesboro. Conley was accused of poisoning Yoder, her boss and the mother of her former boyfriend, with colchicine. Conley was initially charged with first-degree murder in June of 2016, with her first trial in May of 2017 ending in a hung jury. The New York State Appellate Court in Rochester on Friday ruled that the lower courts acted properly in both of Conleys trials and that Conleys sentence was not unduly harsh or severe, according to court documents. Conley said in her appeal that a search warrant issued for her cellphone was obtained without probable cause and that statements she made to police prior to being arrested should not have been used during her trial. The court rejected those claims, according to court documents. Conley also said in her appeal that the court instructed the jury on her first-degree manslaughter charge in an improper manner. The court rejected that claim as well, according to court documents. Conley worked for Yoder for four years at the Chiropractic Family Care offices on Oriskany Boulevard in Whitesboro. Yoder and her husband, William, had operated the practice for 28 years. Conley had dated the couples son, Adam, but the pair were only friends when Mary Yoder died, according to testimony during the trial. During the second trial, the defense pointed the finger at Adam Yoder, blaming him for the murder of his mother. During the first trial, the defense named William Yoder, Marys husband, as the alleged killer. The prosecution has contended in both trials that Conley purchased the colchicine that was used to kill her boss. They also said there is evidence linking her to the vial used in the murder and the gift cards used to buy the substance. The defense has argued that Conley was a pawn a naive girl who was framed for the murder by her controlling, abusive ex-boyfriend. Defense lawyer Frank Policelli said the evidence was nearly all circumstantial, while prosecutors said the evidence all points at Conley, according to media reports. Conley is at the Bedford Hills Correctional facility in Westchester County. She will first be eligible to be considered for parole in May 2037. 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. Khloe Kardashian disclosed how her next pregnancy could be high-risk. As Khloe and her beau, Tristan Thompson, officially got back together again, the two are already in talks of expanding their family soon. Currently, the couple only shares one daughter, two-year-old True. As she will be turning 3 next month already, Khloe has been wanting to give her a sibling since last year. However, the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star revealed that she might face difficulties as she tries to have more children. In a newly-uploaded "KUWTK" clip, the 36-year-old matriarch sat down for a talk with Kim Kardashian about a possible surrogacy. She also candidly opened up how her doctors told her that she would have a high-risk pregnancy if she would choose to carry her child. Furthermore, she reportedly underwent health exams to check whether she is fit to become pregnant. Unfortunately, her doctor ruled otherwise. "I'm not gonna get into specifics on-camera. But they said it's like an 80-something percent chance that I will miscarry. I almost miscarried with True at the beginning," she said. "But I didn't know that was like a lingering thing." Khloe Kardashian's Inability to Bear Child is "Shocking" During the concessional elsewhere in the clip, Khloe revealed that hearing the news was truly shocking for her part. She explained that she only wanted to bring more love into herself and her family by giving birth to another child. "And I just seem to be running into more and more roadblocks. It's really hard for me to digest," she went on. She then told Kim that, with all the comments she received, Khloe will not be able to carry a child ever again. Meanwhile, the 40-year-old KKW Beauty Mogul tried to lift her sister's mood by telling her surrogacy story. To recall, Kim her eggs frozen before welcoming her two eldest children, North and Saint. However, due to medical complications with both births, she chose to have a surrogate to welcome Chicago and Psalm. Despite that, Kim assured Khloe that regardless of the way she will choose, kids are amazing and unique. "I always say, if you can do it, it's such an amazing experience. But you'll see, the love that you'll have for your kids is exactly the same. There's no difference, except that there was someone else that was the carrier," the older sister said. See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles The government Friday said in Rajya Sabha that railways infrastructure will never be privatised but it plans to monetise its assets to generate resources to boost growth. Railways Minister also said that passenger train operations taken up through Public Private Partnership (PPP) is targeted to bring a total investment of about Rs 30,000 crore. The Ministry of Railways plans to monetise assets including through Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors after commissioning, induction of 150 modern rakes through PPP, station redevelopment through PPP, railway land parcels, multi-functional complexes (MFC), railway colonies, hill railways and stadiums, Goyal said during the Question Hour. "Asset monetisation would help in generating more resources towards infrastructure creation. Passenger train operations taken up through Public Private Partnership (PPP) is targeted to bring a total investment of about ? 30,000 crore," Goyal said. Replying to a supplementary asked by Jairam Ramesh of the Congress, Goyal said he felt the Opposition member was not able to understand the difference between and monetisation. "When you privatise, you sell off the assets permanently and it no more remains a part of the government ownership. In the railways, the plan to is monetise in terms of how it will generate resources, further investment and growth. The infrastructure of Indian Railways will never be privatised," Goyal said. The Railways Minister said dedicated freight corridors are a separate corporate entity and the railways is supporting them. "The Railways is supporting but is not the owner of tracks that the DFC is laying If we raise funds by leasing them, giving them out to private sector to use in the interim period we are doing a service to the nation," the minister said. The Ministry of Railways is committed towards enhancing the pace of infrastructure development, which is vital for the national economy as a whole, he said. The railways would always be a key economic driver in the strategy of investment-led economic growth, he said. The minister said assets monetisation involves various transaction processes, and the investment expected depends on the outcome of bidding process open to public and private sectors. "Therefore, the actual investment expected from private and public sectors cannot be ascertained as of now," he added. Goyal said modern train is the need of the day, and the railways has got historic Rs 2.15 lakh crore allotment under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. If a road is built, everyone uses it, similarly if a pipeline is built by GAIL and they only use it, it will be misused, he said. "Similarly, if new rail tracks are laid and private people are invited and encouraged to operate there, it will be run by locopilots, there will be caterers, so it will generate employment and not lead to job losses," he said. In reply to a supplementary raised by the leader of the opposition in the Upper House Mallikarjun Kharge about a proposal to merge three divisions of Gulbarga in Karnataka, Goyal said the Railways Board did not find it feasible. He said proposals made by Zonal Managers are sent to the Board for a holistic view with an all-India perspective. He, however, added that he will discuss the issue with Kharge separately. In a reply to another supplementary, he said for seven routes dedicated to semi-high speed passenger corridors, the government is talking to state governments and added that there has been good response from the Uttar Pradesh government which is cooperating on the Delhi-Varanasi route, mostly elevated along the highways. He said under PM Modi's leadership instead of just haphazard announcements, which he alleged used to be the case earlier, committed plans are being made and it is being ensured that the rail infra is augmented in the entire country instead of just a few places. (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.) Xavier Becerra is the 25th Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the first Latino to hold the office in the history of the United States. As Secretary, he will carry out President Biden's vision to build a healthy America, and his work will focus on ensuring that all Americans have health security and access to healthcare. Throughout his career, the Secretary has made it his priority to ensure that Americans have access to the affordable healthcare they need to survive and thrive - from his early days as a legal advocate representing individuals with mental illness, to his role as the Attorney General of the state of California. Secretary Becerra served 12 terms in Congress as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. During his tenure, he was the first Latino to serve as a member of the powerful Committee on Ways and Means, he served as Chairman of his party's caucus, and as the Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Health. For over two decades in Congress, Secretary Becerra worked so that every family had the assurance of care that his own family had when he was growing up. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, Secretary Becerra introduced legislation -- the Medicare Savings Programs Improvement Act of 2007 -- that expanded cost-sharing subsidies for low-income seniors who receive both Medicare and Medicaid benefits by increasing the amount of resources they could receive. He championed provisions of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 that required physicians who perform imaging to be accredited and trained to ensure patient safety. And he was one of the original cosponsors of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) which strengthened Medicare and lowered costs for seniors. As Attorney General of the state of California, Secretary Becerra helped to promote competition by taking on a number of pharmaceutical companies that restricted competition through "pay-for-delay" schemes, held several companies accountable for legal violations for not protecting patients' health information, and took action early in the pandemic to keep Californians safe by using his authority to protect workers from exposure to COVID-19, secure key safeguards for frontline health care workers' rights, and take on fraudsters trying to take advantage of people during the pandemic. In addition, he cracked down on Medicare and Medicaid fraud, acted to combat the opioid crisis, including holding drug makers accountable, won an unprecedented $575 million antitrust settlement against one of the largest health systems in California, and he led the three-year federal court fight to save the ACA and with it, the protections of the 133 million Americans with preexisting conditions. Born in Sacramento Secretary Becerra is the son of working-class parents. He was the first in his family to receive a four-year degree, earning his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Stanford University. He earned his Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School. His mother was born in Jalisco, Mexico and immigrated to the United States after marrying his father, a day laborer turned construction worker. He is married to Dr. Carolina Reyes, and he is proud of his three daughters: Clarisa, Olivia and Natalia, and son-in-law Ivan. (TNS) Janessa Martinez was eager to return to Fresno City College after five years out of school.But Martinez, who prefers 'they/them' pronouns, said they were crushed by the punishing cost of textbooks, and maxed out two credit cards to make it work."The prices really put a damper on things," said Martinez, who is double majoring in business administration and psychology. "I felt helpless. I felt like giving up before I even started."Whitney Menefee, a biology instructor at Reedley College, said she understands the struggle of paying hundreds of dollars every semester for books, some of which go partially unused."I teach courses where the textbooks are really expensive," she said. "My anatomy textbooks, for example, could be $200, $300 for just the textbook."The costs of textbooks and digital class content can be a barrier for students to finish their degree, Menefee said. A survey conducted by State Center Community College District in fall 2020 showed that 53 percent of students avoided attending school full time because of textbook costs."I'm from the Valley. I went to Reedley College, too," Menefee said. "I know the struggle of paying for textbooks."Educational attainment in the central San Joaquin Valley is lower than much of the rest of the state, according to information from the U.S. Census Bureau. Fresno, Madera, Kings, and Tulare counties have some of the highest rates of adults without high school diplomas. Studies show a correlation between educational attainment, average earnings, and poverty rates.Menefee is now part of a growing movement taking shape at Reedley College, training instructors to use open educational resources instead of traditional textbooks and course content purchased from big-name publishers.Behind that movement is Amanda Taintor, Reedley College's interim Title V director. A former tenured child development instructor, Taintor came across the idea of using open educational resources when she was Reedley's distance education coordinator and coordinator of instructional design. She's been the district's biggest open-source advocate ever since."Students are saying again, and again, and again, 'It's the textbook costs that have created this huge barrier to my education," she said.Open educational resources, or OERs, are openly licensed content, freely available online to be reused, adapted, redistributed, or changed without permission from the creator.They come in the form of ebooks or online platforms that allow students to take quizzes or complete homework.OERs have caught the attention of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has sought to set aside $15 million in the 2021-2022 budget to help community colleges create degrees with zero textbook costs.It's not the first time Newsom has tried to boost the use of openly licensed content either. In the 2016-2017 budget, $5 million was allocated to the cause.Research from across 23 colleges that received the funding showed that students, especially Pell Grant recipients, earned better grades when they did not have to pay for course materials. Zero textbook cost courses can be taught with OERs or traditional textbooks, as long as students do not have to pay for them.After securing a grant, Taintor started training faculty in the child development department to gather, create and use the free content, so students would not have to pay a dime toward instructional materials.In the past four years, the college has gone from just a few zero textbook cost courses at Reedley to over 800 across all of State Center Community College District. It's saved students over $2 million in textbook costs, according to the district.Over 600 of those courses were taught at Reedley College, said Taintor."We've really been spearheading that movement across the district," she said.Taintor recently took a sabbatical to create a framework the district will use to guide instructors to research, gather and create content for their own classes.Reedley College is on the cusp of creating several zero textbook cost degree pathways, Taintor says."We're almost there to have one in biology and one in child development and getting really close to one in math," she said.A ZTC degree would mean a student could earn an associate degree without ever paying for course materials.If OERs are free, why do schools need funding? It's about time and education, Taintor said.The grants are used to pay faculty to create their own textbooks and content.Once they get a stipend, instructors usually develop their own creating course content over the summer, Taintor said."Then you see this explosion because many will then talk to their peers and other faculty, and there's this organic growth that occurs on the campus."It's hard work, said Menefee, the biology instructor, who has taught with open educational resources for several years."I've put hours and hours into this work," she said. "It takes time to search for resources. It takes time to build them the way that you want them that would be best suited for your students. As faculty, we're already pressed for time as it is. So finding that extra time to do it, it's tough."And publishing companies can make it too easy to lean back on their pricey content, Taintor said."Publishing companies market that way, the really cool things you get with an access code," she said.Taintor said there's similar openly licensed content that can be found for free.Not all educators are on board with using OERs, she said. Some don't like being told which resources they should use."This is the ultimate expression of our academic freedom," she tells them. "As instructors, we have this amazing ability to be the curator of our content. Because we've been out in the field, we know what content is going to be best for them, and we get to put it together. We get to remove all of the fluff."Although the content is formed online, if students or instructors want to make physical copies, it would still be cheaper than a traditional textbook, Taintor said, typically under $10 for softcover copies. Open Stax, Lulu, and LibreTexts all print OERs." Reedley College was also lucky to create a great partnership between our local print shop and the bookstore," she said. "If an instructor had an OER they had created and wanted students to have a print copy option, they would send the PDF/Word document to the print shop, who would then deliver it to the bookstore."Student spending on course materials has already been on a multi-year decline, according to studies from Student Watch and Student Monitor.Both 2-year and 4-year college students spend an average of $413 a year on textbooks and access codes, down from about $700 in 2010, research shows.Yet, textbook costs are still keeping students from doing their best, Taintor said.Martinez, the Fresno City College student, said living paycheck-to-paycheck is stressful, but "I will do whatever I need to do to complete (college), even if it means putting myself further into debt."There are others, Taintor said, who must choose between surviving or a textbook. She's heard educators who didn't realize that their choice of a textbook "was making it so the students couldn't buy groceries this week or couldn't get their epilepsy medicine. It's very, very powerful."In an Education Lab survey, 50 percent of respondents said they dropped a class because they couldn't afford the textbook.Open educational resources also let students keep access to their homework after the semester ends, something that a publisher's online platform does not. It also helps if they need to retake the class."If you have a student that, for whatever reason, they fail the class, they have to pay that $150 again because that access is only granted for one semester, Taintor said.Menefee said she's enjoying openly licensed content because it enables her to get straight to teaching from the book the first week. Before, she'd have to wait for a few weeks until students were able to get their books."They're waiting for their financial aid checks, or they're back-ordered at the bookstore, or they're waiting for their next paycheck," she said.Although the zero textbook cost movement is picking up at Reedley College, it's harder to implement at larger campuses, such as Fresno City College, Taintor said."It really takes somebody on campus taking ownership of that, and being willing to do a lot of that leg work to knock on instructors doors."She said the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges created an OER liaison on each campus to get more support for the program."It is growing on all the other campuses," she said, "and it's really exciting to be able to see." The tourist accommodation capacity in operation was in 2020 by 27.8% lower than the previous year, according to the data centralized by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), as reported by AGERPRES. In 2020, the hotels held the largest share (60.1%) in the total tourist accommodation capacity in operation, followed by agritourism guesthouses (13.4%), tourist guesthouses (11.3%), tourist villas (4.4%), hostels (3.6%), motels (2.9%), and the rest of the types of tourist reception structures with tourist accommodation functions (4.3%). The index of net use of the tourist accommodation capacity in operation was last year of 22.9% in the total structures of tourist reception with accommodation functions. The number of Romanian tourists accommodated in the tourist reception structures with accommodation functions represented 92.8% of the total arrivals. Compared to 2019, the number of arrivals decreased by 52.3% in total, the number of arrivals of Romanian tourists decreasing by 44.5%, and that of foreign tourists decreasing by 83%. The number of overnight stays of Romanian tourists accommodated in the tourist reception structures with accommodation functions represented 93.1% of the total accommodations. Compared to 2019, the total number of overnight stays decreased by 51.6%, the number of overnight stays of Romanian tourists decreasing by 45.3%, and that of foreign tourists by 81.1%. The arrivals of foreign visitors in Romania in 2020 were 5,022,700, decreasing by 60.8% compared to 2019. The means of road transport were the most used by foreign visitors for trips to Romania (82.6% of the number total arrivals); the rest of the trips were made by air (14.5%), river/sea (2%) and rail (0.9%). The departures of Romanian visitors abroad were stood at 9,510,100, decreasing by 58.8% compared to 2019. Most of the trips of Romanian visitors abroad were made by means of road transport (71%); the rest of the trips were made by air (28.3%), rail (0.4%) and naval transport (0.3%). 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. For more than a decade, the Susan B. Anthony List and the American Principles Project have pursued cultural and policy priorities from the social conservative playbook, one backing laws to ban abortion once a fetal heartbeat could be detected and the other opposing civil rights protections for L.G.B.T.Q. people. From their shared offices in suburban Virginia, they and their affiliated committees spent more than $20 million on elections last year. But after Donald J. Trump lost his bid for a second term and convinced millions of Americans that nonexistent fraud was to blame, the two groups found that many of their donors were thinking of throwing in the towel. Why, donors argued, should they give any money if Democrats were going to game the system to their advantage, recalled Frank Cannon, the senior strategist for both groups. Before I give you any money for anything at all, tell me how this is going to be solved, Mr. Cannon said, summarizing his conversations. He and other conservative activists many with no background in election law didnt take long to come up with an answer, which was to make rolling back access to voting the center of gravity in the party, as he put it. Passing new restrictions on voting in particular, tougher limits on early voting and vote-by-mail is now at the heart of the rights strategy to keep donors and voters engaged as Mr. Trump fades from public view and leaves a void in the Republican Party that no other figure or issue has filled. In recent weeks, many of the most prominent and well-organized groups that power the G.O.P.s vast voter turnout efforts have directed their resources toward a campaign to restrict when and how people can vote, with a focus on the emergency policies that states enacted last year to make casting a ballot during a pandemic easier. The groups believe it could be their best shot at regaining a purchase on power in Washington. 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 net inflow of direct foreign investments dropped by 11 times in 2020 and by 2.5 times in 2019. This is what Chairman of the Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration of the National Assembly of Armenia, deputy of the Prosperous Armenia faction and economist by profession Mikayel Melkumyan said during todays discussion on the current issues of the Armenian-Russian strategic union amid the modern threats and challenges. Melkumyan added that in 2020 Armenias foreign trade turnover made up $7,100,000,000 and that the indicator has dropped by 13.2% compared with the same period of the previous year ($8,200,000,000 in 2019). Armenias foreign trade turnover with member states of the Eurasian Economic Union made up $2,200,000,000 and dropped by 2.6% compared with the same period of the previous year. Between October and December 2020, Armenias exports made up $2,500,000,000, dropping by 3.9% compared with the same period of the previous year ($2,600,000,000 in 2019). Armenias exports to member states of the Eurasian Economic Union made up $705,300,000, and the indicator dropped by 8.3% compared with the same period of the previous year (769,200,000 in 2019). Armenias imports according to country of origin of products made up $4,600,000,000 in October-December 2020, and this indicator dropped by 17.7% compared with the same period of the previous year ($5,500,000,000 in 2019). Armenias imports from member states of the Eurasian Economic Union made up $1,500,000,000, and the indicator grew by 0.2% compared with the same period of the previous year, the deputy said. (Natural News) The United States military is facing major backlash for its newfound promotion of woke culture within the armed forces. After fake president Joe Biden told America that the military needs more maternity flight suits for pregnant fighter pilots, the Pentagon came out and made some bizarre declarations about how expectant mothers are going to dominate on the battlefield. Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson devoted an entire segment to the issue, which itself drew criticism from left-wingers who claim he is disrespecting the military. The reality, though, is that the military is disrespecting itself. The conservative elements of American society that would normally support the military are now second-guessing whether it should even be funded anymore at current levels. All over Twitter, critics blasted the military and the Pentagon for making a mockery out of our nations defense apparatus. Active duty military openly taking a political side is, uh, at least 100x more concerning than anything Trump ever tweeted, wrote a user named Rachel Bovard in response to a disturbing tweet from Sgt. Major of the Army Michael Grinston. Grinston says that women are the ones leading Americas most lethal units. He further says that women will dominate ANY future battlefield were called to fight on. Grinston also blasted Carlson for daring to question this new narrative, calling Carlsons words divisive and not a reflection of our values. II Marine Expeditionary Force apologizes for unprofessional Twitter comment aimed at Carlson Another Twitter user lamented the fact that Americas elite class has been ideologically captured in a way we havent seen since the 1930s. Trumpism was a rebuke of this, but a moderate one an attempt to curb their worst excesses, this same person wrote. In response, the elite monoclass went full scorched earth. Which it proved it has the power to do. Benjamin Weingarten, a senior contributor at The Federalist, added that the politicization of the military has never been more brazen and out in the open than it is under China Joe. Cant even begin to fathom the national security consequences, he warned. Another made an interesting observation about how Carlsons segment on Fox has done more to damage the military in the eyes of the conservative demographic that would normally support it than twenty years of incompetence and failure in the Middle East. Hilariously, one Twitter user compared Grinstons statement to the nurses twerking videos last year, referring to the dancing nurses who were so bored at their dead Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) units that they started making choreographed TikTok videos and sharing them across social media. Perfect time for @DrPaulGosar to propose cutting $100 billion from the @DeptofDefense next fiscal year and sending that as relief checks to the American people, added another Twitter user, joining the chorus of criticism against Bidens military. At one point, even the II Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) chimed in with a response to Carlson that many noticed was highly unprofessional and similar to what Walmart did back in January by directing nasty comments at Trump supporters. We are human and we messed up, the II MEF Information Group account wrote in a follow-up apology to the comment, which rudely implied that Carlson should have no say in the matter because he has never been pregnant. We intended to speak up for female Marines and it was an effort to support them. They are a crucial part to our corps and we need them to know that. We will adjust fire and ensure the utmost professionalism in our tweets. More related news about the destruction of the U.S. military at the hands of the Biden regime can be found at PoliticalCorrectness.news. Sources for this article include: ZeroHedge.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com (TNS) On a Monday morning in January 2019, an employee at The Village city hall discovered a network server locked down without a way in.A hacker found their way into the server and launched a ransomware attack the night before. They left contact information and a message: If you want your server back, pay up."Obviously we didn't call the number," said The Village City Manager Bruce Stone. "I assume what would happen then if you call the number is they'd tell you how to get bitcoins or something to make a payment."Stone's hunch might have been right. A common theme among ransomware hackers is to lock down a system and only open it back up upon payment often using the Bitcoin cryptocurrency because it's harder to identify who's behind transactions. The city was able to restore their files from a backup. Stone never considered paying the ransom. Ransomware is a cyberattack that encrypts the target's data. Without a key to unlock the malicious program, there's not much someone can do if they don't have a secure backup.In the United States, cybersecurity researcher Emsisoft estimates that ransomware cost governments, businesses and even people with personal computers more than $1 billion in 2019. It's such a problem, the Oklahoma House of Representatives voted unanimously this month to outlaw it on a state level.Another study by Check Point research last year showed hospitals and health care organizations were the hardest hit by ransomware. Typical attacks demand several hundred thousand dollars and some have demanded $5 million or more, USA Today reported. Hospitals are often targeted because criminals know they are more likely to pay than other businesses. That's because hospitals can't shut down for long without impacting patient care.Even small attacks can have devastating financial effects on individuals, according to the federal Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. Some ransomware attacks are indirect, meaning they can land in the inbox of a random person's home computer.But if using ransomware becomes a state crime, does Oklahoma have the resources to investigate and prosecute?One of the biggest problems to obtaining justice for ransomware victims is location. The malicious code can be deployed from anywhere in the world, and tracking down perpetrators isn't easy. They often demand cryptocurrency like Bitcoin for ransom, which avoids using bank transfers.The proposed law under consideration at the State Capitol also adds other malicious programs to the criminal statutes like viruses, spyware, Trojan horses and any other computer program that's meant to disrupt, destroy or gain unauthorized access to computers.Matt Singleton, chief security officer for the state government, said cybercrime perpetrators fall on a spectrum."You have folks that are just young high school kids that are seeing what they can do," Singleton said. "On the other end of the spectrum, you have what we call APTs, advanced persistent threats."That includes well-financed teams of hackers, often funded and shielded by adversarial foreign governments, which makes a criminal investigation even more difficult.The U.S. federal government has the resources to track down hostile hackers. Even in Oklahoma, the Federal Bureau of Investigation often partners with local law enforcement when a case arises here. But Singleton and his small army of 67 full-time cybersecurity professionals stand watch, looking for anomalies while protecting the state's vast network.The number of attacks faced by a state like Oklahoma is simply staggering.Since Jan. 1, Oklahoma Cyber Command said it has detected 3.8 trillion attacks on state-owned computers that it protects, usually averaging more than 61 million attacks each day. Virtually every one is automatically parried and dismissed by anti-virus software and firewalls.However, 263 attacks this year required state employees to contact the professionals at Cyber Command.Over the past year, the unit has beefed up its intelligence capabilities. The team creates intelligence products and analyses threats trying to find a foothold in state-owned computer systems.Cyber Command Operations is a team of analysts that conduct investigations and the utilization of cyber threat intelligence. The Hunt and Incident Response Team is responsible for responding to cyber incidents and proactive measures like threat hunting.The division's Compliance and Privacy Assurance team is tasked with protecting State and customer data through the implementation of security controls and standards. An additional component of this team is Security Provisioning which is responsible for ensuring the appropriate access is provided to State personnel.And then last month, the agency overseeing Cyber Command launched the Information Sharing and Analysis Center (OK-ISAC), which provides real-time monitoring, vulnerability identification, incident response and threat intelligence to the broader community."We can start pushing out that kind of cyber threat intelligence to our partners," Singleton said, noting that many local governments, businesses and other organizations don't have the resources to track what dangers lie beyond an internet connection.It's about protection, and if they perpetrator can be identified, prosecution. That's a big if, though.Oklahoma's Computer Crimes Act needed an update, according to state Rep. Trish Ranson. The Stillwater Democrat filed House Bill 1759 this year to bring the law into the modern age with the hope that it could make investigation and prosecution more of a reality for local law enforcement."That is the sticking point," she said. "But if we don't have anything in statute, we can't even begin to go there."In a meeting with cybersecurity professionals before the legislative session this year, someone told Ranson that Oklahoma's laws against malicious hacking are "light years behind" where it needs to be.In 2017, Texas lawmakers updated their own laws to define ransomware and make it either a misdemeanor or felony depending on the amount of money involved or type of data affected. Ranson's bill strictly makes it a felony.Cyber Command partners with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, which has jurisdiction to investigate computer crimes inside the state. In Singleton's almost two years with Cyber Command, however, no attacks he's been involved with tracking has made it to prosecution.The best prevention against ransomware, or any computer attack, is preparation. Singleton calls it "cyber hygiene.""Security, education and awareness training is huge. That's probably the single-most effective deterrent," he said. "If your users understand what an attack looks like, and not fall prey to that, you're miles ahead from an (information technology) standpoint."He recommends regularly backing up data to an off-site server that can't be accessed by someone who's tunneled their way inside. Users should also recognize phishing attempts, which can be in the form of emails that look legitimate but carry harmful code.The state of Oklahoma ramped up its cyber hygiene this year when it launched TX1, a massive backup of the state's data at a facility in Texas. The site not only keeps a backup in case data is lost somewhere in a state agency, but it's far enough away to avoid the same kinds of natural disasters that Oklahoma's primary servers face.The 2019 ransom wasn't the first for The Village. An earlier attack used phishing to gain access when an employee saw a legitimate-looking email and opened an attachment."It got back to our file server and four or five computers got infected," said Stone, the city manager. "We were pulling plugs frantically. It was scary, to be honest with you, pulling all the computers and turning them off and disconnecting the network to make sure that it didn't spread any further." ADVERTISEMENT Thirteen people have been killed and seven others injured in a series of attacks in Zangon Kataf, Kauru and Chikun local government areas of Kaduna State. The states Commissioner for Internal Security and Homeland Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, disclosed this in a statement on Friday. The statement was based on an operational feedback to the state government by the security forces operating in the state. According to Mr Aruwan, armed bandits killed one Irmiya Godwin as he and his brother were returning from their farm in Gora Gan village of Zangon Kataf LGA. Mr Irmiyas brother escaped the attack. In another incident, armed bandits attacked Kizachi village of Kauru LGA, and killed 10 persons, leaving four others injured. Fifty-six houses and 16 motorcycles were razed, with several barns also raided and burnt. Those killed were listed as: Esther Bulus Maria Bulus (one-year-old daughter of Esther) Lami Bulus Aliyu Bulus Monday Joseph Geje Abuba Wakili Filibus Yakubu Ali. Dije Waziri Joseph Ibrahim The injured are: Cecilia Aku Yakubu Idi Godiya Saleh Moses Adamu. Mr Aruwan said the injured are receiving treatment in hospitals. He further said there was an attack on Masaka village in Chikun local government area. One Duza Bamaiyi was killed, and two other persons were injured. Troops mobilised to the location to eventually repel the attack. Similarly, armed bandits killed one Zakka Pada in Kurmin Kaduna of Chikun local government area, and left one Pada Dalle injured. Governor Nasir El-Rufai noted the report with sadness, and prayed for the repose of the souls of the slain, while sending condolences to their families. He wished the injured citizens quick recovery. The complexity of the CNS has caused low success rates in novel drug development for this therapeutic area. Increasing aging populations have contributed to a rise in diagnosis of diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease. In fact, the WHO estimates that dementia alone affects 5-8% of all individuals over 60 years of age and that cases will increase by 10 million per year, rising to 82 million cases in 2030 and 152 million in 2050. The burdens of these diseases for individuals, families and society as a whole has led to great investment from the drug development industry. Yet, the complexity of the CNS has caused low success rates in novel drug development for this therapeutic area. In this webinar, attendees will learn about: Recent advances in biomarker research, both wet lab and imaging Why these solutions are essential for higher quality clinical study designs The importance of objective and clinically accurate biomarkers as a means of studying the effect of study drugs on homogenous populations Join expert speakers from ICON, Andrew Roche, PhD, Senior Director, Scientific Affairs; Anu Bansal, MD, MHCM, Director of Medical and Scientific Affairs; and Peter Schueler, MD, Senior VP Drug Development Services - CNS, Ageing and Pain, in a live webinar on Thursday, April 8, 2021 at 11am EDT (4pm BST/UK). For more information, or to register for this event, visit Transforming CNS Drug Development with Wet Lab and Imaging Biomarker Solutions. ABOUT XTALKS Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year, thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers. To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/ Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Pennsylvania ranks second in the nation for the number of COVID-19 vaccines administered per 100,000 people over the past week. Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam touted this as a clear signal that Pennsylvania is making significant progress after a rocky start to its vaccination campaign. This is proof that the pace of vaccination is accelerating here, Beam said. But let me be clear: we have a very long and challenging road ahead of us. I can guarantee you that the team here at the Department of Health will not stop adapting and innovating our strategy until every single Pennsylvanian who wants it gets the vaccine. About 3.18 million people have received at least one or both COVID-19 vaccines, with 1.54 million fully protected, according to data from the state and Philadelphia health departments. Last week, the state got a significant boost after it launched its educator vaccination campaign with new single-dose Johnson & Johnson shots. An all-time high of almost 104,000 shots went into arms Friday, but Pennsylvania still ranks 29th nationally per capita overall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state reported 3,126 new coronavirus infections and 17 deaths on Thursday, bringing Pennsylvania to at least 976,847 total infections and 24,706. This marks the fourth day in the last week there have been more than 3,000 new cases. Here are your coronavirus updates for Thursday, March 18, 2021. About 24% of Pennsylvanians have received at least one vaccine dose and 12% are fully vaccinated. The demand for COVID-19 vaccines in Pennsylvania continues to outpace the available doses, but Beam said in a Thursday news conference she still thinks a May 1 goal of opening eligibility to all is achievable. There are now 1.54 million people who have been completely vaccinated and 1.64 million with one shot, according to state and Philadelphia health department data. Statewide, 97% of allocated first dose shots have been given, while 66% of second dose shots have, Beam said. This data excludes Philly, which gets its own vaccine allocation. Pennsylvania remains in Phase 1A of its vaccination plan, which prioritizes those over 65, frontline healthcare workers and younger people with certain high-risk medical conditions. Pennsylvania estimates about 4.5 million people are in this phase. Pennsylvania and Illinois are doing a better job of providing first doses to older adults when compared to the nations 10 states with a larger 65 plus population, the health department notes. One-quarter of Americans 65 and older live in California, Florida and Texas. Pennsylvania is one of seven other states that accounts for another quarter of older adults. Once the state finishes its educator vaccination campaign with Johnson & Johnson shots, the single-dose vaccines will go to certain Phase 1B workers, like law enforcement, firefighters, grocery store and agriculture workers and to state-run mass vaccine clinics. The state expects its J&J allocation to increase significantly by the end of March. Beam emphasized on Thursday she is highlighting the infrastructure Pennsylvania now has ready to administer every drop of vaccine as quickly as we can get it from the federal government for the next month or so. There are four pillars: providers receiving federal allocations, like retail pharmacies and FEMA mass clinics; the states targeted clinics with Johnson & Johnson; the states narrowed provider network and state mass vaccination sites, including mobile vaccine clinics. This will ensure that everyone in Phase 1A can book an appointment by the end of March, as Gov. Tom Wolf ordered last week, and then quickly move on to Phases 1B and 1C, Beam said. We are working towards opening eligibility for everyone on May 1, she said. Eligibility does not mean that vaccinations will be immediately available. It will take time to get shots in the arms of everyone who wants a vaccine. Pennsylvania has no shortage of providers that are ready to administer the vaccine, but there is a shortage of vaccine. The state has smoothed out a vaccine shortfall caused by some providers giving second doses as first doses but overall demand remains high, Beam confirmed Thursday. The state has now narrowed down its vaccine provider network down to roughly 300 providers, which will receive allocations in the coming weeks, and launched a new provider map thats meant to be more user-friendly. Anyone looking for a vaccine can input their address and see the closest providers, including those receiving vaccine through the federal retail pharmacy partnership. (The federal allocations are reflected in the states vaccine data.) The map is more mobile-friendly and more accessible for the visually impaired, said Department of Health Executive Deputy Secretary Keara Klinepeter. Providers on the map were selected based on geography, ability to deliver a high volume of shots quickly, equitably and across demographics within a week of delivery, Beam said. These providers received their first doses this week and will continue to do so. Pennsylvania is now posting which providers have received first and second vaccine doses each week in its Open Data platform, as well as retail pharmacy providers getting doses and long-term care facilities holding vaccine clinics via the federal pharmacy partnership. Coronavirus in Pa. and the Lehigh Valley The states new coronavirus infections plateaued in recent weeks after a steady decline. Although, theres been a slight uptick over the last week with four of the last seven days reporting 3,000 cases or more. Over the last week, Pennsylvania is averaging 2,638 new cases a day, nearly identical to the rate two weeks ago, and 31 deaths, a significant decline from 50 deaths a day two weeks ago. The majority of the states deaths have been among the elderly. There are 1,500 people hospitalized with COVID-19 currently, with 284 requiring intensive care. This is comparable to the spring peak of May 3. The majority of people hospitalized are 65 and over. The Lehigh Valley reported 236 new cases on Thursday and one death This breaks down to 112 new cases and no new deaths in Lehigh County, bringing the total toll to 32,236 infections and 796 lives lost. Northampton County reports 124 new infections and one new death for a total of 28,482 cases and 666 deaths. The Lehigh Valleys counties remain in the top 10 for the most vaccination per 100,000 people. Philadelphia leads the pack with 38,908 shots per capita. Northampton Countys administered a total of 78,009 total shots and has a vaccine rate of 25,553 per 100,000 residents. Lehigh Countys administered 91,969 shots with a rate of 24,902 shots per capita. The Bethlehem Health Bureau will be posting appointments for its clinics Monday and Wednesday of next week at 8 a.m. Friday. Visit the website here and click on the COVID-19 vaccine clinic dates and registration for the link to schedule an appointment. A small number of phone appointments will be available by calling 610-865-7092. These are reserved for Bethlehem and Northampton County residents who are 65 or older and lack internet and computer access. Editors Note: This story has been updated to reflect that vaccines allocated through the federal retail pharmacy partnership are tracked in the state dashboard. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. A further three people in Northern Ireland have died after testing positive for Covid-19. The latest figures from the Department of Health show that all three deaths occurred within the past 24 hours and brings the death toll in the region to 2,103. It comes as Northern Ireland marked the anniversary of the first Covid-19 death in the region on Friday. Read More Over the past seven days there have been six deaths from Covid-19, down from 27 the week before. A further 137 cases of the virus were also reported after 6,580 tests were carried out on 1,676 people on Thursday. It brings the total number of cases in Northern Ireland to 115,648 since the pandemic began. Over the past seven days 1,102 people have tested positive for the virus, down from 1,294 the week before. There are currently 166 Covid-19 inpatients in Northern Ireland's hospitals, with 16 in an intensive care unit. Hospital bed occupancy currently stands at 98%, with 20 intensive care unit beds remaining free. There are currently eight active Covid-19 outbreaks in Northern Ireland's care homes. Speaking on the anniversary of the first confirmed Covid-related death Health Minister Robin Swann assured all those bereaved through that the thoughts of people across Northern Ireland are very much with them. We are all very aware of the devastation caused by Covid-19 in the past year. Our thoughts are very much with the families and friends of those who have died. I know I speak for people across Northern Ireland in saying that," Mr Swann said. We can see better days ahead in the battle against the virus, but we must never forget the pain and loss it has caused. Nor can we ever overlook its capacity to inflict more suffering. We must remain vigilant and keep taking the steps that we know will stop Covid-19 spreading. Expand Close Stormonts Health Minister Robin Swann (Press Eye/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stormonts Health Minister Robin Swann (Press Eye/PA) Meanwhile, First Minister Arlene Foster and deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill have announced the opening of a Covid support scheme for travel agents experiencing difficulties as a result of the pandemic. The Travel Agents (Coronavirus) Financial Assistance Scheme 2021 is now open for applications and support offered will be via a one-off grant payment of 10,000 for travel agents in Northern Ireland operating from commercial premises, and a one-off single payment of 3,500 for self-employed travel agents working from home. Travel agents with more than one premises may apply for a payment for each premises. The scheme closes on Friday 26 March at 5pm, with all supporting evidence to be provided by 5pm on Sunday 28 March. Full details on eligibility and how to apply are to be found on www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/travelagentscheme [March 19, 2021] Bunka Fashion Graduate University's Popular Annual Event Going Online for 1st Time TOKYO, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bunka Fashion Graduate University (BFGU), a professional graduate school in Japan, has released "Vol.3 Future Generation," the main content of the online event "BFGU Online Festival 'Redefining'." This is the first online presentation of "Bunka Fashion Graduate University Fashion Week (BFGU FW)" attracting more than 4,000 visitors from the fashion industry every year. The fashion show by BFGU's Division of Fashion Creation is a collection of released brands in which a huge number of current young designers participated previously. On the other hand, Division of Fashion Management majors also present research on sustainable fashion, an area acquiring more attention in the industry in recent years. Just take a look at the new power of graduate students in the era of "New Normal." URL: https://bfgu-bunka.ac.jp/redefining/future/ Graduation Show https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M102824/202103162342/_prw_PI1fl_5l8OURQb.jpg Site image for illustration purposes only: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M102824/202103162342/_prw_PI2fl_CMI8ab4E.jpg Division of Fashion Creation Graduation Show 2021 (video): https://youtu.be/yxFh5oT8rNU The content details of Vol.3 Future Generation The fashion show by second-year Division of Fashion students is expressed as a digital video technique, and the conventional runway style is transcended. BFGU is going to showcase the selected creations of students as a collection. In addition, the school is also going to release works by Russian and Czech students in movie clips. A 360-degree panoramic shot of the works by the fashion creation majors using the VR camera "Matterport." Viewers can see the works and videos created by graduate students in a 3D virtual tour. Also, BFGU will also release the creations using the 3D CAD software "CLO Enterprise" and the collection of works "BFGU MAGAZINE" by the second-year students of the fashion design course. Fashion Management Major's Fashion Business Management Course: The research presentations of selected graduate students in the 1st and 2nd years are to be delivered in videos. BFGU is going to release creations with 3D CAD using AR technology. Viewers are able to indulge in virtual experience that they will feel true and real. SOURCE Bunka Fashion Graduate University (BFGU) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Popular Marathi couple Priya Bapat and Umesh Kamat recently tested positive for COVID-19. The Aamhi Doghi actress took to Instagram and shared in the story, "Unfortunately, Umesh & I have tested positive for COVID-19. We are in self-quarantine at home. We are taking all the necessary medications and precautions. Following all the guidelines. Please those who came in contact with us, in last one week get tested or isolate yourself." Let us tell you that Priya Bapat and Umesh Kamat were shooting for their upcoming MX Player web series Aani Kay Hava Season 3. After the actors tested positive, the makers have stopped shooting for the Marathi web series, and have reportedly quarantined the unit. The couple has worked together in the film Time Please, which also stars Sai Tamhankar and Siddharth Jadhav. Ever since the actors revealed about their health conditions, fans started praying for their speedy recovery. Priya Bapat will be making her international debut with Aditya Kripalani's directorial venture Father Like. The film also stars Geetika Vidya Ohlyan in a pivotal role. Notably, Priya Bapat is playing the role of a lesbian in the film. On the other hand, Umesh Kamat is working in a famous Marathi play Dada Ek Good News Aahe opposite Hruta Durgule. We wish the actor couple a speedy recovery. Also Read: Priya Bapat To Play Lesbian Opposite Geetika Vidya Ohlyan In Her International Debut Film Father Like Also Read: Siddharth Chandekar & Mitali Mayekar Get Married; Umesh Kamat, Pooja Sawant & Others Attend The Wedding The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 3,455 new cases of COVID-19 and 35 deaths on Friday, the fourth consecutive day of 3,000 plus cases. The brings the statewide total to 980,302 cases and 24,741 lives lost since the pandemic began a year ago. After weeks of decline, the states new case rate is creeping up compared to two weeks ago, but deaths and hospitalizations remain significantly down. A year of living with this pandemics taught us that first cases rise, a week later come the hospitalizations and finally deaths two weeks after that. But with more and more Pennsylvanians over 65 vaccinated and new coronavirus variants circulating, we are now in somewhat uncharted territory. Only time will tell what comes next. (Cant see this map? Click here?) Theres plenty of good news out there. Pennsylvanias vaccine campaign continues to gain ground after a rocky start, ranking second nationally for the most vaccines distributed per capita over the last week. About 12% of the states population is now fully vaccinated. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new school social distancing guidelines on Friday that pave the way for many schools to bring back more students. Here are your coronavirus updates for Friday, March 19, 2021 The vaccination rollout Pennsylvanias educator vaccination campaign is running almost two weeks ahead of schedule, Gov. Tom Wolf announced on a Friday visit to the Bucks County Intermediate Units COVID-19 vaccination area. About two weeks ago, the state announced its initial allotments of the single-dose Johnson & Johnsons would be dedicated for Pre-K to 12 educators and school staff. A total of 83,859 people had been vaccinated through the initiative as of Friday morning and by the end of the weekend all 94,600 initial shots will have gone into arms, ahead of schedule. Pennsylvania obtained 13,000 more doses last week and is requesting another 13,000 doses next week. This means the vast majority of educators and support staff who want to be vaccinated will have gotten shots by the end of the month, according to the state. The states estimated there are about 200,000 eligible educators, but some already obtained shots through other avenues. For the educator mass vaccination campaign, Pennsylvania partnered with 28 intermediate units, the Pennsylvania National Guard and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare to administer the shots. Some intermediate units are nearly done with all Pre K-12 vaccinations, while others have finished teachers working with elementary and middle school students and are now moving on to those who work with middle and high school grades. The commonwealth is working through the retail pharmacy partnership, with chains like Rite Aid, to get all early childhood education workers vaccine access. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our efforts to get school staff vaccinated and for making it happen so quickly, Wolf said on his Bucks County visit. Most importantly, vaccinating teachers will help students to get back in the classroom faster, ease the burden on parents and benefit entire communities. The fast pace of the vaccine campaign paired with new CDC guidance on social distancing in schools may mean more Pennsylvania school districts opt to bring students back into the classroom full-time. (Cant see this map? Click here.) Almost 4.8 million first and second-dose vaccine doses have been administered across Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia as of Friday. This breaks down to almost 1.6 million people who are fully vaccinated and 1.67 million whove received their first dose of a two-dose vaccine. Starting next week, a pared down network of 200-300 vaccine providers will start seeing more first doses of vaccine arriving and will be guaranteed a steady supply for the next several weeks, the state reports. The state launched a new vaccine provider map on Thursday to better help people find appointments. This is all part of health departments effort to speed up the vaccination process and get all Pennsylvanians in Phase 1A booked for a vaccine appointment by the end of March. This first phase of the campaign covers people 65 and up, frontline healthcare workers and younger people with certain high-risk medical conditions. What we have now is a stronger network of providers who cover 95% of the state and are located within a two-mile radius in urban areas, five-miles in suburban areas and 30-miles in rural areas, Acting Secretary Beam said, noting, Because there are fewer providers we will get more vaccine to them so they wont run out as quickly as they have in the past. As always, we will be evaluating the effectiveness of the network to ensure that vaccine is accessible and provided equitably and quickly to get people vaccinated. Eventually as the supply of vaccine catches up to demand, we will expand the network and all of those trusted local providers will receive vaccine to help reaching even more Pennsylvanians. Pennsylvania is working to meet President Joe Bidens May 1 deadline to open up the vaccine eligibility pool to all Americans who want a vaccine. Once the educator vaccination campaign wraps up, Pennsylvania plans to use its Johnson & Johnson allocation to start vaccinating Phase 1B workers, like firefighters, law enforcement, grocery and agricultural workers, and for state mass vaccine clinics, some of which may be mobile clinics. Lehigh Valley Health Network announced on Friday that Bennett Toyotas donated three new vehicles to the networks COVID-19 mobile vaccination unit. The hospital system launched the mobile unit in January to reach people who are eligible for the vaccine, but unable to get to hospitals or drive-through clinics. Over 2,000 people have been vaccinated to date via the program, largely at skilled nursing facilities and personal care homes not served by commercial pharmacies. The donated vehicles will be used to transport vaccines, IT infrastructure and the medical team. The COVID-19 mobile vaccination unit serves all areas of our region and will be going to senior high rises, community centers and other facilities to reach community members with limited transportation and other access barriers, the network said in a news release. Coronavirus in Pa. and the Lehigh Valley On average, there have been 2,692 new COVID-19 cases a day over the last week, a 5.5% increase over two weeks ago, while deaths continue to trend downwards. Friday marks the fourth day in a row that new infections rose above 3,000. There are currently 1,548 people hospitalized with COVID-19, a figure thats crept down 12% compared to two weeks ago. All of the 35 new deaths reported Monday happened in March, according to state data on deaths by date they occurred. Thus far in 2021, 6,907 people have died from COVID-19. January was the pandemics second deadliest month with 4,665 lives lost. As vaccinations increased and the holiday case surge subsided, so have deaths. Thus far, 1,800 people died in February and 442 in March. Death reporting can lag by several weeks. (Cant see this chart? Click here.) The Lehigh Valley reported 321 new infections on Friday and one new death. This breaks down to 157 cases in Northampton County and one new death for a total of 28,639 infections and 668 lives lost. In Lehigh County, there were 164 new cases and no new deaths, bringing the countys tally to 32,400 people sickened and 797 deaths. The Lehigh Valley continues to rank in the top 10 in the state for its per capita vaccination rate. Northampton County now has 43,112 people who are fully vaccinated and 36,394 whove received their first shot. The per capita vaccination rate is 26,043. There are 40,342 people whove gotten their first shot in Lehigh County and now 53,512 people are fully vaccinated. Thats a vaccination rate of 25,413 shots per 100,000 people in line with the statewide rate of 25,453. (Cant see this chart? Click here.) Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. (Reuters) - The Chinese military has banned Tesla cars from entering its complexes, citing security concerns over cameras installed on the vehicles, two people who have seen notices of the directive told Reuters. The move is the latest sign of China's growing scrutiny of the U.S. electric carmaker amid tensions with Washington. Analysts said it resembled Washington's measures against Chinese telecoms firm Huawei citing national security. Chinese military restrictions on Tesla surfaced as senior Chinese and U.S. officials held a contentious meeting in Alaska, the first such interaction since U.S. President Joe Biden took office. "I presume the timing of the announcement surely linked to the fireworks planned for Anchorage," said Ian Bremmer, president at Eurasia Group consulting firm. Tesla shares ended up 0.3% after falling as much as 4.4% during trade. The U.S. electric car maker won strong backing from Shanghai when it built its first overseas factory there in 2019. Tesla's sleek Model 3 sedans were the best-selling electric vehicle in the country before being overtaken by a much cheaper micro EV. The directive advises owners to park Teslas outside military property, and residents were notified this week, the two sources said, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. Bloomberg News earlier reported the move. Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates, said the latest restrictions on Tesla were a close parallel to the U.S. government's hostility toward Huawei on concerns Beijing could have access to U.S. telecoms infrastructure. "Even if such concern is exaggerated, it can create dislocation for the companies directly affected," he said. Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that China's government was restricting use of Tesla cars by personnel at military, state-owned enterprises in sensitive industries and key agencies. (https://on.wsj.com/3r2NnVe) Story continues It was not immediately clear whether the measure applied to all such facilities. The move came after a government security review of Tesla's vehicles, the report said, citing people familiar with the effort. Tesla sold 147,445 cars in China last year, or 30% of its total deliveries, though competition is growing from domestic rivals such as Nio Inc and Geely. China's State Council Information Office and Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment. China's defence ministry could not immediately be reached for comment. CARS AND CAMERAS Automakers have been equipping more vehicles with cameras and sensors that capture images of a car's surroundings. Control of how those images are used and where they are sent and stored is a fast-emerging challenge for the industry and regulators around the world. Tesla cars have several external cameras to assist drivers with parking, changing lanes and other features. Chief Executive Elon Musk has often spoken about the value of the data Tesla vehicles capture that can be used to develop autonomous driving. Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y also have cameras in the rear view mirror for driver safety that are disabled by default. "China has an array of tools - some direct, some indirect - for putting the heavy on foreign companies like Tesla. The pressure can come from any direction, for any reason at any time," said Michael Dunne, chief executive of consultancy ZoZo Go. A Chinese state regulator said in February that government officials had met representatives from Tesla over consumer reports of battery fires, unexpected acceleration and failures in over-the-air software updates. Musk is scheduled to speak online on Saturday at a state-hosted annual global economic gathering in Beijing called the China Development Forum. The event includes Chinese officials. (Reporting by Beijing Newsroom, Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco and Eva Mathews and Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel, anil D'Silva, Emelia Sithole-Matarise, David Clarke and David Gregorio) A member of the Vancouver Police Department puts up police tape outside the Arco Hotel in Vancouver's downtown eastside, Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Police say they've identified the woman fatally shot inside a social housing building in the Downtown Eastside early Wednesday morning. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward Bob Foley is a Sun Chronicle columnist. Foley, of Mansfield, spent seven years flying F4 planes for the U.S. Marines; 20 years as a middle manager/engineer at Texas Instruments and 13 years as a high school math teacher. His essays are published here each Friday. Flash Italy's Ministry of Health reported on Thursday that a further 423 patients have died of the coronavirus, pushing the accumulative COVID-19 death toll to 103,855 since the pandemic first officially started in the country in late February 2020. Also on Thursday, the Ministry of Health reported that 24,935 new coronavirus infections had been detected, bringing the country's total active infections to 547,510. The ministry also reported that 15,976 COVID-19 patients have recovered, pushing the overall recoveries since the start of the pandemic to 2,655,346. In its weekly monitoring report referred to the week of March 1-7, the Ministry of Health reported that "for the sixth consecutive week we have recorded...an acceleration in the incidence (of transmission) at the national level." "We observe a significant increase in the number of people hospitalized in intensive care, with a rate of occupancy that has pushed past the critical threshold on a national level," the report warned. On the vaccination front, over 7.2 million people in Italy had been inoculated since a nationwide vaccination campaign kicked off in late December 2020. Of these, more than 2.2 million people had received both shots, the Ministry of Health reported Thursday. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) confirmed on Thursday that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe to use. The statement came after many European countries suspended the use of AstraZeneca as a precautionary measure, based on reports of blood clots in persons who had received the vaccine. The benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine "in combating the still widespread threat of COVID-19 (which itself results in clotting problems and may be fatal) continue to outweigh the risk of side effects," EMA said in the statement. As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with already-authorized coronavirus vaccines. Meanwhile, 264 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 82 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 16. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE The decade-long campaign to pull more money out of New Mexicos largest permanent fund is on track to move from the Roundhouse to the ballot box. The state Senate on Thursday adopted legislation that would ask voters to support boosting the annual withdrawal from the Land Grant Permanent Fund to 6.25%, an increase from 5%. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ It would generate an extra $127 million a year to expand early childhood education programs and about $85 million a year for K-12 schools. An additional $34 million would go to other beneficiaries of the permanent fund, such as universities and hospitals. The K-12 funding was added as an amendment by the Senate to the House-approved version of the proposal. It would be dedicated to extending the school year, compensating teachers and enhanced instruction for at-risk students. In order for a child to succeed, they must be invested in and cared for at every step of their development, Democratic Sen. Jacob Candelaria of Albuquerque said. The vote marked a significant political breakthrough. The House had approved similar legislation for five years in a row, only to see it die in the Senate each time. The Senate adopted the measure, House Joint Resolution 1, on a 26-16 vote, mostly along party lines with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposing. Sen. Bill Tallman of Albuquerque was the lone Democrat to vote against the bill, questioning whether the money would be spent effectively. It passed the House last month but will have to go back to that chamber for agreement on the Senate changes. The House sponsors say they support the new version, much of which was crafted by Candelaria. Opponents said the proposal would damage the long-term health of the permanent fund. Pulling too much out of the fund now, they said, would shortchange a future generation of children. A higher distribution rate would slow the growth of the fund. Eventually, the fund will deliver less money for schools and other beneficiaries under the 6.25% rate than if it had been left at 5%, according to analysts for the Legislative Finance Committee. Their report estimates the flip would come in 2042. The more we withdraw, the less the power of compound interest helps us, Republican Sen. William Sharer of Farmington said. Sen. Steven Neville, R-Aztec, said the fund is already a critical source of revenue for public schools, injecting about $986 million into this years budget. Withdrawing more hurts the future, Neville said. Thats my biggest objection. Early brain development Supporters contend the increase would be worthwhile. Analysts working for the LFC have found long-lasting academic gains by New Mexico children who participate in prekindergarten, and the effect seems to be amplified by certain programs that extend the school year, if they are carried out in a high-quality way, the analysts say. Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, said the state is in good position to make sure the extra money is spent effectively, following the 2019 creation of a standalone Early Childhood Education and Care Department to oversee services. This really moves New Mexico in the right direction, Padilla said of the proposed amendment. Its turning the ship around in a really big way. Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill, a Silver City Democrat and school psychologist, said early education services have a powerful effect on childrens health. Theres a tremendous amount of brain development that occurs in those first three years of life, she said. Opponents didnt dispute the importance of early childhood education, but they said the state is already ramping up spending without relying more on the permanent fund. Sen. Gay Kernan, R-Hobbs, said state documents show New Mexico is now spending about $450 million a year on early childhood education, a three-fold increase in a 10-year period. We are serving a significant number of children in the early childhood programs, she said. The Senate rejected a series of GOP-sponsored amendments to reduce the proposed distribution or add a sunset clause. Rep. Antonio Moe Maestas, an Albuquerque Democrat and long-term supporter of the measure, sat on the Senate floor next to Candelaria as senators debated the resolution. The other co-sponsors are Democratic Reps. Javier Martinez, Elizabeth Thomson and Georgene Louis, all of Albuquerque, and Sen. Pete Campos, D-Las Vegas. The version passed by the House called for a 1 percentage point increase in the annual distribution, dedicated largely to prekindergarten, home visiting programs for new parents and other early childhood programs. But Candelarias changes boosted the distribution to 1.25 percentage points, with some of the money earmarked for K-12 education. Candelaria pointed out that the state faces a landmark 2018 court decision that found New Mexico is violating the rights of at-risk students by failing to provide a sufficient education. The debate over the permanent fund amendment stretches back about 10 years altogether. After the 2020 elections reshaped the Senate, the vote Thursday puts the measure on track to pass the Legislature in the final days of this years session. Senators debated the legislation for about three years. This is the end of our chapter of the discussion, Candelaria said. Voter, congressional approval The proposed constitutional amendment, if adopted by lawmakers, would have to go before voters in a statewide election for approval. The legislation doesnt specify an election date. It could go before voters in the next general election or in a special election. Approval by the U.S. Congress to dedicate some of the permanent fund money for early childhood education would also be required. If the amendment succeeds, the extra distribution would still be subject to suspension, if the balance of the permanent fund falls below $17 billion. It now stands at roughly $22 billion. Remedy Processors has crafted CannaComplexes, i.e., complexes formulated in ratios of specific cannabinoids to target various skin concerns. Related: Whats Happening in CBD Topicals: Packaging, Formulating, Claims and More Furthermore, according to the company, research suggests that cannabinoids can make certain traditional ingredients more effective when combined. The company offers the following complexes: Anti-Aging ComplexBroad Spectrum CBD + CBG : A multifunctional blend that leverages CBGs reportedly strong microbiome-balancing properties. To address excessive dryness, CBD and CBG are said to serve as powerful actives, for combination with traditional anti-aging ingredients such as squalene, ceramides, butters and others. Perfect Hair and Scalp ComplexBroad Spectrum CBG + CBD : This cannabinoid complex is for hair care products, specifically. It is designed to balance the scalps microbiome and can reportedly be used for all hair types. Anti-Inflammatory ComplexBroad Spectrum CBD + CBN : CBN is said to help fight inflammatory conditions and its substantially higher volume in the complex can be used in many formulas, including OTC drugs. Make Up + Balancing ComplexBroad Spectrum CBD + CBC + CBN : According to the company, products with this complex will not only provide relief to underlying inflammatory, bacterial or acne conditions, but also treat the underlying symptoms to leave skin healthier than before makeup was applied. Additionally, the complex is said to target hyperpigmentation and balance skin tone. Recovery & Pain ComplexBroad Spec CBD + CBC : To create this blend, the company isolated and increased the amount of CBC. CBC reportedly interacts directly with the TRPV1 and TRPA1 receptors in the skin to signal pain relief effects, making it an ideal cannabinoid for topical relief from chronic nerve pain due to fibromyalgia and diabetes, among others. According to the company, this complex holds its own against prescription and OTC pain relievers in a natural and safe way with zero side effects. Pre and Post Workout ComplexBroad Spectrum CBD + THCV : This complex is said to up-regulate tissue energy and metabolism while decreasing inflammation and the delayed onset of muscle soreness due to exercise stress. This combination reportedly aids workout performance and reduces recovery time. These six CannaComplexes are customizable to any specific cannabinoid ratios. Furthermore, each batch is third party-tested. Previously: Amyris to Acquire Terasana for Cannabinoid Products Shirley Ann (Strobel) Jenkins died on Tuesday, May 25, 2021, while surrounded by her daughters at her home in Glenwood, MN. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 3rd at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Glenwood with Father Joe Vandeberg officiating Visitation A former colleague of ousted Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Alexi McCammond is coming to the journalists defense after she was forced to step down over staffers objections to decade-old tweets mocking Asians and homosexuals. Jonathan Swan, the chief national correspondent for news site Axios who worked alongside McCammond for four years, told Fox News on Friday that McCammonds apology should have sufficed and she should have been allowed to keep her job. McCammond began working as a political reporter for Axios in 2017. While covering the Biden campaign last year, she developed a romance with TJ Ducklo, a Biden press aide. She then informed her bosses at Axios, who reassigned her to cover Kamala Harris. Ducklo quit the Biden press shop after he made sexist and threatening remarks to a Politico reporter who asked him about his relationship with McCammond. Earlier this month, it was announced that McCammond would take over as the new editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, but staffers at the online publication mounted fierce resistance to the move over decade-old tweets in which she disparaged Asians. I was just really sad to see this happen, Swan told Fox News. I worked with her for four years. She doesn't have a racist bone in her body. If we can't as an industry accept somebody's sincere and repeated apologies for something they tweeted when they were 17 years old, what are we doing? Swan added that his employers at Axios didnt fire McCammond after she first apologized for the tweets in 2019. He said McCammond, a 27-year-old black woman, is an advocate for anti-racism. Jonathan Swan (left), the chief national correspondent for news site Axios who worked alongside Alexi McCammond (right) for four years, told Fox News on Friday that McCammonds apology should have sufficed and she should have been allowed to keep her job as editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue I was upset to see this because it really is just a very stark example of if we can't allow ourselves to forgive people when they did something or said something or tweeted something when they were 17 years old, and there is no indication in their current professional lives that they harbor these views, not a single indication, I don't know what we're doing here really, he said. Swans comments on Fox News echoed his tweets from Thursday. Just after McCammond announced she was stepping down, Swan tweeted: Ive worked with @alexi for four years. I know her well and can say this unequivocally: The idea she is racist is absurd. 'Where the hell are we as an industry if we cannot accept a persons sincere and repeated apologies for tweets when they were a teenager?' Other prominent media figures came to McCammonds defense, including CNNs Abby Phillip, who tweeted that the ousted journalist is obviously not who she was when she wrote those tweets. I'm sorry to see that she won't be moving forward in this position, Phillip tweeted. It's beyond fair to demand true remorse and accountability, but Alexi demonstrated those things and I wish she'd been given a chance. Political pundit Bill Kristol tweeted: 'In what world does it make sense that Alexi McCammond is out of a job and Andrew Cuomo still has his?' Cuomo, the governor of New York, has been accused by several women of sexual harassment. The governor has denied the allegations. Bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell tweeted: 'The criminalization of black adolescent behavior is one of the bedrock principles of American racism. 'White people get a childhood and the privilege to make mistakes in the name of moral development. 'Black people dont.' Gladwell later tweeted: 'Question for Conde Nast HR: have they also scrutinized the childhood statements of their white editors?' McCammond (left) on Thursday resigned over racist, anti-Asian tweets she wrote as a teenager surfaced online. It emerged on Thursday that Conde Nast boss Anna Wintour (right) knew about the tweets but gave McCammond the job anyway Swan replied to Gladwell's tweet, writing: 'Great question!' Conde Nast is the media empire whose holdings include Vogue, Teen Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, GQ, and other outlets. Political pollster Frank Luntz tweeted: 'Another career destroyed by the #woke mob. Alexi McCammond is a brilliant reporter and even a progressive, but she has been canceled for stuff she tweeted nearly a decade ago in college. The Robespierre Reign of Terror continues' Earlier on Friday, it was learned that Anna Wintour tried to save McCammond but could not stop her from being forced out less than two weeks after taking the job. McCammond, 27, was fired over anti-Asian tweets she wrote as a teenager, in 2011, which surfaced online and cost Conde Nast a seven-figure ad campaign. McCammond's resurfaced tweets include one in which she wrote: 'Googling how to not wake up with swollen Asian eyes'. Another now-deleted tweet read: 'Give me a 2/10 on my chem problem, cross out all of my work and don't explain what I did wrong thanks a lot stupid Asian T.A. you're great.' Wintour, the chief content officer and the global editorial director of Vogue, was aware of the decade-old racist tweets and discussed them with leaders of color at Conde Nast before the job was offered, The New York Times reported. They felt she had learnt from her mistakes, but they were not aware of homophobic tweets or a photo, also from 2011, that was recently published by a right-wing website showing her in Native American costume at a Halloween party. The vetting process did not turn up the additional material because it had been deleted, the executive added. Wintour tried to build support for the would-be Teen Vogue editor, the paper said, and included her in team meetings. McCammond met one-on-one with staff, to try and ease their concerns, and explained her actions in a note. 'You've seen some offensive, idiotic tweets from when I was a teenager that perpetuated harmful and racist stereotypes about Asian Americans,' she wrote in a note to her new colleagues, obtained by The Daily Beast. 'I apologized for them years ago, but I want to be clear today: I apologize deeply to all of you for the pain this has caused.' Conde Nast's human resources department also met with the Teen Vogue staff, and the staff were reminded of a company policy requiring them to check with the communications team before making public statements. The staff members were also told they should keep their criticisms 'in the family' - further adding to their anger. On Monday a meeting, scheduled for Wednesday with Wintour and top Vogue executives, was abruptly canceled and not rescheduled, indicating to McCammond that her position was no longer tenable. The Daily Beast reported that Conde Nast management called a meeting with staffers for Thursday afternoon to discuss the new editor's exit. The offensive tweets were deleted in 2019, when McCammond was working as a political reporter for Axios. They resurfaced after she was named as the new editor on March 5. It's unclear if she ever started the job. On March 9, the tweets had gone viral and she was apologizing for them. Conde Nast initially stood by her and allowed her to keep the position. Staffers were irate that she was allowed to keep her job and said it sent the wrong message during a time of increased attacks on Asian Americans, but she stayed on. They also complained that she was inexperienced, having never worked as an editor or manager before, and that there were other black women within Conde Nast who would have been better suited to the job. They wrote an open letter demanding that she be replaced and also complained directly to CEO Robert Lynch. Beauty store chain Ulta then pulled a seven-figure ad campaign with Teen Vogue over the scandal. There were also talks among sales teams that it could cost the company even more in advertising revenues. It has also emerged that in an email to staff around the same time Conde Nast HR boss Stan Duncan revealed that Anna Wintour and CEO Roger Lynch knew about the decade-old racist tweets but hired her anyway. On Thursday, McCammond tweeted that she and the company were 'parting ways'. It sparked a mixed reaction - some said it was appropriate given what she'd done but others called it cancel culture gone too far. They criticized Conde Nast for seemingly hanging her out to dry. 'I want to be fully transparent with you about our decision-making process regarding her appointment. 'When Alexi was was a teenager she made racially charged statements on social media about Asian people. 'Alexi was straight forward and transparent about these posts during our interview process and through public apologies,' HR boss Stan Duncan said in an internal memo. 'Given her previous acknowledgement of these posts and her sincere apologies, in addition to her remarkable work in journalism elevating the voices of marginalized communities, we were looking forward to welcoming her into our community. 'In addition, we were hopeful that Alexi would become part of our team to provide perspective and insight that is underrepresented throughout the media. 'We were dedicated to making her successful in this role and spent time working with her, our company leadership and the Teen Vogue team to find the best path forward. 'To that end, after speaking with Alexi this morning, we agreed that it was best to part ways, so as to not overshadow the important work happening at Teen Vogue,' he went on. In a Twitter statement on Thursday, McCammond said she and the company had decided to 'part ways'. McCammond's resignation also comes after her boyfriend was fired from his role as Deputy White House Secretary for threatening to 'destroy' a female reporter if they exposed their relationship. Before working at Vogue, McCammond was working as a political reporter at Axios. McCammond is dating disgraced former Deputy White House Secretary TJ Ducklo who was fired after threatening to destroy a reporter if she exposed their relationship. Before working at Vogue, McCammond worked at Axios TEEN VOGUE EDITOR RESIGNATION IS THE LATEST IN A STRING OF RACE SCANDALS UNDER ANNA WINTOUR McCammond's resignation is the latest in a string of race scandals under Anna Wintour's leadership at Conde Nast. The brand has for years been accused of not putting enough black or women of color on the cover of its publications, particularly Vogue. She tried to explain it away by saying: 'Undoubtedly, I have made mistakes along the way, and if any mistakes were made at Vogue under my watch, they are mine to own and remedy and I am committed to doing the work.' Wintour has been at the helm of the magazine since the late 1980s but the issue has reared its head over the last year amid a cultural shift in attitudes towards racism and diversity. Wintour's relationship with Andre Leon Talley, the former editor-at-large, also crumbled under years of what he called a toxic workplace In June, Wintour did not take part in a company-wide call about how to promote black staffers. There were enormous calls for her to resign but Conde Nast stood by her. She released a statement saying: 'I want to say plainly that I know Vogue has not found enough ways to elevate and give space to Black editors, writers, photographers, designers and other creators. We have made mistakes too, publishing images or stories that have been hurtful or intolerant. Written by a British journalist called Hamish Bowles, it sought to argue that the UK media was institutionally racist and, more specifically, suggested that racist intent lay behind a decision by the Daily Mail to use the word 'niggling' in the headline of an article about the couple's engagement that was written by my colleague, Sarah Vine, back in 2017 'I take full responsibility for those mistakes. It can't be easy to be a Black employee at Vogue, and there are too few of you. 'I know that it is not enough to say we will do better, but we will and please know that I value your voices and responses as we move forward. I am listening and would like to hear your feedback and your advice if you would like to share either.' Her relationship with Andre Leon Talley, the former editor-at-large, also crumbled under years of what he called a toxic workplace. 'Anna Wintour's a colonial broad...her stiletto heel was on my neck,' he told the Daily Mail after her statement, adding: 'At one point, I was the only black person on Anna's staff. 'This statement, for me, is devoid of sincerity. It comes from the world of whiteness and privilege. Anna probably feels that her apology will be a defining moment but knowing her, it will soon be back to business as usual. 'She'll click, clack, clicketyclack down the hall in her Manolo Blahniks and move on. It's a corporate stance, directed at future advertisers. 'It's Anna striking a pose, as the Madonna song says. Why? Because as a powerful businesswoman and head of all Conde Nast editorially she wants to be on the right side of history, not the wrong side.' In October, a collection of black, former Vogue staffers demanded that Wintour relinquish control of the magazine. They described a toxic work environment at a publication that promoted a 'thin, white and rich' mentality. 'Fashion is bitchy. It's hard. This is the way it's supposed to be. But at Vogue, when we'd evaluate a shoot or a look, we'd say 'That's Vogue,' or, 'That's not Vogue,' and what that really meant,' one said. The racial connotations of the pet's name were, of course, overlooked. And the author of this puff piece? Why, that would be Hamish Bowles (pictured) Despite its own issues with race relations, Vogue ran a piece by Hamish Bowles where he claimed the Daily Mail had been racist in its coverage of Meghan and Harry, and claimed inaccurately that the use of the word 'niggling' in one article headline had racial undertones. The headline was: 'Why do I have a niggling worry about this engagement picture?' 'Niggling' means 'to gnaw at' or a 'persistent annoyance'. But Bowles said the use of it was racist. 'In 2017, the Daily Mail, featuring Harry and Meghan's touching engagement picture on the front page, saw fit to run the headline from their columnist Sarah Vine: 'Yes, they're joyfully in love. 'So why do I have a niggling worry about this engagement picture?' (Webster's defines the word niggling thus: 'bothersome or persistent especially in a petty or tiresome way'. 'Nevertheless, the word seemed a surprising choice and jumped from the page, as presumably it was intended to,' Bowles wrote. Conde Nast defended him, calling the choice of word 'surprising'. Advertisement On Thursday, amid a swell of outrage over anti-Asian violence after a gunman killed six Asian women at three massage parlors in Georgia, she said: 'Hey there: I've decided to part ways with Conde Nast.' 'My past tweets have overshadowed the work I've done to highlight the people and issues that I care about - issues that Teen Vogue has worked so tirelessly to share with the world - and so Conde Nast an I have decided to part ways. 'I should not have tweeted what I did and I have taken full responsibility for that. 'I look at my work and growth in the years since, and have redoubled my commitment to growing in the years to come as both a person and as a professional,' she said. McCammond issued a lengthy apology on March 9. 'What an awful introduction we've had to each other this week. 'This has been one of the hardest weeks of my life in large part because of the intense pain I know my words and my announcement have caused so many of you. 'I've apologized for my past racist and homophobic tweets and will reiterate that there's no excuse for perpetuating those awful stereotypes in any way,' she said. The tweets were all written in 2011, when she was in high school, long before she took a job in journalism. Before Axios, she also worked at MSNBC. Originally after the tweets surfaced, she called them 'idiotic' and 'offensive' but not racist. She then came under pressure to acknowledge that they are racist from stars including Olivia Munn. On March 11, Ulta halted advertising with Teen Vogue. 'Diversity and inclusion have always been core values at Ulta Beauty. 'We stand against racism in all forms and as we've publicly shared in our social channels, we stand in unity with the AAPI community. 'We believe it's important that our partners share our values. 'Our discussions with Conde Nast are actively underway as we seek to better understand their next steps and determine ours,' the beauty brand said in a statement. Fauci Says Children Probably Need COVID-19 Vaccines for Herd Immunity to Be Reached Children will probably have to get the COVID-19 vaccine for the United States to reach herd immunity against the CCP virus, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday at a Senate hearing on the response to the pandemic. I have been saying lately, calculation, and its purely an estimate of 70 to 85 percent of the population. If it is that, we would probably have to get more children and I believe as we get high school students vaccinated in the fall, well be able to reach that, said Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci is changing his perspective on the target for herd immunity again. Just last week at a White House COVID-19 briefing, he said that the United States was projected to reach herd immunity by the end of summer or early fall without mentioning children needing to be vaccinated. Moderna announced on March 16 that the first dose of its COVID vaccine has been given to children ages six months to 11 years in a combination phase 2 and 3 trial. The pharmaceutical company is expecting to enroll over 6,000 children in the United States and Canada to assess the safety and effectiveness of its mRNA-1273 vaccine currently given to adults around the world. Both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are testing their vaccines in adolescent children aged 12 to 17, and are expected to release preliminary data in the summer. Moderna will not complete its trial until June 2022, and Pfizer in January 2023. Vaccines may be available for high school students as early as the fall, and by 2022 for younger children. For high school students, it looks like they will be available to get vaccinated in the beginning of the fall, very likely for the fall term, Fauci said at a White House COVID-19 briefing Wednesday. With regard to children, we are doing an age de-escalation study in elementary school children, from 12 to 9, 9 to 6, 6 to 2, and 6 months to 2 years. We anticipate well have enough data to be able to vaccinate these younger children by the first quarter of 2022. More than 75 million people have received one dose of the three available COVID-19 vaccines and 40 million were fully vaccinated as of March 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A logo is pictured outside a building of the World Health Organization (WHO) during an executive board meeting on an update on the CCP virus outbreak, in Geneva, Switzerland, on Feb. 6, 2020. (Denis Balibouse/Reuters) WHO Redefines Herd Immunity Herd immunity occurs when a large enough portion of the population acquires immunity from an infectious diseaseeither naturally from prior infection or temporarily through vaccinationthat it no longer spreads widely. But in October 2020, the World Health Organization silently changed the concept of herd immunity to only include the acquired immunity from vaccination: Herd immunity, also known as population immunity, is a concept used for vaccination, in which a population can be protected from a certain virus if a threshold of vaccination is reached. Then on Dec. 31, the WHO added the naturally acquired immunity from a previous infection back into its definition of herd immunity, and stressed that the health organization supports achieving herd immunity through vaccination. Herd immunity against COVID-19 should be achieved by protecting people through vaccination, not by exposing them to the pathogen that causes the disease, the WHO wrote. Vaccines train our immune systems to create proteins that fight disease, known as antibodies, just as would happen when we are exposed to a disease butcruciallyvaccines work without making us sick, it added. The WHO further states that people who are vaccinated are protected from getting the disease in question and passing on the pathogen, breaking any chains of transmission. This statement conflicts with information from the CDC about COVID-19 vaccines. The CDC says that people can still get COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, and transmit it to others after vaccination. In addition, its not known how long the vaccines will provide protection. Experts still do not know what percentage of the population needs to be immune to achieve herd immunity. No Proposal for UK Asylum Seekers to be Processed in Gibraltar Her Majestys Government of Gibraltar can confirm that it has not been proposed to it that UK asylum seekers should be processed in Gibraltar. Matters relating to immigration to and from Gibraltar are the responsibility of Ministers in Gibraltar under the 2006 Gibraltar Constitution. Gibraltar legislation (the Immigration, Asylum and Refuge Act) governs the presence of asylum seekers in Gibraltar, not UK law. The Chief Minister of Her Majestys Government of Gibraltar, the Hon Fabian Picardo QC MP, has, as a result, today written to the Home Secretary, Rt Hon Priti Patel, to confirm, therefore, that reports in today's media are groundless speculation. Mr Picardo has, in addition to the Constitutional and legal issues that arise, emphasised the geographic limitations of Gibraltar and Gibraltars potential new fluidity arrangements with the Schengen area as additional reasons why Gibraltar would be unable to host the processing of asylum seekers to the United Kingdom in Gibraltar. Additionally, Mr Picardo has said that Gibraltar nonetheless remains ready to work with the United Kingdom Government in any area in which it may be possible, as part of the role Gibraltar plays in the wider UK family of nations, as we already do in many areas. Mr Picardo has reminded Ms Patel of the magnificent support Gibraltar has received from the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary on matters related to Brexit and COVID-19 generally. He has also suggested that Ms Patel and he should meet when travel restrictions are lifted and he is next in London. The Chief Minister said: Gibraltar is always ready to help the United Kingdom as part of the British family of nations. We play an important part in defence and are ready to consider any other way we can work with the UK. We have had magnificent help from the UK on the COVID-19 pandemic, from sovereign guarantees to vaccinations provided at no cost. We will not ever shirk our responsibility to help where we can. Our geography makes some things difficult, however, and the processing of asylum seekers to the UK in Gibraltar would be one of them. Immigration is an area of my responsibility as Chief Minister under the Gibraltar Constitution and I can confirm that this issue has not been raised with me at any level. I would have made clear this is not area on which we believe we can assist the UK. I have nonetheless wanted to emphasise to the Home Secretary that we stand ready to help in other areas. I know she is a strong supporter of Gibraltar so I have proposed we should meet in London when travel restrictions are lifted. Freedom Holding, one of the largest retail brokers in Ukraine and in the CIS countries, has been working to include a bank in its structure in Ukraine since 2019 and hopes that this process will be completed this year, CEO and majority shareholder Timur Turlov said. "To establish a large broker, we need a bank in Ukraine. There are specific plans and specific companies, there is a goal. We have been working on this deal for almost three years. I hope that in 2021 the process will be completed and the bank will appear, we will develop as a clearing bank, which will allow it to be more active as an investment bank," he said at the webinar for Ukrainian clients. Turlov said that the bank also plans to launch a modern card product and provide clients with direct access to money in brokerage accounts. The Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Holding said that the licensing process in Ukraine is the most difficult in his professional practice. "The only thing that calms down is that hardly anyone will repeat it," Turlov said. According to him, the company is ready to capitalize the bank to the size necessary for its tasks. "It is very important for us to close the transaction with the bank. As soon as it is closed, it will allow us to go further," the CEO said. Turlov also said that overall Freedom Holding is "certainly very pleased" with the business results it has in Ukraine, in particular the very high demand for transparent market investment instruments, and intends to maintain its leadership as one of the largest retail brokers. "I would like to recoup $1 million spent on the construction of the branch infrastructure," the CEO said, once again noting that Ukraine is "one of the most difficult jurisdictions in terms of building relationships with various regulators." Turlov also recalled that the other day Freedom Finance Ukraine, a member of the holding, received an underwriter license and intends to actively engage in this activity. According to him, the company intends to start with the lowest-risk segment large business and companies, and will try to attract foreign clients to such placement, using its advantages as an international broker. "If there is an interesting instrument, then we can easily bring hundreds of millions of dollars. If a bank appears, we will do it faster," the CEO said, adding that in Kazakhstan, Freedom Finance was the second underwriter in 2020, and this year it intends to become the leader. According to him, in the future, the investment group will be ready to consider the launch of digital life and property insurance in Ukraine. At the same time, Turlov pointed out that while Freedom Holding will not be in a hurry with this direction in Ukraine, since there are already many good products on the Ukrainian insurance market, and the company must first become strong in those areas where it is already represented. Freedom Finance Ukraine is part of Freedom Holding Corp., whose brokers provide customers with access to global stock markets. The holding also includes a Russian broker and Freedom Finance Bank, JSC Freedom Finance (Kazakhstan), Freedom Finance Cyprus Limited, Freedom Finance Germany TT GmbH, Freedom Finance LLC (Uzbekistan). In the third quarter of 2021 fiscal years, which ended on December 31, 2020, Freedom Holding's revenue grew 3.4 times, to $100.2 million, net profit by more than 10 times, to $42.3 million. The total number of client accounts was almost 350,000. Holding was represented by 78 offices in the countries of presence. Freedom Finance Ukraine has established offices in 12 cities of Ukraine and since the end of 2018 has opened more than 2,500 new accounts in the country's market. In 2020, in the course of an additional issue of shares of the Ukrainian Exchange, Freedom Holding became its largest shareholder with a share of 24.39%. European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said Britain had failed to recover 100million in tax exemptions Brussels has launched legal action against the UK over the 'unfair advantage' given to multinational firms operating in Gibraltar. European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said earlier today that Britain had failed to recover 100million in tax exemptions from the firms despite the EU deeming the tax breaks 'illegal state aid'. The sum, equivalent to 85.8million, is small relative to many EU state subsidy cases but this is the latest in a string of spats between the EU and post-Brexit Britain. 'The aid granted by Gibraltar in the form of corporate tax exemption for passive interest and royalties gave an unfair advantage to some multinational companies,' Vestager said. She added: 'More than two years after the Commission adopted this decision, the aid has still not been recovered in full and sufficient progress has not been made in restoring competition. 'That is why we have decided to refer the United Kingdom to the Court of Justice for failing to implement this decision.' The United Kingdom left the European Union last year but the case dates back to a period before Brexit over which Brussels says the European Court of Justice still has jurisdiction. Gibraltar (pictured) is a British overseas territory with a border with southern Spain and European member states have long had concerns over its competitive tax regime Gibraltar is a British overseas territory with a border with southern Spain and European member states have long had concerns over its competitive tax regime. In December 2018, the European Commission decided that some corporate tax exemptions granted to multinationals in Gibraltar between 2011 and 2013 broke EU rules against state subsidy. They ordered the UK to recover sums granted to four companies but this has only been fully completed for two with the remaining pair challenging the order. At least 10 police officers were killed and six police stations razed in two regions of Nigeria within a two-week period, a PREMIUM TIMES review of newspaper and police reports shows. The attacks occurred in the South-east and South-south regions between February 23 and March 9. The separate attacks, which are yet to be proven to be related, occurred in seven states with Cross River and Imo witnessing the largest number of incidents. The most recent incident occurred on March 9 when gunmen attacked a police station and burnt vehicles in Imo State. The motive behind the attacks is unclear, for now. Also, there is no evidence that the attacks are related although some suspects were arrested after a few of the attacks. Police spokesperson Frank Mba did not respond to several calls and messages seeking comment on the attacks. The police on its Twitter page, however, tagged the perpetrators of one of the unprovoked attacks as hoodlums, saying they were about 200 people armed with AK47 rifles and machetes. Dire consequences await any person or group of persons who, under whatever guise, engages in an unwarranted attack on any public property and directs all Command CPs to employ all legally permissible measures to protect lives and property, the police said while announcing the arrest of some suspects. Also, Irene Ugbo, police spokesperson in Cross River told PREMIUM TIMES that the information we got was that during the operation (attack by the gunmen), the bad boys would shout one particular thing IPOB and all that. When asked if she thought these were coordinated attacks on the police in Cross River State, she said, We wouldnt know what these people want because some days ago some of our men were killed in Calabar, and now this one is happening. I think its a planned thing, they are up to something which we need to tackle quickly. If the deadly attacks on the Nigerian police continue, security experts believe, it could complicate the already deteriorating security situation in the country. Theres a lack of trust between the police and the general public before now, said a security expert, Timothy Avele. These new attacks will only widen the gap and lack of trust even more and that will not be good especially for the public in terms of police swift response to criminals activities and how cases are handled. He also believes that if the police allow this to dampen their operational spirit, they will lose the ability to source intelligence from the public. The solution rests with the police to restore and rebuild the trust between them and the public. After all, theyre working and being paid by the public in the real sense, Mr Avele said. Meanwhile, Yakubu Uwaidem, a resident of Akwa Ibom, expressed worry over the attacks, saying security should be every persons business. Regardless of what some of them are doing that is relatively abnormal; (it) doesnt warrant citizens to go far destroying police facilities, Mr Uwaidem said. He added that the police risk their lives to protect Nigerians. However you look at this act, (it) is condemnable and the consequences are enormous. ADVERTISEMENT The attacks on police personnel and facilities occur despite Nigeria grappling with several security crises, including a decade-long Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east, banditry in many northern states, as well as kidnappings and perennial clashes between herders and farmers in several parts of the country. Below is the timeline of the recent attacks on police personnel and facilities. TIMELINE February 23 Two police officers reportedly lost their lives when some unknown gunmen attacked a police station in Aba, Abia State. February 24 Hoodlums killed a police officer and razed down a patrol vehicle in Ekwulobia in Anambra State. February 25 Four police officers were killed at MCC in Calabar, Cross River state by gunmen. February 26 Gunmen razed a police station in Imo State, Nigerias South-east, the station that was just renovated after being razed down by hoodlums during the #ENDSARS protests. March 1 Some gunmen attacked a police station in Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State and by daylight another attack reportedly occurred at the Iboko Divisional Police Station in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigerias South-east. March 9 Gunmen attacked a police station in Imo State and burnt several vehicles. Posted from my mobile device Congratulations on your admits!Theres no question that INSEAD is a consulting powerhouse. They place strongly into consulting in Europe and Asia. It is the number one business school outside of the United States.Having said all that, usually the rule of thumb is you go to school in the country you planning to work in. If youre planning to be in the UK and you are already in the UK, and you need a work permit, it makes sense to stay in the UK. No my cousin says that there are not many jobs that LBS graduates are seeing. He is still a first year but supposedly its pretty barren. My guess is you would know and could easily see and check from the job postings. My guess, I combination of pandemic and Brexit but that should be better in 18 months right? We dont know....Sure, if you were bullish and looking to maximize your returns and it was one of those all or nothing, I can see going to INSEAD. Thats never the wrong choice but I think there is reason in your choice of Judge.PS. Keep in mind that consulting jobs are very competitive, especially management consulting and the MBB. Many of those who get those jobs, come from a consulting background because its easier for them to break into it since they know how it works and they have some of the skills and inside tricks. There are industry specific tracks and things like that but in general, the most important aspect of consulting is being client ready and having the client facing skills such as smooth presentation skills, ability to articulate topics and represent the company. You have to come to the client side and impress them within a few minutes. Your company is billing for $500 an hour for your services, using only a fraction of it but you need to demonstrate the value for them to be able to bill as much. So in case you dont like presentations or coming up with things on the spot or have strong client facing skills, you may want to start preparing as much as you can I love it recommend also having a Plan B for recruiting. Consulting does not work out for about 1/2 of all consulting prospects.... it is competitive.PS. I do not know a whole lot about the UK visa. Obviously it seems you do quite a bit. It may make sense to talk with current in Siad students about UK recruiting path and how open it is to international students. Also, in case conditions deteriorate between UK and China, it may be tough in case you need a visa even to enter UK Im not even talking about working. So if you choose in Seattle, I would cover a couple of those bases...In any case, whatever decision you make, and will not be a bad one. When I was young, I wanted to push the limits and go away outside of the comfort zone. I wouldve definitely gone to INSEAD. No, looking back, the things I did were definitely crazy, and kind of unnecessary. I dont think a lot of the effort I put in ever paid off and some of the things I did to push the limits were kind of dangerous. Im just probably older and wiser and lazier but the most effort in the most works doesnt always equal the best result.I hope some of this was useful_________________ Subscriber content preview By ARITZ PARRA Associated Press MADRID Faced with a possible flood of visitors from Germany later this month, authorities in Spain's Balearic Islands are warning hotel owners that tourists must adhere to coronavirus restrictions the same way residents do. Like the rest of Spain, the archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea is strengthening measures to combat the virus before the Easter period beginning April 1. They include further limiting social interactions to people living under the same roof and closing bars and restaurants at 5 p.m. . . . A civil rights group founder, political leaders, parents and alumni called Friday for a San Francisco school board member to resign after critics highlighted a series of racist tweets she posted in 2016 about Asian Americans, who have been targeted in a recent surge of violent acts in the Bay Area and across the country. On Friday night, a school board member also joined the calls for her colleague to step down. Board Vice President Alison Collins, elected in 2018, said in a thread of tweets on Dec. 4, 2016, that Asian Americans had used white supremacist thinking to assimilate and get ahead. Collins explained in the thread that she was seeking to combat anti-black racism in the Asian community and at my daughters mostly Asian Am school. Twitter screenshot Later in the thread, Collins singled out Asian Americans in recounting an incident she said had occurred in the past. She wrote that her mixed-race/Black daughter heard boys teasing a Latino about Trump, Mexicans and the KKK. The boys were Asian-American. ... She spoke up when none of the other staff did. The after school counselor was Asian. School board member Jenny Lam called for Collins to resign from the board. Im shocked, dismayed, personally hurt by the remarks about Asian American students, parents and teachers, Lam said, adding the board makes decisions that affect tens of thousands of people and its critical to have leaders representing all students. Lam said she spoke to Collins on Friday. I asked, and I think its in the best interest of the school district and leadership for her to step down from the Board of Education, Lam said. A group of parents mounting a recall effort against Collins, who is Black, as well as two other board members, uncovered the tweets and posted them late Thursday. Diane Yap, a San Francisco native and 2002 Lowell graduate, said her discovery of the tweets was distressing, given Collins use of a racial epithet and reinforcement of a stereotype that Asian Americans arent politically active enough. I dont think this sort of rhetoric is acceptable from any elected officials, especially given todays climate and the violent attacks that are happening against Asians now, she said. Yap called on Collins to step down. Based on the tweets, the Lowell Black Student Union removed Collins as a panelist at a Women in Leadership event Thursday evening. The Lowell Black Student Union stands with the Asian community and condemns all acts of anti-Asian hate, organizers said in an Instagram post. Mayor London Breed also strongly condemned the posts, but did not directly call for her resignation. All of our young people in our schools need to feel respected and supported, and you simply cant use words like that, she said in a statement. Asian people in this country have long faced very real racism, including here in San Francisco, and you cant just broad brush their experience in a way that is so harmful and offensive. Any elected official serving in our schools needs to recognize that, or they shouldnt be representing our kids. One of the recall organizers, Siva Raj, said he shared the posts because he believes the sentiments are not acceptable, especially by someone running a school system where a third of the 52,000 students are Asian American. It was a naked display of prejudice and bias to the Asian community, said Raj, whose two children attend district schools. To cast an entire group of people as racist or having animosity, or being judgmental about them for wanting their children to have a good education or life, I find that disturbing, coming from an educator. The recall effort against Collins, as well as board President Gabriela Lopez and Faauuga Moliga, is being driven by parents who are upset about the ongoing closure of district schools amid the pandemic, the boards move to change the names of 44 schools, and the vote to end merit-based admissions to Lowell High School, where the enrollment is predominantly Asian American. Collins declined to address the social media posts when contacted by The Chronicle. Im not going to comment on social media posts from five years ago. Ive been heartbroken seeing the escalating violence against my Asian-American brothers, sisters and siblings, she said in a text message sent Friday to The Chronicle. What has been even more upsetting is seeing the ways that the media often erase the true nature of the problem. In a reference to this weeks mass shooting in Georgia, Collins said Friday, Seeing hate crimes labeled sex addiction, and seeing videos of police and EMTs responding to the needs of perpetrators of violence while overlooking the needs of the people they target is telling. This isnt just about one or two incidents circulating in the news cycle its a pervasive culture. One we must all collectively name and dismantle. In a longer statement posted Friday on Facebook, Collins said: One of the most harmful stereotypes of the Asian-American community is that it is monolithic. And that as members of the model-minority Asian-Americans are silent. While I continue to push for safe schools for all students and families, and curriculum that elevates and celebrated Asian-American culture and contributions, I will also dedicate my social media feeds to lifting up voices within the Asian-American community. As of Friday afternoon, Collins had not removed the posts from her Twitter timeline and declined to say if she would. You have my comment, she said. The other four school board members, Superintendent Vince Matthews and four supervisors contacted by The Chronicle did not respond to requests for comment. The Edwin M. Lee Asian Pacific Democratic Club said Collins must resign. We are angered and disturbed to see that Alison Collins, VP of the SF Board of Education, has referred to Asian Americans as house n****r[s] in a 2016 tweet thread, according to a statement Thursday. Labeling our diverse API communities with such hateful language is racist and wrong. .... Her words dehumanize Asians. As an elected official, she must be held accountable for her actions. The Chinese American Democratic Club also demanded Collins resignation, saying her past tweets exacerbate the fear and pain that the Asian American community continues to endure after decades of discrimination and exclusion. Lee Cheng, founder of civil rights group Asian American Legal Foundation, also called on Collins to resign, saying he was shocked by her comments. This is a culmination of decades of just watching the situation for Asian Americans in San Francisco deteriorate to the point we now see elderly senior citizens murdered in the streets in broad daylight with impunity, Cheng said. Raj said in a statement that Collins tweets suggest that the recent decision to permanently change Lowell High Schools merit based admission system to a lottery system ... was prejudiced by the same animosity. In a tweet this month, Collins advocated for more Asian American representation in curriculum. It is especially important at this time that we celebrate Asian American culture and contributions, she wrote. All kids deserve to be valued and visible in their schools. With anti-Asian bias on the rise in our communities, it is even more critical at this time. The tweets resurfaced as San Francisco and the nation face a surge of violence against Asian Americans. Stop AAPI Hate, a reporting project from Chinese for Affirmative Action and the Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council, recorded more than 2,800 reports of coronavirus-related discrimination in the U.S. from March through December 2020; about 700 took place in the Bay Area. While anti-Asian racism is not new, many point to former President Donald Trumps use of Chinese flu as spurring an uptick in violence and bigotry. Six women of Asian descent were among eight people killed in a shooting rampage at massage and spa businesses in and around Atlanta on Wednesday, prompting San Francisco officials to step up police patrols in predominantly Asian neighborhoods. Anti-Asian hate crimes across the Bay Area have included spitting and verbal assaults, as well as violent attacks. A Vallejo man was assaulted in San Francisco on Monday, possibly causing him to lose his sight. The incident was one of two attacks on Asian Americans on Market Street this week. A 67-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries during an attack by three men in Chinatown in February. Collins 2016 Twitter thread said, Many Asian Ss (students) and Ts (teachers) I know wont engage in critical race convos unless they see how they are impacted by white supremacy. Another tweet said, My best friend from school says she feels alone in the Chinese community. She feels ostracized when she speaks up against anti-black hate. Where are the vocal Asians speaking up against Trump? Dont Asian Americans know theyre on his list as well? Collins wrote. Using asterisks in references to the racial epithet, Collins continued, Do they think they wont be deported? profiled? beaten? Being a house n****r is still being a n****r. Youre still considered the help. The school district did not respond to a request for comment. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker 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. Some hotels and airlines have been courting them with deals, though its unclear how long they will last. Hyatt is offering discounts or free nights at certain hotels when customers book stays before mid-September by April 2, and Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants discounts on stays of at least three nights at some properties lasts through the end of the year. While domestic flight prices have been lower than usual during the pandemic, air travel research firm Hopper predicts they will begin rising in May and into the summer months though domestic flights are still expected to be cheaper than summer 2019 flights. Controversial councillor Paddy Holohan has spoken out after it was revealed he is no longer a member of Sinn Fein. The South Dublin County Council (SDCC) representative did not renew his membership of the party and so will no longer represent the party on the council. The party took disciplinary action against the councillor after it urged him to remove a Facebook post supporting a salon owner who reopened in breach of Covid-19 restrictions last month. He said that C&N Beauty Room owner Christine McTiernan was inspiring after she was arrested by gardai for opening her business and appeared later in court. However, Cllr Holohan did not remove his posts, made on his Facebook profile. Read More "Paddy Holohan has chosen not to renew his membership of the party, a spokesperson for the party told Independent.ie. "He is therefore no longer a member of Sinn Fein and no longer represents Sinn Fein on SDCC." Mr Holohan was previously suspended from the party last year, when it emerged he made a string of offensive comments on a podcast. He suggested loads of underage girls were having sex with men and blackmailing them for sums of money up to 10,000. He said some women were f*****g scum. He also said that Leo Varadkars blood ran to India and insisted the person who is elected Taoiseach should be a family man. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said his comments were vile and offensive. He was later reinstated by the party and his name had been put forward for lord mayor role on South Dublin County Council. However, he lost the vote and Sinn Fein said they were not aware Mr Holohan had been nominated. The party then moved to stand down the partys organisation in the Dublin South West constituency. Cllr Holohan will stay on as an independent councillor in South Dublin. He took to his Instagram this afternoon to confirm that he will not be renewing his membership of Sinn Fein. In a video post he said that he found it highly unfair that findings of the investigation by the party, which took place last year, were not released to the public, media or party members. Mr Holohan said that his daughter was born on February 24, and two days later, he received a complaint about his social media post in support of Ms McTiernan. I want to stress that I was not asking anybody to break any regulations or restrictions in this post, I was merely showing my support for a business who had found themselves in a similar situation to thousands of other businesses across the country during this pandemic, he said. In the video, he also apologises to his partner Chelsea. Chelsea, I love you, and Im very sorry for this past situation thats happened in our family and what youve had to read online about me and about our family and stuff like that, he says. I apologise but today is a brighter day. He thanked his community for the help and all of your suggestions and support. Mr Holohan added that he will work with his fellow councillors and elected members on the council. Integrity is what you will get from me and thats what I will stand by, I will stand my ground no matter what, he said. Mr Holohan said that his decision to leave Sinn Fein does not reflect on the vast majority of members and elected reps [sic] in the party. I will still continue to work along side my colleagues in the Council for the betterment of my community and a just and equal Ireland, he said in a statement to Independent.ie. The main indices came off early lows and traded with small losses in morning trade. The Nifty reclaimed the crucial 14,500 mark after opening below that level. FMCG and pharma stocks were in demand while auto and realty shares witnessed selling. At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 60.11 points or 0.12% at 49,156.39. The Nifty 50 index was down 25.9 points or 0.18% at 14,531.15. In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.5% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.94%. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 668 shares rose and 1832 shares fell. A total of 126 shares were unchanged. COVID-19 Update: Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 121,731,658 with 2,690,663 deaths. India reported 271,282 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 159,370 deaths while 110,83,679 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. New Listing: Shares of Easy Trip Planners were currently trading at Rs 217 per share at 10:18 IST on the BSE, at a premium of 16.04% as against the issue of Rs 187 apiece. The stock was listed at Rs 206, a premium of 10.06% to the initial public offer (IPO) price. So far the stock hit a high of Rs 233.15 and low of 187. On the BSE, 27.79 lakh shares were traded on the counter so far. The initial public offer (IPO) of Easy Trip Planners received bids for 240.27 crore shares as against 1.50 crore shares on offer, according to the stock exchange data. The issue was subscribed 159.33 times. Buzzing Index: The Nifty Realty index slipped 2.06% to 324, extending its losing run to sixth consecutive trading session. The index has lost 8% in six trading days. Sunteck Realty (down 3.76%), Godrej Properties (down 3.24%), Oberoi Realty (down 2.73%), DLF (down 1.68%), Brigade Enterprises (down 1.54%), Omaxe (down 1.49%) and Indiabulls Real Estate (down 0.93%) were top losers in realty space. Stocks in Spotlight: GAIL (India) on Thursday announced that it has signed a concession agreement with Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) for setting up Compressed Biogas (CBG) Plant in Ranchi. As per the agreement, GAIL will setup CBG Plant for processing 150 tons per day of Organic Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). The CBG plant will produce 5 tons of CBG per day and approximately 25 tons of fermented bio manure per day. Dilip Buildcon fell 1.98%. The road construction company received letter of acceptance (LoA) for two new HAM projects under Bharatmala Pariyojana, phase I in the state of Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry. The orders are worth Rs 2241 crore. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) There are so many different ways that you can hug a person. Obviously, each type of hug is going to have a little different meaning to it,... Meat selling shops in Gurugram, under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) will remain closed on Tuesdays. The order was passed by the civic body during a meeting on Thursday. Not only that, licence fee for meat shops has also been increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. In case, such a shop is being run illegally, the penalty has been increased 10 times from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000. The matter on the agenda was only on increasing licence fee and clamping down on illegal meat shops. However, the decision to close meat shops on Tuesdays was also put forth by some councillors citing 'Hindu sentiments', as mentioned in a report in The Indian Express. Mayor Madhu Azad supported the suggestions and said that they were 'absolutely right' and that all of them agreed to close meat shops on Tuesdays. MCG Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh, on the other hand, pointed out that food is an independent choice. "In my opinion, this is an individual choice. I eat, my wife doesn't eat, it is independent. I cannot force her and she cannot force me... When we cannot decide on this at home itself, the House should think before making any decision regarding the entire city," said Singh. Nevertheless, the proposal was passed by the House. As for the licence fee for meat shops, some councillors demanded the licence fee to be set as high as Rs 50,000. The MCG Commissioner said that a 'reasonable' increase may be made and not to an extent 'that everything closes'. "In the meeting, along with increasing the fees for sale of meat licence, the penalty imposed on those selling meat illegally was also increased. Along with this, shops that are penalised three times will be sealed. If the owners are found to have broken the seal, an FIR will be filed against them," said MCG Commissioner Singh after the meeting. An official from the MCG told the daily that the increase in licencing fee was made to add to the revenue of the MCG. Also read: GST intelligence uncovers Rs 43 crore ITC fraud in Gurugram, one arrested Also read: Haryana's 75% reservation for locals puts IT, BPM industries in a fix TORONTO, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Blo Blow Dry Bar, North America's original blow dry bar and the world's largest blow dry bar franchise, announced today that it has received a significant capital injection from NewSpring, a family of private equity strategies. NewSpring is partnering with Blo to accelerate the brand's worldwide franchise expansion and secure its leadership position in the burgeoning industry. Blo Blow Dry Bar currently has 130 locations open and in development. This investment will help the blow dry bar concept reach its goal of opening 300 new locations over the course of the next five years. "The investment from NewSpring is a testament to Blo's distinct brand reputation, our proven success and the strong growth potential in the blow dry bar category," said Vanessa Yakobson, CEO of Blo Blow Dry Bar. "Blo has experienced significant growth since our inception in 2007. With this partnership, we are positioned for major expansion in both existing and new markets, while we make strategic investments to bolster our brand, system and support programs." Blo Blow Dry Bar is a well-styled machine with a beautifully crafted business model designed to set up its franchise partners to achieve reliable and consistent results. Blo Blow Dry Bar's impressive expansion track record and promising franchise development plans represents the type of business NewSpring aims to target through NewSpring Franchise, the firm's newest strategy focused on investing in innovative franchise and multi-unit concepts. "NewSpring's investment in Blo Blow Dry Bar is a landmark for our firm as it represents the first franchise added to our newly formed franchise portfolio," said Patrick Sugrue, Partner of NewSpring Franchise/Investment Team. "Our extensive diligence on the brand revealed the strength of a unique concept in a high-growth sector with growing demand, healthy income potential for its franchise partners, and a strong management team." Founded in 2007, Blo Blow Dry Bar is known as North America's original and world's largest blow dry bar franchise, with a mission to create a space where people of all ages, ethnicities and orientations are welcomed, represented and made to feel gorgeous while emphasizing the need for self-care and wellness. Combining a sophisticated design with a fun and energetic environment, Blo cultivates a seamless and enjoyable experience for guests upon their arrival, during and after their services. Expertly trained bloers are available for consultation seven days a week to meet the needs of all guests. The brand's hair menu includes seven signature styles from a sleek ponytail to lively and bouncy curls. Blo Blow Dry Bar also offers makeup services from expert artists on-hand to help guests look and feel amazing for any occasion. "We're eager to build on the momentum of this partnership to make our catwalk-quality blow outs accessible to women worldwide," added Yakobson. "Our strong culture paired with the best quality service in the industry, along with a winning business model with huge opportunities for growth, results in a resilient force in the industry." Blo Blow Dry Bar is currently seeking single- and multi- unit operators to join the brand's rapid expansion. For more information about franchise opportunities visit https://franchise.blomedry.com/. About Blo Blow Dry Bar Blo Blow Dry Bar is North America's original blow dry bar and the world's largest blow dry bar franchise. The company transformed beauty norms and reinvented the salon industry when it launched the "no cuts, no color" concept: only blow outs. Since opening its first location in Canada in 2007, Blo has grown to over 130 locations across the U.S. and Canada and continues to expand rapidly. With a mission to enhance the lives of those in the community through the power of flawless blow outs and beauty services, Blo Blow Dry Bar offers perfectly styled hair and exceptional customer experiences seven days a week. For more information visit www.blomedry.com. About NewSpring NewSpring partners with the innovators, makers, and operators of high-performing companies in dynamic industries to catalyze new growth and seize compelling opportunities. The Firm manages over $2.0 billion across five distinct strategies covering the spectrum from growth equity and control buyouts to mezzanine debt. Having invested in over 170 companies, NewSpring brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and resources to take growing companies to the next level and beyond. Partnering with management teams to help develop their businesses into market leaders, NewSpring identifies opportunities and builds relationships using its network of industry leaders and influencers across a wide array of operational areas and industries. To learn more, visit www.newspringcapital.com. Media Contact: Kelly McNamara, Fishman PR [email protected] 847.945.1300 SOURCE Blo Blow Dry Bar Related Links http://www.blomedry.com TORONTO, ON and NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 19 2021 / GlobeX Data Ltd. (OTCQB:SWISF)(CSE:SWIS)(FRA:GDT) ("GlobeX" or the "Company"), the leader in Swiss hosted secure communications and secure data management, is pleased announce that it has secured firm commitments of CA$1.25 Million in equity financing in the form of Units. Each Unit consists of one common share (a "Share") and one-half of one share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Full Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase an additional share at a price of $0.50 per share for a two-year term (the "Warrant Term"). The offering has been is fully subscribed and is now closed. The proceeds of the financing will be allocated to accelerate the marketing of the Company's Sekur encrypted email and messaging solution to the US market, and for general purposes. The Company CEO participated in the private placement as well with subscriptions of 1,750,000 units, or almost 42% of the total offering. The Company will issue another press release once all the regulatory filings have been submitted and will disclose all details in relations to any fees paid to third parties, if any. GlobeX's Data privacy solutions are all hosted in Switzerland, protecting users' data from any outside data intrusion requests. In Switzerland, the right to privacy is guaranteed in article 13 of the Swiss Federal Constitution. The Federal Act on Data Protection ("FADP") of 19 June 1992 (in force since 1993) has set up a strict protection of privacy by prohibiting virtually any processing of personal data which is not expressly authorized by the data subjects. The protection is subject to the authority of the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner. Under Swiss federal law, it is a crime to publish information based on leaked "secret official discussions." In 2010 the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland found that IP addresses are personal information and that under Swiss privacy laws they may not be used to track Internet usage without the knowledge of the individuals involved. About GlobeX Data Ltd. GlobeX Data Ltd. is a Cybersecurity and Internet privacy provider of Swiss hosted solutions for secure data management and secure communications. The Company distributes a suite of secure cloud-based storage, disaster recovery, document management, encrypted e-mails, and secure communication tools. GlobeX Data Ltd. sells its products through its approved wholesalers and distributors, and telecommunications companies worldwide. GlobeX Data Ltd. serves consumers, businesses and governments worldwide. On behalf of Management GLOBEX DATA LTD. Alain Ghiai President and Chief Executive Officer +1.416.644.8690 corporate@globexdatagroup.com For more information please contact GlobeX Data at corporate@globexdatagroup.com or visit us at https://globexdatagroup.com. For more information on Sekur visit us at: https://www.sekur.com . Forward Looking Information This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "project" and similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes or that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guaranteeing future performance. GlobeX cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond GlobeX's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the future of the Company's business; the success of marketing and sales efforts of the Company; the projections prepared in house and projections delivered by channel partners; the Company's ability to complete the necessary software updates; increases in sales as a result of investments software development technology; consumer interest in the Products; future sales plans and strategies; reliance on large channel partners and expectations of renewals to ongoing agreements with these partners; anticipated events and trends; the economy and other future conditions; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in GlobeX's prospectus dated May 8, 2019 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available on www.sedar.com. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, GlobeX undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. SOURCE: GlobeX Data Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/636599/GlobeX-Data-Secures-125-Million-Canadian-Dollars-in-Financing-Commitments China urges U.S. to earnestly promote, protect human rights Xinhua) 08:47, March 19, 2021 BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday urged the United States to reject double standards on human rights and take concrete actions to promote and protect human rights. "The United States should carefully listen to and take a close look at the criticism and suggestions of the international community on its human rights situation, reject the wrong practice of double standards, and take concrete actions to promote and protect human rights," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a daily press briefing. Zhao was commenting on China's remarks concerning human rights situation in the United States at the 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Some in the United States have been acting as self-styled "judges of human rights" for too long, and for way too long, this self-anointed "beacon of human rights" has been casting the scrutinizing light on others while keeping itself from it, Zhao said. "They have chosen to turn a blind eye to deep-seated domestic human rights issues." He went on to point out that the phenomenon of racial discrimination and police violence is very serious in the United States, adding that ethnic minorities, Muslims, refugees and immigrants are threatened by discrimination and xenophobia, and the poisonous legacy of "white supremacy" still lingers. Under the pretext of democracy and human rights, the United States has been practicing "interventionism", Zhao said, citing casualties and displacement due to the so-called anti-terrorism operations by the United States in 80-plus countries around the world. The United States has also imposed unilateral sanctions on certain developing countries, leading to serious humanitarian crises, he added. What's more, the United States should reflect on its history of genocide of native Indians, who were expelled and killed during the Westward Expansion, Zhao said. The legal battle started four-and-a-half years ago and has lasted more than twice as long as their marriage. Now it seems the split between Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie has entered a bitter endgame phase. Documents filed this week by Miss Jolie, 45, indicate that not only will she again accuse Pitt, 57, of domestic violence when their custody case comes to court this year, but that she intends to prove this with video recordings and testimony from their six children. Whats not in dispute is that the fallout has strained Pitts relationship with his children. Tellingly, his eldest adopted son, Maddox, 19, is said to no longer use Pitt as his last name, and wants to legally change it. It is far from the only legal bombshell for Pitt to contend with. Miss Jolies latest memorandum was filed to court under seal, meaning it is private and cannot be viewed by the public. However, its title gives a lot away: Offer of Proof and authority in support thereof re: Testimony regarding domestic violence. The alleged violence is thought to relate to an incident aboard a private plane taking the family from Paris to Minnesota overnight on September 14, 2016 and is said to have prompted their split. Documents filed this week by Angelina Jolie, 45, indicate that not only will she again accuse Brad Pitt, 57, of domestic violence Five days later, Miss Jolie announced they were separating and she was seeking a divorce for the health of the family. She asked for full custody of their six children: adopted sons Maddox and 17-year-old Pax, adopted daughter Zahara, 16, and the couples three children together, Shiloh, 14, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 12. Pitt demanded a 50/50 split and the issue is finally due to go to court in Los Angeles this year. At the outset, Miss Jolies manager Geyer Kosinski hinted at domestic violence when he remarked: Angelina will always do what is in the best interest to protect her children. Behind the scenes, her team of friends told me that she had felt compelled to act after an incident on the plane. The role of Maddox, then 15, was widely raised. One source said that Pitt attacked Maddox. Others said that Pitt and Miss Jolie argued and Maddox jumped in to defend her verbally. Pitt then supposedly lunged at the boy. Sources were quoted describing a parent-child argument which was not handled in the right way. One said: Brad is emphatic that it did not reach the level of physical abuse, that no one was physically harmed. 'He did not hit his child in the face in any way. He did not do that; he is emphatic about that. He put his hands on him, yes, because the confrontation was spiralling out of control. The FBI and the Department of Children and Family Services investigated but neither found Pitt was a danger to the children. At the time, it was reported by US Weekly magazine that Miss Jolie had video of the incident on the plane, possibly taken by a third party such as a bodyguard, which showed Pitt looking drunk and yelling. Behind the scenes, Angelina's team of friends told ALISON BOSHOFF that she had felt compelled to act after an incident. The role of Maddox (pictured centre), then 15, was widely raised. One source said that Pitt attacked Maddox. Others said that Pitt and Miss Jolie argued and Maddox jumped in to defend her verbally. Pitt then supposedly lunged at the boy American family law expert Evie P Jeang said this week of the filing: If Angelina has more documentation to prove domestic violence towards her or the children, she can submit it as a supplemental offer to prove in trial. She can say these are the documentations in addition to what she already presented. This could mean its a more recent instance of domestic violence, or further documentation related to what was presented before. A friend of Pitt told me: He is a flawed human being, like we all are, but a very good father and a nice guy. Another source said: Over the past four-and-a-half years there have been a number of claims made by Angelina that have been reviewed and not substantiated. The children have been used by Angelina to hurt Brad before and this is more of that behaviour. This leaking of documents by her fourth or fifth set of lawyers has been done to hurt Brad. Miss Jolies lawyers also filed a memo to the court of proof and support under seal: RE: Testimony of minor children. This would cover the five younger children, and if granted allow them to give evidence to the custody hearing. Only Maddox, who is studying for a biochemistry degree in Korea, is an adult. He alone is understood to have declined all contact with Pitt since the split in 2016. It seems unlikely that Miss Jolie will succeed in getting this past the judge because crucially both parents have to agree if minor children give evidence. Pitt has already indicated he wants to keep the children out of the spotlight as far as possible. In December 2016 his legal team accused Miss Jolie of releasing sensitive details to the media through public court filings. He claimed that she appears to be determined to ignore even agreed upon standards relating to the childrens best interest. Miss Jolies team has also filed an under seal memo of intent to offer video recording of the deposition of Ross Foster at trial. Mr Foster is a bodyguard who worked for the couple and he is also on Pitts list of witnesses. The romance between Hollywoods hottest actors started in 2004 when they co-starred in Mr And Mrs Smith (pictured) However what Miss Jolie is saying here is that she has a video tape of a statement by him which she thinks will assist her case in gaining full custody of the children. She is also saying that she intends to offer video recording of the deposition of respondent who is Pitt. This is presumably because she believes that Pitt damns himself during it. The circumstances during which this deposition was taken are not known but it seems possible this may be the footage shot on the private jet during that altercation. How the romance between Hollywoods hottest actors, which started in 2004 when they co-starred in Mr And Mrs Smith, broke down so quickly and with such animosity can be traced back to the time the couple put each other through hell during the filming of By The Sea, a film about a marriage in crisis. This was made in Malta directly after they wed in 2014. When it was released, Miss Jolie said: Making the movie, we knew we were beating each other up. 'We knew we were giving each other tough days. But we agreed to see how far we could push each other. The actress added: To be clear: We have fights and problems like any other couple. We have days when we drive each other absolutely mad and want space, but the problems in the movie arent our specific problems. Directly after filming wrapped, they were pictured arguing on the terrace of their hotel suite in Sydney, Australia. Tension between the pair only increased. In 2017 they released a statement saying they were seeking mediation via a private judge. Pitt gave a tearful interview to GQ magazine in which he said that he had been drinking too much, and not listening enough, and now just wanted peace. Miss Jolie bought a 19million house around the corner from his home and there were reports that after court-appointed therapy they were ready to agree on custody. Pitt was said to have quietly completed a VIP rehab and be attending both Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. But it didnt last. In 2018 Miss Jolie accused Pitt of not paying her meaningful support since the split. He countered that he had loaned her nearly 6million plus almost 1million for bills. Her lawyer then announced that the couple had reached a custody agreement but they hadnt. All that had been agreed was to ratify a rolling arrangement. Moves were then made to split the divorce into two parts and attain single status even though issues of custody, access and finance remain unsettled. This happened in April 2019. Initially, Pitt was allowed to see the children only for supervised visits. Then shared custody was agreed and Miss Jolie was warned by a judge to stop snooping on cellphone contact between father and children. Currently, attempts are made to co-parent amicably using an app to help co-ordinate the childrens schedules. Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. SAGINAW, MI Saginaw County Health Department officials say COVID-19 vaccination progress in the county is coming along nicely, with 66,357 doses administered as of Thursday, March 18. In total, Saginaw County vaccinators have received 97,905 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Saginaw County Health Department is reporting that nearly 70% of adults 65-plus in Saginaw County have been vaccinated. Across the state, 26% of Michigan adults are now fully vaccinated. We are in pretty good shape with doses right now, said Christina Harrington, Saginaw County Health Department health officer. This is allowing us to allocate more to critical infrastructure businesses and to some of our partners. Beginning Monday, March 22, all adults 50 and older will be eligible to receive the vaccine, regardless of health status. The health department is encouraging residents to register on the health departments website at www.saginawpublichealth.org or directly at www.mySaginawHealth.org and on any other county registration sites available to capture an appointment. The health department is aiming to open up registration for those 16 and older in April. We will continue to focus on current priority groups over the next three weeks and will open up eligibility and registration for everyone 16 and older on April 5 per the states new priority guidance, Harrington said. On March 25, Saginaw County Health Department officials plan to host a mass drive-thru clinic at the Harvey Kern Community Pavilion, 599 Weiss St. in Frankenmuth, using Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses. Another Johnson & Johnson clinic is scheduled for Saturday, March 27, at Sears Automotive near Fashion Square Mall in Saginaw Township. Both of these clinics are being scheduled, by appointment, from the health departments registration list. Members of the public are asked not to call for an appointment. Those who are registered and are selected for the clinic will be contacted for an appointment instead. Health department nurses will administer Johnson & Johnson doses to people who are homebound in the near future. Read more on MLive: How to find a COVID-19 vaccination appointment in Michigan Bay and Saginaw counties to receive multi-million dollar COVID-19 relief payments Michigan reports 2,629 new coronavirus cases, 25 deaths Thursday, March 18 Tell us your stories about heroic nurses and doctors who guided us through the pandemic Saginaw County rolls out COVID-19 vaccine to those 50 and older after eligibility expands Shunning vaccine skepticism, the Italian Prime Minister said that the country would restart using AstraZeneca vaccine shots for mass inoculation from March 18 The decision came a few hours after the European Medicines Association (EMA) backed the vaccine asserting that its benefits outweigh the risk. More than a dozen countries have temporarily halted the use of AstraZeneca/Oxford developed jabs following reports of severe blood clots. Italy, which suspended the vaccine on March 15, announced resumption saying that the government's priority remains to get maximum vaccination in minimum time. "The administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine will resume tomorrow. The government's priority remains to carry out as many vaccinations as possible in the shortest possible time," the countrys PM Mario Draghi said in a statement. Earlier on Thursday, the EMA released a special report on the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine with an aim to ward off skepticism surrounding jabs. In its clear conclusion, the regulatory body stressed that, following an investigation into 30 cases of unusual blood disorders, it found that the vaccine's benefits in protecting people from coronavirus-related death or hospitalization outweighs the possible risks. However, it said a link between blood clots in the brain and the shot could not be definitively ruled out. Europe resumes rollout Within hours of the report, Germany announced that it would resume the vaccine rollout starting March 19. Addressing a press briefing, German health minister Jens Spahn suspending the vaccine out of caution had been the right call "until the clustering of this very rare type of thrombosis had been examined." Meanwhile, France also reiterated the same. Addressing media reporters, the countrys prime minister Jean Castex said that he would get the shots himself on Friday, March 18. Spain said it was evaluating a possible resumption, while Cyprus, Latvia, and Lithuania said they would restart administering the vaccine. Large parts of the European continent are at the start of the third wave of coronavirus, experts warned stressing that a pause in the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout could make the situation even worse. In the past weeks, Europe has witnessed a gradual spike in hospitalization and fatalities, primarily due to the more transmissible and lethal coronavirus mutations. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Europe has reported 37,053,952 cases and 870,901 deaths. Image: Associated Press An outsized rally in Volkswagen (VW) shares has drawn the attention of Germanys top market watchdog as heavy-volume trading spurred by the carmakers electric vehicle ambitions sent the stock rising as much as 32pc this week. Shares in Volkswagen AG reversed course yesterday, however, after hitting their highest level since April 2015 as regulator BaFin said it was monitoring the share price move and a buying frenzy from the United States appeared to cool down. A spokeswoman said BaFin was watching the move in a routine way, without elaborating. A raft of announcements on its electric vehicle expansion strategy to challenge market leader Tesla has lifted VW shares more than 50pc so far this year, luring institutional and retail investors globally. Momentum in the share price grew on Monday after the 83-year-old group announced it would build 12 battery cell plants in Europe by 2030 and expand charging infrastructure for electric cars. Interest from US individual investors was particularly strong. Volumes in its American depositary receipts (ADRs), seen as a proxy for retail traders interest, peaked at around 20 times the 90-day average on Tuesday. But yesterday the US-listed stock halted a five-day winning streak, falling more than 9pc in New York trade. That dragged lower shares in Frankfurt, which still remained on course for their best weekly run in nearly a year. Stefan de Schutter of Alpha Trading in Frankfurt, said that given the huge price swings, BaFins move had to be seen as business as usual. The shares are dragged down by the ADRs. Seems as if parts of the trade are unwinding, he said. Volkswagens main shares fell more than 2pc and the less liquid ordinary stock was still up 6pc but off highs. Shares of Porsche, which holds 53.1pc of the Volkswagen groups voting rights, rose 3pc. Despite the pullback, Volkswagen main shares remained up 19pc on the week. The surge has lifted Volkswagens market value above $160bn (134bn), making it the biggest company of the DAX benchmark index, ahead of software group SAP. We fundamentally like the name ... we think not only institutional, but also a wave of private investors is increasingly interested, wrote Barclays analysts. Australia has seen a decline in its population for the first time in more than a century. According to the data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the population of Australia grew by less than one per cent till September 2020. The statistics also show a decrease in overseas migration in Australia due to COVID-19 related international travel restrictions. Australia last time has seen a decline in population during World War 1. Decline in population in Australia According to the statistics of the bureau, Australia's population grew by 0.9 per cent during the year to 30 September 2020 despite a decrease in overseas population due to COVID-19 related travel restriction. Data released by the bureau shows Australias population on 30 September 2020 was 25.7 million people, an annual increase of 220,500 people. The overseas migration was down to 64.8 per cent as compared to the previous year. ABS Demography Director Phil Browning said that increase in population counted for 61.4 per cent of annual population growth. Phil Browning further added that the last time Australia saw a population decline was in the year 1916. The last time we saw population decline was the year to December 1916, during World War 1 when the population declined by -51,500 (-1.0%)." "Natural increase accounted for 61.4 per cent of annual population growth, while net overseas migration accounted for the remaining 38.6 per cent." The effect of Australia's international border closure was reflected from June to September where a decline of 4200 people was seen. Net overseas migration stood at 85,100 in the year to September decreased by 156,900 people (64.8%) since the previous year. ABS Demography Director Phil Browning said the decrease in overseas migration has been observed for the last two quarters. He added that for the most recent quarter the decrease was not "outweighed by natural increase causing a small decline in population. The statistics further show that in the year 2020, there were 299,500 births and 164,100 deaths registered in Australia. (Image Credits: The Associated Press) * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! By Paresh Dave (Reuters) - A Swiss computer hacker who has claimed credit for helping steal or distribute proprietary data from Nissan Motor Co, Intel Corp and most recently security camera startup Verkada was indicted on Thursday, U.S. prosecutors announced. Till Kottmann, 21, remains in Lucerne and has been notified about the pending charges, the U.S. attorney's office in Seattle said in a statement. Kottmann did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the announcement of the indictment, which came after midnight in Lucerne. Kottmann over the last year allegedly working with a group accessed internal files belonging to at least eight parties, including six unnamed companies, the Washington State Department of Transportation and an undisclosed federal agency, according to the indictment. "Kottmann, and others, accessed protected computers, including 'git' and source code repositories as well as internal infrastructure, through use of stolen access keys, credentials and exploits," the indictment said. It added Kottmann overall hacked dozens of businesses and government agencies and purportedly published leaked data from over 100 entities. In social media posts and on a website, Kottmann allegedly shared some of the information and took credit for breaches, the document said. Dates and descriptions in the indictment related to two of the alleged hacks match Kottmann's past statements about Intel and Nissan. Intel declined to comment. Nissan and Verkada did not immediately respond to requests for comment. This month, Kottmann shared with Reuters recordings of live and archived surveillance footage Kottmann obtained from inside a Tesla factory, an Alabama jail and other facilities by gaining access to Verkada's administrative system. Prosecutors accused Kottmann of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse. It was not immediately clear if or when Kottmann would be brought to the U.S. to face charges. Swiss authorities raided Kottmann's residence last week. (Reporting by Paresh Dave; additional reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Leslie Adler and Michael Perry) Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) speak as they arrive to vote in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 23, 2021. (Al Drago/Getty Images) Sen. Manchin Supports Breaking Infrastructure Package Up for Possible Bipartisan Support Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Thursday that he supports the idea of breaking the large infrastructure package into three parts to build bipartisan support for the different priorities. Well, the reason they couldnt do it the first time was that we had the urgency of the COVID vaccine. So thats why it wasnt done. Thats a very good approach now, Manchin, who is known for being more of a moderate and working across the aisle, told reporters. Its about time we do something bipartisan. After passing the $1.9 COVID-19 stimulus package, the White House is turning its attention to infrastructure reform legislation. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters on Monday that information about the administrations infrastructure plans will be released shortly. Conversations are taking place right now, as youve seenOval Office meetings with the president, leaders from both parties, from both houses. Its fair to say that in short order, youre going to be seeing more, he said during a visit to a UPS facility in Landover, Maryland. Buttigieg did not provide a set timeline but said the administration will be taking action well before a Sept. 30 deadline to reauthorize surface transportation funding. Weve got a clock on everything were doing, especially because the present surface reauthorization is up in September. Were not waiting until September in order to act, he said. Read More Bipartisan Group of Senators Seeks to Ease Partisan Rancor One infrastructure priority is broadband internet, which both Democrats and Republicans have been concerned about after gaps were exposed during the pandemic. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Thursday, I think we need to look at the needs. The important thing with infrastructure reform is we have to broaden our definition beyond roads and bridges, airports and seaports, important though they are, and also include broadband. The pandemic has really shined a light on the disparities between areas and rural America, such as parts of my state of Maine and more urban areas, when it comes to broadband. On March 11, Democrats led by House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) reintroduced legislation called the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act to authorize $94 billion for broadband spending. Access to broadband today will have the same dramatic impact on rural communities as the rural electrification efforts in the last century, Clyburn said in a statement. When I formed the Rural Broadband Task Force, our mission was to address the digital divide. The disparate effects of that divide have been amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic and exposed the urgency of ensuring universal access to high-speed internet. Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) introduced the Infrastructure For Tomorrows America Act, which sought $80 billion for broadband infrastructure. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) expressed their support for prioritizing broadband during a hearing on Wednesday called Investment to Close the Digital Divide in Communities Across America. The last year has been a very stark reminder about how important broadband connectivity is to Americans, Cantwell said. She said Americans used the internet for all their needs during the pandemic but there are some who still dont have access or full access, which she wants to change. Weve had to struggle throughout the pandemic. But imagine what life would have been like if we didnt have the internet during that time period. For millions of Americans, they dont have to imagine, because some of them really didnt have access to the internet. The Manitoba NDP caucus is delaying legislation it says will lead to labour disputes and erode workers rights. The Manitoba NDP caucus is delaying legislation it says will lead to labour disputes and erode workers rights. On Friday, the official Opposition held a news conference to announce it will hold back Bill 16 (Labour Relations Amendment Act) until fall 2021. The bill would allow an employer to fire an employee for "strike-related misconduct" even if the employee has not been convicted of a criminal offence and eliminates the right of striking workers to access binding arbitration after 60 days of strike action or lockout. It would also require only 40 per cent of workers instead of 50 per cent to call for a union decertification vote. "If this bill becomes law, it's going to make it much more difficult for the average person out there to get a good-paying wage, to be able to protect their job, and bargain and negotiate a fair deal for themselves," NDP Leader Wab Kinew said. Manitoba legislature rules allow the Opposition to hold back five bills until the fall sitting. On Sunday, the NDP said it would also delay the Public Utilities Ratepayer Protection and Regulatory Reform Act that would limit the Public Utilities Board's ability to set rates for Manitoba Hydro, as 2,300 electrical workers with IBEW Local 2034 were set to strike. Delaying Bill 16 until the fall allows striking Hydro workers to seek binding arbitration and avoid a prolonged labour dispute, Kinew said. "That's one of the very important reasons we're announcing this delay now." A bus driver for the Winnipeg School Division, who recently returned to work after binding arbitration, spoke at the news conference on behalf of unionized workers. "Without the union, we are nothing," said Gurjinder Singh, a member of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 832, which spent nearly 90 days on the picket line demanding a fair wage package. "We're secure, our job is secure, my family is secure." The Progressive Conservative government says Bill 16's proposed changes will better balance the rights of union members, unions and employers, and make unions more accountable and transparent. It says no other Canadian jurisdiction's labour law allows one party to force the other into binding arbitration for subsequent agreements. "The NDP likely doesnt like the fact this legislation would require secret ballot votes so employees cant be bullied into joining or staying in unions, that it would stop taxpayer support for full-time union executives and expose the high salaries of union officials to union members," Finance Minister Scott Fielding said Friday in an email. Manitoba Federation of Labour president Kevin Rebeck dismissed that assertion. "Any union member can get financial information," he said at the NDP news conference. "What this law does is create new, onerous steps imposed on public-sector unions that aren't imposed on anyone else." Businesses get grants and tax breaks from government, but aren't being required to issue statements of financials and salaries, Rebeck said. "I think Premier Brian Pallister is being punitive because public-sector unions were successful in court in for calling out his illegal, unconstitutional wage-freeze legislation." The proposed Bill 28 was struck down last June by the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench, which ruled it violated the freedom of association rights of public servants under the charter. The government has appealed the decision to the Manitoba Court of Appeal. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca For decades, Jewish leaders have said the main fight against anti-Semitism should be a fight against unfair criticism of Israel. The Anti-Defamation League, which was started after the lynching of a Jewish man in Georgia in 1913, spends increasing amounts of time on dubious projects to defend the Israel state. Other Jewish organizations use their political capital trying to ban Americans from boycotting Israeli institutions that are assisting in Israeli government repression. All the while anti-Jewish racists in this country are coming out of their holes and striking, They started using triple parenthesis to mean Jew on Twitter and their messages were retweeted literally billions of times. They marched in Charlottesville screaming, Jews will not replace us. An immigrant-hating man massacred 11 Jews at a temple in Pittsburgh. Anti-Jew hate appeared in QAnon and from the Proud Boys. Trump flirted with them, retweeting their venom, and at the same time pretending not to know them. Yet whats the burning issue for our Jewish establishment leaders? Its a campaign to force a definition of anti-Semitism onto world governments to protect Israels government from criticism. It came from an organization representing governments and Holocaust scholars called the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, or IHRA. The group was created to expose those who would disguise their hatred of Jews by doubting the reality or the extent of the Holocaust. That effort is undoubtedly worthwhile. But in 2016 the group came out with a Working Definition of anti-Semitism complete with examples, and many of the examples had to do with Israel. Supposedly anti-Semitism included targeting the state of Israel, saying that Israel was a racist endeavor, applying double standards to Israel, and comparing things the Israeli state has done with things German Nazis had done. Human rights supporters including organizations like the (120-year-old Jewish group) the Workmens Circle, and Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now took exception. Nevertheless, the definition/examples were adopted by the British government and it became the subject of one of Trumps executive orders. All the while the far right was organizing. On Jan. 6, its followers exploded in attempted insurrection. That one of the rioters wore a Camp Auschwitz shirt seemed to bother none of them. Something is really wrong with the conventional wisdom on how to oppose anti-Semitism. Even some establishment figures are realizing it. The Israeli paper Haaretz on Feb. 21 interviewed leading Holocaust scholar Professor Deborah Lipstadt who said if you look at the IHRA definition, You wont find right-wing anti-Semitism there; you wont find Pittsburgh there; you wont find Poway there; you wont find Halle, Germany, there; you wont find what we saw from some of the groups on January 6 at the Capitol there. Yet the establishment continues on as if nothing was happening. There is a post in the State Department called Special Envoy to Combat and Monitor Anti-Semitism. The media is speculating that the Biden administration will give it to Abraham Foxman, who led the ADL for decades. What a mistake! In 1993 it came out that the ADL had run for years a vast spying operation on Arab-Americans, African-Americans, Native Americans and left-wing groups. Foxman defended the program vehemently. Ten years ago Foxman had the ADL oppose the building of the Park-51 Islamic Center in Manhattan because it supposedly was too close to the site where al-Qaeda destroyed the World Trade Center. Worse than all this is the ongoing ADL-sponsored police exchange programs with Israel. Through it police, ICE, border patrol and FBI from the U.S. mix with soldiers, police, border agents, etc. from Israel. Jewish Voice for Peace which opposes the program, says worst practices are shared to promote and extend discriminatory and repressive policing in both countries. The police exchange is another Foxman program. A new approach is needed, one that realizes what our grandparents knew, that hatred of Jews mostly comes from the far right, from fascists, white nationalists, alt-right or whatever they call themselves. We need leaders who realize that the fight against anti-Semitism is a fight against all racism and not an effort to advance Jewish nationalism. We need a special envoy, a Jew or non-Jew, whose record reflects that understanding. Stanley Heller is executive director of the Middle East Crisis Committee and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace. He can be reached at mail@thestruggle.org. A Russian national accused of trying to hack and extort Tesla has pleaded guilty, avoiding a jury trial and a possible long stay in prison, The Record has reported. Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov will be sentenced to the charge of "conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer" (i.e., hacking), according to the plea deal. The original DoJ complaint reads like a (bad) spy movie. In the summer of 2020, Kriuchkov traveled to the US at the behest of a Russian cybercrime gang and contacted a Russian-speaking worker at the Tesla Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. Kriuchkov allegedly proposed to pay the employee $1 million to deliver malware to computer systems at the Gigafactory. He and his associates supposedly planned to extract data from the network and threaten to release it if Tesla didnt pay a ransom. The employee immediately informed Tesla about this brilliant scheme and the company contacted the FBI. Agents launched a sting operation and arrested Kriuchkov as he was attempting to leave the US. Kriuchkov would have received $250,000 for recruiting the employee, according to FBI recordings. Kriuchkov originally pleaded not guilty to the charges filed on September 3, 2020. A jury trial was planned for September 2021, and if found guilty, he could have faced to up five years in jail, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. With the guilty plea, however, Kriuchkov is now looking at between four and 10 months with three years of supervised release. He'll receive no fine but must pay Tesla $14,824.88 in restitution. The plea deal is subject to prosecutorial approval and the hearing is set for May 10th, 2021. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) listens during the House Judiciary committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D,C., on June 24, 2020. (Anna Moneymaker/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) House Rejects GOP Resolution to Remove Swalwell From Intelligence Committee The House has voted to reject a resolution put forth by Republicans to remove Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) from the House Intelligence Committee over concerns about his past ties to an alleged Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spy. Lawmakers voted mainly on party lines 218-200 to dismiss House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)s resolution that was introduced to the House on Wednesday. The resolution relies on public reporting that Swalwell was among a group of politicians targeted by the alleged CCP spy, known as Fang Fang or Christine Fang. Christine Fang with then-Dublin, Calif., City Council member Eric Swalwell at an October 2012 student event. (Screenshot/Social media) 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. The text of the resolution states that Swalwell has not denied public reporting that a suspected Chinese intelligence operative helped raise money for Representative Swalwells political campaigns and facilitated the potential assignment of interns into Representative Swalwells offices. Representative Eric Swalwell should be removed from his committee assignment in light of conduct he has exhibited, it continued. This comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reappointed Swalwell to the intelligence panel despite the concerns. The decision prompted pushback from Republicans, who argue that Swalwells past connections with an alleged spy raises significant national security concerns. Swalwell engaged in a years-long relationship with a suspected Chinese spy, and his conduct makes clear he has no place serving on the committee in charge of Americas top secrets, McCarthy wrote on Twitter earlier on Thursday. In a statement following the vote, McCarthy expressed disappointment stating that his Democrat colleagues had chosen politics over national security. Every Democrat is now on the record: They just voted to keep Eric Swalwell on the House Intelligence Committeedespite his long-standing relationship with a reported Chinese spy, McCarthy said in a statement. Meanwhile, Swalwell on Thursday responded to the resolution calling the effort the new McCarthyism. Meet the New McCarthyism. Multiple sentences in resolution state Swalwell has not denied Yet fails to include multiple FBI statements of no wrongdoing and did nothing but cooperate. All of this to deflect from @GOPLeaders support for QAnon, he wrote in a Twitter statement. Other Democratic leaders have defended Swalwell, including House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) who characterized the Republicans move as a frivolous, political exercise meant to attack the reputation of Swalwell. This vote today was a frivolous, political exercise meant to attack the reputation of an outstanding Member of Congress and distract from House Republicans failure to hold their own Members accountable for inappropriate and outrageous actions. Our House Democratic Majority has been steadfast in opposing malign actions by China. Spurious attempts, like this one today, by Republicans to obscure that fact will not change it. Americans are tired of hyper-partisanship and gotcha gimmickry. Instead, lets work together, in a bipartisan way, to achieve results for the people, Hoyer wrote in a statement. Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal Reinvesting in the community. This is what Jared and Laurie Tarbell did when the pair made the decision to donate a Downtown Albuquerque location to Flamenco Works Inc. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The property is located at 506 Central SW, near Lindys Diner. Jared Tarbell is a New Mexico native and the co-founder of Etsy, the online e-commerce company. Laurie Tarbell is an innovative architect and community builder. (They) made a real decision to reinvest in their community, said Jesus Munoz, executive director of Flamenco Works Inc. Its something that I never imagined would happen. Munoz said the organization, which currently rents a space in Barelas, was looking for a permanent home in Albuquerque. We tried to buy the space in Barelas, Munoz said. We knew we only had a year left on the lease and we had to start making some plans. The organization began to look for other options and found the commercial space owned by the Tarbells. When they found the property, Munoz said it was a perfect spot. It is a 4,500-square foot historic building in the middle of Downtown. It sounded too good to be true, he said. I remained cautious and I pitched the idea of a building donation in August 2020. The brokers thought I was crazy. Less than a week later, I got the call the Tarbells wanted to do it. Munoz remained cautious until the keys were in his hand, which happened around Christmas. The building became home to Flamenco Works on Jan. 16, he said. Flamenco Works was created to empower youth to reach their potential through professional flamenco dance training and the creation of visceral, cutting-edge flamenco art. Munoz said theres a lot of work to be done and hes counting on community support to make the dream happen. Art improves everything from walkability to sustainability in areas of commerce, he said. Art grows the GDP (gross domestic product) and increases the price of adjacent and area real estate within the first 90 days of entry into any area of town, from residential to commercial. Investing in art, dance, music is not only good for the community and the people it serves. There are going to be at least three phases of build-outs and the first half-phase will be done by spring. The project will take 12 months to complete. The company will remain in Barelas as the Central location is being refinished. Were planning shows in June that will be a hybrid of outdoor and indoor shows, he said. There will be studio space for classes or dancers at the new space, as well as a performance venue. Its just the beginning. Thus, the magistrate rejected the petition filed by the Public Ministry for 18-month detention during the probe into the alleged receipt of bribes from companies Obrainsa and ICCGSA in the Construction Club-related case. "We declare unfounded the request for preventive detention (...). Instead, the person under investigation, Martin Vizcarra Cornejo, is imposed the measure of appearance with restrictions," said the judge of the First National Preparatory Investigation Court Specialized in Corruption Offenses. In this sense, the magistrate ordered that the former president comply with the obligation not to leave the area where he resides without prior judicial authorization but to appear before prosecutorial and judicial authorities as many times as he is required. Likewise, he must appear before the judicial authority on a monthly basis through the virtual control system for defendants, while the measures against COVID-19 remain in force. "If these (measures) are lifted, it (the process) will be conducted in person," she expressed. Furthermore, the 57-year-old is prohibited from communicating by any means with co-defendants, as well as from attending residences or prisons holding co-defendants involved in the probe. Moreover, Vizcarra is banned from maintaining contact or attending public or private entities related to the investigation. He is also prohibited from addressing on the media aspects related to the content of the preparatory inquiry or the criminal proceedings. Finally, a bond of S/100,000 (about US$26,962) was imposed on him, which must be paid within 10 business days. For his part, Vizcarra affirmed that he will strictly comply with the resolution of the Judiciary. He currently runs for a seat in Congress. As is known, Congress approved the impeachment and removal of now-former President Martin Vizcarra from office in November 2020 (END) JCC/JCR/MVB Peruvian Judge Maria de Los Angeles Alvarez on Thursday evening dismissed the request for the preventive detention of former President Martin Vizcarra (2018-2020) . Instead, an order of appearance with restrictions was issued.Published: 3/18/2021 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 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 Health officials have issued a warning over social mixing during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Infection rates in the Republic have fallen, but a senior expert expressed concern that case counts and some other indicators of the disease are static or have plateaued. Professor Philip Nolan, chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said the relatively constant case count can be traced to an increase in mobility, congregation and social mixing. Expand Close Professor Philip Nolan (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Professor Philip Nolan (Brian Lawless/PA) He described the current estimation of the R number as being between 0.8-1.1, and an average of around 500 new cases of the virus a day. Its not clear to any of us what is going to happen next, if people have cut back on their level of social contact and mobility over the last week or fortnight, then we might expect case numbers to decline, if we havent then case numbers could remain stable or increase, he told the Nphet press conference. Dr Mai Mannix, director of public health at HSE Mid-West an area which includes Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary, gave examples of how people simply meeting for a cup of tea or attending funerals or wakes have in some cases spread the virus. Expand Close Dr Mai Mannix (Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dr Mai Mannix (Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland) She described a multi-household community outbreak in recent weeks which had been traced back to people visiting each other. She said it was a non-student population and not related to a party. Its basically what happens when people visit each other for cups of tea, or a beer or even a chat and arent adhering to social distancing or wearing masks, she said. We had six households, there was a community outbreak because of mixing between the households of at least 20 cases. Then subsequently one of the households brought it into their workplace where they caused an outbreak within the workplace of five cases and one of those subsequently brought it home resulting in a family outbreak. You can see how easily it spreads in this scenario and its a situation weve seen on a number of occasions over the past number of weeks. It feels very unnatural to us because I think the Irish do funerals well but I think none of us would want that our particular family funeral would be the source of more cases, or possibly serious illness for others. Dr Mai Mannix She also gave an example of the virus spreading at a funeral. Its been an extremely difficult time but the message is that we still need to be very careful around the time of a funeral, she said. It feels very unnatural to us because I think the Irish do funerals well but I think none of us would want that our particular family funeral would be the source of more cases, or possibly serious illness for others. In particular the wake house, thats a very traditional Irish thing but at the moment thats something that people really need to be careful about. 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. Mario SorrentiAlthough Justin Bieber and his wife Hailey first met when they were 14 and 12, respectively, many felt they rushed into marriage. In a new interview with ELLE magazine, Hailey acknowledges they did marry young, but they knew what they were doing. We always knew that we were aligned on what we wanted in our future," Hailey explains. "We had talked about wanting to be married young and having a family young and building a life. Even before we knew we wanted to be with each other. "I mean, I was married when I was 21, two months before I turned 22, which is insanely young...[it] sounds almost ridiculous when you say it out loud," she admits. "Although I do think for somebody like me and somebody like Justin...Weve seen a lot for our age. We have both lived enough life to know thats what we wanted. That said, Hailey tells ELLE that when she and Justin first wed, she "just wanted to hide." "I was like, I dont want people so in my business. I feel like everybodys up my a**, she explains. "I was like, Can there be no anonymity? Can I have any of it back? But despite the challenges of being Justin Bieber's wife, Hailey's in it for the long haul. "I learn new things about him and about myself and about our relationship all the time. Do we have little fights and stuff that we have to work through sometimes? Yeah, of course, but it really doesnt ever feel like work, because I love him so much," she reveals. "I see forever with him. When asked why she's so sure of that, Hailey reveals they put in the work. "We talk to a therapist," she notes."We do what we have to do. By Andrea Dresdale Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. 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 New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) added banking major HDFC Bank to a list of domestic systemically important banks, or the equivalent of too big to fail, according to a statement on Monday. HDFC Bank, the second-biggest Indian lender by assets, joins top lender State Bank of India and third-ranked ICICI Bank on the list. Being named systemically important imposes additional capital requirements on the lenders. With the inclusion of HDFC Bank in the list, there will now be three too big to fail financial entities in the country. SIBs are subjected to higher levels of supervision so as to prevent disruption in financial services in the event of any failure. "The additional Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) requirement for D-SIBs has already been phased-in from April 1, 2016 and will become fully effective from April 1, 2019," the Reserve Bank said in a statement. The additional CET1 or core capital requirement will be in addition to the capital conservation buffer, it added. RBI had issued the framework for dealing with D-SIBs in July 2014. As per the framework, RBI has to disclose the names of banks designated as D-SIBs every year in August starting from 2015 and place these banks in appropriate buckets depending upon their Systemic Importance Scores (SISs). SIBs are seen as too big to fail (TBTF), creating an expectation of government support for them in times of financial distress. These banks also enjoy certain advantages in funding markets. On the downside, according to some experts, expectations of government support amplifies risk-taking, reduces market discipline, creates competitive distortions and increases probability of distress in future. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The former police ombudsman Baroness Nuala OLoan has warned against demonising all men as evildoers, after UK-wide protests following the disappearance and murder of Sarah Everard. Writing in her column for The Irish Catholic newspaper, Baroness OLoan said society needed to think again around attitudes to violence and the damaging narrative forming towards men in the debate. The kidnapping and murder of 33-year-old marketing executive Sarah Everard as she was walking home near Clapham Common in London on March 3, sparked nationwide protests and debate around womens safety. A member of the Met Police has been charged in relation to her kidnap and murder. A protest to reclaim the streets, organised by ROSA NI the Socialist Feminist Movement - took place in Belfast on Tuesday. During the event, crowds chanted for an end to gender violence, with one speaker adding that such violence was a daily reality for women. The event followed similar gatherings in Dublin. Read More Writing in her column that there is no justification for such a narrative, Baroness OLoan urged people to keep that problem in perspective, referring to the increased violence in society. Men are almost twice as likely as women to be the victims of violent crime, according to a British crime survey last year, she wrote. Women attack men too, and there is a real problem of domestic violence visited on men by women. The risk of violence in homes and on the streets is a growing problem. However, it is important to keep that problem in perspective, so that we are not overwhelmed by fear. It is important, too, to ensure that the way we talk about it does not demonise the innocent and does not compound the problem. Referring to a suggestion in the House of Lords by the Green Party Peer Jenny Jones, to create a 6pm curfew for men a comment the peer later said was ironic Baroness OLoan dismissed such calls as nonsense. To impose a curfew on all men because a small minority of them attack others would be to discriminate against men, added Mrs OLoan. What does this do to todays little boys and girls as they grow up? Do little girls begin to think that all men are evil, as the dialogue suggests? Do little boys think that men attack women? What does this do their understanding of themselves as they grow towards manhood? Adding that she did not believe there to be a problem around men, Mrs OLoan instead added that she saw violence generally as a growing problem within society. That violence is perpetrated by both men and women. Anyone who attacks another person does wrong. Anyone who assaults another person commits a crime, she explained. I think we need to be very careful in our public discourse that we do not instil unwarranted fear in young people fear of being attacked, and fear of being seen as an attacker. We need to think again, and to use language which is capable of identifying evil without casting all men as evildoers. Webinar to be held March 25, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. EST Asurint General Counsel Kelly Uebel and Compliance Manager Lindsey Rajan will co-host the March 25th webinar on adjudication and adverse action. Asurint General Counsel Kelly Uebel and Compliance Manager Lindsey Rajan will co-host the March 25th webinar on adjudication and adverse action. Cleveland, Ohio, March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Employment background screening provider, Asurint announced today that their monthly webinar series for March will focus on streamlining the adjudication and adverse action processes. Improve Your Hiring Process: Adjudication & Adverse Action Automation will be recorded live on Thursday, March 25th at 12 p.m. EST. The webinar will be co-hosted by Asurint General Counsel, Kelly Uebel and Compliance Manager, Lindsey Rajan. Those interested in gaining efficiencies in these important processes are encouraged to register for the event. The upcoming March webinar is the second in a multi-part series entitled Improve Your Hiring Process presented by Asurint. This webinar series highlights common pain points HR professionals face within the hiring process, and then offers solutions on how Asurint can help streamline workflows and improve efficiencies. Asurint General Counsel, Kelly Uebel will be leading the discussion along with Compliance Manager, Lindsey Rajan. Together, they will walk through each process, examine common pitfalls HR professionals encounter and delve into how Asurint can provide solutions that allow recruiters to automate, reduce human error, save time and, ultimately, hire faster. A live Q&A with Kelly and Lindsey will be held at the end of the webinar for all attendees. Attendees should expect to gain new considerations they can apply to their adjudication and adverse action processes that include: automating multiple adjudication matrices, managing various adverse action requirements that vary by jurisdiction, reducing human error and more. Asurint invites those interested in learning more about how to improve their adjudication and adverse action processes to register for the live recording of "Improve Your Hiring Process on March 25th, 2021 at 12 p.m. EST. Story continues Full information can be found about the March 25th webinar by clicking here. About Asurint Asurint is leading the background screening industry forward. Our powerful, customizable technologybacked by expert answers and personalized assistancehelps employers hire the right candidates every time, and faster than ever before. Our clients leverage better background checks to reduce manual workloads, minimize compliance risk, promote a safer workplace, and drive insights to boost hiring and recruitment success. Attachment CONTACT: Judie Vegh Asurint 2164205497 jvegh@asurint.com 12500 N.E. Tenth Place Bellevue, WA 98005 JPFO.org 800-869-1884 info@jpfo.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 19, 2021 Contact: Floyd Neeland Reports of genocide by Chinese communists against Uyghurs requires immediate world attention Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 8, is the tip of a global nightmaregenocide has afflicted populations around the world throughout humanity's history. Congress should take a public stand against such horrendous activity, and work to prevent it from ever happening again. On the day the Jewish people rise as one to commemorate the unspeakable horrors of The Holocaust, we beseech world leaders, interest groups, political factions and the population of the planet to join together to denounce the concept of wiping any group from the face of the Earth. This is no way for anyone to behave, under any code, religious principle or guidance of any kind. Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, http://www.jpfo.org, is dedicated to preserving the balance of power between governmentsthe primary perpetrators of pogromsand the people who are victims of such crimes against humanity. We implore strong-willed factions in the U.S. government to take leadership roles in de-fanging the hatred that pervades too much of the world's populace. Stand for what is right. Join with JPFO and denounce genocide! Take the moral high ground, and proclaim truth: genocide is pure evil. There is no honor in supporting or ignoring genocide, its hatred, and those who take it as a goal. ##### Pakistan on Friday said it would discuss with India a host of issued under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) including "our objections on the designs of Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai Hydroelectric Plants" during the two-day meeting of Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) being held in New Delhi from Tuesday next ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Mar, 2021 ) :Pakistan on Friday said it would discuss with India a host of issued under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) including "our objections on the designs of Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai Hydroelectric Plants" during the two-day meeting of Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) being held in New Delhi from Tuesday next. Pakistan's delegation, to be led by Commissioner for Indus Waters, Syed Muhammad Meher Ali Shah, will include officials from the relevant departments, Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said at a weekly news briefing here. "Under the provisions of Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) 1960, Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) is required to meet at least once a year. The 116th Meeting of the PIC will be held in New Delhi on March 23-24," he said. To a question, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said that the meeting of Permanent Indus Commission was specifically held under the provisions of the IWT 1960, where only water related issues, which fall under the IWT, would be discussed. In response to another query, the Spokesperson said that Pakistan had always underscored the need for a meaningful dialogue and peaceful resolution of all outstanding disputes with India, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir. To a question about a letter of Chairman of the United States Committee on Foreign Relations Robert Menendez addressed to the US Secretary of Defense urging him to raise democracy and human rights concerns during his upcoming visit to India, he said the letter was indeed a continuation of the international community's expression of concerns on serious human rights situation in India and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). "The Chairman has specifically highlighted the "deteriorating situation of democracy in India", "anti-Muslim sentiments", "suppression of political dialogue and arrest of political opponents following the abrogation of article 370 in Kashmir," he added. The Spokesperson said Pakistan believed that the international community, including the United States, must urge India to stop its consistent and systematic human rights violations in IIOJK and take genuine steps to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in a peaceful manner in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions. To a question about Indian Foreign Secretary's statement about meaningful Pak-India dialogue, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said such statements were not helpful in resolution of the disputes which were a hurdle in the way of peace and stability in the region. "Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized dispute and the core issue between India and Pakistan. Pakistan has always underscored the need for a meaningful dialogue and peaceful resolution of all outstanding disputes with India," he maintained. The Spokesperson said that the landmark Kartarpur initiative by Pakistan despite several challenges and the return of captured Indian pilot Abhinandan after the shooting down of two Indian fighter Jets by Pakistan Air Force were also indicative of Pakistan's desire for lasting peace in the region. "The onus is, therefore, on India to create the enabling environment necessary for a 'meaningful engagement'. The current situation in IIOJK is neither tenable nor acceptable. India needs to take corrective measures in IIOJK to move forward," he remarked. To a question, the Spokesperson said Pakistan has consistently maintained that there was no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and negotiations were the only way forward. "Today the entire international community has come around to Pakistan's position," he said adding that all sides must work together for an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement. "As for the withdrawal of the U.S. troops, Pakistan supports orderly and responsible withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan as a precipitous withdrawal would create a vacuum for spoilers," the Spokesperson viewed. About Pakistan's view on US-China relations, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said that Pakistan enjoyed friendly and cooperative relations with both China and the US. "China is Pakistan's time tested and all-weather strategic cooperative partner. Pakistan also has longstanding comprehensive partnership with the US based on convergence of interests on a whole range of issues," he added. The Spokesperson mentioned the role of a bridge played by Pakistan between the US and China in the past and said "Pakistan continues to pursue policies that promote cooperation, peace and stability in the region and beyond."\932\867 ShoreOne has appointed Ben Hoover as chief marketing officer. Hoover will lead the marketing and distribution strategy for ShoreOnes growth along the Atlantic Seaboard. Hoover, who has previous underwriting and distribution experience with large MGAs, will work with a select group of leading agencies experienced in the coastal homeowners market. ShoreOne is currently operating in South Carolina, and Hoover will work with agents to bring the companys new homeowners flood product to coastal homeowners in South Carolina, as well as other Atlantic Seaboard States. Massachusetts-based managing general agent ShoreOne launched the coastal homeowners coverage to address inadequate flood coverage last month. The offering combines traditional homeowners insurance with full flood coverage in a single policy. Prior to joining ShoreOne, Hoover was the regional marketing manager for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.s Risk Placement Services (RPS), distributing new product offerings to agency partners. He also served as a senior executive with Brooks Group Insurance Agency as Vice President. Most recently Ben was National Accounts Manager for Method Insurance. ShoreOne Insurance Managers, Inc. was founded in 2019 and is backed by global reinsurers. ShoreOne policies are distributed through independent insurance agents. President Joe Biden went after former President Donald Trump - though not by name - in remarks delivered after meeting with members of the Asian-American community in Atlanta Friday. 'It's the coronavirus. Full stop,' Biden said, going after Trump for using a racist nickname to lable the pandemic after his meeting with Asian-American community leaders in the wake of Tuesday's spa shootings. Vice President Kamala Harris, who introduced Biden, also alluded to the ex-president blasting 'people with the biggest bully pulpits' who are 'spreading this kind of hate.' Biden and Harris had originally planned to be in Atlanta for a 'car rally' - a socially distant political event marking the passage of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. But Tuesday's shootings that left six Asian-American women dead - eight total - turned the trip into a visit to the CDC and an hours-long meeting with members of the community. The president also took the opportunity while in Georgia to applaud the state for holding a 'free and fair election' - a fact that Trump contested after Biden beat him in the Peach State last fall. 'The fact that your poll workers, your election workers, your volunteers, your local officials, your state officials, your courts, stood up to the immense pressure, with character and honesty and integrity to help save our democracy,' Biden said. President Joe Biden speaks in Atlanta, Georgia Friday after a meeting with Asian-American community members in the wake of Tuesday's shooting in the city that targeted Asian spas President Joe Biden tweeted the phrase he used in his speech Friday while visiting Atlanta, Georgia after meeting members of the Asian-American community Former President Donald Trump repeatedly called COVID-19 the 'China virus,' using the term, again, in a statement sent out from his office last week Georgia's top state officials are Republicans and publicly broke with Trump as he falsely charged that there was widespread voter fraud in the state after Biden won it. Biden gave his remarks at Emory University and was over an hour late by the time they began. He called anecdotes he heard during the closed-door meeting with Asian-American stakedholders 'heartwrenching.' Biden spoke about racism at the top of his speech, calling it 'the ugly poison that has long haunted and plagued our nation.' 'Each one of them we mourn,' he said of the victims, saying their families were left with 'broken hearts and unanswered questions.' There were nearly 3,800 incidents against Asian Americans in the last year, the group Stop AAPI Hate reported, and 68 per cent of those were against women. Harris is the first Asian-American vice president. Her mother was born in India. On Thursday, Biden ordered that American flags be flown at half-staff until Monday to honor the victims. Biden said he continued to be in touch with FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland. He also said he was speaking with Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta's Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Bottoms facilitated the meeting with Asian-American state lawmakers and community members with the president and vice president Friday. Biden and Harris also met with Stacey Abrams, the failed gubernatorial candidate turned voting rights activist, whose work in the state helped give Biden a victory in Georgia last year. He was the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1992. Abrams is a rising star in the Democratic Party and was on the list for consideration as Biden's running mate. The speculation is she will make another gubernatorial run in 2022. Biden and Harris also met with Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. Biden had campaigned for the duo in the run-up to the January run-offs, promising Americans if the Senate flipped they would get $2,000 stimulus checks. Ossoff and Warnock walked out of their meetings with Biden and Harris and addressed part of the crowd of hundreds of students who had gathered. 'You stood up in a historic way in November and in January and you see how some politicians are responding. They dont like the outcome of the election so theyre trying to change the rules,' Warnock said, addressing Georgia Republicans' pushing for changes in the state's voting laws. 'Were going to do everything in our power that they dont disenfranchise millions of voters all across this country. But for every young person whos ever wondered whether or not your vote counts, you should have no doubt in your mind now.' Neither Ossoff nor Warnock address reporters' questions about the meetings with members of the Asian-American community. Crime scene tape is seen outside Aromatherapy Spa after shootings at a massage parlor and two day spas in the Atlanta area BIDEN AND HARRIS MEET WITH MEMBERS OF THE ASIAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY IN ATLANTA Here's who attended the president and vice president's Friday meeting: - Keisha Lance Bottoms, Mayor of Atlanta - Dr. Michelle Au, Georgia State Senator (SD-48) - Sheikh Rahman, Georgia State Senator (SD-05) - Marvin Lim, Georgia State Representative (HD-99) - Bee Nguyen, Georgia State Representative (HD-89) - Sam Park, Georgia State Representative (HD-101) - Stephanie Cho, Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta - Victoria Huynh, Vice President, Center for Pan Asian Community Services - Bianca Jyotishi, Georgia Organizing Manager, National Asian Pacific American Womens Forum - Cedric Richmond, Director, Office of Public Engagement - Sameera Fazili, Deputy Director, National Economic Council Advertisement On Wednesday, Biden said he was making 'no connection' between the Atlanta massage parlor shooter and the race of his victims before the investigation is complete, but continued to call the uptick in hate crimes against Asians 'very troubling.' Biden made the comments in the Oval Office Wednesday before a virtual meeting with Ireland's Taoiseach Micheal Martin, telling reporters he had spoken with Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray. 'I know that Asian-Americans are very, very concerned because, as you know, I was speaking about the brutality against Asian-American for the last couple months,' Biden said. 'And I think it is very, very troubling.' 'But I'm making no connection at this moment. The motivation of the killer. I'm waiting for an answer, as the investigation proceeds, from the FBI and from the Justice Department,' the president continued. 'I'll have more to say when the investigation has completed.' A white man, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, is accused of killing eight people in three locations Tuesday night in Atlanta. Six of the people were Asian and seven were women. Long allegedly shot give people at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor, which is north of the city. Two people died at the scene, while three were taken to the hospital where two later succumbed to their injuries. An hour later, three women were found dead at Gold Spa. Another woman was found dead at Aromatherapy Spa. The shooter told police that it was a 'sex addiction' and not racist motivations that compelled him to kill. Police have stressed they haven't come to a conclusion about the motivations of the killer. 'The suspect did take responsibility for the shootings,' Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said, according to the Associated Press. 'This is still early, but he does claim it was not racially motivated.' 'He apparently has an issue, what he considers a sex addiction, and sees these locations as ... a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate,' Baker said. Earlier Wednesday, Harris also shared her condolences, prior to her virtual meeting with Martin to mark St. Patrick's Day. 'It is tragic. Our country, the president and I and all of us, we grieve for those lost. Our prayers are with the families of those who have been killed,' Harris said. 'This speaks to a larger issue which is the issue of violence in our country and what we must do to never tolerate it and to always speak out against it.' 'The investigation is ongoing, we don't yet know, we're not yet clear about the motive. But I do want to say to our Asian American community that we stand with you and understand how this has frightened and shocked and outraged all people,' Harris added. First lady Jill Biden also spoke about the shooting during her trip Wednesday to New Hampshire. 'I want to start by saying something directly to the families of the shooting victims in Atlanta last night. My heart is with you. And I hope that all Americans will join me in praying for everyone touched by this senseless tragedy,' the first lady said. The president made a point during last Thursday's primetime speech to address the uptick in hate crimes against Asian-Americans since the advent of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden called out the '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, 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,' Biden continued. 'It's wrong, it's un-American and it must stop.' Psaki pointed a finger at former President Donald Trump's administration when asked later Wednesday at the press briefing why Biden believed attacks on Asian-Americans are increasing. 'I think there's no question that some of the damaging rhetoric that we saw during the prior administration blaming - calling COVID the Wuhan virus or other things, led to perceptions of the Asian-American community that are inaccurate, unfair, have raised threatening, has elevated threats against Asian-Americans and we're seeing that around the country,' Psaki said. A week ago, Trump, again, used the racist phrase 'China virus' in a statement taking credit for the swift development of COVID-19 vaccines. '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.' the ex-president wrote. Biden previously made moves to stop usage of the term by signing an executive order titled 'Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States' on day No. 6 of his presidency. 'The Federal Government must recognize that it has played a role in furthering these xenophobic sentiments through the actions of political leaders, including references to the COVID-19 pandemic by the geographic location of its origin,' the order said. 'Such statements have stoked unfounded fears and perpetuated stigma about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and have contributed to increasing rates of bullying, harassment, and hate crimes against AAPI persons,' it continued. Psaki said Wednesday that White House officials Richmond and Susan Rice will be doing 'listening sessions' with members of the Asian-American community. The group Stop AAPI Hate said in February that it received 2,808 firsthand accounts of anti-Asian hate from 47 states and Washington, D.C. from March 19, 2020 to the end of last year. In January, an 84-year-old Asian-American man was killed in an attack in San Francisco, which the family believed to be racially motivated. Video went viral of who police identified as 19-year-old Antoine Watson, slamming Vicha Ratanapakdee to the ground. 'If you see video, there's nothing non-intentional about it,' Ratanapakdee's step-son, Eric Lawson told KTVU, Fox's Bay Area affiliate. 'For him to come from all the way across the street, what else could have motivated him?' he said of Watson's actions. In February, video came out of a 91-year-old man in Oakland, California's Chinatown neighborhood being pushed to the ground, also during daytime hours. 'What we've discovered isn't that we've just had a spike, but we've had a surge over the entire year last year with COVID-19 and with the president's political rhetoric in the last administration,' Russell Jeung, a co-founder of the coalition and a professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, told NPR. Trump defended using 'China virus' a day before Stop AAPI Hate started tracking anti-Asian hate crimes. 'It's not racist at all,' Trump said at a coronavirus taskforce press briefing on March 18. 'No, not at all.' He said he used the term 'because it comes from China.' 'That's why,' he continued. 'I want to be accurate.' Even then, there were already dozens of reports of bias against Chinese-Americans in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Grace Kelly Herbert stepped to the microphone Friday clutching two tiny rescue dogs, Ollie and Little Tooch, and rattled off their list of ailments. Its a miracle that theyve lived to 9 years old, she said. Both were surrendered by a puppy mill in Missouri to a rescue and belong to Herbert. She is able to care for them as president and co-founder of Finding Shelter Animal Rescue in Southeastern Pennsylvania, supported by a network of veterinarians. It also helps that her husband works at a specialty veterinary hospital. Herbert also took on the care of Victoria, a German shepherd who was a puppy mill breeder for a decade. Herbert was in Allentown on Friday to join state lawmakers and animal rescuers at the Lehigh County Humane Society in support of Pennsylvania Senate Bill 234 Victorias Law that aims to put puppy mills out of business. When I was called to have her surrendered to me by the puppy mill producer, he confirmed that her first litter she had over 15 puppies, Herbert said of Victoria. And he said, If she was still able to stand for me to breed her then I would continue to breed her because she produced such big litters and she made me a lot of money. Came right out of his mouth. Victoria died Feb. 26, 2019, and Herbert and her family made her a promise to fight for an end to puppy mills. Senate Bill 234 was introduced with the intention of driving Pennsylvanias pet market towards humane sources like shelters, rescues, responsible breeders -- and stop the sale of puppy mill dogs, cats, rabbits in pet stores, and protect consumers from misleading sale tactics, said state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Lehigh/Northampton, a co-sponsor of the legislation. This bill would also require advertisers to include license numbers on their advertisements to make it easier to hold those breeders accountable, by identifying inhumane and unregistered breeders in our state. The idea is to promote partnerships between pet stores and animal shelters and rescues, instead of with puppy mills. They will only be able to offer animals for adoption, helping organizations like the Humane Society, guaranteeing that pet stores would provide space for dogs, cats and rabbits from animal-care facilities or animal rescue organizations to promote for adoption, Boscola continued. This legislation would not impact responsible breeders in Pennsylvania. In fact, breeders as a whole are against having pet stores sell their animals because they want to meet the buyer and provide them with healthy, socialized dogs in particular. Yogurt, a dog up for adoption at the Lehigh County Humane Society, attends a news conference Friday, March 19, 2021, at the Allentown shelter calling for passage of Senate Bill 234, known as Victoria's Law, which seeks to stop the sale of puppy mill dogs, cats and rabbits in pet stores, and protect consumers from misleading sales tactics.Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com The bill is before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is where a similar bill during the 2019-20 legislative session languished without passage. Boscola said the new bill has bipartisan support. She was joined Friday by two fellow Lehigh County Democratic lawmakers, state Reps. Jeanne McNeill and Peter Schweyer, in pushing for passage of Victorias Law. Gov. Tom Wolf has committed to signing it into law if it reaches his desk, said Roy Afflerbach, a former state senator and Allentown mayor. In semi-retirement, he represents the Humane Society of the United States, and he asked residents to call their lawmakers in support of Victorias Law and shutting puppy mills down. Kristen Tullo, Pennsylvania state director for the Humane Society of the United States, urged anyone who believes they were sold a misrepresented or sick pet to contact the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office. The office has an email set up for complaints, petscams@attorneygeneral.gov. Grace Kelly Herbert, a founder of Finding Shelter Animal Rescue, talks to Victoria during a visit Jan. 28, 2019, to the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg to help gather lawmaker support for Victoria's Law.Dan Gleiter file photo | For pennlive.com Victoria, by the time she was rescued, was paralyzed as a result of a genetic, neurological disorder called Degenerative Myelopathy, a disease she passed down to the estimated 150-200 puppies she produced while at the puppy mill. A pet is a member of the family, Afflerbach said inside the Lehigh County Humane Society. Many people go out and purchase the dog from a rescue situation such as this or a cat or a rabbit because their children want to have a pet. Can you imagine how a child feels if the family brings home a pet from one of these stores, one of these puppy mills, that two weeks later has to be put down because its got some serious illness or a month later ends up with a serious illness that requires finances beyond what the family has? Thats what were really working at here folks. Its consumer protection as much as its kindness to animals. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. The apparent decision by Ford to cancel a planned investment at its Ohio Assembly Plant (OHAP) in the Cleveland suburb of Avon Lake slated for 2023 has provoked an outburst of demagogy form UAW officials, ramping up their anti-Mexican chauvinism. The $900 million investment to build an unspecified new vehicle at Ohio Assembly was announced in November 2019 amid much fanfare and used by the UAW to help push through the sellout national Ford-UAW contract. At the time it was claimed the investment would lead to 1,500 additional jobs at the facility, which currently employs 1,750 workers building Ford E-series vans and Super Duty pickup trucks. Ford Ohio Assembly (Ford Media) The deal was the latest in a long succession of worthless job guarantees by the auto companies, always tied to concessions from workers and always revocable by management due to market conditions. Meanwhile, the UAW has imposed one anti-worker contract after another, surrendering hard-won gains such as pensions and cost-of-living raises, while instituting multi-tier wages and sanctioning the spread of part-time and contract work. In a letter issued March 12, UAW Vice President Gerald Kariem issued a statement announcing Fords cancellation of the Ohio Assembly expansion, while noting pointedly that investment would be made in Mexico, although this has not been confirmed by Ford. Having thus presented the issue as a battle between US workers and their Mexican brothers over jobs, the letter goes on to ask Ford for an explanation of its decision. This can have no other meaning than that the UAW plans to fight Fords cancellation of the Ohio Assembly expansion by offering further concessions. It should be pointed out that Kariem was appointed to head the Ford department in January 2020 to replace Roy Gamble, who was elevated to UAW president after the resignation of disgraced former President Gary Jones. He is part of the corrupt UAW inner circle that presided over a massive corruption scandal that sent top UAW officials, including Jones and former UAW President Dennis Williams, to prison. Gerald Kariem (left) Dennis Williams (right) Following the letter by Kariem, Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown also denounced the cancellation of the Avon Lake expansion, declaring, Clevelanders turned on the local news and saw headlines about yet another American corporation deciding to build things in Mexico instead of Ohio. Industry analyst AutoForecast Solutions separately reported that in 2023 Ford plans to build two electric sport-utility vehicles at its factory in Cuautitlan, Mexico, originally slated for Ohio Assembly. Ford has refused to confirm this. An Ohio Assembly worker told the WSWS, There is a written agreement in the 2019 contract. And that investment was the only item in that contract that made OHAP vote yes for that contract. Asked if he agreed with the attempts by the UAW to present the defense of jobs as pitting American workers against Mexican workers, he added, I dont think that. I havent heard anyone say that it was. [Workers] are squarely placing the blame on Ford management, [they think] they can change the agreement after ratification. Ford believes that only the workers have to abide by the rules of the contract and there is nothing we can do about it. Can the workers take what they dont like out of the agreement? Hell no they cant, without being disciplined. The row over the presumed sending of American jobs to Mexico comes as the Biden administration is ramping up its nationalist Buy American campaign aimed at the overseas rivals of US capitalism. The White House and Bidens cabinet have been directing evermore overt and provocative threats against China in particular. The aim of the incessant anti-Mexican and anti-Chinese demagogy of the UAW is aimed in the first place in splitting the working class by promoting animosity among American workers toward workers in other countries. The UAW is particularly sensitive to the growing feelings of solidarity between US and Mexican workers, expressed in the sympathy shown by American autoworkers toward the courageous struggle of Matamoros workers in 2019 and the solidarity shown by GM workers in Silao, Mexico, toward striking American GM workers. Striking Matamoros workers in January 2019 with banner declaring, The union and companies kill the working class As a victimized Flint GM worker, Juan Gonzalez, told the World Socialist Web Site during the 2019 strike, They want to force those workers into poverty, just like us, in order to shut us up. We are all building the same cars for the same companies. These cars have parts from all over the world. We need to get together and unite no matter what country we are from. The attempt by the UAW to deflect anger over the destruction of jobs against Mexican workers takes place as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka issued a broadside against China this week over unsubstantiated allegations of the use of forced labor to build solar panels. In the letter, addressed to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Trumka singled out solar energy products from Chinas Xinjiang region, home to Chinas Uyghur minority. The statement by Trumka dovetailed with stepped-up agitation against China by the Biden administration. The Biden administration has used exaggerated claims of Chinese oppression of the Uyghurs as propaganda in an attempt to whip up a human rights justification for economic and military aggression against its rival. Biden, in contrast to former President Trump, has sought to enlist the support of the unions in an attempt to divert the anger of workers over deteriorating social conditions outward against workers in other countries. Bidens stridently nationalist Buy American campaign, mandating that government agencies use American-sourced products, is aimed at enlisting the support of the unions in the US war drive. This campaign runs hand-in-hand with the corporatist integration of the unions with management and the government in a drive to attack workers living standards. At the same time, the Biden administration has been relying upon the unions to suppress opposition among teachers and other sections of workers to the homicidal campaign to reopen schools and workplaces in the midst of the pandemic. Workers must reject the nationalist anti-foreigner and anti-immigrant demagogy of the unions and reach out their hand to their brother and sister workers overseas, appealing for a common fight against the multinational corporations. Autoworkers in particular have had a long experience with the results of the racist attempts by the UAW to scapegoat foreign workers over the loss of jobs. In 1982, a Chinese American draftsman, Vincent Chin, was brutally murdered in Highland Park, Michigan, by Chrysler foreman Ronald Ebens and his unemployed son, who had been whipped up by anti-Japanese demagogy promoted by the UAW. Ebens had wrongly assumed Chin was Japanese. The defense of jobs requires a globally coordinated fight by the working class against the irrational and outmoded capitalist profit system. Under capitalism, new labor-saving technologies are turned against workers and used to slash jobs, pile more work on the remaining workforce and shift production in search of cheaper labor. The alternative is for workers to mobilize independently of the pro-corporate trade unions, through the formation of rank-and-file factory and workplace committees. In opposition to the nationalist program of the unions, these committees will coordinate workers struggles across industries and borders in a common fight to defend jobs and decent working conditions for all. A family celebrates the Passover Seder with other family members joining via Zoom, April 8, 2020. (JTA) - The Darvick family did Jewish holidays by videoconference long before a pandemic forced them. "We call it Skypanukkah," Elliot Darvick told The New York Times in December 2011, when the family was featured in an article about celebrating Chanukah over Skype. So when Zoom seders suddenly became standard last year, the Darvicks were prepared. But this Passover, the Darvicks will be together again. By the time the holiday begins later this month, both Debra Darvick, 64, and her husband, Martin, 73, will have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as will one of their children. Thos... Mark Carney has warned that funds like those run by the disgraced manager Neil Woodford are built on a lie and could pose a threat to the global economy. The former governor of the Bank of England says funds holding assets that are hard to sell in a hurry while allowing investors to take their money out on demand are a mounting risk to the financial system. More than 20 trillion of assets are held in such funds. The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, was forced to step in last year due to problems in the market. Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned that funds like those run by disgraced manager Neil Woodford are built on a lie and could pose a threat to the global economy 'It is the Woodford phenomenon writ large,' Carney told the Daily Mail. He says global assets under management have grown from around 35 trillion a decade ago to around 65 trillion today, and points out that this accounted for all the increase in foreign lending to emerging market economies since the crisis. Carney argues that this is 'bringing welcome diversity to the financial system'. But he warns: 'However, more than 20 trillion of assets are held in funds that promise daily liquidity to investors despite investing in potentially illiquid underlying assets.' If investors rush to take their money out, it 'could prompt a destabilising rush for the exits'. Suspending withdrawals 'exacerbates the issue', he says. 'In other words, they [the funds] are built on the lie that markets always clear.' Although the risks have so far been contained, Carney said they have the 'potential to become systemic' if the funds' holdings of less liquid assets continues to grow. The Bank of England has said there should be a better match between how easy a fund's assets are to sell and how quickly investors can cash in their holdings. Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. ROME, MAR 19 - Italy's COVID-19 Rt reproduction number was steady at 1.16 in the latest weekly coronavirus monitoring report of the health ministry and the Higher Health Institute (ISS), the same as in last week's report, sources said on Friday ahead of the report's release. An Rt number over 1 indicates that the epidemic is expanding. The average nationwide Rt had been on an upward trend for many weeks, with infection rising with the spread of more contagious variants of COVID-19, above all the British one. The latest monitoring report said that pressure on the health service has increased sharply. It said that proportion of intensive-care beds occupied by COVID-19 patients rose to 36% in the period from March 12 to 18, up from 31% the previous week and well above the critical threshold of 30%. It said 13 of Italy's 21 regions/autonomous provinces were above the 30% mark, up from 11 in the last report. Furthermore, the incidence of cases in a week has risen to 264 for every 100,000 inhabitants from 225.64. As a result, the report said to impose the "maximum level of mitigation" in terms of restrictions aimed at preventing contagion. It said that the impact of the new variants meant it was necessary to "maintain the drastic reduction in physical interaction between people and in mobility". The government has tightened restrictions, with about half of the country currently classed as a high-contagion risk red zone and in lockdown. Tuscany looks likely to be classed as red next week given its latest contagion data. Calabria and Val d'Aosta risk being bumped up to red too. The report said 16 regions/autonomous provinces have an RT over 1. These include Campania, whose Rt at the bottom of its range is over 1.5, and Piedmont and Fruili Vevenzia Giulia, where it is over 1.25. The report said there were alert signals from all but six regions and two, Campania and Veneto, had multiple alert signals. (ANSA). Twenty two men arrested in recent weeks were connected to the banned Jemaah Islamiyah militant group - among them a convicted leader who was recruiting and training new members, Indonesian authorities said. The al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah carried out a string of past bombings in Indonesia, including the 2002 bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists including Australians. The group were banned by a court in 2008 and have been targeted by Indonesia's counterterrosim police with the support of Australia and the US. The men were flown on Thursday under the guard of Indonesia's elite counterterrorism squad from Surabaya, the capital of the East Java province, to a police detention center in Jakarta for further questioning. Footage showed them being led off the plane, their hands and legs cuffed and their faces masked. Police escort Usman bin Sef, also known as Fahim, a convicted leader of al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah extremist group in East Java province on Thursday, March 18 The 22 men were flown under the guard of Indonesia's elite counterterrorism squad from Surabaya to a police detention center in Jakarta for further questioning A dozen of them were arrested in different cities in the East Java province late last month. Counterterrorism police arrested another 10 early this month. Police also seized a pistol, knives, long swords, machetes and jihadist books, National Police spokesperson Rusdi Hartono said. He said the suspects conducted military-style training in East Java's Malang district and plotted to attack on-duty police. Mr Hartono said previously the suspects created a bunker for weapons and bomb-making and prepared a route to escape after carrying out their planned attacks. Among the suspects transferred was Usman bin Sef, also known as Fahim. The militants are believed to be connected to linked to the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah extremist group Police transferred suspected militants arrested in raids in the last few weeks, from East Java to the capital city for further questioning Fahim was a veteran fighter in Afghanistan who was sentenced to three and half years in jail in 2005 for harbouring Malaysian terror fugitive Noordin Top and for a plot to attack police, counterterrorism squad operation chief Aswin Siregar said. 'In the current operation, Fahim had established a training ground with a program to create a jihadist group to fight in Medina for next year,' Mr Siregar said. He did not elaborate on what the group was planning there. 'We will continue to hunt them down, there will be no place for JI in Indonesia.' The arrests came almost three months after authorities arrested 22 alleged JI members in Lampung province on Sumatra island, including JI's suspected military leader, Zulkarnaen, who had been wanted for more than 18 years East Java vice police chief Slamet Hadi Suprapto told reporters in Surabaya that the JI cell led by Fahim had recruited at least 50 new members in the province in the past five years. The arrests came almost three months after authorities arrested 22 alleged JI members in Lampung province on Sumatra island, including JI's suspected military leader, Zulkarnaen, who had been wanted for more than 18 years. Zulkarnaen was arrested in early December and also has been transferred to Jakarta for further investigation. In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed announced this week that the citys police would patrol predominantly Asian neighborhoods more frequently, following the killings of eight people at spas in Atlanta. Tuesdays events in Georgia have ratcheted up anxieties in the Asian American communities in the Bay Area, following a full year of crimes against community members, including a string of assaults of Asian American eldersmost recently, septuagenarian Pak Ho, who was robbed and killed near Lake Merritt last week. Advertisement Some (not all) of the video evidence of anti-Asian attacks in the Bay Area has featured Black perpetrators. I spoke with Claire Jean Kim, a professor of political science and Asian American studies at the University of California, Irvine, who has previously written a book about Black-Korean community relations in New York City and is finishing up a new one: Asian Americans in an Anti-Black World. I asked Kim to give some historical context for the Bay Area attacks and to critique how the media has been doing in covering the racial dimensions of these crimes. Advertisement Advertisement Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Rebecca Onion: When it comes to understanding the history of the overlap or interplay between Black and Asian American communities in the Bay Area, what are the important events people should know about? Advertisement Claire Jean Kim: Well, of course, its good to remember that both communities are diverseespecially Asian American communities in San Francisco, that consist of a lot of national origin groups, some people whove been there for generations and some who are recent immigrants. If we go back to the late 1800s, we see large numbers of Chinese immigrants coming to San Francisco. That was the original Chinatown. Then, following the exclusion of the Chinese in 1882, there were large numbers of Japanese immigrants coming into San Francisco. Both groups are really so concentrated in San Francisco, and in California, that the origins of the Asian American story are in San Francisco. 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. Asian American immigrants were subjected to various kinds of persecution, a lot of which are recorded in the constitutional law books you read in law school, because some things that white San Franciscans did to persecute the Chineseand the Japanese immigrants after themwere very creative! The groups were often segregatedthe Chinese kept in Chinatown, Japanese immigrants in what became Little Tokyoand kept out of white neighborhoods, often by racial covenants that also kept out Black people. Advertisement Advertisement A turning point was during World War II. Japanese Americans on the West Coast were sent to internment camps. And for the first time, San Francisco acquired a larger Black populationuntil World War II, the Black population in San Francisco was small, but during the war, because of the defense industries and the shipyards, there was enough work to draw Black workers from across other areas of the country, so the Black population really swelled. At that point something important happened, which is that they started doing public housing in San Francisco, and they segregated Black people in particular public housing projects, away from others. At the same time, Asian AmericansIll focus on Chinese and Japanese Americansstarted to see the barriers they used to face in moving into white neighborhoods start to fall. Part of this was the Cold War, since the United States was trying to present itself on the world stage, in its competition with the Soviet Union, as having solved its race problem, and one way to do that was to say, Oh, were letting Asian Americans into white neighborhoods. In San Francisco, examples might be the Richmond District and the Sunset District, which used to be all white and now have a plurality or maybe even a majority Asian American population. Advertisement Advertisement So there was a differentiation in treatment, in terms of residential segregation, which of course leads to differentiation in housing value and intergenerational wealth and educational equality. And Asian Americans began to see better occupational mobility. They were let into more jobs that used to be closed off to them, and remained closed to Black people. The Bay Area was a hot spot for student activism and Black Power activism in the 60s and 70s. How did the areas Asian American populations react, or participate, in those movements? There was an Asian American movement that emerged in the late 60s, and that was the first time people started using the term Asian American. A whole pan-ethnic racial identity emerged as a result of this movement. Advertisement The activists were very inspired by two things: the Vietnam Warthey understood imperialism in Asia in a different way than other Americans who were talking about it. And they were inspired by the Black Power movement. A lot of Americans dont know it, but many Asian American activist groups at the time were actually revolutionary socialist groups; some of them modeled themselves directly after the Black Panthers. The Red Guard, which started out in San Franciscos Chinatown, were sort of directly nurtured or mentored into being by the Black Panther Party, and had a 10-point platform that was almost the same as the Black Panthers. Some things were different, but if you look at the two documents side by side, you really start to see how much influence the Black Panthers had on the Asian American movement. Advertisement Advertisement An event to remember is the Third World Liberation Front strike, at San Francisco State and UC Berkeley. At both places, activists of different communities of color pushed for the foundation of ethnic studies at the schools, and there were really intense protests with the police using tear gas and violence and the students risking a lot, but they did eventually win! There were always tensions when Asian Americans worked in solidarity, in coalitions with other groups of color, because there was a sort of an elephant in the room, which was this recognized fact that Asian Americans were sort of doing better in American society than the other groups. More occupational mobility, more people in the middle class. What were the legacies of that activism, in the Bay Area? Advertisement One aftereffect of that activism is the founding of the field of Asian American studies. I think it also created a lot of race consciousness in a lot of Asian Americans who went on to other fields like law and politics and took some of the movement ideals along with them. If you look at Asian American advocacy groups like Asian Americans Advancing Justice or Asian Law Caucus, which is in the Bay Area, these groups were founded by people who came out of the movement. Advertisement Advertisement But when you look at the 70s and 80s, you start seeing the growth of mass incarceration, which of course disproportionately affects Black Americans. Its not that it doesnt affect Asian Americans or white people, but to a lesser degree. So thats another factor here. Advertisement And in California, specifically, Ive been looking in my work at the way affirmative action debates in the 1990s affected these relationships. Ive been writing about a lawsuit called Brian Ho v. San Francisco Unified School District, from 1994, brought by a number of Chinese American plaintiffs. This case was a precursor to the Harvard affirmative action case being reviewed by the Supreme Court now [Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College]. The Brian Ho case involved Lowell High School, which is a public magnet high schoolextremely prestigious and hard to get into, sent a lot of students to Ivy League schools. The argument was that Lowell High was discriminating against Asian Americans, because they had a formula they applied to try to have a certain number of students from different race or ethnic groups, and it ended up meaning that Chinese American students had to have higher admissions scores because so many applied. And Chinese American parents brought the lawsuit and settled with the school district. They removed that differential admission score system, and Black and Latinx enrollment in Lowell plummeted. Advertisement Advertisement I want to point out, because this is important, that actually the differential score system to get into Lowell was benefiting other groups of Asian Americans that werent that well represented. But the Chinese Americans who brought the suit called their group the Asian American Legal Foundation, because they wanted to make it look like they were fighting for all Asian Americans. Chinese American groups could be politically conservative; they might lean Republican, and they generally were not superrich, but middle-class, upper-middle-class, lawyers, accountants, people like that. The same kinds of groups now backing the suit against Harvard. Your first book was about Black-Korean conflict in New York City. If you were to make a comparison between the history of Asian American and Black community relations in the Bay Area versus other cities in the United States, what would that comparison look like? Advertisement One obvious difference is that the Asian American demographic is so much larger in the Bay Area. In San Francisco its 30 percent, or maybe even higher; a very large number of those people are Chinese American. So theres a greater consciousness, greater political power, and a history of persecution. That history really shapes the viewpoint, not just of Chinese Americans in the Bay Area, but of Asian Americans everywhere. What happened in San Francisco to the Chinese, and in California to the Chinese and Japanese, is imprinted on peoples brains. Advertisement I wanted to ask, when you look at the media coverage of violence against Asian Americans, especially maybe when it looks like the perpetrator was Black, how do you think the media is doing, handling it? Especially with a string of violent events like these, where the perpetrators have been both white and Black, it seems like the media is fairly unequipped to analyze the racial dynamics involved. Advertisement Ive talked to many reporters in recent weeks about the attacks on Asian Americans since COVID began. And its hard, because its not like there arent good journalists who mean well and are high-quality. But a lot of times, producing stories on quick news cycles, the media relies on accepted frameworks of thought, settled interpretations of things, to analyze events, and thats true when it comes to race as much as anything else. In this case, one of those settled ideas has to do with playing up Asian-Black conflicts. One of the perpetrators in these Bay Area attacks was caught on video, and was Black, and reporter after reporter was asking meare Black people going after Asians? These were Asian American reporters I was talking with. And I kept asking them, Whats the evidence? Are there other videos? There was a rush to judgment about these cases all being about Black people going after Asians, and when you think about the tendency in American society to criminalize Black people, its a problem to reach for that frame and apply it before the evidence warrants it. Advertisement Advertisement And if you use that frame, you make it an Asian-Black thing, youre focusing on the two groups and taking attention away from the larger structures of power in which theyre embeddednot just racial structures, but also capitalism. Think about the relationship between Korean merchants buying a liquor store in Compton, and their Black customers. This is about capitalism, the way it creates divisions between groups and deems certain people disposable. What we see in the United States are these periodic attacks on Asian Americans, always related to something else going on in the world. In this case its COVID. In the 1980s, it was U.S.-Japan trade relations. In the 1870s, it was a regional depression in the West and Southwest, and white workers turned against Chinese American workers. So theres always been some kind of larger economic, political cause for these upsurges in anti-Asian violence. I think thats different from what we see with anti-Black violence. Violence against Black people in this country is continuous, structural; violence against Asians is more periodic, contingent on events. Advertisement This is not to minimize what happens to Asian Americans! When you are harmed by an assailant because of anti-Asian racism, it doesnt matter to you whether the violence was contingent or continuous or whatever. Im not minimizing it. Clearly during COVID-19 something really alarming and troubling is happening. But I think its important, when looking at violence against Asian Americans, not to lose that context. When Asian Americans understandably feel fear and anger and sorrow about these attacks on our own communities, I think we also have to ask ourselves, Are we fighting for Black lives as hard as were fighting for our own? Its in moments like this that its really difficult to remember, because were afraid and upset. But to remember that we are advantaged, compared to Black people, is what it takes to be a good allyeven though it can be very hard, at times like these. But I think these are the moments when its the most important to do it. Advertisement Britain today saw Covid cases fall again, dropping by a quarter from last week to 4,802 positive tests in a day while deaths also dropped by 42 per cent to 101. Two other weekly studies, by the Office for National Statistics and the Covid Symptom Study, showed cases are still coming down significantly, and the country had its best ever performance in the vaccination drive on Thursday when it administered a massive 660,276 jabs including 528,260 people getting their first. But SAGE has warned that a resurgence of Covid in Europe could soon lead to a rise in infections in Britain, saying the country is at a 'more fragile point' than it was a few weeks ago. Cases are on the rise again in countries including France, Germany and Belgium and one of No10's top scientific advisers has warned that spikes on the continent tend to lead to a spike in Britain two to three weeks later without any obvious link to travel. What ties the two together isn't clear, they said, but ministers and officials in the UK must watch closely in the coming weeks to make sure infections don't take off again. SAGE today upgraded its estimate of the R rate - how fast the virus is spreading - in Britain, pushing it closer to one to a possible 0.9, meaning the outbreak is not shrinking as quickly as it was in February and late January. But SAGE cautioned the R rate is based on data too old to take into account the effects of reopening schools and experts say the rate is no longer a key measure of the country's outbreak because case increases don't have the same effect on hospital admissions or deaths - which will be the key warning signs in future - thanks to huge vaccination efforts. It is a promising sign that cases are still continuing to come down despite a huge increase in the number of people getting tested for Covid that came with schools reopening - there are now an average of 1.5million tests per day, up from 843,000 per weekday at the end of February. And positive data show that cases are continuing to come down in the UK, with the Office for National Statistics estimating the total number of people carrying the virus in England is down 20 per cent in a week, to 160,200. This is the equivalent of one in 340 people. For comparison, as many as one in 50 people were infected during the peak of the crisis in January. The ONS report said cases were still clearly coming down in in the West Midlands, East of England, South West and London, but the decline may have stopped in other areas. And the Covid Symptom Study, run by ZOE and King's College London, estimated there are now around 3,200 people becoming ill every day across the country down nearly a quarter from the 4,200 per day last week. But the speed at which the outbreak is shrinking has slowed, with the previous week seeing cases fall by a third. Experts behind the symptom-tracking app blamed the levelling off on schools reopening. Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist leading the study, said the levelling off was expected and insisted there was 'no reason to worry'. It is a promising sign that cases are still continuing to come down despite a huge increase in the number of people getting tested for Covid that came with schools reopening - there are now an average of 1.5million tests per day, up from 843,000 per weekday at the end of February The number of people believed to be infected with coronavirus in England continues to tumble and is now at just 160,200, according to the Office for National Statistics. This equates to just three in every 1,000 people The Covid Symptom Study, run by ZOE and King's College London , estimated there are now around 4,470 people becoming ill every day down nearly a fifth from the 5,494 figure last week WHAT IS THE R RATE IN MY ENGLISH REGION? Region UK England ----- East of England London Midlands North East & Yorkshire North West South East South West R rate (% change) 0.6 to 0.9 (-6% to -3%) 0.7 to 0.9 (-6% to -2%) ----- 0.6 to 0.9 (-7% to -4%) 0.6 to 0.9 (-7% to -3%) 0.6 to 0.9 (-7% to -3%) 0.7 to 0.9 (-6% to -2%) 0.7 to 0.9 (-6% to -2%) 0.7 to 0.9 (-6% to -3%) 0.6 to 0.9 (-8% to -3%) These figures were calculated by top experts on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) using reams of data including the latest hospitalisations, deaths, and cases identified up to March 15. Advertisement SAGE estimated Britain's overall R rate was between 0.6 and 0.9 - meaning every ten people with the virus infect six to nine others. But this was up slightly on last week, when the rate was between 0.6 and 0.8. It was crucial for the R value to stay below one, which means that not everyone who has the virus is passing it on, ensuring the second wave continues to shrink. The R rate was below one in every region of England. But every area was also estimated to have a value that could be as high as 0.9, above the levels last week and suggesting the outbreak's rate of decline had slowed. The rate was lowest - between 0.6 and 0.9 - in the East of England, London, the Midlands and the South West. And rate was highest - between 0.7 and 0.9 - in the North East and Yorkshire, the North West and the South East. Professor Spector said scientists had expected the decline in infections would slow, and warned that it could begin to accelerate again in the future. He said: 'After steady falls at the beginning of the week, we've seen cases levelling off in recent days, especially in Scotland, Wales and the North-East of England. 'This is to be expected after reopening schools across the country and is no reason to worry. 'We're keeping a close eye on cases in school-aged children and so far there's nothing alarming about the data. I believe we'll see case numbers holding steady for a little while before cases drop again.' Professor James Naismith, a biologist at research centre the Rosalind Franklin Institute in Oxford, said the data showed lockdown had saved 'thousands of lives'. 'Today's ONS numbers bring reassurance that for the UK as a whole the prevalence of the virus has continued to decline (to around three per 1,000 people),' he said. 'A similar story is told by the national R numbers. The lockdown continues to be effective at reducing infection. Germany warns of 'exponential' rise in Covid cases German Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering delaying lockdown lifting amid a spike in cases. Merkel and the state leaders are due to meet again on Monday to discuss extending a lockdown that has been in place since mid-December, as well as a reversal of plans to gradually re-open the economy. Rising incidence figures meant Germany would have to make use of its 'emergency brake,' a fail-safe under which restrictions will be reintroduced if an area registers more than 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days. 'The situation is becoming very difficult,' Merkel said. 'We have exponential growth ... So it is good we had agreed on an emergency brake and unfortunately we will have to make use of this emergency brake.' Advertisement 'Broken down, the ONS numbers by different parts of the UK tell slightly different stories. Of note is prevalence in Scotland may have increased but has certainly not decreased. Within England, East Midlands may also have shown a small uptick. The so called Kent variant is now dominant in UK.' Today's ONS report, based on random swab tests of 160,000 people in the week ending March 13, predicted that 0.29 per cent of people would test positive for coronavirus if the whole country were tested. The rate of infection was lower in Wales (0.23 per cent) but higher in Scotland (0.37 per cent) and Northern Ireland (0.32 per cent). In England's regions the report said that cases were falling in most places but potentially flat or rising in others. The ONS said: 'The percentage of people testing positive has decreased in the West Midlands, East of England, South West and London in the week ending 13 March 2021. 'The trend is uncertain for the rest of the regions, although, there may be early signs of an increase for the East Midlands. Caution should be taken in over-interpreting any small movements in the latest trend.' Although there was concern some regions might be seeing cases increase, none of them had a rate of infection higher than 0.4 per cent - one in 250 people. The positivity rate was 0.4 per cent in East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber and the North East; 0.3 per cent in the South East, North West and West Midlands; and 0.2 per cent in London, the South West and East of England. The Covid Symptom Study estimates one in 823 people suffered from symptoms last week, with 3,226 people becoming ill per day in England, compared to 648 in Scotland, 172 in Northern Ireland and 424 in Wales. Rates were lowest in the South West of England, with 252 registering symptoms per day, and the East of England, where just 297 became ill each day Just one in 1,369 school-aged children developed Covid symptoms, the data suggested. The figures are based on over a million app users reporting their symptoms and so cannot take into account people who get the virus but don't have symptoms. It also doesn't include people in hospitals or care homes. Rates were lowest in the South West of England, with 252 people developing symptoms per day, and the East of England, where just 297 became ill each day. They were highest in the Yorkshire and the Humber (602) and London (549), falling just 5.5 per cent from 581 in the previous week. The ZOE study also looked at the risk of blood clots in its users and found no link to Covid vaccines, after the European Medicines Agency yesterday confirmed it has found no evidence linking the AstraZeneca jab to a rare clot in the brain. Boris Johnson last night revealed he will get the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine today as he attempted to calm fears about the jab's link to the rare type of blood clot. The Prime Minister insisted it was 'so important' that people get their injection as soon as they are invited, adding that the British-made vaccine was 'safe and effective'. He said it was 'reasonable' for people to want reassurance on vaccines, but pointed to findings from drug regulators in Britain and Europe which today confirmed the benefits of the jabs 'far outweigh any risks'. Mr Johnson told last night's Downing Street press conference: 'It's so important that we all get our jabs as soon as our turn comes - and as it happens, I'm getting mine tomorrow... The Oxford jab is safe, the Pfizer jab is safe, what isn't safe is catching Covid.' More than a dozen EU countries including France, Germany, Spain and Italy had suspended the use of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine after reports of some people suffering blood clots after being vaccinated. The chief of Britain's medical regulator, Dr June Raine, who joined the PM at the podium last night, said there was no evidence the vaccine is behind the cases. After the EMA's announcement a raft of European countries said they would soon resume vaccinations, including Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia and Bulgaria. However, despite the report, both Sweden and Norway have decided to keep a ban on the jab in place for a few more days. Public Health England data showed Covid cases shrunk in every region of England except Yorkshire last week. But the positivity rate - one of the best ways of tracking the size of the outbreak when swabbing increases - dropped in all regions Their report also revealed that Covid infection rates were still falling among all age groups with a marked decrease among the over-80s, which have already received their first dose of the Covid vaccine The Nigerian government on Thursday said the country currently has more than 10 million out-of-school children, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Minister of State for Education Chukuemeka Nwajiuba described the current situation affecting the educational system in the country as one that has "left much to be desired". "With an estimated 10,193,918 children out-of-school, Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa. For us to address these challenges adequately, therefore, we must strengthen the quality of basic education in Nigeria by confronting head-on those factors that deny our children access to basic education," Nwajiuba said at the launch of the Better Education Service Delivery For All (BESDA), a scheme aimed at attracting children to schools in the country. The program is also aimed at increasing equitable access for out-of-school children, improve literacy and strengthen accountability for results at the basic education level across the country. This BESDA program has been launched in 17 states across Nigeria, with the selection of states based on the prevalence of the number of out-of-school children in the country, the minister said. "You will agree with me that there is nothing to cheer about if a single child is out of school, instead of being in the classroom learning," Nwajiuba noted. He said it is in that regard that the federal government has been ensuring that the out-of-school children are back to school and learning. "Learning is not only a moral and legal obligation but also a productive investment that will guarantee the future of our children and ensure that their rights are protected as enshrined in the Child's Right Act of 2003," he added. Gandhinagar: Gujarat's Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani was on Friday suspended from the state Assembly for a day for "indiscipline" after he raised the issue of a Dalit man's murder without the Speaker's permission. He was evicted from the House on the orders of Speaker Rajendra Trivedi over the issue. Mevani had been evicted from the Assembly for the same reason on Thursday as well. As soon as the Question Hour came to an end, Mevani, who represents the Vadgam Assembly constituency, suddenly raised a poster that carried the picture of the Dalit man killed on March 2 by a mob allegedly in the presence of a policeman. The poster read: "Why you are not arresting the culprits?" He was referring to the incident, in which one Amrabhai Boricha (50), a resident of Sanodar in Ghogha taluka of Bhavnagar, was allegedly killed in the presence of a local police sub inspector. As Mevani's mic was turned off, he started shouting and asked why the BJP government in the state has not arrested the PSI yet. He asked the government to clarify if the Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja was related to the PSI. The speaker then asked Mevani not to indulge in "indiscipline" and sit down. Trivedi told the MLA that he should first seek permission from him if he wanted to raise any issue. When Mevani did not sit down despite repeated requests, Trivedi asked the sergeants to take the MLA out of the House. Trivedi also suspended the MLA for the day for "indiscipline". Mevani was then escorted out by the sergeants without using much force. Live TV SACRAMENTO California high school students soon will be able to learn about the contributions and oppression of people of color in America under a new ethnic studies curriculum approved Thursday by the state Board of Education. The course guidelines are the nations first statewide ethnic studies curriculum for public school students. It will initially be an elective course, but could eventually become a high school graduation requirement. But the milestone was overshadowed by a bitter split among educators and activist groups over the courses content. Much of the division focused on the state Department of Educations decision to delete references to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which appeared in an earlier draft. Before Thursdays unanimous vote, several dozen civil-rights leaders and educators urged the board not to delay. They said a rise in white nationalism and racially motivated violence demonstrated the need for the course. We cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good, said Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a professor emeritus of Africana studies at San Diego State University. You have to take the first step. The curriculum is designed to teach students about the history, culture and struggles of racial and ethnic groups, including discussions of institutionalized systems of advantage and the causes of racism and other forms of bigotry. It focuses on four historically marginalized groups: African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and Native Americans. The guidelines also include supplemental lessons on Jews, Armenians and Sikhs. California set out to write an ethnic studies curriculum in 2018. But the process was often embroiled in controversy, as activists debated what groups and definitions of oppression should be included. The state received more than 81,000 public comments. On Thursday, the Board of Education heard nearly four hours of public remarks. Dozens of people protested what they called the erasure of Palestinians and other changes they said whitewashed content about Arab Americans. Lara Kiswani, executive director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center in San Francisco, said the state had allowed white, right-wing interest groups to shape the guidelines. Opposition to the guidelines erupted when the first draft was released in summer 2019. Some Jewish groups and state legislators said the draft evoked anti-Semitic stereotypes and needlessly dwelt on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Department of Education eventually removed all references to the conflict and added lessons about Jewish people and anti-Semitism. On Thursday, many Jewish advocacy groups and parents said the course would be incomplete if discussions of white supremacy didnt include mention of anti-Jewish bigotry. Leaders of the state Legislative Jewish Caucus said the curriculum is a win for everyone who fought to remove bigoted and discriminatory content about Jews and Israel. State officials said the curriculum is not a mandate of what districts must teach. Instead, it will serve as a guide for districts, which have the freedom to adapt the course. Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner NCP leader slams Centre, calls it 'Kumbhakarna sarkar' India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Mumbai, Mar 19: Maharashtra minister Jayant Patil took a dig at the Centre on the 'World Sleep Day' on Friday, asking how to wake up the "Kumbhakarna government" to issues like farmers' stir, fuel price rise and job losses. The state NCP chief also alleged that more than 300 farmers have died in the ongoing protest against the three new central farm laws. "More than 300 farmers have lost their lives in the protest. Thousands of youngsters are losing jobs every day. Petrol, diesel, LPG rates are the highest ever and the financial condition of country is in the ICU. How to wake up the Kumbhakarna sarkar? #WorldSleepDay," Patil, whos Water Resources Minister, asked on Twitter. Bengal Polls: We don't want BJP, Modi, Duryodhan in Bengal, says Mamata Kumbhakarna, younger brother of antagonist Ravana in the epic Ramayana, is a character who sleeps for six months a year. Hundreds of farmers have been camping at Delhi's borders since November last year with a demand that the Centre repeal the three contentious farm laws and make a new one that would ensure a legal guarantee on the minimum selling price. According to a tweet published by Philippine Navy on March 19, 2021, the BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151), Jose Rizal-class of guided-missile frigates, formally commissioned. According to a tweet published by Philippine Navy on March 19, 2021, the BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151), Jose Rizal-class of guided-missile frigates, formally commissioned. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151), Jose Rizal-class of guided-missile frigates (Picture source: Twitter account of Philippine Navy) The commissioning ceremony was held at Pier 13, South Harbor, Manila at 8:30 a.m. with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana as guest-of-honor and speaker. Jose Rizal-class frigates are powered by four MTU-STX 12V2000-M41B diesel generators, each producing around 650 kW. The ship can sail at a maximum speed of 25 kn (46.3 kph; 28.8 mph) with a maximum cruising range of 4500 nmi (8,334 km) and an endurance of 30 days. It can accommodate up yo 110 people with a crew 65 sailors. Jose Rizal-class frigates are armed with launchers one OTO Melara 76 mm Super Rapid gun, one ASELSAN SMASH 30mm gun, four S&T Motiv K6 .50 cal 12.7mm machine guns, one Close-in weapon system (FFBNW), four LIGNex1 SSM-700K C-Star anti-ship missiles on twin canisters, two SEA triple torpedo tubes for K745 Blue Shark torpedo, two MBDA Mistral Simbad-RC twin launchers and 8-cell Vertical Launching System (FFBNW). The Jose Rizal-class frigates are also equipped with a flight deck and an enclosed hangar facility to accommodate one AW159 Wildcat naval helicopter. The AW159 Wildcat is a British military helicopter manufactured by AgustaWestland. It is an improved version of the Westland Super Lynx designed to serve in the battlefield utility, search and rescue, and anti-surface warfare roles. Labour today demanded a formal investigation after it was claimed David Cameron unsuccessfully lobbied the Government to increase a stricken financial firm's access to coronavirus loan schemes. The former prime minister allegedly intervened on behalf of Greensill Capital, a company he became an adviser of back in 2018. The Financial Times said the lobbying took place last year as the Government implemented various financial support initiatives for businesses struggling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Cameron is said to have wanted Greensill to be given a bigger roll in the programmes. The firm later collapsed, filing for administration earlier this month. The claims will inevitably reignite scrutiny of the so-called 'revolving door' between Whitehall and the private sector. Labour's shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds, said the claims 'raise extremely serious questions' and 'the Government must leave no stone unturned with a full and thorough investigation'. David Cameron allegedly unsuccessfully lobbied the Government on behalf of the Greensill Capital firm The FT said that public records showed Greensill representatives had 10 virtual meetings between March and June last year with senior Treasury officials. But the newspaper said industry and Whitehall sources had revealed that Mr Cameron had also personally intervened. The Treasury was said to have been reluctant to include the firm in the Covid Corporate Financing Facility scheme run by the Bank of England. Mr Cameron reportedly contacted the Treasury and Number 10 via personal email and at least one phone call. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is claimed to have asked Treasury officials to look again at including the firm. The firm was ultimately not included while another request to be allowed to offer bigger loans under the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme was also turned down. The FT said Mr Cameron and his spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. MailOnline has contacted the former PM's spokesman seeking comment. A Treasury spokesman said: 'Treasury officials regularly meet with stakeholders to discuss our economic response to Covid. 'The meetings in question were primarily about broadening the scope of CCFF to enable access for providers of supply chain finance, which following a call for evidence and discussions with several other firms within the sector we decided against and informed the businesses concerned.' Ms Dodds said: 'These revelations raise extremely serious questions about the Chancellor's priorities in the middle of a pandemic. The Government must leave no stone unturned with a full and thorough investigation into this. 'Taxpayers and businesses deserve answers about why it appears Greensill was given so much access to the Treasury at a time when the Chancellor was refusing to engage with groups representing the millions of people he excluded from wage support. The Chancellor must urgently set the record straight.' For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Amid rising cases of Covid-19 in Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday announced a two-hour extension in the night curfew in the state's nine worst-affected districts. Singh said the coronavirus situation in the state is critical and warned people of stringent measures if they don't follow COVID appropriate behaviour. "I won't be easy on the people. People may not like it, but it's my duty," the chief minister said. He expressed hope that all Punjabis will cooperate and adhere to the restrictions. "For God's sake, save the lives of Punjabis," he urged the residents of the state. The night curfew will now be in place from 9 pm to 5 am, instead of 11 pm to 5 am, in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Rupnagar. All these districts have been reporting more than 100 cases everyday. The announcement came after 2,039 new cases and 35 more fatalities were reported in the state on Wednesday. Ludhiana had reported 233 cases, Jalandhar 277, Patiala 203, Mohali 222, Amritsar 178, Gurdaspur 112, Hoshiarpur 191, Kapurthala 157 and Rupnagar 113. Several stringent measures, including restrictions on gatherings, will be announced after discussions with the state government's expert COVID team over the next couple of days, the chief minister said while addressing a press conference to mark the completion of four years of his government. "Whether these will include restrictions on political gatherings is also something that will be decided as per the medical expert team's advice," he added. Also read: COVID-19 tests cross 23 crore-mark in India Chinese fishing boats abandoned in Phuket catch fire PHUKET: Five Chinese-flagged commercial fishing boats left abandoned in Phuket more than 10 years ago caught fire while moored off Laem Nga Cape in Rassada, north of Phuket Town, yesterday (Mar 18). marinecrime By Eakkapop Thongtub Friday 19 March 2021, 09:38AM Rassada firefighters were called to the scene at about 10am. The boats damaged by the fire together were identified as the Yue Xia Yu 90023, and four boats named Zhanyuan Yu with the suffixes 829, 814, 815 and 811, Two of the boats suffered damage of about 50%, while the other three were damaged only 20%, officers reported. The fire did not result in any oil spill, officials confirmed. Nachaphong Pranit, Director of Phang Nga Marine Department office, and who is also currently serving as Acting Director of the Phuket Marine Department office, explained that all five boats were abandoned in the fishing port area more than 10 years ago. The Marine Department has filed a formal complaint to press charges against the owners of the boats for illegally entering Thai waters, Mr Nachaphong said. However, despite querying relevant agencies such as Customs, Immigration, port control authorities, among others, Phuket City Police have been unable to identify the owners of the boats, he added. None of them have information about the ships, but Phuket Customs House informed us that they found a report about the Zhanyuan Yu 814 ship which confirmed it is a Chinese-registered ship, he said. If the police do learn who the owner of the ships are, they can continue with their investigation, Mr Nachaphong said. At this stage, the Marine Department is filing a request for the budget to have the ships destroyed, he concluded. Dancehall singjay Dexta Daps pulled out all the stops for the Call Me If (Remix), paying homage to the Culture while leaving the ladies in their feels. The WiFi deejay recruited the original Ganga Lee himself, Louie Culture, whose 1992 hit spawned the infectious hook, but he also caught flak from some fans for tapping his international connections with a Tory Lanez feature on the remix. The remake is the second single from Dexta Daps forthcoming VENT Deluxe Album, following the projects initial release in July 2020. Singles such as Breaking News and Twinkle were in heavy rotation last year, but none topped the viral quality of Call Me If, which one shrewd Twitter user called Baby Shark for women. The song sparked endless memes and a #CallMeIf Instagram challenge that had men, women, musicians and even Konshens showing out for the bawdy breakout hit. The frenzy started all over again when the Dappa posted the unexpected upgrade on IG Thursday night. The song is currently Top 3 Trending in YouTube Jamaica, with Dancehall stars Jafrass and Tarrus Riley already calling it badness. The four-minute remix fuses each artists dexterous flow seamlessly, and guest vocals from Dancehalls classic era syncs well with the crossover flair. Director Chris Moreno whos previously worked with Doja Cat and Fabolous created a spotless showcase of video vixens and link-up vibes. Fire, lightning and sheer cascading curtains form the backdrops as scenes alternate between each artist in his element. Louie Culture over-delivered with his revved-up register, spitting some of his old bars and showing the youngsters he can more than keep up. He tackles the beat almost better than the Owner deejay, cleverly playing into the antics as he raps, Wah dat me ah see inna di sky a fly pass? before the hook drops: fling di ds away. Louie told DancehallMag earlier this year, that he flew to Miami to shoot the video. It was a great vibes, like a movie. They shot the video at a big soundstage, is a major ting gwaan, the people ah go love this one, he said. It is great when a young artiste samples your work, he added. Tory Lanez has been weaving through legal woes but had no issue dropping a few law enforcement-inspired lines. She waan me cuff like di fn police/ She ah beg mi fi f har please/ Mi nuh touch or tease, if yuh waan good by come fk mi/ Mi ting cost money but fi you it come free, he raps. At 150K views and counting, some fans are here for the bodied verses, Torys on-point patois and the salute to Dancehalls influence. Yow my ratings for dexta gone through the roof for this link up with Louie n Louie killed his verse so simple without going raw he maintained his Rasta principles overall this is fire , while another wrote, Ladies dem anthem. Nice collaboration Dexta Daps Di gyal dem husband. One fan sensing dangerous waters ahead of this new release pleaded with the singjay, Dexta Im trying to make it to 2021 with a flat belly yk . However, other fans called out Lanezs inclusion in the remix, citing his alleged shooting of rapper Megan Thee Stallion last year. Dex how Meg a fan of yours and you go do a song wit the man who shoot her? said one fan, who alluded to the fact that Meg had listed Daps Bring It To The Owner in her Teen Vogue Playlist of Her Life last year. Same Tory that shot a black woman? Yikes, said another. I dont really know if this is really the right time to be putting Tory on a remix, another added. Of all of the people Dexta Daps could have picked to do the Call Me If remix he chose Tory Lanez Im so glad hes literally added nothing to it. Ugh, so annoying. Even Id prefer a Chris brown before Id go for Tory Lanez#NewMusicFriday LORNA (@lo_zipporah) March 19, 2021 Dexta daps decided to do call me if remix with Tory lanez? Beard Admirer (@Admirerchik) March 19, 2021 Why did Dexta Daps do the remix with Tory Lanez of all people cha Jade Keshia Gordon (@jkgphotography) March 19, 2021 Dexta Daps has featured Tory Lanez on the remix of Call me if pic.twitter.com/qhq7VWYrg3 Annisha (@annisha_maraj) March 19, 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. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close NEW YORK, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BrandTotal , the brand marketing analytics company providing social media competitive intelligence to brands and organizations, today released the findings of industry reports for the QSR , Consumer Electronics and Furniture industries, detailing the brands in each category that are leading in digital and social share of voice (SOV) and share of topic within each respective industry. Through multiple intelligence layers, such as consumer sentiment, attitude, engagement, competitive spend and impressions, dark vs organic ads, SOV, share of topic, and a variety of additional filters, BrandTotal's findings provide visibility, contextual intelligence, and insight into performance of brands in the competitive social landscape. The recently unveiled industry snapshots reveal competitive digital advertising insights, allowing brands to influence their own campaign strategies by having direct access into competitor benchmarks, measurement, and overall advertising and marketing trends. A full 360-degree picture of brand analytics, impact and performance provides the ability to make intelligent ROI-driven marketing decisions based on real time data and contextual intelligence. "Brands use the industry snapshots and BrandTotal's platform to arm their media, creative and consumer insights teams with social competitive intelligence and proprietary brand analytics." said Noam Harel, EVP Marketing of Brandtotal. "That's why BrandTotal is the industry's most trusted and robust brand intelligence platform. You can measure creative ad performance, plan your next product launch, optimize message/market fit, and adjust your digital and social strategy for greater advertising ROI and brand impact with consumers, all while benchmarking advertising performance and consumer interaction against competitors in real time." The reports include data pulled from November 6, 2020 February 3, 2021. Key insights from the reports include: QSR: Wendy's came out on top with 27% digital and social share of voice over Arby's which had previously held the lead. Instagram was the dominant channel for paid media advertising in the category. The one notable exception is McDonald's, which put the majority of its paid media efforts into YouTube. The most successful social media messages in the QSR space embraced humor and popular culture to build brand affinity, with a tone that often differs from that used in media efforts. Consumer Electronics: Dell was the category leader within the space with 47% SOV across all social channels. The Dell brand led in digital and social SOV on Facebook and Instagram, while Lenovo had a dominant impression share on Twitter and YouTube. HP had the strongest presence of all brands on LinkedIn. Dell and Lenovo found a niche within the gaming community, with large volumes of paid impressions speaking directly to these audiences, while HP's messaging was more geared toward a business audience than most other brands in the category. The gaming audience is receiving growing attention in the consumer electronics space, with more brands speaking to these audiences directly. Content speaking to gamers tends to drive high engagement and sentiment. Furniture: Wayfair was the dominant player with nearly half (48%) of the digital SOV. Crate & Barrel, IKEA, and Joybird had near-equal shares while West Elm trailed at 9%. Instagram was the most dominant channel in the furniture space while YouTube presents a potential whitespace opportunity. That's because relatively few brands are running advertising on the channel in high volumes. Brick-and-mortar brands tend to lean into YouTube more than social-first brands. Brick-and-mortar retailers may need to go toe-to-toe with digitally native brands that are inundating consumers with conversion ads. A greater emphasis on lower-funnel creatives may be needed with the rise of D2C and social commerce. "With access to the right data, marketers in any industry can streamline decision making and ad spending, drawing on short and long term analysis of what works for their competitors," said Alon Leibovich, co-founder and CEO of BrandTotal. "By expanding insights into brand analytics beyond a narrow lens of their own one-dimensional data, marketers can expand their capabilities to retain and attract new customers, and deliver meaningful ads and messaging to consumers who will appreciate it." BrandTotal's Industry Snapshots reports can be downloaded and accessed here . To learn more about BrandTotal and the company's social competitive intelligence and brand analytics capabilities, please visit https://www.brandtotal.com/about . About BrandTotal: BrandTotal is a leading social competitive intelligence and brand analytics platform, enabling brand marketers to make decisions based on data, not feelings. BrandTotal was founded in 2016 and serves customers in North America, Europe, and Israel. Headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco and Israel, BrandTotal's customers range from well-established Fortune 500 brands to the fastest-growing direct-to-consumer challenger brands. The company is funded by world-class VC firms INCapital Ventures, Flint Capital, NHN Investment, One Way Ventures, FJ Labs, Glilot Capital Partners, and Keshet Dick Clark Productions along with early support from Microsoft Accelerator and Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator. SOURCE BrandTotal Related Links https://www.brandtotal.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. NEWS FLASH Croatia Airlines has selected RateGain to gather vital pricing insights and competitive intelligence data using its airfare price intelligence solution. With Croatia emerging as popular among international tourists in the last decade and looking to expand its destination network after the pandemic, the pricing team at Croatia wanted to stay abreast with the changing market conditions and keeping a close watch on competition to be the first choice of every passenger traveling from or to Croatia, RateGain said. The company will provide the team with a single screen, scalable visualisations to track market position easily, and personalisation to help get real-time insights. Commenting on the partnership, Kresimir Mlinar, Croatia Airlines Director for Network and Revenue Management, said, "To remain the airline of choice for all travellers in Croatia, we must have an accurate understanding of fares that are offered and available to customers across all digital platforms. AirGain, with its easy to use user interface gives us the required exhaustive and real-time insights about our market and competition thus helping us take data-backed decisions to boost profits and plan for growth". Most known cases of COVID-19 in pregnant women have been in the third trimester of pregnancy, yet it is in the second trimester that the immune system of the mother is significantly less active.Professor Evgeny Nikolaev, Dr. Alexey Kononikhin and Dr. Alexander Brzhozovskiy of Skoltech and their colleagues in the consortium report the case of a healthy 27-year-old woman who got moderately sick with COVID-19 during the 21st week of her pregnancy.After two weeks of illness when the patient had already tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 and had no symptoms, an ultrasound scan detected severe abnormalities with the fetus, including growth restriction and impaired blood flow in the umbilical artery.A premature boy was born via cesarean section two weeks later and died after a day and a half in NICU. The patient had no previous risk factors of severe neonatal pathology, and the pregnancy had developed normally until COVID-19.The child tested positive for COVID-19 IgG antibodies, and a PCR test on the placenta and umbilical cord blood was positive for three SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-like genes."The results of independent polymerase chain reaction (PCR), mass spectrometry and immunohistochemistry analyses of placenta tissue, umbilical cord blood and child blood jointly indicated vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from mother to the fetus, which we conclude to be the major cause for the development of maternal vascular malperfusion in the studied case," the paper notes.The results also present the first confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 proteins in infected placenta by proteomics and confirm the potential of mass-spectrometry approaches for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in biological fluids and tissues."The mass spectrometry based method of virus detection used in this study was developed at Skoltech last year. In this method, the S- and N-proteins of the virus are unambiguously detected.This approach provides 100%-selectivity for virus detection, making mass spectrometry the gold standard for COVID diagnostics. The method can be used without any modification for detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with any mutations," Professor Nikolaev says."The studied case clearly showed that transplacental transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection is possible not only in the last trimester of pregnancy, but also in earlier stages of pregnancy. Transplacental transmission can cause the inflammation of placenta and neonatal viremia with the damage of various organs and systems," the authors conclude.Source: Eurekalert Married At First Sight producers decided to shake things up this season by getting the couples to move into an apartment together before attending their first commitment ceremony. And after filming last year's series at the Skye Suites in Sydney, Daily Mail Australia can reveal producers were so happy with the hotel's five-star offerings they decided to return. Located on Kent Street in the CBD, each deluxe apartment comes in with a $250-a-night price tag. Luxury digs! Married At First Sight producers decided to shake things up this season by getting the couples to move into an apartment together before attending their first commitment ceremony. Pictured: Jake Edwards and Rebecca Zemek The couples checked into the serviced apartments in September, and remained there until the final vows were filmed in December - unless, of course, they'd already left the experiment by then. Their temporary new home at the premium boutique hotel features heavily in the program as viewers follow each couple in their quest to find everlasting love. The complex offers a 24-hour concierge service, five-star fitness centre and swimming pool, and plenty of local amenities. Accommodation: After filming last year's season at the Skye Suites in Sydney, Daily Mail Australia can reveal producers were so happy with the hotel's five-star offerings they decided to return Late nights: During filming, cast members would host parties in their rooms after producers and camera crews had finished for the day Each self-catered room comes with its own kitchen, lounge and balcony. It also has an underground car park and entrance, ensuring privacy from paparazzi. When they weren't required on set, the participants would often go shopping in the city or relax in one of several nearby cafes. Modern touches: Each self-catered room comes with its own kitchen, lounge and balcony How convenient! The complex offers a 24-hour concierge service, five-star fitness centre and swimming pool and plenty of local amenities Daily Mail Australia photographed both this season's original couples and intruders all checking into the luxury accommodation. On November 20, intruder bride Georgia Fairweather was pictured showing off wealth as she carried a $4050 Louis Vuitton red and yellow handbag outside the hotel. Previous seasons of the show were based at the Meriton Suites North Sydney. New home: The couples were photographed moving into the SKYE Suites Sydney in September, and remained there until the final vows were filmed in December Return to a full ceasefire in Donbas was discussed at a meeting of advisers to the leaders of the Normandy format countries via a video conference. On Thursday, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak took part in a meeting of political advisers to the leaders of the Normandy format countries via a video conference, the President's press service informs. At the beginning of the meeting, Yermak proposed to adopt a joint statement at the Normandy Four level to return to the regime of the full and comprehensive ceasefire in Donbas, which was established on July 27, 2020. "Ukraine is interested in returning to the ceasefire regime like no one else because the ceasefire violations kill Ukrainian military and civilians on Ukrainian land," he said. The Head of the Office of the President also proposed to convene a meeting of the Security Working Group of the Trilateral Contact Group on March 19 to receive concrete confirmation of the readiness of the parties to ensure a ceasefire in Donbas. Yermak thanked the representatives of France and Germany for their constructive position and willingness to assist in ensuring compliance with the ceasefire. As reported, head of the Ukrainian delegation to TCG Leonid Kravchuk said that political advisers to the leaders of the Normandy format were working to organize a meeting of leaders of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia in April. ol Michael Barrymore's friend and ex-agent has been spoken to by police investigating the murder of Stuart Lubbock whose ex-wife is praying he finally gets justice after his rape and murder in 2001. Mike Browne said Essex Police detectives visited his home on Wednesday - shortly after a man, 50, was held in Cheshire in connection with Stuart's death. He told the Mirror: 'They just really wanted to clarify if I was aware of anything coming to light over the last 20 years. Of course, my honest answer was believe me, if anything had done, you would have been made aware of it'. Mr Browne had been called to Mr Barrymore's mansion in Roydon, Essex, at just after 6am as paramedics battled to save Mr Lubbock, 31, who was found unconsciousness floating in the swimming pool. Barrymore fled as police arrived. He later apologised, saying he 'panicked'. Today Stuart Lubbock's ex-wife Sue Homan, 47, spoke of her hope that police are closing in on his killer. The couple were married young but the relationship broke down before he died, leaving them both heartbroken. She told The Sun: 'The police say he was raped and murdered with the killer still at large. You cannot move on with your life until you know the truth. However, finally there is light at the end of the tunnel. We're hopeful of getting justice for Stuart.' Essex Police Superintendent Lucy Morris said that the suspect, who has not been named, was held in Cheshire after new evidence came in following the offer of a 40,000 reward when the Channel 4 documentary Barrymore: Body In The Pool was released last year. The man was released on bail this evening, pending further enquiries. Mr Barrymore, 68, has yet to be spoken to by police but is 'fully committed' to uncovering the truth about the death of Stuart at his mansion in 2001, after 'significant new information' led to the arrest of the suspect, 50. Michael Barrymore, 68, (pictured walking his dog with a friend in West London last week) was one of Britain's best known stars and has always denied involvement in the death as a 50-year-old man was arrested in connection with Stuart Lubbock's murder Stuart Lubbock's ex-wife Sue Homan, 47, (pictured together on their wedding day) spoke of her hope that police are closing in on his killer and said: 'Finally there is light at the end of the tunnel. We're hopeful of getting justice for Stuart.' Mr Lubbock, 31, had been attending a party at Barrymore's luxury home in the Essex village of Roydon with eight other people on March 31, 2001 Police believe Mr Lubbock was sexually assaulted and murdered with his body possibly moved from a jacuzzi to make it look like he had accidentally drowned The timeline of events following Stuart Lubbock's death 2001 March 31: Mr Lubbock, 31, of Harlow, Essex, is found dead at Barrymore's home in nearby Roydon following a party. The entertainer is questioned by police. October: Barrymore accepts an official caution for drugs offences and allowing his home to be used for smoking cannabis. No further charges are brought. 2002 September: An inquest in Epping, Essex, records an open verdict on Mr Lubbock's death. Medical experts tell the hearing that he had suffered severe internal injuries, suggesting he may have been the victim of a serious sexual assault. Alcohol, cocaine and Ecstasy were also found in his system. ITV also announces that it has 'no plans' to commission any further shows from the star. 2003 September: Barrymore abandons a comeback attempt after the first three nights of his one-man show in London receive bad reviews. December: Amid reports that he has received a 1.4 million tax bill, he leaves the UK to live in New Zealand with his long-term partner Shaun Davis. 2004 May: Barrymore announces that he has filed for voluntary bankruptcy in the UK because of the 'unexpected' tax demand. 2006 January: Barrymore returns to screens in the UK as a Celebrity Big Brother housemate. He remains in the house for three weeks and is runner-up in the final poll, leading to speculation that his showbusiness career will be revived. After emerging from the house, Barrymore holds a tearful two-hour meeting with Mr Lubbock's father Terry in a London hotel. Mr Lubbock reportedly tells the entertainer he does not hold him 'responsible' for what happened. Barrymore is said to have responded: 'It haunts me every day.' February: Mr Lubbock's family is blocked from launching a private prosecution against the celebrity. A district judge in Southend, Essex, rules there is insufficient evidence for a hearing on six offences - four related to the misuse of drugs, one alleging drunk and disorderly behaviour and one alleging assault. April: Police announce that they are reviewing Mr Lubbock's death as part of 'routine' procedure. December: Essex Police begin a new inquiry into Mr Lubbock's death. 2007 March: Police issue a new appeal for information on the sixth anniversary of Mr Lubbock's death. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) also launches an inquiry into the original police investigation surrounding Mr Lubbock's death. June: Barrymore and two other men are arrested and questioned on suspicion of seriously sexually assaulting and murdering Mr Lubbock. They are later released without charge. 2009 February: The IPCC publishes the findings of a review of the police investigation into Mr Lubbock's death, including that officers missed crucial evidence and did not ensure vital forensic tests were completed until six years later. 2010 March: Police launch a fresh appeal for information over the death. 2011 December: Barrymore admits cocaine possession and is fined 780. 2016 December: Barrymore lodges an appeal for 2.5 million damages after suing police who arrested him over Mr Lubbock's death. 2017 August: A High Court judge rules Barrymore is entitled to 'more than nominal' damages against Essex Police over the wrongful arrest which he said destroyed his career. 2018 December: The Court of Appeal says Barrymore 'is entitled to nominal damages only', following an appeal by the police. 2020 February: A Channel 4 documentary about Mr Lubbock's death prompts Barrymore to issue a fresh denial of any wrongdoing, saying: 'I have had nothing to do with this whatsoever and yet I keep getting bashed and bullied by the media.' 2021 March: Terry Lubbock hints at the possibility of fresh evidence emerging, telling PA: 'I wouldn't be surprised if someone cracks soon under all this pressure and decides to get it off their chest once and for all.' On March 17, Essex Police announces a 50-year-old man has been arrested in Cheshire in connection with Mr Lubbock's murder and indecent assault. Advertisement Police say they will speak to Mr Barrymore 'in the coming days' after the arrest of the man over Mr Lubbock's death during a party at the star's mansion in Essex 20 years ago. Following the news of the arrest, a source told MailOnline: 'Michael has not been contacted by the police but he will be forthcoming if asked and will be more than happy to help as he always has. He is fully committed to the truth being uncovered on what happened to Stuart on that tragic night 20 years ago.' Mr Lubbock was found floating in the swimming pool during a party at 68-year-old Barrymore's luxury home in the Essex village of Roydon attended by eight other people including the Strike it Lucky host, who will all now be contacted, Supt Morris said. She added: 'Nine people were at that party. We know that not everyone was responsible for what happened but someone was. Now is the time to come forward, if you haven't done so already, to set this matter to rest by providing us with any information you have.' People present at the party, aside from Stuart and Michael Barrymore, included the star's boyfriend at the time, Jonathan Kenney, former dustman Justin Merritt and his sister Kylie, chef James Futers, Barrymore's neighbour Simon Shaw as well as friends Claire Jones and Kelly Campbell, two teenagers who met the star in a club on the night of the party. A spokesman for Mr Barrymore has told MailOnline it would be inappropriate to comment following the arrest. Stuart Lubbock's death shocked Britain and ended Michael Barrymore's TV career overnight. The star, who made millions as one of the UK's top TV personalities of the 1980s and 1990s, has always denied playing any part in his suspected murder. He has been reduced to playing Strike It Lucky live with fans on Instagram and was last seen on TV during a stint on Celebrity Big Brother in 2006. A planned appearance on Dancing on Ice last year never happened after he broke his wrist and he was never invited back. Last year's Channel 4 documentary about the case prompted Barrymore, 68, to issue a fresh denial of any wrongdoing, saying: 'I have had nothing to do with this whatsoever and yet I keep getting bashed and bullied by the media.' A post-mortem examination showed Mr Lubbock, who was a butcher, had suffered appalling internal injuries that revealed he was violently raped. Alcohol, ecstasy and cocaine were found in his bloodstream. Stuart was found floating in Mr Barrymore's swimming pool but nobody has been brought to justice for causing his death, two decades ago this month. Detectives believe that Mr Lubbuck may also have been abused by a pool thermometer and outhouse handle that went missing after his suspected murder. The initial investigation was deeply flawed after officers failed to secure the crime scene and assumed Stuart had drowned. Mr Lubbock may have been fatally injured in the jacuzzi and then dumped in the pool to make it look like an accident, it has been claimed previously Speaking following news of an arrest , Mr Lubbock's father Terry, 76, who suffering with prostate cancer, said: 'There is just so much going on in my head. I can't get my head around it. 'Of course I'm happy. Of course this is good news. But it's been 20 years. This has nearly killed me.' He added: 'I don't know anything about the man arrested but the police let me know it had happened. It's coming up to the 20th anniversary of my son Stuart's death but the pain of losing him is still very strong. I've always said I will continue to fight for justice until my last breath and that's what I'm doing still. I'm extremely ill with cancer, I've only got weeks to live but I won't give up on Stuart until I die.' He told The Daily Mail: 'I'm glad something has happened before I die. 'But look what it's done to me. The fight for justice has put me in a care home and I've got cancer in my body. I've only got a few weeks left.' Meanwhile, Harry Clichy, a friend of the Lubbock family, said: 'I'm pleased. Of course this is progress. We can only hope it leads to justice for Stuart after all these years.' Stuart's death in 2001 ended Mr Barrymore's TV career at a time when he was one of Britain's most famous and highest paid stars. Within three years of the murder he was declared bankrupt and has barely worked again since, but has always denied having anything to do with Stuart's death. An Essex Police spokesman said: 'The man, who was arrested in Cheshire, remains in custody where he continues to be questioned. 'Stuart was found unconscious in the swimming pool of a property in Roydon on March 31 2001. Despite attempts to save him he later died in hospital. 'The 31-year-old had been attending a party at the house with eight other people. A post-mortem examination found Stuart had suffered horrific anal injuries which are believed to be the result of a serious sexual assault prior to his death'. Michael Barrymore was criticised for leaving his home soon after Mr Lubbock was found floating in the outside pool of his 2million home, which was sold for just 1.4million last year. The former television presenter, who lives in West London and became a household name for shows such as Strike It Lucky, has always denied involvement in the death. He was married to agent Cheryl Barrymore for 21 years but revealed he was gay in August 1995 and split from his wife a year later. Barrymore was arrested on suspicion of rape and serious sexual assault in 2007, along with two other people. No charges were brought due to lack of evidence. Barrymore later launched a high court case for 2.4million damages for wrongful arrest. He received a nominal sum after Essex Police won an appeal. Last year a Channel 4 documentary examined the events of the night Stuart died including claims Mr Barrymore was drunk and told a taxi driver who drove him to the party at his home: 'I could do with a f*** right now.' The TV star has always denied any wrongdoing and claims he has been 'bashed and bullied' ever since that fateful night - but Essex Police insist Stuart was raped and murdered. The show went into gruesome detail about the father-of-two's injuries and revealed his family's near 20 years of grief. The team behind Barrymore: Body In The Pool's were given access to Stuart's post-mortem photographs - but they were deemed too awful for TV, even after the watershed. After the documentary Barrymore, 68, posted a video on Twitter in which he protested his innocence and offered his 'heartfelt sympathies' to Mr Lubbock's family. He said: 'I have had nothing to do with this whatsoever and yet I keep getting bashed and bullied by the media. 'My heartfelt sympathies are with the Lubbock family and I truly hope they find peace.' He also said that Channel 4 bosses 'refused' to show him the documentary called Barrymore: The Body in the Pool or tell him what is in it. Earlier this year, Mr Lubbock (right on Sunday) has said he wanted a coroner to oversee a new inquest into the death of his son (left) and welcomes the arrest as he fights for justice Barrymore, was arrested as part of the investigation in 2007 before being released without charge, later launched a high court case for 2.4million damages for wrongful arrest. He received a nominal sum after Essex Police won an appeal Mr Lubbock's father Terry, 75, accused Barrymore of 'crocodile tears'. He said: 'It's a joke, isn't it? I'm not buying it.' Last year Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Jennings, who is now in charge of the case, revealed that two items possibly used in the brutal assault on Mr Lubbock - a pool thermometer and outhouse handle - went missing. Police arrest suspect 50, after 'new evidence' came in following 40,000 reward New information leading to the arrest came to light following a Channel 4 documentary and police appeal with an increased reward, Essex Police said. Detective Superintendent Lucy Morris told reporters: 'The man who was arrested in Cheshire continues to be questioned by our detectives 'Following the arrest, we immediately notified the Lubbock family. 'This arrest is almost 20 years to the day since Stuart was found unconscious in a swimming pool following a party at a home in Roydon. He later died in hospital. 'The arrest comes after significant new information came to light following our renewed appeal for information and offer of an enhanced reward, which coincided with a major TV documentary broadcast in February 2020. 'This information has led to us making an arrest and over the coming days we will be contacting all those who were present at the party at the time as well as others who may have information.' Detective Superintendent Lucy Morris said: 'As we stated last February - and have continually stated over the last 20 years - we believe someone or some people at that party know what happened. 'It is important to restate the fact that Essex Police have never given up on this case and that the force is motivated by the desire to deliver justice for Mr Lubbock and his family. 'Stuart's rape and murder has been an extremely lengthy and complex investigation which has spanned over 20 years and remains ongoing. 'We have never given up on finding out exactly what happened to Stuart and we will not stop in our pursuit of justice for him and for his family and friends.' She added: 'Nine people were at that party. We know that not everyone was responsible for what happened but someone was. Now is the time to come forward, if you haven't done so already, to set this matter to rest by providing us with any information you have.' Advertisement The crime scene was not properly secured after his death as officers at first assumed the factory worker had drowned. Mr Jennings has also said it was likely at least two people were involved in the crime. The policeman said at the time: 'I believe that he [Mr Lubbock] was raped and murdered that night. 'One or more of those party-goers are responsible for that serious sexual assault.' The arrest comes just days after Stuart's father Terry Lubbock, 76, said he had hopes that a witness with information might soon come forward to help the investigation. Terry Lubbock, who has terminal cancer, said some people who were at the party must be living under 'terrible' pressure. He also said he wanted a coroner to oversee a new inquest into his son's death. A coroner recorded an open verdict after an inquest in 2002 and, three years ago, the then-attorney general, Jeremy Wright, refused to give Mr Lubbock the go-ahead to make an application to the High Court for a second inquest. But Mr Lubbock, who lives in Harlow, said in January that he thought information must have emerged which justified a fresh inquiry by a coroner. Last year, Barrymore said he wanted another investigation into Mr Lubbock's death by a new police force. The investigation has so far been carried out by Essex Police. The entertainer also told Good Morning Britain he is going through 'pain and agony' due to the incident - which effectively ended his mainstream television career. He also criticised Channel 4 over a programme aired last year called 'Barrymore: The Body In The Pool', which he described as 'vile and vicious'. In an interview with Good Morning Britain in March last year, Barrymore spoke about the others at the party that night, saying: 'I've never seen them since that day ... I haven't got a number (for them), nothing.' 'I don't know any of them. The wall of silence is because they don't know (what happened). I do believe that.' Asked if he had anything fresh to offer the police, he said: 'I honestly wish I did', adding that he had been 'through 20 years of Hell'. I haven't got another another (story). I've only got the one story,' he said. He said Mr Lubbock's father Terry's torment 'comes before me and everybody' but added: 'I can't live my life. I can't get on with my life.' Responding to the criticism, a spokesperson for Channel Four said at the time that Barrymore had been 'given a fair opportunity to respond to significant allegations and his position was fairly reflected in the documentary'. Bosses behind the programme said it aimed to piece together the perspectives of the Lubbock family, as well as those of the detectives, forensic pathologists and eyewitnesses to explore what happened that night at Barrymore's Essex bungalow, and the events that followed. Among the footage used was a recording of the original 999 call made after Mr Lubbock was discovered in the pool. Speaking about the airing of the documentary in February last year, Terry Lubbock said: 'This documentary is about the questions around what happened to my son, Stuart Lubbock. Finally. 'The story has become so distorted and confused over the years. So much has been said and written. 'It's time to put all the facts together in one place.' Speaking about the release at the time, Channel 4 commissioning editor Alisa Pomeroy said: 'This film is a reflective piece that tells the story of an unexplained tragedy that unfolded in the glare of an unforgiving media. 'It sheds light on the complex relationship between celebrity, the criminal justice system and an all-powerful tabloid press in the early Noughties, but, most of all, it's the deeply moving story of the Lubbock family's continuing quest for answers and justice, nearly 20 years on.' The hardest thing about caring for eight relatives with Covid-19 at the same time, says Brazilian student Lais de Souza Chaves, was deciding who got oxygen. The pandemic had so overwhelmed their city, Manaus, that it ran out of hospital beds and medical oxygen -- leaving Lais, 25, and her sister Laura, 23, to set up a makeshift intensive care unit at home, with no medical training. After joining countless others facing the same situation in a desperate hunt for oxygen, they would rotate their precious supply to whoever seemed most in danger of asphyxiating to death. Learning as they went to install airflow regulators, tubes and gauges, the sisters would switch the oxygen supply without telling their relatives, to avoid making the situation worse, they said. "I have a panic attack if someone says the word oxygen. My whole body shudders," Lais told AFP. For several weeks in April and May last year, and again in January and February this year, Manaus became the horror story that health experts and political leaders around the world warn about when they urge people to stick to lockdowns, face masks and social distancing. The northern city, known as the unofficial capital of the Amazon rainforest, was hit so hard by the surge of Covid-19 that it had to resort to mass graves and refrigerated trucks to deal with the overflow cadavers. The first wave was so bad some researchers hypothesized when it tapered that the city of 2.2 million people had reached herd immunity. Then the second wave hit, and shattered that hope. Researchers now suspect the resurgence in Manaus, capital of the sprawling state of Amazonas, was triggered by a new, more contagious variant of the virus, known as P1. Studies indicate the "Brazil variant," believed to have emerged around Manaus, can re-infect people who have had the original, and may be more virulent. Public health research institute Fiocruz found P1 in 51 percent of Covid-19 patients in Manaus in December. By January, that had jumped to 91.4 percent. Story continues By early February, the city's average daily death toll from Covid-19 soared to more than 110, nearly triple the first wave. The lack of hospital beds left victims to suffocate to death at home. "It was complete desperation," said Adele Benzaken, a doctor and World Health Organization consultant based in Manaus who is closely involved in the fight against Covid-19 in her hometown. "You have no idea what it is to see families running around to find oxygen canisters, the fights outside places selling oxygen," she told AFP. "It was like a war -- the chaos of a bombing, when people are running around desperately without knowing what to do." - Suffocating in the Amazon - The first person in the Chaves sisters' family to get Covid-19 was their father, Marcio Moraes, a 43-year-old nurse technician on the front line of the pandemic. He was briefly treated at a hospital -- and then sent home because there was not enough room. The sisters borrowed 6,000 reais ($1,035) and bought him a small oxygen cylinder. Soon, seven other relatives came down with Covid-19, and they had patients in every room of the house. Despite donations from friends and neighbors, the family estimates they have spent about 20,000 reais out of pocket on medical expenses -- mostly on oxygen. At the height of the crisis in January, the price of a 50-liter oxygen cylinder leapt from 1,000 reais to as much as 6,500 reais, as desperate buyers turned to the black market. Police would escort oxygen shipments from overwhelmed suppliers and guard them at the hospital. Amid the chaos, some sellers were caught painting fire extinguishers green to pass them off as oxygen tanks. - 'Get me out' - Other residents describe terrifying ordeals in overflowing hospitals. When Josimauro da Silva, a 57-year-old mechanic with diabetes, developed severe Covid-19 symptoms, his daughter Jessica rushed him to the emergency room. But after spending the night in the corridor with more than 100 other patients, he told his daughter, "Get me out of here." People were dying all around him, he told her. There were no beds, oxygen, doctors or nurses to deal with so many sick people at the same time. Jessica has been caring for him since. It is such an all-consuming job she barely finds time to sleep or eat, she said. "I'm becoming a zombie," she told AFP. Her father went through 20 50-liter oxygen cylinders in three weeks of treatment. Jessica managed to pay for them thanks to donations from friends and family. "Whoever could afford it bought oxygen, or took a plane out of Manaus if they could," said Fiocruz researcher Christovam Barcellos. "The city was abandoned to the poor." Even relatively well-off families have resorted to caring for loved ones at home. Lying on an impromptu sick bed in his living room and connected to an oxygen tube, 36-year-old IT analyst Thiago Rocha told the story of how his family decided to bring him home after checking him into a hospital, only for his condition to deteriorate. "I was very scared," said Rocha. His upper-middle-class family estimates they have spent more than 10,000 reais on his care -- a small fortune to many Brazilians. - The P1 problem - Public health experts say Manaus made missteps. Officials caved to "political pressure" to fully reopen the economy, said Barcellos. The city voted in the 2018 presidential election for far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has flouted expert advice on containing the pandemic, even as Covid-19 has claimed more than 280,000 lives in Brazil -- the second-highest toll worldwide, after the United States. Years of under-investment and corruption also sapped the public health system. But the city's story should serve as a warning, said Benzaken. The P1 variant is spreading fast. It has reached more than two dozen countries, including the United States, Britain and Japan. Studies indicate several vaccines are effective against it -- a relief. But the question is how far it can spread before people are vaccinated. And other dangerous variants could emerge. "This crisis could happen elsewhere," said Benzaken. "Manaus is like a laboratory for what comes next." str-jhb/sst A man arrested in St. Louis after a nationwide manhunt is now confessing to 16 murders - despite being wanted for questioning in relation to just five. Sean Michael Lannon, 47, has been charged with one murder, but is confessing to the murders of 15 other people Sean Michael Lannon, 47, was arrested eight days ago after being wanted for questioning in a South Jersey slaying and four deaths in New Mexico, including that of his ex-wife. But now, Lannon is claiming that he killed as many as 16 people, something he mentioned during a preliminary hearing for the death of Michael Dabkowski, 66, in East Greenwich, New Jersey, who was found beaten to death with a hammer on March 8. Lannon has been charged with murder in that death. Lannon alleges Dabkowski sexually abused him when he was a child and possessed lewd photos of them together, which Lannon says he was trying to retrieve. 'That relationship quickly turned into an abusive one where Mr. Dabkowski sexually abused Mr. Lannon,' said public defender Frank Unger. One of the victims is Sean's ex-wife, Jennifer, although he hasn't been charged in her death 'He was repeatedly sexually assaulted and during that time the victim in this case documented those sexual assaults, those rapes, by taking pictures of himself with Mr. Lannon in sexually compromised positions.' Unger also claims Dabkowski attempted to seduce Lannon and attacked Lannon with a hammer first before Lannon used the hammer on him. During the preliminary hearing, Lannon stated that he killed 15 people in New Mexico, as well as the one in New Jersey, according to NBC10. Prosecutors were not able to verify the veracity of Lannon's claims about killing 16 people. Lannon is currently being held at the Salem County Jail and appeared in court via video. He admitted to dismembering some of New Mexico victims after luring them to his home. The couple has three young children, who Sean left with Jennifer's family before bodies started turning up According to NJ.com, Lannon not only confessed to the five killings he was suspected in, but also claimed to kill '11 other individuals who were drug dealers.' 'He admitted to killing a total of 16 people ... 15 being in New Mexico and one in the State of New Jersey,' said Assistant Gloucester County Prosecutor Alec Gutierrez. 'It's my understanding that the FBI is assisting New Mexico in their investigation.' Grants Police Department Lt. David Chavez is not considering Lannon as a suspect in the 11 additional murders he has confessed to at this point. It's unclear who the victims are that Lannon is referencing. The four deaths Lannon was initially linked to in New Mexico came as the result of the bodies being found in a car at the parking garage at Albuquerque International Sunport airport on March 5. He has not yet been charged in any of those four deaths, making the New Jersey murder the only charge Lannon is currently facing. According to court documents, Lannon has expressed remorse regarding the five deaths that initially led to the manhunt for him last week. Jennifer Lannon, 39, and Sean divorced in 2019 and had three children together. Jennifer Lannon, 39, was one of four victims found in a vehicle in a parking garage in Albuquerque, New Mexico Sean Lannon took the couple's three children to New Jersey on March 4 and left them with Jennifer's family, claiming he was going to find a job in the area. Chris Whitman, Jennifer's brother, claimed that the couple had reconciled and Jennifer would be returning to New Jersey as well. But Sean instead traveled to Virginia, allegedly under false identities in ride shares, before returning to New Jersey. It's unclear what he did in Virginia. Back in New Jersey, Sean broke into one home and tried to break into another before a neighbor caught on and scared him away. That's when Sean went to Dabkowski's home and allegedly committed the murder he has been charged with. Lannon was driving Dabkowski's SUV when he was apprehended and still had possession of the murder weapon, authorities say. Lannon has been charged with burglary, robbery, theft, and first-degree murder in the Dabkowski case, as well as burglary and possession of a weapon for the other alleged break-in. WPVI has reported that Lannon has a history of drug abuse and a violent record, as well as that he used to be a member of the military. The judge in the case has ordered Lannon to remain behind bars at this time. Senior Chinese official tells U.S. to stop interference, avoid confrontation Xinhua) 16:16, March 19, 2021 Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, puts forward China's stands on relevant issues at the start of the high-level strategic dialogue with the United States in the Alaskan city of Anchorage on March 18, 2021. Yang Jiechi, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan attended the dialogue. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) ANCHORAGE, the United States, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The United States should stop its interference in China's internal affairs, and avoid confrontation between the two major countries, said a senior Chinese official here on Thursday. Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks at the start of a two-day high-level strategic dialogue with the United States in the Alaskan city of Anchorage. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also attended the dialogue. Following the opening remarks of the U.S. side, Yang spoke first, emphasizing that on the eve of the Chinese lunar new year, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a successful telephone conversation with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden. Yang noted that the two leaders agreed that both sides should strengthen communication, manage differences and expand cooperation, which is of great significance in guiding the growth of China-U.S. relations in the time to come. China's attendance to the high-level strategic dialogue at the invitation of the U.S. side in Anchorage is an important step to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state in their phone talks, and the dialogue was decided by the two presidents personally, Yang said. The Chinese and American people, as well as the wider international community are looking forward to practical outcomes from the dialogue, he added. Noting that the Chinese side hopes that the dialogue would be candid and frank, Yang said as major countries of the world, China and the United States shoulder responsibility for global and regional peace, stability and development. During the just concluded sessions of its national legislature and political advisory body, China adopted 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, Yang said, pointing out that China now stands at a historical juncture where the timeframes of its two centenary goals converge. China will basically achieve modernization by 2035 and develop itself into a great modern socialist country by 2050, he said. China has made major strategic achievements in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, achieved comprehensive victory in eradicating poverty, and made great historical achievements in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, he stressed, adding that the Chinese people unite more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Xi at the core. Yang pointed out that China upholds peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom, humanity's common values, and stands for safeguarding the international system with the United Nations (UN) at the core and the international order based on international law, rather than the order based on rules formulated by a small number of countries. Most countries in the world do not recognize that the U.S. values represent the international values, do not recognize that what the United States says represents the international public opinion, and do not recognize that the rules formulated by a few countries represent international rules, said Yang. The United States has its own model of democracy, and China has its own style, he noted, adding that unlike the United States, which willfully uses military forces, and causes instability and unrest worldwide, China is committed to the path of peaceful development and has made unremitting efforts to promote international and regional peace and development, and uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. The United States has many domestic problems in areas like human rights, said Yang, adding that what the United States should do is to improve its image and mind its own business, rather than leaving its own problems unsolved, shipping its problems to other parts of the world, diverting attention of others, and making irresponsible remarks about China's human rights and democracy. Yang added that the CPC's leadership and China's political system enjoy the wholehearted support of the Chinese people, and any attempt to change China's social system is futile. Yang said China and the United States are both major countries in the world, and share tremendous common interests in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, resuming work and production and tackling climate change. He said it is hoped that the U.S. side will change its zero-sum mentality, abandon such wrong practices as "long-arm jurisdiction," and does not abuse the concept of national security to interfere with normal trade between the two countries. China and the United States should develop good relations with all countries in Asia-Pacific and have common friends, said Yang, adding that this is how the world works in the 21st century. Noting that Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang are all inalienable parts of China, Yang said Beijing firmly opposes U.S. interference in China's internal affairs and will continue to make firm responses. The United States is not qualified to talk to China in a condescending manner, and the Chinese people will not accept that, said Yang, adding that it must be based on mutual respect to deal with China, and history will prove that those who seek to strangle China will suffer in the end. He said many achievements have been made since the "ice-breaking" of China-U.S. relations, which are accomplished by the joint efforts of people with vision on both sides and are hard won. Yang also said that the current international situation has witnessed great changes, adding that under the new situation, the two countries must strengthen mutual communication, properly manage differences, strive to promote cooperation and avoid confrontation. There was an era of confrontation between China and the United States, and China has come through, said Yang, adding that facts have proved that confrontation has no benefits for the United States. He also noted that Xi has pointed out that China and the United States should be committed to non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, and Biden also said that the two countries should avoid conflict and confrontation with each other. The two sides should fully and correctly implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries so as to return China-U.S. relations to the track of healthy and stable development, Yang said. (@FahadShabbir) Damascus, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Mar, 2021 ) :Intensive care beds for coronavirus patients in Syria's capital Damascus were full Thursday, a health ministry official said, in the first such announcement since the start of the pandemic. "The occupancy rate of intensive care beds dedicated for coronavirus patients in public hospitals... in Damascus has reached 100 percent," state news agency SANA quoted health ministry official Tawfiq Hassab as saying. "A certain number of Covid-19 patients who needed intensive care have been transferred to other provinces," he said, noting a large increase in local transmission. Syria has recorded 16,776 cases of Covid-19, including 1,120 deaths in government-held areas. But the World Health Organization (WHO) believes the number of cases could be much higher in view of limited testing. The Syrian presidency has said President Bashar al-Assad and his wife have caught mild cases of Covid-19, but as of Wednesday they were recovering. Government-held areas in Syria are to receive coronavirus vaccines under the Covax global initiative to ensure jabs reach low-income countries. "The first allocation of vaccines is anticipated by the end of the first quarter of 2021, or within the next quarter at the latest," a WHO report said on Thursday. Rep. Chip Roy. C-SPAN Roy used his opening statement at a hearing about anti-Asian violence to complain about China. The hearing came after a series of Atlanta-area shootings killed 8 people, including 6 Asian women. "What they did to hide the reality of this virus is equally deserving of condemnation," Roy said of the Chinese government. See more stories on Insider's business page. Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas used his opening statement at a congressional hearing about anti-Asian violence to complain about the Chinese government and the coronavirus. Thursday's House Judiciary Committee hearing comes two days after a series of deadly shootings at three Atlanta-area massage parlors that killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women. Robert Aaron Long, 21, was arrested on murder charges on Wednesday in connection with the shootings. In his opening statement, Roy said the shootings were a tragedy, that "all Americans deserve protection and to live in a free and secure society," and that the "victims of race-based violence and their families deserve justice." He then emphasized the importance of justice by quoting an "old saying in Texas" that glorified lynchings. Roy went on to criticize the hearing, saying: "My concern about this hearing is that it seems to want to venture into the policing of rhetoric in a free society, free speech, and away from the rule of law and taking out bad guys." Then he employed whataboutism - a Soviet-era propaganda tactic used to deflect blame - as he launched into a tirade against the Chinese government. "I think the Chinese Communist Party running the country of China, I think they are the bad guys," he said. "I think that they are harming people and I think they are engaging in modern-day slavery." "What they are doing to Uyghurs, what they are doing targeting our country, what they are doing to undermine our national security, and what they are doing to steal our intellectual property, and what they are doing to build up their military and rattle throughout the Pacific, I think it's patently evil and deserving of condemnation," Roy continued. "And I think that what they did to hide the reality of this virus is equally deserving of condemnation." Story continues This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. "There's hardly any getting around that that in fact happened," Roy said, before doubling down on his criticism of the Chinese government for clamping down on its research into the origins of the coronavirus. "I'm not going to be ashamed of saying that I oppose ... the Chinese Communist Party," he said. "And when we say things like that and we're talking about that, we shouldn't be worried about having a committee of members of Congress policing our rhetoric because some evil-doers go engage in some evil activity, as occurred in Atlanta, Georgia. Because when we start policing free speech we're doing the very thing that we're condemning when we condemn what the Chinese Communist Party does to their country." He continued: "Nothing can be more dangerous than going down that road because who decides what is hate?" After Roy finished his opening statement, committee chairman Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee pushed back on his colleague's characterization of the hearing as an attempt to stifle free speech. "I'd just like to reiterate that while speech is important and has meaning, the incidents I mentioned in my opening statement - being spat at, slapped in the face, lit on fire, slashed with a box cutter, and shoved violently to the ground, as the video showed - that's not speech," Cohen said. New York Rep. Grace Meng also didn't mince words when reacting to Roy's comments. "I want to go back to something that Mr. Roy said earlier," the Democratic congresswoman said in her opening remarks. "Your president and your party and your colleagues can talk about issues with any other country that you want, but you don't have to do it by putting a bull's-eye on the back of Asian Americans across this country, on our grandparents, on our kids." Meng grew emotional as she continued, "This hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our community and to find solutions, and we will not let you take our voice away from us." Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there's been a significant increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans in the US. President Joe Biden signed a memorandum on January 26 condemning the violence, praising members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community who worked on the front lines to combat the pandemic, and pledging that the federal government would play a larger role in fighting the violence. On Wednesday, the White House press secretary Jen Psaki also pointed to former President Donald Trump and his allies' rhetoric about COVID-19 and said there's "no question" it contributed to the rise in anti-Asian violence. The former president and those in his orbit have repeatedly called the disease "Wuhan virus," "China virus," and "Kung flu." "I think there's no question that some of the damaging rhetoric that we saw during the prior administration, blaming - calling COVID, you know, the 'Wuhan virus' or other things led to, you know, perceptions of the Asian American community that are inaccurate, unfair that have elevated threats against Asian Americans, and we're seeing that around the country," Psaki said. Read the original article on Business Insider The allegations of sexual assault by more than one female massage therapist against Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson underline the vulnerabilities of abuse for women working in the field, advocates say. Harmful and inaccurate stereotypes about massage therapy being sex work have historically reinforced the sexualization of the profession, experts in the field say. The accusations in the Watson lawsuits allege that the football player expected and repeatedly demanded sex acts during massage therapy appointments with three women. Sexual violence occurs in all settings, said Aly Jacobs, director of counseling and advocacy at the nonprofit Houston Area Womens Center. But a job that requires physical touch and often takes place in ones home can create increased challenges to safety, she added. Perpetrators prey on individuals who have vulnerabilities and less layers of protection, said Jacobs. A 2020 research article and study published in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality found that nearly 75 percent of surveyed massage therapists reported sexual harassment by clients. More than 26 percent said they had experienced harassment at least three times. Of those therapists, 34 percent said they had been physically sexually assaulted as well as verbally harassed. The study determined that only one of the 143 therapists surveyed had reported their abuse to police. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which licenses massage therapists in the state, said it does not provide resources for therapists who experience abuse. We would refer massage therapists to local law enforcement for investigation of any such allegations, said Tela Goodwin Mange, public information officer for the agency. In addition to the unequal power dynamics between a massage therapist and a client, fame can throw the balance off even more, said Jacobs. When the alleged perpetrator is beloved by the community, victims fears about coming forward grow, she said. Often times perpetrators are well-liked and charismatic, said Jacobs. That is part of their manipulation and grooming process. Backlash from the public after coming forward keeps many survivors from reporting their abuse, the advocate said. Were seeing it now, Jacobs said of the way the public is reacting to Watsons accusers. Survivors are often questioned about why they didnt come forward sooner, why they let the perpetrator into their homes or why they didnt do more to stop the violence, Jacobs said. Language like this hurts survivors and makes them feel like they arent believed, she added. When other survivors see victims in high-profile cases arent believed, they question whether they should report their own abuse, said Jacobs. It also hurts people who suffered abuse in the past, re-triggering old traumas. On HoustonChronicle.com: Resources for domestic violence victims Its important for society to be compassionate to the survivors coming forward and that their stories are heard, she said. They all deserve support in order to heal. Bringing civil claims can be part of the healing process, said Jacobs, because its often the only outlet for survivors to feel heard. I think these survivors choices to remain anonymous (in the Watson lawsuits) really speaks to the fear they may be experiencing, she said. It tells me that this is a huge act of courage and these individuals are moving forward to find their voice and healing in a way that they have determined is best for them. If you or someone you know has suffered sexual violence, contact the Houston Area Women Centers free 24-hour sexual assault hotline at 713-528-7273 or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. Survivors can also chat with HAWC advocates live online at hawc.org. hannah.dellinger@chron.com Tamil Nadu elections could see Owaisi and Kamal Hassan coming together Kamal Haasan rules out alliance with AIADMK, DMK, says will not go with kazhagams Tamil Nadu Election 2021: Kamal Haasan releases MNM manifesto, assures income for women by honing their skills India oi-Madhuri Adnal Coimbatore, Mar 19: Makkal Needhi Maiam chief and actor Kamal Haasan unveiled his party''s manifesto here on Friday and promised income for housewives by honing their skills. By initiatives like skill development, women could earn as much as Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month and "that is what we call payment to housewives and not doles to them." Haasan was the first to promise what he called in December last ''payment'' to homemakers for their work. The major parties of Tamil Nadu, the ruling AIADMK and main opposition DMK days ago promised Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,000 assistance to women family heads in their manifestos. Outlining his party''s manifesto, Haasan said facilitation is proposed to be made for homemakers to get suitable opportunities to earn and it does not mean doles from government treasury. Through such initiatives, the government would also not be burdened financially and at the same time women could get fair remuneration, commensurate with their skill and work, he said. West Bengal Assembly elections 2021: Amit Shah likely to release BJP's poll manifesto on Sunday Government departments like the electricity generation and distribution corporation, state-run transport entities were facing losses, he said, touching on economy. By making employees of transport corporations ''shareholders'' the government run enterprises could be made profitable, he said. Self-sufficient villages in all the 234 constituencies, support to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises by initiatives like supply of raw materials were among the other features of the manifesto. Lost among the mostly humdrum national elections in the Netherlands this week was the emergence of Volt, an anti-populist, pro-Europe party made up of students and young professionals that snatched three seats in the Dutch Parliament the first national electoral success in its five years of existence. Volt wasnt the only outsider group to win a seat or two in the elections. One politician arrived at Parliament driving a tractor with flashing lights to claim her newly won seat for a farmers party. Sylvana Simons, a former TV presenter, won a seat for Bij1, an anticapitalist party. A new far right, anti-immigrant party won four seats. Over the last two decades, however, it was populists and far right parties that played the insurgent role in Dutch politics, promoting anti-immigrant, anti-establishment and anti-European policies. While never a serious threat to seize power, in 2016 representatives of these parties initiated and won a referendum in the Netherlands on an E.U. trade treaty with Ukraine, temporarily halting the deal. This makes this weeks victory of newcomer Volt all the more remarkable. The party is staunchly pro-Europe, something that most traditional parties had thought was a complete turnoff for voters. Three people, including two teenagers, have been charged for allegedly leading police one a high speed cross-border car chase. Officers from Tweed Heads and Byron districts were alerted by Queensland Police that a stolen car was travelling south along the M1 Highway on Thursday afternoon. The stolen vehicle was said to be a Mercedes Benz GLC and is believed to have been stolen from a Surfers Paradise home earlier in the day. A high-speed chase ensued after officers made several attempts to intercept the vehicle as the group traveled southward. Three people, including two teenagers aged 13 and 16, have been charged for allegedly leading police in a high speed cross-border car chase 'The Mercedes continued south allegedly reaching speeds of approximately 150km/hr in a sign-posted 100km/hr zone, before road spikes were deployed a short time later,' NSW Police said. The vehicle then proceeded to exit the M1 at Kirkwood Road where police decided to call off the chase, due to the increasingly dangerous manner of driving. Police continued to monitor the car as it sped down the highway, at one point allegedly entering the wrong lane and narrowly avoiding several vehicles. Finally the stolen vehicle came to a stop at Bimbadeen Avenue, Tweed Heads, where officers intercepted the car and arrested the driver and two passengers. The 16-year-old driver of the car resisted officers during the arrest, police allege. A high-speed chase ensued after officers made several attempts to intercept the vehicle as the group traveled southward down the M1 to NSW He was charged with police pursuit - non stop - drive dangerously, drive conveyance taken without consent of owner, drive whilst unlicensed, two counts of resist officer in execution of duty, receive property stolen outside NSW and never licensed person drive vehicle on road. The 13-year-old Queensland boy was charged with be carried in conveyance taken without consent of owner and receive property stolen outside NSW. The teenagers were both refused bail and will appear in a children's court on Friday. A 23-year-old Worongary man was charged with be carried in conveyance taken without consent of owner, possess/attempt to prescribed restricted substance and receive property stolen outside NSW. The man was refused bail and will appear in Tweed Heads local court on Friday. Civilian 08, so code-named by the Finnish police, is a 52-year-old man of solid build, with a muscular neck, thick grey eyebrows, and long eyelashes that give his eyes the brightness of smoked quartz. He appeared in a sober djellaba, skullcap and sandals on March 8 before the Finnish court temporarily relocated to the Liberian capital Monrovia. Civilian 08 is a nurse. In the early 2000s, he was selling medicines and providing basic health care in the downtown Waterside shopping district near the Old Bridge. It was there that serious abuses took place summary executions, torture, rape which victims attribute to Angel Gabriel, aka Gibril Massaquoi. Massaquoi denies ever having had this nom de guerre, refutes any presence at the scene and presents an alibi defense. His lawyer has repeatedly pointed out the witnesses contradictions with themselves or each other about when the attack in Waterside took place. According to the defence, the deadly incident could only have occurred in the final months of the civil war, between May and August 2003. At the time, Massaquoi was living in a safe house in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, as a protected witness in a UN tribunal a fact that is well known and supported by much evidence in the case file. Double-edged testimony It was the defence that called the nurse to testify in court. In his statement to investigators in 2019, he had mentioned a specific date to place the events at Waterside: June 20, 2003. He is the only witness to put forward a clear date. He said he remembered it because that was the day he wrote a letter to the Doctors Without Borders team, whose offices were not far away in Mamba Point, requesting emergency medical assistance for the influx of wounded. But the letter is not in the file, and at the hearing the case seemed less clear. The nurse was much more vague about the date or the period. He first mentioned 2001-2002, then 2002-2003, then early 2003. And he stated, at the expense of the defence, that most of the wounded patients were crying somebodys name, and this name was Massaquoi. I dont know this person, I didnt see him, but every time I treated a wounded person they were crying this name. They said the man was so wicked, he added. The facts the medic described were entirely consistent with the accounts of the 19 direct victims who appeared. Civilians were looking for food, thats why they broke into this [biscuit] store. There was no food, no supply. The LURD [Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, the armed group whose offensive led to the August 2003 fall of President Charles Taylor] was putting pressure on the government. The lawyer asked him for more details. The war was almost at an end. In June-July, victims told me what happened and I found it was true because I was treating them. I received most of the wounded from the biscuit store and treated them. And that happened in 2002-2003, said the nurse, who remembered treating about 30 people that day. These were gunshot wounds, he said. The nurse said he also rescued Major Focko, an army officer and sector commander who was wounded while trying to protect civilians. He too, according to the witness, was talking about the same Massaquoi. In July 2003, government soldiers prepare to defend the Old Bridge from LURD rebel forces. Georges Gobet / AFP Dancing around a date Defence lawyer Kaarle Gummerus returned to the date, which is crucial for the alibi. -The LURD rebels were throwing missiles at us, said the nurse. When? 2000-2003. Gummerus tried to bring the nurse back to June 2003. But moments later, the witness put the LURD attack back to 2002. There isnt a single mention in the [police] summary about 2001-2002, the lawyer said, quoting the witness statement to investigators: In June 2003, there was a massacre, six people were shot. Faced with his own statements, the witness confirmed that it was indeed the massacre at the biscuit store. Did it happen in 2003? continued Gummerus. The narrative that was told to me [by patients] was 2003, said the nurse. On the day of his appearance in court, Civilian 08 was twice bereaved. The court released him early and on March 16, he was back in court. He was the last witness to testify about what happened in Waterside, which had occupied the court since its hearings in Monrovia began on February 23. The defence took the opportunity to go on the offensive again. The incident was in June 2003, the nurse now stated more firmly. Before hearing about 20 witnesses on this part of the Massaquoi case, the court visited the Waterside and Old Bridge areas of Monrovia. Thierry Cruvellier / JusticeInfo.net In the RUF guesthouse in Monrovia The other witness presented in this first part of the trial is Civilian 09, who is not a victim of the alleged events. His judicial code name does not fit him well. In the early 2000s, Civilian 09 was actually a bodyguard for Foday Sankoh, the historic leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the Sierra Leonean rebellion of which Massaquoi was a commander and spokesperson. It was the defence that requested, during the investigation, that this former RUF member be questioned. But it was the prosecutor who finally called him to the witness stand on March 10. Civilian 09 told of being assigned, after the peace accords between the RUF and Sierra Leonean government in July 1999, to guard a guesthouse in Monrovia, made available to the RUF by their Liberian ally President Charles Taylor. The witness task was to receive RUF commanders who stayed there. Starting in 2000, Massaquoi was regularly there on a diplomatic mission, he said. The witness spoke of meetings between RUF leaders and the Liberian president. He spoke of missions by road or helicopter to Voinjama and Kolahun in Lofa County, in the far north of the country, on the borders with Guinea and Sierra Leone. At the time, he said, some RUF soldiers came from Sierra Leone to help Charles Taylor, who was by then threatened by a new rebellion, the LURD, launched from Guinea in 1999. On two occasions, Civilian 09 himself went to Lofa County with Massaquoi. That was in early 2001, he reckoned, but other missions took place as early as 2000. The intention was to go and fight there because the enemy was in that area. These missions lasted three or four days, sometimes a week. They carried weapons, provided by the Liberian presidency and paid for in diamonds by RUF leaders, the witness added. Massaquoi took part in the fighting, he said. Recommended reading The Massaquoi Trial: Double or quits before a Finnish court What happened after the end of 2001? Civilian 09 claimed to have left Liberia with Massaquoi at the end of 2001, and returned to Sierra Leone by road, via Foya. He returned to Monrovia in February 2002, but when asked if Massaquoi also returned, he said, I dont remember. The testimony of the former RUF member already seems to anticipate the rest of the trial, which relates to crimes committed in Lofa in the years 1999-2003. But it also has relevance to the alleged crimes in Monrovia and to the alibi of the accused. Civilian 09 explained that some RUF fighters were attached to the Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU) in Monrovia, which witnesses implicated in the attack in Waterside. Any fighting activity taking place in Monrovia and the surroundings, they used to send them there to fight, he said. Was Massaquoi one of them? the prosecutor asked. The only time I know of was in 2000 or 2001, when he was going to Lofa. But I cant remember if he took part in any activities here in Monrovia, he replied. What happened was when Sam Bockarie [former RUF number 2] and the RUF had a falling out, thats when Sam Bockarie left the RUF and came to Monrovia with some men. Did Massaquoi come with him? No. MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th March, 2021) Criminals have attacked a patrol of law enforcement bodies in the central Mexican state of Mexico, leaving 13 officers killed, the regional ministry of security said. "On late Thursday, a joint convoy of the security ministry and the prosecutor's office of the state of Mexico was ambushed by a criminal group in the Llano Grande district of the Coatepec Harinas municipality ... Currently, we have information about eight killed officers of the security ministry and five dead employees of the prosecutor's office," a spokesperson for the regional ministry of security said in a statement on late Thursday. The National Guard, army, navy and intelligence have joined an operation to find those responsible for the attack, the spokesperson added. According to media reports, one more attack took place on Thursday in the neighboring municipality of Almoloya de Alquisiras, with four law enforcement officers having been killed in the incident. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh called on Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar along with state NCP chief Jayant Patil and others in New Delhi on Friday. Emerging from the meeting after nearly two hours, Deshmukh said that they discussed the fallout in the Antilia bomb scare case in which an explosive-laden SUV was left outside Mukesh Ambani's residence, and the Assistant Police Inspector (API) Sachin Vaze matter besides the ongoing probes by National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) into them. "The NIA and ATS are investigating the matter in depth. The state government is fully cooperating with the NIA... Both their probes are proceeding in the right direction," informed Anil Deshmukh. He said that after the probe agencies' reports are received, the state government will take appropriate action against the culprits. However, he declined to answer a query whether the recent developments have resulted in a demoralization of the Mumbai and state police forces which witnessed a major shakeup on Wednesday following the arrest of the Crime Branch API Vaze, and others under the scanner of NIA. Pawar is expected to return to Mumbai later this evening and may meet Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, amid speculation that there may be some changes in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) cabinet pertaining to NCP ministers. The case of the SUV parked near the Ambani residence was followed by the death of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiren erupted into a huge political row, Pawar has been closely monitoring the situation with senior leaders of the ruling Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress. Upping the ante against the MVA, the opposition BJP has demanded that Thackeray should accept moral responsibility in the matter and resign as Chief Minister. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-20 05:43:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close QUITO, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador's Public Health Minister Rodolfo Farfan resigned on Friday from the post that he held for only 19 days, amid the country's vaccination process against COVID-19, the president's office confirmed. Farfan, who was the fourth health minister under the current administration and the third to resign during the pandemic, said he was leaving for personal reasons in his resignation letter to President Lenin Moreno. Appointed to the position on March 1, Farfan replaced Juan Carlos Zevallos, who also resigned amid the questioning of alleged irregularities and blunders in the country's vaccination plan. His resignation comes at a time of social unrest due to the plan's irregularities and the scandal over a list of well-connected people vaccinated who were not on the frontline of the fight against the pandemic. As part of an investigation opened on Jan. 29 into the vaccination process, the Attorney General's Office raided the Health Ministry's facilities in Quito on Wednesday. Zevallos faces charges for the alleged crime of influence peddling in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to benefit family members and people close to the government. The former minister was in office for almost a year, but resigned on Feb. 26. Ecuador, which is slowly advancing its vaccination plan, reported 307,429 COVID-19 cases and 11,528 deaths as of Thursday. Enditem Two construction workers who slipped off the icy roof of a two-story building in Cape Cod early Friday were flown to Level 1 trauma centers, authorities said. The men fell off the building on Clayton Circle in Mashpee shortly before 8:30 a.m. They were doing work on a new subdivision with good-sized duplexes that remains under construction, according to the towns fire chief, Thomas C. Rullo. The workers slipped 30 to 40 feet off the roof. They werent blown off, despite gusty winds reported throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and the rest of the state Friday. The top of the building was particularly icy as it was raining and snowing overnight, Rullo noted. It was quite a ways up, the fire chief told MassLive. The wind could have thrown them off balance. It was very windy up there. I dont know what they were doing up there. When one of the workers started falling, the other went to help him, and he fell too. Both men suffered head and leg wounds, but they were conscious when first responders found them, according to the chief. We dont know what their internal injuries are, so we had them both flown to Level 1 trauma centers, 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. A Fort Worth man was arrested on a highway in Hartford, Connecticut, on Friday morning after authorities said he traveled to New Hampshire to meet two young girls and then kidnapped them, resulting in an Amber Alert. Cameron Snody, 18, surrendered after Connecticut State Police surrounded him on I-91 Northbound, the agency said in a news release. The girls, ages 12 and 17, were recovered from his 2006 Saturn Ion, which he had stolen, police said. They were taken to a hospital to be evaluated. Snody was charged with third-degree larceny and fugitive from justice, police said. The Amber Alert was disseminated in New Hampshire and beyond on Friday morning, warning Snody had come to the state to meet the two girls before stealing the Saturn and driving away with them. The alert reached Connecticut, where state police found information that led them to believe Snody was on I-91 Northbound, according to the release. Troopers responded to the highway and set themselves up at various locations. They observed what they believed to be Snodys car around 10:15 a.m., near Exit 23, and carefully conducted a traffic stop that prevented Snody from escaping, police said. After Snody surrendered, he was taken to a Connecticut Department of Corrections facility, police said. Hes being held on a $500,000 bond as authorities in New Hampshire work on extraditing him back to the state. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. HMD Global recently scheduled an event on April 8th to unveil new smartphones. Now the Nokia X20, a new phone in the X series has surfaced in Geekbench listing. This reveals that the phone will be powered by Snapdragon 480 5G SoC, so the company could bring out affordable 5G smartphones after a lot of budget 4G phones. It also reveals 6GB of RAM and Android 11 for the phone. Earlier rumours revealed that the phone will coeme with 128GB storage and in Blue and Sand colours. The company is also expected to introduce a cheaper Nokia X10 with 6GB RAM and 32GB storage, and it is said to come in White and Green colors. The company is also expected to introduce Nokia G10 with Helio P22 and 3GB of RAM, based on benchmark leaks, and the Helio G20 is rumoured to come with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. The new X series phones with 5G support might not launch in India and might head to Europe and other market priced at 300 Euros (US$ 357 / Rs. 25,885 approx.) for the X10 and 349 Euros (US$ 415 / Rs. 30,110 approx.) for the X20, while India might get the cheaper G series. We will have to wait for a few more weeks to find out what the company has to offer. Source | Via NORWALK The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk is among 30 finalists for the 2021 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced its list of finalist on Thursday. The Maritime Aquarium is the only aquarium in the United States selected as a finalist this year, and one of only two institutions along with the Ferguson Library in Stamford named in Connecticut. The National Medal is the nations highest honor given to museums and libraries that demonstrate significant impact in their communities. Were ecstatic and honored were among the finalists selected, said Maritime Aquarium President and CEO Jason Patlis. Even among the finalists, its a very select group. ... The one word criterion they used for selection is impact. Its a testament to the impact the Maritime Aquarium has on the community. Its an illustrious group. Were honored to be part of it. For more than 25 years, the award has honored institutions that demonstrate excellence in service to their communities. Six National Medal winners will be announced in May. The Maritime Aquarium, which reopened to the public in June after being closed several months due to COVID, has been offering virtual programming to students both across the country and the world during the pandemic. It also recently opened a new 4D theater which replaces its IMAX theater. Representatives from the six winning institutions will be honored during a virtual National Medal Ceremony this summer. Recent winners in Connecticut include the New Haven Free Public Library in 2019, the Otis Library in Norwich in 2016 and Mystic Aquarium in 2014. The Maritime Aquarium was nominated for the 2021 award by U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, and its application included letters of support from Himes; U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal; U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy; Tina Henckel, director of STEM education for the Norwalk Public Schools; and Tammy Papa, director of Youth Services and the Lighthouse Program for youths in Bridgeport. erin.kayata@hearstmediact.com The newspaper offers a scathing critique against Missouri's GOP leader with a screed that seems more than a bit hyperbolic for a so-called "authoritative" source of local journalism. Mass vaccination at Arrowhead cant disguise the continuing COVID-19 mess in Missouri Here's their money line: "However successful the two-day event turns out to be, though, it cant disguise the continuing failure of the state government, and Parson personally, to equitably and efficiently deliver essential COVID-19 protection. Missouris distribution effort remains a mess. "As of Monday, one study showed, Missouri ranked 44th in the nation in the number of people fully vaccinated. "That is a failure. And there is simply no good explanation for it." Follow that logic . . . GUV PARSON DELIVERING VAXX TO THOUSANDS IN KCMO'S PREDOMINATELY BLACK & BROWN 3RD DISTRICT WITH AN UPCOMING MEGA ARROWHEAD EVENT THAT'S ONE OF THE BIGGEST IN THE MIDWEST STILL ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH!?!? I guess he could be going door to door and playing doctor. OR . . . Maybe it's important for locals to consider that KC Star editorials merely obey political marching orders and don't really have any insider perspective (or much objectivity) very much like some kind of rookie blogger. TKC disagrees with Guv Parson on quite a few issues but in this instance there's simply no denying that he has marshaled Missouri resources proficiently and created an exemplary and easily accessible vaxx distribution site for Kansas City's urban core. We hope it goes well. In fact, it would be more responsible for the newspaper to encourage locals to hit pause on their partisan politics for just a moment and support the Guv in Kansas City vaxx efforts. Either way, here's a few more links about the upcoming poke-fest . . . KCTV5: Arrowhead Stadium set for two-day mass COVID vaccination event Fox4: All adults in Missouri will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine in early April KCTV5: National Guard preps for mega vaccine event at Arrowhead KMBC: Health officials say Arrowhead mass vaccination event adds 2,000 people WDAF: With 8,000 appointments full, crews set up Arrowhead Stadium mega vaccination site KSHB: Ride KC to provide free shuttle service to vaccination event at Arrowhead Developing . . . Francesca Paris is The Eagle's data and public records reporter. She was previously the North Adams reporter. A California native and Williams College alumna, she has worked at NPR in Washington, D.C. and WBUR in Boston. Find her on Twitter at @fparises. On Wednesday evening she had the task of announcing to Tanzanians that President John Magufuli had died and on Thursday Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan is due to take his place as the country's head of state. First elected as Magufuli's running mate in 2015, she was re-elected last year and will serve out the rest of the five-year term in the top job. She will become Africa's only current female political head of state - the Ethiopian presidency is a largely ceremonial role - and join a shortlist of women on the continent who have made it to the top. The 61-year-old is affectionately known as Mama Samia - in Tanzanian culture that reflects the respect she is held in, rather than reducing her to a gendered role. But she was a surprise choice for a running mate in 2015, leaping over several other more prominent politicians in the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, which has been in power in one form or another since independence in 1961. First elected to a public office in 2000, she came to national prominence in 2014 as the vice-chairperson of the Constituent Assembly, created to draft a new constitution. There her calm demeanour in managing occasional outbreaks of pandemonium and the way in which she dealt with some of the more outspoken members earned her plaudits. In terms of personality, she strikes a contrast with Magufuli. Where he appeared impulsive, not afraid to speak off the cuff and let his feelings be known, she is more thoughtful and considered. She is also said to be a good listener who believes in following the correct procedures. 'Capable leader' One MP, January Makamba, who worked with her in the vice-president's office, has called her "the most underrated politician in Tanzania". "I have observed at close quarters her work ethic, decision-making and temperament. She is a very capable leader," he said. But where this places her in terms of policy is not yet clear. Most significantly she has to decide whether to continue her predecessor's sceptical approach to dealing with coronavirus. There was no doubt that she was loyal to the president but she was not afraid to strike out on her own. Perhaps the most significant evidence of that was in 2017 when she visited opposition leader Tundu Lissu in hospital in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, after he had survived an assassination attempt. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The right move Regarding Board clears doc accused of vaccine theft, (A3, March 16): Im glad to read that Dr. Gokal has been cleared by the Texas Medical Board of stealing some vaccine. Of course, now he has the district attorney to contend with and her refusal to let the case go, even though his explanation and reasons were valid enough for the board. At first, the story did seem cut and dry, but after the complete tale came out, anyone could see that the doctor did what he thought was best, so the vaccine wouldnt be wasted. Bob Gayle, Houston Immigration Regarding Striking a balance, (A11, March 16): The deplorable conditions in housing the undocumented immigrants, as reported by your paper, is inexcusable. Rather than housing them in Texas, I would suggest they be housed in Washington D.C., closer to their benefactors. With hotel occupancies at their historical low, I am sure rooms could be found not only at the The Willard hotel, but certainly also 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Patti Miller, Houston Houston traffic Regarding County sues to halt I-45 rebuild, (A1, March 12): There is much discussion, pro and con, about rerouting and rebuilding I-45. This will be a very costly project and many homes and businesses will be affected. The question is, will it really help traffic flow? People have to get to their destination, so travel is a must. But how, by car or mass transit? With the design of Houston, mass transit is a problem so most chose to travel by vehicle. Why in the world does everyone think Houston is the place to do business? With all the new electronics available today, business could be spread out across the state. These areas would have less travel time and a better environment and social life. James E. Muecke, Houston Voting Regarding Stop the steal of Texans voting rights, (A16, March 14): As a senior, I have found voting by mail wonderful. Besides not having to go and stand in line, I have the time to look up issues and decide for myself. A blind man can see this current bill has nothing to do with preventing non-existent voter fraud and everything to do with voter suppression. I wish my representatives in Austin would vote against the many new voter restrictions being proposed. While many items debated in Austin are, in my opinion, frivolous, this is an issue that is extremely important to me and will effect how I vote in the future. Theodore Doyle, Kingwood ROCHESTER, Minn. - What's next for the med city and medical giant Mayo Clinic? That's the question being answered at Rochester Area Economic Development INC.'s annual meeting. One of the main topics was the partnership between the city of Rochester and Mayo Clinic, especially during the pandemic. Doctor Clark Otley says the pandemic has been difficult, but Mayo Clinic wants to continue to push forward and find the silver lining. The hospital will continue to improve its care by curing, connecting, and transforming patients' lives. Dr. Otley says the healthcare giant wants to continue to take care of its patients in the best way possible, improve telemedicine visits, and continue to be a leader in the industry. "Thinking hard at the beginning of this pandemic at how can we preserve what we have? How can we anchor the gains that we've had and move things forward conservatively? We soon realized that we could be much more aggressive in this time of pandemic, in this time of uncertainty," says Dr. Otley. He says Mayo Clinic strives to get 10% better every year, but this year, the hospital felt that wasn't enough and it's striving for more improvement. Mayo Clinic has created a new platform with the hopes of transforming healthcare through data, virtual care, and remote diagnostics. ATTRACT is a pioneering initiative bringing together Europe's fundamental research and industrial communities to lead the next generation of detection and imaging technologies. A consortium of big research organisations will be explicitly leveraged to capture value and create jobs and growth. The aim is to create an entirely new, European model of open innovation that can become an engine for jobs and prosperity. The project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The ESRF is one of the 9 European research institutions that co-lead this project. Start date: 01/08/2018; duration: 28 months The aim of BEATS is to design, procure, construct and commission a beamline for hard X-ray full-field tomography at the SESAME synchrotron in Jordan. The project will develop and consolidate the scientific case for a beamline for tomography and implement actions to fortify the scientific community. Built upon the OPEN SESAME project, BEATS will address the issue of sustainability of operation of SESAME by preparing medium- to long-term funding scenarios for the tomography beamline and the facility. The BEATS project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The ESRF is coordinator of this project. Start date: 01/01/2019; duration: 48 months Battery Interface Genome - Materials Acceleration Platform (BIG MAP) This EU H2020 project, which is part of the European research initiative BATTERY 2030+, will develop AI-assisted methods to accelerate the discovery of new materials and battery concepts. It is based on creating new computational models and experimental methods that can go hand in hand towards an understanding of the complex reactions that take place within the battery. It seeks to understand which electrode materials and electrolytes can be best combined to get a battery to store as much energy as possible or to be able to charge quickly in different situations. The project has 34 partners representing 15 countries. The ESRF is one of the six partners in France. Start date: 01/09/2020; duration: 36 months CALIPSOplus is aimed at promoting the international exchange of scientists and transnational access to the light sources in Europe. Other priorities are to integrate the relatively less active regions of Europe and to initiate research projects with small and mid-sized companies. The project is submitted by 19 European lightsources. The ESRF is a contractor in this programme, which is coordinated by Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf. Start date: 01/01/2017; duration: 48 months CREMLINplus (Connecting Russian and European Measures for Large-scale Research Infrastructures - plus) is a Horizon2020 funded project. It is the relaunch of the successful EU project CREMLIN in a significantly expanded form. It will pursue CREMLIN's activity to promote cooperation between large-scale research infrastructures in Russia and the European Union from 2020 onwards. The CREMLINplus consortium brings together 35 partners, 10 from Russia and 25 from the EU and associated countries. The ESRF is contractor of this project. Start date: 01/02/2020; duration: 48 months ENRIITC will build a pan-European network of Industrial Liaison and Contact Officers (ILOs/ICOs). This will be done in a community-driven, cross-functional, cross-sectoral, multiplier-based way which will be inclusive and enable all interested parties to actively participate. With a timeline of 36 months, 11 partners from seven countries, and a strong support from 61 Associates from around Europe, ENRIITC will 1) establish a sustainable European network of ILOs and ICOs which enables mutual learning, 2) map collaboration potential between research infrastructures and industry, 3) develop and refine strategies and best practices to foster these collaborations, 4) raise awareness among industry for collaboration opportunities at research infrastructures, and demonstrate impact. The ESRF is a contractor in this programme, which is coordinated by the European Spallation Source Start date: 01/01/2020; duration: 36 months InnovaXN is a doctoral training programme bringing together the expertise of large-scale research infrastructures with the R&D needs of European industry. Supported by an H2020 MSCA COFUND Programme, 40 PhD students will study a wide variety of subjects driven by industrial challenges, focussed on exploiting the advanced characterisation techniques of the large-scale European facilities in Grenoble, the ESRF and ILL. Start date: 01/10/2019; duration: 60 months LMCat - Liquid Metal Catalysis Two-dimensional materials (2DMs) such as graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, silicene and others, are currently amongst the most intensively studied classes of materials that hold great promise for future applications in many technological areas. However, the main obstacle preventing a practical utilization of 2DMs is the lack of effective mass production techniques to satisfy the growing qualitative and quantitative demands for scientific and technological applications. The aim of the LMCat project is to develop an instrumentation and methodology capable of studying the ongoing chemical reactions on the molten catalyst. The ESRF is a contractor in this programme, which is coordinated by Leiden University in The Netherlands. Start date: 01/01/2017; duration: 48 months PANOSC - Photon and Neutron Open Science Cloud The Photon and Neutron Open Science Cloud is a European project for making FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reproducible) data a reality in 6 European Strategy Forum Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). Research Infrastructures such as the ones on the ESFRI roadmap are characterised by the very significant data volumes they generate and handle. These data are of interest to thousands of researchers across scientific disciplines and to other potiential users via Open Access policies. PANOSC will ensure the connection of the research infrastructures identified in the ESFRI roadmap to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). PANOSC received funding from the EU Horizon2020 research and innovation programme. The ESRF is coordinator of this project. Start date: 01/12/2018; duration: 48 months STREAMLINE is a Horizon2020 funded project that will complement the ESRF-EBS upgrade by enhancing user operation through new procedures and systems. The ESRF is the sole beneficiary of the project. Start date: 15/11/2019; duration: 48 months. TEESMAT is a Horizon2020 funded project. It is a platform (or Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB)) dedicated to material characterisation for Li-ion batteries, Na-ion batteries, Li all-solid batteries, Printed Zn/Li batteries, Lead-acid batteries, Metal-air batteries, redox flow batteries, supercapacitors and any kind of other electrochemical energy storage device. The ESRF is a contractor for this project. Start date: 01/01/2019; duration 44 months. Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. The Berejiklian governments $500 million voucher program to stimulate the economy out of the COVID-19 crisis will be available to every citizen in NSW by the end of March. The voucher scheme, which is built into the Service NSW app, is being rolled out to another 67 council areas after successful pilot programs in areas such as the CBD and the northern beaches. Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet and Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello at the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium on Friday. Credit:Nick Moir The Dine and Discover program was the centrepiece of the governments November state budget, and gives every adult four $25 vouchers to spend on dining and entertainment. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Friday said the success of pilots in The Rocks, Broken Hill, Sydney CBD, the northern beaches and Bega Valley meant the scheme was ready to expand, including to regional areas such as Albury, Goulburn, Tamworth and Lismore. YEREVAN. There is a lot of evidence in the case that needs to be examined. As a result, the court will make a final decision. Arsen Martirosyan, the prosecutor in the criminal case against Armenias third President Serzh Sargsyan and several other defendants, told this to reporters Friday. But the prosecutor did not comment on the defense lawyers' argument that this case was fabricated. When asked whether he believes the evidence in the case is strong, Martirosyan responded: "If it were not strong, the criminal case would not have reachedwith an indictmentthe court." The prosecutor added that there were sufficient grounds to place an attachment on the property of the defendants in this case. As reported earlier, the court on Friday denied the defense's motion to lift the attachment placed on the property of ex-President Serzh Sargsyan, in connection with the aforesaid criminal case involving him and several other defendants. Photograph: John G Mabanglo/EPA California has failed to equitably distribute vaccines to residents in its poorest and most vulnerable regions, according to a new report from federal researchers that found the nations most populous state has one of most unequal vaccine programs. The report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that California ranked among the worst five states for unequal vaccine distribution. Researchers from the CDC analyzed vaccines administered from 14 December to 1 March, and compared where doses were distributed against county-level demographic data. In the first two and a half months of its vaccine program, California has doled out a smaller proportion of its vaccines to counties with the most vulnerable residents than it has to counties with the least vulnerable. The CDC data lines up with the states own statistics, which found lower levels of vaccination in vulnerable neighborhoods, where a larger proportion of people are low-income, have less access to healthcare and have higher rates of Covid-19 risk factors such as asthma and heart disease. Related: California governor gears up for recall fight as critics say theyve reached 2m signatures An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation also found stark racial disparities in the state: only 21% of vaccine doses have gone to Hispanic residents, though they account for 40% of the population and 55% of those who have tested positive for Covid-19 so far. Only 3% of the states vaccine doses have gone to Black residents, even though they make up 6.5% of the population. In February, advocacy groups, doctors and public health researchers wrote a letter to the states governor, Gavin Newsom, asking him to immediately correct the unequal rollout that is leaving too many frontline communities behind. Facing mounting criticism, Newsom announced at the beginning of March that California would dedicate 40% of its vaccine doses to the neighborhoods and zip codes hardest hit by the pandemic, including some of the poorest neighborhoods in the Central Valley and Los Angeles. Story continues Andrew White III receives a Covid-19 vaccine outside the Los Angeles Mission, located in the Skid Row community. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images Our hope is the data will start to look better in the next few weeks, said Kiran Savage-Sangwan, the executive director of California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, a health equity advocacy group. In the meantime, policymakers and local providers need to double down on removing barriers to vaccine access, she said. In recent weeks, Newsoms administration has also loosened the verification process for gaining access to vaccines, so that uninsured and undocumented residents can more easily get vaccinated without needing to procure documentation from doctors or employers to prove that they are disabled or essential workers, and therefore qualify for a shot. But at some vaccine distribution centers, residents have nevertheless reported being asked for documentation. Others have faced language barriers, or have been unable to make it to appointments during their work days. Its clear that we have work to do, said Savage-Sangwan. The CDC report has its limitations. It looked at county-level, rather than neighborhood-level data which, in a state like California, with vast counties that contain both highly vulnerable and highly privileged neighborhoods within them, could skew results. While this is just a first look at how the vaccine is being administered nationwide, it tells us we need to continue to ramp up our efforts to ensure fair and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccine, said Michelle Hughes, CDC epidemiologist Michelle Hughes, to the San Francisco Chronicle. The report found that Montana, Alaska and Arizona had done the best job of distributing vaccines to vulnerable counties. States that prioritized minority groups and allocated more vaccines to economically vulnerable areas had smaller disparities, the researchers found. But ultimately, they said, vaccination coverage was lower in high vulnerability counties nationwide, demonstrating that additional efforts are needed to achieve equity. Darrel Ng, a spokesperson for Californias Covid-19 vaccine taskforce said that the report reinforces Californias own data showing that those most impacted by the pandemic arent receiving vaccines at a rate commensurate with the rest of the population. Vaccines are the light at the end of the tunnel, but we need to make sure that light is equally bright for all, Ng said. The vaccine distribution, like every other stage of the pandemic, has deepened disparities in communities that were already suffering from enormous inequities and decades-long underinvestment, said Wilma Franco, the executive director of the Southeast Los Angeles Collaborative, a group of non-profit organizations focused on education, health and environmental justice. Going forward, officials will have to contend with the systemic inequalities, and invest in communities like south-east LA, she said, where more people died of Covid-19 per capita than anywhere else in the county. Earlier this week, the CDC announced a $2.25bn initiative to address the health disparities that were exposed by the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Ukraine is interested in cooperation with Germany on the path of European integration, in particular, in the areas of digitalization, energy, and information technology. President Volodymyr Zelensky said this during a video address at the 4th German-Ukrainian Business Forum on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "Ukraine's strategic course towards European integration remains unchanged. We strive to synchronize and integrate our economy into the economic system of the European Union. Cooperation between Ukraine and Germany - the driving force of European integration - is of particular importance on this path," Zelensky said. He added that the business forum provides a unique opportunity to develop promising areas of cooperation between Ukraine and Germany. We are especially interested in cooperation in the areas of digitalization and IT, energy and energy efficiency, infrastructure and logistics, agricultural and aerospace industries, the president noted. Zelensky also believes that the holding of the German-Ukrainian Business Forum demonstrates the desire of the parties to develop and deepen the partnership, despite the difficult circumstances caused by the pandemic. In addition, Zelensky thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German government for supporting Ukraine in the face of aggression from the Russian Federation. As reported, on March 19, the 4th German-Ukrainian Business Forum began, within the framework of which a professional discussion of the possibilities for expanding bilateral cooperation between German and Ukrainian business will take place. This years event is held online due to coronavirus restrictions. ish The International Day of Happiness 2021 will be celebrated with great joy and excitement all over the world tomorrow on March 20. The United Nations started the day to recognise the importance of happiness in the lives of people all over the globe. Every person should be happy in their life irrespective of their age, class, caste or any other criteria. Being happy should be the ultimate goal in a humans life. Ahead of the day, a lot of people have been wondering about the International Day of Happiness 2021 theme, history about the day and its significance. For all the people who are wondering about it, here is everything you need to know about the day. International Day of Happiness 2021 theme The International Day of Happiness theme for this year is Happiness For All, Forever. This means that people all over the world should feel happy no matter what. The theme also suggests that people should always try and be happy in their life. Here is a look at the International Day of Happiness history. International Day of Happiness history The day was first celebrated in the year 2013. The General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 20 March as the International Day of Happiness in its resolution 66/281 of 12 July 2012. The resolution was first initiated by Bhutan. The country has prioritised the value of national happiness over national income since the early 1970s. Bhutan is also known for adopting the goal of Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product. during the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly, Bhutan also hosted a High-Level Meeting on "Happiness and Well-Being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm". In 2015, the UN launched the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which seek to end poverty, reduce inequality, and protect our planet. These are the three key aspects that lead to the well-being and happiness of all citizens all over the world. Here is a look at the International Day of Happiness significance. International Day of Happiness significance The day holds great significance as it recognised the need for the most important thing in any humans life that is happiness. The day was started to recognize the relevance of happiness and well-being. The UN felt that these should be universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world. Another reason for the day to be set up was that the importance of happiness should be recognised in public policy objectives. The day aims at recognising the need for a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and the well-being of all peoples. Image Credits: Canva At the White House on Thursday, the presidents press secretary was confirming reports that the United States had agreed to supply Mexico with excess coronavirus vaccine when she stumbled into a potential problem. The two nations have struggled to stem the surge of migrants at the southern U.S. border, and reporters wondered whether the agreement to send doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine was part of a larger agreement to increase cooperation on border security. There have been expectations set outside of, unrelated to, any vaccine doses or requests for them, that they would be partners in dealing with the crisis on the border," Jen Psaki said, accidentally repeating the exact term the White House has taken pains to avoid. Even as the number of crossing attempts reaches its highest level in two decades, Democrats have rejected Republican claims that the situation is Bidens border crisis. In fact, the administration has refused to call it a crisis at all. That is, until Thursday afternoon. When you were talking about how to go about diplomatic negotiations between the United States and Mexico, you said 'crisis on the border,'" RealClearPolitics started to ask. "Challenges on the border," Psaki quickly interjected. Does that, RCP continued, reflect a change in the administrations view of things on the border? Nope, the spokeswoman said twice. The slip was the latest episode in the semantics battle between Democrats and Republicans but also an illustration of the difficulty this White House faces as the administration deals with a migrant surge at a moment when the president would rather focus on pandemic recovery. The administration has not finalized the agreement for how to "lend the AstraZeneca doses to Mexico, though Psaki announced that the plan was to send 2.5 million of them to our neighboring country. (The AstraZeneca vaccine has not yet been granted emergency-use authorization in the U.S., but has been given elsewhere in the world.) However, she stressed that the priority is ensuring that every American adult gets access to one of the approved vaccines. Later in the afternoon, Biden didnt even mention the loaned doses, let alone the migrant situation. Im proud to announce that tomorrow, 58 days into our administration, we will have met my goal of administering 100 million shots to our fellow Americans. Thats weeks ahead of schedule, the president said in a White House speech celebrating the milestone. While he did not respond to shouted questions, a senior Customs and Border Patrol agent told Fox News that the president understands it is a crisis, which is why he told migrants, Dont come over. It was a reference to an interview Biden did with ABC News earlier in the week, the first time he addressed the situation at any length since coming into office. "Yes, I can say quite clearly: Don't come over," he told George Stephanopoulos, adding, Don't leave your town or city or community. It was a departure from what Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had said. We are not saying, Don't come, he told reporters earlier this month. We are saying, Don't come now. The GOP has done its best to pin the surge on the new president. On Monday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy led a delegation of House Republicans to tour the border. He said the situation, particularly the unaccompanied minors being detained, was heartbreaking. "I know the president's going to travel this week. This is where he should bring Air Force One," McCarthy said of a trip that Biden has told reporters he doesnt have plans to make. Speaker Nancy Pelosi dismissed that criticism saying, I guess their Dr. Seuss approach didn't work for them. Now they have to change the subject. A senior administration official insisted Thursday afternoon that Biden is not to blame for the surge, pointing to a 2019 spike in migrants apprehended at the border: It happened under Trump, and its happening under President Biden. (Later in the afternoon, the House passed two bills to grant legal status to farm workers and illegal aliens who came to the U.S. as children. Both face an uphill battle in the Senate.) The official confirmed that there are 9,562 unaccompanied minors currently in the care of Health and Human Services. While the sudden influx has stretched resources thin, the source said that children have clean, comfortable sleeping quarters, three meals a day, and they have freedom of movement. They can go outside for recreational time occasionally, the official added. During the Trump administration, images of children held behind chain-link fences led to Democrats outcry over kids in cages. Journalists have not been allowed to tour those facilities, however, in light of the pandemic and privacy concerns. According to the official, this was a holdover from the previous administration: In terms of media requests, DHS made an operational decision in March of 2020 to discourage visitors as a result of the pandemic. That decision still stands. 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 But Ive been studying the issue a lot myself. Ive been writing about the topic for seven years now, and Ive built a collection of academic research about what happens when the government forces all of us to lose an hour of sleep one weekend in the spring. Much of that has come out since his book, so maybe he is just not aware. He should be. NW Security launches its 36 page Management Report entitled Preparing for the Next Generation of CCTV Systems. The report brings together all results and analysis based on England-wide market research it conducted of medium and large sized firms running CCTV systems. The Report reveals that England is poised to become an early and rapid adopter of Cloud CCTV. It explores why 58 per cent of all firms captured in its survey of CCTV system users, are planning to migrate their existing CCTV systems into the cloud by September 2021. Cloud migration plans Amongst private sector more than two thirds (71 per cent) of CCTV users were actively considering migrating their video systems into the cloud. One of the key reasons for the strong appetite for Cloud CCTV migration, the NW Security Report finds, is that although the UK was late to moving to network video from traditional analogue-based CCTV because of its widespread adoption of CCTV more than 25 years ago; the CCTV to network video tipping point has finally been breached across all sectors. NW Securitys report also plots the increase in demand for Cloud CCTV Sixty one per cent of England-based medium and large businesses now have network video monitoring systems rather than traditional analogue-based CCTV systems, the study found. NW Securitys report also plots the increase in demand for Cloud CCTV as part of the wider acceleration of cloud migration plans in response to COVID-19. Corporate IT applications COVID-19 has created a rapid increase in demand for access to corporate IT applications and Management Information systems remotely, as so many of us spent most of our working week operating away from the traditional workplace. Cloud CCTV demand fits with wider cloud migration plans which have been accelerated in response to COVID-19. Forty two per cent of all medium and large-sized businesses admitted that their cloud migration plans are being accelerated in 2020/21 because of COVID-19. A further 34 per cent increased budgets to put more IT services and applications into the cloud following the outbreak of the pandemic. Three quarters (76 per cent) of all firms which completed NW Securitys online survey confirmed that they had accelerated cloud migration plans as a result of the pandemic. More surprising findings Perhaps one of the more surprising findings of this study was the fact that a third (33 per cent) of all businesses CCTV systems captured in NW Securitys study were still run by in-house Security or Facilities Management departments. Many IT managers are being forced to take a deeper interest (in their organisations CCTV systems)" However, now that more CCTV systems are networked than not, and Cloud CCTV migration is being actively considered by over half of organisations this year, NW Security believes IT departments will end up in charge of much more than the quarter (27 per cent) of video monitoring systems within the next couple of years. As Frank Crouwel, Managing Director of NW Security commented in the Report: Many IT managers are being forced to take a deeper interest (in their organisations CCTV systems) now that the technology and security installer partner capability is available to upgrade and improve CCTV systems - potentially moving them up into the cloud and exploring AI-driven video analytics capabilities which will come as standard in the next generation of CCTV systems. Professional security expertise Surprisingly, only 10 per cent of systems are supported by an external CCTV/network video specialist installer, NW Securitys study found. Yet with so much new technology coming in so quickly; and the pressure to migrate video monitoring into the cloud growing, deeper partnerships with external experts with combined pools of IT networking, cloud migration and professional security expertise are likely to gain ground, the report finds. Frank Crouwel, confirms first-hand experience of this partnership approach: We are seeing more businesses looking for help from expert partners for improvement and optimisation of CCTV systems to ensure they are getting optimal value from their existing systems. NW Security believes that the CCTV market is undergoing fundamental change and plans to investigate the implications of that change in a second study that it will run later this year. Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 20.03.21: The Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) State Service of Emergency Situations has informed that the search operations for the bodies of the fallen servicemen will not be carried out Friday. The search is likely to resume Saturday. The total number of bodies retrieved ever since the ceasefire in November 2020 is 1,503, of which 23, according to preliminary data, are of civilians. Armenian human rights defender Arman Tatoyan will submit evidence of ethnic cleansing carried out by Azerbaijan to international structures "During last year's war, the Azerbaijani authorities carried out ethnic cleansing and genocidal policies in Artsakh, and this continues to this day," he said. The facts were confirmed by the Armenian Foreign Ministry on March 18, 2021, with an important statement. The Ombudsman of Armenia will also send the protocols on these facts to the relevant international bodies. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) noted in its report the vandalism committed by Azerbaijan against the Armenian heritage of Karabakh. "President Aliyev reportedly gave assurances to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the country would protect Christian churches in these areas; however, some sites, such as a cemetery situated alongside an Armenian church in Hadrut, have already been vandalized," the report said. By the way, UNESCO has not yet received access to the territories occupied by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani forces abused Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) from the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, subjecting them to cruel and degrading treatment and torture either when they were captured, during their transfer, or while in custody at various detention facilities, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. Azerbaijani authorities should also investigate all allegations of ill-treatment and hold those responsible to account. HRW interviewed four former POWs who detailed their ill-treatment in custody as well as the ill-treatment of other POWs with whom they were captured or shared cells. They all described prolonged and repeated beatings. The Mediaport Telegram channel has shared footage capturing the Minister of High-Tech Industry of Armenia Hakob Arshakyan while attacking a journalist in a cafe. The Prosecutor General's Office sent a message about the attack to the Special Investigation Service. Arshakyan later referred to an incident noting that he is against any violence, and is 'guided by the principle of resolving issues by civilized methods.' "I would like to apologize to all the citizens present at the incident, to all those whose rest I disturbed by my action. In the end, I want to note that I am ready to bear accountability in connection with the incident," Arshakyan added. The incident has been widely criticized by society for solving the issues through violence. Armenian authorities said they are going to hold elections on June 20. Some of the parliament forces said they are going to take part in the elections. However, the Homeland Salvation Movement leaders put the elections under question noting that this is the political trick used by the authorities to buy time. Meanwhile, the current authorities intend to change the electoral code ahead of the elections. However, Bright Armenia party leader Edmon Manukyan said they are against it, as the EC will be changed very quickly with violations and without reaching a proper consensus. The Homeland Salvation Movement representatives said they are not ready to open the streets leading to the parliament - which are closed for three weeks. However, they noted that there may be some changes in their tactic following the election announcement. A pregnant woman married to an Armenian was killed by an Azerbaijani in the greater Moscow area and died on the spot. The Investigative Committee of Russia has launched a criminal case under the article of murder. The murderer is 43-year-old Munir, who attacked his 40-year-old sister, Leyla. Andrey Kolobin, one of the locals, said he had heard how the man screamed at the girl, called her a prostitute, and blamed her for not following Muslim traditions. He added that, unfortunately, there was nobody near her when she was stabbed and had already died when the paramedics arrived. As of Friday morning, 891 COVID-19 new cases were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 182,056 in the country. Also, 19 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 3,320 cases. The number of people who have recovered over the past one day is 332, the total respective number so far is 167,518. Armenian wrestler Vazgen Tevanyan (65 kg) reached the final of the European licensed Olympic freestyle wrestling tournament in Budapest and has qualified for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The representative of Armenia Arsen Harutyunyan (57 kg) will also head to the Tokyo Olympic Games. The United States House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing Thursday discussing the failure of Texas power grid during winter storm Uri in February. The disaster left millions without power and water and killed more than 50 people in Texas, many by hypothermia as temperatures remained well below freezing for days. From the very start of the meeting, it was clear that no serious attempt would be made by the Democratic Party-controlled committee to address the social crime that transpired last month. People wait in line to fill propane tanks Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, in Houston [Credit: AP Photo/David J. Phillip] The hearing, titled Lessons Learned from the Texas Blackouts: Research Needs for a Secure and Resilient Grid, focused almost entirely on discussing the role future research could play in building more reliable energy grids across the United States. The majority of the questions raised in the discussion were inquiries about balancing green energy with traditional sources, protecting Americas grid from foreign adversaries and how grids can be better managed locally. Entirely absent from the three-hour-long meeting was any detailed discussion of the underlying causes of the catastrophic failure of Texas electric infrastructure. Panelists mostly regurgitated what is common knowledge at this point: the states power grid operator, the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) failed to prepare for extreme winter events, fossil fuel power plants failed most spectacularly during the crisis and the United States needs to invest in its infrastructure. However, the question on the minds of millions of Americans is not what happened but rather why it happened. Why were energy corporations, which ultimately control Texas power grid, allowed to neglect power stations at the expense of the public? Why did multiple warnings on the need to winterize Texas energy production go unheeded for decades? Finally, what is being done to immediately address the issue? In her opening statement, Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (Democrat-Texas) made clear the advisory nature of the hearing. I hope that as the Texas Legislature decides what to do in response to this crisis, they will heed the lessons that we all share with us today, Johnson said. Therefore, the goal of the event essentially boiled down to assembling a panel of energy experts, asking them how to proceed, and passing down non-binding recommendations to the state government which bears a significant share of the responsibility for the disaster. For all intents and purposes, Thursdays hearing was no different than those held in 1989 and 2011 after similar weather events prompted inquiries into Texas dilapidated power grid. For its part, Texas state government has done nothing. Currently, the state legislature is split on whether ERCOT should reverse a quarter of the $16 billion the organization charged power companies during the crisis. The only measure passed so far in relation to the power failures was a bill recognizing the electrical utility line and generation workers of Texas for their efforts during the 2021 winter storm. Beth Garza, an ERCOT director from 2008 to 2019, attempted to cover up the role power companies played in the disaster during her testimony Thursday. She repeatedly stated it was too early to draw conclusions about the overall causes of the power grid failure. Additionally, Garza dismissed the governments failure to mandate the safety of the grid, and corporations refusal to follow recommendations. Much has been made of the lack of mandatory winterizations standards for power plants, and I suggest its easy to say that winterization should be mandatory but effective regulations require a specific standard to be met. And such a standard should also have benefits that exceed costs, Garza said. What costs is Garza referring to? Amid subfreezing temperatures, 4 million Texas households were without power for days. The failure of the power grid compromised water treatment facilities, leaving 14 million Texans without access to potable water. Dozens of people froze to death and succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. In fact, corporate concern for costsmeaning anything which cuts into profit marginsis directly responsible for the catastrophe. The social tragedy in Texas is the product of a series of decisions made by private corporations and public officials, all driven by the drive to maximize profit. The hearings focus on research was entirely misplaced. It is already clear that the miserable state of Texas power grid is not the dearth of research. The technology to protect the power grid from extreme weather already exists. Renewable and non-renewable power generators function in areas of extreme cold such as Alaska, Siberia, and northern Canada. Over the course of decades, state politicians and power companies worked together to deregulate the power grid. As a result, power companies decide whether they will implement weatherization measures at power plants. Despite the experiences of previous storms and warnings of an increse in extreme weather events due to human induced climate change, corporate executives decided against winterizing the electric grid because it would cut into profits. Winter storm Uri exposed the irrationality of the capitalist system. The safety and wellbeing of workers cannot be left to the whims of corporate executives or their political servants in the Democratic and Republican parties. The working class must take control of essential utilities and trillions must be expropriate from the banks and corporations and invested in modernizing infrastructure to safeguard the wellbeing of all of humanity. Tata Steel, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) and Vedanta-owned ESL Steel may participate in the strategic disinvestment of (NINL). We always look for growth opportunities. Therefore, we are evaluating participation in NINL disinvestment programme as well, Dilip Oommen, chief executive officer, AM/NS India, said, in response to a query on whether the company would consider participation. Pankaj Malhan, chief executive officer, ESL Steel, said, We are serious about the asset. We are a long products company and its a logical extension. Also, with the kind of focus that the government of India has on infrastructure, we would like to bet big on longs, Malhan added. Sources said that is looking to step up its exposure in long products and is planning to submit an expression of interest (EOI). While for ESL Steel and Tata Steel, the asset would translate an increase in long product steel capacity, for AM/NS India, it would pave an entry into the segment. About two-third production of long product steel largely used in infrastructure and construction is controlled by secondary producers and the balance is with primary steel producers. The due date for expression of interest (EOI) for NINL is March 29. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had given an in principle on January 8 for disinvestment of 93.71 per cent stake in NINL to a strategic buyer identified through a two-stage auction procedure. The company is jointly owned by central and state PSUs with MMTC, IPICOL, NMDC, OMC as major shareholders. NINl is a 1.1 million tonne unit, producing pig iron and billets and is located in the Kaliganagar Industrial Complex in Duburi, Odisha. Malhan, however, said that there was opportunity for expansion of capacity for NINL. The disinvestment in NINL comes at a time when the steel sector is going through an upturn. Steel prices touched an all-time high in January. Further, India Ratings expects long products demand growth to be sharp in FY22 supported by a demand push from the government-led infrastructure investments in affordable housing, railways and rural electrification and road networks and due to a lower base of FY21. Incorporated in 1982, the NINL plant was set up in phases; in phase I, the company set up the blast furnace to produce pig iron, which was commissioned in 2002. Supporting facilities like sinter plant, coke oven plant, power plant, were commissioned subsequently. In Phase II, the steel melting shop was installed for producing billets. NINL has also been allotted a captive iron ore mine in Odisha having an estimated mineable reserve of around 90.91 million tonne. 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. Five one-bedroom units and three two-bedroom apartments will be built on the second floor over a portion of the first floor that previously had no ceiling. The new office space will be located on the first floor. Aizawl: A group of police officers who defied the Myanmar army's orders to shoot opponents of the coup recounted their experience after they escaped to India. While speaking, they raised a three-finger salute, a symbol of resistance to Myanmar's military rulers. We cannot hurt our people, that's why we came to Mizoram, said one of the men, who hails from the northwestern town of Tedim. Mizoram state in India's northeast shares a border with Bangladesh and Myanmar. After the army coup, the police were ordered to shoot people and not just the people, we were told to shoot our own family if they are not on the side of the army, he said. Indian villagers in Mizoram have given shelter to 34 police personnel and one firefighter who crossed into India over the last two weeks. They spoke to an Associated Press photojournalist on condition of anonymity because of fears of retribution against family members still in Myanmar. Back in Myanmar, the three-finger salute, which traces its origins to the Hunger Games books and movies by Suzanne Collins, is being used by youth protesters at massive anti-army demonstrations. Meanwhile, K. Vanlalvena, a lawmaker from Mizoram state, urged the Indian government not to deport refugees from Myanmar until the return of normalcy there. The lawmaker belongs to the Mizo National Front, an ally of India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party. Those who escaped spend their time watching television and doing chores. Some have carried mobile phones and are trying to connect to families they were forced to leave behind. At night, all of them sleep on mattresses on the floor of a single room. One of them told the AP that they were under the command of Myanmar's army. We are all policemen working under the Myanmar government. We left our family in Myanmar. We do not know what is happening to our family, but they will face a lot of problems from the army. We came to Mizoram for shelter, we will die if we go back there, he said. We cannot reach our parents due to telecommunication problems, but what we heard is they are very scared to go out of their homes ... I'm hoping that one day we will meet again, he added. Earlier this month, Myanmar asked India to return the police officers who crossed the border. India shares a 1,643-kilometer (1,020-mile) border with Myanmar, and is home to thousands of refugees from Myanmar in different states. Last week, Ramliana, president of a Village Council in Mizoram state, a community-based body, said 116 Myanmar nationals crossed the Tiau River and reached Farkawn Village through a stretch where India's paramilitary Assam Rifles personnel were not present. He uses one name. India's state and federal government officials haven't given an exact number of people from Myanmar who have crossed over to India after the coup. Last week, India's Home Ministry told four Indian states bordering Myanmar, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh to take measures to prevent refugees from entering India except on humanitarian grounds. The ministry said the states were not authorized to accord refugee status to anyone entering India from Myanmar, as India is not a signatory to the U.N. Refugee Convention of 1951 or its 1967 Protocol. Myanmar has been ruled by the military for most of its history since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. A gradual move toward democracy in the past decade allowed Aung San Suu Kyi to lead a civilian government beginning in 2016, although the country's generals retained substantial power under a military-drafted constitution. Her party won last November's election by a landslide, but the military stepped in before Parliament was to convene on Feb. 1, detained Suu Kyi and other government officials and instituted a state of emergency, alleging the vote was tainted by fraud. Verified tallies show more than 200 people have been killed by security forces in Myanmar since the coup. They have used live fire and rubber bullets against protesters and some detainees have died in custody. Live TV A protest procession of around 200 buses from transport companies across Kosovo made their way through the streets of the capital, Pristina, on March 19. The owners of the bus companies are asking for government support, financial or otherwise, to save their companies from bankruptcy during the pandemic. Kodagu : , March 19 (IANS) A tiger, suspected to have killed three persons and numerous cattle in the last couple of months, was found dead in Karnataka's Kodagu district, forest officials said on Friday. The tiger's rotting carcass was found in the Nagarahole tiger reserve range and Forest Department officials claim that it was the same animal they had been hunting for. The male tiger was approximately 12 years old and had numerous pellet marks and injuries. The carcass, burnt after a post-mortem examination, was retrieved near Lakunda village, approximately 14 km from Belluru - the tiger conflict village where the Department was conducting combing operations for the past 25 days. "The skin pattern on the carcass that was found near Nagarahole limits matches the stripe pattern of the identified male tiger in Kodagu that has claimed three human lives," a forest official said. Karnataka's Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Sanjai Mohan told reporters that the dead tiger shares many similarities with the tiger that had killed three people. He added the cause of death and whether it is the same "human-eater" is still being probed through a series of tests and investigations. According to a statement released by his office, a tiger had attacked and killed three persons in T. Settigeri village in Kumtoor, Belur village of Srimangala hobli, Ponnampet range, and Lakkunda village in Virajpet taluk. "The dead tiger was found here (Lakkunda) where it had attacked a person last month. Now the forest officials had sent a sample of this tiger's carcass for post-mortem and the viscera for forensic examination," the statement said. After three persons were killed, the under pressure Forest Department had deployed over 150 personnel and other agencies were also roped into the search. The inability to capture the tiger led to protests in the district. Enraged residents had staged protests by blocking roads and highways, demanding its capture or shooting. This issue was raised in Karnataka Assembly too, with ruling Bharatiya Janata Party legislators from the district, Apachu Ranjan and K.G. Bopaiah, seeking permission to gun down the animal. Karnataka Forest Minister Arvind Limbavali had assured them that he had already issued a shoot-at-sight order, but stressed that the locals had no right to kill it. It is believed that the suspected killer tiger was pushed out by another male, forcing it to look for another territory. Nagarahole has seen an increase in the case of fights for territory due to the number of tigers there. It is the most densely populated tiger reserve in Karnataka, being home to more than 125 adult tigers that are roaming in a 644 sq km protected area, or 11.82 tigers for every 100 sq km range. Environmentalists had long argued that at least some of the big cats should be translocated from Nagarahole to avoid such conflicts. Officials said wild animals often venture into human habitats in search of food amid increasing territorial fights, depletion of resources in the forests, erosion of buffer zones, and the lack of corridors. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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! US, China wrap up testy 1st face-to-face talks under Biden View Photo ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) Top U.S. and Chinese officials wrapped up two days of contentious talks in Alaska on Friday after trading sharp and unusually public barbs over vastly different views of each other and the world in their first face-to-face meeting since President Joe Biden took office. The two sides finished the meetings after an opening session in which they attacked each other in an unusually public way. The U.S. accused the Chinese delegation of grandstanding and Beijing fired back, saying there was a strong smell of gunpowder and drama that was entirely the fault of the Americans. The meetings in Anchorage were a new test in increasingly troubled relations between the two countries, which are at odds over a range of issues from trade to human rights in Tibet, Hong Kong and Chinas western Xinjiang region, as well as over Taiwan, Chinas assertiveness in the South China Sea and the coronavirus pandemic. We got a defensive response, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after the meetings concluded. We wanted to share with them the significant concerns that we have about a number of the actions that China has taken, and behaviors exhibiting concerns, shared by our allies and partners, he said. And we did that. We also wanted to lay out very clearly, our own policies, priorities, and worldview. And we did that too. In separate comments, Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi said dialogue was the only way to resolve differences, But he also made clear that Beijing had no intention of backing down on any issue. China is going to safeguard our national sovereignty, security and our interests to develop China, he said. It is an irreversible trend, he said. We hope the United States is not going to underestimate Chinas determination to defend its territory, safeguard its people and defend its righteous interests, he said. As they opened the talks on Thursday, Blinken said the Biden administration is united with its allies in pushing back against Chinese authoritarianism. In response, Yang accused Washington of hypocrisy on human rights and other issues, many of which Blinken mentioned in his comments. Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability, Blinken said of Chinas actions. Thats why theyre not merely internal matters, and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here today. National security adviser Jake Sullivan amplified the criticism, saying China has undertaken an assault on basic values. We do not seek conflict but we welcome stiff competition, he said. Yang responded angrily by demanding the U.S. stop pushing its own version of democracy at a time when the United States itself has been roiled by domestic discontent. He also accused the U.S. of failing to deal with its own human rights problems and took issue with what he said was condescension from Blinken, Sullivan and other U.S. officials. We believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world, Yang said. Many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States. China will not accept unwarranted accusations from the U.S. side, he said, adding that recent developments had plunged relations into a period of unprecedented difficulty that has damaged the interests of our two peoples. There is no way to strangle China, he said. Blinken appeared to be annoyed by the tenor and length of the comments, which went on for more than 15 minutes. He said his impressions from speaking with world leaders and on his just-concluded trip to Japan and South Korea were entirely different from the Chinese position. Im hearing deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that were reengaged, Blinken retorted. Im also hearing deep concern about some of the actions your government is taking. Underscoring the animosity, the State Department blasted the Chinese delegation for violating an agreed upon two-minute time limit for opening statements and suggested it seem(ed) to have arrived intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance. Americas approach will be undergirded by confidence in our dealing with Beijing which we are doing from a position of strength even as we have the humility to know that we are a country eternally striving to become a more perfect union, it said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, speaking later in Beijing, said Blinken and Sullivan had provoked Chinese officials into making a solemn response after U.S. officials made groundless attacks against China. It was the U.S. side that provoked the dispute in the first place, so the two sides had a strong smell of gunpowder and drama from the beginning in the opening remarks. It was not the original intention of the Chinese side, Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing. U.S.-China ties have been torn for years, and the Biden administration has yet to signal whether its ready or willing to back away from the hard-line stances taken under Donald Trump. Just a day before the meeting, Blinken had announced new sanctions over Beijings crackdown on pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong. In response, China stepped up its rhetoric opposing U.S. interference in domestic affairs and complained directly about it. Is this a decision made by the United States to try to gain some advantage in dealing with China? State Councilor Wang Yi asked. Certainly this is miscalculated and only reflects the vulnerability and weakness inside the United States and it will not shake Chinas position or resolve on those issues. Trump had taken pride in forging what he saw as a strong relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. But the relationship disintegrated after the coronavirus pandemic spread from the Wuhan province across the globe and unleashed a public health and economic disaster. ___ Lee reported from Washington. By MATTHEW LEE and MARK THIESSEN Associated Press Digital Crossroad DX-1 Data Center in Hammond Indiana Digital Crossroad (DX), a wholesale colocation provider serving the Chicagoland market, is pleased to announce it has been selected by Indianapolis-based Rack Bunker, a minority-owned colocation provider, after the company conducted a national search for an ideal location for its expansion. Digital Crossroads economic and environmental sustainability initiatives helped put the data center ahead of competitors from places like Chicago, Dallas and others. Additionally, the DX-1 data center met all of Rack Bunkers requirements for security, network connectivity, scalability, flexibility, and reliability. Welcoming a great Hoosier firm like Rack Bunker to our data center keeps the momentum going strong for Indiana business. Were thrilled to have been selected for the next chapter of their success, said Thomas P. Dakich, managing member with DX. Theres a tremendous amount of exciting economic potential among the companies that Rack Bunker serves, said John Greenwood, chief strategy officer with DX. From local and state government to Fortune 500 firms, equipping these companies with Digital Crossroads capabilities will be a big catalyst for business growth. Rack Bunker is a colocation provider that has been growing rapidly and is currently seeking FedRAMP authorization. The company is motivated by the belief that that all companies seeking colocation offerings should have access to greater efficiency and flexibility at a reasonable price. As officials were searching for an expansion site, they chose the DX-1 data center because it met all of their technical requirements while also offering the added benefits of Indianas business strengths. There was a natural fit for us at Digital Crossroad, said Willie Pritchett, co-founder and managing partner of Rack Bunker. Were very excited to be continuing our companys upward trajectory right here in our home state. Rack Bunker plans to be operational at the DX-1 data center on May 1st. ### About DX-1 DX-1 is a 105,000 square foot, 20-Megawatt (MW) data center located on the former State Line Generating Plant. The campus offers numerous economic, environmental, and technological advantages, including favorable tax benefits, dedicated fiber access, and innovative environmental systems. About Digital Crossroad Digital Crossroad is a wholesale colocation company comprised of proven industry veterans who are committed to delivering sustainable data center solutions that reduce environmental and economic cost. To learn more, please visit digitalcrossroad.com. About Rack Bunker Data Centers Rack Bunker Data Center, LLC specializes in co-location, cloud services, and security & compliance services for a diverse portfolio of organizations. Our solutions include cloud storage, bare metal and virtual servers, Enterprise Hybrid and managed services. For more information, please visit rackbunker.com. Eighty-two of 83 delegates (98.8%) have agreed on a preliminary list of Hanois 72 candidates for the 15th National Assembly election. According to Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the capital city of Hanoi, Mr. Dam Van Huan, the Hanoi Election Committee has received 72 dossiers of the candidates for the upcoming National Assembly election, including 30 self-nominated candidates. Delegates agreed on a preliminary list of Hanois 72 candidates for the 15th National Assembly election. These dossiers all meet the requirements of procedures, conditions for nomination or self-nomination and ensure the structure of candidates who are women, young, ethnic minority, religious followers, party members and non-party members according to the announcement of the National Assembly Standing Committee. The second consultation conference held on March 17 voted to approve the list of 72 candidates. 82/83 delegates (98.8%) agreed on this preliminary list of 72 candidates and other related issues. The meeting proposed the following issues: a number of issues on the results of the first consultation, including the number of delegates for Hanoi; the case of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) which does not have the structure of a State economic group; the status of candidates for the 15th National Assembly election; the participation of the Vietnam Fatherland Fronts officials in the National Assembly; and issues related to candidates who are business representatives. Chair of the Hanois Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, Nguyen Lan Huong, said that the Standing Committee of Hanois Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee would send the minutes of the 2nd consultation meeting to the National Election Council, the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and Hanoi Election Commission. The Standing Committee of Hanois Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee will hold meetings with representatives of the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at district and commune levels where the candidates for the 16th National Assembly reside and representatives of agencies and organizations where employ the candidates. From April 21 to March 13, the Standing Committee of Hanois Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee will collect voters' opinion at the place of residence or workplace. Huong Quynh In a spirited defence of the Centre's farm laws during his campaign for the April 6 assembly polls, AIADMK top leader and Chief Minister on Friday said his party opposed aspects like cess and levy for farmers but the DMK 'supported' them. Hitting out at DMK chief M K Stalin who has been focusing on the farm laws and opposing them in his election propaganda, Palaniswami said the former does not know anything about farming and the AIADMK would be the first party to resist any move if farmers were to be affected. Canvassing votes for Selvi Ramajayam, AIADMK nominee in Kurinjipadi, an agrarian constituency here, he said the protest in north India against farm laws was 'instigated' by intermediaries but Stalin could not even explain it. The AIADMK leader pointed to price volatility in farm markets to buttress his point. During sowing, tomato's market price may be Rs 40 per kilo but at the stage of harvest, the price could fall to even Rs 2 or 3 per kilo, he said. Considering scenarios such as this, the new laws facilitate purchase of farm produce at prevailing market rates though prices, after ruling high initially could have fallen at the time of harvest, he said. Also, farmers would get a share if the produce was sold at a higher price. "What is wrong in it,"? he asked and listed levies and cess (to be borne by farmers including in markets) to the tune of about 8.5 per cent in northern regions of the country. Seeking to know if it was correct to burden ryots with such taxes, he said while his party opposed taxing farmers, Stalin supported it. "Stalin does not know anything about farming. Guarding farmers during price fall is the AIADMK government's intention," he said supporting the farm laws, against which a large number of farmers, especially from Punjab and Haryana, are protesting at the borders of Delhi for nearly four months. While the AIADMK government enacted the Protected Agricultural Zone Development Act, 2020, the DMK ushered in the hydrocarbon project by 'usurping' farmers lands, Palaniswami alleged. "Stalin is trying to hoodwink people and somehow capture power," he added. Blaming DMK over issues including Cauvery, he accused Stalin of keeping in mind the interests of of his family alone and not that of the people. He also listed his government's initiatives like 2,000 Amma Clinics and 7.5 per cent reservation to government school students in medical admissions, who clear National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test. At another campaign location, he mocked at Stalin for collecting petitions from the public and placing it in a box in this e-age when the government had already been implementing effective grievance redressal mechanisms. By calling toll free number --1100-- people could lodge their complaints from anywhere. Also, authorities have addressed grievances flagged in 5.22 lakh petitions out of 9.77 lakh received by ministers, MLAs, and district collectors, he said. Alleging that the DMK was an unruly outfit, the CM said it would not allow anyone to live in peace. Seeking votes for party candidate fielded from Cuddalore constituency, M C Sampath (Industries Minister), he said "after Amma's government is formed again," every household would get a washing machine and the 100-day rural employment scheme shall be increased to 150 days. Commodities distributed through Public Distribution Outlets would be door-delivered and every family shall get a financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month, he said, highlighting the key assurances in the AIADMK manifesto. Seven defendants were given suspended sentences after being held responsible for a wall collapse that killed seven construction workers in Vietnams Mekong Delta in 2019. The Peoples Court in Vinh Long Province on Thursday began the trial against Le Phuoc Thien, Truong Van Tuan, Nguyen Tran Bao Quoc, Dang Su Quan, Nguyen Thanh Tung, Tran Quan Tru, and Duong Thanh Phong. Thien, Tuan, and Quoc, who were officials from the management board of industrial parks in Vinh Long Province, were sentenced to 1.5 to two years in prison for lack of responsibility that led to serious consequences. They were, however, given suspended sentences with probation periods lasting for three to five years. Quan, Tung, and Phong were directors and deputy directors of local construction companies, while Tru worked as an engineer. The four were sentenced to between 1.5 and 2.5 years behind bars for violating construction regulations and causing serious consequences, but also received suspended sentences with probation periods lasting for three to five years. All of the seven defendants were held responsible for the wall collapse that killed seven workers and injured another at the construction site of Bo Hsing Companys factory at Hoa Phu Industrial Park in Vinh Long on March 15, 2019. Following the accident, the State Authority for Construction Quality Inspection examined the scene and pointed out that the wall was designed with an unreasonable structure. Its height and size did not fit the rest of the building, which ultimately affected its bearing capacity. Multiple other errors were also found at the construction site, which were attributed to the fatal accident. Investigators also discovered that the several officials from the management board of industrial parks in Vinh Long Province had granted a construction permit to the project without carrying necessary procedures. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! "Let go. ... I'm setting you free." That's what Chance Seneca told a gay Lafayette man as he attempted to kill him after using the dating site Grindr as a hunting ground for victims, an FBI agent said in an affidavit unsealed Thursday. The affidavit details how Seneca lured 19-year-old Holden White to his father's home to dismember and kill him as part of a detailed plot that included keeping parts of his victim's body as "trophies, mementos and food. Seneca, also 19, was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on charges of hate crime with attempt to kill, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, attempted kidnapping, obstruction by destruction of records and two counts of kidnapping. The charges stem from his attempted murder of White and his targeting of two other men the day before the brutal attack. Seneca and White met on Grindr, a dating app for gay and bisexual men, and Seneca said the interaction was a pretext to his larger murder plot. He said it was fair to call Grindr his hunting ground, the affidavit said. Seneca also allegedly used the app to lure the other two men he targeted prior to White, the indictment said. He ordered weapons used in the attack, including a knife, ice pick, saw and hammer, from Amazon, he told FBI Special Agent Daniel English. Seneca spoke to English and a Lafayette Police Department detective in separate June interviews after waiving his Miranda rights, the court documents said. Whites attack happened June 20 at a home in the 400 block of Maryview Farm Road. Seneca told investigators the home belonged to his father and he brought White to the location because his father was offshore and he knew theyd be alone. After the attack, Seneca called 911 at 11:49 p.m. and told an LPD dispatcher someone was strangled and he was waiting outside his dads house to speak with officers. Lafayette man's attempted murder was a hate crime, part of larger plot against gay men, feds charge A Lafayette man was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on hate crime and other charges after he was accused of attempting to kill and d When the dispatcher asked what happened, Seneca made statements such as, I really f----d my life up tonight, Its my fault, I didnt want all this to happen, I tried to control everything so good, It was going so well, I dont want to be killed, and I just want help, the affidavit said. Top stories in Acadiana in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Seneca was found outside smoking a cigarette when officers arrived. White was found naked and severely injured in an upstairs bathroom, his wrists slit to the bone and strangulation marks visible around his neck. Whites family told an Acadiana Advocate reporter he was also stabbed in the neck and suffered blunt force trauma to the back of his head. White, an LSU Eunice student, spent nearly a month in the hospital and continues to undergo physical therapy. Seneca told investigators he convinced White to put on handcuffs by proposing a sexual encounter aided by a gun put to Whites back and the command that he could do this the easy way or the hard way, which Seneca said was meant as a dark joke, the affidavit said. Once in the bathroom, Seneca said he strangled White from behind until he was unconscious, dragged his body into the bathtub, stripped him naked and proceeded to slit his wrists. Seneca explained that he had hoped to remove and preserve Whites hands but that he could not finish his plan after seeing the bones of Whites wrists exposed under the flesh, Englishs affidavit said. Seneca recalled crying during the attack and said he repeatedly apologized to White during the attempted murder, but implored him to slip away, saying: Let go. ... Im setting you free, the affidavit said. While White was incapacitated, Seneca called 911 in a self-described effort to be put in a mental institution. The accused then deleted his Grindr conversation history with White while waiting for the police to arrive. Senecas federal arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday before Magistrate Judge Carol B. Whitehurst. The video conference will begin at 10 a.m. Seneca also faces state charges of attempted second-degree murder and committing a hate crime in the 15th Judicial District Court. For Senecas federal offenses, the statutory maximum for the hate crime, kidnapping, and firearm offenses is life imprisonment. The maximum sentence for the attempted kidnapping and obstruction offenses is 20 years and the minimum for the gun charge is five years, a statement from Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana Alexander C. Van Hook said. Johann Chuckaree is the epitome of the modern Indo-Trinidadian. The 31-year-old is a proud descendant of East Indian indentured labourers. Prays to Jesus Christ. And plays the pan. The Woodbrook-born musician exuded equal passion for all three during a virtual sitting with the Kitcharee on Thursday night. WASHINGTON - A Texas man arrested outside the vice president's residence on Wednesday told an officer "he was looking for help" and "wanted to talk to the president" before leading police to his vehicle, which contained a rifle and 113 rounds of ammunition, according to court documents. Police had been searching for 31-year-old Paul Murray since Tuesday, when authorities in College Station, Texas, distributed an intelligence bulletin warning he thought he was being targeted by the government and had texted his mother that he was in the District of Columbia "to take care of his problem." District Superior Court Magistrate Judge Heide Herrmann on Thursday ordered Murray detained until his next court appearance April 17, agreeing with prosecutors that Murray is dangerous. She ordered him to undergo a mental competency evaluation. Murray was charged with illegal possession of a firearm and possession of a large-capacity ammunition magazine. Police said they found five magazines that could each hold 30 rounds. There is no indication Murray, from San Antonio, made any direct threats, but his arrest came amid heightened security alerts following the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and recent attacks targeting Asian Americans. Vice President Kamala Harris is Black and Asian. Murray's defense attorney, Cheline Schroeder, said during Thursday's hearing that there is no strong evidence Murray is dangerous, and she called for the charges to be dropped, saying that, if anything, possession of the firearm is a statutory violation, not a felony charge. Schroeder noted that Murray's vehicle, and firearm, were found in a garage in downtown Washington, three miles from where her client was arrested. She said he had no intent to use the weapon. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Tepfer told the court Murray is "reportedly schizophrenic" and has been off his medication "for a period of years." Court documents say that on March 12, authorities in Brazos County, Texas, obtained a "mental health warrant" allowing for Murray's "emergency detention." The warrant states, according to the court documents, that Murray "thinks he is going to be murdered" by someone in the government. The bulletin distributed by College Station police four days later says he told officers he had been attacked by a group called "3 Stones" while he was in the military overseas and that "he would hurt someone 'if it was justified.' " It says Murray complained to police in Texas he was not getting enough support, had stopped taking his medication and had been drugged or poisoned on a recent trip to Japan. Efforts to reach Murray's family on Thursday were not successful. A uniformed U.S. Secret Service agent first encountered Murray shortly after noon on Wednesday at Massachusetts Avenue and Observatory Circle in Northwest Washington and took him into custody. The vice president traditionally lives on the grounds of the Naval Observatory, though it could not be determined whether Harris's family was there on Wednesday. After the inauguration, they had been staying at Blair House near the White House while the permanent residence underwent renovations. During his arrest, court documents say, Murray directed police to his vehicle, a black Chevrolet Impala with Texas license plates parked in a garage in the 600 block of Massachusetts Avenue NW, two blocks from the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station. Inside, police said, they found a case containing a Smith & Wesson AR-15 rifle and the ammunition. Authorities said Murray purchased the firearm in Texas in 2017. The Texas police bulletin also advises that Murray told police he had been medically discharged from the Army, where he had worked as a remote drone operator at a base within the United States. An Army spokesman said Murray had a rank of specialist and had been assigned as an unmanned aerial vehicle operator from March 2010 through April 2014. He had no deployments. The spokesman declined to discuss the reason for his discharge. - - - The Washington Post's Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report. MINSK -- A Belarusian man who was hit by a police vehicle in Minsk during rallies against the results of a presidential election Alyaksandr Lukashenka claims to have won, has been sentenced to two years in prison after a court convicted him of "disrupting public transportation operations" and "disrupting social order." The district court in Minsk on March 19 found Yahor Suhoydz guilty of walking in the middle of the road and "jumping" on a police vehicle. He was sentenced the same day. Suhoydz, who sustained head injuries from the accident, insists that he was at the unsanctioned rally to protest the results of the election that handed a sixth term to strongman Lukashenka and did not jump on the car. Images of Suhoydz being hit by the vehicle went viral at the time. In a separate case, a court in the western city of Hrodna sentenced musician Ihar Bantser to 18 months in an open prison, meaning that he will live under strict restrictions in a special dormitory and work at an industrial facility chosen by the state penitentiary service. Bantser, who has been on hunger strike for 17 days to protest his arrest, was found guilty of publicly insulting police by showing them intimate parts of his body. Belarus has witnessed almost daily protests since Lukashenka was declared the winner of the August 9 election by a landslide amid allegations of widespread fraud. More than 30,000 people have been detained, hundreds beaten, several killed, and journalists targeted in the governments crackdown. Lukashenka, who has run Belarus since 1994, and top officials have been slapped with sanctions by the West, which refuses to recognize him as the legitimate leader of the former Soviet republic. New Delhi, March 19 : Buoyed by the acceleration of anti-Covid-19 vaccination drive, Tata-SIA airline -- Vistara -- expects regular short-haul international operations to commence in the next 3-6 months. Notably, the current international flights are operated under the 'Air Bubble' agreements between India and other countries. This special arrangement mandates certain prerequisites along with permissions which are needed for passengers to undertake travel. However, regular scheduled services by the airline were being undertaken during the Pre-Covid period to destinations like Singapore, Dubai, Colombo, Bangkok and Kathmandu. In an interaction Vistara's Chief Commercial Officer Vinod Kannan told IANS that it might take at least 3-6 more months to resume short-haul international operations within the subcontinent based on bilateral government approvals. "While global rollout of the vaccine has begun in full swing, resumption of regular international air travel is still some time away," he said. "Therefore, we feel travel bubble agreements will continue for a while and it may take us at least 3-6 more months to resume short-haul international operations within the subcontinent based on bilateral government approvals, while long-haul air travel may take at least till the end of the year to resume." He said the airline is keen on long-haul direct flights operations from India and has been steadily growing its global network under travel bubble agreements. In fact, the airline's six of the seven destinations were added during the ongoing pandemic, under travel bubble agreements. "We are pursuing discussions with other like-minded global airlines for partnerships to be able to provide our customers an extended global network while strengthening our international presence." According to Kannan, vaccines' rollouts have led to significant improvement in overall market sentiment and "given lot of hope to the industry". "Especially in India, it has been very positive, given the country's role in controlling the spread of virus has been lauded by leaders from around the world," Besides, he cited the gradual but steady return of demand across customer segments. "The passenger traffic, we see right now is a mix of people returning to their homes or to their cities of occupation, VFR (visiting friends and relatives) and business travel by SME owners and young entrepreneurs." "As organisations increasingly embrace remote working, there might be a short to medium term effect on the demand for business travel." Furthermore, Kannan pointed out that destinations like Goa, Srinagar and Port Blair have seen healthy demand lately. "Our domestic network is our biggest strength, and our focus is to densify it further." "We have been progressively mounting flights in our domestic network and are already operating at around 75 per cent of our pre-Covid capacity. However, we are witnessing a marginal drop in demand in March, mainly to destinations where new restrictions have been introduced in view of containing the spread of the virus." In addition, he said that the airline's fleet expansion plan remains on track. "We plan to have all six wide-body aircraft (Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner) in our fleet by 2022 and will continue to add more narrow-body aircraft including the A321neo." "By 2023, we expect to have a fleet of close to over 70 aircraft." The airline is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines (SIA). It had commenced commercial operations on January 9, 2015. At present, the airline has a fleet of 44 aircraft, including 34 Airbus A320, two Airbus A321neo, six Boeing B737-800NG, and two Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. (Rohit Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in) -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Peloton is warning owners to keep their children away from their treadmills after an accident involving its Tread+ in which a child died. CEO John Foley sent a letter to Tread+ owners Thursday, saying the warning comes after a "tragic accident involving a child and the Tread+, resulting in, unthinkably, a death." He didn't reveal details of the fatal accident, but he did note Peloton is "aware of only a small handful of incidents involving the Tread+ where children have been hurt." Overall, exercise equipment as a category can be particularly dangerous for children: 25,000 kids under the age of 10 are injured by exercise equipment each year, according to a 2014 study from the US National Institutes of Health. In 2019, the Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates U.S. emergency departments treated 2,000 treadmill-related injuries in children under 8. Peloton said in a statement to CNN Business that there are "no words to express the shock and sadness everyone at Peloton feels as a result of this terrible tragedy." The company won't be disclosing any additional information about the incident "out of respect for the family and privacy." Recommendations to help kids stay safe "We design and build all of our products with safety in mind," Foley wrote. "But in order to help ensure that you and your family members stay safe with Peloton products in your home, we need your help." Foley said Peloton recommends its customers keep children and pets away from equipment at all times. Before a workout, they should ensure the area is completely clear and once they're done, they should remove the treadmill's safety key (required to be inserted for the machine to work) and store it out of reach. NIH similarly recommends positioning treadmills to face the doorway, or using a mirror to improve visibility, if children are present in the household. People of all ages are more likely to injure themselves on treadmills than any other kind of exercise equipment, the NIH study found. Americans report 46,000 treadmill-related injuries each year more than four times the number of stationary bike accidents, the next-most dangerous kind of exercise equipment. Treadmills comprise two-thirds of exercise equipment injuries, even though they represent just a quarter of exercise machines, NIH said. The group did not break out how many children are injured specifically by treadmills. Peloton's Tread+, which costs $4,295, features carbon steel and aluminum as well as a motorized belt for walking or running. The company recently revealed a lower-priced treadmill for $2,495 that's expected to ship in late May. Both have large screens to stream Peloton classes [March 19, 2021] Trip.com launches new train booking features to enhance safe travel SINGAPORE, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Trip.com, a leading global travel services provider, continues to upgrade and enhance its services to enable safer travel around the world. Recently, in the South Korean market, Trip.com launched a series of new train seat selection services. Through the Trip.com app, passengers can now select their seats in advance for KTX, ITX and Mugunghwa-ho trains across the nation, encouraging safer travel whilst COVID-19 control measures remain in place. "With the upgrading of social distancing measures, the most important value consideration of passengers is naturally safety when using transport facilities," Justin Hong said, Trip.com South Korea General Manager, adding, "To enable passengers to use transport services more safely and conveniently, Trip.com has upgraded its ticketing service offerings, and will offer more diversified services to ensure the safety of passengers." In 2018, Trip.com launched its online ticketing service for South Korea's high speed railway system, KTX, becoming the first OTA to offer this service other than South Korea's national rail operator KORAIL. Through he recent service upgrade, which is available in dozens of languages, more and more foreign tourists are now able to buy KTX tickets via Trip.com. Whilst a recent survey shows a rise in the proportion of South Korean users also booking train tickets via Trip.com. Additional customer benefits available alongside the online seat selection service include the ability for KTX passengers to select different class seats for several passengers at a time. "We are working with globally influential Trip.com to offer more people convenient and safe train services," said a KORAIL executive, adding, "We will continue to put safety first and do our utmost to enhance passengers' riding comfort." Trip.com has rolled out many initiatives to ease concerns of travelers during this time. Across the region, flexi-trip, flexi-booking and free cancelation policies are available for customers, allowing greater freedom and easy adaptability of travel plans. Around the world, Trip.com has expanded its customer service capacity to ensure travelers supported at all stages of their journeys, with 24/7 customer service support available in 19 languages. Trip.com also released its COVID-19 International Traveler's Guide, a one-stop information source designed to make planning travel safer and easier in a period of uncertainty. Trip.com Group, Trip.com's parent company, led the implementation of the World Travel and Tourism Council's Safe Travel protocol that aimed to rebuild confidence among consumers by bringing together industry leaders and partners to implement the best available guidelines on health and safety. Trip.com Group's own TravelOn initiative also introduced a series of industry-wide measures to reinvigorate travel and ensure the safety of travel whilst bringing benefits to customers and support for ecosystem partners through new safety standards, flexibility guarantees, and promotions. About Trip.com Trip.com is a leading international online one-stop travel service provider, available in 20 languages across 27 countries and regions. Our platform combines over 1.4 million hotels in 200 countries and regions, 2 million flights connecting more than 5,000 cities, and world-class 24/7 English language customer service as well as additional centres in Edinburgh, Tokyo and Seoul, 'Creating the best travel experience' for our millions of customers worldwide. For additional information, visit Trip.com Newsroom SOURCE Trip.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Burma Myanmar Regime Sues 10 University Academics on Strike Naypyitaw Naypyitaw Myanmars police have opened a case against 10 academics at the University of Veterinary Science in Naypyitaw for their alleged participation in the civil disobedience movement (CDM). The sued academics are Dr. Aung Aung, Dr. Kyaw Kyaw Moe, Dr. Saw Bawm, Dr. Hnin Yi Soe, Dr. Latt Latt Htun, Dr. Khin San Mu, Dr. Win Ohmar Kyaw, Dr. Soe Soe Wai, Dr. Moe Thida Tun and Dr. Hlaing Hlaing Myint. Police in Yezin, where the university is based, also filed a charge against the university student union chairman, Ko Ye Myint Myat Aung. They all face charges under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code, apparently from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Article 505(a) was amended by the military regime following the Feb. 1 coup. It criminalizes any attempt to disturb or cause disobedience among military personnel or government employees, threatening up to three years in prison. Ko Ye Myint Myat Aung said he was sued because the student union encouraged government employees to join the CDM. All we have to do is to continue our fight against the dictators. I smile at the lawsuit against me, said Ko Ye Myint Myat Aung. The Irrawaddy was unable to contact the university staff for a comment. Nine officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one at the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry and a deputy stationmaster at Myanma Railways in Naypyitaw face various charges under Article 505 of the Penal Code for their participation in the CDM. The Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, a body representing deposed parliamentarians of the National League for Democracy, said on March 16 that it would prosecute officials who oppress, threaten and impose unfair punishments on striking civil servants. You may also like these stories: Singapore Military Chief Expresses Grave Concern to Myanmar Regime Leader Can China Prevent Further Bloodshed in Myanmar? Myanmar Regime Charges Rival Vice-President with High Treason CLEVELAND, Ohio An 18-year-old man fatally shot a man who showed up to a St. Patricks Day party looking for his ex-girlfriend, according to police. Derrick Wilson, 29, died in an early morning shooting in the citys Stockyards neighborhood. The 18-year-old man who shot Wilson later gave an interview to homicide detectives with his attorney and turned over his gun, police said. Detectives did not arrest him and are investigating the case as a potentially justified shooting under Ohios Castle Doctrine. A judge in February issued a temporary protection order barring Wilson from going near his 25-year-old ex-girlfriend after she accused Wilson of attacking her. The shooting happened about 7 a.m. Thursday at a home on West 54th Street and Denison Avenue. Wilsons ex-girlfriend was inside the home for a St. Patricks Day party that was still going from the day before, according to police. Wilson showed up looking for his ex-girlfriend and got into an argument with another man that escalated into a fight outside the home, according to police. The man went back inside and locked the door. Wilson kicked the door several times. The 18-year-old man, who was not involved in the fight, fired a single gunshot through the door, according to police. The bullet hit Wilson in the back, killing him. Officers reported finding a large pool of blood on the porch and a broken window, according to police reports. An ambulance took Wilson to MetroHealth, where he died. Wilson on Feb. 7 attacked the 25-year-old woman at her home on the citys West Side, according to police. She told the officers at the time the two had been in a relationship for two years, according to police. He punched her several times in the body, knocking her to the ground, according to police reports. He stomped on her head several times, which knocked her unconscious. The woman woke up, didnt see Wilson in the room and jumped out of a second-floor window, police reports say. She ran to a neighbors home and called for an ambulance. Officers interviewed her at MetroHealth where she was treated for multiple cuts and bruises. The woman told officers that Wilson had become more violent during the last year, that he threatened to kill her and had choked her several times. She told the officers she believed he was capable of killing her and that he had access to weapons, according to police reports. Prosecutors filed charges against Wilson two days later and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was not arrested on the charges. Wilsons three criminal convictions were for carrying concealed weapons and possessing weapons with a felony record. Its the second time in recent weeks that a man accused of domestic violence was shot to death when he returned to attack his victim. On Feb. 21, a 21-year-old man staying with a domestic violence victim for her protection fatally shot Mark Downs, who police said returned to the womans home to attack her. Downs had attacked the woman earlier in the day and police had previously arrested and charged him with domestic violence in connection with a Feb. 7 incident in which he repeatedly punched her in the face, according to police and court records. No charges were filed against the 21-year-old man for the shooting. Read more from cleveland.com: Man shot to death after breaking into ex-girlfriends home in Clevelands Broadway-Slavic Village neighborhood Indictment says Tremont, Clark-Fulton shootings tied to Laflexico gang Man accused of killing Cuyahoga County Jail cellmate had been in 11 other fights prior to slaying Cuyahoga County jail officer suspended for releasing inmate was previously fired, rehired after prior mistaken inmate release Washington, March 19 : Top US and Chinese diplomats traded barbs at a high-level meeting in Alaska, their first since US President Joe Biden took office in January. On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, reports dpa news agency. The US-Chinese relationship would be competitive if necessary, cooperative if possible, and hostile if need be, Blinken said in his opening remarks. China's actions threatened global stability, he warned. Reacting to Blinken's remarks. Yang said: "It is important for our two countries that we conduct our affairs well instead of shifting the blame on someone else in the world." "It is a fact that there are many human rights problems in the US," Yang said, referring to last year's Black Lives Matter protests against racism and police violence. Then Blinken on his part said the US was concerned about the human rights situation in Hong Kong and in Xinjiang province, which is home to the Uighur ethnic minority. He accused China of being responsible for cyber attacks and of blackmailing US allies with economic pressure and also criticised Beijing's stance on Taiwan. Earlier, the Secretary of State had stated that the US intends to defend the "rules-based order" without which there would be a "much more violent world". On the matters of Chinese activities in places like Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan, he asserted that these were not merely internal matters. The meeting then went on behind closed doors. The talks will continue on Friday. Ahead of the meeting with the Chinese diplomats, Biden's spokeswoman Jen Psaki had said the focus would be on "having a frank discussion, raising issues where we have concerns, and of course, looking for ways and places where we can work together". Under former President Donald Trump's administration, ties between China and the US reached their lowest level since diplomatic relations were established in 1979. It had levied tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of Chinese goods, to which Beijing also responded with duties of its own. In January 2020, the countries reached a phase one agreement on trade that called for increased Chinese purchases of US goods and greater access to the Chinese financial market. However, bilateral tensions again increased in the months since, amid the coronavirus pandemic after the Trump administration directly blamed China for the global crisis. Mario Gonzalez had just escaped Young's Asian Massage Parlor where a gunman opened fire Tuesday and was greeted by police who placed him in handcuffs - as he pleaded for information about his dying wife who was still inside, his niece told DailyMail.com. 'He was in the handcuffs for like two hours because they thought it might be him,' Jessica Gonzalez, 20, said, recalling conversations with her uncle who was at the spa with his wife Delaina Gonzalez to get massages. 'He's very upset and angry about that. He was handcuffed for something he didn't do. I think it was a racial thing. He was the only one left in handcuffs.' 'He kept asking, ''Where's my wife? Where's my wife?'' and nobody would give him an answer,' the niece added. 'He didn't get any answers until a couple hours later.' Mario Gonzalez and his wife Delaina were in separate rooms waiting for massages at Young's Asian Massage Parlor when gunshots rang out Tuesday Mario is seen sitting on the sidewalk in handcuffs, as his wife lay dying inside. Police still hadn't identified a suspect, so restrained him as a precaution Within minutes the video shows a few lucky survivors exiting the spa, followed by the arrival of cops and paramedics as one victim is seen on the sidewalk with blood flowing from a bullet wound to the head Mario Gonzalez, a landscaper originally from Veracruz in Mexico, married Delaina in 2020. The couple met at a Waffle House where she worked, just a couple miles from Young's Asian Massage. 'One day my uncle, out of the blue, said he had a girlfriend and I was like, 'Oh my God.' He never had a girlfriend. He said they met at Waffle House and exchanged numbers and Facebook information. I'd never seen him with anyone, so when he told me he had a girlfriend, I was very excited for him. I encouraged him, told him I was very happy.' Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez, 33, was killed in the first parlor in Acworth The couple had a baby last year, Mia, who's now eight months old. On Tuesday, they went to the spa for a rare evening out. 'He said they were in separate rooms waiting for their massages to start when they heard shooting,' Jessica said. Robert Aaron Long, 21, shot Delaina and four others including the owner, before fleeing. 'My uncle screamed for his wife, but he didn't see her,' the niece said. Shortly after he ran out, cops pulled up. Surveillance video shows him cuffed outside the spa, before he was placed in the patrol car. Alex Acosta, who worked next door at Gabby's Boutique, recognized Mario on the sidewalk and approached him, telling DailyMail.com, 'Mario looked at me and he told me his wife was still inside. He told me to tell the police.' When Acosta's wife told a cop about Delaina, the officer replied, 'I know.' Reached by phone, Mario Gonzalez told DailyMail.com in Spanish that he's very upset and too traumatized to talk at this time. He's been struggling to maintain focus to care for his baby and plan for a funeral. 'He's mourning,' Jessica said. 'He's not sleeping, trying to be with his baby right now.' Asked about the killer, Jessica said she doesn't believe Long's claim that this wasn't a hate crime. 'I think he's just covering up,' she said. 'I believe he's not crazy and knows right from wrong. There's no way he specifically targets three Asian Massage places and that it's not a hate crime.' Mario, a landscaper originally from Veracruz in Mexico, married Delaina in 2020 and they share an eight month old baby 'He's mourning,' Jessica said of Mario Gonzalez, pictured with his late wife and child. 'He's not sleeping, trying to be with his baby right now.' 'My uncle screamed for his wife, but he didn't see her,' the niece said. Delaina is pictured in a Facebook photo More and more flowers, signs and balloons were put in front of the spa overnight to memorialize the lives taken Long shot dead eight people including six Asian women at three parlors - one in Acworth and two in Atlanta - on Tuesday. He then went on the run and was driving to Florida to target porn-industry locations when he was arrested 150 miles south of Atlanta. Police rammed his Hyundai off the road to take him into custody. Robert Aaron Long, 21, told police that he has a sex addiction and viewed the parlors as an 'outlet' and 'temptation' that he wanted to remove. Atlanta police said Thursday that 'nothing is off the table' in the investigation of the deadly shootings at Georgia massage parlors, including whether it was a hate crime. 'Our investigation is looking at everything, so nothing is off the table,' Deputy Atlanta Police Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said at a news conference. Four of the eight victims have now been named as; Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33; Paul Andre Michels, 54; Xiaojie Yan, 49; and Daoyou Feng, 44. Elcias R Hernandez-Ortiz was injured but survived. Not all of the victims were staff , including Delaina. Initially, police said they were probing whether race was a factor in the attacks because six of the eight victims were Asian women. But on Wednesday morning, they said Long told them that was not why he carried out the attacks. Instead, he said he is addicted to sex and porn, and wanted to remove the 'temptation' of the parlors. (@FahadShabbir) Dubai, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Mar, 2021 ) :Yemen's Huthi rebels have made major advances on Marib city after taking a strategic mountain in clashes that caused dozens of casualties on both sides, government sources said Friday. The Huthis and the internationally recognised government have been locked in a power struggle since 2014, when the rebels overran the Yemeni capital Sanaa. Since last month, the rebels have been pushing to seize Marib, the government's last northern stronghold and the capital of an oil-rich region. The Huthis "took control of Mount Hilan overlooking the city, after fighting which left dozens of dead and wounded on both sides," one of the sources told AFP. "Marib is in danger," another source said, adding the loss of the mountain posed "a threat to Marib's first line of defence". The loss of Marib would be a huge blow for the Yemeni government, but would also threaten catastrophe for civilians, including at least one million displaced people sheltering in the region, many in desolate camps in the surrounding desert. The Huthis had "cut the supply lines of some fronts and are now within firing range of the Al-Mashjab line west of Marib city," the source added. Despite the advance, analysts say the city may not fall to the rebels any time soon, given the overwhelming firepower of the Saudi-led military coalition which backs the beleaguered government. "An imminent fall of Marib remains unlikely," Maged Al-Madhaji of the Sanaa Center think tank told AFP, adding that this was nonetheless "an important advance that puts additional pressure" on government forces. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) The World Health Organization may submit to the Food and Drug Administration an application to hold a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial in the Philippines next week, FDA Director General Eric Domingo said on Friday. I think they might be applying next week, Domingo told a media briefing, referring to WHO. The countrys vaccine expert panel is currently reviewing the safety and efficacy data of the coronavirus shots that will be tested in the WHO Solidarity trial, the FDA chief noted. Approval from both the vaccine expert panel and the ethics review board is needed before the FDA can start its own review. So once the vaccine expert panel decides that it is ready," Domingo said, "then they will apply to FDA." Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. earlier said the Solidarity trial will enroll up to 15,000 volunteers in the country. The government is spending over P89 million on this clinical trial, while independent clinical research will be shouldered by vaccine makers. There is no pending COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial application with the FDA, Domingo noted. Three pharmaceutical firms are authorized to conduct clinical trials for their vaccines in the country. They are Johnson & Johnson-owned Janssen Pharmaceuticals, China-based biotechnology company Clover Biopharmaceuticals and Sinovac. Attempt by Washington to pressure Beijing ahead of meeting called 'futile' Washington's attempt to roll out "microphone diplomacy", align with allies and pressure Beijing ahead of the China-US high-level strategic dialogue "is futile" and "will make no difference", Beijing warned on Thursday. Still, China is ready to embark on adequate communication and an exchange of views with the US to push for their ties' healthy growth, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a news conference on Thursday. Zhao made the comment as senior diplomats of the world's top two economies arrived in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday for the meeting scheduled on Thursday and Friday. The Chinese side is led by Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee as well as State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan represent Washington. Ahead of this key meeting, the US kept pressuring China during its senior officials' recent visits to Japan and the Republic of Korea, and it announced an update of sanctions on China regarding the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. At the Thursday news conference in Beijing, Zhao, the spokesman, said that Washington recently came up with a slew of negative words and deeds regarding China ahead of the dialogue, and "the timing is curious". All the agenda items eligible for discussion are on the table, and during the dialogue, Beijing will make clear its position and concerns, he said, reiterating China's strong will to champion core interests. "The US should realize China's firm determination to safeguard its own sovereignty, security and development interests," he said. Joint efforts will decide whether the meeting will yield outcomes or not, and the US should work for the same goal with sincerity and a constructive approach, Zhao said. Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai told Chinese media on Wednesday that both sides attach great importance to the meeting. "We don't expect to solve all problems in one dialogue, so we don't have unrealistic expectations or illusions," Cui said. "We hope this can be a beginning, and the two sides will start a process of honest, constructive and rational dialogue and communication. If this can be achieved, the dialogue will already be successful," he added. In response to recent US moves aiming to win over allies in order to gain a "dominant position" in this dialogue with China, Cui, the ambassador, said, "Just like someone who walks at night alone will sing to help increase courage, but it is not of much use. If you have issues to talk about with China, do it face to face." He said there are several big question marks in the minds of the global community, including whether the US can truly play the role of a responsible stakeholder in international affairs, whether it is really ready to return to multilateral cooperation, and whether it is willing to respect interests of other countries and listen to the voices of other countries. "Many countries, including US allies, have such questions. Some just don't say it in public. It is hoped that the US will understand other countries' concerns," he added. Commenting on Washington's alleged plan to push Beijing for concession on topics such as Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan during the dialogue, Cui said the US "should give up this illusion, as this attitude will only lead the dialogue to a dead end". "If someone thinks that China came to snowy Alaska with sincerity this time to make compromise and concession, then I would suggest that my colleagues in Beijing cancel this trip as soon as possible. Why bother to come here?" Cui added. Jia Qingguo, director of Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding of Peking University, said resuming high-level contacts and exchanges is a key precondition for stabilizing China-US ties and prevent further deterioration of the ties, and it is already significant for senior officials to sit at the same table to talk on various issues they face. Although it is seen as unlikely that the two sides will agree on a comprehensive plan for massive cooperation through this dialogue, "the discussion itself lays a foundation for managing differences", Jia said. Election watchdogs are quizzing Tory chiefs over a secret 60,000 payment for the lavish makeover of Boris Johnson's flat. They have asked Conservative chairman Ben Elliot to explain whether the party complied with strict laws on political donations. The dramatic development follows a series of disclosures by the Daily Mail on the financing of decor and furnishings for the apartment the Prime Minister shares with his fiancee Carrie Symonds. Mr Johnson's team was thrown into panic by our revelations that the 60,000 Downing Street bill was paid by the Conservative Party last summer. It got the money back from a wealthy donor in October also in secret. The 60,000 does not appear in the list of political donations published by the Electoral Commission, which monitors party funding, or in Mr Johnson's Commons register of interests. Tory chiefs are being quizzed over a secret 60,000 payment for the makeover of Boris Johnson's flat. It follows a series of disclosures by the Daily Mail on the financing of decor and furnishings for the apartment the Prime Minister shares with his fiancee Carrie Symonds The Prime Minister and Mr Elliot deny impropriety and say that details of the funding of the refit at No 11, said to have cost a six-figure sum in total, will be made public in due course. But their attempts to minimise the controversy were undermined last night after it emerged that: The Prime Minister had a meeting with multi-millionaire environment minister Zac Goldsmith at No 10 where the possibility of him offering financial help was discussed, aides claimed; The decision to set up a trust to maintain No 10 and No 11 and fund the flat makeover was made at the same time as the 60,000 bill landed; Mr Elliot, nephew of the Duchess of Cornwall, coined the term 'wallpaper-gate' used by party officials to describe the row. According to a labyrinthine money trail established by the Daily Mail, the 60,000 bill from upmarket interior designer Lulu Lytle's Soane Britain company arrived in June, and the Cabinet Office refused to pay up. Tory HQ paid via the Cabinet Office in July, and the party got the cash back from Lord Brownlow in October. In another twist, Lord Brownlow's 60,000 was to be assigned to the Downing Street trust he was put in charge of even though it doesn't officially exist. Mr Johnson's team was thrown into panic by revelations that the 60,000 Downing Street bill, which does not appear in the list of political donations published by the Electoral Commission, was paid by the Conservative Party Lord Brownlow's (pictured) 60,000 was to be assigned to the Downing Street trust he was put in charge of Professor David Howarth, a former electoral commissioner, told this newspaper: 'This tangled web must be unravelled. If Boris Johnson received 60,000 to refurbish his official flat either he or his party must declare it. 'A politician cannot get a large sum directly or indirectly which no one declares. It is a nonsense.' Since details of the complex transactions were revealed by the Mail, embarrassed Tory chiefs have reportedly discussed returning the 60,000 to Lord Brownlow to gloss over the affair. Under this plan, the peer would pay for the decor direct while the Cabinet Office paid back Tory headquarters. A spokesman for the Electoral Commission, headed by Bob Posner, told the Mail: 'We are in contact with the (Conservative) party to establish whether any sums relating to the renovation works fall within the regime regulated by the commission. 'If so, they would need to be reported according to the rules specified in law, and would then be published by the commission as part of our commitment to the transparency of political finance.' Under commission rules, all donations of more than 7,500 to political parties made between October and December last year had to be declared by January 30. In the commission's most recent list published last month, there is no reference to a 60,000 donation from Lord Brownlow to Conservative HQ in October to reimburse them for the refurbishment. However a 15,000 donation to the Conservatives by Lord Brownlow at the same time, unrelated to the No 11 flat, does appear on the register. It is a donation from Huntswood, the recruitment firm owned by Lord Brownlow. He has given the Conservatives more than 3million in recent years, either personally or from his company. The Electoral Commission can fine political parties up to 20,000 for breaching the rules. It can also order criminal investigations for serious breaches, such as failing to tell the truth about donations. The commission spokesman said the inquiries did not constitute a formal investigation. MPs must declare donations or benefits on the Commons register of interests, and there is a separate Whitehall register for ministers' outside interests. There is no reference to any 60,000 donation in either of Mr Johnson's entries in the two registers. The 60,000 bill was from the upmarket interior designer Lulu Lytle's Soane Britain company (sample design by the company pictured) Soane's clients include five-star hotels and restaurants, yachts and private houses all over the world (sample design by the company pictured) The code of conduct for ministers says they 'should not accept gifts, hospitality or services that might place them under an obligation' and the same applies to family members. The code adds: 'Ministers must scrupulously avoid any danger of a conflict of interest between their ministerial position and their private financial interests.' A spokesman for Lord Goldsmith, a close friend of Mr Elliot and Miss Symonds, said: 'Zac was neither asked to provide any form of finance for the Downing Street flat, nor did he provide it.' Asked whether the peer had given any financial aid to Mr Johnson or his fiancee, directly or directly, since he became Prime Minister, the spokesman did not respond. A series of disclosures were made by the Daily Mail on the financing of decor and furnishings for the apartment A No 10 spokesman said: 'All reportable donations to the Conservative Party are correctly declared to the Electoral Commission, published by them and comply fully with the law.' The spokesman said gifts and benefits received by Mr Johnson as Prime Minister would 'be declared in Government transparency returns'. The official added that Mr Johnson had obeyed all 'appropriate codes of conduct' and Cabinet Office advice had been followed concerning the funding of the flat makeover. Lord Brownlow and Mr Elliot declined to comment. A Tory HQ spokesman said: 'We have regular discussions with the Electoral Commission. We are very happy to explain to them how the rules have been correctly followed.' One. Just give me the liquor neat Two, and one of them is ice Three is the perfect, simple combination Four or more! Let's get creative A beer and a shot, please Vote View Results A suggestion of a barrier around the Colorado Capitol has had lawmakers on both sides in a tizzy the last few days, but on Friday that possibility seemed to fade in the rearview mirror. A committee looking at safety improvements, as it normally does, listed a fence, which subsequently was interpreted to be a wall walls are big political messaging these days yet legislative leaders with the power to enact either said neither is a immediate possibility. The Denver Post reported that an iron fence around the Capitol was likely on Wednesday. Senate President Leroy Garcia told Colorado Politics on Friday the fence is only on a list of ideas for security measures at the Capitol, not an actual plan to build it. A wall or barrier that keeps the public out of the people's house is unlikely to have Garcia's critical support. Friday, he acknowledged that a "wall" is a politically loaded word, but wouldn't speculate on the reasons people are building fire under something unlikely to happen. "I think this is why we have to be intentional about what we're talking about," Garcia said of any security measures. "This is in its infancy, and the press has been writing about it when there's not a clear understanding of it, and it adds to the confusion." Garcia's pickup truck was vandalized at the Capitol in the early days of protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis, who was filmed suffocating under the knee of a White police officer. Neither Garcia nor Senate Republican leader Chris Holbert of Douglas County have seen a plan or diagram for a fence, Garcia said. "I think a lot of people are reading more into this than what it is," he added. Thursday, 39 former legislators, as well as former Democratic Gov. Dick Lamm and Republican Gov. Bill Owens, sent a letter to the current Senate president and House speaker. "If a permanent fence is put around the Capitol, Colorado will have lost something special: a deep and abiding connection between its people and their government," the letter states. Sen. Rhonda Fields, a Democrat from Aurora, was strongly against imposing barriers at the Capitol, calling the suggestion among "thoughts and ideas," not a proposal. Fields chairs the Capitol Development Committee, which would have to consider and pass the fence proposal before it would go to the legislature's Executive Committee, which includes Garcia and Holbert. "It's a little premature to say that it's going to have barbed wires on top and spikes, and ..." Fields said on the Senate floor Friday, trailing off and shaking her head no. "It's too premature. I have the utmost confidence the people making these recommendations are going to do so very thoughtfully as it relates to trends we're seeing across the United States, but it's going to be done in a manner that's reflective of the values of Colorado." She said that when the security measures are recommended, all the members of the legislature would have an adequate opportunity to weigh in on them before any changes take place. "I don't think it will ever look like a big fence with barbed wire on top that limits access to the people's house," she concluded. Denver protesters to hold fifth march Thursday to raise awareness of deadly civil war in Ethiopia Colorado is home to a large population of Ethiopian immigrants: nearly 30,000 are estimated to live in the Denver Metro area alone. Many of them are taking action to spread awareness and urge others to join their calls to stop the fighting, which has been ongoing for about 12 weeks. Sen. Bob Gardner, a Republican from Colorado Springs, talked about the old days when constituents could walk right into the building up until 2007, "before you had to say, 'Mother, may I?' " Security measures have put a barrier between the public and their elected representatives, he added. "We lost something, we really did," Gardner said. He promised senators would pay a price for a fence not measured in dollars. "We will separate us a little bit more from our constituents in a way that's hard to quantify," Gardner said. Sen. Kerry Donovan, a Democrat from Vail, talked about the power of symbols. The Capitol, overlooking Denver, is a physical representation of the state. "It's filled with the pride of every citizen of Colorado," she said. "And it should remain a symbol of an accessible seat of our government. It's not the governor's building. It's not the legislature's building. We share this. This is the public's building." Holbert agreed with Donovan, then thanked the staff that serve on the Capitol improvement advisory committee and said, "I don't know of anything that would actually deter the access of the people of Colorado to their Capitol." The lobbyists who pushed major increases in Oregons beer and wine taxes are asking the Legislature to set up a task force to design a new, more broadly accepted proposal that would fund addiction recovery services and lower alcohol consumption. Their pivot acknowledges the bill faced steep opposition. One of the bills two cosponsors, Rep. Rachel Prusak, D-West Linn, already dropped off, leaving Rep. Tawna Sanchez, D-Portland, as the lone sponsor. They now hope lawmakers will vote to create a bi-partisan task force that includes representatives from the health care and alcohol industries. If approved, the task force would have until Nov. 30 to come back with draft legislation showing how the state could reduce alcohol consumption by 15% by increasing alcohol costs. It also would need to create a plan to fund additional addiction services. We want to have this conversation of what can be done, not what should be done, said Mike Marshall, director of Oregon Recovers, the primary lobbying group behind the bill. We want to secure a meaningful long-term gain instead of a short-term win. He hopes the Legislature would then pass the new draft plan during the February 2022 legislative session. As written, the bill would have raised $373 million annually for substance abuse prevention and treatment by sharply increasing beer and wine taxes, more than doubling the states current treatment budget. Oregon has the nations third highest rate of untreated addiction while it ranks 47th in access to treatment, according to a report by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Both advocates and opponents of the bill agree that more addiction services are gravely needed, but they disagree on who should pay. House Bill 3296 would have increased the wholesale beer and cider tax from $2.60 a barrel to $72.60. The wine tax would have increased from 65 cents per gallon to $10.65. Beer and wine sellers would have had to pay this cost upfront and then hope to sell enough product at an increased price to make up the cost. Opponents from the beer and wine industry argued the tax would cripple their industry, while advocates of the bill say the industry should take responsibility for a substance abuse issue theyve contributed to. Dan Warnshuis, founder of Utopia Vineyard and Winery in Newberg, said licensing dues his winery pays each year already go to funding education about alcohol abuse. Additionally, he doesnt think targeting craft breweries and wineries will lead to a consumption reduction. The persons that abuse alcohol are not typically the same persons that visit our tasting rooms and drink $50-plus bottles of Pinot Noir, he said. Nicole Hayden reports on homelessness for The Oregonian. Reach her at nhayden@oregonian.com or at (810) 210-1561. Follow her on Twitter @Nicole_A_Hayden. 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 federal jury in East Texas awarded Plano-based property management software company ResMan a $152 million verdict after finding a former customer improperly accessed ResMans software to develop its own rival product with a third party. In Sherman federal court Thursday, the five-woman, three-man jury ordered two Houston defendants, customer Karya Property Management and software developer Expedien, to pay ResMan $32.29 million in compensatory damages and $120 million in punitive damages for breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets and tortious interference. The jury heard nine days of testimony and arguments and then deliberated for about two hours before returning its judgment. The verdict is also a victory for a Houston-based, women-led trial team at Hogan Lovells, which was able to win a high-stakes case when courts across Texas are facing a significant, pandemic-induced backlog in jury trials. Prime Property: Get Houston real estate news sent directly to your inbox Its important that we continue to try cases and Im hopeful that with each trial that is finished that people will feel more confident about the courthouse and trying cases, said Maria Wyckoff Boyce, the Hogan Lovells lawyer who led ResMans trial team. It was very important that we got back in the courtroom in front of a jury as soon as the court scheduled us to retry the case. At trial, jurors heard and viewed evidence that Karya and Expedien improperly accessed ResMans system more than 1,000 times without ResMans knowledge or permission in order to create Arya, the name of the rival software. Evidence that showed the improper access included teleconference recordings between the defendants that analyzed the ResMan system to determine which features to use in the Arya software. Although defense lawyers admitted at trial that Karya breached its subscription agreement with ResMan, they argued that no misappropriation of trade secrets took place and that the so-called trade secrets entailed publicly-available information, according to lawyers. They also claimed that they independently developed their software without using ResMans product. Karya is a privately held company that manages more than 20,000 apartment units in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Kansas City. Lead defense lawyer Michael Richardson of Corpus Christi did not respond to multiple requests for an interview. Defense co-counsel Dick Sayles of Dallas declined to comment. Several attempts to contact the defendants were unsuccessful. The jurys verdict for ResMan provides important relief for our client and its hard-working employees, who spent years and many millions of dollars developing this groundbreaking property software used to manage apartment buildings throughout the United States, said Wyckoff Boyce. ResMan Chief Executive Paul Bridgewater agreed. This case is very important to ResMan because our intellectual property is one of our most valuable assets, Bridgewater said. Our trial team partnered closely with us to protect our state-of-the-art property management solution. For a longer version of this article, please visit TexasLawbook.net. A search has been launched for a 11-year-old girl who has gone missing from Hounslow, west London. Police have appealed for anyone who has seen the schoolgirl, named Lexcie, to contact them. She is 5ft 6ins tall and was last seen wearing a black jacket with a brown fur hood, black Nike trainers and black leggings. Police have appealed for anyone who has seen the schoolgirl, named Lexcie, to contact them Lexcie is known to frequent the London areas of Feltham, Newham and Westminster. Information on her last known location is yet to be released by police. Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting 3139/18MAR KANAZAWA, Japan, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Review of Scientific Instruments a newly developed atomic force microscopy approach for imaging biological samples and processes. The method offers higher frame rates and less disturbance of samples. High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) is an imaging technique that can be used for visualizing biological processes, for example the activity of proteins. Nowadays, typical HS-AFM frame rates are as high as 12 frames per second. In order to improve the capabilities of the method, so that it can be applied to an ever expanding range of biological samples, better video rates are needed, though. Moreover, faster recording times imply less interaction between the sample and the probe - a tip scanning the sample's surface - making the imaging procedure less invasive. Now, Shingo Fukuda and Toshio Ando from Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University have developed an alternative HS-AFM approach to increase the frame rate up to 30 frames per second. An AFM image is generated by laterally moving a tip around just above a sample's surface. During this xy-scanning motion, the tip's position in the direction perpendicular to the xy-plane (the z-coordinate) will follow the sample's height profile. The variation of the z-coordinate of the tip then produces a height map - the image of the sample. Fukuda and Ando worked on HS-AFM in the so-called amplitude-modulation mode. The tip is then made to oscillate with a set amplitude. While scanning a surface, the oscillation amplitude will change because of height variations in the sample's structure. To get back to the original amplitude, a correction to the tip-sample distance needs to be made. How large the correction needs to be is related to the sample's surface topology, and is dictated by the so-called feedback control error of the setup. The scientists noted that the feedback control error is different when the tip moves in opposite directions, called tracing and retracing. This difference is ultimately due to the different physical forces at play when the tip is 'pulled' (tracing) and when it is 'pushed' (retracing). Based on their insights into the physics of the tracing and retracing processes, Fukuda and Ando developed an imaging regime that bypasses retracing. This then needs to be properly accounted for in the controlling algorithm. The researchers tested their only-trace-imaging mode on actin filament samples. (Actin is a protein very common in cells.) The imaging was not only faster, but also less invasive - the filaments broke much less frequently . They also recorded polymerization processes (through protein-protein interactions); again, the method was found to be faster and less disturbing compared to the standard AFM tracing-retracing operation. The scientists are confident that their "simple and highly effective method will soon be installed in the existing and upcoming HS-AFM systems, and will improve a wide range of HS-AFM imaging studies in biophysics and other fields." Related images https://nanolsi.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Fig-1Ando.jpg Caption for Figure 1: Difference of invasiveness between trace and retrace scanning processes. (a) Raster scanning: Trace scanning (red line) and retrace scanning (blue line) of the sample stage, (b) directions of tip scanning relative to sample in trace and retrace scanning processes, (c) difference in feedback control error between the trace and retrace scanning processes. Error images of the actin filament oriented nearly along the Y-axis (top) and the error profile (bottom), (d, e) difference in the directions of torques produced by lateral and vertical forces exerted on the cantilever from the sample during trace (d) and retrace (e) scanning processes, (f, g) HS-AFM images of actin filaments captured at 10 fps in the OTI (f) and ORI (g) modes. In the ORI mode, actin filaments were quickly broken. https://nanolsi.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Fig-2Ando.jpg Figure 2. The circuit installed for the OTI mode and its operation. (a) During retrace scanning, a DC offset signal (Aos < 0) is added to the amplitude signal (A). The feedback control operates as if the probe were in strong contact with the sample, and thus the sample stage is moved away from the tip. (b) Driving signal for X-scanner in the OTI mode (top), DC offset signal added to true amplitude signal (middle), and Z-scanner displacement (bottom). Reference Shingo Fukuda and Toshio Ando. Faster high-speed atomic force microscopy for imaging of biomolecular processes, Rev. Sci. Instrum.92, 033705 (2021). DOI: 10.1063/5.0032948 URL: https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/5.0032948 About WPI nanoLSI Kanazawa University Hiroe Yoneda Vice Director of Public Affairs WPI Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) Kanazawa University Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan Email: nanolsi-office@adm.kanazawa-u.ac.jp Tel: +81 (76) 234-4550 About Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) https://nanolsi.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/en/ Nano Life Science Institute (NanoLSI), Kanazawa University is a research center established in 2017 as part of the World Premier International Research Center Initiative of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The objective of this initiative is to form world-tier research centers. NanoLSI combines the foremost knowledge of bio-scanning probe microscopy to establish 'nano-endoscopic techniques' to directly image, analyze, and manipulate biomolecules for insights into mechanisms governing life phenomena such as diseases. About Kanazawa University http://www.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/e/ As the leading comprehensive university on the Sea of Japan coast, Kanazawa University has contributed greatly to higher education and academic research in Japan since it was founded in 1949. The University has three colleges and 17 schools offering courses in subjects that include medicine, computer engineering, and humanities. The University is located on the coast of the Sea of Japan in Kanazawa - a city rich in history and culture. The city of Kanazawa has a highly respected intellectual profile since the time of the fiefdom (1598-1867). Kanazawa University is divided into two main campuses: Kakuma and Takaramachi for its approximately 10,200 students including 600 from overseas. DANDONG, China - China on Friday put on trial one of two Canadians held for more than two years in apparent retaliation for Canadas arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive. FILE - In this file image made from a March 28, 2018, video, Michael Kovrig, an adviser with the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based non-governmental organization, speaks during an interview in Hong Kong. The Canadian government says China will begin trials in March 2021 for two Canadians, Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were arrested in 2019 in apparent retaliation for Canadas detention of a senior executive for Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies. (AP Photo/File) DANDONG, China - China on Friday put on trial one of two Canadians held for more than two years in apparent retaliation for Canadas arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive. Canada said its consular officials were refused permission to attend the proceedings against Michael Spavor, who is accused by China of stealing state secrets. Jim Nickel, the Canadian Embassys deputy chief of mission, said the hearing ended at noon Friday after two hours. No verdict has been announced. Nickel declined to give other details, citing rules on protecting Spavors privacy. In a statement posted on its website, the Intermediate Peoples Court of Dandong in the northeastern province of Liaoning Province said it had held a closed-door hearing against Spavor on charges of spying and illegally sending state secrets abroad. It said Spavor and his defence lawyers were present for the proceedings and the court would pronounce a sentence at a date determined in accordance with law." A police officer stands outside a court building in Dandong in northeastern China's Liaoning Province, Friday, March 19, 2021. China was expected to open the first trial Friday for Michael Spavor, one of two Canadians who have been held for more than two years in apparent retaliation for Canada's arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive. (AP Photo/Ken Moritsugu) Fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig is due to go before a court on Monday. The two were detained in December 2018, days after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested at the request of the U.S. at the airport in Vancouver, British Columbia. Both are charged with spying. The entrance to the courthouse was roped off with police tape and journalists were kept outside, although not detained or told to leave, as often occurs during sensitive legal cases. Police cars and vans with lights flashing passed through the gate to the court complex, located beside the Yalu River that divides China from North Korea. Earlier, Nickel had knocked on a court door seeking entry but was refused. Another 10 diplomats from eight countries, including the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, stood on the street opposite the courthouse in a show of support. International and bilateral treaties required that China provide Canadian diplomats access to the trial, but the court said Chinese law regarding trials on state security charges overrode such obligations, Nickel said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blasted Beijing for holding the trial in secret without access for consular officials. Their arbitrary detention is completely unacceptable, as is the lack of transparency around these court proceedings, Trudeau said in Ottawa. In this image taken from video, security officers stand guard as a police van, left, arrives at a court building in Dandong in northeastern China's Liaoning Province, Friday, March 19, 2021. China was expected to open the first trial Friday for Michael Spavor, one of two Canadians who have been held for more than two years in apparent retaliation for Canada's arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive. (AP Photo) China needs to understand that it is not just about two Canadians. It's about respect for the rule of law and relationships with a broad range of Western countries that are at play with the arbitrary detention and the coercive diplomacy that they've engaged in. Trudeau said he was heartened and touched to see diplomats come out to support the Canadians in Dandong Canadian authorities say Kovrig and Spavor were arbitrarily arrested to put pressure on Ottawa in the case of Meng, who is sought by the U.S. on fraud charges related to the telecom giant's dealings with Iran, which is under American financial sanctions. The two Canadians have been held ever since, while Meng has been released on bail. They were charged in June 2020 under Chinas broadly defined national security laws. Spavor, an entrepreneur with North Korea-related business, was charged with spying for a foreign entity and illegally procuring state secrets. Kovrig, an analyst and former diplomat, was charged with illegally receiving state secrets and intelligence in collaboration with Spavor. Prosecutors have not released details of the charges and national security cases are routinely held behind closed doors. The state-owned Global Times newspaper 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. Meng's case has infuriated China's government, which has promoted Huawei as a global leader in mobile communications technology. In Vancouver on Thursday, Mengs lawyers told an extradition hearing that Canadian officials abused their power when they conspired with the U.S. to arrest her. Defence lawyer Tony Paisana said Canadian Border Services Agency officers took Mengs phones, obtained their passwords, then handed to them to Canadian police so the data could be shared with the FBI. Paisana said Meng was never told during questioning that she faced an arrest warrant in the U.S. and would have immediately asked for a lawyer if so informed. British Columbia Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes suggested border officers would have questioned Meng more rigorously if their exam was actually a covert criminal investigation, as her lawyers said. China has demanded Mengs immediate and unconditional release. It also has restricted various Canadian exports, including canola oil seed, and handed death sentences to another four Canadians convicted of drug smuggling. Outside the courthouse, Nickel said Canada still held hope that Spavor and Kovrig could be released through joint efforts with the U.S., whose Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan are currently holding their first face-to-face talks with China's top diplomats in Anchorage, Alaska. The China-U.S. dialogue got off to a rocky start Thursday, with the U.S. accusing the Chinese delegation of grandstanding and top Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi accusing the American side of hypocrisy and taking a patronizing attitude. On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said there was a strong smell of gunpowder and drama at the talks that was entirely the fault of the Americans. In Canada, Spavors family issued a statement saying he had been granted very limited access and interaction with his retained Chinese defence counsel, according to Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. At this time, we feel it is necessary to speak out and call for his unconditional release. His continued unjust detention depriving him of his liberty is both unfair and unreasonable, especially given the lack of transparency in the case, the newspaper quoted the statement as saying. Associated Press writers Rob Gillies in Toronto and Jim Morris in Vancouver, British Columbia, contributed to this report. At least eight people are dead after a fire ripped through a detention facility for migrants in Yemens capital, Sanaa, the United Nations migration agency said Sunday. More than 170 people are injured, with at least 90 in serious condition, according to Carmela Godeau, the International Organization for Migrations (IOM) regional director. The cause of the fire incident in the holding facility remains unclear, Godeau wrote on Twitter. But this is just one of the many dangers that migrants have faced during the past 6 years of the crisis in Yemen. Yemen is embroiled in a civil war pitting the Iran-aligned Houthis against a Saudi-led coalition that intervened in 2015 on behalf of the internationally recognized government. The Houthi rebels, who control Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, have launched an offensive to take the oil-rich Marib province. The Associated Press reported that Houthi civil defense teams on Sunday put out the fire and were investigating what caused the blaze at their facility, which holds some 700 migrants. Some 100,000 migrants from countries like Somalia and Ethiopia reach Yemen each year by boat from the Horn of Africa, the IOM says. Once in Yemen, migrants tend to search for employment as nannies, housekeepers, construction workers and manual laborers in the wealthy Gulf states. But thousands are stranded in the war-torn country, the IOM says, where they face extreme danger, exploitation and abuse. In January, more than 2,500 migrants arrived in Yemen the Arab worlds poorest country from neighboring Djibouti. The pandemic has significantly slowed migrant travel. Some 37,500 people embarked on the journey in 2020, compared to roughly 138,000 people in 2019, the migration agency said. Last week, at least 20 migrants traveling to Yemen from Djibouti drowned after dozens were thrown overboard by smugglers, the latest such incident in the Gulf of Aden in recent months. An IOM statement said smugglers started shouting there were too many onboard the crammed vessel and forced some 80 people into the sea. Taiwan's is in early stage talks with Vietnamese carmaker VinFast about partnering in electric vehicles, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. has proposed acquiring VinFast's EV production lines, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media. But VinFast, a unit of Vietnam's largest conglomerate Vingroup JSC, prefers a partnership as it is keen to brand itself as an eco-friendly automaker and wants to retain its EV business, one of the sources said. declined to comment. A Vingroup spokesman said the company had no information on the matter to provide. The world's largest contract manufacturer and Apple Inc supplier has outlined plans to become a major provider of parts and services in the global EV market and any agreement with VinFast would follow deals with Fiat Chrysler and EV startups. Its ambitions threaten to shake up the industry, offering Apple and other non-traditional players a shortcut to competing in the vehicle market. VinFast became Vietnam's first fully fledged domestic car manufacturer when its first gasoline-powered models built under its own badge hit the streets in 2019. The company sold about 30,000 vehicles last year and has forecast sales of more than 45,000 for 2021. It will begin delivery of EVs produced at its factory in the northern port city of Hai Phong to domestic customers by December. VinFast, which also produces electric motorbikes and buses, said this month it had set up an electric vehicle battery venture with Taiwan's ProLogium. Seeking to provide components or services to 10% of the world's electric vehicles as early as 2025, Foxconn has moved quickly to clinch a number of deals. One of its biggest is an agreement with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to provide contract manufacturing for other automakers. It has also said it will work with U.S. startup Fisker to produce more than 250,000 vehicles a year beginning in late 2023 and will start building SUVs for China's Byton next year.] With Fiat Chrysler, it is setting up a venture to develop EVs and internet-connected cars. Foxconn chairman Liu Young-way also said this week the company may make electric vehicles at its high-profile but troubled plant in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, though it could decide on Mexico. He described Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry, as the "new kid in town" for carmaking and said it needs to quickly build up its capacity to earn trust from clients. (Reporting by Taipei newsroom and Phuong Nguyen; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) Britain's medicines regulator on Thursday gave its continued backing to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, saying the benefits outweighed the risks after finding there had been five cases of a rare brain blood clot among 11 million administered shots. Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said that use of the vaccine should continue while the five reports were investigated, and one official said that the rollout would likely continue even if a link was proved. Concerns about reports of blood clots, along with low platelet levels, have led to some European countries including Germany to pause the rollout of the shot while the cases were investigated by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The EMA announced later on Thursday that the vaccine was "safe and effective", and also said the benefits outweighed risks, even if a link between blood clots in the brain and the shot could not be definitively ruled out. "The Oxford jab is safe and the Pfizer jab is safe. The thing that isn't safe is catching COVID which is why it's so important that we all get our jabs as soon as our turn comes," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at a news conference in Downing Street. "As it happens I'm getting mine tomorrow, and the centre where I'm getting jabbed is currently using the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine ... and that is the one I'll be having." June Raine, Chief Executive of the UK's MHRA, said there was "no evidence that blood clots in veins is occurring more than would be expected in the absence of vaccination, for either vaccine," referring to AstraZeneca and Pfizer shots. Raine said there had been a very small number of reports of an extremely rare form of blood clot in the cerebral veins (sinus vein thrombosis, or CSVT) occurring together with lowered platelets soon after vaccination, and a review of the cases was ongoing. "Given the extremely rare rate of occurrence of these CSVT events among the 11 million people vaccinated (with AstraZeneca), and as a link to the vaccine is unproven, the benefits of the vaccine in preventing COVID-19, with its associated risk of hospitalisation and death, continue to outweigh the risks of potential side effects," she said. The University of Oxford, which developed the vaccine, welcomed the determination of the MHRA and the EMA, adding that the rollout of the vaccines should continue to be monitored. CVST is a rare form of stroke caused by a blood clot that prevents blood from draining out of the brain. One of the five reported cases was fatal, MHRA Vaccine Safety Lead Philip Bryan said, adding that the cases were all among men aged between 19 and 59. Asked if any cases had also been reported from the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine, Bryan said that while there had been two cases of sinus thrombosis, they had not been accompanied with the thrombocytopenia - low platelet levels - that had been specific characteristics of the reports among those given AstraZeneca shots. "The specific cases we're looking at is that combination of events (of CVST and thrombocytopenia)" he said. NO PAUSE NECESSARY The MHRA said anyone with a headache that lasts for more than four days after vaccination, or bruising beyond the site of vaccination after a few days, should seek medical attention. But Munir Pirmohamed, Chair of the Commission on Human Medicines, in a statement suggested that even if a link between the clots and the vaccine was established, it likely wouldn't halt Britain's rollout. "If we feel that there's causal link then we may need to update the product information, but overall, I don't think that would necessitate pause to any kind of vaccination programme," he told reporters in a briefing. Stephen Evans, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that COVID-19 itself was associated with similar symptoms, making causality hard to establish. "A major problem is discerning whether there is a possibility that this was caused by COVID-19," Evans told Reuters. "Exactly these sort of conditions have been seen in patients with COVID-19 prior to the vaccines being available." Also read: US to send 4 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico, Canada The vice president of the San Francisco Board of Education once wrote a long Twitter thread accusing Asian Americans of using "white supremacist thinking to assimilate and 'get ahead,'" and comparing them to a "house n****r" (she added the asterisks and did not spell out the word). Alison Collins's tweets still not deleted as of Friday morning were written in December 2016. They're coming to light now as a group pushes to recall the entire school board over prolonged school closures, and also during a time when anti-Asian American rhetoric has come under closer scrutiny following a sharp rise in hate crimes. Collins wrote that she was "looking to combat anti-black racism in the Asian community at at my daughters' mostly Asian Am school," because "Many Asian Ss and Ts I know won't engage in critical race convos unless they see how they are impacted by white supremacy." "Ss and Ts" appear to refer to students and teachers. "Critical race convos" may be a reference to critical race theory, a controversial framework for examining race and racism in all aspects of society that has grown in popularity in recent years. Collins continued, "Many Asian Am. believe they benefit from the 'model minority' BS," and "many Asian American Ts, Ss, and Ps [teachers, students and parents] actively promote these myths. They use white supremacist thinking to assimilate and 'get ahead.'" Near the end of the thread, Collins writes, "Where are the vocal Asians speaking up against Trump? Don't Asian Americans know they are on his list as well?" She added, "Do they think they won't be deported? profiled? beaten? Being a house n****r is still being a n****r. You're still considered 'the help.'" Collins did not respond to SFGATE's request for comment. Her tweets have since sparked outrage, with many San Franciscans expressing disbelief. "My elderly Asian parents and grandparents as well as the AAPI community are NOT 'house n-words,'" wrote one user. "You racist bigot. Retract this and apologize NOW!" "Alison Collins needs to go," wrote another. "I look forward to the Supervisors and Mayor asking for her resignation immediately." Collins faced further fallout from the 2016 tweets, as the Ed Lee Asian Pacific Democratic Club called for Collins to resign, labelling her tweets "racist and wrong." Friday afternoon, Lowell High School's Black Student Union also removed Collins as a panelist from a Women in Leadership event scheduled for later in the evening. The student group wrote on Instagram, "Based on recent news, we will be removing Board of Education Commissioner Collins as a panelist for our event tonight. The Lowell Black Student Union stands with the Asian community and condemns all acts of Anti-Asian Hate." Collins had previously drawn scrutiny for being a strong proponent of Lowell High School dropping its merit-based admissions process, calling merit-based admissions "racist" since the school was majority Asian American and did not enroll as many African American and Latino students relative to their population in the city. President Biden was doing fine after falling off balance while boarding Air Force One before his Friday trip to Atlanta, according to a press secretary traveling with him. Its pretty windy outside, Karine Jean-Pierre, the principal deputy press secretary, told reporters traveling with Mr. Biden to Georgia. Its very windy. I almost fell coming up the steps myself. He is doing 100 percent fine. Mr. Biden was boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland when he stumbled about midway up the stairs. He leaned down to catch himself, and appeared to fall off balance once more before landing on his left knee. He stood up, dusted off his shin and boarded the plane. In Atlanta, Mr. Biden was scheduled to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and meet with Asian-American leaders after the shooting rampage at Asian massage businesses in the area this week. Ms. Jean-Pierre said the president was preparing for the trip just fine after he tripped. Soaring crime rates will lead investors, tourists and even residents to abandon London, one of the countrys leading property tycoons has claimed. Nick Candy slammed London mayor Sadiq Khans disgraceful attempts to tackle crime as he backed his Conservative rival Shaun Bailey for the top job for the election in May. Candy, 48, a self-made billionaire, warned that investors and businesses were at risk of deserting London because of Khan's track record on disorder. Billionaire Nick Candy hit out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan's record on crime in the capital Mr Candy backed Conservative Shaun Bailey (pictured) for the top job for the election in May Mr Candy was incensed by Mr Khans admission that the capitals streets are not safe for women and girls following the death of Sarah Everard. Pictured: Policing at Sarah's vigil Mr Candy told MailOnline: This is becoming the crime election. Tackling crime is our top priority because it is out of control. Criminals are getting away with murder, the streets are not safe, and my fear is that business, investors and tourists will desert the city. I was born and raised in London and still live here. Its the greatest city in the world but it has been ruined over the past five years under Mr Khan. Mr Bailey is going for London mayor in May Crime is expected to be the main issue at the forthcoming election, with Mr Candy fuming that it has left Londoners and the business community disillusioned. He revealed that he had made a personal six figure donation to Mr Baileys campaign and has helped raise more than 1 million, utilising his contacts within the City and Londons elite. Following the murder of Sarah Everard, he said that he had been left incensed by Mr Khans admission that the capitals streets are not safe for women and girls. He added: For the Mayor of London to say this is a disgrace. Its his duty to make it safe for them but he blames everybody but himself. I live in an all-female house, have two young daughters and I want London to be safe for them and all other women and girls. In his manifesto, Mr Bailey has pledged to hire an additional 8,000 police officers, reopen 38 police stations, and build a youth centre in every London borough to tackle crime amongst young people. Mr Candy and his brother Christian are best known for creating their ultra-lavish apartment block One Hyde Park. Their clients include Russian oligarchs, sheikhs and celebrities such as Kylie Minogue. The brothers started off their business by developing a small flat in South West London after getting a 6,000 loan from their grandmother. He claimed that in addition to crime, other factors that have made London unlivable are measures such as cycle lanes, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, and an increase in the congestion charge. Nick Candy with his wife Holly Valance at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019 Mr Candy fumed: Once the lockdown is lifted and life returns to normal, you will not be able to move in London. The city is becoming unliveable because of crime and ridiculous traffic calming measures, such as cycle lanes in the middle of Park Lane while Transport for London is close to bankruptcy. Getting around has become a nightmare.' Mr Candy also dismissed reports that Conservative Central Office had cut off funding to Mr Baileys campaign and that senior figures in the party are not happy with his campaign as rubbish. He added: I can guarantee that is not true.There is a credit line,but its not required because funds are coming in thick and fast.Everybody is so disillusioned about crime and the way our city is being run. Senior Cabinet members including Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, Priti Patel and Dominic Raab are supporting him and in recent weeks have participated in fund raising efforts. A spokesman for the Conservative Party said: Shaun Bailey and his campaign have our full support and we are working closely to highlight Sadiq Khans abysmal failures on crime, housing and transport and to deliver the fresh start Londoners desperately need. London needs a new Mayor with solutions, not excuses, and that is Shaun Bailey. MP Fred Keup (ADR) recently issued a parliamentary enquiry concerning violence among minors. Minister for Internal Security Henri Kox, Minister of Education Claude Meisch, and Minister of Justice Sam Tanson provided a response to the enquiry, which contains detailed statistics over the number of violent cases that involved minors. In 2020, 38 minors were convicted either for assault or "violent theft or extortion". 20 more cases than during the previous year. The highest rate over the past ten years was recorded in 2012 with 89 cases. Only one minor offender was sentenced for voluntary homicide in that period. Disciplinary councils in secondary schools have not registered a significant increase in violent behaviour. In the academic year 2020/2021, 13 pupils have so far been sanctioned for violent behaviour. The total for the previous year was 44. United Nations, March 19 : Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, said that the lack of drinking water is a global moral failure that has devastating consequences for humanity. "If I may be candid: it is a moral failure that we live in a world with such high levels of technical innovation and success, but we continue to allow billions of people to exist without clean drinking water or the basic tools to wash their hands," he said on Thursday while addressing a high-level meeting to promote the implementation of the water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda. "And make no mistake, this is a global failure that has far-reaching implications for all of us." Water is integral to sustainable development. But the world is well behind on the related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda, he said. By current estimates, 2.2 billion people, almost a third of the global population, continue to lack access to safely managed drinking water; 4.2 billion people, more than half of the planet's population, live without safely managed sanitation; 2 billion people don't have a decent toilet of their own; 3 billion people lack basic handwashing facilities, even in the middle of a global pandemic, according to Bozkir. The UNGA President called for tangible, concrete actions to mitigate the situation. He also asked the international community to work closely with civil society groups and with young people to strengthen water-related goals and activities. Then-U.S. vice president Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping toast during a state luncheon for China hosted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington on Sept. 25, 2015. (Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images) Beijing Ignores Americas Pledge to Stand With Australia Beijing has again blamed Australia for the current diplomatic tensions between the two countries after the Biden administration told China they would not take steps to improve bilateral relations while an ally was under economic coercion. President Joe Biden has reportedly told the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) we are not going to leave Australia alone on the field. The commitment was voiced by Bidens Indo-Pacific coordinator, Kurt Campbell ahead of a meeting between top U.S. and Chinese officials in Alaska today. We have made clear that the U.S. is not prepared to improve relations in a bilateral and separate context at the same time that a close and dear ally is being subjected to a form of economic coercion, Campbell told The Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday. He said Biden had personally pledged this commitment to Prime Minister Scott Morrison during the Quad meeting last week. So weve indicated both to Australia and China at the highest levels that we are fully aware of whats going on and we are not prepared to take substantial steps to improve relations until those policies are addressed and a more normal interplay between Canberra and Beijing is established, Campbell said. Australia-China relations are at an all-time low after China imposed punitive economic sanctions in response to Australias call to an independent inquiry into the origins of the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. However, when the Chinese foreign ministry was asked about Campbells comments, spokesperson Zhao Lijian dismissed the warning and deflected the blame back to Australia, saying that Australia used wrong words on Chinas sovereignty, security and interests. Australian Scott Morrison (L) participating in the inaugural Quad leaders meeting with the U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a virtual meeting on Friday, March 12, 2021, in Sydney, Australia. (AAP Image/Pool/Dean Lewins) China Attacks Australia on Human Rights On the same day as the meeting of the Quad alliance leaders on March 12, the CCP submitted a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council condemning Australias use of off-shore detention centres and called for an investigation into the behaviour of Australian troops overseas. In a statement, Beijing said they wanted concrete steps to be taken to protect the rights of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, and children. However, the move by the CCP comes amid growing international condemnation of the political situation in Hong Kong and the CCPs genocide of the Uyghur minority. Uncontrolled diabetes increases maternal and fetal risks during pregnancy. As a result, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends that family planning should be discussed and effective contraception should be available to the more than three percent of (more than one million) reproductive-age women in the United States with diabetes. Yet a new study has found that women with diabetes are less likely to use contraception after their diabetes diagnosis. Efforts are needed to ensure that women with diabetes receive the counseling and clinical services needed to carefully plan their pregnancies." Mara Murray Horwitz, MD, Corresponding Author, Assistant Professor, Boston University School of Medicine Using claims data from a large national insurance provider to identify reproductive-age women, the researchers divided them into two groups: those who received a new diabetes diagnosis and those who did not receive a diabetes diagnosis. They then matched individuals in each group on important other variables to make the groups more similar. Using medical diagnosis, pharmacy fill and procedure codes, they measured contraception use in the two groups during the year before the diagnosis and during the year after the diagnosis. Finally, they compared the change in contraception use from the year before the diagnosis to the year after the diagnosis, in the diagnosed group versus in the undiagnosed group. They found that being diagnosed with diabetes does not make a person more likely to use effective contraception and in fact may lead to a drop in the use of certain types of effective contraception, namely short-acting hormonal methods such as pills and injections. The ADA states that "women with diabetes have the same contraception options and recommendations as those without diabetes," and that, "the risk of an unplanned pregnancy outweighs the risk of any given contraception option." "Nonetheless, many patients and clinicians report concerns about the need for and safety of contraception in the setting of diabetes. It is conceivable that--as our study suggests--a diabetes diagnosis leads to less, instead of more, contraception counseling, prescribing, and use," added Murray Horwitz, a physician at Boston Medical Center. The researchers hope that this study leads to more comprehensive care, including family planning with the full range of safe and effective contraceptive options, for persons with diabetes who may become pregnant. "Ultimately we want everyone to be able to choose when and if they become pregnant and to have the information, tools and support as needed to optimize their pregnancy outcomes," she said. SHENZHEN, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / March 19, 2021 / A major Israeli asset manager is looking at further increasing its exposure to the crypto sector by adding the ITTx to its digital asset portfolio. This comes amidst reports that major institutional investors such as Tesla, Microstrategy and London-based asset manager, Ruffer Investment Company are gaining exposure to digital assets by scooping up Bitcoin (BTC) in droves, collectively purchasing hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of the cryptocurrency, powering what can be considered the biggest crypto bull run since 2017. According to asset management firm CoinShares, inflows into Bitcoin and other crypto investment products hit $1.3 billion in January this year and analysts believe that the institutional investors who are stockpiling cryptocurrencies include funds and asset managers doing so on behalf of investors as funds and also as a reserve asset. The Israeli asset fund had acquired $12 million worth of digital assets earlier in January and industry insiders expect an allocation of several million dollars toward acquiring the ITTx which is expected to make up just over 5% of the fund's digital assets portfolio. Acquisition of the ITTx token by the fund marks a move beyond investing in mainstream digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum into other tokens with the potential for greater value growth and capital appreciation. The ITTx token, which possesses a strong global network of strategic partners, a functioning ecosystem and a large community, is potentially capable of offering investors the opportunity to realize exponential returns on their investment. What sets the ITTx apart from most other mainstream cyptocurrencies is community and partnership-focused approach which can be seen from its most recent tie-up with IQE Limited, which would give it access to the ZING+ video-sharing APP's community which consists of nearly a million daily active users (DAUs) and over 4 million downloads. As such, the ITTx is an ideal candidate that funds seeking to diversify their digital asset holdings beyond mainstream cryptocurrencies should look into. Media contact Company: IQE Limited Contact: Carl Lee, PR Representative Telephone: +8619878087665 E-mail: carl@mail-iqe.com Website: https://iqe-treasure.com/ Address: 18B02-A, Anlian Building, 4018 Jintian Road, Futian District, Shenzhen, China (518038) SOURCE: IQE Limited View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/636433/Major-Investment-House-Looking-at-adding-ITTx-to-its-Portfolio Kartik Aaryan has worked with almost all the Gen Y actresses Ananya Panday (Pati Patni Aur Woh), Janhvi Kapoor (Dostana 2), Sara Ali Khan (Love Aaj Kal). And while he has teamed up with these divas for movies, he has also worked with Tara Sutaria for a brand endorsement. Recently the actor launched a new commercial for deo where he is seen with Tara. The two make for a cute pairing. Tara Sutaria shared the commercial on her Instagram story. The commercial sees them playing a couple and the deos fragrance being the catalyst in their romance. While the ad is super sweet, what caught our attention was Taras pet name for Kartik. Adding the story she captioned it saying, Hiiii popat! @kartikaaryan. Whoa! Now thats some quirky pet name for Kartik Aaryan. We assume that Kartik Aaryan seen in a bright green shirt in the commercial that made Sutaria call him popat. Tara Sutaria was recently tested positive for COVID-19 but a few days back she gave us a health update saying that she has been tested negative now. Meanwhile Kartik Aaryan is busy shooting for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and his other brand commitments simultaneously. Kartik has become a big name in the brand world as he is one of the youngest superstar in our country and enjoys a great mass appeal. Similarly even Tara is seen endorsing several women-centric products and is quite popular in the mad-ad world. No wonder together in the commercial they make for a superhit couple, are makers looking out for a new Bollywood Jodi? Emmerdale beats everyone hands down with religion (not least because of its over-active vestry). Currently, the village has both Charles and Harriet, even though the latter is holed up in a basement with only a Bible and a candle for company (and thats an improvement on the company of certain men shes entertained). Corrie has Billy, newly promoted to archdeacon, even though he has never shown evidence of being able to find the church, let alone do anything in it when he gets there. Billy is the master of the Troubled Soul, always battling with his conscience, God and the latest man to walk into his life (for the record: the guy always wins.). Until recently, EastEnders hasnt been big on religion, although who can forget the arrival in 1997 of Alex Healy, who fell for Kaffy while her marriage to Phil was falling apart? The storyline drew criticism one vicar complained that the BBC was portraying Christian characters as jokes or frauds. Mmmm. Just like everyone else, then? Thank goodness, currently, for preacher turned serial killer Hot Lucas. Get behind me in the queue, Karen. EASTENDERS: CHEERS FOR BEERS Stuart starts to piece together Linda and Mick's (pictured) reversal of fortunes after they return to the Vic in EastEnders All is right with the world once more. After a tedious game of musical landlords, Mick and Linda are back at the Vic. Quite why anyone in soapland ever thinks its a good idea to have an alcoholic running a bar is anybodys guess, but at least Lindas cardigans will once more be getting the airing they deserve. How will Stuart react when he starts to put together the pieces of the couples reversal of fortunes after hearing Frankie talking in the bar? When is Gray going to give up on his quest to ensnare Whitney, and when is she finally going to stand up to him and tell him that no, she cant look after his kids? Hes at it again this week, asking her to stay late with them when she was hoping for a romantic night out with Kush. Just tell him no! Question of the moment has to be how many more inventive ways the show is going to find for Peter to get his kit off? Weve had him naked in the Square, trying to impress Ash; then, dripping wet and shirtless at Sukis the week before last; in these Covid times of social distancing, its the greatest thrill we can hope for. CORONATION STREET: MY BIG SAP GREEK WEDDING As Fiz plans a Greek wedding for her and Tyrone (pictured), he admits that he's fallen for Alina in Coronation Street How long must we endure the torture of possibly the least convincing storyline in the shows history? As poor Fiz is excitedly booking a Greek wedding for her and Tyrone, hes spilling his guts and admitting that hes fallen for Alina. Only a pep talk from Chesney seems to get him back on track with his priorities namely Fiz and The Girls (whose names both parents still struggle to remember). Blimey. Relationship advice from Chesney? Thats on a par with going to Henry VIII for marriage counselling. Its obvious all the soaps are struggling with storylines, given the current restrictions, but a close second in ridiculousness to the Tyrone/Alina plot (I use the word very loosely) is Leannes new existence as a drug baron one who has to wear a nurses uniform, to boot (whats that all about, Harvey? Granada raiding its medical drama props cupboard again?). The uniform goes against her when shes asked to help a man whos collapsed at the tram station. Well, at least shell have enough drugs to administer. Thank goodness we have the ever reliable and wonderful Cathy and Brian. To protect her from Tracys abuse, Brian takes the fall for Cathys online trolling, and shes left to beg Steve to put a stop to the vendetta against them. Thatll be easier said than done with Tracy. Lets not forget what a fine aim she has with low-flying statues. EMMERDALE: SAY NO TO THE BIG MACK Aaron is reluctant to accept help from Mack (pictured) in his search for Connor in this week's Emmerdale The Scottish accent has to be one of the most delightful in the world, but every time Mack opens his mouth, it emerges with more than a hint of menace; he cant even order a cup of coffee without making it sound like a hit job. Small wonder that Aaron is reluctant to accept Macks offer of help in his search for Connor. It transpires that its all a ploy to get him mixed up in a deal involving dodgy TVs. Poor Aaron, he couldnt see a double decker bus unless he was under it. And guess what hell see of Mack when the cops arrive? Scotch mist. Set your alarm for 8.40PM GST this Friday, 19th March for a pretty light show like no other! MANCHESTER, England, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Friday, 19th March at 8.40pm will mark a magical moment when the world's tallest building and the epicentre of Dubai's bustling city life, Burj Khalifa, will be pretty in pink and lit up by fashion e-tailer PrettyLittleThing. Framed against the urban tapestry of the cosmopolitan city of Dubai, the landmark skyscraper will illuminate with vibrant lights, this time celebrating PrettyLittleThing's Arabic website launch and presence within the global fashion scene. Immaculate on the eye and exquisite in its pink hues, the PrettyLittleThing projection will be anything but little, accentuating the dimensions of the world's tallest building and celebrating the online presence of this fashion powerhouse in the MENA region, to a global audience, having all eyes on PrettyLittleThing! Designed to overwhelm, the PrettyLittleThing projection will leave the city awed, making this fleeting moment a defining snapshot for the long-awaited Spring and the latest fashion trends that it brings forward together with PLT's fierce and empowering apparel drips during Women's History Month. Instagram https://www.instagram.com/prettylittlething Website https://www.prettylittlething.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1459963/PrettyLittleThing__Burj_Khalifa.jpg Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Rain showers in the morning with numerous thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. Storms could contain damaging winds. High 78F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Prime Minister congratulated his Dutch counterpart on Thursday for leading his party to become the largest in the Netherlands parliamentary polls, and said he looked forward to working with the new government to further deepen multifaceted and broad-based cooperation between the two nations. Dutch voters pushed Prime Minister Rutte toward a fourth term in office in Wednesday's general election that bolstered his conservative party's position as the biggest in parliament and boosted a key ally into the second place, an exit poll suggested. "Heartiest congratulations to my friend @markrutte for leading his party to be the largest in the Parliamentary elections in the Netherlands. I look forward to working with the new Government of the Netherlands to further deepen our multifaceted and broad-based cooperation," Modi tweeted. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The first British astronaut, Helen Sharman, says a child in school today will be among the original explorers to step foot on the surface of Mars in the coming decades. NASA's Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman on the moon by 2024, has loftier goals, including landing humans on Mars by the mid-to-late 2030s. Sharman said that those currently in the earlier years of school will be in their 20s when NASA, ESA and others start pushing towards the Red Planet and could well be part of the cohort of astronauts that create a base on another world. She spoke to MailOnline ahead of an event aimed at encouraging young people to take up a career in STEM, that is science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The event will see school children design science experiments that Thales Alenia Space will send up to 30,000ft on a balloon and gather them back up when they fall to Earth to return them to the children and their teachers. The firm found in a survey that 35% of British school children, aged 5 to 16, had been inspired by the pandemic to enter a STEM career - including doctor and astronaut. The first British astronaut, Helen Sharman, says a child in school today will be among the original explorers to step foot on the surface of Mars in the coming decades Sharman (pictured) said that those currently in the earlier years of school will be in their 20s when NASA, ESA and others start pushing towards the Red Planet and could well be part of the cohort of astronauts that create a base on another world HELEN SHARMAN: THE FIRST BRITISH ASTRONAUT Helen Sharman became the first British astronaut when she visited the Mir space station in 1991. Helen Sharman was the first British astronaut Born in Yorkshire, and gaining an PhD from the University of London in 1987, Sharman visited space aged just 27. She was not only the first Briton in space, but also the first woman on Mir. Before launching for the station, she spent 18 months in intensive flight. training at Star City. This was as part of Project Juno - a mission to send a British astronaut into space - beating out 13,000 others. She was the first British cosmonaut, the first British person in space and the first European woman in space. As of 2017 she was the sixth youngest person ever to go into space out of the 556 people who had left Earth's atmosphere. She was one of three British candidates as part of the 1992 ESA astronaut selection process, although didn't make it back into space. Advertisement Helen Sharman, a chemist by training, launched for the Mir space station in May 1991, becoming the first British astronaut, the first western European woman in space and the first woman to visit the Russian orbiting laboratory. The next big adventure for humanity, after returning to the moon by the end of the decade, will be to land people on the surface of Mars by the end of the 2030s. Sharman says the group landing on Mars within the next 20 years are likely still in primary school, or at least in secondary school today. The survey of parents of school children by Thales Alenia asked about changes to career aspirations after the pandemic - so these are views that have changed as a result of coronavirus and its impact. The survey of 2,000 parents found their children, aged 5-16, now consider a career as a doctor or nurse to be the most inspiring closely followed by an astronaut. 'Being an astronaut is very very high up there,' said Sharman. 'This is a huge increase in students wanting to be astronauts and I wonder how much is due to the expeditions to Mars with Perseverance.' Mars is currently a planet entirely inhabited by robots - with both Curiosity and Perseverance trundling along the surface, and Tianwen-1, the Chinese Mars rover due to land on the Red Planet before the summer. However, NASA has big plans for the future - the second stage of its Artemis mission that will see astronauts land on the moon by 2024 and Mars by 2035. Other companies, including Elon Musk's SpaceX are more confident, with Musk claiming Starship will land people on Mars by 2026. Even with the longer-term goal of NASA, children in school today are likely to be visiting Mars in their lifetime, said Sharman. Helen Sharman, a chemist by training, launched for the Mir space station in May 1991, becoming the first British astronaut, the first western European woman in space and the first woman to visit the Russian orbiting laboratory 'The idea that you can go all the way around the Earth so quickly makes the Earth in some respects feel quit small,' Helen Sharman told MailOnline The European Space Agency recently put out a call for astronauts, the first in a decade, and when the next one happens current primary and secondary school children could be graduating university and in a position to apply. 'They will be going into space and they could well be part of the European Space Agency endeavour with the Lunar Gateway,' she said. The Lunar Gateway is a space station being built in orbit around the moon by NASA, with modules contributed by Japan and the European Space Agency (ESA). It will act as a staging ground for missions to the lunar surface, as well as for astronauts to study the moon from orbit. Astronauts from the European Space Agency are expected to launch for the station within the next decade - after NASA has established the operation. Sharman says the group landing on Mars within the next 20 years are likely still in primary school, or at least in secondary school today. Dr Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut to go into space said that those currently in the earlier years of school will be in their 20s when NASA, ESA and others start pushing towards the Red Planet NASA plans to send a crewed mission to Mars in the 2030s after first landing on the Moon Mars has become the next giant leap for mankind's exploration of space. But before humans get to the red planet, astronauts will take a series of small steps by returning to the moon for a year-long mission. Details of a the mission in lunar orbit have been unveiled as part of a timeline of events leading to missions to Mars in the 2030s. Mars has become the next giant leap for mankind's exploration of space. But before humans get to the red planet, astronauts will take a series of small steps by returning to the moon for a year-long mission. Details of a the mission in lunar orbit have been unveiled as part of a timeline of events leading to missions to Mars in the 2030s. In May 2017, Greg Williams, deputy associate administrator for policy and plans at Nasa, outlined the space agency's four stage plan that it hopes will one day allow humans to visit Mars, as well as its expected time-frame. Phase one and two will involve multiple trips to lunar space, to allow for construction of a habitat which will provide a staging area for the journey. The last piece of delivered hardware would be the actual Deep Space Transport vehicle that would later be used to carry a crew to Mars. And a year-long simulation of life on Mars will be conducted in 2027. Phase three and and four will begin after 2030 and will involve sustained crew expeditions to the Martian system and surface of Mars. Advertisement 'Or, even more. We think the first people to walk on Mars are now in school, it will be late 2030s for humans, Sharman told MailOnline when asked about the future opportunities for children today. 'Somebody today can actually inspire, if not to go themselves, to be part of the mission to get people into space, she said. She told MailOnline that the UK space sector alone was growing at a rapid pace - from launches planned for Scotland to satellite construction and space policy. More than 70,000 jobs are expected to be created in the UK space sector in the coming decades, Sharman explained, many due to filled by current school children. 'It is an exciting time for these young people. they know Mars is going to be part of their lives, just like the moon is part of ours.' Sharman's trip to space lasted eight days where she carried out a range of tasks including medical and agricultural tests, as well as photographing the British Isles. Aged 27 and 11 months at the time of her flight, Sharman is the sixth youngest individual to have flown into space, adding she would willingly go back again. She said seeing the world below was like nothing before, especially watching the entire Earth go under your feet every 90 minutes. 'The idea that you can go all the way around the Earth so quickly makes the Earth in some respects feel quit small,' she told MailOnline. 'Relative to the fast globe of the Earth you get this tiny layer on top which is the atmosphere and that is what supports all known life. 'That concept of interconnectedness and the need to be aware of what we do and the impact we can create, and there is only so much that tiny atmosphere can absorb until we push it past the point it can absorb no more,' was notable, she said. She said while she fully supports the drive for space, it should be done in a sustainable, clean and green way - reducing debris and emissions. A lot of that will come from the next generation, those currently in school, who see the green agenda as part of their every day lives, Sharman told MailOnline. The European Space Agency recently put out a call for astronauts, the first in a decade, and when the next one happens current primary and secondary school children could be graduating university and in a position to apply NASA's Artemis program, that aims to land the first woman on the moon by 2024, has loftier goals, including landing humans on Mars by the mid-to-late 2030 Sharman's trip to space lasted eight days where she carried out a range of tasks including medical and agricultural tests, as well as photographing the British Isles. 'We know that young people find climate change significant for their lives, but it is also a big turn on for them in studying STEM as they see it as important,' she said. However, the research by Thales showed that there are still barriers that exist prohibiting children from pursuing a career in STEM. This included not having access to enough information about a career a science, technology, engineering or maths subject, parents not knowing enough about the subject, and not enough role models in STEM careers. To provide students with the opportunity to channel their interest in STEM into action, Thales Alenia Space runs the 'MARSBallooon project'. In June 2021 the project will launch over 150 experiment capsules designed by UK school children up into the atmosphere via a high altitude balloon, testing student ideas for technologies that could one day be destined for Mars. Senators Ted Cruz (C-R) and John Cornyn (C-L) pose with Nasa and Canadian Space Agency graduating astronauts during the ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas Soyuz tm-12, cosmonauts Helen Sharman (left), Anatoly Artsebarsky, and Sergei Krikalev prior to launch, 1991 Even with the longer-term goal of NASA, children in school today are likely to be visiting Mars in their lifetime, said Sharman THREE MISSIONS TO MARS IN 2021: US, UAE AND CHINA AT OR ON THE RED PLANET So far 2021 has been the 'year of Mars' with three spaceships from Earth arriving at the Red Planet. The first visitor from Earth to arrive was also a first for the Arab world - the United Arab Emirates 'Hope' probe. This spaceship is going to monitor the weather on Mars over a full year. The second ship was from China - Tianwen-1 will orbit Mars until May when it will deploy a rover. This will make China only the second country after the US to land a rover on Mars if it is succesful. NASA's Perseverance was the last of the three to arrive in Martian orbit, but the first to land on the Red Planet. Advertisement There is no cost to take part in the project other than that of experiment materials and postage, although students have to be linked to a school or official group. Students can work together to create Mars experiments that fit inside a Kinder Egg capsule, putting in anything from electronics, materials, plants and even food. Previous examples of experiments include testing the effect of Martian conditions on rubber bands, ink, memory sticks and 3D printed materials. During the launch the balloon will ascend to 30km, more than twice the height of commercial airliners, in approximately one hour. It will then burst and the experiment tray will return to Earth via a parachute. The experiments will be collected and returned to the schools for students to analyse the results. The experiments will experience conditions very similar to the surface of Mars including temperatures as low as -50C. This will allow students to test the response of electronics, materials, plants and even food to the conditions outside of a future Mars base, helping future explorers to prepare for this strange and hostile environment. Some of the children contributing work to these experiments could one day fly to the ISS, travel to the lunar gateway or even step foot on Mars, said Sharman. When asked if she would go back into space again, Sharman told MailOnline she would 'go up in a heartbeat' as it is a 'fabulous experience'. 'You experience the weightlessness which is absolutely amazing, the relaxing free feeling, you feel how your body is adapting, I loved the feeling in my own body let alone watching it in the experiments. It is such a magical thing.' Karen Bleier/AFP FILES/AFP via Getty Images Waging a boardroom battle at Exxon Mobil Corp. comes with a hefty price tag, as first-time activist investor Engine No. 1 is finding out. The San Francisco-based hedge fund said in a regulatory filing this week that it expects its proxy fight at Exxon to cost roughly $30 million. While that isnt an unusually high number for a fight of this magnitude, it does amount to more than half of the current value of Engine No. 1s $54 million stake in the largest U.S. oil and gas producer. Its also equal to about 75% of the value of Engine No. 1s Exxon shares when it initially took its position. PHILIPSBURG:--- On Thursday, March 18, 2021, The Parliament of Sint Maarten unanimously approved the National ordinance to amend the National Ordinance Public Health incorporating the Regulation 2019- nCoV. The Public Health Ordinance is in effect as of July 2018 and, amongst other topics, aims to provide a set of measures to protect public health against infectious diseases, in line with the International Health Regulations. At the end of 2019, a new disease was discovered in Wuhan, China, which ultimately led to the current COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 hit the shores of Sint Maarten in early 2020. To protect the population of Sint Maarten, in January 2020, the decision to issue an urgent Ministerial Regulation to classify COVID-19 as a disease of Category A, which enabled a set of measures to be used, defined in the Public Health Ordinance, was made. The Public Health Ordinance provides the option to include emerging diseases by means of a Ministerial Regulation, to enable the country to adequately and timely respond to the threat of a new disease. Minister Panneflek hereby informs the community that the Public Health Ordinance is essential to protect the health of our population and our economy. This week the Information Ministry revoked the license of popular social media news publisher Pheng Vannak for reporting on a video showing severe corporal punishment at a Siem Reap pagoda. The video has been circulating on social media since March 14 showing the chief monk of Siem Reaps Reach Bo Pagoda beating three younger monks with a stick. The incident had led to an investigation by local authorities but Pheng Vannaks license was taken for affecting Buddhism. The owner of the outlet has breached the agreed contract, saying that he insulted monks with his reporting, seriously affecting Buddhism as the state religion, read the March 18 Ministry of Information letter, signed by Minister Khieu Kanharith. Pheng Vannak is popular for his news and information dissemination on social media and a website he runs. His page has more than half a million likes on Facebook. Reach Bo Pagoda chief monk, Pin Sem, who administered the punishment, justified the beatings, and said it was to ensure monastic discipline. If I didnt use punishment such as beating them with sticks, I would have to fire them from the pagoda, he said. If I did that, it would be very serious for them. Pin Sem said Buddhism allowed beating as punishment and that it was not violent or an angry act. We beat them on their backsides and are not breaking arms or legs, he added. The Monk Council in Siem Reap province had called for action against Pheng Vannak, saying he had used unethical and insulting words for the chief monk and provincial authorities. VOA Khmer could not reach Ministry of Cults and Religions spokesperson Seng Somony for comment on Wednesday. In response to the Information Ministry, Pheng Vannak issued an apology on March 18 accepting that mistakes were made. He promised he would be mindful of his choice of words when addressing Buddhism. The [ministrys] decision is correct. I overstepped with my words and it affected the religion. I am no longer a journalist from now on, he said, using his Facebook page. Chan Chamroeun, Siem Reap provincial coordinator for rights group ADHOC, told Radio Free Asia the use of violence in any setting is against the law and called for the Religions Ministry to find justice for the junior monks. The decision is up to the authorities, but if those beatings inflicted injuries, a prosecutor can bring charges against [the chief monk], Chan Chamroeun said. Ith Sothoeuth, media director at the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, said the revocation of licenses has become so easy it can be used as another threat to journalists and news outlets which dare to criticize the weak points of the government, suggesting the use of the Law on the Press to request a correction. Buddhist monks in Cambodia mainly follow the Theravada, or Southern, branch of the religion, and young boys often enter Buddhist monasteries as novices for short periods without taking lifelong vows. More than half of Briton's workers returned to the office last week as the country gets set to reopen after lockdown. In the week ending March 14, some 53 per cent of workers travelled back to the office, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics today. The increase in commuting and drop in working from home coincides with schools re-opening in England on March 8. The shift also comes amid a marked drop in Covid cases across the country. In the week ending March 14, some 53 per cent of workers travelled back to the office, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics Commuters on the London Underground which was noticeably busier last night Office workers pass through Victoria Station in London en route to work Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey (pictured) said he expects pandemic 'habits' such as working from home to stay, with people having a 'hybrid' lifestyle Britain's daily Covid deaths almost halve in a week Britain's daily coronavirus deaths have almost halved in a week, official figures revealed yesterday as yet more data showed cases are still falling across England. Department of Health statistics showed 95 Covid fatalities were recorded today 47 per cent down on the 181 registered last Thursday. And daily infections fell by seven per cent after health chiefs posted 6,303 cases. For comparison, 6,753 were registered at the same time last week. The drop in infection rates has slowed over the past week but experts say this is linked to test capacity being drastically ramped up because of schools reopening in England. But the positivity rate one of the best ways of tracking an outbreak's size when swabbing jumps has fallen in every region despite the uptick in cases, suggesting the second wave is still firmly in retreat even though more cases are being spotted. Public Health England data showed only Yorkshire saw its infection rate plateau last week, while more granular statistics revealed a third of local authorities saw a slight uptick in cases. And separate data from Test and Trace showed there were 39,118 positive cases in the week ending March 10, the latest available, which was a drop of 14 per cent on the previous week. It also showed coronavirus tests had nearly doubled to 5.8million. Department of Health figures on the vaccines roll-out today showed 25.7million Britons have now received their first dose, after a further 460,000 got their shots. Ministers also dished out another 119,609 second doses, amid the looming demand to administer top-up doses to millions of vulnerable residents. Advertisement ONS data shows that people who worked exclusively from home decreased in the week ending March 14 by six percentage points from the previous week, to 30 per cent. The number of people who travelled to work - either exclusively or in combination with working from home - increased by five percentage points from the previous week, to 53 per cent. Businesses based in the City remain hesitant to disclose back-to-work plans, with many moving towards a hybrid model of working - a combination of working from home and the office - as the Covid restrictions are eased. Canary Wharf-based KPMG told MailOnline it was continuing to follow the latest government advice, with the vast majority of staff still working from home. A KPMG UK spokesperson said: Our key priority remains our colleagues health and wellbeing and as a firm we have stringently followed the most up-to-date scientific and government advice. The vast majority of our people will continue to work from home, but our offices remain open for those who have an exceptional business or wellbeing need. All colleagues looking to enter our offices or a client site will continue to use our UK Return App, a risk assessment that ensures our people are in a safe position to return and are comfortable doing so. NatWest Group, the firm behind banking brands including NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland, currently has some 50,000 employees working from home. The group told MailOnline it was 'adopting new ways of working' which will be a 'hybrid of home and office.' A spokesperson said: 'Our priority during the coronavirus pandemic has been to look after the safety and wellbeing of our customers and colleagues. 'As we plan for our return to the office, we are adapting to new ways of working and changing some of our offices to meet our future needs. This new hybrid way of working will balance the advantages of working from home with the benefits of connecting with colleagues in person. 'Any return to our offices will be led by principles including the latest government guidance, the progress of the vaccine roll-out, sickness levels, and the availability of safe and efficient public transport.' Speaking at the end of last month, the Prime Minister dismissed the idea that the lockdowns of the last year would lead to a permanent shift towards working from home. Guidance to work from home is expected to remain in place until at least June 21 to head off the risk of a resurgence in Covid cases. But the PM said he believed normal work patterns would resume once the lockdown restrictions are finally lifted. This comes after the Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said he expects pandemic 'habits' such as working from home to stay, with people having a 'hybrid' lifestyle rather than fully returning to offices. But he warned there was little chance the UK would return to the pre-pandemic 'normal' and suggested most workers might adopt a hybrid approach to their jobs when restrictions ease. In the week ending March 7, some 48% of working adults reported leaving home for work. That figure was up to 53% the following week Department of Health data showed the number of Covid deaths recorded has halved in a week, as the second wave of the pandemic remained in retreat. There were 95 recorded yesterday compared to 181 last Thursday Covid cases also fell seven per cent in a week. There were a further 6,303 cases identified yesterday. For comparison, 6,753 were registered at the same time last week In an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday he said: 'I think we will see things change, because I think some habits and some practices will prove to be sustainable. 'I think there will be for many people more of a hybrid model of working at home and working in a place of work. 'I think we've already seen the retailing industry change quite dramatically in the last year and although I would expect some of it to change back it, it won't entirely change back. 'I would be very surprised if we went back to exactly as we were before Covid.' And Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon described working from home as an 'aberration'. Of Goldman's 6,000-strong UK workforce, only five to 10 per cent who are critical staff and cannot work remotely are commuting into offices in London and Milton Keynes. The rest are continuing to work from home. JP Morgan's chief executive Jamie Dimon said that working from home has had a negative effect on productivity Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon, who described working from home as an 'aberration' Speaking to a virtual conference organised by Credit Suisse last month, Soloman said: 'That's a temporary thing. I do think that for a business like ours, which is an innovative, collaborative apprenticeship culture, this is not ideal for us.' He also said it would never become the 'new normal'. The 59-year-old, who is based out of the company's New York headquarters, also insisted the firm would be looking to 'correct' the remote working situation 'as soon as possible'. In September, JP Morgan's chief executive Jamie Dimon said that working from home has had a negative effect on productivity while Barclays boss Jes Staley recently said he hoped the vaccine would allow employees to return to the office. BA staff will continue work from home plan when Covid crisis ends as airline explores sale of its HQ near Heathrow where 2,000 employees were based before lockdown By Matt Oliver, City Correspondent for the Daily Mail British Airways could sell its headquarters at Heathrow Airport as part of plans to let staff work from home more often. Bosses said home-working was one of the 'very few positive aspects' of the pandemic. The airline was last night revealed to be looking at options for its Waterside complex in London, which currently houses 2,000 employees. After many employees worked remotely during the pandemic, bosses are considering whether the same amount of office space will be needed if they continue to do so in future. BA is just the latest firm to look at slashing office space as staff increasingly split their time between home and the office, with HSBC, Lloyds and BP among other top firms that have done so. The firm paid 200million for the land and construction of its headquarters in the 1990s. British Airways is looking at options for its Waterside complex at London Heathrow Airport and could sell the headquarters But Stuart Kennedy, BA's director of people, told staff that now 'it's not clear if such a large office will play a part in our future', according to the Financial Times. 'We'll want to consider what the ideal office layout for the future will be,' he told them. 'Perhaps it's less fixed desks and more casual meeting areas, and we need to consider colleague wellbeing, too.' He said 'one of the very few positive aspects' of the Covid-19 crisis has been how well staff adapted to remote working. However, Mr Kennedy said it was still 'very early days' and insisted no decision had been made. Like other major airlines, BA has been hammered by coronavirus disruption in the past year, with travel restrictions leading to mass flight cancellations. The Queen is shown around BA's Waterside offices in London in May 2019 as part of the airline's centenary celebrations It prompted parent company IAG to bolster its finances earlier this year by securing a 2billion government-backed loan. Last night BA said the pandemic had also 'accelerated our approach to offering more agile and flexible ways of working'. A spokesman added: 'We've also restructured our business to emerge from the crisis and are considering whether we still have the need for such a large headquarters building.' It comes after BP told its 25,000 staff that they will likely never return to working full-time at the office, with the new hybrid arrangements set to affect more than 6,000 workers in Britain. British Airways cabin crew apprentices are photographed after their wings ceremony at the Waterside HQ in April 2019 In recent weeks, banking giant HSBC has also announced plans to slash 40 per cent of its office space and Lloyds Banking Group is cutting 20 per cent. British Gas owner Centrica is among other firms to tell staff they will not return five days per week, while the boss of Unilever said that arrangement 'seems very old-fashioned now'. Yet others have argued that spending more time working from home has disproportionately impacted the younger staff in their 20s and 30s, who have had less opportunity for in-person training and are keener to return. For example, Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon recently insisted that remote working is 'an aberration that we're going to correct as quickly as possible' - with staff at the investment bank ordered to return to their desks by the summer. The airline could sell its Waterside headquarters at Heathrow Airport as part of plans to let staff work from home more often Meanwhile it was revealed today that BAs owner IAG raised 1billion in a bond issue it said would help it survive a potentially longer than expected travel downturn. Airlines are counting on a summer travel reboot after a year of minimal income because of coronavirus restrictions, but rising case numbers in some countries and delays to Europe's Covid-19 vaccine rollout could derail the recovery. IAG, which is burning through about 150million a week as a result of the pandemic, has been cutting costs while flying only 20 per cent of its normal capacity. The owner of Iberia and Vueling in Spain and Aer Lingus in Ireland said last month it had sufficient liquidity to ride out the crisis but would continue to explore new debt options. Officials say the Biden administration hopes to lift COVID-19 travel restrictions on the Mexico-Canada border by mid-May, and relax existing flight bans on the United Kingdom, Europe, and Brazil. Biden focuses on relaxing COVID-19 restrictions by mid-May The foreign travel restrictions have been in effect since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March of last year. For non-essential travel, the Canadian border remains closed to Americans. Land border crossings between Mexico and the United States are also restricted to essential travels only. Non-US nationals are officially prohibited from flying internationally in the United Kingdom, some European countries, China, Iran, Brazil, and South Africa. On Thursday, sources told CNBC that the Biden administration is hoping to relax travel restrictions by mid-May. The timing matches Biden's goal of making vaccines available to all adults in the US by the end of May. According to one of the sources, a senior administration official, there will be a sea shift in mid-May as vaccinations are more readily available to all. About 12% of the population of the US has been vaccinated. To date, the United States has issued 113 million doses. Is President Biden To Blame for Gasoline Price Hikes? By May, Biden has pledged to provide enough vaccines for all adult Americans, as per Daily Mail. There is currently no specific strategy for reopening borders and removing travel restrictions in the mid-May timeframe. On Thursday, the US government declared that non-essential travel between the US, Canada, and Mexico would be prohibited until April 21. The 30-day extension is Biden's second since taking office in January. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the US, Canada, and Mexico have all "determined that non-essential transport poses an additional risk of virus dissemination and distribution." Sources within the Biden administration added that Canada, which has shown no interest in relaxing the restrictions, wishes to keep the borders closed until the bulk of its residents have been vaccinated. Biden Might Propose $1T in Taxes: Middle-Class Needs Relief; Wealthy Ones Need to Pay More US extends travel restrictions at Canada, Mexico The US government announced Thursday that its land borders with Canada and Mexico would remain close to non-essential travel until April 21, Reuters via Yahoo reported. The 30-day extension is President Joe Biden's second, and it comes when US lawmakers in northern border states have called for the almost year-old limits to be lifted to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Bill Blair, Canadian Public Safety Minister, announced the expansion of travel restrictions on Twitter. Canada has shown no interest in relaxing the limitations and last month introduced additional COVID-19 testing standards on certain Canadians returning via land crossings. Officials from the US had previously demanded several improvements, especially for people residing along the Canadian border. According to the reports, Biden's administration is updating the existing ban on travel from the UK, Europe, and Brazil every week due to fears over new COVID-19 variants spreading across the world. The bulk of the US travel restrictions have been in effect since March 11 last year, when then-President Trump enacted them. He barred nearly all foreign nationals from entering the US if they had spent the previous 14 days in those European countries, China, or Iran. On May 25, 2020, Trump expanded those steps to cover Brazil. The ban has never extended to residents of the United States. The US government started asking almost all foreign air travelers to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test within three days of departure on January 26. The Biden administration has spent weeks debating whether or not to implement COVID-19 testing requirements for land border crossings, but no new regulations have been released. In January, Biden issued an executive order urging US officials to "immediately begin diplomatic outreach to the governments of Canada and Mexico on public health procedures for land ports of entry." House Passes American Dream and Promise Act: Citizenship to More than 2M 'Dreamers' @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Disco Amigos, a Mardi Gras season marching group known for its chrome costumes, campy choreography and undimmed devotion to 1970s dance music, has been involved in a power struggle dating from the fall of 2019, when two leaders of the organization attempted a power grab. Jerry Lenaz and Francois Camenzuli planned to begin charging members intellectual property fees for the use of the groups name and logo. They also planned to establish Disco Amigos franchises in cities across the United States, raking in more licensing fees. But on Tuesday in U.S. District Court, a judge brought those plans to a sudden stop, like a turntable needle ripping across an LP. Judge Ivan Lemelle made it clear that the title Disco Amigos and the logo - a disco ball with bulls horns - belong to the 9-year-old organization, not Lenaz and Camenzuli. The judge forbade the two men to use the club brand or symbols in the future and decreed that the organization had the right to kick them off the executive committee of its board of directors. Furthermore, the judge handed Lenaz and Camenzuli a bill for about $110,000 to cover damages, expenses and attorneys fees. Lenaz, Camenzuli and John Tiblier were the founders of the Disco Amigos Social Aid and Pleasure Club. The idea for a tongue-in-cheek, retro dance troupe with a vague Latin vibe came about on a long road trip to New York. The Disco Amigos Social Aid and Pleasure Club was founded as a nonprofit organization in 2012 and debuted that year in the Krewe of Muses parade. In addition to being founding members, Lenaz and Camenzuli had an economic relationship with the group. Their business, ETDO Productions LLC, provided the Disco Amigos signature panel van that carried the troupe's sound system and disco ball during parades, at a charge of $1,000 per month. Disco Amigos board member Alfredo Cruz said that at a board meeting in the summer of 2019, Lenaz and Camenzuli announced their plans to impose further fees. At the time, Amigos parading members paid $250 in annual dues to the organization. In addition, Lenaz and Camenzuli planned to begin charging their fellow Amigos between $50 and $100 per member annually for use of the name and logo theyd invented, plus a base fee of as much as $3,000. In a 2019 interview, Lenaz said that, in addition to the right to use the name and logo, the licensing agreement would have covered "Disco Amigos content, dance videos, administrative support and other membership benefits." With a membership of as many as 65 people, the yearly fees could have amounted to $9,500 in New Orleans alone. But in 2019, Lenaz said he envisioned Disco Amigos chapters in Houston, Boston, Albany, Denver, San Francisco, Wisconsin, Amsterdam, Australia and South Africa as well. Lenaz and Camenzulis vision of a worldwide Disco Amigos network may have been inspired by the emergence of an offshoot of the Disco Amigos in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2016. Visiting members of the Birmingham Disco Amigos joined the New Orleans group in the Krewe of Nyx parade during Carnival 2018 and 2019. +35 Love those Krewe of Red Beans house float decorations? Theyre going up for sale at the CAC The Krewe of Red Beans marching club produced some of the most popular Mardi Gras house floats in the whole Carnival 2021 home decorating craz When Lenaz and Camenzuli announced their plans to the Disco Amigos board of directors, some members balked at the suggestion that they pay for the use of a name and logo that the nonprofit organization had been using free of charge for seven years. After all, it wasnt until August 2019 that Lenaz and Camenzuli had applied for federal trademarks to ensure their ownership of the name and logo. This is where lawyers began running their meters. In September, Lenaz and Camenzuli sued the dance troupe theyd founded in Civil District Court, asking a judge to weigh in on the conflict among the members of the board, and to possibly dissolve the club if need be. In October, they sued their rival Disco Amigos board members individually in U.S. District Court, asking a federal judge to declare that they alone own the trademarks and that the club must give up the Disco Amigos moniker and horned mirror ball. But until those lawsuits were settled, the quarreling Amigos found themselves in limbo. The feud went public in October 2019, when two factions of the organization performed in the Krewe of BOO! Halloween parade. Lenaz, Camenzuli, and their supporters costumed as pirates. Most of the membership appeared elsewhere in the parade lineup as members of "The Addams Family." When Carnival 2020 rolled around, Lenaz and Camenzulis contingent of Amigos paraded with the Krewe of Tucks, while the rest of the troupe performed in the Cleopatra and King Arthur parades. Now that a judge has quashed Lenaz and Camenzulis lawsuits, Cruz said the Amigos need to get back on track. The intellectual property controversy and the coronavirus have kept the club mostly on the sidelines for a year, but 2022 is the 10th anniversary and by then it would like to be doing what it does best, dancing in the streets. Leveling licensing fees on members was contrary to the spirit of the nonprofit Disco Amigos organization, Cruz said, and preventing Lenaz and Camenzuli from doing so, was a matter of "defending the street culture" of New Orleans. Lenaz and Camenzuli were naturally disappointed at the outcome of the costly case. From their perspective, the focus of the conflict was the right of artists and inventors to own their concepts. "It is a sad day for individual creatives when their vision and hard work, created to share and make the world a happier place, is taken from them," they wrote, via their lawyer. "While we wish the current leadership of the Disco Amigos Social Aid and Pleasure Club the best with their future endeavors, our creative spirit will not be daunted and we will continue to support and fight for the ownership rights of all creative individuals." +20 A Mardi Gras Indian exhibit to be featured at Louisiana State Museum; see dates, ticket prices The shouting and the rattling of tambourines may be absent in 2021, but the spirit of New Orleans' Mardi Gras Indians persists. Spirit is the Psaki confirmed Thursday that there are discussions to send 2.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico and 1.5 million to Canada. "We are assessing how we can lend doses," the press secretary said. "That is our aim. It's not fully finalized yet." "These are two separate issues, as we look for a more humane migratory system and enhanced cooperation against COVID-19, for the benefit of our two countries and the region," said a statement from Roberto Velasco, director general for the North America region at Mexico's foreign ministry. "Preventing the spread of a global pandemic is part of one of our diplomatic objectives. Another one of our diplomatic objectives is working to address the challenges at the border. So, it shouldn't be a surprise that those conversations are both ongoing and happening," White House press secretary Jen Psaki replied when asked about a link between lending vaccine supplies and commitments from Mexico to tighten the flow of migrants heading north. U.S. and Mexican officials deny Washington is attaching any strings to a likely shipment of millions of coronavirus vaccine doses to America's southern neighbor at a time of heightened migration passing through Mexico en route to the United States. In remarks Thursday afternoon, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that the 100 millionth shot of a coronavirus vaccine of his presidency will be administered Friday. The president had previously set a goal of 100 million shots in 100 days. Friday marks the 58th day of his administration. "Scientists have made clear that things may get worse as new variants of this virus spread," Biden warned. "Getting vaccinated is the best thing we can do to fight back against these variants. Millions of people are vaccinated, we need millions more to be vaccinated." Biden, in his remarks from the White House East Room, made no mention of sending doses to other countries. Mexican officials say an agreement among the United States, Canada and Mexico is to be announced Friday. Tens of millions of doses of the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine are in U.S. manufacturing sites. That company's vaccine has been authorized in numerous countries, but not yet in the United States. The AstraZeneca vaccine has received some negative publicity and there is speculation some Americans will hesitate to take that vaccine when it receives expected approval in the United States. Several countries in Europe this week suspended use of the AstraZeneca doses after reports that a few people who received it later developed blot clots and severe bleeding. Europe's drug regulator Thursday declared the AstraZeneca vaccine safe, adding that a review of the 17 million people who received it found they were actually less likely to develop dangerous clots than others who hadn't received the vaccine. "It makes sense for the United States to loan its surplus of millions of doses to neighbors where it can be put to good use right away," said Joshua Busby, assistant professor of public affairs at the University of Texas-Austin. The pending deals with Canada and Mexico, Busby told VOA, do not go far enough because "more countries in the Americas and beyond will need vaccines. But I'm confident that the Biden team is aware of this." Busby, author of the book "Moral Movements and Foreign Policy," said he expects in the coming months the Biden administration will make a major effort to increase global vaccine access "because the longer the epidemic persists globally, the greater the risk of variants that could emerge for which the current vaccines are ineffective." Asked on Thursday about requests from other countries to make U.S. coronavirus vaccine stock available to them, Psaki replied -- "Certainly we'll have those conversations, and we are open to receiving those requests and obviously making considerations." "Various countries including China have been engaged in so called vaccine diplomacy," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Japanese reporters on Wednesday. "We shouldn't tie the distribution or access to vaccines to politics or to geopolitics." Concerns have been raised that the United States and the rest of the West are losing a public relations battle with China and Russia which, at minimum, are using such vaccine distribution to improve their influence and image in developing countries. "Even as nations understandably prioritize their own citizens for vaccines, including their own most vulnerable, we cannot forget that those with the means should also help other countries in need," said Curtis Chin, former U.S. ambassador to the Asian Development Bank. Vaccine diplomacy competition between nations to help other countries can be a good thing, but "where it falls apart is when that competition overrides necessary cooperation and coordination," Chin told VOA. Chin termed it disappointing that "some in China's government and state-controlled media might seek to tear down the vaccine development efforts of other nation's companies and institution as a response to a call for greater transparency and honesty in China when it comes to COVID-19." Nearly all countries are participating in the COVAX initiative to deliver coronavirus vaccines to poor countries. The administration of then-President Donald Trump last year declined to join the project because of its association with the World Health Organization, which had lost the his support. Since his inauguration in January, Biden has said the United States would join COVAX and play a more active role globally to fight COVID-19. New Delhi, March 19 : Three persons, including two children, were injured in a fire that broke out in the Bengali Basti Rangpuri 'jhuggis' (shanties) in South West Delhi's Vasant Kunj on Friday. "Fire was reported at 2.45 a.m. on Friday. Source was a garbage heap nearby jhuggis, a total of 14 jhuggis got burnt, 9 fire tenders came to the spot, fire was brought under control later," said Ingit Pratap Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police South West Delhi. A person identified as Mukesh aged 35 years was injured while trying to save two children of ages 4 and 2 years. The children also suffered minor injuries, police said. NFL teams can jump through hoops and perform mathematical exercises to avoid salary cap issues in most seasons. The Chicago Bears are caught in a perfect storm, however, stuck at the intersection of years of kicking cap commitments down the road and a salary-cap rollback created by lost revenue in the COVID-19 pandemic. That led the team to release cornerback Kyle Fuller on Thursday night, a move that clears $11 million in cap space and at the same time creates a huge void in the secondary. Forget about who the team is going to get to play nickel cornerback right now and focus on who the Bears will line up on the opposite side of Jaylon Johnson in Week 1. Rival executives were buzzing Wednesday morning at the possibility the Bears would cut Fuller, and it happened Thursday evening with the team strapped for cap space and needing to add the contracts of quarterback Andy Dalton and right tackle Germain Ifedi, among others. It could be the first of multiple moves for the team. The Bears have given defensive lineman Akiem Hicks permission to seek a trade, sources say. Whether or not that remains the case is unknown. Hicks is entering the final year of his contract and is due to earn $10.5 million this season. A source said Hicks wants a substantial raise in a new contract if hes traded, which seems unlikely. Fuller was entering the final year of the four-year deal he signed in 2018 when the Green Bay Packers inked him to an offer sheet as he was on the transition tag. The Bears renegotiated the terms of Fullers contract before the 2019 season finale to create cap space in 2020, driving his cap hit for this season to $20 million. He was set to earn $14 million this season and that likely made it difficult to trade him. Now, the 29-year-old hits the market with a chance to get a lucrative pay day from another team. Now, well see if the Bears can find the room to retain Hicks. 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. Maharashtra: Bombay HC asks BMC to find a remedy for the shifting of fish vendors in Parel March 19,2021 | Source: Mumbai Live Hearing a petition filed by the Dr Shirodkar Vyapari Welfare Association, a Bombay High Court bench comprising of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish Kulkarni has asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to find a suitable remedy for the temporary shifting of fish vendors at the citys Parel Municipal Market. The association represents 114 fish vendors in the region. The vendors approached the court to initiate a stay on the destruction of the ground floor of the region where fish has been sold for 50-60 years. The petition went on to explain that there were originally two structures in the region, a front building and another complex with ground plus four storeys which is where the vendors sold fish. However, a redevelopment project was pitched for the front building in 2016. Although 21 storeys were proposed, only five were constructed. The BMC then decided to shift the vendors into the lower ground (basement) of the under-construction building. Advocate for the association, Vishwajeet Kapse said that the basement is 15 steps down adding that it doesnt have proper ventilation making it difficult to conduct business. Kapse added that since the basement is low-lying, its also prone to flooding during monsoon season. The fish vendors are currently on the ground floor which is open on all sides. There is a place for loading and unloading of fish, Kapse added. The advocate representing the BMC said that the consent was given by the Secretary to shift the location. Taking these matters into cognizance, the bench asked the BMC advocate to let them know if the first floor is vacant and if the fish vendors can be shifted there. Basement fish market is not feasible, the Chief Justice noted. The next hearing on the matter has been scheduled for Tuesday. An off-the-cuff killer remark prompted Putin to dare a live debate versus Biden. The comments were made in an interview that Biden triggered the Russian to react to it. Since the election of 2016, the Democrats have been pointing to Russia as a meddler, but Russia has been accused of helping Trump get elected. Live debate versus Biden It did not go well for Biden after he called Putin a 'killer' in a biased interview. Russian leader Vladimir Putin said he wants Biden in a one-on-one, no-hold-barred and live debate. This comes as the Democrat president has been alleged to be in the basement. His recent avoidance of reporters and random questions have been criticized, reported Epoch Times. According to sources, Putin said on Russian state TV that he wants to set the record straight. He wants Biden to talk further, but it will be broadcasted live for everyone to see. A live broadcast that will be an open and direct discussion without delays. He added it would be interesting for Russians and Americans how their presidents stack up. Putin has kept quiet about the American allegation, has never reacted till now. One report by the Guardians mentions that Putin said that Americans should respect Trump. On ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, Biden remarked that Putin is a killer. The comment reached the Kremlin, which aired counter comments against the Democrat's words. Russia did not hesitate to air a message last Wednesday to the US president. The Russian embassy said that Moscow would be pulling out its US ambassador. The live debate versus Biden is connected to the pullout. CIA Pressures Analysts to Suppress Intel on Chinese Interference in 2020 US Election The spokesman did not mention the reason for the recall or disclose it. Biden'sBiden's remark is one of many missteps of his administration in less than one hundred days. Putin's call for the Democrat to step up on his uncalled-for comments is not bravado. He called the dare on Friday, no sooner or later. The last debate of Biden against Trump last election is an indication of what can happen. The entire world knows that Putin never kids around, and the live debate will be serious. NEW: Vladimir Putin responds to President Biden's accusation that he is a "killer" "I wish you health. I say that without any irony or joke..." I remember in my childhood, when we argued in the courtyard with each other we used to say: it takes one to know one." pic.twitter.com/TQIgOxO9iR Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 18, 2021 The Russian president talked to reporters about the live one-on-one debate. He told them that he wanted to set the record straight in the online debate. He added that he needs to relax on a Taiga weekend getaway. But he said that Biden could name the time; he'll be there. On Biden's 'killer' remark, Putin said that he recalled a childhood incident. When anyone argued, they would say, ''it takes one to know one. He added to his remark that he wished health without irony or jokes. Psaki to the rescue The White House press secretary answered the Russian leaders' challenge by saying the president will not debate. His excuse is going on a Georgia trip on Friday. She added that he wouldn't regret the dare to debate over his ''KILLER'' comment. Psaki added that Biden is mulling over Putin's dare but will reconsider. Adding that a conversation between the two has occurred, telling reporters. One Friday, reconfirmed a visit to Georgia and is too busy to disprove Putin. Clearly, Putin wants a live debate versus Biden after a report accusing Russian of interference. Putin Responds to Biden'sBiden's ''Killer'' Comments, Remarks Reflect US Past Ron Johnson Says Joe Biden Should Quit Race Due to Involvement in Ukraine Report John Durham's Russia Probe Will Take Longer, According to AG Barr @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A university lecturer has won a 15,000 payout after being unfairly sacked from his role for 'aggressive' behaviour - by sending too many question marks in text messages. Dr Binoy Sobnack, a physics lecturer at the University of Loughborough, created an 'intimidating tone' with his use of 'multiple punctuation marks', a tribunal heard. He was removed from his role as warden of a hall of residence following complaints by fellow staff. An employment tribunal has now found Dr Sobnack, who is still employed as a lecturer at the university, was unfairly dismissed from his hall of residence role. However a judge did rule that excessive use of punctuation is 'unnecessarily aggressive' and that by failing to modify the tone of his texts, Dr Sobnack was guilty of 'culpable and blameworthy' conduct. Dr Binoy Sobnack, a physics lecturer at the University of Loughborough, created an 'intimidating tone' with his use of 'multiple punctuation marks', a tribunal heard The hearing in Leicester was told that Dr Sobnack - who has a PhD from Cambridge - started at Loughborough as a lecturer in Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics in 1999. In 2002 he was appointed Warden of Harry French Hall of Residence, which he ran with the help of sub-wardens, who were usually PhD students at the university. In July 2018 one of them made a complaint against Dr Sobnack, accusing him of saying that his imminent departure from the role would be 'the best thing to happen to the Hall'. Examples of the texts multiple-question mark texts shared at the tribunal On April 4, 2019, Dr Sobnack sent a text to a sub-warden saying: 'Why don't you listen?????? Stick to what has been decided!' On May 8. 2019 there had been a series of text messages, including one from Dr Sobnack, which said: 'Do you have to stay for dinner????'. During the same conversation, he said: 'And you got the invitation today??'. Advertisement In April the following year another sub-warden accused him of sending her 'aggressive' messages. These included a text saying: 'Why don't you listen?????? Stick to what has been decided!' and another - when she informed him she had to attend a meeting - which read 'Do you have to stay for dinner????'. The sub-warden complained the messages were humiliating and that Dr Sobnack created an 'inappropriate' tone by using so many question marks. The tribunal heard that a university investigation into the complaint found the 'tone and manner' of some of the messages were 'unhelpfully emotive'. No formal disciplinary action was taken against the lecturer. However he was warned by Dr Manuel Alonso, the university's Director of Student Services, to adopt a different tone in future. Judge Richard Adkinson wrote: 'The use of multiple exclamation or question marks could well change or influence how a recipient might perceive a text message, and might make an otherwise neutral text appear aggressive, intimidating or suggesting disbelief. 'In cross-examination, (Dr Dobnack) accepted that his tone was not appropriate on at least on occasion. 'I believe that it must also be an inevitable conclusion that, as warden, he knew that he had to be careful about how he communicated. 'He had for years managed sub-wardens who themselves may well be new to the University and embarking upon a very different and potentially stressful new academic stage. 'As a warden managing several sub-wardens, he would have to have known, and over the years have learnt, of the importance of the tone of his communications when working with subordinates and managing them. An employment tribunal has now found Dr Sobnack, who is still employed as a lecturer at the university (pictured), was unfairly dismissed from his secondary role 'Dr Sobnack did not suggest it was an accident he used multiple question marks in the texts. It must have been deliberate. 'He must have wanted to convey a particular sub-text because they have no other linguistic function. 'He must have understood when typing out text messages, the subtext that would be conveyed by the use of multiple punctuation marks and of the tone that they would convey.' In October 2019 the university received another 'strikingly similar' complaint from a sub-warden at the hall about Dr Sobnack, the third in 18 months. The sub-warden claimed his behaviour and communication style was 'aggressive and confrontational' and alleged he was trying to control her whereabouts even when she was not on duty. She cited one text in relation to concerns for the welfare of an unnamed student, which read: 'You tried to see [X] only once yes yet again? It is a pastoral matter?' The tribunal was told that given the repeated complaints, Dr Alonso decided Dr Sobnack was guilty of unprofessional conduct and decided to sack him as warden. He was removed from his role in March 2020 and then sued the university - for whom he still teaches - for unfair dismissal. Judge Adkinson concluded that the university's decision to sack him was wrong because many of the allegations made against him were unproven and in the latest instance had not even been investigated. However, in finding in his favour, the judge ruled that Dr Sobnack had contributed to his dismissal. In relation to the text regarding the student, Judge Adkinson said it was 'brusque, blunt and unnecessarily aggressive in tone'. 'In context, it cannot sensibly be read as a genuine question,' he said. 'It makes no effort to engage. It has the same tenor of the messages that on each occasion resulted in Dr Alonso giving informal advice to Mr Sobnack. 'He had been advised to watch his tone in his text communications. He had ignored it. 'That is culpable and blameworthy conduct that contributed to everything that happened.' Judge Adkinson reduced Dr Sobnack's compensation by 25 per cent to 14,429.22. NPP Ashanti Regional Secretary, Sam Pyne says Ghanaians should pardon the publishers of the anti-Ewe textbooks and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), the regulator. Publishers, Badu Nkansah Limited and Golden Publications have received their share of slaps from Ghanaians after publishing textbooks that offend Ewes and Ghana's hero Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. The textbooks titled History of Ghana and Golden English passed a first approval rating by NaCCA despite its derogatory contents. Although NaCCA hasn't given permission for the books to go for sale, they however found their way into the market with some schools reportedly grabbing copies of the textbooks. The general public has taken umbrage at the publishing and sale of the textbooks and called for their withdrawal from the market. Following the public outcry and vigilance, NaCCA has ordered all copies to be withdrawn from the market. Failure to do so, NaCCA says, publishers of such books would be made to face the full rigours of the law. Additionally, the publishers have been asked to issue an unequivocal apology through the electronic, print and social media, the regulator added. The publisher, Badu Nkansah Ltd has apologized and assured the public they have recalled the books. Spokesperson for the publisher, Mark Osei indicated that the books will be set ablaze. "Its unfortunate, all we will say is sorry but I can assure you that we will retrieve all and burn them in the public," he said in an interview on Neat FM's morning show "Ghana Montie". Responding to the issues during a panel discussion on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Sam Pyne noted that although what has happened is unfortunate, the Publishers deserve forgiveness. He called on the citizenry to accept the apology of the Publishers. "They have accepted their fault. Let us forgive them," he said. He, however, advised NaCCA and publishers to follow the ethics of writing ensuring the contents of their books are appropriate for public consumption. 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 LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- International law firm McDermott Will & Emery is pleased to announce the arrival of litigation partners Julian Andre (Los Angeles) and Nathan Bull (New York). Their collective experience strengthens the Firm's already sought-after capabilities in commercial, white-collar and securities litigation. "We are pleased to add Nathan and welcome back Julian to our rapidly diversifying and growing litigation practice. They each bring the experience, skillset and legal prowess required to help clients overcome their most pressing legal challenges," David Rosenbloom, global head of McDermott's Litigation Practice Group, said. "Julian and Nathan have the kind of skills and judgment that are instrumental in helping clients resolve disputes quickly and effectively, and ultimately to partner with clients to achieve the business objectives that propel their success." Julian began his legal career at McDermott, first as an associate and later as a partner in the Litigation group. He returns to the Firm after spending six years at the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, where he handled high-profile white-collar criminal and fraud cases. "I rejoined McDermott to deliver the highest level of service to clients facing criminal or civil government enforcement actions and investigations," Julian said. "I will also have the pleasure of working alongside an incredible roster of trial lawyers, many whom I have known since being a summer associate 15 years ago. Returning to private practice at McDermott feels like coming home." Julian will advise clients in government prosecutions, enforcement actions and investigations, and civil litigation in state, federal and appellate courts. He is an experienced trial lawyer and appellate advocate. While at the US Attorney's Office, Julian investigated and prosecuted complex financial crimes including securities fraud, healthcare fraud, bank fraud, education fraud, Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act fraud, bankruptcy fraud, import/export crimes, tax evasion and money laundering. Julian also served as the office's securities fraud coordinator and led its Education Fraud Task Force. During his prior time at McDermott, he represented clients in intellectual property and patent cases, False Claims Act investigations, class actions and securities litigation matters. "I am thrilled to join McDermott," Nathan said. "It is a privilege to be part of a team of outstanding litigators helping to resolve the increasingly sophisticated issues faced by our clients, including many important organizations fueling today's economy." Nathan's practice focuses on complex securities and commercial litigation in state and federal courts throughout the United States, with an emphasis on corporate control contests, shareholder class actions and derivative suits, as well as matters involving complex financial instruments. Nathan regularly advises clients on high-profile matters regarding mergers and acquisitions, securities laws, corporate governance, activism and complex contractual disputes. He also has extensive experience in a variety of regulatory and enforcement matters before various federal and state entities and regulatory bodies, including with respect to insider trading and market manipulation investigations. Nathan joins McDermott after more than 16 years at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, where he was a partner in its Global Litigation Group. About McDermott McDermott Will & Emery partners with leaders around the world to fuel missions, knock down barriers and shape markets. Our team works seamlessly across practices and industries to deliver highly effectiveand often unexpectedsolutions that propel success. More than 1,200 lawyers strong, we bring our personal passion and legal prowess to bear in every matter for our clients and the people they serve. SOURCE McDermott Will & Emery Related Links http://www.mwe.com 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. At least 10 people were detained in Istanbul. Exponents of the Peoples' Democratic Party are targeted. Process at Constitutional Court over ban on Kurdish education. Its leaders denounce a "political coup". Criticism from the United States and Germany over violation of human rights. Istanbul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Turkish police have arrested a dozen people, including three prominent officials of the Peoples' Democratic Party (Kurdish HDP), government media in Ankara reported this morning. The raid took place simultaneously with the opening of a process wanted by the authorities to close down the opposition HDP party. On 17 March, a Turkish public prosecutor opened an investigation file at the Constitutional Court against the Peoples' Democratic Party. The complaint is the culmination of a procedure that has been underway for years with the aim of cancelling the third most important party in the parliamentary sphere. HDP leaders denounced what they termed a "political coup". The Human Rights Association (Ihd) have also reported the arrest of its president Ozturk Turkdogan. He was taken this morning by the police, who broke into his home. The activist's lawyers are attempting to discover the charges that led to the police arrest. At the same time, security teams carried out a series of operations in three different districts of Istanbul with the arrest of some high-ranking HDP officials. In total there were at least 15 arrest warrants. Yesterday, meanwhile, Turkey rejected international criticism (in particular from the United States and Germany) against the attempt to ban the Kurdish opposition party, accused by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of (alleged) links with "terrorism". Washington has stated that a possible closure of the party would be a further and very severe blow to democracy in Turkey. The Ankara Foreign Ministry spoke of unacceptable "interference" in internal matters and "pressure on the judiciary". Annie Grayer, a CNN congressional correspondent, on Friday used Twitter to say that Davis told me he believed the suggestion there is a relation between rhetoric and hate crimes against Asian Americans is all political correctness. Davis instead said phrases like Kung flu or China virus are no different than saying UK variant. In this image taken from video, security officers stand guard as a police van, left, arrives at a court building in Dandong in northeastern China's Liaoning Province, Friday, March 19, 2021. China was expected to open the first trial Friday for Michael Spavor, one of two Canadians who have been held for more than two years in apparent retaliation for Canada's arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive. (AP Photo) Motorola recently launched Moto G10 Power and Moto G30 handsets in India. The company is now looking to expand its G-series with more handsets. Already, we have come across leaks around G50 and G100. Now, Moto G20 is doing the rounds ahead of an official launch. Motorolas upcoming Moto G20 has appeared on the Geekbench benchmarking site. It has been spotted on the US FCC certification website. A Spanish retailer has also featured the phone along with price details, reports Gizmochina. The retailer has listed a 4GB+64GB version for Eur 148 ( 12,763 approximately). The phone on the listing as Breeze Blue colour. Another FCC listing reveals the phone has a 5,000mAh battery. It also comes with 10W charging. The listing further reveals that it will come with 4G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GNSS, and NFC. As said earlier, Motorola is working on new phones under its G-series. The company has already confirmed an event on March 25. The company is likely to unveil the long-rumoured G100, which is also said to be a rebranded version of the G100. Moto G100 is rumoured to come with a 6.67-inch full HD+ display with an LCD panel, a 90Hz refresh rate and a 21:9 aspect ratio. It will have 560 nits of peak brightness and HDR10 certification. The phone is said to run on Qualcomms Snapdragon 870 processor. It will have up to 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of built-in storage. The base model will come with 128GB of built-in storage. It will pack a 5,000mAh battery with a 20W fast charger. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Islamabad, March 19 : Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has received the first shot of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19, just days after President Arif Alvi was administered the jab. Khan, 68, received the jab here on Thursday, Special Assistant to the Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Faisal Sultan confirmed. He was administered the dose during the ongoing second phase of the vaccination process in the country in which people over 60 years of age are being inoculated, Xinhua news agency reported. On the occasion, Khan stressed that people across the country should follow the standard operating procedures to fight against the third wave of the pandemic in the country, according to a statement from the Prime Minister Office. On Monday, President Alvi and his wife Samina received their Covid-19 jabs with the Sinopharm vaccine in Islamabad. Pakistan officially launched its National Covid Immunization Program across the country in early February shortly after receiving the Chinese government-donated Sinopharm vaccines, with the frontline healthcare workers given the priority for inoculation. On Wednesday, the second batch of the vaccines arrived in the country. Amid an ongoing third wave of the pandemic, Pakistan has so far registered 615,810 coronavirus cases and 13,717 deaths. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) 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. Hundreds of people demonstrated Wednesday before the Mauritanian presidency as they demanded justice for seven people recently arrested for embezzlement of $1 million from the coffers of the countrys central bank (BMC). The protestors, mainly families of the detainees, called their detention illegal and demanded fair trials and the respect of assumption of innocence. Authorities in July last year rounded up seven people including Tebiba Aly NDiaye, an employee of the BMC, all of them accused for theft of sizeable amounts. President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed Ould Ghazouani since assuming power in August 2019, has launched a campaign against corruption and public fund embezzlement. His predecessor and former boss, Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz is currently under investigation for corruption and financial offenses that took place during his tenure 2009-2019. 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. Photo: (Photo : Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels) In Loudoun County, Virginia, a coalition of current and former teachers and others assembled a long list of parents accused of disagreeing with school system actions, including the teaching of divisive racial theories, with the explicit goal of "infiltrating," using "hackers" to silence parents' correspondence, and "exposing these people publicly." The parents and teachers group has been accused of political racketeering. Members of the "Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County" Facebook party, which has 624 parents and teachers, were accused of political racketeering members, listed parents, and planned fundraising and other offline activities, while some elite members used aliases. According to David Gordon, director of the Virginia Project, a Republican PAC, the party also includes school board members, elected officials, and other "prominent members of the left-wing elite in Loudoun County." Loudoun's school system has saturated its curricula and practices with racial rhetoric in recent years, investing almost $500,000 on one racial consulting firm alone. It needed all employees to complete "Equity in the Core" training, which instilled in them a sense of injustice and urgency. By dwelling on stereotypes, lauding supposed victimhood, and, on occasion, promoting discrimination, critics argue that critical race theory enhances racism. READ: School Reopening: More and More Parents Opting for Private Schools According to Ramirez, a former instructor, critical race theory systems are more about compulsory conformity than "diversity and equality." Thus, the city has descended into acrimony, a criminal investigation has been launched, and a school board member, Beth Barts, has been relieved of her duties, as school-backed attempts to reform the thinking of adults seem to have succeeded. Gordon presented a series of screenshots purportedly taken from the parents and teachers group accused of political racketeering. He claims to show signs of recruiting cybercriminals to go after groups instead of vital race theory teaching and taxpayer funding. He had sent screenshots of several conversations to authorities and intended to file civil charges against many group members. A community member put out a "cry for volunteers" to fight anti-critical race theory proponents and blogs in one of their articles. She needed volunteers to assist her in "gathering information" on opponents of the controversial race-based education platform, "infiltrating" their organizations, and finding "hackers who can either shut down or redirect their websites." He said he got concerned after the organization's members started criticizing his political action committee (PAC) over a presentation that refutes critical race theory and the substantial costs those services incur at the taxpayers' expense. Others show members of the group listing the names, addresses, and places of employment of community members with whom they disagree. Gordon said in an interview, "it's political racketeering. Critical race theory is a political racket - what they do is they intimidate opponents." ALSO READ: Parents Warned to Be "Vigilant" as Schools Begin to Reopen Key Points of Racketeering Rackets are criminal enterprises that are run by organized gangs. A well-organized organization may also redirect funds from a legitimate company to finance illegal activities. Prostitution, sex trafficking, cocaine trafficking, illicit arms trade, and counterfeiting were among the most prevalent racketeering practices. Below are some key points. Racketeering is the unlawful acquisition of a business, the operation of a business with illegally obtained money, or a business's use to commit illegal actions. It may take in various forms. To combat racketeering, the United States government passed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations or RICO Act in October 1970. Racketeering is a crime that can be charged at both the state and federal levels. Bribery, gambling charges, money laundering, obstructing justice or criminal prosecution, murder for hire, and child sexual abuse are also federal racketeering offenses. Murder, abduction, gambling, arson, theft, bribery, extortion, trafficking with the obscene matter, and drug crimes are all called racketeering at the state level. READ MORE: Frustrated Parents Start to Protest Against School Reopening Pace The Redding police departments investigation of what they say is vandalism has struck up local discussion about residual effects of the 2020 presidential election. Reddings first selectwoman is condemning what she says is an act of vandalism after a video surfaced last week appearing to show a person lighting fire to a Trump flag displayed on private property. In the video, shared on the Redding Police Department Facebook page, a person who appears to be holding a long stick or pole that is on fire and proceeds to light the flag on fire. Small sparks and flames began falling, into an area containing brush. Residents trying to understand the incident stirred up conversations online after a person who said their family was a victim of the crime posted the footage to a private, community Facebook group. Redding First Selectwoman Julia Pemberton said, clearly its an act of vandalism and no act of vandalism is acceptable. I think it was obviously an election season that was very controversial, divisive and violent, quite frankly, culminating in the insurrection at the capitol and so clearly passions are still running high, she said, referring to the 2020 presidential election.. That said, lighting a flag on fire is not acceptable, Pemberton added. Pemberton also made a point to note that setting the flag on fire presented a danger to homes and volunteer fire personnel. At this time of year, its fire season in Connecticut... Were at high risk for brush fires now, she said. A resident named Joanna Horodyska, 51, learned about the flag burning from the Facebook group and said its very sad that American people are so divided right now. Horodyska, originally from Poland, migrated to the United States in 2004 and moved to Redding in 2017. While living in Redding, Horodyska said she cant recall anything like this happening before and that it surprised her because she thinks Redding is a beautiful place, wonderful people [and] a very nice community. John Brewster, another resident who engaged in the Facebook groups post said its a guys right to fly it [a flag], but it looks like he [the owner] was looking for a reaction. [Theres a] new president in office. Its just time for people to move on, he said. People are harboring a lot of resentment. DOD developing 5G pilot for telerobotic surgery NOTE: This story first appeared on GCN.com. The Defense Department is preparing for 5G-based telemedicine experiments with technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and robotic surgery. DOD is expected to issue requests for prototype proposals from Joint Base San Antonio (JSBA) in Texas after releasing a statement of work for a 5G telemedicine and medical training project. The SOW sought industry input on development related to 5G-enabled AR/virtual reality-guided medical training, advanced telehealth information access, advanced robotic surgery and telementoring via AR for medical procedures. The 5G network is critical to telemedicine because it shifts from the voice-centric 4G network to application-to-application communication without human intervention, National Spectrum Consortium (NSC) Vice Chairman Randy Clark said. Considering military hospitals, Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities and the sheer number of people DOD is responsible for taking care of at peacetime and at war, it becomes a very important strategic decision to modernize, leveraging the benefits of 5G for health care, Clark said. With 5G, telemedicine stands to become more efficient as providers diagnose and care for people while they are at home. Whats more, 5G-supported business process improvement and robotics mean that cardiovascular surgeons could put their expertise to use anywhere in the world, even performing AR- and VR-assisted robotic surgery. That spreads knowledge exponentially, especially for an organization with constituents worldwide. The network, through cognition and [artificial intelligence], will be able to make decisions in milliseconds perhaps hundreds of thousands of decisions in milliseconds, Clark said. This is why we have to harness and accelerate the disruptive technologies in the ecosystem around 5G to create those advantages for our economic strength, and our economic strength is ultimately our best national defense. Experiments in the four technical areas DOD specified will include the design and development of full-scale prototypes of 5G telemedicine applications running in real time on a the JSBA 5G core network. For instance, the purpose of AR-guided medical training is to prototype and demonstrate the application of the network to enhance in-garrison or just-in-time medical training. The 5G Advanced Telehealth Information Access experiment will provide mobile enhancements that can handle on-demand, near-real-time and low-latency access to electronic health records. The final two experimentation areas focus on remote telerobotic surgery and the use of real-time 3D imagery and surgical video for tactical or airborne medical care. The experimental areas that the government chose to prioritize pre-dated COVID, Clark said, adding that there will probably be long-term benefits to this experimentation and the reference architectures that are created for COVID and other pandemic-related crises that we could potentially see in the future. In December 2020, DOD awarded 400-member NSC the Spectrum Forward OTA, which has a term of five years and a ceiling of $2.5 billion. Under it, NSC members will perform coordinated research and development projects designed to accelerate streamlining and upgrading of communications infrastructure, improving efficient spectrum utilization, and advancing microelectronics to enable protected and resilient networks, according to a press statement. The first phase of DODs effort is the largest full-scale 5G test for dual-use applications in the world, according to a Jan. 6 announcement. The telemedicine testing is part of the second phase, or Tranche 2. Were really trying to reach out to the entire 5G industry -- from the big companies to the traditional defense industrial base, and to small businesses and startups that are trying to create new and interesting technologies in 5G that can support DOD missions, said Joseph Evans, principal director for 5G in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. Were focused on getting those solicitations out and making sure we get the best players providing technologies to DOD. The Australian hypebeast is a unique consumer. While in the US ~fresh~ kicks are ingrained in the countrys NBA/Hollywood lifestyle, its a little more niche in Australia. That said the clique is growing. Though our hypebeast community is smaller than Americas, they are equally committed to finding rare sneakers. Case in point: a recent post in the Air Jordan (Australia) Facebook group. The group, based in Sydney, Australia, exists to help members buy / sell / trade all kind of AIR JORDAN shoes, and has 20.8k members. Posted on a Sunday night at 9:47pm, the post reads as follows: If theres anyone feeling kind vibes tonight and is willing to make a small profit (not a triple turnover) on their university blue copplease message me! Looking for a 7.5 for $350. Come on, do a good deed.. While some users said, Youre dreaming, and, Youre talking to Robots they have no feelings, another made an even bolder offer in return for the same pair of coveted kicks. Ill give someone a free OF subscription for a pair x. Self-promotion? Joke? Serious offer? Some users appeared to take it seriously, writing: what size are you? and bruh youre in the wrong group. The subscription is like 20% of the shoe price. Whether or not the comment was made in jest, the user wouldnt be the only one going to great lengths to score sneakers. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kick Fleet +/- (@kickfleet) As Bloomberg reports, Sneakerheads have turned Jordans and Yeezys into a bona fide asset class. Though at first glance this appears an exaggerated statement, seeing how fast the Air Jordan (Australia) Facebook group is growing, one is forced to at least think twice. At the time of writing the pages about information read as follows: 53 new posts today 1,232 in the last month 20,848 total members + 287 in the last week RELATED: How To Wear High-Top Sneakers For Every Occasion These statistics attest to the lengths Australian Air Jordan lovers are willing to go to in order to score their grail shoe, and to the aftermarkets growing popularity. This incident comes in a context where Nike sneakerheads have been rumoured to have been held at knifepoint in store after shipments have been dropped, as well as sneaker resellers, The Daily Telegraph reports, scouring shops in organised groups to empty shelves of desirable models. View this post on Instagram A post shared by SNEAKERBOY (@sneakerboy) Thats before we even get into porch pirates tracking DHL deliveries and swiping other peoples purchases from their doorsteps. One Air Jordan (Australia) Facebook group member summed up the current climate well: Its rough out there. Read Next YEREVAN. Even if the Armenian Revolutionary Federation is left on its own it will fight until the end so that PM Nikol Pashinyan is removed as soon as possible. Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a representative of the Armenia Supreme Body of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation-ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party and coordinator of the Homeland Salvation Movementwhich demands the resignation of Pashinyan, stated this during a press briefing Friday on Marshal Baghramyan Avenueacross the parliament building, referring to the fact that snap parliamentary elections will be held in the country on June 20. "We will not enter that agenda. We, regardless of what position which party of the [aforesaid] movement will have, the Dashnaktsutyun will fight to the end for the agenda that it has announced; that is, even if we are left on our own, we will continue our struggle to the full extent that Nikol Pashinyan was removed as soon as possible. We have never been against the snap elections; but we find that he [Pashinyan] should not organize those elections. If, after so much struggle, snap parliamentary elections take place regardless of our will, then the Dashnaktsutyun will discuss the format, the agenda of its participation, or whether or not it will participate [in these elections]," Saghatelyan said. He added that the Homeland Salvation Movement will continue to function. "I see an opportunity that the Homeland Salvation Movement can fully function because we have a shared consensus to remove these authorities [from power]," Ishkhan Saghatelyan explained. Bethenny Frankel looked ready for summer in a new Instagram snap she shared on Thursday. The former Real Housewives of New York star modeled a red floral swimsuit with large cut-out on the chest to reveal her cleavage. In her caption, the 50-year-old gave a tongue-in-cheek reference to former colleague Jessica Kirson's scathing tweet aimed at Bethenny earlier this month which called the Skinnygirl founder a 'total b***h'. 'What a beach...': Bethenny Frankel shared sexy swimsuit snap on Thursday and also made a cheeky reference to one of her critics' scathing tweets earlier this month 'What a beach' the mother-of-one wrote along with a beach emoji and a plug for her new sunglasses brand Bethenny Eyewear. The TV personality finished her look with a gold padlock necklace, a straw fedora and a pair of sunglasses from her line. Jessica spoke out on Twitter on March 7, recalling her unpleasant stint as a warm-up act for the former Real Housewives star, in response to Bethenny's scathing attack on Meghan Markle. 'I was the warm up comic on your failed morning talk show and you were a total b***h to me.' Jessica, who is Zach Braff's step-sister, wrote. 'For months you never said hello and you ordered me around like a dog. One day I walked off set because I had enough of your s***. Have a great day!' the New York-based stand-up comedian added. 'Total b***h': Jessica Kirson - who once worked with Frankel - recalled her unpleasant experience with the former Real Housewives star during her stint as a warm-up act on Frankel's talk show Jessica spoke out on Twitter on March 7. She is a comedian and Zach Braff's step-sister Bethenny's talk show, which was titled Bethenny, ran for 170 episodes, between 2012 and 2014. Jessica's tweet came in response to Bethenny's post about the Duchess of Sussex which poked fun at her privilege and criticized the former actress for not being able to handle 'two years' of being part of the British institution. 'Cry me a river... the plight of being a game show host, fairly unknown actress, to suffering in a palace, w tiaras & 7 figure weddings for TWO WHOLE YEARS to being a household name w @Oprah on speed dial, fetching 7 m for interviews, hundreds of millions in media deals. #MARRY' the reality star wrote on Twitter just hours ahead of Meghan and Harry's explosive sit down with Oprah on March 7. 'Cry me a river': Kirson chimed in after Frankel's post about the Duchess of Sussex, poking fun at her privilege and criticizing the former actress for not being able to handle 'two years' of being a princess The Bravo star later apologized for her remarks after she watched the Oprah interview which aired on CBS on March 7, writing: 'I'm a polarizing, unfiltered(often to a fault)flawed person w a voice.' Bethenny later apologized for her remarks after she watched the Oprah interview. 'I watched M & H sit down. Emotional distress & racism must feel suffocating & powerless. I'm a polarizing, unfiltered(often to a fault)flawed person w a voice. When I heard of the interview,during a pandemic, it felt like a surprising choice. Im sorry if it hurt or offended you. (sic)' During the interview on CBS, the Duchess admitted to having suicidal thoughts after joining the royal family. She also accused an unnamed member of the royal family of asking about her son's skin color prior to his birth. The former Suits actress - who is biracial - claimed the royal family brought up the subject with her husband, Prince Harry, when she was pregnant with their first child, who is now 22 months old, and suggested the baby's heritage was one of the reasons why the tot wasn't given a title. Ocado will open 12 rapid delivery sites allowing customers to receive their groceries in just 30 minutes. The online supermarket has been trialling the service called Ocado Zoom in west London. But it is looking for a dozen sites in the capital making the service available to millions. Fast food: Online supermarket Ocado has been trialling a 30 minute delivery service called Ocado Zoom in west London and is now looking for a dozen sites in the capital The company will then look to roll out the service out to other parts of the country. Ocado posted booming lockdown growth as middle-class families flocked online to shop. Its sales rose 40 per cent to 599million in the 13 weeks to February 28 as the family lockdown basket swelled to 147, up from 110 before Covid. Bosses hailed a dramatic and permanent shift towards online shopping, but shares tumbled 4.9 per cent to 1980p their lowest since July. Investors balked as the 2.5 per cent increase in order numbers to 329,000 per week was below analysts predictions. But Marks & Spencer products made up a quarter of customers baskets, and the number of shoppers battling for Ocado slots rocketed after the tie-up launched in September. Chief executive Tim Steiner said: Over the last 12 months, there has been a dramatic and permanent shift towards online grocery shopping around the world. Were registering more customers every week than we can serve, and that has accelerated since we launched M&S. He also dismissed the threat of losing ground to Amazon calling the online giant a very small competitor that had negligible market share. Ocado hopes its rapid delivery service, which enables customers able to buy between 15 and 250 worth of food, will further boost its prospects. Each site can reach customers who live within three miles, and will generate between 20million and 25million of sales per year. The range is smaller than the Ocado.com website, with the company offering 10,000 products compared with 49,000 on the main site. Passengers, wearing protective face masks, wait at Montparnasse railway station in Paris before a third lockdown imposed during a month-long on Paris and parts of the north after a faltering vaccine rollout and spread of highly contagious coronavirus disease France's medical regulator approved the resumed use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, but said it should be given only to people aged 55 and older. The restriction breaks with the European watchdog's guidance that the shot is safe for all age groups, and comes just weeks after Paris initially said the Anglo-Swedish vaccine should be used only on people under 65. The European Medicines Agency said on Thursday it was convinced the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweighed the risks after reports of rare instances of blood clotting. The recommendation from the National Authority for Health (HAS) reflected signs that the clotting affected younger people mostly, whose risk of dying from COVID-19 was lower than the elderly. "Given the data provided by the EMA, it is the HAS's belief that vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine can resume immediately," the French regulator said in a statement. "However, the EMA has identified a possible increased risk of (thrombosis) in people under 55 years old. The HAS recommends using the AstraZeneca vaccine at this stage only for people aged 55 and over, who represent the majority of priority people." An EMA review covering 20 million people in the UK and the European Economic Area, which links 30 European countries, included seven cases of blood clots in multiple blood vessels and 18 cases of a rare condition that is difficult to treat called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). France was one of more than a dozen European Union states that suspended use of the Anglo-Swedish vaccine this week. The HAS said it would review its opinion soon as new data came in. Guidance would also be given soon to those under 55 who have already received a first dose of AstraZeneca, it added. The new restrictions add yet another complication to France's troubled vaccination rollout, which has been beset by onerous red tape, supply difficulties and a high level of public mistrust. France has so far delivered 5.7 million first doses - roughly 8% of the population - compared with more than 25 million in Britain and more than 100 million in the United States. When France first approved use of the AstraZeneca shot in early February, it said it should be only for under 65s, with President Emmanuel Macron calling it "quasi-ineffective" for anyone beyond their mid-60s. France only removed that restriction this month The latest cutting-edge technology with digital work, memes, and ephemera has attracted investors and collectors to a non-fungible token or NFT marketplaces where they have been spending loads of amounts on digital works like Beeple's The First 5000 Days. Now, postage stamps are getting NFT for added security. Postage stamps with NFT Publicly listed Coinsilium, a UK-based blockchain venture operator, has unveiled its plans this week for Gibraltar's new stamp series, which will be issued together with NFT collectibles on May 17, with each having its own cryptographic value. Coinsilium CEO Eddy Travia told Decrypt in an email that the company aims to tap into the growing demand from both the philatelic and NFT community and give enthusiasts a meaningful collectible that can bring stamp collecting into the digital world. Also Read: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Sells 'First Tweet Ever' as NFT Bidding at $2.5 Million The company stated that the artwork designs for the NFTs are a selection of exclusively commissioned images of Gibraltar and had been approved. Its design partner RedFOX is now preparing them for listing on a digital marketplace in the future. A total of 50,000 stamps will then be issued and represented by 100,000 NFTs. It is still not clear how the two NFTs representing each stamp will be differentiated as Coinsilium has not clarified it yet. The NFTs will then be minted with different levels of scarcity as individual constituents making up a collectible set, including selecting very limited and rare NFTs made with enhanced value characteristics. Coinsilium is now working with the Gibraltar Philatelic Bureau on the said project. The startup also has plans to launch an NFT development studio in Gibraltar, called Nifty Labs, according to CryptoNews. Nifty Labs will develop smart contract systems for NFT applications and then offer different services to enterprises who want to create NFTs, according to Coinsilium. One of these is a bridge for NFTs to the Bitcoin business. Not the first stamp issued as an NFT Gibraltar is not the first to target stamp collectors with NFTs. Back in June 2019, Austria had issued 150,000 crypto-collectible stamps on the Ethereum blockchain. This marked the first time that a government had launched an NFT. Austria's NFT issue of stamps was made in a landscape format, with the postage stamp components on the left and the crypto credentials on the right, beneath a scratch, ticket-style covering. The idea of having stamps of different designs connected when printed is not something new, and it is known as se-tenant in philately, which is the study of stamps. Canadian Stamp News reviewed the collection. The industry publication stated that because the stamps are government-issued and tied to a postage stamp, they would enhance any complete Austrian collection. The Gibraltar stamp series will be limited to 50,000, with 40,000 available for public sale. Around 10,000 stamps have been pre-reserved by the Gibraltar Philatelic Bureau for their own clients and their dealers. The pre-orders will be accepted from around Apr. 19, and a general release is slated for mid-July. As more and more millennials get invested in stamp collecting, this may start an NFT stampede from tech-savvy philatelists. Related Article: Elon Musk Sells 'NFT Song' for 420 Million Dogecoin to Beeple: Multiple DJs Claim It's Their Song! This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Sieeka Khan 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas was grilled by lawmakers Wednesday amid the migrant surge at the southern border. A record increase in crossing attempts by unaccompanied migrant children continues to overwhelm Border Patrol resources in the southwest. In his opening statement to the House Homeland Security Committee, Mayorkas reiterated that the department faces a difficult situation at the border but stopped short of calling it a crisis. He highlighted the administration's efforts at rolling back some Trump-era policies such as the "Remain in Mexico" protocols and stressed that most people crossing the border are single adults who are immediately sent back. Mayorkas has led the deployment of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and has overseen the reassignment of personnel from other areas of the country to aid authorities on the front lines. MORE: 'Very young, very scared': Migrant children languish in US custody, lawyers say This week, the number of minors in Border Patrol custody ballooned to more than 4,200, according to sources familiar with the data. Many kids were spending days in crowded holding cells, waiting to be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement. The delays comes as a population of about 8,800 children continue to be under the care of the refugee resettlement office. In a statement Tuesday, Mayorkas suggested one of the reasons children are being held in Border Patrol custody for longer than the 72-hour limit mandated by law is because the HHS is having capacity issues. The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas will start functioning as a transition facility for unaccompanied migrant kids starting Wednesday, according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. It's the latest facility to come online in an attempt to provide a safe and sanitary place to hold unaccompanied children after they cross the border. Story continues PHOTO: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., March 1, 2021. (Andrew Harnik/AP, FILE) Mayorkas insisted in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" Tuesday that the influx of migrants is under control, and, while he urged migrants to not come to the U.S. at this time, he stopped short of saying they should never make an attempt. "Give us the time to rebuild the system that was entirely dismantled in the prior administration, and we have in fact begun to rebuild that system," he told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos. Pressed on his comments to ABC News that the government needs more time before it can handle those who want to cross, Mayorkas defended U.S. asylum law. He disputed suggestions from Republican lawmakers that illegal border crossing attempts are categorically disqualifying. A claim of asylum -- an individual fleeing persecution by reason of his or her membership in a particular social group -- a claim of asylum is a claim that is recognized by law in the United States of America, and an individual who makes a claim of asylum is not breaking the law. MORE: Number of unaccompanied migrant kids in US custody up 25% since last week, administration facing unprecedented crisis Mayorkas on Wednesday disputed the notion that the situation at the border is unmanageable. "We have a very serious challenge and I don't think the difficulty of that challenge can be overstated," he said. "We also have a plan to address it, we are executing on our plan, and we will succeed." MORE: Battle emerges between Biden administration and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over migrant arrivals, COVID-19 testing Part of the plan involved coronavirus testing for migrants allowed to stay in the United States. He explained to lawmakers that people who are allowed to stay are tested and quarantined at local and nonprofit facilities and those partners can seek reimbursement. "We are working now, as appropriated by Congress, to fund directly community based organizations and living facilities to conduct the testing and the quarantine," Mayorkas said. When those resources are not available, he said the department is working to set up a third party vendor to test those in Customs and Border Protection custody. A testy moment came when Republican Rep. Kat Cammack told a story about one of her classmates from high school she said was killed by a person illegally in the country. "How many have to be kidnapped across America before you will take action?" Cammack said. She suggested that a more lenient standard applies to foreign nationals crossing the border than to U.S. citizens. "I find that question to be extraordinarily disrespectful, disrespectful, not only to me but disrespectful to the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security, and to all the frontline personnel throughout this country who dedicate themselves to the safety and security of the American people," Mayorkas responded. As the border crises worsens, Mayorkas is also facing questions over Russian interference in the 2020 election. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice, FBI and DHS issued a report that assessed the election infrastructure security concerns. PHOTO: Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 1, 2021. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images) The agencies found no evidence that "any foreign government-affiliated actor prevented voting, changed votes, or disrupted the ability to tally votes or to transmit election results in a timely manner; altered any technical aspect of the voting process; or otherwise compromised the integrity of voter registration information of any ballots cast during 2020 federal elections." They did find that Russian and Iranian campaigns targeted multiple critical infrastructure sectors that compromised some of the election functions but "did not materially affect the integrity of voter data, the ability to vote, the tabulation of votes, or the timely transmission of election results." Mayorkas' department also oversees CISA the cyber agency responsible for the federal response to the SolarWinds breach. The administration has yet to outline what exactly their response will be to the hack which was attributed to Russia. Homeland Security chief Mayorkas grilled by lawmakers over handling of migrant surge originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Robert Aaron Long struggled with sins he committed at massage parlors, former roommate says Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Robert Aaron Long, the 21-year-old who's now facing multiple murder charges for killing eight people at three massage parlors in the Atlanta area on Tuesday, struggled with sexual sins he committed in these establishments, a former roommate says. I lived with Robert Aaron Long for a few months. I can tell you right now that this is not racially motivated killing, but the product of an emotionally disturbed young man who was religious to the point of mania and who felt deep shame about why he frequented these places, Tyler Bayless revealed in a Facebook post Wednesday. I wonder how this would have gone if he had been in an environment where he wasnt repeatedly told how sinful he was for the things that drove him. What a tragic loss of life, and a kid that was all around one of the sweeter people youd meet. Bayless, 35, further explained to Reuters that he lived with Long in an Atlanta halfway house for recovering addicts named Maverick Recovery in late 2019 and early 2020. The former roommate who last saw Long in February 2020 said he was being treated for drug addiction while Long was being treated for sex addiction. He revealed that Long admitted to frequenting massage parlors for explicitly sexual activity but would become very emotionally distraught that he frequented these places. In the halfway house he would describe several of his sexual addiction relapses as he called them. He would have a deep feeling of remorse and shame and say he needed to return to prayer and to return to God, Bayless told Reuters of Long, who was once a member of the student ministry at Crabapple First Baptist Church. Long shot up three massage parlors in the Atlanta area Tuesday, killing six Asian women and two white men. He was planning to shoot up more massage parlors in Florida, police said. Four people died in Longs shooting spree during his first attack at Youngs Asian Massage near Acworth, a northwest suburb of Atlanta, which was reported around 5 p.m. A Hispanic man was also injured there. Atlanta police officers then responded to what was reported as a robbery at Gold Spa (open 24 hours a day) in the northeast part of the city at 5:47 p.m., where they found the bodies of three women with gunshot wounds. While officers were at that scene, they received a call about shots fired at the Aromatherapy Spa across the street, where they found another woman's body. Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department said at a press conference Wednesday that Long did take responsibility for the shootings and dismissed reports that his actions were racially motivated. He does claim that it was not racially motivated. He apparently has an issue with what he considers a sex addiction and sees these locations as something that allows him to go to these places. Its a temptation for him he wanted to eliminate, Baker said. He was pretty much fed up and kinda at the end of his rope, and I guess it was a really bad day for him and this is what he did, Baker continued. "These locations, he sees them as an outlet for him, something he shouldnt be doing. He had an issue with porn and he was attempting to take out that temptation. Brett Cottrell, who led the youth ministry at Crabapple from 2008 to 2017, told The Washington Post that Longs father was considered an important lay leader in the church. Long would attend morning and evening activities on Sundays, along with meetings on Wednesday evenings and mission trips. Cottrell described Long as a typical teenager growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta. Its not unusual for young men to be into video games, he said. Was he around guns and hunting? Yeah. Would I consider him to be obsessed? No. Was it part of the life? Yeah. At that time, I wouldnt classify it as one of the main things he was involved in. Had he been deer hunting? Yeah. I dont know that I wouldve considered it to be a massive chunk of his life. Like Bayless, several prominent critics of the evangelical community suggested that the influence of Longs Southern Baptist upbringing likely contributed to his response to his sexual struggles. Rachael Denhollander, a lawyer who's a former gymnast and outspoken abuse survivor, suggested in a series of tweets that the ease with which the women at the massage parlors were killed is a reflection of how they are treated in Southern Baptist culture. The man who murdered women in a massage parlor yesterday says he was eliminating temptation because he had a sex addiction. He was a baptized member of an SBC church. Brothers. Pastors. Seminary heads. How you teach sexuality matters. It can be life and death, she wrote. How you teach gender roles, and how you talk about women, how you sexualize them as temptations or dangers, matters. It can be life and death. The way you indirectly blame women for abuse, lust, assault, temptation, can be life and death. This is happening in your pulpits, in your seminaries, in your counseling programs. It is in your marriage books, your books on womanhood and manhood, it is in your counseling sessions. It is in your purity books and discussions. It is in your social media. ... Your words, your teachings, your actions matter. The messages you send and imply and the culture it creates, matters. Real people pay the price. I am devastated, she said. Jemar Tisby, president of The Witness, also argued that the Church must accept some responsibility for Longs actions. Again, churches are not responsible for every individual action of their members, but when you steep your flock in ideas that exclude and demonize, the community bears responsibility. Your ideas, words, and actions failed to challenge or worse actively promoted racism and sexism, he wrote on Twitter. When asked by The Christian Post to comment on the criticism Thursday, Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Conventions Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, called the killings shocking and repulsive and said Christians should lead the way in standing against bigotry and injustice. These murders are shocking and repulsive. The killer should be brought to justice, and the roots of this violence should be made known as soon as it is revealed to investigators. While I do not yet know the reports from law enforcement as to the motives in this particular case, I am hearing increasingly from Asian Americans, including Asian American Christians, who face escalating bigotry against them in this sick time. Such is immoral and unjust, he said in a statement. Every murderer should be held accountable for justice. Christians must also lead the way in refusing to listen to and refusing to amplify the voices of those who would incite hatred against minority populations. Jesus has taught us this: hatred in the heart leads, in the fullness of time, to bloodshed. We should stand against that, he ended. Congratulations, adriancommunitytheater.org got a very good Social Media Impact Score! Show it by adding this HTML code on your site: Adriancommunitytheater.org scored 67 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 3.5/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 4 Jan 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. adriancommunitytheater.org is very popular in Facebook. Furthermore its facebook page has 70 likes. Add a widget like this on your site: click here This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the adriancommunitytheater homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if adriancommunitytheater has a Facebook fan page). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the adriancommunitytheater homepage on Twitter + the total number of adriancommunitytheater followers (if adriancommunitytheater has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the adriancommunitytheater homepage on StumbleUpon. The total number of people who shared the adriancommunitytheater homepage on Delicious. 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Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND MGI recently supplied Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), the nation's foremost medical research institute, a DNBSEQ-G50 genetic sequencer and a robotic nucleic extraction and sample preparation system MGISP-100 MGI, a global life-science technology innovator, lends a hand to resource-restrained African countries in response to the surge of local COVID-19 cases. New COVID-19 variants have emerged in Africa causing growing concerns globally. In a recent study published in Nature, the scientists expressed fear that these new variants show less effects to the current vaccines, and reinfections may be more likely. The study also found that the South Africa variant has shown increasing resistance to certain monoclonal antibodies currently been used to treat COVID-19 patients. MGI recently supplied Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), the nation's foremost medical research institute, a DNBSEQ-G50 genetic sequencer and a robotic nucleic extraction and sample preparation system MGISP-100, to support the country's public health authority in the genomic surveillance on the infectious strains. The system will also "prepare Nigeria in the fight against Lassa fever virus, Yellow fever, Ebola and other infectious agents characterised by the genetic code", said Dr. Adeleke Mamora, the Minister of State for Health of Nigeria. MGI also supplied a genetic sequencer DNBSEQ-G50 to a key national COVID-19 testing laboratory in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The much-needed instrument by the poverty-stricken country desperately lacking public health resources, will support the country's response efforts in the virus detection and genomic surveillance of COVID-19 variants. MGI's technology improves the speed, efficiency and affordability of the laboratory workflow. DNBSEQ-G50, based on the proprietary DNBSEQTM technology, is a compact and flexible benchtop sequencer that supports a range of applications including medica research, clinical diagnostics, and agriculture. MGISP-100 is an automated workstation to prepare biological samples for high-throughput sequencing, minimising the need of manual handling. MGI's instruments increase the COVID-19 testing speed substantially and keep the frontline health workers safe. Since the beginning of COVID-19 outbreak MGI has been actively making efforts to contribute to the global fight against COVID-19 in various countries including China, Thailand, Latvia, Sweden, Australia and more. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 16:49:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TASHKENT, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan has created new departments under the country's Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade to enhance multilateral cooperation with Russia and integrate its foreign economic policy with the World Trade Organization (WTO). The decree signed by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev earlier this week envisages creating a new position of deputy minister to oversee the development of investment projects with Russia. The ministry will also have a new department and a representative office in Russia tasked with expanding mutually beneficial partnerships between the two countries in the political, trade, economic, investment, financial, technical, cultural and humanitarian spheres, it said. Another department under the same ministry will be created to work with the WTO and Eurasian Economic Union and to review domestic legislation in order to harmonize them with the country's integration process with foreign economic activities. Uzbekistan is on the path to join the WTO and launched the official negotiation process with the global trade organization in 2019, and last December obtained observer status at the Eurasian Economic Union. Uzbekistan set up a special government body to dovetail its development strategies with China in 2019. Enditem Advertisement Good Morning Britain continues to trail behind BBC Breakfast in its battle for morning viewers with 840,000 tuning in yesterday compared to 1.49m on the rival channel - after the programme lost almost 40 per cent of its audience in the wake of Piers Morgan quitting. Thursday's broadcast of the ITV morning show did pull in more viewers its 800,000 audience on Wednesday, which had been GMB's lowest-recorded show by ratings service Overnights.TV over the last four weeks. Yesterday's programme, hosted by Kate Garaway and Susanna Reid, would not normally feature Piers, who was the regular host on Mondays to Wednesdays. Fierce rivals BBC Breakfast have remained steadily ahead in the ratings war since Morgan's departure, attracting 650,000 more viewers than GMB on Thursday with 1.49million - the same it scored for its Wednesday show. Meanwhile Morgan's latest offering of his Life Stories series brought in 2.3million viewers last night, making it the most-watched programme during that slot. He acknowledged the achievement today, Tweeting: 'My Life Stories show with Coleen Nolan was the highest-rated of this series & won the 9pm slot by miles. Thanks for watching!' An ITV source said yesterday's GMB figures were a rise on the same day last year and they were an improvement on the previous Thursday's numbers. In general the GMB audience is now down by 450,000 from the 1.29million who tuned in on Tuesday of last week which was the first time the ITV broadcast had beaten its long-time rival BBC Breakfast, which had 1.25million. That episode of GMB turned out to be Morgan's final programme before he quit the show after claiming he didn't 'believe a word' Meghan Markle said during her Oprah Winfrey interview, first broadcast on CBS on March 7. The changing figures over the past week suggest GMB has lost hundreds of thousands of viewers who would either not normally be watching breakfast TV, or who had switched from watching BBC to ITV in the morning. But sources at ITV pointed out that the comparison was being made in the context of last week having the two highest-rated shows since GMB launched in 2014, on the Tuesday and Wednesday. The latter was presented by Ranvir Singh and Susanna Reid. The sources added that all GMB audience figures are still up year-on-year. Yesterday was also the 14th time this year that the GMB audience has been below 800,000. A GMB spokesman told MailOnline today: 'In real terms GMB share of viewing continues to grow. This week so far is up 7 per cent when compared to the same days last year, and year to date share of viewing is up 18 per cent when compared to the same period in 2020.' Meanwhile ITV's share price today was up by 1.3 per cent or 1.55p to nearly 1.24 on the FTSE 250 index in London this morning, having fallen to just above 1.22 at the close yesterday. More than 254,000 people have now signed three separate Change.org petitions demanding Morgan should be brought back to GMB, with the totals this morning standing at 51,763, 153,553 and 49,125. GMB was hosted yesterday by Reid and Ben Shephard, who was mocked for urging the Royal Family and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to 'share their truth' and 'hopefully start healing' after private talks were leaked. ITV's Good Morning Britain has now lost nearly 40 per cent of its audience since Piers Morgan sensationally quit last week Kate Garaway joined Susanna Reid for Thursday's show which had improved ratings then Wednesday's with Ben Shephard Piers Morgan is pictured near his home in West London last Wednesday, the morning after he quit Good Morning Britain The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in conversation with Oprah Winfrey in their interview which first aired on CBS on March 7 Shephard, who added that it was important for all parties 'to be honest with each other', was accused by Reid of 'sounding like a Californian therapist' while Ranvir Singh joked that he needed to get his 'teeth whitened'. Morgan's comments about the Duchess of Sussex's interview last week led to the highest number of complaints in the TV regulator's history. The episodes of GMB on March 8 and 9 sparked 57,121 complaints to Ofcom. Victoria Derbyshire becomes external frontrunner to replace Piers Morgan on GMB Bookmakers have now made Victoria Derbyshire the external frontrunner to replace Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain. The BBC journalist has seen her odds of hosting GMB cut from 10/1 to just 4/1 after reports suggested ITV bosses were keen on signing her up. The latest odds from Ladbrokes are: Adil Ray - 2/1 - 2/1 Ben Shephard - 5/2 - 5/2 Ranvir Singh - 7/2 - 7/2 Alex Beresford - 4/1 - 4/1 Victoria Derbyshire - 4/1 - 4/1 Eamonn Holmes - 5/1 - 5/1 Charlene White - 5/1 - 5/1 Charlotte Hawkins - 5/1 - 5/1 Richard Madeley - 6/1 - 6/1 Robert Rinder - 6/1 - 6/1 Sean Fletcher - 6/1 - 6/1 Kate Garraway - 7/1 - 7/1 Bill Turnbull - 8/1 - 8/1 Jeremy Kyle - 8/1 - 8/1 Rylan Clarke-Neal - 10/1 - 10/1 Jeremy Clarkson - 16/1 - 16/1 Steph McGovern - 12/1 - 12/1 Tina Daheley - 14/1 - 14/1 Alison Hammon d - 20/1 Advertisement But Morgan responded on Twitter yesterday, writing: 'Only 57,000? I've had more people than that come upand congratulate me in the street for what I said. The vast majority of Britons are right behind me.' ITV announced Morgan had left the show on the evening of March 9, shortly after Ofcom said it had launched an investigation under its harm and offence rules after receiving more than 41,000 complaints in two days. It later emerged that Meghan also made a formal complaint to Ofcom about the TV host after he dismissed her account of suffering suicidal thoughts and experiencing racism at the hands of the Royal Family. Morgan said on-air that he 'didn't believe a word' of her interview with chat show host Oprah when she laid bare claims of her struggles. She raised concerns with the broadcaster about the effect Morgan's comments may have on the issue of mental health generally and those attempting to deal with their own problems - and not about his attack on herself. After a clip aired of Meghan discussing her issues with mental health and suicidal thoughts and royal officials' knowledge of them, Morgan said during Monday's programme: 'I'm sorry, I don't believe a word she says. I wouldn't believe her if she read me a weather report.' Morgan's final episode of the show saw him walk off the set after a heated exchange with co-star Alex Beresford, in which Beresford accused Morgan of 'trashing' Meghan. Morgan has stood by his comments and said his departure from GMB was caused by the 'cancel culture that is permeating our country'. The complaints about Morgan's comments far exceed those made about about Celebrity Big Brother in 2018 when ex-Emmerdale actress Roxanne Pallett alleged she had been assaulted by fellow housemate Ryan Thomas, which prompted 25,327 complaints. Ofcom received around 24,500 complaints about Diversity's performance on Britain's Got Talent last year, which was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. The controversy with Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother in 2007 was previously the most complained about issue, attracting 44,500 complaints. Bookmakers have made BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire (pictured) the external frontrunner to replace Morgan on GMB Piers Morgan with his wife Celia Walden in Los Angeles last year. He quit Good Morning Britain on Tuesday of last week It comes as Morgan slammed American broadcaster Gayle King for acting as a 'PR mouthpiece' for the Sussexes to 'facilitate their ongoing public trashing of our Royal Family'. Three petitions urging ITV to bring back Piers A petition launched after Piers Morgan quit GMB, found here, said he had been treated 'appallingly'. A second petition titled 'Keep Piers Morgan on GMB for his common sense approach to life' is seen here. Another set up to 'Save Piers Morgan from being sacked from GMB' said a decision to remove him would be 'an absolute farce.' It can be found here. Advertisement Morgan told the CBS This Morning presenter last night to do her 'job as a journalist and ask them about all the lies they told' in their interview with Oprah. He added in a tweet: 'America should hear THE truth.' Among the claims proven wrong were that Archie had a birthright to be a prince, he wouldn't get 24/7 security because he wasn't a prince and that Meghan had not seen her half-sister Samantha Markle in almost 20 years. It comes after Miss King, 66, backed ITV's stance over Morgan's departure from GMB after he refused to apologise for his comments about Meghan, which led to the highest number of complaints in TV regulator Ofcom's history. She told her SiriusXM radio programme last Thursday: 'Piers Morgan is no longer with a job. He stormed off the air after saying that I don't believe that she had mental illness, I don't believe she was suicidal. 'They got over 41,000 calls of people weighing in to say that is not OK, that is not cool. And by the next day, he was out of a job. He said he resigned. I find that a little hard to believe when you had 41,000 calls.' Miss King also referred to Beresford, who was involved in the moment that saw Morgan walk out last week. She said: 'And kudos to his co-anchor, they said it was the weather guy. I wonder if he was the weather guy, but they described him as a weather guy, who spoke out and really let Piers have it on the air, and then Piers stormed off, and now Piers is no longer on the air there.' Northern Ireland's Secretary of State Brandon Lewis has suggested funding will be opened up to support a pension scheme for victims injured during the Troubles. In a series of tweets online on Friday afternoon, Mr Lewis said he had been "consistent" in his support of the scheme, before adding that the Executive is "well-funded" through Northern Ireland's block grant. He went on to state that he had taken the "exceptional" approach to unlock new funding as part of the New Decade New Approach deal which restored power-sharing at Stormont. I have been consistent in my support for the Victims Payments Scheme and desire to see people receive the payments to which they are morally and legally entitled. Despite ongoing discussions I have always been clear that victims will be paid. (1/3) Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) March 19, 2021 However, to enable the Executive to make progress for victims and recognising the higher pressures in the early years of the scheme, I have taken the exceptional approach of offering access to NDNA funds that will help the Executive manage the cost of the scheme. (3/3) Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) March 19, 2021 The Executive and Northern Ireland Office are currently at loggerheads on who should foot the bill for the scheme to compensate those physically or psychologically injured during the Troubles. The scheme was passed at Westminster when devolved government at Stormont was not functioning, and Northern Ireland parties argue that London should therefore pay for it. Mr Lewis has previously said the estimated 800 million cost of the scheme must be funded by Stormont. In a statement to the Belfast Telegraph on Friday evening, the Northern Ireland Office said Mr Lewis was putting a "high priority" on getting the scheme up and running. Adding that he wanted to see "applications as soon as possible", he added: "This scheme is a devolved matter, and devolved matters are funded from the Block Grant." "However, to enable the Executive to make progress for victims and manage the higher pressures in the early years of the scheme, we have taken the exceptional approach of offering access to New Decade New Approach funds that will help the Executive manage the cost of the scheme. "This flexibility will substantially reduce the costs in those years where costs are more significant, meaning there is nothing now standing in the way of the Executive delivering the scheme as set out in legislation." Responding to Mr Lewis' intervention, the Sinn Fein Finance Minister Conor Murphy dismissed it as "not conducive" to finding solutions for victims and said the funding being suggested was not additional money. On 3rd March I wrote to the Secretary of State recommending that the Executive cover in full the costs of the scheme envisaged at Stormont House, with the British Government funding the rest of the scheme," explained Mr Murphy. "This was a reasonable solution that would provide certainty for victims. "In the subsequent two weeks Mr Lewis declined to meet Executive colleagues and I to discuss this proposition. "Via social media the Secretary of State has today offered to divert money which is already set aside as part of New Decade New Approach and which is not additional. This is not a constructive approach to finding a resolution for victims. Alliance MP Stephen Farry said rolling out the scheme was "long overdue" and called on the Northern Ireland Office to provide an "appropriate level" of funding. Whilst all parties remain absolutely committed to funding and delivering the scheme, it is grotesque the NIO are effectively capping their contribution to 100 million over four years, when the scheme is estimated to cost 1.2 billion over its lifetime," said Mr Farry. "That is not a financial commitment the public purse in Northern Ireland can sustain and the NIO has an obligation to revisit this decision. (Newser) When Georgia cops pulled Joshua Seguine over in 2017 for driving without a license, they likely didn't expect what they found in the back of his truck: five small live sharks in a tank, which Seguine admitted he was transporting to his home in Dutchess County, NY, where he had several other living sharks. He said he hoped to make money on them via an underground market that caters to athletes, entertainers, and designers, per the New York Times. This week, Seguine pleaded guilty to a charge of illegal possession with intent to sell the seven sandbar sharks he had at his LaGrangeville residence, per a release from New York Attorney General Letitia James. The release details that, after the traffic stop, Georgia authorities contacted the NY Department of Environmental Conservation police, who searched Seguine's home along with biologists from two local aquariums. story continues below There, in an aboveground pool in his basement, they found the seven sandbar sharksa protected species that New York state residents aren't allowed to possess unless they have a special licenseas well as two dead leopard sharks, a hammerhead carcass, and the snout of an endangered smalltooth sawfish. Investigators found Seguine had been offering sharks for sale via the MonsterFishKeepers.com site. It's not illegal to own sharks, though protected species are off-limits. The sharks were relocated to the New York Aquarium on Coney Island. CNN notes that, in addition to a $5,000 fine, Seguine was sentenced to a conditional discharge, meaning he won't go to jail or be on probation but is subject to conditions determined by the court. "We will not tolerate anyone who preys on protected species to line their pockets," says James in the release. (Read more sharks stories.) Dirlan Hernandez dreamed of a warm welcome in the United States thanks to President Joe Biden's immigration reforms, but when he crossed over with his son he was quickly sent back to Mexico. He is not alone. While some, such as mothers with small children, have been allowed to stay, more than 300 undocumented migrants have been deported this week to Mexico's border city of Ciudad Juarez. After two days in detention in McAllen, Texas together with his three-year-old son, Hernandez was told by a US immigration agent that he would be transferred to Miami, the 30-year-old Honduran said. But hours later Hernandez saw the Mexican flag and realized that he had been misled, bursting into tears in the middle of the border bridge, he told AFP in Ciudad Juarez. "I didn't think they were going to dump us here," he said. Undocumented migrants are being expelled under a rule known as Title 42 that was introduced a year ago under then-president Donald Trump to prevent the spread of Covid-19. As a result, the shelters of Ciudad Juarez are full up. "My son hasn't had a bath in two days," said Hernandez. - 'Grey area' - Many migrants continue to be deceived by human traffickers who tell them that the border is open to everyone, said Marisa Limon of Hope Border Institute, a US non-governmental organization. Migrant hopes were raised after Biden's administration began to allow in asylum seekers who had been sent back to Mexico while their cases were processed under Trump's Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) policy. But facing mounting political pressure over a surge in arrivals at the southern border, Biden this week urged migrants not to come. "Right now everything's a gray area," because while some migrants are being accepted due to the dismantling of the MPP, others are being deported under Title 42, Limon said. In Brownsville, Texas, opposite Mexico's northeastern city of Matamoros, US border patrols are swiftly deporting undocumented adults crossing over alone. Story continues But unaccompanied minors are helped to connect with family contacts inside the United States, while mothers with small children are released with documents allowing them to move around legally. - 'Vulnerable population' - Biden's Republican opponents have accused him of creating a "crisis" at the border with policies causing a sharp increase in undocumented migrants seeking to cross over. Biden has shrugged off the claims, pointing to similar surges in 2019 and 2020. In February, the US Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) arrested about 100,000 people at the southern border -- including nearly 9,500 unaccompanied children -- a 28 percent increase over January. "It's illegal to deny these people access to asylum," argued Limon. In Mexico, a government program helps deportees with food, water and counseling, although with all 18 shelters in Ciudad Juarez full up, it can no longer offer them accommodation. "We see a lot of confusion and sadness, because it is only when they return that they find out that they've been sent back," said program coordinator Enrique Valenzuela. More migrants continue to arrive at the border, full of hope. "We're receiving many people from Central America, many families with young children," Valenzuela said "We're talking about a very vulnerable population," he added. Deported Guatemalan migrant Leondan Recinos is still in shock that his dreams lie in tatters. "We feel really, really, really bad about the contempt they've had for us. We have no words to respond to this," he said. str/jla/dr/caw/oho The U.S. auto safety agency disclosed on Thursday it has opened 27 investigations into crashes of Tesla vehicles, 23 of which remain active, and at least three of the crashes occurred in recent weeks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed Thursday that it will send a team to investigate a recent Tesla crash in the Houston area. Four of the 27 NHTSA investigations have been completed and the results published. Earlier this week, NHTSA said it was sending its special crash investigation team to probe two crashes in Michigan, including a crash early Wednesday involving a Tesla suspected of being in Autopilot mode when it struck a parked Michigan State Police patrol car. Tesla did not immediately comment. NHTSA said in July that its (Special Crash Investigations team) has looked into 19 crashes involving Tesla vehicles where it was believed some form of advanced driver assistance system was engaged at the time of the incident. Michigan State Police said a parked patrol car was struck by a Tesla apparently in Autopilot mode while investigating a traffic crash near Lansing on Interstate-96. No one was injured and the 22-year-old Tesla driver was issued traffic citations. On Monday, NHTSA said it was sending another team to investigate a violent March 11 crash in Detroit in which a Tesla became wedged underneath a tractor-trailer and left a passenger in critical condition. Detroit police said Tuesday they do not believe that Autopilot was in use. The Autopilot feature was operating in at least three Tesla vehicles involved in fatal U.S. crashes since 2016. Tesla advises drivers they must keep their hands on the steering wheel and pay attention while using Autopilot. However, some Tesla drivers say they are able to avoid putting their hands on the wheel for extended periods when using Autopilot. NHTSAs Special Crash Investigation team typically looks at more than 100 crashes a year with a focus on emerging technologies. Issues in recent years include performance of alternative fueled vehicles, child restraint systems, adaptive controls, safety belts, vehicle-pedestrian interactions, and potential safety defects. Separately, the agency said it had been briefed on Teslas full self-driving (FSD) software. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk wrote on Twitter last week that the beta FSD software had been expanded to about 2,000 owners while other drivers had access to the program revoked. The agency said it will monitor the new technology closely and will not hesitate to take action to protect the public against risks to safety. NHTSA said the system does not make the Tesla capable of driving itself. The most advanced vehicle technologies available for purchase today provide driver assistance and require a fully attentive human driver at all times performing the driving task and monitoring the surrounding environment. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Aurora Ellis and Richard Pullin) Topics Tesla TASHKENT -- Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev says a secretive mountain retreat that was allegedly built for him belongs to the state and is used to entertain "high-ranking guests." An RFE/RL investigative report lifted the curtain on the luxurious mansion allegedly built for Mirziyoev in the protected Ugam-Chatkal National Park about 100 kilometers northeast of Tashkent. In his first public comment on the report, Mirziyoev said on March 18 that he has nothing to do with the property in the Shovvozsoy River area, and reiterated an earlier statement by Uzbekistan Railways that it is legally owned by the state railway company. "Nobody has resided, lived, or transferred it to someone's [personal ownership.] It is a state-owned site. What does the president have to do with it? The president will go there if a high-ranking guest, whose visit is beneficial for Uzbekistan, comes to visit," Mirziyoev said, answering a question of a blogger at an event near the Uzbek capital Tashkent. Mirziyoev did not elaborate on who constituted a "high-ranking guest" and added that with his busy schedule, he had almost no time to use the property for personal use. "Why don't you ask how many times your president was able to have a rest in the five years [of his presidency?]," he added. Construction of the compound, which features helicopter landing pads and is subject to a no-fly zone, began in 2017 -- the year Mirziyoev took power -- and was largely completed by the end of 2018. Locals say a new reservoir built next to the compound has disrupted their water supply, displaced families, and caused environmental damage. Construction workers said they were forced to hand over their phones while working on site, and roadblocks and security guards prevent the public from approaching the area. Officials have never publicly explained the reservoir and resort, nor have they provided information about the costs, which multiple RFE/RL sources estimated at several hundred million dollars to build. The RFE/RL report was published on February 23, and the next day Uzbekistan Railways said that it was not built for Mirziyoev but instead belonged to the company and had been used as a recreation compound for its employees. The companys statement was accompanied with video of the area, but contained numerous inconsistencies. Since coming to power, Mirziyoev has portrayed himself as committed to improving transparency, human rights protections, and anti-corruption efforts, striking a contrast to his late autocratic predecessor, Islam Karimov. The UAE banks provided AED3.9 billion ($1.061 billion) in industrial sector credit facilities for non-residents in 2020, according to figures revealed by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates. This brings to around AED20.8 billion the cumulative balance of this type of loans by the end of December 2020, a growth of 23 percent as compared to the same month 2019, said a Wam news agency report. UAEs loan growth and liquidity picking up pace is reflective of the country's robust financial profile despite the global economic slowdown triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, it said. Industrial credit facilities for non-residents account for 10.4 percent of the total loans provided for non-residents on other business activities, according to the bank's figures. As COVID vaccinations ramp up across Alabama, the state is getting closer to offering the vaccine to any adult who wants it. Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said the state will offer COVID-19 vaccines to everyone age 16 and older before the May 1 nationwide target set by President Joe Biden, possibly well before. The president asked all states to open eligibility fully by May 1, Harris said. Certainly Alabama will do that by May 1, but it could be much earlier, depending on how much uptake we see. Alabama has now administered more than 1.3 million doses of COVID vaccine in the state, with 866,000 people (more than 22% of the total adult population) receiving at least one dose and more than half a million who are fully vaccinated. On March 22, the state is expanding vaccine eligibility to people age 55 and older, additional categories of essential workers including restaurant workers and bank tellers, and people with health conditions including obesity, cancer, kidney disease and smoking. We think thats going to more than double the number of eligible people in our state, Harris said. Probably between half and two thirds of all the adults in the state are going to be covered at that point. Harris said the state could open it up to all adults in the coming weeks, as Mississippi and Alaska have already done, and other states have announced they will do. I think clearly the most important [factor] is whats our available supply? Harris said. If everybodys prioritized, then essentially nobodys prioritized, if you dont have enough vaccine to go around. And it just becomes, you know, a mad rush to beat everybody else to the front of the line. There are no additional at-risk groups identified in Alabamas vaccine allocation plan. The next phase identified in the plan includes all adults. We will, as of Monday, have opened eligibility to all those risk groups that weve stratified, Harris said. And if theres a lot of demand, and the lines are, you know, miles long, and theres no doses on the shelf, it wouldnt make sense to expand it to everyone yet. But when we when we see that demand is not there is when well expand it. Alabama National Guard mobile vaccine clinics are set to open next week, on a six-week rotation across 24 rural counties. Harris said there is a very good chance that vaccine eligibility could be expanded before that first six-week rotation ends. Harris said the state continues to see small increases in the number of doses it receives, up to around 110,000 to 120,000 first doses per week, with separate shipments to cover second-dose appointments for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which require two doses. Alabama has given just over 20,000 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but Harris said production of that recently approved vaccine is still being ramped up and the state is not expecting to receive large quantities of that vaccine until next month. Alabama released new county-level vaccination data this week, showing many counties, including many across the Black Belt and other rural areas, reporting more than 25% of its population already having received at least one dose of the vaccine. Thats not an accident, Harris said. Thats a very deliberate strategy on our part to try to reach the people who are most vulnerable. The strain in the relations between the US and China was on public display during the opening session of the Alaska summit on Thursday, as top officials of the two countries traded angry barbs. Secretary of state Antony Blinken and Chinas top diplomat Yang Jiechi sparred over a range of issues from trade to human rights in Tibet, Hong Kong and Chinas western Xinjiang region, as well as over Taiwan, Chinas assertiveness in the South China Sea and the coronavirus pandemic. We will ... discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyberattacks on the United States, economic coercion of our allies, said Mr Blinken in a blunt attack at the start of two days of talks in the first face-to-face meeting since Joe Biden took over the presidency. Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability, he said. In response, Mr Yang hit out at the US for using its military power and financial supremacy to suppress other countries. It abuses so-called notions of national security to obstruct normal trade exchanges, and incite some countries to attack China, he said. Mr Yang further condemned the US for interfering in its internal matters while asking Washington to reflect on its own failure to deal with internal human rights issues. He said that Black Americans were being slaughtered there, referring to the killing of Black Americans and the Black Lives Matter movement in America. China is firmly opposed to US interference in Chinas internal affairs. We have expressed our staunch opposition to such interference, and we will take firm actions in response, he warned in a speech that went beyond 15 minutes. Read more: We believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world, Mr Yang said. Many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States. National security adviser Jake Sullivan responded, saying Washington did not seek a conflict with China but added: We will always stand up for our principles for our people, and for our friends. Underscoring the animosity, the US delegation further criticised China for violating the agreed protocol of two minutes of opening remarks by each side and suggested that Chinas delegation seems to have arrived intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance. The ties between the US and China sharply deteriorated under the presidency of Donald Trump but the Biden administration is yet to signal if they would back away from the stance taken by his Republican predecessor. In fact, days before the meeting, Mr Blinken had announced new sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials over Beijing's crackdown on the semi-autonomous city. Additional reporting from the wires 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. Solicitor Derwin Harvey, representing both defendants, told Londonderry Magistrates Court his clients were community activists and described footage of the PSNIs actions as "disturbing" (PA) Two men arrested during disturbances following a police search in the Creggan area of Derry have appeared before the citys Magistrates Court. Jude McCrory (23), from Magowan Park in the city, denies assaulting a police officer, obstructing a police officer and disorderly behaviour. Gearoid Kavanagh (32), a security employee from Elmwood Terrace, denies possessing an offensive weapon and assaulting a PSNI inspector. Solicitor Derwin Harvey, representing both defendants, said his clients were community activists who had delivered food parcels and heating oil to the vulnerable during lockdown. He described footage of the PSNIs actions as "disturbing" and told the court that Kavanagh required eight stitches after being struck on the head multiple times with a police baton. "It has been a long time since I have seen police officers using truncheons to strike someone on the head by raining down blows," he told Deputy District Judge Anne Marshall. Objecting to bail, a detective constable said both defendants had played a prominent role in the disturbances and she believed they would re-offend if released on bail. The judge noted that both men had previous convictions for similar offences. "This court does not have a political role. No part of this city is not subject to law and order," she said. "If the police are carrying out a legitimate operation, they do not need community activists...disrupting that operation." McCrory and Kavanagh were granted bail but banned from entering the Creggan estate, contacting each other and approaching within 200 metres of any ongoing police operation. The case was adjourned until April 15. Uzbekistan, one of the world's leading cotton exporters, sent a high-level delegation earlier this week to the Chinese-invested Gwadar Port in Pakistan to look for logistics opportunities that might help it export its cotton, the Global Times has learned. Analysts said the move highlighted the big potential demand countries have for an international public facility such as the Gwadar Port, a deep-water port that may open a coveted sea trade option for landlocked Central Asian countries. A 16-member high-level delegation from Uzbekistan, led by Vice Minister of Railways Akmal Kamalov and the country's Ambassador to Pakistan Oybek Arif Usmanov, visited the port on Tuesday, according to a press release from the China Overseas Ports Holding Co, the port's operator, on Wednesday. Accompanied by Gwadar Port Authority Chairman Naseer Khan Kashani and Zhang Baozhong, chairman of the China Overseas Ports Holding Co, the delegation observed the loading/offloading of cargoes by a containership operated by Chinese shipping giant COSCO Shipping Holdings. They discussed the matter of regional connectivity and the possibility of building and investing in a logistics park at the Gwadar free trade area. When reached by the Global Times, Zhang said he had no further information at the moment. However, on his WeChat account on Wednesday, Zhang noted that Uzbekistan is the world's sixth-largest producer and second-largest exporter of cotton. He also wrote that Uzbekistan is pushing for a diplomatic move among Central Asian countries, including top-level diplomatic visits to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, for a southbound logistics corridor via the Gwadar Port. Afghanistan has become the first landlocked Central Asian country to benefit from using the Gwadar Port in transshipment trade. In 2020, the country imported 43,000 tons of fertilizers via the port, contributing to its agricultural development. The port's dry bulk cargo business grew more than 1,100 percent to 57,000 tons in 2020 compared with 2018. Zhou Rong, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, said that the Gwadar Port has the best infrastructure among all ports in the region. "The infrastructure there is superb. Both in terms of its deep-water berths and its onshore port infrastructure, the Gwadar Port beats its peers in Iran and India," Zhou told the Global Times on Wednesday. However, for such a southbound corridor to work, other regional countries including China and Iran will have to be involved to make an overland passage possible, given the current instability in Afghanistan, Zhou said. Located in Pakistan's southwest province of Balochistan, the Gwadar Port is a key project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. According to data from the US Department of Agriculture, Uzbekistan exported 503,000 tons of cotton in 2015, with Bangladesh and China as its leading destinations. The country's cotton exports fell in recent years due to a shrinking planting area and an increase in domestic 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. Story Inspired by true events, as claimed by the makers, Mumbai Saga begins with a dreaded gangster Amartya Rao (John Abraham) gunning down a businessman (Samir Soni) in broad daylight. The film rewinds eight years back where we are introduced to his younger days when he earned his livelihood by selling vegetables at the railway station. His younger brother Arjun is the apple of his eye. When the lad is hospitalized after a spat with one of Gaitonde's (Amole Gupte) henchmen over extortion, Amartya lets his brawn do all the talking and lands up in prison. With the help of a powerful political figure Bhau (Mahesh Manjrekar), Anna (Suniel Shetty in a cameo) and a drug dealer Naari Khan (Gulshan Grover) whom Amartya befriends during his stint in the jail, the latter rises to become one of the most powerful gangsters in the city. "Bandook toh sirf shaunk ke liye rakhta hoon, darane ke liye naam hi kaafi hai," Amartya proudly declares to scare an opponent. However, his existence gets threatened when the slain businessman's wife (Anjana Sukhani) announces a bounty of Rs 10 crore to whoever slays him, which sets a tough cop, Vijay Savarkar (Emraan Hashmi) in pursuit of Amartya. Direction Gangster films have always been Sanjay Gupta's forte; be it Kaante or Shootout At Lokhandwala. However this time, the director gets his math wrong in terms of both story and execution. Despite having a star cast including names like John Abraham and Emraan Hashmi, he fails to do justice to their characters by saddling them with underwhelming roles that fail to keep you invested throughout the film's runtime. On the brighter side, Mumbai Saga has some well-shot action sequences that lends some 'thrill' to the otherwise tepid screenplay. Also, John Abraham-Emraan Hashmi's hand-to-hand combat scene has been picturised well. Performances When it comes to flexing his muscles, beating goons to pulp and engaging in dialogue-baazi, John Abraham hits the bullseye. However, the man still falters when it comes to emotions on screen. Also, at places, he does remind you of his act from Shootout At Wadala. Coming to Emraan Hashmi, the actor begins his cop act on a promising note. However, the writing soon loses its steam and he is left dry! Nevertheless, Emraan still manages to pack a punch in the scenes where he shares screen space with John. Prateik Babbar ends up as a miscast while Kajal Aggarwal barely makes her presence felt in this testosterone-driven vehicle. Mahesh Manjrekar pulls off whatever his role demands. On the other hand, Amole Gupte does go a tad OTT at places. The rest of the cast including Gulshan Grover, Rohit Roy and Shaad Randhawa deliver what's expected of them in a Sanjay Gupta film. Technical Aspects Shikhar Bhatnagar's camera work has nothing novel to offer; but it doesn't harm the final product as well. Bunty Negi's editing seems to be abrupt at places. Music The Ganpati song 'Danka Baja' adds some color to the film, but lacks a recall value. Honey Singh's 'Shor Machega' suffers from some weird camera shots and absurd lyrics. The only hummable number 'Lu Gaye' fails to make it to the final cut of the film as the makers had released the romantic ballad as a single. Interestingly, the song is a prequel to Emraan's cop character Vijay Savarkar and his unrequited love story which spurs him to start his mission to end crimes. Verdict In one of the scenes, while shooting a person, John Abraham's character Amartya Rao haughtily tells him, "Teri gaadi bulletproof hai, tu nahi." Thankfully, the audience has a choice of dodging this bullet of disappointment! New Delhi: Sindh-born Kamla Das, who turned 100 during the height of the pandemic in Delhi last September, got her first shot of Covid-19 vaccine in the city, her daughter said. The centenarian, wife of late Maj Gen (retd) Chand N Das, got vaccinated on Thursday and said the jab was "totally painless". Covid-19 vaccine "My mother turned 100 during the pandemic and we held a three-day celebration from September 2-4 to allow guests to come, as large gatherings were not allowed then. My siblings were fearful that she could contract Covid-19, but we thought she has lived a good life and not everyone gets to see their 100th birthday. So, we made it a special one for her," her youngest daughter Jyotica Sikand said. Born on September 3, 1920, Das was administered the vaccine at BLK Hospital here, a day after Brij Prakash Gupta, also born in 1920, had received his first shot of Covieshield vaccine at the same facility, a spokesperson of the hospital said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 02:31:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BRUSSELS, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Belgium recorded on Monday another 5,034 coronavirus cases, the highest daily count since mid-November, data from the public health institute Sciensano showed on Thursday. Sciensano explained that due in part to the time lag between sampling and reporting, the data reported for the last few days always need to be revised. The average daily number of confirmed cases this week was 3,052, an increase of 29 percent from the previous week. An emergency plenary session was held on Thursday in Belgium, where Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called for extreme caution. On Friday, a Concertation Committee (Codeco) will be held by videoconference to discuss the worrying situation of the rise in coronavirus cases and the reopening of schools. The government is also concerned about the spike in infections for the under-20s. According to several media outlets, the authorities want to tighten the screws now in order to allow the reopening of schools on April 19 and the Horeca (hotel/restaurant/catering) sector on May 1. "We must toughen the measures now if we want to relax after the Easter holidays," Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said on VTM television on Wednesday. Despite the daily rise of cases, the death toll remains stable. To date, Belgium has recorded a total of 818,142 cases and 22,600 deaths. 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, 264 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 82 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain, and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Tuesday. Enditem. Police arrest ex-managers of utility companies as part of $135 mln embezzlement case flickr.com/ Ruben Diaz 15:55 19/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 19 (RAPSI) Russian police have arrested eleven former top managers and employees of power supply companies in a case over embezzlement of more than 10 billion rubles ($135 million), the Interior Ministrys press service reports. The apprehended persons are former heads of regional utility companies Arkhenergosbyt, Vologdaenergosbyt, Roscommunenergo, Khakasenergosbyt and Chelyabenergosbyt Ilya Shulgin, Elizaveta Sakhno, Vadim Litvinov, Svetlana Nikodimova, Elena Dormidonova, Vladimir Gailit, employees of these organizations and ex-executive of Mosuralbank Nikolay Korneyev. According to investigators, between 2004 and 2019, the criminal group members transferred over 10 billion rubles allocated for the bulk buying of electrical energy, execution of state energy investment programmes, modernization and maintainance of the operating condition of technical networks to the accounts of foreign companies under their control. Three defendants have been already placed in detention. Four others are waiting for the hearing on choosing a restrictive measure for them. Alleged crime masterminds are put on the international wanted list. Assets worth nearly 7 billion rubles ($95 million) belonging to the defendants property and organizations have been seized. Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. Chicago aldermen considered ways to provide reparations for descendants of slaves Thursday in the first meeting of a special City Council subcommittee on the issue. The Subcommittee on Reparations within the councils Health Committee is tasked in part with examining the state of equity in the city of Chicago, according to the resolution that created it. The first meeting mainly was a chance for the group to get organized and hear from experts on the issue of providing reparations to Black residents who are the descendants of slaves. Evanston Alderman Robin Rue Simmons talked about the important process of making sure theres adequate community input into the plan from Black Chicagoans. Evanston opted to use sales tax revenue from marijuana sales to set up a housing reparations program there. You need to start the work now, a lifetime of work ahead of you, Simmons said. Subcommittee Chair Alderman Stephanie Coleman said the subcommittees work will mean a tough conversation, and there are going to be some tougher conversations ahead. This meeting is necessary. This subcommittee is necessary, Coleman said. While money is part of the equation, Alderman Roderick Sawyer said redress for slavery must be multi-tiered. Chicagos subcommittee has little power to enact reparation plans, but aldermen who support the idea nonetheless view its creation as a significant step after decades in which the prospect of reparations gained very little traction in the City Council. In their examination of equity, the designated individuals may be tasked with analyzing the historical harms of slavery and segregation, as well as the ongoing harms of institutional discrimination and mass incarceration, the Chicago resolution reads in part. The designated individuals may further be tasked with assessing the implementation of reparations measures consistent with international norms, standards, and laws for reparations as developed by the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Other northern Illinois cities also have started discussing the idea of reparations, including Evanston, a Chicago suburb that is set to become the first place in the United States to provide reparations to its Black residents. Evanston, home to Northwestern University and along the shore of Lake Michigan, will vote Monday on a plan to distribute $10 million over the next decade. In nearby Oak Park, trustees support a proclamation to apologize for the villages past role in problematic acts toward its Black residents; there are differing opinions on the shape of, and who should pay for, any reparations. During the boards February meeting, board members heard a presentation from resident Christian Harris of the local nonprofit Walk the Walk, which aims to break down systemic barriers to equity through community bridging, demonstrative activism and grassroots initiatives. Walk the Walk proposed a resolution that would have the village of Oak Park formally apologizing for the governments role in the stifling of Black wealth in Oak Park, while also apologizing for the governments enforcement of segregation and its accompanying discriminatory practices. Data specialist InterSystems now offers its InterSystems Iris data platform and InterSystems Iris for Health as fully managed services on AWS. InterSystems "concierge-level" managed service takes care of the performance, security, availability, and operations of a customer's InterSystems environment deployed on the AWS infrastructure. This means customers can focus on their core business, while InterSystems looks after software deployment, infrastructure, monitoring, high-availability, security, patches, and upgrades. "At InterSystems, we're committed to providing a concierge-level of managed services to our customers, with cloud provisioning and maintaining secure, scalable, and performant environments on the AWS cloud," said InterSystems vice president of data platforms Scott Gnau. "Our fully managed cloud services offer customers the best of both worlds - allowing them to harness the power of InterSystems technology in the cloud but without any of the associated worry and complexity. This latest offering demonstrates our continued commitment to cloud investments while allowing more of our customers to embrace this opportunity, gaining all the benefits of the cloud, and underscores our best-in-class customer engagement and support." InterSystems Iris can be deployed on all major public clouds, and supports multi-cloud and hybrid environments. Iris eliminates the need to integrate multiple technologies and makes it easier to build high-performance, machine learning-enabled applications that connect data and application silos, according to the company. Iris for Health is, as the name suggests, InterSystems' data platform for healthcare, following standards such as HL7. Image: Nick Youngson via Alpha Stock Images (CC BY-SA 3.0) An extradition order has been issued for the prime suspect in the murder of Toyah Cordingley two years after he allegedly fled to India. Nurse Rajwinder Singh reportedly left his wife, child and job in Cairns for India the day the 24-year-old was killed while taking her dog for a walk. Ms Cordingley was found dead on Wangetti Beach, north of Cairns, in October 2018. 'I can confirm that I have signed an extradition request to India with respect to a man wanted by Queensland Police in relation to the murder of Toyah Cordingley,' Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General, Amanda Stoker said on Friday. Toyah Cordingley (pictured) was murdered north of Cairns in October 2018 Nurse Rajwinder Singh reportedly left his wife, child and job in Cairns for India the day the 24-year-old was killed while taking her dog for a walk Ms Stoker said the Australian Government does not typically comment on individual steps taken along the extradition process in an individual manner. 'However, given the intense community and media interest in this matter, I am publicly confirming that a formal extradition request has been approved by me,' she said. 'The next step in the extradition process is to formally lodge the request with India.' Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said Attorney-General Christian Porter had worked closely with Queensland Police to prepare a brief of evidence for Indian authorities, Cairns Post reported. 'We've got an extradition order agreement with India but a very high level of evidence is required you've almost got to prosecute the case to have a change of getting it accepted by India,' he said. 'That's why it has taken so long. 'It has been back and forth between Queensland Police and the Attorney-General because you generally only get one whack of this.' The order does not mean Mr Singh is guilty of murder and the Indian government do not have to immediately send him back to Australia. Ms Cordingley was found dead on Wangetti Beach, north of Cairns, in October 2018 While the extradition process can take years, Mr Entsch said authorities are sure to 'get it right' to ensure they can 'bring a perpetrator to justice'. Ms Cordingley's father Troy discovered the 24-year-old's naked body in sand dunes almost 12 hours after she was reported missing. Pictured: Toyah Cordingley He made a heartfelt tribute to his daughter on the two year anniversary of her death in October as hundreds gathered on Wangetti Beach to pay their respects. 'It seems like yesterday... it seems like one hundred years. I had a million things to say, but now i don't seem to be able to,' his emotional Facebook post began. 'I miss you more than life itself, i would trade places with you in an instant. 'I am now half the person i used to be, you are my world. 'You are all the love, joy and happiness i have ever known, you taught me to be a better person. 'Without you everything seems pointless. I love you Toyah, my Bright eyes, my world.' US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was urged by a senior senator to convey Washington's opposition to India's proposed purchase of Russian air defence systems as he headed to New Delhi on Friday for talks aimed at deepening security ties. Mr Austin is making the first visit by a top member of the Biden administration to Delhi, as part of efforts to forge an alliance of countries seeking to push back against China's assertiveness in the region. The leaders of the United States, India, Australia and Japan - countries together known as the Quad - held a first summit last week pledging to work together for a free and open Indo-Pacific and to cooperate on maritime and cyber security in the face of challenges from China. On Thursday, the deeply strained relations between the United States and China were on rare public display when their top diplomats levelled sharp rebukes of each others' policies in the first high-level, in-person talks of the Biden administration in Alaska. India drew closer to the United States following its own tensions with China on their disputed Himalayan border, where deadly clashes erupted last year. Washington has helped New Delhi, leasing surveillance drones and supplying cold-weather gear for Indian troops. During Mr Austin's visit, the two sides will be discussing India's plan to purchase armed drones from the United States as well as a large order for over 150 combat jets for the air force and the navy to help narrow the gap with China, people with knowledge of the matter said. One thorny issue expected to come up is India's planned purchase of Russian S-400 air defence systems which under US law can attract sanctions. Washington has imposed sanctions on Turkey for buying that equipment. The chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez, urged Mr Austin to make clear to India officials the Biden administration's opposition to deal. "If India chooses to go forward with its purchase of the S-400, that act will clearly constitute a significant, and therefore sanctionable, transaction with the Russian defense sector under Section 231 of CAATSA," Mr Menendez said in a letter to Mr Austin, referring to the law called Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. "It will also limit India's ability to work with the US on development and procurement of sensitive military technology. I expect you to make all of these challenges clear in conversations with your Indian counterparts," he said. US firms Boeing and Lockheed are front runners for the multi-billion dollar combat jet deals. An Indian government official said no deals were likely to be announced during the visit and that the talks would cover regional and international security issues. "The US and India are close security partners, we expect to have wide ranging discussion with the US side on how to further defence cooperation," the official said. Also read: Biden administration paves way for citizenship for H1B visa holders' children, other immigrants Also read: India closely engaging with US on H-1B visa restrictions: External Affairs Ministry Pig producers have called on the government to recognise the sector's high standards of production in its public procurement policy. The Cabinet Office consulted the industry, which closed for responses on 10 March, on shaping the future of public procurement in the UK 'for many years to come'. It said its goal was to 'speed up and simplify procurement processes' and 'place value for money at its heart'. The United Kingdom spends around 290 billion on public procurement every year, figures show. In its response, the National Pig Association (NPA) said the government should not be able to procure any product from another country using methods that were illegal in the UK. The NPA cited the 1999 UK sow stall ban that saw floods of cheaper imports produced in sow stall systems coming into the UK, undercutting domestic producers and contributing to a halving of the sow herd. "The failure to uphold this principle in the past has resulted in UK companies involved in the pork supply chain being severely disadvantaged by public procurement policy as imports produced to far lower standards have been allowed to be procured simply because they are cheaper. "This is not acceptable, and we expect Government to fully address this within the new policy," the industry body said. It pointed out that the UK food's high standards of production were recognised by the government as they strived to improve both legislative and voluntary measures in many aspects of production. "With such a continued emphasis on welfare improvements by UK government, recognition for these higher standards must extend to public procurement," the NPA response added. "We ask government to level the playing field and insist that all pork and pork products bought under the food plan should be to UK legal standards as a minimum, and preferably to Red Tractor standard or equivalent." Donald Trump and Allen Weisselberg in 2017. TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images Jennifer Weisselberg told NBC News Donald Trump controls people by giving them "homes and things." She's Barry Weisselberg's ex-wife. Prosecutors are investigating to flip his father, a report says. Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg has been loyal to the Trumps for more than 40 years. See more stories on Insider's business page. Related: What the storming of the US Capitol looked like on Wednesday Jennifer Weisselberg, whom Manhattan prosecutors are speaking with as part of a wide-ranging investigation into former President Donald Trump's finances, said Trump instills loyalty in close aides through control. "They control people by compensating you with homes and things," Weisselberg said in an interview with NBC News that was published on Friday. "It's not easy to walk away when they provide your home." Weisselberg has spoken with prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office "multiple times," she told NBC News. The office is examining the finances of Trump and The Trump Organization. Court filings suggest that investigators are looking into whether they broke tax laws by keeping two sets of books to receive both favorable loan terms and low tax rates, which ProPublica previously reported. Prosecutors in the office are trying to "flip" Allen Weisselberg, the CFO of The Trump Organization and the personal bookkeeper of the Trump family's finances, The Washington Post reported. They've obtained millions of pages of documents about Trump's finances through subpoenas and want Allen to guide them through the paperwork, The Post reported. Weisselberg, who divorced Allen's son Barry in 2018, may be helping prosecutors flip him. She told Bloomberg News in 2020 that she and Barry received an apartment from Trump when they got married in 2004 and didn't pay any rent for it. Prosecutors appear to be looking into whether Barry broke tax laws by miscategorizing the apartment on his filings, and whether those details could be used to secure Allen's cooperation. Allen's other son, Jack, also lived in the building for a time, property records reviewed by Insider showed. Story continues "The likelihood of him cooperating goes up significantly if, in fact, the prosecutors have criminal charges that can reasonably be brought against his sons," Jeff Robbins, a former federal prosecutor, previously told Insider. "For the simple human reason that what father would not do something unpleasant in order to help his sons out of a legal jam?" Donald Trump Jr. and Matthew F. Calamari, the COO of The Trump Organization, in 2012. Bobby Bank/Getty Images Allen Weisselberg has been one of Trump's most loyal employees, working for the family since Fred Trump, Donald Trump's father, hired him in the 1970s. His former daughter-in-law suggested to NBC News that the extensive and unusual financial ties between Trump's high-ranking employees and The Trump Organization may help explain that loyalty. Barry Weisselberg also runs the Wollman Rink, operated by The Trump Organization, in Central Park. And Matthew Calamari, the COO of The Trump Organization and another loyal aide, has an apartment at the Trump Parc building. Calamari also has a son who works for the company. "His office is right next door. He discusses everything with him," Jennifer Weisselberg told NBC News of her former father-in-law. "And Donald trusts him to continue the legacy the way his father set things up." Weisselberg also said she's speaking to the public because of a custody dispute with Barry over their two children. "I have no reason to be here except that I am not a woman who is willing to live a life of secrecy, out of fear, any longer," she told NBC News. "They will out resource me in the courts forever, and I have tried to be graceful, and I have tried to handle this privately. And they are not agreeing to do so at all. What choice do I have?" Weisselberg's lawyer previously told Insider that she "refuses to be silenced any longer by those who are conspiring to prevent her from sharing what she has learned over the past 25 years." A representative for The Trump Organization didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for 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. 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. When a government agency responds to an innocent briefing request with a prevaricatory wall of dont-call-us-well-call-you, your antennae start to twitch. When that agency is running a public land development that dwarfs the ghastly Barangaroo yet withholds even a simple list of buildings, its definitely time to get suspicious. At Central Station, Transport for NSW is driving the biggest public urban development in our history. Tens of billions. Yet all theyll give me is outtakes from media release fluff. What are they hiding? Transport used to be the sweet edge of government. The main roads boys reliably behaved like the Baskerville hounds of rampant destruction but transport was gentle. Transport was a repository of train nuts, bus lovers and people who believed in the public aspect of public service. They were principled. Thoughtful, even. Sane. An artist's impression of Atlassian's 40-storey headquarters to be built near Sydney's Central Station. Not any more. Now, theyre playing cowboys. Its as though they think their new badge TfNSW should read as Tuff NSW, or maybe Testosterone for NSW. Suddenly TsNSW is gung-ho to flank a little downtown pedestrian bridge with 12 metre electronic advertising billboards; force light rail through the fragile Cumberland Hospital heritage precinct; flood Sydney with driverless, union-busting metro trains and encourage huge towers on public land at every station including Waterloo, North Sydney and Martin Place. 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. For ten days, watchmaking worldwide will be in the spotlight - online and offline - for this major event in the industry calendar, where the leading names take the stage and reveal their latest products for 2021. Its all set so that wherever in the world they are, whatever the platform, visitors can enjoy the Watches and Wonders experience. From Geneva to Shanghai, as if you were there! The program for Watches and Wonders 2021 is taking shape with a confirmed agenda. First, from April 7 to 13, will be the digital edition of Watches and Wonders Geneva where 38 prestigious brands will gather for the first time on a single platform: watchesandwonders.com. This private event for the media, retailers and the participating brands VIP customers will be followed, from April 14 to 18, by the in person Watches and Wonders Shanghai, which will host 19 brands including first time exhibitors Chopard, Montblanc, Rolex, Tudor and Ulysse Nardin. A complete experience Online or offline, Watches and Wonders doesnt stop here. The physical event has evolved into a comprehensive hub, encompassing brands, retailers, end customers, media and strategic distribution partners such as NET-A-PORTER, MR PORTER and Alibabas Tmall Luxury Pavilion in China. Special campaigns featuring exclusive contents will coincide with the Geneva and Shanghai events to engage audiences beyond the traditional watchmaking sphere. Visitors will also be able to move back and forth between the Watches and Wonders platform and brands web and e-commerce sites. A simple click on the Brand page on watchesandwonders.com, and they can immerse themselves in the brands environment. A complete experience and journey with parallel events virtual tours of manufacturing facilities, face time with ambassadors, virtual parties and more no matter where in the world they are. The journey promises to be intense and varied. As much from the brands side, with product launches, major announcements, On and Off programmes, as from the organisers in the form of exclusive specialist content. Daily at 8.30 CET, the public can tune in to the live Morning Show for a half-hour analysis of all thats new at the Salon. Expert-led panels will debate key topics such as sustainability, innovation, and digital transformation, etc. So many opportunities to continue lively discussions on social media and other online platforms. A flock of pigeons fly against a backdrop of devastation caused by ten years of conflict in Syria (AFP or licensors) In an interview with Vatican News, Archbishop Joseph Tobji of Aleppo of the Maronites reflects on the decade-long war in Syria and its effects on both Church and country. By Vatican News staff writer After a decade of violence and conflict, the civil war in Syria has exacted a heavy toll on its population. Millions have been killed, hundreds of thousands have been injured or are displaced, and an untold number are in need of humanitarian assistance. Particularly affected in this terrible situation are the children. The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) reports that about 90 percent are in need of urgent aid as they have been profoundly impacted by violence, displacement, severance of family ties and lack of access to vital services such as education and healthcare. All these emergencies, further aggravated by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, paint a grim picture. Pope Francis has continually appealed for peace in the war-ravaged country. Most recently, during the Angelus on Sunday, he once again lamented the Syrian war because it has caused one of the worst humanitarian disasters of our times. He called on the international community to provide decisive and renewed commitment to rebuilding the country and urged the faithful to pray to the Lord so that the great suffering in our beloved and tormented Syria may not be forgotten, and that our solidarity may revive hope. As the country struggles with its challenges to restore peace after ten years of hostilities, Federico Piana of Vatican News spoke with Maronite Archbishop Joseph Tobji of Aleppo who reflects on the situation of war in Syria and its devastating effect on the countrys citizens. Pope Francis closeness Archbishop Tobji expresses gratitude to Pope Francis for his appeal for an end to war in Syria on Sunday. He notes that hearing the Holy Fathers appeal was a great relief, and feeling the Popes closeness is joy and consolation because the people of Syria feel forgotten. We no longer have hope in human beings but only in the Lord, said the Archbishop who laments the massive devastation of the country. Now we feel abandoned by the international community. The Archbishop further notes that sanctions have thrown the country into further despair and an estimated 83 percent of the population is living below the poverty line. The people have nothing to do with it and they always pay, he laments. A tried but hopeful Church Amid the prolonged years of fighting, the Church has been profoundly affected. Archbishop Tobji explains that currently, Christians are less than a quarter of the number they used to be when the conflict began. On top of that, young people and professionals are fleeing the country while the poorest and the vulnerable remain. Further illustrating his point, the Archbishop said that this year, there are only eight people getting prepared to receive their First Holy Communion - a situation that dampens hopes, especially regarding pastoral care. However, in spite of everything, Archbishop Tobji expresses optimism the Church will do its best to be active. He notes that some churches are being renovated and plans are being made to renovate even others more. This is a sign that, despite many difficulties, we are still here, he says. Uncertain future In early March, a report by Save the Children highlighted that after a decade of war in the country, many people, particularly children who have fled the conflict do not want to return to Syria. A survey of Syrian refugee children in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and the Netherlands showed that 86 percent of them said that they would not want to return to their country of origin. Responding to a question about the hopeful return of Christians who fled for their lives during the hostilities, the Archbishop expressed uncertainty as many Syrian Christians, though unhappy about their stay in the countries that welcomed them, are still not willing to return to the terrible situation in Syria. A life was senselessly lost due to what appears to be ego mixed with road rage, Sheriff John Idleburg said Friday. The circumstances of this case serve as a stark reminder to not let anger get in the way of safe driving. We hope this first step in the justice process helps to bring additional closure to the Stephens family. The Romanian state will issue certificates for Romanians who had their COVID-19 vaccine and wish to travel as tourists, documents which will be recognized by Greece, declared on Friday, the minister of Economy, Business Environment and Tourism, Claudiu Nasui, at the end of the meeting with the Greek Minister of Tourism, Charis Theocharis. "We will make the final decision during a Government siting, but this is the direction which we will be taking," Nasui said, during a joint press conference with the Greek minister. Nasui specified that the aim of the Government is, firstly, the health of the people, secondly to continue vaccination and thirdly, opening up borders. He also said that he had similar talks with representatives of other countries, mentioning Israel.In turn, the Greek minister, Charis Theocharis, said after meeting with Nasui that Greece wishes to receive Romanian tourists as quickly as possible and that the two governments are open to mutually acknowledge these documents which tourists will be traveling with.He showed that Greek hoteliers are preparing additional benefits for those who are doing the PCR tests, which exceed the value of the test.So that tourists who are taking the test are double benefiting: They are enjoying their vacation and receiving more, Theocharis concluded. AGERPRES A disproportionate percentage of the pro-Trump mob that assaulted the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 were veterans and active-duty service members. Now, a key lawmaker is calling for them to be stripped of all benefits. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who serves on the Armed Services and Veterans Affairs committees, stressed in a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough that "insurrectionists should not enjoy benefits they no longer deserve." "The behavior of these individuals is not representative of the large population of American veterans," said Gallego, a Marine veteran. "Yet, many of the veterans and servicemembers who attacked their own government actively and enthusiastically enjoy special benefits given to them by their fellow citizens." Read Next: Man Arrested with AR-15 and Almost 120 Rounds Near Vice President's Home Is an Army Veteran As of late February, about 13% of all rioters facing charges have a military background. But veterans made up only about 7% of the U.S. population in 2018, according to Census Bureau data. "This situation is unjust," Gallego added. "Any veteran or servicemember who stormed the Capitol on January 6th forfeited their moral entitlement to privileged benefits." Normally, if a veteran is convicted of a felony and imprisoned for more than 60 days, disability compensation is reduced. Veterans rated 20% disabled or more are limited to the 10% disability rate, according to the VA. For a veteran whose disability rating is 10%, the payment is reduced by one-half. GI Bill benefits also are limited for felons. Gallego requested that Attorney General Merrick Garland coordinate with the VA and provide the identities of veterans involved in the siege. He also requested Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to investigate and prosecute any service member or veterans involved under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. There are limited situations in which a retiree can be charged under the UCMJ. Active service members potentially could face sedition charges. Military law says service members are guilty if they intend "to cause the overthrow or destruction of lawful civil authority, [and create], in concert with any other person, revolt, violence, or other disturbance against that authority." The military is trying to root out extremism in its ranks. The Pentagon said 12 National Guard troops were taken off the mission to protect the Capitol after investigators found ties to extremism. Jacob Fracker, an infantryman with the Virginia National Guard, was arrested in connection to the attack. Leaders across the military have been instructed to have a one-day stand-down to talk to their formations about the threats of extremism. When asked about the radicalization of veterans and the military at a White House news briefing earlier this month, McDonough said the VA is looking into why a concerning portion of members of right-wing extremists groups are veterans. He also noted the heroic actions of other veterans during the assault, including those of police officers and Gallego himself. The congressman directed other members of Congress to safety and helped them don gas masks. Officer Brian Sicknick, who was killed by the mob, was an Air National Guard veteran. "I also saw veterans on that day, including members of Congress, who were veterans doing remarkable things, including members of the [Metropolitan Police Department] and the Capitol PD -- veterans doing remarkable things," McDonough said. -- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon. Related: Veterans Used Their Military Training to Plot Violence in Capitol Riot, Feds Say Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 hear a lot about Covid-19, don't we? How we hold to key to suppressing it, beating it, crushing it. We hear adverts on the TV and radio about playing our part and holding firm, washing hands, staying apart and sticking together. We listen when our health chiefs and politicians talk about new variants and the worrying spread, restrictions being tightened and then lifted and then tightened again. It's exhausting for a start, but for Offaly people, it is now infuriating. TAP TO READ NEXT: Large increase in new Covid-19 cases in Offaly today Since Christmas, Offaly's daily cases have been stubbornly high and for most of that period, we've had the highest 14-day incidence rate of the virus in the entire country. Thirty-odd cases are added to the Offaly total most days and we report it because it's significant. We're being warned about the spread every day and looking around at family and friends, most people are doing the right things, and yet, the virus is spreading faster (per population) in Offaly than anywhere else. It's a worry, no doubt about it. The latest Local Electoral Area Covid-19 numbers for the two-week period from March 2 to March 15 shows that the rate of the virus has risen in Edenderry and Tullamore, while it's fallen in Birr. The figures show Tullamore is the worst locality in Ireland for Covid-19 cases based on the size of the population. The 14-day incidence rate for Tullamore is now at 483.6 cases per 100,000 with 141 new cases confirmed in the last two weeks. Last week the rate for the Tullamore Area was 418.4 cases per 100,000 so it's rising and we don't really know why. The rate in the Edenderry area has also increased this week. Last week the rate for the area stood at 161.3 cases per 100,000 but it has now increased to 300.1 cases per 100,000 with 70 new cases in the last two weeks. Meanwhile, the Birr Area has seen the rate drop again this week. Two weeks ago, the rate for the Birr area stood at 498.5 cases per 100,000. It fell to 357.2 last week and this week it's down to 274.8 cases per 100,000. There have been 70 new cases in the area in the last two weeks. As of Friday, the 14-day incidence rate for Offaly as a whole stands at 350.2 cases per 100,000, down only slightly from the previous week and still the highest in Ireland. There have been 273 new cases in Offaly in the two-week period up to March 18. The 14-day incidence rate for Ireland has now fallen to 150.8 cases per 100,000, so Offaly's figure is more than twice that average. It's a bit like a new secret of Fatima trying to figure out where the cases are and in what settings they are occurring. Our frontline staff and nursing home residents are being vaccinated and yet we have all these cases. Businesses have been closed for months so they're not in restaurants and cafes, and it's not schools because the Offaly cases were rising long before the delayed reopening of education. Bar an outbreak at the Nelipak plant in Clara which we know contributed more than 20 cases to that Tullamore Local Electoral total last month, we're none the wiser on the cases before or since. For the figures quoted above, we have no idea where those cases are, beyond 'somewhere in Tullamore' and 'somewhere in Edenderry'. Let's not forget these electoral areas are far bigger than just the towns in each case. We have our ear to the ground and talk to a lot of people in the county, and very few are aware of outbreaks. And we have asked. Last month, responding to the figures and Offaly's precarious position with the virus, Dr Una Fallon, Director of Public Health HSE, Midlands, said: "While Offaly currently has the highest rate of Covid-19 in comparison to other counties, there is no reason to be alarmed. "Offaly is not a densely populated county so a small rise in the actual number of Covid-19 cases, looks like a significant rise in Covid-19 rates. "Cases are occurring in a wide range of settings such as workplaces, residential care facilities etc, all of which we are familiar with. No one setting explains the current numbers. I would to thank the public for their efforts to date and appeal to them to continue to adhere to level 5 restrictions, to wear a face mask, to stringently observe social distancing and practice good hand hygiene." The only thing is; people are alarmed because the 14-day incidence rate reflects spread in relation to population size so a smaller number is more significant in a county like Offaly. It shows a trend that will make people fearful; fearful of their families, friends and neighbours, and that feeling is toxic. Almost every setting is mentioned as contributing to cases, so we can't pinpoint where they are and there's no urgency to tell us. And yet, we're told to adhere to restrictions, wear a mask, etc, etc. Offaly people are doing all of those things as well as people in any other county. When you go to the supermarket, everybody is wearing a mask. People are staying apart and doing all that is asked of them. And if that's not the case, surely our health chiefs should be telling us. So, how can we fight back, do the right things and correct offending behaviours affecting our numbers if we don't know where or how those cases are occurring? We deserve to be told so we can address it. We need to know the settings involved so the media can ask the people involved what's going on? What measures are in place? Are they adequate? In the absence of that, we're reporting with both hands tied behind our backs and that has a serious impact on our effectiveness. Our job as journalists is to shine a light on issues in general and if there are issues in some settings with regard to Covid-19, the information pertaining to those should be shared so we can examine it and delve a little deeper. The residents of the county themselves should be in the know; is there a particular setting in their town or village that is out of control or contributing to the spread and putting them at greater risk? The relaying of information now, by electoral area, only alerts us to the presence of significant numbers. It's like telling someone to take steps to avoid a wildfire spreading to their home but not telling them where the fire is or how it started. We're aiming the hose in the dark and it's not acceptable. Every day we're told how many cases there have been, how many vaccines have been administered and how many people have sadly died. The Department of Health has a so-called data hub with charts and tables illustrating this everpresent doom across the country. Despite all that, and with Offaly deemed worst in class, no one has told us where we're going wrong as a county. Maybe those in charge should have sent themselves back to school instead of the kids. Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Bengali actor Srabanti Chatterjee from Behala West Assembly seat against heavyweight Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and state education minister Partha Chatterjee. Popular Bengali actress Srabanti Chatterjee joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) On Tuesday (March 2). The Bengali actress was welcomed by the party's national general secretary, Kailash Vijayvargiya and BJP West Bengal President, Dilip Ghosh. BJP on Thursday (March 18) released a list of 148 candidates for the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth phases of the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections. After her candidature was announced, she started door-to-door campaigning in her constituency. "I am excited. When I got to know that BJP has given me a ticket from Behala West, I could not stop myself to come out. I am getting support from the people here," Srabanti told ANI. West Bengal Assembly elections will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. Live TV Campus News In message to campus community, Tripathi condemns anti-Asian violence By UBNOW STAFF Hate has no haven at UB. We will never allow xenophobia to gain traction on our campus. UB President Satish K. Tripathi issued a statement to the campus community Thursday afternoon condeming anti-Asian violence. To our entire UB community and to our Asian and Asian American communities in particular, let me reiterate: Hate has no haven at UB, Tripathi said. We will never allow xenophobia to gain traction on our campus. We are here for you, we stand with you, and we deeply value all of your contributions to our campus community. The statement comes in the wake of the shooting deaths of eight people in Atlanta, six of whom were women of Asian descent. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have seen a deeply disturbing spike in incidents of hatred and violence against Asians and Asian Americans in our country, Tripathi said, adding that the Atlanta shootings earlier this week have intensifed the concern and fear reverberating across the Asian and Asian American communities. We stand in sorrow and solidarity with our students, faculty and staff of Asian descent, Tripathi said. Moreover, as a global community of scholars grounded in ideals of social justice, we condemn, in the strongest of terms, anti-Asian harassment, hatred and violence just as we condemn the ignorance, prejudice and bigotry at their root. Tripathi said UB is incredibly fortunate to have a large and growing number of students, faculty and staff of Asian descent as members of the UB community, and added that the university has a long and proud history of contributions from Asian and Asian American students dating back to the 19th century. Throughout this time, we have always treasured UBs Asian and Asian American communities for their diversity of intellectual perspective, the cultural richness they share with our campus community and their critical contributions to pressing societal issues, Tripathi said. At this moment, sadly, one of the most troubling issues is xenophobia. That is why it is imperative that we at UB reaffirm, and recommit to, our mission and identity as a university grounded in principles of inclusion, diversity and social justice. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! WASHINGTON When Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was expelled from her congressional committees as punishment for conspiracy mongering and violent statements, she embraced her exile, declaring that she had been freed from the obligation to participate in the drudgery of legislating. If I was on a committee, Id be wasting my time, said Ms. Greene, Republican of Georgia. Since then Ms. Greene, locked out of the policymaking process, has instead devoted the first weeks of her term in Congress to disrupting House floor proceedings and trolling her colleagues on social media. She recently gummed up a string of straightforward procedural votes to advance gun control legislation and wasted hours of lawmakers time with dilatory tactics as the House worked to pass the far-reaching economic stimulus package, all the while building her inflammatory profile. Ms. Greene may be something of an outlier, but her reaction to her exile illustrated a new reality that has taken hold in Congress, most vividly in the new ranks of Republicans. A growing number of lawmakers have demonstrated less interest in the nitty-gritty passing of laws and more in using their powerful perches to build their own political brands and stoke outrage among their opponents. The trend has contributed to the deep dysfunction on Capitol Hill, where viral moments of Republicans trying to troll their colleagues across the aisle often in the mold of President Donald J. Trump, who delighted in being disruptive, often on social media generate far more attention than legislative debate. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. MIAMI The recruitment of the sham candidate began with a Facebook message at around 4 a.m. on May 15, 2020. Call me, a Florida legislator turned lobbyist wrote to an old friend. I have a question for you. Later that day, former State Senator Frank Artiles, a Republican, asked Alexis Pedro Rodriguez by phone whether he still owned a home in the suburban Miami village of Palmetto Bay. Because in that case, Mr. Artiles wanted something else: to put his friends property and last name to use in the upcoming election. The incumbent Democrat, State Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez, was on the ballot. And Mr. Artiles, a crafty political operator with a dubious reputation, had a plan: to plant his friend as a candidate and siphon off votes that could defeat Senator Rodriguez. The plan worked, setting off one of Floridas most brazen electoral scandals in years even by the heady standards of a state that has long been fertile ground for political scammers. What is still uncertain is how broad the scandal is, whether it had touched other races and whether it was part of an organized effort by Republicans or an interest group to sway legislative races. Going through it. Kim Kardashian is shown having a hard time handling her marriage problems with Kanye West during the Thursday, March 25, episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Read article Following the Thursday, March 18, premiere, a clip for the next episode showed Kris Jenner speaking with Kourtney Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian at their Malibu rental home about how Kim, 40, is coping amid her marital woes. I know she doesnt want to talk about it on camera, the momager, 65, says as Kim is shown swinging in a chair away from cameras. But I just feel like shes struggling a bit. Kourtney, 41, says that Kim cant possibly navigate this on her own, to which Kris replies, I dont know how shes dealing with the stress of it all. Shutterstock (2) The KKW Beauty mogul revealed on the Thursday episode that her children with the Gold Digger rapper North, 7, Saint, 5, Chicago, 3, and Psalm, 22 months were in Wyoming as she studied for a law school exam. Thats the hardest thing for me is to be away from the kids, she said. But I have to really dedicate myself and do it. Read article Kim and West, 43, have experienced many ups and downs throughout their six-year marriage. Their issues came to a head in late 2020 after West announced his run for president. At his South Carolina rally that July, he revealed that the longtime pair nearly aborted their eldest child, North. He later continued to share private family matters via Twitter, where he alleged that he has been trying to get divorced from Kim. He additionally called his now-estranged wifes mother Kris Jong-Un, referencing controversial North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. Though the Yeezy designer later issued a public apology to the reality star, a source told Us Weekly exclusively that Kim was meeting with lawyers to explore and talk about divorce. Kim officially filed for divorce from West on February 19 after Us confirmed in January that she was done with their marriage. The day after the split news broke, Us exclusively revealed that the turning point in the pairs marriage was when the Grammy winner claimed that slavery was a choice during his 2018 interview with TMZ. Read article They went through a really rough patch in the aftermath of that, the source said. Kim was completely mortified by Kanyes ridiculous and outrageous comments. It took a lot for them to move past it, but they were able to eventually. But when Kanye told the world that he and Kim had discussed aborting North [in July 2020], it was the breaking point in their marriage. A separate insider told Us that the businesswoman is doing well and taking things day by day amid her separation from West. On Monday, March 15, Kim opened up about the challenging year she has endured parenting her children amid her divorce. Just the amount of time that me and all my parent friends have all spent with our children has been so beautiful that we get this time, she said on Good Morning Vogue. I always try to look at things in a positive way. Even though it has been such a challenging year, its a time to regenerate, get creative, spend so much time with family. Just this time Ive been able to spend with my children has been priceless. Keeping Up With the Kardashians airs on E! Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET. He was later found 'safe and well', Gloucestershire Police have now confirmed Officers had appealed for information about the schoolboy's whereabouts Pictured: Jacob James, who was found following an appeal A boy who went missing on his way to school in Gloucestershire has been found. Police today launched an urgent appeal to find Jacob James, six, who vanished as he walked to school in Coleford at 8.30am. Gloucestershire Police later confirmed the schoolboy had been found 'safe and well.' A statement added: 'We're pleased to confirm that six-year-old Jacob, who was reported missing earlier this morning, has been found safe and well. 'Thank you to everyone who has shared our post.' Officers had grown concerned for Jacob's welfare after he vanished while walking to school on Friday. Jacob was described as being 4ft tall with blond hair and was wearing a green camouflage jumper, black Adidas jogging bottoms and green camouflage shoes. A spokesperson for Gloucestershire Police said earlier: 'Police are appealing for help in finding a six-year-old boy who has gone missing in Coleford. 'Jacob James was last seen in Tufthorn Road as he was heading to school at 8.30am.' Is the national media obsessed with racial conflict? Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The tragic events that transpired in Atlanta earlier this week serve as a vivid illustration of how ill-served the American people are by their media. A very troubled 21-year-old white man attacked three spas in the Atlanta area, murdering eight people, six of whom were Asian women. The perpetrator said he was a sex addict who was seeking to remove sexual temptation (all three spas were listed on Rubmaps, an erotic review telling people where they can locate and rate illicit massage parlors), and when captured, he was on his way to attack other sexually-oriented businesses. However, the media immediately glommed onto the fact that six Asian women had been murdered by a white man and instantaneously the media started chanting hate crime and systemic white racism. The New York Times front page, top fold headline is illustrative: Rampage in Georgia Deepens Fears of Rising Anti-Asian Hatred in U.S. USA TODAY, the slightly more monosyllabic New York Times mini-me, breathlessly proclaimed just below the newspaper masthead, Horrific Georgia killings heighten fear of hate. Perhaps the apex of nonsense was achieved by Rep. Bee Nguyen, a Georgia legislator, queen of politically hip lingo who described the murders as at the intersection of gender-bias violence, misogyny and xenophobia. What all of these reporters have refused to see in their single-minded obsession with ethnicity is that this young man was in the grips of a far more prevalent evil in our society pornography. If this young man was a sex addict you can bet that pornography started him on this devastating journey. He probably started when he was 11 or 12 years old when he saw hard core pornography for the first time likely on a friends cellphone. Some of us have been warning for a generation that the bitter fruit of the current immersion of our young men in hard core electronic pornography so readily available to all, would produce generations of men imprisoned by pornography in ways that will stifle, stunt, warp, and doom their chances to develop into the men, husbands, and fathers God created them to be. Such massive exposure to this spiritually and emotionally toxic waste, especially in a culture already given to addictively narcissistic self-worship, would, and will, prove to be catastrophic. Yet, our culture and our media have been so desensitized to the evils that pornography generates that it has been blinded to the even more depraved and bizarre sexual behaviors that it produces. Decades ago, Ed Meeces Attorney Generals Commission on Pornography report demonstrated that a certain number of men who view pornography will become addicted. Having become addicted, they need evermore depraved subject matter to receive the same endorphin hit. At some point, some become so addicted to depraved behaviors that not even prostitutes will perform these acts for money thus the demand for sexual slavery and the increase in sex crimes. As I read this story of the massage parlor murders and the press coverage of them, I was reminded of a discussion that occurred over lunch on November 12, 2001, in the Attorney Generals private dining room in the Justice Department in Washington D.C. The guests were Dr. James Dobson, Chuck Colson, and myself. Attorney General Ashcroft asked each of us what we felt was the single greatest threat facing America. I think all of us were somewhat surprised since each of us had a different answer. The Attorney General turned to me first, and I said that until a few years ago I would have answered without hesitation the assault on the sanctity of human life, starting with abortion and moving out to the culture of death that it has engendered: the killing of already born babies, the killing of partially born babies, the push for physician-assisted suicide, and the right to withhold sustenance from prematurely born babies. This whole culture of death has devalued life and has caused people to challenge the innate right to life mandated by our Creator. However, I told the Attorney General that I had recently changed my mind, not because the sanctity of life issue has gotten any better, but because hard core pornography has overtaken it. I believe hard core internet pornography is destroying more lives every day than the several thousand killed each day through abortion. Chuck Colson said he hated to disagree, but that he believed that the greatest problem facing America today was still the denial of the sanctity of life. Dr. Dobson declared that he believed that both Chuck and I were mistaken. He believed the greatest single threat to America was the radical LGBT agenda that sought to dismantle the traditional family, the basic building block for Western civilization. Actually, from the perspective of 2021, it would seem that all three of us were right. Pornography, the culture of death, and the radical homosexual assault on the family are the three horsemen of the modern Apocalypse, wreaking havoc and destruction across the landscape of 21st century America. Racial and ethnic hatred and violence are terrible. And they should be denounced. However, no matter how politically incorrect it may be to say so, such hatred and violence does not pose as grave a threat to Americans and our civilization as these three lethal horsemen. All India Bar Examination (AIBE) 15 results to be declared in third week of March India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 19: The All India Bar Examination (AIBE) 15 results will be declared soon. The same once declared will be available on the official website. To check your results you will have to use your AIBE 15 roll number. The result is expected in the third week of March. "The result for AIBE-XV held on 24th January, 2021 would be uploaded in the 3rd week of March, 2021," says a statement on the AIBE website. The All India Bar Examination was held as a centre based offline exam for 100 multiple choice questions. Those qualifying the exam will be awarded with a Certificate of Practice, which enables candidates to practice in an Indian court of law. The answer keys have already been release and the results are being released after taking into consideration the objections raised. There will be no negative marking in the AIBE 15 exam. The results once declared will be available on allindiabarexamination.com. SpaceX already has over 1,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, but that's just a tiny fraction of the full constellation the company plans to deploy. While it originally asked the FCC for permission to launch 12,000 satellites, it could have as many as 42,000 in orbit within a few decades. Since those satellites could collide with other spacecraft in orbit and having that many increases the chances of an accident happening NASA and SpaceX have signed (PDF) a joint agreement in an effort to prevent their assets from crashing into each other. As TechCrunch notes, NASA already works with other entities launching objects into orbit using a standard Conjunction Assessment process that determines the risks of a close and high-speed approach between objects in space. This agreement with SpaceX, however, will ensure they'll actively work together in the coming years to actively prevent collisions from happening. NASA has agreed to provide SpaceX with information about its missions in advance, as well as not to move its assets in the event of a possible collision: It trusts SpaceX's Starlink satellites to be the ones to take evasive action. The company will also use the information NASA provides to program Starlink's automated avoidance measures so that the satellites won't have to take evasive actions in the first place. In addition, SpaceX will need to make sure its Starlink launches have a minimum distance of 5 kilometers above or below the highest and lowest points of the International Space Station's orbit. Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk said in a statement: (Alliance News) - Metal Tiger PLC on Friday signed an agreement to invest in Armada Exploration Ltd, which holds two exploration licences in Gabon that are prospective for magmatic nickel-copper sulphide. The natural resources focused investor has subscribed for 5.0 million Armada shares at 15 US cents each, or USD750,000 in total, through a promissory note, with USD350,000 to be paid upfront, and USD400,000 to be paid in monthly instalments over the next five months. Following this investment, Metal Tiger will hold a 19% interest in Armada. It also will receive 3.3 million 36-month options issued at 22.5 US cents within five business days following completion. Armada itself is planning to conduct a drilling programme over 18 targets within both licences, which cover a total area of 3,000 kilometres, in the second half of 2021. Armada also is targeting an initial public offering to coincide with mobilising the drill rig, though it didn't say on which stock exchange. "We are pleased to invest in Armada, which presents a district scale opportunity with compelling geology. This frontier is significantly under-explored, which makes it so exciting, and we welcome the longer-term proposal for Armada to undertake an IPO," said Metal Tiger Chief Executive Officer Michael McNeilly. "Armada has completed significant work to create a compelling geological model that has delineated multiple drill-ready projects. Should the initial work programme prove successful it has the potential to create significant value uplift across all of the untested targets and increase the overall attractiveness of the district," McNeilly added. Shares in Metal Tiger were up 3.0% at 21.37 pence on Friday in London. By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Googles plan to block a web tracking tool called cookies is a source of concern for US Justice Department investigators who have been asking advertising industry executives whether the move by the search giant will hobble its smaller rivals, people familiar with the situation said. Alphabets Google a year ago announced it would ban some cookies in its Chrome browser to increase user privacy. Over the last two months, Google released more details, leading online ads rivals to complain about losing the data-gathering tool. The questions from Justice Department investigators have touched on how Chrome policies, including those related to cookies, affect the ad and news industries, four people said. Investigators are asking whether Google is using Chrome, which has 60pc global market share, to reduce competition by preventing rival ad companies from tracking users through cookies while leaving loopholes for it to gather data with cookies, analytics tools and other sources, the sources added. The latest conversations, which have not been previously reported, are a sign that officials are tracking Googles projects in the global online ad market where it and Facebook control about 54pc of revenue. The ad inquiry may not lead to legal action. Executives from more than a dozen companies from an array of sectors have spoken with Justice Department investigators, one of the sources said. The government has been investigating Googles search and advertising business since mid-2019, and last October it sued Google for allegedly using anticompetitive tactics to maintain the dominance of its search engine. It has continued to probe Googles ad practices. Investigators also have asked rivals whether they encountered behavior similar to or worse than the advertising-focused accusations that attorneys general from Texas and other states leveled against Google in a lawsuit last December, the people said. The Justice Department declined comment for this story. Google defended its moves in the ads business, saying it was helping companies grow and protecting users privacy from exploitative practices. A spokeswoman pointed to an alternative to cookies that Google is leading called the Privacy Sandbox that could allow businesses to target clusters of consumers without identifying individuals, among other proposals. We will not replace third-party cookies with alternative methods to track individual people across the web, she said. If the Justice Department sues over ads-related conduct, it could file a new lawsuit or join the Texas case, one of the sources said. But antitrust litigation experts said the department also still had time to amend its existing complaint to include the ad tech concerns. Texas on Tuesday amended its complaint to, among other things, allege that forthcoming changes to Chrome are anti-competitive because they raise barriers to entry and exclude competition in web advertising. Google has been limiting data collection and usage across several of its services. The Chrome changes would affect ad tech companies that use cookies to collect peoples viewing history to direct more relevant ads to them. We dont believe tracking individuals across the web will stand the test of time as privacy concerns continue to accelerate, Jerry Dischler, a Google vice president, told an industry conference last week. But smaller rivals dismiss the privacy rationale used by big companies such as Google and Apple Inc to restrict tracking since they would continue to collect valuable data and potentially more ad revenue. There is a weaponization of privacy to justify business decisions that consolidate power to their business and disadvantage the broader marketplace, said Chad Engelgau, chief executive of Interpublic Group of Companiess ad data unit Acxiom Read More Read More Kolkata: A full bench of the Election Commission of India is likely to visit West Bengal to review the preparedness for the ensuing Assembly elections in the state of West Bengal, a poll official said on Thursday (March 18). The assembly elections in West Bengal are scheduled to be conducted in eight phases. The voting for phase 1 for 30 constituencies will take place on Saturday (March 27), voting for phase 2 for 30 constituencies will be held on Thursday (April 1). The results for these state assembly elections will be declared on Sunday (May 2). An official told PTI that "The full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) is likely to visit West Bengal on March 23 to supervise the preparations. They will hold meetings with senior officials of the state administration, particularly of those areas which are going to polls in the first phase." He added by saying that at least 191 candidates have been found eligible for contesting the state assembly elections in the first phase. In the second phase of state assembly elections, a total of 172 nominees will contest. The first phase of the West Bengal state assembly election will take place in Bankura, Purulia, Purba Medinipur (Part one) and Paschim Medinipur (part one). The second phase of the West Bengal state assembly election will take place in South 24 Parganas (Part one), Bankura (Part two), Purba Medinipur (Part two) and Paschim Medinipur (part two). Live TV Aprils UFC 261 in Florida wont be a one-off for the UFC when it comes to taking events back in front of maximum-capacity crowds. UFC 262, which takes place May 15, will mark the promotions return to Texas. The company on Friday announced the card will go down at Toyota Center in Houston. Tickets go on sale to the public April 2. The card will be headlined by a vacant lightweight championship fight between Charles Oliveira (30-8 MMA, 18-8 UFC) and Michael Chandler (22-5 MMA, 1-0 UFC). The UFC hasnt hosted an event in Texas since before the coronavirus pandemic began UFC 247 in February 2020. Dana White has shown ambition in getting back in front of crowds as soon as possible, and said this month Texas would be willing to take on events immediately. Ultimately, Whites plan to take UFC 260 on Mach 27 to Texass proved unfruitful, so he took ann April card to Jacksonville, Fla. Now the UFC will hit Texas in May. The latest UFC 262 card includes: The police watchdog has launched a probe after a 44-year-old man was left in a critical condition having been restrained by Metropolitan Police officers at his home following a call-out to a disturbance. Officers were called to a property in Haringey, north London, at around 7.30pm on Thursday, where they found a man who appeared to be unwell and distressed. He was restrained by officers and the London Ambulance Service was called. After he became unresponsive, paramedics provided first aid and he was taken to hospital. The police watchdog has launched a probe after a 44-year-old man was left in a critical condition having been restrained by Metropolitan Police officers at his home following a call-out to a disturbance The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) was notified of the incident by the force and sent an investigator to view body-warn camera footage. An independent investigation was then declared shortly before 1pm on Friday. Initial accounts have been obtained from witnesses and bosses continue to gather video footage from the scene. IOPC Regional Director Sal Naseem said: 'My thoughts are with the man and his family at this difficult time. We have been in contact with them and have explained our role. 'Our investigation will look at the contact the police had with the man before he went to hospital. 'I would like to reassure people that we will carry out a thorough and independent investigation into the full circumstances to establish what happened.' The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has named its candidate for the Muthialpet seat in the April 6 Assembly elections while announcing that it would support the Secular Democratic Alliance (SDA) in other constituencies. The party announced R Saravanan, an advocate, as its candidate from the Muthialpet seat. unit secretary R Rajangam told reporters here on Thursday that the party, a constituent of the Congress-led SDA, was not earmarked any seat but had decided to contest from Muthialpet. "We have therefore fielded our nominee in Muthialpet," Rajangam said, adding the would however, seek the voters' support for the SDA in other segments where the Congress, DMK and other allies have fielded candidates. The Congress has fielded its nominees in 14 segments out of the 15 seats allotted to it through an accord with the DMK recently. While the DMK has fielded its candidates in 13 segments, the CPI and VCK, the other constituents of SDA, have been earmarked one seat each. (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 on the heels of iProspects merger with media network Vizeum, dentsu international has relaunched iProspect globally as a digital-first end-to-end media agency. iProspect is now focussed on being the first agency to offer performance-driven brand building at a global scale. Along with this, iProspect has adopted the Brands Accelerated tagline to sit beneath a reimagined logo within a new, bold and accessible brand identity and website. The new iProspect entity is led by Global President Amanda Morrissey, bringing together more than 8,000 media and performance specialists across 93 key global markets. The new agency will fuse existing capabilities such as brand building, strategic planning, business intelligence, marketing activation and performance optimisation, plus the capabilities of scaled services within dentsu international; to give the teams huge breadth and depth of skills to draw upon to accelerate client growth. Also read: iProspect launches as a new agency in India & Globally Dentsu bolsters global media offering by bringing together iProspect and Vizeum Commenting on the launch, Rubeena Singh, CEO, iProspect India, in a release issued had said, With the launch of iProspects new structure, we are extremely proud to be the first agency to offer performance-driven brand building at scale. Over the years, our mission and vision have definitely evolved and with the rapidly evolving environment, one has to change. The one thing that has stayed constant is that we continue to remain focused on driving business results for our clients. By launching as a new digital-first end-to-end agency, we at iProspect, look forward to bringing future-ready solutions, which will further accelerate brand growth for our clients. With the might and scale of dentsu behind us, this structure is indeed set to define a new era of performance-driven brand building, not only in India but also globally. In conversation with Adgully, Rubeena Singh shares her insights on iProspects relaunch, their strategy for the India market, their approach to brand building, vision for iProspect in India and much more. Give us some insights on the relaunch of iProspect? What is the object behind this relaunch and why this is the right time for this move? iProspect has been reborn as a completely new media agency, its not just a new brand identity. We have a new proposition, a new approach to working, enhanced capabilities and integrated teams and leadership. The only thing that has remained the same is the name. Two agencies with a lot of heritage and globally scaled brands have come together to make this new iProspect. By integrating these two award winning agencies, dentsu international brings Vizeums media strategy and planning, storytelling and brand building capabilities together with iProspects digital expertise, audience knowledge, and performance mindset. Clients will have access to the unique capabilities of both agencies, all from one integrated team of highly skilled experts from across a multitude of media specialisms. We believe brand drives performance, and performance drives brand. We no longer exist in an ecosystem where these elements can be planned and bought separately. We must look at business and brand goals through a combined lens, and this will mean accelerated growth for our clients. How are you fortifying your capabilities in terms of brand approach considering the stress on brand building on a global scale? How exactly will the brands be benefitting from this offering? This integration is a result of two power brands coming together and truly integrating to provide solutions to clients. So, what we will be able to offer the clients is vast array of capabilities audience insights, market strategies, market-leading planning (from the skills we have brought in from Vizeum) coupled with the activation and business. In addition, we will access the broader Dentsu Indias capability set, allowing clients the flexibility to build bespoke and specialised teams with resources from across the network seamlessly. With this re-launch, how are you looking at the Indian market and which areas are you considering to go forward in the Indian market? Right now, the launch is just a beginning and we have to now start demonstrating our end to end solutions and also focus on building a culture for our teams where our teams can thrive. This will help us provide solutions that we want to offer to our clients. As an agency, we want to be behind the biggest growth stories in the business. Our mission is to deliver smart, scalable, honest, and relevant work that grows business, enriches our clients and makes media momentous. To do this, we need to focus on our current clients and understand how we can better help them succeed and grow their businesses through our dual-lens perspective of brand and performance. We will also look to partner with other brands, both domestic and international, who find themselves at a pivot point in their digital transformation in media. This is where we will make the biggest difference and where our skillsets can drive bigger and better growth for our clients. With the tag line Brand Accelerated, how is this defining your business operations? How will this dictate your approach to working with brands? Today, we are more connected than ever before. These new connections are unlocking new possibilities in media. And creating more opportunity for never seen before innovation growth happens where areas of critical importance for brands intersect culture/ technology/ data & insight/ content/ commerce. The new iProspect brings in these different perspectives and thrives at the intersection of brand and performance. We unite brand and performance to drive growth in a way that also builds brands. This enables us to create the acceleration for the brands we work with. In the market the sentiment is high for Vocal for Local, Bharat, Make in India. How does the re-launch look at scaling up the India strategy and what are your plans for regional India? How will they help you in your brand journey? I believe there is a huge potential in Bharat, which as an agency we are now more enabled to unlock. The new iProspect is all about finding growth where areas of critical importance for brands intersect. Growth happens at the intersection of culture/ technology/ data & insight/ content/ commerce. All these elements are increasingly interconnected and are interdependent. Each informs and amplifies the other. Culture Culture frames what is going on in the world and what is important to people right now. This is increasingly informed by technology. Technology Technology creates new ways to do things and new opportunities to serve and reach consumers. And technology depends on data. Data & insight Media creates audience data signals that can unlock human insight and understanding. This informs the content we create. Content New forms of content allows us to reach and engage people in new ways and technology connect this to new areas such as commerce. Commerce Increasingly, every media touchpoint is a commerce opportunity bringing media and sales more closely together. This enabled by technology, content and data. We now have all these capabilities residing in the new iProspect. Could you tell us about the new logo and how it reflects the new agencys ideology? The new logo is a reflection of the growth found at intersections. We believe that brands that thrive at intersections grow the fastest. You can no longer look at branding and performance in silos. This is what we want to unlock for our clients. What is the vision for iProspect in the digitally disrupted transitioned post-pandemic world? The new iProspect is a digital-first, end to end media agency. It is set to define a new era of performance-driven brand building in the industry. The opportunity is really huge, especially in the post-pandemic world, where consumers and clients are thinking digital-first. We are restless in our pursuit of iterative improvement and are committed to delivering smart, scalable, honest and relevant work that grows business, enriches our clients and makes media momentous. CHICAGO, March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) recently reviewed BESLERs Revenue Integrity Solutions service suite using the Peer Review process. After undergoing the rigorous review, BESLERs Revenue Integrity Solutions have been awarded the Peer Reviewed by HFMA designation. BESLERs suite of revenue integrity solutions including Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) Validation, Transfer DRG Revenue Recovery and Indirect Medical Education (IME) Revenue Recovery ensures hospitals collect reimbursement they have rightfully earned while maintaining compliance. Were very proud of the fact that our Revenue Integrity Solutions are so well regarded among our customers, said Jonathan Besler, President and CEO of BESLER. The results of HFMAs thorough Peer Review process confirm the value that our clients see in this solution suite. Our Revenue Integrity Solutions ensure optimal post-bill revenue recovery yielding tangible results while placing minimal burdens on hospital staff. HFMA's Peer Review process provides healthcare financial managers with an objective, third-party evaluation of business solutions used in the healthcare workplace. The rigorous, 11-step process includes a Peer Review panel review composed of current customers, prospects who have not made a purchase, and industry experts. The Peer Review status of the healthcare business solution and its performance claims are based on effectiveness, quality and usability, price, value, and customer and technical support. Were pleased to have BESLER achieve their HFMA Peer Reviewed designation, said HFMA President and CEO Joseph J. Fifer, FHFMA, CPA. The HFMA Peer Review process assures our members, through a rigorous evaluation, that the reviewed healthcare business solution meets an objective, third-party assessment of overall effectiveness, quality and value." View the Key Findings Report for a summary of BESLERs Revenue Integrity Solutions performance. About HFMA The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) equips its more than 64,000 members nationwide to navigate a complex healthcare landscape. Finance professionals in the full range of work settings, including hospitals, health systems, physician practices and health plans, trust HFMA to provide the guidance and tools to help them lead their organizations, and the industry, forward. HFMA is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization that advances healthcare by collaborating with other key stakeholders to address industry challenges and providing guidance, education, practical tools and solutions, and thought leadership. We lead the financial management of healthcare. About BESLER BESLER combines best-in-class healthcare finance expertise with proprietary technology to help hospitals recover more revenue. Our reimbursement and revenue integrity solutions have delivered more than $4 billion of additional revenue to hundreds of hospitals across the United States. We serve as advocates for hospitals, so that they, in turn, can better advance the health and well-being of their patients. Press inquiries should be directed to: Karen Thomas Healthcare Financial Management Association (708) 492-3377 kthomas@hfma.org Michael Passanante BESLER (732) 839-1221 mpassanante@besler.com We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will attend a NATO meeting next week in Brussels in a show of American support for the alliance, the State Department said Friday. "The meetings in Brussels reaffirm the United States' commitment to our Allies and European partners on our shared agenda," department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. Blinken's March 22-25 trip is yet another illustration of a foreign policy reset under President Joe Biden that stresses diplomacy and backing for long-standing relationships after four years of "America first" isolationism in which Donald Trump tended to treat other countries more as rivals than allies. Blinken will attend a NATO ministerial meeting for talks on concerns over China and Russia, as well as climate change, cyber security, combatting terrorism, energy security, and other "common challenges," Price said. America's top diplomat will also confer with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and his EU counterpart Josep Borrell to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic, global economic recovery, climate change and how to strengthen democracy, Price said. (AFP) The Army is investigating the discovery of a second set of human skeletal remains in a training area on Fort Bliss, Texas, this year. The Fort Bliss Provost Marshal's Office was notified Thursday of the discovery after a citizen walking in the Castner Range and Hondo Pass area called local law enforcement in El Paso, according to a base news release Friday. Fort Bliss Criminal Investigation Command agents were dispatched, in coordination with El Paso medical examiners, to investigate the scene, which was located near a Border Patrol Station in northeast El Paso. Read Next: Lawmaker Urges VA to Take Away Benefits of Vets Who Assaulted Capitol "Indications are the remains have been there for quite some time, due to their condition," according to the release. "The remains were discovered above ground and there is no evidence to indicate they had been buried. "There is no danger to area residents or the community," it added. The discovery comes after another set of skeletal remains was found Jan. 10 at McGregor Range Complex off Highway 506, approximately three miles from another Border Patrol checkpoint. That location is about 75 miles north of where the remains were found Thursday, Bliss spokeswoman Lt. Col. Allie Payne told Military.com. Officials at the Armed Forces Medical Examiner at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, have not completed identifying the first set of remains, Payne said. The remains found Thursday will also be sent to Dover for identification, according to the release. Army officials said they do not believe that the remains are those of Pvt. Richard Halliday, a Bliss soldier who was last seen July 23 and was listed as Absent Without Leave, or AWOL, when he didn't show up for duty. "Although there is one active missing person case at Fort Bliss, initial findings do not indicate the two cases are related," the release states. -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: Missing Soldier's Unit Suffered from Low Morale Before His Disappearance, Investigation Finds Tandem catalyst models. (A) Three tandem catalyst models comprising a microporous In 2 O 3 selective H 2 combustion catalyst (green) and a Pt/Al 2 O 3 propane dehydrogenation catalyst (red Pt nanoparticles, blue Al 2 O 3 particle). Tandem catalyst model 3, (Pt/Al 2 O 3 )@35cIn2O3 (35 cycles of In 2 O 3 deposition), possesses a ~2-nm In 2 O 3 overcoat and 2.0- to 2.3-nm Pt nanoparticles and is the best performing. (B) Tandem PDH-SHC reaction scheme for (Pt/Al 2 O 3 )@35cIn 2 O 3 . PDH occurs on Pt, and SHC consumes H over the In 2 O 3 coating to pull the reaction forward to a high propylene yield. O 2 rapidly reacts with the resulting In 2 O 3-x , minimizing undesired combustion on Pt. The overcoat also stabilizes Pt nanoparticles against aggregation during reaction. Credit: Science (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abd4441 A team of researchers at Northwestern University has developed a nanoscale tandem catalyst to get more propylene out of propane during dehydrogenation. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their method and the improvements they found in its use. Chunlei Pei and Jinlong Gong with Tianjin University have published a Perspectives piece in the same journal issue outlining the benefits of tandem catalysis and the work done by the team in Illinois. Businesses that use chemistry to create products have found over the years that reducing the number of steps required to make their products quite often results in money savings. This has led chemists to investigate the possibility of integrating multiple steps into single reactionssuch tandem reactions involve sequential actions to bring about desired results. In this new effort, the researchers have developed a tandem reaction to reduce the number of steps required to produce propylene during dehydrogenation of propane, and in so doing, have increased yield. Propylene is a gaseous hydrocarbon that is used to make several types of polymers. The work involved developing a nanoscale catalyst that used an overcoat to allow for increased surface oxidation of hydrogen atomsthe overcoats were approximately 2 nanometers thick. To create the overcoats, the researchers used atomic layer deposition as a means of growing indium oxide over Pt/Al 2 O 3 a known propane dehydrogenation catalyst. This caused domain coupling via surface hydrogen atom transferand that resulted in propane dehydrogenating to propylene by platinum and increased hydrogen combustion from the indium oxide. The researchers note that oxidation was improved due to the pores that developed in the overcoating allowing greater exposure of the platinum nanoparticleshydrogen atoms on the surface were better oxidized at the platinum-indium oxide interface. The researchers found that use of their tandem catalyst resulted in 75% propylene selectivity and propane conversion of 40%, boosting yields by approximately 30%. Pei and Gong suggest the results should inspire further work both in industry and academia because it likely could be used in many other applications. Explore further Ultrastable, selective catalyst for propane dehydrogenation developed More information: Huan Yan et al. Tandem In2O3-Pt/Al2O3 catalyst for coupling of propane dehydrogenation to selective H2 combustion, Science (2021). Huan Yan et al. Tandem In2O3-Pt/Al2O3 catalyst for coupling of propane dehydrogenation to selective H2 combustion,(2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abd4441 Chunlei Pei et al. Tandem catalysis at nanoscale, Science (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abh0424 Press release Journal information: Science 2021 Science X Network Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Aircraft MRO software suit include software components for maintenance scheduling, maintenance tracking, budget forecasting, log book tracking, flight time tracking, manuals, work order management, service bulletins management, and electronic task card management. It also includes features aiding compliance with regulatory agencies like ICAO and FAA. One of the key objectives of MRO software is to reduce downtime and to streamline maintenance processes. Most of the MRO software providers provide services like consultation, data migration services, training, and customization based on the requirements. All these services are extremely helpful for low cost carriers. Since low cost carriers run on a constrained budget it is not viable to employ a huge work force for maintenance activities. Click Here to Get Sample Premium Report @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/9718 Global aircraft MRO software market is witnessing several modifications based on the changes in global dynamics. Most of the changes are associated with the growing focus on big data and analytics in the aviation industry. Aviation industry generates a huge amount of data which if tapped correctly could help MRO companies to improve their operational efficiency. Focus in improving operational efficiency in the MRO industry is increasing the demand for MRO software which could provide customized solutions catering to the demands of the airlines. There is heavy competition among MRO vendors and many new players are coming up in the market seeing the potential of the market during the forecast period. Global aircraft MRO market ecosystems include three major levels OEMs, MROs, and Suppliers. OEMs are the ones who manufacture aircrafts and aircraft components. Some of the major OEMs include Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Pratt & Whitney, GE, and Airbus. MROs take care of the aircrafts once it comes out of the manufacturing unit and gets operational. Maintenance activities usually include line maintenance, base maintenance, and component maintenance. Line maintenance is done to provide minor but necessary maintenance tasks in between flight. Base maintenance is a much more complicated and time-consuming task which includes heavy checking including structural checking. This is done by large MRO centers with hangars. Based on end-user, aircraft MRO software market is segmented into Third party and Independent MRO, In-house airline MRO, and OEM-affiliated MRO. The revenue generated from In-House airline MRO was higher in 2018 and is mainly driven due to increasing focus of airlines in revamping their IT infrastructure for better analysis on MRO activities. You can Buy This Report from Here @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/9718/Single Based on deployment, the market is segmented into on-premise and cloud-based. On-premise, generated major revenue since many MRO centers still uses legacy solutions due to concerns regarding security. Based on the geography, the market is split into North America, Europe, APAC, and ROW. ROW includes Middle East, South America, and Africa. APAC is one of the fastest growing aviation MRO markets in the world in terms of shop visit volume and revenues and the growth is mainly driven by China. North American MRO software market is a mature market with most of the MRO activities expected to be focused in retrofitting, especially in the US. Retrofitting is mainly due to growing need to incorporate premium economy. Global aircraft MRO software market is predominantly occupied by small focused players rather than major aviation companies and software vendors. While big software and IT companies have a presence in the MRO software market, they are not always the chosen one by MRO centers. The global vendors are expected to grow further by entering into alliances and strategic partnerships with other players in the market during the forecast period. Some of the major vendors in the market are Ramco Systems, Rusada, Traxxall Technologies, Swiss Aviation Software, AV-BASE Systems, Bytzsoft, ENGRAV Group, Flightdocs, and C.A.L.M Systems. According to Infoholic Research, the global aircraft MRO software system will grow at a CAGR of 5.55% during the forecast period 20192025. The aim of this report is to define, analyze, and forecast the aircraft MRO software market on the basis of segments, which include end-user, deployment, and region. In addition, the aircraft MRO software market report helps venture capitalists in understanding the companies better and make well-informed decisions and is primarily designed to provide the companys executives with strategically substantial competitor information, data analysis, and insights about the market, development, and implementation of an effective marketing plan. Global aircraft MRO software market is categorized based on three segments End-user, deployment, and regions as shown below: End-user include Third party and Independent MRO, In-house airline MRO, and OEM-affiliated MRO Deployment include cloud-based and on-premise Regions include North America, Europe, APAC and RoW (RoW includes Middle East, South America and Africa) The report comprises an analysis of vendor profile, which includes financial status, business units, key business priorities, SWOT, business strategies, and views. The report covers the competitive landscape, which includes M&A, joint ventures & collaborations, and competitor comparison analysis. In the vendor profile section, for companies that are privately held, the financial information and revenue of segments will be limited. Request For Report Discounts @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/9718 How Iranians Celebrate Persian New Year In COVID Times 03/19/21 By Afshin Majlesi, Tehran Times It is for the second consecutive year that the novel coronavirus keeps families apart on eve of the Iranian New Year. This Norooz (pronounced NO-rooz), or "new day" in Persian, starting on Saturday, ushers in the Iranian year 1400. The ancient celebration of the vernal equinox marks the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere; the moment when the length of day and night are almost equal. Norooz is always a time of joy. One of the reasons it is so joyful is because people get together, not only family but also neighbors. The street celebrations bring together people who often do not even know each other. This is supposed to be one of the busiest times of the year when people get together and visit their families. And many of the Norooz traditions take place on the streets. However, last night, for example, was a time when people traditionally jumped over bonfires in hope of good health in the year to come. This year, as traditions are transformed by the coronavirus, many people limited their gatherings last night. They set up candles in their homes or their backyards and they jumped over the candles. It was just with their families, instead of having large parties. Furthermore, in normal years, millions of Iranians travel to tourist places or some relatives' homes around the country during the nearly two weeks period of the holiday when most businesses and workplaces are closed, as are schools. Earlier this month, President Hassan Rouhani declared new travel bans for cities situated in the "red" and "orange" zones to combat the new COVID-19 variant. Rouhani called on people to avoid traveling during the Iranian New Year holidays to help contain the spread of coronavirus. He said it would be forbidden to make trips to cities marked as "red" and "orange" in terms of the prevalence of COVID-19. "We request people to avoid traveling during Norooz holidays for the sake of their own health... It will be forbidden to travel to red and orange towns and cities," he said. "No one should make any plans to travel to these cities," he stressed. Late in February, the tourism minister, Ali-Asghar Mounesan, said despite all the obstacles and issues and the outbreak of the coronavirus, the country's tourism sector is still alive and dynamic. Norooz ceremonies and trips, if practiced under health protocols, could be beneficial for the revival of the tourism industry and handicrafts, which have been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic in many provinces, the minister explained. According to official data, over 60,300 people have died from the virus across the country since the start of the pandemic a year ago. More than 1,750,000 cases have been reported. So that is clear that the disease has overshadowed preparations this year in a country severely hit by the outbreak. A lot of people have tried to replace physical connection with virtual connection. They read poetry to each other over voice messages. They send their friends and family poems or even recipes. There are various ways that people are trying to communicate with each other using technology. As the spring beckons and the lilies and daffodils begin to bloom, impatient Iranians start adorning their homes with colorful decorations. It is another reminder that Norooz is just around the corner. Norooz celebrations last 13 days, beginning with the first day of spring and culminating with a picnic, but preparations begin well in advance. It is the longest, oldest, and most cherished festival in the Persian calendar. It marks nature's resurrection from the long winter. Homes are cleaned, tables are symbolically rearranged. It's part of a string of customs to herald the spring and celebrate rebirth. Norooz begins with 'Saal Tahvil', which can be translated as year delivery. It falls at the exact moment of the spring equinox. Everybody in the family, dressed up in their new clothes, gathers around the Haft Sin spread looking forward to 'Saal Tahvil'. As the countdown ushers in the New Year, the members of the family cheer up, hug and kiss each other, and exchange Norooz greetings, 'Eid-e Shoma mobarak!' or 'Sal-e No Mobarak' (Happy New Year). Now everyone, especially the children, move on to make the rounds of the elders of the family first, then the rest of their family and finally their friends and the rest of the neighborhood. Adults, too, have a set schedule of visits and receiving visitors. This custom demonstrates the respect that Iranians pay to the elderly. Visits are short, typically taking about 30 minutes. During Norooz, everyone gathers around a Haft Seen, a table spread with seven items, including sprouts, which symbolize rebirth, and apples, which represent health and beauty. Sofreh Haft Seen, the traditional Norooz (Iranian new year) tablescape, or cloth, decorated with seven symbolic items starting with the Persian letter S (pronounced as "seen"). The light briefly spotlights each item and reflects off the sugar-dusted toot - mulberry-shaped Iranian marzipan - providing a display of kaleidoscopic patterns and lights. The seven items on the Sofreh Haft Seen include sabzeh (wheat, lentil or mung bean sprouts), samanu (a sweet pudding made with germinated wheat), seeb (apple), senjed (the dried fruit of the wild olive, oleaster), somagh (sumak), serkeh (vinegar) and seer (garlic). Various pastries are placed on the table as a symbol of sweetening the year to come. Common ingredients include flower waters and warm spices like cardamom, almonds and pistachios (used both whole and ground to a powder), chickpea flour, rice flour, and, of course, plenty of sugar. (Blanched ground almonds are also the main ingredient in toot, which means mulberry in Persian.) Sweets that carry with them all the love, care, and hopes for a sweeter new year. Many Iranian have started khooneh takooni (also known as khaneh takani), which translates to "shaking out the house," referring to the tradition of cleaning and cleansing the home in preparation for the new year. Once all the windows are washed, rugs are beaten and cabinets are cleared and reorganized, the ritual of baking Norooz pastries begins. Norooz's characteristic herald, the old tambourine man, Hajji Firuz, with his black-painted face and a red regalia, goes out in the cities and villages spreading delight among the public. He is a messenger of health, power, happiness, and abundance for the New Year. He has a trumpet and tambourine and a traditional song: 'Hajji Firuz-e, Saali Ye Ruz-e', which means 'It is Hajji Firuz, coming only once a year'. Along with his troupe of musicians, he strolls on the streets and alleyways entertaining people. One other preparation to welcome Norooz is called 'Kharid-e Noroozi'. It involves buying new clothes, sweets, flowers - particularly hyacinths and tulips - and the articles of 'Haft Seen.' A book, preferably a religious one, an upright mirror, burning candles, colored eggs, an orange floating in water, a goldfish swimming in a bowl, Iranian sweetmeats, confectioneries, fruits, traditional Iranian pastries such as baghlava, 'aajeel' (dried nuts, berries and raisins) which is another important component of the whole Norooz festival, and the national colors of Iran. Norooz has its own particular dishes, too. 'Sabzi-Polo Mahi', rice with green herbs and fish, is served on the night just preceding Norooz, or on the day of Norooz. 'Eidi', new-year gift, is another characteristic feature of Norooz. Within the family, the head of the household must grant the Eidi to the members of the family. It is to be mentioned that the young visitors do not bring any gifs with them, and may only receive a gift. The rounds of visitations might last as long as twelve days, up to the day of 'Sizdah Bedar'. Family members may play music, pour fragrant drops of rose water into one another's palms, or have a bite of sweets to usher in the holiday with all of their senses. Then comes the feast - lunch or dinner, depending on what time the equinox falls - followed by 11 days of herb-laden meals and teatime sweets. On the final day, it's traditional to retreat outdoors for a day of picnicking. Among all Persian ancient ceremonies, Norooz with its different aspects in every region of the country is a peerless festival. It repeats and renews, generates and revives, and influences the Iranian creative soul. The daughter of disgraced Canadian-Finnish fashion mogul Peter Nygard has claimed that he offered her a 'bribe' of a 'multi-million-dollar' home and future financial security, if she would vouch for his character and help him get out on bail. The unnamed 20-year-old college student from the Bahamas - who only found out Nygard was her father later in life - refused. Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer Lance Goldau, who spoke to Nygard's daughter on March 4, said that she was offered a 'million-dollar house' and a formal acknowledgement as his daughter to help her gain Canadian citizenship if she would act as his surety. 'I told him like I'm pretty sure, sureties are not supposed to be, you're not supposed to get anything in return,' she told Goldau, after the 79-year-old called her from jail in January, according to a transcript of her interview released Thursday and obtained by Global News. Fashion entrepreneur Peter Nygard (seen in 2014) was arrested in December for sex trafficking A court sketch of Nygard at his bail hearing in Canada in January. Bail was denied in February 'I do think that it was in a sense a bribe.' She added that she wasn't comfortable saying her father, who was arrested in December, was innocent. 'It put me in a very, very difficult position,' she told Goldau. 'Because you don't want to abandon this person that you came from, but if I do this am I basically slapping the victims in the face? 'I don't fully believe him,' she added. When she declined, he asked if her cousin would be willing to do so. The cousin also declined. 'Once Nygard realized that neither [his daughter] nor her cousin were interested, Nygard did not speak to her again,' said Goldau. Manitoba Law Courts (above) are currently hearing Nygard's repeat application for bail Nygard was denied bail on February 5 and is currently in jail in Canada. Bail in Canada is usually dependent not on cash, as in the U.S., but on community connections and 'surety' - people who will vouch for the individual, at the risk of forfeiting collateral - often their property. In Nygard's case, none of his 10 children, past girlfriends or longstanding business executives who helped build his company showed up in court as proposed sureties. Instead, it was two employees: one a former construction manager with a criminal record for cocaine trafficking and a previous association with the Hells Angels motorcycle club, and the other a former director who still works for him overseeing the company's bankruptcy procedure. He is awaiting extradition to New York on sex trafficking charges, and remains at Headingley Correctional Institute on the outskirts of Winnipeg. Born in Helsinki and having emigrated to Canada with his parents, he founded his company in Winnipeg in 1967 and went on to become one of Canada's richest men, with a fortune estimated at $817 million. For years he was known for his playboy ways and flamboyant lifestyle, jetting between residences in the Bahamas and Los Angeles. He is accused of using his company's money and employees to recruit adult and 'minor-aged female victims' over 25 years in the United States, the Bahamas and Canada for his sexual gratification and that of his associates. Nygard with former girlfriend, model Suelyn Medeiros, in 2007 The FBI raided the headquarters of Nygard Fashion (pictured) last year A nine-count federal indictment was filed against him by the United States attorney's office in Manhattan in December. Federal authorities raided his home in Los Angeles and corporate headquarters in New York last year, and Nygard has lost all his money, his lawyers said. His company - which once had 12,000 employees - filed for bankruptcy in Canada and in the United States. Nygard's lawyers on Thursday were attempting once again to persuade Justice Jennifer Pfuetzner to release him on bail. His lawyers argue that he is in ill health, but the Attorney General of Canada submitted a report saying that he has his own private cell equipped with a telephone - a privilege not granted to other inmates. 'Block 12 is a cell that can accommodate up to three inmates at a time however in this case, Mr. Nygard is by himself,' said Todd Schreyer, the assistant superintendent of security at Headingley Correctional Centre. 'The cell itself contains a bunk bed with two mattresses which he uses to help with his back issues and sleeping issues maintaining what he claims is a 45 degree angle to sleep. 'He also has a TV, a plastic chair and a phone directly in the cell. The phone in his cell is operational and Mr. Nygard has phone access from 0700 hours to 2300 hours daily. No other cell at HCC has similar phone access.' He was initially placed on a vegan meal plan, but opted to switch to the regular plan at the end of January. He receives a meal designed to accommodate his diabetes diagnosis, Schreyer said. A date for the extradition hearing has not been set, but according to court documents, paperwork has been received and is in process. Opinion Article 19 March 2021 The world is shifting into a recovery stage from the pandemic that has resulted in a loss of millions of lives and impacted many businesses. The emergence of several vaccines around the world is a critical tool to battle against COVID-19 [1]. Currently, eight COVID-19 vaccines are finalized or in-progress according to the World Health Organization, including Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-Oxford and Sinopharm, which are being administered to the people of certain countries [2]. However, there are specific protocols to follow concerning eligibility to receive the vaccine. There are priority groups such as senior citizens, people with chronic diseases and determinations, and front-line workers. The priority is given to these groups as they are considered more at risk of infection than others [3]. Advertisements The vaccine is being administered at a slower pace due to manufacturing constraints. With the manufacturing challenges and the establishment of priority to particular sectors of the population, a fortunate group of people worldwide are "traveling" and jumping the queue to get vaccinated [4]. What Is Vaccine Tourism? Yes, it is what you thought! The literal meaning of "vaccine tourism" is the act of traveling from one country or state to another to get a vaccine that is not available in your home country or state, or where the queue for the vaccine is long [5]. Bloomberg reported that Americans are hitting the road again, but they are not travelling to Disney World. They are going on a quest to get their vaccinations in other states [6]. However, this is not considered a whole new concept for the health industry. Medical tourism is a large component of the tourism industry. In 2017 alone, 19 million people traveled worldwide to seek medical treatments in different sectors (i.e., surgeries and cosmetic procedures). In 2018, the global medical tourism market was valued at $16,761 million and growing[7]. The vaccine may shake the medical tourism market now more than ever, as the elite few seek to jump the line to receive their vaccination by traveling[8]. Vaccine Tourism Timeline and Operation This concept has commenced, emerging from an Indian tourism agency that claims its creation. The agency is offering Indians (with a valid American visa) a round trip package of four days, from Bombay to New York, with a cost of $2,000 to get their Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Travelers will also be offered a small tour before returning to India. Some even choose to stay 3-12 weeks to get their second injection instead of making double trips[9]. Americans are crossing state lines to get vaccinated. Some have also reported that people are coming from neighboring counties, such as Venezuela and Mexico, to get their injections. However, Florida has experienced one of the most popular drives for vaccine tourism due to the state's initial "open policy". As many as 50,000 vaccines were administered to out-of-state recipients[10]. The United Arab Emirates, known for its "luxury tourism," offers its Sinopharm vaccine to the "elite few". It is a partnership between an elite club from the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates to bring tourism into the area. The club charges a 25,000 yearly membership fee and, as part of its package, will fly its 65+ aged members to the Emirate to receive their Sinopharm vaccine in "style and luxury"[11]. These are prominent examples of the vaccine tourism concept being applied in certain countries, which is also a drive to increase tourism. Is It Ethical? COVID-19 tourism raises some serious ethical and legal issues that question the concept's existence. Vaccine tourism is considered medical tourism but not in the context of a global pandemic. People are not opting for cosmetic surgery here; the vaccine is needed by the adult population worldwide [12]. This will intensify socioeconomic inequalities by allowing the privileged to gain access to "life-saving" vaccines ahead of priority groups and the world population. Vaccine tourism could disrupt the supply and demand of the vaccine, eventually leading to distribution challenges. Interestingly, a CEO of Canada's largest pension fund has resigned for receiving the vaccine ahead of millions of Canadians and criticized for jumping the queue. Apparently, he has traveled to Dubai to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine [13]. Hospitality Industry Acknowledgment This concept is indeed an opportunity for the hospitality industry. People worldwide are traveling, booking hotels, and spending money in the hospitality industry sectors while they take their vaccine doses. Some travelers stay for between 3-12 weeks to receive their second dose, as well. Any business is a profitable business for the hospitality industry, as the pandemic has severely impacted it. The hospitality industry, especially hotels, should continue to market packages that would suit vaccine-seeking travelers. The industry should operate normally and accept all kind of travelers and avoid being biased towards not accepting certain travelers, as it is a business entity, not a government entity. If it is genuinely not allowed, governments will eliminate the loopholes found in the health system, hence not allowing the elite few to get their vaccinations ahead of everyone else. The hospitality industry should consider the opportunity awaiting them and start marketing attractive packages to these travelers. References [1] https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines [2] https://extranet.who.int/pqweb/sites/default/files/documents/Status_COVID_VAX_16Feb2021.pdf [3] https://www.dha.gov.ae/Asset%20Library/COVID19/Covid19_Vaccine_EN.pdf [4] https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/what-is-vaccine-tourism [5] https://www.vox.com/22262653/vaccine-tourism-covid-19 [6] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-01-21/vaccine-tourism-replaces-vacation-travel [7] https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-medical-tourism-market-insights-projections-2019-2024a-27-billion-opportunity-driven-by-growing-compliance-on-international-quality-standards-300811753.html [8] https://www.fodors.com/news/coronavirus/thinking-about-traveling-just-to-get-vaccinated-you-need-to-read-this-first [9] https://www.tourism-review.com/vaccine-tourism-setting-off-around-the-world-news11879 [10] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/31/us-vaccine-tourism-state-borders-covid-19-shots [11] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/03/chinas-sinopharm-vaccine-offered-to-elite-few-in-uae-tourist-deal [12] https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/covid-19-vaccine-travel-states-international-1128536/ [13] Canada pension fund CEO resigns after flying to Dubai for Covid vaccine | Canada | The Guardian As rain dropped down on the canopies erected outside of Worcester City Hall on Thursday, City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. stepped to the microphone as the last elected official to speak. His words during the gathering - meant to show solidarity between the city and its Asian American population - echoed those who spoke previously, yet he felt compelled to speak anyway. Everything may have been said but it is important on this occasion that everybody say it, Augustus said. That everybody speak up and use your voice and use your platforms. Use your social media opportunities to speak up and speak out against hate in any form, any manifestation. City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. spoke outside city hall in Worcester as residents and city officials gathered outside on Thursday to support Asian Americans. About two dozen people gathered outside despite the cool temperatures and the wet weather to show support for the Asian community in Worcester and across the nation after a man in Georgia shot and killed eight people including six women of Asian descent at Atlanta-area spas. The words and sentiments attempted to express the support all communities have in Worcester, however, each speaker regretted that hate continued to emerge in American society. I personally, my colleagues here, all strive for the day when inequality, discrimination and bias no longer exist in our city and in our world, District 1 City Councilor Sean Rose said. No one should fear for their lives because of their ethnicity, their gender identify, their sexual orientation or their religious beliefs. Rose and others spoke of the recent hate that has been directed toward Asian communities around the country, which they said has only been amplified recently by former President Donald Trump referring to COVID-19 as the Kung flu. Anh Vu Sawyer, the executive director of the Southeast Asian Coalition in Worcester, spoke outside city hall in Worcester as residents and city officials gathered outside on Thursday to support Asian Americans. Its nothing new. You have seen this happen again, again and again, the executive director of the Southeast Asian Coalition Anh Vu Sawyer said. But as Im standing here, I will tell you that Asians are very strong. We are strong in body, in spirit, in our hearts and in our commitments. No matter what people have done to us. Sawyer said only weeks ago she was told to go back to China. Shes heard stories from schools where students were blamed for bringing the Chinese virus to the United States. But you know what, our love for Worcester is very thick and very strong, Sawyer said. We will stand with you. We have been shoulder to shoulder and arm to arm and hand to hand with Black Lives Matter, with the protest against injustice and unfairness against people of color, for people who have no home. We are here for people who are white, Black and brown. Tim Garvin, the president and CEO of the United Way of Central Massachusetts, sparked the gathering on Thursday outside City Hall. It attracted Augustus, Mayor Joseph Petty, City Councilors Rose, Morris Bergman, Candy Mero-Carlson and Kathleen Toomey. Rep. David LeBoeuf of Worcesters 17th District said the state delegation supports the efforts to stand with Asian Americans. Sawyer and Boa Newgate of the Southeast Asian Coalition of Worcester each spoke as well. Earlier in the day, the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce released a statement condemning the acts in Atlanta and denouncing hatred of any kind. They echoed the sentiments felt by the dozens who gathered but werent able to speak in front of the microphone. Edmund Burke once said that All that is necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing, Augustus said. Today, we all come here as good men and women to do something. To raise our voice. To speak out. To stand in solidarity. Thats the Worcester way. Related Content: BuzzClan We are excited to see the growth of cloud and digital business. Our extensive focus on digital transformations has made a significant difference for our clients and we will continue to align our technology solutions to solve complex business problems across our different practice areas. Inc. magazine today revealed that BuzzClan is No. 184 on its second annual Inc. 5000 Regionals: Texas list, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing Texas-based private companies. Born of the annual Inc. 5000 franchise, this regional list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the Texas economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. Dhiraj Chhabra, Chief Strategist of BuzzClan says, Since inception, our motto has been to own the solution so that our customers have one less thing to worry about. Our investment in building a seamless framework for remote managed services across Infrastructure, database, middleware, and cloud support paid off. Our remote managed services helped our clients to save about 40-60% of costs. It was a game-changing business advantage for customers during the pandemic era. The companies on this list show stunning rates of growth across all industries in Texas. Between 2017 and 2019, these 250 private companies had an average growth rate of 210 percent, and, in 2019 alone, they employed more than 44,000 people and added more than $9 billion to the Texas economy. Companies based in the largest metro areasDallas, Houston, and Austinbrought in the highest revenue overall. Sachin Jain, Chief Architect and Co-founder of BuzzClan says, We are excited to see the growth of cloud and digital business. Our extensive focus on digital transformations has made a significant difference for our clients and we will continue to align our technology solutions to solve complex business problems across our different practice areas. This recognition by Inc. is a humbling recognition of our growth and support of our customers in these tough times! Complete results of the Inc. 5000 Regionals: Texas, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, metro area, and other criteria, can be found at https://www.inc.com/inc5000/regionals/texas starting March 16, 2021. This list proves the power of companies in Texas no matter the industry, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. The impressive revenues and growth rates prove the insight and diligence of CEOs and that these businesses are here to stay. BuzzClan is an elite business consulting firm collaborating to provide software, advisory, implementation, and transformation services. BuzzClan is a certified partner for most Tier-1 Cloud, Software & Hardware Providers, including Oracle, Amazon, Microsoft & Google. Vertically Integrated solutions company Full ownership of the solution The combined experience of more than 250+ years Various OEM Certifications such as OCP, PMP, AWS, MS Azure, etc. Onsite presence across US clients Near-Shore & Offshore presence Solution Centers in Dallas(TX), Nairobi(Kenya), Toronto (Canada), Gurgaon, and Chandigarh (India) For further information about BuzzClan contact Dhiraj Chhabra, Phone +1 469.251.2899, Email: info@buzzclan.com More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Regionals Methodology The 2021 Inc. 5000 Regionals are ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2017 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2017. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2017 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $1 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. About Inc. Media The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com. DEARBORN (dpa-AFX) - Ford Motor Corp.'s all-new 2021 F-150 Police Responder, claimed to be the only purpose-built, pursuit-rated pickup truck in the United States, has opened its government order bank. The vehicle, launched ahead of spring state and local government bid cycles, is part of the company's best-selling police vehicle lineup in the country. F-150 Police Responder is assembled at Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Missouri, and arrives in fleets later this fall. The F-150 Police Responder, which was initially launched in 2017, is built on the all-new 2021 F-150 SuperCrew platform. The vehicle comes with new features, including enhanced top speed of 120 mph and available Police Engine Idle that lets an officer remove the key from the ignition and securely exit the truck with the engine running. Officers can continue to power lights and sirens without worry of vehicle theft. It also features new automatic four-wheel-drive mode with torque-on-demand transfer case to help patrolling officers transition from busy urban streets to dusty country roads. Tech upgrades in the vehicle include standard SYNC 4 with wireless software updates. The available Ford Telematics are smart solutions designed to help reduce vehicle downtime and unscheduled maintenance so law enforcement fleets can stay on patrol. The vehicle rides on specially developed Goodyear LT265/70R18 LRC BSW Wrangler Enforcer all-terrain tires. For departments that need to tow a boat, horse trailer, mobile command center or other equipment, F-150 Police Responder offers a standard towing capacity of 7,000 pounds and available towing capacity of 11,200 pounds, in addition to its payload capacity of 2,030 pounds. The vehicle is available in different packages. The Trailer Tow Package adds the convenience of Pro Trailer Backup Assist, while the Tow Technology Package adds a 360-degree camera, Trailer Reverse Guidance and integrated Trailer Brake Controller. Smart Trailer Tow Connector is standard on Class IV hitch-equipped vehicles and adds Trailer Coverage to the available Blind Spot Information System. Greg Ebel, Ford police vehicle brand manager said, 'Law enforcement agencies told us they would love to add F-150 Police Responder towing, hauling and off-road performance to their fleets, but they need more confidence in speed and handling. Whether suburban police departments, border patrol agents or rural sheriffs, officers never know where the job might take them, but the all-new F-150 Police Responder provides a pickup truck option engineered to get them there faster and with greater agility than ever before.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX FORD-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de 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. This is the first high-profile contact between the Biden administration and the Indian political leadership New Delhi: Americas defence secretary Lloyd James Austin III arrived in New Delhi Friday on a three-day official visit, at a time when India and the United States are concerned over an increasingly assertive China in the region. This is the first high-profile contact between the Biden administration and the Indian political leadership. The visit is seen as significant as Mr Austin included India is his first foreign tour, with the US seeking allies to counter the growing Chinese influence in the region. Mr Austin called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday and conveyed the greetings of US President Joe Biden. Mr Modi welcomed the warm and close relationship between the two countries, rooted in the shared values of democracy, pluralism and commitment to a rules-based international order. The PM outlined his vision for the strategic partnership between the two countries and emphasised the important role of bilateral defence cooperation in India-US ties. Mr Austin reiterated the US governments continued commitment towards strengthening bilateral defence ties between the two countries. He expressed the strong US desire to further enhance the strategic partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. Thrilled to be here in India. The breadth of cooperation between our two nations reflects the significance of our major defence partnership, as we work together to address the most pressing challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region, said the US defence secretary in a tweet. Mr Austin was also scheduled to meet national security adviser Ajit Doval on Friday and will hold wide-ranging bilateral talks with defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday. The US defence secretary arrived in India at a time when US and Chinese officials have had sharp exchanges in the first high-level talks between the Biden administration and China in Alaska. The relationship between India and China is also frosty due to the Chinese aggression at the LAC in Ladakh. The growing Chinese threat, increasing cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, the Afghan peace process and enhancing military ties will be on the top of the agenda during Saturdays India-US dialogue. India is also likely to ask the Biden administration for a complete waiver of sanctions under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for buying the Russian S-400 air defence systems. Earlier, Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged Mr Austin in a letter Wednesday to take up with Indian leaders the issue of New Delhi procuring the S-400 missile defence system from Russia and also human rights issues. India is also looking to buy armed drones from the US for the Air Force, Army and Navy in a deal which is estimated at around $3 billion. The US defence secretary will lay a wreath at the National War Memorial on Saturday morning and will receive a tri-services guard of honour. After that he will hold extensive talks with the Indian delegation led by defence minister Rajnath Singh, where the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Bipin Rawat, will also be present. The two ministers will later read out a joint statement in the afternoon. He will also meet external affairs minister S. Jaishankar. Earlier this month, the Biden administration in its Interim National Security Strategic Guidance had said that the US would deepen its partnership with India to advance its objectives. Last week, the leaders from the Quad countries -- the US, India, Japan, and Australia -- met for the first time as concerns grow over Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. The US has been in favour of giving the Quad a security architecture to check Chinas growing aggression in the region. The US defence secretary visited Japan and South Korea before arriving in India, which are crucial US allies in the region. India has recently brought a slew of weapons from the US, including Apache attack helicopters, Chinook helicopters, P8I maritime patrol aircraft, precision Guided-Excalibur Munitions and M-777 howitzers. 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There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. 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 Germany, France, Italy and Spain said they would resume using the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine after the EU drugs regulator said there was a clear scientific conclusion that the jab was safe and effective. Emer Cooke, head of the European Medicines Agency, on Thursday said its investigation had concluded that the AstraZeneca vaccine was not associated with a potential risk of blood clots noted recently by some scientists, adding that the benefits of the shot outweighed possible risks. If it were me, I would be vaccinated tomorrow, said Cooke. EMA officials said they could not definitively rule out a link between the vaccine and a rarer, and more serious, type of blood clot associated with a low platelet count. A causal link with the vaccine is not proven, but is possible and deserves further analysis, the agency said. Cooke recommended an awareness campaign that aimed to spot and mitigate any possible side effects of the vaccine. Mario Draghi, prime minister of Italy, which was among the countries to suspend use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, said it would resume using the shot on Friday. Jean Castex, prime minister of France, said his country would do the same, adding he would also receive the jab to show that we can all have total confidence. Germanys health minister Jens Spahn announced AstraZeneca vaccinations would restart on Friday. He said it was good news the jab had been cleared but stood by the decision to suspend its use. EMAs analysis confirmed our approach. It was important to suspend vaccinations with [AstraZeneca] as a precaution until the conspicuous cluster of cases of this very rare thrombosis had been analysed, he said. It would have been irresponsible to let doctors continue to vaccinate people without this information in our view. Spain said it would resume administering Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines as of Wednesday next week. Carolina Darias, health minister, said this timing would allow the countrys health authorities to reconsider who should receive the vaccine. Madrid previously banned the use of the vaccine for over-55s a decision it had been due to review when the controversy about thrombosis began. Irish health authorities welcomed the EMA decision and said they would be deliberating the findings on Thursday night and Friday morning. The suspensions this week by more than a dozen European countries including Germany and Spain dealt a fresh blow to the continents ailing vaccination campaign. While countries including Austria had put their programmes on hold, the wider suspension came after German researchers noted an apparent raised incidence of rare blood clots that led Berlin to halt the AstraZeneca element of its inoculation programme. The UK drugs regulator on Thursday said five such clots had been recorded in Britain in those administered with the vaccine, but stressed that no link had been established. It also urged people to continue to take the vaccine. The AstraZeneca jab has faced multiple challenges. Early data generated by clinical trials were criticised by some experts as being inconsistent. Some European nations also limited use of the vaccine in some age groups, citing a lack of population-specific data. Those fears had eased in recent weeks thanks to the successful rollout of the jab to 25m people. AstraZeneca welcomed the result of the assessment. Its chief medical officer, Ann Taylor, said: We trust that, after the regulators careful decisions, vaccinations can once again resume across Europe. The EMAs endorsement comes as the UKs NHS warned that supplies of the AstraZeneca jab would be squeezed in the next month. The UK is far ahead of its European peers in vaccinating its population, with the FTs vaccination tracker showing that, as of Monday, it had administered 40.5 doses per 100 individuals, versus the EUs 11.8. European countries have struggled to secure vaccine supplies, with AstraZeneca disclosing recently that it is aiming to deliver less than half of its agreed doses in the second quarter of the year. Most of that reduction stems from supply issues, though evidence also points to single nations not deploying doses already available quickly enough. Sabine Straus, chair of the EMAs pharmacovigilance risk assessment committee, on Thursday said its investigation had found nothing to link the side effects to manufacturing Financial Times [March 19, 2021] Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. Announces Closing of $250 Million Initial Public Offering Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. (the "Company") announced the closing of its initial public offering of 25,000,000 units at $10.00 per unit. The units are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") under the symbol "ATHN.U." Each unit consists of one share of the Company's Class A common stock and one-third of one warrant, each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of the Company's Class A common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share. The Company is a blank check company whose business purpose is to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to as our initial business combination. While the Company may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry, it currently intends to focus its efforts identifying businesses in technology, direct to consumer and fintech industries. The Company is led by Isabelle Freidheim, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Phyllis Newhouse, Chief Executive Officer. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. ("Citigroup") acted as sole bookrunner and representative of the underwriters and CastleOak Securities, L.P. and Siebert Williams Shank & o., LLC acted as co-managers of the offering. The Company has granted the underwriters a 45 day option to purchase up to 3,750,000 additional units at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments, if any. This offering was made by means of a prospectus. Copies of the preliminary prospectus relating to the offering and final prospectus, when available, may be obtained from Citigroup, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717 or by telephone at (800) 831-9146. A registration statement relating to these securities has been declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the " SEC (News - Alert) "). This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any State or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such State or jurisdiction. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements," including with respect to the initial public offering and the anticipated use of the net proceeds. No assurance can be given that the net proceeds of the offering will be used as indicated. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Company's registration statement and prospectus for the Company's offering filed with the SEC. Copies are available on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005486/en/ [ 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. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Brisbane residents and businesses won't be locked down again if there's another coronavirus outbreak in the city. Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says authorities will only lock down the most vulnerable people in future. She says a focused lockdown of Brisbane's hospitals, aged care homes, prisons and disability services has stopped the spread after a doctor became infected last week. Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says authorities will only lock down the most vulnerable people in future CHO says a focused lockdown of Brisbane's hospitals, aged care homes, prisons and disability services has stopped the spread after a doctor became infected last week Those facilities reopened at noon on Friday after the state went eight days without a new case in the community. 'I hope people plan on going and visiting their loved ones in aged care, their family in our prisons, those people in disability services, and hospitals,' Dr Young told reporters. Dr Young said after 12 months of practice everyone knows exactly how to respond to outbreaks. People and venues were now habitually using contact-tracing apps, meaning close contacts of virus cases can be rapidly tracked down as well. She said the success of the focused lockdown meant there won't be another city-wide lockdown of Brisbane residents. 'Absolutely, there's no need to go into lockdown when we've got responses like this,' Dr Young said. 'We've handled it beautifully, absolutely beautifully.' The lockdown began on Saturday after the doctor tested positive on March 11. The woman had worked at Princess Alexandra Hospital and visited four venues in the city's south the previous day The woman had worked at Princess Alexandra Hospital and visited four venues in the city's south the previous day. Dr Young said the woman, who wasn't vaccinated, had followed strict protocols on wearing PPE and interacting with COVID-19 patients. 'I think it's a wicked virus, I genuinely do,' she said. 'This is the virus that's the problem, it's not any human behaviour, it's not what anyone's done. 'I think people have done absolutely everything they possibly could.' The doctor was infected by a patient who also spread the virus to another guest staying in a separate room at Brisbane's Grand Chancellor quarantine hotel. Dr Young said the hotel pair were staying in rooms at opposite ends of the corridor on level one. An analysis of CCTV found no quarantine breach occurred at the Grand Chancellor. The chief health officer believes the virus was spread into the air in the hallway by people simply opening their room doors to collect meals. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the vaccine rollout would be expanded in the Torres Strait Islands amid concerns about COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea 'I cannot see that there's been any (other) way of transmission,' Dr Young said. She said guests would be allowed to return to the hotel and the floor would be deep cleaned once all the guests on level one had completed their quarantine. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the vaccine rollout would be expanded in the Torres Strait Islands amid concerns about COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea. She said the number of cases arriving from there was putting strain on hospitals, with nine new virus cases reported in hotel quarantine on Friday. 'We're moving people into hospitals, okay, but there might come a time where that is going to prove difficult,' Ms Palaszczuk said. 'So, you know, we're seeing nine, eight (cases) a day, that's the highest we've seen.' Please disable your ad blocker, and refresh the page to view this content. The trials for three members of a Marine Raider battalion charged in the 2019 death of a former Green Beret have been delayed. A spokesman for Marine Forces Special Operations Command, or MARSOC, confirmed that Navy Chief Petty Officer Eric Gilmet's involuntary manslaughter trial has been rescheduled for May 10 through May 28. It was originally scheduled to begin March 1 and conclude Friday. MARSOC spokesman Maj. Hector Infante said Gilmet's counsel requested the delay. Gilmet is a corpsman assigned to MARSOC. Read Next: Army Denies Major's Appeal to Get Valor Award Back After Trump Pardon A trial for the two Marine Raiders also charged with involuntary manslaughter, Gunnery Sgts. Joshua Negron and Daniel Draher, has been postponed to an undetermined date. Their trial was originally scheduled for April 6 to April 30, Infante said. However, a status hearing involving the availability of a foreign witness in that case was scheduled to be held March 18, Infante said. The final dates of Negron and Draher's trial were to be determined after that hearing, but it is unclear what the result was. Gilmet, Negron and Draher were members of the 3rd Marine Raider Battalion when Gilmet allegedly got into an argument with former Green Beret Rick Rodriguez at a bar in Erbil, Iraq, on Jan. 1, 2019. Following the argument, the three Marines allegedly got into a fight with Rodriguez, who was then working as a contractor for Lockheed Martin. Negron allegedly punched Rodriguez in the head, seriously injuring him. The Marines took Rodriguez back to his quarters on the base. When he later began having trouble breathing, they took him to the base's trauma center, Drahar's attorney told Task & Purpose in 2019. Rodriguez, who had served 20 years in the Army, was taken to Landstuhl, Germany, for treatment, but died Jan. 4, 2019. Ten other Marines were disciplined administratively after the investigation into Rodriguez' death uncovered additional misconduct. This is not the first time these trials have been postponed. Gilmet's trial was previously scheduled to take place last October. Negron was slated to stand trial last November, and Draher's trial was previously scheduled for December. -- Stephen Losey can be reached at stephen.losey@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StephenLosey. Related: 10 Marines Punished Following Investigation into Death of Former Green Beret in Iraq Tarkwa-Nsuaem constituency Member of Parliament (MP), George Mireku Duker has dismissed claims that government's new taxes will compound the plight of Ghanaians. According to Hon. Mireku Duker, the 2021 budget read by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu on behalf of Finance Minister-designate, Ken Ofori-Atta which captured the new taxes is rather ''giving hope for the future where people will be supported immensely''. Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Hon. Mireku Duker shot down arguments that President Nana Akufo-Addo has deceived Ghanaians for imposing tax on the freebies he provided the citizenry which was meant to cushion them against the pandemic last year. He defended the government stressing the freebies and other incentives that the Akufo-Addo administration gave to Ghanaians were to ease the economic pressures on them but there has to be a way to restore the economy, hence the need for the new taxes. He strongly believe the new taxes will revive Ghana's economic strength following the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. "Ghana has reached a stage where we have to know that, yes, this government cares for them. When there was a great hardship, the government was able to cushion them. Now, if we have been cushioned, how do we then get ourselves back so we can go the same tangent tomorrow should there be similar occurence? So, I think I believe we have to agree with this. We need to in a way engage people. We need to explain to people the need to tax and the need for us to pay'', he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi. 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 APM Terminals Bahrain has announced the appointment of Maureen Bannerman as its new Managing Director following the earlier announcement that Susan Hunter will leave the company at the end of April 2021. Bannerman will assume the role in early April, a statement said. Bannerman will join APM Terminals from Dubai Airports, where she has held the position of Vice President, Commercial since 2016, directly responsible for the commercial vision and strategy of the worlds busiest airport. Prior to that, Bannerman held executive positions in Serco Dubai Metro (company managing Dubais metro and tram systems), Abu Dhabi Airports, as well as UKs Network Rail and High Speed Rail System. With vast experience in the transport and logistics sector, Maureen will be a great asset to APM Terminals and will play a key role in strengthening our footprint in the Middle East, shared David Skov, Head of Africa and Middle East Portfolio at APM Terminals. APM Terminals Bahrain is a key maritime gateway into the Middle East and I look forward to working with Maureen on further developing its position and service offering. Bannerman replaces Susan Hunter, who has been managing APM Terminals Bahrain since January 2019, advancing the strategic and transformational agenda of the company and improving its operational and commercial performance. I am very excited to be joining APM Terminals and continuing its exciting journey of continuous improvement and operational excellence, especially in a year when it celebrates its 20th anniversary as independent business and brand. I look forward to working jointly with our partners in the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain, our key stakeholders, customers and partners on developing the transport and logistics sector further in the country, Bannerman commented.TradeArabia News Service A Border Patrol agent checks an illegal immigrant wearing two wristbands that Mexican cartels have been using to control human smuggling into the United States, near Penitas, Texas, on March 15, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Open Borders: An Assault on Common Sense Commentary We hold these truths to be self-evident So begins one of the most pivotal pronouncements in the advancement of human liberty. With those words, Thomas Jefferson threw down a gauntlet at the feet of not just the king of England, but also at Parliament and the entire entrenched elite who, up until then, had reserved power unto themselves by dint of their education, upbringing, and wealth. No more, Jefferson insisted. By declaring the truths of equality and of unalienable rights to be self-evident, Jefferson freed the common people from the yoke of oppression they had too long labored underincluding the oppression of being told what to think by their betters. This, in sum, is the genius of American democracy, that it was based on Common Sense, not just the pamphlet by Thomas Paine but the very concept itself. The American people had discovered that they were well enough equipped by their creator to take on any task, meet any challenge, confront any oppressor. They could think for themselves. That was the key. Because Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers gave voice to this revolutionary idea, they were granted authority by the people to conduct a Revolutionary War, deriving (as the Declaration of Independence would have it) their powers from the consent of the governed. Its that same consent that has been the foundation of our democracy for the past 245 years, but it must not be taken for granted. Jefferson posited that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Jefferson was right to caution that governments shouldnt be changed lightly, but we must also be cautious of entrenched power and ask whether the peoples consent can be corrupted by a government that has grown hostile to its own citizens rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In multiple venues of American public policy today, it seems that common sense has been supplanted by doctrine and dogmaa dangerous condition, especially when the people are sufficiently educated to rebuff doctrine with facts. This conflict naturally results in a serious breach of the consent of the governed, as a people who cant trust their government to tell the truth will eventually question whether that government is legitimate. That breach is currently as dramatic as it has ever been since the Constitution corrected the errors of the original Articles of Confederation in 1787. You need look no further than the dispute over the legitimacy of the last election to know that the peoples consent is being put to the test, but you can also witness that strain in policy debates about transgenderism, gun control, and free speech. Nowhere is it more apparent than in the Biden administrations bizarre insistence that the borderlike its notion of genderis fluid, transitory, and apparently altogether optional. An open border represents a fundamental threat to the social contract between the governed and the government because it leaves the people unprotected. Just as the governed owe allegiance to the government, so too the government owes its allegiance to the people. Not any people, not the people of the world, but the people of the nation. The safety and happiness of the people must be the guiding principle of any government, yet clearly the willingness of the U.S. government to turn a blind eye to the influx of noncitizens into the country is a direct threat to the health and safety of the people. Roberta Jacobson, who was the U.S. ambassador to Mexico and is Bidens coordinator for the southern border, gave a press conference last week to explain what the administration was doing to change our immigration system, but she might as well have been honest and said it was to explain what they are doing to change our country at its core. We cant just undo four years of the previous administration, Jacobson said, but it looks like they are doing exactly that. Whereas the Trump administration worked tirelessly to halt illegal immigration, the Biden team is rolling out the red carpet. Border wall? Construction halted. Remain in Mexico policy? Abandoned. Catch and release? Restored, with busloads of illegal aliens being shipped across the country, many almost assuredly infected with COVID-19. Jacobson said the United States was investing billions of dollars into Central American countries with the hope that conditions would improve in those nations so dramatically that their forlorn populations would give up the determined trek to our border. The ambassador claimed that this infusion of cash would address the root causes of illegal immigration, which she said are corruption, violence and economic devastation exacerbated by climate change. Really? Sending $4 billion into the kleptocracies of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras is going to make for less corruption? In what universe? Our American dollars are going to somehow end violence in those countries? Well, if we can do that, tell me why we dont spend $4 billion to end violence in Chicago, where Democrat policies saw gun violence and murder jump by 50 percent in 2020. What such policy claims represent is a utopian worldview that is divorced from common sense. Jacobson thinks conditions compel people to migrate whereas common sense provides clear evidence that U.S. policies for decades have acted as a magnet to attract migration. From her press conference, its obvious that those policies wont change for the better. They will get worse. We are going to be rethinking asylum processing to ensure fair and faster consideration. According to Jacobson, this is all supposed to provide hope for families, but not American families, who will foot the bill and very possibly see their wages decreased or lose their jobs altogether. This is all contradictory and nonsensical. Out of one side of her mouth, Jacobson tells us that Biden will work to expand safe and legal avenues to the United States, but out of the other side she wants to be clear that nothing in U.S. policy is intended to suggest that anyone should make the dangerous trip to try and enter the United States in an irregular fashion. The border is not open. I suppose the videos of Latin Americans streaming across the border into the United States are just some deep fake production of QAnon or Roger Stone (pick your favorite conservative scapegoat!). Jacobson went so far as to complain that the Mexican cartels were somehow misleading migrants into believing that the border is open. Again, this complaintthe official position of the U.S. governmentviolated the common sense that Thomas Jefferson had promised the American republic. Anyone who has watched video of the border in the past week knows full well that the border is open and the crisis is real. We hold these truths to be self-evident. But the Biden team doesnt get it. Instead of Trumps America First policy, we now have a federal government that intends to take responsibility for the hopes and dreams of foreign nationals. Not just that, but to do so while undermining Americans. Dont forget the Democrat plan to grant amnesty to upwards of 20 million illegal aliens. Thats the equivalent of adding 10 times the population of Montana to our nation, and essentially it means that voters in Montana and elsewhere will be reduced to second-class citizens. If our elected leaders can dilute the vote of Americans by engineering a new electorate whenever convenient to do so, either through amnesty or through weakening election rules so that anyone can vote, then consent of the governed is no more than a cheap parlor trick. The patience of the American people is being tested. Will common sense prevail? Or is it too late? From RealClearWire. Frank D. Miele, the retired editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Montana, is a columnist for RealClear Politics. His new book is How We Got Here: The Lefts Assault on the Constitution. Follow him on Facebook @HeartlandDiaryUSA or on Twitter or Parler @HeartlandDiary. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Rep. Jeff Van Drew got threats from a Pro-Democrat columnist who went too far. The Democrat slurred and attacked him in written columns. Trump supporters have been under assault by Democrat sympathizers and members of the Left. Attacks on conservatives have been increasing, especially under Biden's administration. But the media ignores it instead of calling them out. Rep. Jeff Van Drew Called out Hater Van Drew switched from Democrat to Republican in 2019, deciding to ally himself with President Trump. He gave the press a copy of the voicemail of a rabid Democrat supporter who expressed threats. They were directed at the representative who was criticized for leaving the Democrats, reported the Blaze. The columnist wrote something against the representative that was offensive. He went as far as to insult his family as well. Van Drew, who represented New Jersey, told the press last Monday his demands over the intimidation. He wanted something done against the harassing columnist who was getting too much. He raised concerns over what it is doing to him and his family. Representative Van Drew made a point when he stated the harassment. He challenged the calls for violence against him personally. He added that the line would be drawn in Cape May County with a line in the sand. He mentioned that they could intimidate with words and threats, but he's got limits. Rep. Jeff Van Drew assailed the Democrat columnist that he will be very mistaken and too much. Going after his wife and family will be met with something else-Democrats and their supporters' issue threat and intimidation, especially on conservatives. White House Still Denies Surging Border Crisis Posted the audio of the unhinged individual on his Youtube account. He got the copy from the Ocean City Sentinel guest contributor John McCall. McCall was responsible for the vitriolic phone call. McCall said these statements in voicemail. He said that the representative betrays the Democrats by defecting to GOP, saying Van Drew was a degenerate to his loyalty to Trump. He added to the hate-filled words saying demise as a Trump-supporting politician. He cited as part of the New Jersey Press Association that Van Drew will be deposed or dead. The NJPA denied his claim as a member. He was not done but said that he'd boot the Republican out of office. Lastly, he said the representative would suffer a traitor's demise. McCall seemed to be so disturbed that writing pieces by him were inappropriate. He wrote about a congressman's wife under sexual assault. He made an earlier comment about Van Drew in 2015. McCall mentioned Trump's off-the-cuff comment about women in 2005. More sick comments by Democrat the supporter even mentioned Van Drew's wife in a demented tirade. McCall seemed off the rails and went after Van Drew and his wife. He dared to say any defector from the Democrats should be executed for treason. McCall's near lunacy extends to saying Trump loyalists have subverted the government. He calls it treason that should affect anyone who supports ex-President. He took great pains to target Rep. Jeff Van Drew. The left specializes in this kind of witch-hunting. Gas Prices Soar Due to Biden Energy Policies, Says Oil CEO Georgia SOS: Single Source of the Trump Phone Call House Democrats Charged for Trying to Steal GOP Seat @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Mexico City, March 19 : At least 13 top officials were killed after a police vehicle was ambushed in Mexico, according to authorities. The incident took place on Thursday afternoon in Coatepec Harinas town in the state of Mexico, Xinhua news agency reported. According to the state's Security Secretary Rodrigo Martinez-Celis, members of the local police and the prosecutor's office were ambushed while patrolling. Eight police officers and five prosecutors were killed in the attack, the official confirmed, blaming the ambush on organised crime. "This attack is an affront to the Mexican government. We will respond with full force to uphold the law," he added. Photo: The Canadian Press After dropping off flowers Jesus Estrella, left, and Shelby stand in support of the Asian and Hispanic community outside Young's Asian Massage Wednesday, March 17, 2021, in Acworth, Ga. Asian Americans, already worn down by a year of racist attacks fueled by the pandemic, are reeling but trying to find a path forward in the wake of the horrific shootings at three Atlanta-area massage businesses that left eight people dead, most of them Asian women. (Curtis Compton /Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Asian Americans were already worn down by a year of pandemic-fueled racist attacks when a white gunman was charged with killing eight people, most of them Asian women, at three Atlanta-area massage parlours. Hundreds of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders turned to social media to air their anger, sadness, fear and hopelessness. The hashtag #StopAsianHate was a top trending topic on Twitter hours after the shootings Tuesday evening. I think the reason why people are feeling so hopeless is because Asian Americans have been ringing the bell on this issue for so long. ... Weve been raising the red flag, said Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood, executive director of the Atlanta-based Asian American Advocacy Fund, which does political and advocacy work across Georgia. Many also were outraged that the suspect, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, was not immediately charged with hate crimes. Authorities said Long told them the attack was not racially motivated and claimed that he targeted the spas because of a sex addiction. Six of the seven slain women were of Asian descent. Law enforcement needs some training understanding what a hate crime is," said Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. "This man identified targets owned by Asians. The gunman was very clearly going after a targeted group of people, Huang said. Being Asian American herself, Huang said the shootings felt personal. She is worried that not classifying the attack as a hate crime will absolutely discourage others from coming forward and seeking help. She also cringed at the comments of a sheriff's captain who said of the gunman: It was a really bad day for him. The remark appeared to be trying to explain and justify the suspect's actions, Huang said. "Hopefully it was a misstatement. Cherokee County sheriffs Capt. Jay Baker, whose remarks drew outrage, was replaced Thursday as spokesman for the case. The sheriff's office said it regrets any heartache caused by his words and that they were not intended to disrespect any of the victims, the gravity of this tragedy or express empathy or sympathy for the suspect." It also emerged that a Facebook account tied to Baker promoted a T-shirt with racist language about China and the coronavirus last year. The account was deleted Wednesday night. Mahmood said Asian American business owners in the Atlanta area were already fearful because of incidents like graffiti and break-ins. The shootings will raise that worry to new heights. A lot of Asian American business owners in the beauty parlour industry and food service these are often the most visible front-line faces in the community, Mahmood said. Her organization is partnering with other groups such as the Atlanta chapter of Asian Americans Advancing Justice to offer resources in multiple languages, including mental health assistance, self-defence training and bystander training. Meanwhile, from Phoenix to Philadelphia, Asian American organizations organized events aimed at showing unity. Asian Americans United, the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance and several other partner groups held a vigil Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphia's Chinatown neighbourhood. After the month and year we had, we knew our folks needed the time to come together safely just to grieve and heal and mourn and speak to whats happening, said Mohan Seshadri, Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance co-executive director. As much despair as Asian Americans feel, Seshadri said, the shootings also mark a flashpoint. Our folks are pissed off and ready to fight, Seshadri said. The way we get through this is together by organizing our people and feeling solidarity. Arizona Asian Chamber of Commerce CEO Vicente Reid is planning a vigil next week in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, which has a high concentration of Asian American-owned shops and restaurants. He thinks the slayings have galvanized the local community to go beyond vigils. I think there is this whole outlet of this younger generation who's passionate and has the energy. They just need someone to step up and lead them, Reid said. For the past several weeks, Asian Americans have questioned how to deal with a recent wave of assaults many on the elderly that have coincided with the pandemic. The virus was first identified in China, and former President Donald Trump and others have used racial terms to describe it. Numerous Asian American organizations say Trump's rhetoric has emboldened people to express anti-Asian or anti-immigrant views. Nearly 3,800 incidents have been reported to Stop AAPI Hate, a California-based reporting centre for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and its partner groups, since March 2020. Nationally, women reported hate crimes 2.3 times more than men. Following the release Wednesday of a report showing a surge in white supremacist propaganda in 2020, the Anti-Defamation League told The Associated Press that a significant amount of the propaganda included anti-immigrant rhetoric. The anti-hate group said 10% of propaganda descriptions in its inventory contained negative references to immigration, multiculturalism or diversity. The 522 physical flyers, stickers or banners included the use of words such as invasion, deport, disease, illegal, infection and virus, the ADL said. There were also seven propaganda incidents with direct anti-China references to COVID-19. Meanwhile, Asian Americans are thankfully getting support from many non-Asian allies, Mahmood said. The path forward for us is really just standing together and making sure we dont let these types of tragedies divide our communities." Kolkata, March 19 : The BJP faced widespread protests from local workers after it announced the candidates list for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly election. The situation went out of control after the saffron camp fielded leaders who had joined the state's BJP union after leaving the ruling Trinamool Congress, barely a few weeks ahead of the crucial contest in the state. Ashok Lahiri was initially fielded from the north Bengal's Alipurduar seat. It triggered protests in the district by a section of angry BJP workers who staged an agitation against Lahiri's candidature saying they would not accept any outsider on the seat. On Thursday, the state unit of the BJP replaced its candidate Lahiri, a former Chief Economic Advisor to the central government. Local BJP leader Suman Kanjilal replaced the noted economist on the seat. Sources in the BJP said that Lahiri is likely to be fielded from the Balurghat Assembly seat in South Dinajpur district. The party is yet to announce candidates for five Assembly seats so far, these are - Balurghat, Rashbehari, Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong. Similar protests also broke out at several other places across Bengal this week. BJP workers ransacked a party office in Panchla seat in Kolkata's adjoining Howrah district, where Trinamool Congress turncoat Mohitlal Ghati was given the BJP ticket. Disgruntled BJP activists had also staged protests outside the party's election office at Hastings in Kolkata on Monday and Tuesday (March 15-16). Angry supporters had also heckled senior party leaders such as Shiv Prakash, Mukul Roy and Arjun Singh during the protest programme. When the then-new Lafayette General Hospital was dedicated in 1965, the principal speaker lauded Lafayette people for their forward look in its establishment. Lafayette and surrounding areas would reap dividends by creating the seven-story, 210-bed facility, the speaker said, which was most efficient, better designed and fully equipped. All of that, the speaker noted, in a country that was better than any other place in the world for research and for better medicine. The speaker was Dr. Alton Ochsner Sr., founder in 1942 of the world-famous Ochsner Clinic. On Thursday, Lafayette General Health merged with Ochsner Health of New Orleans, creating what both parties said is the largest and most comprehensive healthcare provider in the Gulf South. Advantages abound for both parties to the deal, and they touted among them $465 million in investment over 10 years in Acadiana, to include $94 million in Lafayette. It was, said David Callecod, president of whats now called Ochsner Lafayette General, a momentous, historic event really, the latest chapter in the continuing, 11-decade-long story of the hospital, health system and its hometown. The Lafayette Sanitarium Hospital care in Lafayette generally traces it roots to 1911 and the opening of the Lafayette Sanitarium on St. John Street, a facility of at least five and perhaps eight beds founded by Drs. John Franklin Mouton; L.A. Prejean, the first mayor and bank president in Scott; and L.O. Clark, a native of Ridge, who opened his practice in Lafayette during the towns last outbreak of yellow fever. Talks about creating a hospital had been ongoing since 1905 or 1906 in Lafayette, a town of some 4,000 people. At that time, patients facing serious illness traveled to New Orleans for hospital care. But fruition of those plans took another five years, when the Lafayette Sanitarium was built on a 300-by-600-foot downtown lot and became the only hospital between New Orleans and Lake Charles. By 1913, the hospital had 14 beds; by decades end, it had grown to as many as 80. It had also acquired an X-ray machine, a gift from J.A. Landry of Louisiana Power and Traction. Clark was the first doctor at the hospital to use the X-ray machine and also the first to perform a Caesarian section. The Roaring 20s introduced two notable characters into Lafayette Generals history: Nurse Angelina Glaudi, who trained nurses at the Sanitarium and at Lafayette General for almost 50 years; and Dr. Charles Hamilton, a fabled physician who reportedly escaped death during the Mexican Revolution and served the British medical corps during World War I. After the war, Hamilton remained in Europe for further medical training and returned to Lafayette. In Lafayette, Hamilton practiced medicine on horseback during the 20s. Shortly before his death, he told local historian Jim Bradshaw that hed ride horse or mule into the countryside to visit patients until the animal wore out, then would continue on foot and hope to catch a ride back to town. Amazon agrees to buy former Evangeline Downs site for possible fulfillment center, source says Amazon.com has entered into an agreement to acquire property at the former Evangeline Downs site for a fulfillment center, a source told the A Free care to the poor In the 1930s, the local hospital picture changed. State government OKd a charity hospital for Lafayette, which moved into the St. Johns Hospital on St. Mary and offered free care to the poor, of which there were many in those Great Depression years. Three members of the Sisters of Charities worked at the hospital, which became the largest in Lafayette. Within 16 years, the Lafayette Medical Society contended that Lafayette, now with more than 33,000 people, was too short on hospital beds and recommended as many as 275 more. At the time, they said, three hospitals Charity, the Lafayette Sanitarium and Our Lady of Lourdes, which opened in 1949 had 425 beds, 325 of them at Charity. The sanitariums hospital authority approached Baptist Hospital in Alexandria, seeking a merger that might increase the number of beds in the Lafayette Sanitarium, but were denied; the Alexandria hospital said the sanitarium here was too small. The Lafayette Sanitarium was landlocked; hospital beds were increased once more in 1959 but community leaders decided a new hospital on a larger site was the better choice. Maurice Heymann, a prosperous local merchant and philanthropist, provided the cure to what ailed Lafayette's bed shortage. He donated $50,000 and seven acres of land to build a new hospital at Coolidge Avenue and South College Road in 1962. Plans were made for the 210-bed Lafayette General. Perry Segura and Associates of New Iberia designed the Y-shaped building and ground was broken on April 4, 1963. Hamilton, whod done his medical rounds in rural Lafayette on horseback, held one of the shovels as Lafayette entered a new era for hospitals when it opened two years later. +6 In lean year, UL Lafayette's graduate school records some enrollment pluses By the numbers, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Graduate School held its head above water for fall enrollment, increasing by 100 stud Lafayette General had nine operating rooms, a specialized nursery, pediatrics department and a radiology lab. The first 28 patients were transferred to the new hospital from the old on April 15, 1965. Mrs. C.E. Hamilton, who had greeted patients when the Lafayette Sanitarium opened in 1911, greeted the new patients at Lafayette General. Mrs. Robert Kaltenbach delivered the first child at Lafayette General at 10:10 a.m. that day. The first case in the new Emergency Room was Daniel Daigle, 13, a student who had suffered a broken arm. Success came quickly. Admissions at Lafayette General rose from 7,349 in 1967 to 9,614 in 1969 to 11,548 in 1973. Much of the new hospital traffic came from surrounding areas. Inside info on doing business in Acadiana We'll keep you posted on the Acadiana economy. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Meeting the needs of growing community From 1965-69, patient days of service increased 41 percent, at least in part because of vigorous local population growth. All seven floors of the new facilities were occupied when expansion was OKd in inpatient days of service. The citys explosive growth the citys population approached 70,000 encouraged doctors to move to Lafayette. Expansion was OKd in 1969. New specialties were added: A neonatal intensive care unit in 1976, a full-time ER the same year, a physical therapy department, as well. In 1980, the second phase of a $22 million expansion included a 10-story patient tower and a parking garage. A cardiology department was established in 1982. Meanwhile, Charity Hospital also expanded until its longtime location suffered from a profound lack of space. Gov. Edwin Edwards revealed in 1974 that it would get a new campus, which happened in 1982 at the intersection of Bertrand Drive and Congress Street. From the outset, the new charity hospital, University Medical Center, suffered in patients eyes. Emergency service was painfully slow, and patients who went there often left the ER without seeing a doctor. The complaint was not usually with the doctors, but generally with the lack of staff. But UMC held an important prize residencies for doctors, under the guidance of LSU and Lafayette General coveted those, with good reason. Regional medical care In the 90s, Lafayette General Medical Center also became the linchpin in regional medical care when it formed an alliance with hospitals and clinics in Opelousas, Crowley, Abbeville, Franklin and others. The rural hospitals would continue to provide primary care but could rely on the medical center for tertiary care access to specialists, with reference from primary care physicians. That relationship developed into a system of hospitals that could depend up the larger hospital for guidance and backup. In 2013, with problems accelerating at UMC, Lafayette General reached a deal by which they would lease the troubled hospital from the state, bring its management under their umbrella and share in the wealth of medical residents, or new doctors. Lafayette General became a teaching hospital under the agreement, strengthened ties with the LSU Medical School and developed a new pipeline for doctors, always in demand a win-win. Ochsner Healths interest in Lafayette General and its affiliated hospitals was no surprise. Ochsner Health had expressed an interest in expanding on the Gulf Coast several years ago and Lafayette and Acadiana were natural allies. Weve been looking forward to this day for more than a year," said Andrew Wilson, the chair of the Ochsner Health Board of Directors. "Lafayette General is a terrific health system known for its high-quality care and extraordinary commitment to patients. Ochsner shares those values, and as Ochsner Lafayette General, we can do even more great things together for patients in Acadiana." What Alton Ochsner recognized as value in Lafayette in 1965, Ochsner Health prizes now. Some merger benefits were evident locally this week: immediate higher pay for those on the lower end of the pay scale, an additional retirement contribution match on employee 401k plans. The community will see a new health center in an underserved area and additional cancer services, among many improvements. Internally, care will be improved through 48 new residency positions in Lafayette. Dr. Amanda Logue, chief medical officer of Ochsner Lafayette General, said the two systems have been working closely for the past year. The COVID-19 pandemic only brought them closer. She said Ochsner New Orleans facilities saw many more cases than Lafayette General early in the pandemic. Through their clinical relationship, LGH was able to keep up with the developments Ochsner made to help fight the virus. "We've done it in partnership with Ochsner all along," Logue said. Logue also said the merger shows a commitment to attracting and keeping good, young doctors in Acadiana. The merger will add about 48 new residency positions at the medical center. Workforce development programs catering to medical assistant careers is also part of the investment, along with a new classroom at the Ochsner Lafayette General Orthopaedic Hospital. "We feel like we have to build a strong pipeline, not only for our employees, but for those up and coming doctors in training," Logue said. "We want to harvest the best and have them stay here in Acadiana." Its been a long road from the Lafayette Sanitarium, with its half-dozen beds and an ER that was handled on the front porch. There's a long way to travel. Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway has bid farewell to Khabib Nurmagomedov following the latter's official retirement from the UFC. Following Dana White's confirmation of Khabib Nurmagomedov's exit from the promotion, Max Holloway took to Twitter to congratulate the undefeated fighter on an illustrious career. 'Blessed' also expressed his desire to visit Dagestan (Nurmagomedov's hometown) someday. Max Holloway and Khabib Nurmagomedov were scheduled to fight at UFC 223, after Tony Ferguson had to pull out because of a reported injury during fight week. But just a few days away from the headliner bout, the New York Commission deemed the Hawaiian medically unfit to fight. Holloway was shattered upon getting the news as he was merely four pounds away from making weight for the fight, Sportskeeda recalls. The Administration of President Joe Biden believes that human rights should be protected, their defenders celebrated, and those who commit human rights abuses must be held accountable, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken before the United Nations Human Rights Council. As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims: all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent, and interrelated: The United States is placing democracy and human rights at the center of our foreign policy, because they are essential for peace and stability. This commitment is firm and grounded in our own experience as a democracy imperfect and often falling short of our own ideals, but striving always for a more inclusive, respectful, and free country. It is also a major reason one of the reasons the United States intends to seek election to a seat on the UN Human Rights Council for the 2022-2024 term. We will focus on ensuring that the Council membership reflects high standards for upholding human rights. Those with the worst human rights records should not be members of this Council. We must work together to improve the work and membership of the Council so it can do even more to advance the rights of people around the world. Too many member states praise human rights protections even as they work to subvert the values upon which the United Nations is founded. Each of us as individuals are endowed with human rights and states are obliged to protect those fundamental rights, said Secretary of State Blinken. Those who hide under the mantle of promoting economic development while seeking to undermine human rights will be held to account, including for their own human rights violations. We will continue to call out abuses in places like Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Iran. We reiterate our call for the Russian government to immediately and unconditionally release Alexei Navalny, as well as hundreds of other Russian citizens wrongfully detained for exercising their rights. We will speak out for universal values when atrocities are committed in Xinjiang or when fundamental freedoms are undermined in Hong Kong. The United States is fully committed to the universal protection and promotion of human rights, said Secretary of State Blinken. We look forward to working collaboratively with friends and partners in this body and in the NGO community from all regions, to ensure that the Council lives up to its mandate and effectively contributes to human rights around the world. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Kate Beckinsale has paid tribute to her father Richard, 42 years after his death. The actress, 47, took to Instagram on Friday to share snaps of him, newspaper clippings, and an art mural of the late actor to mark the occasion. Richard, who was known for his role as Lennie Godber in Porridge, died of a heart attack in his sleep, which was caused by coronary artery disease, aged 31 in 1979. 'We were never the same again': Kate Beckinsale penned an emotional tribute to her late father Richard 42 years after his tragic death in an Instagram post on Friday Reflecting on her loss in her tribute to him, Kate wrote: 'March 19th,1979. And we were never the same again. 'Thank you to everyone who has kept him alive in our hearts and on our lips. And love to everyone missing a shining,special person of their own.' Kate also stated how much she wanted to see her mother Judy Loe in that moment, as she added: 'I wish I was with my mum today xxx' Emotional: Reflecting on her loss in her tribute to him, Kate wrote: 'Thank you to everyone who has kept him alive in our hearts and on our lips' Tribute: The actress took to Instagram to share snaps of him, newspaper clippings about the actor to mark the occasion Tragic: Richard, who was known for his role as Lennie Godber in Porridge, died aged 31 in 1979 of a heart attack in his sleep, which was caused by coronary artery disease Kate was just five-years-old when her father died, and in 2013 she said of losing him: 'It was a terrible loss. It's so weird as a five-year-old to look out in the street and see people reading the paper and crying while you're crying and your mum is crying and your granny's crying. 'Even though it was the worst loss that I have experienced I was able to share it with people who genuinely, even if they didn't know him, really seemed to love him. 'I feel not many people are in that position to have lost somebody and also to feel like that's something really relevant to other people.' In his honour: Kate also shared a picture of a mural that was made of Richard Moving; Kate also stated how much she wanted to see her mother Judy Loe (pictured together) in that moment, as she added: 'I wish I was with my mum today xxx' Kate's late father Richard made his acting debut in the much-loved British soap Coronation Street in 1969, and he went onto star in the Granada sitcom The Lovers and the much-loved BBC sitcom Porridge. On Father's Day in 2019, Kate dismissed the notion that 'children are resilient' by sharing an image of her five-year-old self next to her mother on the day of her dad's memorial service. Taking to Instagram, the Underworld star wrote: 'Don't be fooled by ''children are resilient''. This is my mother and me attending the 'celebration of life ' memorial service for my dad. I look fine. I was shattered, heartbroken and shocked. Loss: Kate was just five when her father died, and in 2013 she said: 'It's so weird as a five-year-old to look out in the street and see people reading the paper and crying while you're crying' 'Every time Father's Day comes around I remember my father with such love and longing, and I remember the deep shame, loneliness and self loathing when I was excused from aged 5 onwards from making Father's Day cards at school. 'I didn't know anyone else who had lost a parent and there was no number to call to find advice on how to support grieving children .@kelliauerbachsent me her article about losing both her parents before the age of 20. 'It's moving and beautifully written and I really advise reading it,if Father's Day (or Mother's Day ) is a painful issue for you or your children. Emotional: On Father's Day in 2019, Kate dismissed the notion that 'children are resilient' by sharing an image on the day of her dad's memorial service and saying she was 'shattered' 'The amount of shame children carry for having a dead parent is astonishing. Resources such as the National Alliance for Grieving Children at childrengrieve.org in the US and Winston's wish at winstonswish.org in the UK give invaluable support to kids in this position, at a time when the rest of the family are grieving themselves. 'Big hugs to everyone who feels like shit as this lovely holiday comes around . You may not be able to buy a card . You're in the Dead Fathers Club that none of us wanted to join and yet here we all are. I'm glad we have each other . Love to all xx.' Kate's mother Judy married her stepfather Roy Battersby 18 years after her father's death in 1997. Hazleton, PA (18201) Today Cloudy skies during the morning hours followed by thunderstorms in the afternoon. Storms could contain damaging winds. High 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. A former priest and two professional dominatrices accused of performing sex acts on the altar of a Catholic church in Pearl River were charged by the north shore District Attorney's Office Thursday with one count of institutional vandalism, a felony. Travis John Clark, 37, who was pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, and Mindy Lynn Dixon, 41, of Kent, Washington and Melissa Kamon Cheng, 28, of Alpharetta, Georgia, were charged in a bill of information. The District Attorney's office said in news release that the crimes occurred between Sept. 29-Sept. 30 last year. A passerby who noticed lights on in the church saw Clark having sex on the alter with two corset-clad women, court records show. Attorney Bradley Phillips, who represents Dixon and Cheng, said Friday that the DA "has rightfully chosen to not pursue obscenity charges against my clients." After they were booked on obscenity charges last fall, Phillips argued that argued that his clients' conduct was both private and legal because it did not take place in public. "Instead, after waiting nearly six months, the state has decided to move forward with a lesser charge of 'institutionalized vandalism.' It is clear the state went out of its way to contort the facts of this case in order to fit their own narrative," Phillips said in a prepared statement. "Once again, they have overstepped their bounds as this nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to regulate the morality of private individuals. Just because you dont like something, doesnt make it criminal. My clients look forward to their day in court as we continue to fight this baseless allegation." Clark could not be reached for comment and has not spoken publicly about the alleged tryst, which, according to the court documents obtained by The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate, involved the two women in corsets and high heels performing sex acts on a half-naked Clark as they recorded it with a phone and tripod-mounted camera. Police confiscated plastic sex toys, stage lights and two recording devices from within the church as evidence and booked all three with obscenity. Among the charge's definitions in Louisiana law are having sex in any place open to the public view. According to the documents that Pearl River police filed in 22nd Judicial District Court, the altar could be seen through the church's windows and glass doors. The arrests have created another scandal for the Archdiocese of New Orleans after a slew of recent disclosures about alleged child sexual abuse by clergy and the archdiocese's own filling for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. 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 charges filed against Clark came on the same day that Montgomery's office charged Pat Wattigny, former pastor of a Slidell church, with molestation of a juvenile. "We acknowledge the charges filed against Travis Clark and Patrick Wattigny by the St. Tammany District Attorneys Office," the Archdiocese of New Orleans said in a statement Friday. "We have and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement. We are proceeding to the Vatican to petition for their laicization presenting information from both the criminal and canonical investigations. Our prayers remain with all those who were hurt by the actions of these two men, and in a particular way, we offer our prayers for healing of survivors of abuse." Aymond removed Clark from public ministry the day after his arrest, the same day he removing removed Wattigny. Clark and the two women are accused of "knowingly vandalizing, defacing, or otherwise damaging property and causing damage valued at over $500 and under $50,000 at the church on or between Sept. 29 and Sept. 30 last year. Aymond ordered the church's altar to be burned and replaced it with a new one that was consecrated in a church service in October. During a sermon at that service, Aymond said Clark's behavior was a sinful violation of his vows. "His behavior was obscene. The desecration of this church and the altar is demonic demonic. ... He was using that which was holy to do demonic things." Clark, Dixon and Cheng are set to be arraigned Monday before state District Judge Ellen Creel in Covington. Wattigny is set for arraignment the same day before state District Judge Vincent "Vinny" Lobello. If convicted, they could be sentenced to up to two years in prison, with or without hard labor, and a fine of not more than $1,000 or both, according to the DA's office. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 16:38:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MANILA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Philippine security forces have rescued three Indonesians abducted off a Malaysian island over one year ago, the military said on Friday. Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said the Indonesians were rescued around 10:30 p.m. local time on Thursday in the waters off a remote island in Tawi-Tawi, the southernmost province of the country. Vinluan said the three were among the five Indonesian nationals working for a Malaysian fishing firm kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf terrorists in January 2020 in the waters off Tambisan island in Malaysia. One of the five hostages was killed in September last year during a military rescue operation in Patikul town in nearby Sulu province of the Philippines, while another managed to escape. Brig. Gen. Arturo Rojas, commander of a military task force in Tawi-Tawi, said the government forces caught up with the terrorists whose boat sank and capsized while attempting to get away with the three kidnap victims. Rojas said a Filipino national on the boat was also "rescued." It was not yet clear whether the Filipino is an abductor or a kidnap victim. The rescued Indonesians are now in police custody. The Abu Sayyaf group, a loose band of terrorists, has carried out deadly bombings and kidnappings in the remote and poor southern Philippine provinces of Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi. The group, which has been terrorizing the Philippine southern region since the 1990s, preys on foreign tourists, businessmen and fishermen from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. Enditem A SpaceX engineer pleaded guilty to insider trading after buying information off the dark web with the goal of profiting from illegal tips about companies, U.S. prosecutors said Thursday. From 2016 to 2017, James Roland Jones used the moniker MillionaireMike to illegally purchase names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers to open a fraudulent brokerage account, according to a Justice Department statement. Through that account and others, Jones traded on tips, one of which was provided to him by an undercover FBI agent, according to the statement. An attorney representing Jones didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Jones is 33 and based in Redondo Beach, California, according to the Justice Departments statement. SpaceX, whose full corporate name is Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is the aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company founded by Elon Musk. In a parallel civil case, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused Jones of selling fake tips about companies, with the regulator saying it was its first-ever enforcement action tied to securities law violations on the dark web. Jones got the idea to sell tips after earlier lying about having market-moving information so that he could access a purported online forum for insider trading. Several people paid Jones about $27,000 combined in Bitcoin transactions, ultimately trading on his fake tips. This case shows that the SEC can and will pursue securities law violators wherever they operate, even on the dark web, David L. Peavler, director of the SECs Fort Worth regional office, said in a statement. The term dark web refers to a subset of the internet that is intentionally hidden, requiring specific software to access content. Now read: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket achieves new record London United bus drivers were left to strike alone on Wednesday after Unite suspended industrial action at London Sovereign and Quality Line. Unite are to ballot their members over a revised pay offer which constitutes a miserly 0.25 percent and 0.5 percent increase respectively on what was originally presented. London Sovereign announcing the strike at that subsidiary is called off with Unites blessing The scheduled one-day stoppage at all three London subsidiaries operated by the French transnational RATP Dev was meant to be the next stage in rolling strike action that began over three weeks ago by around 2,000 bus drivers. Workers at all three subsidiaries faced a derisory pay offer of below 1 percent. At London United, the private operator was not even prepared to offer an increase from the original 0.5 percent. The fact that Unite is prepared to even consider such a revised offer is an insult to RATP Dev bus drivers who have suffered economic hardship in taking strike action. It refutes the claim that with this dispute the union had drawn a line in the sand. It is also allowing RATP Dev to drive a wedge between the two subsidiaries and London United where bus drivers additionally face the imposition of inferior terms and conditions which would result in a pay cut of around 2,000 per year. Unite stated in a press release, An eleventh hour improved pay offer has resulted in strikes planned tomorrow (Wednesday 17 March) by bus workers employed on the Quality Line and London Sovereign services being called off, to allow members a ballot on the employers proposal. Unite provided no details of its revised offer in its press release. Bus drivers at both subsidiaries have been offered a revised offer of 1 percent with a 425 lump sum payment as an attempt to induce them to accept. A Unite spokesperson said the union was not offering a recommendation to either accept or reject the revised offer. This is not a neutral stance but an underhand approach. The union cannot credibly argue for acceptance but is making clear it is not committed to taking the dispute any further. There is every indication that bus drivers who have taken strike action over the last few weeks and manned picket lines will treat the revised offer with the contempt it deserves. At Edgware garage operated by London Sovereign a driver commented, We should still go ahead with the strike as this is not a pay rise at all. Another stated, What have we gone on strike for and lost 3 days pay, to accept 1 %! How long will it take to recoup the money we have lost? We have to get a proper pay rise not a waste of time. But more is involved than rejecting the companys insulting offer. It is necessary to mobilise independently against Unites sabotage of the fight against RATP Dev. The first strike action on the national bus network since the pandemic hit has shown the full extent of class divisions. The defiant stand by bus drivers has been fuelled by anger that their lives have been treated as expendable by the private operators. On the picket lines, strikers have contrasted the offer of a pitiful 7 pence an hour raise for drivers with the fortunes of the shareholders and salaries of the executives of the multi-million-pound company. The rolling strike action at RATP Dev in London has coincided with indefinite strike action in Manchester at Go North West operated by the largest UK bus operator Go Ahead against the imposition of fire and rehires contracts. Industrial action by a relatively small proportion of bus drivers has met with co-ordinated strike breaking operations in both disputes. London, Euston Station bus stand (credit: WSWS) The rival private operators have proved far more effective at joint action than Unite, which has made no appeal to its membership of over 80,000 transport workers across 150 companies to come to the aid of their embattled brothers and sisters. The principal reason for this is not the anti-strike laws which the unions have slavishly followed to discipline militant opposition. Uniteas is the case with all the unionsno longer functions as defensive organisations of workers. At Go North West, Unite has called for the company to return to talks based on union proposals to freeze pay for a year and an extra 1 million worth of cuts. At RATP Dev, the union has never presented a rival claim to the companys derisory pay offer and imposition of inferior terms and conditions to leave the door open for a sell-out. Unite sanctioned industrial action in a bid to siphon off the genuine opposition among bus workers into channels which would not undermine its partnership with RATP Dev by igniting wider opposition to the renewed race to the bottom. At all times this has been about preserving its role as chief industrial policeman. Only last week, Unite Regional Officer Michelle Braveboy made a cameo appearance on the picket line at Edgware garage stating, Bus drivers at RATP are resolved that attacks on their pay and conditions will be abandoned and that they will secure a meaningful pay rise. Unite official Michelle Braveboy outside Edgware garage last week What cynical and empty rhetoric. Braveboy is now presenting as an improved offer the 0.25 percent uplift at London Sovereign to a single percentage point. Bus drivers at Quality Line, the lowest paid on bus routes operated by Transport for London, who receive 2.50 less an hour than their co-workers at the other RATP Dev subsidiaries, are supposed to view favourably a 1 percent increase to their meagre pay. The rolling strike action over the past two weeks has presented only a semblance of unified struggle while Unite has kept drivers across the three subsidiaries and in Manchester separated by a Chinese wall. It has pursued talks behind the scenes, drip feeding information and sowing confusion and disunity. The predictable consequence of this divide and rule approach has now come to pass. While seeking to soften workers up at London Sovereign and Quality Line for what is essentially a repackaged pay cut, Unite is prepared to hang London United bus drivers out to dry. Announcing the suspension of strike action at London Sovereign and Quality Line, Unite stated, the offer for workers at London United did not fully remove the companys planned attack on terms and conditions and as a result the strike will go ahead as planned. In an update to Unite members at London United last week, the union had claimed the company was prepared to relent on its main demands to eliminate the attendance bonus and safety allowance and lengthen the period of unpaid meal breaks from 40 minutes to 1 hour. However, it would not entertain any discussion on new starters and whether they would be employed on the same terms and conditions or any retreat over the 0.5 percent pay offer, even half the negligible amount offered at the other RATP Dev subsidiaries. How London United bus drivers are meant to defeat this when they have been cut adrift from their fellow workers across RATP Dev is not explained. The strike must be taken out of the hands of Unite and enjoined with the defence of bus drivers lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. RATP Dev strikers must forge links with those on indefinite strike at Go North West in Manchester and build solidarity among all bus workers against the strike breaking operations being mounted. This can only be carried forward in an independent struggle against the trade unions and the Labour Party who are fully aligned with the Johnson governments herd immunity policy to sacrifice workers lives to guarantee the flow of corporate profits and the wholesale destruction of their jobs, terms and conditions which is now underway. We urge all those interested in waging such a fight to contact the London Bus Rank-and-File Committee. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 19, 2021 / Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd. ("Naturally Splendid", "NSE" or "the Company") (TSXV:NSP) (FRANKFURT:50N) (OTC PINK:NSPDF) announces it has received an additional $612,865 in cash from the exercise of warrants. The warrants were exercised at a price of $0.055 for a total of 11,143,000 common shares being issued. Following the issuance of these shares, Naturally Splendid will have 217,946,007 common shares outstanding. Previously on March 5, 2021, the Company announced $254,980 in cash from the exercise of warrants. Cumulatively the Company has now received a total of $867,854 through the exercise of warrants. Naturally Splendid CEO Craig Goodwin states," A strategic investor has exercised this recent round of warrants, which has allowed the Company to accelerate on key initiatives. This influx of capital will be directed towards the operations of the Company to further advance projects such as Natera Plant-Based Foods and e-commerce strategies. We look forward to providing updates as these key initiatives are implemented". British Columbia Institution of Technology (BCIT ) Survey The Company also just completed an exciting survey with a dedicated team of Marketing students from the British Columbia Institution of Technology (BCIT) that aims to explore gen-z and millennials' awareness, knowledge, and perception of plant-based foods. BCIT, established in 1964, is one of BC's largest post-secondary institutions with more than 48,000 students. The institution has gained an exceptional reputation partnering learners and industry for success through workforce development. The findings from the survey will provide insight to consumer preferences for future Plant-Based Protein Foods. We look forward to providing updates on the continued growth of Natera Plant-based Foods in the very near future including our findings from the survey details. About Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd. Founded in 2010, NSE operates a Safe Quality Food Level 2 certified food manufacturing facility just outside Vancouver, BC in Canada. The Company has established numerous healthy, functional foods under recognized brands such as Natera Sport, Natera Hemp Foods, CHII, Elevate Me and Woods Wild Bar, and most recently Natera Plant Based Foods, a line of delicious plant-based meat alternatives for the rapidly growing plant-based market segment. The Company has a myriad of new products and line extensions under development that are approaching launch. NSE, through its joint venture Plasm Pharmaceutical, has been approved for conducting a phase 2 clinical trial approved by Health Canada for treatment of COVID-19. NSE has also developed proprietary technologies for the extraction of high-demand, healthy omega 3 and 6 oils from hemp. NSE contract manufacturers for healthy, functional food products and ingredients focusing on plant-based ingredients. The Company provides contract manufacturing services for many healthy food companies, private labeling a wide variety of nutritional food products destined for global healthy food markets. For more information e-mail info@naturallysplendid.com or call Investor Relations at 604-465-0548 ext.105 On Behalf of the Board of Directors Mr. J. Craig Goodwin CEO, Director Contact Information Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd. (NSP - TSX Venture; NSPDF - OTCQB; 50N - Frankfurt) #108-19100 Airport Way Pitt Meadows, BC, V3Y 0E2 Office: (604) 465-0548 Fax: (604) 465-1128 E-mail: info@naturallysplendid.com Website: www.naturallysplendid.com Forward-Looking Statements Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. Naturally Splendid cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Naturally Splendid's control including, Naturally Splendid's ability to compete with large food and beverage companies; sales of any potential products developed will be profitable; sales of shelled hemp seed will continue at existing rates or increase; the ability to complete the sales of all bulk hemp seed purchase orders; and the risk that any of the potential applications may not receive all required regulatory or legal approval. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Naturally Splendid undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. SOURCE: Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/636450/Naturally-Splendid-Announces-Warrant-Exercise-Raises-Additional-612865 A 99-year-old Second World War veteran with a lifelong passion for singing has gone behind the mic to raise money for charity. Charlie Pallett, who celebrates his 100th birthday next month, has recorded one of his favourite wartime songs, that still resonates today. In a heart-warming video, the great-great-grandfather gives a rousing performance of Keep Right On To The End Of The Road. Mr Pallett is registered blind and wears two hearing aids but this has not stopped him from smashing his target of raising 1,000 for Help for Heroes. Speaking to the PA news agency, the veteran said he was inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore. He told PA: I said I would like to do that to raise money for the lads, the guys I was with in the war. And thats why this started and Im very pleased for what it has achieved. Mr Pallett had just got a job as a lorry driver when, on turning 18, he got a letter telling him he had been called up to Her Majestys Service. During the war he served as a driver and later as a dispatch rider in the 53rd Welsh Division and 52nd Lowland Division. His service took him to the north of Germany where he broke his ankle, before going out to Singapore. It was while he was stationed in Maidstone, Kent, that he met his wife-to-be Madge and they married in 1943. They were husband and wife for 76 years, living most of their married life in Maidstone before she died in June 2019 at the age of 95. Now nearly 100 years old, Mr Pallett has three daughters, five grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter and lives in Shepway. He added: I want to raise money for wounded soldiers and their families. Its important that they shouldnt be forgotten so if I can do my bit to raise awareness and get people to donate a few pounds by singing my song, then I cant think of a better birthday present. Carole Groves, national senior fundraising manager at Help for Heroes, said: For Charlie to ask for donations to help other war heroes instead of receiving cards and presents for his 100th birthday is so incredibly generous and also timely as the past 12 months have been tougher than ever for veterans living with a life-changing injury or illness. We cant stop watching his wonderful video which warms the cockles of our hearts. By supporting veterans and their families Charlie is helping us give them the strength they need to live the lives they deserve. Mr Palletts fundraiser can be accessed here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/charliepallett100-helpforheroes The company noted that while Grand Casino Luzern is the first Swiss operator to launch with ORYXs content, a number of other agreements are soon to be announced. The deal is latest in a series of agreements for ORYX in Croatia, Romania, Greece, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the US Inc ( ) ( ) has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary ORYX Gaming has now entered the Swiss market, going live with Grand Casino Luzerns online brand. With the most extensive online casino operation in Switzerland, Grand Casino Luzern operates the mycasino.ch brand and holds close to a 40% market share. Bragg said that Mycasino.ch customers now have access to the entire games portfolio from ORYXs exclusive RGS partner GAMOMAT, including top-performing titles Royal Seven, Ramses Book, Crystal Book, and Take 5. The company also noted that while Grand Casino Luzern is the first Swiss operator to launch with ORYXs content, a number of other agreements are soon to be announced. The launch with Grand Casino Luzern is the latest in a series of agreements for ORYX in Croatia, Romania, Greece, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the US that will allow ORYX to diversify its global footprint and expand quickly outside of its core markets. Bragg noted that ORYX was last year awarded an ISO/IEC 27001 certificate, which is used as a regulation benchmark in Switzerland. The supplier is licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority and the Romanian National Gambling Office and its content is certified or approved in 18 other major jurisdictions. Switzerland is a very exciting young market and we are pleased to take our content live with Grand Casino Luzern, said Matevz Mazij, managing director of ORYX Gaming in a statement. This marks the beginning of our venture in Switzerland, and we couldnt have chosen a better partner than the leading operator in the market. We look forward to further establishing our presence in the country and providing players with our premium content. Wolfgang Bliem, CEO of Grand Casino Luzern, added: Following a very smooth integration process were thrilled to now offer GAMOMATs proven content to our player base. Our business continues to go from strength to strength and our offering has been further improved by our partnership with ORYX. Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham 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 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 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. TAMPA, Fla., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Widget, the manufacturer and distributor of iconic CBD brands Hemp Bombs, Nature's Script and Perfect Paws Hemp, announces the expansion of its best-selling, industry award-winning CBD edibles from Hemp Bombs with four new and improved products: Immunity Boost CBD Gummies, featuring elderberry extract; Botanical Blend CBD Gummies, a classic formulation; CBD Max Chill Shot, reformulated with a new flavor; and CBD Capsules, now offering more value as well as a sleep aid variety. "Continuing with our Year of More in 2020, we are responding to consumer and retail feedback by incorporating new products that can easily fit into our customers' daily health and wellness routines," said Kevin Collins, co-CEO of Global Widget. The newest additions to the award-winning lineup of Hemp Bombs CBD gummies include its Immune Support CBD Gummies with 50mg of elderberry extract and 15mg of CBD in each gummy. They are available in 8-count packages, along with 50- and 100-count bottles. Botanical Blend CBD Gummies feature the brand's customer-favorite, classic formulation proprietary blend and 15mg of CBD in each gummy. Botanical Blend CBD Gummies are available in 50- and 100-count bottles. Following its "Year of More" in 2020, Hemp Bombs CBD Capsules now include more capsules per package for the same price as the previously available sizes. The capsules, available in original, high potency and a new sleep variety, are available in 8-count blister packs and 20-, 50- and 100-count bottles. Original CBD Capsules contain 15mg of CBD per capsule, High-Potency CBD Capsules feature 30mg of CBD per capsule and Sleep CBD Capsules contain 15mg of CBD along with 5mg of the sleep aid melatonin in each capsule. Refreshed for 2021, Hemp Bombs CBD Max Chill Shot now features a new raspberry dream flavor with 100mg of CBD in a 2.5-fluid ounce bottle. Hemp Bombs products are available online at www.hempbombs.com and in over 25,000 retail locations nationwide. Industry data from IRI/SPINS shows Hemp Bombs is the top-selling CBD brand in the convenience retail sector, with a more than 67% market share. Retailers can visit www.hempbombs.com/wholesale to learn more about partnering with Global Widget. 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 more than 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 global-widget.com (Alliance News) - Vodafone Group PLC on Friday announced the launch of 10 separate offers to buy back outstanding US dollar and euro notes. The telecommunications firm said the cash tender offer will be capped at EUR4.00 billion. "The primary purpose of the offers is to acquire the maximum principal amount of notes for which the aggregate purchase price for the notes does not exceed the cash cap," Vodafone said. The notes covered in the offer include both US dollar notes and euro notes. The US dollar notes include: USD2.00 billion 3.750% notes due 2024; USD1.00 billion floating rate notes due 2024; USD895.5 million 2.950% notes due 2023; and the USD597.2 million 2.50% notes due 2022. The euro notes include: EUR1.25 billion 1.750% notes due 2023; EUR1.25 4.65% notes due 2022; EUR500.0 million 5.375% notes due 2022; EUR750.0 million 0.500% notes due 2024; EUR1.00 billion 0.375% notes due November 2021; and the EUR751.6 million 1.250% notes due August 2021. Results for the offers are expected on March 29. Vodafone shares were down 2.0% at 133.40 pence each in London on Friday. By Greg Roxburgh; gregroxburgh@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. The Lagos State Police Command has arrested one Jane Otubo of No 3, Eniola Street, Mafoluku, Oshodi for alleged homosexuality on March 18, 2... The Lagos State Police Command has arrested one Jane Otubo of No 3, Eniola Street, Mafoluku, Oshodi for alleged homosexuality on March 18, 2021. The 28-year-old male, a food seller who hails from Enugu State, was arrested by operatives attached to the Makinde Police Station in Oshodi. Otubo was arrested after he tried to have carnal knowledge of one Francis Azeez who had spent a week at his place. The Command said, The suspected gay had invited one Francis Azeez, m, who resides at Gwagwalada Area of Abuja and paid for his transportation fare to his place in Mafoluku, promising to assist him to establish a business. But trouble broke out when Otubo made frantic attempts to have unlawful carnal knowledge of the invitee who had spent a week with him. The guest, Francis, who resisted him, made efforts to escape to Abuja in the morning when he was assaulted severally by the suspect. This attracted the neighbours attention who eventually informed the Police. The Landlord of the suspect, popularly called Alfa, confirmed the allegation of Francis that the suspect had been indulging in the infamous act of which the Landlord had settled several issues relating to his improper and criminal act in this regard. The Command also announced the arrest of a serial rapist, Onuorah Obi of No 1, Buari Oloto Street, Ago Okota on March 17, 2021. The victim, f, 25, of Ago Okota reported that the suspect raped her and recorded her nude pictures and videos. The police swung into action and arrested the suspect. When a search was conducted, the Command said. Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The European Medicines Agency has said that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective, and not associated with an increased overall risk of developing blood clots. The regulator conducted a review of the vaccine after a small number of people developed blood clots in Europe after receiving the vaccine. Thirteen countries suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in response. In the UK, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency also stated the evidence does not suggest that blood clots in veins were caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine. Both agencies strongly emphasized that the benefits of being vaccinated far outweighed any potential risk. They also noted that blood clotting could be a consequence of COVID-19 itself. This is just one of a host of other causes of clots, which are laid out here by Adam Taylor, Professor in Anatomy at Lancaster University. Following the announcement, France, Italy and Latvia will resume AstraZeneca vaccinations. But why did so many countries suspend it in the first place? It could be down to the way governments have used the precautionary principle, writes Anthony R Cox, Reader in Clinical Pharmacy and Drug Safety at the University of Birmingham. This is a tool governments use to decide whether to take action to avoid potential harmsuch as getting COVID-19even when the evidence around that harm is uncertain. Cox argues the principle has been misapplied in this case, with countries emphasizing the extremely low risk of blood clots over the much higher risks associated with with lower vaccine coverage, which could lead to many more deaths from COVID-19. The investigations into the risk of blood clots are not the only issues the AstraZeneca vaccine is facing. The UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization has warned of a delay in under-50s getting immunized because of supply issues from India, while the EU Commissioner, Ursula Von Der Leyen, has threatened has threatened to restrict exports of the vaccine if supply in Europe does not improve. The AstraZeneca suspensions have the potential to further fuel vaccine hesitancy in Europe and elsewhere. In the UK, vaccine hesitancy is higher and uptake lower among people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds in the UK. But that doesn't mean people can't be brought round. Three members of the Oxford Vaccine Group share some evidence-based strategies for addressing hesitancy. It all starts with having one-on-one conversations with people about their concerns. As the vaccine rollouts stall, the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 continues to mutate into new variants, some of which become the dominant versions circulating in the community. But the antibodies we create to fight the virus also mutate, write Sarah Caddy and Meng Wang of the University of Cambridge. This is good news for those who have had the vaccine alreadyit will have kickstarted a process of evolution that could make their antibodies more able to bind to the virus if they encounter it again. But will the vaccines prevent transmission? We don't yet know, but the different types of immunity our bodies create could hold the clues to why they will be more effective at preventing symptoms, writes Paul Hunter, Professor of Medicine at the University of East Anglia. 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. Spanish fashion brand, Mango, along with its franchise partner, Myntra, announces its association with Bollywood sensation, Vaani Kapoor, as its first brand ambassador in the country. The actress first campaign with the brand for their spring-summer collection will set the stage for the brand to further strengthen its leadership position in the massive and rapidly evolving fashion market in India. Vaani has made her mark as a talented actress, with her stunning performances in Bollywood. With an exciting line-up of upcoming films, the actress is sure to leave a mark in the minds of the audiences. This, coupled with her natural flair for fashion, will not only bring Mangos trendy and edgy collection to the fore but also amplify the brands efforts to strike a chord with customers from every pocket in the country. As part of this association, Myntra and Mango are launching their first campaign on March 19, across digital and social mediums, with the actress, highlighting the new season collection, centered on the theme- Happy and I know it.. The video campaign epitomizes the woman of today, who is confident and happy with herself. The spring-summer 21 collection, available on Myntra, and Mango stores, is designed to exemplify this attitude and resonate with women, who believe that fashion can be powerful, yet comfortable. Professor Neil Ferguson warned today that Britain must keep out the South African variant of coronavirus amid spiralling cases in Europe, suggesting foreign holiday plans may have to be shelved. The SAGE adviser - dubbed 'Professor Lockdown' because his gloomy modelling of the first wave spooked ministers into the spring shutdown - said the troubling Covid strain was accounting for a 'significant' amount of new cases on the continent. He stopped short of calling for an outright travel ban but hinted that tough surveillance and quarantining at airports and borders would need to remain in place. The South African variant, officially known as B.1.351, is the Covid strain concerning scientists most because it makes the current crop of vaccines slightly less effective. However, jab makers are still confident the immune response stimulated by inoculation is enough to protect the vast majority of people from falling sick with the strain. Professor Ferguson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Perhaps of more concern for the UK though is that some countries are notably seeing a significant fraction, five to 10 per cent of cases, of the South African variant. 'When infection levels go up in France, to 30,000 cases a day, that implies there's at least 1,500 to 2,000 cases a day of the South African variant. That is the variant we really do want to keep out of the UK.' He added that 'important decisions' were coming up, including whether or not No10 can relax international travel restrictions to Europe. Britain has already identified up to 344 cases of the South African variant, sparking surge-testing in dozens of postcodes in a desperate attempt to root out every single infection. It came after a study by Oxford University yesterday found its jab produces seven times fewer antibodies against the South African variant compared to the original strain. Pfizer's vaccine produced nine times less. But antibodies make up just one part of the immune response to Covid - for example white blood cells also play a critical role. In an effort to calm fears about the strain, the chief of Oxford's vaccine trials claimed last month that catching the South African strain after vaccination was unlikely to cause serious illness but may leave people with the sniffles. Professor Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London, said around five to 10 per cent of cases in Europe were being triggered by the South African strain The Covid variants circulating in the UK: PHE has six variants 'under investigation' - including strains from the Philippines and Antigua and several which spawned in the UK. It has four more which it describes as 'variants of concern' Britain has already identified up to 351 cases of the variant, sparking surge-testing to root out other cases of the variant. This week two areas of London saw surge-testing ordered after cases of the South African variant were identified there Professor Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London, stood down from SAGE in the spring after it emerged he had flouted stay at home rules to have secret trysts with his married mistress. But the top expert still holds a key role as a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), which feeds into SAGE. OXFORD AND PFIZER JABS MORE EFFECTIVE AGAINST BRAZILIAN VARIANT THAN INITIALLY FEARED The coronavirus vaccines being rolled out in Britain work better against the Brazilian variant than first feared, research suggests. An Oxford University study found its vaccine and the jab made by Pfizer perform just as well against the P.1 strain that first emerged in Manaus as they do against the Kent variant. The vaccines, already in the arms of 25million Britons, have shown to be highly effective against the UK dominant Kent strain, reducing deaths and hospital rates by more than 85 per cent. Scientists initially feared the P.1 variant would be resistant to vaccines because it has a number of worrying mutations on top of the ones it shares with the Kent strain. There have so far been 12 cases of the Brazilian variant in the UK nine in England and three in Scotland. All of the patients had either direct or indirect travel links to Brazil. The study exposed blood samples from vaccinated people to various Covid variants and monitored their antibody responses. It found the vaccines produced nearly three times less antibodies against the Kent and Brazil variants when compared with the original strain. The researchers said this was still more than enough to neutralise the viruses. However, the jabs stimulated up to nine times less antibodies when exposed to the South African variant, which has been detected in hundreds of people in the UK. Advertisement Speaking to BBC Radio 4 this morning he warned ministers would need to make key decisions about how the UK would trade with France as the country faces its third lockdown. 'I think there are important decisions coming up, and its always a balancing act,' he said. 'How much we relax the current ban on international travel except for essential services (for example). 'As a lot of essential travel between ourselves and France for business, commerce and trade, how can we reduce the risks associated with that travel. 'Those are policy decisions, Im just raising the issue that we are doing so well with the vaccination campaign, we are driving down deaths at a faster rate than I ever thought was possible and that will allow us to open up.' When asked whether he thought France - which placed 16 areas under a four-week lockdown - should be added to the red list, he said: 'I dont think thats necessarily a practical issue given the amount of trade.' Britain is carrying out surge-testing in postcodes where the South African variant has been picked up. Officials in those areas are carrying out door-to-door testing and mobile swabbing units have been set up. Two postcode areas of London - in Camberwell and Harrow - were added to the list this week after the strain was spotted in these areas. And ministers have also launched testing for the Brazilian P.1 variant, which shares key mutations with the South African strain. Twelve cases of that version have been detected in Britain so far. With more variants cropping up in the UK and around the world, the Government has also imposed a travel red list - requiring arrivals from more than 30 nations to quarantine in hotels at their own expense. They have been criticised for not expanding the list further, but experts warn even with a larger list it would 'only be a matter of time' before these strains arrive. It comes after a third of France was plunged into lockdown last night amid a surge in Covid cases and a shambolic vaccine roll-out after use of the AstraZeneca jab was suspended based on unproven blood-clot fears. French Covid infections have surged by almost 30 per cent in a week after 34,998 new cases of the virus were announced yesterday alone. For comparison, Britain recorded 6,303 new infections with the virus yesterday. Paris, the northern Hauts-de-France region, and 15 other departments were plunged into a month-long shutdown yesterday in a desperate attempt to curb rising cases. French Prime Minister Jean Castex said the tougher measures followed a 'clear acceleration' of the spread of the virus, and that the country was in the grips of a third wave. 'The moment has come to go further, with more demanding restrictions where things are most critical,' he told reporters. SEveral EU members were forced into a humiliating U-turn yesterday after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said the AstraZeneca jab was safe and effective to use - despite several members pausing their roll-out over unproven fears. A series of countries including Germany, France and Italy have already said they will start using the jab again, after EU experts said there was no raised risk of blood clots. But Professor Peter Openshaw, an experimental medicines expert at Imperial College London, said the temporary stoppage in more than a dozen EU countries was likely to translate into 'many, many deaths' due to the virus. 'Because of this delay, and because of the uncertainty now of the vaccine in some people's minds...I think it will probably run to thousands of lives that have been lost,' he told Times Radio. A third of France was plunged into lockdown yesterday amid spiralling cases. French authorities announced 34,998 cases yesterday. For comparison, Britain had 6,303 While Covid deaths in France have been steadily falling since last year, there are fears the trend could reverse as cases continue to rise Two months had passed since Libyans first took to the streets. Hundreds were dead as government forces and Nato-backed rebels fought a brutal conflict, but in a hotel room 2,000 miles away the warring sides agreed a secret deal to end the war. The confidential Norwegian-brokered talks full details of which are being revealed exclusively by The Independent on the tenth anniversary of the Nato bombing campaign were the closest the world came to a peaceful end to Libyas 2011 civil war. The two sides agreed to a draft text stating that Muammar Gaddafi, who had ruled Libya for 42 years, would step down and leave politics, but keep the institutions of state in place. In the end the talks fell apart and rebels, with Natos support, ultimately captured and killed Gaddafi. More than 1,000 civilians were killed during the war, according to new research by the civilian casualty monitor Airwars. In the decade since Libya has been embroiled in perpetual conflict, with the country eventually becoming the second largest base for Isis. This week an interim unity government was sworn in, the latest political attempt to stem violence in the country. In his first interview with international media regarding the 2011 negotiations, the then Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Store, who brokered the deal, accused France and Britain of opposing a negotiated solution. Read more: Then UK prime minister David Cameron and French president Nicolas Sarkozy have long been accused in some quarters of seeking regime change at all costs, claims they deny. I felt that the mindset in London and Paris didnt have openings for really reflecting on the diplomatic option, Store told The Independent. Were [France and Britain] willing to look at something beyond military solutions? The jury is still out. Had there been in the international community a willingness to pursue this track with some authority and dedication, I believe there could have been an opening to achieve a less dramatic outcome and avoid the collapse of the Libyan state. Presidential palace In February 2011 Libya followed other Arab countries into uprising, with tens of thousands taking to the streets demanding an end to Gaddafis rule. Security forces cracked down brutally and Gaddafi promised to crush the rats on the streets. On 17 March 2011, the United Nations voted to intervene to stop Gaddafi killing his own people, with Nato aircraft flying more than 7,000 strike sorties against Libyan forces over the following seven months. But Gaddafis allies were also quietly seeking a negotiated outcome. While publicly promising to crush the rebellion, Gaddafis favoured and most prominent son Saif al-Islam invited top Norwegian officials to Tripoli to negotiate. Two senior Norwegian officials were even in the presidential palace in Tripoli with Saif al-Islam when the UN resolution was passed in New York, Store said. They had to be hurriedly driven across the border into Tunisia for their own safety, with the first Nato airstrikes imminent. Libyan rebels fire a rocket as they enter the northern city of Sirte, 10 October 2011 (EPA) Norway became an active member of the Nato bombing campaign, eventually dropping nearly 600 bombs. But at the same time the countrys prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, who is now Natos secretary-general, asked foreign minister Store to continue the top secret talks, hosting them in Norway. The country has a long history of quiet diplomacy in the Middle East, including brokering the 1993 Oslo Accords that saw mutual recognition between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation. They were not the only ones attempting negotiation the African Union tried to broker its own peace deal but Norway achieved a breakthrough. After weeks of back-and-forth talks, Store organised the first face-to-face meeting between senior regime and opposition officials in an Oslo hotel room on 27 April. Representing the Gaddafi loyalists was Mohammed Ismail, right-hand man to Saif al-Islam. For the rebels it was Aly Zeidan, a senior figure in the opposition National Transitional Council who would go on to be a prime minister in post-Gaddafi Libya. Multiple attempts to reach Zeidan for this article failed. Ismail initially told The Independent he was willing to discuss the talks but did not reply to multiple follow-up messages. Store said the atmosphere was emotional these were people who in front of us could share how they knew the same people and both cared about their country. Norwegian diplomats went back and forth, eventually hammering out a comprehensive plan to end the crisis. The first line stated: Colonel Gaddafi has decided to leave power and step aside and to end the first phase of the revolution. Store even spoke to Saif al-Islam on the phone to confirm this plan had backing at the highest levels in Libya. What would happen to Muammar Gaddafi, however, remained a key sticking point. The famously erratic leader was refusing to leave Libya, with negotiations around whether he could remain in the country but leave politics. Smoke rises in the sky after a Nato airstrike in Tripoli, 7 June 2011 (EPA) People very close to Gaddafi, people in the legal apparatus, in his family, supported what was on the table, said Staale Wig, a Norwegian biographer of Store who first uncovered the existence of the negotiations years after the war. But the final mile was for Gaddafi to say I agree to move into exile or where he would live. Store himself accepts we dont know if Gaddafi would have been willing to ultimately resign or if more extreme rebel groups on the ground would have accepted a deal, but said major western nations werent interested in a negotiated settlement. He said they took the deal agreed in Oslo to the United States, France and Britain. In Libya the war had reached a stalemate, with relatively few civilians killed in May, June and July, new research shows. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, was reportedly keen but the other two nations werent interested, Store said. Had there been a will to do it ... one could have imagined some kind of ceasefire in the military campaign to allow diplomats to move in, Store said. But the military operation had already lasted for eight weeks, the dynamic on the ground was changing and, frankly speaking, the will to rally behind such a process was not there. William Hague, UK foreign secretary at the time, declined to comment. David Camerons office did not respond but in his autobiography he denied seeking regime change, saying he pushed and pushed for a negotiated settlement but Gaddafi was unwilling. After the 2011 war Libya slid into a new civil war, which lasted much of the last decade. Barack Obama later described the lack of post-conflict planning as the worst mistake of his presidency, with the country becoming a battleground for rival regional powers. During a decade of war hundreds of civilians have died, with the United Nations only brokering a deal to restore peace last year. Store, who now leads Norways opposition Labour Party, said the failure to take the 2011 negotiations seriously was made more tragic by the lost decade that followed it, in which the country became a theatre for remote battles other countries fighting it out to the last Libyan. Trouble in the ballroom? Lance Bass and Vivica A. Fox dished on the highs and lows of competing on Dancing With the Stars and didnt hold back about their feelings toward the judges. Read article During the premiere episode of Overserved With Lisa Vanderpump, which aired on Thursday, March 18, the former NSync singer, 41, and Fox, 56, claimed that the panel of experts might not have always been fair in their scoring. I made it to week four and I was a sore loser, the Independence Day actress recalled of her time on season 3 of the ABC competition series with pro partner Nick Kosovich. You gotta play the game. My partner made too many requests. Bass, who was teamed up with Lacey Schwimmer during season 7 of DWTS, had a similar experience. We were in the same boat, he said. My partner was new. She was the bad girl of the ballroom and the judges just hated her. We felt it. Sara Jaye Weiss/Shutterstock; Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/Shutterstock The Out of Sync author and the So You Think You Can Dance alum, 32, made it to the finals in 2008, but ultimately landed in third place. While fans were clearly impressed with their performances, Bass didnt feel the same reception from judges Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba. Read article We go have drinks at one of the judges houses and they had a little too much to drink and one of those judges was like, You know, we cant stand your partner?' the Mississippi native claimed on Thursday. I was like, Why am I working my ass off then?' Vanderpump, 60, took a spin in the DWTS ballroom with pro Gleb Savchenko during season 16 but didnt share any of the same concerns as her dinner party guests. The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star still looks back fondly on her rehearsals with the Russian dancer, 37, as she revealed on The Bellas Podcast in October 2020. We had a little bit of an emotional affair, in terms of having to connect and hold on to each other, because its so scary, the Bravo star recalled at the time. I adored him. When youre thrown into Dancing With the Stars and suddenly somebodys right in your face and youre wrapping your legs around them That was the best part. Read article Though she had fun with her gorgeous partner, Vanderpumps husband of more than 30 years, Ken Todd, wasnt worried that things would go too far. [Gleb] would say, Do these backbends, and as you would do the backbends, he would hold your groin against his, the SUR owner said on the podcast. And I was thinking, I havent had this much fun since my honeymoon! [Ken] would be like, I see you. I see what youre up to. He doesnt put that much importance on me messing about and flirting. New Delhi: After the highest single-day spike in the state, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday (March 19) said that lockdown is an option in order to curb the rising cases. In an interaction with reporters in Nandurbar, Thackeray said that although lockdown is an option, he trusts people to follow COVID-19 safety norms. "I see lockdown as an option going ahead. But I trust people of the state to cooperate (and follow the COVID-19 norms voluntarily) like the last time," PTI quoted the CM as saying. Thackeray also stated that now the world has COVID-19 vaccine to act as a shield against the virus. He also urged people to get vaccinated against the virus without fear. When the pandemic began last year, there was nothing to fight the virus with, he said adding, But now at least we have vaccines as a shield. The priority now is to ensure that everyone is vaccinated. People should come forward to take the vaccine. Maharashtra recorded the highest single-day spike on Thursday (March 18) with 25,833 new coronavirus cases since March, 2020. Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has made RT-PCR COVID-19 test report mandatory for people visiting shopping malls in Mumbai. The new rule will be applicable from March 22. For visitors who do not produce a negative Covid-19 test report, they will have to get a Rapid Antigen Test done at the entrance of the shopping mall. "A team will be designated at the entrance for this very purpose. The details are being worked out," the BMC said. As of March 19, Maharashtra has 1,67,637 active cases, while the death toll reached 53,138, as per the Health Ministry data. Live TV Mar. 19CONCORD The state Senate revived the cause for education vouchers Thursday, giving initial approval on a bill to award school-choice scholarships to students of low- and moderate-income families. "We do better and work harder when we make the choice ourselves, rather than being told on how to go," Senate Education Committee Chairman Ruth Ward, R-Stoddard, said. The measure (SB 130) won support on a 14-10 vote, after which the Senate set the bill aside so it could become part of a proposed two-year state budget the Senate will take up later this spring. Senate Democrats maintain the bill would lead to a loss in state aid for school districts losing students who choose to enroll in a private school, home school or alternative public school outside their hometown. "This bill uses taxpayer dollars to subsidize private-school choices," said Sen. Becky Whitley, D-Hopkinton. "New Hampshire property taxpayers simply cannot afford this bill." Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, said the average scholarship could be as much as $4,600, while taxpayers spend an average of $19,000 per student in school districts. "No matter how you do the math, that ends up with communities saving more money than they pay out," Bradley said. As amended, the scholarships would be available for families that earn up to three times the federal poverty level, which calculates to $79,500 a year for a family of four for 2021. Supporters said 40% of public school students would qualify for scholarships under that income formula. Sen. Denise Ricciardi, R-Bedford, said she embraced the bill after a Senate panel created three years of "phase-out grants" to reimburse school districts 100% of the previous year's costs per student in the first year, 50% in the second year and 25% in the third year. After 2026, the phase-out grants would go away. "This bill will not lead to an exodus from public schools," Ricciardi said. "This is designed to help the financially unfortunate." Story continues Last month, the House Education Committee voted to retain what originally had been its own identical bill (HB 20). The move means the issue will not return to the House for consideration until early in 2022. Under its rules, however, the Senate may attach the measure to its own budget and make it part of final negotiations between Senate and House versions of the spending bill. Douglas Ley, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the measure does not provide enough state regulation of the alternative schools. "The Senate bill is a giveaway to the folks who will run these private schools, giving them millions of taxpayer dollars with a fig leaf, if that, of oversight," said Ley, a House Democrat from Jaffrey. "Lack of accountability means students and their families will have no guarantee of a quality education, and communities will have to substantially subsidize public schools through higher property taxes." klandrigan@unionleader.com Manitobas francophone affairs minister is asking Mayor Brian Bowman to reconsider a city decision to sell the old St. Boniface city hall. Manitobas francophone affairs minister is asking Mayor Brian Bowman to "reconsider" a city decision to sell the old St. Boniface city hall. Rochelle Squires sent a letter to Winnipegs mayor Wednesday, a French version of which she posted on Twitter. "Built in 1906, city hall at 219 Provencher (Blvd.) was the very heart of the City of St. Boniface until amalgamation with Winnipeg and 11 other municipalities in 1971. This building is an important symbol to Manitobas francophone community, representing for decades the culture, traditions and language of our provinces French speakers St. Boniface city hall a national historic site surely deserves to remain in the hands of the community for whom it means so much, rather than passing into private ownership," wrote Squires. In an interview Thursday, the minister said shes concerned about the citys consultation effort and felt compelled to act on behalf of the francophone community. Groups from that community are lobbying Winnipeg city hall to reverse the sale of 219 Provencher Blvd. and ensure public access to the site. When asked if she had concerns about publicly weighing in on a municipal decision, Squires said she believes the matter has provincial relevance. "Francophone affairs is in provincial jurisdiction Ultimately, my job as the minister responsible for francophone affairs, is to represent and defend the community," she said. In February, councils property and development committee approved the sale of old St. Boniface city hall, along with 212 Dumoulin St. (former St. B fire hall), to Manitoba Possible for $10,000. On Monday, the committee rejected a call to remove 219 Provencher from that sale, though half its members made a failed attempt to refer the matter for a full council vote. Under city rules, a tied vote amounts to a loss. Manitoba Possible, formerly known as the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities, wants to create an "abilities village" at the site, which would offer employment, training, social enterprises, and housing. The mayor said the ministers Twitter post came as a surprise. Bowman said the provincial government had expressed no previous interest in the former city hall, which Winnipeg declared surplus in 2007. "Shes never raised any interest in this property with me, to date," he said Thursday. The mayor suggested the province reach out directly to Manitoba Possible with its concerns, since the city now has a binding legal agreement with the organization. Bowman stressed the city must honour the final committee decision on the sale: "Where theres a binding agreement, everyone should expect that a government would respect (that)." On Monday, Manitoba Possible told the property and development committee it is willing to work with the francophone community to ensure public access continues at 219 Provencher, which could include selling or leasing the building. Squires said she believes both the francophone community and Manitoba Possible can be accommodated at the overall site, and is simply "inviting collaboration" to achieve that goal. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga Historic home on Barrow Island This will be an exciting opportunity to own possibly the cheapest historic property in England in an area undergoing large renovation Estate agent GetAnOffer is bringing an historic property to market for just a 1 minimum bid. Bids will be invited for the two-bedroom 3rd floor apartment from 22nd March 2021. This will be an exciting opportunity to own possibly the cheapest historic property in England in an area undergoing large renovation and close to the UK nuclear submarine production shipyard owned by BAE. Situated in Barrow-in-Furness the flat forms part of a large late Victorian tenement, a certain amount of renovation is required both inside and out. Tom Cranenburgh, partner of GetAnOffer said Its a great chance for someone to get on the property ladder. We expect interest from buy to let investors as its close to BAE, 9,500 people work at the historic dockyard owned by BAE but Id love to see it sell to owner-occupiers, just starting out. So, why ask just 1 for a property? Tom explains The flat needs redecorating internally and externally, the block is undergoing a program of renovation like the rest of the local area to get it back to its former glory as it was left pretty unloved until recently. A new management team are doing a great job to get it back up to scratch. With the average house price in England reaching new highs of 256,000 this could be a chance to buy a property for fraction of that price. Theres only one downside I dont think its possible to get a 1 mortgage! laughs Tom. The property comprises; Hallway Lounge Two bedrooms Kitchen Bathroom/WC About GetAnOffer New age estate agency developed from traditional values. GetAnOffer assists home sellers across the UK, they specialise in faster house sales. GetAnOffer is based in the seaside town of Worthing, West Sussex. For more information visit getanoffer.co.uk or call 01903 331031 and ask for Tom Cranenburgh. ENDS Notes to editors: The property address is 7h Schooner Street, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA14 2SQ Google street view can be seen here Photos of the propertys avalible on request or viewable here - https://www.getanoffer.co.uk/properties/-auction-contract-schooner-street-barrow-in-furness-la14-2402 Get An Offer are online estate agents (getanoffer.co.uk) and members of The Property Ombudsman Service. You are welcome to use any of the images provided to illustrate the story. We respectfully request that you reference Get An Offer in the caption and that in any online story, you consider a link to the reference article here - https://www.getanoffer.co.uk/auction-properties/one-pound-house For more information please contact Tom Cranenburgh, a partner at the firm. 01903 331 031 or email tom(at)getanoffer.co.uk For interviews or further press enquiries please contact: Email: press(at)getanoffer.co.uk EDWARDSVILLE Agreement/funding resolutions for improvements to University Drive and Troy Road were among actions taken by the Madison County Board at Wednesdays meeting. The board approved $112,590 as its portion of the cost of reconstruction of University Drive from Illinois 157 to Devon Court. Also approved was $120,400 for resurfacing of Troy Road from Fourth Avenue to Franklin Avenue. Both projects are being funded by the county, city of Edwardsville and Illinois Department of Transportation, and include patching, milling, reconstruction and resurfacing of the pavement. Sidewalk and curb ramps to meet Americans With Disabilities Act requirements are included. The board also approved amending the transfer of part of Governors Parkway from Madison County to Edwardsville. The original transfer had been approved in November, but it was determined that a more precise description was required. The transfer is for 1.35 miles of Governors Parkway from Illinois 157 to Illinois 159. In other transportation-related business, the board approved a final payment of $12,503.38 to RCS Construction for repairs to repairs to the Canal Bridge on Wanda Road. The board also acted on a number of zoning requests. Seven requests, which had been approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals and Building & Zoning Committee, were OKd by the full board. One request was withdrawn at the request of a board member. Approved were a request by Manuel Del Rio for a special use permit to place a single-wide mobile home at 3212 Yale Avenue, Collinsville; a request by Jason and Cheryl Moerlien to rezone 5.9 acres to A Agricultural from R-1 Single Family Residential at 6420 Miller Drive, Edwardsville; a request by James and Lisa Holmes to allow chickens on R-4 Single Family Residential property at 5180 Nameoki Road, Granite City; a request by John and Amy Mullane to construct an attached garage within a setback at 3545 Boomerang Drive, Marine; a request by James and Timothy Lowry to rezone 23.68 acres from B-5 Planned Business District to A Agricultural District at 3224 Rock Hill Road, Wood River; a request by Michael and Joan Wall to construct a detached garage within a setback at 10 Ridge Street, Moro; and a request by Kevin Nicol and Nicol Investment Properties for a setback variance on a new property line for an existing shed at 1 Central Avenue, Granite City. A request by Lloyd and Patricia Mordis to rezone 6.01 acres to A Agricultural from R-1 Single Family Residential was held at the request of County Board Member Ryan Kneedler, R-Collinsville. One letter in support and one opposed to the rezoning had been read during public comment at the beginning of the meeting. The owner had requested the rezoning to allow livestock, specifically goats and chickens. In other business, the board: Approved a resolution for the demolition of unsafe structures at 636 Wood River Avenue, Cottage Hills; and 4416 Nameoki Road, Granite City. Approved a resolution authorizing submission to participate in the 2021 Ameren weatherization program. Approved a resolution to appoint Scheffel Boyle as the outside auditor for five county offices where directors or elected department heads have left. The audit of the Highway Department, States Attorneys Office, Circuit Clerk, Recorders Office and Community Development Department is required by state law. The cost is not to exceed $43,750. Approved a $69,670 contract with Fidlar Technologies for work in the Madison County Recorder Office. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th March, 2021) A US court indicted a 21-year-old Swiss hacker, Till Kottmann, for multiple acts of computer intrusion and identity and data theft, which spanned the period from 2019 to the present, the US Department of Justice stated. The FBI Seattle Cyber Task Force has conducted the investigations into the case. Allegedly, Kottmann with coconspirators targeted dozens of companies and government bodies and leaked private data of over 100 entities on the internet. "Stealing credentials and data, and publishing source code and proprietary and sensitive information on the web is not protected speech-it is theft and fraud," Tessa M. Gorman, attorney on the case, said in a statement issued late on Thursday. According to the document, Kottmann, operating under the aliases "deletescape" and "tillie crimew," used various hacking techniques to hack into source code repositories belonging to private and public sector companies, cloned confidential data and published it on his own website domain. The hacker was very open about his activities and often communicated with the media through multiple channels. Kottmann was initially charged in September and has since remained in Lucerne, Switzerland. Reportedly, he has received notice of pending US charges. On March 12, Swiss authorities issued search warrants related to the case. "A cyber-criminal could be anywhere in the world. Thanks to our foreign partnerships, international borders won't provide a haven for their illegal activities," Donald Voiret, FBI special agent in charge, stressed. If proven guilty, Kottmann will face up to five years on the charges of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, up to 20 years for wire fraud, and a minimum of 24 months in prison for aggravated identity theft. Amy Go says she was saddened by the shootings in Atlanta that left six Asian American women dead, but as an Asian Canadian woman, she wasn't surprised. A massage parlour is seen after a shooting, late Tuesday, March 16, 2021, in Atlanta. Amy Go says she was saddened to hear the news about the shootings in Atlanta that left six Asian American women dead, but as an Asian Canadian women, she wasn't surprised. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Brynn Anderson Amy Go says she was saddened by the shootings in Atlanta that left six Asian American women dead, but as an Asian Canadian woman, she wasn't surprised. Go, the president of the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice, said many Asian Canadian women have experienced hatred or violence in their daily life. "There's so much pain and grief," she said about her initial reaction to the attack. "At the same time, as Asian Canadian women, none of us were surprised. There was no sense of shock. It was as if we knew this was coming ... it just happened to be in Atlanta." The killings in Atlanta follow a wave of recent attacks against Asian Americans and Canadians since the novel coronavirus first arrived in North America. In Atlanta, the 21-year-old suspect has denied his attack was racially motivated and claimed to have a "sex addiction," with authorities saying he apparently saw massage parlours as sources of temptation. The national council has tracked 931 anti-Asian racist incidents during COVID-19, and Go said the numbers should highlight myths about how Canadians view themselves. "This myth about Canada that we are multicultural, more kind, we're gentler than Americans, to me that's just a myth. As racialized Canadians, particularly racialized women, we know that the reality is quite different," she said. Federal Trade Minister Mary Ng, who was born in Hong Kong before moving to Canada when she was seven, said she's been the victim of discrimination. "Every time I speak out about the need for us to keep working together as Canadians to prevent more intolerance and incidents of anti-Asian hate or discrimination, I will get a whole lot of other responses that are not becoming of Canadians," she said in an interview. She said the news of Tuesday's attack left her feeling "horrified" and she emphasized the need for Canadians to offer support to the Asian Canadian community. "I think the request is that Asian Canadians need all Canadians to stand alongside us, to speak out and to be vocal and to stand against anti-Asian racism and to certainly stand up for us in this fight," Ng said. Police in major cities across Canada have recorded increases in hate crimes in the past year, although not all could identify the specific targets of the alleged crimes. Vancouver police reported a 717 per cent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes between 2019 and 2020, with the incidents peaking in May. Incidents in Vancouver have ranged from assaults to racist graffiti targeting businesses. Sgt. Steve Addison, a Vancouver police spokesman, said in an email that police do not have the ability to recommend hate crimes charges under the Criminal Code. It is a sentencing provision that is applied by the courts if a person is convicted of a Criminal Code offence, Addison said. Toronto police said it has seen an increase in the number of hate-motivated occurrences, comparing 2019 with 2020 including incidents against Asian people but could not provide data. Ottawa police reported an increase of 56.9 per cent in the number of hate crime reports between 2019 and 2020, and noted Asian Canadians have seen the largest increase in hate incidents directed toward them. Henry Yu, an associate professor in the University of British Columbia's history department, said Asians have historically been blamed for a range of societal problems in Canada. Yu cited the recent examples of people listing Chinese investment in Vancouver's real estate market as a reason they cannot afford homes or the racist stereotype of Asians as poor drivers as ways Canadians blame others. "I'm not a sex worker, I'm not female, but it doesn't matter. The idea that Asians are blamed and scapegoated for societal problems that have nothing to do with us, that is what makes you feel insecure," he said. Discrimination against Asians can be traced back to when Canada became a formal country in 1867, he said, pointing to examples like the head tax specifically targeting people of Asian origin. "(Discriminatory legislation) went hand in hand with the founding of the country," he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2021. Photo: Contributed Gregor Robertson and his wife Eileen Park got married in Stanley Park in December. While Vancouver celebrities are often featured in major American publications, like Ryan Reynolds or Michael Buble, local ex-politicians don't often make the cut. However, former City of Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson and his wife are in Vogue's spotlight today. The glamour magazine has a feature article about the wedding between Robertson and Eileen Park, the founder of Anecdotia Media. The pair were married by the largest maple tree in Canada (which happens to be in Stanley Park) Park says in an interview. She speaks about how the two met a few years ago in Portland, dated long-distance and then came together during the pandemic. They got married in December with only a couple of people as witnesses and the marriage commissioner. The story also features a set of photos from the wedding, shot as the late afternoon sunshine hits the park's forest. The story's captions are all written by Park. 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 Sefwi-Wiawso Divisional Police Command has arrested five persons for allegedly stealing two-week old twin babies at Punikrom in the Waiwso Municipality of the Western North Region. The suspects are Paulina Owusu 26, Haruna Yusif 36, Stephen Owusu 32, Kofi Nkrumah, 24 and Sampson Addai, 33 years. According to the Waiwso Divisional Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Christopher Dzakel, four of the suspects were arrested earlier but Kofi Nkrumah who was then at large was later arrested. According to him, his outfit had intelligence on March 14, 2021 that, Paulina Owusu from Sefwi-Boako under his jurisdiction had contracted four men to steal a baby for her and that she had rented an apartment for them. He said he quickly organized his men to rush to the said place since he did not want anything to happen to the babies. The Commander said the suspects were subsequently arrested and upon interrogation confirmed that Paulina Owusu contracted them to steal the babies for her. DSP Dzakel said the five were sent to the Waiwso magistrate court where they were remanded into Police custody to reappear on Monday, March 29, 2021. The mother of the twins, Abena Owusuaa, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said the prime suspect (Paulina Owusu) came to her house pretending to sell meat to her only to arrange to steal her babies. She disclosed that one of the babies had a challenge in one of the legs and was referred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi for treatment, but due to financial difficulties, she has not been able to do so. 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 South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, hugs North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the military demarcation line in the border village of Panmunjeom, June 30, 2019, after Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump, right, held a meeting at Freedom House in Panmunjeom. Yonhap More than 40 percent of South Koreans think that persuading the United States to ease sanctions against North Korea is a "top priority" to implement inter-Korean agreements aimed at expanding cross-border exchanges and cooperation, a poll showed Friday. According to the poll of 1,000 adults conducted by the presidential National Unification Advisory Council, 43.6 percent said that the persuasion process is necessary more than anything else to implement the 2018 summit agreements "in a stable manner." South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held three summits in 2018 at which they agreed to expand cross-border exchanges and cooperation. But little progress has since been made in the face of global sanctions. The survey said that 30.7 percent cited discussions with North Korea in the military field to reduce border tensions as the second-most-important issue to execute the summit agreements. It was followed by 11.6 percent who called for securing a "legal foundation" such as parliamentary ratification of the agreements. Asked what the new U.S. government should focus on to jump-start the stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea, 43.9 percent said that Washington should ease sanctions in accordance with North Korea's change in attitude. Of those surveyed, 16 percent said more pressure should be applied to North Korea. The survey also showed that 54.9 percent think that North Korea's cooperation with other Asian countries in antivirus and public health sectors would help advance the currently stalled inter-Korean relations. Of those surveyed, 74.1 percent believe that coronavirus vaccines should be provided to the North after all South Korean citizens are inoculated against the highly contagious disease. With regard to reunification with North Korea, 69.3 percent said that it is necessary, down from 72 percent in a similar poll conducted three months earlier. Of those polled, 28.8 percent said that reunification with the North is not necessary. (Yonhap) China has a long history of banning everything from social media apps, websites to illegal transportation of materials. This time, the East Asian country took notice of Elon Musk's Tesla cars. While the country is the biggest Tesla market globally, the Chinese military believes that Musk's electric vehicles can be used for spying through their built-in cameras. This now sparks a privacy concern among the Chinese personnel. Why Does the Chinese Military Restrict Tesla EVs? In a report by Bloomberg, the military released an order for Tesla owners. An anonymous source knowledgeable in the issue, who chose not to be named, said that the order was concerned with the parking of the electric vehicles outside the premise of the military vicinity. Later, the military residents grew skeptical of the capabilities of the Tesla cars produced by Elon Musk's company. This is because they thought that automobiles could gather sensitive information using cameras. In line with this, the cameras are said to be built so that they are inconspicuous to be seen. The news about the Tesla car ban spread across several social media sites in China. The notice read that the cameras, which are structured to be multi-directional, and the ultrasonic sensors installed in the Tesla EVs could reveal locations. This prompted the Chinese military to make a move to avoid such possibility through imposing restrictions on the cars. Bloomberg spoke to a Tesla representative based in China, but there was no answer given. Furthermore, the same source asked a representative from the Chinese Defense Ministry, but there was no immediate response after several hours. Like any other high-end cars, adding small cameras will help the EVs have a comprehensive guide when it comes to functions like self-driving, autopilot, and other features. As one of the leading pioneers of modern industrial technology, the Tesla vehicle boasts its interior camera located above the rearview mirror. This is mainly used for the detection of the driver's activities. Read Also: Tesla Plant Reopening Results in Surge of COVID-19 Cases - Is Elon Musk the One to Blame? Musk's Explanation Why Tesla Cars Have Internal Camera For Tesla CEO Elon Musk, his tweet way back in 2019 has already explained the need to have the internal camera installed in Tesla EVs. Musk said that his company looks forward to competing with Lyft and Uber in line with the autonomy fleet, Aljazeera reported. At the time of writing, Musk said that a person could immediately check the video in case someone wants to damage the car. Musk prioritizes the surveillance ability of the cars, which is often overlooked as a "petty' feature. After Musk announced the monitoring capability of internal cameras, he now summoned beta testers to try the self-driving experiment of Tesla Cars. Earlier this March, Musk noted in his tweet that Tesla did not give the beta test to those who are reckless in driving even though the beta expansion now occupied around 2,000 Tesla car owners. He continued that the next FSD Beta will happen next month. The Tesla representative stated that there were no Tesla cars with built-in cameras used for the beta trial in China. However, this was not enough to permit Tesla cars to enter the military locations even when the company has fully complied with China's policies, regulations, and national laws. In early February, Tesla apologized to China after the video involving a staff member who was blamed for a car's damage circulated. Besides the internal cameras, the Chinese regulators also called out Tesla over its abnormal acceleration and battery fires, which spark safety concerns. Related Article: [SHOCKING] 38-Year-Old Driver Dies After Using Tesla Model X's Autopilot Feature; Tesla Unaccountable? This article is owned by Tech Times. Written by Joen Coronel 2021 TECHTIMES.com 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. Prymorsky Court of Odesa has not released from custody an activist Serhiy Sternenko, who was sentenced by the court to seven years in prison, his attorney-at-law Masi Nayyem said. "Serhiy Sternenko was not released from custody. The judge did not dare," Nayyem wrote on his Facebook page on Friday. Earlier, on Sternenko's Facebook page, information was posted that the court, from the third time, agreed to consider a petition for the immediate release of Sternenko from custody on the basis of Article 206 of the Code of Criminal Procedure [an investigating judge is obliged to release a person deprived of liberty if a public authority or an official, in whose custody this person is, do not provide a court decision that has entered into legal force or do not prove the existence of other legal grounds for imprisoning a person]. "Now we will see if the judges of Prymorsky Court of Odesa are capable of making legal decisions, and not just ordered ones," the attoney-at-law said. Published on 2021/03/18 | Source Actress Moon Ga-young has transformed into a spring goddess through a photo shoot by the sea. Moon Ga-young decorated the April issue cover in a pictorial with star & style magazine '@star1' with a bright charm like spring. In this pictorial with the Italian luxury brand Etro, Moon Ga-young showed an elegant and romantic atmosphere by perfecting the collection's colorful patterns and feminine silhouettes of the Mediterranean motif. Moon Ga-young, who has built up filmography step by step with the dramas "The Great Seducer", "Welcome to Waikiki 2" and "Find Me in Your Memory", has recently established herself as a representative rom-com queen in her 20s, proving both solid acting skills and star quality through the drama "True Beauty". Moon Ga-young's lively acting and enthusiasm, armed with loveliness, captivated not only domestic but also foreign fans, and has gained keen attention since the end of the drama, as well as advertising various beauty and fashion brands. In an interview conducted after the pictorial, Moon Ga-young said, "I recently learned how to heal my mind, and loving and acknowledging yourself as it is can lead to a better way. I think my whole faith in me is the biggest driving force in my career as an actress", she said. She has been criticised by PETA for featuring a dog with cropped ears in her new music video for her single Big. But Rita Ora didn't let that stop her from commanding attention in a black studded Moschino bustier and matching baker boy hat. The songstress, 30, took to Instagram on Friday to share the edgy snap with fans and captured the upload: '#BangBang' to promote her new EP. Beauty: Rita Ora, 30, commanded attention in a black Moschino bustier and matching baker boy hat in an Instagram snap she shared on Friday, following criticism of her new music video Rita looked sensational in the snap as she showcased her decolletage in the low-cut corset top covered in studs of the brand's iconic teddy bears. She turned heads in a matching hat, which also featured the gold faces, as well as the word 'Moschino' splashed across the front and a gold rim. The Hot Right Now songstress amped up the glam with layered gold necklaces and matching statement earrings. She drew attention to her beauty with a glam makeup look and added extra glamour with gold sparkly eyeshadow in a bold bronzed wing. Glamorous: The songstress looked sensational in the snap as she showcased her decolletage in the low-cut corset top covered in studs of the brand's iconic teddy bears Rita fixed the camera with a sultry gaze as she struck a series of poses which drew attention to her array of tattoos. The star came under fire earlier in the week after Peta criticised her for featuring a dog with cropped ears in her new music video with David Guetta, Imanbek and Gunna. In the mini-film, filmed in Bulgaria, Rita walks along a street before a masked extra is seen holding the pit bull by a lead. The animal charity's director Elisa Allen has called for celebrities to discourage the 'cruel' practice as she declared: 'Maiming animals for vanity is unacceptable.' Under fire: Rita has been criticised by PETA for featuring a dog with cropped ears in her new music video for her single Big, featuring David Guetta, Imanbek and Gunna The procedure, known as docking, is against the law in the UK under the Animal Welfare Act unless it is carried out for medical reasons, but it is currently not illegal to import those who have already been mutilated from other countries. Animal advocate Elisa said in a statement to MailOnline: 'Dogs' ears are there for a purpose, and they need to use them like directional antennae. 'Ear cropping is a painful mutilation that is most commonly used by dogfighters to prevent an opponent from grabbing the ears it has no place in a civilised, humane society. 'It involves cutting off the majority of the dog's enervated, extremely sensitive ear and taping the remnants into an unnatural, 'devilish' shape for aesthetic reasons. Close look: In the mini-film, filmed in Bulgaria she walks along a street before a masked extra is seen holding the pit bull by a lead 'Dogs "talk" to their human companions and other dogs using their ears, so hacking them off not only is traumatic but also robs them of vital forms of expression, communication, and balance.' MailOnline contacted representatives for Rita, David, Imanbek and Gunna for further comment at the time. Ear cropping, which dates back thousands of years, was originally performed on working dogs to prevent risk of ear infection and other potential health risks, but has also been adopted by owners who breed the animal specifically for hunting and dog-fighting. The RSPCA also insisted that ear-cropping is on the increase, claiming pet owners are encouraged by celebrities who have cropped dogs. The former America's Next Top Model is currently in Sydney to serve as a judge on The Voice Australia. JACKSON, MI Two long-time OB-GYNs with thousands of successful births to their names are retiring. Here is that headline and some more you might have missed this week. Theyve delivered thousands of babies, but now these 2 Jackson doctors are retiring Gary Farhat was delivering a baby in December at Henry Ford Allegiance Health when he realized he had also delivered the mother, the father and all three nurses in the room. Thats when I knew I was getting old, the OB-GYN said, with a laugh. Self-driving Tesla hits Michigan State Police car on freeway A Tesla on autopilot hit a Michigan State Police car early Wednesday morning, officials confirmed. The MSP car was parked with its emergency lights on while investigating a car-deer crash at 1:12 a.m., March 17 on I-96 near Waverly Road in Eaton County, when the Tesla hit it, police said. The Tesla was on autopilot and failed to move over, hitting the patrol car, police said. New law is bittersweet for mom who lost son to suicide hours after his release from psychiatric hospital The pain is like a carousel for Michelle Burt. Its ever present, and each moment is a slightly different type of pain. That carousel hasnt stopped spinning since Nov. 5, 2019 the day her 15-year-old son, Johnathan Huizar, died from suicide, hours after his release from a psychiatric hospital. His death could have been prevented, Burt said, as Johnathan told her he wasnt ready to leave. Rose Parade canceled for second year in a row to follow COVID-19 regulations The Jackson Rose Parade has been canceled for the second year in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After missing the 62nd annual Rose Parade last year, the parade is also being called off in 2021 because of the states current social gathering restrictions that are still in place, Jim Francis, Rose Festival Board of Directors president, said. Family loses home, dog in Jackson County fire A Grass Lake Township familys home was destroyed, and their dog was killed in a fire Saturday. The fire started before 3:35 p.m., March 13 in the 4900 block of Fishville Road, fire Chief Greg Jones said. It also destroyed the familys camper and pickup and all their personal belongings, he said. The family was living in the camper while they were between houses, Jones said. They were not home at the time of the fire, he said. Gourmet pizza vending machines coming to Jackson Late night cravers rejoice two vending machines for specialty pizza at any time of day will open in Jackson this month. Two Jacksonians are launching the first U.S. locations of PizzaForno, a Canadian company of automated pizza ovens that cook pizza in less than three minutes. Stipends, benefits and retirement beefed up Jackson city manager salaries in 2020 City managers in Jackson earned thousands more than their base salaries in 2020, mostly through benefits. City Manager Jonathan Greene and former City Manager Patrick Burtch were among the top earners in city government in 2020, according to information obtained by MLive/Jackson Citizen Patriot through a Freedom of Information Act request. Jackson County man sentenced in fatal crash: I wish every day that it was me Scott Taylor doesnt hate the man who killed his mom in a car crash. The 17-year-old lost his mom less than a month before starting his senior year of high school, he said during a victim impact statement Tuesday, March 16. For a few months I was very hateful, very mad, very angry, Taylor said. At the end of the day, I dont feel that it does anything. It was an accident. Accidents do happen. Im not mad, theres just a great deal of pain. I hold no hate. Jackson County communities receive $450K from marijuana sales tax Communities in Jackson County are getting their first checks for licensing pot shops more than a year after they were first allowed to open. Earlier in March, the Michigan Department of Treasury began disbursing payments of the tax revenue generated from adult-use marijuana sales during fiscal year 2020. In Jackson County, eight adult-use marijuana retailers brought in nearly $450,000 for four municipalities, according to a state report. Resident saw flames shooting from windows of Jackson County house destroyed in fire A two-story home was destroyed in a fire Friday evening. A homeowner was outside in her backyard when she smelled smoke around 5 p.m., March 12. She went to the front of her house and saw flames shooting out her picture window in the 600 block of Napoleon Road, Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety Director Mike Jester said. The first firefighters on scene found flames and heavy smoke coming from the first and second floor, Jester said. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Justice Ester Kisakye of the Supreme Court has disagreed with eight Justices in their decision on two applications arising from presidential election petition by former Presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine. Mr Kyagulanyi petitioned the Supreme Court seeking to overturn President Musevenis victory in the January 14 presidential poll. At the start of the petition hearing, Mr Kyagulanyi first filed an application seeking to be given more time to amend his petition and introduce new grounds. He filed another seeking to file additional affidavits and another seeking to withdraw the whole petition. Mr Kyagulanyi argued that there were unusual circumstances including the fact that his lawyers were operating mobile law firms due to insecurity and fears that state operatives may steal the evidence. He also argued that state operatives seized their political party offices which made it difficult for him to file relevant affidavits and evidence in support of his petition on time. Read more: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/justice-kisakye-s-dissenting-judgment-in-bobi-petition-3328314 (Alliance News) - Jefferies International Ltd on Friday said the Future Fund Board of Guardians sold 32.7 million shares in Apax Global Alpha Ltd for GBP5.9 million via an accelerated bookbuild. The placing, which was priced at 180 pence per share, was announced on Thursday. Jefferies International acted as sole global coordinator in relation to the placing. Apax Global, a Guernsey-based private equity and derived investments firm, did not receive any proceeds, as they were existing shares. Shares in Apax Global Alpha were down 9.3% at 190.02p in London on Friday. Future Fund, Australia's sovereign wealth fund that manages six public asset funds, now no longer holds any Apax Global Alpha shares. Future Fund's Board of Guardians is responsible for deciding how to invest the assets of each fund. By Zoe Wickens; zoewickens@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. GREENVILLE Even as Greenville County schools undertook a massive vaccination effort for thousands of employees March 18, the rate of coronavirus infections inside the district for the first time all year was higher than the county's rate. The two-week rate of infections within schools 302.8 cases per 100,000 as of March 10 is the lowest since Thanksgiving and a quarter of what it was when students returned to classes after Christmas. But that decline, while precipitous, has been outpaced by an even steeper decline in cases around the county as a whole, which were at 287.5 per 100,000 on March 10. If the district were sticking to a strategy proposed over the winter holidays schools stay open so long as they are safer than the community as a whole this disparity would mean closing schools. But widely available vaccines has changed that calculus, a spokesperson said. Educators told The Post and Courier they feel safe at work. Janet Allen, a media specialist at Greenville High School, said her boss, Principal Jason Warren, has made safety his top priority. She said she is grateful to have had a solid job during the economic downturn brought about by the pandemic and knows administrators have faced difficult decisions at every step. "I just feel like the teachers, by and large, have been doing the best they could, and the students are doing the best they can," Allen said. "I'm in a place where I recognize this is a national crisis. If my principal wants me to wipe down the walls with Kleenex, I'll do it." Terrell Brown, a second-grade teacher at Cherrydale Elementary School, said the district has been proactive getting the vaccine rolled out. "We are all in this together, but the community can't let their guard down," Brown said. Still, the disparity in infection rates between the county as a whole and the school district underlined on March 18 the importance of getting front-line school workers vaccinated as quickly as possible. Throughout the winter as cases spiked and schools were increasing in-person attendance days, Superintendent Burke Royster reported to school board members that the comparative infection rate between schools and the county as a whole was driving attendance decisions. If cases in the district leap ahead of the county, he said at the time, schools might have to close. Until February, the rate of cases in schools remained well below that of the county as a whole. But that was also at a time when cases everywhere were still on the increase, Waller said. "I think we would be more alarmed if we were seeing large numbers of cases in the schools," Waller said of current conditions. "While Dr. Royster may have said in the past that a risk ratio that equals or surpasses that of the county or the state would close schools, what we did not consider back then when that statement was made was that our incident rate would be this low." School administrators can only offer theories at this point for why the schools are outpacing the county in coronavirus cases, Waller said. One idea is that widespread vaccinations in the Greenville area have helped tamp down cases, but only among adults, he said. "We have an entire population of students who have not had any access to a vaccine," Waller said. Families might also be relaxing their safety protocols at home, he added. Waller said district administrators this week put employees working in schools that is, teachers, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and others interacting with kids everyday at the front of the vaccination line. This was a change in strategy that has the dual benefit of getting those most exposed protected first while also potentially reducing the number of days schools will have to be closed to carry out the vaccinations. Waller estimated that by day's end on March 18 close to 4,000 teachers and school support staff had received the first of two Pfizer vaccine shots. 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! To pull off the mass vaccinations in the state's largest school district, clinics were set up at two area high schools Greer and Woodmont. Students stayed home and did their work online for the day. Citing privacy concerns, the district did not allow members of the media inside the schools to observe vaccinations, but teachers reported a calm and efficient atmosphere with little chitchat as employees maintained social distance and kept their masks on while queued up in gymnasiums. The clinics wrapped up at about 5 p.m., with the biggest rush reported just after lunch. Late in the afternoon at Greer High School, one teacher spotted Royster walking by with a walkie talkie in his hand, the words "incident commander" posted on his back. He was smiling, and the nurses were, too. "We are very encouraged by the decline in the incident rate in Greenville County Schools," Waller told The Post and Courier. Waller estimated that 1,000 to 1,100 employees who want to get the vaccine through the district are still waiting. These include teachers working from home in the district's Virtual Academy, people working in the district headquarters and substitute teachers. "I'm only ballparking it because this is a moving target," Waller said. These people will get their shots once the district's vaccine supplier, Bon Secours, has enough doses to administer all of them at once. Because the vast majority of these people are not in-person teachers, Waller said it is unlikely that students will have to stay home during that round of shots. When in-school staff receive their second shot of the Pfizer vaccine in three weeks, students will likely once again have to stay home for the day. The district originally estimated that around 6,100 employees would receive coronavirus vaccines through the in-house clinics, but that number has declined in recent weeks, Waller said. Employees have found other ways to get the vaccine or are putting it off for other reasons, Waller said. Another two-dose vaccine has been developed by Moderna, which is widely available at drugstores in South Carolina, and Johnson and Johnson is ramping up production of a single-dose vaccine. Brown said he is waiting for a go-ahead from his doctor because of other health conditions he is managing. "I am just waiting to see which dose is appropriate for me," Brown said. Sherry East, president of the South Carolina Education Association, said Greenville County is fortunate to have two major healthcare partners to work with. Eight South Carolina counties have no general hospital, according to the state's 2020 health plan. Many of these same poor, rural communities also have "pitiful, sad" school facilities with outdated ventilation systems, she said, and poor internet infrastructure, which has hindered distance learning. East described one teacher calling her after getting her vaccination in York County. She had burst into tears afterward. "Greenville is probably the best-case scenario because they have the resources, you know. Greenville can do different things," East said. "That doesn't mean everybody in Greenville's a happy teacher, but they're probably happier than most." Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, said, in an interview for AGERPRES, that within the next two years he has planned "a profound renewal" of the diplomatic and consular corps and announces a "zero tolerance" regarding not respecting interaction conduct with the Romanian citizens. "There are Romanian citizens who sometime complain about the quality of these services or complain about the treatment they are receiving at the counter. I promoted a zero tolerance policy towards our colleagues who do not respect the absolutely necessary rules of conduct in the relations with the Romanian citizens, but on the other hand there is also a need for a better training of the consular agents, consular civil servants, so that, the consular services can be of better quality," the minister says. Furthermore, he reminds that there will be more jobs posted for contest within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."As a result, we have the opportunity this year and the following one to accomplish a deep renewal of the consular and diplomatic corps, but also of other execution jobs, specific to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Aurescu specifies.During the interview the minister also talked about the importance of a "more strategic" approach of the EU-Russia relation, alongside the priorities of the Strategic Partnership with the USA, in the context of the new Administration in Washington. AGERPRES Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 09:13:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TRIPOLI, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Thursday expressed concern over the arbitrary arrest of a bank official by an armed group in the capital Tripoli. "UNSMIL is concerned about the safety of Mr Abdul Khaliq Mohamed Misbah Ibrahim, a Libyan Foreign Bank official who was arbitrarily arrested in central Tripoli, on 9 February 2021, allegedly by an armed group. Mr Ibrahim's whereabouts remain unknown," UNSMIL said. UNSMIL called on judicial authorities to "immediately intervene and release Mr Ibrahim or to produce him before a competent court without delay, in line with Libya's national and international human rights obligations. The mission also urged the new Government of National Unity to prioritize the release of all persons illegally detained in the country, both in official detention centers and in secret facilities run by armed groups. Libya has been suffering escalating violence and insecurity ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011. Enditem The title for The Fabulous Filipino Brothers makes it sound like a movie about a now-obscure troupe of singing-dancing siblings who once opened for Frank Sinatra in Las Vegas, and were audience favorites back in the day on The Ed Sullivan Show. As it turns out, however, this engagingly freeform comedy has an entirely different sort of showbiz pedigree, being the joint effort of four real-life Filipino-American brothers Dante, Derek, Dionysio and Darion Basco with scads of film and TV acting, writing and producing credits on their respective IMDb pages. And while one can only wonder just how autobiographical this enterprise may be for any of them, there can be no doubt that their family ties are a major reason why the interactions of the characters they portray resound with a solid ring of truth that greatly enhances all the funny business. Working from a loosely knit episodic script he wrote with brother Darion, director Dante Basco smoothly switches back and forth between the wedding celebration of an extended Filipino-American family in Pittsburg, Calif., and vignettes that focus individually on four siblings during the buildup to the big event. In a manner highly reminiscent of similarly constructed European comedies from the 1960s and 70s, tonal shifts between segments are frequent, as the humor ranges from sweetly romantic to joltingly dark. Holding it all together is an omniscient narrator whose identity is kept a secret until a cheeky twist late in the third act. More from Variety Dayo Abasta (Derek Basco), the eldest, volunteers to pay for the expensive wedding feast even though, as his Chinese-American wife (Cheryl Tsai) points out, he can scarcely afford such a magnanimous gesture. But for Dayo, its a matter of pride and culture unlike the Chinese, he insists only half-jokingly, Filipinos are tradition-bound jungle Asians. So he returns to his past as a street hustler, a journey that entails close encounters with an aggressive Yakuza gambler, an aunt in need of dialysis treatment, and a rooster that requires chemical enhancement to compete in a cockfighting match. Story continues If this first episode recalls broadly played 90s urban comedies like Friday and I Got the Hook Up and, rest assured, it does the second, filmed on location on the Philippines, more closely resembles a Richard Linklater-style dialogue-driven two-hander. Duke Abasta (Dante Basco), the most successful of the brothers, makes his first trip to Manila for a sales meeting, and winds up mixing business with pleasure when hes reunited with Anna (Solenn Heussaff, a high-profile star in the Philippines), an old flame whos not entirely averse to being rekindled. Although each of them is happily married to other people, one thing leads to another. But before that can lead to something else, the movie springs a surprise that some viewers may find upsetting, and others will find uproarious. The third segment is little more than an extended blackout sketch, probably designed to ease viewers from the shocking to the sentimental. Danny Boy Abasta (Darion Basco), an incorrigibly immature party animal, locks eyes with a receptive hottie during preparations for the wedding feast, cuing the most lascivious use of food as foreplay since Tony Richardsons Tom Jones. The payoff, however, is a rushed fumble. Still, Danny Boy sticks around to play a key supporting role in the final vignette, a satisfyingly sweet chapter showcasing David (Dionysio Basco), a moody introvert whos been stuck in a deep blue funk since breaking up with his girlfriend two years earlier. To cheer up his brother and, just as important, to maybe halt his obsession with composing thunderously loud electronica music Danny Boy posts Davids profile on a dating app, thereby attracting the interest of a potential Miss Right. Trouble is, she brings with her a unique sort of baggage. Various other Basco family members of varying ages fill a multitude of supporting roles in The Fabulous Filipino Brothers, a movie that abounds in affectionately specific and vividly rendered cultural details (note how the older folks complain that their Americanized offspring havent bothered to learn how to speak Tagalog) even as it maintains a universal appeal. And to address the elephant in the room: Its also a movie that has had its world premiere at SXSW at a time when anti-Asian prejudices have been inflamed nationwide by unscrupulous politicians and radical hate mongers, leading to violent assaults and, just this week in Atlanta, multiple homicides. Seeing The Fabulous Filipino Brothers right now can give you a wrenching sense of whiplash, as the boisterous shenanigans here might seem tragically unconnected to real-world events. But look closer: The love and respect and joy that bind the Abasta family are real, too. It would be unfair to expect an amusing but slight comedy like this one to serve as a substantial political statement. On the other hand, theres a lot to be said for any movie that reminds us, in a heartfelt but unassuming way, that we are many, but we are one. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. IF YOU need evidence that the Democratic administration in Washington is hostile to the Granite State, look no further than its disposition toward our states lawsuit against Massachusetts over the Bay States bad faith policy of imposing its income tax on New Hampshire telecommuters who bot She called for greater body diversity on Love Island earlier this week and said it was 'unhealthy for people to just see size 8s chomping around in their bikinis.' And Montana Brown looked sensational as she enjoyed some downtime from her work to enjoy a stroll along the beach in St. James Parish, Barbados on Friday. The Love Island star, 25, showcased her incredible figure in a black cut-out bikini as she sauntered along the golden shores of the Caribbean island. Beach babe: Montana Brown looked sensational as she enjoyed some downtime from her work to enjoy a stroll along the beach in St. James Parish in Barbados on Friday Montana looked full of confidence as she showed off her taut midriff and slender pinks in the skimpy two-piece which featured a cut-out section at the bust and gold hoop detail. The TV star went make-up free for the outing, while she swept her raven tresses up into a neat bun. Montana appeared in great spirits as she soaked up the sun while walking along with her phone in hand. Stunner: The Love Island star, 25, showcased her incredible figure in a black cut-out bikini as she sauntered along the golden shores of the Caribbean island Racy display: Montana looked full of confidence as she showed off her taut midriff and slender pinks in the skimpy two-piece It comes after Montana called for greater diversity on Love Island as she insisted it's 'unhealthy for people to just see size 8s chomping around in their bikinis.' The swimwear brand owner also stated: 'I wanna see more people of colour' while concluding that 'with regards to racial diversity and body diversity, there's always room for improvement' on the programme. Speaking on the latest What Day Is It? podcast, Monata was quizzed about how progressive Love Island is. She admitted: 'I feel like, as a mixed race person, you're always in a minority, especially on a show like that. It's not something that I necessarily thought of while I was in the show. 'I've had quite a privileged upbringing. I grew up in quite a white area so I've always been in the minority anyway. So it's something that I didn't feel uncomfortable with. Making a stand: It comes after Montana called for greater diversity on Love Island as she insisted it's 'unhealthy for people to just see size 8s chomping around in their bikinis' More diversity! The swimwear brand owner also stated: 'I wanna see more people of colour' (Pictured with the starting line-up of the 2017 Love Island series) 'But I definitely think with regards to racial diversity and body diversity there's always room for improvement.' Montana went further, explaining why there's a need to have a more inclusive cast, which is better representative of society. She said: 'I think it's so important, because that [Love Island] so gets so many millions and millions of views. People wanna see themselves on the screen, people wanna feel like they're being represented. Saying it how it is: 'I feel like, as a mixed race person, you're always in a minority, especially on a show like that' admitted Montana Real talk: ' I definitely think with regards to racial diversity and body diversity there's always room for improvement' said the reality star (Pictured the 2018 Love Island starting line-up) 'So it's really important that they are having curvier girls on there. I think there's a degree of - not everyone can be cast for love island. 'There is a really fine line of: you want it to be entertaining, you want it to be aspirational, you wanna see a bunch of good looking people on television having fun and you wanna live vicariously through that. 'But then you also wanna represent the UK and everybody who is a size bigger than a size 8. 'I do think that's unhealthy for people to just see size 8s chomping around in their bikinis, because then people perceive that the only way to be beautiful is to be a size 8, or be a smaller size. So there's definitely work to do.' Better representation: Montana went further, explaining why there's a need to have a more inclusive cast, which is better representative of society (Pictured: The 2019 Love Island cast) Size-inclusivity matters: 'People wanna feel like they're being represented. So It's really important that they are having curvier girls on there' insisted Montana More diversity! Asked what she'd like to change on Love Island, Montana revealed: 'I think I'd wanna see more people of colour' (Pictured Amber Gill, Yewande Biala in the 2019 series) Asked what she'd like to change on Love Island, Montana revealed: 'I think I'd wanna see more people of colour. 'I feel like there's literally only maybe two or three people of colour on the whole series. And I do think they are like token people. And it shouldn't be like ticking a box. 'And I know it's so hard because, I'm thinking back, and there was one researcher called Coco who was black, but as you get further up, it's a white dominated industry. 'It's just a case of the heads of ITV being really really being focused on being diverse. It might be subconscious for them, but they definitely have to open their eyes and make sure that they're being more diverse, racially.' 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. Andalusian regional health chief Jesus Aguirre pictured on Thursday. EUROPA PRESS The regional healthcare chief in Andalusia, Jesus Aguirre, stated on Friday that a preliminary autopsy report for a teacher in Marbella (Malaga) who died two weeks after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine states that there is no causal relationship between the administration of this medication and her death. Speaking from Lepe in Huelva, Aguirre stated that the report was conclusive. The autopsy points to the 43-year-old having suffered a brain hemorrhage, and that she had a predisposition to suffer a stroke, according to the Malaga-based Sur newspaper. The death was one of three that was being investigated by the Spanish Medicines Agency due to a possible relationship between the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots. A series of similar cases across Europe have recently seen countries including Spain, Germany and France suspend its use. But after a positive conclusion on the vaccine by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), released on Thursday, most of these countries including Spain have already announced they will restart its use. It can clearly and resoundingly be said that there is no causal relationship between the coronavirus vaccination and her death Andalusia regional healthcare chief Jesus Aguirre After expressing his condolences to the family of the teacher, Aguirre said that the clinical autopsy had been carried out by two pathologists and a coroner, and as such had been done in the most regulated and scientific manner possible. It can clearly and resoundingly be said that there is no causal relationship between the coronavirus vaccination and her death, he said. There is no relationship between the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine and the death of this woman, the health chief insisted. The victim, a 43-year-old mother of two, presented signs of having suffered an aneurysm, which could have been the reason for the massive hemorrhaging that caused her death. The preliminary investigations did not reveal indications of blood clots in the victims body, although the results from different microscopic studies will be needed from samples that have been taken for the definitive conclusions, the report from Sur explains. The deputy regional premier of Andalusia, Juan Marin, said on Friday that he was determined for the rhythm of the vaccination campaign to be ramped up once more now that the suspension of the use of AstraZeneca has been lifted. Emer Cooke, the director of the EMA, stated that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the possible risks, with the agency concluding that the use of AstraZeneca is not associated with a general increase in the chance of suffering thromboembolic events. We will return to the vaccination calendar that was established on December 9, said Marin. The Spanish government announced on Thursday that the use of AstraZeneca would restart from Wednesday. English version by Simon Hunter. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East It was late on March 3 when Daisha Smalls stopped at a Chevron station in Houston to pump gas. Her 1-year-old son, Legend, was buckled in his car seat in the back, and Ms. Smalls said she was in the front seat when a man wielding a gun suddenly ran up to the car and demanded that she get out. Ms. Smalls, 19, screamed at him that her baby was still in the back. She said she could see police cars and hear sirens. Then she heard gunshots. The gunman was dead. But the police had also shot her son in the head, the Houston Police Department said later. As of Thursday, Legend remained in critical condition in pediatric intensive care, recovering from surgery to remove the bullet that had struck him. 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Upping the ante against Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, the rival faction of the ruling CPN-UML has decided to launch a nationwide campaign to revive and reorganise all the party committees the way they were before its merger with the CPN-Maoist Centre led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda", according to media reports on Friday. The rival faction of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified MarxistLeninist), led by Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal, decided to form the parallel party committees after the conclusion of the two-day national gathering of the over 4,000 party leaders and cadres close to the faction held on Thursday, according to a report in myRepublica. They alleged that Oli, who is also the Chairperson of the party, was bent on splitting it. We are for the unity of the CPN-UML. So we will continue our struggle by being within the party. We dont have any plans to announce a split, Yogesh Bhattarai, a key member of the Nepal-Khanal faction, was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post. We, however, wont attend the Central Committee meeting. But we may attend Parliamentary Party meetings if they are held following the due procedure," Bhattarai said. However, some leaders of the faction had boycotted the parliamentary meeting called by Prime Minister Oli on Thursday. The meeting directed the lawmakers of the Khanal-Nepal faction to return with self-realisation or else face action. Shanta Chaudhary, the partys whip, said the meeting decided that the party will take necessary legal action against those who violate the party's directions. According to the report, insiders say Oli appears to be clear in his strategy proving his strength and dangling the threat of action against his opponents. The Nepal-Khanal faction at this time finds itself in a tight spot. The March 7 Supreme Court order reviving the UML and the Maoist Centre came as a bitter pill to swallow for the group as it was left with no option than to return to the UML fold, it said. The political scenario in the country worsened after the Supreme Court nullified CPN-MC's merger with CPN-UML. The two parties had merged in May 2018 to form a unified Nepal Communist Party following the victory of their alliance in the 2017 general elections. The Nepal faction which had sided with Prachanda's CPN-MC after Prime Minister Oli's decision to dissolve the House of Representatives in December, seeking his resignation, had to return to the CPN-UML fold. However, in a landmark ruling, the apex court last month reinstated the lower house of Parliament. The faction maintained that their decision to revive the party committees comes in line with the verdict of the Supreme Court to recognise the party committee that existed before May 16, 2018. Indicating towards Oli's decision to form some committees recently, Deputy General Secretary Ghanashyam Bhusal said they will revive the party's sister's organisation and party committee which would be led by the party members close to their faction who had faced defeat in the last general election, the myRepublica report said. Claiming that the party can be saved only if they revived their committees across the country, Bhusal said that the move could also keep Oli's arrogance and haughtiness in check in the days to come. The rift between the CPN-UML factions intensified after the rival Nepal-Khanal faction demanded Oli to take back his March 12 decisions that divested leaders close to the duo of key responsibilities in the party. On March 12, the Central Committee meeting dominated by the Oli-led faction nominated 23 new members to the partys Central Committee (CC). It also nominated 23 former Maoist leaders who joined the UML as CC members. Meanwhile, CPN-MC Chairperson and former prime minister Prachanda has clarified that he did not seek to be the Prime Minister or lay any claim on the position, The Himalayan Times reported. "Political consensus will decide who will be the next prime minister for which the political parties are currently holding discussions. Consensus would be forged soon," he was quoted as saying in the report. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) China keeps thousands of Uighur children separated from their families in state-run orphanages and boarding schools as part of its crackdown in Xinjiang province, Amnesty International has said in a new report. The charity spoke to six Uighur families - exiled in countries including Australia and Turkey - who have been completely cut off from children as young as five. Many of these family members fled China in 2016 when authorities started demanding that they give up their passports. They had to leave children who lacked the necessary travel documents but expected to be reunited with them soon. However, Beijings persecution of Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups intensified in 2017. Since then, it is estimated that more than a million people have been interned in so-called vocational training centres in the countrys western province, where they face torture and ill treatment. As a result of this crackdown, parents were no longer able to return to Xinjiang without the threat of being arbitrarily detained and their children could not leave China. Explaining the situation, Alkan Akad, Amnesty Internationals China researcher, said: Chinas ruthless mass detention campaign in Xinjiang has put separated families in an impossible situation: children are not allowed to leave, but their parents face persecution and arbitrary detention if they attempt to return home to care for them. Read more: He said the heartbreaking testimonies heard by Amnesty International only scratch the surface of the scale of suffering endured by Uyghur families separated from their children, adding that China should end its heartless policies in Xinjiang. Mihriban Kader and her husband Ablikim Memtinin, from Kashgar, are among the parents who spoke to the human rights organisation. They fled to Italy from Xinjiang in 2016 when they were told to give up their passports to the local police, leaving their four children, now aged 12 to 16, in the care of their grandparents. The childrens grandmother was later taken to an internment camp, while their grandfather was interrogated before spending months in hospital. Last summer, the children travelled 3,100 miles by themselves to the Italian consulate in Shanghai to obtain visas after Mihriban and Ablikim received the necessary permit from the Italian authorities. According to their parents, they were detained in their Shanghai hotel and then sent to an orphanage and boarding school in Kashgar. Omer and Meryem Faruh, who now live in Istanbul, have also been affected, separated from two of their four daughters for more than four years. Told to surrender their passports, Meryem and their two elder daughters left Xinjiang to meet Omer abroad but the younger two, who did not have passports, stayed behind with their grandparents. Omer told Amnesty International that his family had been torn apart like thousands of others. We havent heard the voices of our daughters for the last 1,594 days, he said. My wife and I cry only at night, trying to hide our sorrow from our other kids here with us, he added. Amnesty International is calling on China to end the restriction of movement on Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, to close the re-education camps and to release all detainees. It also urges Beijing to allow human rights experts and journalists access to Xinjiang. Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie on "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Julie Vrabelova/Marvel Studios The voiceover at the start of the first episode was from "Avengers: Endgame." Sam Wilson was given Captain America's blessing to take up the mantle in "Avengers: Endgame." Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios; Disney/Marvel Near the conclusion of 2019's "Avengers: Endgame," Steve Rogers/Captain America returned from time traveling and putting the Infinity Stones exactly where he got them from. But Steve also took a detour and lived a long and fulfilling life with Peggy Carter. When he returned to the present day as an old man, he took his shield out of a brown case (the same one seen in "TFATWS") and gave Sam his blessing to "try it on." "How does it feel?" old Steve asked Sam. "Like it's someone else's," he replied. "It isn't," Steve said, giving his blessing and smiling up at him. After a pause, Sam thanked Steve and said "I'll do my best" before they shook hands. "That's why it's yours," Steve said, showing that he was confident that Sam was worthy of taking up the mantle. That scene perfectly set up Sam's spin-off series and the concept of legacy that's at the forefront of "TFATWS." While on a mission to retrieve the military liaison being held captive by a criminal organization known as LAF, Sam fought Batroc - a character last seen in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." Batroc returned on episode one of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Disney/Marvel Captain America faced off against Batroc (played by two-time UFC Welterweight Champion and MMA star Georges St-Pierre) when he and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow were sent on a mission to free hostages from a hijacked S.H.I.E.L.D. ship called the Lemurian Star. It was later revealed that Batroc was actually hired by Nick Fury to attack the ship to distract from Natasha's actual mission to steal top-secret files. Batroc escaped and was later found in a safe house in Algiers. Story continues It's unclear how Batroc fits into "TFATWS," but clearly the mercenary is still carrying out missions. He's also wearing his comic book counterpart's signature colors. Even though Tony Stark sacrificed himself in "Endgame" and is dead, his name lives on and loomed over the first episode of "TFATWS." Tony Stark's name was mentioned on the first episode of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Disney/Marvel The events of episode one took place six months after "Endgame." The first mention of Tony Stark/Iron Man came from First Lieutenant Joaquin Torres, an intel officer who works closely with Sam. After successfully rescuing the military liaison, Sam and Torres took a break in Tunisia. There, Torres referred to Sam's Redwing drone as "Stark-level tech." The second mention of the late superhero came from the starstruck loan officer who refused to let Sam and his sister Sarah take out a loan. After asking Sam if Stark ever paid him for his superhero efforts, he quickly offered his condolences. The photo of Steve on the farewell banner at the Smithsonian was used in his first Cap exhibit, seen at the start of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." Sam Wilson gave Cap's shield to the Smithsonian. Disney/Marvel On the first episode of "TFATWS," Sam traveled to Washington, DC (which is where he first met Steve) and gave a speech at a farewell ceremony for Captain America. The banners with the photo of the hero were previously seen when Steve visited the Smithsonian in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." One of the screens in the exhibit referenced "Captain America: Civil War." The Sokovia Accords were at the center of "Captain America: Civil War." Disney/Marvel A screen was dedicated to the Sokovia Accords, legal documents that caused a rift among the Avengers and split them into two opposing groups: Team Cap and Team Iron Man. The Sokovia Accords were proposed after two events: the destruction caused by the Avengers in Sokovia during "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and the terrorist attack that took place in Lagos, Nigeria. As a result, people began to view the Avengers less like heroes and more like villains. The documents were intended to allow the government to keep the Avengers in check, rather than letting the superheroes operate entirely on their own. The motorcycle seen on display at the Smithsonian is the same one that was part of the previous Captain America exhibit, with a few adjustments. Captain America's exhibit at the Smithsonian includes his old motorcycle. Disney/Marvel Cap first used a motorcycle in "Captain America: The First Avenger" as he and the Howling Commandos traveled through Europe taking down Hydra's bases. Steve was seen looking at the vehicle decades later as part of the Smithsonian's section dedicated to the American hero. On "TFATWS," the motorcycle is now surrounded by mementos on a raised platform. A new addition is the original shield, which was previously attached to Cap's mannequin. It appears that, after Steve stole the suit in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" to prepare for battle, the shield was relocated in the exhibit. Many of the items featured on the wall behind the motorcycle were nods to the first "Captain America" movie. The first episode of "TFATWS" included nods to "Captain America: The First Avenger." Disney/Marvel One of the items was the hard hat that he wore while in basic training at Camp Lehigh. Another was the Captain America comic book, which was printed after he became somewhat of a celebrity as he encouraged Americans to support war efforts in the first "Captain America" movie. Other pieces on display included a backpack, brown boots, and Captain America trading cards. Additional screens that Rhodey and Sam walked by as part of the exhibit referenced landmark past events in the MCU. The Smithsonian's Captain America exhibit was filled with references to the MCU. Disney/Marvel The screens featured titles like "The Blip," "The Vanished," and "Out of Hiding: New York Under Attack." These headlines were referring to events of "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame." Thanos' followers invaded New York at the start of "Infinity War," years after the 2012 Battle of New York that formed the Avengers. "The Vanished" referred to the lengthy list of people who were dusted and disappeared when Thanos acquired all the Infinity Stones, snapped his fingers, and wiped out half of the population. "The Blip" is a term first used in "Spider-Man: Far From Home" when referencing the people who were dusted and then resurrected five years later by the Hulk. A screen titled "One Final Mission" referred to the events of "Endgame." If you look closely at the text, it summarized the plot of the blockbuster movie. It recapped Steve and the Avengers regrouping after five years "with a new plan to undo the damage inflicted by the mad titan known as Thanos." It also said that the heroes were successful, but with "personal loss" specifically mentioning the death of Tony Stark. "With this exhibit, we honor the life and legacy of Steve Rogers, Captain America. Patriot, soldier, hero," the screen text concluded. Symbols for Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. could also be seen. Episode one of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" included logos for two of the biggest organizations in the MCU. Disney/Marvel These two organizations were the focus of several movies within the MCU. Hydra is marked by a logo of a skull with six tentacles. In "Captain America: The First Avenger," this Nazi rogue science division was led by Johann Schmidt/Red Skull. S.H.I.E.L.D., a counter-terrorism and intelligence agency, was co-founded by Peggy Carter and Howard Stark after WWII. It was later run by Nick Fury. In "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," it was revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by Hydra since the very beginning. More nods to "Captain America: The First Avenger" popped up on the collage of screens in the exhibit. Episode one of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" included references to "Captain America: The First Avenger." Disney/Marvel The image of Steve holding the taxicab door was from "Captain America: The First Avenger," after he had successfully been transformed into a super-soldier and pursued a Hydra agent through Brooklyn. In the movie, he grabbed the broken-off taxi door and used it as a shield as the agent shot at him. There was also a photo of Steve from when he enlisted in the army. This same image was seen in the file Peggy looked at after she believed Steve died in "Captain America: The First Avenger." The photo again popped up in the Smithsonian exhibit from "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." The ads encouraging people to buy war bonds and the image of the Captain America comic book were both featured in a montage from the first movie, when Cap became the poster child for America's WWII efforts. Bucky sleeping on the floor might be a callback to "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." Episode one of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" showed Bucky experiencing nightmares. Disney/Marvel The 2014 movie included a flashback that took place after the funeral for Steve's mom, who died from tuberculosis. Without either of his parents (Steve's dad served in the 107th infantry and died from mustard gas), Bucky offered to let Steve stay at his family's home. "We can put the couch cushions on the floor like when we were kids," Bucky said. After Steve politely declined and said he'd be fine on his own, Bucky said, "I'm with you 'til the end of the line, pal" a line that Steve repeated to Bucky later in the film in an attempt to get his old friend to remember who he was. Perhaps sleeping on the floor reminds him of his childhood memories with Steve. Another (more likely) explanation for Bucky sleeping on the floor can be found earlier in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" when Sam and Steve first met. Sam immediately realized that Steve was probably having trouble sleeping at night because, strangely enough, his bed was too soft. Sam, who served in the army for two tours, said that while he was there, he "would sleep on the ground and use rocks for pillows like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed and it's like" "... lying on a marshmallow," Steve said, finishing the sentence. "Feel like I'm gonna sink right to the floor." Bucky fought in WWII as part of the 107th infantry, so it's possible that he chose to sleep on the floor rather than a bed in "TFATWS" because it feels more grounded and he's still having a difficult time adjusting to regular life. It's unclear if Bucky even has a bed in his sparsely decorated apartment. There was already a pillow and a blanket set up on the floor, suggesting that Bucky intentionally chose to sleep there rather than on the chair next to him (or his bed, if he has one). One of the names on Bucky's list of amends is P.W. Hauser, likely a nod to Stan's "I, Tonya" costar Paul Walter Hauser. Sebastian Stan and Paul Walter Hauser starred in "I, Tonya." Disney/Marvel; Evan Agostini/Invision/AP Episode one of "TFATWS" revealed that Bucky has several names written in a small notebook, which he calls a list of amends. He's been working through the list to fix past mistakes made during his assassin days. One of the names included is P.W. Hauser. It's unclear if this is a character, someone who wrote or edited for Marvel comics, or just a clever nod to Hauser the actor. Hauser also reacted to the Easter egg on Twitter. Hauser played Stan's bodyguard and friend in "I, Tonya," which was based on the life of figure skater Tonya Harding (played by Margot Robbie). Another name on the list is H. Zemo - possibly referring to "Captain America: Civil War" villain Helmut/Baron Zemo. The name H. Zemo is written in Bucky's notebook. Disney/Marvel Zemo was the main villain of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." He wanted to eradicate superheroes after the Avengers ended up being responsible for the deaths of his family members in Sokovia. The Winter Soldier was a key person in his plan to turn the Avengers on each other. Fans already know that Zemo will return as the antagonist in "TFATWS," still on a mission to eliminate superheroes. There are additional names in Bucky's book that might have ties to the comics. A. Rostov could refer to a Marvel villain named Andre Rostov, known as Red Barbarian. And L. Kaminski might be a nod to Marvel comics writer and editor Len Kaminski. Bucky referenced his time in Wakanda during a conversation with his therapist. Bucky spent some time in Wakanda healing after the events of "Captain America: Civil War." Disney/Marvel Bucky told Dr. Raynor that civilian life was all new to him because he "didn't have a moment to deal with anything." "I had a little calm in Wakanda and other than that I just went from one fight to another for 90 years," he said, referring to his time rehabilitating. The mid-credits scene of "Captain America: Civil War" showed that Bucky was being treated in Wakanda and voluntarily put in cryogenic sleep until they found a way to fix the brainwashing. Bucky showed up again there during the end-credits scene of 2018's "Black Panther." During the end-credits scene, Bucky emerged from a small hut, with a cloth wrapped around his upper body to conceal his arm injury. The children called him "White Wolf." When Shuri asked how he was feeling, Bucky replied, "Good. Thank you." Bucky was seen again in "Avengers: Infinity War," when the superheroes traveled to the nation to extract the Mind Stone from Vision. T'Challa said that Bucky "rested long enough" and then gave Bucky a new vibranium arm with gold accents in preparation for the big fight against Thanos and his army. Bucky told his neighbor Yori that he "hasn't danced since 1943, it feels like." Bucky said that he hasn't danced since the 1940s. Disney/Marvel This could be referring to the night Bucky and Steve spent out together at the World's Fair in Queens, NY in "Captain America: The First Avenger." It was supposed to be a double date with two women before Bucky was shipped out to England the next morning to serve, but Steve was awkward and Bucky was much smoother. So, the two women stayed close to Bucky the whole night as Steve wandered off. While Steve tried to enlist in the army again after four failed attempts, Bucky left to go dancing with the girls and warned his friend not to do anything stupid until he returned. That night was the last time Bucky got to enjoy civilian activities before his life changed forever. Bucky's menacing Winter Soldier score played after Yuri lamented the death of his son, indicating that Bucky's still haunted by his past and struggling to move on. Sebastian Stan on episode one of "The Falcon and the Winter Solider." Disney/Marvel It was later revealed that Yori is on Bucky's list of people to make amends with because he killed his son back when he was the ruthless assassin known as the Winter Soldier. Yori's son wasn't supposed to be murdered, but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time as the Winter Soldier was carrying out a mission. The return of this score makes sense because Henry Jackman, who composed the scores for "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and "Captain America: Civil War," is also part of the crew for "TFATWS." Sam, like Anthony Mackie, is a Louisiana native. Anthony Mackie on episode one of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Disney/Marvel This is one of many things that fans learn about Sam on "TFATWS." Prior to the show, not much was known about Sam's life aside from his time in the army. The first episode showed Sam traveling to Delacroix, Louisiana to reunite with his sister and his two nephews. Mackie was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. He later attended the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City. Sam's pickup truck license plate is 184 EJE, which might be a nod to a comic book issue. Adepero Oduye and Anthony Mackie on episode one of "The Falcon and the Winter Solider." Disney/Marvel "Captain America and the Falcon #184" was published in 1975 and featured the return of Steve Rogers as Cap. The song performed by the marching band during episode two was a new version of the original Cap's "Star Spangled Man" song from the first movie. The new Captain America participated in an interview for "Good Morning America" on episode two of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Disney/Marvel The track was heard in "Captain America: The First Avenger" during a montage showing Steve traveling across the US (in his first Cap suit) to encourage people to support war efforts. The song was composed by EGOT winner Alan Menken, written by David Zippel, and performed by The Star Spangled Singers On "TFATWS," a more upbeat, modern rendition was performed by the Captain America Drum Corps as John Walker stepped onto a field, interacted with fans in the stands, and sat down for an interview on "Good Morning America." John Walker using a punching bag while training was reminiscent of a moment with Steve from the end credits scene of "Captain America: The First Avenger:" John Walker served in the Army, like Steve Rogers. Disney/Marvel John was seen working out doing a video shown on his "GMA" appearance, explaining his impressive history as a hard-working soldier. One clip showed him with a punching bag. During the end-credits scene of "Captain America: The First Avenger," Steve pummeled a punching bag so hard that he knocked it off its chain. Then Fury entered the gym and told Steve he had a mission for him, setting up his role in 2012's "The Avengers." Bucky referenced a moniker given to him by the kids of Wakanda after Sam made fun of him. Bucky earned the nickname "White Wolf" in Wakanda. Disney/Marvel On "TFATWS," Sam joked about Bucky being very stealthy. "A little time in Wakanda and you come out White Panther," he said. In response, Bucky said that he's White Wolf, causing Sam to give a confused "huh?" Marvel fans will recall that when Bucky was seen in the end-credits scene of "Black Panther," recovering in Wakanda after the events of "Captain America: Civil War," the children referred to him as "White Wolf." T'Challa also called Bucky "White Wolf" in "Avengers: Infinity," shortly before giving him a new vibranium arm to prepare for battle. While sizing up John, Bucky asked him if he ever jumped on top of a grenade. Steve Rogers protected fellow trainees from a dummy grenade in "Captain America: The First Avenger." Disney/Marvel This was likely a nod to Steve fearlessly leaping on top of a grenade (which turned out to be a dummy weapon) while training at Camp Lehigh in "Captain America: The First Avenger." Bucky wasn't there with Steve at the time, so it's unclear if he knew about the event from reading up on Steve's history at the Smithsonian (or elsewhere) or if his friend personally told him about the incident. Sam reminded Bucky of what happened the last time they stole Cap's shield from the government with Sharon Carter's help, in "Civil War." Sharon Carter went on the run after helping Steve and his friends in "Captain America: Civil War." Disney/Marvel After Bucky told Sam that they had to steal the shield from John, Sam gave him (and viewers) a refresher on what occurred the last time they stole government property. In "Civil War," Steve, Sam, and Bucky were labeled enemies for going against the law. Steve and Sam were seen as criminals for refusing to sign the Sokovia Accords and running off with Bucky, who was framed as the person who bombed the site of the Sokovia Accords Summit in Vienna which resulted in the death of King T'Chaka. Sharon, who was working for the CIA, met up with them and gave Steve his shield and Falcon's suit. Both of the items were previously seized by the government. "They're gonna come looking for you," Steve said, referring to Sharon inevitably facing consequences for defying the law. "I know," Sharon replied. Episode two introduced a Black super-soldier named Isaiah Bradley, who comic-book fans will recognize. Carl Lumbly on episode two of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Disney/Marvel Bucky revealed to Sam that Isaiah was a hero who was feared by Hydra, similar to Steve. Bucky and Isaiah met in 1951 when Isaiah was sent to fight him in Goyang. He was so strong that he ended up taking off half of Bucky's metal arm that Hydra gave him. On "TFATWS," Bucky visited Isaiah in Maryland because he and Sam needed to learn how it's possible for more super-soldiers (who call themselves Flag-Smashers) to be on the loose. Angrily, Isaiah said that he was put in jail for 30 years, despite being a hero. People also ran tests on him and took his blood. In the comics, Isaiah became enhanced when he was experimented on at Camo Cathcart as part of Project Rebirth (the Super Solider program that turned Steve into a fighter). Isaiah became known as Black Captain America, but similar to "TFATWS," the public wasn't made aware of his heroic efforts and he was imprisoned. The episode also featured the debut of Eli Bradley, who might be a major character going forward. Elijah Richardson on episode two of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Disney/Marvel The boy wasn't called by his name on episode two. But in the credits, he was listed as Eli Bradley. In the comics, Eli is the grandson of Isaiah. He wasn't born with special abilities but developed them after receiving a blood transfusion from his grandpa. He took on the name Patriot and fought in the group known as the Young Avengers. It's unclear where the Marvel movies and shows are headed, but fans believe that they're setting up the Younger Avengers. This is due to characters like Tommy and Billy showing up on "WandaVision" (who go by Wiccan and Speed in the source material). It's already been confirmed that Hailee Steinfeld is playing archer Kate Bishop in the upcoming "Hawkeye" series and the third "Ant-Man" movie is going to include Cassie Lang taking on the superhero name Stature. All these characters, including Eli, are part of the Young Avengers in the comics. When Bucky told Sam that he wanted to visit Zemo to get some answers about the super soldiers, he said: "Don't you remember Siberia?" An altercation involving Zemo, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, and Tony Stark took place in Siberia. Disney/Marvel This was a direct reference to the events that took place in Siberia near the end of "Civil War." During the movie, Steve and Bucky followed Zemo to Siberia, where a bunch of super-soldiers were frozen in cryogenic chambers. Steve and Bucky assumed that Zemo was going to wake the soldiers and unleash them, but instead, he killed them because he didn't want more super-soldiers in the world. Zemo framed Bucky because he hoped that it would spark the destruction of the Avengers from within. His real plan was to find the footage of the Winter Soldier's first mission, which he did. After Tony saw the footage of Bucky killing his parents and stealing Howard Stark's super solider serum in 1991, a fight broke out among Iron Man, Captain America, and Bucky. Iron Man blasted Bucky's metal arm off and Steve disabled Tony's arc reactor with his shield. Meanwhile, T'Challa stopped Zemo just as he was about to commit suicide with a gun and the foe was apprehended. Though Zemo was locked up, he seemed confident that his grand plan wasn't a failure. On episode three, Sam asked Zemo, "Where do we start?" after he and Bucky agreed to work with the "Age of Ultron" villain to learn more about the new super-soldier serum. Episode three of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" included a line that was similar to one spoken by Sam in a prior Marvel movie. Disney/Marvel Similarly, Sam asked Steve, "When do we start?" at the end of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" when the pair decided to track down Bucky together. On the plane during the same episode, Zemo reminded Sam that they've both been imprisoned. Zemo and Sam have both been locked up before. Disney/Marvel Sam got a taste of Zemo's rich lifestyle when he took a trip in his private jet. After Zemo was giving a glass filled with alcohol, he could sense the judgment from Sam. "You don't know what it's like to be locked in a cell," Zemo said to him. Correcting himself, he added. "Oh. That's right. You do." Zemo's comment was a nod to Sam's fate at the end of "Captain America: Civil War." During the movie, Sam and other members of Team Cap were imprisoned for violating the Sokovia Accords. At the film's conclusion Cap broke into The Raft, the remote Arctic prison facility, where they were locked up, and freed the heroes. The notebook that Bucky uses to write his list of names is the same one Steve jotted notes in after he returned to society after being on ice for 70 years. Bucky Barnes kept Steve Rogers' small notebook, seen in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." Disney/Marvel When Bucky's book was introduced on the series premiere of "TFATWS," it seemed like a parallel to the notebook Steve previously used to keep track of things he missed in pop culture for several decades. But episode three of the show revealed that Bucky is using the same book that Steve owned. "I've seen that book," Sam said when Zemo brought up the item while on the plane. "It was Steve's when he came out of the ice. I told him about 'Trouble Man.' He wrote it in that book." Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" was in fact jotted down in the notebook at the start of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." Later in the movie, Steve woke up in a hospital with Sam beside him and "Trouble Man" playing from a cell phone. Zemo referenced the tragedy that happened in Sokovia in "Avengers: Age of Ultron." Sokovia was destroyed in "Avengers: Age of Ultron." Disney/Marvel While speaking with Bucky and Sam on the plane ride, Zemo warned that the danger with America's super soldiers is that people put them on pedestals and then forget their flaws. "From there, cities fly, innocent people die. Movements are formed. Wars are fought," he said, reminding Bucky of his time going to Germany to stop Red Skull in "Captain America: The First Avenger." On episode three, Zemo also revealed that Sokovia had been erased from the map after the city was destroyed by Ultron and the Avengers years prior. Bucky, Sam, and Zemo travel to Madripoor - a place that has ties to the X-Men in the comics - to get answers about who's making the super-soldier serum. Madripoor makes its first appearance in the MCU on episode three of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Disney/Marvel Bucky described it as "an island nation in the Indonesian archipelago," used as a "pirate sanctuary back in the 1800s." S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill also previously mentioned working in Madroipoor, but "TFATWS" marked the first time fans got to see the location in the MCU. In the comics, Madripoor was mainly connected to the X-Men, especially Wolverine/Logan. Marvel Studios' president, Kevin Feige, told Entertainment Weekly that the location was made available to the studio after Disney acquired Fox's properties in a 2019 deal. Feige told the publication that Madripoor "was not previously available to us, but it's more of an Easter egg in and of itself." The trio shot of Sam, Zemo, and Bucky in Madripoor was reminiscent of the shot of Steve, Tony, and Thor from the end of "Avengers: Age of Ultron." Sam, Bucky, and Zemo work together on episode three of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.' Disney/Marvel This might merely be a coincidence, but the composition of the two shots and the architecture in the backgrounds are somewhat familiar. Both trios are comprised of powerful characters, too. Sam's cover identity of Conrad Mack (known as Smiling Tiger) was inspired by the comics. Sam took on a new identity on episode three of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Disney/Marvel Conrad first appeared in an issue of Marvel's "New Warriors" released in the '90s. In the comics, he became covered in fur when his powers activated. He later ended up in Madripoor. On "TFATWS," Zemo describes Conrad as a "sophisticated, charming African rake." Sam saying that he felt like a pimp in the outfit could have been a subtle nod to the character's controversial backstory in the comics. In the source material, Sam started out as a gangster known as "Snap" Wilson. The sign for Princess Bar was also a nod to the comics. Sam, Bucky, and Zemo traveled to Madripoor on episode three of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Disney/Marvel A brief shot of the lit-up sign appeared as Sam, Zemo, and Bucky made their way through the city. In the comics, Princess Bar was located in Madripoor and owned by a man named O'Donnell. Dr. Nagel successfully made the super-soldier serum created by Dr. Erskine in "Captain America: The First Avenger." Episode three of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" introduced Dr. Nagel. Disney/Marvel In the 2011 movie, Dr. Erskine (played by Stanley Tucci) allowed Steve to enlist in the army because he thought he was a good candidate for the super-soldier program. Erskine was shot by a German spy shortly after Steve emerged as a super-soldier following a successful procedure. On "TFATWS," Dr. Nagel said that he was able to create the serum (stolen by the Flag-Smashers) by isolating compounds from Isaiah's blood samples. The shot of Zemo holding his comic-book-accurate mask mirrored a scene from DC's "The Dark Knight." Zemo put on a mask on episode three of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Marvel Studios, Warner Bros. The opening shot of the 2008 movie, which starred Heath Ledger as the Joker, showed a group of men with masks robbing a bank. Bucky and Sam's dialogue when they hopped in Zemo's getaway car was a callback to a scene from "Captain America: Civil War." Episode three of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" featured a callback to "Captain America: Civil War." Disney/Marvel On "TFATWS," Sam in the backseat said to Bucky, "You're not going to move your seat up, are you." In the 2016 movie, Bucky was in the backseat and asked Sam to move his seat up (which he refused to do) as the two sat in a small car and watched Steve and Sharon flirt with each other. In an interview, "TFATWS" head writer Malcolm Spellman said that the humorous scene with Bucky and Sam in the car informed the tone of their spin-off series. On episode four, Sam reminded John that he used to counsel soldiers dealing with trauma. Anthony Mackie made his first appearance in the MCU in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." Disney/Marvel Sam made the comment during a disagreement with John about how to approach Karli Morgenthau. Given Sam's experience with counseling, John agreed that Sam should try reasoning with the antagonist. Fans got to see Sam leading a meeting for veterans with PTSD in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." After one meeting, with Steve attended, Sam revealed that he lost his wingman named Riley in Iraq during a night mission rescue operation. After the incident, Sam struggled to find a reason to continue serving, so he left. Bucky brought his impressive knife skills to episode four. Bucky has used knives during previous fights. Disney/Marvel During a fight with a Flag Smasher in Latvia, Bucky threw the guy to the floor. Then, he flipped his knife and flung it to the ground, inches away from the Flag Smasher's head. In "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Bucky (under the Winter Soldier programming) also used his knife skills during a fight with Steve. On the finale, Sharon wore face disguising tech previously used by Natasha Romanoff. Sharon Carter went incognito on the finale of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Marvel Sharon wore the mask so she could go unnoticed in New York while helping Bucky and Sam. In "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Nat used the mask and pretended to be Councilwoman Hawley from the World Security Council. Sam using his wings as a shield was reminiscent of Diana Prince doing the same thing with her golden armor suit in "Wonder Woman 1984." Sam Wilson and Diana Prince both have winged costumes. Marvel/Disney; Warner Bros. On "TFAWTS," Sam used the wings as a shield when fighting in his new Cap-Falcon hybrid suit. In "Wonder Woman 1984," the titular hero used her wings during her battle against Cheetah. When Bucky fell from the ledge, he stuck the landing instead of splatting on the ground. Bucky didn't fall on his back on the finale of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Marvel/Disney We've seen Bucky fall a few times in the MCU, most recently on episode two of "TFATWS" when he jumped from the plane and landed on his back. On the finale, Bucky was kicked off a ledge by a Flag Smasher and screamed as he fell. Instead of falling on his back, he landed smoothly with his vibranium fist anchoring him. Bucky gave Sam a quick pat on the back telling him, "Nice job, Cap." Bucky gave Sam a pat on the back on the season finale of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Marvel/Disney A similar moment happened in "Captain America: Civil War" when Bucky and Steve traveled to Siberia to stop Zemo. On the jet, the friends reminisced about going to Rockaway Beach and having to ride back home in the back of a freezer truck because they used up all their money. Steve reminded Bucky that he blew three dollars trying to win a stuffed bear for a redhead he called Dot. In response, Bucky said that Dot must be 100 years old. In response, Steve said, "so are we, pal" and patted him on the back. Zemo is imprisoned at the Raft, the place where the Avengers who defied the Sokovia Accords ended up at the end of "Civil War." Zemo is now being held at the Raft. Marvel/Disney The Raft isn't impenetrable, because Steve Rogers was able to break his friends out. So maybe there's hope for a return of Zemo in the MCU under the right circumstances. John Walker becomes US Agent, just like his comic-book counterpart. Wyatt Russell and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss on episode six of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Marvel/Disney On the finale, John showed Val and his wife his old Cap costume with a modification. Instead of navy accents, it's now black. The black and red style is more in line with the comics. His journey on "TFATWS" also has parallels to the source material. In both, he became the new Cap after Steve resigned and later returned as US Agent. Bucky is no longer hiding his metal arm when he's out in the world as a civilian. Sebastian Stan on episode six of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Marvel/Disney When out and about in the real world, Bucky concealed his vibranium arm by wearing jackets and gloves. He also gave the excuse of "poor circulation" when asked about the gloves during a date with Leah. By the finale, Bucky seemed to fully come to terms with his past. In addition to properly making amends with all the people he wronged as the Winter Soldier, he was also seen showing off his metal arm while at the docks with the Wilsons in Louisiana. Bucky even let one of Sam's nephews and another kid attempt to muster all their combined strength to remove his arm (a futile attempt, but he seemed OK with letting them try for fun). The title card at the end of the finale read: "Captain America and the Winter Soldier." Sam Wilson is the new Captain America. Marvel/Disney The title change was fitting, because Sam has officially taken on the title of Captain America (and has a new suit to prove it). If the show gets renewed, it would be interesting to see if it's renamed to "Captain America and the Winter Soldier" or keeps the original title of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Read the original article on Insider Chronicle file I'll be honest, I never heard of the Votaw tot that spent nine hours in a well before today. Like most of us around these parts in the late 1980s, I do remember the Baby Jessica drama though. Luckily for young Theresa, it seems this story ended on a happy note except for some bruises the 2-year-old received during the ordeal. I think they were afraid to tell me they were not feeling well, Godina says. They let her know on a Wednesday. Two days later, she insisted they go to the hospital, trailing them in her car because her dad refused to let her ride in theirs, afraid he would infect her. As many as eleven persons, including three women, were arrested in connection with the killing of a 32-year-old man in West Delhi's Raghubir Nagar, police said on Friday. Police said that the incident took place on Monday night when a birthday bash turned tragic after some neighbours indulged in a scuffle with some of the guests, leaving several injured. One of the injured Rukesh (32), later succumbed to his injuries. "Eleven persons have been arrested in the case," said Urvija Goel, DCP West Delhi. The life reconstruction of the unusual shark Aquilolamna milarcae, which lived during the Cretaceous Period (Photo : Oscar Sanisidro/Handout via REUTERS.) About 93 million years ago, a bizarre plankton-eating shark shaped unlike any other known marine creature glided through the sea in what is now northeastern Mexico using curiously elongated wing-like fins that rendered its body wider than it was long. Scientists on Thursday announced the discovery of a nearly complete fossil of the shark, called Aquilolamna milarcae, that lived during the Cretaceous Period at a time when dinosaurs ruled the land. Advertisement Its unusual proportions - a fin span of about 6-1/4 feet (1.9 meters) and a length from head to tail of about 5-1/2 feet (1.65 meters) - left the scientists amazed. Aquilolamna's name means "eagle shark," a nod to its slender pectoral fins, which "mainly acted as an effective stabilizer," according to vertebrate paleontologist Romain Vullo, lead author of the study published in the journal Science. "Many adjectives can be used to describe this shark: unusual, unique, extraordinary, bizarre, weird. Yes, it is the only shark that is wider than long," said Vullo, affiliated with Geosciences Rennes, a research unit involving the University of Rennes and France's National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). "Aquilolamna is indeed a perfect example of an extinct creature revealing an unexpected new morphology. This strongly suggests that other outstanding body shapes and morphological adaptations may have existed through the evolutionary history of sharks," Vullo said. Like all sharks and the related skates and rays, Aquilolamna had a cartilaginous skeleton. It had the familiar torpedo-shaped body and tail of a shark but its pectoral fins were utterly unique. The researchers said Aquilolamna appears to have been a slow-swimming shark that fed on plankton through filter-feeding, as plankton-eating whale sharks and basking sharks do today. The fossil, unearthed in Mexico's state of Nuevo Leon, did not reveal Aquilolamna's filter mechanism for eating. Rays such as the manta ray, with their flattened bodies and large pectoral fins fused all the way to the head, swim through the water as if they are flying through the air. Aquilolamna appears to have done something similar. "Whereas the locomotion of manta rays is like underwater flight, with flapping movements of their powerful pectoral fins, the long slender pectoral fins of Aquilolamna rather acted as the wings of a glider, or sailplane," Vullo said. Aquilolamna lived in the open ocean at a time when the seas were populated with marine reptiles, squid relatives with large shells called ammonites, various bony fishes, and large sharks. The largest predator in its ecosystem was a shark called Cretoxyrhina, measuring 20 feet long (6 meters). The fish group that includes sharks appeared roughly 380 million years ago, long before the dinosaurs. Aquilolamna is not the only unusual shark that has swum Earth's oceans. Sharks and their close relatives have taken on many shapes and sizes - including a prehistoric one called Helicoprion that had a mouth like a spiral saw, another prehistoric one called Stethacanthus that had a dorsal fin shaped like an ironing board, and today's strange goblin and sawfish sharks. Whether or not you enjoy Falcon and Winter Soldier hinges largely on whether you like thinking about superheroes as much as you like watching them. A lot of pop culture phenomena arent special for the reason you think. Stephen King isnt the master of horror because of his horror, its because the characters and moments he builds around the horror are so engaging that when the horror happens, youre invested enough to care. Ditto with Marvels superhero movies: The epic action sequences that define the genre have been somewhat perfunctory since that vast oner near the end of The Avengers (2012). What keeps fans coming back are the moments between the action, the character moments that make us feel like these people are longtime friends. With a few notable missteps (why is Pepper Potts so psychotically impatient with her traumatized boyfriend in Iron Man 3?), Marvel has nailed this. Falcon and Winter Soldier, which debuted Friday on Disney+, has bet big that that is what people want to see, and for the most part it pays off. They bet so big, in fact, that the pilot only has two action sequences. Thats two fewer than the number of scenes where characters discuss the economic realities of a post blip world. The blip, for those unfamiliar, is the five year period during which half the universes population was winked out of existence by Thanos, the antagonist of Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). WandaVision, Marvels other Disney+ show that ended just weeks ago, was the Marvel property to explore the unpleasant consequences of such an event: Monica Rambeaus mother died of cancer while the former was incorporeal, forcing her to grieve an event that she missed, alone. The new show promises to dive into this even harder. After an opening action sequence that mirrors the opening of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) (Falcon leaps out of a plane to battle Batroc the Leaper), we catch up with where Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and James Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) are in their non-hero lives. First we find out that Barnes is in therapy, haunted by the memories of the assassinations he carried out as a brainwashed Hydra Agent between 1941 and 2014. An older friend of his sets him up on a date with a bartender. She asks him if hes dated much since the world got back to normal. I tried online dating, the 106 year-old assassin with a robotic vibranium arm says, It was kinda crazy. Meanwhile, Wilson is struggling to keep his familys fishing business afloat after it floundered when its owners (him and his sister) were blipped. He wants to take out a loan and help, but has two huge obstacles: his sisters stubbornness, and his own bad credit. These emotional moments, well-acted and expertly shot by Kari Skogland (Boardwalk Empire, The Walking Dead), all land, but they run the risk of raising questions that a superhero show wont ever be able to satisfactorily answer. How do you make money, by the way? a loan officer in a bank asks Sam, Did Stark pay you, when he was around? My condolences, by the way. It doesnt really work that way, Sam replies, theres a lot of good will. But How on Earth can that be true? Tony Stark, richest man on the planet, never set up a comparatively small fund to pay Avengers living expenses? Not even a per diem? Sam Wilson is working with the US Military and customizing his own unique, cutting-edge technology pro bono? Heres the thing: Superhero stories dont make sense. And they dont have to! Theyre myths more interested in emotional truths than literal ones, but why raise questions you cant, by the nature of your story, answer? There are some aspects to the physics, economics, and geopolitics of superhero stories that will never make sense because superheroes dont make sense and Ive accepted that as a fan, but I still dont want you to rub my face in it. Itd be like if The Lion King featured a scene where Timone explains to Pumba that lions need 9,000 calories per day to survive, and it would be impossible to gain that much nutrients from the grubs that Simba subsists on. Im fully prepared to accept that this is just my hangup. The pilot lays the groundwork for a season-long arc and though the deuteragonists never interact, we already know what will eventually bring them together: the Flagsmashers, a terrorist organization, is going around, well, terrorizing, because they hold the dubious belief that things were better during the blip. Presumably later episodes will explain what that means. This points to a big problem with the series: there's no clear hook aside from the chemistry between Mackie and Stan. "WandaVision" had a clear gimmick of riffing on past sitcoms, but so far there isn't anything to make this show stand out in the crowded superhero content world. Compared to all the built-in controversy of Zack Snyder's Justice League, this feels like filler. It'll be up to later episodes to show why this idea works. At this point, Marvel has perfected the Teaser That Will Only Make Sense to Comic Fans, and this episode ends with a real good one. If youre not well versed in Marvel history then be sure to have your nerdiest friend on speed dial. Alsoand this isnt much of a spoiler unless you dash to Google to find out who hes playingbut Im always excited to see Kurt Russells son Wyatt in stuff. He was great in Overlord and 22 Jump Street and Im real excited to see what he does with this character. New episodes of Falcon and Winter Soldier stream Fridays on Disney+. The Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, or LSU SVM, has received an $11 million grant to establish a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, or COBRE. The COBRE funds will create the Center for Pre-Clinical Cancer Research, or Cancer COBRE, which will be based at the LSU SVM. This grant will last for five years and can be renewed for five or more years. The total amount awarded is $11,027,290. The grant's Principal Investigator is Rhonda Cardin, professor in the LSU Department of Pathobiological Sciences and former associate dean for research and advanced studies. Less than 5 percent of anti-cancer drugs are successful in clinical trials, indicating that current pre-clinical cancer drug research is not predictive of efficacy in humans. Louisiana ranks fifth in the nation for cancer mortality and above the national average for a number of cancers that also disproportionately affects African Americans. This health disparity is of great concern to Louisiana. The Cancer COBRE will establish a new specialized core facility, Pre-Clinical Evaluation Core, or PCEC, to provide scientific expertise and technical support for the cancer projects as well as to all LSU researchers. To accomplish this approach, advanced 3D cancer cell culture systems, or spheroids, will provide critical translational information. The Cancer COBRE will enhance cancer research both at LSU and at Southern University, strengthen collaborative research efforts with LSU HSC-New Orleans and aid in efforts to establish a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center in Louisiana. "Establishment of a Cancer Center on the LSU-Baton Rouge campus will allow us to discover novel therapies to treat cancer. It's an exciting time as we launch this new research program," Cardin said. The Cancer COBRE aims to identify clinically relevant mechanisms of human cancer using models that closely reflect the disease state in the context of the tumor microenvironment to reveal insights into tumorigenesis and thus drive novel therapeutic discovery. The Cancer COBRE junior investigators will address devastating and/or chronic human diseases that exhibit poor outcomes in patients and for which there are unmet therapeutic needs. The four cancer projects feature osteosarcoma, breast cancer, liver cancer and prostate cancer as diseases that would benefit from pre-clinical models that are more predictive of mechanistic efficacy in humans and animals. Advanced pre-clinical evaluation capability at LSU will provide exceptional training and mentoring to research scientists, including junior principal investigators, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. "Southern University (SU) is excited to join LSU on this exciting cancer research study," Michael A. Stubblefield, vice chancellor of the Southern University Office of Research and Strategic Initiatives. "The Center for Pre-clinical Cancer Research will provide SU researchers access to new core research facilities and training opportunities for our faculty and students. We look forward to a strong and productive collaboration." "I am looking forward to helping us build some highly competitive programs using the support of two major COBRE grants dedicated to Cancer research and treatment," said Dr. Augusto Ocho, director of the Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center and professor of pediatrics at LSU Health New Orleans. The funding comes from the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence, or COBRE, program, which seeks to promote the initiation and development or expansion of unique, innovative, state-of-the-art biomedical and behavioral research centers at institutions in IDeA-eligible states, including Louisiana. Research supported by this program spans the full spectrum of basic and clinical sciences and encompasses all areas of health-related investigation. In addition, COBRE projects augment the ability of investigators to compete for investigator-initiated NIH research grants or other external nationally peer-reviewed funding. "The LSU SVM was the first college at LSU to receive a COBRE grant, and I am proud that we are able to continue to use these funds to bring national recognition to the veterinary school and the university and to forge stronger partnerships with our research colleagues in Louisiana to improve the health and lives of people and animals," said Joel Baines, LSU SVM dean. ### The LSU SVM is now host to three Centers of Excellence, including the Center for Experimental Infectious Disease Research, or CEIDR, established in 2004 by Konstantin "Gus" Kousoulas as principal investigator, and the Center for Lung Biology and Disease, or CLBD, established in 2019 by Samithamby Jeyaseelan, as principal investigator. About the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine is one of only 32 veterinary schools in the U.S. and the only one in Louisiana. The LSU SVM is dedicated to improving the lives of people and animals through education, research and service. We teach. We heal. We discover. We protect. Congressman Tom McClintock View Photo Washington, DC The US House of Representatives passed a bill, 228-197, that is designed to provide a pathway to citizenship for the group of younger people referred to as dreamers who are in the country illegally. Congressman Tom McClintock, who represents the Mother Lode, spoke out against it. He criticized President Bidens recent executive actions related to border security and argued that the House bill sends the wrong message about amnesty. He stated, Were way beyond the debate over whether this is a border crisis. The question now is whether we have a border at all. HR 6, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, would provide a pathway to citizenship for younger undocumented immigrants, along with Temporary Protected Status recipients, and those with Deferred Enforced Departure. It could impact about four million people. After being approved in the House, its fate is unclear in the Senate, as it needs 60 votes in favor to pass. Hurricane season 2021 is here: How do storms get their names? If the day didnt exactly begin with a whimper, it ended with a cathartic bang of a sort. Stick with me here. In between the whimper and the bang three more jurors were seated, bringing the total to 12 so far. We should have 14 soon and adjourn until opening statements on March 29. Before jury selection resumed Jerry Blackwell one of the several outside attorneys contributing his services to the prosecution argued in favor of the exclusion of evidence of George Floyds May 2019 arrest by the Minneapolis police. The issue is one of legal relevance. Late yesterday afternoon the state filed this memorandum of law on the issue. (It also filed this memorandum of law opposing continuance of the case on account of pretrial publicity.) Judge Peter Cahill will announce his rulings orally on these motions and on the change of venue motion at 8:15 this morning. Jury selection should resume at 9:00. I anticipate that he will deny the motions for a continuance and change of venue. He has already ruled against the admission of evidence of the May 2019 arrest. If he changes his mind on that, my reading is that he will admit the evidence only for limited purposes. Blackwells argument Thursday morning was focused on the expert medical testimony of one Dr. Vincent. A video clip of Blackwells argument is posted here. The prosecution seeks to introduce Vincents expert testimony on how a human being in Floyds circumstances at the time of his arrest in May 2020 would react. They want to show that Floyd was reacting normally. I think this is a weak argument. I have in my notes that this argument is a crock. If granted as Judge Cahill commented it opens the door to Floyds behavior in the May 2019 arrest. We shall see. After a short break jury selection resumed with juror number 86. We dont get racial or ethnic data on jurors who are not selected, but I detected a pretty thick Chinese (I think) accent. Although she has avoided the news, she had learned of the settlement of the civil litigation. She conceded that, based on what she knew, she leaned toward the prosecution. Judge Cahill excused her for cause before turning her over to the lawyers for voir dire. The prospective jurors, I should add, have been asked by the court to avoid the news since they were summoned to jury duty this past December or so. Everyone understands, however, that news of the case is to some extent unavoidable. It is one of the basic fair trial challenges that permeates the case. Juror number 87 was not equally current on the news. She is a soft-spoken mother of five who had not seen video of the arrest and professed neutrality toward the parties. Although defense counsel Eric Nelson took his time with her, I guessed that her evident fairness toward the parties would elicit a peremptory strike by Steve Schleicher another of the outside attorneys contributing his services to the prosecution. I have in my notes on Schleichers voir dire that she would be an ideal juror an ideal juror, period. Schleicher asked about her sons attendance at one of the protests following Floyds death. It turns out that her son was at the protest on Highway 35W in Minneapolis that narrowly avoided catastrophe when the truck driver slammed on the brakes. George Floyds death has touched a lot of people in the Twin Cities one way or another. She didnt know about her sons attendance at the protest until afterwards and only expressed concern for his safety. As anticipated, Schleicher exercised a peremptory challenge to strike her. (The state has four strikes remaining.) Given the prospective concerns about their safety, Judge Cahill indicated that he intended to authorize identification of the jurors only when he deemed it safe to do so. Nelson, who regularly inquires on the issue of juror concerns about personal safety, now incorporates this assurance into his voir dire. It wouldnt do much for me, but there you have another aspect of the fundamental fair trial challenge in this case. We need not linger long over juror number 88, He heard about the settlement of the civil litigation. His initial reaction was shock. Judge Cahill examined the juror with the audio off and excused him for cause as a result of his acquaintance with a key witness in the case. Juror number 89 had also been exposed to the settlement. In her case, even though she is trying to avoid the news, she heard of it through a passing mention on the radio. She knew the amount was $27 million. She stated that the settlement didnt affect her view of the criminal case. She is an experienced nurse who lives alone in the first-ring Minneapolis suburb Edina. She expressed ambivalence about being summoned to jury service in this big case. It portends a lot of repercussions. She is concerned about her safety following the trial, but reassured by the security in the courthouse and the anonymity afforded the jurors. It kind of makes her feel better. She is no dummy; she is unsure how comfortable she is with the prospect of her name being out there somewhere down the road. Her juror questionnaire provides a narrative of the facts of the May 25 arrest up to Floyds death that is probably based on television news. She holds neutral opinions of both Floyd and Chauvin. She seemed to think that Chauvin kept his knee on Floyds neck too long knowing he died. She is unsure of the cause of death. She does not distrust the police. Passed for cause by the parties, she is the tenth juror seated in the case. We were then advised by the court that she is a white woman in her 50s. Juror number 90 is a classic Hennepin County juror. He is an IT administrator of firm leftist views with an extremely negative opinion of Chauvin. He is sane enough to fear for his personal safety if he were to sit as a juror and render a verdict of not guilty, but he doesnt need to worry. His views of the police are so hostile that he was excused for cause. This guy could be the grating voice of the Minnesota DFL. His assessment of the safety issues inherent in the case is skewed by lunacy. He is a lunatic living in a left-wing fantasy world. The controlling Minnesota case the Logan case provides that jurors with a clear showing of partiality for police testimony are to be excused for cause. Judge Cahill concisely excused juror number 90 for cause as a reverse Logan. Juror number 91 is also aware of the $27 million wrongful death settlement. An older lady who worked in marketing for a financial company, 25-30 years ago she lived in the neighborhood where the incident occurred. She doesnt return to the neighborhood or even come much to Minneapolis. She said she hasnt been downtown in years. I chalk up her good attitude to avoidance of the city. She enjoys taking care of her family. She has a couple grandchildren. Her son-in-law is a physician. She is excited to have the opportunity to serve as a juror in the case. She was proud to fill out the questionnaire. She seldom watches the news and has only seen the video once, for four or five minutes, before she shut it off. She expressed neutral views of George Floyd and Derek Chauvin. She knows there are two sides to every story. I only know the surface, she said, and thought more information would be helpful before she makes up her mind. She grew up in south Minneapolis, where the incident occurred. She lamented the many stores that were looted and destroyed. She has a relative who is a police officer. She isnt close with him, but she is proud of him for standing up as a police officer. Asked on the questionnaire about her view of Black Lives Matter, her response was: I am black and my life matters. She expressed no view of the organization. I view juror number 91 as a good citizen. Her degree is in child psychology. She occasionally volunteers with a youth organization to help kids with their homework. I have her down as about as good as it gets for the defense. She is the eleventh juror seated. According to the court, she is a black woman in her 60s. At this point the court took an afternoon break. When court convened again following the break, Eric Nelson noted that city officials were publicly holding forth about the settlement of the civil litigation again (video below). He cited Mayor Freys comments yesterday in further support of his change of venue motion. I didnt know at the time and I doubt Nelson did either that the comments of both both Frey and City Attorney Jim Rowader at the press conference, about the settlements lack of impact on the Chauvin case were bald falsehoods, as one reporter had the temerity to point out. Mayor Jacob Frey and City Attorney Jim Rowader attempt to explain why Minneapolis agreed to a $27 million civil settlement with George Floyd's family in the middle of jury selection for Derek Chauvin's trial: pic.twitter.com/8oQnu9fPhh Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) March 18, 2021 Although she stated it had no effect on her view of the case, juror number 92 was also aware of the $27 million settlement. She is family-oriented and loves her work in the business of commercial insurance. She has some concern about what would happen to [her] afterwards if she were to serve as juror. She would be okay with the release of her name at a later date. She has seen a clip of the video. She holds somewhat negative views of both Floyd and Chauvin. The media have painted Chauvin as an aggressive cop with tax problems. She is aware that George Floyds record wasnt clean and that he abused drugs at some point. Her opinion is that the police used excessive force but that Floyd was not completely innocent. By contrast with juror number 91, juror number 92 is not a classic Hennepin County juror. She strongly disagrees with defunding the police. She sees both positive and negative effects to have followed on Floyds death. We need law enforcement, she said. Why? Look at the riots. She was the twelfth juror seated. Juror 95 gets his news from NPR. That was enough for me, but Nelson continued with him. He knows of the settlement. He was shocked by it he didnt expect the civil case to be settled until the criminal cases are concluded. Although he thinks he can still be impartial, the settlement altered his view of the case. It is hard to get out of his mind. At about this point I figured out that he spoke with an Indian accent. Probing his concerns over his own and his familys safety whatever the verdict, Nelson ascertained that he could not focus on the evidence in the case. Those safety concerns would weigh on his mind. Judge Cahill excused him for cause. Schleicher then rose to offer a transcript of Freys press conference and to chide Nelson for citing the press conference without a formal affidavit for the record. This set Judge Cahill off. Setting Schleicher back on his heels, Judge Cahill noted the disparity between the prosecution team and the defense. How many attorneys have been admitted for the prosecution pro hac vice so far, he asked. Ten or 12? Schleicher professed not to know, but added the irrelevant point that Nelsons fees were paid by the police union. That is a surprising lack of professionalism on Schleichers part. Judge Cahill had some harsh words for the prosecution at the end of today's proceedings in the Derek Chauvin trial: pic.twitter.com/KDsHGWx9RA Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) March 18, 2021 I invoked Paul Newmans adversaries in The Verdict to make a point about the disparity between the prosecution and defense teams in part 4 of this series. It was good to see Judge Cahill unload it on Schleicher. The next two jurors selected will serve as alternates. Here is the courts summary of the 12 jurors seated so far: No. 2: white male; 20s No. 9: multi/mixed-race woman; 20s No. 19: white male; 30s No. 27: black male; 30s No. 44: white woman; 50s No. 52: black male; 30s No. 55: white woman; 50s No. 79: black male; 40s No. 85: multi/mixed-race woman; 40s No. 89: white woman; 50s No. 91: black woman; 60s No. 92: white woman; 40s. I should have reported yesterday that the parties agreed to strike prospective jurors 108, 112, 122, 124, and 125 for cause. Thanks to my friends at Alpha News (I sit on the board) for clipping the video in the tweets above. The grim reality of modern American life is that each new mass killing leads to a fevered study of motives and meaning. Was the latest shooter motivated by racism, misogyny, religion, revenge or some combination thereof? Those are not questions that members of a healthy society should routinely be forced to ask or answer. After eight people including six people of Asian descent and seven women were shot to death in Georgia this week, a deputy sheriff chalked the killings up to the suspects confessed sex addiction, adding that yesterday was a really bad day for the alleged shooter. That diagnosis was met with the skepticism it deserved: The same deputy promoted the sale of anti-Asian T-shirts that referred to the coronavirus as an import from Chy-na. Its difficult to disentangle the vile pathologies that lead a man to take so many innocent lives. Its also impossible to ignore the context in which the murders were committed and the impact that the tragedy has had on communities across America. In an analysis of nearly 4,000 hate-related incidents targeting Asian-Americans documented this year and last, nearly 70 percent of the victims were women, according to a report by the group Stop AAPI Hate. New York was the second state behind California in the total number of incidents documented by the group. Among large American cities, The Times reports, New York City had the largest increase in reported hate crimes against Asians last year, according to an analysis of police data by a center at the California State University, San Bernardino. There were 28 such incidents in 2020, up from three in 2019, according to New York Police Department data. BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's daily coronavirus infections on Friday surpassed 10,000, hitting a new record at 10,759, the government said on its COVID-19 information website. The daily death toll also hit a new record at 213 in the central European country of 10 million, while vaccinations continued and reached nearly 1.5 million people as the government races to contain the pandemic and reopen the economy. (Reporting by Anita Komuves and Marton Dunai @mdunai; Editing by Alison Williams) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Hyundai on Thursday offered a sneak peek at the Staria, its first multipurpose vehicle in 22 years. The vehicle comes in two models -- standard and premium -- with seating configurations from seven to 11 seats. In the nine-seat premium model, the second-row seat can swivel 180 degrees to face passengers in the third row. COLUMBIA Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson joined a third complaint in 10 days accusing Democratic President Joe Biden of executive overreach, this time over canceling the Keystone XL Pipeline. Wilson joined 20 GOP state attorneys general in suing Biden on March 18 for stopping the 1,200-mile pipeline from Nebraska to Alberta, Canada, over environmental damage from producing the oil. Power over the pipeline rests with Congress, the state legal leaders say in their federal lawsuit filed in Texas. The attorneys general say Biden's decision made soon after taking office in January will cost an estimated 42,000 jobs and $2 billion in revenue. The pipeline would transport 800,000 barrels of crude oil per day. "The pipeline is a key component of the national economy and national security, but regardless of how you feel about the pipeline, the fact is that the president doesnt have the authority to cancel it because it was authorized by Congress, Wilson said in a statement. I will always fight to defend the Constitutional separation of powers no matter who is in office and President Bidens order is clearly unconstitutional, he continued. Republican President Donald Trump kick-started pipeline work through an executive order in 2017, reversing a decision by Democratic President Barack Obama. This is the third complaint about a Biden policy that Wilson, who is expected to seek a fourth term in 2022 and could eye higher office in the future, has joined in a short span with other Republican state attorneys general. On March 17, Wilson announced he was part of another 21-state, GOP-led complaint against the Biden administration, arguing the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package could prevent states from cutting taxes. White House and congressional leaders did not want the $350 billion sent to states used to cover pandemic-related costs earmarked for tax cuts, rebates or credits. But Wilson and the other attorneys general sent a letter saying the provision could block any state tax reduction measures, even those not using stimulus money. The letter accused the White House of overreach into state authority and threatened legal action if nothing changed. On March 9, Wilson joined 11 other GOP state attorneys general in suing the Biden administration over an executive order putting a "social cost" on greenhouse gas emissions in determining federal regulations. Like with the pipeline, the state legal chiefs said the president crossed into territory that belongs to Congress. Wilson said South Carolinians "could be left in the dust" under the new regulation standards. S.C. Democratic Party Chairman Trav Robertson said Wilson should focus on helping South Carolina expand Medicaid coverage, which will provide a big economic benefit, instead of getting into fights outside the state, he said. "Alan Wilson wants to be governor so bad that he will waste South Carolina tax dollars on frivolous lawsuits that have nothing to with South Carolina," Robertson said. "He's more concerned about what's happening in other states than what's happening in South Carolina." Lesson plans in the wake of Manitobas K-12 education review will have a renewed focus on fundamental reading, writing and math skills to prepare students for a series of new summative standardized tests. Lesson plans in the wake of Manitobas K-12 education review will have a renewed focus on fundamental reading, writing and math skills to prepare students for a series of new summative standardized tests. The province is championing a back-to-the-basics approach, with an emphasis on the "deep implementation" of curriculum and traditional tests to improve student achievement, drawing from the commissions 180-page report. Other curriculum-related changes planned include new frameworks for both K-10 science and "skills, technology and career development" curriculums, an updated French immersion policy, and a review to determine whether phys-ed should be required at the end of high school. The K-12 commissions 75 recommendations which the province has accepted "in spirit and principle" were published this week, alongside implementation strategies laid out in the Education Modernization Act and "Better Education Starts Today" (BEST) action plan. The BEST strategy outlines plans to implement new final assessments in grades 3 or 4, 6 or 7, and 10, which would replace existing provincial tests. School-level data are expected to be collected and then made available to local communities. The Pallister government continuously cites poor international test scores as the reason for much-needed change across the public system, including the replacement of English school boards with regional entities that will report to a provincial education authority. Critics say standardized tests, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), on which Manitoba students ranked second-last of all Canadian provinces in reading and last in math and science in 2018, must be contextualized with rates of child poverty and children in care. "Were dealing with poverty and were dealing with trauma and unless we address those two tracks, regardless of what we do to the train, its still going to be a bumpy and slow ride," said Rex Ferguson-Baird, principal at Brooklands School in northwest Winnipeg. Ferguson-Baird said he doesnt think its fair to compare students who are living with those experiences to those who are not, and assessments should be used to determine where a student is at and next steps for improvement to ensure they are growing in their learning. "Standardized assessments should never be the single source of information to determine the quality of anything; they should be part of a whole suite of information, but inevitably, thats not how theyre used," said Martha Koch, an assistant professor of education at the University of Manitoba. Koch, who researches assessment, said classroom observation, teacher focus groups, and consulting math and literacy specialists are more effective ways to find out how to improve teaching methods and outcomes. Meantime, the chairwoman of mathematics at the University of Winnipeg applauds the provinces focus on standardized tests so educators revisit basic math skills in early years that are built upon later in the K-12 system. Anna Stokke said the reality is students are struggling in math, citing an "extremely alarming" drop of 46 points in Manitoba scores on the PISA tests between 2003 and 2018. "The reason that kids drop out of math is because theyre struggling in it, and theyre often struggling in it because they didnt master a concept that came earlier," said Stokke. The K-12 commission heard from parents concerned about fundamental skills and teachers struggling to get through the curriculum at present factors which underline a recommendation to replace mandatory Grade 11 and 12 physical and health education credits. The commissioners suggest Manitoba create "more rigorous high school credits that include topics, such as financial management, nutrition, entrepreneurialism, employability, parenting, and other life skills." Phys-ed specialist Deondra Twerdun-Peters said, "Our hearts kind of sank," when she and her colleagues at Fort Richmond Collegiate read that line, knowing the class focus has changed in recent years from being sport-centric to holistic wellness. Twerdun-Peters tackles topics including stress management and healthy relationships with senior-years students. "Healthy students are better learners, so if we take away that health and that wellness piece, what are we leaving our students with? How are they going to navigate the rigours of the classroom, academically, socially and emotionally?" she said. The province has committed to reviewing the requirements and curriculum, per the commission. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie The first case of a human infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19, may have occurred in China's Hubei province as early as October 7, 2019. Only in mid-December, two months later, were the first cases officially described in Wuhan at the now notorious Huanan wet market. Fresh analysis of the virus' spread and its 'molecular clock' revealed it was most likely already established in Wuhan by this point and had been circulating in Hubei at low levels in early-November 2019, and possibly as early as mid-October. Scroll down for video The first case of a human infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19, may have occurred in China's Hubei province as early as October 7, 2019 But due to the novel symptoms of Covid-19 and an initially small number of infections, it was hard to identify the pathogen. As a result, the virus only came to the attention of the authorities when a cluster of mysterious symptoms linked to the Huanan Seafood Market were seen in December. This led to the now-discredited theory that the wet market, where a wide variety of animals are sold both alive and dead, was where the pandemic originated. Dr Jonathan Pekar from the University of California San Diego conducted a mathematical study to determine when and where it actually emerged. 'In our primary analysis, we assume that November 17 [thick dotted line] represents the first documented case of Covid-19,' the researchers write in their study, published in Science . They conducted further analysis under this assumption Researchers believe the November 17 date [dashed line] was the first infection of the SARS-CoV-2 strain which went on to spread around the world. But a weaker version likely existed beforehand and it is this which first jumped from animals too humans. They believe this trans-species infection could have occurred as early as October 7 (start of pink slope) Wuhan lab theory is ABANDONED by joint WHO-Beijing team The theory that Covid-19 leaked from a Wuhan lab has been abandoned by WHO experts investigating the origins of the pandemic, a Chinese scientist says. The joint WHO-Beijing panel is due to issue its politically sensitive report next week following a visit to Wuhan in January and February which raised further questions about China's transparency. The WHO says the report is not yet finished, but Liang Wannian, the head of the Chinese wing of the panel, told state media that the lab-leak theory had been deemed 'extremely unlikely' and would not be investigated further. 'Future virus origins-tracing missions will no longer be focused on this area, unless there is new evidence,' said Liang. He added that the findings were the 'consensus' of WHO and Chinese scientists - denying that the report was delayed because of disagreements between experts. The highly-anticipated report is due to examine a range of theories about how the virus first jumped from animals to humans - with bats among the prime suspects. But Washington and others have touted theories that the outbreak was not caused by nature but by a leak or accident at a secretive Wuhan virology lab. Advertisement His team analysed 583 early virus samples from Hubei to find their latest common ancestor from which they all descended. They found they dated back to around December 9. But reports of an unusual pneumonia-like condition were being reported in Chinese media before this date. As a result of this, the researchers say the only logical explanation is that the first form of the virus which jumped from an animal into a human was a weak strain which quickly went extinct. But before it fizzled out, the researchers speculate it mutated to become more potent and this variant then spread throughout Wuhan and later the world. 'In our primary analysis, we assume that November 17 represents the first documented case of Covid-19,' the researchers write in their study, published in Science. They conducted further analysis under this assumption using a computer model. When accounting for a lag in transmission, detection and symptoms developing, the first case of Covid-19 infection occurred in Hubei on or around November 4, 2019, the researchers calculate. However, this figure could be as early as October 7, the researchers add. The researchers struggled to pinpoint a geographical location for the viruses origin, but say if the initial strain which was weaker than the Wuhan variant and all subsequent mutations emerged in a rural location, it would have had to migrate to an urban location to survive. 'The lack of reports of Covid-19 elsewhere in China in November and early-December suggests Hubei province is the location where human-to-human transmission chains were established,' the researchers write. The researchers add that their findings do not shed light on if the first case caught the virus directly from bats or via an intermediate host, but does 'further distance' the first case from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. BRIGHTON, MI -- Equestrian apparel and horse-care items are taking over a space in a Brighton shopping center this spring. Massachusetts-based Dover Saddlery is opening a 6,000-square-foot store in Green Oak Village Place, 9700 Village Place Blvd., to provide a variety of equestrian products like clothing, saddles, horse health products, blankets and other stable items. The store is filling the former Rally House space. Company representatives did not provide an opening date. The new Dover Saddlery store is ideally located to offer the finest selection of English riding apparel, tack and horse care from all the leading equestrian brands to the Brighton area, Ken Cavanaugh, vice president of retail, said in a statement. Our presence at Green Oak Village Place will support customers throughout the greater Livingston County area and beyond, which weve identified as rich market for our product lines. This store, like all Dover Saddlery stores, will offer in-store tall boot, helmet and show coat fittings, according to the statement. The Brighton store is the companys first store in Michigan, offering more than 30,000 products in store, by catalog or online, according to a news release. Jim and David Powers founded the store in 1975. They were members of the United States Equestrian Team Foundation and wanted to provide New England-area riders a saddlery shop, according to the company website. They eventually expanded their stores across 22 states. Green Oak Village Place has more than 40 stores, including clothing, jewelry, shoes, beauty and cosmetics, sporting goods and specialty shops. We are pleased to continue a trajectory of growth in our neighborhood town center with the emergence of an iconic 45-year-old industry leading brand like Dover Saddlery, Sean Valentino, Green Oak Village Place director of retail operations, said in a news release. Dover Saddlery brings a very unique line of products that further solidifies Green Oak Village Place as a destination shopping experience complete with common, and niche goods and services for the Brighton community and beyond. More from MLive Bring Your Own Container store coming to downtown Ann Arbor Magic mushroom delivery service advertising in Ann Arbor raises legal questions, officials say Ann Arbor approves 25,000 square-foot west side retail development A 102-year-old World War II veteran was killed in his California home on Thursday, according to his family. Jason Shakib told KTLA that his grandfather Youssef Mahboubianfard was found stabbed to death in his garage in Encino. Police reported Mahboubianfards age as 100. I had no idea there was a guy with a machete running around killing people, Shakib said. He came to this country from Iran decades and decades ago and theyve been living peacefully at Alonzo Place for 30 years. Los Angeles police said that Adam Dimmerman, 47, was arrested on charges of murder and assault with a deadly weapon. His bail was set at $2 million, officials said. Police said officers responded to a report on Thursday morning of an assault on Coronet Drive in Encino and took Dimmerman into custody. An axe and knife were discovered at the scene and the victim had minor injuries that didnt need treatment, police said. According to authorities, officers then responded to a report on Alonzo Place around 12:50 p.m. and found an elderly man with numerous contusions and lacerations inside his residence. Mahboubianfard was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. Det. Steve Castro told the Los Angeles Times that Mahboubianfard was bludgeoned to death and his injuries were consistent with those inflicted by the same blunt weapon used on Coronet Drive. Castro said detectives are confident that Dimmerman committed both crimes and probably killed Mahboubianfard before attacking the second victim, according to the publication. Detectives havent determined a motive and Dimmerman doesnt appear to have ties to Mahboubianfard or the other victim, Castro said. Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Rain showers in the morning with numerous thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. Storms could contain damaging winds. High 78F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-20 06:29:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close QUITO, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador's National Electoral Council (CNE) on Friday said it defined the ballot for an April 11 presidential runoff between progressive candidate Andres Arauz and his conservative rival Guillermo Lasso. Arauz, of the left-leaning Union for Hope (Unes) alliance backed by ex-president Rafael Correa, and Lasso, a former banker and three-time presidential hopeful, won the first round with 32.72 percent and 19.74 percent of the votes, respectively. The plenary session of the CNE will meet Saturday to declare the definitive results of the Feb. 7 first round, after the Electoral Court of Contention (TCE) on March 14 ruled against indigenous presidential candidate Yaku Perez, who claimed his third-place finish was the result of fraud. Arauz and Lasso will face off in a nationally televised debate Sunday. Both candidates are campaigning around the country in an attempt to win over the dispersed voters who voted for some 14 other candidates participating in the first round. Enditem The Beijing-appointed Panchen Lama greets delegates at a meeting of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference in a file photo. Tibets Beijing-appointed Panchen Lama in a speech this month slammed what he called foreign interference in Tibetan affairs, saying that anti-China forces care nothing for the Tibetan people and only raise issues of religious freedom in order to hinder Chinas development. Speaking on March 11 at a meeting of the Chinese Peoples Consultative Conference, Panchen Gyaltsen (Chinese, Gyaincain) Norbu, a member of the CPCC Standing Committee, said that Foreign anti-China forces have been hyping Tibet issues and religious issues in China, and transforming the topics into political bargaining chips. As long as a person has sanity and an objective stance, he would see the truth very clearly, Norbu said in remarks quoted by Chinas official Global Times, which noted that the U.S. State Department in a statement the day before had said that China shouldnt interfere with the succession process of [exiled Tibetan spiritual leader] the Dalai Lama. The comments by the Panchen Gyaltsen Norbu, who is widely regarded by Tibetans as a puppet of Beijing, drew a sharp rebuke this week from Tenzin Tsetan, an analyst at the Dharamsala, India-based Tibet Policy Institute. The Tibet Policy and Support Act signed into law by the U.S. government imposes sanctions on Chinese Communist Party officials if they interfere with the reincarnation process of Tibetan religious leaders, Tsetan said, referring to legislation passed in the U.S. Congress in December and signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump. I think the Chinese government is manipulating [this issue] by using their own appointed Panchen Lama to assert their [own] claims, Tsetan added. The Tibet Policy and Support Act 2020 establishes as U.S. policy that the selection of Tibetan religious leaders, including future successors to exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, is a decision to be made only by Tibetans, free from Chinese government interference. Concerns over the advancing age of the Dalai Lama, now 85, have renewed uncertainties in recent years over his possible successor after he dies, with Beijing claiming the right to name his successor and the Dalai Lama himself saying that any future Dalai Lama will be born outside of China. 'Can't really judge' In supporting Chinas policies, Gyaltsen Norbu may be speaking under coercion, though, says London-based Tibet expert Robbie Barnett, formerly director of the Modern Tibetan Studies program at Columbia University. We cant really judge anyone, especially not a Tibetan in China, by what they say publicly. Chinese officials have always praised the Communist Party, and its difficult to know whether those words of appreciation are genuine or not, Barnett said. It may also be that these officials are being coerced into praising the Communist Party, he said. Since Chinese President Xi Jinping assumed power [in 2013], the crackdown and policies aimed at destroying Tibetan religion, culture, and identity have intensified more than ever, said Karma Choeyingspokesperson for the Dharamsala, India-based Tibetan government in exile, the Central Tibetan Administration. Tibetans inside Tibet have and will continue to resist Chinas widespread brutality, and Tibetans in exile must always remain vigilant and be aware of the [Chinese Communist Partys] intentions, Choeying said. Tibetans remain bitter about Chinese intervention in the selection 25 years ago of the current 11th Panchen Lama, whose predecessor died in 1989. The recognition in 1995 by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama of six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the Panchen Lama angered Chinese authorities, who three days later took the boy and his family into custody and then installed Gyaltsen Norbu as their own candidate in his place. The Panchen Lama installed by Beijing remains unpopular with Tibetans both in exile and at home. Reported by Lobsang Gelek for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Type address separated by commas Your Email: In early 2021 there was an ominous setback for Iran. For the first time, a European (Austrian) court convicted an Iranian diplomat, Assadolah Assadi, of terrorism for his role in organizing the murder of Iranian dissident exiles in France. The weapon to be used was a bomb, which would have caused many deaths, including French bystanders. After his July 2018 arrest in Germany, Assadi claimed he had diplomatic immunity even though he had recruited three Iranian expatriates, who had become Belgian citizens, to carry out the planned Paris killings. The court pointed out that diplomatic immunity does not apply to criminal acts. After a trial Assadi was convicted of attempted murder and terrorism and sentenced to 26 years imprisonment. His three Iranian Belgian recruits got 18 years each and lost their Belgian citizenship. The trial was embarrassing for Iran because it brought out so many details of Iranian misbehavior, especially while using their diplomats in Europe. The Assadi case was one of a number of setbacks Iran has suffered in Europe lately. Iran had promised, several times since the 1980s, to halt such violence against Iranians who had fled to Europe. In most of Europe Iran has run out of second chances. This reckless Iranian diplomatic in Europe is driven by political struggles back in Iran. During 2018 the radical faction of the Iranian religious dictatorship (in power since the 1980s) managed to regain some of the powers they lost in the 1990s by making a mess of their overseas activities. Back then an Israeli assassination campaign against Iranian agents in South America and the exposure of Iranian illegal activities in South America, Europe and elsewhere became a diplomatic liability. The Iranian radicals, largely from the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) were forced out of many high government jobs in order to make peace with European nations and achieve a ceasefire in the clandestine war the IRGC had been waging against Israel (and Jews worldwide) for nearly a decade. The more moderate members of the religious dictatorship also feared that the IRGC radicals would trigger another ruinous war which, given the decade long war with Iraq in the 1980s the country could not afford. For most Iranians, the 1980s war was a defeat for them, at least by Iranian standards. The IRGC had been created to protect the religious dictatorship, not put it in more danger. No IRGC men were punished for 1990s overseas wet work (assassinations) since the religious dictatorship still needed its own separate army to protect the 1980s religious revolution that mobilized the country to halt the Iraqi invasion. In 2018 it meant the IRGC Quds Force was again looking for prospective recruits among the pro-Iran foreigners as well as terrorizing Iranian exiles who were the most vocal and effective in their criticism of the Iranian government and its IRGC assassins. The Quds Force was allowed to do whatever was necessary to silence the outspoken Iranian exiles. This was especially important in light of the many defeats Iran has suffered since the 1990s because of Mossad (the Israeli intel agency) and, to a lesser extent, American intel agencies. Israel and Iran have, since the 1980s, been trying to infiltrate each other with spies, assassins and saboteurs. Israel has been very successful while Iranian efforts have largely failed. The main reason for this is the large number of Iranian Jews who fled Iran since the 1980s and brought their cultural awareness and language skills with them. There were very few Israelis willing to defect to Iran and help spy against Israel. In addition to their cultural knowledge and language skills the Iranian Jews brought with them links to Iranian Moslems back in Iran who were opposed to their religious dictatorship and willing to work against the Iranian government, often without necessarily knowing they were working for Israel. The U.S. was another matter because Americans had less personal experience with Iranian terrorism and violence. All those Iranian Jews brought first-hand accounts of what the Iranian religious dictatorship was really like. Many Americans have become fans of radical, anti-American politics and were more tolerant of misbehaving Moslems. There was another problem. While the Israelis had access to Iranian Jewism immigrants, Iran had the loyalty of an even larger pool of Arab Shia in the Middle East, Europe and Sunni and Shia Arab citizens of Israel. The Israeli Arab pool yields few promising recruits and most who do sign up end up in Israeli prisons, or a morgue somewhere. These are small victories for Iran and they make the most of it in their propaganda. Using these foreign assets had risks. For example, in 2013 an Iranian expatriate in Belgium was arrested for trying, at the behest of Quds, to set up an espionage and sabotage network in Israel. Quds offered the guy a million dollars if he could help plan and carry out terror attacks inside Israel. This spy was arrested and insisted that he was the victim of an Iranian extortion scheme to force him to spy. Whatever the case, Quds had failed again. What was interesting this time was that the arrested man had a brother who worked for Iranian intelligence and helped arrange for Quds Force to meet and recruit his brother in Belgium. Despite many precautions, undertaken on the advice of his Quds Force handlers, the newly recruited spy was detected by Israeli counterintelligence and was observed taking photos of the main airport in Israel, the American embassy in Israel and at least one intelligence facility. Arrested in September 2013 while trying to leave Israel, the Belgian-Iranian spy eventually, after prolonged interrogation, provided many details of his work for Quds Force. Iranian efforts like this have been going on for most of the last decade. For example, back in 2007 Israel revealed an Iranian effort to recruit Israelis of Iranian origin to spy on Israel. Up until then, Israel had detected at least ten Iranian attempts to recruit Israelis as spies. This was possible because, although Iran wants Israel destroyed, Iran still allowed Israelis of Iranian origin to return and visit family. There are still about 8,000 Jews in Iran and nearly 150,000 Israelis of Iranian origin. Since 1948 most Jewish Iranians have left Iran, most for Israel. Each year there are still some Israelis returning to Iran to visit family or old friends. The classic method of recruitment used by the Iranians was to threaten kin in Iran with harm (imprisonment, torture, death) if the Iranian Jew who was now an Israeli did not supply information. Some of these Israelis reported the Iranian recruiting attempt to the Israeli government and that led to a more and more vigorous Israeli counterintelligence efforts against Iranian attempts to set up espionage and terror operations inside Israel. Iranian Israelis continue visiting Iran, although it's common knowledge that Iran is not a hospitable place for Jews, Israelis or Westerners in general. Israelis usually go to the nearest Iranian embassy (usually Turkey) to take care of the paperwork. While applying for an Iranian passport, they are questioned on what they do for a living, and what they did while in the Israeli armed forces. Some Israelis have reported this to their government, and the Iranian espionage situation has been watched carefully for some time. Because of this Israeli scrutiny, Iran is now going after the many Iranians who have fled to the West during the last few decades. Using threats or offers of money to recruit them as intelligence operatives is not easy. Iran seeks out expatriate Iranians who have been successful legitimate international businessmen as this allows them to travel a lot without alerting Israeli counterintelligence. These Iranians usually know all about the Quds Force activities against them. The Internet has been a very popular way for all expatriate Iranians to stay in touch and share information about opportunities, and new dangers. Quds operatives are always offering both to Iranians outside of Iran. Israel has been doing the same thing and has apparently been more successful at setting up espionage and sabotage operations in Iran. This has annoyed the Iranians a great deal, as has the Israeli skill at foiling Iranian intel and terror operations against Israel. This is a war that is far from over. The Iranian religious dictatorship and their Quds Force agents are poor losers and keep trying, no matter what the cost to Iran or anyone else. Peoples Car: Industrial India and the Riddles of Populism by Sarasij Majumder, Orient BlackSwan, 2019; pp xii + 198, Rs 695 hardcover. This book provides an ethnographic analysis of the agitation that accompanied the acquisition of 997 acres of land, fragmented among about 12,000 owners, by the Government of West Bengal in Singur, near Kolkata, during 200608. The government acquired the land to facilitate the construction of a factory by Tata Motors, intended to produce its Nano model, along with ancillary units. Soon after, a section of the local farmers, supported and mobilised by the opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC), various far-left groups, and urban activists of diverse persuasions, began an agitation against land acquisition. This eventually led to the company relocating to Sanand in Gujarat, and contributed in no small measure to the defeat of the Left Front in the state assembly elections of 2011. Based on extensive field visits over a decade, Sarasij Majumder offers an insightful diagnosis, and critique, of the many ambiguities, silences, misrepresentations and contradictions inherent in the articulations of the local participants in the anti-acquisition movement, as well as their urban activist supporters. Incommensurability Cul-de-sac This story has been updated to include comments from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. The Texas rent relief program has only made three payments despite being online for over a month, according to a video shared with the Houston Chronicle. Weve paid three payments which is better than none but is way too few, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs director Brooke Boston said on a Friday Zoom call. We had some major system issues happen and so its really only been maybe, like, 14 days that weve been fully in our new system. Bostons remarks came as part of a Zoom webinar run by the Department of the Treasury for agencies administering the Emergency Rental Assistance Program to share best practices and find resources. This is a $1 billion rental assistance program that the State of Texas is standing up completely from scratch. While the funding will be extremely helpful to many thousands of Texans, it did not come with program guidelines or mechanisms for delivery, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs spokesperson Kristina Tirloni said in an email. The Texas rent relief program opened Feb. 15. Tenants and landlords quickly complained about the programs accessibility. Among the top issues: The website would not allow applicants to enter their phone numbers, no one answered the phone number provided and people could not check their application status. After a slew of complaints, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs took down the website and put a new one back up in the hopes of smoothing the process. While the website was also improved, the system upgrade referenced on the webinar was the back-end application software system, Tirloni wrote in an email. Upgrades to the system were unsuccessful, so a new system was procured by the vendor to provide the necessary program functions. Boston referenced the new system in the Friday call. We actually had to switch out systems partway through, Boston said on the Friday call. On average from time of receipt to time we get somebody through and approved in the queue for payment right now might be, lets say, a month, but a week from now that may be 2 weeks. I dont want to paint my average as a trend yet. After the state switched programs, Tirloni said, the vendor upped their staff to 400 people and is temporarily redeploying about 75 percent of its staff to focus specifically on assisting applicants. Most applications are currently missing information or documentation necessary to qualify applicants for federal funds, she said. We are reviewing all applications and helping applicants provide the documentation necessary to qualify for federal assistance. The Houston-Harris rental assistance program, which is separate from the state program, has so far paid or pledged $10.8 million to 3,190 applicants. The city-county program launched the week of Feb. 22. It is important to note that this is not an issue limited to Texas, Tirloni said. Because there are not previous programs from which to model this new rental assistance program, many states are similarly creating systems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its guidelines for schools Friday, saying three feet of distance between students is sufficient for all elementary and most middle and high schools, a change that lays the groundwork for many districts to reopen full-time for in-person classes. The announcement came as the CDC published new research that found limited coronavirus transmission in schools that require masks but not always six feet of distance, which had been the standard. That was true even in areas with high community spread of the virus. Teachers unions opposed the change, and local unions may resist efforts to bring large numbers of students back into school buildings at one time. Many big districts have just recently begun to reopen for part-time, in-person school, and often after tense negotiations with teachers. Nonetheless, the new guidelines represent a significant reversal from CDC guidance issued last month that schools maintain six feet of distance between people. To achieve that, the CDC said, schools in most of the country should hold off on fully reopening. That put the CDC at odds with President Joe Biden, who has called on schools to fully reopen. The February recommendation also came under fire from many experts as overly cautious, particularly as more evidence emerged that schools were safely operating with people closer to one another. Nonetheless, with the guidance in place, many districts adopted hybrid systems, where students are in school buildings part of the time and learning from home the rest. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Friday that new evidence prompted the change. "CDC is committed to leading with science and updating our guidance as new evidence emerges," she said in a statement. "These updated recommendations provide the evidence-based roadmap to help schools reopen safely, and remain open, for in-person instruction." Until recently, the debate over distancing in schools has been complicated by a lack of research directly comparing the risks of various distances between people. Most researchers say the research behind the six-foot parameter is outdated, but they also agree that more distance is better. A growing number of scientists have called for smaller distances in schools, saying the risk must be weighed against growing examples of safe reopening and mounting evidence of mental health and academic harms to students who have been learning remotely for more than a year. "Look, 100 feet is safer than six feet, which is safer than three feet," former CDC director Tom Frieden said during a Washington Post Live interview this week. "Is three feet okay for most schools? Absolutely, if they mask, if they rapidly identify cases and isolate and quarantine." That case was bolstered last week with a study, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, that found similar rates of spread in Massachusetts school districts that used a three-feet minimum and those that used six. Friday's change comes after some state and local officials dropped the six-foot recommendation on their own. This week, for instance, Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia said it would open four days a week in April, a change made possible by reducing the required distance from six to three feet. Others said the new rules would speed a return to more normal school. "Like everyone else, we're waiting for the CDC to change its social distancing guidelines so we can go to three feet," said Roberto Padilla, superintendent of the Newburgh, N.Y., city schools. He said he hopes to ramp up from a hybrid system to full-time this spring. New York City schools welcomed the news and said on Twitter that it would allow the district to "bring even more students back into buildings!" The district said it would offer a new opt-in opportunity for families next week. In Philadelphia, Superintendent William Hite also hopes the recommendations will help ramp up in-person teaching, but the district has a long way to go. Currently, an agreement with the teachers union allows only for children in pre-K through second grade in buildings, and only part-time. "We're going to quickly pivot to reanalyzing distancing for the classrooms and schools so that we can open those rooms and schools to more children," Hite said Friday. But the change is opposed by the country's two large teachers unions, and it's far from clear that teachers will go along. Ahead of the announcement, the unions argued that there is scant research about the impact of closer contact in urban schools, where buildings are older and classrooms more crowded. "We are concerned that the CDC has changed one of the basic rules for how to ensure school safety without demonstrating certainty that the change is justified by the science," said Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association. The CDC said Friday that most of the school-based infections have been among adults, or between students and staff. Therefore, it recommended six feet of distance between students and their teachers and among teachers and staff. But the agency said the rules can be relaxed for student-to-student interactions. For elementary schools, it said, three feet of distance among students is sufficient no matter what the infection rates are in the surrounding community. Young children are much less likely to have severe cases of covid-19, and some research suggests they spread the coronavirus less efficiently than adolescents and teens. The recommendations are more complex for middle and high schools and depend on which of four levels of community transmission are present in the surrounding area. At the three lowest levels, the CDC says three feet of distance is sufficient for all schools. But at the highest tier, the agency recommends six feet - meaning schools would probably have to rotate students in a hybrid system. As of Sunday, CDC data showed that 40 percent of U.S. counties were in that highest tier, defined as a seven-day average of 100 or more daily cases per 100,000 people. The agency says that even then, secondary schools can drop the standard to three feet, but only if they are able to keep students in cohorts, which limit interactions to a small group. That is difficult to do in middle and high school, where students typically break into different groups depending on the course. This nuance is helpful, said Joseph Allen, an associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He said the guidance and the studies published now make clear that in-school infections can be avoided with proper measures in place. "Even with high community spread, you can control within-building transmission," he said. The guidance also made a range of other changes that Allen praised, including a greater emphasis on ventilation and the removal of a recommendation to use Plexiglas and other physical barriers, the use of which he said is not supported by evidence. The CDC published three new studies Friday that appeared to augment the evidence that schools can operate safely, even where community spread is high, as long as masking and other measures are used. One, carried out in an urban district of Salt Lake County, Utah, examined transmission in 20 elementary schools over a six-week period in December and January. Mask use among more than 10,000 students and 1,200 staff members was high, and students were grouped in classroom cohorts. The median distance between the children was three feet, the study said. Fifty-one index, or primary, coronavirus cases were identified, and unlike in previous studies of school-based transmission, the researchers tested all 735 people determined to be close school contacts of the initial 51 - an important step in finding asymptomatic cases that can still transmit the virus. Researchers identified just five cases of in-school transmission, which, they wrote, "strengthens the evidence for low elementary transmission." The results, the authors concluded, suggest that even when students are spaced less than six feet apart, "schools in high-incidence communities can still limit in-school transmission by consistently using masks and implementing other important mitigation strategies." A second study looked at in-school transmission over two December weeks in 55 K-12 schools in Saint Louis County and Springfield, Mo. Nearly all the schools implemented multiple mitigation measures: masking, ventilation upgrades and handwashing stations. But spacing between students varied, with many schools using a minimum of three feet. Although community spread was high during the period - more than 700 daily cases per 100,000 people - researchers identified no school outbreaks and just two cases of in-school spread. The third CDC study focused on coronavirus cases over four months among school-aged children in Florida, which reopened the majority of schools in August even as most other states kept them closed. It found that youth cases were correlated with rates in the community and that school reopening did not appear to fuel the kinds of spread observed in some group residences or high-density workplaces. The paper did not address distance between students, but it found that case rates were higher in districts where masks were not required. OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will continue to hold Iran to account after its military shot down a passenger jet in January 2020. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives to hold a press conference in Ottawa on Friday, March 19, 2021. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will continue to hold Iran to account after its military shot down a passenger jet in January 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will continue to hold Iran to account after its military shot down a passenger jet in January 2020. "First and foremost, we will continue to be there to support the families and fulfil our promise to find out exactly what went wrong, how this terrible tragedy could happen and ensure that Iran wields full responsibility for its role in the loss of so many lives," Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on Friday. A day earlier, Canada's air-safety investigator said Iranian officials failed to provide evidence that Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by mistake, leaving key questions unanswered as Iran's military effectively investigated itself. The regime's civil aviation body released a final report this week that blamed "human error" for two surface-to-air missiles fired at the jetliner minutes after takeoff from Tehran on Jan. 8 last year. The Canadian government has rejected the report outright, describing it as "incomplete" and devoid of "hard facts or evidence" on the factors that led to the death of 176 people on board, including 55 Canadian citizens, 30 permanent residents and dozens of others with ties to Canada. The disaster unfolded hours after Iran launched missiles into Iraq at two American military bases in retaliation for the U.S. having killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani near the Baghdad airport by order of then-U.S. president Donald Trump. A group representing the families is demanding Canada impose sanctions against Iran's Revolutionary Guard to pry out more information on the shootdown. They also want Canada to take the Iranian regime to the International Court of Justice if talks stretch beyond three months. Trudeau said Friday he will work with international partners to demand justice and transparency on behalf of Canadian families. Britain, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Sweden also lost citizens when the plane was destroyed, and the countries formed a coalition with Canada to deal with Iran, demanding reparations and a more transparent report. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2021. James Gunn has confirmed that he will not be bringing Yondu back to life in the third Guardians Of The Galaxy film. The director, 54, revealed to fans via Twitter on Thursday that he did not want the character to come back from the dead like other Marvel characters because his 'death means something to people'. Yondu, played by Michael Rooker, died in the second Guardians of the Galaxy film while saving Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) during an act of heroism. Final decision: Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn confirmed on Thursday Yondu WON'T return like other Marvel characters because his 'death means something to people' Despite the fact Marvel characters like Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) have both managed to come back unscathed after appearing to be dead, it seems Yondu will have no such luck. Answering fan questions, James confirmed: 'As Ive said before, Yondu is dead & will stay dead as long as Im involved with the Guardians. His death means something to people & Im not about to diminish that.' James also discussed fan-favourite character Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), saying the current iteration of the character was not the same as the one that appeared in the first Guardians Of The Galaxy film. Referring to how Groot sacrificed himself in the first film, James wrote: 'Yes, OG Groot is also dead & will stay dead, sorry. The current Groot is his spawn.' Gone: Yondu, played by Michael Rooker (pictured), died in the second Guardians of the Galaxy film while saving Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) during an act of heroism Thoughts: Answering fan questions, James confirmed: 'As Ive said before, Yondu is dead & will stay dead as long as Im involved with the Guardians' Better this year: Despite characters like Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) returning from the dead, James said Yondu's death 'means something to people' James was also asked if the new iteration of Groot was a 'son' or 'clone' or 'brother', but rather than give a clear answer the director said: 'Hes one of those.' He was then asked if Groot had kept all his memories from the past, and James simply said: 'No. I always wonder why this isnt obvious. 'Original Groot would know what a death button was. He wouldnt sleep on Draxs shoulder. He wouldnt cry when Rocket was being attacked by Ravagers.' Different: James also discussed fan-favourite character Groot, saying the current iteration of the character was not the same as the one from the first Guardians Of The Galaxy film Different: Groot (R) sacrificed himself in the first film and came back as a sapling, when a fan asked if he was a 'son' or 'clone' or 'brother' of the original James said he was 'one of those' Last month, Guardians of the Galaxy stars Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista were seen filming in Sydney for Thor: Love And Thunder. Hemsworth portrays Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), while Pratt is reprising his role as Peter Quill or Star-Lord, previously seen in the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers films. Other actors were seen wandering around the set including Sean Gunn dressed in a purple spacesuit, returning to his Guardians of the Galaxy role of Kraglin Obfonteri. In the forthcoming Thor instalment, Natalie Portman is back as Jane Foster, and will also pick up the hammer and become the Goddess of Thunder. Waititi has explained that the new film will be based on an existing comic book storyline where Portman's character of Dr Jane Foster takes up the powers and hammer of Thor after he is stripped of his abilities. Natalie was absent for 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, but was a key player in the first two Thor films in 2011 and 2013. Rhett Hutchence has spoken about his traumatic childhood growing up alongside his rockstar brother, Michael. In a teaser for the SBS show, Insight - Favourite Child, the 59-year-old artist said he was the less favoured child, which left him with 'abandonment and rejection' issues. Rhett said their mother, Patricia, had always favoured the late INXS frontman because he was the less problematic one. Confessions: Rhett Hutchence (right) has spoken about his traumatic childhood growing up alongside his rockstar brother, Michael Hutchence (left) 'When you've got a child who's a bit more of a rebel and a bit more, you know, causing more problems and things like that, I guess you have one because they're liked a bit more and will be easier to handle,' he said. Rhett recounted returning home from school one day with Michael, only to find Patricia waiting in the driveway with two plane tickets. She told the brothers that one ticket was for her, while the other one was for Michael, and then instructed him to go inside to pack a bag. Past pain: In a teaser for the SBS show, Insight - Favourite Child, the 59-year-old artist said he was the less favoured child, which left him with 'abandonment and rejection' issues After landing a job in Los Angeles as a makeup artist, Patricia relocated to the US with Michael for 18 months, leaving Rhett at home with a revolving roster of nannies. Rhett was just 12 years old at the time, and confessed he spent a lot of time thinking he wasn't good enough and wondering why Michael had gone with her. He said his mother would try to 'compensate' by sending him gifts from the US every month, but the 'damage was already done'. Playing favourites: Rhett said their mother, Patricia (left), had always favoured the late INXS frontman because he was the less problematic child 'I mean, I took it fairly hard, I took another path. My life took another path due to that. I think due to abandonment and rejection,' he said. As a teenager, Rhett fell into hard drugs, before finally entering rehab in 1992, where he 'dealt with those matters of abandonment and rejection the first time'. 'Up until then it was causing me grief or it was a reason I got to where I got, and then after that, being able to talk to them and having some clarity in my life, being able to speak with both parents about the issues, coming to terms with that, I slowly grew out of things,' he said. Confession: 'I mean, I took it fairly hard, I took another path. My life took another path due to that. I think due to abandonment and rejection,' he said He added: 'I was searching for clarity for a long time and I finally got it, and quite happy with it now.' Rhett, who is two years younger than Michael, has previously spoken about the impact Patricia and Michael leaving had on his life. In an interview with New Idea magazine in November 2019, Rhett said their move led him onto 'a pretty dark path'. Rebel: 'When you've got a child who's a bit more of a rebel and a bit more, you know, causing more problems and things like that, I guess you have one because they're liked a bit more and will be easier to handle,' said Rhett. Pictured, Michael as a child According to Rhett, he always believed Patricia and Michael's move to the US had been a last minute 'surprise'. It wasn't until he watched the documentary about his brother, Mystify, that he discovered the move had been secretly in the works for months. 'I only found out through watching the film that Michael had known about [the trip to America] for a few months before going, and it was a secret between him and mum that I never knew about,' he said. Left behind: Rhett recounted returning home from school one day with his brother, only to find Patricia waiting in the driveway with two plane tickets for her and Michael He added: 'I'm glad I wasn't aware of that while Michael was alive.' Michael was found dead by suicide in his Sydney hotel room in November 1997 at the age of 37. Insight - Favourite Child airs on SBS on Tuesday at 8.30pm. Johnny Depps lawyers have accused his ex-wife Amber Heard of a calculated and manipulative lie after she claimed she gave her $7 million (5.5 million) divorce settlement to charity. The Pirates of the Caribbean star is attempting to overturn a damning High Court ruling that he assaulted Ms Heard multiple times and put her in fear for her life. He is also asking the Court of Appeal to order a retrial of his libel claim against The Sun, which in April 2018 published a column calling Mr Depp a wife beater. Mr Justice Nicol ruled in July last year that Mr Depp, 57, assaulted his ex-wife on a dozen occasions and put her in fear for her life three times. The judge found that The Sun column was substantially true. But Mr Depp claims he did not receive a fair trial and is applying for permission to appeal against the ruling at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Thursday. Read more: Andrew Caldecott QC, representing Mr Depp, applied for permission to rely on fresh evidence that Ms Heard did not donate her divorce settlement to charity as she claimed she would. After the couple divorced in 2016, Ms Heard said she would divide the settlement money between the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). But Mr Caldecott said the hospital wrote to Mr Depps business adviser in 2019 to say Ms Heard had not made any payments. The court heard she gave just $100,000 (72,000) to the hospital and $450,000 (322,000) to the ACLU. Ms Heard claimed she made a further $500,000 (358,000) donation to the second charity anonymously. In written submissions, Mr Caldecott said the pledges strengthened Ms Heards credit in an exceptional way but added that they were a calculated and manipulative lie, designed to achieve a potent favourable impression from the outset. In November, Mr Justice Nicol rejected Mr Depps contention that Ms Heard was a gold-digger, saying in his ruling: Her donation of the $7 million to charity is hardly the act one would expect of a gold-digger. Mr Caldecott argued that the if the truth about the charity claim emerged at the trial, it would have materially affected Mr Justice Nicols consideration of Ms Heards evidence as a whole. He said: The evidence presented a wholly exceptional act of philanthropy, which would have deeply impressed any reasonable person. Her public statements expressly stated that the ACLU donation had victims of domestic violence specifically in mind. The subliminal message of the charity claim was in any event clear: Ms Heard would not wish to keep any of Mr Depps money, because he had subjected her to serious violence. The evidence presented, and was obviously intended to present, her in the strongest terms as both virtuous and a victim. Mr Caldecott said Mr Depp had his suspicions about Ms Heards evidence at the time of the trial, but he had no evidence to support them. The barrister added: Ms Heard took every available step to suppress the evidence. Adam Wolanski QC, representing The Suns publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN), said in written submissions that Mr Depps fresh evidence was said to support a theory that Ms Heard was a gold-digger. But, he said, the evidence is not fresh at all, since it could have been obtained with reasonable diligence for (the) trial. Mr Wolanski added: The fresh evidence - which the respondents accept is apparently credible insofar as it shows that Ms Heard has not yet finished making her pledged payments to the charities - only goes to a highly peripheral and unpleaded matter and is of no relevance to the pleaded issues, i.e. the 14 assaults, that Mr Justice Nicol had to decide. The evidence would have had no impact on Ms Heards credibility had it been before the trial judge, since it does not demonstrate that Ms Heard or any of the respondents witnesses lied. She told the court: The application to admit the evidence should therefore be refused ... (and) the application for permission to appeal should be dismissed. Mr Depp sued NGN in June 2018 over the column by the newspapers executive editor Dan Wootton, which referred to overwhelming evidence he attacked Ms Heard. In his judgment, Mr Justice Nicol concluded that 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence relied on by NGN in its defence of the actors claim did occur. The judge also found Mr Depp put Ms Heard in fear for her life on three occasions, including one the actress described as a three-day hostage situation in Australia in March 2015. But Mr Depps legal team claims Mr Justice Nicol failed to examine the competing accounts of each incident, or to explain whether he found them proved and, if so, on what basis. They also argue the judge should have analysed the extent to which Ms Heards evidence undermined her credibility in relation to her allegations of physical assault/injury. Just days after the ruling in November, Mr Depp announced he had been asked by Warner Brothers to resign from his role in the Harry Potter spin-off franchise FantasticBeasts - the very role which prompted Mr Wootton to ask how JK Rowling could be genuinely happy Mr Depp was cast in the film. Read more: Mr Depp is embroiled in a separate libel battle in the US, having sued Ms Heard personally over a 2018 Washington Post opinion piece in which she claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse but did not mention the actor by name. Mr Wolanski said the actor brought the application to appeal the High Court ruling to promote his position in the US trial by continuing publicly to denigrate the supposedly inequitable English legal process, at least until after the US trial has concluded. The actors US$50 million (35 million) US case against Ms Heard was recently delayed until April 2022. The Court of Appeal hearing, which is being livestreamed on the courts YouTube channel, is due to conclude on Thursday. It is yet not known if Lord Justice Underhill and Lord Justice Dingemans will give a ruling on Thursday, or reserve their decision to a later date. A heartbroken 11-year-old boy has survived jumping from a 23rd-floor window after landing on a truck parked below. The schoolboy, called Mazar, fell 230ft from an apartment block in Novocheboksarsk, Russia, and on to a GAZEL lorry parked near the entrance, according to reports. He suffered 'fractures' on impact and is currently in hospital in a 'grave' condition but conscious and able to speak. Police are now investigating but senior local officials believe the boy deliberately jumped after handwriting a note to his parents that read: 'Thank you for giving me my childhood.' It explained that the girl he wanted to ask out - and later marry - liked someone else instead. The schoolboy, called Mazar, fell 230ft from an apartment block in Novocheboksarsk, Russia, and on to a GAZEL lorry parked near the entrance, according to reports Law enforcement in the Volga River city believe that the boy had skipped school and deliberately jumped from the 23rd floor of the building. CCTV footage from outside the apartment block showed the vehicle shaking and the windscreen caving at the moment of impact. Photos taken a short time later show the emergency services working at the scene before taking Mazar to hospital. In the note he left to his parents, which was released to the local media, he said that he had 'given his word' that he would jump if the girl he liked was interested in someone else. Mazar suffered 'fractures' on impact and is said to be in a 'grave' condition The senior official in the region, the Republic of Chuvashia, Oleg Nikolaev, made an emotional appeal urging Russian parents to 'be attentive to the psychological state' of their children. 'A terrible incident happened in Novocheboksarsk - a boy, 11, jumped from the roof of an apartment building,' he said. 'We have involved all the necessary services to handle this with complex interagency cooperation. 'It is known that the boy ran away from school, wrote a farewell note to his parents. 'He was lucky that a lorry parked near the house softened his fall, and the boy survived.' He said: 'As a parent, this cannot leave me indifferent. 'Every time a child falls from a height or makes a deliberate attempt is an emergency. 'It is so important to be attentive to the psychological state of adolescents, to create trusting relationships. 'Take care of your loved ones.' Photos taken a short time later show the emergency services working at the scene before taking Mazar to hospital Law enforcement in the Volga River city believe that the boy had skipped school and deliberately jumped from the 23rd floor of the apartment block (pictured) CCTV footage from outside the apartment block showed the vehicle shaking and the windscreen caving at the moment of impact (aftermath pictured) Viktoria Terentyeva, mother of a schoolmate, said: 'I feel desperately sorry for his parents. 'His note may seem nonsense to us, but a child at the age of 11 thinks somehow differently. 'I wish him health and wellbeing. 'It is very scary to learn such news. Parents, please be considerate of your children.' 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. An internally displaced Congolese family shelter in a school in Oicha, North Kivu province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, July 2018. UNHCR/Natalia Micevic UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is warning about an alarming increase in the number of attacks by an armed group on civilians in north-eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Since January, attacks blamed on the armed group, Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), have killed nearly 200 people, injured dozens of others, and displaced an estimated 40,000 people in DRCs Beni Territory in North Kivu province as well as nearby villages in Ituri province. In less than three months, the ADF has allegedly raided 25 villages, set fire to dozens of houses, and kidnapped over 70 people. This is in addition to the 465 Congolese killed in attacks attributed to the ADF during 2020. Attacks and widespread human right violations also continue in other parts of North Kivu province. The main reasons for these attacks are reported to include retaliation by armed groups against military operations, their search for food and medicine, and accusations against communities of sharing information on ADF positions. Those forcibly displaced this month have fled to Oicha, Beni and Butembo towns in Beni Territory, with many fleeing on motorbikes. The majority are women and children, as men stay behind to protect properties, exposing themselves to the risk of further attacks. Displaced people are living in dire conditions without shelter, food, water or health care. In the context of Ebola and COVID-19, the lack of access to toilets, clean water, soap and menstrual hygiene products is of particular concern. In addition, families do not have enough essential items like blankets, sleeping mats or cooking materials. Prior to the recent mass displacement, an estimated 100,000 internally displaced people were already in need of protection and help with shelter in Beni. Funding shortages have curtailed UNHCRs ability to respond with humanitarian assistance, including shelters. In 2020, UNHCR was able to build more than 43,000 family shelters in eastern DRC. In 2021, with the funding currently available, only 4,400 families can be assisted out of hundreds of thousands in need. More funding is also needed to resume a cash programme for displaced women at risk which had to be cut. UNHCR urgently needs US$2 million to reinforce its protection and humanitarian response in Beni, North Kivu and Irumu Territory in Ituri. Currently, the US$33 million UNHCR requires for the response in the whole of eastern DRC is just 5.5 per cent funded. For more information on this topic, please contact: Story Highlights Favorable views of Israel remain high at 75% While majority sympathize with Israel, record-high 25% side with Palestinians Majority of Democrats want to see U.S. pressure Israel more WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Gallup's annual update of Americans' views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict shows Israel remains well-liked in the U.S. At the same time, Americans' favorable views of the Palestinian Authority are at a new high of 30%, as is the percentage sympathizing more with the Palestinians than the Israelis (25%). Similarly, Americans continue to be more inclined to want the U.S. to pressure the Palestinians than the Israelis to resolve the Mideast conflict. But support for emphasizing pressure on Israel is also at a new high of 34%, with a majority of Democrats taking this position for the first time. Recent Trend in U.S. Views on Israel and the Palestinians 2018 2019 2020 2021 % % % % Favorable ratings Israel 74 69 74 75 Palestinian Authority 21 21 23 30 Mideast sympathies More with the Israelis 64 59 60 58 More with the Palestinians 19 21 23 25 Neither/Both/No opinion 16 20 17 17 U.S. pressure to make compromises More on the Palestinians 50 -- -- 44 More on the Israelis 27 -- -- 34 Both/Neither/No opinion 23 -- -- 22 Palestinian statehood Favor 47 50 55 52 Oppose 39 39 34 37 Polls conducted in February of each year Gallup The latest results are from Gallup's annual World Affairs poll, conducted Feb. 3-18. How far the Biden administration plans to go to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, or to pressure either side to make necessary concessions, isn't clear. So far, President Joe Biden and his foreign policy surrogates have signaled that the U.S. will remain a strong ally of Israel, while at the same time hoping to repair relations with the Palestinian Authority that soured under former President Donald Trump. Biden has also said that "a two-state solution remains the only path forward" for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Slim Majority Still Favors Palestinian Statehood U.S. public support for an independent Palestinian state continues to register just above the majority level, with 52% holding this view today, similar to support during the prior two years. While the extent of that support has varied since 2000, the percentage in favor has consistently exceeded the percentage opposed. Line graph. Americans' support for an independent Palestinian state. 52% of Americans currently favor establishing an independent state, 37% oppose it and 12% have no opinion. Support Rises for U.S. Putting More Pressure on Israel Americans offer mixed advice on whether the U.S. should apply more pressure to the Palestinians or the Israelis in order to resolve the Mideast conflict. After rising to 50% in 2018, the percentage wanting more pressure placed on the Palestinians has fallen to 44%, while the proportion wanting more pressure on Israel has increased from 27% to 34%. This is the highest level of demand for pressuring Israel in Gallup's trend dating from 2007. Over the same period, the percentage in favor of the U.S. putting more pressure on both parties, or on neither, has declined from 21% to 14%. Preferred U.S. Pressure to Resolve Palestinian-Israeli Conflict In order to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, do you think the United States should -- [ROTATED: put more pressure on the Palestinians to make the necessary compromises (or) put more pressure on the Israelis to make the necessary compromises]? 2007 2008 2013 2018 2021 % % % % % More pressure on the Palestinians 39 38 48 50 44 More pressure on the Israelis 30 25 25 27 34 More pressure on both (vol.) 11 15 10 6 7 More pressure on neither (vol.) 10 10 8 9 7 No opinion 10 11 10 8 8 Polls conducted in February of each year; (vol.) = volunteered response Gallup Most of the increase since 2018 in wanting the U.S. to emphasize pressure on Israel comes from Democrats, the majority of whom now take this position. The 53% opting for more pressure on the Israelis is up from 43% in 2018 and no more than 38% in the decade before that, marking a substantive change in Democrats' perspective on U.S. policy. This contrasts with 31% of independents and 17% of Republicans in favor of the U.S. placing more pressure on the Israelis. The majority of Republicans and about four in 10 independents still favor more pressure being applied to the Palestinians. Line graph. Americans' preferences to put additional pressure on the Israelis to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. 53% of U.S. Democrats in 2021 favor additional pressure on the Israelis, compared with 31% of independents and 17% of Republicans. U.S. Sympathies Still Lie With Israel Meanwhile, there has been no change over the past year in Americans' general stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the majority still sympathizing more with the Israelis (58%) than the Palestinians (25%). However, because of incremental shifts over the past several years, the percentage favoring the Palestinians is at a high point in the trend since 2001. Sympathy for Israel remains about average, while the percentage volunteering that they sympathize with both sides equally or neither side (or that they have no opinion) has dwindled to 17%, from 33% in 2001. Line graph. Americans' sympathies with two sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 58% of Americans in 2021 sympathize with the Israelis, while 25% sympathize with the Palestinians and 17% sympathize with neither or both sides, or are unsure. Israel's Image Remains Highly Positive, While Palestinians' Has Improved More generally, Americans' overall opinion of Israel has held at a highly positive level over the past year, while their views of the Palestinian Authority -- though still more negative than positive -- have improved. The 75% viewing Israel positively is unchanged from the 74% recorded a year ago and is above the 65% average since 2001. It is just shy of the all-time high 79% recorded during the 1991 Gulf War. At the same time, the 30% now viewing the Palestinian Authority positively is up from 23% last year and compares with an average 19% since 2001. This marks a new high in Gallup's trend on Palestine since 2000. Line graph. Americans' favorable ratings of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. 75% of Americans in 2021 have a favorable rating of Israel, while 30% view the Palestinian Authority favorably. The increase in the Palestinian Authority's favorability rating is seen mostly among Republicans, with the percentage viewing it favorably rising from 9% to 19%. This compares with three- to four-percentage-point changes among independents (of whom 30% now view the Palestinian Authority favorably) and Democrats (38%) that are not statistically meaningful. Israel has been viewed favorably by a majority of all party groups for the past two decades, although it consistently receives higher scores from Republicans. In the latest poll, 85% of Republicans view it favorably, compared with 77% of independents and 64% of Democrats. Summary of Party Views Republicans' and Democrats' divergent views toward Israel and the Palestinians are clear in the following summary table. Republicans' support for Israel is consistent across all Gallup questions, with 80% sympathizing more with the Israelis than the Palestinians, a solid majority wanting the U.S. to put more pressure on the Palestinians in negotiations and fewer than half favoring Palestinian statehood. Nearly two-thirds of Democrats view Israel favorably, but two-thirds also favor Palestinian statehood, less than half sympathize more with Israel in the dispute, and the majority want the U.S. to put more pressure on Israel. 2021 Views on Israel and the Palestinians, by Party ID Republicans Independents Democrats % % % Favorable ratings Israel 85 77 64 Palestinian Authority 19 30 38 Mideast sympathies More with the Israelis 80 55 43 More with the Palestinians 10 25 38 Both/Neither (vol.) 10 20 19 U.S. pressure More on Palestinians 65 44 29 More on Israelis 17 31 53 Palestinian statehood Favor 38 49 67 Oppose 50 40 22 (vol.) = volunteered response Gallup, Feb. 3-18, 2021 Bottom Line Israel enjoys an enormous advantage over the Palestinian Authority in Americans' favorable ratings toward the two groups. Against that backdrop, Americans are also inclined to say they sympathize more with the Israelis than the Palestinians in the Mideast conflict. This aligns with decades of U.S. foreign policy that has stood by Israel at the United Nations and with foreign aid. Americans are simultaneously supportive of an independent Palestinian state and lack consensus over how much pressure the U.S. should apply to each in the furtherance of reaching a peace agreement. But these views are increasingly partisan. Trump enjoyed nearly universal support from his Republican political base for putting pressure on the Palestinians to reach a peace deal, with few demanding he champion Palestinian statehood. Biden's Democratic base broadly favors statehood and now wants to see the U.S. put more pressure on the Israelis to make the necessary compromises to resolve the conflict. Whether Democrats' current outlook is a temporary reaction to Trump's close association with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or represents a fundamental shift in their orientation to Mideast politics that persists could have meaningful implications for Biden's foreign policy over the next four years. This could hinge, in part, on whether Netanyahu remains in power after Tuesday's Israeli elections. View complete question responses and trends (PDF download). Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works. Credit: CC0 Public Domain For the first time researchers from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Radboudumc, Maastricht UMC+ and international colleagues have gained insight into the "hidden genetic defects" of the general European population. This is important because these defects, if inherited from both father and mother, can lead to all kinds of illnesses in their children. Research in the Dutch and Estonian population shows that every person has two to four such hidden genetic defects. In 1 in 100 couples, this leads to a situation with an increased risk of a genetic disease for future children. In the case of consanguinity, even 20 percent of the couples appear to be at high risk. This research is published in The American Journal of Human Genetics and Genetics in Medicine. The genes of a every person are half maternal, half paternal. Therefor you have two copies of each gene. Sometimes one of those two copies is defective, without making you sick because the other gene still functions properly. In this case we call it a 'hidden genetic defect' (in scientific terms: an autosomal recessive gene). Such a hidden genetic defect can cause problems if a child inherits the same hidden defect, the same mutated gene, from both father and mother. Both parents are healthy and have never suffered from the hidden genetic defect. But when these two hidden genetic defects (maternal and paternal) come together in the child, the disease manifests itself. Hidden defects in sight How often such hidden genetic defects occur in the general population has been unclear. By screening all the genes of nearly 6,500 people in the Dutch and Estonian population researchers from Radboudumc and Maastricht UMC+ have now obtained insight into how often such hidden defects that can lead to disease are present in a single individual. Christian Gilissen, researcher at Radboudumc: "Every human being appears to have on average 2 to 4 such hidden genetic defects. Therefore the chance that a European couple is at risk of having a sick child due to two such defects is about 1 percent. The risk increases sharply in consanguineous couples. In a relationship of cousins, about sixteen percent of the couples are at high risk, with a particularly increased risks for skeletal disorders or intellectual disabilities." Higher risk with consanguinity In addition to this research, published in The American Journal of Human Genetics, research was also conducted in the hospital's clinical practice coordinated by Maastricht UMC+, together with Radboudumc and Amsterdam UMC. This study, published in Genetics in Medicine, addresses the question of risk determination of hidden genetic defects in cousin relationships prior to a desired pregnancy. Clinical Molecular Geneticist Aimee Paulussen of Maastricht UMC+: "We mapped the risk in 100 consanguineous couples. About 20 percent of these couples were found to have an increased risk of serious disorders in their offspring through these hidden genetic defects. These results from clinical practice confirm the data already found in the population study mentioned above." Valuable testing Professor Han Brunner, head of the Department of Clinical Genetics Maastricht as well as the Department of Genetics Nijmegen, is involved in both studies. He sees them as a clear incentive to make genetic testing available to couples with a possible increased risk because of such hidden genetic defects: "Certainly for these couples, this information can help them to make an informed decision when starting a family. They can consider pre-implantation diagnostics and IVF to allow selection of embryos without these defects." Explore further Genetic testing for kidney diseases in embryos from in vitro fertilization Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. House Representative: Its Not Appropriate for Journalists to See Border Facilities Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) said that members of the press should not be granted access to federal facilities near the Southern Border that house unaccompanied minors who entered the United States illegally. I dont necessarily think that its appropriate for journalists to be inside centers that are not permanent places for children, Sanchez said when she was asked during a CNN interview about what some have said is the White Houses lack of transparency surrounding Customs and Border Protection activity. She initially replied that former President Donald Trump previously denied members of Congress access to border housing facilities. Because of COVID protocols, you cant fill them to capacity, you have to have social distancing, Sanchez added. They are trying to process children as quickly as they can, and, no, these detention facilities at the border were not meant for children. Children are meant to be in licensed facilities. But due to COVID-19 requirements and other provisions, officials are doing the best that they can, she said. Children are not placed there permanently. They are processed out of those facilities as quickly as possible and as quickly as the facilities will allow, Sanchez said. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said journalists wont be allowed to accompany Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas while he heads to the border on Friday in the midst of a surge of illegal immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border. Sanchez, in a statement to news outlets Friday, elaborated on her statement to CNN. The Biden Administration has been clear. Border facilities are not adequate for the care of children, and they are doing everything they can to transfer children to HHS for safe processing. And right now, the Administration has not been hosting media tours of unaccompanied children facilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she said. I am committed to transparency and finding ways for [the] press to fully report the process at the border. But the safety and privacy of the children must be protected, especially during a pandemic. I look forward to seeing how the Administration makes that possible, she added, reported The Hill. Mayorkass visit comes as a number of Republican lawmakers went to the border. Well be looking at some of the issues including this huge problem with unaccompanied kids coming across the border, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) told Fox News, adding that he will visit with the DHS secretary. Those numbers have increased even more dramatically to the point that right now we have a true crisis in the detention facilities Were gonna talk about that tomorrow and well see some of those facilities. And well have a chance to talk about what I saw tonight. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Mammootty's much-awaited upcoming political thriller One has finally completed the censor formalities. As per the latest updates, One has bagged a clean U certificate from the censor board. If the reports are to be true, the release date of the movie will be officially revealed through Mammootty's social media pages, very soon. Reportedly, One has a total running time of 2 hours and 30 minutes without any cuts or alterations. From the recently released official trailer of the Mammootty starrer, it is evident that an intense political drama is in store for the audiences. If things go as planned, the Santhosh Viswanath directorial will hit the theatres as a Vishu 2021 special release. As reported earlier, several renowned OTT platforms had approached the makers of One, offering a digital release for the movie. However, the team decided to wait for the theatres to reopen and confirmed that the Mammootty starrer will not go the OTT way. According to director Santhosh Viswanath, One is a well-made political drama that deserves to be watched on the big screen. One marks Mammootty's first collaboration with Santhosh Viswanath, who is best known for the satirical comedy Chirakodinja Kinavukal. The political thriller around the clash of different political ideologies and the duties of an ideal Chief Minister. Mammootty is playing the role of Kadakkal Chandran, the senior politician who gets appointed as the Chief Minister of Kerala under a sensitive circumstance. The project is scripted by the Bobby-Sanjay duo. The Mammootty starrer will feature an extensive star cast including Joju George, Murali Gopy, Sreenivasan, Balachandra Menon, Ranjith, Mamukoya, Salim Kumar, Suresh Krishna, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Sudev Nair, Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Nimisha Sajayan, Gayathri Arun, Ishaani Krishna, and so on in the supporting roles. One is bankrolled by Ichais Productions. Also Read: Mammootty's One Official Trailer Review: An Intense Political Drama Is In Store! The Priest Box Office First Weekend (4 Days) Collection Report: The Mammootty Starrer Crosses 10-Crore Mark! The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility are reviewing an incident where agents are accused of letting immigrants drown in the Rio Grande in west Laredo. The incident came to light after a Facebook video circulated online. Se estan ahogando las gentes y estos vatos no hacen nada (The people are drowning and these vatos are not doing anything), a man is heard saying. Then, a person drowning cries for help, Ayuda, according to the video. Border Patrol said the case unfolded March 16, when agents identified a vehicle suspected to be involved in human smuggling activity. The vehicle drove to the area of Calton Road near the riverbanks. Several occupants then fled into the river and swam across Mexico, authorities said. Others were detained at the vehicle. One individual who tried to swim across drowned. Mexican authorities recovered his body. A second person was last seen floating away and has not been located, according to Border Patrol. An investigation is underway. The video circulating online also prompted a response from the Texas Department of Public Safety. DPS said that the concerned citizen allegedly stated that DPS was present during the incident when the drowning took place. After further review, it has been concluded that at no time were DPS troopers present during the incident. The Texas Department of Public Safety continuously monitors potential threats along the Texas-Mexico border and provides public service to those affected by the current border situation, DPS said in a statement. Home and Away star Anna May Samson has hit back at trolls after experiencing horrific online bullying. On Wednesday, the 30-year-old actress, who just recently joined the popular Channel Seven soap, begged her trolls to 'find something better to do with their time'. Anna said that while she is thrilled that she's been cast in the 'iconic piece of Australian television,' she was disappointed to share that her moment has been 'spoilt with the culture of online bullying'. Hitting back: Home and Away star Anna May Samson has hit back at trolls after experiencing online bullying. On Wednesday, the 30-year-old who has just joined the popular Channel 7 drama penned an emotional statement, asking trolls to 'find something better to do with their time' Anna, who plays Mia Anderson the TV series, explained that her physical appearance has been attacked. 'People still feel they have the right to shame, comment on and harass women about their appearance,' she wrote. 'This is not new. Its part of a culture of cowardice. Cruelly commenting on our weight loss or gain, our faces, our choices, our voices. 'Id suggest to these social media bullies to find something better to do with their time. You are guilty of contribution to a very problematic and dangerous culture.' Calling them out: 'Id suggest to these social media bullies to find something better to do with their time. You are guilty of contribution to a very problematic and dangerous culture,' Anna wrote Anna's Home and Away co-stars rushed to Anna's defense after she penned the emotional post. 'Angel, I just saw this.... I'm so sorry to hear that people are being so awful. You're strong, kind, insanely talented and incredibly beautiful inside & out. Don't let anyone dim your light, all my love & support,' Sam Frost wrote. 'Well said my friend, we got you,' Ethan Brown added. 'Dont be an a**. These are my friends. Think before you write,' Rob Kipa-Williams also added. Supportive co-stars: Anna's fellow Home and Away co-stars Sam Frost and Ethan Brown were quick to share words of encouragement with the blonde beauty Anna joined the cast of Home and Away earlier this year, along with Sam Barrett who plays her on-screen daughter Chloe. Home and Away airs Monday-Thursdays at 7pm on Channel 7. For confidential support, contact LifeLine on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. After the United States President Joe Biden made his 'killer' remark against the Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview, Putin responded on Thursday that the remarks made by the US president about him reflect the own past of the US and its current problems. Putin Responds to Biden's 'Killer' Comments On Wednesday, after the remarks made by Biden, Russia made an announcement regarding the recall of their ambassador in Washington for consultations. The Kremlin also mentioned that it would rethink its approach to relations with Washington and the Biden administration. According to Associated Press, the Putin response happened during a video call interview when he was asked regarding the remarks made by the US president. Putin was with the residents of Crimea in a video call as it marks the anniversary of its 2014 annexation from Ukraine, wherein he also mentioned that Russia would still cooperate with the US where it answers the interest of Moscow. Moreover, the spokesman of Putin, Dmitry Peskov, shared in a statement that it was a very bad statement by the US president. He also added that Biden made it clear that he does not want to normalize the relations between two nations. Florida Baby, First to Be Born with COVID-19 Antibodies During the conference call with the reporters, Peskov also mentioned that they will proceed accordingly and noted that there was nothing like that in history. But Peskov did not answer when asked if the Kremlin could go as far as cutting the diplomatic ties with the United States. In addition, the upper house deputy speaker of the Russian parliament, Konstantin Kosachev shared that Biden made a boorish statement and it marks a watershed. Kosachev also added that such assessments are inadmissible for a statesman of his rank and those statements were unacceptable under any circumstances as it could lead to cut the bilateral ties of both nations. Kosachev also warned the US that the response of Russia would not be limited to recalling the Russian ambassador if the side of the US will fail to offer any explanation or excuse about the statements. But the upper house deputy speaker of the Russian parliament would not explain further as to what action Russia might be taking, Washington Post reported. Meanwhile, as Russia announces its decision in recalling the Russian ambassador in Washington, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman of Russia, Maria Zakharova blamed the US for putting their bilateral ties to a dead end. She also added that Kremlin is interested in preventing the irreversible degradation only if the Americans will be aware of the associated risks. North Korea to Test Intercontinental Missile On the other hand, Jen Psaki, the spokeswoman of the White House emphasized in her comment regarding the Russian move that they will direct and will speak out on areas where they have concerns. She also added that based on the statement of the US president, Russians will be held accountable for the actions that they have made. The statement from Biden and the Putin response came on the heels of a declassified report coming from the US national intelligence director's office, wherein they found out that Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized influence operations in order to help Donald Trump in the November 2020 presidential election, NBC News reported. Stimulus Checks Availability Enrages JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo Customers Stimulus Check Dispute Leads to Four Deaths in Indiana @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Margaux Maxwell reports for the Yakima Herald-Republic and the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. She can be reached at mmaxwell@yakimaherald.com. Haiti - Bahamas : A Haitian convicted of fraud ... Paul Charles (31) of Haitian descent who defrauded several government agencies in the Bahamas in an attempt to gain legal status in the country was convicted this week. During his appearance last week before Chief Justice Joyann Ferguson-Pratt, the prosecution said Charles fraudulently obtained a referral form from the Criminal Records Office and then a work permit from the Immigration Department as well as a National Insurance Board NIB smart card using false pretenses. He also fraudulently obtained a learner's permit from the Department of Road Traffic in the name of Berdy Jean and attempted to obtain Bahamian naturalization under this pseudonym. At the time of his arrest he was in possession of a passport with a false name. After pleading guilty to these offenses Charles returned this week to hear his conviction. Charles' lawyer, Me K Melvin Munroe tried to pity the Magistrate by explaining that Charles, who had no criminal record, had left Haiti because he was looking for a better way of life and wanted to help his brothers and sisters remained in the country and asked court to show leniency and take into account the circumstances when pronouncing his judgment. In response, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt said she found Charles's actions "flagrant" and that they "called into question what makes a Bahamian a Bahamian." As a result, she found Charles guilty of fraud by false pretenses, attempted fraud by false pretenses and possession of false documents and imposed a total fine of $10,500 on him for these offenses as well as 6 months in prison. he must serve before being returned to Haiti. The magistrate clarified that if Charles did not pay his fines before the end of his imprisonment, he would risk spending an additional year behind bars. In handing down her sentence Ferguson-Prat said she wanted to send a clear message that the court was "angered by such forms of illegality". S/ HaitiLibre A Medina County judge is fighting his indictment and suspension in connection with an alleged vote harvesting operation. The Texas Attorney Generals Office is accusing Tomas Ramirez, justice of the peace for Precinct 4 in Medina County, and three women of committing election fraud during the 2018 Medina County Republican primary election. According to an indictment, Ramirez and the women ran a vote harvesting operation that worked out of assisted living centers. Details of what they are accused of doing were not available. Ramirez was indicted Feb. 9 by a Bandera County grand jury on charges of engaging in organized election fraud, unlawfully assisting voter ballot by mail, and 17 counts of unlawful possession of a ballot or ballot envelope. He was suspended from his seat as judge by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct on Feb. 23 because of the pending criminal matter. On ExpressNews.com: Texas attorney general sues San Antonio hotel for price gouging during winter storm I was stunned by the allegations because there is absolutely no truth to them, Ramirez, who has been an attorney for 27 years, said in a statement. I entered the race for JP because I wanted to serve Medina County and make the office function better for its citizens. I feel I have done exactly that up this point. For people who know me, these allegations are absurd. To those who dont, it provides reason to sneer and hate. Jacqueline R. Habersham, executive director of the commission, said Ramirez filed a written request for a post-suspension hearing, which was held March 11. The commission has 60 days from the close of the hearing to make a decision and notify Ramirez whether the suspension will be continued, terminated or modified, she said. A court date has not yet been set. Ramirez has hired attorney Mark Stevens to represent him. The Bandera County Sheriffs Office said Ramirez and two others, Leonor Rivas Garza and Eva Ann White Martinez, turned themselves in on Feb. 11. They were released on personal recognizance bonds the same day. On ExpressNews.com: Garcia: Voter suppression flies under the radar in Floresville A fourth person accused in the case, Mary Balderrama, turned herself in on Feb. 22 and also was released, authorities said. Balderrama, Garza and Martinez are charged with numerous election-related offenses, including engaging in organized election fraud, illegal voting, unlawful possession of a ballot or ballot envelope and enhanced election fraud for multiple offenses in the same election, authorities said. Martinez faces 64 charges, including purportedly acting as an agent, tampering with a governmental record with intent to harm or defraud, and fraudulent use of a mail ballot application involving a voter 65 years of age or older. Balderramas charges, of which there are 24, also include unlawfully assisting voter voting ballot by mail and tampering with a governmental record, the sheriffs office said. Garza, who was charged with 17 counts overall, also was indicted on a charge of fraudulent use of an absentee ballot by mail. A Phillipsburg councilman said he has concerns about a police order that restricts police officers from speaking with public officials. Phillipsburg Council Vice President Robert Fulper said he wants council to form an ad hoc committee to investigate Phillipsburg Police Chief Robert Stettner. Fulper said Stettner issued a general order on Oct. 8 that restricts police officers from communicating with public officials without the chiefs approval. The order further states that officers must remove themselves from a situation if the public official initiates an interaction, and the officer must report the interaction to a superior. Fulper said a New Jersey State Policemens Benevolent Association attorney contacted him recently about a Phillipsburg police officer, who allegedly violated the order during a public informational event. Fulper said the meeting was neither a campaign event nor a political event and he questioned the constitutionality of restricting police officers rights. The way the order is written, it pits the police against our elected officials, Fulper said. Town attorney Rich Wenner cautioned Fulper not to discuss specificities of personnel matters in public. Mayor Todd Tersigni said the police department has a community policing policy in which police officers are encouraged to involve themselves with the public and community affairs. Tersigni said he was unaware of the Oct. 8 order. Police officers should be welcome to attend community events and interact with citizens and public officials without violating any police orders, Fulper said. Fulper called on council to form an ad hoc committee to investigate Stettner and the order. Councilwoman Danielle DeGerolamo said she did not have enough information on the matter and asked to table the issue until next months meeting, which council unanimously voted to do. Stettner, reached Thursday by lehighvalleylive.com, said he had no comment for this story. John Best is a freelance contributor to lehighvalleylive.com. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will turn to the US, Japan and India to get vaccines for Papua New Guinea as the European Union continues to block AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shipments to Australia. PNGs health system has been struggling to cope with a major COVID-19 epidemic, with hospitals at breaking point and half of all the countrys limited tests returning positive results for the disease. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will turn to the US, Japan and India to help secure vaccines for Papua New Guinea. Credit:Jason South Mr Morrison announced on Wednesday that Australia would send 8000 locally produced AstraZeneca vaccines to PNG to help immunise health workers, as well as personal protective equipment and teams of health workers to help fight the widespread outbreak. Australia also asked the EU to redirect 1 million doses of the internationally produced AstraZeneca vaccine originally contracted by the Morrison government to PNG. But Mr Morrison said he is yet to hear from his European counterpart about the request. As more vaccines are administered in San Antonio, coronavirus infections and hospitalizations continue to drop. Nearly 25 percent of adults in Bexar County have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services. Local officials reported Thursday that 5.1 percent of hospitalized patients in Bexar County have COVID-19. At the height of the pandemic, about 1 in 3 patients in hospitals were severely ill with coronavirus. Again, those numbers are trending in the right direction and the hospitals being the ultimate picture of how this pandemic has progressed over the past year, said Mayor Ron Nirenberg during the daily briefing. The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District reported 77 new cases Thursday a significant decline from Januarys surge when about 2,000 new cases were reported each day and less than half as many reported Wednesday. Thursday was one of the few days recently when new cases have fallen below 100, but Nirenberg noted that there was a delay in getting test results from some of the Curative labs and the number would likely need to be adjusted. Area hospitals were caring for 202 patients with COVID-19 on Thursday, compared with 700 or so patients hospitalized in mid-February. From Wednesday to Thursday, 37 people with COVID-19 were admitted to hospitals. Of the 202 people hospitalized, 79 were being cared for in intensive care units, while 41 relied on ventilators to breathe. Officials did not report any new deaths, leaving the death toll at just under 3,000 in Bexar County since the pandemic started about a year ago. On ExpressNews.com: COVID-19 hospitalizations down 70 percent from a month ago The number of new COVID-19 cases in Texas has hovered around 4,500 this week, down from over 8,000 cases three weeks ago, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. This trend has been seen across the nation over the past couple of months as the CDC says more than 40 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. So far, the Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization to three vaccine makers. Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna require two vaccine doses while Johnson & Johnsons vaccine is a single shot. Dr. Ruth Berggren, an infectious disease specialist at UT Health San Antonio and COVID-19 liaison for Judge Nelson Wolff, urged people to get their vaccine when its available to them. She referred to a new Pfizer study released last month that not only was the vaccine 95 percent effective at preventing a person from getting sick, but those vaccinated could also drive down transmission rates. This means these vaccines are drastically reducing the chance that people will go about shedding the virus (if infected), she said. Nirenberg also noted that vaccine appointments scheduled at the Alamodome for April 2 will be rescheduled for April 5 at the same time. laura.garcia@express-news.net Submitted by the family On Saturday, March 6, Suzie Kusnetz Bobele, loving wife and mom, passed away. She was born on April 15, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York. Suzie "Sheindie" wanted to be remembered as a beloved wife, mother, sister and aunt. But she was much, much more. She worked on Wall St. in New York City for many years as a mutual funds administrator at a time when women didn't hold these positions. She met the love of her life at the Altamonte Publix leading to a 40-year dream marriage to Ron and raised two fantastic children, Rod and Skye. Suzie was an accomplished 12-string and Martin guitar player. The joy of her life was as Delta Blues photographer and historian. Her photography has graced the covers of Blues albums and several international Blues concert posters. Many hotels display her works in their rooms and hallways. She was honored to have a number of musicians select her portraits to be displayed at their funerals. Big thrill for her was meeting and spending time with numerous famous "Old Blues musicians" and sharing a drink. Her knowledge of Blues music was so extensive that she was regarded as an established historian with a blog that was viewed internationally. The University of Mississippi has requested all of her photography for their archives. Suzie was preceded in death by Rod, her son. She is survived by her husband, Ron, and Ezah (Rod's dog). Burial will be at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery. She will be a light in our hearts forever. May her memory be a blessing. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 : Screenshot From the_wolfpack_berlin YouTube) Tesla Hiring For Top Roles at German Factory, Paying Up to $360,000 As the main construction of Tesla's Gigafactory continues in Grunheide, Germany, the plant is now actually receiving billions of dollars of funding coming from the German government! With the progress of the Gigafactory nearing completion, the production of the upcoming Tesla Model Y series is now scheduled to start as early as June. Tesla job opportunities There are still many positions, however, that still remain unfilled and Tesla is reportedly struggling to hire some new talent as reported by Handelsblatt. Their report actually states that it was estimated that half of Tesla's total advertisements actually come from last year. For a number of positions, Tesla requires years of professional experience and out of the 350 vacancies, a number of them come from battery cell production and in manufacturing. It was reportedly positioned in the said "25 Guns," a certain select group of engineers that associated directly with Elon Musk himself, has not yet been filled. Elon Musk then notes that the Gigafactory is expected to be the world's biggest battery cell factory. Tesla, however, has not yet been able to obtain the needed permission from the authorities. Tesla is looking for professionals Handelsblatt reportedly states that one of the senior positions in the whole battery cell production field has yet to be filled. The positions were reportedly advertised ever since November and the role reportedly requires 15 years of experience and experts now estimate that it would even come with a shopping salary of $357,000 while excluding the bonus payments. A lot of the positions within the chemical battery production have also been advertised and this includes the management of the whole battery module production as well as the maintenance of battery cell production. Handelsblatt experts reportedly suggest a proposed salary that is between $148,000 and $238,000. In Germany, these particularly skilled workers for the whole battery cell production are said to be extremely rare. Read Also: Job Hiring: Tesla is in Need of 10,500 Employees To Work For Elon Musk's Gigafactory in Berlin Tesla new to German job market According to the story by Business Insider, up until now, the really urgently needed battery cells have still been manufactured primarily among other Asian countries. Jorg Speikamp coming from the QRC consultant association noted to Handelsblatt that in the whole field of battery manufacturing for the said lithium-ion technology, they will still find maybe virtually no one within Germany alone. Volkswagen is also reportedly planning a new battery cell plant in Salzgitter along with its partners Opel for building the said factory in Kaiserslautern, as well as Chinese suppliers that are setting up production facilities in Saarland and even Erfurt. In order to score some points, Tesla reportedly has to make the whole job offer really palatable and attractive. Elon Musk's company is still very much a newcomer in the whole German job market so it is still relatively unknown on the whole German circuit. The headhunter Ines Thoron told the Handelsblatt that this fact would lead to even fewer people feeling addressed. Related Article: Tesla Hiring Specialist to Deal with Complaints Directed to Elon Musk on Twitter This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Urian Buenconsejo 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. For children outside of the United States and Canada, the online preschool now offers international Montessori programs in English, Thai and Lao languages. Amity Montessori founder Fawn Ventura originally immigrated from Thailand to study teaching, and has launched an international charity online preschool program to provide premium quality online preschool services to underserved children in her native country. Our weekly 45-minute online preschool session includes participation in music & movement, interaction with The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) noted in its report the vandalism committed by Azerbaijan against the Armenian heritage of Karabakh. The report noted that in recent years, Azerbaijan has recorded some changes to improve conditions for freedom of religion: an end to law enforcement raids on religious communities and reportedly pardoning many religious activists. However, freedom of religion in Azerbaijan continues to be severely constrained by problematic legislation, in particular the country's 2009 On Freedom of Religious Beliefs, and the government has shown little interest in revising it. The report also details many of the obstacles posed by mandatory registration and other restrictions on religious communities, continued harassment of religious activists, and recent abuses in the context of renewed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. "September 2020 saw the renewal of violent conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno- Karabakh and surrounding territories. During the course of fighting in October, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of purposefully shelling the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in the city of Shusha. According to reports, the cathedral was hit twice by precision missile strikes that severely damaged the roof and interior of the building. In December, Human Rights Watch concluded that the attack was intentional, constituting a war crime that should be investigated and prosecuted. Azerbaijan claimed that Armenian forces also damaged religious sites as a result of recent shelling. The announcement of a ceasefire in early November formalized the territorial gains Azerbaijan had made militarily, and it set a staggered timeline for the cession of additional territories to Azerbaijanraising concerns about the protection of various churches, monasteries, cemeteries, and other religious and cultural sites scattered throughout the region. President Aliyev reportedly gave assurances to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the country would protect Christian churches in these areas; however, some sites, such as a cemetery situated alongside an Armenian church in Hadrut, have already been vandalized. In late November, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization reiterated a call for the protection of heritage sites in the area, and it proposed dispatching a preliminary field mission to produce an inventory of such sites as a prerequisite for effective protection of the regions heritage," the report noted. By the way, UNESCO has not yet received access to the territories occupied by Azerbaijan. (Reuters) - World number one Novak Djokovic will delay his comeback to the ATP Tour following a muscle injury after deciding to skip the Miami Open starting next week to spend more time with his family. Djokovic sustained a muscle tear that hindered him during his successful Australian Open title defence last month and the 33-year-old planned to return at Miami before playing the Monte-Carlo Masters and the ATP 250 Serbia Open. "Dear fans, I'm very sorry to announce that this year I won't travel to Miami to compete," Djokovic tweeted. "I decided to use this precious time at home to stay with my family. With all restrictions, I need to find balance in my time on tour and at home. I look forward to coming back next year." Djokovic, who won his 18th Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park, eclipsed Roger Federer's all-time record for most weeks as the men's world number one on March 8 when he moved past the Swiss to hold the top ranking for the 311th week. He said at the time that his focus would be on winning more majors, adding he would make necessary adjustments to his playing schedule to achieve that goal. Rafa Nadal also decided to skip the March 22-April 4 Masters 1000 event to recover from a back injury, while Federer will not be present as he works his way back to full fitness after two knee operations in the past 12 months. U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem will miss the event and return to the tour during the European claycourt season. World number two Daniil Medvedev is set to lead the field. Former champion Andy Murray will also feature, having been given a wildcard by the tournament organisers. (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar) Marijuana sales in Illinois have soared since the state legalized recreational use in January 2020, reaching $1.03 billion last year. That included $669 million in recreational weed sales and more than $366 million in medical sales, according to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which regulates dispensaries in the state. Thank you for joining our live coverage of the floods. Well be back tomorrow with another live blog tomorrow. Be sure to stay across the SES evacuation orders and warnings overnight. The Bureau of Meteorology is also regularly updating its flood, marine and other weather warnings. To recap the events of today, Andrew Taylor writes that towns along the NSW North Coast, including Port Macquarie and Taree were inundated by floodwaters as rivers broke their banks in what Prime Minister Scott Morrison labelled absolutely heart-breaking scenes. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned that rivers near Sydney may flood and the SES is urging residents to prepare for possible evacuations. The state is preparing to experience heavy rain and strong winds on Sunday, with Sydney CBD likely to receive between 25 and 45mm of rain, Penrith is expected to see up to 120mm and Richmond up to 80mm. NSW State Emergency Service Commissioner Carlene York urged residents across the state to prepare for possible evacuations, particularly those in the north and Mid North Coast. I would rather people plan and feel it was a wasted effort and find their home and goods are destroyed because they didnt think the flood event was going to affect them, she said. This is a slow-moving event; that is why it is of such risk. Often events for rain pass through in small peaks and start to ebb away. That is not the circumstance for this event. The rain is continuing for a period of time towards the end of the week. Stay safe and goodnight. Lois Henry is the CEO and editor of SJV Water, a nonprofit, independent online news publication dedicated to covering water issues in the San Joaquin Valley. She can be reached at lois.henry@sjvwater.org. The website is sjvwater.org. Melissa Leong had all eyes on her as she attended the Melbourne Fashion Festival on Friday night. The MasterChef Australia judge, who is known for her unique style opted for an electric blue ensemble. The 39-year-old chose a slim-fit, deep blue satin shirt with a prominent collar, which she wore with several buttons undone. Feeling blue: Melissa Leong (pictured) had all eyes on her as she attended the Melbourne Fashion Festival on Friday night. The MasterChef Australia judge, who is known for her unique style opted for an electric blue ensemble She paired with with a pencil skirt in a metallic fabric, which cinched in at the waist and featured a thigh-high slit which showcased her slim pins. Melissa kept the blue theme going with her shoes, opting for pointed, velvet heels with bows, in the same shade as her outfit. Keeping her makeup understated, she chose a muted, nude palette with a soft pink lip. Sultry: The 39-year-old chose a slim-fit, deep blue satin shirt with a prominent collar, which she wore with several buttons undone All the way: Melissa kept the blue theme going with her shoes, opting for pointed, velvet heels with bows, in the same shade as her outfit Speaking up: Sweeping her dark hair back off her face in a chic, slicked-back do, Melissa let her loud outfit do the talking Sweeping her dark hair back off her face in a chic, slicked-back do, Melissa let her loud outfit do the talking. Late last year, Melissa announced she'd split from her husband, bar owner Joe Jones. In a heartfelt Instagram post on December 20, the food critic wrote: 'It has brought us such happiness to walk together, but the time has come for Joe and I to part ways and walk on, apart.' All blue: She paired with with a pencil skirt in a metallic fabric, which cinched in at the waist and featured a thigh-high slit which showcased her slim pins Stunner: Keeping her makeup understated, she chose a muted, nude palette with a soft pink lip 'We ask for your kindness and consideration for our privacy, we will not be making any further comment as our private lives have, and will always remain exactly that. We wish you peace at the end of such a challenging year for all.' It was recently reported that the newly-single Melissa is being considered for The Bachelorette. According to New Idea, Channel Ten believes she could help revitalise the dating show after viewers were left underwhelmed by sisters Elly and Becky Miles last year. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. DOHC Reviewed by the one and only Doug DeMuro and carefully maintained throughout its life, chassis number 5LTEW05A02KJ01775 is now listed on Cars & Bids with 86,916 miles (139,878 kilometers) on the odometer. An interesting piece of pickup truck history, the ultra-quirky Blackwood is currently going for $8,989 after 12 bids and with six days of bidding left.Backed up by a clean history report that indicates no mileage discrepancies, this fancy workhorse features the factory-equipped wheels, Dutch-style bed doors instead of a fold-down tailgate, and over $4,000 in recent servicing. The most important element fixed by the selling owner is the power-operated hard tonneau cover, gifted with a rebuilt bed cap module.Finished in Gunslinger Black over black leather for the interior, the posh truck has also received new tires, brakes, axle seals, and wheel bearings to ensure its roadworthiness. Offered with a clean New Mexico title in the sellers name, the 2002 Lincoln Blackwood is pretty well equipped as well. From the power-adjustable pedals to the heated and air-conditioned front seats, sunroof, and satellite navigation, this fellow still is the bees knees.Capable of towing 8,700 pounds (3,946 kilograms) and rated at 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) for payload, the pickup does exhibit a few understandable flaws. A detailing shop can easily address spider webbing, scratches, and chips in the paint job, but the ding in the right front fender and the wear on the leather are a little more expensive to sort out.Like every Blackwood in existence today, this example rolled off the assembly line in Claycomo, Missouri, with a 5.4-literV8 powerplant marketed as the InTech. Thats the Lincoln way of saying Ford Modular V8 with four valves per cylinder, and this engine is alright by modern standards at 300 ponies and 355 pound-feet (481 Nm) of torque.That said, press play to find out what Doug thinks about the pickup truck that has eluded him for so long. 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. NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CureDuchenne, a leading global nonprofit focused on finding and funding a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, announces a webinar to continue educating the Duchenne community about the COVID-19 vaccines. Part of their COVID-19 education initiative which launched in January, this webinar will focus on the specific needs of the Duchenne community as they relate to COVID-19 vaccination. CureDuchenne's follow-up webinar on March 19, 2021 entitled, "March Updates on COVID-19 Vaccines What the Duchenne Community Needs to Know , " will present recent updates on the three COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use by the CDC. This webinar event will again feature an impressive roster of rare disease specialists, plus scientific and medical experts from American regulatory bodies: Brenda Wong , MD , Director, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Center, UMass , Director, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Center, UMass Masaya Douoguih , MD, MPH, Head of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs, Janssen Vaccines and Prevention, Johnson & Johnson Head of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs, Janssen Vaccines and Prevention, Johnson & Johnson Karen Remley , MD, MBA, MPH, FAAP, Director, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities Director, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities Peter Marks , MD, PhD , Director of FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research , Director of FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research William Gruber , MD , Senior Vice President, Vaccine Clinical Research and Development, Pfizer, Inc. , Senior Vice President, Vaccine Clinical Research and Development, Pfizer, Inc. Debra Miller , Founder and CEO, CureDuchenne , Founder and CEO, CureDuchenne Moderator: Michael Kelly, PhD, Chief Scientific Advisor, CureDuchenne "With this update from leading specialists on COVID vaccines, we're fulfilling our pledge to educate and support the Duchenne community with reliable vaccine information," said Debra Miller, founder and CEO, CureDuchenne. "Panelists from Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, the newest vaccine entrant, will share exactly the kind of targeted first-hand information our community deserves and the CureDuchenne team strives to offer. A discussion of the specific needs and anxieties our community might have will be discussed with trusted allies, Dr. Brenda Wong and Dr. Karen Remley. We will continue advocating on behalf of the Duchenne community throughout the entire vaccine rollout and push to inoculate everyone affected by Duchenne." The ongoing initiative, which prioritizes vaccine education, access and support for the global Duchenne community, is a sustained effort by CureDuchenne. In addition to regular support programs and advocacy efforts, the team maintains a suite of support tools with information from trusted sources. Vital vaccine updates are provided through CureDuchenne communication channels as the vaccine rollout progresses. About CureDuchenne CureDuchenne is recognized as a global leader in research, patient care, and innovation for improving and extending the lives of those with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. As the leading genetic killer of young boys, Duchenne affects more than 300,000 individuals living today. CureDuchenne is dedicated to finding and funding a cure for Duchenne by breaking the traditional charitable mold through an innovative venture philanthropy model that funds groundbreaking research, early diagnosis, and community education. For more information on how to help raise awareness and funds needed for research, please visit www.cureduchenne.org. SOURCE CureDuchenne Related Links https://www.cureduchenne.org Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands:--- CCRIF SPC now invites applications for scholarships under the CCRIF Scholarship Programme. These scholarships are open to Caribbean nationals who intend to pursue postgraduate studies at the masters level in areas such as Disaster Risk Financing, Disaster Risk Management (DRM), Risk Management and Modelling, Climate Change/Climate Studies, Civil with Environmental/Climate Engineering, Actuarial Science, Meteorology, or an MBA with a major in risk management and/or insurance or a related field. These scholarships are tenable at select universities in the Caribbean and at universities in the USA, UK, and Canada and can be for either online or face-to-face programmes. For 2021, CCRIF will provide up to seven scholarships as follows: 1 extra-regional scholarship valued at up to US$40,000 for students accepted into a university in the United Kingdom, United States or Canada 6 Caribbean scholarships valued at up to US$11,000 each for students accepted into select programmes at The University of the West Indies (UWI); University of Technology, Jamaica; Northern Caribbean University in Jamaica; University of Guyana; University of Trinidad and Tobago; or University of Suriname The deadline for applications for the 2021 CCRIF Scholarship Programme is June 15, 2021. Please visit the CCRIF website at https://www.ccrif.org/scholarship for additional details and to apply. Additionally, at the undergraduate level, CCRIF will continue to provide through The UWI four undergraduate scholarships per year valued at US$8,000 each (US$4,000 per year for the second and final year) for students registered at one of the UWI campuses and pursuing select degrees related to DRM, Civil with Environmental Engineering, Geography, Geology, Environmental Management etc. Applications for the CCRIF-UWI scholarships are administered directly by The UWI. For information on these scholarships, visit: https://www.ccrif.org/en/ccrif-uwi-scholarship. All citizens of CARICOM or CCRIF member countries in the Caribbean are eligible for these scholarships. Since the launch of the CCRIF Scholarship Programme in 2010, CCRIF has awarded 93 scholarships to Caribbean nationals totaling US$1.4 million to complete undergraduate or postgraduate programmes at The University of the West Indies and other universities in the Caribbean, the USA and the UK. Also, as part of CCRIFs COVID-19 response, the Facility provided a grant of US$142,000 to The UWI to cover the tuition fees for those students who, due to the pandemic, were finding it difficult to pay tuition and who were at risk of being de-registered or not completing their studies. (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether Inc is engaging in anticompetitive practices in the debit-card market, reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The department's antitrust division has been probing whether limited merchants' ability to route debit-card transactions over card networks that are often less expensive, the WSJ reported. Many of the department's questions are focused on online debit-card transactions, but investigators are looking in to in-store issues as well, according to the report https://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-department-investigating-visa-over-debit-card-practices-11616164525?mod=latest_headlines. declined to comment. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Visa shares were down 5.1% at $209.48 on Friday morning. Merchants have long complained about the high cost of network fees, also called interchange fees, which can be 2% or more of each transaction and go to the financial institutions behind the transactions. The new probe is also examining whether the payment processor's practices are allowing it to maintain a dominant market share unlawfully, according to the report. While such investigations are not unusual, this one comes amid a greater interest in the digital marketplace. Earlier this year, Visa and fintech startup Plaid Inc called off their planned $5.3 billion merger following a lawsuit from the Justice Department aimed at blocking the deal on antitrust grounds. The Justice Department had argued that the deal "would eliminate a nascent competitive threat" to Visa, which it said was a "monopolist in online debit transactions." In the online sphere, the federal government and groups of states filed five antitrust lawsuits last year against Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google. (Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Diane Bartz in Washington; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Matthew Lewis) (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 23:30:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on Sept. 17, 2020 shows a view of downtown Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Wang Jianhua) BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit China next week, with the two countries' foreign ministers expected to compare notes on bilateral ties and upcoming high-level interactions, as well as exchange views on international and regional issues of common concern. On Thursday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said the visit will further consolidate the good momentum of the high-level development of the China-Russia relationship and boost strategic coordination on international affairs. Under the current circumstances, the strengthening of communication and coordination between China and Russia is of great significance for the two sides, and for the world at large. At a press conference on March 7, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, "The more unstable the world is, the greater the need for carrying forward China-Russia cooperation," adding that China and Russia standing together will remain a pillar of world peace and stability. Globally, both countries oppose unilateralism and protectionism, as well as power politics and bullying. They are also committed to upholding the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, one of the basic norms governing international relations. People walk in Red Square in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 15, 2021. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn) Bilaterally, China-Russia ties have been an example of good-neighborly and friendly relations between major countries. In 2019, the two countries upgraded their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era. And in 2020, the two countries stood shoulder to shoulder, working closely to combat "both the coronavirus and the political virus." President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin have had phone calls and exchanged correspondence on multiple occasions, providing the most important strategic guidance for the steady growth of bilateral relations. China and Russia have every reason to provide each other with strategic support, development opportunities and global partnership. This approach is based on experience gained from history, as well as being an imperative under the current circumstances. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation. The two countries have agreed to renew the treaty and make it more relevant in the new era, marking a milestone as well as a new starting point in bilateral relations. It is hoped that the meeting of the two foreign ministers will further boost cooperation and coordination. Being each other's strategic anchor, diplomatic priority, development opportunity and global partner, the two countries will expand and deepen cooperation from a higher starting point. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Biotechnology Market Growth & Trends The global biotechnology market size is expected to reach USD 2.44 trillion by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is expected to expand at a CAGR of 15.83% from 2021 to 2028. The factors driving the market include favorable government policies, the launch of new and advanced products, robust investment in the biotechnology sector, and rising demand for synthetic biology. Robust funding through alliance investment in start-up biotechnology companies for adopting new and advanced products is contributing to market growth. For instance, in February 2021, Illumina, Inc. invested in nine new genomics companies through Illumina Accelerator in 4 start-ups in the U.K. and 5 start-ups in the U.S. The companies include MultiplAI Health LTD.; BiotaX Labs LTD.; Mitra Bio Limited; Broken String Biosciences Limited; Flightpath Biosciences, Inc.; Doloromics Inc.; Oshun Medical Inc.; Parallel Health Inc.; and Rubik Therapeutics, Inc. Illumina Accelerator is an initiative through which selected startups can access to seed investment, genomics expertise, and Illumina sequencing systems and reagents and seek business guidance. The bioinformatics application segment is expected to expand at the fastest CAGR from 2021 to 2028 owing to the increasing adoption of these tools for analyzing complex sequencing data. By technology, nanobiotechnology is expected to expand at a lucrative growth rate of 16.8% over the forecast period owing to the growing focus on nanotechnologies for efficient drug delivery and increasing research using this technology. Supportive government initiatives are significantly contributing to market growth. For instance, in September 2020, the Government of India supported research institutes in agriculture biotechnology, including organic farming. Since the last 3 years, around USD 42.67 million had been invested to support this endeavor. Moreover, the emergence of the SARS-COV-2 infection is driving the market. Companies are developing new solutions for combating the pandemic situation. For instance, in December 2020, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. announced CE-marking for TaqPath COVID-19 that can be used to perform in-vitro diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) A/B, and influenza A/B infections. The new kit will help in the detection and differentiation between diseases that have similar clinical symptoms. Request a free sample copy or view report summary: Biotechnology Market Report Biotechnology Market Report Highlights The health application segment accounted for the largest share of 48.64% in 2020 owing to the COVID-19 impact, prevalence of diseases, increasing focus on the development of regenerative medicines, and improving healthcare infrastructure The DNA sequencing technology segment held the second-largest share in 2020 owing to its growing penetration in the development of precision medicines North America held the largest share of 44.19% in 2020. Companies operating in the region are launching advanced solutions to cater to the needs of the biotechnology industry For instance, in February 2021, Waters Corporation launched Waters ACQUITY PREMIER Solution. It is a next-generation liquid chromatography solution for improving analytical data quality Asia Pacific is expected to expand at the fastest CAGR of 16.8% from 2021 to 2028 owing to favorable government initiatives and changes in drug approval regulations in India and China Biotechnology Market Segmentation Grand View Research has segmented the global biotechnology market on the basis of technology, application, and region: Biotechnology Technology Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2028) Nanobiotechnology Tissue Engineering And Regeneration DNA Sequencing Cell-based Assays Fermentation PCR Technology Chromatography Others Biotechnology Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2028) Health Food & Agriculture Natural Resources & Environment Industrial Processing Bioinformatics Others Biotechnology Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2028) North America US. Canada Europe Germany UK. Spain France Italy Asia Pacific Japan China India South Korea Australia Latin America Brazil Mexico Middle East & Africa South Africa Saudi Arabia List of Key Players of Biotechnology Market AstraZeneca Gilead Sciences, Inc. CELGENE CORPORATION Biogen Abbott Amgen Inc. Novo Nordisk A/S Merck & Co. Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. Novartis AG Sanofi Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. Pfizer, Inc. Lonza Access Press Release of Biotechnology Market@ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-biotechnology-market About Grand View Research Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare. The world's sixth largest PC maker, Acer, appears to have been hit by the Windows REvil ransomware aka Sodinokibi and the Taiwan-based company says it has reported "recent abnormal situations observed" to law enforcement. The French news site LeMagIT says the criminals behind the attack are demanding a ransom of US$50 million (A$64.7 million), the highest demanded to date in any attack. Acer's products include desktop PCs, laptop PCs, tablets, servers, storage devices, virtual reality devices, displays, smartphones and peripherals, as well as gaming PCs and accessories under its Predator brand, according to Wikipedia. The company is the world's sixth-largest PC vendor by unit sales as of January 2021, according to statistics from technology analyst firm Gartner. Earlier this month, Acer reported net income of NT$6.03 billion (A$274 million) for the full-year 2020. Consolidate revenue for the year was NT$277.11 billion. [ALERT] Large PC vendor "Acer" hit by REvil ransomware gang. pic.twitter.com/ML8AiGC1gn DarkTracer : DarkWeb Criminal Intelligence (@darktracer_int) March 18, 2021 In a statement sent toof media, Acer said it routinely monitored its IT systems, and most cyber attacks were "well defensed". "Companies like us are constantly under attack, and we have reported recent abnormal situations observed to the relevant law enforcement and data protection authorities in multiple countries," the statement said. "We have been continuously enhancing our cyber security infrastructure to protect business continuity and our information integrity. "We urge all companies and organisations to adhere to cyber security disciplines and best practices, and be vigilant to any network activity abnormalities." Screenshots of what appear to be financial documents taken by the attackers have been posted on the dark web site used by the REvil group. Update, 22 March: Commenting on the incident James Bergl, regional vice-president of Sales for the ANZ operations of cyber security and data back-up company Datto, said: "The alleged ransomware attack on Acer, reported to have come from an exploit of a Microsoft Exchange Server is just another in a series of ongoing attacks related to the recent Microsoft Exchange breach by [the alleged Chinese actor] Hafnium. "The security community continues to see active exploitation taking place in a widespread automated fashion as attackers get their hands on the chain of exploits required to complete this attack. "This attack serves as a validation that if high-profile brands can get attacked, it can happen to anyone business of all sizes are at risk. Vulnerabilities of this size are almost too complex for an organisation on its own to address. "This is where it's important for businesses to lean on their partners, including MSPs and MSSPs that have in-house, specialist security expertise and skills to help identify threats much faster. "Agility is critical in these uncertain times where cyber criminals are taking advantage of vulnerabilities to wreak mass havoc. But it's important for organisations to know they don't need to do this by themselves. "Organisations must continue to adapt, be agile and responsive and get support from security specialists who can carry out independent security and vulnerability assessments and implement appropriate security measures as and when required." House Democrats dismissed a Republican attempt to remove Rep. Eric Swalwell of California from the House intelligence panel over his contact more than six years ago with a suspected Chinese spy who targeted politicians in the United States. Democrats scuttled the effort from House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, 218-200, after the GOP leader forced a vote. His resolution against Swalwell cited information, first reported by Axios, that the suspected spy, Christine Fang, came into contact with Swalwells campaign as he was first running for Congress in 2012. She also participated in fundraising for his 2014 campaign and helped place an intern in his office, the report said. Federal investigators alerted Swalwell to their concerns - and briefed Congress - about Fang in 2015, at which point Swalwell says he cut off contact with her. Authorities have not charged him with any wrongdoing. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said in a letter to colleagues on Thursday that Swalwell is a 'trusted member of our committee' and that he had 'acted fully in accordance with his responsibilities' after the 2015 counterintelligence briefing. House Democrats dismissed a Republican attempt to remove Rep. Eric Swalwell of California (left) from the House intelligence panel over his contact more than six years ago with Christine Fang (right), a suspected Chinese spy Christine Fang came into contact with Swalwell's campaign as he was first running for Congress in 2012 but he cut off contact with her after being alerted by federal officials Schiff said that Republican leaders, including then-House Speaker John Boehner and the then-chairman of the intelligence panel, Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, were briefed on the situation at the time and 'expressed no opposition to his continued service on the committee.' McCarthy requested his own briefing about Swalwell after the Axios report in December. After the briefing, which was also attended by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, McCarthy said he thought Swalwell should be removed. The Republican resolution comes as the once-bipartisan intelligence panel deals with the raw feelings left by the investigations into former President Donald Trumps ties to Russia. While Schiff and Nunes once worked together, the Trump era shattered that as the panel became one of the most divided in all of Congress. Democrats encouraged the investigations into Trump while Republicans fiercely defended him. Swalwell has been one of Trumps sharpest critics, and served as a House impeachment manager during the former presidents second impeachment trial last month. He briefly ran for president in 2019. Introducing the resolution, McCarthy said that members who are appointed by Pelosi to the Intelligence committee 'must possess the highest level of credibility and character' and that 'no member should be compromised in any way.' Members of the committee are regularly briefed on sensitive national intelligence. Swalwells office issued a statement in December saying that he had 'long ago' provided information to the FBI about Fang, who he said he had met more than eight years ago and not seen in nearly six years. He declined to comment further 'to protect information that might be classified,' the statement said. Asked about the removal attempt earlier this week on MSNBC, Swalwell said that when he was told that someone who was helping his campaign 'was not who we thought they were, we kicked the person out, and we helped the FBI.' But he would not discuss any further details, saying he had 'honored my oath to national security' unlike those who had leaked it several years later. 'Its only about payback right now because of my role in the impeachment proceedings, and holding the president accountable,' Swalwell said. 'And I think people see through that.' Democrats scuttled the effort from House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (above), 218-200, after GOP leader forced a vote on Rep. Swalwell Rep. Eric Swalwell called GOP move 'payback' for his role in Donald Trump's impeachment The vote comes after the House voted to strip Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene off both her committees last month, an unprecedented punishment that Democrats said shed earned by spreading hateful and violent conspiracy theories. Republicans argued then that Democrats shouldnt decide who Republicans appoint to committees. 'If thats the new standard,' McCarthy said at the time, 'we have a long list.' Royal Caribbean International is resuming cruises aimed at U.S. vacationers this summer with a twist. The cruises will depart from Bermuda and the Bahamas, and adult passengers must be vaccinated against COVID-19. Passengers under 18 will be able to sail with a negative coronavirus test. Crew members will also be vaccinated. The new cruises: A seven-night cruise departing from Nassau, the Bahamas, beginning June 12, on Adventure of the Seas. Bookings open Wednesday for sailings through Aug. 31. The Bahamas itineraries will feature island hopping with two days spent back to back at Royal Caribbean's private island Perfect Day at CocoCay along with time spent in Grand Bahama Island and Cozumel, Mexico. A seven-night cruise departing from Bermuda on Vision of the Seas beginning as early as June 26, the cruise line said Tuesday. The itinerary will also include CocoCay. Reservations begin March 29. Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, said in a statement on the Bahamas cruises that the company is looking forward to returning to the Caribbean "gradually and safely." "The vaccines are clearly a game-changer for all of us, and with the number of vaccinations and their impact growing rapidly, we believe starting with cruises for vaccinated adult guests and crew is the right choice," Bayley said, noting that vaccine requirements and other safety measures are expected to evolve. President Joe Biden directed states to make COVID-19 vaccines available to all American adults no later than May 1. A return to sailing date in U.S. waters and whether vaccines will be required on vessels departing from the U.S. have not been made clear by Royal Caribbean. "That is still under consideration," Lyan Sierra-Caro, spokesperson for the cruise line, told USA TODAY. "We will continue to follow the science, and we will evolve alongside the data." When will it be safe to cruise again? These signs that will help you decide when to sail Story continues Alaska officials propose: 'Alaska Tourism Recovery Act' to aid cruise, tourism industry amid Canada's COVID concerns Royal Caribbean said in a release that it also would implement its Healthy Sail Panel Recommendations on the new cruises, including face coverings, temperature checks and testing, with additional details on health and safety to come soon. It's the first time the cruise line will launch cruises from the Bahamas and Bermuda. "We are grateful for the confidence that they have in us and our commitment to a healthy and happy return to sailing," Bayley said. In addition to meeting Royal Caribbean's requirements, passengers must meet the Bahamas' entry requirements, which include a negative PCR test no more than five days ahead of arrival, a test upon arrival in the Bahamas and filling out entry forms. Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert A. Minnis said in a statement that he expects a "vibrant" tourism season in the Bahamas. I am especially pleased that Royal Caribbean, with whom we have had a long and mutually beneficial relationship for more than 50 years, selected The Bahamas as a homeport when sailing resumes," Minnis said. "This is truly a new day for tourism. It should inspire many small- to medium-sized businesses, tour operators, taxi drivers, restaurants and retailers to prepare for brighter days ahead." Seven-night cruises on Adventure of the Seas will be open to fully vaccinated adult passengers and crew members and passengers under 18 with a negative coronavirus test. Travelers booking the new Bermuda cruises must also meet travel requirements there, which include a negative PCR test result before traveling and testing upon arrival into the country. We look forward to welcoming Royal Caribbean passengers back to our shores and the opportunity for pre- and post-cruise stays in Bermuda. I am very excited that Bermuda will commence safe cruising this summer with our partner Royal Caribbean for their homeporting initiative from Bermuda to their private island Perfect Day at CocoCay, said The Hon. W. Lawrence Scott, JP, MP, Minister of Transport, Bermuda. Royal Caribbean is also set to offer "fully vaccinated" sailings on its newest ship, Odyssey of the Seas, which will make its debut in Israel in May. On the Odyssey of the Seas, all passengers over 16, plus crew members, will be required to show proof of vaccination. Also Friday, Royal Caribbean International's sibling line, Celebrity Cruises, which is also owned by Royal Caribbean Group, announced in a release that it would return to sailing June 5. The Celebrity Millennium will sail from St. Maarten for a series of seven-night cruises. Vaccinated crew and adult vaccinated passengers plus passengers under 18 with a negative test within 72 hours of departure will be welcome. Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO of Celebrity, said in a statement that the return to cruising in the Caribbean is a "significant moment" for the cruise line. "It marks the measured beginning of the end of what has been a uniquely challenging time for everyone," Lutoff-Perlo said. Costa, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian: Aim to require crew to get COVID-19 vaccines before boarding cruise ships Contributing: Dawn Gilbertson This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Royal Caribbean Bermuda, Bahamas cruises for COVID vaccinated cruisers New Delhi: Jaga and Kalia, conjoined twins of Odisha, are expected to undergo the second phase of surgery to separate their heads in mid-October at the AIIMS, New Delhi. The 28-month-old twins who are joined at the heads were taken to AIIMS on July 13 and a team of 40 doctors conducted the 20-hour long first surgery on them on August 28. Jaga and Kalia are conjoined twins who are fused at the cranium. "The health condition of Jaga-Kalia is fine after first surgery at the AIIMS in New Delhi, they are expected to go for the crucial second surgery after one-and-a-half months," Odisha Health Minister P K Jena said. Odisha government has been funding the operation and deployed a health department employee to keep a tab on the health condition of the twins. A mass prayer was offered to Lord Jagannath by an organization at a local temple for the quick recovery of Jaga and Kalia. Craniopagus is a very rare kind of surgery and only 59 such surgeries have been conducted in the world since 1973 while the most recent one taken place in New York in November 2016. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/19/2021 -- Transparency Market Research delivers key insights on the global targeting pods market. In terms of revenue, the global targeting pods market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of ~5% during the forecast period, owing to numerous factors, regarding which TMR offers thorough insights and forecasts in its report on the global targeting pods market. Targeting pods are electronic devices used in fighter aircraft for attacking moving targets located on the ground or in the air. Targeting pods are deployed in both fixed-wing and rotary-wing fighter aircraft. Also, they are deployed in combat UAVs. With growing security threats worldwide, countries are strengthening their military & defense sectors. Moreover, they are focusing on aircraft modernization, which is driving the adoption of targeting pods. Targeting Pods Market: Dynamics Military and defense spending is an important aspect of the economy of any country. Governments of countries across the globe, especially the U.S., China, Saudi Arabia, India, Germany, and the U.K., are spending significantly to strengthen their defense forces. For instance, in December 2019, the U.S. President Donald Trump signed a defense bill worth US$ 738 Bn for the year 2020. Funding is also provided to conduct research and development for advancements in services including modernization of fighter aircraft. For instance, in September 2019, the Government of India announced its plans to spend US$ 130 Bn on the modernization of fighter aircraft. This, in turn, would propel the targeting pods market in the country, as aircraft modernization includes deployment of technologically advanced targeting pods for surveillance, reconnaissance, and attack. Request Sample For More Information@ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=76987 Targeting pods integrated in fighter aircraft provide advantages during a combat mission, as they help in watching and attacking a target located on the ground at day and night time. In addition to this, a targeting pod allows a laser-guided weapon to attack both moving and fixed targets. However, before the deployment onto a fighter aircraft, a targeting pod has to be fit checked. Fit checking includes verification of all interfaces, communication lines, and engineering of a targeting pod. It also includes evaluation of parameters, including laser mask zone, before the deployment. Several manufacturers of targeting pods are conducting tests before deployment of targeting pods onto an aircraft. For instance, in 2019, Lockheed Martin Corporation announced the completion of fit check of targeting pods on an aircraft called FA-50. Targeting Pods Market: Prominent Regions North America is projected to hold a significant share of the global targeting pods market, in terms of revenue, during the forecast period, owing to growing incorporation of targeting pods in military aircraft in the region. The U.S. is home to several well-established players that design and provide targeting pods, such as Flir Systems, L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. These players have introduced technological advancements in their targeting pods. Moreover, high defense spending in the U.S., which is focused on strengthening the country's security with advancements in combat aircraft is also contributing to the significant market share of North America. The estimated defense spending of the U.S. from October 2020 to September 2021 is US$ 934 Bn. Request For Custom Research Report@ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=76987 Targeting Pods Market: Key Players The bargaining power of buyers is moderate, owing to presence of a large number of well-established players in the global targeting pods market, which design, manufacture, and supply targeting pods worldwide. Key market players are Aselsan, Flir Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, Moog, Northrop Grumman, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Thales Group, and Raytheon Company. If Rahul Gandhi is going to be our Prime Minister one day, he needs to learn how to handle awkward situations, in particular those connected to his familys past. (Photo: PTI) One of the best tests of a politicians skill and talent is his ability to handle awkward and embarrassing moments. Amongst the worst is when youre asked to accept and admit your own mistake, that of your party or your family. It seems this is not Rahul Gandhis forte. Actually, the truth is his family is rather poor at it. His grandmother was no better. Earlier this month, when Kaushik Basu of Cornell University questioned Rahul about the Emergency, he claimed Indira Gandhi had called it a mistake and added: The Congress at no point attempted to capture Indias institutional framework. He was utterly wrong on both counts. The one thats a flagrant violation of the truth is the latter. Under the Emergency, Indira Gandhi arrested at least 100,000 people, including most Opposition leaders. The press was censored. The judiciary and civil service tampered with. Elections postponed. The Constitution brutally amended. All of this should be known to Mr Gandhi, even if he was five at the time. A less obvious error -- actually its an untruth -- is the claim his grandmother Indira Gandhi considered the Emergency a mistake. Indira Gandhi accepted responsibility for the Emergency and the election defeat that followed. Of that theres no doubt. But thats very different to calling it a mistake. In fact, she found artful ways of responding to the errors and lapses of the Emergency, while exculpating the Emergency itself. When she spoke of it, she justified it. Her first tactic was to accept excesses may have been committed. In an interview to Mary Carass, in July 1978, she said muzzling the press was too strong a step. In other words, a less stringent form of control would have been preferable. But controlling the press was not a mistake. A second tactic was to claim other people made mistakes but she was willing to take responsibility for them. Indian Express on January 24, 1978 reported her speech at Yavatmal: Mrs Gandhi said even if others, who were responsible for the mistakes and excesses, were not willing to own up, she would own the responsibility for those mistakes. A third tactic was to actually minimise whatever errors or mistakes she was willing to acknowledge. To Mary Carass, she said: Except for the detention of political persons and press censorship there was not much that was abnormal. Of the killings at Turkman Gate, she had the effrontery to say: There was no violence just one or two isolated cases. Even on the critical issue of sterilisation, which, perhaps, traumatised North India, Indira Gandhi refused to accept the extent of what had happened. This is what she told Paul R. Brass on March 26, 1978: The basic thing which defeated us was the false propaganda. Its not that we didnt make mistakes or any of those things, but they were blown out of all proportion. Even with regard to family planning, the way they spread things frankly, I dont think it was sterilisation at all. It was a propaganda no such thing took place on that scale. There were some cases, but most of the cases we followed up did not turn out to be true. In each of these instances Indira Gandhi was only referring to specific things that happened under the Emergency -- censorship, arrests, Turkman Gate, sterilisation -- but not the Emergency itself. She was trying to distinguish between the Emergency and mistakes that happened. You dont need forensic expertise to realise she had no problem with the actual declaration of the Emergency. Indian Express reported on January 24, 1978 that, after accepting responsibility for other peoples mistakes and excesses, Indira Gandhi justified the Emergency. She, however, asked the audience to recall the situation in the country when the Emergency was declared and said things were in a chaotic condition all around. If things were allowed to continue, the situation that developed in Bangladesh would have been repeated in India. The paper adds Mrs Gandhi said, the situation just before the imposition of Emergency was very grave, and the very survival of the nation was threatened. She described the Emergency as a dose of medicine to cure the disease. When Paul Brass asked: Would you have done anything differently in relation to the Emergency? Her answer began with the word No. It couldnt have been more pointed. Thereafter she said her mistake was not to have personally looked into the suffering the Emergency caused. Her exact words were: My mistake was not to have looked into these matters personally and discussed. So lets be clear, Indira Gandhi didnt think the Emergency was a mistake and she certainly didnt apologise for it. No doubt she accepted responsibility for the 1977 election defeat and accepted the biggest cause was the Emergency, but she never said it was wrong. Sagarika Ghose, her most recent biographer, who helped immeasurably with my research, concurs. Ive found no record of Indira Gandhi accepting and admitting the Emergency was a mistake. Rahul Gandhi also alleged while the RSS today is stuffing institutions with its own people, the Congress behaviour during the Emergency was fundamentally different. Again, hes wrong. Its behaviour was almost identical -- from the Supreme Court, where a junior judge was made Chief Justice, forcing H.R. Khanna to resign, to the civil service, where his grandmother publicly called for committed officers and Nirmal Mukherjee was removed as home secretary. The commitment required was to her and her family. Now I can understand why Rahul Gandhi flubbed. First, he wanted to distinguish the Emergency from the situation prevailing today, and make the former seem nowhere near as bad. Hence his claim the Congress at no point attempted to capture Indias institutional framework. Second, by asserting his grandmother called the Emergency a mistake, he wanted to ensure no further embarrassing questions would be asked. It was a way of conceding a point in the hope of ending the conversation. But his answers have created a new controversy. There are now questions about his knowledge, his judgment, his truthfulness and, of course, his ability to handle awkward moments. On all these, he acquitted himself pretty miserably. If this was a googly, Mr Gandhi got bowled. If it was a test, he didnt pass. If the intention was to impress his audience, he didnt succeed. So if hes going to be our Prime Minister one day, he needs to learn how to handle awkward situations, in particular those connected to his familys past. Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong says the public supports and wants a new HCM City Can Tho railway, but a 150 kilometer railway would not be ideal in terms of length. The Phuong Nam Science and Technology Institute has proposed that the Ministry of Transport (MOT) change the direction and add nine urban satellite stations to the $10 billion HCM City Can Tho High-speed Railway after seven years of research. Under the new suggestion, the route would go along the right corridor of the HCM City Trung Luong and Trung Luong My Thuan highways, and be 134.9 kilometers long, traversing five cities and provinces, namely HCM City, Long An, Tien Giang, Vinh Long and Can Tho. It would have nine stations, starting at Tan Kien station in HCM City and ending at Can Tho station in Can Tho City. The suggested re-direction is different from the initial detailed plan of the HCM City Can Tho, which would have begun at the An Binh cargo station in Binh Duong and end in Can Tho, with length of 173.677 kilometers, including 14 stations. The adjustment would reduce the length of the entire route by five kilometers, thus saving $200 million in construction costs. For a high-speed railway, the dual 1,435 mm gauge for both passenger and cargo transport will be used. The maximum speed for passenger trains would be 200 kilometers per hour, and 150 kilometers for a cargo train. The HCM City Can Tho route is capitalized at $4.4 billion, while the Thanh Phu Hiep Phuoc branch is $791.35 million. The remaining $4.6 billion is reserved for urban terminal and other items. The institute has suggested implementing the project under the PPP (public private partnership) mode, with 100 percent of capital from private investors. The State will come forward and intervene in the organization of site clearance, but private investors will pay for site clearance. They will manage and exploit the route for 25 years before handing over to the state. Vu Quang Khoi, head of the Vietnam Railway Administration, said the HCM City Can Tho will help ease the overloading on roads. However, he asked to clarify what type of PPP investment to be applied as there is no detailed financial plan. MOT Deputy Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong said the railway project is just a suggestion from Phuong Nam. However, he said that 150 kilometers is not the ideal distance for a railway. With the suggested length and speed, the railway wont be able to compete with waterways and roads, he said. Vu Diep Ministry of Transport warns about localities airport boom The development of the airport network depends on socio-economic conditions, not just on localities proposals. 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. President Joe Biden speaks from the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington on Feb. 22, 2021. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) Biden Pushes Green Energy as Informed Environmentalists Abandon It Commentary President Joe Biden and others who would stake the future of modern civilization on wind and solar technologies are ignoring former environmental activists who have now soured on so-called green energy. As better-informed people increasingly turn to the responsible use of fossil fuels and nuclear power, political leaders continue to pursue a false green promise. In Washington, radical anti-fossil fuel policies are being promoted that would devastate Americas economy. It continues to be promoted, even though its obvious that overreliance on wind energy contributed to costly and deadly power outages last month during a Texas cold snap and similar, but not so deadly, results recently in Europe. There are plenty of arguments against these green proposals made purportedly to save the planet from human-induced warming. First, the underlying premise of looming planetary doom due to man-made warming is demonstrably false. By nearly every metric, Earth and its people are flourishing. As much as half the planets surface has become greener over the past 50 years because of slightly higher levels of carbon dioxide and natural increases in warmth. Secondly, investments in wind turbines and solar panels divert resources from more reliable and efficient fossil fuels and nuclear power that have produced unprecedented prosperity. Green warriors who dismiss these arguments at least ought to consider that many of those who once embraced radical plans to save the planet now spurn them. One is Michael Schellenberger, a green-energy activist who hosted on his 16th birthday a fundraiser to save rain forests. Now middle-aged and author of the 2020 book Apocalypse Never, Schellenberger says, The idea that were going to replace oil and coal and natural gas with solar and wind and nothing else is a hallucinatory delusion. Schellenberger tells of his realization that fossil fuels were key to an astonishing improvement of the human condition since the 18th century and are necessary to raise billions of third-world inhabitants from crushing poverty and privation. Green technologies, he concludes, are expensive, unreliable, environmentally damaging, and incapable of sustaining the globe. Human civilization would have to occupy one hundred to one thousand times more space if it were to rely solely on renewables, Schellenberger writes. If the United States were to try to generate all of the energy it uses with renewables, 25 percent to 50 percent of all land in the United States would be required. By contrast, todays energy system requires just 0.5 percent of land in the United States. There are plenty of others such as Schellenberger. In the 2013 video documentary Pandoras Promise, he appeared with four former opponents of nuclear power to promote that technology over both of the green technologies they once endorsed. Of nuclear power, Schellenberger writes: Between 1965 and 2018, the world spent about $2 trillion for nuclear and $2.3 trillion for solar and wind. At the end of the experiment, the world received about twice as much electricity from nuclear as it did from solar and wind. One of the better-known environmentalists to have moderated his views is Dr. Patrick Moore, a founding member of Greenpeace who left the organization and wrote Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout: The Making of a Sensible Environmentalist. Currently a board member at the CO2 Coalition, he also has written a paper, The Positive Impact of Human CO2 Emissions on the Survival of Life on Earth. The paper concludes that carbon dioxide released from fossil fuels in the industrial age may have reversed a long-term, dangerous decline that threatened to bring CO2 concentrations below the level needed for plant life. That catastrophe would make the current climate scare an ironic footnote in the epitaph of humanity. Another who first promoted but now rejects alternative energy is Michael Moore, a quintessential West Coast liberal whose 2019 documentary Planet of the Humans presents green energy as an environmentally dangerous, money-grubbing, capitalist con. However, the film falls well short of sensible when it concludes that environmental issues demand Earths depopulation. Which returns us to the stubborn allegiance to green energy of people such as those now in power in Washington, who are proposing economically crippling carbon taxation schemes. Why the insistence on punishing the technologies that provide affordable, abundant, and reliable energy and supporting those that dont? Schellenberger suggests that underlying extreme environmentalism is an anti-civilization view that rejects the very solutions that would solve the supposed problems. Those concerned about carbon dioxide reject nuclear power, just as Malthusians who predicted mass starvation from overpopulation opposed birth control, he says. Alex Epstein, author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, identifies the affliction as an absence of clear thinking. Whatever sociopathic or intellectual disorder drives the green obsession, a regrettably high number of our leaders suffer from it. From RealClearWire. Gregory Wrightstone is a geologist and the executive director of the CO2 Coalition in Arlington, Va. He is the author of the bestselling book Inconvenient Facts: The Science That Al Gore Doesnt Want You to Know. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. The regent honeyeater is already one of the worlds rarest birds, but experts are worried that it could soon go extinct, because they have forgotten how to sing. Flocks of hundreds of regent honeyeaters could once be spotted all over south-eastern Australia on a regular basis, but today the species is critically endangered, with only 300 specimens believed to exist in the entire world. They were also known for the complexity of their mating songs, but as their numbers started dwindling, ornithologists started noticing this complexity diminishing, to the point where male regent honeyeaters didnt even sound like their species anymore. Today, there is ample evidence that regent honeyeaters have forgotten how to sing, which could render the entire species extinct. Photo: Jss367/Wikimedia Commons At one point, Australian ornithologists noticed that male regent honeyeaters were imitating the songs of other bird species, like friarbirds, currawongs and cuckooshrikes, but they offered no explanation as to why that was happening. Some experts believed that the mimicry was considered a deliberate strategy to avoid getting attacked by the larger birds. However, a recent study showed otherwise The poor birds are not getting the chance to to learn what they should be singing, said Dr Ross Crates, an ecologist at the Fenner School of Environment and author of the study. They dont get the chance to hang around with other honeyeaters and learn what theyre supposed to sound like. Photo: Mark Gillow/Flickr Young regent honeyeaters learn their songs from adult members of their species, just like human children learn to speak, but because they are spread so thin in their habitat, many males dont get to listen to the right songs, so they start adopting the tunes of other bird species. The problem is that these arent the songs female regent honeybirds want to hear, so their chances of finding a mate are very slim. When their chicks hatch, regent honeyeaters tend to stay very quiet, in order to avoid attracting predators, so juveniles learn their songs when they leave the nest, by listening to other adults and imitating them. But because there are so few of them left, they dont get to hear other birds of their species in the wild. Photo: Andrew Arch/Flickr Theyre so rare and the area they could occupy is so big probably 10 times the size of the UK that we were looking for a needle in a haystack, Dr Crates told the BBC. So they end up learning the songs of other species. Crates and his team set out not to investigate the songs of the regent honeyeaters, but to find specimens in the wild, which proved a massive challenge. But it was during their searches that they found honeybirds that didnt sound anything like a regent honeyeater, but as different bird species. According to this newly published study, the natural song of the regent honeyeater has essentially disappeared in at least 12% of the population, and considering the size of that population (around 300 specimens), that is a huge concern. Scientists are no planning to put captured males that can sing in aviaries next to captive-bred regent honeyeaters so that the juveniles can learn the right song. They then plan to release them into the wild every few years, where they will hopefully be able to attract females and reproduce. This study shows how damaging population declines and habitat fragmentation might be to this critical process in the life of songbirds, said Dr Sue Anne Zollinger, an expert in animal communication from Manchester Metropolitan University. Favour Anthony, a nurse attached to the residence of former Minister of Aviation Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has denied allegations of assault... Favour Anthony, a nurse attached to the residence of former Minister of Aviation Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has denied allegations of assaults and sexual harassment against him. A former domestic staff of Fani-Kayode, Anthonia Uchenna,had alleged the former Minister stripped his former chef naked over theft and arrested some others suspected of stealing in his house. But Anthony debunked the allegations, saying they were all lies from the pit of hell. She alleged the estranged wife of the former Minister, Precious Chikwendu, was behind efforts to tarnish his image. Anthony, who also is a pastor, in a statement, said there was never a time the ex-minister assaulted anyone. She said the lady in the viral video was sacked in 2019 for allegedly stealing. According to her: My name is Pastor Favour Anthony. I am the head nurse of Chief Fani-Kayode. I have been working with him and the children for four years. Read Also: Mixed reactions over Fani-Kayodes picture with Buni It has been brought to my attention that one Anthonia, who was sacked in 2019, has gone to the press and made a video in which she has told many lies against Chief Fani-Kayode. She has also made a video which is full of falsehood and fabrications, she also swore to a fake affidavit making these allegations, this matter is now under criminal investigation and Anthonia was told to tell these lies together with five other former staff members just to tarnish Chief Fani-Kayode name. She added: In all my four years of working in Chief Fani-Kayodes house, none of the staff was sexually molested including An and no staff was ever stripped naked, this is a ridiculous claim and it never happened. I am the head nurse and the first person anyone would have reported such things to is me, it never happened. The allegations of sexual harassment are also false because everybody know how disciplined chief Fani-Kayode is around those that take care of his children. There are also many people who have worked here before who will tell you the truth. I am a married woman and a pastor. My husband is also a pastor and we have our own church, I have not lied and do not need to lie. For four years up until today no less than 15 nannies and nurses worked under me and not one of them have ever complained about Chief Fani-Kayode. 'Captured alive on May 8, killed on May 17 in alleged clash with Sabah police' FIVE ABU Sayyaf terrorists were killed following an a... ALBANY Albany Countys health commissioner made a direct appeal Friday to individuals who are still undecided about getting vaccinated, arguing vaccines are the quickest path to normalcy and critical as cases of coronavirus have begun to plateau and even rise in other parts of the state, nation and globe. Dr. Elizabeth Whalen addressed the rise in cases being seen elsewhere which scientists believe are being fueled by highly contagious variants and relaxed precautions while also acknowledging the overall decrease the county has seen in cases since mid-January. It is reassuring that our numbers of cases are decreasing, but theyre not low enough for us to take a pass yet, she said. Theyre not low enough for people to say, Well, the numbers are going down, maybe I dont have to be vaccinated. The Capital Region, like much of the rest of the country, saw a sharp drop in cases, hospitalizations and deaths since all three peaked at high levels in January. But over the last month those declines have slowed, and cases have been in a plateau now for weeks. The eight-county region has averaged around 200 confirmed cases of the virus a day since mid-February, a Times Union analysis of county data show. The regions seven-day positivity rate has also been stuck at or near 2 percent since mid-February. While hospitalizations have generally been in decline since mid-January, they also began to plateau this month. Capital Region hospitals have been averaging a daily census of around 100 coronavirus patients since March 9. The chart shows daily hospitalizations related to COVID-19 in the eight counties of the Capital Region. Graphics by Cathleen F. Crowley and Bethany Bump/Times Union (About the data) Were seeing in other countries a third wave, Whalen said Friday. The term third wave is not something that we want to think about, but it is definitely a possibility and as we see these highly communicable strains emerging and we see spread in different parts of the country and in other countries, this is a major concern for us. In the Northeast, officials are concerned that a variant discovered in New York City may be slowing the rate at which positivity rates are dropping as cases have plateaued at high levels in some places. Meanwhile, White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warned this week that the U.S. should take a lesson from Europe, where a new wave of cases is being seen in some countries, and avoid lifting public health restrictions too soon. Whalen said there are two main ways to avoid a third wave of infections. The first is all the public health precautions people have been advised to take since the beginning: wear a mask while out in public, maintain social distance, wash hands frequently, and avoid large gatherings. The second is to get vaccinated. There are many people that are currently trying to get vaccines, she said. There are some people that are committed never to get vaccines. But there are a lot of you that are in between and those are the people that I would like to speak to about the importance of having confidence in this vaccine. The coronavirus vaccines that have been approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration were shown to be both safe and effective during clinical trials, she noted. Contrary to disinformation being found online, the vaccines do not alter a persons DNA and they do not give you COVID-19, she said. Whalen said she herself got vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine. I want to really encourage people that when your time comes to be vaccinated please sign up and be vaccinated, it is the best way to move forward ... I would not vaccinate or encourage family members to be vaccinated unless I believed this was safe, unless I had reviewed the scientific evidence, she said. And I will say without reservation that I do recommend vaccination. She noted that side effects may occur after vaccination, but added that this is a normal response that indicates the bodys immune system is ramping up to learn how to fight COVID-19. She also advised people to be careful about where they are getting their vaccine information and recommended they seek out credible information from the county Health Department website, state Health Department website, or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Facebook is not a trusted source of vaccine information. When we talk about evidence, when I talk about giving information to the public that is evidence-based, its important to know that evidence does not equal anecdote that means that evidence takes the experience of a large, statistically significant group of people and tells you what risk is," she said. "Anecdote, in contrast, is a story from someone who gave you their personal experience. Theres a big difference." Local counties are making progress with their vaccination efforts. As of Friday, just over 29 percent of people living in the eight-county Capital Region had received at least one dose of vaccine and nearly 15 percent had been fully vaccinated, state data show. Experts have said at least 70 percent of the population must be immune in order to reach herd immunity. Whalen and other local officials are also reminding people that full protection from the vaccines does not occur until two weeks after the last dose. We do see people get that first dose of vaccine and think they can go out and not wear masks and act normally and socialize, and then we see them come down with COVID, Whalen said. Thats not at all uncommon, unfortunately. So know that it takes your body time to build these antibodies. While the vaccines are highly effective at preventing moderate to severe illness caused by the virus, it is possible for vaccinated people to still carry the virus and spread it to others, which is why officials have urged vaccinated people to wear masks and distance while around others who may not be vaccinated. Warren County on Thursday said it had documented two cases of coronavirus this week among people who had been fully vaccinated in January. Both have mild illness and are the first cases the county has seen among vaccinated residents. An additional six cases have been reported in the county in recent weeks among people who have only had one dose. Vaccines have not been touted as 100 percent effective, but dramatically lessen the chance of becoming ill and serious illness among those who do contract COVID, the county said in a statement. Warren County Health Services urges that those who have been vaccinated continue to follow COVID-related precautions until community spread slows. Setsuko Winchester, an artist and writer living in Sandisfield, explores histories of anti-Asian discrimination in her The Dissent Collars project. The buried histories of anti-Asian racism that Winchester explores in her project, she said, largely are left out of history textbooks. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-18 22:50:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga (L, Front) receives the vaccine at Wilkins Hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe, on March 18, 2021. Chiwenga received his second Sinopharm dose here on Thursday. (Photo by Wanda/Xinhua) HARARE, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga on Thursday received his second Sinopharm dose at Wilkins Hospital in Harare. The VP was the first Zimbabwean to receive the jab on February 18 as the country began its rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination program. Chiwenga said vaccination was the best weapon against the virus, adding that the government was hiring retired health workers to speed up the pace of inoculation. "We are engaging them because if we are to achieve the 60 percent herd immunity, we have to do it faster and we have to have enough manpower on the ground," he said. Zimbabwe has so far received two batches of the Sinopharm vaccine donated by China, and an additional batch of Sinovac doses which were purchased from the Asian country. At least 37,000 people have been vaccinated in Zimbabwe, against a targeted population of 10 million, since the inoculation program started a month ago. Enditem More than 150 seasonal workers from Vanuatu have arrived in Tasmania as the first cohort to do so under a quarantine agreement struck by the state. Some 56 of the workers will remain in Tasmania to take up farm and agribusiness roles after their quarantine ends, while the rest will head to work in Victoria. Under the agreement with the Victorian government, Tasmania will quarantine workers from the Pacific Islands over the first half of 2021 but Victoria and the agriculture industry will foot the bill. Another 144 workers will arrive from the Solomon Islands on Tuesday, with 54 to stay and work in Tasmania (pictured, a woman fruit picking in Australia) In return, the Victorian government will take on Tasmania's commitment towards repatriating overseas Australians. Another 144 workers will arrive from the Solomon Islands on Tuesday, with 54 to stay and work in Tasmania. The tragic events that transpired in Atlanta earlier this week serve as a vivid illustration of how ill-served the American people are by their media. A very troubled 21-year-old white man attacked three spas in the Atlanta area, murdering eight people, six of whom were Asian women. The perpetrator said he was a sex addict who was seeking to remove sexual temptation (all three spas were listed on Rubmaps, an erotic review telling people where they can locate and rate illicit massage parlors), and when captured, he was on his way to attack other sexually-oriented businesses. However, the media immediately glommed onto the fact that six Asian women had been murdered by a white man and instantaneously the media started chanting hate crime and systemic white racism. The New York Times front page, top fold headline is illustrative: Rampage in Georgia Deepens Fears of Rising Anti-Asian Hatred in U.S. USA TODAY, the slightly more monosyllabic New York Times mini-me, breathlessly proclaimed just below the newspaper masthead, Horrific Georgia killings heighten fear of hate. Perhaps the apex of nonsense was achieved by Rep. Bee Nguyen, a Georgia legislator, queen of politically hip lingo who described the murders as at the intersection of gender-bias violence, misogyny and xenophobia. Source:The Christian Post In relief for Amazon, Delhi HC puts Future-Reliance deal on hold In a win for e-commerce firm Amazon, the Delhi High Court on Thursday upheld the Emergency Award passed against the $3.4-billion Future-Reliance deal. The order, passed by a single-judge Bench of Justice J R Midha, will restrain Future Retail from going ahead with the deal. The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 20 lakh on Future and the money will go to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. The court held that Future Retail, Future Coupons (the promoter entity of Future Retail), founder and owner Kishore Biyani and others violated the Emergency Award. Issuing a show-cause notice to Biyani and others, it asked why they should not be detained in civil prison, according law platform Bar & Bench. Directing the attachment of Biyani's assets, the court ordered the filing of an affidavit describing his assets. Read More DFI bond subscribers to get tax reimbursement from Centre's Rs 5K cr grant The government-owned development finance institution (DFI) will not issue tax-free bonds, but subscribers will get reimbursement for the taxes paid from a Rs 5,000-crore grant from the Centre. "Instead of allowing the DFI to raise money through tax-saving instruments, the Bill provides that the tax element will get neutralised through this corpus," said a senior finance ministry official. The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Bill to create the government-promoted DFI. Read More Scrappage plan has sops for buying new vehicles, pain for driving old ones The Centre on Thursday announced the much-awaited vehicle scrapping policy, seeking to increase business and employment, and reduce pollution and road hazards created by old vehicles. Through this policy, the government is looking to incentivise scrapping vehicles older than 15 years and replacing them with new ones, while discouraging the use of old vehicles. The scheme targets multiple problems at one go, Nitin Gadkari, minister of road transport and highways, said, making a statement on the policy in the Lok Sabha. Read More Seizing Indian assets won't be easy for Cairn Energy, say experts The UK-based oil major Cairn Energy faces a long and arduous process if it wishes to follow through on its threat of seizing Indian sovereign assets in case of non-enforcement of the international arbitration award, said experts. Hence, there is little chance of seizure, given international arbitration norms, the experts added. In fact, some government officials said Cairns best chance of getting the award enforced is to approach Indian courts, which could also take years. Read More Second wave of Covid? From Tanishq to Panasonic, India Inc says we're ready If, perchance, there should be a second Covid-19 wave, companies will not be scattering in disarray this time round because many of them have re-configured their businesses to cope, so companies such as jewellery seller Tanishq can let consumers try on necklaces and ear-rings virtually and deliver the items to their doorstep. Tanishq has overhauled its sales channels through a host of technological initiatives. Read More Jio, Airtel, Voda Idea make Rs 21,916 crore upfront payments for spectrum Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea on Thursday made upfront payments for the spectrum bought in the recently concluded auctions. It is learnt that while Reliance Jio has made a payment of Rs 15,019 crore, Bharti Airtel and Vi paid Rs 6,323 crore and Rs 574 crore, respectively. The telecom department had issued demand notes to the three operators on March 8, and the deadline for making the upfront payment was Thursday. Reliance Jio emerged the highest bidder in the 4G telecom spectrum auction, beating incumbents Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea by a wide margin. Read More MCA21 Version 3.0: Govt's automated system to keep an eye on firms Financial ratios of companies such as debt to turnover, inventory to turnover, or loan to assets will soon come under closer government scrutiny through an automated system under the soon-to-be-launched portal MCA21 Version 3.0. The central scrutiny centre being set up by the government will pull up companies if it detects any suspicious activity based on a list of parameters that are being finalised by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), a senior official told Business Standard. Read More Centre may sell stake in Rail Vikas Nigam through OFS this month The government may sell its stake in Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) through an offer for sale (OFS) this month, according to a senior government official. The plan was delayed by a few months as the stock nosedived during the pandemic and was trading below its book value. The stock of the public sector undertaking (PSU), which executes railway infrastructure projects, has recovered since, and hit a 52-week high of Rs 35.60 on January 11, 2021. Read More The Bhitarkanika National Park and Revenue department authorities have demolished unauthorized prawn dykes and reclaimed nearly 55 hectares of encroached government land lying on the fringe of swampy mangrove forest in Odisha's Kendrapara district, officials said. These plots were under the unauthorized occupation of prawn farmers. The erection of prawn dykes was unlawful as these plots had spilled into prohibited Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) areas, they said. The dyke (ghery) demolition was undertaken along the forest-side patches in Batighar forest block under Mahakalpada tehsil on Wednesday. The gheries were dismantled amid the presence of armed police. No report of any untoward incident was reported during the exercise, said officials. "The reclaimed patches are being taken up for mangrove regeneration programme so that prawn farmers would not reoccupy the encroachment-free areas. The mangrove plantation work would begin within a week", said Divisional Forest Officer, Rajnagar Mangrove (wildlife) Forest Division, Bikash Chandra Dash. The reclaimed areas are conducive for mangrove regeneration as there is a regular inflow of tidal waters, he said. Conceding the fact that similar exercise undertaken in the past has not been entirely successful in checking the mangrove degradation, the forest officials said the eviction drive is being launched in an organised manner this time. A task force comprising senior and experienced forest protection officials has been constituted. Public awareness is being generated on the mangrove protection and residents of nearby villages are beginning to realise that mangrove is a time-tested natural barrier against tidal surge and cyclones, they said. Green activists are, however, of the view that large areas are still under unlawful and environmentally-damaging prawn cultivation. "Provisions of clauses of Coastal Regulation Zone, environment protection law, and forest conservation act are being contravened. Besides influential land-grabbers and prawn mafias are infringing Orissa land encroachment act. "The revenue department is empowered to evict them and institute criminal cases against the encroachers while the forest officials are also empowered to demolish the gheries," said environment activist Biswajit Mohanty. (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.) Taoiseach Micheal Martin revealed he personally urged US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ensure global supply chains are protected so multiple Covid-19 vaccines can finally end the year-long worldwide pandemic. Mr Martin, speaking in Cork, warned that only through working to guarantee the maximum possible quantity of global vaccine development and delivery can the world slowly begin to return to normal. His comments came amid mounting concerns over global vaccine 'nationalism' with major pharmaceutical producing countries dominating supplies for domestic use. Read More He pointed out that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine alone includes 280 ingredients from suppliers with operations across 19 countries. Mr Martin said both President Biden and Prime Minister Johnson were very clear about focusing first on addressing their domestic vaccine demands before deciding on shipping surplus vaccine stocks to other countries. "We did discuss it [vaccines] very widely and what he [President Biden] said and what he made very clear to us was he was waiting until the end of May to ensure they would have a sufficiency of supply for the entire American population before they would discuss the sharing of vaccines. That was a very clear message that he sent," he said. "He did reference, to be fair, both Canada and Mexico. They are obviously close neighbours and have challenges of their own. We had a very wide ranging discussion." The Taoiseach said the key point he made to the US president was that it was imperative to keep supply chains open for the production of vaccines. "I have spoken to all of the pharmaceutical companies and that is the key point. If you take for example the Pfizer vaccine alone - you are looking at 280 materials to make that, 86 suppliers and all operating in 19 different countries. So when I talk about integrated global supply chains, that is what I am talking about," Mr Martin said. "And all counties, including the US, need to be mindful that they need to keep those supply chains open. That is ultimately the way we manufacture enough globally and produce enough. "From the European and Irish perspective, we will have a high volume of vaccines in the country in Quarter Two. We have hardened up on the figures from the various companies from Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, PfizerBioNTech and indeed AstraZeneca. We will have high volumes coming in (over) April, May, June and July. But The Taoiseach said he received the same answer from both Mr Biden and Mr Johnson. "He (President Biden) made it clear to me - just as Prime Minister Johnson did - that he was going to vaccinate his own people before he could contemplate selling it to us or anyone else, Mr Martin said. "He said it would be the end of May before they could see what they could do with any excess vaccines. He wanted to make sure he would have a sufficiency of supply to vaccinate the American population - that dovetails with what some of the companies have said to me too." Mr Martin said Ireland is now gearing up to resume AstraZeneca jabs following the European Medicines Agency (EMA) ruling that it is safe and effective. The Taoiseach said it was vital that the public adhere to Covid-19 restrictions to allow time for the vaccine programme to get into top gear. "I have been very consistent - in advance of April 5 the Government will announce what will happen during the next phase in April. I am not going to speculate about any specific aspects of that, he said. "What I have said to people is that we will look at the 5km (travel restriction), we will look at construction, outdoor activity and sporting activity. We do understood - we get it that people are fed up. But I want to thank people - they have been remarkable." "We have brought numbers down from a very high level after Christmas to relatively low levels. Our big concern remains the variant which is very transmissible. We now know from UK respect that it is more deadly." The Taoiseach said people needed to appreciate that their support of Level Five restrictions has taken pressure off hospitals, off Intensive Care Units (ICUs) - and given critical space to the vaccination programme. "I am simply saying we will give people clear indications in advance of April 5 as to how we see April panning out. But we are thinking and reflecting on the outdoor situation and what may be possible - mental health is very, very important, he said. "What is important is that the volume of vaccines will increase dramatically over Quarter Two and we will be in a good space by the end of Quarter Two." "This is March - I will be meeting with NPHET and prior to April 5 I will make a call. We said we would reopen the schools on a phased basis and reopen childcare. We have done that." "In the meantime it is very, very important that people observe the basics as to social-distancing, washing their hands and also in terms of avoiding congregations, particularly indoors." "We do not want to open things up and then have to close them subsequently. I thank people for what they are doing - but I would urge them to stay the course." Mr Martin said he also expected to see mandatory quarantine for some travellers to be put into place very soon. "It will be very soon - I will leave it to the Minister for Health. He will have details very soon," he said. BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio A woman accused of killing her 6-year-old son during an attempt to abandon him at a park will attempt to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, according to reports. David Washington Jr., a lawyer for Brittany Gosney, 29, says in newly filed court documents that Gosney struggles to assist in her defense and counsel has serious concerns regarding (her) mental health, Fox 19 reports. WCPO Channel 9 reports Washington is seeking a competency evaluation and a court-ordered mental health assessment. Gosney is charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter, five counts of endangering children, three counts of gross abuse of a corpse, three counts of kidnapping, and three counts of abduction in the death of her son, James Hutchinson. She is being held in the Butler County Jail on a $2 million bond. Police in Middletown, Ohio, say James Hutchinson, 6, was killed by his mother on Feb. 26, 2021. Hutchinson's mother had reported the boy missing to police. (Middletown Police Department) Police say Gosney has admitted to killing her son, James Hutchinson, during an aborted attempt to abandon him and her two other children, ages 9 and 7, at Rush Run Park in Preble County, which is northwest of Middletown. James reportedly tried to get back into the vehicle as Gosney tried to drive away and ended up being dragged and run over. She told investigators that when she returned to check on Hutchinson, he was dead. She then picked up his body and returned to her home in Middletown with her two other children. Reports say Gosney has blamed her boyfriend, James Hamilton, 42, saying he was pressuring her to get rid of her children. Police say Hamilton was not present when Hutchinson was killed. Gosney and Hamilton are accused of taking the boys body and dumping it in the Ohio River near Lawrencebrug, Indiana, on Feb. 28, then reporting the boy missing later that morning. Investigators continue to search for Hutchinsons body. Hamilton is charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. He is in jail on an $750,000 bond. Both Gosney and Hamilton have pleaded not guilty to charges. NEW YORK, March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Exxon Mobil Corporation ("Exxon" or the "Company") (NYSE: XOM) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and docketed under 21-cv-000194, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise, acquired Exxon securities between November 6, 2019 and January 14, 2021, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials. If you are a shareholder who purchased Exxon securities during the Class Period, you have until March 29, 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] Exxon explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas in the U.S. and abroad. One of the Company's most important oil and gas properties is in the Permian Basin, which is currently the highest-producing oil field in the U.S. The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements, and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operational, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and failed to disclose to investors that: (i) Exxon forced its employees to use unrealistic assumptions regarding the timelines for well drilling in the Permian Basin; (ii) the foregoing assumptions served to artificially inflate the value of the Company's well operations in the Permian Basin; (iii) the foregoing conduct, when revealed, subjected Exxon to a heightened risk of regulatory investigation and oversight; and (iv) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On January 15, 2021, pre-market, the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "Exxon Draws SEC Probe Over Permian Basin Asset Valuation." The article reported that the SEC probe stemmed from a whistleblower complaint that, during a 2019 internal assessment, workers were forced to use unrealistic assumptions about how quickly wells in the Permian Basin could be drilled to reach a higher valuation, and that at least one worker who complained about the assumptions was fired. On this news, Exxon's stock price fell $2.42 per share, or 4.81%, to close at $47.89 per share on January 15, 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] 888-476-6529 ext. 7980 SOURCE Pomerantz LLP Related Links www.pomerantzlaw.com Credit: shutterstock The recent disappearance of Sarah Everard in London has led to searching conversations about the safety of women in the United Kingdom. It prompted many women to share their own stories of feeling constrained in moving around in their local area. CCTV footage of Everard before she vanished was a reminder for many women and a wake up call for many men. And indeed, data shows that 32% of women in the UK feel unsafe or very unsafe when walking alone in their local area at night. Meanwhile, only 13% of men expressed the same concern. There have been hundreds of personal stories from women on social media discussing how they are constrained by safety concerns when walking around after dark. These have been particularly resonant while much of Europe is living under various states of lockdown. For many people, getting out of the home whenever possible has become an important coping mechanism. During the winter months, and especially for people working full time from home, that often necessarily means going out when it's darkor not at all. Data from the European Social Survey shows just how different the experiences of men and women are when it comes to the fundamental freedom of being able to walk alone at night. In all 29 countries included in the ESS, men reported feeling safer than women while walking alone in their local area after dark. It's a question we've been asking every two years since 2002/03. Assessing our most recent data (2018/19), we find significant differences between men and women. In Bulgaria, a staggering 62% of female respondents feel unsafe or very unsafe. The figure in Bulgaria is also the highest in Europe for male respondents, 38% of whom said they would not feel safebut most men there still report feeling safer than women by a substantial margin. In Germany 37% of women felt unsafe and in Italy 36%. In Lithuania and France, 34% of women felt unsafe and in Latvia 33%. For Spain and Ireland the figure was 31%. In contrast, the proportion of male respondents who felt unsafe was only 13% in Germany, 12% in Spain and Ireland, 11% in France and 10% in Latvia. The ESS aims to be representative of the residential population aged 15+ in each participating country and uses probability sampling methods to select its respondents. The data was weighted to account for unequal selection probabilities and post stratified to the known profile of all adults in each country. Credit: Data: ESS Round 9 Data file edition 3.1. : European Social Survey, Author provided Even in relatively safe countries such as Denmark, Finland and Iceland, the gender divide remains. Men are are still five times less likely than women to report being fearful at night walking in their local area. In a group of five other countriesSlovenia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Norwaywomen are four times more likely to feel unsafe than men. Progress? We can see by looking back at the data from 2002/03when we first ran our surveythat some progress has been made. Back then, 52% of female respondents in the UK reported feeling unsafe after dark, compared to about a third (32%) 18 years later. But while this is a significant and welcome improvement, overall gender differences stubbornly persist. The figure dropped for men over the same period, from 20% to 13% feeling unsafe, meaning British men were 2.6 times more likely to feel safe than women in 2002/03 and 2.5 times in 2018/19. So, it seems everyone feels safer overall but gender differences remain. This trend is similar across Europe: overall feelings of safety have generally improved for both genders but women remain between 2.5 and 5.7 times more likely to feel unsafe than men in almost all countries. Norway provides an example of a country where the gender gap on this issue has significantly narrowed over time. In 2002/03, 23% of female respondents and 3% of men reported feeling unsafe or very unsafe walking in their local area after dark. In 2018/19, this had dropped to 13% of female respondents with the male figure basically unchanged (2%). Perhaps policymakers, the police and communities might look to countries such as Norway for inspiration on how to work towards making women feel just as safe as men in their local area. Explore further Women 10% more likely than men to report feeling unsafe on urban public transport This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The unlawful arrests of well-to-dolooking Nigerians, executions of detained accused persons, use of torture and rape in detention, and other gross violation of human rights are reasons Nigerians revolted in October 2020, a report has said. The report by Action Group on Free Civic Space (AGFCS), tagged: Police Brutality, Protests and Shrinking Civic Space in Nigeria reveals chilling brutality meted out to Nigerians by officers of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), which led to the expression of rage last year. The group, a coalition of non-profit organisations, with support from the Fund for Global Human Rights (FGHR), said the report was a fact-finding mission that documented 12 established patterns and motivations for extreme violence by SARS operatives in different parts of the country. Patterns Some of the patterns include the deployment of SARS to settle personal scores; use of pseudonyms to disguise their real identities; prolonged detentions, including denial of access to family members and lawyers; use of torture to elicit information from victims or to request bribes to facilitate their release; killing detainees for fun and according to mood swings; and deliberate starvation of detainees with intent to kill slowly and without proof. Others are incriminating innocent persons; keeping detainees in overcrowded cells; forcing them to sleep in shifts on top of each other or to sleep while standing; keeping decomposing dead bodies in the cells in exchange for freedom; trading of dead bodies especially to the university teaching hospitals in Nigeria; and politicians also using SARS as a willing tool of oppression to deal with perceived political enemies and oppositions. Police spokesperson Frank Mba did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the report. Phone calls and text messages on Friday afternoon were not responded to. Apart from the extreme torture and other cruel treatments of arrested persons in Nigeria, the report identifies the over-centralized, under-resourced and ill-equipped nature of the Nigerian Police Force as factors. The personnel routinely carry out summary executions of persons accused or suspected of crime; rely on torture as a principal means of investigation; commit rape of both sexes, with a particular focus on sex workers; and engage in extortion at nearly every opportunity. Further aggravating the situation, the recruitment process into the police force is compromised, leaving the police with a poorly trained, badly paid workforce that is prone to corruption and violence, the report says. It further says many police officers lack the skills to investigate organized crimes and gather evidence and thereby resort to profiling people on the street, openly harassing and extorting suspects as patterns of investigation. The report also exposes the notable euphemisms used to disguise treacherous police conduct, such as sent to Abuja, meaning the detainee has been executed; travelled, meaning that a detainee had been summarily executed; and ambulancing, referring to the practice of compelling inmates to play the role of an ambulance. Security operatives would make detainees carry dead persons who died in the cell from torture or starvation to the back of the torture hall where their bodies are later disposed of, the report continues. These bodies are, for the most part, hidden and buried secretly in unmarked graves. The bodies are usually framed up as having been killed during a gun battle between SARS and armed robbers. Labelling them off as armed robbers provides legal justification for police officers to use maximum force to protect public safety. Speaking on the role of the government, the reports says successive Nigerian governments only pay lip service to police reform. Recommendations The group recommended that the Nigerian government look into all cases of and allegations of unlawful detention, extortion, torture and human rights abuses committed by any personnel of the police force, including the defunct SARS. The Nigerian government should embark on a strict and conscious implementation of the Police Act 2020, to ensure security agencies operate with civility, responsibility, professionalism, and restraint. The group urged the Human Rights Commission to enforce discipline in the Nigeria Police Force and expressly prohibit officers from harassing and brutalising citizens. They also called on the Nigerian government to support and grant full access to civil society groups and watchdogs independently collecting evidence of violations, and providing legal representation to victims. ADVERTISEMENT .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... MOSCOW The Taliban warned Washington on Friday against defying a May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of American and NATO troops from Afghanistan, promising a reaction, which could mean increased attacks by the insurgent group. The Taliban issued their warning at a press conference in Moscow, the day after meeting with senior Afghan government negotiators and international observers to try to jumpstart a stalled peace process to end Afghanistans decades of war. President Joe Bidens administration says it is reviewing an agreement the Taliban signed with the Trump administration. Biden told ABC in an interview Wednesday that the May 1 deadline could happen, but it is tough, adding that if the deadline is extended it wont be by a lot longer. They should go, Suhail Shaheen, a member of the Taliban negotiation team, told reporters, warning that staying beyond May 1 would breach the deal. After that, it will be a kind of violation of the agreement. That violation would not be from our side. . . Their violation will have a reaction. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ He did not elaborate on what form the reaction would take, but in keeping with the agreement they signed in February 2020, the Taliban have not attacked U.S. or NATO forces, even as unclaimed bombings and targeted killings have spiked in recent months. We hope that this will not happen, that they withdraw and we focus on the settlement, peaceful settlement of the Afghan issue, in order to bring about a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire at the end of reaching a political roadmap (for) Afghanistan, Shaheen said. He also reaffirmed that the Taliban were firm on their demand for an Islamic government. Shaheen didnt elaborate on what an Islamic government would look like or whether it would mean a return to their repressive rules that denied girls education, barred women from working, and imposed harsh punishments. Shaheen did not say whether the Taliban would accept elections, but he emphasized that the government of President Ashraf Ghani would not fit their definition of an Islamic government. In previous statements, the Taliban have said their vision of an Islamic government would allow girls to attend school, and women to work or be in public life. But in every conversation, they emphasized the need to follow Islamic injunctions without specifying what that would mean. They have said they would not accept a woman as president, and while women could be judges they could not take the job of the Chief Justice. But even without the Taliban in government in Afghanistan, The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security Afghanistan said Afghanistan was one of the worst places in the world to be a woman in 2020. Only one woman attended Thursdays talks in Moscow, and in the two decades since the Taliban were ousted, successive governments in Kabul have been unable to ratify a law outlawing violence against women. Meanwhile, the Taliban refused to promise they would not launch a spring offensive despite calls from the United States, Russia and China. I started Jihad (holy war) to remove foreign forces from my country and establish an Islamic government and Jihad will continue until we reach that goal through a political agreement, said Khairullah Khairkhwa, a member of the negotiating team, who was one of five Taliban freed from U.S. prison on Guantanamo Bay in 2013 in exchange for the release of a captured U.S. soldier. Washington has been at war in Afghanistan for nearly two decades, since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks masterminded by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden who was based in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The invasion toppled the Taliban regime but the 20-year-war has made Afghanistan Americas longest conflict. The Taliban, who during their rule imposed a harsh brand of Islam, now control about half of the country. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that the insurgents could make even more gains without U.S. and NATO troops on the ground. The Moscow conference was attended by U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, Abdullah Abdullah, head of Afghanistans National Reconciliation Council, and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who led a 10-member delegation. Representatives of Pakistan, Iran, India and China also participated. In a statement issued after the talks, Russia, the U.S., China and Pakistan called on the warring parties to reduce the level of violence in the country and specifically urged the Taliban not to pursue a spring offensive. The joint statement emphasized that the four countries do not support the restoration of an Islamic emirate in Afghanistan similar to the Talibans past rule. Shaheen emphasized that the Taliban would stick to the goal of building an Islamic state. He argued that the Afghans themselves should determine their government order without outside meddling. He added that the talks in Doha should help determine the future governance structure. The talks in Qatar between the Afghan government and the Taliban have stalled, but Russia voiced hope that the talks in Moscow could help reinvigorate them. ___ Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez in Kabul, Afghanistan contributed. Gannon reported from Islamabad. Mumbai, March 19 : The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), which is probing the death of Thane businessman Mankukh Hiran, is likely to seek custody of arrested-suspended Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze from the Special NIA Court, official sources said here on Friday. Official sources said that the ATS has collected sufficient evidences in the case for which Vaze's custody may be required and for this, it will approach the Special NIA Court. Earlier on Friday, the ATS opposed the anticipatory bail plea of Vaze - currently in the NIA custody till March 25 - at a hearing before the Thane Sessions Court. The anticipatory bail plea - which was filed by Vaze before his arrest and subsequent suspension - had come up for hearing on March 12 when the court declined any relief, but served notice to the state government and posted it for hearing on March 19. After a brief hearing this afternoon, the Thane court has now posted the matter for further hearing on March 30. The NIA is probing the SUV case involving the abandoned Scorpio found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's home on February 25 along with 20 gelatin sticks and a threat note, while the ATS is handling the Hiran death case. Both the cases triggered a huge political uproar culminating in the shunting of the former Mumbai Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh who was replaced by Hemant Nagrale, with speculation of more action expected in the next few days. WASHINGTON - Two days after an Atlanta-area shooting left eight dead, including six Asian women, members of a House judiciary subcommittee met to discuss the rise in racist rhetoric and attacks aimed at Asian Americans during the pandemic. But GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas decided to focus on a different topic: the right of Republicans to criticize China. "We shouldn't be worried about having committee members of Congress policing our rhetoric because some evildoers do engage in some evil activity as has occurred in Atlanta, Georgia," Roy said. "Because when we start policing free speech, we're doing the very thing that we're condemning when you condemn what the Chinese Communist Party does to their country. Who decides what is hate? Who decides what kind of speech deserves policing?" The San Antonio-area congressman also seemed to celebrate lynchings, which have a dark and racist history, in urging justice for wrongdoers: "There's old sayings in Texas about 'find all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree.' " Roy's remarks sparked an immediate and emotional outcry - including a tearful response from Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y. - and set the tone for Thursday's tense and often divisive three-hour hearing, as members battled along partisan lines over the extent of the threats facing Asian Americans and whether Republicans, including former president Donald Trump, were partly to blame. "Your president, your party and your colleagues can talk about issues with any other countries that you want, but you don't have to do it by putting a bull's eye on the back of Asian Americans across the country, on our grandparents, on our kids," Meng said as her voice began to rise and tears filled her eyes. "This hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our community to find solutions, and we will not let you take our voice away from us." The confrontation happened during the first congressional hearing on Asian American discrimination in more than a decade, held by coincidence after Tuesday's mass slayings, which were allegedly carried out by a White assailant at three Georgia spas. The hearing quickly became another example of the political fights that have erupted this week over whether the Atlanta shooting constitutes a hate crime. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-N.Y., said he was "deeply saddened" by what he characterized Democrats using the hearing to divide Americans and portray the United States as a racist country. "If America was such hate filled, discriminatory, racist society filled with animus against Asian Americans, how do you explain the remarkable success of Asian Americans in our country?" he asked, asserting that the community faces the fewest prejudice-driven attacks and makes the most income of any ethnic group. "Any racist sentiments, speech or act needs to be vigorously condemned," he continued, "but to attack our society as systemically racist, a society that has produced the most prosperous and most harmonious racial society in human history, well that's an insult and it's flat out wrong." Many Democrats say a steady rise in attacks focused on Asian Americans during the pandemic has been due in part to divisive rhetoric from Republicans, including Trump's descriptions of the coronavirus as the "China virus" and "kung flu." In a Fox News interview on the same night of the Atlanta shootings, the former president complained that the "China virus" had tanked the U.S. economy. Stanford Law School professor Shirin Sinnar testified that Trump's "racist dog whistles" repeatedly retweeted by millions created "ripple effects across society at large" that have affected the Asian American community. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., pushing back on Roy's claims of censorship, said there are catastrophic consequences to using racist language targeting a specific community. "It's not about policing speech. I served in active duty, so you can say whatever you want on the First Amendment," Lieu, who served in the Air Force, said. "You can say racist, stupid stuff if you want. But I'm asking you to please stop using racist terms like 'kung flu' or 'Wuhan virus' or other ethnic identifiers and describe them as a virus. I am not a virus." Two Asian American Republicans from California, Reps. Young Kim and Michelle Steel, focused on the rise in violence directed at members of their community. "This should not have to be said, but I want to be very clear: No American of any race or ethnic group is responsible for the covid-19 pandemic," Kim said. "The virus does not discriminate." While no Republican on the committee defended Trump's specific language to characterize the coronavirus during the hearing, some congressional Republicans do continue to use phrases like "China virus," a term Trump took credit for during the Fox News interview. Republicans said Democrats urging them to stop criticizing China for failing to contain the coronavirus is part of broader liberal attempts to "cancel" their opinions from being heard. Erika Lee, who teaches history and Asian American studies at the University of Minnesota, testified that conflating Asian Americans with foreign governments, like targeting Japanese Americans as the enemy during World War II, "has been an age-old way" of denigrating the community that leads to a rise of racist attacks. "This is one of the ways American racism works," she said. John Yang, president executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, said using ethnic identifiers to describe the virus has "no medical benefit" and only dehumanizes a community. "We have no free speech right to yell fire in a crowded theater, and what is happening is that the Asian Americans are in a crowded theater where we are being endangered," he said. "Regardless of free speech, all of us as leaders have an obligation to model behavior that we want our community to follow." Democrats said they are working on introducing legislation that would create an office in the Justice Department to specifically focus on Asian American discrimination. Rep. Judy Chu, R-Calif., became emotional, her voice shaking as she urged Congress to pass the measure. "It is time that we continue to push back against xenophobia every time it rears its ugly head," she said. "Asian Americans must not be used as scapegoats in times of crisis. Lives are at stake." Loading Tourism Council WA chief executive Evan Hall said other small businesses and jobs were also at risk due to the lack of international tourism. Its great that airlines are receiving this JobKeeper extension, but our CBD hotels, tour operators and world-class attractions are still struggling to survive as a result of the international border restrictions, Mr Hall said. Most tourism operators are sole traders and family businesses the loss of JobKeeper means not only will their business close, but it will result in financial distress and loss of livelihood as well. Last Friday, Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister Dan Tehan announced an extra $130 million to eligible travel agents and tour arranging service operators to be rolled out from April until the middle of the year. With a one-off payment ranging from $1500 to $100,000 to assist with their legal obligations to credit and refund Australian consumers who are unable to travel due to COVID-19, a statement read. While JobKeeper looks unlikely, Australian Federation of Travel Agents chief executive Darren Rudd remained confident the Commonwealth would deliver the necessary funds to stop agents becoming insolvent while $3.5 billion of Australians money is trapped overseas in travel credits. Travel agents are still on Canberras agenda, from left, Tourism Minister Dan Tehan, AFTA CEO Darren Rudd, AFTA Director David Smith, Cowper MP Pat Conaghan. Mr Rudd said AFTA would work with Austrade to improve the rollout of federal grants to help agents like Mr Missikos, who falls into an exceptional class that could not afford to hibernate their businesses or work from home, and have staff to consider. He is lobbying for quick rolling deposits and as of next week will begin working with each of the states premiers to look at extending the commercial rental moratorium to keep landlords at bay. Mr Missikos business has diminished 95-100 per cent for the past year, with no extra reprieve from his landlord after he re-signed a three-year lease just as the pandemic struck. [My landlord] has just given the minimum rent relief possible, which is a 50 per cent waiver and a 50 per cent deferral, Mr Missikos said. However the government in the bill says or proportionate extra according to the downturn in the business. So I have gone back to him repeatedly to try and get some more assistance but the answer has been no. He had to take his matter to the State Administrative Tribunal, where they remain in mediation talks with the next hearing in April. We dont have the income yet, I cant afford the rent, Ive asked about sub-leasing or exonerating me from the lease? Oh yeah well do that but youll have to pay rent until we get a replacement, Mr Missikos said. Now here in East Perth, the landlord has a few units that have not been occupied for quite some time and one that has been unoccupied for nearly seven years because he cant get tenants due to high rents. So basically Ill end up paying rent until my lease expires anyway. Almost 37 per cent of WA small businesses reported revenue losses due to COVID-19 in 2020 and ranked JobKeeper as being of the greatest assistance, according to the latest report by the Bankwest Curtin Economic Centre. For many, the revenue impacts were severe with one in four businesses reporting revenue down by more than 25 per cent compared to the same time last year, the report found. Some 20 per cent of small businesses only have cash to survive three months or less. Over two-thirds of small business owners with cash support of less than one month report high or very high stress. WA Small Business Development Corporation commissioner David Eaton acknowledged travel agents mental anguish and how daunting it was to look at their finances but said the time may have come for some of them to navigate an exit strategy. It is absolutely critical in this situation that businesses understand their financial position today and forecast their future because if they understand that they can make better informed decisions and they can engage with their bank and their landlord in a more meaningful way, he said. Mr Eaton said agents bricks-and-mortar businesses were far more affected than anyone else, especially by the acceleration to online purchasing brought on by the pandemic. Loading Theres two responses; for the individual, its how do we help the individual to navigate the next few weeks and months with mental health and managing their finances today? But also whats the bigger picture support for this industry? The Commonwealths $128 million is a big amount of money that should sustain them and then also consumers wanting to keep this industry alive for the services that they deliver to them when we want to travel internationally again. Mr Eaton said agents need to seek quality independent information and advice on the corporations website and from its advisors, who are free of charge, or from their accountants. Victorias Helloworld and JMW Travel administrator, Mackay Goodwin chief Domenic Calabretta, agreed and told Travel Weekly agencies needed to get a handle on their finances sooner rather than later. There are a couple of routes open to struggling travel businesses if they act early and as soon as possible, he said. He suggested voluntary administration or a small business restructure, which would allow them to continue operating. Having the peace of mind that the restructuring expertise is there allows company directors and managers to focus on rebuilding the company and delivering an ongoing growth strategy, he said. If you or anyone you know needs mental health support, please call a helpline such as Lifeline 13 11 14; beyondblue 1300 224 636; Mental Health Emergency Response Line 1300 555 788 (Metro) or 1800 676 822 (Peel); Rurallink 1800 552 002; Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467; The Samaritans Crisis Line 08 9381 5555. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Mark Cuban has some surprising advice about raising startup capital: Don't do it. During a conversation with Fast Company editor-in-chief Stephanie Mehta at SXSW Online this week, the Shark Tank host and investor in more than 250 companies said that entrepreneurs should launch their new businesses with the means they already have and worry about funding later. "One of the mistakes people make is they try to go out and find investors first," Cuban said. "If you look at some of the biggest and best businesses, they were started when people's backs were against the wall and they had no capital." He cited "the power of broke," a principle championed by his Shark Tank co-star Daymond John, which holds that having a low budget--or no budget--can actually be a significant competitive advantage. How? It allows entrepreneurs to learn important lessons about running a business at a small scale, where mistakes won't cost a lot of money. "Create that product or service that you can sell, that you can do on your own. Start small like I did and build it just one step at a time, and then you'll see you have so many resources available to you that you can grow it from there," Cuban said. "If you're growing so quickly that you need funding, that's when the funding will find you." Starting small is a concept Cuban continues to follow with his own new ventures, including Fireside, an app that will resemble a combination of the audio chat app Clubhouse and podcasts when it launches, Cuban said during the SXSW discussion. Although the company bills itself as "the future of podcasting," in its beta testing version Cuban is intentionally avoiding building the largest user base possible. 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 past decade saw the Indian IT industry placing India on the world map. It helped create a new, contemporary and topical peg of recall for India: Software Engineering and design applications. The IT/ITES industry made very significant employment and revenue contributions to the country and as it graduates and matures further, this will only multiply. The fact that the industry contributed towards 45 percent of incremental urban employment speaks volumes of its important role in the India growth story.Over the last two years, as it has acquired width (with expansion of the base) and depth (quality and content of work) the industry has braved challenges as never seen before with issues of slowdown in growth, pricing pressures, protectionism in key markets, among others. These have had a definite impact; but in the short term. As a maturing industry, with a distinct and strong charter of growth, we all have to look at the medium to long-term perspective and introduce innovative solutions to reach there. It is important that we focus on the certainties of our industry and take advantage of them. Playing to our strengths, while addressing weaknesses is the obvious method.Long-term certainties influencing tectonic shifts in the ground realities include demographic, business, social and environmental global megatrends. These are fostering new opportunities for the industry, which will fructify by 2020. Megatrends such as irreversible decline in working age population in Europe and Japan, Asian economies growing twice as fast as developed economies, increased technology adoption and globalization will have far reaching implications on the industry. These megatrends are already seeding new verticals such as public sector, healthcare, media and utilities; new customer segments including small and medium businesses (SMBs) and new geographies such as greater outsourcing in BRIC, GCC, Japan and Rest of the World (ROW). It is important to note that 80 percent of the incremental revenue growth by 2020 will be driven by opportunities outside of the current core markets, verticals and customer segments.As in the past decade, going forward, the IT/ITES industry will impact the country by providing technology and paving way for inclusive growth. The IT/ITES industry has the potential to further transform India and play a major role in the development of the countrys key sectors: education, healthcare, infrastructure, citizen services and financial inclusion. The technology-enabled provision of basic services can take the benefits of IT to over 30 million citizens each year and put India on a path to prosperity in the year 2020.With this vision achieved, the industry can contribute up to 9 percent of Indias GDP and generate 30 million employment opportunities (direct and indirect) in 2020.While the industry has the potential to generate revenues of US$ 225 billion in 2020, a portion of this opportunity is at risk if continuing problems are not tackled soon. 40 percent of previous priority initiatives, especially structural changes e.g. tertiary education reform, have not been implemented yet. Low employability of existing talent with only 10-15 percent employable graduates in business services and 26 percent of employable engineers in technology services continues to be a major bottleneck. Infrastructure development is largely constrained to the nine cities, which contribute more than 95percent of Indias exports and development of tier 2/3 cities has not taken off in a planned manner. The lack of a supportive fiscal environment with a long-term policy framework is also leading to competition from other low-cost countries including China, Philippines and from Eastern Europe with potential erosion of the India opportunity.We must recognize what these trends, opportunities and challenges mean for India as a country. Indias economy has grown at the compounded annual rate of 7 percent a year over the past 10 years and continued growth at this rate implies a two-fold increase in personal consumption by 2020. To sustain this momentum, around 20-30 million people will need to be added to middle or high-income groups annually. To enable inclusive growth, India will need to address demand-supply gaps in the key areas of healthcare, financial services, education and public services. Traditional models have been ineffective, slow or expensive in increasing access to services in rural areas. For example, around 50 per cent of Indias population is beyond the range of primary healthcare centres and has little access to trained doctors. Information Communication Technology (ICT) solutions can enable new service models (e.g., telemedicine, mobile banking) that can overcome the limitations of traditional models in healthcare, financial services, education and public services in India.In addition, India has the opportunity to emerge as one of the top three global IT Innovation hubs driven by opportunities arising in new areas of climate change, clinical research and mobile applications.To realise its growth potential in the next 12 years, industry stakeholders including Government, companies and NASSCOM will need to act together in an unprecedented manner. Concerted action is required to capture the opportunities and mitigate the risks. A recent report from the federal parliament proposes registration of cats, nighttime regulations, and spaying. Christine Ellis does not like untamed cats. As an ancient Warlpiri ranger in central Australia's Great Sandy desert at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, she is aware of what they can do to local animals in Australia. Untamed Cats Kills Over a Dozen Species In just more than 230 years since they have been introduced to the continent, untamed cats have killed over a dozen species that existed near Ellis's people for centuries and driven others to the edge of extinction. According to what she said: "There are no stories without cats." Cats came to Australia with the first set of settlers in Europe in 1788. In a period of 70 years, cats had expanded across the country; cats now live in 99.9 percent of the total land area in Australia. Every year on average, untamed cats of an estimated 2.8 million wander the continent, but as reported by a conservation biologist, John Woinarski from Charles Darwin University and co-author of the Australian book Cats: "Companion & Killer," this estimated number can rise up to 5.6 million in periods of heavy rainfall. With its ecosystems not more than 23, Newhaven, a place in northwest Australia that is tierce the size of the United States Yellowstone National Park - encloses 1,023 square miles of sand dunes, salt lakes, and red-rock cliffs. At the heart of the sanctuary is a walled, 36-square-mile reserve from the place where Ellis and her co-workers from the Wildlife Conservancy in Australia take out untamed cats. ALSO READ: 2020 Trends: 7 of the Best Toys Your Cat Can't Miss Out On Runaway Pet Cats Runaway pet cats or the offspring of cats that entered Australia embarked on the felon transportation ships to form a place where local species could get back. Woinarski made it known that biodiversity is special and distinctive in Australia, falsified over millions of years in confinement. Many species of animal that lasted out have been lessened to a minute portion of their former population size and range, are now endangered, and continue to reduce. Left without proper management, cats won't stop eating their way through the rest of the animals in Australia. The Newhaven's fence was finished in March 2018 and the cage, which is an area built to keep animals that are not wanted out, was acknowledged untamed-predator-free the year after. In the fence, endangered and recovered local species are making a comeback. Major Drivers for the Extinction of Mammals Newhaven is leading in the fight to protect its local animals from being preyed on by cats in Australia. With time going for many animals, this February, the federal parliament in Australia published a report that affirmed that cats were the major drivers for the extinction of mammals in the country. The report stressed that Australia is leading the world with 34 of such species gone in extinction and another 74 land species of mammal under threat. Untamed cats are not the only obstacle. The parliamentary report also discovered that almost 3.8 million pet cats in Australia eliminate up to 390 million animals annually. RELATED ARTICLE: There's Hope for Europe's Rarest Cat For more news, updates about cats and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! NEW DELHI Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is set to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after arriving in New Delhi on Friday, a rare visit with the countrys leading political figure that signals the efforts by both nations to strengthen the relationship as President Joe Biden seeks to counter Chinas growing influence in the region. The meeting, disclosed by two senior defense officials who spoke to reporters traveling with the Pentagon chief, comes as a high-stakes gathering between top Biden officials and their Chinese counterparts in Alaska got off to a rocky start, with sharp rhetoric from both sides. Biden officials warned that Beijings actions could result in a far more violent world, while Chinas top diplomat accused the U.S. of slaughtering Black Americans. The Biden team has made countering a rising China a top priority and, like the previous administration, is seeking to use its relationships in the Indo-Pacific to achieve that goal. Officials are particularly concerned about Beijings militarization of the South China Sea, intimidation of its smaller neighbors with increased ship and aircraft presence, and economic investment across the region, including building a strategic port in Gwadar, Pakistan. The U.S. and India have a shared interest in supporting freedom of navigation and free, fair and reciprocal trade, as well as the peaceful resolution of disputes in the Indo-Pacific, according to one of the senior defense officials, who spoke on background to discuss sensitive bilateral conversations. To the extent that China or anybody else would want to undermine those principles or challenge those principles, thats part of how you build these relationships and build these networks to provide balance to that or to stand up against it, the person said. Austins arrival in New Delhi marks the third stop on his first overseas trip as Pentagon chief and comes after visits to Japan and South Korea for meetings with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their Japanese and Korean counterparts. After his discussions with Modi, Austin will meet with India's national security adviser, the senior defense official said. On Saturday, Austin will sit down with the ministers of defense and external affairs. Story continues The U.S. has sought for years to strengthen its partnership with India through increased military cooperation, particularly with the Indian Navy, and arms sales. But one snag could be Indias purchase of the advanced Russian S-400 missile system. The U.S. imposed sanctions on NATO ally Turkey for its own purchase of the S-400 under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, but has not yet penalized India for the same acquisition. Indias potential operation of the S-400 would pose a problem for the U.S.; the system was designed to detect and target advanced U.S. fighter jets such as the F-35. The senior defense official declined to say whether the U.S. was weighing sanctions over the S-400, but noted that the system has not yet been delivered to India, an event that would likely trigger penalties. Buying U.S. equipment is not a condition for advancing cooperation, our advancing cooperation is based on a converging of strategic interests, the senior defense official said, adding that buying equipment that can operate together "is certainly a means to be able to operationalize that partnership. Another senior defense official declined to comment on whether Austin would speak with Indian officials about Modis harsh treatment of Indias Muslim population, but said we routinely raise issues of human rights. The goal in the Indo-Pacific is to build the existing hub-and-spoke bilateral relationships between the different countries into more of a network set of overlapping relationships that can do a better job sharing information and cooperating on military operations, the senior defense official said. Its going to look very different than the NATO alliance, the person said. Its going to look very unique; its going to be something that fits with how the Indo-Pacific has evolved. Huntington, WV (25701) Today Variable clouds with showers and scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High around 75F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms in the evening, with mostly cloudy skies overnight. Areas of patchy fog developing. Low 61F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Dublin, March 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Australia Telecoms Industry Report - 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report provides analyses of revenue and market forecasts as well as statistics of the Australian telecoms industry including market sizing, 5-year forecasts, market insights, key telecom trends and also features the following: Overall Telecommunications Market by Major Operators Telco Operators Profile, Revenue and EBITDA Mix Mobile and Broadband Subscribers & Revenue Market Overview and Forecasts Spectrum Holdings IoT Market Overview Fixed Broadband Market: NBN, FTTP, HFC, FTTN and FTTC National Broadband Network Detailed Market Overview and Forecasts Thematics/Opportunities relating to 5G and NBN Telco Infrastructure Review Telco Transaction Database The Australia Telecoms Market Industry Report, 2020-2025 includes an overview of the Australian market dynamics, market sizing, market forecasts, analysis, insights and key trends. Globally, the telecommunications sector is proving to be a core and essential infrastructure service to national economies, with data infrastructure becoming critical in a connected world and will likely increasingly attract a new class of investors such as large infrastructure funds. The author expects the Australian telecommunications industry to remain steady thanks to the defensiveness nature of the industry, amid the political uncertainties and an uncertain economic outlook due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Australia has one of the most competitive and mature telecommunications markets in the world. The report forecasts that mobile subscriptions will continue to grow in the 2020-25 period while fixed broadband subscribers also expected to grow at a slightly lower average rate over the same period. The ratio of the telecommunications sector revenue to GDP is declining from a peak in 2000 to an all-time low in 2020. The author forecasts the overall telecoms market is expected to decline until 2021 as NBN subscriber payments to Telstra will decrease gradually as all Telstra's copper and HFC services are migrated onto the NBN and market growth will resume from 2022 onwards. Telstra's share of the telecommunications' revenue pie has been declining over the last 5 years and its EBITDA share is declining even faster as Telstra's dominance in the fixed-line market is challenged with the migration onto the NBN.# Key Topics Covered: 1 Key Statistics 1.1 Australia's Population 1.2 Australia's Economy 1.3 Australia's GDP 2 COVID-19 Impact 3 Overall Telecommunications Market, 2014-2025 3.1 Market Overview 3.2 Australia's Race to Lead in 5G and Beyond 3.3 Historical Telecommunications Market Revenue, 2014-2019 3.4 Overall Telecommunications Market Forecast, 2018-2025 3.5 Telecommunications Market Capital Expenditure, 2014-2025 4 Telecommunications Operators Profile 4.1 Telstra Profile 4.2 Optus Profile 4.3 TPG TeLEcom Group Profile 4.4 Vocus Profile 4.5 Superloop 4.6 Uniti Profile 4.7 Other Players Profile 4.7.1 Aussie Broadband 5 Australia Mobile market 5.1 Australia Mobile Subscribers Historical and Forecast, 2014-2025 5.2 Australia Mobile Revenue Historical and Forecast, 2014-2025 5.3 Mobile Coverage 5.4 Spectrum Holdings 5.5 Mobile Download Data and Pricing Trends 5.6 Mobile Speed Tests 5.7 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) 5.8 Internet of Things (IoT) 6 Broadband Market 6.1 Fixed Broadband Subscribers Historical, 2014-2020 6.2 Fixed Download Data Trends 6.3 Fixed Broadband Subscribers Forecast, 2020-2025 7 Telecommunications Infrastructure Investments 7.1 The National Broadband Network 7.2 Submarine Cables 7.3 Mobile Tower Infrastructure Landscape 7.3.1 Getting Ready for 5G 7.3.2 Tower Density Benchmark 7.4 Telco Infrastructure Comparative 8 Thematics/Opportunities 8.1 Facing Off Growth Saturation 8.1.1 Going for Scale 8.2 Growing Scope - Cross-Industry 8.3 New Telecoms Operating Model 8.3.1 The Attraction of Infrastructure Multiples 8.4 5G Developments 8.4.1 5G Overview 8.4.2 5G - Relative Capex Investments and Frequency Range 8.4.3 5G OpenRAN 8.4.4 Beyond 5G 8.4.5 Fixed Broadband Networks Doing the Heavy Lifting 9 Telco Transaction Database Companies Mentioned AGL Aussie Broadband Fetch TV Foxtel NBN Optus Superloop Telstra TPG Uniti Group Vodafone Vocus For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/u4yqem 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. (TNS) Nearly two weeks into Derek Chauvin's trial in the death of George Floyd, the world has watched the vetting of dozens of prospective jurors who will consider whether the former Minneapolis police officer goes to prison.Not only is the trial historic, but so too is the fact that it can be watched by anyone with a decent internet connection offering unprecedented access to Minnesota's courts that advocates hope could open the door for future televised sessions.The livestreaming of the trial has pushed Minnesota into a simmering national debate about televising court proceedings. Minnesota has one of the most restrictive policies in the country, permitting audio and video recordings only after a guilty plea or a guilty verdict."This is an opportunity to demonstrate that cameras neither detract from the solemnity of the proceedings nor do they interfere with the court's ability to get on with its work and for the public to see what's being done in the courtroom," said Jane Kirtley, a lawyer and director of the Silha Center for Media Ethics and the Law at the University of Minnesota. Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill issued the order last November, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and international interest in the trial as the reason for livestreaming the trial. While the order grants unprecedented video access, it also greatly limits physical access to the courtroom.Attorney General Keith Ellison's office, which is leading the prosecution, fought the order in court, saying that the livestreaming could sacrifice the privacy of witnesses and expose them to threats and intimidation. "The risks of broadcasting witness testimony are particularly acute where, as here, live video and audio coverage may be intimidating to some witnesses and make it less likely that they will testify, potentially interfering with a fair trial," the motion said.A coalition of local and national media companies, including the Minneapolis, filed a memorandum opposing the prosecutors' request, saying that livestreaming is the only option to guarantee constitutional rights to a public trial because the court's closed-circuit technology offers low-quality video and sound.Cahill dismissed the attorney general's motion, concluding that "televising the trial is the only reasonable and meaningful method to safeguard the (constitutional) rights implicated in these cases."By Thursday, 12 jurors had been seated, though the cameras are forbidden from showing their image and the court has taken significant steps to protect their identities. The court expects to select 14 jurors, including two alternates. The trial is set to begin March 28 and last a month.So far, 360,000 viewers have tuned into thelivestream during the first nine days of trial. As many as 4,000 have tuned in at any one time. Local TV stations are broadcasting the livestream as well, as is Court TV, which is providing additional legal reporting and analysis.Viewers have seen lawyers discuss motions and quiz jury candidates as Cahill guides the proceedings and explains the screening process to prospective jurors. The livestream is also a rare chance for the public to see Chauvin, who is free on bond. Wearing a suit and tie, he stands ramrod straight when Cahill enters the room at the beginning of each day, then generally sits next to his lawyer, writing notes in a yellow notebook."For me, it's an affirmation of how ordinary this is," Kirtley said. "The cameras are having no impact on what's happening in the courtroom."Most of the proceedings will continue to be livestreamed by Court TV cameras in the 18th-floor courtroom of the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis. Courtroom access is strictly limited to the lawyers involved, the defendant, the judge and his staff.One member of Floyd's family can sit in the room each session. Chauvin is also allowed one supporter. Along with the Court TV technician, there are two reporters in the courtroom every day on a rotating basis and they provide written observations, to the reporters who are outside observing the video feed."These are the kind of proceedings in which we all have a deep investment and we all deserve to watch the proceedings play out unmediated by a third party," Mitchell Hamline School of Law Professor Raleigh Hannah Levine said.By court order, prospective jurors can be heard, but not seen. One glitch came last week when observers outside the courtroom, a former judge and current Chief Judge Toddrick Barnette, sent notice to Cahill that the image of prospective jurors was visible in the protective plastic dividers set up in the courtroom.Court personnel made adjustments so the jurors were not visible. A day later, one prospective juror told to the court that he had checked the feed from home to make sure jurors weren't visible. He ended up being dismissed.Throughout the questioning of prospective jurors, Cahill and the lawyers have guided them away from revealing their identities. For potentially revealing or embarrassing questions, Cahill has paused the audio to allow the jury candidate to speak candidly. Generally, the audio and public questioning have resumed within a few minutes.By order, the cameras have been mostly fixed, not zooming in and out or showing reactions. During breaks, the camera locks in on the State of Minnesota seal over Cahill's chair.Former Hennepin County Chief public defender Mary Moriarty said the public is getting a look at how difficult jury selection can be. She noted that some jurors have expressed concerns about their safety and fears of their identities being made public, even with all the precautions."So you wonder what impact that has on how they answer certain questions," she said.Two experienced criminal trial lawyers also gave it high marks."The public ought to know what happens in court. They deserve to know," Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said. "When they bar cameras, it just becomes more arcane."Criminal defense lawyer Earl Gray has been watching closer than most. He represents Thomas Lane, another former Minneapolis police officer, who along with J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao is charged with aiding and abetting Chauvin and faces trial in August.He has represented several high-profile defendants in trials televised from Wisconsin where cameras have long been allowed in courtrooms."As you can see, it doesn't interfere with the trial at all," Gray said. "After five minutes, you don't even realize they're there."The media coalition has been in touch with court administrators about the logistics and expectations and challenges of balancing the right to a fair trial and a free press.Barnette, who worked with Cahill on setting up the feed, said he would refrain from commenting on the implications of the livestream until after the trial.Levine and Kirtley said they hope it adds to public understanding of the courts and leads to future broadcasts of Minnesota trials."I think it will eliminate the argument that cameras are inherently disruptive," Kirtley said. "There will be a great deal of pressure on government entities to continue this level of access." 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. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain In an effort to further understand the impact of COVID-19 to the cardiovascular system and complications that may arise for patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD), the American Heart Association and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) are announcing a collaborative research initiative to better understand the virus impact on patient care and outcomes for conditions, including myocarditis and cardiomyopathy. "Despite the widespread incidence of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, there are still situations where the data set is simply too small to create inferences correctly," said volunteer expert, COVID-19 CVD Registry committee co-chair Sandeep R. Das, M.D., MPH, MBA, FACC, FAHA, and director for quality and value, cardiology division for UT Southwestern Medical Center. The new initiative will leverage the de-identified patient data from both organizations. The American Heart Association, the leading voluntary health organization devoted to a world of longer, healthier lives, will supply data from the COVID-19 CVD Registry, powered by the Association's Get With The Guidelines, which collects in-hospital data from more than 150 facilities across the United States. SCCM, the largest non-profit medical organization dedicated to promoting excellence and consistency in the practice of critical care, will contribute research from its Discovery Viral Infection and Respiratory Illness Universal Study (VIRUS) COVID-19 Registry. Launched in May 2020, the VIRUS COVID-19 registry tracks current ICU and hospital care patterns worldwide to evaluate the safety and observational effectiveness of COVID-19 care. The VIRUS Registry currently has more than 65,000 patients enrolled and will continue enrolling patients through 2021. Together these two datasets have the promise to power robust analyses to help drive improved care for patients during this pandemic. The initiative will use the American Heart Association's Precision Medicine Platform (PMP), a secure cloud-computing platform hosted by the Association's Institute for Precision Cardiovascular Medicine, to facilitate the research. "There is still so much to learn about the impacts COVID-19 has on the heart and the cardiovascular system," said SCCM President Greg S. Martin, M.D., MSc, FCCM. "The combined power of the two registries from the SCCM and the American Heart Association mean that there is increased opportunity for valid findings, risk prediction models and a greater understanding of the challenges these CVD patients are facing." Explore further COVID-19 patient outcomes affected by cardiovascular risk Mar. 19Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has issued a proclamation that flags be lowered in honor of the Georgia shooting victims. DeWine signed the order Thursday in remembrance of the eight people shot to death Tuesday at three massage businesses in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The attack was the deadliest since the August 2019 mass shooting in Dayton's historic Oregon District that killed nine victims and injured 27 more. "I hereby proclaim, by the authority vested in me as the governor of the state of Ohio by the Ohio Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that the flags of the United States and the State of Ohio shall be flown at half-staff upon all public buildings and grounds throughout the state of Ohio until sunset on March 22, 2021." JACKSON The House Revenue Committee was again disinterested in new taxes last week as it voted down a real estate transfer tax and an expansion of the sales tax from goods to services. Teton County legislators supported the real estate tax. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort lobbied against the sales tax expansion. Rep. Cathy Connolly, D-Albany, was the lead sponsor on the sales tax bill. Pointing to a report on Wyomings estimated tax capacity the ability to increase taxes while remaining competitive business-wise she argued that Wyoming has plenty of capacity. We ha... Pic story: Pakistani student studying plant nutrition science in China Xinhua) 13:21, March 19, 2021 Abdul Ghaffar Shar collects soil samples at a cherry plantation of Yangling agricultural hi-tech industrial demonstration zone in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, March 17, 2021. Abdul Ghaffar Shar, 30, is a Pakistani doctoral student in China's Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University (NWAFU). Shar is doing plant nutrition research for his doctoral degree. After receiving his bachelor's degree in agriculture from Sindh Agriculture University in Pakistan in 2014, Shar decided to further his studies in China's NWAFU. Shar has learned to speak Mandarin and use chopsticks. He also adapted himself to Chinese food. In order to make more friends, Shar adopted a Chinese name "Jin Letian", which means "golden, happiness and sky." In Shar's opinion, Pakistan is a traditional agricultural country and farmers use many chemical fertilizers in the fields, which has a negative impact on soil fertility and the environment. "I study to improve soil fertility by adjusting trace elements of farmlands, which will help increase grain yields in my hometown," he said. In the past seven years, Shar collected research samples extensively from around the experiment stations in Shaanxi, which also gave him an opportunity to witness the development of China's rural areas. Shar says he wants to be an "envoy" between China and Pakistan as the two countries deepen cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. "I hope I can play a role in strengthening the exchange of agricultural technology between the two countries under the initiative," said Shar. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen) The Queen faces a substantial 'pay cut' as ministers look to rein in spending on the monarchy after Covid, according to courtiers. Government officials are in talks with the Palace about a new financial settlement for the Royal Family, insiders claim. Her current five-year Sovereign Grant agreement ends in 2022 and the new one is unlikely to be so generous. 'The last settlement was exceptional and we cannot expect that to be repeated,' one courtier told the Daily Mail. 'Her Majesty is very much aware of the hardships people have been through during the pandemic and is happy to play her part in cutting costs.' The Queen (pictured with Prince Philip) faces a substantial 'pay cut' as ministers look to rein in spending on the monarchy after Covid, according to courtiers The Royal Family's pay was increased to foot the costs for a huge programme of refurbishments at Buckingham Palace The Royal Family currently receives 25 per cent of the Crown Estate's profits. They previously received 15 per cent but it was increased to pay for a huge programme of refurbishments at Buckingham Palace. The Queen, who turns 95 next month, conducted 296 official engagements in 2019, when she was given 82.4 million in taxpayer funding. The Palace claims this is equivalent to 1.23 for every person in the UK. The Sovereign Grant replaced the Civil List as the funding mechanism for the royals in 2012 and funds the family's public duties, including travel, operating costs of the Queen's household and the upkeep of palaces. The Palace admitted last September that it faced a 35million funding shortfall due to Covid-19 but said it would not ask for extra public money. Senior royal aides said the household would have to tighten its belt, which could lead to job losses. The royals' expenditure will likely have been pared back over the past year, with Harry and Meghan leaving for the US and Prince Andrew stepping down from public duties. The Family has been consumed by the ongoing row with Harry and Meghan, which escalated following their bombshell interview with Oprah In the Oprah interview, Harry complained about being financially cut off after relinquishing his royal role. Buckingham Palace declined to comment, but a royal source said: 'The five-year review into Sovereign Grant funding is due to start in the coming financial year and it would be premature to speculate on the outcome.' The Queen has been spending lockdown at Windsor Castle where she and Philip have been helped by a much smaller team of staff. The Duke of Edinburgh, 99, this week returned to Windsor after a month-long hospital stay in London. Throughout the pandemic the Queen has steeled the nation's resolve and has offered words of comfort through the darkest points in the crisis. She even revealed when she had her vaccine to encourage others to get jabbed. But the Family has been consumed by the ongoing row with Harry and Meghan, which escalated following their bombshell interview with Oprah. Although ruling out the Queen and Philip, the couple accused a royal of expressing 'concerns' over how dark Archie's skin would be. The Family is looking into the allegations, as well as claims of bullying made against Meghan. 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 Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld a 2020 murder conviction that originated out of Limestone County. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the decision today in the murder conviction of Marty Gene Stafford, 32. Stafford was found guilty in Limestone County Circuit Court on Aug. 6, 2020, for the felony murder of Brenton Gatlin. He was one of three people arrested originally for the killing of Gatlin, who was fatally shot in the neck on July 25, 2017 at a home on Horton Street in Athens. Kandes Lambert, also arrested with Stafford, was found guilty of felony murder today, according to WAFF. Terry Amersons trial on reckless murder charges is set for April 12, according to court records. Stafford was sentenced to life and sought to have his convictions reversed on appeal. Marshall said the evidence at trial showed that Stafford went to Gatlins home to commit a robbery. Stafford was later arrested hiding behind lumber next to a nearby house. Stafford admitted to police that he entered Gatlins house to commit a robbery and engaged in a confrontation but denied having a gun and insisted that he used his fists. Prosecutors produced evidence in the form of messages via Facebook Messenger in which Stafford discussed his plan to rob Gatlin and posted photographs showing him brandishing a semiautomatic pistol. The background in the photographs indicated that they were taken inside of Gatlins house. The Attorney Generals Criminal Appeals Division handled the case during the appeals process, arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm Staffords conviction. Marshall commended Assistant Attorney General Kristi Wilkerson for her successful work on this case, and thanked District Attorney Brian Jones and his staff for their assistance. Russian President Vladimir Putin has challenged U.S. President Joe Biden to talks broadcast live around the world. Putin said he had last spoken to Biden by phone at the U.S. President's request and that he now proposed they had another conversation, on Friday or Monday, to be held by video-link and broadcast live. "I wouldnt put this off for too long. I want to go to the taiga on the weekend to get some rest, but we could do it tomorrow or, lets say, on Monday," the Russian president told the Rossiya-24 TV channel. "Please, we are ready at any time convenient for the Americans, I will give the corresponding directive right now to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [of Russia]," Putin said. The two leaders last spoke by telephone on January 26 days after Biden took office. At least three cases of a highly contagious variant of the COVID-19 virus one of which is still under investigation to determine the source of infection have been identified in Manitoba schools. At least three cases of a highly contagious variant of the COVID-19 virus one of which is still under investigation to determine the source of infection have been identified in Manitoba schools. Families at Ecole Tache and O.V. Jewitt Community School in Winnipeg received letters Thursday informing them of exposures in their childrens schools earlier this month. Download Ecole Tache COVID-19 VOC letter - March 18 2021 Deputy chief public health officer Dr. Jazz Atwal announced the cases publicly, as well as a third variant identified at Pine Ridge Elementary School in Winkler, at a news conference Friday. The cases in Winnipeg were close contacts of another variant infection, but public-health officials are still investigating the Winkler case, Atwal said. "Its not unexpected," he said. "Were seeing an increased number of cases, were seeing more variants of concern from a case perspective, as well." Research suggests the variants that have arrived in Manitoba the U.K (B.117) and South African (B.1.351) strains are 30 to 50 per cent more contagious than the original strain. Atwal said the province is taking "more aggressive measures" to mitigate the risk of variant transmission in schools, in addition to broadening the close-contact definition and introducing stricter isolation requirements. Its not unexpected. Were seeing an increased number of cases, were seeing more variants of concern from a case perspective, as well." Dr. Jazz Atwal, Deputy chief public health officer "If there is a case within a school, even with distancing, even with mask-use and even if there was really no interactions with others in their cohort, were going to be asking that whole cohort, likely, to stay home," he said, noting certain variables are still up for consideration. O.V. Jewitt families were told in a letter dated Thursday to "closely monitor" their children for symptoms, even if they're not considered to be close contacts. Seven Oaks superintendent Brian OLeary said Friday seven people had been identified as close contacts after the Maples-area elementary school exposure. Close contacts who do not have symptoms are advised to get tested after the 10-day mark, following an exposure. Public health is expected to advise contacts, regardless of results, on the length of time they should isolate, a period that could be up to 24 days. Much like public-health officials led all contact tracing efforts at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, they are taking the lead on tracking variants in schools, OLeary said. "With non-variant cases or regular COVID cases schools are essentially responsible for the contact tracing," he added. Public health started asking school principals to get involved to speed up tracing amid a backlog in autumn. In early 2021, the province published a toolkit to support school leaders in doing investigations. The province's COVID-19 school dashboard indicates there have been 2,359 cases identified in schools in 2020-21. With non-variant cases or regular COVID cases schools are essentially responsible for the contact tracing. Brian OLeary, Seven Oaks superintendent Atwal said the province will adjust the charts to include specific data on variant cases, which are determined after screening and sequencing, in the future. However, it will not identify exact variants; such detailed information isn't important, Atwal said, adding the public should focus on following public-health directives. O'Leary said he hopes families stay calm despite the news of variants in schools, given evidence of limited community transmission in the settings. "The weathers been co-operating, were opening up windows, we're getting kids outside more, attendance has bounced back, more kids are back from remote-learning," he said, adding schools seem to be "bouncing back" after a year of disruptions. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment In keeping with longstanding tradition, a member of the U.S. Senate recently read aloud George Washingtons Farewell Address on Feb. 22, his birthday under the Gregorian calendar. This year, our country has suffered disease, violence and division, and I believe Washingtons words are particularly apt: Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. Religion and morality have always been critical pieces in the foundation of our free society. Like our Founding Fathers, President Biden should heed the calls of Christians across the nation on these issues. If President Biden is truly fighting for the soul of America, as he said while on the campaign trail, then he should do three things: Defend international religious freedom In 2018, the Trump Administration nominated Sam Brownback, former governor of Kansas to the position of ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. This position, originally created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, leads the Office of International Religious Freedom at the federal level. The office exists to promote universal respect for freedom of religion or belief for all as a core objective of U.S. foreign policy, monitor religiously motivated abuses, harassment and discrimination worldwide, and recommend, develop and implement policies and programs to address these concerns. With former President Trump no longer in office, this position is now vacant. The Biden administration has an obligation to not only the American people but also to the entire world to fill this position. Likewise, President Biden must appoint a new national security council advisor on international religious freedom, a position that is called for under the International Religious Freedom Act. That role had been left by the wayside until President Trump formally instituted it and appointed Sarah Makin-Acciani last year. Additionally, the Biden administration must continue with the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, an annual gathering of religious, political and civil leaders from around the world. This forum, which began in 2018, is of utmost importance in defending and promoting international religious freedom and strengthening relations with other nations and cultures. President Biden must keep religious freedom as the heart of foreign policy not just a part of it. Protect the Hyde Amendment In a reversal of course, President Biden has called for the Hyde Amendment to be repealed after decades of supporting it. The Hyde Amendment Codification Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate in 2013 and bans federal funding of most abortions. On the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling on Roe v. Wade, the White House released a statement which read in part, In the past four years, reproductive health, including the right to choose, has been under relentless and extreme attack. Though the Biden-Harris administration has called for unity, they have made it clear they believe those who are pro-life are extreme. Moreover, they dont just want to keep abortion legal they want people who are pro-life to fund it. Additionally, President Biden recently rescinded the Mexico City Policy. In summary, the policy prevents international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from performing abortions or advocating for abortions with either U.S. or foreign funds as a condition of receiving federal U.S. funding for family planning programs. Now, American tax dollars will fund abortions overseas. Scripture is very clear on the sanctity of human life: we are all made in the image of God. Every life has dignity, value and worth. At a minimum, President Biden should immediately establish a bipartisan Abortion Reduction Task Force, as President Obama attempted to do in his first term. Stand with Israel During his time in office, President Trump took decisive action to protect Israel and the Jewish people. He moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and he facilitated the Abraham Accords, history-making peace agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Bahrain, Israel and Morocco and Sudan. Thankfully, President Bidens nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has stated she supports Israel. I look forward to standing with Israel, standing against the unfair targeting of Israel, the relentless resolutions proposed against Israel unfairly, she said at her recent Senate confirmation hearing. I commend President Biden for his nomination of Thomas-Greenfield and his administrations desire for peace as U.S. Acting Representative to the United Nations Richard Mills noted in a speech. However, President Biden must act accordingly: only recently did he call Israels Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Before that call, he moved to restore relations with Palestine he has also demonstrated an interest in negotiating with Iran. We at My Faith Votes will stand in support of Israel. Israel is the birthplace of the Jewish and Christian faiths, and Judeo-Christian values were key to Americas founding. More importantly, Gods love for his people, displayed throughout Scripture, compels us to remain unwavering in our commitment to the Jewish people and their right to live peacefully in their eternal homeland. We believe the protection of religious freedom, the unborn and Israel is more than a strategic political decision its also choosing Gods blessing for our nation as we align our priorities with his. 05 May 2021 --- Nestle has launched Wunda, a new pea-based beverage that the company says is epic in everything you would otherwise use milk for. Wunda will... Read More We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form They loved to decorate the bosss office at the Bureau of Criminal Intelligence (BCI) with stolen property until he would bark get that out of here. The boss was my father, Fred Silvester. Soon Robertson was given a new mission: He was to go deep undercover to infiltrate Australias best armed robbery crew, the men behind the 1976 multimillion-dollar Great Bookie Robbery. It would very nearly cost him his life and now 43 years later his bravery has been recognised with a prestigious Police Valour Award after a group of old colleagues lobbied on his behalf. At BCI in 1978, he was told armed robber Rex James Bicky McAdam had approached a Mayne Nickless employee for inside information on payroll deliveries. The two men had met at Bickys club in Surfers Paradise and the crook was now pressuring the guard to leak information. Robertson was employed at the security firm for about a month before he was introduced to Bicky by the original company contact. Bicky McAdam was the front man but the real power lay with three others Ray Patrick The General Chuck, Dennis William Fatty Smith and Linus Patrick The Pom Driscoll. Linus Patrick Driscoll: supplied the weaponry for the Great Bookie Robbery. Credit:The Australasian Criminal Register 1973 In the Bookie Robbery Chuck had been the mastermind, Driscoll provided the high-powered firearms and Smith was a getaway driver who later laundered the millions taken in the raid. At an early meeting between Brian Wilson and McAdam at a coffee shop near the Victoria Market, McAdam left for a short time. I was sitting having a coffee when I saw Chuck go by and then Fatty Smith go by. I thought well, this is interesting. Bicky came back and said, Theyve had a good look at you and reckon you are all right. Russell Cox: Spent 11 years on the run. Credit:Police mugshot Wilson was in. At the Werribee races he was introduced to Kelvin - another gang member. He was a fit-looking bastard, says Robertson. Indeed he was. He was a vegetarian who ran 15 kilometres every morning. Though police didnt know it then, Kelvin was none other than Russell Cox, who had escaped from Sydneys maximum-security Katingal jail six months earlier. Brian Wilson had upgraded from the VW to a flash Holden Statesman De Ville. From the back seat Cox, a counter-surveillance expert, observed: You drive on your mirrors. Wilson responded: I always do because you dont know who could be following you. Wilson told the gang leaders he would tip them into a $600,000 payroll, at first refusing to identify the target. Having whetted their appetites he told them he was one of the drivers that delivered the Country Roads Boards payroll to their office in Denmark Street, Kew. With the hook set, Wilson said the job had to be pulled on May 4, 1978, because the payroll would swell to $900,000 due to penalties and a backdated pay rise. Wilson was to be paid 10 per cent of the haul with a down payment before the job and the rest, in clean money, the week after the raid. I told them it would be massive, that it was going to be huge, says Robertson. He drove Bicky and Kelvin to the building, which was already rigged with police cameras. I took them out to Denmark Street and told them next time we meet Ill show you the layout. Kelvin said Ive already had a look. Hed put on an old dust coat and walked through [pretending to be staff]. No one noticed him. We used to do the same thing. The day before the expected raid, Wilson met with Kelvin outside the Victoria Market, where they were to rendezvous with Bicky for the down payment of $5000. This was the most dangerous part of the police operation, codenamed Osprey. Its final confidential report is missing from police files but not from mine. Robbo Robertson receives his Police Valor Award from Deputy Commissioner Wendy Steendam for an undercover operation 43 years ago. Credit:Joe Armao This was a critical meeting and an extremely dangerous one for Robertson. In the circumstances that existed it was conceivable that he would be abducted and murdered. He had ceased to be of use to the criminal organisation. In fact, he had become a liability, the report states. Robertson was aware of the risks and invented his own insurance policy: I told him I had notified my solicitor and if I didnt turn up there physically hes going to ring the cops. So you think about the money. Cox seemed impressed. He said: You are a smart one. But at that moment a City West patrol car with three police in it pulled up. Senior Constable Bill Bandy was a good mate of Robertsons and as he approached he realised the cop was undercover. I thought Shit, here we go, Robertson recalls. Bandy asked for identification and I produced mine as Brian Wilson and Cox pulled out his identification, which was a .38 long-barrelled revolver with his finger on the trigger. Graeme Henderson (aka Alan Phillips) with Robbo at the Police Valor Award ceremony on Thursday. Credit:Joe Armao No one knew at the time that Kelvin was the escaped Cox, prepared to kill to remain free. He was going to shoot us all, says Robertson. I have no doubt about that. I said, Dont shoot em, well put them in the rubbish bins. He said good idea. He knew shooting coppers would bring down a world of pain. I took their guns and pulled their radio out and threw them on the roof. Billy [Bandy] was saying Give me a gun and I am whispering, Shut up, hell kill all of us. Then Kelvin/Cox started behaving like a character from a English war novel. He said You are a true Briton then bang, he fired a shot in the air and ran off. Another police car arrived and Robertson ran to them with his hands in the air. I told them to contact Detective Superintendent Fred Silvester at BCI by phone, but they did it over radio. All the crooks had scanners and were listening thats how they were tipped off. The next day the Special Operations Group lay in ambush at Denmark Street. But the gang had cleared out. Bicky went back to Queensland. Fatty Smith moved to Manila to run a vice bar, returning to Melbourne to be busted dealing drugs from his Rolls Royce, and Chuck was shot dead the next year inside the Melbourne Magistrates Court. Driscoll, probably the most feared for removing the toes of rivals with bolt cutters, was deported to Britain and Cox was arrested in 1988 at Doncaster after 11 years on the run planning another armed van robbery. Burma With Two More Arrests, A Total of 18 Journalists Detained by Myanmar Regime Security forces deployed in Mandalay. / The Irrawaddy Two Myanmar journalists working for the BBC and Mizzima News were arrested by the military regime Mar.19, raising the number of detained reporters to 18 as of Mar.19. Ko Aung Thura, a local correspondent for the BBC, and Ko Than Htike Aung from Mizzima News were taken away by plainclothes police in Naypyitaw, Myanmars capital, on Friday. The men were arrested in front of the Dekkhinathiri District Court while covering the court hearing of detained NLD patron U Win Htein. A lawyer present at the scene said that they were forcibly led away after being instructed to accompany police for questioning. Since the militarys Feb.1 coup, a total of 40 journalists have been arrested by the junta, according to Detained Journalists Information Myanmar, a Facebook page set up by local journalists to record the arrests of their fellow reporters. So far, 22 of the 40 detainees had been released as of Mar.19. However, ten journalists have been charged with incitement under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code. The article outlaws any statement likely to cause military personnel to mutiny or to disregard their duties and carries a potential prison sentence of up to three years. In a further attack on Myanmars media, the military regime has also revoked the publication licenses of five news outlets: Myanmar Now, Khit Thit Media, Democratic Voice of Burma, Mizzima News and 7 Day. The Irrawaddy also has been sued by the regime under Article 505(a) for its coverage of the juntas deadly crackdowns on anti-coup protesters. You may also like these stories: Four More Myanmar Diplomats Refuse to Work for Military Regime Myanmar Security Forces Rob Local Residents in Yangon NLDs Information Team Member Arrested by Myanmars Military Regime (Natural News) Once upon a time, ace investigative journalist Sheryl Attkisson broke massive stories for CBS News and was considered one of the best in her business at doing so. She had good instincts, great insight, and killer sources. Her problem was that she was uncovering unconstitutional and illegal activities that exposed the wrong political party and president: Democrat Barack Obama. For her sins, she was eventually forced out at CBS News and has since made her own way still investigating, still reporting, still exposing corruption, graft and illegal activities. But because she got too close to the action during her CBS News tenure, Obamas deep state sought to fix her and fix her good: According to her book, Stonewalled, some shadowy government operative accessed her laptop in the dead of night and planted a document containing information she wasnt supposed to have. The only reason she wasnt busted by the feds after being set up is because she took her laptop to a trusted computer forensics expert who happened to discoverer it and remove it. Yeah, that kind of stuff actually happens in real life, not just in suspense movies. And our government does it all the time, according to a deep state operative-turned whistleblower interviewed by Georgia-based attorney Lin Wood. Wood has since released transcripts of his interview, and what the operative/whistleblower has to say is legitimate bombshell material. According to screen grabs of the transcripts posted online at The Conservative Treehouse, the whistleblower described scenarios that most Americans would relate to Putins Russia or a third-world banana republic. The operative said that the deep state often targeted individuals to compromise and then control such as judges (Chief Justice John Roberts rulings against conservative principles and Trump policies make a lot more sense now, dont they?). This was done under the guise of a CISSP operation. Its a DOJC SIMS computer operation. It was run out of Fort Washington but had a satellite location in Baltimore, the whistleblower testified to Wood. And they would illegally compromise people, illegally wiretap, break into computers, plant, reverse, change information, change emails, things of that nature, and it was in this capacity of working with them that information about the judges, Roberts and Pence and things like that have come out, the whistleblower continued. Theres more. The whistleblower talks about working out of the Baltimore office at time when former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was a U.S. attorney there; Rosenstein, readers may recall, was accused of offering to wear a wire for then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe so he could set up then-President Donald Trump for a fall and have his Cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him. Rosenstein denied that under oath to Congress, but lo and behold, a McCabe memo from 2019 strongly suggests that yes, the two of them did talk about Rosenstein wearing a wire to collect additional evidence on the presidents true intentions, and that Rosenstein was the one who suggested it. As our conversation continued, the DAG proposed that he could potentially wear a recording device into the Oval Office to collect additional evidence on the presidents true intentions, McCabe wrote in the memo. He said he thought this might be possible because he was not searched when he entered the White House. Attkisson has since filed a lawsuit naming Rosenstein and others for the intrusion into her computer, as she notes in this update: Notes The Conservative Treehouse: Whether its the identified weaponization of NSA databases to gain political leverage; or whether it was corrupt FBI officials covering for each other and the DOJ declining to prosecute; or whether it was the need to put Rod Rosenstein into a position where he could cover for Deep State activity; or whether it was AG Bill Barr covering for the transparently corrupt former DAG Rod Rosenstein; or whether it was the institutional need to hide DOJ scope memos given to Andrew Weissmann and Robert Mueller which initiated a false investigation (insurance policy) of a sitting United States President; or whether it is simply the need for the Obama crew to install an oblivious and cognitively impaired Biden so that Kamala Harris could continue the cover operation; one thing remains brutally obvious The site then posted a Fox News interview screen grab of House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes saying: These are all a bunch of dirty cops and, Ill tell you, some of them better go to jail, or were going to go down in a spiral in this country because you will not have a Republican that will trust the FBI or the Department of Justice for generations to come. See more reporting like this at DeepState.news. Sources include: TheConservativeTreehouse.com FoxNews.com NaturalNews.com New Delhi: In a move that will result in faster settlement of cheques resulting in better customer service, the Reserve Bank of India has asked banks to implement the image-based Cheque Truncation System (CTS) in all branches by September 30. " To leverage the availability of CTS and provide uniform customer experience irrespective of location of her/his bank branch, it has been decided to extend CTS across all bank branches in the country. To facilitate this, banks shall have to ensure that all their branches participate in image-based CTS under respective grids by September 30, 2021. They are free to adopt a model of their choice, like deploying suitable infrastructure in every branch or following a hub & spoke model, etc. and concerned banks shall coordinate with the respective Regional Offices of RBI to operationalise this," an RBI statement said. The CTS is in use since 2010 and presently covers around 1,50,000 branches. All the erstwhile 1219 non-CTS clearing houses (ECCS centres) have been migrated to CTS effective September 2020. It is, however, seen that there are branches of banks that are outside any formal clearing arrangement and their customers face hardships due to longer time taken and cost involved in collection of cheques presented by them. Banks have also been asked to inform the RBI the roadmap to achieve pan-India coverage of CTS and submit a status report before April 30, 2021. Live TV #mute "Banks are advised to inform us (helpdpss@rbi.org.in) the roadmap to achieve pan-India coverage of CTS and submit a status report before April 30, 2021," RBI said. A protester carries a "Black Lives Matter" flag during a demonstration as jury selection begins in Minneapolis (Photo : REUTERS/Maranie Staab/File Photo) U.S. corporations are fighting harder this year to keep activist shareholder proposals off the ballot at their annual meetings, partly because of a proliferation of investor demands for racial justice reforms. The trend shows the high stakes for the acting head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Allison Herren Lee, who in a pair of speeches this week outlined reviews of the shareholder proposal process and voting disclosures. Advertisement Last year, Trump administration appointees on the SEC raised the bar for shareholders to bring matters to a vote, even as investors poured money into the hands of fund managers using sustainability criteria to pick stocks and often backing resolutions on environmental, social or corporate governance issues. At the same time 2020's Black Lives Matter protests catalyzed a new wave of investor proposals focused on issues like diverse workforces and better working conditions for employees whose jobs put them at risk during the pandemic. Companies have asked to skip many of those votes. "While companies talk a good game on this, the proponents are pressing them for substance, and it's a really touchy subject," said Heidi Welsh, executive director of the Sustainable Investments Institute, which tracks the area. This year companies have asked the SEC for permission to skip votes on 33% of the 437 shareholder resolutions at their annual meetings as of Monday, up from 27% last year and 26% in 2017, according to a review by Welsh for Reuters News. Companies commonly seek SEC permission to skip votes and manage to do so about half the time, arguing for instance that proposals deal with ordinary business or have already been implemented. Even when reform proposals make the proxy ballot, management usually recommends investors vote "no." This week, Lee said the SEC will review rules on proxy voting and perhaps change how companies ask to skip votes. The SEC could revise guidance on when resolutions on significant policy issues eclipse ordinary business concerns, attorneys said. Some companies have signaled receptivity to striking deals with proponents at least on climate-related subjects. But companies have also moved to block votes, especially on the new resolutions. This season Citigroup Inc and others sought to exclude shareholder proposals calling for "racial equity" audits of the impact of their business on nonwhite stakeholders and communities of color. Citigroup argued it had already "substantially implemented" internal and external initiatives promoting racial equity in finance. The SEC rejected that argument, and the proposal is going before shareholders next month. In its March 17 proxy statement, Citi urged shareholders to vote no, saying it has "clearly demonstrated" initiatives to address racial inequity. A spokeswoman said it has committed over $1 billion to efforts like expanding access to credit. In another case, Amazon.com Inc argued to the SEC it should be allowed to skip a resolution filed by New York City pension leaders calling for it to review its efforts "to reduce or mitigate health and safety risks from the coronavirus pandemic" that affect its workforce. Amazon told the SEC it already has published details of its response and that it has "growing confidence that our employees are safe at work," and awaits a decision from the agency. A spokesperson cited other details in the request including that it spent over $10 billion on Covid-related efforts last year to keep employees safe and to get products to customers. Activists hope Lee's efforts will make it easier to file proposals, and that the SEC staff under Democratic leadership will allow more votes. But Lee also said she hopes to "bring greater clarity" and reduce the number of unnecessary submissions. Alston & Bird attorney Dave Brown, who represents corporations, said they would object less if the SEC could "incentivize shareholder proposal proponents to not waste everyone's time." (This story refiles to add full name of acting SEC commissioner, Allison Herren Lee in paragraph 2) Kolkata, March 19 : Amid the assembly poll heat in West Bengal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday questioned former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Gupta and former Transport Minister Madan Mitra in connection with its probe into the Saradha chit fund scam case. Gupta, who is also contesting as a Trinamool Congress candidate from Jorasanko assembly constituency in the West Bengal assembly polls, appeared before the agency at its Salt Lake office here. Gupta was questioned for more than three hours. Former Transport Minister Mitra also appeared before the agency. Both were issued summons separately in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam case by the financial probe agency. Mitra is contesting the assembly polls from Kamarhati assembly constituency in the state as a Trinamool Congress candidate. 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. The ED had questioned noted artist Subhaprasanna Bhattacharjee and Trinamool MLA Samir Chakraborty in connection with the same case. On March 2 this year, the ED had questioned former Rajya Sabha member and Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh for more than 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 for 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. A Canadian man detained in China for more than two years was set to face trial on Friday on espionage charges that Canada has attacked as "trumped-up", with relations between Ottawa and Beijing at their lowest point in decades. Michael Spavor is one of two Canadians detained, in apparent retaliation for Canada's arrest on a US extradition warrant of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, and formally charged last June with spying. AFP saw a police van with tinted windows arriving at the court in the northeastern city of Dandong on Friday morning, surrounded by about a dozen police officers as it drove past reporters waiting outside. Spavor's family have called for his unconditional release, insisting that he was innocent of the accusations. His family described him as "just an ordinary Canadian businessman who has done extraordinary things to build constructive ties" between Canada, China and North Korea. Jim Nickel, the Charge d'affaires of the Canadian embassy in Beijing, told reporters outside the court that they were "disappointed by the lack of transparency and the lack of access." He said he expected the case to begin at 10 am (0200 GMT). A group of 10 diplomats from eight other countries including Britain, the US, France and Australia had also travelled to Dandong, in what Nickel described as a gesture of solidarity for Spavor and to "register their opposition to arbitrary detention". "We appreciate the international support," he told reporters. Canada's foreign ministry said Thursday that Beijing had confirmed Canadian officials "will not be granted permission to attend the trial" despite several official requests. The trial of Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, is scheduled to start on Monday in Beijing. The two men have had almost no contact with the outside world since their detention. Virtual consular visits only resumed in October after a nine-month hiatus that authorities said was due to the coronavirus pandemic. Story continues China's judicial system convicts most people who stand trial and the two men face up to life in prison if found guilty of "espionage" and "providing state secrets". Beijing has insisted the detention of the two Canadians is lawful, while calling Meng's case "a purely political incident". Meng -- whose father is Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei -- has been in a two-year battle against extradition to the US over charges the firm violated US sanctions on Iran. Her court case in Vancouver has entered its final phase with hearings expected to end in mid-May, barring appeals. bur-rox/dma/jah 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. Police have arrested at least four men after shots were fired in Miami Beach on Thursday night, sending crowds of Spring Break revelers running. An eyewitness said people were 'literally on top of each other in a stampede' as they fled the Ocean Drive thoroughfare in search of cover at around 8.40pm local time. Pictures and video taken shortly after showed officers speaking to handcuffed men, one of whom appeared to be injured, seated on the ground next to police cars. The men are then shown being escorted into the back of police vans. Police were called after a fight broke out at the Kantina Restaurant on Ocean Drive, WSVN reported, citing witnesses. In video from the scene, crowds can be seen watching the arrests from behind police tape as armed officers stand guard. Two people off camera can be heard arguing about whether or not the four arrested men had been fighting. A friend of the men said they were all from New York City. Police have arrested at least four men after shots were fired in Miami Beach on Thursday night, sending crowds of Spring Break revelers running The arrests came as tens of thousands of young people have flocked to the Florida city to celebrate Spring Break Pictures and video taken shortly after showed officers speaking to handcuffed men, one of whom appeared to be injured, seated on the ground next to police cars It is not clear why the arrests were made or if the men have been charged with a crime. A friend said all the men were from New York City Local10.com reported that on Thursday police fired pepper balls to disperse the crowd while Miami Beach Fire Rescue responded to assist injured party-goers. Workers from nearby restaurants were left to clean up the mess after people ran for cover, discarding shoes, bottles and other trash. After the arrests, hundreds of mostly mask-less revelers flooded back onto Ocean Drive for a street party despite the threat of coronavirus. They were among the tens of thousands of young people that have flocked to the Florida city to celebrate Spring Break. In video from the scene, crowds can be seen watching the arrests from behind police tape as armed officers stand guard In the video, two people off camera can be heard having a verbal dispute regarding whether or not the four men arrested had been fighting. Last weekend Miami Beach Police arrested more than 100 people for crimes including a 'bottle-throwing attack on our police'. The large numbers of tourists and big crowds have raised concerns about the spread of COVID over the Spring Break season, which lasts until April 12. The state's leading industry, tourism, took a hit last Spring Break due to Covid-19 restrictions, which limited travel and closed beaches, bars and restaurants. At least four men were arrested in Miami Beach on Thursday night after shots were fired in the city, which has received tens of thousands tourists for Spring Break It is not clear why the men were arrested or whether they have been charged with a crime, in a video of the arrests, two people can be heard discussing whether or not the men had been fighting The young men were arrested off Ocean Drive as hundreds of revelers partied on the thoroughfare On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Health reported 6,004 new cases of Covid-19, the highest daily total in 2 weeks. Statewide, daily infections are continuing to hover at around 50,000 new cases a day. Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber has drafted in extra police to help control the huge number of tourists visiting the city for Spring Break. Gelber has condemned the partygoers for a situation that is 'truly chaotic and unmanageable', adding that the city is under a 'level of siege' due to the sheer number of people visiting. Earlier on Thursday, hundreds of mostly maskless revelers crammed into Ocean Drive for a street party despite the treat of coronavirus Local10.com reported that police fired pepper balls to disperse the crowd while Miami Beach Fire Rescue responded to assist injured partygoers Workers from nearby restaurants were left to clean up the mess after people ran for cover, discarding shoes, bottles and other litter To help cope with the huge influx of tourists, the city will now step up the number of police patrolling the area with more enforcement and street closures, the mayor said on Wednesday. He added that Miami Beach is now being overrun with tens of thousands of spring breakers and locals who visit to party in the evening who 'seem to have forgotten that there's a pandemic'. 'If you have fifty or a hundred thousand people coming there and just half of one percent are rowdy or drunk or high to the point where they need to be controlled, it becomes a situation which is truly chaotic and unmanageable,' Gelber told NBC Miami. Last weekend Miami Beach Police arrested more than 100 people for crimes including a 'bottle-throwing attack on our police'. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Thursday Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber has drafted in extra police to help control the huge number of tourists visiting the city for Spring Break. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Thursday The large numbers of tourists and big crowds have raised concerns about the spread of COVID over the Spring Break season, which lasts until April 12. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Thursday The mayor pointed to a shooting which occurred on Monday night where a 27-year-old man was shot and killed, while around 150 partygoers were arrested over the weekend. 'It has felt at times like this city is under a level of siege simply from the volume of people that are coming,' Gelber continued, adding that during the daytime, there are fewer rowdy and drunk spring breakers. At the weekend, police in Miami Beach fired pepper balls to disperse a crowd that had surrounded officers who were arresting James Harrison, 19. 'It's like a triple threat: We've got too many people, too many coming with a desire to go wild and we have the virus,' Gelber told USA Today on Monday. 'It really poses a multifaceted peril for us. 'Some people are coming here with sort of anything-goes mentality and even if it's just a small percentage... it's a small percentage of an enormous amount of people,' Gelber added. Elsewhere, a Florida teen was arrested a second time on Wednesday after running handcuffed along the beach, having escaped from a police cruiser when someone opened the back door to the vehicle as officers dealt with spring break crowds. Dominic Glass, 18, didn't get far however, as he was taken into custody a short while after his escape that was shown in a video online. Tourism is Florida's leading industry and it took a heavy hit last year due to pandemic restrictions. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Thursday Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has not imposed statewide mask mandates or capacity limits and the state is not allowing local jurisdictions to fine people for violating mask orders. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Thursday On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Health reported 6,004 new cases of Covid-19, the highest daily total in 2 weeks. Statewide, daily infections are continuing to hover at around 50,000 new cases a day. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Thursday In Miami Beach, scores of the partygoers are not wearing face masks - and police in the city are unable to fine or arrest residents or tourists for refusing to wear a face mask, the mayor said. This is because Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has not imposed statewide mask mandates or capacity limits. The state is not allowing local jurisdictions to fine people for violating mask orders. Miami Beach can only offer spring breakers free masks in the hope that they wear them. 'I've been on Ocean Drive almost every day in the last week, and the number of people not wearing masks or just not bothering with any of the healthy practices is very disturbing,' he said. 'An enormous number of people are coming our way, and many of them, if not most, seem to have forgotten that there's a pandemic.' Mayor Gelber has condemned the partygoers for a situation that is 'truly chaotic and unmanageable', adding that the city is under a 'level of siege' due to the sheer number of people visiting. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Thursday Miami Beach can only offer spring breakers free masks in the hope that they wear them. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Thursday scores of the partygoers are not wearing face masks - and police in the city are unable to fine or arrest residents or tourists for refusing to wear a face mask, the mayor said. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Thursday Bars, restaurants and clubs in Miami Beach are welcoming the influx of partygoers who are visiting for Spring Break. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Thursday Nationwide the United States has now recorded 29.6 million cases of COVID-19 , and 538,052 deaths. On Wednesday there were 51,954 new cases and 995 deaths, according to the latest figures. Pictured: Partygoers on Ocean Drive on Thursday The tens of thousands of university students are making their annual pilgrimage to Florida for spring break as the state is recording around 50,000 new cases a day. Nationwide the United States has now recorded 29.6 million cases of COVID-19, and 538,052 deaths. On Wednesday there were 51,954 new cases and 995 deaths, according to the latest figures. President Biden's CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky has warned that the number of infections in Florida could spike off the back of Spring Breakers flocking to the state amid the spread of a COVID-19 variant. 'We have seen footage of people enjoying spring break festivities, maskless. This is all in the context of still 50,000 cases per day.' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Walensky said at the start of this week. 'Cases climbed last spring, they climbed again in the summer, they will climb now if we stop taking precautions when we continue to get more and more people vaccinated.' Express your opinion! Fill out this form to submit a Letter to the Editor. Submit Doctors recently reported the bizarre case of a 25-year-old woman suffering from an incredibly rare medical condition that caused her to bleed from her eyes during her monthly period. Haemolacria, the condition that causes people to cry blood, is extremely rare, but Indian doctors documented the case of a woman with a similar, but even rarer condition called ocular vicarious menstruation. As the name suggests, it causes female sufferers to bleed from their eyes, but only during their monthly period. The 25-year-old woman, whose name was not revealed for privacy reasons, visited the emergency room at a hospital in Chandigarh, complaining about crying blood. All her tests came back normal, and it was only after the woman revealed that the same thing had occurred around the same time the month before that doctors made the connection to menstruation. Photo: Amanda Dalbjorn/Unsplash The woman said that the blood tears were not causing her any pain or discomfort, and the extensive ophthalmological and radiological tests showed nothing out of the ordinary. She didnt have a history of ocular bleeding or any sort of ophthalmological problems, and she wasnt bleeding from other locations. After sitting down with the patient to learn more about her symptoms, doctors learned that she had experienced blood tears around the same time the month before. Both times, she was on her period, and after eliminating all other probable causes, she was diagnosed with ocular vicarious menstruation. The extremely rare condition causes women to bleed from extragenital organs, with the most common one being the nose. However, cases where sufferers experienced bleeding from the lips, eyes and even their lungs or stomachs, have been recorded. Oestrogen and progesterone can increase permeability of capillaries resulting in hyperaemia, congestion and secondary bleeding from extrauterine tissue, the authors of a study documenting the womans case, wrote. After being diagnosed, the woman was treated with oral contraceptives containing a combination of estrogen and progesterone, and at a three-month follow-up she reported that the eye bleeding had not occurred anymore. The hit Swahili telenovela Maria finally closed its curtains on Thursday, March 18, 2021 after running for almost three years on Citizen TV. One of the shows stars, Brian Ogana has already lined up his next projects, which unfortunately will be behind the screens. Ogana, who played the role of Luwi Hausa in Maria, says he has three major projects he is working on including returning to school for a Masters Degree. I am going back to school to study Masters in Communications. I am still trying to figure out whether I should go to Daystar or UoN (University of Nairobi), he said. Ogana said he will be taking a break from acting for a while to set up a hub for creatives and start his own YouTube Channel. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sir Brian Ogana (@sir_brianogana) For now, I just want to chill and be behind the scenes. I think the pressure has been real for me, and I am holding on for a while. I have an initiative I push called Never Give Up. The essence of it is tapping into the youth and bringing up individuals equipped with soft skills for the job market. The focus will be on talent and how you can finesse that, he said. Also Check Out Things You Probably Didnt Know About Maria Actor Luwi The 33-year-old is keen on high school students and has even reached out to stakeholders for an input on the project. How I want it tailored is, it should be more like a training. My passion will be High School students because that is where the entire generation begins. It will be more of an online thing. I am still on the negotiating table, whereby I am reaching out to the Kenya Film Classification Board, Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Arts & Culture. I am looking forward to have stakeholders come forward and tap into this potential, said Ogana. The communications officer hopes to provide educative materials for creatives across the country through his YouTube channel. Ogana said his content will revolve around theatre arts, IT, fashion and design, modelling and make-up among others, and will be shared across all his social media platforms. MONTCALM COUNTY, MI -- Two people were found dead after what police say are suspicious fires at two Greenville area houses on the same property. Ronald Township firefighters responded about 7:55 a.m. Thursday, March 18 to property in the 4200 block of West Fenwick Road in Fairplain Township. Firefighters discovered that two homes on the same property were on fire. One was engulfed in flames. Firefighters called for help from the Sheridan Area Fire Department, Greenville Department of Public Safety Fire, and Montcalm Township Fire. Once the fires were extinguished, a body was found in one of the houses. Investigators later discovered a second body as troopers from the state police Lakeview post and the state police Fire Marshal looked further into the debris. State police said they have not yet identified the bodies. The fire has been deemed suspicious. More from MLive Man pleads guilty but mentally ill in roommates Ottawa County stabbing death They can arrest me: Holland restaurant owner defies state coronavirus order New Delhi, March 19 : Resumption of traditional classes will be key for enrolment as well as revenue growth in FY22 in the Indian education sector, said India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) on Friday. Accordingly, the ratings agency maintained a stable outlook for the Indian education sector for FY22. "The key reason for this view is the expected stability in enrolments across higher educational institutions for the year. Also, the commencement of 170 new institutions in FY21 supports the stable outlook," "Furthermore, 29 per cent of India's population falls in the age group of 0 to 14 years which reflects a great opportunity for the sector." According to Ind-Ra, despite the pandemic, India was able to retain above 9,600 institutions and 3.13 million intakes in FY21, mainly supported by digital learning. "Ind-Ra believes the dependence on online classes would remain in FY22 as well, even though institutions are expected to reopen for physical classes in the next academic year (2021-22)." "Education remains a strategic priority for the government of India. The union government has approved the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, making way for large-scale, transformational reforms in both school and higher education sectors." As per the report, majority of Ind-Ra-rated educational institutions, mainly managing colleges and universities, reported steady enrolments in FY21 backed by their strong demand profile and regionally good market position. "At the same time, institutions only managing schools and located mainly in rural areas reported a fall in enrolment rates in FY21 due to the pandemic." "This coupled with rising discounts on tuition fee eroded the revenue collection of these institutions in FY21. However, enrolments in these schools are likely to increase in FY22 with the resumptions of regular physical classes." In general, the ratings agency said that liquidity profile of educational institutions in India is weak due to their high debt service commitments and operational expenditures which worsened in FY21 due to mismatches in cash inflow and outflow on account of Covid-19. "Ind-Ra expects the liquidity profile to remain the same in FY22." "Since enrolments were slightly behind schedule for the education sector due to the procedural delays in admissions in FY21, fee collection was also delayed by few months compared to earlier years. However, lower operating expenses in FY21 improved the operating margins of Ind-Ra rated investment grade educational institutions." Additionally, it cited that lower revenue collection than expected for non-investment grade institutions is likely to exert pressure on their operating performance in FY21. "However, Ind-Ra believes profitability to recover in FY22, backed by normalisation of activities and recommencement of physical classes." "Ind-Ra believes debt levels are likely to increase slightly in FY22 from previous year as some of the deferred capex plans may start taking shape." Consequently, debt burden will rise for most educational intuitions in FY22 as the deferred capex plan gets implemented, the agency pointed out. "Nevertheless, an improvement in the operational performance mainly in investment grade institutions is likely to support their leverage ratios in FY22." She often shares sexy snaps to her Instagram showing off her incredible body. And Joanna Chimonides was at it again as she posted yet another sultry picture in a lingerie set to her social media on Thursday. The former Love Island star, 24, turned up the heat in the matching lace bra and briefs from Ann Summers as she posed up a storm for the camera. Wow! Joanna Chimonides turned up the heat as she flaunted her toned body in purple lace underwear for sizzling snaps on Thursday The star showed off her toned abs and ample assets in the lingerie which featured blue bow detailing and a matching garter belt. She wore her light tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for glamorous makeup as she fixed the camera with a sexy stare. Clearly feeling confident in the underwear she captioned the post: 'Dear body, you are good enough already & our individual imperfections make us who you we are today.' Sexy: The star showed off her toned abs and ample assets in the lingerie which featured blue bow detailing and a matching garter belt Her new posts come after she returned from a trip to The Maldives with fellow Love Island alum Georgia Steel, 22, last month. The pair had been busy documenting their lavish getaways with pals including Francesca Allen and Hayley Hughes in a slew of snaps, while most of the UK was ordered to stay at home. Travel abroad is banned from the UK without a legally permitted reason, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced last month. Game on: Her new posts come after she recently returned from a trip to The Maldives with fellow Love Island alum Georgia Steel, 22 Members of the public had been taking umbrage with influencers' tone deaf posts from warmer climates like the Maldives and Dubai - now dubbed 'Covid Cosablanca.' Hostile messages on Instagram and Twitter pages are accusing them of recklessly spreading the virus and putting the NHS under increasing strain. Many claimed they jetted off for 'unavoidable work trips' - with some even going so far as to suggest that their social media posts should make them 'key workers'. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 To further drive acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria, the Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar, has called on political leaders to take the COVID-19 vaccines in public glare. Mr Abubakar while speaking at a sensitisation programme on COVID-19 vaccine for Muslim scholars and imams in Nigeria, on Friday, said this will encourage other people to take the vaccines. We have seen the president take the vaccines publicly and we expect to see more political leaders take the vaccines openly. We believe all political leaders must take the COVID-19 vaccines first before the common man on the street because they are our leaders, he said. Nigeria has commenced COVID-19 vaccination of its citizens after receiving 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX facility in early March. The rollout started with healthcare workers who are often at the risk of exposure to infections being the first responders to patients. However, vaccine hesitancy is a major challenge that must be addressed if Nigeria is to have an effective vaccination campaign, public health experts told PREMIUM TIMES. President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osibanjo received jabs of the vaccines on live television to encourage other Nigerians to accept it. Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, while addressing journalists in Abuja in late January, said he and his colleagues will take the vaccines on live television, a promise some state governors are already fulfilling. Vaccine hesitancy According to Mr Abubakar, some people are still in denial of the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic which has infected over 100 million people globally. Some people dont believe in the vaccines, they dont even believe COVID-19 exists, he said. He urged Islamic leaders to educate people in their various constituencies on the safety and importance of taking the COVID-19 vaccines. He noted that religious leaders will play a very important role in peoples acceptance of the vaccines. We all know the roles you play as leaders, your voices are very strong and people listen to you, they also believe in you, Mr Abubakar said. In his remarks, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said it is important for leaders at all levels to take the COVID-19 vaccine as a way of encouraging other people. He applauded the Islamic scholars for their support in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. As leaders of Islamic faith and custodians of Islamic principles, we enjoin you to sensitize your people that the vaccine is safe and effective as confirmed by the European Union and the World Health Organisation, Mr Mustapha said. ADVERTISEMENT Nigerian Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said the suspension of the Oxford- AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine by some countries does not disqualify its use. Every medication has side effects but the positive effects of the vaccine outweigh the negative effects, Mr Ehanire said. With this vaccine, the reaction is not universal. He said the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday declared the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine safe and effective for use against the virus. In his speech, the Secretary-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Ishaq Oloyede, said there is a need for Muslims to work together to address the issue of vaccine hesitancy amongst the people. We have no choice, but to work assiduously, collectively and individually, with the entire Nigerian Ummah to confront and surmount the hurdles of hesitancy in vaccine acceptance, the fear of reluctance, resistance or even outright rejection and opposition to the new vaccine by members of our dear Ummah, Mr Oloyede said. The train has metaphorically moved and we must get on board since we are all heading in the same direction, else we would lose the opportunity to maximize the benefit of the new COVID-19 Vaccine. The Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, said the engagement provides an opportunity to have a honest conversation on the safety and benefits of COVID-19 vaccination and the role of Muslim leaders. The programme was facilitated by the NPHCDA as part of efforts to ensure people accept the COVID-19 vaccines. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) The Philippines has signed a tripartite agreement with American manufacturer Moderna to receive 20 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. Under the tripartite agreement signed on Thursday, the Philippine government secured 13 million doses of Moderna vaccines, while the private sector led by business tycoon Enrique Razon ordered 7 million vaccine doses for its frontline workers. The negotiations to acquire Moderna vaccines have been in progress since last year, with Philippine Ambassador to the United States Babes Romualdez helping close the deal. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said that with the signing of the tripartite agreement, the country will be able realize its goal of having a steady supply of vaccines throughout the year. Romualdez previously said the vaccines could be delivered by mid-year. Other vaccines acquired through tripartite deals have yet to reach the country. As of March 17, 269,583 medical frontliners and health workers have been inoculated nationwide. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 20:54:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Friday confirmed a second death from the COVID-19, the country's Ministry of Health said in a statement. The elderly Cambodian woman succumbed to the virus at noon on Friday at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in capital Phnom Penh after testing positive on March 10, the statement said, adding that the victim had also had diabetes, hypertension and obesity. "The doctors concluded that the 62-year-old woman died from the COVID-19, which severely damaged her both lungs, and myocardial infarction (heart attack)," the statement said. The Southeast Asian country has been seeing the third community COVID-19 outbreak since Feb. 20, with at least 1,062 people infected so far. Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Friday said that the kingdom is set to receive another batch of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine next week. He also renewed his call on people to wear face masks, wash hands with alcohol or gel, and keep a physical distance of 1.5 meters from each other. "For people living in high-risk areas, please do not leave home if unnecessary, and if you leave home, please wear face masks properly," he said a voice message. According to the Ministry of Health, since the start of the pandemic in January last year, the kingdom has recorded a total of 1,578 COVID-19 cases, with two deaths and 917 recoveries. Enditem "Our posture's gonna be that we're posted outside of DC, awaiting the president's orders. We hope he will give us the orders. We want him to declare an insurrection, and to call us up as the militia." Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, in November, looking ahead to Jan. 6 Saigon Investment has since received many suggestions from experts. Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, shares his views on the policies for such development projects. Appropriate policies One policy by the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City aims to clear the land on both sides of planned roads, and auction the land to best investor for projects. This will help increase revenue for the state budget, and also the State can use it for resettlement of local residents. Moreover, if the State takes control of all land on both sides of planned roads, including small pieces of land adjoining such roads, it will prevent the construction of extremely small or badly designed ugly houses springing up along main streets, which spoils the beauty and look of the whole City. If the State takes back the land for construction of roads and also takes back the land on both sides of such roads as planned in the policy for land clearance and resettlement, some positive results will surely be achieved. Firstly, the State will make fair compensations and offer the same price to everyone whose land has been taken to be used for such projects. Secondly, the State will have a certain land fund for resettlement of local people. Thirdly, it will be possible to collect back at least a part of the state budget spent on infrastructure and road development projects. On the other hand, such plans require huge amounts of capital for compensations, land clearance and resettlement. If the State aims at clearance of land for planned roads and clearance of land adjoining the roads for other purposes, it will need a lot more money for compensations than just clearance of land for the planned roads, as has been done over the past years. People whose land lies out of the road width, but still in the area adjoining the roads are usually positive. In previous projects, the locals who had land taken did not receive satisfactory compensation or support for resettlement, nor were they able to exchange their pieces of land for new land at the same price or fair price. The hardest part is probably how the policies for compensations and support for resettlement could be implemented in a way that protects the legal rights and interests of the locals whose land is taken for projects. Hence, competent agencies must first ensure fair prices and resettlement for locals so as to reach an agreement among the people who have had their land taken for projects. Choices for affected locals If the State clears only the land for construction of the roads, as has been done over the years, the positive effect is that it will affect a smaller number of people. After a new road is built or an old road is widened, some bits of land which were previously away from the road turn out to lie next to the new road, and the value of the land increases, bringing higher benefit for the land user. Big pieces of land become smaller but still provide a source of livelihood for the affected residents. In general, the State can benefit from development of infrastructure and roads, promote better socio-economic growth, raise budget revenue through collection of taxes on land use rights, and also for transfer of real properties and corporate income tax. However, not taking control of the land on both sides of the planned roads and organizing auctions for their sale, would cause the State to confront the reality of the situation where it has no land funds for improvement of urban areas, resettlement for the locals, construction of public amenities, or get back part of the money spent on the infrastructure and road development projects. People who have all the land cleared for the projects may receive some compensations for resettlement, but have to suffer the biggest losses. For this reason, it is essential to improve the policy for satisfactory compensations and support for resettlement to protect all the legal rights and interests of the people who have their land taken for implementation of infrastructure and road development projects. Only then will it be able to receive the highest approval from the affected local people. Therefore, we strongly support the idea that it is vital to arrange for resettlement in the same area for the people who have their land cleared for the projects, because this is the best way to ensure the highest interest for affected locals. This land exchange scheme suggests that each person who has land cleared is allowed to get back a smaller piece of land in proportion to the increased price of land driven up by the improved infrastructure. This land exchange scheme is simple, easy to understand, easy to carry out and easy to get a nod of approval from the people. This land exchange scheme can only be carried out if the piece of land is large enough, can be exchanged for one lot or for a private house for resettlement. However, it is not suitable for people with a small piece of land or low value of land. In such cases, it is necessary to add a regulation for exchange for some suitable accommodation in an apartment building. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of HCMC Real Estate Association Hong Kong: KS Wong joins green webinar Secretary for the Environment KS Wong today discussed with more than 170 entrepreneurs and business executives from different European countries the prospects for European technology in contributing to a carbon-neutral Hong Kong. During the webinar discussion, Mr Wong said Hong Kong has been exploring various solutions to combat climate change, noting that European technology has been playing a key role in establishing state-of-the-art waste-to-energy/resources facilities in the city. He also appealed to European enterprises to grasp the many business opportunities arising from Hong Kong's progressive targets set on carbon neutrality. The webinar was organised by the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Offices in Brussels and in Berlin, with support from 10 organisations and Belgium-Hong Kong Society Chairman Alexander De Beir as the moderator. This story has been published on: 2021-03-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. ADVERTISEMENT Namibia is seeking funding for several infrastructure projects. This included a new desalination plant as part of the governments drive to revive the economy and expand the mining sector, President Hage Geingob said on Thursday. While launching his five-year economic recovery plan, Mr Geingob said the country also plans to expand the local power generation capacity by 250 Megawatts to boost the recovery. The power generation will also optimise the operation of the container terminal in the coastal town of Walvis Bay and establish an Economic Free Zone. This is a period of a great opportunity and we thus invite investors to partner with the government in the delivery of these transformative initiatives encapsulated in the plan, he told reporters in the capital Windhoek. Our objective is to unlock targeted projects worth approximately 27 billion Namibian dollars ($1.8 billion). On Wednesday, Finance Minister, Ipumbu Shiimi, said the country would accelerate reforms to improve the domestic investment climate by tabling the reviewed Namibia Investment Promotion Bill and the National Equitable Economic Empowerment Bill this year. (NAN) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Washington: Two days after an Atlanta-area shooting left eight dead, including six Asian women, members of a US House judiciary subcommittee met to discuss the rise in racist rhetoric and attacks aimed at Asian Americans during the pandemic. But it almost got derailed by Texas Republican Chip Roy who wanted to focus on different topics: free speech and China. We shouldnt be worried about having committee members of Congress policing our rhetoric because some evildoers do engage in some evil activity as has occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, Roy said. Because when we start policing free speech, were doing the very thing that were condemning when you condemn what the Chinese Communist Party does to their country. Who decides what is hate? Who decides what kind of speech deserves policing? The congressman also seemed to celebrate lynchings, which have a dark and racist history, in urging justice for wrongdoers: Theres old sayings in Texas about find all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree. Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews reunited on Thursday, catching up with a cocktail eight months after they were dropped from hosting Dancing With The Stars. Tom, 65, shared a photo of the duo having drinks at a restaurant in Calabasas and wrote: 'Reunited & it feels so good with @erinandrews,'. In a second snap the former co-hosts cuddled up for a selfie outside. Tom this time wrote: 'This reunion deserves another post '. Lots to talk about: Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews are pictured at a restaurant in Calabasas, Los Angeles on Thursday as they caught up with a cocktail, eight months after being axed from DWTS Erin replied in the comments with three champagne emojis, hinting there was some kind of celebration. 'Love u,' she added. The 42-year-old sportscaster also shared a photo from the meetup teasing, 'Always something in the works.' Producers fired Tom and Erin as co-hosts of DWTS in July 2020 and they were replaced with Tyra Banks ahead of season 29. 'Just informed @DancingABC will be continuing without me. It's been an incredible 15 year run and the most unexpected gift of my career.' Tom said at the time of the news. Erin also shared a note social media, writing, 'I will always cherish my days on that set, even if I wasn't the best at walking in heels.' 'Always something in the works': In a second snap the former co-hosts cuddled up for a selfie outside. Tom this time wrote: 'This reunion deserves another post ' while Erin replied with a hint at a celebration Tom had hosted the show since its 2005 premiere. Erin, meanwhile, competed on season 10 with Maksim Chmerkovskiy in 2010 before becoming a cohost four years later. Many fans were outraged at the choice to axe the longtime hosts and executive producer Andrew Llinares explained their decision. 'I think its all about evolution. I think any show like this that has been on many, many seasons needs to continue to evolve,' he told reporters at the ABC VirtuFall panel in September 2020. 'I think changing the host was all about evolution. It was about making the show feel fresh, making it feel new [and making] it reach out, maybe, to a new audience as well as the audience thats been there for years.' New vibe: Producers fired Tom and Erin as co-hosts of DWTS in July 2020 and they were replaced with Tyra Banks ahead of season 29 Tom had hosted the show since its 2005 premiere. Erin, meanwhile, competed on season 10 with Maksim Chmerkovskiy in 2010 before becoming a cohost four years later Sudden exit: Tom shared this note when he was told his stint with DWTS was over 'I will always cherish my days on that set': Erin shared this message after the news broke In December, Tom dashed hopes that he might return to the series. 'When people say, "I'm not gonna watch until you're back," I say, "Well, there's really no 'until' here." This train has left the station,' Tom said. 'I appreciate the sentiment, and I don't hold it against anybody if they [watch],' he added. The longtime host, who also hosted ABC's America's Funniest Home Videos and Hollywood Squares, thought DWTS would mark the end of his hosting days, but not like this. 'I always thought Dancing would be where I end my hosting tenure,' Tom said of his 28 seasons on the show. When asked what the future holds, Bergeron said whatever may come next, he doesn't think it would be in the hosting realm. 'I've hosted every format imaginable. There's no real fire in my gut to do it again. Having said that, I'm always open to surprises,' he said. Page Content Castelo Branco Municipality (Portugal), Gabrovo Municipality (Bulgaria), Helsinki-Uusimaa Region (Finland), Madrid Region (Spain), Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur (France) and Silesia Voivodeship (Poland) have been selected European Entrepreneurial Region (EER) 2021-22 Castelo Branco Municipality (Portugal), Gabrovo Municipality (Bulgaria), Helsinki-Uusimaa Region (Finland), Madrid Region (Spain), Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur (France) and Silesia Voivodeship (Poland) have been selected European Entrepreneurial Region (EER) 2021-22. Awarded by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), this label of excellence goes to regions who have demonstrated outstanding entrepreneurial foresight and an intelligent growth strategy, taking into account larger societal challenges. The 2021-22 merged edition is centred around the theme "Entrepreneurship for a Sustainable Recovery." Deeply affected by the crisis, the 2021-22 EER winning regions have shown the capacity to seize the crisis as a window of opportunity to reset the course of their economic development. The CoR awards these territories as beacons of a sustainable European recovery. Opening the award ceremony, CoR President Apostolos Tzitzikostas said: " I congratulate all the awarded regions and their political leaders for their bold, forward-looking entrepreneurial strategies The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged SMEs across Member states. It has highlighted the need to rethink business models, re-evaluate the impact of economic practices and to reconsider the resilience of supply chains. We must continue to support our SMEs, the growth engines and key employers in our regions ." Michael Murphy (IE/EPP), Chair of the CoR's Commission for Economic Policy, said: " Regions and cities that are inhabited by entrepreneurial-minded people have a better chance to overcome crises and thrive in a rapidly changing world. I invite the newly awarded European Entrepreneurial Regions to celebrate entrepreneurship in their territories and to strive in their efforts to build economic and social environments conducive to entrepreneurial activity ." The EER award being the fruit of the CoR's close collaboration with the European Commission and the Parliament, Hubert Gambs , Deputy Director of DG GROW, and Eva Maydell, MEP, joined the ceremony to congratulate the winning regions, where Eva Maydell said: " During the Covid-19 crisis, we witnessed the agility, resilience and entrepreneurial spirit of many European regions. I am sure that our entrepreneurial regions will be the driving force for Europes economic recovery. We need to support them with investments and resources in the months and years to come. We cannot repeat old mistakes - the money we spend needs to go to regions that are willing to reinvent in line with our societys social and environmental goals. " The winners of the EER 2021-22: Madrid Region, Spain Integrated into a multilevel long term development strategy, Madrid Region's recovery plan is mainly centred around collaborative elements which aim at building bridges between the public and private sector. The creation of an Entrepreneurship Council will bring together a variety of entrepreneurs, microenterprises and SMEs and set off synergies and network effects. The strategy responds closely to EU SME policy-guidelines and mobilises significant resources. In particular the interests of female entrepreneurs are taken into account. Isabel Diaz Ayuso , President of Madrid Region, said: We believe that the best way to tackle the economic and social crisis that threatens Madrid, Spain and Europe is by letting the innovative and creative entrepreneurs lead the recovery. Therefore, now more than ever, we must be close to them. We want to be the economic engine of a country leading the economic and the employment recovery at European level, as we already did in the crisis of 2000s. Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France The SME-strategy of the Region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur (Region Sud) is embedded into a broader regional development plan which aims at reinforcing the region's "Entrepreneurial-DNA" around a model of sustainable economic recovery. The region has been hit hard by the current slack in tourism and it expects to be highly impacted by climate change. In this challenging context, regional authorities try to reinvent local economic cycles and to further capitalise on its vibrant start-up ecosystem and high-tech SMEs. Region Sud's strong regional integration, particularly its economic ties into the Mediterranean area, bear a high potential to unleash multiplier effects in connected regions via a successful green transition of its economy. Renaud MUSELIER , President of the Region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur and President of Regions de France said: " It is a great honour for the Provence-Alpes-Cote dAzur Region to be receiving this award today. Being the only French region awarded and among only six in Europe proves how innovative, dynamic and enterprising our Region is. Since March 2020, we have done everything we could to work side by side with our economical partners to help them get through this historical crisis. This award is the result of a coordinated job with European institutions and the European Commission in particular, who made the right choice by giving the power to the regions to implement the European recovery plan ." Silesia Region, Poland As a major hub for mining and metalwork since the 19 th century, heavy industries have traditionally shaped Silesia's economy. Structural reforms and the intelligent allocation of European funds have initiated a profound modernisation of its various industries and enabled the development of a knowledge-based economy centred around strong interlinkages between universities, research & development centres and local businesses. Accelerating the transformation of the Silesian economy, the ongoing pandemic has provided the backdrop for the regional government to put in place a large-scale industrial modernisation scheme: The Green Silesia Strategy, which actively involves important stakeholders, SMEs and civil society actors to jointly shape the shift towards a green economy. Jakub Chestowski , Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship and member of the CoR, said: " The label European Entrepreneurial Region 2021-2022 is a great honour for us, but above all, an obligation to undertake further activities aimed at supporting and promoting entrepreneurship in the region. The EER label is an opportunity that the Silesian Voivodeship will fully use at the regional, national and international level." Gabrovo Municipality, Bulgaria With its rapidly growing manufacturing and processing industry, Gabrovo Municipality turned into one of the most important economic centres in Bulgaria. Strategically, the region aims at orienting its economic model towards more resilience and ecologic sustainability. This shift will go along with an investment into economic activities with higher value added. New sectors such as information technology and the service sector are raised as part of Gabrovo's smart specialization strategy. To successfully master the challenges associated with this change, the region can build on a strong record in expanding its education infrastructure in the field of engineering. Tanya Hristova , Mayor of Gabrovo Municipality, said: " Our vision is to develop Gabrovo as green, smart and innovative, capitalizing on the rich entrepreneurial, business, research and education achievements and taking onboard the new opportunities for a green, digital and inclusive transformation. " Helsinki-Uusimaa Region, Finland The Helsinki-Uusimaa Region has a particularly strong record in the field of business education. In 2012 it was already awarded European Entrepreneurial Region for its strong promotion of young entrepreneurs. Almost ten years later, the region is aiming to create the ideal environment for the sustainability-driven new generation of entrepreneurs to take the next step and put their skills at the service of a deep social and economic transformation. Endowed with a strong research and education infrastructure, the region wants to enact a coherent set of measures to speed up the development of its circular and sharing economy and bring collaborative consumption models to economic viability. Markku Markkula , President of the Helsinki-Uusimaa Region and chair of the Finnish delegation to the CoR, said: " Helsinki-Uusimaa was among the first regions awarded an EER label in 2012. We orchestrated a year with more than 100 events promoting entrepreneurship, especially among young people. Now we face a different reality due to the impacts of pandemic and climate emergence. The EER 20212022 Award for the Helsinki Region will be, above all, a platform to tackle these new challenges and collaborate locally and internationally to invent an integrated green, digital and entrepreneurial future ." Castelo Branco Municipality, Portugal With its dynamic agri-food sector and its strong political commitment to green change, Castelo Branco Municipality bears significant potential for a sustainable post-pandemic recovery. In order to harness the efficiency of entrepreneurial approaches to tackle a variety of local challenges, the region strongly engages in the promotion of an entrepreneurial culture. A series of supportive measures have been taken in public administrations and educational institutions. Moreover, Castelo Branco's development strategy is very well integrated into the broader Regional Innovation Strategy of the Centre of Portugal Region. Jose Augusto Alves , President of Castelo Branco, said: " In recent years the City Council of Castelo Branco has strategically bet on entrepreneurship. Nowadays we have a true entrepreneurial ecosystem that stands out at nationally and internationally. The pillars of this bet are based on several infrastructures whose dynamism allows stimulating young entrepreneurship, directing it in order to make companies more competitive. To be considered a European Region of Entrepreneurship, is not only a source of pride, but also the recognition of our strategy and of all the work developed in this area. Our Municipality, the task force who works daily for the development of our companies and the citizens of Castelo Branco feel very proud with this recognition ." Video of the EER winner regions . Additional video material is available upon request; please contact AV service audiovisualCoR@cor.europa.eu . EER 2021-22 "Special mention": Vukovar-Srijem County, Croatia For the first time since the launch of the EER award in 2011, the jury also decided to give a "special mention" to the Croatian Vukovar-Srijem County. The idea is to encourage the region to continue its efforts and re-apply in the next round. The Vukovar-Srijem County took considerable measures to increase its innovative capacities by synchronizing the region's economic objectives with its research and development strategy. Background : The European Entrepreneurial Region (EER) award is a project that each year identifies and rewards EU territories, which show an outstanding and innovative entrepreneurial policy strategy, irrespective of their size, wealth and competences. The territories with the most credible, forward-looking and promising plan are granted the label European Entrepreneurial Region" (EER) for the following year. The EER label has been set up in partnership with the European Commission and is supported by EU level stakeholders such as SME United , Eurochambres , Social Economy Europe and EURADA . The EER jury composed of CoR members, representatives of EU institutions, social partners and territorial associations will monitor the implementation of the prize-winning regional strategies throughout 2021 and 2022 with the aim of providing the winners with an objective outside view on their policies and on the progress made during that year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the EER 2021-2022 edition covers two years. In light of the current sanitary and economic crisis, the EER jury decided to merge the 2020 and 2021 calls in order to give regions the opportunity to re-draft their regional development strategies and adapt them to the changed context. The list of European Entrepreneurial Regions since 2011 is available here . Contact: Maximilian v. Klenze Tel. +32 2 282 2044 Maximilian.vonKlenze@ext.cor.europa.eu The challenges posed by innovation are huge, but offer an opportunity for Vietnam to become a developed country by 2045. Messages about innovation begin with awareness and attempts to overcome challenges so as to turn Vietnam into a developed country by 2045. This was emphasized by Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung at the "CEO Forum 2019". VietNamNet would like to present the full text of his speech. Each business has its own approach to innovation. Photo: TD Innovation always has to start with awareness and thinking. To better understand innovation, I like to see it from a number of different perspectives. Japanese have talked about society5.0. The society 1.0 is hunting, nomadism. Society 2.0 is agriculture and sedentary farming. Society 3.0 is an industrial society. Society 4.0 is an information society. Society 5.0 is a smart society. Now everything is Smart. Innovation in enterprises can be understood in the following sense: using technology, mainly digital technology, to automate and make smart the entire production and business process of the enterprise, from management to production and sales. With this approach, the most important keyword is: Be smarter and continue to be smarter in all activities, and the most important tool to help with this process is technology, especially digital technology, 4.0 technology. A revolution happens and then the future will not lie on the extended line of the past. Innovation happens to be right at the moment. Old infrastructure, old ways of doing things, old knowledge, old products, old business models are no longer suitable. We need new infrastructure, new ways of doing things, new knowledge, new products, new business models. For a lot of things, it is simply do the opposite. Previously, it was finding every way to avoid mistakes, now it is to make and learn from mistakes faster. In the past, it used to be to study first and work later, now it is to do first and then study. Previously, it was having works first and then recruiting suitable employees, now it is finding the right person first and then thinking about what to do. Because the work is new, it is necessary to have people who share the same thing - the passion of discovery. Previously, the power of businesses was in the number of employees, but now the power is to have few employees who react quickly and move quickly. With this approach, the most important thing for CEOs is to find a new approach in all business activities of their company. A successful company often collapses when new technologies emerge. And the process of collapse is usually as follows. Step 1, breakthrough technologies are developed first by successful companies. Step 2, the marketing team researches critical customers' responses to the new technology, and receives no support, as the old products are still good and familiar to users. Step 3, successful companies turn to promoting the development of retention technologies, improving old products, enhancing efficiency, and increasing sales and profits. Step 4, newly formed companies rely on breakthrough, new technology and explore new markets, new customers, often lower-tier ones, by trial and making mistakes, and from there, new applications, influential new products are formed. Step 5, newly-formed companies will move into high-end markets. Step 6, successful companies join too late to keep their basic clients and the changeover occurs. Thus, innovation often creates opportunities for new companies with breakthrough new technologies. With this perspective, large and successful companies have fatal defects, and create opportunities for new companies, small companies to rise and go from new markets to overthrow existing traditional markets. So, is there any way for big, successful companies to handle this situation? Basically, there are three approaches as follows. First, promote emerging technologies and markets so that they become big enough, fast enough to contribute to company growth. Second, wait until the new market becomes clear and the new technology becomes clearer and join when the market is big enough and becomes attractive enough. Third, assign the responsibility of commercializing breakthrough technologies to new components, which are small enough so that their business performance depends only on new technology, new markets. But this new component must be driven by new processes and new value systems in order to be able to solve new problems. Studies show that the third approach is more promising. The first way is difficult to succeed because new technology, new market does not create an explosion in a short time. The second way is too late. With this perspective, big and successful companies still have the opportunity to continue to exist and develop, but must be divided from one organization into two independent organizations with two different operating ways, two different cultures. And this is not easy. Innovation requires change, but it is the mechanisms, processes, and value systems through which a company creates value and its success is the enemy of change. An organization's capacity consists of three elements: Resources, Processes and Value Systems. All of these factors, when the company is large and successful, are sustained. Therefore, it is the capabilities of an organization that determine its defects. And the CEO's job is to resolve this contradiction when innovation is required. CEOs have the following three options. First, acquire a company whose processes and values are similar to the new mission. Second, try to change the existing processes and values of the existing organization. Third, create an independent component and then develop new processes and new value systems to meet the new requirements. With this point of view, successful big companies face a huge challenge when it comes to innovation. What will innovation look like from a digital economy perspective? Digital economy includes economic activities that use digital information and digital knowledge as the main production factor; use the Internet and information networks as space for operation; and use ICT, that is, telecommunications and IT, to increase labor productivity, and to optimize the economy. In simple terms, the economy is related to digital technology. Digital economics is a long evolutionary process. It is the process of digital transformation on the national level. At different levels, every field, every business, every individual can use digital technology to better do their jobs, or even make breakthroughs to change the quality of their work. The fastest way to accelerate the digital economy is to use digital technology to change the way we are manufacturing, working. Using cameras to reduce guardians, that's digital economy. Automatic watering when the soil dries, that's digital economy. Using electronic documents instead of paper is also digitizing the economy. Who will do this? Digital technology businesses. Therefore, it is necessary to start digital technology and develop Vietnamese digital technology enterprises. Using digital technology to solve Vietnamese problems, and from the cradle of Vietnam, these technology businesses will go global. Technology is born to solve problems, where there is a problem, there is technology, there is a solution. Problems are everywhere, maybe in our daily work, and each of us can start a technology start-up to solve our problems. Digital technology will create new business models, new challenge or replace old business models. For example, Uber is challenging taxi firms. Fintech challenges traditional banks. Mobile money will solve the problem of non-cash payments for 100% of people, but it challenges banks. Will the government dare to accept these new business models. If they do but are the last to accept, it is not of much value. That is why many people say that digital transformation is more of a policy revolution than a technology revolution. The first is adopting new business models, new technologies that fundamentally change industries. Often creation destroys the old. If we accept the new, new technology of the world will come, talents from all over the world will come, a new industry will emerge, and the cradle of Vietnam will create exportable digital technology products. But it must be an early acceptance, earlier than others. If walking behind or at the same pace with others, there will be no chance to change Vietnam's ranking. When we accept the new, we may lose something. But we don't have too much to lose; that's our opportunity. Thus, from the point of view of digital economy, or digital transformation, innovation means: Enterprises focus on digital transformation to become digital enterprises, while the government focuses on institutional building to accept new business models, breakthrough technologies. The challenges of innovation are always enormous. But the chances of a developing country like us are even greater. And this is also an opportunity for Vietnam to change its rankings and become a developed country by 2045. Each business has its own approach to innovation to develop its own business, reinvent itself and contribute to the development of the country. Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung Innovation must be associated with the public sector We must promote innovation in the public sector, and a state management system that is flexible and adaptable in order to utilize all resources in society. Government has created a way to compensate non-executive or independent directors of companies, which are loss-making or have inadequate profits. The corporate affairs ministry issued a notification late on Thursday, which limits the remuneration that a non-executive director can be given depending upon the effective capital of the company. Till now, there was no provision in the that allowed a remuneration for the non-executive director if the company was in loss or had inadequate profits. Only the executive director was entitled for a remuneration in the event of a loss. While these limits have been introduced under Schedule V of the Companies Act, an additional provision allows the board of directors to pass a special resolution if they want to further increase the remuneration beyond the upper limit. This provision is applicable to both non-executive and executive directors. Several experts felt that given the increase in responsibilities of independent directors, it was important that they were appropriately remunerated. The notification states for instance, that a company with a negative or below Rs 5 crore effective capital can pay up to Rs 12 lakh to the independent directors. The remuneration cap fixed under revised Schedule V is quite less given the ever increasing responsibilities bestowed upon independent directors who otherwise play a vital role in business decisions, said Harish Kumar, Partner, L&L Partners. However, company law experts also point out that the Rule 4 of the company's appointment and remuneration of managerial personnel 2014 say that the sitting fees to an independent director or a director would not exceed for a sum of Rs 100,000 per meeting. At the lowest slab of Rs 12 lakh a year independent directors could still draw thrice the amount that would have been payable for four board meetings in a year. Legal experts said that companies have been finding it hard to find independent directors for many reasons including inadequate fees. This change appears to be made with the hope that more people would be willing to step up to being independent directors as they will be more fairly compensated. With more presence and diligence of independent directors, it is hoped that the standards of corporate governance would rise as well, Kartik Ganapathy, Founding Partner, IndusLaw said. With the provision of special resolution for increasing compensation to non-executive directors, the upper limits could get diluted, said Ankit Singhi, partner, Corporate Professionals. The move, industry expects, would also enable companies in attracting better talent especially start-ups and many unicorns, which may not have adequate profits. The government decision would eliminate consultancy and advisory agreements with independent directors or their related parties to compensate them indirectly when the company does not have adequate profits to pay them directly, said Kalpana Unadkat, Partner, Khaitan & Co. Some corporate lawyers also said that independent directors should not be treated as full time employees and be entitled to a remuneration other than the sitting fees. The fees paid to independent directors for attending board meetings is fair compensation. Anything other than that means you are treating executive and non-executive in the same way, a legal expert said. When the band director at Averill Park High School discovered that Seth Cluett had the capacity to master new instruments quickly, he put the kid to work. During Cluetts four years in band, he played flute, bassoon, double bass and electric bass and also baritone horn. Wherever there was a hole in the membership, he filled it. Cluetts curiosity, flexibility and musicality have served him well in a career thats landed him positions at the forefront of music and technology. As a composer, he creates pieces that quietly hover in the borderland between concert music and sound art. At Columbia University, Cluett, 44, is a member of the music faculty and assistant director of the Computer Music Center. Once known as the Columbia Princeton Center for Electronic Music, the CMC is recognized as a pioneering outpost in the field, starting in 1951 when a newfangled tape recording machine arrived in the music department and some composers started to experiment with it. This is the historic center of the universe I grew up in and the music I value. I left a tenure track to come here and be staff, says Cluett, who subsequent to his arrival also joined the faculty. His immediately prior teaching post was at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., where he worked with both the music and the art departments. Among Cluetts duties at Columbia he oversees the vast inventory of computers and synthesizers acquired over the decades. This includes the famed and room-sized RCA Mark II synthesizer that was installed in 1957. Milton Babbitt and Charles Wuorinen were among the composers who used it to fashion masterful new works. Its a 1.5 ton carcass in a room right next to my office. Tourist groups come to see it, says Cluett. Another current post has Cluett working at an even more consequential laboratory not just for music but for media in general. The Nokia Bell Labs in Murray Hill, N.J., dates to the 1920s and has played a role in countless scientific breakthroughs of the last century, including the creation of the old Ma Bell telephone network. Artists have been invited to bring their creative ideas into the lab starting in the 1960s with composers Edgard Varese, John Cage, and James Tenney. Today Cluett is a resident artist at Bell Labs with an on-site studio where he pursues research in acoustics and multi-sensory technology. He also facilitates dialogue between the scientists and visiting artists who arent so tech-fluent. I speak art and I speak technology and I can translate one to another, says Cluett. Long before Cluett signed up for high school band, music was a part of everyday life. His dad sang barbershop and his mom was in a choir. It was a house full of music, recalls Cluett, who taught himself guitar in the quiet of his bedroom. His musical guide stars at the time were punk bands like The Cure and Fugazi. The family name Cluett, by the way, will have a familiar ring for local history buffs. Seths great-grandparents were Albert and Caroline Cluett who lived in the mansion at 59 Second St. in downtown Troy. In 1948 they bequeathed the home to the Rensselaer County Historical Society, now known as the Hart-Cluett Museum. Seth was raised in Poestenkill and says the family wealth was gone long before he arrived. His father, Allen, trained as a machinist in the Navy and supported the family by working at a factory in Valley Falls. Cluett attended the New England Conservatory first as a voice major, then switched to composition in his sophomore year. Around this time it finally dawned on him that hed already been composing for years, he just hadnt realized it. After earning his bachelor's at NEC, Cluett returned to the Capital Region for graduate work in the electronic arts program at RPI. During this period, Pauline Oliveros joined the faculty, the iEar concerts were in full swing, and EMPAC was also beginning to produce events in anticipation of its eventual opening. I loved being at RPI. The students were exciting and Troy was just starting to get weirder. It was an exciting time, recalls Cluett. Yet he didnt linger. He interrupted his RPI studies for a year of work at the Harvard Institute for Music and Brain Science and later went to Princeton and earned master's and doctoral degrees in composition. While there he also met his future wife, Jennifer Eberhardt. Theyve been married since 2009 and now live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Eberhardt works as a research librarian at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Cluett is a highly credentialed guy, but his accomplishments arent just in the academic realm. His work has been presented at festivals, galleries and museums across the U.S. and Europe. Concert halls, though, are the exception. Cluett doesnt write standard performance pieces and so his venues arent standard either. I care about the sound as well as the social structures around my music, he says. Its made consistent with my politics and values. Theres a freedom to the scores thats meant to give agency to the performers. This alternative realm in which Cluett travels may conjure up notions of noise and histrionics. But his works are more soft spoken than demanding, more thoughtful than dramatic. My stuff is slow and pretty or immersive and sleepy. Im inoculated from intense audience reactions, he says. In discussing his aesthetic aims, Cluett recalls having a visceral response to a 1993 Albany Symphony performance of Bartoks Concerto for Orchestra. It prompted him to declare: Thats what I want to do with my life, making music that makes people feel like that! Almost 30 years later, Cluett is still caught up with Bartoks consummate craft, but hes less intent on invoking specific feelings in the audience. He prefers more of an invitation. What I loved about the Bartok with the ASO were moments where you feel like youre in a field in the countryside, says the composer. The piece evoked it, but it didnt demand it. Im against coercing someone, but I do like conversation. Joseph Dalton is a freelance writer based in Troy. OLYPHANT Before the final beam was installed Friday in what will be one of the largest aluminum can manufacturing plants in North America on the site of one of the regions largest former employers, officials promised to bring family-sustaining jobs to the area. Here we will invest $400 million and create over 400 jobs over the next two or so years, said Peter Giorgi, president and CEO of Giorgi Global Holdings Inc. We are not only thrilled to be able to do this in Pennsylvania, my home state, but in Olyphant and the Greater Scranton area, which has an amazingly talented pool of skilled laborers, a great transportation infrastructure and a supportive and welcoming community. Giorgi, a Berks County resident, joined borough, school district, state and community leaders and local politicians Friday as well as leaders from his companies during the Canpack Project topping-off ceremony. Friday marked another step in the construction of the 908,000-square-foot plant at the site of the former Technicolor plant off East Lackawanna Avenue. Technicolor shuttered the plant in 2018. Prior to Technicolor, Cinram owned the site, and before that, WEA Manufacturing a division of Time Warner that at one-time employed about 4,000 workers. About 100 people at the event signed the final beam before it became part of the new plants structure. We decided to bring back to life this former brownfield site and to turn this site into what will be Canpacks largest can manufacturing plant and one of the largest aluminum can manufacturing plants in North America, said Giorgi. Canpack is a Krakow, Poland-based subsidiary of Giorgi, a food manufacturing and packaging company. The global manufacturer produces aluminum beverage and metal food cans, glass bottles and crown caps. Giorgi and his father in 1989 invested in the Polish company, which now has more than 8,000 employees in 21 countries. John Blake, the former state senator and now district director for U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, met with Canpack representatives and Giorgi in January 2020. This footprint had the history of providing family-sustaining jobs that gave people a quality of life here for a generation, Blake said. It is fitting that we would come full circle now to this manufacturing facility, hundreds of millions of dollars of investments and 400 jobs to Northeast Pennsylvania. Its quite extraordinary. Canpack CEO Roberto Villaquiran said the company broke ground on the project in August. One month from now, we will be bringing in the equipment, he said. By mid-May, we will start to actually install the first line. By the end of August, the first can will start to roll off the conveyor belt. The construction of the facility is not only great for Lackawanna County, but all of Pennsylvania, said Dennis M. Davin, state Department of Community and Economic Development secretary. He credited Canpack for refusing to let the global pandemic put its plans on hold. The jobs created here will lead to downstream benefits too, helping the residents, restaurants and retail in the Olyphant borough rebound from the global pandemic as well, he said. Construction of the Canpack plant marks the ninth-largest capital investment in the 30-year history of the Governors Action Team, Davin said. It is the largest manufacturing project in the Scranton area since Procter & Gamble, in Wyoming County, in 1966, he said. Over time, it will become part of the areas identity, he said. Partnerships with Indigenous communities on infrastructure projects will create sustainable growth and benefit Indigenous Peoples as part of CIB's $1B investment target Disponible en francais TORONTO, March 19, 2021 /CNW/ - The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) announced the launch of the Indigenous Community Infrastructure Initiative (ICII), which will enable the building of new infrastructure projects in Indigenous communities. The CIB Initiative will generate more investments in projects that are vital to economic growth and environmental protection with Indigenous communities across Canada. First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities will have the opportunity to partner with the CIB to make innovative investments in projects to help address the infrastructure gap in Indigenous communities. The projects enabled by CIB investments have the potential to provide more low-carbon energy supply and enhanced energy security, reduce greenhouse gases, improve broadband connectivity, more clean and accessible water, as well as create jobs and local economic development. As part of the ICII, the CIB will tailor its innovative, low-interest and long-term financing to provide loans of at least $5 million for up to 80% of total project capital cost. Community-based revenue-generating projects can be from any of the CIB's priority sectors: green infrastructure, clean power, broadband, public transit and trade and transportation. This is a major step towards investing in infrastructure projects that benefit Indigenous communities. The ICII has been developed with input from Indigenous leaders, communities and infrastructure organizations, to create an initiative that will support access to capital for community-based projects. In connection with the launch of the ICII, the CIB has expanded its specialized Indigenous investment team to provide advice and develop projects with Indigenous communities, and conduct internal due diligence on all project investment opportunities. The CIB is taking action quickly, following the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities' Statement of Priorities and Accountabilities to the CIB, which sets a target to invest at least $1 billion in Indigenous infrastructure across its priority sectors. The CIB is designed to act as a catalyst for revenue-generating infrastructure projects that are in the public interest and support economic growth for the benefit of Canadians. The ICII is a sign of further momentum for the CIB which is focused on executing its Growth Plan to make investments in projects in priority sectors and get more infrastructure built to grow the economy over the long-term. An example of the Growth Plan in action is the CIB's recently announced Memorandum of Understanding on the Oneida Energy Storage project which is a partnership between NRStor Inc and Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation for the largest energy storage facility in Canada. Endorsements "The CIB's Initiative is an engagement towards collaborative, respectful and beneficial partnerships with Indigenous communities. The CIB is a unique tool to address the infrastructure gap in these communities through innovative financing. This is another example of the CIB taking action and focusing on investment to deliver impactful infrastructure. When Indigenous communities grow and thrive in a sustainable manner, all of Canada benefits." Ehren Cory, CEO, Canada Infrastructure Bank "We have a huge opportunity to work in partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities to get important infrastructure built which benefits their communities economically, creates jobs and addresses the Indigenous infrastructure deficit. That's why I set a new target for the Canada Infrastructure Bank to invest at least $1 billion in revenue-generating infrastructure projects in partnership with and that benefit Indigenous Peoples. I am very pleased that as part of this initiative, the CIB will advance smaller-scale projects and will drive progress towards that target". Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities "The infrastructure gap in First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities has existed for far too long. Indigenous Services Canada welcomes the new Indigenous Community Infrastructure Initiative as it will help advance the Government of Canada's commitment to closing the critical infrastructure gap while also supporting wealth and job creation in Indigenous communities." Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services "The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) Initiative is a major step toward closing the infrastructure gap in First Nations, while prioritizing green energy projects in the overall effort toward climate action. I support the efforts of the CIB to work directly with First Nations in meaningful and collaborative ways that will lead to much needed investments toward better infrastructure and sustainable economic growth." Perry Bellegarde, Assembly of First Nations, National Chief "There are many areas where lack of infrastructure holds back the social and economic development of Metis communities. We believe the CIB's Initiative is an important step towards closing the infrastructure gap in our communities, as the Government of Canada committed to work with the Metis Nation to close this gap by 2030." David Chartrand, National Spokesperson and Vice-President, Metis National Council "Major long-term investments are essential to build the infrastructure Inuit need to thrive. Innovative programs like the ICII add to the financial tools we can use to begin to address the longstanding infrastructure gap between Inuit Nunangat and other parts of Canada." Natan Obed, President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami Quick Facts The Canada Infrastructure Bank will invest $35 billion to support infrastructure projects in priority sectors across the country. This includes the CIB's $10 billion Growth Plan. to support infrastructure projects in priority sectors across the country. This includes the CIB's Growth Plan. The 2021 Statement of Priorities and Accountabilities from the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities confirmed the CIB will invest at least $1 billion in total in Indigenous Infrastructure across its priority sectors. in total in Indigenous Infrastructure across its priority sectors. The Indigenous Community Infrastructure Initiative is an enhanced way for the CIB to collaborate with Indigenous communities on their infrastructure priorities, consistent with the Government of Canada's commitment to reconciliation. commitment to reconciliation. The CIB attracts private sector and institutional investment to invest in sustainable infrastructure projects that are in the public interest. Learn More: Canada Infrastructure Bank SOURCE Canada Infrastructure Bank For further information: Media Contacts: Felix Corriveau, Canada Infrastructure Bank, [email protected], 416-550-0900 Related Links http://canadainfrastructurebank.ca DETROIT Ford Field is set to vaccinate 6,000 people a day, as it becomes a major hub in the state in effort to vaccinate at least 70-percent of states population. The COVID-19 vaccinations at the mass vaccination site start Wednesday, March 24 for those eligible and will run for eight weeks. Starting April 5, vaccines will be available for all Michigan residents ages 16 and older. Any Michigan resident eligible for the vaccine can sign up for an appointment at Ford Field. The site is in partnership with the State of Michigan, FEMA, Wayne County, the City of Detroit, Meijer, Henry Ford Health System and the Detroit Lions. Ford Field will have two clinics at the stadium, with free parking for both. The Gate G clinic will have people park at the Ford Field parking deck on St. Antoine Street. The Gate A clinic will have people park at the Gem Theatre parking garage on Brush street. The first six weeks of doses will be the two-dose Pfizer vaccine, while the final two weeks will be the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Residents are asked to register through the Meijer website. Residents are encourage to also register for vaccinations at Meijer stores and can attend whichever appointment is offered first. 25 Ford Field Vaccination Clinic March 18, 2021 Read more: How to find a COVID-19 vaccination appointment in Michigan 5 things you need to know about the Ford Field vaccine clinic Michigans coronavirus numbers are going up, but will vaccinations blunt the impact? [March 19, 2021] FACT SHEET: Opportunity Hub Announces New Racial Equity Focused Ecosystem Development Expansion, Edge Technology Training School Acquisition & Startup Entrepreneurship Support Initiative during 2021 SXSW To mark its ongoing commitment and work to scaling racial equity in the fourth industrial revolution and beyond, OHUB announces the following new acquisitions, launches, partnerships and initiatives. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005442/en/ Racial Equity Ecosystem Development Expansion OHUB x Austin Equity District This week, The Honorable Steve Adler, Mayor, City of Austin signaled his partnership and support of the new OHUB x Austin Equity District while addressing the 1,000 college students, coding bootcamp students and new graduates participating in the 6th annual OHUB@SXSW, an official collaboration with SXSW, the largest interactive technology, film and music festival on the planet. During his remarks, Mayor Adler encouraged the students to pursue engineering and business careers in Austin while making a bold ask to Austin's corporations to become founding partners of the Equity District - starting with their commitment to hire this year's cohort. In a session simulcast live via OHUB's "House of Racial Equity" and virtual reality world, Equity District Co-Founder, Marcus Shaw talked about the critical role that industry, philanthropy and government play in catalyzing and sustaining an inclusive innovation, entrepreneurship and investment ecosystem with funding that goes beyond the performative commitments that were made in 2020 in response to the nation's racial reckoning. The founding program partners in the OHUB x Austin Equity District include pre-accelerator, DivInc; cybersecurity academy, NextGenT; Historically Black College and University, Huston- Tillotson University; statewide techhub, coworking space and accelerator, Capital Factory; and the nation's leading consultants, advisors and operators on innovation districts, HR&A Advisors. "Developments that create density and connection have been important in developing America's places for innovation. From the first research and development parks like the Raleigh Durham Research Triangle and innovation districts like TechSquare in Atlanta, creating density and connection has been key to driving innovation in the American economy. OHUB's Equity District model for operationalizing diversity, equity and inclusion into these initiatives is key to creating opportunities to close the economic mobility and wealh gap in American cities. The Knowledge Economy Practice of HR&A Advisors is excited to join forces with OHUB in Austin and beyond to integrate this model into the future of place and space," says Bob Geolas, Partner, HR&A Advisors. DEIS During a session on OHUB's new Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Solutions certificate, UNC Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Entrepreneurship (Eship) Center announced that the Stanford Technology Ventures Program would be joining the initiative to deliver a joint best in class certificate program to technology companies, startups and venture funds starting this fall. OHUB also announced that it was making its DEIS Membership & Course available to all SXSW (News - Alert) attendees free for a period of time. Transformational Edge Technology Academy Acquisition Merger & Acquisition OHUB Futures, the rapid upskilling leg of Opportunity Hub, and The Fortress Academy, Pennsylvania's first and only licensed Academy focused on robotics, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies. announce a merger for the specific purposes of scaling their collective capacity to upskill Americans in urban core, suburban and rural communities. "At a time of such massive disruption and accelerated technological change, it's never been more critical that we make sure no one gets left behind. The Fortress Academy couldn't be more excited to be merging with OHUB and partnering with such an incredible visionary, technologist and friend as Rodney Sampson. This merger will allow us to contribute our expertise in robotics, AI and manufacturing to OHUB's already nationwide presence," says John McElligott, President, The Fortress Academy and CEO, York Exponential. "The next ten years is going to define the next 1000. Frontiers like Quantum (News - Alert) computing, robotics, space exploration, make this the most exciting time in human history! But it could also become the most unequal if we sit on the sidelines and let only a few benefit from such exponential growth and opportunities. The future is being written today, let's make sure that it's a story that is more prosperous, inclusive and amazing for everyone." The academy will be headquartered in York, PA, with plans of locating in the York Plan 2.0 Innovation District. OHUB Futures will continue its national online certificate courses while working to launch a bootcamp for Central Pennsylvania this fall. Innovative Tuition Financing Startup Launches Grit, a Techstars and OHUB backed multi-stack funding platform that democratizes fundability and amplifies the unfair advantages of millions of under-tapped, underestimated Americans to thrive in rapid skills training, in demand tech careers, entrepreneurship and beyond, will announce its call for applications for Batch 1.0 during a launch event on Saturday, March 20th, 6P CT at OHUB's House of Racial Equity. Students accepted into bootcamps approved by Grit and Leif are eligible to apply for an innovative income sharing agreement funded by Grit's investors. Participating bootcamps are Kingsland University, Momentum (News - Alert) Learning and Victory Lap. "As a bootcamp grad who learned that over 90% of the adult learners in my cohort were denied for market rate income sharing agreements, I became compelled to work on a solution with my co-founders," says Tina Page, Cofounder and Chief Legal Officer, Grit. "ISAs can be viewed as a tool to help students pay for their upskilling and thereby create their own opportunities. But if a willingness to pay for your own opportunity (and, in some cases, pay up to double or triple the cost of bootcamp tuition) still isn't enough, the folks are locked out based on criteria that has absolutely nothing to do with their talent, ability, character, resilience, diligence, grind or grit." Black Wealth Creation Initiative Official Bank of OHUB First Boulevard, a new Black founded, owned and operated digital bank that has just raised $5 million in seed funding from Barclays, Anthemis and a group of angel investors such as actress Gabrielle Union, Union Square Ventures' John Buttrick and AutoZone CFO Jamere Jackson will become the "Official Bank of the Opportunity Hub Ecosystem". Together, First Boulevard and OHUB will work to create a national Black entrepreneurship support program, accelerator, funding platform and investor readiness initiative for members of the extended OHUB ecosystem that commit to become customers of the bank. OHUB's Chairman & CEO, Rodney Sampson, will join First Boulevard as a Senior Advisor and will work with the founders to develop key partnerships with Black ecosystem builders, business associations, faith based organizations and beyond throughout the nation. "We're excited to join forces with OHUB and Rodney. We believe this innovative approach to education, entrepreneurial ecosystem building and reciprocity will resonate with the Black community and our allies; and will accelerate our position as a trusted digital banking platform at the intersection of innovation, culture and capital," says Donald Hawkins and Asya Bradley, Co-founders of First Boulevard. The bank's Cash Back for Buying Black program helps members earn up to 15% cash back when they spend money at Black-owned businesses. "For six years, OHUB has leveraged SXSW as a platform and backdrop to launch new partnerships, initiatives and lifelong friendships designed to live beyond the moment of the density of excitement and imagination. A year later after SXSW was cancelled due to the onset of the global pandemic, we returned as a force of opportunity by organizing our largest virtual student cohort to date. Our team worked tirelessly to position ourselves to continue our tradition of launching game-changing collaborations and partnerships with our co-conspirators in this work toward parity and true racial justice at the intersection of Blackness and the fourth industrial revolution. This year, I am proud to announce that our launch of the OHUB X Austin Equity District, acquisition of The Fortress Academy, launch of Grit and first of its kind partnership with First Boulevard Bank are the most synergistic, symbiotic and exciting to date", says Rodney Sampson, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Opportunity Hub. "Let's get to work; and let's make history together!" View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005442/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A notary public is a lawyer authorised by the Archbishop of Canterbury in England most commonly to officially witness signatures on legal documents, collect sworn statements, administer oaths and certify the authenticity of legal documents for use overseas. Other functions include the preparation and witnessing of international contracts, deeds, wills, powers of attorney and ships protests. The office of a notary public is one of great antiquity. As a notary, I hold an office which can trace its origins back to ancient Rome, when they were called scribae, notarius or tabellius. Notaries are easily the oldest continuing branch of the legal profession, existing throughout the world. My appointment is for life. A notary public uses an embossing tool, an individual official seal, nowadays a lever press rather than hot wax and a ring or stamp! Usually a red or gold seal is affixed to all documents and permanently impressed with the notarys seal together with details of the notary and handwritten, stamped or typed narrative either to verify their presence at the time the document was signed or to certify the document as a true copy and the original having been sighted. When engaging a notary public, it is important to have formal identification ideally a passport or photo drivers licence. If the document being notarised refers to a specific identity document, the notary will need to sight that document as well, all in the interests of preventing identity theft, fraud, and forgery. A fee is payable for the services of a notary, which depends chiefly on the time involved and the importance of the task. A second step is sometimes required. In countries subscribing to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, a further act of certification is necessary, namely an Apostille. For other countries not party to the convention, an authentication or legalisation of the document to be sent to that country must be issued by the Embassy, Consulate-General or High Commission of that country here in New Zealand. . Why not a local Justice of the Peace or a lawyer? Simply because both are local and have no international recognition and acceptance outside New Zealand. Only an appointed notary is recognised under the Hague Convention and internationally. Sounds quite formal and complicated? It is, and the significance and convenience of a notarys service is often under-appreciated given the alternative is to travel to the country concerned and sign or have certified the documents there, and that is not going to happen any time soon. There are three local notaries: Chris Hart (09 422 6699), Tony Coupe (021 729 680) and myself (0274 909 188). David Stone LLB & Notary Public Police have warned people gathering for a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard risk breaking Covid rules. Marketing executive Ms Everard was abducted in Clapham, South London, on March 3 as she walked home and her body was found in woodland in Kent a week later. The 33-year-old's murder has ignited a fierce debate about the safety of women on Britain's streets. The Metropolitan Police has come under intense criticism after a vigil in Ms Everard's memory on Clapham Common descended into violence amid accusations of heavy-handed policing to enforce Covid rules. Despite bans on large gatherings, organisers have planned a second vigil in King's Lynn, Norfolk, in a bid to 'highlight concerns over women's safety.' Well-wishers leave floral tributes to Ms Everard in south London. The 33-year-old's murder has ignited a fierce debate about the safety of women on Britain's streets Police clash with mourners at a vigil in Clapham Common, south London, on Saturday after the event was officially cancelled Organisers of the vigil say police have been 'consulted and are aware'. One organiser, known only as Rosie, said: 'We're all mindful of safety during the pandemic, and will be acting with the utmost respect for Covid guidelines, but Sarah's murder has brought it home to many of us, that whatever we do, we're not safe.' A vigil for Ms Everard was held on March 13 Another woman, Cissy, added: 'Women should be able to walk home without fear of attack, but for most women this isn't the case. 'This vigil is to give us all the opportunity to pay our respects to a young woman who was murdered while walking home.' They said supporters have been advised to wear masks and observe social distancing guidelines. Last Saturday, hundreds of people gathered peacefully on Clapham Common to pay their respects to Miss Everard, who disappeared as she walked home through the area. Organisers Reclaim These Streets had cancelled the event after Scotland Yard rejected their proposals for making it Covid secure, and a High Court judge refused to intervene in a legal battle launched by the organisers. Mourners wearing facemasks went to the common throughout the day, including the Duchess of Cambridge who paid a private visit to the makeshift shrine. But a vigil on Saturday night in Ms Everard's memory descended into violence, culminating in police officers pinning protesters to the ground in images that appalled the nation. Police try to break up vigil for Sarah Everard at the bandstand on Clapham Common, March 13 Another organiser of the Norfolk event, Jo, said: 'There is a great strength and depth of feelings and it's important that the women of King's Lynn and West Norfolk are able to peacefully pay their respects and remember the lives of women who have been murdered while doing nothing more than walking home.' A Norfolk Police spokesman said: 'We understand the strength of feeling and people's desire to come together to mourn the death of Sarah Everard and make a statement on the issues of women's safety. 'However, large gatherings are not currently permitted under the COVID-19 regulations to prevent the spread of the virus. 'Many people have made sacrifices during lockdown and we must take a consistent approach to policing the regulations and cannot wave the regulations for any one type of gathering. 'We will continue to follow the four Es...to engage, explain and encourage, using enforcement where there are breaches of the law.' She has ditched UK reality TV for a real estate career in Dubai. And Yazmin Oukhellou appeared to be making the most of her new lifestyle, as she spent the day on a luxurious super yacht in the sun-soaked location on Thursday. The former TOWIE star, 26, showcased her incredible physique as she posed up a storm in a risque black swimsuit, which highlighted her ample assets. Work it! Yazmin Oukhellou appeared to be making the most of her new lifestyle, as she spent the day on a luxurious super yacht in the sun-soaked location on Thursday Yazmin flaunted her jaw-dropping physique as she posed at the front of the vessel while appearing to steer the boat and also tousle her brunette locks. In another shot, the media personality lounged on the front of the yacht, with the stunning Dubai skyline as her backdrop. Yazmin sported a selection of pretty bracelets and a chunky gold watch. Sultry: The former TOWIE star, 26, showcased her incredible physique as she posed up a storm in a risque black swimsuit, which highlighted her ample assets Wow! Yazmin appeared to be living her best life as she continued to flaunt her luxurious new lifestyle on her Instagram page Earlier in the day, Yazmin smouldered for the camera as she showcased her incredible figure in the mirror, while keeping her look glam with a full face of make-up. The reality personality appeared to be in the process of getting ready, as she wore her brunette locks in rollers while lounging in her room. Meanwhile on Friday, Yazmin once again flaunted her killer curves as she slipped into a skimpy nude co-ord as she attended a PrettyLittleThing event. Glam: Yazmin smouldered for the camera as she showcased her incredible figure in the mirror, while keeping her look glamorous with a full face of make-up The beauty put on a very busty display as she slipped into a racy cut-out crop top and a matching skirt for the evening. Yazmin appeared to be having a great time as she stood in front of the Burj Khalifa, which was lit up purple and emblazoned with PrettyLittleThing's logo. Love Island star Georgia Harrison was also at the event, with the star keeping things casual in a white crop top and ripped jeans as she reclined on a chair. So glam: Meanwhile on Friday, Yazmin once again flaunted her killer curves as she slipped into a skimpy nude co-ord as she attended a PrettyLittleThing event What a view: Yazmin appeared to be having a great time as she stood in front of the Burj Khalifa, which was lit up purple and emblazoned with PrettyLittleThing's logo Chilled: Love Island star Georgia Harrison was also at the event, with the star keeping things casual in a white crop top and ripped jeans as she reclined on a chair It comes after Yazmin has embarked on a new career in Dubai, following the breakdown of her relationship with ex James Lock in February. She has turned her back on the new series of The Only Way Is Essex because she 'wants to pursue a career in real estate in the United Arab Emirates'. A spokesperson for TOWIE told The Sun: 'Yaz has decided to stay in Dubai to pursue a career in real estate so she wont be starting this series of The Only Way is Essex. 'We support this decision and wish her well in this new venture. As with other cast, the door remains open should she return to Essex.' Yazmin has since posted a number of Instagram posts of her new job, working for real estate brokers Property Hawk, in the office and out on viewings with clients. Fresh start: Yazmin has since posted a number of Instagram posts of her new job, working for real estate brokers Property Hawk, in the office and out on viewings with clients Dubai is on the UK's red list of countries, meaning if Yazmin had decided to return home to star in the next series, she would have to pay 1,750 for a mandatory, 10-day quarantine at a government-mandated hotel. It appears Yaz wants a fresh start after the start of her trip to Dubai was marred by the breakdown of her relationship with co-star James. The TOWIE couple mutually agreed to cut ties after their relationship turned toxic, with James planning to fly home while Yazmin stays in the UAE. A source previously revealed to MailOnline: 'James and Yazmin haven't been in a good place for a while now and living together in Dubai only put further strain on their relationship. Times change: It comes after the reality srat quit TOWIE following her bitter split from James in February with James flying home while Yazmin stays in the UAE 'Arguments between them have intensified and turned nasty, resulting in the couple deciding between them to go their separate ways and this time, for good. 'James plans to return to the UK for TOWIE filming but Yazmin has work in Dubai so is staying put.' A spokeswoman for Yazmin said: 'I can confirm James and Yazmin have split up. It's an amicable split and both of them are certain that it's time to move on with no animosity.' The Essex couple had experienced a tempestuous relationship, splitting up and reconciling on a number of occasions after they first started dating in 2017. All over: Yazmin broke up with her on-off beau, 34, 'for good' last month, while they were staying in Dubai on a 'work trip' They split in 2019 after Yazmin accused James of betraying her by partying with a group of women in a hotel room in Turkey, where the couple were on holiday together. A year after their bitter breakup they got back together, confirming their romance by kissing on a beach in Mallorca. Yazmin eventually took James back after the pair failed to keep their distance from each other amid filming for TOWIE and sharing the same group of friends. Last year, Yazmin said: 'I feel like the things that went wrong in the relationship before, we now know to put right this time. I look at that as a test run and now this is the real run.' An 80-year-old chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Igangan, simply identified as Pa Olawuwo, has been arraigned in court over the... An 80-year-old chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Igangan, simply identified as Pa Olawuwo, has been arraigned in court over the killing of Dr Fatai Aborode. Our correspondent gathered on Thursday that Olawuwo was arrested and taken to the State Criminal Investigation Department Iyaganku in Ibadan. The Police Public Relations Officer in Oyo State, Mr. Olugbenga Fadeyi, told our correspondent on Friday that the suspect had been arraigned and the court remanded him in police custody. He said this in terse reply to an inquiry sent to him by our correspondent. The PPRO said, Yes, he has been charged to court and remanded in Police custody. Sources told our correspondent that the octogenarian politician and Aborode were from the same constituency and some of his followers who went to where he was detained were not allowed to see him. The new Ukrainian airline Bees Airline plans to launch its first regular flight by the end of April 2021, director general of the company Yevhen Khainatsky has said. "The beginning of regular flights is a big preparatory process. We started it only three days ago, when we received a license. Now we have sent letters to the State Aviation Administration about the appointment of our airline on routes. After receiving these appointments, we need to create a schedule ... We will launch the first regular flight somewhere closer to the May holidays, by the end of April. We are now looking at the direction of the Caucasus. Those countries that accept Ukrainians," he said during a press conference in Kyiv. According to him, the company is also considering the possibility of performing domestic flights in Ukraine. "There is demand for domestic transportation. We are mulling this. We are considering the start of operating some flights this year. But now we expect the government to make changes regarding VAT. If this happens, and along with this some other changes, we will start domestic transportation a little earlier," he said According to the public register of civil aircraft of Ukraine, Bees Airline registered two aircraft in Ukraine Boeing 737-800 with registration numbers UR-UBA and UR-UBB. Both aircraft are produced in 2010 and belong to San Clemente Leasing LLC (the United States). However, the acting CEO of the company said that by the end of 2021 the fleet will be replenished with two more aircraft. Another two are planned to arrive in 2022. Speaking about the risks of launching a new airline amid a pandemic, Khainatsky said that the flights were planned to start a year ago. "A year ago, the shareholder wanted to start flights. He already had a strategic plan. There were agreements on both aircraft and other development plans. And when the planes have already been reserved, then how long can they not take them? Two months, six months, a year, but all the same, these are some expenses. It was necessary to start. Now it is spring, some countries are closing, but many countries have already found a way to open," he said. As reported, on March 12, the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine issued an operator certificate to Bees Airline. Bees Airline made its first charter flight from Kyiv to Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt) by order of the tour operator Tez Tour Ukraine on March 18, 2021. The base airport of Bees Airline is Kyiv Sikorsky International Airport. According to the data in the register, the beneficial owners of Bees Airline are Serhiy Smyrny (90%) and Khainatsky (10%). Back in 2019, La Tropa, South Carolinas only Spanglish theater company, wrote and produced a bi-lingual play called Ceviche o no Ceviche. The comedy was concerned with cultural clashes in every sense of the term, from culinary to linguistic to geographic to sexual. The plot is a doozy: A family from Colombia travels to Columbia for their daughter Sols wedding to her American lover, Keith. But shes really only marrying Keith to stay in the U.S. Sol is actually part of a happy polyamorous trio with Keith and their mutual boyfriend Robert. Chaos ensues in short order as the families gather for the wedding. Keiths mother Linda falls in love with Sols uncle, a priest. Serious language barriers complicate an already complex situation, and the Americans cant get their heads around the idea of ceviche, a spicy South American seafood dish, typically made from fresh raw fish. And it turns out thats just the beginning of the story. La Tropa has produced a new sequel to the play, called Ceviche o no Ceviche: COVID-19 Edition, filmed and readied to premiere virtually due to the ongoing pandemic. Dont worry if you havent seen the first one, though; at the beginning of the new play, theres a recap of what happened on the previous episode. At the end of the original play, the hapless Colombian family is left stranded in South Carolina, cutoff from returning home because of a hurricane. The priest and Keiths mother have run off together, and the polyamourous trio are on their honeymoon. At the opening of the second chapter, the family is still in the U.S., stranded by travel restrictions due to COVID-19. If this all sounds a little like some wacky soap opera plot, it should. That piece in 2019, it turned out to be more like a telenovela, said Alejandro Garcia Lemos, who created the films connecting animation sequences. Kind of a soap opera, and it was a little bit different from most of our plays, because most of them always had some kind of reflection on social issues and issues of immigration. This one has a bit of that because one of the main characters is facing deportation. But this was a little bit more whimsical, a little bit more playful. Betsy Newman, who directed both the original play and its filmed sequel, sees the COVID-19 edition of Ceviche o no Ceviche as a continuation of the telenovela idea, but on a deeper level. The thing about telenovelas is, like soap operas in this country, they deal with social issues, in this case COVID or different approaches to sexuality, she explained. We see it as a telenovela on the stage, or in this iteration on video. We hope in the future that we might shoot it as a telenovela. Due to pandemic restrictions in the real world, the show, once again written collaboratively by La Tropa, unfolds in a series of individual monologues. The cast members filmed their roles using Zoom or on their cellphones. The story finds coronavirus taking a toll. When this version begins, its after COVID has hit, Newman said. And Keith is dying of COVID in the hospital. You hear from each of the other characters who was in the original play, and each of them is effectively talking about how theyre dealing with COVID and the death of Keith. If that sounds a little too morbid, know theres still plenty of comedy in the sequel. The mother of the bride is cutting up all of her husbands shirts and making masks out of them without telling him, Newman said. Shes making masks for every outfit and every mood. And the priest is dealing with his sexuality because hes been a priest for his whole life. So Linda is thinking of ways to help her lover with his sexual problems. She slips him that little blue pill, and shes ordering things from Victorias Secret, so their romance is moving forward haltingly. The whole thing is kind of about sex and dealing with COVID, she added, summing things up. Regardless of the style, Newman said that La Tropas alliance with Trustus Theatre, which the company has worked with in the past and which will host a premiere screening and talkback for the new film this weekend, has been vital to their survival across the last decade. Weve produced a number of shows at Trustus over the years, she recalled. (Former Managing Director) Larry Hembree was very interested in broadening the diversity of the offerings at Trustus, and (current Producing Artistic Director) Chad Henderson is, also. And as for the mature-audiences-only subject matter, Newman said that Trustus was on board from the beginning. I just remember Larry saying, We're not doing shows for children, she laughed. Ceviche o No Ceviche: COVID-19 Edition March 20. 8 p.m. Free. Virtual screening followed by talkback. Available to stream via facebook.com/TrustusTheatre. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 pastor in Canada who was arrested for refusing to adhere to COVID-19 worship restrictions will be released from jail after prosecutors dropped all but one of the charges against him. Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church in Edmonton, Alberta turned himself in to authorities last month after being charged with violating the Public Health Act by holding worship services that reportedly violated public health guidelines. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, a Calgary-based law firm representing Coates, announced Wednesday that the pastor could be released as early as next Monday, pending his trial in May. JCCF President John Carpay argued in a statement that the restrictions that Coates disobeyed were unscientific and unconstitutional. He is optimistic about the trial set to start on May 3. Source:The Christian Post Emer Cooke, fourth Executive Director of European Medicines Agency (EMA), explains their conclusion on possible rare side effects of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine during an online press conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 18, 2021. EPA-Yonhap Several European countries announced they would restart vaccinations with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 jab after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) deemed it "safe and effective." The EMA?statement came after an extensive review of possible blood clot risks, the agency's chief said on Thursday, following reports that some people had developed blood clots in the period after having the injection. France, Italy, Latvia and Bulgaria announced they would likely restart vaccinations using AstraZeneca's drug on Friday following the EMA advice. Spain would reportedly follow suit next week, according to El Pais newspaper. In an effort to bolster damaged public confidence in the vaccine, French Premier Jean Castex announced that he himself would receive the injection on Friday. Swedish health authorities said, on the other hand, that they would need "a few days" to assess the EMA report before lifting the ban on AstraZeneca. "The suspension remains for the time being," Johan Carlson, head of the Swedish Public Health Agency, told reporters. Germany will aim to restart vaccinations using AstraZeneca's vaccine on Friday, Health Minister Jens Spahn said. The restart in Germany would come with new advice on the vaccine's side effects, Spahn added. Blood clot reports from several countries prompted governments around the world to halt inoculations with the AstraZeneca jab. This slowed down already sluggish inoculation campaigns in the European Union. The EMA, which had approved the jab in January, launched a review of the risks. "The committee has come to a clear scientific conclusion," the agency's chief Emer Cooke said when presenting the findings. "This is a safe and effective vaccine. Its benefits in protecting people from Covid-19, with the associated risks of death and hospitalization, outweigh the possible risks," Cooke said. Members of the public receive a dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid-19 vaccine at Lichfield cathedral, which has been converted into a temporary vaccination centre, in Lichfield, central England on March 18, 2021. AFP-Yonhap On March 23, Israel will hold its fourth national election in two years. This is a result of political stalemate and politicking that's placed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against most other parties, with his Likud party showing one of its lowest polling projections in the past three elections. It is not the first election since the pandemic, but the pandemic will play a more significant role than the previous election a year ago. In addition to the pandemic, there are several other issues that make this election and the potential outcome unique. This analysis will explain some of th... On Monday, March 22, at 11.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference on the socio-political sentiments of the population based on the results of a sociological study entitled "Increase in Confidence Level in Authorities or Temporary Stop in Rating Decline?" held by the Ukrainian Institute for the Future (UIF) with the assistance of New Image Marketing Group from March 3 to March 13, 2021. Participants include Doctor of Sociology Oleksandr Shulha; Executive Director of UIF Vadym Denysenko; Expert of the UIF International and Domestic Policy Program Ihor Tyshkevych (8/5a Reitarska Street). The press conference will be available on the YouTube channel of Interfax-Ukraine. Admission of journalists requires registration on the spot. Webcams can be built-in or standalone devices, and there are advantages to both. Razer A webcam is a built-in or standalone camera that captures still images and video on a computer. Webcams are commonly used for video conferencing and for online video streaming. Even if your laptop has a built-in webcam, there are reasons why you might want to add a standalone device. Visit Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories. A webcam is a simple video camera that, when attached to a computer, lets you capture still images and video. It's commonly used for video conferencing with software like Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, and other apps. What to know about webcams Though popular for years, webcams have become all-but-essential hardware for many students and professionals during prolonged periods of remote working and social distancing. There are also many webcams online which constantly stream images from points of interest like museums and zoos. Webcams are relatively simple devices that can be built into your laptop or tablet, or they are standalone devices that are plugged into your desktop. Some monitors also have built-in webcams. Most webcams have a modest resolution of 720p or 1080p, though it's possible to find 4K models as well. They have no onboard memory for image storage or physical control buttons. Instead, webcams are controlled by software on the computer. To mitigate privacy concerns, some webcams have physical shutters that can be slid to cover the lens. This ensures it's physically impossible for the webcam to be operated remotely to capture stills or video without the owner's permission. Built-in vs. standalone webcams For the most part, all modern laptops have webcams built in, usually in the bezel at the top of the display, more or less aligned with the user's eyes. (A few laptops have been known to position the webcam in the display's lower bezel, which has the unfortunate effect of pointing up at the user's nose.) Tablets like the iPad, Amazon Fire tablets and Androids models also have front-facing cameras in the bezel that can be used like webcams. Story continues Most laptops feature a webcam at the top center of the bezel. Basak Gurbuz Derman/Getty Images In addition, standalone webcams are available which plug into your computer via USB. You can add these external webcams to a desktop computer or to replace a laptop's built-in webcam. Standalone webcams are small cameras that tend to clip to the top of a computer display and often also include a tripod mount. Steve Chenn/Getty Images Built-in webcams have the advantage of being integrated into the computer, which means there is no extra setup or configuration, and the cost of the webcam is already included in the original price of the laptop. There are a few reasons why you might want to use a standalone webcam, though: Reasons to get a standalone webcam Obviously, desktop PCs don't have built-in webcams, so you'll need to hang a standalone webcam to the top of the monitor to web conference from a desktop. Most built-in webcams offer relatively low video quality, often just 720p. If you want better quality, such as 1080p or even 4K, you'll need to add a new webcam. Some standalone webcams have additional features and capabilities you can't get in a built-in model. For example, some webcams have a digital zoom control that lets you control the size of the image and face-tracking that will automatically keep you centered in the frame as you move around in front of the camera. Standalone webcams are more portable and offer flexibility when it comes to positioning. You can easily move a webcam among different computers, for example, and don't even need to put it on a computer at all - as long as you can plug it into a computer's USB port, you can mount the webcam anywhere (many come with tripod mounts). The first such webcam was pointed at a pot of coffee at the University of Cambridge in 1993, and today there are many thousands of live webcams you can access on the internet at zoos, museums, landmarks, and other points of interest. How to turn on the camera on your Windows 10 computer, or troubleshoot if it won't turn onCan you screen record on FaceTime? Yes, but you can only record video without audio - here's howWhat is Zoom? A comprehensive guide to the wildly popular video-chatting service for computers and smartphonesHow to take a time-lapse video on an iPhone and condense lengthy footage into a short, sped-up clip Read the original article on Business Insider Pausing, she added, can be a way of reassuring the public that you as a public health authority, or as a government, take super seriously any signal that comes up like this. The hope is that this builds trust in the health authorities, demonstrating that they put caution and safety ahead of rushing shots into arms. Even if people remain unsure about the vaccines themselves, perhaps high trust in the vaccinators could overcome this. But on ethical grounds, Dr. Persad said, It seems like a troubling line, to say that one persons access to treatment should be dependent on how that might affect the comfort or psychology of a third party. It is also a gamble. The delay imposed by European governments risks a deepening of public doubts about the vaccine. And now officials must demonstrate they take these three fatal clots seriously, which means calling more attention to them. This is a safe and effective vaccine, Emer Cooke, executive director of the European Unions drug regulator, said on Thursday, urging countries reinstate its use. Still, she urged that governments raise awareness of these possible risks. Drawing attention to these possible rare conditions, she said, will help to spot and mitigate any possible side effects. Asked whether Americans might ever face such a dilemma, Dr. Persad countered that they already did. Though trials may show the one-shot Johnson & Johnson with a lower efficacy rate than two-shot variants, health officials hailed its simpler distribution as a breakthrough in the push for herd immunity. Americans have largely gone along. 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. ATLANTA He checked himself into a rehab clinic for a self-described sexual addiction. He was so intent on avoiding pornography that he blocked websites from his computer and only used a flip phone. He worried to a roommate about falling out of Gods grace. Months before Robert Aaron Long was charged with carrying out a bloody rampage at three massage parlors that horrified the nation and stoked a furious outcry over anti-Asian violence, the 21-year-old suspect who had grown up in a conservative Baptist church appeared fixated on guilt and lust. As investigators pieced together whether and how racism and sexism might have motivated Tuesdays attacks, people who knew Mr. Long offered new details about a dangerous collision of sexual loathing and what a former roommate described as religious mania that marked his life in the years before the shooting spree. Mr. Long, whose church strictly prohibited sex outside of marriage, was distraught by his failed attempts to curb his sexual urges, said Tyler Bayless, a former roommate who lived with Mr. Long at a halfway house near Atlanta for about five months beginning in August 2019. HOLLAND, MI Marlena Pavlos-Hackney, who defied state coronavirus orders in operating her restaurant, Marlenas Bistro & Pizzeria, was arrested early Friday, March 19. The state says she willfully violated state food laws and public-health orders, and had her food-license suspended. State police arrested her around 5:45 a.m. on a civil warrant for contempt of court. She was arrested without incident in a traffic stop on West Lakewood Boulevard and 160th Avenue north of Holland, state Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. She is held in the Ingham County Jail. On Thursday, March 18, Pavlos-Hackney told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press, she would not turn herself in - police would have to arrest her. An Ingham County judge this month issued a bench warrant for her arrest after a hearing held on Zoom. The judge, Wanda Stokes, also fined Pavlos-Hackney $7,500. Her food license was suspended. Local and state health officials said Pavlos-Hackney kept her restaurant open despite a mid-November ban on indoor dining that was put in place to slow the spread of coronavirus. Local and state officials said she did not require customers or workers to wear masks or socially distance. She put a notice on her front doors that read: Welcome. We are a Constitutionally Compliant Business. We are not infringing on anyones inalienable rights. By law, we do not follow any of the governors, mayors, health departments, or other government agency orders or suggestions pertaining to social distancing or mask wearing. Your health is your responsibility. The restaurant has been busy and Pavlos-Hackney has many supporters. There are events planned Saturday to show support. A GoFundMe page has raised nearly $46,000 of a $50,000 goal to pay her legal fees. Read more: They can arrest me: Holland restaurant owner defies state coronavirus order Holland restaurant owner vows to stay open even after bench warrant issued for COVID-19 violations Holland restaurant ignored ban on dine-in service, judge says in upholding suspended license On June 7 last year, a total of 117 murders were reported in 24 hours, making it the most violent day of the year in Mexico. There have been mass killings and planned assassinations as criminal gangs targeted low-profile cartel foot soldiers and prominent political figures alike. On Thursday, a criminal gang attack on a police convoy in central Mexico left 13 people dead, BBC reported. The ambushed at Coatepec Harinas in the State of Mexico has killed eight state police officers and five agents from the state prosecutor's office. Bodies were seen lying by the side of the road after the police vehicles were sprayed with bullets. No group has so far claimed that it carried out the attack. Rodrigo Martinez Celis, the head of the state Public Safety Department, said the convoy was patrolling the area to combat criminal groups operating in the area, San Francisco Gate reported. "This aggression is an attack on the Mexican government... We will respond with all force," Martinez Celis said. Martinez Celis added that soldiers, National Guard troops, and marines were already scouring the area to find the killers. More than 500 police officers were killed in Mexico last year. The State of Mexico has witnessed different criminal gang activities and was known to be one of the country's most violent regions. According to a Republic World report, gunmen allegedly from a drug cartel ambushed the convoy. READ NEXT: Deadlier than COVID-19? Mexican Crime Rate Increases Violence in Mexico Fourteen Mexican police officers were also killed in an ambush in Mexico City in 2019. Five police patrol vehicles were traveling through the municipality of Aguililla in the early morning when over 30 armed persons ambushed them. Homicide in the country has been record-breaking in the first four months of 2020, which peaked by 2.4 percent from the same period in 2019, Reuters reported. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had vowed to bring down gang-fueled violence when he took office in 2018. However, homicide cases hit a record level in 2019 and continued to climb even during the COVID-19 lockdown. In June 2020, members of a drug cartel attempted to assassinate Mexico City's Secretary of Public Security Omar Garcia Harfuch in broad daylight. Garcia Harfuch survived the attack, which he later blamed on the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), according to another BBC report. In the same year, gunmen entered a drug rehabilitation center in Irapuato and forced patients and staff on the floor before opening fire on them. Twenty-six people were killed in the horrific incident, which the authorities attributed to the worsening territorial war between the Santa Rosa de Lima gang and the CJNG. Falko Ernst, a senior analyst at Crisis Group, said the underlying problem is the shady line between organized crime and state security forces. "Even though the Jalisco Cartel has publicly declared itself as an enemy of the state, there are still a lot of shady ties with fragments of the state, including at the federal level," Ernst said in the report. READ MORE: Narcos: Mexico Shows the Story of a Real-life Controversial Crime WATCH: Mexico: Land Of Impunity - Latin America Investigates - From Al Jazeera English I devoured my Kiwi summer in the same fashion that I devoured my watermelon until my belly burst. Closed borders have seen us renew our vows of patriotism and fall back in love with our great lands. Tiki tours are now the hip Kiwi equivalent of first class travel to Paris. So it did not surprise me when the husband came belting down our driveway with a big ole 80s classic car to partake in such affairs. Oh, this thing was a crack-up lipstick red shagpile carpet, Champagne fridge in the boot, cognac set under armrest, and a backseat large enough to bed your lover! It looked like we were picnicking in style corny cool 80s sort of style. Slide in, buckle up and go for a spin. So slide in, buckle up and let me take you for a spin. In my endeavour to see as much as I could over summer, I slung the picnic basket permanently in the car and off we went. My memories of summer are like a flickering old movie reel, outstanding moments that come and go in my mind. Driving from Waipu to Langs Beach saw reckless me hang my head out the window; the sweet smell of gum trees pierced the warm air, and my hair flew all around like it was reaching to hold onto the precious moments. The sun darted in and out of the trees as we whizzed past. The Mangawhai cliff walk was worthy of my sweat. The view across our eastern seaboard dotted with colourful beach dwellers was so astoundingly beautiful my eyes ached from visual stimulation. It looked like vanilla cupcakes topped with colourful sprinkles. Surf lifesaving nippers were just too cute tiny caps full of intent to be our next surf lifesaving heroes. I am sure they will be. Estuary picnicking was most fun. Shallow waters and sun bring the best out in families a kaleidoscope of beach umbrellas and family cocoons full of happiness. Mothers and fathers gingerly playing waterwise with happy little toddlers. A boardshort-clad father on holiday, slowly turning sausages. His little boy in blue, arms stretched out and bread in hand waiting to fill his grumbly-tumbly after all that water play. Hundreds of brightly coloured sand toys sparkled like gems in the sand. The scene was but a giant goody goody gumdrop ice-cream that had melted in the sun all around me. Over in Omaha, I got a bee in my bonnet over drinking rose on a pink beach. Half tide is less than ideal to lug heavy vintage picnic accessories over rocks but why wait? Lifes pleasures can slip away faster than the water that moves. Impatience is my sin, and for this I received a right royal growling from hubby for my consistent, irrational, and ridiculously impractical behaviour. Lol. My children made rafts from old farm drums and bits of wood, all bound together with baling twine. Watching them balance on top of a murky dam giggling, falling, and splashing made special motherhood moments. But it was down the end of a dusty road, with tinder dry grass, a muddy estuary and a long drop loo in Wharehine that formed the dot below my exclamation mark and my summer clarity. A raw and honest Kiwi camping spot, void of glamorous notoriety, filled my summer heart. Two young families invited mine to share their picnic rug. Families that had never met, shared kai. All our children played happily together and two snapper from the husbands of their families were gifted to mine. Sausages, camp stoves and little muddy toes the warmth of their company matched only by the warmth of the afternoon sun. So, cloaked in rays of sunshine and happiness, I bid farewell to my beautiful summer for now and long for her return. Julie Cotton admin@oceanique.co.nz Both homes were evacuated before firefighters arrived. The owner of the second home woke up from the sound of wind on the exterior of the home and looked out the rear of the home and saw a glow. When the man went outside to investigate, he discovered that his neighbors house was on fire and that his home was starting to ignite from the intense heat. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. 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STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Climate activist Greta Thunberg took part in a protest under the banner of "No More Empty Promises" in central Stockholm on Friday, with protesters attending in shifts to avoid breaching coronavirus restrictions. The youth movement Fridays for Future, which urges global leaders to listen to climate scientists and stop global warming, had called on children around the world to join a global online school strike on Friday. Thunberg, who is 18 years old, sparked the global climate protest movement, including large protests, in 2018 by skipping school on Fridays to protest outside the Swedish parliament. "Today is the global strike day and since it's not really possible to strike in big numbers in Sweden yet we are doing this action instead. We are striking in shifts so that we control the amount of people who are here," Thunberg told Reuters. The protesters on Friday called on leaders to introduce and fulfil binding annual short-term carbon emission targets, rather than what they describe as vague and empty promises for far off dates but . "What we need are not meaningless goals for 2050 or net-zero targets full of loopholes, but concrete and immediate action in-line with science," the movement said on its website. Thunberg said the world was still not treating climate change like a crisis, unlike the COVID-19 epidemic. "The first step must be to start treating it like a crisis and to just take in the full picture, to see this in a holistic point of view," she said. "Science says that we can still avoid the worst consequences. So it's possible, but it's not possible if we continue like today." Sweden has banned public gatherings of more than eight people as part of its efforts to slow the pandemic. (Reporting by Ilze Filks, writing by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) If you were among the few who traveled by plane last fall, you probably got a bargain on your tickets. Airlines cut fares to their lowest levels in more than two decades amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to federal transportation statistics. At San Antonio International Airport, fares dropped by 27 percent in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30 from the prior year. Nationally, fares fell by 30 percent. I think every airline out there has offered significant fare sales to try to drive demand, said Brian Pratte, chief air service development officer at San Antonio International. Flying right now is probably the cheapest that it has been in years. Yet San Antonios airport stands out as one of the nations most expensive airfields to depart from, even as the average fare here fell to $260.75 from $357.12 a year earlier. That topped the national average of $244.79 on Sept. 30. San Antonio International ranked 10th costliest for passengers among the countrys top 50 airports, the federal data shows. HOUSTON FLIGHTS: Houston travelers can get $70 flight to warm destinations Prices down, travel up Across the board, low fare prices have lured some passengers back to the skies. But the airline industry is a long way from recovery. Travelers continue to stay home in big numbers, concerned about exposing themselves to the coronavirus. The number of passengers on most days is still between 40 and 50 percent of 2019 levels. But this was true even before the pandemic: Its cheaper to fly out of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport than the San Antonio airport, the 44th largest U.S. airfield. Austin saw average fares of $244.88, just nine cents above the national average. The price difference between Austin and San Antonio may only be $15.87 on average, but local residents say it is worth the 90-minute drive up Interstate 35 because they can save hundreds of dollars on some tickets. Abri Guerrero, a San Antonio physical therapy student, said shes paying $400 for a round trip on Southwest Airlines to Hawaii from Austin in May, about $200 less than she would have paid in San Antonio. Guerrero said its the third time in the last several years that shes taken a flight from Austin instead of San Antonio. She saved several hundred dollars on her other trips to Las Vegas and Orlando. San Antonio International Airport would be a lot more convenient, the 24-year-old said. But I am a college student and dont have a regular source of income, so I am looking for the best price. San Antonio loses about seven percent of its potential customers in the metropolitan area to the Austin airport, and another five percent to Houstons airports, according to an October 2018 report by Seabury Consulting. The other airports often beat San Antonio on price as well as service to more nonstop destinations. Commissioned by San Antonio airport officials, the report found that the Austin airport had nonstop service to 33 U.S. cities that passengers couldnt reach by direct flights from San Antonio International. On some routes, Austin and Houston offered significantly lower fares than San Antonio, Seabury said. On ExpressNews.com: Wary Traveler: Southwest Airlines to take on United, American in Houston, Chicago and Miami Cheap seats For example, a one-way ticket booked on March 7 for a flight from San Antonio to Fort Lauderdale cost $169. The Southwest flight is the only direct service to the Florida city from San Antonio International. Southwests nonstop flight out of Austin to Fort Lauderdale would have cost $53. From Houstons William P. Hobby International Airport, the fare would have been $49. A passenger flying from Austin could save even more money by choosing Spirit Airlines, whose lowest fare was $42.39. JetBlue Airways offers a $53 ticket. Neither carrier operates out of San Antonio. Local travel agent Yojany Mathis said she typically finds round-trip domestic fares for her clients that are $100 to $150 less at Austins airport than at San Antonios. If youre a couple or a family, the savings can be substantial, even with paying for parking in Austin, she said. Mathis, who owns Custom Travel by Yojany, is also a bargain hunter. She took her last three domestic trips, in 2019 and 2020, from Austin because of cheaper tickets. She and her husband saved around $150 apiece on each round-trip fare. I wish we had lower fares here in San Antonio, she said. San Antonio International is more expensive than most other airports because it offers few flights by ultra-low-cost carriers, aviation consultants say. Spirit Airlines, the biggest domestic carrier in the category, makes up 5 percent of the flights at the Austin airport, according to data from aviation data firm Cirium. A carrier like Spirit can make a big difference in lowering fares, said Austin Horowitz, the principal aviation consultant at ICF, a Boston-based industry consulting firm. Horowitz said Spirits lower fares typically force major carriers such as American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest to cut prices to compete. Spirit offered service from San Antonio to three destinations in 2008 but ended the flights the following year due to a lack of passenger demand. Pratte said San Antonio airport officials continue to negotiate with a variety of carriers to add more service. He declined, however, to address questions about why San Antonios average fares were higher than at other airfields. Sister city surges Since the pandemic, San Antonio has lost nonstop service to about a dozen cities, though it still offers direct flights to about 30 destinations compared with about 60 at the Austin airport. Low-cost Jet Blue also flies out of Austin but doesnt serve San Antonio. San Antonio may find it difficult to persuade Spirit to return because its a smaller airport than Austin-Bergstrom, Horowitz said. Austin saw about 8.4 million people board planes in 2019, compared with just over 5 million at San Antonio, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. My strong suspicion is that when you compare Austin and San Antonio, they're seen as too close together for Spirit, Horowitz said. If you have limited resources, and you can only fly to one destination, you're going to go to the place with more passengers. A Spirit Airlines spokesman declined to say whether the carrier is considering a return to San Antonio. We never comment on plans for future routes, but I can tell you that we dont believe serving Austin precludes us from serving San Antonio again in the future, he said. Its also unclear if JetBlue would consider flights from San Antonio airport in the future. JetBlue has a history of entering new markets and driving up demand while also lowering fares dubbed the JetBlue effect, a spokesman said. We are always looking to expand and fly to the places people want to go. San Antonio does have a small smattering of low-cost carriers operating out of the airport. Frontier Airlines offers flights once a day to Las Vegas and three times a week to Orlando. Allegiant Air runs two flights a week to Las Vegas, and Sun Country Airlines will fly seasonally twice a week to Minneapolis starting in May. Passengers who use San Antonio International probably wont see more competitive fares anytime soon, said consultant Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Group. Airlines pricing models likely have shown that if they lower fares, say by five percent, they wont see five percent more passengers, he said. Eight of the nine airports with higher fares than San Antonio International were hubs dominated by one airline, according to the federal statistics. Those airports offer hundreds of flights a day to many destinations. But when passengers start their journey in a hub city, they often only have one airline to choose from if they want fly nonstop. The curse is they can charge what they want to get you there, Horowitz said. Washington Dulles International Airport, which is dominated by United, had the highest average fare at $302.17 as of Sept. 30. And thats with the airport having seen a 50 percent plunge in the average ticket price from a year earlier. Salt Lake City International Airport, where Delta Air Lines is the main carrier, had the second-highest average fare at $288.43, down 22 percent. Two hub cities in Texas also had higher fares than San Antonio. George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston came in eighth place with an average fare of $266.47. Houstons other airport, William P. Hobby International Airport, which is dominated by Southwest Airlines, offered a regional relief valve for passengers. Its average fare in the period ending Sept. 30 was $226.47. Meanwhile, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport saw an average cost of $260.18, making it the ninth most expensive airport in the U.S. for departing passengers. Metroplex residents, however, have a second choice: Dallas Love Field, where Southwest is the dominant airline. Its average fare of Sept. 30 was $215.23, making it the 13th cheapest U.S. airport and the least expensive major airfield in Texas. In the Washington, D.C., area, Dulles is dominated by United Airlines, which controls 70 percent of departing airline seats, according to Cirium. United also dominates George Bush Intercontinental Airport with 76 percent of the seats. At DFW, American Airlines controls 87 percent. The lowest fares among the top 50 airports were at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with an average fare of $117.15. Chicagos Midway International Airport followed with an average ticket price of $185.29. The San Juan airport has strong competition from a number of carriers. In Chicago, Southwest dominates Midway, but fares are moderated by the airlines competition with American and United, which operate hubs at OHare International Airport. Competition between carriers is usually a winning formula for lower fares, consultants say. Southwest, American, United and Delta run 90 percent of flights from San Antonio, according to Cirium. In Austin, the four airlines account for 80 percent of the seats. It doesnt sound like a lot, but that could be the tipping point for why San Antonio is less competitive, Horowitz said. Airlines are attracting passengers at the Austin airport, so they add more flights. In turn, more passengers head to Austin-Bergstrom, including some from San Antonio, because of it offers more and often cheaper flights. At the end of the day, its kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy, he said. If people go to Austin for cheaper fares, then cheaper fares will be offered at Austin. randy.diamond@express-news.net TRONDHEIM, Norway, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Scout Drone Inspection has successfully closed an investment round of 27.5 million Norwegian kroner. Equinor Ventures and DNV joined in the round together with existing shareholders, including Investinor and CoFounder, and new private investors. Scout Drone Inspection (ScoutDI) creates specialized drones and associated cloud-based data analysis services for internal industrial inspection of ship tanks and similar confined space environments. Today, asset owners and inspection companies are dependent on using scaffolding and climbing equipment or, filling the tank with water and use rafts to get to all the places that need to be inspected. The HS&E aspect is very important, and the inspection is therefore time-consuming and expensive using current methods. ScoutDI's drone inspection system enables easier and faster inspection without the need for expert drone pilots and the technology will go a long way in revolutionizing this work. Such inspection activities are required regularly to ensure that the ship satisfies safety and quality requirements. The drones are equipped with advanced laser sensors that can create a 3D map of the surroundings and at the same time estimate the drone's position in the 3D space. All inspection data is tagged with location information in the 3D model so that it is easy to understand where the findings are that need to be followed up through maintenance. The inspections can be followed remotely and in real time via the cloud-based inspection portal. The drone system has been used for inspections with Equinor, DNV, Aker BP and Altera Infrastructure, among others, and the company has recently started delivery the first systems to customers. Among the first customers is a large ship inspection company based in Singapore. - "This is an exciting company with global potential that has solutions that are important to our industry. We have followed the company over time and have great faith in both the technology and the team", says Lars Klevjer, Head of early phase and implementation in Equinor Ventures. - "DNV wants to be involved in developing solutions to support a ship classification regime that is flexible and of high quality. Scout Drone Inspection is a unique company that is helping to take industrial inspection in a more efficient and safe direction. Together with the new owners, we hope to be able to provide both capital and expertise that can help take the company further", says Kaare Helle, Venture Director at DNV. - "We are proud to have Equinor Ventures and DNV as owners of the company. With their expertise in regulations and requirements in the industry, as well as international orientation, both are very solid partners for us for the way forward. The fact that 9 existing shareholders and 4 new private investors also choose to invest further in us is a very good sign", says Nicolai Husteli, CEO of Scout Drone Inspection. ** Contact Persons: Nicolai Husteli, CEO at ScoutDI, [email protected] Kaare Helle, Venture Director DNV, [email protected] Sissel Rinde, Communication Manager Equinor, [email protected], +47 41260584 About: Scout Drone Inspection (ScoutDI) develops specialized drones and associated cloud-based data analysis services for internal inspection of ships, tanks, and other indoor structures. The company was established in late 2017 and has its origins in the technical cybernetics department at NTNU. The concept received support from the Research Council through the FORNY program with NTNU Technology Transfer as project manager. In recent years, the company has established several projects with support from the Research Council of Norway and Innovation Norway. Equinor Ventures (EV) is Equinor's venture arm dedicated to investing in ambitious early-stage and growth companies. EV believes that innovation, creativity, and agility in newly established companies can drive change and lead the energy industry towards a low-carbon future. EV offers venture capital, project-based financing of ideas in the early phase, and an accelerator program. All this is supported by technical expertise and financial guidance as well as a strong drive to implement the solutions in Equinor's own business. DNV is a global company in quality assurance and risk management with a presence in over 100 countries. Whether it is approval of a new ship design, optimization of energy production from a wind farm, analysis of sensor data from a gas pipeline, or certification of the value chain of a food producer, DNV helps companies make good and correct decisions and increase confidence in the company, products, and their services. Since 1864, the company's purpose has been to secure life, property, and the environment. With unique technical expertise and independence, DNV assists its customers in improving safety, efficiency, and sustainability, and in coping with the global changes they face. dnv.no This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/scout-drone-inspection-as/r/new-investment-in-scout-drone-inspection--equinor-ventures-and-dnv-join-in-as-owners-,c3310687 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/20409/3310687/1389896.pdf Press release (PDF) https://news.cision.com/scout-drone-inspection-as/i/bilde-16-03-2021-12-31-10-1,c2891320 Bilde 16 03 2021 12 31 10 1 https://news.cision.com/scout-drone-inspection-as/i/stills01,c2891318 Stills01 https://news.cision.com/scout-drone-inspection-as/i/stills03,c2891319 Stills03 https://news.cision.com/scout-drone-inspection-as/i/stills04,c2891315 Stills04 https://news.cision.com/scout-drone-inspection-as/i/stills12,c2891316 Stills12 https://news.cision.com/scout-drone-inspection-as/i/stills13,c2891317 Stills13 SOURCE Scout Drone Inspection AS Sidharth Shukla and Shehnaaz Gill are loved for their chemistry. The duo entertained fans during their stay in the Bigg Boss 13 house. Fans lovingly call them Sidnaaz and they love to watch them together. They showered their immense love when the couple was seen in the music videos- 'Bhula Dunga' and 'Shona Shona'. There have been reports that the duo is in relationship but the actors haven't spoken about the same. Recently, Vindu Dara Singh, who was seen supporting Sidharth Shukla while he was in the Bigg Boss 13 house, spoke about the Dil Se Dil Tak actor's relationship with Shehnaaz Gill and he revealed that the couple definitely have a soft corner for each other, but he doesn't know if they are in love. He said that there are some people who do not want the couple to be together. Vindu also clarified that Shehnaaz didn't come to his place or he didn't meet her after Bigg Boss 14 culminated as reported by media. About Sidharth and Shehnaaz's relationship, he said, "Well, Sidharth and Shehnaaz definitely have a soft corner for each other. But I really don't know if they are in love. I am in touch with Sidharth but we never talk about such things. We both know that if we call each other and ask something to be done, the other person will definitely comply." He further said, "If Siddharth and Shehnaaz are destined to marry, we would love that. There are also some people who don't want them to be together. Let Sidharth and Shehnaaz decide it for themselves. It's their life, after all." Also Read: Anita Hassanandani Wants To Do Bigg Boss With Son Aaravv, Courtesy Sidharth Shukla! Also Read: Bigg Boss 13's Sidharth Shukla And Shehnaaz Gill's SidNaaz Fans Become The Best Fandom In The World Missing Murray Man Found Safe By West Kentucky Star Staff CALLOWAY COUNTY - Deputies say 31-year-old Glen Carter has been located and is safe. The Calloway County Sheriff's Office extends its appreciation to the public for their assistance.Previous story:The Calloway County Sheriff's Office is seeking help from the public in locating a missing adult.Deputies say 31-year-old Glen Carter of Murray was reported missing by family members on Thursday. He was last seen near his home on Arbor Drive in Murray on Wednesday afternoon.Carter is a white male with brown eyes, brown hair and a beard. He is 5' 8" tall and weighs approximately 200 lbs. Deputies say Carter regularly takes medication, which he is believed to not have with him.Anyone with information on Carter's whereabouts is asked to contact the Calloway County Sheriff's Office. Giving to churches and Christian ministries in Canada dropped by $1.5 billion last year, according to a new survey. Giving to churches and Christian ministries in Canada dropped by $1.5 billion last year, according to a new survey. Around 3,500 ministry leaders from evangelical, mainline, Catholic and Orthodox churches, denominations and organizations provided responses about how the COVID-19 pandemic affected donations in 2020 to Waybase, an organization in Burlington, Ont., that aims to help Christian ministries work together more effectively. According to Waybase national engagement director Tim Day, there was "a pretty substantial impact." "Some churches and ministries are doing OK, some are treading water, some are below water," he said, adding, "Some were hit cataclysmically hard." Organizations that tended to do better were involved in social service ministries such as homelessness, poverty and hunger. Groups that did the worst were camps, which were closed by the pandemic and lost registration revenue. Although evangelical congregations seemed to do better than others, "At the end of the day, really nobody escaped untouched," Day said. "Every group was affected. It was a shared experience." About half of the churches and ministries that responded to the survey applied for and received government support during the pandemic. "The question is: what will happen when that government support ends?" he said. Prior to the pandemic, it is estimated Canadians donated about $14 billion to churches and church-related ministries. As for the future, "We need to wait and see what happens in 2021 to see if giving bounces back, or if the decline will stick around," Day said. The full results of the survey, including breakdowns by provinces, will be released in April. In Winnipeg, faith groups made due with a mix of generous giving, cutting back expenses, and government support. At River East Church, a Mennonite Brethren congregation, giving was down a bit from 2019. But it wasnt too big problem, said treasurer Wesley Toews, since the church had reduced its budget by about $20,000. "We encouraged people to reach for that reduced target, and we exceeded it by a couple thousand," he said. At Charleswood United Church, "Our congregation responded wonderfully," said minister Michael Wilson. "We ended the year with a surplus in operations and an increase in outreach." Islamic Social Services Association coped with a shortfall in giving by cutting hours for its social workers to make the money go further, said executive director Shahina Siddiqui. "What helped is the support we received from both the federal and provincial governments to tide us over," she said, adding a three-month discount on rent from the landlord for office space also helped. Mark Hughes, pastor of Church of the Rock, a non-denominational congregation, said things looked "sketchy" at the start of the pandemic, but the church finished the year well due to some substantial year-end gifts. "Normally, we would see about 10 per cent growth, year-over-year," he said. "(In 2020) we were happy to finish even." The experience was similar at Calvary Temple, which is part of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. "We had above-normal giving in December," said pastor Bruce Martin. "Overall, we are encouraged by Gods faithfulness as seen in our congregations giving." Idris Elbakri of the Manitoba Islamic Association said the group "managed to make it through" with a combination of community generosity and government support although he worries about the long-term impact of the pandemic for giving in 2021. At the Archdiocese of St. Boniface, weekly donations were down about 23 per cent last year for all parishes combined, said financial administrator Richard Frechette. Parishes that "worked tirelessly to transform their giving to electronic giving rather than cash donations in an envelope have seen the least decrease in their revenues," he said. For the Archdiocese of Winnipeg, collections decreased by 18 per cent in 2020 over the previous year. "We are grateful for the generous support of our parishioners, allowing us to meet our financial obligations with no personnel layoffs," said financial officer Hipolito Alibin Jr. At Congregation Etz Chayim, members pay an annual fee and the synagogue does some "light" fundraising each year, Rabbi Kliel Rose said. "Thank God, considering what we have all experienced in the last year, we have done exceptionally well in the way of donor support." faith@freepress.mb.ca STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Danish researchers found that coronavirus (COVID-19) reinfection is extremely rare but patients over the age of 65 had considerably less protection after testing positive a first time. The study, published in The Lancet Wedensday, analyzed the results of 11,068 who tested positive for the virus during the first wave of infections in Denmark between March and May, 2020. Researchers found that 72 people or 0.65% of the total number of positive tests registered a confirmed result a second time between September to December of last year, compared to 3.27% of people who logged their first positive test during that span. The results indicated that protection against repeat infection was just over 80%, the study said, but an another analysis found that those over the age of 65 had just over 47% protection. Our findings could inform decisions on which groups should be vaccinated and advocate for vaccination of previously infected individuals because natural protection, especially among older people, cannot be relied on, the researchers wrote. In line with previous studies, the authors of the analysis which were from the Staten Serum Institut and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Sweden also found that there was no evidence of waning protection after the six-month-mark. Our study suggests that most people will be protected from being infected again for at least half a year,' said a release from the Staten Serum Institut. But not everyone is protected and especially among the elderly, only about half appeared to be protected after a first infection. Even if you have already been infected, our findings suggest that it is advisable to keep following the general advice on how to protect yourself from infection, the release said. Denmark has free, national PCR testing that is widely utilized in the country and is a centerpiece of its infection control measures. As part of that program, four million people underwent over 10 million PCR tests in 2020 alone. However, the study had limitations, the authors wrote. Because everyone is encouraged to get tested in Denmark, regardless of symptoms, it is likely that protection against symptomatic infection is higher than the data reported by the researchers indicates. Additionally, more studies need to be conducted, said the researchers, to assess how protection against widely-circulating variants which can be more infectious and more deadly could differ from the published results. Opinion Policies Editorials are longer opinion pieces that are written by a group of community members recruited across campus who address relevant issues on a local, national and international level. Editorials are research-based. The purpose of the Editorial Board is to promote discussion concerning relevant issues in the community while advising on possible solutions. Topics are chosen via relevancy and interests of the members, which are then discussed by the Editorial Board in order to reach a general consensus concerning the topic or issue. Feedback policy If you have a grievance concerning the content or argument of the Editorial Board, please contact either Opinion Editor Peyton Hamel (peyton.hamel@iowastatedaily.com) or the Editorial Board as a whole (editorialboard@iowastatedaily.com). Those wanting to respond to editorials can also submit a letter to the editor through the Iowa State Daily website or by emailing the letter to Opinion Editor Peyton Hamel (peyton.hamel@iowastatedaily.com) or Editor-in-Chief Sage Smith (sage.smith@iowastatedaily.com). Column Policy Columns are hyper-specific to opinion and are written by only columnists employed by the Iowa State Daily. Columnists are unique because they have a specific writing day and only publish on those writing days. Each column undergoes a thorough editing process ensuring the integrity of the writer, and their claim is maintained while remaining research-based and respectful. Columns may be submitted from community members. These are labelled as Guest Columns. These contain similar research-based content and need to be at least 400 words in length. The following requirements should be met: first and last name, email and relation or position to Iowa State. Emails must be tied to the submitted guest column or it will not be accepted or published. Pseudonyms are prohibited and the writer will be banned from submissions. Read our full Opinion Policies here. Updated on 10/7/2020 Company News: The focus on digital health has become a global trend. The long-term benefits of technological adaptation in this space will most likely be a reduction in unnecessary use of health services, alleviating the burden on undermanned or under-resourced health providers, reduced costs and better, more efficient patient care. Global Market Insights estimates the global digital health market to be worth US$639B in 2026 and outlines several growth drivers, including the rising adoption of smart devices, improving healthcare IT infrastructure, favourable government regulations and initiatives, and rising demand for remote patient monitoring services. The factors have been at the forefront of OneView Healthcare plcs (ASX: ONE) thinking. ONE is a health tech company that provides hospital patients with a virtual care and digital control centre at their bedside to deliver the best possible patient experience during their stay. Its software (SaaS) platform is sold as a yearly license fee per hospital bed, with the pandemic accelerating the uptake of this platform. In fact, its control centre is currently used in 9,259 hospital beds around the world, including three of the top 20 hospitals in the USA. ONEs tech provides patients with a single touch screen at their hospital bed where patients can: Have virtual consultations with relevant medical specialists - local and from around the world Control all aspects of their room (bed, lighting, temperature), Order food, watch movies, get a nurses attention (think airline business class screens) Interact with tailored rehab, education and training videos for YOUR health situation, and; Monitor your health outcomes - Doctors and nurses have better info on you. A single point of care ONE was founded as a software and solutions business operations in 2008, with the objective of enabling healthcare organisations to make use of technology to drive cost efficiencies, improvements in clinical outcomes and enhanced patient satisfaction. The idea was to create an experience leading to overall excellence in healthcare economics and quality of care. For patients, ONE offers digital tools to help control their experience with virtual care at the bedside. ONE delivers a SaaS experience that transcends current in-room technology. OneView at the patient's bedside For the care team, optimisation of patient flow and the patient experience becomes more personalised and engaging. Effectively, OneView offers a secure, flexible and scalable platform where the digital infrastructure for content, apps and services is at one point of care. Uptake proves uplifting for ONE Given the uptake and interest in the ONE solution, the company has delivered on many key metrics. Highlights include: Expanded global footprint live beds up 9% YOY to 9,259 Recurring revenue up 13% to 5.1M, reflecting expanded user base despite the short-term impact to recurring revenue growth as COVID-19 delayed scheduled deployments Improvement across key operational performance metrics, delivering reduced cash burn and cost Significant progress on product developmentcentral to growth strategy including investment in next-generation platform Process improvements and engineering offshoring Material improvements in productivity Enabling rapid delivery of the first cloud solution, Cloud for COVID-19. Further to this recurring revenue is up by 13% to 5.1m (A$8.0m) due to the expansion of live beds. Covid-19 did have one negative impact for ONE: it prevented access to hospital sites, delaying installation and the go-live increase rate. This is expected to normalise in 2021. Overall, the company has delivered higher gross margins. Gross profit margins improved 67% (up from 60% in FY19) due to changing revenue mix towards higher-margin software recurring revenue. The company had also enjoyed improved operational performance due to a focus on cost control. It has reduced operating expenses by 44% and improved operating EBITDA by 60% to a loss of 6.2m (A$9.7m). There is also reduced cash burn and the cash balance of 6.8m (A$10.6m) reflects the 4.8m (A$8.7m before costs) capital raise conducted in Nov/Dec 2020 and the significant reduction in operating cash burn. Interestingly, ONE currently has $7.85M in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and is projecting 45% growth this year. However, this does not factor in any future revenue from Samsung. Samsung sees the value of ONEs technology ONE signed a Distribution Agreement with Samsung SDS America, Inc., the enterprise IT solutions provider of Samsung, to offer a bundled solution for bedside digital services for patients in the United States. The agreement went live in February this year. Samsung SDSA will bundle Samsung tablets with OneView Cloud Start the first tier in OneViews new product suite. The bundle will be distributed to healthcare-enterprise focused enterprise resellers. Our move to the cloud accelerates speed to market and opens new possibilities for distribution, making it faster, easier and lower-cost for end-customers to benefit from the digital platform at the bedside, ONE CEO James Fitter said. Never has this need been so apparent. Our partnership with Samsung provides a unique opportunity to address new virtual models of care and provide the solution for Samsung SDSA to enhance the value proposition for their reseller network. The agreement is designed to continue the improvement in US healthcare, in particular patient care. Mingu Lee, Chief Business Officer and Senior Vice President, Samsung SDS America, said Our distribution partnership with OneView Healthcare enables us to deliver a more cost-effective and impactful solution, allowing caregivers to work efficiently while providing a connected experience for patients. The agreement not only opens up further revenue streams for ONE, but also provides customers with an upgrade path to ONEs Cloud Enterprise tier with additional features. Strategic partnerships including its Samsung agreement and an agreement with Microsoft, Cloudbreak and Caregility, with whom it entered a partnership to enable customers to scale inpatient telehealth across the enterprise as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to ravage Dublin, Ireland, continue to define ONEs go to market strategy especially in the US where there are 6000 hospitals. ONEs full SaaS platform is anticipated by the end of Q1 2021. ONE is trading at 21.5 cents. The Inn Above Tide Spring in Sausalito is a magical time, where The Inn Above Tide provides a safe and relaxing escape after a challenging year spent sheltering in place. With waterfront guestrooms and most rooms featuring decks over the water, Sausalito is the perfect escape to recharge body and soul. In addition to the glistening bay, the Floating on the Bay package at Inn Above Tide features the bountiful bird and animal population that are busy during the spring months thanks to the rich coastal habitats and tides. Guests can utilize the in-room binoculars to access the best views of the city, bay, birds, wildlife, local flora and fauna while enjoying the delicious daily breakfast service. Each guest will take home a Ceramic Sea Lion from the Sausalito Foundation as a memento and a copy of The Sea Lion and the Sculptor: The Tale of a Vagabond Bohemian Artist book. In addition, guests can take home a pocket guide of Marin Country local birds. Upon request, a private two-hour boat ride on the bay can be added to the experience for the perfect romantic excursion (additional fees apply). Offered March 1 through May 31, with rates starting at $520 plus tax for two people, Floating on the Bay is a one-night package. For more information or to book, please go to http://www.innabovetide.com or telephone 800-893-8433. Subject to availability. Additionally, The Inn Above Tide has partnered with local culinary tastemaker, Yoshi Tome, chef and owner of heralded Sushi Ran restaurant in Sausalito, to create a unique Sausalito itinerary for guests. Following the unprecedented success and popularity of Joanne Weirs Sausalito, featuring a Sausalito vacation through Yoshis eyes was a natural next step. Guests who book the Yoshi Tomes Sausalito package through The Inn Above Tide will be treated to a one-night stay in one of the luxury hotels waterfront guest rooms, including an extensive continental breakfast service. A Bottle of Sake personally recommended by Yoshi and a high-end Origami Folding Kit will await guests in their room upon check-in. A highlight of the trip will feature Dinner for Two at Sushi Ran, recognized as one of the top Japanese restaurants in the U.S., and a tough reservation to snag, complemented with Sake Pairings personally selected by Yoshi. Finally, Yoshi will provide personal insights detailing his recommended sights and activities in Sausalito. For Yoshi, an avid hiker and biker, that means all things outdoors - from stunning views to challenging inclines! Guests will be guided by an exclusive Adventure Map created by Kass Green, owner of The Inn and master cartographer, pointing them in the direction of all of Yoshis local haunts, along with some of the best sights, hiking and biking paths Sausalito and Marin have to offer. Offered March 1 through December 30, with rates starting at $615 plus tax for two people, Yoshi Tomes Sausalito is a one-night package which includes a $100 dining credit at Sushi Ran. For more information or to book, please go to http://www.innabovetide.com or telephone 800-893-8433. Subject to availability. The Inn Above Tide has recently received accolades from Travel + Leisures 2021 Worlds Best Awards and Conde Nast Travelers Readers Choice Awards 2020 as #2 of the Top 20 Hotels in Northern California. The hotel is also a TripAdvisor 2020 Travelers Choice Award winner. NUTLEY, N.J., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The envelopes are open, and the first students from the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine have discovered where they will have their residencies to start their medical careers. These first members of the 2018 cohort are on track to complete their three-year medical education at the School, with the first-ever commencement planned for June 3. The students from the inaugural class are among an estimated 44,000 who found out today where they will "match" through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). In the COVID-19 era, they were unable to gather in person, due to social-distancing recommendations. Instead, the students today celebrated Match Day by tearing open their envelopes then toasting one another from afar, via video conferencing, with champagne flutes sent to them by the School. "Match Day is cause for great excitement every year as the graduating class discovers where they will begin training in their chosen medical specialty," said Bonita Stanton, M.D., the School's founding dean. "But words cannot adequately describe the excitement of a medical school's first Match Day and a Match Day for those students graduating after completing a three-year curriculum rather than the traditional four-year curriculum. Every graduating class is special but this class feels especially special although I am pretty sure that next year's class will also feel 'especially special' as well!" "We have so many talented students coming through our School," said Jeffrey Boscamp, M.D., vice dean of the medical school and a professor of pediatrics. "We cannot wait to see what their careers will do for our health network and the medical world at large." According to the NRMP, the Program is a private, non-profit organization established in 1952 at the request of medical students to provide an orderly and fair mechanism for matching the preferences of applicants for U.S. residency positions with the preferences of residency program directors. Each year "the Match" encompasses more than 44,000 registrants and 37,000 positions through its Main Residency Match, along with Fellowship Matches for more than 65 subspecialties through its Specialties Matching Service (SMS). The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine students still have to graduate. But their "matches" are across a variety of specialties including Anesthesiology and Internal Medicine, among others, where they are expected to spend their residencies to finish their medical training. The new residents are a subset of the inaugural class who will graduate as part of the three-year option available through the School. The other students in the class have opted for a four-year track to their studies. ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its first class of students in 2018 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. Hackensack Meridian Health assumed its independent operation in July 2020. The school's vision is that each person in New Jersey, and in the United States, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, will enjoy the highest levels of wellness in an economically and behaviorally sustainable fashion. The School's unique curriculum focuses on linking the basic science with clinical relevance, through an integrated curriculum in a team-oriented, collaborative environment. The school prides itself on outreach, through programs like the Human Dimension, which is active in communities across New Jersey. ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care. Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 17 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children's hospitals - Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune; nine community hospitals Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin; a behavioral health hospital Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead; and two rehabilitation hospitals - JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick. Additionally, the network has more than 500 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers and physician practice locations. Hackensack Meridian Health has more than 36,000 team members, and over 7,000 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves. The network's notable distinctions include having four hospitals among the top in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and being named to Becker's Healthcare's "150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2019" list. The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine opened in 2018, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its third class of students in 2020 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. Additionally, the network partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to find more cures for cancer faster while ensuring that patients have access to the highest quality, most individualized cancer care when and where they need it. Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies. For additional information, please visit www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org. SOURCE Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine Related Links www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org Lawyers involved in Aeroflot embezzlement case to go on trial RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 13:29 19/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 19 (RAPSI) A criminal case against lawyers Alexander Slivko and Dina Kibets charged with large-scale embezzlement in the Aeroflot company has reached the Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow, RAPSI has learnt in the press service of the Prosecutor Generals Office. Other defendants in the case are ex-deputy CEO of Aeroflot air carrier Vladimir Aleksandrov and ex-employee of Aeroflots legal department Tatiana Davydova. They are charged with rendering legal services to the company in the amount at least 250 million rubles (about $3.5million at the current exchange rate). Aleksandrov worked in the airlines legal department and was engaged in external legal services provided for the company at the rate of 350 euros per hour from 2016 to 2017, the case papers read. All defendants are in detention. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. PHILIPSBURG:--- The Government of St. Maarten would like to express best wishes to the Government and people of Aruba as well as all Arubans residing on and visiting St. Maarten celebrating the 45th Anniversary of Arubas National Anthem and Flag day. O Aruba, dushi Terra Enjoy this day, taking every opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of Aruba. Aruba has a particularly strong relationship with St. Maarten, sharing a long history of good relations, but also being a sister island-country within the former Netherlands Antilles and the Dutch Kingdom. We share families and culture based on the movement of people throughout the Caribbean, and specifically between Aruba and St. Maarten. We continue to learn and grow from each other, as we foster relationships based on mutual respect and understanding. St. Maarten wishes Aruba and all Arubans all over the world much success in all your future endeavors. Feliz dia di Himno y Bandera!! Israel reports that coronavirus deaths and cases are continuing to fall even after restrictions were eased as the country unlocks following its world-leading vaccination drive. Around 60% of Israel's adult population has had their first Covid jab and the country's R rate is now at 0.68, below the 0.8 threshold which signifies the pandemic is in decline. Health minister Yuli Edelstein hailed the news on Thursday as the nation prepared for the easing of more restrictions on Friday. He said: 'With all caution, I am starting to believe that we are not going back. In the past, to get such data, we needed a strict lockdown. 'Now, everything is open and all the indices are falling. I am beginning to believe that the difficult times are behind us.' People eat at a restaurant in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv after restrictions were eased in Israel The government announced 1,517 new cases yesterday with 11 deaths. However, since the peak of the pandemic in mid-January, Israel has registered 91% fewer deaths, 86% fewer cases and 73% fewer critically ill patients among people aged over 60. From Friday indoor venues with a 5,000-person capacity will be allowed to host up to 1,000 people, or up to 75% of their capacity and larger venues will be allowed to welcome up to 3,000 people, at a maximum of 30% capacity. Outdoor venues that can seat up to 10,000 people will be allowed 3,000 guests and those with more than 10,000 seats will be allowed to welcome up to 5,000 people. Comes after bars and restaurants, event halls, sporting events, hotels and all primary and secondary schools that had been closed to the public for months were permitted to reopen almost two weeks ago. Anyone who is fully vaccinated, or has recovered from coronavirus, is eligible for a 'green passport' that were introduced in late February. The passports give people access to indoor dining at bars and restaurants (that are allowed to open at 75 percent capacity, up to 100 people), indoor places of worship (limited to 20 people), as well as tourist attractions. The passports issued by the health ministry are available either via an app, or can be printed, and grant indoor access to various venues. Israel has sped ahead with its immunisation campaign. Over 52 percent of its population of 9.3 million has received one dose and almost 40 percent two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, one of the highest rates per-capita in the world. Nearly 90 percent of the country's over-50 population has either been vaccinated or recovered from the coronavirus. With that high-risk population largely inoculated, decision makers have concluded it is safe enough to reopen more parts of the economy. While vaccination rates continue to steadily rise and the number of serious cases of COVID-19 drops, Israel's unemployment rate remains high. Israelis enjoy their outdoor time as COVID-19 restrictions are gradually lifted in Tel Aviv, Israel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drinks coffee with Mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Leon, as they sit at a cafe while Israel further eases coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions in Jerusalem March 7 As of January, 18.4 percent of the workforce was out of work because of the pandemic, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to vaccinate the entire adult population by the end of April, which he said would mean 'we are out of the corona crisis.' Israel has won international plaudits for moving quickly to vaccinate its population. But it has come under criticism from U.N. officials, human rights groups and medical experts for not sharing more of its stockpile with the Palestinians. Human rights groups and many Palestinians say that as an occupying power, Israel is responsible for providing vaccines to the Palestinians. Israel says that under interim peace accords reached in the 1990s, it does not have any such obligation. Israeli officials have said the priority is vaccinating Israels own population first, while the Palestinian Authority has said it will obtain its own vaccines through the World Health Organization and other sources. Israel has vaccinated its own Arab population. Bishop-Wisecarver, a trusted industrial automation company offering proven motion solutions that are expertly designed and delivered to perform, today announced its participation at the Automate Forward event being held virtually March 22-26. Company President, Pamela Kan, will be speaking on a panel discussing the revolution of Industry 4.0 in the manufacturing industry and the impact on the production, processes and people. Bishop-Wisecarver engineers will also host a virtual trade show booth highlighting the companys automation solutions, answering questions and sharing resource documents. The event is free to all registrants. Panel Details Date: Monday, March 22, 2021 Time: 3:30 - 4:30pm EDT Title of Panel: Building an Industry 4.0 Workforce for the Future Summary: Industry 4.0 brings with it an increase in dominance and reliance on technology to produce far reaching efficiencies across a wide variety of sectors. The revolution of Industry 4.0 is giving manufacturers faster, more flexible, and more efficient processes to produce higher-quality goods and at lower costs. While we are all excited about the new technology advancement, we must also clearly understand that Industry 4.0 also involves people . How we think, and how we react to problems which also lends itself to one of the biggest changes. employability of the workforce. This panel discussion will deal with these issues firsthand allowing panelists to share not only their opinion on this hot topic, but also tangible evidence of strides being taken to bring Industry 4.0 methodologies to fruition within education and industry. Panel Presenters: Moderator: Ted Rozier, Festo; Panelists: Michael Sullivan, Miller Resource Group; Pamela Kan, Bishop-Wisecarver; Monroe Kennedy, Stanford University; Carolyn Lee, The Manufacturing Institute Link for Free Registration Tradeshow Booth Details Dates: Monday, March 22 - Friday, March 26 Time: 9:00am - 5:00pm EDT Booth Details: With a commitment to providing customers with a premier Signature Experience, Bishop-Wisecarver has now made it even easier for customers to get individualized online support when researching and ordering automation solutions. In addition, BW will highlight its innovative solutions that thrive in harsh and extreme environments. About Association for Advancing Automation (A3) The Association for Advancing Automation is the global advocate for the benefits of automating. A3 promotes automation technologies and ideas that transform the way business is done. A3 is the umbrella group for Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA - Advancing Vision + Imaging, Motion Control & Motor Association (MCMA), and A3 Mexico. RIA, AIA, MCMA and A3 Mexico combined represent more than 1,200 automation manufacturers, component suppliers, system integrators, end users, research groups and consulting firms from throughout the world that drive automation forward. About Bishop-Wisecarver Bishop-Wisecarvers proven motion solutions are expertly designed and delivered to perform, enabling customers to solve their toughest mechatronics challenges. Leveraging 70 years of experience, the company has earned the reputation of providing unmatched quality, reliability, service and engineering support for every stage of a customers design cycle. Combining long-lasting performance with ease of installation, Bishop-Wisecarver products offer the lowest cost of ownership for a wide variety of applications ranging from Aerospace to Medical to X-Y-Z systems and more. No matter the application or extreme environmental conditions, Bishop-Wisecarver designs innovative solutions from concept to completion, from prototype to production, on time and on budget. To learn more, please visit http://www.bwc.com. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. Trading platforms aid Hongqiao opening up hub form global network By:Zheng Qian | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-03-19 09:46 Building Shanghai Hongqiao central business district into an international business and trade center is a major goal over the next five years for the municipal government. Thanks to high-level trading platforms like the Hongqiao Overseas Trade Center, the Hongqiao business district has the capability to link global resources for the efficient flow of goods, information, and capital, making this goal more achievable. Spanish businessman Ignasi Claret works for an auto parts company in Taichang in the nearby Jiangsu Province. Over the past 13 years, he has been commuting between Shanghai and Taichang. Every 2 months, he will go to the Hongqiao Overseas Trade Center to meet with entrepreneurs from Spain and discuss the market. For him, the center means a gathering of information and social contacts. Reputed as a small United Nations, the trade center has introduced 26 trade and service institutions from various countries and regions, which will not only attract foreign companies to participate in the China International Import Expo (CIIE) but also form a global trade and service network. Due to the sound business environment in the Hongqiao Business Center, including the convenience in the application for work permits for foreigners, the Singapore Enterprise Centerhas settled there in the Hongqiao Overseas Trade Center, which has assisted 18 Singaporean companies to settle in the Yangtze River Delta within just 2 years. In the words of Yang Qian, assistant to the director of the Singapore Enterprise Center, the Hongqiao Overseas Trade Center is like a window for Singapore and all the other foreign enterprises to enter the Chinese market. DANDONG, China (AP) China on Friday put on trial one of two Canadians held for more than two years in apparent retaliation for Canadas arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive. Canada said its consular officials were refused permission to attend the proceedings against Michael Spavor, who is accused by China of stealing state secrets. Jim Nickel, the Canadian Embassys deputy chief of mission, said the hearing ended at noon Friday after two hours. No verdict has been announced. Nickel declined to give other details, citing rules on protecting Spavors privacy. In a statement posted on its website, the Intermediate Peoples Court of Dandong in the northeastern province of Liaoning Province said it had held a closed-door hearing against Spavor on charges of spying and illegally sending state secrets abroad. It said Spavor and his defense lawyers were present for the proceedings and the court would pronounce a sentence at a date determined in accordance with law." Fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig is due to go before a court on Monday. The two were detained in December 2018, days after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested at the request of the U.S. at the airport in Vancouver, British Columbia. Both are charged with spying. The entrance to the courthouse was roped off with police tape and journalists were kept outside, although not detained or told to leave, as often occurs during sensitive legal cases. Police cars and vans with lights flashing passed through the gate to the court complex, located beside the Yalu River that divides China from North Korea. Earlier, Nickel had knocked on a court door seeking entry but was refused. Another 10 diplomats from eight countries, including the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, stood on the street opposite the courthouse in a show of support. International and bilateral treaties required that China provide Canadian diplomats access to the trial, but the court said Chinese law regarding trials on state security charges overrode such obligations, Nickel said. Story continues Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blasted Beijing for holding the trial in secret without access for consular officials. Their arbitrary detention is completely unacceptable, as is the lack of transparency around these court proceedings, Trudeau said in Ottawa. China needs to understand that it is not just about two Canadians. It's about respect for the rule of law and relationships with a broad range of Western countries that are at play with the arbitrary detention and the coercive diplomacy that they've engaged in. Trudeau said he was heartened and touched to see diplomats come out to support the Canadians in Dandong Canadian authorities say Kovrig and Spavor were arbitrarily arrested to put pressure on Ottawa in the case of Meng, who is sought by the U.S. on fraud charges related to the telecom giant's dealings with Iran, which is under American financial sanctions. The two Canadians have been held ever since, while Meng has been released on bail. They were charged in June 2020 under Chinas broadly defined national security laws. Spavor, an entrepreneur with North Korea-related business, was charged with spying for a foreign entity and illegally procuring state secrets. Kovrig, an analyst and former diplomat, was charged with illegally receiving state secrets and intelligence in collaboration with Spavor. Prosecutors have not released details of the charges and national security cases are routinely held behind closed doors. The state-owned Global Times newspaper 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. Meng's case has infuriated China's government, which has promoted Huawei as a global leader in mobile communications technology. In Vancouver on Thursday, Mengs lawyers told an extradition hearing that Canadian officials abused their power when they conspired with the U.S. to arrest her. Defense lawyer Tony Paisana said Canadian Border Services Agency officers took Mengs phones, obtained their passwords, then handed to them to Canadian police so the data could be shared with the FBI. Paisana said Meng was never told during questioning that she faced an arrest warrant in the U.S. and would have immediately asked for a lawyer if so informed. British Columbia Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes suggested border officers would have questioned Meng more rigorously if their exam was actually a covert criminal investigation, as her lawyers said. China has demanded Mengs immediate and unconditional release. It also has restricted various Canadian exports, including canola oil seed, and handed death sentences to another four Canadians convicted of drug smuggling. Outside the courthouse, Nickel said Canada still held hope that Spavor and Kovrig could be released through joint efforts with the U.S., whose Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan are currently holding their first face-to-face talks with China's top diplomats in Anchorage, Alaska. The China-U.S. dialogue got off to a rocky start Thursday, with the U.S. accusing the Chinese delegation of grandstanding and top Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi accusing the American side of hypocrisy and taking a patronizing attitude. On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said there was a strong smell of gunpowder and drama at the talks that was entirely the fault of the Americans. In Canada, Spavors family issued a statement saying he had been granted very limited access and interaction with his retained Chinese defense counsel, according to Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. At this time, we feel it is necessary to speak out and call for his unconditional release. His continued unjust detention depriving him of his liberty is both unfair and unreasonable, especially given the lack of transparency in the case, the newspaper quoted the statement as saying. ___ Associated Press writers Rob Gillies in Toronto and Jim Morris in Vancouver, British Columbia, 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. I have seen plenty of drunk patients, the technician said, according to the ruling. They typically dont have balance and theyre not as alert. He was not like any other patient, really, that I was used to. His behavior was shocking. It was unpredictable. In Japan, some workers who regularly drink beer at the end of the day are giving their livers a rest and turning to beer that is free, or nearly free, of alcohol. Because of the coronavirus health crisis, many Japanese people are not doing the things they used to do after work. Parts of Japan, including Tokyo, are currently under rules that restrict peoples movement until March 21. So, while people in Japan still like to drink beer, many are not doing it as often. They are also trying kinds of beer that have very little alcohol or none at all. Tadasu Masuda lives in Kobe, Japan. He is trying low-alcohol beers as a way to give his liver a day off. The liver is the organ that works to remove alcohol from the body. Masuda said he is paying more attention to his health now that he is older. Asahi is a large beverage company in Japan. It expects to make 20 percent more money from low-alcohol beer in 2021 compared to last year. Kirin is another company that makes things to drink. It saw sales grow by 10 percent last year and expects another increase this year. The increase in sales of non-alcoholic beer might be the result of many Japanese people spending more time at home. In the past, they would order beers together while going out. More people are trying to stay healthy, as well. Also, fewer people are drinking beer, as wine and other alcoholic drinks become more popular. But the new interest in low-alcohol beer has helped the beverage industry in Japan. In recent years, many companies started making non-alcoholic beers. They caught on in places like Australia and Germany but not in Japan until this year. The chief of Suntory, another large beverage company in Japan, said people only responded to non-alcoholic beer advertising when the product started to taste better. Many people agree that todays non-alcoholic beers taste better than they used to. Asahis Beery has very little alcohol. But it is supposed to have more taste than earlier versions of low-alcohol beer because of a new way of removing the alcohol. The company plans to offer more low-alcohol beers in coming years. Kirin and Suntory are also trying to make low-alcohol beers with better ingredients than in the past. Kazuo Matsuyama is marketing chief for Asahi. He said most beer companies used to advertise to people who had a drink every day. That was about 20 million people. But there are about 80 million people in Japan between the ages of 20 and 60. But now we need to look at others, Matsuyama said. Im Dan Friedell. Ritsuko Ando wrote this story for the Reuters News Agency. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. Have you tried non-alcoholic beer? We want to hear from you. Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story beverage n. something you can drink respond v. to do something as a reaction to something that has happened or been done ingredients n. one of the things that are used to make a food, product, etc. NEW YORK, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), operator of financial markets for 11,000 U.S. and global securities, today announced Frontier Lithium (TSX-V: FL; OTCQX: LITOF), an emerging lithium mineral and chemicals company, has qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market. Frontier Lithium upgraded to OTCQX from the OTCQB Venture Market. Frontier Lithium begins trading today on OTCQX under the symbol "LITOF." U.S. investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the company on www.otcmarkets.com. The OTCQX Market provides investors with a premium U.S. public market to research and trade the shares of investor-focused companies. Graduating to the OTCQX Market marks an important milestone for companies, enabling them to demonstrate their qualifications and build visibility among U.S. investors. To qualify for OTCQX, companies must meet high financial standards, follow best practice corporate governance, and demonstrate compliance with applicable securities laws. "Upgrading to the OTCQX Best Market from the OTCQB Venture Market marks an important step for Frontier Lithium, one which we expect to help build shareholder value as we advance our propriety lithium chemical processing technology and move it closer to commercialization," said Trevor Walker, President & C.E.O. of Frontier Lithium. "Joining the OTCQX, the top tier of OTC Markets, raises our profile within the investment community. We expect this will help to increase liquidity and broaden our investor base. We would like to thank all of our shareholders for their continued support." About Frontier Lithium Frontier Lithium (TSX.V: FL) (OTCQX: LITOF) is an emerging pure play lithium company with the largest land position in the Electric Avenue, an emerging premium lithium mineral district located in the Great Lakes region of northern Ontario. The company maintains 100% ownership in the PAK Lithium Project which contains one of North America's highest-grade, large tonnage hard-rock lithium resources in the form of a rare low-iron spodumene. The Project has significant upside exploration potential. Frontier is a pre-production business that is targeting the manufacturing of battery quality lithium hydroxide in the Great Lakes Region to support electric vehicle and battery supply chains in North America. Frontier maintains a tight share structure with management ownership approximately 30% of the Company. About OTC Markets Group Inc. OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the OTCQX Best Market, the OTCQB Venture Market and the Pink Open Market for 11,000 U.S. and global securities. Through OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN, we connect a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. We enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors. To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit www.otcmarkets.com. OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN are SEC regulated ATSs, operated by OTC Link LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Subscribe to the OTC Markets RSS Feed Media Contact: OTC Markets Group Inc., +1 (212) 896-4428, [email protected] SOURCE OTC Markets Group Inc. Related Links http://www.otcmarkets.com German health minister Jens Spahn on Friday dampened hopes that further restrictions will be lifted soon, saying rising infections could mean that curbs to slow the spread of the virus may have to be re-imposed. "The rising case numbers may mean that we cannot take further opening steps in the weeks to come. On the contrary, we may even have to take steps backwards," Spahn told a weekly news conference. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to meet with leaders of Germany's 16 federal states on Monday to discuss whether to extend a lockdown that has been in place since mid-December. Earlier this month, the group had laid out plans for a gradual re-opening of the economy, and many shops have since been opened for appointment-only shopping. But infections numbers have been on the rise in recent weeks. The number of confirmed cases in Germany increased by 17,482 to 2,629,750, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday. The reported death toll rose by 226 to 74,358. The number of infections per 100,000 people over seven days rose to 96, up from 72 a week ago and from 65 on March 4, when Merkel and the state premiers laid out their re-opening plan. Lars Schaade, vice-president of the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases, on Friday urged people not to travel over the Easter holiday period as case numbers were rising exponentially. There was a risk that Germany could be in a similar situation by Easter as it was in at Christmas, he said. The 7-day incidence reached a high near 200 in late December, soon after Germany went from a "lockdown lite" that started in early November, during which schools and stores were open, to a full shutdown. The incidence rate decreased following the shutdown but is back at 96 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people, according to RKI data. New Delhi: In a fresh salvo at his former boss, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari on Friday (March 19) called West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee "queen of rigging" and accused her of "using intruders and Pakistanis". Addressing Banerjees allegations that voting in the upcoming state Assembly elections would be rigged, Adhikari accused the TMC chief of misusing the administration. "Queen of rigging is saying that vote rigging will happen. The election will happen in a democratic way and that is why she is disturbed. Even now she is misusing administration, police and using ghuspaitheye (intruders) and Pakistanis. Police is a mute spectator. But the people are with us, the BJP leader told ANI. On Banerjees statement that after winning West Bengal, TMC will form a government at the Centre, Adhikari said, "She said the same thing before 2019 and spoke about United India. The more she speaks, the more seats will go to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 2019 mein half hua iss baar saaf hua." The BJP leader slammed Banerjee and said that speaking against Prime Minister Narendra Modi is like speaking against "democracy" and "Bharat Mata". You will have to take Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s vaccine against COVID-19. He is an elected Prime Minister. Speaking against him is like speaking against democracy. Speaking against him is speaking against Bharat Mata. Pakistan and Bangladesh do not have vaccine, so you will have to take Prime Minister Modi`s vaccine," he was quoted as saying by ANI. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP's Suvendu Adhikari will contest against each other in the Nandigram assembly seat. The West Bengal assembly elections will be held in eight phases starting from March 27. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. Live TV 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. 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 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 glance at some of the day's highlights from the Proactive Investors newswire ( ) told investors the EU is to certificate Futuras MED3000 as a Class 2B approved medical device. Once the certificate is issued, MED3000, a gel used to treat erectile dysfunction, may be marketed throughout the EU without the need for a doctor's prescription. PLC (LON:CMRS) has made a good start to life as a listed company as its shares rose on its first day of trading on the standard segment of the LSEs main market. ( ) has announced new collaborations and data findings on its exosome technology platform. ( ) is to acquire a 60% stake in a royalty stream from the Thacker Pass project. ( ) has conditionally subscribed for 474,000 shares in Trident Royalties PLC ( ) at a price of 34p per share, for a total investment of 161,100. The investment is a follow-on to an existing investment in Trident and Metal Tiger will own a 0.61% stake in the royalty specialist following the purchase. ( ) said its portfolio company Fieldwork Robotics has raised 675,000 through an equity fundraising from existing and new investors to accelerate the development of its soft fruit and vegetable harvesting robots. (LON:FOG, ) has provided details of whats described as an exciting work programme for the remainder of 2021 at the Beetaloo basin project. Inc ( ) told investors that significant progress is underway as it continues to review the Nalunaq mine projects development plan. Metal Tiger PLC ( ) said it has signed an investment agreement with Armada Exploration Limited, a Mauritian holding company which owns 100% of Armada Exploration. SDX Energy PLC ( ) released financial results for the 12 months ended December 31 2020. I am extremely pleased to announce a set of results featuring record production, a strong balance sheet and successful drilling results, said chief executive Mark Reid. ( ) has received 535,000 from a warrant exercise over 5.81mln new shares. Russell Fryer, CEO, said "I am appreciative of the fantastic support from shareholders that have exercised their warrants, which further strengthens the company's cash position in preparation of future opportunities." ( ) confirmed 24mln of new funds have been raised from its share placing. In a statement after Thursdays close, the company noted that it had sought a minimum of 20mln and the share sale was significantly oversubscribed. ( ) said Junaid Bajwa, the chief medical scientist at Microsoft Research, will be joining the company as a non-executive director (NED) and chair of its clinical and risk committee from April 1. ( ) has appointed Caroline Richardson as its new chief financial officer, bringing more than 25 years' experience in finance and banking, including at and Cooperative Bank. With requisite regulatory checks completed, ( ) said Brendan O'Mahony, Willem van der Meer and David Stybr will be immediately appointed to the board as non-executive directors. ( ) shares rose on Friday after the company said it has completed the sale of its software subsidiary NGSoft to Aztek Technologies following approval from the Israel Competition Authority. Supply@ME Capital PLC ( ) confirmed details about its acquisition of a leading fintech-powered commodities trade enabler, focused on SMEs. The company confirmed that heads of terms have been signed with TradeFlow Capital Management Pte Ltd for the deal. ( ) said 141.9mln of its shares issued to the vendors of Waste2Tricity (W2T) have been placed to institutional and high-net worth investors. (LSE AIM:UFO) will be attending the Swiss Mining Institute conference online from 22-24 March 2021. Bill Brodie Good, CEO & technical director, said: "Alien's attendance at the Swiss Mining Institute conference will be an excellent opportunity for us to engage directly with key stakeholders and investors in the country. We look forward to presenting and meeting other attendees from the mining community to showcase our exciting projects and to discuss opportunities for Alien in line with our strategy." Seeing Machines Ltd ( ) chief executive Paul McGlone and chief financial officer Naomi Rule will provide a live presentation relating to the company's first-half results via the Investor Meet Company platform on 31 Mar 2021 at 8am. The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders, with questions able to be submitted pre-event or during the presentation. (ASX:MXC, ) notified investors that it will be hosting the general meeting webinar on Wednesday 31 March 2021 at 4pm Australian Western Standard Time (9pm BST). Police are offering $250,000 for information over the killing of a 32-year-old who was shot on a Gold Coast highway in 2009. The reward was offered after police divers searched for a firearm in the Paramatta River in NSW in March. Omega Ruston was shot dead on the Gold Coast Highway in 2009. Police found items that were still being examined but would not confirm whether the weapon, linked to Sydney outlaw motorcycle gangs and crime syndicates and believed to be used in the death of Mr Ruston, was found. The review of the investigation led to breakthroughs in forensic evidence such as DNA, fingerprints, ballistics and telecommunications. The heartbroken father of one of four children killed by a drunken speeding driver says he had to carry his 'princess' in a coffin down the church aisle instead of one day accompanying her as a bride. Bob Sakr said the last words his 11-year-old daughter Veronique said to him was 'happy birthday daddy' three days before she and three cousins died as they walked on the footpath to buy ice-creams at a local supermarket. He was reading his victim impact statement in the NSW District Court on Friday at the sentence hearing of Samuel William Davidson. Bob Sakr said the last words his 11-year-old daughter Veronique (pictured) said to him was 'happy birthday daddy' three days before she and three cousins died as they walked on the footpath to buy ice-creams at a local supermarket. The 30-year-old killed four children and injured three others when his ute mounted the kerb at Oatlands, in Sydney's northwest, on February 1 last year. He struck all seven from behind on the footpath and dragged some along a nearby fence. Davidson has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Veronique and Sienna Abdallah, 8, and her siblings Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13. He has also pleaded guilty to other charges including aggravated dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm while under the influence of drugs. During that fateful Saturday, he'd been sitting poolside with his housemates drinking Vodka Cruisers and beers, having his first drink about 7am as well as cocaine later in the day. Mr Sakr, who is divorced from Veronique's mother, said their son was devastated by his only sibling's death. Every day he remembered his son's words at the crash scene: 'How am I going to do it? How am I going to live the rest of my life without her.' While his faith helped to forgive Davidson, he asked the court to hand down 'the most extreme sentence' to send a message to other drivers so such a tragedy didn't happen again. Davidson killed four children and injured three others when his ute mounted the kerb at Oatlands, in Sydney's northwest, on February 1 last year Bridget Sakr said the horror of her daughter's death 'will be etched in my mind, my body and my soul for as long as I live'. 'Just like that, in an instant, she was gone, the future stolen from under our noses,' she said. She wondered if Davidson was tormented by the suffering he had inflicted. Bridget Sakr said the horror of her daughter's death 'will be etched in my mind, my body and my soul for as long as I live' She prayed he would be healed by the love and mercy of God and would come out of prison a changed man. Davidson and his passenger were seen by witnesses to be shirtless and laughing while driving erratically and swerving across each side of the road. Both made rude hand gestures out the window at different cars along their journey, according to the agreed facts. Another witness heard Davidson's 'engine revving hard' as a motorbike swerved out of the way of his car which drove through a roundabout on the wrong side. Shortly after, Davidson attempted to make a sharp right-hand turn on a downward slope but lost control of his speeding vehicle and mounted the concrete kerb and gutter, striking the children. A report later found he was travelling up to 133km/h in a 50km/h zone and was moving about 111km/h at the time of impact. After the two uninjured men got out of the vehicle, Davidson appeared distressed and was heard saying: 'What have I done? ... I have killed people ... I am going to jail.' The hearing continues. 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. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said the COVID-19 vaccination drive will be extended in the coming days and asserted that there should not be any misconceptions about the two Indian vaccines being administered in in the country. During the Question Hour in Lok Sabha, Vardhan said India has vaccinated 3.5 to 4 crore people so far and side effects of the vaccines has been recorded at 0.000432 per cent. "Every vaccine doesn't require universal immunisation and all these priority groups whom we are vaccinating today like healthcare staff first and then senior citizens and people aged between 45 and 59 years, it will be extended in the coming days all these are based on experts' opinion. "Not only Indian experts, but we have also consulted WHO guidelines regarding priority groups," he said. Serum Institute's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin have been currently approved for restricted emergency use in India. Replying to a question by NCP MP Supriya Sule on whether the government is aiming at universal immunisation of COVID-19 vaccine, Vardhan said it is not scientifically necessary to administer the vaccine to each and every person in the country. "Not each and every person in the world will be vaccinated. The prioritisation process is a dynamic process. "The behaviour of the virus is also dynamic. All things are based on scientific facts, scrutiny and vision of the overall scientific and health community," he said. The minister said under India's present universal immunization programme, free vaccines are provided against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases, including Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio, Measles, Rubella, severe form of Childhood Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and Meningitis, among others. Replying to a question by Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu about the fear in people that the COVID-19 vaccine will harm them in the future,Vardhan asserted that taking vaccines is the way to get rid of vaccine-preventable diseases. "We got victory over polio and chicken pox due to the vaccination," he said. There are detailed pre-clinical and clinical trials, which get thoroughly studied by the experts before a vaccine gets the nod, the minister said, adding that "There should not be any misconception regarding the COVID-19 vaccines and the people should avail the facilities given by the government get themselves vaccinated." Vardhan further noted that there is a well-defined group of experts called the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration (NEGVAC)). "What you are seeing today is the hard work of the people in the ministry and this group, which was set up by the prime minister in August. "Since then, they have been working closely regarding all scientific developments related to this," he said. The minister also pointed out that the Subject Expert Committee has cleared two Indian vaccines (Covishieldand Covaxin) after examining data provided by these companies. Data provided by two Indian companies was also examined by the World Health Organisation, he added. Replying to questions onThalassemia, Vardhan, "Not a singlethalassemiapatient was deprived of blood during the COVID-19 pandemic period," he noted and said blood is provided free of cost to these patients. Thalassemia major and the severe form of Thalassemia Intermedia (TI) constitute the major burden of disease and both are commonly managed by regular lifelong blood transfusions and iron chelation. These syndromes are caused by inheritance of abnormal (beta) thalassemia genes from both parents or abnormal beta - thalassemia gene from one parent and abnormal variant haemoglobin gene (HbE, HbD) from the other parent. The minister said in the last one year, 75 medical colleges have been sanctionedby the government. "A total of 30,000Health and Wellness centres were opened under the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the last one year during the COVID-19 pandemic period," he said. Vardhan also said during the last six years 24,000 new post graduate medical seats have been created. (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 U.S. House on Thursday voted to allow unauthorized immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to remain here and eventually become citizens of their adopted country. The legislation would provide the status that former President Barack Obama temporarily ordered under his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (better known as DACA). Federal courts blocked former President Donald Trump from revoking the order. President Joe Biden issued a new order providing these protections on his first day in office. The bill also would allow those in the U.S. from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti and given temporary protected status to remain free from threats of deportation. For far too long Americas dreamers have suffered under a cloud of fear and uncertainty, said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-9th Dist. Our legislation will protect these young Americans and keep families together. The vote was 228-197, with nine Republicans crossing party lines to support the measure, including Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist. Its all about the children, Smith said. These young people were brought here by their parents. Theyre our neighbors. We need to ensure that they have protections. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd Dist., who supported the bill as a Democrat two years ago, joined most of his new partys members and voted no. Van Drew did not respond to requests for comment. The House passed similar legislation in 2019, but the Senate did not take up. This time, however, overhauling immigration laws is a top priority of Biden. There are 65,000 unauthorized immigrants in New Jersey who could be helped by legislation, the sixth highest of any state, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a research group. That includes 16,480 unauthorized immigrants currently protected under DACA. Almost one-third of them, 5,000, were working in health care or other essential industries, including grocery stores, during the pandemic, according to Center for American Progress, a progressive research group. They are known as dreamers because of the Dream Act, the original legislation that would have allowed them to remain permanently in the country. From D.C. to Trenton to your town, the N.J. Politics newsletter brings the news right to your inbox. Sign up with your email here: One of them is Erika Martinez of Elizabeth, a community leader and youth organizer for Make the Road New Jersey, an immigrant advocacy group. The passage of this legislation would give me the opportunity for a better life, she said. While there are parts of the bill she said she hoped would change before final passage, she called the House vote a historic moment that will bring the respect, dignity, and justice for immigrant youth that we deserve. And Daniela Chomba of Newark, an operations associate for the immigration advocacy group FWD.us co-founded by Mark Zuckerberg, said: When someone asks me where Im from, I say Newark, New Jersey. Its where I went to school, learned to ride a bike, and had my dreams for the future. Newark is the place where I built community and established a sense of self. The passage of (the bill) will mean that after calling this country my home for 20 years, lawmakers and elected officials will also recognize it as such. The Dream and Promise Act would allow the so-called dreamers to remain in the U.S. for at least 10 years, and permanently if they spend two years in college or in the military or hold a steady job. Only those brought to the U.S. on or before Jan. 1 and were under 18 at the time would be eligible for the program. Those convicted of federal or state crimes would not qualify. White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the legislation one of the critical milestones toward much-needed relief for the millions of individuals who call the United States home. The provision also is part of Bidens immigration bill, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate by New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez. I repeatedly say that Dreamers are as American as apple pie, Menendez said. This is a good first step in our larger fight to provide a pathway to legalization for the 11 million undocumented immigrants our colleagues, friends, and neighbors that call this country home. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @JDSalant. Start your day with the latest from Trenton, D.C. and your town. Get the N.J. Politics newsletter now. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. TOKYO, Mar 19, 2021 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) is pleased to announce its signing today of a share-transfer agreement with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFJ) and MUFG Bank, Ltd. (MUFG Bank). Under the terms of the agreement, MUFG and MUFG Bank will transfer to MC some of their shares in both Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Company Limited (MUL) and Hitachi Capital Corporation (HCC). See details below.2. Additional InformationOn September 24, 2020, MUL and HCC released a joint statement announcing their intentions to integrate operations through an absorption-type merger, which is set to go into effect on April 1, 2021. MUL and HCC will be the surviving and merged companies respectively, with the former renamed Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc.MC, which following the merger will own approximately 18% of the new company, has plans to make it an equity-method affiliate once its integration is completed. As one of its main shareholders, MC will continue to collaborate on its future growth and development.3. Impact on Financial ResultsThe impact of this share transfer on MC's financial results for the current fiscal year is expected to be minimal.Source: Mitsubishi CorporationCopyright 2021 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. 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. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! In early 2019, industrialist Sanjeev Gupta was trying to secure his biggest prize yet: a deal to buy a string of steel plants across Europe from ArcelorMittal. There was just one problem: he was struggling to find the cash. The European Commission insisted he invest more of his own money - and take on less debt - before it would approve the purchase. For Gupta, as on so many previous occasions, the answer came as a creative solution from financier Lex Greensill. Industrialist Sanjeev Gupta has assets dotted across the world. Credit:Bloomberg Greensills company extended hundreds of millions of dollars of credit to Guptas businesses based on the inventories at his Australian assets. Problem solved, a few months later the ArcelorMittal deal was done. The tale of Guptas acquisition of the ArcelorMittal assets illustrates how the British-Indian entrepreneur built his empire by shuffling cash from one part of his business to another. The reporting, based on corporate filings spanning Australia, Singapore and the UK, and interviews with two people with direct knowledge of the deal, suggests his ascent relied on clinching one deal after the next, raising new financing at every stage, and thus piling debt on top of debt - much of it from Greensill. Syracuse, N.Y. What do Syracuses mayoral candidates think needs to happen with the Skyline Apartment building? Connie Tuori, a 93-year-old retired teacher, was murdered in her apartment at Skyline on Wednesday. The building has become a hotspot of crime, drug use and violence over the last few years and draws daily calls for police and other emergency services. Tenants describe horrific conditions that include needles, garbage and feces filling stairwells. The womans family is upset with city officials, building owners and the police for allowing the squalid conditions to persist at the building. Related: Inside Tim Greens Skyline Apartments: Murder, drugs and filth. Tenants, cops say enough is enough Thursday, Mayor Ben Walsh said hes directed city lawyers to explore all legal options at the building. That could include taking ownership of the complex or shutting it down, he said. He described the building as public nuisance No. 1 at City Hall. There are four people running in the June mayoral primaries -- two Democrats and two Republicans. Each is seeking the chance to challenge Walsh, an independent, who still needs to create his own line to get on Novembers ballot. We reached out to each candidate with a question: If you were mayor, what would you be doing immediately to address the problems at the Skyline Apartment complex? Candidates were told to limit their responses to 250 words. Below is each candidates response, lightly edited for clarity and style. Khalid Bey (D) I am deeply disturbed by the unconscionable act that occurred yesterday at Skyline Apartments. I give my sincere condolences to the victim, her family, and those affected by yet another unfortunate circumstance. Too often our most vulnerable are subjected to horrifying acts like this, causing our residents to live in constant fear. The property owners of Skyline must do more to ensure the safety of its tenants. It must be a priority to improve the quality of life and the general well-being of all our residents so that tragic circumstances like this no longer happen. Michael Greene (D) The family that owns the Skyline Apartment building owns multiple seven figure mansions on Skaneateles Lake. The problem isnt that the owners dont have the resources to make the building livable for tenants. The problem is that the owners dont think anyone will hold them accountable. If I was mayor not only would I have my legal team study the citys long-term options for the property, I would immediately do three things. First, I would ensure that my code enforcement staff proactively inspected the building five days per week until the property is stabilized. To ensure that the situation improved, I would personally attend one inspection in the building per week. Second, to protect the citizens in the building I would order my police department to have an officer check on the property twice daily for the next 30 days. Providing proactive policing would reduce the incentive for criminals to prey on the vulnerable residents in the building. Third, I would demand that the owners hire adequate security. Two security personnel should always be onsite. While the city cannot legally force the owner to do this, if it didnt happen, I would vow to hold weekly housing update press conferences in front of properties owned by this family until the situation was resolved. The owners are counting on the fact that the city will be too polite to hold them personally accountable. Its time for Syracuse to show that we take protecting our residents seriously. Thomas Babilon (R) Violent crime is in the news again because there has been another homicide in a crime ridden building on the edge of my neighborhood. It is sad, extremely upsetting, and has unfortunately become a routine occurrence. We ended 2020 tying the highest homicide rate the city has ever seen, and that is simply not acceptable. The city has budget constraints and we cannot afford a tax increase of any amount. To move forward with a safer Syracuse we will need new ideas. That includes increased community engagement and a professionally trained civilian auxiliary police force that can assist and compliment officers in reporting suspicious activities and addressing non-priority calls that now take police away from more urgent matters. We also need department leadership that can effectively allocate resources and direct officers to immediate needs. The city has failed the residents of the Skyline apartments for years. In failing to properly engage the building management, in failing to follow up to ensure building managements promises were kept, and in failing to prosecute the building owner pursuant to the nuisance abatement ordinance, the city failed them. The city failed those tenants but it also continues to fail every neighborhood and every resident. The old ideas havent worked and wont work moving forward. Almost every city resident has a story about how they have been victimized and that is simply unacceptable. The city needs a new vision and fundamental change to its system of policing and I promise to do exactly that. Janet Burman (R) Another elderly citizen has been murdered in our community. We do not yet know the motives and specific circumstances surrounding her murder, but some implications are clear. First: The drastic cuts to the Syracuse Police Department budget have left the force significantly understaffed, both in terms of the number of officers and in their overtime capability. This has resulted in reduced response times and reduced investigative resources. I call upon the mayor and Common Council to restore the necessary funding to the police department. Second: The reported drug dealing in the Skyline is evidence that this is not a safe environment for residents. The elderly, long-time residents are vulnerable to robbery and serious harassment. The newer residents who are coming out of drug rehabilitation programs are facing circumstances that drastically threaten their recovery. Third: The lack of safe affordable housing remains a significant problem in our community. This is a problem that can be solved only through a monumental collaborative effort on the part of government, business, non-profit organizations and concerned citizens. As mayor, I will unite Syracuse and lead the efforts to create collaborations that can successfully address this problem. Read more about the candidates: In this March 8, 2021, photo released by Indonesian Presidential Palace, workers unload containers containing AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine upon its arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia. Indonesia on Friday, March 19, 2021 cleared the AstraZeneca vaccine for use again after the European Union's drug regulator said the vaccine didn't increase the overall incidence of blood clots. (Indonesian President Palace via AP) Indonesia on Friday cleared the AstraZeneca vaccine for use again after the European Union's drug regulator said the vaccine didn't increase the overall incidence of blood clots. Southeast Asia's biggest economy delayed the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine after more than a dozen countries in Europe suspended the vaccine due to concerns of some people who received the vaccine developing blood clots. "The benefits of using the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca outweigh the possible risks, so that we can start to use it," Indonesia's Food and Drug Authority said in its announcement. Previously the World Health Organization said it saw no evidence the vaccine was to blame for the clots. The Indonesian agency said the risk of death from COVID-19 was much greater, "Therefore, the community still has to get vaccination against COVID-19 according to the designated schedule." Indonesia has received 1.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 8, through COVAXa multilateral effort seeking to ensure equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccinationwith another 10 million more expected next month. In this photo released by Indonesian Presidential Palace, a worker attaches a sticker on a container containing AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine upon its arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia March 8, 2021 . Indonesia on Friday, March 19, 2021 cleared the AstraZeneca vaccine for use again after the European Union's drug regulator said the vaccine didn't increase the overall incidence of blood clots. (Indonesian President Palace via AP) The AstraZeneca vaccine is the second to arrive in Indonesia after the one made by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac. Indonesia aims to inoculate more than 181 million of its 270 million people by March 2022 as part of a free vaccination drive that began in January. 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. Ottawa, March 19 : The trials of two Canadian citizens, who have been detained in China for more than a year on espionage charges, will begin in the coming days, according to a Minister here. On Thursday, Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau said that the trial of Michael Spavor will begin on Friday, while Michael Kovrig will appear in court on March 22, reports dpa news agency. "The arbitrary detention of Kovrig and Spavor is a top priority for the government of Canada and we continue to work tirelessly to secure their immediate release. "We believe these detentions are arbitrary, and remain deeply troubled by the lack of transparency surrounding these proceedings," Garneau said. Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Spavor were arrested in China on December 10, 2018. The two men had been detained just days after the arrest in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, the Chief Financial Officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, at Washington's request. The US government accuses her of bank fraud in connection with the circumvention of sanctions against Iran. Meng is currently under house arrest in Canada. If she is extradited to the US and convicted there, she could face a long prison sentence. LG Group's headquarters in Seoul / Yonhap By Baek Byung-yeul LG Group has joined the race to improve environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG)-centered management at a time when the set of values-based standards has become essential to attracting global institutional investors. LG Corp., the holding company of the group, said Friday that its listed subsidiaries will launch an ESG committee and a committee that looks into business transactions between the conglomerate's affiliates. "We've listened to opinions of our board of directors about restructuring our management strategy and the plan will be up for consideration and action by the board members," the company official said. The newly established ESG committee will be the group's highest review board for evaluating ESG standards such as environmental, safety, corporate social responsibility, customer value, shareholders' value and governance. The members of the committee will be comprised of outside directors, and CEOs of each affiliate will also join to enhance executive quality. In a bid to increase professionalism of the committee, a consulting group consisted of specialists in each component of ESG, will also be under the committee. LG Corp. said the so-called internal transaction watchdog committee is designed to better abide by monopoly regulations and the fair trade act. Comprised of three outside directors and one in-company director, the committee will review if there are major internal transactions, private interest-pursuing business trades or misuse of a company's business opportunities. "The committee is to review transparency and adequacy of internal business transactions. It will report its activities on a regular basis to the board of directors and large business transactions will be require approval of the board after passing through the review process of the committee," LG Corp. said. LG Corp. also come up with ways to enhance its compliance practices. The holding company and its affiliates will add one more outside member to their respective audit committees, which are currently operated by three members. After winning approval at next year's shareholders' meeting, the audit committees will not only review the financial soundness of each company but also work as a watchdog to monitor compliance. To improve inclusivity and diversity, the group's affiliates will actively seek to appoint female outside directors who have expertise in their fields. "LG Group has been well-received for introducing the holding company system for the first time among the country's conglomerates. This year, the group will continue trying to achieve sustainable growth and generate greater shareholder value by promoting ESG management and accelerating governance improvement," the company official added. She's been kept apart from her boyfriend Johnny McDaid due to the Covid pandemic. And Courteney Cox was channelling her 90s heyday in a stylish double denim ensemble as she went shopping at Melrose Place in West Hollywood on Thursday. The actress, 56, opted for a pale-washed denim shirt and matching jeans as she enjoyed a spot of retail therapy. Looking good: Courteney Cox, 56, was channelling her 90s heyday in a stylish double denim ensemble as she went shopping at Melrose Place in West Hollywood on Thursday Courteney opted for the casual denim shirt teamed with matching skinny jeans as she indulged in a few new purchases. The Friends star sported simple white trainers and a black cross-body bag along with a face mask as she headed to the shops. It comes after Courteney shared a sweet St Patrick's Day tribute to partner Johnny on Wednesday, as the couple remain miles apart during the coronavirus crisis, with her beau living in Northern Ireland, UK. Simple: The actress opted for a pale-washed denim shirt and matching jeans as she enjoyed a spot of retail therapy Resting her head against the Snow Patrol star's shoulder in the photo, Courteney wrote: 'My lucky charm. Happy #StPatricksDay.' She also posted another photo of Johnny along with a snap of his extended family and told how she was missing them. Courteney wrote: 'Happy St. Paddy's Day! I'm missing my favorite Irishman and family. I love you'. Sweet: It comes after Courteney shared a sweet St Patrick's Day tribute to partner Johnny McDaid on Wednesday, as the couple remain miles apart during the coronavirus crisis Johnny and Courteney were reunited over the Christmas period which she spent in Northern Ireland after the couple spent nine months apart due to the pandemic. The Scream actress had revealed in October that hadn't seen Johnny for more than 200 days. Courteney said goodbye to Johnny in March, when he returned to the UK just a day before the lockdowns happened, but she insisted she hasn't been feeling too lonely without him. 'At first I was like, wow what do I do with myself? I cook every day, I've learned to cook so much more, I've perfected it...,' she told pal Foy Vance on his 'Vinyl Supper' podcast and video series. Apart: She took to her Instagram and shared a snap of the couple looking cosy, after last seeing her boyfriend at Christmas Courteney wrote: 'Happy St. Paddy's Day! I'm missing my favorite Irishman and family. I love you' 'I haven't seen John in that many days, he left when the country shut down, the day before. 'Sundays are different, I miss a lot of it, although people are starting to go, 'OK, people have been quarantining, everyone's safe,' they like to come to the beach so I'm not that lonely.' In September Cox celebrated seven years since meeting the musician. Sharing a collection of snaps of the couple to Instagram, the actress wrote: '7 years ago today I had my first date with this incredible man... and my life was changed forever. I love you J'. Courteney and Johnny announced their engagement in June 2014 but later called off the engagement but remained a couple. The building housing South Bay Massage & Spa is seen in a file image. (Google Maps) Man Shot at Seattle Massage Parlor Following Georgia Shootings A man was shot inside of a massage parlor in Seattle late Thursday, following a spate of massage parlor shootings in the Atlanta area earlier this week. The King County Sheriffs Office said its Major Crimes Unit was investigating the shooting, which it described as a robbery. The male victim was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The shooting took place at South Bay Massage and Spa. At this time, all evidence indicates this is a robbery with no other motivations, the office said in a statement. The two suspects are Hispanic/black males, authorities said. The office didnt immediately return a request for more information. Officials told local news outlets that the male victim was an employee at the spa and is of Asian descent. Officials told KIRO-TV that there is no indication at present that what happened was a hate crime, or was linked to the Atlanta area shootings. A man identified as Robert Aaron Long, 21, was arrested this week after allegedly gunning down eight people at three different parlors in and outside Atlanta. Authorities have said there is no evidence of racial animus fueling the rampage, but six of the eight victims were of Asian descent. Hate crime charges may be brought in the case, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, has said. Shelby Swan adjusts flowers and signs outside Youngs Asian Massage where four people were shot and killed, in Acworth, Ga., on March 17, 2021. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images) In a March 16 statement, Democrat Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Police Chief Arian Diaz called the violence in Atlanta an act of hate. In Seattle and across our nation, our Asian American neighbors, places of worship, and businesses have been deliberately targeted by racism, xenophobia, and acts of violence related to misconceptions of COVID-19, the officials said, adding: Individuals who commit these crimes must be arrested and held accountable. We are also taking additional steps to protect our Asian American neighborsthat includes increasing outreach to the Asian American community and community-based organizations across Seattle, as well as additional presence by police patrols and our Community Service Officers to ensure we are doing all we can for them during this painful time. President Joe Biden was set to visit Atlanta on Friday, along with Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden recently called attacks on Asian Americans un-American. Vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans, who have been attacked, harassed, blamed, and scapegoated. At this very moment, so many of themour fellow Americanstheyre on the frontlines of this pandemic, trying to save lives, and stillstillthey are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. Its wrong, its un-American, and it must stop, he said, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. Officials in Bosnia-Herzegovina responded defiantly on March 19 to Russia's threat this week to "react" if NATO and Bosnia achieve "practical rapprochement," while the transatlantic military alliance warned against "unacceptable" meddling by third parties interested in maintaining "spheres of influence." A warning from Moscow's embassy in Sarajevo sounded this week as that Balkan state continues reform efforts aimed at furthering cooperation with NATO. The Croat member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, Zeljko Komsic, accused Moscow of a "twisted threat" in a game of political brinksmanship over Bosnia's fate. "Political speech that abounds in twisted threats is certainly not acceptable to NATO members, nor to us in Bosnia-Herzegovina," Komsic said. He called it "a geopolitical game that Russia is playing to stop the expansion of NATO in Europe." The main party among Bosnian Muslims, the Bosniak Party of Democratic Action, called Russia's statement another [case of] inappropriate meddling in Bosnia's affairs. "In the case of practical rapprochement of Bosnia-Herzegovina and NATO, our country will have to react to this hostile act," the Russian Embassy said on March 18. It called NATO's mission a "fight against Russia" and suggested the alliance hoped to press Bosnia to take a side in the "military-political confrontation." An executive arm of Bosnia's government, the Council of Ministers, last month ordered the creation of a national Commission for Cooperation with NATO. Formed this month, the commission should prioritize efforts arising from Bosnia's pledges with respect to NATO and its national reform plan. Bosnia, Kosovo, and Serbia, a Russian ally, are the only former Yugoslav republics not in NATO. Every country has the sovereign right to choose its own security arrangements," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told RFE/RL's Balkan Service in a statement on March 19. "Whether countries decide to cooperate with NATO -- either through partnerships or as full members of the alliance -- is up to each individual applicant and the 30 allies. No third party has the right to intervene or veto such a process. Any threats in this respect are unacceptable." Lungescu added: "The time of spheres of influence is over." National support is high for NATO membership, but there is significant opposition within the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska part of the country. One of the early requirements of NATO'S Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Bosnia is the transfer of registration of all military bases to the central government's authority, including those within Republika Srpska. Just this week, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik said ethnic Serbs favor abolishing the Office of High Representative (OHR) for Bosnia-Herzegovina that helps run the country and holding a referendum on the status of Republika Srpska. Bosnian Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic cited a worrying change in Russia's views on Bosnia's decision-making. "Until now, the official position of the Russian Federation was that it would respect the independent decisions of Bosnia-Herzegovina's institutions when it comes to the NATO path, and now the Russian authorities are showing an open intention to limit Bosnia-Herzegovina's sovereignty, contrary to international law," Turkovic said. With reporting by Reuters and AP STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. On Monday, March 22, Borough President James S. Oddo along with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and New York City Department of Sanitation will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Fresh Kills landfill closure at Freshkills Park. Dignitaries and local science teachers will drive through the site, which at one point was home to the largest landfill in the world. They will then gather at the highest point of the site where a memorial stone will be placed to commemorate the 20 year milestone. On that exact day twenty years prior, March 22, 2001, the last barge of trash arrived at Fresh Kills Landfill. The event will be both celebratory and educational. Freshkills will serve as a living classroom as science teachers lead a live discussion about biology, ecology, and other environmental sciences with their students via video chat. But, the learning doesnt stop there. Throughout the week of March 22, the Borough Presidents Office along with the College of Staten Island and Freshkills Park Alliance will host a series of live discussions exploring the past, present, and future of Freshkills Park. Digital Illustration (2010) envisioning future Freshkills Park. The South Park section of Freshkills Park is expected to be a haven for recreation enthusiasts. Left, runners, bikers, walkers and skaters will have plenty of space, while right, cross-country skiers will get to test their skills. (Courtesy of Freshkills Park) Commissioner of the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, Mitchell J. Silver, highlighted the significance of Freshkills as a former landfill now becoming a park. Twenty years after its closure, the site of the former Fresh Kills Landfill is serving the city of New York with renewed purpose. It is truly incredible to watch and take part in the transformation of this former landfill into a sustainable urban oasis, said Silver. People kayaking as part of free tour on Discovery Day, May 15, 2016 at Freshkills Park. (Staten Island Advance/ Bill Lyons) Thanks to the Department of Sanitation and our many partners across all levels of government, the Freshkills Park project demonstrates innovative strategies for land reclamation and 21st century design worldwide, Silver continued. Staten Island Borough President James S. Oddo also spoke to the importance of the Freshkills Park Project. All Staten Islanders can thank the many efforts of our fellow city agencies, especially to Borough President Guy V. Molinari. Because of his efforts, we can ensure that the former landfill can continue its transition into a beautiful park for all to enjoy, said Oddo. A man flies his kite creation from the scenic Hilltop Overlook at future Freshkills Park on October 3, 2010. (Staten Island Advance photo/Hilton Flores) Tune into the series of discussions, which will be streaming live on the Borough Presidents Facebook page. See the schedule for the discussions below: The Closure: 20 years ago today Monday, March 22 at 7:00 PM Borough President James Oddo hosts a conversation with former elected officials Susan Molinari, Eric Vitaliano, Fred Cerullo, and Vito Fossella on how the Freshkills closure was achieved. Community Impact Tuesday, March 23 at 7:00 PM Deputy Borough President Ed Burke and Deputy Chief of Staff Jennifer Sammartino talk with Staten Island Advance Executive Editor Brian Laline, SI Chamber of Commerces Linda Baran and City Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver on the landfills impact on the Island. Education at Freshkills Wednesday, March 24 at 7:00 PM Dr. William Fritz, President, the College of Staten Island, talks with CSIs Dr. Faisa Peetz, Wagner Colleges Dr. Brett Palfreyman, DOEs Richard Tudda, and the Freshkills Park Alliances Rachel Aronson about the education opportunities offered by Freshkills. The Science of Freshkills Thursday, March 25 at 1:00 PM Deputy Borough President Ed Burke and Dr. Cait Field of the Freshkills Alliance host an informative discussion about the research currently being conducted at Freshkills with the College of Staten Islands Dr. Lisa Manne and Dr. Dick Veit and Steve Zahn of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. This session is ideal for learners of all ages. Stepping Stones to Sobriety: The Legacy of Bill W. and Dr. Bob Bill Wilson. Bob Smith. Some readers may recognize those names, but I suspect they are unfamiliar to many others. They are common names, unremarkable as a pair of old shoes. And yet those two men, though unknown to so many people, launched a program that has saved millions of lives over the last 85 years. Early Successes Better known as Bill W. during his lifetime, Bill Wilson (18951971) grew up in Vermont. Raised by his grandparents after his parents divorced, an event that cast the 11-year-old boy into a deep depression, Bill excelled in school, graduated as senior class president, and intended to marry a classmate, Bertha Banford, whose unexpected death brought on a second bout of depression. In 1918, shortly before shipping out for duty in the First World War, Bill married Lois Burnham, the daughter of a New York physician, a marriage that would last until his death 53 years later. On his return from the war, he found work on Wall Street, reporting on the status of companies to various brokerage houses. Drinking Days It was then that he began his descent into alcoholism. His heavy drinking gradually damaged his professional reputation and brought on blackouts and depression. One day, an old friend, Ebby, paid him a call. Through the then-popular Oxford Group, a loose fellowship of members and chapters that stressed such ideals as honesty, love, and purity, and which had led some to give up the bottle, Ebby had won his sobriety and urged Bill to do the same. Eventually, Bill followed his friends advice, checked into a hospital, and placed himself in the care of a psychiatrist, Dr. William Silkworth, who, unlike most other physicians of his time, believed alcoholism was more a physical addiction than a moral failing. While there, Bill also underwent a spiritual transformation, what he later called his mountaintop moment. On his release from the hospital, Bill remained sober for nearly six months, but when an important business deal in Akron, Ohio, fell apart, Bill returned to his hotel, where he felt drawn to drown his sorrows in the establishments bar. Desperate to maintain his sobriety, he telephoned members he knew in the Oxford Group seeking help and was finally put in touch with Dr. Robert Smith, another man battling this disease. Though the doctor was reluctant to meet with Billhe did so to please his wifeand though he expected their meeting to last only a few minutes, the two men ended up conversing for nearly five hours. Within another month, Dr. Bob, as he was later called, took his last drink. And on that day, June 10, 1935, Alcoholics Anonymous was born, an organization that would save countless lives, marriages, and families from destruction. Stepping Stones, the home of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill W. and his wife, in Katonah, N.Y. (Daniel Case/CC BY-SA 3.0) Creating the Program In the next few years, Bill designed and wrote the Twelve Steps, a spiritual stepladder for the newly sober, the Twelve Traditions, a guide to hold the group together and to keep it focused on its mission, and Alcoholics Anonymous, also known as The Big Book, which explained the groups philosophy and recounted numerous stories of alcoholics who had stopped drinking. The driving principle behind AA and the writings of Bill Wilson was simple but brilliant: in numbers there is strength. As the Big Book puts it, The feeling of having shared in a common peril is one element in the powerful cement which binds us together. As the organization grew from a handful of people to hundreds of chapters, those with a long history of sobriety would act in the capacity of sponsors, advisers, and counselors to newcomers, available night and day if those in their charge needed help resisting the urge to drink. The Twelve Steps were also simple in design but an excellent tool for those seeking sobriety. The admission of powerlessness over alcohol, the taking of a moral inventory, confession of failures to another human being, seeking help from a higher power: for many, these tactics worked in the battle against alcohol. Yet another key factor in the growth of this program was anonymity. Alcoholism theneven todaycarried a stigma, demonstrating weakness and a lack of moral fiber. Members used only their first names in meetings and were forbidden to discuss other members outside of those meetings. AA Today Because AA doesnt keep formal lists of its members, the numbers of groups and members are difficult to ascertain. The organization itself recognizes this fact, and estimates there are approximately 2 million members worldwide and over 125,000 groups. People suffering from other addictions such as drugs, gambling, and sex have copied, sometimes in a modified version, AAs Twelve Steps program. All these programs, including AA, have brought words and phrases into our common speech such as one day at a time, it works if you work it, and let go and let God. Fault-finding AA has its critics. In April 2015 issue of The Atlantic, for example, Gabrielle Glasser wrote The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous, in which she attacked AA for its old-fashioned, unscientific approach to alcohol addiction. Though others disputed her findings, including this excellent rebuttal by Sarah Benton in The Irrationality of A.A.? A critique of the recent Atlantic article, Glasser scored some good points regarding alternative treatments for alcoholics. All too often we try to make a situation either-or. In this instance, AA has helped many people stop drinking and has failed others. Instead of pitting the Twelve-Step program against other therapies or pharmaceuticals, why not encourage those seeking sobriety to find a program that works for them? Credit Where Credit Is Due Whatever the case, the fact remains that over 85 years ago, when the public understood little about alcoholism or how to treat it, two men came together and devised a program that has helped many people, that has saved lives, restored marriages and families, and allowed its practitioners to escape the bondage of booze. And thats an achievement worth celebrating. A note: Most of the information about Bill Wilson I took from Bills Story, online at SteppingStones.org. I encourage readers interested in his life to read more about him there. Jeff Minick has four children and a growing platoon of grandchildren. For 20 years, he taught history, literature, and Latin to seminars of homeschooling students in Asheville, N.C. He is the author of two novelsAmanda Bell and Dust on Their Wings, and two works of nonfiction, Learning as I Go and Movies Make the Man. Today, he lives and writes in Front Royal, Va. See JeffMinick.com to follow his blog. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - TeamViewer (TMVWF.PK, TMVWY.PK) said that it has signed a five-year agreement to become Manchester United's new principal shirt partner. The partnership will begin with the 2021/2022 season. Manchester United said that the partnership will introduce Manchester United and its 1.1 billion fans and followers around the world to exciting new technology drawing on TeamViewer's expertise in remote connectivity services. TeamViewer will enable Manchester United to bring its fans even closer to the team they love through ground-breaking AR solutions and remote access to the Theatre of Dreams, Manchester United said in a statement. Germany-based TeamViewer has been installed on over 2.5 billion devices, has nearly 600,000 subscribers, and operates in almost all countries globally. TeamViewer said that, due to the resulting significant increase in marketing expenditure, it revised its adjusted EBITDA margin guidance for the fiscal year 2021 to 49 - 51% of billings and projects the adjusted EBITDA margin to remain around 50% over the medium term. 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. Police have issued an urgent alert and SMS campaign as they fear for an elderly woman missing in severe wet weather. Adele Morrison, 78, was last seen leaving her Port Macquarie home on New South Wales' mid-north coast early morning Tuesday before being reported missing the next day. Police and family said they have serious concerns about Ms Morrison's welfare because of her age and severe rainfall and flooding conditions affecting the area. A severe weather warning is in place for the New South Wales mid-north coast as heavy rainfall lashes the area on Friday and into the weekend, with a 600mm rain dump predicted for some areas. Police have issued an urgent alert and SMS campaign as missing woman Adele Ferguson (pictured) is feared to be lost in severe wet weather Ms Morrison was believed to have been driving a red 2017 Toyota Corolla (pictured) with the New South Wales registration plates DSN 47R and was last seen at a shopping centre in Gloucester, which is a two hour drive south of Port Macquarie Ms Morrison attended a shopping centre at Gloucester, which is a two hour drive south of Port Macquarie, at about 10.45am on March 16. Her whereabouts after this are unknown and family said it was unusual for her to not been in regular contact with them. Ms Morrison is described as being Caucasian, around 5 feet tall, of medium build with grey hair and hazel or green, gold, and brown coloured eyes. Ms Morrison was believed to have been driving a red 2017 Toyota Corolla with the New South Wales registration plates DSN 47R. Police issued an urgent text alert to residents in Gloucester, Barrington, Stratford and Weismantels in an urgent bid to find the woman. Meteorologists have warned those living on the coast to expect 'an absolute deluge' as the 1,200km-long weather system moves gradually southwards (pictured) Meteorologists have warned those living on the coast to expect 'an absolute deluge' as the 1,200km-long weather system moves gradually southwards. 'Intense rainfall which may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding may develop over the Mid North Coast and parts of the Hunter,' the Bureau of Meteorology warned on Friday morning. Up to 600mm of rain could fall in Coffs Harbour over the next 36 hours during the wild weather event. Flood watch alerts have been issued for the mid-north coast, Hunter, Central Coast, Sydney metro and Illawarra coast and far west regions areas. The biggest risk is on the mid-north coast where the Orara, Bellinger and Hastings rivers are being closely watched ahead of expected minor to moderate flooding on Friday. Dhaka: Hindus from Myanmar have joined streams of Muslim Rohingyas to seek refuge in Bangladesh after the killing of 86 people from their community in the ethnic violence in the neighbouring Buddhist-majority country. Officials said nearly 500 Hindus arrived in Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar, bordering Myanmar, along with tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims amid escalated violence at home. UN officials estimate some 90,000 people have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar in past 10 days and thousands more were trapped on borders without basic food and medicines. A total of 414 Hindus from (Myanmars) Rakhine state took refuge at a Hindu village in Coxs Bazar, a Bangladeshi official told PTI on condition of anonymity. However, Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council President Rana Dasgupta, who visited the village, said the figure of Hindu refugees was 510. He said the refugees took shelters in different Hindu houses after fleeing their home along with ordinary Rohingyas following the killing of 86 Hindus in ethnic violence. According to the Hindu refugees, unidentified masked people in black attires attacked their homes killing 86 people on August 27 and 28 at different places in Myanmars Mangdu district, he said. Dasgupta said ordinary Rohingya Muslims escorted them to borders from where these Hindus entered Bangladesh along with thousands others. The attack on Myanmar Hindus should be investigated to bring the perpetrators to justice, he said. ALSO READ: Head of Al Qaedas branch threatens India, says he will liberate country from PM Modi, Hindus Meanwhile, Cox?s Bazars deputy commissioner or administrative chief Ali Hossain told reporters bodies of 54 Rohingyas washed up on the Bangladesh shore in last five days. The latest spate of violence erupted in Rakhine state on August 25 after alleged Rohingya insurgents attacked several police posts, triggering a counter-offensive by the military that resulted in the death of at least 400 people. Rakhine, the poorest region in Myanmar, is home to more than a million Rohingya. They have faced decades of persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, where they are not considered citizens. Soldiers and armed residents have been accused of carrying out a killing spree against Rohingya Muslim men, women, and children. Reports said Myanmar blocked all UN aid agencies from delivering vital supplies of food, water and medicine to thousands of desperate civilians at the centre of the bloody military campaign in Myanmar. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday reviewed the Rohingya situation in the monthly meeting of National Security Council that comprises her security adviser, chiefs of three armed forces, police, and the intelligence agencies, an official familiar with the meeting told PTI. Dhaka had urged Myanmar to take steps to protect innocent civilians to prevent the mass exodus and then proposed a joint security clampdown. Bangladesh also alleged that Myanmar military helicopters violated its airspace repeatedly on August 27, 28 and September 1, prompting its air force and navy to intensify their security alertness. These instances of incursion into Bangladesh air space by Myanmar helicopters run contrary to the good neighbourly relations and could lead to unwarranted situation, Bangladesh foreign office said in a statement two days ago. ALSO READ: US World Religious Freedom report says Hindus in Pakistan live in fear of forced conversions to Islam For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. TAICANG, China German and Chinese flags flutter along tree-lined avenues. Workers are erecting a shopping-and-hotel project with the half-timbered style of architecture more typically found in places like Bavaria or the Black Forest. A nearby restaurant serves Thuringia grilled sausages, fried pork sausages and lots of sauerkraut. And in Erwin Gerbers bakery nearby in Taicang, an industrial city a little more than an hours drive northwest of Shanghai, hungry customers can buy a loaf of country sourdough bread or a pretzel baked the way they are made in Baden-Wurttemberg. Everything you find in Germany, Mr. Gerber said, you will find in my bakery. Taicang epitomizes the deep ties between the worlds second- and fourth-largest economies. The Chinese city is so tightly knit with Germanys industrial machine that some people call it Little Swabia, after the German region that the owners of many of its factories call home. Washington: The first in-person talks between top US and China officials since Joe Bidens inauguration have got off to a fiery start, with Americas top diplomat warning his counterparts that China will create a far more violent world unless it respects global rules. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan made a point of abandoning traditional niceties by inviting TV cameras and reporters back into the meeting room to capture them trading barbs with their Chinese counterparts in Alaska on Friday (AEDT). Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from right, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, right, in talks with Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi, and Chinas State Councilor Wang Yi in Anchorage, Alaska. Credit:AP The meeting was supposed to begin with two-minute statements from each side before the media departed but the opening exchanges extended well beyond that as rival diplomats tried to have the last word. Chinese officials said it was hypocritical of the US to complain about Chinas human rights record and accuse it of cyber espionage, given the history of racism against African Americans. They also accused the US of being a global champion of cyber attacks. [March 19, 2021] Launch Inc. Becomes First Music Company In History To Release A Concert As An NFT NEW YORK, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Launch, a boutique livestreaming production company and creative agency announce the minting and auction of the first-ever concert to be released as an NFT (non-fungible token), the March 13, 2021 livestream concert of blues legend Ana Popovic and GRAMMY-winning guitarist Paul Nelson live from The Music Room in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. This auction will grant a buyer the unique opportunity to own the unaltered master recording file of the concert, the first of its kind. Always evolving, Launch has embarked into the blockchain revolution with the auction of the first-ever concert available to purchase as an NFT. The auction, hosted on OpenSe, allows the buyer to own the only unaltered livestream video file of the March 13 performance, the first concert ever held at the brand new, state-of-the-art blues and rock venue. The winner of the auction will be immortalized on the blockchain, becoming the first person in music-history to own a concert NFT. Artists using Launch's platform will have the opportunity to livestream their performances on the platform, host past content for on-demand viewing, and monetize concerts and music as NFTs. Launch teamed up with the independent live music venue The Music Room to produce the March 13th inaugural livestreaming concert, after the venue was forced to delay opening for over a year following the pandemic. While the venue plans to begin hosting physical concerts again this spring, this NFT sale represents a watershed moment for the struggling live music industry. Launch's commitment to supporting the live music and arts community is evident in not only their business model of sharing revenue with artists but also their stance as the first music company in history to release a concert as an NFT. To learn more about Launch's story and to see how you can be a part of the future of live music, click here. "NFTs are putting the power back into the hands of creators, which is in complete alignment with Launch's commitment," says Launch CEO Brian Stollery. "We're proud to add NFT development, minting, and management to our suite of empowering services for artists around the globe." About Launch, Launch is a livestreaming music membership service-producing unique consumer offerings including online concerts and music programming featuring emergent artists and veteran talent from around the world. Name: Jimmy Dunn Phone: (203) 540-9737 Email: 305601@email4pr.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/launch-inc-becomes-first-music-company-in-history-to-release-a-concert-as-an-nft-301251248.html SOURCE Launch [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Taoiseach Micheal Martin in Cork's Docklands as he said the funding would act as a counterweight to Dublin. Picture: Darragh Kane Taoiseach Micheal Martin has announced a "game-changer" 405m investment aimed at helping Cork serve as a strategic counterweight to Dublin. Mr Martin confirmed a total of 405m for urban regeneration across Cork - the bulk of which will be devoted towards helping kick-start the regeneration of the Cork docklands, one of the largest urban dockland zones in Europe. Another major element of the package is a 45m injection in the refurbishment of the historic Grand Parade, including provision of a new Cork library. Read More The funding is a key element of a drive to ensure Cork becomes the fastest growing city in the country and eases some of the urban development pressures on Dublin and the east coast. Mr Martin insisted the funding will transform the Republics second city. "This significant investment of over 400m we are announcing today is a game-changer for Cork and positions the city for major growth over the next decades," he said. Its all about making Cork city and county even better places in which to work, to live, to visit and to invest in." Over 350m of the package will go towards docklands projects while the city will benefit from two strategic new bridges. It provides funding for the new Marina Park, it provides funding for cycleways, walkways and the Eastern Gateway Bridge, which will further improve connectivity." The investment will transform the Grand Parade with over 50m for a new public library, a new central plaza and boardwalk to facilitate cultural and recreational activities making it one of the most attractive features in the centre of our city. It also underpins the strategy of creating strong regional cities outside Dublin, with significant funding also for Mallow town centre regeneration, Passage West, Ringaskiddy and Carrigaline Harbour Cluster. Bishop Lucey Park will also benefit with a facelift under the development. The funding was provided after the last major docklands redevelopment venture fell victim to the financial and property crash in 2008/2009. Mallow in north Cork will also benefit from the funding package. Cork Lord Mayor Joe Kavanagh said the investment was part of an ambitious blueprint for the future of the city and showed the Governments ambition to develop the city as a true counterbalance to Dublin....to make Cork a world-class city to live and work in. Mining giant Rio Tinto has become the first Australian company to support activist shareholder resolutions on climate change filed against it, as it looks to strengthen its environmental, social and governance credentials with investors following a bruising year. Investors in the nations second-largest miner are scheduled to vote on two activist-led motions at upcoming meetings in Australia and the United Kingdom, which have been looming as new chief executive Jakob Stausholms first public test on climate change. Rio Tinto is the worlds largest iron ore miner. Credit:AP However, Rio Tintos board of directors took investors by surprise on Friday with the unprecedented announcement that it would urge a yes vote for both resolutions. For the first time, the board of an Australian company has supported a shareholder resolution, said Dan Gocher, head of climate at the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR). 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. Republican lawmakers introduce bills to ban sex change surgeries for kids, taxpayer funding for mutilation Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Congressional Republicans have introduced two pieces of legislation that would ban gender reassignment surgery for minors in addition to preventing taxpayers from having to pay for elective gender reassignment surgeries. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., announced the introduction of "The Protecting Children from Experimentation Act" and the "End Taxpayer Funding of Gender Experimentation Act" in a press release published Tuesday. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., introduced companion legislation in the House. The Protecting Children from Experimentation Act would prohibit doctors from performing experimental gender reassignment treatments on children, citing the fact that puberty-blocking hormones can cause irreversible damage to childrens bodies, including an increased risk of cancer and permanent sterilization. The End Taxpayer Funding of Gender Experimentation Act would protect taxpayers conscience by prohibiting federal funding for gender reassignment surgeries and treatments. Both bills are supported by socially conservative organizations, including the Family Research Council, Heritage Action, the Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, the American College of Pediatricians, and the American Principles Project. The introduction of the legislation comes weeks after the House passed the Equality Act, a wide-reaching bill that critics argue could force employers to include in their health plans things that they might object to like cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers for children and sex reassignment surgery. The push to ban gender reassignment surgery for children comes in the context of President Joe Bidens selection of the trans-identified Dr. Rachel Levine to serve as Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services. During a Senate confirmation hearing, Levine refused to answer when asked by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., if minors are capable of making such a life-changing decision as changing ones sex. Al Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, listed Levines nomination for a cabinet post as an example of the effort to advance the normalization of transgender ideology. Marshall argued that Bidens selection of Levine, who he said has a track record of politicizing public health issues, advocating for conversion therapy for pre-pubertal children, and has demonstrated a lack of support for parental consent was immoral and unethical. Protecting our children from experimental gender reassignment treatments and permanent hormone blockers couldnt be more important. These medical experiments are not FDA-approved and have irreversible consequences for the health of our kids, said Marshall. The legislation I introduced ... will ensure this practice is put to a stop and prevent taxpayers from ever having to foot the bill for these horrific procedures. In some cases, taxpayers already have to foot the bill for gender reassignment surgeries. Late last year, a federal judge in Wisconsin ruled that a man serving time in prison for raping his 10-year-old daughter was entitled to gender reassignment surgery at taxpayers expense because he now identifies as a woman. Radical ideologues are attempting to normalize medical experimentation with a childs biological sex under the guise of acceptance, LaMalfa warned. Vulnerable children are being pushed to undergo experimental treatments, like being injected with puberty-blocking hormones and cross-sex hormones or even surgeries, which have irreversible consequences, such as permanent sterility. Both the Protecting Children from Experimentation Act and the End Taxpayer Funding of Gender Experimentation Act would protect children and taxpayers from paying the high price of these unethical and experimental medical interventions. Children must be provided with the time and space to develop maturity rather than being pushed to make life-altering decisions that they may likely later regret, he added. Dr. Michelle Cretella, executive director of the American College of Pediatricians, said these bills " ... are the two most critical pro-child pieces of legislation introduced to date. No one is born with an opposite-sexed brain, and gender identity can align with biological sex across childhood and adulthood both with and without counseling to treat underlying traumas," she added. "The sterilization of emotionally vulnerable youth in any other circumstance would be seen for exactly what it is: eugenics. LaMalfa introduced versions of both pieces of legislation in the House during the 116th Congress, but a vote never took place due to opposition from House Democrats who held the majority. The bills face another uphill battle in the 117th Congress, where Democrats control not only the House but also the Senate and White House as well. The Protecting Children from Experimentation Act has secured 13 co-sponsors in the House and three co-sponsors in the Senate. The End Taxpayer Funding of Gender Experimentation Act has secured 14 co-sponsors in the House and four co-sponsors in the Senate. Kabul, March 19 : The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday welcomed a statement issued after a meeting held a day earlier in Moscow over the peace process in the war-torn country. The Ministry called the statement a step forward towards the start of serious talks for achieving peace in the country based on the Afghan people's demand, TOLO News reported. It also backed the emphasis of the statement on a negotiated political settlement in Afghanistan. "The Islamic Republic is the only inclusive and acceptable structure that can ensure political participation, pluralism, citizenship equality and preserving of stability in a diverse society like Afghanistan," the Ministry added. Moscow hosted the meeting of the extended 'Troika' comprising representatives of Russia, China, US, and Pakistan that focused on making progress in the intra-Afghan process to reach a negotiated settlement and permanent ceasefire in the country. Following the conference, a joint statement was issued in which the four key participants stated that they would not support the return of the Islamic emirate system in Afghanistan. The statement also recognised the will of the Afghan people for peace, called for a reduction in violence from all sides and for the Taliban to not launch a Spring offensive, and reiterated calls for a negotiated settlement for the conflict. "We call on all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan to reduce the level of violence in the country and on the Taliban to not to pursue a spring offensive, so as to avoid further casualties and to create an environment conducive to reaching a negotiated settlement. "We recognise and welcome all international efforts that are underway to facilitate and support a negotiated settlement as soon as possible," it added. Half a million Australians stand to lose their jobs when JobKeeper ends next in little more than a week. Australia's unemployment rate in February fell by half a percentage point to just 5.8 per cent, the lowest level since the start of the Covid shutdowns. The number of people with a job last month stood at 13,006,900 - 3,600 more than in March 2020 just before the World Health Organisation declared a Covid pandemic, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Thursday. But small business owners are still worried with JobKeeper ending on March 28. At the end of January, one million employees working for 370,000 businesses were receiving a scaled-back version of JobKeeper, the tax office said. Half a million Australians stand to lose their jobs when JobKeeper ends next in little more than a week. Pictured is a Melbourne cafe in October following the end of a three-month lockdown The effects of JobKeeper ending 488,000 or 20.2 per cent of small businesses would have to let go of staff 149,000 or 6.2 per cent would have to close indefinitely 98,000 or 4.1 per cent would have to close permanently 192,000 or 8 per cent would have to sell assets Source: Small Business Australia survey of 600 business owners in 25 industry sectors Advertisement Small Business Australia feared 488,000 employers would have to let go of staff as JobKeeper ended - or one in five businesses employing less than 20 people. They did economic modelling which showed 149,000 businesses would close indefinitely while 98,000 would close permanently. Those numbers together equated to one in ten small businesses closing as a result of taxpayer-funded wage subsidies being withdrawn. Executive director Bill Lang feared some businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector would be forced to close. 'There are a number of industry sectors, such as tourism and hospitality that are remain severely impacted by Covid restrictions,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'Without the ongoing support of JobKeeper will be forced to close indefinitely or permanently, as it is not financially feasible for them to operate under the current rules.' Since April last year, Australian taxpayers have spent $90billion on JobKeeper. The fortnightly payments were tapered from $1,500 a fortnight to $1,200 from the end of September as the scheme covered 1.5million workers instead of 3.6million under the original design. Since early January, fortnightly payments have fallen to $1,000 for those putting in 20 hours or more a weeks and $650 for those working less, with the scheme now covering one million workers. Australia's unemployment rate in February fell by half a percentage point to just 5.8 per cent, the lowest level since the start of the Covid shutdowns. The number of people with a job last month (Perth cafe pictured) stood at 13,006,900 - 3,600 more than in March 2020 just before the World Health Organisation declared a Covid pandemic, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Thursday While 88,700 jobs were created in Australia in February, the level of underemployment rose to 8.5 per cent from 8.2 per cent. Westpac estimated the proportion of workers putting in zero hours, as their employer received JobKeeper, rose by 25,000 to 107,000. Economist Elliot Clarke said the end of JobKeeper was a challenge. 'An additional headwind for the labour market looms, with the JobKeeper program set to expire at the end of this month,' he said. The tourism industry is in still struggling with the number of aviation jobs plunging by 40.9 per cent when December 2020 was compared with December 2019 before the first case of Covid came to Australia. The arts sector had suffered a 25.2 per cent annual jobs plunge compared with 22.8 per cent in accommodation, new ABS data revealed on Friday. Jonathon Khoo, the ABS's head of tourism statistics, said the tourism industry was still suffering the most from the Covid shutdowns and national border closure, despite an uptick in consumer spending heading into Christmas. 'The recovery in tourism lags that in the total economy even when you take into account the usual seasonal increases that occur in the December quarter,' he said. Small Business Australia feared 488,000 employers would have to let go of staff as a result - or one in five businesses employing less than 20 people. Pictured is an Adelaide River crocodile feeding cruise near Darwin From April 1 until the end of July, 800,000 flights to 13 popular destinations, including the Gold Coast, Alice Springs and Kangaroo Island will be half price as part of a $1.2billion federal government program for the tourism and aviation sectors. Mr Lang said he would have preferred a continuation of JobKeeper targeted at struggling small businesses. 'What we have been asking for on behalf of these impacted businesses is for a sector based continuation of some form of JobKeeper and a direct cash injection into businesses, such as travel agencies and hospitality venues, to help them offset the growing debt issues they are facing around rents, leases and other associated business costs,' he said. They did economic modelling which showed 149,000 businesses would close indefinitely while 98,000 would close permanently. Those numbers equated to one in ten small businesses closing as a result of JobKeeper ending. Pictured is a Sydney shop up for lease in May 2020 He was particularly incensed at Qantas receiving JobKeeper, even though the flying kangaroo airline now has a 74 per cent share of the aviation market, and 90 per cent of regional services. 'It is a national scandal that we have seen very sizeable businesses registering large profits, whilst pocketing millions in payments from the government, whilst smaller traders, who are currently unable to trade at anywhere near full capacity face financial ruin as the government support is switched off,' he said. 'To see Qantas given an extension of JobKeeper, whilst those who equally rely on international travel for their income, such as travel agents and the 40,000 people who are employed in that sector are hung out to dry, is difficult to understand and shattering for the owners of these small 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. New Delhi: The US envoy to the United Nations, Nikki Haley on Monday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is begging for war and her countrys "patience is not unlimited". Nikki Haley told an emergency meeting of the Council in New York that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had shown through his actions that he was "begging for war". "War is never something the United States wants," she said. "We don't want it now but our country's patience is not unlimited." She urged the Security Council to take the "strongest possible measures" against North Korea after its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sunday. "Only the strongest sanctions will enable us to resolve this problem through diplomacy," Haley said."We have kicked the can down the road long enough. There is no more road left." Suggested Read | North Korea successfully tests 'missile ready' Hydrogen bomb Haley also said that countries which did business with Pyongyang are aiding their nuclear ambitions. "The United States will look at every country that does business with North Korea as a country that is giving aid to their reckless and dangerous nuclear intentions," Haley said. South Korea warns Pyongyang could fire more ICBM: A day after North Koreas sixth and largest nuclear test, South Korea has warned that Pyongyang could fire more Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). "We have continued to see signs of possibly more ballistic missile launches. We also forecast North Korea could fire an intercontinental ballistic missile," Jang Kyoung-soo, acting deputy minister of national defense policy, told a parliament hearing on Monday. Earlier in July, North Korea had tested two ICBMs with an estimated range of 10,000 km (6,200 miles) which puts many parts of the United States within reach and prompting a new round of tough international sanctions. South Korea also said that it was talking to the US about the deployment of aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to the Korean peninsula, reported the Reuters. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The family of a California man are begging medics not to take him off life support more than two months after he was hospitalized with COVID-19. Andres Banda, 43, was admitted to the intensive care unit at Loma Linda Medical Center on January 6, after contracting the coronavirus. The upholsterer - who is married with teenage children - was subsequently placed on life support when complications, including pneumonia, arose. According to Banda's family, doctors claimed his condition showed no signs of improving. In February, the medics reportedly declared Banda legally brain dead and began to discuss removing him from life support. According to KTLA, Banda was scheduled to be disconnected from his machinery on March 3, before he began showing signs of life. The family of a California man are begging medics not to take him off life support two months after he was hospitalized with COVID-19 On that morning, Banda's family went to the hospital to say their goodbyes and found that he was responsive. Video posted to YouTube by family members shows the dad blinking and shaking his head. He appears to respond approvingly when his next of kin flash photographs of other relatives on their phones. But health officials have reportedly refused to yield, and say Banda's 'movements are not voluntary but spontaneous and caused by the machinery.' KTLA reports that the hospital does not need the family's permission to turn the life-sustaining equipment off, but the Bandas have now mounted a legal challenge. The upholsterer - who is married with teenage children - has been in hospital since January Friends and supporters have gathered outside the hospital to stage demonstrations in a bid to raise awareness around the case The family took their case to the San Bernardino County Superior Court where, on Thursday, a judge granted a three-week extension to keep Banda on life-support. An outside expert chosen by the family will now have an opportunity to evaluate him. Friends and supporters have gathered outside the hospital to stage demonstrations in a bid to raise awareness around the case. On Wednesday, one woman was seen brandishing a poster which read 'These doctors are playing God'. The group also reportedly chanted: 'What these doctors are doing is murder'. Banda's wife, Dalia, told KTLA that she will continue to fight for her husband, but after two long months the situation is taking its toll. 'I'm scared. I'm nervous. I'm so tired,' she stated. In a statement the hospital said: 'We care deeply about each patient and family we serve. Patient privacy laws prohibit us from engaging in a public conversation on the clinical facts and circumstances surrounding any specific patient.' Cuba will emerge from the April congress of its all-powerful Communist Party without a Castro at the helm for the first time in over 60 years. And while the country is unlikely to abandon its military, socialist approach to government any time soon, observers expect some nods, albeit meek ones, to economic modernization and social liberalization in future. The country's de-facto leader, Raul Castro, 89, is handing over the reins after 13 years in the seat he inherited from his revolutionary leader brother Fidel, who was in charge for almost 50 years before that. In Cuba's one-party system, the Castros have consecutively held the top position in the Communist Party and the country -- that of first secretary -- since 1959. The first secretary is more powerful than the president -- a position both Castros also held. Then in 2018, Raul Castro ceded the Cuban presidency to Miguel Diaz-Canel, a major shift for the country that still largely sees Fidel Castro as its revolutionary father and savior. In a shuffle of the top brass that has long been sewn up, Diaz-Canel will become the first non-Castro elected first secretary at the party's five-yearly congress to be held in Havana from April 16 to 19. This will see Castro officially enter retirement and voluntarily give up any claim to political power. - New constitution - A new constitution adopted in May 2019 with almost 80 percent approval among eligible voters 18 and older, states that the country's commitment to socialism was "irreversible." Yet, there are signs of change to come. Sixty-year-old Diaz-Canel, like many other members of the party's new decision-making politbureau, was born after the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro, who died in 2016. And the new executive team "will have the task of building its own legitimacy, which could come from a political project that brings economic prosperity and social justice to Cuba," said Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington DC. Story continues There have already been some cautious shifts. In recent months, artists and intellectuals earned themselves an audience with the government, rather than arrest, after several protests -- a rarity on the strictly-controlled communist island -- to demand free expression. Animal rights activists, too, have made their voices heard with the first-ever non-political demonstration authorized by the state, culminating in the country's first animal protection laws. - Societal divide - The new executive will have to introduce further cautious political reform "to effectively manage the tensions in society" -- between the old guard and a new generation better connected to the rest of the world, said Shifter. The arrival of internet on mobile phones at the end of 2018 has made for a societal paradigm shift, with never-before-seen access to information previously controlled by the state media, and new forums for expression, even organizing demonstrations. The party has said next month's congress would have to reflect on how to better deal with "political-ideological subversion" on social media. The country's direction will also largely be shaped by Cuba's relationship with the United States. President Joe Biden had promised during his election campaign to reverse certain sanctions toughened under his predecessor Donald Trump. But Cuba would have to give something back in the form of human rights reforms. The country is accused by rights watchdogs of regular infringements, including arbitrary detention of opponents, unfair trials, and infringements of freedom of speech and assembly. - New role for the army? - "The United States determines, directly and indirectly, a large part of what happens (in Cuba) even the decisions taken by Cuban leaders," said Cuban political analyst Harold Cardenas. The Trump administration's aggressive targeting of Havana, for example, pushed the government to adopt a harsher, more confrontational posture, feeling as it did, under constant threat. The new team "will seek to construct a functional and pragmatic relationship with the United States," added Shifter, perhaps by reducing the influence of the military in government, the party, and even the economy. The bulk of the 280 sanctions Washington has in place against Havana targets enterprises managed by Cuba's powerful and omnipresent military. Conversely, if American hostility continues, "the military will have the perfect justification to continue to play a predominant role in the country's politics and economy," said Cuba expert Arturo Lopez-Levy of the Holy Names University in California. cb/ka/mlr/ft Dublin, March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "North America Pharmacy Automation Devices Market By Product, By End Use, By Country, Industry Analysis and Forecast, 2020 - 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The North America Pharmacy Automation Devices Market is expected to witness market growth of 11.5% CAGR during the forecast period (2020-2026). The companies face a lot of external pressure to enhance transparency & install innovative technologies due to the complicated & unparalleled limitation of keeping up corporate compliance in a virtual world. Several automated solutions are offered due to the new technological developments in the pharmacy automation industry. These benefits include higher prescription processing, a decrease in medication errors & inventory discrepancies, and an overall reduction in pharmacy expenditure. In June 2020, Swisslog Healthcare introduced The Open Pharmacy platform in order to transform pharmacies into health hubs. Using these solutions, community pharmacies become capable of confronting various limitations and become flexible to new requirements and trends. These above-mentioned aspects are anticipated to increase the demand for these automation devices in the next few years. The number of prescriptions has been increased due to the rising burden of chronic diseases & the growing geriatric population. As a result, the number of medication errors is expected to increase. This is fuelling the demand for pharmacy automation devices. In addition, the growth of the market is positively affected by a surge in initiatives by several companies, like the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists in order to decrease medication errors. The end-users are helped by digitizing processes & enhancing workflow in the better management of costs & enhance efficiency across the range of care, bringing better outcomes & performance, and enabling them to redistribute time to focus on patient care. Story continues Automatic robotic delivery of prescribed medication & consulting to enhance pharmacy capability are some of the aspects included in this program. This, as a result, is expected to fuel the deployment of these solutions to streamline tasks by restricting non-essential human intervention, while complying with social distancing regulations. Based on Product, the market is segmented into Medication Dispensing Systems, Packaging and Labeling Systems, Storage and Retrieval Systems, Automated Medication Compounding Systems, and Tabletop Tablet Counters. Based on End Use, the market is segmented into Retail Pharmacy and Hospital Pharmacy. Based on countries, the market is segmented into U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Rest of North America. The US market dominated the North America Storage and Retrieval Systems Market by Country in 2019, thereby, achieving a market value of $590.1 million by 2026. The Canada market is experiencing a CAGR of 14.6% during (2020 - 2026). Additionally, The Mexico market is expected to witness a CAGR of 13.6% during (2020 - 2026). The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include McKesson Corporation, Baxter International, Inc., Becton, Dickinson and Company, ARxIUM, Inc., Omnicell, Inc., Kuka AG (Swisslog Healthcare), Cerner Corporation, Accu-Chart Plus Healthcare Systems, Inc., Pearson Medical Technologies, LLC, and ScriptPro, LLC. Key Topics Covered: Chapter 1. Market Scope & Methodology 1.1 Market Definition 1.2 Objectives 1.3 Market Scope 1.4 Segmentation 1.5 Methodology for the research Chapter 2. Market Overview 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Key Factors Impacting the Market Chapter 3. Competition Analysis - Global 3.1 Cardinal Matrix 3.2 Recent Industry Wide Strategic Developments 3.2.1 Partnerships, Collaborations and Agreements 3.2.2 Product Launches and Product Expansions 3.2.3 Acquisition and Mergers 3.3 Top Winning Strategies 3.3.1 Key Leading Strategies: Percentage Distribution (2016-2020) Chapter 4. North America Pharmacy Automation Devices Market by Product 4.1 North America Medication Dispensing Systems Market by Country 4.2 North America Packaging and Labeling Systems Market by Country 4.3 North America Storage and Retrieval Systems Market by Country 4.4 North America Automated Medication Compounding Systems Market by Country 4.5 North America Other Product Market by Country Chapter 5. North America Pharmacy Automation Devices Market by End Use 5.1 North America Retail Pharmacy Market by Country 5.2 North America Hospital Pharmacy Market by Country Chapter 6. North America Pharmacy Automation Devices Market by Country Chapter 7. Company Profiles McKesson Corporation Baxter International, Inc. Becton, Dickinson and Company ARxIUM, Inc. Omnicell, Inc. Kuka AG (Swisslog Healthcare) Cerner Corporation Accu-Chart Plus Healthcare Systems, Inc. Pearson Medical Technologies, LLC ScriptPro, LLC For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5x637r CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 New Delhi: Odisha police have rescued an engineering student, who allegedly completed a quarter of the deadliest Blue Whale suicide game stages. The young boy who hails from Keonjhar, is a student of a private engineering college in Odisha. According to Cuttack DCP Akhileshwar Singh, the boy has been saved and handed over to the parents after counseling, but he is in a depressed state. Police sources revealed that he has already completed 10 levels of the Blue whale suicide game. The student was staying in a rented house in CDA area under Market Nagar police limits. Neighbours informed Twin City Commissionerate Police as they found him in a depressed state. Originated from Russia, the blue whale suicide game has killed over 100 young people across the world. Due to a surge in the cases of Blue Whale game, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has instructed the schools to prohibit the use of a smartphone in institutions and buses. Also Read: Blue Whale Challenge: 13-year-old commits suicide following instructions on deadly online game For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. A group of Myanmar police officers have fled to neighboring India after defying orders to shoot people opposed to last month's coup. 34 former police officers and a firefighter, who took refuge in the Indian state of Mizoram, say they fear they may never be able to return home. Mizoram is northeast India and shares a border with Bangladesh and Myanmar. "We were told to shoot our own family if they are not on the side of the army," said a former police officer from Tedim in Myanmar. "We cannot hurt our own people. That is why we came to Mizoram." He declined to be identified, citing concerns his family back in Myanmar could face retribution. The Associated Press has not been able to independently verify his claims. Locals in Mizoram have provided shelter, beds and food to the Myanmar nationals on humanitarian grounds. Those who escaped spend their time watching local television and doing daily chores. Some of them have carried mobile phones and are trying to connect to families they were forced to leave behind. At night, they sleep on mattresses laid on the floor of a single room. Earlier this month, Myanmar asked India to return the police officers who crossed the border. Last week, India's Home Ministry told four Indian states bordering Myanmar to take measures to prevent refugees from entering India except on humanitarian grounds. The ministry said the states were not authorized to accord refugee status to anyone entering India from Myanmar, as India is not a signatory to the U.N. Refugee Convention of 1951 or its 1967 Protocol. (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) Inc. magazine today revealed that Graphite Logistics is No. 154 on its second annual Inc. 5000 Regionals: Texas list, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing Texas-based private companies. Born of the annual Inc. 5000 franchise, this regional list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the Texas economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. The companies on this list show stunning rates of growth across all industries in Texas. Between 2017 and 2019, these 250 private companies had an average growth rate of 210 percent and, in 2019 alone, they employed more than 44,000 people and added more than $9 billion to the Texas economy. Companies based in the largest metro areasDallas, Houston, and Austinbrought in the highest revenue overall. Complete results of the Inc. 5000 Regionals: Texas, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, metro area, and other criteria, can be found at https://www.inc.com/inc5000/regionals/texas starting March 16, 2021. Graphite Logistics is a Dallas-based motor carrier, specializing in the transport of ISO shipping containers to regional and local warehouses. Graphite continues to increase revenue organically within the intermodal industry by offering reliable service and communication. We are proud to be recognized on the 2021 list of Inc. 5000 Regionals, and particularly pleased to have placed on the list in our home state of Texas, said CEO and owner Teresa Patoine. We look forward to continuing to increase our levels of service and capacity, thereby continuing to expand our industry footprint. This list proves the power of companies in Texas no matter the industry, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. The impressive revenues and growth rates prove the insight and diligence of CEOs and that these businesses are here to stay. https://www.linkedin.com/company/graphitelogistics More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Regionals Methodology The 2021 Inc. 5000 Regionals are ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2017 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2017. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2017 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $1 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. About Inc. Media The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com. A reenactment of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, in Sydney Australia on July 20, 2005. (Ian Waldie/Getty Images) Man Dies After 14 Months in Detention in China for Upholding His Faith Guo Baojun, a 63-year-old man passed away in custody after being held for 14 months for his faith in Falun Gong in central Chinas Zhengzhou city on March 14. The mans son received a text message saying that his father had died when he woke up at 7:27 a.m. on March 14, according to minghui.org, a U.S.-based website dedicated to reporting on the persecution of Falun Gong in China. The devastated son called Zhengzhou City No.3 Detention Center that morning, and the guards confirmed his father had died. His father had been held in the detention center since November 2019. Guo, based on the report, was from Zhengzhou city of Henan Province, a central region of China. He started practicing Falun Gong in 1995 while he was working as an accountant in a local hospital. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice composed of slow-moving meditative exercises and moral self-improvement based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. An estimated 100 million people were practicing Falun Gong in China by the end of the 1990s. The rapidly growing popularity of Falun Gong was regarded as a threat by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In July 1999, the CCP launched a brutal persecution, resulting in millions of Falun Gong practitioners being prisoned, abused, tortured, and an unknown number killed. Since then, Guo had been repeatedly arrested and detained. The family experienced great hardship. Now, even families are not allowed to see the body of their loved one. Guos son, sister, and brother-in-law were directed to the No.3 Detention Center when they demanded to see Guos body later that day. The guards said they had to wait until a forensic doctor had examined the body and that only five family members would be allowed after filling out applications. Moreover, they were told that taking photos or videos would not be permitted, but the detention center would record everything, the report said. It is not clear whether the families have seen Guos body yet. Sentencing and Hunger Strike Guo was arrested on the evening of Nov. 10, 2019, while distributing Falun Gong information materials otherwise unavailable in the mainland due to the persecution. After being held at the Xinmi City Lockup for a few days, he was transferred to the detention center in Zhengzhou. The local prosecutors indicted Guo on Jan. 9, 2020, and moved his case to the Zhangyuan District Court in Zhengzhou city. On June 13, Guo attended a video hearing at the detention center with a feeding tube in his nose. Guo had been holding a hunger strike for nearly seven months. He was being force-fed every day. His son told the reporter that Guos voice was weak but in a good spirit. The judge sentenced Guo to two years and 20,000 yuan ($3,074) fine on June 29, 2020, although he denied any wrongdoing in practicing his faith and speaking up about it. Falun Gong practitioners hold candles during a candlelight vigil to pay tribute to the lives of those in China who have been beaten and tortured to death, in Washington on July 19, 2001. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Critical Condition Since he was arrested, his relatives had been denied the right to visit him until he was on the verge of death. On Dec. 3, 2020, the guards called his son and said Guo was in critical condition in Zhengzhou City No. 2 Peoples Hospital, according to a report on Dec. 8, 2020. For the first time, Guos son was able to visit his extremely emaciated father since he had been arrested. The report mentioned that Guo, only weighing 88 pounds, coughed while he tried to talk. The son described his fathers conditionhe had a feeding tube in his nose, bruises and needle wounds on his arms, cracked skin, swollen eyes, and he had a urinary catheter connected. When the son called the detention center three weeks later, the guards said Guo was better but still in the hospital. The son was referred to doctors when he asked more about his fathers condition. The guard also stated he had to get permission if he wanted to visit. Later, the son went to the hospital, but the doctor refused to disclose any details. The doctor said any discussions had to be supervised by guards. When the son said it was the guards who sent him there, the doctor asked for an approval letter. Over the past months, we have discussed the federal judiciarys fundamental functions in our American democracy. One of those functions is to articulate and interpret the law. As stated by Chief Justice John Marshall in the famous Marbury v. Madison decision, It is emphatically the duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases must, of necessity, expound and interpret the rule. By articulating and interpreting the law, courts breathe life into the written words of the Constitution and statutes, making them a reality in our daily lives. One example is the Supreme Courts decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, issued 58 years ago, on March 18, 1963. In it, the Supreme Court interpreted the Sixth Amendment, which states: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence. The Supreme Court breathed life into these words by holding that the right to counsel is a fundamental right, essential to a fair trial, and must be guaranteed by the states as well as by the federal government. Clarence Earl Gideon was charged with a state felony offense in Florida. Because it was a felony offense, he ran a risk of incarceration if he was convicted. Mr. Gideon could not afford an attorney to defend him. He asked the state judge to appoint a lawyer for him, but the judge denied the request because Florida allowed a free lawyer only when a defendant faced the death penalty. Floridas law was consistent with an earlier decision by the Supreme Court, Betts v. Brady. In Betts, a divided Supreme Court had held that the Sixth Amendments right to counsel was not a fundamental right essential to a fair trial. This meant that the Sixth Amendments requirements did not extend to criminal trials in state courts. Mr. Gideon represented himself at trial. According to the Supreme Court, he conducted his defense about as well as could be expected from a layman. He made an opening statement, cross examined the prosecutions witnesses, presented his own witnesses, and made a short argument of his innocence. Even so, Mr. Gideon was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. From prison, Mr. Gideon petitioned the Supreme Court for relief, and the Supreme Court took the case. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court fulfilled its responsibility to say what the law is. The Court ruled for Mr. Gideon unanimously, holding that the states, as well as the federal government, must provide a lawyer for every criminal defendant who cannot afford to hire a lawyer and who faces the prospect of incarceration. The Court recognized that the assistance of counsel is one of the safeguards of the Sixth Amendment deemed necessary to insure fundamental human rights of life and liberty. . . . The Sixth Amendment stands as a constant admonition that, if the constitutional safeguards it provides be lost, justice will not still be done. The Court thus held Betts v. Brady had been wrong in concluding that the right to counsel was not a fundamental one. The Supreme Court gave this moving rationale from a prior opinion for the fundamental nature of the need to appoint counsel in felony cases: The right to be heard would be, in many cases, of little avail if it did not comprehend the right to be heard by counsel. Even the intelligent and educated layman has small and sometimes no skill in the science of law. If charged with crime, he is incapable, generally, of determining for himself whether the indictment is good or bad. He is unfamiliar with the rules of evidence. Left without the aid of counsel, he may be put on trial without a proper charge, and convicted upon incompetent evidence, or evidence irrelevant to the issue or otherwise inadmissible. He lacks both the skill and knowledge adequately to prepare his defense, even though he have a perfect one. He requires the guiding hand of counsel at every step in the proceedings against him. Without it, though he be not guilty, he faces the danger of conviction because he does not know how to establish his innocence. The Supreme Court in Gideon took the written words of the Sixth Amendment, the accused shall enjoy the right to have the Assistance of Counsel, and explained that a person facing the prospect of a prison sentence must have a free attorney if he or she cannot afford to hire one. As a result of this decision, persons charged with serious offenses are provided attorneys free of charge to assist in their defense, whether they are charged with federal crimes or with state crimes. Thus, in our country, indigent criminal defendants facing felony charges are not forced to go to trial without legal counsel. Instead, we recognize that effective legal assistance to all is critical to ensure fairness in our criminal prosecutions and our pursuit of justice. Gideon is just one of many examples of the federal courts fulfilling their special function and role in our government, declaring what the law is and breathing life into the words of the Constitution. Curtis L. Collier United States District Judge Chair, Eastern District of Tennessee Civics and Outreach Committee Carrie Brown Stefaniak Law Clerk to the Honorable Curtis L. Collier Immediate Past President, Chattanooga Chapter of the Federal Bar Association Eliza L. Taylor Law Clerk to the Honorable Curtis L. Collier Three Space Technology Incubation Centres (S-TIC) were inaugurated at National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Nagpur, Bhopal and Rourkela by the Chairman of (ISRO) K Sivan. ISRO signed bilateral Memorandum of Understanding with Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur (for Western region), Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal (for Central region), and National Institute of Technology, Rourkela (for Eastern region). In an online programme on this occasion on Thursday, Sivan, also Secretary in the Department of Space (DoS), encouraged the students to explore their entrepreneurship skills in the space domain. The S-TIC concept is conceived with one selected major academic institute taking the lead role in a particular region and providing opportunities for final year graduate, post graduate and research scholars as "future budding entrepreneurs," Sivan was quoted as saying in an ISRO statement. Projects of practical relevance linked to the ongoing or future missions of ISRO will be made available to the students atSTIC, and their research outcome will be translated into a Proof-of-Concept or prototype through industries within their region, the Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO said. ISRO Scientific Secretary R Umamaheswaran underlined the need for inter-disciplinary approach and close team work among various disciplines of Science and Technology for accomplishing the objectives of S-TIC. With the setting up of three new S-TICs, the goal of opening one such centre in each six region of the country has been accomplished by ISRO. S-TICs have already been functioning, at National Institute of Technology, Agartala (for North-Eastern region), Dr.B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar (for Northern region) and National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli (for Southern region). Sivan also released'YUKTI-Sanchita 2021' (Youth Upgradation byKnowledgeTransformation through Incubators - Sanchita),a compilation of 108 product development / innovative project proposals from centres/ labs/units of DoS/ISRO. "It can be referred by the Academia, Industry and Start-ups to prepare a detailed proposal for execution of the projects. This is one of the major steps by DOS / ISRO to achieve the development and indigenisation of space grade components / products / processes in tandem with objectives of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'", ISRO 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. Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds issued a statement on Thursday saying the department regrets "any heartache" caused by the remarks of a spokesman, Capt. Jay Baker, who said the suspect in three shootings at Asian spas in Georgia was having "a bad day." The shootings left eight people dead, including four victims at Young's Asian Massage in Cherokee County. During a Wednesday press conference, Baker said the suspect, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, told officers he had a "sex addiction," and was "fed up, at the end of his rope." Long, he continued, was "having a bad day, and this is what he did." Baker's remarks were immediately criticized for being insensitive. Reynolds said there are "simply no words to describe the degree of human suffering experienced on Tuesday," and Baker's comments were "not intended to disrespect any of the victims, the gravity of this tragedy, or express empathy or sympathy for the suspect." Reynolds added that he has "known and served with Capt. Baker for many years, and his personal ties to the Asian community and his unwavering support and commitment to the citizens of Cherokee County are well known to many." On Wednesday, The Associated Press reported that a Facebook page that appeared to belong to Baker posted a picture last year of a T-shirt with a racist message about China and COVID-19. The account was deleted on Wednesday night. After Reynolds issued his statement, an official said Baker is no longer the spokesman for the spa shooting case. More stories from theweek.com A jump in Social Security benefits America's falling fertility rate The richest Americans don't report at least 20 percent of their income to the IRS, new research suggests Nearly 70 employees at a Sears call center on the West Side are losing their jobs this month. An affiliate of Sears parent company Transformco notified the Texas Workforce Commission on Jan. 6 that it would be shuttering the facility at 1560 Cable Ranch Road and beginning the cuts March 7. Affected employees 67 in all include technical specialists, sales and training managers and repair sales advisers, senior human resources director Milena Thompson told the agency. They are not represented by a union. Some were placed on paid leave and continued receiving their usual pay and benefits until they were laid off this month. The employment separations are expected to be permanent, Thompson wrote in a letter to the agency. However, not all positions are being eliminated. Transformco, which closed its last Sears store in San Antonio in August, did not immediately respond to an inquiry. On ExpressNews.com: Last Sears department store in San Antonio closes Sears, Roebuck and Co., formed in 1893, was once a trailblazer in the retail industry. The company sold everything from appliances to tools to clothing to toys, created Allstate Insurance Co. and introduced the Discover credit card. It opened department stores and shipped its thick catalog to homes across the country, and it employed hundreds of thousands of people. Sears opened its first store in San Antonio at 806 Broadway in 1928 and moved the next year to whats now known as the Tower Life Building. The store relocated again to 600 Soledad St. in 1938 and is now the site of the Central Library. But Sears has struggled with changing strategies, its own mistakes, debt, competition from lower-priced rivals and customers changing shopping habits. The company has closed stores, laid off thousands of employees and spun off some of its businesses. Sears shuttered stores at Park North Shopping Center and Ingram Park Mall in 2018 and locations at South Park Mall and Rolling Oaks Mall in 2020, leaving it without any stores in the area. madison.iszler@express-news.net Barclays and Bernstein also both highlighted the key value opportunity in Porsche shares, which owns a majority stake in VW Barclays has upgraded Ford Motor Co ( ) as the US carmaker looks to accelerate its move into the electric vehicles market using Volkswagens modular electric technology. While we have liked Ford's product cycle and profit improvement potential under an energetic new CEO, the lack of a clear, aggressive BEV strategy kept us on the sidelines, the bank said. After a deep-dive examination of Ford Europe and in particular its alliance with VW, Barclays said it is now more comfortable with the margin improvement outlook. More importantly, leveraging the VW MEB (Modularer E-Antriebs-Baukasten) platform, is felt by the banks analysts to be likely to shift much more aggressively than consensus believes toward BEVs in the 2025-2030 period. Ford is expected to highlight a BEV strategy centred around two dedicated BEV platforms at upcoming investor day, having recently announced that by mid-2026, 100% of its passenger vehicle range in Europe will be zero-emissions or hybrid, before a move to all-electric by 2030. Barclays upped its share price target for Ford to US$16. EV sales trends Ford's electric Mustang Mach-E has done well as it began making deliveries of its all-electric SUV, cutting some of Tesla's lead in the EV market, according to a recent report. In the US, Ford sold 3,739 of its new EV in February, with Tesla's share of the EV market slipping to 69% from 81% the year before. Ford's overall sales were down 15% for the month compared to a year ago, though. For the whole of 2020, the global EV market was led by Tesla, which sold almost 0.5 vehicles for a 16% market share, though this was down from 17% in 2019 as VW and others played catch-up. VW's electric sales reached 422,000 for a 13% share for the whole of 2020, but in the fourth quarter, VW claimed top spot, selling 191,000 compared to 183,000 for Tesla. And in the European battery-electric vehicle market in December, VW further outshone Tesla, with 49,704 all-electric EV almost doubling Teslas registrations according to research from Jato Dynamics, with the new VW ID.3 beating Tesla's Model 3 and becoming the second best-selling car overall for the month. VW target also hiked Barclays also noted the significant surge in ( ) trading volumes over the last couple of weeks, led by a 20-fold pickup in volumes in the US-traded American depositary receipts ADR (OTCMKTS:VWAGY) as the German carmakers intensifying challenge to Tesla got a lot of media coverage. The analysts said they like VW for fundamental reasons, including its BEV leadership and strong free cash flow, with Barclays share price target hiked to 260 on the back of this weeks Power Day presentation. We think not only institutional, but also a wave of private investors is increasingly interested, which can also be seen from spiking Google search trends. Google Trends has highlighted a strong spike in interest over time in the VWAGY ADRs over the last week, following months of much lower search interest, with a fivefold spike in search interest as well as strong increases in news coverage and Twitter mentions, the analysts noted. We dont think this trend will abate any time soon and will keep close track of this development. We think VW ticks all the right boxes and remains very attractively priced, they added, with the shares trading at 7.4 times 2022 expected earnings per share, although valuation would matter less for retail shareholders in our view. Barclays and Bernstein both highlighted the key value opportunity in Porsche Automobil Holding (ETR:PAH3), which owns more than half of VOW ordinary shares. "We would note that the mark-to-market of this holding would put its fair value at 146 per share vs the current price of 84. Porsche shares are only +11% vs the VW ords +58% since Thursday night, offering a big revaluation opportunity, in our view." Prime Minister Florin Citu on Thursday discussed in detail with the Vice President of the European Commission, Vera Jourova, about the Mechanism regarding the rule of law and the Report on Romania, the EC saying that it supports the lifting of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) at the end of this year, according to AGERPRES. "Good news for Romania! The European Commission supports the lifting of the CVM at the end of this year. Today I have had a meeting with Ms Vera Jourova, the Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency. We have discussed the Mechanism regarding the rule of law and the Report on Romania. The Romanian government supports this mechanism of unitary assessment of the rule of law regarding all the member states of the EU. Observing rule of law, democracy and fundamental human rights are not things to be negotiated. They represent the primary political foundation of the European Union and they must be protected with all means," the Prime Minister wrought on his Facebook page. He said that, alongside the European Commission, the Bucharest Government supports the elimination and repair of the "unfortunate" legislative modification brought to the justice laws over 2017-2019. "I share Ms Jourova's desire to accomplish, in the first half of this year, the commitments that Romania has as a member of the European Union to observe the rule of law. In this respect, the legislative coalition and the Ministry of Justice, which are in a permanent dialogue with the representatives of the judges and of the civil society, have a European objective: to deliver laws that will guarantee justice independence in the long run and to withstand the political pressures. The process of recovering justice independence has started and it will continue. This is a healing process. It won't be easy, but it's unavoidable. Through civilized dialogue and debate based on rational arguments we will reach a consensus in Romania's interest to conclude the CVM and strengthen the rule of law," said Florin Citu. "Cats need play and mental stimulation, too! We designed these new toys to stimulate cats' natural foraging abilities," said OUTWARD HOUND's Nina Ottosson, who has spent decades designing her well-known dog puzzle games . "We are thrilled to be bringing the Melon Madness cat treat puzzle toy to Walmart," said OUTWARD HOUND CEO Michael Black. "Having a presence at Walmart will allow even more cats and pet parents to enjoy the benefits of this innovative product line. It's an exciting step forward for us," said Mr. Black. About OUTWARD HOUND Outward Hound is a Prospect Hill Growth Partners Portfolio Company that is an award-winning innovator, creator, manufacturer and distributor of the highest quality toys, games, gear and feeders for dogs and cats. The company's portfolio of brands includes Outward Hound, Planet Dog, Petstages, Wholesome Pride Pet Treats, and Nina Ottosson treat puzzle toys. Outward Hound is headquartered outside of Denver in Centennial, CO. For more, visit OutwardHound.com and follow @OutwardHound on Instagram. SOURCE Outward Hound Related Links outwardhound.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. In the city of Ovruch in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine, the number of patients with COVID-19 continues to grow and the government has already designated the region a "red zone" for its high rate of new cases. RFE/RL visited the regional hospital and spoke with Viktoria Lytkivska, a doctor who has been treating patients since the start of the pandemic. Over 30,000 COVID-19-related deaths have so far been recorded in the country, with infections now at their highest level since November. New Delhi, March 19 : Once seen as the most corrupt state in ration distribution, Uttar Pradesh has redefined Public Distribution System(PDS) by becoming India's first state to achieve more than 99 per cent food distribution through a transparent biometrics identification system. "UP's success story is amazing. It distributed food to 14.60 crore beneficiaries through a 100 per cent transparent digital process. Obviously, India's most populous state has plugged its leakages and loopholes in ration distribution," said Sudhanshu Pandey, Union Food and Public Distribution Secretary. During the two-decade-long SP-BSP rule in UP, the state faced several high-level probes into various multi-crore PDS scams. In 2014, the Allahabad High Court ordered a CBI probe in a food scam involving a top cabinet minister. Till early 2019, UP topped the list of PDS corruption cases(328) followed by Bihar(108), but once the state switched to a transparent distribution process, the system saw a sea change. "I won't comment on political matters but would like to underline UP's amazing turnaround in PDS distribution which has now shown the way to other states in the country to plug leakages. After UP, Haryana, Maharashtra and Rajasthan have also registered around 99 per cent food distribution through biometrics," the Union Food Secretary told IANS. The Modi government continues to spend over Rs 2 lakh crore every year to provide the world's biggest food distribution system to the people of India."Around 79.39 crore people are being provided with subsidised ration. It's the biggest-ever exercise of its kind. The best part is that this process is now much transparent. Almost 77 per cent of (79.39 crore) people get food through biometrics...which means each transaction of food delivery from various outlets is logged. In a way, the loopholes in such a huge process(of distribution) spread across the country have now been plugged. With a glimpse on the computer screen we can now tell you which person got how much(food) on a given date," Sudhanshu Pandey, a 1987 batch IAS officer of J&K cadre(now merged with AGMUT), said. On being asked which states are yet to switch to the biometrics system for PDS, the Union Food Secretary said that West Bengal, Chhattisgarh,Delhi and Assam are four major states not complying with the transparent procedure of PDS. "While in Assam there seems a problem of Aadhaar card, the rest of the three states, despite having the infrastructure in place, have yet to decide on opting for a digital process. We have sent them reminders on the issue," added Pandey, seen as a bureaucrat who believes in adhering to timelines. On the Supreme Court's recent notice to the Centre on cancelling more than 3 crore ration cards of poor people, the Union Food Secretary said that as the matter was sub judice, he would not comment on the issue. Meanwhile, sources in the Ministry of Consumer Afairs, Food and Public Distribution revealed to IANS that 4.39 crore cards were deleted and in its place 4.41 crore fresh ration cards have been added. "The cards which have been deleted were based on the data matching of Aadhaar with ration card wherein it was discovered that people were issued two ration cards on one Aadhaar or vice versa. To prevent such irregularities, the cards were replaced," a source informed. NEW YORK, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lexington Partners ("Lexington"), a leading global alternative investment manager, today announced the final close of Lexington Co-Investment Partners V, L.P. and associated vehicles ("CIP V"), with committed capital totaling $3.2 billion. CIP V surpassed its initial $3.0 billion hard cap and is one of the largest dedicated global co-investment funds. CIP V will continue the Lexington co-investment program's ("Co-Investment Partners" or "CIP") strategy of constructing diversified portfolios of equity co-investments alongside leading private equity sponsors, primarily in U.S. and European companies. In addition, CIP V may co-invest opportunistically in companies in Asia and Latin America. CIP V started investing in September 2020. CIP V received commitments from 13 large institutional investors based in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and Australia, with an average commitment size each of $235 million. Since its inception in 1998, CIP has raised $10 billion of total committed capital and has invested $7.0 billion in over 400 co-investments alongside more than 170 leading private equity sponsors. CIP is led by four partners David Outcalt, Bart Osman, James Pitt, and John Loverro who have an average tenure at Lexington of 21 years. Commenting on the fund closing, Wil Warren, Partner and President of Lexington, said, "We are grateful for the continued support of CIP's investors, which represent some of the largest institutional investors in private equity. Having initiated the co-investment program 23 years ago with the backing of a single U.S. pension, CIP's experienced team has leveraged its proven co-investment capabilities and deep relationships with private equity sponsors to expand the program, partnering with key institutional LPs to create a robust deal-sourcing platform." About Lexington Partners Lexington Partners is a leading global alternative investment manager primarily involved in providing liquidity solutions to owners of private equity and other alternative investments and in making co-investments alongside leading private equity sponsors. Lexington Partners is one of the largest independent managers of secondary acquisition and co-investment funds with $55 billion in committed capital since inception. Lexington has acquired over 3,400 secondary and co-investment interests through more than 900 transactions with a total value in excess of $62 billion, including $15 billion of syndications. Lexington also invests in private investment funds during their initial formation and has committed to more than 500 new funds in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Lexington has offices strategically located in major centers for private equity and alternative investing New York, Boston, Menlo Park, London, Hong Kong, Santiago, Sao Paulo and Luxembourg. Additional information can be found at www.lexingtonpartners.com. Media Contact: Todd Fogarty Kekst CNC +1 (212) 521-4854 [email protected] SOURCE Lexington Partners Related Links http://www.lexingtonpartners.com Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 Over the past few years, President Joe Biden has made the news for things he's said and done - but not related to policy. Rather the 78-year-old has had a knack for gaffes. During speeches or while answering questions, Biden is known to make mistakes, have mix-ups or even digress. The commander-in-chief has even been caught tripping a time or two, raising speculation about his physical health. DailyMail.com has compiled many of Biden's notable mis-speaks. foot-in-mouth moments and slips. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEOS Over the years, President Joe Biden has made numerous gaffes and mix-ups and has even been caught falling. Pictured: Biden falling while walking up the stairs of Air Force One TRIPPING WHILE BOARDING AIR FORCE ONE On Friday, video captured Biden tripping up the stairs as he boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews. In the clip, Biden stumbles as he walks up the airstairs. He grabs the hand railing to catch his balance, but then loses his footing two additional times. During the third stumble, he falls to his knees. However, after brushing off his leg, he reaches the top of the plane and gives a salute before disappearing inside. White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later told reporters that Biden was '100 percent fine' and preparing for his trip in Atlanta. 'It's pretty windy outside. It's very windy. I almost fell coming up the steps myself,' she said. On Friday, he was caught tripping up the stairs as he boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews CALLING KAMALA 'PRESIDENT HARRIS' Just one day earlier, Biden accidentally referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as 'President Harris.' The gaffe occurred during a press conference on Thursday, during which he lauded his administration for being close to meeting their goal of 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in his first 100 days in office. 'Now when President Harris and I took a virtual tour of a vaccination center in Arizona not long ago, one of the nurses on that, on that tour injecting people, giving vaccinations, said that each shot was like administering a dose of hope,' Biden said. Harris was standing behind Biden as the president carried on with his speech, but did not correct himself. Later that day, when the White House released the transcript of his speech, Harris's proper title was inserted with brackets. Just one day earlier, during a press conference on Thursday (pictured), he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as 'President Harris' FORGOT NAME OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE In a speech on March 9, Biden seemed to fumble with his words and forget the name of his Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. 'I want to thank Sec - the former general - I keep calling him "General,"' Biden said. 'My - the guy who runs that outfit over there. I want to make sure we thank the Secretary for all he's done to try to implement what we've just talked about, and for recommending these two women for promotion.' The slip-occurred despite the fact that just a few minutes earlier, he had mentioned Austin's name in the speech without an issue. Earlier this month, while making a speech, Biden seemed to forget the name of his Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (above) INTRODUCES GRANDDAUGHTER AS HIS SON During an Election Day speech in Philadelphia, Biden stumbled over his words and confused his granddaughter with his late son, Beau Biden. Biden told the crowd: 'I want to introduce you to two of my granddaughters...this is my son, Beau Biden who a lot of you helped elect to the Senate in Delaware.' The commander-in-chief had meant to introduce the crowed to Natalie, Beau's daughter, but hadn't just mixed up the name but the person - he also put his arm around Finnegan Biden, Hunter's daughter. He finally corrected himself as he draped his arm around Natalie's shoulder and said: 'This is Natalie, this is Beau's daughter.' Beau Biden passed away in 2015 after a months-long battle with glioblastoma, one of the deadliest types of brain cancer. On Election Day, in November, Biden introduced a crowd to his granddaughter, but referred to her as his son TOLD STATE SENATOR IN WHEELCHAIR TO STAND UP Not all of Biden's gaffes occurred in the 2020s or even the 2010s. In fact, some happened in the early aughts. In September 2008, after Biden had been named former President Barack Obama's running mate, he attended a campaign rally in Missouri. It was there that he called on then-Missouri state senator Chuck Graham, who passed away last year. to stand up for the crowd. In 2008, Biden told then-Missouri state senator Chuck Graham to stand up for the crowd at a rally, before realizing he was in a wheelchair 'I'm told Chuck Graham, state senator, is here. Stand up Chuck, let 'em see you,' Biden said. It was at that moment he realized Graham was in a wheelchair due to muscular dystrophy. 'Oh, God love you. What am I talking about. I'll tell you what, you're making everybody else stand up, though, pal.' According to the Columbia Tribune, Graham said he was never offended by the mistake. A MAN charged with attempted murder after a shooting left a Dublin mother with catastrophic injuries has been further remanded in custody. Sinead Connolly, 30, was shot multiple times in the hallway of her second floor flat at Bernard Curtis House, in Bluebell, in the south of the city, on the afternoon of March 6 last. She was rushed to St Jamess Hospital and has remained in a critical condition. Joseph Byrne, 32, of La Touche Road, Bluebell, was remanded in custody after he appeared at Dublin District Court on Tuesday charged with attempted murder of the mother-of-one. Read More He also faces an additional firearms charge for possessing a G9A Grand Power semi-automatic handgun, at Bluebell Road, with intent to enable another person to endanger life on the same date. Mr Byrne faced his second hearing today at Cloverhill District Court. Judge Victor Blake remanded him in continuing custody to appear again on March 31 next. Detective Garda Colm Reynolds had earlier said Ms Connolly suffered life threatening injuries to her upper body which were unlikely to be reversible and will change her life from here on in. It was alleged Mr Byrne entered a nearby flat brandishing a black handgun. He came out with a second male who was now carrying the gun. They allegedly went to Sinead Connollys home and the second man went in followed by Mr Byrne. Detective Garda Reynolds has said when they exited Mr Byrne was helping the other man who was nursing an injury. The gun was left on the stairwell and picked up by a third man, the court was told. Mr Byrne brought the injured man to St Jamess A&E, it was alleged. Last week, Paul Mooney, 32, with an address in Dublins south inner city was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm. He is also accused of acting to impede the apprehension or prosecution of a person, knowing or believing them to have committed an offence. He was refused bail. The district court heard he arrived after the shooting. His solicitor had said he innocently went there to pay someone 50. The court also heard it was alleged he picked up the firearm from the scene and put it in his pocket. He allegedly returned to his own home, wrapped it in two bags and disposed of it in a communal bin area. It was later recovered. Read More The Prime Minister says that Corpus Christi, also known as the "Day of Wreaths", is set aside on the Christian calendar to honour the Holy Eucharist which was observed at the last supper before Christ was crucified. Munster University Hospital (UKM) has fired a specialist nurse because he drew attention to the disastrous working conditions at the facility. At the end of last month, several UKM nurses, including the now terminated intensive care nurse, had demanded better working conditions and described their precarious situation on the WDR program Lokalzeit Munsterland. In a letter, numerous UKM employees expressed anger and disgust at the dismissal of one of our own. After public criticism, they had to witness how a valued member of our group was put under massive pressure for more than a week and ultimately extraordinarily dismissed without notice, the letter says. Patient in intensive care (Image: Frank C. Muller / CC BY-SA 4.0) The employees also complain that their accusation of being overworked, formally submitted months ago, has been ignored by the hospital board. They had already criticized the untenable personnel situation in an open letter to the hospital management last November. The current duty roster is dangerous for patients, they warned. Since October 1, the University Hospital has no longer made use of temporary workers in nursing and due to this, the letter said, the work and stress situation had become acute. Despite the extreme stress caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the numerous serious cases in the intensive care units, staff members had been transferred to other units. The employees further wrote that the hospital managements statement, guaranteeing that intensive care patients could be attended to safely, does not reflect reality when one considers that every occupied intensive care bed must be attended to by overworked nurses. Fifty-nine critical care nurses signed an injunction to prohibit the hospital from calling them on their own time for on-duty issues. They said they were no longer willing to compensate for absences at the expense of their own rest and health. The clinic management ignored the employees accusations and in turn accused them of inflaming the issue of staff shortages. It justified the dismissal of the temporary workers by saying that the staffing ratio was still above the legal minimum. The situation remained unchanged in the months that followed. The beds continued to be fully occupied with severe cases. Too few nursing staff and too many overtime hours remain the order of the day. The consequences for patients and employees are dramatic, as the WDR program portrayed. For example, patients are transferred out of the intensive care unit too early, and with one nurse for 13 patients, professional care cannot be assured. The declared goal of the nursing staff was to mobilize more nursing staff through the WDR broadcast. This was to be the starting shot for the creation of a broader network and the enunciation of demands. This is exactly what the hospital seeks to prevent with this firing. It is intended to intimidate nursing staff and other employees so that they do not defend themselves against the disastrous conditions imposed upon them. Asklepios Klinik St. Georg in Hamburg also recently terminated a nurse for alleged slander after she spoke to the Hamburg Journal about conditions in the hospitals intensive care units. This makes clear that appalling working conditions in clinics are not the exception, but the rule. After three decades of worsening care and working conditions in hospitals due to dismantling, privatization and competition, the corona pandemic is bringing the situation to a head. According to a study by the Techniker Krankenkasse health insurance fund, employees in the healthcare and social services sectors are particularly affected by coronavirus infections. While an average of just under 500 out of 100,000 employees were out sick due to COVID-19, the figure for outpatient and inpatient geriatric care workers was more than twice as high, at just over 1,200, as it also was for healthcare and nursing staff, at around 1,100 cases. The effects of the pandemic, whose spread is fueled by the governments policy of economic reopening, are apparent in hospitals, where mass outbreaks are occurring and recurring despite, at times, stringent testing regimes. Staff, who have now been working under extreme conditions for over a year, are increasingly affected. If the policy of economic reopening continues, there is a real threat of significantly more hospital admissions and higher death rates. The pandemic is highlighting the consequences of cuts in the healthcare system, which has been increasingly trimmed for profit. Nevertheless, politicians and industry are calling for further cuts. The financial crisis in many hospitals is playing into their hands. At the beginning of the pandemic, many hospitals kept their beds free in order to be able to quickly treat COVID-19 patients. Hospitals were supposed to receive compensation payments for this, but these were not sufficient to keep them afloat financially. According to a recent survey by the German Hospital Association (DKG), monthly revenues have fallen by 1.8 billion euro, or 20 percent, compared to the same month last year. Politicians must take note of the dramatic financial situation of hospitals and recognize that the regular financing system does not work in this exceptional situation, demanded DKG President Dr. Gerald Ga. Forty percent of hospitals do not receive compensation payments because they do not meet the high requirements. Almost 70 percent of all clinics expect to make a loss this year. This serves as an excuse to lay off clinic staff and cut beds in the midst of the pandemic, as in Bremen, which is governed by a coalition of Social Democrats, the Left Party and the Greens. At the Gesundheit Nord (Geno) hospital association, 440 full-time positions will be cut by the end of 2024. In addition, 250 hospital beds are to be rationalized away. These plans were drawn up by Bremens health senator, Claudia Bernhard of the Left Party. In the summer of 2019, the Bertelsmann Foundation called for the closure of every second hospital in Germany and suggested in a study that fewer than 600 of todays nearly 1,400 hospitals would survive. Last year, 21 hospitals were closed in Germany. From 2018 to 2019, 4,000 beds were lost. At the same time, privatization is advancing. After more than 200 public and 173 non-profit hospitals were closed or sold from 2005 to 2019, the number of private facilities increased by 154 during the same period. For example, the loss-making Catholic hospital Gro-Sand in Hamburg is now also being privatized. Observers are already assuming that the privatization will involve job cuts and further cost-cutting measures. While the hospital has to care for around 80,000 people, the health authorities are promoting the interests of the private operators and their investors. While the latter take the profits for themselves, the authorities have promised that generous flows of taxpayers money will support investments. Under these conditions, doctors, nurses and other health care workers are exposed to increasingly fierce attacks, as is now the case in Munster. To beat back these attacks, workers must organize independently and oppose the prevailing policies. All the cuts of the last decades must be reversed. Clinics and other health care facilities must be transformed into public property and no longer serve the greed of investors for profit, but the good of society. " " Flowers are left outside Gold Spa in Atlanta where three women were killed March 18, 2021. Suspect Robert Aaron Long was arrested after a series of shootings at three Atlanta-area spas that left eight people dead, including six Asian women. Megan Varner/Getty Images A white man travels to one business and kills several workers. He then kills more people at a similar business. Six of the eight people he killed are Asian women, leading many people to call for him to be charged under the new state hate crime law. Authorities resist, saying they aren't sure that racial bias motivated the man's crimes. That's the situation unfolding in the Atlanta area in Georgia, right now. But there is often a gap between public opinion and law enforcement when people believe a hate crime has been committed, whether against LGBTQ people, racial minorities or Jewish people. Hate crimes and hate murders are rising across the U.S., but long term polling data suggests that most Americans are horrified by bias-motivated violence. They also support hate crime legislation, an effort to deter such attacks. Yet officials often resist the quick classification of incidents as a hate crime. Hate crimes have precise qualities, which must be met to satisfy legal requirements. And even when police and prosecutors believe the elements of a hate crime are present, such crimes can be difficult to prove in court. Advertisement What Is a Hate Crime? I have studied hate crime and police for over 20 years. Hate crimes are crimes motivated by bias on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity. In some states, gender, age and gender identity are also included. Hate crime laws have been passed by 47 states and the federal government since the 1980s, when activists first began to press state legislatures to recognize the role of bias in violence against minority groups. Today, only Arkansas, South Carolina and Wyoming do not have hate crime laws. In order to be charged as a hate crime, attacks whether assault, killings or vandalism must be directed at individuals because of the prohibited biases. Hate crimes, in other words, punish motive; the prosecutor must convince the judge or jury that the victim was targeted because of their race, religion, sexual orientation or other protected characteristic. If the defendant is found to have acted with bias motivation, hate crimes often add an additional penalty to the underlying charge. Charging people with a hate crime, then, presents additional layers of complexity to what may otherwise be a straightforward case for prosecutors. Bias motivation can be hard to prove, and prosecutors can be reluctant to take cases that they may not win in court. It can and does happen, though. In June 2020, Shepard Hoehn placed a burning cross and a sign with racial slurs and epithets facing the construction site where his new neighbor, who is Black, was building a house. Hoehn was charged with and later pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges in Indiana. A few months later, Maurice Diggins was convicted by a federal jury of a 2018 hate crime for breaking the jaw of a Sudanese man in Maine while shouting racial epithets. " " Dylann Roof, who killed nine Black worshipers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2017, was convicted of 33 charges, including hate crimes, two years later. Grace Beahm-Pool/Getty Images Advertisement How to Charge a Hate Crime The first use of the term "hate crime" in federal legislation was the Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990. This was not a criminal statute but rather a data-gathering requirement that mandated that the U.S. attorney general collect data on crimes that "evidenced prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity." Soon, states began passing their own laws recognizing bias crimes. But hate crime legislation has not led to as many charges and convictions as activists may have hoped. Law enforcement struggle to identify hate crime and prosecute the offenders. Even though 47 states have hate crime laws, 86.1 percent of law enforcement agencies reported to the FBI that not a single hate crime had occurred in their jurisdiction in 2019, according to the latest FBI data collected. In many cases, police have received inadequate training in making hate crime classification. "What weights do you give to race, dope, territory? These things are 90 percent gray there are no black-and-white incidents," said one 20-year veteran police officer in a 1996 study of hate crime. But I've also found that police departments are rarely organized in a way that allows them to develop the expertise necessary to effectively investigate hate crimes. When police departments have specialized police units and prosecutors who are committed to taking on hate crime, they can develop the routines that allow them to investigate hate crime in a manner that supports victims. In the late 1990s I studied a specialized police hate crime unit in a city I called, for the purposes of anonymity, "Center City." My study revealed that those detectives could distinguish non-hate crimes for instance, when the perpetrator angrily used the N-word in a fight from cases that are truly hate crimes, as when the perpetrator used it during a targeted attack on a Black person. Without the right training and organizational structure, officers are unclear about common markers of bias motivation, and tend to assume that they must go to extraordinary lengths to figure out why suspects committed the crime. "We don't have time to psychoanalyze people," said the same veteran police officer in 1996. Even law enforcement officers specifically trained in bias crime identification still may not name incidents as hate crime that, to the general public, seem obviously bias-driven. This may be the result of police bias. " " Mourners visit the memorial outside the Tree of Life Synagogue on Oct. 31, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where 11 Jewish people were killed in a mass shooting. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images Advertisement Limits of the Law Advocates for hate crime victims maintain that police and prosecutors can do much more to identify and punish hate crimes. Empirical evidence supports their claims. The FBI's 2019 report contains 8,559 bias crimes reported by law enforcement agencies. But in the National Crime Victimization Survey, victims say that they experienced, on average, more than 200,000 hate crimes each year. This suggests that police are missing many hate crimes that have occurred. Distrust of police, especially in Black communities, may dissuade minorities from even calling the police when they are victimized by hate crime for fear they could also become victims of police violence. All this means that perpetrators of hate crimes may not be caught and can reoffend, further victimizing communities that are meant to be protected by hate crime laws. Hate crime laws reflect American ideals of fairness, justice and equity. But if crimes motivated by bias aren't reported, well investigated, charged or brought to trial, it matters little what state law says. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. You can find the original article here. Jeannine Bell is a professor of law at Maurer School of Law at Indiana University. This western television series premiered during the 1970s, showing a different side of the Ingalls family and life on the frontier. This series predominately took place in the town of Walnut Grove, although the characters sometimes traveled to the big city as time passed. Heres what we know about Little House on the Prairie and where it takes place. Melissa Gilbert as Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder, Lindsay or Sydney Greenbush as Carrie Ingalls, Melisssa Sue Anderson as Mary Ingalls Kendall in Little House on the Prairie | Ted Shepherd/NBCU Photo Bank Little House on the Prairie is based on the novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder Life on the frontier wasnt easy, as seen in the television series, Little House on the Prairie, originally released during the 1970s. Over nine seasons fans met middle child Laura Ingalls, and her family. Both the novel and the fictional television series predominantly took place in the small town of Walnut Grove, where the Ingalls family tackled everything from illnesses to relationship troubles to poverty. RELATED: Michael Landon Did Whatever It Took to Gross Out Other Little House on the Prairie Cast Members Where does Little House on the Prairie take place? According to the Little House on the Prairie website, when it comes to the actual Ingalls family, they moved to the Osage Diminished Reserve in Kansas around 1869. The fictional television series mostly takes place in the quaint town of Walnut Grove in Minnesota, where the real life Ingalls family moved around 1874. The Ingalls family built their own home, facing the harsh realities of life on the frontier. In this show, Walnut Grove included the Olesons Mercantile, the flour mill, and a church that doubled as the school and a town meeting place. Little House on the Prairie, then, provided people with the reminder of what we went through when we started this country, and how difficult that was, actor Melissa Gilbert said during an interview with CBS News. And I think were at that place again, she continued. If we could have done what we did in the 1800s, in the 1970s, we can do this. The keys are gonna be compassion, community, faith (whatever that faith looks like), love thats it. Thats all that matters. RELATED: Little House on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilders Wedding Cake Recipe Calls for 10 Eggs and a Surprising Ingredient Little House on the Prairie premiered its last episode during 1983 As time went on, different characters left this Minnesota town. After losing her sight, the eldest daughter moved to a school for the blind, where she met her husband. When Laura Ingalls got married, though, she stayed in Walnut Grove with her husband Manly. After working in Walnut Grove for several seasons, Charles Ingalls took a job in the big city, relocating with his wife. During the two-hour long television movie, Little House: The Last Farewell, the Ingalls family returned to Walnut Grove. The Little House on the Prairie television series has since ended, but fans can watch episodes on several networks as well as purchase digital and physical copies of complete seasons. HERCULES - the Higher European Research Course for Users of Large Experimental Systems - is a five-week school coordinated by the Universite Grenoble Alpes and the Institut National Polytechnique (Grenoble INP). This unique model of school in Europe provides students, postdoctoral and senior scientists from European and non-European universities and laboratories with an overview of the techniques and scientific possiblities associated with neutrons and synchrotron radiation for condensed matter studies (biology, chemistry, physics, materials science, geosciences, industrial applications). The school consists in specialised courses, lectures, practicals, tutorials and visits of European Large Facilities. The HERCULES school is split into two parts. PART I - Basic methods and instruments : for all participants (1.5 weeks) PART II - participants choose between two parallel specialised sessions (3.5 weeks) : Session A: PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY OF CONDENSED MATTER Neutron and X-ray (and UV and IR) spectroscopies X-ray reflectivity and diffraction of nano systems Single crystal and powder diffraction Coherent imaging and tomography Neutron and X-ray magnetic scattering Polarised X-rays and neutrons FEL and ultra fast X-ray science ... Session B: BIOMOLECULAR STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS Protein structure and dynamics Studies in solutions Partially ordered systems Membranes, fibres and muscles Crystallography of large structures (viruses,...) Structural genomics Biomedical applications (imaging, therapy) Time-resolved and ultra-fast X-ray science Biology with 4th generation sources NMR, mass spectroscopy and electron microscopy ... Applications Applications can be registered on the HERCULES website. Applications are accepted from: Quarantine to be lifted for some tourists from Oct 1: CCSA PHUKET: From Oct 1, quarantine will not be required from tourists arriving from specified countries, Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin announced today (Mar 19). COVID-19Coronavirushealthtourismeconomics By The Phuket News Friday 19 March 2021, 04:24PM A map showing the spread of COVID-19 infections throughout the country presented by the CCSA today (Mar 19). Image: CCSA The number of quarantine venues to choose from will be reduced from now through October. Image: CCSA Natapanu Nopakun, Deputy Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, would only express possibly no quarantine, and even then only for people arriving from countries that do not have the mutated strains of the virus. Screenshot: CCSA The news came at the national briefing on the COVID situation broadcast from Government House in Bangkok following a general meeting of the CCSA chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. From October on, we will not have quarantine anymore, as most people will be vaccinated. However, we will close observation which we will arrange a place to monitor. We will use the measure that we call bubble and seal, such as bubble areas in airports, sealed routes in transport, and bubble routes to tourists attractions and communities nearby, he said. Quarantine measures will begin easing from April 1, Mr Taweesilp announced, starting with the relaxation of certificates required to enter the country. At this stage, foreigners coming to Thailand need to have a Fit to Fly and Covid Free documents, but from April 1, they only need to have the Covid Free certificate, he said. The easing of quarantine measures will be rolled out in phases, with the quarantine venues available reduced in stages, Mr Taweesilp said. While no changes will be made to quarantine venues available from April through June, from July 1 through Sept 1 ASQ, LQ, ALQ [Alternative State Quarantine, Local Quarantine and Alternative Local Quarantine] will be removed from the quarantine choice, he said. The activities arrivals will be allowed to enjoy will be expanded from Apr 1, Mr Taweesilp said. For the activities during the quarantine, in Phase 1 from April to June, foreigners can use fitness centres, do outdoor exercise, swim, ride bicycles in the control areas, and order foods or products from outside to be delivered to them. In Phase 2, July to September, two more activities having meals at the hotel restaurant and having a massage are allowed. Those who come for a seminar or to operate a business will be allowed to join meetings in meeting rooms. In Phase 3, from October on, the quarantine will be only for those coming from the risk areas set by the Ministry of Public Health, Mr Taweesilp added. For the length of the quarantine Phase 1 and 2, both foreigners vaccinated and those not vaccinated will have to face only 10 days in quarantine. In Phase 3, there will not be quarantine in some areas where more than 70% of the population has been vaccinated. At that time, those areas can welcome foreigners from low-risk countries, he said. However, those who come from the countries where there are the mutated strains of the COVID-19 virus must face the full 14-day quarantine, Natapanu Nopakun, Deputy Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the English section of the briefing explained that the mandatory 14-day has been approved to be reduced to 10 days for people coming to Thailand from countries with no cases of COVID variant strains. People arriving from countries with the variant strains will be subjected to three RT-PCR tests while in quarantine, while those arriving from countries not recognised as having the variant strains will be subjected to two tests during their 10-day stay, he said. Of course, the list of countries deemed to be classified as not having COVID variant strain has yet to be determined, he added. Mr Natapanu was not as clear-cut as Mr Taweesilp in saying there will be no mandatory quarantine from Oct 1. He would commit to saying only "possibly no quarantine" for people arriving from countries deemed to not have the mutated strains of the virus. Further, the lifting of quarantine requirements would be according to the criteria we will be setting at that time, he said. It depends on the situation at that time, he repeated. VACCINES Mr Natapanu also noted that Thailand had already received 200,000 doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine, to be administered to frontline medical workers and at risk people already suffering from medical conditions by the end of April. A further 800,000 doses will arrive tomorrow, he said, adding that the delivery tomorrow is to be distributed to provinces of economic importance". Thailand is to receive 2 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine, he said, with 1mn to be administered by the end of April, and the remainder to be administered by Oct 1. From June through Aug, Thailand is to receive 26mn doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, receiving 6mn in June, 10mn in July and 10mn in Aug. A further 35mn doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine is to arrive from Sept through Dec, Mr Natapanu added, with 10mn arriving in Sept, 10mn in Oct, 10mn in Nov and the last 5mn in Dec. NORMAL BUSINESS The emergency decree has been extended for the 11th time to allow interagency cooperation in the fight against the spread of COVID-19, Mr Natapanu added. The latest extension will be in effect from April 1 through to May 31, he said. The upcoming Songkran festival to celebrate the Thai New Year will not include water splashing, powder smearing or foam parties, he added. The focus will be on merit making, such as pouring water on Buddha statues and on the hands of elderly people. Strict anti-COVID measures will still apply, he said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-18 21:46:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Passengers wearing face masks walk at an international airport in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 18, 2021. Daily COVID-19 infections in Germany continued to rise sharply as the country registered 17,504 cases within one day, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Thursday. (Xinhua/Lu Yang) BERLIN, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Daily COVID-19 infections in Germany continued to rise sharply as the country registered 17,504 cases within one day, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Thursday. The incidence rate of reported COVID-19 cases per 100,000 citizens in Germany in the past seven days also continued to rise from 86.2 on Wednesday to 90, according to the federal government agency for disease control and prevention. To date, the country has recorded more than 2.61 million cases and 74,132 deaths. The RKI was particularly concerned about the rapid spread of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 that initially detected in the United Kingdom. Germany is urgently awaiting a decision by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine. Like other European countries such as France, Italy and Austria, Germany suspended the use of the vaccine as a "precautionary measure" because of potential thrombosis risk. To ramp up vaccination capacities, Minister of Defence Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is seeking to open vaccination centers operated by the country's armed forces, the Bundeswehr. Preparations had already started in November last year. "With the Bundeswehr, we can operate 28 vaccination centers with up to three vaccination lines on a shift basis -- that means seven days a week, day and night," Kramp-Karrenbauer told the weekly business news magazine WirtschaftsWoche. Almost 3.1 million people had been fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, bringing the country's vaccination rate to 3.7 percent, according to the RKI. Although Germany remains in a COVID-19 lockdown until at least March 28, the country has started gradual relaxations of health measures based on the seven-day incidence rate. With 42 percent, frustration was by far the most named emotion by German citizens with regard to the current rise in new infections, according to a survey by the market research institute YouGov published on Wednesday. Another survey by the Center for Higher Education (CHE) published on Thursday showed that despite the pandemic, German universities were able to maintain their lectures and examinations almost entirely. Just under one percent of German university professors stated that lectures had to be canceled completely in the previous winter term, according to CHE which surveyed more than 27,000 students and 665 professors. A garda who was injured after five officers were assaulted in two separate incidents in Portlaoise on St Patricks Day night has been released from hospital. Gardai said this morning that they could confirm that their colleague was released from hospital and is recovering from her injuries. Four gardai, including three female officers and one male officer, were assaulted when they responded to a public order incident in the Fairgreen area of Portlaoise at approximately 8.30pm. According to Gardai, a male in his 20s had become aggressive and the four Gardai were assaulted. One garda was taken to Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise. The man who was arrested by Gardai was taken to Portlaoise Garda Station where he has since been charged. He appeared before Portlaoise District Court yesterday afternoon. Gardai were later called to a public order incident at Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise where a man in his 40s also became aggressive towards Gardai. Two female Gardai, including one who had attended the earlier incident, were assaulted. The man was arrested and later charged. He has since appeared before Portlaoise District Court. The first group of 82 Japanese-Americans arrive at the Manzanar internment camp (or 'War Relocation Center') carrying their belongings in suitcases and bags, Owens Valley, California, March 21, 1942. Getty Images The US has seen a major rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and racism over the past year. There's a long history of discrimination against Asians in the US. Understanding this history could be crucial to combatting the rising tide of anti-Asian hate today. See more stories on Insider's business page. The US has seen a wave of anti-Asian hate crimes over the past year, sparking calls for law enforcement and leaders in Washington to ramp up efforts to combat discrimination against the Asian community. Congressional lawmakers met with prominent Asian Americans on Thursday as part of a hearing focused on the rising tide of anti-Asian discrimination nationwide, just two days after a series of shootings at three Atlanta-area massage parlors left eight people dead - including six Asian women. Between March 2020 and late February 2021, there were roughly 3,800 anti-Asian racist incidents reported across the US, with 68% coming from women, according to new data released by reporting forum Stop AAPI Hate. Women reported hate incidents 2.3 times more than men, the report said. Anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 150% in 2020 from the year prior, according to an analysis of hate crimes in 16 US cities recently released by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled much of this anti-Asian racism and xenophobia. Many Republican leaders, including former President Donald Trump, have poured gasoline on the fire by insisting on calling COVID-19 the "Chinese virus." Though there's been a significant rise in discrimination against the Asian community in the past year, it's also nothing new. This brand of hatred is part of a long tradition in the US. Indeed, anti-Asian racism has played a major role in the American story. In the 19th century, xenophobia and nativist sentiments drove the US to adopt what was effectively a whites-only immigration policy. Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which barred Chinese workers from coming to the US and blocked Chinese nationals in the US from becoming citizens. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first law in US history that explicitly prohibited immigration on the basis of race. Story continues "Beginning in 1882, the United States stopped being a nation of immigrants that welcomed foreigners without restrictions, borders or gates," Erika Lee, a professor at the University of Minnesota, said in her book At America's Gates: Chinese Immigration During The Exclusion Era, 1882-1943. "In the process, the very definition of what it meant to be an 'American' became even more exclusionary." America became a "gatekeeping nation" with the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Lee said. The law remained in force for six decades before it was replaced by the Magnuson Act in 1943, which was still quite restrictive and only permitted a quota of 105 Chinese immigrants annually. Immigration law in the US would continue to discriminate against Asians in major ways until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which abolished the national-origins quota system. The Chinese Exclusion Act is just one example of the myriad forms of discrimination people of Asian descent have faced in the US. During World War II, for example, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, forcing over 100,000 people of Japanese descent into detention camps in the US. The order was largely motivated by anti-Japanese sentiments after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japanese Americans in the western US faced suspicion and rampant discrimination, even as many in the community served in the war - and in many cases were thrown into some of the most dangerous missions in Europe. Of the people pushed into these internment camps during the war, roughly 80,000 were US citizens. The order also impacted some German and Italian Americans, but the vast majority of detainees were of Japanese descent. The US government has made efforts to apologize for discriminatory actions against the Asian community, including the internment of Japanese Americans, but the hateful sentiments that contributed to these moves persist. Understanding this history could be crucial to thwarting the ongoing discrimination against Asians in the US. Read the original article on Business Insider A Chinese billionaire and a chairman of Pinduoduo, a high-flying Chinese e-commerce company, has suddenly stepped down. Why did the Pinduoduo chairman exit the company abruptly? Colin Huang is China's seventh-richest man, with a stake in the online company worth more than $50 billion. Pinduoduo overtook competing tech giants JD.com and Alibaba with 788 million annual active customers on its website last year, prompting Huang's exit. However, with the recent deaths of two workers, his company has been mocked for its corporate culture. According to a statement issued by the company on Wednesday, Huang will look at "fresh, long-term prospects," which also revealed that it was now China's largest e-commerce company. According to BBC News via Yahoo, Pinduoduo's stock, which is worth about $200 billion, dropped nearly 8% due to the report. As a result, it wiped out about $4 billion from the Chinese billionaire's fortune. Following a spike in revenue at his e-commerce company, the former Google employee was briefly listed as China's second-richest individual last year. For the first time, Pinduoduo's 788 million active shoppers in 2020 would surpass Jack Ma's Alibaba's 779 million annual shopper count. Group purchasing is one of its unique characteristics, in which consumers band together to buy more units at a lower price. They can also play games on the web and earn prizes from time to time. Russia Vows To Block Twitter for 30 Days The Chinese billionaire recently resigned as CEO of Pinduoduo Huang's decision to step down as chairman was not unexpected. Last summer, the 41-year-old entrepreneur resigned as CEO, and it was predicted that he would soon abandon Pinduoduo's leadership. However, his departure came earlier than anticipated, and at a crucial moment for many of China's tech giants as Beijing tries to rein in the market, CNN via MSN reported. In a research note published on Thursday, Nomura analysts Jialong Shi and Thomas Shen wrote, "The sudden resignation of Huang was a major negative surprise to investors. Huang was commonly considered as the company's signature person, whose good insight and leadership is regarded by many investors as a key factor in Pinduoduo's growth." Following Huang's announcement, Pinduoduo's stock fell 7% in New York on Wednesday. Pinduoduo was founded by Huang in 2015 and has rapidly grown into a formidable e-commerce firm. According to figures from Guiyang-based Huachuang Securities, it is also a long way from overtaking the industry leader Alibaba in market share, with around 10% of the market, behind Alibaba's 53% and rival JD.com's 19%. However, in at least one crucial way, the firm is edging out its greatest rival: On Wednesday, it revealed that it would have almost 789 million active users in 2020, surpassing Alibaba's 779 million. China Increases Pressure on Tech Giants Through Regulators And it posted a $1.1 billion loss last year; the business is still expanding. It announced on Wednesday that sales for 2020 would double from the previous year, reaching $9.2 billion. Its popularity can be attributed to its success among customers in small towns and remote communities, sectors that most e-commerce businesses have generally neglected over time. During the pandemic, the company's grocery business grew significantly, contributing to last year's expansion. Huang, who according to Bloomberg, has a net worth of $53 billion and is China's third-richest individual after Nongfu Spring founder Zhong Shanshan and Tencent founder Pony Ma, said he resigned to give himself more time to follow other interests, including his childhood ambition of being a scientist or researcher. And when they're in their prime, it's not uncommon for Chinese entrepreneurs to abandon their businesses. Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma revealed in 2018 that he would step down as executive chairman to focus on philanthropy. He was 54 years old at the time. Huang, on the other hand, puts Pinduoduo in a vulnerable spot. For months, Beijing has been cracking down on the software industry, and its scope has sometimes reached Pinduoduo. The tech giant was fined $230,000 by regulators earlier this month after being accused of selling food on its website at unreasonably low rates to undercut competitors. Pinduoduo has also recently come under fire over claims that it overworked its workforce, with Chinese social media users pointing to the suicides of two workers as evidence of toxic workplace culture. Following one of its employees' death, the firm said it formed a committee to provide psychiatric therapy. Alibaba's Jack Ma Loses Title as China's Richest Man After Being Under Beijing's Scrutiny @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Five doses. Thats all that remains by 6:47 p.m. at the CVS on Harrisburg in Houstons East End following a long day of COVID-19 vaccinations. Five people scheduled to receive their shot for whatever reason were unable to make it to their appointments on this recent Wednesday in early March. Now pharmacy staff are tasked with deciding who should receive their thawed-out doses before the precious supplies go to waste. By 7 p.m. the phones are ringing off the hook. The parking lot is crowding with cars filled with vaccine-hunting Houstonians hopeful to get lucky and receive a leftover dose despite many being ineligible under current state guidelines, which prioritize Texans who are over the age of 50, teachers, or those with underlying conditions. The pharmacy technicians meet in a huddle, their eyes darting back and forth at one another as they discuss their game plan. They ask those waiting in their cars and the few hovering inside the store: How old are you? Do you have any chronic health conditions? Maria Gomez, 48, is one of the lucky ones. It took her four attempts in total, including visiting CVS three times that Wednesday, but she finally secures a vaccination for her son. On RenewHouston.com: Pandemic pressures push day cares to edge of closing She breathes a sigh of relief as she watches her 24-year-old son, Javier, receive his shot. He is not yet eligible for the vaccine, but his chronic asthma easily flares up, leading him to get sick often. I thought OK, hes not taking the place of anyone else. If there are extra vaccines and they are going to be thrown away, its no problem, Gomez says. [Now] theres one less person to be vaccinated. Houstonians are hunting doses at pharmacies, hospitals and city and county-run sites in a desperate chase for a scarce, coveted resource. For the frontline workers administering the vaccines, deciding who should receive the extra doses before time runs out is a daily challenge and some are using the chance to offer the vaccine to friends and family, creating an ethical dilemma that exacerbates vaccine inequity. Who is close? When the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines arrived at Houston Methodist in December, Executive Vice President Roberta Schwartz found herself running at full speed through the hospital hallways trying to find someone to take a leftover dose before it expired. Vaccines come in vials that offer up to 10 doses and must be kept at below or near freezing temperatures, depending on the maker. Once thawed and reconstituted, the vaccines expire in six hours or less unless they are administered. When your motto is dont waste a dose, you will do whatever it takes to not waste a dose, Schwartz said. Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer The first few weeks of January, people often gathered outside, waiting without appointments, but with high hopes. The crowds sometimes grew to upward of 20 people, which staff had to mine through to decide who gets a dose. It was almost a terrible feeling: First of all, which people do you pick? Schwartz said. It wasnt always organized and you didnt always get it to the right people. As vaccine demand grew by the day, the hospital system scrambled to create what Schwartz calls funky policies for addressing leftover doses. Methodist has a very low no-show rate, Schwartz said, at less than 3 percent on average. But every dose is precious. So they made some changes. People are no longer allowed to wait outside. Now, a few hours before they close every day, staff start drawing up one vial at a time, counting patients in line to ensure extra vials are not opened. They now have a priority list of eligible patients, law enforcement and 1B people for determining who should receive extra doses. Hospital officials said in the past, they prioritized finding patients who live nearby and could make it to the center at a moments notice. But they stopped that practice and now only does so for extreme exceptions. Sometimes, they exhaust all their options: No one on the waitlist answers the phone, and all the nearby staff is already vaccinated. Time is running out. So they call friends and family. Does it happen that occasionally you have a dose and you dont have anybody nearby and we end up dialing phones to people who we know that have wanted it? It does happen, Schwartz said. It is a very big exception for us. The pandemic fatigue frontline workers have been grappling with for more than a year now also plays a part in that desperation. This is an exhausted staff, by that time they have done it for 12 hours, Schwartz said. And for us, we dont want to waste the dose. The question is: Who is close? Vaccine inequity Houston Methodist isnt alone in this. A Harris County Public Health doctor drew national attention after he was accused of stealing vaccines for his family. The doctor argued the nine doses he was accused of stealing were leftover, and that he tried to give the shots to eligible residents before resorting to administering the last one to his chronically ill wife. A Harris County judge dismissed a theft charge brought against him and the Texas Medical Board cleared him of any wrongdoing. Dr. Janet Malek, Associate Professor at the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine, said the practice is not unheard of in the hospitals that make up the Texas Medical Center. As a medical ethics expert, she finds it very inequitable, but said the solution to fixing vaccine inequity is not a simple one. The logistics of that kind of system are pretty hard to imagine because more vulnerable people are going to be the least available to come and just wait in line to see if they get a dose at the end of the day, Malek said. Those are people that its hard for them to even make it if they have an appointment and can plan ahead. COVID HELP DESK: Where can I get a Johnson & Johnson vaccine? Can I drink after the vaccination? Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Malek said those who are connected to health care professionals, especially in the Medical Center, are likely to already have more advantages than most, increasing inequity. Sites across Houston are taking different approaches to addressing vaccine inequity. At Baylor College of Medicine, staff use a prioritized list of eligible patients that are on call and prepared to receive a leftover dose if one becomes available, according to Dr. James McDeavitt, Baylors senior vice president and dean of clinical affairs and director of the COVID Incident Command Center. We at Baylor have interpreted that [state vaccine eligibility guidelines] strictly and those are the people we are vaccinating, McDeavitt said. Not friends and family, not people that are tied to our physicians in some other way. I think there has been variable interpretation of that across different organizationsbut we really have tried to stick to the states intent. McDeavitt said Baylor has a very low no-show rate and usually only has a handful of leftover doses each day. He added that the hospital has been successful 100 percent of the time in distributing doses. The vaccine appointments are so valuable, that they are like gold, McDeavitt said People are really hesitant not to take advantage of them. Harris County Public Health allocated its leftover doses to teachers before they were recently given priority access. Now those doses go to first responders. The Houston Health Department calls people with upcoming appointments to see if they can arrive earlier, according to spokesman Porfirio Villarreal. Also, at the end of the day when there are few people waiting, department nurses begin to draw from the remaining open vials to avoid any unused doses, Villarreal added. At St. Lukes Health there are systems in place to quickly reach eligible patients who could receive a leftover dose. In a statement, the hospital system said its process to allocate doses at the end of the day may vary per vaccinate site. Schwartz said that while others may question how some hospital systems dole out extra doses, the pandemic is an unprecedented challenge for health care workers, who are doing their best to get everyone vaccinated. Everyone has all of the right intentions working through this very complicated, challenging but exceedingly important vaccination program, Schwartz said. There is no one who has gotten this perfect. For Gomez, seeing her son receive a shot at CVS was just what her family needed. Now, she wont have to worry a COVID diagnosis could cost him his life. He towers over her in the pharmacy, recalling the lengths she went to get him vaccinated. She really loves me, he laughs. rebecca.hennes@chron.com We've been to Wyandotte many times and it would be very hard to argue that this part of town has rigid standards. Still, as always, local creativity earns rebuke that's far more stern than more commonplace mediocrity. Take a look . . . Corsica, France -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/19/2021 -- Painter Pierre Paul Marchini denounces the exploitation of artists by the "art world" and launches his own sales channel :https://www.facebook.com/ma4chini/ French artist Pierre-Paul Marchini is best known for his large oil paintings expressing vivid colors and light. His masterful work becomes a visual beacon of light and hope, emanating brilliance and illumination that invokes obscure reflections and imaginary landscapes. He has a skillful way of capturing the luster and brilliance of light within his work. After twenty years of exhibiting and trade fairs, Pierre Paul Marchini denounces the abuses of this elitist milieu, which exploits artists and prevents the general public from acquiring works at prohibitive prices. The artist lives and works in Ajaccio, the capital city on the French island of Corsica, located in the Mediterranean Sea. The unique light that shines on the island and the harmonious blend of French and Italian culture provides an inspirational atmosphere, offering him an extraordinary palette of colors. Marchini, a painter of abstraction and informality, his geometric, translates the impulses of his soul. By diverting the theory of colors and exploring each material, he creates a rupture with traditional tools. He goes beyond simple representation and dives into pure psychology. Color is carried to his paroxysm with great freedom. Marchini's application with a palette knife allows him to build and structure larger surface areas. The artist's emotion and focus on inner energy, and sometimes contemplation, create expressive, lyrical, and thoughtful qualities in his paintings. His Art is recognized immediately by his unique style, using oil paints and a palette knife to create a pictorial universe bursting with energy, color, and luminosity. Marchini's work can be found in numerous galleries, museums, and private collections worldwide. He exhibits his work regularly in Parisian galleries. His work was exhibited at the Fiac in 2012 and won the third prize of painting at the grand international contemporary art competition in 2014. Media Contact PIERRE-PAUL MARCHINI 28 BIs cours Lucien Bonaparte 20000 Ajaccio,Corsica,France +33 617420598 marchinipp@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/ma4chini/ ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey has asked Egyptian opposition television channels operating on its territory to moderate criticism of Egypt's government, as Ankara seeks to improve strained ties with Cairo, the owner of one of the channels said on Friday. Ayman Nour, a liberal opposition figure and former Egyptian presidential candidate, told Reuters Turkish officials told him they wanted the TV stations to practice "objectivity and not to attack or criticise people". Turkey's foreign ministry did not comment on the reported request, which would mark a first concrete step by Ankara towards easing tensions with Cairo. Better relations between the two powers could help efforts to resolve conflict in Libya, and ease maritime disputes in the east Mediterranean. Egypt's Information Minister Osama Heikal told Reuters he welcomed the move, calling it a "good initiative that creates an appropriate climate for discussing issues of dispute between the two sides". Nour's Al-Sharq television is one of three prominent Egyptian opposition channels in Istanbul, including Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist-leaning stations, whose programmes have irritated the Cairo government. Ties have been strained since Egypt's army toppled a Muslim Brotherhood president close to Ankara after protests in 2013. Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan, whose ruling AK Party has its roots in Islamist politics, has not recognised Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Sisi, the former army chief, took power in 2013 and was later elected president. Many Egyptian opposition figures, including the Muslim Brotherhood which is outlawed in Egypt, took refuge in Turkey. Last week President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey had resumed contact with Egypt and expressed hopes that the process would continue "much more strongly". (Reporting by Dominic Evans in Istanbul and Momen Saeed Atallah in Cairo; Editing by Alistair Bell) Pakistan has expressed its support for Antonio Guterres, who is seeking a second term as the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the foreign office said here on Friday. Pakistan's support for Guterres was conveyed to him by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who held a telephone conversation with the UN chief on Thursday and exchanged views on a range of issues, the foreign office said. Lauding the UNSG's leadership during challenging times, the Foreign Minister welcomed his availability to serve a second term in office, and expressed Pakistan's full support for Guterres's re-appointment for another five-year tenure, it said. Guterres, 71, whose current term ends on December 31, has expressed his wish to continue for another five years. Qureshi reaffirmed Pakistan's abiding commitment to multilateralism, with a strong UN playing a central role in the delivery of its mandates that meet the expectations of member states. The Secretary-General lauded Pakistan's Presidency of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the promotion of the socio-economic development agenda. Guterres briefed Qureshi on UN efforts on the situation in Afghanistan, the foreign office said. The two leaders agreed that the Afghan peace process should be taken forward through consultations and in a manner that helps establish durable peace, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan and the region, according to the FO. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal on Friday gave emergency authorisation to India's COVID-19 vaccine COVAXIN, becoming only the third country to approve the shot, developed by Bharat Biotech and a state research institute. COVAXIN was shown to be 81% effective in an interim analysis of late-stage trial data on some 26,000 people in India. The vaccine was approved for emergency use in India in January and Zimbabwe cleared it early this month. "Conditional permission has been granted for emergency use authorisation," Nepal's Department of Drug Administration said in a statement. Wedged between India and China, the Himalayan country has already received more than 2.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India, including 1 million doses as a gift. China has also promised 800,000 doses of its own vaccine but the time for the delivery of the Chinese shots is unknown. The latest approval comes as authorities in Nepal said they were suspending their vaccination campaign because of a lack of supply. Jageshwar Gautam, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Population, said more than 1.6 million people had received their first shots under the inoculation drive begun in January. "We do not have enough vaccine shots to begin our next phase of vaccination of people above 55 years of age," Gautam told Reuters. "The campaign will be suspended until we get more supply." Nepal has reported 275,750 cases and 3,016 deaths so far, according to government data. Bharat Biotech says it has received interest in COVAXIN from 40 countries. It has sought or is in the process of seeking emergency approvals in Brazil, the Philippines and Thailand. (Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Additional reporting Krishna N. Das in New Delhi; editing by John Stonestreet and Barbara Lewis) FOR Manitobans, Saturday marks the first day of spring. For the 300 or so members of Winnipegs Bahai community, its also Naw-Ruz, or New Years Day. FOR Manitobans, Saturday marks the first day of spring. For the 300 or so members of Winnipegs Bahai community, its also Naw-Ruz, or New Years Day. Naw-Ruz, which means "new year," starts at sundown this evening. Its the first day of the Bahai year, which is a series of 19 months that are each 19 days long. Submitted For Cedric Tekie-Hatala, shown with husband Andrew and daughter Tsedal, Naw-Ruz is a time to reflect on the commitments made during the month of fasting and think about ways to act on them. On the Bahai calendar, this years Naw-Ruz marks the beginning of year 178, which dates back to the founding of the Bahai faith in Iran. It brings to a close the month of "Ala," a period when Bahais fast from sunrise to sunset. During that month of fasting, Bahais dont eat or drink, said Payam Towfigh, a member of the local Bahai assembly. "Its a time to connect with the spiritual side of ourselves, to be reminded we need to resist the urge for instant gratification, and to remember those in the world who dont have enough to eat," he said. The month of fasting is ended at Naw-Ruz with a time of celebration, music and feasting together as a community. Like the new life brought by spring, "its a celebration of the manifestation of God into the world," Towfigh said, adding Naw-Ruz is celebrated around the world by the faiths six to seven million members. In normal times, the Winnipeg Bahai community would gather in person. This year it will be online, with people gathered in their homes to celebrate virtually. "We cant be together in person, but we can gather on Zoom," said Towfigh, adding there will be prayers in the languages spoken by members of the local Bahai community English, Persian, French, Arabic, Russian, Lakota, Chinese, Turkish and Hindi. There will also be a short concert and readings; participants will be challenged to think about how they can be better people and be of greater service to the community, he added. For Cedric Tekie-Hatala, Naw-Ruz is a time to reflect on the commitments made during the month of fasting and think about ways to act on them. "Its a special day," said the mother of a 16-month-old girl. "Its a time to build a family tradition in our home." While Tekie-Hatala is disappointed the pandemic means people cant gather in person, it has opened up other opportunities; this year she will be Zooming with family and friends in Eritrea, where she was born, as well as with friends in Colorado plus joining in on the Winnipeg celebration. "Ill be connecting with people scattered all over the world," she said, noting the pandemic has "pluses and minuses." Although its different this year, "It will still be very beautiful and exciting," she said. Everyone is welcome to attend the Winnipeg Naw-Ruz celebration, which starts at 7 p.m. on March 20. To register, contact lsa@winnipegbahais.org. faith@freepress.mb.ca MUMBAI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has seized two more luxury cars allegedly used by suspended Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze. According to NIA sources, a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado was found parked outside Waze's residence in the Saket area of adjoining Thane. A Mercedes car linked to Sachin Waze was also seized but it was not clear from where it was picked up. The total number of vehicles seized has gone up to five, including another Mercedes, a Scorpio and an Innova. The vehicles were brought to the NIA office at Cumballa Hill on Pedder Road here. The NIA also called two policemen, including an aide of Waze and a senior police inspector, for questioning, sources said. It may e noted that the NIA had arrested Waze on Saturday night in connection with the security scare outside the south Mumbai residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani. Under fire over handling of the bomb scare outside Ambani's house, Maharashtra Government on Wednesday shifted Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh to the Home Guard. Senior IPS officer Hemant Nagrale has replaced Singh as Mumbai police commissioner. The NIA on Tuesday seized a black Mercedes from the Crawford market area in Mumbai and recovered from it the original number place of the explosive-laden SUV that was placed outside billionaire Mukesh Ambani's residence 'Antilia' on February 25. A 27-year-old travel operator said on Wednesday he sold the Mercedes-Benz car in February to a website that deals in used vehicles. He said he did not know Waze. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Thursday said Param Bir Singh was transferred after some of his colleagues committed "serious and unforgivable mistakes". In his first public comments after Singh's transfer, Deshmukh said he was shifted to ensure that the probe into police officer Sachin Waze episode is conducted "properly and without hindrance". Deshmukh said the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the NIA are conducting the probe into the episode "professionally". He said that action will be taken against whoever is found guilty in the respective probes by the NIA and ATS. "This is not an administrative transfer (of Singh). Some things have come to light through the probes conducted by the NIA and the ATS," Deshmukh said. "Some of the colleagues of the (former) Mumbai police chief (Singh) committed some serious mistakes. Those are unforgivable mistakes. Hence, he was transferred. Further action will be taken based on the probe report," he added. Asked about the BJP and the MNS's allegation that political bosses of the officials are not being acted against, Deshmukh said, "The NIA and ATS are conducting the probe professionally. They will definitely find out whoever is guilty." Waze was arrested by the NIA on March 13 in the probe into the recovery of explosives from the SUV. He was later suspended. Waze, an "encounter specialist", has also been facing heat in the murder case of Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran, who was in possession of that SUV. Hiran was found dead in a creek in the Thane district on March 5. The ATS is investigating the Hiran murder case. It had registered an FIR against unidentified persons, days after Hiran's body was found. Hiran's wife accused Waze of involvement in her husband's suspicious death. Earlier on Wednesday, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis claimed that when he was Maharashtra chief minister, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had called him in 2018 to seek reinstatement of the then suspended police officer Sachin Waze into the state police force. He also accused the Shiv Sena of pressuring him over this demand at that time and demanded an NIA probe into the whole incident involving Sachin Waze. Live TV (Newser) Police in Texas have issued an arrest warrant for a man they say stabbed a fast-food manager over a request to put on a face mask. NBC News reports that cops in League City, about 25 miles southeast of Houston, are searching for James Schulz. The 53-year-old is said to have shown up at a Jack in the Box around 8pm on Wednesday, only to be told by the shift manager he needed to wear a face covering if he wanted to be served inside, per League City Police Chief Gary Ratliff. Schulz "belligerently refused," then started recording the incident on his cellphone, accusing staff of not serving him because he's homeless, Ratliff said at a briefing Thursday, per KTRK. Security video shows the store manager leading Schulz to the door, then turning awayat which point "the suspect ran up behind him, tackled him, and stabbed him multiple times," Ratliff says, per NBC. story continues below The manager, who was injured with what Ratliff says seemed to be a pocketknife, was stabbed three times in the upper torso and arm. He was treated at a local hospital and released. Schulz, who fled the scene, is now being sought on a warrant for assault with a deadly weapon, Ratliff notes, adding that Schulz is known in the area but hasn't been in trouble with the cops before over this issue. The police chief says he knows the "very polarizing" issue of face masks has rankled some, but he notes that patrons should respect the rules businesses put into place, warning that police are ready to make trespassing arrests for those who won't comply. "You can refuse to do business at those locations ... but there's no reason to resort to aggressive behavior like this," he says, per CNN. (An arrest warrant was issued for a woman who balked at the mask rule in a Texas bank.) VirExit Technologies, Inc. is changing how we look at the spread of infection, bacteria, and ultimately, disease. Poverty Dignified, Inc. dba VirExit Technologies, Inc. (OTCMKTS PINK: PVDG) has selected Cornerstone Communications, LTD as its investor relations agency of record. Cornerstone has over two decades of experience in global investor relations. Headquartered in Richland, Washington, VirExit Technologies, Inc. is a fast-growing public company focused on providing solutions for safer living in uncertain times. With a mission to make the world a safer place with innovative and effective technologies, VirExit Technologies, Inc. looks to screen, vet, and sell stellar technologies that provide both the business-to-business and the business-to-consumer markets with products that enhance our health and physical safety. VirExit Technologies, Inc. is changing how we look at the spread of infection, bacteria, and ultimately, disease," said Brooke Greenwald, President, Cornerstone Communications, LTD. By addressing these concerns, VirExit Technologies is enabling a much more desirable new normal. COVID-19 has clearly changed how we consider transmission and the spread of illness and forced us to make changes in almost every aspect of our lives. Cornerstone is excited to work with an organization that has an unparalleled understanding of how together, we can make the world a safer place. We are thrilled to be expanding our agreement with Cornerstone Communications, LTD to include our investor relations management, said James C. Katzaroff, President and CEO, Poverty Dignified, Inc. Our goal is to equip as many organizations, and as many consumers, with tools theyve never had before in the fight against transmissible illness. Our mission is not only to help us return to our normal lives, but to help prevent the future spread of any illness, disease or bacteria which may present a risk to anyone. Our health and technology team vets every product offered in our marketplace to ensure they meet our stringent safety requirements. Cornerstones values and expertise have consistently been in line with ours since it was founded. Cornerstone Communications has over two decades of experience working with companies such as Poverty Dignified, Inc. across North America and globally. The team of former journalists and social media experts at Cornerstone Communications, LTD understand the complexities of working with a public company that is highly focused on reaching a variety of B2B and B2C verticals. VirExit Technologies has set up a direct contact email for investor relations to meet the needs of investors. The company has also set up a direct contact email address for media on deadline. Media should contact media@virexit.com. NOTICE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements that include the words believes, expects, anticipate or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, description of anyones past success is no guarantee of future success. This news release speaks as of the date first set forth above and the company assumes no responsibility to update the information included herein for events occurring after the date hereof. About Poverty Dignified, Inc. Poverty Dignified, Inc. (PVDG) is a diversified company with ownership of Sun Ovens, Inc., a company that decades ago, pioneered solar oven technology and produces, markets, and sells solar ovens and accessories. In 2020, PVDG acquired the registered brand, VirExit Technologies, Inc., along with other related intellectual property owned and developed by Patrick Netter. The VirExit brand pioneers innovative, effective, ethical, and safe products within the antiviral space. Also, during 2020, PVDG purchased Safer Place Technologies, LLC, whose purpose is to create a primary sales and marketing platform as a vertical online marketplace. This new acquisition seeks to provide a single source for buyers and sellers of protective products and services which resonate with the VirExit mission statement: Making the world a safer place with innovative, ethical and effective technologies. PVDG is anticipating a name change to VirExit Technologies, Inc. in the near future. For investor relations information please contact investorrelations@virexit.com. About Cornerstone Communications, LTD Cornerstone Communications, LTD is a communications, investor relations, marketing strategy, and integrated communications agency focusing on the technology, consumer, telecommunications, and business-to-business vertical markets. Cornerstone has extensive experience working with organizations of all sizes, from startup to Fortune 1000. For more information on Cornerstone, please visit http://www.cornerstonepr.net. The death has occurred of Anne Conlon (nee Carey) Downings, Prosperous, Kildare / Sandyford, Dublin / Belmullet, Mayo Conlon (nee Carey), Anne, Downings, Prosperous, Co. Kildare and late of Clonard Park, Sandyford, Dublin and Gladree, Belmullet, Co. Mayo, March 17th 2021, peacefully at Naas Hospital, Beloved wife of Bernard and loving mother of Brendan, Ciaran and Louise, deeply regretted by her loving family, daughter-in-law Maeve and granddaughters Lia, Naomi, Sarah and Niamh, Valerie and grandsons Jack and Romain, brother Thomas, sisters Mary, Brid, Sadie, Sheila and Kathleen, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law and a wide range of nieces, nephews, neighbours and friends. Rest In Peace Due to current government Guidelines, a private family funeral will take place for Anne. Those who would of 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. Anne's funeral mass can be viewed on Saturday morning at 12 noon by clicking on the following link https://www.prosperousparish.net/ The funeral cortege will be leaving Anne's residence on Saturday morning at approx. 11.30am to arrive at the Church of Our Lady & St. Joseph, Prosperous for 12 noon Funeral Mass, followed by burial in Killybegs Cemetery, for those that would like to line the route in a socially distanced manner. Oliver Reilly Ltd. Funeral Directors accept no responsibility for any live webcam interruptions or issues. Family flowers only please. Donations, if desired, to https://www.cancer.ie/ways-to-help/donate/donate The death has occurred of Rose Delahunt 24 Geraldine, Athy, Kildare Deeply regretted by her loving son William, brother John, sister Bernadette, daughter-in-law Lynn, brother-in-law Kevin, god-daughter Dolores, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Rest in Peace Due to government restrictions a private family Requiem Mass will take place at 11am on Saturday morning (20th March) in St. Michael's Parish Church, Athy, limited to 10 people. The Mass will be livestreamed, see www.parishofathy.ie. Burial afterwards in St. Michael's New Cemetery, Athy. 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 Patrick (Packie) Heffernan St. Patrick's Park, Celbridge, Kildare / Newcastle, Dublin Heffernan, Patrick (Packie), St. Patrick's Park, Celbridge, Co. Kildare and late of Newcastle, Co. Dublin, March 17th 2021, peacefully, deeply regretted by his loving wife Ann, children Paul, Annette, Elaine, Shane and Sharon, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, brothers Martin and Kevin, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours and a large circle of friends. Rest In Peace Due to current government Guidelines, a private family funeral will take place for Patrick. Those who would of 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. Patrick's funeral mass can be viewed on Saturday morning at 11am by clicking on the following link https://www.celstra.ie/live-feed/ The funeral cortege will be leaving Patrick's residence on Saturday morning at approx. 10.40am to arrive at St. Patrick's Church, Celbridge for 11am Funeral Mass, followed by burial in Donacomper Cemetery, for those that would like to line the route in a socially distanced manner. Oliver Reilly Ltd. Funeral Directors accept no responsibility for any live webcam interruptions or issues. The death has occurred of Paddy Duffy Mucklon, Johnstownbridge, Kildare / Enfield, Meath The death has occurred of Paddy Duffy, Mucklon, Enfield, Co. Meath, 16th March 2021, peacefully, surrounded by his devoted family. Loving Husband of Mary, and adored father of Tracey, Jason, Noeleen and Sarah. Loving grandfather of Amy, Conor, Emma, Sean, Ciara and Tom. Very deeply regrated by his sisters Sheila and Betty, sons in law Barry, Martin and Lee brothers-in-law, sisters in law, nieces, nephews, relatives and a large circle of friends. May Paddy Rest In Peace Paddys Funeral Mass will take place privately due to the Covid 19 restrictions at 1.30pm on Friday next, the 19th March, in the Church of the Holy Family, Kilshanroe, followed by burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Those who would like to attend the funeral, but due to the current restrictions cannot, are invited to leave a personal message for Paddys family in the condolences section below. A live stream of Paddys funeral Mass can be viewed at https://www.carburyparish.ie/our-parish/web-cam/ Family flowers only please, with donations if desired to Alzheimer society Ireland link https://alzheimer.ie/get-involved/become-a-friend-support-asi/donate/ The death has occurred of Gloria WALSH (nee Lee) Barrettstown, Caragh, Kildare WALSH (nee Lee) Gloria (Barrettstown, Caragh, Co. Kildare) - 16th March 2021 (peacefully) in the wonderful care of the staff of The Curragh Ward, Naas Hospital. Predeceased by her brother Mark; sadly missed by her loving husband Cathal, son Brian, daughter-in-law Deirdre, grandchildren Zoe, Mia and Abi, brothers Brian and Frank, sister Vera, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews, extended family, neighbours and friends. May Gloria Rest in Peace A private family funeral will take place due to advice on public gatherings. Removal from Anderson & Leahy's Funeral Home, Newbridge on Friday morning to arrive at the Dominican College Church, Newbridge for 11.30 o'clock Mass. Burial afterwards in Barrettstown Cemetery, Newbridge. Gloria's funeral will be live streamed on http://dominicansnewbridge.ie/live-streaming/ Those who would have liked to have attended the funeral but due to current circumstances cannot, can leave their condolences on the RIP condolence section below. 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 the peak of the pandemic last year, a three-year-old son of an HCL Tech employee developed fever and throat pain - both symptoms of Covid-19. Panicked parents made frantic calls for help to the Noida-headquartered IT company at 2 a.m. in the morning. The HR department quickly facilitated a consultation with a pediatrician in the early hours of the morning. In another instance, the company coordinated with an employee, who needed help to travel to his hometown in Bihar, from Noida, due to the untimely death of his mother. It also provided advances to Indian employees stuck in other countries for their travel tickets. The company was quick to react to the onset of the pandemic. Early in the outbreak, 1.5-lakh employees were enabled to work remotely and safely at a very short notice. Readily-available IT capacity and resilience to support 'at-scale' work from home (WFH) was deployed. The scope of employee-first policies such as flexi timing, increased claim limit for broadband and pandemic leaves was widened to aid remote working. Health-benefit programmes were also scaled up. Services were provided to employees and their families through HCL Healthcare on-premises clinics, online consultations and at-home services. And all these, without giving pink slips. "In India nobody was laid off, including people who were not deployed on any project. We went a step ahead and made sure that there was no impact on salaries," says Chief Human Resources Officer Apparao V.V. "In fact we paid FY20 variable bonus to all our employees in the first quarter of 2020/21." The company has given increments to people across the board. "We strongly feel that any workplace is 'cool' because of its workforce - vibrant, outgoing, creative, and responsible," says Apparao. A happy employee is also a productive one, and the company aims to create a passionate, engaged, and empowered workforce with consistent focus on employee wellbeing and experiences, adds Apparao. When Dr. Gregory Kyle Fulton moved to New Orleans at the beginning of June 2013, he had a new job, a new city, a new role in life, he said a clean slate. Soon, he also had a new partner in Adam Jacob Eversole. At the time, both Dr. Fulton and Mr. Eversole were new to Louisiana. Dr. Fulton, who goes by Kyle, arrived in New Orleans to start a three-year residency in pediatrics at the Childrens Hospital of New Orleans. Mr. Eversole had moved there six months earlier, for a job with James Harman and Associates, a political consulting and communications firm. Neither of them planned to settle down in New Orleans. I thought I could go down there, spend a couple of years and head back, Mr. Eversole said. Dr. Fulton was still unpacking moving boxes when he set up the date with Mr. Eversole, who he had been connected to by a mutual friend. They arranged to meet at a pub trivia night. That activity quickly highlighted their compatibility with each other: Not only did their personalities click, but they also made a natural trivia team. I remember him being good at history, said Dr. Fulton. And I remember there was some Disney and Harry Potter trivia that I was good at. Yandex, Russia's multi-hyphenate internet giant, began testing its autonomous cars on Moscow's icy winter roads over three years ago. The goal was to create a "universal" self-driving vehicle that could safely maneuver around different cities across the globe. Now, Yandex says its trials have been a resounding success. The vehicles recently hit a major milestone by driving over six million miles (10 million kilometers) in autonomous mode, with the majority of the distance traveled in the Russian capital. That's significant because Moscow poses some of the most difficult weather conditions in the world. In January alone, the city was hit by a Balkan cyclone that blanketed the streets in snow and caused temperatures to plummet to as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius (-13 degrees Fahrenheit). For self-driving cars which rely on light-emitting sensors, known as LIDAR, to track the distance between objects snowfall and condensation can play havoc with visibility. Yandex To overcome the hazardous conditions, Yandex says it cranked up its LIDAR performance by implementing neural networks to filter snow from the lidar point cloud, thereby enhancing the clarity of objects and obstacles around the vehicle. It also fed historical winter driving data in to the system to help it to distinguish car exhaust fumes and heating vent condensation clouds. To top it all, Yandex claims the neural "filters" can help its vehicles beat human drivers in identifying pedestrians obscured by winter mist. Driving on Moscow's roads also helped improve the tech's traffic navigation. The system was able to adjust to both sleet and harder icy conditions over time, according to Yandex, allowing it to gradually make better decisions on everything from acceleration to braking to switching lanes. In addition, the winter conditions pushed the system's built-in localization tech to adapt to hazards such as hidden road signs and street boundaries and snow piles the "size of buildings." This was made possible by the live mapping, motion, position and movement data measured by the system's mix of sensors, accelerometers and gyroscopes. When it launched the Moscow trial in 2017, Yandex was among the first to put autonomous cars through their paces in a harsh, frosty climate. But, soon after, Google followed suit by taking its Waymo project to the snowy streets of Ohio and Michigan. A B.C. man is arrested and held in custody for bail hearing for breaching a gag order in relation to the case of his child undergoing gender transition. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press) BC Father Who Opposes Childs Gender Transition Therapy Arrested for Violating Court Orders A B.C. father who opposes his teenage child transitioning from female to male without his consent, was arrested this week for repeatedly speaking publicly about aspects of the case. A warrant was issued for the fathers arrest in early March after he allegedly violated court orders that restricted him from disclosing his own name as well as those of his child, his wife, the medical professionals who are involved in the gender transition, and his views of the case publicly. According to supplemental disclosure obtained by The Epoch Times, the father had allegedly started a fundraising campaign at the GoGetFunding website in his real name. As late as March 2, the page allegedly included embedded videos and articles that disclosed his childs name and that of one of the doctors involved in the childs transition, contrary to court orders. On March 16, the father was charged with criminal contempt of court orders and held in custody until a bail hearing on Friday. Should he be found guilty, he could spend the next five years in jail. Jay Cameron, litigation director at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, who represented the JCCF as an intervener in the fathers case in September 2019, said parental rights are increasingly under attack in Canada. We have ongoing grave concerns about the states imposition of ideology and gender orthodoxy in this case and others like it to override parental rights and freedom of expression, and concerned and dissenting medical opinions, Cameron told True North. Anytime the state attempts to become the enforcer of ideology or dogma it asserts infallibility and overturns the marketplace of ideas and the constitutional rights of Canadians. That is not the proper role of the state. Oppression is always sure to follow. The case goes back to December 2018 when the father sought a court injunction to stop the teen, who was then 13, from scheduled testosterone treatments for gender transition without his consent. After that bid failed in February 2019, the father granted an interview to The Federalist, despite conduct orders not to talk to anyone. The father is slated to appear in court for those breaches from April 12 to 16. The B.C. Court of Appeal subsequently ruled that the fathers disagreement with his childs transition and his communications with the media to tell his story did not amount to family violence. But the judges said the father must identify his child as a male and use the name the child has chosen. However, the court said the father is not restricted from expressing his opinion in his private communications with family, close friends and close advisors, provided none of these individuals is part of or connected with the media or any public forum. He must also seek assurance from those whom he shares the information with that they do not share it with others. According to a recent poll conducted by Nanos for JCCF, 41 percent of Canadians say it should be legal for a parent to discourage a child from exploring gender possibilities and be comfortable with his or her birth gender. A full 50 percent of respondents agree that there should be strict requirements for health-care professionals to evaluate whether its in the best interest for a young person to irreversibly change their body if it doesnt match their gender identity. And 48 percent of Canadians agree that counselling services with a wait and see approach should be available to minors who may be thinking about changing their bodies through the use of drug treatments such as puberty blockers or opposite-sex hormones. The governments Bill C-6 seeks to ban conversion therapy by making it a criminal offence to offer treatment or services designed to change an individuals sexual orientation to heterosexual or gender identity to cisgender, or to reduce non-heterosexual sexual attraction or sexual behaviour. With reporting by Lee Harding. Installed in October 2020 on the Place de l'Etoile in Luxembourg City, the Grand Duchy's first red light radar has already proven its worth during the initial test phase, the Minister of Transport has revealed. Figures released by the Luxembourg Ministry of Transport have revealed that the camera installed in October 2020 flashed 10,248 times in its first few operational months. Located at the Place de l'Etoile, the strategically placed camera caught a huge number of amber gamblers between October and January. The country's first red light camera snapped 6,432 motorists running a red light and 3,816 times due to incidents of speeding. The Minister of Transport, Francois Bausch, revealed these details in response to a parliamentary question from the Pirate Party. These figures can be translated as 111 vehicles flashed on average per day of operation. However, during this test phase, all photos were automatically deleted after a period of five days, assures the minister. Two other red light radars will soon be functional, one on rue de Hollerich in Luxembourg and the other at the "Schlammestee", near Weiler-la-Tour. The (RSS) on Friday claimed and anti-social forces were trying to thwart efforts towards finding a solution to the ongoing farmers agitation against the three central farm laws and said it is not in anyones interest for any kind of protest to be prolonged. The RSS, holding a two-day meeting of its Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the highest decision-making body of the organisation, said discussions were a must. They added that some agreements must be reached even if not all issues could be sorted out. The have been staging protests for over 100 days on the borders of Delhi against the three contentious farms laws. RSS noted that in the past, we have felt that forces are trying to create an environment of disturbance and instability in the country to achieve their political ambitions. We believe that there are no unsolvable problems. What is needed is sincere efforts." In a democracy, all have the freedom of expressing their views, but none can be given the right to create disturbance and instability in the country, RSS said. Pointing out that the three Bills relating to agriculture were passed by a majority in Parliament and farmer organisations opposing the action through protests, the RSS said the intensity of the agitation increased with time. Several rounds of talks went on between the government representatives and agitating farmer organisations, but the agitators remained firm on their demand despite the government accepting a few proposals to modify the laws, it said. British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, driven by Britain's Prince Andrew, leaves the wedding of a former girlfriend of the prince, Aurelia Cecil, at the Parish Church of St Michael in Compton Chamberlayne near Salisbury, England, on Sept. 2, 2000. (Chris Ison/PA via AP) Judge in Ghislaine Maxwell Case Agrees to Shield Some Information From the Public A federal judge this week agreed to requested redactions in the case of Ghislaine Maxwell, ex-girlfriend to the late sex offender and accused sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein. Both government prosecutors and Maxwells lawyers asked for redactions because of concerns that certain information was too sensitive or confidential, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan, an Obama nominee, wrote in a court order on March 18. Nathan acquiesced to the redactions both parties requested, finding that the proposals mainly satisfied a three-part test articulated by a different court in 2006. Under this test, the Court must: (i) determine whether the documents in question are judicial documents; (ii) assess the weight of the common law presumption of access to the materials; and (iii) balance competing considerations against the presumption of access. Such countervailing factors include but are not limited to the danger of impairing law enforcement or judicial efficiency and the privacy interests of those resisting disclosure,' she wrote. The document parties sought to redact is a government brief in opposition to Maxells pre-trial motions. It is a judicial document, the judge said, turning to whether the requests were narrowly tailored to serve substantial interests to overcome the presumption of access. Prosecutors argued the redactions they wanted were necessary to protect the integrity of an ongoing criminal investigation, as well as third parties personal privacy interests. Those arguments are legitimate, according to Nathan. For example, one redaction requested is the name of a third party. An exterior view of the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City on July 14, 2020. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images) Portions of the brief that Maxwells representatives wanted to shield from public view concern privacy interests and their disclosure would merely serve to cater to a craving for that which is sensational and impure,' the judge wrote, adding: The Court thus concludes that such redactions are justified. At the same time, Nathan sided with the defendants objections to some of the governments proposed redactions, ruling prosecutors didnt advance a conclusory basis as to why its investigation would be imperiled by the disclosure. She also denied the governments request to put an entire exhibit under seal, because portions of it are public record. The government was ordered to supply the brief with outlined redactions by March 22 or file a letter with the court in an attempt to justify more redactions. The parties also must meet by that date and discuss proposed redactions. Maxwell, 59, was charged in July 2020 with sex crimes, including enticing a minor to travel to engage in criminal sexual activity and transporting a minor with the same intent. She is being held in jail in New York City. Epstein, 66, was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges when he killed himself in federal prison in 2019. An ad in Life Magazine for the film A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, a work which shows the strength of women but also their need for a womanly heart. (Public Domain) In Praise of Womanhood: A Look at Hollywood Wives and Mothers A friend recently contacted me about the movie Birds of Prey. Shed read a review of the movie in The Epoch Times and was as appalled as the reviewer by the violence of a movie aimed at a young female audience. My friend wrote of older Hollywood films: If a woman had to be strong (say her husband was at war), she did so displaying all of mens best traits: honor, integrity, self-sacrifice. Here (that is, in Birds of Prey), the criminal violence of women is applauded. She added that weve gotten to the point where female characters in the movies must be as hardened and as violent as males, which is no credit to women any more than it is to men. My friend has a point. Since the 1960s, our culture has encouraged women to become more like men in their competitive drive, toughness, and work ethic outside the home. Unfortunately, womens liberation has also come to mean not only the right of women to enter the workforce, the universities, and the professions, but also liberation from the family and the home, and even from femininity itself. Many of todays Hollywood films celebrate women who succeed as professionals, politicians, and athletes, which is generally to the good. Much less attention is given to those women, like so many I know, who follow the traditional pathway of mother and wife, who give their hearts and minds to raising children and making a home, and who display the same sense of duty and integrity as any man I know, but with a womanly twist. Old Flicks This was not always the case. From 1930 to 1970, actresses like Katharine Hepburn, Loretta Young, Lauren Bacall, Audrey Hepburn, and Bette Davis played strong women on the big screen, heroines who stood up for themselves and others without behaving like men. A 1940s publicity portrait of actress Loretta Young. (Public Domain) In A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, for example, wife and mother Katie Nolan (Dorothy McGuire) raises her daughter and son while also helping earn enough money to pay for rent and food. Her husband, Johnny, a singing waiter and an alcoholic, barely manages to scrap together money to support the family, and so the intrepid Katie helps put food on the table. When Katie turns against her sister for her wild ways, their mother says to her: You have forgotten to think with your heart. There is a coldness growing in you, Katie. She is reminding her daughter to be charitable and to feel the emotions of womanhood. Gone With the Wind focuses on Scarlett OHara (Vivien Leigh) as she ruthlessly battles for money and power in the years following the Civil War. Scarlett steals away her sisters fiance and marries him for his money. She becomes sharp and tough as any man in matters of finance. In stark contrast to Scarlett stands her friend Melanie (Olivia de Havilland), a woman endowed with a different courage and grit who practices such virtues as kindness, loyalty, and mercy. Even when others inform her that her husband, Ashley, was seen embracing Scarlett, who spends much of the movie in love with Ashley, Melanie brushes those accusations aside and continues her friendship. In adhering to virtue, Melanie serves as an example of female goodness to those around her. Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton, a sweet Southern belle who could be as tough as nails if needed, in Gone With the Wind. (Loews Inc.) In the popular Christmas movie Its a Wonderful Life, Mary Bailey (Donna Reed) is the gentle, patient, and loving wife of George (Jimmy Stewart), but she becomes a lioness when she must protect him. When the evil Mr. Potter absconds with some of Georges money needed to set his accounts straight, its Mary who leaves her home and appeals to Georges friends and clients for help, and so rescues him from financial ruin. Modern Hollywood Wives and Moms Though many more movies today than in the past depict women as superheroes, soldiers, professionals like doctors and lawyers, or outspoken champions of some political cause, some writers and directors have produced films featuring wives and mothers as exemplars of virtue and strength. In Tender Mercies, Rosa Lee (Tess Harper) is a young widow whose husband has died in Vietnam, leaving her to support herself and her young son by operating a gas station and a run-down motel in rural Texas. The movie begins when she agrees to employ Mac Sledge (Robert Duvall), a broken-down, penniless alcoholic who was formerly a star in the world of country music, on the condition that hell give up the bottle. As Rosa Lee and Mac become friends, they grow closer and eventually wed. Through all of Macs struggles both before and after their weddinga failed attempt to sell a song, his battles with his ex-wife, the death of his daughterRosa Lee acts as his spiritual guide, often in such an understated way that some in the audience may miss her attempts to protect and love him. We Were Soldiers tells the story of Colonel Hal Moore (Mel Gibson) and the battalion he led against North Vietnamese forces in 1965 in the Ia Drang Valley. Before his departure for overseas duty, the film introduces us to his wife, Julia (Madeleine Stowe), a mother of five who clearly loves her husband. In his absence, Julia organizes a group of base wives, and a tender scene of one of their meetings shows us women who are proud to be mothers and wives, making the best of their long separation from their husbands. And when notifications of the deaths of some of these men begin arriving via a cab service, it is Julia who nobly steps up, orders the cab driver to bring the telegrams to her, and takes them in person to her neighbors and friends. Here, Hollywood gives us a wife and mother who is as noble and virtuous as any ancient Roman matron. A Female Perspective Ron Howards Cinderella Man gives us Russell Crowe as heavyweight boxer James J. Braddock and Renee Zellweger as his wife, Mae. Its the depths of the Great Depression, the Braddocks are stone-broke, and then Jim gets a chance to return to the ring. Mae is upsetshe doesnt want to see him hurt againand she storms off to the apartment of Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti), Braddocks promoter and trainer, to confront him. There, she discovers that Gould and his wife have sold all their furniture, in part to help pay for Jims training. At one point, Mrs. Gould sends her husband out of the room, and the two women have this conversation about their husbands: Mrs. Gould: Can you ever stop yours? When he sets his mind to a thing? Mae: I wish I could. Mrs. Gould: See, I never know who its harder onthem or us. We have to wait for them to fix everything. And every day they feel like theyre failing us. Really, its just the world thats failed, you know. That dialogue may be politically incorrect by todays standards, but the few words spoken by these two womenits almost impossible to imagine a similar dialogue between two husbandsdeepen our understanding of the love and pity they feel for the men they love in this time of economic hardship. Erasures For the past three or four decades, some in our culture have worked to erode the boundaries between male and female. Theyve told us we need to make our boys more like girls and our girls more like boys. Theyve replaced biological sex with gender identification, meaning we can choose whatever sexual persona we wish. Movies like Birds of Prey further blur these distinctions. Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, a demented character who is actually one of the good guys, in Birds of Prey. (Warner Bros.) In part, this social engineering explains the mess and chaos of our current culture. Those who are attempting to drastically alter human nature must shoulder some of the blame for the weakened state of marriage and family life in our nation, and for the confusion and mayhem that so often plagues our relationships. Hollywood deserves some of the blame for this decline in standards, but the truth is that we all bear some responsibility for the turn we have taken and some obligation, however small, to reverse it. Vive La Difference! We might begin that reversal by celebrating the differences between men and women rather than trying to delete them. Consider the virtues. These moral linchpins of lifecourage, temperance, charity, and all the othersare the common property of both sexes. The difference lies in how men and women pursue and practice those virtues. Allow me a personal example. When my wife died in 2004, some male friends offered assistance, mostly financial, but it was the women, mostly the mothers of my students, who stepped up to help me through a terrible time. They provided free childcare for my 9-year-old son, they delivered meals on a regular basis to my home and classroom for the next six months, and they frequently telephoned or sent notes to encourage me. Without the kindness, generosity, counsel, and tender mercies of those women, that year would have gone much worse for me and my son than it did. Women, let me tell you something you already know: Our culture doesnt need you to become good men. Our culture needs you to be good women. Ill close by saluting all of you, good men and good women, for the gifts you bring to a broken world. Jeff Minick has four children and a growing platoon of grandchildren. For 20 years, he taught history, literature, and Latin to seminars of homeschooling students in Asheville, N.C. He is the author of two novels, Amanda Bell and Dust On Their Wings, and two works of non-fiction, Learning As I Go and Movies Make The Man. Today, he lives and writes in Front Royal, Va. See JeffMinick.com to follow his blog. EU Committed To Boosting Tax Take From Digital Economy by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels 19 March 2021 The EU is willing to move ahead with its own proposals on taxing the digital economy if an agreement is not reached at an international level, according to the current EU Council presidency. Joao Leao, the Portuguese Minister of State for Finance, said that EU finance ministers had discussed the taxation of the digital economy at their informal meeting on March 16, 2021. According to a statement by the Portuguese presidency of the European Council, the Council continues to accompany and contribute to the negotiations ongoing at an OECD level. The technical work, for which the OECD is responsible, is well advanced, according to the statement. Commenting on the discussion, Leao said that EU member states "agree that it is in their interest to give room to the negotiations in progress at the OECD level" and that "the route to follow is to reach an overall consensus, in a multilateral context." However, Leao added that member states also confirmed their "willingness to find a European solution, in the absence of progress in the conversations at OECD level." Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, say goodbye to law and order Joe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Spain, Cyprus, Italy and France will resume administering the Oxford- COVID-19 vaccine, after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it was 'safe and effective.' Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias announced at a nationally televised news conference on Thursday that it will resume the administration of vaccines from next Wednesday, CNN reported. Darias said that health experts from Spain's 17 regional governments, which administer the vaccines against COVID-19, will meet this weekend to make a proposal on which parts of the population should get the vaccine starting from next Wednesday. Meanwhile, Italy's medicines regulator, AIFA, considers that "the reasons behind the precautionary ban on the use of vaccine batches, issued on March 15 no longer exist," CNN reported citing the Italian Health Ministry press office. "On Friday, as soon as the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) releases its opinion, AIFA will proceed to revoke the ban on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, thus allowing a complete resumption of the vaccination campaign starting at 15.00," the statement added. Meanwhile, the Cyprus government in a statement said: "Following today's scientific conclusion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which clarifies that after a thorough investigation there is no link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the thrombo-embolic events reported by EU countries and that the vaccine is considered safe and effective, the Ministry of Health announces that from tomorrow, March 19, 2021, vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine will resume." Earlier, an EMA committee said that the AstraZeneca is "safe and effective" and the benefits in combating COVID-19 continue to outweigh the risk of side effects, after concluding its preliminary review of people vaccinated with it. The EMA said that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of blood clots (thromboembolic events) in those who receive it and there is no evidence of a problem related to specific batches of the vaccine or to particular manufacturing sites. This comes after some countries in the European Union temporarily suspended the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as a precautionary measure based on reports of rare blood coagulation disorders in persons who had received the vaccine. (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.) .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. A New Mexico state department and other regulators are urging defrauded investors in Metals.com to file claims by the end of April. The request for investors to file claims follows a recently filed joint civil enforcement action against Metals.com in which the company is alleged to have conducted a fraudulent precious metals investment scheme, New Mexico Regulation and Licensing spokeswoman Bernice Geiger wrote in a release. According to the complaint filed against metals.com and its associated parties, the company allegedly targeted elderly retirees and deceived them into investing in precious metals at inflated rates. Geiger said the alleged scheme involved 1,600 investors and nearly $190 million in consumer funds. Claims forms are being sent out to defrauded investors and investors must complete and return their claims forms by April 30, she said. The Securities Division does caution that orders requiring repayment of funds to victims may not result in the recovery of money lost because the wrongdoers may not have sufficient funds or assets, she said. Those who believe they have been affected should email kelly.crawford@solidcounsel.com, call 214-706-4213 or visit www.metalsandbarrickcapitalreceivership.com. 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. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with Asian-American leaders Friday when they visit Atlanta, Georgia, as the trip shifted from politics to personal after a shooting spree left six Asian-American women dead. But the trip will include a meeting with Stacey Abrams, the failed gubernatorial candidate turned voting rights activist, whose work in the state helped give Biden a victory in Georgia last year. He was the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1992. Abrams is a rising star in the Democratic Party and was on the list for consideration as Biden's running mate. The speculation is she will make another gubernatorial run in 2022. Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One that Biden and Harris would also be meeting with Georgia Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, as well as Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. The president and vice president were already scheduled to be in the city for their 'Help is Here' tour - a way the administration is promoting its $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. Biden had campaigned for Warnock and Ossoff in the run-up to the January run-offs, promising Americans if the Senate flipped they would get $2,000 stimulus checks. Friday's trip shifted tone after Tuesday's trio of shootings at Atlanta spas left eight dead. Instead, a meeting was set up with Asian-American state legislators and community advocates. They will meet with Asian-American leaders at Emory University and Biden will give remarks, where he is expected to address the surge in hate crimes. There were nearly 3,800 incidents against Asian Americans in the last year, the group Stop AAPI Hate reported, and 68 per cent of those were against women. Harris is the first Asian-American vice president. Her mother was born in India. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with Asian-American leaders Friday when they visit Atlanta, Georgia The trip will include a meeting with Stacey Abrams, the voting rights activist whose work in the state helped give Joe Biden a victory in Georgia last year On Thursday, Biden ordered that American flags be flown at half-staff until Monday to honor the victims. Press secretary Jen Psaki said at her briefing on Thursday that Biden will 'offer his support for the AAPI community in Georgia and across the country and talk about his commitment to combating xenophobia, intolerance and hate.' White House officials have also reached out to leaders in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community to reiterate their commitment to fighting anti-Asian hatred. 'What I'm conveying to them is, we want you to be a part of the solution,' White House adviser Cedric Richmond told The Washington Post. 'You all have been in the community running these programs. We want your expertise, we want your input into how we get past this. But it's also been an intensive two days of making sure that we're listening.' The president and vice president will also visit the Centers for Disease Control, which is based in Atlanta, on Friday. Biden will return to Washington D.C. to spend the weekend at Camp David. Crime scene tape is seen outside Aromatherapy Spa after shootings at a massage parlor and two day spas in the Atlanta area On Wednesday, Biden said he was making 'no connection' between the Atlanta massage parlor shooter and the race of his victims before the investigation is complete, but continued to call the uptick in hate crimes against Asians 'very troubling.' Biden made the comments in the Oval Office Wednesday before a virtual meeting with Ireland's Taoiseach Micheal Martin, telling reporters he had spoken with Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray. 'I know that Asian-Americans are very, very concerned because, as you know, I was speaking about the brutality against Asian-American for the last couple months,' Biden said. 'And I think it is very, very troubling.' 'But I'm making no connection at this moment. The motivation of the killer. I'm waiting for an answer, as the investigation proceeds, from the FBI and from the Justice Department,' the president continued. 'I'll have more to say when the investigation has completed.' A white man, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, is accused of killing eight people in three locations Tuesday night in Atlanta. Six of the people were Asian and seven were women. Long allegedly shot give people at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor, which is north of the city. Two people died at the scene, while three were taken to the hospital where two later succumbed to their injuries. An hour later, three women were found dead at Gold Spa. Another woman was found dead at Aromatherapy Spa. The shooter told police that it was a 'sex addiction' and not racist motivations that compelled him to kill. Police have stressed they haven't come to a conclusion about the motivations of the killer. 'The suspect did take responsibility for the shootings,' Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said, according to the Associated Press. 'This is still early, but he does claim it was not racially motivated.' 'He apparently has an issue, what he considers a sex addiction, and sees these locations as ... a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate,' Baker said. Earlier Wednesday, Harris also shared her condolences, prior to her virtual meeting with Martin to mark St. Patrick's Day. 'It is tragic. Our country, the president and I and all of us, we grieve for those lost. Our prayers are with the families of those who have been killed,' Harris said. 'This speaks to a larger issue which is the issue of violence in our country and what we must do to never tolerate it and to always speak out against it.' 'The investigation is ongoing, we don't yet know, we're not yet clear about the motive. But I do want to say to our Asian American community that we stand with you and understand how this has frightened and shocked and outraged all people,' Harris added. First lady Jill Biden also spoke about the shooting during her trip Wednesday to New Hampshire. 'I want to start by saying something directly to the families of the shooting victims in Atlanta last night. My heart is with you. And I hope that all Americans will join me in praying for everyone touched by this senseless tragedy,' the first lady said. The president made a point during last Thursday's primetime speech to address the uptick in hate crimes against Asian-Americans since the advent of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden called out the '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, 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,' Biden continued. 'It's wrong, it's un-American and it must stop.' Psaki pointed a finger at former President Donald Trump's administration when asked later Wednesday at the press briefing why Biden believed attacks on Asian-Americans are increasing. 'I think there's no question that some of the damaging rhetoric that we saw during the prior administration blaming - calling COVID the Wuhan virus or other things, led to perceptions of the Asian-American community that are inaccurate, unfair, have raised threatening, has elevated threats against Asian-Americans and we're seeing that around the country,' Psaki said. A week ago, Trump, again, used the racist phrase 'China virus' in a statement taking credit for the swift development of COVID-19 vaccines. '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.' the ex-president wrote. Biden previously made moves to stop usage of the term by signing an executive order titled 'Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States' on day No. 6 of his presidency. 'The Federal Government must recognize that it has played a role in furthering these xenophobic sentiments through the actions of political leaders, including references to the COVID-19 pandemic by the geographic location of its origin,' the order said. 'Such statements have stoked unfounded fears and perpetuated stigma about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and have contributed to increasing rates of bullying, harassment, and hate crimes against AAPI persons,' it continued. Psaki said Wednesday that White House officials Richmond and Susan Rice will be doing 'listening sessions' with members of the Asian-American community. The group Stop AAPI Hate said in February that it received 2,808 firsthand accounts of anti-Asian hate from 47 states and Washington, D.C. from March 19, 2020 to the end of last year. In January, an 84-year-old Asian-American man was killed in an attack in San Francisco, which the family believed to be racially motivated. Video went viral of who police identified as 19-year-old Antoine Watson, slamming Vicha Ratanapakdee to the ground. 'If you see video, there's nothing non-intentional about it,' Ratanapakdee's step-son, Eric Lawson told KTVU, Fox's Bay Area affiliate. 'For him to come from all the way across the street, what else could have motivated him?' he said of Watson's actions. In February, video came out of a 91-year-old man in Oakland, California's Chinatown neighborhood being pushed to the ground, also during daytime hours. 'What we've discovered isn't that we've just had a spike, but we've had a surge over the entire year last year with COVID-19 and with the president's political rhetoric in the last administration,' Russell Jeung, a co-founder of the coalition and a professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, told NPR. Trump defended using 'China virus' a day before Stop AAPI Hate started tracking anti-Asian hate crimes. 'It's not racist at all,' Trump said at a coronavirus taskforce press briefing on March 18. 'No, not at all.' He said he used the term 'because it comes from China.' 'That's why,' he continued. 'I want to be accurate.' Even then, there were already dozens of reports of bias against Chinese-Americans in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 21:32:57|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KATHMANDU, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Nepal's import of medical equipment and tools from China more than doubled during the first seven months of the current fiscal year 2020-21 amid COVID-19 pandemic although overall import from its northern neighbour plunged, Nepali central bank's statistics show. Import of medical equipment and tools surged by 114 percent to 20.9 million U.S. dollars as of the first seven months of the current fiscal year that began in mid-July 2020. Nepal imported these items worth 9.8 million U.S. dollar during the same period of last fiscal year 2019-20. This is however the continuation of the trend observed in the entire 12 months of the last fiscal year 2019-20. Nepal's import of these items from China soared by 107 percent to 28.8 million U.S. dollar in fiscal 2019-20, according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) statistics. Coronavirus virus crisis in Nepal had begun from second half of the last fiscal year and has continued till now affecting the general lives and economy badly. While import of the medical items from China surged substantially, Nepal also imported huge quantity of medical equipments from other countries Ram Sharan Bhandari, chairperson of Om Surgical Concern, an importer of medical equipments and tools, told Xinhua on Friday that the increased import of medical equipment and tools was particularly due to the high demand for the testing kits and equipment as well as personal protective equipment against the COVID-19 pandemic. "After the pandemic entered into Nepal last year, the demand for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machines and kits to be used in such machines, personal protective equipment gowns and other disposable materials surged," he said. "Both the government and the private hospitals have sought supply of these items massively in the last one year." The Nepali government has made substantive rise in health budget in the current fiscal year, particularly for developing infrastructure, which is expected to boost demand for medical equipments in the country. While import of medical equipment and tools from China surged, overall import from China declined during the first seven months of this fiscal. According to the NRB's statistics, Nepal's total import from China decreased by 12.4 percent to 998 million U.S. dollar as of first seven months of this fiscal. According to the statistics, Nepal saw decline in most of the important goods imported from China such as electrical goods, telecommunication equipment, readymade garments and machineries. "As the number of the cases of COVID-19 has been decreasing substantially in the recent months, demand for medical equipment is likely to decrease in the days to come," said Bhandari. As of Thursday, the Nepali government reported 275,625 COVID-19 cases while the total deaths reached 3,015, accordion to the country's health ministry. Enditem New Delhi [India], March 19 (ANI/ PRNewswire): Agarwal Packers and Movers Ltd. (APML) issues pre-alert and guidelines to save and forewarn innocent customers against companies carrying out packing and moving activities in a fraudulent manner under the name of Agarwal Packers and Movers and/ or similar name type that escapes the attention at most times. Hundreds of innocent customers are falling prey to these fake websites and their phishing advertisements. Ultimately, once they get trapped they face the huge financial loss of their precious goods which is their life savings and has great emotive value. These fake companies reach out to the public via various search engines & on-line platforms and entice people by portraying themselves as the associates or agents of Agarwal Packers and Movers. On a regular basis, APML displays such cheating incidents on the media page of its website. It is indeed quite shocking to know that such fraudulent companies are demolishing the goodwill and hard-earned trust of the original Agarwal Packers and Movers Limited that has been in existence for the last 35 years. Ramesh Agarwal, CMD- APML issue advisories on a National as well as local level via PR and media advertisement to aware and alert innocent customers and protect them from moving scams by such fraudsters. The company has also created an awareness page on its official website (https://www.agarwalpackers.com) under Beware of Fake Page (https://www.agarwalpackers.com/beware-of-fake.html) APML advises all customers to be cautious, as, daily around 50 people get trapped by fake Agarwal Packers and Movers and this has become a big menace. The guidelines showcase that the original and trustworthy APML has a unique contact number 9-300-300-300 and website (https://www.agarwalpackers.com) along with the assurance picture of Ramesh Agarwal with a 'cap' duly exhibited on its website, stationery & other printed documents alongside the name of Agarwal Packers and Movers Ltd. APML is doing its best possible to contain this National menace and the company is taking stringent action against such fraudsters that come into their notice. FIRs have also been filed at police stations in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Bangalore and Jaipur and many other police stations have been informed to take necessary action. APML also encourages the general public to check on-line and news clips as to how such fraudsters cheat the general public and APML also request them to help us by bringing such cases under our notice and the company assures us to keep all names confidential. Beware of such fraudsters to save your emotions from falling into the wrong hands. Remain vigil and check thoroughly is a request to the general public. This story is provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ PRNewswire) DISCLAIMER (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In 2016, a polar bear cub named Nora arrived at the Oregon Zoo, to be paired with an older bear named Tasul to provide companionship for Tasul and socialization for Nora. The cub had developed metabolic bone disease in infancy and went on to require surgery for a broken leg bone in 2019, while she was living at Utahs Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. Heres an account of that surgery from the forthcoming book The Loneliest Polar Bear: A True Story of Survival and Peril on the Edge of a Warming World, by Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Kale Williams, based on his 2017 series The Loneliest Polar Bear. Williams will discuss The Loneliest Polar Bear with journalist and author Jon Mooallem in a virtual Powells Books event at 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 24. Register at powells.com/events. Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Kale Williams has turned his 2017 series on Nora the polar bear into a new book. (Author photo by Dave Killen)Courtesy of Crown Jeff Watkins had spent more than thirty years, essentially his whole career, fixing fractures in large animals, but the email he got in late January still caught him by surprise. Watkins had studied veterinary medicine in Kansas before going to grad school at Texas A&M, where he became fascinated with the anatomy of horsesthe interplay of muscle and bone, how joints rotate and support the mass of animals that weigh hundreds of pounds. More specifically, he was interested in how to fix fractures in large bones. Minor breaks could sometimes be allowed to heal in a cast, but for severe breaks, a cast is not an optionthe animal has to undergo surgery. And performing surgery on a horse isnt easy. Foals need to be able to put weight on all four legs almost immediately after the procedure, or else complications can occurtheir other legs might develop joint issues, muscles can atrophy, tendons may contract. In the mid-eighties, when Watkins was training in orthopedic surgery, most foals that broke their legs had to be euthanized. Doctors have experimented with using metal implants to fix broken bones in humans since at least the early 1890s, and by the 1970s they had begun using a type of rod with holes into which screws could be inserted perpendicular to the bone, above and below the site of the fracture. The addition of interlocking screws prevented the segments of the bone from rotating or telescoping over each other and allowed the injured limb to bear weight soon after surgery. By the early eighties, the interlocking intramedullary nail was a common treatment for people with broken femurs and tibias. After creating his own custom tools to complete the procedure, Watkins pioneered the use of the intramedullary nail in young horses. He traveled all over the country performing the surgeries, including to the veterinary school at the University of California, Davis. He met another surgeon there, Amy Kapatkin, who had operated on the broken femur of an eighteen-month-old polar bear named Tundra at the Bronx Zoo in 1993. When the vets at Hogle saw the images of Noras humerus, they knew that the type of surgery required to fix a bone of that size was beyond their expertise. They started locally, calling a small animal surgeon in Salt Lake City. He was interested but didnt have the right equipment. The zoo vets expanded their search, calling and sending emails to anyone they thought might be able to help. One person had heard of Tundra and referred Erika Crook to Kapatkin at UC Davis, who in turn referred her to Watkins at Texas A&M. Thats how the horse surgeon ended up getting an email in late January asking if hed be willing to operate on a very broken polar bear named Nora. Nora straddles a log in her enclosure at Utah's Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City on Feb. 8, 2018.Kale Williams/Staff Watkins had never operated on a polar bear, and nobody he knew of had ever attempted to fix a humerus in one. Noras leg had already been broken for several days at that point, and the longer it remained untreated, the harder it would be to repair. With every day that passed, Noras muscles stiffened more around the broken bone. If he was going to attempt the surgery, there would be a very small window in which to arrange all the logistics and complete the procedure. Hed consider it, he told Crook, but only if he could bring along another veterinary orthopedic surgeon from Texas A&M named Kati Glass. She knew the procedure and was familiar with the equipment, and, most important, Watkins trusted her. She began researching polar bear anatomy while Watkins set about tracking down the equipment he would need. He had the interlocking nail, but for an animal of Noras size, he wanted to use a plate, too, for added strength, and hed need to have it sent to Utah. He would also need a specific type of drill, as well as specialized screws and various sizes of medical drill bits. And he would need it all to arrive in Utah, sterilized, in a matter of days. He called the rep at his medical supplier, Johnson & Johnson, and they donated $90,000 worth of equipment, promising it would be where it needed to be by the time Watkins was ready to operate. He got the X-rays of Noras fracture from the vets at Hogle, but he couldnt tell how big the cavity in the bone was and he wasnt sure the rod would fit. Watkins and Glass had never heard of Nora, but in the course of her research Glass learned that their prospective patient was a celebrity in the zoo world. Her dedicated fans in Oregon and Ohio would be satisfied with nothing less than a completely successful operation. Her fame added another layer of pressure to the surgery. When he operates on horses, Watkins usually has a frank discussion with the owner beforehand. He tells them that sometimes, during the course of the operation, it becomes clear that the fracture is beyond repair. If he cant get the bone fragments to align just right or if the repair will leave the foal in pain for the rest of its life, the only humane option is to euthanize the animal. Watkins knew he couldnt consider that as an option for Nora. An anesthesiologist was brought in from North Carolina, and a local orthopedic surgeon was called in to assist. The equipment that had been shipped to Utah arrived on time and undamaged. The following Sunday, Watkins flew to Salt Lake City. He would operate the next day, more than a week after Nora had been discovered not moving in her enclosure. Early Monday morning, a team of vets and keepers sedated Nora in the holding area. She was carried the short distance to the zoo hospital on a cargo net hoisted by ten people, including Randinitis and Jablonski. For Crook, the whole first hour was a whirlwind of activity, but the move was one of the most stressful times. She had been responsible for sedating Nora, and she kept a close eye on the bear for any signs that she was waking up. She was injured and unconscious, but Nora was still a five-hundred-pound carnivore, and now she was essentially uncontained. If she woke up, the situation could get dangerous very quickly. But the sedatives worked, and the sleeping bear made it to the operating table without incident. Nora was positioned on the table while Crook assisted the anesthesiologist. Watkins and Glass and the other members of the surgical team scrubbed in as Nora was intubated and put on a ventilator. Crook helped attach a catheter to the bears ear so they could monitor her blood pressure and other vital signs while Jablonski and Randinitis stood on the other side of a window. Watkins was doing his best to focus on the task at hand, but there was a lot to marvel at. As they shaved the hair from the incision site, he was shocked to realize that under all that white fur, polar bears have dark, almost purple skin. Nora eats a combination of Cheerios, peanut butter and medications in a holding area of Utah's Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City on Feb. 8, 2018.Kale Williams/Staff Nearly an hour after she was sedated, Nora was fully prepped and covered in surgical drapes, and the procedure started in earnest. Watkins cut a nearly fifteen-inch incision, which curved around Noras arm from her shoulder to just above her elbow. The team peeled back her skin and began making their way toward the site of the fracture. It wasnt so different from a horse, Watkins thought to himself. Once they got to the break itself, Watkins knew it was going to be difficult to get the bones lined up, which is necessary for the rod to be inserted correctly. He began trying all the things hed learned on horses over his career, but nothing was working. It took a lot of effort, both mentally and physically, and sweat beaded on Watkinss brow. Out of other options, he tried to tent the bone, bending the two segments up into a triangle in hopes that he could pull them back down into a straight line, but no amount of force could overcome Noras muscles. Just outside the operating room, Randinitis watched intently from behind the glass. There was nothing she could do from her side of the window, but she felt she needed to be there just the same. She never thought of the zoos animals as pets, not fully, but in her mind they were like some combination of a pet, a child, and a co-worker. She felt it was necessary for Nora to know she was there, even if only on a subconscious level. Jablonski was there, too, watching as Watkins struggled to get the segments of Noras humerus to line up. Nora wasnt the only animal in their care, so the keepers ducked out when they had to tend to their other charges. But keepers from other parts of the zoo volunteered to cover for them so they could watch as much of the procedure as possible. When Watkins had been talking with the reps at Johnson & Johnson, theyd asked him what size bone saw he wanted. The surgeon hadnt included a saw in his initial orderhe didnt normally use one for this type of procedurebut he knew that if he turned it down, hed find himself needing one. They threw in a blade with the other equipment, and as Watkins weighed the risks of cutting into Noras already broken bone, he was glad they had. It was a measure of last resort. The goal of the surgery was to repair the bone and leave it intact. Removing any material could create complications; hed never had to do it before, and he wasnt sure exactly how it would affect the healing process. But hed already been working on Nora for a few hours at that point, and the longer an animal stays under anesthesia, the riskier the procedure becomes. He attached the saw blade to the drill and trimmed off a small pointy piece of the upper bone segment, the part that attached to the shoulder. It did the trick. The bones were brought into alignment, and Watkins put a big clamp on the humerus to hold it in place. He slid the nail down into the cavity and used a special tool to target the holes, inserting three screws above the site of the fracture and two below. In a foal of Noras size, he would have added a plate, too. But Nora had been in surgery for several hours and under anesthesia even longer. Her vital signs were beginning to falter, and the risk of infection increased with every minute she was open on the table. Putting in a plate would take another couple of hours at least, and Watkins didnt want to risk it. He wrapped the bone in cables that he cinched down and crimped in place, right around the break, hoping they would provide the fixation that Nora would need to heal. With a horse, Watkins would be able to dress the wound and manage it throughout the healing process. Once Nora woke up, no one would be able to touch her again without putting her under, and there was no way to bandage her wound or keep her from licking the incision site. All they could do now was wait for Nora to wake up and hope for the best. Adapted excerpt from THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR by Kale Williams, copyright 2021 by Kale Williams. Used by permission of Crown, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. To learn more about Nora: More than 200 guests joined the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation Western Division for the virtual Horizon Award Gala on Thursday. Due to the pandemic, this years IICF gala, an event that often requires massive planning and volunteer efforts, was virtual. The event was broadcast via the Internet live, with table networking enabling guests to connect with colleagues throughout the region. The IICF is a nonprofit that has served as the philanthropic foundation of the insurance industry for more than 25 years, contributing a reported $42 million in community grants along with 300,000 volunteer hours by more than 110,000 industry professionals. The years gala recognized the USC Leventhal School of Accountings Risk Management Program. A nonprofit is also featured each year. This year it was the Covenant House California being featured. CHC is a nonprofit youth homeless shelter that provides sanctuary and support for homeless and trafficked youth. Funds raised during the gala event will benefit the IICF Community Grants Program in the year ahead. Organizers anticipate the event raised nearly $170,000. A recording of the event has been posted on YouTube. One unique component of this years event was the IICF Champion for LA competition. Guests were asked to show their industry pride and their Los Angeles allegiance in a fundraising competition between Team Cardinal & Gold and Team Blue and Gold representing USC and UCLA. Marshann G. Varley, managing director of commercial risk and health solutions at Aon, who is an IICF board member and was the events co-chair, said not only was the competition good for raising funds, it helped showcase the USC Leventhal School of Accountings Risk Management Program. Its really going to provide us with the next generation of risk management professionals, Varley said of the program, which was featured in Insurance Journal last year. Varley said having a virtual gala for an industry as people-oriented as insurance was less than ideal. I think the transition to a virtual gala was not anything we wanted, we are a very social industry and we like seeing each other and connecting and networking with each other, she said. The platform used to host the gala, Remo, enabled guests to create a profile and to be seated at tables. Attendees could also leave to visit other tables. Within the first 30 minutes, I was probably able to visit four or five tables, Varley said. Aside from ample virtual networking opportunities, the event included a 30-minute video program with interviews of deans and professors from USC, while current and former students were also heard from. It was really well done, Varley said. It was really a little bit of everything. The year was marred by the pandemic, hampering the efforts of many charities, but the IICF still raised big funds. Last year, the IICF Western Division awarded $627,000 in grants, supporting 65 nonprofits, and the group reports it was also able to provide 2.5 million meals to children and families facing food insecurity as part of its Childrens Relief Fund. Varley said a few weeks ago that she sat on a virtual zoom call in which the IICF presented grants to the nonprofits, and each of them in turn spoke about the impact the grants had on their organizations. I was actually very moved by how much of a impact this money makes on their nonprofits, she said. I would say more than ever, this is the year that they need our help. Related: Topics COVID-19 Risk Management chief DK Shivakumar has called a meeting of senior party leaders, MPs and MLAs on March 20. This comes after the party announced names of candidates for by-elections on Maski and Basavakalyana Assembly seats and Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency. President Sonia Gandhi has approved the candidature of Ashok Managoli, Mallamma and Basavanagoud R. Turvihal for by-elections in Sindgi, Basavakalyan and Maski constituencies respectively. Polling for bye-elections of Maski and Basavakalyana Assembly seats and Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency will be held on April 17. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. The Election Commission of Indian has not yet announced the bypoll in Sindagi constituency. (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.) Study conducted at BIDMC is among the first to compare the impact of COVID-19 on patients and hospital resources versus the impact of influenza. Boston, Mass. - In a paper published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, physician-researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) assessed the relative impact of COVID-19 on patients hospitalized with the viral infection in March and April 2020, versus patients hospitalized with influenza during the last five flu seasons at the medical center. Overall, the team demonstrated that COVID-19 cases resulted in significantly more weekly hospitalizations, more use of mechanical ventilation and higher mortality rates than influenza. COVID-19 and influenza are both contagious respiratory viral diseases that can lead to pneumonia and acute respiratory failure in severe cases. However, detailed comparison of the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 and those of influenza are lacking. "COVID-19 has been compared to influenza both by health care professionals and the lay public, but there's really limited detailed objective data available for comparing and contrasting the impact of these two diseases on patients and hospitals," said corresponding author Michael Donnino, MD, Critical Care and Emergency Medicine physician at BIDMC. "We compared patients admitted to BIDMC with COVID-19 in spring 2020 to patients admitted to BIDMC with influenza during the last five flu seasons. We found that COVID-19 causes more severe disease and is more lethal than influenza." Donnino and colleagues included a total of 1,634 hospitalized patients in their study, 582 of whom had laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and 1,052 of whom had confirmed influenza. The team found that, on average, 210 patients were admitted to BIDMC during each eight-month flu season, compared to the 582 patients with COVID-19 admitted in March and April 2020. While 174 patients with COVID-19 (or 30 percent) received mechanical ventilation during the two-month period, just 84 patients with influenza (or 8 percent) were placed on ventilation over all five seasons of influenza. Likewise, the proportion of patients who died was much higher for COVID-19 than for influenza; 20 percent of admitted patients with COVID-19 died in the two-month period, compared to three percent of patients with influenza over five seasons. Further analysis revealed that hospitalized patients with COVID-19 tended to be younger than those hospitalized with influenza. Among patients requiring mechanical ventilation, patients with COVID-19 were on ventilation much longer -- a median duration of two weeks -- compared to just over three days for patients with influenza. Moreover, among patients requiring mechanical ventilation, patients with COVID-19 were far less likely to have had pre-existing medical conditions. "Our data illustrate that 98 percent of deaths of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were directly or indirectly related to their COVID-19 illness, illustrating that patients did not die with COVID but rather from COVID pneumonia or a complication," said Donnino. The authors note that the stringent social distancing guidance in effect last spring may have impacted these findings by limiting the incidence and lethality of COVID-19 toward the end of April 2020. Conversely, some treatment practices have evolved over the course of the pandemic, potentially improving outcomes for patients with COVID-19. ### Co-authors included Ari Moskowitz, MD, Garrett S. Thompson, MPH, Stanley J. Heydrick, PhD, Rahul D. Pawar, MD, Katherine M. Berg, MD, Shivani Mehta, Parth V. Patel, BSN, RN, and Anne V. Grossestreuer, PhD, all of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. This work was supported by internal funding. Donnino, Moskowitz and Berg are supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (K24HL127101, R01HL136705 and 1R01DK112886; K23GM128005; and K23HL128881404). The authors declare no competing financial interests. Editor's Note: The contents of this press release reflect findings published in a pre-print version of the manuscript at MedRxiv.org. About Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School and consistently ranks as a national leader among independent hospitals in National Institutes of Health funding. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit http://www. bidmc. org . Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, a new health care system that brings together academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, community and specialty hospitals, more than 4,000 physicians and 35,000 employees in a shared mission to expand access to great care and advance the science and practice of medicine through groundbreaking research and education. Mondays 24-hour Planning and Development Committee Public Hearing concerning seven different bills to mandate certain zoning rules for all communities in our state demonstrated that the debate surrounding state-mandated local zoning has become even more heated. Similar state-mandate-of-local-zoning bills are also showing up in committees such as Housing, Transportation and even Public Health. The tenor of the debate became clear when Mayor Justin Elicker of New Haven accused the towns of Greenwich, New Canaan and others of using existing zoning laws to discriminate against people of color. That was how he justified the need to pass new state-mandated local zoning laws. Calls by Greenwich leaders for him to apologize have been met with him doubling down on his reckless accusation. Three-hundred and forty-one speakers signed up to testify concerning the spate of legislation, but the meeting proceeded slowly due to the many questions being asked of the proponents of these zoning bills. At the 24-hour mark approximately 100 folks were still waiting to have their voices heard, but they did not get their chance. There is a great deal of confusion about these bills. Are these zoning ideas new mandates or suggested guidelines? Could increasing septic capacity limits hurt groundwater? Will the removal of parking requirements on new housing mean more on-street parking? Is it realistic to assume future residents of the increased density areas required by the legislation will not own a car but will instead use public transport or ride-sharing services such as Uber? Are these bills designed to create additional below-market affordable housing or to create additional market-based housing? Remarkably, these bills to upend local zoning controls are intended to create additional market-based housing rather than affordable housing. The bills intent is to remove barriers and reduce costs to developers and trigger a building surge in Connecticut. Guess who was on the list to testify in support of these bills? The Homebuilders and Remodelers Association of Connecticut and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local 326. According to Sara Bronin, founder of DesegregateCT, SB1024 An Act Concerning Zoning Authority, Certain Design Guidelines, Qualification of Certain Land Use Officials, and Certain Sewage Disposal Systems contains all of her proposals as-of-right multi-unit buildings on main streets and by transit stations, form-based zoning for buildings and streetscapes, reduced parking requirements, removal of the word character, and more. Consider these facts about Connecticuts housing market. During the last 30 years, Connecticut housing prices have increased at the slowest pace in the country. Since 1991, Constitution State homeowners have watched other states housing markets appreciate, while, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, theirs was dead last in appreciation. Through 2019, Connecticut was on an eight-year losing streak of suffering net losses of residents. According to a 2018 study by the Connecticut Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth, Connecticuts higher-income-earning individuals who left were replaced by those earning less. And, during COVID despite unprecedented federal unemployment assistance pushing up personal income nationally, Connecticut ranked second-to-last for personal income growth, according to a February 2021 analysis by Pew Charitable Trusts. Still, in the last 18 years, the largest amount of new affordable housing in our state was built in southwestern Connecticut. According to the states Department of Housing, 48 percent of all new 8-30g affordable housing was built in the region of Western Connecticut Council of Governments, WestCOG, which includes Greenwich and Stamford and extends to Westport. This was accomplished through the creative thinking and innovations of the dedicated citizens of those communities that serve on local zoning commissions. Given this increase in affordable housing, one has to question whether the mandated incentives to developers contained in Senate Bill 1024 are necessary. The proponents of these state-mandated zoning bills point to data on the DesegregateCT website that they claim demonstrates Connecticut to be the most segregated state in the country. However, data at the WestCOG website proves Connecticut is not the most segregated state in the country. Furthermore, according to the national Dissimilarity Index, a commonly used measure of residential segregation, Connecticut is ranked as the 16th most diverse state in the country. During Mondays hearing some of the legislators supporting these state-mandated zoning bills spoke about how much they valued each citizens voice. Yet the bills they were supporting would nearly eliminate public hearings for local zoning applications, thus silencing the public input they profess so much to appreciate. Worse, SB1024 provides any aggrieved party alleging that the zoning regulations of a municipality are noncompliant ... may file an application in the superior court. (lines 357 to 364). This provision would allow any aggrieved party to bypass the local zoning appeals board and go directly to court. SB1024 also provides that, If a municipality fails to adopt new regulations or amend existing regulations by June 1, 2022 ... any noncompliant existing regulation shall become null and void (lines 484 to 491). If enacted, these legislative proposals would result in a feeble, shrinking local voice on zoning in our communities, a dramatic reversal of Connecticuts timeless Home Rule tradition. Yet without a strong grassroots effort to educate our legislators about the importance of retaining local control over zoning matters, the chances of these bills passing are high given the majorities held by the Democratic Party in both chambers of the state Legislature. Absolutely, we have a moral obligation to care for those in need and help folks access the American dream of home ownership. And thats why I advocate so passionately for policies to reduce government bureaucracy and to unleash education and job opportunities. I hope you will make your local voice heard. Please call Senate Dems at 860-240-8600, House Dems at 860-240-8500, and Gov. Ned Lamont at 860-566-4840 and tell them you oppose any legislation that reduces local decisions rights over local zoning. Kimberly Fiorello is state representative in District 149, which includes Greenwich and Stamford. Friday, March 19, 2021 Homeland Security Hearing From Two Planets By Margaret Orchowski Listening to the highly partisan members of the Congressional Homeland Security committee grill the newly approved (January) HLS Secretary Alejandra Mayorkas at a hearing March 17 on "The Way Forward", was like another world experience. That's partly because the members were not there physically it being a virtual hearing. But also because the Democratic and Republican members' questions, positions, arguments and responses seemed to be from two completely different planets even on what one might think were fairly uncontroversial questions: For instance, Republicans repeatedly asked how many of the tens of thousands of migrants who surged across the U.S. Southern border in the past two months were tested for the corona virus? Almost all were put on public transportation to be taken to holding or transfer stations, and thousands of minors under the age of 18 were detained for at least three days before being released into the country. How many tested positive? Were communities that were sent hundreds of teenage detainees told how many were positive? Again and again Mayorkas answered he didn't have those figures with him. But he repeatedly said the DHLS "supported the policy of testing 100 percent of everyone who entered the country". The question remained however: how many had they tested? "We're doing the best we can," the Secretary finally sighed after three hours. "We have a four point plan'. "Your answers are nauseating," replied Republican Clay Higgins (LA) who refused to use his five minutes time to listen to the four point plan. "Put it in writing. It's just talking points.You aren't answering our questions." Later a Democrat asked him to describe the 4 point testing plan. That might have been a mistake. It was not applauded. First the ideal: test at the pick up site. Mayorkas admitted that that was almost impossible to do for lack of time, environment, trained personnel and supplies; 2) do it at a holding facility (again difficult for the same reasons); 3) do at a community detention center with volunteers; the organization would eventually be reimbursed. Or 4) look for a private vender to test, have ICE handle the quarantine. But why are they even being detained at all?" several Republicans demanded "Don't you agree that crossing the border without authorization is illegal? That it is breaking the law? The law demands immediate removal." "Yes, I agree", said the Secretary, the national head of immigration law enforcement. "But, if detainees request asylum we have to let them make their case and if they are unaccompanied children, they stay in the States until they do which can be years." "Trump made them wait in Mexico", some Republicans recalled. "On his first day, Biden rescinded that protocol and agreement with Mexico. Various Democrats called that protocol draconian, cruel, inhumane and un-American. And on it went. The spin made everyone confused. Even Henry Cuellar a Blue Dog Democrat from Texas who has long been involved with immigration issues, referred to the thousands of migrants crossing without authorization and planning to seek asylum as "refugees" a very different category. (Refugees have to prove they are fleeing mortal danger in a long, official process. But once admitted, they get permanent status while asylees are given temporary status). Both sides seemed to agree on only one thing. The historic numbers. "We are on track for receiving the largest number of unaccompanied children in 20 years," Mayorkas said. He didn't mention that over 75% were 16-17 year old males. The big question however was if that surge is to be welcomed or deterred? Mayorkas didn't remember telling migrants "to come, but not just now". He didn't agree with Republicans that when Biden said it, that was sending the wrong message. Mayorkas repeatedly refused to label the situation a "crisis" as all Republicans insisted it was. And while most agreed the situation had become an humanitarian crisis. Republicans blamed President Biden's welcoming message for it while Democrats blamed President Trump's inflamed rhetoric and even the border patrol's union. Like being on two different planets. # # # ## # 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. HOLYOKE In an attempt to quell budding dissent over a $400 million proposal to build a new Soldiers Home in Holyoke, the regions most powerful federal lawmaker jumped into the fray. U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal a Springfield Democrat and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday called state Senate President Karen Spilka and new House Speaker Ronald Mariano as the debate over the bond bill heated up. I lobbied enthusiastically for the bond bill, Neal said on Thursday. It went swimmingly well. The House Ways and Means Committee is among the most powerful in federal government as it essentially serves as the purse strings for the White House. The committee is behind the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill signed into law last week by President Joe Biden. Plans for a new Soldiers Home were accelerated after nearly 80 veterans died in a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility last spring. The $400 million state bond bill proposal has raised eyebrows among some legislators and veterans advocates in eastern Massachusetts. Detractors have balked at the price tag and wonder what will be left over for veterans services for the rest of the state. State Sen. Marc Pacheco of Taunton raised concerns about the project during a legislative committee hearing on Tuesday. Maybe there should be a look at what else really needs to be done, for a greater number of veterans across the state, Pacheco, co-chairman of the Administrative and Regulatory Oversight Committee, said in advance of the hearing. Im not saying dont do Holyoke ... not at all; that would be crazy. But whether or not they need $400 million of investment there is a legitimate question. Neal said state Sen. John Velis, a Westfield Democrat and chairman of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs, called to solicit his help when the bond bill began hitting some headwinds. I appreciate Congressman Neals support of this project and many others. I often look to him for his guidance in navigating these issues, said Velis, a freshman state senator who served multiple terms in the House. Pacheco and some of his colleagues are specifically focused on what they believe is a lack of veterans services in southeastern Massachusetts. Neal said Spilka only inquired about whether hed be willing to support additional funding for projects in that area. I said, absolutely, Neal recounted. The bond bill is facing an April 1 deadline for passage in the state Legislature to make an April 15 deadline to secure $260 million in reimbursed funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Supporters of the project hope to break ground next year. Related content: New Delhi, March 19 : The Delhi Government on Friday said vaccination centres in all Delhi government-run hospitals will operate till 9 pm from March 22. An order has been issued in this regard by Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain. Sharing the order on his Twitter handle, Jain said, "Taking cognisance of the sudden surge in the COVID cases, all Delhi government hospitals will hereby operate vaccination sites in their premises till at least 9 pm," Jain said. He also assured that adequate manpower will be deployed to ensure that this is done seamlessly. "I request Delhiites to follow proper protocol and stay safe," Jain tweeted. The order issued by health department of the Delhi government read, "In order to accelerate the pace of Covid-19 vaccination, centres should be increased." As per the Delhi health department, a total of 29499 beneficiaries, including 12682 senior citizens, received Covid-19 vaccine shots in the national capital on Friday. In the age bracket 45-59 years, 2540 beneficiaries received the jabs. Meanwhile, 1630 front line workers received their first dose while the count of healthcare workers remained 1641 in a day. Besides, 11006 beneficiaries received their second shot of Covid-19 vaccines. Two cases of minor adverse events following immunisation was also recorded, officials said. CHICAGO, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Choose Chicago, in partnership with the City of Chicago, today announced an innovative new initiative aimed at boosting recovery efforts for neighborhood communities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic: Chicago Alfresco. Chicago Alfresco is an integral part of Choose Chicago's push for more neighborhood tourism and one pillar of the City's broader initiative to open streets and create places for dining, public life, community, arts, culture, walking and biking. "Outdoor dining has become a lifeline for so many of our neighborhoods, but not all of them have been able to take advantage of our safe, outdoor dining programs," said Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. "And by creating and transforming public spaces, the Chicago Alfresco initiative will significantly increase our city's ability to fully revitalize the public way. Last year, we started this program out of necessity to help bars and restaurants stay open safely, now we've seen how well this program works and how much the City loves it, so we want to keep it going." "This partnership is an outstanding example of what makes Chicago the Best Big City in the U.S.," said Glenn Eden, Chair, Choose Chicago Board of Directors. "Chicago Alfresco will make our neighborhood treasures more accessible to everyone, in a socially responsible manner. Dining is one of the hallmarks of the Chicago visitor and resident experience. And on the initiative dedicated to creating outdoor public space, we are thrilled to collaborate with Diageo and the City to support the communities that have been severely impacted by COVID." Chicago Alfresco builds upon the success of the City's Expanded Outdoor Dining program, which was extremely important during the COVID pandemic for hundreds of Chicago restaurants, enabling them to operate in private parking lots, on sidewalks, and in closed streets. That program will continue as it did last year for intermittent closures and those on private property. "Driving tourists to our neighborhoods is a key priority for Choose Chicago, now more than ever. Chicago Alfresco will transform the face of tourism by allowing every area of our city to reimagine its community space. This program is a first of its kind in the nation. I want to thank Diageo for stepping up in support of our neighborhoods and advancing our citywide mission of ensuring our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is both equitable and inclusive," says Choose Chicago neighborhood strategy lead Rob Fojtik. In support of the project to help create more public space, the North America business of Diageo -owner of brands such as Guinness, Smirnoff and Crown Royal- has committed $2.5 million to support the city's economic recovery plan. Grant resources will be prioritized for neighborhoods with the greatest potential for tourism growth, and at least three-quarters of the funds will be spent on the South and West Sides of Chicago, with a focus on underrepresented communities and small business areas disproportionately harmed by the pandemic. Community-led place-based public way activations throughout the City have typically depended on an applicant's capacity to fund proposed projects, and this third-party grant opportunity will provide neighborhood organizations the financial assistance they require to implement their projects. The city holds particular significance to Diageo as it is home to one of the company's corporate offices. Dr. Danielle Robinson, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Diageo North America, said: "By improving public spaces for these communities to come together and safely socialize, we are helping reactivate the vitality of the City of Chicago and its economic engine. Diageo is proud to contribute to the City's goal to emerge stronger with the recovery." These donated funds will be managed by Choose Chicago and dispersed independently through the non-profit neighborhood chambers of commerce for various projects intended to cover improvements for general outdoor public enjoyment, including traffic safety equipment, design costs (such as planters, lighting, umbrellas, architect and design planners' fees), and surface treatments. The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) is now accepting Chicago Alfresco proposals from community organizations such as Chambers of Commerce, Special Service Area providers, and other not-for-profit organizations interested in creating longer-term active community spaces that are anchored by outdoor dining or which highlight community-focused placemaking, support community identity, and provide opportunities for public enjoyment. Neighborhood organizations can find more information at www.chicagoalfresco.com. Proposals for Chicago Alfresco and public way projects will be accepted by the City until April 15. The City will approve the first round of plans for both by April 30. A virtual webinar will be held on March 26 at 3pm to answer any questions regarding the Chicago Alfresco Call for Projects. Neighborhood organizations may then move forward with their own sources of funding if they are not eligible for the available grants managed by Choose Chicago. About Choose Chicago Choose Chicago is the official sales and marketing organization responsible for promoting Chicago as a global visitor and meetings destination, leveraging the city's unmatched assets to ensure the economic vitality of the city and its member business community. For more information, visit choosechicago.com. Follow @choosechicago on Twitter and on Instagram @choosechicago. Like us on Facebook. About Diageo North America Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Casamigos and Don Julio tequilas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Tanqueray and Guinness. Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE: DGE) and their products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, their people, brands, and performance, visit www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice. Follow at Twitter and Instagram for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA. SOURCE Choose Chicago Related Links http://www.choosechicago.com New Delhi: US Secretary of Defence Lloyd James Austin III reached New Delhi on Friday for a three-day visit to India, he called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and conveyed greetings of US President Joe Biden, the PMO said in a press release. PM Modi welcomed the warm and close relationship between the two countries, which is rooted in shared values of democracy, pluralism and commitment to a rules-based order, the release said. Taking to microblogging site Twitter, PM Modi informed about his meeting with Austin. He wrote: "Pleasure to meet US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin today. Conveyed my best wishes to President of US Joe Biden. India and US are committed to our strategic partnership that is a force for global good." Pleasure to meet U.S. @SecDef Lloyd Austin today. Conveyed my best wishes to @POTUS @JoeBiden. India and US are committed to our strategic partnership that is a force for global good. pic.twitter.com/Z1AoGJlzFX Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 19, 2021 The Prime Minister outlined his vision for the strategic partnership between the two nations and emphasised the important role of bilateral defence cooperation. The PM asked Austin to convey his best wishes to Biden. Austin who is on a three-nation first overseas tour as the Defence Secretary, stopped in New Delhi on Friday. His visit is seen as a reflection of the Joe Biden administrations strong commitment to its relations with its close allies and partners in the region. The US defence secretary visited Japan and South Korea before arriving in India. The defence secretary's India visit comes days after the top leadership of the Quad grouping of India, the US, Japan and Australia vowed to expand their cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. The Indo-US defence ties have been on an upswing with US designating India Major Defence Partner in June 2016. The two countries also inked key defence and security pacts over the past few years, including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016. The COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) signed in 2018 provides for interoperability between the two militaries and provides for sale of high end technology from the US to India. In October 2020, India and the US sealed the BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) agreement to further boost bilateral defence ties. The Income Tax (I-T) department has seized over Rs 16 crore of unaccounted cash from searches carried out in poll-bound Tamil Nadu. As part of the election surveillance being carried out for the ensuing assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the I-T department conducted search actions on five premises in Chennai on Tuesday. "These five premises belong to five entities, who, in addition to their regular business, are also acting as cash handlers. The action resulted in a cash seizure of Rs 5.32 crore," the Finance Ministry said in a release. In a separate action, the I-T department on Wednesday carried out search and seizure operations on a business group engaged in yarn trading and supply of PPE kits, bags and baby care kits to various state governments. The searches were conducted in eight premises at Tirupur, Dharapuram and Chennai. Also read: I-T raids on 2 Chennai-based groups; undisclosed income worth Rs 1,000 cr detected "The search has resulted in seizure of unaccounted cash of Rs 11.50 crore and total unaccounted income detected so far is Rs 80 crore. Further investigations are in progress," it said. The searches revealed that the group is engaged in the practice of suppressing profit by inflating purchases and other expenses. The unaccounted income so generated is utilised for making investments in land and expansion of business, the release said. The seizure of unaccounted cash will reduce the possibility of its utilisation for electoral purposes and will aid the objective of free and fair poll, the ministry said. The I-T department, it said, has stepped up monitoring and is closely watching the cash movement during the ensuing assembly elections. Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will go to poll in a single phase on April 6, while the votes will be counted on May 2. Also read: 'Not so sasti anymore': Taapsee Pannu breaks silence on I-T raid New Delhi, March 19 : The BJP on Friday urged the Election Commission to censure West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for using unparliamentary language and levelling baselesss allegation against Union Home Minister Amit Shah. A BJP delegation submitted three memorandums to the poll panel and also demanded deployment of central forces inside polling booths with additional mandate to verify voter identity cards. The delegation includes party General Secretary Bhupendra Yadav, Union Ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Debasree Chaudhuri, and MP Anil Baluni. In a memorandum to the EC against violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by Banerjee, the BJP cited her speech at a rally in Bankura on March 16 in which she had using unparliamentary language and levelled baseless allegations against Shah. "The comments have been made with full knowledge of her falsity, intentionally to harm the reputation of our senior leader and party. It is a brazen attempt in propagation of falsehood to mislead the general public and voter," the memorandum said. The BJP urged the poll panel's intervention against Banerjee for her "continued fraudulent, baseless and abusive practice" and to pass prohibitory orders as "otherwise it might spoil the electoral environment, where abusing and spreading false news will become inevitable and the norm". "Immediately censure Mamata Banerjee... Further, take appropriate legal action for her present and past conduct in gross contempt of and in blatant violation of model code of conduct and electoral laws as elucidated above," the BJP demanded. In another memorandum, the BJP pointed that amid alarming situation of political violence and electoral malpractices in the state, particularly the rampant misuse of state machinery and bureaucracy by the members of the Trinamool Congress, it is imperative that central forces are deployed at the polling booths for the impartial conduct of Assembly elections. "Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel be deployed along with the presiding officers and officers inside the polling booths in the upcoming Assembly elections. CAPF personnel should be assigned the responsibility of voter id or election card verification. This would be in addition to their authority over access control on the respective polling booths," the BJP demanded. They further said that the CAPF personnel be directed to conduct patrolling on the day of polling for control of large scale political violence, prevalent on polling days. "This would not only impede bogus voting, control political violence and killing of political workers but also reaffirm the electorate's faith in the Indian Electoral system," the BJP said. In their third memorandum referring to the attack on party's candidate Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram, the BJP demanded deployment of CAPF at least 15 days before the polling day and some forces deployed even seven days after declaration result to check poll-related violence and to instill confidence among voters. Supply 700 MT oxygen to Delhi daily, dont force us to take cohesive steps: SC to Centre Out of Covaxin, Delhi government urges Serum Institute's Covishield to 'come to rescue' Centre bans Delhi govt's doorstep delivery of ration scheme India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Mar 19: The Central Government on Friday banned doorstep delivery of ration scheme MMGGRY (Mukhya Mantri Ghar Ghar Ration Yojana) of Delhi Government, scheduled to be launched on 25th March. The scheme was supposed to be first rolled out in the Seemapuri area of north-east Delhi's Shahdara district. Centre said that they provide ration to states under the National Food Security Act so no changes should be made to it. One Nation, One Ration Card programme now in 32 states The 'Mukhya Mantri Ghar Ghar Ration Yojna' under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) of the National Food Security Act, 2013, was notified by the government on February 20, the officials said. On January 25, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal mentioned that the state cabinet has approved the scheme and will be operational by March. Kejriwal also informed that the day home delivery of ration commences in Delhi, on the same day, central government's 'One Nation, One Ration Card' Scheme will also be implemented in the state. Delhi has 1.75 million ration cardholders, which translates to 7.16 million beneficiaries, according to authorities. Of the total ration card holders, 1.51 million are covered under the priority household category of the National Food Security Act, 2013, while 0.17 million are covered under the priority state household category, and the remaining 0.07 million come under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana, show government records. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. The 2006 movie, Idiocracy depicted a comically exaggerated American Dystopia. Anything resembling reason and logic had all but been abandoned. Over the decades the fundamentals had taken such a nosedive that farmers were watering their crops with Gatorade instead of water and people started picking up advanced degrees from Costco. It was great fun, but I had not given it much thought until a few weeks ago. It has become apparent in the last few months that logic itself has been 'cancelled'. Rational thought is what keeps such Idiocracies at bay -- short-circuiting anything that has gone too far outside of the prescribed limits. But logic and rational thought really had hindered the agenda of the radical left for a long time, poking its nose into affairs without being asked, screaming out in defiance at the worst moments. It turns out with the help of Big Corp, Big Tech and the Democrats, logic is not even needed anymore. That terrible 'barrier to entry' to so many initiatives has been removed. The tyranny of practicality, logic and thoughtful debate is finally over for the Oligarchs. With this groundwork laid down, America as Idiocracy can now thrive. As the transition from Biden to Trump was underway -- admittedly, it happened in a nebulous way never enjoying a feel good 'kickoff' event -- there were concerns about Trump getting security briefings after he left office. Biden opined that he was too erratic to be trusted with this information. This was notable because it had not been done before. Whether it came out of genuine concern, spite or both, the official reason was the concern for national security. Securing the borders of the U.S. certainly represents national security. Biden took office and promptly opened the borders with the revived 'Catch and Release' policy for asylum seekers crossing the Mexican-US border. He left stretches of the wall that were nearly completed as they were -- these stretches of walls with large gaping, unfinished sections serving now as some sort of state-approved Idiocracy art -- enormous walls that could not keep out a three-legged turtle. Since logic was not necessary after the storm that brought Biden into office and both houses of Congress under Democrats control, it was ok to just do this without any concern for the implications. When Biden succeeds, he is great, when he fails, he is even greater! Failure is the gift that keeps giving -- providing endless opportunities to making even worse ideas trying to fix the initial bad ideas. This lets Biden continue to show his box-checking -- or rather, 'leadership' abilities. Now we watch in disbelief as one idiotic thing after another become new standards, rules, conventions and gasp -- even laws. Idiocy is becoming as necessary as logic used to be. In the great debates and efforts of the day to grapple with the nation's greatest problems, logic need not apply, in fact logic is probably 'racist' in the new Idiocracy. Absurdity is fine when your heart is in the right place. Speaking of absurdity, the most powerful nation on Earth has a leader who more and more -- if he's not saying it outright -- has a searching, joyless expression that seems to ask Where am I? What am I supposed to be doing here? This is absurdity, but in an Idiocracy absurdity is ok. When Biden does say these things outright like Whatever you want me to do to Nancy 'Nance' Pelosi, no one except for conservative news outlets expresses how bad this is for the leader of the free world to signal that he is not actually in charge. No one elected Nancy Pelosi to the presidency the last time I checked. The mainstream media has been praising nearly everything he does, but he is not doing anything, and everyone is pretending that this doesn't matter. Sometimes, though, with all of the political props being shifted around, with all the raising and dropping of the curtains, with all of the hustle to do the most damage in the shortest amount of time, we catch a glimpse of what is really going on. There was an initiative from Democrats in Congress for Biden to give up the nuclear codes so that he would not be the only one who has them. Was this ever done when Trump was president? Or Obama? It seems to be the ultimate vote of no confidence from his own party. Yet, this issue seemed to come and go without anyone agonizing about it much. Foreign leaders surely are taking note. Maybe they can even determine what those codes are if Biden loses track of that piece of paper he is using to help remember pesky details like the reason he is at a particular event or the name of a major appointee to his cabinet or a branch of government. No worries, we have full confidence in Scranton Joe! We would just have even more confidence if he doesn't have sole possession of the codes. With policy coming from the Idiocracy there are no mistakes, there are just policies that could be made even 'more better.' Asking for -- which could quickly morph into taking -- the nuclear codes would just make everything even better for our brave new leaders. A classy Idiocracy move. There was something Biden said in a press conference a while back that still haunts me 'You will know my opinion on court packing when the election is over'. Is that a reasonable answer for a candidate to say? I thought it wasn't, but on reconsideration it seems like the perfect response from an Idiocracy candidate. It is vitally, important for voters not to know what a candidate stands for. Too bad real Idiocracies -- it turns out -- are completely devoid of humor. A.C. Smith is a pen name. A Covid-19 situation at the National Insurance Board (NIB) led to late pension cheques this month, says Social Development Minister Donna Cox. And the ministry yesterday apologised for any inconvenience caused to pensioners and other recipients of social welfare as a result of the late payment of benefits. The United Nations did not comment on U.S. President Joe Biden's statements about the Russian leader, but noted that they advocate good relations between the countries. "Im not going to play commentary to what President Biden said. As a matter of principle, we are always for the promotion of good and open relations between the worlds countries and, especially, two Security Council permanent members of the Security Council," spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric told a daily press briefing. Answering the question if the SecretaryGeneral worried for the world peace after such statements, the spokesman said that there's no need to jump a few steps here. "Is the SecretaryGeneral worried about the state of the world? Yes. I think, if youve been listening to him for the last year or so, he has expressed his concern in a number of places," Dujarric said. Spain has today joined the likes of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Canada, becoming one of the first countries in the world to regulate euthanasia. The lower house of parliament, the Congress of Deputies, today passed a law that was promoted by the Socialist Party (PSOE), which is governing in coalition with leftist Unidas Podemos. The legislation will come into force in three months. In order for people to request their life be ended, the affected person must suffer a serious or incurable disease or a serious, chronic and incapacitating condition, which causes them intolerable suffering. The legislation covers euthanasia, i.e. the direct administration of a substance by the relevant medical professionals, as well as what is known as medically assisted suicide, with the prescription or supply to the patient by a medical professional of a substance, in a way that this can be self-administered, to cause their own death. With the approval of the law, Spain is joining the few countries where euthanasia is regulated. In Portugal, the Constitutional Court has opposed such a move, while in Colombia the practice is legal, according to a court ruling, but is not regulated. A similar law is due to come into force in New Zealand in November, while in parts of the United States and Australia it is also permitted. Vox has already announced that it will appeal the law in the Constitutional Court, and warned that if it should come to power, it will repeal it Unlike other laws in force elsewhere, however, the Spanish legislation sets out a series of steps that could see the process take up to a month from the moment the patient requests it. This begins with a written request submitted twice over the space of two weeks. In it, the patient must express their clear will to end their life, and they must have been supplied with information about their medical condition and the alternatives that are available to them. Once the process has begun, the patient may change their mind at any time, and once they have received authorization, they can delay its application as long as they want. Once the second request has been made, the patients doctor must pass the request on to the corresponding regional commission, which will appoint two professionals with no connection to the case for its analysis. The commission will then approve or reject the decision reached by these two specialists. The law does not set out the composition of this commission, which will be determined by each region, apart from it having at least seven people and including medical, legal and nursing experts. The commission has 19 days to reply to a request. Socialist Party deputies celebrate the passing of the law on Thursday. Samuel Sanchez The bill passed with 202 votes in favor, 141 against and two abstentions. The coalition government is governing with a minority in Congress, and as such had to seek the support of other parties to pass the bill. Among the opponents to the legislation were the conservative Popular Party (PP), the Navarrese Peoples Union (UPN) and far-right Vox. Those groups called for a palliative care law instead, but failed to actually present such a draft law. They claim that this legislation will legalize murder. Vox has already announced that it will appeal the law in the Constitutional Court, and warned that if it should come to power, it will repeal it. The supporters of the law have said that their work is not yet done. Asun Gomez, whose partner Luis de Marco died after more than a month in agonizing pain, said that she feared that the regional commissions could end up with biases that make it easier in some places to receive the assistance requested than in others. Angel Hernandez, who helped his wife Maria Jose Carrasco to die, said something similar. Now we have to see how it is implemented, he said. English version by Simon Hunter. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says his country has accelerated reforms as it continues to move toward its goal of membership in the European Union and NATO. Speaking during an official visit to Germany on March 19, Shmyhal said during talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas that "Ukraine's membership in the EU in the medium term is a win-win situation not only for the Ukrainian people, but also for Germany and the EU as a whole." "Gradual integration into the EU internal market is on our priority agenda at the moment. In particular, it concerns the integration of Ukraine into the digital and energy markets of the European Union," Shmyhal said. Shmyhal also expressed gratitude to Germany for support in helping Ukraine obtain the status of a NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner in June 2020. "At this point, we have stepped up the reform process to receive an invitation and join the NATO Membership Action Plan as the next step. We will be grateful to our German partners for their support and assistance in that matter as well," Shmyhal said. He did not specify which reforms he was referring to. Kyivs aspirations to join NATO and EU have increased since Russia illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 and threw support to pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine's east, where more than 13,000 people have been killed in the ongoing conflict since April 2014. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wears a "Trump Won" face mask as she arrives on the floor of the House to take the oath office on the year's opening session in Washington on Jan. 3, 2021. (Erin Scott/Pool/Getty Images) Update: Twitter Locks Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene out of Her Account Update: A spokesperson for Twitter on Friday afternoon said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes account was locked in error. We use a combination of technology and human review to enforce the Twitter Rules across the service, the spokesperson said. In this case, our automated systems took enforcement action on the account referenced in error. This action has been reversed, and access to the account has been reinstated. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes (R-Ga.) office confirmed Friday that the congresswoman has been locked out of her personal Twitter account, with no reason provided, as a House Democrat introduced a resolution to expel Greene. No reason given from Twitter after multiple attempts to contact them, a spokesman for her office told The Epoch Times. Meanwhile, Greenes campaign said that Twitter has banned her personal account of 380,000 followers without explanation on the same day that Democrats in Congress are moving to expel her. This move eliminated any possibility for Congresswoman Greene to defend her reputation, her seat, and most importantly the votes of 230,000 Georgians in the 14th District on the Twitter platform. This is yet another attempt by the Silicon Valley Cartel to silence voices that speak out against their far-left woke orthodoxy, the statement read. It takes a two-thirds supermajority to expel a member of Congress, meaning that a significant number of House Republicans would have to join Democrats to vote on the resolution. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) on Friday morning introduced a resolution on the House floor to expel Greene due to social media posts she made when she was a private citizen. Greene should be removed from office because she had previously supported social media posts calling for political violence against the Speaker of the House, members of Congress, and former President Barack Obama. More than 72 Democrats support the resolution, according to his office. House Democrats led a successful effort to strip Greene of her political committee assignments over her previous social media posts and comments. Previously, Greene denounced the move as a form of cancel culture that is intended to silence conservative voices. These were words of the past, and these things do not represent me, she said at the time, referring to her past social media posts. They do not represent my district, and they do not represent my values. And when several Republican House members voted alongside Democrats to strip her of her assignments, Greene lamented how some Republicans in the ranks are voting against one of their own, opening the door for Democrats to go after every single Republican next. She added, That really is a big betrayal and that could cost us the majority in 22. The Epoch Times has contacted Twitter for comment. Since January, Twitter and Facebook have banned or locked out several prominent conservative figures and groups, including former President Donald Trump, Project Veritas, Kevin Sorbo, The Gateway Pundit, and others. Project Veritas and The Gateway Pundit both reported that Twitter provided no explanation for the ban, while Sorbo, after he was banned from Facebook, made a similar claim. Befitting an age of masks, Joe Bidens first prime-time address to the country last Thursday evening was pure kabuki theater. Reprising his campaign schtick of walking, talking to a teleprompter, and avoiding improv, it was dispiriting at best. Those who tuned in expecting an embarrassing soundbite, garbled pronunciation, off the cuff racial slur, or other faux pas, were not entertained by his mechanical timbre and strict adherence to the script. Still, the optics fell flat on a gloomy performance that would have drawn little more than polite applause from an audience uninterested in a curtain call. For the West Wingers pulling for Joe, the past is apparently not prologue. To those just waking up from a year-long coma, it would appear that the pandemic had gotten underway on January 20, that the first six weeks of the Biden administration had put the country on a war footing, developed and distributed lifesaving vaccines out of thin air, and staffed up the means to inject them. Biden prides himself in blaming COVID deaths on former President Donald Trump, always anxious to produce and wave around a pocket cue card as proof. When Trump first acted in late January 2020, shutting down flights from the Orient in order to slow the rate of infection, Biden took to the podium to accuse him of xenophobia and hysteria. The War Production Act was invoked to overcome shortages of ventilators, protective equipment, and sanitizers. Billions were invested to put several domestically manufactured vaccines on the market. Red tape was cut at the FDA and the cavalry was summoned with a battle plan for national distribution. Biden was all the while hunkered down in Wilmington, sticking his head up to take pot shots, cast Trump as a killer, and plagiarize economic and pandemic solutions. The first Americans to be vaccinated received their immunization on December 14, 2020, a month before Biden took office. Biden and Harris, who foreswore her opposition to receive a Trump vaccine, received their inoculations before the inauguration. It was a well-publicized event Biden later denied or forgot during a February CNN town hall claiming there was no vaccine when he took office. No part of the Biden speech was more ignoble and ill-informed than his fearmongering of twenty million Asian-Americans, for whom the streets of America have become a dangerous place. Bidens game plan of igniting racial division and unrest by turning Asians against their own countrymen is a flagrant hat tip to the China Communist Party (CCP), who are playing a heavy hand in fabricating anti-Asian animus to pull a veneer over their irresponsible release and spread of the virus. Most bias-related incidents against Asians have taken place in multiracial neighborhoods where, for decades, Chinese and Korean mom and pop businesses set up storefronts in low-rent neighborhoods. Some attacks are racially motivated and represent the longstanding trope of tense Black and Asian relations, while many others occur as crimes of opportunity -- street robberies, misdemeanor assaults, purse-snatchings, and the like. Progressive media outlets have now and then fueled tensions between Asian and Black neighbors in these communities, even poking the coals with an alternative woke reality that brands Asians as a model minority accorded honorary whiteness. The 2010 census reported that there are one million Asian Americans residing in New York City, a category that embraces the descendants of the Far East, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. According to the bias incident dashboard published by the New York City Police Department, in 2019 there was just one police-reported bias incident against the Asian community, a homicide in Brooklyn. That number jumped to 27 incidents reported to police in 2020, roughly two complaints for every ten thousand Asian residents. Half of that increase was part of an anomalistic spike in the month of March that diminished rapidly over the rest of the year and involved misdemeanor aggressions occurring in lower Manhattans densely populated Chinatown. A couple of dozen incidents against Asians are a far cry from the much greater number of hate crimes logged last year against a similar city population of Jews that account for half of all bias incidents in the NYPD database. In second place are bias crimes against Black residents, which nearly doubled in 2020. The NYPD is a stickler over its reporting protocols and only includes events that fit the definition of a crime, resisting efforts to exaggerate their numbers with constitutionally protected hate speech. Because of their disciplined reporting, NYPD data makes a weak case upon which Biden and a bootlicking media can rest their pro-China agitprop. Only by turning hate speech into crime can the Oval Office field a phantom army of street marauders and white supremacists driving Asian Americans indoors and off the front lines of the pandemic. Incident data gathered from the reporting website Stop Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Hate was launched in March 2020 by three California-based Asian organizations, the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council (A3PCON), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), and the Asian American Studies Department of the San Francisco State University. Stop AAPI Hate offers online, anecdotal reporting for Asian Americans who believe themselves the victims of pandemic-related hate speech called a microaggression." The Peoples Republic is heavily vested at San Francisco State, until recently among the first of fifty-five college campuses in the United States to host a Confucius Institute. Confucius institutes are partnerships with China established to advance Sino-cultural interests but were identified by the Trump administration as domestic Trojan horses cloaking espionage, sexploitation, and intellectual theft missions. Colleges were ordered to disclose their connections to the institutes and to other Chinese student organizations funded directly from China or suffer the loss of federal support. Without consulting Congress and in defiance of hard intelligence from the FBI, Biden has quietly withdrawn the Trump orders, apparently preferring cozy China-academic partnerships over risks to national security. The CAA reportedly has connections to Maoist-leaning organizations in the Bay Area that parrot CCP propaganda. It is the former workplace of Russell Lowe, an identified Chinese spy and former driver for California Senator Diane Feinstein. Stop AAPI Hate tracks name-calling and relies upon stigma, rather than crime. While insulting to the recipient, even hate speech is constitutionally-protected and not tracked in traditional police bias incident databases unless there is an established nexus to a criminal act. To build the case promoted in Bidens national address, liberal media outlets, and White House stringers have made hate speech against Asians tantamount to a crime. Stop AAPI Hate reporting standards are anecdotal. They reported almost 3800 hate incidents against Asians in their first annual report, more than 95 percent of which consisted of noncriminal name-calling and shunning in public places or online. With hundreds of volunteers, they canvas neighborhoods for victims and flood communities with handouts. In so doing, they generate inflated and distorted tallies of racial bias in order to create sympathies that toe a pro-China line. Liberal media outlets now routinely use their statistics to promote Bidens Asian hate shaming in his speechmaking and executive actions. Before closing his remarks, Biden threw a bone to Anthony Fauci, the nations pandemic Svengali, whose reputation in the past year has suffered much at his own hands. Faucis noblesse oblige continues to foment confusion and fear in the citizenry. In asking Americans to pledge allegiance to Fauci, Biden has ennobled one of the few medical scientists who has flip-flopped on every aspect of the pandemic, contagiousness, masks, social distancing, medical therapies, and lockdowns. In his newfangled position as chief medical advisor to the White House, Fauci will have to bend science to politics as a fulltime job, putting him at odds with his sworn oath as a physician, primum non nocere -- first do no harm. With the CDC pronouncing that most Americans will be immunized by July, Bidens presidium address to the nation sowed racial division and harkened back to darker days, offering little more than a childish endorsement of small-group summer picnics and a veiled threat of more lockdowns for those who cannot be brought to heel. Image: Gage Skidmore The UAE suspended plans for a summit in Abu Dhabi with Israel, the U.S. and Arab states in protest of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's attempts to use Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) as a prop in his election campaign, U.S. sources briefed on the matter told me. Why it matters: This is the first big crisis between the UAE and Israel since the announcement of the normalization relations last August. The Emiratis are furious at Netanyahu for entangling them in domestic Israeli politics. Driving the news: Three weeks ago, Netanyahu spoke on the phone with MBZ and proposed holding a signing ceremony of the Israel-Sudan diplomatic relations agreement in Abu Dhabi. MBZ was open to this but wanted to bring the Biden administration on board. U.S. officials liked the idea and agreed to send a senior official to attend but stressed it wanted it only after the Israeli elections, sources familiar with the matter said. The plan was to do the summit in early April, right after the elections. But Netanyahu still wanted to visit Abu Dhabi before the elections. The Emiratis knew he was only looking for a photo-op but didn't want to create tensions and agreed to receive him. His visit last week was postponed because of a crisis between Israel and Jordan. Netanyahu continued pushing for a new date for the visit while mentioning the UAE in almost every campaign rally and interview. One of Netanyahus main talking points was that MBZ promised that he'd invest $10 billion in Israel. Between the lines: This was not completely inaccurate. The issue did come up between the two, and the UAE did announce it does want to invest in Israel, but Netanyahu presented it publicly as if MBZs motive was to give him political support. The Emiratis didnt appreciate it. For the record: The last straw was an interview Netanyahu gave last Monday in which he claimed MBZ "volunteered" to invest $10 billion in Israel, according to U.S. sources familiar with the matter. Netanyahu even claimed MBZ told him he believes in his economic leadership. The Emiratis decided to retaliate. Their first response was a statement by Industry Minister Sultan al Jaber that the investment in Israel was only in a very preliminary stage of being considered, and that any such investment will be economically motivated and not based on politics. The second response was to make it clear to Netanyahu in private and in public that he will not visit the UAE before the elections. UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash, who until several weeks ago was the minister of state for foreign affairs, tweeted that the UAE "will not be a part in any internal electioneering in Israel, now or ever." The third response was a decision to suspend the planned summit. The newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth first reported about the Emirati decision. Sources familiar with the issue told me the UAE notified the Biden administration that it was suspending the summit due to Netanyahus behavior. What's next: The summit will take place at some point but only after the political situation in Israel clears up and when Netanyahu, if he stays in office, manages to assuage the Emirati anger, sources familiar with the issue say. China's Chang'e-5 orbiter enters sun-Earth trajectory CGTN) 16:08, March 19, 2021 The orbiter of China's Chang'e-5 lunar probe has successfully entered the halo orbit around the sun-Earth Lagrangian point 1 (L1), becoming the country's first spacecraft in the orbit. It was captured by the orbit at 1:29 p.m., March 15 under precise control of the ground crew from Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC). The orbiter, in a normal working condition, is now 936,700 kilometers away from Earth. It will remain running in the orbit, with a cycle taking about six months. The L1 point lies between the sun and Earth, and is about 1.5 million kilometers from the latter. At this point, the force of gravity is roughly equal in all directions, so it's easier for spacecraft to maintain a relatively stable operating state with less fuel required. It is also the best location to place a solar observatory, as it will not be blocked by the Earth or moon and can continuously observe the sun or the sunward side of Earth. The orbiter, separated from the returner on December 17, 2020, entered the long-term management stage on December 21. It carried out two orbital maneuvers and two midway corrections under the BACC team's close monitoring and precise operation before reaching the L1 point. The team will carry out routine management and further tests of the orbiter to provide technical support for the follow-up deep space exploration missions, said Wang Sai, deputy chief designer of BACC. Other spacecraft the Chang'e-3 lander, the Chang'e-4 lunar probe and relay satellite and the Tianwen-1 Mars probe under daily management by the team, are all in good condition and operating normally. 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. An English teacher and Labour Party activist who was kicked off a train for fare dodging before hurling abuse at a station guard said the arrest was her 'Rosa Parks moment', a court heard. Anyannah Ndukwe, 56, was spotted tailgating another commuter through ticket barriers at Oxford Road train station in Manchester in July 2019. The activist, who had been teaching drama at Trinity High School in Hulme in her capacity as a supply teacher, was stopped by Northern Rail official Steven MacDonald, who asked the woman if she had a valid ticket. Ndukwe responded: 'Are you taking the f***ing p***,' before telling him 'You are a f***ing d***head' and walking away, Bolton Magistrates' Court heard. She then boarded the train, which was consequently delayed by an hour while British Transport Police were called to escort Ndukwe away from the scene. Ndukwe was arrested after she refused to give her name, the court heard. Anyannah Ndukwe (pictured), 56, was spotted tailgating another commuter through ticket barriers at Oxford Road train station in Manchester in July 2019 The teacher later claimed she bought a ticket in advance through the Northern Rail app and accused staff of racism, even comparing herself to civil rights activist Rosa Parks. Parks, known as the 'the mother of the freedom movement', famously refused to leave a bus seat reserved for white people in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. Ndukwe, from Liverpool, denied wrongdoing at Bolton Magistrates' Court but was found guilty of obstructing a train and using threatening behaviour. She was fined 180 and ordered to pay 50 compensation to Mr McDonald, alongside 400 in court costs. Ndukwe was boarding a train home to Liverpool Lime Street following a day at work when she was caught slipping through a ticket barrier behind another traveller. Mr MacDonald told the hearing: 'I noticed the customer had tailgated and that caught my eye. I did not see a valid ticket so I asked her for her ticket. The activist, who had been teaching drama at Trinity High School as a supply teacher, was stopped by a Northern Rail official who asked her if she had a valid ticket She boarded a train at Oxford Road station (pictured), which was consequently delayed by an hour while British Transport Police were called to escort Ndukwe away from the scene 'She said she had it on her phone, which she showed me but she did not have a valid ticket on the phone. I handed her the phone back to her and I said you need to buy a ticket. 'But she then said, "Are you taking the f***ing p***?' I said can you please stop swearing but she started walking away and I was following her.' Mr MacDonald then contacted his supervisor to report the interaction, but lost sight of Ndukwe who had boarded a train. His colleague Devan Walters said: 'I heard the indecent language of her calling him "a f***ing d***head'. Ndukwe (pictured) claimed she 'did have a ticket as I always do', adding: 'It is absolutely not true that I tailgated 'Steven kept saying "you do not have a ticket you need to come back" but she continued to walk towards the train. 'I spoke to her when she was on the train and told her she needed to get off but I got no response. Then she said she had a ticket, and she was not coming off but never showed me a ticket.' PC Damian Stansfield of British Transport Police added: 'We politely asked the lady to step off the train but she refused. We then tried to persuade her for five minutes and we were successful after that time. 'But she never showed me a train ticket and we found her to be quite hostile, loud and non-compliant towards us. 'We did our best verbally to get what we needed. We ordered for a female police officer to help in the situation. We were forced to make the arrest at the time because she refused to give her name and address. 'She was then taken to a police van. She was upset and frustrated and was crying when we made the arrest. People videoed her protesting her innocence but I would disagree we were heavy-handed.' Ndukwe claimed she 'did have a ticket as I always do', adding: 'It is absolutely not true that I tailgated. 'Train staff all know the app is temperamental and there is always a risk of losing a mobile service connection.' She also told the hearing she 'never said he was taking the p***', adding she 'said under my breath "Oh my God, this man is think" but I never called him a "f***ing d***head.' 'I am sure I am not the first person to have a problem with Northern Rail and their app,' Ndukwe said. 'The train I was catching was leaving at 3.25pm and I was in a hurry to catch that train. I felt violated like Rosa Parks and I felt I was re-enacting that moment. 'Nobody in this process was interested in seeing my ticket. I felt humiliated, violated and extremely upset when I was arrested. It brought tears to my eyes. 'I guess I was staring racism in the face. People asked what had happened on the train. Two passengers felt uncomfortable with what they were watching. 'People were telling the staff to leave me alone. They were upset.' BATON ROUGE The Louisiana Department of Health and 20 initial partners kicked off Bring Back Louisiana #SleevesUp, a bold grassroots campaign that will bring COVID-19 vaccines to communities of concern through community events and targeted outreach. The campaign will begin with 9 pilots one in each public health region of the state with community vaccination events taking place the second and third weekends of April. This is a massive undertaking, and we as the state cannot do it alone, said Gov. John Bel Edwards. We need strong, diverse, trusted community partners to help us meet people where they are, identify their needs, and remove whatever barriers may exist so that our residents can make informed decisions when it comes to the COVID vaccines. For a job as big and necessary as equitable vaccine distribution in a once-in-a-century pandemic, we have to be creative, collaborative, and even a little unconventional, said Dr. Courtney N. Phillips, Secretary of LDH. We have been building this for several weeks now, and we are excited to get going. Partners Joining the state in this statewide effort are the following partners: AARP Louisiana AFL-CIO Louisiana COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force Hispanic Health Equity Task Force Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) Louisiana Hospital Association (LHA) Louisiana Independent Pharmacy Association (LIPA) Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus Louisiana Legislative Rural Caucus Louisiana Primary Care Association (LPCA) Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) Louisiana Rural Health Association (LRHA) LSU Ag Center NAACP Louisiana Power Coalition for Equity and Justice Together Louisiana Urban League Viet Baton Rouge Vaccine Task Force Nola Ready Several of these partners have been doing this type of grassroots work on the COVID-19 vaccines at the local level, and the state will continue to learn from them as it leverages resources to scale and coordinate these efforts. Partner organizations will play different roles, ranging from phone banking and door-knocking to data evaluation. LPHI will coordinate efforts of community partners and will provide rapid evaluation of this grassroots model for COVID vaccine allocation and outreach. Like any true campaign, we are announcing this effort as we continue to build, said Gov. Edwards. This is just the start. We welcome other organizations, businesses, faith-based leaders and the public to join us in this exciting mission to ensure no community is left behind as we work to end this pandemic. These vaccines are our best chance at restoring normalcy, getting our economy back on track, and bringing back the Louisiana we know and love. As a public health organization, LPHI is honored to participate in this creative and proactive program which is the embodiment of our health and racial equity work to increase our states capacity to ensure all of us (Louisianans) have just and fair opportunities to be healthy and well, said Shelina Davis, CEO of LPHI. The Black Caucus is excited to participate in this campaign. Equity in the vaccination process is critical and we are committed to reaching citizens in Louisianas vulnerable communities, said State Representative Edward Ted James, Chairman of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus. Get Out The Vote efforts, which this campaign is modeled after, is a proven method to reach those areas and citizens with limited access, transportation and information about the vaccine. We are happy to join the trusted voices in our state. Distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is a critical component for Louisiana as we work to reopen our businesses and rebuild our economy, said Stephen Waguespack, President and CEO of LABI. We stand ready to work with our members, the Louisiana Department of Health and other stakeholders to ensure that this mission is a success. AARP Louisiana is excited to be a part of this new campaign and join the effort to help more Louisianans get vaccinated. Those who are 50+ face higher risks from the coronavirus and should continue to be prioritized to get the vaccine as soon as possible. As the rollout continues, AARP will work with this new campaign as well as community stakeholders across Louisiana to ensure the vaccine stays free and accessible to anyone who wants it, said Andrew Muhl, Director of Advocacy of AARP Louisiana. Mission statement The charge of this campaign is to follow the data and work with local partners to meet people where they are, especially in our underserved, on-the-fence and hard-to-reach communities, to listen to their needs and remove barriers so that every Louisianan has the opportunity to get the COVID vaccine. Goals Louisianas ground game for the COVID-19 vaccines will meet people where they are, with the following goals: Increase awareness & build confidence Provide spaces for asking questions & getting answers Amplify the support already in communities Offer warm handoff to resources Allocate COVID-19 vaccines to communities of concern Help eligible residents get signed up for the vaccines Model Use data to identify where to go. LDH will identify where the campaign will target its efforts, using the CDCs Social Vulnerability Index, data on vaccination rates by census tract, and COVID-19 data. LPHI will perform ongoing rapid evaluation of progress. Plan COVID-19 vaccination events. Identify at least one community partner lead per event, work together to determine barriers, and tailor each pilot to community needs. Targeted outreach leading up to events. In the weeks leading up to these events the state will work with partners who will lead in-community activities that fit communities needs, including direct mail, phone banking, door-knocking, and working with faith-based leaders and local businesses to spread the word. Community partners will be able to provide facts and data, help interested residents sign up for the upcoming vaccine event on the spot, and connect them to other resources they may need. Tools Logos Sticker Push cards Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. In the pitch-black night, the teens' eyes blink in confusion as the bright beam of a constable's flashlight shines in their direction. They are in Texas, less than a mile north of the US-Mexico border, trying to find their way. It's a scene that's playing out more and more here in this desolate stretch of thick brush in the Rio Grande Valley, where a growing number of migrant children are taking their first steps in United States. Border authorities are encountering about 1,000 migrants a day here -- many of them unaccompanied minors. CNN spent the late hours of Wednesday night following a team of Texas deputy constables and watched their encounter with the teens. This moment when migrants and authorities crossed paths -- and other details we learned on that journey into the wilderness -- gave us a window in to a fast-moving situation that's sparking fierce political debate in different corners of the country but is rarely seen up close by most Americans. The people we met weren't concerned with any conversations in Washington. But they had a lot to say. Here's what we saw and heard from them. Some are fleeing hurricanes When a deputy constable asks where they're from, all seven teens answer almost in unison: Guatemala. They tell CNN that they met for the first time on their long journey north. Some say smugglers helped them along the way. Others say they had no help. Many of the teens, who CNN is only identifying by their first names to protect their safety, are emotional as they talk about the journey that brought them here, and what they left behind. Kevin, 16, begins to cry, saying that sometimes along the way he hasn't had food to eat or water to drink. He hasn't seen his father in two years and hopes to reconnect with him in Pennsylvania. "I've been on this path for a month," he says, wiping his eyes, "and now I'm here." All the teens say they have family members or acquaintances they're hoping to reunite with in different parts of the United States -- Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida and Idaho. They say they hope to study here and eventually to work. Denis, 17, tears up as he describes a devastating storm -- Hurricane Eta -- that he says destroyed and flooded his home and left his family with nothing. "There is no work," he says. "There is no money to study." Edgar, 17, shares a similar experience. "The house fell down around us," he says. "Thank God my mom is still alive." He's making this journey for her, he says -- to help her survive. A sergeant's view: 'We're not the bad guys' It's a scene like many Reserve Sgt. Deputy Constable Dan Broyles has witnessed before. In his 37 years in law enforcement, many of which have been spent patrolling this very stretch of the border, Broyles is familiar with what happens when migrants first arrive in the United States. The deputy constables' job, he says, isn't to decide anyone's fate. When they come across groups here, they escort them to meet up with Border Patrol. "We're not the bad guys," he says. "We just want to make sure they're safe and receive the medical attention they need." As he drives us along a rugged dirt road winding along the banks of the Rio Grande, Broyles points to a place where he recalls finding a man's remains eight years ago. "He hurt himself. He got abandoned by a group, and he died," Broyles says, shaking his head. "It's sad." The trek across the border has always been a dangerous journey. But in recent years, the people who are making it have been changing. There are far more families and children coming. And for Broyles, it's hard to see. As we walk with him near the Rio Grande, Broyles points to diapers on the ground. "There's one, two, three," he says. "What does that tell you? They're bringing infants across. As a father, I don't know if I'd want to put my children through that." The landscape is littered with hints that children and families are passing through The diapers aren't the only signs that children and families have been here. We also see children's clothing and small masks littered on the ground. Documents left behind by some of the migrants who've past through tell part of their story. One piece of paperwork we spotted in the brush describes a 34-year-old mom from Honduras and her 2-year-old son. The document says they both tested negative for Covid before leaving their country. There are also other signs here that hint at the new realities of the border. A handwritten note taped onto a tree, inside a bag that says "Department of Homeland Security," says "ASILO" in block letters, Spanish for "asylum." That's a type of protection many migrants who cross the border are seeking. It's gotten harder to win, but it's legal to ask for it -- and that's one reason it's common for families and children to look for authorities after they've crossed the border and turn themselves in. That's where Broyles and other deputy constables come in. Tonight, it only takes them a few minutes to briefly question each of the teens. Then they send them walking along a path, leading them to a Border Patrol processing center under a nearby bridge, which comes into focus as flood lights illuminate it in the distance. For the teens we met, it's just another step in an already uncertain journey. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday said Pakistan Army Chief's statement calling for better ties with India has provided a "good opportunity" for the two nations to set aside hostilities and find a lasting solution to the Kashmir problem. A good opportunity for India & Pakistan to set aside hostilities & find a long lasting solution vis-a-vis Kashmir. Both countries have huge military budgets to outdo each other when the same resources can instead be used on common challenges like poverty,education & healthcare https://t.co/1GAL3bkzJr Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) March 19, 2021 "A good opportunity for India & Pakistan to set aside hostilities & find a long lasting solution vis-a-vis Kashmir," Mehbooba said in a tweet. Read | Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa says its time for India to 'bury the past and move forward' She was reacting to Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Jawad Bajwa's statement that India and Pakistan should bury the past and move forward. "Both countries have huge military budgets to outdo each other when the same resources can instead be used on common challenges like poverty, education & healthcare," she added. Armenia on Friday accused Azerbaijan of committing war crimes during their conflict last year over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, after Human Rights Watch said Azerbaijan had mistreated prisoners of war. The ex-Soviet Caucasus countries had been locked for decades in a territorial dispute over the mountainous region in Azerbaijan, where fighting erupted in September, claiming the lives of some 6,000 people. The six-week war ended after Azerbaijan made swift gains and Armenian capitulated to a Russian-brokered ceasefire under which it ceded swathes of territories to Baku. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in report Friday that Azerbaijani troops abused Armenian prisoners of war, subjecting them to cruel and degrading treatment and torture. Azerbaijan should also immediately release all remaining POWs and civilian detainees, the advocacy group said. Armenian foreign ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan said the report proved that Baku committed large-scale war crimes against Armenian prisoners of war. The reports of ill-treatment and torture of Armenian POWs indicate systematic nature. Their continued captivity and torture may amount to crimes against humanity, Naghdalyan told AFP. Baku has denied the accusations, and insisted that all the Armenian prisoners were returned to Armenia. But Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said Wednesday that Baku doesnt consider Armenian troops detained in Karabakh after ceasefire as prisoners of war. He earlier accused Armenian forces of grave violations of international humanitarian law tantamount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Amnesty International in December urged both Baku and Yerevan to urgently probe war crimes committed by both sides. While Armenia has not opened any investigations, Azerbaijan charged two of its soldiers in December for mutilating bodies of Armenian soldiers. Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian region that broke from Azerbaijans control during a war in the early 1990s. Armenias defeat to Bakus technologically superior army last year spurred a political crisis with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreeing this week to snap elections later this year. The land at Moyglare goes to auction next month with a guide price of 12,500 per acre. The 48ac parcel of land in Mulhuddart, west Dublin, sold for 1.275m, almost 300,000 above its guide price A 48ac parcel of land at Mulhuddart in west Dublin made 1,275m or 26,500/ac at an online auction last week. The land surpassed its guide price by almost 300,000 in a sale handled by Coonan Property. Located along Kilmartin Lane, just off the Kilbride/Mulhuddart road close to the Meath/Dublin border, the holding is laid out in four fields with natural hedgerow fences and is currently in tillage. Three active bidders saw the amount of offer quickly surpass the guide price of 960,000 at which point the property was put on the market and sold for 1.275m. Auctioneer Philip Byrne said the demand for well-located farms continues to be very keen where investors, developers and farmers see land as a good place to invest in the current climate Prime land in Kildare In upcoming sales Coonan Property are bringing a 23.6ac parcel of fertile, free draining, quality Kildare land to the market. Expand Close The land at Moyglare goes to auction next month with a guide price of 12,500 per acre. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The land at Moyglare goes to auction next month with a guide price of 12,500 per acre. Located at Moyglare, not far from Moyglare Stud, the holding is laid out in three divisions and is being offered for auction in lots or as an entire with a guide of 12,500/ac Situated 4km from Maynooth, the lands have excellent road frontage on one boundary and extensive frontage to the Rye River on the other in an outstanding location. The parcel is in a long, rectangular strip of ground between the river and the road and all divisions have river and road frontage. The property will be offered in the entire or two lots. The first lot, extending to approximately 9.6ac, fronts the road and the river and is in two fields, The second, extending to 14ac, is in one field with excellent road and river frontage. The land is suitable for grazing and tillage and, with the required planning, the lots should have residential potential. Philip Byrne expects lively interest from a range of potential customers and believes the guide price of 12,500/ac is reflective of agricultural land prices in the area. The lands will be sold by public auction at 3pm on Wednesday, April 14 at a location to be confirmed. All the current safety measures will be fully adhered to on the day. The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) has finally indicated that both fixed and mobile number portability (FNP and MNP, respectively) are expected to be introduced in October 2021. The service, which allows subscribers to transfer their existing mobile number between providers, has been under consideration in Sri Lanka since 2008, making the regulators announcement somewhat momentous. In August 2020, the TRCSL stated that it was implementing long-overdue preliminary measures that would lead to the introduction of MNP/FNP. In January this year the TRCSL invited feedback from stakeholders on number portability via a public consultation. TeleGeography reports that all domestic operators surveyed expressed support for the service in principle, and that the conversation has now progressed to technical implementation. TRCSL Director General Oshada Senanayake told local newspaper the Daily Mirror that it would implement MNP/FNP in consultation with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, due to its success in implementing number portability in Pakistan. Noting that the policy empowers the consumer to have the final say, Senanayke expressed the governments optimism that MNP/FNP would lead to a substantial increase in the quality of both voice and broadband services in Sri Lanka. Style and collecting on a grand scale the collection of Mrs Henry Ford II The fine and decorative art that adorned the gracious homes of the Ford founders grandson and his wife Kathleen offer a glimpse into the private world of one of Americas most celebrated dynasties Kathleen DuRoss Ford, who died in 2020, belonged to a generation of Americans who had the wealth and flair to evoke the English country-house style in their homes in this case on both sides of the Atlantic. A former model and accomplished photographer, Kathleen Ford was married to Henry Ford II, a former CEO of the motor company founded by his grandfather and namesake. Her husband was a passionate collector whose previous home in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, was celebrated for both its interiors and unrivalled collection of fine and decorative arts. Henry Ford II died in 1987, but the beautiful homes Kathleen Ford created in Palm Beach, Florida and Eaton Square, London, as well as at Turville Grange, a listed 18th-century manor house near Henley-on-Thames that Henry had owned since the 1970s continued to reflect the connoisseurship and elegant lifestyle the couple had shared. The collection is noted for its masterpieces of 18th-century English furniture-making Adrian Hume-Sayer, Christies director of Private Collections According to Charles Cator, Christies deputy chairman, the sale of Kathleen Fords collection on 30 March in New York and 15 April in London will be a highlight of the auction season. The Fords are not only synonymous with the creation of the automotive industry but with style and collecting on a grand scale, he says. Kathleen Fords collection offers a glimpse into the private world of one of Americas most celebrated dynasties. Mrs Henry Ford IIs residence, Palm Beach, Florida, USA Together, the sales comprise almost 600 lots, with highlights including pieces by the pre-eminent craftsmen of 18th-century Britain and France, as well as Impressionist and modern art, silverware, decorative objects and furnishings. Many of the pieces were central to the genius loci of the couples homes, where Kathleen Ford brought her photographers eye to collaborations with the architects and designers David Easton, Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, and Grant White. Palm Beach, Florida The New York sale focuses on works from Kathleen Fords house in Palm Beach, featuring fine examples of 18th-century English cabinetmaking dramatically placed throughout its high-ceilinged rooms. Many of the key pieces had come from Henry Ford IIs house at Grosse Pointe Farms, which had been decorated in the 1950s by the storied American interior design firm McMillen Inc. According to Erica Brown, author of Sixty Years of Interior Design: The World of McMillen (1982), it was by far the companys most important commission of the period. Both there and at Palm Beach, the standout item in the hallway was a lavish ormolu-mounted marble clock made by Benjamin Vulliamy (below left), clockmaker to King George III, in circa 1791-93, with Derby biscuit porcelain figures by John Deare and a pedestal by Thomas Brownley. Only two other such clocks are known, one of them in the British Royal Collection. A George III ormolu-mounted, white marble and Derby biscuit porcelain clock on a George III painted satinwood and mahogany pedestal, c. 1791-93. 31 in (79 cm) high; 34 in (86.5 cm) wide; 14 in (37 cm) deep. Offered on 30 March 2021 at Christies in New York A pair of George III giltwood girandoles, c. 1775. 55 (141 cm) high; 26 (67 cm) wide. Sold for $37,500 on 30 March 2021 at Christies in New York Recalling an arrangement created half a century earlier at Grosse Pointe Farms, the reception room at Kathleen Fords Palm Beach residence featured an Aristide Maillol bronze, Eve a la pomme, atop a George III inlaid mahogany rent table from circa 1780. Aristide Maillol (1861-1944), Eve a la pomme. Height: 23 in (59.1 cm). Sold for $237,500 on 30 March 2021 at Christie's in New York Installed in the living room, the magnificent George I scarlet, gilt and black-japanned bureau cabinet from circa 1725-30 (below) is an early and extremely rare survival attributed to Giles Grendey. The Ford family acquired the secretary in early 1957 during an antiquing tour of England with Marion Morgan, a McMillen expert on 18th-century design. According to Ann Pyne, president of McMillen, the Fords were drawn to the secretarys striking shade of red. It complemented the colour scheme of the library at Grosse Pointe Farms, which was being keyed around Degass Payan et le Pere de Degas, she says. A George I scarlet, gilt and black japanned bureau cabinet. Attributed to Giles Grendey, c. 1725-30. 94 in (240 cm) high; 42 in (107 cm) wide; 23 in (59 cm) deep. Sold for $150,000 on 30 March 2021 at Christies in New York Edouard Vuillard (1868-1940), Autoportrait en pied, c. 1900. Oil on board laid down on canvas. 30 x 19 in (77 x 49 cm). Offered on 15 April 2021 at Christies in London As in Palm Beach, both of the couples British homes were infused with Kathleen Fords personal warmth and instinct for entertaining. When the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher left office in 1990 after 11 years at Downing Street, Kathleen Ford generously lent her the Eaton Square apartment. The engraved silver armada dish that Mrs Thatcher sent as a gift to mark this kindness is included in the auction. Decorated by Colefax & Fowler, it was full of interesting objects, ceramics and furniture, including a striking George III marquetry Pembroke table from circa 1770, attributed to Thomas Chippendale (below). The collection is noted for its masterpieces of 18th-century English furniture-making, says Adrian Hume-Sayer, Christies director of Private Collections. We were delighted to find this table in the dining room of Mrs Fords Eaton Square home. Henry Ford II had bought Turville Grange from Lee Radziwill, the younger sister of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and her husband Prince Stanislas. As at Eaton Square, Colefax & Fowler were instrumental in creating the interiors. Mrs Henry Ford IIs residence, Turville Grange, Buckhinghamshire, England Their influence is perhaps most evident at Turville Grange, notes Hume-Sayer, where the new interiors sit in sharp contrast to the Lorenzo Mongiardino interiors inherited from Lee Radziwill. Sign up today Christies Online Magazine delivers our best features, videos, and auction news to your inbox every week Subscribe Gorleston vicar serving the community Gorleston vicar serving the community A Gorleston vicar who was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the Queens Birthday 2020 Honours List, has been explaining how he came to be in Gorleston and about some of the work taking place in his community. Tony Rothe reports. Jakarta, March 19 : Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Friday called for an immediate end to violence in Myanmar and a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) blocto discuss the political crisis stemming from the February 1 military coup. "Indonesia calls for an immediate end to the use of violence in Myanmar to prevent further loss of lives," dpa news agency quoted the President as saying at a news conference. He said the safety of the Myanmar people was paramount. "I will hold talks with the Sultan of Brunei as chairman of Asean for the possibility of an Asean summit to discuss the crisis in Myanmar," he said. After a special meeting called earlier this month to discuss Myanmar's current political situation, the bloc had called on "all parties" in Myanmar to "refrain from instigating further violence". The coup was staged as the military alleged massive voting fraud in the 2020 general elections, which gave a majority to former de factor leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy (NLD) party. In response to the coup, Myanmar has witnessed continued protests demanding the release of the former de facto leader and other senior officials, as well as restoring the democratically elected government. While more than 200 protesters have been killed in firings by security forces across Myanmar, mostly in cities like Yangon, Mandalay and Dawei, over 600 other suffered serious injuries, some life threatening or delibitating. Chinese Car Companies Kicking US Car Maker Butt In China +VIDEO (Published 2019) Updated With Buh-Bye Tesla In China DETROIT - May 7, 2019: Five years into its plan to reinvent itself as the dominant global technology leader, China has raced far ahead of others on electric-vehicle sales, forged into automated-vehicle development and led the way on deployment of next-generation cellular infrastructure, reports Automotive News. "The Chinese are clearly on the offensive," said Michael Dunne, CEO of ZoZo Go, a consulting firm that advises American companies looking to do business in China. On the other hand, "If you look at the Detroit automakers, over the past five years, it's more or less been a theme of retreat," he said. As President Donald Trump threw another curveball into the ongoing U.S.-China trade negotiations Sunday with a new wave of tariff threats, U.S. automakers are grappling with another vexing challenge: US Car company's sales are tumbling in China. As Chinese companies have developed their competence, paying for mass-market vehicles made by foreign companies has become less appealing, Speaking at an Automotive Press Association event in Detroit Mr. Dunne said as the Detroit 3 have struggled to find an answer for declining sales, China has launched what Dunne calls Autos 2.0, a freshening of its automotive strategy that has focused extensively on autonomous, electric, shared, and connected-vehicle developments. Read more here. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris paid a joint visit to the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday during their trip to Atlanta. The president profusely thanked the workers, telling them 'And you are the Army, you're the Navy, you're the Marines, you're the Coast Guard. I really mean it.' 'This is war and you are the frontline troops,' he said. 'Sounds silly. But think about it.' Biden's visit came on the day that his administration hit getting 100 million COVID-19 vaccine shots in arms, a goal he set for his first 100 days in office. The U.S. got to the goal on day No. 58. 'Remember when I said my goal was going to have 100 million shots in people's arms in the first 100 days as president and everybody said ..."Oh, yeah, right,"' he told the CDC workers. 'Now it's ... "Why didn't they say more?"' President Joe Biden (left) and Vice President Kamala Harris (right) visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday. Biden said he was there to thank the workforce for what they've done during the COVID-19 pandemic President Joe Biden looks at charts compiled for his presidential visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday President Joe Biden (left) and Vice President Kamala Harris (right) take in a COVID-19 briefing at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday The pre-planned trip to Atlanta - which was to tout the just-passed COVID-19 relief bill - changed in tone after Tuesday's shooting in the city, as a 21-year-old white man gunned down eight people, including six Asian women. After the CDC visit, Biden and Harris were slated to meet with leaders of the Asian-American community, as well as the city's mayor and several other prominent Georgia Democrats. The president started the day by tripping and falling on the steps of Air Force One, as he boarded the plane at Joint Base Andrews. By the afternoon visit to the CDC, he was chipper, joking to workers about how just one person clapped when he walked in. 'Why did only one person clap?' he asked, when the doctors assembled - including CDC head Rochelle Walensky - asked if he or Harris had questions. 'Why are ya'll standing?' he also kidded, as the CDC staff had rose to greet the president. He told them that the country owed the workforce 'a gigantic debt of gratitude.' 'And we will for a long, long, long, long time,' Biden said. 'Because I hope this is the beginning of the end of not paying attention to what's going to come again and again and again. We can build all the walls we want, we can have the most powerful armies in the world, but we cannot stop, we cannot stop these viruses.' Science, Biden said, would do that. Previously, the president argued, 'science was viewed as an appendage.' 'But it's back,' he added. He then argued that there was bipartisan consensus for his COVID-19 relief package, despite it earning zero Republican votes in the House and Senate. 'This is a bipartisan effort now,' he said. 'It isn't showing itself in the way senators and congressmen vote, but the public, but the public, we are talking about it on the airplane,' motioning to Harris. She flew Air Force Two down to Atlanta separately, but the two leaders briefly met on Air Force One while it was parked on the tarmac before heading to the CDC, the first stop of the day. Biden took vague swats at former President Donald Trump through his remarks. 'And we're not going back to the old days,' Biden continued. 'Even if tomorrow the whole administration changed, I think - you've changed things .. you've changed them in a way that is going to make everybody healthier in this country and when we have a crisis, you're prepared to meet it because you speak truth and science to power. And that is the power.' Harris also briefly spoke, after being introduced by Biden as the 'smarter' of the two of them. She, again, recounted how her first job was cleaning pipettes for her breast cancer researcher mother's lab. 'I was awful, she fired me,' Harris said. Biden thanked the workers again and again. 'So I came to say thank you, I really mean it, I have a whole lot of nice notes here about the science, but I came here to say thank you,' Biden said. 'You're changing the psyche of the country. You're saving lives.' BJP government wants to hand over insurance companies to foreign firms: Kharge as Opposition opposes bill India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Mar 19: The Congress on Friday said the BJP government wants to hand over the control of Indian insurance firms to foreign players and accused it of misleading the people of the country on the Insurance Bill. Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said after the East India Company came to the country and ruled it for over 150 years, the BJP now wants to promote "west India companies" of Gujarat and is framing laws to benefit them. He said the Congress and other opposition parties want the bill to be sent to a select committee of the House for further scrutiny as it has several shortcomings. However, the government did not listen to the opposition leaders and pushed through the legislation, Kharge said. "The Insurance Bill has a number of shortcomings and the BJP is trying to mislead inside the House," he told reporters. "As per the statement of objects of the Insurance (Amendment) Bill, it provides for raising the investment limit of foreign insurance companies in an Indian insurance company from the existing 49 per cent to 74 per cent and allows foreign ownership and control with safeguards," the Congress leader said. "The FDI coming in will allow foreign companies to own and control Indian insurance companies. If foreigners control insurance companies, it will be like the East India Company, when it invested, ruled and controlled the entire country for 150 years. Similarly, west India companies of Gujarat are there and are keen on privatisation and (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi brings such laws to help them," he alleged. TN elections 2021: Kamal Haasan promises Rs 3,000 dole to homemakers, income by honing skills Kharge said this is happening not just in one sector but in rail, roads, banks, hotels etc. and the reservation for the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) communities is being ended. "This is a ploy to end the reservation for them, who used to get assured jobs in such public sector undertakings," he alleged. Besides Congress leaders, those from other opposition parties such as Anil Desai of the Shiv Sena, Jharna Das Baidya of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Sukhram Singh Yadav and Vishambhar Prasad Nishad of the Samajwadi Party (SP), TKS Elangovan of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Binoy Viswam of the Communist Party of India (CPI), Manoj Kumar Jha of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Fauzia Khan of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were also present. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 19, 2021, 20:36 [IST] Paige Berman, 20, was reportedly using her phone to shop on Amazon when she was involved in a hit-and-run in Port Orange on Thursday A Florida woman has allegedly admitted that she was using her phone to shop on Amazon while driving when she ran into a sheriff who was out on a bike ride. Paige Bergman, 20, is accused of crashing into the cop while behind the wheel of her Hyundai Sonata in Port Orange on Thursday. She was later arrested and charged with leaving the scene of a crash that caused serious bodily harm. The cop - Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood - suffered a broken leg, along with various bumps, bruises and cuts. Chitwood uploaded a video to social media from his hospital bed on Thursday evening, stating: 'She [Bergman] says she was shopping on Amazon on her phone when she hit me. 'Please let this be a warning to put your phones down while you're driving before you kill someone'. 'I know she had no intention of running me down,' Chitwood also tweeted. 'That's what a lot of distracted drivers say after they cause a tragedy.' The cop - Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood - suffered a broken leg, along with various bumps, bruises and cuts The collision was recorded on video by a Waste Pro truck whose driver, Allen Ramos, stopped to help the sheriff THANK YOU ALL for your well wishes, and thank you to everyone who rushed over here to help. Here's an update from the ER where they're taking GREAT care of me. To the hit and run driver- just come forward! pic.twitter.com/oXo1fej7f6 Mike Chitwood (@SheriffChitwood) March 18, 2021 Click Orlando filmed footage of police and paramedics arriving on the scene to assist the injured sheriff. The collision was recorded on video by a Waste Pro truck whose driver, Allen Ramos, who was the first person to stop and administer aid to Chitwood. His dashcam video helped detectives track down Bergman at her home later that evening. Her arrest was captured on police bodycam. Vision shows Bergman claiming she didn't stop her car at the time of the crash because she though she had hit a mailbox. News 6 filmed footage of police and paramedics arriving on the scene to assist the injured sheriff The arresting deputy then tells Bergman's family: 'She did not hit a mailbox. Do you want to know what she hit? Mike Chitwood, the sheriff.' Bergman has since been released from custody. Chitwood is also out of the hospital. 'Just imagine if that had been a child or an elderly person on that bike, or if the car drifted a couple more inches to the right,' he stated in his video. 'I consider myself lucky to be back on my feet today,' he said. Kyle Sandilands hosted a glitzy yacht party on Friday afternoon to celebrate the launch of his new Nueva Prosecco in Sydney. The radio shock jock, 49, appeared in high spirits as he held hands with his 34-year-old girlfriend Tegan Kynaston while climbing on-board the luxurious Oscar II superyacht alongside their closest pals. Among the guests on the jaw-dropping vessel - which can be rented for up to $2,500 per hour - was his best friend John Ibrahim, who rocked up alongside his model girlfriend Sarah Budge. Prosecco party: Radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands hosted a glitzy yacht party on Friday afternoon to celebrate the launch of his new Nueva Prosecco with girlfriend Tegan Kynaston For the occasion, Kyle mixed sophistication with a drizzle of casual-chic in a grey blazer and black skinny jeans. He teamed his look with a skull-emblazoned scarf which he draped around his neck, and a pair of casual running shoes. His girlfriend Tegan donned a white top which flashed her tiny waist and sun-kissed decolletage. All smiles! John Ibrahim (pictured) looked relaxed as he boarded the vessel Great mates: John chatted to his long-time friend Kyle aboard the yacht Slick: John looked chic in a crisp white shirt which fitted close to his body and a blue blazer Beaming: Tegan couldn't hide her excitement, beaming as she talked to pals Relaxed: One guest went barefoot as Kyle stood nearby mingling All aboard! Tegan donned a pair of sunglasses and appeared in good spirits Chatting: Kyle, who wore a pair of white slippers, made sure to be attentive to guests She teamed her look with a tiny pink floral skirt, and elongated her legs with a pair of very high platform heels. Tegan emphasised her striking blue eyes with dark eyeliner and a subtle bronze shadow, and crimped her short locks in a funky wave style. Kyle's pal John looked equally as suave in a blue suit, a crisp white shirt and a pair of oversized sunglasses. Cute! The radio shock jock, 49, appeared in high spirits as he held hands with his 34-year-old girlfriend Tegan Kynaston while climbing on-board the luxurious Oscar II superyacht with their closest pals Pals: Among the guests on the vessel- which can be rented for up to $2,500 per hour - were his long-time best pal John Ibrahim and his girlfriend Sarah Budge Suave: For the occasion, Kyle mixed sophistication with a drizzle of casual-chic in a grey blazer and black skinny jeans Sleek: He teamed his look with a skull-emblazoned scarf which he draped around his neck, and teamed his look with a pair of casual running shoes Looking good! Kyle's pal John looked equally as suave as Kyle in a blue suit he teamed with a crisp white shirt, and a pair of oversized sunglasses Embrace: Tegan appeared ecstatic to see her pal Sarah, as the pair shared a sweet hug before getting on the boat Friends: The couples appeared happy to see each other as they greeted on the red carpet Sarah, meanwhile, was chic in a baby blue blazer, white shirt and black cigarette trousers. Kyle was seen pouring a drink for himself and his girlfriend while aboard the party boat as he laughed and chatted to guests. He has been close friends with Kings Cross identity John for years, and they often travelled overseas on lavish trips together pre-Covid. Pals: Kyle has been close friends with Kings Cross identity John for years, and they often travel overseas on lavish trips together pre-Covid Beaming: The sunshine managed to hold out for the glitzy event, which was attended by some of Kyle's closest pals Entrepreneur: Kyle's new Prosecco will exist alongside his Nueva Sangria, which he created in 2019 Pretty! Tegan teamed her look with a tiny pink floral skirt, and elongated her already never-ending pins with a pair of block heels Busy: Kyle had been at work on The Kyle And Jackie O Show earlier in the morning, but his co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson did not attend the boat party Happy: He was seen pouring a drink for himself and his girlfriend while aboard the party boat as he laughed and chatted to guests Jackie 'O' Henderson was noticeably missing from the event, revealing earlier that she would be collecting her daughter Kitty, nine, from school at the same time. Budding wine king Kyle's new Prosecco will exist alongside his Nueva Sangria, which he created in 2019. The radio star was supposed to be joined by Today show presenter Karl Stefanovic on the superyacht. Beaming: Kyle appeared in a very good mood as he laughed with his girlfriend and their friends on the impressive vessel Career: Tegan was Kyle's personal assistant before becoming the director of communications at his company, King Kyle Love story: Kyle first appeared on Tegan's Instagram on December 6, 2019 Happy: The loved-up couple have gone from strength to strength ever since confirming their romance on New Year's Day Barefoot: Kyle soon got comfortable, taking his shoes off as he enjoyed the ocean air Casual: Tegan was soon to follow suit, and took her mega heels off to enjoy the day Watch your step! Tegan was careful not to trip as she made her way on board Staying close: Kyle kept near to his girlfriend as they all filed onto the yacht Karl was set to host the shindig and introduce Kyle to his guests. But Kyle revealed earlier in the day that Karl had pulled out at the last minute, and branded him an 'a**hole' live on the Kyle and Jackie O Show. Later in the show, Karl rang up to explain himself to Kyle - who pretended he had no idea that the popular presenter had dropped out of his gig. 'You're the hostess with the mostess!' Kyle quipped, to a clearly confused Karl. Missing: The radio star was supposed to be joined by Today show presenter Karl Stefanovic on the superyacht. Karl was meant to host the shindig and introduce Kyle to his guests Stars of the show: Tegan and Kyle had all eyes on them as they made their entrance Arrivals: Earlier, the couple arrived together in a luxury vehicle 'Did you not get that message I sent you buddy? Karl said, before reiterating the text. 'I called your number and left a message, I thought it was all OK. I'm so sorry,' he said with regret, before saying: 'I'm happy to do a phone cross!' 'You're not that famous!' Kyle laughed. 'It's not as if Russell Crowe is phoning in!' As he hung up the phone, Kyle said: 'What an a**ehole. Honestly. Ahh well, don't worry. It's hard being famous.' Press Release 19 March 2021 IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), South Asia's largest hospitality company, today launched an open call for innovators worldwide to bring efficient, climate-smart, cost-effective cooling solutions to India's hospitality sector. Advertisements The TechEmerge Sustainable Cooling Innovation Program in the Indian hospitality sector has been funded by the UK Government. It offers innovators market access and a combined pool of up to $500,000 in grant funding to pilot new solutions, including home-grown Indian solutions that reduce the high energy usage and climate impacts of cooling systems. "IHCL is committed to creating a positive impact on the environment. The company's annual renewable energy consumption has increased considerably, with many of our key hotels powered by wind and solar energy sources," said Gaurav Pokhariyal, Senior Vice President & Global Head Human Resources, IHCL. "Our sustainable cooling partnership with IFC is a win-win move that enables us to reduce operating costs, limit our greenhouse gas emissions and help shape hospitality to meet the needs of tomorrow." Cooling currently accounts for about 10 per cent of greenhouse gases and 15 per cent of energy consumption worldwide. In a business-as-usual scenario, energy used for cooling is expected to triple by 2050 globally, while demand could increase five-fold in hot tropical countries like India. Cooling innovation offers one of the most cost-effective ways to meet this challenge, while also tackling climate change. "As countries emerge from the pandemic, a green, resilient recovery is increasingly critical and remains a strategic pillar of IFC's continued efforts. IFC has financed over $5.4 billion in green buildings, including almost $1 billion in green hotels. Accelerating climate-smart cooling innovations in Indiahome to an expanding hotel sector and one of the world's fastest growing cooling marketspaves the way for job creation, business opportunities for innovative companies like IHCL, and their clients and partners while spurring low-carbon economic growth in the region and beyond," said Jun Zhang, Country Head - India at IFC. Applications can be submitted at TechEmerge Sustainable Cooling in the Indian Hospitality Sector through April 30, 2021. Innovative companies will be selected through a competitive process and then invited for matchmaking with IHCL to discuss piloting their solutions at five of its hotels, which include the internationally renowned Taj brand, with the potential for successful innovations to be scaled across its properties. IFC and a panel of industry experts provide support during market entry and tech transfer, helping innovators mitigate financial and operational risks and lowering adoption risks for companies like IHCL. TechEmerge has a proven track record of matching cutting-edge tech companies and start-ups with leading corporations and other organizations in emerging markets. Its programs have generated commercial contracts worth more than USD 1 million, helped innovators to raise tens of millions of dollars in financing and investment, and scaled innovations that are expected to benefit millions of people each year. About IFC IFCa member of the World Bank Groupis the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2020, we invested $22 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org. An Elizabeth landlord, who federal authorities sued last year alleging the landlord demanded sexual favors from tenants, was arrested Friday morning on several criminal charges for allegedly coercing more than a dozen of his tenants into sexual acts in exchange for financial relief, NJ Advance Media has learned. Joseph Centanni, 73, of Mountainside, was charged by the Union County Prosecutors Office with eight counts of second-degree sexual assault, one count of second-degree attempted sexual assault and 14 counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact between 2016 into 2020, the prosecutors office said. His arrest comes after the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in August claiming Centanni violated the Fair Housing Act, which protects tenants from sexual harassment and retaliation by landlords, for allegedly demanding sexual favors in exchange for housing for years. According to police reports obtained last year by NJ Advance Media through an Open Public Records Request (OPRA), four alleged victims had previously told the Elizabeth police department that Centanni sexually assaulted them. One women alleged Centanni sexually assaulted after she lost her job amid the coronavirus pandemic and was struggling to pay her rent, according to a police report. Centanni has not previously faced criminal charges. The allegations made by the Union County Prosecutors Office are similar to the allegations listed by the DOJ and other victims who have come forward claiming Centanni used his position as a powerful landlord to prey upon tenants who were in tenuous financial situations. Centanni, according to the prosecutors office, targeted male and female tenants who were homeless, about to be evicted or otherwise struggling financially. He described the sex acts he solicited from the victims as a quid pro quo, offering them rent reductions, a delay in an eviction, or other forms of financial assistance if they obliged with his demands, authorities said. The victims reported feeling as though they had no choice but to concede to Centannis demand, according to the prosecutors office. Some tenants did so in order to maintain housing for their young children, authorities said. Using a position of power and privilege to prey on the vulnerabilities and desperations of others is not just wrong in this case it is also criminal, Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo said in a statement. The sexual abuse allegedly occurred in laundry, storage or boiler rooms at his Elizabeth properties or in a sample apartment unit meant to be shown to prospective renters, prosecutors said. Centannis attorney, Raymond Londa, said he was unaware of the arrest when contacted Friday. He said his client would enter a not guilty plea. His attorneys have previously denied the allegations made by the DOJ. He categorically denies all allegations of sexual harassment or other misconduct and intends to fight the allegations in court before a jury of his peers, the attorneys said in a statement in November. Centanni has owned apartment buildings in New Jerseys fourth-largest city since at least the early 1990s, according to property records. Authorities said he was actively involved in running 18 residential properties totaling hundreds of apartment units in and around Elizabeth, while raking in more than $100,000 a month from a federal housing program used by low-income tenants. In their lawsuit, federal authorities accused Centanni of allegedly demanding sexual favors in order to obtain housing, exposing his genitals to prospective or current tenants, offering housing benefits, like reduced rent or excusing late rent, in exchange for oral sex, and initiating eviction actions, or threatening to do so, against tenants who objected to or refused his sexual advances. The lawsuit is ongoing, but according to court documents the parties have engaged in conversations around possibly settling the case. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Centannis arrest. In a 2019 incident outlined in the federal complaint, a female tenant told Centanni she was having difficulty finding another place to live. How bad do you want your apartment? he asked the tenant, according to the complaint, before taking her to an empty storage room where he allegedly exposed himself and asked for oral sex. Because she felt like she had no choice, the tenant submitted to Centannis sexual demand, the complaint says. After this incident, Centanni allowed her to stay in her apartment. Centanni is also the subject of a separate civil lawsuit filed in state Superior Court in August. The woman alleges Centanni forced her on at least 11 different occasions to perform non-consensual oral sex on (Centanni) while she was in a dire financial position and desperately in need of housing, according to the lawsuit. The case is ongoing. Centanni is being held at the Union County Jail pending a first appearance and detention hearing. The prosecutors office said it intends to seek to have Centanni detained pending the outcome of his case. Prosecutors said it is believed that there may be additional victims of Centanni who have yet to come forward, urged anyone with information about Centannis activities to contact Detective Son of the Union County Prosecutors Office at 908-477-1698. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips. In isolation, people have re-evaluated their methods of self-expression and changed the way they connect fashion and identity. With the the addition of face masks to their everyday wardrobes and virtual environments free of judgement, people have found new ways to express themselves. One of the hallmarks of Mercer Advisors culture is our focus on growth and promoting from within, opening up dynamic career paths for future firm leaders, particularly from the many acquisitions we have made. Mercer Advisors Inc. (Mercer Advisors), a national Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) firm, today announced the promotion of 4 Managing Directors, including the most recent appointment of Susan Travis to lead the rapidly growing Central South region. Mercer Advisors presence in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana has grown dramatically since the acquisition of Houston, TX-based Kanaly Trust in 2016, from which Travis joined the firm. In this new role, Travis will oversee teams in Houston, Dallas, Austin, and New Orleans offices entrusted with approximately $3.5 billion in assets. Susan has been an exemplary leader in building out our presence in Texas and neighboring states, said Josh Gustafson, Head of Client Service. This region is a key strategic growth area for Mercer Advisors, and I am thrilled to see the career progression she has made as one of the founding members of our team from the Kanaly Trust acquisition. Travis began her wealth management career in Trust Administration for Bank of New England (now part of Bank of America) and held management positions at First Security Trust Company and PremierBank & Trust before joining Kanaly Trust in 1997. Travis then joined Mercer Advisors as a Wealth Management advisor after the integration of Kanaly Trust into Mercer Advisors and was quickly promoted to office and regional leadership positions before her most recent elevation to the Senior Leadership Team as a Managing Director. Travis holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the State University of New York College at Potsdam, as well as the Accredited Estate Planner (AEP), CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER (CFP), and Certified Trust and Financial Advisor designations (CTFA). Travis sits on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils (NAEPC) and chairs the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee for NAEPC. The Managing Director role at Mercer Advisors is a key leadership role that leads local advisory teams in a region and serves as a member of the firms Senior Leadership Team. Also recently joining Travis in this Managing Director (MD) role is Kevin Jack, MD in the Southwest Region, Matt Cook as MD in the Los Angeles and Central California Region, and Josh Deforest as MD in the Pacific Northwest. One of the hallmarks of Mercer Advisors culture is our focus on growth and promoting from within, opening up dynamic career paths for future firm leaders, particularly from the many acquisitions we have made. noted Welling. Congratulations to Susan, Kevin, Matt, and Josh in their new leadership positions and we couldnt be prouder of their efforts in leading Mercer Advisors growth strategy going forward. About Mercer Advisors Established in 1985, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. (Mercer Advisors) is a full-service wealth management firm that specializes in providing investment advice, financial and estate planning, and taxes, and corporate trustee and trust administration services. It is one of the largest Registered Investment Advisers and financial planning firms in the U.S. with over $28 billion in client assets. Headquartered in Denver, Mercer Advisors is privately held, has approximately 525 employees, and operates nationally across the country with 45+ locations. Mercer Advisors, Inc. is a parent company of Mercer Global Advisors Inc. (RIA), majority owned by both Oak Hill Capital and Genstar Capital. Mercer Global Advisors has a related insurance agency. Mercer Advisors Insurance Services, LLC (MAIS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercer Advisors Inc. Employees of Mercer Global Advisors serve as officers of MAIS. For Mercer Global Advisors clients who wish to purchase insurance products, MAIS has entered into a non-exclusive referral agreement with Strategic Partner(s). More information about MAIS and our Strategic Partners may be found in our Form ADV 2A. Visit us at http://www.merceradvisors.com. Data as of March 31, 2021and includes affiliates and wholly owned subsidiaries announced to date. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and delivers all investment-related services. Mercer Advisors Inc. is the parent company of Mercer Global Advisors Inc. and is not involved with investment services. Mercer Advisors is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice to clients. All estate planning documentation preparation and other legal advice is provided through its affiliation with Advanced Services Law Group, Inc. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) owns the CFP certification mark, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER certification mark, and the CFP certification mark (with plaque design) logo in the United States, which it authorizes use of by individuals who successfully complete CFP Boards initial and ongoing certification requirements. First published in The Sydney Morning Herald, March 20, 2003 By our correspondents, Paul McGeough, in Baghdad, and Lindsay Murdoch, on the Kuwait/Iraq border At least five cruise missiles slammed into the heart of Baghdad this morning, setting two government buildings ablaze and stabbing at the heart of the regime Saddam Husseins palace compound on the banks of the Tigris River but still not shock and awe. The force of the missiles, low powered compared with some of the massive warheads promised by the US, pointed to a new turn in the Bush battle plan, after a surprise opening missile strike earlier in the day on a military complex on the outskirts of the city. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 [March 19, 2021] Crownpeak Acquires Digital Experience Platform Provider e-Spirit DENVER, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Crownpeak, the leading digital experience platform, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with German IT service provider adesso SE to acquire adesso subsidiary e-Spirit. Headquartered in Germany, e-Spirit enables businesses to rapidly deliver personalized, content-rich experiences across online channels. The acquisition brings together Crownpeak's SaaS-based web content management system (CMS) and other best-of-breed offerings which wrap digital quality, governance and privacy into experience delivery with e-Spirit's differentiators, including content-driven commerce experiences and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered personalization. The combination of Crownpeak and e-Spirit will create the most agile digital experience platform for brands, regardless of location or vertical, to easily orchestrate digital experiences that build trust and maximize customer lifetime value. "Through our acquisition of e-Spirit, we'll enable more companies around the globe to drive meaningful, authentic customer interactions," said Ravi Kumaraswami, CEO at Crownpeak. "This also doubles Crownpea's customer base, providing more opportunities for us to transform digital experience delivery at the 1-to-1 level and on a greater scale. With our talented and expanded team, leading technologies and growing partner channel, we look forward to helping more companies move faster and create more." Andreas Knoor, chief product officer at e-Spirit, said: "Joining forces with Crownpeak represents an important milestone for our industry and customers alike. Our combined resources will also fuel more opportunities for research and development and further product innovation. With our powerful technologies, greater worldwide support and flexible hosting models, companies can improve the speed and results of digital experience delivery." About Crownpeak Crownpeak provides the leading digital experience platform. The industry's only true SaaS-based solution, Crownpeak offers best-in-breed capabilities that empower companies to create, deploy and optimize omnichannel digital experiences faster and easier than ever, and with zero infrastructure to maintain. Removing the barriers to managing digital experiences, Crownpeak's built-in tools address content management, experience optimization and governance, personalization, web accessibility and privacy UX. Companies can deliver high-impact, trust-building experiences at scale that are brand-consistent and compliant with global privacy laws improving loyalty, engagement and revenue. For more information, please visit www.crownpeak.com. About e-Spirit AG e-Spirit's SaaS-based FirstSpirit Digital Experience Platform helps businesses engage customers and increase revenue with rapid execution of personalized, content-rich digital experiences anytime, anywhere. Savvy digital marketers across all industry sectors rely on the FirstSpirit platform which includes a hybrid headless CMS, AI-driven personalization and omnichannel marketing capabilities for individualized and synchronized content delivery across all channels to differentiate their companies and turn customers into lifelong fans in record time. e-Spirit, founded in 1999, is part of the adesso Group and has offices across the U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific. Customers include international brands and corporations such as Commerzbank, BASF, Bosch, Belk, Carter's, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, GNC, Grohe, Olympus, Santander Bank, Walbusch and many others. For more information, please visit www.e-Spirit.com. Media Contact: Sara Card Email: press@crownpeak.com Phone: 703.327.4866 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/crownpeak-acquires-digital-experience-platform-provider-e-spirit-301250998.html SOURCE Crownpeak [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. The world's first satellite that uses magnets to gather up space junk will launch tomorrow morning. The craft, called ELSA-d and made by Japanese firm Astroscale, will blast off from Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket at 6.07am GMT on Saturday (March 20). The 200kg craft consists of two components that will perform a series of tests in space to trial the ability to retrieve junk with a magnetic mechanism. Once the tests are finished, ELSA-d will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere but the satellite will be crucial to informing future space clean-ups. The mission, licensed by the UK Space Agency, is acting as a test case for licensing more missions to remove defunct spacecraft and fragments of debris. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), there are approximately 9,200 tonnes of space debris defined as human-made objects that have fragmented from spacecraft and are now floating aimlessly above the Earth. The challenge of avoiding collisions between satellites and debris in space has been recognised by the UN, and satellites are now made to swerve off course to avoid a damaging in-flight impact. Saturday morning's launch which Astroscale says will mark the world's first commercial mission to 'demonstrate the core technologies necessary for space debris docking and removal' will be streamed live. Japanese entrepreneur Nobu Okada founded Astroscale in 2013 with the sole aim of launching 'space sweepers'. 'Pre-launch activities have been successfully completed, and ELSA-d is now integrated on the rocket and ready to prove our technical capabilities to the world,' said Okada, who is also the current company CEO. 'This landmark mission will also enable better-informed policy developments and drive the business case for on-orbit services such as end-of-life and active debris removal. 'This is an incredible moment, not only for our team, but for the entire satellite servicing industry, as we work towards maturing the debris removal market and ensuring the responsible use of our orbits.' The world's first mission to demonstrate how space debris could be removed from lower Earth orbit will launch tomorrow. ELSA-d consists of two spacecraft that will perform a series of tests in space to test its ability to retrieve junk with its magnetic mechanism Astroscale's founder previously told AFP that the density of space debris has reached a 'critical level' where collisions could happen at any time. 'If we do not take any actions, space is not sustainable anymore,' he said. 'So, somebody has to clean up the space.' 'The future debris will mostly come from constellations. 'A certain percentage of the satellites will go defunct in space. And they have to be replenished with new satellites to keep the coverage. 'To do that, they have to remove the oldest satellites to make sure their orbital plane is clean.' As part of the upcoming demonstration, two components will be blasted into space together a 180kg servicer satellite to collect the debris, and a 20kg 'client satellite'. The smaller client satellite is a piece of replica debris fitted with a plate that enables docking with the servicer's magnetic mechanism when it gets close. Close-up of the 180kg servicer satellite, equipped with a magnetic capture mechanism, which will repeatedly release and dock with the 'client' spacecraft Astroscale intends to prove the capabilities required for debris removal, including client search, inspection and rendezvous, and both non-tumbling and tumbling docking During the mission, the servicer will repeatedly release and dock with the client in a series of technical demonstrations, as a dummy run for how it would find and dock with defunct satellites and other debris. Demonstrations include looking for the client, inspecting it and meeting up with it, and 'tumbling' docking where the client satellite comes lose and tumbles away the servicer has to catch up with it. The main demonstration phases of the mission will complete by the end of the year at which point the decommissioning process will begin. 'At the end of the mission, the ELSA-d spacecraft will begin a slow de-orbit phase, using up the last of her propellant to responsibly avoid collision with other debris in space, eventually burning up on re-entry,' John Auburn, managing director of Astroscale UK, told MailOnline. 'Were already working hard on the next phase of the programme to retrieve multiple pieces of debris in a single mission, and we expect to launch this service by the end of 2023.' ELSA-d, which is short for End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration, will be operated from the National Facility at the Satellite Applications Catapult (SAC) at Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire. 'We will perform complex manoeuvres to demonstrate the release and capture of this debris,' said Auburn. The challenge of avoiding collisions between satellites and debris in space has been recognised by the UN 'This mission will prepare the way for Astroscale to scale-up our commercial debris removal services for satellite providers and government partners.' Auburn said it will be the first semi-autonomous robotic magnetic capture of a piece of debris tumbling through space. The mission will use advanced software and autonomous control technology, rather than being completely under human control, however. 'These kinds of demonstrations have never been done before in space they are very different to, say, an astronaut controlling a robotic arm on the International Space Station,' Jason Forshaw at Astroscale UK told New Scientist. With up to tens of thousands of satellites launching in the coming years, space debris endangers 'a flourishing ecosystem in space', Astroscale says. According to ESA, there are 34,000 pieces of space debris that greater than 4 inches in length, and another 130,000 bits of space debris smaller than this. A collision with space debris could have a big impact on satellite services people rely on every day It estimates there have been more than 560 break-ups, explosions, collisions, or anomalous events resulting in fragmentation. ESA performs about two 'collision avoidance manoeuvres' per year with each of its Earth-orbiting spacecraft. While rocket launches have placed about 10,680 satellites in Earth's orbit since 1957, around 6,250 of these are still in space, but only 3,700 are still functioning. 'A collision with debris in space could have a major impact on the many satellite services we rely on every day on Earth, from mobile phones to online banking,' said Dr Alice Bunn, international director at the UK Space Agency, which approved the licence for the launch earlier this month. 'The UK is taking a leading role in international efforts to clean up space debris as the largest investor in space safety for the European Space Agency,' Dr Bunn said. 'Astroscale's exciting ELSA-d mission is the world's first commercial demonstration debris removal mission and will show how we can make space safer for everyone.' Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Hurricane season 2021 is here: How do storms get their names? By Yang Chun The USNI News reported on March 10 that the US Department of Defense is again considering a reduction in aircraft carrier force structure as part of the upcoming Fiscal Year 2022 budget submission to Congress. In order to meet a proposed USD 704 billion to USD 708 billion topline for the first Biden Defense Department budget, the Office of the Secretary of Defense is weighing how it could build in savings by reducing the carrier force, including decommissioning the USS Harry S. Truman ahead of time, the report cited two sources as saying. Analysts said by leaking its intention of meeting the budget requirement by carrier decommissioning, the Pentagon is actually putting pressure on the government to grant it more budget. First, the Pentagon is seeking Congresss support. Many congress members are closely linked with the shipbuilders in their constituencies, and decommissioning an aircraft carrier will exert serious negative effects on those companies and their emplyees. To ensure their votes, the congresspeople will try to stop the Biden administration from agreeing to the premature decommissioning of USS Harry S. Truman, just like how they blocked the Trump administrations plan to decommission the carrier in 2019. Not only will history repeat itself this year, but Congress may even vindictively increase the naval budget. Second, the Pentagon is trying to sway public opinions. The leak from the US military has made a big splash in the country. American media, calculating the number, claimed that spending another USD 3.4 billion to keep USS Harry S. Truman running for another 25 years is much cheaper than building a new Ford-class carrier. It seems the argument over whether to put USS Harry S. Truman out of service may very well gain the US military more funds from Congress instead of less. Third, the Pentagon is making its own plan for military development. According to the plan previously released by the US Department of Defense, the military plans to build a super fleet of 500 vessels by 2045 and 355 manned surface vessels by 2035. The carrier decommissioning plan leaked this time doesnt conflict with that. On the one hand, if the Pentagon is determined to decommission the carrier, it will invest more in building light carriers or small-scale naval combat platforms. On the other hand, if the US navy does secure more budget this time, it will have the resources to materialize the 2045 or 2035 plan. The Biden administration is expected to announce the FY2022 defense budget soon, with moderate reduction being the general tone and military development priorities being the focus. The news about the carrier reduction is just a trick played by the US navy, posing as victim, to advance its combat capability development while covering up the frequent accidents and scandals in recent years. The budget scramble within the Pentagon will only get fiercer going forward, and its potential influence should not be underestimated. For one thing, different services may vie more fiercely for interests. Given the general tone of austerity, Americas military services are sure to fight more fiercely for the limited budget. The armys reform and transformation program, the navys expansion plan, the air forces war-preparedness program, and the modernization program aimed at a strategic nuclear force covering the land, sea and airspace all of them require immense investments. For another, regional security situation is imperiled. Foreign media reported that the US Indo-Pacific Command had recently applied to Congress for USD 27 billion for six years from FY2022 to effectively deter potential rivals. American troops stationed in Europe and the Middle East also plan to spend more money on reinforcing the deployments to ramp up the deterrence. Its likely that the US military will use the budget to kick off a new round of global arms race, which will imperil the security situation in relevant regions. Were pleased to continue our support of iBIOs STEM education efforts through this new program, said Steve Sabus, Senior Vice President and Head, Medical Specialties Business Unit. . Now more than ever, its vital that we find creative ways to encourage and engage todays youth. Today, the Illinois Biotechnology Innovation Organization (iBIO) announced the expansion of iBIO STEM Kit program to four schools in the Community Consolidated School District 21 (CCSD21) and the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The iBIO STEM Kit is a new program designed to fill an essential educational gap created by the COVID-19 pandemic. With support from Astellas more than 2,300 kits will enhance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning experiences for 330 students in grades three through eight at Oliver W Holmes Middle School and London Middle School in CCSD21 and at Walter L. Newberry Math & Science Academy and Edward N. Hurley Elementary School in CPS. The monthly kits provide everything needed for each learning activity, as well as information about real-world applications and career opportunities to which students can aspire. At Newberry, we are excited to provide our students with access to the STEM kits to further their exposure and enthusiasm for the content areas addressed; Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics. It is through opportunities such as this, as well as Stellar Girls, that students will develop a better sense of agency in the Sciences, allowing them to envision their future careers and potential, said Linda Foley, Principal, Newberry Math and Science Academy. "Through this opportunity, students will have increased hands-on access to explore STEM concepts at home, share a passion for STEM with family, expand curiosity, and foster excitement for discovery, said Dr. Michael Connolly, Superintendent of the Community Consolidated School District 21 We look forward to building a long-term partnership with iBIO and Astellas to support our students' interest in STEM fields." Astellas Provides Support for STEM Education Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products. Its US headquarters is located in Northbrook, Illinois. Astellas and the legacy Astellas USA Foundation began their partnership with iBIO in 2011 to support local STEM education by providing start-up funds to launch Stellar Girls, an after-school science program offered to more than 2,000 girls in the Chicago area since its launch. Were pleased to continue our support of iBIOs STEM education efforts through this new program, said Steve Sabus, Senior Vice President and Head, Medical Specialties Business Unit. Now more than ever, its vital that we find creative ways to encourage and engage todays youth. Astellas also sponsors iBIO's annual STEMgirls Camp, a 5-day STEM Summer camp for 3rd-8th grade girls. In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Astellas is supporting the iBIO STEM Kit program to provide critical hands-on STEM education. About iBIO The Illinois Biotechnology Innovation Organization (iBIO) is a life sciences industry association that represents the nearly 88,000 life sciences employees at member companies, universities, service providers and venture firms. iBIO promotes the industrys value to the public and policymakers; connects innovators to investment and talent; stimulates collaboration and fosters the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs to transform patient lives through groundbreaking research and works to grow the Illinois economy. iBIO delivers industry-led STEM programs for teachers and students, thereby inspiring the next generation of innovators and helping restore Americas leadership in technology education. To learn more about iBIO and its programs, visit http://www.ibio.org. Three European Countries Hold Off on Resuming AstraZeneca CCP Virus Vaccinations Three European countries on Thursday said they would hold off on resuming usage of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine even after the blocs drug regulator said the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the negative side effects and cleared it for use. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, in separate statements, said they would wait on whether to decide if they would resume rolling out the vaccine. Reports said that some recipients of the vaccine developed blood clots or died after getting the shot. In Italy, a prosecutor in Piedmont announced they would open a criminal manslaughter investigation after a 57-year-old music teacher died hours after getting the AstraZeneca CCP virus shot, while Danish officials last week said a 60-year-old woman developed unusual symptoms and died after the shot. Amid the reports, more than a dozen European Union countries suspended usage of the vaccine, including Italy, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and others. The vaccine from AstraZeneca is generally a safe and efficient vaccine that offers protection against COVID-19, but it cannot be ruled out that there may be an association between the vaccine and the rare cases of blood clots, a low level of blood platelets, and bleeding. The EMA is therefore launching further investigations, Danish health regulators said in a news release after the EU released its findings suggesting the vaccine is generally safe to use. It is important that we together with EMA and the other drug regulatory authorities take our time to evaluate this type of reports thoroughly, Tanja Erichsen, the Danish Medicines Agencys acting director of pharmacovigilance, said in the release. And Geir Bukholm, director of the Division of Infection Control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, asserted that due to the situation with several serious cases in Norway, we want to thoroughly review the situation before we make a conclusion. A Norwegian medical team also asserted that there was a link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and reports of blood clots. We have obtained results which may explain the clinical course of our hospitalized patients, said Pal Andre Holme, a professor of hematology at Oslo University Hospital, reported EuroNews. These patients had a powerful immune response which led to the formation of antibodies which can affect the platelets and thus lead to a blood clot, he remarked. Swedens public health agency said that it would not immediately start using the vaccine as it is investigating reports of blood clots in the country. [We] hope that next week we will be able to decide how best to use this vaccine in the future, said Swedish epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, reported EuroNews. The Austin-based actor Matthew McConaughey is again making headlines for flirting with a run for Texas governor and this time he says he is serious about the possibility. Belying the hubbub, though, is something activists have increasingly buzzed about: Little is known about McConaughey's politics, or at least his partisanship. State voting records show he hasn't voted in a Texas primary election since at least 2012, which could give some inkling as to which party he supports. He has not made any campaign contributions. And he has declined to say whether he would run as a Democrat, a Republican or something else. There, of course, could be appeal in the lack of political background, and McConaughey has spoken openly about being disillusioned with the current state of politics, suggesting last year that it is a "broken business." He also has criticized the excesses of both the left and the right, and encouraged an "aggressively centric" mindset. MORE POLITICAL NEWS: New bill threatens to bar sports teams from public funding if they don't play national anthem But for partisans looking to suss out McConaughey's true leanings as the 2022 election cycle gets underway, there is not much to go off. That is especially true for Democrats, who are eager to challenge GOP Gov. Greg Abbott over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and winter weather crisis but lack a deep bench beyond Beto O'Rourke. McConaughey has voted twice in Texas since 2012 in the 2018 and 2020 general elections, according to his latest voter history file with the secretary of state's office. He voted early both times in person in 2018 and by mail ballot in 2020. His registration in Travis County goes back to Nov. 25, 2012, and does not preclude the possibility that he was previously registered in Texas and fell off the voter rolls. When it comes to campaign contributions, there is no record of him giving at the state or federal levels. He did not say much about the latest election though he made headlines afterward, when he criticized the "illiberal left" for taking an arrogant view toward the "other 50%." He suggested that view led some in Hollywood a strongly Democratic constituency to deny Donald Trump's win in 2016, and now some Republicans were denying Trump's reelection loss because "they've been fed fake news." McConaughey has been fielding questions about running for governor while promoting his memoir, "Greenlights," which published in October. In the book, McConaughey did include a handful of glimpses at the politics he was around growing up. Early on in the memoir, McConaughey said he came from a long line of rule breakers, describing them as outlaw libertarians who vote red down the line because they believe itll keep fewer outlaws from trespassin on their territory. But he steered clear of discussing politics recent presidents and elections, for example or including details about his personal political views. A publicist for McConaughey did not respond to requests for comment for this story. BILL TO WATCH: The Texas GOP is still furious about Harris County's drive-thru voting McConaughey's' recently released book is not the only thing keeping him in the public spotlight these days. He is organizing a virtual benefit concert for Texans affected by last month's deadly winter storm, set to be broadcast Sunday on his YouTube channel. McConaughey initially sparked rumors he could run for governor last year when he left open the possibility in a November interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. But a day later, after his Hewitt interview received wide media coverage, McConaughey seemed to dial back the speculation about a gubernatorial bid, telling late-night TV host Stephen Colbert that he has "no plans to do that right now." But McConaughey ramped up speculation once again last week, when he said in a podcast interview that running for governor is a "true consideration." He followed it up with an interview with NBC News' Al Roker, from the lawn of Texas Capitol, in which he reiterated he was thinking about a bid. Some interviewers have specifically asked McConaughey if he would run as a Democrat or a Republican or something else and he has not played ball. Questioned Thursday about his partisan affiliation if he runs for governor, he told the Austin American-Statesman he has not "gotten that far yet." In an interview published the same day by the Longview News-Journal McConaughey partly grew up in the East Texas city he also shrugged off a question about partisanship. "I think, going in, to think Democrat or Republican or one of the other, is small thinking now and even becoming unconstitutional because youre supposed to serve the American people or the people of your state," McConaughey said. Independent bids for governor are not unheard of in Texas. In 2006, former Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn and songwriter and humorist Kinky Friedman both ran as independents. They finished third and fourth in the race behind Republican Rick Perry and Democrat Chris Bell, but combined to bring in more than 30% of the vote. So far, the biggest question hanging over the 2022 gubernatorial race involves a Democrat: O'Rourke, the former 2020 presidential candidate, El Paso congressman and 2018 U.S. Senate nominee. O'Rourke has said he is considering challenging Abbott, while offering harsh criticism of the governor's responses to the pandemic and winter storm. The McConaughey-O'Rourke relationship is one of growing fascination in political circles, if only because they are by far the two most recognizable names being discussed as potential gubernatorial candidates. McConaughey was photographed posing with O'Rourke and two other people while O'Rourke was running for U.S. Senate. As early voting was underway in that race, he tweeted a video of himself in line at a polling place, encouraging people to get out and vote. And about a year later, McConaughey crossed paths with O'Rourke at a 2019 benefit concert for the victims of the El Paso Walmart massacre. Then again, McConaughey has also teamed up with Republicans, albeit on causes that similarly are not overtly political. In 2018, he appeared alongside Attorney General Ken Paxton in a public service announcement about ending human trafficking. More recently, he lent his voice to another PSA, this one released by Abbott's office, that urged Texans to stay home if they could as the pandemic escalated in the state last spring. When it comes to more politically sensitive issues, McConaughey has treaded carefully. Take, for example, the push to "defund the police" last year after the death of George Floyd, the black Minnesota man who was killed after being pinned down by an officer. Asked about Austin's response to the "defund the police" movement, McConaughey told podcast host Joe Rogan in October that it's "almost like it should've been renamed because 'defund the police' does not sound anything like there's been money reallocated to different areas." He said the community and police "need to get back together" and better understand the unique challenges each face. And on police specifically, he said there are "a few of these bad apples [that] need to be removed, but we need to make sure we're training them better." He ultimately landed on a skeptical position, saying his "first gut instinct [about defunding the police] was I don't see how that repairs the relationship between the community and the police force." BACKGROUND: Matthew McConaughey isn't counting out a gubernatorial run "We'll see how it works, but I'm more for saying, OK, instead of taking away your money and your funds, which you can use to train better and work on the relationship of what your job is and what you expect and what communities expect from you I'd rather have done that than pull money from 'em," McConaughey said. In the same interview, McConaughey offered a more direct position on another hot-button issue gun control saying it is "too easy to get a gun sometimes, that there should be that background check." McConaughey has a history of being more outspoken on gun violence than other politically charged issues. In 2018, he spoke at the March for Our Lives rally in Austin, calling for banning assault weapons for civilians, restricting high-capacity magazines and strengthening background checks. "Those are the three main stipulations," McConaughey said at the rally, "and to those three, I can say if you can say it with me all right, all right, all right." Cassi Pollock contributed reporting. The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) announced that it has welcomed Tara Graham as its new Immunization Coalition Coordinator. Ms. Graham formerly worked as a Practice Facilitator with North Country Health Consortium and is a current Program Coordinator with Communities for Alcohol and Drug-Free Youth. Ms. Graham earned a bachelor's degree in Communications from the University of New Hampshire and has returned to pursue a Master's degree in Public Health. She has over 15 years in direct healthcare administration and management prior to moving into the public health sector and has worked throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts in private practices, hospital systems, and home care/hospice. Ms. Graham is thrilled to continue her public health career as the Immunization Coalition Coordinator, laying the groundwork for this new coalition. About NHPHA NHPHA is a statewide membership organization composed of health care and public health professionals. For over 25 years, it has brought together members who share a common goal of making sure that all of New Hampshire citizens live, learn, work, and play in safe and healthy environments. For more information, visit nhpha.org or call 603-228-2983. ### Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 This new, self-effacing Biden is an exorcism of Donald Trump. This new, no-drama Biden is an echo of Barack Obama, whose lessons, good and bad, he has obviously learned. In the process he has accomplished one of the most striking personality transplants Ive seen in American politics. He has also exploded that musty maxim about old dogs and new tricks. When Trump failed to grow into the presidency, as critics and even some fans hoped he would, the consensus was that it had been foolish to expect otherwise. Who but Trump could Trump be? Besides, he was 70 on the day of his inauguration. Hes going to grow and learn and change after that point? Well, Biden was 78 on the day of his inauguration, and in the year and a half immediately leading up to it, he demonstrated the new tricks of reticence and restraint. He continues to demonstrate them The Invisible President? was the headline on a recent article by Joel Mathis in The Week presumably on the theory that the less flamboyant his style, the more likely his actual policy triumphs, which wont be complicated by his becoming a symbol of grander battles or turning himself into a cultural lightning rod. His new tricks include a more progressive bent than in the past and, it seems, a less firm attachment to bipartisanship than he once claimed developments that take into account the ravages of a pandemic, the toll of income inequality and his partys current pulse. Remember those history-class debates about whether the leader makes the moment or the moment makes the leader? The moment is making or, rather, remaking Biden. Thats partly evident in the absence of any full-fledged presidential news conference so far. (Theres finally one scheduled for March 25.) To be fair, his three most recent predecessors in the Oval Office Trump, Obama and George W. Bush had each held just one such solo back-and-forth with the press corps by this point in their presidencies, so its not as if Bidens zero is in some unconscionable category all its own. But its also not of a piece with who Biden was and how he behaved for most of his political career, when he was famous for talking and talking, often until he talked himself into trouble. At long last, the trouble taught him. And what it taught him was to talk less. Joe Biden, disciplined messenger? was the first sentence, rendered in wonderment, in a Politico newsletter by Alex Thompson and Theodoric Meyer on Monday. The two went on to add: The president so far has surprised some of his former colleagues and allies with a largely gaffe-free White House debut after a lifetime of verbal stumbles. Were about to find out if it will last. That final observation presaged Bidens and Vice President Kamala Harriss travels around the country to hold public events explaining and extolling the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. It also teased the Stephanopoulos interview by ginning up some suspense: Would Biden the stumbler re-emerge? Head of medicines agency: we still don't have all data about the Russian vaccine I have no problem getting the Astra Zeneca vaccine, says Zuzana Batova. When PM Igor Matovic wrote a Facebook post in which he called on the head of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Christa Wirthumer-Hoche, to work faster on the registration of the Sputnik V vaccine in the EU, head of Slovakia's State Institute for Drug Control (SUKL), Zuzana Batova, apologised to the EMA head. She explained in an interview for the Sme daily why she decided to do so, and also talks about the safety of the Astra Zeneca vaccine and the investigation process of the Sputnik V vaccine before release for use in Slovakia. SUKL is expected to give its verdict on Sputnik V next week. Did the prime minister contact you after you apologised to the EMA director of the board due to his Facebook post? I am not in direct contact with the prime minister, so no. Why did you apologise for his post? I reacted to the post only a few hours after we found that it started spreading among EMA staff. At that time, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use was in session, so the news travelled very fast to other medicine agencies. How did you view the conflict between the prime minister and your husband that followed? [Batova's husband, former journalist, and more recently, adviser to Andrej Kiska during his presidential term, Rado Bato, wrote a vulgar message to Matovic that the prime minister then published on his Facebook profile - ed. note]. I will not comment on that. Zuzana Batova Head of the State Institute for Drug Control Appointed on September 7, 2016, by then health minister Tomas Drucker (Smer nominee) Graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy of Comenius University in Bratislava Has anyone from the government or the Health Ministry called on you to step down from the SUKL's top post, or have you considered such a step? There was no such call. But I must say I did not want to go to work the next day. I changed my mind due to the team of great people at the SUKL. What is the relationship between the SUKL and EMA? Is SUKL subordinate to the EU agency? No. They are our partner organisation. We have very intensive working relations with them, just like with other medicines agencies. Sometimes even friendly relations, like with the Czech or the Austrian medicines agencies. The safety of the Astra Zeneca vaccine has been widely discussed in Europe recently, some countries suspending it. The SUKL was relatively quick to state that Astra Zeneca is safe. Have you done your own investigation or have you relied on the opinion of the EMA and the WHO? 18. Mar 2021 at 14:39 | Jan Krempasky Amy Williams checks into our travel Q&A This week Olympic skeleton racer Amy Williams checks into our travel Q&A. She talks about her most memorable trip, her favourite Olympic city - and more. MOST MEMORABLE TRIP? Going on safari in Botswana, where my husband proposed to me. Animals are a huge passion so I loved being up close to nature. EARLIEST HOLIDAY MEMORY? Youth hostelling with my parents and siblings in Devon, Cornwall and Wales as a child. We would go walking in all weathers and stay in great-value dormitories. FIRST TRIP ABROAD? Going to the port city of La Rochelle in my early teens to stay with a pen pal. The croissants were amazing and we had hot chocolate for breakfast but I didnt learn much French. YOUR FAVOURITE OLYMPIC CITY? I won my gold at the Vancouver Olympics (held in Vancouver and the nearby ski resort of Whistler) in 2010 so that obviously tops the list. GOOD FLYER? No, and I cant sleep on planes either, so I watch as many movies as possible. I never drank if I was competing but I will have a glass of wine now if Im going on holiday. ANY CELEBRITY TRAVEL ENCOUNTERS? I once met Sir Richard Branson on a Virgin flight theres a photo somewhere of him carrying me. TOP TRAVEL BEAUTY TIP? Slapping on the moisturiser and switching off the air-con in your hotel room so as not to dry out your skin. Memorable: Amy recalls going on safari in Botswana, where her husband proposed to her DREAM DESTINATION? Id love to go Bali some day, turn off my mobile and get away from it all. WHERE NEXT? Ill be heading to the Dorset or Devon coast with my husband and children this summer, and visiting the Algarve in Portugal later in the year. General Assignment Reporter Chris Mays is a general assignment reporter for the Brattleboro Reformer. He has been with New England Newspapers Inc. since 2012. Much like the fortunes of the Winnipeg Jets in the playoffs, rapid transit in Winnipeg has taken on a maybe next year mantra, with little long-term success since the 1970s. Earlier this month, Winnipeg Transit unveiled the latest iteration of its Transit Master Plan, which replaces a previous planning document that achieved partial lift-off with the completion of the Southwest Rapid Transitway. Opinion Much like the fortunes of the Winnipeg Jets in the playoffs, rapid transit in Winnipeg has taken on a "maybe next year" mantra, with little long-term success since the 1970s. Earlier this month, Winnipeg Transit unveiled the latest iteration of its Transit Master Plan, which replaces a previous planning document that achieved partial lift-off with the completion of the Southwest Rapid Transitway. The plan, as proposed, has the potential to bring real, tangible and short-term benefits to Winnipeg, but is unfortunately situated as a 25-year vision. The proposed Transit Master Plan represents a significantly scaled-back vision for rapid transit, from the six routes promised by Mayor Brian Bowman back in 2014. The current plan calls for three rapid transit lines and an increased focus on frequent service routes throughout the city, in order to increase frequency and reliability for transit users. While it is disappointing to see the abandonment of a plan calling for dedicated, separate legs, the latest version of our transit plan is perhaps a more realistic set of goals for Winnipeg. It is no secret that Winnipeg Transit has fallen behind, owing to our citys insistence on planning and studying the concept that so many other prosperous cities have accepted wholeheartedly. We can look to Calgary and Edmonton in the 1970s and Ottawa in the 1980s as cities that invested early in both light rail and bus rapid transit, respectively, and saw sustained ridership grow. These systems have likely contributed to transit-oriented development where rates of density have increased, providing those cities with a more efficient tax base. Meanwhile, Winnipeg is the only major city in Canada to experience a drop in transit ridership. This comes as surprising news, as many young people want to utilize transit in order to reduce their carbon footprint and save money; the demand for better transit is certainly present. Additionally, many large employers now see an efficient transit service as an incentive to invest in a city, as opposed to looking purely at the availability of parking. From improving our economy to saving our planet by reducing our carbon footprint, its evident that transit investments will be crucial to our post-pandemic world. This brings us back to this weeks release of the latest transit plan, when early media reports focused on the $1.1-billion dollar price tag over an astounding 24 years. Should the plan be properly funded and implemented, it has the potential to significantly improve transit in Winnipeg and open the door to future improvements once ridership has begun to grow. However, in abandoning the dedicated and capital-intensive elements of separated rapid-transit legs, Winnipeg Transit has instead advocated for a cheaper option, namely dedicated lanes and traffic-light synchronization technology in order to improve the flow of traffic. Furthermore, theyve added a number of necessary capital projects to the price tag of the overall plan, such as the necessary replacement of the north Transit garage at a $200-million price point. However, the redeeming points of the plan come from an efficient route design that could be implemented next year if there was demonstrated political will. So if the crux of the new Transit Master Plan is to focus on improving the number of buses, routes that are easier to understand and some new traffic lights and paint, one has to ask why a 25-year timeline is necessary. Why not accelerate the implementation of the new route network and on-street improvements as a stimulus project to help us ease out of the COVID-19 recession, creating both local jobs and a long-term vision for sustainability? Of course, naysayers may point out that even these service improvements will cost money money that the city is currently lacking due to our fiscal situation. Luckily, the federal government announced almost $15 billion in capital funding for new public-transit funding in February. Certainly, Winnipeg could make a case for at least some of this funding to flow to our city, and a strategy to accelerate our own plan would certainly help make that case. Under Bowmans direction, transit ridership has not grown in Winnipeg and investment continues to pale in comparison to other major Canadian cities. With his announcement that he will be leaving the mayors office next year, he has an opportunity to build some form of legacy by improving on and implementing this plan in the next five years, not the next 25. The plan before us will help Winnipeg begin the process of catching up with other cities, but that effort will be pointless if we fall further behind and miss a unique funding opportunity from the federal government. Heres hoping that this time, our city wont miss the bus. Zach Fleisher is a Winnipeg writer, researcher and communications professional. An outside super PAC dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic women is expending almost as much money to elect Karen Carter Peterson to Congress as Peterson herself is spending. According to its filings with the Federal Election Commission through Monday, Washington, D.C.-based EMILYs List has spent $600,000 to elect Peterson, a state senator from New Orleans, to the open 2nd Congressional District seat vacated by Cedric Richmond. Peterson had raised about $800,000 for the race through Wednesday, according to the FEC reports. The infusion of funds from EMILYs List means that their combined efforts exceed the spending by state Sen. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, and outside super PACs supporting him. Political analysts see him as her chief rival. You have factions of the Democratic Party at work, especially in the progressive wing, said Gary Clark, chair of Dillard Universitys Social Sciences Department. Peterson and Carter are both pro-choice, favor an increase in the minimum wage, would have voted to impeach President Trump and broadly support the policies of the Biden administration. EMILYs Lists thinking in backing Peterson is, Lets not just have someone with whom we have a good affinity, but someone who is one of us, Clark said. Election day is Saturday in a district where 65% of the voters live in New Orleans and the west bank of Jefferson Parish, while the other 35% live in another eight parishes that stretch along the Mississippi River all the way to Baton Rouge. Peterson has parlayed her former roles as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and as former chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party into ties with national Democratic groups. EMILYs List is featuring Peterson on its website, along with a spot for people to click to donate to her campaign. "EMILYs List is committed to addressing the challenges Black women face running for office and with every tool at our disposal, Benjamin Ray, a spokesperson, said in an email. From early money to campaign support, we are focused on getting results and the fight for a more diverse and equitable government." 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 groups super PAC, Women Vote!, has spent about $460,000 on television ads and direct mail pieces to promote Peterson. It has spent the remaining $140,000 on direct mail pieces that oppose Carter, who has raised the most money in the campaign. The American Jobs and Growth PAC has spent $61,000 opposing Peterson, according to the FEC. The PAC has a conservative viewpoint, according to opensecrets.org. The Blue America PAC Independent Expenditure Committee has spent about $5,000 on radio ads supporting Gary Chambers Jr., a Baton Rouge activist and advocate. Under federal law, EMILYs List cannot coordinate its spending with Petersons campaign. But her campaign like other campaigns in similar situations, Democrat or Republican has an easy way around the restriction. Petersons website has a tab entitled What Voters Need to Know, and it spells out her campaigns key issues. Political campaign insiders say this is meant to provide a roadmap for outside super PACs. The information known as the red box because its typically contained within the confines of a red box also includes photos and video that a super PAC can use. The FEC reports show that Peterson has raised $88,000 since March 1, including $10,000 from herself. In all, she has raised about $790,000. Carter has raised $166,000 since March 1, or about $1.07 million overall. Unions have been big contributors to Carters campaign in recent days, while husband and wife Benjamin and Gemi Bordelon hes the president and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards contributed a total of $9,200. Chambers has collected $7,500 since March 1, for a total of about $415,000. His recent donors include actors Susan Sarandon and Milla Jovovich. Claston Bernard, a small business owner in Gonzales who has the Louisiana Republican Party endorsement, has raised $20,000 since March 1, or $132,000 overall. The famous Sydney Royal Easter Show will be back on this April but it'll look very different to how it was in the years before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Patrons will be capped at 60,000 each day over the 12 day show, which is around half the crowd Sydney Olympic Park usually sees each year. Along with reduced numbers, organisers have implemented a string of measures to ensure visitors are kept Covid-safe such as installing up to 50 hand-washing and sanitising stations around the park. Officials have said that currently face masks will not be mandatory nor will a temperature check. The famous Sydney Royal Easter Show will be back on this April but it'll look very different to how it was in the years before the Covid-19 pandemic hit The show will run from April 1 to April 12 with guests capped at 60,000 each day Covid-19 marshals will also be stationed throughout the show ensuring people are socially distancing. General Manager of Agriculture and the Show, Murray Wilton, said they had been working with NSW Health over the past six months to ensure the iconic event would go ahead safely. 'Overall attendance has been capped at approximately half of what we would expect to see on an optimum day during a "normal" show,' Mr Wilton said. 'While we could theoretically host a larger number of ticket holders, we've taken a conservative and responsible approach to our attendance cap to ensure each area of the Show can be operated safely and in line with NSW Health guidelines.' Australians can look forward to the Royal Easter Show this year after it was cancelled in 2020 Guests will be able to see which areas of the park are the most busy via the Royal Easter Show app There will also be set 'entry' and 'exit' signs for patrons visiting the different arenas and pavilions around the event. A customised patron counting system will also be introduced which will allow guests to check which areas are busy via the Easter Show app. A team of 182 cleaning staff and 131 hygiene staff will be on site during public holidays while on other days there will be 152 cleaning staff working and 119 hygiene employees on. Tickets will be sold almost exclusively online and guests will be required to check in upon arrival. Last year was the first time the show was cancelled in more than 100 years due to the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic. Tickets will be sold almost exclusively online and guests will be required to check in upon arrival Sacramento, California--(Newsfile Corp. - March 19, 2021) - Vibe Growth Corporation (CSE: VIBE) (OTC PINK: VBSCF) (FSE: A061) (the "Company" or "Vibe"), a vertically integrated California cannabis enterprise, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a consulting agreement with Venture North Capital Inc. ("Venture North") to provide investor relations, strategic marketing, and business consulting services. Venture North is a Toronto based capital markets consulting firm specializing in executing strategic investor outreach campaigns. Mark Waldron, CEO of Vibe commented, "This is a very exciting time for Vibe. We are well positioned to execute our growth strategy; expanding our retail dispensary portfolio and our cultivation assets across California to meet the increasing demand for our Vibe By California and Hype Cannabis Co. products. We look forward to working with Venture North and introducing the Vibe story to the North American investment community." Pursuant to the terms of the consulting agreement, which has an initial term of 3 months, the Company will pay a monthly cash fee of $7,500 and has agreed to issue 140,000 options to purchase common shares of the Company ("Common Shares"), with an exercise price at $1.05. Of the options issued to Venture North, 35,000 shall vest immediately and an additional 35,000 options will vest quarterly in arrears. The Options will be subject to the terms of the Company's stock option plan and will vest in accordance with the provisions therein and the policies of the CSE. The appointment of Venture North as an investor relations consultant to the Company and the granting of the Options remain subject to regulatory acceptance of applicable filings with the CSE. About Vibe Growth Corporation Vibe Growth Corporation and its cannabis retail brand, Vibe By California, is a trusted, vertically integrated California cannabis enterprise with retail dispensaries; cannabis greenhouse cultivation; premium indoor cultivation; commercial cannabis distribution; brand sales and marketing; e-commerce platform; home delivery; and Hype Cannabis Co. marijuana and Vibe CBD products. In California, Vibe is focused on maximizing shareholder value through accelerating organic growth, opportunistic acquisitions, distressed workouts, and new license applications. The Company operates retail and e-commerce under its iconic Vibe By California brand. To learn more about Vibe, please visit www.vibebycalifornia.com. Company Contact: Bill Mitoulas, Investor Relations Office: (416) 479-9547 Email: ir@vibebycalifornia.com Website: www.vibebycalifornia.com 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/77889 MTV will expand its True Life Crime investigative franchise with True Life Crime UK from mid-April. The series will go deep into some of the most haunting and unsolved cases of crimes against young people in the UK that have rocked headlines and social feeds across the world. The four-episode docuseries is hosted by BBC News journalist Linda Adey, who investigates the stories of four lives gone too soon, addressing chilling revelations and exposing new questions. These victims were young and the crimes against them were even more shocking. Linda Adey said, Ive reported on a lot of crime as a journalist and True Life Crime UK is about getting under the headlines and making sure we bring these young peoples stories to the world so that they are not forgotten. By spreading awareness of their names, we hope to honor them and shed light on the cruelty of lives lost too soon. Cases featured in the series include: Jayden Parkinson: Runaway or Foul Play? Jayden Parkinson, 17, disappears in Oxford without a trace. Diving deep into the disturbing case of the missing teen who vanishes just days before Christmas, host Linda Adeys hunt for answers leads to a heart-breaking discovery. Kirsty Maxwell: Hen Night Horror A Benidorm hen party turns into a nightmare as newlywed Kirsty Maxwell is found dead by her hotel pool after falling from a 10th floor balcony. An enquiry by Spanish police leaves many questions unanswered for Kirstys grieving family, as the episode dives into the chilling story of a happy weekend turned into a horror story. Champion Ganda: Random Attack or Marked for Murder? Champion Ganda, 17, was stabbed to death in broad daylight near an East London primary school. Linda Adey heads to Forest Gate to investigate a murder that sent shockwaves through the local community and is still making noise across social feeds today. James Brindley: Mindless Murder or Calculated Killing? When James Brindley, 26, is killed on his way home after a night out, it devastates his close-knit family and a quiet village in the West Midlands. Left with unanswered questions and a need to uncover the truth, Jamess parents seek closure on why their son was brutally killed meters away from the family home. MTVs True Life Crime premiered in the US early 2020 and followed award-winning journalist and MTV News host Dometi Pongo as he investigated shocking crimes committed against young people, daring to ask unanswered questions that exposed the truth. True Life Crime UK is commissioned for MTV International by Kerry Taylor and Craig Orr. The executive producers for MTV International are Orr and Lestyn Barker, the executive producer for ViacomCBS International Studios UK (VIS UK) is Jeff Anderson and the series producer is Nick Kenton. Wednesday, 14 April at 9.30pm on MTV. 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. Experts warn of COVID-19 resurgence as more U.S. states see uptick in infections Xinhua) 08:32, March 19, 2021 Staff members of Planet Fitness prepare for reopening to the public in Inglewood, Los Angeles County, California, the United States, March 15, 2021. (Xinhua) Although the country's national daily case average continues to fall -- about 32.5 percent over the last month -- nearly a third of all states have seen their average number of cases rise at least 10 percent, according to a report. WASHINGTON, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Public health experts are concerned that the United States may witness a COVID-19 resurgence if states and people do not cautiously follow safety and protective measures. More than a dozen states have seen an uptick in COVID-19 infections, including Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, and Nevada, according to the latest data of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Although the country's national daily case average continues to fall -- about 32.5 percent over the last month -- nearly a third of all states have seen their average number of cases rise at least 10 percent, according to an ABC News report. Several states, including Delaware, Idaho, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon and West Virginia, have seen their case averages increase by at least 25 percent in the last week. "I don't expect to see something as bad as we just recovered from, but if we're not careful, cases can rise again if we let our guard down too soon," said Tara Smith, a professor of epidemiology at the Kent State University College of Public Health. Health officials have repeatedly warned about a potential COVID-19 resurgence as some state leaders have lifted mask mandates and eased restrictions. People wearing face masks are seen on an airport express train in Seattle, the United States, March 14, 2021. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling) It is too early to know if the drop in new cases is a turning point "because new, more contagious variants are circulating in the country," Stanley Perlman, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Iowa, told Xinhua in a recent interview. Experts are concerned that new variants are outpacing the vaccinations, and have called on the public to double down on safety measures such as wearing face masks, social distancing and avoiding crowded areas. A total of 4,855 infection cases of coronavirus variants had been reported in the United States as of Tuesday, according to CDC data. The vast majority of these cases, 4,686, were caused by the variant known as B.1.1.7, which was originally detected in Britain. There were 142 cases of a new strain initially discovered in South Africa, called B.1.351, and 27 cases of the P.1 strain first discovered in Brazil. "We hope that the vaccine rollout will outweigh the variants spread," Perlman said. "I don't expect to see something as bad as we just recovered from, but if we're not careful, cases can rise again if we let our guard down too soon," said Tara Smith, a professor of epidemiology at the Kent State University College of Public Health. Health officials have repeatedly warned about a potential COVID-19 resurgence as some state leaders have lifted mask mandates and eased restrictions. The minister of civil aviation Hardeep Singh Puri has rejected reports of objections being raised by NITI Aayog and Finance Ministry towards privatisation of six airports in 2019 in favour of Adani group. In his reply to Lok Sabha, Puri said that the terms and conditions for privatisation of the six airports were decided by the Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) which is chaired by CEO of the NITI Aayog, and the group comprised of secretaries of ministry of finance (Department of Economic Affairs and Department of Expenditure) as well. "Therefore, the ministry of finance and NITI Aayog were part of the decision making process, and the EGoS finalised the contours of the bidding process for PPP [public private partnership] of six airports," Puri said. ALSO READ: Adani Wilmar plans to raise Rs 5,000 crore via IPO Gautam Adani-run Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) won the rights to run Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru airports for 50 years. Last year, AEL took control of Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangaluru airports - months after it had asked the AAI (Airports Authority of India) to postpone the handover in the wake of pandemic. The minister also said that in order to ensure higher competition and to give more flexibility to bidders, three bidding conditions were put in place. This included no prior airport experience, no cap on number of airports for which a participating entity could bid for, and per passenger fee as bidding parameter instead of revenue sharing. The first two conditions have reportedly raised doubts around the entire bidding process. ALSO READ: Adani Green Energy raises $1.35 billion from 12 international lenders Adani Group has also completed the acquisition of 23.5 per cent stake in MIAL (Mumbai International Airport Ltd) last month. It bought this stake from two existing investors (ACSA Global Limited and Bid Service Division) of MIAL. The group aims to take its ownership in MIAL to 74 per cent by acquiring 50.5 per cent stake from GVK Group. With MIAL's acquisition, Adani Group would also get the right to develop the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport. Once that happens, Adani Group would become one of the largest airport operators in the country with eight airports under its belt. On the issue of MIAL acquisition, Puri said that any private players have right to transfer their shares after lock-In period (which is initial seven years). "Accordingly, the three existing private shareholders - GVK Airports Holding Ltd, ACSA Global Ltd. and Bid Service Division (Mauritius) Ltd. - together holding 74 per cent of the shares in MIAL transferred their shares to Adani Airports Holding Limited. Thus, with the change in ownership of MIAL, which is concessionaire for Navi Mumbai Airport, the ownership in Navi Mumbai airport has also changed," the minister told Lok Sabha. ALSO READ: Tata, Reliance, Adani! Big corporates in an aggressive acquisition spree 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. Carers who have to sleep at their workplace in case they are needed overnight are not entitled to the minimum wage for their whole shift, the Supreme Court has ruled. In a landmark ruling on Friday, the UK's highest court dismissed an appeal by former Mencap support worker Claire Tomlinson-Blake. Lawyers representing Mrs Tomlinson-Blake, who was supported by the trade union Unison, argued carers who work so-called sleep-in shifts are 'like a nightwatchman'. Mrs Tomlinson-Blake, who worked in the East Riding of Yorkshire, was paid 22.35 for a sleep-in shift between 10pm and 7am plus one hour's pay at the then-national minimum wage of 6.70, making a total of 29.05. At a hearing in February last year, her barrister Sean Jones QC told the Supreme Court that carers like Mrs Tomlinson-Blake were getting less than minimum wage. John Shannon, who worked as an on-call night care assistant at a care home in Surrey, also challenged the 2018 decision by the Court of Appeal that sleep-in carers were not entitled to the minimum wage for the whole of their shift. Care workers will not be paid minimum wage for sleeping at their workplace in case they are needed. Pictured, Dawn, a carer from Elite Care Solutions gives her client Tina, who suffers with Multiple Sclerosis, her lunchtime feed during a home visit in Scunthorpe The Supreme Court unanimously dismissed Mrs Tomlinson-Blake and Mr Shannon's appeals in a ruling on Friday. In the judgement, Lady Arden said a 'sleep-in worker who is merely present is treated as not working for the purpose of calculating the hours which are to be taken into account for national minimum wage purposes'. She added that 'the fact that he was required to be present during specified hours was insufficient to lead to the conclusion that he was working'. The decision prompted calls for the Government to take action, not just in relation to laws covering 'sleep-in payments', but also the care sector as a whole. Mrs Tomlinson-Blake said: 'This case was never about the money. It was about the principle of treating staff fairly. 'Sleep-in shifts aren't about just being on call - it's work. Staff are constantly on guard to protect the most vulnerable in society. The sound of a cough in the night could mean someone's in danger. 'It was nice to be clapped by the nation, but that was only temporary. The care workforce should be valued permanently. Respect for staff shows that the people we care for matter too.' Trade union Unison's general secretary Christina McAnea said: 'No-one is a winner from today's judgement.' While Sue Harris, legal director of the trade union GMB, said the union had 'raised an eyebrow' at the court's decision. In a statement after the ruling, Paul Chamberlain, head of employment at law firm JMW Solicitors, said: 'This is a landmark case for the care sector. 'No one's a winner': Union chiefs calls on Government to increase carer's pay Trade union chiefs have called on the Government to fix a 'broken system'. Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: 'No-one is a winner from today's judgement.' Sue Harris, legal director of the trade union GMB, said the union had 'raised an eyebrow' at the court's decision. Ms McAnea added: 'Everyone loses until the Government intervenes to mend a broken system that relies on paying skilled staff a pittance. 'This dire situation was ignored by the Government for years before Covid, and again in the recent budget. 'Today's judgement shows ministers can't disregard the desperate need for major reform a moment longer. 'That includes a well-resourced national care service that ensures staff are paid fairly to help resolve soaring job vacancies. 'The longer the delay, the greater the betrayal of the most vulnerable in society and the dedicated workers who look after them.' Ms Harris said GMB suspected many people would feel 'surprise' at the ruling. She said: 'It essentially means if you are at your employer's premises - not at your home - able to sleep, but know you may be disturbed at any time during that sleep, then those hours don't count for the purposes of working time. 'Not many people would be able to sleep knowing they could be called to action at any moment. 'We have seen throughout the pandemic the wonderful work that carers do, they are the group in our society most likely to be on the minimum wage and that they are predominantly women and predominantly black, Asian, minority ethnic employees. 'This was a chance to address one of the reasons for the low pay of carers, it's a shame it wasn't seized upon.' Gail Cartmail, assistant general secretary of the trade union Unite, said the social care sector 'has been facing a funding crisis for the last 20 years'. She added: 'It is now time for the Government to step in and change the legislation so care workers receive at least the national minimum wage during the course of the whole night.' Downing Street praised the 'tireless' work of carers but refused to say whether social care reforms would address the issue of overnight pay following the Supreme Court ruling. Asked whether Number 10 would be reforming how carers are paid, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said: 'We are aware of the judgment from the Supreme Court. 'Care workers perform a vital role and they have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to support our most vulnerable and we are absolutely committed to supporting them.' He added: 'Delivering a care system fit for the future remains our top priority and, following new measures in the health and care Bill White Paper, we will bring forward proposals for social care reform later this year.' Advertisement 'While the industry will be breathing a huge sigh of relief, the ruling does carry financial implications for carers, who will be sorely disappointed by the decision. 'Care providers have dodged a very large financial bullet. 'They will not be exposed to back-pay and other associated, and potentially significant, financial liabilities from the likes of HM Revenue and Customs, in addition to employment tribunal claims. 'Critically, contractual terms of 'sleep-in' shifts will remain the same.' Matthew Wort, a partner at Anthony Collins Solicitors - which represented Care England, the body that represents independent care providers and intervened in the Court of Appeal case - said: 'The Supreme Court's decision means UK care providers no longer face a potentially catastrophic financial outcome that could have jeopardised the care of thousands of people. 'This case was not about what care workers should be paid. Instead, it focused on the interpretation of national minimum wage regulations, with the law and previous government guidance making clear that carers are not working while asleep. 'Today's judgement puts an end to many years of uncertainty. It should be seen as a line in the sand, with the focus now on ensuring changes are made in how workers are remunerated to ensure appropriate pay for time asleep.' Mr Wort said a 'serious risk' had been removed from providers, but that did not guarantee long term stability in the sector. He added: 'The coronavirus pandemic has added significant pressure on providers already on their knees due to funding cuts, many of which are now assessing the viability of their services - to the potential detriment of people who rely on care for their day-to-day needs. 'Now is the time for central government to increase its investment in the social care sector, providing the funding local authorities need to maintain healthy care markets.' Edel Harris, chief executive of the Royal Mencap Society, said carers 'deserve better recognition. She added: 'Support workers within Mencap and across the sector do an exceptional job. 'They are dedicated in their care for people with a learning disability and should be paid more. They are care workers on the coronavirus front line and deserve better recognition in all forms. 'The Supreme Court in its judgement rightly recognises this. But we understand that many hard-working care workers will be disappointed by its ruling. 'Mencap contested this case because of the devastating unfunded back pay liabilities facing providers across the sector. This was estimated at 400 million. Sleep-ins are a statutory care service which should be funded by local authorities, and ultimately Government. 'It is no exaggeration to say that if the ruling had been different, it would have severely impacted on a sector which is already underfunded and stretched to breaking point. 'Some providers would have gone bust and, ultimately, the people who rely on care would have suffered.' Mr Harris called on the Government to reform legislation covering 'sleep-in' payments, which he described as 'out of date and unfair'. He added: 'More widely, they should do a thorough and meaningful review of the social care workforce and put more money into the system so that we can pay our hardworking colleagues better. 'It is disappointing that there is still no plan for social care reform. 'Today's decision means that we can continue our important work which includes fighting for the rights of people with a learning disability, giving information and advice and promoting inclusion, as well as supporting people to live brilliant lives. 'Until there is a more sustainable solution from Government, we plan to continue to pay top ups for sleep-ins, as we have done since 2017, and will urge local authorities to continue to cover this in their contracts.' Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: 'No-one is a winner from today's judgement. 'Everyone loses until the Government intervenes to mend a broken system that relies on paying skilled staff a pittance. 'This dire situation was ignored by the Government for years before Covid, and again in the recent budget. 'Today's judgement shows ministers can't disregard the desperate need for major reform a moment longer. 'That includes a well-resourced national care service that ensures staff are paid fairly to help resolve soaring job vacancies. 'The longer the delay, the greater the betrayal of the most vulnerable in society and the dedicated workers who look after them.' Ms Harris said GMB suspected many people would feel 'surprise' at the ruling. She said: 'It essentially means if you are at your employer's premises - not at your home - able to sleep, but know you may be disturbed at any time during that sleep, then those hours don't count for the purposes of working time. 'Not many people would be able to sleep knowing they could be called to action at any moment. 'We have seen throughout the pandemic the wonderful work that carers do, they are the group in our society most likely to be on the minimum wage and that they are predominantly women and predominantly black, Asian, minority ethnic employees. 'This was a chance to address one of the reasons for the low pay of carers, it's a shame it wasn't seized upon.' Gail Cartmail, assistant general secretary of the trade union Unite, said the social care sector 'has been facing a funding crisis for the last 20 years'. NHS staff outside King's College Hospital in Camberwell, south London, join in the clap for carers last year She added: 'It is now time for the Government to step in and change the legislation so care workers receive at least the national minimum wage during the course of the whole night.' Siobhan Mulrey, an employment law specialist at law firm Irwin Mitchell, said while care organisations would be 'breathing a huge sigh of relief', care workers will be 'very disappointed'. She said: 'Care organisations will breathe a huge sigh of relief as, had the Supreme Court ruled against them, they would have faced huge and, for many, unaffordable liabilities. 'On the other hand, care workers will be very disappointed, particularly as they perform a vital service, yet are some of the poorest paid workers in our society. 'Although this decision only directly applies to workers whose main purpose is to sleep at or near their place of work, it may open wider arguments about the correct pay for other home workers. 'It's possible that home workers will find it more difficult to argue they are working throughout their shifts, rather than simply being 'available for work'. 'So, whilst this decision marks the end of the road for sleep-in shift arguments, there's likely to be further litigation around pay for home workers.' Matt McDonald, employment partner at law firm Shakespeare Martineau, said: 'This ruling will be disappointing for any care worker who believes they should be paid minimum wage for the entirety of the time spent on 'sleep-in' shifts. 'The case has been in the pipeline for some time and if the Supreme Court had sided with Mrs Tomlinson-Blake, the shockwaves would have been felt throughout the care sector. Claire Tomlinson-Blake, a Mencap support worker in the East Riding of Yorkshire, appealed against a Court of Appeal ruling that carers are only entitled to the minimum wage when they are required to be awake for work - and not while asleep. Pictured, the Supreme Court 'By contrast, care providers will be mightily relieved that their long-standing approach of paying a fixed rate for 'sleep-in' shifts has been confirmed by the Supreme Court as legally sound. 'If the Supreme Court's decision had gone the other way, the bills facing care providers for historic underpayments would have been substantial and, in some cases, devastating. 'Many simply couldn't have afforded to pay and we would therefore seen a large number of providers teetering on the brink of financial ruin, putting further pressure on UK care standards.' The Local Government Association (LGA), which intervened in the Supreme Court case, welcomed the ruling. The chairman of the LGA's community wellbeing board, councillor Ian Hudspeth, said: 'This significant ruling is in line with councils' and social care providers' understanding of the law. 'Had the appeal been upheld, care providers and councils providing social care would have faced massive bills, which would have increased the huge financial pressures they are already facing. 'As we said in our submission to the court, the LGA strongly supports care workers being paid a fair wage for their valued work. 'Of course, today's decision does not remove the need for a sustainable funding settlement for adult and children's social care, which includes important decisions on the workforce such as pay, recruitment and career development. 'The Government should bring forward its proposals on adult social care funding as soon as possible.' Liz Kendall, shadow minister for social care, said: 'It's extremely disappointing that the Supreme Court came to this decision. 'Care workers do a highly-skilled and difficult role and they should be paid fairly for every hour of the work they do. 'Crucially, no care workers should see their pay fall as a result of this ruling and it is imperative that the Government works with care providers and trade unions to ensure this is the case. 'The long legal process that came before this judgment has shown the law around sleep-in shifts is out of date, unfair and in urgent need of updating. 'This must form a part of the social care reforms we expect from ministers later this year.' Downing Street praised the 'tireless' work of carers but refused to say whether social care reforms would address the issue of overnight pay following the Supreme Court ruling. Asked whether Number 10 would be reforming how carers are paid, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said: 'We are aware of the judgment from the Supreme Court. 'Care workers perform a vital role and they have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to support our most vulnerable and we are absolutely committed to supporting them.' He added: 'Delivering a care system fit for the future remains our top priority and, following new measures in the health and care Bill White Paper, we will bring forward proposals for social care reform later this year.' The survey noted that the Coronavirus-linked lockdown and subsequent slowdown of the economy had adversely affected job creation in 2020-21. (DC Photo) Hyderabad: The real estate, information technology and industries sectors remain the top job providers in the state, according to the Socio-economic Survey Outlook 2021 tabled by the state government in the Legislative Assembly on Friday. Medchal-Malkajgiri district topped in attracting industries. Ranga Reddy district topped in job creation and investments. The survey noted that the Coronavirus-linked lockdown and subsequent slowdown of the economy had adversely affected job creation in 2020-21. The real estate, IT and Industries sectors together provided employment to 1,24,829 people in 2020-21, significantly lower compared with the creation of 3,95,964 jobs in 2018-19 and 1,64,023 in 2019-20. The decrease in 2019-20 is attributed to the global economic slowdown. Pharmaceutical and textile sectors together provided employment to 9,371 people in 2020-21. The food processing industry stood next by employing 7,936 people. The engineering sector provided jobs to 7,360 people. The other sectors together employed 24,427 people. In all, these sectors under industrial category provided jobs to 1,78,771 people in 2020-21. This is a drastic fall compared to the creation of 6,63,365 jobs in 2018-19 and 2,38,066 jobs in 2019-20. Ranga Reddy district remained at the top in attracting investments, thanks to its proximity to Hyderabad. Companies prefer to launch operations on city outskirts, since 2015, when the state government launched the TS-iPASS to give approvals to industries within three weeks via online and self-certification mode. Ranga Reddy attracted investments worth Rs 67,431 crore, followed by Nalgonda (Rs 27,061 crore), Bhadradri (Rs 21,917 crore), Peddapalli (Rs 13,644 crore) and Medchal-Malkajgiri (Rs13,592 crore). However, Medchal-Malkajgiri district stood first in terms of attracting more industries a total of 3,327 units. This was followed by Sangareddy (1,149), Ranga Reddy (1,089), Karimnagar (996) and Jagtyal (611). In job-creation, Ranga Reddy district topped by employing 8,81,050 people between 2015-20. Warangal Rural district stood next with 1,90,557 jobs, with Medchal-Malkajgiri (1,04,539), Sangareddy (95,767) and Mahbubnagar (19,689) coming next. Overall, under TS-iPASS from 2015-20, as many as 14,268 units have come up, which invested Rs 2.07 lakh crore and provided jobs to 14.58 lakh people, according to the survey. Subscriber content preview By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON The Biden administration says it will launch a major campaign to make Americans aware of the benefits available under the $1.9 trillion relief package President Joe Biden signed into law last week. Officials at the Treasury Department briefed reporters Thursday on the efforts they are planning, including highlighting a provision in the measure that expands the child tax credit. . . . A senior Army officer accused of fraudulently claiming nearly 50,000 in private school fees today told a court martial he thought he was entitled to it as long as his wife was with him wherever he worked. Major General Nick Welch is on trial at Bulford Military Court accused of falsely claiming 48,000 to pay for his children's boarding schools between 2015 and 2017. The prosecution says the two star general had 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. The 57-year-old claimed he thought he satisfied the 'underlying principles' of the allowance rules as long as he and wife Charlotte, 54, 'endeavoured to be together'. But prosecutors allege he lied to the Army and spent most of their time at their 800,000 Dorset home rather than in military quarters in London. He is the most senior officer to face court martial since 1815. Major General Nick Welch is accused of falsely claiming 48,000 to pay for his children's boarding schools The 57-year-old, pictured in Afghanistan with then-Prime Minister David Cameron, denies fraud The Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) was claimed to allow their children to stay at two different boarding schools. The payment, which covers 90 per cent of fees, 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 as they are posted to different locations. But the prosecution claims that his wife actually spent most of her time at the cottage in Dorset, close to the two schools, rather than at their stated military accommodation in Putney, London. Sarah Clarke QC, prosecuting, described Mrs Welch as a 'country girl', and said she was away from Putney for more than 200 days a year. She said she was involved in the local community in Dorset, as a member of a book club, playing the flute at the local church, and having a 'network of friends'. The CEA rules say that the spouse must not be away from the residence at work address (RWA) - which was in Putney for the Welch family - for more than 90 days per year. Major General Welch told the hearing that his understanding of the rules was that his wife had to be staying where he was in order to comply with the definition of accompanied service. He said: 'I didn't understand the differences between the different definitions of serving accompanied. 'My understanding was that, excluding leave and weekends, that we would endeavour to be together and as I was working in London she would be with me and when we were not she was allowed 90 days of leeway. 'In my mind the underlying principle was accompanied service, I don't think I particularly took issue with where we were. 'She was with me where I was working, I was accompanied as long as she was with me somewhere.' Welch (pictured in 2014), told the hearing that his understanding of the rules was that his wife had to be staying where he was staying in order to comply with the definition of accompanied service Maj Gen Nick Welch claimed he thought he satisfied the 'underlying principles' of the allowance rules as long as he and Charlotte Welch 'endeavoured to be together' The 57-year-old told the court that he would often stay at Blandford for weekends, as he had meetings at the Army HQ in Andover on a Monday, and often on a Thursday or Friday, and said it was the 'most efficient' use of his time. He added: 'It was balancing duty with family life.' Major General Welch also admitted he was caught on a lawnmower at his 800,000 country home when he was supposed to be working there. One of his children sent a video to the family's WhatsApp group chat with the caption 'Dad hard at work'. He said he was on a 'traction day' which allowed him to work from home but accepted he used the lawnmower. He added: 'It doesn't prove that I wasn't working.. I was working that day.' He denies fraud and the trial continues. FIEs retain pole position in bolstering trade surplus Samsung Vietnam can look back at positive results from last year. Talking to VIR, a representative of Samsung Vietnam confirmed that the impact of the pent-up demand by the pandemic has been helping the company to gradually recover. The total export turnover of Samsung Vietnam in 2020 reached about $57 billion, an important milestone for the company as one of its most important branches, Samsung Electronics, aims to become the largest chip manufacturer in the industry, targeting a value of around $400 billion. Samsung Electronics together with many other transnational corporations has been increasing investment in Vietnam for many years, mostly driven by low taxes, affordable labour, and good land incentives. Foreign-invested enterprises (FIE) are dominating Vietnams exports, accounting for 69 per cent of the countrys total export turnover, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT). This has contributed to bringing Vietnam into the group of the few countries still achieving positive economic growth during the first year of the pandemic, as well as maintaining a trade surplus of nearly $1.29 billion in the first two months of 2021. Electronics take over Vietnams merchandise exports have shifted from relying on crude oil to focusing on electronics. However, the fact that this sector lies mainly in the hands of FIEs has a large impact on the countrys export growth. While in 2010, exports of phones and spare parts thereof only accounted for 3.2 per cent of the total export turnover, by 2020, this sector ranked first among the six commodity groups with a turnover of over $10 billion each, reaching a preliminary turnover of over $51.2 billion alone. In the first two months of 2021, the export value of this group was already estimated at $9.3 billion, accounting for 19.2 per cent of the total export turnover, up 22.8 per cent over the same period last year. Vietnam has the right to rejoice over its outstanding pandemic record. But the countrys export surplus could be very precarious if, in the short term, this surplus comes from the sale of facemasks and protective equipment to Europe and North America. Data from the MoIT shows that due to the traditional Lunar New Year holiday, exports in February decreased by 29.9 over the previous month and by 4.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2020. Meanwhile, the import turnover of commodities in February also reduced by 21.4 per cent over the previous month, though it increased by 10.5 per cent over the same period last year. Dr. Pham Tat Thang, an expert from the MoITs Institute of Industrial and Trade Policy and Strategy has taken into account the possibility that reducing imports might affect future production because the means of production account for 90 per cent of Vietnams imports while only the remainder consists of consumer goods. Vietnam has an export surplus an important factor that helps increase foreign exchange reserves in the face of global economic fluctuations and the pandemic but the decline in imports proves that the countrys production remains difficult, Thang commented. The lack of orders and the sluggish recovery of supply chains are the two main reasons for reduced imports. Currently, many businesses are using raw materials stored in the country for production to reduce import costs, while container prices rise. Will Mackereth, supply chain director of Nestle Vietnam, told VIR, The worldwide ocean freight and container availability has been hugely disrupted by the changing dynamics of trade through the pandemic. Costs have gone up enormously, often four or five times, sometimes even as much as ten times. Despite these challenges, Nestle Vietnam has been among the winning FIEs active in Vietnam. Our export performance last year was excellent, and we have carried this momentum into early 2021. We continue to prioritise our export activities while ensuring the best service and quality products to our customers around the world, Mackereth said. Surpassing FIEs The driving force in the production and export of industrial products has so far come from FIEs. This is the consequence of weak links between FIEs and domestic counterparts in the supply chain, Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Industry and Trade, explained in January, adding that this also reflects the low productivity growth and the weak competitiveness of domestic players. The processing and manufacturing industry continued to play a leading role in the growth of Vietnams economy last year, with an increase of 5.82 per cent. According to Minister Tuan Anh, the countrys large- and medium-sized enterprises account for a very small proportion of just about 2 per cent and have not led small- and micro-sized enterprises in linking regional and global value chains. Most domestic businesses are small- and micro-sized ones, accounting for about 98 per cent of all businesses operating in the economy. They commonly have a low level of technology, limited financial capacity, and scarce high-quality human resources. It is undeniable that Vietnams policies to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) have brought about good results for the economy. Data from the Ministry of Planning and Investment shows that FIEs contribute about 20 per cent to national GDP and is an important additional capital source for investment and development capital with a proportion of about 23.7 per cent in total social investment. Almost 60 per cent of the total FDI is concentrated in the manufacturing sector, creating over half of the countrys industrial production value and nearly four million direct and five million related jobs. Concerns about exports being dependent on FIEs seem less relevant as more foreign corporations are now investing in high-tech, research, and development all areas that are not the strong points of domestic manufacturers. Meanwhile, the government encourages domestic suppliers to participate in regional and global value chains. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Mai, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Foreign-Invested Enterprises, said that the share of the domestic suppliers is increasing year by year, from 28.3 per cent in 2018 to over 30 per cent last year. The problem now is to increase the domestic suppliers export turnover at a much higher pace than FIEs, Mai said. President Biden referred to Kamala Harris as 'President Harris' when he misspoke in a speech on Thursday offering updates on the vaccination program. 'When President Harris and I took ...' Biden said, before taking a moment to pause, 'a virtual tour of a vaccination site in Arizona not long ago, one of the nurses on that tour injecting people, giving vax each shot, was like administering a dose of hope.' Vice President Harris was present during the remarks, but her reaction was not captured on camera. During the speech, the president announced that his administration could achieve its goal of administering 100 million vaccines on Friday, the 58th day of the new White House administration that assumed office on January 20, 2021. Biden added that 65 percent of people aged 65-and-older have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and he suggested that people can host 'small' Fourth of July gatherings, while repeating there will be enough doses for all adults in May. US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the state of COVID-19 vaccinations, as Vice President Kamala Harris (back) looks on, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, March 18. 'When President Harris and I took ...' Biden said, before taking a moment to pause 'If we keep our guard up, stick together and stick with the science, we can look forward to a Fourth of July that feels a bit more normal, with small groups able to gather for cookouts in backyards,' Biden said. But it was the slip of the tongue that gained most attention from the speech, and it is not the first time Biden has made such a gaffe. Who's in charge? Biden and Harris' repeated flubs March 18: President Joe Biden referred to 'President Harris' in public remarks Dec. 29: Biden, before taking office but after winning the election, calls his incoming vice president 'president-elect Harris Sept. 15: Candidate Biden puts his running mate first when referring to a possible 'Harris-Biden administration' Sept. 12: Harris stumbles over her words as she references a 'Harris administration together with Joe Biden' July 2019: Biden refers to NJ Sen. Cory Booker as 'the future president' in a Democratic debate Advertisement In December, also during a speech about Covid-19 vaccines, the president mistakenly referred to Harris as 'president elect'. 'I took it to instill public confidence in the vaccine. President-elect Harris took hers today for the same reason,' Biden said. The comments sparked speculation of cognitive decline from right-wing conservatives, following an election campaign in which Biden repeatedly appeared to get tongue tied. Sean Hannity took aim at the flub on his show Thursday night during a segment in which he argued that the president was cognitively impaired. 'Another day, another embarrassing big blunder from yes the frail, the weak the cognitively struggling commander in chief,' the Fox News commentator said. 'Someone might just want to remind Joe he's the president now.' Hannity questioned whether Biden's slip was actually a 'moment of honesty' and said it might be the 'President Harris administration after all' as he showed clips of Biden and Harris repeatedly making the same mistake. He accused the media of protecting the president, who he accused of being incapable of offering remarks without a 'cheat sheet.' 'When you compare Joe Biden to 2012, even 2016, (he) looks extremely weak, frail, often confused and yes, he is struggling cognitively. It is obvious,' Hannity said. Then-president Donald Trump frequently accused Biden of exhibiting mental decline, and claimed Democrats would invoke the 25th Amendment of the Constitution to replace Biden with Harris. During a Democratic debate in July 2019, Biden called opponent Senator Corey Booker, D-N.J. the president. During the speech, the president announced that his administration could achieve its goal of administering 100 million vaccines on Friday, the 58th day of the new White House administration that assumed office on January 20, 2021 While criticizing Booker's criminal justice plan, he said: 'The fact is that the bills that the president, excuse me, the future president, that the senator is talking about, are bills that were passed years ago and they were passed overwhelmingly.' Booker joked, 'Well first of all, I'm grateful that he endorsed my presidency already.' Harris also has been caught making a similar flub. In a virtual campaign event on Sept. 12, she referred to a 'Harris administration together with Joe Biden,' and in Tampa on Sept. 15 referenced the 'Harris-Biden administration.' Biden has spoken publicly about his lifelong struggle with stuttering, saying in February 2020 that he 'still occasionally, when I find myself really tired' catches himself stuttering. 'It has nothing to do with your intelligence quotient. It has nothing to do with your intellectual makeup,' Biden said. Harris also once accidentally gave herself the commander-in-chief title. 'A Harris administration, together with Joe Biden as the president of the United States,' she said during a virtual roundtable in September. 'The Biden-Harris administration will provide access to $100 billion in low-interest loans and investments from minority business owners,' she continued. 1.20pm - JCB Triumph Hurdle The drying ground should see TRITONIC (3/1) to best effect for Alan King and Adrian Heskin. The Irish juveniles are strong in the shape of Quilixios and Zanahiyr but the manner in which Tritonic scooted clear of rivals in the Adonis at Kempton last time out really caught the eye on identical ground to this week. Even on soft with a touch of heavy on his prior start, he stayed on well to catch Casa Loupi at Ascot, the same horse he beat by 10 lengths in Kempton. There isn't much between the Irish pair based on form but I would lean towards Quilixios based on the way he finished out his race at Leopardstown, beating Saint Sam and Busselton, in February. 1.55pm - McCoy Contractors County Handicap Hurdle I wouldn't have a strong opinion on this race this year but I am tempted to have an eachway nibble on GOWEL ROAD (16/1) for Nigel and Sam Twiston-Davies. He's won his last two starts quite easily and I like his form behind Bear Ghylls who ran well to be fourth behind Bob Olinger in the Ballymore here on Wednesday. Gowel Road finished just one and a half lengths behind Bear Ghylls at Ffos Las last November. 2.30pm - Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle I'm going for STREETS OF DOYEN (20/1) who is proven over course and trip and has plenty to offer at a big price. He ran a stinker at Naas last time out wearing cheekpieces but I am hoping he can bounce back. Prior to that blip, he had put together four wins on the spin, including at Cheltenham last October when he beat Minella Encore by three and a half lengths on similar ground. That was over the same trip as today (2M 7F) and he even won over three miles on good ground in Gowran last year where he beat Flooring Porter by five lengths. Based on that, even though he got plenty of weight from his rival, there is more to come from him and he could still be on a decent mark. He is overpriced at 16/1 and can hopefully give a good account again. 3.05pm - Wellchild Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase AL BOUM PHOTO (5/2) will aim to emulate Arkle and Best Mate in winning three Cheltenham Gold Cups. I genuinely hope he does it for Willie Mullins who waited until this horse's win in 2019 to get his hands on the Gold Cup. He is the quintessential Gold Cup horse now and so lightly raced for that very reason; to have him primed for Prestbury Park. He is going into the race this year with an identical prep to last year. In 2020, he beat Acapella Bourgeois at Tramore on New Year's Day before going to Cheltenham and winning the Gold Cup in March. Again in 2021, he raced and won at Tramore on New Year's Day; he even beat the same horse in Acapella Bourgeois, only this time by further. It will take something special to stop him. The story for the UK contingent will be the horse named after AP McCoy and trained by Nicky Henderson. CHAMP (9/2) was dead and buried, fully 10 lengths behind the leaders jumping the last in the RSA last season, but somehow managed to reel in and beat Allaho and Minella Indo on the line. The field couldn't run down Al Boum Photo up the hill in the last two years but if one horse can, it's Champ, and what a story it would be for AP McCoy and owner JP McManus. A Plus Tard represents the powerful Henry De Bromhead/Racheal Blackmore pairing but I was disappointed with his run in defeat to Min in last year's Ryanair. I can't make a strong enough case for anything else at the minute and 5/2 is a nice price for Al Boum Photo, perhaps the most under-celebrated horse in training. 3.40pm - St. James's Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters' Chase I think Billaway is the most likely winner of this race for Willie Mullins. He was second to the reopposing It Came To Pass in this last year but has been more consistent since. For me, 3/1 is too short and the Hunters chase is a race for an eachway bet for me. The winner was 66/1 last year to that will show you that anything can happen in this race. I am going for a bit of a risky one with MR MANTILLA (25/1). He was been picking up wins on the Irish point-to-point scene most recently beating Bellow Mome from the Willie Mullins yard at Stradbally in December. He beat Rewritetherules in November and the same horse was 6th behind Billaway at Down Royal a month later. It's not exactly a clean line to run through the form but I'm willing to take a risk that Mr Mantilla is good enough to get involved here. The Hunters chase is always a fascinating race. Don't discount the Enda Bolger runners either. He won this race in 2015 and 2016 with On The Fringe. 4.15pm - Mrs Paddy Power Mares' Chase I think ELIMAY (5/4) has a touch of class about her and can get the better of this field for Willie Mullins, JP McManus and jockey Mark Walsh. She has won three out of her four chase starts with her only defeat coming at the hands of stablemate Allaho. She beat Shattered Love easily by five lengths at Naas last time out and a step up in trip and drying ground is all in her favour. I'd be surprised if she isn't odds-on before the start, particularly after Allaho's exceptional win on Thursday. 4.50pm - Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle Gentleman De Mee is the favourite for Willie Mullins but I'm going for GALOPIN DES CHAMPS (13/2) from the same stable. This one is very interesting based on his run behind Appreciate It at Leopardstown. He was just nine lengths behind Tuesday's runaway winner of the Supreme and looking through the field, that was a very hot race. Ballyadam, second in the Supreme a few days ago, was second that day in Leopardstown while Blue Lord, who would have been second on Tuesday had he not fallen at the last, was third. The selection here was only a couple of lengths off that pair in Leopardstown and could be suited by the step up in trip here to 2M 4F. SELECTIONS AT A GLANCE: 1.20 - Tritonic - 3/1 1.55 - Gowel Road (EW) - 16/1 2.30 - Streets of Doyen (EW) - 20/1 3.05 - Al Boum Photo - 5/2 3.40pm - Mr Mantilla (EW) - 25/1 4.15pm - Elimay - 5/4 4.50pm - Galopin Des Champs - 13/2 SUGGESTED TREBLE Tritonic, Al Boum Photo and Elimay - ALL TO WIN - 28/1 Keeping your bike under you isn't rocket science. Rather, it's using your brain to limit your exposure. There are typically three situations where your bike is vulnerable: locked up outside a bar/coffee shop/work, stopping somewhere with bike(s) on your vehicle, and from your home (typically the garage). Documentation The four images that will make or break recovering your bike in the event of a theft, as well as offer proof positive of ownership for insurance. Insurance WARNING: E-Bikes are considered a motorized vehicle and are NOT covered on the personal property insurance clause of your renters or homeowners policy. Get that scheduled separately from your personal property to get it covered. Safe Practices and Security Be smart: choose the level of bike lock required for security specific to your risk. From zip ties to burly "Forget About It" Chain/U-locks, every lock has its place. The zip ties in NYC or Santa Cruz? Not really a good idea. The Kryptonite NY Lock on a gravel ride coffee stop in a small town, miles from nowhere? Overkill. But the zip tie lock on that same gravel ride? It's lightweight and it easily tucks into a pocket, making it perfect for an extended break on a mixed surface adventure. Be smart about what you lock your bike to; these bike rackswhile okay to secure your bike if you can see itcan be unbolted in a few minutes, allowing a thief to toss your bike into a waiting vehicle without having to defeat your lock(s) in public. Proper lock-up involves two locks: one securing the bike's rear wheel and frame to an unmovable object, and another securing the front wheel and frame, ideally also to an immovable object. You won't make your bike impossible to steal, but the goal is to make your bike just difficult enough to steal that a thief will look for an easier target. For truck beds, inside a van, or a trailer, your best bet is to install a bed anchor like Kryptonite's and secure your bike to that in accordance with the bike rack tips above. Make an angle grinder attack their only option: it takes longer than a simple snip and isn't exactly subtle. Keep an eye on the prize if possible, even if your bikes are locked up. Home Garage This cute little T-handle gives anyone access to your garage. Tie it off, remove it, or zip tie the manual release closed so it can't be opened except from inside. And if you live in a high-risk area, there's no such thing as overkill, just precautions to encourage a thief to look elsewhere. The Kryptonite Evolution Ground Anchor ($69 USD) and the Abus Granit 100 ($65 USD) are two good Ground Anchor options with all the hardware included. Both have a hardened steel shackle in excess of 10mm, making a cutting attack the only option to defeat them. Warning: these are permanent once installed. Secure Building Bike Lock Up Theres no such thing as a theft-proof bike: anyone with a set of $20 USD bolt cutters can get through a cheap cable lock in under a minute. Thicker cable? Thin chain? Yeahthat just requires a bigger set of bolt cutters for a few dollars more. And if a thief is armed with time, some privacy, and an $85 USD cordless angle grinder, they can typically cut through any U-lock in about a minute, Chains too thick for bolt cutters are more resistant to an angle grinder attack but can be unwieldy. Bottom line? Youll always be at the mercy of a brute force attack on a bike lock.Whats crazy is how little attention the police dedicate to bike thefts, especially given that a modern bike can be worth more than $5k USD and that a habitual bike thief can easily steal upwards of ten bikes a day in the right environment. And the chances of getting caught are microscopic: an analysis of 13,000 stolen bikes by the Portland, Oregon, Oregonian newspaper showed only 2% of reported stolen bikes ending in an arrest and return of the bike. This statistic is reflected in most other major metro areas across the US, tooparticularly those with a high substance abuse issue, like Seattle, Santa Cruz, etc. Additionally, on average, only one in six stolen bikes is ever reported as stolen. Basically, statistics like these equate to a license to steal, because bike theft is a property crime that the authorities simply dont have time for, never mind the expense to the public. And its only gotten worse with Covid: many areas are seeing upwards of a 20% increase in bicycle theft.So whats a bike owner to do? Simple: limit opportunities for theft, make your bike difficult enough to steal that a potential thief will look for an easier target, and cover your ass with some simple proactive steps before you find your bike gone. In this article, Ill go over some best practices to follow as well as some intelligent solutions for securing your bike(s) in all three situations.But before we go to safe practices and security, the first and smartest thing you can do is document your bike. Thats as easy as snapping a few images with your iPhone: the serial # (usually on the underside of your BB shell), a pic of you with your bike, a shot of the drivetrain side, and a shot of anything unique to your bike.Once documented, register your bike in at least one of three places: with your local police department (look online for a register your bike page), at bikeindex and Project529 . Or all three.Secondly, are you insured? Insurance wont prevent bike theft, but the right kind of insurance is inexpensive and equals peace of mind. If you have renters or homeowners insurance, your bikes are already covered against theft under your personal property clause. The only negative is your deductibleif youve got a $1000 deductible, that'll come from your pocket. But you can cheaply up your insurance game AND eliminate a deductible fee by scheduling your bike(s) individually. This will typically only add $100-$150 USD or so to your annual insurance policy and will sometimes (depending on your insurer) expand coverage for accidental damage (like driving into a garage with bikes on the roof). Or you can get an insurance plan specifically for your bike, possibly through your regular insurer, but definitely through Velosurance whose policies start for as low as $100/yralthough a $7000 MSRP bike like an XT/XTR Pivot Switchblade will cost you $40/month.Im not going to say a cable lock is useless; they have their role in keeping honest people honest in small towns and rural areasany place that doesnt have close proximity to a city or an area rife with substance abuse. But since a set of cheap bolt cutters will slice a 10mm cable in seconds, they're useless as a deterrent in a high-risk area. How about one of those fancy new folding locks? A bolt cutter will have a tough time with those (although its not impossible), but a properly deployed $15 nut splitter can defeat one in less than two minutes.Your go-to for securing your bike outside unattended should be a short, thick U-lock or a chain lock with at least 10mm linksthat chain size, while heavy, is something you can still carry relatively easily. Yes, a set of properly used heavy-duty bolt cutters can be used against a 10mm security chain if a thief can get enough leverage, but typically cutting both a high-security U-lock and a chain will require an angle grinder to be defeated (and the shifting links of a chain can cause the cutting disk to bind and explode, potentially injuring the user, which is fine by me). Plus, the locks on these kinds of U-locks and chain locks are difficultbut not impossibleto pick, pretty much eliminating your garden variety thief.Even with a good lock, dont be an idiot. 1) Lock it where you can see it. 2) Lock it in a brightly lit area with lots of trafficthieves dont generally like that kind of exposure. 3) Make sure whatever youre locking your bike to isnt going anywherecheap bike racks can be unbolted, small trees can be cut, and bikes can be lifted up and off of a street sign. 4) As shown below, use two locks: one for the frame/rear wheel and another one for the front wheel/frameand keep the rear lock as tight to your chainstays and BB as you can; that makes it harder to get a good angle of attack to make a cut. 5) If youre in an area like New York, Vancouver, Seattle, Santa Cruz, etc. your best bet is never to lock a bike you really care about unattended outside. Ever.Ive known people whove had an unsecured bike ripped off the back of their truck at a stoplight in Seattle and in Santa Cruz. Lock it or lose it. And that integrated cable lock found on many hitch racks can easily be cut, so while theyre better than nothing, theyre really only good for keeping honest people honest. Bottom line? If youve got a hitch rack and an expensive bike(s), only cables/chains in excess of 10mm secured with a high-security U-lock will work as a serious deterrent (although with time and an angle grinder they are still vulnerable. But remember: youre just trying to make your bike security strong enough to send a thief looking elsewhere).Best practices? Common sense. If youre at a somewhat sketchy rest stop (broken glass on the ground is never a good sign), take turns using the bathroom.Gas stop/coffee break/bar in a high-risk area (pretty much anywhere with rampant substance abuse issues): don't leave it unattended if possible, and park it where you can see it. Basically, don't be a dumbass: parking at a trailhead littered with broken glass and leaving your bike unattended for hourseven secured with chainsis basically giving it away.First, the place most people store their bike(s)the garageis (sadly) pretty vulnerable. Particularly if you live in a secure building with a secure bicycle cageeven the ones with video surveillance. Many of those kinds of buildings forbid bikes in your unitusually citing fire codes. And the video surveillance? Thats to protect the building owner against liability. More often than not, that video footage isnt available to help recover your bike after a theft unless the police ask for it. Plus the cameras arent always positioned to capture a face (and with Covid, and people masking up, that facial footage is useless, anyway). And accessing this kind of garage is childs play.But lets deal with security in your home garage to start with, then move onto a secure buildings garage.In your home/condo garage: 1) If you have an automatic garage door that you can only open with a remote or a coded PIN, disable the manual release ASAP. Why? Because anyone with a hook on a coat hanger can open most automatic garage doors from outside without the remote.2) Armor up soft entry pointsa deadbolt on any outer door is good, but you should also reinforce that door jamb to make a brute force attack difficult. This can be as simple as swapping out the stock strike plate and deadbolt screwstypically only 2.5cmfor 7.5cm screws to get a deeper bite, or investing $20 USD into a lock and door reinforcing plate. 3) Paint over or use privacy frost on any windows so youre not advertising whats inside. Better yet, place a $50 USD grate on the inside with one-way bolts, which can't be unscrewed without a tap. Basically, think like a thief, and create counters for these and any other potential entry points. 4) Get a permanent ground anchor like the ones below and run at least a decent cablesomething thicker than 10mmthrough your bikes and secure that to your ground anchor with a high-security U-lock. In a somewhat risky area, use a 10mm or heavier hardened chain with a high-security U-lock. 5) If youre living in a really sketchy area, use U-locks, etc to secure each bikes rear wheel and frame a la the bike rack style. Yes, if a thief can get inside, an angle grinder will still defeat all of these precautions; but just like the other scenarios, all youre really doing is trying to send a potential thief looking for an easier target.Secure Building Bike Cages are pretty much a candy store for thieves: theyre easy to access, bikes are usually in a laughably secure cagetypically chain link fencing thats easy to cut (with the same bolt cutters used to defeat cables and cheap U-locks)so tenants may have bikes lightly secured (if at all), and the video camera usually isnt being monitored, so the chances of a police response are about zero.So how to secure your bike? First, beg ignorance and store your bike in your unit even if its against the building rules. Seriously. Make friends with your neighbors beforehand so they dont turn you in. Got ratted out? Ok, treat this as a high-risk grocery store parking situation: get two heavy-duty chain locks or U locks and use them to secure your bike(s) to whatever cant be unbolted or easily cut in accordance with locking suggestions in the outside lockup section above. Then cross your fingers.Even if you follow these practices, your bike can be stolen. At that point, if youve done your homework, you can report it to the police (for a case number) and quickly post it to your LBS, Facebook, bikeindex.org, etc. to increase your chances of recovery. Failing that, youve documentation and a case number to make an insurance claim as painless as possibletrust me: insurance companies do not want to pay you unless they have to, and a case number along with simple documentation makes a claim iron clad. The OnePlus 9 series launch is just a few days away now and the company is still feeding us teasers and information, leading up to the launch event. The new piece of info, coming straight from the CEO Pete Lau himself is that the OnePlus 9 series phones will get a two-year warranty instead of one. Pete made an elaborate post on Weibo explaining how most users replace their flagship phones typically in two years and the new OnePlus 9 series warranty period will now reflect their replacement cycle. As exciting as this news is, it's worth pointing out that the two-year warranty offer will be limited to China only. Yes, according to the OnePlus representatives who spoke with the folks over at Android Authority, that particular Weibo post about the extended warranty period was specific to China. In India and North America, however, the phones will continue to have the same one-year warranty for free based on industry-standard. An extended warranty can be availed at an additional cost, of course. This is a little disappointing news considering the fact that OnePlus is a popular name in India. Two-year warranties are mandatory for devices in Europe, so the consumers in that region will be covered by the law. So this means the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro variants in both China and Europe will come with a two-year warranty, whereas the Indian and North American variants won't get the same treatment. OnePlus 9, OnePlus 9 Pro Launch Details OnePlus will be hosting a virtual event on March 23 to launch the new phones. The company will also be launching the much-awaited OnePlus Watch alongside the new phones. Recently, we also learned that the company is preparing the OnePlus 9R for the Indian market, and it will debut alongside the new phones on the same day. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) A judge on Friday denied a defense request to delay or move the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyds death after the announcement of a $27 million settlement for Floyds family raised concern about a tainted jury. In a separate ruling, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill said he would allow the jury to hear limited evidence from Floyds 2019 arrest, but only that pertaining to the cause of Floyds death in 2020. He acknowledged there are several similarities between the two incidents, including that Floyd swallowed drugs after police confronted him. The rulings were a blow to Derek Chauvin's defense. His attorney, Eric Nelson, had sought to halt or move the trial due to concerns that the settlement announcement had tainted the jury pool. Jury selection was halfway complete last week when the city of Minneapolis unanimously approved the payout to settle a civil lawsuit over Floyds death. Nelson called the timing of the settlement deeply disturbing and unfair, and said it jeopardized Chauvins chance for a fair trial. Chauvin is charged with murder and manslaughter. But Cahill, who has called the timing unfortunate, said he thought a delay would do nothing to stem the problem of pretrial publicity. As for moving the trial, he said theres no place in Minnesota that hasnt been touched by that publicity. The judge had previously denied a defense attempt to allow the year-old arrest at trial. But he heard fresh arguments this week because of drugs found in January in a second search of the police SUV in which the four officers attempted to put Floyd in 2020. He said Thursday that he would allow medical evidence of Floyd's physical reactions, such as his dangerously high blood pressure when he was examined by a paramedic, and a short clip of an officers body camera video. He said Floyds emotional behavior such as calling out to his mother in 2019 wont be admitted. Nelson argued that similarities between the encounters are relevant, with Floyd calling out for his mother, claiming he had been shot before, crying and putting what appeared to be pills in his mouth. Prosecutor Matthew Frank said the defense was simply looking for a backdoor way to portray Floyd as a bad person, and the only relevant issue in Floyds death is how he was treated by police. Floyd, who was Black, was declared dead May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee on Floyds neck for about nine minutes while he was handcuffed and pleading that he couldnt breathe. Floyds death, captured on a widely seen bystander video, set off weeks of sometimes-violent protests across the country and led to a national reckoning on racial justice. Just two more jurors were needed for the trial. The 12 jurors seated through Thursday are evenly split by race, with six white jurors, four Black and two multiracial, according to the court. The last two jurors chosen will be alternates. Opening statements are March 29 if the jury is complete. That process was on track to finish nearly a week early despite news that the city would pay a $27 million settlement to Floyd's family. Jurors added Thursday include a white registered nurse in her 50s who assured the court that she wouldnt draw on her medical knowledge at Chauvins trial, and a Black woman in her 60s who said she didnt watch the entire bystander video of Floyds arrest and didnt know enough to form a firm opinion of Chauvin or Floyd. The 12th juror seated, a white woman in her 40s who works in commercial insurance, said she has experience with someone who struggled with alcohol, and might view someone who uses drugs cautiously, saying they could act violently or aggressively when under the influence. But she said she doesn't believe someone who uses drugs or doesnt cooperate with police should be treated poorly. If someone uses drugs, I dont think there should be ramifications of violence for that, she said. Three other former officers face an August trial in Floyds death on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) has partnered with Costco Pharmacy to bring a pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic to Tottenville next week. The site, which will be open on Wednesday, March 24, at Angelinas Ristorante between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., will vaccinate 360 residents with the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. I want to thank Costco for helping us get a pop-up vaccine clinic on the South Shore, which until now has been underserved compared to other parts of the Island, said Malliotakis. We appreciate Angelinas hosting this event that will bring 360 vaccines to eligible Staten Islanders. Staten Island is the only borough without a permanent state-run vaccine site, and the Islands South Shore is still without a city-run vaccination facility. We hope this pop-up site is one of many as we continue to work to expand vaccine distribution in our community through the federal retail pharmacy partnership, said Malliotakis. Residents who meet the states current eligibility criteria and want to be vaccinated at the site must register for an appointment on Costco.com, beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday, and provide proof of Staten Island residency. Angelinas family is proud to partner with Costco and Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis to make the Johnson & Johnson vaccine available to our community during this critical time, said Vincent Malerba, an owner of the restaurant. Malliotakis will also be vaccinated at the site on Wednesday. Costco pharmacy is currently offering the COVID-19 vaccine at all five of our New York City locations, the company said in a written statement. We are excited to provide an additional community COVID vaccine clinic specifically for our Staten Island residents. Costco is honored to do our part to support our neighbors in this unprecedented time and help our communities navigate through this public health emergency, the company statement said. We wish to thank Angelinas restaurant for providing us space for the clinic. Residents should not contact the restaurant for information regarding the pop-up site, the Costco statement said. by Vladimir Rozanskij Putins remarks about the US president are a clear sign that the Russians are happy to be back to the war atmosphere of Soviet times. Mutual accusations are an acknowledgement of each others strong man status. Russia is celebrated as the only people with the truth against the degradations of the West and the world. Putin strangely appears motionless. Moscow (AsiaNews) The day after 18 March, a national holiday established to mark the annexation of Crimea in 2014, people and politicians did not talk nor argue, a bit because they have to digest the excesses of alcohol of the day before, a bit because yesterday Russia's message to the world reached its peak with Vladimir Putin's response to US President Joe Biden's attack. Indeed, there could be no better demonstration of the ideological and political significance of yesterday's event about Crimea as a way to consecrate once again Russia as the only nation that holds the truth against the degradations of the West and of the whole world. The relaxed, boyish and ironic tone with which Putin responded to Biden, in a linkup to the Crimean and Sevastopol audiences, is a clear sign that the Russians are happy with the return to the 19th-century war climate, right on the day of the Holy War of Crimea. The promise of new US sanctions over the use of prohibited chemical weapons, Navalnys poisoning, interference in the US election and cyberattacks, along with the killer charge against the president, ring like medals of valour, and together show the impotence of Russias opponents, who no longer know what to invent against us. Putin mentioned playground fights in which kids tell each other it takes one to know one, referring to insults and swear words. With a smug on his face, the tsar seemed to imply that it was a kind of game between the two, a publicity stunt to make them talk about each other, again masters of the world like in the good old Soviet times. This is basically Putin's true ideology: to give Russia the feeling of greatness of its past glory, and the clashes with the Americans are proving his point. The exchange of jabs between the two presidents has been interpreted not so much as mutual accusations, but as a form of mutual projection. As psychologist Ekaterina Sigitova writes on the meduza website, there is mutual recognition that both are strong men, starting with the nuance of the word killer, which can also mean tough guy, not like murderer, which indicates an unequivocal condemnation. In his speech to Crimeans, Putin added that when we look at other people, and even other peoples and nations, it is as if we are looking in the mirror. Several commentators in Russia point out that even Biden's words, that Putin and Russia will pay a price shows the impotence of the enemy, which after seven years of sanctions and hostility has not yet managed to get the desired goal. Putin's response begins by repeatedly wishing the US leader good health, thus responding to rumours about his own health, and winking at the mental weaknesses of the older adversary. Putin then turns the tables on the Americans historical-philosophical accusations of criminal actions, citing the genocide of the Indians, thanks to which America itself was conquered, and the long and tremendous period of slavery that still accompanies the conscience of Americans; where else would the Black Lives Matter movement come from? Even today, African-Americans face injustice and harassment. The president went on to emphasise the attitude of Americans to dominate the world through violence, citing as an example the atomic bombs against Japan that made no military sense. Concluding his Crimean speech, Putin finally revealed that even if they think that we are like them, we are different; we have another genetic, moral and cultural code. But we know how to defend our interests . . . and they will have to take that into account! The image of Putin the Terrible is back, full of threats and a sense of his own superiority, in a more smug tone, showing his age (throughout the broadcast he remained motionless with his hands folded on the edge of the table, without moving). He finally pledged that next time I'll call him [Biden] if he's willing to talk sincerely and directly about the things that interest us. Some troops have drawn equivalencies between the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and last year's protests for racial justice during recent stand-downs to address extremism, worrying the military's top enlisted leader. In a Thursday briefing with reporters at the Pentagon, Ramon "CZ" Colon-Lopez, the senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that some troops have asked, when the Jan. 6 riot is brought up, "How come you're not looking at the situation that was going on in Seattle prior to that?" He said that is one example of the mindset many military leaders are encountering, and he is "concerned about the way that some people are looking at the current environment." Read Next: Lawmaker Urges VA to Take Away Benefits of Vets Who Assaulted Capitol "This is coming from every echelon that we're talking to," he added. Colon-Lopez said the confusion some younger troops have expressed shows why the training sessions on extremism are needed. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the stand-down Feb. 5 and gave units across the military 60 days to discuss extremism in the ranks with troops. The military's policies are clear, he said: Troops are not to advocate for, or participate in, supremacist, extremist or criminal gang doctrine, ideology or causes. The military remains an apolitical organization, Colon-Lopez said, and it doesn't matter if an extremist group is far right or far left -- both are off limits. "If it's an organization that is actually imposing harm, threat, destruction, criminal activity and so on, then we don't condone that behavior," Colon-Lopez said. "We're focusing on letting people know exactly what the oath tells us to do when it comes to obeying lawful orders, remaining apolitical and basically being good stewards of society." But as the training sessions took place, some themes emerged that worried leaders. Those conducting the sessions wanted "to make sure that military members understand the difference between Seattle and [the Jan. 6 riot in] Washington, D.C.," Colon-Lopez said. "But some of our younger members are confused about this, so that's what we need to go ahead and talk to them about and educate them on, to make sure that they know exactly what they can and cannot do." Colon-Lopez also noted the military was called to respond after the Capitol attacks, but was not called up to support law enforcement during the Seattle protests. And he drew a distinction between those who lawfully exercised their First Amendment rights to protest during last summer's protests in support of racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement, and those who "latched on" to the protests to loot, destroy property and commit other crimes. But sometimes, he said, younger troops see messages on TV that blur the lines between the two, and "we needed to educate them" on the difference. "No, that's not what that meant," Colon-Lopez said. "There were people advocating [against] social injustice, racial injustice and everything else, and it is the right of citizens." When asked about networks or television personalities popular among service members who have drawn those equivalencies, Colon-Lopez said, "Those are very, very tough conversations to have with people, because sometimes they're emotional about the subject." While those TV personalities are exercising the right to free speech troops have fought for, he said, "make sure that you're well-educated and don't be an automatic mouthpiece for something unless you understand the issue." Colon-Lopez acknowledged that the "information overload" troops today face -- not just traditional media and memos from service leaders, but also a panoply of social media amplifying different messages -- can leave troops feeling confused and uncertain where to go to get reliable information. "What I am committed to is to make sure that our people understand right from wrong," he said. "That our people ... are well-educated to be able to carry on, in an honorable fashion. And if they hear somebody saying the wrong things, that they're quick to go ahead and correct them ... without being confrontational." Colon-Lopez stressed the refrain commonly heard from top military leaders that the vast majority of troops do not share extremist views. And the military isn't interested in monitoring troops' online activities at home, he said. A service member who Googles QAnon, for example, may just want to become educated on the online conspiracy theory movement, he explained. That wouldn't mean someone necessarily believes in that ideology. But, he noted, the military needs to be watchful of how service members carry themselves while on duty, and what troops' friends say they are doing. Colon-Lopez said it's too soon to tell whether extremist organizations are becoming more or less likely to recruit from among the military's ranks. But, he said, the force is being made aware that such groups are actively recruiting service members, "and we need to make sure that they stand clear from them." "It's not good for the department, and it's not good for the image of the military," he said. Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correct the SEAC's rank. -- Stephen Losey can be reached at stephen.losey@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StephenLosey. Related: Extremism 'Has Reared Its Head' in Air Force Special Operations, General Says /NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICERS OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES./ All figures in USD unless stated otherwise Irrigation lead Motlalepula excited for the upcoming harvest (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.) TORONTO, March 19, 2021 /CNW/ - Halo Collective Inc. ("Halo" or the "Company") (NEO: HALO) (OTCQX: HCANF) (Germany: A9KN) is pleased to provide a comprehensive update about Bophelo Bioscience & Wellness (Pty) Ltd. ("Bophelo"), and it's proposed European Union Good Manufactures Practices ("EUGMP") and Good Agricultural and Collection Practices ("GACP") certifications (collectively, the "GMP/GACP Certifications"). In 2020, Bophelo quadrupled the amount of cultivation space despite setbacks resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. With the easing of restrictions, the next key step is the proposed commencement of cannabis exports to the E.U., U.K., and Australia. The Company expects the first export to occur within the sixty days subsequent to Bophelo obtaining GACP certification. The quality growing and manufacturing consultant, Pharmaconsulta Ltd. ("Pharmaconsulta"), is an independent consultancy firm based in Malta (E.U.), that specializes in pharmaceutical regulatory affairs. After multiple visits to the site and a comprehensive review of the Company's standard operating procedures, Pharmaconsulta is expected to issue both GMP and GACP certifications after Bophelo meets all requirements. GACP Update Pharmaconsulta confirmed that Bophelo's operation had met 90% of GACP requirements. Bophelo is expected to finish the remaining 10% of the requirements within the next 60 days. The main projects that are underway are: Fencing, a robust surveillance system, and security upgrades Employee ablutions and a cafeteria Infrastructure improvements and upgrades, including but not limited to, internet, electrical power upgrades, backup power generators, and an extra water borehole Earlier this month, Bophelo commenced installation of double security fencing 2.5 meters high and 1,600 meters long. The Company expects the fence to be completed within 60 days and once finished the fence will encircle the entire site. Story continues Construction on the ablutions building and attached cafeteria designed to meet the anticipated growth in the labor force resumed three weeks ago. The ablutions are expected to be completed within 60 days. Bopehlo's contracted security company has commenced the installation of HikVision security cameras on the site. When finished, at least 64 security cameras will provide detailed monitoring and surveillance for the initial 5-hectare greenhouse site. Bophelo has hired a Chief Security Officer, and we are rapidly building upon strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure security on par with Halo's U.S. operations. Day one of fence installation (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.) First camera installed and functioning (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.) Security fencing, a robust surveillance system, and security upgrades (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.) European Union Good Manufacture Practices (EUGMP) Update Manufacturing plans are on track to build out an on-site extraction facility at Bophelo as large as Halo's C1D11 extraction room in Medford, Oregon of approximately 80 square meters (800 square feet). This extraction room and the accompanying lab will be built to EUGMP specifications, which will allow for export of oils and concentrates worldwide where allowed. Work started on a 16 square meter (160 sq. ft.) interim extraction room, allowing a safe training environment as Bophelo management familiarize local employees with the safe handling of explosive gases and flammable liquids. The extraction unit is on-site, and we expect the first runs to occur next month. Andreas Met, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Halo states, "We are in the process of building a second 'chicken coop' based on the design of the original extraction space I built in my backyard when we started the Company and represents a major milestone. Meanwhile there is demand from customers clamoring to buy cannabis extracts license to license in Lesotho to serve medical markets that do not require EUGMP certification. This a unique feature of Lesotho versus our European and Canadian competitors: the ability to supply medical distributors and make profits in Africa." Andreas Met further commented on the overall progress at Bophelo: "Both GMP and GACP certifications will unlock the full value of the Bophelo operation. We made both critical milestones top priorities." Furthermore, Mr. Met said: "We are planting, growing, and harvesting high-quality cannabis, equal in quality to what we grow at our East Evans Creek farm in Oregon. This is a major accomplishment and represents the significant effort and growth our leadership team has made in a short time. Furthermore, once the extraction facility is complete our concentrates will be exported all over the world to legal markets under EU GMP." ____________________________ 1 Division 1 is a subset of a Class I manufacturing environment and is classified as an area where explosive or flammable gas, vapors or liquids mentioned above can exist under normal, operating conditions and pose no safety risk. Holy Grail #10 from DNA Genetics cultivated in Lesotho (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.) Bophelo continues strain hunt efforts to secure more production strains for cultivation. The propagation team is working to identify ten OG DNA Genetics strains along with genetics from other well-known breeders local and afar. Additionally, pollen has been harvested from premium selected male plants and will be used to expand the internal breeding program. The auto flower strains are thriving in the local environment. Andreas Met states, "We believe we will become successful breeders of localclimate-adapted auto flowers. We will either use the seeds ourselves (low-cost production) or possibly become a leading seed supplier to other farms in Lesotho." Harvest Underway Bophelo commenced harvest on two hoop houses with one hoop house already on the hanging racks. There are still five hoop houses growing auto flowers with an expected harvest by late April. A window of opportunity was identified to plant and secure an additional two hoop houses in which the harvest is expected to be complete by the middle of May. The Company expects a total biomass harvest in the current season to be approximately 500 kilograms. Andreas Met Fully Transitioned to Africa Andreas Met has fully transitioned his relocation to Johannesburg, South Africa. He spends a minimum of four days a week living in Lesotho, actively managing all operations in Tsa'Kholo Lesotho. Mr. Met states, "the location in Lesotho is spectacular, and the local people (our workers) are young and very eager to learn. There is no doubt in my mind we have what will be a winning team on the global stage. Bophelo is making a huge difference to the local economy: helping disadvantaged people (women and youth) learn valuable new skills and contributing to the local economy. It's simply an amazingonce in a lifetime opportunity that I am so proud to be a part of leading." Andreas Met scoping trichomes shortly before harvest (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.) Louisa Mojela, Executive Chairman of the Halo Board of Directors comments on the economic benefits to the previously disadvantaged communities within the area of Tsakholo, where Bophelo's operation is located, "We currently employee over sixty employees with a staffing plan that will expand in the next quarter. All our employees receive skills development and training which bodes very well for the community and Halo. This has been remarkable and pleasing progress." About Halo Collective Halo is a leading, vertically-integrated cannabis company that cultivates, extracts, manufactures, and distributes quality cannabis flower, oils, and concentrates and has sold approximately nine million grams of oils and concentrates since inception. Halo continues to evolve its business and scale efficiently, partnering with trustworthy leaders in the industry, who value the Company's operational expertise in bringing top-tier products to market. Current growth includes expansion in key U.S. markets, the United Kingdom and Africa, with planned expansion into the Canadian retail market. Halo is led by a strong, diverse, and innovative management team with deep industry knowledge and blue-chip experience. The Company is currently operating in the United States in California and Oregon. The Company sells cannabis products principally to dispensaries under its brands, Hush, Mojave, and Exhale, and under partnership or license with OG DNA Genetics, Terphogz (doing business as Zkittlez) and FlowerShop*, a cannabis lifestyle and conceptual wellness brand in which G-Eazy is a partner and key member of Flowershop*. As part of continued expansion and vertical integration in the U.S., Halo boasts several grow operations throughout Oregon and California. In Oregon, the Company has a combined 7 acres of outdoor cultivation, including East Evans Creek, a six-acre grow site in Jackson County, and Winberry Farms, a one-acre grow site located 30 miles outside Eugene in Lane County. In California, the Company is building out Ukiah Ventures; a planned 30,000-square-foot indoor grow, processing, and manufacturing facility including up to an additional five acres of industrial land to expand. Recently, Halo partnered with Green Matter Holding to purchase Bar X Ranch in Lake County, developing up to 80 acres of cultivation which would comprise the largest grow in Northern California. Internationally, the Company is currently cultivating cannabis at Bophelo in Lesotho, which holds one of the most extensive marijuana cultivation licenses in Africa with a future capacity of up to 495 acres. To further Halo's global presence, the Company has recently acquired CBPM importation and distribution licensing in the United Kingdom via cannabis suppliers Canmart Ltd ("Canmart"). Halo expects the cultivation and manufacturing operations of Bophelo, combined with the importation and distribution capabilities of Canmart, to drive a well-positioned business to serve the U.K. market. The Company also has acquired a range of software development assets, including technology platforms CannPOS, Cannalift, and, more recently, CannaFeels. Halo also owns the discrete sublingual dosing technology, Accudab. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only Halo's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Halo's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". Forward-looking information may relate to anticipated events or results including, but not limited to the development and prospects of Bophelo's operations and the granting of certifications, Halo's planned expansion into the Canadian retail market, the expected size and capabilities of the final facility planned at Ukiah Ventures, the size of Halo's planned cultivation facility in Northern California and the ability of Bophelo and Canmart to serve the E.U., U.K. and Australian market. By identifying such information and statements in this manner, Halo is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, Halo has made certain assumptions. Although Halo believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. Among others, the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: unforeseen delays or circumstances that prevent the applicable stock exchanges from commencing trading in the Company's shares or warrants; delays in obtaining required licenses or approvals, delays or unforeseen costs incurred in connection with construction, the ability of competitors to scale operations in Northern California, delays or unforeseen difficulties in connection with the cultivation and harvest of Halo's raw material, changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; and the other risks disclosed in the Company's annual information form dated April 16, 2020 and available on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Halo does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to Halo or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice. www.haloco.com (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.) SOURCE Halo Collective Inc. Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2021/19/c8701.html Bosses for the 2021 Academy Awards have confirmed that this year's ceremony won't see any of its winners accept their prizes via. Zoom, as plans for an intimate in-person celebration were revealed on Thursday. The ceremony, set to take place on April 25, will be strictly limited to nominees, presenters and their guests at Union Station in Los Angeles, with the vast venue allowing plenty of space for social distancing. In an email sent to nominees, producers also stated that guests will adhere to a formal dress code, meaning it's unlikely celebrities can emulate Jason Sudeikis by wearing a hoodie for the occasion. This year's awards season has faced multiple delays due to the ongoing Covid crisis, with the Golden Globes seeing all of its winners accepting their awards over Zoom and presenters hosting the ceremony from sites in both LA and New York. No Zoom: Bosses for the 2021 Oscars have confirmed that none of this year's winners will accept their prizes via. Zoom, as plans for an intimate celebration were revealed on Thursday In the email, producers Steven Soderbergh, Jesse Collins and Stacey Sher told 200 nominees that an on-site COVID safety team will be present for the event. It also stated that parts of the ceremony will be filmed at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, with instructions for guests depending on where they are travelling from. It said: 'We trust you're happy that your fellow artists have recognised you in an exceptional year, and it's our wish, as your producers, to create an experience for you as a nominee that lives up to and enhances that achievement. 'The firstand most obviouspoint we want to get across with this year's show is STORIES MATTER. We, as a species, are wired for narrative. It's how we communicate. It's how we learn. It's how we evolve. 'We are surrounded by stories, we're swimming in them, they're inescapable. And MOVIES arewe thinkthe most powerful form of storytelling ever invented.' Not this time! In an email sent to nominees, bosses insisted guests will adhere to a strict dress code, meaning any hoodies will be banned (Jason Sudeikis pictured at the Golden Globes) In regards to the ceremony being in-person 'with additional show elements live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood,' the producers acknowledged why some stars would be hesitant to gather together. 'Of course, your first thought is CAN THAT BE DONE SAFELY? The answer is YES, IT CAN,' they assured. 'We are treating the event as an active movie set, with specially designed testing cadences to ensure up-to-the-minute results, including an on-site COVID safety team with PCR testing capability.' Guests travelling in from outside of Los Angeles will receive 'specific instructions,' which will vary from those already based in Los Angeles. Limited guests: In the email, producers Steven Soderbergh, Jesse Collins and Stacey Sher told 200 nominees that an on-site COVID safety team will be present for the event Kept away: Along with a limited attendance, the ceremony will be spread across two venues, Union Station and The Dolby Theatre, to allow for ample social distancing Those who are 'unable to attend because of scheduling or continued uneasiness about travelling' were told 'there will not be an option to Zoom in for the show.' 'We are going to great lengths to provide a safe and ENJOYABLE evening for all of you in person, as well as for all the millions of film fans around the world, and we feel the virtual thing will diminish those efforts,' they explained. The producers also encouraged winners to make their speeches 'personal' and that the night will ideally have a 'feeling of casual exchange and good humour.' Guests also must adhere to a strict dress code, with the email stating it will be a 'fusion of Inspirational and aspirational, which in actual words means formal is totally cool if you want to go there, but casual is really not.' Thinking ahead: Guests travelling in from outside of Los Angeles will receive 'specific instructions,' with bosses insisting accepting via Zoom 'won't be an option' On Monday, the president of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts & Sciences, also spelled out just how different the event will be. In a letter emailed to the Academy's nearly 10,000 members, David Rubin confirmed that only presenters and nominees with a plus one will be present in person for the telecast, THR.com reported. Rubin wrote: 'Though we'd hoped the pandemic would be more in our rearview mirror by the month of April, the health and safety of our members and Oscar nominees are our primary concern, so we've had to make some necessary decisions about some of our highly anticipated Oscar-week events.' Candid: The producers also encouraged winners to make their speeches 'personal' and that the night will ideally have a 'feeling of casual exchange and good humour' It had already been announced that the show will come from two locations - from its usual home at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre and from the historic Union Station in Downtown LA. Presumably having two venues means that the nominees, presenters and crew can be spread out between both places, enabling adequate social distancing. In addition to there being no audience, Rubin revealed that all the usual events that surround the awards show are also being scrapped, meaning no Oscar Nominees Luncheon or post-ceremony Governor's Ball. Heads up: On Monday, the president of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts & Sciences, also spelled out just how different the event will be, with any surrounding events cancelled It comes in the wake of a scaled-down Golden Globes in February, which saw all winners accept their prizes from home via. Zoom. Venues in New York and Los Angeles allowed for adequate social distancing, with only the presenters and hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler present for the ceremony, while all events surrounding the occasion were cancelled. Earlier in the day, Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra announced this year's Academy Awards nominations, with David Fincher's Mank scooping the most with 10 nods. This year's nominees proved historic in regards to diversity, with a total of nine actors of colour earning a nod. Six films, all of them also up for Best Picture, scored six nominations each: Judas and the Black Messiah, Nomadland, Minari, Sound of Metal, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and The Father, while Promising Young Woman was also up for the top prize. Here they are: On Monday, Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra announced this year's Academy Awards nominations Joining Gary Oldman in the Best Actor category are Anthony Hopkins, Riz Ahmed, Steven Yeun and the late Chadwick Boseman. Meanwhile Viola Davis, Andra Day, Vanessa Kirby, Frances McDormand and Carey Mulligan are up for Best Actress. In the Best Supporting actor category are Sacha Baron Cohen, Leslie Odom Jr., Daniel Kaluuya, Paul Raci and LaKeith Stanfield. Rounding out the acting categories was Best Supporting Actress, with Amanda Seyfried, Maria Bakalova, Glenn Close, Yuh-Jung Youn and Olivia Colman all up for the coveted prize. Frontrunner: David Fincher's Mank secured the most nominations, with 10 nods including for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) employees staged a protest in Ludhiana on Thursday against the government's decision to raise the Foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the to 74 per cent and to bring an IPO of the "There is a strike across the country. We are protesting against the proposal of bringing an IPO of the It is an attempt to push towards privatisation. We demand the government to drop this idea. We are also against raising the FDI limit in the to 74 per cent," Ritu Aban, one of the protesters told ANI. In February, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to amend the Insurance Act 1938 to increase the permissible FDI limit from 49 per cent to 74 per cent in insurance and allow foreign ownership and control with safeguards. During her budget speech, she said: "I propose to amend the Insurance Act 1938 to increase the permissible FDI limit from 49 per cent to 74 per cent in insurance and allow foreign ownership and control with safeguards. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In-school COVID-19 transmission is rare - even among close school contacts of those who test positive for the virus - when schools heed public health precautions such as mandatory masking, social distancing and frequent hand-washing, according to results of a pilot study in Missouri aimed at identifying ways to keep elementary and secondary schools open and safe during the pandemic. A close contact is anyone who has been within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes in a 24-hour period with someone infected with COVID-19. The study is part of a larger, ongoing collaboration involving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Saint Louis University, the Springfield-Greene and St. Louis County health departments, and school districts in the St. Louis and Springfield, Mo., areas. The findings are published March 19 in the CDC's journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The Missouri school findings mirror those of schools in other states, demonstrating that COVID-19 prevention efforts can significantly curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 among students, teachers and staff. "This work is imperative because keeping kids in school provides not only educational enrichment but also social, psychological and emotional health benefits, particularly for students who rely on school-based services for nutritional, physical and mental health support," said senior author Johanna S. Salzer, DVM, PhD, a veterinary medical officer with the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. The pilot study involved 57 schools in the Pattonville School District in St. Louis County and the Springfield Public School District in Greene County in southwest Missouri, as well as two private schools in St. Louis County. All schools in the pilot study required students, teachers, staff and visitors to wear masks while on campus or buses. Other safety measures included a focus on hand hygiene, deep cleaning of facilities, physical distancing in classrooms, daily symptom screenings for COVID-19, installing physical barriers between teachers and students, offering virtual learning options, and increasing ventilation. For two weeks in December, the schools involved in the pilot project notified the research team of students, teachers and staff who were either infected with COVID-19 or quarantined due to being considered a close contact of someone who had tested positive. In St. Louis, close contacts of students or teachers who had tested positive were placed in quarantine, meaning they were not to leave their homes for 14 days from when last exposed to a positive case. In Springfield, however, some of the close contacts of those who had tested positive were placed in modified quarantine - meaning they could stay in school if they and the infected person were wearing masks when in close contact; in this scenario, the infected person still isolated at home. Participants in the pilot study included 193 persons across 22 of the 57 schools -- 37 who tested positive for COVID-19 and 156 of their close contacts. Among participants who were COVID-19 positive, 24 (65%) were students, and 13 (35%) were teachers or staff members. Of the close contacts, 137 (88%) were students, and 19 (12%) were teachers or staff members. Among the 102 close contacts who agreed to testing for COVID-19 using saliva tests, only two people received positive test results indicating probable school-based SARS-CoV-2 secondary transmission. Further, no outbreaks were identified in participating schools despite the high rates of community spread in December, even among the Springfield schools that followed modified quarantine protocols allowing some close contacts of positive individuals to remain in school. "Schools can operate safely during a pandemic when prevention strategies are followed," said one of the study's leading researchers, Jason Newland, MD, a Washington University professor of pediatrics, who treats patients at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Newland led the pilot program with the CDC and has advised multiple school districts in Missouri on plans for reopening schools. "The pilot study demonstrates low transmission in schools and no student-to-teacher transmission -- and this was during the height of the pandemic in December, with high rates of community spread." Added Randall Williams, MD, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services: "Schools with proper prevention strategies remain a safe environment for students and teachers during the pandemic." Since mid-January, the CDC, Washington University and Saint Louis University researchers, and the St. Louis County and Springfield-Greene County health departments, along with three school districts from St. Louis County, and three school districts in Greene County have been participating in a larger study to further examine the COVID-19 prevention strategies and quarantine policies. The St. Louis County school districts involved are Rockwood, Pattonville and University City; the Greene County school districts involved are Springfield, Republic and Logan-Rogersville. In addition, the researchers are going into classrooms to measure the distances between desks to evaluate whether the 6-foot social distancing rule can be relaxed in school settings. They're also sending surveys to parents, teachers and staff to assess the stress and mental health challenges surrounding quarantine. In Springfield, the researchers are continuing to study modified quarantine policies. "We are pleased to continue to work on this joint project with the CDC, Washington University, and the Springfield-Greene County Health Department," said Jean Grabeel, director of health services for Springfield Public Schools. "The initial results helped verify that our mitigation strategies have been successful in the school setting. This continued work will help to further guide the full-time return of students to in-person learning, five days a week, in a safe manner. We deeply appreciate this unique opportunity to collaborate on such a meaningful, impactful project." Added Mark T. Miles, PhD, superintendent of the Rockwood School District, the largest school system in St. Louis County and one of the largest in the state, with 22,268 students: "I am grateful for Rockwood's opportunity to participate in this collaboration. We all share the same priority: keeping schools safe for students, teachers and staff as well as the community at large." ### Dawson P, Worrell MC, Orscheln RC, Williams RW, Newland JG, Salzer JS et al and the COVID-19 Surge Laboratory Group. Pilot investigation of SARS-CoV-2 secondary transmission in Kindergarten through Grade 12 schools implementing mitigation strategies - St. Louis County and City of Springfield, Missouri, December 2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. March 19, 2021. Washington University School of Medicine's 1,500 faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is a leader in medical research, teaching and patient care, ranking among the top 10 medical schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare. 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: After the latest nuclear tests by North Korea, a top diplomat has warned US that the country is ready to send more gift packages. The ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Han Tae Song, on Sunday confirmed that the North Korea has sucecssfully conducted its sixth and largest nuclear bomb test. "The recent self-defence measures by my country, DPRK, are a gift package addressed to none other than the US. The US will receive more 'gift packages' ... as long as it relies on reckless provocations and futile attempts to put pressure on the DPRK," Han said in a conference. Earlier on Tuesday, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley had said that North Korea is "begging for war" with abusive use of missiles and nuclear threats. She pushed for the "strongest possible measures" against Pyongyang following its sixth and most powerful nuclear test. On Sunday, North Korea said it detonated a hydrogen bomb designed for a long-range missile and called it a perfect success, inviting worldwide condemnation and promises of tougher US sanctions. Haley said North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Uns action cannot be seen as defensive and he wants to be acknowledged as a nuclear power. But being a nuclear power is not about using those terrible weapons to threaten others. Nuclear powers understand their responsibilities. Kim Jong-Un shows no such understanding, Haley told members of the UN Security Council during a meeting on North Korea. With PTI inputs For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / MARCH 19, 2021 / LINK GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES INC. (CSE:LNK)(FRA:LGT)(OTC PINK:LGLOF) ("LINK" or the "Company"), an innovative power and infrastructure solutions provider for Bitcoin mining and data hosting operations, is pleased to provide an update on its planned expansion into renewable energy mining. The Company has signed a letter of intent ("LOI") with Neptune Digital Assets Corporation ("Neptune") (TSXV:NDA)(OTC PINK:NPPTF)(FSE1NW) to co-develop a 5 megawatt ("MW") renewable energy Bitcoin ("BTC") mining facility in Alberta. This LOI follows shortly after the announcement on March 4, 2021, for LINK to procure and operate 1,500 Bitcoin mining machines for Neptune. The new mining facility is a 50/50 joint venture between LINK and Neptune. The location of the site will be in Alberta where LINK operates the majority of their BTC mining operations. The operation will be powered by a combination of solar power, wind power and natural gas. The signing of a definitive agreement is expected by early April with construction immediately following. The addition of this 5 MW facility will bring LINK's secured output to 63.75 MW. Link President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Jenkins commented, "This push for more renewable energy is wonderful as it is a necessity in an energy-intensive sector. LINK and Neptune are committed to incrementally lowering the impacts of Bitcoin mining. We are determined to prove that the future of mining digital currency can be done in a green way. We look at this as the beginning of expanding our footprint into renewable energy projects for digital currency mining." Neptune's CEO Cale Moodie also commented, "We are very excited about our second venture with Link Global. We expect there to be substantial global pressure to develop sustainable Bitcoin mining operations around the world. We hope, as a team, to become a major powerhouse in carbon-neutral mining at low-cost and tapping carbon credits for exchange in that burgeoning marketplace." About Neptune Digital Assets Corp. Neptune Digital Assets aims to be a cryptocurrency leader with a diversified portfolio of investments and cryptocurrency operations across the digital asset ecosystem including bitcoin mining, tokens, proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies, decentralized finance (defi) and associated blockchain technologies. About Link Global Technologies Inc. Link is engaged in providing infrastructure and operating expertise for digital mining and data hosting operations. Link's objectives include locating and securing, for lease and option to purchase, properties with access to low-cost, reliable power, and deploying this low-cost power to conduct digital mining and supply clean energy and infrastructure for other data-hosting services. On behalf of Link Global Technologies Inc. Stephen Jenkins Chief Executive Officer & Director For more information visit http://linkglobal.io/ or contact: Steve Jenkins stephen@linkglobal.io +1-877-770-6545 For investor information please contact: info@linkglobal.io +1-833-707-8708 The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION. This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "forecast", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes", or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "would", "could", "should" or "might" occur. Forward-looking statements made in this news release include, but are not limited, to: statements with respect to the Agreement and the terms and potential benefits thereof; that the parties will enter into the definitive partnership agreement and the terms thereof, including the timeline for same; that Link's significant expertise in international projects and government relationships will assist the development of these projects; and that the initiatives are slated to begin implementation in fiscal Q1 2021. All such forward-looking statements are based on factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including assumptions based on historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. Since forward-looking statements relate to future events and conditions, by their very nature they require making assumptions and involve inherent risks and uncertainties. The Company cautions that although it is believed that the assumptions are reasonable in the circumstances, these risks and uncertainties give rise to the possibility that actual results may differ materially from the expectations set out in the forward-looking statements. In the case of the Company, these risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors include, without limitation: that the parties may not enter into a definitive partnership agreement at all or on the terms announced; that actual results from the partnership may differ materially from the parties' expectations; those set out in the Company's most recent MD&A, fluctuations in the price of electricity, fluctuations in the price of digital currencies/Bitcoin, the future potential halving of Bitcoin, increases in the network difficulty rate and price of digital currencies/Bitcoin, negative changes in the level of digital currency/Bitcoin rewards per block, the securing of economic rates for the purchase of power, the opportunities for acquiring digital currency mining hardware, unanticipated changes in laws, regulations or other industry standards affecting the business of the Company, reliance on key management personnel, the Company's ability to implement its business plan, litigation risk, stock price volatility, the effects of general economic and other factors beyond the control of the Company, and other matters that may occur in the future. Given these risks, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date hereof. Other than as specifically required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise. SOURCE: Link Global Technologies Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/636389/Link-Global-Technologies-Signs-LOI-with-Neptune-Digital-Assets-Corp-for-the-Co-Development-of-a-5-MW-Solar-Wind-and-Natural-Gas-Powered-Bitcoin-Mining-Facility A juvenile in Dublin was arrested today by Gardai in relation to an ongoing investigation into invoice redirect fraud. Gardai attached to the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau arrested the male after a search was conducted in Tallaght. He was arrested in relation to the ongoing investigation under Operation SKEIN and is currently detained at Tallaght Garda station under Section 50 Criminal Justice Act of 2007. Operation SKEIN is an investigation into international BEC/Invoice redirect fraud being committed from Ireland and the laundering of the proceeds through bank accounts here. This arrest was the sixteenth arrest as part of this operation. Investigations are ongoing according to Gardai. Hurricane season 2021 is here: How do storms get their names? TOWIE's Frankie and Demi Sims and their co-star Harry Derbidge have been suspended from filming the show after flouting lockdown rules. The three reality stars were all seen chatting in an Instagram video as they stood next to a dining table at what appeared to be a party, reports OK!. Frankie's girlfriend and Too Hot To Handle star Francesca Farago was also seen in the clip originally posted to Instagram by Harry's fiance Dean Rowland. Suspended: TOWIE's Frankie and Demi Sims (pictured) and their co-star Harry Derbidge have been suspended from filming the show after flouting lockdown rules A spokesperson for TOWIE confirmed the suspension and told MailOnline: 'Several cast members have been temporarily suspended from filming TOWIE. 'The safety of our cast and crew is of paramount importance and we expect them to abide by the protocols put in place in line with government guidelines to ensure they keep themselves and those around them safe.' Harry, Frankie and Demi's representatives have also been contacted for a comment. In the video, which is thought to have been taken some time last week, Dean and Francesca posed for a selfie while the three TOWIE stars stood in the background. Oh dear: The reality stars were all seen in an Instagram video chatting as they stand next to a dining table at what appeared to be a party (Harry is pictured on a recent episode of TOWIE) The Sims sisters seemed to be looking at a phone while Harry looked on. It comes after The Only Way Is Essex was hit by complaints to Ofcom after the stars were seen visiting pubs and restaurants while the UK is in lockdown. According to a report from the government regulatory authority on Wednesday, 64 people have contacted them to complain about the programme since its launch on Sunday night. Before the episode began, bosses clarified in a disclaimer that the 28th series was filmed following strict Covid-19 protocols so that the cast and crew are safe. All together: Harry's partner Dean (pictured) shared the short clip to Instagram which showed the three cast members chatting in the background while he cosied up to Francesca Farago Group: Francesca and Dean were seen laughing as they faced the camera infront of the others It read: 'The show will still be bringing you the casts real lives and stories, but to keep everyone safe TOWIE have had to create its own little world to film in. 'So, although you may see cast in pubs and restaurants, dont worry because they've opened just for the show and have put in lots of extra measures, so Lime Pictures and ITV can still bring you the TOWIE you love safely.' During the show, stars like Chloe Sims and her sister Demi were seen at a bar while the cast also celebrated a birthday party, and they also visited each other's houses. According to a report from The Sun on Thursday, the complaints to Ofcom were made about: 'Filming in bars, restaurants and gyms during lockdown and food wastage.' Upset: It comes after Ofcom revealed 64 people have contacted them to complain about the programme since its launch on Sunday night MailOnline has contacted Ofcom for further comment, TOWIE spokespeople declined to comment when approached. On a recent episode of the hit show Demi gushed that she's 'all about the fairy tale' when quizzed over her relationship with Francesca Farago. The TV personality, 22, was asked if she thought she was going 'a bit quick' with her girlfriend, 27, but she said she likes 'taking things quick' in her relationships. Speaking with her sister Chloe and friends Harry Derbidge, and Amy Childs at a bar, Harry claimed: 'The only thing I'm worried about is Demi getting married before me, she's on a roller-coaster.' Loved up: Demi recently moved into a new home in London with girlfriend Francesca, and gave fans a glimpse of the flat via Instagram on Tuesday Demi simply quipped: 'Listen Harry, you snooze you lose, if I get married before you.' Harry claimed he was 'so happy' for Demi, and suggested: 'I think you've actually met The One.' Amy stepped in and asked: 'Dem, do you think it's a bit quick? I'm not judging!' Demi was honest with her thoughts on the matter, admitting: 'I like taking things quick, I like finding out about someone and their heart, and I'm just all about the fairy tale to be honest'. Chloe then chimed in to ask if Francesca, who hails from Canada, knew anything about Essex, and Demi said: 'Not at all, she doesn't have a clue.' Telling all: Francesca also took part in a Q&A, during which she spoke about her isolation plans Her sister then said: 'I think she's going to have a bit of a culture shock.' Demi recently moved into a new home in London with girlfriend Francesca, and gave fans a glimpse of the flat via Instagram on Tuesday. In the video, Demi scanned the room which features a spacious lounge area and heads outside to their balcony which was fitted with several seating areas. The Too Hot To Handle star jetted over to the UK last month and styled her pet as a service dog as she travelled with him. Francesca took to Instagram to document her transatlantic journey with her four-legged friend, who was carried onto the plane in a Christian Dior tote bag. Thanks to the implementation of Green Deal, 500,000 jobs can be created in Ukraine, acting Energy Minister Yuriy Vitrenko has said. "Ukraine has a huge development potential thanks to the Green Deal. We can create 500,000 jobs thanks to it. This is a transition to a 'green' economy, this is a transformation of the country," he said during the fourth German-Ukrainian business forum on Friday. At the same time, Vitrenko noted that Ukraine has a great potential for producing "green" energy and increasing the level of energy efficiency, as well as the opportunity "to become a partner of Europe for decades in the export of 'green' hydrogen." As reported, DTEK CEO Maksym Timchenko in early February announced the launch of the first pilot projects for the production of "green" hydrogen by the end of this year. "Green" hydrogen is the direction where we want to be leaders. We are working to ensure that the first pilot projects appear by the end of 2021, he said. THE owner of an Asian restaurant fears she has been targeted by racism after her vehicle was vandalized. THE owner of an Asian restaurant fears she has been targeted by racism after her vehicle was vandalized. Claire Venevongsa, the owner of Pad Thai Restaurant on Portage Avenue in St. James, said she had just closed the restaurant Wednesday night when she noticed somebody had scratched the words "eat s---" on the hood. "I saw it when I came out after work," said Venevongsa. "It was parked behind the building. They would have known it was my car. They targeted me and scratched it." While the words themselves arent overtly racist, Venevongsa said she believes the incident was racist because it is not the first time she has been targeted. "A few months ago, there was paint put on the building itself," she said. "People drew graffiti all over the side of the building, behind, and on a garage back there. "If it was the first time this happened, I might not say anything. But in less than 12 months, Ive been targeted twice. "We need to talk about this in the community. I want everybody to know about it." Venevongsa pointed out the incident occurred shortly after the slayings of six Asian women who worked at spas in Atlanta. "Im female, a woman, and Asian thats the scary part," she said. Art Miki, former president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians, said he has heard about some incidents against people of Asian descent since the pandemic began, especially after former United States president Donald Trump began calling COVID-19 the "Chinese virus" and "kung flu." "Not in Manitoba so much, B.C. and Toronto have been worse," said Miki. "There, people have been knocked down... Here it has been very subtle and indirect. One fellow said he was in a supermarket and a woman said to him Get away from me, get away from me. He didnt know what to do, so he just walked away. Thats why I say it was fairly subtle." Miki said he knows there have been more incidents, but people in the Asian community dont usually complain. He said even since the Asian Heritage Society created a reporting area on its website, only one person has filed a complaint. "Thats part of the problem, when people dont report it. Many fear if they report it they will be attacked again, that if you say anything youll draw more attention to yourself. "They just want to forget what happened." Jennifer Chen, a Winnipeg School Division trustee and organizer of last years Act to End Racism campaign, commends Venevongsa for speaking out. "Asian women dont want to speak out. They usually try to keep it quiet," said Chen. "But in Canada, 60 per cent of incidents of racism against the Asian community are against Asian women. We know there are a lot of incidents against Asian women, but we dont always hear about it." Chen hopes the community can come together to speak out against racism. "We know racism exists and has been amplified by COVID. Weve passed the one-year anniversary of COVID, but Im afraid if we dont do something when the pandemic is gone the racism will still exist and it will be even worse." Meanwhile, Venevongsa said she has contacted Winnipeg police and Manitoba Public Insurance. She said the incident hasnt affected her feelings about the city. "I love Winnipeg. Weve had this business for 20 years and had no problems. I love Winnipeg, but I want to talk about this." kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca AGAWAM Starting April 5, all of Agawams public schools will offer in-person classes five days a week, following a School Committee vote on Thursday. The vote follows state Education Commissioner Jeffrey Rileys mandate that elementary schools reopen on that date. Agawam Superintendent Sheila Hoffman told the School Committee that, although middle and high schools are being allowed to phase in at later dates, Agawams experience adding in-person days for kindergartners, high schoolers and high-need students provides a solid foundation for a return to the traditional school schedule for all grades. We are well situated to bring all grade levels in on April 5, Hoffman said. Kindergartners and first-graders in Agawam already go to school in person five days a week, with a half-day of classes each Wednesday. Grades 2-8 remain in the hybrid model, where half the school attends in-person class on Mondays and Tuesdays, the other half is in person Thursdays and Fridays, and everyone learns remotely on Wednesdays. Grades 9-12 have been attending Agawam High School four days a week for about a month. Under the full-in model, all grades will attend full days of school five days a week. For most students, it will be their first in-person five-day school week since COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were announced in March 2020. Parents can still choose an all-remote option for their children. Hoffman said the schools have sent surveys to every household, asking them to choose either full-in or all-remote for the remainder of the school year. Once the enrollment figures are finalized, administrators may have to shuffle some class rosters and teacher assignments to equalize the numbers, Hoffman said. The School Committee endorsed Rileys plan last week, and this week voted 7-0 to approve full-in schooling for all grades, pre-kindergarten to high school, starting April 5. School Committee member Wendy Rua thanked the entire school community for making the best of an imperfect learning model during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Weve asked teachers, students, parents, administrators, everyone to really do the impossible and flip the way were learning, and turn living rooms into classrooms, Rua said. Im really excited to be voting to return the kids to school. Both she and School Committee member Anthony Bonavita criticized Gov. Charlie Baker for not including teachers in the first phase of vaccinations. They said enough people are getting vaccinated now, however, that the risk decreases every day. Hoffman told committee members that although schools will no longer be able to guarantee 6 feet of social distancing during classes, principals are getting really creative to ensure that students are spaced at least 6 feet apart during meals and mask breaks. Some students will have lunch at their desks, while others travel to the school cafeteria or some other overflow room. The School Department has also rented several large tents, and students will be encouraged to eat lunch outdoors when the weather permits. One of the reasons for initially adopting a split-week hybrid model was to reserve Wednesdays, when all students were learning remotely, for extra cleaning. Hoffman said the custodial staffs experience over the past year has shown that the day off is not necessary. We talked a lot about deep cleaning in the summer, when we didnt realize what it would look like, Hoffman said. Now, however, we disinfect our classrooms every night. She said this daily cleaning routine meets federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and will continue with all-in-person schooling. It was a small news item, on Sunday March 7, that probably passed most people by. Health authorities in Austria suspended inoculations from a batch of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine as a precaution while investigating the death of one person and the illness of another shortly after receiving the jab. A 49-year-old woman died as a result of severe coagulation disorders in the Lower Austria province while another woman, 35, from the same region, developed pulmonary embolism as a result of a blood clot but was recovering. A small portion of the countrys AstraZeneca supply was suspended, but the rest was administered as planned. Yet the development mirrored in Italy, where specific batches of the vaccine were held back was a harbinger about what was to come less than a week later. Soon reports emerged from Norway that four people who had received a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine had experienced severe blood clots and one of them died. All were under 50 and it was reported that three were healthcare workers. Health authorities in Denmark were the first to suspend all use of the vaccine. It was reported that a woman there had died after developing a blood clot. Norway followed Denmarks lead and on Sunday morning it was announced that the AstraZeneca vaccine would be paused in this country too. The news was seen by some as a hammer blow in the already sluggish vaccine roll-out. Some 30,000 people healthcare workers and people aged 16 to 69 with several underlying health conditions who had been scheduled for vaccination this week were told their appointments were being delayed. The decision was taken by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) after the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) received a safety alert from the Norwegian Medicines Agency. NIAC chairwoman Karina Buckley recommended that administration of the vaccine be deferred pending the outcome of an EU-level investigation. The decision appeared to have divided the countrys medical and scientific community. On Monday, Professor Luke ONeill of Trinity College Dublins School of Biochemistry and Immunology one of the most recognisable experts on the pandemic said he found the suspension dangerous. They are not trusting the science, he told Pat Kenny on Newstalk. 17 million people have had this vaccine and there is no evidence of any kind that it is causing blood clots. And, even worse, we know the virus itself causes blood clots there is a high risk of that so they are putting 30,000 people at risk now who arent getting vaccinated this week, so I think it is very disturbing, to be honest. In something of a domino effect, several countries including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Thailand suspended the vaccine. Read More As the week wore on, it seemed as though almost every country in the EU despite low vaccine supplies overall had decided to suspend use of the AstraZeneca shots, but would continue to use the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. By contrast, Belgium insisted it would continue to use AstraZeneca as planned, arguing that the benefits in combating Covid hospitalisations and deaths greatly outweighed any negatives. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave the vaccine the all-clear on Thursday following a detailed review. Irishwoman Emer Cooke, its executive director, said there was a clear scientific conclusion this is a safe and effective vaccine. Expand Close Emer Cooke / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Emer Cooke But with many of the vulnerable who had been due to get the vaccine this week now unlikely to get their first dose until well into next month, there are concerns that the pause in vaccinations could lead to some getting seriously ill and dying. With case numbers stubbornly high and even a slight easing of restrictions on April 5 in the balance, the decision will have dismayed not only those due to get the shot this week. It has complicated an already frustratingly slow rollout, a result of the EUs failure to acquire sufficient supplies of the vaccine in the first quarter. By contrast, AstraZeneca has been at the forefront of the fast and impressive vaccine rollout in the UK, where more than 40pc of adults have received at least one shot. Case numbers have dramatically fallen and restrictions are set to be reduced shortly, with church services likely to take place again in Northern Ireland by the end of this month. In Wales, personal services such as hairdressing, have resumed a direct result of the effectiveness of the vaccine programme. Michael Head, an infectious disease specialist and a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, says the decision to suspend vaccinations did not make sense. Its right that countries investigate signals, for example possible adverse events such as Germany has described seven cases of rare but serious blood clots, he says. But why you would pause a vaccine campaign to investigate that thats what Im really confused about. The signals are very small; Covid is very big. Youre pausing a vaccine roll-out during a pandemic to investigate a tiny number of possible signals. And it appears that some countries suspended their vaccination campaigns because other countries have. And all of this in an environment where, in places like France and Germany, cases are going up. These are countries with a big Covid-19 problem on their doorstep so people are being under-protected when they could be protected. About 11 million AstraZeneca Covid jabs have been administered in the UK in the past three months with no alarming signals, but Head fears that confidence in this vaccine and others will be damaged because of the confusion surrounding its safety. There are lots of consequences to stopping a vaccination campaign, particularly in a time of public health emergency like this, he says. AstraZeneca vaccinations took place as normal in the UK this week, but health authorities found themselves compelled to reassure the population about the medicines safety. By the middle of the week, British newspapers were reporting that some people in England were cancelling vaccine appointments over fears that they would receive the AstraZeneca shot. David Robert Grimes, a science writer with expertise in medical and science disinformation, says there are legitimate concerns that the AstraZeneca controversy will play into the hands of anti-vaxxers. Theres no doubt in my mind that those that put out vaccine disinformation will feel emboldened by whats happened this week, he says. Even a quick response from the EMA is unlikely to quell the sort of conspiracy theories that have grown around Covid-19 in general and the vaccines specifically. Grimes says he was surprised by the suspension of the vaccine considering the UKs experience. There has been a huge programme of AstraZeneca vaccinations there and they have not detected a rise in thrombotic events, he says. Between the UK and the EU, around 17 million doses of the vaccine have been administered and nothing that has happened is indicative of elevated risk. Liz OBrien, a former pharmaceutical regulator and ex-staffer at the EMA, believes NIAC was correct to pause its use. My default position always goes back to patient safety, she says, and I fully understand the dynamics and complexity of stopping it from a logistics and perception perspective, but ultimately when youre seeing really rare cerebral venous sinus embolism in your brain in young people, that is highly unusual. And you would have to adjudicate if that is related to the intervention [the vaccine] or not. The chances are is its not. But having said that, it would be unforgivable to move forward if there was any potential casualty. In the grand scheme of things, pausing it while its disruptive is the best thing to do. If I was to personalise it, if it was myself or my parents considering taking the vaccine, Id say, Wait. Lets just wait until this review is completed and we move on then. Expand Close A medical worker prepares a dose of Oxford/AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine amid a vaccination campaign in Bierset, Belgium March 17, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A medical worker prepares a dose of Oxford/AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine amid a vaccination campaign in Bierset, Belgium March 17, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman Amy Morgan, a GP in Drogheda, Co Louth, also believes health authorities did the right thing, but hopes the move has not damaged confidence in the jab. The message Id have for patients would received it is that for now, the EMA and World Health Organisation have said AstraZeneca is safe, she says. But its really important for confidence in the vaccination programme that these clusters of events are investigated, just like we would for any other medicine. There may be no direct link at all but it makes sense to pause and investigate and allow the experts time to examine the evidence. We often counsel our patients to let us know if they experience side effects from any medicine and this is no different. Ultimately a deferral should not dramatically delay vaccination for those people those mostly who were in vulnerable groups who were due to receive it. If patients did have any concerns we of course, as their GPs, would explore these but for now would be seeking to largely reassure people. It is not the first time that the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca has found itself the centre of controversy over the vaccine. For much of February and March, there was considerable confusion throughout Europe about AstraZenecas effectiveness in people over 70, partly because the company had carried out fewer trials in this age group. The vaccines public image was not helped when French president Emmanuel Macron claimed in January that it appeared to be quasi-ineffective. Last week, NIAC issued fresh advice to the Department of Health in which it said the vaccine was safe to use in that age group. Previously, it had said that while Astra Zeneca could be used on senior citizens, it was preferable to use either the Pfizer or Moderna shots. AstraZeneca has been regularly criticised by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for its failure to meet supply targets. She has said the company has been underproducing and underdelivering and has blamed it for delays to the EUs vaccine programme. The company has said it will not be able to meet its contractual commitment of 300m doses for the EU in the first half of the year but instead will be able to supply only 100m due to production problems and export restrictions. With parts of Europe on the crest of a third wave of virus transmissions not least Italy, which went into full lockdown on Monday amid rising numbers of hospitalisations and deaths Von der Leyen is threatening to block vaccine deliveries to the UK and elsewhere under emergency powers. It was all so different on November 23 last when AstraZeneca, in partnership with Oxford University, announced that it had created an effective vaccine. Expand Close AstraZeneca has had a tough week / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp AstraZeneca has had a tough week This came just weeks after first Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna had publicised their vaccine breakthroughs. The AstraZeneca shot was hailed as a game-changer because it would not require the deep-freeze refrigeration required by the other two. Instead, it could be stored in conventional fridges and could easily be distributed to vaccine centres, GP surgeries and pharmacies. Despite this advantage, initial studies on its effectiveness made it look less promising than its rivals. It reported 70pc efficacy, compared with the 90pc-plus results posted by Pfizer and Moderna, although a report published in the Lancet medical journal this month demonstrated efficacy of 76pc on one standard dose. British studies have also indicated that it significantly reduces Covid transmission after one dose. The speed with which vaccines were developed was hailed as a scientific miracle last year. Some pandemic experts had thought an effective vaccine might never be created. The coronavirus vaccine partnership between AztraZeneca and Oxfords Jenner Institute came into effect as recently as April 30 last year. Scientists including Irelands Professor Teresa Lambe worked round the clock to develop the medicine. More than a month after it was approved for use in the UK, the EMA granted it a licence on January 23. AstraZeneca has accounted for more than one quarter of the 758,490 vaccines delivered here so far and about a fifth of the total number of doses (620,580 up to Monday) that have been administered. On Thursday, in advance of the EMAs green-light, the HSE said it did not anticipate any logistical obstacles and would reintroduce the AstraZeneca jabs immediately. Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Construction in progress at Sierra College supported by Measure E bonds. Only a handful of community college districts have achieved that rating, noted Sierra College Superintendent/President Willy Duncan. It signifies that the District is one of the safest investments on the market. Sierra College has announced that its issuance rating for the second series of Measure E bonds has been upgraded by Moodys to Aaa from Aa1. The Aaa rating is rare for a community college. Only a handful of community college districts have achieved that rating, noted Sierra College Superintendent/President Willy Duncan. It signifies that the District is one of the safest investments on the market. Overall, it reflects the ongoing commitment of the Board of Trustees to the fiscal health of the District. As rationale for the upgrade, Moodys noted the Districts solid financial performance, conservative fiscal practices, and projected future increases in assessed value (AV). Due largely to the upgraded credit rating, the District also refinanced general obligation bonds for School Facilities Improvement District No. 1 (Tahoe-Truckee Campus), and School Facilities Improvement District No. 2 (Nevada County Campus) for a combined taxpayer savings exceeding $1,850,000. We are very proud of achieving the highest bond rating, and we would like to commend the District staff for their fastidious efforts managing not only the Measure E funds, but the general purpose funds that support the operations of the college, said Carol Chilton Garcia, Sierra College Board of Trustees President. I would also like to recognize the community members on the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee for volunteering their time to provide oversight and review of the Measure E projects. Their contribution has been essential to this process. Proceeds from the bond sale will fund the next phase of Facilities Master Plan projects on the Rocklin campus including a new 77,000 square foot instructional building and a new science facility. The first phase consisted of campus-wide infrastructure improvements, a campus center renovation, and a new parking facility. The Measure E construction program is making significant improvements to the Rocklin campus that will benefit students and the community for generations to come, added President Duncan. About Measure E The majority of Sierra Colleges Rocklin campus facilities and infrastructure was constructed in the 1960s. Although the college has done an excellent job of maintaining these facilities, many of our buildings and infrastructure systems are now well beyond their useful life and in need of major renovation or replacement. In 2017, the college updated its Facilities Master Plan, establishing a long-term vision for the Rocklin campus and, in June 2018, the community approved Measure E to fund the implementation of the first phase of this Master Plan. About Sierra College The Sierra Joint Community College District is rising to the needs of our community. Sierra College serves 3,200 square miles of Northern CA with campuses in Roseville, Rocklin, Grass Valley, and Truckee. With approximately 125 degree and certificate programs, Sierra College is ranked first in Northern California (Sacramento north) for transfers to four-year universities, offers career/technical training, and classes for upgrading job skills. Sierra graduates can be found in businesses and industries throughout the region. More information at http://www.sierracollege.edu Press Release March 19, 2021 Villanueva: Harm done, but eased restrictions on returning Filipinos still welcome Senator Joel Villanueva welcomed the easing of restrictions on returning Filipinos from foreign countries after authorities rescinded a guideline it issued earlier this week which triggered a wave of disruptions on travel plans of Filipinos eager to come home. Villanueva lamented the ordeal of Filipino passengers overseas, particularly those who received notices from their airlines that they would not be able to accommodate their flight given a cap imposed on arrivals in Manila. The restriction on returning overseas Filipinos "who are not OFWs" issued on Tuesday, has since been rescinded by the Inter Agency Task Force in a new memo released on Friday morning. "We're glad that the IATF listened to the points we raised at Thursday's labor hearing. This is a victory for Pinoys because all our kababayans regardless of their reason for going abroad can now return home, no questions asked," Villanueva said in a statement. "Tulad po ng sinabi natin, nagdudulot ng kalituhan ang naunang polisiya. Kung hindi po umalma at nag-ingay ang ating mga kababayan, hindi lumabas ang amendatory order," continued the lawmaker, chair of the Senate labor committee. Villanueva appealed to policymakers to be mindful of the repercussions of guidelines it issues, particularly the cap on returning Filipinos. "At this time of the pandemic, our people are cautious about their spending their hard-earned money. Travel disruptions such as this affect their household budget too because they need to make changes on their plans, not to mention the cost of rebooking flights," Villanueva said. In an interview over CNN Philippines, Villanueva described the incident as an example of the government's "flip-flopping" policies on the pandemic response that sowed confusion among people. "While we are glad that our authorities already fixed the issue, the fact remains that the flipflopping of our policies would continue to hurt us, especially our people and our economy," Villanueva said. "We cannot let this go on and on." Burma NLDs Information Team Member Arrested by Myanmars Military Regime U Kyi Toe, a member of the NLD central information committee, during talks with Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in August 2020. / Screenshot from video A long-time member of the National League for Democracys (NLD) central information committee was reportedly arrested by the military regime on the night of March 18, according to multiple NLD sources. U Kyi Toe worked with detained State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and had been giving insider updates about the NLD and its leaders since the militarys Feb.1 coup. U Phyo Zeya Thaw, who led the NLDs 2020 election campaign in Myanmars capital Naypyitaw, confirmed that U Kyi Toe and another supporter of the party were detained by the security forces during a late night raid in Yangon. U Kyi Toe has been a diehard supporter of the NLD since 1988 and has long worked behind the scenes for the party. He has been part of the NLDs central information team ever since Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in 2010. In a series of public talks before the 2020 election, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi chose U Kyi Toe to speak with her about the NLDs long political journey and the challenges that the NLD had to overcome under the previous military dictatorship. Following the coup, U Kyi Toe had become a crucial and reliable source for pro-democracy supporters and media about the current state of the party and its leaders. Several NLD members, including all Central Executive Committee members (CEC), have been detained by the junta since the coup. Their families are not allowed to know where they are being held. In early March, two NLD members, Ko Zaw Myat Lin, who was in charge of Suu Vocational Institute in Shwepyithar Township, Yangon and U Khin Maung Latt, ward chairman of the NLD in Pabedan Township, Yangon died while being detained by the military regime. As of Thursday, almost 230 civilians have been killed by the security forces since the coup and 1,938 arrested, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). You may also like these stories: Myanmar Regime Sues 10 University Academics on Strike Singapore Military Chief Expresses Grave Concern to Myanmar Regime Leader Can China Prevent Further Bloodshed in Myanmar? Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. California Department of Education News Release California Department of Education News Release State Board of Education Approves Additional Testing Flexibility for Schools This Spring SACRAMENTOThe State Board of Education today voted to give California school districts the opportunity to use either state tests or other standards-aligned assessments to gauge student learning this spring. The vote builds on last months Board action to apply for the maximum flexibility offered by the U.S. Department of Education in testing, accountability and reporting requirements and to seek further options that account for the impact of COVID-19 on educators, families, and schools. The Board is seeking to allow districts to use the best assessment tool available for the local context this spring, as many of them are still providing distance learning and working to reopen schools. Options include the states Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments and California Alternate Assessments for English language arts and mathematics, the Smarter Balanced interim assessments, or other diagnostic, benchmark, or interim assessments that: Are aligned with California Common Core State Standards for English language arts and math. Are available to assess students in grades 3-8 and 11. Are uniformly administered across a grade span, school, or district. Provide results that can be reported to parents/guardians, educators about individual students, and to the public by school and by district and are disaggregated by student group. While school reopening momentum is growing and we expect many more students to return to class this spring, we realize that many more may still be learning remotely either some days or every day, said State Board President Linda Darling-Hammond. The Boards action today, coupled with our previous request for flexibility, will give local educators and state policymakers important data on student progress while recognizing the realities of a very challenging year. Diagnostic and interim/benchmark assessments help teachers identify student learning gaps and progress and adjust instruction throughout the year. As a condition of funding this year, districts were required to use such assessments and identify them in their learning continuity plans filed last fall. A California Department of Education survey of schools and districts showed that the majority of districts use a diagnostic or interim test that would qualify with the parameters delineated by the Board. Giving districts the opportunity to use local diagnostic or interim tests to meet state and federal expectations for assessment and reporting purposes will help lessen concerns about students participating in extensive testing before they have a chance to re-adjust to in-person learning. This additional flexibility would expand on Californias previous federal flexibility request which would: Decouple state assessments from federal accountability requirements, as applicable. Instead, any data collected would be used to inform local educators and parents and align resources to student supports. Waive federal penalties for student testing participation rates of less than 95 percent on the states Smarter Balanced English language arts and math assessments. Extend the window by which schools must complete test administration to July 30 for the English Language Assessments for California (ELPAC), which measures English learners progress toward language proficiency, and for the Smarter Balanced assessments, as applicable. Waive administration of the states science tests altogether for 2021. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, all states that receive federal funds for low-income students and English learners must assess annual learning progress in math, language arts, science, and English learner language proficiency, as applicable. Last year, the federal government granted blanket waivers permitting states to opt-out of annual testing altogether. However, a federal state assessment compliance template (PDF) released March 8 closed the door on that option for this year. At its November 2020 meeting, the State Board approved shortened blueprints of the Smarter Balanced assessments in English language arts and math in order to administer shorter tests in these subjects. In addition, federal guidance allows remote administration of all tests. California has permitted remote testing since last August. With many students only beginning to return to in-person instruction, Board members emphasizedas the Federal guidance statesthat students should not be brought back to in-person instruction solely for the purpose of standardized testing. While there are benefits to providing a snapshot look at how our students have been affected academically by the pandemic, we all know that the social-emotional health of our students and their reattachment to a caring school environment must come first, said President Darling-Hammond. Helping our students cope with a painful year and feel supported in their learning remains our top priority. # # # # Tony Thurmond State Superintendent of Public Instruction Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100 Last Reviewed: Thursday, March 18, 2021 GUNDULA HOLBROOK: 1914 - 2020 Gundula Holbrook, who has died aged 106, was a last link with stirring events of the First World War. On the ski slopes in 1952, when the Austrian Gundula Bleichart met Norman Holbrook, she was fascinated to hear that, in the year of her birth, Holbrook had won the VC. She learnt that on the morning of December 13, 1914, Lieutenant Holbrook who was then 26 commanded the submarine B-11, when, despite treacherous currents, he dived under five rows of mines to enter the Dardanelles. There, in Sari Siglar Bay, he torpedoed and sank the Ottoman navys ironclad Mesudiye, which was guarding the minefield. Gundula Holbrook in front of HMAS Otway in Holbrook in 2007. In spite of shallow water where he bumped along the bottom, scraping mine mooring wires, was fired upon from the shore and attacked by patrol boats Holbrook brought B-11 back to the safety of the Aegean Sea. After a last, nine-hour, submersion, B-11 was filled with stale air and was so low on battery power that Holbrook had to rely upon the outgoing freshwater current to carry him into open waters. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Chilean Minister of Energy and Mining has announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding to export green hydrogen to the Port of Rotterdam. The deal adds to the one signed with Singapore in early March to identify the best routes to reach Asian markets.From pv magazine Latam Green hydrogen produced in Chile may soon be exported to the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, after Chilean Minister of Energy and Mining Juan Carlos Jobet signed a framework agreement with the port's authorities this week. "The agreement will be key for the development of green hydrogen in Chile since Rotterdam ... Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. (Natural News) The European Union is facing a crisis due to the continents chaotic and deadly rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. Multiple nations within the EU had suspended their use of AstraZenecas COVID-19 vaccine over reports of dangerous blood clots, including Portugal, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, France, Estonia and Denmark. According to several EU officials interviewed by Bloomberg, the decisions taken to suspend the AstraZeneca vaccine were done without any coordination with any other EU nations. Even officials working directly for the EU in Brussels, Belgium, were not notified. While many of these nations have already indicated their willingness to lift the suspension, including Italy and France, the damage has already been done. The lack of coordination between EU member states has already eroded the blocs reputation and shattered the appearance of unity. It looks like quite an uncoordinated, spontaneous decision, perhaps out of political nervousness, said Guntran Wolff, director of Bruegel, a pro-European economic think tank based in Brussels. During an appearance on Bloomberg Television, Wolff said that the AstraZeneca suspensions have devastated the continents vaccine rollout. The inoculation of the continent is already slow, especially when compared to other nations that are not part of the 27-nation bloc, such as the United Kingdom. The EUs vaccine rollout, or lack thereof, will have long-lasting effects on European politics, could see incumbent governments lose power, and could hinder economic recovery particularly in worst-hit countries, said Camino Mortera, a senior research fellow at the Center for European Reform. The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the EUs main pharmaceuticals regulator, has continually insisted that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe. The EMA also claimed that the move to suspend the vaccine risked undermining the trust of Europeans in inoculations. The EMAs heads met on Thursday to review the data provided to it regarding the deadliness of the AstraZeneca shot. Many thousands of people develop blood clots annually in the EU for different reasons, argued the EMA. The agency said that the incidence of blood clots in recently vaccinated people seems not to be higher than that seen in the general population. Blood clots can travel throughout the body and cause deadly conditions such as blockages in the lungs, heart attacks and strokes. AstraZeneca has reported at least 15 cases of deep vein thrombosis, a clot that usually forms in the legs, and 22 pulmonary embolisms, or clots in the lungs. EMA clears AstraZeneca despite deaths Multiple Europeans have died after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, including at least two in Italy and one in Spain. Despite this, health officials in the EMA said after a short meeting that the vaccine was safe and effective and it didnt increase the risk of blood clots. The EMA conducted an expert analysis and concluded that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweighed its potential risks. Dr. Sabine Straus, chair of the EMAs safety committee even argued that, since blood clots are associated with COVID-19, inoculating people with the AstraZeneca vaccine will likely reduce the risk of thrombotic incidents overall. Emer Cooke, executive director of the EMA, further said that the agencys experts have found some blood clots that require further study, and the agency still cannot rule out definitively a link. Health authorities within the EU hope that the EMAs statement could revive their problem-ridden vaccination campaigns, but it remains to be seen whether the expert analysis will overcome the rational skepticism Europeans have developed regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine. We trust that, after the regulators careful decisions, vaccinations can once again resume across Europe, said Ann Tayler, chief medical officer of AstraZeneca. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said after the EMAs announcement that the country would resume providing residents with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Portugal, Spain and France also agreed to end the suspensions they have placed on the vaccine. Listen to this special Situation Update breaking news episode of the Health Ranger Report, a podcast by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, as he warns people about the ongoing mass vaccination campaigns and how they might be turning vaccinated people into factories that produce super strains of the coronavirus. European residents have mixed reactions regarding EMAs clearance of AstraZeneca vaccine While European governments may be eager to speed up their mass vaccination campaigns, many Europeans are not as eager to get vaccinated with a potentially dangerous vaccine. Corinne Graillot, an assistant engineer at a medical school in Paris, has the option of getting vaccinated with AstraZeneca right away, but is instead waiting for a different option. Theyve made such a mess of it that people dont know what to think anymore, she said. Theyve flip-flopped so many times. Lucia Ejarque, a 25-year-old teacher from Madrid, got a high fever and strong headaches for two days after she received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Then the arm where she got the shot started hurting badly and getting inflamed. I got very worried, said Ejarque. Her doctor did nothing to reassure her concerns, and said that these symptoms were common and would likely pass. I just hope the pain disappears quickly, she said. Learn the truth about how deadly the AstraZeneca vaccine really is by reading the latest articles at Vaccines.news. Sources include: Bloomberg.com APNews.com Reuters.com NYPost.com WSJ.com The Passover holiday has always been awe-inspiring for me. To think that millions of Jews across the world gather with family and, in other years, with friends on the same night(s) around a seder plate with the same symbols to recount the same story of our peoples journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land is at once humbling and powerful. It does not matter whether your tradition has you dip your greens in salt water or lime juice or vinegar, we are all reminded of the tears that our ancestors shed during their time of enslavement. This is beyond awesome. But as familiar as the Passover story and symbols are to all Jews, the festive seder meal differs widely around the world. Take, for example, the Jews of Kaifeng, China. While I was familiar with the Jewish community in Shanghai, I knew nothing of the Jews who came to China more than a thousand years ago, most likely as Persian merchants who traveled the Silk Road. ADVERTISEMENT Many settled in Kaifeng, part of Henan Province along the Yellow River. They assimilated but held on to their Jewish identity, gathering for services on holidays and sharing their history, photos and documents in a Jewish center. More recently, however, the Chinese government has suppressed their religious practice and disassembled the center and other markers delineating this as the once vibrant Jewish community it was. Consequently, many Kaifeng Jews have made aliyah to Israel over the past five to 10 years. Today, few Jews remain in the Kaifeng community. Those who stayed are observant and refrain from eating pork or shellfish. In a post on the New York Times Sinosphere blog, Becky Davis describes a typical Kaifeng Passover seder meal: homemade matzahs, soups with bamboo and fresh tofu, steamed fish, beef wrapped in sliced vegetables and platters of crisp greens in mustard sauce. Seasoning those dishes, I assume, were herbs and spices used in most Chinese cuisine from that area: ginger, five-spice powder (a mixture of star anise, clover, cinnamon, peppercorns and fennel seeds), cilantro and cumin. In East Africa, where Ethiopian Jews conduct Passover seders to commemorate the past and celebrate a hope for renewal, the holiday signals a time of cleansing. In addition to cleaning their huts, many Ethiopian Jews will break their dishes and spend the week before Passover making a new set. In an article for The Canadian Jewish News in 2016, Mark Mietkiewicz shared the following description of a seder meal in Ethiopia: The ritual meal took place outdoors, by moonlight. The Jews sat on the ground, separated by age and gender. The sparse meal, of kita (Ethiopian matzah) and meat (ritually slaughtered cow or sheep), was eaten rapidly, as if indeed they were fleeing from Egypt. The herbs and spices these Ethiopian Jews used to flavor their meal might have included cloves, ginger, nutmeg, turmeric and a popular Ethiopian spice mix called berbere. The mix can vary but might contain allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, chilies and turmeric. Beginning in the 1980s, many Ethiopian Jews made aliyah to Israel through clandestine programs organized by Mossad, Israels intelligence service, and those spices have come with them. In India, where many Jews from the Bene Israel and Cochini sects have recently made aliyah to Israel and immigrated to the United States, their traditional seder meals reflect Indias culinary culture, with more Sephardic nuances. In a column written by chef Julie Sahni for the Los Angeles Times in 1991, she related her experience of attending an Indian seder: It was impossible not to be intoxicated by the hypnotic scents of spices and herbs that emanated from the Seder table laden with dishes such as lamb braised with spices and fried onions, a layered casserole of hot sauteed fish and cool greens perfumed with dill and mint, a soul-soothing pot of spicy okra and a plate of coconut rice. I would imagine that some of the traditional Indian spices used in that seder feast included cardamom, coriander, cumin, cloves, mustard seeds, nutmeg and turmeric. These are only three of the many Jewish cultures around the world that tell the same story of Passover but feast on quite different seder meals. What a rich and diverse people we are. For this Passover, I have put together a menu of some of our more traditional Passover fare, but tweaked each dish with spices taken from Chinese, Ethiopian and Indian traditions. Chag Sameach! Margi Lenga Kahn is the mother of five and grandmother of seven. A cooking instructor at the Kitchen Conservatory, she is working on a project to preserve the stories and recipes of heritage cooks. She welcomes your comments and suggestions at [email protected]. Savory Chicken Soup with Spiced Matzo Balls You will need your homemade chicken soup (or purchased rich chicken broth) to prepare the chicken soup recipe below. Plan to make the matzo ball aromatics using the recipe below the soup recipe. Once completed, add the aromatics to your regular matzo ball recipe before forming the matzo balls. Cook the matzo balls, as directed in your recipe, drain them and then add them to the soup as directed in Step 3 below of this chicken soup recipe. Ingredients 1 tbsp. olive oil 4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced yellow onion, peeled and finely diced 1 large carrot, trimmed and cut into thinly slices (like coins) 1 celery stalk, cut into half-inch pieces tbsp. peeled and grated fresh ginger tbsp. peeled and grated fresh turmeric (available at Whole Foods, or 1 tsp. ground turmeric) 3 c. strained chicken soup or broth lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into half-inch strips tsp. dried thyme leaves tsp. coarse kosher salt, plus more to taste Freshly ground black pepper, to taste 8 Spiced Matzo balls (see matzo ball aromatics recipe below) Fresh minced cilantro or parsley, for garnishing Directions 1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or medium saucepan over medium high heat. Once oil is hot, add garlic, onion, carrots and celery; cook for two to three minutes, or until onion becomes translucent. 2. Add grated ginger and grated or ground turmeric; stir until vegetables are well coated. Add chicken broth, chicken breast, thyme, salt and pepper. 3. Bring soup to a boil, add chicken strips and immediately reduce heat so that soup simmers. Continue simmering for 10-12 minutes, or until chicken is tender and cooked. Carefully lower matzo balls into soup; continue to simmer for two to three more minutes, making sure the matzo balls are covered in the broth. 4. To serve, spoon two matzo balls into each bowl. Ladle soup and vegetables over matzo balls, and garnish each serving with minced fresh cilantro or parsley. Makes about 4 servings. Matzo Ball Aromatics for Spiced Matzo Balls 1. Heat 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. 2. Add one green onion, trimmed and finely minced; 2 tbsp. finely minced cilantro or parsley; and 1tsp. peeled and finely grated fresh ginger. 3. Saute this mixture for about one minute or until softened. Add tsp. salt and stir to combine. Fold into matzo ball mixture. Enough aromatics to season 8 matzo balls. Chinese-Spiced Braised Brisket Ingredients One 2 to 2 lb. brisket 1 tbsp. five spice powder Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 2 tbsp. olive oil, divided, plus more as needed 1 oz. fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated 1 large yellow onion, peeled and sliced 5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced 4 c. beef stock or broth c. kosher for Passover soy sauce 2 tbsp. honey c. packed light brown sugar 1 star anise or tsp. anise seed (available at most grocery stores or ethnic markets) 2 whole cloves 1 whole cinnamon stick 4 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces Directions 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 2. Rub both sides of the brisket with five spice powder and season with coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; set aside. 3. In a large Dutch oven, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium-high heat. Add rubbed brisket to pan and sear until browned, about one minute. Turn brisket over and sear the second side. Transfer brisket to a plate; set aside. 4. Reduce heat under pot to medium-low. Add 1-2 tbsp. olive oil to Dutch oven (no need to clean it out). Add ginger, onion and garlic to the pan, sauteing until aromatic but not burned, about one to two minutes. 5. Add c. of the stock to the mixture in the pot and turn heat up to medium high, all the while scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze it. 6. Add brisket to pan, along with remaining ingredients and the additional 3 c. beef stock. Bring mixture to a simmer, cover pot and place it in the preheated oven. Cook for about two hours and 45 minutes to three hours, or until meat is fork tender. Remove the lid and let brisket cool in the pan with the liquid. 7. Strain liquid of all the solids and pour the strained liquid over the brisket. Place brisket in a dish or container and cover tightly with foil paper or a lid. Refrigerate brisket overnight (or for up to two days). 8. One hour before serving, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Have an ovenproof serving or glass baking dish ready. 9. Slice brisket against the grain and arrange the slices in baking dish. Pour the liquid over the brisket, cover tightly with aluminum foil and heat for 30 to 40 minutes or until brisket is hot. Serve. Makes 4-5 servings. Spiced Coconut and Butternut Squash Mash Ingredients 2 to 3 lbs. butternut squash, cut in half vertically and seeds removed 1 tbsp. olive oil c. finely shredded unsweetened coconut, for garnishing 2 tablespoons coconut oil 1 tsp. mustard seeds 1 tsp. whole cumin seeds 3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced 2 tbsp. finely minced yellow onion 1, 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated Pinch of cayenne pepper tsp. coarse kosher salt 2-4 tbsp. full-fat canned coconut milk, or more as desired (leftover coconut milk can be frozen for a few months) tbsp. honey (optional) Fresh cilantro or parsley leaves, for garnishing Directions 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. 2. Rub cut side of each squash half lightly with olive oil. Place squash cut side down, onto prepared baking sheet. Roast for about 45 minutes or until the squash skin is toasted in spots, the flesh is very tender and squash is beginning to collapse. Let squash cool, reserve. 3. Meanwhile, place shredded coconut onto a small baking pan and toast in oven for four to five minutes, stirring coconut after two minutes for even toasting; set aside for garnishing. 4. Warm coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the mustard and cumin seeds and cook for about one to two minutes, or until mustard seeds begin popping. Add garlic, onion, ginger, cayenne pepper and salt; stir, sauteing for an additional three to four minutes or until garlic and onion have softened. 5. Scoop out reserved squash from the skin and add it to the saucepan. Fold squash in pan until it is evenly mixed with the spice mixture. 6. Reduce heat to low and gradually add coconut milk while mashing with a potato masher, until you reach a desirable consistency. Taste, adding honey (optional), and more salt as needed. 7. Spoon squash mixture into a serving bowl and garnish with toasted coconut and cilantro or parsley leaves. Makes 4-6 side servings. The COVID-19 vaccines now being carried out in the UK are more effective against the Brazilian strain than previously assumed. Meanwhile, they appear nine times weaker against the South African variant, study claims. More Effective Against Brazilian Variant According to an Oxford University study, the AstraZeneca and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines are equally effective against the P.1 variant that first appeared in Manaus against the Kent strain. The vaccines, which are now in the hands of 25 million Britons, have proved to be highly successful against the Kent virus, with over 85% decreases in deaths and hospitalization rates. Scientists were originally concerned that the P.1 version would be vulnerable to vaccination because it shared various alarming mutations with the Kent strain, Daily Mail reported. McConnell Slams Biden's Adults COVID-19 Vaccination Target There have been 12 Brazilian variant cases in the UK so far, with nine in England and three in Scotland. Many of the patients had been to Brazil, either directly or indirectly. The researchers subjected vaccinated people's blood samples to different COVID-19 variants and tracked their antibody responses. Compared to the original strain, the vaccines developed nearly three times fewer antibodies against the Kent and Brazil variants. According to the experts, there was already more than enough to combat the viruses. When exposed to the South African variant, which has been observed in hundreds of people in the UK, the COVID-19 vaccines generated up to nine times fewer antibodies. Vaccine manufacturers have previously stated that the vaccines would also protect the vast majority of people from contracting the disease. They say that if a few vaccinated patients have it anyway, their effects will be limited to 'the sniffles.' WHO Investigators Defend Wuhan Lab on COVID-19 Origins Nine Times Weaker than South African Variant Blood samples were taken from people who had natural bodies created by an infection and those who had antibodies caused by the AstraZeneca or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccinations failed further for the South African variant, resulting in a nine-fold and 7.6-fold decrease in virus neutralization reaction for the variant, respectively. According to the Independent, the study suggests the South African variant is still the most concerning, meaning that it should be the subject of new vaccine development. "These additional efforts to study the interaction between improvements in the virus and human immunity offer new perspectives that enable us to be prepared to adapt to more threats to our wellbeing from the pandemic virus, if we need to," said Professor Andrew Pollard, chief investigator on the Oxford University vaccine trial. Since the results are timely, the research was released as a 'pre-print' on the bioRxiv website ahead of peer review. In comparison to the Victoria strain, the COVID-19 vaccines resulted in a nine times decrease in antibodies against the South Africa variant. While this could seem to be a substantial reduction, experts agree that the vaccines produce several times more antibodies than are needed to defend against the original variants. Any reduction in effectiveness against the South African version may be slight - but not insignificant. They suggest further research is needed to truly comprehend the importance of such declines in antibody development, MSN reports. AstraZeneca Vaccines: Safe To Use, Canada Claims @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. By Richard Winton & Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times (TNS) LOS ANGELES Five dozen large storage bins filled with fireworks were recovered at the Ontario, California, home where a massive explosion rocked the neighborhood and left two dead Tuesday afternoon, city officials said. About 60 containers, each holding the equivalent of 27 gallons, were found crammed with unexploded fireworks during cleanup Wednesday at the property in the 400 block of West Francis Street, Ontario spokesperson Dan Bell said. Twenty-four bomb technicians from Riverside and Orange counties, as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and FBI have been combing through the site since the initial denotation shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday. They are burning the materials to make it safe, Bell said, adding that they have yet to tackle anything inside the buildings. Smoke rises in the background after a fireworks stash exploded in Ontario, Calif., Tuesday, March 16, 2021. (Watchara Phomicinda/The Orange County Register via AP, file) Some of the stash was detonated Wednesday, sending up more smoke and echoing loud booms into the neighborhood. More fireworks and explosives were expected to be set off Thursday as the area continues to be cleared, Ontario Police Officer Bill Lee said. Bell said the pyrotechnics are not the kind used in commercial displays, as was initially thought, but are still big and powerful. Sources familiar with the investigation suspect they are the type sold in underground markets. Cesar Paez-Vasquez, 20, and Alex Paez, 38, are believed to have died in the explosion, according to preliminary identifications by the Ontario Police Department. Both men, who have been missing since Tuesday, are connected to the family who lives at the property, authorities said. According to a GoFundMe account set up by Paezs sister, he was married and had three children, including a newborn girl. Tuesdays explosion displaced scores of neighbors. The American Red Cross said it was assisting 29 families totaling 112 people with emergency shelter in hotel rooms, meals and other resources. Bell said some neighbors are staying with friends and relatives. Van Vant stands in front of her home damaged home after a nearby fireworks stash exploded in Ontario, Calif., Tuesday, March 16, 2021. (Watchara Phomicinda/The Orange County Register via AP, file) An evacuation order remains in place for the immediate blast area. It was not immediately clear how long the investigation or the evacuation order would last. We dont want to bring them back into an area thats unsafe, Lee said of the evacuated residents. So were working to make the area safe and to try to bring them back home as soon as possible. More: Community rallies around family of girl killed in Perry County fire Five police officer among those treated after large State College house fire Fired auto-shop employee accused of crashing through garage door, setting building ablaze in central Pa. OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- The Ocean Springs Greyhound lacrosse team recently raised more than $1,200 to help needy local veterans, hosting a Lacrosse Shootout for Veterans fundraiser last weekend. Donations of $10 per car were collected at the gate and raffle tickets were also sold, with prizes donated by local businesses. This week, the $1,230 raised was presented to Kevin Cuttill, who founded the nonprofit Crusaders for Veterans. Crusaders for Veterans is a nonprofit that helps veterans on the Mississippi Gulf Coast through various efforts, including helping repair the homes of disabled veterans, hosting food drives to help feed veterans, placing wreaths on the graves of fallen servicemembers, and providing various other supports for former servicemembers. Ingalls awarded contact worth possible $213.9 million PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Ingalls Shipbuilding was recently awarded a new contact for life-cycle engineering and support services for the U.S. Navys San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks. The contract consists of a base valued at $36.9 million with a total value of $213.9 million of all options are exercised. This contract enables Ingalls to continue providing LPD support and services that are critical to the sustainment of the Navys amphibious fleet, said Ingalls Shipbuilding president Brian Cuccias. Our talented workforce has the knowledge and experience required to perform this important work, and we are committed to ensuring these state-of-the-art warships serve our nation well into the future. Services provided in this contract include engineering change management; systems engineering and integration; supply chain management; training for new LPD 17-class shipboard systems; and the execution of industrial post-delivery availabilities. We appreciate the Navys continued investment in our experienced team and their reliance on the support we provide, said David King, Ingalls LPD 17 life-cycle program manager. This contract builds on our strong partnership with the Navy in the construction and post-delivery management of Navy ships. We look forward to supporting these ships as they evolve to meet the changing threat environment. Ocean Springs announces road closures for Spring Arts festival OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- The City of Ocean Springs has announced road closures necessitated by the annual Spring Arts Festival, set for March 27-28 in the downtown area. Some streets will be closed to traffic beginning at 4 a.m. March 27 and will remain closed until 7 p.m. Sunday. Police will remove barricades from the area beginning at 4:30 p.m. Sunday to allow vendors to depart, but roads inside the festival footprint will remain closed to outside traffic until 7 p.m. Vehicles parked within the festival footprint will be towed beginning at 3 a.m. March 27. Parking on private property is not allowed and parking violations will be strictly enforced, according to City officials. The roads affected are: Washington Avenue from the railroad tracks to Porter Avenue Government Street from Washington Avenue to Bellande Avenue Robinson Street from Cash Alley to Church Street Attendees are reminded the Ft. Bayou Bridge remains closed as the Mississippi Department of Transportation continues refurbishment of the bridge. Available access points into Ocean Springs from Interstate 10 are the I-110 loop and Mississippi Highway 57. Larue man dies in accidental fire JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- A 66-year-old man died last Sunday from injuries he sustained during a controlled burn at his home in the Larue community of Jackson County. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell said Allen Prevost was burning material on his property on Larue-Dantzler Road around 4 p.m. when the accident occurred. No information on how Prevost became trapped by the fire has been released, but Ezell said his department and the state fire marshals office are investigating. Although investigators believe Prevosts death to be accidental, the case will ultimately be presented to a Jackson County Grand Jury for a final determination. Ahmedabad: A massive fire broke out at a plastic factory in Vatva in Gujarat on Friday (March 19) evening. 46 fire-tenders immediately rushed to the location of the incident. Fire fighting operations are currently underway, there have been no casualties reported yet. Speculations suggest the cause of the fire was a blast in the Ethyl chemical container. Authorities will look into the matter and confirm the cause of the fire once it has been doused. This is a developing story. The 2022 Honda Odyssey and 2021 Honda CR-V are both available at the Meridian Honda showroom. Learn more about both models today. The product experts at Meridian Honda were just getting comfortable with the automakers 2021 model year and then 2022 models started to roll in spearheaded by the latest version of the Honda Odyssey minivan. In addition to the 2022 version of the very family-friendly minivan being available, dealership visitors will still be able to see a broad lineup of flexible crossover SUVs for sale or lease at the showroom, including the 2021 Honda CR-V. Both Honda vehicles are in the top echelon of options in each vehicles respective class, and the dealership is ready to help future buyers comparison shop for new models. People interested in the 2022 Odyssey or 2021 CR-V will find both Honda vehicles have several marked advantages over top rivals. Meridian Honda customers with growing and active families have picked its minivan for a long time and for many reasons. The 2022 Honda Odyssey introduces a new exterior paint color, Radiant Red Metallic II, but otherwise largely carries over the features that appeared in the previous model. Honda makes five trims available for the 2022 Odyssey, LX, EX, EX-L, Touring and Elite. All of them are powered by a naturally aspirated 3.5-liter, V-6 engine and can offer more interior cargo volume than one of its longtime competitors. The inside of the 2022 Odyssey can be configured to make up to 144.9 cubic-feet of cargo volume available. People who choose the recently redesigned rival will only have a maximum of 101 cubic-feet of cargo volume to use. Flexibility, passenger comfort and performance are all readily on display with the 2021 Honda CR-V. Potential owners will be able to choose among four 2021 CR-V trim grades, LX, EX, EX-L and Touring. Each of them will have a turbocharged 1.5-liter, four-cylinder engine under the hood that will produce 190 horsepower, a bit more than one of its rivals can make. Additionally, the 2021 CR-V LX can make up to 75.8 cubic-feet available to haul cargo, a number that edges out the same previously referenced challenger. Anyone can view the entire Meridian Honda inventory today when they visit the dealerships website, http://www.meridianhonda.com. The showroom is located at 503 Front Street Ext. Meridian, MS 39301. Customers can start the pre-ordering process for the 2022 Honda Odyssey or 2021 Honda CR-V when they schedule an appointment by calling, 601-693-4651. By Kim Bo-eun Hwang Hyeon-sik, elected as LG Uplus CEO Friday, vowed to lead the telecom company's growth in new sectors by securing additional funds. Hwang was elected a member of LG Uplus' board at the company's general shareholders' meeting held the same day. He was elected CEO at the board meeting that followed. "The plan is to create a business structure that enables qualitative growth and secure funds for new growth," Hwang said. "We will improve profitability in the content and solutions businesses, focusing on improving customer value, and use excess funds to secure new growth engines and return more to shareholders." His remarks come at a time local telecom firms are turning their eyes to new sources of profit as the local market for conventional telecom services has reached saturation. Hwang said LG Uplus will seek out new B2C growth engines in advertising, data and subscription services. As for B2B businesses, the company is seeking to pursue smart factory and smart mobility projects. The new CEO added that the mobile service provider will seek to secure "hardcore fans." LG has consistently ranked third among the three major telecom companies here. Three new outside directors were appointed at the shareholders' meeting. They are Korea University professor Yoon Sung-soo, venture capital firm Yellowdog CEO Je Hyun-joo and Hanyang University professor Kim Jong-woo. The three were also appointed members of the audit committee. Je's appointment has improved gender diversity at board level at the telecom firm, as LG Uplus previously did not have any female board members. The company also raised its dividend payout rate to 43.4 percent from 39.2 percent last year. Dividend payout per share was set to 450 won, up 50 won from the previous year. LG Uplus introduced a digital voting system for the first time this year. Shareholders were able to take part in the shareholders' meeting that was held both online and offline. Noodle Tree owner Mike Nguyen said the continued harassment directed towards him and the restaurant, following Sunday's racist vandalism, has forced him to close the dining room. The restaurant is typically open Thursday through Sunday. Thursday marks the first day of operation since anti-Asian graffiti was found on his storefront Sunday morning. The incident followed Nguyen's vocal rejection of Gov. Greg Abbott's recent handling of the pandemic. Nguyen, who is battling lymphoma, did not agree with the end to the mask mandate in multiple interviews with CNN. Though Nguyen has received an outpouring of support, the agitation has also increased since Sunday. He filed a police report on Wednesday after online harassment included comments like "Hope You Die" and "Hope Your Shop Burns Down," according to the report. Nguyen also alleges death threats have been made to his home. UNDER ATTACK: Texas restaurant covered in racist graffiti after owner goes on CNN Given the killing of eight women six of which were of Asian descent in Georgia at the hands of a white gunman on Tuesday, Nguyen is concerned about the safety of staff, customers and himself. He said dine-in will not be offered on Thursday. He hopes to reopen the dining room on Friday with police presence. Nguyen, who spoke from the restaurant Thursday afternoon, said all he's currently experiencing is support, but the threats are still looming. "Especially with the events that happened in Georgia, I can't take that risk," he added. The local FBI office is also aware of the situation and is standing by. We are aware of the incident at a local restaurant in San Antonio, Texas and are in regular contact with San Antonio Police Department," spokeswoman Michelle Lee said in a statement. "If, in the course of the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal violation, the FBI is prepared to investigate. We would encourage anyone who believes they are a victim of a crime to contact law enforcement," she added. Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye NVH The Chinese word for journey or expedition, Zhengtu is Wulings newest pickup, and its very affordable to boot at 58,800 yuan for the entry-level specification. Converted at current exchange rates to U.S. dollars, that would be $9,035 for rear-wheel drive, a four-cylinder gasoline engine with 1.5 liters of displacement and 98 horsepower (99 PS), and a five-speed manual box.A youth-type pickup with understanding of life's struggles, the Zhengtu is actually a low-cost workhorse with a three-sided platform that measures 6.5 feet (2.0 meters) from the rear glass to the tailgate. The cargo area is covered in a plastic liner as standard, which is a nice touch at this super-low price point. Speaking of which, the second and better-equipped trim level can be ordered from 62,800 yuan or $9,645 at the time of reporting.Offered exclusively with a double cab and five seats, the Chinese truck rocks a coil-sprung solid axle out back and an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system. Anti-lock brakes, electronic brake-force distribution, high-strength steel for extra safety in the event of a crash, and car-levelare worthy of mentioning, along with incredibly good fuel economy. Wuling , which is part of the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture, quotes 7 liters per 100 kilometers or 33.6 miles to the gallon. Of course, these figures shouldnt be taken at face value because China has way more forgiving testing procedures compared to the United States and European Union.Capable of 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour) and tipping the scales at 1,340 kilograms (2,954 pounds), the largest Wuling-branded pickup so far has a payload rating of 480 kilograms (1,058 pounds). Typical of a low-cost product, the Zhengtu doesnt offer much in the way of customization other than four exterior colors: white, blue, gray, and green. AlphaTauri newcomer Yuki Tsunoda was very quick during the winter test in Bahrain, but afterwards it turned out he had already activated his DRS before the detection point. A clever trick, but he won't be able to use it during a race weekend. The Japanese driver finished second, behind Max Verstappen. The Drag Reduction System can only be used after the white line, but Tsunoda did it before that point, which saved him time. Action of Tsunoda was a rookie mistake Team boss Franz Tost dismissed it as a rookie mistake. "That wasn't really the intention," Tost says at SkyDeutschland about Tsunoda's action. "But he is only a beginner. Usually the system is activated automatically." At least it was creative from the AlphaTauri driver, but race weekends he won't get away with it. "In the future he will not do this again," Tost concluded. Two kinds of cakes made from simple local ingredients show the diverse culture of An Giang a Mekong Delta province and also one of the most mysterious and mesmerising places in Vietnam. Both cakes are banh bo or steamed rice cake. The most renowned one is banh bo thot not (steamed rice cake with palm sugar paste), while the other is called banh bo Cham a rice cake made by Cham ethnic people in An Giang. Shiny little treasures, otherwise known as banh bo thot not. VNS Photo Hong Minh Rice flour, coconut milk and products from palm trees are the common ingredients of these cakes. They are authentic, locally grown and made, as An Giang is home to endless paddy fields and palm trees. However, each cake has its own flavour and characteristics, ranging from ingredients to cooking methods. Palm everything My hunt for banh bo thot not was not easy in the bustling Chau Doc Market. However, missing out on the cake altogether would have been tough due to its glowing colour. Brightening up a corner of the market was a stall with little shiny golden rice cakes covered in green leaves. The most indispensable element of banh bo thot not is the palm meat, which is made from ripe palm fruits, a seller said. Rice palm fruit. Photo phunuonline.com.vn The palm fruits turn yellow when ripe," she continued. To make banh bo, we remove the skin of the fruit and grind the meat. That is why the cake has a distinctive yellow colour and a pleasant aroma." I took one bite. Besides the moist and fluffy texture of the cake, I noticed the cake was not as sugary as other rice cakes. It had a fresh and rich sweetness instead. It turned out people only used palm sugar for this kind of cake. Banh bo thot not originated in That Son, a mountain range shared by Tinh Bien and Tri Ton districts, the motherland of palm trees. As this is also the area Khmer ethnic community resides, the cake has the features of Khmer culture: from authentic local ingredients to natural flavours and a meticulous cooking process. Making the cakes is sophisticated and hard work. The rice chosen for banh bo thot not should be Nang Nhen rice, a traditional local brand from That Son, due to its fragrance and texture. It is rinsed for hours before being ground into flour. The rice flour will be then mixed with sugar, salt, fermented rice, palm powder and water to form dough. The ingredient ratio needs to be just right, otherwise, the cake will either be too wet or too dry. After going through an overnight fermentation under 60 degrees Celsius, the dough is poured into palm-sized banana leaves and goes into a steamer for 20 minutes. In total, it takes at least 20 hours to make banh bo thot not from scratch, according to the seller. Unique technique On the hunt for banh bo thot not, I was introduced to banh bo Cham. After only five minutes by ferry crossing the Hau River from Chau Doc, I arrived in Chau Phong Village. Following locals recommendations, I went to the banh bo shop by Rophyah, an ethnic Cham cake artisan. Her cakes are as sweet as her smile. Photo from the Instagram camssss.d Tucked away in a small alley of the village, the little shop was packed with people. It was only 7 in the morning. Rophyah did not stop for a second with her hands moving swiftly over ingredients and cooking tools, not forgetting to greet her customers with a bright smile. My first impression of banh bo Cham was that it looked like a Western pancake. Unlike steamed banh bo thot not, banh bo Cham is baked on clay ovens. That is why this treat is also called banh bo nuong, literally translated in English as a baked rice cake. There are two ovens used to make banh bo Cham, one for heating the pan, the other one for heating the lid. Rophyah said it is crucial to heat the lid up before using it to cover the cake batter, adding that the hot lid will hasten the process and give it a nice golden colour and eye-catching cracks on the surface. An alluring fragrance from the cake will bloom out through cracks, enticing anyone. She was true. My salivating mouth wanted a bite. Pop, crackle, the sound of the crispy edge was the first thing I could hear when trying the cake, followed by the coconuts milk creaminess and palm sugars sweetness. It was a party of flavours in my mouth. The key fuel for the ovens is dry coconut shells due to their steady heating ability, the cake artisan added. Palm trees - iconic landscape in An Giang Province. VNS Photo Hong Minh Banh bo Cham also uses local ingredients and goes through similar cooking steps to banh bo thot not, from rinsing rice to fermenting the dough overnight, Rophyah explained while still cooking, adding that tribal rice, which is grown by Cham people in highland areas, is the best choice for banh bo Cham. However, the most important factor for the best banh bo is always the experience of the cooks, according to Rophyah. It is not only skills or cooking methods, but also the love for what you cook," she said. Her shop opened only from 5am to 9am, and Rophyah worked non-stop to serve her customers like she has been doing for more than 20 years. Both kinds of cakes have the features of their cultures as well as the sincerity and diligence of people who make these little treasures. They are must-try and symbolic snacks of An Giang. VNS Banh bo: A famous sweet cake of An Giang Province Banh bo thot not (steamed rice cake with palm sugar) is a famous sweet cake from An Giang Province where large areas of palm trees grow. Washington: US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin III is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi on Friday (March 19) on a three-day visit to India. Austin is set to meet Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during the visit. Indias National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the US Defence Secretary General Austin are also likely to discuss China and important regional security issues including Afghanistan during the first visit by a top Biden administration official to India. The discussions between the American Defence Secretary and the NSA would be the first major interaction between the two sides during the visit. The American Defence Secretary is also expected to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is expected to meet the External Affairs Minister in the second half on Saturday. Austin is visiting India from March 19 to 21 and is scheduled to meet the top political and military leadership of the country. India and the US have been working closely with each other after the Chinese attempts to change the status quo in the eastern Ladakh area in April May time frame last year. The US side also helped by providing timely defence hardware supplies during the conflict apart from sharing important satellite feed and inputs. Indo-Pacific region is largely viewed as an area comprising the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea. China's territorial claims in the South China Sea and its efforts to advance into the Indian Ocean are seen to have challenged the established rules-based system. Moreover, China has criticised the framework as an Asian version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation seeking to undermine its legitimate rise. The Indian defence ministry said that Austins visit to India as part of his first overseas travel emphasises the strength of the India-US strategic partnership. Live TV As a benefit to consumers seeking insurance and investment information and expert resources, a new webpage has been posted by the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance. "We get almost daily calls and emails from consumers seeking information that can help them make better decisions," explains Jesse Slome, director of the organization. "So many are searching online for answers, our objective was to begin offering a resource directory with links to beneficial information and resources." The organization looks to continually expand the webpage with current and relevant resources. "I know we'll hear from those who want to share and exchange valuable information," Slome anticipates. To access the Association's insurance investment resources page, visit the organization's website at www.criticalillnessinsuranceinfo.org. The organization's website provides information regarding cancer insurance as well as more comprehensive critical illness insurance. The organization recently announced a search for an organization seeking critical insurance leads. "We have consumers seeking to speak with knowledgeable insurance professionals," Slome notes. Details can be secured by calling the director at the Association's Los Angeles headquarters. Slome serves as director for the organization as well as the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance and the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance. The organizations advocate for intelligent planning and support professionals who educate and market various insurance products. UK-based private equity firm is interested in buying a stake in Angolas state-owned oil company Sonangol, Bloomberg has reported, citing a source from the firm, Gemcorp. After the Angolan government establishes a procedure for the sale of up to 30 percent of Sonangola privatization deal that could fetch $6.4 billionGemcorp will evaluate a possible acquisition, the head of investments at Parvoleta Shtereva told Bloomberg. Angola is the second-largest oil producer in Africa, after only Nigeria, but it has been experiencing reserve depletion for lack of investment incentives that would draw foreign oil companies in. Like its fellow OPEC members, the country has also suffered the consequences of two oil crises in less than a decade, after a production boom in the early 2000s. The country last year released a plan that calls for the discovery of up to 57 billion barrels of recoverable oil by 2025 to boost production, which stood at just 1.2 million bpd of as November 2020, after the rest of OPEC pressured the country to stick to its quota under the OPEC+ production cap agreement. If no new discoveries are made, Angola will be producing just 500,000 bpd by 2028 because of field depletion. To avoid that, the government of Joao Lourenco has embarked on an ambitious reform drive, part of which would be the sale of a minority stake in state operator Sonangol. Any valuation of the company needs to take into account Angolas depleting oil fields and high costs of production, as well as Sonangols opaque pre-export finance contracts, one London-based energy analyst told Bloomberg. A sale of non-core, non-oil assets will attract some interest from local private investors in Angola, but a privatization of core oil assets will mostly be shunned by international investors, Robert Besseling, from Pangea-Risk, said. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: (JNS) A row over anti-Semitism that has erupted in Britain illuminates the problem that bedevils so many in the West over their understanding of what Judaism actually is. The controversy started with a tweet by the Labour Partys deputy leader, Angela Rayner, congratulating the new head of the Scottish Labour Party, Anas Sarwar, on his appointment. Rayner described Sarwar, who is of Pakistani descent, as the first-ever ethnic minority leader of a political party anywhere in the U.K. Sarwar is certainly the first Muslim or Asian leader of a political party. But there have been fo... To receive Steve Gutterman's Week In Russia via e-mail every Friday, subscribe by clicking here. We've updated the format, so dont be surprised if it looks slightly different when it lands in your in-box. And please check your spam folder if you didn't receive it. If you have thoughts or feedback, you can reach us directly at newsletters@rferl.org. After U.S. President Joe Biden said he believes his Russian counterpart is a killer, Vladimir Putin hit back with a schoolyard retort that translates as: I know you are, but what am I? Will Russias response stop there? And what does it mean for an already poisoned relationship? Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward: The Context Of The Question In an interview almost 20 years ago, in the fall of 2001, American journalist Barbara Walters asked Russian President Vladimir Putin whether he had ever killed anyone a nice, pleasant question, she later told late-night TV host David Letterman, adding, I did not expect him to say, Yes. He didnt: His answer was no. At the time, the context of the question was more or less this: Putin had been a Soviet KGB officer for 16 years and headed its main successor agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB), for about a year during a swift elevation that put him in Russias highest office on the last day of 1999, when President Boris Yeltsin stepped down and made him acting head of state. His rise was aided by his leading role, as prime minister in the months before Yeltsins resignation, in pursuing a new war in Chechnya, the site of a devastating separatist conflict from 1994 to 1996. And to some Kremlin critics, his ascent was deeply clouded -- and remains so -- by questions about whether the FSB was behind the deadly apartment-building bombings that served as a catalyst of the Second Chechen War. That war was the context of Putins boast, in September 1999, that Russia would rub out terrorists in the outhouse a nod to criminal jargon and an early building block in the tough-guy image he has constructed over the years. Two decades after Putins denial, U.S. President Joe Biden was asked in a TV interview whether he believes the Russian leader is a killer. His response: Mm-hmm, I do. Between Putins interview with Walters and Bidens with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, a lot of context has been added: Several journalists, activists, and politicians who challenged government Kremlin narratives and sought to expose wrongdoing by Putin or the Russian state more broadly have been killed or survived poisonings or attacks. And in several of these cases, relatives and associates of the victim contend that the Russian authorities have not pursued thorough investigations, at last in part due to concerns that the trail could lead too close to the Kremlin and Putins ruling apparatus. The list of the dead includes investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, shot dead in 2006; whistle-blower Sergei Magnitsky, who died in jail in 2009; and opposition politician and former First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, who was gunned down on a bridge near the Kremlin in 2015. It includes Aleksandr Litvinenko, a former FSB officer who co-authored a book blaming the FSB for the 1999 apartment-building bombings and died two months after Politkovskaya, following exposure to highly radioactive polonium-210 at a sushi restaurant in London. In 2016, a British judge who led an inquiry into the matter said he had concluded that the FSB operation to kill Litvinenko was probably approved by Putin. The survivors now include Aleksei Navalny, perhaps Putins most prominent critic for the past decade, who was flown to Germany for treatment after a near-fatal nerve-agent poisoning in August that he blames squarely on Putin and the FSB. He was jailed upon return to Russia on January 17 and was soon sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on what he says is an absurd parole-violation claim stemming from a 2014 conviction on financial-crimes charges he contends were fabricated to keep him out of electoral politics. Russias response to Bidens remarks was swift, sort of. Hours after they were broadcast, the Foreign Ministry said it was recalling Russias ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, to Moscow for consultations. Perhaps deliberately, however, it did not say exactly what triggered the decision, which also followed the release of a U.S. intelligence report on Russian interference in the 2020 election that put Biden in the White House and the imposition of new restrictions on U.S. exports to Russia over chemical-weapons concerns related to Navalnys poisoning with what Western labs and governments say was a variant of the combat-grade nerve agent Novichok. A day later, after initial indications that Moscow might play down the killer remark it was conspicuously absent from several state-media reports that tiptoed around the issue Putin delivered a response. Speaking in Crimea, the peninsula whose seizure by Russia from Ukraine in 2014 plunged Moscows relations with the West to new lows, Putin hit back at Biden with a Russian schoolyard retort that is similar to several American schoolyard retorts, including I know you are, but what am I? and Im rubber, youre glue. Everything you say bounces off of me and sticks to you. 'Very Deep Meaning' Putins words swiftly spawned a wave of mocking memes on the Russian-language Internet on top of the wave of memes playing off Bidens remark a day earlier -- but the Russian president seemed to see it as both a humorous jibe and a serious point: Its not just a childrens saying and a joke; it has a very deep psychological meaning, he said. How much impact Bidens brief response to the killer question will end up having on already severely strained relations remains to be seen, but one thing seems clear: Putin and his government will use it to advance their narrative, including the assertion that Moscow is ready for better relations but Washington is not. "These statements from the president of the United States are very bad. It is clear that he does not want to get the relationship with our country back on track, and we will proceed from that," Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters. Bidens remark feeds into Putin's legitimacy narrative by portraying him as Americas evil other, Sergei Radchenko, a historian of the Cold War and later eras and a professor at Cardiff University in Wales, wrote on Twitter. The Russian president's swift reaction shows his intention to use such trope to full advantage. By evening, Putin was challenging Biden to a live direct discussion online, proposing March 19 or March 22 as the date for the showdown. The weekend was out, he said on state TV, because he wants to relax a little in the taiga. Observers pointed out that Putin has declined to debate political rivals at home, and Moscow-based foreign policy analyst Vladimir Frolov tweeted: A proposal designed to be declined by the US side to score some cheap points [by suggesting that] Biden is too unfit to debate Putin and shies away from a real confrontation. Whether the latest tension will lead Moscow and Washington closer to a major confrontation is unclear, and will depend in part, of course, on how Russia chooses to handle the situation. In the ABC interview, Biden said that the United States can walk and chew gum at the same time meaning that it can criticize Putin and his government while pursuing cooperation in areas where it is deemed both desirable and possible. Big Chill? Fyodor Lukyanov, a Russian foreign policy analyst who advises the Kremlin, urged Moscow to take action beyond recalling the ambassador. In an article in the daily Kommersant -- headlined Dont Chew While Walking -- he suggested that the United States believes it will face no serious consequences for its conduct, and that this has to change. It would be logical to fully freeze relations with the exception of a few needed technical aspects," Lukyanov wrote. The goal, he added, would be to disabuse the United States of its conviction that it can behave arbitrarily in most areas while maintaining useful interaction in certain areas that are important [to Washington]. Commentator Konstantin Eggert said that Russia might decide to take little action, in part because of concerns about its vulnerabilities. Putin may pretend to take Biden's remarks as a kind of compliment -- the reputation of a real villain is preferable to the image of a weakling, Eggert wrote in a commentary for Deutsche Welle. After all, Putin is aware of the limits of the financial, economic, military, and political possibilities of confrontation between 'his' Russia and the United States. On the other hand, he wrote, Putin might decide to retaliate. If he does so, it might be though indirect blows: a further crackdown on the Russian opposition, pushing ahead with efforts to restrict U.S. access to U.S.-based Internet platforms such as Twitter, or a renewed escalation of hostilities in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow has backed separatist militants since 2014. From Putins remarks, its hard to tell what might happen, if anything. As is often the case, he made a splash with his schoolyard retort, as well as with a comment in which he wished Biden good health and, to the ears of many listeners, made clear that this was not a straightforward comment by stating clearly that it was. But on the surface, at least, he gave no indication of a major change of tack in ties with Washington, saying little beyond repeated promises that Russia will act based on its own national interest and not those of the United States or anyone else. We will work with them, but in those areas where it is in our interest, and under conditions that we consider beneficial to us and they will have to reckon with it, Putin said. While he adorned those pledges in an eye-catching assertion that Russia is different, its citizens set apart by a different genetic and cultural-moral code, the vow to pursue ones own interest and not those of another country were unremarkable. 'Precious Little' Dmitry Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, wrote on Twitter that a thorough review & revision of Moscows policy toward [Washington] are likely," adding that the Kremlin may have concluded that nothing useful can be done with this U.S. administration beyond avoiding inadvertent [military] collision. But he suggested Putins demand that the United States deal with Russia on the Kremlins terms might not mean much in practice. [M]aking [the United States] take [Russias] interests into account, as Putin has promised, is unlikely to happen without some dramatic showdown, Trenin wrote in a Twitter thread on March 18. What we are seeing is not a crisis in itself, but clear descent to even lower depths of the US-RUS interaction. Aleksei Naumov, an analyst with the Russian International Affairs Council, said that Moscow would be wary about ripping a much deeper rift in relations with Washington. Its clear that a severe confrontation with the United States is not in Russia's interests -- and it is much less in Russia's interests than it is in the interests of the United States, although the United States also does not need a complete break with Russia, Naumov told Current Time, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA. Sam Greene, director of the Russia Institute at Kings College London, also suggested that Russia has more to lose from a big break in relations than the United States does. Washington does not believe that there is much to be gained from partnership with Moscow, outside (maybe) of arms control, Greene wrote on Twitter. Is that justified? Maybe, maybe not -- or maybe not always. But that is Washington's final analysis. The Biden administration believes there is precious little that Washington wants that Moscow can deliver, and even less that Moscow would actually be willing to deliver, he wrote. Protests spread against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill this week as the anti-democratic legislation passed its second reading in parliament. The Bill will massively increase the powers of the home secretary and police to restrict and even ban protests using the flimsiest pretexts. On Monday, several thousand attended an evening rally against the Bill in Londons Parliament Square. Protesters carried placards with statements including, The police do not protect us, No Justice, No Peace. Chanting Kill the Bill they marched through Westminster and Lambeth, including blockading Westminster Bridge twice. Demonstrators marched to the Metropolitan Polices New Scotland Yard headquarters. Demonstrators march in Manchester against the Police Bill (credit: WSWS media) Police arrested four people and issued fixed penalty notices to two. On Monday and Tuesday, hundreds gathered in other cities for anti-police protests, including Manchester, Cardiff and Swansea. The protests mainly consisted of young people. The new police legislation is being rushed through Parliament based on a review of policing protests demanded by Home Secretary Priti Patel, following last years demonstrations by the environmental group, Extinction Rebellion, and those in opposition to police killings provoked by the murder of George Floyd. The Bill allows the home secretary to create laws that define serious disruption to communities and organisations, which police can then rely on to impose draconian conditions. The legislation will make it illegal to inflict serious annoyance on a person without reasonable excuse, with a judge being able to jail a person for up to 10 years. Clause 55 allows police to impose start and finish times and maximum noise levels on a wider range of protests in England and Wales. Under the legislation, a police officer will be given powers to take such conditions as appear necessary to that officer to prevent disorder, damage, disruption, impact or intimidation. The Bill was introduced in Parliament on Monday and a second reading vote passed by 359-263 on Wednesday. The ruling Conservative Party has an 80-seat majority and the Bill is being passed with the backing of the Democratic Unionist Party whose eight MPs either abstained or did not vote. The main opposition Labour Party reluctantly voted against the Bill, despite supporting key parts of it such as the stiffening of sentences and after initially saying they would abstain. The Bill is now in Committee Stage for scrutiny and will be voted on in the House of Lords in the next weeks before becoming law. This weeks protests followed those at the weekend in London and other cities to protest the death of 33-year-old Sarah Everard. Metropolitan Police officers violently attacked a peaceful vigil held in the capitals Clapham Common, making four arrests and brutally assaulting women who attended. A Metropolitan Police officer, Wayne Couzens, has been charged with kidnapping and murdering Everard. Numerous political forces are involved in the protests, including a feminist group Reclaim these Streets. Attempts are being made to channel protests against the killing of Everardand police brutality in generalinto support for increased police powers to supposedly safeguard women from men. This week, the government outlined Project Vigilant which it is seeking to roll out under the guise of protecting women from sexual assault. It could see plainclothes police officers roaming around clubs and bars, along with increased police patrols as people leave these venues at closing time. However, the protests around the country have been marked by their hostility to police brutality and opposition to them being given further powers. In Manchester, hundreds of young people marched down two of the city centres main thoroughfares, Market Street and Deansgate, chanting Kill the Bill and other slogans, before congregating in St Peters Square at around 5pm for a rally. Placards included, referring to the home secretary, Pritis Police State, 'Hands off our Rights and Defend Your Rights, People Died for Them. St Peters Square is only yards from the site of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre where 18 people were killed and up to 700 injured by a cavalry of Yeomanry and a regular army regiment as they appealed for adult suffrage and the reform of parliamentary representation. Speakers said they were opposed to the police being given any additional powers. One speaker noted that less than two weeks ago, in the same square where the rally was taking place, Greater Manchester Policeutilising draconian COVID-19 legislationbroke up a small protest by National Health Service workers and their supporters. The organiser, Karen Reissmann, a mental health worker and a member of the Unison trade unions National Executive Committee, was handed a 10,000 fine by the police. The speaker noted to cheers from the audience that opposition to the fine was such that we raised that money in under three hours. A young woman pointed out, This law gives police more powers to crack down on protests that have an impact. The whole point of a protest is to have an impact! And weve seen the way the police respond without this law. The response to the protest at Clapham Common this weekend where women came together to mourn the death of Sarah Everard, at the hands of a police officer, the way they disproportionately stop and search black people, who are more than nine time more likely to be stopped the countless victims of police brutality for whom there has been no justice They want to prohibit protests they want it to be harder to resist But the right to protest is fundamental. The speaker noted that it was a Metropolitan Police operation, led by the Mets Chief Commissioner Cressida Dick, that resulted in the shooting to death of the young Brazilian worker Jean Charles de Menezes in 2005. The hostility to the two architects of the present clampdown, Patel and Dick, stands as a devastating rebuke to the attempt to channel opposition to the Bill into the dead end of identity politics and female-centred reform. A young man told the rally, Our basic rights to oppose the system are being taken away from us. When we are protesting for basic pay rises and basic necessities, we are at the stage of rebellion. When does everything they do start being a grounds of self-defence? When they are killing us and slowly taking our money away, if not directing killing us, by killing us economically. Another speaker said, Our opposition, the Labour Party, are doing f*** all, to which a member of the audience responded in reference to the Labour leader, F*** Keir Starmer. This sparked repeated chants of F*** Keir Starmer, F*** Priti Patel, F*** Boris Johnson and F*** the Tories. Another young speaker said, Its not just the London Met [police]. We cannot forget that this problem is systemic It was Greater Manchester Police who fined a health worker 10,000. It was Greater Manchester Police who targeted Black Lives Matter protesters last summer. It was Greater Manchester Police who invaded Fallowfield [student halls of residence] in September and turned Owens Park [part of the same complex] into a police state. It was Greater Manchester Police that have consistently abused their powers. The rally ended with a minutes silence for all victims of police brutality. In Cardiff, up to 400 people protested Monday outside Cardiff Bay police station from 6pm and remained for around an hour. Among the placards were ones reading, There is no end to protest until there is an end to repression, and The power of the people is stronger than the people in power. Many of those who attended have been protesting regularly since the January 9 death of 24-year-old Mohamud Hassan. Hassan died just hours after he was released from police custody. Wales Online reported, Legal representatives for his family have said that he was severely injured when he was released. They have said witnesses described him as covered in blood with severe injuries to his mouth and severe bruising all over his body. Another anti-Police Bill protest took place Monday in Swansea outside the Magistrates Court and Police Station. It has been a year since COVID-19 lockdowns plunged the world into despair, with leaders and health authorities all over the world scrambling to defend their people from the 2019 novel coronavirus, which is believed to have come from a Wuhan lab in China. Early reports claimed that COVID-19, which has taken 2.69 million lives globally, moved from bats to humans in a Wuhan wet market. But today, overwhelming evidence shows that it was a lab leak that caused COVID-19 to spread globally and kill over 593,000 Americans. During the onset of the deadly pandemic, former President Trump called COVID-19 the "Chinese virus" or the "China virus," which the mainstream media called "racist." The 45th President of the United States explained that he called COVID-19 so "because it comes from China. It's not racist at all. It comes from China, I want it to be accurate." Accurate, the former president was, as this year the U.S. State Department has found new evidence that the China virus may have started from the Wuhan virology lab. According to the report, COVID-19 may have originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), where researchers who worked there experienced "symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses" as early as autumn of 2019. This would explain why China raised the alarm on the last day of the year and just three months later, the people all over the world were forced to stay home and businesses had no choice but to shut down. In May, WIV director Wang Yanyi admitted that the laboratory housed three live strains of bat coronavirus but denied that COVID-19 indeed originated from their virology lab. But by then, so many people had gotten infected and more perished from the China virus. According to BBC, the Chinese Communist Party was offended by former President Trump calling COVID-19 the "China virus." "We urge the US to correct its mistake and stop its groundless accusations against China,'' the Chinese Communist Party's foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at the time. They decried the use of the phrase "China virus," saying it was "racist and xenophobic," pinning the blame on U.S. "politicians' irresponsibility and incompetence" for fearmongering and mishandling of the pandemic. Just last week, Missouri Representative Brian Seitz was in hot water for calling COVID-19 what it was: the China virus. The Associated Press reported that during a House floor discussion on state revenues and online retailers who don't have a physical store in the state, Republican Rep. Seitz said, "While the zombie apocalypse has seen a shortage of revenue for the state, I remind the body that the Chinese virus has not shut down one business. Government has shut down businesses and created this shortfall." The Federalist called out the hypocrisy of the mainstream media following the proliferation of COVID-19 variants that have emerged from different locations. News outlets have long been reporting about the "U.K. variant," "Brazilian variant," and "South African" variant of COVID-19, but nobody condemned them from doing so as much as they decried former President Trump's "China virus" label. The report highlights how these terms are "used acceptedly without the allegation of racism attached by the leftist who made viral terminology about race in the first place." Historically, viruses are associated with the places they originated from. To forbid anyone from calling COVID-19 the "China virus" just to pacify the Chinese Communist Party, despite overwhelming evidence of mishandling, coverups, and controversy, is simply a violation of free speech. After all, it's only common practice to name diseases after places or people associated with them, The Federalist noted. For example, there's the Japanese Encephalitis, German Measles, Guinea Worm, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Spanish Flu, and West Nile Virus, to name a few. MIAMI, March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a first-of-its-kind program and debut, pet-based company Pawtocol, has teamed up with Costa Rican animal rescues to create profiles of pets as an NFT (non-fungible token) and be able to sell them in the NFT Marketplace. This will raise awareness and funds for virtual adoption and eventually help place pets in forever homes. While there are many use cases of NFTs, such as in digital art and music, we have not seen any good case of NFT's such as serving humanity or, in this case, saving the lives of animals, says Karim Quazzani, CEO of Pawtocol. This is an amazing use case of our blockchain technology and an honorable way to utilize NFTs as a piece of art that represents a shelter animal. These NFTs were creating are meant to capture and digitize the struggle of a rescue pet looking for a home. Meet the first two rescue animals: Potato is the first rescue cat to have an NFT. She was raised in a prison where she had been beaten and sexually abused by inmates. After being rescued, her fear of humans was palpable as she wouldnt accept the human touch and walked sideways. Now, six months of shelter love later at Gatitos al Rescate by Ericka & Rocio, she is starting to gain confidence and is ready for both her virtual adoption and a forever home. If anyone deserves a break Manchita does. She is from the Asociacion Animales de de Asis and is cared for by Carolina. She is the first rescue dog to have an NFT. Shes a 14-year-old mixed breed who has been in a shelter for 10 years and is disabled. She only has the use of her front legs but that doesn't stop her from living life. Either finding a loving home or being virtually adopted, each option would give her an even happier life. The funds raised could also pay for a walking scooter/pet wheelchair so she can get around as well as other dogs. Coming soon, the NFTs of both Potato and Manchita will be published and available in the NFT Marketplace. NFT is a new method for digitally buying and selling art and other media. These crypto-assets represent the latest blockchain-based boom. As of 2020, NFT has grown 705% to $338 million in value, according to the latest estimate from Nonfungible.com, which monitors the NFT marketplace. ABOUT PAWTOCOL PAWTOCOL practices ESG principles by being Environmentally and Socially responsible, with inclusive and transparent Governance (the backbone of Blockchain) - while showing users how to use their pet's data to not just help other pets and pet parents, but to earn income as well. Most recently, Pawtocol has begun distributing their revolutionary plant-based, ESG Blockchain Pet Tags. Telegram: https://t.me/pawtocol Twitter: https://twitter.com/pawtocol Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Pawtocol/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqDegf8dpZU6fx7VQI0yQOg A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4cab8c72-203d-4e91-9b68-fc07ae1a30d0 In just the last five years South Africa has faced two of the biggest challenges imaginable. We are in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic and, just two years ago, the City of Cape Town announced that it was on the brink of running out of municipal water. While all eyes are now on our government to come up with solutions to these ongoing threats, sometimes it is through the collective that we can find the most practical answers. Michael Franze, MD of Citiq Prepaid Its not just about access Like Covid-19, water use requires permanent behaviour change The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has resulted in many fault lines emerging in our societies. One of the key ones is that of behaviour change... Empowering people with information Why South Africa needs a new water agency In his 2021 SONA, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the establishment of a National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency would be accelerated... Cooperation is the way forward The World Economic Forum (WEF) has consistently ranked water scarcity as one of the greatest threats to humanity. In its 2019 report, the UN said that accessing water to support the worlds nine billion people by 2040 will be one of the biggest challenges of the 21st Century.For South Africa, the challenge is all the more acute with research predicting that we will have a 17% shortfall in water supply by 2040. More immediately, the city of Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape currently faces its own possible Day Zero before winter sets in as dams inch towards the 10% capacity levels, where the little water that is available is unusable.Our challenge is not just about access to water. It is the rapidly declining quality (due to poor environmental conditions as well as pollution) and the increase in price as a result of the growing need to purify water, as well as using price as a means to manage usage.Unsurprisingly, most of the focus has been placed on the environmental challenges of sourcing clean, potable water. Understandably, the wholesale destruction of our wetlands and depressing levels of pollution deserve our urgent attention. But it is the decaying infrastructure that is possibly the most shocking of our water predicaments.Already in 2018, Professor Neil Armitage, of the University of Cape Town's Department of Civil Engineering and deputy director of the Future Water research institute told the UKsthat more than a third (36%) of our water was being lost. Much of it due to leaking pipes and theft.The hard reality is that relying solely on municipalities to fix their aging infrastructure is simply not possible. Our fragile water network is experiencing exactly the same conundrum faced by our energy sector. Municipalities rely on the sale of water to pay for the maintenance of their infrastructure. Non-payment, leaks and illegal connections have resulted in decimated budgets. As every municipal manager will tell you, unlawful connections are not just robbing their coffers, but are delaying and denying any future system upgrades. The solution must rely on pragmatic, tried and tested methods. And it is here that leaning on the greater ecosystem will deliver the results.One of the biggest lessons from the Western Capes Day Zero crisis was that consumer behaviour could be changed - if they were given the information necessary to affect an altered attitude.While there is no doubt that the City of Cape Towns extensive communication and outreach programme helped raise awareness of the crisis, the punitive charges also helped put the brakes on water consumption, especially in the leafy suburbs. But it was the city-wide water map that showed water consumption at the household level - and let homeowners compare their savings to those of their neighbours - that really helped radically shift behaviour.This aligns with evidence from the energy sector where a study in the UK showed that users power bills were reduced by up to 9% simply by making daily consumption easily available to users through prepaid meterage, indicative of the power of transparent information. More than just consumption monitoring, prepaid technology also allows for early leak detection, allowing for rapid response from the municipality - something the City of Cape Town said was one of the most important aspects of managing water in times of crisis.By putting the solution into the hands of the average South African, we are empowering every household to contribute to the solution. Small efforts like these may not bring back our wetlands, but the smart use of technology can make a real difference.South Africans are unbelievably resilient. We have always found ways to come together to tackle common problems. Now, as we find ourselves entering the second year of the worst pandemic of our lifetime, we have to find common solutions to the ongoing water crisis as well which, if left unchecked, will result in massive food and health insecurity. While our government is rightly focused on managing the socio-economic fallout of Covid, turning to the larger public-private ecosystem to find many small but incrementally useful pieces to the bigger solution is the best chance we have before we find ourselves in another crisis. Former U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker believes that a phone conversation between Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky will take place soon. There is every intention on the part of [U.S.] Administration to make that phone call take place, he said during a webinar organized by the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council. At the same time, he expressed confidence that the conversation between the presidents would take place soon. Volker clarified that, according to his information, the matter is to get this call on President Biden's schedule. "And I think they want to see that there is an understanding between the two sides on what the agenda is," Volker added. In his opinion, the fact that Biden and Zelensky have not had a conversation yet does not necessarily mean negative trends. "I don't think this is any kind of signal to Ukraine, one way or another, but something to build up to," he said. In this context, Volker recalled that U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba had a very good conversation. In addition, the cooperation and support for Ukraine from the United States continues and even intensifies. As reported, a bipartisan group of US senators submitted to the Senate a bill to promote security partnership with Ukraine, and for other purposes. The bill provides, inter alia, for the establishment of a US-Europe Working Group on Ukraine, the appointment of a special envoy for Ukraine, and the allocation of funds to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities. ol The Post Office faces a bill of hundreds of millions of pounds after it was deluged with claims from 2,400 sub-postmasters in the wake of the Horizon IT scandal. Ministers yesterday revealed the taxpayer will bail out the Government-owned company as the cost is beyond what the Post Office can afford. Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of postmasters were sacked or prosecuted after money appeared to go missing from their branch accounts. Post Office bosses were told glitches in the Horizon computer terminals in branches may be to blame but pursued prosecutions anyway. One postmaster, Martin Griffiths, 59, took his own life after he was falsely suspected of taking 60,000. Ministers yesterday revealed the taxpayer will bail out the Government-owned company as the expected cost of postmaster claims is beyond what the Post Office can afford The Post Office has already paid a 58million settlement to 557 postmasters following an acrimonious High Court battle, but now faces a further 2,400 claims under a new compensation scheme. Dozens more will head to court to claim once their convictions have been overturned, with the biggest payouts likely to exceed 100,000. A lawyer involved in the case said the bill could run into the hundreds of millions of pounds. Small business minister Paul Scully said: The Government will provide sufficient financial support to the Post Office to ensure that the [compensation] scheme can proceed. He added that the number of applicants was higher than the Post Office had anticipated and the cost of the scheme is beyond what the business can afford. It came as 41 postmasters prepared to return to the Court of Appeal to have their convictions overturned. Six have already seen their convictions quashed in the Crown Court. The Prime Minister has launched an independent inquiry and the police are investigating two Post Office IT experts, which could result in charges of perjury. The Post Office has already paid a 58million settlement to 557 postmasters following an acrimonious High Court (pictured) battle, but now faces a further 2,400 claims under a new compensation scheme Last year a judge said the Post Offices computer experts knew about problems in its IT system in 1999 15 years before the company stopped prosecuting postmasters. But despite the gravity of the case, not a single Post Office boss, civil servant or minister has been sacked. Paula Vennells, 62, who ran the company between 2012 and 2019, is accused of covering up the fiasco and dragging hundreds of postmasters into the costly court battle. She has been forced to resign from a series of prestigious roles but has held on to her CBE for services to the Post Office and charity. Sandip Patel QC, who represents some postmasters, said: I would not be surprised to see potential claims in excess of 100,000, and in some instances it could be very much higher than that. The Post Office said: Our priority is to fairly resolve the applications... as soon as possible. New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday (March 19) announced that if his party is voted to power in Assam, they will ensure that Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is not implemented. During his interaction with students in Dibrugarh, Assam, Gandhi said, Congress, if voted to power, will ensure Citizenship Amendment Act is not implemented in Assam. Attacking the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Gandhi said, You think democracy is declining. Youth is unemployed, farmers are protesting, CAA is there. We can't ask the people of Assam to forget their culture, language if they come to Delhi. One force, born in Nagpur, trying to control the whole country. Meanwhile, in his election campaign rally addressing the tea estate workers at Dinjoy in Dibrugarh, Gandhi promised to start a special ministry for the tea industry. For the tea industry, we will start a special ministry to solve all your issues. Our manifesto is in consultation with tea tribe, people, and not framed behind closed doors. The Congress leader further made five guarantees to the people of Assam and said, BJP promised Rs 351, but gave Rs 167 to Assam tea workers. I'm not Narendra Modi, I don't lie. Today, we give you 5 guarantees; Rs 365 for tea workers, we'll stand against CAA, 5 lakh jobs, 200 units free electricity and Rs 2000 for housewives. Assam will go to polls in three phases for 126 Assembly seats from March 27. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. Live TV Samsung has unveiled the Samsung Galaxy A52 and A72, making powerful innovation accessible to everyone. The latest Samsung Galaxy A series lets you communicate and express yourself with an awesome camera, immerse yourself in a clear viewing experience with a smooth scrolling display, and enjoy greater peace of mind with innovative Galaxy foundation features including water resistance and a long-lasting battery. The Galaxy A series will also expand your mobile experience by providing access to the wider Galaxy ecosystem of connected devices, such as Galaxy Buds Pro, Galaxy SmartTag, and Galaxy Tab[1]. Samsung strives to give consumers what they want and need most. Thats why we set out with a vision for the Galaxy A series to democratise Galaxy innovations for everyone, said Dudu Mokholo, Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung Central Africa. The Galaxy A52 and A72 encapsulate the Galaxy brand philosophy with cutting-edge innovations, services and features at a reasonable price. Create, communicate and express yourself with an awesome camera Samsung has set the bar high for camera quality, and the Galaxy A52 and A72 are no different. By making exciting camera innovations available for the new Galaxy A series, you can enjoy more fun and versatile photos and videos. Versatile Camera Experience Shoot vivid and crisp photos and videos with ease thanks to a versatile quad camera with 64MP high-resolution. Instantly turn your favourite moments from 4K videos into 8MP high-resolution images with 4K Video Snap. Scene Optimizer uses AI to shoot with optimal settings for 30 categories of images and backgrounds such as food, landscapes, and pets. Stable day or night Whether filming the latest dance trend or capturing a new skateboard trick, Optical image stabilisation (OIS) ensures pictures and videos come out sharp and steady. No need to miss an important moment anymore because of low lighting. Night mode uses multi-frame processing, resulting in a bright and crisp image even in the dark. Fun content capture Add style and unique flair to content using AR Emoji and My Filter. Additionally, you can now apply AR Lenses from Snapchat with Fun Mode[2] when snapping content from the native camera app. See and be seen with an awesome display and refined design Samsung enhances experiences and style with a vivid display and sophisticated design to fit and reflect your life. Brighter and Smoother Enjoy your favourite show on Samsungs beloved Super AMOLED display. Now with 90Hz on the Galaxy A52 and A72, the scrolling experience is even smoother. Keep watching and scrolling social media posts even when outside thanks to an increased 800nits luminance. Comfortable viewing experience The display is also Eye Care certified[3], and automatically adjusts the displays colour temperature based on smartphone usage patterns to reduce eye fatigue with Eye Comfort Shield[4]. Refined design The new Galaxy A series features a refreshed design that is simple yet purposeful with a soft-edge design and minimal camera housing. Expand your experiences thanks to the power of the awesome Galaxy ecosystem The new Galaxy A series experience is enhanced by the seamless connections and new opportunities offered through the Samsung Galaxy ecosystem. Stay organised and connected SmartThings connects to and controls thousands of devices in a smart home environment right from the Galaxy A seriesincluding wearables, tablets, PCs and TVs. Additionally, SmartThings Find locates your paired devices with more intuitive and detailed directions, and Galaxy SmartTag[5] Bluetooth locator can find non-connected devices or belongings by attaching it to what matters most. So you can connect and control thousands of devices from your Galaxy A series. Enjoy music together without hassle Whether participating in a joint workout at home or catching up on the latest podcast with friends, connect and listen to music together. Music Share simply syncs a phone with a friends device to share music without speaker pairing. Also, pair phones with two sets of Galaxy Buds devices and listen together with Buds Together. Connect and share with ease Quick Share lets you easily send pictures and videos without size limitation to nearby Galaxy devices so you can get quick approval before posting a group selfie. With Private Share[6], you can change your mind whom to share with, or revoke the photos and videos even after sharing with just one tap. Expect more and get more with awesome Galaxy foundation The new Galaxy A series comes with the Galaxy essentials that all Galaxy users deserve to have. Peace of mind Take chances and get messy without worry as the Galaxy A52 and A72 are water and dust resistant[7] with an IP67 rating. By adding Samsung Care+[8], you can plan for the unexpected with instant support and guaranteed coverage for damages. Protect the things that matter with built-in Samsung Knox[9]Samsungs defence-grade security system that safeguards personal information and data in real-time. Two-day battery Capture, create, and consume without slowing down with a large battery capacity that lasts two days[10] with A52s 4,500mAh and A72s 5,000mAh battery capacity[11]. Enjoy premium essentials The Galaxy A52 and A72 are equipped with the Galaxy essentials including stereo speakers and external memory up to 1TB[12]. Enhance the stereo speakers experience with Dolby Atmos for a rich soundscape filled with up-levelled depth and detail. Also, the redesigned One UI 3[13] helps enable more intuitive experiences and consistent interactions by increasing speed, reducing distractions and highlighting important information. Support sustainability Samsung regularly evaluates products, packaging and operations to discover new ways to improve our efforts to promote sustainability. The Galaxy A52 and A72 uses pulp mould and paper to minimise unused space and material use for the packaging[14]. Software updates Samsung always aims to provide Galaxy users with an up to-date mobile OS, and this is now expanded to the A series. The Galaxy A52 and A72 will support software upgrades for three generations, and regular security updates for a minimum of four years[15]. Availability The new Galaxy A Series will be available in Awesome Violet, Awesome Blue, Awesome Black, and Awesome White[16] . [1] Galaxy Buds Pro, Galaxy SmartTag, and Galaxy Tab sold separately. [2] Availability may vary by markets and carriers. [3] SGS, the world's leading certification company, awarded Galaxy A series display the Eye Care Certification based on its ability to reduce the blue light. This certification can be found on www.sgs.com. [4] Eye Comfort Shield is off by default, and must be turned on in Settings. [5] Galaxy SmartTag sold separately. [6] Private Share enables more secure sharing with blockchain-based encryption technology and works between Galaxy smartphones with Android P or later. App download required to send/receive Private Share link. After sharing, senders can revoke the files from receivers. [7] Galaxy A72 and Galaxy A52 are rated as IP67. Based on test conditions for submersion in up to 1 meter of freshwater for up to 30 minutes. Not advised for beach, pool use and soapy water. In case you spill liquids containing sugar on the phone, please rinse the device in clean, stagnant water while clicking keys. Safe against low water pressure only. High water pressure such as running tap water or shower may damage the device. [8] Samsung Care+ is available in 34 countries. Coverage may vary by country and deductibles may apply. For more information, visit [https://www.samsung.com/samsung-care-plus/] [9] Availability varies by device. [10] Estimated against the usage profile of an average/typical user Independently assessed by Strategy Analytics between 2021.01.20-01.31 in UK with pre-release versions of SM-A725, SM-A525, SM-A526, SM-A325, SM-A326 under default setting using LTE. Actual battery life varies by network environment, features and apps used, frequency of calls and messages, number of times charged, and many other factors. [11] The Galaxy A52 LTE have a 4,500mAh batter, and the Galaxy A72 has a 5,000mAh battery. [12] SD Card sold separately. [13] One UI 3.1 [14] These materials are PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification), SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified [15] *After the initial phone release. Availability of security updates may vary by device and market. The lists of security update models are subject to change and will be reviewed on a periodic basis. For further details, please refer to Samsung Mobile Security Updates https://security.samsungmobile.com/workScope.smsb [16] Available colours may vary by country. 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. BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Minn. One person was found injured after flames destroyed a mobile home in Fillmore County. The Sheriffs Office says a 911 call came in around 6:29 am Fridaybout an explosion and fire in Bloomfield Township. Fillmore County deputies, Spring Valley and Ostrander fire departments, and Spring Valley Ambulance were sent to the scene. Emergency workers say they arrived to find the mobile home consumed by flames. Deputies say a person was found on the property some distance from the mobile home with what appeared to be self-inflicted injuries. Life-saving efforts were made and the person was taken to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester by Mayo 1 helicopter. The Fillmore County Sheriffs Office says no one else is believed to be involved in this incident and there is no danger to the public. The Minnesota State Fire Marshal is assisted with an investigation. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-20 00:46:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JUBA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- China and South Sudan have signed a development pact for the expansion and modernization of the Juba Teaching Hospital to offer medical services in the East African country. Hua Ning, Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan, said the Phase II project is more comprehensive than the completed Phase 1 with multi-functional facilities including infectious disease division and several ICUs. "I am very pleased to sign the agreement on the new project as we are going to celebrate South Sudan's 10th anniversary of independence and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Sudan," Hua said in a statement issued in Juba on Thursday evening. "It is another major achievement in our health cooperation and concrete action in building China-Africa community of health for all. I trust the new project will significantly improve the healthcare delivery and pandemic control capacity in South Sudan when it is completed," the Chinese envoy added. In the global fight against COVID-19, Hua said, China, South Sudan and other African countries have enhanced solidarity and cooperation by supporting each other. "We will also donate 100,000 doses of vaccine to South Sudan in line with the country's vaccine policy," said Hua. The Phase I project was completed and handed over to the government in 2019. The Phase II project, with a total site area of about 2.28 hectares and a total floor area of about 16,000 square meters, includes six functional divisions: specialist outpatient division, medical technology division, inpatient division, infectious disease division, administration division and logistics support division. Both projects are funded with the Chinese Government's grants. Mayen Dut Wol, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in South Sudan, lauded China for undertaking the implementation of the two health projects. "This is a tremendous health infrastructure project which will culminate in a profound improvement of health care and welfare of the people of South Sudan," Wol said. He added that the signing of the agreement marked a new chapter on the existing thriving bilateral relations between Beijing and Juba, noting that the deal has come at a time when the young republic will celebrate its 10th anniversary of the strong establishment of good diplomatic relations with China in July. Enditem Erica Robbie is the editor-in-chief of Local Magazine and Local Weekly as well as the arts & culture editor for the Aspen Daily News. She can be reached at erica@aspendailynews.com or on Twitter @ericarobbie. WASHINGTON Brian Reeves, a fruit and vegetable farmer in Baldwinsville, N.Y. remembers hoping that President Bill Clinton would reform the immigration system to help agriculture workers in his final days in office in 2001. That was 20 years ago and Reeves is still waiting. Reeves is now pinning his hopes on a bipartisan bill, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, that allows thousands of undocumented farm workers a path to legal status and cleared the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday. While President Joe Biden struggles with a huge influx of migrants and children at the U.S. southern border, the House passed two immigration bills one aimed at farm workers and another bill that would provide a path to citizenship to hundreds of thousands of people who came to the U.S. illegally as children with their parents, also known as DREAMers, as well as other immigrants with protected statuses. The bipartisan votes on both bills demonstrated some appetite for collaboration on immigration, even while Republicans apply pressure and blame on the Biden administration for the situation at the border. It's unclear whether either bill can pass the U.S. Senate, where 10 Republicans votes would be needed to head it to the president's desk. Championed by Reps. Antonio Delgado, D-Rhinebeck, and Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, as well as many other lawmakers, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act passed the House 247 to 174 Thursday. The bill, if it passes, could mean new access to immigration visas for the workers at the more than 4,000 New York dairy farms. It could offer a more stable workforce to seasonal agriculture in the state, such as the apple orchards and vegetable growers, its proponents say. It would require farms to participate in a system to verify their employees' immigration status. North Country farmers have long suffered from an unstable workforce and constant demand for labor," said Stefanik, who voted against the DREAMers bill. "The Farm Workforce Modernization Act addresses this reality by reforming the broken H-2A program, while ensuring job security for American workers and stability for our nations food supply. A possible boon for New York's roughly 28,000 DREAMers, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021 also cleared the House 228 to 197 Thursday. House Republicans offered a similar, but alternative proposal Wednesday that would increase funding for enhanced border security, protect DREAMers, offer a 10-year path to a renewable legal status for undocumented immigrants who have not committed crimes and expanding visas for agricultural workers. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who visited the border earlier this week, tagged the situation there the "Biden border crisis" and claimed it started on Jan. 20, with more migrants deciding to try a crossing believing Biden to be more willing to let them in. Border crossings have increased from January to February 2021, Biden administration officials acknowledged Thursday, with over 100,000 people attempting to enter the country over the southern border last month. Unaccompanied children and teens are coming to the border in larger numbers than previously. The number of people trying to cross the border has dramatically climbed over the past several months since a low in April 2020, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. While the February 2021 numbers represent a surge in crossings, more migrants were apprehended at the border in March through June 2019 than last month, data shows. Biden officials disputed the notion at the border is "open," saying they are turning away adults and the majority of families in continuation of policies put in place by President Donald Trump during the pandemic. They are permitting unaccompanied children to enter the country, where they are staying in facilities run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Those agencies are now caring for and processing over 14,000 unaccompanied immigrant children who officials said they hope will soon be connected with family and sponsors in the U.S. The episode highlighted how murky the new guidelines are, particularly for a White House that has pledged to embrace progressive positions. A number of officials who have disclosed past marijuana use but are still permitted to work for the Biden administration have been asked to sign a pledge not to use marijuana while working for the government, and they must also submit to random drug testing, according to officials. Not everyone who disclosed past marijuana use during an extensive background check has been given the chance to stay on. Aides to President Biden defended the policy, noting that previous administrations enforced stringent measures, including President Barack Obama, who engaged in recreational drug use as a youth. The Obama administration required past use to have been six months old or longer or only two to three uses in the past year. Still, critics saw a culture clash between a class of young new hires who may have been under the impression that past marijuana use would not be a disqualifying concern and Mr. Bidens historically more moderate stance toward the drug. Marijuana use and possession is still a federal crime, despite fast-growing public support to legalize the drug. There are competing interests within administration and policies that have been on the books for a very long time that are now coming in contact with new ideas and new people that want to change those policies, Udi Ofer, the director of the justice division at the American Civil Liberties Union. Today we learned it can still be a disqualifier. The five officials Ms. Psaki mentioned on Friday had been directed to resign in part because of past marijuana use, according to a person familiar with the matter but who was not authorized to speak publicly. Several in that group also had other disqualifying factors that surfaced when determining their eligibility to receive jobs in the administration, that person said. Yesterday morning, 27,000 teachers in Los Angeles represented by the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) began voting on a tentative agreement (TA) that the UTLA and Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) agreed to on March 9. The agreement intends to reopen schools in the second largest district in the country for in-person learning as early as April 19 for elementary schools. This week, the majority of the state of California entered the Red tier from the more restrictive Purple tier of coronavirus infection rates, not because counties reported significant declines in case numbers and positivity rates, but because the tier metrics were altered for the purpose of getting the major districtsLos Angeles, Alameda, and San Diego countiesinto the Red tier, the prerequisite for reopening. First-grade teacher talks to her students in class (Image Credit: AP/Scott Sonner) The UTLA is working overtime to scare teachers into adopting the TA. On Thursday afternoon, the union released a six-minute advertisement on its Facebook page. In the advertisement, the UTLA contends that because other districts from New York to Chicago have been forced to reopen with even fewer protections, Los Angeles teachers should consider themselves lucky to at least have access to vaccines. In the video, the UTLA explicitly states that A no vote means we dont have an agreement and that LAUSD would be allowed the directive to unilaterally reopen physical school sites without our enforceable safety conditions in place. The UTLA wants teachers to believe that if the contract is not adopted, bargaining essentially ends, and all of the minimal and still insufficient safety measures such as daily symptom reporting, temperature checks and air filters will be revoked. The absurd framework which UTLA has laid out is an ultimatum and scare tactic used to push teachers to return to campuses. The same tactic is being used on Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) teachers who are also voting over the weekend on a nearly identical tentative agreement which the Oakland Education Association (OEA) executive board agreed to. Oakland teachers are being told that they must not show divided sentiment, but should instead join together and show the district they are unified in returning. The tentative agreement issued by the OEA and OUSD also has teachers accept a miserly bribe of $200 per week to those who volunteer to come back to campus on March 25. The agreement also includes a one-time $2,000 stipend for all teachers who come back on April 14. In Los Angeles, news station KTLA ran a report highlighting the safety preparations being made at a wealthy Hollywood school. Principal Karen Hollis and another school official reported that 90 percent of its parents wanted in-person education, a clear indication of the wealthier demographic and squeaky clean school. Also shown were distanced marked out spots on the playground where students were expected to stand and talk to each other before school. However, when asked by reporters how new CDC guidelines lowering the distance requirements from six to three feet would affect the school, the official said Thats the limiting factor, we dont have the classroom space to bring students back at 100% capacity with six-foot distancing. We could at three or two feet. Los Angeles teachers voting on the latest tentative agreement have been given numerous promises of dashboard tracking, publishing of case numbers and notifications of exposures, and two-day test turn around for biweekly testing are promised in the TA. Such promises, however, make little impression on teachers who have long worked in schools with crumbling infrastructure and deeply underfunded classrooms. Oppositional comments from educators that have flooded the UTLA Facebook page are often deleted with the offending posters suspended from the page. Educators are denouncing the scare tactics and numerous others are declaring their plans to vote no and reject the ultimatum. Ric, a fifth grade teacher in LAUSD, told the WSWS that the TA has been met with significant pushback and anger from educators. Ive been against the TA and calling for a no vote on the UTLA FB page. I dont hide my opinions among my colleagues at school. One teacher said were going to look bad, look selfish if we vote against it. But then later, she did a 180 and talked about all the flaws in it and how its going to be so disruptive to teachers lives. One thing in the TA is that the district is requiring us to get COVID tests, but thats on us, on our own time but I myself cant do that. After work, I need to get home right away because I have an elderly family member Im taking care of. I cant stop somewhere on the way home and get a COVID test. First, the union rep said it was up to us. If we didnt think it was a good deal, then go ahead and vote no. After that, he came out with all the scare tactics: if we dont vote for it, the districts going to impose it anyway; its going to make teachers look bad, make us look selfish, etc. He said if the majority vote no, then it means a strike. But actually, thats not true. Theres a long process we have to go through before we strike. Last Thursday, the Board of Ed. had a special meeting. First, they announced that theres a new process for addressing the Board starting that day. There will be no speakers or visitors allowed into the board room because of COVID, and speakers have to sign up in advance using the website. So, its not okay for people to attend the board meeting in person because of COVID, and yet its okay for teachers and students to meet in person in the schools? The vote is a sham, Ric said. The district and union already agreed to it last week. Its a done deal. The UTLA really is hoping that by throwing the vote to the teachers that they can then blame us. Theyre hoping a lot of teachers will vote for it, using their scare tactics. UTLA President, Cecily Myart-Cruz, knows this is a bad contract, and she signed her name to it on March 9, last Tuesday. Two weeks ago, the UTLA held consultative votes giving teachers a choice between returning under the inadequate conditions demanded by the union or returning sooner on the demands of the school district. The TA that teachers are currently voting on throughout the weekend was signed on March 9, almost immediately after the previous vote concluded. The vote has been revealed as a distraction while UTLA was nailing down the deadly plot with LAUSD. Both the Oakland and Los Angeles unions posture as radical unions and attempt to couch their betrayals through the use of identity politics, but just like the fake-left Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), they are working behind the scenes within the highest echelons of the state and ruling class to prove their usefulness and push teachers into classrooms so that workers can get back to work for corporate profits. But educators face an enemy not only in the UTLA or the OEA but in the entire Democratic-run state and the Biden administration. The push to get educators from Los Angeles to Oakland to accept the dangerous reopening deals must be opposed. Educators must unite throughout the West Coast and begin to organize themselves independently of the unions and the Democratic Party spearheading the deadly reopening campaign. We encourage educators, parents, students and all workers to attend the next meeting hosted by the West Coast Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committees this Saturday at 2 p.m. PDT to take this struggle forward. Register today and invite your coworkers and friends to attend! It is with great satisfaction that we welcome the European Commissions decision to authorise the 63-million-euro aid package allocated by the Italian Government to companies operating in the trade fair sector affected by the coronavirus epidemic. Trade fairs play a decisive role both in supporting the internationalisation effort of the countrys economy as a whole and boosting the local economies of the areas in which they are held. Therefore, I believe that supporting trade fairs means supporting a crucial sector for our economy, which has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic and is therefore in dire need of special measures. The approval of the aid by Brussels will allow us to reimburse up to 10 million euros of fixed costs incurred by trade fairs entities and organisers which were not covered by profits, insurance or other types of aid last year. I would also emphasise that this 63-million-euro package allocated by the Italian Government, and authorised by the Commission today, comes on top of the almost 100 million euros already earmarked through the 394 Fund managed by Simest, for the capitalisation of 43 trade fair entities and organisers. I will be personally committed to ensuring that this sector continues to receive the necessary resources to overcome this difficult phase. This was the comment by the Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, on the decision made public today by the European Commission, which approved the aid plan prepared by Italy in favour of the trade fair management companies and the organisers of trade fair events whose activities have been severely affected by the pandemic. The coronavirus plan introduced by the German federal and state governments two weeks ago envisaged a step-by-step further opening up of the countrys economy and social life. Within the space of a fortnight this policy has led to an exponential rise in the number of infections and deaths, along with broad and fierce opposition from teachers, students, parents and school staff who fear a further round of mass deaths. Despite dozens of outbreaks at day-care centres and primary schools linked to the B.1.1.7 coronavirus mutant, the decision was taken to systematically open up shops and send secondary school students back to in-person classes. The complete opening of primary schools and day-care centres has already led to a 42 percent increase in the number of active cases of illness among underage school and kindergarten children3,190 cases last week. Since March 8, at least 16 children had to be hospitalised after contracting the coronavirus at school. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has been notified of 10 validated COVID-19 deaths between 0 and 17 years of age, eight of whom were children with previous illnesses. Pupils in a 5th grade class in Frankfurt (AP Photo/Michael Probst) The institute also notes that the number of cases of infection with the B.1.1.7 mutation demonstrates a very steady growth rate and doubles approximately every 12 days. According to recent British studies, the virus strainwhich the RKI states now accounts for three-quarters of all cases in Germanyis significantly more contagious and deadly. For the period following Easter Monday, the institute predicts case numbers above the level of Christmas and unprecedented nationwide infection rates of around 300350 infections per 100,000 inhabitants (incidence rate). Virus specialist Christian Drosten of the Charite hospital in Berlin also affirmed on Tuesday that he anticipates a drastic situation shortly after Easter . similar to that prevailing at Christmas, which could become particularly risky for the large numbers of unvaccinated persons aged 50 and over. With a 7-day average of over 25,000 new infections and up to 1,000 deaths per day, the pandemic reached a tragic peak at the end of December. Now, in the few days since the last corona summit, the infection (incidence) rate has already risen from 64 to 90. Yesterday the RKI reported 17,504 new infections and 227 deaths. In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Tuesday, intensive care physician Gernot Marx called for a new lockdown and said that in the second half of April there could already be just as many patients in intensive care units as there were in the second wave. There would then also be many more sick people in the 30 to 60 age group, because the infection figures will be higher in this age group, following the vaccination of older people. In addition, the British mutant [virus] is presumed to be more dangerous for younger people. In the face of these unmistakable indications of a third wave and clear warnings from medical and scientific experts, numerous schools at the beginning of the week resisted the attempts by state governments to reverse remote learning and compel hundreds of thousands of pupils to return to schools just two weeks before the Easter holidays. The headmaster of the Georg Christoph Lichtenberg School in Ober-Ramstadt, Hesse, addressed parents in an open letter on Tuesday. With regard to the demand by the states conservative CDU-Green coalition government to send every school child to school for at least one or two days before the Easter holidays, he wrote: For us, however, it is out of the question to increase the risk of infection and possibly exacerbate the course of the pandemic.At our school, everything remains as it was up until the Easter holidays. It was above all you, dear parents, who encouraged us to take this alternative course of action. Both students and parents have overwhelmingly expressed clear and unequivocal support for the continuation of online teaching, the letter states, referring to surveys conducted by the school parents council. Individual pupils from the school years 7 and 8 would be supervised in the school buildings, but only then with the parents consent. In North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), where secondary schools were supposed to commence in-person teaching on Monday, although teachers remain unvaccinated and mass testing facilities are completely lacking, schools and individual municipalities have also refused to comply with this policy. According to a report in the Rheinische Post, several school administrators in Wermelskirchen and Wipperfurth decided on their own initiative on Monday to continue remote learning. The initiative of the schools in Hesse and NRW was enthusiastically welcomed on social media by parents and other teachers. I think civil servants should not be the victims of irrational decisions made by the executive, wrote teacher Karin B., who teaches in NRW, on Facebook. Protecting lives and health against a public danger is more important than following an irrational policy. We only have one life, and if you want to participate after the pandemic, you need not only your life, but also your health. Teacher Sebastian S. reminded the World Socialist Web Site that outbreaks are also taking place in day-care centresinfections which are being covered up by the authorities: We had a day-care centre closure last week. A kindergarten teacher tested positive. The children in the group would have been category 1 contacts, but there was no notification, no quarantine, no tests for the children. I therefore have no confidence that the figures issued by our health department are correct. They are probably much higher. It would be no different in schools, the teacher said. The Bergische College also defied an order from school minister Yvonne Gebauer (Free Democratic Party), who publicly announced last week there can be no testing for the pupils in the coming week. Referring to the rising numbers of infections and affected classes and colleagues, the colleges headmaster Thilo Mucher said: We remain firm: only final-year classes can prepare for exams in groups for in-person classes. For all others, the online alternative continues to apply in order to protect teachers and students and prevent further cases. Pressure on the state government is growing, the conservative paper Die Welt noted in a concerned report on Tuesday. Despite clear state guidelines some schools are apparently boycotting a further return to in-person teaching. In fact, the widespread resistance by teachers, parents and school administrators quickly threatened to get out of hand, compelling some cities and districts to publicly criticise the return to in-person teaching. Several municipalitiesincluding the district of Duren with an incidence value of 240had unsuccessfully applied to the state government not to open schools any further. Durens district administrator Wolfgang Spelthahn (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) admitted that the request had met with great approval and broad acceptance among the population, but that the ministrys rejection now had to be accepted. In Dortmund, NRWs third-largest city, opposition among teachers and parents was so pronounced that Mayor Thomas Westphal (Social Democratic Party, SPD) addressed the press on Tuesday, saying: We firmly believe that it makes absolutely no sense to open schools at the moment. At the same time, Westphal described school and day-care children as the greatest risk of infection, a fact that has been repeatedly denied by all state governments since the beginning of the pandemic. The next day, however, Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU), NRWs Minister of Health, backed Education Minister Gebauer and declared at a press conference attended by state premier Armin Laschet (CDU) that school closures were out of the question if the seven-day incidence rate was below 100. The city of Dortmund then announced that in future, by order of the state, in-person classes would take place. Other municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia that had criticised the school openingsincluding Hagen, Bochum and Duisburgaccepted the position taken by the state government. In Bochum, infections have been detected at 29 schools. The events in Germanys most populous state demonstrate that the policy of herd immunity is to be systematically imposed on the population by the authorities. In the German capital Berlin, surveys of at least two district committees of educational staff earlier this week indicated that more than 80 percent of teachers and educators oppose in-person teaching until all those concerned can be offered a vaccination. Precisely because this policy backed by intense media propaganda has been met with alarm and resistance among broad layers of workers, the reaction of the ruling class is assuming an increasingly authoritarian character. This is evident not only in the breath-taking indifference towards human life but also in the immense criminal energy with which databases are being manipulated, outbreaks covered up and supposedly binding limit values raised in an arbitrary manner. The district of Calw, for example, calculated a revised incidence by simply deducting traceable coronavirus outbreaks from the total number, thus halving the result. Several state governmentsincluding North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburghave flouted the decision set in a summit decision by the federal and state governments to use the already devastatingly high incidence rates of 50 and 100 to open up schools and shops, respectively. Then, on Tuesday, federal Health Minister Jens Spahn poured fuel onto the fire by promptly stopping vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine, without linking this step to the reintroduction of other effective protective measures. The resistance on the part of workers and youth must find an independent political expression to prevent a level of deaths far exceeding the first two waves. Independent action committees must be established, composed ofand democratically controlled bystudents, teachers, parents and school staff. The pandemic can only be defeated through a European-wide school and general strike, the closure of schools and day-care centres, and the reduction of all production and services to essential levels. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 18:46:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Former Tanzanian President John Magufuli who died from a heart condition on Wednesday will be buried on March 25 in his native town Chato in Geita region, President Samia Suluhu Hassan has announced. Speaking for the first time after she was sworn in as President on Friday at State House in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Hassan said the body of former President Magufuli will lie in state for the weekend at the national stadium where people in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam can pay their last respects. On March 22, the body of Magufuli will lie in the capital Dodoma to allow the general public to pay their last respects, said President Hassan. President Hassan appealed to Tanzanians to be patient during this difficult period of losing their brave, visionary, revolutionary and patriotic leader. "We should take over from where President Magufuli has accomplished. We should stop pointing fingers at each other. We need to forge ahead as a nation," she said. Tanzania will remain calm as it has always been, she said before she chaired her first cabinet meeting. Enditem Angelina Jolie has reportedly filed documents that prove ex-husband Brad Pitt had committed domestic violence. The pair ended their 12-year relationship in 2016 and have since been involved in a legal battle over custody of their children. Now, according to the Sun, Jolie has filed legal documents against Pitt that offer proof of domestic violence. It's not clear whether this act of domestic violence occurred while Jolie and Pitt were married, though some are pointing to an incident from 2016. It was during that year that they filed their divorce, with some American reports stating that Pitt had been involved in a conflict with his son, Maddox. According to the reports, Pitt and Maddox had a strong argument on a private jet and even ended up fighting with their fists. After an investigation by the FBI and governmental and local authorities, Pitt was cleared of all charges. Each of Jolie and Pitt's children - Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne could all speak out during a hearing in court. A land and air search of bushland is under way as police try to find a man missing from north of Brisbane last week. The 59-year-old man was reported missing from Everton Park since March 14. The man was driving a 2011 Toyota Landcruiser. Credit:Police Media He was last seen leaving a property on Stellmach Street about 8am last Sunday in a 2011 Toyota Landcruiser, which was found on Thursday west of Kilkivan, near Gympie, north of the Sunshine Coast. Spring of Brave Souls Stamp Rally Official Website: https://www.bleach-bravesouls.com/en/campaign/spring_cp_2021/ *Please check the in-app notifications for more details. Furthermore, Masaya Onosaka (voice of Shinji Hirako)'s program New Young TV will host a second collaboration with Bleach: Brave Souls on Sunday, March 28 at 17:00 JST (UTC+9). Katsuyuki Konishi (voice of Shuhei Hisagi and Keigo Asano) will also join as a host for the program. Don't miss out on new Brave Souls information during this special collaboration. A MASAYA ONOSAKA New Young TV Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExysNytv Watch it here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJQb0Pou939pDubqrvTSRSA *Japanese audio with subtitles available in English, French, Korean, Thai, Traditional and Simplified Chinese. *Guests and broadcast content are subject to change without notice. There will also be a retweet campaign related to the show. Enter for a chance to be one of three lucky winners to get autographs from Masaya Onosaka and Katsuyuki Konishi! How to Enter 1. Follow the Bleach: Brave Souls official Twitter account ( @Bleachbrs_en ). 2. Retweet the tweet from the official account with the MASAYA ONOSAKANew Young TV Collaboration: Spring full of Shinjis link. Overview of Bleach: Brave Souls Smartphone Support: Android 4.1+, iOS 10.0+ * Not available on some devices. PC (Steam) Support: Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit OS Required) Genre: 3D Action Price: Free-to-play (In-game purchases available) Supported Regions: Global Official Website: https://www.bleach-bravesouls.com/en/ Official Twitter Account: @bleachbrs_en Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/BleachBS.en Official Instagram: @bleachbravesouls_official Copyright: Tite Kubo/Shueisha, TV TOKYO, dentsu, Pierrot KLabGames Download here App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1003168863 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.klab.bleach Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1201240/BLEACH_Brave_Souls SOURCE KLab Inc. Related Links https://www.klab.com More than 30 years ago Drew Jenkins and his teammates from the Sunnydale basketball squad donned their jerseys and went down to City Hall to ask for something most San Francisco kids took for granted: a gym for their neighborhood. Back then the closest gym was 2.7 miles away from the Visitacion Valley public housing development and turf violence was at a boiling point. Sunnydale teenagers were unwelcome in some rec centers just showing up to play hoops could mean risking their lives. So they often ventured hours by Muni across the city in search of a safe gym in which to play, often ending up at the Boys and Girls Club in the Excelsior or gyms in the Portola or Bayview or Glen Park. We were the largest housing project in San Francisco and the one with the most kids in it, said Jenkins. But we had no gym or youth center to go to. It took a lot longer than expected. But on Thursday, Jenkins, now a longtime community leader, watched on his laptop as the virtual meeting of the Recreation and Park Commission approved a design for a new gym the Herz Recreation Center accepting a $10 million pledge of philanthropic support from donors. While it may have taken decades, the recreation complex now planned for the neighborhood is also far more ambitious than some would have thought possible in the 1990s. The gym is just a component of a $60 million recreation campus for the neighborhood. Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle In addition to a 200-seat gym with tournament-ready scoreboard and sound system, the plan calls for a 25,000-square-foot hub with a Boys and Girls Club that can handle 120 kids, three times more than the current clubhouse. There will be rooms for dance, art, pingpong, a climbing wall, a new child care center, and a renovation of the toddler and school-aged childrens play areas at Herz Playground next door to where the gym and clubhouse will be constructed. Every community in San Francisco deserves access to a state-of-the-art recreation center and in Sunnydale and Visitacion Valley its absolutely essential, said Recreation and Park Director Phil Ginsberg. This has been a neighborhood that has long been under-served and scarred by violence. The new gym and community center is the centerpiece of the 1,600-unit rebuild of the Sunnydale public housing, part of the HOPE SF project in which two developers, Mercy Housing and Related, are working with public agencies to replace 785 run-down public housing apartments. In addition to the replacement public housing, the plan calls for another 800 mixed-income apartments. One of the new housing complexes has been completed and the second will open in the fall. Like public housing throughout the city, the Sunnydale projects were constructed as an isolated community. Decades of neglect have left some of the buildings in rough shape, with leaky pipes, poor insulation, and mold and sewer issues. The complex abuts McLaren Park, the citys second biggest open space, yet it is disconnected from the open space. It is also next to, but not accessible to, the Coffman Pool, a public swimming facility separated by a fence. Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle Project architect Gregg Novicoff of Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects said the goal was to create a campus that integrates the neighborhood with McLaren Park. The buildings will be sun-filled and warm, constructed with mass timber beams, rather than steel and concrete. Before the pandemic a group of Sunnydale teenagers went to the architects offices to advise designers on what they wanted to see. From the first meeting the goal was to make this place a campus, a collection of buildings that would connect people to playground and the park, to create a welcoming gateway from that corner of Sunnydale, Novicoff said. The kids emphasized that they wanted multipurpose rooms that would be used by residents of all ages. There might be dance in one space, a birthday party in another, and water aerobics in the pool and maybe an adult book club or exercise class, he said. Proponents, led by Mercy Housing, have now raised $45 million for the project, including $11 million in park bond money, a $5 million land contribution and $10 million in tax credit financing. Executives from Related Companies and Kilroy Realty Corp. have each pledged $5 million. Another $15 million needs to be raised prior to the 2022 construction start. Jontonette Star Clark, the assistant director at the Sunnydale Boys and Girls Club, said the pandemic has been particularly difficult for neighborhood teenagers after a few years where violence was down, there were several shootings over last summer and fall. Some of our older boys have been roaming around without anything to do, she said. There have been so many promises made that never came to fruition. For once, its improvement that doesnt feel like gentrification. Its for the residents. Jenkins, now a residents service manager for Mercy Housing, laments that Sharon Hewitt, the Sunnydale community leader who helped organize that trip to City Hall all those years ago with his mother, Ruth Jackson, didnt live long enough to see the project taking shape. But she would be proud that the neighborhood didnt give up. Its been a long fight but we are closer than we have ever been to getting the gym, he said. J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has warned if Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis intervenes to force Stormont to commission abortion services it will set a "dangerous precedent" going forward and represent a "dangerous breach of the devolution settlement. Sir Jeffrey said if the Secretary of State is allowed to intervene on matters where the Assembly and Executive cannot reach a consensus it would leave Northern Ireland's political institutions "constantly undermined". Sinn Fein said any intervention was both unfortunate and unnecessary. It comes after reports Mr Lewis will present new regulations in Westminster next week, which will allow him to direct the Northern Ireland Department of Health to commission more widespread abortion services. Read More Westminster legalised abortion in Northern Ireland in 2019 after the collapse of the Assembly, but while individual health trusts have set up temporary early medical abortion pathways, Northern Ireland-wide services have not yet been commissioned by the department. A Department of Health spokesperson said that Health Minister Robin Swann did not believe that a ministerial decision to commission and fund abortion services would be defensible in court in the absence of Executive approval. The Presbyterian Church expressed "grave concern" saying to impose powers from Westminster would undermine devolution. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland objected strongly to the Westminster government previously imposing laws on Northern Ireland that removed the protection of the lives of unborn children. This damaging step was taken over the heads of our elected Assembly, with the excuse given that the devolved institutions were not functioning at that time. No such excuse for the undermining of devolution can be used at this time," a statement said. Sir Jeffrey said his party had made it clear to the Secretary of State that if he attempts to override the Assembly it would "represent a very serious breach of the devolution settlement" and would be strongly opposed by the DUP. "There are many matters that the Assembly and Executive has to deal with on a regular basis that are difficult, that are controversial, that divide opinion in Northern Ireland, but the reason we give those powers to the Assembly and Executive is so that we can arrive at a consensus," the Lagan Valley MP told BBC Radio Ulster. "That is the whole basis of devolution in Northern Ireland, it is not about one side imposing its view on the other in a particular argument, it is the responsibility of ministers in the Executive to reach a consensus, not the Secretary of State." Sir Jeffrey noted "if he can do it on this then it could happen on many other areas and would leave the devolved institutions in the position where their credibility is being constantly undermined". "It creates a very dangerous precedent when the government at Westminster intervenes to go over the head of the Executive and Assembly in circumstances where that Executive and Assembly is fully functioning and has the right and and the power to take those decisions," he said. Expand Close DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has warned ministers over the move (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has warned ministers over the move (Brian Lawless/PA) Communities Minister Deidre Hargey said the intervention from Mr Lewis was "unfortunate and unnecessary". The Sinn Fein MLA said she raised the issue at the Executive last week and submitted a paper ahead of Tuesday's meeting, but the matter didn't appear on the agenda. She urged Health Minister Robin Swann to bring forward a paper so a decision could be taken on the issue at next week's Executive meeting. "I think there's consistent blockages at the Executive and it's certainly not coming from Sinn Fein," the minister said. "It's quite obvious if that doesn't happen then the British Secretary of State is going to take on powers in order to do that." Ms Hargey said she thought it would be "completely unfortunate", but the UK Government has international human rights obligations. Expand Close Alliances Paula Bradshaw / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Alliances Paula Bradshaw Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw said she believed the move by Mr Lewis would "put the onus back" on Health Minister Robin Swann to "finally proceed with commissioning abortion services". "The health minister has the powers, he has the responsibility and he has the legal duty to provide a comprehensive framework for our healthcare professionals to operate within," the South Belfast MLA said. "I welcome the intervention by the Secretary of State, I do believe in devolution, but I have been lobbying him on this issue. It is incredibly frustrating that he's having to do so to ensure woman here in Northern Ireland are provided with healthcare in relation to the rest of the UK." Ms Bradshaw said Mr Lewis had a legal duty to act on human rights issues. "I don't want to see the Secretary of State having to intervene, but if he has to so be it," she said. TUV leader Jim Allister questioned the point in continuing with devolution if the NI Secretary can overrule the Assembly. If we can be subject to direct tule when it suits on the moral issues which matter to many, then, this highly retrograde step does indeed throw up searching questions as to what devolution is contributing, especially when it comes at the price of Sinn Fein rule on everything else?" he said. The Pope on Friday evening will deliver a special message via video link recognising Knock Shrine as an International Marian and Eucharistic Shrine. By Lydia OKane The message will be broadcast during Mass that will be celebrated by the Archbishop of Tuam, Michael Neary, and concelebrated by Fr Richard Gibbons, Parish Priest and Rector of Knock Shrine. This honour comes nearly two and a half years after Pope Francis visited the Marian Shrine, located in the west of Ireland, during his Apostolic Visit to the country for the World Meeting of Families. While there, he prayed in front of the Chapel of the Apparition for all the families of the world, and presented the Shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Knock with a golden rosary in acknowledgment of the tradition of the family rosary in Ireland. The Apparition The story of the apparition is a deeply symbolic and unique one, featuring the representation of the Eucharist as the risen Lord which appeared as the Lamb on the altar, standing before His Cross and surrounded by a host of angels. On the 21 August 1879 fifteen people in the village of Knock stood for two hours in the pouring rain reciting the Rosary before the Apparition scene, which also featured Our Lady, St. Joseph, and St. John the Evangelist. Joy and gratitude Speaking ahead of Fridays Eucharistic celebration, Fr Richard Gibbons said he was thrilled and delighted at this recognition. Its a great honour to be recognised in this manner and what it means is, I suppose we have the ultimate in terms of recognition from the Church. This special status is also being celebrated by the parishioners of the Shine, who have expressed their thanks to Pope Francis for honouring this Marian place of pilgrimage in this way. Listen to the interview with Fr Gibbons Links to St Joseph Irelands National Shrine is being honoured on the feast of St Joseph and on the day Pope Francis celebrates the eighth anniversary of his inauguration as Pope, which Fr Gibbons said, made it all the more significant. He also noted that Pope Francis, by visiting the this place of pilgrimage in 2018, had an understanding of what the Shrine means to the Irish people and also the importance of the message. Our Lady of Knock Apart from the Apostolic Visit, the Marian Shrine at Knock participated at the inaugural Sunday of the Word of God Mass presided over by Pope Francis in St Peters Basilica in January 2020. During the Eucharistic celebration, a new pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Knock, which was commissioned to celebrate the 140th Anniversary of the apparition at Knock in 1879, was displayed at the Papal Altar. The statue was blessed by the Pope in Rome in 2019 following his visit to Ireland. International dimension Asked if he expected to see more interest in the Shrine from abroad given its new international status, Fr Gibbons said he has received messages from people from all over the world saying that when they are allowed to travel they plan to come to Knock. Knock Shrine amid the pandemic Ireland at present is continuing to adhere to level 5 lockdown restrictions, which means that Masses continue to be followed online. Speaking about how Knock Shrine has led the way during this pandemic, the Rector highlighted, in particular, one such celebration in November of last year, which remembered all those who have died from COVID-19 on the island of Ireland. In the Basilica, we had three thousand candles, one for every single person who had died, and over 120,000 people joined us for that Mass online, he said. As the Shrine is recognised with this special status, Fr Gibbons emphasized that it will help this Marian pilgrimage site to look to the future full of hope. As part of the three days of celebration to St Joseph, Pope Francis will speak via video at the 7.30pm Mass on 19 March; Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, Archbishop of Vienna, will speak at the 7.30pm Mass on 20 March; and to conclude the three days, Archbishop Michael Neary, Archbishop of Tuam will speak at 12pm Mass on Sunday 21 March. (All times are local) The Triduum will be streamed live on the Knock Shrine website www.knockshrine.ie, and on Facebook @knockshrine on Friday, March 19, at 7.30pm; Saturday, March 20, at 7.30pm; and concluding on Sunday, March 21, at 12 noon. Download Free Sample Report The online education market will witness a positive impact during the forecast period owing to the widespread growth of the COVID-19 pandemic. As per Technavio's pandemic-focused market research, market growth increased in 2020 as compared to 2019. 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. Building business resilience and enabling agility will aid organizations to move forward in their journey out of the COVID-19 crisis towards the Next Normal. This post-pandemic business planning research will aid clients to: Adjust their strategic planning to move ahead once business stability kicks in. to move ahead once business stability kicks in. Build Resilience by making effective resource and investment choices for individual business units, products, and service lines. making effective resource and investment choices for individual business units, products, and service lines. Conceptualize scenario-based planning to mitigate future crisis situations. 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 Discretionary Include: Global Online Tutoring Market - Global online tutoring market is segmented by courses (STEM, language courses, and other courses) and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America). Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Global Smart Education Market - Global smart education market is segmented by product (content, software, and hardware), end-users (higher education, and K-12 schools), and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America). Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Major Three Online Education Market Participants: 2U Inc. 2U Inc. operates its business through the Graduate Program Segment and Alternative Credential Segment. The company offers a line of low-cost tools to help students better engage in online learning. Ambow Education Holding Ltd. Ambow Education Holding Ltd. operates its business through segments such as Better Schools, Better Jobs, and Others. The company offers a line of courses related to school education, tutoring services, international education programs, and online educational offerings through its business segment K-12 Education. Coursera Inc. Coursera Inc. operates its business through segments such as For Campus, For Government, and For Enterprise. The company offers online courses including free courses and university degrees at a breakthrough price. 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/online-education-market-industry-analysis Online Education Market 2020-2024: Segmentation Online education market is segmented as below: Type Higher Education Test Preparation Language And Casual Learning Prim & Sec Supplemental Edu. Reskilling & Online Certifications Geography North America APAC Europe South America MEA The online education market is driven by the growing advantages of online learning. In addition, other factors such as rapid penetration of Internet-enabled devices are expected to trigger the online education market toward witnessing a CAGR of over 18% during the forecast period. Get more insights about the global trends impacting the future of the online education market, Request Free Sample @ https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR43516 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/ Report: www.technavio.com/report/online-education-market-industry-analysis SOURCE Technavio Related Links http://www.technavio.com/ Health workers take care of a COVID-19 patient in Vientiane, Laos (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) Hanoi More than 40,700 people in Laos received the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine as of March 15, the Lao News Agency (KPL) reported on March 19. The inoculation drive prioritises people with high risks of infection, including those who are working in the frontline, health workers and staff at immigration offices and border gates. The country is preparing for the second phase of the campaign starting from mid-March to early April, according to the Vientiane Times daily. About 20 percent of the population, or 1.6 million people, will be vaccinated this year. The vaccine coverage is expected to reach half of Laos population by next year and 70 percent by 2023. As of March 19, the Southeast Asian nation had recorded 49 cases since it detected the first COVID-19 infection last March. Meanwhile, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told the Ministry of Health to organise a 15-day vaccination campaign using AstraZeneca vaccine for more than 50,000 people aged over 60 in all districts in Phnom Penh. He said a shipment of Sinovac vaccine will arrive in Cambodia on March 26. The National Trade Unions Coalition (NTUC) on March 17 sent a letter to the Ministry of Labour requesting that the government cancel the upcoming traditional Khmer New Year this year, due to fear of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of March 19, the countrys Health Ministry reported a total 1,578 COVID-19 cases, with 917 recoveries. Patrick Wattigny, who was pastor of Catholic church in Slidell and chaplain of a Catholic high school, was charged Thursday with molesting a teenage boy, the north shore District Attorney's Office said. Wattigny, who served until last year as pastor of St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church and as chaplain at Pope John Paul II High School, both in Slidell, was charged with molestation of a juvenile in a felony bill of information, 22nd Judicial District Attorney Warren Montgomery's office said in a news release. Wattigny, 53, is accused of molesting the then 15-year-old victim between June 1, 2013, and Aug. 31, 2014. Wattigny is scheduled to be arraigned Monday before 22nd District Judge Vincent Lobello. His attorney, Robert Stern, declined comment Friday. Wattigny began working at St. Luke's and Pope John Paul II in 2013. He resigned his post as high school chaplain in the summer of 2020 after church officials learned he sent a student text messages that violated diocesan policies. The church's investigation into those messages, involving a different youth, prompted Wattigny to disclose his sexual abuse of another juvenile, officials with the Archdiocese of New Orleans said. In Otcober, when the news broke, archdiocese officials said they reported Wattigny to law enforcement authorities immediately after he disclosed the sexual abuse. 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 Authorities apprehended Wattigny weeks later at a home he owns in Georgia. He was extradited to St. Tammany Parish on Oct. 26 last year and booked into the St. Tammany Parish Jail in Covington. The formal charge filed against Wattigny came on the same day that Montgomery's office charged Travis John Clark, the former pastor of a Catholic church in Pearl River, with institutional vandalism in connection with alleged sex acts he participated in on the church altar with two professional dominatrices. The dominatrices were also charged. "We acknowledge the charges filed against Travis Clark and Patrick Wattigny by the St. Tammany District Attorneys Office," the Archdiocese of New Orleans said in a statement Friday. "We have and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement. We are proceeding to the Vatican to petition for their laicization presenting information from both the criminal and canonical investigations. Our prayers remain with all those who were hurt by the actions of these two men, and in a particular way, we offer our prayers for healing of survivors of abuse." Richard Windmann, president of Survivors of Childhood Sex Abuse, SCSA, said the group is pleased that Wattigny has been charged. "Pedophiles never have just one victim, and we hope that others will also come forward," Windmann said in a prepared statement. "We also would like to encourage the Orleans Parish DA to start investigations into the priests that are listed as still alive, according to the Archdiocese's list of credibly accused pedophile priests." Wattigny, ordained as a priest in 1994, has also worked at St. Peter in Covington; Visitation of Our Lady in Marrero; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Kenner; St. Benilde in Metairie; and is a former chaplain at Archbishop Rummel High School. He served for a time as president of Pope John Paul II High School. Not that theyre no longer a part of alternative sex cultures, but its now actually more often than not framed as therapy culture, and this idea that in order to be polyamorous you have to be self-aware, you have to have good communication skills, good boundaries, a sophisticated understanding of consent, says Ford. Its not situated as much in relationships like, Oh well everyones just horny. For me, it was more down to the nitty gritty, sexual stuff, and growing up with porn, and not doing enough of that in my university years because I was too introverted, says filmmaker Jan Oliver Lucks, left, pictured with Natalie Medlock, in There Is No I In Threesome. Credit:HBO Max This is partly, says Ford, because while our culture still promotes monogamy, promotes individualism and the notion of romantic love, there is more rethinking about how we might structure our families and relationships in light of various social realities children staying home longer, the rising cost of childcare that are making it increasingly difficult for families to have one stay-at-home parent. So do open and polyamorous relationships work? In Lucks case spoiler alert his relationship imploded. She slowly recast me as her main primary partner and she had, perhaps without her knowing it at first, lost interest in me, or the connection wasnt as strong, says Lucks, whose fiancee fell in love with her boyfriend. For me, it stayed pretty much just on a sexual level, but for her it [having other lovers] filled a need for an emotional connection and, like, a loving partner that pays attention. A couple of years after the couples breakup, in 2018, Lucks was so low that he went on anti-depressants. (Partly, he has said, this was due to reliving the failure of his relationship while making the film.) In large part, he says his film is a cautionary tale of how not to engage in an open or polyamorous relationship, as they did everything wrong: living apart for long periods, in addition to his hatred of conflict, and the fact that he would go on a hike instead of openly talking to her. Also, he now realises he was simply intellectualising an emotional or physical urge. Sex therapist and relationship counsellor Jacqueline Hellyer, of Sydneys The LoveLife Clinic, isnt surprised. Its the latest thing to be polyamorous and have consensual non-monogamous relationships, and all this sort of stuff, and too many people are engaging in it and thinking its just a rational thing; Yes, I have my rights. Sometimes people go, to be with one person is like being possessed, and no one owns me, and my relationship is a cage, and all this sort of bullshit, but what theyre omitting is the fact that sexuality and relationships are primarily an emotional thing, Hellyer says, adding that jealousy breaks apart many polyamorous relationships shes seen. Loading When we look at human sexuality from an evolutionary lens, we are so sexual because it bonds us, she says, meaning that it helps a couple stay together, which is helpful to humans compared to other mammals because our young are comparatively helpless for a lot longer and the presence of both parents helps them survive. (In comparison, she says, other mammals only have sex when the females in heat and their babies are independent far younger.) This is why, says Hellyer, it is extraordinarily hard for polyamorous couples to prevent themselves from falling in love with new partners. Its not impossible one female client she had, for instance, took a lover because she was pretty bored in life, had younger kids, and the husband was not all that exciting a lover. Shes much happier, says Hellyer, and her sex life with her husband who accepted the arrangement as long as it didnt involve dating or dinner, in addition to other boundaries became much better as a result. Swinging, too, says Hellyer, is often less problematic, because its an experience a couple goes through together. Numerous clients relationships, she says, have been enhanced by swinging as a result of sharing an exciting experience which created a stronger bond. But of polyamory she says: Often I find that to develop the ability to have a successful polyamorous relationship, [a couple discussing what they will get out of the experience that will make their relationship stronger, being self-aware and supporting each other to be happy], you kind of develop the skills to have a really successful monogamous relationship, so why would you [do it?]... I think were putting the cart before the horse. We [many of us] dont even know how to have a relationship, let alone multiple relationships. That is also the conclusion that Lucks, 37, has come to. I think monogamy is the norm for a reason, says Lucks, who has been single for five years and has just met a woman with whom hes beginning a relationship. Im glad I tried an alternative, because I would have always wondered, he says. [But] I would go into boring monotony [now] and embrace it. Id get very excited about the missionary position. *Lucks fiancee is played in the film by actor Natalie Medlock, who recreates the events from Lucks relationship. Lucks ex-fiancee gave him permission to do this after she dropped out of the film a year into making it, when they broke up. HARTFORD Connecticut state troopers arrested a Texas man on Interstate 91 Friday morning who police say was transporting two underage girls he had kidnapped in New Hampshire. State police said 18-year-old Cameron Snody, of Fort Worth, Texas, was charged with third-degree larceny and being a fugitive from justice in Connecticut. He is also facing kidnapping charges in New Hampshire, where authorities are seeking to extradite him. The two girls, aged 15 and 17, were taken to a local hospital for evaluation, state police said. Contributed / Connecticut State Police New Hampshire state police said the two girls were unharmed. New Hampshire state police said in a press release Snody had flown to the state with the intention of meeting a 17 year old female with whom he had been speaking using a popular messaging application. Police have not identified the girl because she is a minor, but said she is a resident of Swanzey. The town is a rural community nestled in the southwestern corner of the state near the Vermont and Massachusetts border, and about two hours north of Hartford. New Hampshire authorities believe Snody stole the victims brothers car, which he used to drive her and her 15-year-old friend to New York City. Family members were able to reach the younger girl, who told them they were traveling north. Swanzey police requested the assistance of New Hampshire State Police in the case shortly after 9 a.m. Friday morning. Through a joint effort with Connecticut State Police, the vehicle driven by Snody was located on Interstate 91 in Connecticut, New Hampshire state police said. Connecticut state police said Troop Hartford received an Amber Alert for the kidnapping of the two girls from New Hampshire on Friday morning. Troopers were able to gather information, which led them to believe that Snody was traveling in the area of Interstate 91 northbound, state police said. Police set up along the I-91 corridor and spotted the car, a Saturn Ion with New Hampshire plates, near Exit 23 around 10:15 a.m. State police said they conducted a traffic stop in a manner which prevented the accused from escaping. Authorities said Snody surrendered and was arrested without incident. In New Hampshire he faces two counts of kidnapping and theft by unauthorized taking, New Hampshire state police said. New Hampshire authorities have begun the process to extradite Snody to face the kidnapping charges, state police said. He is being held at a Connecticut Department of Correction facility on $500,000 bond. Note: An earlier version of this story that appeared online gave the age of one of the victims as 12, based on a report from Connecticut State Police. New Hampshire authorities have since confirmed the girl is 15 years old Cautious approach taken for 2021 rubber ambitions. Source: internet Rubber prices are returning to an upwards trend, and the Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) wants to increase revenue to VND27.1 trillion ($1.17 billion) for this year, higher than the VND21.17 trillion ($1.18 billion) in 2020. But the pandemic is causing VRG to be more cautious when it comes to the proposed profit target of VND4.6 trillion ($200 million) for 2021, much lower than the VND5.23 trillion ($227 million) of 2020. Le Thanh Hung, deputy general director of VRG, said that the groups rubber export orders are strong, as some units have signed new contracts with customers up until the end of 2021, with some of these including orders for every month. VRGs output in 2020 reached nearly 370,000 tonnes of rubber latex, up 10.4 per cent compared to 2019. The hesitant approach towards this years goals may still be reasonable. On one hand, Vietnam is selling rubber to the global market at higher prices than before, with the average price in January standing at $1,608 per tonne, up 0.9 per cent from December and 10.3 per cent over January 2020, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC). However, though prices have been gradually increasing since the third quarter of last year, most businesses have no more goods for sale, said Vo Hoang An, general secretary of VRG. Vietnams rubber industry may thus not benefit much from the rising prices if the supply continues to be slow. China, India, and South Korea remained the three largest rubber consumption markets of Vietnam in 2020, accounting for 76.8, 3.7, and 2.1 per cent of the market share, respectively. However, as the pandemic has not been completely controlled in these markets, the growth of the Vietnamese rubber industry has been directly affected. According to statistics of the GDVC, Vietnams rubber exports in 2020 reached 1.75 million tonnes, worth $2.38 billion, up 2.9 per cent in volume and 3.6 per cent in value compared to 2019. The average rubber export price of Vietnam in 2020 stood around $1,360 per tonne, an increase of 0.7 per cent compared to the previous year. Rubber exports to China in January accounted for 75.05 per cent of the total export volume of the country, reaching more than 142,000 tonnes worth $222 million, down 19.4 per cent in volume and 19.5 per cent in value compared to December 2020, according to data of the GDVC. The Agro Processing and Market Development Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has considered the possibility that China will reduce rubber imports in 2021 after gathering a large stockpile. In 2020, China imported $4.34 billion of natural and synthetic rubber, up 35.2 per cent on-year. In China, Vietnamese rubber is forced to compete with Malaysian suppliers, and the geographical advantage of Vietnamese rubber may be significantly reduced due to the advantage of Malaysias supply stability. Data from the Foreign Trade Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that Malaysias rubber exports in December reached more than 61,000 tonnes, up 8.9 per cent compared to November and up 21.8 per cent compared to end-2019. China is Malaysias largest rubber export market, accounting for 53.8 per cent of the total export volume. Meanwhile, Germany and the US account for 10.2 and 5.4 per cent, respectively. Vietnams rubber exports may also face more hurdles in 2021 as the countrys market share in the US decreased slightly last year compared to 2019. According to statistics of the US International Trade Commission, in 2020, Vietnam was the 13th-largest rubber supplier with over 25,000 tonnes, worth $36.75 million, but down 21.2 per cent in volume and 15.4 per cent in value compared to 2019. In total, Vietnams share within the US rubber imports accounted for 1.59 per cent, slightly down from 1.65 per cent in 2019. The International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), composed of rubber producing and consuming stakeholders, found that total global rubber demand in 2020 decreased by 8 per cent to 26.5 million tonnes. Demand for natural rubber decreased by 8.1 per cent to 12.5 million tonnes while demand for synthetic rubber reduced by 7.9 per cent to 14 million tonnes. Meanwhile, global production of natural rubber went down by 5.9 per cent in 2020 due to abnormal weather, rubber tree defoliation, and the pandemic, which mostly affected production in Southeast Asian countries. In 2021, the situation of the global rubber market may change amid rising oil prices and expectations of recovering economies. The IRSG forecasts that the worlds demand for natural rubber this year will recover thanks to a higher demand for commercial vehicles, particularly in emerging markets. The demand for synthetic rubber is forecast to rise by 10.2 per cent on-year thanks to strong demand for gloves and other seasonal products. Besides that, the market may also profit from rising oil prices and a weaker US dollar. Meanwhile, at the Osaka Dojima Commodity Exchange (ODE), the prices of rubber for the July 2021 term increased to the highest level in four years, thanks to the recovery of term prices at the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Although the rubber market in 2021 remains very unpredictable, the increase in rubber prices is still considered good news for rubber producing countries like Vietnam. For example, the nations rubber exports to the Indian market are expected to see more positive growth this year. According to the Nomura Research Institute, the Indian automobile industry is expected to recover strongly in this fiscal year after the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which may also increase demand for Vietnamese rubber. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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) Rand Paul has long pushed back on wearing face masks and previously sparred with Dr. Anthony Fauci. On Thursday, he managed to do both during a Senate hearing on the country's coronavirus response efforts. In what CNBC bills as a "fiery exchange" between President Biden's chief medical adviser and the Kentucky senator, the latter mocked the former for advocating for face coverings for people who've already had COVID or been vaccinated, making the claim that those individuals have "virtually 0% chance" of contracting the virus. "Isn't it just theater?" asked Rand, who is also an ophthalmologist. He accused Fauci of "[parading] around in two masks for show," even though he's been vaccinated. Fauci instantly replied, "Here we go again with the theater." He then emphatically noted: "Can I just state for the record that masks are not theater. I totally disagree with you." story continues below Although Fauci conceded that people who have already had COVID have some antibody protection, perhaps for several months, it's not known exactly how long the antibodies last, per the Washington Post. Fauci also noted that virus variants are worrisome, as there is no guarantee antibodies fighting the original coronavirus strain would be effective against the variants. He added that even though people who've had COVID or been vaccinated may be less at risk for getting sick, it also remains unclear if they can still harbor and transmit the virus to others. Although the CDC released a guidelines update earlier this month that said people who've been fully vaccinated can gather indoors without masks with others who've been fully vaccinated, the agency noted that people should still wear masks and stay socially distanced in public, as well as around those with a higher risk for severe illness and in gatherings of unvaccinated people from more than one other household. (Read more Anthony Fauci stories.) Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. FLINT, MI -- Over December and January, with help from University of Michigan experts, a new filter for the Flint Community Schools Elon Musk-funded water filtration stations was selected, according to Kettering University officials. It has been more than two years since Musk pledged $480,350 through his foundation in October 2018 to cover the cost of purchasing and installing ultraviolet filtration systems in all Flint school buildings and the districts administration building. Laura Sullivan, professor of mechanical engineering at Kettering University, provided an update on the project during a Wednesday, March 17 Flint Board of Education meeting. Kettering University has taken on testing the stations before they are used by children. Sullivan said issues with the original manufacturer and Flint schools rapid administration changes have ultimately held up the project. The filter and UV water purification method within the water filtration stations will disinfect all lead and bacteria coming from the water pipes, allowing students to drink from and fill up water bottles at school drinking fountains. Previous lead testing data by the state showed multiple schools with amounts above the federal action limit for lead -- 15 parts per billion -- set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. By October of 2019, Flint schools had four hydration stations. Two units were sent to Kettering University to be tested, one of which was installed at Doyle Ryder Elementary School and one at Southwestern Classical Academy, according to prior MLive-The Flint Journal reporting. The Kettering University lab was tasked with testing the pair of units by running contaminated water through the system and making sure the water that came out is clean. Following that move, the university conducted field testing of the units in actual school buildings. Related: Flint schools reconfigure 81 water filtration stations donated by Elon Musk After receiving the hydrations stations, Kettering researchers needed to know more about the water pressure of the buildings in order to properly test conditions, Sullivan said. They received water pressure information but the manufacturer failed to answer questions that remained about the filter mechanism inside the fountain, she added. Former Superintendent Derrick Lopez pressed the manufacturer on what was inside the filter, Sullivan said. Sullivan said they contacted the National Sanitation Foundation, which provides filter certifications across the nation, and found the filter issued by the manufacturer did not have a certification. They decided to proceed with testing. Right away, one of the two hydration stations failed through both filters and the ultraviolet light, she said. Weeks before the pandemic led to a shut down in March 2020, the team tried troubleshooting, Sullivan said. She found the fountain that wasnt passing the test had a broken ultraviolet light. The manufacturer for the hydration station wasnt responding so Sullivan said she went straight to the ultraviolet light manufacturer who quickly responded. The end result was that this (ultraviolet light company) had provided updated firmware to the manufacturer of the hydration stations and he had failed to update the firmware in some of the hydration stations, or at least one of the two that we tested, she said. So it will have this updated firmware. It will be important to check this firmware in all stations as they are tested, Sullivan said. She also noted it has also been difficult to stick to the timeline because of the rapid change in administration in the school district. Sullivan said they have worked with three different superintendents over the years. Related: Flint schools will pay $207,000 to ousted superintendent, void disciplinary record Each time we had a new administration, there was a new person running the facilities part that needed to come up to speed and yet its the same manufacture that needs to be dealt with at the time, Sullivan said. So that probably adds to (the time). Once COVID-19 shut down schools, conversations continued with the manufacturer and the district. The manufacturer said he would replace the filters, but Sullivan said that didnt pan out. She said the manufacturer began asking the university what filter should be used. I guess in a world where everybody trusts everybody, we could have easily said Well, maybe you should try this filter, Sullivan said. My goal, probably even more than making these work is making sure the students and the teachers and the parents can trust that they work ... I know that if I made a recommendation about what filter to put in, then Im kind of bias on whether or not it will work. Therefore, Sullivan said she looked for outside experts for recommendations on filters. She along with perhaps everybody other than maybe people at the administrative level also ended communication with the manufacturer. Its what led to the recent collaboration with the University of Michigan to get the new filters. Kettering researchers will also recommend a pre-filter before the filter to ensure large matter is accounted for in the filtration process that could otherwise impede progress through the system. The new filter has the ability to both perform carbon block filtering, removing lead, and the ultra-filter. Its sort of a two-in-one, Sullivan said. It took a while for a manufacturer to be selected to build the hydration stations, following discussion with the city of Flint and technical advisory committee long after funding was received from Musk, she said. Outside of being compensated for materials, Kettering and its researchers are conducting the testing on a volunteer basis, Sullivan said. We just really wanted to help get this done, she said. The goal when Musk originally announced the funding, was to have the new stations installed by January 2019. Musk, CEO of Tesla and Space X, paid a visit in March 2019 to Doyle-Ryder Elementary School in Flint after the donation was announced. Related: Elon Musk visits Flint elementary school He has also donated $423,600 to the district through his foundation, established in 2002 by Musk and brother Kimbal, to purchase Chromebooks for all middle school students. In August 2019, the Flint Board of Education approved a proposal to pay $19,558 to Arch Environmental Group to perform water testing and flushing, also to be paid for with Musk Foundation funds. Read more on MLive: Flint schools will receive $114M or $36,000 per student from COVID-19 relief bill Sneeze guards in place, Flint schools ready for Monday student return to in-person learning UM-Flint will be back to normal in fall while maintaining safety protocols, chancellor says Flint Board of Education approves student return to classrooms by mid-March Elon Musk donates $480K to Flint schools for UV water filtration systems Elon Musk tells Flint students to push their creative limits Flint schools approve Elon Musk-funded water filtration system I think that they couldnt have found much better hosts for the show. I felt like I could talk to Lucas about my more masculine side, especially when I talk about my father, and him relating back to me about being a trans man, Nogueron told the Tribune by phone. And then talking to Richie about what felt like the more feminine side and accepting that part of me. I felt like they balance each other out really well. They made me feel incredibly safe, and they were very supportive. A monarch butterfly caterpillar. Monarchs are intolerant of freezing weather, and typically overwintered in Mexico. They now are overwintering in California, thanks to milder winter temperatures. Credit: Noah Whiteman, UC Berkeley Notwithstanding last month's cold snap in Texas and Louisiana, climate change is leading to warmer winter weather throughout the southern U.S., creating a golden opportunity for many tropical plants and animals to move north, according to a new study appearing this week in the journal Global Change Biology. Some of these species may be welcomed, such as sea turtles and the Florida manatee, which are expanding their ranges northward along the Atlantic Coast. Others, like the invasive Burmese pythonin the Florida Everglades, the largest measured 18 feet, end-to-end maybe less so. Equally unwelcome, and among the quickest to spread into warming areas, are the insects, including mosquitoes that carry diseases such as West Nile virus, Zika, dengue and yellow fever, and beetles that destroy native trees. "Quite a few mosquito species are expanding northward, as well as a lot of forestry pests: bark beetles, the southern mountain pine beetle," said Caroline Williams, associate professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a co-author of the paper. "In our study, we were really focusing on that boundary in the U.S. where we get that quick tropical-temperate transition. Changes in winter conditions are one of the major, if not the major, drivers of shifting distributions." That transition zone, northward of which freezes occur every winter, has always been a barrier to species that evolved in more stable temperatures, said Williams, who specializes in insect metabolismin particular, how winter freezes and snow affect the survival of species. "For the vast majority of organisms, if they freeze, they die," she said. "Cold snaps like the recent one in Texas might not happen for 30 or 50 or even 100 years, and then you see these widespread mortality events where tropical species that have been creeping northward are suddenly knocked back. But as the return times become longer and longer for these extreme cold events, it enables tropical species to get more and more of a foothold, and even maybe for populations to adapt in situ to allow them to tolerate more cold extremes in the future." The study, conducted by a team of 16 scientists led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), focused on the effects warming winters will have on the movement of a broad range of cold-sensitive tropical plants and animals into the Southern U.S., especially into the eight subtropical U.S. mainland states: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Williams and Katie Marshall of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver co-wrote the section on insects for the study. The team found that a number of tropical species, including insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, grasses, shrubs and trees, are enlarging their ranges to the north. Among them are species native to the U.S., such as mangroves, which are tropical salt-tolerant trees; and snook, a warm water coastal sport fish; and invasive species such as Burmese pythons, Cuban tree frogs, Brazilian pepper trees and buffelgrass. "We don't expect it to be a continuous process," said USGS research ecologist Michael Osland, the study's lead author. "There's going to be northward expansion, then contraction with extreme cold events, like the one that just occurred in Texas, and then movement again. But by the end of this century, we are expecting tropicalization to occur." A map showing North America's tropical-to-temperate transition zone. Red, orange and yellow depict the more tropical zones, and blues depict the more temperate zones, based on the coldest recorded temperature for each area between 1980 and 2009. Photos show some cold-sensitive plants and animals with northern range limits governed by winter cold temperature extremes. Credit: USGS The authors document several decades' worth of changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme cold snaps in San Francisco, Tucson, New Orleans and Tampaall cities with temperature records stretching back to at least 1948. In each city, they found, mean winter temperatures have risen over time, winter's coldest temperatures have gotten warmer, and there are fewer days each winter when the mercury falls below freezing. Temperature records from San Francisco International Airport, for example, show that before 1980, each winter would typically see several sub-freezing days. For the past 20 years, there has been only one day with sub-freezing temperatures. Changes already underway or anticipated in the home ranges of 22 plant and animal species from California to Florida include: Continuing displacement of temperate salt marsh plants by cold-sensitive mangrove forests along the Gulf and southern Atlantic coasts. While this encroachment has been happening over the last 30 years, with sea-level rise, mangroves may also move inland, displacing temperate and freshwater forests. Buffelgrass and other annual grasses moving into Southwestern deserts, fueling wildfire in native plant communities that have not evolved in conjunction with frequent fire. The likelihood that tropical mosquitos that can transmit encephalitis, West Nile virus and other diseases will further expand their ranges, putting millions of people and wildlife species at risk of these diseases. Probable northward movement, with warming winters, of the southern pine beetle, a pest that can damage commercially valuable pine forests in the Southeast. Recreational and commercial fisheries' disruption by changing migration patterns and the northward movement of coastal fishes. Tropical species may push out natives The changes are expected to result in some temperate zone plant and animal communities found today across the southern U.S. being replaced by tropical communities. "Unfortunately, the general story is that the species that are going to do really well are the more generalist speciestheir host plants or food sources are quite varied or widely distributed, and they have relatively wide thermal tolerance, so they can tolerate a wide range of conditions," Williams said. "And, by definition, these tend to be the pest speciesthat is why they are pests: They are adaptable, widespread and relatively unbothered by changes in conditions, whereas, the more specialized or boutique species are tending to decline as they get displaced from their relatively narrow niche." She cautioned that insect populations overall are falling worldwide. "We are seeing an alarming decrease in total numbers in natural areas, managed areas, national parks, tropical rain forestsglobally," she said. " So, although we are seeing some widespread pest species increasing, the overall pattern is that insects are declining extremely rapidly." The authors suggest in-depth laboratory studies to learn how tropical species can adapt to extreme conditions and modeling to show how lengthening intervals between cold snaps will affect plant and animal communities. "On a hopeful note, it is not that we are heading for extinction of absolutely everything, but we need to prepare for widespread shifts in the distribution of biodiversity as climate, including winter climate, changes," Williams said. "The actions that we take over the next 20 years are going to be critical in determining our trajectory. In addition to obvious shifts, like reducing our carbon footprint, we need to protect and restore habitat for insects. Individuals can create habitat in their own backyards for insects by cultivating native plants that support pollinators and other native insects. Those are little things that people can do and that can be important in providing corridors for species to move through our very fragmented habitats." More information: Michael J. Osland et al, Tropicalization of temperate ecosystems in North America: The northward range expansion of tropical organisms in response to warming winter temperatures, Global Change Biology (2021). Journal information: Global Change Biology Michael J. Osland et al, Tropicalization of temperate ecosystems in North America: The northward range expansion of tropical organisms in response to warming winter temperatures,(2021). DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15563 See PIs virtual products demos at Automate FORWARD 2021 Automation is the key to successfully respond to increasing demand coupled with less manpower and limited funds. PI makes it possible with its state-of-the-art precision motion technologies which will be displayed online during the week-long Automate FORWARD event. Trusted knowledgeable PI engineers, on-hand to answer questions via live chat, can also propose possible solutions for smart automation projects in industry, research, and science. 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PIs customers are leaders in high-tech industries and research institutes in fields such as photonics, life-sciences, semiconductors, and aerospace. Applications Blog | Videos | Twitter | LinkedIn Millions of Americans got to know Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa over the past year. She appeared in nationally televised COVID-19 briefings and in glossy magazine profiles. She rallied celebrities on social media to combat the pandemic. Whenever Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke to the public, DeRosa was seemingly always by his side, working her smartphone, shuffling paperwork and offering responses to just about any question reporters might ask about the greatest public health crisis to hit New York in a century. Like her boss, DeRosas developed a national reputation as an avatar of competence and calm, in stark contrast to the chaos emanating from the White House. Their strategy is simple: Be as transparent as possible, even when the news is bad, reads an April story in Elle, referring to Cuomos team. For better or worse, her time in the national spotlight was hardly over. As protests against systemic racism erupted last summer, causing other New York political figures such as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio embarrassment over their reluctance to stand up to their own police, DeRosa continued to enjoy flattering coverage. We flattened the curve, and we saved lives, she told Harpers Bazaar. We now must use that same energy and unity and resolve to confront and beat back 400 years of systemic racism and discrimination. The June issue of the fashion magazine featured DeRosa on one of six covers that also included a member of Congress, a widely respected epidemiologist and a six-time Olympic gold medalist. An advisory role to the transition team for President Joe Biden hinted at bigger things to come for the 38-year-old DeRosa. Instead of working 24 hours a day, shes been working 27 hours a day lately, an anonymous source told the Daily News in January. Now, with Cuomo under scrutiny for his management of COVID-19 in nursing homes and a series of sexual harassment allegations, DeRosas public image is again following the governors trajectory, and this time its downward. Her role in overseeing a report that undercounted COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents, as well as her role in contributing to a reportedly abusive work environment in the governors office, is leading a growing group of former gubernatorial staffers (and some anonymous current ones), state lawmakers and political insiders to say she embodies much of what is wrong with Cuomos reportedly brutal management style. The enforcer for all of this is Melissa DeRosa, a former senior Cuomo staffer told City & State on condition of anonymity. And the way she goes about it is often about tearing you down to build herself up, and it's usually about making sure other people see her do that to you, so they know they are a target as well. The Cuomo administration denies these charges. Melissa is the exact same person behind the scenes as she is on camera tough, hardworking, brilliant, meticulously prepared, and always fighting to improve the lives of New Yorkers, Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said in a statement. The governor is the indisputable head of his administration, but DeRosa (the first woman to ever be named to the top appointed position in the state) has an outsized influence in keeping staff in line. She entered the administration in 2013 as a spokesperson for the governor working under then-Secretary to the Governor Bill Mulrow, and moved up the ranks of Cuomo confidants as other aides left the administration. By the time Cuomos last reputed enforcer Joe Percoco went to federal prison in 2018 following a federal conviction for bribery, DeRosa had become one of the few people inside the governors innermost circle, after succeeding Mulrow in 2017. DeRosa is definitely one of those people who, at the end of the day, their main goal is to make sure that he's happy, said a current gubernatorial staffer who requested anonymity to speak candidly. His personality is always an element in everything. The way she goes about it is often about tearing you down to build herself up, and it's usually about making sure other people see her do that to you, so they know they are a target as well. - former senior Cuomo staffer Like Cuomo, DeRosas image took its first major recent hit on Jan. 28, when a report on nursing home deaths released by Attorney General Letitia James stated the administration had undercounted the official death toll by 3,800 people in a report that DeRosa oversaw. The present scandals afflicting the administration really began accelerating after a Feb. 10 meeting between top administration officials and state lawmakers. The legislators were upset about months of delays in fulfilling their request to release data on exactly how many nursing home residents died of COVID-19 in hospitals. According to DeRosas comments in that meeting, the administration delayed releasing information to state lawmakers because the Department of Justice was also requesting similar information. We froze, she said. We were in a position where we werent sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice, or what we give to you guys, what we started saying, was going to be used against us. Those words were leaked to the New York Post. Cuomo then made a fateful telephone call, in which he allegedly threatened Assembly Member Ron Kim, demanding he disavow a statement on the brewing scandal or face retribution. Azzopardi told The New York Times that Cuomo had only asked Kim to clarify his remarks. The governor went on to criticize Kim in a press conference, making accusations of unethical fundraising practices. A full transcript of the Feb. 10 meeting was released on Feb. 17, and the scandal blew up from there. As The Wall Street Journal reported, DeRosa and other top gubernatorial advisers including Health Department Commissioner Howard Zucker, Department of Financial Services Superintendent Linda Lacewell and SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras reviewed and requested changes to a July report by the state Department of Health that blamed unwitting nursing home staff for spreading the coronavirus in facilities across the state. An earlier version of the report included thousands of deaths among nursing home residents in hospitals, which did not appear in the final version after DeRosa and Lacewell saw the data, according to the Times. Cuomo administration officials said that was because they remained unsure at the time about the accuracy of the data. Strong-willed men in politics are often portrayed as these like manic geniuses. Strong-willed women and politics are somehow always just a mix of Miranda Priestly and Regina George. - political consultant Lis Smith, who has worked with DeRosa in the past Another growing scandal meanwhile belied the political persona DeRosa, who declined to speak with City & State for this story, cultivated as a no-nonsense, can-do professional. People who have worked under her supervision though told New York magazine that the executive chamber is not as efficient and competent as its reputation suggested. Theres so much fear all the time, former speechwriter Camonghne Felix told the magazine. Thats bad because it stops not just progress; it stops government from efficient governing. DeRosa has been known to shame colleagues with dismissive looks, profanity and insults, according to a former senior gubernatorial staffer. "One thing that's noteworthy about Melissa is her penchant for impossible requests, the former staffer told City & State, on the condition of anonymity to avoid reprisal from the administration. For example, one might be ordered to get someone to change an already-published statement and insulted if unable to do so. It often can feel when you're working for Melissa DeRosa like you are trapped and condemned to failure. Staffers expend a lot of effort pleasing the governor. Longtime staffers advise young women to bring heels and skirts whenever Cuomo is around, the Times reported. Men supposedly had to keep their shoes shined or risk a displeased comment from the boss, according to WNYC. I got screamed at for a lot of bad photos, one former staffer told New York, of selecting which gubernatorial photos to release to the public. A current staffer said DeRosa could leave underlings scrambling to get things done with little notice or issue a sudden request to track which cable news networks are featuring Cuomo for the longest time on screen. This is obviously a hard charging environment that's not for everyone but I'm not going to stand by and let her be maligned, Azzopardi said in a statement to City & State, in response to those claims Cuomo critics have drawn a link between DeRosas managerial style and the numerous allegations of sexual harassment and assault against the governor. She has not been linked to any of the allegations, but she nonetheless faces her own allegations of abusive behavior. When Melissa looked at me; I could not have felt like less of a human being, one former staffer told New York. Screaming, cursing and crying were common sights when DeRosa dealt with subordinates, according to The New York Times. Weve promoted each other, and weve supported one another, DeRosa told reporters after multiple women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct. And I dont think that this diminishes any of that. Anybody, regardless of their sex or their gender or their gender identity, can be an enabler, a power abuser or a gatekeeper, and that includes Melissa DeRosa. Erica Vladimer, co-founder of the Sexual Harassment Working Group DeRosa defending Cuomo is nothing new, and obviously expected given her role, but her critics have said that she oversteps the line of civility. You're both full of shit and a pretty terrible person, she told Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, a former gubernatorial staffer who has become a vocal critic of the governor in office, in texts made public by New York. Biaggi didnt respond in kind, but DeRosa went on to call her a bad person and full of shit again. That is not the first time that DeRosa, or people under her supervision, have gone after critics of the governor in starkly personal terms. DeRosa called former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon unhinged while she campaigned against Cuomo in the 2018 primary. Azzopardi called three female lawmakers fucking idiots after they held a press conference highlighting gubernatorial fundraising during budget season the following year. The irony is that DeRosa herself has detailed her own experiences with workplace abuse in a state Capitol where sexual harassment remains a norm to this day. She too has had to endure salacious comments from powerful men who preach the virtues of equality in public. Im not sure which I find more offensive the fact that this kind of behavior has been allowed to continue to go on as long as it has, or the idea that everyone is acting as if they are just now finding out about it, she said at a 2017 keynote address at delivered at Berkeley College's Women in Media conference. Yet, her ongoing efforts to defend Cuomo strike some as holding up the type of social progress that DeRosa, the chair of the New York State Council on Women and Girls, has supposedly championed for years. That does not make her immune to criticism, according to Erica Vladimer, a former legislative staffer and co-founder of the Sexual Harassment Working Group, said in an interview. Anybody, regardless of their sex or their gender or their gender identity, can be an enabler, a power abuser or a gatekeeper, and that includes Melissa DeRosa, Vladimer said. Getting called an enabler of an alleged sexual harasser and abusive boss inserts elements of tragedy into the ongoing saga of DeRosa. Exposed to politics at an early age, she has risen through the ranks of state government as a staffer to former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the governor. She has played a key role in Cuomo administration accomplishments like expanding the minimum wage, paid family leave and tuition assistance programs for public college students. She has helped normalize fertility treatments for women by going public with her own personal struggles. She also had a key role in helping New Yorkers survive COVID-19 at a time when leadership from the federal government was conspicuously absent. It is not as if other opportunities do not exist for DeRosa in Albany either. Several members of her family are in the lobbying business, including her father Giorgio DeRosa, who is among the most highly paid lobbyists in the state. Melissa DeRosa, though, has remained in public service. Some past colleagues say that DeRosa faces a double standard. Strong-willed men in politics are often portrayed as these like manic geniuses, political consultant Lis Smith, who has worked with DeRosa in the past, said in an interview. Strong-willed women and politics are somehow always just a mix of Miranda Priestly and Regina George, she added, referring to the famously nasty, diva-ish antagonists of the films The Devil Wears Prada and Mean Girls, respectively. That just doesn't capture who Melissa is, Smith said. While she too is facing calls for her resignation, some of her critics remain sympathetic to her plight, arguing that Cuomos top lieutenants are simply dishing out what their boss has served them. His presence is always suffocating, the current gubernatorial staffer said. Karen Hinton, one of the women alleging wrongdoing against Cuomo, told WNYC that DeRosa has been abused as well. Be that as it may, she remains ever-loyal, having stayed with the governor since 2013, while other gubernatorial confidants like former counsel Alphonso David have moved on. If the scandals engulfing Cuomo force him out of office or cost him reelection in 2022, its unclear where that will leave DeRosa. A few weeks ago her future opportunities appeared boundless. Much less so now, according to a longtime Albany insider. She has a job with Andrew Cuomo for as long as hes there and as long as she wants it, one Democratic insider told City & State. The problem is, her fate is tied to Andrew Cuomo. WASHINGTON House Democrats defeated an attempt by Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield to remove Rep. Eric Swalwell from the Intelligence Committee on Thursday, the latest salvo in GOP efforts to tarnish the East Bay Democrat. The vote was 218-200 along party lines to table McCarthys resolution to strip Swalwells committee assignment, with three Republicans voting present. McCarthy has attacked Swalwell over a report last year that the FBI told him in 2015 that a woman who had helped raise funds for his campaign was suspected of being a Chinese spy. Swalwell broke off contact with the woman after the briefing and was not accused of wrongdoing. The Livermore Democrat was a prosecutor in this years impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump and has sued him and three others, including a House Republican, over the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. The contents of the FBI investigation are classified, but congressional leaders were briefed on it in 2015 and took no action. Swalwell was named to the Intelligence Committee, whose members are handpicked by party leadership, that same year. McCarthy has cited the classified nature of the briefing to cast suspicion on Swalwell, while declining to provide evidence to back up his assertion that it disqualified the Democrat from being on the Intelligence Committee. McCarthy was pressed on the issue at a news conference Thursday. I cant talk about what I learned in classified briefing, McCarthy said. What you know in the public domain right now, this individual couldnt get a security clearance for a private sector job. Why would you put him in on (the committee)? When a reporter pointed out that Swalwell cooperated with the FBI and was not suspected of wrongdoing, McCarthy again cited secrecy restrictions. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, who as chair of the Intelligence Committee has access to the same classified information as McCarthy, decried the attacks on Swalwell. Its disturbing that Kevin McCarthy is attempting to weaponize classified counterintelligence briefings as a political cudgel, and use them to smear a House colleague in the process, Schiff said in a statement. Members face real counterintelligence risks from sophisticated actors, and bad faith political attacks on members will only make it more difficult to respond. Swalwell did not respond to a request for comment Thursday, but tweeted that McCarthy was deflecting from other Republicans embrace of the QAnon conspiracy theory. Last week, Swalwell tweeted of McCarthy: There is no dumber man in America than this loser. Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan Tajikistan to see exports rise to 1.9Mt by 2023 19 March 2021 Tajikistan is expected to see cement exports increase by 200,000tpa and reach 1.9Mt by 2023. Overall cement production in the country is also projected to rise to 5.3Mt by the same time. More than 4.2Mt of cement was produced in 2020 and over 1.3Mt was exported to neighbouring countries, according to the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies. Uzbekistan (764,000t) and Afghanistan (505,000t) were the main importers, while 42,000 were sent to Kyrgyzstan. Published under Administratorii portalului nu poarta raspundere pentru continutul postarilor si materialelor plasate de utilizatorii site-ului. Utilizati informatia din acest articol pe propriul risc. Ferro-Alloy Resources Limited ( ) is analysed by Proactive's mining analyst Alastair Ford following this weeks' announcement that former Xstrata boss Mick Davis is now involved. Ford discusses what Davis's reputation brings to the company, where his new vehicle Vision Blue Resources has also invested US$12.6mln. This was then followed by chairman Christopher Thomas topping up his holding in the Kazakhstan-based vanadium miner. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 Aizawl/New Delhi, March 19 : A high level Mizoram government team on Friday urged the central government to provide relief to the people sheltered in the bordering state after fleeing from the neighbouring military coup-hit Myanmar. A statement by the Mizoram government said that at the instruction of Chief Minister Zoramthanga, a high profile four-member team met Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai at his office in New Delhi and discussed issues concerning relief measures for Myanmar refugees in Mizoram and matters relating to formalities for relocation of Assam Rifles to Zokhawsang from their present location in Aizawl. The Mizoram team also separately met Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and discussed the issue. The release said that the team voiced the pressing need to extend necessary help and support to Myanmar refugees who are victims of violence and brutality under military rule in Myanmar. "While ruling out the possibility of deporting these refugees until situation in Myanmar gets back to normal, members of the team requested the central government's intervention for providing necessary relief measures to refugees staying in Mizoram and expressed hope that India will take a more proactive role and raise a stronger voice in support of people fighting for restoration of democracy in Myanmar," it said. The four-member team comprising Mizoram's Lok Sabha C.Lalrosanga, Rajya Sabha member K.Vanlalvena, the State Planning Board Vice-Chairman H.Rammawi and Mizo National Front Adviser Rosangzuala, also urged the Union Minister to take appropriate steps to relocate the Assam Rifles Headquarters to Zokhawsang. Vanlalvena, on Tuesday while discussing the matter in the Rajya Sabha urged the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to consider the plight of the people protesting against the military rule in Myanmar and relax its policy towards Myanmar refugees crossing over to India.He informed the House that over 300 Myanmar nationals who have crossed the border are currently taking shelter in Mizoram, of which about 150 are police personnel. Vanlalvena told the House that it would not go down well with the people in Mizoram if the Central government insists on deporting these refugees, who belong to the Mizo ethnic tribe, and it is not possible to deport them until the situation in Myanmar improves. Vanlalvena, who is also a senior leader of the ruling MNF, told IANS over phone from Delhi that he also met Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M.Venkaiah Naidu and sought the central government's intervention for restoration of peace in the coup-hit Myanmar. Mizoram government official release said that the state government and NGOs in Mizoram have been providing immediate help and shelter to these refugees. Meanwhile, the MHA had recently given directions to the chief secretaries of four northeastern states -- Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur -- sharing borders with Myanmar to not entertain Myanmar refugees. It also instructed Assam Rifles to seal the border and prevent entry from the neighbouring country, the release said. A Mizoram government official said that the Deputy Secretary (NE), MHA, Krishna Mohan Uppu, in his March 10 letter to the chief secretaries of these four states and the Director General of Assam Rifles had asked them to sensitise all the law enforcement and intelligence agencies for taking prompt steps in identifying illegal migrants and initiate their deportation process without delay. Uppu said that the Ministry's Foreigners' Division had also issued instructions to the 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 the state governments and UT administrations have no power 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. Myanmar's Falam district authorities last week requested the Deputy Commissioner of Champai district in Mizoram to send back their police officers, who had crossed into Mizoram since March 3.A one-year state of emergency has been declared in Myanmar where power has been 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. A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts: ___ Racist Facebook post attributed to Atlanta shooting suspect is fake THE CLAIM: On Tuesday, hours before police say Robert Aaron Long killed eight people at three Atlanta-area massage businesses, he posted on Facebook that China was engaged in a COVID coverup and AMERICANS NEED TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST CHINA, NOW. THE FACTS: The post is not authentic. The fictitious image began circulating Tuesday night after Long was identified as a suspect in the mass shootings that took place at the Atlanta-area massage businesses. The image is designed to look like a Facebook post made by Long. It uses a picture of him, which was circulating widely in media reports Tuesday night, next to what looks like a Facebook update that accuses China of a COVID coverup and calls the country THE GREATEST EVIL OF OUR TIME. In an email, Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said the platform was removing the post. Weve confirmed that these screenshots are fake and were removing them from the platform for violating our policies, Stone said in a statement. Still, the manipulated image continues to be shared by some on Twitter and Facebook. The falsified screenshot was also being picked up by outlets that serve the Korean American community, and news sites in South Korea, in their coverage of the shootings. South Koreas Foreign Ministry earlier said that its diplomats in Atlanta have confirmed that four of the victims who died were of Korean descent. Tuesdays mass shooting has raised further fear amid a surge in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans. Associated Press writer Amanda Seitz in Chicago contributed this report. ___ Claim that 9,000 border crossers were apprehended in 2020 is false CLAIM: In all of 2020, there were only 9,000 immigrants caught at the border without legal status. So far in 2021, 108,000 entered the country. THE FACTS: A popular Facebook post is spreading false statistics about the number of migrants apprehended at the southern border since President Joe Biden took office compared to the last year of the Trump administration. SLEEPY JOE NOW SAYING HE INHERITED A MESS AT THE BORDER. FACT: 9,000 ILLEGALS ALL OF 2020. SO FAR IN 2021 108,000 ENTERED U.S, says the post, which has been shared thousands of times on Facebook. But those numbers are not correct. U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not document the number of individuals who were stopped but rather the number of encounters, which can reflect the same person attempting to cross more than once. Monthly statistics from CBP show that from January 1 to December, 31, 2020, the last full year of Trumps presidency, border officials had 547,816 encounters with people trying to cross the Southwest border. Biden took office on Jan. 20. In the first two months of 2021, there were 178,883 encounters, according to CBP numbers. It is unclear where the incorrect statistics shared on social media came from. Data from CBP show that more than 70 percent of encounters at the border in February resulted in immediate expulsions. Associated Press writer Jude Joffe-Block in Phoenix contributed this report. __ Video of Biden with reporters was not digitally altered CLAIM: Video of President Joe Biden was digitally altered to make it appear that he spoke to the press on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on March 16, and a blurry microphone in the shot proves the video was manipulated. THE FACTS: The interaction between Biden and reporters was documented by multiple cameras, including an Associated Press photographer, and the video in question was not altered. False claims circulated on Twitter and TikTok stating that a video of Biden talking to reporters before boarding Marine One had been doctored to make it appear that he took questions from the press. The bogus claim is the latest to be spread by conspiracy theorists who say Biden is not the president or that he is incapable of speaking to the press. Biden was on his way to Chester, Pennsylvania, to argue that his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package can help boost small businesses, when he stopped briefly to answer reporters' questions. In the uploaded video, a boom mic appears blurry, and multiple Twitter users claimed that the mic had been digitally edited into the video because of how Bidens hand appeared to reach over the mic. Some social media posts, including a TikTok post with 2.4 million views, claimed Biden was standing in front of a green screen. Look at Bidens hands and the reporters fuzzy microphones in the foreground at 0:10. This footage has been digitally altered, one Twitter post falsely stated. Biden Fakes Interview, Green Screen Fails, a YouTube video with more than 370,000 views falsely claimed. But the interaction captured in the video was real and both the scene and the microphone in question were documented by multiple media outlets, including an AP photo. The video discussed online is a lower resolution version of the original video shot by a White House pool videographer. The same video at higher resolution shows the microphone in the foreground was much clearer than it appeared in social media uploads. There is no sign of manipulation or green-screening, said Hany Farid, a professor who focuses on digital forensics at the University of California, Berkeley. In this higher resolution version, I see where the strange movement of the one mic comes from, but I think all that is happening is the mic is coming from below and President Biden reaches over it. Associated Press writer Arijeta Lajka in New York contributed this report. ___ US and EU COVID vaccines dont contain aluminum CLAIM: COVID-19 vaccines contain aluminum, a toxic ingredient that enters the brain and causes disease. THE FACTS: The COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use in the United States do not contain any aluminum, according to their ingredient lists. Nor do the AstraZeneca or Sputnik V vaccines. Some Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, as well as some vaccines used against other diseases, do use tiny amounts of aluminum to help boost the immune response. This method is safe and the quantity of aluminum is trivial compared to what humans encounter elsewhere in everyday life, experts say. Aluminum has been used in vaccines since the 1930s as an adjuvant, or immune booster, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The amount of aluminum in a shot is minimal similar to the amount of aluminum found in a liter of baby formula, the Vaccine Education Center at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia explains. Posts circulating widely on social media this week weaponized long-held misconceptions about the safety of aluminum in vaccines to stoke fears in the population about getting a COVID-19 shot, even though most coronavirus vaccines that are currently in use dont contain the ingredient. A video viewed more than 200,000 times on Instagram featured footage from a February 2020 committee hearing in the Connecticut General Assembly in which a doctor testified that the aluminum in vaccines is dangerous. Its false to suggest that the aluminum in vaccines is the cause of significant health problems, according to Dr. Christopher Gill, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Boston University School of Public Health. The safety of aluminum adjuvants has been researched extensively, and there are no harmful effects detectable, Gill told The Associated Press in an email. The amount of aluminum in a typical vaccine is about a thousand times less than the recommended safe dose for aluminum exposure, Gill said. Its also far less than the amount of aluminum we expose ourselves to from things we eat, drink and touch on a daily basis, according to Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician and director of the Vaccine Education Center. Social media users commenting on the Instagram post also interpreted it to refer to the COVID-19 vaccines that have become more widely available in recent months. That's misleading as most COVID-19 vaccines currently in use contain no aluminum. Some Chinese COVID-19 vaccines do use aluminum adjuvants, according to their ingredient lists. Other immunizations that use aluminum adjuvants include vaccines against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, human papillomavirus and the DTaP vaccine, which protects children against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. "In all cases, vaccines containing adjuvants are tested for safety and effectiveness in clinical trials before they are licensed for use in the United States, and they are continuously monitored by CDC and FDA once they are approved, the CDC says on its website. Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in Seattle contributed this report. ___ Under Biden, US still expels many migrants at border CLAIM: President Joe Biden is not screening immigrants for COVID-19 at the border and is allowing everyone in no matter what. THE FACTS: Social media users are falsely claiming that all border crossers are being let in at the border without any COVID-19 screening. One widely shared Facebook post uses a popular meme of the rapper Drake to suggest when it comes to the policy of Screen immigrants for COVID on the border, Biden disapproves. But when it comes to the policy of Allow everyone in no matter what, he approves. In fact, February data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows the Biden administration has continued to use an existing public health rule to immediately expel more than 70 percent of asylum seekers and border crossers stopped at the border. The rule, known as Title 42, was first invoked by the Trump administration at the start of the pandemic a year ago. First of all, lets be clear, the border is not open, Troy Miller, the acting CBP commissioner, told reporters on March 10. One change under Biden is that border agents are no longer expelling unaccompanied migrant children who cross the border without parents or guardians. U.S. Border Patrol is also releasing some families into the country with immigration court dates rather than expelling them since certain sites in Mexico have limited the number of returned families they will accept. On Wednesday, at a hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayoraks said in those cases, We place those families in immigration proceedings. And if in fact they do not have a claim for relief under the law, they are to be, and will be, returned. COVID-19 testing protocols at the border have been uneven and have been changing quickly, but the claim that there is no screening is misleading. Since the Biden administration began processing asylum seekers last month who had been previously been forced to wait in Mexico, those asylum seekers must take rapid antigen COVID-19 tests before they can enter the United States. In contrast, other kinds of migrants in CBP custody were screened, and those with suspected COVID cases were referred for testing, according to a March 12 statement from the agency. At Wednesday's hearing, Mayorkas said his agency has updated its testing policy to work with community-based organizations, local entities and states to test and quarantine migrants. When those three options are not available, we are now retaining a vendor to test individuals who are in CBP custody, and if in fact they test positive, we transport them to ICE facilities for quarantine before release, Mayorkas said. Jude Joffe-Block __ Getting COVID-19 vaccine does not affect life insurance payouts CLAIM: If you receive the COVID-19 vaccine and die, insurance companies will not pay out on the policy because the vaccine is experimental. THE FACTS: Life insurance policies have not changed because of the COVID-19 vaccination and getting the shot will not impact whether a policy pays out in the event of death, according to the American Council of Life Insurers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given emergency use authorization to three COVID-19 vaccines after finding them safe and effective following three phases of clinical trials involving thousands of people. Since the posts began surfacing last week, the American Council of Life Insurers has received a flood of calls asking about the false claim. The ACLI released a news release debunking the erroneous information, explaining that the vaccine does not change whether a policyholder receives their benefit. Life insurance policies outline when death benefits are paid and the payments are made regardless of the cause of death, said Jan Graeber, a senior health actuary at ACLI. Life insurance is pretty straight forward, she said. It pays from death. Posts making the false claim about death benefits were shared across Twitter, Facebook and TikTok. I just spoke with my insurance company, because I was curious, that if I got the vaccine for COVID and passed away from complications, would my life insurance policy be valid. Well. Guess what?? They confirmed they would not pay out my policy, because the vaccine is experimental. Wake up!!!, one Facebook post said. Another TikTok video encouraged social media users to contact their life insurance company to ask about how the vaccine would affect their policies. Experts say getting the shot could have an impact, just not the one mentioned in the post. Getting the vaccine would help to limit any life insurance premium increases related to COVID-19, said W. Bruce Vogel, an associate professor in the Division of Health Outcomes and Implementation Science at the University of Florida. Only if the vaccine itself increased mortality would you expect it to increase life insurance premiums, and there is no evidence of that so far, Vogel said in an email. The fact that the vaccine is being given so widely suggests at least an implicit finding by the FDA that the potential rewards outweigh the risks. Associated Press writer Beatrice Dupuy in New York contributed this report. ___ Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck ___ Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck __ Andrew Forrest, Chairman, Minderoo Foundation speaks at The 2017 Concordia Annual Summit at Grand Hyatt New York on September 19, 2017 in New York City. (Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit) Andrew Forrest Vows to Make His Iron Ore Operations Carbon Neutral by 2030 Australian iron ore mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has announced that his Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) plans to get into the green energy business and aims to become completely carbon neutral by 2030ten years earlier than its original target. To achieve this, FMG will develop a range of green electricity, green hydrogen, and green ammonia projects in Australia via its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fortescue Future Industries (FFI). Ammonia can be used to safely store and transport hydrogen. FMG chair Andrew Forrest said his projects would also aim to prove the economic value of green hydrogen in world-scale operations. We have joined the global battle to defeat climate change, Forrest said. We are trialling and demonstrating green hydrogen technologies in global-scale commercial environments, while also rapidly evolving into a green hydrogen and electricity producer of similar scale. The iron ore magnate said he aimed to create both the demand and the supply of green hydrogen, saying that these were the two missing links in the climate change battle. The steel-making industry, which relies on iron ore, produces about 1.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per tonne of steel produced. According to the International Energy Agency, the iron and steel industry accounts for approximately 6.7 percent of total world CO2 emissions. He said this has the potential to eliminate fossil fuels from FMGs supply chains, with FMG noting it was on track to consume 1 billion litres of diesel fuel per year if it didnt make the change. Some of the projects FFI will deliver include developing a ship design powered by green ammonia and trialling that design in new ammonia engine technology; testing large battery technology in its haul trucks; and trialling hydrogen fuel cell power for its drill rigs. It also includes trialling technology on its locomotives to run on green ammonia and conducting trials to use renewable energy in the Pilbara region to convert iron ore to green iron at low temperatures, without coal. FMG CEO Elizabeth Gaines said, Each of these projects will contribute to the worlds inexorable march to carbon neutrality. Fortescue will establish that the major steel, truck, train, ship and mobile plant industries can be operated with renewable, environmentally friendly energy, Gaines said. This will be possible as a result of these ground-breaking Fortescue trials. FMG hopes its trials will prove that the demand for direct green electricity, green hydrogen, and green ammonia could one day be as large as the fossil fuel industry. Forrest said his green energy initiatives might one day out scale his iron ore business due to the global demand for renewable energy, but he noted that FMGs commitment to iron ore and resources globally remains indefeasible. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- K92 Mining Inc. (K92 or the Company) (TSX: KNT; OTCQX: KNTNF) provides the following update on the Kainantu operations and the increasing presence of COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea. The Kainantu Gold Mine, located in Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea, continues to operate, with a number of COVID-19 cases identified through our containment measures, contact tracing, quarantine procedures and routine testing. K92 has on-site quarantine facilities, which were significantly expanded during the last year. Additional protocols have been activated, and our number one priority is to protect the health and well-being of our personnel and local communities. Yesterday, the Government of Australia announced the temporary introduction of restrictions on travel between Papua New Guinea and Australia. The restriction includes the suspension of movement of resource sectors expatriate fly-in fly-out workforce between Papua New Guinea and Australia for a two-week period. The Company is engaging with the Governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea through the Papua New Guinea Chamber of Mines and Petroleum to ensure protocols in place will allow the resumption of travel following the suspension period. The suspension will result in a reduction in expatriate staffing levels over the short term, but this is not expected to significantly impact production, although some non-production related activities may be impacted. The Company also advises that stoping operations have also been interrupted for a period of approximately two weeks as a result of an incident involving an underground loader, which prevented backfilling operations. While backfilling operations will recommence shortly, this will result in production from four high grade stopes to be deferred from the current quarter to the second quarter, resulting in the plant treating a larger amount of lower grade stockpile material during the current quarter. It should be noted that this is not expected to impact on the guidance production for 2021. Following the record production reported in Q4 2020, the Company has taken the opportunity to repay the outstanding balance of US$5 million due on the Trafigura loan during the current quarter, leaving the Company with no debt and an historically high cash balance of over US$67 million. About K92 K92 Mining Inc. is engaged in the production of gold, copper and silver from the Kora deposit at the Kainantu Gold Mine in the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea, as well as exploration and development of mineral deposits in the immediate vicinity of the mine. The Company declared commercial production from Kainantu in February 2018 and is in a strong financial position. The Company commenced an expansion of the mine based on an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment on the property which was published in January 2019 and updated in July 2020. K92 is operated by a team of mining company professionals with extensive international mine-building and operational experience. On Behalf of the Company, John Lewins, Chief Executive Officer and Director For further information, please contact David Medilek, P.Eng., CFA at +1-604-687-7130. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation. 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. All statements that address future plans, activities, events, or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur are forward-looking information, including statements regarding the realization of the preliminary economic analysis for the Kainantu Mine, expectations of future cash flows, the planned plant expansion, production results, cost of sales, sales of production, potential expansion of resources and the generation of further drilling results which may or may not occur. Forward-looking statements and information contained herein are based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the market price of the Companys securities, metal prices, exchange rates, taxation, the estimation, timing and amount of future exploration and development, capital and operating costs, the availability of financing, the receipt of regulatory approvals, environmental risks, title disputes, failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry, changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations in PNG, mitigation of the Covid-19 pandemic, continuation of the lifted state of emergency, and regulations and other matters. 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 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. Supplied by Rheinmetall and its partner companies, the Bundeswehrs System Panzergrenadier has reached an important milestone. On 18 March 2021, Lieutenant General Alfons Mais, the Chief of the German Army, declared the system fit to fight. He also recommended equipping NATOs spearhead formation, the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) 2023, which the Bundeswehr will furnish, with the new system. Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link System Panzergrenadier consists of an upgraded version of the Puma the infantry fighting vehicle made by the Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann joint venture PSM GmbH and the VJTF2023 version of the Future Soldier Expanded System (IdZ-ES) developed by Rheinmetall. (Picture source: Rheinmetall) In essence, System Panzergrenadier consists of an upgraded version of the Puma the infantry fighting vehicle made by the Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann joint venture PSM GmbH and the VJTF2023 version of the Future Soldier Expanded System (IdZ-ES) developed by Rheinmetall. Following extensive development and modification work, System Panzergrenadier underwent a three-week-long tactical evaluation at the Bergen major training area on the Luneburg Heath in northern Germany in February 2021. It passed the test with flying colors. System Panzergrenadier will substantially enhance the fighting strength and combat effectiveness of the VJTF 2023. Equipped with System Panzergrenadier, this formation will, for the first time in Germany, bring together a digitized vehicle platform the enhanced VJTF version of the Puma infantry fighting vehicle and a soldier system equipped for digital radio communication. System Panzergrenadier offers two key advantages: first, all soldiers, whether mounted or dismounted, can access the same information; and second, they are able to share this information with greater precision, more quickly and more robustly. The closely-knit network of sensors and effectors belonging to the soldiers and their infantry fighting vehicle minimizes the time between target detection and target engagement. This blending of capabilities into a single overarching system enables more effective tactical interaction of the soldiers and their IFV, enhancing, in turn, the overall combat effectiveness of mechanized infantry units. A total of forty VJTF-grade Puma infantry fighting vehicles will form part of the VJTF 2023 panoply of equipment. The most advanced version of the Puma to date, it includes, among other things, integration of standoff-capable effectors like the MELLS multirole lightweight guided missile system; additional sensors such as a new driver vision system; and improved C4I architecture. The new panoramic and driver vision system heralds the end of the periscope era. For the first time, the entire crew will be able to see through the armor, both day and night. The fusion mode combines daylight vision with high-performance thermal imaging, enabling swift detection of concealed targets around the clock. The Puma is the first significant Western combat vehicle to include a system like this as a standard feature. Puma IFV (Picture source: Rheinmetall) Now that the Puma IFV has been declared fit to fight, the German Armys Mechanized Infantry Corps finds itself on the threshold of a new era, with the prospect of the remaining battalions also being equipped with a comparable revamped version of the Puma. Embodying a systemic approach to reequipping vehicle platforms and soldier systems, System Panzergrenadier forms a sound foundation for conceptualizing and kitting out larger coherent systems of systems. Looking ahead, System Panzergrenadier thus becomes the basis for digitally networked and directed formations. Given the substantial increase in experience and capabilities in the field of IT system integration, this path provides a powerful impetus for future projects. In the consortium co-founded with PSM GmbH, Rheinmetall Electronics GmbH is responsible for the command capabilities workshare, and thus for assuring cross-platform networking of the system of systems. Furthermore, System Panzergrenadier is stimulating further development beyond the immediate project. The next generation of the IdZ-ES is already in the starting blocks, while the new Puma VJTF infantry fighting vehicle offers an excellent point of departure for expanded capabilities, e.g., in the sensor-to-shooter category. System Panzergrenadier is a technological trailblazer whose continued development is poised to deliver new capabilities for the German Armys Division 2027 and Digitized Land-Based Operations system, the D-LBO. 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. 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. One of the hottest movies that is being streamed online as of the moment is "Justice League Snyder Cut," which was long awaited by loyal DC fans. After all, the previous "Justice League" movie that didn't sit well with the franchise's faithful. The hanshtag #SnyderCut has been trending ever since and it has been one of the main reasons why the movie was brought to life. Why Was Zack Snyder Cut from Justice League? For those that aren't aware as to what really happened, Zack Snyder was actually the original director selected for "Justice League," but due to certain complications, he had to leave the project behind. According to an article by Variety, the director had to leave the movie due to a family tragedy, which was when Warner Bros. took matters in their own hands. It was reported that when Warner Bros. first announced that Snyder would be leaving the long awaited film, the studio decided to get the writer-director of Marvel Studios' very own Joss Whedon. However, this decision did not really play well with fans, as there have been a lot of complaints regarding how the 2017 movie went. Justice League Snyder Cut Rotten Tomatoes Rating Ever since the movie, fans of DC have started the #SnyderCut movement on Twitter and other social media in hopes of bringing back the director to finish the work that he had left. This decision proved very successful, as the "Justice League Snyder Cut" was able to correct the poor score that the original movie had gained on Rotten Tomatoes. When the 2017 movie came out, the movie only got a score of 40% coming from critics and just 71% coming from the audience. This poor score reflected how not a lot of people were thrilled to see the movie and still wanted something better. Thanks to the Snyder, the score has then been raised much higher than it originally was. The "Justice League Snyder Cut" amassed a 77% score from critics and 97% score from the audience on Rotten Tomatoes, as tweeted by Fandom. This score was much higher than the previous DC movie that was also able to gain mainstream success, "Joker." "Joker" was able to get a score of 68% from critics and 88% from the audience. Despite the massive success of the movie, it seems like fans are more thrilled with the current "Justice League Snyder Cut." Read Also: 'Justice League' Spoilers Update: Zack Snyder Teases Villain Deathstroke's Appearance In DC Film Is Zack Snyder's Justice League the Same as Whedon's Version? Per Reuters, the director, Zack Snyder, thanked all of the fans for making the movie possible. He noted that the film would have not come to life if it weren't for the whole movement. DC fans have been extremely persistent about the movie coming to life and while it started out as just talk, the fruits of their labor can now be seen in how the movie is doing. The movie takes a different turn now based on Zack Snyder's direction. Related Article: New Theme: Zack Snyder's Justice League Changes Colors from Blue to Red! Could This Make a Difference? WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI Police are investigating a threat made toward Lincoln Consolidated Schools Friday after the district received a call from someone threatening to blow up and shoot up the high school, police say. Police were called to the school, located 7425 Willis Rd., at about 9:23 a.m. Friday, March 19, after officials received a threatening call from an unknown person, according to the Michigan State Police. The school district went into a hard lockdown as police, using bomb sniffing dogs, searched the area and found no signs the threat was credible, police said. The safety of our students is our top priority, Lincoln Consolidated Schools Superintendent Robert Jansen said. We contacted police immediacy and went into lockdown following our protocol for these kinds of situations which sadly are not new things. The lockdown was lifted and classes resumed as normal by 12:20 p.m., officials said. A notice was sent to parents advising them of the incident, Jansen said. No suspects have been identified and police are continuing to investigate the threat. More from MLive: Equestrian store to open in Brightons Green Oak Village Place shopping center Talks of replacing Woody Allen in Ann Arbor mural reignited after new documentary Police standoff started by man pointing gun at deputy ends peacefully within minutes The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has determined that a large earthquake, which is expected to occur again in the Pacific Northwest sooner or later, could cause the spillway gates of a dam in Oregon to buckle, resulting in a potentially catastrophic flood. The Corps announced this week it will try to minimize the danger by reducing the maximum height of the lake by five feet starting in April. Hundreds of thousands of people, including those in the state capital, live downstream from the Detroit Dam, whose construction in the 1950s created the narrow, nine-mile long Detroit Lake. The move comes as Oregon and the wider Pacific Northwest are coming to grips with the big one that experts say is coming. Earthquakes in the Cascadia subduction zone, which extends from the ocean off Northern California to Canadas Vancouver Island, have an average magnitude of around 9, making them among the worlds biggest. A quake in that zone has a 37% probability of happening off Oregons coast in the next 50 years, according to Chris Goldfinger, an Oregon State University professor and earthquake geologist. Just last week, an earthquake early warning system was launched in Oregon. Operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, the state joined California in the system that sends alerts to smart phones. Washington state is expected to join the ShakeAlert system, which operates on an array of seismic sensors, in May. When a Cascadia event happens, the critical seconds of notice ShakeAlert warnings provide will save lives and reduce damage to important lifeline systems, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said the day it launched, on Thursday. Lawmakers are also trying to prepare the state for a major earthquake. In the Oregon Legislature, House Bill 3083 mandates that contracts for public works must adhere to seismic safety standards and seismic rehabilitation standards in constructing or renovating public buildings or critical infrastructure in earthquake-prone areas. A House committee has a work session scheduled for the bill on April 1. Lindsay Baker, an assistant director of the Oregon Department of Transportation, raised concerns about the bill, saying there is simply not sufficient funding to fully armor the entire transportation system in a reasonable timeframe. But Baker later told the House Committee on General Government she was relieved to hear that the states transportation system is not the focus of a new standard for seismic resiliency. In 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a seismic hazard analysis for Detroit Dam, and found the risk to be higher than Corps officials previously thought. Structural analysis has shown a possibility of the spillway gates buckling under the force of a full reservoir during a large earthquake, the Corps said in its statement. Risk is high enough to warrant immediate actions. A breach would send a surge of water shooting down the Santiam Canyon, which was devastated by a wildfire last summer, and onto where it opens up on the eastern edge of the Willamette Valley. Because Detroit Dam is located upstream of many communities including the state capital of Salem, Oregon, there is potential for devastating flooding to affect large portions of the narrow North Santiam River canyon and urban areas, the Corps said in its draft environmental assessment. Lowering the maximum level is a temporary solution to mitigate the risks and will have little impact, the Corps said. The lake is used for recreation, and most of the boat ramps would be unusable for up to a month. The Corps said it continues to evaluate the seismic performance of the spillway and other components of the dam to determine if long-term modifications or changes to operations will be necessary. That includes the potential for major reconstruction to address seismic risk. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Oregon Earthquake GAZA - Lines formed Friday outside five clinics in Gaza run by the health ministry after the recent arrival of about 20,000 doses of the Sputnik vaccine, which the Palestinian Authority received from the World Health Organization. In the Beit Lehya clinic in northern Gaza, 120 had registered but 200 showed up on Thursday and all received vaccines. "The interest in vaccines grows every day,'' the head of the clinic said. At the moment priority is given to those over age 65, those suffering from chronic illnesses, medical staff, security offices, teachers, and journalists due to their contact with the public. The Red Crescent is also vaccinating 60,000 others with the Sputnik vaccine in its own clinics, offered to Gaza by Qatar on the initiative of former Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan, who now resides abroad. Dahlan had offered to send some to the West Bank, but media sources say that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas allegedly rejected the offer. Abbas has shown a great deal of animosity towards Dahlan. Saying there are multiple regional COVID-19 vaccine collaboratives ready to administer shots and thousands of residents who would prefer the ease and familiarity of being taken care of close to home, dozens of legislators Thursday sent a letter to state officials urging them to start sending doses to regional sites. The current focus on sending the majority of doses to the seven mass vaccination sites and private pharmacies and ignoring local sites set up by public health departments working together is a mistake, said state Rep. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst. Regional Collaboratives are powered by local public health and public safety officials who have earned the trust of our communities. They are operating largely in easily accessible, well-known locations, the letter reads. They are the best suited to reach our constituents and those facing transportation challenges. They have prepared to scale their work to reach their maximum capacity. Our constituents and municipalities have expressed interest and, in many cases, a preference for these local, familiar sites. She and Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, co-authored the letter sent to Health and Human Services Secretary MaryLou Sudders that was signed by 54 senators and representatives across party lines and from various towns and cities in the state. We have these regional collaboratives that are set up to give 750 vaccines a day in hyper-local settings and are ready to go but they are waiting for the state to hand them the baton, Domb said. When vaccines first started becoming available to health care workers, emergency responders and then people 75 and older, many were given in town halls and senior citizen centers across the state. Since then state officials have focused on sending the majority of doses to the seven mass vaccination sites, and the state website only allows people to preregister for a shot at one of the seven locations. Gov. Charlie Baker told communities running small vaccination sites to consolidate to create regional sites that could operate five days a week and administer 750 doses daily. Amherst, which was running a site at the high school, joined with Northampton to create a regional site and Chicopee, which had an approved site at its senior center that never received doses, switched gears and joined with Holyoke, South Hadley and Granby to create a regional site. Neither has yet to receive one dose. By focusing on the large sites, it limits access to people, Domb said. Some people dont have a car and dont feel comfortable sharing rides and carpooling because of COVID, she said. A lot of people are reluctant to go to a place that they dont know, it isnt just older people. It is also important to start using the sites which are run by local departments of health so they are prepared when more vaccine is available and it is opened up to the general public, not just smaller select groups identified by age, health issues and occupations, she said. By starting to vaccinate smaller numbers of people the sites can identify and fix any possible flaws before they are widely used, Domb said. Legislators urged the administration to increase distribution of vaccine supply to our municipal partners. They are eager, ready, accessible, steeped in a commitment to equity, and among the very best prepared to get this job done and to do so quickly and well. They are known and trusted in our communities and can more successfully address vaccine hesitancy when needed, the letter said. Domb said it is also important to prioritize the private health system over public health. Investing in local public health now will sustain us in this crisis moment and in the days and years ahead, she said. Related content: Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have visited Atlanta just days after a white gunman killed eight people, most of them Asian American women. The visit, during a nationwide spike of anti-Asian violence, has added resonance with the presence of Ms Harris, the first person of South Asian descent to hold national office. And it comes as President Biden expressed support for the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act, a bill that would strengthen the governments reporting and response to hate crimes and provide resources to Asian American communities. While we do not yet know motive, as I said last week, we condemn in the strongest possible terms the ongoing crisis of gender-based and anti-Asian violence that has long plagued our nation, President Biden said in a statement. President Biden was meeting with Asian American state legislators and other community leaders before he and Ms Harris were to deliver remarks. White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said to expect President Biden to meet the moment that we are in. He understands and knows that over the past year that the community has been vilified and been scapegoated and theyve been attacked, she said. Expand Close Flowers outside Youngs Asian Massage parlour (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Flowers outside Youngs Asian Massage parlour (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Their trip was planned before the shooting, as part of a victory lap aimed at selling the benefits of pandemic relief legislation. But President Biden and Ms Harris instead are spending much of their visit consoling a community whose growing voting power helped secure their victory in Georgia and beyond. Activists have seen a rise of racist attacks. Nearly 3,800 incidents have been reported to Stop AAPI Hate, a California-based reporting centre for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and its partner advocacy groups, since March 2020. In his first primetime address to the nation as president last Thursday five days before the Atlanta killings at three massage businesses President Biden called attacks on Asian Americans un-American. Expand Close President Joe Biden speaks as Vice President Kamala Harris listens (Patrick Semansky/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp President Joe Biden speaks as Vice President Kamala Harris listens (Patrick Semansky/AP) He also used the visit to tour the headquarters of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, where he received a briefing on the state of the Covid-19 pandemic and delivered a pep talk to the agencys scientists. We owe you a gigantic debt of gratitude and we will for a long, long, long time, President Biden said, adding that under his administration science is back driving policy to combat the virus. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. WASHINGTON Canadian cannabis companies are cheering the reintroduction of the SAFE Banking Act to the U.S. House of Representatives today. The act proposes offering safe harbour to financial institutions like banks and insurance companies, who provide services to cannabis businesses and has long been seen as helpful for Canadian pot companies looking to expand to the U.S. The National Cannabis Industry Association says the bill was previously approved by the house in a 321-103 vote in September 2019 and then headed to the senate, but didn't move forward and had to be tabled again because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Aurora Cannabis Inc. says in a statement that it sees the reintroduction as a step in the right direction and it is optimistic more cannabis-friendly legislation will soon follow. The Edmonton-based company says it will keep assessing opportunities to participate in the U.S. cannabis market while it awaits the bill's reintroduction to the senate and its potential adoption. Canopy Growth Corp. vice-president of international government relations David Culver says in an email that he sees the bill as integral to the success of the cannabis industry and essential for positively impacting social equity. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2021. Companies in this story: (TSX:ACB, TSX:WEED) The Canadian Press WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden has refocused his trip to Georgia on Friday so he can meet with Asian American leaders about violence against their community. He has ordered flags flown at half-staff after the shooting that killed six Atlanta-area women of Asian descent. His administration is backing a bill that allows the Justice Department to review coronavirus-related hate crimes. And White House officials have spent two days working the phones, reaching out to leaders and advocates in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community and reaffirming their commitment to fighting anti-Asian hatred. "What I'm conveying to them is, we want you to be a part of the solution," White House senior adviser Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., said in an interview. "You all have been in the community running these programs. We want your expertise, we want your input into how we get past this. But it's also been an intensive two days of making sure that we're listening." But the flurry of activity comes as the massacre at three spas that left eight people dead is raising new questions about whether Biden has enough people of Asian descent on his staff to fully understand the needs and struggles of the more than 21 million Americans with Asian ancestry. It is a delicate question for Biden, who has vowed to have a Cabinet that looks like America and has said that equity would be a lodestar of his administration. Nearly two months into his presidency, Biden's administration only counts two people of Asian ancestry among his top advisers. Several AAPI leaders said Thursday that they appreciate the White House effort - including forceful statements from Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris denouncing the shootings - but that the incident underscores the importance of having Asian representation in the most senior levels of Biden's administration. One activist noted that White House officials have been asking AAPI groups for contacts to invite to a listening session with Biden on Friday, adding that it was striking that Biden's administration did not already have those contacts. "Did they know who to call immediately? Did they know how to mobilize?" said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss private conversations. "They're very smart people, but they are not people that are connected to the community." The person added, "We have worried from the beginning that not having a high-ranking AAPI in a position where they could be walking into [Chief of Staff] Ron Klain's office and saying, 'Hey, we kind of have a problem here?' is a real issue." AAPI leaders do say they have detected a more receptive tone from Biden officials in recent days. White House staffers have been in daily contact with aides to the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus since the attacks, for example, according to a congressional aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The aide said the tone of the talks between the Biden administration and CAPAC members has become more "supportive and appreciative," a change from conversations in December and January, when the group was pushing for Biden to nominate an AAPI Cabinet secretary, to no avail. "That's a world of difference," the aide said. "Any one of those [actions] in the last administration would have been significant. So the fact that all of that happened, almost immediately in the last few days, is very significant." The AAPI activist, who leads an advocacy group, added that administration officials have at least stopped citing Harris when their groups bring up the need for more Asian representation in Biden's Cabinet. Many activists had been frustrated that the Biden team would initially cite Harris's presence as though it eliminated the need for any other Asian American representation. "We always tell them, 'We admire the selection. She cannot be our point person for this. That's not her job, because she's too busy,' " the person said. "She's vice president, she's got significant other responsibilities . . . Give us a senior staff person in the White House who gets our issues." Harris is of Black and Indian descent. Katherine Tai, who was sworn in Thursday as the U.S. trade representative, is the first Asian American to hold the position since it was created 60 years ago. Vivek Murthy, who served as surgeon general under President Barack Obama, has been nominated by Biden for the same role, which is not a Cabinet-level position. Murthy has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. On Thursday, Biden tapped civil rights lawyer Kiran Arjandas Ahuja to lead the Office of Personnel Management. Ahuja worked in the same office from 2015 to 2017, and before that she led the AAPI initiative in the Obama White House. Biden also nominated Neera Tanden to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget. She would have been the first AAPI woman to head the agency, and the first Democratic Asian American woman to serve in the Cabinet. But Tanden withdrew her nomination after drawing bipartisan opposition because of past social media posts that attacked Republican lawmakers. When Tanden was first nominated, AAPI leaders had voiced their concern that she would not be confirmed. Shekar Narasimhan, chairman of the AAPI Victory Fund, was among those who pushed the Biden team for an Asian American Cabinet secretary, only to be disappointed when none were chosen. He is now advocating for Nani Coloretti, a Filipino American and a former deputy secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to be nominated as OMB Director in Tanden's place. Biden's Cabinet is the first in more than 20 years not to include any AAPI secretaries. "Let's just say we are no longer going to sort of not say where we stand," Narasimhan said Thursday. "It's become even more significant . . . and important at this moment in time for us to show that East Asians can be at the highest levels of government." Narasimhan said his group also wants concrete actions from the Justice Department to show that they are focusing on hate crimes. "There should be somebody who's point on this, who is going to give us information about what's going on, and show the country that we're dead serious about doing something," Narasimhan said. "Which, by the way, means you have to prosecute. And you have to throw the book at some people, right? We haven't seen that. We have not seen that . . . But now's the moment." Richmond defended Biden's efforts to have an inclusive group of advisers, and said people of Asian descent have a strong voice in the administration. He said the roles of Murthy and Tai "are serious positions. They have the ability to influence policy . . . We were proud of the historic nature of the AAPI representation in the Cabinet. We didn't focus on 'did a person have just the word have secretary in their name.' " Since the coronavirus pandemic spread from a market in Wuhan, China, Asian Americans - including in the Atlanta area - have faced escalating harassment and verbal abuse. Words of derision have come from random people on social media and on the street, but also from the nation's highest office. Former president Donald Trump repeatedly blamed China for unleashing the virus on the world and tanking the United States' economy. During his outbursts on the subject, Trump repeatedly used racially charged terms like "China virus," "Wuhan virus" and "kung flu." Across the nation, authorities have investigated roughly 3,800 incidents of anti-Asian abuse, advocates say. And the Atlanta area, where the killings occurred, has not been spared. Plaques that read "Wuhan plague" have appeared on buildings in the area. An Asian American schoolteacher and her husband found a slur spray-painted on their car after leaving the movies. An Asian American man on his way to a boba tea shop was told, "Thanks for covid." Biden and his surrogates have stressed that he and Harris have repeatedly spoken out against anti-Asian sentiment during the pandemic. They also criticized the rhetoric of Trump, saying it dangerously fanned the flames. In his first televised address as president, Biden condemned "vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans, who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated. . . . It's wrong. It's un-American. And it must stop." Many Asian Americans, including prominent AAPI legislators, saw Tuesday's tragedy as an outgrowth of virulent anti-Asian rhetoric and hate crimes tied to the coronavirus. Richmond said he often tells Asian American advocates that he empathizes with them, reflecting on discrimination he has faced as a Black man in America. He said he has asked the activists for their input on how to make things better, but also for their patience. "We can't erase the last couple of years," Richmond said. "We just had people storm the Capitol and call Black police officers protecting the Capitol the n-word. Some of it is that you're not going to be able to change those kinds of views. But we need to isolate them, and they need to not be welcomed to the mainstream." Over the past day, March 18, six ceasefire violations were recorded in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in Donbas. In the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group North, the occupiers fired 120 mm and 82mm mortars banned under the Minsk Agreements, heavy machine guns, different grenade launchers and small arms near Pivdenne (40km north-east of Donetsk). As a result, one Ukrainian soldier was killed, the press center of the JFO Headquarters informs. In the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group East, the enemy opened fire from 120mm mortars and different grenade launchers outside Vodiane in the Sea of Azov area; grenade machine guns and small arms in the suburbs of Bohdanivka (41km south-west of Donetsk). As of 7 a.m. March 19, no ceasefire violations were recorded in the JFO area. The Ukrainian side of the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC) informs about gross ceasefire violations committed by the armed formations of the Russian Federation in the territory of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The occupiers provoke the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine into firing back. ol 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: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is headed to the United States where he is likely to meet the pioneers of research on Artificial Intelligence (AI), the science of making machines that think like humans. Gandhi, who recently returned from Norway, is gearing up for another offshore visit, this time to the Silicon Valley in the US to expand his thoughts about artificial intelligence, party sources here said. The sources said Gandhi wants India to lead in the niche area which comes after software development, in which India has already won global recognition. While AI is still a nascent subject to most in India, many countries including China have begun investments in the area to strengthen research in it. A senior Congress leader said the idea was to bring back knowledge and implement it at the policy level in the Congress party's vision documents. ALSO READ: Rahul Gandhi targets BJP, says Congress will win Gujarat Assembly polls Facilitating Gandhis US visit is the chairman of Overseas Congress, Sam Pitroda, a technology innovator who was brought back to India by Rajiv Gandhi and was among those behind the telecom revolution in the country. The Congress VP had met leaders in the field of biotechnology during his Norway visit. He is currently grappling with the partys sliding electoral graph after a series of defeats. The Congress is set to lose Himachal Pradesh to the BJP in the upcoming state assembly poll. The party is weighed down by anti-incumbency sentiments and infighting in the state unit in Himachal Pradesh. In Gujarat, where elections are slated to be held later this year, it lost a veteran when party leader and former chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela walked out of the Congress. Gandhi will also address a conference on India At 70: Reflections On The Path Forward at the University of California, Berkeley, on September 11. ALSO READ: Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhis message on Patna rally 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. Advertisement He was an expert fighter ace who was credited with a staggering 80 kills during the First World War. Manfred von Richthofen, who was famously known as the Red Baron, was shot down and killed in April 1918 - seven months before the end of the war - after more than two years of instilling terror in Allied pilots. Now, a new book by historian Terry Treadwell charts the early life, exploits and death of the aristocrat turned fighter pilot through hundreds of images. Among the photographs are touching shots of him with his beloved Great Dane dog Moritz which show a more tender side to a man who was rightly feared in the air. Von Richthofen, who was only 25 when he died, said Moritz was the 'most beautiful creature ever created' and even described how he once took the animal flying with him. Also seen in The Red Baron: A Photographic Album of the First World War's Greatest Ace, Manfred Von Richthofen; is the pilot posing in front of the wreckage of a plane belonging to one of his many victims. Another rare image shows his own aircraft - complete with the Iron Cross emblazoned on the side - as it comes into land. And the wreckage of his plane after he was shot down and killed is seen being pored over by Allied troops, as is while a haunting close-up image shows his face after his death. A new book by historian Terry Treadwell charts the early life, exploits and death of aristocrat turned pilot Manfred von Richthofen, famously known as the Red Baron, through hundreds of images. Pictured left: The Red Baron with his beloved Great Dane Moritz. Right: A young Manfred von Richthofen standing in front of the wreckage of one of his victims Von Richthofen was shot down and killed in April 1918 - seven months before the end of the war - after more than two years of instilling terror in Allied pilots. Pictured: Manfred von Richthofen standing in front of his Albatros D.III plane at Roucourt, northern France, in April 1917 A photograph dated 1917 shows the Red Baron relaxing by sitting on a motorbike which is emblazoned with the name 'Lola', as well as the Iron Cross He may have been known as the Red Baron, but Manfred von Richthofen was actually a 'Free Lord', born into a Prussian aristocratic family in 1892. He grew up in Schweidnitz, Poland, where he excelled in gymnastics and he and his brother would hunt wild animals as children. Pictured: von Richthofen aged seven (left) and right, as a young cadet Von Richthofen bought his dog from a farmer in Flanders, Belgium. From then on, his dog remained a faithful companion. The Red Baron described in his diary how his dog was 'fond of playing billiards' and how, even at a year old, he was still 'child-like'. The dog would catch hares which the flying ace's mechanics were 'highly satisfied' with. However, on this point von Richthofen added that he did not 'much approve' and would give Moritz a 'whacking' if he caught him hunting. The pilot even wrote about how one of Moritz's ears was cut off by the propeller of a plane which he rushed in front of after its engine was started. Describing how the dog 'howled terribly', he said the propeller was 'smashed to bits' when it hit the dog. The Red Baron also noted how his dog had taken a 'sensible' view of the war by barking at Russian 'natives', who were on the opposing side in the war. In March 1916, after being posted to a base 35 miles from Verdun, in France, acquired his Great Dane, named Moritz, who remained a faithful companion until the pilot's death. Pictured: A delightful informal photograph of the baron and his dog Manfred von Richthofen with Moritz at Lechelle, central France, with Leutnant Erich Lowenhardt. Behind the pair is a German plane Seen left (centre, thid from top) is von Richthofen posing for a photo with fellow army cadets. Right: The fighter ace gives a smile as he poses in cap and flying gear during his early years as a fighter pilot. Von Richthofen first joined the war effort as a cavalryman, seeking glory in the traditional way - charging into action on horseback The Red Baron and and fellow flying ace Hauptmann (captain) Paul Henning von Osterroht are seen in April 1917, poring over a map to discuss the next possible mission Left: A young-looking von Richthofen wearing his Pour le Merite (the Blue Max) award, which he received in January 1917 after his 16th confirmed kill. Right: A relaxed-looking Manfred von Richthofen is seen returning from a mission A close-up shot of von Richthofen in the cockpit of his Albatros D.V about to taxi out with his mechanic Josef Holzapfel holding down the tail Moritz also had 'no great opinion of Frenchmen', according to his owner. According to Norma Franks and Alan Bennet, the authors of The Red Baron's Last Flight, when von Richthofen was killed, Moritz was adopted by a former flying colleague of his. The brilliant pilot met his end when he chased a British Sopwith Camel plane over the River Somme near Amiens in France at just 400ft from the ground. As the planes neared the Allied lines, bursts of fire from a second Allied plane, a machine gun and two Lewis light-machine guns on the ground opened up at the Red Baron's aircraft. The plane crash-landed and von Richthofen, having been shot through the chest, was found dead. Canadian pilot Captain Roy Brown was officially credited by the RAF with the coveted 'kill' after pursuing the German. On the ground, Australian soldiers led by Sergeant Cedric B. Popkin also opened fire at von Richthofen's plane. In July 1917, von Richthofen was shot in the head during a dogfight. The bullet gouged a finger-length groove in his head. He was rushed to hospital for surgery and Mr Treadwell describes hoe his personality was 'changed' by the near miss. Pictured left: The ace is seen with a bandage around his head as he stands next to nurse Katie Otersdorf. Right: Side view of von Richthofen whilst recovering from his head wound An excellent rare shot of von Richthofen landing his Fokker Dr.I Triplane, which he flew from late July 1917 Von Richthofen using a ladder to get into the cockpit of his Albatros D.III. Note the unpainted patched bullet hole in the fuselage beneath the cockpit Manfred von Richthofen is seen being watched by colleagues as he prepares for a flight in an Albatros C.IX. Very few of this model aircraft were built The Red Baron von Richthofen (centre) with LR: Unknown, Hauptmann Carganico and Leutnant Alfred Gerstenberg Writing of the moment his aircraft was hit, Mr Treadwell says: 'The Fokker Triplane seemed to shudder momentarily, then side-slipped, dropping even lower. 'Then it turned as if to come back towards where the machine guns were, before going into a spiral and crashing into a beet field... 'The undercarriage was ripped off as the aircraft first bounced then nose-dived into the ground. 'Richthofen was hurled face-first into the butts of his twin machine guns, causing a broken nose and numerous bruises to his face. His body hung limply over the edge of the cockpit, partially restrained by the loose harness.' Images in his book show von Richthofen's bruised and battered face after his body was recovered. Once Allied forces encountered the wreck, word was quickly sent that the Red Baron had been killed. Mr Treadwell describes how, once it became common knowledge that the plane's pilot was von Richthofen, souvenir hunters 'almost stripped the aircraft.' A young von Richthofen wrapped up against the cold. His dog Moritz can just be seen sitting in front of him in the black and white image The Red Baron (centre) poses with Oberleutnant Stephan Kirmaier (left), Leutnant Hans Immelmann and Leutnant Hans Wortman in front of his Albatros D.II Front three-quarter view of the Fokker Dr.I Triplane flown by Manfred von Richthofen when only parts of the aircraft were painted red Manfred von Richthofen in conversation with Leutnant Alfred Gerstenberg in front of Richthofens Halberstadt D. plane When his body was examined, a single bullet wound was found 'passing from right to left', entering from just underneath his right armpit and exiting half an inch above his left nipple. The bullet is believed to have been deflected there after hitting the pilot's spine. Mr Treadwell adds that while 'various' medics subjected von Richthofen's body to post-mortem examinations, the 'consensus' was that he was hit by a single bullet fired from below. There continues to be debate around who fired the fatal bullet. While Captain Brown was credited with the 'kill' at the time, Mr Treadwell explains that, because the bullet was fired from the ground, this thesis was less likely. 'It is accepted that Captain Brown did approach from the right and did open fire on Richthofen's aircraft, but unless Richthofen banked his aircraft sharply to the left at that moment, and Captain Brown never mentioned that in his report, there was no way he could have inflicted such a wound,' he says. The other options are that the bullet was fired by Australian gunner Robert Buie, or his colleague Sergeant Popkin. Mr Treadwell concludes that the 'most likely' candidate is the latter man, who was manning a Lewis machine gun. The Red Baron was shot down and killed in April 1918 as he chased a British Sopwith Camel plane over the River Somme near Amiens in France at just 400ft from the ground. Recounting his death, Mr Treadwell describes how witnesses saw his plane being hit by fire from Canadian pilot Captain Roy Brown's guns. Pictured: Australian pilots examine the wreckage of the Red Baron's plane. His machine guns are seen propped on the wrecked fuselage The wreckage of the Red Baron's Fokker Dr.I Triplane are seen after being collected following the fighter ace's death Pilots from the Australian Flying Corps are seen examining the machine guns from von Richthofen's Fokker Dr.I Triplane A final theory is that an unknown rifleman fired the fatal shot. The mystery is unlikely to ever be solved and simply adds to the 'legend and story' of the Red Baron. Von Richthofen was buried in the small cemetery at Bertangles, near where he was killed. Mr Treadwell explains: 'The service was carried out by an Anglican chaplain followed by a three-shot salute by twelve Australian soldiers. 'A cross, made from a four-bladed propeller, was placed at the head of the grave, which was covered in a floral tribute. 'However, that evening local villagers entered the cemetery and ripped down the cross and destroyed all the flowers, incensed that a German had been buried in their local cemetery.' After the war, von Richthofen's remains were moved to another cemetery in northern France. Then, in 1925, his remains were exhumed and taken back to Germany. He was given a state funeral and, later, the Nazi authorities gave him a momentous memorial ceremony and erected a mammoth new tombstone. In 1975, von Richthofen's remains were moved once again to his family's grave plot at the Sudfriedhof cemetery in Wiesbaden, western Germany. During his stunningly successful career in the air, von Richthofen came up against and bested dozens of Allied pilots. After being shot, Richthofen was hurled face-first into the butts of his twin machine guns, causing a broken nose and numerous bruises to his face. His body hung limply over the edge of the cockpit, partially restrained by the loose harness. Right: The pilot's flying goggles Von Richthofen was buried in the small cemetery at Bertangles, near where he was killed. Mr Treadwell explains: 'The service was carried out by an Anglican chaplain followed by a three-shot salute by twelve Australian soldiers'. Pictured: Allied soldiers carry von Richthofen's coffin Mr Treadwell adds: 'A cross, made from a four-bladed propeller, was placed at the head of the grave, which was covered in a floral tribute. Pictured: The pilot's coffin is lowered into the ground as dozens of people watch on Australian Flying Corps officers are seen standing with wreaths which they laid on van Richthofen's grave after his burial His most famous adversary was British ace Major Lanoe Hawker VC, who he described as the 'British Boelcke' - after the German ace Hauptmann Oswald Boelcke, who mentored von Richthofen before his death in October 1916. Hawker was shot in the back of the head by the Red Baron while trying to fly back to the safety of his lines after a long dogfight. It was following this battle that von Richthofen decided he needed to upgrade his Albatros D.II to a more agile aircraft. This culminated in him flying the celebrated Fokker, which like many of his other aircraft was was painted red, from late July 1917. The plane distinctively had three wings. The Red Baron: A Photographic Album of the First World War's Greatest Ace, Manfred Von Richthofen, is published on March 31 by Pen & Sword. University College Dublins Students Union has called for an investigation into UCD School of Medicines Professor Dolores Cahill for gross misconduct. Conor Anderson, President of UCD Students Union said Prof Cahill, who chairs the far-right Irish Freedom Party, has propagated a number of medically-inaccurate conspiracy theories in service of a far-right political agenda throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. He said she is not an expert in virology, epidemiology, or public health. Mr Anderson said he has written to the head of the UCD School of Medicine and the head of UCD Human Resources to request that Prof Cahill be investigated under Statute 28 of the Universities Act 1997 which defines gross misconduct, in part, as deliberate disregard for health and safety precautions likely to endanger another person. The university has sought to distance itself from comments made by Prof Cahill at an anti-lockdown event organised by her party in Dublin on St Patricks Day. Using peoples fears and frustrations to peddle misinformation is shameful. UCD Students Union totally condemns Prof. Cahills comments. https://t.co/ufKnLiYBC5 UCD Students' Union (@UCDSU) March 17, 2021 At the event, Prof Cahill told the crowd the wearing of masks would mean that children would "never reach their IQ and job potential because their brains are starved of oxygen, adding that the reason globalists are putting down the masks is due to the fact oxygen-deprived people are easier to manipulate. Mr Anderson said it was unfortunate that her words were far-reaching and said many people have justifiably been duped into believing she is an expert in the field due to her links to the UCD School of Medicine. It is of the utmost importance that we as a University explain to the public that Prof Cahill has no expertise in the area of public health or virology, and we do have qualified experts in this area in UCD Dolores Cahill does not have the expertise to inform you on Covid-19 and is merely telling you her political ideas and none of it is based on scientific research by the UCD School of Medicine." UCD have confirmed Prof Cahill is not currently lecturing in UCDs School of Medicine. Last year, 133 students signed a letter calling for action from UCD when Ms Cahill appeared in a video on Covid-19, in which she made a number of inaccurate claims. Students said the failure of the university to disavow Prof Cahills statements had acted as a silent endorsement of her views. Sydney, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Mar, 2021 ) :Swathes of Australia's rural east are battling a "plague" of mice that is infesting crops and producing hair-raising scenes of rodents running amok. Farmers in New South Wales have reported "a drastic increase" in the mouse population, with the creatures invading grain silos, barns and homes, according to the NSW Farmers association. Videos captured on the Moeris family farm in Gilgandra -- a five-hour drive northwest of Sydney -- show thousands of mice scurrying from under pipes, through storage columns and over machinery. The skin-crawling clips were too much for some social media users. "This is exactly what nightmares are made of! I can't even watch the videos," said one Facebook user in response to Melanie Moeris' posts. Experts say the plague is linked to unusually heavy summer rains across eastern Australia after years of drought. Farmers fear this year's harvest is at risk and have asked the government for emergency permission to lay down the pesticide zinc phosphide. "This mice situation is only getting worse," said NSW Farmers president James Jackson, citing ever-greater reports of damage from across the state. "Mouse control is very costly. The severity of the current plague has resulted in the need for multiple aerial and ground bait applications in cropping regions," he said. Search the term vaccine on YouTube, and the top results will be news stories about the COVID-19 vaccines from sources like CBS, Good Morning America, and CNN. Search that same term on Rumble, a video-streaming platform that has become popular with conservatives as an alternative to YouTube, and it serves up videos with titles like, Vaccine Halted In Europe After Deaths & DC Arrests and Why You MUST Refuse The Vaccine. As coronavirus vaccines become more widely available to the general public, misinformation meant to discourage people from getting a shot is rising in tandem. Major platforms have been trying to crack down on medical myths and unfounded anti-vax scares: YouTube announced last week that it had deleted more than 30,000 videos containing false or misleading claims about the vaccines, while Facebook recently changed its policies so that moderators will remove vaccine misinformation, rather than just downranking it in newsfeeds. (Of course, some of this content still makes it through. This is the right step for Facebook, but they still need to keep up because anti-vaxxers are moving fast, said George Washington University public health professor Y. Tony Yang, who noted that some users have found workarounds for the bans like using codewords.) Content creators pushing anti-vaccine propaganda are now fleeing to smaller social media platforms that market themselves as free speech alternatives with lax to nonexistent moderation policies. For video, the biggest of these alternative platforms appears to be Rumble. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When we started to see the removal of conspiracy content and particularly anti-vax content from YouTube in a more concerted way, there was a corresponding increase in community sharing of links to Rumble, said Melanie Smith, the head of analysis at the social media analysis company Graphika. Just looking at links that have been shared by the anti-vaxxers that were monitoring, Rumble is number one. Smith added that Rumble seems to have risen to this top spot among anti-vaxxers within the last month. Rumble is a video-sharing platform headquartered in Toronto that was founded in 2013 by Canadian tech entrepreneur Chris Pavlovski. It started out as a site dedicated to helping small-time creators make money from their videos. For the first seven years, the most popular videos on Rumble were mostly just cute pet and baby videos. In 2020, as some conservatives grew more and more resentful of YouTube and other major platforms moderation policies, prominent figures like California Rep. Devin Nunes and Sean Hannity began pushing their followers decamp to Rumble, where the rules for video content are considerably laxer. The rules on Rumble are so lax that medical misinformation has flourished on the site. Advertisement Advertisement Right-wing users, particularly of the extremist and pro-Trump variety, accelerated their search for alternative platforms after major social media companies like Twitter and Facebook stepped up their measures against misinformation surrounding the 2020 election. As Smith sees it, some of these alternative platforms like Parler and Gab, which are similar to Twitter, have had success by branding themselves as champions of free speech, even though its clear what flavor of speech the platform is a home for. Other platforms have been able to attract aggrieved conservatives by offering features that arent available on major sites; for instance, Telegram lets people send videos and images alongside messages with end-to-end encryption. Rumble belongs to the former category; it does have a different monetization scheme than YouTube, but most of the appeal among prominent backers like Dan Bongino seems to be its light-touch approach to moderation and critical mass of right-wing users. Pavloski told Fortune in November, Were not involved in fact-checking; were not arbitrators of truth. Now that major platforms are moving to prevent medical misinformation from spreading as the vaccine becomes more widely available, anti-vaxxers are finding a home on these alternative social networks as well. Crucially, there appears to be a considerable amount of overlap between anti-vaxxers and right-wing extremist movements like QAnon. Advertisement Advertisement While Rumble does have some very, very light moderation policies in areas such as terrorism and pornography, medical content appears to be a Wild West on the platformthe opposite, in a way, of YouTube and Facebook, which have at times been more attentive to medical misinformation than other kinds of harmful content. Videos discouraging people from taking the vaccine have been racking up hundreds of thousands of views on the site. A notably viral video features prominent coronavirus and vaccine conspiracist Simone Gold speaking before a Florida church, in which she misleadingly refers to COVID-19 vaccines as an experimental biological agent and strongly discourages anyone from the ages of 20 to 70 to get vaccinated. She also props up discredited COVID-19 treatments like hydroxychloroquine, presenting them as preferable alternatives to vaccines, and falsely suggests that the government is experimenting on Black people to determine the safety of the vaccines for everyone else. Her speech has been posted in multiple videos on Rumble, accumulating more than 1.6 million views. The most popular video of her speech, which has received more than 855,000 views, is titled, Banned from YouTube: Dr. Simone Gold shares the truth about the COVID-19 vaccines. Getting kicked off of YouTube, it seems, is a badge of honor for these anti-vaxxers. (Gold was arrested in January for participating in the Capitol riot.) Other popular videos include an interview featuring anti-vaxxer Sherri Tenpenny making bogus claims about the vaccines causing auto-immune diseases, which has received more than 146,000 views, and an interview featuring conspiracy theorist Lee Merritt falsely insisting that the vaccines were released before receiving FDA approval, which has received nearly 130,000 views. Advertisement Another prominent anti-vax social media influencer who has found an audience on Rumble is Del Bigtree. He regularly receives thousands, and at times tens of thousands, of views on the site for his talk show The HighWire, which according to experts has become required viewing for anti-vaxxers. What Del Bigtree did that anti-vaccine people didnt have before is create this weekly program thats a focal point for everyone. Hes the one who comes to every anti-vaccine activists home every week, said Dorit Reiss, a University of California, Hastings College of Law professor who has conducted research on Bigtrees videos about the coronavirus. The messages that he disseminates through his program then echo across the anti-vaccine informational ecosystem. Bigtree became well known in the space after producing the notorious anti-MMR vaccine documentary 2016 Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, and the pandemic has helped to further raise his profile. Tara Smith, a public health professor at Kent State University who has worked with Reiss to analyze Bigtrees content, noted that he seemed to have seen a spike in his number of social media followers in early 2020, around the time when the coronavirus began making its way across the U.S. A lot of people who hadnt heard of him before were coming to him for information on the pandemic, she said. Hes still getting information out there because I see people quoting him. YouTube and Facebook removed Bigtrees accounts from their platforms later in 2020 for spreading coronavirus misinformation. Rumble, however, continues to host his show. In an episode from last week, which received more than 73,000 views on Rumble, Bigtree baselessly claims that the vaccines will end up making the coronavirus much deadlier. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Part of Rumbles success with anti-vaxxers is thanks to the fact that video has been a particularly fruitful medium for creators looking to broadcast misinformation across the internet. Video is the format through which the most viral content becomes popular, said Melanie Smith. According to Smith, the most common way for a Rumble video to spread is for users to share links from the site on larger platforms like Facebook or Twitter. When asked about the anti-vaccine content on his site, Pavlovski told Slate, Rumble has strict moderation policies when it comes to inciting violence, illegal content, racism, antisemitism, and promoting terrorist groups (designated by US and Canadian governments), as well as violating copyrights are among many other restrictions found in our Terms. He did not comment on medical misinformation. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Sacramento, CA About 10.4 million workers in California could soon get expand paid sick leave at least for the next six months. On Thursday, the California Legislature passed the expansion legislation, sending a bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom. It mandates up to two weeks of paid time off for companies with at least 25 employees for things like having coronavirus symptoms, scheduling a COVID-19 vaccine, or caring for a child who is doing school at home. If signed into law, it will expire on Sept. 30, but be retroactive to Jan. 1st, meaning some companies would have to pay their workers for time off they have already taken. However, many companies can get that money back from the federal government, which offers companies a payroll tax credit of up to $511 per day for each employee that takes the paid sick leave. It covers workers who make $60 an hour or less, but only applies to companies with more than 500 employees. Companies with fewer than 25 employees can offer the paid leave and claim the federal tax credit. But they would not be required to do so under the bill. No word yet from Newsom as to whether he will sign the bill into law. Last year he signed a similar bill that expired on Dec. 31. "Criminal Laws Core Principles" | Main | Notable new review and accounting of COVID and federal compassionate release results The question in the title of this post is prompted by the interestng news of the creation of a notable new death penalty abolition group going by the name "Business Leaders Against the Death Penalty." This ABC News piece, headlined "Branson leads business group demanding end to death penalty," provides the backstory: Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson feels the time has come to galvanize business leaders in a movement to eradicate the death penalty, a cause he has ardently supported for years. A group of 18 business leaders led by the British billionaire launched a campaign Thursday they hope will quickly build, signing a declaration that called on all governments to end executions. Branson said he hoped to get hundreds, if not thousands" more business leaders on board over the next six months. Im contacting a lot of business leaders that Ive met over the years. I think a lot of us believe it to be inhumane, to be barbaric, to be flawed, Branson said in a video interview with The Associated Press before announcing the campaign at the virtual South by Southwest festival.... Telecom billionaire Mo Ibrahim, the co-founders of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Thrive CEO Arianna Huffington and Jared Smith, co-founder of software vendor Qualtrics, were among the 18 initial signatories.... The business leaders, who said they were speaking in a personal capacity, called the death penalty emblematic of the systemic racial injustice companies claim to be trying to fight. Business leaders need to do more than just say Black Lives Matter. They need to walk the talk and be instrumental in tearing down all the symbols of structural racism in our society," Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, co-founders of Ben & Jerrys, said in a prepared statement. According to a report by the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center, Black people remain overrepresented on U.S. death row, and Black people who kill white people are far more likely to be sentenced to death than white people who kill Black people. Although support for the death penalty has waned in recent years, the Trump administration carried out an unprecedented run of 13 executions in six months last year, ending a 17-year hiatus on federal executions. President Joe Biden has not said whether he will halt federal executions, though he is against the death penalty and has said he will work to end its use. Celia Ouellette, CEO of The Responsible Business Initiative for Justice that is coordinating the campaign, said the hurried executions last year added real urgency to the issue that helped draw in business leaders. She said the signatories would be participating in various events with anti-death penalty activists groups in the next months. This is the first time that we've seen business leaders joining forces to call for an end to the death penalty globally," Ouellette said. Branson said business leaders see the tide turning, symbolized most recently by the Virginia state legislature's vote to abolish capital punishment. That vote last month held particular significance for death penalty opponents because Virginia has executed more people than any other state in its long history. Despite his own longtime advocacy, Branson said the death penalty has not been an issue business leaders have taken up historically. So part of our job is, is to find the time to educate them, give them the facts and win and win them over, Branson said. It needs patience. It needs education for some. But for, I say the vast majority, its a reasonably easy. The doors are open and I think we can get the vast majority of people on board. In just two years from its start, the New York Times' food section had fostered a robust online community of cooking enthusiasts around its Facebook group, amassing a following of 77,000 members who talked about all things cooking, baking, roasting and more. And on Tuesday, the Times dumped the Facebook group. In a surprise message to members, the editors of New York Times Cooking noted that while the Facebook group "offered each other recipes and tips" and "supported each other in hard times," it was time to hand this group over to its members. The message went on to say that they would be looking for 10 to 20 members to moderate the group ... before it removes all of its Times-associated branding. "We'll be reaching out to those interested within the coming weeks," the message reads in part. "Then we will be stepping back as administrators of the group, removing its official affiliation with The New York Times, changing the name and handing it over to members to make it about all things cooking and food." Nieman Lab has the entirety of the New York Times' message here. The New York Times did not mention the reasoning behind leaving the Facebook group, but in a Twitter thread posted by journalist Erin Biba, there were finally some hints as to why. New York Times media columnist Ben Smith reached out to food editor Sam Sifton about the group, and reported that while there was no "precipitating crisis," they realized that the group was "a lot of people who want to post pictures of their dogs next to their souffle" and "not a place where were going to March (sic) people toward NYT cooking." Sifton told Smith that Times employees were being paid to to moderate comments on the Facebook group "rather than working for the Times." The reactions to the original message and subsequently the reasoning that later came out on Twitter were sour. Biba herself disagreed with Sifton's views, writing, "If they had been properly running the group they could have easily driven eyeballs to their site. To say 'this was never gonna work out for us' when they frankly never actually tried to make it work is hilarious." Biba claimed that there were just four moderators from the Times monitoring the Facebook page "during their off hours," while working full time for the news site. The group was at one point called the "happy corner of the internet," but eventually even that corner couldn't avoid having issues amongst its 77,000 members. The group ran into some issues in late October 2020, when politics began to creep into posts, despite a "no politics" rule "There are many places to express your political views; this is not one of them," the rules read and a controversial post favoring a political candidate was deleted by moderators, BuzzFeed News reported. Group members then began pointedly sharing food photos centered around encouraging people to vote, with the word "vote" inscribed on bread, charcuterie plates and more. That wasn't the only issue that cropped up, however. Members also told BuzzFeed News that there were instances of "racist behavior" in group posts, usually centering around non-white cultures. A post around the use of MSG blew up to hundreds of comments, as did another on Chinese garlic. Member May Low told Buzzfeed News that the latter post displayed racism and "microaggressions against food thats not white-centered." "Most of the people there are white-presenting," Low said. "To them anything thats foreign or quote-unquote 'ethnic,' they kind of yuck it." Other instances of infighting arose around the holidays, as well. As members posted photos of gatherings, and it appeared as though attendees were unmasked and not physically distanced, "judgement ensues," Nieman Lab reported. One member told Nieman Lab that the reason the New York Times dropped the group was not because of subscription reasons, but something else: "Some claim it is [money], that NYT didnt get enough new subscriptions, but I believe moderators got exhausted and disgusted. Everett Collection Matthew McConaughey is revisiting one of his career-making roles. The Oscar winner is set to reprise his role as defense attorney Jake Brigance in a series adaptation of John Grisham's new book A Time for Mercy, the sequel to the book McConaughey's 1996 movie A Time to Kill was based on. Variety reported Time for Mercy will be turned into an eight to ten episode series at HBO with McConaughey in final talks to star. McConaughey, 51, might have previously teased his involvement back in September 2020 before the book came out. The actor posted a picture on Instagram of himself reading the book and shouted out its release date. "Jake Brigance is back," McConaughey also wrote. RELATED: Matthew McConaughey Teases That He May Run for Governor of Texas: It's 'a True Consideration' His involvement in the project might be the answer to the question of whether McConaughey will run for governor of Texas or not. The election is set for Nov. 2022, meaning McConaughey would have to seemingly run for office and film this show at the same time, if both were to happen. McConaughey, who moved his family to his native Texas recently, has remained coy about his intention, mostly saying he thinks about where his impact would be felt when considering whether to run for governor. "Am I considering that? Sure," he told Al Roker in a conversation earlier this month for Today. "What I've got to choose for myself is I want to get into a leadership role in the next chapter of my life. Now, what role am I going to be most useful in? I don't know that that's in a political position or if that's me as a free agent. It might be me as a free agent. So that's something I'm personally working on is what is my position of most use in a leadership role." Haiti - News : Zapping... Revocation within the PNH After the failure of the anti-gang operation on March 12 at Village de Dieu https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33226-haiti-flash-failure-of-the-anti-gang-operation-in-village-de-dieu-several-police-officers-killed-others-injured.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33235-haiti-flash-reaction-of-the-prime-minister-to-the-bloody-failure-of-the-assault-on-village-de-dieu.html which made 12 victims in the police rangs (4 deaths and 8 wounded) the Divisional Commissioner Paul Menard was dismissed. He is replaced by the Divisional Commissioner, Joel Casseus. Transfers : Monthly loss of 4 billion The former Governor of the central bank, economist Fritz Alphonse Jean recalls that transfers from the diaspora to families in Haiti are on average around 260 million dollars per month and that the difference between the reference rate of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) and the transaction rate is 15 gourdes which represents each month a total loss of about 4 billion gourdes for the beneficiaries. Wanted Haitian arrested in DR Wanted in Haiti in particular for fraud and possession of marijuana, Saintyl James of Haitian nationality was arrested at the checkpoint "El Callejon de Nanguito" in Dajabon, by members of the Specialized Corps for the security of land borders (Cesfront). He was handed over to the migration services for his subsequent transfer to the Haitian National Police (PNH) Bac for those that failed : Focus on the corrections The 1st session of those who that failed to pass the baccalaureate for the academic year 2020-2021 ended on Thursday March 18, 2021. According to the reports received from the Departmental Directorates of Education, no incident is to be deplored during the course of the permanent baccalaureate exams which take place from March 15 to 18. The course has already been set on the process of processing and correcting the copies so that the results are communicated as soon as possible, informs the Ministry of Education. Digicel Foundation : Inauguration of the 183rd school Thursday March 18 in the Presence of the Minister of National Education, Pierre Josue Agenor Cadet was inaugurated the community school of La Ruche in the municipality of Lascahobas (Central Plateau), offering its services from preschool to the 9th fundamental year. This is the 20th school built by the DIGICEL Foundation in the Center department and the 18th school throughout the national territory. The DR strengthens border surveillance Due to growing instability in Haiti, the Dominican Republic continues to strengthen military surveillance in all border areas. HL/ HaitiLibre New Delhi, March 19 : A photo exhibition titled 'Constellations 2020' conceptualised by the Hungarian Astrophotographers Association (MAFE) was inaugurated on the lawns of the Hungarian Embassy. The exhibition took the onlooker from the Earth's night time landscapes, through the celestial bodies of the Solar System to the mysterious world of the Milky Way and beyond the extragalactic bodies of the infinite cosmos. Organised by The Embassy of Hungary in India and Hungarian Cultural Institute Delhi, the exhibition commenced their cultural season. "Hungarian astrophotography is a unique, diverse and extremely high quality activity in the world, which represents a national value according to a sophisticated and accepted system of values. It was created and developed not by one person, but by a long, dedicated and complex pioneering work of members of a community that requires in many cases a whole person and enormous sacrifices. That is why it is necessary to create an organization that protects and supports the values ??of Hungarian astrophotography, which guards the cleanness and diversity of this creative activity, provides support and protection for creators, and facilitates the promotion of astrophotography and the starry sky," said a note on the photo-exhibit. Pal Bodogh-Szabo, Director of the Hungarian Cultural Institute Delhi said: "The exhibition is a part of a huge collection of works by the members of the Hungarian Astrophotographers Association. The sky might seem the same across the globe but through the works of such talented photographers we can see through the celestial world in a different dimension." H.E. Andras Laszlo Kiraly, Ambassador of Hungary said: "It is with great pleasure that we are showcasing such a beautiful collection of astrophotography done by very talented Hungarians who bring us this close to the cosmos world surrounding us. Astrology is connected to the great tradition of Indian astronomy as well." Dr. Rathnasree shared that the exhibition resonates well with anyone with an interest in the wondrous celestial patterns in the skies. "In particular, the planetarium being closely associated with amateur astronomers who have skills and a body of work along the same lines as that so beautifully presented at the embassy, hopes to be a partner in a continuation of this effort at the planetarium to showcase the skills of Hungarian and Indian astrophotographers." (Siddhi Jain can be contacted at siddhi.j@ians.in) The Perseverance rovers landing on Mars is still fresh in peoples memories, privately owned companies are ferrying people and supplies into orbit, and NASA continues to work on the most powerful rocket it has ever built. But as world governments and private enterprises continue to eye the skies for opportunities, a SXSW panel called Who on Earth should govern Space makes clear that the laws dealing with space arent evolving as fast as the technology that gets us there. People like to think of space as the Wild Wild West nothing out there, theres open frontier, we can do whatever we want, said Michelle Hanlon, president of For All Moonkind, a non-profit devoted to preserving mankinds cultural heritage in space. Unfortunately or fortunately, thats not true at all. Hanlon was referring to the Outer Space Treaty, which was developed in 1966 and ratified by over 60 countries in early 1967. Considering the treaty was put into effect a full two years before mankind landed on the moon, its little surprise that the document is heavy on broad principles, but light on specifics. Among its greatest hits: outer space shall be free for exploration and use by all states; states should avoid harmful contamination of space; celestial bodies shall only be used for peaceful purposes; and, perhaps most importantly, the assertion that outer space isnt subject to claims of sovereignty by Earth-bound governments. The treaty went a long way in enshrining a set of lofty values dictating how we approach and use outer space, but things have changed dramatically in the last 54 years. Were looking at this moment in human history where were thinking Oh, well, we want to do so much in space, but we cant own anything, Hanlon said. So we really need to think about how were going to conceive of property in space, mining rights in space. The idea of mining asteroids and other celestial bodies for their resources seemed to peak in the mid-2010s, when companies like Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources regularly made headlines. (By 2016, the latter had managed to raise a cool $50 million in funding for their space mining efforts, including investments from former Google CEO Larry Page and former Alphabet/Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt.) These days, enthusiasm has waned somewhat, though Dr. John Junkins, interim president of Texas A&M University, said on the panel that mining and material processing in space will happen someday and that a legal framework to allow for those activities was necessary. Story continues The moon is a tremendous resource, and it will be mined before the asteroids are, most likely, he added. Defining those property rights and frameworks is one thing, and it will be some time before they can be fully fleshed out. Enforcing those rights and rights defined by the Outer Space Treaty is a separate question, and one that hasnt been fully addressed despite incidents that should warrant it. Junkins reminded viewers of a day in 2007 when China destroyed one of its defunct weather satellites with a missile, which left behind a hazardous cloud of debris with difficult-to-track orbits. A deliberate act like this seems to run afoul of the OSTs stance on contamination of outer space, but China never faced serious repercussions for what Junkins referred to as a monumental environmental space crime. Strictly speaking, China isnt alone, though. The United States and Russia have left their share of debris floating in earth orbit, with Dr. Junkins suggesting that 40 percent of space junk by mass belonged to the now-defunct Soviet Union. That leads to a tricky question of liability, which Caryn Schenewerk, VP of Regulatory and Government Affairs at Relativity Space, doesnt think will be addressed until some catalyzing moment forces the issue. By launching something into space, you do not give up ownership of it, she said. And when you leave it behind in space, when you abandon it, you do not give up ownership of it. So it's an interesting issue you maintain the liability aspect of it which, by the way, in space is not strict liability; it's only strict liability on Earth. So in space you actually have to prove who's at fault and then fight it out amongst yourselves. And good luck proving really who's at fault in space! We'll get better at that, I guess if we have to, but we really need an impetus for this. There have been efforts to more fully codify a set of rules to govern the way we approach space, including most recently the Artemis Accords signed by the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Luxembourg, Italy, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates in 2020. Ten countries are a start, but a slew of significant space-faring states including China, India and Russia have not bought into the largely US-brokered accord. Its hard to say exactly what (if anything) it will take for the international community to agree to a comprehensive set of guidelines for the use of outer space. But one thing is clear: With the technology to get us and keep us in space growing more advanced by the day, these are issues we cant afford to keep punting. ROME, MAR 19 - Italy is set to resume vaccinating people with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab on Friday after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) pronounced it safe and effective after a review Thursday, saying there was no causal link with blood clots. "The Italian government welcomes EMA's pronouncement on the AstraZeneca vaccine," Premier Mario Draghi said.. "The government's priority remains that of achieving the highest number of vaccinations in the shortest time possible". The health ministry said vaccinations with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab would resume at 15:00 Friday. The director general of Italian drugs agency AIFA, Nicola Magrini, told a press conference earlier Friday that the jab had been re-authorised after the all-clear from EMA. Magrini said that "the vaccine is safe without age limits or side effects" and that a link between the jab and rare blood clots or thrombosis had not been shown. Magrini said women on the pill should have no qualms about getting the jab. Magrini however advised against the use of asperin and heparin as blood thinners. Speaking at the same press conference, health ministry prevention chief Gianni Rezza said putting the brake on the vaccine rollout would be very risky given the high rate of cases, and that after the pause in the AstraZeneca programme, vaccinations would now be doubled. Rezza said there would be no chance in vaccination procedures but that the leaflet on informed consent would be updated. EMA has said it will continue to investigate very rare blood clots that have occurred after vaccination. Higher Health Council (CSS) chief Franco Locatelli said there had been 25 clots out of more than 20 million vaccinations, and COVID was by far the greater danger. Locatelli said those who refuse the AstraZeneca jab would be contacted to get other vaccines. He said there was "no reason" to stop giving the jab to the under-55s, as France has done. (ANSA). Charleston, WV (25301) Today Rain and scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 79F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms in the evening will give way to cloudy skies overnight. Areas of patchy fog developing. Low 62F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. 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. Shares of online travel agency Easy Trip Planners will debut on the bourses today, 19 March 2021. The issue price is Rs 187 per share. GAIL (India) and Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) have signed a Concession Agreement (CA) for setting up Compressed Biagas (CBG) plant in Ranchi. As per the agreement, GAIL will setup CBG Plant for processing 150 Tons per Day of Organic Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). The CBG plant will produce 5 Tons of Compressed Biagas (CBG) per day and approximately 25 Tons of Fermented Bio Manure per day. Vaibhav Global informed that the Shop TJC, UK., a step-down subsidiary of the Vaibhav Global has acquired Shop LC GmbH, Germany (100% subsidiary). Indo Count Industries said that the Project Management Committee of the board of directors of the company has approved expansion of its bed linen capacity by about 20% from its existing annual capacity of 90 Mn meters to 108 Mn meters by debottlenecking and balancing its facilities. Further, the company proposes to make a brownfield investment for adding commensurate cut & sew facilities and for enhancing the capacity for Top of the Bed (TOB) products. This will entail a capex of about Rs. 150 crore. Zuari Agro Chemicals said that NPK B Plant has been shut down due to delay in the arrival of raw materials. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 18, 2021 / Francis Kway and Jehu Graham founded Cheat Code ALGO in 2020 as a trend trading system sharing education and trading insight to beginner, intermediate, and experienced traders looking to profit from the market. Since its conception, the founders have seen unprecedented growth in the trading accounts of their members, as well as in the number of members enrolled in their community, signs indicating a first-of-its-kind shift in the market favoring the individual investor. Cheat Code ALGO Co-Founders, Francis and Jehu, PC: Derrick Arthur 2020 saw the biggest influx of individual investors entering the stock market in history. Experiencing a 4% growth, the number of solo day traders jumped from 15.5% in 2019 to 19.5% in 2020 according to research from The Wall Street Journal. In fact, the past ten years have seen the number of individuals investing on their behalf more than double in the U.S. equity trading market. Why is it that we are all of a sudden seeing explosive growth amongst solo investors in this high-risk high-reward sector? Because, it is easier than ever - and individual investors who understand the market are seeing massive returns as a result. For Francis Kway and Jehu Graham, the founders of Cheat Code ALGO, this has made their business one of the hottest offerings available for new and experienced investors alike. What is Cheat Code ALGO? As a trend trading system, Cheat Code ALGO is an online platform providing members with expert market insight through sharing accurate buy & sell signals, trend confirmation, take profit & stop-loss levels, and dual oscillators. In other words, Cheat Code ALGO is providing beginner investors all the information they need to know to get in on the (booming) action. Buy & sell signals advising new investors But it isn't just a tool for beginners. Seasoned traders who don't require as much hand-holding are amongst those singing the platform's praise given its ability to predict trends that provide profits. With the barriers to getting started being the lowest they have ever been, millions of individuals are opening their own trading accounts, buying and selling stocks on their smartphone from the comfort of their couch. But, much like a first bike-riding experience, disaster is imminent without guidance, practice, and the assistance of training wheels. For the millions of new investors that are currently teetering on their brand new bicycles, Cheat Code ALGO is the observant parent carefully teaching beginners how to best enjoy the ride while avoiding wipeouts. The Key to Success: Education "We encourage education above all else," shared co-founder Francis. "New investors should not jump on whatever trend is hot. Instead, what we provide is the educational fundamentals for very little that can help investors of all experiences immediately make money." Cheat Code ALGO members are provided with not only a library of material to help them make educated trading decisions, but also with 4 weekly group calls sharing strategies and market insight. Members can then ask follow-up questions on the Discord community, consisting of over 3000 members spanning a variety of experience levels. The platform, which encourages participation through the interactive question and answer model, is a popular place for those new to the market to connect with seasoned traders who are keen on sharing their expertise. This emphasis on education took one first-time trader from $1000 to $284,000 over 6 months. "When this one member came to us back in the summer," recalled co-founder Jehu, "he was pretty honest about his lack of knowledge in the market, but expressed how eager he was to learn. He started by putting $1000 into a trading account and just from the guidance of the platform and his ability to show up, he was able to turn that $1000 into $24,000. He later re-invested the $24,000 at the beginning of 2021, and saw that grow to $284,000." Though success stories such as this rely on a favorable market, they are not that uncommon when it comes to the members of the Cheat Code ALGO community. "The strategies we teach are solid," explained Francis, "we just put a little spin on it to help members gain the returns we know are available." In demonstrating the success of their service, the co-founders put $2000 into a test account in early fall. They followed the same advice they were giving to the new investors within the Cheat Code ALGO community, and within 24 days the $2000 turned to $100,000. The high returns that members are experiencing are not the product of risky investment decisions that "might" pay off, but rather the result of the founders' relentless emphasis on education. The Rise of the Individual Investor For founders Francis and Jehu, their ability to create their own wealth through understanding the stock market has changed their lives dramatically. "I always thought I had to have a job - and I got into a certain routine, but once I realized my time was worth so much more, I was able to focus on where I was generating the most wealth - and it was not from my 9-5," shared Jehu. "We're fed up with the typical way of doing things," added Francis, who entered the market at the age of 13 with $1000 and an interest in penny stocks. Today, the pair have both been trading full-time, making healthy profits from this decision, and inspiring others on how they too can achieve financial freedom through understanding the market. "As we move into the future," Francis continued, "I think the marketplace is going to change radically. Ten years ago, the people who were in the marketplace were your older demographic and it was very difficult for traders like us to get involved. What we're currently seeing is a wealth of resources available to individual investors, encouraging their participation in an industry historically known for its high barriers to entry." With society realizing the unprecedented financial benefits that can come from understanding and participating in the market, the next ten years are sure to prove interesting. Early adopters will benefit most from this change given their ability to maintain some distance between themselves and the massive influx of newbies predicted to enter the market in coming years. For those looking to get in on the action before the small window of early-adopter opportunity closes, Cheat Code ALGO is guiding the way. To start, simply: Follow Cheat Code ALGO on Instagram Join the free community on their website Join the weekly calls Trade with confidence and support Having officially launched in 2020, Cheat Code ALGO has experienced explosive growth, which is only predicted to increase. Those willing to invest in their financial education are investing in the success of their future, positioning themselves to be at the forefront of an industry-wide shift favoring the success of the individual investor. Take control of your future by discovering the Cheat Code ALGO Community. Media Contact: Courtney James, Editor info@mindfulmediapr.com 677-672-8882 www.mindfulmediapr.com SOURCE: Cheat Code ALGO View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/636384/How-Two-Traders-Developed-a-Trading-Software-Taking-the-Market-by-Storm-by-Helping-New-Investors-Out-Trade-the-Pros Integration of automated solutions into the insulin smart pen market Regulatory News: BIOCORP (FR0012788065 ALCOR Eligible PEA PME) (Paris:ALCOR), a French company specialized in the development and manufacturing of medical devices and connected solutions in the health sector and Diabeloop, a young company, pioneer in therapeutic artificial intelligence with personalized and automated solutions for the management of diabetes treatment, announce today a cooperation agreement. This collaboration aims to unite the expertise of both companies to offer new, simple and personalized treatment options to people living with diabetes. Diabeloop has developed Automated Insulin Delivery (AID) systems including a self-learning algorithm hosted in a dedicated handset and connected to a Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) solution and an insulin pump. The artificial intelligence developed by Diabeloop analyzes glucose data, calculates the right dose of insulin to be administered and automatically administers it. For its part, BIOCORP has developed and markets Mallya, an intelligent sensor for insulin injection pens, and the first in its class to receive CE marking (class IIb). Compatible with any disposable insulin pens, it enables reliable monitoring of doses selected for injection and offers patients with diabetes better compliance with their treatment. Through this agreement and the integration of Mallya into Diabeloop's technological environment, patients equipped with insulin pens will benefit from a unique, easy-to-use and personalized solution to improve their quality of care and life on a daily basis. Eric Dessertenne, CEO of BIOCORP, explained: "We are very pleased to combine our R&D capabilities with the common ambition to improve the quality of care for patients with diabetes. The technological platform developed by Diabeloop in the field of insulin pumps, which reproduces the functioning of the pancreas thanks to AI, has real potential in the insulin pen market. Insulin-dependent people, users of these pens, are indeed looking for digital services that are increasingly rich in information and advice for better compliance with their insulin intake Marc Julien, co-CEO of Diabeloop, added: "We are delighted with this agreement with Biocorp, a partner with great expertise. This cooperation opens up new opportunities to bring Diabeloop's simple and personalized interoperable technology to people living with diabetes who use insulin pens to perform their multiple insulin injections every day The disposable insulin pen market is estimated to be worth more than $9 billion by 2022 in the top 10 markets (United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Japan, China, India and Brazil)1 References: 1Global Diabetes Disposable Insulin Pen Market Report: Country Outlook, Analysis, Size, Share and Forecast 2017 2022 WiseGuyReports ABOUT DIABELOOP Diabeloop's mission: to relieve people living with Type 1 diabetes from dozens of therapeutic decisions and reduce their heavy mental burden. Initially conceived from a medical research project, Diabeloop was created in 2015 by Dr. Guillaume Charpentier, now Chief Medical Officer, and Erik Huneker who has co-managed the company with Marc Julien since 2016. This complementary management team works with experienced partners, CEA-Leti (a research laboratory) and CERITD (a French research team of diabetologists). In 2018, DBLG1 System, Diabeloop's first medical device for automated diabetes management, obtained CE marking, followed by DBL-hu, its solution for highly unstable Type 1 diabetes management in 2020. A second round of financing of 31 million euros concluded in November 2019 to speed up the international commercial rollout of the DBLG1 iController and support an ambitious R&D program. The company is supported by several investors and industrial groups in the healthcare sector, including CERITD, Aliad, Cemag Invest, Sofimac Innovation, Supernova Invest, Kreaxi, Credit Agricole, Odyssee Venture, Agiradom, as well as business angels. Today, Diabeloop gathers the personality, the passion and the skills of close to 100 talented individuals who work hard to improve the quality of life for every person living with Type 1 diabetes. ABOUT BIOCORP Recognized for its expertise in the development and manufacture of medical devices and delivery systems, BIOCORP has today acquired a leading position in the connected medical device market thanks to Mallya. This smart sensor for insulin injection pens allows reliable monitoring of injected doses and thus offers better compliance in the treatment of patients with diabetes. Available for sale from 2020, Mallya spearheads BIOCORP's product portfolio of innovative connected solutions. The company has 70 employees. BIOCORP is listed on Euronext since July 2015 (FR0012788065 ALCOR). For more information, please visit www.biocorpsys.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005014/en/ Contacts: PRESS CONTACTS: PRPA Marion LECRIQUE marion.lecrique@prpa.fr +33 (0)1 77 35 60 99 DIABELOOP Stephanie JEGU Global Head of Brand Communication stephanie.jegu@diabeloop.com CONTACTS BIOCORP Jacques Gardette Chairman of the Board investisseurs@biocorp.fr Eric Dessertenne Chief Executive Officer Sylvaine Dessard Marketing Communication Director rp@biocorp.fr + 33 (0)6 88 69 72 85 CONTACTS ULYSSE COMMUNICATION Bruno ARABIAN barabian@ulysse-communication.com +33 (0)6 87 88 46 26 Nicolas DANIELS ndaniels@ulysse-communication.com +33 (0)6 63 66 59 22 Victoria's Secret model Joy Corrigan put her sensational curves on display while out in Los Angeles this Thursday. The 26-year-old could be seen roller-blading while modeling a bright orange swimsuit cut high enough to show off her derriere. Letting her luxurious blonde hair down, she arced one of her knockout legs up for the camera while starring in a photo-shoot. Looking fab: Victoria's Secret model Joy Corrigan put her sensational curves on display while out in Los Angeles this Thursday She accessorized with a rose pink pair of sunglasses and at one point threw a fashionably torn denim shirt over one shoulder. At the moment she is dating the sizzling Mehran Moghaddam who is the founder and CEO of the cannabis company Kurvana. Alongside her modeling career she has acted in movies and started a clothing line with her sister Gina called Naked Species. 'Ive always loved fashion and my sister is really good on the business side,' Joy explained in an interview with AfterBuzz TV last year. When you got it: The 26-year-old could be seen roller-blading while modeling a bright orange swimsuit cut high enough to show off her derriere 'We wanted a clothing brand that gives back and helps endangered species. We partnered with the Wild Tomorrow Fund and 10% of the proceeds goes to them.' Joy got a plug in for the clothes as well saying: 'The most important thing with the brand are the designs...they are a little more edgy.' Meanwhile on the acting front she has acted in such projects as the 2018 action movie Reprisal which starred Bruce Willis. Joy called the experience of working with Bruce 'such an honor' and explained that she 'learned so much' from observing him. Bombshell: Letting her luxurious blonde hair down, she arced one of her knockout legs up for the camera while starring in a photo-shoot 'He is such an inspiration and his work ethic is impeccable. He only has a few takes,' said Joy whose movies also include the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle Aftermath. She dished that Bruce 'Comes super prepared and has this confidence and energy. Its cool to watch. Hopefully I can be like that.' Joy's career began when she was just 14 years old and got scouted at a shopping mall in Raleigh, North Carolina. Dozens of schools across Ontario have been forced to close since the beginning of the month due to COVID-19 outbreaks. Little more than four weeks after Premier Doug Ford, his scientific advisers and local public health officials reopened schools with propaganda about their concern for the well-being of our kids, the consequences of the political establishments criminal disregard for the lives of teachers and students is emerging into full view. As a third and even more deadly wave of the pandemic begins to take hold, teachers and students have been left to fend for themselves in overcrowded classrooms with virtually no safety precautions. The latest tragic example of the devastating consequences of the restart of in-person learning came Thursday, when it was reported that five teachers at a Peel Region school have been sickened by the virus, including the vice principal, who is in a coma. The region includes the City of Brampton, where a mass outbreak at an Amazon fulfilment centre that infected over 240 workers forced local public health officials to order a two-week shutdown of the warehouse March 12 in the face of opposition from management. Across Peel Region, 206 classrooms are in quarantine and five schools have been forced to close. The local school board is said to be discussing ordering all schools to close in the coming days amid mounting anger among teachers over the lack of workplace protection. I dont feel safe going to my teaching job every day, an elementary school teacher told local news site insauga.com. None of us do. This isnt just a health or education matter anymore. The Ministry of Labour should be investigating whether some schools are safe workplaces. Almost 18 percent of schools across the province are currently dealing with COVID-19 infections, according to official government figures, including 202 in Toronto, 74 in Ottawa, and 61 in Brampton. Twenty-three schools have officially been forced to close. On March 11, Woodbridge College Secondary School, in Woodbridge, a bedroom community just north-west of Toronto, was closed until March 25 due to 20 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases. This is just one of seven schools closed in York Region due to COVID-19 outbreaks. On March 2, Mount Albert Public School in East Gwillimbury, with 6 cases, was closed until March 15 due to operational constraints. Toronto Public Health has reported that eight schools have at least one COVID-19 case that has screened positive for one of the new more contagious and likely lethal new coronavirus variants. These include Beverley School, Danforth Collegiate and Technical Institute, Yeshiva Yesodei Hatorah, Gulfstream Public School, the Toronto Cheder, St. Helen Catholic School, Dante Alighieri Academy, and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School. On March 1, Donwood Park Public school in Scarborough, a heavily working class Toronto borough, was closed until further notice due to a COVID-19 outbreak with 6 cases, including four who have tested positive for a variant. Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto's Medical Officer of Health, attempted to downplay the governments responsibility for the mounting public health crisis by claiming it was too soon to say whether the growth of school-related cases is tied to the reopening of Ontario schools on February 16. Certainly we expected that as schools returned to in-person learning, we would see cases within those settings, and in light of the fact that there are variants of concern in the community, we expect and we should expect to see variants of concern within schools, she said. Dr. de Villa then went on to say that given the prevalence of the more contagious variants of concern in our community authorities are treating every case that arises within a school context to be a variant of concern until proven otherwise. This is a damning admission. It proves that the authorities know full well that they are playing Russian roulette with the lives of teachers and students, sending them back into unsafe schools even though they know that the more infectious and more deadly B.1.1.7 variant of the virus, first identified in the UK, is running rampant. This state of affairs cannot simply be put down to the malefactor Doug Ford and his fellow Conservative ministers, as the trade unions are attempting to do. The reality is that the current catastrophe in schools could not have arisen were it not for the role the education-sector unions have played in demobilizing and suppressing widespread opposition among teachers and parents to the homicidal return to in-person learning. In September, the unions played a critical role in corralling teachers and students back into schools under conditions of widespread public anger at the governments failure to implement adequate safety precautions. In response to a question on what action the unions were preparing to protect teachers health and lives, Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) President Harvey Bischof bluntly declared, If the question is whether we are planning some illegal job action, the answer is a flat out no. (See: Ontario teachers union leader emphatically opposes job action to stop reckless school reopening ) The education unions instead pursued a strategy of pleading to the notoriously anti-worker Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) to scrutinize the Ford governments drive to reopen the schools. The intent of the appeal was to demobilize teachers and prevent them from taking militant, independent action against the government. Displaying its lack of concern for the lives of students and teachers, the OLRB waited a whole month before announcing that it was throwing out the unions appeal on a technicality without even examining its contents. The unions responded by ordering their members to comply with the OLRB rulings stipulation that teachers file individual complaints over unsafe conditions in single schools and even single classrooms. This in the face of a lethal virus that poses the same threat across Canada and internationally. The end result of this farce was that schools remained open, playing a central role in driving the deadly second wave of the pandemic, which claimed more than 10,000 lives across Canada. In January, the unions began releasing statements supporting Ford and Education Minister Stephen Leces drive to reopen the provinces schools after the massive surge in infections during December had forced the government to delay their reopening from the winter holiday break. Demanding a few cosmetic measures be taken, an Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) press release complained that the Ford government had failed to make mask-wearing mandatory for students in Grades 1 to 3. Then, the ETFO got to the heart of the matter, writing, To safely reopen schools, and to keep them open, which is everyones goal, the province must prioritize safety over political grandstanding. That is to say, even though the union was well aware that restarting in-person learning threatened a catastrophic surge in cases, it lined up on the same side as Fords hard-right government by not only demanding the reopening of schools, but insisting that keeping them open amid a devastating pandemic should be the goal. For its part, the OSSTF focused its broadsides not on the Ford governments reckless reopening of schools, but its failure to present the benchmarks and metrics used to justify a return to in-person learning. On February 4, it published a statement proposing a fulsome safe return to in-person learning, which is an impossible task during a raging pandemic. The ruling elites cavalier dismissal of scientific advice is motivated by their determination to protect corporate profits at all costs, even if that requires sacrificing thousands more lives. The federal Liberal government and provincial governments of all political stripes have funnelled virtually unlimited sums into the financial markets, banks and big business, while starving the health care system of resources and refusing to provide non-essential workers and their families the support they need to shelter at home till the spread of the virus is halted. A science-based response to the pandemic and the avoidance of a third wave and further mass death is dependent on the mobilization of the working class. Working people must intervene independently to fight for a political program that places human lives ahead of private profit. To fight for this program among teachers, the World Socialist Web Site helped establish the Cross-Canada Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, independent of and in opposition to the pro-capitalist trade unions. This committee is fighting for an end to all in-person learning until the pandemic is brought under control, the closure of all nonessential businesses, and the provision of full wages to all workers and parents. We encourage all Ontario school staff, educators, students, parents and their supporters who agree with these demands to contact the CERSC today and attend the next committee meeting scheduled for 1 p.m. this Sunday, March 21. Former Deputy General Secretary of the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Koku Anyidoho has described as 'unacceptable' how the attention of Ghanaians have been shifted from 'hardcore issues' like President Akufo-Addo's State of the Nation Address, (SONA) and the 2021 budget to the offensive 'juju-loving' history textbook. "How can we be debating the budget and the State of the Nation Address; those are the hardcore issues; who allowed this textbook issue to enter the debate? To the extent that that is what is topical now. It is extremely unacceptable for those behind this because now you have taken the debate away," he said in an interview on Kumasi-based Hello FM. The Chief Executive Officer of the Atta Mills institute however "congratulated all those condemning this textbook". Listen to him in the video below Ghanaians have been criticizing the Publishers of the "Golden English" textbook, which disparages Ewes and Ghana's first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum says his Ministry has not approved the textbook for use even though it was on the market before its offensive nature was disclosed. 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 Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's divorce left the showbiz world in shock. And it seems the superstar, 40, is struggling with the fallout of the split as her mother Kris Jenner discussed her concerns for her daughter on the season 20 premiere of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, which aired on Thursday. The couple's split was revealed in January before Kim filed for divorce last month, leading to the rapper, 43, reportedly 'cutting-out' his estranged wife and insisting they only communicate through security and aides. On the show, Kris was seen chatting about the end of the marriage with daughter Kourtney, 41, at a home they had rented in Malibu as she said: 'I know she doesn't want to talk about it on camera, but I just feel like she's struggling a bit'. Distressed: Kim Kardashian's mother Kris Jenner said the star was 'struggling a bit' amid her split with Kanye West, in a preview clip for Keeping Up With the Kardashians Kourtney insisted her sister Kim 'can't possibly navigate this on her own,' as the star prepares to co-parent their four kids, North, seven, Saint, five, Chicago, three, and Psalm, 22 months, while hashing out custody arrangements in court. Kris agreed with her eldest daughter about the split with Kanye, admitting: 'I don't know how she's dealing with the stress of it all.' She discussed the split in a pre-show chat on The Kyle And Jackie O Show, saying: 'I think it's always going to be hard any time ... you know, there's a lot of kids... 'The good thing about our family is that we are there for each other and supportive and we love each other very, very much so all I want is for those two kids to be happy. And I want the kids to be happy. That's the goal.' In the clip, Jenner was chatting about the end of the marriage with daughter Kourtney, 41, at a home they had rented in Malibu Not Keeping Up? The couple's split was revealed in January before Kim filed for divorce last month, leading to the rapper, 43, reportedly 'cutting-out' his estranged wife and insisting they only communicate through security and aides Thursday's show also explored the delicate balance Kim kept between parenting and pursuing a law degree, while the kids visited their dad in Wyoming. Speaking to the camera, she said: 'That's the hardest thing for me is to be away from the kids, but I have to really dedicate myself and do it'. Kim last month filed for divorce from the rapper following a six-year-plus marriage, asking for joint custody of the kids. In her February 19 split filing, Kim cited irreconcilable differences for the split, noting that they have a prenuptial agreement in place. Kim's divorce documents were filed by Laura Wasser and reportedly don't list a date of separation, instead claiming the date is 'to be determined'. In depth: While Kourtney and Kris chatted, Kim was seen relaxing off-screen It was later reported that the couple are only only communicating through security after Kanye changed his number in his cut-off of Kim. Insiders told Page Six: '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.' The couple were reported to have hit a rough patch in their romance late last year, and it was claimed last week that Kim was keen for Kanye to keep a constant presence in his children's lives. Skeptical: Kourtney said Kim 'can't possibly navigate this on her own,' alluding to the split of the celeb super-couple Out and about: The couple are believed to have signed a prenuptial agreement, and TMZ claims neither party is contesting the terms of the document A source had said: 'He still wants to play a huge role in their lives and Kim would never discourage that... He is no longer living at the house with Kim and the kids. When he sees the kids, he meets them elsewhere.' It was also reported the couple were in no rush to legally terminate their marriage, but had separated in private. The insider added: 'Kim already feels like she is divorced. They are at a standstill currently and neither of them are pushing [to make the split official]. At this point in time, there is no rush for the paperwork to be finalised.' The documents reveal she has requested to terminate spousal support and references a prenup Kim and Kanye have in place when it comes to property. Concerned mom: Kris said of Kim, 'I don't know how she's dealing with the stress of it all' Meanwhile, a source has claimed that Kim has a 'different vision of the world' to her estranged husband and the pair would clash over their differing opinions, especially when it came to raising their kids. An insider told People magazine: 'They have a different vision of the world and how their kids should be raised. Kim will always support Kanye and his causes and encourage him with their kids... 'But her future with work, family and life in general are strictly up to her. She makes it happen. Kim will continue with her projects and so will Kanye. What they want in life and for their kids doesn't always match.' Kim last month filed for divorce from the rapper following a six-year-plus marriage, asking for joint custody of the kids. West was snapped in NYC in 2019 Another insider claimed: 'Kim thinks it's important that the kids have a relationship with their dad and that he is a big part of their lives. For now, the kids have primarily been with Kim and living at the house.... 'Any time Kanye wants to see them, he can. She is not stopping him. Kim is not sure what the future will be like, but she has made it clear to Kanye that he is welcome to spend time with them whenever he wants.' Kim is 'sad but relieved' after filing for divorce from Kanye . MILWAUKEE Two days after a shooting that left two employees dead at the Roundys Distribution Center in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, authorities revealed little about the motive of the suspect. Key questions remain about how the shooting unfolded Tuesday night inside the sprawling grocery distribution center and what prompted the suspect, 41-year-old Fraron Cornelius of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, to kill two coworkers and, hours later, himself. In a news conference Thursday, authorities did confirm the victims' identities: Kevin Kloth, 51, of Germantown, Wisconsin, and Kevin W. Schneider, 39, of Milwaukee. They also said the men died from gunshot wounds, which had been suggested by political officials but not confirmed by law enforcement. Kloth and Schneider both worked there for 20 years, and Cornelius worked there for 23. Waukesha County officials expressed condolences to families and Roundy's employees and urged patience as detectives comb through security footage and conduct interviews. "In these kinds of situations, we all want to know the answer to the question: Why?" Waukesha County Sheriff Eric Severson said. "Its important to the families, its important to Roundys employees, its important to the community, its important to us to try to find answers to why something like this happens," he said. "No matter what answer we find, theres no good reason." Gaps remain in shooting timeline Public details about the shooting remained sparse Thursday, as officials largely declined to elaborate on what happened inside the warehouse Tuesday night. Oconomowoc Police Chief James Pfister said his department received a call for a report of an industrial accident, with a person who was not breathing and had no pulse. They later discovered a second person down. Both were pronounced dead at the scene from gunshot wounds. A union official told reporters the two victims were found far apart from each other, one upstairs and one downstairs, probably a five to 10-minute walk between the two locations. The distribution center is roughly the size of 30 football fields. Story continues Police identified Cornelius from surveillance video and sent his vehicle information to area law enforcement agencies, Pfister said. At around 4:45 a.m. Wednesday police spotted his car in Milwaukee County and a chase ensued, a Wauwatosa police spokeswoman has said. About 15 minutes later, Cornelius crashed near North 92nd and West Townsend streets on Milwaukees north side. As law enforcement approached, Cornelius died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Related: Two workers killed at Wisconsin distribution warehouse, union says; suspect dead, police say Police interviewed 144 employees In the past year, some concerns have been expressed about the racial climate at the plant. Roundy's spokesman James Hyland declined to discuss those concerns, citing the police investigation. Pressed about the possibility of racism, discrimination or bullying at the warehouse, law enforcement officials demurred, citing the open investigation. Cornelius was Black; Kloth and Schneider were white. "Right now we're investigating all options that are out there, including everything that we find. But nothing at this time to disclose," Pfister said. Severson said his offices main goal is finding the motive in the killings, and he wouldn't speculate right now because he doesnt want to bias" any interview his team will give. Authorities took 144 employees to the Oconomowoc police station Tuesday night and interviewed them all, Pfister said, so investigators are still sorting through all the information. Plus, detectives have more interviews to conduct and will have to redo some, Severson said. Investigators are also looking at "extensive" security footage, digging through people's social media histories and fielding tips. The Sheriff's Department's entire detective bureau, which Severson said is larger than most police departments in Waukesha County, is investigating. The state Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation has also sent 15 to 20 detectives. Severson and Pfister did not have a timeline on when they expected to determine a motive. "Were going to get done when were thoroughly complete," Severson said. Roundy's spokesman James Hyland speaks during a news conference Thursday morning after two workers at the company's Oconomowoc distribution center were fatally shot late Tuesday. Little known about the gunman Cornelius and the victims worked together. Police would not say how well they knew each other or what kind of relationship they had. Little is known about Cornelius, who was a janitor at the warehouse. Neighbors in Wauwatosa said he was dedicated to taking care of his mother and often worked long hours. Reached by a reporter Thursday, his brother declined to be interviewed. Cornelius was respectful and got along with his coworkers, said Thomas Bennett, secretary-treasurer for the General Teamsters Local Union No. 200. He said the shooting was uncharacteristic of the Cornelius he knew, and he did not want to speculate on motives or workplace culture until police complete their investigation. "I just want to make sure that we dont get tied up in the conversation about racism or discrimination or bullying," Bennett said. "Theres families out there that are grieving and theyre looking for answers, and I don't want to cloud the conversation with those type of terms right now." "Let the facts explain as much as they can," he said. Meanwhile, Oconomowoc Mayor Robert Magnus acknowledged the pain the community was feeling. 'I cant even believe this is real again': Milwaukee police identify the 5 victims of Molson Coors shooting The Roundy's shooting comes just over a year after an electrician at Molson Coors shot and killed five coworkers and then himself. Both tragedies took place at prominent companies in the Milwaukee area. These past 36 hours have been really horrific for our community," Magnus said. "As we move forward we want to work hard to try to make sure that these things dont happen ever again. And I hope not to be at a press conference like this ever again." Hannah Kirby and Evan Casey of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin warehouse shooting: Police reveal little about motive Actor Arun Govil, who is known for playing the role of Lord Ram in the popular TV series, Ramayan has joined the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). He has now become a member of the BJP just ahead of the assembly elections in four states and the union territory of Puducherry. He was welcomed into the party in the presence of senior BJP leader Arun Singh. Actor Arun Govil joins BJP at party headquarters in New Delhi. #JoinBJP pic.twitter.com/eiI1aCdRRt BJP (@BJP4India) March 18, 2021 Confirming the development, ANI tweeted, Actor Arun Govil, best known for playing Lord Ram in Ramayan TV series, joins Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi. Actor Arun Govil, best known for playing lord Ram in Ramayan TV series, joins Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/ddEfyQGFS2 ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2021 According to reports, he will not contest the elections, but will campaign for the party. Heres what people on the internet have to say about this development: Ram ji ke aate hi twitter ki Suparnkha bhi aa gyi.. Babu Raowl (@RaowlGandhi) March 18, 2021 Why didnt they think of this before - amazing plan Mk (@MKB7563) March 18, 2021 Ram (Arun Govil) BJP main nahin to aur kaha milenge.. Jai Shri Ram.. Ashish Prajapati (@ashishp1209) March 18, 2021 Prabhu Sri ram bjp me aa gye CHANDAN (@chandanGIRIBABA) March 18, 2021 Shree Ram in the Reel joins the Real Ram Sena Anoop Pillai (@AnoopanIndian) March 18, 2021 Love this man in ramayana.. all the best French Fries (@potato7399) March 18, 2021 That was completely unpredictable. Damn, I never even thought about that. Wow Muneeta aneja (@MuneetaA) March 18, 2021 Reel 'Ram' joins BJP. Welcome to BJP, Arun Govil ji. Jai Shri Ram pic.twitter.com/JI7R1OXDq6 Badri#SonarBangla200+ (@badri4BJP) March 18, 2021 Arun Govil, who played Lord Ram in the Ramayana has joined BJP. Who's ready for some good old Ram Bhajans on mainstream media yay! Shivansh Saxena (@Shivansh_2611) March 18, 2021 Although I do think its a really brainy idea. Like when I think of Lord Ram, even the idol in my head has Arun Govil's face. https://t.co/BWXoA6dhoN Rashi (@trojan_mare) March 18, 2021 Speaking at his first press conference, Govil asserted that there was absolutely nothing wrong in saying "Jai Shri Ram", a phrase which is often heard at BJP rallies. "West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's irritation with Jai Shri Ram was a trigger point for me to join the BJP. And there is nothing wrong in saying Jai Shri Ram...it is not a slogan, not even a political slogan. It is a way of life for us, it represents our culture and ethos," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. Ramayan was a big break for Arun Govil but he was already established in the industry with his debut film Paheli which was released in 1977. The film was produced by the house of Barjatyas of Rajshri Productions. After Ramayan, Arun Govil continued to work in the television industry and was also part of other shows like Luv Kush. He also played Harishchandra in the TV series Vishwamitra and Buddha in a serial of the same name. Ever since the news of Arun Govil joining the BJP came out, people started flooding Twitter with comments. Both hilarious and serious ones, particularly about the timing of this rather interesting development. 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 colorized scanning electron micrograph of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Credit: NIAID In a paper published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, physician-researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) assessed the relative impact of COVID-19 on patients hospitalized with the viral infection in March and April 2020, versus patients hospitalized with influenza during the last five flu seasons at the medical center. Overall, the team demonstrated that COVID-19 cases resulted in significantly more weekly hospitalizations, more use of mechanical ventilation and higher mortality rates than influenza. COVID-19 and influenza are both contagious respiratory viral diseases that can lead to pneumonia and acute respiratory failure in severe cases. However, detailed comparison of the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 and those of influenza are lacking. "COVID-19 has been compared to influenza both by health care professionals and the lay public, but there's really limited detailed objective data available for comparing and contrasting the impact of these two diseases on patients and hospitals," said corresponding author Michael Donnino, MD, Critical Care and Emergency Medicine physician at BIDMC. "We compared patients admitted to BIDMC with COVID-19 in spring 2020 to patients admitted to BIDMC with influenza during the last five flu seasons. We found that COVID-19 causes more severe disease and is more lethal than influenza." Donnino and colleagues included a total of 1,634 hospitalized patients in their study, 582 of whom had laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and 1,052 of whom had confirmed influenza. The team found that, on average, 210 patients were admitted to BIDMC during each eight-month flu season, compared to the 582 patients with COVID-19 admitted in March and April 2020. While 174 patients with COVID-19 (or 30 percent) received mechanical ventilation during the two-month period, just 84 patients with influenza (or 8 percent) were placed on ventilation over all five seasons of influenza. Likewise, the proportion of patients who died was much higher for COVID-19 than for influenza; 20 percent of admitted patients with COVID-19 died in the two-month period, compared to three percent of patients with influenza over five seasons. Further analysis revealed that hospitalized patients with COVID-19 tended to be younger than those hospitalized with influenza. Among patients requiring mechanical ventilation, patients with COVID-19 were on ventilation much longera median duration of two weekscompared to just over three days for patients with influenza. Moreover, among patients requiring mechanical ventilation, patients with COVID-19 were far less likely to have had pre-existing medical conditions. "Our data illustrate that 98 percent of deaths of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were directly or indirectly related to their COVID-19 illness, illustrating that patients did not die with COVID but rather from COVID pneumonia or a complication," said Donnino. The authors note that the stringent social distancing guidance in effect last spring may have impacted these findings by limiting the incidence and lethality of COVID-19 toward the end of April 2020. Conversely, some treatment practices have evolved over the course of the pandemic, potentially improving outcomes for patients with COVID-19. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak More information: Donnino, M.W., Moskowitz, A., Thompson, G.S. et al. Comparison between Patients Hospitalized with Influenza and COVID-19 at a Tertiary Care Center. J Gen Intern Med (2021). Journal information: Journal of General Internal Medicine Donnino, M.W., Moskowitz, A., Thompson, G.S. et al. Comparison between Patients Hospitalized with Influenza and COVID-19 at a Tertiary Care Center.(2021). doi.org/10.1007/s11606-021-06647-2 Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 21:03:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that Cambodia is at a critical point in the fight against COVID-19, calling on everyone to do what they can to fight against the disease. The Southeast Asian country has been enduring the third community COVID-19 outbreak since Feb. 20, with at least 1,062 people infected and two deaths so far. The recent COVID-19 outbreaks are most likely caused by the new B.1.1.7 variant, which transmits more quickly than the previously circulating virus, the WHO said in a joint statement with the Ministry of Health. It added that seeking appropriate care in a timely manner can reduce the risk of dying due to COVID-19. "The tragic deaths due to COVID-19 are a reminder to us all of the seriousness of this disease. It can affect anyone at any time," Li Ailan, WHO representative to Cambodia, said. "The country is at a critical stage of fighting against COVID-19, but we have a window of opportunity to stop virus spread if we all act together with solidarity," she added. While vaccines will help to reduce hospitalizations and severe disease, vaccines alone will not end the pandemic and they will not end the current outbreak, she said. "Only the combined efforts of all people will be able to stop the outbreaks," she said. "I know that fighting this pandemic is tiring, but we must come together in solidarity to defeat this virus." Effective implementation of and full compliance with strong, targeted public health interventions would prevent the devastating health, social and economic effects of COVID-19, the statement said. "The current COVID-19 situation in Cambodia remains serious. What we do right now will determine the course of this outbreak," Minister of Health Mam Bunheng said. "We must all accelerate our efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the coming days and weeks," he added. Large scale transmission could require large scale restrictions and lockdowns, and it would highly likely cause hospitals and health facilities to become overwhelmed, making it difficult for people with COVID-19 and other health conditions to receive care and save lives. "The situation is alarming. Everyone must take precautions to lower the risk of contracting COVID-19 and cut off the chain of transmission as soon as we can," Ministry of Health secretary of state Or Vandine said. She called on people to wear a mask properly, wash hands frequently with alcohol gel or soap, and maintain a physical distance of at least 1.5 meters from each other. Vandine also urged people to reduce or stop unnecessary travel and movement from capital Phnom Penh to provinces and vice versa. "Staying home is the best choice for now during this time of active virus circulation in order to stop the spread of the virus," she said. According to the Ministry of Health, since the start of the pandemic in January last year, the kingdom has recorded a total of 1,578 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with two deaths and 917 recoveries. Enditem A man charged with bashing a 78-year-old woman on the steps of a Melbourne church is also accused of assaulting another person the same day. Amrick Roy, 26, appeared before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday, charged with assaulting Penelope Katsavos as she opened a church in South Yarra last Saturday morning. Penelope Katsavos in hospital after the attack, in a photo supplied by her family. Credit:Nine News Police allege Mr Roy assaulted her, inflicting serious injuries and stole her shopping trolley about 6.15am. A council worker found the grandmother on the church steps about half an hour later. She had suffered bleeding on the brain, a fractured pelvis and a broken wrist. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chongqing Changan Suzuki Automobile Co.,Ltd. (Changan Suzuki), formerly the joint venture between Changan Automobile and Suzuki, has changed its name to Chongqing Lingyao Automobile Co.,Ltd. (Lingyao), according to the corporate data platform Tianyancha. Lingyao has a line of businesses including the production and sale of cars, engines and auto parts, the supply of after-sales services, and the R&D of relevant products and technologies, according to Tianyancha. Photo credit: Changan Suzuki Changan Suzuki was founded in May 1993 with a registered capital of $190 million. Three shareholders, namely, Changan Automobile, Suzuki Motor and Suzuki (China) Investment Co.,Ltd, possessed 50%, 40% and 10% stake respectively in the joint venture. Changan Suzuki rolled out such Suzuki-branded models as the Swift, the new Alto and the Vitara. It had an annual sales volume topping 200,000 units in its heyday. However, the joint venture was seeing its sales decline year by year after 2011 as its small-sized vehicle strategy does not befit the general consumer preference to larger-sized models. In 2017, the sales volume even failed to reach 100,000 units. With the sales sliding, Suzuki mulled over the idea to bow out of China market. In 2018, the Japanese automaker announced it would sever the partnership with Changan Automobile to withdraw from Changan Suzuki. The Chinese parent agreed to acquire the other 50% stake in Changan Suzuki, which was previously owned by Suzuki Motor and Suzuki (China) Investment Co.,Ltd, with 1 yuan. According to Tianyancha, the joint venture became the wholly-owned subsidiary of Chongqing Changan Automobile Co.,Ltd. in November 2018 after the two Japanese companies pulled out of the list of shareholders. Hyderabad, March 19 : Telangana's Covid-19 tally crossed 3-lakh mark on Friday as the state continued to see a spike in cases. A total of 313 positive cases were registered during the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 3,02,360. After gap of more than two months, the state saw the daily count climbing over 300. The surge is mainly due to government-run schools turning new hot spots. More than 150 students, teachers and other staff of about 10 schools have tested positive during last 3-4 days. As many as 39 students of government-run hostels and a school tested positive on Wednesday. It was on January 14 that daily count had dropped below 300 and 10 days later it plummeted to under 200. However, the surge over the last two weeks has again pushed the tally to over 300. Greater Hyderabad reported highest number of cases at 47 during the last 24 hours while the surge continued in some other districts. Rangareddy reported 29 cases, followed by Nirmal (25), Medchal Malkajgiri (20), Kamareddy (16), Nizamabad (15), Sangareddy (13), Adilabad (10) and Mancherial (10). Districts bordering Maharashtra saw a surge in the new infections during last few days, worrying the health authorities. The state government is likely to decide in a day or two whether to shutdown the schools again in view of large number of cases being reported from some schools. Two more persons succumbed to the virus during the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative death toll to 1,664. The fatality rate rose slightly to 0.55 per cent against the national average of 1.4 per cent. While 44.96 per cent of deaths were due to Covid-19, remaining 55.04 died due to comorbidities. The number of active cases rose further to 2,434 including 943 who are in home or institutional isolation. A total of 142 people recovered from the virus during the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative recoveries to 2,98,262. The recovery rate dropped to 98.64 per cent but still higher than the national average of 96.2 per cent. A total of 62,972 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours. Of this 57,488 samples were tested in government laboratories and remaining 5,484 in private laboratories. With this the number of tests conducted in the state so far climbed to 94,82,649. Samples tested per million population rose to 2,54,772. Bed status in 62 government hospitals treating Covid-19 shows that 7,974 out of 8,419 beds were vacant. Similarly, in 215 private hospitals 6,520 out of 7,567 beds were vacant. New Delhi: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, LoP in Rajya Sabha led with Opposition MPs address the media at Vijay Chowk in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim sarvar) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, LoP in Rajya Sabha led with Opposition MPs address the media at Vijay Chowk in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim sarvar) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, LoP in Rajya Sabha led with Opposition MPs address the media at Vijay Chowk in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim sarvar) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, LoP in Rajya Sabha led with Opposition MPs address the media at Vijay Chowk in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim sarvar) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, LoP in Rajya Sabha led with Opposition MPs address the media at Vijay Chowk in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim sarvar) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, LoP in Rajya Sabha led with Opposition MPs address the media at Vijay Chowk in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim sarvar) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, March 19 : The Congress on Friday demanded that the Insurance Amendment Bill, 2021 be sent to the Standing Committee of Parliament as it has several shortcomings and flaws. Speaking to the media, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Insurance Amendment Bill 2021 has flaws, it should be sent to the Standing Committee." He said that they have introduced a provision of ownership and control to foreigners. Taking a dig at the government, Kharge said, "If the foreign direct investment (FDI) comes in the insurance sector, then there shall be the 'West India Company' brought in by (Prime Minister) Narendra Modiji to help people from Gujarat." He also accused the Union Finance Minister and the BJP leaders of misleading the people on the new Insurance Amendment Bill "as they say something else inside the House and put different versions in public". Kharge said the Bill talks about giving ownership to the foreign companies who make investments in the Indian companies. Tim Fischer, Photographer / Midland Reporter-Telegram With the deadline to act just over 24 hours away, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Thursday pleaded again for Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas House leaders to roll back some of the billions in profit made from last month's deadly outages. "At a minimum, if the governor won't decide to correct the prices tomorrow, he can order ERCOT or tell the PUC chair who's still there to tell ERCOT to announce that prices are under investigation," Patrick said, referring to the state's grid operator and its parent agency, the Public Utility Commission. "The House said they wanted more time, that would give them more time." March 18, 2021: Earlier in the month the government agreed to undertake reforms of how it audits financial activities, and that that led to calls for more fundamental reforms over how Iraqi accountants and auditors are trained and monitored. The cause of all this was demands by the IMF (International Monetary Fund), after a late 2020 corruption investigation, that Iraq develop a more credible set of financial controls and audits. The IMF documented how, especially since 2016, Iraq has provided falsified economic data to justify IMF approval for more loans. Previous demands for audit and accounting reform were met with more Iraqi deception. In late 2020 Iraqi was hoping that, despite past misbehavior, the IMF would help bail the government out of its growing budget deficit crises. In response to that an IMF audit team completed a ten-day examination of the economic situation on December 10th and reported that Iraq has the same problems it had for several years, only worse and that the solution was not more multi-billion-dollar loans but internal reforms that address the widespread corruption. Earlier audits had found that corrupt officials were responsible for $400 billion of government funds stolen or misappropriated since 2003. The corruption is no secret. In 2020 Iraq ranked 160 out of 180 nations in international corruption rankings compared with 162 in 2019. The nations near the bottom of this list are the most corrupt and also tend to be suffering from civil disorder, rampant criminal activity and rebellion or Islamic terrorist activity. In a region known for corruption, Iraq was long considered one of the worst offenders. Iraq remains the country with the most Islamic terrorist activity, especially from ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant). That makes sense when you consider ISIL dates back to 2004 when one of the smaller factions in the Iraqi branch of al Qaeda declared a caliphate in western Iraq. This was part of (captured in 2003, executed in 2006) Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's Plan B if his government was overthrown by internal (a Shia uprising) or external (Iranian or Western invasion) forces. Saddam had begun preparations for this in the 1990s when he suddenly got religion. The long-time secular Saddam became a devoted Moslem and cultivated like-minded Sunni Arab tribes in western and northern Iraq. He had like-minded Sunni Arab officials in his government and armed forces encouraged to become more religious and made nice with the various Sunni Islamic terrorist groups given sanctuary in Iraq. By late 2003, about the time Saddam was captured, Plan B was operational against the American and British occupation forces as well as any Shia Arabs who collaborated. Plan B got a lot of Iraqis killed and by 2007 even Sunni Arab Iraqis had turned against it. This caused many Iraqi Islamic terrorists to flee to Syria, where the Assad government long provided sanctuary for Islamic terror groups in return for no attacks against Syria or Syrian allies. When the Syrian civil war began in 2011, it was led by members of the (75 percent) Sunni Arab majority against the Shia Assad clan government that depended on other minorities to keep them in power. The foreign Sunni Islamic terror groups resident in Syria turned against their host and the Iraqi al Qaeda faction turned out to be the best organized and most powerful of the rebel groups. In 2013 the Iraqi al Qaeda rebranded themselves as ISIL. That weakened the rebel forces as ISIL spent a lot of its time fighting other Islamic terror factions who refused to join the new Islamic State. 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 originally developed in Iraq and 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 vastly outnumbered by terrorism deaths inflicted by common (often organized) criminals. Eroding Iranian Influence Iranian efforts to increase its influence in Iraq while also inflicting serious damage on American troops and military contractors in Iraq is not working. This increased violence is the after-effect of the Americans killing Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in early 2020. The Americans had figured out that Soleimani was a, if not the, key Iranian leader responsible for the Iranian military efforts in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. If anything, the Americans underestimated the importance of Soleimani because Iran had no one with the leadership and organizational skills, as well as the trust of so many Iranian and foreign leaders, to replace him. Even the Iranians were surprised at how important Soleimani was and how impossible it was to replace him quickly, if ever. One of the key services Soleimani provided was to get the Iranian moderates and radicals to cooperate, or at least not slide into open conflict with each other. Moderate Iranians is a term that has to be qualified. These are members of the senior leadership, all of them approved by the Council of Guardians (twelve senior Shia clerics) who have become divided into mutually antagonistic factions. The moderates are those who want to put Irans interests first and concentrate on the economy and reducing the poverty that is visibly turning more Iranians against their government, Islam and all the foreign wars the radicals have dragged Iran into. These realists are also nationalists and often called moderates by foreigners. The radicals, including many (it used to be most) Council of Guardians members found that Soleimani was a key factor in keeping rivalries between radicals and moderates from spinning out of control. With Soleimani gone those tensions are growing in obvious ways. For example, Iran-backed groups in Iraq (and elsewhere) have been getting more contradictory commands from the Iranian government, or even from Quds Force leaders. In the past Soleimani was able to prevent most of this confusion even though day-to-day decision making in the Council of Guardians could shift from pro-moderate to pro-radical. Without Soleimani the radicals are losing ground in Iran and the foreign wars Iran is deep into. While the radicals believe they are on a Mission From God and answerable to no earthly criticism, the moderates represent a growing majority of Iranians, especially more senior clerics, who see moderation and pragmatism as the only thing that will save Iran from destroying itself. One of the things all Iranians can agree on is that for thousands of years Iran was often its own worst enemy. It was internal squabbles that weakened the mighty Persian empire 2,500 years ago so that the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great (for you-know-what) could to the impossible and conquer the Persian (Iranian) Empire. Same situation 1,500 years ago when the Arabs, inspired by a new religion (Islam) did the impossible and conquered the Persian (Iranian) Empire. At that point the Iranians were still recovering from the Greek conquest. Many Iranians believe Iran has not recovered from the Arab conquest and the Islam is more at fault than the Arabs. Many Iranians now believe that without the internal squabbling Iran could have avoided damage done by the Greek, Arab, Mongol and Western invasions. The moderates pay attention to history and the radicals dont. But when radicals do look closely at the past they often become moderates and that is now the moderates are winning. Another reason is demographics. The generation that lived through the 1979 revolution and subsequent ruinous war with Iraq is no longer the majority. The current generation sees religious dictatorship for what it was, a coup by the Islamic radicals that were part of the movement that overthrew the monarchy and used the Iraqi invasion as an excuse to replace the promised democracy with a religious dictatorship. The senior clerics and IRGC leaders know this is a threat because opinion polls have shown, for several years now, more Iranians are abandoning Islam and many are secretly adopting other religions or no religion at all. The clerics can label this as blasphemy, a crime punishable by death if done openly. Iranian use of denial is not restricted to the current government but is a national survival trait that makes sense in many situations. Fewer Iranians are showing up at mosques or religious schools. If pressed by a local cleric they plead poverty and the need to work more just to feed their families. The local clerics understand there is a lot of truth to this and that Islam is losing a lot of believers for very practical reasons. This is reported to senior clerics and eventually reaches the Council of Guardians. This group of elderly Shia clerics appear, on the surface, as wise and caring holy men. The reality is that the Guardians preside over a corrupt and incompetent bureaucracy and Iranians are out in the streets calling them out on this. March 17, 2021: In the north (Erbil province) t he U.S. led air coalition bombed ISIL bunkers and tunnels in the Qarah Gogh Mountains. Thinly populated mountain regions are often used as ISIL base areas. Northern Iraq has lots of those, especially near the Turkish and Iranian borders. These mountain bases provide training, storage (weapons, ammo, fuel and other supplies) and production (of bombs, landmines and other improvised weapons) facilities. Once trained and equipped the ISIL recruits are sent south in small teams led by one or two veterans. Cities are favorite destinations, especially Kirkuk, Mosul and Baghdad. Replacements are desperately needed because all three of these cities have developed better capabilities to detect and kill or capture operatives. The ISIL violence in these cities has killed a lot of civilians, some of them ISIL supporters. Friends and kin of these victims often lose their enthusiasm for the group and some become informants (preferably anonymous) for the security forces. Identifying yourself when calling in a tip means that a corrupt army or police commander can make a lot of money selling your name to ISIL. March 15, 2021: Outside Baghdad (the Balad airbase) five rockets landed inside the sprawling facility, but caused no injuries or damage. Airbases and airports are large and easy to hit targets for unguided rockets. These targets consist of a lot of unoccupied (by people or structures) areas for the rockets to land in. The Baghdad airport, the largest in the country, consists of 14 hectares (35 acres) of enclosed (fenced in) space. Airbases and airports are currently favorite targets as Iran-backed groups are urged to kill or wound American military or contractor personnel, who often work or live on or adjacent to these large fenced and guarded areas. In the north (Harkurk region) near Mt Qandil, a remote area near the Turkish and Iranian borders, Turkish commandos crossed the border into Iraq to search a PKK base that had been hit with several Turkish airstrikes and apparently abandoned. The commandos found that the survivors of the airstrikes have indeed gotten away and did not take a lot of ammo, weapons and other equipment stored in bunkers. This area has long harbored PKK hideouts and some of them are equipped with hidden explosives rigged to explode if not turned off or disarmed by someone entering a hiding place. The Turks usually bring engineers or commandos trained to detect and disarm these bombs. March 14, 2021: In the north (Diyala Province) ISIL used explosives to bring down or damage electricity distribution towers. This caused reduced availability of power in the province for several days while repairs were made. Attacks like these are popular with ISIL because they are low-risk for the bombers and reminds everyone that ISIL is still active. Since the majority of people in the province are already anti-ISIL, these mass-punishment attacks are seen as worth it. ISIL also spends a lot of time and effort discovering who is particularly hostile to their cause. Former ISIL members and supporters are another favorite target as are civilian and government leaders (military and political) who are particularly effective against ISIL. These anti-ISIL informants often provide enough information for the military to locate the rural ISIL bases and that leads to numerous airstrikes, often by the Americans, who keep at it until they are convinced a particular base is gone. This is often confirmed by Iraqi and American troops visiting the area to look for useful information or ISIL personnel (dead or incapacitated) who are still in the area. These can often be IDd using the biometric ID kits the Americans have been using for over a decade. Iraqi troops often have the biometric gear which allows them to add ISIL members (dead or alive or just suspected) into the database originally created by the Americans. This database evolved into a worldwide resource containing biometric data (electronic fingerprints, iris scans and often a DNA sample on millions of known or suspected Islamic terrorists. This has been a key tool in tracking the dispersal of Islamic terrorists after ISIL control over territory in Iraq and Syria by 2017. March 13, 2021: In the south ( Qadisiya province) Ashab al Kahf, an Iran backed Islamic terrorist group took credit for an attack on an American supply convoy approaching the provincial capital. Some vehicles were damaged by roadside bombs but there were no casualties. Ashab al Kahf was created in 2019 but did not become particularly active until after the Americans killed Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in January 2020. Iran loudly and openly called for vengeance but so far has been unsuccessful. Iran is spending a lot of cash and other support on groups like Ashab al Kahf in an effort to inflict some significant hurt on the Americans. These efforts, especially the roadside bombs and use of unguided rockets, does produce civilian casualties and damage to civilian or government property. This costs Iran popular support in neighborhoods where these losses occur. Despite that, Iranian desperation breeds attempt after attempt. March 6, 2021: ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) appears to have undertaken an unofficial and unilateral truce with China. That means no more attacks against Chinese in Moslem countries and no more public criticism of Chinese mistreatment of the Moslem Uighurs in northwestern China (Xinjiang province), an area the Uighurs and many Moslems refer to as East Turkistan. The ISIL move was practical, as in there was little chance of success in attacking China or Chinese. Another factor was that Iran, long open to cooperating with Islamic terrorists who were helpful, depends on China for key economic support. What happened in Xinjiang while ISIL was building its caliphate in eastern Syrian and western Iraq was scary, and ISIL members dont scare easy. China came to be viewed as an even more dangerous foe than Russia and even hardcore ISIL backed off from including China on their target list. This applies to Moslem majority governments in general, which criticize real or imagined persecution by Infidel (non-Moslem) nations. But not China. While most Western nations criticize Chinese persecution of Uighurs there is little criticism from Moslem majority nations. The main reason is assumed to be economic as China is a major importer of oil from Moslem states and a major source of imports, including high-tech stuff and even weapons. China will sell to anyone who can pay and that appeals to many Moslem majority nations who are unable to get some Western weapons because of fears about how it will be used. An example of this is armed (with laser guided missiles) UAVs. The U.S. refused to sell these to many Moslem states because of fears they would be used against civilians. No problem with the Chinese, who now dominate the market for UAV exports to Moslem nations. March 3, 2021: In western Iraq (Anbar province) an Iran-backed militia launched at least a dozen 122mm unguided rockets at the al Asad airbase. This sprawling facility is on the Euphrates River some 200 kilometers west of Baghdad. Al Asad airbase is where over a thousand American and NATO troops have been stationed since 2015. Many of the incoming 122mm rockets were intercepted by the American rocket-defense systems but some hit the base, doing no damage. One American contractor had a fatal heart attack while in a bomb shelter. This is a common type of casualty when civilians are involved and make it to a shelter. The attack was unusual because it used the larger 122mm rocket and were fired from an improvised launcher hidden in the false bottom of a dump-truck that was later found, abandoned with the truck-bed be raised and the launch tubes empty. The 122mm rocket has a longer range (20 kilometers or more) than the smaller 107mm rocket usually used for these attacks. The 107mm rocket weighs 19 kg (42 pound) each and is 84 cm (33 inches) long rocket. This rocket has a range of six to ten kilometers and 1.35 kg (3 pounds) of explosives in its warhead. The 107mm design is very popular with guerillas and terrorists because of its small size and portability. The 122mm rocket is three meters (1o feet) and delivers a 20 kg warhead. The U.S. was ready to carry out an airstrike on an Iran backed militia but was called off at the last minute when it was discovered that women and children were brought into the base to act as human shields. This is a favorite Iranian defense technique against airstrikes by nations that will recognize human shields as a legitimate reason to not attack. Human shields dont work when Arab, Russian, Iranian or Turkish warplanes are attacking and most of the time Israel will not call off attacks either, especially against someone who is firing at Israeli civilians. February 25, 2021: In the west (Anbar province) across the Syrian border (Deir Ezzor province) an American airstrike by two F-15E fighter-bombers used seven smart bombs against an Iran-backed militia facility and largely destroyed it. This was not a very important facility and was in an isolated rural area. There was at least one death and four wounded. This indicates how little used this place was. The facility was used to support the Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah, an organization that is meant to become as powerful in Iraq as the original Lebanese Hezbollah has been since the 1980s in Lebanon. The U.S. holds Kataib Hezbollah responsible for recent rocket attacks on American bases and embassy in Iraq. Iran denies responsibility but the rockets used were made in Iran. The air strike was near the Al Bukamal crossing into Iraq. Iran is seeking to provide a safer environment for its Iraqi militias. Inside Iraq Kataib Hezbollah is subject to attack by security forces and pro-government militias. In eastern Syria the biggest threat is Israeli airstrikes and the occasional American one. For that reason, the Americans warned Israel the day before that there going be U.S. airstrike, to ensure an Israeli airstrike was not scheduled to take place at the same target or another one in the area. The is the first American airstrike in Syria since a new U.S. government took power that had indicated it would no longer such American airstrikes in Syria. When in-person classes resumed last fall, white students at a Houston-area high school wore masks with the Confederate flag to show support for then-President Donald Trump. Following the 2020 election, graffiti proclaiming Black Lives Dont Matter appeared on a wall in a student bathroom, where it remained until early February. That same month, administrators removed posters of Vice President Kamala Harris and former First Lady Michelle Obama days after they were put up to mark Black History Month, with one administrator saying they needed to be replaced with more unifying messages. The alleged incidents were among several described in a new court filing thats part of a federal lawsuit challenging the Barbers Hill ISDs hair and grooming policy. The suit alleges escalating racial tension in the district and its high school east of Houston for reasons both related and unrelated to the facts underlying the suit. The amended complaint, which was filed March 9, comes months after a federal judge in Houston granted a preliminary injunction to Kaden Bradford, a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, permitting his return to class and participation in band without cutting his locks. Bradford and his cousin, DeAndre Arnold, who are Black, drew national attention and support last year when they were told to cut their hair or face in-school suspensions. Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres interviewed Arnold, who was later invited to attend the 92nd Annual Academy Awards show by a celebrity couple that produced an Oscar-nominated short film about a Black father learning to style his daughters hair. Arnold has since graduated. The district had no comment on the allegations in the amended complaint, a spokeswoman said Wednesday, as administrators were reviewing the filing after being out for spring break last week. Since we were out, no one in our office was made aware of the updates. Our counsel is reviewing, as we are, so we do not have any comment at this time, spokeswoman Jami Navarre wrote in an e-mail. The recent incidents are concerning to lawyers representing Bradford and Arnold, who were contacted by parents, said Michaele N. Turnage Young, one of the lawyers representing the young men. The posters, which had been put up by the schools student council, featured inspirational quotes from prominent and accomplished Black figures. The Michelle Obama poster said: Dont be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered. When they go low, we go high. And the Kamala Harris poster said: Our Unity is our strength & our diversity is our power. We reject the myth of us vs. them. We are in this together. The complaint alleges that the districts superintendent, Dr. Greg Poole, explained he had directed the removal of the posters to replace them with more positive messages. Poole, who is named as one of the defendants in the complaint, did not return an e-mail seeking comment. Young said she only knew of those two posters being removed. In a statement to ABC 13, which reported on the posters and graffiti last month, district officials said the posters were viewed as combative and divisive. The posters in question contained political rhetoric from conventions and speeches from the campaign trail with the emphasis being on those political issues that still divide our county, administrators told the news station. Meanwhile, the graffiti in the bathroom, which appeared shortly after Election Day, was not removed until February, Young said. Additionally, the complaint alleges school administrators increased enforcement of its hair policy after its alleged discriminatory conduct appeared in local news reports. After Arnold was interviewed about the impact of the policy on him, school administrators issued 91 disciplinary referrals over nine days due to violations of its hair policy, according to the suit. Attorneys alleged the district attempted to cover up its misdeeds by immediately enforcing the hair policy against non-Black students who had previously been allowed to flout the hair policy without consequence. In those nine days alone, Barbers Hill High School eclipsed the total number of disciplinary referrals for hair violations issued during the entirety of each of the three prior school years, lawyers wrote in the complaint. It all raises concerns, Young said, whether the school district is providing a healthy school climate. The team of lawyers sent a letter to district leaders outlining steps to improve conditions at the school, including two with a Friday deadline: Post a statement from the superintendent at each school declaring no tolerance for harassment, among other declarations and encouragements, and retain an independent consultant to review the districts practices and policies regarding racial harassment within the next 120 days. Recent events at Barbers Hill High School compound our concerns about the welfare of BHISD students, said Janai Nelson, associate director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, in a statement. We hope that the district takes swift and decisive action to improve the school climate. alejandro.serrano@chron.com An American nurse, Kari-Ann Rouke, has approached the Federal High Court, Lagos, over her unlawful and indefinite detention by the Nigerian Police Force. Mrs Rouke, through her counsel, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, filed the lawsuit on Thursday against the Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Hakeem Odumosu, and the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, Adegoke Fayoade. She was arrested on February 9 and has been detained indefinitely over the death of her partner. Despite the clear provision of the law over detention periods, the complainant has been detained for more than one month over a murder case, without being charged to court for the alleged crime. According to her counsel, Mr Adegboruwa, the complainant in suit no FHC/L/CS/434/2021 is asking the court to order her release from police custody. She is also asking for an award of N100 million as general, aggravated, special and exceptional damages against the police. Kari Ann is asking for a declaration that the police is not entitled to arrest and detain her for an indefinite period of time over a matter that does not disclose any reasonable offence, a declaration that her continued remand in perpetuity without a charge is illegal and unconstitutional and for an order directing the police to forthwith release her from illegal custody, the counsel said. Background In the affidavit written by the legal counsel in support of the case, Mrs Rouke, a certified nurse in America, arrived Nigeria on January 21, 2021, to partner with someone she met online to establish a humanitarian outfit. Upon completing her assignment in Nigeria, she departed for the Murtala Mohammed International Airport on February 8, 2021, enroute America. She was, however, stopped by the Immigration Department on the ground that her COVID 19 Test result had expired, whereupon she was made to sleep at the airport purportedly for a new COVID 19 test. It was later the following day that she was informed that she was being arrested because her friend had passed on, unknown to her. She has been in police custody ever since, the affidavit partly read. Mr Adegboruwa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the CCTV footage of the hotel showed clearly that Kari Ann left her friend in the hotel room in good health in the company of his friends and relatives, all of whom were initially arrested but have now been released. The complainant said she is entitled to be released on bail in the same way that the principal suspects have been released and that she is only being persecuted because of her status as a foreign citizen. Mr Adegboruwa said the autopsy report showed that the deceased died of cardiac arrest, without any foul play. Kari Ann has been a subject of extortion ever since, even though no prima facie case has been established against her. Since her incarceration, Kari Ann has lost about 23 pounds in weight, she has emaciated tremendously, she has suffered bouts of malaria, dysentery and she is going through extreme emotional and mental stress, without any link to her family or relatives, Mr Adegboruwa said. ALSO READ: Police seek arrest of man videoed masturbating in public bus He added that Mrs Rouke has a delicate medical condition, she is anaemic and thus requires constant medical check up and treatment. Reliefs sought In a case filed on behalf of Mrs Rouke by her lawyer, she wants the court to order her release so that she could take care of her delicate health condition and go back to America to join her family. She also seeks an order directing that she is entitled to move freely in any part of Nigeria, without let or hindrance from the police, while exercisig her fundamental rights. ADVERTISEMENT Mr Adegboruwa, said the detention of his client is a flagrant violation of the applicants fundamental rights, guaranteed under sections 34 & 35 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and Articles 4, 5, 6 & 12 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap. 10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. Also part of the relief sought, the complainant seek a declaration that the incarceration and continued confinement of the applicant since February 9, 2021 is illegal, unconstitutional, null and void. She also wants the court to order the respondents to fortwith cease and abstain from applying for a remand order against her over matters pertaining to financial crimes to which she has been in detention since the February 9, 2021. Mrs Rouke wants a sum of N100 million awarded against the police as general, aggravated, special and exceptional damages, for the violation of her fundamental rights. Muyiwa Adejobi, the police spokesperson, is yet to respond to calls and text messages over the detention of Mrs Rouke as of the time this report was filed. 03/18/2021 By Joseph Hartman As you plan for next academic year and start scheduling your classes beginning March 26, Im excited to share with you that UMass Lowell plans to return to full on-campus operations for the Fall 2021 semester With vaccinations accelerating nationwide and multiple semesters of COVID-19 lessons learned and effectively implemented behind us, we believe we will be able to create a safe, social and interpersonal living and learning experience for all our students on campus.This spring weve already increased our on-campus populations in classrooms and our residence halls. Weve all learned through their absence just how important person-to-person interactions are.We will continue to adhere to national and state public health guidance in place, if any, come September. And while campus operations may not look identical to 2019 when the semester begins, university services ranging from student activities and the Rec Center to research and dining will all be finalizing and posting plans on the UMass Lowell website in the coming months to move as close to normal as possible.And for the second consecutive year, UMass President Marty Meehan is recommending a tuition freeze, a move Chancellor Moloney and her administration strongly supports.We certainly recognize that COVID-19 wont disappear. In addition to continued enhanced cleaning and other public health measures, our weekly surveillance testing will continue. With a 0.4 positivity rate during the 2020-21 academic year out of more than 40,000 tests performed, UMass Lowells testing program has been essential to our ability to move forward. Thank you to our students for your responsible behavior in keeping our campus and our communities safe.As vaccinations progress and the status of the virus is monitored, it is our hope this spring to be able to have more on-campus activities, especially outside as the weather gets warmer.Given this trajectory, we also are planning for a different kind of Commencement celebration. While the formal ceremony will be virtual and streamed, we hope to have students receive their diploma covers in person in the Tsongas Center. Students, accompanied by two guests, will walk in, receive their diploma covers, have a photo taken, and walk out. Masks, social distancing and other risk reduction measures will be in place throughout. More details will be shared as they are finalized.While were proud of what weve been able to accomplish during the most challenging year in memory, a university is its people and the discoveries and creations that come from their interactions.We have so much to catch up on and I cant wait to see you on campus again this spring, and in classes this summer or in the fall. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... The New Mexican chile is an iconic and ubiquitous part of our states culture that draws tourists across our borders for the unique flavor and heat of our southwestern cuisine. Harvested on 9,100 acres across our state, New Mexican farmers produced 63,075 tons of chiles in 2019, and last year, New Mexican scientists even found a way to grow our chiles in space. While New Mexicos chile industry is an important part of our culture, it is also critical to our states economy. As the leading chile producer in the nation, the industry supports more than 5,000 jobs and contributes over $450 million to the states economy. However, today, our farmers and ranchers are struggling amid drought conditions, worker shortages, foreign competition and lack of demand as a result of restaurant closures from the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, these challenges could be exacerbated by recent actions in the state Legislature. Right now, more than 20 bills moving through the Roundhouse stand to adversely impact these businesses making it more difficult and costly to do business in New Mexico. While the agricultural industry is resilient, the majority of our farms and ranches are small businesses with more than 90% family or individually owned. House Bill 20 (Healthy Workplaces Act), in particular, would dramatically increase costs for small businesses and create an insolvable operating environment. Several proposed bills would jeopardize water supplies for farmers, undermine existing farming practices by increasing costs and use of crop improvement chemicals and leave the agricultural industry vulnerable to unnecessary litigation from activists. But what does this mean to you, New Mexicans who are not in these businesses? As costs and regulations increase, our food processors and manufacturers will close or move operations, resulting in fewer opportunities to find work. Your kids will have to leave the state to find their careers. As farms and ranches file for bankruptcy in response to these policies, we will be forced to rely on foreign-grown and processed foods that do not have the same food safety requirements as we do. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ We have already seen our iconic chile industry diminish due to increased chile imports from Mexico and other countries. These policies could make it unprofitable to grow chile in New Mexico, eliminating our states staple. We are already on that path and need to support our farmers. The New Mexico Chile Association is concerned with the state of affairs in the Roundhouse. To address these issues, we joined a coalition of more than 20 business groups calling on our state legislators to focus their efforts on helping our state economy recover and rebuild. Already, New Mexico is ranked in the bottom three states for best places to do business. We cannot allow bad policy to jeopardize our way of life and create a debilitating business environment that disincentives new investment in our communities now and in the future. While we are hopeful that New Mexico has a bright future ahead, we know we cannot afford to squander new opportunities with bad legislation. State legislators need to work in tandem with our farmers, ranchers and other businesses both small and large to build a better future for all New Mexicans. Hazleton, PA (18201) Today Cloudy skies during the morning hours followed by thunderstorms in the afternoon. Storms could contain damaging winds. High 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. The Company is Focused on Both Increasing Tauri-Gum Brand Awareness and E-Commerce Revenue NEW YORK, NY, March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- Tauriga Sciences, Inc. (OTCQB: TAUG) (Tauriga or the Company), a revenue generating, diversified life sciences company, with a proprietary line of CBD & CBG infused Supplement chewing gums (Flavors: Pomegranate, Blood Orange, Peach-Lemon, Pear Bellini, Mint, Black Currant), additional product offerings, as well as an ongoing Pharmaceutical Development initiative, today announced that it has entered into a 6 month agreement (the Agreement) with Coalition Technologies, to enhance its Search Engine Optimization (SEO) metrics. The Companys goal is to both enhance the brand awareness of its flagship Tauri-Gum brand as well as increase its E-Commerce sales. Due to the more favorable macro-industry outlook, the Company believes that the timing is prudent to allocate a % of its marketing budget on SEO services and strategies. Additionally, the Company is confident that its existing infrastructures enable it to efficiently and effectively monetize any material future improvements to its SEO metrics. The Company also believes that its recent decision to increase the Tauri-Gum CBD & CBG infusion concentrations (25mg / per piece of chewing gum) will broaden its prospective E-Commerce customer base. ABOUT TAURIGA SCIENCES INC. Tauriga Sciences, Inc. (TAUG) is a revenue generating, diversified life sciences company, engaged in several major business activities and initiatives. The company manufactures and distributes several proprietary retail products and product lines, mainly focused on the Cannabidiol (CBD) and Cannabigerol (CBG) Edibles market segment. The main product line, branded as Tauri-Gum, consists of a proprietary supplement chewing gum that is Kosher certified, Halal certified, and Vegan Formulated (CBD Infused Tauri-Gum Flavors: Mint, Blood Orange, Pomegranate), (CBG Infused Tauri-Gum Flavors: Peach-Lemon, Black Currant) & (Vitamin C + Zinc Immune Booster Flavor: Pear Bellini). The Companys commercialization strategy consists of a broad array of retail customers, distributors, and a fast-growing E-Commerce business segment (E-Commerce website: www.taurigum.com). Please visit our corporate website, for additional information, as well as inquiries, at http://www.tauriga.com Complementary to the Companys retail business, is its ongoing Pharmaceutical Development initiative. This relates to the development of a proposed Pharmaceutical grade version of Tauri-Gum, for nausea regulation (specifically designed for the following indication: Patients Subjected to Ongoing Chemotherapy Treatment). On March 18, 2020, the Company announced that it had filed a provisional U.S. patent application covering its pharmaceutical grade version of Tauri-Gum. The Patent, filed with the U.S.P.T.O. is Titled MEDICATED CBD COMPOSITIONS, METHODS OF MANUFACTURING, AND METHODS OF TREATMENT. On December 18, 2020 the Company disclosed that it had entered into a Master Services Agreement with CSTI to lead the Company's clinical development efforts. The Company is headquartered in Wappingers Falls, New York. In addition, the Company operates two full time E-Commerce fulfillment centers: one located in Montgomery, Texas and the other in Brooklyn, New York. DISCLAIMER -- Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 which represent managements beliefs and assumptions concerning future events. These forward-looking statements are often indicated by using words such as may, will, expects, anticipates, believes, hopes, believes, or plans, and may include statements regarding corporate objectives as well as the attainment of certain corporate goals and milestones. Forward-looking statements are based on present circumstances and on managements present beliefs with respect to events that have not occurred, that may not occur, or that may occur with different consequences or timing than those now assumed or anticipated. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in forward looking statements due to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, such as are not guarantees of general economic and business conditions, the ability to successfully develop and market products, consumer and business consumption habits, the ability to consummate successful acquisition and licensing transactions, fluctuations in exchange rates, and other factors over which Tauriga has little or no control. Many of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in greater detail in the Risk Factors section of Taurigas Form 10-K and other periodic filings made from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this release, and Tauriga assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Contact: Tauriga Sciences, Inc. 4 Nancy Court, Suite 4 Wappingers Falls, NY 12590 Chief Executive Officer Mr. Seth M. Shaw Email: sshaw@tauriga.com cell # (917) 796 9926 Company Instagram: @taurigum Personal Instagram: @sethsms47 Twitter: @SethMShaw Corp. Website: www.tauriga.com Flash The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines from China arrived in Djibouti on Thursday. The vaccines, made by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac, will help the African country's immunization campaign against the pandemic. The Chinese COVID-19 vaccines arrived on Thursday morning at Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport, and a ceremony, attended by Chinese ambassador to Djibouti, Zhuo Ruisheng, Djiboutian Foreign Minister, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and Djiboutian Health Minister, Mohamed Warsama Dirieh, was held. Zhuo said Djibouti is the first east African country to receive vaccines from China, which underscores the high importance China puts on its multifaceted relationship with the Horn of Africa country. China has provided and is providing COVID-19 vaccine aid free of charge to 69 developing countries in urgent need, while exporting vaccines to 43 countries, according to official figures. The Chinese ambassador to Djibouti also said viruses know no borders, and as such international solidarity is needed to make COVID-19 vaccines affordable and available to all who need it. Youssouf for his part commended China's solidarity in Djibouti's anti-COVID-19 efforts including through the rapid supply of COVID-19 vaccines to the Horn of Africa nation. "China has shown it stands firm in its solidarity with Djibouti in a difficult time, through the quick anti-COVID-19 support it extended," he said. "The arrival of the Chinese vaccine will greatly facilitate the smooth progress of the Djibouti government's nationwide vaccination program and further enhance Djibouti ability to fight the pandemic," the Djiboutian Foreign Minister further said. Djibouti had recorded 6,385 COVID-19 cases and 63 COVID-19 related deaths as of Thursday noon. Djibouti recorded its first case of COVID-19 exactly one year ago. The Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) Local 5017 ended the strike of 156 health care workers at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, Oregon on March 15. The workers, who had picketed for 11 days, were forced back to the hospital by the OFNHP, which ended the strike without meeting a single one of the workers demands or even securing a contract. Medical techs during their strike (Source: OFNHP L. 5017 Facebook) The union breathlessly announced on its Facebook page that we are happy to say that our strike is over. A joint press release by the hospital and Local 5017 officials said: The agreement [to end the strike] came together as both parties believe patient care is and should be the top priority. Representatives from the union and the St. Charles Medical Center are working with a federal mediator to impose a contract, supposedly to be finalized by March 31, on the workers. In September 2019, workers voted 90-34 to accept representation from the OFNHP, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The workers, who include technology specialists who work with X-ray, ultrasound, CAT scan and other diagnostic technologies, struck to win their first labor agreement with the hospital. They demanded improved compensation, including multiyear wage formulas with guaranteed cost-of-living increases, as well as more reasonable workloads. Frank DeWolf, a St. Charles Bend catheterization lab technologist, told OregonLive and Oregon Public Broadcast (OPB), Bend has become one of the most expensive cities in Oregon to live. When the wages dont go up to match, its making it very hard to live here. Our salary is lower than our counterparts in Western Oregon. Our salaries are lower across the board. This was the first strike at St. Charles since a nurses strike in 1980. The walkout was preceded by years of legal struggles by workers seeking to recover losses from what amounts to be wage theft. St. Charles has a history of underpaying workers. In 2017, the hospital settled a $9.5 million suit brought by Carol Lynn Giles, an RN, in 2013 over failing to reimburse her and other hourly nurses and respiratory therapists for mandatory training. According to Wikipedia, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries received 11 complaints from workers at the health care system regarding wage violations, with 10 of the complaints prompting warning letters from the bureau to the health care company. In 2020, the health care system admitted to violating state laws regarding meal and rest breaks. Throughout the strike, the administration maintained that the hospital was running normally, but several physicians and nurses told the press that patient care was being undermined by untrained strikebreakers, which the union allowed the hospital to bring in. A neurosurgeon, Dr. Priscilla Pang, told OPB it was difficult to conduct surgeries as There are only two technicians that even know how to use the equipment I was going to use for the case. And frankly, I didnt feel safe with a bunch of temps coming in. A BendSource article, which the union shared on its Facebook page, mentions that the parties agreed to end the strike on March 12. On the same day, the union re-promoted a GoFundMe campaign created on March 1 to raise $40,000 to help pay for a striking workers living expenses. Local 5017, an offshoot of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) which despite having assets and investments totaling $120 million, paid out zero dollars in strike benefits in 2020, according to the unions filing with the US Department of Labor. At the same time, AFT President Randi Weingarten was paid $453,453. On March 11, the union showed its real class position by promoting Democratic Senator Ron Wyden as an ally of the medical workers. The senator, a trusted servant of the capitalists, in an interview with the Washington Post, defended the extended tax cuts for the liquor industry in the COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress last December as a way to help small brewers and wineries. The senator is as well a virulent advocate of nationalist economic policies. He has taken to YouTube to denounce subsidized Chinese manufacturing as the reason that American workers lose their jobs. According to Wyden, in foreign trade it isnt hard to find someone who is cheating and, of course, it is China. The unions fawning over of such full-throated supporters of American nationalism is a stark warning. They choose to conceal from the workers the real reason for job losses and deteriorating living conditionsthe ongoing crisis of capitalismwhile pitting American workers against Chinese workers, both of whom are oppressed by the capitalist system. As we warned the striking workers last week, the union wanted to end the strike as quickly as possible and fast-track a rotten deal with the hospital. Our warning was based on similar maneuvers undertaken by unions, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in particular, throughout the country. Unable to contain the opposition from the workers who voted 94 percent to authorize a strike, Local 5017 called the walkout not to fight for workers demands but to isolate and demoralize them into accepting the hospitals demands. But this struggle is far from over. With an expected spring surge of COVID-19, the lives and working conditions of the workers are in great danger. The policy of social murder conducted by the American ruling class, allowing the virus to spread with little restraint throughout the population, has resulted in over 30 million infections and over 548,000 deaths, including 2,324 deaths in Oregon, a state with a population of 4.2 million. Additionally, Oregon has reported 17 cases of the more virulent B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the UK, as well as one case of the P.1 variant prevalent in Brazil. Disturbingly, the state has just identified an apparently new variant, containing characteristics of both the UK and Brazil variants. Against scientific advice, the Biden administration is conniving with the trade unions to restart in-person schooling across the country, ignoring a large body of scientific evidence that reopening schools is a major driver of the spread of COVID-19. To win their demands, the workers must organize their opposition to the hospital administration outside of the control of the unions, which are tied to the Democratic Party and will do everything possible to help the Biden administration return to business as usual, with schools open, hospitals full and Wall Street booming. To carry the struggle forward, health care workers in Bend and across the Pacific Northwest should form rank-and-file safety committees, democratically controlled by workers themselves and independent of the Democrats, Republicans and unions. Educators, who are the natural allies of health care workers, have already formed rank-and-file committees in Oregon and many other states. By standing up against inadequate wages, unsafe staffing levels and working conditions, Bend health care workers are standing up for quality patient care. Similarly, by standing up for keeping learning remote, educators are fighting to give health care workers breathing space amid a raging pandemic. Unlike the unions, which keep workers struggles divided, the purpose of rank-and-file committees is to unite workers as much as possible, across health care, education, transportation, manufacturing, logistics, retail and other sectors, to prepare collective action. Containing the pandemic will require the preparation of a general strike to shut down schools and nonessential workplaces, with full compensation for all affected workers and small business owners. Workers must demand the resources needed to vaccinate the population, address the critical social needs of poor and working class families, and provide high quality remote learning until the pandemic is under control. Charleston, WV (25301) Today Rain and scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 79F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms in the evening will give way to cloudy skies overnight. Areas of patchy fog developing. Low 62F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. South Africa: President Ramaphosa to host Botswana President This story has been published on: 2021-03-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Public Service and Administration Minister, Senzo Mchunu, says South Africa is currently preparing to undergo its 2nd Generation Country Review process. As a country, we have already adopted the Roadmap, setting out clear timelines for conducting the Country Review Process and stakeholder consultations, Mchunu said, addressing the med... See more 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 Cardboard Citizens, the theatre company that works with actors who have experienced homelessness, has released a collection of short online performances based on the real-life experiences of people from social housing estates. The Here. Us. Now. films are the culmination of a year-long project that the company says "seeks to challenge misconceptions of social housing by reflecting the diverse experiences of residents and exploring issues such as gentrification, the right to buy and community resilience." Actors were trained in reporting techniques and worked with private renters, homeowners and social-housing tenants on the estates to record their stories, capturing "a varied picture of British city life". The testimonies were turned into eight shorts directed by Dorothy Allen-Pickard, which were performed by Cardboard Citizens actors in people's homes and around the London-based estates. One of the actors, John, told WhatsOnStage: "I came to theatre rather late, six years ago in fact, beginning with Go Between at the Young Vic. I have performed at a variety of other theatres and I have even done a sonnet or two at The Globe. "I began my involvement with Cardboard Citizens over five years ago, but have been particularly busy with them the last two years, which of course includes Here Us Now. The whole process was so rewarding, from visiting the estates, and interviewing the residents, to the performances and films. "Verbatim theatre is a real craft in itself. It's all about listening, properly. I found out that the average person only hears a third of what a person says and the brain fills in the gap. You cannot do this with verbatim. You are a conduit and must not become the person but let their voice come through you." Director Dorothy Allen-Pickard added: "I make films to shine a light on experiences and stories that aren't spoken about enough or are often misrepresented. These films give a genuine voice to people's experiences of social housing and I am hopeful they will spark debate and affect real change." To watch the performances and mini-documentaries visit cardboardcitizens.org.uk/hereusnow UTICA, N.Y. An 18-month-old girl was kidnapped in Cortland after police say the mothers boyfriend forced the infant her mother into a car outside a Utica hotel Wednesday night. Around 9 p.m., police say a 26-year-old mother and her boyfriend, 34-year-old Jeremy Flowers, of Watertown, got into an argument at the Red Roof Inn in Utica. The mother told investigators she tried to call Utica police, but Flowers allegedly took her phone away. She told police she and the child were forced into the car headed toward Cortland. Flowers allegedly accused the woman of cheating on him, and punched her several times before slamming her head into the passenger side window and dashboard during the car ride. The woman also told officers Flowers threatened her with a knife and hit the child on the head. Around 1:20 a.m., police responded to a convenience store on Clinton Avenue in Cortland for a 911 hang up. The clerk told officers a distraught woman had come into the store saying her boyfriend was beating her up. She then locked herself in a storage closet at the back of the store. When the woman came out to speak with the officers, she had severe swelling and bruising to her face, head and arms. When police realized Flowers had left the store with the infant, they pinged the womans cell phone and sent out an Amber Alert. The woman informed police that Flowers was not the child's father. Flowers was stopped on Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania, and taken into custody. According to police, the girl was not injured. Flowers is charged with: Second-degree kidnapping Third-degree grand larceny Third-degree criminal possession of a weapon Third-degree assault Menacing Endangering the welfare of a child Flowers was arraigned and remanded to a Pennsylvania facility without bail. According to police, Flowers is currently on parole in New York. 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. 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. HARTFORD Connecticut state troopers arrested a Texas man on Interstate 91 Friday morning who police say was transporting two underage girls he had kidnapped in New Hampshire. State police said 18-year-old Cameron Snody, of Fort Worth, Texas, was charged with third-degree larceny and being a fugitive from justice in Connecticut. He is also facing kidnapping charges in New Hampshire, where authorities are seeking to extradite him. The two girls, aged 15 and 17, were taken to a local hospital for evaluation, state police said. Contributed / Connecticut State Police New Hampshire state police said the two girls were unharmed. New Hampshire state police said in a press release Snody had flown to the state with the intention of meeting a 17 year old female with whom he had been speaking using a popular messaging application. Police have not identified the girl because she is a minor, but said she is a resident of Swanzey. The town is a rural community nestled in the southwestern corner of the state near the Vermont and Massachusetts border, and about two hours north of Hartford. New Hampshire authorities believe Snody stole the victims brothers car, which he used to drive her and her 15-year-old friend to New York City. Family members were able to reach the younger girl, who told them they were traveling north. Swanzey police requested the assistance of New Hampshire State Police in the case shortly after 9 a.m. Friday morning. Through a joint effort with Connecticut State Police, the vehicle driven by Snody was located on Interstate 91 in Connecticut, New Hampshire state police said. Connecticut state police said Troop Hartford received an Amber Alert for the kidnapping of the two girls from New Hampshire on Friday morning. Troopers were able to gather information, which led them to believe that Snody was traveling in the area of Interstate 91 northbound, state police said. Police set up along the I-91 corridor and spotted the car, a Saturn Ion with New Hampshire plates, near Exit 23 around 10:15 a.m. State police said they conducted a traffic stop in a manner which prevented the accused from escaping. Authorities said Snody surrendered and was arrested without incident. In New Hampshire he faces two counts of kidnapping and theft by unauthorized taking, New Hampshire state police said. New Hampshire authorities have begun the process to extradite Snody to face the kidnapping charges, state police said. He is being held at a Connecticut Department of Correction facility on $500,000 bond. Note: An earlier version of this story that appeared online gave the age of one of the victims as 12, based on a report from Connecticut State Police. New Hampshire authorities have since confirmed the girl is 15 years old 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. Reto Sterchi/Redux Don Lemon This is how Don Lemon's latest book ends: in flames. That's not so surprising. This Is the Fire, which was published on Tuesday, is as urgent and at times, as intimate and painful as the book that inspired it, James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time, an essay collection about race and racism. One answers the other. "When James Baldwin said, 'No more water the fire next time' we're in the fire. And I think we don't have any more fires," the CNN anchor, 55, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. "So we need to put this one out. We need to deal with this one." "That book is filled with passion. I feel like James Baldwin, that book just kind of rolled out of him in like, a night or two. ... That is the same sort of thing, and I think the way, the most honest way that I can be, is just to say it, right?" Lemon continues. There are some structural similarities to the books (both invoke the authors' nephews) and there are differences; Lemon says he never wanted his inspiration to become derivation. This Is the Fire unusually blends memoir, journalism and historical research to recount not just Lemon's history with racism, but the country's. "When you think about all the factors that come together that make me Don Lemon I'm a Black, gay man, American, who has suffered discrimination, obviously, and who has a platform as the only person of color in primetime ... I have done things on television in this platform that other people have not dared to do and still weather the storm," the CNN Tonight presenter says. "That's where I am right now, and that's why I'm proud. And that's why I feel like I can speak in this book with some authority." For more on Don Lemon's new book and his life at home with fiance Tim Malone, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this week's issue, on newsstands now. Story continues One passage from his book recounts the 1811 German Coast uprising in Louisiana, a failed slave revolt for freedom. Another sees Lemon remembering a recent brush with mistreatment while he was shopping in Sag Harbor, New York. In a third section, Lemon remembers the sudden death of his beloved big sister, Leisa, and the long shadow of grief and how that bound him to the family of Stephon Clark, fatally shot by police in 2018. Lemon's book traverses all of this territory and more. It's a heady mix. "I would say to that: Why not? Why not write this book?" he says. "And especially now, when in the last few years I've been at the nexus of everything that's going on in the country, especially when it comes to social issues and issues of race during Charlottesville, during Breonna Taylor, during Ahmaud Arbery, especially during George Floyd." He also says he knew that now, right now, was when he needed to publish. "This book had been inside me for a long time. I've been wanting to write this book and I kept saying, 'It's not time, it's not time,'" Lemon says. He had actually been working on another book, "about wellness and living your best life kind of thing," when Floyd was killed in police custody last May. "And the moment that ... happened, I said that this was the moment." This Is the Fire has an intentionally wide angle in what it covers: "It is to give people a sense of history, so that we know what we're up against in this country, and I don't think that we can deal with racism we can deal with unconscious bias, we can do any sort of -ism, any sort of discrimination unless we start from the beginning." RELATED: Don Lemon Reacts to Trump Claiming He Made Juneteenth 'Very Famous' 'It's Laughable' Jim Spellman/WireImage Don Lemon But Lemon's book looks forward as much as it looks back. "There's one part in the book, toward the end, where I talk about how change happens. When I talk about how white people quite honestly have to be open to learning about these things, and not necessarily get to do it on their own, and not necessarily relying on Black people to teach them," Lemon says. "And also the Black people, that we have to let go of our righteous indignation and realize that we're all in this together and there's some things that we're going to have to teach to each other." He goes on: "And so that's really, for me, the call to action that we need to do ... to be a part of this grand experiment of a more perfect union." That would mean, he says, "that we strive to achieve that on a daily basis, maybe even a moment-by-moment, minute-by-minute basis." He's looking forward to what that looks like. "I'm excited about the process of this book being out there. I'm excited about the process of people reading it," Lemon says. "I'm also excited about the process of how people experience it and whether that is positively or negatively, it matters not to me. What matters is that do you have an experience that they can have a discussion with?" He's hopeful, too, even as he admits, "I do think that we are standing at the precipice now." "I'm optimistic. That's the crux of who I am," he says. "Now, you can be serious and you can have concerns about the future, right? Or about anything and still be optimistic about it. I think that at the end of the day, there are enough people in this country who are like-minded, [or] some who may not be like-minded but who are willing to move in reality and in love, that that will be enough to carry us through." How to Support the AAPI Community Amid the Recent Wave of Anti-Asian Violence This Is How You Can Take a Stand Against AAPI Hate Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a disturbing increase in anti-Asian hate speech and violent crimes, not only in the United States, but worldwide. This steep rise in reports of racism, hate speech, discrimination, and violent physical attacks targeting Asians and the Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community has undoubtedly been fueled by racially-charged references to the coronavirus as the "Kung-Flu" or "China Virus" after its initial outbreak in Wuhan. Society has somehow become so comfortable with anti-Asian sentiment that a startling 39 percent of adults in the United States agreed that "it is more common for people to express racist or racially insensitive views about people who are Asian than it was before the coronavirus outbreak," according to a Pew Research Center survey in June of 2020. That's why it's more important now than ever before to break this troubling mindset and stand up for the AAPI community. RELATED: AskMen Amplify: What You Need to Know About Our Push for Racial Equality To be clear, anti-Asian hate is nothing new, unfortunately, as noted by historic atrocities that go as far back as the 1800s, such as the Rock Springs Massacre and the Chinese Massacre of 1871, as well as the persistence of damaging stereotypes and the model minority myth. However, these horrifying incidents have risen over the past year, as evidenced by a nearly 2000-percent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in New York City alone, according to NYPD data. Furthermore, Stop AAPI Hate a reporting center established by Asian-American groups to track acts of discrimination and xenophobia against the AAPI community received reports of nearly 3,300 incidents in 2020 across all 50 states, and they've already received reports of more than 500 incidents so far in 2021. These numbers only reflect the incidents that are being reported, of course, and there is great concern that there are far more crimes against the AAPI community particularly against women and the elderly that are not being reported nationwide. It shouldn't have to come to such horrific circumstances to urge people to support the AAPI community, but the most recent crime to push this movement forward is that of a 21-year-old white man who went on a killing spree across three Asian-owned spas in and around Atlanta, Georgia on Mar. 16. This resulted in eight deaths, six of whom were women of Asian descent, and it has left a glaring lack of hate crime charges in its aftermath. This is obviously a particularly painful time for the AAPI community, so be sure to check in on your Asian friends and community members. But, remember that it is not their responsibility to educate you. We all have an abundance of resources at our fingertips to help us stand in solidarity against racism in all its forms and, most of all, against the white supremacy that fuels it all. That said, here's how you can support the AAPI community now and going forward. How You Can Help the AAPI community From education to donations, there's always something that can be done to take action against racial injustice. If you have the financial means to contribute to organizations with the power to fight injustice or provide resources for the AAPI community, thats always a great place to start. However, you dont need to spend a single dime to stand up for your Asian and Pacific Islander brothers and sisters. You can also use your voice to demand legislation from government officials, and speak out against anti-Asian speech and acts that you witness, including microaggressions among family, friends, and even yourself. You can also volunteer your time to support your local community, and just generally educate yourself on the AAPI experience to gain a deeper understanding of why this is such an important issue. Also, if you are a member of the AAPI community and are seeking support at this traumatic time, the subtle asian mental health Facebook group has been reportedly offering free one-on-one supportive listening sessions. Donate to AAPI Organizations New York Magazine has collected an ever-growing list of organizations that could use donations to support and enrich the AAPI community on both local and national levels, including: You can also donate to an organization close to you through Movement Hub, a collection of 40 AAPI partner organizations addressing anti-Asian racism, and providing resources to promote cross-racial unity in collaboration with AAPI Civic Engagement Fund. Learn About the AAPI Experience The Will Smith-hosted Netflix limited series Amend: The Fight for America takes a look at the fight for equal rights in the United States, and touches upon the AAPI experience in the sixth episode, in particular. There are also many pieces of fiction and non-fiction literature that offer an eye-opening looking into the Asian-American and Pacific Islander experience, including: Educational Resources to Stand Up for the AAPI Community It can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to speaking up and speaking out, but the following resources offer important tips to help combat anti-Asian sentiments on varying levels. Political and Community Outreach Its important to make known any incidents of anti-AAPI hate that you have experienced or witnessed to help coalitions develop policies for advocacy. It's also crucial to urge politicians to create legislation that supports equality. Here are a few ways that you can make a difference on a local and national level. Anti-Asian incidents can be reported through Stand Against Hatred and Stop AAPI Hate. The murders in Atlanta have urged the House of Representatives to hold an anti-Asian racism hearing on Thursday. With this political push, now is the time to reach out to your elected officials to ask what they are doing for the AAPI community, including intervention, prevention, anti-racism education, civil rights protections, and condemning acts of hate. Volunteer your time or assistance by reaching out to local organizations, such as this community effort to help safely escort eldery AAPI folks in and around Oakland, California, or through SafeWalksNYC and Protect Chinatown. Small businesses and restaurants need more help than ever due to stay-at-home orders over the past year. Make an effort to seek out Asian-owned businesses in your community and support them with your patronage, or find other ways to make a difference through Send Chinatown Love. No matter how big or seemingly small, every action truly does make a difference to support the AAPI community. Most of all, it is incredibly important to hold others and ourselves accountable to move towards change and awareness. You Might Also Dig: After taking a brief beak last week, the US rig count resumed its upward climb this week. Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes and data analytics firm Enverus reported Friday the US rig count rose nine to 411 for the week. While well above the record low 244 reported last August, the count is still 361 rigs below the 772 recorded in March 2020. There were 318 rigs drilling for oil, up nine for the week. A year ago, there were 684 rigs drilling for oil, 346 more than this week. There were 92 rigs drilling for natural gas, unchanged for the week and 14 below the 106 at work a year ago. Texas lost one rig to 202, 195 below the 397 at work statewide last March. Texas was the only producing state to post a decline this week. New Mexico jumped seven rigs to 67 and was joined by Louisiana and North Dakota as producing states to gain rigs. The Permian Basin added four rigs for 216 at work in the region, 189 below the 405 active last year. Lea County, New Mexico, was the most active county in the Permian, rising seven the biggest jump among Permian counties to 37. Eddy County, New Mexico, followed with 30 rigs, unchanged for the week. Midland County had 23 rigs at work within county lines, up one. Reeves County had 21 rigs, down one for the week. Howard County reported 19 rigs, unchanged for the week. Loving County had 15 rigs, unchanged. Martin County dropped four the steepest decline among Permian counties to 14. Upton County was unchanged at 12 rigs. Enverus Rig Analytics reports the count is up 5.5 percent in the last month but still down 41 percent year-over-yera. The largest increases by major basin were in the Gulf Coast (up six to 50) and the DJ Basin (up two to 15). In the Gulf Coast, half of the week-over-week increase was in Webb County, Texas, where operators are showing renewed interest in gas windows of the Eagle Ford and Austin Chalk. SM Energy ramped to two rigs after averaging one rig last year. Cimarex Energy also made an appearance in the data, with one rig drilling a vertical well targeting an unknown formation in the southwest corner of Webb County. The company hasnt spudded a well in the county since 2011 and has yet to drill a horizontal. Lewis Energy added the third rig week-over-week after it averaged one over the last five months. Before that, it hadnt spudding a well in the region since September 2019. Laredo Energy and EOG Resources are also running rigs in Webb County. In the DJ Basin, Bison Oil & Gas ended its six-month drilling holiday by adding a rig in March. The other addition was due to rig downtime the prior week. The basin is also up by five rigs month over month. Brussels, March 19 : Several European countries have announced they would restart vaccinations with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 jab after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) deemed it "safe and effective". The EMA statement came after an extensive review of possible blood clot risks, the agency's chief said on Thursday, following reports that some people had developed blood clots in the period after having the injection, reports dpa news agency. France, Italy, Latvia and Bulgaria announced they would likely restart vaccinations using the AstraZeneca jab on Friday following the EMA advice. Spain would reportedly follow suit next week, according to El Pais newspaper. In an effort to bolster damaged public confidence in the vaccine, French Premier Jean Castex announced that he himself would receive the injection on Friday. Swedish health authorities said, on the other hand, that they would need "a few days" to assess the EMA report before lifting the ban on AstraZeneca. "The suspension remains for the time being," Johan Carlson, head of the Swedish Public Health Agency, told reporters. Germany will aim to restart vaccinations using AstraZeneca's vaccine on Friday, Health Minister Jens Spahn said. The restart in Germany would come with new advice on the vaccine's side effects, Spahn added. Blood clot reports from several countries prompted governments around the world to halt inoculations with the AstraZeneca jab. This slowed down already sluggish inoculation campaigns in the European Union. The EMA, which had approved the jab in January, launched a review of the risks. "The committee has come to a clear scientific conclusion," the agency's chief Emer Cooke said when presenting the findings. "This is a safe and effective vaccine. Its benefits in protecting people from Covid-19, with the associated risks of death and hospitalisation, outweigh the possible risks," Cooke said. The agency's committee concluded that the vaccine was not associated with an increase in the overall risk of thromboembolic events or blood clots. "When you vaccinate millions of people, it's invevitable that rare or serious incidences or illnesses will occur in the time immediately following vaccination," she said. However, the agency could not definitively rule out a link between cases of rare, very serious clotting disorders and the vaccine, and said it launched additional investigations to understand the issue. The EMA therefore recommended issuing warnings by including the risks in the product information. The World Health Organization has also recommended the continued use of the vaccine. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text A longtime veteran of the Houston Police Department is poised to take the helm after Chief Art Acevedo exits to lead police in Miami. Troy Finner, currently Acevedo's executive assistant chief, was announced as the incoming chief Thursday. He was one of two top contenders for the job. FAREWELL: Negotiations fail forcing River Oaks Theatre to close What do we know about Finner and his priorities for HPD? Here's a quick rundown: He's a born-and-raised Houstonian Finner was born in Fifth Ward and raised in Hiram Clarke, where community members celebrated the announcement, according to ABC13 reporter Nick Natario. "To see somebody from the neighborhood make it to that level, it's great," neighbor Ronald Stribling said. "I'm so happy for him. He's a good guy, too." Finner graduated from Madison High School in 1985 and is one of four children, having a sister who died in 2004, accoridng to N.L. Preston of African American News & Issues. He's been with HPD for nearly 30 years While Acevedo, who was brought up as a cop in California and hired away from the Austin Police Department, Finner knows HPD through and through. He's worked from patrolling the streets to being the department's second in command over the last few decades. He's also worked major disasters and relief efforts. That includes in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and thousands of those in needs flocked to Houston for refuge. He wants to build community relations When asked Thursday what his priorities will be as chief of HPD, Finner said two things: Decreasing homicides and improving public relations. Finner has often spoken about the need for community involvement in policing during press conferences. During Thursday's announcement, he noted: Its time that everybody take some responsibility and everybody come together, and stop throwing stones at one another. He's been personally affected by gun violence Finner's has known gun violence within his own family, which could be an indicator on how he decides to lead the department. Two of Finner's nephews died from gun violence, Preston reported. He also noted his sorrow for crime victims, particularly children. Earlier this year, Finner helped work the case of a young boy who was killed while recording a TikTok video. Let me tell you, his mother, what a strong young woman, Finner told Preston. While she is under the shock of losing her son and knowing she cant properly bury him in a larger homegoing celebration due to Coronavirus, she has so much spiritual maturity. She told me, God is going to get me through this. I believe in God and I know that my sons death is going to help other people in some kind of way. If you want to look for hope, Thats it. He hasn't tweeted since 2018 Finner's lack of tweeting will provide a change of pace for Houston. Acevedo is an avid tweeter, voicing political opinions and thoughts on policing quite frequently. But Finner's been less active on the platform, having last tweeted about a commemoration for police in January 2018. He did, however, retweet the Houston Police Department days ago. A sign of coming change? What do you think about Chief Finner? Let me know on Twitter: @JayRJordan. MASON CITY, Iowa - On Wednesday, Governor Kim Reynolds asserted that vaccine eligibility for all Iowans would be met by April 5. This is dependant on the increase in the state's vaccine allocation, with the White House expected to double shipments to about 200,000 per week. But with it being less than a month away, can that goal be achieved? CG Public Health Director Brian Hanft says the move doesn't change much from what the department is doing now. However, he adds that it will likely take several months before everybody who wants to be vaccinated gets a shot. "We don't want to lose sight of the people who are over 65. We still have a group of people over the age of 65 who haven't had their first dose, so we're making sure we continue to focus on those groups that are really at risk, those people over 65 years old who have underlying health conditions." The department continues to receive 800 doses of the Moderna vaccine per week, as has been the case for the last 6 weeks. While they have received 1,170 doses of Pfizer recently, it's unknown where there will be more shipment of either Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson, which Hanft predicts may not happen until next month. "The real question is when will we see an amplification or increase in doses available to us." Data from the CDC shows just over 12% of Iowans have been fully vaccinated. So far, abotu 1.1 million total doses have been administered. An all-Wales Rural and Wildlife Crime Coordinator will be introduced to tackle the scourge of countryside crime in the country. The coordinator will represent Wales strategically in regards to UK rural crime initiatives, as well as forums and priority delivery group meetings. The Welsh government says it has provided funding to commence the pilot role for 12 months. It comes as the cost of rural crime in the UK reached an eight year high in 2019, the latest figures by NFU Mutual show. Countryside and farm crime cost the UK 54m in that year, an increase of almost 9 percent on the previous year. The increase comes as organised gangs continue to target high value tractors, quad bikes and livestock. Wales' Minister of Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths said she took the issue of rural and wildlife crime 'very seriously'. "[I] commend police forces in Wales for the great strides they have made to tackle this over the years. "Working with our Welsh police forces we now have a unique opportunity to build upon the good work of our Rural Crime Teams to establish a dedicated all-Wales Rural and Wildlife Crime Coordinator. "I believe this police role could make a step change to the coordination, effectiveness and multi-agency response to rural and wildlife crime work." NFU Cymru has recently said that more police officers should be deployed to rural areas to tackle the increasing criminal activity affecting farmers. The union's rural affairs board chairman, Hedd Pugh said: Rural crime, whether its attacks on our livestock, thefts of machinery or livestock, is something that has been causing increasing concern for farmers across the country. "We are therefore pleased to see the Minister is taking this matter seriously by appointing an all-Wales rural and wildlife crime coordinator." TN elections 2021: Kamal Haasan promises Rs 3,000 dole to homemakers, income by honing skills India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Coimbatore, Mar 19: Bettering the promise of monthly payouts to homemakers by AIADMK and DMK, Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam on Friday assured Rs 3,000 "value rights assistance" to them in its manifesto for the April 6 assembly polls, but maintained it was not a dole. MNM, making its debut in the Tamil Nadu assembly polls three years after it came into existence, also promised a monthly assistance of Rs 5,000 to select group of people, including those aged 75. The promise of Rs 3,000 assistance comes days after the DMK and the ruling AIADMK assured payouts of Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500 to the women homemakers respectively in their manifestos. Outlining the key aspects of MNM's manifesto at its release, Haasan, trying his luck from Coimbatore South, told a press conference here that through initiatives like skill development, women could earn as much as Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month and "that is what we call payment to housewives and not doles to them." The manifesto said by creating gig workers opportunities for educated women, they could earn Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 during their free time and skill development training would be facilitated to ensure it. Gig workers, generally independent professionals, are those who enter into agreements with companies to provide services to the firms' clients. Haasan was the first to promise what he called in December last as 'payment' to homemakers for their work. Though MNM chief accused rivals for 'copying' his idea and blamed them for showering doles while the Tamil Nadu government faced huge debt, his party's manifesto promised Rs 3,000 a month to homemakers who only did household chores. Kerala elections 2021: LDF releases manifesto; Assures pension to all housewives However, the assurance was listed under the subject "not a freebie (dole), economic development schemes." It also said first-time workers will be provided with e- bikes under interest-free while school students will be provided with 10-inch smart tablets. Further, MNM promised a monthly assistance of Rs 5,000 for all aged 75, those with 80 per cent physical disability and women abandoned by their husbands and unable to work and widows. Incidentally, such women will also be provided skill development training. MNM will not depend on tax revenue for generating funds, but through development schemes like generating employment, Haasan said. West Bengal elections 2021: Speaking against Modi is speaking against democracy, says Suvendu Adhikari "This will not be for five years keeping in view the polls alone, but a vision document and a living document for another ten years, and will bring in a change in Tamil Nadu's political scenario," he claimed. Loss-making state transport corporations could be made profitable by making employees shareholders, he said. For MSMEs, the party would set up units, like ration shops, where they can get all the raw materials to improve the production, he said and promised mono or metro rails in different parts of the state. The party also has plans to implement Provision of Urban Amenities to Rural Areas (PURA), a strategy for rural development in India, a concept, former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam came up with. Stating that the manifesto was implementable, Hassan came down heavily on the ruling party which promised free washing machines, saying the state's debt burden already stood at Rs five lakh crore. The party in power wanted to impose heavy burden on the people by such gimmicks, he claimed. MNM said it will introduce a State Eligibility cum Entrance Test (SEET) replacing the present NEET, which would be helpful to the students of Tamil Nadu. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 19, 2021, 19:51 [IST] Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Hazleton, PA (18201) Today Cloudy skies during the morning hours followed by thunderstorms in the afternoon. Storms could contain damaging winds. High 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. A fire at an apartment complex in Western Australia has added to the list of blazes burning across the country while other areas are battered by month's worth of rain in just one day. Residents were evacuated from the apartment complex following the blaze on Hubert Street in East Victoria Park in Perth, Western Australia, at 10.15pm on Thursday night. Only one home was damaged in the blaze and residents have been stopped from returning to their apartments as authorities investigate possible arson. Across the other side of the country firefighters battled several deadly blazes in Queensland and New South Wales while parts of the east coast were battered with torrential rain. Residents were evacuated from the apartment complex following the blaze on Hubert Street in East Victoria Park in Perth, Western Australia, at 10.15pm on Thursday night Only one home was damaged in the blaze and residents have been stopped from returning to their apartments as authorities investigate possible arson A blaze at an industrial site in Logan south of Brisbane was still burning on Friday morning Firefighters were called overnight to the blazes burning near Liverpool, in Sydney's south-west, and Logan, in Brisbane's south. Fears were raised the fires could cause dangerous explosions with stashes of chemicals stored at both sites. Residents in surrounding Logan areas were warned to stay indoors as the blaze from a storage shed containing thousands of tyres at an industrial site in nearby Park Ridge sent billowing plumes of toxic smoke over the area. The shed contained thousands of tyres and 44 gallon drums of oil and grease. Around 50 firefighters remained at the scene of the blaze which broke out shortly before midnight on Thursday night. Seven residents were also rescued from a blaze at a separate terrace in Sydney's inner-city Darlinghurst, believed to have been sparked by an electric bike charging at the time. Millions of people are also on high alert as a 'life-threatening' rain event continues to pummel Australia's east coast, with warning for flash flooding and dangerous downpours. More than 100 firefighters were battling a factory fire (pictured) in Prestons in Sydney's south-west It was a busy morning for Sydney firefighters called to a factory fire in Prestons and a terrace blaze in Darlinghurst (pictured) A severe weather warning is in place for the New South Wales mid-north coast as heavy rainfall lashes the area on Friday and into the weekend, with a 600mm rain dump predicted for some areas. Meteorologists have warned those living on the east coast to expect 'an absolute deluge' as the 1,200km-long weather system moves gradually southwards towards the Harbour City. 'Intense rainfall which may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding may develop over the Mid North Coast and parts of the Hunter,' the Bureau of Meteorology warned on Friday morning. Up to 600mm of rain could fall in Coffs Harbour over the next 36 hours during the wild weather event. Commuters heading into the city on Friday morning were met with flooding at Lewisham station, in Sydney's inner west, as rain water soaked the entrance. The morning commute was thrown into disarray thanks to the weather event. Sydney could see 50mm fall on Friday, before 120mm is dumped on the Harbour City on Saturday. Pictured: A cyclist rides through rain in the Sydney CBD A crack and flooded road is seen in Corlette, Port Stephens, on Thursday amid the wet conditions Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 US will reach the target of distributing 100 million coronavirus vaccinations weeks ahead of schedule, the White House said. The country added it was now in position to help supply Canada and Mexico with millions of lifesaving jabs. The Biden administration revealed the outlines of a plan to loan a limited number of vaccines their neighbours as the president announced the US is on the cusp of meeting his 100-day injection goal way ahead of schedule. He said: Im proud to announce that tomorrow, 58 days into our administration, we will have met our goal. Tomorrow, weare going to hit a big milestone: 100 million shots in peopleas arms. pic.twitter.com/Cj65chMhJJ President Biden (@POTUS) March 19, 2021 Mr Biden promised to unveil a new vaccination target next week, as the US is on pace to have enough of the three currently authorised vaccines to cover the entire adult population just 10 weeks from now. Ahead of Mr Bidens remarks, the White House said it was finalising plans to send a combined four million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to Mexico and Canada in its first export of jabs. Press secretary Jen Psaki said the details of the loan were still being worked on, but 2.5 million doses would go to Mexico and 1.5 million would be sent to Canada. She said ensuring our neighbours can contain the virus is a mission critical step, is mission critical to ending the pandemic. Big News: President Biden announced that tomorrow, our Administration will hit 100 million COVID-19 shots administered. Thatas after just 58 days in office a and 42 days ahead of schedule. The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 19, 2021 The AstraZeneca vaccine has not yet been authorised for use in the US but has been by the World Health Organisation. Tens of millions of doses have been stockpiled in the US, waiting for emergency use authorisation, and that has sparked an international outcry that lifesaving vaccine is being withheld when it could be used elsewhere. The White House said just seven million of the AstraZeneca doses are ready for shipment. The initial run of doses manufactured in the US are owned by the federal government under the terms of agreements reached with drugmakers, and the Biden administration has faced calls from allies across the globe to release the AstraZeneca vaccinations for immediate use. Mr Biden has also fielded direct requests from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to buy vaccines produced in the United States. Nagaland: Ice-making equipment at Doyang rusting by Abenthung Kikon March 19,2021 | Source: Eastern Mirror Nagaland The market stalls piled high with glistening catch-of-the-day are as much a tourist attraction in Wokha as the picturesque Mount Tiyi. Just a short drive from Wokha town leads to Doyang hydro project dam, Nagalands largest hydro power plant, as well as a reservoir for fresh water fish. The owner of a private fish landing centre informed Eastern Mirror that during peak season, around 100 to 200 kilos of fish are collected in a day and around 20 to 30 kilos during off-season. The department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources had set up an ice-making plant at Doyang and inaugurated it on April 27 2012, to assist fishermen in preserving their catch. However, the cold storage facility has remained idle for the last seven years. The owner said that he usually collects fish and stock up for a day or two with the help of a large two-door deep freezer. He added that an ice-making plant was an important requirement to avoid rotting as the fresh fish were to be sent to other places. Fish caught at Doyang dam are said to be sent to the neighbouring Assam state and to Kohima and Dimapur as per the demand of the Fishery department. The purpose of the plant was to stock the fish for a few days before being transported as per order (consignment). However, this vital cold storage facility is non-functional for years now due to reasons related to lack of revenue generation and power supply (commercial). Sources informed that the plant has been non-active for the past seven years or more, because of which the equipment is now rusted. District Fishery Officer, Wokha, C Dory Yanthan, informed Eastern Mirror that the Doyang fishing culture has remained non-functional for the past three to four years. She said more equipment will be required to make the plant functional again and that such a facility is needed at the site. Meanwhile, solar lights, floaters for boundary demarcation, railings and certain necessary equipment have also been found missing, she said. The official went on to say that the department had requested for state power line from the executive engineer (Power) Wokha but the department could not incur the expenditure as the distance was too far from the tapping point. She said that in 2011, the department had written to the general manager, North Eastern Electric Power Corporaton Limited, Doyang, for provision of a 63 KVA temporary power line. The then deputy commissioner, Rovilauo Mor, also wrote to the general manager and HOP Doyang in June 2011, requesting the same. It was informed that on May 6, 2013, the department had leased out the 5MT capacity ice plant to the Doyang fishing community for a period of five years at INR 10,000 per annum payable within January 30, to be received after one year. However, the community could not run the plant as it proved too expensive to operate with fuel in the absence of power. On August 13, 2018, the district fishery officer, Wokha had also written to the deputy commissioner to take up the matter regarding the power supply to HOP, Doyang. The department further requested the Power department for an estimate preparation of a transformer. Accordingly, the EE (Power) prepared the estimate and submitted it to the Directorate (Fisheries and Aquatic Resources), it was informed. Meanwhile, the official shared that the department provides assistance to the fishing community through various projects every year. In 2020, the department released 1.76 lakh of fingerlings at Doyang dam to ensure good catch for the fishermen, she added. The HSE said it will resume administering the AstraZeneca vaccine tomorrow Saturday following the recommendation from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) and the deputy Chief Medical Officer that use of the vaccine should recommence. Dr. Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer of the HSE said: We welcome the review by the European Medicines Agency and the positive outcome. We will now put in place the updated information and advice recommended by NIAC, and begin rescheduling vaccinations starting with a relatively modest number tomorrow. We know there are huge benefits in terms of preventing serious illness and hospitalisations, even after the first dose for all vaccines, including the AstraZeneca vaccine. We are already seeing very positive and significant changes in terms of reported Covid-19 cases in healthcare workers and vulnerable groups. There are clear benefits for this vaccine in protecting against serious illness from Covid-19. Read More Our priority, is to restart the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine, in as safe and timely a manner as possible. We plan to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine over this weekend in our acute hospital settings. The green light was given this evening after the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) issued an update in relation to the vaccine. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said: I have recommended the recommencement of the Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca programme. "The HSE will now work to recommence the administration of Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, he added. He said that: To date, no reports of serious clotting events associated with low platelets have been received by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) in Ireland. Over 117,000 doses of Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca have been administered in Ireland. Yesterday, the European Medicines Agency found the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is safe for use following an investigation into cases of blood clots among people who received the jab. It paved the way for the resumption of its rollout here, after the finding was assessed by vaccination experts and the Department of Health. It was announced last Sunday morning that the rollout of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 was being put on temporary hold here. Professor Karina Butler chair of the Natational Immunisation Advisory Committee said: The safety of vaccines is paramount. The public should be reassured by the swift and thorough investigations into a very small number of serious but very rare adverse events. Because Covid-19 can be so serious and is so widespread, the EMA found that the benefits of this vaccine outweigh the risks of these very rare events. Problems with clotting are commonly seen in those with severe Covid-19 disease. They can also occur by chance in the general population. The EMA found no evidence that the vaccine caused these reported events and are continuing investigation into a possible association. These events have predominantly occurred in women under 55 years of age. However, as this may reflect targeted vaccination of healthcare workers to date, NIAC recommends that appropriate guidance be made available to all vaccine recipients and healthcare providers. The public should be reassured by the fact that over 20 million doses of this vaccine have been given in the EEA and the UK providing protection to those who have received it. We are seeing that the rate of infections and hospitalisations are beginning to reduce amongst those who are vaccinated. The best vaccine that anyone can received is the one that they can get soonest. NIAC includes representatives from Department of Health, HSE, the National Immunisation Office, the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA),the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL UCD), representatives from the Faculties and Institutes of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, RCSI, the Infectious Diseases Society, the Nursing and Midwifery Board and two representatives of the public. The HSE Advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine is : People being invited for vaccination are at high risk of Covid-19 disease and it is advised that you attend your appointment to receive this vaccine as soon as it is offered to you. Only those who have had anaphylaxis following a previous dose of the vaccine or any of its constituents (including polysorbate 80), should not receive it. People are advised to delay the vaccine if they have an acute illness with a fever. You should also delay vaccination if you have received another vaccine within the last 14 days or if you have had Covid-19 disease within the past four weeks. Second Dose: You should get your second dose of Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca 12 weeks after your first dose. There are no appointments scheduled yet for second doses. You will be contacted for an appointment for your second dose. The HSE recommend that you receive your second dose of vaccine when this is offered to you. As state lawmakers in Austin wrap up the latest legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday threatened to withhold their pay by vetoing a line item in the states budget because a Democratic walkout killed his priority elections bill. No pay for those who abandon their responsibilities, Abbott tweeted. Should the governor veto Legislature funding? You voted: Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 49 Human Resources Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 186 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 186 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. Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Human Resources Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-human-resources-degree-programs/ 2021 Human Resources Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Amberton University American InterContinental University Athens State University Auburn University Baker College Bellevue University Brenau University Campbellsville University Cleary University Colorado Christian University Colorado State University, Global Campus Concordia University, Saint Paul Concordia University, Wisconsin Davenport University DeSales University Dickinson State University Eastern Michigan University Ferris State University Florida International University Fort Hays State University Franklin University Geneva College Georgia Southwestern State University Grantham University Hampton University Hawaii Pacific University Illinois State University Indiana State University LeTourneau University Lindenwood University Metropolitan State University Park University Pennsylvania State University Portland State University Regent University Saint Leo University Saint Mary of the Woods College Shippensburg University Temple University Thomas Edison State University Trident University University Of Alabama, Birmingham University of Arkansas University of Maryland Global Campus Valdosta State University Wayne State College Western Governors University Wilmington University Winthrop 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/. An Ohio mother accused of murdering her six-year-old son by running him over with her minivan after he tried to get inside following a failed attempt to abandon him and his siblings in a park is seeking to enter an insanity plea. The attorney for Brittany Gosney filed a motion on Wednesday to enter a not guilty by reason of insanity plea. 'Defendant struggles to assist in her defense and counsel has serious concerns regarding defendant's mental state,' wrote lawyer David Washington Jr. The attorney for Brittany Gosney (left), who is accused of murdering her son, James Hutchinson (right), 6, has filed a motion seeking to enter a not guilty by reason of insanity plea Gosney's attorney wrote that she struggles to assist in her defense and he has serious concerns regarding her mental state Washington will seek a court-ordered competency evaluation to determine Gosney's ability to understand the charges and assist in her own defense, reported Local12. Gosney, 29, faces charges of murder, corpse abuse, involuntary manslaughter and multiple counts of endangering children, abduction and kidnapping stemming from the death of her six-year-old son, James Hutchinson. Authorities have said she told investigators that James was killed on February 26 in a park in southern Preble County, where she tried to leave her three children. The six-year-old attempted to climb back in his mother's minivan when she drove off. The boy was said to have grabbed onto the minivan's bumper or door, and ended up being run over and killed. Gosney returned to the park 30 to 40 minutes later and found James lying in the middle of the parking lot with injuries to his head. She said the child had died. Gosney then placed his body in her car, drove to the family's home in Middletown and stored his body in an upstairs bedroom. Gosney's boyfriend, James Hamilton, faces charges of abuse of corpse and evidence tampering. The 42-year-old had allegedly pressured her to abandon her children A tribute to James Hutchinson, 6, is seen in Middletown, Ohio, on March 7 Stuffed animals and candles are seen outside the home in Middletown, where James lived with his mother and siblings before his death The following day, Gosney and her boyfriend, 42-year-old James Hamilton, who had allegedly pressured her to abandon her children, allegedly took the boy's body and dumped it in the Ohio River near Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Divers acting on sonar evidence and signals from a cadaver dog were back in the river on Wednesday to search for the victim's body, but they did not find him. The search was later halted due to heavy rain. During her arraignment earlier this month, when she pleaded not guilty to the charges against her, Gosney tearfully complained that she did not understand the legal proceedings because she has a learning disability. Gosney is due back in court on March 22. She is being held in jail on $2million bond. Gosney, pictured here with one of her four children, allegedly ran over her son James after a failed attempt to abandon him in a park along with his siblings Hamilton, 42, was indicted on 15 counts, including corpse abuse, tampering with evidence, endangering children, kidnapping and abduction. He pleaded not guilty and had his bond set at $750,000. Posts from Gosney's multiple Facebook accounts indicate that she has four children: two daughters and two sons. Gosney described herself on social media as 'Full Time Mommy!' and regularly shared photos of her smiling children and Hamilton, whom she referred to as her 'husband' and her 'everything.' Everyone who is 45 and older can register for a COVID vaccine on Friday when the state also rolls back many of its pandemic restrictions, including capacity limits at restaurants, gyms and houses of worship. But many of the states COVID-19 orders will still remain in effect. Residents will still need to wear masks out in public, while businesses are required to continue following social distancing guidelines. Bars that do not serve food will remain shuttered, and the 11 p.m. curfew on dine-in service at restaurants remains in effect. Here is what to expect on Friday: Vaccines At 8 a.m., anyone between the ages of 45 and 54 became eligible to receive a vaccine. The minimum age to previously get the vaccine was 55. The state is also vaccinating certain people who work in education or child care and residents and staff of congregate settings, such as correctional facilities. Medical first responders, health care workers, and long-term care staff and residents have also been eligible for several months. There are various ways Connecticut residents can schedule an appointment, including through VAMS, local clinics and pharmacies or by phone at 877-918-2224. The CVS vaccine site said Friday morning all appointments in Connecticut are booked but that more will be added as they become available. The Walgreens site said there were no available appointments in Connecticut for the next three days. The Stop & Shop website, which already reported that it had limited availability in various states, including Connecticut, put visitors in line for vaccine appointments registration. The site indicated estimate wait time was several minutes. Once entry to the site is granted, there were no available appointments for various ZIP codes tested. A spokesperson for Stop & Shop said the grocery chain is offering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine exclusively at select locations across the state. The Walmart website showed many available appointments in Connecticut on Thursday, March 25. The site indicated there were no appointments available any day prior. State officials said anyone experiencing issues trying to find an appointment Friday morning was due to the usual volume that occurs when we open up to a new phase. As with previous eligibility openings, state leaders are urging patience, and Gov. Ned Lamont has suggested those who can work from home or who are not at risk should wait to avoid filling up appointment slots needed by those at greater risk. The lower age requirement means about 477,000 more people are eligible for the vaccine. But between those who have already been vaccinated as part of another group, and those who are hesitant to get a vaccine, the state estimates only about 200,000 will be trying to get an appointment out of the gate. Bridgeport officials announced a new vaccination site opened at Harding High School on Bond Street Friday afternoon. The site, the citys 10th including those operated out of pharmacies, will operate Monday through Friday from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Residents may call 203-576-7993 to schedule an appointment. New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said Friday morning that the city was making progress in the vaccination effort in a statement Friday. Our Health Department has given out 11,637 vaccines so far and are looking forward to the new phase. We have clinics tonight, tomorrow and then a number next week, said Elicker. New Haven Health Director Martiza Bond echoed that the health department was anticipating the next phase eagerly. (T)he Health Department are working diligently in making vaccines available eligible residents. This includes efforts in promoting clinic sites of all the vaccine providers throughout the City. We are aiming to promote, prevent, and protect the health of the community, Bond said in an email. Dr. Everett Lamm, vice president of clinical affairs at Fair Haven Community Health Care, said practitioners were busy Friday delivering doses of the Johnson & Johnson and Moderna vaccines at Wilbur Cross High School. The health care organization has slots to vaccinate about 500 people a day at the site, he said, and is striving to expedite delivering doses. Thus far, people had largely been grateful to receive either vaccine, he said. Were trying to accommodate as many as possible, said Lamm. People have been very accepting of whats being offered. Lamm said he dd not foresee any major issues as the pool of eligible recipients expands to those 45 or older, or, in the coming weeks, when people 16 and older will be cleared to receive the vaccine. People are eager to get it, said Lamm. Restaurants Starting Friday, restaurants will be able to operate without capacity limits on indoor dining. But the states 11 p.m. curfew on dine-in service remains in effect, as does an eight-person limit at tables. Bars that do not serve food also remain shut. The states restaurant association has argued Connecticut can safely lift the curfew and table size limit while maintaining social distancing. Hair salons, churches and gyms Capacity restrictions are also being lifted at other businesses and venues starting Friday. Personal services, like hair salons, will no longer be subject to capacity restrictions one year after the pandemic shuttered them for more than a month. Gyms, fitness centers, retail stores and offices are also no longer subject to capacity limits. So too are larger venues like libraries, museums and aquariums. Churches, mosques, temples and other houses of worship will also be exempt from limits on capacity a decision that comes right before several major spring holidays. Still capped Capacity limits have not been lifted everywhere. Performing arts venues and movie theaters will remain at half occupancy. They tend to be a bigger crowd, Lamont said Thursday. Movie theaters maybe youre eating and sitting in close proximity to somebody for two hours at a time. Private gatherings and venues, sports Some restrictions will also still apply on large public and private gatherings. At private homes, residents will be allowed to have up to 25 people gather indoors or up to 100 outdoors, so long as social distancing is maintained and masks are worn. Still be careful, obviously if youre with people who have been vaccinated and you know them, you can relax a little bit more, Lamont said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said people who have been fully vaccinated those two weeks past their final shot can safely gather without masks or distancing in small groups with other fully vaccinated people. Fully vaccinated people can also visit with members of one other household without masks or distancing meaning grandparents who have received their shots can visit with grandchildren, according to the CDC. At commercial venues, up to 100 people can gather indoors or 200 outdoors with masks and social distancing. Sports games and tournaments have also resumed, provided guidance from the state Department of Public Health is followed. Travel mandate now an advisory The states travel advisory ordering people who travel out of state to quarantine or test upon arrival in Connecticut becomes guidance rather than a mandate on Friday. When youve been down there in Miami Beach and you had a party and you havent been vaccinated, I want you to test and I want you to quarantine when you come back, Lamont said. Ive seen what some of those parties are, and they could be super-spreader events. Re: Vaccine to be sent north As reported on Castanet, an article by the Canadian press skews the facts on vaccine rollout in this country! According to this news item, Canada is about 20th world wide in number of doses administered! Fact is, by counting percentage of population that have been given at least one shot, we are 60th at best! Typical media covering up for inadequacies of a seriously inadequate government! Stan Macruger The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance Friday for schools recommending 3 feet of social distancing is safe for in-person learning. The new guidance comes a week after a study about controlling coronavirus transmission in Massachusetts classrooms was published. Previous guidelines from the national public health agency for schools operating with fully in-person or hybrid instruction models recommended physical distancing of at least 6 feet between people, including students, teachers, staff and visitors. The federal guidance has remained a barrier for many schools looking to reopen their doors with limited space. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC and former chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, addressed the problem Wednesday speaking before Congress, noting the 6-feet distancing guidelines have proven challenging and the agency was seeking to change its recommendations. As soon as our guidance came out, it became very clear that 6 feet was among the things that was keeping schools closed, and in that context, science evolves, Walensky said while being questioned by the the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The CDC director brought up the Massachusetts study, published late last week in Clinical Infectious Diseases, in which researchers compared COVID-19 cases in students and staff in public schools among districts in the state with differing requirements. The study found similar infection rates among students and staff at schools with 3- and 6-feet minimum distancing rules. The researchers concluded lower distancing policies can be adopted in academic settings with masking mandates without negatively impacting safety. Student rates and teacher rates of disease were the same in 6 feet versus 3 feet. There are several other emerging studies that I am aware of. As we look at those studies in the context of Massachusetts, this Massachusetts study, were looking to update our guidance, Walensky said. Her statements came in response to a line of questioning from Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy Rodgers of Washington state, who urged the CDC director to act now, arguing the agency doesnt need to wait for any more studies to come out. The congresswoman asked Walensky when the federal government will able to update its guidance. The CDC is actively looking at the additional studies and seeking to update its guidance soon, Walensky answered. She pointed out the fact that only one study has been published suggesting a minimum of 3 feet versus 6 feet of social distancing is safe. I would just articulate, I too am a mother of three, one whos been home-schooled the entire year, so I am entirely with you that we need to get our children back, the CDC director noted. Massachusetts has already been operating with a statewide requirement of 3 to 6 feet at a minimum of social distancing in classrooms. The rule is only one part of state Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeff Rileys plan to have all K-12 students return to in-person learning later this spring. Students in grades K-5 are expected to go back to in-person instruction five days a week by April 5. Those in grades 6-8 will have to return to the classroom full-time by April 28. A date for high schoolers has yet to be determined. Districts that cannot fit all their students in their schools without violating distancing requirements can seek a waiver to be exempted from the policy. Riley said the department will work with individual districts that are challenged by the 3-foot mark. We think now is the time to begin to move our children back into school more robustly, Riley said earlier this month, pointing to improved public health metrics across the state. Related Content: Colombia will plant a forest of 60,000 trees in memory of COVID-19 victims in the Cundinamarca region, Carlos Eduardo Correa, the minister of environment, said MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th March, 2021) Colombia will plant a forest of 60,000 trees in memory of COVID-19 victims in the Cundinamarca region, Carlos Eduardo Correa, the minister of environment, said. "This will be a tribute to families harmed by the pandemic, a symbol which will herald life through planting trees. It is a very beautiful restoration project which everyone could visit later, especially relatives of those who left us", the minister said on Thursday. The planting will cost more than $1 million. The project will be included in the strategy of forest restoration, according to which Colombia's authorities have committed to plant 180 million trees by 2022. Colombia has registered around 2.31 million COVID-19 cases, 61,636 people died of the disease, and about 33,000 people are currently receiving treatment. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was suspended from Twitter her office said Friday - the same day Democrats introduced a resolution on the floor to expel her from Congress. Greene was prohibited from posting tweets for 12 hours for violating Twitter rules, the Georgia Republican said on Telegram, according to CNN. Twitter later shared a statement with DailyMail.com that said the banishment had been made in 'error.' 'We use a combination of technology and human review to enforce the Twitter Rules across the service. In this case, our automated systems took enforcement action on the account referenced in error. This action has been reversed, and access to the account has been reinstated,' a Twitter spokesperson said. Meanwhile, California Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez went on the House floor to press for Greene's removal saying she 'advocated against our peers, the speaker and our government.' 'I take no joy in introducing this resolution, but any member who cites political violence and threatens our lives must be expelled,' Gomez said. 'I believe some of my Republican colleagues, and one in parrticular, wish harm upon this legislative body.' 'I'm not saying this for shock value,' he added. On Thursday, Forbes first reported that 72 Democrats had signed on to Gomez's resolution, including prominent Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Eric Swalwell, Ilhan Omar and Debbie Wasserman Schultz. A resolution was introduced Friday to expel Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from the House of Representatives for statements she's made backing conspiracy theories and indicating Democratic members should be executed Rep. Jimmy Gomez introduced a resolution Friday that was backed by 72 other Democrats to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from office On Thursday, Greene sent out tweets about the Democrats' move calling it a 'war' on Republican women and using it to raise funds for her re-election. On Friday, Twitter suspended her access to her account for 12 hours for violating rules, but didn't cite a specific tweet Among the 73 Democratic lawmakers to co-sponsor the resolution against Greene were prominent members including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (left) and Ilhan Omar (right) THE CLAIMS TAYLOR GREENE HAS NOT PUBLICLY RENOUNCED The California Camp Fire which killed at least 85 was caused by a space laser linked to the Rothschilds and the state's high-speed rail. PG&E admitted it was caused by a faulty power line and went into bankruptcy to fund a $13.5bn settlement and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin cut off a child's face while she was alive, Clinton wore it as a mask so the terrified child would produce 'adrenachrome' and then organized the killing of a cop who knew about it. The Las Vegas massacre was organized by Democrats to help them ban guns and shooter Stephen Paddock was not a lone wolf. ' I am told that Nancy Pelosi tells Hillary Clinton several times a month that we need another school shooting in order to persuade the public to want strict gun control.' Seth Rich leaked Hillary Clinton's emails and was murdered in revenge by her aide John Podesta because the emails revealed that a D.C. pizza restaurant had a child-smuggling operation in its basement. It does not even have a basement. The world is run by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles and the Q in QAnon exists and is the 'best chance to take them out.' Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett are Muslims. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was replaced by a body double. The Clintons has JFK Jr. killed by organizing his plane crash. She wasn't the person who posted a call to assassinate Nancy Pelosi to her own Facebook page. Advertisement 'There is nothing more threatening to Democrats than strong Republican Women!!!' Greene tweeted Thursday, sharing a tweet about the move. 'House Democrats have declared war on House Republican Women!' In another tweet, which linked to the Georgia Republican's donation page, Greene said: 'In Nancy Pelosi's America, I've been expelled from Congress!' 'And that's exactly what the Democrats are introducing TOMORROW: a Resolution to expel & remove me from office for the mere crime of standing with the People, not the politicians!' she said. The timing isn't connected to anything Greene did this week, rather Gomez's office had 'quite a few' conversations with House Republicans about supporting the resolution and wanted to wait for those decisions to be made, Forbes said. Gomez's spokesperson Eric Harris told the publication that there was 'interest' among GOP lawmakers, but 'concerns regarding threats of violence and political retribution' prevented any from signing on. During the vote last month to strip Greene of her committee assignments, just 11 House Republicans signed on. Gomez called for a 'strong and clear condemnation from all of her Republican colleagues,' Forbes reported. Instead, she's been embraced by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and former President Donald Trump, while Senate Minority Mitch McConnell - who broke with Trump after the January Georgia run-off losses - has condemned her. Gomez said he believed Greene should be expelled from Congress over some of the conspiracy theories she's signed onto - including on the legitimacy of school shootings and the Sept. 11 terror attacks - as well as social media posts that indicated she wanted top Democrats executed. Greene also took heat this week for voting against a resolution that gave Congressional Gold Medals to the U.S. Capitol Police and other law enforcment that protected the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection. The resolution gave one medal to the Capitol Police, another to D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department and another to the Smithsonian to be displayed with a plaque listing all the law enforcement agencies that were involved. Instead of voting in the affirmative, Greene signed on as a co-sponsor to a separate resolution, sponsored by Rep. Louie Gohmert, that made no mention of the attack on the Capitol, though listed the three names of the of Capitol Police officers who died. Regional Manipur police arrest three involved in looting LPG tankers Correspondent IMPHAL, Mar 19 | Publish Date: 3/19/2021 1:10:12 PM IST Manipur police on Friday claimed to have arrested three persons involved in the robbing of LPG laden bullet tankers along the NH-2 in Kangpokpi district of the state in the wee hour of Thursday. After the arrest of the three suspects and assurance of compensation to drivers who were robbed from the state consumer affairs, and food and public distribution (CAF&PD) minister, tanker drivers suspended their steering down strike with immediate effect. The drivers resumed service following the developments, said joint secretary N Dilip Singh of All Manipur Road Transport Drivers and Motor Workers Union (AMRTDMWU) today. Some of the 120 LPG bullet tankers heading to Imphal with security escorts from Dimapur side along NH-2 were looted by around five miscreants who stopped the vehicles by smashing windshields stones around 12,30 am on Thursday. The police today said that the looting incident took place near L Khengjang village along NH-2 under Sapermaina police station of Kangpokpi district and money and mobile phone of drivers of three tankers were robbed by the miscreants. The unknown miscreants stopped and robbed Rs 7,000 from the driver of the tanker with registration no. MNO5C-0385, Rs 3,000 from driver of tanker with registration no. MN04P-0418, and Rs 2,000 and a mobile phone from the driver of the tanker with registration no. MNO5C- 0368, the police said. Further, the unknown miscreants also damaged the windshields and side glasses of all the tankers by pelting stones, they added. Protesting against the robbing and thrashing of some drivers, drivers of LPG bullet tankers resorted to steering down strike from Thursday. However, the drivers agreed to resume their service after a talk between representatives of the AMRTDMWU under which the driver launched the steering down strike, and state CAF&PD minister, on the latters invitation. During the meeting, the minister agreed to compensate drivers who were robbed and assured to book the culprits at the earliest. The compensation assurance coupled with the arrest of three of the culprits allegedly involved in the robbing incident, the drivers decided to suspend the steering down strike with immediate effect, the joint secretary said. However, he warned that if the state government failed to translate the assurances given to the union, the drivers will resume the strike anytime. The joint secretary reiterated drivers demand intensified ROP along the stretch of the NH-2 so as to check repetition of such untoward incidents in future. ATLANTA, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Autotrader continues its ongoing partnership with NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski's Checkered Flag Foundation with a special paint scheme to honor America's military heroes for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 21, 2021. The Checkered Flag Foundation's Tribute 2 Veterans program honors cherished American servicemembers by featuring their names on Keselowski's No. 2 Autotrader Ford Mustang for Team Penske. This marks the third year Autotrader has presented the Tribute 2 Veterans program, Which also raises money to honor and assist veterans, active military, and their families. During the latest Tribute 2 Veterans campaign from November 2020 to January 2021, friends and family of former service and active military members submitted names to be featured on the No. 2 Autotrader Ford Mustang. Building upon past success of the Tribute 2 Veterans, this year's program gives loved ones the opportunity to recognize military family members in addition to active military and veterans, acknowledging the ongoing commitment to the wellbeing of servicemembers and those who play a role in their daily lives. Cox Automotive, parent company of Autotrader, encouraged employees from all Cox Enterprises, Inc. companies to submit names for the Tribute 2 Veterans. This year's paint scheme will feature 80 names submitted by Cox employees, alongside more than 200 names in total. The proceeds from each submission benefit the Checkered Flag Foundation. On top of the entry submission contributions, Autotrader is donating an additional $10,000 to the Checkered Flag Foundation to support the important work it does to help those who have sacrificed greatly for their country. "Autotrader has a strong history of partnering with organizations that make a difference including non-profits like the Checkered Flag Foundation and honoring our American heroes through the Tribute 2 Veterans program is something we look forward to each year," said Greta Crowley, vice president of marketing for Autotrader. "There are thousands of veterans who work for Cox companies nationwide, not to mention the friends and family members who support them, and we care deeply about giving back to the veteran community." This year marks Autotrader's eighth season partnering with Team Penske to serve as primary sponsor of drivers Keselowski and Joey Logano, and associate sponsor on both cars for the full NASCAR Cup Series season. To learn more about Brad Keselowski's Checkered Flag Foundation, please visit http://www.checkeredflagfoundation.org/, Instagram at @CheckeredFlagFoundation, Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/checkeredflagfoundation/ or follow on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BKCFF. For more information and news from Autotrader, visit press.autotrader.com, follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Autotrader_com (or @Autotrader_com), Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/autotrader_com/ (or @autotrader_com), like our page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/autotrader/, and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/autotrader-com. About Autotrader Autotrader is the most recognized third-party car listings brand, with the most engaged audience of in-market car shoppers. As the foremost authority on automotive consumer insights and expert in online and mobile marketing, Autotrader makes the car shopping experience easy and fun for today's empowered car shopper looking to find or sell the perfect new, used or Certified Pre-Owned car. Using technology, shopper insights and local market guidance, Autotrader's comprehensive marketing and retailing solutions allow consumers to build their deal online, and guide dealers to personalized digital marketing strategies that grow brand, drive traffic and connect the online and in-store shopping experience. Autotrader is a Cox Automotive brand. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. For more information, please visit http://press.autotrader.com. About Cox Automotive Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using vehicles easier for everyone. The global company's more than 27,000 team members and family of brands, including Autotrader, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com, Dealertrack, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim, NextGear Capital, VinSolutions, vAuto and Xtime, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with annual revenues of nearly $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com SOURCE Autotrader Related Links https://www.autotrader.com The lockdown on hospitals and aged-care facilities in Brisbane lifts at noon on Friday because no local COVID-19 cases have emerged since a junior doctor visited a gym, cafe and bar while contagious. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk banned visitors at all hospitals and aged-care, disability services and correctional facilities in greater Brisbane at the weekend after a doctor at the Princess Alexandra Hospital tested positive to the UK strain. About 400 potential contacts of the doctor were tracked down and tested as well as another 250 people linked to a Brisbane quarantine hotel. Ms Palaszczuk said 99 per cent of results had come back and all were negative. 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. Moon Sam-hwa, artistic director of the Seoul Metropolitan Theatre, speaks during a press conference held to announce this year's lineups of the theatrical art troupe under the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, at the art complex in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap By Park Ji-won The Seoul Metropolitan Theatre, a theatrical art troupe under the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, has announced its seasonal lineup which focus on "guerilla" performances outside the art complex based on works written in the 20th century. "We are thinking of performing outside the theater. It is an answer to the question: 'How can a play survive the pandemic?" We didn't want to replace our work with filmed pieces. So we are trying to make a small play like guerillas," Moon Sam-hwa, artistic director of the Seoul Metropolitan Theatre said Wednesday during a press conference held to announce this year's lineup for the art troupe. She assumed the position in June last year replacing Kim Kwang-bo. "The cost of filming had increased and we were thinking of performing a play for film only. But the key the play is for it to be held offline with an audiences. But the number of seats needs to be downsized, so we are thinking of performing more often." Actors and actresses read through "The Just" originally written by French writer Albert Camus during a press conference held to announce this year's lineup of the theatrical art troupe under the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, at the art complex in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap DHS Secretarys Trip to the Border Friday With Senators Closed to Press A bipartisan group of senators from The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) will join the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Alejandro Mayorkas, on a visit to the Southern Border, in El Paso, Texas, Friday, but the press is not allowed to cover the trip. The HSGAC is the Senates primary oversight committee with broad jurisdiction over government operations and specifically the DHS, which Mayorkas was recently confirmed to lead. The DHS office of public affairs put out a statement Thursday stating the reason for Secretary Mayorkass visit is, to view operations and receive a briefing on the processing, shelter, and transfer of unaccompanied children arriving at our border, adding, This trip will be closed to press due to privacy and COVID-19 precautions. White House press secretary Jen Psaki was recently asked why the Biden administration hasnt released images from the migrant facilities. Psaki responded: We remain committed to transparency. I dont have an update for you on the timeline for access, but its certainly something we support. Some reporters said theyd been denied requests to ride along with Border Patrol agents. Psaki deferred questioning on the matter. We fully support transparency, and I would encourage you to talk to the Department of Homeland Security about any requests you have for press access or what youre looking to accomplish at the border, she said. Texas Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) told Fox News on Thursday that he has heard of problems that lawmakers and press are having getting access to facilities where illegal immigrants are being kept. Cornyn told Fox that Congressman August Pfluger (R-Texas) had difficulty getting access to a migrant mens facility there. The congressman, August Pfluger, who represents that area, told me he had to wait for two hours outside that facility in order to gain entrance to see what was going on inside, said Cornyn. Obviously, that does not build confidence. If they dont want people inside, particularly the media, it sends the message, We got something to hide.' Meanwhile, there have been no details released about the Friday visit to El Paso by Mayorkas except that Ranking Member Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) will both be on the trip. The HSGAC has not held any hearings about the Southern border situation since late 2019. Portman, however, on March 11 called on the Biden administration to address the crisis of unaccompanied minors coming to the southern border during a speech on the Senate floor. Im disappointed that the Biden administration chose to overturn policies put in place by the Trump administration to help control the flow of migrants during this pandemic without any viable alternatives. And I am concerned that leaders at key agencies involved in the response to this crisis are somehow seeing it in their interest to downplay the severity of the situation, said Portman. I urge the Biden administration to change course, put back in place smart policies that reduce the pull factors, and address the need for legal and orderly processes for migration. The Catholic priest who celebrated a special Mass for President Joe Biden's inauguration has been placed on administrative leave as president of Santa Clara University over allegations of misconduct. Father Kevin O'Brien is under investigation over claims that he 'exhibited behaviors in adult settings, consisting primarily of conversations, which may be inconsistent with established Jesuit protocols and boundaries,' the university said on Thursday. A statement from Santa Clara board of trustees chairman John M. Sobrato did not specify the allegations against O'Brien but said the trustees 'support those who came forward to share their accounts.' O'Brien gave the service at Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, one of the most prominent Catholic churches in Washington, in January for Biden, who is the nation's second Catholic president, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, their families and elected officials before the inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. Father Kevin O'Brien has been friends with the Biden family for some 15 years. O'Brien also presided over services for Biden's inaugurations as vice president Joe and Jill Biden are seen attending services at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle with with O'Brien presiding prior to the January 20 inauguration O'Brien also presided over services for Biden's inaugurations as vice president. The priest has known Biden's family for about 15 years, according to the university. O'Brien was then serving at Georgetown University, another Jesuit college. O'Brien has been president of Santa Clara University since July 2019. Sobrato said that while O'Brien is on leave, the priest will be cooperating with the independent investigation, with conclusions to be shared with the Santa Clara University Board of Trustees. O'Brien didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The allegations were first shared with the Jesuit West Provincial Office, which shared them with the Santa Clara board of trustees on March 16 and 17, Sobrato said. Father Kevin O'Brien is seen with Joe and Jill Biden delivering a blessing in 2010. The longtime friend of the Biden family is now under investigation over misconduct claims Tracey Primrose, spokeswoman for the Jesuits West Province, which is overseeing the investigation, did not elaborate on the investigations to The Mercury News. 'Jesuits are held to a professional code of conduct, and the Province investigates allegations that may violate or compromise established boundaries,' Primrose told the newspaper. Primrose did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment Thursday night. Santa Clara Provost Lisa Kloppenberg will serve as Acting President of Santa Clara University while he O'Brien is on leave. O'Brien is under investigation over claims that he 'exhibited behaviors in adult settings, consisting primarily of conversations, which may be inconsistent with established Jesuit protocols and boundaries,' the university said O'Brien joined the Society of Jesus in 1996, according to the university, and was ordained to the priesthood in 2006. Located in Silicon Valley, the Jesuit institution has an annual undergraduate enrollment of roughly 5,500 students. Ranked as one of the top 25 schools for undergraduate teaching nationwide, the private university has a million-dollar endowment and counts California Governors Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown among its alumni. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Albuquerque police say a man was shot and killed in the parking lot of an apartment complex near Montgomery and Carlisle NE early Friday. Police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said officers responded to a shots fired call at the Sun Pointe Park Apartments around 1:30 a.m. He said they found a man dead in the parking lot, and that the investigation is ongoing. The death marks the fourth person fatally shot at an apartment complex in the area. On Jan. 27 Aerial Mallam, 21, and Jessica Lucero, 31, were killed and a relative was injured in a shooting at the neighboring Aztec Village complex. Josef Toney, 15, has been charged in the deaths. The following month, on Feb. 10, Aaron Johnson, 33, was fatally shot and a woman was injured at another neighboring complex. Dominic Sepulveda was charged in that shooting. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The company has also appointed key personnel to assist the development of the Riley Project in northwest Tasmania and bringing it to production. The structural, mechanical, piping and electrical installation of the Wet Screening Plant has begun ( ) ( ) has started installing structural, mechanical, piping and electrical aspects of the Wet Screening Plant at Riley Iron Ore Mine in northwest Tasmania with Crisp Bros & Haywards doing the first of the structural steel framework. This installation phase of construction will be followed by commissioning of the plant and this is due to occur late in April. Development of the project is enhanced by recent appointments including Geoff Halloran as general manager of operations and John Hall as construction and commissioning manager. Skillsets suited to Riley Project advancement Managing director Andrew Radonjic said: Venture welcomes the addition of several new members to the Riley team, headed by experienced iron ore mine operator, Geoff Halloran as general manager, John Hall as construction and commissioning manager, and an iron ore experienced shipping officer. "As the company moves towards its first iron ore shipment, the Riley Mine Development team is quickly falling into place with a perfect blend of start-up and operational experience in the iron ore space. The first piece of structural steel is put in place at the Riley plant site. Halloran is a mining geologist with 20 years experience and has held senior management positions in resource development companies with a specialist focus on managing the start-up of three similar-sized iron-ore operations through to and including stead state production. The company believes Hallorans skillset is ideally suited for the successful development of the Riley Project. Hall has more than 30 years experience as a project manager having worked in various roles across Australia in numerous projects and mine sites during shutdowns, construction projects and refurbishment. Venture Minerals believes Halls skillset is ideally suited for the on-budget, successful and timely completion of the construction and commissioning stage of the Wet Screening Plant at the Riley Project. Location map for the Riley Iron Ore Mine with transport route from mine gate to shipping. Iron ore outlook Iron ore prices have been strong throughout 2020 and into 2021 with the outlook for the rest of the year remaining positive due to continued demand generated by Chinese government infrastructure spending and ongoing supply concerns from Brazil. Current Riley mine economics are well above August 2019 feasibility numbers which were based on a US$90/tonne 62% iron price due primarily to higher iron prices (~US$160/tonne 62% iron price) and supported by a strong iron ore market outlook. This outlook positions Venture strongly as it looks to move from explorer to producer at Riley. The Coalition will have to pick up seats in the next federal election to avoid being a minority in Parliament under a proposed shake-up of seat boundaries. The Australian Electoral Commissions proposed redistribution, released on Friday, takes away Stirling in Western Australia, held by first-term Liberal MP Vince Connolly, and adds a notionally Labor seat in Victoria, named in honour of former prime minister Bob Hawke. Based on the AECs proposal, the Morrison government would go to the next election with 75 seats compared to Labors 69. Credit:James Brickwood The government holds 76 seats compared to the ALPs 68 in the current 151-member House of Representatives. That includes Speaker Tony Smith, who provides a casting vote in cases of ties. Based on the AECs proposal, the government would go to the next election with 75 seats compared to Labors 69 with the other seven held by the Greens, Centre Alliance, Katters Australia Party and independents Helen Haines, Andrew Wilkie, Craig Kelly and Zali Steggall. Ichiban Japanese Grill & Sushi in Tuscaloosa has closed its 15th Street location after 12 years in business. The business wants to raise money for relocation costs and will keep its patrons posted on that progress soon. The owners left a very emotional post on Facebook early Friday morning to thank longtime customers for the love and support theyve shown since 2008. Its unbelievable that We have been living in Tuscaloosa for 12 years of our life, the post said. Most of you have witnessed my little family grow and seeing my two kids grow. So much memories!!! You all are more than just my customers. You all are like my family and friend! I enjoyed having conversations with you all. I may not be able to remember your name but I remember faces and I always try to remember what you eat as long as you dont change. The post said it was very sad to say Thursday marked Ichibans final day at the 15th Street location, but urged customers to follow the restaurant on Facebook for updates on moving progress. The owners said they would use any free time to catch up on family time and rest. The longtime Japanese restaurant on 502 15th Street announced it would close before March 20 on Facebook page in February. We will update everyone on our progress in relocating Ichiban, the restaurant page said in their February post. We are excited to serve everyone again in our new location as soon as possible. According to Chloe Chow, the sister of one of Ichibans owners, the 30-day move out notice was unexpected and the owners had no idea when they will be able to re-open in a new location. Chow made a separate Facebook post on Feb. 20, with a GoFundMe link to help out with relocation costs. Afghanistan has been a notable exception to the geopolitical rivalry between India and China in South Asia. However, in some recent development which came from a local Afghanistan Newspaper stated that the US Secretary of State Tony Blinken has proposed that India participate in a UN-sponsored conference to explore a unified solution to promoting stability in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been a notable exception to the geopolitical rivalry between India and China in South Asia. New Delhi never really wanted to be involved in the power game of Afghanistan. However, in some recent development which came from a local Afghanistan Newspaper stated that the US Secretary of State Tony Blinken has proposed that India participate in a UN-sponsored conference to explore a unified solution to promoting stability in Afghanistan. Besides the US proposed Istanbul talks, Kabul has also decided to engage in the Russian talks. On March 18, high-level leaders, including President Ghani, Abdullah, foreign envoys met with Taliban leaders. Russia hosted a peace conference between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Moscow, as the Kremlin pushes for a ceasefire and power-sharing agreement in the war-ravaged nation. The talks come after negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban have stalled in the Qatars capital of Doha, while Turkey is due to hold another peace conference in April. As India is readjusting its Beijing strategy in the wake of the recent military confrontation, cooperation between the two countries in Afghanistan is unlikely to take shape for now. Whereas on one hand, China is taking the unconventional path of intervening in Afghanistan through the backdoor. On the other hand, India has yet to make any official contact with the Taliban and obtain any guarantees from them about the security of Indian assets and investments. The recent arrest in Afghanistan of suspected Chinese agents who were allegedly in touch with the Taliban-aligned Haqqani Network provides an insight of Chinese activities in the nation. Beijing has long been interested in the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistans far north Badakhshan Province that connects Tajikistan, Pakistan, and China in order to monitor the Uyghur population and the insurgencies that emanate from it. Pakistans continued influence over the Taliban further complicates any Indian attempts to reach out to them. Even Russia is not much in Indias participation in the Moscow peace talks. The recent Moscow talks included US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, along with officials from Pakistan and China. Washington has embraced Russias role in the Afghan negotiations, forming an unlikely partnership on the issue. 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 Bishop of Derry has said he won't stop Catholics from the Republic of Ireland attending Mass in the city. Bishop Donal McKeown was speaking after it was announced religious services will be allowed to resume in Northern Ireland in time for Easter. Read More Churches in the Republic have yet to be given a date for resuming their services. It has led to concerns that those in border regions may decide to travel into Northern Ireland around Easter to attend mass. Bishop McKeown said that while he accepted Northern Ireland was in a better position with the virus than in the Republic, he would not stop anybody from attending mass. He acknowledged the issue could cause "all sorts of problems", with Derry neighbouring Donegal. The area has in the past been the worst affected in the whole of the island of Ireland. Bishop McKeown said it was not simply a case of people "suddenly deciding to go to church in the north" at Easter. "The border is crossed innumerable times a day by cars for all good reasons, including work. So, people may want to come to church in the north but until they stop them at the doors of Sainsbury's, I'm not going to stop them at the door of the cathedral," he told RTE. The Bishop of Derry praised the Executive for working with churches and community organisations to try and manage the situation. Expand Close Archbishop Eamon Martin celebrates mass on Easter Sunday 2020 in the empty Cathedral of St Patrick and St Colman, Newry. Photograph: Columba O'Hare/Newry.ie / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Archbishop Eamon Martin celebrates mass on Easter Sunday 2020 in the empty Cathedral of St Patrick and St Colman, Newry. Photograph: Columba O'Hare/Newry.ie "I think that model of a much more mature relationship between Government and civic society will probably lead to less reaction against things being imposed," Bishop McKeown said. "I think if there's a mature relationship between civic society and those who are responsible for taking decisions, you probably get better outcomes and I think that has come through, even though the Executive in the north is seen as very divided, they've succeeded in managing this very well." The Archbishop of Dublin has called for an all-island approach to tackling the issue. Archbishop Dermot Farrell said he believed freedom of religion was currently being restricted in the Republic of Ireland. "We're always talking about an all-Ireland approach, and I would like to see an all-Ireland approach to the situation down here where churches can take that decision," he said. "I'm asking in the unrolling of restrictions that we be allowed to open along with other things that will be allowed to open". Archbishop Farrell said it was "grossly unfair" that people where unable to worship, while other places remained open with "little to no social distancing". The Minister of First Armagh Presbyterian Church Rev Dr Tony Davidson, who previously ministered in the Republic of Ireland at the United Presbyterian and Methodist Church in Limerick, acknowledged how difficult it was for people there, and across the region. "Even though we meet in person, it's not the same as it had been", he said. "I've a huge church in Armagh, and yet, there's not that many we can fit in and we'll be worried about getting everyone in. We'll have to sing quietly, which is a real challenge on Easter Sunday." Rev Davidson said there was a sense of being "in solidarity" with those in the Republic of Ireland. "While we are pleased for ourselves this particular Easter Sunday, I'm always aware that every Sunday we only meet by the grace of God and every congregation assembles by the grace of God," he said. Northern Ireland's Catholic bishops announced a "cautious return" to public worship ahead of Holy Week and Easter. In a statement, the bishops said individual parishes and Covid-19 support teams must carry out a "thorough risk assessment" before returning to public worship from next Friday, March 26. Church of Ireland bishops have also confirmed the resumption of in-person worship from Good Friday, April 2 and the Methodist Church said it looked forward to a careful return to in-person services from Good Friday. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. DUBLIN, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cosmo Pharmaceuticals NV (SIX: COPN) invites investors, financial analysts and business/lifescience journalists for a telephone conference on 26 March 2021 with CEO Alessandro Della Cha and CFO Niall Donnelly to discuss the 2020 results and 2021 outlook of the company. Date: Friday, 26 March 2021 Time: 02:00 pm CET Dial-in numbers: Switzerland / Europe: +41 (0) 58 310 50 00 United Kingdom: +44 (0) 207 107 06 13 United States: +1 (1) 631 570 56 13 The presentation and press release as well as the Annual Report 2020 will be available for download as of 07:00 am CET on 26 March 2021 on www.cosmopharma.com About Cosmo Pharmaceuticals Cosmo is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercialising products to treat selected gastrointestinal disorders and improve endoscopy quality measures through aiding the detection of colonic lesions. Cosmo has also developed medical devices for endoscopy and has recently entered into a partnership with Medtronic for the global distribution of GI Genius its artificial intelligence device for use in coloscopies and GI procedures. Cosmo has licensed Aemcolo to Red Hill Biopharma Ltd. for the US and has licensed Relafalk to Dr. Falk Gmbh for the EU and other countries. For additional information on Cosmo and its products please visit the Company's website: www.cosmopharma.com Calendar 2020 Full Year Results and 2021 Outlook - March 26, 2021 Annual General Meeting, Amsterdam - May 28, 2021 SOURCE Cosmo Pharmaceuticals N.V. Related Links https://www.cosmopharma.com/ The largest animal on Earth swims through the depths of the oceans, but 50 million years ago whales walked the land on four legs. A professor at Northeast Ohio Medical University reveals the massive creatures are descendants of an ancient 'little deer,' known as Indohyus. Through the research of cetaceans evolution, which includes hippopotamus to whales, Hans Thewissen discovered a 47-million-year-old fossil in Pakistan that featured a stocky, fox-sized animal with an elongated body and tail. The bones stuck in a layer of mud mirrors characteristics of modern-day whales - a bone over the middle-ear space and skull structure. Thewissen and his team also determined Indohyus waded in the water like a hippopotamus in search of food and as a means to avoid predators, which eventually led them to shift from land to a fully aquatic lifestyle. Scroll down for video The largest animal on Earth swims through the depths of the oceans, but 50 million years ago whales walked the surface on four legs. A professor at Northeast Ohio Medical University reveals the massive creatures are descendants of an ancient 'little deer,' known as Indohyus Since Darwin, scientists have known whales descend from mammals that once walked on land, but which one had remained a mystery. However, the missing link was pieced together when Thewissen and his team uncovered the fossil in Pakistan. It was cemented in a layer of mudstone found in the Kasmir region of India that featured hundreds of bones from an Indohyus. The scientists describe the skeleton as being 'a fox-sized mammal that looked something like a miniature deer.' Through the researcher of cetaceans evolution, which includes hippopotamus to whales, Hans Thewissen discovered a 47-million-year-old fossil in Pakistan was that of a stocky animal with an elongated body and tail The bones stuck in a layer of mud mirrors characteristics of modern-day whales - a bone over the middle-ear space and skull structure Following a deeper analysis, researchers uncovered similarities between the skull and ears of both the Indohyus and whales. They determined that the bones of the skeleton of Indohyus had a thick outside layer, much thicker than in other mammals of this size. This characteristic is often seen in mammals that are slow aquatic waders, such as the hippopotamus today. 'We think they sat in the water and waited for prey to drink, similar to crocodiles,' Thewissen told Discovery Magazine. Indohyus' aquatic habits are further confirmed by the chemical composition of their teeth, which revealed oxygen isotope ratios similar to those of aquatic animals all of which points to the creature spending much of its time in water. Thewissen and his team also determined Indohyus waded in the water like a hippopotamus in search of food and as a means to avoid predators, which eventually led the, to shift from land to a fully aquatic lifestyle Prior to these findings, it was hypothesized that whales descended from carnivorous ancestors that moved to an aquatic lifestyle to feast on ocean-dwelling fish. What is an Indohyus? Indohyus's existence could mark the point when some mammals abandoned life on land to spend time in lakes, rivers and oceans - before evolving into the giant sea creatures we know today. Its bones had a thick outside layer - - a characteristic normally seen in wading animals such as hippos, where the extra weight helps them cope with fast currents. Scientists describe the skeleton as being 'a fox-sized mammal that looked something like a miniature deer.' It has a narrow snout like a crocodile, an elongated body and long tail. Advertisement The fossilized skull also had a bone over the middle-ear space, which is also found in cetaceans. And the eye sockets sat towards the top of the Indohyus' head just like the placement of a whale's eyes. Thewissen's team also looked at the teeth of Indohyus, to find out what it ate. The levels of different carbon and oxygen isotopes in the tooth enamel of land-dwelling animals differ from those in aquatic animals because of the different isotope compositions in the food and water that they ingest. Indohyus's teeth have higher levels of the carbon-13 isotope than is typical for water-foraging whales from the Eocene, suggesting that it fed on land-based plants instead. 'We'd like to know in more detail what it ate,' said Thewissen. 'Isotopes found in the teeth indicate that it was not submerged vegetation. We'll be studying that in the future.' Another clue as to how Indohyus lived can be found in its limb bones, which were thickened and heavy in the same way that a hippo's are. This suggests the animal was a wader, with heavy bones to help stop it from floating. Based on this evidence, Thewissen suggests that the ancestors of whales took to the water as a predator-avoidance mechanism, and did not develop specific aquatic feeding behavior until much later. Palaeontologist Jonathan Geisler, from Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, had previously identified a link between raoellids and whales, but his evidence was based only on small fragments of teeth. This new work solidifies the link, he says. 'What is really important about these fossils is that they seem to confirm the hypothesis that the ancestor of cetaceans became semi-aquatic before evolving teeth specialized for eating fish,' says Geisler The first ancestors of whales emerged 42 million to 48 million years ago, which Thewissen describes as resembling sea lions. Then Baleen whales came next, about 41 million years ago, which included the ancestors of humpbacks and blue whales. These were followed by toothed whales about seven million years later, which are still swimming the oceans this day. YEREVAN, 19 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 19 March, USD exchange rate up by 0.45 drams to 527.87 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.99 drams to 627.80 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.04 drams to 7.12 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.48 drams to 734.80 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price down by 38.62 drams to 29290.96 drams. Silver price up by 5.12 drams to 443.46 drams. Platinum price up by 390.65 drams to 20637.24 drams. Montreal witnessed a significant increase in the supply of rental listings of all sizes in the past year as short term rentals returned to the market, remote work became more popular and less students moved to the city. The trial of a man accused of the murder of David Douglas, who was shot dead in Dublin five years ago, has heard that two of his fingermarks were found on one of the "spotter" cars used in the shooting. Lee Canavan (31), with an address at Edenbrook, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Douglas (55), who was shot six times at Shoestown, Bridgefoot Street, Dublin 1, on July 1, 2016. A semi-automatic pistol with its serial number removed was found next to his head. The accused also denies a second charge of criminal damage to a Suzuki Swift vehicle at Strand Road, Sandymount, on July 4, 2016, the property of Teresa Devoy. The State is alleging that Mr Canavan was the person who "literally pulled the trigger" after entering Mr Douglas' shop shortly after 4pm on the day of the shooting. He is the fourth person to appear before the courts charged in connection to the murder. In his opening address, prosecution counsel Sean Gillane SC said the non-jury court would hear evidence of the movements of four vehicles on the day and that evidence would be produced linking Mr Canavan, through a fingerprint and a DNA sample, to two cars involved. "Four vehicles were used in concert in planning and executing the murder," said Mr Gillane, adding that the movements of these vehicles were key to understanding the killing. The fourth car, a Ford Fiesta, was used for logistics and spotting, he added. Giving evidence today, forensic scientist Sarah Fleming told Mr Gillane that the purpose of her work was to attempt to generate DNA profiles from items retrieved at the scene of the shooting. Expand Close Daithi Douglas / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Daithi Douglas Ms Fleming said she examined the gun found at the scene and no DNA profile could be obtained from its muzzle, magazine or on the gun itself. The witness said she also examined swabs taken from a Ford Fiesta car. An unknown male profile was obtained from a cigarette butt found inside the vehicle and a match was found between this profile and Mr Canavan's, she outlined. Ms Amanda Lennon from Forensic Science Ireland said she examined paint samples belonging to a blue Mitsubishi Mirage and a silver Suzuki Swift to see if the Mitsubishi had collided with the Suzuki. She found that there was "strong support" that the Mitsubishi had collided with the Suzuki Swift. Iveta Sutkote told the court previously that she was sitting in her vehicle with her ex-boyfriend facing the sea in a car park on Sandymount beach on the night of July 4, when she saw a Mitsubishi car hit an unoccupied Suzuki Swift car that was parked behind them. There were three men in the Mitsubishi and one of them jumped out and tried to pour petrol on the Suzuki car from a red canister, she said. Gardai later found scorch marks on the bonnet of the Suzuki and smouldering petrol could be seen on the ground. Read More Detective Garda Raymond Kane testified today that he had carried out a technical examination using fingerprint powder on certain cars used in the shooting. The witness said he found two finger marks made by the accused's left thumb on the rear view mirror of the silver Ford Fiesta car. In cross-examination, the witness agreed with Michael Bowman SC, defending, that fingerprints are not temporal in nature and can last longer if they are found inside a car. It is the prosecution's case that this was a "meticulously and carefully planned assassination to ensure that Mr Douglas met his death". In 2018, Frederick 'Fat Freddie' Thompson (41) was jailed for life by the Special Criminal Court for the murder of Mr Douglas. In 2019, Nathan Foley (22) of Maryland, Dublin 8, was jailed for six years after he pleaded guilty to assisting a criminal organisation by driving one of four cars and buying mobile phones used in the offence. Gareth Brophy (26) was jailed in February 2020 for ten years by the Special Criminal Court for his role as getaway driver. The case continues on Monday afternoon at the non-jury court before Mr Justice Michael MacGrath, presiding, sitting with Ms Justice Sinead Ni Chulachain and Mr Justice Dermot Dempsey. Jeff Kennetts return to state politics is likely to take shape next week when he meets with Victorian Liberal Party president Robert Clark to discuss a friendly takeover of the partys administrative wing. Mr Kennett, the only Liberal to lead a full-term government in Victoria for the past 40 years, confirmed he was open to becoming the partys next state president if he had broad support across rival groupings and Mr Clark was prepared to work alongside him in a senior role. Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett on a potential return to politics as state party president: If it happens, it will have been guided, supported and worked through by many people. There will be no blood on the floor. Credit:The Age If there is going to be a change it will be a transition; it wont be a challenge, Mr Kennett said. It is not going to be a repeat of what happened in the parliamentary party. If it happens, it will have been guided, supported and worked through by many people. There will be no blood on the floor, there will be no standing down or anything of that nature. 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. Whats new: Cui Tiankai, Chinas ambassador to the U.S., told Washington to give up illusions of China compromising on any issues in the countrys core interests, including in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan, according to an interview transcript released Thursday by the Chinese Embassy in Washington. Cuis warning came ahead of the first in-person meeting scheduled to take place in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday between Chinese Politburo member Yang Jiechi, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and their American counterparts of the new U.S. government, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. If people assume that applying pressure unilaterally or closing ranks with allies will make China bow, if they assume that China will say yes to any unilateral demands from any side just for some outcomes from the dialogue, I advise them to give up such illusions. These assumptions will only lead to a dead end, Cui said. The background: Both Beijing and Washington signaled tough stances ahead of the Alaska meeting as the two sides attempt to recalibrate their tense relationship. On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department sanctioned an additional 24 Chinese and Hong Kong officials over Beijings tightening grip over the semi-autonomous region. Foreign financial institutions that deal with the sanctioned officials will now be subject to U.S. punishment. Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi accused the U.S. of willfully interfering in other countries internal affairs in the name of democracy and human rights. The ministrys spokesman Zhao Lijian urged the U.S. to view China and China-US relations in an objective and rational manner, reject the Cold-War and zero-sum game mentality, respect China's sovereignty, security and development interests, and stop interfering in China's internal affairs. Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. Contact reporter Lu Zhenhua (zhenhualu@caixin.com) and editor Marcus Ryder (marcusryder@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. Screenshot shows the report from Sputnik News published Tuesday. Serbia plans to start domestic production of vaccines developed by Chinese Sinopharm company, Russian Sputnik News Agency reported on Tuesday. After meeting United Arab Emirates Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Dubai, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic unveiled a plan that a new factory producing Sinopharm vaccines will be built jointly by the UAE, China and Serbia. The construction of the vaccine factory has also been discussed during the meeting with Chinese Ambassador Chen Bo earlier this week. According to the Serbian president's office, both sides agreed to build the factory "following the highest world standards in the field of technology for the vaccines' production", which can "ensure long-term and strategic supply of vaccines and health protection of the population of Serbia and the region." In Serbia, which has a population of 7 million, there have been 531,558 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 4,810 deaths as of Thursday. The country has managed to spearhead inoculation efforts and started its vaccination drive in mid-December last year. The Chinese-made Sinopharm jab was rolled out at the beginning of this year. "President Vucic reiterated his gratitude to friendly China and President Xi Jinping for their tremendous solidarity and assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic...He also once again confirmed the exceptional trust of the citizens of our country in the Chinese vaccine, and thus in the Chinese state and its experts," said the office. [ Editor: WXL ] The Taoiseach has said he would have no issue taking the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine if he was offered it. Micheal Martin also said the Government was gearing up to resume administering the jab after its use was temporarily suspended in Ireland in an abundance of caution over the raising of concerns around blood clots. The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) is considering whether to resume the vaccine after a ruling by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective. It is expected to make a decision later on Friday. This a405m funding for regeneration is a game changer for Cork. The investment will prime the Docklands and Grand Parade for major growth in the coming decades - as well as significantly boosting Mallow, Passage West, Ringaskiddy and Carrigaline. pic.twitter.com/KsaUJ3DLvh MicheAl Martin (@MichealMartinTD) March 19, 2021 Mr Martin was speaking at the Port of Cork on Friday as he announced 405 million euro funding for regeneration projects in Cork city and county. Asked whether he would take the Astra Zeneca vaccine, Mr Martin said: Yes I would, I would indeed. I expect a decision will be made today in relation to that. Were gearing up in terms of resuming that. The Cork South Central TD was speaking after deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said on Thursday that he welcomed the EMA making its position clear and that the National Immunisation Advisory Committee was meeting with counterparts across Europe following the EMAs statement. Dr Glynn also indicated on Thursday that tough restrictions could remain in place until June. Speaking on Friday the Taoiseach said he would not speculate about changes to the public health restrictions for April and that the Government will inform the public in the next couple of weeks of any changes to the measures. I am not going to speculate but we will give people clear indications in advance of the 5th of April as to how we see April panning out, Mr Martin said. I dont believe in speculating beyond that and we will certainly make it very clear to people. We are thinking and reflecting on the outdoor situation and outdoor activities and what might be possible there because mental health is very important. He added: We do understand and get it that people are fed up. I want to thank people, I think people have been remarkable. We have brought numbers down from a very high level after Christmas to very, relatively low levels. Theyre still high. Our big concern is the variant. This variant is more transmissible. And we know from British for search again, that its more deadly. Los Angeles, March 19 : Hollywood actor Armie Hammer has been booked as a suspect by Los Angeles Police Department for alleged rape and sexual assault, hours after a 24-year-old woman accused him of rape and physical abuse. A spokesperson for the LAPD told People magazine that the 34-year-old actor was booked in a case opened by the LAPD on February 3. On Thursday a woman who changed her name to Effie, to hide her legal name from the public eye, formally accused Hammer of raping her for "over four hours" in 2017. She also accused the actor of "physically, mentally and emotionally" torturing her during their on-again-off-again relationship. "On April 24th, 2017, Armie Hammer violently raped me for over four hours in Los Angeles, during which he repeatedly slammed my head against a wall, bruising my face. He also committed other acts of violence against me to which I did not consent. For example, he beat my feet with a crop so they would hurt with every step I took for the next week. During those four hours, I tried to get away but he wouldn't let me. I thought that he was going to kill me. He then left with no concern for my well-being," she said in a statement. Effie's allegations against Hammer first surfaced in early January. In the following months, Hammer has left several projects and was dropped by his agency and his longtime publicist, too. "During and since this attack, I have lived in fear of him and for a long time I tried to dismiss his actions towards me as a twisted form of love. Now that he no longer has any power over me, I have come to understand that the immense mental hold he held over me was incredibly damaging on many levels," added Effie during a press conference with her lawyer. Hammer, however denied the accusations, and his lawyers told the publication that whatever happened between the two was completely "consensual". "It was never Mr. Hammer's intention to embarrass or expose (Effie's) fetishes or kinky sexual desires, but she has now escalated this matter to another level by hiring a civil lawyer to host a public press conference. With the truth on his side, Mr. Hammer welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight," said a statement from Hammer's lawyers. "From day one, Mr. Hammer has maintained that all of his interactions with (Effie) -- and every other sexual partner of his for that matter -- have been completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory. (Effie's) attention seeking and ill-advised legal bid will only make it more difficult for real victims of sexual violence to get the justice they deserve," it added further. Ever since Effie's allegations surfaced in the media, multiple women have come forward, including model Paige Lorenze, alleging Hammer was abusive during what they say began as consensual BDSM relationships. On Monday afternoon, theater critics in and around New York City received something they hadnt seen in more than a year: an invitation to an in-person, indoor performance at an Off Broadway house. Blindness, Simon Stephenss adaptation of the novel by Jose Saramago, directed by Walter Meierjohann and prerecorded by Juliet Stevenson, would open at the Daryl Roth Theater on April 6. The production, which played in London in August, involves no live actors, but it does invite live, masked, temperature-checked audience members to attend in pods of two. And if you are a theater fan still waiting on a vaccine, it also invites conflicting emotions excitement, indecision, eagerness, fear because any social interaction involves risk. Is theater (and particularly a show without actors) worth it? Two New York Times critics took to Twitter, and then to email and a Google doc, to try to sort it out. Here is their edited conversation. LAURA COLLINS-HUGHES Alexis, when you saw the invitation, what went through your mind? ALEXIS SOLOSKI Panic, basically. Id heard about the show and I am breathlessly (wrong word, I know) excited for the return of in-person theater, but I wont be vaccinated for months and I dont feel ready to make this moral/professional/hygienic calculus. You? COLLINS-HUGHES When I think about returning to indoor theater, there are things that scare me and things that make me feel safe. I am terrified by anything involving poor air quality, or people eating and drinking, or people singing or playing wind instruments or otherwise breathing hard, like from dancing. Blindness has none of those. And when I think about the Daryl Roth Theater, I think about how airy it is. Thats huge for me. NORWALK With vaccines now available to residents ages 45 to 54 statewide, some Norwalk Health Department clinics are entirely booked. Saturday is booked solid, city spokesperson Josh Morgan said of the mass vaccination clinic planned at Brien McMahon High School this weekend. These first days of expanded eligibility bring a surge, and we know people are eager, but we ask residents to remain patient. I may take a few weeks for people to get appointments as we still are limited by the vaccine received by the feds and the state. Friday marked the day a new age group became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine under Gov. Ned Lamonts roll out plan. The eligibility expansion to those 45 and older, which was originally set to take place next week, was moved up in an announcement by Lamont on Monday. The first day of expanded vaccine eligibility brings an initial rush of people trying to make appointments, said Mayor Harry Rilling in a statement Friday. I know people are eager and want to get vaccinated, but it will take some time. Please remain patient. We continue to be at the mercy of the federal government and state, since they control how much vaccine we receive here in Norwalk. We will continue to advocate for more doses and get shots into arms as quickly as we can. While the clinic planned for Saturday is booked, Morgan said there has not been a significant increase in calls to the citys vaccine information line. Other city clinics are seeing the same demand. Norwalk Community Health Center spokesperson Betty Cordellos said all 700 slots for its Saturday clinic were already booked as of Friday. We are fully booked for tomorrows clinic and have a waiting list of patients wanting to get the vaccine, Cordellos said. Norwalk has reported 9,939 COVID cases since last March with 33 new positive cases reported on Friday. City officials also announced a new strain of COVID, first found in California, was found in a Norwalk resident. As of March 15, nearly 22 percent of all Norwalk residents over 16 have been vaccinated, including 80 percent of residents over 75 years of age and 81 percent of residents between 65 and 74 years of age, according to city officials. abigail.brone@hearstmediact.com Staff writer Erin Kayata contributed to this story. Doctoral student Tanmay Mathur (left) and Abhishek Jain review photos of blood cells formed on the organ-on-a-chip in their lab. Credit: Texas A&M Engineering Sickle cell disease is the most prevalent inherited blood disorder in the world, affecting 70,000 to 100,000 Americans. However, it is considered an orphan disease, meaning it impacts less than 200,000 people nationally, and is therefore underrepresented in therapeutic research. A team led by Abhishek Jain from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University is working to address this disease. "I'm trying to create these new types of disease models that can impact health care, with the long-term goal of emphasizing on applying these tools and technologies to lower health care costs," said Jain, assistant professor in the department. "We strategically wanted to pick up those disease systems which fall under the radar in orphan disease category." Jain's research is in organ-on-a-chip, where cells from humans can be grown on USB-sized devices to mimic the way the organ would work inside the body. This sort of system is ideal for testing new drug treatments, as drugs cannot be tested on humans, and animal models have not shown to be a good representation of how a patient and disease would interact with a treatment. For sickle cell disease patients, the organ-on-a-chip would also be beneficial because patients can present with mild to severe cases. Jain works with Tanmay Mathur, a fourth-year doctoral student who trained as a chemical engineer in his undergraduate years. His research focused on microfabrication techniques and simulations, skills he said merged well into the organ-on-a-chip research he now performs in Jain's lab. The team collaborates closely with the Texas Medical Center in Houston. The work was recently published in the journal Bioengineering & Translational Medicine. Their paper builds off a 2019 publication in the journal Lab on Chip, where the team demonstrated that endothelial cells (cells that line the blood vessels) could be used to model the disease physiology of a patient without having to stimulate the model to perform differently than a healthy vessel. "Traditionally these cells were not used for disease modeling, so in that way our approach is very novel," Mathur said. "We are one of first to harness these cells and employed them in disease modeling research." Mathur and Jain demonstrate that these models can be used to differentiate between patients. The first step: build a blood vessel that mimics a patient's vessel. For that the team would need two componentspatient blood and endothelial cells. Collecting the blood involved a simple blood draw. They faced a challenge with the endothelial cells, however. They would need to take a biopsy of the cells or use stem cells to grow their own, neither of which was ideal. Then they found the answer was in the blood. "What we learned is within blood samples are some endothelial cells also circulating," Jain said. "We call them blood outgrowth endothelial cells that we can harness very easily. That's what is new about this work. You can get those cells, grow them so that's there's enough in number and then you can make blood vessels." Now that they could build the vessels, the next step was to see if these models would show how the disease has various biological impacts in different patients. Again, the goal was to be able to test treatments on these models, so the closer they mimiced their human patient, the better. "We're able to differentiate a very severe sickle cell patient in terms of their phenotype from very mild patients," Mathur said. "Moving forward, we can take a larger population of any sickle cell disease patients and assess them using our organ-chip technology and then categorize them into different groups based on symptoms." Their findings indicate that these organs-on-a-chip could lead to patient-centric, personalized treatment, improving how clinicians approach this and other cardiovascular diseases. "When you take it to the field, now it can become a predictive device," Jain said. "Now you do not have to know whether the patient is mild or severe, you can test for that. You can predict if patient is serious and can dictate their therapeutic needs." The next step is to continue to expand the patient cohort to collect more results. A long-term goal would be to use the patient information collected to develop a database to better predict disease progression. "You take a history of a lot of these patients and their cardiovascular health with this device, and you can predict which patient might have better chance of having a stroke and you start treating them early on," Jain said. Mathur said even with future challenges, he looks forward to continuing their research. "I think even though it may take 10, 15 years, we will at least push forward some of the research that we're doing and get it out in the clinical field," he said. "We are one of the only groups in the world that have started this field of personalized treatment. I feel that our impact is pretty high, and I'm sure we will be able to expand the same treatment to other cardiovascular diseases and attract more attention and deeper insights into the biology that we are looking at." Explore further Exploring connections between ovarian cancer and blood cells More information: Tanmay Mathur et al. Tripartite collaboration of bloodderived endothelial cells, next generation RNA sequencing and bioengineered vesselchip may distinguish vasculopathy and thrombosis among sickle cell disease patients, Bioengineering & Translational Medicine (2021). Tanmay Mathur et al. Tripartite collaboration of bloodderived endothelial cells, next generation RNA sequencing and bioengineered vesselchip may distinguish vasculopathy and thrombosis among sickle cell disease patients,(2021). DOI: 10.1002/btm2.10211 Liverpool face a rematch of their 2018 Champions League final with Real Madrid after being drawn together in the quarter-finals of this years competition Manchester City will get a first-hand look at transfer target Erling Haaland after being drawn against Borussia Dortmund, while Chelsea have been handed a tie against Porto. Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich meet in a re-run of last years showpiece in Lisbon to complete the draw. Liverpool face old rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter finals after today's draw The draw for the final eight of this season's competition took place in Nyon on Friday The Champions League quarter and semi-final draws produced some mouth-watering ties on Friday (graphic courtesy of sofascore.com) Liverpool will be hoping to maintain their fine European form against Zinedine Zidanes men, while also carrying out a spot of revenge. Jurgen Klopps side lost the final in 2018 when Gareth Bale scored twice late on to secure the trophy for the Spaniards. The match also went down in infamy for Sergio Ramoss challenge that ended Mohamed Salahs participation in the showpiece. Erling Haaland, meanwhile, is one of the hottest properties in Europe, having scored 31 goals in 30 appearances across all competitions this season. City are one of many teams that have been linked with the explosive Norwegian to date. In the tie of the round, Bayern Munich face PSG in a re-run of last season's final in Lisbon The French kings are now led by Mauricio Pochettino who will hope to go one step further The tie will also see Ilkay Gundogan go up against his old club. The Germany international moved to the Etihad in 2016 as is enjoying one of his most productive seasons to date under Pep Guardiola, scoring 12 times in 23 appearances. Chelsea will be the happiest of the English contingent left in the competition having drawn the reigning Portuguese champions. Sergio Conceicaos men squeezed past Juventus in the previous round after extra time. They are current sat second in Portugals top flight, 10 points behind leaders Sporting. Premier League leaders Manchester City take on German outfit Borussia Dortmund City will get a first-hand look at Erling Haaland, who has been strongly linked with a move Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel's resurgent Chelsea get lucky in drawing outsiders Porto Quarter finals confirmed dates Tuesday 6 April Manchester City v Dortmund Real Madrid v Liverpool Wednesday 7 April Porto v Chelsea Bayern v PSG Tuesday 13 April Chelsea v Porto PSG v Bayern Wednesday 14 April Dortmund v Manchester City Liverpool v Real Madrid Advertisement The pair have met eight times in the Champions League previously most recently in the 2015 group stages with Chelsea having lost just twice. The final tie sees last years winners Bayern Munich take on last years runners-up PSG. The draw for the semi-finals was also made, with Liverpool and Chelsea set to meet in the last four should they emerge victorious. City would face a semi-final against either Guardiolas old club Bayern or a date with Paris Saint-Germain. City's clash with Dortmund and Liverpool's trip to Madrid will take place on Tuesday 6 April, while Chelsea's visit to Portugal and Bayern's opening leg against PSG will take place on Wednesday 7 April. The return legs will see City travel to Germany and Liverpool host Madrid on Wednesday 14 April, while Chelsea host Porto at Stamford Bridge and Bayern travel to Paris on Tuesday 13 April. Old foes Mohamed Salah (L) and Sergio Ramos (R) will meet for the first time since 2018 The Spaniard fouled the Egyptian in the early goings of the Kiev final, forcing him off injured CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2020-21 OUTRIGHT WINNER ODDS Man City - 9/4 Bayern Munich - 4/1 Liverpool - 6/1 PSG - 7/1 Chelsea - 8/1 Real Madrid - 12/1 Borussia Dortmund - 33/1 Porto - 40/1 Odds courtesy of Oddschecker Advertisement Recap how the draw unfolded with Sportsmail's OLLIE LEWIS who delivered live Champions League draw coverage, including all the fixtures for the quarter final. The Joint Committee on Prevention of Illegal Immigrants (JCPI) on Friday set March 31 as the deadline for the government to make necessary laws for implementing RIIN - a register of all the indigenous inhabitants of The state government had in 2019 said that RIIN is required to prevent issuance of indigenous inhabitant certificates to ineligible persons. Irked over delay in implementation of the recommendations of the Banuo Z Jamir Commission on RIIN, which was reportedly submitted to the government in October 2020, the JCPI held rallies in Kohima and Dimapur during the day. The JCPI also submitted a representation on "Demand for immediate implementation of RIIN exercise through an ordinance" which was addressed to Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio. The representation was signed by its convenor Atomi Sumi and secretary Tia Longchar along with representatives from Tribes Council (NTC) and leaders of other tribal organisations. "It is pertinent to enforce Inner Line Permit (ILP) and other protective laws of the land which are of paramount importance for smooth governance and effective implementation of the existing laws to protect our culture, identity and economy from outside threats," they said in the representation. Appreciating the initiative of the state government for constituting the Banuo Z Jamir Commission on RIIN, the JCPI said, the commissions report was reportedly rectified and approved by the state Cabinet to make necessary laws for state-wide exercise of RIIN. This was being done to maintain a real time Indigenous Inhabitants master list and prevent issuance of fake indigenous inhabitants certificates (IIC). "We are made to understand that after the process is completed, all genuine indigenous inhabitants will own the certificate with Unique ID leading to invalidation of existing IIC. After the final publication of the master list, except for persons born to indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland, no fresh IIC will be issued. "Such persons born will be enrolled in the RIIN database after due identification of birth certificate with intimation to village, ward and district authorities after which the data will be updated every five years," they said in the representation. The efforts will provide clear cut identification of the residents in the state for maintaining their identity, culture and privileges as enshrined in the Constitution. Article 371A of the Constitution states that no act of Parliament shall apply to the state of Nagaland in respect of the religious or social practices of the Nagas, its customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law and ownership and transfer of land and its resources. It shall apply to Nagaland only after the state Assembly passes a resolution to do so. Once RIIN classification is completed and specific laws are legislated, the full protection and privileges is expected to reach the deserving stakeholders, the JCPI said. "Without RIIN, our birthright will be lost forever, we will be reduced to secondary citizens in our own land," it said. The economy of the state is virtually "driven by non- indigenous traders" and state politics is "dictated by non- indigenous people", it said. According to a notification of June 29, 2019, the RIIN will help identify the citizens who settled in Nagaland prior to December 1, 1963, the day it became a full-fledged state. (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.) Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 75F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Overcast with rain showers at times. Low 62F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Cyclone Yaas: Amit Shah to hold review meeting with Chief Ministers of states to be affected West Bengal Assembly elections 2021: Amit Shah likely to release BJP's poll manifesto on Sunday India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Mar 19: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to release Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) manifesto for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections 2021 on 21 March, according to media reports. Earlier on Jan 25, the party had launched Lokkho Sonar Bangla (Aim for Sonar Bangla), crowdsourcing campaign in Kolkata for the upcoming polls. He said, "BJP's goal is Sonar Bangla. BJP will take advice from two crore Bengalis. There will be 30,000 suggestion boxes across the state. Suggestion Boxes will be set up in 294 Assembly constituencies where people can deposit their suggestions for the party." Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan alleges attack on BJP rally by TMC The BJP president said that one of the BJP's goals is to stop Maoist activities. "Attempts have been made to destroy the glory of Bengal. It is the responsibility of the BJP to restore that pride," said Nadda. West Bengal Assembly elections 2021 will be conducted in eight phases. The Bengal poll results will be declared on May 2. A subcommittee of the House of Representatives held a hearing on Thursday entitled Discrimination and Violence Against Asian Americans, the first time the US Congress has addressed the issue since the 1980s when Chinese American Vincent Chin was murdered. The hearing before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Libertiesoriginally scheduled weeks agotook place two days after 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long shot and killed eight peoplesix of whom were Asian womenat three different Atlanta-area massage parlors, all of which were Asian-owned. Minister Tony Truong, right, prays at an altar for victims of violence as demonstrators participate at a rally Love Our Communities: Build Collective Power outside the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles Saturday, March 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Although the motivations of the shooter Long remain unclear, the targeting of Asian-owned massage parlors in Atlanta has highlighted the growth of anti-Asian violence in the US. Racist sentiments have been increasing and deliberately whipped up during the COVID-19 pandemic. This campaign was spearheaded by former-President Donald Trump, who repeatedly used racist terms to describe COVID-19 like Wuhan virus, Chinese Plague and Kung Flu. In a statement that verged on justifying the actions of the Atlanta shooter, Cherokee County Sheriffs Office spokesman Captain Jay Baker told the media during a press conference that Long was, pretty much fed up and had been, kind of, at the end of his rope. And yesterday was a really bad day for him, and this is what he did. It was subsequently reported that Captain Baker had posted a photo of a shirt on Facebook last April that contained the message Covid 19 imported virus from Chy-na. The Cherokee County Sheriffs Department immediately went into damage control with another officer issuing a statement on Thursday stating that Captain Baker had a difficult task before him, and this was one of the hardest in his twenty-eight years in law enforcement. During the House subcommittee hearing, a truly horrific picture was painted of the growth of anti-Asian violence and hate in the US. Manjusha P. Kulkarni, Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council and Co-Founder of Stop AAPI Hate reported the following statistics between March 2020 and February 2021: There have been 3,795 self-reported incidents of bias and discrimination against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) from all fifty states and the District of Columbia. These instances are made up of verbal harassment (68.1 percent), shunning (20.5 percent) physical assault (11.1 percent), civil rights violations such as workplace discrimination, refusal of service and being barred from transportation (8.5 percent), and online harassment (6.8 percent). Women experience hate incidents 2.3 times more than men. Youth (up to 17 years old) report 12.6 percent of incidents, and seniors (60 years old and older) report 6.2 percent of the total. Chinese are the largest ethnic group (42.2 percent) to report instances of hate, followed by Koreans (14.8 percent), Vietnamese (8.5 percent) and Filipinos (7.9 percent). Businesses are the primary target of hatred (35.4%), followed by public streets (25.3%), public parks (9.8%) and online acts of hatred (10.8%). An example of the verbal harassment experienced by Asian Americans is described in a Stop the AAPI Hate report: I was shopping at [store] in Milpitas [California] when an older man started making faces at me. I asked him what was wrong, and he said, Whats wrong? You are out here shopping! I was confused, and he followed up with, We delisted your companies, shipped back your international students...when do you ship out? When do you ship out? We are going to take away your citizenship! Kulkarni also noted that studies show that as many as three in ten Asian Americans have experienced racial slurs or racist jokes since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. She said a poll in April by the Center on Public Integrity (CPI) found that 30 percent of all Americans and 60 percent of Asian Americans had witnessed someone blaming Asians for the spread of the pandemic. A Harris Poll from April also reported that 75 percent of Asian Americans are concerned about hate and discrimination. In the intervening eleven months, it is likely that instances of anti-Asian violence and discrimination have increased. Dr. Erika Lee, Regents Professor of History and Asian American Studies and Director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota, also gave testimony. Dr. Lee said that a report released by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino showed that hate crimes against Asian Americans rose by 150 percent in sixteen of Americas largest cities between 2019 and 2020. Additionally, Dr. Lee reviewed the history of racial violence against Asian Americans going back 150 years. Throughout this history and in the present situation, the attacks on Asian Americans were encouraged and abetted by both government policy and public statements by political figures. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first US federal law to prohibit Chinese immigrant laborers from becoming naturalized citizens. It was not overturned until 1943. In the 1930s, Japanese, Korean, South Asians and Filipinos were barred from entering the US and from becoming US citizens. Perhaps more well-known is Executive Order 9066, signed in February of 1942 by President Franklin Roosevelt, initiating the forced relocation and mass incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans. These Americanstwo-thirds of whom were American-born citizenswere forced from their homes and sent to prison camps as prisoners without trial for the duration of World War II. While the Biden administration is attempting to distance itself from the growth of anti-Asian violence, the Democratic Party is intensifying the policies pursued by the Trump White House in relation to China. As reported by the World Socialist Web Site on Tuesday, behind the backs of the US public, the Biden administration is seeking to encircle China with offensive missiles based in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. Central to this great power conflict, with implications for a third world war with nuclear weapons, is the attempt to develop anti-Chinese sentiments within more backward layers, including by propagating the lie that coronavirus was deliberately spread around the world by the Chinese government. The source of the growth of anti-Asian violence in the US is the world capitalist system. Just as in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the ruling elite is using anti-Asian ethnic and racial hatred to divide the working class. Artifacts, Cannons Dredged Up From Savannah River May Predate Civil War The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has dredged up what is believed to be pre-Civil War artifacts from the Savannah River. The items inadvertently discovered during regular dredging operations include three cannons, an anchor, and other materials, the Corps of Engineers said in a statement. Archaeologists have not arrived at a definitive conclusion on the origin of the late February finds. But they are investigating dates as far back as the 1770s when Great Britain exercised control of the Georgia colony. One of three cannons removed from the Savannah River during the week of Feb. 22. (Courtesy of Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) This was an exciting find while we were doing regular maintenance dredging to ensure the Savannah River stays navigable for some of the large ships coming in, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Archaeologist Andrea Farmer told WTOC. The experts found the artifacts during the ongoing Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) to deepen the harbor from 42 feet to 47 feet of depth to provide more space for larger heavily-loaded vessels to navigate. The Corps of Engineers has ended all dredging operations in the vicinity of the discovery to adhere to the National Historic Preservation Act, the statement said. An anchor removed from the Savannah River during the week of Feb. 22. (Courtesy of Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) Commander Jim Morley, the UKs assistant naval attache in Washington, D.C., called the discovery fascinating. It is exciting when artifacts from naval history are found, Morley said in a statement. The discovery of an anchor, cannons, and ship timbers gives us a great opportunity to work with our US colleagues and allies to help identify them. Morley said that they are investigating whether the items are from the HMS Rose. The possibility that they may, in fact, be from HMS Rose, a Royal Navy vessel that was part of our fleet operations during the American Revolutionary war is fascinating, Morley said. Wood and copper pin discovered in the vicinity of Old Fort Jackson. (Courtesy of Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) The experts took the February finds into their care. The Corps of Engineers said in the statement that they have experience in temporary preservation based on its removal of the CSS Georgia, a Confederate ironclad gunboat, from the Savannah River in the last few years. We hope that we find something down there that has integrity that can tell more of the story or the history of the Savannah River, Farmer told WTOC. Of course, the 1700s there was a lot going on in Savannah at that time. So, it may just be a new part of the story that were able to uncover. 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 A Bergen County man is suing a New Jersey police department, claiming police officers called him a Muslim terrorist during a 2019 traffic stop. In January, Peter Malak, of Elmwood Park, filed a lawsuit in Bergen County Superior Court against Elmwood Park Police Department, alleging that two police officers discriminated against him when they used anti-Muslim rhetoric during a 2019 traffic stop and that the department tampered with recordings of the interaction, purposely cutting out sections where the racist remarks would have been heard. NorthJersey.com was the first to report on the lawsuit. On Dec. 1, 2019, Malak was driving his friends car with her permission, when he was pulled over by two police officers, according to the lawsuit. Malak, who told the officers he had outstanding tickets, does not dispute the officers probable cause to pull him over, nor the charges that were filed against him as a consequence, according to the suit. It was after he was temporarily in police custody and arrested that one of the officers told Malak he looked like a trouble maker and asked Malak what his ethnic background was, the suit said. When Malak told the officer he was Egyptian, the officer responded by accusing him of being a terrorist, according to the suit. Oh youre one of those Muslim terrorists, the officer allegedly said, according to the suit. The suit goes on to claim that when Malak received footage of the traffic stop through an Open Public Records Act request, a portion, from when police turned on the siren to have him pull over until the end of the exchange, was missing, the lawsuit said. Some parts of the footage also had sound missing, with Malak claiming that pieces of video and audio were purposely scrubbed to get rid of evidence of the discriminatory remarks made by the police officers, the suit said. Along with punitive and compensatory damages, Malak is seeking a much more personal sort of justice for the alleged discrimination. According to the lawsuit, Malak is asking the court to order both officers to send him a hand-written letter of apology, taking responsibility for their conduct during the traffic stop and pledging not to conduct themselves the same way in the future, the lawsuit said. The attorney for Elmwood Park Police Department did not immediately return a request for comment. Kevin Costello, Malaks attorney, declined to elaborate much beyond the lawsuit. When we pursue a matter like this, under New Jerseys strong anti-discrimination law, we do so with the hope of making certain that those responsible for enforcing the law are among the most dedicated to supporting our anti-discrimination laws as well, said Costello. The phrase justice for all means justice for everyone. I believe - especially because of the work we do - if were not everybody, then were nobody, he added. 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. Seasonless, functional and dead sexy. Is it possible that the trench coat, that ultimate wardrobe workhorse, is the quintessential fashion staple? True, there are other timeless classics: the little black dress, the perfect mid-blue jean, the white trainer. But challenge yourself to find a piece that can be worn with more ease and in more situations than a classic trench, which was originally designed to shield British troops from the rain. The trench coat is many things. Its Brigitte Bardot being snapped by paparazzi in London, or Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffanys. Its Prince Philip heading to Christmas at Sandringham, or Meryl Streep in 1979s Kramer vs Kramer. Its Victoria Beckham hopping on a flight at LAX, or Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, creating a style signature with her collection of sleeveless trench dresses. Clockwise from top left: Burberry; Bassike; Humphrey Bogart; Priyanka Chopra; Audrey Hepburn. Credit:Getty Images and Alamy Lydia Edwards, fashion historian and author of How to Read a Dress, says the appeal of the trench lies in its evolution from exclusive to egalitarian. Originally it was a very elite garment it was only the officers in the army who were allowed to wear it, she says. For a long time, it was seen as something that gave off a gentrified air. That began to change when actor Humphrey Bogart made the trench mainstream at least, in a Hollywood-esque fashion in the 1942 classic, Casablanca. But the real tipping point was when women started wearing the style in the post-war years and through the 1960s, thanks to style icons such as Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy. Two Royal Caribbean cruises will resume in June ending a yearlong hiatus, but passengers 18 and older must test negative for COVID-19 before getting on a ship. The company's Celebrity Cruises subsidiary said its Celebrity Millennium ship will relaunch on June 5 from St. Maarten. One itinerary will stop in Aruba, Curacao and Barbados, and another will stop in Tortola, St. Lucia and Barbados. CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said returning to the Caribbean marks the measured beginning of the end of what has been a uniquely challenging time for everyone. Royal Caribbean Group's namesake line will start a week later with a voyage leaving from Nassau, the Bahamas on the Adventure of the Seas. In both cases, passengers 18 and older will be required to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of boarding the ship. Shares of Miami company rose more than 1% Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has held up cruise ship operations in U.S. waters since March 2020, although it has laid out guidelines for cruises to resume with conditional sailing certificates. The Caribbean is a popular destination for American customers. So is Alaska but the Canadian government has banned cruise ships carrying more than 100 passengers through February 2022, which will stop many ships from visiting Alaska this summer. The ships accounted for most of Alaska's 1.3 million visitors in 2019, before the pandemic. MASON CITY, Iowa - A bill passed Wednesday in the Iowa Senate could strip major tech companies of local and state tax breaks and government contracts if they restrict certain types of speech on their platforms. Senate File 580 would require companies like Facebook, Google and Microsoft to respect 'Constitutionally protected' free speech online of Iowans. It would also require the Attorney General's office to investigate censorship complaints and take companies to court. If found in violation, incentives would be revoked from a company for 20 years. State Senator Dennis Guth (R - Klemme), who co-sponsored the bill, feels that big tech companies are limiting and censoring Conservative viewpoints, and is wanting to hold them accountable. "In the world we live in now, we have a lot of our information coming to us via the internet. If we want to know something, we go out and do a Google search. If we want to know something about COVID-19, where do we go? We go to the internet. If we have Google or big tech companies saying we only want to show one side of the information, then we're not able to make good, educated decisions." The bill would also prevent tax payer money from going to companies that remove an Iowan's ability to download other social networking sites, or purchase protected publications and material on online marketplaces, and allows Iowans to opt out of post promoting or shadow banning algorithms. Currently, Facebook has a data center in Altoona, Amazon has a warehouse in Bondurant, and an Apple data center is being constructed in Waukee. "We have many of these big tech companies located in Iowa, and they have received hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks. So we want to make sure if they keep those tax breaks, they're going to operate fairly for all people." State Senator Amanda Ragan (D - Mason City) voted against the bill, saying it would hurt the state's position to do business and attract a tech workforce. "Our labor force has really decreased in the state of Iowa over the last 10 years, and we're wanting to make sure people are seeing this as a place they want to be and want to come, certainly some opportunities for young people to stay in the tech field by having jobs in the state through some of these companies." In addition, she feels that legislative priorities need to be focused on coronavirus relief. "We're doing things for Iowans and getting them back to work, making sure they have money in their pocket to buy services, and making sure our economy is back to where it was before all of this." The bill, which passed 30-17 along party lines, now heads to the House, where a similar bill is being discussed. However, House File 830 focuses on penalizing companies if found censoring elected officials or political candidates. Recently, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev visited the occupied territories of the Republic of Artsakh, in particular, the Hadrut region and the city of Shushi, which fell under the Azerbaijani control as a result of the aggression carried out with the direct participation of Turkey and the latters affiliated foreign terrorists fighters, Armenian MFA noted in a statement. Throughout the war, the Azerbaijani armed forces committed mass atrocities, including ethnic cleansing and war crimes against the Armenians of Artsakh, in blatant violation of international humanitarian law. During the Azerbaijani occupation of the Hadrut region, the once prosperous settlements with tens of thousands of Armenian inhabitants were completely annihilated, and many civilians were killed. The international community, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch, have expressed their clear position regarding the cases of blatant violation of the Geneva Convention in the Hadrut region, when captured civilians were subjected to extrajudicial execution. Statements made by the President of Azerbaijan in the Hadrut region reveal the intention to destroy Armenian settlements and replace them with the Azerbaijani ones, which violates the provisions of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, according to which the displaced people must return to their places of residence. It also proves that the Armenians of Artsakh cannot survive under the Azerbaijani control. Moreover, within the framework of its policy of ethnic cleansing, Azerbaijan is undertaking consistent steps aimed at eliminating and appropriating the Armenian cultural heritage of Artsakh. In parallel with the physical destruction of the cultural monuments of Artsakh, which are currently under its control, Azerbaijan at the highest level has resorted to a deplorable practice of falsifying historical facts and alienating religious and cultural values of the Armenian people. It is with this purpose that the President of Azerbaijan misrepresents the nature of Armenian church of the 17th century in the village of Tsakuri of the Hadrut region distortedly claiming it to be so-called Albanian and labeling the Armenian inscriptions on its walls as fake, thus preparing grounds for yet another act of vandalism. It is noteworthy that in the published video the above-mentioned church has already been vandalized, as the religious symbols had already been removed. Under these circumstances, the facts indicating the destruction of St. Hovhannes Mkrtich Church, popularly known as "Kanach Zham", in the city of Shushi are particularly worrying. It is noteworthy that the church was destroyed months after the hostilities. The concerns that the Armenian side has been expressing since the very first days the Armenian historical-cultural monuments fell under the Azerbaijani control, are being materialized. These facts demonstrate that Azerbaijan's assurances that it will preserve the Christian historical-cultural heritage and is willing to cooperate with UNESCO are completely false. Under the current situation, the timely intervention of the international community, particularly UNESCO, to save the monuments that have not yet been destroyed becomes urgent. There can not be a solid and lasting peace being built on the basis of destruction of the peaceful settlements of Artsakh, its historical-cultural heritage, annihilation of the Armenian population and the replacement of the Armenian settlement with the Azerbaijani ones. We will continue our struggle for a just and dignified peace by working closely with our international partners. Good morning, Bay Area. Its Friday, March 19, and Outside Lands is a go this year if a bit later. Heres what you need to know to start your day. Californias unemployment agency was not prepared for a crisis. Millions of Californians, thrown out of work by shelter-in-place guidelines that started one year ago, turned to the Employment Development Department for unemployment benefits, and the agency was quickly overwhelmed. Thousands upon thousands of jobless people said they couldnt get the benefits they desperately needed and were unable to get anyone on the phone. A scathing state audit found that from mid-March until late April, EDD answered an average of only 0.5% of total calls. The situation got even worse when the agency froze 1.4 million accounts in an effort to fight fraud. But as EDD continues to hire and try to modernize under a new leader, Carolyn Said talks to people on both sides of those calls to understand whether EDD is truly changing: those spending hours on the phone seeking benefits and the overwhelmed customer service employees who feel undertrained and powerless to actually help. Jessica Christian / The Chronicle Read more. Coronavirus Updates Variants versus vaccines: Can the Bay Area pull ahead? These S.F. stores survived one year of the pandemic. Now theyre closing permanently. Heres what will be allowed in S.F. under the orange tier reopening next week. Here are all the precautions one S.F. theater took to film onstage during COVID. Disneyland is finally reopening. Is it safe to make the trip from the Bay Area? Kids cant get the COVID vaccine yet. So what are the risks of traveling with children? Around the Bay Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle 2019. Halloween festival: Outside Lands is on for 2021 but later in the year. Six times its goal: The most-viewed GoFundMe right now is for S.F. Asian American woman who fought off attacker. More: S.F. police arrest man accused of two attacks on Asian Americans, and a Chinese Filipino man wants to leave the Bay Area after a midday attack in San Franciscos Financial District. Already understaffed: Head of S.F.s homelessness department resigns, surprising some in City Hall. Long time coming: After a decades-long push, this neighborhood is getting a community gym. Seeking equity: S.F. Black city employees file state complaint alleging discipline, pay disparities in the wake of an human resources settlement scandal last year. In case you missed it Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle Like all bars, the Alley in Oakland was hit hard by COVID-19. But perhaps more so than other bars, the Alleys specialty piano bar karaoke has been unquestionably off-limits since March: The combination of a confined space and people singing not to mention the shouts of encouragement is enough to make even an amateur epidemiologist run for the hills. And because of this specialty, the Alley is home to a community of regulars who didnt just miss the place. They needed it. So they went virtual and a year later, the Alley is, despite its locked doors and darkened windows, very much alive. Read more from reporter Emma Silvers. Bay Briefing is written by Taylor Kate Brown, Anna Buchmann and Kellie Hwang and sent to readers email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here, and contact the writers at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com, anna.buchmann@sfchronicle.com, and kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. On one point, there seems to be bi-partisan agreement among state legislators and many of those who testified during the Planning and Development Committees marathon 24-hour hearing on affordable housing this week: For many people, living in Connecticut is too expensive. But fault lines emerged during the contentious hearing on how to remedy the high housing costs and the segregation that festers between poor and tony municipalities. While suburban and urban Democrats offer a number of solutions among themselves, Republicans are generally opposed to the state getting any more involved in spurring the development of more affordable housing through statewide zoning reforms. Meanwhile, housing advocates are somewhat divided on what the best approach is. The administration of Gov. Ned Lamont is staying out of the debate and has not submitted any testimony on zoning reform legislation. A lot of us last summer realized that we needed to do a lot more around the inherent structural racism that exists in our society, said Committee Co-chairman Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-Fairfield, referring to the disproportionate toll the coronavirus has had on Black and Latino residents and the death of George Floyd at the hands of police. We certainly have very diverse viewpoints among our committee members, but Im confident that working together we will come forward with legislation that will probably make everyone slightly unhappy but hopefully will move the ball forward for us as a state. The issue itself is nothing new. Invisible walls created by many local zoning boards and the state government have historically blocked affordable housing and, by extension, the people who need it. More than three dozen towns in the state have blocked construction of any privately developed duplexes and apartments within their borders for the last two decades, the CT Mirror and ProPublica reported in 2019. As far back as data has been kept, Connecticuts low-income housing has been concentrated in poor cities and towns, an imbalance that has not budged over the last three decades. This inertia often locks low-income people out of educational and employment opportunities. In southwest Connecticut, for example, it costs 3.5 times more to live near the high-scoring elementary schools in Westport, Weston or Wilton than in Bridgeport, one of the most impoverished cities in the state. Many attribute that situation to HUD and state officials sitting on the sidelines while many neighboring communities have refused to allow construction of reasonably priced apartments or duplexes that lower-income residents could afford. Compared to other states, Connecticut comes in 49th place for building housing. Connecticut needs more homes for more people in all our towns. Connecticuts towns can be great places to live and can also be more affordable, Kiley Gosselin, executive director of the Partnership for Strong Communities, testified. But developers said exclusionary zoning is inhibiting their ability to construct even two-, three- and four-unit housing developments. We feel that towns are missing opportunities to meet this housing demand, said Eric Santini, who develops multi-family housing throughout the Tolland County region and is president of the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Connecticut. I can tell you the demand is real. Our properties in Ellington and Vernon are 100% full. Weve got a long waiting list, and that has been fairly consistent, not just recently, but really the last decade. Here is a rundown of solutions being considered. Allow some housing to be built without a public hearing Nearly every town in Connecticut prohibits the construction of multi-family housing without special permission from local officials, according to an inventory of local zoning regulations compiled in January by Desegregate CT, a coalition of dozens of non-profits lobbying the legislature to pass land-use reforms to help reverse the states status as one of the most segregated places in the country. One proposal before the Planning and Development Committee would allow the construction of multi-family developments close to a towns main train station and two-, three-, and four-unit developments in the downtown corridor without a developer first needing to go through a public hearing and winning approval from the local planning and zoning board. Instead, towns officials could either preemptively develop zoning regulations for such development in those areas of their town or use state-recommended zoning codes. This would impact all cities and towns except those where there are fewer than 7,500 residents. The public hearing process itself, some say, is the problem. Many who show up to testify on proposed affordable housing projects point to frail public infrastructure, clogged streets, a lack of sidewalks and concerns of overcrowding that would damage whats often referred to as neighborhood character. Research has shown that when a project is opened to public testimony, the feedback is overwhelmingly negative and the demographics of those testifying are not representative of the region. My work shows that an as-of-right process [without a public hearing] is more equitable than our current process, which privileges the voices of advantaged, older, white homeowners, testified Katherine Levine Einstein, an associate professor at Boston Universitys Department of Political Science. Planning and zoning board meetings triggered by the special permit/variance process amplify the voices of an unrepresentative group overwhelmingly opposed to the construction of new housing. Fair housing advocates and attorneys say there is something deeper to this pushback that specific projects often receive during public hearings. The legal team challenging Woodbridge to allow the construction of four-unit homes in town without a public hearing or special zoning commission approval testified about their frustration with people raising environmental, architectural or other concerns during public hearings about multi-family housing, including during the committees hearing Monday. These are never things that get raised when you imagine the largest single family development but only get weaponized against multi-family, said Karen Anderson, a law student at Yale. She is among those working on the Woodbridge case, which could have implications for other Connecticut towns with a preponderance of land zoned only for single family homes. But several Republicans and some suburban Democratic legislators see limiting public hearings on specific proposed projects as a way to stifle important feedback from residents on how a development will affect them, the environment or the character of a community. I cant in good faith support the removal of a local public hearing process, which I believe to be the very foundation of the checks and balances needed between communities and developers. Residents often know more than traffic experts, developers and, I daresay, legislators, testified Rep. Stephanie Thomas, a freshman Democrat who represents Westport, Wilton and Norwalk. Jane Sprung, a resident and elected official in Greenwich, testified, As a homeowner, we should be able to have a local voice Flooding the market with new inventory that maxes out property coverage on each lot will result in greater infrastructure demands, greater storm water runoff and other potential environmental impacts. We like our local control, and we would like to keep it that way, Rep. David Rutigliano, R- Trumbull, told the committee. Officials from Westport and other well-off communities testified that requiring denser development around their downtowns and train stations without their local officials signing off would undermine their efforts to open affordable housing. Danielle Dobin, a Democrat and chair of Westports Planning and Zoning Commission, predicts such a change will just lead to more multimillion-dollar town houses being constructed in her community, rather than homes for middle- and lower-income residents. The founder of Desegregate CT who helped develop the legislation being considered by the committee is adamant that the public is not being taken out of the process, because they will still have the opportunity to help shape the codes and what small housing looks like locally, just not on a project-by-project basis. She also points out that any development with more than 10 units would have to reserve 10% of the units for lower-income residents and that market forces will drive down costs by allowing more housing to be built. The committee has been hearing from elected officials who say that this will totally change the zoning statute and totally usurp town zoning authority, and that could not be farther from the truth, Sara Bronin explained. Her research shows that the zoning setup in wealthy towns like Greenwich, Trumbull and Westport have left their population unable to grow since the pipeline of new housing supply (was) cut off. A fair share for every town In an effort to respect local control but not allow towns to ignore their obligations under the Federal Fair Housing laws another bill would leave it entirely up to municipalities to determine how to provide their so-called fair share of affordable housing but would attach strict enforcement mechanisms if a towns plan or implementation is not ambitious enough. The fair share would be determined after a housing-needs assessment is completed and overseen by the state. After that, each town would be required to provide a specific number of affordable housing units to meet that need. The plan is modeled after the Mount Laurel case in New Jersey, where the courts required towns to provide low-income residents the opportunity to live in their communities. Towns that have greater means and less of a track record of contributing to a solution are asked to do more. Towns with high rates of poverty, 20% or more, have already done their fair share, said Erin Boggs, the executive director of the Open Communities Alliance, the chief proponent of this bill in Connecticut. Her organization is also leading the effort in Woodbridge to begin allowing multi-family housing. Its really the right thing to do, because in one fell swoop, it allows Connecticut to address both its racial segregation and its affordable housing crises, while ensuring that towns really remain in charge in their own planning and zoning. Homeownership has long been one of the best ways for families to accumulate wealth, but for generations, it has been elusive for many Black and Latino families and for those interested in owning in certain communities. Almost 85 years ago, federal officials and mortgage lenders began rating mortgage risk based on neighborhood, race, ethnicity and economic status and refused to lend outside of white areas a practice known as redlining and many white homeowners refused to sell to minorities. Though the practice was outlawed years ago, the consequence of perpetuating poverty festers, since it prevented minority residents from building wealth through homeownership. Making the inequality even worse today are exclusionary local zoning requirements that thrive throughout Connecticut. Requiring a single-family home be on a lot that is at least one acre, or forbidding duplexes from being constructed, drives up the cost of purchasing a home and continues to put homeownership out of reach for many Black and Latino families. The wounds of decades of being shut out from having the ability to purchase or rent a place in the suburbs or find an affordable place in a city that is not struggling with concentrated poverty have not healed, several testified. I am so embarrassed to now live in Connecticut and see how segregated it is and for people to be in such denial, testified Antonia Edwards, a Manchester resident who shared stories of family and friends struggling to find a home to purchase or a place to rent without facing blatant discrimination. Give people the opportunity. Not everybody wants to live in the ghetto or the hood. Some people are stuck there because of redlining. People say we got rid of redlining, we did, then they put zoning in its place and discriminatory practices. Past efforts by the Obama administration, and the administration of former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, to link housing affordability plans with enforcement mechanisms have fallen flat, however. Richard Ives, the first selectman of Brooklyn, told the committee there is a time for state involvement. I think we may need a little bit of a shove, he said, pointing out that homeless and elderly residents are struggling to find housing in his small rural town. We need a push. A state affordable-housing tax on towns If towns want to be enclaves from the rest of the state, the state should levy a tax on their homeowners for that privilege, the leader of the state Senate believes. The proposal from Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, D-New Haven referred by some as a mansion tax would add a state affordable-housing tax on the value of homes over $430,000. There would be different tiers for the tax. Towns that have at least 10% affordable housing would have no extra tax, while those with less than 2% affordable would have an added 2 mills on their property tax. Such a tax would raise roughly $97 million a year that could be funneled back towards constructing affordable housing elsewhere, the legislatures non-partisan fiscal office estimates. Homeowners in Lamonts home town of Greenwich would pick up the largest tab of $26 million, followed by Westport, with almost $11 million. I think that the tax proposal, in addition to raising revenue, does give people an incentive. So if youre in the bottom tier, youre not forever going to be stuck with a two-mill increase if you develop affordable housing, Looney said. During a separate public hearing on this bill on Monday, several residents from wealthy towns expressed their outrage with the proposal. Senate Bill 172 appears to be an extortion tax. It threatens local towns with If you dont do this, we will make you pay,' said Woodbury resident Deborah Schultz. More taxpayers, not higher taxes In his budget address in February, Lamont listed a more affordable Connecticut as a top priority for this legislative session. Over the last year, weve experienced a real estate boom in Connecticut, with tens of thousands of new residents discovering Connecticut is a beautiful state, he said of the 24,000 additional families moving into the state in 2020 compared to 2019. When asked about how to make Connecticut affordable and an attractive place to live, Lamont regularly makes the point that he wants more residents to tax rather than raising taxes on those who are here. But the constraint of available housing is driving up costs, and first-time and lower-income buyers are typically the losers in bidding wars, several real estate agents and residents hoping to purchase their first home told the CT Mirror in November. During Mondays public hearing, Republican legislators regularly pointed out that they agree with Lamonts firm position on not raising taxes while saying Connecticuts high taxes are the real problem with housing affordability, not zoning. I did a real estate closing the other day where the taxes on a modest house were more than the mortgage insurance bond, said Rep. Joseph Zullo, R-East Haven, the house minority leader of the Planning and Development Committee. I think thats a reflection of the tax problems that we have in Connecticut, so I dont think its fair to say that necessarily exclusionary zoning is just an issue, or is a factor, or is a huge factor. The entire tax climate in Connecticut, and the lack of affordability in Connecticut, is one of the biggest factors for people being cost burdened. On the same day Lamont released his budget, the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority released new data that showed housing prices have soared as demand skyrocketed. In Lamonts budget, he recommended appropriating $150 million next year to construct subsidized affordable housing, an amount that will help to slightly blunt steady declines in the amount of affordable housing construction being funded by the Department of Housing. The administration submitted no proposed legislation aimed at tackling the larger systemic issues driving up housing costs, and the Department of Housing declined to comment on the various zoning reform bills being considered by the legislature. During a stop in Bridgeport on Monday to promote COVID vaccines while the public hearing was taking place at the state Capitol complex, Lamont said he prefers luring towns to create affordable housing with funding but is open to discussions. I think were strongly supportive of more affordable housing, more diversity of housing, not just in our cities, but in our towns. I prefer to use incentives and collaboration to work with people to get that done. I think the plan on the accessory apartments, that makes some sense. How come Im not allowed to rent out something to a teacher in my house if Id like to? So there are some very good pieces to the bill that were going to be taking a look at, he said. Is this the year for reform? Despite its liberal reputation and Democrats controlling the legislature for the last 24 years and the governors residence for 10 Connecticut is one of the most segregated places in the country. But Looney, a longtime supporter of reforming the states land-use laws, thinks there is a growing awareness and chorus calling for changes that could spur real change this year. I want to do it all, he said of the zoning reforms that received a public hearing Monday. I think theres a heightened awareness. We want to try to take advantage of the moment to move forward on this issue, because we see zoning practices and exclusionary zoning and the stark contrast between communities that are heavily minority right next door in some cases to communities that are 90%-plus white. I think that theres a heightened awareness to the injustice of that, and the fact that zoning practices are a fundamental part of that. I think that we need to try to take advantage of the fact that that issue is being more broadly discussed in society than it was before. State Treasurer Shawn Wooden called on the state to adopt changes. CT is one of the most segregated states. Its time to end decades worth of discriminatory housing policies by empowering localities to create a more equitable future for communities, he tweeted on Tuesday. Many members of the legislatures Black and Puerto Rican Caucus also want reform, said Rep. Geraldo Reyes Jr., D-Waterbury, leader of the caucus. Were always looking for inclusionary practice and affordable housing opportunities, especially in places where weve been kind of shut out through legal zoning practices. Its another discretionary way of pretty much saying, Youre not wanted here,' he said, noting housing and equity are top priorities of this legislative session. Id like to think that were in a different era, but the truth of the matter is that there are so many rural and suburban communities that are just not interested in changing their zoning laws. So, I think, they maybe need to be called out and forced to handle the problem. House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, a longtime supporter of land use reforms and the chambers first person of color to become the majority leader, also hopes to get something passed this year. During his countless hours of Zoom meetings, hes reminded those watching his screen that zoning reform is a priority by placing Richard Rothsteins book, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America in the background. During a press conference last week to back the fair-share housing proposal, he said, simply being opposed is really not an option according to state law and federal law. So what were trying to do is meet them somewhere in the middle and empower them to make these decisions. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 19, 2021) - GoldHaven Resources Corp. (CSE: GOH) (OTCQB: GHVNF) (FSE: 4QS) ("GoldHaven" or the "Company") reports that they have closed a second tranche of the $3,000,000 non-brokered private placement announced on March 5, 2021. The Company issued an additional 990,280 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.50 per Unit for gross proceeds of $495,140.00 pursuant to the terms of the Offering.The Company has now closed $2,834,040 and plans to close a 3rd and final tranche of this over-subscribed financing. No Finder's fees were paid in connection with this offering. All securities issued in connection with the Offering have a four-month and one day hold period in Canada, ending on July 18, 2021. Net proceeds of the Offering will be used to for drilling on its Maricunga Gold Belt projects and general working capital. Daniel Schieber, GoldHaven's CEO stated: "This is a testament to the financial and capital strength at GoldHaven. We are well funded to carry out the objective of unlocking the value of our world-class area play (251 square km's) in the Maricunga." None of the foregoing securities have been or will 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 press 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 GoldHaven Resources Corp. GoldHaven Resources Corp. is a Canadian junior exploration Company active in the Maricunga Gold Belt of northern Chile. The Maricunga Belt measures 150 km north-south and 30 km east-west and is host to numerous discoveries over the past twenty years and has a prolific gold, silver copper metal endowment. The Company has agreements in place to acquire seven high priority exploration targets which were identified by geological studies. To date, GoldHaven has considers four of these seven properties "High Priority" targets and will commence drilling during the first quarter of 2021. The four priority targets include Coya, located approximately 16 km northeast of the La Coipa mine where Kinross announced a mining re-start in 20202; the second is Rio Loa, a project located 25 km south of Gold Field's Salares Norte deposit (5.2 million ounces of Gold equivalent1; the third and fourth projects are Alicia and Roma which are approximately 35 km. south of the Salares Norte deposit. These exploration targets have been designated High Priority due to extensive, pervasive alteration, favourable geology, highly anomalous rock geochemical results, and their relative proximity to existing deposits. We Seek Safe Harbor. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Daniel Schieber For further information, please contact: Daniel Schieber CEO & Director www.goldhavenresources.com Office Direct: (604) 638-5938 Cell Direct: (604) 722-5798 Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE- Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, the intended use of the proceeds received from the Offering, the possible acquisition of the Projects, the Company's expectation that it will be successful in enacting its business plans, 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", "will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "potential", "scheduled", or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that investor interest will be sufficient to close the Offering, and the receipt of any necessary regulatory or corporate approvals in connection with the Offering and the Assignment, that there will be investor interest in future financings, market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future exploration and development of the Company's projects in a timely manner, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the exploration and development of the Company's projects and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, the estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the inability of the Company to obtain the necessary financing required to conduct its business and affairs, as currently contemplated, the inability to close the Offering, the inability of the Company to enter into definitive agreements in respect of the Letters of Intent which are the subject of the Assignment, the timing and amount of estimated future production, the costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, requirements for additional capital, future prices of precious metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in future financings, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents, approvals or authorizations, including by the Exchange, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, and risks related to joint venture operations, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's latest interim Management's Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials. 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. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law. **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/77961 Hazleton, PA (18201) Today Cloudy skies during the morning hours followed by thunderstorms in the afternoon. Storms could contain damaging winds. High 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. A barrister for Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph has told the Federal Court it did not defame high-profile criminal defence lawyer Chris Murphy in a column claiming he was battling the ravages of age and deafness, and it was merely suggesting he could not attend court during the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Murphy, 72, is suing the Telegraph for defamation in the Federal Court over an October 10 column last year by journalist Annette Sharp, who claimed he was battling the ravages of age and with it the associated deafness that has kept him from representing his clients in court during the past year. Lawyer Chris Murphy is suing The Daily Telegraph for defamation. Credit:Janie Barrett Mr Murphy, who has represented a string of high-profile clients, claims the article defames him in a number of ways, including by suggesting he was incapable of representing his clients interests by reason of age and deafness. In his closing submissions to the court on Friday, the fourth and final day of the trial, the media outlets barrister, Dauid Sibtain, said Mr Murphy was 72 years of age; hes not a young man, [but] Im not suggesting hes on deaths door. Myanmars most violent day was like a war, according to frontline medical workers, as the military crackdown continued since the coup on Feb. 1. Thousands of anti-coup protesters have been in the streets voicing their opposition to military control, while sector professionals are refusing to work under the junta government, officially the State Administrative Council. More than 2,000 demonstrators have been detained and hundreds have been killed, according to the Assistance Association Political Prisoners Burma (AAPPB). Myanmar saw its bloodiest day to date on March 14, when anti-coup street protests in Yangon were met by a large-scale backlash from the military that opened fire, killing at least 74 people in the Hlaing Thayar Township alone, according to a report by the AAPPB. One Burmese doctor working in the Hlaing Thayar Township recalled an incident outside his clinic as protesters were using makeshift shields to block a military onslaught. One of the front-line protesters was injured to the neck by a real bullet, which penetrated his shield and then to the neck. He collapsed in front of our clinic. He died of [a] gunshot injury to the neck, which is so severe by piercing the main artery, the doctor told VOA. A Burmese medical worker told VOA that dozens of injured patients and dead bodies frantically poured into her hospital in the Thingangyun Township in Yangon, as doctors and nurses who were participating in protests rushed back to treat the incoming patients. I cant count, dead bodies are arriving. Some are dead on arrival. I have to do so many CPR procedures. They run to the hospital, and they were doing resuscitations. [It was a] bloody field that day, the medical worker said. Even though most patients had been injured from gunshots, the medical worker said, she was surprised it was a great deal more subdued than she expected. They were not shouting. It was very strange. Most of the patients are very young, about 20 to 25 years old. They are not afraid, she told VOA. Many protesters even wrote their phone numbers and blood types on their bodies before they went to protest, seemingly in preparation for any medical care they might need. Some are very brave. So many patients arrived at the same time. Its like a war. Like in war times. Ive never seen this before, she noted. The military also is targeting the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) participants, a protest campaign that has seen thousands of Myanmar professionals go on strike, including medical workers. And the surgeon admits shes concerned the military might target her hospital next. Im very worried. If they occupy, if they control my hospital, we cannot conduct an operation like this, she said. An emergency doctor at a Yangon hospital said real bullets were largely the cause for so many injured and killed protesters Sunday. On that day, I received at least 55 gunshot wound victims. Out of those 55, they used the real bullets for 50 patients, the doctor said. The doctor told VOA he witnessed the 8888 uprisings in 1988, where thousands were killed. The doctor was also working during the Saffron Revolution in 2007. But from his experiences, the current military is targeting protesters to kill them. In the other uprisings, they shot at them not aiming at the head, neck or chest. Someone who was unlucky might have died on the spot or at the hospital. They were hit in the hands or the thigh, some may be lethal, some maybe not lethal, he said. But now, their attack is like a military battle. They probably use the sniper. Headshots are many. This is different. I found many dead patients, dead at the scene; they had just one shot, the doctor said. ADVERTISEMENT They aim to kill, not to threaten, he underscored. The doctor said the military is even targeting medical employees in ambulances, who are attempting to retrieve injured patients from danger zones. This time, 2021 is very much more difficult than 2007 because the military is trying to shoot even through the ambulances. Its very ugly. Shoot the ambulances or arrest the ambulance crew, or they do not allow the medical crew through to the scene, he added. Zeya Thu, a Myanmar political commentator, acknowledged the current uprising has reached the Myanmar people on a much larger scale than previously. People from all sorts of life are taking part in the 2021 movement against the coup, and the movement is a lot bigger than the one in 2007, he told VOA. The current crackdown by the military already has seen more deaths than the Saffron Revolution, Myanmars previous uprising in 2007, where thousands protested in the streets about fuel prices. According to various reports, the death toll in 2007 ranged from at least 13 to upwards of 100, although VOA has obtained additional details from a leaked police report stating there were more than 20,000 arrests and 34 people killed during the 2007 unrest. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, gained independence from Britain in 1948, but most of its modern history has been governed under military rule. The NLD party led by Aung San Suu Kyi won the countrys first open democratic election in 2015. But in last Novembers general elections, the military contested poll results, claiming widespread electoral fraud, without evidence. On February 1, the Myanmar military, also known as Tatmadaw, removed the NLD government. Leader Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained and have since been additionally charged. Armoured vehicles and live ammunition have been deployed by the military to suppress protests, while martial law has been imposed across the country. The junta has implemented daily internet shutdowns for the sake of the countrys stability, it said. VOA is Premium Times syndication partner. We have permission to republish. 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 A day after the Drug Enforcement Administration of New England warned of pills that appear to be Adderall but are actually methamphetamine, Auburn police said the drugs are likely already in Central Massachusetts. In a tweet Friday, Auburn police said they believe these have already made their way to Central MA, as we have dealt with a few individuals exhibiting symptoms of meth use but claimed to have taken pressed pills. The New England DEA said earlier this week that drug dealers are making a business decision to manufacture pills that appear to be the ADHD drug Adderall in an attempt to corner and addict a younger market. Officials in New Hampshire said they have already seized a large number of the methamphetamine pills across the state, according to WMUR. Canadian pastor arrested for violating COVID-19 worship restrictions to be released from jail Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A pastor in Canada who was arrested for refusing to adhere to COVID-19 worship restrictions will be released from jail after prosecutors dropped all but one of the charges against him. Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church in Edmonton, Alberta turned himself in to authorities last month after being charged with violating the Public Health Act by holding worship services that reportedly violated public health guidelines. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, a Calgary-based law firm representing Coates, announced Wednesday that the pastor could be released as early as next Monday, pending his trial in May. JCCF President John Carpay argued in a statement that the restrictions that Coates disobeyed were unscientific and unconstitutional. He is optimistic about the trial set to start on May 3. We look forward appearing in court in May and demanding the government provide evidence that public health restrictions that violate the freedoms of religion, peaceful assembly, expression and association are scientific and are justifiable in a free and democratic country, stated Carpay. A spokesperson for the JCCF told The Christian Post on Thursday afternoon that Coates' release was still pending because the Crown needs to go before the court to present the agreed-upon terms and get the court to sign off on those terms. According to JCCF, one charge against Coates has not been withdrawn because "Justice Centre and Pastor Coates want the matter heard at trial, to determine the constitutionality of the public health order that churches only hold worship services at 15% capacity..." The JCCF represents several churches that are legally challenging provincial restrictions on houses of worship, arguing that they go against Canadas Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Officials accused GraceLife Church of violating public health guidelines on multiple occasions by holding worship services where attendees did not social distance or wear face masks. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Alberta Health Services have been investigating the church, with Coates turning himself in to authorities last month in response to charges. "We've been consistent in our approach of escalated levels of enforcement with this pastor, and we were hopeful to resolve this issue in a different manner," said Inspector Mike Lokkenin a February statement. "The Pastor's actions, and the subsequent effects those actions could have on the health and safety of citizens, dictated our response in this situation." Earlier this month, the RCMP charged the church as an entity for holding worship services in February that exceeded the limit of 15% capacity. The Church was non-compliant with the Public Health Order in that it was over the allowed capacity. The RCMP members were present for public safety and to support AHS, and did not go inside the church, said RCMP in a March 10 statement. Investigation continues into the church by AHS and supported by the Parkland RCMP. These charges are now before the court and further comments will not be available. The church released a statement in February saying that it originally shifted to online services during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic but returned to in-person gatherings on June 21, 2020. We believe [people] should responsibly return to their lives, the churchs statement reads. Churches should open, businesses should open, families and friends should come together around meals, and people should begin to exercise their civil liberties again. Otherwise we may not get them back. In fact, some say we are on the cusp of reaching the point of no return. Protect the vulnerable, exercise reasonable precautions, but begin to live your lives again. Hurricane season 2021 is here: How do storms get their names? LOS ANGELES Five dozen large storage bins filled with fireworks were recovered at the Ontario, California, home where a massive explosion rocked the neighborhood and left two dead Tuesday afternoon, city officials said. About 60 containers, each holding the equivalent of 27 gallons, were found crammed with unexploded fireworks during cleanup Wednesday at the property in the 400 block of West Francis Street, Ontario spokesperson Dan Bell said. Twenty-four bomb technicians from Riverside and Orange counties, as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and FBI have been combing through the site since the initial denotation shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday. They are burning the materials to make it safe, Bell said, adding that they have yet to tackle anything inside the buildings. Some of the stash was detonated Wednesday, sending up more smoke and echoing loud booms into the neighborhood. More fireworks and explosives were expected to be set off Thursday as the area continues to be cleared, Ontario Police Officer Bill Lee said. Bell said the pyrotechnics are not the kind used in commercial displays, as was initially thought, but are still big and powerful. Sources familiar with the investigation suspect they are the type sold in underground markets. Cesar Paez-Vasquez, 20, and Alex Paez, 38, are believed to have died in the explosion, according to preliminary identifications by the Ontario Police Department. Both men, who have been missing since Tuesday, are connected to the family who lives at the property, authorities said. According to a GoFundMe account set up by Paezs sister, he was married and had three children, including a newborn girl. These two young, driven souls had their lives tragically taken due to an explosion in Ontario, CA, Guadalupe Paez wrote in the online fundraiser. Along with this, their homes are now in ruins leaving their families with a heavy weight on their shoulders not knowing what is next. In 2009, Alex Paez was convicted of misdemeanor failure to obey a police officer during a traffic stop, according to San Bernardino County court records. About two years earlier, he was charged with grand theft, to which he pleaded guilty. That followed an arrest by Fontana police. He was sentenced to 150 days in jail the term he already served and three years of probation, court records show. Tuesdays explosion displaced scores of neighbors. The American Red Cross said it was assisting 29 families totaling 112 people with emergency shelter in hotel rooms, meals and other resources. Bell said some neighbors are staying with friends and relatives. An evacuation order remains in place for the immediate blast area. It was not immediately clear how long the investigation or the evacuation order would last. We dont want to bring them back into an area thats unsafe, Lee said of the evacuated residents. So were working to make the area safe and to try to bring them back home as soon as possible. More than 80 properties in the surrounding area need to be investigated and cleared, in addition to the site of the explosion, Bell said. Authorities are also surveying the extent of the damage. Windows were shattered by the force of the blast, and burning debris set some small fires on nearby lawns. We have to go to each house in the debris area and make sure its safe, Bell said. Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. This $20 a month donation gives you full online access to all four of our local papers - Sonoma West, The Healdsburg Tribune, Windsor Times and Cloverdale Reveille - and will help the paper survive. This renews automatically, and we will charge your card monthly until you tell us to stop. Thanks for going above and beyond! 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. Congress on Thursday held its first hearing on anti-Asian violence and discrimination in more than three decades. Looming over the proceedings was Tuesday's killing of eight people in Atlanta, including six women of Asian descent. "We knew this day was coming," said Rep. Judy Chu (D-Pasadena), who was part of the Southern California delegation testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. She said racist rhetoric used by former President Donald Trump fanned xenophobia. "What started out last January as dirty looks and verbal assaults has escalated to physical attack and violence against innocent Asian Americans," Chu said. WHAT HAPPENED AT THE HEARING The hearing had been scheduled weeks prior at the urging of Asian American members of Congress who have been sounding the alarm over violence and bias toward the AAPI community since the pandemic began. But the ranking Republican at the hearing, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, questioned the point of the hearing, saying he felt like it was a move toward restricting free speech. He said he wants to say what he wants about China. "I'm not going to be ashamed of saying ... I oppose the Chinese Communist Party," Roy said. "We shouldn't be worried about having a committee of members of Congress policing our rhetoric." That prompted an angry response from Rep.Ted Lieu (D-Torrance): "You can say racist stupid stuff if you want, but I'm asking you to please stop using racist terms like kung flu or Wuhan virus or other ethnic identifiers in describing this virus. I am not a virus." Roys free speech remarks also set off Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif. You can say racist stupid stuff if you want, but I'm asking you to please stop using racist terms like kung flu or Wuhan virus or other ethnic identifiers in describing this virus. I am not a virus." pic.twitter.com/16xEnTWfF8 Josie Huang (@josie_huang) March 19, 2021 Newly-elected Republican Congress members from Orange County -- Michelle Steel and Young Kim -- were panelists too and condemned anti-Asian violence. But they also railed against affirmative action, which they called another form of discrimination against Asians. After discussing the resolution she's co-sponsoring with Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) condemning anti-Asian crimes, Steel (R-Seal Beach) devoted half her allotted time to affirmative action. "Discrimination is against the fundamental value of American culture, and that includes discrimination against the AAPI community in the halls of our schools and universities," Steel said. Steel talked about the night-partisan anti-hate resolution she's co-sponsoring w/ fellow OC'er Katie Porter then spent of half her allotted time taking down affirmative action. This type of behavior is only hurting future generations. pic.twitter.com/1gSHW1WJfZ Josie Huang (@josie_huang) March 19, 2021 The affirmative action discussion led New York Democratic Rep. Grace Meng to say "some of us seem to be going a little off-topic." Meng wished Steel luck in getting her resolution passed. Meng last year sponsored a resolution condemning anti-Asian hate. It passed, despite 164 Republicans voting in opposition. KOREAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY 'SICKENED' BY RECENT ATTACKS Back in Los Angeles, the Korean American Federation reacted to at least four of the Atlanta victims being of Korean descent. "The Korean American community is shocked and horrified by the shootings," said James An, president of the federation. "We are sickened by the increasing number of attacks on our marginalized communities." An said his organization is calling on stakeholders to stop downplaying and misreporting these types of incidents. "Enough is enough," An said. "For more than a year, our society has failed to properly acknowledge thousands of documented attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The Atlanta killing spree is only the latest and most vicious of these hate crimes." Late Wednesday, the L.A. Police Department issued a statement saying it has been meeting with members of the AAPI community and has stepped up patrols in neighborhoods with large Asian populations, but stressed it isn't aware of any imminent threats of violence against AAPI communities. L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva on Thursday hosted an online summit to discuss hate crimes, which was already scheduled in response to the recent uptick in crimes against the AAPI community during the pandemic. "If someone is being abused, harassed in any way, sidelined, marginalized, we need to be able to step up to the plate and say, 'Hey, no, that's not going to be allowed here,'" Villanueva said. "And we want every single person to feel as if they're part of the community, and every single person matters." ALTERNATIVES TO MORE POLICING Tiffany Do, with the group Chinatown Community for Equitable Development, says there's an entrenched distrust of the police within working-class, immigrant Asian neighborhoods. She says putting more resources into traditional policing would increase that tension. "People are choosing to invest in police, rather than invest in communities," she told KPCC. "So we call for the divestment of police resources and investing into our communities through parks, through programs -- all these things that are community care and community safety that have nothing to do with [surveilng] us." Other organizations, such as the legal aid group, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, have echoed that call. They've advocated for victims of hate crimes to receive more support, rather than putting more police officers on the street. Meanwhile, Torrance Democratic Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi has co-authored a bill that would create a toll-free hotline to report hate crimes. It would also establish an online reporting system. He said these attacks are crimes against the entire Asian American community: "We see our fathers, we see our mothers in these hate crimes, especially targeting our most vulnerable. The Georgia case is not just a hate crime against Asians, but it's a hate crime against women. So we need to make sure we're documenting as many of these incidents as possible so law enforcement [and] community organizations can provide the support for the victims and to respond appropriately." Some individual counties already have such hotlines. In L.A. County, you can call 211, but Muratsuchi's bill would create a centralized reporting and tracking system for the entire state. Muratsuchi added that the hotline would allow victims and witnesses to report incidents anonymously. This story has been updated. MORE FROM LAIST: ANN ARBOR, MI Some Ann Arbor landlords are not fans of the citys proposal to ban criminal background checks for potential tenants. Here is that headline and some more you might have missed this week. Ann Arbor gets pushback from landlords on banning criminal background checks Ann Arbor officials are getting pushback from several landlords unhappy about a pending city ban on criminal background checks of renters. While city officials argue its an important step to prevent housing discrimination against people with criminal records, landlords argue its taking away a tool they use to screen out applicants and keep their communities safe. Some Washtenaw County schools will miss out on funding for not offering enough in-person instruction Despite calls from some parents to begin offering more in-person learning by March 22, Chelsea School District Superintendent Julie Helber says she isnt budging in the name of safety. Chelsea is eligible for $887,000 in funding the state is allocating to districts if they offer 20 hours of in-person instruction to all students by March 22. With the 20-hour in-person requirement included in House Bill 4048 at the last hour when it was passed in early March, Helber said the district wasnt given enough notice to re-formulate a plan to bring more of its students back to four days a week of in-person classes to meet the 20 hour per week requirement. Police reopen unsolved 1981 homicide case of slain Saline-area bartender The Michigan State Police has reopened a homicide investigation of a Saline Township bartender who was found slain in 1981 which has remained unsolved since. The Michigan State Police First District Cold Case Team announced Tuesday, March 16, it has reopened the investigation of the death of Mary Alice Ellicott who disappeared in October 1981 and was found slain in a grassy field more than a week after being reported missing. Tens of millions of dollars in stimulus money expected to pour into Washtenaw County Tens of millions of dollars in federal stimulus money are expected to pour into local government coffers in Washtenaw County under the American Rescue Plan. The $1.9-trillion aid package signed by President Joe Biden last week includes $350 billion for state and local governments, and $10.3 billion of that could be coming to Michigan, according to preliminary estimates shared by officials. Done deal: Ann Arbor closes on $4M purchase of 136 affordable senior apartments A long-awaited sale of the Lurie Terrace senior apartments in Ann Arbor is now complete. The citys Housing Commission closed on the $4 million purchase of the 136 apartments at 600 W. Huron St. on Friday, March 12, adding to its affordable housing inventory. A nonprofit entity called Senior Citizen Housing of Ann Arbor owned and managed Lurie Terrace for decades and the deal represented the culmination of over two years of work. A chef from Buffalo is bringing his chicken wing expertise to Ann Arbor Jordan Balduf noticed a gap in the chicken wing market in Ann Arbor and, being from Buffalo, New York, hometown of the chicken wing, he decided to use his expertise to fill it. Early into the coronavirus pandemic, Balduf left his job as executive chef at Homes Brewery to pursue his passion of owning his own restaurant. Ann Arbor approves 25,000-square-foot west side retail development A nearly 25,000 square-foot retail development is moving forward in Ann Arbor. Lewis Jeweler in December 2020 proposed to develop three buildings at 300 S. Maple Road, where the former Quarter Bistro restaurant was located. City Council approved the plans on Monday, March 15. The jewelry store, which sells engagement rings, wedding banks, timepieces, certified loose diamonds and fashion jewelry, is currently located at 2000 W. Stadium Blvd. but announced plans in 2020 to move into a larger space. Ford partners with University of Michigan in $75M robotics facility A new $75-million, 134,000-square-foot robotics facility at the University of Michigan is now open. The Ford Robotics Building on the north campus will serve as a world-class, advanced robotics facility and the new hub of the UM Robotics Institute, according to a university news release. The four-story building will include research labs for all types of robotics, as well as classrooms, offices and makerspaces. Use of student seclusion and restraint draws criticism, questions for Saline schools Its telling that her young son is thriving this year in virtual learning, despite his struggles with managing his behavior, parent Heather Finch said. As a Saline Area Schools kindergartener last year, Finch said her son, who is autistic, was put in a cell more than 30 times in a seven-month period, leaving him traumatized and with lasting PTSD. Her son, Finch said, is one of a few Saline Area Schools students disproportionately impacted by the districts use of seclusion and restraint. Pop-up COVID vaccine clinics coming to Washtenaw Countys most at-risk communities Multiple pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics are coming to areas of the county most affected by the virus. Washtenaw County Health Department is teaming up with local partners to host multiple pop-up COVID-19 vaccination sites in areas of the county with high Social Vulnerability Index, the county announced in a press release. Clinics will be offered in several church and community settings such as Ypsilanti High School, St. Francis Assisi Parish in Ann Arbor, Second Baptist Church in Ypsilanti or Bethel AME in Ann Arbor. Following Wednesdays death of Tanzanian President John Magufuli, attention is shifting to his successor. The next in line, according to Tanzanias Constitution, is the vice president. That would make Samia Suluhu Hassan the first female leader of the East African nation since its independence from Britain in late 1961. There was no indication as of Thursday that Hassan has been sworn in as president. It is too early to talk about that after the loss of our great leader, Wilson Masilingi, Tanzanias ambassador to the United States, told VOA in a brief phone call Thursday. We are grieving now. We cant even talk about succession. Mixed Emotions Over Death of Controversial Tanzanian Leader Its complicated, critics and luminaries say, mourning the death of Tanzanian President Magufuli Asked who was leading the country, he said, The vice president is in an acting capacity, according to our Constitution. It is a constitutionally governed country. The ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), has announced a special meeting of its central committee set for Saturday, according to the Reuters news service. Hassan, 61, has served as vice president since Magufulis election in 2015. He won a second five-year term in last Octobers election that his political rivals and the United States criticized for irregularities. Hassan, a CCM member, would be expected to complete Magufulis second term. She announced his death Wednesday, attributing it to heart problems. The president, outspoken in dismissing any threat of the coronavirus, had been out of public view since February 27. Shes the most underrated politician in Tanzania, National Assembly member January Makamba said of Hassan, according to the BBC. "I have observed at close quarters her work ethic, decision-making and temperament. She is a very capable leader." Makamba is also a member of the ruling party. Commonly referred to as Samia, Hassan was born in Zanzibar, the semi-autonomous region, on January 27, 1960. She began her political career in 2000 with election to the Zanzibar House of Representative. She was immediately appointed minister of trade and tourism by then-President Amani Karume, becoming the only woman in a senior ministerial position in the Cabinet. In 2010, Hassan won a seat in Tanzanias national parliament. Her journey in national politics began in 2014, when she was selected by then-President Jakaya Kikwete as the countrys minister for union affairs. That same year, Hassan was elected vice chairperson of the constitutional assembly, playing a key role in drafting the countrys new constitution; however, it failed to pass in the assembly. Hassan studied both at home and abroad, earning her first degree at Mzumbe University in Tanzania and later higher learning at the University of Manchester in Britain, earning a degree in economics and later an online degree from Southern New Hampshire University in the United States. That universitys registrars office did not respond to a phone call Thursday for information on the degree. Hassan is married to Hafidh Ameir, a retired agricultural officer. Their daughter, Wanu Hafidh Ameir, serves in the Zanzibar House of Representatives, as Hassan did. The couple also have three sons. Carol Guensburg of VOAs Africa Division contributed to this report. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The two leading opposition hopefuls in the Seoul mayoral by-election are still wrangling over which of them will become the unified candidate after a deal to let a coin toss decide fell through. Oh Se-hoon for the main opposition People Power Party and perpetual hopeful Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party on Thursday failed to agree how the toss will be decided. Friday is the deadline for candidate registration, so they both have to register first. They failed to agree what kind of opinion poll would decide the selection. Oh wanted a mixed poll including mobile and landline surveys, while Ahn wanted only a mobile phone survey. At the 11th hour, Ahn called a press conference on Friday morning to say he decided to accept Oh's proposal even if the opinion poll may be disadvantageous to him. That puts the president at least a month behind the Obama administration, which began announcing appointments in March 2009. Mr. Trump, for his part, left some assignments, like U.S. envoy to Singapore, vacant for the entirety of his administration, after his initial pick, K.T. McFarland, stalled in the Senate. She withdrew her nomination after Democrats accused her of misleading lawmakers over whether she had known about discussions between the former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn and a Russian diplomat. Democrats said the dissolution of the United States standing abroad over the past four years would make Mr. Bidens selections more important and more scrutinized. It is hard to quantify the extent of the damage caused by Donald Trumps reckless fixation with installing unvetted, unqualified, incapable and often times offensive political allies to serve in some of the most consequential national security posts of our government, said Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. There are people who are viewed as must dos for ambassadorships in the Biden administration, including Cindy McCain, the widow of former Senator John McCain; David Cohen, a Comcast executive who was an early Biden donor; and Mark Gitenstein, a close friend of Mr. Bidens and former ambassador to Romania, who is said to be in the running for ambassador to the European Union. Other close Biden friends who were expected have had their first pick for positions overseas, like Ted Kaufman, the former Delaware senator, and Christopher J. Dodd, the former Connecticut senator who was seen as a front-runner for Ireland, have taken themselves out of consideration. Many donors and political appointees eager for help in the process have leaned on Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, to call the White House and advocate them. Because of the challenge of installing a diverse group representative of the United States in such posts, Biden administration officials have told candidates to name more than one country in which they would be willing to serve. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Corteva Inc. (CTVA) said Friday that it has reached an agreement with Starboard Value LP and its affiliates, by which three new independent directors proposed by Starboard-David Everitt, Janet Giesselman, and Kerry Preete-will join Corteva's board, effective immediately, each with terms expiring at the company's upcoming 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The AGM is, currently scheduled to be held on May 7, 2021. The company has also agreed to nominate the three new independent directors for election as directors at the 2021 Annual Meeting. The company announced that Karen Grimes will also join the company's Board, effective immediately, with her term expiring at the 2021 Annual Meeting, when she will stand for election. Lee Thomas, Robert Brown and Lois Juliber will not stand for re-election to the Board at the 2021 Annual Meeting. The company noted that the size of the Board will temporarily increase from 12 to 16 directors, with the addition of the four new independent directors. Upon the conclusion of the 2021 Annual Meeting, the Board will be reduced to 13 directors, 12 of whom will be independent. As a result of the agreement, Starboard will withdraw its director nominations previously submitted to Corteva and will support the Board's full slate of directors at the 2021 Annual Meeting. Starboard also agreed to abide by customary standstill provisions and voting commitments. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX CORTEVA-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de Credit: Petr Kratochvil/public domain Recent generations show a worrying decline in health compared to their parents and grandparents when they were the same age, a new national study reveals. Researchers found that, compared to previous generations, members of Generation X and Generation Y showed poorer physical health, higher levels of unhealthy behaviors such as alcohol use and smoking, and more depression and anxiety. The results suggest the likelihood of higher levels of diseases and more deaths in younger generations than we have seen in the past, said Hui Zheng, lead author of the study and professor of sociology at The Ohio State University. "The worsening health profiles we found in Gen X and Gen Y is alarming," Zheng said. "If we don't find a way to slow this trend, we are potentially going to see an expansion of morbidity and mortality rates in the United States as these generations get older." Zheng conducted the study with Paola Echave, a graduate student in sociology at Ohio State. The results were published online yesterday (March 18, 2021) in the American Journal of Epidemiology. The researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1988-2016 (62,833 respondents) and the National Health Interview Survey 1997-2018 (625,221 respondents), both conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. To measure physical health, the researchers used eight markers of a condition called metabolic syndrome, a constellation of risk factors for heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes. Some of the markers include waist circumference, blood pressure, cholesterol level and body mass index (BMI). They also used one marker of chronic inflammation, low urinary albumin, and one additional marker of renal function, creatinine clearance. The researchers found that the measures of physical health have worsened from the baby boomer generation through Gen X (born 1965-80) and Gen Y (born 1981-99). For whites, increases in metabolic syndrome were the main culprit, while increases in chronic inflammation were seen most in Black Americans, particularly men. "The declining health trends in recent generations is a shocking finding," Zheng said. "It suggests we may have a challenging health prospect in the United State in coming years." Zheng said it is beyond the scope of the study to comprehensively explain the reasons behind the health decline. But the researchers did check two factors. They found smoking couldn't explain the decline. Obesity could help explain the increase in metabolic syndrome, but not the increases seen in chronic inflammation. It wasn't just the overall health markers that were concerning for some members of the younger generations, Zheng said. Results showed that levels of anxiety and depression have increased for each generation of whites from the War Babies generation (born 1943-45) through Gen Y. While levels of these two mental health indicators did increase for Blacks up through the early baby boomers, the rate has been generally flat since then. Health behaviors also show worrying trends. The probability of heavy drinking has continuously increased across generations for whites and Black males, especially after late-Gen X (born 1973-80). For whites and Blacks, the probability of using street drugs peaked at late boomers (born 1956-64), decreased afterward, then rose again for late-Gen X. For Hispanics, it has continuously increased since early-baby boomers. Surprisingly, results suggest the probability of having ever smoked has continuously increased across generations for all groups. How can this be true with other research showing a decline in overall cigarette consumption since the 1970s? "One possibility is that people in older generations are quitting smoking in larger numbers while younger generations are more likely to start smoking," Zheng said. "But we need further research to see if that is correct." Zheng said these results may be just an early warning of what is to come. "People in Gen X and Gen Y are still relatively young, so we may be underestimating their health problems," he said. "When they get older and chronic diseases become more prevalent, we'll have a better view of their health status." Zheng noted that the United States has already seen recent decreases in life expectancy and increases in disability and morbidity. "Our results suggest that without effective policy interventions, these disturbing trends won't be temporary, but a battle we'll have to continue to fight." Explore further Baby boomers show concerning decline in cognitive functioning More information: Hui Zheng et al. Are Recent Cohorts Getting Worse? Trends in U.S. Adult Physiological Status, Mental Health, and Health Behaviors across a Century of Birth Cohorts, American Journal of Epidemiology (2021). Journal information: American Journal of Epidemiology Hui Zheng et al. Are Recent Cohorts Getting Worse? Trends in U.S. Adult Physiological Status, Mental Health, and Health Behaviors across a Century of Birth Cohorts,(2021). DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwab076 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. Friday, March 19, 2021 We all know the scene in Oliver Stone's film JFK in which Guy Banister (Ed Asner) pistol-whips Jack Martin (Jack Lemon). Later on, Jack Martin goes on to tell Garrison the real reason it happened - he had witnessed a lot of strange things in the office. Here is the scene: And, Jim Garrison, in his book On The Trail of the Assassins, tells the story of Jack Martin coming to his office, on the Monday after the assassination: (page 31) "Well, when we came back to the office, Banister started bitching about one thing and then another. He was in a mean mood. Then all of a sudden, he accused me of going through his private files. No I never went through his private stuff ever - absolutely never. And that really ticked me off." He hesitated for a long moment. "Go on, Jack," I said gently. "I guess I blew up," he continued, his face flushed with memories of injustice. "That's when I told him he'd better not talk to me like that. I told him I remembered the people I had seen around the office that summer. And that's when he hit me. Fast as a flash - pulled out that big Magnum and slammed me on the side of the head with it." Of course, there is no internal Garrison memo about this conversation. The police report says something different. And here it is: The police report only mentions unauthorized long distance telephone calls. Note that Delphine Roberts is listed as a witness. Why didn't they ask Delphine Roberts about this incident when she was interviewed? Perhaps because it really was a dispute about telephone charges. Now, Garrison does claim that he mentioned the police report to Martin, who then asks "does a simple argument over phone bills sound like a believable explanation to you." And, of course, it doesn't. But, as David Reitzes argues, Banister had a history of such outbursts: As the District Attorney himself told Life editor Richard Billings in December 1966, Banister was both a "violent man" and a "heavy drinker." According to Garrison's 1966 description, Banister was "probably insane before he died," an assessment borne out by others who knew him. Despite his former standing in the law enforcement community, Garrison advised Billings, Banister "went all the way down before he died" only a few months after the events of November 22nd. Guy Banister's behavior was noted to be violent and erratic on numerous occasions during the late 1950s and early 1960s. In fact, in 1957 he lost his job as Assistant Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department when, while drinking, he pulled a gun on a waiter in a French Quarter bar; and on March 31, 1964, he was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault after allegedly brandishing a pistol at three youths on a city bus Reitzes quotes from Aaron Kohn's deposition before the HSCA on November 7, 1978. Here are the two pages from that deposition that talks about Guy Banister: And there is some corroboration for the police report explanation of the pistol-whipping incident. Here is what Jack Martin told Harold Weisberg (these are notes of a conversation Washington Post reporter George Lardner had with Weisberg); And Joseph Newbrough, a part-time detective for Banister, told the HSCA that Martin told him the argument was over long distance calls. Here is an excerpt from that report dated April 10, 1978. (HSCA Outside Contact Report of Joseph Newbrough, RIF# 180-10072-10214, courtesy of Jerry Shinley) And, David Ferrie told the FBI about Martin's long distance phone calls. Might he have told Banister about them? Francis Martello, the Lieutenant who wrote up the incident report, was interviewed by the HSCA on August 18, 1977: (HSCA Outside Contact report of Francis Martello, RIF# 180-10080-10206, courtesy of Jerry Shinley) Jack Martin, a known fabricator, started embellishing the incident in an affidavit he wrote with David Lewis (another Garrison witness who had little credibility) on February 20, 1968: Martin says that he went into Banister's private office and told him that he had "compiled, and kept records of all events we had either been involved in, exposed to, or heard about, bar nothing." Well, what ever happened to those records? Banister then gets mad about being double-crossed about a client - and that client was George Lincoln Rockwell. Martin then admits that is true. Martin then says that "there had been no secret as far as anyone was concerned in regard to the fact that Banister, David William Ferrie, and Lee Harvey Oswald may have known, or been acquainted with one another." It's a strange statement - may have known? Did he not see them in the office? Martin then basically accuses Banister of being involved in the JFK assassination, "We reminded him of this, together with the fact that he often mentioned, "Someday, somebody is going to poke a rifle out a window," when speaking of unpopular politicians at times." Banister gets upset and talks about fighting, and Martin then says "Our reply was that we would most likely remain silent regarding him (Banister), but not Ferrie under any condition." Hold it, what happened to Oswald? After the pistol-whipping, Martin runs off to the bar and says there are two witnesses, and perhaps "more witness may be available to this statement." In the police report, Martin goes to the hospital, and then goes home and calls the police. No mention of going back to the bar. Here is what Jack Martin told the HSCA on December 5, 1977 (RIF# 180-10080-10-208): And, here is what Delphine Roberts told the HSCA about the pistol-whipping incident: Roberts then thinks that Martin wanted the Oswald file, which contained "news clippings." Cleary the pistol-whipping incident happened. It probably was about long-distance telephone calls. Jack Martin couldn't help himself - once Banister died, he was free to embellish all he wanted. Update: Here is an excerpt from a document from the Harold Weisberg Archive. He has a collection of notes from Hoke May - a reporter for the New Orleans States-Item. I can't tell if this is written by Weisberg from talking to May or by Hoke himself. I have no idea if this is true, but if true, it would explain why everybody gave different reasons for the pistol-whipping. 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 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. March 19, 2021 U.S. Aggressiveness Follow Up The 'western' media reporting of the spat between Biden and Putin is typically bad. The Guardian @guardian - 18:15 UTC Mar 18, 2021 'Takes one to know one': Putin-Biden spat escalates over 'killer' accusation That was not what Putin had said: Ivan Pentchoukov @IvanPentchoukov - 16:56 UTC Mar 19, 2021 Can't believe how many outlets are running with the same totally false translation of what Putin said. The idiom Putin used is much closer to "the names you call others is what you should be called." The official Kremlin transcript agrees with Ivan's formulation: [D]ifficult, dramatic, and bloody events abound in the history of every nation and every state. But when we evaluate other people, or even other states and nations, we are always facing a mirror, we always see ourselves in the reflection, because we project our inner selves onto the other person. You know, I remember when we were children and played in the yard, we had arguments occasionally and we used to say: whatever you call me is what you are called yourself. This is no coincidence or just a kids saying or joke. It has a very deep psychological undercurrent. We always see ourselves in another person and think that he or she is just like us, and evaluate the other persons actions based on our own outlook on life. There is an additional passage of interest which sets out rules for future talks that I have not seen reported in 'western' media: I know that the United States and its leaders are determined to maintain certain relations with us, but on matters that are of interest to the United States and on its terms. Even though they believe we are just like them, we are different. We have a different genetic, cultural and moral code. But we know how to uphold our interests. We will work with the United States, but in the areas that we are interested in and on terms that we believe are beneficial to us. They will have to reckon with it despite their attempts to stop our development, despite the sanctions and insults. They will have to reckon with this. We, with our national interests in mind, will promote our relations with all countries, including the United States. Secretary of State Blinken's meeting with the Chinese foreign minister in a shabby Alaskan hotel was another diplomatic train wreck: The alternative to a rules-based order is a world in which might makes right and winner takes all and that would be a far more violent and unstable world, Blinken said. The 'rules based order' means 'do what we say' and is of course unacceptable. Here is how the Chinese replied: What China and the international community follow or uphold is the United Nations-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law, not what is advocated by a small number of countries of the so-called rules-based international order. and I dont think the overwhelming majority of countries in the world would recognize that the universal values advocated by the United States or that the opinion of the United States could represent international public opinion, and those countries would not recognize that the rules made by a small number of people would serve as the basis for the international order. When Yang was chided by Blinken for making a too long opening statement in response to Blinken's accusations Yang replied: The Chinese side felt compelled to make this speech because of the tone of the U.S. side. Well, isnt this the intention of United States, judging from what or the way that you have made your opening remarks, that it wants to speak to China in a condescending way from a position of strength? So was this carefully all planned and was it carefully orchestrated with all the preparations in place? Is that the way that you had hoped to conduct this dialogue? Well, I think we thought too well of the United States. We thought that the U.S. side will follow the necessary diplomatic protocols. So for China it was necessary that we made our position clear. So let me say here that, in front of the Chinese side, the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength. The U.S. side was not even qualified to say such things even 20 years or 30 years back, because this is not the way to deal with the Chinese people. If the United States wants to deal properly with the Chinese side, then lets follow the necessary protocols and do things the right way. And this which was apparently left out of State Departments transcript: History will prove that if you use cutthroat competition to suppress China you will be the one to suffer in the end. The attempted U.S. assault was a home run for the Chinese side: Many netizens on Chinas social media said Chinese officials were doing a good job in Alaska, and that the U.S. side lacked sincerity. Some even characterized the talks as a Hongmen Banquet, referring to an event that took place 2,000 years ago where a rebel leader invited another to a feast with the intention of murdering him. Posted by b on March 19, 2021 at 18:53 UTC | Permalink Comments next page next page The principal of Wesley College has apologised to students and families after disclosures of more than a dozen instances of alleged sexual assault, harassment, and disrespect to girls by male students. Principal Nick Evans said the school was confronting hard truths and committing to change during a press conference on Friday and in a letter sent to parents and guardians. Wesley College principal Nick Evans speaks on Friday. Credit:Justin McManus I apologise unreservedly to those affected on behalf of the College, he said. It is, however, not enough to be devastated. This has been a call to action. We need to act. Wesley College has referred allegations of abuse and assault to police. [March 19, 2021] TriNet Webinar: What is in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and What it Means for Your Business DUBLIN, Calif., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- WHAT: TriNet Webinar: What is in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and What it Means for Your Business Earlier this month, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The Act offers aid to small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) and their employees impacted by the COVID pandemic. In an hour-long live webinar, Samantha Wellington, senior vice president, chief legal officer and secretary, TriNet, and Alex Warren, senior vice president, customer experience, TriNet, will discuss the new relief package, explain how it interacts with previous COVID relief laws, and analyze the most important issues for business leaders. WHO: Samantha Wellington, senior vice president, chief legal officer and secretary, TriNet Alex Warren, senior vice president, customer experience, TriNet WHEN: Tuesday, March 23, 2021 at 11AM PT / 2PM ET WHERE: Register here to join the webinar. About TriNet TriNet (NYSE: TNET) provides small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) with full-service HR solutions tailored by industry. To free SMBs from HR complexities, TriNet offers access to human capital expertise, benefits, risk mitigation and compliance, payroll and real-time technology. From Main Street to Wall Street, TriNet empowers SMBs to focus on what matters most-growing their business. TriNet, incredible starts here. For more information, visit TriNet.com or follow us on Twitter. Investors: Media: Alex Bauer Renee Brotherton TriNet TriNet Investorrelations@TriNet.com PR@TriNet.com (510) 875-7201 (925) 965-8441 TriNet and the TriNet logo are registered trademarks of TriNet. All other trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks are the property of their respective owners. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trinet-webinar-what-is-in-the-american-rescue-plan-act-of-2021-and-what-it-means-for-your-business-301251156.html SOURCE TriNet Group, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Cybersecurity services company Bridewell Consulting enhanced the security of the upcoming 2021 Census programme after following a stringent review process. Bridewell was enlisted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) to perform the Independent Information Assurance Review (IIAR) which took place between September 2020 and January 2021. Securing the risks The purpose of the assurance review was to identify any security risks to Census systems, services and information, and to present an independent view of security maturity to stakeholders. Bridewell also produced a public report to assure the nation adequate measures are in place and encourage members of the public to complete the Census. The Census is a nationwide survey that takes place every 10 years and must be completed by every household. The data collected in the survey builds a picture of all the people and households across the UK to help organisations make decisions on planning and funding public services including transport, education, and healthcare in each area. The 2021 Census survey will take place on 21st March. Security assurance review Bridewell previously delivered the assurance review for the Census rehearsal in 2019 and was selected to undertake the review of the 2021 Census following a formal tender process. Bridewell engaged with the ONS, NISRA, and their trusted partners over three months to ensure that a thorough and robust review into every aspect of the programme was completed effectively. ONS has developed strong security measures to safeguard submissions but we did not want citizens just to take our word on this The assurance review took a three-phase approach, covering governance and management, operational security, process and design, and security assurance. Andy Wall, Chief Information Security Officer at the Office for National Statistics comments, The protection of citizen information collected in the Census is critical. ONS has developed strong security measures to safeguard submissions but we did not want citizens just to take our word on this." Security Assessment Criteria "It was very important for us to test our approach and measures and so we wanted an independent view. A specialist organisation like Bridewell, which has the expertise to look under the bonnet of the Census and assess the detail of what we have built, was very valuable. The assessment criteria comprised of a range of selected controls, outcomes, and good practice from security industry recognised control frameworks to ensure the assessment was not confined by one singular framework. This included ISO27001, the Cyber Security Framework, the Open Web Application Security Project Software Assurance Maturity Model, the UK Security Policy Framework, NCSC principles, and other guidance. Implementation of assessment In total, Bridewell shared 21 findings in review which were rapidly addressed before the assessment concluded The scope of the review included systems, services, and staff in ONS and NISRA supporting the Census, the Census supply chain, and physical and digital security. Bridewell also assessed how comprehensive and effective the assurance review itself was in improving the programmes security. In total, Bridewell shared 21 findings in review which were rapidly addressed before the assessment concluded. Scott Nicholson, Co-CEO at Bridewell adds, The Census is vital to informing how organisations and public authorities effectively plan and fund critical services we all require. Whilst completion of the assessment is a legal requirement, members of the public need confidence that the data they provide will be processed fairly and lawfully with adequate protection in place." "We are proud to have played a key role in independently assessing the governance, design, implementation, and operation of controls to ensure they are providing an appropriate level of protection. Global microblogging service Twitter, on March 18 said that it will soon release a public poll asking users when and how it should ban world leaders. In a blog post, the social media giant explained that politicians were constantly evolving in the way they used Twitter. And thus, to keep up with the ever-changing nature of political discourse, it was now seeking to review its policies aided by public opinion. Generally, we want to hear from the public on whether or not they believe world leaders should be subject to the same rules as others on Twitter. And, should a world leader violate a rule, what type of enforcement action is appropriate, Twitter said elaborating further. Public Survey Twitters public survey will be released on March 19 and users would have almost a month, till April 12, to submit their responses. The questionnaire would be available in as many as 14 languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Urdu so as to ensure a global perspective. Apart from the public survey, Twitter is also seeking the opinion from a range of human rights experts, civil society organizations, and academicians on the matter. "We want to serve the public conversation and allow the public to hear from and engage with leaders around the world. Ultimately, our aim is to have a policy that appropriately balances fundamental human rights and considers the global context in which we operate," it said. The Jack Dorsey-led organization has come under global scrutiny in recent months. Twitter Inc. especially caught eyeballs after it barred former American President Donald Trump earlier this year. On January 8, it permanently suspended Trumps account over repeated violations of its rules, including incitement of violence. The company said that after assessing the tweets in the context of a violent storming of the Capitol on Wednesday, it determined that Trumps tweets violated the firms Glorification of Violence policy and constituted immediate removal from the platform. After review of Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence. Image Credits: Unsplash/ purzlbaum Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 19, 2021) - Affinity Metals Corp. (TSXV: AFF) (FSE: 34IA) ("the Company" or "Affinity") is pleased to provide shareholders with an update of the Company's ongoing exploration initiatives and general corporate activities. The Company is currently awaiting assay results related to diamond drill programs in 2020 and 2021. Assay wait times have been significantly longer this year due to COVID-19 and increased exploration activities across Canada. Assay results from the Regal Property drill program and the Carscallen Extension Project are pending and the Company expects to receive them soon. Upon receipt of the assay results, the Company's geological team will compile, verify and interpret the information as soon as possible for public release. Specific property updates are as follows: Regal Property: The Regal Property is located near Revelstoke, British Columbia within the northern end of the prolific Kootenay Arc and is south east and on trend with Rokmaster Resources' Revel Ridge project. A total of 3,442 meters over 19 holes of diamond drilling was completed on Oct. 29, 2020 and core was delivered to the lab shortly after the program was completed. Assays results are pending and are expected to be received very soon. A follow up diamond drill program is being planned and assay results will be utilized to guide additional exploration for the upcoming exploration season. Carscallen Extension Property: The Carscallen Extension Property is located near Timmons, Ontario and immediately adjoins the Carscallen Project currently being explored under a joint venture agreement between Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. and Melkior Resources Inc. An initial drill program commenced on Nov. 19, 2020 designed to test a large zone identified by aerial acoustic geophysics on trend with the projected extension of the Shenkman-ZamZam gold system which has been the focus of the Melkior/Kirkland Lake Gold JV. Melkior has reported that the Shenkman-ZamZam zone extends for 800 meters and is open to both the northwest and southeast, as well as at depth. High grade intercepts reported by Melkior on the Carscallen include 23.5 g/t Au over 8.0 meters (Melkior news release 28/11/2019) and 25.7 g/t Au over 6.0 meters (Melkior news release 7/5/2020). To date, three diamond drill holes have been completed totalling 1,850 meters. Initial test samples were sent to the lab while detailed logging of the core was ongoing. Further samples were identified during core logging and have also been sent for assay. Results are pending. Windfall North Property: Affinity Metals holds a 100% owned mineral property in Quebec, Canada that adjoins Osisko's world class Windfall Lake project claim holdings. The property resides on the Eastern portion of the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt. Affinity staked the North Windfall claims based on the interpreted northeast trend of the Windfall Lake Fault from the Windfall Lake gold deposit and plans to conduct geological and geophysical data compilation in order to generate drill targets in anticipation of a diamond drill program in 2021. Rob Edwards, CEO of Affinity Metals, remarks, "As we look into 2021 we are very excited to establish plans for further advancement of our key properties. Unfortunately, assay labs have been plagued with delays as COVID-19 and the volume of exploration has caused a drastic increase in turnaround times from what the industry is accustomed to. The delays of setting a waypoint for 2021 exploration programs will hopefully be short lived as we expect results from the 2020 exploration programs soon. "Additionally, Affinity has good neighbors with good geology surrounding its key exploration properties. Recent developments on these properties bordering Affinity's properties seem likely to continue to provide added exposure and value to the Company and its shareholders. Specifically, on the Regal Property in BC, Rokmaster Resources has expanded its 2021 Drill Program to 10,000 meters after positive results. The Kirkland Lake/Melkior joint venture in Ontario on the Carscallen Project has been expanded to 6,600 meters of diamond drilling and in Quebec, Osisko Mining continues to prove up their Windfall Project with some extremely encouraging drill results. Affinity and its investors have so much to look forward to in 2021." Shares for Services - Online Marketing Further to Affinity's news release of September 25, 2020, in which the Company disclosed an update to a shares for services agreement it had entered into with Agoracom dated September 13, 2019, the Company confirms that, to date, it has issued 96,000 common shares to Agoracom with a hold period expiring on January 16, 2020. The news release also stated that the Company was to issue a further 297,295 common shares to Agoracom under the agreement. The 297,295 shares were not issued at that time due to delays in the approval process. Now that the agreement with Agoracom is complete, and to fully satisfy the terms of that agreement, the Company is required to issue an additional 432,064 common shares with deemed price ranging from $0.11 per share to $0.325 per share. Once approval has been received from the TSXV, the 432,064 common shares will have a hold period expiring 4 months and one day after their date of issuance in accordance with applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSXV. The number of shares issuable and the deemed share price has been determined at the market price of the Company's common shares at the time the quarterly payments were due, in compliance with the policies of the TSXV. Under the initial 2019 agreement, services would have been terminated September 15, 2020 however on September 11, 2020, Agoracom provided an amended agreement for services that extended the original agreement to January 15, 2021. No new shares were issued as a result of the extension. About Affinity Metals Affinity is focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of strategic metal deposits within North America. Affinity has outlined a hybrid exploration model of combining the advancement of strategic assets in addition to implementing a Project Generator approach to other prospective properties in the Company's portfolio. The Company also recently acquired the Windfall North property, located adjacent to Osisko's Windfall project in Quebec and exploration plans are ongoing. On behalf of the Board of Directors Robert Edwards, CEO and Director of Affinity Metals Corp. The Company can be contacted at: info@affinity-metals.com Information relating to the Company is available at: www.affinity-metals.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 contains forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the Company's management discussion and analysis filed with applicable Canadian securities regulators, which can be found under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77886 Let Abhinandan go: When Pakistan Army chief was jittery and his legs shook in nervousness Thaw in tensions? Pak Army chief says time to bury the past India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 19: Sending out positive signals, the chief of the Pakistan Army, General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that it is time for both India and Pakistan to bury the past and moved forward. He said that the potential for regional peace and development always remained hostage to the disputes and issued between the two countries. We feel it is time to bury the past and move forward. The responsibility for a meaningful dialogue rested with India, the General also said. His statements come a day after Pakistan's Prime Minister, Imran Khan made similar overtures towards India. Khan said that India would benefit economically by having peace with Pakistan. He said that this would enable New Delhi to directly access the resource rich Central Asia region through Pakistan territory. "India will have to take the first step. Unless they do so, we cannot do much," Khan said while delivering the inaugural address at the launch of the two-day Dialogue. After LoC ceasefire agreement, onus on India for progress: Imran Khan Our neighbour will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in Kashmir, Gen Bajwa said. He also said that any effort to improve ties without addressing the core issue would be vulnerable to external political factors. "The Kashmir issue is at the heart of this. It is important to understand that without the resolution of the Kashmir dispute through peaceful means, the process will always remain susceptible to derailment to politically motivated bellicosity," he also said. India had last month said that it desires normal relations with Pakistan in a terror free environment. Officials tell OneIndia that the onus would be on Pakistan to create an environment that is free from terror, hostility and violence. In February, India and Pakistan announced that the ceasefire was being observed from the midnight of February 24. The two sides reviewed the situation along the Line of Control and all other sectors in a free, frank and cordial atmosphere, a joint statement read. The statement issued by the armies of both countries said that the move followed a discussion between India's DGMO, Lt. General Paramjit Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Major General Nauman Zakaria. The Director Generals of Military Operations of India and Pakistan held discussions over the established mechanism of hotline contact. The two sides reviewed the situation along the Line of Control and all other sectors in a free, frank and cordial atmosphere. In the interest of achieving mutually beneficial and sustainable peace along the borders, the two DGsMO agreed to address each other's core issues and concerns which have propensity to disturb peace and lead to violence.Both sides agreed for strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the Line of Control and all other sectors with effect from midnight 24/25 Feb 2021, the joint statement read. ST PAUL, Minn. - The public's right to know. A bi-partisan group of U.S. senators is looking to bring the highest court in the land to television. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) along with five other senators - reintroduced the Sunshine in the Courtroom Act. The bill would allow television cameras at supreme court hearings. Right now, only those lucky enough to get inside the building can hear the proceedings live. Under the proposal - the nine justices could decide with a majority vote to remove the cameras if they violate due process rights. Political analyst Rayce Hardy says this addition to the bill is significant, as he notes one of the drawbacks of the bill could be invasion of privacy. Usually just having something public is not going to step on the due process rights of a group or individual - but it could - so the fact that that is included I think is an important addition to this bill." Hardy adds of the three U.S. branches, the judiciary is the least well-known, so this will shed light on all government branches. It's going to bring transparency to the federal judiciary and the highest court in the land, the supreme court - and it's going to bring an increased knowledge for the citizenship of this country." Hardy adds another drawback of the bill is things could get taken out of context. He also made mention of supreme court justices suddenly achieving celebrity status -- something Hardy finds uncomfortable. The supreme court added live audio streaming of its oral arguments during the pandemic -but they have not said if that would continue once they start in-person proceedings again. 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 Late Late Show appeal has raised over 150,000 for a sudden cardiac death charity. Last Friday, Dublin businesswoman Emily MacKeogh spoke on the show about her fiance Killian Roche, who passed away from sudden cardiac death at the age of 32 just hours after they moved to Dubai to start a new life together. Joining Emily in the Late Late studio was Downton Abbey star Allen Leech and Marie Greene, founder of charity organisation CRY Ireland. CRY Ireland's mission is to raise awareness of and provide counselling services for those who have lost someone to sudden cardiac death or Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. Sudden cardiac death is a sudden and unexpected death caused by loss of heart function. In Ireland, it is estimated that two people die from sudden cardiac death each week. Emily spoke of how CRY supported her after losing her fiance. The services at CRY have been a huge support for myself and Killians family and Im delighted to help spread awareness of CRY. Their services are invaluable to those that have been affected. Grieving should not be dealt with alone and I truly recommend seeking support for those who may need it, she continued. Following Emilys brave appearance on the show, 155,000 was donated to the charity. Read More Lucia Ebbs, CEO of CRY said: We are overwhelmed with the amount of support we have received over the last week. Since then, we have exceeded our expectations and received over 155,000 to date. This will enable CRY to launch our enhanced Family Support Programme, which offers bereavement support to families all over Ireland, north and south, plunged into grief through the sudden cardiac death of a young member of their family. CRY would like to thank every individual who generously donated, she added. General Assignment Reporter Chris Mays is a general assignment reporter for the Brattleboro Reformer. He has been with New England Newspapers Inc. since 2012. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks during his weekly press briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 18, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) McCarthy Calls on Biden to Meet Over Border Crisis, Proposes Solutions Second attempt to meet with the president over border situation House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) again requested talks with President Joe Biden over the administrations handling of the surge in illegal aliens at the U.S.Mexico border. McCarthy said he has not heard back from the administration after he sent Biden a letter about two weeks ago asking for a meeting over the border crisis. In a second letter to the president on Thursday, McCarthy said the border situation has only continued to deteriorate. Securing our border should not be a partisan issue. The most basic function of government is to keep our citizens safe,' McCarthy wrote in his letter, accusing the Biden administration of failing to fulfil its responsibility to the American people and not having a coordinated approach to stem the flow of illegal aliens. At least 13,000 migrant children are being held in custody at federal facilities, one of which is reportedly 729 percent over capacity, McCarthy wrote. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on March 16 that the country looks like it could face a surge thats not been seen since the past two decades, the House minority leader noted in the letter. Earlier this week, McCarthy led a congressional delegation to Texas and observed that the El Paso Processing Center, which is equipped to handle more than 1,000 migrants at a time, is now beyond capacity. Some 120 border agents at the same processing center were reassigned from their regular patrol to take care of the unprecedented number of migrant children at the facility, McCarthy wrote. The overcrowding is exacerbating the crisis and creating even more security vulnerabilities at our border, he added. He told Biden that a doctor at the southern border in Texas had told McCarthy that 10 percent of the illegal aliens were testing positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. McCarthy outlined five policy recommendations from House Republicans to stem the border crisis. They include restarting the halted border wall construction, sending a clear message to illegal immigrants that they wont gain anything from crossing the border illegally, and creating a robust COVID-19 testing program for detained illegal aliens. House Republicans also recommended that Biden bring back the Remain-in-Mexico program; the Trump-era policy sends migrants back to Mexico while they wait for a court to process their asylum claims. Biden, upon taking office, had suspended the program and reinstated catch-and-release, a process whereby illegal aliens are released directly into the United States while awaiting the courts. The final recommendation to the administration is to maintain Title 42 authorities so that illegal aliens can be removed shortly after they cross the border amid the pandemic. On Thursday morning, Mayorkas announced on CBS News a message for immigrants seeking to settle in the United States, It is not safe to take the journey, it is not safe in a time of pandemic to arrive at the border. Families and single adults are being expelled. Let us rebuild, if I may, a safe, orderly way for you to apply for humanitarian relief under the laws of our country. That is who we are. Separately, Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and eight other members of the House Judiciary Committee issued a letter demanding that Democrats hold a hearing on the border crisis. Because of the Biden Administrations immigration policies that have caused a surge of alien encounters along the U.S. southern border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now has to divert its resources away from its priority missions and law enforcement duties to secure the border and instead process illegal aliens, Biggs and Jordan wrote in the letter addressed to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), head of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. The White House and Rep. Jackson Lee did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times. New Delhi, March 19 : FICCI President Uday Shankar snubbed the Ficci Ecommerce Committee head after a meet today where all associations were present. In a first, Uday Shankar has said Amazon's claims at a vital stakeholder-DPIIT meet Friday were false and need to be rescinded. Shankar, in a terse distancing from Amazon's claims, said the apex chamber expects zero-tolerance on creative interpretations of FDI norms. Amazon is under ED investigation for misusing Press Notes 2 and 3 and violating the "market place" covenant governing foreign companies in ecommerce. The U.S. giant has been accused of circumventing FDI law by investing in multiple downstream Indian companies and then arming them with deep discounting, preferential placement, killing its own ecommerce vendors and millions of brick and mortar rivals with a bear hug. DPIIT had requested a one-chamber-one-spokesman rule and FICCI therefore fielded Amazon India CFO Raghav Rao at the crucial meeting. Rao is one of the three co-chairs of the FICCI committee. Snapdeal and Reliance are the other two co-chairs. Individual companies have been granted time on March 25, but Rao unwisely chose to attempt a spin on where members stood on the vexed subject. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 21:30:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JUBA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The UN children's fund (UNICEF) on Friday appealed for 45.5 million U.S. dollars to support water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs in South Sudan in 2021. UNICEF said that it plans to allocate 3.85 million dollars for WASH in school interventions to support children at risk of contracting water borne diseases like acute watery diarrhea which is one of the lead causes of child mortality in South Sudan. "When you deny someone their right to clean water, sanitation and hygiene, you are also denying them the right to health, a life, protection and dignity," Hamida Lasseko, UNICEF South Sudan Representative said in a statement issued in Juba. UNICEF said that in the past years, it provided a minimum level of WASH services to the most vulnerable populations in South Sudan and also responded to the most immediate humanitarian needs, including the floods affecting over one million people in 2020. UNICEF said provision of WASH services in schools is a very critical strategy to increase coverage while targeting children. Enditem Tom Hallberg covers a little bit of everything, from skiing to long-form feature stories. A Teton Valley, Idaho, transplant by way of Portland and Bend, Oregon, he spends his time outside work writing fiction, splitboarding and climbing. TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) - The Lee County NAACP wants the Tupelo Police Department to better train its officers. This comes after officers held a Black businessman following a Tuesday shoplifting incident at The Mall at Barnes Crossing. Businessman Wesley Wells was exercising near the mall when officers grabbed him. Read More - City of Tupelo looking into police officers' actions in businessman's detainment Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton said Wells matched the description of someone who was wanted for the crime, but Wells had nothing to do with it. The mayor apologized to Wells and suspended two officers without pay. In a Facebook post, Wells said in part, "...we've got some major problems here. Hopefully that can change." In response to a public records request, the City of Tupelo later provided copies of officers' reports. One officer said he did not have his body camera with him during the entire incident. The officer said he forgot to retrieve the camera from its dock after he left a briefing. Open this link to view the reports. Fresh information casts doubt on claims that residents fled and spent more than a week sheltering from a suspected UVF show of strength in east Belfast, a court heard on Friday. A judge was told urgent inquiries were being made with the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) and police investigating events at Pitt Park last month. Details emerged as one of three men accused of taking part in the gathering of up to 60 masked men was refused bail. David Matthews (34), from Millreagh in Dundonald, faces charges of unlawful assembly and affray in connection with the incident on February 2. His 58-year-old father, Stephen Matthews, from Pansy Street in Belfast, and Derek Lammey (56), from Spring Place in the city, also remain in custody accused of the same offences. With the case against all three men based on disputed identification evidence, the defendants do not accept involvement. According to the prosecution, a large group of men arrived in the area and split up into sub-groups. Previous courts were told 11 members of the public fled to the nearby Ballymac Community Centre, remaining there for up to eight days under a constant police presence. They included a pregnant woman and children, it was contended, with dogs also brought due to concerns for their safety. The incident was described as "a display of sinister force" by a group allegedly linked to the East Belfast UVF. However, none of the defendants are charged with membership of a proscribed organisation. At Belfast Magistrates Court on Friday, Stephen Matthews lawyer revealed he had received new details about the case. Referring to claims that residents spent eight days in the community centre, solicitor Andrew Russell said: "There is information which has been provided to me which would call that into question. "Urgent inquiries are being made with the PPS in regard to that matter." The development came as David Matthews mounted a fresh bid to be released from custody. District Judge George Conner was told he could live at a location more than 20 miles from Belfast and put up a 10,000 cash surety. David Matthew's lawyer, Darragh Mackin, described the case against his client as "evidentially and legally flawed". One police officer allegedly recognised and "tracked" him moving through the crowd based on a khaki jacket allegedly worn. But Mr Mackin contended: "Disclosure has since come to light which indicates the individual wearing the khaki jacket is someone totally different. It is not David Matthews." Prosecution counsel Natalie Pinkerton countered that the issues were raised at previous hearings. She added that two people wearing khaki coats and hoodies were identified at different locations. Denying bail to David Matthews, Judge Conner ruled: "Im not persuaded theres a significant change in circumstances." He adjourned the cases for one week because of the ongoing defence inquiries. A cage fighter accused of beating his ex-lover to death and injuring a 15-year-old boy she was having an affair with gave police officers who arrested him a prepared statement after claiming he was too 'emotionally spent,' a court has heard. Paul Robson, 50, has denied murdering Caroline Kayll, 47, at her home in Linton, Northumberland, and severely injuring an unnamed teenager. Newcastle Crown Court has heard Robson found out about their secret relationship and allegedly blackmailed her about it. The prosecution alleged Robson, who met Mrs Kayll when she taught at HMP Northumberland where he was an inmate, drove from Glasgow to confront her in November at the home they had until recently shared. However, the cage fighter has denied murdering and blackmailing Caroline, and has also pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of the 15-year-old boy. Paul Robson, pictured allegedly on his way to murder Caroline Kayll, has denied blackmailing the teacher after discovering she was having an affair with a 15-year-old boy Robson is alleged to have possibly stamped on her head and strangled her, as well as attacking the youth with scissors and a meat cleaver, and sprayed both with ammonia before he fled back to Scotland. The defendant claims it was the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, who killed her. When Robson was arrested and interviewed by police, his solicitor handed detectives a prepared statement. The prosecution alleged Robson, who met Mrs Kayll when she taught at HMP Northumberland where he was an inmate, drove from Glasgow to confront her in November at the home they had until recently shared. It said: 'When I heard about Caroline's death I intended to arrange to surrender to the police. 'I am emotionally spent, I am finding it very difficult to concentrate. 'I never intended to kill anyone. 'I cannot believe Caroline is dead, I cannot believe she is gone. 'This is like a nightmare, like a bad dream. 'I cannot believe she's not here, I am so tired and I am devastated.' Robson said he had been at her house that night and they had argued before he was hit from behind, causing him to fall. 'I recall feeling something around my throat,' his statement continued. 'I was feeling all sorts of emotions. 'I remember being dazed and feeling sick and scared. I just felt like everything was unravelling. Newcastle Crown Court has heard Robson's solicitor handed over a prepared statement after he was arrested, claiming he was 'emotionally spent' and 'finding it very difficult to concentrate' 'I may have asked for help, I just cannot clearly recall at this stage. When I learned Caroline was dead I contacted my solicitor. 'I feel broken. My solicitor has arranged for me to be assessed by a psychiatrist. 'I wish to be assessed as soon as possible to allow me to make sense of what has happened here. 'In all the circumstances I am not in a position to sensibly answer any questions.' Jurors were told Robson was interviewed for two hours but did not reply. He denies murder, attempted murder and blackmail. The trial continues on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has warned of a second peak of pandemic Covid-19 unless quick and decisive action was taken. In his meeting with chief ministers on Wednesday, Mr Modi listed out the points that need early action. On top of the to-do list is the time-tested test-track-treat formula with a focus on tracking the contacts of every person who contracted the virus. The Prime Minister also reminded the chief ministers of the need to conduct genome tests to track the variants of the virus. The share of RT-PCR tests should remain high and the states should guard themselves against vaccine wastage, he told them. Mr Modi has flagged the issues that plague Indias Covid fight at a time when the country finds itself in the throes of a second wave. The daily caseload has gone up for a seventh consecutive day on Wednesday, which reported 28,903 cases the highest reported this year. Indias active caseload has reached 2.34 lakh on Wednesday against 1.84 lakh a week ago; test positivity rate has gone up from 2.3 per cent to 4.98 per cent in the same period. According to Niti Aayog, while the first phase was in the metros and big cities of the country, the recent surge is reported from rural areas, too. As per the health ministry estimates, 70 districts in 15 states recorded 150 per cent rise in the number of cases in the last 15 days. The virus spread in the rural areas, where the health infrastructure is weak and less attended, will make the fight tougher. The government should not wait anymore to take tougher decisions. It must immediately take a relook at the Covid controls which were in place last year and advise states to see which could be used the best to contain the virus spread. The Prime Minister has also warned against the wastage of vaccines. Some states have reported a wastage figure higher than the national average of 6.5 per cent. There are nations that have little or no access to vaccines and India, having built its capacities in scientific research and pharmaceutical manufacturing over the decades, should not take its advantages for granted. The Union government must use technology to the optimum to ensure that wastage is brought to a minimum. Several states have reported about vaccine hesitancy. The Prime Minister led the inoculation campaign by taking the jab himself, sending the right message. Perhaps, he should have done the exercise sooner? Also, credible local faces, including religious leaders at the community level, should be roped in to break the hesitancy barrier and press the idea home. This newspaper has been highlighting the point that public health is as much an issue of the public as it is of the government. Its next to impossible for governments alone to make a difference. There must be an aggressive campaign to promote Covid-appropriate behaviour and violators should be sternly dealt with. Reports say that passengers were deplaned on Wednesday and Thursday for their refusal to follow the protocol. Such defiance is unacceptable. The governments at the Centre and the states and the people must brace themselves for decisive and quick action to stop a second wave of the pandemic. Six Arrested in McCracken Drug Investigations By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - Six people were arrested Wednesday and Thursday in several McCracken County drug investigations.The McCracken County Sheriff's Office said a deputy stopped a vehicle shortly after 12 a.m. Wednesday for traffic violations on Atkins Avenue. Deputies said they found more than two grams of methamphetamine in multiple plastic bags as well as a large amount of cash. They arrested the driver, 24-year-old Brandon Lopez-Contreras on charges of trafficking methamphetamine over 2 grams and possession of drug paraphernalia.Shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday, a deputy saw two vehicles sitting in the parking lot of a business on Irvin Cobb Drive. Deputies determined a passenger in one of the vehicles, 46 year old Larry Henderson of Paducah, was wanted for a parole violation. After arresting Henderson, deputies said they found a bag of methamphetamine in his possession. Henderson was charged with the parole violation warrant, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia.At around 5 p.m. Thursday, a deputy stopped a vehicle driven by 30-year-old Faith Sullivan of Brookport for traffic violations. During the stop a deputy found more than two grams of methamphetamine in Sullivan's possession. Sullivan was charged with trafficking methamphetamine over 2 Grams, possession of drug paraphernalia and traffic offenses.A short time later detectives stopped a vehicle driven by 28-year-old Brittany Letner of Hickman for traffic violations. Deputies said they discovered Letner had a suspended license, and had three Hydrocodone pills without a prescription. Letner's passenger, 24-year-old Justin Smith of Paducah, was found with several used syringes and a plastic bag containing methamphetamine. Letner was charged with first-degree possession of a controlled substance. Smith was charged with tampering with physical evidence, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia.Thursday, deputies arrested 44-year-old Thomas Taber of Paducah, who was a passenger in a vehicle on Clarks River Road that was stopped for multiple traffic infractions. During the traffic stop, a K-9 reportedly smelled illegal drugs in the vehicle. Deputies said they found digital scales, about a half-ounce of methamphetamine, and syringes containing methamphetamine.Taber was arrested and charged with trafficking methamphetamine over 2 grams and possession of drug paraphernalia. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Bahrain National Guard Commander General His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa today met Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, in Islamabad. He conveyed to the Pakistani Premier greetings from His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. The two sides reviewed bilateral relations across all fields, commended the advanced level of cooperation, stressing the importance of continuing efforts to bolster joint ties. They also discussed issues of common concern and ways of further consolidating cooperation and coordination. Regional and international developments also came under the spotlight. The Pakistani Premier also praised Bahrains development strides, led by HM the King, lauding cooperation, particularly in international arenas towards supporting the interests of both countries as well as the Islamic nation. In attendance were Bahrains Ambassador to Pakistan Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed and Major General Abdulrahman Rashid Al-Saad, Head of the National Guard Commanders Office. General HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa earlier arrived in Islamabad on an official visit at the invitation of Pakistani Army Pakistan chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to attend, as Guest of Honour, to attend festivities marking Pakistan Day, which falls on March 23. He will meet senior Pakistani Army officers He was received on his arrival at Nur Khan Air Force Base in Rawalpindi by senior Pakistani Army officers, Bahraini Ambassador to Islamabad Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed. Nearly 98% of Americans aged 18 to 49 snubbed the recent Grammy Awards, which received the lowest viewing ratings in the show's history, data from Nielsen show. Although the ceremony of the 63rd edition of the show held March 14 in Los Angeles had many highlights, it did not appeal to American television audiences. According to Nielsen reports, only 8.8 million people watched the Grammy Awards live this year, down 53% from 2020. Read Also: Who Has the Most Grammys? No, It's Not Beyonce! The 63rd edition's ratings are especially poor for Americans aged 18 to 49, with just 2.1 percent viewing the event on NBC or online. In contrast, only 5.4 percent of them watched the 2020 ceremony. The Grammy Awards 2021 hosted by Trevor Noah aren't the first recent US award show to suffer a ratings decline, now all blamed on to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ratings for the Golden Globes fell by 64% to 6.9 million viewers, while the American Music Awards in November attracted just 3.8 million viewers, a 50% decrease from the previous year. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the ABC network are concerned about the downturn in ratings as they prepare to host the forthcoming Oscars on April 25 in Los Angeles. While the pandemic could have played a role in the scaled-down viewers ratings, others also would argue that the ratings clearly reflect the Grammys' and other award shows' (in their present formats) diminishing importance. Also Read: Grammy's 2021 BTS Red Carpet Looks You'd Never Want to Miss [PHOTOS] See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles JERSEY CITY, N.J., March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- With eight days until Passover, Haggadot.com expects more than 500,000 users to create their own Passover Haggadot for use at Passover's celebratory meal, the seder. (Haggadah - plural: Haggadot - is a booklet that tells the story of Passover.) Users start with a basic Haggadah text and can add any of Haggadot.com's more than 84,000 clips representing diverse lenses on the holiday and its themes: from social justice to climate justice, from rape culture to pop culture, from LGBTQ+ to JOCs (Jews of Color), from interfaith to immigration, from human rights to mental health and beyond. Next Year in Person, This Year on Haggadot.com "Passover is a holiday of storytelling and interpretation," said Haggadot.com Founder and Executive Director Eileen Levinson. "With Haggadot.com, users can link their passions and perspectives to the Passover story, and create a uniquely personal, creative and meaningful seder experience." The site also hosted free webinars meant to engage users in thoughtful planning of their seder experience, and to push boundaries. How to Host a Seder in 2021 outlines the basics, and Save Seder with Lab/Shul & Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie was a partnership between the God-optional Jewish spiritual community Lab/Shul and Hagaddot.com. One upcoming webinar, Centering the Experiences of Jews of Color (Monday, March 22, 6 p.m. Eastern) features Shekhiynah Larks from Be'chol Lashon sharing Passover resources centering Jews of Color, racial justice and inclusion. And Breaking the Rules offers ways to bend or break traditional rules toward constructing personal meaning for 2021. "Just because the rabbis of the Talmud may have done things doesn't mean that we have to follow their precise path," said Levinson. "Our lives and experiences are different, and we want everyone to feel they understand the Passover seder and are empowered to make choices." While the site is not an advocate for Christian seders, the Christian Seders: Embracing Our Shared History and Understanding Jewish Pain webinar offers a candid look, challenges to Jewish tradition, and their value for building empathy. (Registration links and links to recorded webinars are here.) Haggadot.com also offers ready-to-use collections of clips, including: New content is added daily; stay tuned to Haggadot.com on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates. For more information on any of these programs or about Haggadot.com, contact: Rebecca Missel, Director of Partnerships and Operations: [email protected] or 410-274-3010. Related Images next-year-in-person.jpg Next Year in Person Next Year in Person, This Year on Haggadot.com song-of-crossing-the-sea-by-lizzie.jpg Song of Crossing the Sea by Lizzie Sivitz Art by Lizzie Sivitz SOURCE Haggadot.com The clash between the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) and Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) seems to be further compromising the prosecution in the State versus Welheminah Maswabi otherwise known as Butterfly case. DCEC is said to have told both DPP and DIS that they cannot interview Former Director of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Mabuse Pule over the issuance of passports to Maswabi as it is not part of their mandate. Pule is currently the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and Member of Parliament for Mochudi East. The false passports are alleged to have been used to open offshore accounts and the prosecution is basing their case on the evidence of Pule. Maswabi is charged on two counts of possession of unexplained property, and false declaration of passport. The DCEC is said to have maintained their stance at a meeting which was attended by DPP and DIS officials where they were represented by Joao Salbany and Keene Dick that it is the mandate of the police to investigate the false declaration of passports and interview Pule. They allegedly told DPP and DIS officials that they cannot be dictated to by any person how they should conduct their investigations and cannot circumvent their processes thus breaking the law in order to satisfy some people. The false passports are said to be critical in the case of money laundering against Maswabi and the investigations into the P5.6 billion which is said to have been syphoned from government coffers. A Savingram referenced DPP1/2/30(C) I 22), STATE VS WILHEMINAH MPHOENG MASWABI-CMRRS 00006-19 (DCEC Assessment Docket N0. 508/2019) from Director of DPP Advocate Stephen Tiroyakgosi stated that DCEC was mandated to carry out investigations surrounding the creation of the passports. It is important to have a statement from the former Director of Immigration to establish the role he played in enabling the issuing of this passport, reads the Savingram. One of the passports that were allegedly used to open accounts and companies is said to be under the name Lorato Hilton which DPP said should be investigated. It is alleged that the same name Lorato Hilton was used to open a local company named Local Matter (PTY) LTD which is suspected to have been used for laundering purposes. We request that an investigation be carried surrounding that fact. It will support the evidence whether or not the passport was used for covert purposes, said Advocate Tiroyakgosi. DPP has also raised concern over the DCEC failure to take witnesses statements on investigations surrounding the offence of possession of unexplained property by Maswabi. Take note that the file we received from you does not include witnesses statements to speak to the documents, may those be obtained, noted Tiroyakgosi in the Savingram dated 18th January 2021. He added that there are witnesses who testify that they were instructed to override the system in order to be able to make the passport in the names of Lorato Hilton. It is alleged that the passport was not handed over to the current Director General-DIS at the time when he was taking over the office. We need to establish the status on the where abouts of the passport and whether covert passports are a norm within the DIS. In the event that it is a norm, establish the rules and procedure that regulates it. Documents seen by this publication indicate that there is an allegation that Maswabi owns and or controls the following property; Plot No. 11388 Tawana Gaborone; Plot No. 71077 North Park, Phakalane; Plot No. 2948 Extension 10 Gaborone; Plot No. 2401 Metsimotlhabe (sold to Bonnake); Plot No. 182 Mogoditshane; Plot in Artesia; Plot in Nkoyaphiri (leased to David Mathumo); Plot No. 70793 subdivision (to establish ownership); Plot No. 60407 Block 7 Gaborone; Toyota Fortuner B 313 AWD; Toyota Fortuner B 637 AOR; Nissan Navara B 279 AOH; Toyota Fortuner B 923 ANH; BMW B967 BBX. According to the DPP Director it has currently been established that the accused persons known source of income has always been her salary from her employment at DIS. It is therefore imperative to establish whether indeed she owns or controls the above listed property because if it is established that she does then it would be incumbent upon (her) to demonstrate how she could afford such properties given her known source of income. DCEC Spokesperson Lentswe Motshoganetsi said they are not privy to allegations that the Directorate has refused to interview Pule over the issuance of passport to Maswabi. In any case your enquiry seems to relate to the false declaration of passport which is an offence under Penal Code and not within the mandate of the DCEC, therefore the said allegations if any is not true, he said. DCEC rebutted allegations that they are dragging their feet in interviewing witnesses in the Butterfly case. Motshoganetsi confirmed investigations into the P5.6 billion allegedly laundered from the government coffers. We can however confirm that the DCEC is in receipt of an allegation effecting that P5.6 billion has been syphoned out of government coffers, a matter which is currently receiving the DCECs due attention. Whether this relates to any particular person or offence is a matter to be determined by the investigations, Motshoganetsi said. The inaugural launch of these highly limited boxes has set a world record at $2million USD. The final bid and private sale of the first Emerald Isle box to be released was secured jointly on St Patrick's Day (17th March) by Houston-based Faberge collectors, James and Korrine Whipkey, and a group of private investors led by Scott H. Weissman. As part of this sale, all proceeds will go to the Correa Family Foundation, a charity supporting children affected by cancer, chaired by Major League Baseball star, Carlos Correa. The remaining six Emerald Isle experiences boxes will be released at auctions and events in key cities throughout 2021. Jay Bradley, Founder, The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. commented: "My company shares the same brand vision as Faberge to create timeless beauty and a lasting legacy. I am delighted to have set a world record, for the second time in three months and proud to be able to donate the full proceeds of this sale to the Correa Family Foundation, a cause which is very close to my heart as my own daughter was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a rare form cancer, when she was just five-months old. Thanks to the charities like the Correa Family Foundation, she is now a healthy 19-year-old and I am honoured to be able to support the foundation through this contribution." Carlos Correa, Chairman of the Correa Family Foundation said, "I'm very thankful to The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. and Jay Bradley to be generous enough to donate the first release of The Emerald Isle to our foundation. This is a huge contribution to the Correa Family Foundation and will change thousands of lives. Seeing a sick child battle cancer and what it does to their families in normal times is heart-breaking, and something that Jay and his family have experienced first-hand but going through it during a global pandemic is truly unimaginable." The generous donation will support underserved childhood cancer patients. The charity helps cover daily expenses including food, transportation and rent for over 15,000 children with cancer. 'The Emerald Isle Collection' is The Craft Irish Whiskey Co.'s second release, following the launch of The Devil's Keep a triple distilled, 29-year-old single malt whiskey which also set a world record for most expensive inaugural release when it sold at auction in November 2020 for $60,000 USD (approximately 46,000/51,000 Euros). 'The Emerald Isle Collection' now takes the crown as the oldest and rarest triple distilled Irish single malt in the world, comprising a seven-piece custom-made whiskey set which celebrates the 'Seven Wonders of Ireland'. Beautifully presented in a dark walnut experience box, each set features a bottle of ultra-rare, single cask, 30-year-old, triple distilled single malt Irish whiskey, accompanied by two exclusive creations from Faberge the first-of-its-kind Faberge Celtic Egg and bespoke 1/1 Faberge watch. Each collection also includes a humidor with two limited edition and sold out, ultra-rare Cohiba Siglo VI Grand Reserva (2009) cigars. Top rated scoring 100/100, it is the holy grail of cigar collectibles and has increased by over 1,200% in value in the last decade. It also features a gold-plated cigar cutter, gold plated water pipette, pure obsidian whiskey stones, a hip flask with a sample of the Emerald Isle whiskey, and a carafe filled with Irish spring water from the same region where the whiskey was made. Each experience box has been inspired by the shape of an emerald, and features an illustration of one of the 'wonders' of Ireland and its geographical coordinates, making each box one of a kind. Inside each box is the piece de resistance, the hand-crafted whiskey bottle containing the 'liquid gold' a collector's item in its own right, design inspired by the Imperial Faberge Hen Egg from 1885. All bottles of whiskey are accompanied by a bespoke - first of its kind - Faberge Celtic Egg. Each egg is handcrafted from 18k yellow gold and features Faberge's legendary guilloche enamel in a pastel green; the green, white and gold colours of the egg symbolising the Irish flag. Inside, a unique surprise awaits in the form of a rough, uncut Gemfields Zambian emerald. This represents a feature that is truly historical, as it is the first time Faberge has ever featured an uncut gemstone as the egg's surprise. The uncut gem can be customised by Faberge into an exquisite one-of-a-kind piece of Faberge jewellery. Zoom interviews are available with Jay Bradley Founder, The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. Further imagery & information: Laura Westmacott, Mercury Communications, [email protected], + (0) 44 7786 837 339 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1459955/Craft_Irish_Whiskey.jpg SOURCE The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. Volunteers pass out Donald Trump T-shirts at a campaign event in Columbia, S.C., on Sept. 23, 2015. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images) NJ Teacher Blamed for Trump Yearbook Censorship Paid $325,000 by District A school district from New Jersey has paid $325,000 to a local teacher who said she was ordered to digitally erase a pro-Donald Trump logo from a students T-Shirt in a yearbook picture. The settlement was approved on Thursday by the Wall Township school board, according to NJ Advance Media. The teacher, Susan Parsons, retired from the school district after she said she was scapegoated and threatened over the problem, which sparked national attention in 2017. The outlet reported that the payment will be made by the insurance carrier of the district. She sued the school system in 2019. The district didnt acknowledge liability or wrongdoing. Parsons said that in 2017, a secretary who acted on behalf of the principal instructed her to remove the Trump Make America Great Again logo from the students shirt and make it appear as if he was wearing a plain navy colored T-shirt. Parsons will receive about $204,000 and the remainder of the settlement will cover attorney fees, according to the agreement. Another yearbook with the unaltered photo of the student wearing the Trump T-shirt was reissued. Big Techs Trump Censorship Stokes Global Security Fears The swift and widespread deplatforming of Trump while he was still president has broader, global consequences, forcing other countries to assess their communication channels for potential risks to national security, experts say. World leaders including Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Acting Australian Prime Minister Michael McCormack have condemned recent moves by some of the worlds largest tech companies, arguing the companies violated free speech protocols and have too much power. Others, such as Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, have accused their censorship of Trump as being motivated by partisan politics. Experts told The Epoch Times this censorship by Big Tech could cause countries to consider developing their own platforms rather than depend on a handful of private U.S. companies that have the ability to cut off communication to millions. Ethical concerns have also been raised, as well as what to do about Section 230, an outdated law protecting platforms from litigation for content their users post, which critics and lawmakers say needs to be repealed or reformed. Bowen Xiao and The Associated Press contributed to this report. The logo of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project is seen on a pipe at Chelyabinsk pipe rolling plant owned (Photo : REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov) President Joe Biden's administration is weighing additional sanctions to block construction of the nearly completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany, potentially including the project's parent company Nord Stream 2 AG, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday citing three people familiar with the matter. Advertisement The sanctions would come in the form of an interim report that may also single out an insurance company that has been working with the vessels laying the pipeline in the Baltic Sea as well as other companies providing support vessels and materials to the project, according to the report. Nord Stream 2 will bypass Western ally Ukraine, potentially depriving it of valuable transit fees. It will also increase European energy dependency on Russia and compete with shipments of U.S. liquefied natural gas. The U.S. State Department is tracking efforts to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and evaluating information regarding entities that appear to be involved, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday. "Any entity involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline risks U.S. sanctions and should immediately abandon work on the pipeline," Blinken said in a statement. He added that the Biden administration is committed to complying with 2019 and 2020 legislation with regards to the pipeline and sanctions. Friday has rolled around once more - here's your guide to the best movies on TV this weekend. Friday The Mountain Between Us (2017) - RTE One @9.35pm A London neurosurgeon desperate to attend an operation crosses paths with an American bride determined to get to her wedding. When their chartered flight crashes, they attempt to survive in the wilderness, while fighting their attraction to each other. Romantic adventure, starring Idris Elba, Kate Winslet and Beau Bridges. Sing Street (2016) - RTE 2 @10pm Conor, a quiet and sensitive teenager in 1980s Dublin suffers a troubled life, having to contend with money troubles, his parents' strained marriage, his drop-out older brother and to top it all off, he has to deal with the hostile environment at his tough new public school. He decides to form a band in the hopes of finding an escape route, and also winning the heart of Raphina, a mysterious, aspiring model he has taken a shine to at school. Coming-of-age comedy drama, starring Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Aidan Gillen, Jack Reynor and Kelly Thornton. Central Intelligence (2016) - Virgin Media One @9.30pm Action comedy, starring Dwayne Johnson as a one-time geek who suffered constant humiliation at high school but grew up to be a lethal CIA agent. But when he is targeted by his own organisation, he comes home for a high school reunion, where he enlists the help of the former campus tough guy - now a meek accountant - who very quickly wonders what he has got himself into. Co-starring Kevin Hart and Amy Ryan. Saturday The Matchmaker (1997) - TG4 @9.30pm A ruthless American political aide sets out on a mission to find her boss's relatives in the rural Irish hamlet of Ballinagra. She arrives in the middle of a local matchmaking festival, where a wily old Cupid senses the sparks between her and an equally cynical local boy, who has recently returned to the village to write a novel. Romantic comedy, with Janeane Garofalo, David O'Hara, Milo O'Shea and Denis Leary. Daddy's Home (2015) - RTE 2 @9.45pm A mild-mannered man hopes for his wife's two children to view him as their father. His dreams of perfect family life are threatened by the return of their biological father, a charismatic, motorcycle-riding tough guy, and he pulls out all the stops to prove to his stepchildren that he can be just as cool. Comedy, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) - Film 4 @9pm A former soldier injured in the line of duty takes up a new career as a financial analyst for the CIA. However, his deskbound position changes to a dangerous undercover assignment when he discovers a plot to destroy the US economy. Spy thriller inspired by Tom Clancy's novels, starring Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kevin Costner and Kenneth Branagh, who also directed Sunday Manchester by the Sea (2016) - RTE 2 @9pm An irritable loner is forced to return to the coastal town where he grew up following the sudden death of his brother. He is appointed guardian of his teenage nephew, and as he struggles to cope with his newfound responsibilities, he also finds himself confronted with a past tragedy. Drama, starring an Oscar-winning Casey Affleck, with Michelle Williams and Kyle Chandler. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) - Film 4 @1.40pm An ordinary man seeks solace from his mundane life by drifting into daydreams where he is a heroic figure. When he and a friend are faced with unemployment, he is propelled into a globetrotting adventure in real life. Comedy drama based on James Thurber's short story, directed by and starring Ben Stiller. With Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott and Shirley MacLaine. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 19, 2021 / Nuinsco Resources Limited ("Nuinsco" or the "Company") (CSE:NWI) today announced the expansion of its prospective gold property holdings through an option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the Dash Lake gold project (the "Project" or the "Property") located 50 kilometres northwest of Fort Francis, Ont. in the prolifically gold mineralized Kakagi-Rowan Lake Greenstone Belt. The Project is underexplored, encompasses and is near several historic gold showings, and is easily accessible via logging roads. The terrain is well known to the Company which has extensive experience conducting exploration in the region. The Company's work programs have led to gold discoveries at Cameron and Rowan lakes and in Richardson Township at what is now the producing Rainy River Mine. "This option brings Nuinsco back to its roots," said Paul Jones, CEO. "This is a region the Company and its shareholders know very well, having explored there extensively and having discovered and developed significant projects such as the Cameron Deposit (now owned by First Mining) and the Rainy River Mine (now operated by Newgold) - for both deposits the Company conducted work programs that led to maiden resource estimates. The Dash Lake Project is well located in relation to regional structures controlling gold mineralization and provides excellent exploration potential." The newly-optioned project comprises nine (9) mining claims (consisting of 121 cells) encompassing 24.5 km2. Terms of the option require a cash payment of $10,000 on signing the agreement with subsequent payments of $20,000, $25,000 and $30,000 in years two, three and four. A share issuance of 1.4 million common shares of the Company is also due to the vendors upon signing. The property is subject to a 1.5% net smelter return royalty (the "Royalty"); the Company has the right to purchase 0.5% of the Royalty for $500,000. The Dash Lake property is located in the Kakagi-Rowan greenstone belt of the Wabigoon Subprovince approximately 50 km NW of the town of Fort Frances. To the west, the claim group straddles the contact of the Sabaskong Batholith a known locus of gold mineralization in the area and to the east, the property abuts the Helena-Pipestone Lakes Fault that controls a number of gold occurrences locally. The property is little explored, underlain by mafic to felsic metavolcanic rocks and mafic to felsic intrusions. Numerous historic gold occurrences are situated near and on the Property demonstrating a range of mineralization style and grades. The occurrences derive from historic work programs conducted between 1984 and 2011 and include the Hook Bay occurrence where diamond drilling returned 31.1g/t Au over 1.35m, the Dash Lake occurrence where grab samples returned assays up to 6.2g/t Au, and the Bethune occurrence with grab samples up to 30.6 g/t Au. At the Dash Lake South occurrence, located on the property, grab samples obtained from a pyrite mineralized felsic intrusion returned numerous anomalous grades up to 2.88 g/t Au. All data is obtained from the Ontario Mineral Deposits Inventory available at www.geologyontario.MNDM.gov.on.ca. The Cameron Deposit is located 24km to the north and the Rainy River Mine is 38km to the SW. About Nuinsco Resources Limited Nuinsco Resources has over 50 years of exploration success and is a growth-oriented, multi-commodity mineral exploration and development company focused on prospective opportunities in Canada and internationally. Currently, the Company has two properties in Ontario - the high-grade Sunbeam gold prospect near Atikokan and the large, multi-commodity (rare-earths, niobium, tantalum, phosphorus) Prairie Lake project near Terrace Bay. In addition, Nuinsco has completed an agreement for gold exploitation at the El Sid project in the Eastern Desert of Egypt and has completed a metallurgical sampling and testing program on the project (August 12, 2020 Press Release). QP L.A. Giroux, M.Sc., P. Geo., is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this press release regarding the Sunbeam project. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements." All statements, other than statements of historic fact, that address activities, events or developments that Nuinsco believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate, "expect," and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may," "will," "can," "should," "could," or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of Nuinsco based on information currently available to Nuinsco. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of Nuinsco to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on Nuinsco. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, failure to successfully complete financings, capital and other costs varying significantly from estimates, production rates varying from estimates, changes in world copper and/or gold markets, changes in equity markets, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, equipment failure, unexpected geological conditions, imprecision in resource estimates, success of future development initiatives, competition, operating performance of facilities, environmental and safety risks, delays in obtaining or failure to obtain tenure to properties and/or necessary permits and approvals, and other development and operating risks. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Nuinsco disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although Nuinsco believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. CONTACT: Paul Jones, CEO paul.jones@nuinsco.ca Sean Stokes, Executive VP sean.stokes@nuinsco.ca Cathy Hume, Consultant cathy@chfir.com 416 868-1079 x 231 www.nuinsco.ca @NWIResource SOURCE: Nuinsco Resources Limited View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/636377/Nuinsco-Expands-Ontario-Gold-Property-Holdings-with-Option-on-Dash-Lake-Gold-Project-Near-Fort-Francis Congressman John Moolenaar, R-Midland, is a co-sponsor of House Resolution 153, which recognizes and condemns the increase in violence against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States throughout the last year. The resolution was introduced last month by Congresswoman Michelle Steel, R-CA, who was the first Korean-American woman elected to Congress. Moolenaar co-sponsored the resolution on March 3. When a baby is born, each day is a milestone: their first smile, first tooth, first steps. And now TV star Millie Mackintosh has created another the 'nine months in, nine months out' benchmark. After she posed with her daughter Sienna on Instagram, other first-time mums also began posting snaps of themselves nine months pregnant next to a picture of their nine-month-old baby. Here, four of them speak to TANITH CAREY about their hang-ups and pride about their new bodies... Molly Ruane, 24, runs a care home business in Sittingbourne, Kent. She and partner Dan, 24, a decorator, are parents to daughter Mia I ballooned, but I'm proud to be a mum Molly Ruane, 24, runs a care home business in Sittingbourne, Kent. She and partner Dan, 24, a decorator, are parents to daughter Mia. She says: I still look back fondly on a picture of myself in a bikini in Mexico in 2018, when my tummy was effortlessly flat. I'd always been slim and never exercised, so I took it for granted I'd have a small bump and the rest of me wouldn't change. How wrong I was about that. Mia was such a wanted baby because when I was 20 I was told it would be difficult for me to have children. It seemed my eggs were not maturing, so not being released each month. I was prescribed medication to adjust my hormone levels, but the first three times I conceived I had very early miscarriages. After months of scans and blood tests, my pregnancy with Mia developed well and I was delighted. But it was a shock when, five months in, my face, belly and legs ballooned. My body felt as if it suddenly belonged to my baby, not me. By the end of my pregnancy, I'd gone from 9 st to 14 st. My bump was so big, Dan had to help me out of the bath. Molly Ruane, pictured left, nine months into her pregnancy and pictured right, nine months out of it, with baby Mia The difference in the way I dress is just one of the ways my sense of self has changed. Before I gave birth, I didn't care if Dan came in when I was changing; now I lock the bathroom door so I can have privacy. He tells me: 'You've got a new body. Just embrace it. You look beautiful.' My confidence is slowly starting to return, even if some days there's still a self-critical voice telling me I'm overweight. Despite these feelings, the pictures of Millie helped me feel proud of what I'd achieved as a new mum. When I was having my picture taken for this shoot, I also felt it didn't matter how I looked as long as I had Mia in my arms. Music manager Claire Reilly, 34, lives in East Preston, West Sussex, with her partner Ashley, 35, a printer. They are parents to son Rupert A size 8... but I've lost my perky bum! Music manager Claire Reilly, 34, lives in East Preston, West Sussex, with her partner Ashley, 35, a printer. They are parents to son Rupert. She says: I had the sort of bump that was so out in front you couldn't tell from behind if I was carrying a baby. I didn't put on a lot of extra weight, just Rupert and the placenta. During birth, it's amazing how your dignity goes out the window and several people see you naked. But it's natural, no one's judging, they've seen it all before. I lost all my inhibitions completely. In the week after Rupert was born, I was amazed by how quickly my bump went down. But my tummy is now sort of soft and flabby and I can wobble it, because the skin's been so stretched. I've always fluctuated between 8 and 8st. I'm back at that weight as I have a fast metabolism, but this time my body is different. I can still fit into my old size 8 clothes but not as comfortably. My jeans used to slide on, but now the button will just about do up, and after an hour I'm keen to get them off. Another thing that has changed is my bum. A few months after the birth, my mum said: 'Where's your perky bottom gone? My boyfriend agreed it's not as peachy as it once was. Claire Reilly, pictured left, nine months into her pregnancy and pictured right, nine months out of it, with baby Rupert For most of Rupert's life, we've been in lockdown not seeing anyone, so I didn't really care how I looked, but now he has turned nine months, it feels like a turning point. He's less dependent on me and I am thinking about my body as separate from my child's again. But I am full of respect for my body and what it's been through. I had a miscarriage at 12 weeks shortly before we conceived Rupert. It was painful and difficult, because I was alone when it happened, but the way my body took over the process, both then and during the birth, made me connect to it more and the power it had to create life. I also know from friends how hard it can be to get pregnant or keep a baby, so I am not going to moan about my body I see it as something capable of performing a miracle. Katie Tang, 33, runs a restaurant with her husband Bon, 33, in Cambridge. They have a son called Kobe My stretch marks are tiger stripes Katie Tang, 33, runs a restaurant with her husband Bon, 33, in Cambridge. They have a son called Kobe. She says: Bon and I have always been into exercise. In fact, I first told him I was pregnant in the gym. We used to work out together with friends at lunchtime I did my pregnancy test in the gym toilet. I came out, gave him a nod and joined him on the next step machine. We wanted to keep it a secret, as it was still early days. At the end of the day we gave each other a celebration hug. Over the years, my relationship with my body has been up and down. I like my legs, but I always felt my tummy was a problem I love sugary things. I'm quite short, at 5ft 2in, and have a big chest, so I made an effort to keep to a size 8. When I was pregnant, it was a lovely change to see my tummy sticking out as a sign I was growing a baby. Kobe's birth was quick and natural, and I only needed a few stitches. It was only when Bon could bottle-feed Kobe at about two-and-a-half months that I really looked at myself in the mirror. I noticed how many stretch marks I had under my belly. But I wasn't upset. I remember another mum online describe them as tiger stripes, so I am proud of my stretch marks, too. Katie Tang, pictured left, nine months into her pregnancy and pictured right, nine months out of it, with baby Kobe My body has become a bit more square, possibly from my ribs and abs opening to accommodate my bump. I now also have muscles in my arms from lifting Kobe so much. I want to get fit again to be a healthy mum. Even over the past year, there's been a shift in the way new mums think of themselves. On social media, I follow those who are honest about their bodies rather than the ones always posting postpartum fitness routines. I thought Millie's picture was wonderful. I loved seeing how she's gone from big bump to an amazing little human being in her arms in under a year. Now Kobe is becoming so much fun and interactive, that's how I feel. Some stretch marks are a small price to pay. Lottie Waters, 32, is an art teacher from Crewe, Cheshire. She and her husband James, 31, a bar manager, are parents to Oliver The extra pounds don't bother me Lottie Waters, 32, is an art teacher from Crewe, Cheshire. She and her husband James, 31, a bar manager, are parents to Oliver. She says: In the six months before my wedding in August 2019, I went running four times a week and lost 2st. I was thrilled to get my princess-style wedding dress taken down to size 10. James and I have been together for ten years and always planned to start a family right away, but even so it was a shock to find out I was pregnant a month after the wedding. I was delighted, but it did cross my mind how much my body would change after I'd worked so hard. As my bump grew, I found it liberating not to have to worry about counting calories. By the end of my pregnancy, my bump was so enormous, people were asking me how many babies I had in there. The first few weeks after the birth, I was so amazed I'd had a baby, I hardly even looked at myself. My tummy was still very big though and my feet and ankles swelled up so much I could hardly squeeze into flip-flops. Gradually the bump went down, but it feels like my waist and ribcage has expanded a few inches to make room for Oliver, and I don't think those will go back to the way they were. Lottie Waters, pictured left, nine months into her pregnancy and pictured right, nine months out of it, with baby Oliver Before I was pregnant, I never carried weight on my stomach. Now I have a pillowy Mum-tum. My whole body feels softer and rounder. Over Zoom calls, older relatives have asked: 'Have you lost the baby weight yet?' I tell them not to be so cheeky! Being pregnant doesn't make my body public property. I've even put the scales away because I'm not even going to look at them. I'm now around a size 12/14 and would like to go back to a size 10, but there are times when I look at my wedding dress and can't imagine ever getting back into it. When I go back to work in a few weeks, I'll be wearing loose and flowing dresses rather than the old shift dresses I used to wear. I'm just so proud that I've produced such a gorgeous little boy that for now a few extra pounds really don't bother me. WASHINGTON, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Black and women-owned multimedia agency, JOY Collective, was awarded with "Campaign of the Year" at last night's illustrious 2021 PRWeek Awards for its inspiring work with the Dove brand and the CROWN Coalition on The CROWN Act. JOY was presented the top award of the evening, as well as Best in Public Affairs. The PRWeek Awards are a leading symbol of excellence and leadership, celebrating the best of the best corporate, agency, nonprofit, and education teams and the work they produced. As stated on the PRWeek website, "The judges were impressed by the campaign's ability to not just address the need for meaningful change, but also help enact it." "Excellent, meaningful and relevant," raved one judge. "They could not have executed a better campaign. Relevant ties to an important moment in time, given what was happening in the news," commented another. The CROWN Act legislation was first introduced in California to ensure protection against race-based hair discrimination by extending statutory protection to hair texture and protective hairstyles in the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and state Education Codes. This legislation addresses unfair grooming policies that have a disparate impact on Black women, men and children and has drawn attention to cultural and racial discrimination taking place within the workplace and in schools. The CROWN Act is now law in 8 states, including California, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Colorado, Washington, Maryland and Connecticut and 20 municipalities. Thirty-two (32) states have either pre-filed, filed, or intend to introduce the legislation. In 2020, a federal bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and will need to be reintroduced in Congress this year. JOY Collective is a powerhouse, award-winning marketing firm driven by cultural insights, and is led by Kelli Joy Richardson Lawson and Orlena Nwokah Blanchard. Also named one of Adweek's Fastest Growing Agencies in 2019 and Inc.'s 2020 Best in Business for Established Excellence, JOY created the CROWN movement in 2018 and continues to lead the community engagement, legislative advocacy, and integrated grassroots efforts to help pass the CROWN Act to "Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair". This CROWN movement and its transformative contribution to creating a more just and equitable society has also received the #1 Campaign at the Global SABRE Awards, Best in Show and Advocacy awards at the North American SABRE Awards, the Cynopsis Best Social Justice Awareness Campaign/Partnership award and the Glossy Beauty Award for Best Multi-Platform Campaign. "I am thrilled that The CROWN Act movement continues to be recognized for its meaningful impact," states Kelli Richardson Lawson, JOY Collective Founder & CEO. "We are so proud to work with Esi Eggleston Bracey, EVP & COO of North American Beauty at Unilever and the Dove team, along with our founding members and supporters in the CROWN Coalition to ensure we can drive an end to hair discrimination for good. As Black women, it is important to us that we are able to wear our natural hair and protective hairstyles without fear of consequence in the workplace or in schools. We won't stop until we have eradicated hair-based discrimination in all 50 states." For more information on JOY Collective, please visit www.joycollective.com. To join the CROWN Act movement, please visit www.thecrownact.com and sign the petition to pass the CROWN Act. JOY Collective JOY Collective is a Black and woman-owned cultural insights, marketing and advertising agency dedicated to creating initiatives that drive brand love while positively impacting lives. JOY was ranked AdWeek's 6th fastest growing media company in the world in 2019 and recently won the 2020 Global SABRE Award for Best Campaign for Dove/The CROWN Act and the Inc. "Best in Business" Bronze Award for Established Excellence in 2020. JOY's polycultural team proudly delivers purpose-driven branding, advertising, marketing, event production, and civic engagement services to elevate and drive meaningful consumer engagement; all with a spirit of JOY. For more information about JOY Collective, visit https://joycollective.com. Contact Marcy Polanco 202.885.5527 [email protected] Shemika Harmitt 202.885.5527 [email protected] SOURCE JOY Collective Related Links http://joycollective.com/ Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 0.62 per cent lower at 14,505, indicating a weak start for the benchmark indices on Friday. Here are the top stocks that are likely to be in focus today: Easy Trip Planners: The shares will list on the bourses today. The IPO that was subscribed 159 times was quoting in the grey market at a 70 per cent premium, as per unlisted market watchers. IT stocks: Shares of IT firms will be in focus after raised its guidance for the FY21 to 6.5-8.5% from 4-6% earlier, suggesting that Indian IT companies could also report robust growth for the March quarter next month. Insurance stocks: Shares of insurance companies could also hog the limelight after the Rajya Sabha on March 18 passed The Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2021, to increase the foreign direct investment limit in the sector from 49% to 74%. RIL, Future Retail: Shares of and Future Group companies could react after the Delhi High Court upheld the Emergency Award that Amazon had won against Future Retail-RIL deal. : Nearly 14 stocks inlcuding Midntree, Honeywell Automation, Varun Beverages, Hindustan Aeronautics, Astral Poly Technik, and Apollo Hospitals are set to receive inflows up to $80 million, reports suggest.African arm, Airtel Africa, on Thursday announced that investment firm TPG's Rise Fund will invest $200 million in telco's mobile money business at a valuation of $2.65 billion GAIL: The company has signed Concession Agreement with Ranchi Municipal Corporation for setting up Compressed Biogas Plant in Ranchi. Godrej Industries: Rating agency ICRA has assigned 'AA' rating to the company's proposed issue of non-convertible debentures of up to Rs 1,500 crore. Deepak Nitrite: Rating agency CRISIL has upgraded long-term rating outlook for bank loan facilities of Rs 750 crore of the company, from 'AA-/Positive' to 'AA/Stable. Shriram Transport Finance: The company board will meet on March 25 to consider 2nd interim dividend for FY21. Industries: The company's project management committee has approved expansion of its bed linen capacity by around 20 per cent from its existing annual capacity of 90 million meters to 108 million meters by debottlenecking and balancing its facilities. Vaibhav Global: The Shop TJC Limited, UK, a step-down subsidiary of the Vaibhav Global, has acquired E-retailer Shop LC GmbH, Germany (100 percent subsidiary). PG Electroplast: Electronic manufacturing services and plastic moulding service provider PG Electroplast announced investing Rs 100 crore in two years to expand its existing Ahmednagar plant. Hathway Cable & Datacom: The company has entered into an agreement for disposing its entire 50 per cent stake of Net 9 Online Hathway, a joint venture company, on March 18. To hasten reopening schools, federal health officials on Friday relaxed one of the main pillars of COVID-19 safety guidance and now say that students can safely sit 3 feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear masks. The revised recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is based on a recent study in Massachusetts that looked at infections of students and staff members in schools that set desks 3 feet apart and those that set them 6 feet apart, which was the previous guidance. It found no significant difference in infection rates. The 6-foot recommendation had been a major barrier toward bringing students back to classrooms in large numbers, and on Friday many public health and infectious disease experts in California who have been pushing to reopen schools cheered the shift in guidance. But Bay Area school districts said they did not necessarily expect to immediately implement the changes. The California Department of Public Health said updated state guidance would be available in the coming days. California currently recommends that desks be kept 6 feet apart except where 6 feet of distance is not possible after a good-faith effort has been made. We are following the science, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, during a White House briefing on Friday. We have seen the science to make sure this is safe for schools. The CDC said children should still keep 6 feet apart in common areas and at sporting events, assemblies, lunch or chorus practice. Teachers, staff and other adults should also stay 6 feet apart from each other and students. The updated guidance removes recommendations for plastic shields or other barriers between desks. The agency said the 3-feet rule applies to elementary school students but could also work in middle schools and high schools where community transmission is low to moderate. Reopening schools has become a national and state priority in recent weeks, especially in California, where most students have been out of classrooms for over a year. In his first month in office, President Biden set a goal of opening most K-8 schools by the end of his first 100 days. And California Gov. Gavin Newsom has come under fire for the slow reopening of the states schools, particularly large urban districts. Many school districts had complained that the earlier guidance was prohibitive to reopening classrooms. Some schools removed furniture, staggered scheduling and took other steps to keep children safely apart. But the rule still limited the number of students who could return, even in schools that were able to open for in-person instruction. About 700 doctors and other health experts this week signed a letter urging Newsom to ease certain restrictions they say are too cautious and keep schools from reopening. Among their recommendations is reducing space between desks to 3 feet. Since the requirement of the 6-foot distancing rule has been identified as a hindrance to full-time, non-hybrid school openings in some situations, this change by the CDC is a welcome one and will hopefully facilitate more school openings here in California, said Dr. Monica Gandhi, a UCSF infectious disease expert who helped craft the letter to Newsom and has argued for schools to open. But teachers unions across the country want the 6-foot rule kept in place for the safety of educators and staff. We are concerned that the CDC has changed one of the basic rules for how to ensure school safety without demonstrating certainty that the change is justified by the science, said Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, in a statement on Friday in reaction to the new guidance. Many California school districts and counties said they need time to evaluate the CDCs updated guidance change and figure out how to apply it. The San Francisco Unified School District said it would stick with its agreement with the teachers union that requires 4 feet of physical distancing in the classroom, but it will consider the updated guidance for the fall. As we plan for the fall, this new guidance will help us serve more students, said Laura Dudnick, a district spokesperson. Dr. Susan Philip, San Franciscos acting health officer, said in a statement that she supported the CDCs revised recommendations and would work with the state to best determine how to incorporate this guidance into our schools reopening process locally. I am in full support of reopening all schools for TK-12 grades as safely as possible, Philip said. The CDC update is great news and follows the scientific evidence. This will allow more students to return for in-person learning as safely as possible. Earlier this week, Walensky had been hesitant to change the guidance around desk separation, saying that the CDC needed more evidence to determine if it would be safe to change the recommended social distance without increasing the risk of disease transmission. But on Friday, Greta Massetti, who leads the CDCs community interventions task force, said younger children are less likely to get seriously ill from the coronavirus and dont seem to spread it as much as adults do. That allows us that confidence that that 3 feet of physical distance is safe, Massetti said. Aidin Vaziri and Emma Talley are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com, emma.talley@sfchronicle.com After three months shuttered to the world, Chicago bars and restaurants were allowed to reopen for indoor service in late January at 25% capacity. Three weeks later, the number was pushed to 40%. Two weeks after that, it rose again, to the 50% where it still stands. Though a seeming majority of bars and restaurants across the Chicago area have welcomed diners and drinkers back inside, a significant number have stuck with the percentage of indoor diners that makes them most comfortable: zero. The conversation about bars and restaurants through the pandemic has largely focused on the need to open as quickly and broadly as possible. But as Illinois continues to diagnose more than 1,000 cases of COVID-19 per day, an untold number of holdouts havent budged from staying closed and dont plan to reopen their dining rooms for weeks, if not months. We just havent thought it was safe, said Yoshi Yamada, co-owner and chef at modern Indian restaurant Superkhana International in Logan Square. Weve felt a responsibility to our staff, our families and our community to keep the dining room shut. Some, including Superkhana International, havent even opened for outdoor service, unsure of the economic benefit or the health risks for both customers and staff. Many restaurant owners and their high-profile advocates, such as the Illinois Restaurant Association, have argued that restaurants are highly regulated businesses that make them able to operate safely through the pandemic. Many of the businesses have needed to stay open to stay alive, their owners and advocates have said. But as much as welcoming customers back inside the 77-seat Superkhana International would boost the bottom line, Yamada and his partner, Zeeshan Shah, have chosen to stay afloat with takeout orders. We think well be able to limp to the point of reopening, Yamada said. The key word is limp, Shah said. What will it take for Superkhana International to reopen? The answer is rooted in both business and public health. Story continues Yamada and Shah said they want to sense the pandemic has truly been tamed to the extent that future shutdowns are off the table. A forced closure (and reopening) can cost a restaurant thousands of dollars, and led some to shutter completely during winter. Yamada and Shah also dont want to open before theyre sure diners feel safe eating out, guaranteeing the opening makes financial sense. They want to be sure that COVID-19 variants dont spiral out of control. But above all else, they want vaccines for their staff. Most Illinois restaurant workers arent eligible for a vaccine shot until March 29, and for those who receive the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, it could take until May, at the soonest, for maximum immunity. Absent a fully vaccinated staff, I dont understand the push (to reopen), Yamada said. Superkhana International will only reopen after staff are able to be fully vaccinated, its owners said. But even then, the restaurant will not rush; Yamada and Shah plan to relaunch indoor service by late summer or early fall. Yamada and Shah said they are proceeding slowly because theyre concerned about the relationship between indoor dining and the spread of COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees. The federal agency says restaurants operating only as takeout and delivery businesses present the lowest risk of virus transmission. Indoor dining, even with tables spaced at least 6 feet apart, presents a higher risk, the CDC said. (The highest risk comes from indoor dining without restrictions, which is now possible in states that include Texas and Mississippi, but not Illinois.) Its difficult to pin down how many bars and restaurants have stayed closed for indoor service in and around Chicago, but they include Lula Cafe, Middle Brow Bungalow and Paulie Gees in Logan Square; Avondales Honey Butter Fried Chicken; Irving Park sandwich shop JTs Genuine; and Edzos Burger Shop in Evanston. The chain of Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken restaurants has done the same. Bars The Whistler, Sleeping Village, Best Intentions and Delilahs also have yet to open indoors, along with breweries Off Color, Begyle, Dovetail, Half Acre, Solemn Oath, Marz Community Brewing and Hopewell. Many of those businesses have forged alternate income streams to stay afloat, such as Delilahs hosting virtual whiskey and wine tastings. Mike Miller, founder of the legendary 28-year-old Lincoln Park bar, said he has stayed closed to err on the side of caution. When my staff has been vaccinated, and more people in general have been vaccinated, and the numbers are really in decline, then we will open back up probably (in) a few more months, Miller said. I wanted to avoid a roller coaster all along, and I definitely dont want to open to a lesser Delilahs experience. Bungalow, a pizzeria and bakery thats also home to Middle Brow Brewing, has pivoted multiple times in the last year to avoid depending on indoor service. It added a store selling products that would keep the business alive beer, bread, pizza kits, various food items, gardening supplies, records, books and even Christmas trees. It hasnt been open for indoor service since last March, and wont do so until all staff is two weeks past vaccinations, said co-founder Pete Ternes. He hopes thats by early summer. Bungalow will launch patio service in the coming weeks before starting indoor service, which Ternes called a slow walk toward reestablishing the business that saw two-hour weekend waits before the pandemic arrived. Were focused on getting things right and doing them safely, and one can only guarantee safety by inching, rather than leaping, forward, Ternes said. Ternes said he has been frustrated by much of the talk around restaurants during the pandemic, and by the conventional wisdom that businesses needed to reopen as quickly as possible. Through much of the pandemic, he said, he wanted more restrictions on the industry, rather than fewer. A harsher lockdown early on could have both allowed restaurants to reopen sooner and put COVID-19 in check, he said. The best advocacy for me as a restaurant owner is for this damn thing to go away, he said. Ternes said he finally came not to trust government to decide when bars and restaurants should be able to open due to the varying pressures officials face. Weve seen really confused leadership, and I dont think the confusion is over the moral question, Ternes said. Its, How do we balance all these people lobbying us? whether its the (Illinois Restaurant Association) or a small business desperate to open up. Theres natural confusion there I dont envy. That left Bungalow to make its own calculations and it hasnt let a customer inside the business in more than a year. All ordering is online, and pickups happen on Bungalows patio. We had to take the decision-making into our own hands, Ternes said. We looked at trends and hoped we got it right, and the trends never made us comfortable enough to open. Zoe Schor, chef and owner of fried chicken and Americana restaurant Split-Rail, said she was concerned both about the pandemic and her employees needing to deal with uncooperative customers a consistent gripe of industry workers during the pandemic when deciding to keep the Humboldt Park restaurant closed for anything other than to-go sales. It just didnt seem safe or fair or right or ethical to ask people in the midst of this pandemic, where we barely understand this virus and people who are asymptomatic can give it to you and kill you, to come back to work, Schor said. In my opinion, (the restaurant industry) should have stayed closed this entire time. No one needs to go out to eat. Schor said she doesnt wholly buy the argument that restaurants could only survive by staying open for indoor service. While she believes its true for some, many would have stayed afloat with loans, grants and to-go business. Plus, she said, in an industry notorious for closures in the best of times, some wouldnt have survived regardless of the pandemic. The reality is there are people who arent afraid of losing their business theyre afraid of losing their lifestyles, their Teslas and their Range Rovers, Schor said. So your business closes? We closed our doors fully prepared never to reopen them. People are more important. However, Schor said, Split-Rail has been able to survive during the last year and eyes reopening for indoor service by June at the earliest, once her staff is vaccinated. Yamada, of Superkhana International, has a bit more sympathy for restaurateurs opening for indoor seating, saying they were in an extremely difficult situation, and especially restaurants owned by individuals people whose dreams and finances are wrapped up in small businesses taking an enormous hit. These places are in a position where they go out of business and the dream dies and a family doesnt have a source of income, he said. Its a very, very complicated position for people to be in. Shah said hes not as generous and thinks there has been a degree of irresponsibility in opening for indoor service, especially before vaccine distribution becomes widely available. I do recognize that people have to do what they have to do to get by, he said. Were barely getting by. But it feels better to us with safety in mind first. We talk about it a lot with our staff everyone needs to feel safe and cared for. jbnoel@chicagotribune.com .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. One of Albuquerques new arrivals has begun hiring in the city, according to the company president. During a speech at Albuquerque Economic Developments quarterly luncheon on Thursday, Lewis Byrd, president of Lancs Industries, confirmed that the company has started hiring for its 26,000-square-foot facility in Northeast Albuquerque. Byrd said the company hopes to eventually reach 75 employees at its Albuquerque facility, located at 1420 Mission Ave. NE. Lancs Industries, which manufactures radiation shielding and radiation containment products, announced plans to relocate to Albuquerque from the Seattle area last month. In an interview with the Journal, Byrd cited Albuquerques comparatively low cost and abundant space as reasons for the move. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Renowned plastic surgeon and Castle Connolly Top Doctor, Dr. Edward D. Buckingham, M.D. Renowned plastic surgeon and Castle Connolly Top Doctor, Dr. Edward D. Buckingham, M.D., recently spoke with Castle Connolly about how to prevent and reverse the effects of aging. The interview was part of a regular program Castle Connolly does with the website Everyday Health. In the original interview, Dr. Buckingham described his ultimate goal as creating the look of a completely rejuvenated, natural-looking face without any evidence that anythings been done. He noted that the cause behind the effects of visible aging include 3 factorsskin changes, volume loss and gravitational changes. These factors will be the same for everyone but experienced to different degrees based on intrinsic factors like ethnicity and extrinsic factors which would be external and environmental effects. To limit the effects of extrinsic factors, Dr. Buckingham emphasized a point driven home by dermatologists and plastic surgeons alikewear sunscreen, always. Volume loss, Dr. Buckingham said, was best addressed by using a patients fat cells in a surgical procedure called an autologous fat transfer. In the procedure, fat is taken from one part of the body and used via injection to recreate a youthful face. The doctor also emphasized the importance of a good skincare routine that includes sun protection, Vitamin C, and retinol or retin-A. By combing a good skincare routine with working with a qualified physician, Dr. Buckingham believes patients experiencing visible signs of aging can achieve a natural and rejuvenated look. To learn more about Dr. Buckingham and to see a sampling of his work, visit his website at http://www.buckinghamfacialplastics.com. About Dr. Buckingham Dr. Edward D. Buckingham, M.D is double board-certified plastic surgeon certified by the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the American Board of Otolaryngology. Currently, he is the director of the Buckingham Center for Facial Plastic Surgery in Austin, Texas. Read more about Dr. Buckingham at http://www.buckinghamfacialplastics.com/drbuckingham. 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 cat in Italy has been diagnosed with the British variant of coronavirus - the first known case of a feline catching the variant in the country, doctors say. The cat - a male purebreed of a European variety - fell ill in the town of Novara around 10 days after its owners were diagnosed with the variant. Symptoms suffered by the cat included breathing problems, but both the pet and its owners are now recovering, medics added. A pet cat in northern Italy has been diagnosed with the British variant of Covid in the first-known case in the country, medics have confirmed (file image) Scientists from the Animal Health Research Institute of Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d'Aosta discovered the cat's infection after being invited to test the animal. They sought to downplay fears that animals are spreading the virus, saying the course of infection shows the owners infected the cat - not the other way around. Instead, researchers warned that people with confirmed Covid infections should avoid close contact with their pets to avoid passing the infection on. Bartolomeo Griglio, head of Prevention of the Piedmont Region, told the Ansa news agency: 'The positivity of the cat must not generate alarms. 'Due to the infection of their owners, pets find themselves living in environments with strong viral circulation. 'It is therefore not unexpected that they too can contract the infection, but there is no scientific evidence that they play a role in the spread of Covid-19. 'Inter-human contagion remains the main way of spreading the disease.' Scientists have known for some time that cats are vulnerable to Covid infections. Scientists detected the case in the city of Novara, near Milan, and are warning pet owners who become infected with Covid to avoid close contact with their animals Last year, tests on cats in Hubei province in China, where Covid first originated, found 15 per cent of the animals had antibodies to fight the virus - indicating that at one point they had been infected. Tests from South Korea, Japan, Europe and the US have also confirmed Covid infections in domesticated cats. Meanwhile several zoos - including ones in the US, Sweden and Spain - have confirmed that tigers and lions can become infected. It is not clear how exactly the animals picked up the virus, but it is assumed the infection occurred because of their close proximity to humans. There is currently no scientific evidence that suggests cats are able to infect people. Other animals have also proven susceptible to Covid infections, including pet dogs, chimpanzees, and mink. Infections in mink cause fears after it was confirmed that mink could subsequently infect people when several cases were detected at fur farms in Denmark. The discovery led to the culling of millions of mink across the country and in other European locations, due to fears that the virus could mutate in the animals and cause vaccine-busting infections in humans. You are here: China Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for solid efforts to prevent forest and grassland fires. Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in an instruction on the country's fire prevention and control work. Authorities at all levels should take their due responsibilities and give full play to the respective advantages of emergency management and forestry and grassland departments, Li said. He also called for accelerated construction of fire-control facilities and strengthened systems of contingency plans. Efforts should go into curbing forest and grassland fires and guaranteeing people's safety and property, he said. Attending a national teleconference on forest and grassland fire prevention and control on Thursday, State Councilor Wang Yong called for solid efforts to prevent major fires to create a safe and stable environment for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, and economic and social development. Wang, also head of the national headquarters of forest and grassland fire prevention and control, stressed the planning for fire control during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... The Justice Department has charged a Swiss hacker with computer intrusion and identity theft, just over a week after the hacker embarrassed a U.S. security-camera startup and its clients by showing how easy it was to spy on the cameras watching over hospitals, schools and corporate offices. An indictment against 21-year-old Tillie Kottmann was brought Thursday by a grand jury in the Seattle-based Western District of Washington. Federal prosecutors said Thursday that Kottmann, of Lucerne, Switzerland, was initially charged in September. The range of allegations date back to 2019 and involve the alleged theft of credentials and data and publishing source code and proprietary information from more than 100 entities, including companies and government agencies. Kottmann has described the most recent leak of camera footage taken from customers of California security-camera provider Verkada as part of a hacktivist cause of exposing the dangers of mass surveillance. Kottmann told The Associated Press in an online chat last week that they found the credentials needed to enter the site exposed on the open internet. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ In conversations with other reporters last year, Kottmann, who uses they/them pronouns, said data they obtained and posted online had been exposed by poor security practices and they sought to shame organizations into buttoning up their networks. Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman rejected that approach in a statement Thursday. These actions can increase vulnerabilities for everyone from large corporations to individual consumers, Gorman wrote. Wrapping oneself in an allegedly altruistic motive does not remove the criminal stench from such intrusion, theft, and fraud. Kottmann didnt return an online request for comment. Swiss lawyer Marcel Bosonnet said he is representing Kottmann but declined further comment Friday. Bosonnet at one time represented Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who was charged in 2013 with disclosing details of highly classified government surveillance programs. Snowden had considered seeking asylum in Switzerland. Swiss authorities said they had raided Kottmanns home in Lucerne late last week at the request of U.S. authorities. Prosecutors said the FBI recently seized a website domain that Kottmann used to publish hacked data online. Its not clear if U.S. prosecutors will to try to extradite Kottmann, who remains in Lucerne and was notified of the pending charges. Swiss law limits certain forms of extradition, especially when the charges could be prosecuted in local courts. The public prosecutors office in Lucerne declined comment Friday, deferring to U.S. authorities. Kottmann expressed confidence in the online chat with the AP last week that the U.S. cannot extradite me even though they know exactly who I am. Thursdays indictment ties a number of hacks to Kottmann over the past year, including one targeting an unnamed security device manufacturer based in the Seattle region and another affecting a maker of tactical equipment. In several cases, prosecutors said Kottmann improperly used valid employee credentials to gain access to source code databases. The indictment says Kottmann also hacked the Washington state Department of Transportation, an automobile manufacturer and a financial investment company. The indictment doesnt specifically mention last weeks high-profile hack of Verkada, which drew attention because it exposed live camera feeds and archived video footage from schools, jails, factories, gyms and corporate offices. Kottmann told the AP last week they belonged to a group nicknamed APT-69420 Arson Cats, a small collective of primarily queer hackers, not backed by any nations or capital but instead backed by the desire for fun, being gay and a better world. Kottmann has previously attracted attention for leaking hacked material to expose security flaws, including from U.S. chipmaker Intel last year. The indictment does not accuse Kottmann of trying to extract money from hacking victims a typical motive for many cyber crimes. But prosecutors do attempt to tie Kottmanns efforts at self-promotion, including the design and sale of clothing related to hacking and anti-intellectual-property ideology, into part of a broader conspiracy to commit computer fraud. - AP writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Frank Bajak in Boston contributed to this report. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS. Armenia has presented its tourism potential at the Moscow International Travel & Tourism (MITT) trade show which took place in the Russian capital from March 16 to 18, the ministry of economy told Armenpress. 20 tour companies from Armenia participated in the exhibition with the support of the Tourism Committee of the ministry of economy. The leading international travel and tourism trade show in Russia and the CIS has been attended by 1500 companies from 229 countries. One of the first visitors to the Armenian pavilion was the head of Rostourism Zarina Doguzova who met with acting chair of the Tourism Committee of Armenia Alfred Kocharyan to discuss the bilateral cooperation prospects. During those three days the Armenian pavilion managed to attract the interests of the Russian visitors and others with its various offers for tourism adventure tourism, gastro tours, wine directions, Yerevan and provincial festivals, real experiments, etc. The Armenian Embassy in Russia had a contribution to the unique presentation of the Armenian pavilion at the trade show. On March 17 Armenian Ambassador to Russia Vardan Toghanyan hosted the representatives of Armenia on the sidelines of their visit in Moscow. The Ambassador highlighted presenting Armenias tourism potential at these difficult times and strengthening the Armenian-Russian ties. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan A federal judge has ruled on a series of redactions proposed by Ghislaine Maxwell and prosecutors to transcripts submitted under seal by the government last month, maintaining most of the government's redactions while adding some requested by Maxwell and her legal team. U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan in Manhattan on Thursday allowed the government's redactions to remain in place over Maxwell's objections, Law & Crime reported. Maxwell's legal team filed 12 motions in January requesting the court dismiss all of the charges relating to her alleged role as a recruiter of young girls for infamous and since-deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The government responded in February with an 'omnibus memorandum of law' opposing Maxwell's motions, all of which were filed under seal pending rulings on the redactions. Nathan sided with Maxwell on several additional redactions proposed to transcripts submitted by federal prosecutors, finding that making the details public would cater to a 'sensational and impure' public appetite. 'Those portions of the transcript, which were redacted in the civil matter, concern privacy interests and their disclosure would merely serve to cater to a 'craving for that which is sensational and impure,' the judge wrote. Ghislaine Maxwell at a film premiere in New York City in April 2009. Maxwell, 59, has been imprisoned at a federal detention center in Brooklyn for the past eight months while awaiting a trial scheduled to begin in July on charges of perjury and conspiracy to entice three minors in the 1990s to have sex with Jeffrey Epstein Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in jail in 2019 before he could face trial in a sex trafficking case in New York For the past eight months, Maxwell, 59, has been imprisoned at a federal detention center in Brooklyn, The Washington Post reported. She was twice denied bail as a flight risk while awaiting a trial scheduled to begin in July on charges of perjury and conspiracy to entice three minors in the 1990s to have sex with Epstein, her onetime lover who committed suicide in jail in 2019. Disgraced billionaire financier Epstein received an extraordinary light sentence after pleading guilty in an underage sex case in Florida in 2005 and died before facing trial in a sex trafficking case in New York. The prosecutors in Maxwell's case argued its redactions to transcripts were required in order to 'protect the integrity' of its ongoing criminal investigation into Maxwell and to protect the privacy interests of third parties. Nathan granted most of the government's requests, reasoning that the redactions were based on legitimate interests to overcome the presumption of public access to judicial documents. 'Exhibit 1 contains a single redactionthe name of a third partyand the Court concludes that that individual's personal privacy interests outweigh the presumption of access that exists as to that limited portion of the exhibit,' Nathan wrote in her ruling. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan, who maintained most of the redactions to transcripts sought by federal prosecutors while adding some other redactions requested by Ghislaine Maxwell and her legal team 'The proposed redactions to Exhibit 7 are similar in that they seek to protect from public access only the names and contact information of third parties. Here, too, the interest in protecting the safety and privacy of those individuals outweighs the presumption of access that attaches to those documents.' Nathan rejected Maxwell's objection to redactions containing information 'that has been made public by other means' where the information relates to the privacy interests 'family affairs' of third parties. Several other redactions proposed by the government were rejected at Maxwell's request after Nathan found that prosecutors failed to provide a reasonable basis for them. The court will allow the government to seek more tailored redactions before the redactions are removed on the public docket. Ghislaine Maxwell appears via video link during her arraignment hearing in Manhattan Federal Court on July 14, 2020. She was denied bail for her alleged role in aiding Jeffrey Epstein recruit and eventually abuse minor girls Former U.S. President Donald Trump, left, his future wife Melania, center left, financier Jeffrey Epstein, center right, and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell gather at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 12, 2000 Maxwell, who is a U.S. citizen, offered to renounce her citizenship in the country of her birth, France, and in the country where she grew up, Britain, to show she is not a flight risk. In legal filings, she argued she would lose any possibility of protection from extradition in those countries if she renounces her citizenship. Maxwells third attempt to persuade a judge to release her before her trial has set in motion an effort by her family to reshape her image, aided by publicists and a family attorney. Friends and family would put up a $28.5 million bond to assure her trial appearance, her brother Ian Maxwell said. Her attorneys also have flooded the court with motions seeking to have her case dismissed while she awaits a decision on her bail request. Ian Maxwell has appeared on television in the United States and Britain, portraying his sister as a woman of substance and as a victim being used as a substitute for Epstein. In a video interview with the Post over the weekend, Maxwell maintained his sister is innocent, calling the case against her flimsy, and chafed about the difficulty of preparing a defense on charges involving three accusers whose names have not been publicly revealed. Ian Maxwell hopes to reframe the case as something bigger than the fate of one well-known daughter of privilege. He argues it is part of a controversy over pretrial detention, which has drawn the attention of criminal justice reform advocates who argue that detainees constitutional rights are often violated by long jail stints before trial. She has an opportunity to try to use her name and her case to try and improve conditions, Ian Maxwell said. Thats what she definitely wants to do. Attorney Gloria Allred speaks to the media outside New York Criminal Court on February 24, 2020. Allred says she represents 20 victims of Jeffrey Epstein Maxwells attempts to be released pending her trial have been met with outrage by some of Epsteins accusers. Gloria Allred, a California-based attorney who says she represents 20 Epstein accusers, said in an interview that she feels sympathy for Ian Maxwell as a brother. I cant say I feel sympathy for his sister, Allred said. It would be so upsetting to so many victims if she was to be released and fled. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal More than 5,000 New Mexicans, most responding to appointments made via the states vaccine registry, showed up Wednesday at the Rio Rancho Events Center for what was considered the largest mass vaccination clinic to date in the state. Once there, they found themselves stuck for hours in their vehicles waiting for a shot. And some who saw long lines backed up to major roads, just turned around and went home. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ After long waits to reach a parking area, those not using the drive-through faced extended waits on foot. And those unable to walk the distance remained in their vehicles inching along, hoping for a sign of a vaccine ahead. There were no portable toilets in sight. It is a royal mess, said one man on social media as he reported the experience of his wife waiting in line. After one hour, she is in a line of cars 10 abreast that are still on the access road. Their engines are stopped and nobody is moving. I could instantly tell it was a fiasco, replied another man. I sat there for a few minutes in a long line of eight cars abreast and saw all the cars on the other side, the rate at which they were moving, and got the hell out of there. Others said people should stop complaining and be happy to have finally received a shot. I would rather be 10 cars abreast than 6 feet under, wrote another woman. As the state announced an increase in vaccine doses expected to flow into the state (more than 97,000 a week expected soon), getting a shot can still be a challenge. Most mass vaccination events, such as those at the University of New Mexico Pit Arena, have prompted few complaints. But Wednesdays event in Rio Rancho hosted by Walgreens was much larger and included a drive-up option. Several staff checking IDs or giving shots said the event was the largest mass vaccination clinic in New Mexico so far. A DOH spokesman said 5,516 people were registered for a vaccine appointment through the state. Those who accepted had the option of either walking into the center or waiting in traffic to enter two drive-through lanes. At one point, the line of vehicles trying to squeeze into the Events Center parking lot blocked the emergency and main entrances to the Sandoval Regional Medical Center to the north. And, by 1:30 p.m., vehicles that made it on to the property were at least seven lanes abreast, creeping along for hours toward the Events Center. City of Rio Rancho spokeswoman Annemarie L. Garcia in an email Thursday attributed the long wait to the fact that there were hundreds of people who showed up without an appointment and off schedule. If they had an appointment at 2 p.m., they showed up at 11 a.m. hoping to get a vaccine sooner, wrote Garcia, who said that the city, which provided public safety, traffic control on public roadways, and EMS services, hadnt experienced such issues when the center had previously held vaccination events for 2,000 to 3,000 people. She didnt respond to a question as to whether anyone in the line was turned away because of a lack of appointment. Walgreens spokesman Fraser Engerman said in email that the companys goal of safely administering 5,000 shots to eligible patients at the event was accomplished. The majority of patients (were) in and out in under 30 minutes. However, we also experienced a few operational challenges, which inconvenienced and delayed some of our patients, and for that we apologize. After the event, the DOH sent out a notice scheduling booster shots for early April at the same location. But those appointments will be split into two days, Garcia said. We have reached out to the City of Rio Rancho to improve the vaccination experience going forward to reduce patient wait times and streamline the process, said Engerman. Going forward, the number of people allowed into future vaccination clinics at the center will be scaled back, said Garcia, of the city of Rio Rancho. Meanwhile, on Thursday, the state of New Mexico reported five additional COVID-19 deaths and 263 new cases, including 21 new cases in Sandoval County and 92 new cases in Bernalillo County. The total number of cases as of Thursday rose to 189,158, while the death toll related to the virus is now 3,877. Theres a reason we need a free press, despite its faults and foibles: Democracy wont work without it. The grand experiment in self-governance that is the United States is rooted in trust and confidence we all will work toward the greater good. But the nations founders had experience with a king and his expected benevolence and what could happen when things didnt work out. So, they provided for three branches of government to balance each other, along with periodic elections and the rights for us to assemble and seek change when we think things have gone astray. All fine, but also relatively long-term solutions. How do we know what our government is doing, how well it is operating or whether our elected officials are up to the job? Enter the only profession mentioned in the Constitution: A free press, to serve as a watchdog on government. A free press the government cannot control, to offer an independent, regular update on behalf of the rest of us. Lets stop to acknowledge that many of us are dissatisfied with the free press we have. Survey after survey shows low public trust in our news outlets and in the journalists who staff them. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. President Ram Nath Kovind on March 18 accepted the credentials of Farid Mamundzay as the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to India. President Kovind welcomed the newly appointed envoy and conveyed his best wishes for a successful tenure. Further, the President acknowledged that the "close ties between the two countries derived its strength from people to people contact." In the same ceremony, the Ambassador/High Commissioner from the Republic of Fiji, Dominican Republic the Cooperative Republic of Guyana also presented their credentials to the President. "Speaking on the occasion, the President conveyed his good wishes to the envoys on their appointment. He said that India enjoys warm and friendly relations with all these four countries and that our ties were deeply rooted in a common vision of peace and prosperity. He also thanked their Governments for supporting Indias candidature for the non-permanent seat of UN Security Council for the term 2021-22," a release from the President's Secretariat read. President Kovind noted that "India has been at the forefront in the global efforts to forge a decisive and coordinated response to the COVID-19 to ensure our collective health and economic well-being. He further stated that under Government of Indias Vaccine Maitri initiative, highly affordable vaccines made in India have already reached several countries, re-enforcing our reputation as "Pharmacy of the World. President Kovind accepted credentials from Ambassadors and High Commissioners from Fiji, Dominican Republic, Afghanistan and Guyana in a virtual ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan today. Details: https://t.co/38q5stmTaR pic.twitter.com/UkfM87hKrH President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) March 18, 2021 Kovind accepts Afghan ambassador's credentials Later, Mamundzay took to Twitter and said that 'it is an honour' for him to take charge as the seventh Afghan Ambassador to India in the past 25 years. He shared pictures of the virtual ceremony where President Kovind accepted his credentials via video conference. Further, he said, "privilege to begin my tenure with the aim to further strengthen our warm and cordial relations. The President referred to Indo-Afghan ties as deeply rooted & with a common vision for peace and prosperity." H.E. President Ram Nath Kovind @rashtrapatibhvn accepted my credentials as the new Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Republic of India through a video conference today. As the 7th Afghan ambassador to India in the past 25 years, its an honour and great 1/2 pic.twitter.com/HBYJXLwpt6 Farid Mamundzay - - - (@FMamundzay) March 18, 2021 privilege to begin my tenure with the aim to further strengthen our warm & cordial relations. The President referred to Indo-Afghan ties as deeply rooted & with a common vision for peace & prosperity. - Farid Mamundzay - - - (@FMamundzay) March 18, 2021 President Kovind, while accepting the credentials of Afghan ambassador, alluded to close ties between the two countries. "He called Afghanistan an important strategic partner and a valued neighbour and underlined the two countries' common objective of for peace and prosperity," a release from the Afghan Embassy India read. The President also highlighted how the two countries fought colonialism in the past together and "combating terrorism at present." The release further mentioned that Ambassador Mamundzay thanked India for its 'generous contribution', especially for the half-million COVID-19 vaccine doses. He further affirmed his commitment to "take Indo-Afghan bilateral relations to new heights." During the ceremony, President Kovind also highlighted that India's Vaccine Maitri initiative is already providing highly affordable vaccines to several countries. Christian reporter joins Playboy correspondent in protest of Biden's press policies Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A diverse group of journalists from a Christian reporter to a writer for a pornographic magazine have expressed concerns over the Biden administration's press policies that they say limit access to independent and foreign journalists and show favoritism to mainstream outlets. In an interview with The Christian Post, Matthew Anthony Harper, a White House investigative journalist who writes for the conservative Idaho-based InterMountain Christian News and has covered presidential administrations dating back to the Obama administration, said his access to the White House has been substantially reduced compared to the previous administration. Harper told CP he had access to the White House grounds seven days a week during the Trump administration, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. But now, he only has access to the complex one day a week. Harper characterized the Biden administration's new policy of allowing only 80 reporters into the complex at a time purportedly due to the pandemic in addition to a new policy requiring certain journalists to pay for their own coronavirus testing as a gross injustice putting a wall up for press access directly affecting our freedom of the press. In January, Harper, along with several other journalists, signed a letter sent to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki concerning the administration's press policies in light of the pandemic. He maintained that he brought up this issue with the letter in a meeting with Psaki last week. She stated that she was aware of the letter and had read it and that she had responded to Brian Karem, he recounted, referring to Playboy's White House correspondent who wrote the letter. Karem shared the contents of Psakis emailed response with CP. Thanks again for your letter, she wrote. I hope you know ... our objective is to ensure we have as many people in the White House as possible. Karem characterized Psaki's response as generic. The Christian Post reached out to the White House for comment on this story. A response was not received by press time. Harper, who reports on religious freedom violations and anti-Semitism, seconded Karems displeasure with the new policy enacted in February that requires journalists to pay for COVID-19 testing. Our nonprofit news organization and many other news outlets dont have funds to be paying this, Harper asserted. In a Feb. 26 email obtained by CP, White House Correspondents Association Executive Director Steven Thomma said: The White House has informed us that it has determined that budgetary constraints limit the governments ability to provide the daily COVID-19 testing that the White House requires for journalists on campus. The costs of the tests are reported to be about $170 each. The memorandum also stated that Only 80 members of the press can be physically on campus at any time, and a lottery program has been instituted to ensure fair access for news organizations that are not in the daily pool. The policy of limiting the number of reporters on White House grounds dates back to the beginning of the administration when Karem addressed the letter to Psaki expressing concern about restricting press access to the White House. The letter concluded by suggesting that the Biden administration limit the access in the fashion the Trump administration did and occasionally move briefings to a venue where larger numbers of reporters can attend and social distancing can be more easily maintained. While the new policy will enable members of the press who are part of any pools (in-town pool, travel pool, VP pool, supplemental pool, etc.) and press who have assigned seats in the briefing room to continue to have their COVID-19 testing paid for by the White House, press who choose to enter the daily lottery and report to campus will continue to need a daily COVID-19 test, but they will need to pay for their own testing. In addition to Karem and Harper, journalists Hugo Lovell, Jake Turx, Christian Datoc [of the Daily Caller], Andrew Feinberg, Tejinder Singh, Ksenija Pavlovic and Bricio Segovia are also signatories, according to a copy of the letter shared with CP. Karem, who won the National Press Clubs Freedom of the Press Award in 2015, told CP that he emailed Psaki on Feb. 26 to argue that its dangerous and wrong to charge reporters for testing. Karem elaborated on his concerns in a March 4 article, arguing that independent reporters are being penalized by the Biden administrations new White House entry policies that favor wealthy corporate outlets. According to Karem, These restrictions punish independent reporters, foreign bureaus and freelancers, myself included. It is favoritism for the rich. Karems Jan. 22 letter, obtained by CP, contends that the 80-person limit solves a problem that doesnt exist. He called the limit arbitrary. Crews rotate in and out, he asserted. Some people come to the White House simply to shoot a standup or to type up a story, or meet a source and then leave. The actual number who stay all day is nowhere near 80 these days. Segovia, a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, voiced his displeasure with the policies on Twitter. In the briefing room, there is only one shared seat assigned to foreign press, he wrote. Not all foreign journalists have access to this seat. Basically, the Biden Administration is preventing foreign journalists from taking part in the White House press briefings. Karem expressed particular concern about the White Houses decision to use the White House Correspondents Association as a gatekeeper for determining which journalists can access the White House on a daily basis. The WHCA is made up of White House correspondents journalists who cover the White House and the government generally, he said. Journalists should never act as government agents deciding who actually has access to the White House complex and when. Karem, who established a reputation as a staunch critic of the Trump administration, praised the previous administrations policy with regard to coronavirus testing and press access, where the protective pool got tested and the rest of us came and went wearing masks and limiting our time on campus as needed. Weve all come across them before: those little bags of small balls that come packed together with new shoes or electrical goods. The balls are there to absorb moisture so as to protect the items from damage. These materials act like a sponge, explains physicist Professor Rustem Valiullin from Leipzig University. He and his research group have found a way to more precisely determine the properties of these materials, because they can better account for the underlying disorder. Their article has been designated ACS Editors Choice by the editors of the American Chemical Society journals, who recognise the importance to the global scientific community of the Leipzig researchers work and see it as a breakthrough in the accurate description of phase transition phenomena in disordered porous materials. In mesoporous materials, the pore openings are far smaller than in a normal sponge: their diameters range from 2 to 50 nanometres and are invisible to the naked eye. Nevertheless, they have a number of interesting properties, including with regard to separating substances. This occurs as a function of molecule and pore size, for example. Until now, scientific experiments have only been able to approximate the desired properties of these materials. So it is more down to experience whether you can determine which of the structures can be used for which applications, says the physicist. The problem is that these materials are mostly disordered, which means that pores of different sizes in the material form a complex network structure. Researchers at Leipzig University developed a model that determines the features that can be observed in such complex pore networks. Professor Valiullin describes the approach as follows: We can statistically describe how the individual pores in these networks are coupled to each other. We marry disorder with order. This makes it possible to determine the physical phenomena that need to be understood in gas-liquid and solid-liquid phase transitions, for example. And not only in theory: using special mesoporous modelling, it was possible to prove with the aid of modern nuclear magnetic resonance methods that the theoretical results can also be directly applied in practice. This should make it easier to use such materials in the future, for example to help release drugs into the human body over an extended period precisely when necessary and desired. Other potential applications for such materials include sensor technology or energy storage and conversion. In a 2014 photo taken during his time as a U.S. senator, Bill Nelson (center) checks out a mockup of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center in Florida with former astronaut Chris Ferguson as his guide. (NASA Photo / Kim Shiflett) President Joe Bidens choice to lead NASA former U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson will be in the hot seat for a host of issues in human spaceflight that will require a tricky balance between Old Space and New Space. Nelson is a 78-year-old Florida Democrat who went on a space shuttle flight as a congressman in 1986, and served three terms in the Senate before his defeat in 2018. In todays statement announcing his nomination, the White House said that Nelson was known as the go-to senator for our nations space program, and that most every piece of space and science law has had his imprint. I am honored to be nominated by Joe Biden and, if confirmed, to help lead NASA into an exciting future of possibilities, Nelson said in a statement. Its workforce radiates optimism, ingenuity and a can-do spirit. The NASA team continues to achieve the seemingly impossible as we venture into the cosmos. Nelson has traditionally sided with Old Space that is, well-established aerospace companies such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Most famously (or infamously), he championed NASAs multibillion-dollar Space Launch System during his time in the Senate, to such an extent that the SLS came to be nicknamed the Senate Launch System. The rocket engines on the first SLS core stage, which has Boeing as its prime contractor, were run through their first successful full-duration hot-fire test on Thursday. Thats in preparation for an uncrewed round-the-moon test flight thats set for late this year or early next year reflecting a schedule thats years behind the original plan and a cost thats billions of dollars above the original budget. Even before todays announcement of Bidens intentions, Nelson came in for criticism from those who favor turning away from SLS and doubling down on New Space companies such as SpaceX, which is following a faster development timeline at lower cost. His legacy is the monster rocket, and in some ways it is poetic justice that it will be his cross to bear, Lori Garver, who disagreed with Nelson during her days as NASAs deputy administrator in the Obama administration, wrote in a tweet. Story continues But the Old vs. New Space dichotomy has broken down dramatically, just in the two years since Nelson left the Senate. SpaceX, the quintessential New Space company, has become NASAs leading operator for trips to and from the International Space Station. Meanwhile, Boeing has suffered more than a years worth of setbacks in getting its own CST-100 Starliner crew spacecraft into service and lost out in its bid to build a lunar lander for NASA. It could be argued that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos Blue Origin space venture has engineered the biggest breakdown of the Old vs. New paradigm: Blue Origin is generally considered a New Space company, but its lunar lander team includes three Old Space stalwarts: Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper. In a tweet, Blue Origin congratulated Nelson on his selection. Your experience both on and off Earth will ensure that well have strong leadership and commitment when the U.S. returns to the moon this time to stay, the company said. Key decisions on NASAs Artemis moon program will have to be made under Nelsons watch. NASAs total budget for the current fiscal year is roughly $23.3 billion, but some observers say it might have to be boosted by another $5 billion to $7 billion annually to fund Artemis adequately. It would be up to Nelson to sell NASAs next budget request to his former colleagues in Congress. Within the next month or two, NASA is expected to select which team, or teams, will get the go-ahead to build the human landing system for missions to the lunar surface. Three teams are currently in the running: Blue Origins National Team, SpaceX and Dynetics. Congress has given NASA only about a quarter of the $3.3 billion it was seeking to support the lander development effort during the current fiscal year and that might force the space agency to downsize its plans to have the first Artemis crew touch down in the moons south polar region in 2024. If NASAs budget is constrained, the decisions that lie ahead for SLS and Artemis could well touch off an Old vs. New Space chess game, if not a flame war. For instance, if the National Team ends up being the sole choice for Artemis landing system, SpaceX would almost certainly challenge the decision. But if the National Team is left out, that could set off protests from Congress that well-established companies were being passed over to go with less tried-and-true technologies. Similar scenarios could come into play when it comes to funding NASAs SLS rocket and Orion crew capsule vs. SpaceXs Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster. If history is any guide, Nelson and congressional leaders would want to protect SLS. But SpaceX is moving full speed ahead with its plan for Starship moon trips. SpaceX even has a chance of sending people around the moon on a privately funded flight before SLS and Orion do so for NASA. Leaving SpaceX out would spark pointed questions about NASAs priorities. In any case, its almost certain that Nelson will be the Florida man making the decisions at NASA, unless he sabotages himself during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Today, Nelson won praise from former NASA chief Jim Bridenstine, acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk and the senators who will vote on confirmation. Bill Nelson has long been one of NASAs strongest and most passionate advocates, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who chairs the Commerce Committee, said in a statement. I am confident that he has the expertise and the political acumen to maintain and build upon the nations leadership in space in both the public and commercial sectors. That sentiment was seconded by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. I cannot think of anyone better to lead NASA than Bill Nelson, he said in a statement. His nomination gives me confidence that the Biden administration finally understands the importance of the Artemis program, and the necessity of winning the 21st-century space race. When then-President Donald Trump picked Jim Bridenstine to become NASAs administrator in 2017, Rubio questioned the choice because Bridenstine was an Oklahoma congressman with political baggage. Nelson also voiced misgivings at the time, and voted against Bridenstine. The head of NASA ought to be a space professional, not a politician, he said. If nothing else, the latest twist in Nelsons long career should demonstrate even to his critics that people, and space perspectives, can change dramatically over time. More from GeekWire: 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. But, for the most part, Cap and Bucky fought regular people who turned out to be communist spies bent on destroying America from within, and who usually wounded up dead by the end of the comic. Even the Skull dies after only his second encounter with Cap's patriotic fists. Marvel Comics Marvel Comics Marvel Comics More people died in these issues than in all of World War II. Continue Reading Below Advertisement This Cap doesn't give a flying crap if you're only helping the reds because they have a gun pointed to a family member's head -- if you're not willing to let your little kid die for America, he'll kick your traitor ass. Marvel Comics Marvel Comics This explains Captain America's somewhat controversial slogan I don't care if your kids are dead! In one issue, a Chinese-American police officer is being blackmailed with his beloved brother's life. But it turns out that the commie blackmailer is his brother, and of course he's dead by the last page. Instead of telling the officer what happened, Cap just says that his brother's life is "no longer in danger," which is technically true. Marvel Comics "And if you so much as glance at the communist manifesto, your life won't be in danger either!" Continue Reading Below Advertisement In one issue, Cap is injected with a "virus of evil" that gets people to start thinking Russia might not be entirely bad ... Marvel Comics Marvel Comics ... which inevitably turns them into child-punching freedom haters, sooner or later. Marvel Comics Marvel Comics Being a comic book writer is 50% coming up with excuses to make the hero slap his sidekick while calling him "brat." But Cap's blood was too pure for the virus to take hold, and he ends up proving his patriotism by killing a submarine full of Soviets. When Cap joined the Avengers in 1964, Marvel claimed that he'd been frozen since the '40s, ignoring his whole "commie smasher" period. They later explained that the Cap of the '50s was some far right nutjob who legally changed his name to Steve Rogers and got plastic surgery to look like him. Sadly, this means we'll probably never get to see the fight between ultra-conservative 1950s Captain America and mega-socialist 1930s Superman that we deserve. As fires from Nuevo Laredo reached the Rio Grande and inched closer toward El Cenizo on Wednesday, the City of Rio Bravo Municipal Government rapidly followed all developments in the area as it coordinated with the El Cenizo Volunteer Fire Department and the departments in Webb County and Zapata County. Just like the leaders of El Cenizo, Rio Bravo City Commissioner Amanda Aguero reported Thursday the situation is under control and that the fire stemming from burning at junkyards in Nuevo Laredo is almost completely gone from the area. The commissioner thanked the efforts of the various volunteer firefighter forces in the area as most of them are completely volunteer personnel. KYODO NEWS - Mar 19, 2021 - 18:11 | All, Japan Japan will temporarily increase its duty on imports from South Korea of a chemical compound used in the production of glass for liquid crystal display panels as a measure against dumping, the government said Friday. The Cabinet approved a plan to raise import duties on potassium carbonate from South Korea by 30.8 percent for four months from March 25, after concluding that the compound was being sold at an unfairly low price in Japan, causing damage to domestic makers. The government launched an investigation in June last year on whether to increase the duty following a request by a Japanese industry group, which argued that low-priced South Korean imports were harming domestic producers by forcing them to lower prices. South Korean producers' share of the potassium carbonate market in Japan grew by 20 percent in 2019 from 2017, hurting the profitability of domestic makers. There are only two potassium carbonate producers in Japan, AGC Inc. and Nippon Soda Co., according to the government. Potassium carbonate is also used to make alkaline preparations that are added to ramen noodles. Related coverage: Suga looks to affirm cooperation on China in summit with Biden S. Korea, U.S. defense, foreign chiefs say N. Korea must denuclearize North Korea may be eyeing 1st weapons test since Biden took office: CNN Charleston, WV (25301) Today Rain and scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 79F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms in the evening will give way to cloudy skies overnight. Areas of patchy fog developing. Low 62F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. * Loyalist anger rising over Brexit deal * NI peace deal under threat - loyalist committee * Northern Irish executive could fall, protests likely - loyalist * EU and Ireland must change Brexit deal - loyalists say (Recasts headline, adds quotes and context) By Guy Faulconbridge LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Northern Ireland's 1998 peace agreement is under threat and a "Pandora's box" of protest and political crisis will be opened unless the European Union agrees to significant changes to the Brexit deal, a senior loyalist warned on Friday. The 1998 accord, known as the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement, ended three decades of violence between mostly Catholic nationalists fighting for a united Ireland and mostly Protestant unionists, or loyalists, who want Northern Ireland to stay part of the United Kingdom. David Campbell, chairman of the Loyalist Communities Council, which represents the views of loyalist paramilitaries, said he was calling for dialogue with the EU and Ireland to change the Northern Irish Protocol that he said had breached fundamental principles of the 1998 deal. "We're saying there is a window of opportunity for constructive dialogue to see if we can actually get a workable solution, and I've no doubt we could get a workable solution, but it does require Brussels and Dublin to return to honouring the core guarantees of the (Belfast) Agreement," Campbell told Reuters. "If it doesn't happen, then they are opening a Pandora's box which leads to significant protest, to the bringing down of the Northern Ireland executive and then into a significant political crisis," Campbell said. Loyalist paramilitary groups told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this month that they were temporarily withdrawing support for the peace agreement due to concerns over the Brexit deal. The EU and Ireland say there is no reason to change the Brexit divorce deal which was signed by Johnson and is now an international treaty, though unionists say the negotiations failed to take account of their community. Story continues "Loyalists are extremely angry right across the community," Campbell said, adding that the community was more angry than at any other time since the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement, which gave Dublin a consultative role in the governance of Northern Ireland. "It's an anger that transcends class and age groups - 80-year-olds are just as vexed as teenagers are - so it has succeeded in uniting all the disparate unionist groups and parties," he said. ANGER RISING Unionists say the Brexit deal is unfair as it prevents a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland but effectively cuts Northern Ireland off from the rest of the United Kingdom by creating a border in the Irish sea. Campbell said that as such, the Brexit deal was one-sided and breached the principles of the 1998 deal. "The peace agreement is certainly under threat," Campbell said, adding that the devolved power-sharing government of Northern Ireland, which requires the support of politicians representing both communities to function, was likely to collapse. Northern Ireland's devolved government and assembly have suffered periodic breakdowns during previous crises since 1998. "Unless there are changes, I can't see the Northern Ireland executive being sustained beyond the ending of the current pandemic," he said, adding that there would be significant protests over coming months and going into the summer. So is Northern Ireland on the brink of violence? "I was one of the unionist negotiators in the talks and for 20-odd years we have worked constructively together and you now potentially face the undoing of that," he said. "The current leaderships of the loyalist organisations are under extreme pressure from, let's just say, the young Turks who perhaps see an opportunity to go to war on their terms." The main loyalist paramilitary groups were not formally parties to the 1998 deal, but endorsed it at the time and decommissioned their weapons in the years that followed. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Alistair Smout, Michael Holden and Alex Richardson) Ludhiana: Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) employees staged a protest in Ludhiana on Thursday (March 18) against the government's decision to raise the Foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the insurance sector to 74 per cent and to bring an IPO of the LIC. LIC was established in 1956 and has 290 million policyholders along with 1,14,000 employees. The LIC employees are protesting against the government's proposal to privatise the corporation and enhance the FDI limit in the insurance sector from 49 per cent to 74 per cent. "There is a strike across the country. We are protesting against the proposal of bringing an IPO of the LIC. It is an attempt to push LIC towards privatisation. We demand the government to drop this idea. We are also against raising the FDI limit in the insurance sector to 74 per cent," Ritu Aban, one of the protesters told ANI. The All India Insurance Employee's Association (AIIEA) has called the strike along with other trade unions from the industry. They said the protest is against the government's policy as it is not in the interest of the insurance industry not just that but the nation's economy and its people. In February, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to amend the Insurance Act 1938 to increase the permissible FDI limit from 49 per cent to 74 per cent in insurance companies and allow foreign ownership and control with safeguards. During her budget speech, she said: "I propose to amend the Insurance Act 1938 to increase the permissible FDI limit from 49 per cent to 74 per cent in insurance companies and allow foreign ownership and control with safeguards." Live TV Huntington, WV (25701) Today Variable clouds with showers and scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High around 75F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms in the evening, with mostly cloudy skies overnight. Areas of patchy fog developing. Low 61F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Summer's citrus palette is the perfect antidote to the gloom of the past 12 months. Nothing says happiness more than the zesty hues of bitter orange, lemon-yellow and lime-green. But how to bring them into your home? 'My suggestion would be to start with a fabric or accessory you'd like to base your scheme on,' says interior designer Benji Lewis, of Zoom That Room. Sharpen up: Yellow Yoko sofa by DFS, 1,399. Vivid furniture adds interest to muted schemes 'Choose which of the citric shades you'd like to be dominant, then build your other colours in to complement, or even clash, with that.' START SMALL If a citrus scheme sounds a little scary, a few accessories will get you going. Add a pop of colour to your sitting room with orange-print cushions (from 26, Fy) or a yellow leaf vase (14, Dunelm). Vintage lemon designs are having a moment on the High Street. John Lewis has duvet covers (26), cushions (25), and even doormats (10) and deckchairs (10). Fruity: A John Lewis cushion, 12 'We've seen demand for bright, bold colours and patterns as they provide a nod to summer days,' says John Lewis partner and assistant designer Nina Willsher. The retailer also has a big range of picnic pieces, including a lemon rug (30), cool bags (25) and napkins (4 for 32). For indoors, Oliver Bonas's orange-shaped ceramic jug is fun for serving cocktails (59.50). And for nibbles or a main course, Coffee & Cloth's Lemon Twig hand-painted plates are ideal (59.99). PAINT THE WALLS HAPPY 'When Pantone proposed Illuminating Yellow as one of its colours for 2021, it stood to reason we'd soon be going crazy for citric shades,' says Benji Lewis. Exterior or interior, yellow makes a home look warm and friendly. Avoid using it on all four walls and instead create an accent wall. Tie this wall to the room with a matching chair or cushions. If you don't want to paint an entire wall yellow, go for a citrus-inspired poster instead. Postery's vintage Sorrento lemon tree print will transport you to sunny days in Italy (from 14.95). Or, if you're working with a coloured wall, Juniqe's framed lemon print looks perfect against dark blue or green (from 44.95). FRUITY FURNITURE Vividly coloured furniture adds interest to muted grey, white or beige schemes. Next's bright, lemon-yellow armchair would look fine against a grey wall (199). If you're working with a wooden floor, Swoon's green footstool with a walnut-veneer base is just the ticket (199). Roll-top bathtubs have become statement pieces, no more so than The Albion Bath Co's Tubby Torre Duo in Pantone Yellow (2,894), which is perfect for large spaces. THE REAL THING You can never beat the real deal. So why not invest in an actual lemon tree? Patch Plants' Vivi lemon tree, should be kept outdoors for summer and brought inside for winter (55). Or, for an instant citrus lift, place a bowl of succulent lemons, limes and oranges at the centre of the kitchen table. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund), and Stelis Biopharma, the biopharmaceutical division of Strides, have partnered to produce, and supply a minimum of 200 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus sufficient to vaccinate 100 million people. The agreement between RDIF and Stelis Biopharma was reached under the aegis of Enso Healthcare LLP (part of Enso Group), RDIF's coordination partner for sourcing Sputnik V vaccines in India. putnik V, the world's first registered vaccine against the novel coronavirus infection, is now approved for use in over 50 countries. Sputnik V is a two-dose vaccine which uses two different human adenoviral vectors in the course of vaccination. The vaccine demonstrates a 91.6% efficacy rate as confirmed by a peerreviewed study published in the prestigious medical journal, The Lancet, which found the vaccine to offer consistent and strong protective effect across all participant age groups. The parties intend to commence supplies from the Q3 of 2021. Stelis will also continue to work with the RDIF to provide additional supply volumes beyond the initial agreement. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Natural News) Now that the damage has already been done, The Washington Post has decided to retract a fake news story it published and spread about President Donald Trump that falsely accused him of pressuring Frances Watson, a Georgia official, to find the fraud. As it turns out, Trump never even used the words find the fraud, nor did he pressure anyone to do anything. Audio of the call that was later retrieved from a government computers trash file someone attempted, but failed, to destroy the evidence reveals that Trump merely asked Watson, who handles such matters, to scrutinize the ballots in Fulton County, Ga., because she might find dishonesty there. Trump believes, as many of us also do, that there is good reason to believe election fraud took place in Georgia, particularly around the Atlanta metro area where a number of anomalous occurrences were observed on election day. [You have] the most important job in the country right now, Trump told Watson, encouraging her to take a closer look at the situation. At no time did Trump try to strongarm Watson into finding fraud where there was not any, which is the deceptively false angle that WaPo took in its story. CNN, USA Today, and various other fake news outlets also picked up the false WaPo story and spread it to their readers, instilling in gullible minds the made-up narrative that Trump was trying to overturn the 2020 election results by bullying Georgia election officials. Two months after publication of this story, the Georgia secretary of state released an audio recording of President Donald Trumps December phone call with the states top elections investigator, WaPos correction statement now reads. The recording revealed that The Post misquoted Trumps comments on the call, based on information provided by a source. Trump did not tell the investigator to find the fraud or say she would be a national hero if she did so. Instead, Trump urged the investigator to scrutinize ballots in Fulton County, Ga., asserting she would find dishonesty there. He also told her that she had the most important job in the country right now.' Democrats cited now-retracted fake news find the fraud quote during impeachment briefing In a statement, Trump thanked WaPo for finally doing the right thing, emphasizing that it was a hoax from the beginning. He also encouraged an investigation into the election fraud situation in Georgia, once again calling out Fulton County and the Stacey Abrams political machine. Others on Twitter were a little less forgiving, including Daily Caller senior congressional correspondent Henry Rodgers, who noted that the Democrats used WaPos fake news lies as evidence during their impeachment hearings. It took WaPo a full two months to finally admit to lying about Trump during his call with Watson. During this time, the damage was done and millions of Americans had already moved on from the 2020 election, believing the fake news lie that Joe Biden won. Meanwhile, it was revealed that the missing audio recording of Trumps call with Watson had been found in the trash bin on a government computer. Someone had apparently attempted to throw it away so it could never be found, but failed to permanently delete it. This is what passes for journalism today in the MSM, wrote one commenter at Zero Hedge about how the mainstream media routinely uses the excuse of an anonymous source to publish flat-out lies about its political opponents. Lie, lie, lie sometimes retract but only when forced to, and only long after the lie has become fact in the minds of the sheeple. More of the latest news about the fraudulent 2020 election can be found at Trump.news. Sources for this article include: ZeroHedge.com NaturalNews.com New Delhi: Americas defence secretary Lloyd James Austin III arrived in New Delhi Friday on a three-day official visit, at a time when India and the United States are concerned over an increasingly assertive China in the region. This is the first high-profile contact between the Biden administration and the Indian political leadership. The visit is seen as significant as Mr Austin included India is his first foreign tour, with the US seeking allies to counter the growing Chinese influence in the region. Mr Austin called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday and conveyed the greetings of US President Joe Biden. Mr Modi welcomed the warm and close relationship between the two countries, rooted in the shared values of democracy, pluralism and commitment to a rules-based international order. The PM outlined his vision for the strategic partnership between the two countries and emphasised the important role of bilateral defence cooperation in India-US ties. Mr Austin reiterated the US governments continued commitment towards strengthening bilateral defence ties between the two countries. He expressed the strong US desire to further enhance the strategic partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. Thrilled to be here in India. The breadth of cooperation between our two nations reflects the significance of our major defence partnership, as we work together to address the most pressing challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region, said the US defence secretary in a tweet. Mr Austin was also scheduled to meet national security adviser Ajit Doval on Friday and will hold wide-ranging bilateral talks with defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday. The US defence secretary arrived in India at a time when US and Chinese officials have had sharp exchanges in the first high-level talks between the Biden administration and China in Alaska. The relationship between India and China is also frosty due to the Chinese aggression at the LAC in Ladakh. The growing Chinese threat, increasing cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, the Afghan peace process and enhancing military ties will be on the top of the agenda during Saturdays India-US dialogue. India is also likely to ask the Biden administration for a complete waiver of sanctions under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for buying the Russian S-400 air defence systems. Earlier, Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged Mr Austin in a letter Wednesday to take up with Indian leaders the issue of New Delhi procuring the S-400 missile defence system from Russia and also human rights issues. India is also looking to buy armed drones from the US for the Air Force, Army and Navy in a deal which is estimated at around $3 billion. The US defence secretary will lay a wreath at the National War Memorial on Saturday morning and will receive a tri-services guard of honour. After that he will hold extensive talks with the Indian delegation led by defence minister Rajnath Singh, where the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Bipin Rawat, will also be present. The two ministers will later read out a joint statement in the afternoon. He will also meet external affairs minister S. Jaishankar. Earlier this month, the Biden administration in its Interim National Security Strategic Guidance had said that the US would deepen its partnership with India to advance its objectives. Last week, the leaders from the Quad countries -- the US, India, Japan, and Australia -- met for the first time as concerns grow over Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. The US has been in favour of giving the Quad a security architecture to check Chinas growing aggression in the region. The US defence secretary visited Japan and South Korea before arriving in India, which are crucial US allies in the region. India has recently brought a slew of weapons from the US, including Apache attack helicopters, Chinook helicopters, P8I maritime patrol aircraft, precision Guided-Excalibur Munitions and M-777 howitzers. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. New Delhi, March 20 : BJP candidate from Palakkad Assembly constituency in Kerala, E. Sreedharan on Friday hit out at the ruling LDF (Left Democratic Fronts) and the main opposition UDF (United Democratic Front) led by the Congress saying they have no interest in the progress of the state. In a series of tweets, Sreedharan, also known as Metroman, said: "Keralites have been governed alternatively by the LDF and UDF who have no interest in the state's progress. The hapless Keralite faces a daily dose of corruption, misgovernance and stagnation, while the rest of India surges ahead under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modiji." In another tweet, he said, "Kerala is lagging in development and only BJP can provide that." "Our motto are the Afour Vs. Vikasanam (Development), Vyavasayam (Industries), Vidyabhyasam (Education) and VishuddhaBharanam (Governance)," he tweeted. He added that a vote for Kerala BJP is a vote for principles that he holds very dear. "Punctuality, integrity, professional excellence and social responsibility are ideals that I have always tried to live up to all my life. Kerala, it's time to give BJP a chance," he tweeted. Sreedharan joined the BJP last month. Elections to the 140-member Kerala Assembly will be held in a single phase on April 6. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Zomato is planning to file the draft red herring prospectus for its initial public offering in April. In the works for a long time, the issue could help the Indian food delivery platform raise $650 million. The Deepinder Goyal-led company could complete the listing in Mumbai before the end of September, Bloomberg reported while quoting sources in the know. Deliberations are underway and the details of the IPO, like issue size and timeline might change, the report further said. Zomato is yet to confirm these developments. ALSO READ: Zomato raises $250 million from 5 different investors Last month, Zomato had raised $250 million from five investors. The company raised $115 million from Kora Management LP, $55 million from funds or accounts advised or sub-advised by Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC and its affiliates, $50 million from Tiger Global Management, LLC, $20 million from Bow Wave Capital Management, LP and $10 million from Dragoneer Investment Group, LLC. The primary fundraising round had valued Zomato at a post-money valuation of $5.4 billion. Zomato had raised $160 million from Tiger Global and Temasek Holdings' subsidiary MacRitchie Investments in September last year, valuing the company at $3.3 billion. It had also raised $150 million in January 2020. ALSO READ: Info Edge share rises over 5% after Zomato raises $250 million Zomato's IPO is expected to value the company at $6-8 billion in the public market. The food delivery startup has appointed Goldman Sachs, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse to run its IPO process. Founded in 2008, Zomato currently has 5,000 employees on its payroll. Zomato's revenue from operations grew to nearly Rs 2,605 crore in FY20 from Rs 1,312.6 crore in FY19. However, its losses widened to Rs 2,385.6 crore during the fiscal ended March 31, 2020 from Rs 1,001 crore in FY19. ALSO READ: Zomato increases pay for delivery partners to account for increase in fuel prices EDWARDSVILLE A Troy woman was charged Thursday with stalking two people in Pontoon Beach. Rhonda G. Fuller, 54, was charged March 18 with stalking, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Pontoon Beach Police Department. According to court documents, between Oct. 15 and Dec. 6 Fuller knowingly engaged in a course of conduct against two people, that would cause a reasonable person to suffer emotional distress. Bail was set at $20,000. Other felony charges filed March 18 by the Madison County States Attorneys Office include: Dante J. Thomas, 35, of Troy, was charged with aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony. The case was presented by the Troy Police Department. According to court documents, on March 17 Thomas allegedly strangled a family or household member. Bail was set at $58,000. Marcus E. Wiley Jr., 27, of Granite City, was charged with domestic battery (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. On March 17 Wiley allegedly repeatedly picked up and threw a family or household member to the ground. It was noted that he had a prior conviction for aggravated domestic battery in 2018 out of Madison County. Bail was set at $15,000. Jacob T. Pieper, 22, of Granite City, was charged with aggravated unlawful use of weapons, a Class 4 felony, and unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Pontoon Beach Police Department. On June 27 Pieper allegedly was in possession of a Taurus 9 mm handgun without a valid Firearm Owners Identification Card. He was also in possession of less than five grams of methamphetamine. Bail was set at $20,000. Joseph A. Garcia, 53, of Wood River, was charged with unlawful violation of an order of protection (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Roxana Police Department. On March 2 Garcia, who had a valid order of protection issued against him in 2020, allegedly went to a protected property on East Third Street in Roxana. It was noted he had a prior conviction for unlawful violation of order of protection out of Madison County in 2016. Bail was set at $15,000. Paul E. Lara, 47, of East Alton, was charged with home repair fraud, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Roxana Police Department. On Aug. 1 Lara allegedly made a verbal agreement for $300 to repair a central air conditioning unit in the 100 block of West Third Street, and failed to do the work. It was noted he had a prior conviction for aggravated home repair fraud in 2016 out of Madison County. Bail was set at $15,000. Steven L. Russell, 40, of South Roxana, was charged with forgery, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Pontoon Beach Police Department. On Nov. 23 Russell allegedly passed an altered check for $400. Bail was set at $30,000. Steven J. Dunn, 43, of St. Louis, was charged with offenses relating to motor vehicles, a Class 2 felony. The case was presented by the Pontoon Beach Police Department. On April 30 Dunn allegedly was found to be in possession of a stolen Dodge Ram. Bail was set at $20,000. John P. Chapman, 48, of Carrollton, was charged with unlawful possession of a stolen license plate, a Class 2 felony. The case was presented by the Pontoon Beach Police Department. On Oct. 16 Chapman allegedly was found to be in possession of stolen Texas license plate. Bail was set at $20,000. Jonathan D. Klein, 40, of OFallon, Illinois, was charged with driving while license revoked, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. On March 17 Klein allegedly was found to be driving on Nameoki Road in Granite City with a revoked drivers license. It was noted that his license had been revoked in 2015 because of a DUI conviction, and that he had previous convictions for driving while revoked in 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020 in St. Clair County, and 2017 in Madison County. Bail was set at $15,000. Jeremy M. Epley, 41, of Brighton, was charged with unlawful use of credit card, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Alton Police Department. On Jan. 14 Epley allegedly used a credit card without the consent of the owner, and made purchases totaling $200 at CVS, 2422 College Ave.; and Family Dollar, 1671 Washington Ave. Bail was set at $15,000. Up to 20,000-30,000 fake products, mainly handbags with brands Hermes, LV, Chanel and other, were recently discovered in the northern city of Nam Dinh. The 500m2 warehouse with tens of thousands of fake products. (Photo: General Department of Market Management) The local authorities had to use 10 trucks to move all of the goods, which were worth VND6 billion (nearly $300,000). After nearly six months of reconnaissance, on March 17, Nam Dinh authorities inspected a 500sq.m warehouse in Dai Lai village, Vinh Hao commune, Vu Ban district, Nam Dinh province. Inspectors found tens of thousands of fake products bearing the luxury brand Hermes. The warehouse staff could not show proof of the legal origin of the goods. Mr. Nguyen Ky Minh, Deputy Chief of the Office of the General Department of Market Management, said that it was difficult for inspectors to detect the warehouse, because violators mainly used social networks to offer sales and delivery services to transport fake goods. Dozens of accounts with different names, like The Queen Shop, Trang Anna (The Queen), Dung Vu (Boss The Queen), The Queen - Specializes in VIP bags, Duong Vu Xuan, and Guangzhou bags, were used to sell fake goods. The violators used an intermediary shop located on Ho Tung Mau street in Bac Tu Liem district in Hanoi to introduce goods. But in fact, this store did not have any products. All goods were stored at the warehouse in Vu Ban district in Nam Dinh province. "This has caused many difficulties for functional forces," Minh said. The fake goods have been temporarily seized and sealed for investigation. Anh Tuan Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-20 01:02:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIRUT, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The head of Mission and Force Commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) urged Lebanon and Israel to complete the visible marking of the Blue Line, a statement by the UNIFIL said Friday. "As always, we will work toward our goal of a cessation of hostilities and a sustainable peace in southern Lebanon. An important and practical part of this is to complete the marking of the Blue Line," Stefano Del Col said during a ceremony marking the 43rd anniversary of the UNIFIL's establishment in the Mission's headquarters in the southern city of Naqoura. The Blue Line is the UN-backed border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel. Del Col noted that marking the remaining parts of the Blue Line will help avoid accidental and unnecessary provocations that could escalate into conflict. So far, 272 markers have been installed, showing the precise path of the Blue Line. "It is now time to finish the job," the UN official said. Enditem Advertisement The Karakoram range contains the greatest concentration of high mountains in the world four of its peaks exceed 26,000 feet (7,900m), including K2, and the average height of the mountains there is 20,000 feet (6,100m). It's also a range that is breathtakingly dramatic, as these stunning photographs by Pole Tomasz Przychodzien show. Having read about Polish climbers slipping out from behind the Iron Curtain to climb mountains over 8,000 metres (26,246ft), he was inspired to follow in their footsteps though part-way to lower altitudes and photograph some of earth's loftiest peaks. A stunning picture taken by Tomasz of K2, the second-highest mountain on earth at 28,251ft (8,611m). It is part of the Karakoram mountains, which Tomasz hiked through in 2019. The whole expedition lasted 22 days and included an eight-day trek, with rest days, to K2 base camp, where he lingered for just a few hours before heading back The daunting Karakoram range is part of a complex of mountain ranges in central Asia that includes the Himalayas. It spans Tajikistan, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. Pictured is K2, which Tomasz says 'has the second-highest fatality rate of all 8000'ers [mountains over 8,000m]' When Tomasz first started researching the Karakoram mountains, he said it was 'love at first sight'. He added: 'They all seemed to be extremely pointed, inaccessible and intimidating. I didn't hesitate for a second to make up my mind whether I should go or not.' He is pictured above at K2 base camp, which is at 16,896ft (5,150m) Clouds swirl around K2 in a mystical image by Tomasz. He said: 'For a hiker, these mountains [the Karakoram range] are not dangerous, but imagining that there are people out there who actually summit them was unthinkable to me' The 36-year-old settled on Everest at first, but decided it was too 'ugly'. Then his research led him to the daunting Karakoram range, which is part of a complex of mountain ranges in central Asia that includes the Himalayas. It spans Tajikistan, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. He said: 'It turned out to be love at first sight. I was amazed at how many great peaks are located there. They all seemed to be extremely pointed, inaccessible and intimidating. I didn't hesitate for a second to make up my mind whether I should go or not. 'K2 was just a cherry on top. Cathedral Peak, Uli Biaho, Trango Towers, Masherbrum, Gasherbrum, Muztagh Tower, Marble Peak, Mitre Peak every single one of them is worth the journey. Not to mention numerous extraordinary often unnamed peaks.' Tomasz travelled to the Karakoram mountains in 2019. The whole expedition lasted 22 days and included an eight-day trek, with rest days, to K2 base camp at 16,896ft (5,150m), where he lingered for just a few hours before heading back. This incredible image is Tomasz's favourite. It shows a storm over the Trango Towers - a series of large rock towers popular with expert climbers that soar to 20,623ft (6,286m) at their highest point Tomasz snapped the Trango Towers, pictured, during a downpour on a trail in between Urdukas and Paiju on the return journey from K2 base camp Tomasz had to battle extreme weather in order to snap this stunning image of Trango Towers. He explained: 'It started inconspicuously as dark clouds came over the massif. In 10 minutes, the situation became dynamic, heavy rain enveloped the peaks. I was in the wrong place. The Trango massif was obscured by the folds of the glacier' It was quite the odyssey. He was a long way from home in an area with no internet or mobile signal and had to endure freezing temperatures as well as some hair-raising cliff-edge drives. The photographic dividends, though, were huge. Tomasz managed to capture the Karakoram range and its environment in all of its intimidating majesty - impossibly steep slopes, daunting pointed summits and ferocious weather that can close in at extremely short notice. During his trip, Tomasz snapped countless images - without using a drone - as 'seeing all those incredibly textured stone walls full of cracks creating unreal shadow play' made him 'dizzy'. This image shows Trango Castle, an 18,875ft/5753m-high peak that is part of the Trango Towers group Tomasz said: 'Seeing the peaks made me think of other mountains, for example, the Dolomites, as flatlands. Medieval sounding names like Trango Castle [pictured] and Cathedral Group only add to a dark mood and a dangerous aura surrounding them' Tomasz had to contend with no internet or mobile signal and had to endure freezing temperatures as well as some hair-raising cliff-edge drives during his expedition in the mountains. Pictured is the Trango Castle and the Nameless Tower peaks A mesmerising image of Trango Castle and the Nameless Tower. To start the expedition, Tomasz flew to the Pakistani city of Skardu, located in the GilgitBaltistan area, before travelling for a day in a jeep to Askole - the small town where the trek to K2 base camp began He said: 'For a hiker, these mountains are not dangerous, but imagining that there are people out there who actually summit them was unthinkable to me. 'K2 has the second-highest fatality rate of all 8000'ers [mountains over 8,000m]. Out of four people who attempt to climb it, one never returns home. But it's not only K2 up there numerous peaks on the way look impossible to climb. 'Seeing them made me think of other mountains, for example, the Dolomites, as flatlands. Medieval sounding names like Trango Castle and Cathedral Group only add to a dark mood and a dangerous aura surrounding them. The mountains are not always as friendly and colourful as you can see them on Instagram.' During his trip, Tomasz snapped countless images - without using a drone - as 'seeing all those incredibly textured stone walls full of cracks creating unreal shadow play' made him 'dizzy'. Thirty people took part in the trek from Askole to K2 base camp, including a tour leader, a tour guide, cooks and porters. Pictured is the Cathedral Peak, which stands at 19,120ft (5,828m). Tomasz passed it on the way to and from K2 base camp Each night on the trek Tomasz would sleep in a tent - although a 'thick air mattress and a down sleeping bag made the experience quite pleasant'. Pictured is the Cathedral Group of peaks surrounded by clouds Tomasz revealed: 'There are hardly any trees en route [to K2 base camp], only on the first few days. During three weeks up there, I saw some birds and mice, but that was it. The whole area is a very difficult place to exist, not only for humans.' Pictured is the Cathedral Group of peaks Another spell-binding shot of the Cathedral Group of peaks. While trekking, Tomasz would carry his photographic gear in a 15kg backpack along with his rain gear and three litres of drinking water. Everything else was carried by a porter Tomasz said: 'As for the mountains themselves I really appreciated the possibility to spend some one-on-one time with them. No mobile reception, no phone calls, no emails, no internet.' Pictured is the Cathedral Group of peaks His favourite shots are those of the Trango Towers - a series of large rock towers popular with expert climbers that soar to 20,623ft (6,286m) at their highest point. He battled extreme weather to snap them. He explained: 'I really like the photos of the downpour over Trango Towers. We were returning from Urdukas to Paiju on the way back from K2 base camp and there was no likelihood of having good conditions for photography. 'It started inconspicuously as dark clouds came over the massif. In 10 minutes, the situation became dynamic, heavy rain enveloped the peaks. I was in the wrong place. The Trango massif was obscured by the folds of the glacier. This beautiful shot was taken from the Urdukas camp and shows Baltoro Cathedrals - a series of rocky peaks overlooking the Baltoro Glacier, which is 39 miles long On the first part of the trek, temperatures were high and Tomasz said that the main difficulty was the 'burning sun'. However, as he got closer to K2 base camp, temperatures at night would plummet to freezing. Pictured is an unknown peak between Concordia and Urdukas camps, which are close to K2 base camp Tomasz explained: 'Unlike trekking in Greater Himalayas, the way to K2 leads only through rocky areas and glaciers. It looks like a desert made of stone and ice.' He snapped this dramatic scene near Paiju Peak 'To get a better view, I started running up the highest hill in the area, taking the shortcut through the mountains of loose stones off the trail. A strong wind was blowing. My legs were sagging between small stones - after every two steps up, I fell one step down. 'Within a dozen or so minutes, I covered about 100m (328ft) of elevation with a run. At an altitude of 3,500 to 4,000m (11,482 to 13,123ft), the effort was enormous. I couldn't catch my breath. The award was a few frames, of which I am very proud.' In order to reach the Karakoram mountains, Tomasz had to arrange logistics with a local tour agency based in Pakistan before he even left Poland and apply for a Pakistani visa. He then flew to the Pakistani city of Skardu, located in the GilgitBaltistan area, before travelling for a day in a jeep to Askole - the small town where the trek to K2 base camp began. Tomasz said: 'The first dangerous and interesting experience was the road to Askole itself as it is not paved, it's narrow, one-car-wide, unsecured and runs on the edge of steep cliffs. 'It was at this moment that I admired the exceptional skills of our Pakistani team for the first time. Our driver definitely deserved his tip.' An epic shot of Marble Peak, which stands at 20,524ft (6,256m). Tomasz snapped it from Concordia camp close to K2 This amazing image shows Nameless Tower - a large, pointed peak that is 20,469ft (6,239m) high. It is also called the Trango Tower Tomasz snapped this stunning image near the end of his trek in between Jhola and Askole. It shows the foot of Bakhordas - a 19,061ft (5,810m) mountain Thirty people took part in the trek from Askole to K2 base camp, including a tour leader, a tour guide, cooks and porters. Each night Tomasz would sleep in a tent - although a 'thick air mattress and a down sleeping bag made the experience quite pleasant', he added. On the first part of the trek, temperatures were high and Tomasz said that the main difficulty was the 'burning sun'. However, as he got closer to K2 base camp, temperatures at night would plummet to freezing. This meant he had to take clothes for every eventuality, including a rain jacket, rain trousers, trekking socks, lighter trousers, a lighter jacket and a thin merino wool hat. The changeable weather meant Tomasz had to take clothes for every eventuality. This included a rain jacket, rain trousers, trekking socks, lighter trousers, a lighter jacket and a thin merino wool hat. Pictured are clouds looming over the 21,868ft (6,610m) Paiju Peak Tomasz is planning to return to the Karakoram mountains later this year as part of a photography expedition. Pictured is Paiju Peak Tomasz said: 'Our team agreed on having some rest days, during which I could stare for a whole day at the amazing walls, such as Trango Towers or Gasherbrum [pictured], and of course, photograph them' A sensational image of Broad Peak, which is the 12th highest mountain in the world. It stands at 26,401ft (8,047m) Tomasz said: 'I don't really like the term jaw-dropping but being among these mountains was a truly extraordinary feeling.' Pictured is Gasherbrum IV - the world's 17th highest mountain at 26,001ft (7,925m) While trekking, he would carry his photographic gear in a 15kg backpack along with his rain gear and three litres of drinking water. Everything else was carried by a porter. Other home comforts that Tomasz had to go without amid the Karakoram range included mobile phone reception and internet, but he was grateful for the solitude. He explained: 'As for the mountains themselves I really appreciated the possibility to spend some one-on-one time with them. No mobile reception, no phone calls, no emails, no internet. 'Our team agreed on having some rest days, during which I could stare for a whole day at the amazing walls, such as Trango Towers or Gasherbrum, and of course, photograph them. 'This is a kind of slow photography that helps me better understand the surrounding landscapes and develop a stronger bond with the environment.' His solitude wasn't even interrupted by wildlife. On seeing the Karakoram mountains in real life, Tomasz said: 'The mountains are not always as friendly and colourful as you can see them on Instagram.' He added that he wasn't sure which peak this picture is of, but explained: 'It looks good!' A jaw-dropping shot of the Mitre Peak, which is near Concordia camp. It has an elevation of 19,720 ft (6,010m) This mesmerising picture shows the view from Concordia camp. Tomasz said: 'Most people imagine a paradise with warm water and palm trees around. This lunar desert made of endless glaciers and tons of rocks turned out to be my private paradise' Tomasz explained that he prefers a 'kind of slow photography that helps me better understand the surrounding landscapes and develop a stronger bond with the environment'. Pictured is Masherbrum, which is also known as K1. It rises to 25,659ft (7,821m) A sobering shot of the K2 Memorial, which honours those who have died trying to scale the mountain He explained: 'Unlike trekking in Greater Himalayas, the way to K2 leads only through rocky areas and glaciers. It looks like a desert made of stone and ice. The landscapes are lunar. 'There are hardly any trees en route, only on the first few days. During three weeks up there, I saw some birds and mice, but that was it. The whole area is a very difficult place to exist, not only for humans.' But despite the tough conditions, Tomasz is planning to return to the Karakoram mountains later this year as part of a photography expedition. He said: 'I don't really like the term jaw-dropping but being among these mountains was a truly extraordinary feeling. 'Most people imagine a paradise with warm water and palm trees around. This lunar desert made of endless glaciers and tons of rocks turned out to be my private paradise.' Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg is being investigated after she and her family broke the country's Covid-19 restrictions to celebrate her 60th birthday, police have said. Solberg gathered members of her family in the ski resort town of Geilo at the end of February in breach of restrictions limiting social interactions, public broadcaster NRK revealed on Thursday. The country's current rules limit the number of people attending a private event in a public space to ten. It is thought that 13 members of Solberg's family dined at a restaurant on February 25 - but that the Prime Minister was not present as she had to go to hospital with eye problems. The next day Solberg and her relatives violated another recommendation by having 14 people, four more than the limit, eating sushi in her flat. Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg (pictured during the trip to the ski resort) is being investigated after she and her family broke the country's Covid-19 restrictions to celebrate her 60th birthday The reports that Solberg breached the restrictions immediately sparked a furore on social media with some calling for her resignation. 'If the PRIME MINISTER, with hordes of advisors, can't figure out the rules, it's TOTALLY UNREASONABLE to expect the average person to do so,' one user on Twitter railed. Police have since released a statement that read: 'Against the background of information that has surfaced through the press, together with the prime minister's own statements, police have decided to initiate an investigation tied to a potential breach of the infectious disease regulation. 'The matter will then be evaluated by the prosecution authority in reference to a potential legal sanction.' Solberg gathered members of her family in the ski resort town of Geilo (stock image) at the end of February in breach of restrictions limiting social interactions, public broadcaster NRK revealed on Thursday The reports that 60-year-old Solberg (pictured) breached the restrictions immediately sparked a furore on social media with some calling for her resignation Solberg has already issued an apology on her Facebook page. In a post, published on Thursday evening, she wrote: 'I am sorry that my family and I have broken the corona regulations, that should never have happened. 'We of course should have followed all the recommendations, as I have asked you to do. She added: 'I'm especially thinking of all those who have had to cancel things they have looked forward to, a birthday with classmates, a celebration with friends or anything else that is important. 'I understand those who get angry and disappointed over this. I have made a mistake and for that I want to say I'm sorry.' In addition to the legal consequences, the outing could also have ramifications for the head of government's political career as the country heads into planned elections in September. Beirut, March 19 : The UN Security Council has urged Lebanon's political forces to accelerate cabinet formation and undertake necessary reforms to put the country on the path of recovery, according to a top official of the world body. The remarks on Thursday by Najat Rochdi, UN special coordinator for Lebanon, came after she virtually briefed Council members on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, which led to cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel in 2006, and the current situation in Beirut, reports Xinhua news agency. Rochdi said that the Council welcomed the role played by the Lebanese Armed Forces and security forces in safeguarding the country's sovereignty, security and stability during this very sensitive period, even though they were also impacted by the socio-economic crisis. The UN Security Council also reiterated its support for Lebanon, its people, its sovereignty and territorial integrity, she added. The Council's request came a day after Lebanese President Michel Aoun urged Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to step down if he is not capable of forming a cabinet immediately. "I ask the Prime Minister-designate to immediately form a cabinet capable of saving Lebanon from further collapse or step down and pave the way for other candidates to form a government," the President said in a televised speech on Wednesday evening. Hariri was assigned to form a new cabinet in October 2020, but he has failed to do so due to the disagreement over distribution of key ministerial portfolios among the different factions. Lebanon has witnessed a political deadlock since the resignation of Hassan Diab's government in the wake of the Port of Beirut blasts on August 4, 2020, which claimed the lives of 190 people, injured at least 6,000 others and left some 300,000 homeless.. Over a month later, former Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Adib announced of his failure to form a new government. Hariri was named the country's new premier in October 2020 to form a cabinet, a year after the eruption of nationwide anti-government protests that led to his resignation. The Beirut blasts and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic have exacerbated the country's economic situation, driving thousands of companies out of business while leaving thousands of people unemployed. Figures released by the World Bank showed that over 50 per cent of the Lebanese people have become "poor". This year, the Central Bank of Lebanon also tightened regulations against the country's banks, which compelled some of them to close branches and lay off employees to stay afloat. The national currency has slipped to a new low of 10,000 Lebanese pounds per $1. Air New Zealand will operate non-stop flights between Auckland and Tasmania as soon as a trans-Tasman bubble is established, the airline says. The Auckland-Hobart route is the first new international passenger service the airline has announced since the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed international air travel at the start of 2020. Tickets will go on sale once quarantine-free travel across the Tasman is available. Credit:Kevin Stent/Stuff The service will operate twice weekly all year round and tickets will go on sale once quarantine-free travel across the Tasman is available. The route was subject to final contract agreement and government and regulatory approval. Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin's 19-year-old daughter Amelia posed in a bikini on her Insta Stories this Thursday. Amelia, who has gone into the modeling business, also swung by her main page to post an album advertising the Flawless Nu Razor. Hours after her new posts her boyfriend Scott Disick, 37, could be seen on TV discussing his relationship with his ex Kourtney Kardashian, 41. Social media maven: Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin's 19-year-old daughter Amelia posed in a bikini on her Insta Stories this Thursday The conversation occurred on Thursday night's premiere episode of the last season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Scott revealed in that his close co-parenting relationship with Kourtney put strain on his relationship with his ex Sofia Richie whose father is Lionel Richie. In fact he even claimed that Sofia gave him an 'ultimatum' demanding he choose either her or Kourtney with whom he co-parents their three children. He made the bombshell allegation to Kourtney's sisters Kim and Khloe Kardashian, saying he tried to balance his girlfriend with his children's mother. 'Comfortable in my skin': Amelia, who has gone into the modeling business, also swung by her main page to post an album advertising the Flawless Nu Razor Posting up a storm: Hours after her new posts her boyfriend Scott Disick, 37, could be seen on TV discussing his relationship with his ex Kourtney Kardashian, 41 'NOT ME IN MY ELEMENT': Amelia could also be spotted on social media that evening enjoying an alfresco meal at a Los Angeles restaurant Although he attempted to have Sofia become 'more of a priority' he felt that she was 'wanting to push Kourtney out' of the equation, he alleged. In a separate conversation Scott also sat down with Kourtney and was candid with her about the role their dynamic played in his split with Sofia. 'When you first get with someone, everyone is like making changes and oh I will do anything because I'm so happy and so in love and so excited but then when it sinks in and it becomes real life it's a lot different,' Scott told Kourtney. Closeness: Amelia is 19, Sofia was 19 when Scott began dating her and before that he was linked to Bella Thorne when she was also 19; Scott and Amelia are pictured on her social media 'I don't think I could do it the other way around but I've always been clear that my priority has been my children, my life with them and I even put it out there that taking care of you is one of my priorities.' In a confessional he dished: 'I realize that Sofia has been an absolute trooper but the truth is anybody dating somebody is going to feel neglected when their significant other is spending more time with their ex than with them.' Amelia is 19, Sofia was 19 when Scott began dating her and before that he was linked to Bella Thorne when she was also 19. Throwback to 2017: Scott revealed in that his close co-parenting relationship with Kourtney put strain on his relationship with his ex Sofia Richie (left) whose father is Lionel Richie Meanwhile after her last split from Scott in 2015 Kourtney also spent some time involved with Algerian model Younes Bendjima who is 14 years her junior. At the moment she is running around with 45-year-old Travis Barker who became famous as the drummer for Blink-182. After Keeping Up With The Kardashian ends the Kardashian-Jenner women are heading to a mystery project at Hulu. A diverse group of journalists from a Christian reporter to a writer for a pornographic magazine have expressed concerns over the Biden administration's press policies that they say limit access to independent and foreign journalists and show favoritism to mainstream outlets. In an interview with The Christian Post, Matthew Anthony Harper, a White House investigative journalist who writes for the conservative Idaho-based InterMountain Christian News and has covered presidential administrations dating back to the Obama administration, said his access to the White House has been substantially reduced compared to the previous administration. Harper told CP he had access to the White House grounds seven days a week during the Trump administration, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. But now, he only has access to the complex one day a week. Harper characterized the Biden administration's new policy of allowing only 80 reporters into the complex at a time purportedly due to the pandemic in addition to a new policy requiring certain journalists to pay for their own coronavirus testing as a gross injustice putting a wall up for press access directly affecting our freedom of the press. Source:The Christian Post WASHINGTON, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fibroid Foundation is proud to endorse the 'Stephanie Tubbs Jones Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Act of 2021'. This important legislation was introduced on March 18, 2021, by Representative Yvette D. Clarke (NY-9). In the United States, an estimated 26,000,000 women between the ages of 15 and 50 have uterine fibroids.1 Uterine fibroids are the most common gynecologic condition in women2 , however, treatment options and medical research funding have yet to match the enormity of the affected community. The Fibroid Foundation Supports The 2021 Fibroid Bill Sateria Venable, Founder & CEO of The Fibroid Foundation, responded to yesterday's introduction of the Fibroid Bill by saying, "Consistent fibroid research funding will transform the quality of life for millions of women in the United States." Ultrasound screenings were used in the 2017, 'Uterine Fibroids: Burden and Unmet Medical Need' study. The tests revealed an "estimated cumulative incidence rate of UF (uterine fibroids) by the age of 50 is significantly higher in black women (80%) compared with white women (nearly 70%)."3 Annually, uterine fibroids account for approximately half of hysterectomies performed in the United States.4 Data has shown that there are cardiovascular risk factors associated with hysterectomy.5 According to The Fibroid Foundation, patients are suffering in silence. Community members express concerns about limited treatment options, the high cost of treatment, insurance coverage, and difficulty finding fibroid specialists. The organization recognizes the significant health disparities which impact its community and provides support with a unique patient perspective. To aid in the correction of those disparities, the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Act of 2021 will provide $150M to the National Institutes of Health. Legislative benefits of the Uterine Fibroid Act include: APPROPRIATION of $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026 Establish a RESEARCH database for treatment of fibroids Deliver REPORTING on State treatment expenditures COORDINATION of data and outcomes at the Federal level DISSEMINATE evidence-based care outcomes for individuals with fibroids The Fibroid Foundation, with members in most U.S. states, and 48 countries, develops annual programming centered on education, advocacy and access to treatment. This month, the organization announced the #askHER initiative, aimed at encouraging conversation about uterine fibroids. The initiative addresses the stigma surrounding menstrual awareness by promoting dialogue in support of those diagnosed with fibroids. The Fibroid Foundation is proud to support the 'Stephanie Tubbs Jones Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Act of 2021'. Uterine fibroids disproportionately impact those of African descent. The Fibroid Foundation is encouraged to see meaningful legislation aimed at addressing the public health crisis in the U.S. which is impacting patients and their families. We thank Representative Clarke and the Congressional Black Caucus on Women & Girls for their leadership and look forward to working in partnership with Congress, and the many supporting organizations of the 'Stephanie Tubbs Jones Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Act of 2021'. About The Fibroid Foundation The Fibroid Foundation is an organization founded by fibroid patient Sateria Venable in 2013 after her third of four fibroid surgeries. As the premier global community of fibroids patients, their mission is to: Be the voice of women living with fibroids. Create and support initiatives to find a cure for fibroids. Advocate for ongoing funding of patient-sensitive fibroids research. Erase the 'Stigma of Silence' around menstrual health. Minimize treatment disparities with layered patient support. The Foundation has 25 chapters and a readership of 29,000 people around the world. The Foundation is published in Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Green Journal and other medical journals. 'One woman at a time, we are showing the world that we are empowered and that we are driven to change our story!' 1Management of Uterine Fibroids 2The Health Disparities of Uterine Fibroids for African American Women: A Public Health Issue 3Uterine Fibroids: Burden and Unmet Medical Need 4The Estimated Annual Cost of Uterine Leiomyomata in the United States 5Clinical practice and research yields valuable data for management of uterine fibroids For Media Inquiries: Emma Jasper Phone: 240.621.0020 [email protected] If you are interested in partnering with The Fibroid Foundation, please visit https://www.fibroidfoundation.org/partners/ Related Images the-fibroid-foundation-supports.jpeg The Fibroid Foundation Supports The 2021 Fibroid Bill The Fibroid Foundation Supports The 2021 Fibroid Bill SOURCE The Fibroid Foundation 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| 2021-03-18 21:47:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan (L) receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Islamabad, Pakistan, March 18, 2021. Days after Pakistani president received a Sinopharm vaccine jab, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday also received his COVID-19 jab with Sinopharm vaccine. (Press Information Department of Pakistan/Handout via Xinhua) ISLAMABAD, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Days after Pakistani president received a Sinopharm vaccine jab, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday also received his COVID-19 jab with Sinopharm vaccine. Khan, 68, received his COVID-19 jab in Islamabad, Special Assistant to the Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Faisal Sultan confirmed. The Pakistani prime minister was administered the vaccine dose during the second phase of the vaccination process in the country in which people over 60 years of age are receiving vaccine doses. On the occasion, Khan stressed that people across the country should follow the standard operating procedures to fight against the third wave of COVID-19 in the country, according to a statement from the Prime Minister Office. On Monday, Pakistani President Arif Alvi and his wife Samina Alvi received their COVID-19 jabs with the Sinopharm vaccine in Islamabad. Pakistan on Wednesday received the second batch of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government. Pakistan officially launched its National COVID Immunization Program across the country in early February shortly after receiving the Chinese government-donated Sinopharm vaccines, with the frontline healthcare workers given the priority for inoculation. UP eases covid restrictions: Shops allowed to open on weekdays in districts with less than 600 active cases Uttar Pradesh: Opposition parties say Yogi Adityanath government's claim of decline in crimes far from truth India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Lucknow, Mar 19: On the completion of the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government's four years in office, opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh on Friday termed its claims of achievements as far from truth and alleged crimes especially those against women have increased in the state. Addressing a press conference on completion of four years of his government earlier in the day, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said his government's zero-tolerance policy towards crime and criminals has shown positive results in the past four years. In a tweet in Hindi, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said, "There is very little truth in the tall claims of achievements put forth by the BJP government of UP on completion of four years by issuing big advertisements, holing press conferences etc. in an extravagant manner. It would have been better had their claims benefitted the poor people at the ground level." Explained: How smaller parties are likely to play bigger role in Assam elections? Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav retweeted a party activist's tweet carrying a newspaper cutting which claimed that violence against women had doubled in Uttar Pradesh in the last four years. Earlier, Yadav in a tweet had said, "Today, the call of Haldhar Balarama will be raised from the land of Krishna, the mahapanchayat of farmers will change the history of our country" referring to the farmers' mahapanchayat organised in Mathura on Friday. At the state headquarters of the Congress party, senior leaders including Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President Ajay Kumar Lallu, Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra and party leader in Legislative Council Deepak Singh released a booklet on the "inefficiency of the BJP government". West Bengal elections 2021: Speaking against Modi is speaking against democracy, says Suvendu Adhikari In a tweet, Lallu said, "Hatred, unemployment, suicides, destruction of small industries, betrayal of farmers... this is what the BJP government of Uttar Pradesh has given in the last four years". "Today, a booklet has been released on the inefficiency of the BJP government. The situation in UP has worsened in the last four years. Uttar Pradesh is at the number one spot in terms of farmer suicides and crime against women," Lallu said. The state unit of the CPI (M-L), in a statement, said during the four years of the Yogi government, maximum damage has been done to civil liberties and constitutional democracy in the state. CPI (M-L) state secretary Sudhakar Yadav said, "The Yogi government has made the entire state an encounter state by considering every encounter as its achievement". For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 19, 2021, 18:14 [IST] Kameleon007/iStockBy CATHERINE THORBECKE, ABC News (AUSTIN, Texas) -- More than $29 million in unpaid electric bills are set to be forgiven as part of Griddy Energy's bankruptcy plan, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced. Griddy, the wholesale electricity provider that came under fire after many of its customers reported being hit with exorbitant bills during last month's severe weather, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this week. "My office sued Griddy Energy, under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, to hold them accountable for their escalation of last months winter storm disaster by debiting enormous amounts from customer accounts as Texans struggled to survive the storm," Paxton said in a statement earlier this week. "I ensured that Griddys proposed bankruptcy plan takes an important step forward by offering releases to approximately 24,000 former customers who owe $29.1 million in unpaid electric bills," Paxton added. The attorney general said his office is also engaged in "good faith negotiations" with Griddy to address additional relief for customers who have already paid their storm-related energy bills. A Griddy spokesperson declined ABC News' request for comment on Paxton's claims Thursday and referenced a statement the company released when it announced bankruptcy proceedings. In the statement, Griddy blamed the operators of the state's power grid, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, for hurting its business and causing financial harm to customers. Griddy also said that it did not profit from the winter storm crisis and provided real-time wholesale electricity prices to customers. The company added that it neither influences nor controls the price of electricity and the prices are passed directly to customers without markup. Finally, the company said that it earns the same $9.99 monthly fee regardless of the fluctuations in the price of electricity. "No retail energy provider or consumer should have to forecast and protect against such extreme and unforeseeable circumstances," said Griddy Co-Founder Gregory Craig. In a separate statement on Tuesday responding to the initial lawsuit against the company brought on by Paxton, Griddy told ABC News, "We are aware of the lawsuit filed by the Texas Attorney General against Griddy. We do not agree with the claims alleged in the complaint, and plan to vigorously defend against it. Until then the company has no further comment." Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. ANCHORAGE The Biden administrations first face-to-face encounter with China ended Friday after a vivid demonstration of how the worlds two largest economic and technological powers are facing a widening gulf of distrust and disagreements on a range of issues that will shape the global landscape for years to come. After an opening session on Thursday marked by mutual public denunciations, the two sides left an Anchorage hotel on Friday without any joint statement of their willingness to work together, even in areas where they both say they share mutual interests, from climate change to rolling back North Koreas nuclear arsenal. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken argued that simply hearing how differently President Biden and President Xi Jinping of China, who celebrated a wary friendship a decade ago, were now pursuing their priorities was valuable. We certainly know, and knew going in, that there are a number of areas where we are fundamentally at odds, Mr. Blinken told journalists after the Chinese diplomats left the venue without making any public statements or answering questions. And its no surprise that when we raised those issues, clearly and directly, we got a defensive response. Don't ask me where I'm from. My homeland is faraway on the other side of the world. I'm here for the olive trees, the little chirping birds, the merrily coursing streams in the valley, and the cavemen mentioned in the books of San Mao. In the Summer of 2008, I had an opportunity to visit Gran Canaria Island. Gran Canaria is one of Spain's Canary Islands, off northwestern Africa. It's well known for it's black lava and white sand beaches. Its capital city, Las Palmas, is located in the northeastern part of the island. After a 26-hour flight, in a summer morning, we found ourselves in this exotic place. The beach in the above picture is Playa De Las Canteras. It's the largest beach in the city. I swam there every afternoon after my daily adventure. The large building on the bottom left corner is Alfredo Kraus Auditorium, a fortress-like structure overlooking the beach. My husband had meetings there every day. Guayadeque ravine and cave homes were my first day trip after a two-day rest and recovery from jetlag. The valley follows N-W/S-E direction, and separates the two Spanish municipalities of Ingenio and Aguimes. The Guayadeque stream flows along the bottom of the valley. It's very refeshing to see a little stream merrily flowing in the middle of the hot, desert-like valley. I still remember the feeling when I sat at the bank of the stream listening to the pleasant water running sound after a long hike from the nearest city into the place where the cave homes are. I sat there thinking about how San Mao might have felt when she was there. Somehow, I felt I could relate myself to her. Cave church at cave village Barranco De Guayadeque. I was there and stood at the front doorway taking this picture. One of the cave homes. This house was open for visitors to view. Spain is famous for its ham. :) This is a cave restaurant (El Centro) at Montana de las tirras, located at the head of the Guayadeque ravine. This young man was working there that day. I ate lunch there. There were not many visitors. I asked him if I could take a picture of him and his restaurant. He graciously posed for me. After lunch, I sat by the stream for a while and did some more hike around that area, then headed back to the small town to catch a bus going back to Las Palomas. I don't speak any Spanish, only a few words. I traveled alone only carrying a map of Gran Canaria and my backpack. Sand dunes at Maspalomas. The Maspolamas Dunes are sand dunes located on the south coast of the island of Gran Canaria. They have been protected as a nature reserve since 1987. They were formed by sand from the now subdued marine shelf, when it was laid dry during the last ice age and the wind blew the sand towards the coast of the island. On my second day trip, I took a bus from Las Palomas all the way down to the south tip of the Island, where Maspalomas is located. After getting off the bus, I tred through the sand dunes as if I were walking in a desert. Beyond the sand dunes is the Atlantic Ocean. The beaches there are gorgeous. But be prepared, this is a nude beach. When walking down to the beach from the sand dunes, I was greeted by a group of naked people. Luckily, I went to a couple of nude beaches before, so I was not so shocked as the first time when I saw naked people walking towards me on a beach. I still vividly remember the first time when that happened. I turned around and ran back to my husband (then boyfriend) who was a few steps behind me. That concluded my a few days of visit to Gran Canaria. If one day you have a chance to go there, don't forget to take a hike in the Guayadeque Ravine, visit the beaches at Maspalomas, and of course the capital city of Las Palomas! Olive Tree (Covers Chi Yu I'm having a very sad day. I was not able to do any work this morning, so I decided to work on this piece to distract myself from the sad thing. Life is still beautiful! >>> NEW YORK, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mazars, a leading audit, tax, and advisory firm in the US, announced that they have expanded their consulting services for Dynamics 365 Commerce through a partnership with Adyen (AMS: ADYEN) for integrated omnichannel payments. Adyen is the payments platform of choice for many of the world's leading companies, providing a modern end-to-end infrastructure connecting directly to Visa, Mastercard, and consumers' globally preferred payment methods. Adyen delivers frictionless payments across online, mobile, and in-store channels. With offices across the world, Adyen serves customers including Facebook, Uber, Spotify, Casper, Bonobos and L'Oreal. Adyen has designed the standard payment connector from within Microsoft Dynamics 365 in close partnership with Microsoft. Adyen's payments connector provides a seamless unified commerce experience for Microsoft Dynamics merchants across all channels including point of sale, eCommerce websites, and call centers. Recurring tokens are shared across all channels and all orders can be settled from any channel. The connector supports many popular payment methods with little or no additional integration or development needed. "Adyen is excited to have Mazars as our trusted Microsoft Dynamics Commerce implementation partner. We wish Mazars the greatest success as we together assist our mutual clients in leveraging the benefits of Microsoft's Retail Cloud offerings as well as Adyen's global payment capabilities," said Gary Yang, SVP Global Head of Partnerships and Account Management at Adyen. Ivan Cole, Managing Director, Mazars US, Management & Technology Consulting, Microsoft Cloud Platform, said, "The Mazars USA Microsoft Business Applications practice has a close partnership with Adyen working together to design the best payment implementation architectures for our mutual clients." Contacts Beth More, Mazars USA LLP, [email protected] Makovsky, [email protected] About Mazars in the US Mazars USA LLP is an independent member firm of Mazars Group, an international audit, tax and advisory organization with operations in over 90 countries. With roots going back to 1921 in the US, the firm has significant national presence in strategic geographies, providing seamless access to 26,000+ professionals around the world. Our industry specialists deliver tailored services to a wide range of clients across sectors, including individuals, high-growth emerging companies, privately-owned businesses and large enterprises. SOURCE Mazars USA LLP A restaurant on the Bui Vien walking street in HCMC's District 1 closes down with all the Lunar New Year decorations, February 9, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Van. HCMC authorities have allowed 500 karaoke parlors and 180 bars and dance clubs to resume operations Friday night after over a month of closure. The closure had been ordered amid the nations third Covid-19 outbreak and the reopening follows the city going 36 clean days without any community transmission. However, business establishments have to ensure adoption of pandemic prevention measures regulated by the Health Ministry. Vietnam's largest city had shut down all non-essential services on February 9 after registering a series of community transmissions linked to a cluster at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Of the 36 community transmissions HCMC has recorded in the nations latest outbreak that began on Jan. 28, one is linked to Hai Duong Province, Vietnam's current Covid-19 epicenter, and 35 with the airport. 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. WAAY 31 crews witnessed a water rescue on Thursday after interviewing a pastor about his church flooding on Oakwood Boulevard in Sheffield. Around 2:45 p.m., sirens and a man screaming for help could be heard from the parking lot of Lifesong Church. Sheffield Police told WAAY 31 a neighbor called in to report that a man was in the flooded retention ponds. John Gerald King John Gerald King That's when Joshua Grigsby and his dad, Pastor Mark Grigsby, ran to the man in the water. The Grigsbys said the water was pretty deep and very cold. The man went underwater a few times. As all of this was happening, police and firefighters were on scene jumping into the water to help, too, but Grigsby was closer. "I just knew there weren't any other police or firemen close by. They were coming from the other side of the pond, and that's a long way. I had to get there...I just had to get there," said Joshua Grigsby. Police said they do believe the man could have been on something or having a mental episode, because he told them his kid was in the water, but after an extensive search with K-9 units and boats, no child was found. The man, 37-year-old John Gerald King, was taken to the Sheffield City Jail to be evaluated by a mental health officer. Police determined his daughter was safe in a nearby city. King is in jail for multiple charges, including reckless endangerment for putting first responders in grave danger. Photo: (Photo : Photo by @ATLINtownPaper from Twitter) The trail of the spa shooting suspect Robert Aaron Long became red hot after Cherokee County deputies received a surveillance video of the suspect leaving the Young's Asian Massage near Acworth on Tuesday afternoon. Long's parents pursued help from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office in locating their son. They also told deputies that a tracking device in his car, a Hyundai Tucson, might lead authorities to him. Jay Baker, a spokesman for the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, said he didn't know why Long was being tracked or if he was aware of it. They do know that Long, who is accused of fatally shooting eight people at three metro Atlanta massage parlors on Tuesday, March 16, would not have been arrested if not for the GPS tracker and his parents' cooperation. Bottoms said that it could have been a lot worse. Bottoms also continued: "There would almost definitely have been more victims." Long, 21, admitted to police that he struggled with sexual addiction and regularly visited the three parlors where the victims, all Asian women except for two, were shot and killed. Long was not motivated by racial prejudice, according to Baker. Long regarded Florida as a sexual hotspot and "an outlet for something he shouldn't be doing." Spas in the Atlanta area were "temptations to him that he wanted to avoid," Baker said. READ: "Her Brain Was Exposed": Teens Charged for Murder of Denver Woman Atlanta authorities responded to a robbery alarm at Gold's Spa on Piedmont Road when Cherokee deputies met with Long's parents. At the time, Long was going south. Cherokee Sheriff Frank Reynolds had called the Georgia State Patrol and Crisp County Sheriff Bill Hancock, who was waiting for him. Long's dark-colored Hyundai was seen driving south on I-75 near Cordele around 8:30 p.m. by troopers and Crisp deputies. After a brief pursuit, police used the PIT maneuver, forcing a fleeing vehicle to suddenly turn sideways, making the driver lose control and come to a halt. In his car, police discovered a 9 mm handgun. Long allegedly confessed to the killings and claimed that he was acting alone, according to police. He was returned to Cherokee County and is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday. Baker then explained that Long had been fed up and that day of the shooting has been a "terrible day" for him, thus why he did what he did. ALSO READ: Texas Baby Killed, Brother Wounded in the Shooting of a Teenager The Atlanta spa shooting incident The first spa shooting incident occurred at Young's Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth, Highway 92, about 30 miles north of Atlanta. Around 5 p.m., police received a call about a shooting and discovered five people had been wounded. Two people have been killed, whereas three other people have been taken to a local hospital, where two more died. Baker said the fifth individual was hurt but was in good condition on Wednesday. An hour later, at the Gold Spa and the Aromatherapy Spa on Piedmont Road in Atlanta, two more shootings occurred across the street from each other. Sheriff Reynolds said his office released the suspect's surveillance images right away, and Long's family called the office, assuming their son was involved. The spa shooting suspect was Robert Aaron Long, 21, from Woodstock, Georgia. He was officially charged with eight counts of murder in all three shootings on Wednesday, March 17. READ MORE: Man Allegedly Uses "Blackface" as Disguise to Murder the Mother of His Child The Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari made a Suo Moto Statement in the Parliament today on proposed "Vehicle Scrapping Policy" on Thursday. India has 51 lakh Light Motor Vehicles which are older than 20 years and 34 lakh Light Motor Vehicles which are older than 15 years. Around 17 lakh Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles are older than 15 years without valid fitness certificate. Older vehicles pollute the environment 10 to 12 times more than fit vehicles and pose a risk to road safety. In the interest of a clean environment and rider and pedestrian safety, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is introducing the Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization Program or "Vehicle Scrapping Policy" which is aimed at creating an Eco-System for phasing out of Unfit and Polluting Vehicles. The objectives of the policy are to reduce population of old and defective vehicles, achieve reduction in vehicular air pollutants to fulfil India's climate commitments, improve road and vehicular safety, achieve better fuel efficiency, formalize the currently informal vehicle scrapping industry and boost availability of low-cost raw materials for automotive, steel and electronics industry. The ecosystem is expected to attract additional investments of around Rs. 10,000 Crore and 35,000 job opportunities. It is proposed that Private Vehicles be de-registered after 20 years if found unfit or in case of a failure to renew registration certificate. As a disincentive measure, increased re-registration fees will be applicable for private vehicles 15 year onwards from the date of initial registration. It is being proposed that all vehicles of the Central Government, State Government, Municipal Corporation, Panchayats, State Transport Undertakings, Public Sector Undertakings and autonomous bodies with the Union and State Governments may be de-registered and scrapped after 15 years from the date of registration. The scheme shall provide strong incentives to owners of old vehicles to scrap old and unfit vehicles through registered scrapping centres, which shall provide the owners with a scrapping certificate. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) INDIANAPOLIS, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanctuary Wealth, home to the next generation of elite advisors, welcomes Cedar Gap Wealth Management as the 45th advisor team and 5th Texas team to choose Sanctuary's partnered independence model. Since 2008, Michael Hull and Ben McAnally, the firm's founders, have worked together as the Hull & McAnally Group at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in Abilene, Texas. "This is shaping up to be another dynamic year for Sanctuary Wealth's growth trajectory and we couldn't be more pleased that Michael and Ben decided that our model of partnered independence is the right approach for their practice and their clients," said Jim Dickson, CEO and Founder of Sanctuary Wealth. "In addition to a strong pipeline of new teams, we will be unveiling a number of additional platform enhancements throughout 2021." "We agreed a long time ago that any move we made would have to benefit our clients first and us second," said Michael Hull, CPFA, CRPC, Co-Founder of Cedar Gap Wealth Management. "With Sanctuary, we have much more control over how we run our business. There's a lot more we can do now to tailor our meeting approach, our fee structure and what investments we recommend to clients." Cedar Gap works with high-net-worth individuals and families as well as advises businesses, trusts, and ERISA programs in the areas of asset management, succession planning and liability management. Both Hull and McAnally hold the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC) designation in addition to the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) and Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFA) credential. "The real purpose for starting Cedar Gap Wealth Management is to continue to further grow and deepen client relationships," explained Ben McAnally, CPFA, CRPC, Co-Founder of Cedar Gap Wealth Management. "We believe the Sanctuary Wealth platform offers our clients the best products and services and we really felt at home with a company that speaks the same language as us. With this partnership, we have complete independence but with the knowledge that if we need it, advice, guidance or help is never far away." "I've worked with Michael and Ben at their previous firm and have seen for myself how fiercely devoted they are to their clients, which is just one of the reasons I'm excited that they've chosen Sanctuary Wealth," said Vince Fertitta, President, Wealth Management, Sanctuary Wealth. "As employees they built a successful practice from the ground up, but as with our other partners, they have the entrepreneurial spirit and want to build something that they will own and control. And Sanctuary will help them make that happen." About Sanctuary Wealth Sanctuary Wealth (sanctuarywealth.com/) is the advanced platform for the next generation of elite advisors, who have the entrepreneurial spirit to build and own their own practices and desire the freedom to deliver the tailored service their clients deserve. Sanctuary's ecosystem of partnered independence provides a complete technology and operations platform, as well as support from a community of like-minded advisors and the resources of invaluable affiliated businesses. Currently, the Sanctuary Wealth network includes 45 partner firms across 18 states with over $15.0 billion in assets under advisement. The Sanctuary Wealth Group includes the fully owned subsidiaries Sanctuary Advisors, a registered investment adviser, and the broker-dealer Sanctuary Securities, as well as Sanctuary Alterative Solutions, Sanctuary Insurance Solutions, Sanctuary Global, and Sanctuary Global Tax and Family Office. CONTACT: Michaela Morales JConnelly 973 224 7152 [email protected] SOURCE Sanctuary Wealth Related Links https://sanctuarywealth.com Local featured Local artists Tilley & Alpha attribute success to teaching daughters to dream gjuarez / GRACE JUAREZ/ The Lufkin Daily News Local band Tilley & Alpha have been rising stars over the last 10 months, releasing more than 20 songs together. But they attribute their success to one goal showing their daughters it is possible to chase your dreams. From left are Nacogdoches native Darrel Derbin and Huntington native Justin Tilley. Contributed Local artists Tilley & Alpha pose with Jay Azbell for a song they produced together, No Back Home. Contributed Local band Tilley & Alpha are up and coming in the music business. From their first show of 20 people at Lugnutz months ago, they have progressed to a point where they are now planning a show of more than 10,000 in Afton, Oklahoma, in June at the Grand Meridian 4th annual Jam. When it comes to Justin Tilley and Darrell Derbin, theyll tell you they never expected to be performing in front of thousands and producing records at, well, record speed. The duo began Tilley & Alpha 10 months ago and have produced more than 20 tracks and two albums together since. But it all started when Tilleys daughter was having some doubts about her dream of posting videos on TikTok. I told her you cant be afraid to do something just because somebody might not like it. You have to chase your dreams, Tilley said. She said to me, well, that guitars sat out there since I was born and you aint done nothing with it because youve been too scared to do anything with it. He told her he would do something with it. Thats when Derbin comes into the story. He was working at a radio station at the time. Years ago, he had produced rap music but had stopped when he daughter was born to provide. A few of his co-workers at the station encouraged him to try and get back into music with them, and he produced a few songs. One of the songs was a joke video he tried as his first foray into country rap, which just so happened to go viral. Thats how he found me, Derbin said. He contacted me and said, hey, do you want to collaborate, and I was like, sure. I was actually on my way out; I wasnt even doing it seriously. Then I found out he was trying to prove something to his daughter, so it inspired me to do the same. Derbin and Tilley both have daughters of the same age, and through their duo, they have been able to accomplish what they set out to do. I want her to know she can do anything, Tilley said. Your daddy was 35 when he tried something, and he pulled it off. Basically, just try. You dont have to be successful at it, but dont be afraid to try. Be yourself, Derbin said. Dont be afraid to be who you are. Reach as high as you can, and once you get that far, reach further. From their first show at Lugnutz in front of 20 people, they have progressed to a point where they are now planning a show in June in front of more than 10,000 people in Afton, Oklahoma, at the Grand Meridian 4th annual Jam. We never dreamed this was going to happen, Tilley said. We always thought people were going to laugh or nobody was going to hear it to begin with. Even if we had to do a show in the backyard to show them we could do it, thats what we were going to do, Derbin said. We had no idea wed be performing for hundreds, sometimes thousands of people. The artists work through many styles and have produced with others like Jay Azbell. One of the most impactful moments they shared was when they were invited to perform their song This Ride at an anti-bullying benefit in Iowa. Its crazy the messages we get, Derbin said. Money would be nice to where we could make a living doing this full time, but at the same time, I think thats better than money sometimes. People get to actually benefit from your music that you write. I think thats a better feeling than a check. While they have accomplished the goal they originally set out to accomplish, the two said they would like to see how far they can go. They have turned down two record deals with companies out of Nashville and are in talks with another now. Their music can be found on platforms like Spotify and YouTube under the name Tilley & Alpha Norris. The Norris will soon be dropped, they say. Updates on their shows and news can be found on social media, as well. The lungs Bill Thompson was born with told a gruesome, harrowing and unmistakable tale to Dr. Anthony Szema when he analyzed them and found the black spots, scarring, partially combusted jet fuel and metal inside. The retired Army staff sergeant had suffered catastrophic lung damage from breathing incinerated waste burned in massive open-air pits and probably other irritants during his tour of duty in Iraq. Theres black spots that are burns, particles all over; theres metal. It was all scarred," said Szema, a pulmonologist and professor who studies toxic exposures and examined Thompson's preserved lung tissue. "There was no gas exchange anywhere in that lung. Thompson is still alive, surviving on his second transplanted set of lungs. Yet the story burned into the veterans internal organs is not one that has been entirely convincing to the U.S. government. The military has not linked the burn pits to illness. That means many who were exposed to burn pits and are sick do not qualify for benefits under any existing program. Retirement and health benefits for members of the military depend on factors like length of service, active or reserve status, deployments to combat zones and whether the military considers specific injuries or illnesses to be service-related. Thompson has been able to get care through the Department of Veterans Affairs for his lung disease but has not been able to secure other benefits, like early retirement pay. I was denied my Army retirement because if it was not a combat action, then I dont receive that retirement, Thompson said at a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing last week on service members exposures to toxic substances. Thompson is one of at least 3.5 million veterans since 2001 who have served in war zones where the U.S. military decided to dispose of its trash by burning it, according to VA estimates. Its not clear how many people within that population have gotten sick from exposure. Only a small fraction 234,000 have enrolled in the VAs online burn pit registry. Veterans advocacy groups have said the majority of claims to the agency stemming from toxic exposures are denied, even as most former service members report contacts with toxins in their deployments. Soldiers returning from tours in the global war on terror have reported debilitating illnesses almost from its beginning, but got little traction with the military. This year, though, the likelihood of congressional action is high, with Democrats expressing interest and a president who suspects burn pits are to blame for his sons death. President Joe Bidens son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46. He had deployed to Iraq in two sites with burn pits at Baghdad and Balad around the same time Thompson was at Camp Striker, near the Baghdad airport. Because of exposure to burn pits in my view, I cant prove it yet he came back with stage 4 glioblastoma, Biden said in a 2019 speech. In testimony at the March 10 hearing, Shane Liermann, who works for the group Disabled American Veterans, told the committee that 78% of burn pit claims are denied. Part of the problem is VA is not recognizing that exposure as being toxic exposures, Liermann said. Aleks Morosky, with the Wounded Warrior Project, said that in his groups survey of 28,000 veterans last year, 71% said they had "definitely" been exposed to toxic substances or hazardous chemicals, and 18% said they had "probably" been exposed. Half of those people rated their health as poor or fair. Only about 16% of the service members who believed they had suffered exposure said they got treatment from the VA, and 11% said they were denied treatment. Thompson, who is 49, said care for his lung disease is often slow and sometimes denied. It took the VA three years to approve an air purifier for his home to filter out allergens, and the VA refused to help pay for the removal of dust-trapping carpets, he said. Thompsons presence at the hearing, though, was not just meant to put the spotlight on the VA. The militarys entire approach to toxic exposure is a morass that leaves ill soldiers and veterans like Thompson trying to navigate a bureaucracy more labyrinthine than the Pentagons corridors. After Thompson was shipped back to Fort Stewart in Georgia, his medical ordeal was at first addressed within the military system, including a year at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where doctors found his lungs filled with titanium, magnesium, iron and silica. Yet he said he didnt qualify for the Armys traumatic-injury insurance program, which might have helped him pay to retrofit his home in West Virginia. And he cant get his military retirement pay until hes 60. I may not live to be age 60. I turn 50 this year, Thompson said. Illustrating the problem, several officials at the hearing with the Department of Defense, the Army and the National Guard were unable to explain why Thompson with 23 years of service between the Guard and Army might have such a hard time qualifying for retirement benefits when the evidence of his lungs and the findings of the Armys own doctors are so vivid and extreme. For advocates who have been working on the problem for decades, it reminds them all too vividly of Agent Orange, which the military is still coming to grips with. Its already been, since the first Persian Gulf [War] were talking 30 years and since burn pits were again active, since 2001, said Liermann. Were way behind the curve here. Although Congress has done relatively little to deal with burn pits, many members seem to at least be thinking along the same lines. The Senate Veterans Affairs hearing promised to be something of a kickoff to a year when lawmakers are poised to offer a slew of bills designed to confront the militarys inability to care for service members poisoned during their deployments. Make no mistake about it, said the committee chairman, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). We hold these hearings for two reasons: to gather information for the committee members and to help educate the VA that they might take action before Congress does. Republicans have also shown growing interest in the problem, offering targeted bills to ensure a handful of toxin-related diseases are covered by the VA. At the hearing, conservative freshman Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) seemed especially moved. We got to do a better job of taking care of our young people, Tuberville said. If were going to go to war, we got to understand we got to pay the price for it on both ends. There is also likely to be high-profile support and attention when revised legislation starts rolling out this spring. The broadest bill likely to be offered was first introduced by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in the Senate and Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) in the House in late 2019, with a boost from former "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart and a cadre of 9/11 responders who are turning their attention to toxic exposures. Indeed, Ruiz and Gillibrands legislation is modeled in part on the 9/11 health act that passed in 2015. The burn pit bill would remove the burden of proving a service-related connection. It would vastly simplify the lives of people like Thompson. I am a warrior of the United States of America. I gave my lungs for my country, Thompson said. He was cut off before he could finish, but his prepared remarks concluded, Hopefully, after hearing my story, it will bring awareness for not only me but others who are battling the same or similar injuries related to burn pit exposures from Iraq or Afghanistan." .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Over the last year, the lack of broadband access in New Mexico was on full display. Our expansive state needs innovative, cost-effective solutions to this problem. We are business leaders, spanning six different sectors, taking part in the Leadership Albuquerque program through the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. We believe broadband access is critical to our economic growth and well-being. Broadband brings people together teachers to students, doctors to patients, first responders to the sick or hurting, and family members to one another. It enables the connections we need in order to learn, grow and lead productive and healthy lives. As such, we support Senate Bill 360, which would allow unused fiber called dark fiber that is already in the ground across New Mexico to extend broadband access to rural communities. Sponsored by Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, the bill would reduce the need to build new broadband infrastructure across miles and miles of land by using what we already have to reach our most vulnerable communities. Heres how SB 360 works: ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Utility companies lay ground wire across New Mexico to bring us electricity. They must negotiate with landowners to secure rights of way across potentially thousands of parcels of land. Often, the ground wire contains fiber optics, and utilities will typically not use all the fibers in the bundle. SB 360 would allow these unused fibers to be used by telecommunications providers to bring the internet to most anywhere its lacking. Electric utilities ground wires would provide middle mile capacity, leveraging existing rights of way, without the need to build new infrastructure. Telecommunications companies would pay the utility a fee to use the lines, and the fee would be credited back to ratepayers. Think about all the in-ground fiber running between electric transmission facilities in New Mexico. Every strand represents an opportunity to improve someones life. When students were sent home due to COVID-19, one in five did not have internet access. When doctors were unable to see patients in-person, they turned to telehealth for everything from critical behavioral health visits and well-checks for babies to post-op monitoring. Even this years legislative session is occurring primarily virtually, with public participation limited to those who can webcast meetings and provide video testimony. We have long known that New Mexico ranks among the least-connected states in the nation, but the pandemic amplified the seriousness of this challenge. By passing SB 360, the Legislature would extend the internet across New Mexico faster and less expensively than it could be done otherwise, providing access to medical care, access to education and resources, and access to the world. A supporter of this bill, named Sarah, recently said, Equitable access to internet is a necessity in todays work and school environments, not a commodity. We agree and urge the Legislature to pass SB 360. This was also signed by Leadership Albuquerque 2021 class members Rose Nelson, Gabe Castro, Mark Arnold, Suzanne Mirabal, Sandy Mwei and Michal Kuca. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 Oregon Coast Natural Science and Author Events: Coos Bay, Lincoln City, Cape Falcon Published 03/19/21 at 1:50 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Oregon Coast) Perhaps the one and only advantage in these COVID times is the fact that most events along the Oregon coast are reachable from anywhere, instead of having to drive hundreds of miles to Coos Bay or Cannon Beach. Four different virtual events around the coast delve into things like bird monitoring, sea level rise, crabs and an author who specializes in unicorns. April 6. First Tuesday Talk. The Coos History Museum is bringing its First Tuesday Talk program back to the southern Oregon coast on April 6 at 6:30 PM via Zoom. This month's topic will focus on the ODCC: Enhancing the Image of Oregon Dungeness Crab and feature speaker Tim Novotny, Communications Manager for the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission. Tim will uncovers the history of how the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission came to exist and for what purpose. Learn about this unique organization, and the important roles the commission plays today, especially in the name of the official state crustacean, the Dungeness Crab. This program is available to all, with a suggested donation of $5.00, or pay what you can. You can learn more, register, and make a donation on the Coos History Museum website (cooshistory.org/events/first-tuesday-talks-apr/) or by contacting us at 541-756-6320. On Wednesday, March 24 at 3 p.m., Lincoln City's Driftwood Public Library will host a live virtual author talk with Dana Simpson, the bestselling cartoonist behind Phoebe and Her Unicorn. Alongside the event, Driftwood staff will present a virtual unicorn storytime, as well as a take-and-make unicorn craft. The comic strip, which is syndicated in over 100 newspapers nationwide, tells the story of nine-year-old Phoebe Howell's humorous adventures with her best friend, a unicorn named Marigold Heavenly Nostrils. The collected editions of the comic strips and associated graphic novels have regularly appeared on the New York Times bestseller lists for children's graphic novels, have received the Pacific Northwest Book Award and the Washington State Book Award, and are perennial favorites at Driftwood Public Library. The comic is also in development by Nickelodeon as a children's series. The virtual talk is open to all ages and will take place virtually via Zoom. Ms. Simpson's presentation will be geared toward children, and kids are encouraged to ask questions about her work and Phoebe's world. To register for the event, contact Rachel Humpert at rhumpert@lincolncity.org. Perfect for families on the central Oregon coast for spring break, craft kits can be picked up via the library's curbside service from Monday March 22 through Friday, March 26 while supplies last. Curbside hours are 1 PM 5 PM Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, and from 10 AM 2 PM on Thursdays. For more information about these events or to learn more about the library's other services, contact Library Director Kirsten Brodbeck-Kenney at 541-996-1251, or via email at kbrodbeck-kenney@lincolncity.org. On the north Oregon coast, the Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve and the Portland Auduban have come up with virtual events where you can help by getting involved - or at least tickle your brain. Tuesday, March 30 at 6 p.m. Bird Monitoring. Are you curious about how you can help protect coastal wildlife while enjoying the outdoors? Join the group for a light overview of four bird monitoring community science projects happening this spring and summer. Find out what it's like to participate, how the information collected is used, and why it is important. This event is co-hosted by the Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve and Portland Audubon, and will be presented using Zoom. Free registration at Eventbrite.com is required. There are even prizes involved. Thursday, April 8 at 7 p.m. Preparing for Sea Level Rise in Oregon. Learn about the expected impacts of sea level rise along the Oregon coast and how the Oregon Coastal Management Program is planning to help communities and partners address these impacts over time in this online talk by Meg Reed, Coastal Shores Specialist. The OCMP is currently in the process of creating guidance for local governments to address sea level rise, to be completed this coming summer, with additional resources to come over the next year and a half. This work is actively ongoing at OCMP. This event is part of Lower Nehalem Watershed Council's winter speaker series, and is co-hosted by Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve. MORE PHOTOS BELOW Oregon Coast Hotels in these areas - South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Keywords: Oregon Coast, science, events, travel, beaches, Coos Bay, Cannon Beach, Manzanita, Rockaway Beach, Newport, Bandon, Pacific City, Lincoln City, Depoe Bay, Reedsport, Port Orford, Gold Beach, Brookings YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan has released facts on the policy of spreading ethnic-religious based hatred by the top leadership of Azerbaijan. We publish only facts and questions arising from those facts. What is this, if not ethnic-religious based hatred at the highest level of government; what is this, if not evidence of the policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide in Artsakh; what is this, if not fascism? The words of the President of Azerbaijan in literal translation during his visit of the XII century Surb Astvatsatsin Armenian Church in the village of Tsakuri, in the Hadrut region of Artsakh: This is an Albanian church. The Armenians tried to Armenianize this church, they wrote inscriptions in Armenian here, but they did not succeed. This is our ancient temple, the temple of our oudi brothers, they too will come here. Just as our mosques were desecrated, so were the ancient Albanian temples desecrated by the Armenians. But we will restore, all these writings are false. These are the posts added later. They have created a false story for themselves. Meanwhile, they did not succeed. () Is a Turkish mosque. They falsified everything and turned it into a garbage dump. "Look at what theyve done to place, and then they say it is Armenian." The 12th century Surb Astvatsatsin church in Tsakuri village is the former monastery complex of the village "Tsaghkavank", from which the "Surb Astvatsatsin" church has been preserved. According to the khachkars, it dates back to 1198 and differs by its round door. The church is a masterpiece of medieval architecture and culture of Artsakh. A few days ago, it was confirmed that the church of St. John the Baptist, popularly known as "Green Hour" in the Azerbaijani-controlled town of Shushi, had been destroyed. Moreover, the church was destroyed not during the war, not during the armed attacks, but afterwards. These facts have been recorded by the Republic of Armenia Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its March 18, 2021 statement, the Ombudsman said in a statement, adding that he will send the records of these facts to the relevant international bodies. But we especially note that for years in Azerbaijan hatred and enmity towards Armenians has been sown in this way at the highest state level, and it is not only hatred based on ethnicity, but it is also religious hatred. The facts published by this statement clearly prove that in during the September-November war in Artsakh, the Azerbaijani authorities carried out ethnic cleansing and a policy of genocide; and, that policy continues today. These same speeches and words of the President of Azerbaijan inspired the Azerbaijani soldiers to torture and behead, dismember bodies and commit other atrocities against Armenian servicemen and civilians in the April 2016 April and during the September-November 2020 war, Arman Tatoyan stated. Former Florida Senator Arrested For Violating Election Laws Former Republican senator in Florida, Frank Artiles, was charged Thursday with campaign finance violations related to last years Miami-Dade state senate race, authorities said. Artiles, 47, who resigned in 2017 after making racially inflammatory remarks toward colleagues, was charged with three criminal counts involving a sham candidate intended to siphon votes away from a Democratic incumbent. Authorities said the former senator from the Miami area turned himself in a day after his Palmetto Bay house was raided and searched by Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office investigators. According to an arrest warrant, Artiles gave nearly $45,000 to the shadow candidate in last years election. That candidate, 55-year-old Alex Rodriguez, has the same last name as the then-Democratic incumbent, Jose Javier Rodriguez. The fake candidate, an auto-parts dealer who lives in Boca Raton, ran as an independent in the election which was narrowly secured by Republican Ileana Garcia by 32 votes, out of some 215,000 votes cast. Rodriguez was also charged with election law violations in connection with the scheme. Rodriguez would run as an independent with the same last name as the incumbent candidate (Jose Javier Rodriguez) in an attempt to confuse voters and siphon votes from the incumbent, the affidavit says. State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle told reporters at a press briefing that the scheme violates everything that should be honest and straightforward about our elections. What is a crime is making illegal campaign contributions to get a candidate to run, she added. Where it goes from here, we dont know. We have not completed this investigation. Artiles and Rodriguez face the same charges: making or receiving two or more campaign contributions over or in excess of the limits; conspiracy to make or receive two or more campaign contributions over or in excess of the limits, and false swearing in connection with voting or elections. William Barzee, attorney for Rodriguez, appeared to accuse Artiles of taking advantage of his client. Frank Artiles and his co-conspirators knew they couldnt beat Jose Javier Rodriguez in a fair election, so they rigged it, Barzee told WSVN. Artiles cynically targeted and used a vulnerable friend with a great name in order to confuse voters and steal the election. Alex Rodriguez deeply regrets allowing himself to be used in this way and hopes that by coming forth with the truth he can help to right these wrongs. Attorney for Artiles, Greg Chonillo, told CNN shortly before his clients arrest that he has been cooperative since the inception of this investigation as well as during the execution of the search warrant. Due to the nature of the charges and potential litigation, we will not comment on any information related to this matter. We fully intend to defend any charges in Court. Artiles, a Cuban-American, served three terms in the state House from a Miami-Dade district and then was elected to the Senate before his resignation. He also served in the Marine Corps. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. CONSUMERS have been warned by the Central Bank about five unauthorised firms offering loans to people. It is a criminal office for an unauthorised firm or person to provide financial services in Ireland that would require an authorisation under the relevant legislation, the regulator said. Last week it warned about four unauthorised firms offering loans. In its latest warning notice, the Central Bank said Quick Loans Ireland was advertising loans on its website but it holds no authorisation from the Central Bank as a retail credit firm. Read More It had a website at Quickloansireland.com but this is no longer available. Likewise, Onehourloan was offering loans at Onehourloan.net but the website is no longer available, the regulator said. It is not authorised by the Central Bank to provide financial services. The website of Fouchard Credit, at Fouchardcredit.com, is still available, but it is not authorised by the Central Bank to provide financial services. The unauthorised Cheetah Money has cloned the trading name and details and Companies Registration Office number and address of a firm which is an approved distributor of a legitimate firm authorised by the Central Bank. The Cheetah Money (Clone) (Ireland) websites at Cheetahmoney.org and Cheetahmoney.wixsite.com/loans are no longer operational. The firm has also cloned the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) registration details of the same distributor and legitimate firm authorised by the FCA in the UK. The firm has also cloned the details of HSBC Bank Plc which is a legitimate firm authorised by both the Central Bank of Ireland and the FCA in the UK, the Central Bank here said. Last week it warned that The Loans Tree, Vera Loans, Leading Lends, and Direct Lends had no authorisation from it to operate here. Consumers were told that if they deal with a firm that is not authorised, they are not eligible for compensation from the Investor Compensation Scheme. Anyone who wants to contact the Central Bank with information on any unauthorised firm or person can telephone (01) 224 4000. This line is also available to the public to check if a firm is authorised. A list of unauthorised firms published to date is available on the Central Bank website at CentralBank.ie. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Advertisement Europe's rush to ban the AstraZeneca vaccine over sporadic reports of blood clots may have cost 'thousands' of lives, experts have said, as EU regulators gave their definitive verdict that the jab is safe and effective. A series of countries including Germany, France and Italy have already U-turned and said they will resume AstraZeneca shots after EU safety experts said there was no increased risk of blood clots. But Peter Openshaw, a professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said the temporary stoppage in more than a dozen EU countries was likely to 'translate into many, many lives lost due to Covid'. 'Because of this delay, and because of the uncertainty now of the vaccine in some people's minds...I think it will probably run to thousands of lives that have been lost,' he told Times Radio. Italy has already had to scrap 200,000 injections because of the AstraZeneca delay, while a survey published this week found that 49 per cent of Italians had their confidence in vaccines shaken by the furore. German immunologist Carsten Watzl warned of more deaths after tens of thousands of appointments were missed - urging people to take AstraZeneca's jab rather than wait for the Pfizer/BioNTech one co-developed in Germany. And the delays will continue in Norway, Denmark and Sweden where authorities have said they will continue their own investigations despite the EU, WHO, UK and AstraZeneca's findings that the jab is safe. Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Portugal, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia and Bulgaria have all said they will resume vaccinations, as a third wave of infections gathers momentum on much of the continent. On Friday, France's ambassador to the UK inadvertently showed up her countrymen by revealing that she has been vaccinated with an AstraZeneca job on the NHS - while back at home France's vaccination drive stalls, with regulators adding another complication today by saying that under-55s should not get the jab. Ambassador Catherine Colonna uploaded a certificate showing she had been vaccinated to Twitter on Friday, with 'AstraZeneca' clearly visible at the top of the NHS slip. 'Done and safe,' she wrote. Meanwhile in Germany, the president of Baden-Wuerttemberg state Winfried Kretschmann was photographed getting an AstraZeneca shot in an attempt to rebuild confidence in the jab. The countries in green have already reinstated the AstraZeneca vaccine while those in red have yet to make an announcement or say that they will not immediately restart the jabs. Those in orange banned a particular batch of doses, while the countries in grey - including the UK - remained unmoved by the blood clot fears all along The European Medicines Agency press conference this afternoon, at which the Executive Director Emer Cooke (left) announced: 'This is a safe and effective vaccine' A man gets his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Wednesday in Belgium, one of the countries which has resisted the rush to suspend the jab over sporadic cases of blood clots Catherine Colonna, French ambassador to the UK, inadvertently showed up her countrymen on Friday by revealing she had been given an AstraZeneca jab in this country - while her home nation's vaccination scheme flounders The UK is still streets ahead of EU countries in distributing vaccine doses, with Hungary outperforming some of its neighbours after breaking away and buying its own shots from China and Russia The EU's slow progress on vaccinations is putting countries at risk of devastating third waves, with nations including Germany, Italy and France all seeing infection rates climb again this month France announced new lockdown measures for Paris last night while the Czech Republic has extended its own shutdown until Easter as vaccines come too slowly to keep the EU's 447million people safe. While ten countries have said they will resume AstraZeneca shots, others including Iceland, and the Republic of Ireland have yet to lift the ban while Denmark, Sweden and Norway are reacting cautiously to the EMA's ruling. Irish health officials are set to consider the EMA's ruling on Friday, after 30,000 people had their vaccinations delayed when Dublin suspended AstraZeneca shots. Denmark's medicines agency said it would wait for the two-week ban to expire before deciding whether to resume shots, saying it was still investigating whether there were 'rare but serious' blood clots caused by the vaccine. In Sweden, John Carlson of the country's public health agency said it would 'need a few days to analyse the situation and how the AstraZeneca vaccine can be used in Sweden'. And in Norway, the Institute of Public Health said it 'took note' of the EMA's ruling but said it was 'premature' to lift the ban at this stage. 'Vaccinations with AstraZeneca will remain suspended until we have a full view of the situation,' institute director Camilla Stoltenberg told the media. Emer Cooke, the head of the European Medicines Agency, had told a press conference on Thursday: 'This is a safe and effective vaccine. When you vaccinate millions of people, it's inevitable that rare or serious instances of illnesses will occur in the time immediately following the vaccination.' The agency said that it had not uncovered any issues with specific batches of the AstraZeneca jab and that the numbers of blood clots reported were lower than would be expected in the general population. Sabine Straus, the chair of the investigating safety panel, said that 'because the vaccine is effective in preventing Covid-19, which in itself is a cause of blood clots, it likely reduces the risk of blood clots overall.' Hours earlier, the UK's equivalent watchdog, the MHRA, said that after a 'thorough and careful review' it had found no evidence that blood clots were occurring more often than in the general population. The EMA said it could not definitively rule out a link between blood clot incidents and the vaccine in its investigation into a handful of adverse reactions. But Cooke said the 'clear' conclusion of the review was that the 'benefits in protecting people from Covid-19 with the associated risk of death or hospitalisation outweigh the possible risks.' The agency will however update its guidance to include an explanation about the potential risks on both the patient leaflet and in the information for healthcare professionals, she said. The EU's blood clot fiasco has added to the bloc's vaccination chaos after supply problems, bureaucratic health systems and stashes of unused AstraZeneca shots left the bloc languishing behind Britain in the vaccine race. AstraZeneca's product was already struggling for popularity in Europe after top officials feuded with the firm in a post-Brexit row over supplies and then cast unfounded doubts on its efficacy in over-65s. The EU is threatening to block shipments to Britain as it plays hardball over supplies, prompting anger in Whitehall with cabinet minister Robert Jenrick saying today he was 'surprised and disappointed' by Brussels' stance. But Europe is struggling to shift the jabs that it does have - with former Finnish PM Alexander Stubb claiming that 40 per cent of the vaccines bought by the EU are 'laying around in various storage in European member states'. The head of a Spanish vaccinology group warned that the suspensions have already caused 'fear and panic', telling El Pais that 'we will have to move heaven and earth to recover the credibility of this vaccine'. Sweden says it will not immediately reinstate AstraZeneca shots despite the EMA's findings on Thursday. It comes with infections rising again (left) while deaths are still significantly lower than the peak (right) Ursula von der Leyen has told Britain to hand over doses of AstraZeneca vaccine or else risk seeing jab exports from the continent blocked, despite the fact that most of Europe has halted its use Figures from AstraZeneca and the European Medicines Agency show the number of blood clot-related conditions from 17million doses dished out in the UK and Europe up to March 13 Winfried Kretschmann, the leader of Baden-Wuerttemberg state in Germany, was photographed getting an AstraZeneca shot as European leaders try to rebuild confidence in the vaccine Macron is under fire in France with opponents saying that 'when you hit the emergency brake, with a weekend lockdown for example, it's because you've failed with all the rest'. 'Let's be clear, we're in a third wave mostly down to the rise of this famous British variant,' Macron said on Wednesday after a day of talks with medical staff and local mayors in the Paris area. The French president had previously been criticised for rubbishing the AstraZeneca vaccine as 'quasi-ineffective' in older people in what was seen as an act of post-Brexit ill will. England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam weighed in to defend the vaccine on Wednesday, saying that the jabs 'don't save lives if they're in the fridge'. Van-Tam said there was 'a lot of evidence emerging now that is reassuring, that there is no overall excess signal or increased risk' of blood clots or related events. The World Health Organization also said on Wednesday that it was better to take the AstraZeneca vaccine than not - adding that it was looking into available data on the shot. The cases which have surfaced include a handful of people taken to hospital in Norway, an Austrian nurse who died soon after the shot and a specific type of blood clot which Germany says is happening more than usual. But none of these have been proven to result from the vaccine, and both UK and EU scientists have said the number of blood clots overall does not seem to be higher than in the general population. Panic set in amid reports of blood clots after AstraZeneca's vaccine, but data shows the same number of clots occurred after Pfizer vaccines - which Europe continues to use - and that none of the clots are actually linked to the shots This chart shows that deaths during the UK's second wave (in red) have come down more rapidly than the first (blue), hinting at a visible effect of Britain's rapid vaccination campaign Dr Stephen Griffin, a medical professor at the University of Leeds, said that 'even in the worst-case scenario' if there were found to be a link, the benefits of using the vaccine would still 'likely vastly outweigh' the risks. 'It should also be noted that nationwide gestures such as this are bound to fuel hesitancy, or more extreme anti-vaccine sentiment, further undermining the vaccination effort,' he said. Scientists say that the likelihood of 'random clotting-related events' might be higher because mainly older and clinically vulnerable people have been given the jabs so far. As doubts continue over Europe's AstraZeneca campaign, calls have continued for the EU to turn to Russia for its Sputnik V jabs in what would amount to a major propaganda coup for the Kremlin. Three state premiers in Germany - all from the former East Germany where Russian-made vaccines were commonplace - have this week voiced support for Sputnik V, which has not yet been ruled on by EU regulators. Meanwhile, Czech president Milos Zeman has blamed his country's high death toll on the failure to use non-Western jabs such as Sputnik V and the Chinese-made Sinopharm option, according to Czech media. Amos Garcia, president of the Spanish Vaccinology Association, said it will be difficult for governments to rebuild trust in the overall coronavirus vaccination program, no matter what the EMA announces. 'The problem when a vaccine is put in doubt is not that it affects that vaccine, but that it affects the whole vaccination world,' he said. 'Possibly there has been an excess of zeal' among governments like Spain's that suspended vaccinations, he said, while Spanish health minister Carolina Darias defended the decision to put a hold on the shots. The AstraZeneca row comes amid fury at EU chief Ursula von der Leyen over her threat to ban vaccine exports to countries such as Britain which have made more progress than the 28-member union. Von der Leyen was rebuked by UK ministers after airing frustration over a lack of deliveries from AstraZeneca plants in Britain and saying that 'all options are on the table'. 'We are in the crisis of the century, and I'm not ruling out any anything for now, because we have to make sure that Europeans are vaccinated as soon as possible,' the German former defence minister said. Health secretary Matt Hancock said Britain had a legal right to doses of the vaccine that it helped develop in the UK. 'We set up the supply chain, not just here in the UK but indeed, we helped set up the supply chain in the EU,' he said at a Downing Street news conference. 'We legally signed a contract for delivery of the first 100 million doses here for people in the UK, as you would expect, both to ensure that people in the UK can get their jab and also because this is a UK-funded, UK-delivered vaccine.' The Department of Health and Social Care said 25,273,226 in the UK have received their first dose of AstraZeneca of Pfizer vaccine between December 8 and March 16 A researcher working on the AstraZeneca vaccine in a laboratory at Oxford's Jenner Institute, which helped to develop the shot - leading Britain to say that it has a right to the doses it ordered despite the EU's threat to block exports Foreign secretary Dominic Raab accused the European Commission of brinkmanship, calling on von der Leyen to explain her comments. 'I think it takes some explaining because the world's watching... It also cuts across the direct assurances that we had from the Commission,' Raab said. 'We expect those assurances and legal, contracted supply to be respected. He said von der Leyen's comments contradicted assurances he had been given by Commission vice president Valdis Dombrovskis and by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. 'We were reliably informed that they weren't aware of any plans to restrict lawfully contracted supply to the UK,' Raab said. 'Keeping supply chains open, keeping trade and vital supplies of medical equipment and vaccines is critically important,' he said. 'We've all been arguing for this'. EU leaders were accused of playing politics after a series of governments suspended the AstraZeneca jabs in quick succession, with Italy admitting that the move was a political one. German health minister Jens Spahn was accused by the opposition of caving in to political pressure by announcing the stoppage on Monday, which another German MP described as a potential 'catastrophe'. 'If AstraZeneca were completely dropped, that would be a catastrophe for Germany but also for the EU... there's no other vaccine that can replace it before the summer,' said epidemiologist-turned-politician Karl Lauterbach. Frank Ulrich Montgomery, a German doctor and council chair of the World Medical Association, warned: 'The bottom line is that this good and effective vaccine is hardly going to gain higher acceptance as a result of this kerfuffle and the suspension in many countries'. At a Downing Street press conference last night, Health Secretary Matt Hancock (pictured) said Britain had a legal right to doses of the vaccine that it helped develop in the UK In France, a medical union condemned Macron's move to suspend vaccinations on Monday, accusing him of 'giving in to panic' and failing to consult doctors. The syndicate of private doctors 'believes that the subject of vaccination and the fight against Covid-19 is too serious to be left in the hands of politicians', it said. 'No clear instructions are given to doctors, who find themselves in the greatest embarrassment in the face of patients who are made more sceptical every day by the government's multiple communication errors'. Meanwhile the head of Italy's medicines authority contradicted the government in Rome, which also suspended the shot, by saying that 'the choice is a political one' and declaring that the vaccine is safe. Nicola Magrini said there had been eight deaths and four cases of serious side-effects in Italy - which has suffered 103,432 confirmed deaths from Covid-19 - but no link to the AstraZeneca shots has been proven. 'We got to the point of a suspension because several European countries, including Germany and France, preferred to interrupt vaccinations... to put them on hold in order to carry out checks. The choice is a political one,' Magrini said. The EU's lack of progress means that while Britain moves closer to lifting restrictions, many European countries face the prospect of lockdowns being tightened again in the coming weeks. The vaccine concerns come as several European countries face alarming third waves of the disease which are forcing them to extend or toughen lockdown measures. In the Czech Republic, tight travel restrictions have been extended until after Easter in a bid to slow the spread of the British variant. The country currently has nearly 9,000 Covid-19 patients in hospital and almost 2,000 in intensive care, both figures close to an all-time high. 'We're not in a situation to afford any major changes,' health minister Jan Blatny announced. 'I'm terribly sorry about that.' The UK strain is also blamed for resurgences in France and Germany, with Emmanuel Macron saying that 'this famous British variant' was the reason for the third wave in Paris. The French capital has been put under month-long restrictions with shops closed and people once again required to fill out forms to justify their movements. France's restaurants, bars, cinemas, gyms, museums, theatres and concert halls have been shut down for almost five months, and will remain closed. However, a nationwide curfew that was put in place to stave off a third lockdown will be moved from 6pm to 7pm to account for longer evenings, the government says. Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) MLAs protested inside the Vidhana Soudha on Thursday demanding parity in the funds allotted to them by the state government, prompting CM BS Yediyurappa to pacify them personally. The JD(S) MLAs claimed that they were not receiving funds as much as other MLAs were getting and demanded CM Yediyurappa to ensure parity in the funds allotted to the legislators. Following the protest, CM Yediyurappa personally sat down with the legislators and assured them that he would ensure they would be allotted funds as per their requirements. JD(S) not BJP's B-team says Kumaraswamy Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday affirmed that the Janata Dal (Secular) is not Bharatiya Janata Party's B-team, and can contest elections on their own. This comes in response to a 'B-team' dig made by Rahul Gandhi in 2018 and reiterated thereafter on several occasions. He also took the occasion to refute Congress' allegations that the JDS is against the Muslim community, and went on to state that they had fielded a suitable Muslim Candidate for the Basavakalyan constituency. "Congress keeps saying that we are BJP's 'B' team and that we are against the Muslim community, which is not true. We have chosen a suitable Muslim candidate for Basavakalyan and bother national parties must know that we can contest elections on our merit," he said. The collapse of JD(S)-Congress government While BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 104 seats in the 2018 Karnataka Assembly election, Yediyurappa had to resign merely two days after taking oath as the CM owing to his party's inability to muster a majority in the state Assembly. Kumaraswamy was sworn-in as the CM on May 23, 2018, after JD(S) and Congress stitched a post-poll alliance. The infighting within the alliance intensified after BJP swept Karnataka in the 2019 General Election by winning 25 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats. The crisis for the coalition government commenced on July 6, 2019, when 12 legislators submitted their resignations to the Karnataka Speaker's office. Soon, the number of rebel MLAs swelled to 17 which led to Governor Vajubhai Vala asking the government to prove its majority on the floor of the House. As a three-judge Supreme Court bench refused to compel the rebel MLAs to attend the Assembly proceedings, the JD(S)-Congress government lost the trust vote on July 23, 2019. Speaking to the media on December 5, 2020, Kumaraswamy contended that he fell into a trap by agreeing to form the government with Congress after the 2018 Karnataka poll verdict. According to him, he could have retained the Chief Minister's post even now if JD(S) allied with BJP. Moreover, he accused former CM and Congress' Siddaramaiah of conspiring against him. Indian business tycoon Anand Mahindra took to Twitter to share an old picture featuring him with late theoretical physicist and the century's biggest scientist Stephen Hawking. The Mahindra Group Chairman told his fans that the picture was from Hawking's visit to Mumbai in 2001. A friend of Mahindra shared this "Blast from the past" picture from her archive, the 65-year-old business magnate revealed. Mahindra also said that the auto team at Mahindra Group had created a specially kitted minivan for Hawking's Mumbai visit so he could travel comfortably within the city. "Blast from the past! Thanks to a friend who shared this pic from her archives; from Stephen Hawking's visit to Mumbai in 2001," wrote Mahindra. "I was particularly proud that our auto team created a specially kitted minivan for him so he could travel with ease throughout the city," he added. Blast from the past! Thanks to a friend who shared this pic from her archives; from Stephen Hawkings visit to Mumbai in 2001. I was particularly proud that our auto team created a specially kitted minivan for him so he could travel with ease throughout the city. pic.twitter.com/ka003zKpV6 anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) March 18, 2021 Hawking, the celebrated scientist and author of A Brief History of Time, spent much of his life in a wheelchair, steadily losing control over his muscles because of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Hawking was first diagnosed with ALS at age 21. The British physicist came to India in January 2001. During his 16-day long tour, Hawking addressed an international physics seminar at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). He was felicitated with the first Sarojini Damodaran Fellowship during the 'Strings 2001' conference. The physicist also celebrated his 59th birthday at the Oberoi Towers hotel where he stayed. He also met then-president KR Narayanan at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Hawking also visited Jantar Mantar and Qutab Minar. Hawking, who shaped modern cosmology and inspired millions despite suffering from a life-threatening condition, died on March 14, 2018. He was 76. Also read: Ambani bomb scare: Sachin Vaze's 3 companies under NIA scanner Also read: Facebook working on an Instagram app for kids under 13 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. Stanbridge University Creates Free COVID Screening App PR Newswire IRVINE, Calif., March 18, 2021 IRVINE, Calif., March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- With students in nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy and veterinary science , one thing was clear to Stanbridge University when the coronavirus started shutting down much of the world last spring: their students needed to be back on campus for essential lab and clinical learning, but only if it could be done safely. The student presents a green "Day Pass" which grants access into the building. Campus Screen App is one of the many ways Stanbridge has protected its community after students restarted clinical training in May. Yasith Weerasuriya, President of Stanbridge University, said their students got back into their clinical settings starting May 1, thanks to exemptions in the California Governor's mandate that allowed essential healthcare workforce training institutions to continue unaffected by the stay-at-home mandate. "We certainly followed all the best practices in social distancing, masks use and all the other additional protocols to make sure everyone was safe," Weerasuriya said. But Stanbridge University also did much more. Weerasuriya said they were concerned that if they were asking people to self-screen at the entryways to the buildings, an individual may potentially already be symptomatic. "So we developed an app that would allow all of our community to self-screen at home before they got into the car," he furthered. "It was a major task for our in-house software development team to do this." "The Campus Screen app, which is available for free download at the Apple and Google stores, allows people to present a visual pass which is good for up to 8 hours to on-campus screeners," explained Stanbridge's president. Students, faculty, and staff hold up their phone and show the green day pass to the monitors located at each building entrance. And for those individuals screening at home with a yellow or red pass, it is a visual alert for them to seek additional medical attention. The Campus Screen app is available at no cost for any school to download and is currently being used by universities such as the University of Missouri-St. Louis and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Story continues Everything that the app recommends follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. The main advantage of the app is that it made entry into buildings easier and quicker since students, faculty and staff just had to show the green pass instead of answering questions or filling a questionnaire. In addition to the app, Stanbridge University implemented walk-through, touchless thermal scanners at each entrance after the app screening is shown and partnered with Curative to offer free, drive through testing. To find out more about Stanbridge University, please visit www.stanbridge.edu. CONTACT: Sarah Hamilton, shamilton@stanbridge.edu Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stanbridge-university-creates-free-covid-screening-app-301250747.html SOURCE Stanbridge University Major left-leaning U.S. press outlets are largely avoiding mention of President Joe Biden's repeated stumbles as he boarded Air Force One, while many foreign publications are devoting prominent coverage to the incident. As of Friday afternoon, the homepages of MSNBC, CBS News, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and New York Times had no mention of Biden's stumbling incident earlier in the day at Joint Base Andrews. The news blackout was not strictly partisan, with the homepage of right-leaning One America News Network also omitting any mention of Biden's repeated tripping. Several U.S. publications did devote prominent homepage space to Biden's stumble, including TMZ, Fox News, the New York Post, New York Daily News, and Politico. The Drudge Report led with an image of the stumble and banner headline reading 'BIDEN FALLS AGAIN MONTHS AFTER INJURING FOOT'. Biden stumbled three times in a row as he climbed the steps to Air Force One on Friday, but many major U.S. press outlets were silent on the incident The New York Times and several other major US outlets had no mention of Biden's stumble on their homepage as of Friday afternoon Even right-leaning OAN did not devote homepage space to Biden's stumble CNN and ABC News carried brief items on the White House statement that Biden was 'just fine' after tripping, and NBC News featured a link to a video of the incident well below the fold. And New York Times photojournalist Doug Mills did tweet a photo of the incident with a succinct caption explaining '@POTUS stumbles as he walks up the steps of Air Force One,' but was blasted with furious criticism from Biden supporters on Twitter. 'What the hell?' fumed media critic Jeff Jarvis in response to Mills' tweet. 'The stumble is yours.' Internationally, a number major foreign outlets featured prominent homepage coverage of the stumbling incident, including the UK's Mirror, Sun, Telegraph and Times. Prominent news outlets in Spain and Australia also devoted homepage space to Biden's repeated tripping on the Air Force One stairs. New York Times photojournalist Doug Mills drew fierce criticism from liberal critics for tweeting a photo of Biden's stumbles The Drudge Report was among a number of outlets that did devote prominent homepage coverage to the incident, noting it comes months after Biden injured his foot In contrast to the lack of interest in Biden's stumbles, mainstream U.S. outlets heavily covered an incident last year, in which Trump took mincing baby-steps down a ramp at West Point, which he later explained was 'very slippery.' Although Trump did not stumble during the incident, it sparked rampant speculation about his health and criticism over his capacities, including from Biden himself. 'Look at how he steps and look at how I step,' Biden said in September 2020, in a clip featured on CNN. 'Watch how I run up ramps and he stumbles down ramps. OK? Come on.' 'Trump's West Point walk sparks questions about his health,' read one CNN headline. 'Trump tries to explain his slow and unsteady walk down a ramp at West Point,' a Washington Post headline ran. Internationally, foreign outlets expressed much more interest in Biden's stumble than US press. UK red tops including the Mirror and Sun splashed coverage of the incident 'Unsteady appearance prompts new scrutiny of Trump's health,' read the headline of an MSNBC article, which also highlighted Trump's use of two hands to sip a cup of water at the West Point event. The contrast drew accusations of a double standard from some conservatives and Trump supporters, who accused the U.S. press of covering up the awkward incident. 'I remember the press bashing Trump for touching the rail once. Biden falls repeatedly but I'm sure he's the picture of health. No wonder all our enemies are pouncing simultaneously and mocking him publicly,' wrote Don Trump Jr in a tweet. Comedian Tim Young poked fun at coverage of the incident, tweeting: 'Media stories today: Far-right conspiracy theorists allege that Joe Biden appears to take a brief stumble while on the strongest and most powerful walk any modern President has taken up a staircase into Air Force One.' 'Fact checkers: Mostly false - potentially manipulated media,' he added. Donald Trump Jr. said it was 'no wonder' the US was being attacked by 'enemies' Russia and China when Biden's health is in question Biden, 78, was boarding the aircraft at Joint Base Andrews just before noon for a flight to Atlanta when he stumbled. He gripped on to the railing, steadied himself and kept going but lost his footing a second time and then a third. On the third trip, he fell to his knees. He got back up then carried on up the stairs before giving a salute at the top then disappearing into the aircraft. After Biden boarded Air Force One, reporters bombarded White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre with questions about the stumble during an in-flight gaggle. 'We saw the president take a fall on the stairs, is he doing okay?' asked one reporter. 'Well, it's pretty windy outside, it's very windy, I almost fell coming up the steps myself. He's doing 100% fine,' Jean-Pierre replied. A White House pool report was issued by the reporters traveling with Biden within seconds of the fall but it was not covered extensively by major news networks for around 30 minutes after it happened and it is missing from the websites of many major outlets. Last year, media outlets including CNN, MSNBC and the Washington Post were quick to say that Trump's ginger steps down a ramp raised questions about his health Once he landed in Atlanta, President Biden remained on AF1 a short while until Vice President Kamala Harris - who had flown separately on AF2 - joined him on board. The White House said it was to discuss their agenda for the day. She then disembarked with him, walking behind him as he slowly descended the stairs. The fall does nothing to reduce concern for and speculation over Biden's cognitive health which was has grown in recent months thanks to a series of mix-ups on his behalf. The White House and Biden's camp routinely play down concerns about his health and insist he is fit to lead. Biden is the oldest President in history; Ronald Reagan was 77 when he left office and he was 69 when he was elected. Trump was 70 when elected and was 74 when he left office earlier this year. Trinamool Congress (TMC) parliamentary delegation is scheduled to meet the (ECI) on Friday in Delhi at 12 noon. The meeting will see discussions on important issues related to free and fair conduct of the upcoming Assembly polls. Saugata Roy, Yashwant Sinha, Md Nadimul Haque, Pratima Mondal, and Mahua Moitra will be representing the Trinamool Congress. Yashwant Sinha, who had recently joined the Trinamool Congress, was appointed the Vice President of the Mamata Banerjee-led party ahead of the Assembly polls. Elections to the 294-member state 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. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Simon Lewis (Reuters) - World leaders from Washington to Singapore have condemned a military coup in Myanmar, urging generals to halt a deadly crackdown on demonstrators, release detainees including civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and restore the elected government. Some countries have followed up with targeted financial sanctions in hopes of putting the squeeze on the generals who staged the Feb. 1 coup and convince them to change course. With the European Union set to approve sanctions on Myanmar next week, here is a snapshot of other actions around the globe. UNITED STATES President Joe Biden condemned the coup and issued an executive order on Feb. 11 that paved the way for new sanctions against the Myanmar military and its interests. The order froze about $1 billion in reserves Myanmar's central bank was holding at the New York Fed, which the junta had attempted to withdraw after seizing power. Some Myanmar generals, including Commander in Chief Min Aung Hlaing, were already under U.S. human rights sanctions over their role in a bloody campaign against the Rohingya Muslim minority that sparked a refugee crisis in 2017. U.S. Treasury sanctions last month targeted 14 Myanmar officers involved in the coup, along with some military companies involved in the gemstone industry, freezing any U.S. assets they hold and barring Americans from dealing with them. Min Aung Hlaings children and companies they control were later hit with the same sanctions. Four military-controlled ministries and conglomerates were placed under sanctions by the U.S. Commerce Department on March 4. Those measures require U.S. suppliers to seek difficult-to-obtain licences to export goods to the ministries of defence and home affairs, and to military conglomerates Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited and Myanmar Economic Corporation. EUROPEAN UNION The European Union is set to impose sanctions on Myanmar's armed forces to target businesses they run. They will be agreed by EU foreign ministers on Monday. Story continues Sanctions would target companies "generating revenue for, or providing financial support to, the Myanmar Armed Forces", according to documents seen by Reuters. The bloc sought to avoid measures that would harm ordinary people. While the bloc has an arms embargo on Myanmar, and has targeted some senior military officials since 2018, the measures would be its most significant response since the coup. UNITED NATIONS Action against the junta from the international body has been stifled by Russia and China, which hold vetoes over the U.N. Security Council votes needed to impose U.N. sanctions or arms embargoes. The two countries shielded Myanmar from any strong council action over the 2017 Rohingya crisis and argue that Myanmars political situation is an internal matter. The 15-member Security Council has issued two statements expressing concern and condemning violence against protesters, but dropped language condemning the army takeover as a coup and threatening possible further action due to opposition by China, Russia, India and Vietnam. Negotiations on the statements - issued in February and March - signalled that the council could struggle to do much more on Myanmar. OTHER NATIONS New Zealand announced a week after the coup that it was suspending high-level contacts with Myanmar and imposing a travel ban on military leaders. Britain and Canada imposed their own sanctions on Feb. 13. Britain said it would impose asset freezes and travel bans on three generals while Canada blacklisted nine military officials. Britain has also taken measures to prevent British aid indirectly helping the junta. Australia on March 7 said it was suspending its limited cooperation with the Myanmar military and would redirect aid bound for the government to aid groups. Aside from sanctions, some overseas firms and investors who had business links with Myanmar's military, like Japan's Kirin Holdings Co, have cut those ties. (Reporting by Simon Lewis; additional reporting by John Geddie and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Nick Macfie) Former Irish President Mary McAleese has challenged Catholic bishops to acknowledge that the language used in the Vatican's recent document on blessing gay unions is "gratuitously cruel in the extreme". Dr McAleese, who is originally from north Belfast, has sent correspondence to the head of the Catholic Church, Archbishop Eamon Martin, seen by the Irish Independent. Dr McAleese appeals for him to "please acknowledge the hurt these words of the CDF (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) and Pope Francis have caused and will keep on causing". Her comments to the church leader are accompanied by a letter she has written to The Tablet, the international Catholic weekly, criticising the document's contents and Pope Francis. On Monday, the CDF issued a formal response to the question of whether the Catholic Church can bless gay unions. It concluded that the church does not have the power to bless same-sex unions as it was impossible for God to "bless sin". While the church should welcome gay people, it should not bless their unions since any such sacramental recognition could be confused with marriage, the document states. A number of bishops and priests have strongly criticised the CDF document, which was approved by Pope Francis. Last October, Pope Francis said in a documentary that same-sex couples should be allowed to have civil unions. In her letter to Dr Martin, Dr McAleese said it had been heartening over the past few days to see "clerics and bishops (though not from Ireland in the case of the latter) take issue with the language of the Responsum Explanatory Memorandum. Their courage is commendable". Challenging Irish bishops, she added: "Is there any vestige of such episcopal courage here?" She said she was taken by surprise by the "unbearably vicious language" of the Vatican document "which can only have brought more heartache to our gay children and to their families". "Heartache and hurt fired like a missile from the centre of governance of the Church. Foolishly, I dared to hope the language might reflect a growing awareness of the damage Church language has already wrought," she added. Dr McAleese, who is a canon lawyer and a committed Catholic, warns that failure to challenge the Vatican document "bodes ill for the synodal journey" which the Irish bishops are preparing for the Irish church and is "simply unacceptable". WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Several European countries have announced that they will resume the AstraZeneca vaccinations after the European Medicines Agency concluded that the anti-COVID vaccine is safe and effective. An extraordinary meeting of the EU medicines regulator on Thursday gave the go-ahead on the continued use of the COVID-19 vaccine. After concluding its preliminary safety review, EMA's safety committee, the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee, confirmed that the benefits of the vaccine in combating the still widespread threat of COVID-19 (which itself results in clotting problems and may be fatal) continue to outweigh the risk of side effects. PRAC made it clear that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of blood clots (thromboembolic events) in those who receive it. It also clarified that there is no evidence of a problem related to specific batches of the vaccine or to particular manufacturing sites. However, the committee noted that the vaccine may be linked to very rare cases of blood clots due to thrombocytopenia, i.e. low levels of blood platelets with or without bleeding, including rare cases of clots in the vessels draining blood from the brain. Out of around 20 million people in the UK and EEA who received the vaccine, EMA had reviewed only 7 cases of blood clots in multiple blood vessels and 18 cases of CVST. The number of thromboembolic events reported after vaccination was lower than that expected in the general population. This allows the PRAC to confirm that there is no increase in overall risk of blood clots. However, in younger patients there remain some concerns, related in particular to these rare cases, EMA said in a statement. The EMA added that they could not rule out definitively a link between the vaccine and a 'small number of cases of rare and unusual but very serious clotting disorders'. 'This is a safe and effective vaccine. Its benefits in protecting people from Covid-19 with the associated risks of death and hospitalization outweigh the possible risks,' Emer Cooke, the agency's executive director, said at a news conference. 13 European countries had either temporarily halted AstraZeneca vaccine AZD1222 inoculations or delayed its roll out as a precaution following reports of patients developing blood clots after receiving AstraZeneca vaccine jabs. This prompted the EMA to launch a safety review to see if there was a link between the vaccine and the blood clots. The governments of France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Lithuania and Latvia said they will resume using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine Friday. The Netherlands and Spain will start jabs again next week, while Denmark, Norway and Sweden announced they will not restart their roll outs of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The World Health Organization called on countries to continue using the vaccine. 'As the European Medicines Agency has clearly stated today, the benefits of the vaccine in combating COVID-19 continue to outweigh the risks of side effects', said Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety. 'It is an effective and safe vaccine that greatly contributes to the efforts to address the impact of COVID-19 and the very serious health risks of an infection,' she added. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX ASTRAZENECA-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment by another woman this time an aide who currently works in his office, The New York Times reports. Alyssa McGrath, 33, claimed Mr Cuomo has previously ogled her body, remarked on her looks, and made suggestive comments about her and another female aide in the office, according to the publication. This made Ms McGrath the first woman to speak against the governor as a current employee, as she currently works in Mr Cuomos office. Incidents recalled by Ms McGrath included the governor calling her and another female aide mingle mamas. He allegedly referred to her as beautiful in Italian and gazed down her shirt once to comment on a necklace. Mr Cuomo also inquired about the womans lack of wedding ring and what the status was of her divorce, she claimed when speaking to The New York Times. Besides detailing her own allegations against the governor, Ms McGrath also backed up claims made by other women against Mr Cuomo. One of the more serious accusations the Democratic governor faced was that he groped a current aides breast while at the Executive Mansion. Ms McGrath said that the current aide described the incident to her in detail after it was first revealed publicly in The Times Union last week. Read more: She froze when he started doing that stuff to her, Ms McGrath said of the conversation, adding that Mr Cuomo allegedly told the aide specifically not to tell her colleague. The aide in question has not been publicly identified. Ms McGrath detailed a three-year history of behaviour from the governor that ranged from friendly and flirtatious to allegedly inappropriate with herself and the other aide. But Ms McGrath added that she only realised the problem with the interactions as more and more women spoke out against the governor. Mr Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct by several women, including current and former aides. The governor denied all allegations but agreed to fully cooperate with the independent investigation launched by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat. Rita Glavin, a personal lawyer for Mr Cuomo, responded to the new allegations on Friday when contacted by The New York Times. The governor has greeted men and women with hugs and a kiss on the cheek, forehead, or hand. Yes, he has posed for photographs with his arm around them. Yes, he uses Italian phrases like ciao bella, she said, adding: None of this is remarkable, although it may be old-fashioned. He has made clear that he has never made inappropriate advances or inappropriately touched anyone. One of Ms McGraths accusations included him kissing her on the forehead as a greeting at an office Christmas party in 2019. New York Democrats have turned against Mr Cuomo amid the allegations he faces from several women, including Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. The governor has faced calls to resign, but hes declined to step down and instead said the public needed to wait to form an opinion until after the investigation. President Joe Biden commented on the allegations this week after remaining silent, stating that he thought Mr Cuomo should step down if the investigation showed the accusations were true. I think hell probably end up being prosecuted, too, Mr Biden added. Sebastian Tovar, a man from Texas, has been charged with "transporting illegal aliens resulting in death" after a deadly head-on crash near the border city of Del Rio left eight migrants dead. According to a federal complaint filed on Wednesday, Sebastian Tovar, 24, was driving a pickup loaded with migrants when the vehicle crashed into another truck during a police chase. NBC News reported that the incident happened weeks after 13 migrants were also killed in a crash in Southern California after cutting a hole in the U.S.-Mexico border fence apparently by smugglers. READ MORE: California Crash Leaves at Least 13 Dead Near U.S.-Mexico Border Details of the Crash Incident Involving Sebastian Tovar Based on the complaint, Sebastian Tovar was traveling on Highway 277 in a maroon pickup truck near Del Rio on Monday when a trooper of the Texas Department of Public Safety tried to stop him for speeding. ABC News Go reported that the 50-mile pursuit had reached speeds of more than 100 miles per hour. Sebastian Tovar then crashed head-on with another pickup. Eight migrants inside Tovar's pickup died, while the driver and passenger of the vehicle into which Tovar's pickup collided remained hospitalized in stable condition. According to Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez, the eight migrants who died were Mexican nationals between the ages of 18 and 20. Martinez added that seven of the killed victims were men, New York Post reported. U.S Border Patrol officials have also faced a beige pickup truck while directing traffic near the crash site. Several occupants of the said pickup truck jumped out after the officials gave them instruction. The said migrants fled into the bush, but 12 undocumented migrants who fled were apprehended, officials said. Sebastian Tovar, who is in federal custody, could face up to life in prison if convicted. Previous Migrant Smuggling Reports said the horrific crash on March 2 in Southern California that left eight migrants dead is one of the deadliest highway collisions involving migrants entering the country without permission. A surveillance video, which has not been publicly released because it is part of an ongoing investigation, showed the Ford Expedition and Chevrolet Suburban drive through the opening. After entering the U.S., the Suburban carrying 19 people caught fire for unknown reasons, but all passengers escaped the vehicle, and they were taken into custody by Border Patrol agents. On the other hand, the Expedition with 25 people struck a tractor-trailer a short time later, according to an Associated Press report. Ten of the 13 people who were killed were identified to be Mexican citizens. Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol's El Centro sector chief, said that human smugglers had proven once again that they have little regard for human life. "Those who may be contemplating crossing the border illegally should pause to think of the dangers that all too often end in tragedy," Bovino said in a report. It was found that the Expedition is built to hold eight people safely. However, smugglers have packed people into vehicles in highly unsafe conditions to maximize profit. Meanwhile, the current migrant influx has shaken the Biden administration. The number of illegal migrants crossing the border is reaching a level that has not been recorded in 20 years, warned Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas as National Review reported. More than 4,000 unaccompanied minors are currently detained in Border Patrol facilities, while 9,000 in the care of the Department of Health and Human Services. READ NEXT: 10 of 13 Killed in California Crash Were Mexicans Who Entered U.S. Through Hole in Border Fence WATCH: Austin Man Charged in Connection With Crash That Killed 8 Immigrants Near Del Rio - From KXAN Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin III is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi on Friday on a three-day visit to Austin is set to meet Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during the visit. India's Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the US Defence Secretary General Austin are also likely to discuss China and important regional security issues including Afghanistan during the first visit by a top Biden administration official to The discussions between the American Defence Secretary and the NSA would be the first major interaction between the two sides during the visit. The American Defence Secretary is also expected to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. He is expected to meet the External Affairs Minister in the second half on Saturday. Austin is visiting from March 19 to 21 and is scheduled to meet the top political and military leadership of the country. India and the US have been working closely with each other after the Chinese attempts to change the status quo in the eastern Ladakh area in April May time frame last year. The US side also helped by providing timely defence hardware supplies during the conflict apart from sharing important satellite feed and inputs. Indo-Pacific region is largely viewed as an area comprising the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea. China's territorial claims in the South China Sea and its efforts to advance into the Indian Ocean are seen to have challenged the established rules-based system. Moreover, China has criticised the framework as an Asian version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation seeking to undermine its legitimate rise. The Indian defence ministry said that Austin's visit to India as part of his first overseas travel emphasises the strength of the India-US strategic partnership. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As a result, the debate over whether to extend the exemptions was a heated one. Bank lobbyists and some market analysts argued that the Fed needed to keep the exemption in place to prevent banks from pulling back from lending and their critical role as both buyers and sellers of government bonds. But lawmakers and researchers who favor stricter bank oversight argued that the exemption would chip away at the protective cash buffer that banks had built up in the wake of the financial crisis, leaving them less prepared to handle shocks. The Fed took a middle road: It ended the exemption but opened the door to future changes to how the leverage ratio is calibrated. The goal is to keep capital levels stable, but also to make sure that growth in government securities and reserves on bank balance sheets a natural side effect of government spending and the Feds own policies does not prod banks to pull back. Because of recent growth in the supply of central bank reserves and the issuance of Treasury securities, the Board may need to address the current design and calibration of the S.L.R. over time, the Fed said in its release. It added that the goal would be to prevent strains from developing that could both constrain economic growth and undermine financial stability. The Fed said it would shortly seek comment on measures to adjust the leverage ratio and would make sure that any changes do not erode bank capital requirements. The devils going to be in the details, said Jeremy Kress, a former Fed regulator who teaches at the University of Michigan. I want to make sure any changes the Fed makes to the supplementary leverage ratio doesnt undermine the overall strength of bank capital requirements. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Board of Directors of Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc. (BPFH) has sent a letter to Boston Private's shareholders regarding the merger agreement with SVB Financial Group (SIVB). In the letter, the Boston Private Board unanimously recommended that the company's shareholders vote for the transaction. The Board stated that the transaction with SVB Financial is the value-maximizing alternative for Boston Private shareholders. The Board noted that the HoldCo Asset Management, LP's proposal is a reckless gamble that reflects its inexperience in banking. 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. OTTAWA Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday he expects the cases of two Canadians "arbitrarily" detained in China to be on the agenda of high-level U.S.-China talks this week in Alaska. Trudeau slammed China for its secret, one-day trial earlier in the day of Michael Spavor, whose hearing was off-limits to Canadian officials and reportedly wrapped up in two hours without a verdict. The proceedings will be followed by a trial Monday for Michael Kovrig who, like Spavor, was detained days after the December 2018 arrest of Huawei senior executive Meng Wanzhou in Canada on a U.S. extradition warrant. "Let me be very clear: Their arbitrary detention is completely unacceptable as is the lack of transparency around these court proceedings," Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa before later referencing the U.S.-China talks. "I am very confident that this is an issue that will be raised at that summit." The trial dates were announced on the eve of the U.S.-China summit, a development that bolstered the belief of many that the two Canadians are pawns in a larger geopolitical power struggle. Canada's global calls for help: Trudeau has sought international support to press Beijing for the release of the "two Michaels." On Friday, he said he knows the U.S. takes their cases seriously from the direct conversations he's had with President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. And Biden pledged last month to work with Canada until the men were returned. Human beings are not bartering chips, he said at the close of a bilateral meeting with Trudeau on Feb. 23. The Anchorage, Alaska, summit, the first high-level meeting under the Biden administration, started Thursday and continues Friday. In a statement Thursday evening, U.S. charge daffaires Katherine Brucker said the United States was deeply alarmed by developments in the cases of the two Michaels. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Canada in calling for their immediate release and continue to condemn the lack of minimum procedural protections during their two-year arbitrary detention. Story continues A police officer stands outside a court building in Dandong in northeastern China's Liaoning Province before Michael Spavor's hearing. More on the 'two Michaels': The fates of Spavor and Kovrig have become a top foreign policy challenge for Trudeau and his Liberal government. The men, who potentially face life sentences on charges of espionage, were arrested in what's widely viewed as a retaliation by Beijing, which was angered by Meng's arrest. Global Affairs Canada noted in a statement Thursday that its official requests to attend Spavor's trial this week were denied. We were not present in the courtroom so we have no idea what transpired, Jim Nickel, Canadas charge daffaires in China, told reporters Friday outside the Dandong Intermediate People's Court, where Spavor's trial was held. Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian envoy to Beijing, said the timing of the trial was not accidental. It is to put pressure on the USA [and Canada]." Diplomatic freeze: China charged Spavor and Kovrig with spying but has yet to produce evidence to back up the accusations. Mengs case is based on fraud charges connected to her alleged violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran. China insists the cases against the Canadians are not connected to Meng's. Trudeau has made it clear that nothing will convince him otherwise. It is obvious that the two Michaels were arrested on trumped-up national security charges days after we fulfilled our extradition treaty responsibilities towards our ally, the United States, Trudeau said on March 3. China responds: Cong Peiwu, Chinas ambassador to Canada, said in a statement this week that Meng is the one who has been "arbitrarily detained for over two years despite the fact that she hasn't violated any Canadian law." "Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were arrested and prosecuted in accordance with law for suspected crimes undermining China's national security," Cong said. "On the one hand, the Canadian side claims that it upholds the rule of law, but on the other hand, it makes irresponsible remarks with regards to Chinas handling relevant cases in accordance with law. How hypocritical and arrogant!" The U.S. vs. China: At the start of the Alaska summit Thursday, National Security adviser Jake Sullivan and Blinken exchanged heated words with top Chinese diplomats Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi. We do not seek conflict, but we welcome stiff competition, Sullivan said at the start, according to Reuters. We will always stand up for our principles, for our people and for our friends." When the U.S. advised China that it planned to address human rights and Chinese actions in Xinjiang, Yang lectured the officials on minding their own affairs. In Vancouver: An extradition hearing for Meng continues Friday with final arguments in the case scheduled for mid-May. Meng has denied any wrongdoing. Whats ahead: In a previous interview with POLITICO about the Spavor and Kovrig cases, Saint-Jacques cautioned that there is no fair trial in China. "You are found guilty 99.9 percent of the time, he said. We know that the minimum sentence will be 10 years and it could be up to a life sentence. We have to brace ourselves for years of difficult relations and I think its time for the Canadian government to completely reassess its engagement strategy with China, because so far it has been one of appeasement and it has done nothing. A suspended Providence police sergeant was convicted by a judge Thursday of assaulting a handcuffed man during an arrest last year, an incident that was captured on video. Sgt. Joseph Hanley, 49, was sentenced to a year of probation and ordered to take anger management classes by Judge Brian Goldman, who called Hanleys testimony during the bench trial a total fabrication. Prosecutors had sought a year behind bars. Hanley was charged with misdemeanor simple assault for punching, kicking, and kneeling on the head of Rishod Gore, 28, of East Providence, as he lay on the ground last April. Hanley is white and Gore is Black but authorities had not alleged a racial aspect to the confrontation. Gore was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest but the charges were later dismissed. Hanley and his defense argued he used acceptable force under police guidelines for suspects resisting arrest. His attorney said there would be an appeal, but neither Hanley nor his attorney commented beyond that outside of court. Hanley is still employed by the police department, but has been suspended since April. The department stopped paying him in October under rules in the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights. Chandigarh, March 19 : Clamping down heavily on the fresh Covid-19 surge, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday ordered massive statewide restrictions with closure of educational institutions till March 31 and restrictions on cinema and mall capacities. The restrictions will come into force from Saturday. All educational institutions, other than medical and nursing colleges, will remain closed till March 31, with restriction of 50 per cent capacity in cinema halls and not more than 100 persons in a mall at any time. He appealed to the people to keep social activity in their houses to the bare minimum for the next two weeks to break the transmission chain. Not more than 10 visitors should be entertained in homes, he urged. In the 11 worst-hit districts, a complete ban has been ordered on all social gatherings and related functions, except for funerals, cremations and weddings, which will be allowed with only 20 persons in attendance. In these districts, which will remain under night curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m, the Chief Minister ordered cinemas, multiplexes, restaurants, malls, etc., to remain closed on Sundays, though home deliveries will be allowed subject to night curfew. Industries and essential services will be allowed to function, but barring these, all restrictions shall be strictly enforced, the Chief Minister directed the top civic and police officials in these districts. Also, starting next week, one hour of silence will be observed across the state every Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 12 noon, in memory of those who lost their lives to Covid, with no vehicles to ply during that time. The Chief Minister asked the district administration to involve the general public, along with market committees, sarpanches, etc., in this initiative, which will, however, remain voluntary for them. In the 11 worst affected districts of Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, SBS Nagar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ropar and Moga, the Chief Minister ordered restrictions on in-person public dealings in the government offices, with citizens to be encouraged to visit offices only for essential services. Amarinder Singh directed officials to encourage online and virtual modes for grievance redressal, and asked departments concerned to issue necessary instructions for limiting appointments per day for registries, etc. Though other districts will not be placed under such stringent restrictions for now, the Chief Minister ordered immediate reinforcement and strict monitoring of the strategy of micro-containment and containment zones where there are evident clusters. He made it clear that if necessary, strict curbs will also be imposed in other districts if the situation worsens and Covid protocols and norms are not adhered to be by the people. The situation will be reviewed after two weeks, said the Chief Minister, chairing a meeting of the Covid Task Force with top officials. Directing health officials to ramp up testing per day to 35,000, the Chief Minister said special focus should be on super spreaders, and government employees, teachers in educational institutions, etc., must be tested routinely. RAT testing should be stepped up along with RT-PCR testing, he ordered, while directing contact tracing and contact testing to be taken up to 30 per positive person. K.K. Talwar, who heads the state government's expert team on Covid, said the surge in cases appeared to be the result of opening of schools and colleges, with young asymptomatic people appearing to be spreading the virus. There was no evidence as of now to show that the spike was due to the mutants, as only two cases of new strains had been found in Punjab so far. The state currently has almost 40 per cent cases from under 30 population, he added. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Islamabad, March 19 : Pakistan has welcomed a second term for Antonio Guterres as UN Secretary General, expressing its complete support to him. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi held a telephonic conversation with Guterres, welcoming his "availability to serve a second term in office". "The Foreign Minister reaffirmed Pakistan's abiding commitment to multilateralism, with a strong UN playing a central role for the delivery of its mandates that meet the expectation of the Member States," a press release issued by the Foreign Office said. "The UN Secretary General valued Pakistan's constructive contributions towards the effective functioning of the Organisation in the different areas of its work, calling Pakistan a fundamental partner of the United Nations. The Secretary General especially lauded Pakistan's Presidency of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the promotion of the socio-economic development agenda," it added. Apart from sharing views on various issues including the Covid-19 situation, economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic, international debt relief efforts, equitable availability of vaccines for the developing countries and peace keeping, Qureshi reiterated Islamabad's desire to see more active role of the UN in the Jammu and Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan. The current scenario and situation in Afghanistan was discussed with both leaders agreeing that "the Afghan peace process should be taken forward through consultations and in a manner that helps establish durable peace, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan and the region". "Secretary General Guterres briefed the Foreign Minister on UN efforts with regard to the situation in Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister underscored Pakistan's positive contributions to the Afghan peace process, noting that it is imperative for the concerned parties to seize the historic opportunity and work together for securing an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement while guarding against the role of spoilers," the Foreign Office release said. Pakistan has been putting its efforts to not only make UN, be more active in reference to the longstanding dispute of Jammu and Kashmir, which Islamabad maintains needs to be resolved as per the US resolutions. It has also been trying to stop India from becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council. The current government of Prime Minister Imran Khan has been claiming to become the ambassador of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute to the world and has been trying to use the UN platform to gather diplomatic support for its position. However, till now, Pakistan's efforts has not gotten ample support from the UN member states as Islamabad has struggled to satisfy other countries, as it seeks their intervention and support in the pending issue with India. But with the second term in office for Guterres, Islamabad is hoping to make better progress, with hopes of getting support from the Secretary General against what it calls India's "ongoing brutalities" in Jammu and Kashmir. SIU Carbondale welcomes opportunities of joining Common App by Kim Rendfeld CARBONDALE, Ill. Joining the Common Application for first-year students fits well with SIU Carbondales recent initiatives to provide access to higher education and the distinctive opportunities Salukis have, said Chancellor Austin A. Lane. We fully support any initiative that will make applying to college easier for students, especially first-generation students, and for Illinois residents to get a first-class education close to home, Lane said. We are grateful to Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Board of Higher Education for their leadership to have all 12 Illinois public universities to join this nonprofit organization of more than 900 institutions. Prospective students can use the Common App to apply to multiple institutions. Each year, more than 1 million students a third of whom are first generation apply to college, research financial aid and scholarships, and connect to college counseling resources through the Common App. At SIU Carbondale, the Common App will be launched in August for first-time students entering in fall 2022. If students would like to apply earlier, SIU will post its application in June. Universities have a responsibility to improve access to higher education, Lane said. The Common App is one step. We have also taken several measures to lift barriers between students and their education. SIUs initiatives include no longer requiring SAT and ACT test scores for admission and most scholarships. New students from Illinois who meet the criteria may qualify for the Saluki Commitment and the Saluki Transfer Commitment. If a students financial aid package does not completely cover tuition and mandatory fees, the university pledges to close the gap. John Frost, director of admissions, said the universitys partnership with the Common App is part of a strategy to attract and intentionally engage future students. After prospective students apply, professionals follow up with them to ensure their submissions are complete and answer any questions. Students can also visit campus virtually or in person as part of a small group. We inform students of SIUs hands-on learning and our close community, he said. They have opportunities often reserved for graduate students. When future students see the campus for themselves it helps them make the decision to become Salukis. Lane said growing enrollment is universitywide effort. Targeted advertising for specific academic programs showcase SIUs offerings. Faculty have gotten involved by calling admitted students and sending handwritten postcards. While it is premature to make projections for fall 2021, the number of applications and admitted students is promising. I am really excited that all have made enrollment a top priority across campus, he said. I thank our faculty, staff, university leadership team and alumni for their hard work. In the aftermath of the fatal shootings in Georgia, state officials are speaking out against violence and bias targeting Asian Americans, both around the nation and in Pennsylvania. A white gunman has been charged with fatally shooting eight people at massage parlors in the Atlanta area. Six of the eight victims were Asian women. Authorities have said the suspect, Robert Aaron Long, claimed the shootings werent racially motivated but some experts have said the acts rise to the level of hate crimes. Advocates for Asian Americans say race cant be dismissed as a factor. On Thursday, Atlanta police said they are still investigating to determine if it was a hate crime and said nothing is off the table. In Pennsylvania and nationwide, reports of bias and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have risen sharply over the last year during the coronavirus pandemic, officials say. The advocacy group, Stop AAPI Hate, has reported 3,795 incidents from March 19, 2020 through Feb. 28, 2021, but the group said that likely reflects just a fraction of the actual cases of harassment, threats and attacks. More than two-thirds of the reports nationwide came from women, while nearly 100 incidents were reported in Pennsylvania, the group said. After dropping off flowers Jesus Estrella, left, and Shelby stand in support of the Asian and Hispanic community outside Young's Asian Massage Wednesday, March 17, 2021, in Acworth, Ga. Asian Americans, already worn down by a year of racist attacks fueled by the pandemic, are reeling but trying to find a path forward in the wake of the horrific shootings at three Atlanta-area massage businesses that left eight people dead, most of them Asian women. (Curtis Compton /Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) State Reps. Patty Kim, D-Dauphin County, and Jennifer OMara, D-Delaware County, issued a joint letter Wednesday decrying the Georgia shootings. They called for government leaders to give Asian communities more resources and also urged steps such as universal background checks for gun purchases. The worst thing we can do is nothing, the lawmakers wrote. We are only safe when all of us are safe. We need to continue to fight for justice and safety on behalf of others as we would fight for ourselves, our children, and our loved ones. Last week, Kim, who is of Asian descent, participated in a virtual town hall aimed at addressing racism and violent acts against Asian Americans in Pennsylvania. Kim said she was particularly troubled by reports of incidents involving older Asian Americans. She also urged Asian Americans to come forward and share their experiences. Right now we have the spotlight on Asian Americans, Kim said last week. 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. In that forum, John Chin, executive director of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, said Asian Americans in the states largest city are experiencing bigotry and intimidation. I feel despair for my fellow Asian Americans, Chin said at last weeks forum. 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. State Sen. Nikil Saval, the first Asian American elected to the Pennsylvania Senate, spoke to lawmakers Wednesday about violence targeting the Asian community. A Philadelphia Democrat, Saval said overwhelmingly, attacks against the Asian American community have targeted seniors and women. I have felt the pressure and hatred that has come about in this moment and I like so many of us have felt it for years, Saval said. Saval asked lawmakers for solidarity and to pay attention to both violence and the casual, vicious racism displayed in ethnic slurs. A Pew Research Center survey last summer found 3 in 10 Asian Americans have been the subject of slurs or jokes based on their race since the pandemic began. Common Cause Pennsylvania Executive Director Khalif Ali said state lawmakers need to hear and heed the concerns of Asian Americans. We cannot turn the tide if we refuse to acknowledge this hate exists, Ali said in a statement. The General Assembly must serve as an example to the rest of us. Our elected officials must listen to the shared experience of this community. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who also served as Americas first secretary of homeland security, said on Twitter while the Georgia killers motivations arent fully understood, recent events make it hard not to suspect this could be yet another brutal racial attack against Asian-Americans. Either way, this community has been targeted repeatedly in recent months. Its appropriate and necessary to recall our nations ugly racial history which still continues today, Ridge said on Twitter. But these attacks against Asian-Americans are most assuredly un-American. Just as the Japanese-American internment camps were un-American during World War II. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Harrisburg, spoke out on Twitter. There is a wave of anti-Asian hate and violence sweeping our country. It must stop and all public officials have an obligation to condemn it, Casey wrote. As we condemn the recent rise in anti-Asian violence, we must also acknowledge the long history of racism & hate directed towards Asian Americans in our country, Casey added. He called on the Senate to take action and eradicate the extremism fueling this hateful violence. State Sen. Vince Hughes, D-Philadelphia, said Tuesday night it is time to stand with Asian Americans and to confront the hatred and bigotry too commonly seen in American life. The only way to win this fight against hate is to speak the truth and act to protect those whose lives are put in danger by the vile views that have become more mainstream in the past five years, Hughes said in a statement. Rep. Susan Wild, D-Lehigh County, said on Twitter she was heartbroken by the Georgia killings. My thoughts are with the families of the victims and AAPI people across this country, Wild said. I stand with you and will do everything in my power to help stop this epidemic of hate. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler Jr. has denounced legislation in Canada to expand assisted suicide to include those with disabilities. Canada legalized physician-assisted suicide what has been termed "medical aid in dying" in 2016. The Parliament recently advanced a measure known as Bill C-7 to expand the parameters to include individuals who have a disability but are not facing a terminal illness. In an episode of Mohlers podcast The Briefing posted online Tuesday, the Southern Baptist leader said the legislation showed the slippery slope nature of legalized physician-assisted suicide. The Canadian Parliament have now extended the logic that they had insisted would be limited to those who had a reasonable expectation of death in a short time. You've seen that that promise never is kept, said Mohler. Source:The Christian Post Our customers trust us to bring them the most innovative, state-of-the-art property management solutions on the market. Im very happy with the jurys decision which sets precedent by acknowledging that software like this cannot be created by misappropriating trade secrets. ResMan, a leading property management SaaS platform provider, announces the company won its lawsuit against Karya Property Management. A federal jury in the Eastern District of Texas found that Karya breached its contract with ResMan and misappropriated ResMans trade secrets. The jury also found that Expedien, a software development company retained by Karya, tortiously interfered with the contract between ResMan and Karya and misappropriated ResMans trade secrets. The jury awarded ResMan $152,290,000 in damages. Karya, working with global software development company Expedien, was found to have improperly accessed ResMans software to develop their own property management software. Karyas software application was developed after Expedien accessed ResMans system more than 1,000 times without ResMans knowledge or permission. The evidence of this access included recorded teleconferences between Expedien and Karya to analyze the ResMan system and determine which features should be included in the new software. Building a world-class property management platform requires ongoing investments, deep industry knowledge, years of development effort, employee commitment and working closely with many customers. Im very happy with the jurys decision which sets precedent by acknowledging that software like this cannot be created by misappropriating trade secrets, said Paul Bridgewater, ResMan CEO. ResMans intellectual property is one of the most valuable assets we have, and its imperative that we protect it. Our customers trust us to bring them the most innovative, state-of-the-art property management solutions on the market. We believe the jury carefully listened to the evidence in the case and came to the right decision. The case is ReMan, LLC v. Karya Property Management, LLC and Scarlet InfoTech, Inc. d/b/a Expedien, C.A. No.4:19-cv-00402-ALM, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division. ResMan was represented by Hogan Lovells with Maria Wyckoff Boyce as the lead partner on the case. Mike Jones of Potter Minton in Tyler, Texas, served as local counsel. Following the jury verdict, ResMan will seek injunctive relief and attorneys fees from the Court. ABOUT RESMAN ResMan is the preferred growth partner that drives profitability and efficiency for nearly a thousand property management companies across the U.S. ResMan delivers the property management industrys most innovative technology platform, making property investments and operations more profitable and easier to manage. ResMans platform unlocks a new path to growth for property management companies that deliver consistent NOI improvement and brilliant resident experiences easier than ever before. For more information, visit us at http://www.myresman.com or engage with us on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook. Artist Kanye West is now the richest Black man in U.S. history, People reports. The 43-year-old rapper, whose hit singles include "Stronger," "Heartless" and "Gold Digger," is worth approximately $6.6 billion less than a year after he first appeared on Forbes' annual billionaires list. The jump is largely attributed to West's sneaker and apparel brand Yeezy, which is currently valued between $3.2 billion and $4.7 billion by UBS Group AG. Though West initially claimed that his net worth was more than $3 billion in April 2020, Forbes disputed the figure at the time and put the number closer to $1.3 billion. Related: 3 Entrepreneurial Lessons to Learn From Kanye West The rapper has full ownership and creative control of Yeezy but also has a partnership deal with Adidas AG and more recently Gap Inc. West signed a 10-year deal with the latter company in June 2020. A Bloomberg report notes that the value of that particular partnership "could be worth as much as $970 million of that total." In addition to his Yeezy brand, West reportedly has $122 million in cash and stock. He also has $110 million from his music catalog (the rapper has released nine studio albums and three collaborative albums to date) and $1.7 billion in other assets including a stake in his estranged wife Kim Kardashian's SKIMS line. West joins investor Robert F. Smith as the only two Black businessmen with a net worth of at least $6 billion. Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Washington A coalition that wants immigration reforms will begin a $200,000 ad blitz today that criticizes Rep. John Katko for taking a trip to the Southwest border after voting against a Covid-19 relief bill. The ads will air for one week on broadcast and cable television stations in Syracuse and online as part of a digital ad campaign, the groups said. We Are Home Action, a coalition of more than 20 groups, said it wants to hold Katko accountable for his vote last week and his trip Monday to the U.S.-Mexico border. While there, Katko blamed President Bidens policies for a surge of migrants from Central America. He voted against the overwhelmingly popular American Rescue Plan that will help put shots in arms, money in pockets, and kids in schools, said Nathaly Arriola, the We Are Home campaign director. Instead, he chose to ignore the desperate calls for help from his community and chose to take part in a politically motivated stunt at the border, Arriola said. The $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill included $100 billion in aid for New York state, including hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid that will flow directly to Central New York. No Republicans voted for the bill. Four days after the vote, Katko, R-Camillus, led a group of a dozen House Republicans including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on a trip along the border in El Paso, Texas. McCarthy said Monday he learned in a meeting with U.S. Border Patrol agents that among those recently arrested after crossing the border illegally from Mexico were people on the terrorist watch from Iran, Yemen, and Sri Lanka. McCarthy did not offer proof to substantiate the claim. Katko, the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said he has asked for a classified briefing on the matter. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials would not confirm or deny that any known or suspected terrorist had recently been arrested at the border. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Katkos committee in a hearing Wednesday that people on the terror watch list have been stopped from traveling into the United States recently and in years past. When asked at the hearing if he was aware of reports that four people on the terrorist watch list had been apprehended at the border recently, Mayorkas said, I am. He did not provide any details. A 2019 Homeland Security report said the agency, on average, stops 10 individuals on the terrorist watchlist per day from traveling to or entering the United States. Most of those denied entry have tried to travel by air. We actually deny them entry based on our intelligence and based on our vetting procedures, which have only grown in sophistication over the years, Mayorkas said at the hearing Wednesday. The We Are Home campaign, launched in January, urges members of Congress to pass immigration reforms that include a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. The coalition, including Service Employees International Union and the United Farm Workers, wants Congress to pass bills that establish citizenship for immigrant youth and farmworkers. See the TV ad Katko was among all but nine House Republicans who voted Thursday against a Democratic bill that would provide a path to citizenship for 2 million Dreamers brought to the U.S. illegally as children. But Katko joined 30 House Republicans who voted Thursday for a second bill that would establish similar protections for 1 million farm workers who have worked in the U.S. illegally. Federal officials say those farm workers account for about half of the nations agricultural workforce. Both immigration bills passed the Democratic-controlled House on Thursday and will now head to the Senate. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 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. GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Doctors Hospital ("DH") in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, announced they are seeking a judicial review of the vast unilateral concessions made by the government to Health City and Aster Cayman MedCity. According to DH, these concessions unfairly distort competition between healthcare providers on the Cayman Islands, and could ultimately compromise the quality of healthcare available. DH challenges the fairness of the ongoing grant of financial concessions to Narayana Hrudayalaya Private Limited ("NHP") by the Government of the Cayman Islands ("CIG") for the current Health City development. Also, granting vast financial concessions to DM Healthcare ("DM") for the Aster Cayman MedCity development, and the proposed financial concessions to NHP for the proposed development at Camana Bay is concerning. CIG recently announced NHP will develop a new hospital at Camana Bay. The Premier reportedly stated, "concessions and duty waivers already in place for Health City would apply to the new facility" (Cayman Compass, 19 February 2021). Concerning Aster Cayman Medcity, the Premier reportedly said DM would "not have to pay duty on medical equipment or supplies for 25 years after the commencement of construction of phase 1," and an agreement to that effect would be executed that day (Cayman Compass, 21 December 2020). DH acknowledges CIG's intention to attract foreign investment to the Cayman Islands and welcomes it. However, DH firmly believes fair competition and a level playing field for all healthcare providers serves the best interests of all, especially the general public. Therefore, DH issued a pre-action letter to CIG on Monday, 8 March 2021, to which CIG has not substantively responded. "We believe in fair and competitive marketplaces. Eliminating the gap between healthcare providers in Cayman is more important than ever. No market should be subjected to anticompetitive, monopolistic, or dominating behaviour. The power held by these companies affects the Cayman economy, our democracy, and ultimately the health and well-being of our citizens. It is especially unfortunate for the many local-owned businesses who have been contributing to the country for years, shaping our community to what it is today," says Dr Yaron Rado, Board Chairman and Chief Radiologist, Doctors Hospital. For further information, please contact: Virgo Communications Khalil Goodman kgoodman@virgocomm.com +1 (246) 424-1936 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. A revelatory new Wall Street Journal report reveals just how much China had a hand in manipulating the COVID investigations in Wuhan. The underwhelming COVID investigations conducted by WHO investigators in January was fraught with controversy, as China had allegedly controlled most of it. In February, reports surfaced that Chinese authorities were the ones who carried out most of the COVID investigations and that the 15-man team of WHO investigators and specialists were merely spectators to the event. WHO even went as far as absolving the Wuhan virology lab, which many believed was the true source of the virus that has killed millions worldwide. Instead, China insists that further investigations must be done to determine how the coronavirus had jumped from bats to humans. Now further damning evidence points to China for preventing WHO investigators from performing a thorough probe has been revealed by a new Wall Street Journal report. In it, reporters Jeremy Page, Betsy McKay and Drew Hinshaw revealed how China "resisted international pressure for an investigation it saw as an attempt to assign blame, delayed the probe for months, secured veto rights over participants and insisted its scope encompass other countries as well." Moreover, WHO declined to invite the three U.S. government experts that Washington nominated, inviting instead another U.S. scientist. U.S. officials admitted that it was unclear how the COVID investigations would be carried out or how the international team was recruited. It turns out that China had "veto rights" to choose participants to join the team of investigators. The only American in the team was zoologist Dr. Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, a New York-based non-profit. U.S. officials and scientists were critical over Dr. Daszak's participation, as he had previously worked with Chinese researchers over 16 years. They believed that his organization's nonprofit work in China would be a conflict of interest. EcoHealth was also found to have funded the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the same lab at the center of the COVID investigation and the one that was allegedly the true source of the coronavirus. The Daily Caller's Chuck Ross shared a screenshot of the WSJ report on Twitter, which read, "It soon became evident to foreign officials and scientists tracking the mission that the team's itinerary was partly designed to bolster China's official narrative that the government moved swiftly to control the virus." The WSJ report also recounted how the WHO investigators' visit at first included a tour of the hospital where they met with the doctor who first alerted the Chinese authorities about COVID, a wholesale market at Huanan where they believed the virus spread through cold-storage, and an exhibition commemorating the Chinese authorities' and President Xi's excellent handling of the virus. Rather suspiciously, when WHO investigators asked Chinese authorities for access to raw data on the first 76,000 COVID patients, they refused. Instead, the Chinese participants in the WHO investigations suggested looking into the research that suggested COVID had already been circulating in other countries beginning November. WHO investigations are not over, however. According to NPR, WHO is set to release another set of investigative findings, this time focused on the wildlife farms in southern China that supply animals to the Wuhan markets. Meanwhile, China remains firm that the virus was indeed an accident caused by virus transference from bats to humans. China.org reported that Liang Wannian, the leader of the Chinese team of the joint expert panel of China and the WHO and a public health professor at Tsinghua University reaffirmed that the research that went into determining the origins of COVID was "based on science, close collaboration, openness and hard work." Liang insisted, "The virus is of natural origin, and the greatest possibility is that the virus was transmitted from a natural reservoir to an intermediate host before jumping to humans." Queensland Forms Industry Panel for Tourism Recovery The Queensland government is moving to handle the states tourism industry crisis with the announcement they will be setting up an industry panel on Thursday to help draft plans for the recovery of the $25.5 billion tourism industry. The panel will be led by aviation guru Liz Savage and consists of heavyweights of the industry, including Andrew McEvoy, former CEO of Tourism Australia and Brett Godfrey, Tourism and Events Queensland Chair, and will explore a raft of areas including Queenslands brand positioning, changes in consumer demand, motivators of tourism growth, and rebuilding airline capacity. Tourism is a cornerstone of our economy. Ensuring this industry gets back on its feet is vital to rebuilding our economy, Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said. Thats why weve appointed some of the best in the business to deliver a blueprint for the recovery of this sector in Queensland. Our tourism operators continue to do it tough right throughout the state. But thanks to the way Queenslanders have responded to this pandemic, our economy is in better shape than others throughout the country and throughout the world, she said. Stirling Hinchliffe, the Queensland tourism minister said the panel would look for potential opportunities to help put the states tourism sector back on the right track. Queensland minister Stirling Hinchliffe speaks on February 08, 2021 in Brisbane, Australia. (Jono Searle/Getty Images) With vaccines being rolled out in Australia and around the world, the panel will work with industry on a considered and thorough plan for Queensland tourism beyond 2021, he said. Scheduled to be delivered in two phases, with actions to be identified by the middle of 2021 and a final plan to be released by early 2022, the panel will invite submissions and hold roundtable events to garner industry input. It is also expected that a series of public discussion papers will be issued from April 2021. Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia (Paul Montville/Pixabay) The premier also called on any Queenslanders who were looking for a job opportunity in Queenslands hottest holiday spots to consider a move to paradise. If you are anywhere else in Queensland (or) Australia and youre thinking about moving for work, I dont think theres a better place than Port Douglas, Palaszczuk told media in the north Queensland town. . 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. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE New Mexico lawmakers knocked a critical item off their to-do list Friday, granting final passage to a roughly $7.4 billion budget plan for the next fiscal year. The proposal would boost ongoing spending about 5%. The extra spending includes $110 million to extend the school year by 10 days for all grades and $120 million for K-5 Plus programs that extend the year even more at some elementary schools. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ It picked up bipartisan support in both chambers. The legislation, House Bill 2, passed the Senate earlier this week on a 29-13 vote, and the House agreed to the Senate amendments Friday afternoon. The proposal would result in reserves of about 24%, a critical item as lawmakers try to protect themselves against revenue volatility. Also included in the bill are some transaction that would be contingent on federal stimulus funding including an extra $100 million for the lottery scholarship program for college students and $200 million for Department of Transportation projects, such as road improvements. Rep. Jason Harper, R-Rio Rancho, said he was a bit uncomfortable with a 5% increase in spending but that the Senate changes were reasonable. This is what I consider to be a good compromise place to be, he said. Debate on the budget measure took three hours, the typical maximum for a bill in the House, as Republicans rose to ask questions about the budget and express tentative support for it. The debate took critical time off the clock as lawmakers approach the end of the session at noon Saturday. The clock is running, and many, many bills are not going to see the light of day, said House Appropriations and Finance Committee Chairwoman Patricia Lundstrom, a Gallup Democrat who fielded questions on the budget legislation. Registration Statement No. 333-237342 Filed Pursuant to Rule 433 NEW YORK, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of Montreal (TSX: BMO) (NYSE: BMO) today announced that it will implement a 1-for-10 reverse split of two series of its outstanding exchange traded notes (the "ETNs"), expected to be effective as of March 29, 2021. The table below indicates the ETNs that will be subject to the reverse split, their trading symbol, their current CUSIP numbers, and the CUSIP numbers that they will receive after giving effect to the reverse split: The reverse split will be effective at the open of trading on March 29, 2021. Each ETN will begin trading on the NYSE Arca on a reverse split-adjusted basis on that day. Holders of an ETN who purchased that ETN prior to March 29, 2021 will receive one reverse split-adjusted ETN for every 10 pre-reverse split ETNs. In addition, investors that hold a number of ETNs that are not evenly divisible by 10 will receive a cash payment for any fractional ETNs remaining (the "partials"). The cash amount due on any partials will be determined on April 5, 2021 and will equal, for each remaining ETN, its closing indicative value on that date. Bank of Montreal will pay these amounts on or about April 8, 2021. The closing indicative value of each ETN on March 26, 2021 will be multiplied by 10 to determine the reverse split-adjusted closing indicative value. Following the reverse split, each ETN will have a new CUSIP, as set forth above, but will continue to trade under its current ticker symbol. The reverse split will affect the trading denominations of each series of the ETNs, but it will not have any effect on the aggregate principal amount of the ETNs, except that the aggregate principal amount will be reduced by the corresponding aggregate amount of any cash payments for the "partials." Illustration of a Reverse Split The following table shows the effect of a 1-for-10 reverse split on the hypothetical closing indicative value of the ETNs. The closing indicative value of an ETN is not the same as its principal amount (currently, $50) or the trading price of that ETN. Number of ETNs Hypothetical Closing Indicative Value Aggregate Closing Indicative Value Pre-Reverse Split 100,000 $10.00 $1,000,000 1-for-10 Post-Reverse Split 10,000 $100.00 $1,000,000 None of the other exchange traded notes issued by Bank of Montreal are affected by this announcement. The ETNs are senior, unsecured obligations of Bank of Montreal. Investment suitability must be determined individually for each investor, and the ETNs may not be suitable for all investors. This information is not intended to provide and should not be relied upon as providing accounting, legal, regulatory or tax advice. Investors should consult with their own financial advisors as to these matters. In addition, please see the pricing supplement relating to the applicable ETNs for important information about Solactive AG, the licensor of the indices to which the ETNs are linked. The leveraged ETNs discussed in this press release are intended to be daily trading tools for sophisticated investors to manage daily trading risks as part of an overall diversified portfolio. They are designed to achieve their stated investment objectives on a daily basis. The returns on the ETNs over longer periods of time can, and most likely will, differ significantly from the return on a direct short investment in the index underlying those ETNs. Bank of Montreal, the issuer of the ETNs, has filed a registration statement (including a pricing supplement, prospectus supplement and prospectus) with the SEC regarding each of the ETNs discussed in this press release. Please read those documents and the other documents relating to the ETNs that Bank of Montreal has filed with the SEC for more complete information about Bank of Montreal and the ETNs. These documents may be obtained without cost by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, Bank of Montreal, and any agent or dealer that participated in the offerings of the ETNs, will arrange to send the applicable pricing supplement, the prospectus supplement and the prospectus if so requested by calling toll-free at 1-877-369-5412. About REX REX Shares is an independent provider of exchange-traded products (ETPs). As ETP architects, the REX team specializes in creating investment vehicles that solve specific access or efficiency challenges in investor portfolios. The firm is rooted with decades of structuring and building innovative exchange-traded product solutions. For more information, please visit www.MicroSectors.com Follow REX on Twitter @MSectors REX Media Contacts: [email protected] About BMO Financial Group Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a highly diversified financial services provider - the 8th largest bank, by assets, in North America. With total assets of $973 billion as of January 31, 2021, and a team of diverse and highly engaged employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets. SOURCE BMO Financial Group Related Links www.bmo.com Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 GRANTS PASS, Ore. A registered sex offender living in the Grants Pass area was arrested on Thursday after a new investigation into sex crimes he allegedly committed over the past decade. According to the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety, the investigation began in February of this year following a report to the agency of sex crimes that happened between 2013 and 2015. The suspect, 42-year-old David Manning Koger, was already a registered sex offender. GPDPS says that he is a transient living in the Grants Pass area. Koger subjected two victims "to sexual contact on multiple occasions," GPDPS said. Both victims were under the age of 12 at the time of the abuse. Oregon State Police joined the investigation when detectives found out that the alleged incidents happened both in and outside the Grants Pass city limits. Detectives also received help from the the Childrens Advocacy Center, Department of Human Services, and Josephine County Community Corrections. Detectives arrested Koger on six counts of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree and six counts of Sodomy in the First Degree, taking him to the Josephine County Jail. Koger was convicted on one count of Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree in 2016 after he was accused of having sex with a 16-year-old girl, according to court documents. He was sentenced to two and a half years in state prison. However, his status as a sex offender originally stems from a Rape conviction in 2000. Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to contact Det. John Lohrfink with GPDPS at 541-450-6260, reference case 21-07285. In All That She Carried (Random House, June.), Miles details the material and symbolic significance of a cotton sack packed by an enslaved mother for her nine-year-old daughter, Ashley. What do objects such as Ashleys sack tell us about slavery that written records cant? Most enslaved women could not read or write because Southern laws prohibited the education of unfree African Americans. Most did not pen autobiographies or leave file folders full of paper records. But all of these women made things, touched things, and used things. When these material objects survive through time and can be identified and contemplated, they offer a means of access to Black womens activities and inner worlds. Why does this particular object elicit such a strong emotional response from people who view it? The story inscribed on the sack by the granddaughter who inherited it starkly describes the separation of an enslaved daughter from an enslaved mother through commercial sale. The visceral content of the story, and the harshness of its brevity, makes it at once compelling and heartbreaking. Is it an injustice that this family heirloom is now owned by a plantation house museum? It is fair to point out a symbolic injustice in the fact that this lost treasure now belongs to a foundation that operates a plantation. There is no getting around the sense that the current ownership of the sack echoes the past ownership of this Black family. And yet, we live in a complex cultural world. The stewardship of cultural institutionsmany of them owned or operated by white museum and historic site professionalsmakes the preservation of many precious African American objects possible. Ultimately, Ashleys descendants should be the ones to decide where this object is housed or displayed. To my knowledge, there are no direct descendants. Should descendants come forward, however, they would have a moral right to possess their familial inheritance. You argue in the book that the story of Ashleys sack holds lessons for issues such as police brutality and climate change. How so? The story reminds us that physical deprivation and brutality have always been part of the Black experience in America, but also that African American women have found creative ways to care for family and for themselves despite these assaults. Stepping forward into the future even while threats loom large has always been a Black womens practice. If it were not so, people like me and my daughters, descendants of enslaved women, would not be alive today to tell the tales. And a similar point might be made about climate change. I think that grossly oppressed populations like enslaved women of the past who managed to preserve life, make families, and build communities, can be models of ethical perseverance. Washington: If you were writing the script for a lavish television series about a tense high-level meeting between two rival superpowers, you could not pick a more metaphorically apt setting than Anchorage, Alaska. Blanketed with snow and with temperatures below zero, the site of the first meeting between US and Chinese officials since Joe Bidens inauguration seemed designed to highlight the frosty relationship between the two countries. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) listens as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks at the opening session of US-China talks in Anchorage, Alaska. Credit:Pool AFP In the lead-up to the talks at the Hotel Captain Cook, which began on Friday (AEDT), both sides downplayed expectations of any kind of diplomatic breakthrough or reset in the bilateral relationship. American officials warned reporters not to expect any major announcements or even a joint statement at the conclusion of the talks. The Delhi Customs department on Thursday, March 19, confiscated 21 lakh pieces of peacock tail feathers, weighing over 2,500 kilograms, allegedly being smuggled to China. The feathers were seized at the Inland Container Depot, Tughlakabad, in the national capital. Collectively weighing 2,565 kg, the shipment was misdeclared as PVC pipes. The goods are proscribed for export u/s 113(d) of Customs Act, 1962 read with Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Meanwhile, taking to Twitter, the Delhi Customs department said, "ICD TKD Export Commissionerate intercepted a container and seized 21 Lakh pieces of Peacock Tail Feathers weighing approx 2565 kilograms. The goods are prohibited for export u/s 113(d) of Customs Act, 1962 (read with Wildlife Protection Act, 1972). ICD TKD Export Commissionerate intercepted a container and seized 21 Lakh pieces of Peacock Tail Feathers weighing approx 2565 kilograms. The goods are prohibited for export u/s 113(d) of Customs Act, 1962 read with Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.#IndianCustomsAtWorkpic.twitter.com/pi0qJ1XKEh a Delhi Customs (@Delhicustoms) March 18, 2021 "The officials intercepted a container and seized 21 lakh pieces of peacock tail feathers. They were being exported to China. The consignment was declared to have been carrying the PVC pipes," an official told PTI. Peacock tail feathers being smuggled out are suspected to be meant for medicinal purposes, he said. The value of the seized peacock tail feathers is estimated to be about Rs 5.25 crore, he said. The consignment was booked by a Delhi-based firm, the official said, adding that a further probe was on to nab the accused. "Recent, tragic events in the country have once again reinforced the important responsibility large enterprises like Farmers have in taking a stand against violence, hate and racism of all kinds," said Jeff Dailey, Chief Executive Officer for Farmers Insurance. "I join the Farmers community, including members of the Farmers Asian Alliance, in mourning the lives lost to senseless acts of racial violence and advocating for safety and equality. No one should feel unsafe because of the color of their skin, cultural heritage or gender identity." Farmers today announced donations to several causes in support of the AAPI community and to combat violence, including: - $50,000 for Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles, an organization whose mission is to advance civil and human rights for Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all. - Farmers employees have launched an internal campaign giving to Stop AAPI Hate, an effort launched in 2020 to track and respond to incidents of hate, violence and harassment against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Farmers will match employee donations up to $50,000 to benefit both Advancing Justice LA and Stop AAPI Hate. - $10,000 for Off Their Plate, to bolster a recently launched campaign to support Asian-American owned restaurants and help feed Asian Americans facing food insecurity. To learn more about how Farmers is supporting communities through its commitment to diversity and inclusion, visit Farmers.com. About Farmers Insurance "Farmers Insurance" and "Farmers" are tradenames for a group of insurers providing insurance for automobiles, homes and small businesses and a wide range of other insurance and financial services products. For more information about Farmers Insurance, visit Farmers.com, Twitter and Instagram, @WeAreFarmers, or Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance. Contact: External Communications Farmers Insurance 818-965-0007 [email protected] SOURCE Farmers Insurance Related Links https://www.farmers.com The first high-level meeting between U.S.-Chinese officials under the new Biden administration got off to a chilly start on Thursday, with senior American diplomats accusing China of threatening world stability and Chinese officials alleging America is a human rights hypocrite due to its mistreatment of Black citizens. Afterward, a U.S. official accused the Chinese diplomats of grandstanding. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, with top Chinese diplomats Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi. The two countries are at odds on many issues, from cyberattacks to trade; the relationship grew steadily worse under former President Donald Trump, who used tariffs to wage a trade war on Beijing. The Biden administration has taken a somber approach toward Beijing, whose communist government they view as Americas top geopolitical rival. To date, the administration hasn't moved to roll back the sanctions and tariffs imposed by Trump, but it has also said it wants to work with China on common challenges, like climate change. "We do not seek conflict, but we welcome stiff competition, and we will always stand up for our principles, for our people, and for our friends," Sullivan said at the top of the first meeting Thursday, according to Reuters. Blinken said the U.S. will not stop holding China accountable for its actions in places like Hong Kong, where Beijing has cracked down on democracy; its economic coercion of other countries; or what U.S. officials allege is a genocidal campaign against Uighur Muslims in Chinas Xinjiang region. Beijing has often told the U.S. to butt out of such internal matters. Blinken, however, asserted that such Chinese actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability. That's why they're not merely internal matters. Without that rules-based order, it would be a far more violent and unstable world, Blinken said, according to an account in CNN. Story continues Yang, meanwhile, warned the United States to back off and accused it of hypocrisy. He said the United States uses its financial and military might to bully other countries. He also said America had its own long history of human rights problems and foolish actions abroad. We do not believe in invading through the use of force, or to topple other regimes through various means, or to massacre the people of other countries, because all of those would only cause turmoil and instability in this world, Yang said. Early accounts from reporters at the scene, which included translators, had Chinese officials as saying that Black people are being slaughtered in the United States. But an official transcript sent out later by the State Department did not include such a barbed claim from the Chinese delegation, which did, however, point to the Black Lives Matter movements emergence as illustrative of deep-seated human rights problems in America. As reporters were about to be initially ushered out, the American side waved them to stay, and U.S. officials delivered additional remarks. The Chinese officials then insisted they get a second round of comments as well, according to photos and accounts from the scene. A senior Biden administration official accused the Chinese diplomats of breaking protocol, going beyond the two-minutes the speakers had been allotted at the top of the first session. Such exaggerated diplomatic presentations often are aimed at a domestic audience, the official said, adding that the U.S. side intended to outline for the Chinese delegation in private the same messages we have consistently delivered in public. The Chinese delegation, on the other hand, seems to have arrived intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance, the official added. Chinese officials had earlier tried to cast the Alaska event, which is to consist of at least three sessions over Thursday and Friday, as the potential new beginning of a longer strategic dialogue. But the U.S. side has described the gathering as a one-off attempt to convey American frustrations with Beijing and get a sense of where Chinese leaders stand on various areas of dispute. Blinken landed in Alaska after visiting U.S. allies in South Korea and Japan, where the relationship with China was a major topic. U.S. officials, however, say they are still reviewing aspects of U.S. policy on China and intend to continue consulting with Americas allies and partners overseas. Sebastian Stan has graced the cover of GQ Hype in pictures taken by Normal People's Daisy Edgar-Jones, amid reports they're 'growing close'. The actor, 38, discussed his new Disney+ show The Falcon and The Winter Soldier with the publication on Friday, saying it is Marvel's 'most relevant show yet' for featuring Anthony Mackie as a black Captain America. Earlier this month, Daisy and Sebastian were spotted enjoying a 'very friendly' weekend during a break from their shoot for film Fresh, with them going sightseeing before stopping for a glass of wine. Dapper: Sebastian Stan graced the cover of GQ Hype on Friday, in snaps taken by Normal People's Daisy Edgar-Jones amid romance rumours While their characters enjoy a romance onscreen, The Sun reported that the screen stars have become good friends away from rolling cameras. A source told the publication: 'Sebastian has told friends that he thinks Daisys a bright spark and set for a massive career in Hollywood. He cant believe shes so young as shes so talented and mature. They get on really well.' A source close to Daisy, who continues to fly high on the success of her BBC drama Normal People, also told The Sun: 'They're colleagues and mates.' MailOnline contacted Daisy and Sebastian's representatives at the time. Exciting: Sebastian discussed Disney+ show The Falcon and Winter Soldier, saying it is Marvel's 'most relevant show yet' for featuring Anthony Mackie as a black Captain America Romance rumours: Earlier this month, Daisy and Sebastian (pictured) were spotted enjoying a 'very friendly' weekend amid claims they have 'grown close' during their shoot for film Fresh In his interview, Sebastian reflected on trying to find a voice for his character Bucky Barnes, aka Winter Soldier, as he admitted he was concerned about having 'longer scenes' and 'a lot more dialogue' between him and Anthony's Sam Wilson. He explained: 'Well, in a way it's the bit that worried me the most. Not as an actor, per se, but as a fan of the character. 'Winter Soldier and Falcon have worked together best when they've had little to say to one another. We're good at quips. So, now, what are they going to say to one another? 'For this show I had to find his voice, in all senses, and do it in a way that was timely to what is going on in 2021.' 'Growing close': While their characters enjoy a romance onscreen, it was reported that Daisy (pictured) and Sebastian have become good friends away from rolling cameras Superhero: In the interview, Sebastian reflected on his character Bucky Barnes and how co-star Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson (L) has taken up Captain America's shield He went on: 'Look, you can't do a show that explores the title of Captain America without touching on some of the stuff we have seen on the news. In fact, I would argue this is Marvel's most relevant show yet. 'A black Captain America is an incredibly powerful symbol, for all those reasons we were discussing, but also he was the right man from a character standpoint [to] take the shield, regardless of race. 'Bucky wouldn't be emotionally intelligent enough or mentally stable enough to be able to handle such huge shoes. His moral compass is somewhat questionable too.' Thoughts: Sebastian said of Anthony's character: 'A black Captain America is an incredibly powerful symbol... he was the right man from a character standpoint [to] take the shield' The show sees Sam, aka the Falcon, wrestle with the idea of taking over the legacy, and shield, left behind by Chris Evans' Captain America. It also focuses on Sam and Bucky, both of whom have a connected to the original Captain America (Evans) at different points in their lives. Sebastian first appeared as Bucky in Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011 as Steve Rogers' best friend who he fought alongside in World War II, but appeared to die at the end of the film. However, in Captain America: Winter Soldier it was revealed Bucky had survived and was now a brainwashed assassin working for ominous group Hydra. Of being one of the few original Marvel characters left in the franchise, he told the publication: 'A friend of mine was saying, "It's basically you and Thor left now." 'Look, I haven't spent the time working it out, but if you think about it, between Robert [Downey Jr] as Iron Man [gone] and Chris [Evans], there aren't many of the very first original characters left. 'Me and [Chris] Hemsworth might be the oldest ones around which, I mean, I couldn't be more thankful for!' Read the full feature online at GQ Hype now. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier airs every Friday on Disney+ from today. Apple Inc. said it will apply App Store rules to all apps globally after reports that Chinese app developers are preparing workarounds for the companys upcoming limits on ad tracking. The Cupertino, California-based technology giant plans to release a software update called iOS 14.5 in coming weeks that requires users to give permission before apps can track them across other services and websites for targeted advertising. Facebook Inc. and other digital ad companies worry that most people wont give permission, crimping their revenue. Also Read | Vaccine utilization rates lower in states witnessing second wave Several Chinese technology companies, including Baidu Inc., ByteDance Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., are preparing workarounds for Apples new policy, according to the Financial Times. They are using a system called CAID developed by the China Advertising Association and a government think tank. The App Store terms and guidelines apply equally to all developers around the world, including Apple," the U.S. tech giant said in a statement. We believe strongly that users should be asked for their permission before being tracked. Apps that are found to disregard the users choice will be rejected." Other proposed workarounds rely on a process called fingerprinting, which uses device-specific information such as the IMEI number and location to create a unique identifier. Apple said such approaches have violated its guidelines for over a decade. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. (Natural News) An enormous lump of space junk that the International Space Station (ISS) dumped on March 11 is slated to fall back to Earth in two to four years, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The 2.9-ton piece of space junk, a pallet of old nickel-hydrogen batteries given the name Exposed Pallet 9 or EP9, is the largest thing that the ISS has ever jettisoned. NASA is assuring that it will burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere when it makes its descent to Earth. But not everyone is convinced that that will be the case. This strikes me (haha, a pun given the circumstances) as dangerous. It seems big and dense so unlikely to burn up completely, astronomer and author Phil Plait, who previously worked at NASAs Hubble Space Telescope, tweeted on March 12. Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist based at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, agreed with Plait but noted that Chinas Tiangong-1 was even bigger at more than eight tons. The bus-size prototype space station burned up on its way down to Earth in 2018, breaking apart into several pieces as it crashed into the Pacific Ocean. I would say given how dense EP9 is, its concerning, albeit at the low end of concerning, McDowell tweeted in reply to Plait. How a rocket launch failure led to ISS space dump The ISS did not intend to dispose of its old batteries this way. It sent previous batches back to the planet aboard Japans disposable supply spaceships, the H-II Transfer Vehicles (HTVs), which burned up in the atmosphere along with the batteries they carried. But the 2018 launch failure of a Russian Soyuz rocket that carried American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin disrupted this pattern. Both astronauts safely landed after a launch abort sequence, but Hague was supposed to assist in the battery swaps. With Hague still on Earth, managers had to adjust and send an HTV away without an old battery pallet. EP9 was intended to be flown home through the ninth and final HTV. But the battery pallet that came immediately before it had to take its ride because of the adjustment. At the same time, Japan had already stopped making HTVs because it is developing a next-generation supply spaceship. As such, there were no more HTVs coming to the station to retrieve and get rid of EP9. The ISS then decided to maroon the ninth battery pallet to space. Ground controllers at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston commanded the stations robotic arm to jettison EP9. The space junk moved safely away from the outpost and entered orbit around Earth. Threats posed by space pollution The SUV-sized pallet joined some 3,000 dead satellites and 34,000 discarded objects that are at least four inches wide. Though these objects are defunct, they can still collide with each other or with active satellites. In 2009, for example, a retired Russian satellite destroyed an operational American satellite after crashing into it. Initial estimates showed that the collision scattered around 500 pieces of debris. To avoid damage, live satellites have to move out of the way through collision avoidance maneuvers. In the ISSs case, the space station has carried out 25 debris avoidance maneuvers since 1999. The United Nations has urged all organizations to remove their satellites from orbit within 25 years after the end of their mission. But there is currently no established method of doing this, though experts have proposed various removal mechanisms, such as firing lasers to heat up the satellite and using magnets. (Related: Rethink satellite production: Using affordable, sustainable materials can minimize space junk and address engineering problems.) Organizations are also exploring ways to reduce space waste. The European Space Agency, for example, plans to launch a suicide robot that will pull space debris out of orbit. Moreover, Elon Musks SpaceX aims to equip its next-generation reusable rocket Starship with the ability to collect debris. For more stories about space, visit Space.news. Sources include: LiveScience.com 1 Space.com 1 SpaceFlightNow.com NHM.ac.uk Space.com 2 LiveScience.com 2 Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 06:58:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KIEV, March 18 (Xinhua) -- A Ukrainian serviceman was killed in artillery shelling on Thursday at the frontline in Eastern Ukraine, the country's Ministry of Defence reported on Facebook Thursday. "Today, March 18 ... as a result of enemy shelling, a serviceman of the Joint Forces Operation was wounded. The soldier was promptly given first aid, but unfortunately his life could not be saved," the statement said. Since February of this year, the situation in Donbas has been heating up. Since the beginning of this month, two Ukrainian servicemen have been killed and 12 more wounded as a result of shelling. The ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has claimed the lives of some 14,000 people and left as many as 40,000 wounded, began in April 2014. Enditem Westerly, RI (02891) Today Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 61F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Mostly cloudy with showers and a few thunderstorms. Low 59F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Mark Zuckerberg admitted on Thursday, March 17, that he is now supporting for Apple's App Tracking, especially for Facebook's iOS applications despite initially disagreeing with the company and throwing jabs at the rival big tech. Facebook and Zuckerberg have initially opposed ad tracking and data permissions from Apple's iOS 14 Privacy Policy, being an issue for its applications. In recent developments, the Facebook CEO has agreed on the matter, particularly as they set the light on the issue which has been a hot topic for the Cupertino giant and the world's largest social media company. Facebook was initially against that because it defeats the purpose of its ad-tracking optimization for users, which Apple aims to change. Since the release of the iOS 14 and macOS 11, Apple has been emphasizing and highlighting more about the Privacy and Safety of its users while using their device and platform for everyday needs. This was a massive one for Apple, especially as it enforced a strict rule among app developers to follow their lead if they want to stay on the iOS platform. Read Also: Tesla Software Update '2021.4.12' Now Live: Model Y Winter Upgrade to Combat Harsh Cold Weather Conditions Mark Zuckerberg Agrees with Apple's Privacy Policy for the First Time In what seems to be a miracle and one-time opportunity, Mark Zuckerberg has admitted in a Clubhouse app meeting that the social media company would now benefit from Apple's Privacy Policy. According to Mac Rumors, the CEO reiterated that they would have a "laissez-faire" enforcement in the platform where it would let Apple do all the work, and Facebook would just wait. What Mark Zuckerberg meant to say is that despite letting Facebook's data and advertisement tool being sent to ask permission to users and reveal that it uses user data every time, Apple would still be doing most of the work. Moreover, the business that Apple would soon gather would be using the Cupertino giant's data, and allowing them on the different platforms would be hard. Apple would be the one responsible for enforcing business to grow on the platform in this new Privacy Policy for the iOS 14, particularly as it shot down ad tracking and other data management tools used by iOS apps. This is the first time that Facebook and Zuckerberg agreed with Apple over the Privacy Policy, which was then a major debate amongst the big techs. Facebook Ad Tracking Now All on Apple Apple's wishes to protect the privacy of people would mean that it would control what an app can see from a device's data, location, habits, and the like. This means that Apple would be doing the data job on their end, especially if the advertisers and applications need boosting on its platform for either a specific region or community of its iOS users. According to CNBC, Zuckerberg's statement is the first time Facebook agreed with Apple, being the "most positive" statement that the social media CEO said over the Cupertino giant regarding the issue. Moreover, the app controls for data and tracking would be at a user's discretion, particularly in the upcoming iOS 14.5 that would enforce it. Related Article: Facebook to Make Rule-Breaking Groups Less Discoverable; They Will be at Recommendations Bar's Bottom This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Isaiah Alonzo 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. DUBLIN, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Medication Management System Market By Software, By Mode of Delivery, By End-user, By Region, Industry Analysis and Forecast, 2020 - 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Medication Management System Market size is expected to reach $5.7 billion by 2026, rising at a market growth of 20.1% CAGR during the forecast period. Medication management helps in enabling the process of administration, prescribing, and supply of medicines which can be monitored & authenticated electronically. Over the past few years, there is considerable growth in the global medication management market. This is attributed to the growing incidence of chronic diseases and swift growth in the elderly population The high demand for computerized physician order entry systems has increased over years owing to the increasing demand for remote patient monitoring services. Factors like rising investment by hospitals in order to enhance workflow, technological advancement in medical field, and awareness about decreasing medication errors have contributed to market growth. Moreover, the market growth is expected to propel due to the high adoption of IT in the healthcare industry across the globe. Aspects such as dispensing of medicines, inventory management, and controls Adverse Drug Events (ADE) can be enhanced using medication management storage. The shortage of healthcare professionals and pharmacists has considerably increased. Therefore, the adoption of medication management software has been witnessing a surge in order to ensure effective workflow. Software Type Outlook Based on Software, the market is segmented into Clinical Decision Support System Solutions, Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE), Inventory Management Solutions, Electronic Medication Administration Record, and Other Software. Among all these systems, the computerized physician order entry systems segment acquired the maximum growth in the market. This is attributed to the rising demand for remote patient monitoring services and advanced healthcare systems. Moreover, the clinical decision support system is anticipated to grow at the highest rate due to the increasing chronic diseases & rising geriatric population. Mode of Delivery Outlook Based on Mode of Delivery, the market is segmented into Cloud-based, Web-based and On-premise. In 2019, the cloud-based solution segment procured the maximum share of the medication management system market. A large number of players are focusing on developing cloud-based deployment solutions that can facilitate easy information that can be shared with clients and stakeholders. The prime factor that supports the growth of the global medication management system market is the easy access of information in remote locations using such solutions. The global market is expected to witness bright growth prospects due to the increasing focus on patient data protection & the advent of laws regarding it. End-user Outlook Based on End-user, the market is segmented into Hospitals, Pharmacies and Other end-users. In 2019, Hospitals segment obtained the maximum revenue share in the medication management system market & as it is one of the major end-users of IT solutions. In past years, hospitals have increased their funds in the purchase and upgrades of their IT systems. Regional Outlook Based on Regions, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, Middle East & Africa. In 2019, North America emerged as the leading region of the medication management system market. The major factors that propel the growth of the regional market are increasing rates of infectious & chronic diseases, rising adoption of IT in healthcare, technological development and a surge in the number of prescriptions. Moreover, the increasing awareness about new technologies and the existence of a large number of small & medium-scale players offering medication management solutions to several hospitals and pharmacies. The major strategies followed by the market participants are Acquisitions and Partnerships. Based on the Analysis presented in the Cardinal matrix; UnitedHealth Group, Inc. and Siemens AG are the forerunners in the Medication Management System Market. Companies such as Omnicell, Inc., AllScripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc., McKesson Corporation, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Kuka AG, and General Electric (GE) Co. are some of the key innovators in the market. The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include AllScripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (A-S Medication Solutions), Siemens AG, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Cerner Corporation, General Electric (GE) Co. (GE Healthcare), McKesson Corporation, UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (Optum, Inc.), Omnicell, Inc., Kuka AG (Talyst, LLC), and ARxIUM, Inc. Unique Offerings from the Publisher Exhaustive coverage Highest number of market tables and figures Subscription based model available Guaranteed best price Assured post sales research support with 10% customization free Key Topics Covered: Chapter 1. Market Scope & Methodology 1.1 Market Definition 1.2 Objectives 1.3 Market Scope 1.4 Segmentation 1.4.1 Global Medication Management System Market, by Software 1.4.2 Global Medication Management System Market, by Mode of Delivery 1.4.3 Global Medication Management System Market, by End User 1.4.4 Global Medication Management System Market, by Geography 1.5 Methodology for the research Chapter 2. Market Overview 2.1 Introduction 2.1.1 Overview 2.1.2 Market composition and scenario 2.2 Key Factors Impacting the Market 2.2.1 Market Drivers 2.2.2 Market Restraints Chapter 3. Competition Analysis - Global 3.1 Cardinal Matrix 3.2 Recent Industry Wide Strategic Developments 3.2.1 Partnerships, Collaborations and Agreements 3.2.2 Product Launches and Product Expansions 3.2.3 Acquisition and Mergers 3.3 Top Winning Strategies 3.3.1 Key Leading Strategies: Percentage Distribution (2016-2020) 3.3.2 Key Strategic Move: (Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements : 2016, Nov - 2021, Jan) Leading Players Chapter 4. Global Medication Management System Market by Software 4.1 Global Clinical Decision Support System Solutions Market by Region 4.2 Global Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) Market by Region 4.3 Global Inventory Management Solutions Market by Region 4.4 Global Electronic Medication Administration Record Market by Region 4.5 Global Other Software Market by Region Chapter 5. Global Medication Management System Market by Mode of Delivery 5.1 Global Cloud-based Market by Region 5.2 Global Web-based Market by Region 5.3 Global On-premise Market by Region Chapter 6. Global Medication Management System Market End-user 6.1 Global Hospitals Market by Region 6.2 Global Pharmacies Market by Region 6.3 Global Other end-users Market by Region Chapter 7. Global Medication Management System Market by Region 7.1 North America Medication Management System Market 7.2 Europe Medication Management System Market 7.3 Asia Pacific Medication Management System Market 7.4 LAMEA Medication Management System Market Chapter 8. Company Profiles 8.1 AllScripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (A-S Medication Solutions) 8.1.1 Company Overview 8.1.1 Financial Analysis 8.1.2 Segmental and Regional Analysis 8.1.3 Research & Development Expense 8.1.4 Recent strategies and developments: 8.1.4.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements: 8.1.4.2 Acquisition and Mergers: 8.1.4.3 Product Launches and Product Expansions: 8.2 Siemens AG 8.2.1 Company Overview 8.2.2 Financial Analysis 8.2.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis 8.2.4 Research & Development Expense 8.2.5 Recent strategies and developments: 8.2.5.1 Acquisition and Mergers: 8.3 Becton, Dickinson and Company 8.3.1 Company Overview 8.3.2 Financial Analysis 8.3.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis 8.3.4 Research & Development Expense 8.3.5 Recent strategies and developments: 8.3.5.1 Acquisition and Mergers: 8.3.5.2 Product Launches and Product Expansions: 8.4 Cerner Corporation 8.4.1 Company Overview 8.4.2 Financial Analysis 8.4.3 Regional Analysis 8.4.4 Research & Development Expense 8.4.5 Recent strategies and developments: 8.4.5.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements: 8.5 General Electric (GE) Co. (GE Healthcare) 8.5.1 Company Overview 8.5.2 Financial Analysis 8.5.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis 8.5.4 Research & Development Expense 8.5.5 Recent strategies and developments: 8.5.5.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements: 8.6 McKesson Corporation 8.6.1 Company Overview 8.6.2 Financial Analysis 8.6.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis 8.6.4 Research & Development Expense 8.6.5 Recent strategies and developments: 8.6.5.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements: 8.6.5.2 Acquisition and Mergers: 8.6.5.3 Product Launches and Product Expansions: 8.7 UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (Optum, Inc.) 8.7.1 Company Overview 8.7.2 Financial Analysis 8.7.3 Segmental Analysis 8.7.4 Recent strategies and developments: 8.7.4.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements: 8.7.4.2 Acquisition and Mergers: 8.8 Omnicell, Inc. 8.8.1 Company Overview 8.8.2 Financial Analysis 8.8.3 Regional Analysis 8.8.4 Research & Development Expenses 8.8.5 Recent strategies and developments: 8.8.5.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements: 8.8.5.2 Acquisition and Mergers: 8.9 Kuka AG (Talyst, LLC) 8.9.1 Company Overview 8.9.2 Recent strategies and developments: 8.9.2.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements: 8.9.2.2 Acquisition and Mergers: 8.10. ARxIUM, Inc. 8.10.1 Company Overview 8.10.2 Recent strategies and developments: 8.10.2.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements: 8.10.2.2 Product Launches and Product Expansions: For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/4cusqp? 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 Real Madrid eased past Atalanta in the end, booking their place in the Champions League quarter-final draw set to take place on Friday, yet the bookmakers don't feel Los Blancos are likely to make any further waves in the tournament, designating them as sixth favourites to lift the trophy. Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are seen as the three clear favourites to lift the trophy in Istanbul, whilst Los Merengues have fallen far short of that level. Their 2019/20 elimination at the hands of Manchester City showed just where Real Madrid were at when compared to the very best Europe has to offer, and they didn't strengthen their squad in the summer, so it's difficult to realistically expect a different outcome. MARCA Apuestas have confirmed that the share of Real Madrid winning the competition is only 11.00 euros per bet, which is ahead of only Borussia Dortmund and Porto. Chelsea and Liverpool join the aforementioned three clubs that are seen as having a bigger chance of winning the trophy than Zinedine Zidane's charges, even if Eden Hazard returns in time for the quarter-final. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 11:20:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Luo Nasuan (L1) and members of a folk dance team rehearse the Lahu swing dance in Banli Village, Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, southwest China, March 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao) KUNMING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Luo Nasuan is an expert at performing "swing dance," not the jazz-style dance originating in the last century, but one developed by an ethnic group in southwest China. Luo, 29, is a member of a folk dance team in Banli Village, dubbed "home to the Lahu swing dance", in Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. The Lahu swing dance, featuring gentle, stretching, neat, and graceful movements, has been created and handed down by the Lahu ethnic group who are inspired by local farm work such as plowing, planting seedlings, fertilizing, threshing and harvesting. Villagers transplant rice seedlings in the field in Banli Village, Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, southwest China, March 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao) According to the sixth national population census in China, the population of the Lahu ethnic group is about 486,000. Coming from a place where villagers are born to dance, Luo managed to breathe new life into the dance with music and songs specially composed for different dance movements, along with her fellow villagers since 2018. "The dance and the music are regarded as an artistic expression of our way of living," said Zhang Nasuan, another member of the dance team, adding that the crops villagers grow for a living, including sugarcane and tea, largely influenced the 'swing' movements in the dance. Villagers work in the field in Banli Village, Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, southwest China, March 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao) But it was not until 2020 that amateur dance lovers like Luo and Zhang were given the opportunity to perform on a decent stage with sunshades, an audio control room, and locker rooms for dancers. The new facilities were sponsored by Shanghai's Huangpu District that has paired up with Banli Village to assist some 950 poverty-stricken households shake off poverty. Members of a folk dance team rehearse the Lahu swing dance in Banli Village, Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, southwest China, March 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao) Now, the "swing dance" in Banli has become a symbol of local ethnic arts and is known far and near. Thanks to the pairing-up policy and the efforts of the local government, Banli Village was lifted out of poverty in 2019, and the per capita net income of villagers increased from 3,847 yuan (about 590 U.S. dollars) in 2018 to 6,615 yuan by the end of 2020. Luo Nasuan (R2) and members of a folk dance team pose for a photo in Banli Village, Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, southwest China, March 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao) Nowadays, the dance also embodies new steps that express villagers' appreciation of the government's anti-poverty efforts. In June 2020, an art and acting company that employs 130 seasoned performers including Luo, was also established in the village. They staged more than 20 performances last year, bringing in a total income of nearly 500,000 yuan. "The changes in our life are really great. The first flight I took in my life was due to a performance in Shanghai last year," said Luo. As spring arrives, farmers in Banli Village are toiling in paddy fields, and watching the swing dance performance at leisure every week has become a routine for them. Two months into the new administration, President Bidens base is expressing frustration with his approach to foreign policy issues. Although Mr. Biden delighted liberals with several swift actions including rejoining the Paris climate accord and withdrawing support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen he prompted frustration by ordering an airstrike in Syria and declining to punish the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, for the brutal murder of a dissident journalist and American resident, Jamal Khashoggi. On Wednesday, Mr. Biden fueled the discontent when he conceded in an interview with ABC News that it would be tough to meet a May 1 deadline, set under former President Donald J. Trump, to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, a high priority for liberals impatient to end what they call endless American wars. And more conflict may lie ahead on military spending, with Mr. Biden expected to propose few if any cuts to a Pentagon budget that swelled under Mr. Trump. Fifty House Democrats sent the White House a letter this week calling for a significant reduction. The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries over the past week could fuel skepticism about the shot far beyond their shores, potentially threatening the rollout of a vaccine that is key to the global strategy to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing nations. As things stand, it's either AstraZeneca or nothing for some poorer countries. The vaccine from the Anglo-Swedish drug maker is cheaper and easier to store than many It will make up nearly all of the doses shipped in the first half of the year by COVAX, a consortium meant to ensure low- and middle-income countries receive vaccines. With little other choice, most developing countries that had the AstraZeneca on hand pushed ahead with it even as major countries in suspended its use over the past week after reports that unusual blood clots were found in some recipients of the shot despite insistence from health agencies that there was no evidence the vaccine was responsible. But while governments in Africa and elsewhere expressed their determination to continue using the shot, not everyone is convinced. Why should I allow it to be used on me? Are we not human beings like those in Peter Odongo, a resident of a town in northern Uganda, told the Daily Monitor newspaper this week. The East African country has received 864,000 AstraZeneca doses via COVAX so far but had administered fewer than 3,000 by Tuesday. Authorities blamed logistical challenges in transporting the vaccines deep into the country, but newspaper reports cite resistance to the vaccine. Even before the latest debate over AstraZeneca, vaccine skepticism had been a concern across the world, as many people are hesitant about shots developed in record time. African countries have faced particular hurdles on a continent wary of being a testing ground for the West. Some leaders have pushed back against skepticism, while others, such as those in Burundi and Tanzania, have fed it by appearing to deny the seriousness of COVID-19. Unfortunate events in will clearly not be helpful for our public confidence, in building public confidence and trust on the use of that particular vaccine and other vaccines for sure, John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters Thursday, as he encouraged African countries to continue their vaccinations. That came hours before the European Union drug regulator gave the same message to its 27 members. The European Medicines Agency said its experts concluded that the vaccine is not linked to an overall increase in the risk of blood clots, though it could not definitively rule out a link to rare types of clots and the vaccine. In response, countries including Italy, France and Germany announced they would resume use of the shot. Even before those reversals, several developing nations had said they would stick by the shot. We will continue the inoculations, said Lia Tadesse, health minister of Ethiopia, which received 2.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week. Authorities in India home to the vaccine manufacturer that will likely make a large portion of the doses destined for the developing world said Wednesday they would continue AstraZeneca inoculations with full vigor as infections jumped in several parts of the country. After initially saying it would delay use of the vaccine, Thailand said Tuesday it would carry on with AstraZeneca, and the prime minister even got his shot in public. Brazil's state-run Fiocruz institute delivered the first AstraZeneca shots bottled in Brazil on Wednesday as the Health Ministry sought to allay concerns about the blood clot reports, urging calm. Very few developing countries bucked the trend. Congo, for instance, halted use of AstraZeneca, putting its vaccination campaign on hold even before it began since it has no doses of anything else. Indonesia said it would wait for a full report from the WHO. European and other wealthy countries have several vaccines to choose from, but AstraZeneca is currently the linchpin in the strategy to vaccinate the rest of the world. Some developing countries have received doses of Chinese-made or Russian-made vaccines often as donations but, at least in Africa, these allotments have usually been relatively small. The Chinese and Russian vaccines have not yet been endorsed by WHO and so cannot be distributed by COVAX. Africa, with a population of 1.3 billion, hopes to vaccinate 60 per cent of its people by the end of 2022. That target almost certainly will not be met without widespread use of AstraZeneca. And experts have warned that until vaccinations rates are high the world over, the virus remains a threat everywhere. The eroding confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine only compounds the difficulties Africa will face in rolling out their inoculation campaigns. The continent is home to some of the world's weakest health systems. Nations there have struggled just to test enough people for the coronavirus, and the actual toll is unknown because of challenges in tracking cases and deaths. According to the Africa CDC, more than 4 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed across the continent, including over 108,000 deaths. In an analysis released Thursday, the World Bank found that 85 per cent of low- and middle-income countries had a plan to vaccinate but less than a third had public engagement strategies to combat hesitancy and misinformation about vaccines. A 102-year-old grandfather has been hacked to death with a machete in the garage of his L.A. home, allegedly by a 47-year-old man in what appears to be a random attack. Youssef Mahboubian was found dead in his garage in Encino, L.A. on Thursday. The 102-year-old, who immigrated to the US from Iran more than 30 years ago, had been brutally hacked to death with a machete. Police have arrested 47-year-old Adam Dimmerman on suspicion of the murder. He has also been charged in a separate attack nearby, in which the victim was assaulted but not killed. Multiple people reported seeing Dimmerman walking around the neighborhood with a dog and a hatchet. He was already in custody for the assault when Mahboubian's body was found at 12.50pm. Youssef Mahboubian was found dead in his garage in Encino, L.A. on Thursday. He is shown with his wife of 65 years. It's unclear when the photos were taken. He was 102 It's unclear if Dimmerman had ever met Mahboubian before, or what his motive was. The victim's family say it was a random attack by a 'psychopath.' 'My wife is horrified to hear he was murdered by some axe-wielding psychopath. 'He must have been deranged, or on drugs or something. 'I thought he fell. I had no idea. They told me he fell in the garage and my cousin came home and found him. 'I had no idea there was a guy with a machete running around killing people,' Mahboubian's grandson Jason told ABC 7. Police at the scene of the grisly murder on Thursday. The elderly man was found in his garage Dimmerman was arrested for the assault before police found Mahboubian's body. Jason Shakib, the victim's grandson, said he was 'horrified' Multiple people reported him walking around the neighborhood with a dog and a hatchet. Mahboubian's grandson said he was a hard-working family man who was dedicated to his wife of 65 years. 'He came to this country from Iran decades and decades ago, and they've been living peacefully on Alonzo Place for 30 years. 'This is heartbreaking,' he said. It is so far unclear if Dimmerman has any kind of criminal record. He is being held in custody. The neighborhood where the attacks took place is affluent; the Mahboubian's home is now worth $1.8million. Scientists hope the experiment will give worthy data for submarine works, mining missions, and lengthy space travel, 21st century potential reality. The pandemic-related quarantines that have happened in the past years have educated billions of people all over the world what different phases of isolation feels like. A Team of 15 Volunteers Nevertheless, none of those phases of isolation looks similar to the so-called Deep Time experiment now advancing in France. While most of the world remained locked down in their respective homes on March 14, a team of 15 volunteers got into the Lombrives Cave with a plan to not show up for 40 days. Scientists hope the research, spreading in the rural part of Ariege, will explain more on how passage of time is processed by human beings without weighing it with natural factors, as reported by IFL Science. In addition to a complete scarcity of sunlight, these seven women and eight men locked themselves in a cave without phones or watches. More so, they are depending on a pedal-driven generator to generate electricity so that they can see everything inside their cave. The test was inspired by Christian Clot, a French-Swiss explorer and writer, and was directly brainchild by the lengthy isolation many people have experienced during the coronavirus pandemic. Read More: Tampa Scientists Examines Holes In Greenland Called Moulin The First in the World A neuroscientist, professor Etienne Koechlin said this experiment is the first in the world. Till now, all tasks of this kind focused on the research of the body's physiological rhythms, but never focused on the impact of this kind of secular rupture on the emotional and cognitive functions of the human being. Each member was cleared and discovered to be in stable mental and physical health prior to when the experiment began. The ages of the participants range from 27 to 50, while their occupation runs the field, as well. From jewelers and biologists to teachers in primary school, all of them are now the same inside the cave. The team's occupations were chosen to show the realities of the cave, with qualified biologists and meddlesome teachers, after all, possibly making for a competent team. Close to four tons of supplies were towed in earlier. While the generator has the capability to provide artificial light to volunteers, they will have to draw water from the cave itself so as to stay alive and hydrated. Luckily, food was among the stockpile that participants were given before they entered the cave. How the Mind React to Loss of All Sense of Time Meanwhile, all the participants have been fitted with a host of radar to give data to scientists on the outside. Christian Clot and his group are anxious to witness how the mind will react to loss of all sense of time. Christian Clot, as a participant himself is not a stranger to pushing boundaries. The adventurer has long been meddling as to how severe environments have impact on physical functions and mental perception of a person. Clot has also joined 30 major trips to places like the Chilean Cordillera Darwin mountain range. Related Article: A Hidden 'Breeding Cave' of the World's Rarest Seals Found in Cyprus For more news, updates about deep time experiments and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! Changing timelines for the completion of the taking in charge process for the Acres Estate in Dromahair is causing frustration and upset for residents. At Monday's Municipal District meeting, Cllr Mary Bohan said that she was bitterly disappointed by the response given to councillors on revised dates for the taking in charge of this estate. I don't know how many times I have had motions on this . I contacted the planning office three weeks ago and was told that this estate would be taken in charge in quarter 3, or if not then, in quarter 4 of this year, she noted. Now we are being told that this estate will not be taken in charge until 2022. It is very annoying that this is not being completed sooner. I was told one thing nearly a month ago and I told the residents that and now I am being told it will be 2022 before the estate is taken in charge. I don't know how any of us can face the residents and tell them that. She said the fact there was no issue with the bond for this estate made the delay in taking it in charge even more upsetting for residents. There are lights gone on the poles and other various issues in this estate and the management association doesn't have the money to do this work, she pointed out. It is very hard to swallow, having to go back to them and tell them this won't be happening this year. Responding in writing to her motion, Director of Services, Joseph Gilhooly said that The Acres in Dromahair is one of a number of estates that the Council had intended to progress through the taking in charge process in 2021. As previously advised at the Council meeting on 1 March last, the taking in charge process involves the undertaking of various condition surveys on the part of the Council and Irish Water and, unfortunately, at present, due to the Covid restrictions on travel and other activities, these surveys are not considered essential and cannot be undertaken. Following the completion of these surveys the Council and Irish Water will first have to enter discussions concerning the apportionment of any monies available through bond settlements and only once these are concluded will the Council be in a position to commence the statutory public consultation period to declare the roads in such estates as being public roads. The statutory process itself will take approximately three months. Whilst the Council had hoped to progress an additional number of estates through the taking in charge process in 2021, unfortunately, the uncertainty and delays in all processes due to the impact of Covid, will delay progress and it is likely that the next tranche of estates to be taken in charge cannot be concluded until 2022. Cllr Padraig Fallon said that he hoped something could be done for the residents of The Acres in a more timely fashion while Cllr Felim Gurn described the issues with having estates taken in charge as totally frustrating. This, noted Cllr Justin Warnock, impacts not just the residents, but also those who wish to buy or sell properties in estates currently waiting to be taken in charge. Covid is not responsible for everything, he observed, if this has to go back to 2022, it must be completed in the first quarter (of that year). Cllr Frank Dolan pointed out that the constantly changing story was not good for the residents or for those trying to get answers on their behalf. We had promised residents that by this stage the estate would be taken in charge and it is clear that it is still quite a way away yet. I hope that the message now gets through that there is quite a sense of urgency about this and other estates and that work to take them in charge is quickly progressed. Cllr Bohan said she wanted an explanation as to why she was told two different dates for The Acres to be taken in charge in less than a month. Director of Services, Mary Quinn, said that she would seek further clarification. Cllr Frank Dolan and Cllr Felim Gurn said they had both been told that the delays were down to Irish Water. This is a very poor message for us to be sending out, pointed out Cllr Bohan. If Irish Water is behind the delay then they need to make a bigger effort to sort this as quickly as possible. Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says 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deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 Rewards, air miles, gold clubs, silver clubs, blue clubs, miles boosters airline loyalty schemes can be bamboozling. And all this lingo is before you have even thought about what theyre really worth. In the UK, schemes offered by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have the largest take-up redeemable across a host of airlines, plus shops, hotels and hire car companies. Rewards, air miles, gold clubs, silver clubs, blue clubs, miles boosters - airline loyalty schemes can be bamboozling These market leaders have plenty of quirks but newcomers to such loyalty schemes should not be dissuaded. They are easy to join and just earning points on everyday purchases at a supermarket could lead to free flights, says Nicky Kelvin, at The Points Guy UK (thepointsguy.co.uk), a website devoted to all things loyalty points. Heres our beginners guide: THE BIG ONE: AVIOS AND BRITISH AIRWAYS With the Avios scheme, flyers collect points earned on BA flights as well as those with Iberia and Aer Lingus Under the Avios scheme, you collect points earned on British Airways flights as well as with Iberia and Aer Lingus. They are redeemable for any flights with Oneworld an alliance of 13 airlines including American, Cathay Pacific, Finnair and Qatar. Non-airline partners include Avis, John Lewis, M&S, Sainsburys and Argos. How does it work? Points are earned at a rate starting at 25 per cent of miles flown on economy tickets. Rates increase depending on which cabin a passenger is in (economy to first class), as well as frequent flyer membership tiers (which range from blue to gold). From London to New York, blue members (the lowest frequent flyer tier) would earn 865 points in economy, while a gold member in first class would earn 13,832. What are they worth? Flights paid for with Avios points start from 4,000 points one-way (to Amsterdam or Paris), with long haul from 13,000. Points can be used in combination with cash. Pros: Household accounts for families, points never expire, range of partners. Cons: High taxes on long-haul flights (can be upwards of 300 on some economy flights), cannot use to upgrade the cheapest economy tickets and non-airline partner redemptions can be bad value. Details: avios.com THE CHALLENGER: VIRGIN POINTS Virgin Atlantic's Virgin Points can be used on airlines such as Air France, KLM and Delta Virgin Points are earned with Virgin Atlantic and can be used on airlines including Air France, KLM, Delta and Singapore Airlines. Non-airline partners include Hertz, Hilton, Marriott, Eurostar and Mastercard. Under the parallel Virgin Red scheme, Virgin Points can be used to buy anything from theatre tickets to Greggs sausage rolls. How does it work? Points are earned starting at a rate of 25 per cent of miles flown. For example, a flight of 1,000 miles would earn 250 points. Rates increase depending on which cabin a passenger is in (economy to first class), as well as frequent flyer membership tiers (from red to gold). London to New York red members earn 865 points in economy while a gold member in first class earn 13,832. What are they worth? Flights with Virgin Points start from 18,000 return for London to Tel Aviv, plus 208 in taxes. London to Barbados return from 20,000, plus 305 in taxes. Pros: Points never expire. There are good partner options for long-haul travel. A Miles Booster scheme lets passengers buy extra points on top of a regular ticket price. Cons: There are prohibitively high taxes on some routes (672 on a London to New York return) and Virgins network is more limited than BAs. Details: www.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/flying-club.html BEST FOR PACKAGE HOLS: JET2 TRAVEL CLUB Jet2's Travel Club allows members to take advantage of holiday discounts and more Travel Club benefits include holiday discounts, flight discounts, early notifications on news and offers and deals on Travel Essentials (holiday extras). How does it work? Join online to view exclusive offers. What are they worth? Flight offers can be from 35 one-way. Pros: Be the first to know about cheapest tickets and holidays. Cons: Competition is likely to be high. Details: jet2.com/myjet2 NO FRILLS: WIZZ AIR PRIVILEGE PASS To obtain a Wizz Air Privilege Pass, customers must pay an annual membership fee of 171 An annual membership fee of 171 gives customers free seat selection, priority boarding, and an extra trolley bag for carry-on. It is not to be confused with Wizz Priority and Flex, which allows online flight changes without the fee and refund in credit vouchers if there is a cancellation. How does it work? Sign up online and then benefits will apply to each booking. What are they worth? Wizz Priority offers the same benefits (aside from seat selection) and is 21 per flight at the airport. Pros: Avoids surprise extra charges. Cons: Not worth the membership fee unless flying frequently. BUDGET BONANZA: EASYJET FLIGHT CLUB Only frequent flyers are invited to join easyJet's Flight Club, which offers a range of perks EasyJet Flight Club is invitation only, offered to frequent flyers, and allows free flight and name change plus other benefits. There is also EasyJet Plus, 215 per year, with perks such as extra baggage allowances, speedy boarding and fast track security. How does it work? Customers who find a cheaper equivalent flight with another airline will be refunded the difference and given a voucher worth 10 per cent of that amount. For EasyJet flights, customers will receive a credit voucher of the difference. What are they worth? Savings can be significant with flights from 29.99 one-way. Pros: Good savings and because its invitation only there are proper deals. Cons: Its invitation only. WHAT ABOUT MY CREDIT CARD? The fastest way to build up points without flying is through a credit card Credit cards are the fastest way to accrue points without flying. Nicky Kelvin recommends the American Express Membership Rewards scheme, as points can be easily used to book flights or hotels. Customers can see how many points they have by going to americanexpress.com and then travel can be booked directly using points through the American Express website at travel.americanexpress.co.uk. Airline partners include Virgin, BA, Emirates, Etihad, Singapore Airlines and Air France-KLM. Hotel transfer partners include Hilton, Marriott and Radisson. Virgin Atlantic also has a dedicated Mastercard with similar benefits. And it should be noted that British Airways has an American Express card that earns Avios rather than Membership Rewards points. In case you haven't heard, there's an ongoing campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom. March 17 marked the deadline for recall organizers to submit signatures to county elections offices, and organizers are very confident they have the numbers to force a recall election later this year. Below is a quick guide to how we got here, and what will happen next. How we got here Newsom has angered many across the state over his handling of the pandemic. California has enforced some of the toughest restrictions in the country and now has the nation's second-highest unemployment rate. Despite the stringent measures, California ranks near the middle of the pack in COVID-19 deaths per capita after a devastating winter surge. Some believe the winter surge was self-inflicted. Newsom has also drawn charges of hypocrisy after violating his own guidelines while dining at the French Laundry, and has kept his kids in private, in-person schools while most of the state's public schools remain shut down. In addition, there's a massive unemployment fraud scandal. What happens next To force a recall election, organizers must submit 1,495,709 valid signatures that are vetted by county elections officials. Organizers say they submitted 2,117,730, and thus only need 70.6% of submitted signatures to be valid. The last signature review report from the Secretary of State's office showed that 83.7% of submitted signatures were valid, which puts the recall well on pace. The math is clearly not in the governor's favor, and he has acknowledged as much in recent days. We are barreling towards a recall election, but it will take some time to get there. County officials have until April 29 to verify signatures and report results back to the secretary of state's office. After that, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber will have until May 9 to announce that the recall election has qualified. Once the announcement is made, anyone who signed the petition has the opportunity to withdraw their signatures in the period between May 10 and June 21. In the unlikely event enough people who signed the petition withdraw, the election is called off. If enough valid signatures remain, counties have until July 6 to notify the secretary of state's office of this fact. Then, per the state's recall laws, two separate groups of officials will "analyze costs" for over two months. Between July 6 and Aug.17, the state Department of Finance will review the costs of the recall, then pass the same task to the state legislature from the time period between Aug. 17 to Sept. 16. Finally, on Sept. 17, Secretary Weber will certify the signatures and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis will set an election date. Politico reports that experts in the state expect the election to fall "somewhere between October and late November." How recall election day works On the designated election day, voters will receive one ballot with just two questions on it. The first question will be something along the lines of, "Should Gavin Newsom be recalled?" The second question will then ask voters to pick a candidate to replace Newsom. If a majority of voters choose to keep Newsom, the second question is mooted and Newsom will remain in office. If a majority of voters choose to remove Newsom, he is immediately disqualified from office and whichever candidate on the bottom of the ballot receives the most votes will become governor. The winner only needs a plurality, and not a majority of votes. So far there are three major candidates in the race to replace Newsom, all of which are Republicans. The first candidate to declare was former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who governed as a moderate and has been attacked by Donald Trump Jr. for being insufficiently loyal to his father. After Faulconer declared, the Trumpier John Cox Newsom's 2018 opponent entered the race, as did former congressman Doug Ose. Former Trump cabinet official Ric Grenell is also reportedly eyeing a run. Regardless of the outcome of the recall, the 2022 gubernatorial election will continue as planned, meaning it is possible a candidate is elected governor in November 2021, then has to turn around and run for re-election the very next year. Slovenia's President Borut Pahor is administered AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, March 26, 2021. Slovenia has reversed its suspension of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines after the European Medicines Agency declared the shots are safe. In an apparent bid to dispel public concerns about the vaccine, Slovenia's top officials received the AstraZeneca shots.(AP Photo) Countries across Europe resumed vaccinations with the AstraZeneca shot on Friday, as leaders sought to reassure their populations it is safe following brief suspensions that cast doubt on a vaccine that is critical to ending the coronavirus pandemic. France's prime minister rolled up his sleeve to get the vaccine and Britain's planned to, as did a handful of other senior politicians across the continent where inoculation drives have repeatedly stumbled and several countries are now reimposing lockdowns as infections rise in many places. Britain is a notable exception: The outbreak there has receded, and the country has been widely praised for its vaccination campaign, though this week it announced that it, too, would be hit by supply shortages. The U.K. also never stopped using AstraZeneca. European Union countries, by contrast, have struggled to quickly roll out vaccines, and the pause of the vaccine by many this week only added to those troubles. The suspensions came after reports of blood clots in some recipients of the vaccine, even though international health agencies urged governments to press ahead with the shot, saying the benefits outweighed the risks. On Thursday, the European Medicines Agency said that the vaccine doesn't increase the overall incidence of blood clots, though it could not rule out a link to a small number of rare clots. People line up to get their AstraZeneca vaccine shot outside La Nuvola (The Cloud) convention center that was temporarily turned into a COVID-19 vaccination hub, in Rome, Friday, March 19, 2021. Italy's pharmaceutical agency has formally lifted its temporary ban on AstraZeneca vaccinations after the European Medicines Agency ruled the shots were safe and effective. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) The move paved the way for a slew of European countries including Italy, France and Germany to begin using the vaccine again. "It's clear that the revocation of the suspension is for us a great relief because we have to strongly accelerate the vaccination campaign," said Dr. Giovanni Rezza, the head of prevention at the Italian Health Ministry. Rezza told reporters in Rome that Italy only reluctantly halted the campaign out of an abundance of caution, but needed to ramp it back up quickly to make up for lost time now. He said Italy needed to more than double the 200,000 vaccinations per day the country had reached before the suspension to reach its goal of inoculating 80% of the population by September. Health experts have expressed concern that even though the suspensions were brief, they could still damage confidence in the vaccine at a time when many people are already hesitant to take a shot that was developed so quickly. While many EU countries have struggled with such reluctance, it's even more of a worry in developing nations that may not have any other choice of vaccine. AstraZeneca, which is cheaper and easier to store than many rival products, is the linchpin in vaccination drives in many poorer countries. Medical staff members administer the AstraZeneca vaccine at La Nuvola (The Cloud) convention center that was temporarily turned into a COVID-19 vaccination hub, in Rome, Friday, March 19, 2021. Italy's pharmaceutical agency has formally lifted its temporary ban on AstraZeneca vaccinations after the European Medicines Agency ruled the shots were safe and effective. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Amid these concerns, several politicians got the shot Friday, including French Prime Minister Jean Castex; Slovenian President Borut Pahor and Prime Minister Janez Jansa; and a German state governor. Castex, 55, said he stepped up because he wanted to show full confidence in the shot, even though he is not yet eligible under France's rules. The former director of the Pasteur Institute, Patrick Berche, told BFMTV the move was "a very beautiful gesture." France restarted the vaccine with some restrictions that seemed aimed at reducing the risk of potential side effects even further. Other countries that are resuming their use of AstraZeneca shots include Bulgaria, a nation of 7 million where only 355,000 people have been vaccinated with a first dose so farthe lowest number in the European Union. A Red Cross volunteer prepares the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in a vaccination center of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, southwestern France, Friday, March19, 2021. Countries across Europe resumed vaccinations with the AstraZeneca shot on Friday, as leaders sought to reassure their populations it is safe following brief suspensions that cast doubt on a vaccine that is critical to ending the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Bob Edme) But not everyone was as quick to return to the vaccine. Sweden, Norway and Denmark, which was the first country to pause using AstraZeneca, said they would wait another week before deciding whether to resume. And Finland decided to pause the vaccine for the first time Friday, saying it would suspend use for a week while it investigated two suspected cases of blood clots. Though there are concerns that the pause may have sown long-lasting doubts, some were relieved that the vaccine was available again Friday. Marvin Brandl, 28, an emergency paramedic, was among a group of health care workers who got a shot in the German city of Cologne. He voiced trust in all the vaccines that have been approved by the EU. "Last night when I found out that vaccination was possible again, I made the appointment right away and then I was satisfied and grateful that I was able to get vaccinated," Brandl said. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures after receiving the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine administered by nurse and Clinical Pod Lead, Lily Harrington at St.Thomas' Hospital in London, Friday, March 19, 2021. Johnson is one of several politicians across Europe, including French Prime Minister Jean Castex, getting a shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, Pool) Authorities in Berlin said two large vaccination centers were reopening Friday and that people whose appointments were canceled this week will be able to get the vaccine over the weekend without making a new one. After several stumbles in the vaccine rollout, EU governments are keen to get shots rolling again, especially since infections and hospitalizations are rising dramatically in many countries, with many officials saying they are either entering or already are in a "third wave." Infections rates in Germany are "now clearly exponential," Lars Schaade, the deputy head of the Robert Koch Institute, said. Officials have warned that country could face a return to stricter lockdown measures by Easter. In France, the government backed off ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and several other regions, instead announcing a patchwork of new restrictions despite an increasingly alarming situation at hospitals with a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients. Giovanni Rezza speaks during a news conference in Rome, Friday, March 19, 2021. Italy's pharmaceutical agency has formally lifted its temporary ban on AstraZeneca vaccinations after the European Medicines Agency ruled the shots were safe and effective. The head of prevention at the Health Ministry, Dr. Giovanni Rezza, said Italy only reluctantly halted the campaign out of an abundance of caution. (Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse via AP) A soldier prepares to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine in a COVID-19 vaccination hub set up and run by the Army in Trenno, Milan, Italy, Friday, March 19, 2021. Italy's pharmaceutical agency has formally lifted its temporary ban on AstraZeneca vaccinations after the European Medicines Agency ruled the shots were safe and effective. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP) Winfried Kretschmann, Prime Minister of Baden-Wurttemberg, is vaccinated against the Corona virus with the AstraZeneca vaccine by Christian Menzel, Senior Physician at the Klinikum Stuttgart in the vaccination centre operated by the Klinikum Stuttgart in the Liederhalle Culture and Congress Centre in Stuttgart, Germany, Friday, March 19, 2021. On the left is wife Gerlinde Kretschmann. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP) Slovenia's Prime Minister janez Jansa is administered AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, March 26, 2021. Slovenia has reversed its suspension of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines after the European Medicines Agency declared the shots are safe. In an apparent bid to dispel public concerns about the vaccine, Slovenia's top officials received the AstraZeneca shots.(AP Photo) Prime Minister Jean Castex, 55, is vaccinated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Hopital diInstruction des Armees Begin, in Saint-Mande, on the outskirts of Paris, Friday, March 19, 2021. Jean Castex announced Thursday that the French would be able to get inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine starting Friday afternoonand that he himself will be getting a shot "to show we can have complete confidence." Castex is making for himself an exception to the age rule, moving to the front of the line of those awaiting vaccinations, currently reserved for people 75 and older or with serious health concerns. (Thomas Coex, Pool via AP) Medical staff members administer the AstraZeneca vaccine at La Nuvola (The Cloud) convention center that was temporarily turned into a COVID-19 vaccination hub, in Rome, Friday, March 19, 2021. Italy's pharmaceutical agency has formally lifted its temporary ban on AstraZeneca vaccinations after the European Medicines Agency ruled the shots were safe and effective. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Jens Spahn (CDU), Federal Minister of Health, takes off his "double mask" at the beginning of the press conference on the current coronalage and the further approach to vaccinations in Berlin, Germany, Friday, March 19, 2021. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP) In Poland, more people are on respirators than at any time since the start of the pandemic and children make up a greater percentage of those hospitalized. Officials blame the surge on a more transmissible mutation first identified in Britain that is spreading like wildfire in the country, and they say the worst is yet to come. The central European nation is preparing to enter a new nationwide lockdown on Saturdayalbeit one that is less restrictive than the one imposed a year ago. Hungary, meanwhile, extended lockdown restrictions for another week as a powerful surge breaks records each daydespite the fact that the country has the second-highest vaccination rate in the EU after Malta. In Bosnia, which is not in the EU, soaring infections prompted a lockdown taking effect in the capital on Friday. The Balkan nation of 3.3 million has yet to start mass vaccination of its citizens and has kept relaxed measures and ski resorts open throughout the winter season. 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. PITTSBURGH, March 19, 2021 - A University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine-led survey of dozens of surge capacity managers at hospitals nationwide captures the U.S. health care system's pandemic preparedness status in the months before the first COVID-19 cases were identified in China. Published today in the journal JAMA Network Open, the investigation details the strain experienced by U.S. hospitals during the 2017-18 influenza season, which was marked by severe illness and the highest infectious disease-related hospitalization rates in at least a decade. At the time, pandemic planning within hospitals was not reported as being a high priority. "The timing for our survey couldn't have been better--ultimately it serves as a pre-COVID-19 time capsule of our preparedness to accommodate surges in patients needing hospitalization for acute illness," said senior author David Wallace, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor in Pitt's departments of Critical Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine. "It was surprising to hear very detailed stories of the strain hospitals were under during the 2017-18 flu season, and yet have no pandemic planning come out of it." The 2017-18 flu season was associated with more than 27.7 million medical visits, nearly a million hospitalizations and almost 80,000 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is more than double the deaths in a typical flu season and the highest hospitalization rate since seasonal influenza surveillance was instituted in 2005. Wallace and his team--which included specialists in health policy, medical anthropology and infectious diseases--interviewed surge capacity managers at a random sampling of 53 hospitals across the U.S. starting in April 2018, at the tail end of the flu season. Using a structured survey, they recorded detailed interviews about everything from ICU bed capacity and staffing ratios to the perceived effect of strain on quality of patient care and staff well-being. All of those surveyed reported experiencing hospital strain during the 2017-18 flu season. Strain was generally described as the result of high patient occupancy causing demand to outstrip the supply of resources--in fact or in perception. The "4 S's"--staff, stuff, space and systems--were reported as the widespread challenges that surge capacity managers consistently faced in continuing health care operations during the flu season. Staff was a particular concern, due to fatigue or staff being out sick with flu or caring for ill family. "This demonstrates that the perceptions of strain on staffing, patient care and capacity that we have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic were already present with prior epidemics," said lead author Gavin Harris, M.D., an assistant professor in the Emory University School of Medicine, who did this research while at Pitt. "Less than two years before COVID-19 took off in the U.S., we were experiencing a preview of the strain that a fast-spreading, severe respiratory infection places on our health system." In fall 2013--four years before this challenging flu season--the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response produced the Interim Healthcare Coalition Checklist for Pandemic Planning report, which identified eight categories hospitals should address when planning for crises, specifically surges in acute care needs. None of the survey participants commented on all eight categories, nor did any specifically report using the checklist. "Hospitals have a tendency to deal with what's right in front of them, the present," Wallace said. "In doing that, we must also learn when certain levers--like a pandemic preparedness checklist--must be pulled. That is done through reflecting after a crisis subsides and looking for opportunities to improve before the next crisis hits. If the past year has taught us anything, it's that infectious diseases aren't going away, and we'll always get a chance to put lessons learned to work." ### Additional authors on this research are Kimberly Rak, Ph.D., M.P.H., Jeremy Kahn, M.D., M.Sc., Derek Angus, M.D., M.P.H., Olivia Mancing and Julia Driessen, Ph.D., all of Pitt. This research was supported by National Institutes of Health grants R03HL16020, K08HL122478 and K24HL133444. To read this release online or share it, visit https:/ / www. upmc. com/ media/ news/ 031921-wallace-hospital-capacity-jama [when embargo lifts]. About the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine As one of the nation's leading academic centers for biomedical research, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine integrates advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1998. In rankings recently released by the National Science Foundation, Pitt ranked fifth among all American universities in total federal science and engineering research and development support. Likewise, the School of Medicine is equally committed to advancing the quality and strength of its medical and graduate education programs, for which it is recognized as an innovative leader, and to training highly skilled, compassionate clinicians and creative scientists well-equipped to engage in world-class research. The School of Medicine is the academic partner of UPMC, which has collaborated with the University to raise the standard of medical excellence in Pittsburgh and to position health care as a driving force behind the region's economy. For more information about the School of Medicine, see http://www. medschool. pitt. edu . http://www. upmc. com/ media Contact: Allison Hydzik Office: 412-647-9975 Mobile: 412-559-2431 E-mail: HydzikAM@upmc.edu Contact: Wendy Zellner Office: 412-586-9777 Mobile: 412-973-7266 E-mail: ZellnerWL@upmc.edu 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 AUSTIN, Minn. A second guilty plea is entered in a violent Mower County burglary. Amela Kazic, 31 of Austin, pleaded guilty Friday morning to fourth-degree burglary. Her sentencing is set for May 13. Amela Kazic was accused of joining Aldin Kazic and Kaele Jean Sample in stealing items from a home in the 600 block of 7th Avenue SE in Austin on September 6, 2020. Court documents state someone in the home was punched in the face and nearly $200 in tools were stolen. Amela Kazic reportedly said the crime was in response to Aldin Kazics stimulus check being stolen. Sample, 25 of Hinckley, previously pleaded guilty to fourth-degree burglary and fifth-degree assault. Her sentencing is scheduled for June 4. Aldin Kazic, 30 of Austin, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree burglary and misdemeanor theft. His trial is to begin on April 26. New Delhi/Colombo: While the construction of a grand Ram Temple is underway in the holy city of Ayodhya, a stone from Sita Eliya, the place in Sri Lanka where Goddess Sita is believed to have been held as a captive, will be brought and planted in the temple complex, it has emerged. According to reports, the stone is expected to be brought to India by Sri Lankan High Commissioner-designate to India Milinda Moragoda. A stone from Sita Eliya in Sri Lanka will be used in the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Sita Eliya is the place where goddess Sita is believed to have been held as a captive. The stone is expected to be taken to India by Sri Lankan HC-designate to India,Milinda Moragoda pic.twitter.com/3epop9zoYK ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2021 Sita Eliya has a temple dedicated to Goddess Sita and is said to mark the place where she was held captive by the demon King Ravana and where she regularly prayed to Lord Rama for her rescue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya in August last year. Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has been entrusted with the task of Ram temple construction in Ayodhya. Champat Rai, general secretary of the trust, had said earlier this month that the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is likely to be completed in about three years. The Trust had earlier this month purchased a 7,285 square feet land right next to the Ram Mandir premises in line with its plan to extend the temple complex area to 107 acres from the current 70 acres. The body had reportedly paid Rs 1 crore for the new plot of land at a rate of Rs 1,373 per square foot. We have purchased the land as we need more space for the Ram temple, trustee Anil Mishra was quoted as saying by PTI. Live TV YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Parliament has convened an extraordinary session at the initiative of the ruling My Step faction. 1 issue is on the agenda. The lawmakers will debate the bills on making changes and amendments to the Judicial Code and the Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. CHICAGO, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicago-based workforce non-profit Manufacturing Renaissance is pleased to announce that Erica Swinney Staley, Executive Director of the industry-leading career technical training and advocacy organization, has been appointed by the National Skills Coalition (NSC) and Business Leaders United for Workforce Partnerships (BLU) to serve on a national Manufacturing Panel that will advise the Biden administration on its "Made in All of America" initiative and related policies. Swinney Staley and Manufacturing Renaissance were the only appointees from Illinois. One of our students on the job. Our graduates have a 100% placement rate and once they are in, they stay. Our manufacturing employer partners are eager for more of them but without the resources to provide the needed skills training, we can't satisfy the need of manufacturers This info graphic from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute shows the size and cost of the skills gap. We are eager to help the new administration devise a coherent policy and program strategy to infuse new resources into re-building our manufacturing base. This time around, we want to help the industry become more diverse and more capable of competing in the global economy. Supporting this industry will help re-build struggling communities. Swinney Staley, along with other leaders on the panel, will meet in the coming months with Biden administration officials at the Department of Commerce, as well as with Congressional leadership to help shape federal recovery policies for the manufacturing industry. "We want to ensure that federal recovery efforts support the businesses and workers most impacted by the pandemic, particularly workers of color, women, and workers with a high school degree or less," said Andy Van Kleunen, CEO of National Skills Coalition. "We know that skills training alone will not ensure an inclusive recovery, but we also know that it must be part of our nation's federal policy response. If we want those policies to succeed, industry leaders must help shape them." NSC and BLU convened a total of four recovery panels for the following industries: Healthcare, Manufacturing, Infrastructure, and Retail/Hospitality. Different industries have experienced the COVID-19 pandemic in different ways. The goal of the industry recovery panels is to ensure that federal recovery initiatives include investments in job training and support services that workers and businesses need to adapt to the structural shifts within their industries. "Since before the pandemic, youth and young adults from low-income, Black and Brown communities typically do not have the opportunity to learn about or prepare for these exciting, good paying careers from home or school. Meanwhile, in the Chicagoland area we have tens-of-thousands of good paying manufacturing jobs going unfilled while we have crisis-level unemployment among youth and young adults," said Swinney Staley. "I'm honored to participate on this panel to help guide resources to young people in manufacturing and workforce development. If successful, companies will win and communities will win," Swinney Staley said. The Industry Recovery Panel initiative is supported in part by Walmart, JPMorgan Chase, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and Microsoft. Contact: David Robinson Manufacturing Renaissance 3411 W. Diversey Ave. Ste. 10 Phone 773-524-7609 c 773-278-5418 ext.19 [email protected] SOURCE Manufacturing Renaissance Anna Kikina, Russias only female cosmonaut, will become a Barbie doll 60 years after the first man flew into space. A special doll modelled on her will feature in Mattels You Can Be Whoever You Want campaign, and will be unveiled on the eve of the anniversary of the first flight into space. Ms Kikina, 36, is Russias only active female cosmonaut and is set to become the fourth Russian woman to fly to space. The mission, which will see cosmonauts fly to the International Space Station, is set to go ahead in 2022, a decade after Ms Kikina was first admitted to the cosmonaut corps. The not-for-sale doll will be produced exclusively in the image of Anna Kikina in two versions of costumes: a training suit and an Orlan-type space suit. Read more: Ms Kikina said: I didnt dream of becoming a cosmonaut as a child. But if I had an astronaut Barbie doll, then the idea of becoming one would have for sure been born in my head back then. Not every girl playing with a Barbie doll has to want to become an astronaut. The most important thing is that they all know that they have a choice. The first Miss Astronaut Barbie doll was produced in 1965, two years after cosmonaut and current Russian lawmaker Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. The not-for-sale doll will be produced exclusively in the image of Anna Kikina in two versions of costumes: a training suit and an Orlan-type space suit (via REUTERS) Barbie dolls have featured many careers over the years, including a doctor, a pilot and a presidential candidate. Last Summer, Barbie launched a new 2020 Campaign Team set, featuring a black Barbie doll as a presidential candidate. The set, which features four women dolls, each with their own role in the campaign, was meant to pique the interest of young girls in shaping the future. Lisa McKnight, senior vice president and global head of Barbie and Dolls at Matte, said of the dolls: Since 1959, Barbie has championed girls and encouraged them to be leaders whether in the classroom, community or someday, of the country. With less than a third of elected leaders in the US being women, and black women being even less represented in these positions, we designed the Barbie Campaign Team with a diverse set of dolls to show all girls they can raise their voices. 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. Gov. Greg Abbott declared legislation to overhaul the Texas electrical grids operation an emergency priority, but lawmakers appear interested only in tweaking around the edges and spending taxpayer money, not forcing big corporations to accept a true transformation. If anyone needs evidence that the governors office, and by extension the Public Utility Commission, was putting big business over consumers, listen to the recording Texas Monthly obtained of PUC Chairman Arthur DAndrea. He told investment analysts that he and the governor planned to protect Wall Streets billions of dollars of windfall profits captured during last months freeze. Under DAndreas supervision, the state electricity grid operator artificially raised prices to $9,000 a megawatt-hour, including a 32-hour period in which they should have been allowed to fall, according to the states independent market monitor. TOMLINSONS TAKE: All will pay for the Texas Blackout, whether the ERCOT grid becomes reliable or not Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and consumer advocates want DAndrea to roll back the price he and the grid operator ERCOT guaranteed generators. The market monitor has recommended the PUC reprice those 32 hours and save consumers $5 billion of the $16 billion in overcharges. Its a contentious political issue. The best I can do is put the weight of the commission in favor of not repricing, DAndrea told a conference call on March 9 that Bank of America Securities hosted and closed to the public and the media. Someone gave Texas Monthlys Loren Steffy, my predecessor, a recording of the call. Abbott has publicly backed DAndreas decision. But embarrassed by the leaked recording, Abbott has since demanded DAndreas resignation. Since the only other two commissioners have already resigned, DAndrea will remain chairman until Abbott chooses a successor. DAndrea also candidly revealed the governors plan to only make cosmetic changes to an electricity market that left four million homes without power for as much as 82 hours during the coldest nights in decades and killed more than 50 people. Abbott was not going to appoint any new commissioners while the Legislature is in session because he did not want to deal with Senate confirmation. DAndrea bragged that I went from being on a very hot seat to having one of the safest jobs in Texas. DAndrea then told the analysts, whose job is to advise investors on which stocks to purchase, to not expect any significant changes in the ERCOT market, despite its dismal failure. He said the state would ask companies to do a better job preparing for inclement weather but added lawmakers and the governor do not have the stomach to overhaul the extremely complicated competitive market. The Legislature is also unlikely to bail out private companies that will go bankrupt because prices went so high for so long, he told the analysts. But DAndrea said Texas lawmakers had promised him they would authorize a bond to cover the costs to nonprofit municipal and cooperative utilities. The generators, traders and banks that captured obscene profits will get to keep their windfall, while Texas taxpayers will pay the bill off over the next 20 or 30 years. That is in addition to consumers paying higher rates for electricity because the commercial retail electricity providers that survive are required to pay the bills of the bankrupt. Based on how Patrick humiliated DAndrea during a Senate hearing March 11, it is safe to say the Lieutenant Governor is irate. He pushed through a bill ordering the PUC to reprice those 32 hours, and Attorney General Ken Paxton confirmed in a legal opinion that the PUC could do it constitutionally. That opinion and DAndreas departure are unlikely to change Abbotts game plan. House Speaker Dade Phelan has sided with Abbott and nixed any attempt to reprice, over bipartisan objections. Instead, Phelan and Abbott expect Texas taxpayers to cover the costs of weatherizing power plants to make sure this doesnt happen again. They want to tap the states Rainy Day Fund because they think it is somehow appropriate to spend the taxpayers savings on things corporations should do independently. TOMLINSONS TAKE: Texas blackout raises many questions, but the answers are difficult Remember, these are the same people who opposed spending Rainy Day money on schools or health care. As for getting to the bottom of how the grid collapsed, we will probably never know. Dozens of journalists, including myself, have asked the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to turn over documents that could reveal what happened. But the electric companies have asked Paxton to declare all of the materials confidential, citing an exemption from disclosing proprietary information. DAndrea, meanwhile, has appointed an insider as director of accountability at ERCOT. Adrianne Brandt is a former adviser to the PUC chair and has spent her career at Texas utilities, creating doubts about what new insights she will bring. Less than a month after the Texas Blackout, our leaders are already sidestepping and covering up. Once again, corporations get bailed out and consumers remain poorly served. Tomlinson writes commentary about business, economics and politics. twitter.com/cltomlinson chris.tomlinson@chron.com Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act on Feb. 25, and the bill is now undergoing hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The purpose of the Equality Act is to prohibit "discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system." Public opinion data suggest that the majority of Americans support the bill, or at least the idea behind it. As far back as 2017, Gallup asked a general question about the need for this type of new law and found slim majority support -- 51% -- for "new civil rights laws to reduce discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people." There is not a lot of current polling that asks Americans directly about the "Equality Act" per se. One recent poll conducted by Hart Research for the LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign included a detailed summary of the new bill and found that 70% of those interviewed favored it. (Here's how it was described to respondents in that poll: "The Equality Act would add to existing laws that currently protect people based on race, sex, religion, and other characteristics to include sexual orientation and gender identity. This law would ensure that LGBTQ people are protected from discrimination in key areas of life, including employment, housing, credit, education, and jury service. And it would also add protections based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity to use of public spaces and services and federally funded programs. The Equality Act would update current laws to prevent services that are open to the public, such as retail stores, banks, legal services, and transportation services, from refusing service for LGBTQ people. It prevents businesses from using religious objections as a basis for refusing service to LGBTQ people.") Another recent survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute showed that 82% of Americans favored "laws that would protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations and housing." A Kaiser Family Foundation poll conducted in June found that 69% of Americans supported "laws that ban discrimination based on whether a person is lesbian, gay or bisexual." On the other hand, a survey conducted last summer by the National Opinion Research Center found that when given a choice, Americans were about equally split between the belief that "our country has made changes needed to give gay and lesbian people equal rights with other Americans" (48%) and "our country needs to continue making changes to give gay and lesbian people equal rights with other Americans" (50%). These responses may have reflected respondent confusion about the question wording. The first alternative seemingly overlaps with the second (i.e., a respondent could believe that the country has made changes and also believe that the country needs to continue to make changes). We also know that Americans' general attitudes toward LGBT rights have become much more positive over time, as my colleague Justin McCarthy reviewed last summer. Two-thirds of Americans now support same-sex marriage, and two-thirds say that gay and lesbian relations are morally acceptable. Gallup also recently reported that the percentage of the U.S. adult population identifying as LGBT has increased to 5.6%, from 3.5% in 2012. All of this leads to the reasonable conclusion that a majority of Americans, in general, support the concept behind new legislation designed to outlaw discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in the U.S. Reasons Behind Opposition With that said, not all is smooth sailing for the Equality Act, which has engendered significant opposition -- both in Congress, where its passage is far from assured, and among many conservative and religious leaders. This is in part based on perceptions that the law would limit religious freedom. As Utah Sen. Mitt Romney's office recently stated, "Sen. Romney believes that strong religious liberty protections are essential to any legislation on this issue, and since those provisions are absent from this particular bill, he is not able to support it." The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention has "worked tirelessly" to defeat the Equality Act, saying, "This bill would substantially undermine religious liberty protections in the United States." The conservative Heritage Foundation announced, "A federal sexual orientation and gender identity law would empower the government to interfere in how regular Americans think, speak, and act at home, at school, at work and at play. Any bill promoting such authoritarianism is a danger to our freedoms." As can be seen from these objections, opponents of the Equality Act are largely focused on the collision between Americans' rights to the "free exercise" of their personal religious beliefs and the power of the government to enforce anti-discrimination laws. This, in turn, reflects competing interpretations of the First Amendment ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"), whose brief statement of the guarantee of freedom of religion has been the subject of discussion and legal challenges essentially since the day it was written. Supporters of the Equality Act say it both guarantees equal protection of LGBT persons and maintains freedom of religion. Opponents say it would impose government mandates on their personal religious beliefs. In particular, opponents focus on language which they claim would reduce the ability of individuals to claim religious beliefs as the basis for their actions in any situation in the future, based on the law's references to overriding the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. There is some survey research that has asked Americans about situations in which individuals and organizations claim that their religious beliefs preclude them from adhering to anti-discrimination laws. The most well-known such case involved the Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado, which refused to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple and was subsequently found by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission to be violating the state's civil rights laws. The case wound its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overruled the Civil Rights Commission decision based on narrow grounds relating to how the commission handled the case. Most polling that I have seen shows Americans tilt toward supporting the Civil Rights Commission position (i.e., that the baker is obligated to design wedding cakes for same-sex couples regardless of his personal religious beliefs). More broadly, recent polling I have reviewed shows that Americans tend to support the right of the state to enforce laws that override religious beliefs in a variety of situations involving churches, hospitals and individuals' claims that such enforcement would violate their religious beliefs. Research conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute and AP/NORC over the past year includes scenarios involving hospitals that refuse to provide abortion services because of their religious beliefs, religiously affiliated hospitals refusing to provide healthcare plans including contraception to their employees, parents wanting to send their children to public school without vaccines because of their religious convictions, and a business owner having to provide family healthcare benefits to employees who were part of a same-sex couple. In all instances, the results show that the public sides with the enforcement of existing laws, overriding claims of personal religious beliefs. And Pew Research last summer, in reference to pandemic lockdowns, found that Americans overwhelmingly say "houses of worship should be required to follow the same rules about social distancing and large gatherings as other organizations and businesses in their local area." Bottom Line Overall, the Equality Act seems to be in general conformance with American public opinion. Polling suggests that the majority of Americans favor the idea of additional laws to ensure civil rights protections for LGBT persons. The bill as written is long and complex (as is the case for much congressional legislation), and critics argue that it will increase the government's ability to override religious beliefs in violation of the First Amendment. But surveys suggest that the majority of Americans seem to be OK with the right of the state to enforce anti-discrimination laws even in the face of claims that they violate personal religious beliefs, at least in terms of specific scenarios presented in the research. Religious freedom has taken on new significance in recent years as a rallying cry among conservatives and highly religious Christians and was one of the themes emphasized by former President Donald Trump in both of his presidential campaigns and while in office. Trump, appealing to religious conservatives, issued an executive order in 2017 proclaiming his support for the concept of freedom of religion (Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty). President Joe Biden also has indicated strong support for the concept of religious liberty, but with different emphases and interpretations than Trump. The fate of the Equality Act (i.e., how it will fare in the Senate) is uncertain, but the controversy surrounding the proposed law serves to highlight the importance of religious liberty as an ongoing flashpoint in the current American political and cultural landscape. Westerly, RI (02891) Today Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 61F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Mostly cloudy with showers and a few thunderstorms. Low 59F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, say goodbye to law and order Joe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Internet payments software provider Stripe has raised $733 million (US$600m) with completion of a funding round, with the capital to be used for investment in its European operations and to expand its Global Payments and Treasury Network to support what it says is surging demand from enterprise heavyweights. Stripe says the funding round gives it an Australian dollar valuation of $122 .4 billion (US95b). Primary investors in the funding raise include Allianz X, Axa, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Sequoia Capital, and Irelands National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). According to Stripe, enterprise revenue is now both the companys largest and fastest growing segment, more than doubling year over year. Were investing a ton more in Europe this year, particularly in Ireland, said John Collison, President and co-founder of Stripe. Whether in fintech, mobility, retail or SaaS, the growth opportunity for the European digital economy is immense. In 2021, we will double down on our enterprise capabilities, particularly our customer success teams, to help even more large businesses like Twilio or Zapier significantly increase their revenue, said Mike Clayville, Stripes Chief Revenue Officer. We will also invest in our global expansion to help companies such as Glofox or MATCHESFASHION increase their market opportunity. And through partnerships with enterprise solutions like Salesforce Commerce Cloud we will make it even easier for large multinationals around the world to switch to Stripe. Were investing in the infrastructure that will power internet commerce in 2030 and beyond, said Dhivya Suryadevara, Stripes Chief Financial Officer. The pandemic taught us many things about society, including how much can be achievedand paid foronline, but the internet still isnt the engine for global economic progress that it could be. Were laser focused on helping ambitious businesses grow faster. While Stripe already processes hundreds of billions of dollars per year for millions of businesses worldwide, the opportunity ahead is much larger for Stripe than it was when the company was started 10 years ago. Stripe is an accelerator of global economic growth and a leader in sustainable finance. We are convinced that, despite making great progress over the last 10 years, most of Stripes success is yet to come said Conor OKelly, CEO of NTMA. Were delighted to back Irelands and Europes most prominent success story, and, in doing so, to help millions of other ambitious companies become more competitive in the global economy. Most people underappreciate Stripes global scale and leading ability to serve the most complex enterprise customers, said Timothy Chiodo Head of Payments and Fintech Research at Credit Suisse. Stripes global scale and market reach continues to expand and they are a now a leader (and gaining meaningful share) in the enterprise segment. WASHINGTON U.S. government agencies are again looking at a long-standing proposal to release an Afghan drug kingpin in exchange for concessions in peace talks, which would include the release of an American held in Afghanistan, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. Bashir Noorzai, who was arrested in New York in 2005 and sentenced in 2009 to life in prison on drug and conspiracy charges, could be the leverage President Biden is looking for in Afghanistan, particularly to free American civil engineer Mark Frerichs, who was kidnapped in Kabul in January 2020 and is held by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network. Noorzai is currently in a federal prison in New Hampshire. American engineer and Taliban hostage Mark Frerichs. (Photo provided by family) Noorzais possible release, which remains controversial, will likely not be a part of any imminent announcements being made by the Biden administration on Afghanistan. Facing a tight deadline to remove the remaining 2,500 U.S. troops by May 1, the White House is in the process of a broader evaluation of its approach to peace negotiations with the Taliban. A source familiar with the matter stressed that Biden has not yet made a decision on the May 1 deadline, previously negotiated by the Trump administration. A vital piece of the equation, particularly if peace negotiations with the Taliban are restarted, is convincing the Haqqani network to free Frerichs, as well as finding answers about what happened to American author Paul Overby, who disappeared in the region in 2014. Both the White House and the State Department declined to comment on whether Noorzais release was being discussed within the government. However, in a statement, State Department spokesperson Ned Price wrote that American citizen Mark Frerichs has spent over a year in captivity. We will not stop working until we secure his safe return home. If the possibility of releasing Noorzai rises to the level of the White House, it would likely involve a complex and lengthy deliberation, featuring input from the agencies and senior officials, particularly Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Attorney General Merrick Garland. Story continues The White House is under pressure to make sure it has explored every available option to free hostages before pulling out of Afghanistan, and many are angry that the Trump administration signed a peace deal with the Taliban while the Haqqani network was openly holding an American captive. While there are always big policy issues at play, Americans held hostage abroad must take priority, said Margaux Ewen, executive director of the James Foley Legacy Foundation, named after an American journalist killed in Syria by ISIS militants. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Ewen urged the White House to do whatever it can to free hostages before even considering leaving Afghanistan. What kind of a message does it send if the United States is dealing with the Taliban when they are still holding Americans hostage? How can we sign a peace deal with them without first resolving Mark Frerichs and Paul Overbys cases? Frerichss family declined to discuss specifics, citing ongoing internal discussions, but told Yahoo News they support any and all efforts to bring him home. We want to see all our troops come home from Afghanistan, but we are worried that we are losing leverage to get Mark home safely. We have confidence in President Biden and Secretary Blinken and welcome anything the government can do to help make Marks return a priority, said Charlene Cakora, the sister of Frerichs. Noorzai, a prominent tribal leader from southern Afghanistan, was lured to the U.S. in 2005 by federal agents promising high-level discussions. Noorzai, who had previously worked with American officials in the region, was arrested after landing in the U.S. for orchestrating a massive drug-trafficking ring out of both Afghanistan and Pakistan that put over $50 million in heroin into the streets of New York City and other states and countries. That money directly financed Taliban activities, according to the U.S. government. Noorzai had previously served as an ally who helped the Americans track down weaponry and information in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks. But there was growing confusion within the U.S. government about what to do with Noorzai, wrote national security journalist James Risen in his book Pay Any Price, given the tribal leaders prominent role in the drug trade and his financial support for the Taliban. Not everyone in the U.S. government agreed that it was the right call to arrest him, according to sources familiar with the matter. However, Noorzais prominent role in opium-rich southern Afghanistan, where the drug trade was a primary source of funds for the Taliban, caught the attention of the Drug Enforcement Administration, which enlisted private contractors to help track him down, to the dismay of the CIA. By January 2005, there was already a sealed indictment against Noorzai in New York. Afghan drug lord Bashir Noorzai. (Handout via Reuters) Not knowing the real purpose of his trip, however, Noorzai flew from Dubai to New York, where federal agents put him in custody. The Taliban have since demanded his return. Experts familiar with the region and Noorzais role argue he is important for tribal cohesion and the stability of southern Afghanistan. The first time U.S. officials seriously considered releasing Noorzai was in early 2013, when the Pentagon was looking for ways to get Bowe Bergdahl, an Army soldier held captive by the Haqqani network, and several other Americans imprisoned in Afghanistan and Pakistan back home. However, the U.S. government ultimately worked with the Qatari and Afghan governments to trade five Taliban prisoners for Bergdahl. Several of the other prisoners, including Caitlin Coleman, Josh Boyle and their child born in captivity, were released later on, while Warren Weinstein, an American who was being held by al-Qaida affiliates, was later accidentally killed in a CIA drone strike. The Taliban has been calling for Noorzais release with U.S. officials including Zalmay Khalilzad, special envoy to Afghanistan, since the summer. Khalilzad had already arranged for the release in 2019 of two other Western hostages held by the Taliban, American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, as a way to break through in the peace process. Then, in January 2020, the Haqqani network took Frerichs. They saw a gravy train, a former senior administration official explained. That really complicated things for us. The possibility of freeing Noorzai in exchange for Frerichs was discussed at the senior levels of the Trump administration, but faced opposition. I think thats a nonstarter, said Lisa Curtis, who was in charge of the South and Central Asia portfolio at the National Security Council under Trump between 2017 and 2021. This person is known as the Pablo Escobar of Afghanistan, she explained. Noorzais arrest was a huge victory for the DEA in particular. Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) The U.S. authorities worked very hard to arrest him. ... I can tell you that while there may have been some folks pushing for it, there was a great deal of resistance, she recalled. If the entire peace process is turned on this issue, maybe there would be some consideration. Multiple officials concerned about Frerichss release were frustrated that his name wasnt being consistently raised in peace talks led by Khalilzad, particularly given the quality of intelligence concerning his capture and location. However, when the possibility of releasing Noorzai was formally introduced at high levels of the U.S. government, officials at the Department of Justice ultimately shot it down, the sources said. A spokesperson for DOJ declined to comment. We had the chance to do something early on, but he was sacrificed at the altar of potential peace in Afghanistan, said a former senior administration official. It was disappointing to see that. Not every U.S. official believes releasing Noorzai is the only way to simultaneously get Frerichs home and reenergize the peace negotiations that Trump left behind. Curtis, who believes the administration should not immediately pull out of Afghanistan, suggests that there are multiple levers of power to pull to get the Taliban back to the table. The Taliban certainly want their members delisted from U.N. sanctions lists, they want more prisoners released, and many of them actually dont want to be international pariahs like they were in the 1990s, she said. The other leverage I would say is more negative. We could certainly step up our military activity against the Taliban if, for example, they start increasing attacks on U.S. forces. However, several sources familiar with the discussions feel that the Afghan drug lord may be the only chance the U.S. government has to get Frerichs home, and maybe some other major concessions along the way in a broader peace arrangement. We cant really move forward and leave an American behind, said one former senior administration official. U.S. lawmakers following Frerichss case, including Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, continue to publicly call for his release. From left, Sens. Charles Schumer, Cory Booker, Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Mark Frerichs has been held hostage in Afghanistan for more than a year. His family deserves to see him home once again and I will continue to work with the Biden administration to ensure his safe return, Durbin said in a statement to Yahoo News. Noorzais release, while controversial, wouldnt be unprecedented. In 2018, the government quietly released Haji Juma Khan, another Afghan drug lord. He was arrested in 2008 despite his previous work with both the CIA and DEA. Unlike Noorzai, however, his case never actually went to trial. Its been kind of comical to see Noorzai on the table over the years, said retired Army Lt. Col. Jason Amerine, who has testified to Congress about the deficiencies of the U.S. governments hostage recovery process. So much time has passed now that releasing Noorzai, hed probably be released straight into retirement. ____ Read more from Yahoo News: Metakovan, the person who bought the digital art or non-fungible token (NFT) created by artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, for $69.3 million in an auction conducted by auction house Christie's has identified himself as Vignesh Sundaresan. Sundaresan, a blockchain entrepreneur based in Singapore, detailed his journey in a blogpost titled 'NFTs: The First 5000 Beeples How two immigrants from Tamil Nadu bought a piece of digital art for $69M. And what we're funding next.' The blog also told the story of 'Twobadour', or Anand Venkateswaran, the steward of Metapurse, a crypto-based fund financed by Metakovan. Also read: India Today Conclave: Not all windows to be shut for cryptocurrency, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman 'Everydays - The First 5000 Days, the digital art by Beeple, was sold on March 11 for a staggering $69 million. Sundaresan said he wanted to show "Indians and people of color that they too could be patrons, that crypto was an equalizing power between the West and the Rest, and that the global south was rising". Sundaresan is a Y-Combinator alumnus who co-founded BitAcces, which has deployed over 1,605 bitcoin ATMs all over the globe. He is currently CEO of software technology provider Portkey Technologies. He is also the founder of Lendroid Foundation, which creates financial protocols exclusive to blockchain. In the blog, Sundaresan also announced a $5,00,000 Metapurse fellowship for crypto storytellers. In the first edition, the fund will offer $1,00,000 to five writers, producers and content makers spread across 12 monthly stipends. Describing Metapurse, the blog said, "Metapurse is a crypto-exclusive fund that specializes in identifying early-stage projects across blockchain infrastructure, finance, art, unique collectibles, and virtual estate. The thesis of Metapurse is that the art of the Metaverse will be crucial, beautiful, digital, and cryptographical. And it will be stored on-chain." On NFT art, it said digital decentralisation enables cultural decentralisation. "Anyone can create NFT art, anyone can buy it, anyone can see it, and anyone can be inspired by it. Dominant cultures have a tendency to imperialize, to centralize. We see the global Metaverse as an antidote to this tendency." Also read: Moody's Analytics sees India's GDP growth at 12% in 2021 Also read: 'Bitcoin will touch $100,000 soon, it's not a bubble,' say cryptocurrency experts Nguyen Minh Hieu was in disbelief when he found out he had won a VND900 million ($39,000) scholarship to RMIT University in Vietnam, a sweet payoff after years of craving access to higher education. Hard work pays off Hieu was born into a low-income family in the southern Vietnamese countryside. After losing his father in a tragic explosion at a young age, his journey to education has always been at risk of being cut short. We wound up losing our home and my mom and I had to move into an abandoned temple. We stayed there for nearly 20 years, Hieu said. Though still just a child, Hieu did his best to help relieve his mothers financial burden. When I was in seventh grade, I begged my mum to let me drop out of school so she could save money on tuition, but she refused, Hieu shared. Six years later, after graduating from high school with no money to attend university, Hieu took up a job as a delivery driver. I began working for a bakery. I had to wake up at 4:00 am each morning to deliver cakes and bread. My shift lasted until very late at night. Hieu had almost given up all hope of a higher education when he found KOTO a social enterprise with a mission to empower at-risk and disadvantaged youths in Vietnam through its internationally recognized hospitality training program. I felt like my chances of getting into KOTOs program were pretty low, but I still decided to give it a shot, Hieu shared. In the end, Hieus steadfast commitment to education won over the KOTO representatives at his interview and he was admitted into the program. Hieu is particularly grateful for the soft skills he was able to develop during his time at KOTO, particularly the improvements to his English abilities he was able to make through his interactions with foreign customers. Coming to fruition All of his hard work, gratitude and dedication paid off when Hieu received a scholarship awarded in 2018 by KOTO in partnership with TAFE NSW in Australia to study for an Advanced Diploma in Hospitality Management. Hieu is one of the most dedicated students I have witnessed in over 20 years of teaching, said Karen Law, a professor at TAFE NSW. He has true respect for the opportunity hes been given and a clear goal of assisting other young people who came from very difficult backgrounds and want to achieve something. Hieus determination and thirst for knowledge have also made a strong impression on Huong Dang, Hieus mentor and the founder and CEO of the social enterprise HopeBox. I have witnessed Hieu achieving many milestones as hes grown from a young boy with low-self-esteem to a completely transformed young man who is confident and has a heart full of hope, Dang said. This year, after passing a rigorous selection process, Hieu was accepted into the RMIT Vietnam 2020 Scholarship program at the age of 28. My biggest goal is to create a bigger impact in society and give people the chance to lend a helping hand. Together we can build a stronger community and continue to support disadvantaged youths in Vietnam, Hieu said. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! From late 2020 to the end of February 2021, the number of Vietnams IP addresses in botnets decreased by another 1 million to 917,492. According to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) under the Authority of Information Security, Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), at the beginning of December 2020, Vietnam had 1,052,479 IP addresses in botnets. In January 2021, the figure decreased to 1,004,706, or 1.05 percent, from December 2020, and 29.85 percent compared with the same period last year. In February 2021, the number of Vietnamese botnet IPs continued decreasing to 917,492, down by 8.68 percent compared with January 2021 and 44.16 percent compared with February 2020. The figures showed a downtrend in the number of Vietnams IP addresses in botnets in the last eight months. Explaining this, NCSC experts said individuals and organizations have heightened their awareness and joined forces with agencies and technology firms to remove malware, even after the 2020 campaign on detecting and removing malware nationwide. The campaign was kicked off by MIC in July 2020 and finished in mid-December with the long-term aim of ensuring safety for users in Vietnams cyberspace and accelerating national digital transformation. Deployed on Vietnams entire cyberspace, the campaign was coordinated by NCSC in cooperation with Vietnamese and foreign information security firms. Before the launch of the campaign, security firms surveys found that the malware spread in Vietnam had begun to decrease but remained at a high level compared with other countries. At that time, Vietnam had 16 million IPv4 addresses, of which 3 million IPs were regularly found in international institutions black lists and 2 million IPs in big botnets. NCSC director Tran Quang Hung said the campaign on detecting and removing malware in 2020 brought encouraging results, fulfilling the plan to reduce the botnet/malware infected IP number by 50 percent. The most important outcome of the campaign is that it helped raise awareness of enterprises and individuals about cyber security. During the campaign, more than 8 million users accessed the campaign, and 5 million users participated and used the tools provided for free. In the latest report by Kaspersky Security Network, Yeo Siang Tiong, CEO of Kaspersky Southeast Asia, said that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam gained positive results in cybersecurity thanks to the joint efforts of the government and private partners in the campaign on detecting and removing malware nationwide in 2020. NCSC director Tran Quang Hung said the campaign was the most significant one of the agency in 2020. He stressed that detecting and treating malware is a long-term battle which will continue even after the campaign. There are many things Vietnam needs to do, from using copyrighted software to raising public awareness about cybersecurity. Trong Dat Cyberattacks increase during Lunar New Year Taking advantage of the upcoming Tet holiday, when demand for online transactions, payments, gifts and to send lucky money increases, many hacker groups are stepping up their fraudulent activities aimed at users of banking services and e-wallets. Kerala elections 2021: Two Congress MLAs quits outgoing assembly, file nominations for April 6 polls India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Kottayam, Mar 19: Kerala Congress leaders PJ Joseph and Mons Joseph resigned as MLAs on Friday ahead of filing their nomination papers for the April 6 assembly elections in the state, party sources said. The move came two days after the Kerala Congress faction led by PJ Joseph, a constituent of the Congress-led UDF, merged with the Kerala Congress headed by former Union Minister P C Thomas which had quit the BJP-led NDA. While PJ Joseph represented Thodupuzha seat in the assembly, Mons was elected from Kaduthuruthy in the 2016 polls. Sources said Both Joseph and Mons took the decision to resign as MLAs to avoid possible legal complications since they had won the previous polls as members of Kerala Congress (M), which is currently a constituent of the CPI(M)-led LDF. Earlier, the PJ Joseph faction had lost its election symbol "two leaves" and recognition following its split with the Jose K Mani-led Kerala Congress (M). On Monday, the Supreme Court had rejected an appeal filed by PJ Joseph challenging the Election Commission's order recognising the Jose K Mani faction as the official Kerala Congress (M) and allotting the party's symbol to it. TN elections 2021: CM Palaniswami defends farm laws, says Stalin does not know anything about farming The Congress-led UDF has allocated ten seats to the PJ Joseph-headed Kerala Congress and they all filed nomination papers from their respective constituencies on Friday, sources said. Since the Kerala Congress headed by Thomas was a registered party, the merger on March 17 has helped Joseph-led faction to retain the name Kerala Congress. However, the Election Commission refused to grant the party a common symbol citing that the time has lapsed for moving the application for it, party sources said. They said the party candidates in theirnomination papers have applied for three symbols and it was hopeful that the EC would allocate a common symbol. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 19, 2021, 22:00 [IST] Following in the footsteps of the former president, a Donald Trump wax figure has gone into hiding at a Texas museum. Louis Tussauds Waxworks in San Antonio moved the figure to a storage room, per San Antonio Express-News' Randy Diamond, after museum visitors repeatedly took out four years of frustrations on the president's likeness by scratching and punching it in the face multiple times. TRUMP SWORN OUT: Twitter celebrates Trump leaving, return to 'regular racism' When its a highly political figure, attacks can be a problem, said museum owner Clay Stewart, as reported by Diamond. Stewart shared with Diamond that as the 2020 presidential campaign heated up early in the summer, so did the attacks. But oddly enough, it's not an unfamiliar occurrence. Weve always had trouble with the presidential section because no matter what president it was [George W.] Bush, Obama or Trump theyve all had people beat them, said Stewart, as reported by Diamond. The ears were torn off Obama six times. And then Bushs nose was punched in. The news of Trump's likeness being beat up was certainly music to some peoples' ears, including comedian Jimmy Kimmel. The "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" host spent some time Thursday night mocking the occurrence. Heres a fun story involving our previous president," Kimmel began. "A place called Louis Tussauds Waxworks in San Antonio had to remove its sculpture of Donald Trump because people kept punching it in the face. Every day, someone would punch the wax figure in the face." To make matters worse, Trump's figure was situated between literal dictators Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, who are apparently less hated than he is. This should tell you something, look at the other two guys hes posed with: Putin and Kim Jong-un. And the one getting punched in the face every day? Trump! said Kimmel, laughing so hard tears welled in his eyes. Its our own guy. And what a likeness... why he has Heather Locklears hair, I dont know. Instead of taking the statue down, Kimmel had another solution: "Why not just fill it with candy and give everyone a bag? In case you're interested in the thought, stuffing your enemy with candy isn't unheard of. ABC Party HQ in Dallas could certainly make it happen, as they received a lot of preorders when they began selling pinatas depicting Texas Republican Ted Cruz headed on his spur-of-the-moment vacation to Cancun. Trump's wax figure likely won't return to display until after the museum receives a wax figure of President Joe Biden, which is reportedly in the works. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 19:44:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread in Asia-Pacific countries as the Philippines logged 7,103 new cases on Friday, the highest daily rise since the outbreak, while the tally in Sri Lanka exceeded 89,000. India's COVID-19 tally rose to 11,514,331 as 39,726 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the health ministry. According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 159,370 as 154 COVID-19 patients died since Thursday morning. The number of new cases registered during the past 24 hours is the highest so far this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed concern at the sudden rise in COVID-19 cases, and called for immediate steps to curb a possible second wave of the pandemic in the country. There are still 271,282 active cases in the country, while 11,083,679 people have been discharged so far from hospitals after medical treatment. The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 7,103 new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections, the highest daily jump since the disease emerged in the Southeast Asian country in January 2020, raising the total to 648,066. The death toll climbed to 12,900 after 13 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said. It added that 390 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 561,902. The Philippines has currently a reproduction rate of around 2, similar to the reproduction rate early on the outbreak. It means that each confirmed COVID-19 patient is infecting two other people. The number of COVID-19 cases in Sri Lanka surpassed 89,000 after over 300 new infections were detected a day earlier, statistics from the Health Ministry showed. According to official figures, Sri Lanka has recorded 89,175 positive COVID-19 cases since last March, out of which 85,944 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospitals, bringing the active patient count down to 2,693. A total of 538 deaths have been reported from the virus, the Health Ministry said. South Korea reported 463 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Thursday compared to 24 hours ago, raising its total tally to 97,757. The daily caseload was up from 445 in the previous day, staying above 400 for three straight days. Two more deaths were recorded from the COVID-19 pandemic, raising the death toll to 1,690. The total fatality rate stands currently at 1.73 percent. Thailand reported 100 new COVID-19 cases, mostly domestic, and one more death, according to the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). The fatality referred to a 53-year-old Thai woman in Samut Sakhon, who had reportedly had diabetes and pneumonia. Thailand has so far confirmed a total of 27,594 cases of infection, 24,633 of which were domestic while 2,961 are imported. There have been 90 COVID-19 related deaths in Thailand so far. Cambodia reported 37 more local COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infected people linked to the third wave of community transmission to 1,062, said a Ministry of Health (MoH) statement. Cambodia has been enduring the third wave of community COVID-19 outbreak since Feb. 20. Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Friday renewed his call on people to wear face masks, wash hands with alcohol or gel, and keep a physical distance of 1.5 meters from each other. According to the MoH, since the start of the pandemic in January last year, the Southeast Asian nation has recorded a total of 1,578 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with one death and 917 recoveries. Enditem The United States has warned China that it will not turn a blind eye to rising Iranian oil exports to Chinese ports, the Financial Times reported, citing a senior Biden administration official. According to the report, Washington has not missed the substantial increase in Iranian crude shipments to China. It has reminded Beijing that there are still sanctions in place against the Islamic republic. Weve told the Chinese that we will continue to enforce our sanctions, the unnamed official told the FT. There will be no tacit green light. Yet the Trump-era sanctions may be waived if Iran and the U.S. make it to the negotiation table. Ultimately, our goal is not to enforce the sanctions; it is to get to the point where we lift sanctions and Iran reverses its nuclear steps, the official told the FT. China has indeed been ramping up shipments of crude from Iran: from an average of 306,000 bpd last year, this month, China has been taking in some 856,000 bpd of Iranian crudea 129-percent rise over February. Chinas interest in Iranian oil goes hand in hand with the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. The initiative expects trade between the two countries to reach $600 billion over the next decade. In addition, Chinas Belt and Road initiative (BRI) attempts to strengthen regional political, economic, and strategic ties, with a focus on the energy industry. But Iranian oil is also attractive for a very simple reason: Iran is selling it at a deep discount because of the sanctions. The low price makes Iranian crude attractive for other Asian buyers, too, such as India, which has been on the hunt for alternatives to Middle Eastern OPEC oil because of its high price. Regarding the sanctions, Iran has demanded that the U.S. first lift sanctions before negotiations on the nuclear deal start. The U.S. wants negotiations first, sanction-lifting later. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Irish entrepreneurs are ideally placed to seize new opportunities being created by global efforts to improve sustainability within business, says Liam Fitzgerald, marine incubation manager at MaREI and UCC. As part of its European Green Deal roadmap to make Europe's economy sustainable, the EU is investing 1 trillion in a sustainable investment plan. Irish third-level research-based startups have also been very successful in applying for Horizon Europe research funding. Mr Fitzgerald says the supports for startups in Ireland give Irish-based entrepreneurs a head start in starting and scaling up new businesses. I have been involved in startup projects and mentoring in France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. The support system for startups in Ireland is among the best, said Mr Fitzgerald. My job is to encourage people to take their first steps into business by helping them plug into the ecosystem that exists for entrepreneurs in Ireland, along with further opportunities and supports from the EU. We want to encourage more startups to engage with these opportunities, particularly those with a focus on sustainability. The MaREI Centre, the Cork-based marine research institute, is hosting 'Business Ideas for a Resilient and Sustainable Future' a series of virtual masterclasses from March 25 to June 3, along with an all-island 15,000 business ideas competition to promote new green business ventures. The first of these masterclasses will feature input from startup experts from TCD, UCD, a global energy accelerator programme and a Canadian group driving blue economy supports. The talks are targeting post-graduate students from all backgrounds to encourage them to develop new businesses with a specific sustainability focus. While MaREI is focused on marine research, these events are open to all new green business ventures. The March 25 webinar has a particular focus on international startup accelerator programmes focused on energy, climate, digital health, materials, blue economy, agtech and bioeconomy. Breandan Goss, Tangent in Trinity College Dublin will talk about the EIT - European Institute of Innovation and Technology programmes he manages in Climate, Digital Health and Raw Materials. Ratna Nelapati, ESB International will talk about innovation opportunities and the Global Energy Accelerator Free Electrons Program. Antoine Pajot and Niamh Collins from University College Dublin will introduce the AgTech Innovation Centre which is currently in planning. Finally, Donald Grant of the Ocean Startup Project will give us some insight into the great work being done in Canada to promote Blue Economy Startups through Creative Destruction Lab Oceans Accelerator and other innovative programmes. The guest speakers will talk about sustainability and the business ideas gaining traction globally, particularly those supported by the EU's Green Deal, said Liam Fitzgerald. The European Green Deal is a roadmap for making the EU's economy sustainable. This will happen by turning climate and environmental challenges into opportunities across all policy areas and making the transition just and inclusive for all. This funding offers great opportunities for Irish startups across all categories. I work with the maritime sector in my role with the MaREI. I am also funded by Enterprise Ireland and working with UCC. We can see that Enterprise Ireland has done a lot of promotion around Ireland's 'green' technology sector during St Patrick's Week. In Ireland, we have one of the best support systems in the world for tech entrepreneurship. We would like to encourage Ireland's world-class technology startups to see the opportunities within marine and maritime, and to apply their skills to these sectors. The series of five masterclasses will encourage third level students, postgraduate researchers and early-stage startups to take that first step into entrepreneurship. We will help them understand how they can build their business idea, and to tap into available support systems. Through participation in our online training series, we would like to join forces with interested entrepreneurial minds to explore the application of their ideas to the sustainability space, and to learn how to develop these ideas into workable business models. The competition associated with the series of masterclasses features a 15,000 competition supported by LEO Cork City, LEO South Cork, LEO Cork North and West. Nine substantial cash prizes will be up for grabs across three categories, including Post Graduate Students, PhD Students, Post Doc Researchers and Early Stage Startups. Participants will attend a video production masterclass with Julie Russell and create a three-minute video. They will receive mentoring on pitching for funding and investment. The March 25 event already has a large attendance registered. To find out more about the series of masterclasses being hosted by MaREI, visit: www.marei.ie/all-island-competition A woman hoping to relieve herself in an outdoor bathroom has been given the fright of her life after finding a snake guarding the toilet seat. Louisa Caruso from western Sydney, who owns skincare brand Weedzy, desperately needed to use the toilet but stopped in her tracks after spotting the serpent. She recorded the spine-tingling ordeal and zoomed her camera onto the snake's lengthy body to show how it was wrapped around a wooden beam. Louisa Caruso desperately needed to go to the bathroom but stopped in her tracks after spotting a snake 'Honestly mate, enough is enough,' Ms Caruso could be heard saying to the snake. 'I've been trying to go all morning. Please leave.' In a second clip, Ms Caruso decides to carefully sit on the toilet seat with the snake still nearby. Ms Caruso eventually relieved herself with the snake chilling nearby Bolstering its efforts to fight the proliferation of counterfeiting worldwide, the Board of Directors of the International Trademark Association (INTA) today approved two resolutions calling on courts and policymakers to implement new mechanisms to strengthen anticounterfeiting enforcement and disrupt these illegal activities across the globe. The resolutions propose increased enforcement capabilities and innovative legal frameworks dealing with the seizure and adequate disposal and transfer of confiscated goods, and instituting criminal sanctions when genuine products are modified without a brand owners authorization. INTAs action comes as counterfeiting continues to increase globally, highlighted in recent months by the widespread emergence of fake medicines, personal protective equipment, and other products related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The resolutions expand the Associations anticounterfeiting policies to cover two additional advocacy points: Proceeds of Counterfeiting and Remarking as Criminal Counterfeiting. Their adoption allows the Association and its Anticounterfeiting Committee, which drafted the resolutions, to advocate for these critical measures aimed at protecting brand owners and consumers in jurisdictions worldwide. The resolution on Proceeds of Counterfeiting is intended to deprive counterfeiters of the financial resources supporting their illegal operationin effect, adopting a follow the money model Specifically, the resolution seeks to empower courts with the legal basis to confiscate and seize assets on a temporary basis, subject to appropriate evidentiary requirements, prior to securing a conviction when proceeds appear to be the result of counterfeiting. It also suggests empowering courts to order the confiscation of apparent assets or proceeds of counterfeiting when counterfeiters transfer assets to third parties for the purpose of evading confiscation orders on an interim or perpetual basis. Additionally, it urges enactment of comprehensive procedures to strengthen the effectiveness of confiscation, including the efficient management and protection of frozen/seized goods, and their adequate disposal and transfer to the appropriate entity when a defendant is found guilty of counterfeiting. It also encourages greater international collaboration by providing reciprocal freezing and seizure orders. The second resolution, Remarking as Criminal Counterfeiting, calls for genuine products that are remarked and modified to be included in the definition of counterfeit and for remarking to constitute a crime under anticounterfeiting laws, even where the original trademark as affixed by the trademark owner has not been altered. The resolution does not cover aftermarket or refurbished goods. INTA takes the position that remarking is likely to cause consumer confusion and harm, and should, like other forms of counterfeiting, constitute a crime of trademark counterfeiting, the resolution states. The resolution addresses a 2013 decision by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in United States v. Cone, which held that products made by the brand owner but remarked by the defendants to appear as a different branded product from the same brand owner were not criminal violations, under 18 U.S.C. 2320, because the trademark as affixed by the brand owner had not itself been remarked or otherwise altered. If legislation is adopted consistent with the resolution, counterfeiters that knowingly traffic in remarked products in a way that deceives customers will no longer be able to capitalize on the loophole created by the Cone decision or any other similar law or court decision. Instead, these actions should be subject to criminal anticounterfeiting statutes and allow for prosecution, according to the Association. INTAs resolutions send a strong message to governments around the world that any form of counterfeiting should not be tolerated. By implementing the suggested best practices, individually and collaboratively with other countries, policymakers can help protect consumers on multiple fronts. That should be the highest priority, said INTA CEO Etienne Sanz de Acedo. Mr. Sanz de Acedo added that the resolutions align with the Associations Strategic Plan to promote the value of trademarks and brands and reinforce consumer trust. The action is among INTAs ongoing global anticounterfeiting efforts to protect brand owners intellectual property rights and reputation, protect consumers from the health and safety risks of counterfeit products, curb the loss of jobs and tax revenue incurred because of counterfeiting, and obstruct organized crime activities. The Associations other activities include policy dialogues with enforcement officials, policymakers, and intermediaries; trainings for customs officials; anticounterfeiting workshops for members; and the Unreal Campaign, which informs young consumers about the value of brands and the dangers of purchasing counterfeit goods. The Board has previously adopted anticounterfeiting resolutions, including the last one in 2019 on the Appointment of Third-Party Witnesses in Judicial Anticounterfeiting Cases. About the International Trademark Association The International Trademark Association (INTA) is a global association of brand owners and professionals dedicated to supporting trademarks and related intellectual property (IP) to foster consumer trust, economic growth, and innovation. Members include nearly 6,500 organizations, representing more than 34,350 individuals (trademark owners, professionals, and academics) from 185 countries, who benefit from the Associations global trademark resources, policy development, education and training, and international network. Founded in 1878, INTA is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Beijing, Brussels, Santiago, Singapore, and Washington, D.C., and a representative in New Delhi. For more information, visit inta.org. PARIS - The French health authority on Friday recommended the use of the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine only to those over age 55. The French body has updated its recommendations on the vaccine after a three-day suspension due to a possible risk of thrombosis found in Europe. The health authority, HAS, issued the minimum age recommendation in announcing its approval for the resumption of the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, noted that the European Medical Association had found a possible risk of intravascular disseminated coagulation and cerebral thrombosis in those under age 55 and that it should be used only in those over that age. It noted that this age group constitutes the vast majority of those considered priority right now. The decision comes as a surprise since until three months ago, when it was made available to the public, the AstraZeneca vaccine had been reserved for those under age 65. HAS chief Dominique Le Guludec noted that age was the main risk factor for developing serious forms of the virus. Paris residents flee ahead of fresh lockdown, train tickets sold out PARIS - A year after the first lockdown, on the eve of the third closure during the 'pandemic year', Parisians that can afford to do so are once again fleeing towards their second homes and 'non-red' zones where there is unrestricted circulation. For a month afterwards, from midnight on Friday, it will not be possible to move from the red zones including Ile-de-France to other areas of the country. On Thursday evening, after Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the closing of Ile-de-France, it was already almost impossible to reserve a train ticket on the SNCF railways website towards the French Basque areas on the western coast of the country or Brittany, except for in first class at exorbitant prices. The company said Friday morning that it had received about double the normal number of reservations (73,000 trips sold) compared with the previous day and almost ten times the number of annulments. The most popular destinations for Parisians are Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseilles, Rennes, and Nantes. Trains from Paris to Biarritz were entirely sold out on Thursday evening. Flights to the island of Corsica now cost over 600 euros, more than triple the normal price. A pregnant woman married to an Armenian was killed by an Azerbaijani in the greater Moscow area and died on the spot due to her injury, and the Investigative Committee of Russia has launched a criminal case under the article of murder, Vechernyaya Moskva newspaper reports. The murderer is 43-year-old Munir, who attacked his 40-year-old sister, Leyla. Andrey Kolobin, one of the locals, said he had heard how the man screamed at the girl, called her a prostitute and blamed her for not following Muslim traditions. He added that, unfortunately, there was nobody near her when she was stabbed with a knife and had already died when the paramedics arrived. Surveillance cameras recorded the crime, and shots of the incident show how a man dressed in black approaches the girl and starts beating her, takes out a knife and starts stabbing her. After killing the girl, he throws the weapon and hides. Anastasia Kalimova, who knows Leylas family, told the newspaper what the reason for the murder was. The reason for the murder was that Leylas family was against Leyla getting married to an Armenian, and her family didnt consider her clean. They lived together for seven years and had children. Where was Leylas brother all this time? The fact that her brother killed her and left the children without a mother is horrible. The children already know that their mother is gone. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE, N.M. New Mexico has a long history of cleanup projects from mining and national laboratory activities and industrial pollution. Now a training program aims to put northern New Mexicans to work on those projects. Santa Fe Community College has received a $200,000 grant as part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency job training program. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The grant will fund training for 58 people to earn certifications in hazardous waste cleanup, environmental sampling, asbestos cleanup and mold remediation work. The training addresses environmental justice issues by developing a local skilled workforce to address environmental contamination and degradation, said Rebecca Rowley, SFCC president. We recruit participants from vulnerable communities who are experiencing negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, government and commercial operations and policies. The college will recruit unemployed or underemployed low-income people, rural Native Americans, veterans and youth in Santa Fe and Rio Arriba counties and surrounding pueblos for the program. Gil Vigil, executive director of the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council, said the program aligns with tribal leaders efforts to engage local residents in environmental cleanup. We need our own people in our own communities doing the actual work, because they understand their communities, and they know what their needs are, Vigil said. Training will be offered at the Santa Fe Higher Education Center and Northern New Mexico College in Espanola. Santa Fe Community College has received two previous grants from the program, for a total of $700,000. Previous grants funded environmental job training for 144 people, and placed more than 100 in local jobs. Rowley said the average starting hourly wage for the program graduates was between $17 and $18.50. Ten program graduates are now employed at Los Alamos National Laboratories. U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez said the grant will fund life-changing workforce programs in her district during a time of pandemic-induced unemployment. I always say we invest in the things we believe in, and this grant proves that we believe in our students and we believe in our communities, Leger Fernandez said. I hope this is just one of many more projects addressing our environmental and climate crisis while creating new jobs. SFCC is one of 18 institutions selected for this years grants. Theresa Davis is a Report for America corps member covering water and the environment for the Albuquerque Journal. Pakistan's country pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai has been handed over to the authorities following the completion of its building civil works. The Pakistani Expo team will now focus on the internal work and try to complete it in time for Expo 2020 launch. Located in the 'Opportunity District' of the expo site, the pavilion has a total covered area of 35,000 sq ft. Its structural infrastructure work was handled by leading UAE construction group ASGC along with its subsidiaries - Al Shafar United which is the MEP contractor and Al Shafar Interiors its fit-out contractor - while Khatib & Alami (K&A) is the main consultant. The pavilion was handed over to the Pakistani authorities at an official ceremony which was attended by senior officials including Abdul Razak Dawood, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Muhammad Sualeh Ahmed Faruqui, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Afzaal Mahmood, Ambassador of Pakistan to UAE, and Ahsan Ali Mangi, Secretary Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP). Addressing the gathering, Dawood said: "Pakistan is bestowed with natural beauty, historical and religious sites, highest peaks and calm deserts. It is the destination for mountaineers, historians, archaeologists, writers, photographers and many such tourists." The inner journey of the pavilion is set under the theme Pakistan: The Hidden Treasure with an aim to enhance tourism, commerce and investment in Pakistan. "Through our theme at Expo 2020 Dubai, we plan to present and showcase the land of opportunities to promote tourism, commerce and investment in the country," he added.-TradeArabia News Service The government has enhanced the budgetary allocation for the remuneration of imams and muezzins from Rs 55.1 crore to Rs 66 crore. DC Image Hyderabad: The state government has provided Rs 1,602 crore (Rs 1,513 crore in 2020-21) for minorities in the Budget of which two-thirds has been marked for education and academics. No new schemes were introduced for the minorities on Thursday. Finance minister T. Harish Rao proposed an allocation of Rs 561 crore for the Telangana Minorities Residential Educational Institutions Society which has 1 lakh students. He said the government had allotted 10 acres for the Islamic Cultural Convention Centre at Kokapet and works would commence very shortly, but it was not allocated any funds, The budget provided Rs 206.9 crore for reimbursement of tuition fee, Rs 74.81 crore for scholarships and stipends, Rs 5.51 crore for training and employment and Rs 2.46 crore for scholarships for non-professional courses and Rs 72.54 crore for overseas scholarships. The government has enhanced the budgetary allocation for the remuneration of imams and muezzins from Rs 55.1 crore to Rs 66 crore, while it has remained static at Rs 300 crore for Shadi Mubarak. The Dawat-e-Iftar and Christmas Feast have been allocated Rs 66 crore and Rs 2.5 crore respectively. The Bank-Linked Income Generation Scheme was given Rs 28.31 crore and the Christian Minorities Finance Corporation Rs 2.5 crore. The Urdu Academy will get cumulatively Rs 12.5 crore, and the Haj Committee and Dairatil Maarif Rs 1.5 crore each. The state government has allocated Rs 42 crore for the Multi-Sectoral Development Programme for Minorities. For maintenance and repairs of Macca Masjid and Shahi Masjid, Rs 2.5 crore were allocated. (Natural News) There are many ways by which the eugenicists of the world are working to depopulate the planet. And one of their most favored and effective weapons, we now know, is crop chemicals. The spraying of everything from atrazine to glyphosate (Roundup) on conventional food is effectively breaking down the human endocrine system. Males seem to be bearing the brunt of this as sperm counts have plummeted to the point that human reproduction might soon be impossible without technology. It is all part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, which is heavily promoted by Bill Gates and his ilk. As Great Britains misanthropic Prince Philip once stated, the ultimate goal is the thinning of the human herd, and pesticides and herbicides are making great strides towards this end. Modern scientific agriculture is merely a cover story for the planned extermination of most of the worlds population, though the worst of it seems to be aimed at Americans. Food, water, and air are loaded with deadly chemicals that were specifically designed to kill humans. Over the past four decades, sperm counts in the United States have cratered by more than 50 percent. Todays young men produce less than half the amount of sperm that their grandfathers did, and much of this is due to persistent chemical exposure. By the year 2050, experts speculate that all humans will require technological assistance in order to procreate. And we have Bayer-Monsanto, Syngenta, DowDuPont (now Corteva), and the rest of the crop chemical lobby to thank for this horrific new reality. Among unselected Western studies, the mean sperm concentration declined, on average, 1.4% per year with an overall decline of 52.4% between 1973 and 2011, writes Dr. Shanna Shaw in her book Count Down. This same group of males had an average decline in mean TSC (total sperm count) of 1.6% per year and overall decline of 59.3%. This equates to a more than 59 percent decline in sperm count among men living not only in North America but also in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. In other words, Western men are right in the crosshairs of the eugenics agenda. Men in China, Taiwan and Israel are also losing their ability to produce sperm It is not just the West that faces a sperm crisis, though. Fifteen years ago in China, more than half of all potential sperm donors met the nations quality standards. Today, a mere 18 percent qualify for giving donations. Similar declines are occurring in Taiwan and Israel, both of which are seeing an epidemic of poor semen quality and plummeting testosterone levels. Everything is now being feminized, it would seem. [M]ale reproductive health, not just semen quality by the way, is in trouble, and this has consequences, not just for the ability to have a child, but it also impacts the health of the man, Shaw explains in her book. Examples of this include low sperm count, infertility, testicular cancer, and various general defects, Shaw says, a few examples being undescended testicles and a condition where the opening of the urethra is not where it should be. Plastics are another major source of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, also known as EDCs. The phthalates used to soften plastic materials, as well as BPA, which is used to harden plastic, are both a continued threat to the viability of men in todays world. The truth of the matter is that none of this is an accident. It was all planned long ago for such a time as this, and it will continue unless people rise up and say enough to this chemical onslaught. We are rapidly making the human species extinct as we continue to ignore dangers of these toxins to human and other life forms. Sources for this article include: Loope.home.blog NaturalNews.com Call for tender N WVDRC-EZO/MEAL/011/FY21 Terms of Reference for COVID-19 Socio-economic and Education impact Study March, 2021 World Vision DR Congo WVDRC-EZO/MEAL/011/FY21 Published March 2021 World Vision DR Congo 0. Acknowledgements World Vision DRC would like to acknowledge the support of World Vision Australia for supporting this COVID-19 Social Research Study, as well as all people and institutions that contributed to these Project activities financially, technically and to those who provided valuable advice. Innocent Bufole DRC, East Zonal MEAL Manager List of Acronyms Acronyms DR Congo Democratic Republic of Congo MEAL Monitoring Evaluation, Accountability and Learning ToR Terms of Reference WVI World Vision International WHO World Health Organization WVA World Vision Australia DFAT Departement of Foreign Affairs and Trade 0. Introduction On 11 March 2020, the Covid-19 outbreak was declared a global pandemic by the WHO. From then on the number of COVID-19-cases has continued to increase worldwide, reaching 119,960,700 confirmed cases as of March 16, including 2,656,822 deaths(1). As of March 16th, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has recorded 27,251 confirmed cases with 722 deaths(2). North and South Kivu are among the 5 most affected provinces out the 23 affected provinces in the DRC. The Covid-19 outbreak has a massive and multi-layered negative impact on the socio-economic and financial environment of the country. As a result of this the humanitarian community and the Congolese government took action collaboratively, decisively to prevent the spread of the virus and to address the vast socio-economic needs that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing throughout the country. On the other hand there has not been no research (national or local) to look into the real impact of the pandemic, though anecdotal accounts have shown the negative impact on the pandemic on many sectors including Education. There have been accounts of children who have dropped out schools, became pregnant and even lost their lives as the result of the pandemic. In response to this gap, World Vision envisages to conduct a research on the socio-economic impacts to enable actors not only to understand the multi-sectoral dimensions and the depth of the crisis but also propose appropriate strategies that will feed ANCP Kalehe remaining years and other actors in South Kivu. Its worth noting that, as part of its emergency social response to COVID-19, WVI has adapted its programming and developed a covid-19 protocol that has been in place since March 2020. Part of this protocol have been measures designed to anticipate and mitigate the effects of the pandemic on community health and the livelihoods of vulnerable communities. 2. Purpose and area of the study The overall objective of the study is to examine the main effects of COVID-19 and particularly its social and economic effects on communities in the Kalehe 1 sub-division in Kalehe territory, Mbinga Sud groupement. The study will provide recommendations to reduce the vulnerability of these communities and strengthen their resilience to COVID-19 in the short, medium and long term. For comparisons purposes, the study will also be conducted in Bukavu, South Kivu Capital city. 3. Objectives of the study The main objectives of the study are as follow: Understand the impact of the pandemic on the education sector, the consequences of disruption caused, the effects on the quality of education, the sexual and reproductive health of school-age girls and, on this basis, understand the effectiveness of flexibility and government response strategies, design strategies to further support existing efforts. Understand WV response and its effectiveness, Covid-19 awareness education status and its impact on children and communities in general, how girls and boys are impacted differently (gender lenses), how children with disability are impacted differently. Show the coping mechanisms that community have developed both in rural and urban areas as result of the pandemic. Examine the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as loss of productivity and the disruption of livelihoods of rural communities in Kalehe and how it has impacted the children's education as well. Discuss the impact of COVID-19 on World Vision's programmatic commitments in Kalehe, including strategies on how to respond to short and medium term impacts. Provide programming adaptations designed to address the immediate socio-economic needs of most vulnerable and poorest groups with a particular focus on youth, women and other vulnerable groups. 4. Methodology The study process expected to make use of specific methods that will be the triangulation of three methods: Desk review for secondary or administrative data, Quantitative and Qualitative approaches (Households questionnaires, Focus group discussions, key informant interview). Key informant interviews are expected to be used to involve all relevant stakeholder who will also be de-briefed. The evaluation will focus on primary data and make references to secondary data during analysis. The latter should involve desk review of World Vision DRC strategic documents, government project sector documentations and strategies. The detailed methodology plan will include:- Literature/document review, including similar research reports in other context and countries Data collection tools, Sampling procedures (Type of sampling, sampling plan, sample size etc.) Procedures for analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, Report writing and presentation. The East Zonal MEAL Manager and external consultant will develop detailed key questionnaires and check lists for this evaluation exercise, train Enumerators on data collection methodology & tools. The collected data will be analyzed and presented in a report. They will also work closely with the ANCP Kalehe team, notably the project Manager. The study will take place in the villages of de educational sub-division of Kalehe 1 in Kalehe territory, Mingan Sud grouping in South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo. It is envisaged that the city of Bukavu will also be covered by this study in order to understand the differences in rural and urban areas. It is expected that the consultant considers any Covid-19 restrictions in the area. During all training and data collection processes do no harm should be seen as a top priority. Together with WV DRC, it is expected that the consultant considers all necessary safety measures in order to ensure the safety of all participating stakeholders (target groups, enumerators, etc.) 5. Anticipated Limitations Due to the poor road infrastructure, the current context of the spread of the Codiv-19 pandemic characterized by multiple restrictions and at times also fortuitously reinforced, insecurity access to some of the intervention areas might be restricted or limited. Therefore, there is a non-zero probability that some of the sites initially sampled might not be visited or the disturbed timeframe The Covid-19 pandemic requires WVI and its partners to follow all prevention measures which are imposed by the government when conducting the evaluation. This includes but is not limited to respect social distancing rules, sensitize all stakeholders on preventive measures and personal protection equipment for interviewers and interviewees (masks, sanitizer etc.). The consultant is expected to follow WVs Covid19 prevention policies. 6. Authority and Responsibility 6.1 Team Members The study will be conducted by a local external consultant in collaboration with WV MEAL Manager for the DRC Eastern Zone. The external consultant will work with his or her own team. They will write a study report and submit it to the WV East Zonal MEAL Manager. The WV staff will be available if information for the study are needed. 6.2 Partners and Timeline (i.e. who will be involved in the Evaluation and when?) Partners Roles Timeline East Zonal MEAL Manager & ANCP Project Manager Develop the study ToR, 16 March 2021- 19 March 2021 WVA/ ANCP/CIM, DRC NO Health Specialist) Share Covid-19 Research papers/findings/reports from other countries 22 March 2021 Supply Chain Service Publication of call for tenders in the interest of potential candidates and receipt of technical and financial proposals. 22 March 2021- 08 April 2021 East Zonal MEAL Manager & ANCP Project Manager Support hiring consultant process, Orient the consultant, Prepare consultant contract in collaboration with the procurement service, Assure that the evaluation norms are respected. 09 April 2021 Tender committee analysis and decision Technical and financial analysis of bids and procurement 12 13th April 2021 Contractualization process Legal review of contract and signatures between WVI party and Consultant 14- 16 April 2021 Consultant and Survey technical team Development of survey tools, training of enumerators, conducting the survey in the community, supervision, data collection, enter and analyze data using Statistical software and report production, share findings and recommendations with staff, zonal office and the partners. 19 April 2021-30 April 2021 ANCP Project Manager Provide leadership during the survey Mobilize community, Prepare documentations related to the project supported by the study 19 April 2021-21 April 2021 Project Accountant Provide support to the study 19 April 2021-21 April 2021 Local leaders who include local authorities and civil servants Provide all the guiding information needed by the Survey technical teams. 19 April 2021-30 April 2021 Community and partners Participate in the study, field visits and meetings. 19 April 2021-30 April 2021 Consultant Reporting share draft 1 to WVI and ANCP 07 May 2021 ANCP PM & MEAL Manager Feedback to report 11 May 2021-12 May 2021 Consultant Reporting share Final version to WVI and ANCP 14 May 2021 Consultant Develop and share a power point presentation about the Covid-19 Social impact study results to the stakeholders in Educational sub-division of Kalehe 1 14 May 2021 MEAL Manager, ANCP Kalehe PM, Consultant Organize Conference on the findings with broader community and stakeholders. 17 May 2021-21 May 2021 7. Logistics The Consultant will be in charge of logistics in liaison with WV administration and operations. However, s/he can work in the WV field office and get support where it is needed. 8. Budget The Consultant will present a detailed budget. However the proposed budget should be discussed with the WV East Zonal MEAL Manager and ANCP Project Manager for having an agreement with the committed budget for the evaluation. After agreement the proposed budget will be considered as the final evaluation budget 9. Document Review Major documents that will be reviewed will include the WVI Covid-19 response strategy documents, Standards of Ethics and Child Protection, and other similar Covid-19 research from other countries 10. Evaluation outcomes 1. Meeting between the consultant and WV staff, discuss on the logistics and technical aspects (methodological approaches and data collection techniques considered, sampling design, data collection tools). 2. Covid-19 Social impact study Design (Inception report) 3. Training enumerators. 4. Presentation of the draft of the evaluation report 5. Final report submission with the following contents : Cover page (1 page) Table of contents (1 page) Acknowledgement (1 page) Glossary / acronyms list (1 page) Introduction (1 page) Area contexte Description situation (1 pages) Summary (2 pages) Evaluation / Background (max 1 pages) Methodologies (max 1 pages) Findings (max 5 pages) Conclusion and recommendations (4 pages maximum) Appendices (include evaluation tools, Data Base, enumerators lists, Evaluation timeline, participants of KII and FGD and discussion transcriptions. The consultant will submit the finale study report produced as: Electronic copy and hard copy The report will be produced in both French and English versions. The consultant will present a power point presentation about the Covid-19 Social impact study results to the stakeholders in Educational sub-division of Kalehe 1 including DFAT and WVA partners who will follow up remotely. 11. Documents to be provided by the consultant The consultant will submit the proposition with following elements: A technical proposal, which shows how the consultant will undertake the activities defined in the Terms of Reference, with an initial indication of the required number of team survey members and a proposed timetable. A CV with indication of key reference persons. Copies of the proposed data collection tools. The declaration of 2 pages, detailing the ability of the consultant to provide quality assessment report within the deadline. A detailed budget. However, World Vision reserves the right to accept or reject the budget proposal of the consultant as the availability of its budget line for this assessment. In this case, a review meeting of the budget proposal between the World Vision East Zonal MEAL Manager, ANCP Project Manager and the consultant must stand for harmonization. A brief overview of at least 2 previous commitments of a similar evaluation to this one and what the results were. Include a reference for each evaluation and a sample of previous evaluation reports undertaken by the consultant. 12. Consultant qualification The consultant must have: An excellent team leading skills, with the ability to work with a diverse team. Demonstrate excellent skills in research, monitoring and evaluation of multi sectorial projects, and specific knowledge of standards and legal requirements. Have skills / experience to the integrated program evaluation, including perceptions / attitudes. Have a good understanding of the study area, its context and the impact of this may have on the work environment. Keep a minimum qualification of equivalent training in a Master Degree in a relevant qualification and a good numerical / statistical knowledge. Demonstrate proven experience in conducting participatory qualitative and quantitative evaluation studies with high analytical skills. Have an excellent level of written and spoken French and English. Excellent report writing skills. Good knowledge of the Windows environment and statistical software. 13. Application details Letter of expression of interest; A survey protocol including a technical proposal with a clear and detailed description of the techniques and methodological approaches envisaged, and even a detailed financial proposal; Official documents proving the approval and authorization to operate in the DRC in the case of a consultancy firm; Updated Curriculum Vitae (CVs) of the evaluation leader and the evaluation coordination team, including the firm's own if the application is submitted by a consultancy firm; At least two evaluation reports produced in the framework of the execution of a similar exercise previously in terms of sectors, area of intervention etc..; Provide two references from organizations that have already benefited from the services of the consultant or the consultancy firm interested in the offer. Interested candidates are invited to send their applications by e-mail at the following addresses: While copying: Mention "WVDRC-EZO/MEAL/011/FY21". Applications will be accepted until 08 April 2021, at 16:00. 14. Important notice! We have learned that several agencies or individuals claim to act on behalf of World Vision to recruit or facilitate the recruitment of staff. World Vision wishes to inform the public in no uncertain terms that: World Vision does not outsource its recruitment process to any organization or agency that, through postings on the Website, sends email messages, newsletters or purports to recruit on its behalf. World Vision will only use approved and reputable executive search firms (on an exception basis only). Advertisements for vacancies can only be found on our official World Vision International career website https://careers.wvi.org and/or on the World Vision Support Office websites. World Vision does not and will never solicit money for any part of its recruitment processes, including screening, interviews, history and/or medical examinations. World Vision will not be responsible for any fraudulent correspondence or for any loss of money or theft that may result from any person engaging in fraudulent recruitment activity. Be careful, and if you wish to report what you think is a fraudulent World Vision agency or recruitment agency, please send an email to wvdrc_hotline@wvi.org If you have any requests/question related to this request for tender, please send them to the following addresses: E-mail address: innocent_bahati@wv.org 15. Standards of Ethics and Child Protection The external consultant/evaluator will be responsible for ensuring that data collection and analysis approaches are designed to mitigate child protection risks, and protect participants privacy and wellbeing by establishing and following credible ethical evaluation principles. The Consultant must ensure all members of the evaluation team has been oriented in the ethical considerations employed in the evaluation. Ethical principles will include the following: Voluntarism, confidentiality and anonymity of participants: All participation in interviews must be voluntary, will not create harm to participants during or after the data gathering, and their anonymity and confidentiality will be protected. Voluntary involvement must be assured by a scripted verbal explanation of the survey being conducted. The script must inform respondents that they may choose to not respond to certain questions and may end the survey at any time. Do No Harm: Project and evaluation themes must be screened for topics and questions that may cause distress to some interviewees. Mitigating approaches and referral options must be developed accordingly. Integrity: Data from participants must be presented honestly and proportionately, such as the authoritativeness, extent-shared and intensity of opinions across the target population, and aligning quotes with the evaluative themes intended by the informant. Unexpected or contentious findings should be triangulated with other forms of data to gauge significance. Participant perspective: To the extent possible, given logistical limitations of each context, preliminary findings should be shared with a plenary of project stakeholders to invite their reactions and interpretations. These will be recorded and added to the final report. Child Protection: If children (under the age of 18) are to be interviewed, it will be in the presence of a responsible adult from the childs family, or other implied guardian from the community. Children will not be exposed to questions of a highly personal, sensitive, potentially distressing or embarrassing nature. If children are to be interviewed, child protection reporting protocols will be established and all staff made aware of when and how to report any issues that arise from data collection. The external consultant/evaluator, and all survey technical team members will be required to sign and follow the World Vision Child Protection policy and Safeguarding policy which will be subjects of orientation. All data must remain confidential and should not be shared with third parties without written permission of World Vision through the authorized persons to commit the Organization. ------------------------------------------------------------ (1) WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard (2) Multisector Committee for the response to the Covid-19 pandemic in DRC, Bulletin n357 of Tuesday 16 March 2021 Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, say goodbye to law and order Joe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices CLEVELAND, Ohio The primary for the special election to succeed former Rep. Marcia Fudge, a Warrensville Heights Democrat, will be Aug. 3, Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday. The announcement made Thursday at DeWines coronavirus briefing of an official date will set off a frenzy for the already crowded primary in the district that includes the eastern portion of Cuyahoga County stretching down to include some of Akron. It is heavily gerrymandered to favor Democrats, making the winner of the primary the likely de facto winner of the general election, which will take place Nov. 2. Secretary of State Frank LaRose said that timeline was basically in line with other recent vacancies, such as when former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and former Rep. Pat Tiberi both retired. Tiberis seat was vacant for 214 days while Boehners was vacant for 219. Fudges will be vacant for 229. Candidates have until May 5 to file their declaration of candidacy at the Cuyahoga County Board of Election. People in the district have until July 6 to register to vote. Already, seven candidates have entered the primary race: Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Shontel Brown, former state Sens. Nina Turner and Shirley Smith, former state Reps. John Barnes Jr. and Bryan Flannery, former Cleveland City Councilman Jeff Johnson and Navy veteran Tariq Shabazz. Brown, whose mentor is Fudge, and Turner, who co-chaired Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, are generally considered the front-runners. The district could serve as a symbolic test of the establishment versus progressive dynamic thats played out in the Democratic Party since 2016. Brown is also the chairwoman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, a position she said she wouldnt leave while running. Some candidates have criticized her for that decision. Fudge declined to endorse any of the candidates at a White House press conference Thursday. Candidates will have a little more time than previously thought. Most candidates and observers pegged May 4 in their original estimation of a date for the special election. That became unfeasible as Fudges confirmation was pushed from February to March 10 as it did not leave enough time to print and mail ballots to overseas voters, DeWine said. The district is majority Black the only one in Ohio. Republicans controlled the redistricting process in 2012, packing as many Black voters as possible into it. It has historically been represented by Black politicians dating back to 1969. Only three people have held the seat since then: Louis Stokes, Stephanie Tubbs Jones and Fudge. The districts western boundary begins at W. 117th Street on the border of Lakewood stretching east to include most of the city of Cleveland as well as a smattering of East Side suburbs like East Cleveland, Euclid, Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, Beachwood and Pepper Pike. It stretches from Lake Erie at the North with a thin strip running along Interstate 77 south to include Western Akron and some of its suburbs. It is also the poorest district in the state and one of the poorest in the country, with a median household income of just more than $42,000 and around 23% of people living below the poverty line. Read more politics coverage: 11th Congressional District candidates meet for first time in Jewish Democratic Council of America forum Ohio Senate approves spending $920 million in federal coronavirus relief money Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sues over federal rules on billions in state funding contained in stimulus bill Biden to visit Ohio next week, Sen. Sherrod Brown says Reporter Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk). (Natural News) Brazil is reliving the worst of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as its caseload and death toll surge once again. Over the past week, the South American nation tallied more than 464,000 new cases and 12,818 new deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Hospitals all over Brazil have reached full capacity and some are no longer accepting new patients. In the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, one of the largest public hospitals said on March 14 that it had to close its doors to new patients because its intensive care unit (ICU) had become overloaded. The hospitals ICU COVID ward already serves at 132 percent occupancy, the hospital management of Porto Alegre Hospital das Clinicas said in a statement. Brazils coronavirus patients are also getting younger and sicker. Sao Paulo Health Secretary Jean Gorinchteyn told reporters this week that half of all patients in many of the states ICUs are now under 50. Im talking about 26 and 29 and 30-year-olds, often in a very grave condition, he said. We all need to understand that what is happening right now is a different pandemic from the one we saw last year. Brazil now has more than 11.6 million confirmed cases and more than 280,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Only the United States has a higher caseload and death toll at over 350,000 and nearly 30 million, respectively. More contagious variant blamed for Brazils rising caseload Dr. Andre Machado, an infectious disease expert from the city of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, believes that the surge in infections stemmed from a more contagious variant of the Wuhan coronavirus. Called P1, the variant is thought to have emerged from the city of Manaus, Amazonas in late 2020 but is now spreading throughout the rest of Brazil. A recent study shows that this new version may be up to 2.2 times more transmissible than the virus that emerged from Wuhan in China. The variant can also infect people who previously had COVID-19, according to the study, which is not peer-reviewed yet. The likelihood of reinfection is up to 60 percent. This isnt just theoretical. Its something were seeing in practice, Machado said of the variant. If theres one confirmed case, everyone ends up getting infected by the virus Its obvious that this new variant is now circulating among us. Marco Boulos, a professor of infectious disease at the University of Sao Paulo, also said he has no doubt that P1 contributed to the epidemic. He pointed out that the variant produced more serious cases in young people than before based on anecdotal evidence from hospitals. Today you have serious patients in ICU from all age groups. Before wed say it was almost 90 percent elderly. Today theyre still the majority, but not in [the] same way, Boulos said. We dont yet know how this works, but its what we are seeing. Theres no other reason why young people would suddenly start suffering from a more serious disease. But Manaus epidemiologist Jesem Orellana is unconvinced that the variant was the main culprit. Instead, he believes that the Brazilian governments bumbling response to the virus is the main driver for the rising caseload. From a political point of view, its much easier to place the blame on the variant, Orellana said, noting that politicians at all levels of the government are now using the variant as a fig leaf to mask their mistakes and negligence. (Related: Amid horrifically bad handling of the coronavirus, Brazils Bolsonaro government now appears on the verge of political collapse.) This comes after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro appointed the countrys fourth health minister since the start of the pandemic. Marcelo Queiroga, president of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology, will replace Eduardo Pazuello, an active-duty army general who took over in May despite having no prior experience in managing public health. Pandemic.news has more about the Wuhan coronavirus. Sources include: TheWashingtonStandard.com Coronavirus.JHU.edu 1 Coronavirus.JHU.edu 2 TheGuardian.com Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. Triangle Energy (Global) Ltd (ASX:TEG) is aggressively pursuing a three-pronged approach to exploration for 2021 and beyond across its producing Cliff Head Project, Mount Horner Project and new offshore licence WA-481-P all within the Perth Basin Part of the companys growth strategy is to increase its position in the Perth Basin and it now holds 9,929 square kilometres of acreage offshore and onshore at the Cliff Head Project. Triangle managing director Rob Towner said: Weve now acquired the largest acreage for oil in the Perth Basin which is extremely underexplored and our strategy is to put some more holes in the ground as quickly as we can. Weve got some infill drilling in the planning stage at Cliff Head to increase our production with the existing facility and were looking to do a 3D seismic program at Mount Horner at the end of the last quarter of this year, and early next year well be looking to do a similar program with the greater Perth basin offshore licence 481. Cliff Head offtake options The companys December 2020 quarterly report stated that Cliff Head produced and sold 58,148 barrels (an average of 632 barrels of oil per day) which is an increase of 9% from last quarter, at an average oil price of US$42.4 per barrel. However, the company was notified last year that its crude oil supply agreement with BP would be terminated this month, as the Kwinana refinery will be converted into a fuel import terminal. Triangle is now looking to negotiate offtake alternatives for Cliff Head production. Towner said: Its very disappointing, particularly when the Federal Government is talking about energy security and Cliff Head has been producing for nearly 15 years. It also demonstrates the lack of investment thats gone into the refining sector in terms of keeping up with modern technologies to treat oil and convert it to processed fuel. The Cliff Head Joint Venture (CHJV) crude sales revenue was A$3.37 million which is an increase of 14% on the previous quarters A$2.97 million due to increased production and an improved oil price. Lifting costs were US$26.92/barrel (previous quarter US$29.56/barrel) representing an improved cost per barrel due to additional production from CH7 well - which returned to production an average of 220 barrels of oil per day (totalling around 800 barrels of oil per day from the field) as of November 28, 2020. Exploration permit acquisition The company is focused on continued exploration and expansion within the Perth Basin, recently acquiring a higher stake in Mount Horner and EP-437 from Key Petroleum Limited (ASX:KEY) (OTCMKTS:KPHWF). Towner said: We have entered an agreement with Key to acquire the other 50% of Mount Horner that we dont own, and also 86.94%% of EP-437 which runs to the west of the coast and up to Geraldton. In late January, the company received binding commitments to raise gross proceeds of A$1.19 million from sophisticated and professional investors who subscribed for 56,433,043 new ordinary shares at an issue price of A$0.021 per new share. The funds raised are intended to be applied towards the cash consideration payable to Key as part of the acquisition, including a cash payment of A$600,000, along with payment of any outstanding cash calls in respect of L7 plus a 5% gross overriding royalty on production from L7 and EP-437, the work program for Mt Horner and EP 437 and general working capital. 3D Seismic drilling plans Triangle has agreed to assume all of Keys ongoing work program commitments within EP 437, which now requires the acquisition of 20 square kilometres of 3D Seismic and the drilling of one well prior to the end of year three of the permit term on May 27, 2022, with a second discretionary well due by the end of the permit term on May 22, 2023. Terms of the original farm-out agreement for L7 are removed, allowing the company to acquire a much larger 3D survey across the area, which will also tie into the existing Irwin 3D survey to the south and extend into EP-437 to the west. The primary aim of the larger 3D is to provide a near-complete coverage of the Bookara Shelf hydrocarbon fairway which targets undeveloped attic oil in infill well locations within Mount Horner field. Any discovery that could arise from the WA-481 permit could potentially be developed through the Cliff Head infrastructure. WA-481 acquisition Towner said: Prior to Christmas we also made an agreement with Pilot Energy Ltd (ASX:PGY) to acquire 78.75% of the offshore exploration licence WA 481-P. The licence consists of around 8,000 square kilometres and is immediately adjacent to, and contiguous with, the Cliff Head Oil Field. The transaction is conditional on Pilot acquiring Key's 40% interest in WA-481 and Pilot and Triangle agreeing to: A revised joint operating agreement in respect of WA- 481-P; A joint operating agreement in respect of the Cliff Head wind and solar project joint venture; and Access agreements in respect of the Cliff Head and Arrowsmith infrastructure and operations on the area of WA-481-P. The transfer of WA-481-P is subject to standard regulatory approvals. As consideration for the acquisition, Triangle will pay Pilot $300,000 at completion and carry Pilots 21.25% share of costs for the first three years of the WA-481-P minimum work program up to a maximum of $1.22 million based on the current minimum work program. Wind and solar JV In addition to and in parallel with the sale of the majority interest in WA-481-P, Triangle and Pilot have also agreed to form the Cliff Head wind and solar project joint venture with Pilot owning 80% and Triangle 20%. The JV will assess the feasibility of the development of an offshore wind and onshore wind and solar power project centred on the Cliff Head Offshore Oil Field production facilities, Cliff Head Alpha and the onshore Arrowsmith separation and processing facilities, encompassing: Taking advantage of well-recognised, world-class wind and solar resources of Western Australias Mid-West Region; Multi-tasking the existing Cliff Head Oil Field offshore and onshore facilities to improve their utilisation and extend their life; Triangle and Pilot negotiating an access and coordination agreement to establish the basis for providing access to the existing Cliff Head alpha platform, the offshore/onshore pipeline right of way from the platform and to the onshore Arrowsmith separation and processing facilities; and Pilot carrying Triangles costs in conducting the feasibility study for the development of the wind and solar power project. Towner said: We have agreed to enter into a renewables solar and wind farm joint venture with Pilot Energy, which will be designed for us to have a look at alternate options for the infrastructure that we have there. With the pipelines coming from the platform from offshore to onshore, weve got the only beach access for any form of offshore energy-driven business. State Gas stakeholder Notably, the company is also the major shareholder of State Gas Limited (ASX:GAS) with an interest of 27.7% which is equivalent to A$31.2 million in value at $0.65 (as of March 17, 2021) per State Gas share. Towner said: We do have a third-string to our bow in that we have a substantial interest in the ASX-listed State Gas, which has a gas project in Queensland thats worth approximately $30 million to us. State Gas holds petroleum lease (PL 231) and is focused on the shallow, conventional gas target in the Cattle Creek Formation, a marine sandstone source rock, with a major secondary target in the underlying Reids Dome beds. Both targets have produced gas during the drilling of exploration and appraisal wells on PL 231 and several historical wells have flowed gas from the Cattle Creek Formation. State Gas continues to move towards commercialisation, investigating options to monetise the gas identified in the Cattle Creek Formation in the Central North gas pool centred around Primero-1, as well as any new gas located in the North-West Prospect. As a top draft prospect, Breshad Perriman said he was "looking forward to filling (my dad's) shoes wherever" he played in the NFL. Seven years later, Perriman's journey has taken him to his father's old team. The Detroit Lions agreed to a one-year contract with Perriman on Thursday that is worth up to $3 million, his agent Drew Rosenhaus said. Perriman has played for four NFL teams in his six seasons, but had his best year in 2019, when he played for new Lions receivers coach Antwaan Randle El with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. New York Jets receiver Breshad Perriman reaches for the ball as Cleveland Browns safety Sheldrick Redwine defends Dec. 27, 2020 in East Rutherford, N.J. A first-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens in 2015, Perriman spent three unproductive seasons in Baltimore before bouncing around the NFL the past three seasons. He played for Detroit Lions senior personnel executive John Dorsey with the Cleveland Browns in 2018, had career-highs of 36 catches, 645 yards and six touchdowns with the Bucs in 2019, and caught 30 passes for 505 yards in 12 games with the New York Jets last season. Perriman joins fellow free agent addition Tyrell Williams in what will be a new-look receiving corps for the Lions this fall. More: New Detroit Lions WR Tyrell Williams: 'I don't really see it as a rebuild' More: What went wrong with Jared Goff in L.A., and why new Lions QB can get right in Detroit Marvin Jones, the Lions' leading receiver last fall, and Jamal Agnew signed deals with the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier this week, and the Lions are expected to lose Kenny Golladay and Danny Amendola as well. Golladay reportedly met with the Chicago Bears on Wednesday, and was set to visit with the New York Giants on Thursday. Amendola hinted at retirement after the season. Wide receiver Quintez Cephus (87) of the Detroit Lions completes a reception over cornerback Tye Smith (23) of the Tennessee Titans in the fourth quarter of the game at Nissan Stadium on Dec. 20, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. Quintez Cephus, who caught 20 passes as a rookie, is the Lions' leading returning receiver, thought the team is expected to address the position again in the NFL draft. The Lions have the seventh pick of the first round, and LSU's Ja'Marr Chase and Alabama teammates DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle are potential top-10 picks. Story continues Perriman's father, Brett, was a key member of some of the Lions' best offenses in the early 1990s. Playing alongside Barry Sanders, Herman Moore and Johnnie Morton, Brett Perriman caught 108 passes for 1,488 yards and nine touchdowns in 1995. Perriman, who was 3 years old when his father caught his last pass as a Lion, said in 2015 he has vague recollections, assisted by photo albums, of trailing his dad around training camp as a toddler. "He wants me to be better than him, and I know I will," Perriman said in 2015. "I think I am already, and he showed me a lot about how to play as a bigger receiver and also play smaller as a smaller receiver and be the more quicker and shiftier receiver." Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions sign Breshad Perriman to fill void at WR One year after the Princeton Family YMCA shut its doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the doors of the Y have reopened but the community is still struggling to get back to normal. Vaccine appointments and testing centers remain sparse, but two local doctors are working to address the latter. Dr. Rameck Hunt, an internal medicine physician with Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Dr. Sampson Davis, an emergency medicine physician, saw the difficulties of COVID-19 firsthand. Hunt said that even as testing has become more available at his hospital, they only had enough supplies to test patients with symptoms. Anybody who wants a test should be able to get a test, Hunt said. Hunt had an idea to set up his own satellite testing site and recruited his childhood friend and fellow doctor, Davis, to help. Then he contacted the Princeton Family YMCA. I emailed the YMCAs CEO Kate Bech and when I told her the idea, she thought it was great. I know the Y is about community and healthy living, so she didnt hesitate to want to help make this happen, Hunt said. The YMCA has the space and, most critically, its a central, walkable location in town. In this area, most testing sites can only be accessed by car. The testing began on Monday, March 15 and will be available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day of the week on the lower level of Y the building, with outdoor tents for individuals to wait and be physically distanced. Appointments can be made, but walk-ins are welcomed. Those who dont have insurance to cover the test can still receive a test free. For now, Hunt and Davis are picking up the bill. We decided to put in some resources because its a needed service: people need to be able to be tested, Hunt said. Testing is still super important. A lot of people are getting the vaccine which is very, very good but we still need to be able to provide this service. For more information or to make an appointment, visit expressmedcarenj.com or call 609-785-1844. To donate to the Princeton Family YMCA, visit princetonymca.org/donate. Send community news to community@njtimes.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. 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. Using molecular dating tools and epidemiological simulations, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues at the University of Arizona and Illumina, Inc., estimate that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was likely circulating undetected for at most two months before the first human cases of COVID-19 were described in Wuhan, China in late-December 2019. Writing in the March 18, 2021 online issue of Science, they also note that their simulations suggest that the mutating virus dies out naturally more than three-quarters of the time without causing an epidemic. Our study was designed to answer the question of how long could SARS-CoV-2 have circulated in China before it was discovered." Joel O. Wertheim, PhD, Study Senior Author and Associate Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego "To answer this question, we combined three important pieces of information: a detailed understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 spread in Wuhan before the lockdown, the genetic diversity of the virus in China and reports of the earliest cases of COVID-19 in China. By combining these disparate lines of evidence, we were able to put an upper limit of mid-October 2019 for when SARS-CoV-2 started circulating in Hubei province." Cases of COVID-19 were first reported in late-December 2019 in Wuhan, located in the Hubei province of central China. The virus quickly spread beyond Hubei. Chinese authorities cordoned off the region and implemented mitigation measures nationwide. By April 2020, local transmission of the virus was under control but, by then, COVID-19 was pandemic with more than 100 countries reporting cases. SARS-CoV-2 is a zoonotic coronavirus, believed to have jumped from an unknown animal host to humans. Numerous efforts have been made to identify when the virus first began spreading among humans, based on investigations of early-diagnosed cases of COVID-19. The first cluster of cases -- and the earliest sequenced SARS-CoV-2 genomes -- were associated with the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, but study authors say the market cluster is unlikely to have marked the beginning of the pandemic because the earliest documented COVID-19 cases had no connection to the market. Regional newspaper reports suggest COVID-19 diagnoses in Hubei date back to at least November 17, 2019, suggesting the virus was already actively circulating when Chinese authorities enacted public health measures. In the new study, researchers used molecular clock evolutionary analyses to try to home in on when the first, or index, case of SARS-CoV-2 occurred. "Molecular clock" is a term for a technique that uses the mutation rate of genes to deduce when two or more life forms diverged -- in this case, when the common ancestor of all variants of SARS-CoV-2 existed, estimated in this study to as early as mid-November 2019. Molecular dating of the most recent common ancestor is often taken to be synonymous with the index case of an emerging disease. However, said co-author Michael Worobey, PhD, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at University of Arizona: "The index case can conceivably predate the common ancestor -- the actual first case of this outbreak may have occurred days, weeks or even many months before the estimated common ancestor. Determining the length of that 'phylogenetic fuse' was at the heart of our investigation." Based on this work, the researchers estimate that the median number of persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 in China was less than one until November 4, 2019. Thirteen days later, it was four individuals, and just nine on December 1, 2019. The first hospitalizations in Wuhan with a condition later identified as COVID-19 occurred in mid-December. Study authors used a variety of analytical tools to model how the SARS-CoV-2 virus may have behaved during the initial outbreak and early days of the pandemic when it was largely an unknown entity and the scope of the public health threat not yet fully realized. These tools included epidemic simulations based on the virus's known biology, such as its transmissibility and other factors. In just 29.7 percent of these simulations was the virus able to create self-sustaining epidemics. In the other 70.3 percent, the virus infected relatively few persons before dying out. The average failed epidemic ended just eight days after the index case. "Typically, scientists use the viral genetic diversity to get the timing of when a virus started to spread," said Wertheim. "Our study added a crucial layer on top of this approach by modeling how long the virus could have circulated before giving rise to the observed genetic diversity. "Our approach yielded some surprising results. We saw that over two-thirds of the epidemics we attempted to simulate went extinct. That means that if we could go back in time and repeat 2019 one hundred times, two out of three times, COVID-19 would have fizzled out on its own without igniting a pandemic. This finding supports the notion that humans are constantly being bombarded with zoonotic pathogens." Wertheim noted that even as SARS-CoV-2 was circulating in China in the fall of 2019, the researchers' model suggests it was doing so at low levels until at least December of that year. "Given that, it's hard to reconcile these low levels of virus in China with claims of infections in Europe and the U.S. at the same time," Wertheim said. "I am quite skeptical of claims of COVID-19 outside China at that time." The original strain of SARS-CoV-2 became epidemic, the authors write, because it was widely dispersed, which favors persistence, and because it thrived in urban areas where transmission was easier. In simulated epidemics involving less dense rural communities, epidemics went extinct 94.5 to 99.6 percent of the time. The virus has since mutated multiple times, with a number of variants becoming more transmissible. "Pandemic surveillance wasn't prepared for a virus like SARS-CoV-2," Wertheim said. "We were looking for the next SARS or MERS, something that killed people at a high rate, but in hindsight, we see how a highly transmissible virus with a modest mortality rate can also lay the world low." Charleston, WV (25301) Today Rain and scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 79F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms in the evening will give way to cloudy skies overnight. Areas of patchy fog developing. Low 62F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. A US Army soldier stationed at Fort Bliss in Texas has been allegedly shot dead by his 13-year-old stepson with his own handgun, after police say the boy saw him assault his mother. Sgt 1st Class Allan Edwards, 31, was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds at La Mirada Apartments in the 10500 block of McCombs Street in El Paso on Sunday night. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Edwards' 13-year-old stepson was taken into custody and turned over to the Juvenile Probation Department, but he has yet to be charged in connection with his stepfather's death. Sgt 1st Class Allan Edwards (left and right), 31, was shot and killed, allegedly by his 13-year-old stepson, at the family's home in El Paso. The soldier was killed with his own handgun Edwards was found dead at La Mirada Apartments in the 10500 block of McCombs Street in El Paso on Sunday night He has not been named because he is a juvenile. Investigators with the El Paso Police Department said that Edwards had assaulted the boy's mother hours earlier away from home, and the teen witnessed the violence, reported KFOX14. When the family returned home later that evening, and Edwards began arguing with his wife, her son grabbed the soldiers gun and shot him, according to police. Edwards, a native of Tennessee, joined the US Army in 2008 and had one combat deployment to Afghanistan. He had been at Fort Bliss since March 2014, reported El Paso Times. According to his Facebook profile, Edwards was a Division Master Gunner with the 1st Armored Division. Police say the juvenile suspect saw Edwards assault his mother hours earlier. When the family came home and the soldier began arguing with his wife, her son allegedly grabbed his stepdad's gun and shot him multiple times Edwards married his wife a year ago, and the newlywed couple welcomed a baby daughter last July Sgt. 1st Class Allan Edwards gave 100 percent daily to the team and his profession; his technical knowledge enhanced the capability of the division operations section, said Colonel Bryan Frizzelle, assistant chief of staff of operations in the 1st Armored Division. Social media posts suggest that Edwards married his wife a year ago, and the newlywed couple welcomed a baby daughter last July. Detectives with the Crimes Against Persons Unit and the Crimes Against Children Unit are leading the investigation into the killing. Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. Good morning. We are set for some unseasonably warm weather, with double-digit temperatures forecast for three consecutive days, including a high of 14 C on Saturday. Today will be very windy, however. Premier Brian Pallister will speak to reporters after touring the Morden COVID-19 vaccination centre, which opens Monday, this morning. Dr. Brent Roussin, the provinces chief public health officer, is getting vaccinated today. Provincial health officials are expected to hold a news conference on the pandemic later today, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will do the same in Ottawa. An Indigenous studies professor say there is no evidence colonialism has made Indigenous people any more hesitant to get vaccinated against COVID-19 than the general population. Adam Treusch, assignment editor Joaquin Sendolo with New Narratives For a second day in a row, emotions dominated proceedings in the war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi in Liberia. The trial conducted by judges from the European country of Finland, where Massaquoi, a Sierra Leonean, was living when he was charged, has moved its focus to the northern county of Lofa where victims said Massaquoi and his Revolutionary United Front rebels terrorised civilians during the dry season in 2001. A witness, codenamed Civilian 27, told the court her son was tied up and killed by men under Massaquois command. They entered our town and called all of us to gather at the center of the town. They went into the houses and took all of those valuable things and put the loads on our heads to take for them to Foya, and when we reach(ed) Kwendu Koindu Junction, it was when they fired at my son who was already tied and he fell dead, she said through loud sobs. The proceedings were paused to allow the woman to regain her composure. The court has ordered the identities of the witnesses be kept secret because of a credible fear of retaliation or intimidation. Civilian 27 echoed previous witnesses who said the soldiers were speaking Creole and Mende, two languages common in Sierra Leone and not Liberia. She also claimed to have seen and heard Angel Gabriel, a name all witnesses have said was used as an alias by Gibril Massaquoi during the war in Liberia. Civilian 27, now in her late 50s, said one of the soldiers cut a piece off one of her ears. She claimed she still carried a scar though the court did not ask to see it. We were in Babarhun when the soldiers told us that they were acting on orders and their commander was coming, she told the court. He came on a jeep, and when he got down, he said he did not want to see a living thing. We were all afraid, and in my presence, they killed two persons. The commander called his name as Angel Gabriel, and that was Gabriel Massaquoi. He called his name to us and said he was next to God. Quizzed by the defence to establish whether she truly knew Massaquoi, Civilian 27 said, This man was Gibril Massaquoi. I knew him because he called his name to us. Massaquoi, 51, a former commander with the RUF, was a key witness in Special Court of Sierra Leone prosecutions of top rebel leaders including former Liberian President Charles Taylor. The RUF and Taylors National Patriotic Front for Liberia had been close throughout the conflict in both countries with Taylor financing RUF activities in return for diamonds from Sierra Leone mines. Massaquoi had been granted residency in Finland and immunity from prosecution for crimes in Sierra Leone in exchange for his testimony. Victims advocates Civitas Maxima and Global Justice Research Project presented Finnish police with evidence of his crimes in Liberia leading him to be charged with those crimes and arrested in March 2020. The Finnish court has moved to Liberia to hear from witnesses rather than transporting them to Finland to testify. The court will move on to Sierra Leone next month. Massaquoi has remained in Finland where he is monitoring proceedings through a videolink. On Thursday another witness, codenamed Civilian 18, recalled 2001 as a year he experienced one of the worst parts of the war when his wife Sangay, and sister Ganbo, were both shot dead while distilling palm oil on their farm in Kortonhum. They enter(ed) my village in the morning and put all of us under gunpoint, she told the four-judge panel. Some of them went in the bush, saw my wife and my sister fixing palm oil, and shot them dead. They looted things and put the loads on our heads to carry for them. When we went far from the town, I managed to escape and I returned to the place where my family members were fixing the oil. I saw their dead bodies lying and getting spoiled. People who remained around the area came and we brushed the area and buried them because their bodies could not be taken to the town, he said in tears. ADVERTISEMENT A third witness told the court that the rebels, who were mostly Sierra Leoneans, set houses ablaze including his. After taking us to Foya, they brought us to the centre of the town and a tall light skinned man stood and called us saying, I am Angel Gabriel, next to God, and this is how I got to know his name. He was the commander who ordered the soldiers to burn the town and killed people, and his soldiers were always saying that they were acting on his orders. A fourth witness, codenamed Civilian 45, said government forces with inscriptions WO2, entered his village &and collected children, locked them up in a kitchen and set the kitchen ablaze. All were burned alive&. They brought the children and put them in the veranda. They later put them inside and said we need light, and thats how they set the house on fire after putting the children inside, he said. Responding to the Defence lawyer, Civilian 45 said Gabriel Massaquoi ordered his men to burn houses. They burned five houses in my presence, he said. This story is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) A digital strategist and content creator is using his platforms to spread awareness on the hate and violence that Asians are facing. Filipino and global influencer Bryanboy, who is based in Stockholm, Sweden, told CNN Philippines' The Final Word that Asians, not only in the United States, but also in Europe are experiencing this hate brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. "At the end of the day, whether you are in America or in Europe, a lot of people are associating Asians with COVID and it's really sad," he said. For the past weeks, there have been reports of unprovoked attacks against Asians, especially in the US, some of which were fatal. #StopAsianHate even trended on social media as a protest against such violence. "For the longest time, Asians, especially Asian immigrants, have been taught to be silent," Bryanboy said. "We've always been taught to keep our head down, to really just focus on ourselves, but now as more and more attacks are happening it's really important for Asians to speak out." He also encouraged other influencers to do the same since this could help educate a wider audience about the issue. "It is important to lend our voice and speak out. For us people with platforms, it is important to speak out and really bring this issue to a wider audience that it is not okay," he said. A number of Filipino American celebrities and personalities have also joined calls to stop racism and discrimination against Asians in the US. The Roland DGA Demo Days Roadshow truck and trailer bring new and exciting Roland DG products to authorized dealers for live customer demos. The 2021 nationwide tour begins on April 15. "In addition to seeing new and exciting Roland DG products in action, the events create opportunities for shop owners to discuss their specific business needs with knowledgeable representatives, safely, at a nearby dealer location. Amado Lara, Roland DGA Director of Sales Wide-format digital imaging leader Roland DGA has announced a new schedule of Business Builder Demo Days Roadshow stops for 2021 unique events at authorized dealerships nationwide that enable print professionals to get a firsthand look at the companys newest technologies safely and conveniently. Last years series of Demo Days were extremely well received, prompting the company to expand the number of scheduled events to 10 this year compared to eight in 2020. Each event involves a two-day stop by roadshow truck carrying Roland DGAs latest printers and printer/cutters. Attendees can set up pre-arranged appointments and interactive product demos at the dealership of their choice, with complete safety and social distancing protocols in place. We will be continuing the nationwide roadshow tour we started in 2020, which was incredibly popular, said Roland DGA Director of Sales Amado Lara. With the ongoing pandemic resulting in the cancellation of physical industry trade shows, these stops bring our latest and greatest devices to prospective customers. In addition to seeing new and exciting Roland DG products in action, the events create opportunities for shop owners to discuss their specific business needs with knowledgeable representatives, safely, at a nearby dealer location. This years Demo Days Roadshow tour will kick off with an April 15-16 stop at the Salt Lake City-based dealership Regional Supply Utah. After that initial event, the roadshow truck will make its way to nine additional Roland DGA authorized dealer locations across the country, including stops in Nevada, Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and California. At each location, attendees will be able to see live demonstrations of next-generation Roland DG inkjets like the TrueVIS VG2 printer/cutter, TrueVIS VF2 printer, VersaUV LEF2 flatbed UV printer, and newly launched VersaUV LEC2 UV printer/cutter. Some of these devices, such as the newly launched LEC2-640, are newly launched products that attendees would normally have to attend a trade show to see, noted Lara. Having the opportunity to see machines like this in person and obtain expert advice on how such devices can help build their respective businesses, makes attending one of our roadshow stops a worthwhile experience for any print provider. To view the complete 2021 Demo Days Roadshow schedule and arrange an exclusive appointment at a stop in your area, visit https://www.rolanddga.com/sites/2021-business-builder-events. For more information on Roland DGA Corporation or the complete Roland DGA product line, visit https://www.rolanddga.com. About Roland DGA Corporation Roland DGA Corporation serves North and South America as the marketing, sales, distribution and service arm for Roland DG Corporation. Founded in 1981 and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Roland DG of Hamamatsu, Japan is a worldwide leader in wide-format inkjet printers for the sign, apparel, textile, personalization and vehicle graphics markets; engravers for awards, giftware and ADA signage; photo impact printers for direct part marking; and 3D printers and CNC milling machines for the dental CAD/CAM, rapid prototyping, part manufacturing and medical industries. The Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case on charges of treason and embezzlement against first deputy head of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Kateryna Rozhkova and several other employees of the central bank who participated in the investigation and nationalization of PrivatBank (Kyiv) in 2016, the Kyiv Post reports with reference to the documents of the Prosecutor General's Office. According to the report, the reason for the accusation is the provision of information by the National Bank to companies hired to investigate or assist in the nationalization of PrivatBank, in particular forensic Kroll Inc., consulting firm AlixPartners and law firms Hogan Lovells and Asters. As reported, the government of Ukraine on December 18, 2016, referring to the proposal of the NBU and former shareholders of PrivatBank, the largest of which at that time were Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholiubov, decided to nationalize this largest financial institution on the Ukrainian market and injected over UAH 155 billion into its capital. In November 2019, Prosecutor General Ruslan Riaboshapka transferred to NABU the case on the withdrawal of multibillion-dollar funds from PrivatBank before its nationalization. The ex-owners of the bank consider illegal the nationalization carried out, as a result of which they completely lost their shares, while PrivatBank and the state demand additional compensation from them. By Guy Faulconbridge, Alistair Smout and Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) - will have to slow its COVID-19 vaccine rollout next month due to a supply crunch caused by a delay in a shipment of millions of shots from and the need to test the stability of an additional 1.7 million doses. Supply constraints are the biggest threat to Britain's vaccine rollout - currently the swiftest among the world's major economies - and health officials warned that the programme would face a significant reduction in supplies from March 29. "It is true that in the short term we're receiving fewer vaccines than we had planned for a week ago," Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a news conference, saying this was because of a delay in a shipment from India's Serum Institute and because a batch in the UK needed to be retested. "As a result, we will receive slightly fewer vaccines in April than in March, but that is still more than we received in February, and the supply we do have will still enable us to hit the targets we have set," he said. Earlier, health minister Matt Hancock had said that while was currently in the middle of some "bumper weeks of supply", a batch of 1.7 million vaccine doses had been delayed as it had to be retested for stability. He didn't specify the manufacturer. is using vaccines made by Pfizer and AstraZeneca, with 10 million doses of the 100 million ordered from coming from the Serum Institute. A spokesman for the Serum Institute said it had delivered 5 million doses to Britain a few weeks ago, adding it would "try to supply more later, based on the current situation and requirement for the government immunisation programme in India". Serum Institute Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla was quoted by the Daily Telegraph newspaper as saying that supplies were dependent on how many doses the Indian government allowed to go to the United Kingdom. But, with Britain already at loggerheads with the European Union over vaccine exports, Johnson struck a conciliatory tone, saying he did not think had blocked any deliveries and wanted to work with Europe too. Pressed on whether the Indian government had stopped exports of vaccine to Britain, Johnson said: "No, no, there is a delay as there often is, caused for various technical reasons, but we hope to continue to work very closely with the Serum Institute, and indeed with partners around the world including on the European continent." Israel is the leader in vaccinating its population, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Chile and then the United Kingdom - and investors are watching closely to see which economies could recover first. More than half of all adults in England have had their first COVID-19 vaccine. For the United Kingdom as a whole, just under half of adults have had their first dose. VACCINE ROW While Britain tries to secure more vaccines, it is also facing growing anger from the European Union, which on Wednesday threatened to slap a ban on vaccine exports to Britain. Hancock said that European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen should respect contract law and that Britain expected to get the deliveries it had ordered. "There are very significant consequences to breaking contract law," Hancock said. Britain imports Pfizer's vaccine from Europe, but despite the spat, Johnson said people should not be anxious about supplies from the EU. "These vaccines are a multinational effort and they are produced as the result of international cooperation and we in the UK will continue to view it in that spirit," he said. Pfizer and said on Wednesday their delivery schedules had not been affected. An AstraZeneca spokesman said on Wednesday that the "UK domestic supply chain is not experiencing any disruption". Britain's medicines regulator said there had been five cases of a rare type of blood clot in the brain among 11 million people given AstraZeneca's vaccine but said that it found the benefits of the shot far outweighed any possible risks. England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said anecdotal reports suggested that some people had not turned up to vaccination appointments after the shot was suspended in some European countries, but record numbers were still being vaccinated. Hancock denied rumours that the delays would mean no adults would get a first dose of the vaccine in April, but said it was important to make sure there was enough vaccine to give people a second dose within 12 weeks of their first. He also said that Britain was on target to offer everyone over 50 a first shot by mid-April, and a shot to all adults by the end of July. He added that a roadmap for lifting lockdown restrictions in England was unaffected. Earlier, housing minister Robert Jenrick said that supplies would pick up again in May, and Moderna Inc has said it is expecting first deliveries of its vaccine to Britain to start in April. Hancock said Britain expected doses of Moderna's vaccine to arrive "in the coming weeks". (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Kate Holton and Alistair Smout in London; Additional reporting by Krishna N. Das in New Delhi; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Giles Elgood, Nick Macfie, Frances Kerry and Jonathan Oatis) (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.) BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary can start the first stage of easing coronavirus restrictions once a further one million citizens have been vaccinated, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday. "There is a good chance (we) will have a (restrictions) free summer," Orban told public radio, adding that hospitals were managing to cope with a record wave of infections. Orban said the daily tally of coronavirus-related deaths stood at a record 213, with more than 10,000 people in hospital. Orban aims to get as many people immunised as quickly as possible to reopen and jump-start the economy, which shrank by 5.1% last year. Around 1.5 million Hungarians have been inoculated so far, and he said curbs could start to be eased once that number rose to 2.5 million - equivalent to a quarter of the population. Orban reiterated his backing for Hungary's use of Chinese and Russian vaccines, which it was the first European Union country to authorise and deploy. He also said his nationalist Fidesz party would team up with like-minded parties in Italy and Poland to reorganise European right-wing politics. He would soon meet with Matteo Salvini, who heads Italy's right-wing League party, and Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and "we will plan the future together." Fidesz on Thursday submitted its resignation from the European People's Party (EPP), the mainstream conservative grouping in the European parliament. Orban said Fidesz had politically drifted away from the EPP in recent years on issues also including taxation and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Orban, who faces elections in 2022, is up for the toughest challenge of his decade-long rule as a united opposition is running neck-and-neck with him in polls. The premier has turned to increasingly hardline rhetoric in recent years, advocating "ethnic homogeneity," mimicking Poland's anti-LGBT politics with legal changes and using harsh language against Hungary's Roma minority. (Reporting by Marton Dunai @mdunai; Editing by John Stonestreet) It is an unfailing rule that art must imitate life, even when absolutely no one is asking for it. Showtime is turning the Capitol riot into a TV series because obviously we can't resist recycling anything that makes headlines into new streaming content. 'ATTACKS CAN BE A PROBLEM': Donald Trump wax figure removed from Texas museum after suffering repeated face punches Hoping to recreate all the warm, fuzzy feelings of that day are Billy Ray and Shane Salerno, who previously worked on another dramatized Trump-era Showtime limited series, "The Comey Rule." Variety's Joe Otterson reports that the series will "examine and explore multiple points of view" leading up to the riot, culminating in a recreation of Jan. 6 when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, delaying the certification of President Joe Biden's victory, forcing our nation's lawmakers to evacuate and resulting in the deaths of five people. News of the series came the same day the FBI released new footage of rioters beating Capitol police as they pushed their way inside the building. The FBI is still asking for the public's help in identifying rioters. Ray and Salerno have a ready bank of characters to draw from since hundreds have already been arrested and identified, including high profile rioters such as the 'QAnon Shaman,' the Texas realtor who took a private jet to D.C., and the former mayoral candidate who asked for permission to vacation in Mexico after her arrest. NO ANTHEM, NO FUNDING: New bill would require teams play 'Star-Bangled Banner' before games The series is in development right now, so it will be a little while before you can repeat the whole experience of watching a democracy-threatening riot unfold in our Capitol from your phone/computer/TV. It'll just be in HD, dramatically soundtracked and Brendan Gleeson might be there. Looking forward to seeing who they cast as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Hyderabad, March 19 : As much as 390 kg of illegally cultivated opium poppy straw, valued at Rs 20 lakh and meant for sale in Karnataka, was confiscated on Thursday in Telangana's Ranga Reddy district and two people arrested, police said on Friday. The arrested have been identified as D. Chennakeshavaulu (45) of Anantapur district, and D. Venkataramana (43) of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh. While Chennakeshavulu was arrested on charges of illegal cultivation of poppy, Venkataramana was arrested for allegedly supplying poppy seeds to him. Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagawat on Friday said that the duo were planning to sell the contraband to customers near Bengaluru. According to the police, Chennakeshavulu had leased agricultural land in Lemur village, from Buchi Reddy and then on the advice of Venkataramana, began cultivating poppy since the last three months. The accused have been booked under the NDPS Act, and sent to judicial custody by a court. Racial and Ethnic Disparities (R/ED) Each State, US Territory, and the District of Columbia that receives Federal Title II Formula Grants is required to establish a State Advisory Group (SAG). This SAG advises the Governor, and where appropriate, other Stakeholders on matters relevant to Juvenile Justice and delinquency prevention. In Oregon, the YDC is the SAG designated by the Governor to administer Federal Title II Formula Grant funds from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), as well as monitor Oregons compliance with the core provisions of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 2002, and most recently in December 2018 the Juvenile Justice Reform Act (JJRA) of 2018 that was signed into law, reauthorizing and substantially amending the JJDP Act. The JJRA of 2018 changed the Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) requirement to focus on Racial and Ethnic Disparities (R/ED). It requires that States collect and analyze data on R/ED at the following Decision Points: Referral Diversion Pre-trial detention Secure Confinement Transfer to Adult Court Oregon is dedicated to the equal and fair treatment of every Youth (regardless of membership in a minority or majority population group) who come into contact with the Juvenile Justice System. In order to achieve compliance with the Title II Formula Grant R/ED requirement, Oregon must implement policy, practice, and system improvement strategies at the State, territorial, local, and Tribal levels, as applicable, to identify and reduce racial and ethnic disparities among Youth who come into contact with the Juvenile Justice System The duties of YDDs R/ED Coordinator is to implement OJJDPs R/ED Reduction Model and its three-pronged, research-driven, outcomes-based strategy to decrease racial and ethnic disparities with Juveniles: Identify the Problem (by collecting and analyzing Statewide data at key Juvenile Justice decision points); Develop an Action Plan; and Conduct Outcome-Based Evaluation. Definitions These terms are often poorly understood or misused by well-intentioned people. Below is the guidance provided by OJJDP: Race and ethnicity are terms often used together (e.g., racial and ethnic disparities). Race tends to be associated with biology, whereas ethnicity is associated with culture. OJJDP requires that states participating in the federal Formula Grant Program report racial and ethnic juvenile justice data using the following categories: White (Non-Hispanic), Black or African American (Non-Hispanic), American Indian/Native American, Hispanic or Latino, and Asian (Non-Hispanic). OJJDP defines minority as youth who are Black or African American, American Indian/Native American, Hispanic or Latino, Alaska Native, Asian, or Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander. Other commonly used terms are non-white and youth of color. Discrimination denotes between-group differences in outcomes based on the consideration of extralegal or illegitimate factors. In other words, the terms discrimination and bias are used when the racial disparities appear to be caused by some intent on the part of the decision-maker (e.g., those who may be racist or who favor one racial or ethnic group over another), or when a systems design puts minority youth at a disadvantage. Both individual and system bias can be intentional but are often unintentional or implicit. The Problem We are Trying to Solve Data shows that Youth of Color are disproportionally overrepresented in Oregons Juvenile Justice System at each decision point for which OJJDP requests data collection and analysis: Referral to the Juvenile Justice System by Law Enforcement Agencies and/or other entities; Pre-Trial Detention; placement in Secure Confinement at Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) Facilities (resulting in the increased likelihood of these Youth becoming homeless, unemployed and imprisoned); and Transfer to Adult Court. More specifically, African American and Native American Youth experience this disproportionality to the greatest extent. Unfortunately, trends analyzed in data from the Juvenile Justice Information System (JJIS) indicate that between 2017 and 2019 these disproportionalities greatly increased. According to 2019 Statewide JJIS Data, although African American Youth make-up approximately 3.58% of the population of Youth ages 10-17, they are referred at a rate of 7.33% for criminal cases; this is a considerable increase from 5.37% in 2017. Accordingly, although Native American Youth make-up approximately 1.49% of the population of Youth ages 10-17, they were referred at a rate of 5.16% for criminal cases; this increased from 4.99% in 2017. To put this in context, in 2019 White Youth represented 66.88% of the population ages 10-17, with a 2.17% referral rate for criminal cases; this decreased from 2.65% in 2017. To state it plainly, in 2019 African American Youth were over three times more likely than White Youth to be referred, while Native American Youth were over two times more likely than White Youth to be referred. Additionally, both African American and Native American Youth were over four times more likely than White Youth to be placed in Secure Confinement, and African American Youth were over six times more likely than White Youth to be transferred to Adult Court. The rate of secure confinement in 2019 nearly doubled for African American/Black Youth and increased at an alarming rate for American Indian/Native American Youth when compared to 2017 data. For more information about Juvenile Racial and Ethnic Disparities contact Sonji Moore at sonji.a.moore@state.or.us (Natural News) Theme parks in California will limit patrons screaming or shouting on rides to curb the spread of COVID-19. A union of amusement parks in the state proposed the measure in a list of actions they would take to safely reopen these leisure facilities in line with a state blueprint. The California Attractions and Parks Association (CAPA) shared a list of steps its member amusement parks would be taking to safely reopen their properties to the public. It drafted the list with the hope of better following the states blueprint for determining COVID-19 risk. According to CAPA, member parks have been busy planning and preparing to implement their own site-specific plans for reopening. Theme parks to limit activities known to cause the spread of COVID-19 CAPAs plan detailed how amusement parks and attractions can reopen in limited capacity with the proper modifications. Limiting activities and environments that are known to cause increased COVID-19 transmission and require people to raise their voices was among the points indicated in the plan. To address concerns about the virus spread, amusement park operators will require the use of face masks or face coverings for park ride passengers. Seat loading patterns on rides will also be modified to mitigate the effects of shouting. CAPA also remarked that guests ought to generally face in one direction on rides to minimize excess noise. The association also added it will only sit people from the same party for various rides and attractions to prevent mixing and mingling of amusement park visitors. CAPA explained that amusement parks do not encourage congregations as families stay within their own household group when visiting. Furthermore, the CAPA list also says that amusement parks will provide designated eating and drinking areas where people can remove their masks. Eating on the go will no longer be allowed as guests will be required to wear face coverings while walking around. New regulations in line with theme park re-openings in California CAPA published the reopening action plan as a spike in coronavirus cases in the winter rapidly tapered off. California officials announced in early March that reopening criteria for theme parks and outdoor stadiums would be relaxed starting April 1. Theme parks will only be allowed to re-open if the county they are located in drops below Californias restrictive coronavirus tier. They will also be permitted to re-open albeit initially at 15 percent capacity, and the parks will be open only to California residents. Disneyland was among the theme parks in the state aiming to reopen soon. The happiest place on Earth has joined other amusement park operators and local officials in pressuring state authorities to permit swift re-opening. Disney CEO Bob Chapek said the previous week that the park was targeting a late April 2021 re-opening after the state eased COVID-19 restrictions. The theme park in Anaheim, located near Los Angeles, has been closed for almost exactly a year while other Disney resorts worldwide have re-opened their doors. Based on previous guidance, theme parks would be among the last places to re-open in California. But the projection has not dissuaded Chapek. Here in California, were encouraged by the positive trends were seeing. [Were] hopeful theyll continue to improve and well be able to reopen our parks to guests with limited capacity by late April, he said. (Related: Disneyland converted into mass COVID-19 vaccination site.) The Disney CEO cautioned that the park could not reopen on April 1, the date originally eyed for resumption. He explained that it would take time to recall more than 10,000 furloughed staff members and to retrain them in pandemic safety measures. Chapek added that a precise opening date would be confirmed in the coming weeks. (Related: Disney to lay off 28,000 workers in belt-tightening move amid coronavirus pandemic.) Soon enough, Disneyland posted on its Twitter account that it would reopen its doors on April 30. In a March 17 tweet, the park said it plans to officially reopen with limited capacity, and only for California residents. Visit Collapsifornia.com to learn more about coronavirus-related restrictions for theme parks and other establishments. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk ReopenCAAmusementParks.com Twitter.com As part of the project, an exciting new remix of "Can You Feel It" was created by producer/composer Greg Curtis (engineered by Jon Nettlesbey) and executive produced by John McClain: Can You Feel It: The Jacksons X MLK Remix: Greg Curtis kicks off his production with a roaring drum line and bookends the mix with recordings from the late Martin Luther King's acclaimed 1968 The Drum Major Instinct speech at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Midway, excerpts from the great Barack Obama's first inauguration speech inspire. The production is capped with King's words, "Free at last, Free at last; Thank God Almighty, Free at last." Listen here. The Jackson's definitive album project: The expanded digital releases of Triumph , Victory and 2300 Jackson Street are available alongside The Jacksons (1976), Goin' Places (1977) and Destiny (1978), released February 12. The six studio albums recorded by The Jacksons for Epic Records trace the group's spectacular leap from their Jackson 5 boy band roots to their role as avatars of an R&B/pop revolution (1976-1989). Each title includes the original album in its entirety, bundled with additional bonus tracks and may be ordered here: https://TheJacksons.lnk.to/TriumphPR https://TheJacksons.lnk.to/2300JacksonStPR https://TheJacksons.lnk.to/VictoryPR A 2LP 12" vinyl edition of The Jacksons Live! (recorded during their 1981 North American Triumph Tour) will be released on Friday, March 26, and is available for pre-order here. Click here for more details about Triumph, Victory and 2300 Jackson Street. SOURCE Legacy Recordings Related Links http://www.legacyrecordings.com Police are seeking the publics help locating a Massachusetts woman who has been missing for nearly a year, according to authorities. Mitchel Iviquel was last seen on March 31, 2020, the Cambridge Police Department said in a statement Friday afternoon. She was reported missing Thursday after not being seen by her family for close to 12 months. The 43-year-old homeless woman was known to spend time in the Central Square area of Cambridge. The police department described her as roughly 5 feet, 3 inches tall and 135 pounds. Anyone with information about her whereabouts has been urged to call the department at (617) 349-3300. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani made surprise appointments atop two key power ministries on March 19 in an apparent bid to shore up security with international pressure mounting on Kabul and Taliban militants to hammer out a peace deal for the war-torn state. Ghani appointed a former governor of the southern Helmand Province, Hayatullah Hayat, as acting defense minister and placed the chief of General Staff, General Yasin Zia, in charge of the Defense Ministry, according to the Afghan National Security Council. A deadline for the United States to pull troops out of Afghanistan according to a year-old deal with the Taliban is set to expire in six weeks, although President Joe Biden has said his administration is reviewing that plan by the previous U.S. administration. Earlier this week, Biden said during a televised interview that it would be "tough" to meet the deadline. The Afghan government and the Taliban reportedly agreed at a meeting in Moscow on March 19 to try to accelerate stalled peace talks. The new impetus followed an international conference in the Russian capital on breathing life into the process. Ghani's government accuses the Taliban of doing too little to halt violence since the peace talks got going in September 2020. A former Kandahar and Nangarhar governor, Hayat takes over the interior minister's post from Masud Andarabi to improve "the security situation" in the country, Ghani's office said. General Zia will keep his military post and is filling in until Defense Minister Assadullah Khalid can return following treatment for an illness, a statement suggested. Based on reporting by TOLO News and AFP Pam Blair didnt get to celebrate her mothers 81st birthday last year. It fell just a few days after federal and state regulators ordered nursing homes to ban all visitors to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to residents. Hopes of celebrating Easter, Mothers Day and Thanksgiving all faded as the pandemic dragged on. Then, in December, Blair received news shed been dreading all year. Despite the isolation from family and friends, her mother, Shirley Wilson Barron, tested positive for COVID-19. I was so worried when they called me and told me, Blair said. But Barron remained asymptomatic and recently received her second COVID shot, just in time for Blair and her brother to celebrate her 82nd birthday in person at her nursing home in western Jefferson County. She pulled up to the nursing home loaded up decorations to put on her mothers door for Easter. I called them and said, Im here and I need a cart, Blair said, referring to the gifts and decorations she carried. Blair and her brother brought enough cupcakes for the staff, along with some chips, flowers and gifts. When the nurse went inside, the three crowded in for a selfie the closest theyve been in more than a year. It was great, Blair said. Its just better in person than trying to talk on the phone. Nursing homes have been slowly opening for several months after the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services lifted a blanket closure to all visitors last fall. As vaccinations rolled out across nursing homes and assisted living, restrictions have been lifted even further, restoring some normalcy to places that have been ravaged by the pandemic. It comes after months of lobbying by families, who worried that loneliness and isolation had begun taking a deeper toll than the virus. Blairs mother moved into the nursing home about three years ago after suffering several dangerous falls at home. Diabetes caused nerve damage in her legs and feet that made it difficult to balance and walk. Finally, the doctor was like, Yall surely dont need to leave her by herself. Its getting kind of dangerous, Blair said. One time she fell backwards into a glass curio cabinet. Despite her physical problems, Barron has a sharp mind and can understand and communicate by phone, Blair said. Thats a blessing, since she understood what was happening when the nursing home shut down. Blair said some other residents with dementia couldnt comprehend why family members and visitors disappeared. Her nursing home sits just five minutes from Blairs house. Before the pandemic, she picked up her mother every Sunday for church and regularly dropped by with new clothes and decorations. And her mother could leave any time to have lunch with family and friends. Then in March 2020, all in-person visitation ended, and Barron could not leave the nursing home for visits. The facility set up window visits and one short outside visit, but it wasnt the same, Blair said. We would meet outside the window, Blair said. But its kind of hard to talk through the window. The nursing home still has regulations on visits, but Blair said she will now be able to come more regularly. The visits are a start, but Blair said her mother still wants to resume more of her normal activities. Shes been going to the same church all her life, Blair said. Ive been going to it since I was born. She used to work at Methodist headquarters. So, she knows a lot about the Methodist church and all the ministers. Thats been a big part of her life. So, I think she would really be anxious as soon as she finds out we can do it, to go to church. Blair hopes she can begin taking Barron to family gatherings later this year. She has three grandsons and other family members she hasnt seen in a year. One day theyll let her come to our house, she said. I know it wont be by Easter, but maybe by Thanksgiving. Blair said both residents and staff at the nursing home seem eager to get back to normal after a terrifying year. When Barron had COVID, Blair said the employees donned full protective equipment to enter her room, which frightened some of the residents. The staff sent nurses around with cleaning crews to calm those spooked by the sight of strange people dressed head-to-toe in hazmat suits. Now that many residents and staff have been vaccinated, life is returning to normal. But last year taught Blair not to make too many plans for the future. Instead, she is holding on to the joy she felt on her mothers birthday. We had a good day yesterday, Blair said. We had fun. 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. ROME, MAR 19 - Italy's COVID-19 Rt reproduction number was steady at 1.16 in the latest weekly coronavirus monitoring report of the health ministry and the Higher Health Institute (ISS), the same as in last week's report, sources said on Friday ahead of the report's release. An Rt number over 1 indicates that the epidemic is expanding. The average nationwide Rt had been on an upward trend for many weeks, with infection rising with the spread of more contagious variants of COVID-19, above all the British one. The latest monitoring report said that pressure on the health service has increased sharply. It said that proportion of intensive-care beds occupied by COVID-19 patients rose to 36% in the period from March 12 to 18, up from 31% the previous week and well above the critical threshold of 30%. It said 13 of Italy's regions/autonomous provinces were above the 30% mark, up from 11 in the last report. Furthermore, the incidence of cases in a week has risen to 264 for every 100,000 inhabitants from 225.64 the previous week. As a result, the report said to impose the "maximum level of mitigation" in terms of restrictions aimed at prevention contagion. The government has tightened restrictions, with about half of the country currently classed as a high-contagion risk red zone and in lockdown. Tuscany looks likely to be classed as red next week given its latest contagion data. Calabria and Val d'Aosta risk being bumped up to red too. (ANSA). An Illinois firefighter returned to the scene of an emergency and discovered a dangerous work of art, officials say. The Fairview-Caseyville Township Fire Protection District firefighters found downed power lines in a wooded area early Thursday morning. They noticed arcing when an electrical current jumps gaps between conductors and alerted Ameren Illinois, officials say. When the power company determined the area was safe, the firefighters left the scene. A deputy chief in training went back during daylight to assess the damage, officials say. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. He discovered a solid mass of glass. This piece of jagged glass should be proof enough why you should always avoid downed power lines, Fairview-Caseyville Township Fire Protection District posted on Facebook. The amount of energy (heat) exerted from the high voltage line melted the sand in the soil to create this dangerous work of art. The fire protection district warned residents to avoid power lines even if they believe them to be dead. It turned sand into glass! officials said Imagine what it could do to you! Teacher convicted of pouring liquid nitrogen on students groin, Illinois officials say Tennessee is a destination state for many in America according to domestic migration patterns. In fact, as reported by U-Haul, Tennessee is now the number one state to which Americans are moving. Its no surprise that Tennessee boasts awesome cities and small towns, along with magnificent countryside. Our citizens are friendly and charming. We have mountains on our east and the Mississippi River on our west. The center of our state is exploding with growth. Tennessee is a destination state, and our best days certainly lie ahead. Being a mobile nation is both good and bad. Many motivations cause people to relocate, including the cost of living, quality of life, excessive taxes, and poor governance. For example, California has the highest national poverty rate and is home to nearly half of the homeless population in the United States. Both California and New York have population losses that will likely decrease their representation in US Congress. A 2018 Wall Street Journal editorial, So Long, California. Sayonara, New York, expects, In the years to come, millions of people, thousands of businesses, and tens of billions of dollars of net income will flee high-tax blue states for low-tax red states. California is experiencing its first-ever population decline. It is inevitable that when citizens move into a state, they bring their worldview and politics with them, and subsequently want to turn the state they are moving to much like the one they just left. What is concerning in some states is that this creates polar ideologies in an increasingly divisive and partisan nation. In an ever-polarizing political environment, we witness an overabundance of ineptitude when your chosen political party is not in power. However, we know partisanship should always take a back seat to doing whats right. Education would be a natural issue that should unite well-meaning people on all sides of a political divide. Viable public education is critical for a strong economy. Better schools also are associated with higher property values. Thomas Jefferson said that a well-educated electorate is necessary for democracy. When educated and intelligent citizens make informed decisions about what they want from their government and society, the outcome is far more likely to be positive. Similarly, if a good education system is in place for the next generation of children, the likelihood of societal stability is greatly increased. Education is a wise investment. Likewise, educators are on the frontline of those efforts. Educators are the ones who must enact education policies. Columbia political scientist Robert Shapiro's research finds that Democrats and Republicans opinions on a wide range of education-policy issues have been converging. Shapiro states survey after survey indicates that Americans from across the political spectrum believe that improving schools should be a national priority. I would add that it is a state responsibility and along with local influence to create quality public schools. It also means we must hold politicians accountable to make sure that schools work for kids, and that we push issues that are important for educators and public education. The single biggest factor in the success of students is the teacher. Educator input is crucial for the continued success of our students. Local districts need to have the freedom to meet the needs of their communities without control by the state or federal education departments. Teachers, administrators, parents, and students should work together to create a positive environment that promotes learning. Each group must interact with that responsibility, and respect for others. That is not a partisan issue. It is something that all citizens, including those new to Tennessee, can embrace. We can make Tennessee the number one state in the nation for many issues, including public education. We are already a destination state. Lets hope we can find common ground in education. JC Bowman Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha, the first Hyatt Regency brand in Qatar, marked International Womens Day to revel, encourage and support women in the workplace. International Womens Day is celebrated every year on 8th of March where the world joins hands together to support, raise, inspire and motivate women across all fields of work. To celebrate this day, Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha, invited Amal Ameen, Founder & CEO, Triple Trend Design House to be the keynote speaker and share her success story as well as encourage Qatari women discover their innate potential and step into the distinguished world of entrepreneurship. Speaking on the occasion, Amal Ameen, said: In my opinion, women in Qatar have made great achievements and women have always been as strong, respectful and important part of the society. The governments endeavour to provide access to quality education, has played an important role in womens empowerment in Qatar. Empowered through education, talented women can develop the necessary skill-sets to transform into inspiring young women and future leaders. In the last decade, Qatari women have made great strides in all sectors and I am convinced that we will see more women become successful entrepreneurs in the near future. Julien Gonzalvez, General Manager of Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha, said: At Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha, we acknowledge womens important contribution and participation in our business and the role they play in the society and the economy. We support fairness, diversity, equity and inclusion. We take pride in supporting and inspiring women to become future leaders in their respective fields and will continue to support our women employees in realising their true potential. TradeArabia News Service The 24-year-old woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by Armie Hammer allegedly denied to a friend that the actor had raped her and admitted their encounter was 'consensual', two months before she went public with her allegations, DailyMail.com can reveal. A woman, identified only as 'Effie', publicly spoke out against the Hollywood star for the first time on Thursday in a press conference with women's rights attorney Gloria Allred. Effie, who says she met the actor on Facebook in 2016, became emotional as she described how he allegedly raped her violently during a terrifying four-hour ordeal in Los Angeles in April 2017. It marks the latest on-the-record allegation of sexual abuse against Hammer who has been previously accused by other women of cannibalistic fetishism. Hammer's attorney Andrew Brettler vehemently denied the accusations saying the pair's interactions had been 'completely consensual' - which he says is made evident in Effie's own text conversations with the actor. A screenshot shared exclusively with DailyMail.com also appears to show Effie had allegedly confirmed to one of her Instagram followers earlier this year that she does not accuse Hammer of rape. On Thursday, a woman identified as 'Effie' claimed Armie Hammer violently raped her in Los Angeles on April 24, 2017. The pair are pictured together in a photograph taken sometime prior to the alleged incident Effie is believed to be behind Instagram account 'House of Effie', which in January began sharing disturbing sexual messages that Hammer allegedly sent to his exes. In a screenshot obtained by DailyMail.com above, Effie tells one of her followers that she does not need 'legal rep' because she's not accusing ['Hammer'] of rape Effie is believed to be behind Instagram account 'House of Effie' which in January began leaking disturbing sexual messages the actor allegedly sent to several of his exes. A screenshot of a DM (direct message) to Effie shows a follower reached out to her around that time asking if she had 'legal representation'. 'Effie', who does not refer to Hammer by name in the screen grab, replied: 'Thank you. I'm not saying he raped me, no need for legal rep.' The user then responded: 'Oh good. Thanks for sharing that. I'm relieved to hear it. He's just a total a*****e and a liar right? still ugly behavior. F***ing men...' 'Effie' then insists once again: 'I didn't say anywhere it was not consensual so not sure why so many messages about it.' Allred on Thursday would not confirm whether her client, who lives at an undisclosed location in Europe, was behind the House Of Effie account. If so, the newly unearthed message exchange could potentially undermine her allegations against the 'Social Network' star. Effie during the press conference alleged that Hammer, who was married at the time, 'repeatedly slammed her head against a wall' during the 2017 incident, leaving her with bruises to her face. 'During those four hours, I tried to get away but he wouldn't let me. I thought that he was going to kill me,' she sobbed. She also claimed he whipped her feet with a crop - an act that left her in pain for a week. 'He left with no concern for my well-being. During and since this attack, I have lived in fear of him,' she stated. Speaking at a press conference, Effie claimed that Hammer 'repeatedly slammed her head against a wall' during the incident, leaving her with bruises to her face Allred confirmed that her client handed over evidence to investigators, but said no charges have been filed. In a statement on Thursday afternoon, the LAPD told DailyMail.com: 'We can confirm that Armie Hammer is the main suspect in an alleged sexual assault investigation that was initiated on February 3.' Effie says she first came into contact with the Hollywood actor on social media back in 2016, when she was just 20 years old. The pair purportedly commenced a romantic relationship, despite the fact Hammer was married to Elizabeth Chambers at the time. In a bid to discredit Effie's claims, Hammer's lawyer shared screenshots of explicit messages the accuser sent to the actor last year - three years after the purported rape. In a statement to DailyMail.com, Brettler said that Effie had sent Hammer 'sexual texts as recently as July 18, 2020'. 'Helplessly horny and I just need to tell you cuz it's been sooo long since last time,' one of the texts read. Hammer responded: 'I am not going to be able to engage in you in that specific way right now. It never ends well. We can talk and be friends but I can't do that.' Hammer's lawyer released a screenshot of a conversation he said between Effie and the actor. The screenshot was released from Hammer's team after Effie's press conference Hammer (pictured in 2020) has been accused of 'violently raping' Effie Full statement from Armie Hammer's accuser I met Armie Hammer on Facebook in 2016 when I was 20 years old. I fell in love with him instantly. The relationship progressed rapidly and the emotions from both sides became really intense. Looking back, it is now clear to me he was employing manipulation tactics in order to exert control over me, until I started to lose myself. He would often test my devotion to him, slyly removing and crossing my boundaries, as he became increasingly more violent. He abused me mentally, emotionally, and sexually. On April 24th, 2017, Armie Hammer violently raped me for over four hours in Los Angeles, during which he repeatedly slammed my head against a wall, bruising my face. He also committed other acts of violence against me to which I did not consent. For example, he beat my feet with a crop so they would hurt with every step I took for the next week. During those four hours, I tried to get away but he wouldn't let me. I thought that he was going to kill me. He then left with no concern for my well-being. I was completely in shock and couldn't believe someone I loved did that to me. I tried so hard to justify his actions, even to the point of responding to him in a way that did not reflect my true feelings. During and since this attack, I have lived in fear of him and for a long time I tried to dismiss his actions towards me as a twisted form of love. Now that he no longer has any power over me, I have come to understand that the immense mental hold he held over me was incredibly damaging on many levels. Advertisement Full statement from Hammer's lawyer Effie's own correspondence with Mr. Hammer undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations. As recently as July 18, 2020, Effie sent graphic texts to Mr. Hammer telling him what she wanted him to do to her. Mr. Hammer responded making it clear that he did not want to maintain that type of relationship with her. The screenshot below is just one of hundreds Effie sent to Mr. Hammer. 'It was never Mr. Hammer's intention to embarrass or expose Effie's fetishes or kinky sexual desires, but she has now escalated this matter to another level by hiring a civil lawyer to host a public press conference. With the truth on his side, Mr. Hammer welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight. 'From day one, Mr. Hammer has maintained that all of his interactions with Effie and every other sexual partner of his for that matter have been completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory. Effie's attention seeking and ill-advised legal bid will only make it more difficult for real victims of sexual violence to get the justice they deserve.' - Andrew Brettler, attorney for Armie Hammer Advertisement Brettler added: 'It was never Mr. Hammer's intention to embarrass or expose [Effie's]'s fetishes or kinky sexual desires, but she has now escalated this matter to another level by hiring a civil lawyer to host a public press conference. 'With the truth on his side, Mr. Hammer welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight.' On January 11, Hammer began trending on Twitter after HouseOfEffie shared the alleged screenshots between the actor and his exes dating back to 2016. They purported to expose his sick fantasies. In one text, Hammer allegedly wrote that he 'wanted to cut off' his girlfriend's toe and 'keep it in his pocket' In another he allegedly wrote: 'I am a 100% cannibal. I want to eat you.' Brettler issued a statement about the allegations at the time, saying that all sexual experiences were 'consensual.' In the wake of the texts, Hammer was subsequently dropped by his talent agency WME and his personal publicist, and was also fired from two high profile films - Shotgun Wedding and The Offer. The actor reportedly complained that he was being 'kink shamed'. Hammer separated from his wife of 10 years, Elizabeth Chambers, in June last year - six months before the HouseOfEffie account started sharing his kinky messages. In the wake of that scandal, Chambers said on social media: 'I am shocked, heartbroken, and devastated.' She also offered her support to any victims of 'assault or abuse', and added: 'I didn't realize how much I didn't know.' Hammer and Chambers share two children - Harper, six, and Ford, four. Meanwhile, one of Hammer's exes, Paige Lorenze, 22, spoke with DailyMailTV last month after her 'deeply traumatic' relationship with the movie star, describing how it left her emotionally and physically scarred. The couple briefly dated last year. Hammer began trending on Twitter after HouseOfEffie shared the alleged screenshots between the actor and his exes dating back to 2016. In one DM (above) Hammer allegedly wrote that he 'wanted to cut off' his girlfriend's toe and 'keep it in his pocket' Hammer separated from his wife of 10 years, Elizabeth Chambers, in June last year - six months before the HouseOfEffie account started sharing messages The Instagram model provided DailyMailTV with an exclusive image of a sickening scar just millimeters away from her private parts that was left when Hammer allegedly carved his first initial 'A' into her skin during a kinky sex game. She also claimed that Hammer used mannequins, which he stored in the basement of the $5.8 million home he shared with his estranged wife in Los Angeles, to practice tying up women. Lorenze claimed that Hammer talked about wanting to strangle his dog, a Welsh Terrier named Archie. 'He would get angry at his dog and say like: 'I'm going to kill this dog, I would have strangled him if you weren't here,'' she said, noting that she does not believe he ever hurt the animal. Lorenze is pictured with Hammer in a photograph taken last year Armie Hammer's 'HouseOfEffie' Scandal: A Timeline July, 2020: Hammer's wife of 10 years, Elizabeth Chambers, files for divorce. The couple share two children. January 11, 2021: Hammer starts trending on social media after an account named 'HouseOfEffie' starts sharing graphic messages allegedly sent by the actor to various women. The texts were sent between 2016 and 2020 - while Hammer was married. In one message, Hammer allegedly described himself as '100% a cannibal' and tells a woman 'I want to eat you'. January 13, 2021: Hammer drops out of filming the romantic comedy Shotgun Wedding. He was set to star in the film opposite Jennifer Lopez. Josh Duhamel is announced as his replacement. January 13, 2021: Hammer breaks his silence followed intense interest in the 'HouseOfEffie' account. He states: 'I'm not responding to these bullst 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. Lionsgate is supporting me in this and I'm grateful to them for that.' January 14, 2021: A friend of Hammer's estranged wife, Elizabeth Chambers, speaks to DailyMail.com, saying her pal is blindsided by allegations he was unfaithful and engaged in violent sex. 'Armie had a whole other side to him that she wasn't aware of. Whether it was always there and he kept it hidden, or something happened that changed him completely, she doesn't know.' January 15, 2021: A secret social media account belonging to Hammer is unearthed. It includes a video of a woman he claims is 'Miss Cayman' sitting on a bed in lingerie. Hammer later denies that the woman is a beauty pageant contestant. 'I am genuinely sorry for any confusion my foolish attempt at humor may have caused. My deep sympathies to Miss Cayman, who I don't know, and to the entire organization, as I had no intentions of implying she was actually Miss Cayman,' Hammer states. January 29, 2021: Hammer drops out of the Paramount Plus drama series, The Offer. February 3, 2021: LAPD opens a sexual assault investigation into Armie Hammer. The police department does not publicly announce the probe until March 18. February 6, 2021: Hammer is dropped by William Morris Endeavor agency as well as his personal publicist. March 10, 2021: A friend tells Vanity Fair that Hammer's wife Chambers filed for divorce after learning of his infidelity partway through last year. The magazine quotes the friend as saying Hammer 'mistakenly sent a raunchy text message meant for someone else to his estranged spouse. Elizabeth filed for divorce shortly after'. March 16, 2021: Hammer is spotted out with a mystery blonde in the Cayman Islands. Advertisement Lorenze said Hammer often tied her up, hit her with paddles and planned out 'high protocol nights' of painful sexual moves, which often left her covered in bruises. She said her lover - 12 years her senior - was 'sweet and kind' but 'manipulative'. 'I think he definitely loved it that I was younger. He always had me wear lingerie and tied me up,' she said. 'I just kind of agreed to it and let it happen, I was just trying to please him. 'He would say things like: 'I want to bite a piece of your skin off and eat it,' he would bite me so hard. Sometimes it would basically break skin.' A lawyer for Hammer has categorically denied the allegations against him, calling them 'patently untrue'. 'Any interactions with this person, or any partner of his, were completely consensual in that they were fully discussed, agreed upon, and mutually participatory,' Hammer's attorney said in a statement to DailyMail.com. India needs to return to a very liberal regime as it can push growth into double-digit range, former Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman said. With a low corporate profit tax rate, labour law reforms, GST, and bankruptcy law, a massive privatization programme on the anvil, and measures to de-stress the financial sector under way, the country is poised to take on to global markets in a major way, he said. "But this requires one additional key ingredient: a more liberal regime, he said while addressing the 36th Commencement Day Annual Lecture organised by Exim Bank of India (Exim Bank). He was speaking on the topic - India's Policy- past, present and future. Panagariya, who is currently a Professor of Economics at Columbia University, said a more liberal trade regime carries the promise of pushing this growth rate into double-digit range. He said one avenue for liberalising trade is by lowering tariffs against all trading partners, which the country successfully deployed from 1991-92 to 2007-08. The second approach can be by entering into free trade agreements with major trading partners, he said. "A good starting point for this would be the United Kingdom and European Union. These are large markets and their agricultural sectors pose no threat to the livelihood of India's farmers, he said. Panagariya said, at present, 42.5 per cent of the country's workforce is employed in agriculture, and for rapid transformation, nearly half of this workforce must move to industry and services in the next ten to fifteen years. This in turn requires the creation of a large number of jobs in industry and services at the lower-end of the skill spectrum that pay attractive wages, he said. According to him, the only way to accomplish this is by creating an environment in which successful export-oriented firms can emerge and flourish in labour-intensive sectors such as apparel, footwear, furniture, toys, kitchenware and stationery among others. Success in export markets requires first and foremost an open trade regime, he said adding that rather than raising tariffs, the country must lower them. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Panaji, March 19 : Drawing a parallel between the Pandavas in the Mahabharata and brand building as an exercise in statecraft, Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday said that the Pandavas spent their lifetime in building a brand, which enabled them to be perceived as ethical characters despite orchestrating some deviant strategies to win the epic war. Speaking at a virtual discussion related to his new book 'The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World' organised by the International Centre, Goa, Jaishankar also said that delivering Covid-19 vaccines to other needy countries, was an act of a good and smart foreign policy on part of India. "A lot of traditions and accounts of politics, focus a lot on outcomes and basically how to kind of play around with the roles, play short cuts, deceive and there is a premium put on deception. You know you are smart, because you fool the others," Jaishankar said. "Now my point is, that works up to a point. You become a serial deviator from the norms and rules. At some stage people are going to figure it out. The point I make about the Pandavas is... look, they spent their whole life building (a) brand. At the end of the day, finally it is not that they do not do bad things, or did not do things which were not ethically or conventionally or morally correct," Jaishankar said. The External Affairs minister said that many characters in the Sage Vyas' epic like Dronacharya, Bhishma, Karna and Duryodhana were killed by the Pandavas using devious means, but because of the Pandavas' overall track-record of being ethical and just, such deviations were overlooked through history. "Dronacharya was killed when he had put down his weapons, Bhishma was killed by putting a woman upfront, knowing that he would not shoot back. Karna was killed while digging out a chariot wheel from the ground... Finally, Duryodhan was killed by being hit below the belt," Jaishankar said. "At the end of the day, because their record was good, they were seen as the more ethical party. The deviations... well it's ok, sometimes you know people do these things, whereas if you make that a practice, you do not get that latitude. The world will not give you the same degree of understanding. That is why I said, being morally good, ethically good, definitely has its own value, but it also is a smarter way of doing politics," the Foreign Minister said. Commenting on India's foreign policy initiative of providing Covid-19 vaccines to other countries, Jaishankar said: "I think for a country like ours, to say, 'I am vaccinating our people, but I will help others who may not have access to vaccines'... I think it is good, it is also smart". The AstraZeneca vaccine is safe to use. Photo: Reuters/Dado Ruvic The stop-start nature of the EUs vaccination programme has caused a crisis of confidence at a time when all efforts need to be consolidated. With that in mind, confirmation that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective must now be seized upon to reset and get the stalled vaccine train back on track. The suspension of the use of the medicine by 13 EU countries, including our own, was understandable considering the worries involved. Legitimate fears needed to be addressed and put to rest. As French immunologist Alain Fischer explained: Its not lost time. All the while, leaders around the world are looking quizzically at the EUs less-than-assured response to date. Rather than holding drug-makers feet to the fire over inexplicable and unacceptable delays in supply, they pointed the finger elsewhere, straining diplomatic relationships in the process. The latest threats to seize doses destined for export, if necessary, is not the ideal way to confront a virus that must be met with a concerted global approach. They have exposed themselves to claims which suggest the reason the EU Commission has been so quick to lash out is simply to deflect blame from its own failings. It cant be denied that Oxford-AstraZenecas performance on many levels has been indefensible and has rightly drawn fire. But Brussels has not exactly covered itself in glory, either. The blocs tally of average doses administered per 100 people stands at 11.8, well behind the US and the UK, at 34.1 and 40.5 respectively. We know the vaccine is a potent weapon in the pandemic battle but only if people are vaccinated. With so many lives and livelihoods still on the line, surely this is not a time for turning on each other. We have seen a spread in growth of the virus over the last three weeks in Europe. To date, the Commission has under-delivered and under-performed. Its response to what it has termed the crisis of the century needs to change dramatically. Taoiseach Micheal Martin is right to call for a toning down of the heavy rhetoric. If the bloc was too slow to approve some drugs, and too inept in doing deals on others, much of this is fixable. The supply outlook, we are told, is brighter. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen believes the next three months will be transformative. Pfizer/BioNTech is to deliver 200 million doses, while Moderna will supply 35 million more. Unfortunately, AstraZeneca, which had promised 180 million, can only deliver 70 million. However, on the plus side, Johnson & Johnson will supply 55 million of its single-dose jabs. Nonetheless, Ms Von der Leyen feels the EU can hit its key target of vaccinating 70pc of the population by the summers end. Failure here is not an option. Its time for the worlds biggest single market to show it can lead itself, and not just play catch-up. As Mark Carney chats away about his book on a Zoom call, Hope, an 80 ft blue whale, hovers above him. Or rather her skeleton, on display in London's Natural History Museum, looms over his head as he prepares to give the institution's annual science lecture that evening. 'They promised me I could do it underneath the whale,' he says. Massive opportunity: Mark Carney believes capitalism can actually thrive if we build a post-pandemic economy that benefits everyone It's an appropriate backdrop for the former Bank of England governor's book, Value(s): Building a Better World for All. The 500-page door-stopper, penned during lockdown, explores how financial value interweaves and conflicts with social and moral values, as well as actually altering them. Looking at the financial crisis, the pandemic and the state of the planet, he deduces that we have prioritised financial value to a dangerous extent and that we urgently need to change tack. For Carney, the story of Hope whose skeleton was sold to the museum for 250 after she beached herself off the east coast of Ireland in 1891 unleashes a volley of thoughts. 'Is the value of a blue whale what her constituent parts fetch on the market? How can we assess what whales provide for our planet? 'Can we even begin to price the awe that they inspire and our obligation to preserve them for those who will come after?' In short, how do we value Hope and hope? 'The risk is that too often today market value is taken to represent total value and if a good or activity is not in the market, it is not valued,' he says. In other words, we are shifting from being a market economy, to a market society. Since leaving his job as governor of the Bank a year ago, Carney has become the United Nations special envoy for climate action and finance. He is Boris Johnson's finance adviser for the UK's presidency of the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow later this year. On top of that, he has a job at Brookfield Asset Management, a leading investor in climate friendly businesses, and is on the board of digital payments firm Stripe. He has made good use of lockdown by writing his book. 'I had almost 13 years of being a central bank governor, first in Canada and then in the UK, so I could never really get that much of an opportunity to sit back and reflect. 'I didn't realise how good an opportunity lockdown was going to be to rope myself off and write. I didn't watch Joe Wicks or anything, I wrote the book.' Symbolic: Hope, the whale, on display at the Natural History Museum where Mark Carney was promoting his new book. Value(s): Building a Better World for All Carney, 56, took the top job at the Bank in 2013 after being wooed by then chancellor George Osborne, and oversaw the rebuilding of the system after the financial crisis and the run-up to Brexit. His tenure, despite the occasional barb from politicians, was widely seen as a success. So does he miss being governor? Are there times he wants to be back in Threadneedle Street? 'I... I... I... I... er, no. It was a real honour to have that role, a privilege. There were challenges, no question, but I enjoyed it. But there is a time for everything.' He handed over to Andrew Bailey at ten to midnight on the Sunday of his last day. 'There was no wind-down, it was literally the eleventh hour,' he says. His book is a response to a question posed by Pope Francis a few years ago, when Carney and a group of others met at the Vatican to discuss the future of the market system. The Pope shared a parable over lunch about the difference between wine and grappa, pointing out that wine is multi-faceted: it has bouquet, colour, taste and enriches the senses, whereas grappa is one thing only alcohol. Humanity, he said, like wine, is many things passionate, curious, rational, altruistic, creative and selfish. But the market is one thing only: self-interest distilled. 'Your job', Pope Francis told Carney and the others, 'is to turn the grappa back into wine, to turn the market back into humanity.' That is a formidable task for anyone, but Carney does not shrink in setting out the core values needed for a strong recovery from Covid and to create sustainable prosperity after that. They include solidarity, fairness, responsibility, dynamism and resilience, along with policies that reinforce them. 'The answer is not as simple as some sort of redistribution from one pot to another,' he says drily. 'What comes through, over and over again, is that we need resilience in our economy. We need a sense of personal responsibility, particularly among those who run companies and investment funds. 'If you don't have those types of values alongside the market then eventually, things go wrong and you get a bigger shock.' In the spirit of looking at wider conceptions of value, observations about art are threaded through the book. He recounts an episode where the sculptor Sir Anthony Gormley conceived of creating a work to embody the journey of gold, as it is dug up from under the earth in the South African Transvaal or the Canadian Arctic and taken to the cellars of the Bank of England. The Pope compared humanity to wine but the market to the spirit Grappa as it is one thing only: self-interest distilled Gormley's idea was to make a solitary clay human figure on top of a carpet of the precious metal, in the Bank's vaults. The artist was relaxed about the fact that, for security reasons, it was unlikely to be seen by many people. To him, the value was in the creation, not the display. For all we know, the sculpture might be there now, hidden below Threadneedle Street in all its secret glory. 'Without question, artists can teach us many things about values and value. There are elements of art which are very commercial and some which are timeless and can't be appropriated,' Carney says. The devastation wreaked by the pandemic, has, he suggests, made us more conscious of other risks, including those of climate change. 'I think the fact there has been one disaster has made people more conscious there could be another. If there are things we can do today, we should do them. It is to the great credit of the scientists that we have progress on the vaccines for Covid, but we are not going to get vaccines for climate.' How, though, do we combat the tendency to procrastinate, and to kick the can down the road? 'We have left it very late. The next decade is going to be crucial,' he says. On a more hopeful note, he believes climate change may be a positive example of how social values and market values can work in tandem. As society puts more weight on dealing with environmental threats, then 'it becomes profitable and valuable in the market to be part of the solution'. He does not espouse the hair-shirted view that the way to climate salvation is simply to turn our backs on capitalism and consume much less. 'I think there is a massive opportunity for the UK. If you are part of the solution you're creating a ton of financial value. You will make a lot of money and that is a good thing.' The UK, he says, can be 'the hub of global expertise in sustainable finance. 'It is a real strength. There are lots of areas where the UK has an edge.' He also believes fintech has the potential to help create 'an economy that works for all'. That befits his role at digital payments firm Stripe, one of the latest crop of stellar tech ventures in the US. It was founded by siblings John and Patrick Collison, who hail from a tiny village in Tipperary and are now worth around 8.3billion each, based on the latest valuation. 'I went on the board because they are a hugely impressive company and hugely impressive individuals, the two brothers,' he says. Governments, he suggests, could allow small firms to use new digital platforms to sell across borders with a minimum of tax and regulatory burdens. 'The fintech revolution of which Stripe is a part is going to lower the cost of cross-border trade in future,' he says. The pandemic, he says, risks creating even less equal societies. It 'has shone a light on existing inequalities and has made them worse virtually without exception. We are all in the same storm but not in the same boats. 'So the question is, how can we relaunch in a way that starts to bridge these gaps? 'The challenge is that we have these values but we need to grow the economy alongside. So how do you balance dynamism with what I call solidarity?' Carney's book is not an easy read, but it's a stimulating one. He does not have all the answers, though he raises many of the right questions. More than that, the way he shares a screen with Hope the whale is symbolic, as he is offering hope that we can build a post-pandemic economy based on solid values. 'We have been through this difficult period of Covid, and I think by and large what people have shown is that, backs against the wall, the underlying values of solidarity, responsibility and fairness have come through,' he says. So maybe, just maybe, if we can cleave to those values, we can turn the grappa back into wine. Value(s): Building a Better World for All by Mark Carney is out now (William Collins, 30) ANKARA (Reuters) - Three migrants were found dead in waters off Turkey's Aegean coastal town of Cesme while three others were rescued, and a search was continuing for one more person, the Turkish coast guard said on Friday. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu accused Greek coast guard units of beating up seven migrants and leaving them at sea without a lifeboat or dinghy off the Greek island of Chios, which is less than 5 miles (8 km) from Turkey's coast. The Greek coast guard said it was aware of a search and rescue operation in Turkish waters by Turkish authorities but denied any involvement, and said the Turkish accusations were insulting. "We don't treat migrants or people in danger that way," Greek coast guard spokesman Nikolaos Kokkalas told Reuters. In a tweet, Soylu said the Greek coast guard "battered 7 migrants tonight, took their belongings, tied their hands with plastic handcuffs, and threw them into the sea without lifejackets and boats." Soylu said they had been left to die. He also published a video which he said showed the rescue operation, with Turkish teams picking up three people from the sea, and subsequent treatment of those rescued. One of those, identifying himself as Ahmed, said the seven people had left Cesme three days ago for Chios. He said they had been on the Greek island for two days before they were beaten, their possessions seized and they were left at sea. Turkey has repeatedly accused Greek border authorities of violating human rights by abusing and harassing migrant boats in the Aegean, charges that Athens has denied. Hundreds of thousands of Middle East migrants and refugees used Greece as their entry point to Europe through Turkey in 2015 and 2016, until a deal between Ankara and the European Union reduced the flow across the Greek and Turkish land and sea borders. Turkey hosts more than three million refugees and migrants, many from neighbouring Syria, while tens of thousands are waiting in Greece for asylum applications to be processed, mostly in camps where conditions have been described as dire. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay in Ankara with additional reporting by Eleftherios Papadimas in Athens; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Mark Heinrich) Wyoming is the most beautiful, wonderful place in the country. Im honored to be from here, and even more honored to be a voice for the greatest state in the United States Senate. Im also humbled to be the first woman to serve as U.S. Senator for the Equality State. However, this position isnt about me. Its about you. I tell my staff that I want us to be All Wyoming, all the time. While I have the privilege of serving as your Senator I am committed to making sure that we do everything we can to make your voices heard in Washington. Being a U.S. Senator isnt just about ca... The (SII) has said it will try to supply more doses of the vaccine to the UK later based on the requirements in India. This comes despite a controversy surrounding supplies of the vaccines. A company spokesperson said, Five million doses had been delivered a few weeks ago to the UK and we will try to supply more later, based on the current situation and requirement for the government immunisation programme in India. A London-based daily had quoted SII Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla saying exports to the UK would resume once the company had green light (from the Indian government) to do so. Senior officials in New Delhi confirmed that there was no ban on exports from India, and no plans to do so either. Agencies had reported that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that a delay in the supply of Covid vaccine from the SII in India to Britain was due to technical issues and not because of any intervention by India. SII is prioritising the needs for India as the national immunisation programme here is gaining momentum. The firm has recently got orders to deliver 100 million doses to the Government of India. A source clarified that the 10 million doses that SII is supplying to the UK is to assist the country in its vaccination drive. Of this, 5 million have already been exported, and the remaining would go later depending on the domestic requirements. Recently, Poonawalla had said in a tweet: Dear countries and governments, as you await #COVISHIELD supplies, I humbly request you to please be patient, @SerumInstIndia has been directed to prioritise the huge needs of India and along with that balance the needs of the rest of the world. We are trying our best. Nearly a dozen children are spending spring break honing their acting skills at Port Arthur Little Theaters acting camp. The acting intensive focuses on oratory skills, particularly in delivering monologues, with the added challenge that campers write their own pieces, which will be performed Saturday afternoon at the theater. Board member Rhiannon Pletcher, 25, got her theater start at the Port Arthur venue when she was 10. She caught the theater bug, and it has been her life since. She is still involved, having returned to the area after graduating with a major in technical theater from Sam Houston State University three years ago. More Information Live on stage What: Performances by the Port Arthur Little Theater's spring break camp for youth. When: Elementary performance 2:30 p.m., middle school at 3 p.m., high school at 3:30 p.m. Saturday Where: 4701 Jimmy Johnson Blvd., Port Arthur, TX Cost: Donations to the theater group accepted. More information: (409) 727-7258 or palt.org See More Collapse Pletcher is a teacher and technical director for the theater program at Port Arthur Memorial High School and active in the community theater, where she directs at least one show per season. With the Heritage Fest canceled this year due to COVID-19, the Little Theater was looking for a way to replace the income lost from its festival food booth and chose to hold a camp for kids during spring break. The group traditionally hosts theater camps targeted toward children, and most shows include roles for young cast members. We try to keep kids involved in the arts, because theyre the future, Pletcher said. With arts programs so swiftly being cut in schools, were trying to keep that outlet available through community theater. Pletcher is happy to be promoting the arts in her hometown and helping to get the new era of the arts started here. I always wanted to come back to get my feet under me, she said. But she also knows that, eventually, she will likely move on to a larger market. With a technical theater degree, theres only so much you can do in a small town, she said. And small town doesnt necessarily equal lack of opportunity. Others have gone on to make a name for themselves in the arts. People want to dog on small town life, but a lot of big names come out of small towns, she said. I tell my kids at school, you have to shoot big. Those involved in the Port Arthur Little Theater are literally walking in big footsteps. Janis Joplin was on stage here, Pletcher said. At least a few of this weeks campers are starting from scratch, having never been part of a performance. Community theater offers the opportunity to at least dip a toe into the theater world. Mykah King, 11, has been in theater performances for more than three years. She was among those gathered onstage Wednesday afternoon. She was a member of the Christmas show last year and likes musicals the best, but one of the best parts of theater is, she says, I like the friends I make. Theaters like one big family, agreed Logan Eymard, 14, a helper for younger campers. He got his theater start at the age of 8 after his family moved to the area from Louisiana. I was feeling really isolated, because it was the first time being away from my whole family, he recalls. Joining the theater gave me a new family to help me through stuff. Logan has been in 13 shows, several times in the lead as Peter Pan typecasting, he jokes but a role as Friar Tuck in the theaters performance of Sherwood is among his favorites. Theater as a means of dealing with personal issues isnt unique to those making their way to the stage. Madison Goudeaux, 16, started at the Little Theater when she was 8. She recalls her mother bringing her to a summer theater camp because I was really shy. I didnt talk, like barely at all, she said. I ended up falling in love with it. Madison has done at least 10 shows, the favorite of which was a role as Little Inez in Hairspray. I got to dance, and that is my favorite, so getting that role was a win-win for me, she said. The Kelly High student says the experience has helped her overcome her shyness and explore her creative side in areas like the school yearbook. Now, as vice president of the theaters Junior Board of Directors, shes helping the next generation move into theater, and encouraging others whose drive to avoid the limelight at all cost may hold them back from natural gifts. Its one big circle, and Im helping younger kids now and I see kids that remind me of myself, she said. Its not as scary as you think. Theater offers a chance to try out a new role. You get to be somebody else under the spotlight. It has other benefits, too. I deal with a lot of mental issues, Eymard said. And being able to be someone else even for a couple of hours helps. Logan added that stepping into another character not only takes you out of your own experience, It can also put you into the problems of another person. Like, I played a character who had it pretty bad off, and it makes you appreciate what you do have versus what you dont. Whether they lead to a life on stage or off, the benefits of the experience will follow, Madison and Logan believe. These two may be headed toward careers in journalism and neuroscience, respectively. Their time amid a theater family, has inspired the confidence to create their own characters ultimately acting large upon their own stage. kbrent@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/kimbpix Number of people violating latest COVID-19 guidelines laid down by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is on the rise. IndiGo handed over one passenger from Delhi-Hyderabad flight and another one from Nagpur-Goa flight to airport police since they refused to wear face masks despite repeated reminders from the crew. The airline handed over the two passengers to airport police and has filed a police complaint against them. This is not the first time IndiGo has faced such a situation. Earlier this month, IndiGo had to cancel the take-off of a Delhi-Pune flight after a passenger said he was COVID-19 positive. The IndiGo flight 6E-286 was preparing for lift-off on March 4, 2021, when the passenger told the cabin crew he was positive for coronavirus and showed documents to prove the same. Following this, the pilot decided to return back to the parking bay. Also read: Pilot cancels take-off after IndiGo passenger says he's COVID positive Airlines like AirAsia and Alliance Air have also taken action against passengers for not complying with COVID-19 safety protocols. AirAsia offloaded two middle seat passengers for refusing to wear PPE kits from a Goa-Mumbai flight earlier this week. AirAsia's official release on the matter read, "Despite repeated requests, on observation that two guests refused to comply with the safety protocols laid out by the health and governing bodies, AirAsia India deplaned the guests from its Goa-Mumbai flights." Also read: 4 passengers de-boarded from flight for not following DGCA's Covid protocols Alliance Air also deboarded four passengers on its Jammu-Delhi flight since they were not wearing face masks in the proper way. These passengers were charged for being "unruly or disruptive" and handed over to the Delhi airport security agencies. Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted, "I appeal to all air passengers to strictly follow the laid down COVID-19 protocol to safeguard themselves and others around them. Precaution is always better than cure... and disrupted travel plans! Fly safe." Also read: Airlines see drop in bookings amid mandatory negative COVID-19 test in many states The Chief Minister told the agriculture minister and secretary to come up with a system to address the doubts of farmers in RBKs by interacting with scientists. (Photo: DC) VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy launched an RBK channel that provides quality services to the farming community in virtual mode in Tadepalli on Thursday. Later, he said that Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBK) were conceptualised to support farmers across activities from sowing of seeds to selling the crop. He said that the RBK channel will provide all required information to farmers, including about the weather conditions. The Chief Minister held a review meeting on procurement of Rabi crop produce of 2020-21 and preparations for Kharif 202122. He said that new buildings are being constructed in villages as permanent RBK structures. He said that farmers should not be cheated on the purchase of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides through RBKs and added that the state government has been testing products at RBKs before issuing guarantee and quality certification. He said the aim was to make available the orders of farmers in villages within 48 to 72 hours. Reddy said that agriculture assistants are working from RBKs, which will also register e-cropping. He said if any farmer has to sell his crop for less than the minimum support price in any village, he can register in RBK and the agriculture assistant of that village should inform the government by uploading the details in CMAPP. He said the marketing department would intervene and ensure the crop is sold at a fair price, failing which they should procure the crop directly. The entire process will be under the preview of the Joint Collector. He stated that as Smart TVs are being set up in RBKs, the channel would help farmers get continuous information on the precautions to be taken while farming and information on weather conditions. A toll-free number (155251) is set up to address specific problems raised by farmers at RBKs. The Chief Minister told the agriculture minister and secretary to come up with a system to address the doubts of farmers in RBKs by interacting with scientists. Agriculture minister Kurasala Kannababu, Agriculture Mission vice-chairman MVS Nagi Reddy, Agriculture special chief Secretary Poonam Malakondaiah, civil supplies Commissioner Kona Shashidhar, special secretary for marketing and cooperation Y Madhusudan Reddy, agriculture marketing commissioner MD Suryakumari and other officials were present. Prince William took on a 'protector' role while 'vulnerable' Kate Middleton appeared 'rather sad and reflective' during their visit in London yesterday, a body language expert has claimed. The Duke, 38, and Duchess of Cambridge, 39, met with paramedics and ambulance staff at Newham Ambulance Station yesterday, as reports emerged Prince William is supporting wife Kate after Meghan Markle, 39, claimed the two women had a tearful confrontation days before the royal wedding. Speaking to FEMAIL, Judi James explained the Duke showed an 'uppermost sense of desire to protect' the mother-of-three, who 'prominently displayed' Diana's engagement ring during their outing yesterday. She revealed: 'Kates facial expression in the car looked reflective and rather sad and although her upright posture and the eye-connection signals signal it is business as usual for the Cambridges, her very pronounced barrier gesture, using the small clutch bag to clasp her hands in front of her torso in a self-protective gesture, could hint at some building vulnerability.' Prince William, 38, took on a 'protector' role while 'vulnerable' Kate Middleton, 39, appeared 'rather sad and reflective' during their visit in London yesterday, a body language expert has claimed Judi explained: 'It looked hugely telling that during their last appearance, in the wake of all the claims made during the Oprah interview in the US, William should immediately move towards his wife Kate straight after telling the reporter that he had not yet spoken to his brother Harry. 'He used an extended arm steering gesture to suggest a deep desire to protect her despite the fact that she was walking at a safe distance from the press. 'That sense of a desire to protect looks uppermost here too in their most recent outing.' Judi revealed Kate appeared 'reflective' while travelling to the engagement, before displaying 'self-protective gestures' throughout the visit. Judi James claimed the Duchess of Cambridge's facial expression in the car on the way to the engagement 'looked reflective and rather sad' She explained: 'Kates hand clasp seems to be creating another signal that could be subliminal or deliberate. 'With her left hand on top of the right Dianas engagement ring, which is now her own engagement ring, is displayed prominently. 'This gesture could link with the emotional Mothers Day tributes to Diana and to the way that connections to Diana have been evoked by both Harry and William recently.' Meanwhile Judi explained Prince William adopted a protective role during the visit, adding: 'Williams body language does suggest a sense of a desire to protect his wife here. Meanwhile the body language expert said Kate created a 'barrier' with her hand clasp, which highlighted Princess Diana's engagement ring, which is now her own 'As Kate stands looking slightly isolated, William has taken the role of umbrella-carrier to ensure she stays dry. 'He seems to be using more face-checking rituals with Kate recently, gazing at her with what looked like an expression of affection and pride during their last outing. 'He has also been turning to look at her more when he refers to we during their video calls, which could signal a desire to keep checking she is okay.' The visit yesterday came amidst reports Prince William is 'very protective' of the Duchess of Cambridge, 39, following Meghan, 39, and Prince Harry's explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey last week. Judi pointed to Prince William's gestures and face-checking rituals with Kate and said the Duke looked at his wife with 'admiration and pride' During the couple's tell-all, Meghan addressed reports she made her sister-in-law cry over a disagreement regarding bridesmaid dresses ahead of the royal wedding. 'The reverse happened', the duchess told her friend Oprah, claiming she was the one who teared up. 'For Meghan to name Kate in a negative light is worse [for Prince William] than being attacked himself,' royal biographer Penny Junor told People. She added: 'William is very protective of Kate and can get very angry.' The Duchess of Sussex said she was not sharing the information to be 'disparaging', but added it was 'really important for people to understand the truth'. During the couple's tell-all (pictured), Meghan addressed reports that she made her sister-in-law cry over a disagreement regarding bridesmaid dresses ahead of the royal wedding 'It was a really hard week of the wedding, and she was upset about something,' Meghan said. 'But she owned it, and she apologised and she brought me flowers and a note apologising.' It comes as Kate is said have found it 'mortifying' that the allegations have re-emerged two years ago after first being reported in 2018, according to royal expert Katie Nicholl. Ms Nicholl noted how you 'never hear' about the Duchess of Cambridge falling out with anyone because she is 'very careful with how she treats others.' Speaking to OK! magazine, Ms Nicholl explained: 'Kate has never wanted any suggestion of a rift with Meghan to come out in the press, so for this story to be circulating is very hard.' The Duchess of Cambridge with Princess Charlotte and other bridesmaids arriving at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan in May 2018 Katie added there are 'different versions' of the story and claimed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle know the mother-of-three is 'not in a position to respond'. 'From what I hear, there are different versions of the bridesmaid story, not just the one Meghan discussed,' the royal expert told the publication. 'Kate felt it was all sorted, so to have it brought up again was mortifying. Kate is not in a position to respond and Meghan and Harry know that.' The royal expert went on to claim that Kate has been left 'saddened, disappointed and hurt' in the wake of Meghan and Prince Harry's tell-all interview with Oprah . The Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Sussex in the Royal Box on Centre Court at Wimbledon in July 2019 Meghan claimed in her interview with Oprah that she experienced more negativity towards her than the Duchess of Cambridge because of the colour of her skin. The Duchess of Sussex was also asked about a memorable joint-outing to Wimbledon in July 2019, where the pair put on a united front and were pictured laughing together. During the interview she appeared to cast doubt on the authenticity of that seemingly affable appearance, saying: 'Nothing is what it looks like'. 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 Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 75F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Overcast with rain showers at times. Low 62F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. 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. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ended a difficult week by admitting defeat on what was supposed to be an important economic reform for his government. Mr Morrison has spent the past 10 months pushing for the first broad changes to industrial relations law since 2013, when his predecessor Tony Abbott said a repeat of the Coalitions WorkChoices law was dead, buried and cremated. The bill, which set out far more modest changes than WorkChoices, was the governments attempt to show it could sit down with unions and employers and invoke the spirit of national solidarity created by the COVID-19 crisis to strike a compromise on one of the thorniest of political issues. It is not beyond Australians to put aside differences to find co-operative solutions to specific problems, especially at a time like this, Mr Morrison said last May. Yet on Thursday, facing Greens and ALP opposition and having failed to convince enough crossbench senators, Mr Morrison gutted key provisions of the bill. He pushed through only useful but fairly limited changes to the definition of casual employment. Until Tuesday, when eight people were killed in Atlanta-area spas, it had been a year since there had been a large-scale shooting in a public place. In 2018, the year that a gunman killed 17 people and injured 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., there were 10 mass shootings where four or more people were killed in a public setting. The following year, when a gunman targeting Latinos in El Paso, Texas, killed 22 people, there were nine. Those were the worst years on record, said Jillian Peterson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., and a co-founder of the Violence Project, a research center that studies gun violence. The 2022 Tucson should arrive at Hyundai of Albany sometime this spring but interested shoppers can make a reservation online today. Hyundai has recently unveiled a process where customers can make a reservation for a 2022 Tucson from dealerships like Hyundai of Albany. Though 2021 models have just finished arriving at many dealerships, Hyundai is already looking to the 2022 model year with upcoming options like the 2022 Tucson. In fact, Hyundai has recently unveiled a process where customers can make a reservation for a 2022 Tucson from dealerships like Hyundai of Albany. The reservation is handled through the Hyundai website directly. In fact, the entire reservation process can be taken care of online with just a credit card. Shoppers can start by configuring their ideal 2022 Tucson. After finalizing their configuration and entering contact information and a zip code in the Albany area, shoppers will be able to select Hyundai of Albany through a dropdown. The price of a reservation is $100, and it also entitles buyers to be a Tucson insider which includes benefits like a one-on-one video tour with a Hyundai specialist. After completing the brief reservation process, a representative from the dealer will reach out to discuss configuration availability, pricing and more. Submitting a reservation is not a vehicle order and does not guarantee availability. The 2022 Hyundai Tucson offers a new modern look with additional power upgrades and an improvement of standard features from the previous model year. Standard features include Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, rear occupant alert, forward collision avoidance with pedestrian detection, high beam assist and more. The base MSRP of the 2022 Tucson starts at just $24,950 and though 2021 models can be found in inventory at Hyundai of Albany currently, the 2022 models are expected to arrive in spring. For more information about the 2022 Tucson or other new and upcoming models, Albany-area car shoppers can visit the dealership's website at http://www.hyundaiofalbany.com. The dealership can also be reached by phone at 541-967-9105. Hyundai of Albany is located at 2425 Santiam Highway SE in Albany, OR. Amateur literary critics have been getting creative with their reviews as proven by these funny posts spotted on online book stores. Chloe Ellen from Glasgow, who boasts almost 2,000 followers on Twitter, shared a one star Amazon review for Price and Prejudice as her favourite literary criticism of all time. The amusing review of the literary classic read: 'Just a bunch of people going to each other's houses.' Racking up over 33,000 re-tweets, others quickly began contributing commentaries that have made them laugh while choosing a book to buy, including an individual who dubbed Ulysses by James Joyce, 'self-indulgent drivel'. Another accused One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish by Dr. Seuss of having a political agenda. Here, FEMAIL shares some of the best critiques... Chloe Ellen from Glasgow, has sparked a thread of hilarious ratings on online book stores - including one contributor who dubbed Ulysses by James Joyce, 'self-indulgent drivel' Leave on the shelf at bedtime! One person penned a lengthy review of children's book One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish accusing author Dr. Seuss of having a political agenda The viral thread began after Chloe posted a review of Pride and Prejudice that described the story as 'a bunch of people going to each other's houses' Don't waste your time! An Amazon shopper advised others to read a summary of Odyssey by Homer instead of reading the full book One person complained about Dante's Inferno having too many Italian names and places, despite the book having an Italian author Another individual gave children's book Cars, Trucks and Things That Go a five star rating, while gushing about it's portrayal of America Should be listed as a horror! A Twitter user contributed a newspaper review that focused on the deaths in The Wizard of Oz One person said Karl Marx would be 'very upset' that they'd had to pay for a copy of The Communist Manifesto Another Amazon review was impressed with Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition, writing a lengthy review saying it isn't a coincidence J.K Rowling fans also make a purchase Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 05:27:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SKOPJE, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The number of daily new coronavirus cases in North Macedonia exceeded 1,200 for the second consecutive day as the Ministry of Health reported on Thursday a total of 1,216 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. According to the Health Ministry, the medical staff conducted a total of 3,761 tests, of which 1,216 resulted positive to COVID-19, taking the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country to 116,438. Fifteen patients diagnosed with COVID-19 lost their lives in the last 24 hours, raising the number of fatalities in the country to 3,403. In addition, according to the Health Ministry, a total of 111 patients recovered from the infection, bringing the total number of recoveries in North Macedonia to 99,126. On Thursday, Minister of Health Venko Filipce reiterated that all vaccines are properly evaluated and certified by regulatory bodies. According to Filipce, a total of 100,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses are expected to arrive in North Macedonia between March 31 and April 15. 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, 264 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 82 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 16. Enditem The mother of a Belfast man who was subject to a police restraint operation before dying in hospital is taking legal action against the PSNI. Gerard McMahon, from the Short Strand area, died in hospital on September 8 2016. Hours earlier the 36-year-old music lover and motor mechanic had suffered a cardiac arrest as he struggled with a number of police officers in an altercation on the citys Great Victoria Street. Earlier this month Coroner Joe McCrisken criticised aspects of the police restraint operation used on the Belfast DJ but said the force used by officers was not excessive. Gerard's mother Ellen McMahon has sent pre-action correspondence to Chief Constable Simon Byrne seeking damages on behalf of the estate of her late son. Her claim is for personal injuries caused to her son by those police officers present and involved in restraining him on the day he died. O Muirigh Solicitors have been engaged by Mrs McMahon to represent her in the case. Padraig O Muirigh said: There were clear and obvious failings on the part of the police which were clearly identified by the coroner in his inquest proceedings". "It is now obvious that the PSNI failed to train those officers to an appropriate and safe standard. The said officers, call handlers, and CCTV operators also failed to recognise the symptoms of acute behavioural disturbance (ABD)," he said. "Mr McMahon should have been treated as a medical emergency and not restrained in the dangerous and unnecessary manner in which he was. It is our clients case that but for this restraint, her son may still be alive." Speaking after the inquest Mrs McMahon said she had been left heartbroken by her son's death. "To think that this could have been avoided is heartbreaking and I would like people out there to recognise that to say if you have problems and are in trouble," she said. Our only quest was for justice and accountability for Gerards death. It should never have happened. I dearly hope that police are listening to this today and listening to me, a mother that has lost a son. Lessons have to be learned or there is going to be another family left like ourselves." Expand Close Family: Ella McMahon (second left), her husband Gerard McMahon (second right), their daughter Fionnualla Boyle and her husband Kevin Boyle (right), and brother-in-law Tom Fitzsimons yesterday / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Family: Ella McMahon (second left), her husband Gerard McMahon (second right), their daughter Fionnualla Boyle and her husband Kevin Boyle (right), and brother-in-law Tom Fitzsimons yesterday Delivering inquest findings in Belfast Coroners Court, coroner Joe McCrisken said Mr McMahon had been experiencing an ABD on the night, brought on by the consumption of cocaine and alcohol. He highlighted failings in police training around the symptoms and risks associated with ABD and also expressed concern that officers did not communicate effectively as they tried to restrain Mr McMahon on the ground. Mr McCrisken also said one officers decision to deploy CS spray at close quarters during the incident was not justified. While the restraint on the ground was extremely poor, I am satisfied that the officers were justified in using a degree of force to restrain Mr McMahon, he said. The coroner added: The force the officers used was not excessive. Mr McCrisken said while he considered the restraint a factor in Mr McMahons death he said the DJ might have died even if he had not come into contact with police on the night in question, noting that he was already very unwell when officers encountered him. The events on Great Victoria Street unfolded after Mr McMahon had already been engaged in an extended period of erratic and at times violent behaviour in other parts of the city centre, having been earlier at a nightclub. Northern Irelands Police Ombudsman investigated the circumstances of the restraint incident and an evidence file was passed to prosecutors. Last year, the Public Prosecution Service directed that no prosecution be taken against any of the officers involved. The PSNI has been contacted in relation to this story. The most striking aspect of the Tempur-Pedic Pillow to someone who has never used one before is the way that the foam cradles your head. If you are used to a down pillow, which starts off fluffy but flattens out relatively quickly, the Tempur-Cloud Pillow will feel a lot firmer and more substantial. The Tempur-Pedic Pillow has a bit of resistance to it your head sinks down a little, but still feels supported. For individuals who like to prop themselves up in bed to read or watch TV, this pillow is much better suited for those tasks than other pillows that we've used in the past. The Tempur-Cloud Pillow seems to be the perfect mix of firm and soft. CASPER A proposed bill to set aside $1.2 million for Wyoming to sue other states divesting from coal received a warm welcome from lawmakers at a committee meeting on Friday morning. The House Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee voted unanimously to advance the drafted legislation to the floor. House Bill 207 would give Wyomings governor and attorney general the money to challenge actions taken by other states that impede the export of Wyoming coal or the continued operation of Wyomings coal-fired electric generation facilities, including early retirements of t... Bindi Irwin has continued to fuel rumours she may have already given birth. The latest clue was shared on her husband Chandler Powell's Instagram on Friday, just days after the wildlife warrior dropped a series of hints on her own page. In the post, Bindi and Chandler were seen feeding the kangaroos at Australia Zoo, with the 22-year-old going to great lengths to tactically hide her tummy. Hide that bump! Bindi Irwin has continued to fuel rumours she may have already given birth. The latest clue was shared on her husband Chandler Powell's Instagram on Friday, with the 22-year-old seen tactically hiding her tummy while feeding the kangaroos at Australia Zoo 'Another day of important meetings at #AustraliaZoo,' he captioned the post. Bindi's knee and arm tactically shielded any view of her belly. Photos of the activist's bump were a regular feature on her Instagram feed until this week. On Thursday she uploaded a photo on her main grid in which her stomach was concealed by a red panda named Ravi. Something to hide? It comes just days after the wildlife warrior dropped a series of hints on her own Instagram - including this video, which was awkwardly cropped above Bindi's stomach Both of these posts could be throwbacks - which begs the question why Bindi wouldn't instead upload more recent content, unless she had something to hide. Alternatively, if they were taken recently, the fact Bindi's midsection is obscured from view could be a sign she's no longer pregnant, having given birth in secret. The speculation about Bindi's 'secret birth' began earlier this week when fans noticed a 'bump update' she tweeted on Tuesday was actually a month old. Panda protection: Then on Thursday she uploaded a photo on her main feed in which her stomach was concealed by a red panda named Ravi The image showed Bindi and Chandler, 24, posing with her mother, Terri, and younger brother, Robert, on the grounds of Australia Zoo in Queensland. Her caption stated the couple were still 'waiting' for the arrival of their daughter. But in the photo, she and Chandler were wearing the exact same outfits they'd been pictured wearing as they strolled through Australia Zoo's car park on February 19 - right down to the socks, shoes and Chandler's wristwatch. Hints: The speculation about Bindi's 'secret birth' began earlier this week when fans noticed a 'bump update' she tweeted on Tuesday (above) was actually a month old. Pictured with her mother Terri, brother Robert and husband Chandler This suggests Bindi's Twitter 'update' was actually from a month ago, and the fact she didn't post a more recent photo hints she may have already given birth. A day later, she seemingly left another clue she'd welcomed her daughter ahead of her late March/early April due date. The zookeeper posted an Instagram selfie on Wednesday with Chandler and his parents, Chris and Shannan Powell, whom she referred to as 'amazing grandparents'. Slip of the keyboard? The zookeeper then posted a selfie on Wednesday with Chandler and his parents, Chris and Shannan Powell, whom she referred to as 'amazing grandparents' 'March is birthday month for these lovelies. Thinking of my mother-in-law and father-in-law, always,' Bindi's caption read. 'Amazing grandparents, fantastic human beings. Missing them during the pandemic and can't wait to be reunited again,' she added. While the caption could be a clue Bindi has given birth, it should be noted that Chris and Shannan did recently become first-time grandparents when Chandler's sister-in-law, Kristin, gave birth last month. Bindi's in-laws are based in Florida and are unable to travel to Australia due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Something to tell us? While the caption could be a clue Bindi has given birth, it should be noted that Chris and Shannan did recently become first-time grandparents when Chandler's sister-in-law, Kristin, gave birth last month. Pictured: Bindi and Chandler Bindi and Chandler may be keeping the child's arrival under wraps so they can enjoy their first few days as parents in private. Alternatively, they could be protecting a magazine or TV deal. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Australia Zoo for comment. Bindi and Chandler announced their baby news in August, and revealed the following month they were expecting a daughter. Earlier this month, Bindi shared a glimpse of her daughter's nursery, after hiring artist Maryanne Oliver to paint native animals on the walls. 'Thank you so much to our friend Maryanne for this amazing painting in our daughter's Australia Zoo nursery. She's going to love it!' she wrote on Instagram. Joy: Bindi and Chandler announced their baby news in August, and revealed the following month they were expecting a daughter The colourful mural included crocodiles, galahs, cockatoos and, of course, koalas. Bindi told The Bump last month that her late father, Steve Irwin, had inspired her child's nickname, Baby Wildlife Warrior. 'My dad was the first person to create the term Wildlife Warrior,' she explained, adding that Steve would have made an excellent grandfather. Gorgeous! Earlier this month, Bindi shared a glimpse of her daughter's nursery, after hiring artist Maryanne Oliver to paint native animals on the walls 'My dad would have been the best grandfather,' she said. 'I always joke that if he was still here we'd never see our baby because he'd take her on all kinds of adventures!' Bindi said she was looking forward to sharing her father's legacy of conservation with her daughter when she's old enough to understand it. Steve died in September 2006 at the age of 44 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming a documentary in Batt Reef, Queensland. Bindi also said her mother, Terri, was looking forward to becoming a grandmother and will go by the name 'Bunny' once the child arrives. On March 15, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SPRI) issued a new report on global arms transfers. It shows that international transfers of major arms stayed at the same level between 201115 and 201620. Substantial increases in transfers by three of the top five arms exportersthe USA, France and Germanywere largely offset by declining Russian and Chinese arms exports. Middle Eastern arms imports grew by 25 percent in the period, driven chiefly by Saudi Arabia (+61 percent), Egypt (+136 percent) and Qatar (+361 percent). Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link The trend in international transfers of major arms, 19812020 (Table source: SIPRI) For the first time since 20012005, the volume of deliveries of major arms between countries did not increase between 201115 and 201620. However, international arms transfers remain close to the highest level since the end of the cold war. It is too early to say whether the period of rapid growth in arms transfers of the past two decades is over, said Pieter D. Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. For example, the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic could see some countries reassessing their arms imports in the coming years. However, at the same time, even at the height of the pandemic in 2020, several countries signed large contracts for major arms. US, French and German exports rise, Russian and Chinese exports fall The United States remains the largest arms exporter, increasing its global share of arms exports from 32 to 37 percent between 201115 and 201620. The USA supplied major arms to 96 states in 201620, far more than any other supplier. Almost half (47 percent) of US arms transfers went to the Middle East. Saudi Arabia alone accounted for 24 percent of total US arms exports. The 15 percent increase in US arms exports between 201115 and 201620 further widened the gap between the USA and the second-largest arms exporter Russia. The third and fourth largest exporters also experienced substantial growth between 201115 and 201620. France increased its exports of major arms by 44 percent and accounted for 8.2 percent of global arms exports in 201620. India, Egypt and Qatar together received 59 percent of French arms exports. Germany increased its exports of major arms by 21 percent between 201115 and 201620 and accounted for 5.5 percent of the global total. The top markets for German arms exports were South Korea, Algeria and Egypt. Russia and China both saw their arms exports falling. Arms exports by Russia, which accounted for 20 percent of all exports of major arms in 201620, dropped by 22 percent (to roughly the same level as in 200610). The bulkaround 90 percentof this decrease was attributable to a 53 percent fall in its arms exports to India. Russia substantially increased its arms transfers to China, Algeria and Egypt between 201115 and 201620, but this did not offset the large drop in its arms exports to India, said Alexandra Kuimova, Researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. Although Russia has recently signed new large arms deals with several states and its exports will probably gradually increase again in the coming years, it faces strong competition from the USA in most regions. Exports by China, the worlds fifth-largest arms exporter in 201620, decreased by 7.8 percent between 201115 and 201620. Chinese arms exports accounted for 5.2 percent of total arms exports in 201620. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Algeria were the largest recipients of Chinese arms. Growing demand in the Middle East The biggest growth in arms imports was seen in the Middle East. Middle Eastern states imported 25 percent more major arms in 201620 than they did in 201115. This reflected regional strategic competition among several states in the Gulf region. Saudi Arabiathe worlds largest arms importerincreased its arms imports by 61 percent and Qatar by 361 percent. Arms imports by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) fell by 37 percent, but several planned deliveries of major armsincluding of 50 F-35 combat aircraft from the USA agreed in 2020suggest that the UAE will continue to import large volumes of arms. Egypts arms imports increased by 136 percent between 201115 and 201620. Egypt, which is involved in disputes with Turkey over hydrocarbon resources in the eastern Mediterranean, has invested heavily in its naval forces. Turkeys arms imports fell by 59 percent between 201115 and 201620. A major factor was the USA halting deliveries of F-35 combat aircraft to the country in 2019 after Turkey imported Russian air defense systems. Turkey is also increasing domestic production of major arms, to reduce its reliance on imports. Imports by states in Asia and Oceania remain high Asia and Oceania was the largest importing region for major arms, receiving 42 percent of global arms transfers in 201620. India, Australia, China, South Korea and Pakistan were the biggest importers in the region. Japans arms imports increased by 124 percent between 201115 and 201620. Although Taiwans arms imports in 201620 were lower than in 201115, it placed several large arms procurement orders with the USA in 2019, including for combat aircraft. For many states in Asia and Oceania, a growing perception of China as a threat is the main driver for arms imports, said Siemon T. Wezeman, Senior Researcher at SIPRI. More large imports are planned, and several states in the region are also aiming to produce their own major arms. Arms imports by India decreased by 33 percent between 201115 and 201620. Russia was the most affected supplier, although Indias imports of US arms also fell, by 46 percent. The drop in Indian arms imports seems to have been mainly due to its complex procurement processes, combined with an attempt to reduce its dependence on Russian arms. India is planning large-scale arms imports in the coming years from several suppliers. Other notable developments * Arms exports by the United Kingdom dropped by 27 percent between 201115 and 201620. The UK accounted for 3.3 percent of total arms exports in 201620. * Israeli arms exports represented 3.0 percent of the global total in 201620 and were 59 percent higher than in 201115. * Arms exports by South Korea were 210 percent higher in 201620 than in 201115, giving it a 2.7 percent share of global arms exports. * Between 201115 and 201620 there were overall decreases in arms imports by states in Africa (13 percent), the Americas (43 percent) and Asia and Oceania (8.3 percent). * Algeria increased its arms imports by 64 percent compared with 201115, while arms imports by Morocco were 60 percent lower. * In 201620 Russia supplied 30 percent of arms imports by countries in sub-Saharan Africa, China 20 percent, France 9.5 percent and the USA 5.4 percent. * China was the largest arms importer in East Asia, receiving 4.7 percent of global arms imports in 201620. * Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have been building up their military capabilities through major arms imports in recent years. In 201620 Russia accounted for 94 percent of Armenian arms imports while Israel accounted for 69 percent of Azerbaijans arms imports. The Political Committee for SEIU Local 205, the union representing Chattanooga city general government employees, voted to endorse Tim Kelly to be the next mayor of Chattanooga. Officials said, "The committee completed a thorough vetting process and interviewed both runoff candidates and decided Mr. Kelly was the best choice for Chattanoogas working families." Mr. Kelly is committed to our goal of achieving a $15 minimum wage for Chattanooga city employees, which will raise the standard for all employers in Chattanooga and lift the wages of all local workers. Were proud to support Tim Kelly for Mayor, said SEIU member Stephen Russell who works in the city finance office. SEIU member and Public Works employee Alonzo Strickland said, Tim understands that city workers are key to the success of Chattanooga and he values the work we do. We know Tim will make the key infrastructure investments we need as our city continues to grow. Sharron Pryor, an SEIU member working in Youth and Family Development said, Our YFD centers are an important part of the lives of families and kids in Chattanooga. Tim Kelly knows that and he will put new resources into our programs to make them even better. Were glad to support him to be the next mayor of Chattanooga. A patient receives his first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine at the the Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove March 10, 2021. (Courtesy of The County of Orange) CDC Finds Nebraska Mans Death Not Linked to COVID-19 Vaccine Health officials announced they did not find any evidence the COVID-19 vaccine contributed to the death of a man from Nebraska earlier this year. According to a press release from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) on Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said they did not find any link that supports the COVID-19 vaccine contributed to the mans death, KTIV4 reported. The department released information in February that a man in his late 40s died on Jan. 17 about two weeks after receiving the first dose of a CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus vaccine. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP virus, commonly referred to as the novel coronavirus. State health officials have confirmed the man had several underlying health conditions and was also a resident at a long-term care facility. The death of the man was entered into the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)a U.S. program for vaccine safety that is run by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On the web page Selected Adverse Events Reported after COVID-19 Vaccination dated March 1, the CDC states that reports of death to VAERS following vaccination do not necessarily mean the vaccine caused the death. Steven Danehy, director of Global Media Relations for Pfizer, told The Epoch Times about VAERS death reports: To date, millions of people have been vaccinated with our vaccine. Serious adverse events, including deaths that are unrelated to the vaccine, are unfortunately likely to occur at a similar rate as they would in the general population. Dr. Gary Anthone, Nebraskas chief medical officer, said in a statement that the vaccine offers the best protection against the CCP virus and urged Nebraskans to sign up and get inoculated. We cannot state enough the importance of Nebraska Finishing Strong as we see a light at the end of the tunnel with three vaccines available in our State, Anthone said in a statement obtained by KTIV4. It simply is the best protection that we have and the best chance at returning to a sense of normalcy. I urge Nebraskans to sign up at vaccinate.ne.gov so that they are notified when its their turn, he continued. Those individuals who have high-risk conditions should consult their medical provider about the best approach to getting vaccinated. The CDC and FDA said in March they received 1,637 reports of fatalities among individuals in the United States after receiving an injection of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Epoch Times hasnt been able independently to confirm the CDCs numbers. The publicly available VAERS website shows 1,136 deaths through Feb. 26. Celia Farber contributed to this report. 19th March 2021 Runtime 17:52 London South East spoke to Joshua Fegan, CEO of ASX-listed Althea Group Holdings, the Australian headquartered medicinal and consumer goods cannabis company. In a sign of how seriously AGH are taking Europe, the CEO and his family have relocated to London from Australia last October, ready to focus the business as it targets Europe, the territory AGH see as having the greatest growth potential. Althea describes itself as a global leader in the manufacturing, sales and distribution of both pharmaceutical cannabis products and cannabis-based consumer goods. It has a market cap of around 74 Million pounds, and has just released its growth plans for Germany, France and the UK market. It is vertically integrated, and owns Peak, a cannabis products manufacturer in Canada. Peak generates private label consumer cannabis products for the Canadian market as well as medicinal products for Althea globally. "We have been selling Althea pharmaceutical products in the UK since late 2019, and it was time to get over here." said Joshua. "We are every bullish about the UK market itself and have launched the Althea brand into Germany, and started selling there this month (March 2021) as well. We are involved in the French National Trial for Medicinal Cannabis and see legalisation occurring there in the next 18-24 months". Joshua references forecasts "which suggests the total legal cannabis market in Europe represents 26 billion by 2027, so the market opportunity is a great one. Germany has had a legal cannabis framework from about 2018. The UK is probably the most mature out of the marketplaces, with potential for up to a million patients in this country alone." Subscriber content preview Photo by Miranda Estes Photography [enlarge] Land Morphology designed the new gathering and special events space. Village Green, a new central gathering space for University Village outdoor lifestyle shopping center in Seattle, is complete. . . . Montreal, March 19 : After a year of delay owing to the pandemic, the UN Biodiversity Conference on Friday announced that its summit, comprising the Conference of the Parties (COP), to take place now from October 11 to 24 in Kunming in Yunnan Province of China. The meeting is expected to adopt the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, crucial for building resilience and galvanizing international cooperation in face of growing environmental, health and development challenges. The three meetings that comprise the 2021 UN Biodiversity Conference -- the 15th meeting of the Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the 10th meeting of the COP serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, were originally scheduled to be held in October 2020. The dates were later changed to May 2021 but have been adjusted to reflect the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Executive Secretary Elizabeth Maruma Mrema said, "The secretariat remains committed to ensuring the successful and timely preparation of COP-15 and the concurrent meetings of the Parties to the Protocols, while also ensuring the safety of all participants in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic." The Convention's Bureau of the Conference of the Parties, which also serves as the Bureau for the concurrent Meetings of the Parties to the two Protocols, considered and approved the revised meeting dates following consultations between the CBD Secretariat and the Chinese government. The lead up to the conference and meetings in Kunming provides the global community with further opportunities to galvanize efforts at all levels to build a better future in harmony with nature, and to continue efforts to achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. The CBD secretariat will continue to monitor further developments regarding the ongoing uncertainties caused by the pandemic and announce any further changes that may become necessary. MEDFORD, Ore. Medford Police and bomb technicians from Oregon State Police on Thursday searched the Medford home of a man suspected of building explosive devices. According to OSP, the search was part of an ongoing investigation into multiple reports of "explosions across the Rogue Valley." Investigators from OSP and Medford Police identified a suspect in the case, serving a search warrant at a home in the 1100-block of Char Way in Medford. During the search, officers found "numerous items relating to the manufacturing of destructive devices," OSP said. Police arrested 23-year-old Brian Lighthill and lodged him in the Jackson County Jail on 23 counts of Manufacturing of a Destructive Device and nine counts of Possession of a Destructive Device. According to court documents, Lighthill was already awaiting trial on charges for delivery and possession of heroin. He was released from jail earlier this year with a pre-trial conference date set for March 22. Scott Disick shared the backstory of his break-up with Sofia Richie on Thursday's season 20 premiere of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. The reality star, 37, revealed that things had ended with Sofia, 22, his girlfriend of three years, after she gave him an ultimatum to choose between either her or his ex and mother of his children Kourtney Kardashian, 41. Sofia moved out of Scott's home during the coronavirus pandemic, which he'd partially attributed to her being tired of the 'baggage' that came with dating someone so close to his ex. While speaking to the famous family, he revealed: 'She was like, ''I don't want to share you as a boyfriend with Kourtney''. And then she literally said with an ultimatum, ''You have to choose: Me or Kourtney''.' Breakup backstory: Scott Disick shared the backstory of his breakup with Sofia Richie on Thursday's season 20 premiere of Keeping Up With The Kardashians Kourtney and Scott split in 2015 but they remain close and co-parent their children Mason, 11, Penelope, eight and Reign, six. Their chequered and complex relationship has kept fans tuned into Keeping With The Kardashians for the past 14 years. Despite their years of on-off love, he soon found solace in Sofia yet maintained his close friendship with his ex - which appeared to cause issues for Sofia. Giving forensic insight into the split for the first time, he spoke to the Kardashian clan about the intricacies of the break-up and Kourtney's participation. He said: 'Life gets really weird when you're living with someone, and your world just gets so small. It definitely did create a problem between Sofia and I and I think we kind of saw some things in each other that weren't us being on the same page.' Former couple: Scott and Sofia, shown in September 2017, started dating when she was age 19 Throwback! Their chequered and complex relationship has kept fans tuned into Keeping With The Kardashians for the past 14 years He admitted that he'd told Sofia taking care of Kourtney was one of his priorities, and that made Sofia feel insecure, as though she wasn't as important to him. He told Kourtney: 'When you first get with someone, everyone is like making changes and oh I will do anything because I'm so happy and so in love and so excited but then when it sinks in and it becomes real life it's a lot different'. He then wondered about his future with Kourtney. 'I don't know,' he said to his ex. 'Are we just gonna grow old, just traveling the world with the kids, living one house down from each other, or together at one point?' Sinks in: 'When you first get with someone, everyone is like making changes and oh I will do anything because I'm so happy and so in love and so excited but then when it sinks in and it becomes real life it's a lot different,' Scott told Kourtney Kourtney privately observed that it was Scott's choice to prioritize what he wished, but that they should each make sacrifices for new relationships. 'I appreciate that he prioritizes me,' Kourtney said in a confessional. 'But I think the biggest thing is that I want him to prioritize himself.' Her sister Khloe Kardashian, 36, later asked Scott about his status with Sofia and he revealed they were going to give it another shot. He told Khloe that Sofia explained why she felt insecure and admitted that she liked to be the 'center of attention' in his life and was the 'last person' who received attention from him. Priorities straight: 'I appreciate that he prioritizes me,' Kourtney said in a confessional. 'But I think the biggest thing is that I want him to prioritize himself' 'I totally understand where she's coming from and she totally deserves to have more attention,' Scott said. The Kardashians sympathized with Sofia. Matriarch Kris Jenner gave her insight while relaxing poolside in Malibu with Corey Gamble, Khloe, Kim and Kendall. She said: 'It's gotta be a lot for somebody her age to be dating Scott, he has three kids and the drama of Kourtney. Over time, that would be hard to handle... 'I've thought about that. That would be hard for me. Most women wouldn't put up with that.' Another shot: Khloe Kardashian, 36, later asked Scott about his status with Sofia and he revealed they were going to give it another shot 'If I was in Sofia's shoes I would be like, this is absolutely not normal and I can't take it,' Kim agreed. 'In Kourtney's shoes, I still think there should be a bit more structure. I love how open they are, but it's as if they're together, but no sexual anything.' The Kardashians all felt that Scott was 'hanging on' to Kourtney, and sure enough things 'took a turn' for him after he gave Sofia one more chance on July Fourth. 'She just started wanting to push Kourtney out,' he told Kim and Khloe, adding that he'd then reiterated how important his children and the Kardashians were to him. Pushing out: 'She just started wanting to push Kourtney out,' Scott told Kim and Khloe, adding that he'd then reiterated how important his children and the Kardashians were to him 'She was like, ''I don't want to share you as a boyfriend with Kourtney'',' Scott recounted. 'And then she literally said with an ultimatum, ''You have to choose: Me or Kourtney''.' 'It just became an impossible relationship to keep carrying on with,' he concluded. In a confessional, Scott added that he would never surrender his relationship with Kourtney saying 'nothing in a million years will be worth what we have.' Never surrender: In a confessional, Scott added that he would never surrender his relationship with Kourtney saying 'nothing in a million years will be worth what we have' He added that the 'right person' for either one of them would realize their relationship was a plus. Scott recently started dating Amelia Hamlin, 19. Sofia was 19 when she began dating Scott and before that he was linked to Bella Thorne when she was also 19. Kourtney and Scott began dating in 2006 - the year before KUWTK launched - after meeting at Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis' house in Mexico. In 2008, the couple briefly split when Kourtney discovered Scott was texting another woman, listed in his phone as 'My Wife', however they reconciled a year later. Ultimatum issued: The 37-year-old reality star said that Sofia, shown in October 2019 in Florida, gave him an ultimatum to choose between her and his ex Kourtney Kardashian The following year, Kourtney announced she was expecting the couple's first child after she forgot to take her birth control. She delightedly gushed at the time: 'I love being pregnant. I feel like it's going by too fast. It is the best thing that's happened to me. It's such a spiritual thing happening in your body, and it's what your body is made for.' After Mason's arrival in December 2009, the couple hit trouble the following August when Scott's partying spiralled out of control and he famously punched a mirror in an episode of Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami, causing the demise of their romance. Again, the couple reconciled and in April 2011, in the first season of Kourtney and Kim Take New York, he is seen shopping for an engagement ring however she is clearly resistant to marriage, thus thwarting any hope of marriage. Sweet: The couple share Mason, 11, Penelope, eight, and Reign, six (Mason and Reign, pictured) Over dinner, Kourtney told a dejected Scott: 'Why mess it up? I just feel like right now I'm happy with the way things are.' In November, they revealed they were expecting Penelope, with Scott saying: 'It wasn't like we weren't trying. We kind of just said, 'If it's meant to be, it'll be.'' The welcomed their daughter in July 2012. In 2013, both Scott's parents, Bonnie and Jeffrey Disick, passed away within three months of one another. In July the next year, the couple revealed they were expecting their third child and confirmed the pregnancy was planned. Happier times: Following their permanent split, Scott and Kourtney have gone on to enjoy romances with a legion of other partners yet their close friendship has prevailed (pictured in 2009) July 2015 saw the couple split once again - this time for good - when pictures emerged of Scott with his ex-girlfriend Chloe Bartoli in Monte Carlo. Following their permanent split, Scott and Kourtney have gone on to enjoy romances with a legion of other partners yet their close friendship has prevailed. Speaking about their co-parenting arrangement, Scott said: 'Just because their mother and I couldnt make it as a perfect, romantic couple shouldnt have anything to do with the kids... 'They dont deserve our mistakes, so we figured out a way. We still need to be as honest and as good to each other as if we were together. Lets raise these children together and thats it.' Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, say goodbye to law and order Joe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will visit the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso on Friday with a group of bipartisan senators amid pressure on President Joe Biden to solve surge of migrant crossings. The trip will be closed to the media - 'due to privacy and COVID-19 precautions,' the Department of Homeland Security said - and will not contain a press briefing afterward. News organizations have been requesting permission to visit the shelters housing thousands of migrant children amid reports the kids don't have enough beds to sleep in or food to eat. Federal officials have repeatedly denied access to the press although lawyers and some human rights groups have gotten inside. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday the administration hopes to have an answer on the press visits 'soon.' 'The White House and we all in the administration support finding a way to grant access to the media to the ... shelters where these children are staying for a temporary period of time,' she said. 'We remain committed to transparency, and were considering potential options, and we hope to have an update on that soon.' Mayorkas' group on Friday will 'view operations and receive a briefing on the processing, shelter, and transfer of unaccompanied children arriving at our border,' the DHS said in a statement. The Homeland Security secretary will be accompanied by Democratic Senators Gary Peters and Chris Murphy and Republican Senators Rob Portman and Shelley Moore Capito. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will visit the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso on Friday with a group of bipartisan senators Migrants from Central America are detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents as they turn themselves in to request asylum, after crossing into El Paso Migrants detained by US Customs and Border Protection are pictured in a makeshift holding facility beneath "Paso Del Norte" bridge, between downtown El Paso and Ciudad Juarez Republicans have blamed the record number of border crossings on the Biden administration, claiming the president's repeal of Donald Trump's stricter policies has led to the surge. But Biden administration officials, including the president himself, have said the border is closed and asked migrants not to come. 'I can say quite clearly: Don't come over,' Biden told ABC News in an interview this week. 'Don't leave your town or city or community,' he added. And Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday defended the administration, saying the president has the situation on the border under control. 'The Biden administration has this under control. It has changed and will take some time, but it is values based, humanitarian in its aspects,' she said at her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill. The number of migrants being stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border has been rising steadily since last April, and the Biden administration is still rapidly expelling most single adults and families under a public health order issued by Trump, Title 42, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it is allowing teens and children to stay, at least temporarily, and they have been coming in ever larger numbers. More than 4,000 migrant children were being held by the Border Patrol custody as of Sunday, including at least 3,000 in custody longer than the 72-hour limit set by a court order, a U.S. official told AP. Mayorkas said in a detailed statement this week that even greater numbers of migrants are expected. 'We are on pace to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years,' Mayorkas said. Mayorkas conceded that a surge in the number of children, mostly from Central America, is a challenge for the Border Patrol and other agencies amid the coronavirus pandemic. But he rejected a Trump-era policy of sending them immediately back to Mexico or other countries. 'They are vulnerable children and we have ended the prior administrations practice of expelling them,' Mayorkas said in his most detailed statement yet on a situation at the border that he characterized as 'difficult' but not the crisis that critics have portrayed. The White House has refused to call the situation at the border a 'crisis.' Psaki walked back her own comment during the Thursday briefing when she referred to a 'crisis' at the border. That is a word that Mayorkas pointedly would not use during his own turn at the White House podium. Instead, Mayorkas called it 'undoubtedly difficult' at a House hearing Wednesday. Psaki was speaking about a simultaneous push to lend Mexico and Canada AstraZeneca vaccine doses, even as the U.S. seeks commitments from Mexico on immigration. 'There have been expectations set ... unrelated to any vaccine doses or requests for them that they would be partners in dealing with the crisis on the border. And there have been requests unrelated for doses of these vaccines,' she said, denying a connection. 'Every relationship has multiple layers of conversations that are happening at the same time,' she explained. When reminded by a reporter that she had used the word 'crisis' which is out of step with what the administration calls it she said 'challenges on the border.' Asked if it reflected a change in position, Psaki replied: 'Nope,' and quickly moved on. The administration is struggling to house a surge of migrant children as they work to process the minors so the children can be transferred to Department of Health and Human Services shelters where they would stay until they could be united with family members already in the U.S. or with a sponsor. The children are supposed to be transferred to DHS within three days of being caught by border agents. Border agents are apprehending more than 400 children a day, however, which is many more than the number of children that HHS is processing and releasing to sponsors. And more than 4,200 kids are being held in jail-like stations unfit to house them, according to government records reviewed by CBS News, with 3,000 held past the legal limit. The Biden administration has opened new centers in Midland and Carrizo Springs, Texas, to help alleviate the overcrowding caused by the record number of migrants. The administration also directed the shelters to return to normal capacity, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Previously, social distancing and other health protocols were in place to combat the disease. Biden lifted the Trump policy that required migrants to remain in Mexico while going through the legal process to enter the U.S., narrowed the ICE's criteria for arrests and deportations and stopped the building of Trump's border wall. Last month, 100,000 migrants were caught trying to cross the southern border - up 30 percent from January. And numbers are continuing to increase this month, with 125,000 migrants expected to arrive along the border in March, according to current data. That is the highest number in years. 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. Trudeau rebukes China over closed-door trial Jim Nickel, the charge d'affaires of the Canadian embassy, waits to no avail with other diplomats outside the court in Dandong. Photo: AFP Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacted angrily on Friday to the closed-door trial of a Canadian man detained in China for more than two years on espionage charges, dismissing it as "completely unacceptable." Businessman Michael Spavor, whose hearing finished after less than three hours on Friday, is one of two Canadians detained, in apparent retaliation for Canada's arrest on a US extradition warrant of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, and formally charged last June with spying. "Let me be very clear: Their arbitrary detention is completely unacceptable, as is the lack of transparency around these court proceedings," the Canadian leader told a news conference. Spavor's compatriot, former diplomat Michael Kovrig, is scheduled to go to trial on Monday. Canada has attacked the charges against its citizens as "trumped-up", and the three cases have sent relations between Ottawa and Beijing to their lowest point in decades, although China has denied any link between Meng's arrest and the action taken against the Canadians. Diplomats and media were barred from attending Spavor's trial earlier in Dandong, where Canadian officials were joined by envoys from eight other nations including the United States, France and Australia outside the courthouse. Canadian diplomats waved as a police van with tinted windows believed to be carrying Spavor drove out of the court. The verdict remains unknown. A court statement said that the "private hearing" had finished and that the court would "select a date to announce the verdict." Spavor's family have called for his unconditional release, saying that he was innocent of the accusations and had done much as a businessman to "build constructive ties" between Canada, China and North Korea. Trudeau said his government, along with allies he thanked publicly for showing "global solidarity in this case," would continue to press China to immediately release the "Two Michaels," as they have become known. "China needs to understand that it is not just about two Canadians," he said. "It is about respect for the rule of law and relationships with a broad range of Western countries that is at play with the arbitrary detention and the coercive diplomacy they have engaged in." These nations, he said, are "concerned about this not just because of these two Canadians, but because of the potential implications for their own citizens." The timing of the Spavor and Kovrig trials comes as high-level talks got underway between the US and China in Anchorage, Alaska, which observers said was no coincidence. Jim Nickel, the charge d'affaires of the Canadian embassy in Beijing, told reporters outside the Dandong courtroom in northeastern China that Canada - with US support - hopes to obtain Spavor and Kovrig's "immediate release." In Ottawa, Trudeau commented that "the Americans take this case seriously," adding that the plight of the two Canadians was sure to be raised by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in his first face-to-face meeting with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi. The trials of the two Canadians, who were detained in December 2018, also came alongside Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou's extradition case heading into its final weeks. Meng, whose father is Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei, has been fighting extradition to the US on charges that she and the company violated US sanctions on Iran and other laws. Trudeau has accused Beijing of detaining Spavor and Kovrig to put pressure on Canada to release Meng, while affirming the independence of Canada's judicial system in dealing with the US extradition request. The two Canadian men have had almost no contact with the outside world since their detention. Virtual consular visits only resumed in October after a nine-month hiatus that authorities said was due to the coronavirus pandemic. Meng, meanwhile, remains under house arrest at her Vancouver mansion. Her hearing is expected to wrap up mid-May, barring appeals. (AFP) What started as a pop-up shop for art and donations in Hopewell has raised more than $25,000 for HomeFront, the nonprofit organization focusing on ending homelessness in Central Jersey. The pop-up shop, curated by members of ArtSpace, one of the creative programs under HomeFront, launched in early December. ArtSpace is a spacious studio on HomeFronts Family Campus that offers clients the opportunity to create and make art. At the pop-up, people donate pottery, collectibles, art, antiques, and other items that volunteers then sell to benefit HomeFront, said Ruthann Traylor, the ArtSpace and SewingSpace director. The pop-up is open on certain days for both shopping and donations, and will remain open through May, depending on the continuation of donations from the community. So whatever donations come in, we go through them and we try to place them in small kind of environments where they look good, said Annie Battle, a HomeFront volunteer for the last 10 years. Battle, who has volunteered at the shop since its launch late last year, helps curate the items and new donations in the shop. Rochelle Newman, of Yardley, Pennsylvania, carries a donation into the shop.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Jim Baxter, owner of Baxter Construction, owns the storefront. Since hes renovating the upstairs area, he offered HomeFront the use of the downstairs space, Traylor said. Traylor said the shop is largely run by volunteers and people often both shop for new items and donate their old items. Some people come shop early and by the end of the day, (they) come back with things theyre donating, she said. Also in the space is a sewing space where a seamstress creates different projects, including reupholstering interesting chairs or making pet toys, Traylor said. Volunteers also accept urgently needed items, including diapers, hygiene products, and non-perishable food items, at the pop-up. The donated items then go to clients of HomeFront. The pop-up is located at 31 West Broad St. in Hopewell. Its open for shopping from noon to 6 p.m. on Fridays, and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Donations are accepted from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I think its a real win-win, Battle said of the pop-up. People want to pass things on, do it (for) people in need and they can also find incredible finds there for very low price points. 12 Pop-Up and Drop off in Hopewell benefits HomeFront. 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. Head of Monitoring Unit at the Forestry Commission, Charles Owusu is making an appeal to President Nana Akufo-Addo to come to the aid of prisoners across the country. Charles Owusu, who has been dedicating his birthday to making donations to improve the living conditions of prisoners, speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' recounted how the prisoners are suffering in the various prisons. He narrated incidents where some innocent people have been locked up in the prisons and also noted that the situation at the prisons is very unbearable. "Prisoners are humans like ourselves. There are some who are confined in the prison walls not because they have done anything bad or criminal but rather because they were accidentally caught up in complicated situations and ended up in the prisons.," he said. He cried for help stressing it's about time the government and corporate entities turned their compassionate heart towards prisoners in the country. "I plead with entities to come to the aid of the prisoners. Their situation is very terrible. Could you imagine that the government allocates only Ghc 1.80 to feed them? Although the money looks huge per the entire group of prisoners, it is very meagre to feed them individually. The prisoners' living conditions are so bad that they have to run a shift system before they can go to sleep. I plead with the government and persons who can help to do something to improve the prisoners' situation," he appealed. 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 country looks set to face tough restrictions until some time in June after progress in the battle to beat Covid-19 has stalled. Any moves to reopen the economy will be cautious until well into the summer amid stubbornly high infection rates and disappointingly slow roll-out of vaccines. Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn has indicated that people should expect to be working from home full-time for the next three or four months. The plan is to proceed very cautiously on the basis of the data in front of us for as long as it takes, he said. I am hopeful that as we move into June, and those who have been most vulnerable to the severest effects of Covid-19 and millions of doses of vaccines are rolled out to the population, we will be in a much brighter place. Read More He also ruled out any foreign travel before the end of June despite the EU proposals to introduce a digital health passport for people who have been vaccinated, recovered from infection, or had a negative test. No deaths were reported yesterday but 582 new cases of the virus were diagnosed as the situation was described as static or declining slowly. It comes as health authorities here are expected to give the go-ahead for Oxford AstraZeneca vaccinations to resume following the European Medicines Agencys (EMA) blood clot investigation when it announced yesterday it is safe and effective. EMA director Emer Cooke said it had reached a clear scientific conclusion and had not found the vaccine associated with an increase in overall risk of blood clots. However it did find a small number of cases of rare and unusual but very serious clotting disorders and it could not rule out definitively a link between these cases and the vaccine. Patient information leaflets will draw attention to possible rare conditions to help people who receive the vaccine and to be aware of any possible wide effects. Dr Glynn said the findings were last night being examined by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee and will be be brought to the Department of Health today. A recommendation to resume roll-out is expected with around 30,000 people whose appointments were cancelled this week among the first to be offered the jab. However, there are now fears some people may be hesitant to take the jab. Professor Philip Nolan, who tracks the disease, said the stalling of cases was due to a rise in mobility, congregation and social mixing. Mai Mannix, director of public health in the mid west, highlighted recent cases where visits to houses for cups of tea, a beer or chat ended up in the virus being passed around six households with more than 20 people testing positive. She also mentioned an incident where 40 staff in a workplace caught the virus after no masks were worn and they let down their guard during smoking breaks. There is also concern the number of people being admitted to hospital is static at around 20 to 25 a day and the reduction in the fall in intensive care patients has slowed. There were 345 patients in hospital yesterday and 83 in intensive care. Prof Nolan said he expects to see more cases and outbreaks in schools but they are not necessarily linked to the school. However, the high numbers in school and the incidence of the virus will mean more cases. He said one of the clear messages is that once the virus gets into private homes it can spread quickly. The UK variant is transmitting more easily and in order to counter risk people need to go back to how they were behaving around two to three weeks ago. Go back to where you were a fortnight or three weeks ago, he said. More cases of variants of concern have also been found including the South African strain which now total 24. HSE chief Paul Reid also warned yesterday there was an increase of 9pc in people being tested for the virus in the past week . Meanwhile, commenting on the EMAs decision on the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), which polices medicines here, said close safety monitoring of reports of blood clotting disorders will continue, and further studies are underway to provide more laboratory data as well as analysis of further real-world evidence. The HPRA will continue to participate in this review with the EMA and other national medicines regulators. Further updates will be communicated as appropriate. To date, no national cases of these very rare blood clots associated with low levels of platelets have been reported to the HPRA. In the region of 2,000 reports associated with Covid AstraZeneca vaccine have been notified, of which seven describe individuals who have been diagnosed or are being investigated for a blood clotting event after vaccination. These events describe a typical profile of clotting seen at any time in the general population, such as clots in the lung or legs. AstraZeneca said it will continue to work closely with health authorities to ensure the appropriate use.. Read More Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Pennsylvania is on pace to vaccinate by the end of the month the "vast majority" of teachers and school support staffers who want a dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday. During a news conference at the Bucks County Intermediate Unit, Wolf said 83,859 people have been vaccinated with J&J's one-shot vaccine in 10 days through an initiative targeting educators and school employees. All 94,600 doses of the state's initial allotment of the vaccine will be administered by the end of the weekend, about two weeks ahead of schedule, he said. The state secured 13,000 more doses last week and will ask for another 13,000 next week, according to a news release issued later Friday. You probably can't tell with this mask but I have one of the biggest smiles in the room," said Pennsylvania State Education Association President Rich Askey, who joined him at Friday's briefing. Wolf announced early this month a state initiative to use the single-dose J&J vaccine to inoculate pre-K to 12th grade educators and other school staff. It coincided with President Joe Biden's March 2 directive for states to prioritize teachers for vaccinations. The Wolf administration collaborated with 28 intermediate units to run vaccination clinics with help from the Pennsylvania National Guard and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare. The Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit wrapped up a vaccination clinic this week, which administered about 1,900 doses directly to local educators as part of the state's initiative, Executive Director Bob McTiernan said. Even more educators and school support staff got vaccinated through other providers as well, he said. A survey sent Tuesday by the state's intermediate units to school districts seems to suggest the initiative reached a "large portion" of the state's educators who wanted a vaccine, he said, meaning the task may be finished with smaller, regional efforts. The data from the survey is still being tallied, and he said he may know early next week if such an effort is needed locally. I think it's a major move forward for students to get back with face-to-face learning," McTiernan said. "I think it creates a safe environment and alleviates a great deal of fear in the educational world." Meanwhile, the state Department of Health reported 268 additional COVID-19 cases Friday in Northeast Pennsylvania's seven-county region composed of Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties increasing its total to 60,600 cases. Two new deaths in the region raised the death toll to 1,679. The death count in Lackawanna County decreased by one, which the Health Department says usually stems from an update to the deceased's county of residence, or from a medical amendment that removed COVID-19 from the death record. Statewide Friday, there were 3,455 new positive cases of COVID-19 and 35 new deaths. The state's totals now stand at 980,302 cases and 24,741 deaths. In local counties: Lackawanna added 58 cases for 14,788 total, of which 2,282 were probable. The death count decreased by one to 429 total. Luzerne added 50 cases for 25,972 total, of which 1,942 were probable. One new death increased the total to 755. Monroe added 88 cases for 10,634 total, of which 292 were probable. One new death increased the total to 282. Pike added 36 cases for 2,871 total, of which 275 were probable. One new death increased the total to 49. This was the first death reported in the county since Feb. 26. Susquehanna added eight cases for 1,831 total, of which 217 were probable. The death count remained at 53. Wayne added 16 cases for 3,243 total, of which 301 were probable. The death count remained at 69. Wyoming added 12 cases for 1,261 total, of which 209 were probable. The death count remained at 42. According to a video and information published by Reuters on March 19, 2021, Iran released images and film footage of what it said was a new Revolutionary Guards base armed with cruise and ballistic missiles and electronic warfare equipment. According to a video and information published by Reuters on March 19, 2021, Iran released images and film footage of what it said was a new Revolutionary Guards base armed with cruise and ballistic missiles and electronic warfare equipment. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps missile city base (Picture source: Reuters) A report on state TV described the base as a missile city and showed rows of what looked like missiles in a depot with cement walls. It did not give any details on its location. Alireza Tangsiri, the head of the elite Revolutionary Guards naval unit, told state TV the base had equipment to detect enemy signals. The bases electronic warfare equipment included radar, monitoring, simulation and disruption systems. The new equipment in the missile city can launch mines in various ranges, allow for 360 degree and mobile firing operations, and enhance the IRGC naval forces fire range and destructive power in combat. Last year, the Guards force said it had built a number of underground missile cities along the Gulf coastline. Iran, which routinely boasts of technological advances in its armed forces, has one of the biggest missile programmes in the Middle East. ALBANY, N.Y. Lawmakers approved long-sought legislation Thursday limiting the use of solitary confinement in New York prisons and jails. The bill, called the Humane Alternatives to Solitary Confinement Act, or HALT, passed the state Senate days after sailing through the Assembly. If signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the measure will limit any form of isolation exceeding 15 days and ban solitary confinement for vulnerable populations altogether. Prolonged segregated confinement can cause permanent harms and does not properly address the root causes that lead to the punishment, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Yonkers Democrat, said. These reforms are morally right, fiscally responsible, and will improve outcomes at jails and prisons. Theres currently no limit on how long someone can spend in solitary, with some incarcerated people reporting months-long stints in isolation. It is no secret that the use of solitary confinement is inhumane, unethical and constitutes torture under international law if it extends more than fifteen days, said Democratic state Sen. Julia Salazar of Brooklyn, the chair of the Senate Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction. It must be discontinued immediately. Advocates have fought for the measure for years, bristling in 2019 when the governor essentially squashed the bill and announced a policy change that fell short of the stricter limits set by the legislation. Supporters of the bill point to research showing solitary confinement can have devastating physical and mental impacts, leading to psychosis and health issues. The Cuomo administration, and the governor himself, have argued that the changes outlined in the bill, such as implementing alternative rehabilitative measures and creating Residential Rehabilitation Units, would be too expensive to implement. Jerome Wright, a statewide organizer with the #HALTsolitary Campaign and a survivor of solitary confinement, applauded the Legislature for finally taking up the bill. Story continues For many years, survivors of solitary confinement and families who have lost loved ones in solitary have led a campaign to end this torture and replace it with safer and more effective interventions, he said in a statement. Freedom from torture is the most basic of human rights, and yet every year tens of thousands of New Yorkers are subjected to it in the form of solitary confinement for weeks, months, years, and even decades. Under the bill, solitary confinement cannot be used as punishment for anyone with a disability or is under 21 or over 55 years of age. It is also barred for women who are pregnant, up to eight weeks postpartum or caring for children in a facility. Anyone in solitary cannot be denied basic services, treatment or needs such as clothing, food and bedding as punishment, according to the legislation. The State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision will also be required to publish monthly reports on its website with semiannual and annual cumulative reports of the total number of people in segregated confinement. The NYC Correction Officers Union slammed legislators for passing the bill, arguing it will lead to an increase in violent attacks in prisons and noting that an officer was sent to Mount Sinai for stitches Wednesday after attempting to break up a fight between two inmates at a Rikers Island jail. The officer was punched and slashed above the eye with a box cutter. There is nothing humane about subjecting our brave men and women to brutal assaults that send them to the hospital every week to be treated for broken noses, broken eye sockets, and gashes across their limbs that often require many stitches, said COBA President Benny Boscio, arguing that attacks on officers are up 23% and stabbings and slashings continue to rise. The governor should put safety first and refuse to sign this reckless piece of legislation that is only going to further jeopardize the lives of our essential correction officers, he added. Enough is enough. 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. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) The Inter-Agency Task Force ordered some businesses to temporarily stop operations for two weeks, but Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Friday said there will be no drastic lockdowns to curb the ongoing spike in new COVID-19 cases. Driving schools, cinemas, gaming arcades, museums and cultural centers in areas under general community quarantine will be closed starting Friday until April 4. The order issued by the IATF also temporarily bans social events in establishments accredited by the Department of Tourism. Meanwhile, meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) events will be limited to 30% of the venue's capacity. Restaurants, cafes and personal care services are restricted to serving 50% of their guest capacity. These sectors were recently reopened and expanded in a bid to spur economic activity in the country. Roque added religious gatherings will be cut down from 50% down to 30% of the venue's capacity provided there is no objection from the local government units. Metro Manila, Baguio City, Apayao, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Batangas, Tacloban City, Iligan City, Davao City, and Lanao Del Sur are under GCQ for March. The IATF resolution on temporarily closing some businesses and the restriction on the entry of foreign travelers are some of the measures implemented by the national government in a bid to stop the spread of the virus in the country. Roque said the members of the task force did not agree to enforce a "circuit breaker" period. "Hindi napagkasunduan kahapon sa IATF so walang 'circuit lockdown,'" he said in a media briefing. Singapore carried out a "circuit breaker" period in April 2020 wherein residents were only allowed to leave their homes for work, to buy necessities, and other essential trips similar to the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the Philippines. Government officials have shunned proposals for entire regions or provinces to shift to ECQ or even its modified version despite alarming rise in new coronavirus infections in the country, arguing there should be a balance between health and economy. The country recorded 5,290 new cases on Thursday, bring the total number of infections to 640,984. The Saraswat Co-operative Bank Ltd., a Scheduled Bank, has called for online applications from eligible and interested candidates for filling One-Fifty (150) vacancies to the post of Business Development Officer (BDO) Grade B in Saraswat Bank through direct recruitment to be posted in states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa and New Delhi in India on a fulltime basis. The online registration-cum-application process towards the same started on March 17, 2021 and closes on March 31, 2021. Download Saraswat Bank Notification PDF here or from the Saraswat Bank Careers sections. CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Business Development Officer (BDO) Grade B posts in Saraswat Bank Organisation Saraswat Co-operative Bank Ltd Educational Qualification Bachelors Degree/Graduation with second class (minimum 50% marks and above) Experience Freshers can apply Job Responsibilities null Skills Required null Job Location Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa and New Delhi Salary Scale Rs. 21,620 to Rs. 23,300 per month Industry Scheduled Bank Application Start Date March 17, 2021 Application End Date March 31, 2021 Saraswat Bank Recruitment 2021: Age And Fees Candidates interested in applying for Saraswat Bank BDO Jobs 2021 through Saraswat Bank Recruitment 2021 must have attained 21 years of age and not be more than 27 years as on February 1, 2021 with relaxation (upper age limit) for reserved categories as specified in Saraswat Bank Notification 2021. Candidates must remit a prescribed amount of Rs. 750 as application fee for Saraswat Bank BDO Jobs 2021 under Saraswat Bank Recruitment 2021 through Debit/Credit card/UPI/Net Banking or any other online mode only as mentioned in the official Saraswat Bank Notification 2021 given at the end of the article. Also Read: Narcotics Control Bureau Recruitment 2021 For 100 Junior Intelligence Officers, Apply Offline Before April 15 Saraswat Bank Recruitment 2021: Saraswat Bank BDO Vacancy 2021 Maharashtra - 134 Karnataka - 06 Gujarat - 05 Goa - 03 Madhya Pradesh - 02 Total - 150 Saraswat Bank Recruitment 2021: Education And Eligibility Desirous candidates applying for Saraswat Bank BDO Jobs 2021 through Saraswat Bank Recruitment 2021 must possess a Bachelor's Degree/Graduation with second class (minimum 50% marks and above) from a recognised University/Institution as detailed in Saraswat Bank Notification 2021. Saraswat Bank Recruitment 2021: Selection And Pay Scale The selection of candidates for Saraswat Bank Business Development Officer Jobs 2021 through Saraswat Bank Recruitment 2021 will be done through an Online Test in May 2021 as notified in the Saraswat Bank Notification 2021. Candidates shortlisted for Saraswat Bank Jobs 2021 through Saraswat Bank Recruitment 2021 will be paid emolument in the pay scale of Rs. 21,620 to Rs. 23,300 per month. Also Read: HPCL Recruitment 2021 For 200 Mechanical And Civil Engineers, Apply Online Before April 15 On Jobs.HPCL.Co.In Saraswat Bank Recruitment 2021: How To Apply Candidates applying for Saraswat Bank Jobs 2021 through Saraswat Bank Recruitment 2021 must register online on the official Saraswat Bank website in Saraswat Bank Careers sections and submit their applications on or before March 31, 2021 as mentioned in the Saraswat Bank Notification 2021. Download Saraswat Bank Notification 2021 PDF for Business Development Officer (BDO) posts UK Prime Minister on Thursday announced getting inoculated with the vaccine the next day. The country is currently vaccinating those over 50, which includes 56-year-old Johnson, who has been waiting for his turn just like everyone else. "As it happens, I'm getting mine tomorrow. And the center where I'm getting jabbed is currently using the Oxford/ vaccine for those receiving their first dose, and that is the one I'll be having," Johnson said at a press conference. The vaccine has lately been under intense scrutiny in light of reports about some recipients developing blood clots after vaccination. However, the European Medicines Agency has announced it failed to find a link between the vaccine and increased risks of thrombosis. The UK has already inoculated over 25 million people with the first dose and more than 1.7 million with the second. (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.) TAMAQUA Those traveling through downtown Tamaqua may have noticed crews working on the exterior of the Berwick House at 35 W. Broad St. The project will eventually include renovations to two neighboring blighted buildings. But improvements arent just exterior. Included in the $5.7 million project are upgrades to 13 existing apartments at the Berwick House, along with a modernized elevator and a new HVAC system. The rest of the project will include rehabilitating four additional units in buildings that have been vacant for decades. It is the latest in a series of revitalization projects undertaken by the Alliance for Building Communities, according to an announcement from state Sen. David G. Argall and Rep. Jerry Knowles, both from Rush Township. A key component in any healthy downtown is quality housing for people of many different income levels, said Argall, R-29. This project is just another example of the incredible effort made by Tamaqua and many of its private citizens to breathe new life into a community that we are proud to call home. Day by day, week by week, year by year, since the day we began the restoration of our 1874 train station three decades ago, Tamaqua is making real progress. Knowles said hes happy to know additional housing will be made available. Housing assistance can make a significant difference in the economic well-being of our families, said Knowles, R-124. Our mission should be to help people to live comfortably. The project received a $350,000 Affordable Housing Grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh; a $500,000 grant from the PennHOMES program; and $485,000 in low-income tax credits from the Pennsylvania Housing and Finance Authority. The remainder of the funding comes in the form of equity from Riverview Bank. Tamaqua Mayor Nathan Gerace thanked Argall and Knowles for securing the funding. Tamaqua has an abundance of hardworking citizens and groups that help Tamaqua grow and thrive every day, he said. This is a great example of the projects that continue to help Tamaqua take the next step of continued revitalization. The Alliance for Building Communities operates the Tamaqua Hi-Rise. In recent years, it converted a long-vacant shoe factory on Hazle Street and an abandoned textile factory on East Broad Street into housing. When the ongoing project is complete, the exterior will resemble the former Tamaqua National Bank, which was organized in 1904. Amid the intense campaigning for the Assembly Elections in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Election King K. Padmarajan has enthusiastically filed his nomination despite multiple failures in the past. Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm, said Winston Churchill. These words drive Election King K. Padmarajan, for whom losing is winning. The 61-year old independent candidate is now gearing up for three election battles from two Southern Indian states - Tamil Nadu and Kerala. His motto - Losing, just as he has been since 1988, when he first contested in the polls. Ask him the names of leaders hes contested against, and the list consists of Vajpayee, Narasimha Rao, Manmohan Singh, Jayalalithaa, Karunanidhi, AK Antony, Yeddyurappa, SM Krishna, APJ Abdul Kalam, Ramnath Kovind, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi. This time around, for the Assembly polls in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, as usual, hes picked the biggest names to contest against - Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami (who is contesting in his home turf Edappadi) and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vihayan who is contesting from Dharmadam in Kannur, besides Mettur Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu, where Padmarajan resides. After having filed his 217th nomination to face the polls, Padmarajan is a happy man, hopeful of successfully losing this time as well. His aim is to prove that even common citizens can be in the poll fray - whether the post up for grabs is that of a Member of Legislative Assembly, Member of Parliament or even the President of India. Having spent over Rs.50 lakhs, for contesting and continuously losing at the polls over the last 33 years, Padmarajan has made it to several record books, including the Limca Book of Records. I am the only Election King in the world Padmarajan proclaims proudly. Hes also approached Indias Election Commission to register his party - Election King Failure party. He hopes that his streak of losses will one day get him a place in the Guinness Book of world records. Live TV The exhibition "Ferdinand and Maria: a common destiny, Greater Romania," which pays homage to the two great historical personalities, can be visited, starting on Friday, in the Medieval Spaces of the Cotroceni National Museum, according to AGERPRES. According to a press release of the museum, the exhibition benefits from a presentation of the genealogies of the Romanov, Saxa-Coburg and Gotha and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen families, meant to acquaint the public with the origin and kinship of the personalities presented. The portraits presented are made by young Romanian artists: Oana-Alexandra Achitei, Georgiana Chitac, Alexandra-Elena Ciocan, Ana-Maria Galeteanu, Ana-Alexandra Hochreiter, Alexandru Savescu, Zelmira Szabo and Traian Tamuris. The exhibition is open to the public until April 18, from Monday to Sunday, between 9.00 am and 4.00 pm, with a prior appointment by phone or e-mail, the price of a ticket being 10 lei/person. The exhibition is included, at no extra cost, in the classic tour of the Cotroceni National Museum. The Cotroceni National Museum recalls that King Ferdinand and Queen Maria, descendants of some of the most important royal families, dedicated their lives to building a country, "their devotion naturally following the tradition created by their parents and grandparents in other European countries, but also by King Carol I and Queen Elisabeta in Romania." Dr Anthony Fauci on Thursday night hit back at Rand Paul, after the Kentucky Republican accused him in a Senate hearing of using face masks as 'theatre' for the 'nanny state'. Fauci, the nation's top public health expert, and Paul, a libertarian who infuriated colleagues by continuing to use the Senate gym while awaiting the results of his COVID test, clashed forcefully on Thursday. Paul accused Fauci of trying to keep Americans under COVID restrictions 'forever'. On Thursday night Fauci told CNN that it was 'not the first time' he and Paul had argued, but insisted that it was still essential to carry on wearing a face mask after being vaccinated. Dr Anthony Fauci appeared on CNN on Thursday night to discuss his earlier row with Rand Paul "He completely does not take into account the variants. He quotes literature which is selective in how he quotes it. Dr. Anthony Fauci on his contentious exchange with Sen. Rand Paul over whether people should wear masks if they have recovered from Covid-19 or received a vaccine pic.twitter.com/GK2AJ3bRyn Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) March 19, 2021 Paul attacked government guidance that people who have been vaccinated still wear masks 'There is always a kernel of truth in what he says; that there is protection, to some extent, after you get infected. There is no doubt about that,' Fauci told Chris Cuomo. Fauci, 80, pointed out that Paul was ignoring the threat from new variants, and was 'selective' in his quoting medical literature. Fauci highlighted an article in The Lancet published on Wednesday which said people aged 65 and over were at particular risk of getting re-infected. 'I'm afraid if people hear what he says, and they believe it, and you have an elderly person who has been infected, and they decide, well Rand Paul says you won't get it again - they could get re-infected again and get into trouble,' he said. 'That's the thing that bothers me about that kind of an interchange.' Fauci said he understood that people were 'tired of the constraints' of social distancing and mask wearing, but insisted that for now it was still the right thing to do. 'We are not saying doing this indefinitely,' he said. 'We are not saying this is the way it's going to have to be all the time. 'We are saying that if you look at the data, look at the science, you could get in trouble if you pull back too prematurely. 'That's what we are saying. We are not saying it is not difficult to maintain public health measures, when you do it so long. On that, we agree.' Fauci, who was appointed by Joe Biden as his chief medical adviser, said that Europe was now going back into lockdown because they were too quick to lift restrictions, and had not had as high a vaccine uptake as in the United States. 'We want to avoid that,' he said, of the risk of a fourth wave and new lockdowns, as in Italy and France. 'We've seen it before; we've been to that movie before; we want to avoid that.' He said the recommendations on social distancing and mask wearing will change once more data becomes available that suggests it is safe. The row began earlier on Thursday when Fauci told Paul there was not yet sufficient information about the transmissibility of the virus that has killed more than 500,000 Americans. James Hubbard is seen in Carbondale, Illinois, being vaccinated on Thursday Women are seen wearing face masks in New York City on Wednesday Paul, who was the first senator to test positive for the virus last year, strongly criticized the current government guidance. He said people might be more inclined to get vaccinated if they would gain the ability to ditch their masks once they went through with getting one. 'You're defying everything we know about immunity by telling you to wear masks we've been vaccinated,' said Paul, who is an ophthalmologist. 'Instead you should be saying: there is no science to say we're going to have a problem from the large number of people you vaccinated. 'You want to get rid of vaccine hesitancy? Tell them they can quit wearing their mask after they get the vaccine. 'You want people to get the vaccine? Give them a reward instead of telling them that the nanny state is going to be there for three more years and you got to wear a mask forever,' he said. 'I totally disagree with you,' Fauci told Paul after the senator lectured him 'If you have immunity, they're theater,' said Paul of the face masks President Joe Biden has urged Americans to wear masks for 100 days to stem the virus White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who has been vaccinated, wears a mask 'People don't want to hear it, there's no science behind it,' Paul continued, not leaving Fauci time to respond. Fauci interjected: 'Well, let me just state for the record that masks are not theater. Masks are protective.' Paul continued: 'If you have immunity, they're theater. 'If you already have immunity you're wearing a mask to give comfort to others.' Fauci replied: 'I totally disagree with you.' Fauci said dangerous new variants of the virus, including a more transmissible one that came from Great Britain, could still pose a risk to people who have previously been infected from different strains. Meanwhile, Biden took a victory lap Thursday announcing that his administration would meet its goal of having 100 million shots in arms in his first 100 days in office nearly six weeks early. 'Tomorrow, 58 days into our administration, we will have met my goal of administering 100 million shots to our fellow Americans,' he said during a speech at the White House. Biden was panned for announcing a vaccination goal in January that sounded ambitious, but which the country was already on track to reach when former President Trump left office. He said he will set a new goal next week. He also warned Americans it was not a time to relax mask wearing and social distancing. The threat posed by mutations is the reason the CDC continues to advise people to wear masks when in public settings and with others although it revised guidance to say people who have been vaccinated can remove masks when meeting small groups of other vaccinated people or with family members within the home. Fauci said: 'In the South African study conducted by [Johnson & Johnson], they found that people who were infected with wild type and were exposed to the variant in South Africa, the 351, it was as if they had never been infected before, they had no protection.' Scientists still don't know how long expected immunity would last with the COVID-19 - a virus that has killed more than two million people worldwide. Bay of Plenty The civil season is about to kick off here in Tauranga and we have positions for 2 class 2 truck drivers who would be interested... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz Last night, eight people at three different massage spas were murdered in the Atlanta, GA. Six of the eight victims were Asian; the suspect in custody is White. Supposedly, the killer told police he was trying to fight a sex addiction by targeting places that might "tempt" him. The fact that he specifically went to Asian spas and shot Asian women is suspicious--in the midst of a pandemic that the former US president again this week called "the China virus." Asian Americans have been unfairly targeted as somehow causing or spreading COVID-19. Hate crimes against this demographic group spiked 150% in the year since the pandemic began--nearly 3800 events were recorded, and that's likely only a fraction of what actually occurred. Even in the Bay Area, with a substantial Asian population, there has been violence against Asian Americans in San Francisco, Oakland, and other neighborhoods. Yet, the police spokesman who addressed the press last night said of the gunman, "He was having a bad day." Really? When you're having a bad day, you might snap at your spouse or significant other, be intolerant to your kids, act rudely to a grocery clerk, or even cut someone off on the freeway. But someone who deliberately murders innocent people at three different locations (and appears to have been headed south to Florida to wreak even more violence), is not having a bad day. They're allowing unfounded bias and poor judgment to convince them to commit unspeakable crimes. It's not their day that's bad, it's their character. Trivializing a crime like this helps no one--except, perhaps, others with the same sick ideas. We all need to stand up and speak out for this group and others that are unfairly targeted because of their race, religion, ethnicity, or country of origin. March 26, the anniversary of the Naturalization Act of 1790 has been designated as a day of peaceful protest against Asian American hatred and violence. Regardless of your ethnicity, it's time to stand up and support our friends and neighbors. It's time to give bigots a bad day. Subscribe to this newsletter. By Orooj Hakimi and Charlotte Greenfield KABUL (Reuters) - As envoys gathered in Russia's capital for a shake up of the Afghan peace process, Afghan women wondered - what about us? Just one woman, rights advocate and politician Habiba Sarabi, was on the 12-member delegation of Afghan government and political leaders attending Thursday's summit in Moscow. The 10-member delegation sent by the Islamist Taliban had none. On Thursday, Sarabi addressed a vast circular table of male counterparts at a Moscow hotel, calling for a ceasefire. "Why should (I) be the only woman in the room? We have not been part of the war, we can certainly contribute to peace," she said, according to a tweet from a fellow negotiator that she shared. "Fifty-one percent of people should not be ignored." With just six weeks left before a deadline for foreign troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, Shaharazad Akbar, who leads Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission, said it was unacceptable that only one woman attended the meeting. It was also a worrying sign for the future: "It's setting the tone for things to come in terms of inclusivity," she said. WARLORDS The Moscow summit was the start of a series of international meetings reflecting a shift in focus by Washington, as a May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign troops looms, and negotiations between the government and Taliban in Doha have been stalled. Diplomats say Washington wants support from regional powers to push Afghans to form a power-sharing government. At the talks in Moscow, the United States was joined by Russia, China and Pakistan in calling for an Afghan ceasefire. Women's rights activists fear that the shift will further dilute the role of the few women involved in the peace process, in favour of traditional male political figures. In many cases, the regional powers owe their influence in Afghanistan to ties with warlords who held sway throughout four decades of conflict, all of them men. Story continues "A number of our colleagues in the international community are going to...the same leaders, who ruled Afghanistan twenty years ago," said Fauzia Koofi, one of just four female negotiators among the 42 representing the Afghan sides in Doha. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said Washington wished there had been more than one woman in the Moscow delegation. The United States would advocate for "meaningful participation" by women in upcoming gatherings. "Women, girls, and minority groups in Afghanistan have made extraordinary gains...and preserving those gains is a high priority for the Biden Administration," the spokesperson said. A spokesman for Afghanistan's presidential palace did not immediately respond to request for comment. During their 1996-2001 rule, the Taliban enforced an interpretation of Islamic law that was among the harshest towards women's rights on earth. Women were required to fully cover their bodies and faces in a burqa, and barred from education or work, or from leaving the house without a male relative. The Taliban say they have changed but many women remain sceptical. Since the Taliban were driven from power in 2001 by U.S. air strikes, the international community has poured billions into Afghanistan's development. Gains for women and girls in access to education and public life are repeatedly touted as one of the major successes of two decades of foreign involvement. "It's...ridiculous to expect a single woman, in a room full of not just men, but in many cases men with long track records of abusive attitudes and conduct toward women, to carry all women's rights on her shoulders," said Heather Barr, Interim Co-Director of the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, who nevertheless said Sarabi would do all she could. (Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield in Islamabad and Orooj Hakimi in Kabul; Additional reporting by Gabrielle Farber-Tetrault in Moscow; Editing by Peter Graff) New Delhi, March 20 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and stressed the commitment to the strategic partnership between the two countries amid rising tensions in the region and around the world with China. Modi tweeted after their meeting on Friday, "Pleasure to meet U.S. @SecDef Lloyd Austin today. Conveyed my best wishes to @POTUS @JoeBiden. India and US are committed to our strategic partnership that is a force for global good." Austin also met with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, according to the US embassy. Soon after his arrival, Austin tweeted that his discussions in India would centre on cooperating to face "most pressing challenges" in the Indo-Pacific region where China's aggressive actions, from the Himalayas to the South China Sea are on the rise. He is scheduled to meet Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the delegations from the two countries are to hold discussions during his visit. The first visit by a member of US President Joe Biden's Cabinet to India came as leaders of the US and China clashed at a meeting in Alaska symbolising the growing aggressiveness of China. It is particularly highlighted in the Indo-Pacific region and the US is responding by working closely with allies and partners. Austin tweeted, "Thrilled to be here in India. The breadth of cooperation between our two nations reflects the significance of our major defense partnership, as we work together to address the most pressing challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region." Outlining Austin's agenda in India, Acting Assistant Defence Secretary for Indo-Pacific, David F. Helvey, said that he will "discuss operationalising the major defence partnership that we have with India, including through enhanced information sharing, regional security cooperation, defence trade, and cooperation in new domains." The Indian Defence Ministry said that Singh and Austin "are expected to discuss ways to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation and exchange views on regional security challenges and common interests in maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region." It added, "Discussions regarding defence cooperation would also focus on how both countries could consolidate military-to-military cooperation and defence trade and industry cooperation." The US designated India as a major defence partner by the US in 2016 allowing it access to some defence hi-tech that would normally be available only to allies. The visit reflects President Joe Biden's focus on the Indo-Pacific region to meet the Chinese challenge. Last week Biden held a virtual summit with other leaders of the Quad nations, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India, Scott Morrison of Australia and Yoshihide Suga of Japan, at which they discussed security issues in the face of Chinese aggressive actions. While on his way to India, Austin spoke to Australia's Foreign Minister Maria Payne, who also holds the defence portfolio. Helvey said that Austin spoke to her about the "Quadrilateral process" of the four nations. Before coming to India, Austin had visited two US treaty allies, Japan and Korea, on the frontlines of Chinese aggressiveness at sea in the region, and the military headquarters of the Indo-Pacific headquarters in Hawaii. He and Secretary of State Antony Blinken held 2+2 ministerial meetings with their counterparts in Seoul and Tokyo. The meeting of Blinken and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan with senior Chinese officials, State Councilor Wang Yi and Communist Party Foreign Affairs Director Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi, opened yesterday in Anchorage, Alaska, with open hostility. Blinken said: "We will always stand up for our principles for our people, and for our friends." Yi retorted that the US was trying to "obstruct normal trade exchanges, and incite some countries to attack China" -- a veiled reference to India, which hs defended itself against a by Beijing's army along the Line of Actual Control. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Approximately 2.6 million Australians are aged 70 or over. Loading Theyve got no issue with what vaccine it is, they dont want to know whether it is AstraZeneca, Moderna or Pfizer, they dont care about that. They just want to have it and basically get on with their lives, Mr Shaw said. One person very eager to get the vaccine is Mr Shaws own father, 70-year-old Scott Shaw. Mr Shaw (senior) said he recently had lunch with 15 of his former colleagues in their late 60s and early 70s. Every one of them without question has said they want to get vaccinated as soon as they can. He said they were concerned about the risk of death or serious illness from coronavirus. Many of Mr Shaws generation are also old enough to remember life before the introduction of a number of routine childhood vaccines. I have memories of seeing kids with polio, said Mr Shaw, who grew up in Melbourne. What they used to do in those days [was attach] irons to their legs so they could walk around, but oh it was just horrible, and that sits very clearly in mind. Mr Shaw said an eagerness to travel overseas again was also a major priority for a lot of his friends. They go to places like Bali they go on cruise ships. They all want to get back that lifestyle, because thats what they planned for in their retirement, he said. For Mr Shaw, the wish to travel overseas again is urgent and personal, as he has retired with his wife in the Philippines, but got stranded back in Australia in February last year. Loading Melbourne retiree Graeme Medew, 75, said he was still deciding if he would get a vaccine, due to his history of clots that led to his hospitalisation last year and nearly took me off to Mars. Several countries paused their rollouts of the AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns of reported blood clots. Europes drug regulator has since declared the vaccine safe, after finding no link between the jab and the blood clots. Mr Medew said he would likely take the advice of his trusted doctor on the issue. Ive always had utmost confidence in my GP I was sort of just going to take all the lead from his comment. But for other people he knows around the same age, the decision is much more straightforward. Most are keen to get the vaccine, Mr Medew said, as they still avoid the gym and other higher-risk activities. [Theyve] stopped so many things until they get the vaccination, he said. Their attitude is they arent going to risk anything. Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Sunny, along with a few afternoon clouds. High 86F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 61F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Vecchia Romagna unveils rare expression to mark 200th anniversary Italian brandy maker Vecchia Romagna has unveiled a limited-edition expression to mark its 200th anniversary. The Riserva Anniversario will be released in a limited run of 200 crystal decanters, each handcrafted, individually numbered and signed by the Salviati master glassmakers in Murano, Venice. Each decanter also comes with a bespoke case and a glorifier inspired by the staves of the oak barrels used to aged Vecchia Romagna's spirits, and featuring hand-stitched Italian leather. Rooted in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, Riserva Anniversario is designed as a showcase of traditional techniques, flavours and vintages, paying homage to the distillery's history while also celebrating the business' sense of modernity. It was created by blending liquids from five individually selected casks, dating back as far as 1952. Bottled at 48% ABV, Vecchia Romagna says the brandy has its hallmark notes of caramel, dark and tropical fruits, cinnamon, clove, mace and cardamom. Riserva Anniversario forms part of a growing portfolio of premium Italian aged brown spirits at Vecchia Romagna. Marco Ferrari, CEO of Gruppo Montenegro, said: "With this truly rare and expertly crafted limited release we bring to life the vision that legitimises Italian aged spirits and allows them to play the role they deserve in the world of premium and super-premium alcoholic beverages. "Following the success of Vecchia Romagna Etichetta Nera and Tre Botti, Riserva Anniversario is the third pillar in the Vecchia Romagna Reserve range - a growing portfolio of premium spirits driven by the insatiable demand around the world for all that is Italian." The first decanters of Riserva Anniversario will go on sale with The Whisky Exchange, RRP 3,500. 17 February 2021 - Bethany Whymark 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 story has been updated to add information from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The CEO of Peloton yesterday said on the companys website that a child had died in an accident involving one of its treadmills. John Foley said he recently learned about a tragic accident involving a child and the Tread+, resulting in, unthinkably, a death. While we are aware of only a small handful of incidents involving the Tread+ where children have been hurt, each one is devastating to all of us at Peloton, and our hearts go out to the families involved. Foley asked users of Peloton equipment to review and follow the companys safety guidelines. We design and build all of our products with safety in mind. But in order to help ensure that you and your family members stay safe with Peloton products in your home, we need your help. This is especially true during what I hope is the final stretch of the pandemic where everyone is still at home, Foley wrote. Foley said Pelaton offers these safety instructions: Keep children and pets away from Peloton exercise equipment at all times. Before you begin a workout, double check to make sure that the space around your Peloton exercise equipment is clear. When you finish a workout on your Tread+, remove the safety key and store it out of reach of children and anyone else who should not be able to start the Tread+. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said it is aware of the incident and are investigating it. In 2019, there were an estimated 22,500 treadmill-related injuries treated at U.S. emergency departments among all ages (of which around 2,000 were children under 8 years of age). Between 2018 and 2020, 17 fatalities have been reported to CPSC that were associated with the use of a treadmill. This includes all ages. One of the 17 decedents was a 5-year-old child. The commission recommends that treadmill users follow the safety instructions from the manufacturer and always supervise children around treadmills. Children can be hurt on moving treadmills. Secure your treadmill so children cannot start them on their own. Cords on treadmills, called shut-off lanyards, can be a strangulation hazard for children. Keep the cords away from kids. If your treadmill has a safety key remove it and store it in a location secured way from children so kids cannot access the treadmill. The Peloton Tread+ treadmill has a 32-inch touch screen that allows users to exercise with help from Peloton instructors in real time. Prices start at $4,295, according to the company website. More: Community rallies around family of girl killed in Perry County fire. 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 Atul Gawandes 2009 New Yorker article, Hellhole, opened my eyes to the horrors of solitary confinement. Is this torture? he asked. Even before finishing the article, I knew that my answer, like Gawandes, was and is an unequivocable yes. Nearly 180 years ago, Charles Dickens came to the same conclusion during his 1842 visit to the United States when he toured Eastern State Penitentiary, a prison built exclusively for solitary cells, located just outside the then-city limits of Philadelphia, and opened in 1829. He was horrified. He described prisoners as buried alive and deplored the immense amount of torture and agony which this dreadful punishment, prolonged for years, inflicts upon the sufferers. Fast-forward to 2011 when the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez concluded that isolation in excess of 15 days is torture and should be subjected to an absolute prohibition. A few years later in a concurring opinion to a 2015 Supreme Court ruling, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that solitary exacts a terrible price, bringing people to the edge of madness, perhaps to madness itself. The practice of caging people for 22-plus hours a day in a cell the size of a parking space, depriving them of sensory stimulation and human contact, is barbaric and certainly cruel. But it is also all too usual across most of the United States, including right here in Connecticut prisons. Were Charles Dickens alive and able to return, he would have reason once again to be horrified. Why write about solitary confinement in a Faith Matters column, you may wonder. While there are myriad grounds for ending prolonged isolation human rights, mental health, economic cost, and constitutionality, to name some this, for me, is first and foremost a matter of faith. The bedrock of faith traditions is the claim that all persons are created in the image of God. We all carry the spark of divinity, conferring inherent dignity and sacredness on each and every one of us. No exceptions. But solitary confinement belies and betrays that; it creates exceptions. A correctional practice in name only, it instead degrades, dehumanizes and brutalizes those who have been incarcerated, defiling their inherent, and God-given, dignity. Surely such punishment offends God, and it should offend all people of conscience and faith. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews exhorts us, Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured (Heb.13:3). What does this mean? For certain, it means those of us on the outside must not treat those incarcerated as other than ourselves. We are to identify with those in prison, empathize with them, as if they were our flesh and blood. And they are our siblings, parents, children, our family. We must respect and protect their dignity as human beings. As people of faith our mandate is to speak up when we witness a practice, such as prolonged isolation, which systematically desecrates the image of God in those incarcerated and exacts a terrible price. Our mandate is to advocate for the end of such torture. Connecticuts Department of Correction recently took an important step toward that end. Commissioner Angel Quiros announced the closing this July of Northern Correctional Institution, Connecticuts supermax prison opened in 1995 for the sole purpose, like Eastern State Penitentiary, of holding persons in isolation cells, not just for months, but too often for years. Closing Northern is absolutely necessary, but this one step alone is not sufficient. Why? Because solitary confinement is more than a place; it is a practice that has infected the whole culture of Correction and is being used in other Connecticut prison facilities in addition to Northern. As people of faith, we must say stop but we must do more than that. We must also work to change the culture of Correction. We have the opportunity to do just that by supporting Senate Bill 1059, which is making its way through the Connecticut legislature right now. Initially proposed by Stop Solitary CT as the PROTECT (Promoting Responsible Oversight, Treatment, and Effective Correctional Transparency) Act, SB 1059 addresses the harms of prolonged isolation by advocating for humane standards. I encourage all readers to advocate for the passage of SB 1059. Contact your state legislators to urge their support. Let them know that this is a matter of faith, as well as of justice. This is about the humanity of those incarcerated. It is also about the humanity of correctional staff. And it is also about the humanity of us all, whether inside or outside prison. The writer Fyodor Dostoevsky famously said, The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons. Passage of SB 1059 offers us an opportunity to become more civilized and humane. As a matter of faith, let us seize this opportunity. The Rev. Allie Perry is the worship coordinator of Shalom UCC, New Haven. Her email address is allie.perry@gmail.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. New Delhi, March 19 : The central government on Friday urged the Delhi High Court to restrain WhatsApp from implementing its new privacy policy. "It is humbly prayed that the Respondent No. 2 [WhatsApp] may be restrained from implementing its new privacy policy and terms of service dated 04.01.2021 from 08.02.2021 or any subsequent date pending adjudication by this Hon'ble Court," the government stated in an affidavit. On February 2, the court had sought the Central Government's response on a petition challenging the new privacy policy of social networking platform WhatsApp. Notably, WhatsApp has asked users to either give their consent to sharing data with Facebook or lose their accounts after February 8. The policy was, however, put on hold till May 15 due to a massive backlash by the users. The petitioners, Dr. Seema Singh, through Advocate Meghan Singh, argued that the impact of the WhatsApp policy can cause a catastrophe with respect to the data of the citizens. The plea submitted that the fissures in law with respect to data are quite conspicuous and a framework to regulate the same is the need of the hour. It has sought a direction from the court to the Central Government to frame rules, guidelines, regulations to protect privacy and data of the citizens from all the apps and organisations operating in India. The High Court has also been urged to direct the Centre to tell WhatsApp to either roll back their policy or provide an option to opt out of the January 4, 2021 privacy policy and also to provide users who have accepted the privacy policy to be given another option to choose for themselves. Besides this, the petitioner prayed for the right to seek confirmation, access and rectification, the right to objection, restriction and portability of the data and the right to be forgotten as being part of Article 21 and intrinsic to the right to privacy. ST. JOSEPH, Mo., March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cereal Ingredients, Inc. (CII) is expanding in Missouri. The food solutions company announced today that it plans to build a new 80,000 sq. ft. food manufacturing facility in St. Joseph, Missouri. The state-of-the-art operation will have new technology to enhance and expand CII's product line. "We are excited to welcome Cereal Ingredients, Inc., to the state of Missouri," Governor Mike Parson said. "The company's decision to invest and create new jobs in Missouri is a testament to the hard-working men and women who call our state home. We look forward to working together as Cereal Ingredients Inc. grows and succeeds." CII develops and markets unique, new food ingredients. The company holds multiple worldwide product and process patents. "Cereal Ingredients, Inc. is excited to open a state-of the-art food manufacturing facility in St. Joseph," said Robert Hatch, CEO of CII. "The goodwill we have built with our customers has allowed us the opportunity to expand. We appreciate all the help provided from the City of St. Joseph, the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce, Buchanan County, State of Missouri, Newmark Zimmer and all of the other participants who helped finalize this project. We look forward to a completion date in the first quarter of 2022." CII is investing $24 million and plans to hire nearly 50 employees. The community is thrilled to welcome the company to the region. "We are very pleased to have Cereal Ingredients, Inc. select St. Joseph for its first expansion outside of their campus in Leavenworth, Kansas," said R. Patt Lilly, President and CEO of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Partnership. "Cereal Ingredients is an established company providing innovative and quality products for the food industry. We appreciate the confidence of the company's leadership team to select and invest in St. Joseph and create such excellent jobs." CII's new Missouri facility will be located on 8 acres of land in Eastowne Business Park. About Missouri Partnership Founded in 2007, Missouri Partnership is a public-private economic development organization focused on attracting new jobs and investment to the state and promoting Missouri's business strengths. Since its founding, Missouri Partnership has worked with partners across Missouri to attract companies that have created more than 25,000 jobs, more than $1.3 billion in new annual payroll, and more than $2.8 billion in capital investment. Contact: Janelle Higgins (314) 541-4911 janelle@missouripartnership.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cereal-ingredients-selects-missouri-for-newest-facility-301250385.html SOURCE Missouri Partnership Ultra Chemical has announced the West Coast territory of technical sales representative Trevor Cochran will be expanded to include Canada. See related: Ultra Chemical Expands Northeast and West Coast Sales Teams This responsibility will allow Cochran to increase the companys reach to new customers while transitioning to the account manager for selective existing customers within the region. Cochran said, "I am looking forward to leveraging the best practices I implemented on the West Coast and applying them to the accounts in Canada. It will be wonderful to expand my current customer base as well as bring Ultras technologies to untapped accounts to help grow the business." Jim Lynch, VP of worldwide sales, said, "The success Trevors had in building out the West Coast territory excites us about the opportunities available for him in Canada. The combination of his technical expertise and drive will open up new prospects for Ultra and reinforce existing relationships." Dr. Stiles has built a reputation for his "patient-first" approach, which includes his pioneering use of minimally invasive surgery for early tumors, such as sublobar resection for small lung cancers, which preserves vital lung tissue and speeds recovery. Dr. Stiles will also play a key role in addressing well-documented health disparities in lung cancer by increasing screening to vulnerable populations and conducting more molecular testing to identify and cure early stage disease. "Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in New York City, and disproportionately impacts our patient population," said Robert Michler, M.D., surgeon-in-chief; chairman, surgery; chairman, cardiothoracic and vascular surgery; co-director, Montefiore Einstein Center for Heart and Vascular Care; and professor of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery and of surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "Dr. Stiles' expertise in thoracic surgical oncology expands the clinical options we can provide our patients with lung disease. Through his clinical and translational research, Dr. Stiles has significantly contributed to the medical community's understanding and management of lung cancer. We are honored to have him join our team." Dr. Stiles joins Montefiore from New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell, where he and his team discovered the role that a protein, ADP-ribosyltransferase 1 (ART1), plays in helping lung cancer cells evade the immune system. His current research, which is supported by a Department of Defense grant, is focused on translating this discovery into new therapies. "I have long admired Montefiore and Einstein's dedication to tackling entrenched health disparities in the Bronx," said Dr. Stiles. "We've recently learned that women and Black patients are developing lung cancer sooner, regardless of a history of smoking. This development, coupled with too few cancer screenings, is causing delayed diagnoses, undertreatment and poorer outcomes. One of the ways we plan to address this disparity is to increase screening in our community so we can diagnose and treat our patients sooner." Throughout his career, Dr. Stiles has helped raise money for lung cancer research through his involvement with the Lung Cancer Research Foundation; an organization at which he has been chair of the Board of Directors since 2017 and serves as the vice-chair of the Scientific Advisory Board. He is also a member of the American College of Radiology Lung-RADS Steering Committee. About Montefiore Health System Montefiore Health System is one of New York's premier academic health systems and is a recognized leader in providing exceptional quality and personalized, accountable care to approximately three million people in communities across the Bronx, Westchester and the Hudson Valley. It is comprised of 10 hospitals, including the Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital and more than 200 outpatient ambulatory care sites. The advanced clinical and translational research at its medical school, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, directly informs patient care and improves outcomes. From the Montefiore-Einstein Centers of Excellence in cancer, cardiology and vascular care, pediatrics, and transplantation, to its preeminent school-based health program, Montefiore is a fully integrated healthcare delivery system providing coordinated, comprehensive care to patients and their families. For more information please visit www.montefiore.org. Follow us on Twitter and view us on Facebook and YouTube. About Albert Einstein College of Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine is one of the nation's premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. During the 2020-21 academic year, Einstein is home to 721 M.D. students, 178 Ph.D. students, 109 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and 265 postdoctoral research fellows. The College of Medicine has more than 1,900 full-time faculty members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates. In 2020, Einstein received more than $197 million in awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in aging, intellectual development disorders, diabetes, cancer, clinical and translational research, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Its partnership with Montefiore, the University Hospital and academic medical center for Einstein, advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. Einstein runs one of the largest residency and fellowship training programs in the medical and dental professions in the United States through Montefiore and an affiliation network involving hospitals and medical centers in the Bronx, Brooklyn and on Long Island. For more information, please visit www.einstein.yu.edu, read our blog, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook , and view us on YouTube. SOURCE Montefiore Health System; Albert Einstein College of Medicine What The Study Did: This analysis examined how patients with multiple sclerosis who have COVID-19 fare and what patient and disease characteristics are associated with worse outcomes. Authors: Amber Salter, Ph.D., of Washington University in St Louis, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https:/ / media. jamanetwork. com/ (doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2021.0688) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support. ### Media advisory: The full article is linked to this news release. Michigan bars could hold off on last call for a little while longer if their local governments allow it under legislation that passed the state House Thursday, although some critics fear expanding hours for alcohol sales could lead to increased drinking and driving. Lawmakers in the House voted 61-47 on House Bill 4115, which would give local governments the option to let bars in their communities serve alcohol between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. Currently, businesses with on-premises liquor licenses have to stop doing so at 2 a.m. under state law. If a local government were to opt into that change, interested liquor licensees would need to apply for a late-night permit from the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, which indicated opposition to the bill at a Feb. 23 committee hearing. The bills sponsor, Republican Rep. Ryan Berman of Commerce Township, has argued changing the law would provide local governments with another tool to help offset heavy sales losses that businesses have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic and would let Michigan cities follow the example of other cities around the country that allow late-night alcohol sales. The concept isnt new although most states require bars to close at 2 a.m. or earlier, some states and major metropolitan areas allow for later last calls. A similar bill also sponsored by Berman passed the House last year, but didnt get taken up in the Senate before session was over. In 2014, similar legislation was approved by the Michigan Senate. An assortment of groups including the Michigan Council on Alcohol Problems, Michigan Alcohol Policy Promoting Health and Safety, the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police and the Michigan Sheriffs Association are opposed to the concept on grounds extending alcohol sales could contribute to alcohol-related harm. Research has shown extending alcohol sales by two hours could lead to an uptick in alcohol-related crashes, and heavy drinkers who could already be dealing with a substance abuse issue would have an incentive to stay at bars longer, said Mike Tobias with Michigan Alcohol Policy Promoting Health and Safety. It just doesnt make any sense its going to do more harm than good, essentially, Tobias said. Theres got to be better ways to help the bars and restaurants. Some Michigan bar and restaurant owners already catering to late-night clientele are open to the idea, but industry leaders told MLive last fall the change wouldnt make much difference to businesses while the pandemic is ongoing. It doesnt do us any good until were back to normal, Scott Ellis, executive director of the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association, said after a similar bill passed the House last session. Its not one of our No. 1 priorities by any means. To become law, the legislation would need to be passed by the Michigan Senate and signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Read more on MLive: Opening Michigan bars until 4 a.m. would be nice, but not top priority for industry 4 a.m. closing time could come to a Michigan bar near you Michigan bars could stay open until 4 a.m. under Senate-passed bill A marine scientist diver from the University of Hong Kong swims above a cuttlefish protecting her eggs inside an artificial 3D-printed clay seabed In jade waters off Hong Kong's eastern shoreline, scientists are thrilled to spot a cuttlefish protecting her eggs inside an artificial, 3D-printed clay seabed helping to restore the city's fragile coral reefs. On postcards and in the popular imagination Hong Kong is a byword for urban density, a thicket of towering skyscrapers crammed along the harbour or clinging to the vertiginous hillsides above. Yet it is circled by a surprising array of nature and the small number of coral reefs are some of the city's best-kept secrets. Around 84 species of coral are found in Hong Kong's waters, scientists say, more diverse than those found in the Caribbean Sea. Most can be found on remote inlets, far from the sediment-filled Pearl River Delta and its busy shipping channels. But like all reefs in a rapidly warming world, they are under enormous pressure. Which is where Vriko Yu and her team of fellow marine scientists come in. They have begun using 3D printed tiles that work as an artificial bed for corals to latch onto and thrive, with promising results. "The first time we put down the tiles, there were a few fish around," she told AFP on a recent inspection by University of Hong Kong (HKU) researchers. Now the artificially produced reef laid down last summer is teeming with wildlife, including the cuttlefish, something Yu described as "very, very exciting". A diver looks at samples stored in a cool box Terracotta warriors Hong Kong's government commissioned research into local coral ecosystems after the reefs at Hoi Ha Wan marine park were struck by bleaching and mass die-offs. Corals are colonies of billions of living polyp invertebrates and are hugely sensitive to temperature changes. When they get too hot, they lose their vibrant colour and die. Repopulating a dead or damaged reef requires suitable ground for the remaining coral larvae to latch onto and build a new homeand the printed tiles have so far proven dependable. "3D printing allows us to customise a tile or a solution for any type of environment and I think that's the real potential that the technology brings," David Baker, an associate professor at HKU's School of Biological Sciences who led development of the technology, told AFP. Tiles carrying 400 coral fragments have been laid on a 40 square-metre (430 square-foot) section of sea floor in the marine park. Scientists say around 84 species of coral are found in Hong Kong's waters "The corals now on the tiles definitely survive better than the traditional way of transplantation," said Yu, putting the success rate at around 90 percent. Some projects around the world have deliberately sunk ships or concrete onto the sea floor to encourage coral growth. And while those methods have had some success, they can change the chemistry of the water. The tiles used in the Hong Kong project are made with terracotta, minimising the environmental impact. "Clay is basically soil, so soil you can find everywhere on earth," said Christian Lange, an associate professor from HKU's Department of Architecture. It leaves water chemistry unchanged, Lange added, and if a tile fails to spawn a new colony it will simply erode without leaving a trace. Tougher colonies Marine biologists pay close attention to successful reef repopulation programmes because corals are at risk of disappearing. Marine scientist Vriko Yu from the University of Hong Kong Rising sea temperatures have decimated reefs around the world, especially those in warmer tropical waters. Australia's Great Barrier Reefthe world's largest coral systemis now so badly damaged that it is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as "critical", the worst category. Corals that exist in subtropical waters are of particular interest to scientists because they form generally hardier colonies that are better able to withstand a greater range of temperatures. A recent Royal Society paper found some evidence that some subtropical corals were thriving in warmer oceans, compared with their tropical cousins. "The Great Barrier Reef... has many corals living offshore in clear tropical waters, they're not used to change," explained Baker. "So just having a little extra warmth is going to push them over the edge faster than we think our local corals would succumb to bleaching." Baker said the tiles are not a panacea for the mass bleachings. Tiles carrying 400 coral fragments have been laid on a 40 square-metre (430 square-foot) section of sea floor But he hopes the project can identify species with the genetic resilience to endure future environmental stress and buy time for corals "to adapt and to migrate into more suitable areas". "We might actually be creating a new potential home for corals as they try to escape climate change from equatorial regions," he said. 2021 AFP Five powerful Democratic senators on Thursday urged President to rescind his predecessor Donald Trump's ban on some non-immigrant visas, including the which is popular among Indian IT professionals, saying this creates uncertainties for US employers, their foreign-born professional workers and their families. In June 2020, Trump instituted Proclamation 10052, halting the processing of non-immigrant H-1B, L-1, H-2B, and J-1 visas, based on the alleged potential risk to the labour market. Although Proclamation 10052 is set to expire on March 31, 2021, businesses have indicated that inaction will further harm their businesses and economic recovery. The senators said that because the visas that Proclamation 10052 halted either target low-unemployment professions or require that the visa holder does not displace an American worker, businesses that rely on foreign workers have struggled to fill jobs despite increased unemployment. Reports have suggested that jobs in fields such as information technology -- which holders would have filled -- have remained open or were moved overseas, said senators Michael Bennet, Jeanne Shaheen, Angus King, Cory Booker, and Bob Menendez. The is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. The continuation of this ban creates delays and uncertainties for US employers, their foreign-born professional workers, and their families, wrote the senators in a letter to President Biden. Rather than attracting talented individuals to the United States, allowing these bans to remain in effect makes the immigration system harder to navigate and drives foreign talent to other countries, they wrote. Additionally, many businesses in seasonal communities that Proclamation 10052 has affected rely on foreign workers to meet the demand of the high-visitation summer months. Failing to revoke the visa ban immediately threatens both workers and employers in these communities who cannot adequately and safely prepare for the surge season, they said. Every day these visa bans remain in place undermines our collective vision for a new, more prosperous and welcoming nation. We urge you to follow through on your promise to rescind Proclamation 10052 without delay, resume timely processing of nonimmigrant visas, and direct US Embassies and Consulates to open up visa appointments for nonimmigrant visas as soon as possible, the senators wrote. Despite the increased unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), businesses that rely on foreign workers struggled to fill jobs as the nonimmigrant categories affected by PP10052 either target low-unemployment professions (e.g., H-1B and L-1 visas) or require that the nonimmigrant will not displace an American worker (e.g., H-2B, J-1), the senators wrote. The H-2B programme allows US employers or agents to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary nonagricultural jobs. Several of these categories (H-2B and J-1 Summer Work Travel and Camp Counselor) by regulation are seasonal and heavily used during the summer months when seasonal communities across the country welcome an influx of visitors. The J-1 visa is an exchange visitor visa for individuals approved to participate in work-and-study-based exchange visitor programmes in the United States. The L-1 Visa is reserved for managerial or executive professionals transferring to the US from within the same company, or a subsidiary of it. "Failing to revoke the Proclamation immediately places these programmes at risk because both workers and employers cannot adequately prepare for the surge season, they wrote. Looking ahead to long-term economic recovery, the deficit of foreign workers to fill available American tech jobs will worsen through any further lack of access to foreign talent, they said. Reports also suggest that many jobs in fields such as information technology that would have been filled by H-1B nonimmigrants have remained open or were moved permanently overseas. "Moreover, these same businesses have also noted that Proclamation 10052, coupled with defunct executive orders, has kept U.S. citizens and permanent residents separated from their parents, adult children, and siblings, the senators wrote. We believe that it's possible to continue processing these visas while also preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. This specific Proclamation is not premised on the safety and welfare of American citizens, they said. The former British brand MG ended up in the Nanjing Automobile Group in 2006 and later, which merged into SAIC in 2007. But the respectable, century-old brand was revived and developed new products. In 2021, MG introduced the MG Marvel R Electric as the company's first electric station wagon. Previously, the carmaker offered two other electric vehicles, named MG5EV and MG ZS EV. With the Marvel R, the company opened a new chapter in its lineup. MG built the C-segment lifestyle SUV on a new platform. While it showed more like a crossover or a raised station wagon, the Marvel R aimed at European customers, not only at the British ones. The designers deleted the grille at the front and installed a panel under the LED strip used as a daytime running light. Two side scoops hosted the fog lights in the bumper, while the headlights showed a C-letter pattern on top of the fenders. Its waved, ascending beltline connected the front and rear lamps and formed a shoulder line over the rear wheel-arches. The arrow-like taillights pointed toward the car's center were connected via a horizontal red light strip in the back. Inside, the carmaker installed a big, 19.4" touch-screen as a center stack, with a few physical buttons at the bottom and a 12.3" digital instrument panel. The Marvel R was powered by three electric motors: one at the front and two in the rear, which offered 288 hp. Depending on the car's configuration, it provided a WLTP range of 400 km. The base version featured just two electric motors for the rear axle. Hurricane season 2021 is here: How do storms get their names? Inc. magazine this week revealed that QuickrCare is No. 6 on its second annual Inc. 5000 Regionals: Florida list, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing Florida-based private companies. This list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the Florida economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. It is great to be recognized for all the hard work we have been doing as a team. This is just the beginning of our growth. Building a great team, great product, and great culture is how our future will be defined, says QuickrCare CEO & co-founder Alex Guastella. The companies on this list show stunning rates of growth across all industries in Florida. Between 2017 and 2019, these 250 private companies had an average growth rate of 202 percent, and, in 2019 alone, they employed more than 83,000 people and added nearly $11 billion to the Florida economy. Companies based in major metro areasMiami, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Orlandobrought in the highest revenue overall. Complete results of the Inc. 5000 Regionals: Florida, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, metro area, and other criteria, can be found at https://www.inc.com/inc5000/regionals/florida starting March 16, 2021. This list proves the power of companies in Florida no matter the industry, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. The impressive revenues and growth rates prove the insight and diligence of CEOs and that these businesses are here to stay. About QuickrCare In 2016, serial entrepreneurs Alex Guastella and Raghu Dhulipala joined forces to solve digital problems that sick patients face every day. Quick' rCare was created through much deliberation to be a guidance platform that will help the 145 million people who end up in the emergency room every year. Since its inception, Quick' rCare has helped over a million patients, added over 20 team members, and brought on great investors. We are already in use and countless emergency rooms, urgent care facilities, and retail clinics across the country. http://www.quickrcare.com More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Methodology The 2021 Inc. 5000 Regionals are ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2017 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2017. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2019. (Since then, many companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2017 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $1 million. About Inc. Media The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multi-platform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. A Navy warship has halted the start of its deployment again after turning back to shore a second time in about two weeks to address more trouble with a fuel tank. Vella Gulf, a Virginia-based Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, arrived in Norfolk on Sunday -- a day after officials announced it was briefly back at sea following repairs to a leaking fuel oil tank. The new problem affected the same tank, but a Navy official familiar with the problem said the issues appear to be unrelated. Tank corrosion is believed to have caused the first leak. The cruiser turned back to shore this weekend while operating near the Virginia Capes by the Chesapeake Bay. A technical assessment is underway to repair the new problem. Read Next: Army Denies Major's Appeal to Get Valor Award Back After Trump Pardon "Experts are still evaluating the scope of the issue," said Lt. Marycate Walsh, a spokeswoman for U.S. 2nd Fleet. "This is an ongoing situation, and more information will be provided once it becomes available." Vella Gulf deployed with the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group on Feb. 19. The crew noticed a fuel oil leak in one of its engineering spaces after hitting heavy seas, forcing the ship to turn back. It arrived back in Norfolk on Feb. 26, where it remained until March 13. The crew stayed on the ship last time to prevent possible exposure to COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. Walsh said they're taking the same precautions this time. "The ship is currently in a bubble," she said. "The crew will remain onboard at this time until the extent of damage is determined." She said the Navy remains confident in the repair work to fix the problem on the ship earlier this month, even though the new leak affected the same tank. "The tank was inspected by qualified structural engineers, and corroded and pitted areas were evaluated using established engineering methods and standards," she said. "Repairs were completed where required." Navy leaders always have the safety of sailors at front of mind when making operational decisions, she added. "Technical experts deemed the ship safe for sea, and provided professional advice that informed the underway timeline," Walsh said. "We will follow the same process when preparing the ship to return to sea this time." The rest of the carrier strike group remains at sea. A second Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, the Monterey, is deployed with the Eisenhower. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: No Indication Heavy Seas Caused Navy Cruiser's Fuel Oil Leak, Official Says Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. 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He surrendered five of the dogs yesterday, said Bonnie Kanicki, director of Saginaw County Animal Care & Control, on Friday, March 19. We will get them up to date on their vaccinations and rabies shots, spay and neuter them, and do socialization tests to determine their degrees of adoptability. Animal Control officers and Carrollton Township police officers on Monday, March 15, executed a search warrant on a house in the 200 block of Shattuck Street, finding 20 adult dogs and four puppies. Kanicki and Carrollton Township Police Chief Craig A. Oatten have described the dogs as living in deplorable conditions. The 24 dogs, all American bully and bully mixes, were removed and taken to Animal Control. One of the adult dogs required immediate emergency surgery for an injury that was left unattended. At least two of the adult dogs have prolapsed Meibomian glands, tiny glands that line the margin of the eyelid, and will require surgery as well. Kanicki has said the dogs owner was seemingly breeding and selling them online, marketing them as exotic bullies or microbullies. While officers were on scene, the house was receiving calls from people out of town asking to come and get their dogs, Kanicki added. They can command a pretty hefty price, Oatten previously said of the dogs being offered for sale. It was a puppy mill, churning out as many dogs as he could. Police arrested the dogs 37-year-old owner on a domestic violence charge several hours before the search warrant was executed on his home. The man was later arraigned in Saginaw County District Court on a 10-year felony charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm related to conduct he allegedly engaged in with a woman on the premises. The arraigning judge set the mans bond at $5,000 cash-surety or 10 percent. The man posted bond and was freed on Thursday, March 18, after which he surrendered five of his dogs. He said he had no emotional attachment to them, Kanicki said. The other 19 dogs are still owned by the man. Kanicki added that housing each dog runs $15 per day, which the owner will be on the hook for. For just the three days all 24 dogs were housed while still being owned by the man, the total is $1,080. In addition, the man will owe for the $1,600 spent on the one dogs surgery, Kanicki said. Regarding the five surrendered dogs, if they are adoptable, they will likely find new homes out of the mid-Michigan area, Kanicki said. With animal victims, we look at our first option being to move them out of the area where they were victimized in, she said. We have had a lot of people calling about these dogs who are interested in helping out. We appreciate that. Kanicki said she plans to seek animal cruelty charges from the Saginaw County Prosecutors Office, though the investigation between her agency and Carrollton Township police is ongoing. People are mad, but it takes time to find the truth, Kanicki said of the investigations complexity. MLive is not naming the dogs owner until or if he is arraigned on animal cruelty charges. Read more: Domestic violence call leads officials to rescue 24 dogs living in deplorable conditions Severely wounded puppies leads to felony against Buena Vista Township man Police investigate animal cruelty of more than 60 dogs, livestock in Gladwin County Woman pleads to animal cruelty in starvation of 12 racehorses in Saginaw County Rescued pigs dubbed the Saginaw Six find new homes at sanctuaries as owner faces criminal charges (Natural News) We just got back from El Salvador, and before we left Central America, we took a COVID test the one where the nurse rams the Q-tip up your nose and tries to find your frontal lobe until your eyes water. Youve probably experienced it. Its pretty unpleasant, but youre trying to be responsible, so you endure it. (Article republished from FoxNews.com) Of course, like everyone entering the United States by plane, we had no choice. The airline demanded it. We couldnt come home until we took the test. Thats because, as they often tell us, our authorities are totally committed to keeping us safe from this deadly virus. So thats the protocol if youre coming from El Salvador to America legally. You take the test. But what if youre coming illegally? What if you rode the top of a freight train from El Salvador up through Mexico and just jumped the border when you got here? We interviewed an active MS-13 member, a convicted murderer, who said he did exactly that. So, the question is, do people like him the ones who break our laws to get here have to submit to mandatory COVID testing once theyre apprehended by American authorities? The answer is, in fact, no. They dont. Under this administration, they dont have to, and they dont. Illegal aliens are exempt from the public health measures that have been imposed by force on the rest of us by the U.S. government. Illegal aliens come and go as they please. No one seems to care if they spread deadly viruses to the rest of the American population. Its hard to believe this is actually happening, but it is. We verified it today, when DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted in congressional testimony that the Biden administration is releasing foreign nationals into American neighborhoods without even bothering to check if theyre infected with COVID. Given the authoritarian lockdowns the rest of us have lived under for the last year, the ones that have crushed the country, its hard to understand this policy as anything but an act of violence and hostility toward our country. It is an utter betrayal. They dont care about you. Theyre saying that clearly as they possibly can. Joe Biden is saying it too. A reporter recently asked Biden if he planned to visit the border to see for himself the disaster unfolding there. Not at the moment, he replied dismissively, as if he had better things to do. Wed love to know what those things are. That same day, a reporter asked Kamala Harris what she knew about the current immigration crisis, the one her administration caused. More than 100,000 foreign nationals are flooding in every month like the border doesnt exist. Some of them are gang members. Others appear to be on FBI terror watch lists. More than 13,000 of them are children, unaccompanied minors, now in U.S. custody. Its an enormous, possibly unprecedented, wave of humanity coming into America right now. But Kamala Harris didnt seem to have any idea it was happening. I havent been briefed on anything today about it, she said. She was too busy promoting critical race theory, and making sure there are boys on your daughters track team. Has there ever been an administration this reckless and destructive? Whats happening on the border tonight will change our country forever. A lot of things wont, but this will, and you should know that. Unlike other disasters, mass illegal immigration is permanent. No one ever really gets sent home. Over the past 30 years, the population of the United States has exploded by nearly 100 million people, mostly due to immigration. Were you even aware that happened? Youre not supposed to say a word about it, as every year the United States gets more jammed with people, and at the same time more chaotic and less cohesive as the open spaces shrink, as nature itself recedes in the face of yet another strip mall or apartment complex or fast food outlet to serve the new people. This is becoming a crowded country, and crowded countries are ugly, unhappy countries. Why are we letting that happen? Thats a rhetorical question of course. No one asked us what we wanted. They just did it. No one asked the countries these immigrants are coming from either. Something that had never occurred to us until we talked to the president of El Salvador is that country has lost a third of its population over the years through immigration to the United States. El Salvador is a charming country in a lot of ways, but its still a very poor place. So, when American politicians offer free education and free healthcare, and free all kinds of things to anyone who can just make it across the border, millions of Salvadorans accept their offer. And why wouldnt they accept it? So they migrate in huge groups, and that hurts our country. But it also weakens El Salvador. Heres the presidents perspective: NAYIB BUKELE: If you dont provide for your people, economic opportunities, if your economy is doing bad, if your security is doing bad, people are going to leave, and youre going to go and try to find a rich country, right? Theyre not going to leave for Guatemala. They want to go to the United States. So, that makes this country dependent on immigration because you become a net exporter of people. Youre not exporting products or services, youre exporting people. So, that makes your economy dependent on that, because those people send money back to their home countries, which is not a good economic formula So its bad for the United States because immigration will go up and its bad for our country because people leaving the country will go up as well so its bad for both of us. Its bad for both of us as in, the U.S. and El Salvador, and hes absolutely right. No one says it, but imagine if a third of the boldest, most ambitious people in your country just left. What would that mean for your future? The overfunded NGOs and self-satisfied compassion-mongers who promote open borders havent thought for a moment about that, because they dont care. They dont even know who the president of El Salvador is. How many of the SoulCycle moms with No Human Is Illegal signs on their lawns could name him? Were guessing right around none. But if youre looking for conclusive evidence of how little they actually care about the Latin American servants who walk their dogs and wash their sheets, consider the almost total silence from fashionable American liberals as the Biden administrations holding pens for immigrant children fill beyond capacity. Theyre choosing to ignore it. CBS reported Monday that more than 4,000 children are in custody at overcrowded processing facilities a 30% surge in the last week. After speaking to one migrant woman the same day, CNN correspondent Rosa Flores reported that someone stole all her money along the way she says it was packed with people. When asked if she was allowed to shower, the woman said no. Many discover that getting here is just the beginning. Some migrants describe crowded immigration processing centerswithout showering facilitiesand some say they slept under a bridge overnight. A NBC News reporter said: Attorneys for some of the children told us kids as young as one sometimes go days without bathing, rarely see the sun and the sound of crying is constant. Its bad. Its about to get much worse. There has been a 300% increase in the number of families apprehended by Customs and Border Protection since October, and that number is rising. Keep in mind that it takes around three weeks for migrants to make their way from Central America to the Mexican border with the U.S. So, the border gets more porous by the day. Thats intentional, the Biden administration has made it that way. Early indications suggest this month will see the largest surge of illegal entries in a generation. So, who are all those people coming? Well, we dont really know who they are, and we dont really have a good way to find out, and thats the scariest part. In the last day, weve learned that at least four people arrested recently at the southern border were identified by law enforcement as known to be or reasonably suspected of being involved in terrorist activities. That seems like a front page story. But its not. Democrats know perfectly well how unpopular open borders are with Americans of all races, so they are doing their best to suppress news about what is happening. Veronica Escobar, who somehow got elected to Congress from Texas, will let you know that if you say a single word about the border right now, youre a racist: Rep. Veronica Escobar, March 16: They can either join us in being part of the solution or, my fear is, what theyre going to continue to do, is to seek ways to divide our country, fuel xenophobia and racism, and I want to warn them, that their words and the fueling of that xenophobia, that racism, that hatred of the border, that fear of the border, there are consequences to that language and that rhetoric. Divide the country, said the people who are letting in millions of foreign nationals with no right to be here, against the will of the population. Its interesting to watch a demagogue like that yap into a camera, and then compare her to a leader who actually cares about the people he represents. In our conversation, the president of El Salvador took responsibility for the fact that millions have left his country. El Salvador needs better security and more opportunity, and he seemed to mean it as he said it. Compare that to an incompetent like Gavin Newsom, or a race-baiter like Veronica Escobar of Texas. Those kind of people blame White supremacy and QAnon for their failures, and then they keep going, they never look back. Its pathetic. Joe Biden isnt much different. Biden knows the American public doesnt want a million new poor people showing up illegally this year. Our country cant handle that, obviously, especially not right now. Once again, open borders arent popular with anyone. Theyre not popular with Hispanics, by the way. All the guilty White liberals assume Hispanics love illegal immigration. They dont. Theyre Americans, why would they love it? Bidens now trying to blame the whole thing on Trump, of course. Apparently, the promise of a border wall was a massive lure to Central Americans trying to sneak in. Pretty funny. But at the same time, not so subtly, Biden is telling more illegal aliens to come here. He was on Good Morning America Wednesday letting the world know that Americas top priority is making foreign nationals comfortable in the United States. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you have to say, quite clearly, dont come? BIDEN: Yes, I can say quite clearly dont come and what were in the process of getting set up, and its not going to take a whole long time, is to be able to apply for asylum in place. So dont leave your town or city or community, were going to make sure we have facilities in those cities and towns, run by the DHS and also access with HHS, the Health and Human Services to say, you can apply for asylum from where you are right now. Oh, got it. So just dont come yet, were not quite ready. And by the way, dont trouble yourself. Well come to you. Were going to spend whatever it takes to make the whole process easier for you, so that more people from your country can move to our country, entirely at our expense. Thats our promise to the world. We hate ourselves enough that we mean it. Has any country ever promised something like this to the world? Can any country survive once it has? Joe Biden hasnt thought about that. He doesnt care. None of them care. All they know is that the Democratic Party will never lose again once they pull this off, and thats all that matters to them. This article is adapted from Tucker Carlsons opening commentary on the March 17, 2021 edition of Tucker Carlson Tonight. Read more at: FoxNews.com and BorderPatrol.news. In February, the Biden administration signaled that past marijuana use would not necessarily disqualify a person from employment in the federal government. It was a change that was seen as a way to open the door for younger talent, but one that only took a few weeks to be tested. On Friday, responding to a news report in the Daily Beast that said dozens of young staff members had been pushed to resign or had been reassigned to remote work based on their past marijuana use, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said that a small number of people were no longer working at the White House after their past use of the drug had been assessed. The bottom line is this, Ms. Psaki wrote. Of the hundreds of people hired, only five people who had started working at the White House are no longer employed as a result of this policy. The officials were directed to resign, in part because of past marijuana use, according to a person familiar with the matter but who was not authorized to speak publicly. Several in that group also had other disqualifying factors that surfaced when determining their eligibility to receive clearances, the person said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 10:06:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VIENTIANE, March 19 (Xinhua) -- As of March 15, more than 40,700 people across the country of Laos have been given the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine, Lao News Agency (KPL) reported on Friday. The vaccination prioritizes risk groups such as front line workers, medical workers, immigration officials and those working at border checkpoints. The KPL quoted Deputy Director of the Department of Communicable Disease Control under the Lao Ministry of Health, Latsamy Vongkhamsao as saying to media on Thursday that vaccinating people against COVID-19 is a priority of the health sector. The vaccinated included over 13,000 medical workers, over 22,700 members of risk groups, more than 600 people travelling abroad, more than 200 people aged 60 years and older, 31 people with congenital diseases and over 4,000 other front line officials. The second round of vaccinations will take place from mid-March to early April, said a former report from local daily Vientiane Times. It is anticipated that about 20 percent of the Lao population, or about 1.6 million people, will be vaccinated in 2021. Vaccination coverage is expected to rise to 50 percent of the population by 2022 and to 70 percent in 2023, with more people to be vaccinated in the following years, according to the National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control of the country. As of Friday, Laos has reported 49 COVID-19 infected cases, and the country detected its first two COVID-19 cases on March 24 last year. Enditem US diplomats have had "serious discussions" with counterparts from China in Alaska and will not let "theatrics" from the Chinese side distract from laying out our principles and having tough conversations, the US State Department said on Friday. "We know that sometimes these diplomatic presentations can be exaggerated, or maybe even aimed at a domestic audience," State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter told a news briefing. "But we're not letting the theatrics from the other side stop us from doing what we're intending to do in Alaska, which is lay out our principles, as well as our expectations, and have these tough conversations early that we need to have with the PRC," she said referring to China. She said the talks on Thursday "were serious discussions." Senior US and Chinese officials are set to conclude their talks in Alaska on Friday after contentious opening exchanges laid bare the depth of tensions between the world's two largest economies at the outset of the Biden administration. Porter also reiterated US calls for China to release Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig from "arbitrary and unacceptable" detention. She expressed deep US concern about Beijing's decision to hold a closed court hearing for Spavor and plans to start Kovrig's trial on Monday. The two men have been charged by China with spying. China arrested Spavor and Kovrig in December 2018, soon after Canadian police detained Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese tech company Technologies, on a US warrant. If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here. Submit (JNS) When is a Palestinian terrorist not a Palestinian terrorist? When The New York Times covers up her past and hopes nobody will notice. Im referring to a deeply troubling allegation contained in a major article in the Times on March 6, authored by its new Jerusalem bureau chief, Patrick Kingsley. The article focused on a Palestinian disc jockey, Sama Abdulhadi, who was recently arrested by the Palestinian Authority for performing a concert near a mosque. Incredibly, Kingsley quoted Abdulhadi and others blaming the Israeli occupation for the mistreatment of Palestinian... An international, open-label Phase 3 study, co-led by Susanna McColley, MD, from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, found that a regimen of three drugs (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor) that targets the genetic cause of cystic fibrosis was safe and effective in 6-11-year-olds with at least one copy of F508del mutation in the CFTR gene, which is estimated to represent almost 90 percent of the cystic fibrosis population in the United States. For children in this age group who have only one copy of F508del mutation - or about 40 percent of patients with cystic fibrosis in the United States - this would be the first treatment that addresses the underlying genetic defect in cystic fibrosis. This three-drug cystic fibrosis treatment was approved by the FDA in October 2019 for people 12 years and older with at least one copy of F508del mutation. Based on the positive results of this study, the FDA has accepted the application to expand treatment indication to younger children, with a decision expected by June 2021. "The most exciting aspect of our findings is that this population of children had normal lung function at the start of the study and still had a significant improvement," said Dr. McColley, Co-Global Principal Investigator on the study and senior author, who is the Scientific Director for Interdisciplinary Research Partnerships at Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Lurie Children's and Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Coupled with what we saw in studies and in practice with the older population, starting treatment earlier may avert serious long-term complications and really change the trajectory of health for children with cystic fibrosis." Cystic fibrosis is a progressive genetic disease that damages multiple organs, including the lungs and pancreas. Currently, average life expectancy is 47 years. The disease is caused by mutations in the CFTR gene that lead to insufficient flow of salt and water in and out of cells. In the lungs, this creates buildup of thick, sticky mucus that can result in chronic lung infections and severe lung disease. Damage to the pancreas occurs even before birth, which interferes with nutrition absorption and growth. While there are approximately 2,000 known mutations of the CFTR gene, the most common is the F508del mutation. In the 24-week study with 66 children, published in the American Journal of Respiratory Care and Critical Care Medicine, Dr. McColley and colleagues confirmed the appropriateness of a dose that is half of the adult daily dose of the three-drug treatment for children 6-11 years of age who weigh less than 30 kg and of the full adult dose for those weighing more. The regimen was well tolerated, and the safety profile was generally consistent with that observed in older patients, with cough, headache and fever as the most common adverse events. The treatment resulted in significant improvements in lung function, respiratory symptoms and nutritional status. Maintaining or improving nutritional status is associated with better lung function and increased survival in patients with cystic fibrosis. In addition, substantial improvement in sweat chloride concentration, a direct measure of CFTR function, was observed. In this study, we saw greater improvements in sweat chloride than those previously seen in adults and adolescents. This strong response to treatment may lead to better long-term clinical outcomes of cystic fibrosis." Dr Susanna McColley, Study Senior Author and Co-Global Principal Investigator, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago "It's important to note that people with cystic fibrosis who are demographically characterized as having a race other than white or ethnicity characterized as Hispanic are less likely to have an F508del mutation," Dr. McColley said. "This is important because as with other acute and chronic conditions, these populations have more severe disease and lower life expectancy. As drug development continues, we are focused on having a highly effective treatment or cure for everyone with cystic fibrosis." The company is developing a portfolio of base/precious metal projects, building on the recent acquisition of the high-grade Santa Teresa Gold Project in Mexico and the Barraba Copper Project in NSW, Australia. Comet Resources Limited ( ) has entered into a Binding Option Agreement with Bath Resources Pty Ltd to acquire a portfolio of highly prospective copper-gold-zinc-silver-lead assets in the Northern Territory. The assets include the Oonagalabi Copper-Zinc Project, Paradise Well Copper-Gold Prospect and the Silver Valley Copper-Gold-Silver-Lead Prospect, which combined cover around 840 square kilometres. Comet is developing a portfolio of base/precious metal projects, with this potential acquisition complementing and building on the recent acquisition of the high-grade Santa Teresa Gold Project in Mexico and the acquisition of the Barraba Copper Project in northern NSW, Australia. Shares have been as much as 18% higher intra-day to 2.8 cents, approaching the new two-year high of 3.3 cents set last month. Complements Barraba Project Comet managing director Matthew OKane said: This portfolio combines both advanced and early-stage copper, gold and base metals targets. Being located in Australia they complement our existing copper and base metals project at Barraba in NSW, and provide Comet increased exposure to copper upside, which we believe will continue to strengthen as a result of increased global infrastructure spending and the transition to clean energy. With our recent placement, we are funded to explore all our existing projects as well as this latest exciting acquisition. Exploration potential Although historical exploration results were indicative of near-surface gold and copper mineralisation, very limited modern exploration has occurred. Comet plans to utilise modern exploration techniques to rapidly advance the scale of known mineralisation, especially where known geophysical and geochemical anomalies exist that have not been comprehensively drill tested. The mineralised Oonagalabi Formation represents a very similar geological setting as other known copper deposits in the region, including KGL Resources Ltds ( ) (FRA:KN6) Jervois Copper Project, which is host to a 20.97 million tonnes JORC resource at 2.03% copper and 31.9 g/t silver, for 426,200 tonnes of contained copper and 21.4 million ounces of silver. Best intersections from historical drilling include: 36.6 metres at 1.0% copper and 1.7% zinc from 1.5 metres; 5 metres at 1.26% copper and 1.22% zinc from 70 metres; 6 metres at 0.9% copper from 102 metres; and 14 metres at 0.7% copper from 148 metres. At Paradise Well, two prospects have been identified on the tenement through historical rock chip sampling programs which returned up to 8.9% copper and 2.2g/t gold. Neither prospect has been subject to ground geophysics or drill testing and presents an opportunity for Comet to follow up historical work with a systematic program geophysics to identify drill targets. At Silver Valley, key prospects include the Chablo Prospect which is prospective for lead, silver, copper and gold. Rock chip samples returned 554 g/t silver, 20% lead, 11.9% copper and 2 g/t gold - providing exciting earlier stage exploration potential. Project locations within the Northern Territory. Copper demand set to increase Copper is set to see an increase in demand due to the global efforts to reduce emissions from the transport network and from the generation of renewable electricity which, when combined with the recent lack of development of major new projects, will likely see the supply demand imbalance increase. The metal is not only an important part of the batteries used in battery electric vehicles (BEV) but is also used extensively in the electric motors that drive the wheels of BEVs. UBS estimate that a BEV will require on average 95 kilograms of copper, versus traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, which only need around 25 kilograms of copper, an increase of 70 kilograms per vehicle. Copper is also used intensively in the generation of electricity from renewables, such as solar and wind. There is also likely to be a strong demand impact for copper resulting from post-COVID-19 fiscal spending initiatives by governments, such as the recently approved US COVID-19 relief bill of US$1.9 trillion. Key acquisition terms The agreement allows for the acquisition of 100% of the portfolio of tenements from Bath, with key terms including: New Delhi: Trinamool Congress leaders coming out after meet Chief Election Commission (CEC) at Nirvachan Sadan in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim Sarvar) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Trinamool Congress leaders coming out after meet Chief Election Commission (CEC) at Nirvachan Sadan in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim Sarvar) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Trinamool Congress leaders coming out after meet Chief Election Commission (CEC) at Nirvachan Sadan in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim Sarvar) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Trinamool Congress leaders coming out after meet Chief Election Commission (CEC) at Nirvachan Sadan in new Delhi on Friday 19, 2021.(Photo:IANS/Wasim Sarvar) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, March 19 : A delegation of Trinamool Congress leaders on Friday met the Election Commission and said that the "partisan and biased approach" of the poll panel has made "free, fair and transparent elections" in West Bengal a distant reality. A six-member delegation met the Commission here to raise incidents of violence, including Thursday's clashes in Nandigram. The Trinamool Congress panel included Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy, Mahua Moitra and newly inducted former Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha. In its memorandum to the poll panel, the Trinamool Congress said, "It is becoming increasingly clear that free, fair and transparent elections in the state of West Bengal is becoming a distant reality. This is evident from the partisan and biased approach taken by the Election Commission in respect of the ongoing elections in the state." The party said that on the first count, it has been reported in media that the EC has decided to not permit presence of state police within 100 meters of polling stations and only deploy Central Forces in such areas. "If true, this decision is unprecedented and casts severe aspersions on the reputation of the police administration of the police administration in West Bengal," the memorandum said. It further stated that this needs to be substantiated at the appropriate level. Pertinently, this decision of the EC is only qua the State of West Bengal and not the other four poll bound states, it said. The Trinamool Congress memorandum also said that the deployment of the central forces by the EC is to augment authorities of the state government that are under "constitutional obligation" to deal with law and order, "not deliberatly demoralise the state state police personnel", that have worked under different governments. It further said that propriety demands that there should be proper coordination between the state and central forces to ensure free and fair elexctions and that combined groups of both State and Central Police forces be deployed within 100 meters of the polling booths. The Trinamool Congress said, "Secondly, despite several requests made by us in this regard, video your earlier letters, you have summarily dismissed the demand for tallying of all VVPAT machines, allegedly on account of the decision of the Supreme Court passed in 2019. "Clearly, our detailed submissions in this regard have not been factored in. Nor have our concerns been addressed," it said. The Trinamool Congress further said, "It may be noted that the very purpose of installing VVPAT machines at considerable costs has deliberately been made reduntant and ineffective. We may remind you, that not only was the said judgement primarirly meant for the 2019 general elections, but that the law insists that every time EVMs are used, there must be sui generis consideration of facts, circumstances and necessities. This matter is not automatic as is being made out to be." It also said that only a 100 per cent tallying of VVPAT and EVMs could assure voters that his or her vote has indeed been recorded. The Trinamool Congress urged the Election Commission to withdraw both of its decisions. The memorandum was signed by Trinamool Congress leaders Derek O'Brien, Roy, Sinha, Moitra, Pratima Mondal and Nadimul Haque. 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. The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has explained why it suspended AZMAN Airs flight operations. PREMIUM TIMES had reported on Tuesday how NCAA suspended the flight operations of the airline. According to the NCAA, the suspension of the airliners flight operations was due to incidents involving its Boeing 737 aircraft that raised serious safety concerns. This was disclosed in a statement on Friday, by the NCAAs Public Relations General Manager, Sam Adurogboye. The statement reads: The attention of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has been drawn to a press release issued by the management of Azman Air over the suspension of its flight operations by the NCAA that has gone viral in the social media. The NCAA would not ordinarily have bothered to respond to the publication and would rather focus on its core mandate of ensuring safe and secure air transportation in Nigeria. We are, however, constrained to issue this press release to keep the records straight and disabuse the minds of the public that the action the Authority took was actuated otherwise than by safety considerations. Over a period of about six weeks, Azman Air Boeing 737 aircraft operating scheduled passenger flights were involved in three separate incidents, resulting in damage to the aircraft in each case but with no loss of life, for which we are grateful to God. During a routine ramp inspection on 10th February 2021, at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, NCAA inspectors found an Azman Air maintenance engineer carrying out replement of the right-hand main landing gear wheel assembly (nos. 3 and 4) of their Boeing 737-500 aircraft with registration 5N-SYS, without referring to the manufacturers maintenance manual. This is a violation of the Civil Aviation Regulations, for which both Azman Air and the engineer have been sanctioned but are yet to pay the fine. On 11th February 2021, Azman Air flight AZM 2318 operated with the same Boeing 737-500 aircraft with registration 5N-SYS, departed Kaduna for Lagos. During take-off, a component of the aircraft was observed to have fallen off the aircraft and Air Traffic Control (ATC) notified the Captain, who elected to continue the flight to Lagos. Upon arrival Lagos, the Captain failed to make entry in the aircraft technical logbook. Azman Air maintenance team on ground Lagos were notified of the detached part and carried out an inspection, which identified the missing part as the no 3 Main Landing Gear (MLG) heatshield. However, the maintenance team neither made an entry in the technical logbook nor rectified the defect but released the aircraft for a scheduled passenger flight from Lagos to Abuja. NCAA inspectors in Abuja were notified and promptly grounded the aircraft, until the defect was rectified, before releasing the aircraft for resumption of flight operations. A Letter of Investigation was issued to Azman Air, and investigations are ongoing. Exactly five days later, on 16th of February 2021, when the previous incident was still under investigation, Azman flight AZM 2325, with the same Boeing 737-500 aircraft with registration 5N-SYS, suffered burst tyres while landing in Lagos, with resultant severe damage to the aircraft engine and fuselage. The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) is currently investigating this occurrence as a serious incident. ADVERTISEMENT On Monday 15th March 2021, Azman Air flight AZM 2318, operated with a Boeing 737-500 aircraft with registration 5N-YMS, departed Kaduna for Lagos. The Captain reported a loud bang after retracting the landing gear during take-off but decided to proceed to Lagos as all parameters were normal. The aircraft landed Lagos and taxied to its parking stand when ATC informed the Captain of the burst tyres as reported by the Airport Fire Service. NCAA Kaduna Regional Office Manager alerted the Director General (DG) of tyre debris on the runway in Kaduna when an inspection was carried out after the departure of the Azman flight. The DG instructed NCAA Lagos office to conduct a ramp inspection of the Azman aircraft. When the NCAA inspectors reached the aircraft, they discovered that two severely damaged tyres had been replaced and further inspections revealed damage to a hydraulic line with resultant hydraulic leak and damage to the hydraulic reservoir. The alarming trend of tyre failures, in combination with improper tyre maintenance procedures, are a clear and strong indication of an accident chain formation in its final stages. There was an urgent need to break the accident chain before a completely avoidable national tragedy occurs. No responsible Civil Aviation Authority will fold its arms and wait for the next incident to occur, perhaps a fatal accident, before taking action. Consequently, the Director-General called for an emergency meeting of the Flight Standards Group of the NCAA, to discuss and decide on the next line of action on the worrisome developments at Azman Air. After deliberations, which lasted for several hours, and comprehensive evaluations of these incidents, the Director General decided to suspend Parts A3 (Aircraft Authorization) and D43 (Aircraft Listing) of the Operations Specifications (OPS SPECS) issued to Azman Air, thus suspending the operation of the entire Boeing 737 aircraft on its fleet. A comprehensive audit of Azman Air will be conducted in the areas of operations, airworthiness, training, licensing, financial health and any other area determined to be necessary during the exercise. An Audit Team of inspectors has been constituted to determine the root causes of these incidents, and recommend action plans to forestall re-occurrence. Regarding the spurious allegation made against the Director General, that he demanded the sum of 15 million naira for a publication which carried an Azman advert. Between 20-22 November 2017, Nigeria hosted the ICAO World Aviation Forum (IWAF/3)in Abuja. The sponsorship of this event was sought from aviation organizations, including Azman Air, through a letter from the then Federal Ministry of Transportation (Aviation). The Director General, who at that time was the Representative of Nigeria on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and a key member of the organizing committee of IWAF/3, delivered the letter of sponsorship to the management of Azman Air while he was on a family visit to Kano. The Chairman and the CEO of Azman Air both promised to revert but never did. The request for sponsorship of IWAF/3 can be independently verified with other Nigerian airlines. In addition, a publication, ICAO STATES TODAY, carried an Azman Air advert. The Airline subscribed to the advert in 2016, in preparation for the 39th General Assembly of ICAO but till date, Azman Air has refused to pay the advert cost of US$3,701, despite several reminders. The invoice from the publisher of the magazine, FCM Communications based in Montreal, Canada, can be independently confirmed with the publisher. The official request for sponsorship of IWAF/3 and reminder of payment for the long overdue invoice of US$3,701 to FCM Communications, are the basis for the false claims against the Director General of allegedly demanding the sum of 15 million naira. The allegation of sitting on the request of Azman Air to hire expatriate pilots is outright falsehood. The Director General assumed office on 24th February 2020 and shortly afterwards, in late March 2020, the Nigerian airspace was closed to all flights. Azman Air applied for expatriate quota by a letter signed by the Managing Director on 8th December 2020. That is just over five months ago, and it was promptly turned down. The NCAA neither approves nor issues expatriate quota, however, the inputs of the Federal Ministry of Aviation and NCAA are part of the approval process of the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS). Azman Air terminated the appointments of 6 Nigerian pilots (3 Captains and 3 Co-Pilots) on 6th November 2020, due to recent happenings and developments in the company and a few weeks later, on 8th December 2020, applied for expatriate quota for 6 expatriates to replace the terminated Nigerian pilots. The Director General refused to endorDirector-General. Finally, neither the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority nor its Director-General will succumb to any blackmail and or threat in carrying out the statutory responsibility of the safety and security oversight, in addition to the economic regulation, of the civil aviation industry in Nigeria, as enshrined in the 2006 Civil Aviation Act, the Authority said. On its second attempt, NASAs rocket shook and spat flames for the full 8 minutes and 19 seconds that will be required to propel a capsule off this planet and toward the moon. The Space Launch Systems core stage was ignited Thursday at NASAs Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The test was a critical milestone for the agencys Artemis program thats seeking to return astronauts to the moon. Secured to a 35-story-tall test stand, it was the second time the rockets four RS-25 engines were fired simultaneously and the first time they were fired for the full duration. From the first test: NASA test of engines for rocket programmed for moon flight is cut short However, this milestone came two months later than expected. NASA first attempted this test in January, but the engines shut off after 67.2 seconds. This was caused by preprogrammed parameters that, when exceeded, prompted the flight computers to automatically end the test. NASA said it set intentionally conservative parameters because it was testing the actual hardware that will be sent into space on the Artemis I mission, which will launch an uncrewed capsule around the moon. The second test was initially scheduled for late February, but NASA found a liquid oxygen valve that needed to be repaired. That pushed the test back to Thursday. The (Space Launch System) is the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built, and during todays test the core stage of the rocket generated more than 1.6 million pounds of thrust within seven seconds, acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk said in a news release. The SLS is an incredible feat of engineering and the only rocket capable of powering Americas next-generation missions that will place the first woman and the next man on the moon. The rockets core stage contains the four rocket engines, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks, and the computers, electronics and avionics that work as the rockets brains. Boeing is the prime contractor for the core stage and Aerojet Rocketdyne is the prime contractor for the RS-25 engines, which were previously flown on the space shuttle. Deep space exploration took an important step forward today, John Shannon, SLS vice president and program manager for Boeing, said in a news release. The advancements made on the all-new SLS core stage are positive for NASA and the national supply chain. On NASAs Artemis I mission, the Space Launch System will push an uncrewed Orion capsule into microgravity. The capsule will orbit the moon and then return to splash down in the ocean. Artemis I is scheduled to launch in November, but that date was announced before NASA had to repeat its hot fire test. Jurczyk said NASA should know in a few weeks if the November deadline can be met, according to SpaceNews and SpacePolicyOnline.com. The Artemis I mission will later be followed by the Artemis II mission, which will have people onboard. Then Artemis III will lower the first woman and next man to the moon. 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. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. HAMPTON, N.H., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Planet Fitness, Inc. and Casey Willard announced today that they have entered into an agreement to settle (the "Settlement Agreement") the previously disclosed action Casey Willard v. Pla-Fit, et. al (Dkt. No. 218-2018-CV-01038) (the "Action"), currently pending in the Rockingham County Superior Court in New Hampshire. The Settlement Agreement provides that Planet Fitness and Ms. Willard have mutually agreed to fully and completely resolve the Action. The settling parties have agreed not to make any additional comments about the terms of the settlement. About Planet Fitness Founded in 1992 in Dover, NH, Planet Fitness is one of the largest and fastest-growing franchisors and operators of fitness centers in the United States by number of members and locations. As of December 31, 2020, Planet Fitness had approximately 13.5 million members and 2,124 stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Panama, Mexico and Australia. The Company's mission is to enhance people's lives by providing a high-quality fitness experience in a welcoming, non-intimidating environment, which we call the Judgement Free Zone. More than 95% of Planet Fitness stores are owned and operated by independent business men and women. SOURCE Planet Fitness, Inc. Related Links http://www.planetfitness.com She hasnt come up with a wish list quite yet, said Peralez. We usually like to wait and see what the parameters are going to be. But anything that will help us get back to normal operations, is key, she said. During the pandemic, most classroom sizes had to be cut in half. Were not serving our full enrollment. We would like to get back to full enrollment. Kerry Ahearn, CEO of Aldea Children & Family Services in Napa, said she definitely feels encouraged by the expected aid. Aldea provides mental health treatment and other support services to the community. Its really putting a priority on the mental health and wellness of people in our community but the devil is in the details, said Ahearn. That always concerns me. The state and county has to decide how to divvy up the funds. I am hopeful. I know they want to get this money out fast. The isolation of COVID-19 has been a great strain on many in the community, especially children, said Ahearn. Substance abuse, anxiety and depression have increased, said Ahearn. We are seeing an increase in referrals to mental health services for kids and families. Everybody had to pivot to make huge changes in their lives, in work and school, she said. That stress impacts everybody. Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee will address a rally in Nandigram on Friday (March 19). The West Bengal CM is scheduled to rally in the poll-bound state for two consecutive days (March 19-20). Todays TMC rally headed by Mamata Banerjee is going to be her second rally in the Nandigram constituency and it comes nine days after the last one in which TMC leader injured her leg in an untoward incident. The TMC leader is scheduled to address rallies in Nandigram at eight places. "Though the blueprint is yet to get finalized but the dates are finalised," said TMC officials. Earlier, West bengal CM injured her leg while campaigning in the constituency and alleged that it was a pre-planned attack on the TMC leader by the opposition. TMC representatives also approached the Election Commission of India, which ruled out an attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during her rally. Injuries sustained by TMC chief were caused due to a lapse on part of security personnel in charge of the CM, the EC said in its report adding that there is no evidence of an attack carried out on West bengal CM. 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. Live TV "I could not be more pleased that we found such a strong match with Lyreco, a major player in our industry. Staples Solutions has been on a remarkable journey after separating from its US parent more than four years ago. We put the customer at the core of our decision making, we broadened our workspace solutions, we localized and simplified our operations; returning to profitability at the end of last year. We have become a better business, and reached a natural point in our journey for this transaction. I know that our people will continue to thrive and contribute to Lyreco's success," said Dolph Westerbos, Chief Executive Officer at Staples Solutions. "The Staples Solution team is a highly recognized one within our industry, and we share the same Passion for our customers. I am very much looking forward to welcoming them within our organization to put our common energy together to deliver excellence. I am convinced that this intended acquisition will enable us to provide an even better service to customers of both our companies," states Greg Lienard, Chief Executive Officer at Lyreco. About Staples Solutions Staples Solutions is a leading provider of workplace products, services, and solutions to small, mid-sized, and large businesses in Europe. Through our integrated offering, Staples Solutions is the partner of choice to meet the diverse needs of the workplace of today and tomorrow. You can learn more about Staples Solutions at www.staples.eu. About Lyreco Group Lyreco, a privately owned company since 1926, is a distributor of workplace products and services. The group directly operates in 25 countries in Europe and Asia. Lyreco's 10.000 employees share a common mission: pioneers in delivering sustainably what any workplace needs, so that its people can focus on what matters most. You can learn more about Lyreco at Lyreco Group Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1459356/Staples_Logo.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1459366/LYRECO_Logo.jpg SOURCE Staples Solutions [March 19, 2021] Pax8 Honored with Excellence Awards at 2021 XChange+ March DENVER, March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pax8, the best place for IT professionals to buy cloud products, today announced it has been honored with three 2021 XCellence awards for Best in Show, XCellence in Keynote Presentation, and XCellence in Booth Strategy at this years XChange+ hybrid conference, hosted by The Channel Company. The XChange+ hybrid conference unites remote live events with an interactive virtual experience. With the cloud technology market expected to experience hyper-growth in 2021, we are dedicated to enabling our partners with the capabilities to capitalize on the latest opportunities, said Ryan Walsh, Channel Chief and Chief Product Officer at Pax8. Pax8 continues developing advanced technologies and providing innovative solutions, empowering our partners to grow and succeed in the modern channel. Thank you to the XChange community for their vote and trust in Pax8. Pax8 was selected for this award by leading solution providers attending the XChange+ conference in appreciation of its innovative products, services and partner programs. This award recognizes Pax8s exceptional commitment to helping solution providers meet the needs of their customers in even the most challenging of times. Our innovative XChange+ hybrid conference delivered the core elements that are at the heart of our IT channel events and attracted the industrys elite technology vendors. The hybrid event provided the ideal format for vendors to showcase their technology solutions and programs specifically designed to enable solution providers to accelerate their business, said Bill Jones, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Events at The Channel Company. Through their products, programs and services, these vendors exhibited their unwavering commitment to helping solution providers find new growth paths in 2021 and capitalize on the business lessons learned over the past year. We congratulate Pax8 and thank all the recipients of 2021 XCellence Awards for their valuable contributions to the IT channel. The Channel Companys XChange+ hybrid conference was held from March 8-11, with three remote live events taking place between March 8-10 and a virtual experience on March 11. XChange+ provides attendees with empowering insight actionable business intelligence and unmatched connections through strategic thought leadership, interactive boardroom appointments, peer-to-peer breakout sessions and networking time, and access to leading tech vendors in the Solutions Pavilion. Attendees learn from industry leaders, who present the latest technologies, programs and business models that are profoundly impacting the channel landscape. To view the full list of 2021 XChange+ XCellence Award winners, visit: https://event.thechannelco.com/xchange-plus-march/awards To learn more about Pax8, please visit www.pax8.com. About Pax8 Pax8 is modernizing how partners buy, sell, and manage cloud. As a born-in-the-cloud company, Pax8 simplifies the buying journey, empowering its partners to achieve more with cloud technology. The companys technology displaces legacy distribution by connecting the channel ecosystem to its award-winning transactional cloud marketplace. Through billing, provisioning, automation, industry-leading PSA integrations, and pre and post-sales support, and education, Pax8 is a proven disruptor in the market. Pax8 has ranked in the Inc. 5000 for three consecutive years #68 in 2018, #60 in 2019, and #111 in 2020 as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the US. If you want to be successful with cloud, you want to work with Pax8. Get started today at www.pax8.com. Follow Pax8 on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. About The Channel Company The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As The Channel Catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn , and Facebook. Media contact: John Trent PR Manager at Pax8 jtrent@pax8.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. London: Fifty-five weeks have passed since coronavirus first swept across Europe but the past seven days will go down as some of the most damaging. Under pressure over a shambolic vaccine rollout and a rapidly worsening third wave, the continents political machinery is lashing out like a wounded animal - because it is. Unfortunately, the European Union lacks the self-awareness to realise many of the injuries are self-inflicted. How else to explain the policy madness that has unfolded over the past week? Each decision on COVID-19 vaccines seemed more unsound and irresponsible than the last. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Credit: Reuters As if banning the shipment of 250,000 AstraZeneca doses to Australia earlier this month didnt set a bad enough precedent, the EU went even further on Wednesday by threatening to take over AstraZenecas factories and strip the company of its intellectual property rights unless the pharmaceutical giant delivered more doses over the coming months. ADVERTISEMENT In two different operations, the police in Lagos said they have arrested a gay suspect and a serial rapist in the state. This was contained in a statement released by Muyiwa Adejobi, the Lagos police spokesperson. Jane Otubo, the gay suspect, was arrested at his residence at Eniola Street, Mafoluku, Oshodi, on Thursday, after he attempted to have a carnal knowledge of his male guest, the police said. Mr Otubo, 28, is a foodstuff trader, who hails from Enugu State. The suspected gay had invited one Francis Azeez, m, who resides at Gwagwalada Area of Abuja and paid for his transportation fare to his place in Mafoluku, promising to assist him to establish a business. But trouble broke out when Otubo made frantic attempts to have unlawful carnal knowledge of the invitee who had spent a week with him. The guest, Francis, who resisted him, made efforts to escape to Abuja in the morning when he was assaulted severally by the suspect. This attracted the neighbours attention who eventually informed the Police. The Landlord of the suspect, popularly called Alfa, confirmed the allegation of Francis that the suspect had been indulging in the infamous act of which the Landlord had settled several issues relating to his improper and criminal act in this regard, the police said. Similarly, police operatives attached to the Ago Okota Division arrested one Onuorah Obi, an alleged serial rapist on Wednesday. According to the police spokesperson, the suspect was arrested at Buari Oloto Street, Ago Okota, at about 6.30 p.m. after a complaint by a victim. The victim, f, 25, of Ago Okota reported that the suspect raped her and recorded her nude pictures and videos. The police swung into action and arrested the suspect. When a search was conducted on his phone, nude pictures and videos of the victim were recovered from the phone, Mr Adejobi said. Condemning the acts of the suspects, the Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Hakeem Odumosu, ordered that the matters be transferred to the Gender Unit of the command for further investigation and prosecution. The police spokesperson said the command was ready to combat heinous acts such as rape and homosexuality and will work in collaboration with all relevant government agencies and groups in the state. South Africa's last white president Frederik Willem de Klerk has been diagnosed with cancer, his charitable foundation has announced. De Klerk, who is known by his initials FW and turned 85 on Thursday, is suffering from mesothelioma, a cancer which affects the lining of the lungs. The FW de Klerk foundation said there is no 'immediate threat' to his health and they are hopeful that treatment will be a success. Frederik Willem de Klerk, South Africa's last white president and who oversaw the end of apartheid, has been diagnosed with cancer a day after his 85th birthday Born in 1936 in Johannesburg in what was then a country under strict white-minority rule, De Klerk first trained as a lawyer before joining the ruling National Party in 1972. First as a politician and then as a minister, De Klerk supported apartheid-era policies which privileged white South Africans and segregated the black majority. When party leader P. W. Botha resigned in 1989, De Klerk succeeded him and began a series of reforms aimed at dismantling apartheid and granting everyone a vote. In 1990, he was the one who released Nelson Mandela from jail and then entered into negotiations with him about transitioning the country to democracy. In 1993, he publicly apologised for the effects of apartheid though did not apologise for the system itself. That same year, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Nelson Mandela for his participation in the peace process. De Klerk released Mandela from jail in 1990 and the pair negotiated South Africa's transition to democracy which saw them jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 The following year, South Africa's first multi-racial election was held and when Nelson Mandela's African National Congress party emerged victorious, De Klerk oversaw the peacful transition of power. He then took up a position as Mandela's deputy and served alongside him until 1996, resigning from frontline politics the following year. However, De Klerk's nomination for the Peace Prize remains controversial almost three decades after apartheid ended. While he was president, South Africa's security forces engaged in widespread human rights abuses against black liberation groups, including fomenting ethnic violence between the Xhosa and Zulu. De Klerk was later forced to deny sanctioning such actions. Credit: Bangor University The accidental discovery of fossilized three-spine stickleback bones dating back 12 thousand years, has enabled scientist to confirm parallel evolution, or evolutionary changes or adaptions which take place repeatedly. After the ice sheets melted at the end of the last ice age around 10,000 to 20,000 years ago, there was an uplift in land, forming many coastal lakes. Threespine sticklebacks became trapped but adapted to their new freshwater habitats. This happened repeatedly across the Northern Hemisphere with freshwater sticklebacks evolving the same changes in behavior, changes in appearance and functions. This makes them an ideal 'model' to study parallel evolution. Normally, scientists compare present-day freshwater and marine populations, assuming that the present-day marine population is representative of the ancestral population of the freshwater sticklebacks. While this is a useful approximation, marine sticklebacks have also been evolving, and present-day marine fish may differ in important ways from the ancestral fish that originally colonized freshwater habitats. Following the extraction of DNA from the newly discovered, ancient stickleback bones, a new study, published in Current Biology, combines the fields of ancient DNA, evolutionary genomics and geology to compare the genomes of present-day sticklebacks and their ancestors that first colonized the same freshwater lakes 12,000 years ago. Dr. Andrew Foote of Bangor University explains: "Although these bones belong to sticklebacks that died thousands of years ago, when most of Scandinavia was still covered by a giant ice sheet, they still contain fragments of DNA. These genetic sequences provide us with a window into the deep past and to the early stages of freshwater adaptation." Three spined stickleback. Credit: Felicity Jones Sequencing 12,000 year-old sticklebacks Dr. Andrew Foote teamed up with Prof. Tom Gilbert of the University of Copenhagen to use the state-of-the-art ancient DNA laboratory and methods to sequence the genomes of the two 12,000 year-old sticklebacks from Northern Norway. "Research on threespine sticklebacks over the last 20 years has provided key insights into the genetic basis of parallel adaptation. We have found that adaptation can proceed via newly arising mutations, but often involves re-use of already existing genetic variation that spreads among populations," explains Dr. Felicity Jones of the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society in Tubingen. "It is really striking that we could detect variants known to be adaptive to freshwater in one single marine colonizer by overcoming all the challenges related to sequencing ancient DNA. This conclusively demonstrates that freshwater-adaptive genetic variants were present in the stickleback populations that colonized freshwater lakes from the sea thousands of years ago." says lead author Melanie Kirch, a Ph.D. student at the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck society in Tubingen. However, she cautioned: "Our results show that this highly repeatable process that we call parallel evolution does have some constraints. Even when the colonizing ancestor carried genetic variants known to be adaptive in freshwater, these variants are not always present in the contemporary population. This tells us that even beneficial freshwater-adaptive variants can be lost during the evolutionary process of adaptation, likely by random chancea process known as 'genetic drift." By providing a window back in time, ancient genomes enable us to directly look at the genetic makeup of ancestors, track adaptation over timescales of thousands of years and better understand the evolutionary process. From this, biologists can improve models and gain insight into factors that influence the direction, speed and molecular basis of evolution in the wild." Marine stickleback. Credit: Felicity Jones The bones were discovered by Norwegian geologists studying the strong land uplift that has occurred in the Norwegian coastline since the disappearance of the heavy Scandinavian ice sheet. Following the land emergence, many coastal lakes formed. The sediments found at the bottom of such isolation lakes contain a record of the shift from marine to freshwater environments. By retrieving sediment cores from isolation lakes, geologists can study the transition in sediment layers and use radiocarbon dating to reconstruct the relative sea-level history in detail. The Norwegian geologists stumbled upon ancient stickleback bones in several sediment cores from coastal lakes. "The fish bones we washed out from our sediment samples were amazingly well preserved and could immediately be identified as threespine stickleback," says geologist Anders Romundset at the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU). "We determined the age of the bones by radiocarbon dating terrestrial plant remains found at the same stratigraphic levels. Sediment analyses also show the ecological context of the bones. The stickleback lived and died in brackish water at the time when the lakes were close to being disconnected from the sea," the geologist explains. Because the bones were found in a sediment layer representing the transition from a marine to a freshwater habitat, the ancient genomes contained the genetic variation associated with adaptation to the marine habitat, but with some genes showing a signature of adaptation to freshwater. Explore further Stickleback study reveals 'parallel' evolution More information: Melanie Kirch et al. Ancient and modern stickleback genomes reveal the demographic constraints on adaptation, Current Biology (2021). Journal information: Current Biology Melanie Kirch et al. Ancient and modern stickleback genomes reveal the demographic constraints on adaptation,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.027 In this Sept. 16, 2019, file photo, Sandra, a 33-year-old orangutan, stands in her enclosure at the former city zoo now known as Eco Parque, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Around the world, scientists and veterinarians are racing to protect animals from the coronavirus, often using the same playbook for minimizing disease spread among people. That includes social distancing, health checks and a vaccine for some zoo animals. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File) The coughing among the western lowland gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in January was the first warning sign. Soon the fears were confirmed: A troop of gorillas became the first apes known to test positive for the coronavirus. Around the world, many scientists and veterinarians are now racing to protect animals from the coronavirus, often using the same playbook for minimizing disease spread among people: That includes social distancing, health checks and, for some zoo animals, a vaccine. Karen, a 28-year-old orangutan, became the first ape in the world to get a coronavirus vaccine on Jan. 26 at the San Diego Zoo. Karen has received two shots of a vaccine from Zoetis, a veterinary pharmaceutical company in New Jersey, and has shown no adverse reactions. Since then, nine other primates at the San Diego Zoo have been fully vaccinated: five bonobos and four orangutans. Four more animalsone bonobo and three gorillasgot their first shot this month and will get a second one in April. "I was really convinced that we wanted to get that to protect our other great apes," said the zoo's wildlife health officer Nadine Lamberski, who explained she felt urgency to act after the eight gorillas fell sick. That virus outbreak was linked to a zookeeper who was infected but had no symptoms. Seven gorillas recovered after a mild cases of sniffles, but one elderly silverback had pneumonia, likely caused by the virus, as well as heart disease. He was put on antibiotics and heart medication, and received an antibody treatment to block the virus from infecting cells. In this Thursday, June 11, 2020, file photo, gorillas rest in their enclosure before the reopening of the San Diego Zoo. Around the world, scientists and veterinarians are racing to protect animals from the coronavirus, often using the same playbook for minimizing disease spread among people. That includes social distancing, health checks and a vaccine for some zoo animals. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File) About three dozen zoos across the United States and abroad have put in orders for the Zoetis vaccine, which is formulated to elicit a strong immune response in particular animal species. "We will jump at the opportunity to get the Zoetis vaccine for our own great apes," said Oakland Zoo's veterinary director Alex Herman, who is ordering 100 doses. Zoetis got a permit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide the doses on an experimental basis to the San Diego Zoo. The company will need to apply for the same permission to provide vaccine to additional zoos. Scientists believe the coronavirus likely originated in wild horseshoe bats, before jumpingperhaps through an intermediary speciesto humans. Now many researchers worry that humans may unwittingly infect other susceptible species. "Right now, humans are the main vectors of SARS-CoV-2, with consequences for many animal species," said Arinjay Banerjee, a disease researcher at McMaster University in Canada. In this Monday, Sept. 2, 2019, file photo, a silverback mountain gorilla named Segasira walks in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. Conservationists are worried about the coronavirus spreading among wild great apes, but aren't currently planning a vaccination campaign. Instead, they are going to extreme measures to ensure that human trackers and researchers visiting the animals aren't spreading disease. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File) Great apes such as gorillas, which share 98% of their DNA with humans, are especially susceptible, as are felines. So far, confirmed coronavirus cases include gorillas, tigers and lions at zoos; domestic cats and dogs; farmed mink, and at least one wild mink in Utah. Scientists have also experimentally shown that ferrets, racoon dogs and white-tailed deer are susceptible, although pigs and cattle are not. "This could be a conservation concern, especially if the virus began to spread in a wild species with extremely reduced populations, like the black-footed ferret," which is endangered, said Kate Langwig, an infectious disease ecologist at Virginia Tech. Another worry is that virus spread among other species could produce new variants, complicating health authorities' efforts to curb the pandemic. In Denmark, workers at a mink farm accidentally infected the animals. As the coronavirus spread among the mink, it mutatedand human handlers contracted the new variant. In response, the government ordered millions of mink to be killed. In this Monday, Feb. 8, 2021, file photo, a visitor with a mask observes an orangutan in an enclosure at the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria. Around the world, scientists and veterinarians are racing to protect animals from the coronavirus, often using the same playbook for minimizing disease spread among people. That includes social distancing, health checks and a vaccine for some zoo animals. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File) "Mutations happen when there's a lot of disease transfer going on between animals," said Scott Weese, a veterinary microbiologist at the Ontario Veterinary College. Many recommended steps to minimize disease spread to animals are familiar: wearing masks and sanitizing shared equipment, regular health checks, and maintaining physical distance. Since the outbreak, the San Diego Zoo and its safari park north of San Diego have installed more fans at its indoor primate areas to increase air circulation. The staff wears double masks and face shields and limits their time indoors with animals. Scientists and conservationists who monitor wild primates have also adapted their daily routines. "Covid-19 has been a wake-up call for the world about the fact that these viruses can go from wild animals to people, and from people to great apes," said Kirsten Gilardi, executive director of Gorilla Doctors, a conservation group that includes field veterinarians who treat wild gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In this Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, file photo, western lowland gorillas feed on vegetables at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic. Around the world, scientists and veterinarians are racing to protect animals from the coronavirus, often using the same playbook for minimizing disease spread among people. That includes social distancing, health checks and a vaccine for some zoo animals. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File) There are only about 1,000 wild mountain gorillas, so the threat of coronavirus infection "has changed the way we do our work," said Felix Ndagijimana, the Rwanda country director for Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, a conservation group. For the past year, field trackers who check on gorillas daily in the rainforest first get a coronavirus test, then stay with other trackers in an encampment for work stints of several weeks. This is to ensure that they don't pick up the bug by returning to their villages at night. "It was really a big ask of our team, especially during the pandemic. People want to be close to their families, but also keep the gorillas safe," said Ndagijimana. To date, he said, there have been no coronavirus cases among wild gorillas. While some wild gorillas were vaccinated against measles in the 1980s, there are currently no plans to vaccinate them against the coronavirus. With wild apes, the first choice is always to be as hands-off as possible, said Jean Bosco Noheli, a field veterinarian for Gorilla Doctors in Rwanda. "Let's focus on other measures we can take first to protect wild gorillas," he said. But more zoo animals could soon be getting virus shots. San Diego Zoo Safari Park wildlife health officer Nadine Lamberski poses for a picture, Wednesday, March 3, 2021, in Escondido, Calif. Around the world, scientists and veterinarians are racing to protect animals from the coronavirus, often using the same playbook for minimizing disease spread among people. That includes social distancing, health checks and a vaccine for some zoo animals. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) "There's a lot of interest," said Sharon Deem, a veterinary epidemiologist at the St. Louis Zoo who is also part of a hazard preparedness group of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums that represents 240 zoos. "I think given how horrible this particular pathogen has been to humans, and that we know it can be transmitted between humans and animals, that there is great interest to use an animal vaccine as soon as it is available," she said. Explore further 9 great apes get COVID-19 vaccinations at San Diego Zoo 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Advertisement The White House has blamed Biden falling up the stairs of Air Force One on the wind and insisted he is '100 percent fine'. Biden, 78, was boarding the aircraft at Joint Base Andrews just before noon for a flight to Atlanta when he stumbled. He gripped on to the railing, steadied himself and kept going but lost his footing a second time and then a third. On the third trip, he fell to his knees. He got back up then carried on up the stairs before giving a salute at the top then disappearing into the aircraft. Once on the plane, White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that he was '100 percent fine' and was preparing for his trip in Atlanta. She also said: 'Its pretty windy outside. Its very windy. I almost fell coming up the steps myself.' Wind gusts were 19mph at Joint Base Andrews when the President was boarding the plane which is officially categorized as a 'fresh breeze' by the internationally recognized Beaufort Scale. Once he landed in Atlanta, President Biden remained on AF1 a short while until Vice President Kamala Harris - who had flown separately on AF2 - joined him on board. The White House said it was to discuss their agenda for the day. She then disembarked with him, walking behind him as he slowly descended the stairs. The fall does nothing to reduce concern for and speculation over Biden's cognitive health which was has grown in recent months thanks to a series of mix-ups on his behalf. A White House pool report was issued by the reporters traveling with Biden within seconds of the fall but it was not covered extensively by major news networks for around 30 minutes after it happened and it is missing from the websites of many major outlets. Republicans including Donald Trump Jr. say the gentle media coverage of Biden's fall is another example of the 'mainstream media' giving Biden the soft treatment after hammering President Trump for four years. The fall is also the latest in a string of incidents which raise concern over the President's health and comes a day after he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as 'President Harris'. Donald Trump Jr. said it was 'no wonder' the US was being attacked by 'enemies' Russia and China when Biden's health is in question Donald Trump Jr. tweeted this meme joking that it wasn't the wind that knocked Biden over but a golf ball fired at his head by Trump Biden's first stumble as he bounded up the stairs of Air Force One The President recovered and kept going but quickly lost his footing again Biden then got back on his feet somewhat and carried on walking, clinging on to the railing The President then lost his balance again and fell to his knees on the carpeted stairs Biden immediately recovered and got back on his feet to get to the top of the steps Once at the top of the stairs, Biden gave a military salute before disappearing into the aircraft. The White House says he is 100% fine and is preparing for his trip in Atlanta White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield tweeted this after the fall Earlier this week, Biden also engaged in a bitter stand-off with Russian President Vladimir Putin which ended with Putin wishing him 'good health' and withdrawing an envoy to the US which puts the relationship between the two countries in perilous territory. Biden called Putin a 'killer' in an interview earlier this week and also said he will 'pay a price' for Russia trying to meddle in the 2016 election. The White House and Biden's camp routinely play down concerns about his health and insist he is fit to lead. CONCERNS OVER GAFFE-PRONE JOE'S HEALTH BROKEN FOOT IN NOVEMBER PLAYING WITH DOG Until recently, Biden was walking in a boot after breaking his foot while playing with his dog, Major, in November. His physician, Dr. Kevin OConnor, said in a statement at the time that he would likely be required to wear a bootie for several weeks. However Bidens recovery appeared to go well, and he was soon spotted in public without the boot on. HIGH CHOLESTEROL AND IRREGULAR HEARTBEAT In December 2019, there were concerns over Biden's health, in particular leading up to the 2020 election. He released medical records which showed he has an irregular heartbeat and high cholesterol, but which described him as a 'healthy, vigorous 77-year-old.' Some experts questioned whether or not he was as healthy as he claimed. SLIPS OF THE TONGUE AND FEARS OF MEMORY LOSS Days before the election, he became confused when introducing is granddaughter Natalie at an event, and instead referred to her as 'my son Beau'. Beau Biden died in 2015 after battling a brain tumor. The President also has a grandson called Beau, who is the son Hunter Biden and his new wife. The baby is 11 months old. Advertisement Biden is the oldest President in history; Ronald Reagan was 77 when he left office and he was 69 when he was elected. Trump was 70 when elected and was 74 when he left office earlier this year. Throughout his campaign, Biden fought off Trump's nickname for him - Sleepy Joe. He also poked fun at Trump's health once or twice. In September 2020, when Trump slipped on a wet ramp, Biden, in retaliation for the Sleepy Joe comments, said: 'Look at how he steps and look at how I step. 'Watch how I run up ramps and he stumbles down ramps. 'OK? Come on.' After Friday's fall, many asked why the media - which enthusiastically reported on Donald Trump slipping on a ramp - did not give the same zeal to its reporting of Biden's fall. Donald Trump Jr. tweeted: 'I remember the press bashing Trump for touching the rail once. 'Biden falls repeatedly but I'm sure he's the picture of health. No wonder all our enemies are pouncing simultaneously and mocking him publicly.' Others asked when media outlets were going to start questioning Biden's health, as they did Trump's. Until recently, Biden was walking in a boot after breaking his foot while playing with his dog, Major, in November. His doctor at the time said he was otherwise in good health. In December 2019, there were concerns over Biden's health, in particular leading up to the 2020 election. He released medical records which showed he has an irregular heartbeat and high cholesterol, but which described him as a 'healthy, vigorous 77-year-old.' Some experts questioned whether or not he was as healthy as he claimed. President Obama's personal doctor was among them. 'Hes not a healthy guy. 'Hes not in bad shape for his age, but I wouldn't say hes in outstanding health. 'Could I guarantee he won't have issues for the next four years? 'He has a lot of issues that are just sort of sitting there,' he told The Washington Examiner at the time. There has been serious speculation over Biden's cognitive decline in recent months after a worrying trouble during the campaign where he routinely confused names and titles. Biden disembarked Air Force One with Kamala Harris once he was in Atlanta. She flew separately then, when AF1 was sitting on the tarmac, went on board. The White House says they wanted to discuss their plan for the day. She then walked behind him as he slowly descended the stairs Kamala Harris gently pats Joe Biden on the back after the pair disembarked AF1 on Friday before boarding Marine One Biden and Harris at the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday Marcy 19 Biden bounced back after his fall to visit the CDC with Vice President Kamala Harris. The pair greeted frontline workers there and commended them for their work throughout the pandemic. 'This is war and you are the frontline troops,' he said. 'Sounds silly. But think about it.' Biden's visit came on the day that his administration hit getting 100 million COVID-19 vaccine shots in arms, a goal he set for his first 100 days in office. The U.S. got to the goal on day No. 58. 'Remember when I said my goal was going to have 100 million shots in people's arms in the first 100 days as president and everybody said ..."Oh, yeah, right,"' he told the CDC workers. 'Now it's ... "Why didn't they say more?"' The President is shown striding towards Air Force One on Friday seconds before he fell over President Biden trying to regain balance on the steps of Air Force One on Friday after stumbling multiple times President Biden disappears after stumbling on the steps of Air Force One on Friday President Biden clings on to the railing as he climbs the steps of Air Force One after stumbling Before he set off for Joint Base Andrews, Biden's grandson Robert and his granddaughter Natalie joined his wife Jill at the White House to wave him off from the Truman Balcony as he boarded Marine One Natalie Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden watch from the Truman Balcony as U.S. President Joe Biden boards Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on March 19, 2021 in Washington, DC President Biden blows a kiss to his wife Jill, granddaughter Natalie and grandson Robert before boarding Marine One on the White House Lawn on Friday Days before the election, he became confused when introducing is granddaughter Natalie at an event, and instead referred to her as 'my son Beau'. Beau Biden died in 2015 after battling a brain tumor. The President also has a grandson called Beau, who is the son Hunter Biden and his new wife. The baby is 11 months old. Biden and Harris are flying to Atlanta to meet with members of the Asian community after Tuesday's shootings at three massage parlors. They had already planned the trip, to meet with failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, before the shootings. Nothing to see here: How most of the left-leaning US media totally ignored Biden's Air Force One stumble - while the foreign press did their job for them Major U.S. press outlets are largely avoiding mention of President Joe Biden's repeated stumbles as he boarded Air Force One, drawing a contrast to breathless coverage of Donald Trump gingerly walking down a ramp at West Point a year ago. As of Friday afternoon, the homepages of MSNBC, CBS News, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and New York Times had no mention of Biden's stumbling incident earlier in the day at Joint Base Andrews. The fall was covered by right-leaning sites including The New York Post and Fox but many mainstream media outlets ignored it The story was totally absent from the homepages of The New York Times and CNN The news blackout was not strictly partisan, with the homepage of right-leaning One America News Network also omitting any mention of the repeated tripping. Several U.S. publications did devote prominent homepage space to Biden's stumble, including TMZ, Fox News, the New York Post, New York Daily News, and Politico. The Drudge Report led with an image of the stumble and banner headline reading 'BIDEN FALLS AGAIN MONTHS AFTER INJURING FOOT'. CNN and ABC News carried brief items on the White House statement that Biden was 'just fine' after tripping, and NBC News featured a link to a video of the incident well below the fold. And New York Times photojournalist Doug Mills did tweet a photo of the incident with a succinct caption explaining '@POTUS stumbles as he walks up the steps of Air Force One,' but was blasted with furious criticism from Biden supporters on Twitter. Internationally, a number major foreign outlets featured prominent homepage coverage of the stumbling incident, including the UK's Mirror, Sun, Telegraph and Times. Internationally, foreign outlets expressed much more interest in Biden's stumble than US press. UK red tops including the Mirror and Sun splashed coverage of the incident Prominent news outlets in Spain and Australia also devoted homepage space to Biden's repeated trips on the Air Force One stairs. In contrast to the lack of interest in Biden's stumbles, mainstream U.S. outlets heavily covered an incident last year, in which Trump took mincing baby-steps down a ramp at West Point, which he later explained was 'very slippery.' Although Trump did not stumble during the incident, it sparked rampant speculation about his health and criticism over his capacities, including from Biden himself. 'Look at how he steps and look at how I step,' Biden said in September 2020, in a clip featured on CNN. 'Watch how I run up ramps and he stumbles down ramps. OK? Come on.' 'Trump's West Point walk sparks questions about his health,' read one CNN headline. 'Trump tries to explain his slow and unsteady walk down a ramp at West Point,' a Washington Post headline ran. BIDEN FALL SPARKS AVALANCHE OF PLAYFUL MEMES The incident also drew a number of memes poking fun at Biden, with one Twitter users saying it must have been 'legs day at the gym.' Aerial photo taken on March 26, 2020 shows peach blossoms in Bomi County, Nyingchi of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Purbu Zhaxi) LHASA, March 18 (Xinhua) -- An annual peach blossom festival is expected to start in the city of Nyingchi, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on March 27, an official said Thursday. This year's festival will feature wild peach groves, performances and a fireworks display, Yu Xiaojuan, deputy head of Nyingchi's tourism development bureau, said at a meeting for promoting the festival. The activities will help build Nyingchi into an international ecological tourist destination and improve the economic, cultural and social benefits of the city's tourism industry, Yu said. "Tourism has become a distinctive industry with the best development quality, economic benefits and development potential in Nyingchi," she added. For COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control, this year's event prepared sufficient epidemic prevention materials and an effective emergency response plan. Last year's festival started on April 2. Affected by the epidemic, the city saw the number of tourists received in the first half of 2020 down about 70 percent. Yu said she expects this year's festival to see surging tourists and revenues compared with 2020. [ Editor: WXL ] Branding rebels as "traitors" like Mir Jafar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday took a swipe at the for fielding the turncoats in the polls leaving saffron party old-timers shed tears. On her decision to contest from Nandigram in place of her traditional Bhowanipore seat, the supremo said it was because of the fact that Nandigram and Singur movement was the trendsetter in the field of land reforms in the state. Addressing a poll rally at Egra in Purba Medinipur district, Banerjee accused of practising "politics of riot, loot and murder", and urged everyone "to be on guard against outsiders appearing in their localities". "Gaddars (traitors), Mir Jafars have now become candidates to the dismay of old-timers of the saffron party," she said in an obvious reference to Suvendu Adhikari and Rajib Banerjee who had shifted allegiance to the BJP along with other leaders like Mukul Roy. Mir Jafar, military general of Bengal's last indepedent nawab Siraj-ud-daulah, is considered a hate figure for deceiving the besieged nawab during the Battle of Plassey in 1757, paving the way for British rule in India. BJP is witnessing protests from its cadres at several places for giving ticket to turncoats ignoring them. The TMC, which has made 'Bengali pride' its core poll plank, has called the BJP a "party of outsiders" as its top leaders hail from outside the state. Venting her anger against the TMC leaders for crossing over to the BJP,she said "these turncoats" were given many responsibilities in the past but they did not do justice with the job. "I will be monitoring every project so that its benefit reaches everyone," she said. About her decision to contest from Nandigram, she said, "Many people have asked me why I decided to contest from faraway Nandigram rather than a constituency in Kolkata. I replied, I chose it since the movement against land acquisition in Nandigram (in 2007-2008) and Singur had played a significant role in the field of land reforms in the state. "Also I consider every corner of Bengal as my own place." Banerjee is pitted against her protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram seat where voting will take place on April 1. The anti-land acquisition movement at Nandigram had catapulted Banerjee to power in 2011, ending 34-year rule of the Left Front in Bengal. Slamming the saffron party for chanting "Hari Hari in front and stabbing from behind", the TMC chief claimed, "Chewing pan parag and putting tilak on forehead, the BJP carries on attack on people." Coining the slogan "No vote to BJP", Banerjee also asked the crowd not to vote for the CPI-M and the Congress either "as they are friends of the BJP."The CPI-M, Congress and the fledgling ISF have formed an alliance in West Bengal against the TMC and the BJP in the election of 294-member state assembly. Banerjee asked the people to maintain vigil outside the counting centres where the EVMs will be kept after polling, saying "Do not leave the place even if central security and state police ask you to do so. "Also if an EVM malfunctions, ensure that the machine replacing it is tested properly." Alleging that women are not safe in the BJP-ruled states, she said, "In Uttar Pradesh, women are raped and murdered. The father of a rape victim was killed recently. "If a poor man steals Rs 500 we pounce on him. What about the BJP stealing lakhs of rupees in jumla, what about lakhs of cash being plundered in the name of selling of PSUs? These thefts by BJP leaders are never known publicly?" The chief minister said, 'Duare Sarkar' (government at the doorstep) camps will be set up again in August-September and will be held twice a year from now on. Asserting that the victory of the TMC in the assembly polls "will be the precursor to dislodging the BJP in Delhi",she said "If you want me to be at the helm again, make every TMC candidate a winner." The TMC leader recited 'chandi path' before wrapping up her speech and also wished Muslims, Christians and members of different tribes and castes. "We are all united and together. None can rupture our unity. This is Bengal", she said. At the second meeting in Patashpur in the same district, Banerjee took a dig at the family of Suvendu Adhikari, "Purba Medinipur was controlled by a particular set of people. "I had blindly trusted them but in return I got treachery and betrayal. I could never imagine that from 2014 he was in touch with BJP. I couldn't realise, so I apologise before you," she said without naming Suvendu Adhikari. At Tamluk, the last stop of her public meetings, the TMC supremo claimed that due to Keleghai Kapaleswari irrigation project the regular flooding of the area has stopped. She said if BJP is not defeated, the saffron party, which is "anti-farmers,anti-labourers, anti-women and anti-people", will ultimately "sell" the country. The CM said the state government has provided 900 acres of land to ISKCON for a grand temple complex in Nadia,to highlight her government's favourable approach towards religious organisations. Before ending her speech, she chanted Durga mantra "...narayani namostute" and wished all religions. (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.) (JNS) President Joe Bidens foreign-policy team has talked a lot about re-emphasizing diplomacy and re-engaging with allies after what they claim was the trashing of old friends during the presidency of Donald Trump. But that doesnt appear to include Americas two most important allies in the Middle East: Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Israelis have been reassured that Biden still regards their security as important and that any disputes between the two countries will be handled behind the scenes, rather than highlighted in an effort to achieve more daylight between the two a... As social media debates Shailajas exclusion, CPI(M) comes out in defence of decision Kerala elections 2021: LDF releases manifesto; Assures pension to all housewives India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 19: The Ruling CPI(M) led LDF on Friday released its manifesto for the April 6 assembly elections promising to create 40 lakh new jobs for the youth and "pension for all housewives". The manifesto was released at the AKG centre here by CPI (M) state secretary in charge A Vijayaraghavan, CPI Secretary, Kannan Rajendran and other leaders of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which is seeking a second straight term. A Rs 5,000 crore package for coastal areadevelopment to protect the shores from erosion, increasing the minimum support price for rubber to Rs 250a kg, attaining self- sufficiency in production of eggs, milk and vegetables are among assurances in the manifesto. West Bengal elections 2021: Speaking against Modi is speaking against democracy, says Suvendu Adhikari In his address on the occasion, Vijayaraghavan said pension would be given to all housewives, but did not elaborate. The social security pension would be increased to Rs 2,500 in phases, he added. Apart from more houses under the LIFE Mission project for the poor, the poll document also assures dwelling units will be constructed for all members of tribal and Scheduled Caste communities, he said. Explained: How smaller parties are likely to play bigger role in Assam elections? He claimed that "the biggest achievement" of the LDF government headed by Pinarayi Vijayan was "corruption- free"governance and said the manifesto has been drawn up keeping in mind its aim to retain power. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 19, 2021, 17:43 [IST] (Alliance News) - International Consolidated Airlines Group SA's British Airways is considering selling its headquarters next to Heathrow Airport, the Financial Times reported on Friday. The newspaper said BA is planning the sale to allow its head office staff to split their time permanently between home and office working after the pandemic. The airline has hired property consultants to evaluate a sale of the sprawling Waterside complex on the outskirts of Heathrow airport in west London, which houses 2,000 staff, according to an internal email. "Many of us are based at Waterside and it's not clear if such a large office will play a part in our future," BA's director of people, Stuart Kennedy, wrote in the message to staff. He added it is still "very early days" and a sale was just one option on the table. BA paid GBP200 million for the land and construction of Waterside in the 1990s. https://www.ft.com/content/9ec21998-1c56-4e47-b836-203314fe710e Shares in IAG were down 4.1% in London on Friday afternoon at 207.00 pence each. IAG suffered a pre-tax loss of EUR7.8 billion in 2020 as demand for travel collapsed due to the virus crisis. On Thursday, IAG said it is planning to offer a total of EUR1.00 billion in bonds. The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including strengthening IAG's balance sheet and increasing liquidity, helping the group to weather a more prolonged downturn in air travel due to the virus pandemic and providing the operational and strategic flexibility to take advantage of a recovery in demand, it said. By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! The coronavirus has changed the way we live, limiting travel, closing schools and businesses, forcing us to stay home to stay safe. But the coronavirus could not stop the workings of government. As taxpaying citizens, we still demand and expect police and fire protection from our local units of government. We still expect the roads to be plowed and repaired. We still expect the water to flow from the tap when we turn it on. Our local governments are necessary. The things they are designed to do for us are essential. In March 2020, when shutdowns became the norm, the problem became how to continue to let governments do their job under the restriction placed on all Michiganians under the state of emergency and state of disaster, both declared by the governor. How do you hold a public meeting when gatherings are prohibited? How do you operate a public government without allowing the public in? Executive Order 2020-15 was enacted on April 1, 2020 which allows local units of government to hold their public meetings electronically. They are restricted to following some guidelines. It has since been turned into law as of the end of last year. PA 254 would allow for remote, virtual meeting under certain circumstances through December 31, 2021. In addition to being allowed to meet, deliberate and vote on necessary and essential items on their agendas, any local unit of government can hold a meeting via Zoom or other easily accessible form of electronic video conference. They can also hold a meeting via teleconference. They can do either as long as they provide easy access by computer or phone to any constituent wanting to participate. Governments have to provide information to their constituents on when the meeting is to be held, what is on the agenda, why it is critical to be debated and decided and how anyone can connect and participate. Questions or comments from those watching or listening have to be acknowledged and answered by the electeds. All discussion or deliberation by those we elected must be held live and on camera. All votes at these e-meetings are to be taken via roll call. In some ways this system works well. Boards and committees still hold their meetings. Citizens can participate electronically from the safety of their homes. Government services continue to be provided to those of us that pay for those services. In other ways, this permission to hold electronic meetings exposed flaws in many areas. Many local governments proved themselves incapable of adequately hosting a simple Zoom meeting. They either did not have the horsepower in their IT department if they have an IT department at all -- or the ability to quickly adapt to the new meeting rules and guidelines allowed by the governor. Many were unable to provide the mandated openness to share discussion with those watching. Some placed limits on the number of guests who were allowed to join their electronic meeting. Some eliminated visitors through an all-to-ambitious pre-screening process. And the absence of reliable internet service in many areas of our state stood out clearly. As a citizen, if you cant operate a computer, if you cant accept a Zoom meeting invitation, if you dont have internet service, you cannot participate in these newly-approved electronic government meetings. In Michigans Upper Peninsula, citizens are driving 40 miles to find internet service so they can attend a court-ordered electronic Zoom hearing. The workings of government in the public light is a must. Not a maybe, a sometimes or even a whenever possible. Our government belongs to the people. The people who pay their taxes, who elect local officials to represent them at all levels of government from school boards all the way to those we send to Washington. The coronavirus has challenged us all. It has made us rethink the way we live and conduct our lives. It has forced us to do things differently. But it cannot be allowed to take from us the ability to participate in the workings of our governmental bodies. From school boards through city commissions, the people who are elected must operate in the open, face to face with and in front of those that elect them. Taipei, March 20 : The total number of Covid-19 cases in Taiwan since the beginning of the pandemic has reached 1,004 as of Friday, the local epidemic monitoring agency said. The island reported six new Covid-19 cases on Friday, who travelled from the Philippines, the US, Paraguay and Indonesia, the agency said in a press release. Among the total confirmed cases to date, 10 have died, 959 have recovered, and 35 remain hospitalized, the Xinhua news agency reported. The first batch of AstraZeneca vaccine doses have passed safety checks in Taiwan and been distributed to medical institutions across the island Friday, the agency added. Vaccination will start as early as March 22. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) Optimism behind the vaccination program even with the limited supply may have led to lower compliance with health protocols resulting in more infections, an official from the World Health Organization said Friday. Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, WHO Representative to the Philippines, calls it vaccine optimism. After more than a year of quarantine restrictions, the vaccine rollout sparked some optimism that finally we are going to see light in the end of the tunnel, he said in an online media briefing. Small relaxation of people mingling more, going out more but that little bit contributes to the possibility of the virus transmitting and increasing in transmission, Abeyasinghe said, noting that it is made possible by relaxed community quarantine measures. He said this phenomenon has been observed in other countries, including those with massive inoculation drive. This is inconclusive, but this is what we are trying to understand and explain what is driving this transmission, Abeyasinghe said. On Friday, the country recorded 7,103 new COVID-19 cases an all-time high since the local outbreak began, beating the 6,968 infections added on August 10. From mid-October until early March, the country was confirming around 1,000 to over 2,000 cases daily. Abeyasinghe said the Philippine situation is a very complex scenario, but one that is not unique to the country. The WHO headquarters noted a global increase in reported cases, he said. Variant-driven? While the Department of Health said there's not enough evidence to conclude that the presence of new COVID-19 variants in the country caused the surge, Abeyasinghe said it may be another major factor in the dramatic rise in infections. The country listed several cases of variants of concern, in particular those first discovered in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil which have been linked to higher transmissibility and so-called immune escape. Variant cases were detected in a number of regions, mostly in Metro Manila, epicenter of the local outbreak. The new variants are circulating in areas beyond where they have been confirmed, Abeyasinghe said, again attributing the spread to increased mobility. FAST FACTS: New coronavirus variants detected in PH He said the WHO is monitoring the health care utilization rate, adding that an overwhelmed system would call for more stringent quarantine measures. Now more than ever, the public should be more vigilant and more compliant with health protocols, including the wearing of face masks and face shields and social distancing, Abeyasinghe said. Health officials said even those vaccinated against COVID-19 still have to observe minimum health standards since the shots may not guarantee immunity, but are meant to prevent severe disease and death. So far, the country has 1.125 million doses of the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines, which are allocated for medical frontliners. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 22:08:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Aerial photo taken on March 19, 2021 shows a Yuxin'ou (Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe) China-Europe freight train setting out from the Tuanjie Village Station of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. With a loud train whistle echoing through the air, a freight train bound for Duisburg, Germany, slowly pulled out of the Tuanjie Village Station of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Friday morning. "Exactly a decade ago, I signaled for China's first China-Europe freight train, the Yuxin'ou (Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe), to depart here," Zhang Xin recalled while seeing the train disappearing in the distance. Zhang has dedicated himself to 12 years as head of the station. For the past decade, the rumbling trains have not only put the once-obscure and dilapidated station on the map but also acted as a carrier for the Belt and Road Initiative, boosting trade exchanges between inland Chinese regions and Europe. (Xinhua/Tang Yi) Pennsylvania officials on Friday said 83,859 teachers and school staff have received COVID-19 vaccine, meaning the effort is ahead of schedule and proven to be a great success. The numbers refer to the initiative to use Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires only one dose, to vaccinate educators and staff so schools can fully reopen. Gov. Tom Wolfs administration further said on Friday that it expects to use its full 94,600-dose allocation of Johnson & Johnson vaccines for vaccinating school staff by the end of the weekend. Moreover, the administration said it has requested and expects to receive 26,000 more doses, enabling the vast majority of teachers and staff who want vaccine to have it by the end of March. The state has been vaccinating the educators at 28 intermediate units in collaboration with the Pennsylvania National Guard. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our efforts to get school staff vaccinated and for making it happen so quickly, Wolf said in a news release. Most importantly, vaccinating teachers will help students to get back in the classroom faster, ease the burden on parents and benefit entire communities. CLEVELAND A shareholder lawsuit was filed Thursday against an Ohio electric truck startup claiming it has defrauded investors by making spurious claims about the number of preordered trucks and the progress it has made in starting production at a former General Motors plant. 'Manw***e' police officer Timothy Brehmer (pictured) appealed against his 10-and-a-half year jail sentence for killing his married lover, it has been revealed 'Manw***e' police officer Timothy Brehmer's manslaughter jail term has today been increased to 13-and-a-half years by the Court of Appeal. The married police constable was jailed for 10-and-a-half years in September last year after being convicted of causing the death of Claire Parry in a pub car park in West Parley, Dorset, in May. The 41-year-old was found not guilty of the mother-of-two's murder, but was convicted of her manslaughter following a trial at Salisbury Crown Court. Brehmer had appealed the jail term to the Court of Appeal, claiming the sentence was too long. The Attorney General's Office, meanwhile, also referred the case to the same court under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. Today judges have thrown out Brehmer's appeal. They have instead increased his sentence by three years following the referral from the Attorney General's Office. The Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett said that sentencing judge, Mr Justice Jacobs, 'gave too little weight to the aggravating factors he had identified'. He also said the judge had given too high of a discount on Brehmer's sentence for his guilty plea. Lord Burnett said: 'The offender's conduct and lies after the attack were reprehensible and calculated to deflect attention from what he had done. 'These aggravating factors have the effect of moving above the starting point (for deciding the sentence) significantly before considering the mitigating factors.' He added: 'We quash the sentence of 10 and a half years imprisonment and substitute a sentence of 13 and a half years imprisonment.' After the ruling, acting Attorney General Michael Ellis QC, said: 'Because of his actions, Claire Parry's family have lost a wife and mother, and her community have lost a dedicated nurse. 'I greatly welcome the decision by the Court of Appeal today to increase Brehmer's sentence.' Mrs Parry, 41, died in Brehmer's car in the car park of the Horns Inn, Dorset, on May 9 this year. The married police constable (pictured with his wife) was jailed last month after being convicted of causing the death Claire Parry Mrs Parry, 41, a mother-of-two, died in Brehmer's car in the car park of the Horns Inn, Dorset, on May 9 this year What is the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme and how does it work? The Attorney General's Office (AGO) operates a scheme in which people can apply to have a sentence reviewed if they believe the sentence is 'unduly lenient'. The scheme is reserved for the most serious cases, including murder and rape. Other serious crimes including robbery, some child sex crimes and child cruelty cases, some serious frauds, some serious drug crimes and some terror-related offences are included. Anyone can recommend that a sentence be reviewed under the AGO's scheme - even if they aren't involved in the case - and only one person has to ask. The request must be made within 28 days of sentencing. Once the Attorney General's Office has reviewed the case, they may send it to the Court of Appeal who can decide if the sentence should stay the same, be increased if it is 'unduly lenient' or they can refuse to hear the case. Last year it was revealed that new statistics for 2019 show 63 offenders had their sentences increased under the scheme. In 2019, Law Officers received 577 applications for sentences to be reviewed which met the necessary criteria to be considered under the scheme. Of these, 93 were referred to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal agreed that 64 sentences were too low, and as a result 63 offenders had their sentences increased. A total of 16 people were imprisoned after avoiding prison time at their original sentencing. Advertisement Brehmer claimed the married nurse accidentally suffered the fatal injury while he was trying to push her out of his Citroen car so he could drive away. The Dorset Police officer, who is married to a detective in the same force, claimed he 'fell on top of her by accident more than anything' and his arms must have 'slipped up' around her neck while he was behind her in a 'piggy-back position'. Brehmer sobbed as he told jurors: 'I'm responsible for her death. I must have [used too much force]. I absolutely did not want to kill her or cause serious bodily harm. I didn't intend to kill her.' Mrs Parry was left with 'unsurvivable brain injuries' after she was strangled in the car park of the Horns Inn pub at about 3pm on May 9 and died in hospital the next day. Her marriage to Dorset Police officer Andrew Parry was falling apart as he discovered her relationship with Brehmer, also of Dorset Police, however Brehmer's detective wife, also from the same force, had no idea about his flings. Trial judge Mr Justice Jacobs said he sentenced Brehmer for manslaughter on the basis that he 'lost control' after Mrs Parry sent the text message to his wife, Martha, also a police officer. 'I am sure that you did deliberately take Claire Parry by the neck, applying significant force with your forearm or the crook of your elbow for a period of time while she struggled against you, thereby causing the severe neck injuries which the pathologist described,' he said. The judge said that as a 'trained and experienced' road traffic police officer, Brehmer would have known Mrs Parry was seriously injured. 'You were a trained and experienced police officer and your character witnesses described how you would help others. 'Yet you did nothing to try to help Claire Parry. You did not ask her how she was. That was because you knew how she was,' the judge said. Brehmer, of Hordle, Hampshire, will serve two-thirds of his sentence in prison before he can apply for parole. A Dorset Police source told MailOnline: 'A lot of Tim's former colleagues were surprised that he was found not guilty of murder. 'He will now only serve ten years for her manslaughter but will likely be out in half that time on licence. Trial judge Mr Justice Jacobs said he sentenced Brehmer for manslaughter on the basis that he 'lost control' after Mrs Parry sent the text message to his wife, Martha, also a police officer. Pictured: Police footage of Brehmer being treated by paramedics after Ms Parry's death Brehmer, of Hordle, Hampshire, will serve two-thirds of his sentence in prison before he can apply for parole Brehmer claimed the married nurse accidentally suffered the fatal injury while he was trying to push her out of his Citroen car (pictured) so he could drive away 'When you think that Andrew Parry will never see his wife again and his children will never see their mum again, you have to question if 10-years is a suitable punishment. 'I don't think anybody would think it's nearly enough. 'He has taken a life and in the process left a whole family devastated.' Salisbury Crown Court heard Brehmer had at least three affairs outside of his 14-year marriage. Detective Constable Kate Rhodes, who 'quickly fell in love' with Brehmer, branded him a 'man w***e' and the police officer even described himself as a 'devious b*****d' who kept his wedding ring on during affairs. Brehmer and Mrs Parry used 'secret chats' to communicate, had sex as often as twice a week and just days before the incident the pair had an 'intimate quickie'. Sources from within Dorset Police told MailOnline how well-spoken Brehmer had a reputation at work as a ladies' man who managed to charm a number of lovers from within his own unit. They said the smooth-talking officer, who is married to a detective in the same force, told each woman 'you are the only one for me' and sent song lyrics and sexualised messages to 'suck them in'. Brehmer, who admitted manslaughter but denied murder, is a former traffic officer who was seconded to the National Police Air Service and lived with his wife and their nine-year-old son in the village of Hordle in Hampshire's New Forest National Park. Mrs Parry, who had an eight-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy with her husband Andrew, a Dorset Police officer, was a nurse practitioner at a medical centre in Bournemouth, Dorset. Chinese premier stresses forest fire prevention and control Xinhua) 08:41, March 19, 2021 BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for solid efforts to prevent forest and grassland fires. Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in an instruction on the country's fire prevention and control work. Authorities at all levels should take their due responsibilities and give full play to the respective advantages of emergency management and forestry and grassland departments, Li said. He also called for accelerated construction of fire-control facilities and strengthened systems of contingency plans. Efforts should go into curbing forest and grassland fires and guaranteeing people's safety and property, he said. Attending a national teleconference on forest and grassland fire prevention and control on Thursday, State Councilor Wang Yong called for solid efforts to prevent major fires to create a safe and stable environment for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, and economic and social development. Wang, also head of the national headquarters of forest and grassland fire prevention and control, stressed the planning for fire control during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). There's a lot of money at stake close to $1 billion from just one federal law alone to help the government of Guam and the public it serve Read more Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-18 23:56:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUNMING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Police in southwest China's Yunnan Province have recently nabbed six drug trafficking suspects and seized over 58 kg of methamphetamine, according to the local public security bureau. After receiving a tip-off in February that a gang of drug dealers was planning to traffic drugs into China, police in Ximeng County under the city of Pu'er sent a task force to investigate the case. On March 3, the police nabbed four suspects in Lancang County and seized 58.17 kg of suspected methamphetamine hidden on a truck. Two other suspects were captured by the task force thereafter. Further investigation is underway. Yunnan is a major front in China's battle against drug crime as it borders the Golden Triangle known for its rampant drug production and trafficking. Enditem Since taking office nearly two months ago, the Biden administration has been a whirlwind of activity in reforming and revisiting almost every key problem area but one: the chaotic and incoherent China policy it inherited from the Trump administration. Top U.S. and Chinese officials met Thursday in Alaska for the first time since the new administration took power. The meeting, framed as little more than a chance for each side to state their well-known positions, fell short of even those low expectations. In a series of blunt remarks, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said that the U.S. government had deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyberattacks on the United States and economic coercion toward our allies actions, he said, that threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability. In a lengthy presentation that went well over the agreed-upon time limit, Chinas top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, countered that the United States was the champion of cyberattacks and that many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States. These harsh exchanges will only contribute to the dangerous decay in relations between the worlds two most powerful countries. Both sides seem to be trapped by a need to look and sound tough. That stance may play well domestically in both countries, but it complicates doing what is really needed: engaging, with realistic expectations, with the other side. Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 50 Finance Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 195 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 195 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 50 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school. Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Finance Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-finance-degree-programs/ 2021 Finance Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Albertus Magnus College Bentley University Boston College Carnegie Mellon University Case Western Reserve University City University of New York, Baruch College Colorado State University, Global Campus Davenport University DePaul University Dickinson State University Florida International University Fordham University Georgetown University Lehigh University Massachusetts Institute of Technology Metropolitan State University Michigan State University Missouri State University New York University North Dakota State University Northeastern University Northwood University Ohio State University Old Dominion University Pennsylvania State University Regis University Santa Clara University Southern Methodist University Southern New Hampshire University St. Cloud Technical Community College State University of New York, Canton Texas A&M International University Tulane University University Of Alabama, Birmingham University of California, Berkeley University of Denver University of Houston-Downtown University of Houston, Clear Lake University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Maryland Global Campus University of Massachusetts, Amherst University of Memphis University of Miami University Of Minnesota, Crookston University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania University of Texas, Austin University of Virginia Villanova University Virginia Tech About Intelligent.com Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/. The Education Ministry hopes to vaccinate high school seniors during their summer vacation so they can safely apply for early college admissions from September or sit the nationwide university entrance exam in November. "We're consulting with health authorities to make sure that high school seniors and teachers get vaccinated before early admissions or the college entrance exam start," Vice Education Minister Jung Jong-chul said on Thursday. Children under 18 and pregnant women are currently excluded from the government's vaccination plan due to the lack of data on the safety and efficacy of vaccines. But the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has already approved the plan to give Pfizer's vaccine to children aged 16-18. "No vaccination plan for the third quarter has been decided yet," a health official said Thursday. "We'll make a decision on whether to give vaccines to children over 16 and which vaccines to give them after a review by an advisory committee." The past one year has been a struggle for a large section of the population due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the mayhem it unleashed on the livelihoods of ordinary people. With jobs lost or incomes reduced, many are still struggling to put food on their tables and provide education to their children. Unlike in the past, parents now have to provide separate laptops or smartphones for their online classes, which many of them can't afford. bccl As the crisis lingers on there has been a spike in the number of students dropping out from schools, by choice or by force. Schools have also come under increasing criticism for demanding regular fees from the students even now. A private school in Mandya, Karnataka has come under heavy criticism after it emerged that the authorities there allegedly took away the answer sheets of some 25 students in the middle of the examination for Class 10, saying they had paid only half the school fees. BCCL The parents of the students also alleged that their children were humiliated and made to stand outside the school premises for hours over the non-payment of fees. Exam sheets of Students writing mid-term exams in #mandya taken away over non-payment of schools fees. Around 25 students were made to stand outside for paying only 50% of the fees. This comes days after Karnatak HC said no coercive decision should be taken. pic.twitter.com/YYpyCt4YNJ Imran Khan (@keypadguerilla) March 18, 2021 As the news spread, parents and Pro-Kannada activists protested outside the school demanding action against the authorities. As the protests grew, the school authorities agreed to allow the students to write the exam. However, the protesting parents said that the school's actions were in violation of the Karnataka High Court order last week which said that no coercive action should be taken by the government or schools over the payment of less school fees in the wake of the pandemic. BCCL/ Representational Image Following the incident, Srirangapatna block education officer said a notice has been issued against the school and action will be taken in accordance with the law. This is not an isolated incident and in the past one year there have been several cases from across the country, where students were removed from zoom classes and school WhatsApp groups over the issue of fees. New Delhi, March 19 : Facebook on Friday said it is working on Instagram for kids under age 13 where parents will have controls just like Messenger Kids. Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri said that a version of the popular photo-sharing app is currently being explored. "Kids are increasingly asking their parents if they can join apps that help them keep up with their friends," Mosseri said in a tweet. "A version of Instagram where parents have control, like we did w/ Messenger Kids, is something we're exploring. We'll share more down the road," he added. Mosseri is overseeing the Instagram for Kids project with vice president Pavni Diwanji. Facebook launched Messenger chat platform for kids between 6-12 age group in 2017. Earlier this week, Instagram said it is introducing a new feature that prevents adults from sending messages to people under 18 who don't follow them. "We have banned adults from direct messaging teenagers who don't follow them and introduce 'safety prompts' that will be shown to teens when they DM adults who have been 'exhibiting potentially suspicious behaviour'," Instagram said in a statement. The company said that suspicious behaviour could include sending "a large amount of friend or message requests to people under 18." Safety prompts will give teenage users the option to report or block adults who are messaging them. Instagram also announced a new Parents' Guide with expert partners for more countries, including India. Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users globally. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. (TNS) A bill that would make it illegal to disclose personal restricted information was sent back to the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday after delegates on the floor raised concerns that the bill is too vague and would flood West Virginia's court system with substantial constitutional questions.Following about 20 minutes of debate, with at least five delegates questioning the practical application of the bill, House Judiciary Chairman Moore Capito, R-Kanawha, asked that House Bill 3134 be returned to the committee.House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, granted Capito's motion. As debate progressed, lawmakers raised concerns that the bill is so vague that it would lead to criminal court cases that pit questions of a person's freedom of speech against questions of a person's right to privacy.If it becomes law, House Bill 3134 will make it illegal to share a person's personal information with the intent of threatening or intimidating someone, or as part of an effort to incite violence against them. The bill is very likely to change in the hands of House Judiciary Committee members. However, as it stands, the proposed law would state that there has to be an element of intent to cause violence against someone that accompanies the sharing of their personal information before it would constitute a crime.Restricted information that would be subject to the law includes Social Security numbers, unlisted telephone numbers, credit card numbers, a driver's license number, a home address and a secondary address. The crime would be a misdemeanor, but would become a felony if the information shared belonged to people related to the justice system, including law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges, jury members, people testifying in court as witnesses, and police informants.The bill means to address an online activity known as "doxxing," which is when someone's private personal information, usually their phone number or home address, is made public for the purpose of getting others to harass or threaten them. At the misdemeanor level, Delegate Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, said the bill, left open to too broad interpretation by bad actors, could be used as a political weapon."This bill gets into dangerous territory," McGeehan said. "We have private citizens that have every right to contact public officials, and if those conversations get heated, public officials, who are in charge of the apparatus of the state, could interpret that very easily as some sort of intimidation. This is a slippery slope we shouldn't go down." House Government Organization Chairman Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, likewise said elected officials' personal information often is made public and shared on social media as a means for constituents to share concerns or to discuss certain issues, and the bill, while well intended, could have far-ranging effects beyond its intent."I get phone calls from my constituents on my mobile phone," Steele said. "They're not always pleased with whatever we're doing and, a lot of times, they need to blow off some steam. Maybe, to some people, that could come off as threatening, but, in reality, what those people are trying to do is just engage us. Even though sometimes it's not the best conversation on Earth, it is a conversation we signed up for."Under questioning by McGeehan, Delegate Jonathan Pinson, R-Mason, a former West Virginia State Police trooper and the bill's lead sponsor, said he thought McGeehan was misconstruing the situations the bill means to address. Pinson did not object to returning the bill to the Judiciary to narrow its scope. It wasn't clear Thursday if the Judiciary Committee plans to reconsider the bill. Bengal Polls: We don't want BJP, Modi, Duryodhan in Bengal, says Mamata India oi-Deepika S Kolkata, Mar 19: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi with villainous mythological and historical characters. Speaking at a rally in East Midnapore district, Mamata said "Bid farewell to BJP, we don't want BJP. We don't want to see Modi's face. We don't want riots, looters, Duryodhan, Dushasana, Mir Jafar." "I wouldn't have been able to come here. Today I am free to come anywhere in Midnapore. Earlier I used to ask where should I go? I gave them blind love and they betrayed me. They were in touch with BJP since 2014. I am sorry I trusted them," she said. "Modi uses a teleprompter and says Kemon Aacho Bangla (How are you Bangla)? We say Bangla bhalo aachey (Bengal is good). Poriborton is my slogan. Why will you steal my slogan, you copycat? Khela Hobe," she said. "I have injuries on every part of my body. Elections are near. So they thought they will injure my legs," alleged the Chief Minister. Mamata Banerjee is pitted against her former lieutenant Suvendu Adhikari, who joined the BJP in December. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government has accused the Centre of putting its flagship doorstep ration delivery scheme on hold, the office of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told IANS on Friday. This came as the AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been at loggerheads for the last few weeks especially after the Centre presented the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCTD) Bill (Amendment) 2021 in the Lok Sabha, which seeks to give more powers to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor. "The BJP ruled Centre has put Delhi government's doorstep delivery scheme on hold. Delhi government's flagship scheme is to provide food grains for the people of the national capital at their doorstep," said a source in the Delhi government. The Kejriwal government had notified the scheme for the doorstep delivery of rations, which as per the earlier announcement was supposed to roll out by March-end this year. Kejriwal had announced the scheme during his Republic Day speech at the Delhi Secretariat. The scheme announced under the 'Mukhya Mantri Ghar Ghar Ration Yojna' (MMGGRY) under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) of the National Food Security Act, 2013, was notified by the government on February 20. The MMGGRY involves the delivery of packed wheat flour and rice to beneficiaries at their doorstep. IANS has learnt that the Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation has prepared a list of beneficiaries, their quota and biometric specifications according to which they will have to pay a processing charge along with the cost of subsidised food grains. Kejriwal mentioned in his Republic Day address that all beneficiaries in the Capital who have a ration card can avail the benefits of the scheme. The scheme will be optional and existing TPDS beneficiaries will have to specify to enrol under it. Delhi has nearly 17 lakh PDS beneficiaries. Grassley Tells Biden Administration Stop Politicizing Threat Assessments Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Thursday took issue with a newly released threat assessment on domestic violent extremism because it did not thoroughly take into account anarchist extremists who terrorized U.S. cities last summer. FBI Dir[.] Wray told Congress much of domestic extremism in 2020 was [from] anti-govt elements (anarchists+militias) But Biden admin assessment totally silent on anarchists+only mention militia side of anti-govt violence, Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote on Twitter in response to the brief intelligence community summary released Wednesday. What do u call burning/looting/murder across [the] country last summer? He pointed to statements made by FBI Director Christoper Wray to Congress in September 2020, who testified that the bureau has opened properly predicated investigations into violent anarchist extremists who subscribe to, [or] self-identify with Antifa. FBI Dir Wray also told Congress 2020 had as much anarchist extremism as [the] last 3yrs combined, Grassley wrote in another statement. No racially motivated murders in 2020 but 3 murders by anti-govt[.] extremists incl[.] Antifa. Garbage and dump trucks were set ablaze by rioters near the Kenosha County Courthouse where they had been set up to prevent damage to the building, in Kenosha, Wis., on Aug. 23, 2020. (Sean Krajacic/Kenosha News via AP) Demonstrators jump on a damaged police vehicle in Los Angeles on May 30, 2020, during a protest against the death of George Floyd. (Ariana Drehsler/AFP via Getty Images) Democrats, including top party members, have dismissed or downplayed the severity of anarchist extremist groups such as Antifa who have been accused of perpetrating violence and rioting amid civil unrest last summer following the death of George Floyd. House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) characterized Antifa rioting and violence in some cities such as Portland as a myth and referred to the extremist group as imaginary during a House speech last year. During the September 2020 hearing, Wray acknowledged Antifa as a real thing but added that the bureau considers it as a movement or an ideology that individuals subscribe to rather than an organization with structure. He also added that individuals who identify with Antifa ideology coalesce in small groups or nodes and have the potential for violence. U wldnt [sic] know by reading Biden admin security assessment Stop politicizing threat assessments! Grassley added. A store damaged during the May 31 night protests in Soho neighborhood in lower Manhattan on June 1, 2020. (Venus Upadhayaya/The Epoch Times) The brief unclassified summaryassembled by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)found that domestic extremists, motivated by a range of ideologies, are seen as risks for violence. The intelligence community found that extremists motivated by biases against minority populations and perceived government overreach will almost certainly drive more radicalization and mobilization to violence. Meanwhile, sociopolitical developments such as the narrative of fraud in the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol will almost certainly spur some [domestic violent extremists] to try to engage in violence this year, the assessment summary read. The assessment was conducted after President Joe Biden in January tasked the DNI to assess the threat of domestic violent extremism following the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol. Biden and Democrats elevated the issue following the violence on that day, leaving critics concerned that the new administration may limit their focus on assessing domestic threats to the Jan. 6 events without attention to the violence unfolding across the country over the summer in 2020, triggered by the death of George Floyd. The summary also concluded that racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists and militia violent extremists (MVE) present the most lethal threats. It found that some racially motivated extremists are most likely to conduct mass-casualty attacks against civilians, while militia groups would be typically targeting law enforcement and government personnel and facilities. The IC assesses that the MVE threat increased last year and that it will almost certainly continue to be elevated throughout 2021 because of contentious sociopolitical factors that motivate MVEs to commit violence, the intelligence officials wrote (pdf). The officials also reiterated warnings about lone offenders or small cells of domestic extremists from different ideologies, saying that they are more likely to carry out violent attacks in the Homeland than organizations that allegedly advocate a DVE ideology. According to the summary, domestic violent extremists are defined as U.S.-based individuals who conduct or threaten activities that are dangerous to human life in violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any state; appearing to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; and influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping, as per the definition of domestic terrorism under federal law. The assessment didnt take into account people who engage in advocacy of political or social positions, political activism, use of strong rhetoric, or generalized philosophic embrace of violent tactics, as those actions may be constitutionally protected. Loren and Alexei Brovarnik from season 3 of the original 90 Day Fiance, Pillow Talk, and countless spinoffs, are having a baby. Their son, Shai, is going to be a big brother, and this is exciting news for fans of the series. Loren and Alexei Brovarnik from 90 Day Fiance Alexei and Loren Brovarnik from 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After | 90 Day Fiance/TLC/YouTube Loren, who is 32, and Alexei, who is also 32, are regulars on Pillow Talk, and fans have really grown fond of them and their little family. But how did the couple actually meet? The moment came in 2013 when Loren traveled to Israel on a Birthright trip that she was staffing. Alexei was the medic of the group, and hes from Isreal. They did the long-distance thing, but they finally married in 2015 in the United States and again in Israel in 2016 as well. The family grew in April 2020 when their son Shai was born. They currently reside in Hollywood Beach, Florida, and they have continued to be favorites in the franchise. Loren and Alexei are having another baby People released the information first, reporting on Loren and Alexeis news on March 19, 2021, complete with photos of the happy family, Lorens growing baby bump, and Shai. Theres even a cute shot of Shai with his mom. We cant believe were doing it again! the couple revealed to People. Honestly, wed be lying if we said we werent nervous. Two under 2 is going to be quite an adjustment, but we are so excited for BabyBrov No. 2! Although the couple is unsure of whether the baby is a girl or boy, its still a super exciting prospect for them as well as fans at home. Every time we tell Shai hes going to be a big brother, he gets the biggest smile, they explained. We dont know if its a boy or a girl as long as its a healthy baby, were happy! Yalla, lets do it! Loren shared some photos making the announcement on her Instagram RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Was Alexei Brovarniks Citizenship Approved? Loren Shares Update Loren also shared with her followers on Instagram which number at 1.1 million the news of her pregnancy, including some similar photos to the ones People shared. In one, shes holding her baby bump with her mouth wide as Alexei smiles and holds baby Shai. Theyre all wearing similar shirts with Shais saying, Big Brother and Alexeis saying, Cool Dad. In another shot, Loren is smiling at Shai as he sits on his mother, staring at her. The last two photos are of Shai wearing shoes with another pair as well. He smiles while holding the new set of shoes in a sweet moment. Loren captioned the post: Its true, we are expecting Babybrov #2! We figured why not have another, and Shai is so excited to become a big brother in late summer! We need to think of a nickname for our little embryo please help us out and comment one below! #teambrovarnik #babybrovpartdeux #herewegoagain #2under2. Loren mentioned the news on her other social media pages as well. Alexei shared some photos announcing the news too in a post as well as mentioning it on his Instagram Story. They also announced it via Lorens Instagram Story (which Alexei also shared) too. 90 Day Fiance cast members react As can be expected, 90 Day Fiance cast members have responded on Lorens post offering up their well wishes for the happy couple. A number of them commented about Loren and Alexeis growing family, and weve included a few of them. Jenny Slatten, from seasons 1 and 2 of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way added in the comments, . Armando Rubio from season 2 of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way commented, Wow congratulations!!!! . Even more cast members added their thoughts. Veronica Rodriguez from Pillow Talk and season 3 of 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days said, How exciting!!! Congrats to you both . Elizabeth Potthast Castravet from Pillow Talk and seasons 4 and 5 of Happily Ever After, and as well as season 5 of the original series, wrote, Yay!! Congratulations! So exciting . Loren and Alexeis family is growing. 90 Day Fiance fans have a lot to look forward to in the lives of these two cast members. PHILIPSBURG:--- The Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard is recruiting youngsters to become Coast Guard officers during their upcoming recruitment day. The event will be held on Saturday, March 20, 2021, from 10 AM until 1 PM at the Coast Guard substation in Simpson Bay. Those who wish to apply for a job must be between 18 and 25 years and have a Dutch passport. The recruitment day will start at 10 AM with lots of stands where visitors can receive information about the training, see the Coast Guard equipment, take a look at the Metal Sharks and the Cutter Poema and watch a fly-by of the Coast Guard plane. Coast Guard requests everyone to wear their mask during their visit at the substation. If you cannot make it to the event this coming Saturday, you can visit our Facebook Kustwacht Caribisch gebied for more information about the training. Growers have shunned a Scottish government proposal for a 'Scotland-specific' seed potato agreement with the European Union. The proposal was part of a consultation which looked at the issue of seed potato exports - a vital Scottish export - to the EU and Northern Ireland. UK and EU talks continue on equivalence measures for seed potatoes, but it remains very unlikely that any seed potatoes will be exported into the bloc this season. The Scottish government said the country's seed potato farmers faced an estimated 11 million worth of losses due to a lack of equivalence between the UK and EU. But NFU Scotland said it was 'categorical in its response' to a Scotland-specific agreement with the EU, saying it was 'not a valuable use of resources across governments or of benefit to the sector'. The union added that the proposal would be against the UK Internal Market Act 2020, a bill that ensures goods are traded without restrictions throughout the UK. Its principal response to the consultation was for government to secure an agreement under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) as soon as possible. Martin Kennedy, NFU Scotland president said seed potato growers were being severely impacted by the continued blocking of the UKs application for equivalency. There has to be parity for the sector. The current derogation that allows EU seed potatoes to come into the UK until the end of June 2021 has been unhelpful in encouraging an agreement on equivalence and we are calling for this not to be extended." Mr Kennedy said the union was also advocating government support for identifying and developing a thriving, sustainable market within Britain. "Seed potato producers are seeking such opportunities and security so that they can grow with confidence knowing that there is a identified market for their high-quality produce. NFU Scotland will continue to lobby both governments with urgency to safeguard Scotlands high-value potato industry," he said. China in Focus (March 18): Pro-Beijing Internet Troll Slams Communist Party A Chinese internet troll who had a little too much to drink turned his back on the Chinese Communist Party. He slammed Beijing in a YouTube video, despite his reputation as an enthusiastic defender of the communist regime. The United States and China hold their first high-level meeting since President Joe Biden took office. And a former China policy advisor is raising a new point on what decides U.S.China relations. For the first time in 30 years, the EU is sanctioning communist China in response to the regimes human rights abuses in Xinjiang. The Chinese regime often uses business and trade to leverage political gain. NTD looks at what ancient Chinese politicians and culture would have to say about the tactics. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more first-hand news from China. For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter. CHICOPEE The Fire Department celebrated the long-awaited arrival of a new ladder truck last week and retired a 17-year-old one that had a badly rusted frame. The City Council approved spending $1.3 to purchase the new ladder truck as part of a bond package in June 2019 when John L. Vieau was still president. It arrived more than a year after he took office as mayor. While it takes months from the time a fire truck is ordered to the time it is delivered, there were further problems because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fire Chief Daniel Stamborski said. There were multiple delays during the manufacturing process, especially in obtaining parts, which has been a frequent problem for many companies, mainly in the first six months of the pandemic, he said. One of the advantages of the new ladder truck is it comes with a tank that carries 300 gallons of water and a pump so it can also connect to a hydrant for a water source. That allows firefighters to pour some water on a blaze immediately if they are the first on the scene of a fire, Fire Lt. Matt Zabik said. It is more efficient and safer, Deputy Chief Matthew Cross said. Other features on the truck are similar to those on existing fire vehicles so there is not a big learning curve. Shortly after the truck arrived, a representative from the manufacturer spent a few days in the city ensuring all the firefighters were trained on all the features, Cross said. Firefighters also take the trucks out of the station daily to test them to ensure they are working well, so they will get plenty of practice operating the vehicle, he said. Public safety is my top priority, Vieau said. It is important we have adequate equipment for our firefighters. Related content: Metformin, a drug used to treat type-2 diabetes, could help reduce chronic inflammation in people living with HIV (PLWH) who are being treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART), according to researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM). Although ART has helped improved the health of PLWH, they are nevertheless at greater risk of developing complications related to chronic inflammation, such as cardiovascular disease. These health problems are mainly due to the persistence of HIV reservoirs in the patients' long-lived memory T cells and to the constant activation of their immune system. In a pilot study published recently in EBioMedicine (URL), Universite de Montreal immunology professor Petronela Ancuta and first author Delphine Planas, a PhD student in her laboratory at the CRCHUM, evaluate the ability of metformin to improve immune function and reduce viral reservoir size. We asked Professor Ancuta to explain the study. Q. Despite the use of antiretroviral therapy, seropositive individuals exhibit immune activation and excessive inflammation. In your study, you try to stop that with metformin. How so? Currently, antiretroviral therapies inhibit HIV replication by preventing the entry of virion (a complete viral particle) into new cells and its exit from infected cells. However, one step is still not targeted by these therapies: the multiplication of the viral genome inside the infected cell. Despite antiretroviral therapy, this intracellular viral multiplication causes chronic inflammation and immune activation, leading to the emergence of co-morbidities such as cardiovascular disease. In the laboratory, we are working to identify new treatments to inhibit intracellular viral multiplication. The idea of using metformin in people living with HIV came from Dr.?Jean-Pierre Routy of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, our collaborator in this study. Used widely in medicine, this drug stimulates or inhibits the reactions of the body's immune system. In our study, knowing that metformin interferes with the activity of the mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) molecule involved in the intracellular multiplication of HIV genome, we used the drug to treat 22 nondiabetic PLWH on antiretroviral therapy (13 in Montreal and nine in Ottawa). In vitro, studies by our group and others had previously demonstrated that inhibiting mTOR with drugs inhibits HIV replication considerably in the cells of patients infected by the virus. Q. Did the results of your study surprise you? Yes, we were excited by the positive results of this pilot study. The drug was extremely well tolerated by the patients and we observed the beneficial biological effects of metformin in colon biopsies. HIV hides in CD4 T cells, immune system cells that shelter the virus and form viral reservoirs in various peripheral tissues such as the intestine. The virus continues to multiply in these reservoirs and leads to inflammation. In the study, we observed a reduction in the activation of mTOR in CD4 T cells present in the colon, as well as a decrease in certain plasma markers of inflammation and intestinal damage. Metformin, then, has both intestinal and systemic effects. Q. HIV reservoir size is linked to the level of inflammation. Could new approaches like yours reduce the size of these reservoirs? Did you observe this in your study? The viral DNA reservoir size in peripheral blood T cells and in the colon was pretty stable, which is consistent with the known stability of HIV reservoirs. However, we expect that longer treatment may lead to a reduction of these reservoirs. This hypothesis is worth testing. Q. Will you continue your research with a larger patient sample? We're going to launch a new randomized study on more than 58 participants in which metformin will be administered over a longer period. We're planning to do it over a six- to 12-month period to validate the benefits of metformin in controlling inflammation, in part by regulating mTOR. To conclude, I would like to thank the participants in the LILAC study for donating their biological samples and believing in our research efforts, which came to fruition thanks to close collaboration with many researchers, particularly the teams of Drs. Jean-Pierre Routy and Maged Peter Ghali (McGill University Health Centre), Nicolas Chomont (CRCHUM) and Dr.?Jonathan Angel (Ottawa Hospital Research Institute). Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Associated Press Since joining the Baltimore Ravens this offseason, Sammy Watkins has noticed some similarities between his new team and his previous one. It feels like Kansas City to me," Watkins said Wednesday. Watkins' optimism is understandable he's joining a team that went 11-5 and 14-2 the past two seasons but there's one area in which the Ravens have been noticeably different from the Chiefs recently. A teenage girl aged just 18 has been charged with stabbing a man in the back in an alleged savage daylight attack. Emergency services were called out to an address in North Parramatta, in Sydney's west, just after 6.30pm on Friday night following reports a man had been stabbed. Officers from Parramatta Police Area Command attended the scene and found a man, 19, with stab wounds to the back. The woman, 18, was charged with wound with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and do act intending to pervert the course of justice (stock image) Officers from Parramatta Police Area Command attended the scene and found a man, 19, with stab wounds to the back, they allege The victim was treated by paramedics before he was taken to hospital where he remains in a stable condition. Police allege the pair were involved in an argument in a car before he was stabbed. Following inquiries, the woman was later arrested at Parramatta Police Station. She was charged with wound with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and do act intending to pervert the course of justice. The woman was refused bail and will appear before Parramatta Local Court on Saturday. Germany sees Ukraine as an important trading partner with huge economic potential and as a country worth investing in. "Ukraine is an important trading partner and it is also a place into which you should channel your investments. We appreciate it. Two thousand German companies and their representative offices actively work in Ukraine now," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the opening of the 4th German-Ukrainian Business Forum in Berlin on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. In her speech, Angela Merkel welcomed the laws passed in Ukraine, which "give investors more guarantees and protect their investments." According to the German Chancellor, Ukraine has "a huge economic potential." "Ukraine has highly qualified personnel in the industrial sphere, primarily in mechanical engineering and aircraft construction, as well as in the agricultural sector. IT also plays an increasing role," Merkel said. She noted that the trade turnover between Germany and Ukraine had grown to EUR 7.7 billion in 2019. Last year, the coronavirus pandemic "thwarted plans significantly", but the German Chancellor is convinced that the countries will gather momentum in the future "thanks to progress with vaccination." Pointing out the progress in the implementation of reforms in Ukraine, Merkel noted that "some steps still need to be taken", in particular regarding fight against corruption, judiciary, land market. As reported, the 4th German-Ukrainian Business Forum with the participation of the heads of governments of both countries kicked off on Friday. Politicians and business leaders will discuss prospects for cooperation in four panels: digitalization, energy and Green Deal, food processing and agriculture, logistics and infrastructure. ol The top diplomats of the two countries hold the first high-level meeting of the Biden era. For Blinken, China is a threat to global stability. Yang Jiechi replies saying the United States is inciting other countries to attack China. However, both sides can cooperate against global warming and the pandemic. Washington (AsiaNews) The US and Chinese delegations clashed at the start of the two-day bilateral summit that opened yesterday in Anchorage, Alaska. This is the first high-level meeting since the Biden administration took office in January. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan represented the United States. Foreign Minister Wang Yi and top diplomat Yang Jiechi represented the Chinese government. The US State Department accused the Chinese of violating the protocol for speaking for far longer than the agreed-upon time. US officials later indicated that tensions between the two sides cooled down behind closed doors. Yang and Wang slammed the United States, which they say incites other countries to attack China. Blinken and Sullivan criticised the Chinese for suppressing Uyghurs in Xinjiang and the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. US representatives also raised the issue of Beijing's threats to Taiwan, cyberattacks on the United States, and economic bullying against US allies. According to Blinken, China's actions are a threat to the international legal order that guarantees global stability. Sullivan added that the US does not want a conflict with China, but said that Washington will always fight "for our principles, for our people and for our allies." The US envoys said their government is ready to join neighbouring countries to counter China's growing "authoritarianism" and its human rights abuses. Yang responded saying that the United States is using its military power and financial supremacy to suppress other nations. He said Washington uses the concept of national security to block world trade. On allegations of human rights violations, Yang said the US cannot teach China anything, given the "massacre" endured by Black Americans. For Yang, American citizens then have less and less confidence in the democracy" promoted by their rulers. The Chinese arrived at the summit already irritated by Washington's decision, announced on Tuesday, to sanction 24 Chinese and Hong Kong officials held responsible for persecuting pro-democracy activists in the former British colony. The meeting confirms that when it comes to China, Joe Biden will keep to the hard-line of his predecessor Donald Trump. However, unlike the previous US administration, Biden wants to put more emphasis on relations with allies, as evinced by the recent summit with Quad countries (Japan, India and Australia) and Blinken's trip to South Korea and Japan. Relations between Washington and Beijing can only improve if the two sides find common ground on global issues, such as the fight against global warming and the pandemic. Wang said in the past that his government was ready to reopen a "constructive dialogue." nevertheless, according to several observers, and Blinken himself, without any tangible action, Chinese openness is in danger of appearing empty, a repeat of past situations. Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. A man was arrested Thursday in connection with a fatal West Side shooting, San Antonio police said. Bobby Ray Solis, 36, was charged with murder for his alleged role in the death of 36-year-old John Garcia in October. On Oct. 30, San Antonio police officers were called to the 1100 block of Callaghan Road for a shooting. Witnesses reported seeing Garcia who had problems with Solis in the past walking toward Solis and a second man in a parking lot. READ ALSO: 'Beyond disrespectful': Players blast unequal facilities at NCAA womens tournament in San Antonio Gunshots rang out and Garcia was found shot several times. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A white Lincoln SUV registered to Solis' sister was seen fleeing north on Callaghan Road after the shooting, according to an arrest affidavit. Cell phone data placed Solis at the scene, the affidavit said. An autopsy revealed that Garcia was "shot in the back as he was most likely running away" from Solis and the second man. Investigators believe at least two firearms were used in the shooting. The second suspect has not been identified. Solis was booked into the Bexar County jail on a $250,000 bond, court records show. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. [March 19, 2021] Canadian Mortgage App: The #1 mortgage app in Canada TORONTO, Canada, March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian Mortgage App provides consumers with the opportunity to get the most suitable mortgage from the comfort of their home. Canadian Mortgage App, one of the popular applications of the Canadian financial market, is designed for an incredible mortgage experience. This application serves the needs of thousands of customers every day. Ben Salami, the founder of the Canadian Mortgage App, highlights its services. Ben says that this app has turned into an exciting digital ecosystem by bringing both the consumers and professionals on the same platform. CMA has simplified the complex issues related to researching and finding the best mortgage in Canada. Its highly optimized services present the best debt-to-income calculator that assists the customers in picking up the perfect sales price and monthly fee. It is the ultimate tool for accurate calculations and helps the clients with the pre-qualification and linking with the right mortgage. The customers can easily calculate land transfer taxes and connect with award-winning experts. Ben Salami, the founder and tech entrepreneur, shares about the app and says, "CMA has received huge customer support with a 5-star rating for its exceptional services that helped Canadians to choose the best suitable mortgage for themselves. He tlls how CMA established itself as the number 1 mortgage app, with immense user support. Ben highlights how it is fruitful for the users looking to buy or sell. It presents one of the simplest mechanisms to calculate the amortization percentages and link the clients with various agents within their radius. The founder says, "with CMA, something that had to be done at the bank can be simply done on your mobile device." CMA proudly declares some of its achievements, which are as follows CMA was included within the Top 5 apps for Home Buyers by Google. Apple has honoured it with the title "App We Love" in 2018,2019, 2020 and 2021. Industry Service Provider of the Year. FinTech Company of the Year. Product of the Year Award. Every other day the app is collecting tons of milestones. With its incredible end-to-end mobile mortgage services, it is successfully replacing the traditional mortgage loan mechanism with a virtual automated solution. Ben Salami tells CMA is not a company running for the client's money. CMA comprises a highly trained tech team that aims to simplify the customer's mortgage experience making the process faster and more efficient. CMU connects with more than 6000+ Mortgage brokers and 14000+ Realtors to help the customers get the best financial services. Canadian Mortgage App presents the most effective mechanism to help the customers buy or sell a home. With the CMA team's hard work and excellence, it has served over 700000+ satisfied Canadian clients, helping them tailor better and smarter mortgage decisions. Reach out to CMA at - https://www.canadianmortgageapp.com/ Media Details Company: Canadian Mortgage App Email: contact@canadianmortgageapp.com Website: https://www.canadianmortgageapp.com/ Attachment Ben Salami [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] By enabling omnichannel connections to an ever-expanding consumer base in an increasingly digital ecosystem, InComm Payments creates seamless and valuable commerce experiences worldwide. Fremont, CA: InComm Payments, a leading global payments technology company, announced it has invested in a new office in Columbus, Ga. The facility is part of the company's recently announced plan to grow operations in the state. These developments have been supported by the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD). InComm Payments, through its affiliate, InComm Financial Services, Inc., has maintained a presence in Columbus for more than 15 years. Totaling 30,000 square feet across two floors, the facility will house 165 employees. Its operations will service the company's prepaid card portfolios and other financial technology (fintech) products and services, including managing reconciliation and settlement, customer inquiries, compliance, and fraud prevention. "This new office reflects our longstanding presence in Columbus and will further support the company's operations in the growing fintech industry," said Bob Skiba, Executive Vice President, Regulatory and Government Affairs at InComm Payments. "We're also appreciative of the ability to collaborate with the GDEcD, which has consistently supported our operations in the state of Georgia." Congressman Sanford Bishop, who represents Georgia's 2nd Congressional District, visited the new facility and discussed InComm Payments' developments and impact on the local industry. Tommy Marshall, Executive Director at the Georgia Fintech Academy of the University System of Georgia, also joined to discuss FinTech initiatives in Georgia. "The fintech industry is a critical part of Georgia and the 2nd District, providing countless jobs and supporting the global economy. As companies such as InComm Payments develop and grow, so too will the importance of this industry," said Congressman Bishop. A longtime employer in the Columbus area, InComm Payments has traditionally welcomed former military personnel. InComm Payments is able to not only evaluate talent but also provide career services to men and women transitioning into civilian life. The company will also look to establish partnerships with local schools and universities. Recent opportunities for involvement in the community and beyond have been led by Go Studio, InComm Payments' emerging technology incubator, which is currently welcoming entries for its Innovation Jam, a virtual hackathon seeking innovative technology-based solutions that can empower older adults to more safely and easily age in place. Entry to Go Studio's Innovation Jam is free and open to a range of students and professionals, with entrants competing for $10,000 in prizes. TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - Japanese automakers Toyota Motor Corp. (TYT.L, TM) disclosed in a regulatory filling on Thursday that it had reported possible anti-bribery violations related to a Thai subsidiary to the U.S. SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice in April 2020. The company was cooperating with their investigations. The company stated that the investigations could result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties, fines or other sanctions, or litigation by the DOJ or the SEC. The company cannot predict the scope, duration or outcome of the matter at this time. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. On today's episode of bargains that are just too good to pass up, an official from Taiwan is begging people to stop changing their name to salmon to partake in a chain restaurant's two-day-long promotion for free sushi. In a craze that Taiwanese news outlets have dubbed salmon chaos," approximately 150 people flocked to municipal buildings over the past few days to cash in one of their three governmentally permitted name changes, officially adopting the moniker of gui yu, which means salmon in Chinese, Cracked's official Mandarin bargain translator confirmed.The short-lived deal, which concluded on Thursday, advertised that customers who have the name gui yu, on their ID cards can reel in an all-you-can-eat sushi meal along with five friends, according to The Guardian. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Despite this incredible catch (of two days), one Taiwanese official was seemingly ma(d)hi ma(d)hi upon herring about this promotion and expressed concern about how the influx of name changes may impact the government's bureaucratic processes. "This kind of name change not only wastes time but causes unnecessary paperwork, Chen Tsung-yen, Taiwain's deputy interior minister explained, adding that he hoped everyone lured in by this deal can be more rational about it, advising citizens to cherish administrative resources. Korea will not suspend jabs of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine despite mounting evidence of side effects including blood clots found in two recipients here, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Thursday. Health authorities said the second patient who developed blood clots here is a man in his 20s who works as a COVID-19-related health worker and got his jab on March 10. He complained of headache and chills soon afterwards and four days later of nausea. He went to hospital on Monday when the side effects continued, and an MRI scan revealed blood clots and brain lesions. However, the link between his symptoms and the vaccine has yet to be established. Today, the exhibition Mongolia at the Crossroads of Eras has opened in the State Museum of Oriental Art. It is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Mongol Revolution and establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Mongolia. The majority of items is presented in the exhibition for the first time. Australias COVID-19 vaccine program would not exist without locally produced doses, the Prime Minister says, as CSL works around the clock to begin delivering vaccines early next week. Within 12 weeks, GPs will be getting up to 1 million vaccine doses a week as local supplies gradually ramp up from the CSL facility in Melbourne. AstraZeneca vaccine vials manufactured in Melbourne by CSL. The first doses from the CSL facility will be delivered early next week. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said without CSLs local production, Australia would not be able to vaccinate the country. Vaccine supplies have been slow to arrive from overseas due to production and bureaucratic delays. I cannot stress this enough, the domestic production of the AstraZeneca vaccine here in Australia is the most significant decision that has been made to ensure that Australia has a vaccination program, he said. The Polisario Front, Western Saharas liberation movement, has failed in its High Court appeal for a judicial review into the New Zealand superannuation funds investment into assets connected with so-called blood phosphate. New Zealand fertiliser companies Ballance Agri-Nutrients and Ravensdown source phosphate rock from Western Sahara to make superphosphate fertiliser. Ballances head office is located in Mount Maunganui and a recent shipment of the material arrived at the Port of Tauranga. It was met by condemnation from the Polisario Front and a protest by the Rail and Maritime Transport Union. Western Sahara is a disputed territory in Northern Africa. Morocco governs the territory but the Polisario Front, representing the indigenous Saharawi people, seek independence and consider Moroccan rule an invasion of their territory. A ceasefire in the region collapsed in November and the disputed sovereignty of the area has led to the popularisation of the term blood phosphate. The phosphate rock from Western Sahara has a low cadmium rate, which makes it ideal for New Zealand soil and is considered crucial to the agricultural industry by the companies in question. Kamal Fadel, the Polisario Front representative to Australia and New Zealand, and Mike Barton, of Western Sahara Campaign New Zealand, submitted the application against Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, with the Fertiliser Association of New Zealand acting as an intervener. Ballance and Ravensdowns interests were represented by FANZ. The Polisario Fronts argument is that investment in the sourcing of phosphate rock directly contravened the Guardians own mandate to ensure they manage and administer the fund in a way which avoids potentially prejudicing New Zealands reputation as a responsible member of the world community. The High Court concluded earlier this week, that whilst ultimately, a reputational risk to wider New Zealand interests remains, there is no suggestion this risk is due to management or administration of the fund. The application was, therefore, dismissed. The Polisario Front argues that the recognised potential reputational threat to New Zealand should be enough to push the likes of Ballance and Ravensdown away from the trade. Given that the High Court has recognised that the ongoing importation of Western Saharan phosphate to New Zealand poses a reputational risk to New Zealands wider interests, we urge the New Zealand fertiliser companies and all those involved in the plunder of Western Saharan phosphate to cease the trade, says Kamal. We continue to encourage the New Zealand Government, investors, fertiliser companies and farmers to recognise the ethical problems related to the extraction of resources from the occupied territory of Western Sahara, to adopt alternative sources without delay, and to stop any activities that support Moroccos unlawful occupation. However, the FANZ has thanked the High Court for their careful consideration of the case. They suggest this latest appeal was not based in legal argument and was a politically charged tactic which has proved costly to New Zealand taxpayers. From our perspective the applicant appears to have tried to use the Court for a political purpose, which has cost the New Zealand taxpayer hundreds of thousands of dollars, reads an official statement from FANZ chief executive Vera Power. By dismissing the case, the Court has clearly recognised the case had no legal merit. In particular Justice Woolford notes that use of judicial proceedings in this way has been characterised as lawfare. The High Court felt the Guardians had developed policies to protect the fund from reputational damage based on widely accepted international standards. We feel assured that the careful work the industry has done to-date has been recognised by the Court. We will continue to engage carefully in our due diligence activities and are always looking for ways to improve. 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. Philippine officials present rescued Indonesian hostages, wearing dark blue shirts and face shields, after they were turned over to the militarys Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga city, March 19, 2021. Philippine security forces rescued three Indonesian hostages and captured an alleged Abu Sayyaf militant who was escorting them in the far southern island group of Tawi-Tawi, the military said Friday. Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr., commander of Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said the victims were rescued after a boat capsized Thursday night in waters off a small island called Pasigan. It turned out that three of the recovered persons were Indonesian kidnap victims and the other was an Abu Sayyaf, Vinluan said. The Marine Battalion Landing Team identified those rescued as boat captain Arsyad bin Dahlan and his crewmen Riswanto bin Hayono and Arizal Kastamiran. Troops were conducting rescue and retrieval operations to locate Muhammad Khairul, another Indonesian captured last year who was believed to be with this compatriots when the boat sank. Officials identified the alleged Abu Sayyaf member, a Filipino, as Sahud Salisim (alias Ben Wagas). Indonesian consular officials met with and identified the three men, who were in good health, said Judha Nugraha, director for protection of Indonesians overseas at the foreign ministry in Jakarta. The men were to be flown to Manila before returning to Indonesia. The three Indonesians were part of a group of five working for a Malaysian fishing firm who were captured by Abu Sayyaf members in waters off Tambisan island in the Malaysian state of Sabah in January 2020, according to authorities. One of the victims was killed by his abductors, authorities said, while trying to escape in Patikul, Sulu province, on Sept. 29, 2020. Original reports said the victim, identified as La Baa, was found sprawled on the ground after suffering gunshot wounds. He was not shot as it turns out, but had sustained an injury to the head caused by a blunt object which could have possibly caused his death, Vinluan told BenarNews on Oct. 2, 2020. What is still correct, however, is that he was executed as his Abu Sayyaf captors fought with the military. On Friday, Brig. Gen. Arturo Rojas, commander of the Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi, said that Abu Sayyaf members were taking their hostages to Tawi-Tawi because of ongoing military operations in Sulu. However, while sailing, the water craft described as a Jungkong [a small wooden motorized boat] was hit by big waves and capsized, Rojas said. The military rescued four people while another person on the boat, identified as Bensal Jakare, of Indanan town in Sulu, was rescued by a passenger boat. Jeoffrey Maitem in Cotabato City, Philippines, contributed to this report. Russian President Vladimir Putin has challenged his American counterpart, Joe Biden, to a livestreamed online discussion, without a delay, and suggested they debate bilateral relations and issues of importance to the wider world.The president named the fight against the pandemic, regional conflict resolution, and strategic stability issues as possible topics, noting that he would be ready to talk to Biden on Friday or Monday in an open chat.I would like to suggest to President Biden that we continue our discussion, but on the condition that we actually do it live, without any delays, directly in an open, live discussion, Putin told the Russia 24 TV channel on Thursday. I think it would be interesting for the people of Russia and the people of the United States and many other countries, he added. Source: Russias Putin ups ante in new Moscow-Washington rift: Challenges American counterpart Biden to urgent live broadcast debate RT Russia & Former Soviet Union Hmm WASHINGTON, March 19./TASS/. US President Joe Biden left unanswered a journalist question on Thursday whether he would agree to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin live on air. On Thursday, the president delivered remarks on the state of vaccination in the US, aired live on the website of the White House. After ending the speech, Biden ignored journalists questions. The first of this question was whether he would accept the extended invitation to a live conversation. The president did not answer any of the questions and left the hall. Source: Biden leaves unanswered the question whether he will agree to talk to Putin live on air World TASS ~~ So Joe Biden is ignoring and or too busy to have a 1 hour online, on air political discussion in front of the world. A discussion with Vladimir Putin, a man that spends his time (according to the Western Empire of Chaos USA) rigging elections & running the governments in 175 different countries while running Russia at the same time, including the Chaotic Empire of the USA ~~ I see I wouldnt put this off for too long. I want to go to the taiga on the weekend to get some rest, but we could do it tomorrow or, lets say, on Monday, the Russian president told the Rossiya-24 TV channel. Please, we are ready at any time convenient for the Americans, I will give the corresponding directive right now to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [of Russia], Putin said. Source: Putin ready to hold talks with Biden on Friday or Monday Russian Politics & Diplomacy TASS I just gotta keep an eye on this trolling the fishy bait Putin has tossed out at Biden! Here fishy fishy fishy WtR A father-of-seven who told Gardai he was holding 70,000 of cocaine to help pay off his son's drug debt has been jailed for 12 months. John McElroy (60) was caught with a 1.1 kilo block of cocaine worth over 70,000 under the driver seat of his car after he was pulled over by gardai in Cabra, Dublin on January 25 last year. McElroy, with an address at Oakwood Park, Finglas, Dublin, told gardai he had only accepted the package an hour earlier and that he was holding it in order to pay 200 off his son's 50,000 drug debt. He pleaded guilty to one count of possessing cocaine for sale or supply at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Passing sentencing, Judge Melanie Greally said McElroy made a very ill-advised decision to courier the drugs out of a mixture of fear and desperation. Judge Greally noted McElroy was assessed as being at a low risk of reoffending. She said he has expressed remorse for his actions and a realisation of the harm inflicted as a result of participation in the drug business. McElroy is undergoing treatment for a cancer diagnosis and his son has a very serious condition requiring surgery which has been a source of ongoing worry for the family, the court heard. Judge Greally sentenced him to three-and-a-half years imprisonment, but suspended the final two and a half years on strict conditions. At a previous sentencing hearing, Judge Greally said that the message that had to be transmitted when dealing with offences such as this was that engaging with persons involved in the drug distribution network out of fear is not the answer. She said that if it was perceived as being the answer then the battle is lost and we might as well all shut up shop. Garda Marguerite Reilly told the court that gardai pulled over McElroy's car as he was driving through Dublin after they were given a tip-off about the cocaine. They discovered an Aldi bag under the driver seat containing the drugs, which had a street value of 70,840. When questioned, McElroy said he didn't know what was in the package, but he assumed it was something bad. He said his son had run up a drug debt and he was trying to help him out. He has one minor conviction for holding a mobile phone while driving. Gda Reilly told the court that Gardai did not believe McElroy was involved in the drugs scene. Under no circumstances is it the belief of myself or any garda colleagues that he is living off the proceeds of drugs, she said. It was a one-off incident that he was holding these drugs to pay off the drug debt for his son. Judge Melanie Greally said she had one issue with this scenario, noting McElroy was being paid just 200 to pay off a 50,000 debt. Either the enterprise was not going to be a one-off or else it was going to make virtually no impact on the debt, the judge said. Dominic McGinn SC, defending, submitted this was a measure of how naive McElroy was. He said this was one of those wholly exceptional circumstances in which someone was before the court because of misplaced loyalty to his family. The court heard McElroy was in the army between 1976 and 1991 and carried out two tours of Lebanon. He was diagnosed with cancer five years ago and is currently on disability benefit. He has seven children from two marriages. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 12:00:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WELLINGTON, March 19 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand recorded 10 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in two days in managed isolation, and no new cases in the community, according to the Ministry of Health on Friday. The 10 new imported cases came from India, the United States, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Portugal. They have remained in managed isolation facilities in Auckland, said a ministry statement. The seven-day rolling average of new cases detected at the border is four, it said. The country's total tally of COVID-19 cases has now risen to 2,088, showed the official data. An additional 52 patients were reported to have recovered from the coronavirus epidemic, and the existing active cases total 55 in New Zealand. New Zealand is providing support to Papua New Guinea following a surge in the local COVID-19 cases and deaths, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said in a statement. "New Zealand is very concerned by the worsening COVID-19 situation in Papua New Guinea, and have agreed to assist where we can," said Mahuta. "We are providing support to the government of Papua New Guinea as it identifies and responds to emergency needs created by the pandemic. PPE (personal protective equipment) remains a priority as the health system feels the pressure, so a New Zealand Defense Force flight is scheduled to deliver PPE from Auckland to Port Moresby on Saturday," she said. Funding is also available to the New Zealand High Commission in Port Moresby in order to respond to needs on the ground, as requested by partners in Papua New Guinea, she said. Enditem Administratorii portalului nu poarta raspundere pentru continutul postarilor si materialelor plasate de utilizatorii site-ului. Utilizati informatia din acest articol pe propriul risc. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) California Gov. Gavin Newsom is acknowledging mistakes in communicating with the public last year before the first loosening of coronavirus restrictions led to an early summer spike in cases. The Democratic governor says its something "that we reflect upon all the time" as the nation's most populous state again embarks on a broad reopening. Newsom spoke to the Associated Press on Thursday, the day before the one-year anniversary of his coronavirus stay-at-home order. He says he expects to soon expand the list of people eligible for vaccines and that he's right to call organizers of a recall effort against him partisan extremists. Marilyn Monroe was Hollywoods original blonde bombshell, but she wasnt the only platinum-tressed star to grace the silver screen. After Monroe rose to fame in the early 1950s, a wave of starlets with a similar look followed in her wake, including Mamie Van Doren, Anita Ekberg, and Kim Novak. And then there was Jayne Mansfield, who made a splash in Hollywood in 1956 when she signed a contract with 20th Century Fox. The studio envisioned Mansfield as a potential replacement for the increasingly erratic Monroe. But the Pennsylvania-born Mansfield didnt see herself as just a Marilyn clone, as Eve Golden reveals in the upcoming biography Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldnt Help It. The book offers an in-depth look at Mansfields life and career, including those frequent comparisons to Monroe. Jayne Mansfield insisted she and Marilyn Monroe werent that similar Jayne Mansfield | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images RELATED: Who Is Mariska Hargitays Mom? The Tragic Truth About the Law & Order: SVU Stars Past Mansfield spent years trying to make it in Hollywood. She had roles in a few smaller films and posed for Playboy, but her big break came in 1955. Thats when she was cast as a Monroe-esque character in the Broadway play Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Reviewers were eager to draw comparisons between Monroe and Mansfields Rita Marlowe character. However, she insisted that Rita was a composite of all the glamour girls and said she wasnt doing a Marilyn Monroe impression. Marilyn and I are completely different, Golden quotes Mansfield as saying. Manfield, who would go on to star in movies such as The Wayward Bus and The Girl Cant Help It, also leveled a not-so-subtle diss at her supposed rival. Ive always thought, since I was a little girl, that she was the most beautiful woman in the world, Mansfield said. You know, I really dont look like her at all. You can take practically any fairly shaped girl, bleach her hair, wet her lips, put her into a tight dress and have her walk a little wiggly and well, we all look a little alike. However, when Monroe died in 1962, Mansfield expressed her sympathy. I just cant believe it. Im so sorry. Im really so sorry, she said. Later, she called Monroes death one of the biggest tragedies in the world. Marilyn Monroe didnt think highly of Jayne Mansfield [L-R] Jayne Mansfield; Marilyn Monroe | Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Alfred Eisenstaedt/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images RELATED: Vintage Photos of Marilyn Monroe With Each of Her Three Husbands According to Golden, Monroe and Mansfield never met. But according to another author, Monroe was aware of Mansfield, of whom she did not have the highest opinion. She dismissed Mansfield as a cheap imitation of herself, Lawrence Quirk wrote in his 1996 book The Kennedys in Hollywood (via The Washington Post). All she does is imitate me but her imitations are an insult to her as well as to myself. Monroe said. I know its supposed to be flattering to be imitated, but she does it so grossly, so vulgarly I wish I had some legal means to sue her. Monroe apparently didnt appreciate the way Mansfield borrowed from her look. (Mansfield, like Monroe, also allegedly had an affair with JFK, according to Quirk.) But for others, her over-the-top take on the blonde bombshell persona was a huge part of her appeal. In my world, Jayne Mansfield is the ultimate movie star, Golden quotes Pink Flamingos and Cry-Baby director John Waters as saying. She was a parody of Marilyn Monroe she went beyond parody; she was an insane Marilyn Monroe. I never got over Jayne Mansfield. Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldnt Help It by Eve Golden (University Press of Kentucky) will be released June 29, 2021. Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending BRICS Summit in China took Twitter to wish teachers on the occassion of Teachers' Day on Tuesday morning. Modi said, Teachers have a central role in realising our dream of a New India that is driven by cutting edge research & innovation. "I salute the teaching community that is devoted to nurturing minds and spreading the joys of education in society," Modi tweeted. In another tweet he repeated a mantra he had said for last months edition of his monthly radio address, Maan Ki Baat. The tweet read, Let us make the next 5 years about 'teach to transform, educate to empower & learn to lead. On Teachers' Day, I salute the teaching community that is devoted to nurturing minds & spreading the joys of education in society. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 4, 2017 In another tweet he wrote, My tributes to Dr S Radhakrishnan, an outstanding teacher and statesman on his birth anniversary. Also Read| Teachers Day 2017: Google dedicates doodle to celebrate teacher-student relationship Also Read| Teachers' Day 2017: 11 inspiring quotes on teachers by eminent personalities The Indian prime minister also paid tribute to philosopher and author Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indias second president. Radhakrishnan, an advocate of education, was born on Sept 5, 1988 and his birthday is celebrated as Teachers' Day in India. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Highlights The government has said that it is planning to move to a GPS-based toll collection method. Transport minister Nitin Gadkari says that GPS-based toll collection is in the works. The system will effectively allow GPS tracking of all cars in real-time in India. You can call in real-time surveillance of all cars on Indian roads or you can say that it is just a way to make toll collection easier. But if the government goes ahead with its plans to remove physical toll booths and introduce a GPS-based toll collection system, it will allow government officials to monitor all cars in India in real-time. The trigger for the move is likely to be removal of physical toll booths, which the government seems to be pitching as the next step after making FASTags mandatory from February 15, 2021. The government is likely to do away with all physical toll booths within a year, making GPS-based FASTags compulsory for all vehicles. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the new vehicles will have FasTags fitted in them, while the government has said it will give free FASTags for old vehicles. "I want to assure the House that within one year all physical toll booths in the country will be removed. It means that toll collection will happen via GPS. The money will be collected based on GPS imaging (on vehicles)," Gadkari on Thursday during the Question Hour in Lok Sabha said. What the minister left unsaid is that once the toll collection moves to GPS-based tracking it will also be mandatory to have the approved GPS module fitted in the car and that the location data from this GPS module will have to be shared with toll-collection authorities, essentially the government, for the system to function. In other words, the government will have the capability to monitor a car on any Indian road in real-time. Gadkari said that there are people who get away without paying the toll that amounts to cases of theft. He said that there are cases of toll theft and GST evasion when FASTags are not fitted in vehicles. With the introduction of a GPS-tracker in every four-wheeler, the government can keep track of the defaulters. "It looks like they don't want to leave a record. Now, I have called a police inquiry (on people not using FASTags)." He further noted that 93 per cent of the current vehicles pay toll using FASTag. However, some people have not adopted the FASTag system which was introduced in 2016, despite having to pay a double toll. Gadkari elaborated on the plans of GPS-based toll in reply to a question from a BSP MP Danish Ali who noted that toll booths in Ganamukteshwar in Hapur district were at 40-km intervals while the norm for toll booth intervals on national highways is 60-km. "I know in some places there are too many toll booths. It's wrong and unfair. We have decided to get rid of them," Gadkari said. While many cars already have GPS modules fitted in them, these modules are currently used for accessing digital maps and charting a route. Most drivers also carry a smartphone with them, which too is effectively a good GPS-tracking tool. However, data collected by these modules or the phone is not shared with the government on a real-time basis, even though in some cases the government agencies may request phone companies or GPS service providers access to data in case of a valid law-enforcement requirement. The GPS-based toll collection, the way it looks at the moment, will be somewhat different in the way that it will allow the government to collect GPS data of a vehicle in real-time and that is bound to lead to surveillance and privacy fears. OSAKA, Japan. If you were given the option to eat a delicious meal by yourself, or share that meal with your loved ones, you would need as very good excuse ready if you chose the former. Turns out, fish share a similar inclination to look after each other. For the first time ever, a research group led by researcher Shun Satoh and Masanori Kohda, professor of the Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, have shown these altruistic tendencies in fish through a series of prosocial choice tasks (PCT) where they gave male convict cichlid fish two choices: the antisocial option of receiving food for themselves alone and the prosocial option of receiving food for themselves and their partner. "As a result, it can be said that the convict cichlid fish properly distinguish between paired females, unknown females, and rival males, and change their choices according to the situation", states Dr. Satoh. However, what exactly happened? An experimental male fish was placed in a tank, and a fish was presented to the male fish in another tank. When a partner with whom the male fish had experience in raising children was in the presentation tank, the male fish actively made a prosocial choice and both fish received food. On the other hand, when there was no one in the presentation tank, the male fish preferred neither the prosocial nor antisocial option. To understand how the social context affected the fish's prosocial nature, the team changed the partners to rival males or females the experimental male fish had never met before. Results showed the male fish actively choose the antisocial option of not feeding the rival male, while choosing the prosocial option of feeding the unknown female as if it was their own breeding partner. In the latter experiment, the team also presented the original paired female near the experimental tank holding the male fish. In the absence of the paired female, the male fish made the prosocial choice which provided food for the unknown female, but in the presence of the paired female, they made the antisocial choice. "These PCT results mirror those from similar experiments with primates", states Dr. Satoh. "However, this is the first time that caring and misbehaving behavior has been observed in fish. No one had ever expected such delicate and exquisite social behavior from such a small fish." Yet, there is still much work to do. "Through more rigorous behavioral experiments, we hope to clarify whether these fish really have psychosociality and the motivation to produce it and also how the mind of this type of fish evolved to produce it" states Prof. Kohda. There are hypotheses floating around as to the origin of this desire to care. Could it be a link that connects us past our primate ancestors, ultimately back to fish? Let us wait and see what else Prof. Kohda and his team find out. ### 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. Like a desperado who is riddled with bullets but just won't stop, Tinhorn Flats remains open. The latest chapter in this saga finds the Burbank Fire Department showing up at Tinhorn Flats on Wednesday night to remove a padlock... one that city officials had placed there earlier that morning. Why? Because as soon as officials left, Lucas Lepejian cut off a lock on a side entrance and reopened the Old West-themed restaurant and bar, reports FOX 11. After cutting off the padlock, Lepejian let customers in and continued serving them food and drink although the front door remain padlocked, creating what Burbank officials call a "life-safety hazard." In a press release issued today, the city of Burbank says: "After monitoring social media posts and seeing numerous people inside the locked building, the City Manager and City Attorney directed Burbank Fire along with Burbank Police to visit the establishment. Upon verification of people inside, the City unlocked the front door as this was the only responsible action to protect human life. 'Tin Horn Flats continues to be irresponsible in their actions. Last night's reckless behavior reflects a lack of concern for their patrons' wellbeing. They continue to care more about defying the Court's Orders than the health and safety of the community,' said City Manager Justin Hess." In an Instagram post, Tinhorn Flats owners brag about removing the venue's front doors. (screengrab from Instagram) 2021 is young but to say that Tinhorn Flats is in flagrant violation of local laws, public health decrees and multiple court might be the understatement of the year. On Tuesday, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge gave Burbank officials the go-ahead to padlock the restaurant. This came after Lepejian removed the establishment's front doors in an attempt to prevent said padlocking. It also came after the court ruled, last week, that Burbank officials could cut off power to the venue. That didn't stop Lepejian. He borrowed generators so Tinhorn Flats could continue operating through the weekend. And that came after the health deparment revoked Tinhorn Flats' health permit, the city of Burbank revoked its Conditional Use Permit and California Alcoholic Beverage Control filed an accusation against Tinhorn Flats for violating health orders. At this point, is there any food-related regulatory agency in Los Angeles County that isn't trying to shut down Tinhorn Flats -- or at least make it comply with public health orders? The Old West-themed bar and restaurant has spent months fighting them all and, so far, it appears to be winning... and by winning we mean it has stayed open. But any scholar of military history can tell you that wars are a series of battles and this is only the latest skirmish. In an Instagram post, the owners of Tinhorn Flats explain they've borrowed a generator and lights so they can stay open after the city of Burbank cut off their power. (screengrab from Instagram) TIMELINE This is a lightly edited timeline taken from a press release issued by the city of Burbank. 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 exhibition Mongolia at the Crossroads of Eras opened in the State Museum of Oriental Art. It is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Mongol Revolution and establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Mongolia. Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Mongolia to Russia Dulamsuren Davaa welcomed guests of the exhibition: A lot of important historic events took place during 100 years of our good neighborly relationships. Peoples of Mongolia and Russia went through such serious challenges as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol, the Great Patriotic War, the Liberation War in 1945. Moreover, during this period, Mongolia became a full-scale member of the international society. Today, Mongol-Russian relations successfully develop in all spheres. The exhibition presents more than 100 art pieces, graphics, iconographic pictures, rare religious sculptures, as well as items of functional art. Tatiana Metaxa, the Councilor of Chief Officer of the Museum, said: Mongol artists are fantastic. They started their education in Buddhist temples, drew icons, images of Buddha. Later, many of them studied in the Soviet Union, at the Surikov Art Institute in Moscow. Socialist realism is usually imprinted in their works, in a good sense. At the exhibition, you can see political posters depicting top politicians of Mongolia and the Soviet Union, ancient icons made in the country in the early 20th century, and a lot of colorful pictures of Mongolias beauty. The concept of the exhibition is to show a shift from religious art to secular art. Curator of the exhibition Nonna Alfonso said that it was a big process of interpenetration, interinfluence, new experience, and creative quest: We tried to create visual imagery. In fact, there are many pictures of one artist, Amgalan, who headed Union of Artists in the 1970s. You can see that he worked with different genres and styles. There are his graphics, for example, Hello Mother, we call it Morning. Mother. The Sun. It got a state award. Niamosoryn Tsultem, a prominent artist and theorist of Mongol art, loved landscapes and portraits. Here you can see a historical subject: a meeting of Damdin Sukhbaatar and Lenin. If you look closely, you will see how artists tried to work with different styles and genres in 1940-1970s. The exhibition will be open till April 25th. At the end of spring the Kansas City metro is looking at a return to MASSIVE evictions and utility shutoffs despite the demands of protesters. Over the course of the pandemic, activists aligned with KC Tenants have attempted to shut down the downtown Jackson County Courthouse and stop eviction proceedings. For the most part they have been successful and lauded by local progressives. However, amid global economic devastation caused by the pandemic, neither protest nor public assistance will prevent thousands of locals from losing their homes. Here's a noteworthy effort the Courthouse today that hopes to prevent a horrific disaster already in the making . . . Jackson County Executive proposes $11.5 million rental assistance program KANSAS CITY, Mo. Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr. is announcing today a proposal that would provide millions of dollars to assist eligible households in Jackson County outside of Kansas City that are unable to pay current and past due rent and utility bills because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, Ordinance 5493 would authorize the use of $11,550,205 in grant monies the County received from the federal government to launch an Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). The program would provide financial assistance and housing stability services to Eastern Jackson County families struggling financially. Households facing imminent eviction would receive priority assistance. The Community Services League and United Way of Greater Kansas City have formed a collaborative partnership to implement and administer the Countys program. Many families are in dire need of help and this is our opportunity to provide a lifeline to them during these challenging times, said Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr. I am grateful for our local partners who share our commitment of housing stability and will assist us in getting these critical dollars to those in need as quickly as possible. Eligible households include renters who demonstrate a risk of experiencing housing instability, have seen their income reduced by the COVID-19 pandemic, and earn a household income at or below 80% of the county median income. Once approved, eligible individuals may receive up to 12 months of assistance. Rental and utility assistance payments are made directly to the landlord or utility provider on behalf of the tenant. Funding applications will be available after the program is approved by the County Legislature. More information about the program including eligibility requirements, an application checklist and to sign-up to be notified when the application portal is open, can be found at www.jacksoncountyerap.org. Detailed program information is also readily available for Spanish-speaking families at www.jacksoncountyerap.org/espanol. The $11.5 million grant is part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which established a $25 billion Federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program for state, county and municipal governments. The amount of funding received is based on the Countys population, excluding the City of Kansas City, MO. KCMO received its own grant funding of $14.8 million directly from the federal government and is administering its own rental assistance program for households within city limits. ### Developing . . . 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. Kim Ross is bringing her grandmothers soul food to a new Harrisburg restaurant. When the first guests arrive this weekend at Isabelles Southern Cuisine at 306 Reily St. in midtown, theyll be treated to fried chicken and fish, macaroni and cheese, candied sweet potatoes and collard greens, among other items. The restaurant pays homage to Rosss grandmother, the late Isabelle T. Ross. As a young girl, Ross would sit at her grandmothers kitchen table at her home in the William Howard Day Projects section of Harrisburg and learn how to cook. At the time, her father was overseas fighting in the Vietnam War. She mainly taught me how to cook meals, everything she would cook, Ross recalled. READ MORE: The restaurant opens March 20 in the former Red Boat Asian Fusion restaurant and is serving a Sunday brunch, which is already sold out. The doors will be open daily serving breakfast and lunch as well as dinner service later in the week. Ross is joined by her family members including a cousin who makes the desserts such as pound cake and sweet potato pie. Encouragement from friends and family lead Ross, who is known for her cooking, to take on the project, her first restaurant. Everyone enjoys the food. Its comfort food, she said. The menu sticks to homestyle items such as fried chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits, ribeye steaks, crab cakes and fried turkey chops. Breakfast fare includes eggs, bacon and grits or potatoes with toast, omelets, French toast and pancakes. Also, they will pour Fifth Acres Coffee, owned by Stefan Hawkins of Good Brothas Book Cafe in Harrisburg. A hookah lounge will operate Thursday through Saturdays on the second floor until 9 p.m. with a small menu of egg rolls, sandwiches, wings and burgers. Isabelles joins other newcomers in midtown including ZeroDay Brewings Taproom at 925 N. Third St. and Sushi Yatta at 1100 N. Third St. Hours: 6 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 6 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. The phone number is 717-412-4475. The $1.9 trillion stimulus plans full implications for Wyoming are too numerous and nuanced to know yet, but the import of one facet is already clear: The roughly $1.3 billion it provides Wyomings state, county and local governments will go a long way toward alleviating their current fiscal crises. President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law last week and the details of this latest federal stimulus are finally emerging. Observers are already making comparisons to the CARES Act passed just under a year ago. Many question the sheer magnitude of the ARP Act package g... Mumbai, March 19 : Exactly 35 years since the first officially-recorded farmer suicide in India was recorded in Maharashtra, the dismal trend has not stopped as the country's food-providers continue to remain at the crossroads of economic crises and development, say top farmers leaders. It was on March 19, 1986, that Sahebrao Karpe, a graduate, killed his wife and four minor children -- the youngest 8-months old -- before ending his own life at their home in Chilgavhan village of Wardha district in eastern Maharashtra. That set off the disturbing trend which spread to adjoining Yavatmal, which now has the dubious distinction of being known as "the cradle of farmers' suicide" in the country, with thousands of farm widows and orphans of different age groups eking out an existence in practically every third house. Karpe, in his late 30s, owned a plot of agricultural land and a house, but was driven to taking the extreme measure after suffering huge crop losses and consequently defaulting on his debt payments to local loan-sharks. In a brief note prior to his bloody action, he had ominously said: "It is impossible to survive as a farmer." Many farmers families in Vidarbha - who recalled the tragedy - observed a token fast and offered prayers in the Karpe family's memory, while ruing on how the situation has not changed much for the tillers of land in 35 years. "It is a very sad and haunting incident in the country's history. Since then, we are witnessing farmers' suicides not only in Maharashtra but even other parts of India," a grim-faced Kishore Tiwari, President of Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission (VNSSM), told IANS. Tiwari, who is accorded a MoS status, pointed out how, until recently, these farmland deaths were not even acknowledged as "suicides" but dismissed as routine deaths in government records. All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) President Dr Ashok Dhawale said that in 35 years, the situation "has moved only in a negative direction" and as per official figures, the country has seen over 400,000 farmers' suicides between 1995-2020. "This is unprecedented in Independent India, and probably in any other agriculture economies of the world. The situation was bad all these decades but has apparently worsened in the 7 years of the Bharatiya Janata Party government with suicides doubling now," Dhawale told IANS. Referring to his own tours to the worst-hit farm areas around the country, the AIKS chief said that they found many lakhs of peasants who resorted to "distress sale" of their farmlands and overnight became labourers to repay their debts. The situation got aggravated since the early 1990s, thanks to the new-liberal agriculture and agri-finance policies which have barely benefitted the peasantry, he contended. "There was a steep increase in input costs as subsidies were gradually slashed, corporates and MNCs entered the agri-sector in a big way, there was no improvement in remuneration which trapped the farmers in the 'scissors of debts', and new policies with many changes in the credit laws by banks and financials institutions with finance largely going to the corporates," Dhawale said. Adding to the woes is the regular pattern of natural calamities, droughts or floods without proper farmer-friendly insurance schemes and the BJP government designed it such that it benefits insurers more, he claimed. Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana President Raju Shetti said despite such a huge number of known and a large number of unknown suicides, successive governments have not taken a lesson, especially the current regime at the Centre. "It's the adamant BJP government which introduced the 3 new farm laws without guarantee of MSP that is responsible for the massive farmers' agitation outside Delhi and other parts of India. Today, barely 6 per cent farmers are availing the benefits of MSP," Shetti told IANS. Demanding that MSP should be legalised, the former MP pointed out that the MSP policy introduced 3 years ago for the sugarcane industry by the very same BJP has resulted in a sea change, both for the farmers and the customers, without major price fluctuations. "The BJP has also largely ignored agriculture processing and exports which can help maintain market balances, but instead led huge price fluctuations that hastened the farmers' ruin," Shetti said. Veteran social activist Jatin Desai feels its high time the Centre "paid attention to the burning issues of the ryots to ensure fair returns for their labour and produce, failing which the situation will only worsen in the coming years". (Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in) 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. SALEM, Ore. Under a revised timeline unveiled by Governor Kate Brown's office on Friday, all Oregonians 16 and older will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on May 1, in addition to accelerated steps for several groups along the way. The Governor and state health officials scheduled a press briefing for 11 a.m. on Friday morning to address the new timeline, which now embraces President Joe Biden's promise that all Americans 16 and older would be eligible by May 1. Oregon Health Authority director Patrick Allen indicated earlier this week that Oregon would meet Biden's goal, but the Governor's office released a more measured statement at the time acknowledging that the Biden administration had promised an increased supply of vaccine, but stopping short of saying that they would adopt the May 1 pledge. "We will continue to center equity in all of our vaccine distribution efforts, whether that means ensuring that seniors, people with underlying conditions, frontline workers, and the Oregonians most vulnerable to COVID-19 have the opportunity for vaccinations prior to May 1 or after May 1, working with local health partners to ensure these priority groups continue to have access to appointments," the Governor's office said on Wednesday. The timeline released on Friday largely maintains Oregon's existing schedule, but with several additions an opportunity for individual counties to expand eligibility early, on March 22, and the promise to make all Oregonians 16 and up eligible on May 1. Group 7 of Phase 1b, which includes frontline workers and adults with underlying health conditions, has been moved up to April 19 from an original date of May 1. "The Oregon Health Authority tells me that, provided supplies come in from the federal government as anticipated, we expect to have enough doses for every Oregonian who wants a vaccine to have the opportunity for at least a first dose by the end of May," Brown said on Friday. "That makes me smile. I hope it does for you too. The future's looking brighter every day." March 22 Counties that attest to largely completing the vaccination of residents 65 and older may begin vaccinating the next eligible groups. Vaccinations may also begin for migrant and seasonal farmworkers in counties where they are currently already working. March 29 Phase 1B, Group 6 All adults 45-64 with underlying health conditions Migrant and seasonal farm workers Seafood and agricultural workers Food processing workers People living in low-income senior housing, senior congregate and independent living Individuals experiencing homelessness People currently displaced by wildfires Wildland firefighters Pregnant people 16 and older. April 19 Phase 1B, Group 7 Frontline workers as defined by the CDC Multigenerational household members Adults 16-44 with underlying health conditions May 1 All Oregonians, 16 and older News earlier this week that Oregon might align with Biden's May 1 promise did not sit well with United Food and Commerical Workers Union Local 555, which represents grocery store employees and other frontline workers. Already incensed that Oregon had placed frontline workers near the bottom of its timeline with an original eligibility date of May 1 the idea that those workers could be competing with the rest of Oregon's adult population for vaccine appointments on the same date of eligibility further fanned the flames. The updated timeline now makes frontline workers eligible on April 19, providing a two-week period before all adult Oregonians become eligible. This is a huge step forward. Since the vaccine became available, it has been imperative that grocery store workers receive priority access per the recommendations of the CDC. Grocery workers have proven they are essential to their communities in a time of crisis. Its only right that they receive vaccinations before those who can work from home, said Dan Clay, President of UFCW 555. OHA director Patrick Allen presaged continued "traffic jams" as more groups become eligible, reiterating the well-worn warning that many people will not be able to secure an appointment to be vaccinated when their group becomes eligible. Friday also brought news that the CDC will update its guidance for schools, slashing the recommended spacing between students in classrooms from 6 feet in all directions to 3 feet. The change is one that increasingly more Oregon schools have been pushing for, as it would allow them to retire hybrid learning models in favor of full-time classroom learning. Both the Klamath County and Grants Pass school boards resolved to lobby Governor Brown and state officials to adopt the spacing change, well before the CDC made its determination. But a change in Oregon's school guidelines was not expected on Friday, so soon after the sudden pivot from the CDC. Governor Brown said that Oregon Department of Education officials are now reviewing the CDC guidance with the aim of implementing it for Oregon school districts, but did not give an estimate for when updated state guidance would be issued. This is a developing story and will be updated with more details as they emerge. Knock, Co Mayo, is visited by over 1.5 million people each year, as the site of an Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1879. Pope Francis has expressed his admiration for Irelands missionaries, describing the Irish as a missionary people and recalling the many priests who left their homeland in order to spread the Gospel. The Pope made his comment in a special message delivered via video link from the Vatican to Knock shrine on Friday evening as he elevated the Co Mayo sanctuary to the status of an International Shrine of Eucharistic and Marian Devotion. He said it was such an important moment in the life of the shrine and added that he was glad to take advantage of the video link in order to be with the people of Ireland at this moment. Read More However, with churches closed to public worship under Level 5 Covid restrictions, the Popes message was relayed to an empty Apparition Chapel in the village, where Mass was concelebrated on Friday evening by Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam and Knocks rector, Fr Richard Gibbons. The faithful had to log into Knocks webcam in order to see the leader of the worlds Catholics deliver his message to them. Referring to Knocks special role in passing on the faith down the generations, Pope Francis, speaking in Italian, said: We forget the many lay people who emigrated to faraway lands but still kept their devotion to Our Lady. How many families in the course of almost a century and a half have handed on the faith to their children and gathered their daily labours around the prayer of the Rosary, with the image of Our Lady of Knock at its centre? Referring the apparition of Mary, the mother of Jesus, at Knock in August 1879, he said the message of the miraculous event was the great value of silence for faith and that this honour came with great responsibility. You accept to always have your arms wide open as a sign of welcome to every pilgrim who may arrive from any part of the world, asking nothing in return but only recognising him as a brother or a sister who desires to share the same experience of fraternal prayer, the Pope said. Responding to the Popes message, Archbishop Michael Neary, who is the custodian of the Marian shrine, described Knocks new designation as a momentous event. He said it was most fitting that it was announced and celebrated on the Feast of St Joseph in the Year of St Joseph, because alongside Our Lady, St John the Evangelist and the Lamb of God, St Joseph also appeared on an August evening in 1879. Pope Francis designated 2021 as the Year of St Joseph, and Friday marked both the feast day of the Saint and the eighth anniversary of the Franciss elevation to the papacy. Dr Neary said he prayed that pilgrims from Ireland and across the world who come Knock carrying their crosses would experience deeply Gods closeness, the tenderness of the Virgin Mary so as to be encouraged and enabled to return home with hope in their hearts. Speaking to the Irish Independent, the rector of Knock, Fr Richard Gibbons, said the elevation of the shrine was an historic milestone and he was grateful for the great honour given this evening by Pope Francis. The apparition in Knock took place on the evening of 21 August 1879 at the south gable of the local parish church. It was witnessed by 15 people, who later gave sworn testimonies of what they saw on the night. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Community 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. A great-grandmother who lost her life savings of $8700 in a phone scam, wants to warn others, despite feeling embarrassed and stupid. According to Tauranga Police, the 74-year-old is the fifth victim in two weeks who has reported a similar scam, with some locals losing tens of thousands of dollars in one hit. Bethlehem woman Sandra Kellow says she previously considered herself quite savvy when it came to spotting cold calling scammers. Now she feels so ashamed that she fell hook line and sinker last Tuesday to a person posing as the BNZ Fraud squad calling himself Henry William. Henry William! I mean that should have been a red flag from the start! When my daughter and I reported it to the Tauranga police later we did all have a laugh about that, says Sandra. If I don't laugh, I will cry. $8700 is a huge lot of money to me as a great-grandmother. That is hard earned money for my family. I am absolutely devastated. It makes me feel all the more stupid coming out with this but I want to warn others because these crooks are so devious they can fool anyone. Sandra took a call on Tuesday morning at 8.15am from a man calling himself Henry William who said he was from the BNZ fraud squad and that he had noticed some strange activity on her account, including transactions in US dollars. He then advised her to download two apps called Quick Support and Any Desk and then told her to turn off her mobile phone. He gave me a number to call back on which was an Auckland number. He didnt have a New Zealand accent but I didnt even think of that as we live in a multicultural society so I am used to all accents - Im from London myself. I was quite busy at the time so simply did what he said. While her phone was switched off, her bank account was emptied of $8700. In the meantime, the real BNZ was frantically trying to contact Sandra. When she eventually received their messages and spoke to them, she realised that the scammers had been able to get into her phone to access her passwords. I called my daughter in tears and said, Ive been fleeced! When they reported the incident to Tauranga Central Police station, Sandra was told she was the fifth person to report of this type of scam in two weeks. The police were most helpful and kind, as was Hannah at BNZ Cameron Road. They said that no one is immune to these types of scams. Sandra is still waiting to hear from BNZ whether her money can be returned. Angela Boundy of Online safety agency Netsafe says telephone scams or cold call scammers are among the most common types of scams reported to the agency. While these calls may all differ in nature, Netsafe say there are some tell-tale signs including: -The call will be unexpected -The caller may be friendly and try to make you think theyre local. -The scammers who call may know specific details about you, and have likely gained this information through public and stolen data sources -Even though the scammer is likely based overseas, the phone number may appear as a local number. A police spokesperson told SunLive that anyone who believes they have been a victim of this type of scam to report it to police. A number of phone scams can be operating nationwide at any one time and, while some of the details vary, the general premise is often the same. People should look after their personal details on phones and computers in the same way you would your wallet and other possessions. Police advise if you receive a call from someone purporting to be from a business, ask them for credentials and never hand over personal details such as computer passwords or bank account details. If the caller is legitimate they wont mind verifying their identity. A BNZ spokesperson says BNZ will never contact you out of the blue to request your access number, PIN number, or get your to download apps onto your devices. If you get a call like this, dont provide any information, just hang up and contact us on the number on the back of your card to report it. If you do share any information or are worried that you may have fallen victim to a scam, ring us as soon as you can. The sooner we know about it the better chance we have of recovering your money. The bank has developed the BNZ Scam Savvy tool to help New Zealanders be safer online, and this takes people through a range of common scam scenarios and identifies the red flags. Scam Savvy can be found online at www.getscamsavvy.co.nz or customers can book a session in a branch. A man signs a petition as conservative activists gather signatures in a recall effort against California Governor Gavin Newsom near Pasadena City Hall, in Pasadena, Calif., on Feb. 28, 2021. (David McNew/AFP via Getty Images) California Recall Backers Submitted 2.1 Million Signatures Ahead of DeadlineFar Above Required Amount Backers of the recall effort against California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that they submitted by Wednesdays deadline, a number that will likely far exceed the required threshold even if a fraction prove to be invalid. Newsom himself acknowledged Tuesday that the recall effort would likely qualify, triggering what could be a wildly expensive race later this year to protect the Democratic governors seat in one of the bluest states in the country. Newsom, however, has promised to fight it and has blasted the effort to oust him, blaming it on right-wing extremists. The chief, the top 10 proponents, the people that are behind this are members of the Three Percentersthe right wing militia group, the Proud Boys, supported the insurrection, are folks that quite literally enthusiastically support QAnon conspiracies, and so thats the origin here, Newsom told The View Tuesday. The over 2 million signatures will be verified by 58 California county officials, who will toss any deemed invalid. But over 83 per cent of those counted so far have been validated, a rate that would lead to far more acceptable signatures than the 1.5 million required. Among those seeking to challenge Newsom are former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, 2018 Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox and former GOP Rep. Doug Ose, who joined the race this week. Dave Gillard, a Republican recall strategist, said Wednesday that the signees were 64.10 per cent GOP; 25.30 per cent NPP (No Party Preference); 9.00 per cent Dem; 1.60 per cent Other and 49.48 per cent Female, adding that the Democratic signees were not sought after by recall supporters and signed completely on their own accord. Under California state law, the recall ballot will ask voters if they want to recall Newsom, and if so, whom do they want to replace him. Since Newsom is barred from appearing among the recall candidates, a Republican could win with just a plurality of votes if the GOP can convince a majority of voters to oust the incumbent governor. But Republicans likely face an uphill battle in the deeply Democratic state. Newsom has already launched ads tying his challengers to former President Donald Trump, who is remarkably unpopular in the state and lost to President Joe Biden by over 5 million votes. Question Time viewers praised a brave audience member who opened up about her harrowing experience of sexual violence last night and branded the 'soft' UK justice system an 'absolute tragedy'. Waiving her right to anonymity, Colette told the host of the BBC panel show, Fiona Bruce, that she was quizzed by police about what she was wearing and if she 'provoked' her attacker, who tried to force his way into her car with a knife. Shockingly, the mother-of-one claimed she nearly faced arrest for 'unreasonable force' when she used her vehicle to get away from the perpetrator - whom she said is now serving five life sentences for murder and rape. 'I wasn't taken seriously, and if I was listened to, there's two people who might be still alive,' Colette claimed. Scroll down for video Question Time viewers praised audience member Colette who opened up about her harrowing experience of sexual violence last night and branded the 'soft' UK justice system an 'absolute tragedy' 'I'm a mother, I've got a 25-year-old daughter, and my experience was very much, I wasn't the victim, I was the person on trial. This isn't right.' Colette shared her experience after asking what the government is doing to protect women in the UK following the tragic death of 33-year-old Sarah Everard, which sparked an outpouring of women sharing their experiences of being harassed and feeling unsafe on the streets. Sarah was abducted and killed on her way home in Clapham, south London on March 3. A police officer was charged with her murder after a week-long search. Viewers at home praised Colette's honesty and bravery for speaking out, with one tweeting: 'Unbelievable listening to Colette on #QuestionTime telling her story so calmly and thinking about the wider picture. Amazing woman. Government should get her involved in finding a solution.' Colette claimed she nearly faced arrest for 'unreasonable force' when she used her vehicle to get away from the perpetrator - whom she said is now serving five life sentences for murder and rape Viewers at home praised Colette's honesty and bravery for speaking out, with one tweeting: 'Unbelievable listening to Colette on #QuestionTime telling her story so calmly and thinking about the wider picture. Amazing woman' Another commented: 'I love Collette's honesty on #QuestionTime what horrible treatment she had from the police!!! But I'm sad to say I've had friends with the same experiences too.' And one tweeted: 'Both men and women put the blame/responsibility on the victim instead of the perpetrator. We need a better justice system than the victim blaming.' Admitting it was hard to speak about her ordeal, she explained a man attacked her in broad daylight and managed to get into her car with a knife. 'I actually managed to get away from this person, and used my car to do it. Then I faced possibly arrest for using unreasonable force,' Colette recalled. 'It then transpires that this person is now actually serving five life sentences for murder and rape.' Admitting it was hard to speak about her ordeal, Colette explained a man attacked her in broad daylight and managed to get into her car with a knife Colette added that police later questioned her about what clothes she was wearing and if she 'provoked' the man to attack her, after he walked past her before she got into her car. 'I was asked if my skirt was below my knee or above my knee, and if I provoked him in anyway,' she said. 'This is disgusting.' Colette shared her experience after asking what the government is doing to protect women in the UK following the tragic death of 33-year-old Sarah Everard 'I'm nearly 50 years old, I've been around nearly 50 years, so the thing is, there's no deterrent. 'Where's the deterrent to say, "If you attack somebody and take their life or if you rape a woman..." and the other thing is, it's not just women who are attacked and raped, it's men too. 'There's no deterrent, we are too soft, our justice system is an absolute tragedy, people get away with, frankly, murder, and how many more women and children and men have got to suffer like me and many others in order to make somebody wake up and listen? 'They're going to take somebody quite high profile, somebody's daughter from quite a high profile society name or a politician's daughter to make this happen. My problem is, I don't think our justice system works in any way.' In the Commons this week, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer highlighted that 1.5 per cent of rapes reported to the police lead to a prosecution. He said: 'Put the other way, 98.5 per cent of reported rapes dont lead to a prosecution, thats a shocking statistic.' Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there needed to be a cultural change in attitudes in Britain towards women. This week he announced he will double the size of a fund for local street safety measures, including better lighting and CCTV, while undercover officers will also patrol areas around bars and nightclubs in new plans aimed at protecting women from sexual violence. Plans were announced on Monday to roll out 'Project Vigilant' pilots across the UK which sees both uniformed and plain clothes police officers catch predatory and suspicious offenders at night. Asked by Ms Bruce on Question Time if the government is doing enough to protect women, Labour MP Jess Phillips replied: 'The answer is no, I'm afraid to say. 'It's never anybody's complete and utter motivation that it's going to take to properly address violence against women and girls in this country.' OTTAWA For Lt. Col. Eleanor Taylor it was the last straw. The simultaneous investigations of the Canadian militarys top commander and his predecessor that were announced last month led her to write a stinging letter of resignation from the army reserve after more than 26 years of service. I am sickened by ongoing investigations of sexual misconduct among our key leaders, wrote Colonel Taylor, one of the highest-profile women in the Canadian military and a combat veteran of Afghanistan, in an email she sent to military officials on March 13. Unfortunately, I am not surprised. I am also certain that the scope of the problem has yet to be exposed. Throughout my career, I have observed insidious and inappropriate use of power for sexual exploitation. Nearly six years after a government report found Canadas military was hostile to women and LGTBQ members and conducive to more serious incidents of sexual harassment and assault, the investigations into the institutions top leaders have left service members and veterans reeling, and demanding that more be done to address such systemic and widespread problems within the ranks. Changes happened on a superficial level but without really disrupting the core of military culture, Stefanie von Hlatky, the director of the Center for International and Defense Policy, at Queens University said of the reforms made after the 2015 report. The release of Colonel Taylors letter permits a bigger opening for conversations where its military culture that is going to be looked at more closely as opposed to just a slew of initiatives. SAGINAW, MI A Saginaw man charged in the shooting death of his friend is unlikely to face trial. Harold C. Lawson, 32, on the afternoon of Thursday, March 18, appeared via Zoom before Saginaw County District Judge Elian E.H. Fichtner for a preliminary examination. Defense attorney Patricia S. Slomski, however, said her client was waiving his right to the hearing based upon our belief that we have reached a resolution in this matter. Slomski did not elaborate on what that resolution could be. Speaking with MLive after the hearing concluded, Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa J. Hoover said she has not offered a plea deal in the case and does not plan on reducing the charge from the lone count Lawson faces. Lawson is charged with one count of careless use of a firearm causing death, a two-year high court misdemeanor. MLive could not reached Slomski for comment once the hearing ended. After Lawson waived his right to the hearing, Judge Fichtner bound his case over to Saginaw County Circuit Court for further proceedings. Lawsons charge stems from the death of 25-year-old Maurice T. Williams. Maurice T. Williams III In the early morning hours of Oct. 6, Lawson, Williams, and a 28-year-old man were behind Baker Autor Parts, 2401 E. Holland Ave., shooting guns for target practice, police previously said. One of the three worked at the business. Police officers happened to be at a nearby gas station and heard the gunshots. They responded to the area, but by then the trio had entered the business, turned off the lights, and locked the doors, Saginaw Police Detective Sgt. Matthew Gerow has said. The officers searched the surrounding area but did not find anything. They did not know the three men had gone inside Bakers, Gerow has said. A few hours later, a gunshot went off in the building, its projectile striking Williams, Gerow has said. Lawson and/or the other man called 911 at 4:07 a.m. to report their friend was having a medical emergency. Officers arrived and began life-saving efforts on Williams, police have said. Williams was taken by a Mobile Medical Response ambulance to Ascension St. Marys hospital where he died of his wound. Police arrested Lawson and the other man and recovered at least one gun, Gerow has said. The other man arrested with Lawson spent several days in jail before being released and is not charged with a crime. Lawson is free on bond and his next court date is pending. Williams was a graduate of Arthur Hill High School and attended Delta College, according to his obituary. He also worked as a utility operator at Hausbeck Pickle Company. He loved to bowl, shop, and have fun with family as well as his friends, his obituary states. Maurice was always smiling and was a very loyal and loving person. Read more: Man charged in fatal shooting of friend on Saginaws East Side Police arrest 2 friends in connection with fatal shooting of Saginaw man Police identify early morning homicide victim on Saginaws East Side .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal In a bit of creative swapping, the ABQ BioPark Zoo relinquished one Malayan tiger in exchange for another the animals brother. The zoo transferred tiger Penari to the Bronx Zoo earlier this week, while Penaris litter mate, Bunga (pronounced Boon-ya) arrived from the Dickerson Park Zoo in Missouri on the same day. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The Malayan tiger brothers were born in 2011 at the Palm Beach Zoo in West Palm Beach, Florida, and were moved to the Jacksonville Zoo in 2013. Panari came to the ABQ BioPark Zoo in February 2017. The moves were coordinated as part of the Species Survival Plan, a program of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums designed to help maintain a sustainable and genetically diverse tiger population, explained mammal curator Erin Flynn. Think of the Species Survival Plan as eharmony for zoo animals, she said, referring to the online dating site. In the case of animals, they are designated for breeding or for holding. Penari is going to be bred and Bunga will be held. Trading the brothers has made it possible to put together two other tiger pairs to make tiger babies, hopefully, Flynn said. There are 51 Malayan tigers in the AZAs Species Survival Plan. The Malayan tiger is native to the southern and central parts of the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is classified as critically endangered and there are an estimated 200 remaining in the wild. Bunga is currently the only Malayan tiger on display at the BioPark Zoo, however the Asia exhibit being planned for the zoo is being designed with the hope of breeding tigers in the future, Flynn said. While were sad to say goodbye to Penari, were also excited to welcome his brother Bunga, and to continue educating the public about these amazing animals and their conservation challenges in the wild, BioPark Zoo manager Lynn Tupa said in a news release. "Driven," holistic," "model," "servant," "action oriented," "champion of diversity," "dedicated," and "outstanding" are some of the words University of North Georgia (UNG) faculty and staff used to describe their nominees for the Female Student Leadership Award. The Women of UNG, a shared-interest group of the university's alumni association, selected 10 female student leaders out of 55 nominations for the recognition this year. "As student-leaders, these women inspire and guide others in their collegiate extracurricular activities, which gives them a special confidence that will help them achieve success in their professional careers," said Gabrielle Barr Lang, '83, chairwoman of Women of UNG. "And, as UNG is deep in its tradition of producing leaders, we are proud to empower female students annually with this leadership award." The recipients were: Kaleigh Adams, a senior pursuing a degree in elementary and special education with a reading endorsement. She is from Jefferson, Georgia. Anna Caitlyn Anderson, a senior pursuing a degree in political science with a concentration in prelaw. She is from Gainesville, Georgia. Emma Anderson, a senior pursuing a degree in biology with a concentration in pre-pharmacy. She is from Gainesville, Georgia. Catlin Corrales, a senior pursuing a degree in environmental spatial analysis. She is from Athens, Georgia. Alison Gaynor, a senior pursuing a degree in marketing and a member of the Corps of Cadets. She is from Dallas, Georgia. Taylor Malasek, a senior pursuing a degree in biology. She is from Peachtree City, Georgia. Madison Rodriguez, a senior pursuing a degree in psychology. She is from Commerce, Georgia. Vaishali Jorge, a senior pursuing a degree in kinesiology and a member of the women's tennis team. She is from London, England. Eva Sykes, a senior pursuing a degree in kinesiology and a member of the Corps of Cadets. She is from Columbus, Georgia. Zaria Whitehead, a senior pursuing a degree in biology and a member of the Corps of Cadets. She is from Perry, Georgia. Whitehead said she was shocked to be recognized. "There are so many female student leaders that I see around me on campus," said the 23-year-old. "Overall, this award boosts other women in the corps to become leaders. This is a significant reward, because it means you are setting the example for the rest of the students who come behind you." Adams, who is a resident assistant on UNG's Dahlonega Campus, said she didn't realize faculty and staff members had noticed her hard work. "I've always felt like I was the quiet person who goes around silently and does what needs to be done. Then I do a little extra, because I like to go above and beyond," she said. "To be recognized by this program before I am about to graduate is really exciting." Since 2017, the Women of UNG have honored more than 60 female student-leaders during an annual luncheon held the first weekend in March, which is the start of Women's History Month. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the luncheon was not held this year. Instead, each student leader was presented her certificate and gift in a face-to-face visit with Lang at UNG's Alumni House. "This year's presentation was more of an intimate setting where these young ladies felt at ease," Lang said, who asked these students questions about their post-graduation plans. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... As health care providers, we have seen the impossible choices that our patients face when they cannot afford health insurance. Hard-working families must decide whether to risk going into medical debt, put food on the table, or pay the rent. Sometimes they have to skip visits or split medications to make ends meet. On top of the obvious health impacts, the toxic stress this economic hardship creates can lead to even worse health outcomes. When people are uninsured, we all pay the price. Putting off preventative wellness check-ups causes manageable health problems to spiral into medical emergencies that require expensive treatment. Not only does this create needless suffering for our patients and their families, but these costs get absorbed by the rest of the health care system, putting pressures on premiums and deductibles in the private insurance market and the state general fund. The status quo is unsustainable morally and financially. That is why we strongly support House Bill 122, which establishes a Health Care Affordability Fund that will be used to reduce premiums and deductibles for working families. The legislation is championed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and is sponsored by Reps. Debbie Armstrong and Javier Martinez, both D-Albuquerque. HB 122 (now SB 317) will build upon the Affordable Care Act to reduce both premiums and deductibles for plans on the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange. We know that families want health care coverage, but it needs to be affordable. A recent study showed that this type of proposal could reduce costs for up to 94,000 New Mexicans, including 23,000 New Mexicans who are currently uninsured. When New Mexicans pay less for their health insurance, that puts more money in their pockets to spend on food, housing, utilities and other basic necessities. It also means more money in our economy to support local businesses and boost our economic growth as we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic. And of course, investing these dollars in health care will create good-paying jobs in the health care sector and expand our capacity to treat patients. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The bill will also set up programs to lower premiums for small businesses. We cant afford to miss this opportunity to help patients, providers and small businesses. The Affordability Fund will be supported by replacing a federal fee on insurance companies that was recently phased out. That means that we will just be transferring money that was going to the federal government back to our state to invest in health care affordability initiatives. Thats a win-win for New Mexico. COVID-19 has reminded us how important it is to have the security of dependable and affordable health care coverage. As those who deliver health care to the people of New Mexico, we commend the state House of Representatives for swiftly passing this vital legislation and urge state senators to do the same. Please call your state senator and ask them to support HB 122. Lets make New Mexico a national leader in the movement for affordable health care for 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. Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. (Alliance News) - Brussels launched legal action Friday to force the UK to recover EUR100 million in tax exemptions for multinational firms operating in Gibraltar. European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said the UK had failed to claw back the sum despite the EU deeming the tax breaks "illegal state aid". The sum is small relative to many EU state subsidy cases, but the case is the latest in a string of spats between the EU and post-Brexit Britain. "The aid granted by Gibraltar in the form of corporate tax exemption for passive interest and royalties gave an unfair advantage to some multinational companies," Vestager said. "More than two years after the Commission adopted this decision, the aid has still not been recovered in full and sufficient progress has not been made in restoring competition," she said.A "That is why we have decided to refer the UK to the Court of Justice for failing to implement this decision." The UK left the EU last year, but the case dates back to a period before Brexit over which Brussels says the European Court of Justice still has jurisdiction. Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said in a statement that he had "no doubt that we will recover the aid" and that the territory's government is "pursuing all options for recovery... with all due alacrity". Gibraltar is a British overseas territory that shares a border with southern Spain and European member states have long had concerns over its competitive tax regime. In December 2018, the European Commission decided that some corporate tax exemptions granted to multinationals in Gibraltar between 2011 and 2013 broke EU rules against state subsidies. They ordered the UK to recover sums granted to four companies, but this has only been fully completed for two, with the remaining pair challenging the order.A source: AFP Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. A Boston police officer was arrested Friday over claims he was caught in New Hampshire with methamphetamines in his possession. Andrew L. Johnson, a 51-year-old officer from Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, was arrested in West Roxbury by Massachusetts State Police assigned to Attorney General Maura Healeys office, according to New Hampshire officials. On Jan. 23, authorities say, Johnson was found with meth and amphetamine in his possession in Woodstock, New Hampshire. After his arrest, Johnson was released to turn himself in to New Hampshire authorities, according to a statement from New Hampshire Deputy Attorney General Jane E. Young and State Police Col. Nathan. Anyone who may have information about criminal activity involving Johnson in the Woodstock area or any surrounding towns has been asked to contact New Hampshire State Police Dt. Shawn Torsey at (603) 223-8940 or shawn.m.torsey@dos.nh.gov. When New Jersey voters approved recreational marijuana, Bayonne officials sought to establish some ground rules before eager entrepreneurs set up shop. One of their primary decisions was to keep the market relatively small, at least for now. The City Council set those rules Wednesday night when it unanimously passed an ordinance that set limit of two retailers, one cultivation facility and one processing facility in the city. We think thats plenty, especially for something so new, City Council President Sharon Nadrowski said. Its always easier to increase something than to take it away, so I think were just erring on the side of caution. The city also established a licensing process, complete with fee structures and qualifications criteria, and a 2% tax on the product. New zoning regulations limit cannabis establishments to certain sections of the city: Broadway, some industrial areas near Route 440 and a small chunk of Avenue C between Andrew and 22nd Streets. New Jersey residents want legal marijuana as proven by the statewide referendum that passed by a 2-to-1 margin in Novembers election. Bayonne residents, though, largely didnt chime in on the topic at the City Council meeting. The people who did speak appeared to have business interests, urging the council to waive the tax for medical sales or, in one case, appearing to pitch their business directly to the council, Nadrowski said. Councilman Gary La Pelusa said hes heard from some residents who are happy about legal weed while others have concerns about more dangerous roads or that it may be a gateway drug (most marijuana users do not proceed onto harder drugs, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse). La Pelusa sits somewhere in the middle, but said it was important for the city to proactively regulate the newly legal market. This is so fairly new, La Pelusa said. When I first got involved in politics, I could have never saw this coming. Bayonnes ordinance establishes a $10,000 application fee for cannabis supplier licenses and a $5,000 fee for a retailer license. It also creates an annual registration fee of $40,000 for growers, $20,000 for processers and $10,000 for retailers. Should there be multiple parties competing for a license, the new law outlines a criterion to use to select the best-suited business. Favorable qualities include experience in the industry, experience with security, sustainability, commitment to fair wages, diversity in ownership and hiring and even Bayonne residency. Hoboken passed regulatory procedures for the cannabis industry and new zoning standards last year, limiting the number of dispensaries to three. Jersey City is also cannabis friendly, while other Hudson municipalities including Weehawken, Secaucus and Union City had preemptively banned it. The full scope of Hudson Countys cannabis market is expected to take shape in the coming months, and New Jerseys first marijuana stores will likely not start opening until at least late this year. The novel was likely circulating undetected for at most two months before the first human cases of COVID-19 were described in Wuhan, China in late-December 2019, according to a study. The research, published in the journal Science, used molecular dating tools and epidemiological simulations to date the emergence of the virus to as early as October 2019. The team, including researchers from University of California San Diego in the US, note that their simulations suggest that the mutating virus dies out naturally more than three-quarters of the time without causing an epidemic. "Our study was designed to answer the question of how long could SARS-CoV-2 have circulated in China before it was discovered," said senior study author Joel O Wertheim, an associate professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine. "To answer this question, we combined three important pieces of information: a detailed understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 spread in Wuhan before the lockdown, the genetic diversity of the virus in China and reports of the earliest cases of COVID-19 in China," Wertheim said. By combining these disparate lines of evidence, the researchers were able to put an upper limit of mid-October 2019 for when SARS-CoV-2 started circulating in Hubei province. Cases of COVID-19 were first reported in late-December 2019 in Wuhan, located in the Hubei province of central China. The researchers used molecular clock evolutionary analyses to try to home in on when the first , or index, case of SARS-CoV-2 occurred. "Molecular clock" is a term for a technique that uses the mutation rate of genes to deduce when two or more life forms diverged -- in this case, when the common ancestor of all variants of SARS-CoV-2 existed, estimated in this study to as early as mid-November 2019. Molecular dating of the most recent common ancestor is often taken to be synonymous with the index case of an emerging disease. "The index case can conceivably predate the common ancestor -- the actual first case of this outbreak may have occurred days, weeks or even many months before the estimated common ancestor," said study co-author Michael Worobey, a professor at the University of Arizona. "Determining the length of that 'phylogenetic fuse' was at the heart of our investigation," Worobey said. Based on this work, the researchers estimate that the median number of persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 in China was less than one until November 4, 2019. Thirteen days later, it was four individuals, and just nine on December 1, 2019, they said. The first hospitalisations in Wuhan with a condition later identified as COVID-19 occurred in mid-December. The researchers used a variety of analytical tools to model how the SARS-CoV-2 virus may have behaved during the initial outbreak and early days of the pandemic when it was largely an unknown entity. These tools included epidemic simulations based on the virus's known biology, such as its transmissibility and other factors. In just 29.7 per cent of these simulations was the virus able to create self-sustaining epidemics. In the other 70.3 per cent, the virus infected relatively few persons before dying out. The average failed epidemic ended just eight days after the index case. "We saw that over two-thirds of the epidemics we attempted to simulate went extinct. That means that if we could go back in time and repeat 2019 one hundred times, two out of three times, COVID-19 would have fizzled out on its own without igniting a pandemic, Wertheim noted. "This finding supports the notion that humans are constantly being bombarded with zoonotic pathogens," he added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mr John-Peter Amewu, Minister of Railway Development, has asked the staff of the Railway Ministry to work as a team towards building a modern rail network for the country. The staff should also support the Governments policies and programmes to bring Ghanas rail transport back to active service. A statement issued by the Ministry of Railway Development and copied to the Ghana News Agency said Mr Amewu made the remarks during his maiden meeting with Management and Staff of the Ministry in Accra. The meeting allowed the Minister to formally interact with the staff and to discuss the future of the Ministry and the Railway Sector. He said while politicians would always come and go with policy directions and guidelines, it was prudent for Management to ensure the staff developed love and strategies to implement the policies. Mr Amewu commended the former Minister and the Deputies for laying a solid foundation for the Railway industry, saying that the sector had collapsed years ago due to poor maintenance culture. He said much resources were invested in the construction of railway lines and gave a 100 per cent score for the progress of work, adding that what was left was the motivating factor and funding. The Minister called for an all hands on deck approach to move the sector forward. Im coming with good policies and must be backed by the implementation. It is important to carry everyone along, work together and put in innovation," he said. He urged the Management and Staff to demonstrate the spirit of team work and dedication to their duties to enable the Ministry to succeed. Touching on some pertinent issues affecting the Sector, the Management of the Ministry mentioned land acquisition and encroachment on railway lands, which had caused delays in the progress of some on-going railway projects. Also, Human resource capacity constraints, including the limited number of engineers, which is affecting the Ministry and delaying supervision and monitoring of projects. Mr Amewu gave the assurance that regular Management meetings would be held to address the concerns. Mr Desmond Boateng, the Acting Chief Director at the Ministry, assured the Minister of the unflinching support of staff towards achieving set targets. 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 [March 19, 2021] New Data on Stroke Care Show the Impact of Viz.ai's Artificial Intelligence-Powered Platform on Patient Outcomes Viz.ai today announced new data supporting the use of its technology to coordinate care for acute ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, and clinical trial recruitment at the 2021 International Stroke Conference. Dr. Ameer E. Hassan of the Valley Baptist Medical Center in Texas presented two studies utilizing Viz LVO to improve care coordination for ischemic stroke patients requiring treatment across health systems and at a stand-alone center. The data demonstrated reduced door-in door-out times at primary stroke centers (PSCs), improved door-in-to-puncture times at comprehensive stroke centers (CSCs), and improved reperfusion rates. Dr. Brian Jankowitz of Cooper University Health Care in New Jersey shared how Viz.ai's clinical trial enrollment software, Viz RECRUIT, has led to faster patient detection and increased enrollment velocity in the AI ENRICH trial. The first study presented by Dr. Hassan, "The Implementation of Artificial Intelligence Significantly Reduces Door-in Door-out Times in Primary Care Center Prior to Transfer," compared the time interval between entering and leaving one of Valley Baptist's 12 PSCs before being transferred to the CSC (News - Alert) for an emergent operation. The study showed a significant 45%, or 102.3-minute, average reduction in door-in door-out time for patients whose care was coordinated through the Viz application. In addition, there was an 11.4% improvement in modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores, which measure stroke outcomes. The second study presented by Dr. Hassan, "Implementation of Artificial Intelligence Stroke Software Significantly Improves Door-In to Puncture Time Interval and Reperfusion Rates," evaluated the impact of Viz LVO on the time interval at the CSC between door-in to puncture time for non-transfer patients. Again, patients treated usng Viz LVO showed significant improvements, this time in terms of treatment time and revascularization. The software shaved an average of 86.7 minutes from each procedure and delivered a 10.8 percent improvement in the rate of good revascularization. "Our two studies show that the incorporation of Viz LVO to coordinate care for ischemic stroke patients is associated with significant time savings across a hub and spoke model and also at comprehensive stroke centers." said Dr. Hassan. "Because we know that 'time is brain,' these improvements in the PSC and CSC settings could lead to significant advances in functional outcomes, reduced mortality and shorter hospital stays." Dr. Brian Jankowitz presented results from "Large Scale, CT Evaluation Can Improve Screening For Multi-Center Stroke Trials." The data demonstrated that artificial intelligence can automate the detection and triage of ICH patients and subsequently increase enrollment velocity in clinical trials. AI ENRICH is a prospective trial that utilizes Viz RECRUIT to identify potentially eligible study subjects. The utilization of Viz.ai's technology was associated with a 41% increase in screening rate and a 213% increase in enrollment rates. "Viz ICH and Viz RECRUIT have increased enrollment in the AI ENRICH trial," said Dr. Jankowitz. "Increasing enrollment velocity will enable a faster completion of the trial and ultimately help improve our understanding of this devastating condition." "We are so grateful to Dr. Hassan and Dr. Jankowitz and their teams, and to all the healthcare providers around the world who have dedicated their careers to improving the lives of stroke patients," said Dr. Chris Mansi, co-founder and CEO of Viz.ai. "At, that mission is at the core of our work. We want to improve how healthcare is delivered, reducing time to treatment and improving access to care. The magnitude of time saved in studies conducted by Dr. Hassan and his team demonstrates how intelligent software can be harnessed to significantly reduce disability from stroke." About Viz.ai Viz.ai, the leader in applied artificial intelligence in healthcare, aims to fundamentally improve healthcare delivery around the world using intelligent software to reduce time to treatment, improve access to care, and increase the speed and spread of medical innovation. Viz.ai's flagship product, Viz LVO, leverages advanced deep learning to communicate time-sensitive information about stroke patients straight to stroke intervention specialists. In February 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted a De Novo clearance for Viz LVO, the first-ever computer-aided triage and notification software. Viz.ai announced its second FDA clearance for Viz CTP through the 510(k) pathway, offering healthcare providers an important tool for automated cerebral perfusion image analysis. A third FDA clearance was granted in 2020 for Viz ICH, which uses AI to automatically detect suspected intracranial hemorrhage on CT imaging. In 2020, CMS granted Viz.ai the first New Technology (News - Alert) Add-on Payment (NTAP) for artificial intelligence software for Viz LVO. Viz.ai is located in San Francisco and Tel Aviv and backed by leading Silicon Valley investors including Kleiner Perkins, Google (News - Alert) Ventures, Greenoaks, CRV, Threshold Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, Susa Ventures, Scale Venture Partners and Insight Partners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210319005094/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Decode Your Future with an Online Computer Science Degree from Drexel Drexel University's online computer science programs are designed to prepare you for work on the cutting edge of technology. The curriculum is designed for students with any level of experience or previous knowledge. Choose the program thats right for you. Learn More. If you are a vendor and sell your wares online -- how could you not be tapping into e-commerce today? It's time to take a fresh look at your search engine optimization strategy. You might need to tweak your SEO process to drive more customer traffic to your website. Once you broaden your understanding of SEO, you will be able to improve your search engine rankings. Software tools are available to provide data and alerts about the overall health and success of your website. Using SEO tools can help uncover areas of opportunity and identify weaknesses or issues that prevent you from ranking and gain better visibility in search engine results pages, or SERPs. These are how Google displays Internet users' search query results when they visit your web site. SERPs generally include organic search results, paid Google Ads results, Knowledge Graphs, featured snippets and video results. In today's continuing dominance of online shopping, some traditional marketing methods are becoming obsolete. But the effectiveness of your SEO ranking remains a vital part of your marketing strategy. SEO for Marketing Search engine optimization is one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies you can apply. It becomes a magnet to attract consumers actively looking for your products and services online. SEO is more important than ever. More consumers are leaning on the Internet for products and services they may have historically shopped for offline pre-pandemic, according to Steve Wiideman, president and CEO of Wiideman Consulting Group. "Restaurants, in particular, have survived either by partnering with delivery services such as Doordash, Postmates, Uber Eats, Grubhub, or by developing keyword-rich pages on their websites. Keywords address off-premises searches customers use to find delivery, takeout, carside, curbside, or outdoor dining near them," he told the E-Commerce Times. A case in point is Applebee's, which saw a 37 percent lift in organic visits in 2020 versus 2019 with over 167 percent lift in online orders. Even with traffic from Google Maps decreasing by 23 percent due to fewer customers needing directions, online orders from Maps and "3-Pack" map listings in organic results were up by over 27 percent, he noted. "Customers have changed their buying habits, some indefinitely. These new online ordering customers have discovered the convenience of ordering online and will likely continue the new routine even after the pandemic comes to an end," said Wiideman. The E-Commerce Times discussed with Steve Wiideman the essentials of how to build an SEO strategy for 2021. He is an SEO expert and has worked with brands that include Applebee's, Public Storage, IHOP, Skechers, Blake Pizza, Technicolor, Bosley, Belkin, Linksys, Homes.com, FIDM, Essentia Health, and Grand Seiko. Steve Wiideman, President Wiideman Consulting Group Wiideman designed and teaches the Website Optimization and Strategic Search Engine Marketing online course for California State University Fullerton and the SEO Tools and Analytics course at University of California San Diego. He is an adjunct professor at the University of California San Diego, California State University Fullerton, and Fullerton College -- and recently was commissioned to write a textbook for a popular online learning service for colleges. E-Commerce Times: Is SEO's impact more critical for commerce in general or e-commerce? Why? Steve Wiideman: E-commerce is likely the most critical marketing tactic for businesses today for several reasons. It is much easier to track ROI on marketing efforts when a transaction can be tied to a specific medium, such as search, social, email, referral, or other marketing. Secondly, many users save their information or register for an account when making a purchase, allowing advertisers to use remarketing strategies, newsletters, and loyalty programs, all of which reduce more expensive advertising mediums such as bidding on keywords in the Google Search Network. What does successful SEO look like? Wiideman: Successful SEO is measured through the use of simple key performance indicators, or KPI. The most important to many advertisers include the following: a. YoY and MoM growth in revenue sourced from organic b. YoY and MoM growth in revenue from maps and 3-Pack listings Other KPI's that the various SEO team members might be monitoring, include: a. Percentage improvement in technical site issues b. Percentage improvement in mobile page speeds/load times c. Average keyword position of keywords tracked and monitored (often segmented by category or business objectives) d. Number of new inbound links earned through upper funnel/informational content (such as FAQ's) A successful campaign will have initial KPI goals that are met and exceeded over the course of 12 months. Here is a link to a template we use with several of our restaurant chain clients. This template has evolved into a Google Data Studio dashboard over time but remains as relevant today as it ever did. How can companies build an effective SEO strategy for 2021? Wiideman: Companies can build an effective SEO strategy by dedicating one to three months toward research and planning, with the following deliverables from an experienced strategist: a. Technical SEO Audit b. Competitive "Baseline" Report c. Link Audit and Strategy d. Extensive Keyword Research (existing data and competitive insights) e. Website Taxonomy and Information Architecture Plan (based on keyword research) f. Local and/or E-commerce SEO Strategy Once completed, the action items from the research are organized into a project management system such as Monday.com, Basecamp, Jira, or (our favorite) Smartsheets. Tasks are assigned, prioritized, and due dates are added to ensure accountability. How has the COVID-19 global pandemic affected what and how people search the Internet? Wiideman: The biggest shift we have seen in how users behave in search engines includes the use of the phrases "near me" and "online." With fewer shoppers going out to buy, online shopping is more important than ever. Having a mobile shopping experience built to require a visitor's thumb throughout the experience with no keyboard required is how businesses are maximizing visit-to-sale (conversion) rates. As mentioned earlier, for the restaurant industry, addressing keywords by improving content can keep the kitchen lights on. How can online merchants avoid SEO scams? Wiideman: SEO today is starting to become more transparent. Business owners are not falling for the "we can rank you #1 in Google" spam calls as often. Instead, they are up late educating themselves as part of their survival strategy. This is why we created our free SEO Masterclass to equip business owners with the education and training they need to manage SEO in-house and to prevent being taken advantage of by shrewd cold-callers. Jack M. Germain has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His main areas of focus are enterprise IT, Linux and open-source technologies. He is an esteemed reviewer of Linux distros and other open-source software. In addition, Jack extensively covers business technology and privacy issues, as well as developments in e-commerce and consumer electronics. Email Jack. Willington (New Zealand) 19 March 2021 (SPS)- The Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) reiterated its call, in a press release published on Scoop Today, to end imports of blood phosphate from Western Sahara following New Zealand High Court judgment last 15 March, in which it clearly established that Morocco neither has sovereignty nor administrating power over the occupied territory. RMTU National Secretary, Wayne Butson, says the ongoing importation of blood phosphate was unacceptable, adding that the Court has sent a clear message by noting blood phosphate imports pose a reputational risk to New Zealands wider interests." It is inevitable the imports will end as international concern grows about the plight of the Saharawi people of Western Sahara, the press release adds. The Trade Union recalled that since 2012, pension and investment funds worldwide have excluded investments in companies involved in the exploration and extraction of resources in Western Sahara, including on the basis that the phosphate trade contributes to Moroccos continued presence in Western Sahara. It further recalled that back in 2019 the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU) passed a resolution condemning Moroccos illegal occupation of Western Sahara and calling upon the New Zealand government to halt importation of phosphates from the area. The RMTU represents port workers in several New Zealand ports the phosphate is imported into. As a CTU affiliate, the RMTU has taken a number of actions to raise awareness of the situation in ports, including delivering a letter of protest to the captain of a phosphate ship in the Port of Tauranga earlier this month. The RMTU is committed to continuing its protest action with the goal of ending the importation of blood phosphate into New Zealand. (SPS) 090/500/60 (SPS) Kate Garraway was seen putting on a brave face as she arrived to host her show on Smooth Radio on Friday, after sharing details of her husband's health complications. During an appearance on The One Show on Thursday, the Good Morning Britain presenter spoke about about critically-ill Derek Draper's battle as he remains in ICU nearly one year after he was admitted to hospital with novel coronavirus. And after hosting GMB, the TV presenter, 53, was seen giving onlookers her usual jovial smile as she arrived Global Radio's London studios for her gig. Brave face: Kate Garraway was seen putting on a brave face as she arrived to host her show on Smooth Radio on Friday, after sharing details of her husband's health complications Looking casually cool in a grey hooded top with flared jeans and a full-length camel coat, the TV personality wheeled a bag through the streets of the English capital. Carrying a black garment bag, she rounded out her ensemble with a pair of gold metallic shoes as she readied herself for some more time in the studio. The night before, Kate appeared on The One Show, where she talked about her ITV documentary Finding Derek, which will give an 'unflinching account' of her husband's Derek's battle over the past 12 months. Kate said Derek, 53, is 'trapped in the middle ground' as he is sometimes able to communicate with her before slipping out of consciousness. Tragic: Her husband Derek Draper was admitted to hospital in March after contracting the respiratory illness and was subsequently placed in a medically induced coma Her story: Kate talked about her critically-ill husband Derek on The One Show on Thursday Speaking to Alex Jones and Michael Ball, Kate spoke about the special one-off film, which will offer an 'intimate insight' into coping with the impact of COVID on her family, as well as meeting survivors of the disease. Kate said: 'One of things I'm here to talk about is the documentary and what you will see is that this time last year, I was, like a lot of us, wondering what was coming our way. 'I was fearing the worst, on air reading headlines about the earliest cases of people contracting coronavirus and then I suddenly found myself right in the middle of it. 'And I'd say there was weeks and months of living minute by minute, wondering if I was going to get the call whether to say whether he lived or died.' Show must go on: After hosting GMB on Friday, the TV presenter, 53, was seen giving onlookers her usual jovial smile as she arrived Global Radio's London studios for her gig Casually cool: Looking casually cool in a grey hooded top with flared jeans and a full-length camel coat, the TV personality wheeled a bag through the streets of the capital Bright smile: She flashed her signature smile as she greeted onlookers before heading to work Kate went on to explain that while Derek has survived COVID, he is 'trapped in the middle ground'. Derek was admitted to hospital in March after contracting the respiratory illness and was subsequently placed in a medically induced coma before he awoke in July. The virus has wreaked havoc throughout his entire body, resulting in kidney failure, and liver and pancreatic damage. She said: 'Derek is an extreme case, he has a prolonged disorder of consciousness which means that there is some reaction. Harrowing times: Mother-of-two Kate has been working throughout her year-long health woes Bag: Carrying a black garment bag, she rounded out her ensemble with a pair of gold metallic shoes as she readied herself for some more time in the studio 'It's not like what we see in movies where people are lying in a vegetative state, you know you can look at his eyes and before Christmas there was a lot of progress with some words and communication.' Derek considered to be the longest surviving COVID-19 patient in the country. On more than one occasion his heart stopped beating, he battled bacterial pneumonia and fought multiple infections which punctured holes in his lungs. Derek has regained minimal consciousness from his medically induced coma and while he has not been speaking, he heartbreakingly mouthed the word 'pain' in October last year. Brave: Kate was emotional as she discussed Derek's battle with COVID while on The One Show Family: Kate and Derek (pictured in 2019) share two children Darcey and Billy together Kate said: 'What I feel like is that I'm on a life boat somehow and he's coming up and down. You're on this precipice trying to holding onto him. 'There'll be moments where he bubbles up and you have contact with him on FaceTime because of the Covid restrictions. 'It feels like you're going to have to fill him with so much positivity because he's going to sink down.' The GMB host said there will be 'heartbreaking moments' in the documentary, as when he does regain consciousness, viewers will see 'what must be agony for him'. Sad: Kate who shares Darcey, 15, and William, 11, (pictured in 2019) with her husband of 15 years admitted it is 'shocking' to see his current state, including his eight stone weight loss Kate continued: 'His brain has always been his best friend. Suddenly his brain is no longer his best friend and he's fighting to get out. 'It's very, very tough. But if it's tough for me, it must be tougher for him.' Finding Derek will air on 23rd March, and will show Kate giving an 'unflinching account' on the past 12 months. ITV said in a statement: 'Kate offers an unflinching account of the profound effects on her family and on others as she opens up on camera for the first time on the reality of the past 12 months. 'As Kate lays bare in the film, her family, along with many others who have suffered the effects of the virus, is now facing the reality of adjusting to a very different way of life to the one they lived before the pandemic hit.' Kate who shares children Darcey, 15, and William, 11, with her husband of fifteen years previously admitted it is 'shocking' to see his current state, including his dramatic eight stone weight loss. She said her husband's current state is something from a 'horror story,' as she tries to come to terms with the possibility that his health battle could leave him suspended between life and death. The star said to The Times: 'The very worst moment was when they said he could be locked in forever. And I just thought, this is a horror story. I don't know if he'll ever have any kind of life again. We just don't know.' Finding Derek: Kate is set to host the ITV special about her husband Derek's battle with coronavirus, and the programme is set to air on 23rd March For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Since we last heard from JD Wetherspoon, the chancellor of the exchequer has announced his budget. Will Spoons' chairman Tim Martin have some thoughts on this? What do you think? Buried away in Fridays interim results from pubs operator PLC ( ) will be esoteric stuff such as sales and profits (or losses). Before you reach the P&L you may have to wade through hundreds of words of ranting from Spoons founder and chairman, Tim Martin. Since the group last updated the market, the chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, had delivered his budget, which is sure to give plenty of ranting material for Martin to get his frothing mouth into. Martins attention of late has been on Brexit but with that issue hopefully done and dusted he might return to a favoured theme of the unfair discrepancy in tax treatments for pubs compared to supermarkets. To be fair, he has a point. The company raised roughly 94mln in January, placing shares at 1,120p a pop, putting to bed liquidity fears The shares now trade at 1,336p. The company said the extra liquidity will enable it to cope with very low sales after reopening a barbed reference to what the group sees as draconian restrictions on the pubs industry and also provide it with some firepower to buy properties in central London that likely will be available at knockdown prices. "Over the past few weeks, the share price has seen an uplift on the basis that well see pubs reopen sometime during the second quarter [Q2] of this year; however, as far as Wetherspoons own Q2 is concerned its really a matter of minimising cash burn, with 99% of its employees currently on furlough, and the costs of non-furloughed employees estimated to be at 800mln per week," said CMC's Michael Hewson. "With other general costs including maintenance set at around 1.4mln per week, the unlock cant come soon enough so that the likes of Wetherspoon and other hospitality firms can make the most of the extension of the VAT tax cuts that were announced in the budget," Hewson added. On the macro front, the GfK consumer confidence survey for March will be published, along with public finances data for February. A modest improvement in the headline consumer confidence indicator is expected, to -20 in March, albeit leaving it some way off the level recorded in the same month last year as the pandemic built up steam (-9), said Daiwa Capital Markets. Meanwhile, public sector net borrowing (excluding banks) is expected to come in at 23.0bn in February, up from just 1.4bn a year earlier but down from the high of 47.2bn in April last year, Daiwa added. Significant announcements expected Trading announcements: ( ) Finals: ( ), ( ) Interims: PLC ( ) Economic data: UK consumer confidence, UK public sector borrowing The federal government is committing $185 million over the next 10 years to expand regional research programs that bridge agriculture and climate. The federal government is committing $185 million over the next 10 years to expand regional research programs that bridge agriculture and climate. The Agricultural Climate Solutions program provides funding to networks of people, including farmers, academic researchers and other industry members (such as watershed districts). The group is then granted money to create a so-called "living lab," where research can be done to further understand best farming practices that can be locally implemented to lower greenhouse gases. Seed funding starts at $100,000, and up to $10 million may be allotted per project. The living lab projects have been piloted in four provinces, including Manitoba. The expansion provides the incentive for more research hubs (labs) to be established in the provinces where one already exists, as well as the plan to expand into every province. Its critical the techniques that are already proven to lower greenhouse gas emissions from crop production are tested and adapted to fit each region, said federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. "When (farmers) can see it from themselves in their area, they can trust it, and make the move of owning these new practices," Bibeau said at a news conference Thursday. Some of the agricultural practices being considered include reducing the amount of soil tilled, altering crop residue management, and adding pulses and cover crops into the rotation. Agriculture is responsible for approximately 10 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, and about 31 per cent of emissions in Manitoba. Mary Robinson, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, said she believes the localized research will help encourage the adoption of new practices amongst farmers once theyre proven to work in a similar climate and geography. The work done by the pilot project in Prince Edward Island, considering the use of cover crops, has been particularly impressive, she said. However, Robinson hopes the public understands every time elevated demands are put on farmers, pressure adds to their bottom line at a time when global output needs to continue increasing to feed the growing population. "Farmers are constantly being asked to do more but use less resources. With the right support, Canadian farmers will continue to develop and adopt cutting-edge technologies that reduce their use of fuels and crop inputs while increasing yields and protecting the environment," Robinson said. sarah.lawrynuik@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @SarahLawrynuik Tanzanian President John Magufuli, who died Wednesday at age 61, was straightforward and unpredictable but also a skillful politician. He branded himself as a man of action, a departure from the more modest, stately styles of his predecessors. Vice President Samia Hassan announced his death to the nation, saying Magufuli had succumbed to heart disease at Mzena Hospital in Dar es Salaam. Born in 1959 to a peasant farmer, Magufuli entered politics in 1995, when he was elected to parliament. As public works minister, a post he served in from 2000 to 2005 and 2010 to 2015, he was nicknamed The Bulldozer for his stewardship of programs to build roads, railways and other infrastructure. He came to the presidency in 2015 on a platform of fighting corruption. His handling of the coronavirus pandemic over the past year was widely criticized. He urged Tanzanians to put their faith in home remedies and dismissed vaccines and lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the virus as a Western conspiracy. At a funeral earlier this year, Magufuli asked religious leaders to insist on prayers and said God had never left his nation. Magufuli's death came after a long absence from the public, which had sparked rumors that he contracted COVID-19. Reactions vary Reaction to his passing was mixed. Many, like Rajabu Mdundu, said the country had lost a man of the people. He said Magufuli was a man of action and a leader who put the interests of every Tanzanian citizen first. He added that the president had always urged people to work hard. Although Magufuli has left us, Mdundu said, his slogan, Strictly business, will last. Some political analysts, like Onesmo Kyauke, agreed that Magufuli had left his country more prosperous. He said Magufuli had left a country in which corruption has decreased and implemented discipline in the government that was not there before. Magufuli left Tanzania with many projects, such as airports and electricity infrastructure, that will boost the countrys economy, he said. But Magufuli was also criticized for actions that many saw as threatening freedom of expression. Ado Shaibu, secretary-general of the opposition Alliance for Change and Transparency party, said some opposition priorities received no attention under Magufulis leadership, and he urged the president's successor, Hassan, to accent economic and political issues and human rights. Hassan, as the East African nation's first female president, will lead the country for the remainder of Magufulis term, until 2025. A mother-of-two claims her life is 'completely ruined' after five botched tummy tucks left her with a 'pregnant bump'. Andria Stamatis, 52, from Chicago, refers to her stomach as a 'bulging belly' with a vertical scar after spending $50,000 on surgeries. The stay-at-home mum had been unhappy with her stomach for decades but says she was left mortified when her stomach appeared to bulge further after going under the knife. Andria says she then spent a further five years undergoing four further surgeries in a bid to get her dream tummy, but is still no closer to her desired look. Andria Stamatis, 52, from Chicago, pictured with her son Presefoni, 20, before surgery, claims she's been left with a 'pregnant bump' after undergoing five botched tummy tucks The mother-of-two refers to her stomach as a 'bulging belly' with a vertical scar after spending $50,000 on surgeries (pictured left before any surgery, and right now, after five 'botched' operations) She said: 'I have been butchered by the surgeons. I can't believe it has happened multiple times - I shouldn't have ever gone back for the first revision. 'My life is completely ruined. I can't do a sit up and have chronic core weakness because my muscles have been cut open so many times. 'Even when I walk my stomach feels like there is a bowling ball in my belly going up and down. 'I have abdominal numbness and look pregnant. I wish I never started this journey. I should have kept my pregnant-looking stomach because at least I was healthy,' Despite exercising after the birth of her two children George, 24, and Presefoni, 20, Andira felt as though her stomach never 'flattened'. The results of her first tummy tuck were great (pictured) until six weeks later, when Andria asked for a revision because she wasn't satisfied Andria, pictured six weeks after her first tummy tuck, was desperate to have a flat stomach and said she trusted the surgeon to make it flat She claims to have forked out $20,000 for a breast lift, upper eyelid lift and tummy tuck in March 2015. After a few weeks, she claims her stomach wasn't satisfactory and asked for a revision. She said: 'I was desperate to have a flat tummy. I trusted the surgeon who said he was going to fix my belly and make it flat. 'I agreed to have a mesh reinforcement to hold everything together. The mesh overlay is supposed to prevent future weight gain. Andria claims to have forked out $20,000 for a breast lift, upper eyelid lift and tummy tuck in March 2015 'I am a petite woman, I'm 60kg; my stomach bulging isn't fat, but it continued to happen.' Andria claims she was diagnosed with a weak abdominal fascia, meaning the connective tissue that is beneath the skin attaching to the organs wasn't strong enough to hold her stomach in. She says she has spent $30,000 on two more tummy tucks - using a credit card. The fourth surgery involved a vertical incision - she is now completely miserable with her stomach. Andria claims she was diagnosed with a weak abdominal fascia, meaning the connective tissue that is beneath the skin attaching to the organs wasn't strong enough to hold her stomach in. Pictured left after her second tummy tuck and right after her third The fourth surgery involved a vertical incision (pictured after) - she is now completely miserable with her stomach She said: 'I can never wear a bikini again. I don't know what I was thinking - I was told I will have an hourglass figure but it is the opposite. 'I wanted to look good and feel good but now I regret the surgeries more than anything. 'I did my research and still got botched. It is embarrassing for me and has completely ruined my life. I am trying to find someone to operate on me but my case is too complex.' Both clinics have been approached for a comment. EBRD President Renaud-Basso pays first official visit to Serbia EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso used the occasion of her first official visit to Serbia this week to underline the Banks commitment to the country: We will discuss how we can continue to work together on further modernising, digitalising and greening the Serbian economy to yield an inclusive economic growth and enhance competitiveness, she said before virtual meetings with the government and the private sector. Learn more The virtual visit also marked 20 years of Serbias membership in the EBRD as well as record investments in 2020. During this period the Bank has invested more than 6.6 billion in the country, supporting all sectors of the economy and becoming a pioneer in renewables. Watch here In an interview with the leading Serbian daily Politika, the EBRD President talked about the countrys response to the coronavirus pandemic, the EBRDs support and future challenges. With its timely response Serbia softened the impact of the crisis on the economy, she said. Learn more EBRD President meets President of Moldova On Wednesday, EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso had a virtual meeting with the new President of Moldova, Maia Sandu. The leaders discussed the banking sector and the business environment in Moldova and how the EBRD can further support the countrys private sector and promotion of European standards. Learn more EBRD launches Women in Business- programme in West Bank and Gaza The EBRD launched its successful Women in Business-programme in West Bank and Gaza this week. The Bank teamed up with Bank of Palestine to empower Palestinian women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and increase their participation in the local market. The EBRD is providing a US$ 15 million financing package to support local SMEs, including US$ 2 million dedicated to financing women entrepreneurs. Learn more read more see more Local media extensively covered the launch, emphasising the benefit the programme will bring to the local economy which is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises. The Palestinian News Network quoted EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso as saying: Supporting womens role in the economy is crucial for sustainable and inclusive development. Read more Launching a new phase of EU4Business EBRD credit line The EBRD together with the European Union launched the third phase of the EU4Business - EBRD credit line this week to support small businesses in the Eastern Partnership region to become competitive, green and resilient. From manufacturing to agriculture, the partnership has already helped nearly 700 SMEs across all sectors and created 31.000 jobs. read more EBRD, UK and Jordan launch private investment drive The EBRD, the UK Governments Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the Jordan Investment Commission are partnering to promote foreign direct investment in Jordan as a key source of economic growth and development. The investment promotion project launched by these institutions will aim to attract investment from the Jordanian diaspora, investors based in the Gulf, the UK and other international markets. Learn more Project signings Supporting Lithuanias retailer Maxima in 40 mn commercial paper issuance In Lithuania, the EBRD jointly with the leading local retail chain Maxima Grupe (Maxima) has introduced a new financial product to the Baltic markets: The EBRD invested 4.2 million in a 40 million issuance of commercial paper (CP) by Maxima, the first issuance of such securities in the region. CPs are short-term unsecured notes issued by companies with a fixed-term maturity and used to address short-term liquidity or working capital needs. Demands for such alternative sources of finance are rapidly increasing in face of the current coronavirus pandemic. Learn more read more Expanding Ukraines Kokhavynska Paper Factory In Ukraine, the EBRD is supporting local paper producer Kokhavynska Paper Factory with a 13.8 million loan that will aim to expand the companys product range, increase the production capacity and improve its operating efficiency. Learn more read more Launch of energy efficiency programme for homes in Montenegro In Montenegro, the EBRD launched a Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) that will provide loans to households for energy efficiency improvements. The programme is supported by funds from the European Union, the Western Balkans Investment Framework and Austria. Crnogorska Komercijalna Banka (CKB) joined the programme as the first domestic lender with a credit line of 2 million. Learn more read more Boosting Egyptian private companies and trade In Egypt, the EBRD is supporting the local economy with a US$ 100 million financing package to Banque du Caire for trade financing and on-lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. The loan will boost the support for Egypts real economy, especially vital private small businesses. Learn more read more Small businesses in Uzbekistan to benefit from EBRD financing In Uzbekistan, the EBRD is providing financing to local SMEs through the countrys oldest lender Uzpromstroybank (UzPSB) with a loan of up to US$ 25 million under the Banks Resilience Framework designed to tackle the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Learn more Donors How to turn a supermarket green The EBRD and its donors are helping Ukrainian supermarket chain Silpo adopt innovative technologies thanks to a US$ 60 million loan, supported by the EBRDs Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change (FINTECC) programme, with a grant provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). It will go towards opening or renovating 41 Silpo supermarkets, including the new green store, as well as 29 Fora convenience stores, with a focus on energy- and resource-efficient technologies. Learn more Helping Serbias Bel-Plast to become more energy efficient The Serbian foils and films producer Bel-Plast joined the EBRD and EU-funded Competitiveness Support Programme that offers SMEs access to credit lines through local partner financial institutions and acquired a loan for a new production line. The loan combined with EBRD advisory support helped the company make significant cost savings by producing more in less time and improve energy efficiency, using 100 per cent virgin materials. Learn more EBRD in the news Serbia In addition to EBRD President Odile Renaud-Bassos media engagements around her virtual visit to Serbia, EBRD Regional Director and Head of Serbia, Zsuzsanna Hargitai, was a guest of the Morning Show at RTS1, national Serbian TV. She spoke about the EBRDs record investment year in the country and plans for future investment focusing on transition from coal and strengthening green economy and digitalisation. Learn more On Twitter Ms Hargitai also had an interview with TV Pannon, Serbian TV in Hungarian language, where she covered EBRDs impact in the Western Balkans region and Serbia in particular. Learn more Turkey Roger Kelly, EBRD Lead Regional Economist for Turkey, spoke to Anadolu Agency about the Turkish economy. He pointed out that the countrys economy has been resilient to the Covid-19 crisis and tends to rapidly recover from shocks. "This is something we saw in 2009 following the global financial crisis, and also in 2016, following the coup attempt. Certainly, we saw the same thing last year when the economy bounced back quickly from the coronavirus shock," he said. Learn more Ukraine EBRD Chief Economist Beata Javorcik commented on the Ukrainian economy for the German business daily Handelsblatt, saying: Since 2014 Ukraine has implemented wide-ranging reforms, despite extraordinary security, political and economic circumstances. The country has made a noticeable progress. However, the unfinished reform agenda is a serious liability on economic development. Progress is needed in key areas of governance such as anti-corruption reform, judicial reform, privatisation of state owned enterprises, public administration reform and digitalisation of public sector services. Read more Kazakhstan Eric Livny, EBRD Lead Regional Economist for Central Asia, spoke to Forbes Kazakhstan about the economic recovery of Kazakhstan, emphasising that more needs to be done to re-energise growth. Learn more EBRD in social media We highlighted our partnership with WTO supporting the tourism sector in Jordan Read more We celebrated another St. Patricks Day under lockdown! Read more We also highlighted our support for a Georgian apple grower. Read more Subscribe to instant email updates on EBRD news about topics such as coronavirus and climate finance. Sign up Sentiment turned gloomy as the oil price fell nearly 10%. In Friday trading, Brent crude was priced below US$63 with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) down lower than US$60 a barrel The recent volatility in the market was always a concern and the decision from OPEC not to release any barrels earlier this month is now being welcomed The euphoria of rising oil prices did a U-turn this week with six days of declines and fears of lower oil demand. The sentiment turned gloomy as the oil price fell nearly 10%. In Friday trading, Brent crude was priced below US$63 with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) down lower than US$60 a barrel. Pandemic panic appears to be resurfacing in Europe as numbers continue to rise and fears of vaccine safety cause confusion. France imposed a series of regional lockdowns and Italy and Germany acknowledge they are dealing with the third wave. Other countries like India see the numbers rising, reporting highest rate of infections so far this year. Further lockdowns will continue to impact global travel and economic demand and consequently global oil demand. Recent volatility The recent volatility in the market was always a concern and the decision from OPEC not to release any barrels earlier this month is now being welcomed. The market is hoping they will maintain this policy in the April meeting. The CEO of CMarkits, Dr. Yousef Alshammari says that OPEC+ and Saudi cuts should keep the market in check". Alshammari says he believes oil prices are undergoing some sort of correction as prices had "recovered much faster than demand on optimism of vaccine roll over". Looking at oil demand, he says its still about 7% lower than pre-crisis levels, especially in Europe. Investment bank says to look on the bright side and see this price fall as a buying opportunity. The bank says the price is taking a big breather and still sees Brent crude reaching US$80 a barrel in the coming months. Weak demand in Europe and a strengthening US dollar are partly to blame, but the bank says these factors are temporary and they expect rapid oil market rebalancing with an increase in global oil demand later this year. The International Energy Agency released its 2021 medium term market report this week with some optimistic news for oil producers. Signs of rebalancing There are signs of rebalancing in the markets, but demand may never return to "normal". "Global oil demand is set to rise every year through 2026, with no clear peak-oil time frame in place. The agency says that "stronger policies and behaviour will be vital to bring about a peak in demand in the near future". Looking ahead to prospects for a rise in global oil demand, the IEA also said that "road transport in emerging economies has rebounded from early 2020 lows, driving up oil demand and global emissions". With such economic uncertainty around the world, particularly in light of the Covid-19 situation, we can expect to see more volatility in the market. Oil demand took a hit in 2020, down nearly 9 million barrels a day all year and the IEA fears demand "is not expected to return to that level before 2023". Cineworld is set to post a sharp plunge in sales for the past year after its global cinemas were closed to customers amid pandemic restrictions. However, investors in the troubled cinema chain have been increasingly optimistic since it warned that it was temporarily shutting the doors to its UK and US cinemas at the start of October. Its shares have more quadrupled since its October low, when the company confirmed its 5,500 UK staff were at risk due to its plan to hibernate sites. Shareholders will be hopeful that the company can reveal an improving outlook in its latest update on March 25 as its major markets make progress with their vaccination programmes. Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst, at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: Like an extra in Titanic, Cineworld was forced to grab at every lifeline it could to stay above water as the pandemic took hold. Vaccine roll outs have lifted the curtain on a more positive picture, bringing hopes to movie goers who will be more confident to snap up seats once cinemas reopen. A swift recovery will be crucial given the company is saddled with high levels of debt but there are fears that some movie fans may have got a little too comfortable watching releases from the comfort of their sofas, and might be slow to return to the big screen. The speed of its potential UK recovery will also remain uncertain for a number of months, with movie fans not set to return to its sites until May 17 at the earliest. Revenues are expected to plunge from the 4.37 billion dollars (3.15 billion) to closer to 1 billion dollars (720 million). Shareholders will be keen to see the depth of this sale slump, but will also be cautious over the rate of recovery amid continued uncertainty over the release slates from major studios. They will want to see positive signs from management that it can stick to its previous 2021 revenue outlook of around 2.5 billion dollars. The company was also one of the UK stocks to benefit from the recent frenzy after Reddit-following retail investors backed GameStop to shake-up hedge fund activity. However, Cineworld which is one the UKs most hedged equity stocks has seen its share price continue to stay resilient unlike some US firms backed as part of the movement. The update also comes two months after it persuaded enough shareholders to vote in favour of a huge new bonus scheme that could see its chief executive net 65 million as part of a bonus pot worth up to 208 million. Investors holding just over 70% of shares voted for the new long-term incentive plan, despite Cineworld receiving taxpayer support through furlough and tapping up shareholders for cash to avoid collapse during the pandemic. Police letter regarding shoplifting | Preis: 30,00 | Strafrecht Beantwortet von Rechtsanwalt Martin Kampf in unter 2 Stunden 19.03.2021 15:13Preis:Beantwortet vonin unter 2 Stunden Hi all, I committed the stupid act of shoplifting around 100EU worth of food as I was broke at the time. I was handed a document by the security guard and told to sign to say admit or deny. I signed as I was worried at the time and didn't feel lying would help me. I have received a letter from the police with space to make a statement on the back but am unsure how best to respond to all this and if I have to be worried about this going further. I am a first time offender. -------------------- The letter states: Tatortlichkeit Lebensmittelgeschaft Verkaufsraum Gema 163a Absatz 1 der Strafprozessordnung (StPO) erhalten Sie hiermit Gelegenheit, sich zu dieser Beschuldigung schriftlich zu auern. Mit Ihren Angaben konnen Sie die gegen Sie vorliegenden Verdachtsgrunde beseitigen und die zu Ihren Gunsten sprechenden Tatsachen geltend machen. Nach 136 Absatz 1 StPO steht es Ihnen frei, sich zu der Beschuldigung zu auern oder nicht zur cj) Sache auszusagen. Zu Ihrer Entlastung konnen Sie einzelne Beweiserhebungen beantragen. Au%erdem konnen Sie jederzeit, auch schon vor Ihrer schriftlichen Auerung, einen von Ihnen zu wahlenden c75 E Verteidiger befragen. Unter den Voraussetzungen des 140 Absatz 1 und 2 StPO konnen Sie die Bestellung eines Pflichtverteidigers beantragen. Auf die Kostentragungspflicht des Verurteilten gem. 465 StPO wird hingewiesen. Wenn Sie sich schriftlich auern mochten, benutzen Sie bitte den umseitlgenlbeiliegenden Auerungsbogen und senden mir diesen mit Angabe der obigen Vorgangsnummer umgehend ausgeiat zuruck. Angaben zu Ihren beruflichen und wirtschaftlichen Verhaltnissen sind freiwillig. 2 Tf) Wenn ich innerhalb von zwei Wochen nach Zugang dieses Schreibens keine Nachricht von ihnen erhalte, gehe ich davon aus, dass Sie sich nicht zur Beschuldigung auern wollen. Gru Im Auftrag Grunwald, POM 112 -------------------- On the back I am able to make a statement. Would the best course of action be to respond with a sincere apology and state it will never happen again? I am tentative to say nothing and let this get worse. Any advice is very appreciated. Do I need to get a lawyer? Thank you so much. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-20 00:26:59|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Du Dewen (front) speaks at the donation ceremony of China's Sinopharm vaccine at the Manas International Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, March 19, 2021. A batch of China's Sinopharm vaccine was delivered to Kyrgyzstan on Friday, and a donation ceremony was held at the Manas International Airport, the Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan said in a press release. On behalf of the Kyrgyz government, Prime Minister Ulukbek Maripov thanked the Chinese government for helping Kyrgyzstan, stressing that China, having overcome its difficulties, became one of the first countries to provide Kyrgyzstan with COVID-19 vaccine. (Photo by Roman/Xinhua) BISHKEK, March 19 (Xinhua) -- A batch of China's Sinopharm vaccine was delivered to Kyrgyzstan on Friday, and a donation ceremony was held at the Manas International Airport, the Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan said in a press release. On behalf of the Kyrgyz government, Prime Minister Ulukbek Maripov thanked the Chinese government for helping Kyrgyzstan, stressing that China, having overcome its difficulties, became one of the first countries to provide Kyrgyzstan with COVID-19 vaccine. Maripov said that the vaccine from China has received wide recognition in the international community, and the vaccine will greatly help the Kyrgyz republic in the fight against the pandemic. "Kyrgyzstan is ready to further intensify cooperation and work together with China in the fight against the epidemic," he said. Chinese Ambassador Du Dewen noted that China continues to provide assistance to Kyrgyzstan in the fight against the pandemic, and the friendship between the two countries has further strengthened in anti-epidemic cooperation, "In the context of huge domestic demand for a new vaccine, China's free aid to Kyrgyzstan fully demonstrates the deep friendship of the Chinese government and people toward the government and people of Kyrgyzstan and reflects the high level of comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries," the ambassador said. Du expressed the hope that the vaccine will play an active role in combating the epidemic in Kyrgyzstan, as well as protecting the health and safety of the country's residents. The ambassador also stressed that China, being one of the first countries in the world to have successfully developed vaccines, is actively pursuing international cooperation in this area. "China is ready to continue to fight the epidemic side by side with Kyrgyzstan, to help build a Chinese-Kyrgyz health community and deepen cooperation in various fields in the joint construction of Belt and Road in order to benefit the peoples of the two countries," the Chinese diplomat said. Earlier, the Ministry of Health of Kyrgyzstan reported that the first stage of vaccination in the country will begin in late March or early April. Enditem INDIANAPOLIS Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb is directing flags across the state to be flown at half-staff in honor and remembrance of the victims of the shooting in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. Per the President's order, flags should be flown at half-staff until sunset on Monday, March 22. Gov. Holcomb also asks businesses and residents to lower their flags to half-staff. Yet another facet of the COVID-19 vaccine lottery has come to light. It hinges on whether you live in a county with the resources and wherewithal to pull off a major mass vaccination clinic. Lancaster County residents are early winners. Their county commissioners and local officials partnered with health care providers and businesses to open a vaccination center that could pass for a professional, permanent health care facility. As the vaccines offer hope for the pandemics end, the future has taken an optimistic turn for some in the Athens and UGA communities. Still, that future is uncertain. 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. Over the past year, Canadas federal government, policy-makers and employers have made significant strides in providing temporary paid sick leave provisions related to COVID-19. But the challenges associated with workplace safety when sick leave is unpaid persist. Opinion Over the past year, Canadas federal government, policy-makers and employers have made significant strides in providing temporary paid sick leave provisions related to COVID-19. But the challenges associated with workplace safety when sick leave is unpaid persist. This requires permanent and shared solutions to protect workers, the community and the economy. Although quarantine was mandated for people unable to work due to being exposed to COVID-19 or if they were exhibiting symptoms, working while unwell called presenteeism continued due to employees financial concerns. Although every major public health agency recommended staying at home when sick, some employees without paid sick days couldnt afford to do so. In the past 20 years, there have been at least five pandemics or serious infectious disease outbreaks: SARS in 2003, H1N1 in 2009, MERS in 2012, Ebola in 2014 and COVID-19 in 2020. Workplaces are at particular risk of exposure to infectious diseases. Employees who come into work while waiting for test results or who feel unwell risk infecting co-workers. That means illness and outbreak containment measures require workplace solutions. Failing our workers Paid sick days can be mandated in government legislation, or as a workplace-specific benefit. Canada is failing its workers on both fronts. At the start of the pandemic, only employees who fell under federal, Quebec or Prince Edward Island jurisdiction had legislated paid sick days, ranging from one to five days of paid leave. Only 58 per cent of workers have access to paid sick days from their employers. Low-wage workers fare even worse 70 per cent of people earning less than $25,000 a year lack sick day provisions from their employers. Employers alone cannot be solely responsible for providing paid sick days. Offering 10 additional days of paid sick leave a year can translate into significant increases in labour costs. Some businesses regard this as unaffordable. During the current pandemic, corporate revenues have largely declined and experts suggest an economic recovery could be years away. Sharing responsibility A feasible approach requires raising awareness of the benefits of paid sick days and for governments and employers to share responsibility. Research shows that employees without paid sick leave are 1.5 times more likely to go to work while theyre contagious. In contrast, employees with paid sick leave are more likely to engage in routine medical care, such as receiving flu vaccines and completing annual health checks. This reduces the number of future visits to emergency departments. Providing paid sick leave to employees also significantly lowers the risk of mortality. Reducing presenteeism is good for the business. Employees who feel unwell but cant afford to stay home or fear theyll lose their jobs are less likely to seek medical attention, and therefore contribute to the spread of COVID-19 or other infectious illnesses to their co-workers. Employees who work while sick also make more mistakes and have a 28 per cent higher chance of getting injured at work. That means even longer absences, potential liability risks, decreased job performance and increased injury levels. Employees also have a role to play, and must be held accountable if they abuse paid sick days. One in every three employees admits to calling in sick when they are healthy and well. For all employees to benefit from paid sick days, playing hooky must stop, and employers are within their rights to reprimand workers who fake illness to avoid work. This helps build much-needed accountability and fairness around paid sick days. Supporting businesses We also need to explore government support for businesses that implement paid sick days. Given the community health benefits associated with paid sick days and the heavy cost of the federal governments Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit, which provides those unable to work due to COVID-19 illness or self-isolation with $500 per week for a maximum of four weeks, financial support for businesses to offer paid sick days can offset the health-care costs of outbreaks and incentivize employers. The governments sick leave benefit expires on Sept. 25. As of Feb. 14, there had been 392,280 unique applicants for the benefit. Assuming a $1,000 payout for a two-week absence, the paid sick day benefit has cost the federal government more than $300 million dollars in just five months. It will undoubtedly become more expensive since the government recently upped the coverage period from two weeks to four. Ultimately, employees shouldnt have to choose between working while sick and providing food or shelter for themselves and their families. They should also be able to go to work without fear of catching COVID-19 from co-workers. Post-pandemic, we must learn from our mistakes and take action in a more permanent manner. While the benefits of paid sick days are clear, an integrated approach involving employers, employees and government is required. Nita Chhinzer is an associate professor of human resource management and business consulting at the University of Guelph. This article was first published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca. The state Department of Agriculture is seeking permanent ownership of 65 goats it seized from a Redding womam last week after claiming concerns about the goats well-being and the conditions of the property, including the presence of dozens of dead goats, according to a court filing this week. The owner has stated she believes the state lacked legal cause and interfered with plans to transfer all but nine goats to a sanctuary. The court filing by the department, submitted Thursday, asks the state superior court to issue an order against the owner, Nancy Burton, to show cause as to why the state shouldnt be allowed to take take temporary care and eventually full custody of the goats. Alternatively, the department requested a hearing involving Burton over the care and custody. This is a sad and cruel case of animal neglect. No animal should ever suffer in this way, Attorney General William Tong said in statement. State intervention is never our first choice. Resources and assistance are available to animal owners in need. That support was repeatedly offered and refused in this case. We are now left with no option but to seek permanent state custody to protect the health and safety of these goats and to get them the care they deserve. The seizure of the goats follows complaints - at least 120 according to a search and seizure warrant - filed to the police department since 2007, in addition to complaints filed to the state Department of Agriculture. Complaints through the years were often connected to the goats roaming, according to citations and written warnings filed by police against Burton. The search and seizure warrant, released last week, stated that between 10 and 12 goats had extremely long hooves affecting their mobility, manure control was a major concern, and water was not being constantly provided or available. Burton, who was not available for comment Friday, said last week that the states charges are without basis, adding that she trims the hooves regularly and that they have enjoyed ample water supply. Burton has previously tried to gain approval to be allowed by the town for more than nine goats on her property. She added that there were plans to send all but nine goats to animal sanctuaries within the next two weeks or sooner. The new filing over custody and care, however, stated that between forty and fifty goats were discovered in multiple locations of the property in various stages of decomposition. Some were found in plastic bags, inside trash containers and in totes, the filing stated. Others were found in a shallow pit that was covered by plywood. It was also stated that some of the living goats were visibly underweight and others were found with missing fur or fur that was matted and/or caked in mud and manure. The court was also asked by the state to make a ruling regarding whether the animals were cruelly treated, neglected or in harm according to Connecticut statutes. If a judge rules in favor of the state, Burton could also have to pay up to $15 per day, per goat for expenses incurred, for food, shelter and care. Ensuring the health and welfare of domestic animals and livestock is a cooperative effort among multiple parties, including the town, our agency and the Attorney General to intervene and respond to these situations, state Department of Agriculture Commissioner Bryan P. Hurlburt said in a statement. We encourage individuals experiencing hardship in caring for their animals to reach out for assistance and resources available to them. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday announced a ban on movement of passenger buses to and from Mahrarashtra from March 20 in view of the alarming rise in coronavirus cases in the neighboring state. The decision was taken by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation with municipal commissioners and district collectors, an official said. The government has already advised officials in border districts to place the passengers arriving from Maharashtra in week-long quarantine. Markets and business establishments in the districts which are affected most due to the pandemic, including Gwalior, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Sagar, Betul, Burhanpur, Khargone, Ratlam and Chhindwara, will remain closed from 10 PM to 6 AM, it was decided during the meeting. In Indore and Bhopal cities, night curfew from 10 PM to 6 AM is already in force from Wednesday. The vaccination target will be raised to 5 lakh doses per day by setting targets for each district. Chouhan also said that wastage of vaccine doses was a "national wastage" and it should not happen. Madhya Pradesh on Thursday reported 917 coronavirus positive cases, taking its tally to 2,71,957 while with one more death, the toll rose to 3,894. The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a "strategic review" of its new digital medical records system as a result of problems that have arisen since it was introduced five months ago in eastern Washington. VA officials announced Friday that the review of the Cerner Millennium system will include an assessment of the program with an eye toward improving productivity; data management and sharing; workflows; and the patient experience. The system was launched at an initial site, Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center, in Spokane, Washington, last October and is to be rolled out next at VA facilities in Columbus, Ohio, although that timeline may be adjusted as a result of the review, according to VA spokesman Terrence Hayes. Read Next: Man Arrested with AR-15 and Nearly 120 Rounds Near Vice President''s Home is an Army Veteran VA Secretary Denis McDonough said Friday that an assessment of the system launch at Mann-Grandstaff made it "apparent that a strategic review is necessary." "A successful [electronic health records] deployment is essential in the delivery of lifetime, world-class health care for our veterans," he said. "VA remains committed to the Cerner Millennium solution, and we must get this right for veterans." Last month, the Government Accountability Office recommended that the VA postpone its rollout of the system until identified problems were fixed. The GAO identified 378 issues it classified as "critical" or "high severity" findings that needed to be resolved. VA officials told the GAO they had addressed many of the concerns and developed workarounds for 85% of the remaining 55 problems that were not resolved. Veterans in Spokane, however, told Military.com that the problems have not been solved and the new system has had a negative impact on their health care. "The user interface for vets makes messaging your provider or department impossible because the directory is broken and there is limited access to recent records," wrote Spokane resident Paul Votava in a Feb. 23 email. "The providers struggle with it all the time." "I had to download apps to refill my prescriptions and the system completely wiped out my medications list and it was an absolute nightmare to get them restored. It took me four hours to get some of my medications refilled in the system," said Elizabeth Parker. ""The VA was frustrating enough to deal with before this, now it's next-level frustrating."" The VA awarded a contract worth up to $16 billion to Cerner in May 2018 for an electronic health records system that would be interoperable with the Defense Department's MHS Genesis system, also developed by Cerner. It is expected to replace the VA's VistA platform at all VA health facilities by 2028. Adoption of a new platform, however, has actually been decades in the making, with the VA and DoD under a congressional requirement since at least 2008 to make their systems interoperable. The DoD is currently rolling out the Cerner electronic medical records system across its health facilities with a goal to complete deployment by 2023. The effect of the review, scheduled to take up to 12 weeks, on the department-wide rollout will depend on its results, according to the VA. "While Columbus is currently scheduled to remain the next "go-live" site, the order of subsequent deployments may be revised as a result of this strategic review," VA officials said in a release. In his message announcing the review, McDonough praised the employees who worked to deploy the new system and have been using it during an unprecedented pandemic. "Our dedicated VA professionals continue to work feverishly on this effort even as we maneuver through the complexities and surges of the COVID-19 pandemic," he said. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: Defense Department Restarts Massive Military Health System Overhaul CHARLOTTE, NC / ACCESSWIRE / March 19, 2021 / What can an individual investor do to avoid common pitfalls when signing up for a Self-Directed IRA? A recent post published at the American IRA website deals with this specific subject, letting investors who are considering a Self-Directed IRA know what to learn before getting started. Although the Self-Directed IRA administration firm notes that many investors are able to figure out the Self-Directed IRA with little problems, the post is designed to help people considering a Self-Directed IRA for the first time. In the article, the Self-Directed IRA administration firm tackles such concepts as what it means to avoid prohibited transactions. Prohibited transactions refer to those invalid transactions that are not allowed within a retirement account-specifically, the types of transactions that might be of some personal benefit to the account holder. Because retirement accounts are set up to be separate from personal accounts, it is vital for investors to understand these concepts before beginning investing with a Self-Directed IRA. The post details what prohibited transactions refer to, and how investors might be able to avoid them. One simple rule of thumb is for investors to avoid working with "disqualified persons," or people the account holder personally knows. For example, an investor who purchases a piece of real estate with an IRA and then rents that real estate to a family member is engaging in a prohibited transaction outside the bounds of a retirement account. "This post highlights how easy it can be to understand a Self-Directed IRA," said Jim Hitt, CEO of American IRA. "But it's also important for investors to know exactly what will be involved. Taking control of one's own financial future is not something that happens overnight. But it is a powerful way for investors to feel like they have a greater say in their own financial destiny." For more information, visit the post at www.AmericanIRA.com or call 866-7500-IRA. About: "American IRA, LLC was established in 2004 by Jim Hitt, CEO in Asheville, NC. The mission of American IRA is to provide the highest level of customer service in the self-directed retirement industry. Jim Hitt and his team have grown the company to over $500 million in assets under administration by educating the public that their Self-Directed IRA account can invest in a variety of assets such as real estate, private lending, limited liability companies, precious metals and much more. As a Self-Directed IRA administrator, they are a neutral third party. They do not make any recommendations to any person or entity associated with investments of any type (including financial representatives, investment promoters or companies, or employees, agents or representatives associated with these firms). They are not responsible for and are not bound by any statements, representations, warranties, or agreements made by any such person or entity and do not provide any recommendation on the quality profitability or reputability of any investment, individual or company. The term "they" refers to American IRA, located in Asheville and Charlotte, NC." SOURCE: American IRA, LLC View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/633012/American-IRA-Publishes-Words-of-Warning-Before-Diving-into-a-Self-Directed-IRA Air New Zealand will operate non-stop flights between Auckland and Tasmania as soon as a trans-Tasman bubble is established, the airline says. The Auckland-Hobart route is the first new international passenger service the airline has announced since the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed international air travel at the start of 2020. Tickets will go on sale once quarantine-free travel across the Tasman is available. Credit:Kevin Stent/Stuff The service will operate twice weekly all year round and tickets will go on sale once quarantine-free travel across the Tasman is available. The route was subject to final contract agreement and government and regulatory approval. CLEVELAND, Ohio Cuyahoga County officials disciplined two corrections officers last week for their roles in mistakenly releasing and inmate. Officer Kathleen Belle received a three-day suspension and Sgt. Joe Kelly received a written warning. Cuyahoga County spokeswoman said discipline is pending for a third officer, whom she did not name. Ohio Patrolmens Benevolent Association attorney Adam Chaloupka did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Belle was previously fired for her role in an earlier incident in which a suspected burglar was mistakenly released in 2019. The county reversed her firing after the OPBA argued the firing was unfair. Belle and Kelly received their punishment for the Oct. 19 release of Bernard Moore, who faces a charge of improperly handling a gun in his car, according to records released Friday by the county. He previously pleaded not guilty to the charge. Disciplinary letters provide little detail of what led to the mistaken release. Both say Belle and Kelly started the process of releasing Moore without thoroughly reading his arrest report. A third officer, Jacqueline Billups, also could face discipline for the release, but timing issues delayed her disciplinary hearing, Madigan said. A second inmate was mistakenly released the same weekend. Madigan said an investigation is on-going into the mistaken release of a second inmate David Barnes, who was accused of possessing a weapon with a felony record two days after Moores release. Barnes is scheduled for arraignment in his case on March 29. The two mistaken releases are among 10 inmates since 2018 released by jail officials despite judges orders that they remain jailed. The most recent incident happened on Feb. 9, when a suspected drug dealer was released. Madigan said officials are investigating what led to that mistake. Read more from cleveland.com: Man accused of killing Cuyahoga County Jail cellmate had been in 11 other fights prior to slaying Cuyahoga County Jail officer sentenced to 15 days in jail for kicking inmates arm through door chute Cuyahoga County Jail medical assistant brought synthetic marijuana into jail for inmate, records say What happens when a former Commonwealth solicitor-general takes on the Attorney-General, ably represented in court by a crack team of lawyers, in one of the biggest defamation battles in recent history? Well, were about to find out. Legal watchers are salivating at the prospect of this match-up: former solicitor-general Justin Gleeson is acting for the ABC against respected senior counsels Bret Walker and Sue Chrysanthou. These formidable advocates might not be household names, but none are strangers to controversy. Walker successfully led the High Court appeal that led to the acquittal of George Pell while Chrysanthou, a specialist in acting for defamation plaintiffs, secured the largest-ever damages payout of $2.9 million for a single plaintiff in the Geoffrey Rush case against The Daily Telegraph. (She has acted in cases brought against the Herald in recent years, too.) It was on Monday, as thousands rallied around the country for womens rights, that Christian Porter launched his defamation claim against the ABC. Documents filed in the Federal Court revealed Porter (who remains on medical leave) is seeking damages, including aggravated damages, for a February 26 article published on the ABCs website, headlined Scott Morrison, senators and AFP told of historical rape allegation against Cabinet Minister. The ABC journalist Louise Milligan, who broke the story, is also named as a party to the lawsuit. That article did not explicitly name Porter but his legal team alleges he was identified and was subsequently defamed by the portrayal of him as the perpetrator of a brutal rape of a 16-year-old girl in 1988, when he was 17 years old. Reputational risk solicitor Rebekah Giles, who is instructing Walker and Chrysanthou, issued a statement on behalf of her client claiming he had been subjected to trial by media without regard to the presumption of innocence or the rules of evidence and without any proper disclosure of the material said to support the untrue allegations. Battlelines have been drawn. The start of 2021 has been Texas-tough here in the Lone Star State. On top of the pandemic, the state went through a massive electric-grid failure that left many of us without power, heat or water for days. Though vaccines are rolling out, and the weather has warmed, neither crisis is over. Texas ranks nearly last in vaccination rates. There are still people who dont have running water, and many more are struggling with spiked utility bills or property damage from burst pipes. On Monday, state health officials revised the death toll from the winter storm and power grid collapse up to 57. Lives are literally being lost in Texas due to leadership failures. Texas could use some new political energy, stat. Enter... Matthew McConaughey? The actor has indicated that he is interested in running for his home states governorship. He has hedged a bit, telling NBCs Al Roker that he is thinking broadly about the next chapter of his life: Something Im personally working on is what is my position of most use in a leadership role? The prospect of a political foray by McConaughey, with his Texas bona fides, off-kilter charisma and huge profile, cant be dismissed out of hand. Writing for CNN, Texas political analyst James Moore practically begged him not to do it. McConaughey is exactly what the state does not need someone with great talent in his chosen profession and no known experience in public office or politics. Moore mocked a comment McConaughey gave to his hometown paper For me, I need politics to define its purpose before I would choose it as a possible lane for me to pursue and instructed the actor to just stick with what you know. Moore has a point, of course. Weve just seen what happens when a celebrity with no governing experience decides he can run a government. But stick with what you know uncomfortably evokes shut up and dribble, as athletes are told when they dare to weigh in on issues beyond sports. Donald Trumps colossal failures notwithstanding, are we really in a position to reflexively dismiss outside observations and viewpoints? At any rate, whether McConaughey should run for Texass top political office is less interesting than his question of what true leadership in Texas should look like. We all should be interrogating whether partisan politics is serving its purpose to improve lives. Right now, the answer feels like a hard no. Since Texass top officials love to either tap-dance for their GOP base or abandon their responsibilities altogether, its hard to blame an entertainer like McConaughey for thinking he might do well. Senator Ted Cruz jets off to Mexico instead of staying to help those in need of heat, power and water. Governor Greg Abbott scapegoats immigrants for the spread of Covid-19 as he ends the states mask mandate and recklessly opens up businesses. Attorney General Ken Paxton spends 22,000 hours investigating voter fraud in the 2020 election and comes up with just 16 cases of false addresses out of a voting register of 17 million. This last issue voter suppression and access is shaping up to be the crucial fight in Texas. Its no accident that Texass Republican leadership is willing to expend so much time and money tinkering with the vote. Texas already has a voter ID law; now, Texas Republicans want to make the system even worse. This week, GOP lawmakers targeted heavily Democratic Harris County, which includes Houston, with bills to limit voting hours and place restrictions on absentee ballots, among other measures. These efforts are on top of GOP leaders spreading false claims about widespread voting fraud. With all of this going on, I dont blame McConaughey or anyone for questioning the purpose of naked partisan politics. For all of the tough talk we hear from state leaders about individual freedoms, the GOP is working hard to erode one of the most personal freedoms of all the right to have your voice heard at the ballot box. Ever since the 2020 election and the flipping of Georgias Senate seats from red to blue, many of us know that at heart, Texas is a purplish state trending blue. We wonder if Texas will get our own Stacey Abrams-like efforts to defend and expand the franchise, increase voter turnout and ultimately liberate the state from the gerrymandered vice grip of the GOP. Married At First Sight 's Jake Edwards has seemingly given up trying to hide his relationship with Gold Coast personal trainer, Sophie Guidolin. Despite the fact he's still with 'wife' Beck Zemek on the Channel Nine show - which was filmed months ago - Jake, 33, was spotted enjoying a low-key dinner date with his new squeeze on Wednesday. Photos obtained by Daily Mail Australia, show the charity CEO and nutritionist eating and drinking together in Noosa. Worst kept secret! Married at First Sight's Jake Edwards, (right) has been spotted with his new girlfriend Sophie Guidolin, both 33, (left) in Noosa as his TV marriage still plays out on screens The couple dined on Asian fare at a bar, with both Jake and Sophie using chopsticks during their meal. They also enjoyed an espresso martinis before being joined by several friends later in the evening. Spotted: Photos obtained by Daily Mail Australia, show the charity CEO and Gold Coast based nutritionist eating and drinking together on Wednesday night Date night: The couple dined on Asian fare at a bar, with both Jake and Sophie using chopsticks during their meal Bottom's up! They also enjoyed an espresso martinis before being joined by several friends later in the evening The following day, Jake appeared in an Instagram video Sophie posted from the beach, which she captioned: 'Birthday swims.' Later, Sophie hinted her boyfriend had given her a memorable birthday present, but said she couldn't provide any details for 'a couple of days'. The fact they are being so open about their relationship suggests Jake and Beck's departure from Married At First Sight is on the horizon. Open secret: The charity CEO flew to Noosa on Monday ahead of Sophie's 33rd birthday and she documented the trip on Instagram (above) Sophie, a mother of four, confirmed on Monday night she was in a new relationship by sharing a photo of herself cuddling a man in a green shirt. While the man's face wasn't visible in her Instagram post, the shirt resembled one Jake was pictured wearing during filming in November. The man's upper-arm tattoos also matched Jake's. Their days are number: The fact they are being so open about their relationship suggests Jake and 'wife' Beck Zemek's departure from Married At First Sight is imminent Earlier on Monday, Sophie told her 535,000 Instagram followers she was 'taken' after ending her long-term relationship with bodybuilder Nathan, last year. Several days ago, she and Jake were pictured together at a popular restaurant in Broadbeach on Queensland's Gold Coast. According to an eyewitness, they were 'holding hands and didn't care who saw'. Something to tell us? Sophie, a mother of four, confirmed on Monday night she was in a new relationship by sharing a photo of herself cuddling a man in a green shirt (left). While the man's face wasn't visible in her Instagram post, the shirt resembled one Jake was pictured wearing during filming in November (right). The man's upper-arm tattoos also matched Jake's 'Everyone at the pub was looking at him and saying, "Oh, my god, that's Jake from Married At First Sight!"' they added. Another source claimed they'd seen Jake and Sophie holidaying together in northern NSW. Following their night out, Sophie shared a selfie with yet another cryptic caption. New romance: Earlier on Monday, Sophie told her 535,000 Instagram followers she was 'taken' after ending her long-term relationship with bodybuilder Nathan Wallace, last year 'Reflecting on chapters losing, new ones opening and gratitude,' she wrote, seemingly alluding to her break-up with her ex and subsequent romance with Jake. 'The life ahead and of course reflecting on what has been 2020. You were incredibly humbling and lesson building,' she added. Married At First Sight continues Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine A criminal case has been opened against MP from the Opposition Platform - For Life faction Vadym Rabinovych for publishing a map of Ukraine on the social network with inaccurate information about the home language of communication of the country's inhabitants, without the occupied Crimea peninsula and with the words "DPR" and "LPR" in the occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. MP of the Holos faction Solomiya Bobrovska, who had previously sent a corresponding appeal to Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, announced this on her Facebook page. On Thursday, she published a scan of the answer given to her by the first deputy prosecutor general, dated March 16. "We inform you that on March 12, 2021, the Prosecutor General, according to this application, entered information about the fact of a criminal offense under Part 2 of Article 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations No. 42021000000000545," the text of the document says. "Not a single citizen of Ukraine, especially an elected member of parliament, can question the territorial integrity of Ukraine. I advise Rabinovych not to flirt with separatism if he does not want to end up in prison again. I will follow this case and, I hope, the court and law enforcement agencies will follow the example of the NSDC in relation to the insolent fifth column," wrote Bobrovska. Advertisement China has bluntly accused the United States of attempting to 'strangle' it, on the opening day of talks which descended into a remarkably hostile litigation of each others' shortcomings. The U.S. delegation, led by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, spoke out against China's actions in Hong Kong and Tibet; its handling of the COVID pandemic; and their treatment of Uighurs. China, in return, told the U.S. their democratic system was on shaky ground, and accused them of attempting to rock established global order. The meeting, held in Alaska, was the first time the two sides met face-to-face since President Joe Biden took office. Biden has been accused of being too close to China by Donald Trump, after his son Hunter did business in the country, but the U.S. team was determined to take a hardline. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from right, listens as national security adviser Jake Sullivan, right, speaks at the opening session of US-China talks in Alaska The two Americans met Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi, second from left, and China's State Councilor Wang Yi, left, at the opening session on Thursday In unusually pointed public remarks for a staid diplomatic meeting, Blinken and Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi took aim at each other's country's policies at the start of the two days of talks. The contentious tone of their public comments suggested the private discussions would be even more rocky. Joe Biden, seen on Thursday, set out determined to confront China on human rights, COVID, trade and other issues The meetings in Anchorage were a new test in increasingly troubled relations between the two countries, which are at odds over a range of issues from trade to human rights in Tibet, Hong Kong and Chinas western Xinjiang region, as well as over Taiwan, Chinas assertiveness in the South China Sea and the coronavirus pandemic. Blinken said the Biden administration is united with its allies in pushing back against China's increasing authoritarianism and assertiveness at home and abroad. Yang then unloaded a list of Chinese complaints about the U.S. and accused Washington of hypocrisy for criticizing Beijing on human rights and other issues. 'Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability,' Blinken said of China's actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and of cyber attacks on the United States and economic coercion against U.S. allies. 'That's why theyre not merely internal matters, and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here today.' National security adviser Jake Sullivan amplified the criticism, saying China has undertaken an 'assault on basic values.' The talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska got off to a remarkably bad start 'We do not seek conflict but we welcome stiff competition,' he said. Yang responded angrily by demanding the U.S. stop pushing its own version of democracy at a time when the United States itself has been roiled by domestic discontent. He also accused the U.S. of failing to deal with its own human rights problems and took issue with what he said was 'condescension' from Blinken, Sullivan and other U.S. officials. 'We believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world,' he said. 'Many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States. 'China will not accept unwarranted accusations from the U.S. side,' he said, adding that recent developments had plunged relations 'into a period of unprecedented difficulty' that 'has damaged the interests of our two peoples.' 'There is no way to strangle China,' he said. Foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi accused the U.S. of wanting to 'strangle' China Chinese officials berated their U.S. counterparts for more than 15 minutes on Thursday Blinken appeared to be annoyed by the tenor and length of the comments, which went on for more than 15 minutes. He said his impressions from speaking with world leaders and on his just-concluded trip to Japan and South Korea were entirely different from the Chinese position. 'I'm hearing deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that we're reengaged,' Blinken retorted. 'I'm also hearing deep concern about some of the actions your government is taking.' Underscoring the animosity, the State Department blasted the Chinese delegation for violating an agreed upon two-minute time limit for opening statements and suggested it 'seem(ed) to have arrived intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance.' 'America's approach will be undergirded by confidence in our dealing with Beijing - which we are doing from a position of strength - even as we have the humility to know that we are a country eternally striving to become a more perfect union,' it said. Blinken and Sullivan (far right) looked unimpressed as the Chinese laid into them U.S.-China ties have been torn for years, and the Biden administration has yet to signal whether its ready or willing to back away from the hardline stances taken under Donald Trump. Just a day before the meeting, Blinken had announced new sanctions over Beijing's crackdown on pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong. In response, China stepped up its rhetoric opposing U.S. interference in domestic affairs and complained directly about it. 'Is this a decision made by the United States to try to gain some advantage in dealing with China?' State Councilor Wang Yi asked. 'Certainly this is miscalculated and only reflects the vulnerability and weakness inside the United States and it will not shake China's position or resolve on those issues.' Trump had taken pride in forging what he saw as a strong relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. But the relationship disintegrated after the coronavirus pandemic spread from the Wuhan province across the globe and unleashed a public health and economic disaster. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close A senior Afghan official says the government and the Taliban have agreed at a meeting in Moscow to try to accelerate talks aimed at ending decades of war in the country. The March 19 meeting followed an international conference in the Russian capital on the intra-Afghan peace process, just six weeks before a deadline for the United States to pull out troops that have been in the war-torn country for nearly 20 years. The gathering was aimed at breathing life into negotiations that started in September between the Afghan government and the Taliban, which have stalled over government accusations that the insurgents have done too little to halt violence. Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of Afghanistan's High Council for National Reconciliation, told Russia's RIA Novosti news agency that the sides did not discuss any specific issues when they met on March 19. But he said the Afghan government team expressed readiness to accelerate the [peace] process" and that the Taliban did as well." Abdullah also warned that if the current opportunity for peace is missed, neither side would benefit. In a joint statement issued by the U.S. State Department after the conclusion of the March 18 conference, the United States, Russia, China, and Pakistan called on Afghanistan's warring sides to engage immediately in discussions on fundamental issues to resolve the conflict. Such issues included the foundations of the future peaceful and stable Afghan state, the content of a political road map leading to an inclusive government, and the modalities of a permanent and comprehensive cease-fire, it said. At this pivotal moment, our four states call on the parties to negotiate and conclude a peace agreement that will bring an end to over four decades of war in Afghanistan, the statement said, urging the Taliban not to launch a spring offensive. Afghanistans Foreign Ministry welcomed the joint statement and said the government in Kabul is committed to engaging in "substantive and serious" negotiations on establishing a cease-fire and achieving "a comprehensive political settlement that ends the war and brings about sustainable peace in the country. The Moscow meeting was the first of three planned international conferences ahead of a May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan. The date was fixed under a February 2020 agreement between the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump. But his successor, Joe Biden, has warned that it could be difficult for the United States to meet the deadline, especially with violence escalating in the country. A member of the Taliban delegation sent to Moscow on March 19 said that if Washington fails to withdraw its forces by May 1, there could be a "reaction," which could mean increased attacks by the group. They should go, Mohammad Suhail Shaheen told a press conference, warning that staying beyond the deadline would breach the U.S.-Taliban deal. After that, it will be a kind of violation of the agreement. That violation would not be from our side.... Their violation will have a reaction, he added, without elaborating on what form the reaction would take. In keeping with the agreement, the insurgents say they have not attacked American or NATO forces. The Moscow conference was seen as a curtain-raiser for a larger meeting of regional players in Turkey in April, as well as a summit that U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has asked the United Nations to organize. The meeting included representatives of the Taliban, the Afghan government, and the countrys negotiation team, as well as officials from Russia, China, Pakistan, and the United States. It marked the first time Washington has sent a senior official to participate in Afghan peace negotiations convened by Russia. Khalilzad's presence was seen as a sign of Washington's increasing effort to attract support among regional powers for its plans for Afghanistan. With reporting by Reuters and Interfax 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. YEREVAN. I have not seen a decision to place attachment on property with such procedural violations. Ruben Hakobyan, the lawyer of Armenias third President Serzh Sargsyan, told this to reporters Friday. As reported earlier, the court on Friday denied the defense's motion to lift the attachment on the property of Sargsyan, in connection with a criminal case involving him and several other defendants. "The arguments and facts brought by us were so well-founded, whereas the decisions of the criminal prosecution bodies and the decisions of the lower courts were clearly groundless and unreasoned. It is clear that this decision of the court will not be substantiated and reasoned to the extent that it will dispel all our suspicions," Hakobyan added. According to him, the judicial process of placing an attachment on property must comply with the respective requirements defined by the law. "There need to be grounds, intentions, and judicial guarantees must be ensured. In our deep conviction, the criminal prosecution authorities made the decision to place an attachment on the property [of Sargsyan] in the complete absence of its grounds, in the absence of intentions, and the procedural procedure was violated. The charge is clearly illegal and artificial; you will be convinced of that during the trial," ex-President Serzh Sargsyan's lawyer added. Mumbai, March 19 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) team met newly-appointed Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale at his office on Friday and are understood to have discussed the ongoing probes into the SUV case. The NIA team comprised IGP Anil Shukla and SP Vikram Khalate, while joining Nagrale were Joint CP (Crime) Milind Bharambe and DCP (Detection) Akbar Pathan. Official sources described it as a 'courtesy call'. An NIA team has also surveyed the elite Crime Intelligence Unit (ICU) of the Crime Branch which functions under the city police chief and handles some of the most sensitive cases, many of which were handled by the arrested-suspended Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze in the last one year or so. In a related development, a forensics team arrived from Pune to conduct specialised tests on the 6 cars seized by the NIA in the past few days, including a SUV Scorpio, 2 Mercedes, a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado and other models. Triggering a massive political furore, the SUV Scorpio was found abandoned outside Antilia, the home of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, along with 20 gelatin sticks and a threat note, with the NIA saying that Vaze was using the other luxury vehicles. Similarly, Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran, whose body was found in the Thane Creek marshes near Mumbra and death is being probed by Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) also reportedly used the Scorpio and some of the other seized high-end cars, details of which are not yet available. Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Friday urged a halt to violence in and asked the fellow leaders of Southeast Asian countries to hold a summit on the crisis. urges that the use of violence in be stopped immediately to avoid more victims, Widodo told a televised address, offering his condolences to the victims and their families. More than 200 people have been killed by security forces since the February 1 coup, according to credible tallies. Nearly 2,000 have been jailed. Widodo, the leader of Southeast Asia's largest economy, said that he will immediately contact the sultan of Brunei, which holds the rotating presidency of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to set up an summit to address Myanmar's turmoil. Widodo's comments came after foreign ministers held their first meeting early this month since the coup, which deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her allies. Brunei issued its own chairman's statement after the ministers apparently failed to agree on a declaration in the meeting where Myanmar's top diplomat briefed them during a video conference. It said the ministers called on all parties in Myanmar to refrain from instigating further violence and start talks on a peaceful solution. includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. (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.) Radhika Apte Juggling Projects Like A Pro, Promotes Her Web Series In Between A Hectic Shoot Schedule Indie star Radhika Apte has been on a roll lately with her upcoming projects. The actress has been jumping from one project to another, ever since she has returned from London. The actress is all set for her first OTT release of the year 2021, which is one-of-a-kind project, and will see Radhika in a Robot Rights Activist, cool no? A source close to the actress shares, "Radhika had been shooting in Kolkata for a schedule of 45 days which concluded on 18th March. Without any break, she has now jetted off to Mumbai to kickstart the promotions of 'Ok Computer' on 19th March. At this point, Radhika is shuffling between two projects - filming for one, and promoting the other." The source further reveals, "Ever since Radhika has come back to Mumbai, she has been on a jam-packed schedule with multiple projects. While shooting in Kolkata too, she had been on the promotions of 'Ok Computer', and now is back in Mumbai to promote the series in full force." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Radhika (@radhikaofficial) In her upcoming project, the OTT queen, will play the role of Laxmi Suri a girl who loves robots over humans and talks about them all day long. She happens to be the head of PETER, which stands for People for Ethical Treatment for Robot Everywhere, an organization to protect robot rights. The audience is definitely waiting for to witness this uber cool avatar of Radhika with a baited breath. All full-time officers with the Williamstown Police Department endorsed a complaint about Sgt. Scott E. McGowans actions within the department, saying his presence has created a hostile work environment. McGowan remains on paid administrative leave. Allschwil, Switzerland - March 19, 2021 Idorsia Ltd (SIX: IDIA) was informed by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the new drug application (NDA) for PonvoryTM (ponesimod) to treat adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, to include clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting disease and active secondary progressive disease. Jean-Paul Clozel, M.D. and Chief Executive Officer of Idorsia commented: "This is good news for adult patients with multiple sclerosis who can now benefit from a new therapy. In clinical trials, oral ponesimod has demonstrated superior clinical efficacy versus a commonly prescribed oral medication in reducing the frequency of relapses and the number of new or enlarging lesions as measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). I'm very proud of our research and development team that discovered ponesimod and designed the clinical program. I send my best wishes to the Janssen team for a successful launch of PonvoryTM." Idorsia and Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, have entered into a revenue-sharing agreement in respect to ponesimod. Under the terms of the revenue-sharing agreement, Idorsia is entitled to receive quarterly payments of 8% of the net sales of ponesimod products from Actelion. For further details please read the full announcement from Janssen available at https://www.janssen.com/us/news-center (https://www.janssen.com/us/news-center). Notes to the editor About Idorsia Idorsia Ltd is reaching out for more - We have more ideas, we see more opportunities and we want to help more patients. In order to achieve this, we will develop Idorsia into a leading biopharmaceutical company, with a strong scientific core. Headquartered near Basel, Switzerland - a European biotech-hub - Idorsia is specialized in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecules to transform the horizon of therapeutic options. Idorsia has a broad portfolio of innovative drugs in the pipeline, an experienced team of professionals covering all disciplines from bench to bedside, state-of-the-art facilities, and a strong balance sheet - the ideal constellation to translate R&D efforts into business success. Idorsia was listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker symbol: IDIA) in June 2017 and has over 900 highly qualified specialists dedicated to realizing our ambitious targets. For further information, please contact Andrew C. Weiss Senior Vice President, Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Hegenheimermattweg 91, CH-4123 Allschwil +41 58 844 10 10 investor.relations@idorsia.com (mailto:investor.relations@idorsia.com) media.relations@idorsia.com (mailto:media.relations@idorsia.com) www.idorsia.com (http://www.idorsia.com) The above information contains certain "forward-looking statements", relating to the company's business, which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "estimates", "believes", "expects", "may", "are expected to", "will", "will continue", "should", "would be", "seeks", "pending" or "anticipates" or similar expressions, or by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions. Such statements include descriptions of the company's investment and research and development programs and anticipated expenditures in connection therewith, descriptions of new products expected to be introduced by the company and anticipated customer demand for such products and products in the company's existing portfolio. Such statements reflect the current views of the company with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Anhang Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers. It is funded by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. TRENTON, N.J., March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- If the longtime marijuana activist Ed Forchion is the NJWeedman, then his business partner, Debi Madaio, is easily Trenton New Jersey's "First Lady of Weed." As the majority owner of NJWeedman's Joint, the popular marijuana-themed eatery located in the state's capital city, Madaio is defiantly acknowledging her legacy as a heroic ganga mompreneur during Women's History Month. A registered nurse, cannabis activist, mother to two daughters and a special needs son, Madaio is not only the driving force behind NJWeedman's Joint but also NJWeedman himself! In celebration of Women's History Month, she has expanded her business with the opening of The Stash Spot, a specialty boutique smoke shop located inside The Joint and a new 'potcast,' "Joint Accounts," closing out Women's History Month on March 29, 2021 and streaming every following Monday at 3:00 p.m. ET across The Joint's social media platforms. "Joint Accounts" will feature the latest happenings in and around NJWeedman's Joint. Debi Madaio is not only the driving force behind NJWeedmans Joint but also NJWeedman himself! In celebration of Womens History Month, she has expanded her business with the opening of The Stash Spot, a specialty boutique smoke shop located inside The Joint and a new potcast, Joint Accounts, closing out Womens History Month on March 29, 2021 and streaming every Monday following at 3:00 p.m. ET across The Joints social media platforms. The pandemic has fostered all sorts of new innovations, and for Madaio, The Stash Spot and "Joint Accounts" both evolved as such. While NJWeedman's Joint luckily survived the shut-in as an essential business restaurant operation, smoke shops in New Jersey had to close. Madaio had the idea to move all her smoke shop items to the restaurant and still meet the needs of her cannabis clientele. The Stash Spot is the expansion of that service. With cannabis now finally legal in the state, offering a one stop shop for food and supplies is a convenience her customers greatly appreciate. The Stash Shop carries marijuana paraphernalia like pipes, rolling papers, marijuana themed convenience items, knick knacks and clothing. Operating a small business while working full time as a registered nurse and caring for a special needs son has been challenging, to say the least. But Madaio has witnessed and survived additional trials as well. Located just across the street from the Trenton City Hall, The Joint had been operating successfully since 2015 and was garnering national accolades for its contribution to cannabis culture. It was during Women's History Month of March 2017 when NJWeedman's Joint first came under scrutiny per an undercover operation and raid that led to Ed Forchion's arrest and incarceration. Forchion's arrest garnered him 447 days in prison, leaving Madaio not only fighting for his release, but also for the survival of their business. "While Ed was being held for those 447 days, prior to trial under the New Jersey Bail Reform Act, we had to close the business in order to secure it. I basically robbed Peter to pay Paul to made sure the rent was paid. I had made Ed a promise that I would make sure the business and the building were still there when he got out of jail! That was one of his biggest fears, that he would get out of jail and ride by the building where The Joint used to be. I couldn't and wouldn't let that happen as Mercer County had taken enough from him already," notes Madaio. Today, NJWeedman's Joint is once again a thriving watering hole for not only Trenton but also the surrounding communities, cities and states. On any given day, customers drive in from New York and Philadelphia, and drop in when visiting from not only around the country but the world, for their delectable menu of dishes named after marijuana inspired themes and famous celebrity stoners. Meals like the "Snoop's Dream," a fish and grits dish; Willie's Chillie; the Kevin Smith Impossible Burger; the "Pothead Sandwich," fried fish with a shrimp crab relish and sriracha sauce; and the "East Coast Cannabis Coalition," a turkey meatball dinner with marinara sauce and spaghetti are all the rage. The restaurant's ambiance, created by Madaio, mirrors an actual marijuana grow room with curtains, tablecloths and chairs designed and fashioned after marijuana leaves. There are also live outdoor music performances and show offerings which are streamed online for a wider viewing audience. Madaio has an undergraduate degree in criminal justice as well as in nursing. While currently still working long hours, she envisions the eatery as an outlet which will provide work and income closer to home and nearer her child. NJWeedman's Joint was once called 'the happiest place on earth' by Extraction Magazine and Madaio's mission is to keep those kinds of vibes flowing. The Stash Spot, NJWeedman's Joint and her new potcast, "Joint Accounts," will continue in service to keep their customer's energy high and lifted. "I'm looking forward to one day being done with all drama," expresses Madaio. "New Jersey has finally legalized our favorite plant, but now the battle for inclusion in the cannabis industry begins. We know that small businesses and entrepreneurs are getting edged out of this new legal, burgeoning billion-dollar industry. I'm hoping that in exchange for our commitment to good service that our customers won't allow that to happen to us here." NJWeedman's Joint is located 322 E. State St. in Trenton, NJ. Debi Madaio can be reached at [email protected] and via the NJWeedman's Joint website at https://njweedmansjoint.com/home. Catch "Joint Accounts" every Monday, starting March 29 at NJWeedman's Joint onFacebook (https://www.facebook.com/NJWeedmansJoint) and on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/njweedmans_joint/). Learn more about Debi Madaio at https://njweedmansjoint.com/debi-madaio and at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdKwBD2BqxY. Sign the "Demand Governor Phil Murphy Grant NJWeedman's Joint a Recreational Cannabis License!" at https://www.change.org/p/phil-murphy-demand-gov-phil-murphy-grant-njweedman-s-joint-a-recreational-cannabis-license. Contact: jazzmyne Public Relations 323-380-8819 e-mail: [email protected] web: www.jazzmynepr.com SOURCE NJWeedmans Joint Related Links http://njweedmansjoint.com The award-winning professor and psychology Ph.D. is an expert in translating psychological research and science into Artificial Intelligence backed real-world solutions VANCOUVER, BC, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Mind Cure Health Inc. (CSE: MCUR) (OTCQB: MCURF) (FRA: 6MH) ("MINDCURE" or the "Company") a leader in advanced proprietary technology for psychedelic therapy, is pleased to announce the addition of Ty Tashiro as its new Senior Translational and Psychometric Architect for its iSTRYM digital therapeutics platform. In this new role, Ty will provide direction for the development of iSTRYM, and in particular how the platform captures and measures data inputs from therapists and patients and translates those inputs into effective psychedelic-assisted therapies and post-therapy integration. "I started my career in academia with a strong research focus, and carried that into my professional career where I sought out opportunities to take proven psychological research and science and make it useful and relatable for people in their everyday lives," said Ty Tashiro, MINDCURE's Senior Translational and Psychometric Architect. "I am excited with what MINDCURE is building with iSTRYM, and know the valuable role that technology can play as we work to scale metrics that meaningfully capture individuals' unique experiences with psychedelic-assisted therapies." Ty earned his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Minnesota and is a renowned expert in the field. He has published two books and won several awards for his teaching at both the University of Colorado and the University of Maryland. Outside of academia, he has held the role of Chief Science Officer and has relevant experience with the development and application of AI to solve real-world problems in psychology. His expertise in psychometrics, which is the measurement of psychological events, in particular, will be valuable to MINDCURE as it charts a new course for the psychedelics industry with iSTRYM. "I strongly believe that near-term revenue in psychedelics is a key differentiator and Ty is a tremendous addition to the world-class team we continue to build for that execution. He has a deep understanding of the science and application of psychology to help people, and will add tremendous value and input as we look to build iSTRYM into the leading digital therapeutics platform for psychedelic-assisted therapies in the world," said Kelsey Ramsden, President and CEO, MINDCURE. "His expertise in psychometrics will enable us to develop a strategy for reliable and valid client assessments and to create specific items and scales for proprietary use within iSTRYM. Our goal is to build iSTRYM into the trusted source that individuals turn to for science-backed, personalized mental health support at scale." Additionally, the Company has entered into an agreement with the Dales Report Inc. to provide services relating to a web series for a 6-month term beginning in March 2021. The Company has agreed to pay a total of CDN$45,000 for the services to be provided during the term. About Ty Tashiro: Ty Tashiro received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Minnesota and has been an award-winning professor at the University of Maryland and University of Colorado. He is also a published author, social scientist and relationship expert. His first book, THE SCIENCE OF HAPPILY EVER AFTER, shows how our decision-making abilities falter when it comes to choosing mates and how insights from social science can help us make smarter decisions. In AWKWARD: The Science of Why We're Socially Awkward and Why That's Awesome, he explains why some of the same characteristics that make people feel socially awkward can be the same traits that propel them toward extraordinary achievements. In his professional career, Ty Tashiro also served as the Chief Science Officer at Connectidy, a platform that leveraged IBM's Watson AI platform to improve decision-making at scale. The Company also announces it has granted a total of 475,000 stock options to certain employees or consultants pursuant to the terms the Company's incentive stock option plan ("Plan"). The stock options are exercisable at a price of $0.60 per share and subject to the terms of the Plan. About Mind Cure Health (MINDCURE) Inc. MINDCURE exists as a response to the current mental health crisis and urgent calls for effective treatments. MINDCURE believes in the need to reinvent the mental health care model for patients and practitioners to allow psychedelics to advance into common and accepted care. MINDCURE is focused on identifying and developing pathways and products that ease suffering, increase productivity, and enhance mental health. MINDCURE is interested in exploring diverse therapeutic areas beyond psychiatry, including digital therapeutics, neuro-supports, and psychedelics, all to improve mental health. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Kelsey Ramsden, President & CEO Phone: 1-888-593-8995 Forward-Looking Information Certain statements in this news release may constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (also known as forward-looking statements). Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, and may cause actual results, performance or achievements or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements or industry results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information generally can be identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "anticipate", "believe", "could", "estimate", "expect", "feel", "intend", "may", "plan", "predict", "project", "subject to", "will", "would", and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions. Some of the specific forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to: Mr. Tashiro providing direction for the development of iSTRYM; Mr. Tashiro having relevant experience to MINDCURE and iSTRYM; near-term revenue being a key differentiator for MINDCURE; Mr. Tashiro adding a tremendous amount of value and input to MINDCURE; Mr. Tashiro's expertise in psychometrics enabling the strategic development within iSTRYM; and iSTRYM becoming the trusted source that individuals turn to for mental health support at scale." Forward-looking information is based on a number of key expectations and assumptions made by MINDCURE, including, without limitation: the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the Canadian economy and MINDCURE's business, and the extent and duration of such impact; no change to laws or regulations that negatively affect MINDCURE's business; there will be a demand for MINDCURE's products in the future; no unanticipated expenses or costs arise; MINDCURE will be able to continue to identify products that make them ideal candidates for providing solutions for treating mental health; that the functional mushroom industry will continue to grow; Mr. Tashiro will help MINDCURE to achieve its goals related to iSTRYM and with other potential technologies; MINDCURE will build iSTRYM into the leading digital therapeutics platform for psychedelic-assisted therapies in the world; and MINDCURE will be able to operate its business as planned. Although the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based upon what MINDCURE believes to be reasonable assumptions, it cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such information. Forward-looking information is provided for the purpose of presenting information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking information involves significant risks and uncertainties and should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results as actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking information. Those risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks related to: the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Canadian economy, MINDCURE's industry and MINDCURE's business, which may negatively impact, and may continue to negatively impact, MINDCURE and may materially adversely affect MINDCURE's investments, results of operations, financial condition, and MINDCURE's ability to obtain additional equity or debt financing, and satisfy its financial obligations; general economic conditions; future growth potential; competition for mental health and wellness investments; Mr. Tashiro may not help MINDCURE to develop iSTRYM or other potential technologies; iSTRYM may not become the trusted industry source for mental health support at scale; iSTRYM may not become the leading digital therapeutics platform for psychedelic-assisted therapies in the world; and changes in legislation or regulations. Management believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information contained herein are based upon reasonable assumptions and information currently available; however, management can give no assurance that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information. Additional information on the risk factors that could affect MINDCURE can be found under "Risk Factors" in MINDCURE's final prospectus which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking information contained herein is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to MINDCURE. The forward-looking information is stated as of the date of this news release and MINDCURE assumes no obligation to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by applicable law. United States Advisory The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), may be offered and sold outside the United States to eligible investors pursuant to Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act, and may not be offered, sold, or resold in the United States or to, or for the account of or benefit of, a U.S. Person (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the United States Securities Act) unless the securities are registered under the U.S. Securities Act, or an exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act is available. Hedging transactions involving the securities must not be conducted unless in accordance with the U.S. Securities Act. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in the state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release and the CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Mind Cure Health Inc. Commercial operations at the Lekki Deep Seaport in Lagos Free Zone (LFZ) will begin in the first quarter of 2023, the frontline investor handling the project told Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Friday. Mr Sanwo-Olu and members of the states cabinet are currently on a two-day working tour of the three free trade zones established in Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos. The port, which is being constructed by China Habour Engineering firm, is occupying 90 hectares in the entire 830 hectares of land carved out for the Lagos Free Zone, created in 2012 to enhance economic position of Lagos as manufacturing and logistics hub in West Africa. The first phase of the seaport project, which is being financed by a $629 million facility from China Development Bank (CDB), is at 48 per cent completion. After going through the project master plan, Mr Sanwo-Olu said his administration remained committed to delivering project, stressing that the deep seaport and other investments happening in the corridor had the potential to increase the States GDP in multiple folds. Given the report I got and what I have seen here, I can say that Lagos Free Zone has made tremendous improvement, the governor said. We have seen the level of partnership Tolaram Group is bringing in terms of international investment and local brands on this corridor. I commend all stakeholders that are with us on this journey we have found ourselves. With the level of work we have seen, Im truly excited. It is more gratifying that, we are taking up this assignment with all energies required and we all can see what we can achieve when we work together. Since we signed a loan agreement less than 18 months ago, we have demonstrated strong capability in bringing the project to reality. This is the first quarter of 2021 and we have seen the project in about 48 per cent completion. The investors have given us the commitment on first quarter of 2023 completion date. We will fulfill all our parts to make sure this date becomes reality. Mr Sanwo-Olu, who noted that he had been part of the conversation for the development of the free zones as a Commissioner for Commerce and Industry in 2006, said his administration had recorded significant progress in bringing the projects to reality. The governor said the priority accorded to the construction of complementary infrastructure projects along the corridor was a demonstration of his Governments fulfillment of its pledge to Lagos residents. He promised the State would work with the timeline to ensure all projects mapped out in the zones are deliver. Mr Sanwo-Olu said the size of the deep seaport will allow 18,000 TEU capacity vessels, which are four times bigger than the ones berthing at Apapa seaports, thereby scaling down the cost of container transportation from any part of the world. He said: The interesting part is that, our youths and young women will be the beneficiaries of this project. The project managers have engaged large number of our citizens in the construction parts of the work; all personnel are not expatriates. All the technical work and technology deployed have local component to it. For us a Government, this is the strongest point we have made with the project. I am fully convinced that the delivery of this project will transform commercial architecture of West Africa and bring about quick turnaround time in maritime sector. When it is completed, the deep seaport is expected to generate more than 170,000 direct and indirect job opportunities for Lagos residents, and serve as alternative in an effort to decongest the Federal Government-owned seaports in Apapa. The Chief Executive Officer of Lagos Free Zone, Dinesh Rathi, said Tolaram Group, a Singaporean company, initiated a $2 billion investment in the Lagos Free Zone, out of which the investor committed $950 million to developing manufacturing hub in the zone. When the deep seaport is completed, Mr Rathi said the maritime project was expected to generate more than 170,000 direct and indirect job opportunities for Lagos residents, and would serve as alternative in an effort to decongest the Federal Government-owned seaports in Apapa. ADVERTISEMENT The Chair of Lagos Free Zone Development Company, Biodun Dabiri, hailed the State Government for its commitment towards changing face of commerce in Africa, stressing that all statutory permits, licences and endorsement for the Lekki port project were already secured. There is strong guarantee that the port will be delivered before time, going by the inflow of capital investment and technical services, Mr Dabiri said. The governor and his entourage also visited Africas second largest manufacturing plant of Kellogg Tolaram, manufacturer of cornflakes, which is built in Lagos Free Zone. The governor toured the processing unit of the firm and inspected the production chain. Also joining the Governments team in the tour are the Chief Executive Officer of Lekki Freeport LFZ, Du Ruogang, and Head of Marketing for LFZ, Chinju Udora, among others. An ambulance is surrounded by police officers at a crime scene where gunmen killed at least 13 Mexican police officers in an ambush, in Coatepec Harinas, Mexico, on March 18, 2021. (Jose Aguilar/Reuters) Gunmen Kill 13 Police in Daytime Ambush in Central Mexico MEXICO CITYGunmen killed at least 13 Mexican police in an ambush a short distance outside the capital on Thursday, local authorities said, in one of the worst mass slayings of security forces to rock the country in recent years. Photos of the grisly scene circulated on social media showing a bullet-riddled police car and an unmarked truck, along with officers bodies scattered out along the street or still inside the car. The convoy of security personnel was attacked in broad daylight by suspected gang members in the Llano Grande area in the municipality of Coatepec Harinas as it patrolled the area, said Rodrigo Martinez-Celis, security minister for the State of Mexico. Eight of the slain officers were state police, while five other were police assigned to the state prosecutors office. Police officers work at a crime scene where gunmen killed at least 13 Mexican police officers in an ambush, in Coatepec Harinas, Mexico, on March 18, 2021. (Jose Aguilar/Reuters) The area is southwest of Mexico City and about 40 miles south of the city of Toluca, the capital of the populous State of Mexico, which surrounds much of the capital. This attack is an affront to the Mexican state. We will respond with all force and support of the law, the minister said in an address to the media. Mexicos National Guard militarized police and the armed forces are searching by land and air for the perpetrators. It was unclear how many suspected criminals were killed or wounded in the incident, or if it involved any of the countrys main drug cartels. By Lizbeth Diaz and David Alire Garcia A 1st Armored Division senior enlisted soldier was shot to death by his 13-year-old stepson Monday night after allegedly assaulting the boy's mother, according to El Paso Police. Sgt. 1st Class Allan Edwards, 31, died at his off-post home near Fort Bliss, Texas, according to a 1st A.D. news release Thursday evening. Edwards allegedly "assaulted the juvenile's mother" away from his apartment sometime Monday, and the "juvenile witnessed that assault," according to a news release from the El Paso Police. Read Next: Army Wants to Finally Replace Decades-Old MILES Gear for More Realistic Force-on-Force Training "Once back at the residence, the juvenile armed himself with a handgun belonging to Edwards," according to the police. "When the couple again began to argue, the juvenile produced the handgun and shot Edwards." Police responded to the scene at approximately 12 a.m. Tuesday and found that Edwards already had died, according to the police's release. The 13-year-old male was taken into custody and turned over the Juvenile Probation Department. Detectives from the El Paso Police Crimes Against Persons and Crimes Against Children divisions are investigating the shooting. No charges have been filed at this time, according to the police department's release. A native of Telford, Tennessee, Edwards was assigned to 1st A.D.'s Operations Section. He joined the Army in March 2008 as an M1 tank armor crewman. Edwards arrived at Fort Bliss in March 2014 and served as assistant operations NCO in 4th Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment; a master gunner with the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team; and platoon sergeant in 1st Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, according to the 1st A.D. release. Fort Bliss was his third duty station, and he had one combat deployment to Afghanistan, the release states. "Sgt. 1st Class Allan Edwards gave 100% daily to the team and his profession; his technical knowledge enhanced the capability of the division operations section," Col. Bryan Frizzelle, assistant chief of staff for operations at the 1st A.D., said in the release. "Sgt. 1st Class Edwards was a determined senior noncommissioned officer who leaves a legacy of armor crew members that are more confident in their profession." Edwards' military education included the Unit Armorer course, M1A2 Tank Operations course and the Bradley Crew Evaluator course, the release states. He earned a K8 skill identifier after completing the M1A2 Master Gunner course. He also completed the Army Basic Leader Course in 2011, Army Advanced Leader Course in 2014 and the Army Senior Leader Course in 2020, according to the release. Edwards' awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal (4), Army Achievement Medal (5), Army Good Conduct Medal (4), National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon (3), Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (2), NATO Medal, Master Gunner Identification Badge, Marksmanship Qualification Badge Expert-Pistol, and Marksmanship Qualification Badge Expert-Carbine, according to the release. -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: Army Offers $25,000 Cash Reward for Tips on Drill Sergeant's Murder Syracuse, N.Y. Bobby Green, who built a storied six-decade music career as one of Central New Yorks top guitarists, has died. He was 84. Green passed away Wednesday, his daughter Mone Love said. Funeral arrangements are incomplete. Green played with and then led several groups and bands over the years, in genres ranging from doo-wop, blues, rock, and funk to R&B, which became his signature. He shared bills with such major names as The Platters, Frankie Avalon and Sly & The Family Stone. He started with an a cappella band, The 5 Points, in 1953. Then came the 4 1/2 Notes, the Harmonetts, and The Eldaros, who scored a couple of hits with their tunes Baby Child and Please Surrender. The Eldaros performed at the War Memorial, the Onondaga Hotel, Liverpools 320 Club and the CBS Building in Manhattan. Later came Bobby Green and the Hi-Fis, Breeze, Black Hammer, The Soul Brothers, Blue, Greens and Beans, and the most recent, A Cut Above, which he formed in 1993. He was regular on the stage at Shiftys Bar & Grill in Syracuse, where he also played each year on his birthday, Oct. 15. He was inducted into the Syracuse Area Music Awards Hall of Fame in 2005. No, we never did make it big time, Green said in a 2017 interview with syracuse.com. Fame and money wasnt our goal. Just to be able to sing, whether on a street corner, doorway or stage, was to us big time. He also found time to mentor and inspire younger artists. Thank you for sharing your gift, Syracuse musician/drummer Sue Royal posted on Facebook today. Thank you for sharing the many stories about my dads group playing in the same circles as your group back in the day. Thank you for always having encouraging supportive words whenever we would see each other. You were so much more than a local musical legend. You were a mentor and a friend. God bless you and your family. Soar high with the angels my friend. RIP Bobby. In the 2017 interview, Green talked about the barriers he faced as a Black youth growing up in Syracuse. In one example, he said, his homeroom at Washington Irving Elementary School was segregated and met in the buildings boiler room. He and other Black students werent allowed to take classes with other students, and were directed toward menial labor. They figured that was the only jobs we was gonna get, that wed never amount to anything, Green said. We never did no schoolwork. Thats why I cant spell. He never used the word racism during the interview. That was just how it was back then, he said. Bu he taught himself music and learned how to play multiple instruments. He passed on that passion to his children. He taught me how to really take music in, to listen with my heart and mind and absorb the essence of music into my soul, Love said in 2017. Musicians are a unique species. They love hard, play hard and live and die for the music. Nearing his 81st birthday, Green said he kept playing because he wanted to leave a legacy for his 24 children and grandchildren. That their father, or grandfather, was a pioneer in the music world, would give them something to be proud of, he said. Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-18 23:41:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUNMING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Luo Nasuan is an expert at performing "swing dance," not the jazz-style dance originating in the last century, but one developed by an ethnic group in southwest China. Luo, 29, is a member of a folk dance team in Banli Village, dubbed "home to the Lahu swing dance", in Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. The Lahu swing dance, featuring gentle, stretching, neat, and graceful movements, has been created and handed down by the Lahu ethnic group who are inspired by local farm work such as plowing, planting seedlings, fertilizing, threshing and harvesting. According to the sixth national population census in China, the population of the Lahu ethnic group is about 486,000. Coming from a place where villagers are born to dance, Luo managed to breathe new life into the dance with music and songs specially composed for different dance movements, along with her fellow villagers since 2018. "The dance and the music are regarded as an artistic expression of our way of living," said Zhang Nasuan, another member of the dance team, adding that the crops villagers grow for a living, including sugarcane and tea, largely influenced the 'swing' movements in the dance. But it was not until 2020 that amateur dance lovers like Luo and Zhang were given the opportunity to perform on a decent stage with sunshades, an audio control room, and locker rooms for dancers. The new facilities were sponsored by Shanghai's Huangpu District that has paired up with Banli Village to assist some 950 poverty-stricken households shake off poverty. Now, the "swing dance" in Banli has become a symbol of local ethnic arts and is known far and near. Thanks to the pairing-up policy and the efforts of the local government, Banli Village was lifted out of poverty in 2019, and the per capita net income of villagers increased from 3,847 yuan (about 590 U.S. dollars) in 2018 to 6,615 yuan by the end of 2020. Nowadays, the dance also embodies new steps that express villagers' appreciation of the government's anti-poverty efforts. In June 2020, an art and acting company that employs 130 seasoned performers including Luo, was also established in the village. They staged more than 20 performances last year, bringing in a total income of nearly 500,000 yuan. "The changes in our life are really great. The first flight I took in my life was due to a performance in Shanghai last year," said Luo. As spring arrives, farmers in Banli Village are toiling in paddy fields, and watching the swing dance performance at leisure every week has become a routine for them. Enditem YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian and the UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet held an online meeting, the foreign ministry said. During the conversation both sides were pleased to underscore the close cooperation which exists between Armenia and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the foreign ministry said in a news release. High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet highly appreciated Armenias role in advancing the human rights protection agenda. The main topics of the discussion agenda were issues of human rights protection in conflict situations. The foreign minister comprehensively presented to the High Commissioner the humanitarian situation in Artsakh and the ongoing steps for solving the urgent issues. The interlocutors expressed concern regarding the politicization of the process of providing humanitarian aid and the creation of artificial obstacles. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan ROME, MAR 19 - Italian President Sergio Mattarella hailed Pope Francis for his efforts to promote fraternity in a message for the eighth anniversary of him becoming head of the Catholic Church. "The pandemic, which continues to weigh down so many people all over the world, has highlighted the vulnerability of the individual countries and the whole international community in addressing this period of emergency with justice and effectiveness," the message read. "Your invitation for us to work with a spirit of fraternity to overcome today's difficult circumstances is a strong appeal to exercise responsible citizenship and a sure guide for those who hold institutional and political positions". Francis was elected pope on March 13, 2013. (ANSA). After the North Korea threat coming from officials in Pyongyang, sending a warning to the Biden administration to stop military drills with the forces of South Korea, the Defense Secretary of the United States President Joe Biden, Secretary Lloyd Austin responded on Thursday regarding the warning that US troops are ready to fight. US Troops Are Ready to Fight After North Korea's Threats to Biden The Defense Secretary shared during a joint press conference with officials of South Korea that they have discussed the way forward on a host of critical strategic and operational issues, and at the top of the administration's agenda was to ensure the understanding of both countries regarding the importance of maintaining the readiness of their forces. Austin also added that the US troops remain ready to fight tonight and they continue making the progress toward the eventual transition of wartime operational control to a Republic of Korea-commanded future combined forces command. According to American Military News, the comments of Austin came after the sister of the Supreme Leader, Kim Yo Jong claimed on Tuesday that the administration of Biden was trying to give off the smell of burnt gunpowder throughout the Korean Peninsula in order to intimidate the North. In her statement which was carried by state-run Korean Central News Agency or KCNA, Kim Yo Jong emphasized that they are taking the opportunity in sending a warning to the Biden administration that the Hermit state was trying hard to give off powder smelling their land. Florida Baby, First to Be Born with COVID-19 Antibodies Moreover, Kim Yo Jong also mentioned that if the new administration wants to sleep in peace for the coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step. But as the statement of Kim referenced the military drills to the smell of gunpowder, the US-South Korean drills have only conducted computer simulations this year due to the restrictions by the pandemic, Reuters reported. In addition, Chung Eui-Yong, the South Korean Foreign Minister also referenced the comments of Kim Yo Jong during the press briefing. Chung said that the statements of Choe Son-hui and Kim Yo Jong are under his close monitoring. The foreign minister also added North Korea is also reviewing its policy toward the US and it seems that North Korea is closely monitoring the dialogue between the US and the ROK regarding the policy linked to the hermit state. Chung also added that Pyongyang has its own way of sending messages down to the South and to the US. North Korea to Test Intercontinental Missile The back and forth comments and the North Korea threat and the US warning came after the efforts of the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula which have stalled in the last year. During the administration of former President Donald Trump, North Korea welcomed the negotiations of denuclearization, The Sun reported. Despite the multiple meetings and discussions regarding the denuclearization between Trump and Kim Jong Un, no agreement was made. The Supreme Leader then impose a 2019 year-end deadline in reaching a deal for the denuclearization or cease the negotiations, but since the decision has been made, North Korea started in increasing their testing of ballistic missiles. Also from HNGN: Stimulus Checks Availability Enrages JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo Customers Stimulus Check Dispute Leads to Four Deaths in Indiana @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. MIAMI, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Santa Margherita is delighted to celebrate the diamond anniversary of its popular and favored varietal, Pinot Grigio. For the past sixty years, Santa Margherita has been establishing Pinot Grigio as an elegant, modern wine that has now become a trailblazer and the leading Italian Pinot Grigio throughout the US. With thousands of bottles uncorked worldwide every day, Santa Margherita's Pinot Grigio has become an iconic "Made in Italy" success story, born from the Marzotto family. In the late 1950s, Count Gaetano Marzotto began a quest to create a new wine that would stand out for its originality and distinction, while aligning with future trends within the industry. The Trentino-Alto Adige area in Italy provided Marzotto with the perfect location to grow grapes for a wine with fresh, fruity character due to the region's soil and climatic characteristics. Marzotto had the revolutionary idea to vinify Pinot Grigio grapes as a white wine to produce a brilliant, elegant, and intensely flavored wine the only one of its kind at the time. When Santa Margherita debuted white Pinot Grigio in 1961 within the Italian market, the response was immediate praise for its easy-drinking style and fragrant novelty, and it became particularly favored amongst a female audience. Pinot Grigio made its first appearance in the US market in the late 1970s and quickly became a crowd favorite. Today, Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio is served around the globe in over 90 countries and is an iconic wine in the United States, winning consumer's loyalty with its freshness and versatility in pairing with a variety of foods. "The success of Santa Margherita's Pinot Grigio is a reflection of how one family identified a revolutionary way for experiencing wine through a new approach," says Vincent Chiaramonte, Chief Executive Officer of Santa Margherita USA. "Today, our Pinot Grigio has become synonymous with versatility and freshness, and we look forward to the next 60 years of innovation and bringing our consumers the best wines to share with loved ones." Santa Margherita's Pinot Grigio became a consumer favorite worldwide and established itself as "Italy's finest white wine" through its modern, versatile, and fresh taste. Featuring a straw yellow color with a clean and intense aroma, Santa Margherita's Pinot Grigio produces unexpected floral notes and hints of citrus and white-fleshed fruit. The freshness and tanginess of the varietal provide a perfect balance, giving way to fruit on the palate that is delicate and stimulating simultaneously. As Santa Margherita's Pinot Grigio is a wine of great character, it can accompany a range of foods such as fresh cheeses, seafood, pasta, rice dishes, white meats, and more, for all types of occasions. To learn more about the journey of Santa Margherita's Pinot Grigio, visit www.santamargheritawines.com and follow Santa Margherita on Instagram and Facebook to see how the brand will be celebrating this year. About Santa Margherita USA Santa Margherita USA is a fine wine import company representing premium and ultra-premium wine estates. Santa Margherita USA represents over ten world-renowned wineries throughout the United States including Santa Margherita, Ca' del Bosco, Kettmeir, Lamole di Lamole, Sassoregale, Torresella, Feudo Zirtari, Fattoria Sardi, Ca Maiol, Masi and Cantina Mesa. The wine portfolio is a dynamic and diverse mosaic of Italy's finest wine regions including the Veneto, Alto Adige, Franciacorta, Lugana, Tuscany, Sardinia and Sicily. SOURCE Santa Margherita Related Links http://www.santamargheritawines.com Pakistani Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa March 18 called for burying the past and moving forward, saying that Kashmir holds the key to peace in all of South Asia, a region that is home to a quarter of the worlds population. (iamCOAS/Twitter photo) Two events in Moscow on March 18 threw a harsh spotlight on the contradictions of the political scene in the Russia of longtime authoritarian President Vladimir Putin. In the afternoon, the capital's Basmanny district court, without giving a reason, extended the house arrest of Kira Yarmysh, a spokeswoman for imprisoned opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, and three other Navalny activists. They are charged with urging the public to violate epidemiological restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic for their roles in organizing mass protests against Navalny's arrest and imprisonment. If convicted, the opposition activists could face up to two years in prison. In the evening, Putin personally headlined a mass concert and show at Luzhniki Stadium to mark the seventh anniversary of Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region. Tens of thousands of people -- mostly maskless and ignoring social-distancing requirements -- packed the stadium, which was close to its capacity of 81,000. That event could lead to a spike in coronavirus infections in the capital, Anatoly Altshtein, an epidemiologist at Moscow's Gamaleya Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, told Ekho Moskvy radio. The irony was not lost on Navalny's team. Yarmysh's Twitter account -- Yarmysh herself is barred from using the Internet as a condition of her house arrest -- posted photographs of Putin's rally with the comment: "Apparently the 'patriotic' coronavirus is harmless, and only the anti-corruption variant is dangerous." Ahead of time, city authorities stressed that "at the celebratory concert all current sanitary-safety measures will be observed." "Attendees will be required to wear personal protection equipment and also to practice social distancing," city media announced. "The event will be limited to not more than 50 percent of the overall capacity." Although no attendance figures were provided, the massive stadium holds 81,000 spectators. Ratings In Need Of A Boost Putin's rally came as Russia prepares for elections to the State Duma, the lower house of the country's legislature, which must be held by September 19. A poll conducted by the independent Levada Center and released on March 11 showed the ruling United Russia party -- through which Putin's government exercises a near-monopoly on political power throughout the country -- was polling at just 27 percent support among all voters. RFE/RL's Coronavirus Coverage Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region. Putin's own approval rating was 65 percent in February, according to Levada, down from highs of nearly 90 percent following the takeover of Crimea but up from a record low of 59 percent in April 2020. Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center, told Current Time that the Luzhniki concert showed a lack of basic concern for average Russians. "This Putin-promotion in the form of a concert or concert in the form of Putin-promotion -- I don't know which to put in the first place -- shows they have no pity for this human material, this human plankton, that appears in the stands in order to depict popular satisfaction with the fact that for seven years 'Crimea is ours,'" Kolesnikov said, suggesting that was how the Kremlin sees attendees at such events. "Of course, they might infect one another quite seriously since we still don't have vaccination on a scale that would produce herd immunity." "This is an attitude toward people as a consumable commodity -- after all, they drove people there from their work, from various institutes," he added, referring to what Kremlin critics say is the common practice of pressuring students, state workers, and others to attend pro-government rallies. "There were many young people there." Russia has recorded nearly 4.5 million coronavirus cases since the pandemic began in early 2020 -- fourth in the world after the United States, Brazil, and India, which have much bigger populations -- and its official death toll stood at 94,267 on March 19. However, state mortality statistics indicate that the real number of coronavirus-related deaths is more than 200,000, and some researchers suspect it is still higher. Popular blogger Rustem Adagamov posted on Twitter footage of the Luzhniki crowds and commented, "When it is necessary to conduct another propaganda event for Putin, all health and epidemiological concerns can be temporarily thrown out the window." With reporting by Iryna Romaliyskaya of Current Time and RFE/RL's Russian Service Express your opinion! Fill out this form to submit a Letter to the Editor. Submit 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. Members of the Atlanta Korean American Committee against Asian Hate Crime meet at Ching Dam, a Korean restaurant, after the fatal shooting at three Georgia spas, in Duluth, Georgia, U.S., March 18, 2021. REUTERS-Yonhap Korean communities across the United States are expressing fear and anxiety in the aftermath of Tuesday's shootings after a gunman opened fire at three Atlanta-area spas, killing eight, including four unidentified people of Korean descent. Kim Yoon-chul, chairman of the Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta, told South Korean newspaper Segye Ilbo that concern over personal safety is rising and that group plans to discuss countermeasures with various civic organizations. "The recent rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans appears to be due to the coronavirus," Kim said, according to the report. A suspect, Robert Aaron Long, 21, has been charged with the killings. Other Koreans and Korean Americans who spoke anonymously, including an unidentified source at the Association, said the community has been struck with shock and grief after the violent armed attack on Atlanta-area businesses and their guests. A 30-year Korean resident of Georgia, who declined to be identified, told the paper that the shootings are deeply disturbing and crimes targeting Asians were "unheard of" in the state until this week. Roger Baik Kyu Kim, chair of Atlanta Korean American Committee against Asian Hate Crime, speaks during a meeting with members of the committee at Ching Dam, a Korean restaurant, after the fatal shooting at three Georgia spas, in Duluth, Georgia, U.S., March 18, 2021. REUTERS-Yonhap Activists participate in a vigil in response to the Atlanta spa shootings in the Chinatown area of Washington, DC. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images) Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will travel to Atlanta to meet Asian-American community leaders today, as the city reels from a deadly shooting spree which targeted Asian women. The president and vice-president will seek to reassure locals of their safety after three separate attacks at massage parlours left eight people dead, including six women of Far Eastern descent. Robert Aaron Long (21) faces eight counts of murder and one charge of aggravated assault. He told officers he was a sex addict who was trying to eliminate the temptation but racial and misogynistic motives have not been ruled out. Keisha Lance Bottoms, the mayor of Atlanta, said Mr Longs claims should be taken with a grain of salt and it was difficult to ignore that most of the victims were of Asian descent. Sarah Park, president of the Korean American Coalition-Metro Atlanta, said racism was clearly a factor. Questions have been asked of a senior police officer leading the investigation after he appeared to sympathise with the suspect, saying: He was pretty much fed up, and kind of at the end of his rope, and yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did. To compound the issue, Captain Jay Baker had previously shared images of T-shirts containing a racist slogan about China and coronavirus, it was claimed. Ms Harris, the first woman and first person of Asian descent to be US vice-president, said: Knowing the increasing level of hate crime against our Asian-American brothers and sisters, we also want to speak out in solidarity with them and acknowledge that none of us should ever be silent in the face of any form of hate. On Capitol Hill, Representative Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee, said: For many Asian-Americans, Tuesdays shocking events felt like the inevitable culmination of a year in which there were nearly 3,800 reported incidents of anti-Asian hate incidents. Mr Cohen said Asian-Americans have been subjected to verbal harassment, being spat at, slapped in the face, lit on fire, slashed with a box cutter or shoved violently to the ground. Last night, Alexi McCammond, who was days away from taking up the editorship of Teen Vogue, announced she was leaving Conde Nast after previous tweets containing derogatory remarks about Asians. She said: I should not have tweeted what I did and I have taken full responsibility. Authorities said Mr Long had confessed to the killings and had told investigators he had a sexual addiction. He indicated he may have frequented the spas in the past, police said, and that they were a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate. Mr Long, a white man who was described by those who know him as a devout Christian, told investigators he did not have a racial motive, but police said it was too early to exclude that possibility. Officials also noted that the attacks had come amid a wave of anti-Asian sentiment and behaviour. Whatever the motivation was for this guy, we know that the majority of the victims were Asian, Ms Lance Bottoms said at a news conference. We also know that this is an issue that is happening across the country. It is unacceptable, it is hateful and it has to stop. Of the eight people fatally shot on Tuesday evening, six were Asian women. Mr Long was charged in all eight killings. He was charged with four counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault for the attacks in Cherokee County, where the killings began and where Mr Long lives. Atlanta police said he also was charged with four counts of homicide in their city, where the other victims were killed. Apprehended on a highway on Tuesday night after a brief manhunt, Mr Long told authorities he was headed to Florida, where he may have been planning to carry out similar attacks, police said. A 9mm firearm was recovered from his vehicle. Read More Read More Washington Post In light of recent extreme climate events--from wildfires blazing through the western US to snowstorms sweeping Texas into a blackout--climate scientists and media outlets have repeatedly called out the urgency of tackling the climate crisis. But in a new study published March 19 in the journal One Earth, researchers found that emphasizing urgency alone is not enough to kindle public support for climate change policies. "We had the impression that policymakers shy away from enacting ambitious, stringent climate policy because they're afraid of public backlash. However, if climate change communicators emphasize the urgency of addressing climate change, citizens may become supportive of quick and bold policies," says co-author Adrian Rinscheid of the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. "Then we thought, 'Why don't we do a study looking at the potential effect that the perceived urgency of climate change has on people's policy support?' To find answers, the researchers surveyed 9,911 people in Germany and the United States. The team found that people who perceive climate change to be urgent also tend to support general mitigation plans, such as long-term temperature and mitigation targets. But when it comes to personal sacrifices, such as cutting meat consumption and reducing the use of fossil-fuel-powered cars, the sense of urgency doesn't convince people to support these "high-cost" plans. However, the researchers did find some strategies that might help policymakers advocate for ambitious climate mitigation policies. They found that giving context and information about the purpose and importance of certain policy measures can increase people's support, even for mitigation approaches imposed on consumers that require behavioral change or are costly to individuals. The researchers noted that politicians can also communicate and link the urgency of climate change to corresponding effective near-term solutions to create "quick wins." "If the governments are open, transparent, engaging, and authentic with climate policies, people actually are more likely to follow, and the risk of public backlash is way smaller," says co-author Lukas Fesenfeld of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. "Citizens are not the main hindrance." The researchers also found that while 80% of Germans and 64% of Americans who participated in the survey agree that climate change is already a serious problem today and for future generations, these respondents are significantly less concerned about the consequences of climate change for themselves. "Extracted information about urgency on its own is probably unlikely to change behaviors and support," says Fesenfeld. "But living in Texas and experiencing snowy days or sitting in a cold flat because your insulation is not made for snow--these real-world experiences and emotional reactions coupled with analytical information might help." One of the team's next steps is comparing and investigating how individuals who experienced extreme climate events react to personalized messages about the urgency of climate change and how they respond to near-term solutions. "Policymakers can and should really act more ambitiously and quickly in order to prevent the public from feeling climate change too strongly in their own lives in the near future," says Rinscheid. "Some are already experiencing the impacts." ### This work was supported by EU ERC, the Heinrich Boell Foundation, the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University, and the Swiss Competence Center for Research in Energy, Society and Transition SCCER CREST. One Earth, Fesenfeld and Rinscheid: "Emphasizing urgency of climate change is insufficient to increase policy support" https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(21)00116-0 Ukraine and Lithuania need to focus on supporting small and medium-sized businesses to improve the plight of economies due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Ukraine and Lithuania experience a very difficult situation. On the one hand, we have an unprecedented coronavirus pandemic and need to protect our citizens and save their lives. On the other hand, we have an opportunity to emerge from the pandemic stronger than ever. We need to make economies more viable, to raise the welfare of our citizens. Special attention should be paid to small and medium-sized enterprises. The vast majority of jobs and added value is created by small and medium-sized enterprises. It is true both for Ukraine and Lithuania," President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda said during the All-Ukrainian Forum "Ukraine 30. Small and Medium-Sized Business and the State" on March 18, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. He added that the economic ties between Ukraine and Lithuania have only expanded in recent years. "I hope that our bilateral ties will be further strengthened even during this difficult time... We have a good opportunity to strengthen our cooperation in energy, logistics, engineering and other areas," Nauseda added. In addition, the President of Lithuania stressed that mass vaccination around the world would lead to a way out of the turbulence zone of the world economy. As reported, President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda makes a state visit to Ukraine on March 18-19. ol Kim Kardashian and Kendall Jenner have teamed up for a new KKW Fragrance launch this month. Earlier this week the sisters were seen in beige leather outfits as they posed with black horses in Calabasas, California. And on Thursday the 40-year-old Selfish author and the 25-year-old Vogue model were seen in all black leather suits as they smoldered for the camera with black Friesian horses. Black magic! Kim Kardashian smolders in black leather as she poses with a horse for her latest fragrance launch Sizzling in noir: The 40-year-old star wore her hair down and had on a leather bustier The trio of scents will go on sale on March 25. Kim was seen with her raven hair worn down over her black outfit as she held on to the reins of a horse as she is now showing off a more sensual side as a single woman amid her split from Kanye West. Kim explained how the look of the shoot came to be. 'Kendall came into our brainstorms with an incredible vision for what she wanted to bring to life in the look and feel of these perfumes and Im so proud of what weve created in our first collaboration. The fragrances are different from anything we have done in the past, but they are authentic to Kendall,' said the mother of four kids. Her partner in scent: Kim launched the new line with her half sister Kendall Jenner It was her idea: The estranged wife of Kanye West said Kendall came up with the horse themed look for the promotional shoots 'The scents are charming, luxe, intoxicating and sensual, Im reminded of Kendall each time I smell them. The range is both universal and unique, and I cant wait for everyone to smell them!' she added. Kendall said she and Kim put together three of their favorite scents. 'All inspired by my love of the outdoors and horseback riding - Amber, Olive and Blue Roan. Get yourself some if you wanna smell like a nature fairy princess.' Kendall, meanwhile, looked sharp in a well-tailored jacket as she shared: 'I've always had a passion for fragrances and it was meaningful to experience the creative process with someone I admire like Kim. Senses: Kendall looked sharp in a well-tailored jacket as she shared: 'I've always had a passion for fragrances and it was meaningful to experience the creative process with someone I admire like Kim' 'The smells immediately transport me to a beautiful spring day out on my horses with the aroma of fresh air and hints of flowers blooming around me.' In another shoot where they had on beige leather, Kim and Kendall looked like the queens of the desert in Western chic. The reality stars wowed wearing matching in leather corsets which accentuated their already awe-inspiring curves via structured silhouette as they posed besides two stunning horses. Horse girl: Kendall was seen giving one of the animals a hug in a behind-the-scenes snap She has the look: Kendall was stunning in this hat as she was seen on set with gloves on Continuing the cowboy-chic effect, they added tan jonpers, knee high boots and supple leather gloves. In another set of shots, the ladies got close while kneeling on the straw-covered ground and letting their hair cascade over there shoulders in sensual waves while clutching onto the beautiful bottles of fragrance. They both donned dramatic bronzer and full lips for a sunkissed, outdoorsy look. Kim wowed in a buttoned up bustier and red gloves. Kim seems to be focusing on business ventures and family as her divorce from Kanye West plays out behind the scenes. Yesterday she was seen celebrating brother Rob Kardashian's birthday with their inner circle. Out soon: The three new scents will be available next Thursday on March 25 Clear blue skies: One of the girls was seen riding around on horseback in Calabasas A drone strike sparked a fire at a Riyadh oil refinery Friday, in an attack claimed by Yemen's Huthi rebels as the Iran-backed insurgents made major advances on the embattled Yemeni city of Marib Riyadh, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Mar, 2021 ) :A drone strike sparked a fire at a Riyadh oil refinery Friday, in an attack claimed by Yemen's Huthi rebels as the Iran-backed insurgents made major advances on the embattled Yemeni city of Marib. The attack at dawn on the refinery is the second major assault this month on Saudi energy installations, highlighting a dangerous escalation of Yemen's six-year conflict between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Iran-linked Huthis. "The Riyadh oil refinery was attacked by drones, resulting in a fire that has been brought under control," the Saudi energy ministry said in a statement, adding that no casualties were reported and oil supplies were not disrupted. Strongly condemning the "cowardly attack", the ministry said the drone strikes were not just an assault on the kingdom but the world economy and global energy security. In a statement, the Huthi rebels claimed to have targeted energy giant Aramco in Riyadh on Friday with six drones in response to the "brutal aggression" of the Saudi-backed military coalition in Yemen. The rebels are stepping up cross-border attacks on the kingdom despite a renewed push by the US administration of President Joe Biden to revive stalled peace talks. The latest assault comes after Saudi Arabia earlier this month said it thwarted a missile and drone attack on Ras Tanura -- one of the world's biggest oil ports -- and Aramco facilities in Dhahran city in the kingdom's east. It reported no casualties or damage. Friday's attack coincides with major Huthi advances on Marib city after the rebels took a strategic mountain in clashes that caused dozens of casualties on both sides, according to Yemeni government sources. The Huthis "took control of Mount Hilan overlooking the city, after fighting which left dozens of dead and wounded on both sides," one of the sources told AFP. "Marib is in danger," another source said, adding the loss of the mountain posed "a threat to Marib's first line of defence". - Intense battle - Since last month, the rebels have been pushing to seize Marib, the government's last northern stronghold and the capital of an oil-rich region. The loss of Marib would be a huge blow for the Yemeni government, but would also threaten catastrophe for civilians, including at least one million displaced people sheltering in the region, many in desolate camps in the surrounding desert. The Huthis had "cut the supply lines of some fronts and are now within firing range of the Al-Mashjab line west of Marib city," the second source added. Despite the advance, analysts say the city may not fall to the rebels any time soon, given the overwhelming firepower of the Saudi-led coalition which backs the beleaguered government. "An imminent fall of Marib remains unlikely," Maged al-Madhaji of the Sanaa Center think tank told AFP, adding that this was nonetheless "an important advance that puts additional pressure" on government forces. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in the conflict in 2015, enforcing a naval and air blockade to prevent the smuggling of weapons to the rebels from Iran -- allegations Tehran denies. The rebels say any ceasefire agreement can only begin after the Saudi-led blockade of Yemen is lifted. - 'Grave risk' - The news of their advance came just hours after the United Nations Security Council condemned the "escalation" of armed clashes around Marib city and warned of a worsening humanitarian catastrophe. The fighting "places one million internally displaced persons at grave risk and threatens efforts to secure a political settlement when the international community is increasingly united to end the conflict," it said. It "stressed the need for de-escalation by all, including an immediate end to the Huthi escalation in Marib (and) condemned the use of child soldiers in Marib." Life in the city retains a veneer of normality despite the conflict that rages outside, but there is a sense of dread as the fighting draws nearer. "We condemn what is happening to the city of Marib. Our children are terrified," one resident, Umm Ali, told AFP. Another resident, Mohammed Yahya, said the city would "remain steadfast". "This is what history told us -- that, throughout the ages, Marib has been the thorn that breaks down any enemy that wants any harm to Yemen," he said. Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed and millions displaced in Yemen's long war, which has crippled the economy and healthcare system. The UN has declared Yemen the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Local News, Crime By Long Island Published: March 19 2021 Indictment of a St. James man for allegedly committing a string of commercial burglaries in November 2020 Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini has announced the indictment of a St. James man for allegedly committing a string of commercial burglaries in November 2020. The defendant and an accomplice are also indicted in connection with the alleged attempted theft of an ATM. These two individuals are alleged serial burglars who were targeting businesses and driving crime in our community, District Attorney Sini said. This was excellent work by our Major Crime Unit and the Suffolk County Police Department to apprehend these defendants and bring significant charges against them. Kieran Fichtner, 27, of St. James, is charged with three counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a class C felony; two counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony; six counts of Burglary in the Third Degree, a class D felony; Attempted Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class D felony; four counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class D felony; Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fifth Degree, a class D felony; Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree, a class D felony; Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree, a class D felony; five counts of Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree, a class D felony; Attempted Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class E felony; Attempted Burglary in the Third Degree, a class E felony; two counts of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony; Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree, a class E felony; two counts of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony; two counts of Criminal Mischief in the Fourth Degree, a class A misdemeanor; two counts of Petit Larceny, a class A misdemeanor; and two counts of Criminal Trespass in the Third Degree, a class B misdemeanor. Michael Parise, 46, of Stony Brook, is charged with Attempted Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class D felony; Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree, a class D felony; and Attempted Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class E felony. Throughout November 2020, Fichtner is alleged to have committed numerous commercial burglaries while on supervised release with GPS monitoring for an unrelated pending charge for criminal possession of a weapon. The alleged burglaries took place on: Nov. 4, 2020, at St. James Jewelry, located at 483 Lake Avenue in St. James Nov. 19, 2020, at Center Gold East, located at 151 Route 25a in Sound Beach Nov. 19, 2020, at Pattern Finders, located at 128 E. Main Street in Port Jefferson Station Nov. 23, 2020, at R&S Jewelry, located at 285 Route 25a in Rocky Poin Nov. 24, 2020, at Raan Thai, located at 203 Terry Road in Nesconset Nov. 25, 2020, at Subway, located at 43 Railroad Avenue in Ronkonkoma On Nov. 28, 2020, Suffolk County Police Department Major Case detectives observed Fichtner and Parise allegedly attempt to steal an ATM from Chase Bank located at 705 Smithtown Bypass in Smithtown. Fichtner and Parise fled in a vehicle. The detectives initiated a pursuit with assistance from the Suffolk County Police Electronic Investigations Unit, Aviation Unit and K-9 Unit and apprehended Fichtner. On Nov. 28, 2020, detectives executed a search warrant on Fichtners vehicle and recovered a loaded 9mm pistol, approximately one gram of cocaine, and a New York State Corrections jacket that the suspect had been observed wearing during several of the burglaries. A forensic analysis conducted by the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory concluded that the 9mm pistol had been used in two shootings in November in residential neighborhoods. No victims were injured in the shootings. Detectives also executed a search warrant at Fichtners residence and recovered jewelry, art, two shotguns, trailers, motorcycles, and one Mercedes, which had all been reported as stolen. Police also recovered an eagle statue that had been reported as stolen from a World War II memorial at Washington Memorial Park Cemetery in Mount Sinai. Parise was arrested last week on unrelated charges in connection with numerous alleged commercial burglaries, at which time he made admissions to police regarding his involvement in the November ATM theft. Parise also made admissions to detectives that Fichtner would fire the pistol in residential neighborhoods to distract police in order to commit burglaries nearby. Fichtner was arraigned on the indictment in front of Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Stephen Braslow on March 5 and bail was set at $150,000 cash, $300,000 bond or $500,000 partially-secured bond. Fichtner is being represented by George Duncan and is due back in court on April 9. Parise was arraigned today and bail was set at $150,000 cash, $300,000 bond or $400,000 partially-secured bond. Parise is being represented by the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County and is due back in court on April 14. If convicted of the top count, Fichtner faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. If convicted of the top count, Parise faces a maximum sentence of 3 to 7 years in prison. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney James Scahill, of the Felony Offense Bureaus Major Crime Unit. A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. [March 18, 2021] NMIMS Hyderabad Invites Applications for Common Entrance Tests - NMIMS- NPAT, NMIMS-CET and NMIMS-LAT - for Commerce, Pharmacy, & Law Programs NMIMS-NPAT is the entrance examination for commerce courses, B.B.A. and B.Com. (Hons.) NMIMS-CET facilitates entry into B.Pharm. + MBA (Pharma Tech.) NMIMS-LAT allows aspirants to enroll for B.A., LL B. (Hons.), or B.B.A., LLB. (Hons.) HYDERABAD, India, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NMIMS Deemed to be University, an academic institution with a stellar reputation, invites applications for common entrance tests for the commerce, pharmacy and law undergraduate courses at their Jadcherla and Tarnaka campuses in Hyderabad. NMIMS-NPAT (National Test for Programs After Twelfth) is the common entrance test for undergraduate courses, B.B.A. and B.Com (Hons.) at Tarnaka Campus. NMIMS-CET (Common Entrance Test) is the entrance test for the integrated B.Pharm. + MBA (Pharma Tech.), while NMIMS-LAT (Law Aptitude Test) facilitates entry to B.A., LL.B. (Hons.), and B.B.A., LL.B.(Hons.) at Jadcherla Campus. Commenting on the merits of the programs, Dr. Ramesh Bhat - Vice Chancellor, SVKM's NMIMS, said, "In the last year, we have seen a rapid evolution of businesses across various sectors. There is a demand for qualified professionals who can meet the industry's changing requirements in keeping with the evolving dynamics. These changes have impacted rapidly growing fields like the pharmaceutical industry and law. There is, hence, high demand for professionals who have the academic qualifications to make a difference. Our programs not only provide students with strong domain knowledge but also offer extensive industry support through guest lectures, internships, and Capstone projects." Speaking about NMIMS' Hyderabad campuses, Dr. Tapan Kumar Panda, Director, NMIMS Hyderabad further added, "Established in 2010, NMIMS Hyderabad today has two well-developed campuses in Tarnaka and Jadcherla. The five-storied, fully air-conditioned Tarnaka campus is equipped with avant-garde IT facilities and easily accessible from the IT hubs. We are especially proud of the Jadcherla campus, which was built on sustainability principles, following every green rule in the book. The imposing campus contains water catchment areas, with extensive adoption of energy conservation methods such as solar power. This world-class infrastructure is the backdrop of an outstanding university where students receive an all-inclusive education facilitated by eminent faculty and a modern curriculum. The NMIMS programs in commerce, pharmacy, and law are considered among the best in the industry with full placement support." PROGRAM DETAILS Sr. No. Test Name Programs Eligibility Link to Apply 1 NMIMS-NPAT 2021 B.B.A. and B.Com (Hons.) The candidate must have passed 10+2 or equivalent exam from a recognized board from any stream with a minimum aggregate of 60%. www.nmimsnpat.in 2 NMIMS-CET 2021 B.Pharm.+MBA (Pharma Tech.) - PCI Approved program The candidate must have passed 10+2 or equivalent exam with a minimum of 50% aggregate in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics / Biology in Grade 12. www.nmimscet.in 3 NMIMS-LAT 2021 B.A., LL B. (Hons.) and B.B.A., LLB. (Hons.) The candidate must have passed 10+2 or equivalent exam from a recognised board from any stream with a minimum aggregate of 50%. www.nmimslat.in About NMIMS Hyderabad NMIMS Hyderabad commenced operations in 2010. The campus is located at Jadcherla and Tarnaka cities. The Tarnaka campus is easily accessible from the throbbing nerve-centers and IT hubs around the city, like Gachibowli, Hitech City, Madhapur, Shamsabad Airport. The Jadcherla Campus with 90 Acres will have the design of optimum utilization of land. NMIMS Hyderabad is accredited by Association of AMBA, UK. Website: https://www.nmimshyderabad.org/ Follow us on- Twitter: https://twitter.com/nmims_hyd LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nmims-hyderabad-campus/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/nmimshyderabad/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nmimshyd/ About SVKM's NMIMS University Established in 1981, NMIMS is today recognized as a globally reputed university with strong industry linkages. It offers multiple disciplines across 8 campuses that consist of 17 specialized schools, more than 17000 students, and about 750 full-time faculty members, 10 faculty members with Fulbright Scholarship and Humboldt International Scholarship for post-doctoral researchers. It is known for its consistent academic quality and research-focused approach towards holistic education. SVKM's NMIMS has been granted Category-I Deemed University status by Graded Autonomy Regulation 2018 by MHRD/UGC and NMIMS Mumbai Campus is NAAC accredited with a CGPA of 3.59. Website: www.nmims.edu Follow us on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/nmims_india LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/nmims_india/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nmims_india/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/NMIMS.India/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] As you can see, weve made a lot of changes in the past week. The biggest change being the format of the newspaper itself. Starting this week, the Star will be printed in Jackson at the same press which prints the Jackson Hole News & Guide. The News & Guide is not only one of the best newspapers in Wyoming, but in the nation and part of that comes from the high-quality press work involved in printing the newspaper. Were excited to be able to work with the crew at Teton Media Works. The page size has gotten shorter as a result, but thats nothing for our readers to be concerned about... After nearly four months in which funeral-goers had to wait in the car at cemeteries or say goodbye virtually, families will be able to attend funerals together again if the province increases the number of attendees to 25. After nearly four months in which funeral-goers had to wait in the car at cemeteries or say goodbye virtually, families will be able to attend funerals together again if the province increases the number of attendees to 25. "Any increase is good for us because 10 is too limited in terms of picking and choosing which family members can attend," said Lee Barringer, general manager of Cropo Funeral Chapel. The province is considering increasing capacity at funerals and weddings to 25 when current public health orders expire on March 26. Only 10 people can attend funerals and memorial services. That has forced families to choose among themselves who could attend, said Kevin Sweryd, president of Manitoba Funeral Services Association. That was even more difficult at the start of code-red restrictions last November, when only five people, in addition to the officiant, could attend. Sweryd repeatedly contacted provincial health officials, requesting to be consulted before funeral attendance was confirmed, but he never got a meeting. "I question whether funerals should be held to another standard than other businesses and I would like a conversation about it," said Sweryd, president of Bardal Funeral Home. Since the funeral industry follows strict regulations related to handling bodies, he said it could easily accommodate COVID-19 protocols to accommodate more people attending funerals. "Its important for us to keep people safe and do whatever ritual it is to say goodbye," said Sweryd. Barringer said many families chose to proceed with cremation or burial immediately and planned to hold a memorial service when public health orders loosen. Although more people may be able to attend later, he said family members may suffer because the regular rituals involving death have been delayed or omitted. JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Bardal Funeral Homes Kevin Sweryd wonders why funerals are held to different standards. "The danger with that is if you dont immediately deal with grief at the time, you find other ways to compensate," said Barringer, who knows of about 50 families who have delayed public memorials. "You wonder how many people will follow up with a service." Not only have family members missed the mourning rituals, so have their religious communities, said Rev. Dawn Rolke of Churchill Park United Church. In the last month, three longtime members of her congregation have died, and their family members decided to delay memorial services. The congregation likely wont be involved, since family members either live out of town or are not connected to the church, and church members keenly feel that loss, she said. "Theres just not a chance to say goodbye," said Rolke of the lack of funeral or memorial services. "People remember them and there is a long history (with them) and its so hard." Although her congregation has not met inside for worship since the pandemic began, Rolke said protocols are in place for holding in-person funerals or memorial services, as well as streaming them online. "I would do it any way (the family) wanted me to do it right now, any configuration the family wanted," Rolke said. The Jewish community would welcome the increased capacity for funerals, said Rabbi Allan Finkel of the Winnipeg Council of Rabbis, but Jewish funerals will likely remain graveside services with livestreaming options for the next few months. "Given our slow and careful pace in reopening our sanctuaries to live services, I dont anticipate any rush to resume indoor funeral services," said Finkel, rabbi at Temple Shalom. faith@freepress.mb.ca Man drowns in Pa Khlok fish-breeding pond PHUKET: A 62-year-old man was found drowned in a fish-breeding pond near his house in Pa Khlok last night (Mar 18). Police are investigating the mans death, though slip marks in the mud beside the pond suggest that the man had slipped and fell into the water. deathaccidentspolice By Eakkapop Thongtub Friday 19 March 2021, 01:10PM Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers recover the body of Mr Rangsit Booranasuban, 62, from the fish-breeding pond in Moo 3 Pa Khlok last night (Mar 18). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Thalang Police, Kusoldham rescue workers with a team of rescue divers arrived at the scene, in Moo 3, Pa Khlok, at about 10:15pm. The search for the man, Rangsit Booranasuban, 62, began after his relative Morakot Booranasuban, 28, called police worried that Mr Rangsit might have slipped into the pond, reported Capt Suchart Leucha of the Thalang Police. Ms Morakot said that she and other relatives had searched for Mr Rangsit after he did not return home after leaving the house at 5pm. She called the police after slip marks in the mud beside the pond were found at about 6pm, he added. The fish-breeding pond is 15 metres wide, 25m long and five metres deep, Capt Suchart noted. The pond is lined with plastic 4mm thick to hold the water in, he added. Rescue team divers found Mr Rangsits body in the pond less than an hour after they started searching for him, Capt Suchart said. He added that it was likely that Mr Rangsits body was submerged when the relatives were searching for him, and that his body surfaced later when the rescue team began their search. Capt Suchart confirmed that Mr Rangsits body was taken to Thalang Hospital so that forensic officers can investigate the cause of death further. Shortly after Police Chief Art Acevedo announced he was moving to Miami, Mayor Sylvester Turners phone started blowing up. Everyone had an opinion about who should succeed him. He wanted someone who could move into the job seamlessly, someone who understood the city, its people and the Houston Police Department. After days of thought, he chose Troy Finner, one of Acevedos top two assistant chiefs. Finner, a native Houstonian from Fifth Ward, went to Madison High School, has worked at HPD for the past three decades and developed relationships with residents across the city, Turner said. He has earned and I underscore that the trust and respect of people in every corner of our diverse community, Turner said. He is strong, he is a decisive leader and he is someone people follow. Turner made the announcement Thursday afternoon before a crowd that included Finners wife, Sherrian, and their 10-year-old son, Wyatt, and dozens of high-ranking city officials, including Acevedo and former Chief Charles McClelland. ACEVEDOS CHOICE: Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo is emotional, combative in farewell as he heads to Miami Finner joined the department in 1990 and gained a reputation as an affable, kind and tireless worker with a deep love for the city and the department. He was born in Fifth Ward and still lives in the city. In his first comments, the incoming chief said his two immediate priorities would be to reduce the number of murders and rising violence that have plagued the city in the last year. Its time that everybody take some responsibility and everybody come together, and stop throwing stones at one another, he said. Lets sit down. Before a crowd of dozens, he also thanked Executive Assistant Chief Matt Slinkard the other top candidate for agreeing to continue on at HPD under his command. The two are close personal friends and have served as top executives within HPD under both Acevedo and McClelland. In recognition of the pairs close working relationship, Turner said, the department will undergo a reorganization to its command structure in which Slinkard will report directly to Finner in the role of executive chief, with two executive assistant chiefs beneath him. Slinkard, meanwhile, noted the pairs long relationship working together, a bond that had made them as close as family. Weve been in the trenches together for many years helping the city, he said. I will continue to work tirelessly day in and day out to support you. Im proud of you. CALLS FOR REFORM: As police chief urges meaningful reform, critics wonder why its missing in Houston Longtime law enforcement leaders described Finner as more outgoing, with a history of working in patrol or operations assignments, while Slinkard is known as a more reserved leader. Finner was sworn in as a Houston police officer in 1990. Finners career took him on patrol assignments in Southwest Patrol and South Gessner; he also handled assignments in communication services, internal investigations, criminal investigations and public affairs. Finner spent 12 years working as a patrol officer before being promoted to sergeant in 2002. He spent five years in that role before becoming a lieutenant, and then was promoted directly to assistant chief in 2014. After Acevedo arrived, he tapped Finner to be one of his two top subordinates, where he oversaw the departments Field & Support Operations, which includes all of the departments patrol commands, as well as the property room, fleet maintenance, the joint processing center and the traffic enforcement division. Slinkard had assignments in communication services, tactical support, investigative and special operations, the narcotics division where he worked as a lieutenant as well as assignments in crime analysis and as McClellands chief of staff. Slinkard was promoted to captain in 2009, then to assistant chief in 2011. Acevedo in January 2017 tapped him as the departments other executive assistant chief, and he now oversees HPDs Investigative & Special Operations command, which includes investigative units such as the homicide division, burglary and theft, and robbery. It also includes undercover divisions such as the narcotics, vice and auto theft divisions. UNSOLVED: Houstons rate of unsolved murders is soaring. Experts blame changes at HPD. Finners two past bosses and union leaders praised the decision. Whenever I had issues in the community, he knew someone who was a community leader, said McClelland, who promoted Finner to assistant chief in 2014. He had a wealth of community connections. He was a genuine asset on my executive team. Acevedo described Finner as a phenomenal crime fighter. Do not confuse kindness for weakness, he said. Hes going to be tough as nails, but he has the empathy and the compassion, having been raised in this community, to understand the pain of the community and the challenges of the community. Houston Police Officers Union President Doug Griffith said union leaders were proud of Finners selection. We have always said that we have some of the best law enforcement leaders in the country right here at the Houston Police Department, he said. We are very confident in Chief Finners leadership skills and know that he has the respect of the rank and file of the entire Houston Police Department. Their enthusiasm was echoed by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, who recalled working with Finner to fight crime in the Gulfton area in the mid 90s. I have full confidence that we can combat crime and treat the community fairly in the future on a citywide basis, she said. He is well liked and well respected and can bring a sense of unity and public safety to the community. Other local law enforcement leaders also offered their congratulations, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez among them. HPD is in great hands with Troy at the helm, he tweeted after the news was announced. ACEVEDOS CHOICE: Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo is emotional, combative in farewell as he heads to Miami In choosing Finner, Turner also said a key priority is to implement many of the recommendations made by his Police Reform Task Force last summer. Larry Payne, the task forces chairman, said he was ready to keep momentum going on the the task forces recommendations. Im excited for the city and excited to be working with Finner and Slinkard, he said. Other activists appeared slightly more cautious. I believe he has a chance to do better than Acevedo, but hes been assistant chief under both McClelland and Acevedo, so Im not sure theres much room for improvement, said Ashton Woods, founder of Black Lives Matter Houston. Woods also expressed skepticism that Turner would follow through on his promises of reform. I believe Finner is going to be stymied by Turner, who is slow to implement any of the changes and reforms of the taskforce he put together last year, he said. So Im going to take the wait-and-see approach. st.john.smith@chron.com twitter.com/stjbs A local environmental group has won its legal challenge over the granting of planning permission for a 160million incinerator at Ringaskiddy in Cork Harbour. High Court judge David Barniville ruled on Friday that Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment was entitled to succeed on two of its 11 grounds of challenge to a planning permission granted by An Bord Pleanala (ABP) in May 2018. He will make final orders in the case later after the sides have considered the 241 page judgment. The Board granted permission to Indaver Ireland Ltd for the development by a five to two majority after an inspector with ABP had recommended refusal. In his judgment, the judge found the Boards decision was affected by objective bias by reason of prior involvement of one of its members, Conall Boland, the then deputy chairperson of the board, in work which he did in 2004 when employed by a firm of consultants RPS MCOS Consulting Engineers - which was engaged by Indaver to make submissions to Cork County Council and Cork City Council on reviews to those councils waste management plans. The judge was satisfied the work done by Mr Boland had a clear, rational and cogent connection with Indavers application to the board for permission for the development of the waste to energy facility at Ringaskiddy. He also found in favour of the group in relation to certain arguments made concerning the interpretation of Strategic Infrastructure Development provisions of the 2000 Planning Act. The judge will make final orders in the case later after the sides have considered the judgment. David Holland SC, for the applicants, said arising from the judgment,his side would be seeking the permission should be quashed. The judge said he would need a lot of persuasion to reach a conclusion he should quash the permission without returning the matter for reconsideration by the board but said he hoped to have final orders determined quickly after hearing submissions. He has adjourned the matter for mention to April 13. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 20:00:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close -- For the past decade, China has launched the China-Europe freight train service in over 60 domestic cities and has connected with major European countries. -- The rumbling trains have acted as a carrier for the Belt and Road Initiative in terms of boosting trade exchanges between inland Chinese regions and Europe. -- Despite gloomy international trade prospects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the China-Europe freight train has managed to buck the trend and made more trips thanks to its security and efficiency. by Xinhua writers Ding Yinghua, Wu Yanxia and Yao Yulin CHONGQING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- With a loud train whistle echoing through the air, a freight train bound for Duisburg, Germany, slowly pulled out of the Tuanjie Village Station of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Friday morning. "Exactly a decade ago, I signaled for China's first China-Europe freight train, the Yuxin'ou (Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe), to depart here," Zhang Xin recalled while seeing the train disappearing in the distance. Zhang has dedicated himself to 12 years as head of the station. For the past decade, the rumbling trains have not only put the once-obscure and dilapidated station on the map but also acted as a carrier for the Belt and Road Initiative, boosting trade exchanges between inland Chinese regions and Europe. China has launched the China-Europe freight train service in over 60 domestic cities and has connected with major European countries. A China-Europe freight train is seen at the Tuanjie Village Station in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, March 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Tang Yi) BIRTH AND GROWTH Before the railway launch, Chongqing, a city more than 2,000 kilometers away from the nearest ports, was hindered by its geographical location. Product exports either took the distant and time-consuming east-bound route via coastal areas for transport via sea or took the expensive air route. The more time-saving and cost-effective Yuxin'ou railway has thus come into being. It forged ties between Chongqing and foreign countries, including Kazakhstan, Russia, Poland, and Germany along the route, with only one-fifth of the cost of air transport and one-third of the sea transport time. The now bustling station once faced various barriers. Cargos had to go through inspections at every border, and temperature differences may reach as high as 70 degrees centigrade, which posed challenges for electronic products. With persistent efforts, the railway achieved mutual recognition of customs clearing with countries along the route. It developed a 15-centimeter thick thermal insulation material to tackle significant temperature differences on the way. It also devised a satellite tracking system for containers to ensure safety. Chongqing has also taken the lead in revamping its former supervision and regulation model based on piles of paper documents and cumbersome procedures into a digital and intelligent one. Freight trains equipped with intelligent safety locks help improve the customs clearance efficiency, as the import clearance time has been slashed by almost 74 percent compared to a decade ago while the export clearance time has plunged over 97 percent, according to Shan Wei, head of the Chongqing Customs. Riding the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China in 2013, the China-Europe freight train service has entered the fast lane. Chinese cities including Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Xi'an, and Yiwu have subsequently launched these freight train services. In June 2016, all railway routes were merged into the "China-Europe freight train service" brand and put on blue coloring. Statistics showed that it took three years and three months for the freight trains to make 200 trips, but only two months to grow from 800 to 1,000 trips. A China-Europe freight train passes a highway bridge in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, March 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Tang Yi) HOPE AMID PANDEMIC Trade prospects became gloomy, unexpectedly, in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on the global economy and blocked sea and air transport. In the depth of the pandemic, the backlog of international parcels across China once surpassed 1,500 tonnes. However, the China-Europe freight train has managed to buck the trend and make more trips thanks to its security and efficiency. Last year, the freight trains made 12,400 journeys and transported 1.14 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) of cargo, up by 50 percent and 56 percent year on year, respectively. During the pandemic, freight trains continued to operate, loaded with not only garments, toys, electronic products, and tens of thousands of cross-border goods but also anti-epidemic supplies that the European countries were in urgent need of. As a driver for the China-Europe freight train for ten years, Jiang Tong said he is proud of his work to deliver anti-epidemic supplies. "I played my part in the global fight against COVID-19 by driving those supplies to people in need," Jiang said. Also, the freight train service took on the responsibility of securing the stability of the global supply chain when other transport means were hampered. Prompted by the growing number of people working from home and learning remotely, Taiwan-based ASUSTeK Computer Inc. saw its computer shipments grow exponentially in 2020. Blocked transport, however, exposed the company to default risks. "The China-Europe freight train helped us overcome that," said Lu Hong, brand director of the company's southwestern businesses. In 2020, the company sent 1,000 containers via the freight trains in total, an increase of 200 percent compared with the same period of the previous year. Head of the Tuanjie Village Station Zhang Xin (R) works at the railway station in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. (Xinhua/Tang Yi) WORLD MARKET CATALYST With the world's largest middle-class consumer group of more than 400 million people, China has become a world market for commodities transported by China-Europe freight trains from other countries. Jin Haijun, a Chinese businessman in Spain who always wanted to expand his wine businesses in China, was set back by the drawn-out logistics. It took nearly two months to transport goods by sea previously, which seriously affected the sales of the Vivanco wine produced in Rioja, the best Spanish red wine-producing area, Jin said. On November 18, 2014, the China-Europe freight train connecting Yiwu and Madrid, the largest small-commodity distribution center in Europe, was launched. It shortened the transport time to ten days. Now, this red wine is sold to China, the United States, and Japan, and its annual sales reached 200 million bottles. Thousands of Russian goods such as honey, rapeseed oil, and biscuits have also benefited from China-Europe freight trains to meet Chongqing consumers, according to Liu Xiaomin, manager of the Russian hall of the Belt and Road Commodity Exhibition & Trading Center in Chongqing. Considering the lengthy transport time, some goods with a short shelf life could not be exported to China, Liu said. Nowadays, through China-Europe freight trains, German beer, French wine, Spanish olive oil, and Dutch beef are served on the tables of Chinese families. Luxury cars from Europe also appear on the streets of Chinese cities. In 2020, China overtook the United States as the EU's biggest trade partner, according to the EU statistics agency, Eurostat. (Video reporters: Zhao Xiaoshuai, Li Tao, Qu Lingyan, Liu Gaoyang; Video editors: Yang Zhixiang, Yin Le) 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. Facebook is planning to launch an Instagram product for children under the age of 13, raising concerns about the potential impact on young people of early access to the social media platform. A spokesman for Facebook said the social media company wanted to help children communicate with their friends.Increasingly, kids are asking their parents if they can join apps that help them keep up with their friends, he said. Right now there arent many options for parents, so were working on building additional products - like we did with Messenger Kids - that are suitable for kids, managed by parents. Facebook is building an Instagram for kids. Credit:AP Were exploring bringing a parent-controlled experience to Instagram to help kids keep up with their friends, discover new hobbies and interests, and more. India needs to rethink the big reversal in tariff liberalization if it wants to transform its predominantly traditional rural economy into a modern, urban, and industrial one over three to four decades as the economies of East Asia have done, former vice chairman of NITI Aayog Arvind Panagariya said on Friday. Rather than raise tariffs, India must lower them. It must return to its previous ambition of bringing tariffs down to levels prevailing in member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean). The simple fact we must keep in mind is that when we expand imports in the wake of trade liberalization, we also expand exports to pay for the extra imports. As import and export expansion proceeds, we replace low-paid jobs in small import-competing firms by better-paid jobs in export-oriented firms," Panagariya said while delivering Exim Banks annual lecture titled Indias Trade Policy: The Past, Present and Future". Despite undisputable evidence of the benefits of trade openness, India has begun to reverse the process of liberalization in recent years, said Panagariya, a professor at Columbia University. The trend of rising tariffs has continued in 2021-22, with the latest budget proposing to raise the custom duties on numerous products," he said. India should enter into free trade agreements with the UK and the EU as these are large markets and their agricultural sectors pose no threat to the livelihood of Indias farmers unlike that of the US, he said. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. A two-year-old boy in Kentucky died Thursday after overdosing on fentanyl his mother had purchased with her stimulus check, according to local police. The Ludlow Police Department said officers and fire crews responded to the 200 block of Stokesay Street in Ludlow at around 3.34pm after receiving reports about the toddler not breathing. Finding the boy in respiratory arrest, first responders rushed the boy to Cincinnati Children's Hospital. The boy was declared dead at the hospital, WXIX-TV reports. Lauren Ashley Baker, 33, told Ludlow, Kentucky, police that she had purchased the fentanyl in Cincinnati, Ohio, last Saturday. She admitted to using some of her stimulus check to purchase the drugs Authorities determined that the little boy had been at home with his mother - identified as 33-year-old Lauren Ashley Baker. Baker told police that she had purchased the fentanyl in Cincinnati, Ohio, last Saturday. She admitted to using some of her stimulus check to purchase the drugs, a police report states. On Thursday, Baker 'took a shot' of fentanyl and dozed off, according to the police report. Police said the boy then ate some of the fentanyl as his his mother slept. Finding the boy in respiratory arrest at a home on the 200 block of Stokesay Street in Ludlow, first responders rushed the boy to Cincinnati Children's Hospital. The boy was declared dead at the hospital It was the boy's father who called 911 once arriving at the home, police shared. Police also indicated that Baker gave them some quantity of fentanyl from her purse. A substance believed to be fentanyl was also found on the bed, along with empty Narcan packaging. Baker was charged with murder, importing fentanyl and trafficking a controlled substance. Fairfield County residents on both sides of the aisle, and both ends of the income spectrum, agree more and more on one thing lately that our region would benefit from more affordable and inclusive housing for seniors, young adults, and lower-income residents including essential workers. While opinion is split on solutions, there is growing consensus that doing nothing regarding housing is not an option. Acknowledging a problem is the first step towards solving it; this unity is new and powerful. The countys housing debate is generally split in two camps: those who advocate a comprehensive statewide approach to municipal zoning, and others who seek to maintain local control of land use. This is really a microcosm of the policy divide were working to bridge across the state. In Hartford, lawmakers are considering bills including SB 1024 for statewide land use reform, which lays out the former approach as a means to increase and diversify Connecticuts housing supply. An Assembly Planning and Development Committee hearing on this omnibus bill earlier this week lasted for 24 hours. In Fairfield County, officials suggest town-by-town efforts and local control over land use are sufficient to address our housing challenges. The truth is local officials do not have to choose between state or local action. Residents should not have to settle for just one or the other. Fairfield County can benefit from state and local land use actions. To be clear, the land use reform bills before the legislature do not mandate a single town construct a single unit of housing. The legislation simply makes it easier for communities to build different types of housing, like less expensive multifamily housing. Currently, most communities are legally prohibited from doing so. For example, multifamily housing can be constructed as-of-right (meaning without a public hearing) on 2 percent of land in Connecticut, according to the Desegregate CT coalitions Connecticut Zoning Atlas. Single-family housing can be built as-of-right on 90.6 percent of land. SB 1024 would legalize accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, on land currently reserved for single-family homes. It would also enable and encourage more development along transit corridors and main streets. Encouraging new housing where development already exists is sound environmental policy. The same is true of provisions in the bill to cap parking minimums for new construction, given automobile carbon emissions are irreversibly warming the planet. As Connecticut House Majority Leader Jason Rojas told a group of Darien residents during one of multiple recent Fairfield County Talks Housing virtual forums, local and state authority should complement, not compete with, one another. The reality is that every service delivered at the local level whether its the tax collector, board of education or fire department theyre all able to do their job because state law enables them to and empowers them to, Rojas said. New England states have quickly adopted similar changes. Recently, Republican governors in Massachusetts and Vermont signed similar bills that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. Municipal officials should absolutely have the resources they need to influence land use in their own community. Thats why the organization I lead, Fairfield Countys Center for Housing Opportunity, delivers resources like detailed housing data and analysis for all 23 Fairfield County towns and cities, and a comprehensive suite of best practices for community engagement and planning around housing that help communities curate their own housing future. Yet towns have exercised exclusive control for nearly 100 years and now our state faces an 86,000-home deficit for our lowest-income residents, according to our recently released statewide housing needs assessment with the Urban Institute. Some 35.7 percent of households in Fairfield County are housing-cost burdened, meaning they spend more than a third of their income on housing costs, up from 31.5 percent since 2000. These are the results of uninterrupted local control of land use. If we want different results, we must change the status quo. Housing markets tend not to adhere to town boundaries, and we cannot expect towns to be able to solve housing challenges at scale. Every municipality in the state is under assault right now, Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo said at a recent Board of Selectmen meeting, speaking about SB1024. Here in Greenwich we are really, really working hard to diversify our housing and to increase our affordable housing stock. Were doing that and looking at new and different ways to do that. FCCHO and our fellow housing advocates are gratified by this sentiment. If officials are sincere about creating more housing options, they should welcome statewide land use reform and guidelines that make it easier for them to do so. We need both state and local action on housing immediately. We cannot afford to limit ourselves to one or the other. The diversity and economic vitality of Fairfield County is at stake. Christie Stewart director of Fairfield Countys Center for Housing Opportunity. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal to continue work on fighting corruption in the country, judicial and land reforms. "We see the progress of reforms, whether it concerns tender purchases, whether it concerns digitazing, digitalization. But I want to say, and you know it yourself, that some steps still need to be taken, and I understand that it is very difficult. For example, I mean the fight against corruption, the courts, and also the land market," said Merkel, opening the fourth German-Ukrainian business forum, which takes place online on Friday. The Chancellor urged Shmyhal to continue this course of reforms and noted that Germany welcomes the laws adopted in Ukraine that relate to investments and which give investors more guarantees to protect their investments. According to her, this course is very important, this also applies to cooperation with the International Monetary Fund. "The implementation of these reforms, association with the EU - the EU's macro-financial assistance also depends on this. I understand that the path your government is taking is difficult, not easy, but at the same time, it brings Ukraine closer to the EU, and also a step for step leads to the mutual opening of markets, because these reforms are investments in the future in economic, political and social terms," Merkel said. The Chancellor stressed that Germany is one of the closest partners of Ukraine. "We firmly stand for the protection of territorial integrity of Ukraine. It is important for us that the EU responds appropriately to the annexation of Crimea, which took place seven years ago. The reaction was unequivocal, decisive and it remains so, although there are skeptics, and we are doing everything to ensure that it remains so," Merkel said. She said that Germany and Ukraine have close bilateral relations in various fields. "Germany is the largest humanitarian donor in Ukraine. More than 110 wounded Ukrainian military were treated in German hospitals, we also support the reform of decentralization. Also, within the framework of cooperation projects, the federal government has agreed to allocate funds in the amount of more than EUR 500 million since 2014. Also, the reform of decentralization, transfer of authority to the local level - this is very important for me, and I hope that this reform will continue to be successful," Merkel said. The Chancellor said that the German experience of abandoning coal and transforming regions can be useful in Ukraine. "The proximity of Ukraine to the European market is a very valuable, important factor. Our trade turnover in 2019 increased to EUR 7.7 billion. Of course, last year the coronavirus pandemic canceled our plans. This applies not only to Germany and Ukraine, but also to the economy in other countries, but I am confident that thanks to the progress of vaccination, we will nevertheless increase the pace again. Therefore, we are working to ensure that societies and economies recover from the consequences of the pandemic as soon as possible, overcome them," she said. "It is never too late to start learning" -- the penultimate lesson learned by a man who worked as a security officer in a company and was later hired to be part of their technical team. Abdul Alim, now member of the technical team at Zoho Corporation that specialises in software development, cloud computing, and web-based business tools, said he never thought that he would ever be interviewed for a job because he did not have higher education. Alim, a resident of Assam, said in a LinkedIn post that he left his home in 2013 with Rs 1,000 in his pocket. Out of that, he spent Rs 800 on a train ticket. He said he roamed the streets for two months before he was given a job at the security desk in Zoho's office in Chennai. He said that one day a senior employee asked him about his education and his knowledge of computers. "In school I learned a little bit of HTML. Then he asked me If I want to learn more, and this is how My learning began," said Alim in the post. Alim said that after completing his shift of 12 hours, he would go to the senior and learn about computers. He said that he made a small app after about eight months. The app would take the user's input and visualise it. The senior employee showed the app to his manager, who liked it. He then wanted to know if it would be possible to interview Alim. "I thought I will not be interviewed ever because I did not go to any college and studied only will 10th. He told that in Zoho you don't need a college degree, what matters here is you and your skills (sic)," said Alim, adding that he cleared the interview. Alim said he has been with Zoho Corporation for eight years now. He took to the site to thank, Shibu Alexis, the senior employee. "And on the final note, It is never too late to start learning," he said. In a follow-up post, he said, "I wanted to write more. But due to character limit in LinkedIn, I had to shorten the post. And I am sorry for my poor English, I was in a different medium in the school (Assamese). And English was a bouncer subject for me. Thank you everyone one for your kind words (sic)." Also read: Zomato case: Have not left Bengaluru; wouldn't risk life, career to orchestrate anything, says Chandranee Also read: Facebook working on an Instagram app for kids under 13 The college encourages any student past or present with a relevant story to share to make contact with the college counsellor, or directly with the principals office. Principal Nick Evans apologised to victims and the school community on Friday morning after a week in which the misogynistic culture at the school was revealed. Wesley Principal Nick Evans and Kim Bence, head of the St Kilda Road campus. Credit:Justin McManus I apologise unreservedly to those affected on behalf of the college, he said. It is, however, not enough to be devastated. This has been a call to action. We need to act. St Kilda Road campus head Kim Bence confirmed some testimonies have been referred to police. Mr Evans said some of the allegations were criminal and required police involvement while others showed atrocious attitudes towards the opposite sex which would be met with a disciplinary and pastoral response. The co-educational, independent school - which charges annual fees of $34,610 for years 10 to 12 students - will start lunchtime forums for students to discuss issues, employ external trauma-informed psychologists and work with educational consultants to examine attitudes within the student body. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The school has engaged leading child-protection agency Bravehearts, which will conduct a college-wide review of child-safe practices and implement an education and training program for every student, employee and the parent/carer community across all campuses. The agencys national child protection training manager, Mathew Sinclair, said Wesley first engaged Bravehearts on March 2 to support their existing learning programs around respectful relationships and consent. Mr Evans promised more interventions in coming weeks and months. There is enormous anger amongst many of our girls, he said in a letter. We have heard this. Wesley College is one of the largest independent schools in Victoria, with thousands of students across its three campuses. The issue of sexism and harassment arose on Monday after boys in Wesley uniform were heard making loud misogynistic comments following the Melbourne womens March 4 Justice. St Kilda Road campus year 11 student Isabella Major has started an online petition allowing students to share stories about assault, harassment or misogyny at school. So far Ive got over 50 responses and every hour theres another couple there, she said. Boys dont believe consequences will be handed out and the victims as well dont have much faith in the school to do anything. Its honestly making me feel really good that people are finally speaking up about these things Isabella said a disappointing personal experience when reporting harassment to teachers had contributed to her starting the petition. They acknowledged the behaviours of the individual yet didnt act upon it. There were no consequences. They swept everything under the rug, she said. They spoke to his parents but then nothing really happened. Isabella said she had shared the document with senior school staff. Im seeing that the school has definitely recognised the culture, she said. Its great to see the approach theyre taking and that theyre willing to listen now. Mr Evans said the school was committed to listening and making real change. There are divisions in the community. We will be encouraging our young men to engage in this deep listening; they really need to, he said. We need to change and these boys need to change. He said the school was a microcosm of Australian society and was sure other schools faced the same issues. I do firmly believe this is an Australian societal issue, he said. Ms Bence said it was a deeply sad time and she was shocked by the nature of some of the complaints. There are students on this campus who do not feel safe at times. This has been devastating for our entire community. Michelle Green, the chief executive of Independent Schools Victoria, said members shared in the dismay and abhorrence felt across the community at the revelations coming out of Wesley College and other schools. Their dismay is compounded by the knowledge that this appalling behaviour is taking place despite conscious efforts by governments, schools and other organisations to address discrimination, bullying and abuse when it involves vulnerable young people, girls in particular, Ms Green said. She said it was an issue that went beyond schools and any effective response would require more community and parent engagement. However, Ms Green said, schools recognise they have to do more, and they have to do it better. ISV has begun an audit of programs relating to sexual assault and harassment that are available to its 220 member schools. The review would determine what worked and what needed to be improved, and include information sharing across the government and Catholic sectors. Loading Jim Miles, executive director of Catholic Education Commission Victoria, said it was clear schools, parents, policy-makers and the wider community must do more to educate young people about respectful relationships. We are at an important juncture where schools need to invite and empower young people to participate in what should be ongoing conversations on the efficacy of existing programs, and the priority they are given, he said. Reuters Videos Medina Spirit, the winner of this years Kentucky Derby, could now face disqualification after a second post-race drug test confirmed that a prohibited substance was present in the horses body.The disqualification, if implemented, would be only the second in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test.Last month, Medina Spirit's initial sample after the May 1st race at Churchill Downs tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.Famed horse trainer Bob Baffert then came out and denied ever giving the drug to his horse.BAFFERT ON MAY 9: "Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone."But Baffert later said that an anti-fungal ointment to treat dermatitis could have been the source of Medina Spirit's positive test.Churchill Downs told Reuters in an email that it is awaiting official notification of the split sample test results from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.The racetrack said at the time that if a second round of testing showed the presence of betamethasone, that the Bob Baffert-trained dark bay colt would be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun would be declared the winner. Engine manufacturing company to locate operations in Bolivar New company plans to invest $8 million over five years BOLIVAR, Tenn. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe and Choate Engineering Performance officials announced today that the company will establish new operations in Hardeman County. Choate will invest $8 million to retrofit and make improvements to an existing 155,000-square-foot facility, located at 1033 Lake Street in Bolivar, where the company will manufacture engines and components for the automotive industry. The project will create 100 jobs over the next five years. Hiring is currently underway. Those interested in applying for a position with Choate Engineering Performance can visit www.choateperformance.com/apply for more information. Over the last five years, TNECD has supported more than 65 economic development projects in Southwest Tennessee, resulting in approximately 4,800 job commitments and $1 billion in capital investment. QUOTES Id like to thank Choate Engineering Performance for creating these high-quality jobs in West Tennessee. This long-term investment is a testament to the quality of the regions workforce and will greatly benefit Hardeman County. Gov. Bill Lee With more than 900 automotive related companies doing business in our state, Tennessee has earned its position as a global leader in the automotive industry. We appreciate Choate Engineering Performance for pledging to create 100 new, family-wage jobs in Hardeman County, one of the states least economically prosperous counties, and wish the company much success with its new operations in Bolivar. TNECD Commissioner Bob Rolfe "We are excited about the opportunity to grow Choate Engineering Performance in the city of Bolivar, Tennessee. The assistance of Mayor Mctizic of Bolivar and Chelsey Scott Wallace of TNECD has been encouraging, and instrumental in our choice for this location. We are ready to go to work, and with the help of the Lord bring more jobs to this community." Cass Choate, founder, Choate Engineering Performance We are excited that Choate Engineering Performance has chosen Bolivar to be the home to its manufacturing operations. Choates selection of Bolivar is a testament to our favorable business climate. We thank Choate Engineering for their investment in our community and wish them continued success for many years to come. Bolivar Mayor Julian McTizic Hardeman County is excited that Choate Engineering Performance has chosen our county for their home. The company is on the forefront of diesel engine technology and their products are world class. I appreciate Governor Lee's dedication to assisting rural counties with economic development and Commissioner Rolfe's team for an outstanding job of proving Tennessee is the place to invest. Hardeman County Mayor Jimmy Sain TVA and Bolivar Energy Authority congratulate Choate Engineering Performance on its decision to establish operations in Whiteville. We are proud to partner with the City of Bolivar, Bolivar Industrial Development Board, Hardeman County and Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to support companies, like Choate Engineering Performances business success in the Valley. John Bradley, TVA senior vice president of Economic Development On behalf of the Bolivar Industrial Development Board, I am thrilled to welcome Choate Engineering Performance to Bolivar. This growing company will be a huge asset to our community, and we wish them success! Bolivar Industrial Development Board Chairman Jackie Sain This is a very exciting day. We are very happy to welcome Choate Engineering Performance to Bolivar and look forward to their continued successful operations in Hardeman County. This expansion will grow our manufacturing workforce and support a strong pipeline of diverse talent and a range of new jobs and opportunities for local residents. I appreciate all the work done by Governor Lee, Commissioner Rolfe, and our local officials in helping to bring these jobs home and look forward to continuing to partner with them to make our economy stronger. Sen. Page Walley (R-Bolivar) It is a testament to the Rural West Tennessee business community and our workforce when a company decides to expand here in the state. We welcome Choate Engineering Performance and the roughly 100 additional jobs it will bring to Hardeman County. Rep. Johnny Shaw (D-Bolivar) TNECD Media Contact Jennifer McEachern Director of Communications and Marketing (615) 336-2689 jennifer.mceachern@tn.gov About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Developments mission is to develop strategies that help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. To grow and strengthen Tennessee, the department seeks to attract new corporate investment to the state and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. Find us on the web: tnecd.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @tnecd. Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/tnecd. ### Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday called for India to 'bury the past and move forward' as the peace between the two neighbours would help to 'unlock' the potential of South and Central Asia, he said. Addressing a session of the first-ever Islamabad Security Dialogue, General Bajwa also said that the potential for regional peace and development has remained hostage to the age-old disputes between the two 'nuclear-armed neighbours'. Bajwa, however, added that the burden to create a "conducive environment" is on India and noted the role played by the US in resolving the regional conflicts. "We feel it is time to bury the past and move forward," he said, adding that the responsibility for a meaningful dialogue rested with India. 'India desires neighbourly ties with Pakistan' Last month, India had said that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence. India said the onus is on Pakistan to create an environment free of terror and hostility. Stating that 'talks and terror' cannot go together, New Delhi has Islamabad to take demonstrable steps against terror groups responsible for launching various attacks on India. "Our neighbour will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in Kashmir. The Kashmir issue is at the heart of this. It is important to understand that without the resolution of the Kashmir dispute through peaceful means, the process will always remain susceptible to derailment to politically motivated bellicosity, Bajwa said. 'India will be benefitted economically' The Pakistani Army Chiefs remarks came a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan made a similar statement at the same venue. Khan opined that India will be benefitted economically by having peace with Pakistan as it will enable the neighbouring country to directly access the "resource-rich Central Asian region through Pakistani territory." "India will have to take the first step. Unless they do so, we cannot do much," Khan said while delivering the inaugural address at the launch of the two-day Dialogue. Khan added that having a direct route to Central Asia which is rich in oil and gas, will economically benefit India. In the modern context, Central Asia generally includes five resource-rich countries -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The King and Queen of Bhutan have shared several adorable new family photographs to mark their youngest son's first birthday. King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 41, and Queen Jetsun Pema shared a selection of snaps in celebration of Prince Ugyen Wangchuck. In one portrait, the birthday boy claps his hands while beaming at his five-year-old brother Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, who is known as the Dragon Prince and is heir to the Bhutanese throne. The snaps were taken in the grounds of Lingkana Palace. King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 41, and Queen Jetsun Pema shared a selection of snaps in celebration of Prince Ugyen Wangchuck's (pictured) first birthday The King and Queen of Bhutan smile with their two children in the light-hearted snaps. In this one, the birthday boy appears to be trying to copy his older brother's salute In one portrait, the birthday boy claps his hands while beaming at his five-year-old brother Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, who is known as the Dragon Prince King Jigme, the hugely popular fifth Druk Gyalpo, studied in the UK and the US and ascended the throne in 2006, aged just 26 after his own father abdicated. Unlike his son, who plans to have a monogamous marriage, the former King, who introduced democracy to Bhutan during his reign, has four wives, all sisters who he married on the same day. But despite his own upbringing, the current monarch has made clear that he only plans to have one wife, whom he married on October 13, 2011, when she was still an international relations student at Regent's College in London. The match made headlines at the time because the young King was more openly affectionate with his wife than citizens were used to - leaving the couple to be called 'the William and Kate of the Himalayas'. The Queen of Bhutan gives her birthday boy a high five while her older son cuddles close Proud father King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck scoops up his son for an adorable photo However, his very public displays of affection - which included kissing his wife on the cheek and holding her hand - was well-received by young people, with many even choosing to follow the royals' example. The couple have an unusually close family, with the King's sister and brother married to the Queen's brother and sister. The Queen's older sister Yeatso Lhamo is married to the King's brother Prince Jigme Dorji Wangchuck. Last year Princess Eeuphelma of Bhutan, 27, the younger half-sister of King Jigme, secretly wed pilot Dasho Thinlay Norbu, 28, who is the younger brother of the Bhutanese Queen. Two Jacksonville child care facilities will be part of a state pilot program looking at ways to address obstacles faced by rural child care providers in meeting state standards. Educational Child Care Center, 330 W. Michigan Ave., and Presbyterian Church Day Care Center, 870 W. College Ave., are among 35 child care facilities that will share $3.8 million in funding a year to hire additional staff or increase the salaries of existing staff members, according to the Illinois Governors Office of Early Childhood Development. It is working in partnership with the Illinois Department of Human Services on the three-year pilot. Gandhinagar, March 19 : The BJP-led Gujarat government on Friday admitted in the state assembly that over 31% of the Public Distribution Shops (PDS) that were raided in the past two years were found with irregularities. During the state-wide lockdown last year, hundreds of angry villagers were seen protesting across the state against the quality of food grains provided in PDS shops. Replying to a series of questions asked by the Congress lawmakers regarding raids being conducted in the state and if any irregularities were found, the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs minister Jayesh Radadia admitted that irregularities were found in over 31% of the ration shops raided in the last two years. The minister informed that in 2019 and 2020, a total of 28,341 ration shops were raided of which 8,814 shops were found to have irregularities. He also informed that a huge amount of grains was confiscated. Radadia said that 5,96,781 kgs of wheat, rice and other grains worth Rs. 50,45,447 were confiscated. Also, the government had taken action against 6,870 shop owners of which 507 licenses to run the business were suspended and 108 licenses were cancelled. In his reply, the minister also informed that a total of 1,432 cases were undecided. The Congress pointed out that of the total irregularities found, the government did not take action against 1,944 shop owners or imposed any fine. The Congress alleged that the poor were deprived of quality food in these testing times and those accused are not being punished, due to the mismanagement of the government. An Atlanta police officer works at the scene outside of Gold Spa hours after the deadly shooting. Photo: Christopher Aluka Berry/REUTERS New York Is Committed to Providing Essential Coverage Weve removed our paywall from this and other stories about acts of violence and racism against Asian communities. Consider becoming a subscriber to support our journalists. Irene Pan is not the type of woman to be scared. She wasnt scared when she left China at the age of 21 for the United States. And she wasnt scared 10 years later when she started Feet Press Spa in northeast Atlanta surrounded by competition from other Asian spa owners. But what happened Tuesday night terrified her. Im going to go look at getting a gun as soon as possible, she said the following afternoon inside her spa. To protect my workers from any criminals. Pan and her business are a few minutes drive away from where a gunman drove to attack a pair of similar spas and where he allegedly killed four people, following his earlier attack outside of Atlanta that killed four others and wounded a fifth. Six of the dead are Asian women, echoing a long history of violence directed at women and people of color. It could have happened to us, too, but we were just lucky, Pan said. America is getting worse. We just hope America goes in the right direction and not the wrong one, she went on. The Piedmont Heights neighborhood of Atlanta, where Pans business and those targeted by the killer reside, is a combination of the brand new and the rundown. Half-million-dollar homes sit across from abandoned ones tagged with graffiti; condos costing $1,400 a month have a view of a derelict nightclub rotting away near an interstate on-ramp. Throughout it all are strip malls containing a variety of spas, many with bright neon lights and dark tinted windows: Ivy Massage, Rose Massage, Sunny Feet Massage, Asian Quality Spa. Many are owned and operated by immigrants from China and Korea. Closer to the Aromatherapy and Gold spas where the gunman struck, spa workers were more reticent to talk. Mia, a 45-year-old who came here from Beijing two months ago, said she once knew a woman who worked at one of the spas nearby where the women were gunned down but declined to say more. Two older Korean women begged off questions, insisting they were fine despite the murders of four other Korean spa workers. Mourners visit and leave flowers at the site of two shootings in Atlanta. Photo: Megan Varner/Getty Images At Pans Feet Press Spa manager, where massages go for $35 and up and a sign on the door says walk-ins welcome, manager Tomomi Williams was told by a police officer to lock down immediately after the shooting nearby, with the gunman still on the loose. Regular customers called the spa to make sure the workers were okay as word of the killings spread. One brought in a bouquet of pink tulips Wednesday morning. We were crying about it, Williams said of the gesture. I just want to know why, why he killed those women. Like many of the spa workers, Diana Xu, a 52-year-old masseuse at Feet Press Spa, left northern China to join her husband here, who helped her secure a green card. She sat with her hands clenched in a well-kept room filled with massage chairs, surprised, shocked, scared at the killings. I was concerned for my safety, she said in Mandarin, translated by Pan. Xu nodded her head vociferously at her colleague Mark Mas insistence that Asians are no threat. Just dont hate us, he said in Mandarin. We are just human beings. Ma left Guangzhou two years ago when his son helped him secure a green card. He came here for liberty, freedom, and a shot at the American dream. Neither Xu nor Ma wanted to leave China, where they left family and friends behind. They said they felt they had to leave in order to have a chance at a better life. Its not easy to live here. We are far from home, Ma said. We want to be accepted. That acceptance, to say the least, has often been lacking for Asians across the country who over the past year have faced a wave of hatred as Donald Trump and countless others scapegoated China for the coronavirus. Trump brought a lot of hate against Asians, Pan said. Its not all Trumps fault I supported him but when he would speak it wasnt always good. Pan said she loves this city, this country, but both have been on the decline. There is more crime, violence, and discord, more troubling signs that the city and the country are not as great as they once seemed from afar. Even though things are getting worse, she said, I hope Americans can go on the right path and get better. 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. Some say there's a rule in politics that if you're demanding your opponent debate you, "you know you're losing," as CNN's Manu Raju has put it. Even so, several Fox News hosts and guests, as well as Kremlin-controlled media, are pushing for President Biden to debate Russian President Vladimir Putin, for some reason. The Kremlin was unsurprisingly displeased by Biden labeling Putin a killer this week, and Putin later challenged Biden to a debate of sorts. "I want to propose to President Biden to continue our discussion, but on the condition that we do it basically live," he said, reports ABC News. State-controlled media in Russia has continued to repeat the demand for a "duel," reports The Daily Beast. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Over at Fox News, Sean Hannity seemed to agree it was a good idea. "What have I been saying?" he said, noting Biden would have "no time to prepare" if he agreed to Putin's suggestion of meeting as early as Friday or Monday. He argued Biden has so far been "protected" by U.S. media, and a live debate would show his true colors. Outnumbered host Harris Faulkner said it would be "hypocritical" for Biden not to debate. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) grinningly predicted "I don't think the American would prevail" in such a debate. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Vox's Aaron Rupar argued the Fox clips amounted to "rooting for Putin," something The New York Times' Ezra Klein agreed with, calling it a "really remarkable moment in what the American Right has become." Project Lincoln conservative Stuart Stevens said "If you had asked me 20+ years ago if the Republican Party was going to become the Putin Cheerleading Squad, I'd have bet more likely the sun would become a giant red star first." While it's unclear exactly what Putin even wants to debate Biden over, Russia-owned outlet RT tried to get "#ChickenJoe" trending, so far largely unsuccessfully. More stories from theweek.com A jump in Social Security benefits At least 10 people killed, including police officer, in Boulder supermarket mass shooting Biden's early successes prove experience matters MEDFORD, Ore. --Ballet Folklorico Ritmo Alegre is partnering with the Oregon Health Authority to create an education campaign that provides COVID-19 information to the Latino community. The effort provides COVID-19 information through Facebook posts, phone calls, Zoom meetings and drive-through events. Artistic and managing director Luisa Zaragoza says providing people information in Spanish is crucial. Many of them don't have access to online resources and they cannot verify, you know, this is happening or this is going on. Giving them information directly in Spanish is much better, Zaragoza said. Zaragoza says misinformation can spread fear and prevent people from getting the details they need. Thats why shes using her connection to the community to help them stay informed. Zaragoza says the community is thankful her company can provide those resources for them. Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Rain showers in the morning with numerous thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. Storms could contain damaging winds. High 78F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. David Walliams took a cheeky dig at Simon Cowell as he appeared on Comic Relief on Friday night. The comedian, 49, branded his Britain's Got Talent co-star, 61, 'the most untalented person' that's ever been on the show. David was being quizzed by children when he made the sly remark, justifying his comment about Simon, by insisting: 'He just sits there and says no to people.' Cheeky dig: While appearing on Comic Relief on Friday night David Walliams branded Simon Cowell 'the most untalented person' that's ever been on Britain's Got Talent One of the children asked who 'the most untalented person' is that David has ever had on Britain's Got Talent. Without missing a beat, the Little Britain comedian responded: 'Simon Cowell. He just sits there and says no to people! We could all do that - that's not a talent.' Elsewhere, one of the children told David that they'd sent him a letter, because he is their 'second favourite author.' The youngster hilariously admitted that their teacher had told them to write to David because JK Rowling would be too busy to reply. Banter: David was being quizzed by children when he made the sly remark about Simon (pictured in 2013) Yikes! Justifying his rude comment about Simon, David insisted: 'He just sits there and says no to people. We could all do that - that's not a talent!' David's remark comes just six weeks after it was announced that this year's series of Britain's Got Talent had been postponed until 2022 due to safety concerns amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The hit ITV talent show had already been postponed due to safety concerns and the restrictions brought about by tier systems and lockdowns. But several weeks of speculation, it was confirmed that the show will now not return to screens until 2022. Bosses of the show said that despite the efforts of the teams at ITV, Thames and head judge Simon Cowell's Syco, they were forced to call plans off. Past BGT winner Ashley Banjo was drafted in at the 11th hour to serve as his replacement on the show last year when it aired several months later than usual. Pushed back: In January, it was announced that Britain's Got Talent had been postponed until 2022 due to safety concerns amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic Not happening: Bosses of the show said that despite the efforts of the teams at ITV, Thames and head judge Simon Cowell's Syco, they were forced to call plans off They said: 'With our absolute priority of safeguarding the well-being and health of every person involved in the programme from judges, hosts and contestants to all of the crew and audience, the decision has been made to unfortunately move the record and broadcast of the 15th series of Britains Got Talent to 2022. 'BGT is known for its diversity of talent with big dance groups, wonderful choirs and lavish orchestras at its heart, and it has become clear that not only is it not possible to film auditions with these types of acts in a secure way but also that they are not able to adequately rehearse and prepare safely. 'Safety has to come first and, as a result, the recording of the show cant currently go ahead as planned. The show, which features judges Simon, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, and David, has already faced its fair share of issues over the past year as, in addition to the pandemic, Cowell was forced to bow out after breaking his back. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Like working from home became a thing for most of us last year and it wasn't easy, the same held true for content creators and photographers for whom the outside world was shut out as well. It's been a year and we've taken things in our stride, but so much has changed. We spoke to Mukesh Srivastava, Digital Imaging Head at Sony India, at the backdrop of the launch of one of their flagship cameras - the Sony Alpha 1 - to learn about how 2020 has been for them and what plans they have for 2021. And also about how to put together the perfect camera kit for a budding content creator (yes, you are welcome). Read on to find out Given the profusion of good cameras on smartphones and many content creators relying on those, how do you make a case for cameras like the Sony Alpha 1 for a larger set of consumers? Sony Alpha 1 is positioned at the high end of the series and is developed for professional photographers and videographers who like to capture wildlife, sports, news events, commercials, portraits, weddings, landscapes and other genres and want to expand their range of expression by capturing moments they could not before with the help of 50MP high resolution and blackout-free continuous advance shooting at 30 fps. With the pandemic and subsequent lockdown, how have you seen the landscape change for content creators and professional photographers over 2020 and what do you predict for 2021? During the lockdown and stay at home period, we observed numerous trends such as rise in OTT content creation and cinematic movie making. To cater to such demand from the industry, Sony is well equipped with a wide range of products from industry leading mirrorless cameras, professional and consumer cinema lines and a vast variety of lenses. Professional and serious vlogging and live streaming trends also saw an upward trend. While we are very confident to tap these new avenues with our product line-up, we always work relentlessly to bring in latest technology and give power to the creators to realize their potential. In 2021, we strongly believe the industry is going to expand and we will witness innovations both in terms of gear and content creation techniques. How has professional photography changed over the last few years? (not just in terms of equipment and technology) Professional photography has seen major change in terms of consumer behaviour over the last few years. With the latest trend of OTT content creation, rise in cinematic movie-making and booming vlogging segment, we have seen that consumers with time have become more serious and matured. Backed up with strong integration of evolving technology and equipment, consumers have been empowered with best of technology. At Sony, our mission is to give creators the power to realise their dreams and with Alpha 1, the latest Sony technology delivers unprecedented speed and resolution for new creative possibilities and workflow. How has professional photography changed in India over the last few years? In India, we have seen very similar trend where professional photography has evolved a full circle. Apart from the latest trend of OTT, cinema, vlogging content creation, we witnessed rise in online sessions and tutorials which clearly indicates that consumers are spending more time nurturing themselves into a professional. Serious and mature photography is on the rise. What plans for the Indian market for 2021? In 2021, we definitely look at expanding our consumer base. Although wedding market has a major share, we are extending our focus towards other growing segments such as wildlife, OTT, cinema and vlogging. Sony has always strived to offer industry leading products with outstanding and unique proposition, just like the Alpha 1 and we intent to continuously offer the best of technology. For a budding content creator or a person about to set off on a professional journey - what's the ideal camera kit you would recommend? Choosing an ideal camera kit completely depends on the very specific need and stage of a consumer. For instance, we would recommend Sony ZV-1 to a budding content creator who was earlier shooting on a smartphone to upscale their skills and content creation capabilities. Similarly, a creator using a digital still camera may upgrade to an APSC sensor camera or furthermore to a full-frame sensor or a cinema line. To cater to the broader requirement of consumers and their very specific needs, there are a wide range of cameras and lenses, backed up with the very unique One Mount concept, that seamlessly connects full-frame and APS-C, stills and movies, amateurs and professionals through a versatile range of camera bodies and lenses that offer unlimited creative potential. LONDON : The Italian government guaranteed an 86 million euros ($102 million) loan from Greensill Bank, part of the collapsed Greensill Capital group, to one of steel magnate Sanjeev Guptas firms, according to accounts filed with the Italian corporate registry in recent weeks. The firm, Liberty Magona SRL, secured a guarantee from SACE SpA, Italy's state-controlled export credit agency, for the loan under measures to help companies navigate the coronavirus crisis, according to Liberty Magonas accounts for a period from Jan. 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020 which include information on material post-yearend events. Piombino-based Liberty Magona, which makes galvanized steel, said the three-year loan was taken out in late August last year to strengthen its finances at a time when it was facing weaker demand for its products due to the pandemic. The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. GFG Alliance and Greensill declined to comment on the loan. The German financial regulator has filed a criminal complaint against Bremen-based Greensill Bank. Greensill Capital group filed for bankruptcy protection in Britain and Australia this month, citing a $5 billion exposure to Indian-British businessman Guptas GFG Alliance. It said Gupta's firms had begun to default on its obligations. GFG, an umbrella company for Guptas network of steel, aluminium and energy companies, said last week it was looking to secure additional working capital facilities to help it weather challenging market conditions but was also operationally strong and benefiting from buoyant steel markets. GFG Alliance employs 35,000 people across 30 countries, according to its website. In Britain, the opposition Labour Party has said the government should consider nationalising the company if it cannot secure the financial backing it is trying to attract. Italy is not the only country to have provided guarantees to Guptas firms. The Scottish government gave a 575 million pound guarantee to the group in 2016, Reuters reported in 2019, citing people familiar with the matter. UK media have reported that the London government has also guaranteed hundreds of millions of loans to GFG Alliance or connected companies under Coronavirus loan schemes. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Lenny Kravitz recently signed on for a star-studded romantic comedy. And the four-time Grammy winner's new gig has found him living it up in paradise with Jennifer Lopez. He served rockstar vibes Wednesday as he stepped off a helicopter in a white blazer and no shirt, while filming a scene for Shotgun Wedding in the Dominican Republic. On location: Lenny Kravitz served rockstar vibes Wednesday as he stepped off a helicopter in a white blazer and no shirt, while filming a scene for Shotgun Wedding in the Dominican Republic The 56-year-old was followed by a camera operator and crew members, as he walked across a gorgeous seaside location. Shotgun Wedding stars Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel as a couple getting cold foot during their destination nuptials, just as the party is taken hostage. The action-packed comedy also stars Jennifer Coolidge, D'Arcy Carden, Cheech Marin, Sonia Braga and Desmin Borges. Kravitz plays Sean, the globe-trotting ex-boyfriend of Grace (Lopez), who appears to be crashing the wedding. Movie star vibes: The 56-year-old was followed by a camera operator and crew members, as he walked across a gorgeous seaside location Wedding guest: Kravitz plays Sean, the globe-trotting ex-boyfriend of Grace (Jennifer Lopez), who appears to be crashing the wedding Work buddies: The American Woman artist appears to be getting close with JLo, 51, amid her recent relationship woes with fiance Alex Rodriguez, 45 Birthday girl: Kravitz recently treated her daughter Emme to some guitar lessons, as they celebrated her and twin brother Maximilian's 13th birthday He recently treated his 3.6million Instagram followers to a shirtless snap from behind-the-scenes of the movie. The American Woman artist appears to be getting close with JLo, 51, amid her recent relationship woes with fiance Alex Rodriguez, 45. A source told The New York Post: 'He's a much nicer guy than A-Rod, but he's a player, too. Jennifer always says she hates being alone but she should be careful.' Kravitz recently treated her daughter Emme to some guitar lessons, as they celebrated her and twin brother Maximilian's 13th birthday. Rodriguez has since joined Lopez in the Dominican Republic, after they cleared up rumors of their split in a joint statement to TMZ: 'All the reports are inaccurate. We are working through some things.' 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 Coalition will have to pick up seats in the next federal election to avoid being a minority in Parliament under a proposed shake-up of seat boundaries. The Australian Electoral Commissions proposed redistribution, released on Friday, takes away Stirling in Western Australia, held by first-term Liberal MP Vince Connolly, and adds a notionally Labor seat in Victoria, named in honour of former prime minister Bob Hawke. Based on the AECs proposal, the Morrison government would go to the next election with 75 seats compared to Labors 69. Credit:James Brickwood The government holds 76 seats compared to the ALPs 68 in the current 151-member House of Representatives. That includes Speaker Tony Smith, who provides a casting vote in cases of ties. Based on the AECs proposal, the government would go to the next election with 75 seats compared to Labors 69 with the other seven held by the Greens, Centre Alliance, Katters Australia Party and independents Helen Haines, Andrew Wilkie, Craig Kelly and Zali Steggall. Maya temples Erected Centuries ago provide one unique setting to welcome the new season (TRAVPR.COM) UNITED STATES - March 19th, 2021 - The cultural heritage left by the Maya civilization has been a source of great astonishment to the many Mexican and international travelers who visit the many locations around the Yucatan including many archaeologists and fanatics who continue to search for the many secrets perceived to be hidden in edifices such as the Kukulkan Temple in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Chichen Itza This week, as the daylight hours start to extend and the colorful shades of flowers start to bring hope, those in the Northern Hemisphere are eager to celebrate the beginning of a new season: Spring. This is of greater importance this year as it seems it will also be the beginning of the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. The equinox is a cosmic event that occurs when the Sun is on the Earth's equator, so day and night last the same number of hours. The celebration of the change in seasons is of great importance in the state of Yucatan because between the 20th and 23rd of the month, the direction of sunlight falls on different buildings at a certain angle and causes shadows to be projected that resemble the appearance of the mythical feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl, of Toltec origin, and Kukulcan in Mayan. Showing a deep understanding of astronomy, mathematics, acoustics, and physics, the construction of the buildings found in Chichen Itza bring the celebrated serpent of the Maya cosmology to live with the suns rays form shapes and shadows from noon to four in the afternoon when the body of the snake meats its stone heads at the floor of the temple. A religious reverence found nowhere else on the planet and known as the equinox at Kukulcan Temple. In addition to the equinox take over at Chichen Itza, the splendor of this history-meets-nature-meets-culture event, other locations around the state of Yucatan hosts similar shows. Dzibilchaltun, the place where there is writing on the stones", an important Maya settlement near the coast, is home to a temple known as the Seven Dolls because within its structure, there are seven figures of human-shaped clay - where at dawn, on the equinox, the sun's rays cross right in the center of the door and create an spectacle of light and shadow on its western facade. In Mayapan there is an experience similar to the one in Chichen Itza, but in a structure of somewhat more modest dimensions, and in Uxmal we find the Temple of the Doves, also with light and shadow effects where parallel and meridian angles intersect to obtain the effect desired by ancient Maya engineers, astronomers, artists and priests. All these wonders are unique and unrepeatable, they could not occur in any other place given the characteristics of the Yucatan peninsula, which crosses the 90th meridian, and indicates one of the time zones of the world and defines, neither more nor less, Mexicos time. Maya Culture knew how to choose wisely the location of its ceremonial centers, the ones that today, modern travelers who seek experiences with a mix of mysticism, natural beauty, and the feats of talent, will be able to enjoy this spectacle in the month of September. ### A Russian citizen who was arrested in the United States last summer has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to introduce malware into the computer network of automaker Tesla. The U.S. Justice Department said on March 18 that Yegor Kryuchkov pleaded guilty in federal court "for conspiring to travel to the United States to recruit an employee of a Nevada company into a scheme to introduce malicious software into the companys computer network." According to the statement, in the summer of 2020, the 27-year-old Kryuchkov and his accomplices tried to bribe a company employee, offering him $1 million to install malicious software to get access to the firm's network so that Kryuchkov could extort cash from Tesla by threatening to make the stolen data public. The statement does not mention the name of the company targeted by Kryuchkov, but Tesla founder Elon Musk said ealier that it was his company that the man and his accomplices tried to attack. "[Kryuchkov] pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer and is scheduled to be sentenced May 10," the Justice Department's statement said. "The swift response of the company and the FBI prevented a major exfiltration of the victim companys data and stopped the extortion scheme at its inception, Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Departments Criminal Division said. This case highlights the importance of companies coming forward to law enforcement, and the positive results when they do so. Kryuchkov was arrested on August 22 in Los Angeles. Initially, he had entered a plea of not guilty. The illegal human placenta trade is said to be flourishing in the Chinese black market despite the potential dangers the temporary organ brings to people who might consume it. A report by Breitbart on Thursday revealed that trading of illegal human placenta is booming in eastern China where a ban on its nationwide practice has been imposed since 2005. Breitbart cited the Apple Daily newspaper of Hong Kong who reported on it on Tuesday and said that the trade annually sells hundreds of thousands of human placenta. The report highlighted that 130,000 placentas were obtained from across eastern China's various medical clinics and medical waste facilities in 2020. The data was based on an interview by the Apple Daily on a local trader that paid 80 yuan ($12.30) for each sold placenta to suppliers of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), who in turn resell it for profit. China's e-commerce platforms have also been seen to sell placenta "in a range of 450 yuan ($69) to 580 yuan ($89). Sellers charge more for placentas that verified with test reports," the report said. In addition, Breitbart cited a report from the South China Morning Post that said the human placenta are actually regarded as "a legitimate treatment for those with weak immune systems and for help treating various illnesses, such as tuberculosis and hypohemia, and for reproductive health." The placentas are dried, pulverized, then packaged into gelatin capsules or dry mixes as soups or added to other food while some are sold whole. Most Western medical doctors, Breitbart added, highlight the dangers of consuming human placenta because it may be a carrier of contagious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, syphilis, and hepatitis B. The human placenta, after all, is an organ temporarily created by the body to house a pregnant woman's unborn baby inside the womb and provide oxygen and nutrients. Human placentas are referred to by the Chinese as "ziheche" - an umbrella term for a number of natural health remedies in TCM, which include acupuncture, meditation, and herbal teas, Breitbart said. The Chinese Communist Party has co-opted the use of TCM to promote a profitable pseudoscience-based medical industry that brings in hundreds of billions of dollars for the party, the report added. This is despite the Chinese Health Ministry banning the trade of human placentas in line with the health risks that come with its practice, Breitbart stressed based on the South China Morning Post report. "The pharmaceutical placenta trade falls into a grey area," stated the South China Morning Post, "There is no law forbidding the sale of drugs made from Ziheche and no stipulations on the origin of the material." The Science Times added that the illegal placenta trade actually occur in China's Anhui, Jiangsu, and Henan. It cited an interview with Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital obstetrician Huang Chengsheng that said mothers who take home their placentas after the hospital returns it to them actually eat them. Chengsheng said, as per The Science Times, it is customary among Chinese to eat human placenta out of their belief of its nutritious content and health benefit. The obstetrician said that when mothers do not wish to bring home from the hospital the placentas, these are then discarded as medical waste. Lawmakers took testimony on a bill this week that would sharply curtail the timber industrys influence on the seven-member board that sets forestry policy in Oregon and oversees the state Department of Forestry. Senate Bill 335, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, would accomplish that by several means. It would reduce the number of board members who can have financial ties to the timber industry from the current three down to two. It requires one of those two members be a small woodland owner. And it sets a timber-related income level that establishes a conflict of interest for board members at $1,000 annually, though Golden said that figure is likely to be amended. The bill would also dissolve three standing advisory committees to the board that are dominated by industry, as there are no comparable committees representing wildlife, water, recreation or other interest groups. And it would transfer the authority to hire and fire the state forester, the executive who runs the forestry department, from the board to the governor. Backers of the bill describe it as a sensible governance proposal that would bring more balance to the board and align it with the agencys mandate to manage Oregons forests for multiple benefits, not just timber harvests. But it comes amid a bigger picture debate over the industrys influence in Salem, and frustration with long-simmering problems at both the agency and the board. While a fairly modest proposal on the surface, the bill will certainly be on Republican leaders radar, as it is already being framed as an attack on the industry and the rural communities they operate in. To some extent, the bill reprises the debate in 2019 over dueling ballot measures filed by industry and conservation groups that sought to recast state forestry rules and the makeup of the Board of Forestry. That battle was called off when the groups reached an agreement to withdraw their respective petitions and work together to resolve conflicts over aerial spraying and conservation plans on private forests. But the conflict has hardly disappeared. Indeed, tensions are probably higher as the state confronts increased wildfire threats; climate change and related forestry policies; a $1.1 billion verdict against the forestry department over harvest levels on state forests, and ongoing financial problems that led the Legislature to tighten its leash on the department and demand monthly reports from its leader, State Forester Peter Daugherty. Last fall, Gov. Kate Brown was deeply frustrated by her inability to get legislative confirmation for three board nominees amid opposition from lawmakers in timber dependent counties and what her office described as undue influence from industry. She managed to get a revised slate of candidates confirmed last month, but there is still one vacancy on the board. Meanwhile, current and former board members have described the dynamic on the panel as dysfunctional, complaining about a lack of responsiveness from agency leaders and an inability to move decisively on major policy issues. Golden told members of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire Recovery on Wednesday that there was one core principle behind the bill: The governors of our regulatory agencies should be free from pronounced influence by the industries they regulate. The Board of Forestry falls short of that standard, he said. Golden also said the bill was not motivated or geared to address any particular individual, obliquely referring to Daugherty, who has led the agency since 2016. I believe this is good organizational structure today and will be in the future, he said. The committee took public testimony, and heard a good deal of pushback from industry. Mike Eliason, general counsel of the Oregon Forest and Industries Council, called the bill a solution in search of a problem. He challenged anyone to cite an example of undue industry influence on the board over the last two decades and said if anything, the board could do with more representation from those with professional forestry experience. In reality, he said, this looks like a gratuitous and unnecessary shot at the forest products industry and for no compelling reason. Those comments were echoed by representatives of forest products companies and loggers. They pointed to other state boards on which the regulated industry has high representation. They contend that giving the governor the authority to hire and fire the state forester will politicize the position. And they said dissolving the three advisory committees would be a mistake. Knowledgeable practitioners are needed on the Board of Forestry to make critical decisions that affect tens of thousands of Oregonians, said Amanda Astor, forest policy manager for Associated Oregon Loggers. Representation of these informed individuals on the board is not to create bias or watered-down policy, but rather to ensure solutions are based on real outcomes that recognize how they would affect work on the ground. Nils Christoffersen, executive director of the non-profit Wallowa Resources and a former member of the forestry board, urged the committee to take its time and think hard about the changes. He said there are significant regional differences in forest conditions and practices throughout the state that are important to developing sound policy. Industry representation and an ongoing dialogue with field practitioners is critical, he said. Jim Kelly, a retired businessman who currently sits on the board, offered his perspective on some of its shortcomings. He said the board is operating somewhat blind, with part-time volunteers who have little insight into the state foresters day-to-day performance. The yearly review process, he said, is unwieldy and not robust, and that for the state forester to be effective, he or she also needs the support of the governor and Legislature. The Board of Forestry is supposed to be a policy board, he said. I would suggest you allow us to focus on policy making and let the governor take responsibility to make sure the agency has a leader that can competently run the department. Conservation groups voiced support for the bill, calling it a step forward that would recognize forests important roles outside of harvests, including water quality, climate change, recreation and the protection of wildlife. It is no longer reasonable to argue that timber harvest should dominate the Board of Forestry, said Alan Journet, a retired biologist representing Southern Oregon Climate Action Now. Sen. Dallas Heard, R-Roseburg and vice chair of the committee, made lengthy comments at the close of the hearing. He said the arguments over conflicts of interest made no sense to him, and that economically speaking, the oxygen supply to rural communities continues to be cut off because of restrictions on forest practices. He contends that its critical to have board representatives who are invested in whether the forest industry continues to thrive and provide well-paid, fully-benefited jobs. To reduce our impact on that Board of Forestry is to reduce my voice, its to reduce the community I love, its to reduce the working-class community around here that depends on the forest products industry living on and continuing, he said. Theres just a lot of work that needs to be done here and Im just wondering when my people are going to be treated with any level of real respect. Golden responded that he was stirred by what Heard said, and much of it described his own district, too. He said he understood Heard saw the bill as part of a shot being taken at the people you represent and their communities, but that he saw it very differently. I want to say there is very much of what you just said that I hear and identify with, Golden said. Weve got a lot of hurting people in our districts who had a pretty good livelihood in the timber industry and a lot has changed. Id like to talk to you. Im really curious to see if there are ways in which we agree more than it first appears. -- Ted Sickinger; tsickinger@oregonian.com; 503-221-8505; @tedsickinger Hyderabad, March 19 : Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) on Friday signed a contract worth Rs 1,188 crore with the Ministry of Defence for manufacture and supply of MILAN-2T Anti-Tank Guided Missiles. The contract was signed by Joint Secretary (AM & LS) Dipti Mohil Chawla, on behalf of Ministry of Defence's Acquisition Wing and Executive Director (Marketing) Commodore T.N. Kaul (retd), on behalf of BDL. BDL Chairman and Managing Director, Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd) stated that receipt of this order has given a boost to the existing order book of the Company. The current order book position of the company with the current order received is over Rs 9,000 crore. In line with the government's initiative for creation of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' in defence sector, many items have been exclusively earmarked for the Indian industry and a negative list of imports has been released by the Ministry of Defence. BDL's products, short range Surface to Air Missile and Astra Air-to-Air Weapon System are covered under this list and some more products of the company are expected to be brought into the subsequent list being released by the Ministry, the defence PSU said in a statement. BDL is also working on export of weapon systems to friendly foreign countries. The company has a well-established infrastructure and expertise to execute these orders and meet the customer delivery schedule. TRINIDAD and Tobago Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) executive director, Nigel Edwards, says the changes the 39-year-old financial institution is undergoing at this time are transformational. The UTC is now in the middle of a three-year cycle of strategic changes that will culminate in 2023 and beyond, he said. It quickly became apparent that I was a first, of sorts, to come on this annual trip to a rainforest in the Hunter, organised by my best friends family and their friends. I was seven years old and I was afraid of what might happen. After we arrived, my friend and I went to join the other kids. As we approached the cabin, I could hear the clamour of a full room of children trying to impress and out-joke each other. My stomach churned as my friend knocked on the door with an eagerness that showed she didnt share my unease. It opened for just long enough to see several faces change in surprise upon seeing me and to hear an older boy say: Whos the little Chinese girl? Then the door slammed shut. Saimi Jeong is a freelance writer. My appearance had drawn such reactions before, as it has often since. Go back to ching-chong China, a girl told me at another camp. After a day at school, I walked to the bus stop and heard someone call: Little Asian. It was a group of adults in a parked car, watching me and laughing. In a packed fast-food joint, I squeezed back through the queues to find a table. A white man sneered in my ear: Ni hao. After demanding my attention, he turned cold and unresponsive when I told him, several times, that Im not Chinese. At a protest outside NSW Parliament House, a woman spat: What are you doing here? Go back to China! The NIA on Thursday called two policemen, including an aide of Mr Waze and a senior police inspector, for questioning, sources said NIA officers investigate Sachin Vaze's Mercedes car following his arrest, in connection with a probe into the recovery of explosives from a car parked near industrialist Mukesh Ambanis house, in Mumbai, Tuesday, March 16, 2021. (PTI/Mitesh Bhuvad) Mumbai: The NIA team conducting investigation into the bomb scare near industrialist Mukesh Ambanis house has seized a second Mercedes car. This is the fifth luxury car that the NIA has seized in this case and is looking for two more cars. The vehicles seized by NIA earlier include one Scorpio, in which explosives were found, and a Mercedes both belonging to Sachin Waze. While it is yet unclear whether the vehicle seized on Thursday belongs to Mr Waze, sources said that the number plate of the car might have been changed. One Toyota Land Cruiser Prado parked outside Mr Waze's residence in the Saket area of adjoining Thane has also been seized. A video dated February 26 shows footage of outside the crime branch in which Mr Waze and Mansukh Hiren can be seen arriving at the unit in the said Land Cruiser Prado. The NIA on Thursday called two policemen, including an aide of Mr Waze and a senior police inspector, for questioning, sources said. On Thursday, Mr Waze through his lawyer approached the special NIA court seeking permission to speak to his lawyer privately. The judge heard arguments from Mr Waze's lawyer Sunny Punamiya and Special public prosecutor Sunil Gonsalves for a short period and posted the plea for hearing again on Friday. The NIA arrested Mr Waze on Saturday night in connection with the security scare outside the south Mumbai residence of Mr Ambani. Mr Waze has also been facing heat in the murder case of Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran, who was in possession of that SUV. Hiran was found dead in a creek in Thane district on March 5. The ATS is investigating the Hiran murder case. It had registered an FIR against unidentified persons days after Hiran's body was found. Hiran's wife accused Mr Waze of involvement in her husband's suspicious death. In front of a U.S. Senate committee hearing, Dr. Anthony Fauci said researchers continue to analyze target percentages for the nation to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19. While an exact number remains unknown, Fauci said its likely that children would have to be vaccinated against the virus in order for the U.S. to achieve the goal. We dont really know what that magical point of herd immunity is, but we do know that if we get the overwhelming population vaccinated, were going to be in good shape, Fauci said during a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. We ultimately would like to get and have to get children into that mix. In the past, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has set immunity goals of 70 to 85%. If it is that, wed probably have to get more children and I believe as we get high school students vaccinated in the fall, well be able to reach that, Fauci said. In Massachusetts, the general public ages 16 and older will become eligible to receive a COVID vaccine on April 19. Clinical trials have started examining the safety for children ages 12 to 17 to receive vaccines. Fauci and other health experts during the committee pointed to other viruses, such as measles, that have known herd immunity rates. Fauci said for measles, herd immunity stands at around 90%. Once immunity dips into somewhere below 90%, outbreaks occur. With COVID, though, its still not yet known what percentage of the population is required to achieve the often talked about herd immunity. Every day we get 2 to 3 more million [vaccinations] and we get closer and closer to where we want to be, Fauci said. We dont really know what that magical point of herd immunity is but we do know that if we get the overwhelming population vaccinated, were going to be in good shape. Fauci cautioned that vaccines are the silver bullet against the virus as he called it a race against COVID variants. He emphasize social distancing and mask-wearing should continue to diminish the spread of the virus. The vaccines have been shown to be less effective against the P.1 variant, which originated in Brazil. While the efficacy rate against the P.1 variant dips to about 50%, the vaccine has shown to greatly diminish severe cases of the virus. Fauci also continued to warn about a potential third surge, which Europe experienced. Fauci said cases in the United States have plateaued to about 50,000 new cases per day, a number much too high. He said the U.S. has been about 3 to 5 weeks behind Europe in terms of surge numbers and without mitigation factors continued to be implemented, cases could surge again. Related Content: Recently, a similar case occurred on social media. During China's "two sessions," several journalists were taking pictures of a guard on duty. When the final photo came out, the guard occupied no more than a third of the frame, while the majority of the photo was taken up by the blurry hall against the gloomy sky. This very picture is for sale on Getty Images for up to $499. In the comments section on the topic, some mocked the journalists' choice of angle: "Camera angle of oppressed freedom." Meanwhile, a journalist from NPR "explained" by asking "What else should they take pictures of," and declared that it's only "photojournalism." This NPR journalist actually voiced the thoughts of many Western media: When covering China's "two sessions," they seem to "prefer" guards or soldiers than deputies, meetings or press conferences. Similar cases have also occurred in previous years. These photos are mostly taken from a low angle, and the tones are usually dim. Although photography skills could explain the results, one can't help thinking there are certain intentions. Such "unique" angles and tones are not new when it comes to reports on China. During Hong Kong's violent unrest in 2019, the Los Angeles Times "neglected" some facts in its report, and used its cover photo to try and trick readers into believing it was the police that attacked protesters first. In October 2019, before the truth of the Essex lorry deaths emerged, a journalist from CNN publicly questioned China why these "Chinese citizens" escaped China. The fact, however, turned out to be that none of the victims were Chinese. Moreover, BBC documentaries on Wuhan, the city hit hardest by COVID-19 in China, featured a gloomy filter for the version for Western countries, while the Chinese version had none. In addition, recent "reports" by the BBC on Xinjiang show backgrounds, clothing and even the looks on faces of the "interviewees" which were suspiciously similar. This is in sharp contrast with the actual situation in Xinjiang. These Western media outlets show the so-called facts only from the angle they want. They add filters to disgrace China, and even make up fake news to slander China, so as to manipulate what their audiences see and influence their thinking. All these facts are enough to expose the so-called "freedom of the press." Everyone is welcomed to come visit China, to see what China is like unedited and unfiltered. Western media should also let go of their biases, abandon their filters and stereotypes, practice real objective journalism, and show the whole truth to their audiences. China Mosaic http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm Show audiences the unedited truth http://www.china.org.cn/video/2021-03/19/content_77328626.htm SOURCE China.org.cn Advertisement Thousands of protesters gathered in Paris for the Fridays for Future movement created by Greta Thunberg, despite the looming new lockdown coming into force on Saturday. Climate activists gathered online and in-person from as many as 60 countries. Scenes from Paris showed people demonstrating without adhering to social distancing measures. The globally coordinated campaign #cleanupStandardChartered called for London headquartered Standard Chartered to divest from coal in emerging markets. Scenes of the protests in the French capital were a stark contrast to the thousands of Parisians descending on train stations to escape to the countryside before the new month-long coronavirus lockdown was introduced. Thousands of people march for climate at the call of "Youth For Climate" in Paris despite the looming month long French lockdown Students protesting without adhering to social distaning measures. The globally coordinated campaign #cleanupStandardChartered called for London headquartered Standard Chartered to divest from coal in emerging markets Scenes of the protests in the French capital were a stark contrast to the thousands of Parisians descending on train stations to escape to the countryside Parisians piled on to trains in an exodus from the French capital today hours before a third of the country is plunged into a new month-long lockdown. Trains heading west to Brittany and south to Lyon were fully booked on Friday with platforms packed at the Gare Montparnasse as 12million people in the Paris region brace for the new restrictions. French PM Jean Castex announced the new measures last night amid a third wave of Covid-19 cases which has thrown Paris hospitals into crisis, with vaccines coming too slowly to protect large chunks of the population. The vaccine shambles took yet another twist today when France said that only over-55s should get the AstraZeneca shot - a 180-degree reversal from its earlier ruling that older people should be denied the jab. Health officials said the new rule resulted from the fact that the blood clots which threw the EU's roll-out into further crisis this week had only been seen in under-55s. But EU safety experts ruled yesterday that the jab was safe and effective for all age groups - saying there is no increased risk of blood clots linked to the vaccine. French people waiting at Montparnasse Train Station to flee Paris as new lockdown will take place on Friday at midnight, on March 18 Trains leaving Montparnasse station - which serves destinations in Brittany and the southwest - were completely full after a rush of bookings late on Thursday The move comes after France on Wednesday announced its biggest daily rise in Covid cases since its most recent lockdown was lifted in late November last year Passengers pack into the Gare Montparnasse in Paris today as people flee the French capital hours before new lockdown measures take effect for a third of France's population Passengers wearing protective face masks walk to board a train at Montparnasse railway station to go to the provinces to avoid the third lockdown As in previous lockdowns, a form written out or downloaded on a phone will be needed to justify why a person has left the home in areas under the new restrictions Parisians walk along a platform to catch a train leaving from the Gare Montparnasse which serves the west and southwest of France People hold their luggage as they wait to board a train out of Paris today despite the government's insistence that the lockdown is less severe than last year's measures France's infection rate has reached its highest levels since a November lockdown, prompting Macron's government to impose new restrictions on 21million people Parisians walks along a platform to catch a train leaving from the Gare Montparnasse serving the west and southwest of France Parisians arrive to catch trains leaving from the Gare Montparnasse on Friday Emmanuel Macron is under fire at home and abroad over his handling of the crisis, with opponents saying that he had 'failed' to prevent new measures being needed. 'Let's be clear, we're in a third wave mostly down to the rise of this famous British variant,' Macron said on Wednesday after a day of talks with medical staff in Paris. Macron had previously been criticised for rubbishing the AstraZeneca vaccine as 'quasi-ineffective' in older people in what was seen as an act of post-Brexit ill will. France initially said that over-65s should not get the vaccine because of limited data on older people in clinical trials. It later revised its stance to say that 65-to-74-year-olds could get the jab after more data from the UK showed that the vaccine is highly effective. Now, France has lurched the other way by saying that older people should not only get the vaccine but have exclusive access to it - with under-55s now banned. France is moving slowly even by the EU's standards in the vaccine race and is languishing way behind Britain in protecting its population against Covid-19 A Parisian crosses the Seine near the Eiffel Tower as the city and its surrounding areas face a third spell of lockdown amid another resurgence in Covid-19 cases in France People walk over a deserted bridge in a cloudy Paris, where people will once again have to fill out a form to justify their movements to authorities The Porte d'Orleans in Paris was filled with traffic on the ringroad leading to highways in the direction of South and West of France Large queues were seen at Port d'Auteuil heading in the direction of the west of France as millions across the country prepare to enter a month-long lockdown Large numbers of passengers were seen with suitcases at Monparmasse railway station in Paris as the country prepares to go into another lockdown Passengers wait to board their trains with suitcases at Montparmasse railway station in Paris this afternoon Amid the chaos, France is lagging way behind Britain in vaccinating its population, meaning that most of the population is still susceptible to the third wave. In all, just over 5.5 million people in France have had at least one vaccine shot and nearly 2.4 million have received both doses, official data show. That is compared to 25million people in the UK who have had at least one dose of the vaccine, and 1.7million people who have had two doses. While the government claims the new lockdown measures are lighter than last year's national lockdowns, Parisians will still have to show papers to justify leaving their homes - prompting many to seek refuge outside the cramped capital. Trains leaving Montparnasse station - which serves destinations in Brittany and the southwest - were completely full after a rush of bookings late on Thursday. People, wearing face masks, were seen queueing outside a shop in Nice as the country prepares to enter a third month-long lockdown People with masks to protect from coronavirus queue in front of a perfume store in Lille, northern France, after the government backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and other regions In Nice, France, people were seen queueing wearing masks outside shops as the country prepares to head into another lockdown A spokesman for national rail operator SNCF said trains to some destinations were fully booked after having a 60-70 per cent level of occupancy on previous Fridays. Maiwenn, a 19-year old student clutching a suitcase, said she had decided to leave Paris to spend the rest of the university year with her family in in Brittany. 'I'm going to stay there until the end of the term,' scheduled for mid-April, she said. 'It's been roughly a year that our courses have been on distance learning so we're starting to get used to it.' France had hoped to stave off new lockdowns with a nationwide 6pm curfew and weekend shutdowns but the new measures affect around a third of the population. The other regions affected by the new measures notably include the Hauts-de-France region of northeast France which covers the city of Lille, and the Alpes-Maritimes on the Mediterranean, as well as Seine-Maritime and the Eure in the north. People, wearing protective face masks, queue outside a H&M clothing store on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris as the French capital will enter at midnight On the Champes Elysees avenue in Paris people were seen queuing outside several clothing stores, including H&M and Zara In Lille, northern France, residents gathered together outside in the sunshine as parts of the country prepare for another lockdown Health minister Olivier Veran expressed hope that this regional lockdown would be the last, with the situation helped by the onset spring and the vaccination campaign. As in previous lockdowns, a form written out or downloaded on a phone will be needed to justify why a person has left the home in areas under the new restrictions. Outdoor exercise is allowed up to six miles from home for an unlimited amount of time but non-essential shops will have to close. However bookshops - deemed as essential to public wellbeing - can stay open and hair salons could also remain open with reinforced sanitary protocols. The move comes after France on Wednesday announced its biggest daily rise in Covid cases since its most recent lockdown was lifted in late November last year. While Covid deaths in France have been steadily falling since last year, there are fears the trend could reverse as hospital intensive care wards are overwhelmed Paris has been at the forefront of France's third wave of Covid, with patients evacuated from hospitals in the city on Monday after intensive care beds ran out Macron, who visited hospitals in Paris on Wednesday, said any new measures would be 'proportionate' and made on a territory-by-territory basis The streets of Nice are deserted. The people of Nice took advantage of the last hours of 'freedom' to rush into the shops which will have to close on Saturday NEW HAVEN Officer Matthew Curran is being praised for his response to the fatal shooting of a city woman, as department brass said the situation could have escalated into further danger. Curran allegedly encountered Brianna Triplett charged with first-degree assault in connection with the death of Dwaneia Turner, 28, and the wounding of another woman at the scene of the homicide on Auburn Street Tuesday night. Triplett had a gun in her hand, according to Currans report. Curran ordered Triplett to put the gun on top of a nearby car, which she did, according to the report. He placed her in cuffs, then had her sit on the sidewalk, accompanied by Officer Christopher Noble. She then was escorted to a cruiser, according to the report. She did not say anything to Curran at the scene, he reported. A bloody knife and shell casings were found near the scene, according to the report. Sgt. Justin Marshall, district manager for the Hill neighborhood, Assistant Chief Karl Jacobson and Acting Chief Renee Dominguez praised Currans actions, as well as those of the other patrol officers, at the departments weekly Compstat intelligence-sharing meeting. This incident could very easily have gone into a deadly force situation. Officer Matthew Curran acted courageously and (with) great voice in his command presence on scene immediately defused the situation, Marshall said Thursday, noting that Curran would receive a commendation from the department. A great job by him, as well as the other officers that responded. Thats a stressful situation, so he did a great job, said Dominguez. Sgt. Bertram Etienne, supervisor of the homicide unit, also lauded the officers who responded. Former Assistant Chief Achilles Archie Generoso, now the statewide director of Project Longevity, added praise for Curran, as well. So often, we hear of these things turning bad, with a different result. Its a testament to his professionalism and the training of the New Haven Police Department, said Generoso. Triplett was arraigned Wednesday in Superior Court in New Haven, then held in lieu of $1 million bail, according to state records. Her case was transferred to Part A proceedings, where more serious cases are adjudicated. She is scheduled to appear in court March 30. Capt. Anthony Duff has asked anyone with information about the homicide to contact the New Haven Police Department at 203-946-6304. Turner was the eighth homicide victim of the year in New Haven. Before this incident, Alfreda Youmans, Jeffery Dotson, Jorge Osorio-Caballero, Marquis Winfrey, Joseph Mattei, Kevin Jiang and Angel Rodriguez were killed. There had been one homicide in the city by this point in 2020. william.lambert@hearstmediact.com A former Catholic priest who has served time for sexual offences against young girls has now been found not guilty of charges of historical abuse against a schoolboy. Neville Joseph Creen, 80, denied indecently abusing the teenager in Mount Isa, northwest Queensland, where he served as a priest in the 1970s. The alleged victim, who cannot be identified, first met Creen after his father was killed in a mining accident, crown prosecutor Katrina Overell has told the Brisbane District Court. Neville Joseph Creen, 80, denied indecently abusing the teenager in Mount Isa, northwest Queensland, where he served as a priest in the 1970s Creen was accused of summoning the boy to his office and rubbing his thigh and groin on four separate occasions in 1974 and 1975. However, Judge Ian Dearden said much of the evidence was unreliable and self-contradictory. 'Although I'm prepared to accept that the complainant is seeking to give a narrative of events he believed occurred to him in 1974 and 1975 ... that narrative is completely unreliable, self-contradictory in places and cannot be accepted as evidence beyond reasonable doubt,' he said during Friday's judge-only verdict. 'Other than in broad terms there is no objective evidence or independent evidence that supports any aspect of the complaint's evidence in this trial.' Creen pleaded not guilty to four charges of indecent and sexual abuse at the start of the two-day trial, but one count was discontinued by the prosecution on Thursday. There were significant inconsistencies in the accounts provided by the alleged victim and someone seemed to be giving him information to strengthen his case, defence barrister Debra Wardle told the court in closing. She said the man also had a civil case against Creen which was a 'powerful motivator'. But Ms Overell said the man was credible and 'doing his best to tell the truth'. 'Any inconsistencies are attributable to the passage of time and also the number of incidents he was attempting to recall,' she added. Creen was previously jailed for sex offences against young girls in the regional Queensland town between 1973 and 1981. Labour wants an investigation into whether former prime minister David Cameron lobbied for a specialist bank that has since gone bust to handle extra Government-backed Covid loans. Greensill Capital, a group that lends money to businesses so they can pay their suppliers and counted Mr Cameron among its advisers, filed for administration last week. According to the Financial Times, Mr Cameron, before it collapsed, personally intervened to try to increase Greensills access to Government-backed Covid-19 emergency loan schemes. The newspaper reported that Greensill wanted to have its cap lifted so it could lend up to 200 million as part of the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), increasing its limit of 50 million at the time. Reports that David Cameron met with the Chancellor and Treasury officials to lobby for Greensill to gain access to Covid-19 loan schemes raise extremely serious questions. The Government must leave no stone unturned with a full and thorough investigation.https://t.co/EIjY4MqBHb Anneliese Dodds (@AnnelieseDodds) March 18, 2021 The Treasury said it had turned down the request to change the rules around access to the Bank of Englands Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF). Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said a probe should be undertaken to leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of why it appears Greensill was given so much access to the Treasury. These revelations raise extremely serious questions about the Chancellors priorities in the middle of a pandemic, said the senior Labour MP. The Government must leave no stone unturned with a full and thorough investigation into this. Taxpayers and businesses deserve answers about why it appears Greensill was given so much access to the Treasury at a time when the Chancellor was refusing to engage with groups representing the millions of people he excluded from wage support. The Chancellor must urgently set the record straight. Downing Street declined to say whether Mr Cameron lobbied his former university colleague Prime Minister Boris Johnson or a special adviser in No 10. Expand Close The Treasury said it had turned down requests to change the rules around its lending scheme (Chris Ratcliffe/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Treasury said it had turned down requests to change the rules around its lending scheme (Chris Ratcliffe/PA) A No 10 spokesman said: Senior officials and ministers routinely meet with a range of private sector stakeholders. During the Covid pandemic the Government received many representations from the entire spectrum of British business. HM Treasury considered the representations made by the company with proper and due process and the decision was taken not to provide the support requested. A Treasury spokesman said: Treasury officials regularly meet with stakeholders to discuss our economic response to Covid. The meetings in question were primarily about broadening the scope of CCFF to enable access for providers of supply chain finance, which following a call for evidence and discussions with several other firms within the sector we decided against and informed the businesses concerned. Greensill Capital was the main lender to Sanjeev Guptas GFG Alliance which includes Liberty Steel the owner of steel plants across the UK. Mr Guptas business empire employs around 5,000 people in the UK, a majority of whom work for Liberty Steel across its 11 sites throughout England, Scotland and Wales, including Scunthorpe, Newport and Rotherham. Police have revealed CCTV footage of a man who allegedly sexual assaulted a woman on a nearby walking track just moments later. Detectives from the Sexual Crime Squad released footage of the unknown male walking through north Melbourne suburb Broadmeadows on December 11, 2020. Police have also released an image of the man police wish to speak to, in relation to the alleged sexual assault of a 37-year-old woman on a walking track. Detectives from the Sexual Crime Squad released CCTV footage of the man just moments before he allegedly sexually assaulted a 37-year-old woman on a walking track on December 11 last year The man in the CCTV footage is believed to be the same man in the image, which was captured at Broadmeadows railway station. In the CCTV footage the man is seen walking east along Nicholas Street in a leafy suburban area then turning left onto Gosford street. Investigators believe the woman was walking along the track between Seabrook Reserve and Railway Crescent when she crossed paths with the unknown male. The woman continued walking west for a short distance when the male approached her and grabbed her from behind around 8:55pm on Friday night, December 11. The unknown male (pictured) was wearing a grey-hooded jumper, black trousers and shoes and a white surgical mask He allegedly sexually assaulted the woman before she was able to break free, then fled in the direction of the Broadmeadows railway line. Police believe the man could be a youth or in his late teens and Caucasian in appearance, around 178cm tall with a muscular build and broad shoulders. The man is wearing a grey-hooded jumper, black trousers and shoes and a white surgical mask, which he momentarily pulls down in the CCTV footage. Last December detectives from the Sexual Crime Squad made a public plea for information that could assist their investigation. Now detectives are keen to speak to any person who could assist police identify the man, or was in the area at the time and witnessed a male matching the description. TOKYO, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Plant based business expert Elysabeth Alfano and vegan investor Sasha Goodman revealed the VegTech Index earlier this month, listing 21 globally operating environmentally conscious companies which are traded publicly. In this Index the Japanese alternative meat manufacturer Next Meats Co. was listed, securing a spot along with Beyond Meat and Tesla. They are the only company listed from Japan, and is one of the eleven companies in the VegTech Index which is on the American OTC Market. As warned in the original article, although Next Meats Co. has acquired an American SPAC, no deal has been concluded at this time and there are no shares of the company being traded under the ticker NXMH yet. However Next Meats is expanding its business rapidly, and their growth is definitely one to look out for. About Next Meats Next Meats is a food-tech venture company based in Tokyo, with the company mission "Not letting the Earth End". Their research began in 2017 and the company was officially founded in June of 2020. Next Meats is known for launching the world's first plant-based Japanese BBQ meats "NEXT Yakiniku" series as well as the plant-based Japanese beef bowl, "NEXT Gyudon". In December of 2020 they announced their partnership with Toyota-Tsusho Corporation, and in January of 2021 was listed on the American OTCBB. In addition to the facilities in Japan, Next Meats has a production line in Vietnam and has also signed a joint development contract with Hung Yang Foods of Taiwan, and is rapidly expanding their business to the United States, Singapore, Italy, and other countries. They plan to research various types of alternative proteins in the future and aim to replace all animal meats by 2050. Website: https://nextmeats.co.jp/en-US Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nextmeats/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeatsNext Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NextMeats Original article: https://elysabethalfano.com/plantbased-business-hour/vegtech-the-global-vegan-impact-and-innovation-index/ SOURCE Next Meats Co., Ltd. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell whose wife is of Asian heritage addressed this week's mass shooting in Georgia by saying Thursday that "Asian Americans should not have to experience discrimination anywhere." What he's saying: Committing a crime against anyone because of his or her national origin or race is deeply wrong and antithetical to our founding principles," McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement to Axios. McConnell spoke two days after the attack that killed eight six of them Asian Americans. While police have yet to label it a hate crime, it sparked fear among Asian Americans across the country and a public reckoning about their treatment growing from a string of prior attacks. Why it matters: McConnell, the most prominent Republican in the Senate, had yet to publicly weigh in on Tuesday's shooting. Questions about his views were especially pointed because his wife, Elaine Chao, who served as Transportation secretary under President Trump, was born in Taipei, Taiwan. She emigrated to the United States when she was eight years old. Critics blamed Trump's rhetoric against China following the outbreak of the coronavirus for fueling an uptick in anti-Asian violence across the U.S. The former president labeled COVID-19 the "Chinese virus," "Wuhan virus" and "kung flu." Go deeper: The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University found that anti-Asian hate crimes reported to police in America's largest cities jumped nearly 150% in 2020. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 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 Countries across Europe resumed vaccinations with the AstraZeneca shot on Friday, as leaders sought to reassure their populations it is safe. Frances prime minister rolled up his sleeve to get the shot, as did a handful of other senior politicians across the continent where the inoculation drive has repeatedly stumbled and several countries are now re-imposing lockdowns as infections rise in many places. Britain has been widely praised for its vaccination drive, although this week it announced that it, too, would be hit by supply shortages. European Union countries, by contrast, have struggled to quickly roll out vaccines, and the pause of the AstraZeneca shot by many this week only added to those troubles. The suspensions came after reports of blood clots in some recipients of the vaccine, even though international health agencies urged governments to press ahead with the shot, saying the benefits outweighed the risks. EMAas safety committee (PRAC) concludes that the benefits of the #COVID19Vaccine AstraZeneca still outweigh its risks despite possible link to rare blood clots associated with low levels of blood platelets. Read more: https://t.co/WCdaKqOPxB pic.twitter.com/0NO8kh5a48 EU Medicines Agency (@EMA_News) March 18, 2021 On Thursday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said that the vaccine does not increase the overall incidence of blood clots, although it could not rule out a link to a small number of rare clots. The move paved the way for more than a dozen European countries to begin using the vaccine again. Its clear that the revocation of the suspension is for us a great relief because we have to strongly accelerate the vaccination campaign, said Dr Giovanni Rezza, the head of prevention at the Italian Health Ministry. Dr Rezza told reporters in Rome that Italy only reluctantly halted the campaign out of an abundance of caution, but needed to ramp it back up quickly to make up for lost time now that EMA had ruled positively. He said Italy needed to more than double the 200,000 vaccinations per day the country had reached before the suspension to reach its goal of inoculating 80% of the population by September. Expand Close Prime Minister Jean Castex, 55, receives the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine (Thomas Coex, Pool via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minister Jean Castex, 55, receives the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine (Thomas Coex, Pool via AP) Health experts have expressed concern that even though the suspensions were brief, they would damage confidence in the vaccine at a time when many people are already hesitant to take a shot that was developed so quickly. While many EU countries have struggled with such reluctance, it is even more of a worry in developing nations that may not have any other choice of vaccine. AstraZeneca, which is cheaper and easier to store than many rival products, is key to vaccination drives in many poorer countries. Amid these concerns, several politicians got the shot on Friday, including French Prime Minister Jean Castex, Slovenias president and prime minister, and a German state governor. Prime Minister Boris Johnson also plans to. Britain never suspended use of AstraZeneca. Mr Castex, 55, said he wanted to show full confidence in the shot. The former director of the Pasteur Institute, Patrick Berche, told BFMTV the move was a very beautiful gesture. France restarted the vaccine with some restrictions that seemed aimed at reducing the risk of potential side effects even further. Other countries that are resuming their use of AstraZeneca shots include Slovenia and Bulgaria, a Balkan nation of seven million where only 355,000 people have been vaccinated with a first dose so far the lowest number in the European Union. But not everyone was as quick to return to the vaccine. Denmark, which was the first country to pause using AstraZeneca, said Friday that it would wait another week before deciding whether to resume. Sweden and Norway have also not restarted, and Finland decided to pause the vaccine for the first time Friday. It said it would suspend use for a week while it investigated two suspected cases of blood clots. Authorities in Berlin said two large vaccination centres that offer the AstraZeneca shot to people in the German capital were reopening on Friday, and that people whose appointments were cancelled this week will be able to get the vaccine over the weekend without making a new one. New Delhi: Urging again for the diplomatic talks to address the crisis with North Korea, China warned at the United Nations Security Council that it wont allow chaos and war on the Korean peninsula. Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi said, The situation on the peninsula is deteriorating constantly as we speak, falling into a vicious circle. The peninsula issue must be resolved peacefully. China will never allow chaos and war on the peninsula, he further added. Russia also echoed Jieyis appeal saying diplomatic negotiations were the only way to settle the crisis over North Koreas nuclear and missile programs. There was an urgent need to maintain a cool head and refrain from any action that could further escalate tensions, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said. Russia backs Chinas proposal for a freeze on North Koreas nuclear and missile tests in exchange for a suspension of US-South Korea military drills. ALSO READ: No more road left, North Korea is 'begging for war', US tells UN Security Council It was time to ratchet up the pressure on North Korea by enacting the strongest possible measures, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said while rejecting the proposal as insulting. She declared, When a rogue regime has a nuclear weapon and an ICBM pointed at you, you do not take steps to lower your guard. No one would do that. We certainly wont. However, Russia and China did not specify whether they would support additional sanctions on North Korea. The United States, Britain, France, Japan and South Korea requested the urgent meeting after North Korea detonated what it described as a hydrogen bomb designed for a long-range missile. South Koreas defense ministry warned Monday that Pyongyang may be preparing another missile launch after two tests in July of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that apparently brought the US mainland into range. (With PTI inputs) ALSO READ: North Korea says more missile to come, UN condemns launch For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. West Bengal Election 2021: Name announced without my consent says Sikha Mitra India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Kolkata, Mar 19: Shortly after her she was nominated as the BJP candidate from the Chowringhee assembly seat in the city, Sikha Mitra, wife of late Congress leader Somen Mitra, on Thursday said her name was announced without consent and she will not enter the poll fray. Mitra also downplayed speculations of her joining the BJP, which were doing the rounds following her meeting with saffron party leader and family friend Suvendu Adhikari. West Bengal elections 2021: Will bring 'parivartan' in Delhi after winning the elections, says Mamata Banerjee "No, I am not contesting from anywhere. My name has been announced without my consent. Also, I am not joining the BJP," she told reporters. The BJP on Thursday announced the names of 148 candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in West Bengal, including Sikha Mitra, the party''s vice-president Mukul Roy and its former state unit head Rahul Sinha. March 19, 2021 State of Michigan individual income tax annual returns are now due on May 17, 2021, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury. The new filing deadline comes after the Internal Revenue Service extended its deadline to the same date. For the benefit and convenience of taxpayers, both the beginning and end of income tax filing season are the same as the IRS. "I'm happy to announce that we are giving Michiganders extra time on their taxes this year," said Governor Whitmer. "This has been a difficult year for everyone, and by moving the income tax payment date, I hope families have the buffer they need to get their finances in order. I am grateful for the money going out to Michiganders under the American Rescue Plan and proud of the state-level pandemic relief we've delivered to families and small businesses. Together, we'll build our economy back better." "Taxpayers are trying to understand how the federal stimulus and the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting their taxes," State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks said. "We are continuously evaluating how we can assist taxpayers. Changing the state's filing and payment deadlines can help individuals figure out their next steps as we navigate these extraordinary times." "Our members have been adamant to find relief everywhere we can for the people of the State of Michigan," said Matt Hall, chairman of the House Tax Policy committee. "We have been prepared with legislation to extend the April 15 filing deadline this year and we're grateful that Treasury and the administration are working to waive penalties and interest in the meantime." "Federal COVID-19 relief, including moving the due date for individual income tax returns to May 17, is vital to our recovery as a state," said House Democratic Leader Donna Lasinski, D-Scio Twp. "We need to do everything we can to get relief to Michigan workers, small businesses, families and schools impacted most by the COVID-19 pandemic; extending the deadline to file taxes is a part of what is needed and the right thing to do." Under a Taxpayer Notice issued by the state Treasury Department, state individual income tax annual returns and payments are now due before 11:59 p.m. on May 17, 2021. Individual taxpayers who need additional time to file beyond the May 17 deadline can request an extension to Oct. 15, 2021. Taxpayers requesting additional time to file should estimate their tax liability and pay any taxes owed by May 17, 2021, to avoid additional interest and penalties. Because the extension is limited to the 2020 taxes, first quarter estimates for tax year 2021 remain due on April 15, 2021. Taxpayers who are owed a refund are encouraged to file their state income tax returns so they can receive their refunds. More information about e-filing is available at www.michigan.gov/mifastfile. Changes to city income tax deadlines require state legislation. "It is imperative the Michigan Legislature quickly pass legislation extending the city tax deadline in our state to parallel the recent extension at the federal level," Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) said. "Hardworking Detroiters and their families have disproportionately struggled in countless ways during the pandemic, and this small but significant gesture would go a long way toward ensuring all parties are accounted for this tax season." To learn more about Michigan's taxes, go to www.michigan.gov/taxes or follow the state Treasury Department on Twitter at @MITreasury. Nifty, Sensex may try to rally Weekly closing report To bookmark you need to sign in We had mentioned in last weeks closing report that Nifty, Sensex was affected due to fall in US markets. The major indices faced a major correction this week. The trend of the major indices in the week is given in the table: On Monday, the indices opened lower and closed with minor losses. On the NSE, there were 691 advances, 1,313 declines and 70 unchanged. Adani Welspun Exploration, a joint venture between the Adani Group and Welspun Enterprises, announced its first-ever gas discovery in the Tapti-Daman sector of Mumbai Offshore block. Titan Companys jewellery revenues increased 15.5% YoY excluding revenue from bullion sales. JSPL steel production in February 2021 increased by 18% YoY to 6.53 lakh tonnes as compared to 5.54 lakh tonnes. Shipments grew by 14% YoY to 5.45 lakh tonnes compared to 4.80 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. Tech Mahindra plans to acquire 70% stake in an Irish company Perigord Asset Holdings through its subsidiary and directly. On Tuesday, the indices opened higher but ended in the red with minor losses. On the NSE, there were 912 advances, 1,020 declines and 95 unchanged. Life Insurance Corporation of India sold 2.01% stake in Shipping Corporation of India through open market transaction, which has reduced its stake in the company to 8.04% from 10.05% earlier. Adani Ports received a letter of intent from the Sri Lankan government to develop and operate the west container terminal of Colombo Port in Sri Lanka. Max Healthcare acquired an additional 42.8% stake in its subsidiary, Saket City Hospitals, for USD 64 million from Kayak Investments Holding. It is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company. Gland Pharma entered into an agreement to supply up to 252 million doses of RDIFs Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. On Wednesday, the indices opened higher but ended with major losses. On the NSE, there were 377 advances, 1,537 declines and 90 unchanged. State Bank of India was penalised Rs 2 crore by the RBI over "deficiencies in regulatory compliance," on March 15. Private equity firm Carlyle is selling 4% stake in SBI Card for around $513 million. Carlyle held 15.86% stake in SBI Cards and Payment Services at the end of trade on 16 March 2021. Shakti Pumps has bagged an export order worth $35 million from Uganda Government for the supply of solar-powered water pumping systems. Aditya Birla Capital board has approved to explore initial public offering of its subsidiary Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited. On Thursday, the indices opened higher but continued its decline and ended with major losses. On the NSE, there were 444 advances, 1,462 declines and 90 unchanged. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has ordered an inspection of the books of Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company after a whistleblower alleged fraud at the firm. The whistleblower has alleged that Edelweiss Group along with its partner Canadian pension fund Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ), diverted at least Rs 1,800 crore from EARC. GoAir is likely to file a draft red herring prospectus for its initial public offering in April to raise around Rs 4,000 crore, reported CNBC-TV18. The Supreme Court dismissed a review petition filed by power distribution companies of Rajasthan against paying compensatory tariff to Adani Power for the high costs of imported coal. Welspun Corp has bagged multiple orders worth around Rs 777 crore. On Friday, the indices opened higher but continued its decline and ended with major losses. On the NSE, there were 1,015 advances, 914 declines and 83 unchanged. Aarti Drugs approved a buyback of equity share worth up to Rs 60 crore representing up to 0.64% of the total number of equity shares of the company, at a price of Rs 1,000 per equity share. The Defence Ministry signed Rs 1,188 crore deal with Bharat Dynamics for the supply of 4,960 Milan-2T Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) to the Indian Army. Adani Enterprises subsidiary Adani Road Transport-led consortium received a letter of award from the National Highways Authority of India for a toll operate transfer road project in Gujarat. Manappuram Finance board plans to raise up to Rs 6,000 crore in the next fiscal through non-convertible debentures on private placement and/or a public issue in one or more tranches. The Delhi high court has ruled in favor of Amazon and has ordered Future Retail not to sell its assets to Reliance Industries. The bench held that Future Retail has wilfully violated Singapore International Arbitration Centres emergency order", and that the tribunals ruling is legally enforceable in India under the countrys arbitration law. The issue received bids for 24.95 crore shares as against 9.57 crore shares on offer. The initial public offer (IPO) of Kalyan Jewellers India received bids for 24.95 crore shares as against 9.57 crore shares on offer, according to the stock exchange data. The issue was subscribed 2.61 times. The qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) category was subscribed 2.76 times. The retail individual investors category was subscribed 2.82 times. The non-institutional investors category was subscribed 1.91 times. The issue opened for bidding on Tuesday, 16 March 2021, and closed on Thursday, 18 March 2021. The price band for the IPO was set at Rs 86-87 per share. The issue comprised of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 1175 crore, which comprises of a fresh issue of up to Rs 800 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to Rs 375 crore. The OFS comprises of sale of equity shares worth Rs 125 crore by one of the promoters T.S. Kalyanaraman and sale of equity shares worth Rs 250 crore by an investor shareholder Highdell Investment. The post issue promoter's shareholding in the company would decline to 60.53% from 67.99% while that of Highdell would fall to 26.36% from 32.01%. Ahead of the IPO, the company on 15 March 2021 finalised allocation of 4,04,48,275 equity shares to anchor investors at Rs 87 per share, aggregating to Rs 351,89,99,925. The company proposes to utilise Rs 600 crore from the net proceeds from fresh issue of equity shares to fund its working capital requirements and rest for the general corporate purpose. The company expects that listing of the equity shares will enhance visibility and brand image and provide liquidity to shareholders. Kalyan Jewellers is one of the largest jewellery companies in India in terms of revenues. The company was established by the founder and one of the Promoters T.S. Kalyanaraman in 1993 with a single showroom in Thrissur, Kerala. The company has since expanded to become a pan-India jewellery company, with 107 showrooms located across 21 states and union territories in India, and also have an international presence with additional 30 showrooms located in the Middle East as of 31 December 2020. All of the showrooms are operated and managed by the company. The company designs, manufactures and sells a wide range of gold, studded and other jewellery products across various price points ranging from jewellery for special occasions, such as weddings, which is the highest-selling product category for the company, to daily-wear jewellery. On a consolidated basis, the company reported a net loss of Rs 80.49 crore and revenue of Rs 5516.70 crore in the nine months ended on 31 December 2020. 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. Inside a chic lounge, oil lobbyists and executives rub shoulders as Spanish, French and Italian can be heard in the halls. This isnt the ZaZa boutique hotel in Houston, where global energy top brass like to stay. Its the Cayena Hotel in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. Drawn by promises of privatization and more autonomy to tap the worlds biggest crude reserves, theyre meeting with the Nicolas Maduro regime and state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela to best position themselves when doing business there is possible again. Bigger producers like Chevron, Frances Total and Italys Eni would probably wait until U.S. sanctions are lifted, but smaller players might get started whenever new rules opening up the industry for private enterprise take effect. I want to tell investors from the U.S. and around the world that Venezuelas doors are open for oil investment, Maduro said in a recent televised address. Its a make-or-break moment for an impoverished nation thats running out of fuel to haul food and cash to pay for imports of basic necessities. Whether Maduro will succeed in luring some investment is still unclear. But one thing is certain: Oil companies have never had such leverage with him to negotiate a piece of the countrys more than 300 billion barrels of crude. There is some easy potential to increase production if sanctions enforcement declines, said Francisco Monaldi, a Venezuelan-American lecturer in energy economics at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy, and an expert on Venezuelas oil industry. After that, you need significant investments. CITGO 6: Houston oil executives sentenced to prison in Venezuela The successor of the late Hugo Chavez, who infamously seized assets from Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips, is promising to pass a law that will officially end an oil monopoly in the hands of PDVSA, as the countrys ruined oil cash cow is known. Executives representing oil companies are holding meetings to discuss what the terms would be under the new legislation, according to people with knowledge of the talks, who asked not to be named because theyre not authorized to comment on them in public. Chevron, for one, is even getting in touch with contractors to assess how fast they could help the San Ramon, California-based company restart operations in the South American nation, one person said. Chevron and Total didnt return requests for comment, as didnt Maduros Information Ministry, the Oil Ministry and PDVSA. Eni said none of its executives visited Caracas. Maduros government says his new energy law alone will allow oil companies to get back in business as they assume control of Venezuelan assets. Thats because the U.S. only bans doing business with PDVSA, the regime and those who help it. Oil ventures run by independent oil companies, in theory, wouldnt be barred from developing crude reserves in the country. DOWNWARD SPIRAL: Toxic spills offer a bleak vision of the end of oil in Venezuela Major oil companies would probably wait for sanctions to be lifted regardless, but others could jump in as soon as they can claim theyre operating independently from PDVSA and Maduros regime, and therefore not subject to sanctions.There are people close to the government eager to get some oil fields; I would expect there to be some privatizations, Monaldi said. They will try to invest in the wells that are the easiest to connect.Wilmer Ruperti, a Venezuelan-born shipping magnate, is among less-known entrepreneurs who have sought to do business with PDVSA in the past despite sanctions. Ruperti didnt reply to requests for comment on potential investments under the proposed new rules. Restoring Venezuelas oil industry back to its former glory would likely take tens of billions of dollars, and that might never happen, but any business activity would help the country. Once a prosperous OPEC-founding member that produced more than 3 million barrels a day of crude, the nation is now pumping less than half a million. Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami recently vowed to boost production to 1.5 million this year, and that would be difficult to achieve without help. Monaldi estimates more than $100 billion and a decade of work would be required to get output past 2 million barrels a day. This means you need a ton of private investment, he said. An increase in oil output would not only buoy the economy but also raise capital to ultimately pay off creditors holding roughly $60 billion of defaulted obligations. MEANWHILE, IN THE U.S.: Chevron, Reliance meet officials to discuss Venezuela So, executives from the oil industry and capital markets have also been pleading their case to officials in Washington, people familiar with those discussions said. Their message: If others are going to play ball, lets get in on the action, too. The big question is if the oil companies have enough political clout for an easing in sanctions, said Raul Gallegos, a Bogota-based director at Control Risks, an international consulting firm. They are interested in the flexibility that Maduro is offering. The U.S. Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces the sanctions, didnt immediately reply to requests for comment. With bigger issues to tackle, from the coronavirus to tension with Russia and trade with China, U.S. President Joe Bidens administration hasnt yet made a significant pivot from President Donald Trumps strategy on Venezuela. The U.S. government officially recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuelas interim president until theres a free and fair election. If the new U.S. government at least moves to let companies resume swaps of diesel for Venezuelan crude, that would help the country avert collapse. The fuel is needed for trucks to take imported food, medicines and other products from ports to cities, as well as to haul goods from farms and factories. Without investments in the countrys crumbling energy infrastructure, though, that would be just a stopgap solution. Published on 2021/03/18 | Source It has been a year since actor Moon Ji-yoon passed away. Moon died of acute sepsis at 8:56PM on the 18th of last year. At that time, he visited the hospital due to severe sore throat and was taken to the intensive care unit due to serious condition. However, he later lost consciousness and never recovered. In his sad news, Kim Bo-mi-I, Oh Ji-eun, Shin So-yul, Ha Jae-suk, Kim Jae-won, Kim San-ho, and Kim Dong-wan expressed their sorrow through the memorial service. At the time, an official from Moon Ji-yoon explained, "Moon Ji-yoon is a friend who was really passionate and only thought about acting. It's so sad that he left so suddenly. He was always healthy. I hope there is no speculative story. I ask for your condolences for the deceased". Born in 1984, Moon Ji-yoon made his debut in the small screen in 2002 as Kim Jae-won's younger brother in "Romance". Since then, he has been active in various films and dramas "Rules of Love", "Sassy Girl, Chun-hyang", "Iljimae", "Big", "May Queen", "Pink Lipstick", "Queen Seon-deok", "Whatcha Wearin'?" and more. Among them, Moon Ji-yoon made a reputation for himself as Bang Ji-hyeok of "Sassy Girl, Chun-hyang" and Sang-cheol of "Cheese in the Trap". Brent crude oil price fell 6.94% to settle at US$63.28 per barrel as COVID-19 cases continued to rise and the vaccine rollout slowed in parts of the world. S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) has dropped for a third successive session on Friday with the index down 0.31% to 6,725 by about 1.37 pm. The energy sector was leading the declines after global oil prices slumped about 7% in overnight trade on concerns over short-term demand as COVID-19 cases rise and the vaccine rollout slowed in many parts of the world. Australian producers like Woodside ( ) and Santos ( ) were down 2.33% and 2.11% each. Air passenger traffic Sydney Airports (ASX:SYD) February passenger traffic figures showed that international passenger numbers were 97.5% lower on the same time last year, 27,000 compared to 1.1 million. While the 596,000 domestic passengers were still down 70% on the same time last year, it has improved as all interstate borders were opened by late February. Top gainers Todays top gainers on the ASX include ( ) (+18.52%), ( ) (+11.44%), . ( ) (+12.50%), ( ) (+13.64%), ( ) (+12.50%) and ( ) (+8.57%). Proactive news headlines: Comet Resources to enhance portfolio by acquiring prospective copper-gold and base metals assets in NT Comet Resources Limited ( ) has entered into a Binding Option Agreement with Bath Resources Pty Ltd to acquire a portfolio of highly prospective copper-gold-zinc-silver-lead assets in the Northern Territory. Venture Minerals begins installing Wet Screening Plant at Riley Iron Ore Mine and strengthens team ( ) ( ) has started installing structural, mechanical, piping and electrical aspects of the Wet Screening Plant at Riley Iron Ore Mine in northwest Tasmania with Crisp Bros & Haywards doing the first of the structural steel framework. Pharmaxis unveils commercial launch of Bronchitol (mannitol) as addon maintenance therapy for cystic fibrosis in the US s ( ) ( ) (FRA:UUD) exclusive US distributor, Chiesi USA Inc, has launched Bronchitol (mannitol), an addon maintenance therapy to improve pulmonary function in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients aged 18 years and older in the US. Musgrave Minerals red-hot on further high-grade gold from White Heat Prospect within Cue Project, highlighting discovery potential ( ) ( ) (FRA:6MU) is higher after receiving further high-grade reverse circulation (RC) gold assay results from the new White Heat prospect, 300 metres south of Break of Day on its 100%-owned ground at its flagship Cue Gold Project in WAs Murchison district. Kin Mining's thick high-grade gold results confirm quality of Bruno-Lewis deposit ahead of resource upgrade ( ) (FRA:8KM) has received further strong gold results from recent infill reverse circulation (RC) drilling which confirm the quality and potential of the Bruno-Lewis deposit at the companys Cardinia Gold Project (CGP) in Western Australia. Triangle Energy gears up to explore expanded footprint in Perth Basin Triangle Energy (Global) Ltd ( ) is aggressively pursuing a three-pronged approach to exploration for 2021 and beyond across its producing Cliff Head Project, Mount Horner Project and new offshore licence WA-481-P all within the Perth Basin. Firefinch celebrates International Womens Day at Morila Gold Mine in Mali ( ) (OTCMKTS:EEYMF) (FRA:N9F) recently celebrated International Womens Day at the Morila Gold Mine site in Mali, West Africa, with a ceremony chaired by the Sub Prefect of Sanso in the presence of Sanso Mayor, Morila representatives, village chiefs, women and youth representatives kicking the event off. During March 2021, U.S. Marines in Japan and Hawaii teamed up with joint partners to execute networked Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) spanning five separate islands in a complex display of modern littoral warfare. Exercises Castaway 21.1 in Japan and Spartan Fury 21.1 in Hawaii demonstrated the ability of the Marine Corps to integrate with the joint force to seize and defend key maritime terrain, provide low-signature sustainment, and execute long-range precision fires in support of naval operations from expeditionary advanced bases. Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link U.S. Marines with 3d Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3d Marine Division, conducts a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) assault during Castaway 21.1 at Ie Shima, Okinawa, Japan, March 15, 2021. (Picture source: U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Scott Aubuchon) These operations can be replicated on any island in the Indo-Pacific, and working with our joint partners allows us to refine the tactics, techniques, and procedures to do this in a real-world situation, said Lt. Col. Roe Lemons, commanding officer of 3d Battalion, 12th Marines, whose forces were responsible for planning and executing much of Castaway 21.1 in Japan. We are coming in with stealth, extending the reach of our long-range fires, and working on our ability to sustain that as long as the maritime force needs us to control an access point to the sea lines of communication. Before the introduction of persistent long-range fire capabilities at the EAB on Ie Shima, Marines with 3d Reconnaissance Battalion and members of the Army Special Forces and Air Force special operations combined to execute a stealthy insertion through a daring series of multi-mode infiltrations into the island via the air and sea. A military freefall infiltration from an MV-22B Osprey, coupled with an amphibious infiltration under the cover of darkness, enabled the Marines and their joint counterparts to thoroughly survey the area for enemy forces and ensure the suitability of the airfield. Several F-35Bs from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 soon joined the battle. Not long after, numerous MV-22B Ospreys and CH-53E Super Stallions with 1st Marine Aircraft Wing delivered hundreds of infantrymen with 3d Battalion, 8th Marines who secured the island, established formidable defenses and paved the way for an enduring EAB with responsive long-range fires. With hidden firing points dotting islands and a web of fleeting, stealthy connections facilitating a common operational picture across multiple domains, Marines charged ahead into mastering new ways to enable freedom of maneuver for the U.S. Navy and allied forces. Although dispersed, they were not alone. Leading these complex joint operations, the 12th Marine Regiment was supported by a host of capabilities within III Marine Expeditionary Force and across the joint force to include the Navys USS Halsey (DDG 97); Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transports and combat controllers; the Armys I Corps Multi-Domain Task Force, 25th Infantry Division, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, and 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne); and the Space Force. We recognize that our operating environment is changing the biggest difference is that we will need to address problems and opportunities with a joint approach, said Col. Michael Roach, commanding officer of the 12th Marines. In this exercise, rather this competition operation, you saw a networked and distributed force executing concepts that would be critical to support any future distributed maritime operation. Meanwhile during Spartan Fury 21.1, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines expanded its ability to strike targets across the entire Hawaiian Island chain, deploying High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers from aircraft and conducting various forms of expeditionary resupply to include utilizing Army Landing Support Vessels. Moving into concealed positions via air and sea transport, the mobile launchers received firing data from both manned and unmanned systems across multiple domains as Marines operating M777A2 Howitzers spread across numerous positions to engage targets with live munitions. New approaches to the employment and sustainment of these distributed forces were tested with Marines spread across hundreds of miles of islands and ocean, working closely with Air Force and Navy counterparts to achieve outsize effects and remain undetectable. While naval integration with the Marine Corps is often viewed in terms of amphibious shipping, this operation featured Marines working directly with a U.S. Navy Destroyer. We are using the ships sensors to extend our range and share information across the island chain, said Lt. Cmdr. Jacob Zercher, naval gunfire liaison officer with 1st Battalion, 12th Marines. We are able to broaden what we can see and shoot, as well create a better-shared awareness of the battlespace. Numerous exercises in the past have featured what is known as a HIMARS rapid infiltration, or HIRAIN, during which a launcher is quickly brought to an airfield, fires, and leaves. However, the realistic expeditionary sustainment of enduring long-range fires capabilities on EABs was a key focus during these latest operations with the utilization of mobile surface vessels, aerial delivery facilitated by both Marine Corps and joint assets, and low-signature ground convoys emplacing concealed supply caches throughout the area of operations by 1st Transportation Support Battalion. We are validating what we need to remain in a place like this for an enduring period of time, said Maj. Jacob Burton, commander of a HIMARS battery with 3/12 operating on Ie Shima during Castaway 21.1. We are getting a lot out of this operation. Concurrently, infantrymen with 3d Battalion, 3d Marines employed a wide-ranging coastal defense around Okinawa, using highly mobile forces both on land and in quick, low-profile boats to locate and strike targets at sea. The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, already used by Marines with 3d Marine Division to coordinate distributed air assaults during Forest Light in 2020, took on a new role by allowing a small group of missile-armed Marines to detect and strike targets on the move. Nothing is off-limits when it comes to learning and innovating, said Capt. Jonathan Kohler, a company commander with 3/3 who led the littoral defense operations. Many aspects of EABO are nothing new to the Marines of the 3d Marine Division. This storied unit has a long tradition of innovation, development, and building interoperability with both the joint force and U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific region. During 2020 alone, lessons learned from notable exercises such as Forest Light and Keen Sword, which featured U.S. and Japanese troops seizing and defending islands and establishing EABs, were on the minds of many of the Marines along with the realization that a future fight against a peer adversary would be a joint endeavor. Castaway was an important step toward enhancing joint interoperability to ensure lethal, ready, and responsive forces for crises and contingencies with our partners throughout the Indo-Pacific region, said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Erik Davis, commanding officer of 1st Battalion, 1st SFG (A). This event illustrated how Special Operations Forces capabilities can support the rapid deployment of 3d Marine Divisions long-range precision fires platforms into austere or remote locations. Facilitating this joint integration is a natural fit for the Marine Corps because the timeless traits of adaptability and teamwork are cultivated beginning with entry-level training, according to Roach. I see our service as being the linchpin to bringing a successful joint operation together like we showed this week in Okinawa and Hawaii. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, second from right, and Defense Minister Suh Wook, right, pose with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from left, and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, during the latter two's visit to Seoul, March 18. AP-Yonhap By Yi Whan-woo The prospect for dialogue between North Korea and the United States is turning bleak, with Joe Biden's America playing by international rules on North Korea policy. U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken reiterated U.S commitment to stripping North Korea of its nuclear program during his two-day visit to Seoul this week. This reaffirms that the Biden administration will not soften or lift nuclear sanctions as demanded by the North as a precondition to resuming deadlocked dialogue. The impoverished state reacted sensitively to the sanctions, as seen from its announcement, March 19, to sever diplomatic ties with Malaysia in protest of a Malaysian top court ruling to extradite a North Korean citizen to Washington over money laundering charges. "Malaysia has been one of the few remaining friends with North Korea, and cutting of such friendship suggests how resolute the North is against anyone who aggravates the sanctions," said Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University. The North's woeful human rights record as raised by Blinken also added to negative outlook for the future of dialogue. The repressive state has found related discussions at the U.N. and other international stages unacceptable, as they ultimately target the country's leader Kim Jong-un to be brought to international justice. Blinken accused the North of committing "systematic and widespread abuse," during his Seoul trip, saying "We must stand with people demanding their fundamental rights and freedoms and against those who repress them." "Human rights is a universal value that should be addressed regardless of circumstances, but it certainly stands in a way when it comes to issues of resuming dialogue with the North," said Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University. He said the joint military exercise with the South, which comes as the U.S. tries to restore alliances, is another stumbling block for nuclear negotiations. Despite being held in a smaller scale than the past, the combined drills this year lasted from March 8 to 18. In a statement carried out by the Korean Central News Agency, March 18, North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said the U.S. reached out to the North the day before the combined drill from a "third country." She then said no dialogue with the U.S. can be possible unless Washington "rolls back its hostile policy." She also said Pyongyang will disregard such attempts by the U.S. in the future. On March 16, Kim Jong-un's powerful sister Kim Yo-jong lambasted the South for conducting military exercises with the U.S. while warning Washington not to engage in hostile acts. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 21:37:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOGADISHU, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The African Union top envoy in Somalia said Friday he has held a series of consultative talks in the past 10 days with key political stakeholders to explore ways of holding the delayed elections in the Horn of African nation. Francisco Madeira, special representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission to Somalia and head of AMISOM said the discussions with the leaders focused on the current electoral impasse and the need for the Somali leaders to reach consensus on the outstanding issues that polls can urgently take place. "The discussions with the State leaders, which will continue, centered around the shared interest in seeing that challenges still outstanding and delaying timely elections on the basis of the 17 September Electoral Agreement are overcome," Madeira said in a statement issued in Mogadishu. The AU envoy expressed satisfaction that the leaders are ready to critically look into the issues at stake and engage in frank and constructive discussions to find solutions based on consensus. The Horn of African nation missed a deadline in December 2020 to hold its parliamentary elections which were due to begin as agreed by the government and six regional states in September 2020. Enditem Jaipur, March 19 : The scale is impressive. More than 10,330 intensive searches were conducted in Rajasthan under Operation Flush Out in which 185 mobile phones, 83 SIM cards, 33 chargers, 23 earphones, 19 data cables, opium, charas, tobacco, bidi and cigarettes and other prohibited material were seized from jail-birds, according to DG Prisons Rajeev Dasot. Dasot told IANS that as many as 68 notorious dons, including the top 10 criminals of the state and prisoners using prohibited material, were transferred to other jails for the purpose of breaking their networks. Dreaded criminal Lawrence Bishnoi, who threatened Bollywood star Salman Khan from jail premises, for instance, was shifted from Bharatpur prison to the Ajmer Jail. Also Papla Gujjar, who escaped from Behror, was shunted to Ajmer jail from Kishangarhbas. Gujjar had escaped from Behror police station on September 6, 2019, after his aides opened fire with an AK-47 gun at the policemen on duty. He was subsequently arrested on January 27 where he was hiding in his girlfriend's home at Kolhapur. "With this operation, we've sent out a strong message of zero-tolerance against connivance, corruption and criminal activities in jail and breaking the criminal nexus inside Rajasthan's jails," Dasot told IANS. Operation Flush out was launched across 144 jails throughout the desert state in November 21 last year under the directions of Dasot in which around 150 jail employees were rewarded while disciplinary action was taken against 200 staff members for conniving with criminals. "We were receiving tip-offs that criminals were conducting their activities right from the jail premises. This was a major challenge addressing which was the first priority for us. "We were informed that prisoners sitting in their comfort zones in the prison were conducting mafia operations in connivance with our own staff. They either entered the jail by hiding phones, or else our staff gave them phones. Keeping this in mind, we started Operation Flush Out," recalled Dasot. The operation started on November 21 last year with a high-level search operation to stop criminal activities operated by jailed criminals. Notably, disciplinary proceedings were carried out against 99 officers and 25 officers who were supporting such criminal activities at the jail level and outside the network were found guilty. Additionally, 54 officers were transferred the basis of suspicious complaints. On the other side, about 145 honest officer were also awarded for their honesty and rendering the best service under the Operation Flush Out. CM Ashok Gehlot has closely observed this operation and appreciated the efforts of department, hoping this will will help control crime in the state. The campaign has been extended till March 31, 2021, informed Dasot. BBC NI is remaining tight-lipped about whether Shane Todd's Lockdown Rave radio programme will be transferring to the small screen for a full series after fans praised the show's one-off St Patrick's Day episode. Shane, along with fellow comedian Dave Elliott, played old school dance tunes and encouraged the public to throw some shapes around their kitchens for the March 17 special on BBC One NI. Shane Todd's Lockdown Rave is a follow-on from his popular Friday evening show on Radio Ulster. The comic took to Twitter to thank viewers after the show - billed as a 'one night only' event - aired on Wednesday, telling his followers: "Thanks to everyone that watched the show x." One fan replied: "Loved it, hope it'll be the first of many!" while another said: "It's hard to believe anything could beat 'Keepin' 'er Country' but Shane Todd's Rave Lockdown might be BBC NI's best show." Not all of the reviews were glowing, however, with one Twitter user insisting they were "actually cringing" tuning in. "Shane Todd's Lockdown rave: It's embarrassing watching these two guys blabber on," they said. Tagging BBC NI, the person continued: "Your homegrown programmes are dire #defundthebbc." Prior to broadcast, Shane said he hoped the show would provide some escapism for viewers "and that's what we all need right now". A spokesperson for BBC NI yesterday couldn't provide the Belfast Telegraph with viewing figures for the show, but described the audience numbers as "good". BBC NI also wouldn't be drawn on whether Lockdown Rave has a future on the channel. "Shane Todd's Lockdown Rave was a one-off commission for TV based on his hit BBC Radio Ulster series," said the spokesperson. "It had a good overnight audience which we anticipate will increase with catch-up viewing, including BBC iPlayer, in the coming days." Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. More help is on the way for struggling colleges and universities in New York, including two in Cayuga County. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday that New York's higher education institutions would receive more than $2.6 billion in COVID-19 relief aid. The funding is part of a $1.9 trillion rescue plan approved by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. Central New York schools will receive an estimated $116.5 million. Cayuga Community College, which has campuses in Auburn and Fulton, will get more than $6.5 million. Wells College will be awarded over $1.76 million. Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES will receive $175,000. Schumer explained that private and public colleges will use half of the funding for emergency financial aid to students. The remaining funds can be used to cover a range of expenses or lost revenue. "As New York's colleges, universities and students face over a year of unprecedented hurdles, they do so at a steep cost that it is our responsibility to address and overcome," Schumer said. "In prioritizing the health and safety of students, faculty and staff, New York's higher education institutions have ripped massive holes in their budgets and are now facing down financial devastation and we simply can't let that happen." Artificial intelligence designed to recognize different type of pastries could be a vital tool in the medical world. BakeryScan, developed by Japan-based Brain Co., scans baked good on a tray with a camera and uploads the official name of each to a system for easy checkout at a bakery but scientists found it can also identify cancer. A doctor from the Louise Pasteur Center for Medical Research in Kyoto had the system revised to spot cancerous cells on a microscope slide with 99 percent accuracy. Instead of investigating doughnut holes and bread ridges, the redesigned system, called Cyto-AisCAN, analyzes a urinary cell to identify and measure its nucleus to determine if it is diseased. Scroll down for video BakeryScan, developed by Japan-based Brain Co., scans baked good on a tray with a camera and uploads the official name of each to a system for easy checkout at a bakery but scientists found it can also identify cancer. BakeryScan, first released in 2013, was designed by computer system engineer Hisashi Kambe who sold the innovation to Brain Co. It is currently used by more than 400 retail shops across Japan and each unit costs $20,000. BakeryScan works through a camera that is mounted above a backlit checkout tray. Customers place their selections on the tray and then the camera analyzes the bread or pastries, cataloging their size, shape and color to match them with one of up to 100 different types stored in the checkout system. A doctor from the Louise Pasteur Center for Medical Research in Kyoto had the the system revised to spot cancerous cells on a microscope slide with 99 percent accuracy The cashier confirms the match via a touchscreen display, and then the customer pays an entire process that takes place in seconds. Four years after BakeryScan was assisting retail shops, a doctor spotted the technology during a television show and pondered if it could do the same for cancer he realized cancer cells look similar to bread when under a microscope, The New Yorker reports. The system uses deep learning for object recognition and instead of differentiating baked goods, the doctor hoped the technology could save lives. Identifying cancer cells to determine whether tumors are benign or malignant can be labor intensive. But having an AI assistant would dramatically speed up the process and lead to earlier diagnoses and more effective treatment for patients. Brain Co revised BakeryScan for medical purposes to scan small microscope slides instead of puffy pastries. Cyto-AiscAN was then on its way to two major hospitals in Kobe and Kyoto, where doctors tested and trained the system with cancerous cells. Overtime, the AI was able to analyze an entire slide at once and not just each cell individually. James Somers, the writer of The New York piece, shared: 'The system was apparently working at ninety-nine percent accuracy.' 'I asked Kambe how it workeddid it use deep learning? 'Original way,' he said. Then, with a huge smile, 'Same as bread.' AI has come a long way from identifying faces to now assisting doctors to help save lives. Last year, a computer algorithm developed by British and US scientists has found AI was able to display a 1.2 percent reduction in the number of false positives and a 2.7 per cent reduction in false negatives. Instead of investigating donut holes and bread ridges, the redesigned system, called Cyto-AISCAN, analyzes a urinary cell to identify and measure its nucleus to determine if it is diseased The breakthrough has been likened to 'a spell-check for writing email' and could reduce the number of 'false negatives' that can lead to life threatening delays in treatment. The technology has also taken off amid the coronavirus pandemic with many medical experts turning to the system for help. University of Copenhagen researchers designed software that can tell whether you are likely to die from the virus using health data. The team used a computer program with health data from 3,944 Danish COVID-19 patients, as well as any underlying conditions. They then trained it to look for patterns in a patients' prior illness to determine the risk factors and potential outcome from Covid-19 and found that BMI, age and being male were the highest risk factors when it came to the likelihood of dying. Chandigarh, March 19 : Two young sisters were allegedly shot dead by their acquaintance in a fit of rage with his father's licensed revolver in Punjab's Moga district, police said on Friday. The accused, Gurveer Singh, 30, son of Congress-backed woman sarpanch of Sekha Khurd village, was arrested on Friday on charges of killing Amanpreet Kaur (24) and Kamalpreet Kaur (18) on Thursday night. They were travelling with in his car when the crime occurred. Victims' father Gurmail Singh told the police that the accused used to harass his daughters. Engineering graduate Gurveer's father Jagdev Singh is a former sarpanch, while his mother, Sukhwinder Kaur, is the sitting sarpanch. Describing the crime a horrific incident, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh directed the police to ensure speedy investigation into the incident and to bring the culprits to justice. "Such offenders will be sternly dealt with," he said in a tweet. Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta said the accused was arrested after a long chase, seized the weapon and the car used in the incident. All this is a demonstration that even a model minority noted for high achievement and founding large and successful businesses of many types can suddenly be targeted, especially when national leaders become loose-lipped about their own prejudices. It also shows that not only California, but the entire nation needs effective policing to protect minorities who have no way to know when they might be victimized, even if their particular ethnic group enjoys generally high public esteem. Because bigots have always picked on those they see as weak, this is especially important for elderly and frail individuals. Yes, the pandemic appears to have originated in or near the Chinese city of Wuhan. But there is no evidence it was deliberately perpetrated on the world. The claim that it amounted to a blood libel against Chinese individuals who would have been thousands of miles away even if deeds like this had been done. Because most others have difficulty discerning Asians native nationalities simply from their appearance, all Asian-Americans are now at serious risk, especially if they dont look strong, a la the Los Angeles Angels 6-foot, 4-inch, 210 pound Shohei Otani. An Irish Catholic priest has said that he would bless same-sex couples, after a recent memo from the Vatican which advised against it. Earlier this week, in an official doctrine from the Vatican which was approved by Pope Francis, it was said that the Catholic church does not have the power to bless same-sex unions. But some Catholic priests do not hold the same opinion, said Fr Tim Hazelwood of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland. There were pieces of weed that grow in the ground and I blessed them, he told RTEs Morning Ireland today. I blessed shamrock. Now, if two people stand in front of me and they love each other, and theyre committing to each other for the rest of their lives, and I bless shamrock and I wouldnt bless them; no, I don't think theres a doubt or a question there. He added that: Our experience is that there are lovely couples [who would wish to be blessed]. The priest also wondered how this may affect gay people and their engagement with the Catholic church. To hear something like that, that their relationship is sinful, I wonder how many of them know and meet and interact with those families and those people, he said. Bishops have said, that they want people especially on the margins to be part of [the church]; would any gay person come near a church that says things like this? However, he noted that some in the church have been welcoming to gay people, saying: The German bishops have said, some of them openly, that theyre going to be blessing same-sex unions. Theres an awful difference between someone in Rome making a promulgation and whats the lived experience of the church. And I think a lot of priests would say, if Christ was here with us now, what would Christ do? He would do the caring and loving thing. He was the one who challenged all the rules himself. Former President Mary McAleese also expressed her unhappiness with the recent message from the Vatican. If Pope Francis and the congregation had merely said that: Look, we really dont think offering these blessings is consistent with church teaching, and if theyd had left it at that, I think I could probably have lived with that, she said. But thats not what they did. They added an explanatory memorandum in language which is simply unacceptable. She also made a similar point to Fr Hazelwood, saying: To say of gay couples - as this document does - that they cannot receive or express grace, thats the astounding thing, to say that when at the same time you can bless a pot plant or a pet - this is not acceptable. This is not asking the church to marry gay people in a sacramental marriage, Id never ask for that, absolutely, she added. On a final note, Fr Hazelwood mentioned that while Pope Francis has previously said positive and inclusive things about gay people, this recent statement was upsetting. To listen to that statement, it was so disappointing, it was awful really, he said. The Pope had previously said in October of last year that he believes gay people should be allowed to enter civil unions. And while he has said previously that gay people should be accepted within the church, he has yet to fully endorse same-sex marriages. Before becoming Pope, he strongly opposed the same-sex marriage bill that went through in his home country of Argentina in 2010. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 12:15:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TOKYO, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks dropped Friday morning as sentiment was dented by a spike in U.S. bond yields hitting U.S. stocks overnight amid jitters ahead of the outcome of the Bank of Japan's policy setting meeting. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 261.95 points, or 0.87 percent, from Thursday to 29,954.80. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 7.52 points, or 0.37 percent, at 2,000.99. Rubber product, oil and coal product, and service issues comprised those that declined the most by the morning break. Enditem GoldMining issues Letter to Shareholders Posted by Publisher Internet GoldMining Inc. (the \Company\ or \GoldMining\) (TSX: GOLD; NYSE American: GLDG https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/goldmining-inc/) is pleased to issue the following letter from its Chairman, Amir Adnani, updating shareholders on the recent successful launch of Gold Royalty Corp. (\GRC\ or \Gold Royalty\) (NYSE American: GROY) and plans for project advancement: Dear Fellow Shareholders, Since going public a decade ago, we entered the first phase of GoldMining\-\-s strategy, which was to acquire resource stage projects in stable jurisdictions in the Americas at opportune prices during low points in the gold and copper cycle. In 2020, we embarked on the second phase of our strategic plan with a view to unlock the intrinsic value from our vast project portfolio. To this end we created Gold Royalty Corp. to expose existing shareholders to a new and distinct form of value enhancement. Last week, Gold Royalty completed its successful initial public offering (the \IPO\) and listing on the NYSE American, achieving a market capitalization of approximately US$200 million. The IPO was tripled from its initial size of US$30 million to US$90 million which provided GRC with one of the strongest balance sheets amongst its peers. As a result of this transformative event, GoldMining holds 20,000,000 GRC shares on its balance sheet. Importantly, GoldMining shareholders have continued indirect ownership of our 49% equity stake in GRC which has a current market value of approximately C$120 million[1]. As such, we view the IPO as an important value-crystallizing event for the Company and a strong vote of confidence in our team and assets. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the GoldMining and Gold Royalty teams for all their hard work and effort to transform Gold Royalty from a concept into a highly successful IPO launch in less than 9 months. Since the IPO, the GRC team has hit the ground running. Just yesterday, Gold Royalty announced an agreement to acquire a 1.2% NSR on the advanced-stage Seguela project. The project is operated by Roxgold Inc., an experienced mine developer and operator who has reported being on track to make a construction decision in the first half of 2021. As the largest shareholder, we look forward to more positive developments at Gold Royalty. Moving forward, we remain focused on identifying accretive acquisition opportunities, evaluating joint ventures with potential industry partners, and increasing our efforts to daylight value from our projects. We control one of the largest global resource holdings amongst our peers, with an aggregate total of approximately 14.3 million ounces gold equivalent Measured and Indicated Resources and 16.5 million ounces gold equivalent Inferred Mineral Resources (see Table below for further information). While our technical team continues to review key projects for advancement, we are initiating preliminary economic assessments (\PEAs\) at the La Mina gold-copper project in Colombia and the high-grade Yellowknife gold project in Canada. We expect these studies to be completed in H2 2021. In addition, diamond drilling programs to test geological targets and to better define, and potentially expand, existing mineral resources at the Titiribi and La Mina projects in Colombia are currently planned to commence in H2 2021. Details will be announced as the studies progress and as program details are refined and finalized. These programs will be funded with existing cash-on-hand and are subject to permitting and potential restrictions related to COVID-19. We look forward to an exciting 2021 for GoldMining, Gold Royalty and all our stakeholders. We thank our shareholders for their continued support and look forward to reporting further progress as we execute our strategy. About GoldMining Inc. GoldMining Inc. is a public mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of gold assets in the Americas. Through its disciplined acquisition strategy, GoldMining now controls a diversified portfolio of resource-stage gold and gold-copper projects in Canada, U.S.A., Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. Technical Information Paulo Pereira, P. Geo., President of GoldMining, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.? Mr. Pereira is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 (?NI 43-101?). Disclosure regarding Mineral Resource estimates included herein have been prepared by the Company in accordance with NI 43-101. NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators that establishes standards for public disclosure by issuer of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. NI 43-101 differs significantly from the disclosure requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (?SEC?) generally applicable to U.S. companies subject to the SEC?s disclosure requirements. For example, the terms ?Measured Mineral Resource?, ?Indicated Mineral Resource? and ?Inferred Mineral Resource? are defined in NI 43-101 by reference to the guidelines set out in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. These definitions differ from the definitions in the disclosure requirements promulgated by the SEC. Accordingly, information contained herein or in the Company?s descriptions of its projects may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies reporting pursuant to SEC disclosure requirements. \Inferred Mineral Resources\ have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that part or all of an inferred resource exists, or is economically or legally mineable. Please refer to the Company?s Technical Reports, which are available under its profile at www.sedar.com, for further information regarding Mineral Resource estimates for the Company?s projects and other important information regarding such projects, including classification, reporting parameters, key assumptions and risks for each of the Company?s projects. [1]Based on the closing price of the GRC Shares on the NYSE American and the applicable exchange rate on March 17, 2021. Forward-looking Statements This document contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of GoldMining with respect to its long-term strategy, proposed work and other plans and expected timing of PEAs and proposed drililng and its expectations for GRC and its proposed acquisitions. Forward-looking statements are based on the then-current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about the business and the markets in which GoldMining and GRC operate. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including: delays to plans caused by restrictions and other future impacts of COVID-19 or any other inability of the Company to meet expected timelines for planned project activities, including the proposed PEAs and drilling programs; the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, fluctuating metal prices, proposed studies may not confirm GoldMining\-\-s expectations for its projects, risks generally facing companies in GRC\-\-s sector, the ability of GRC to complete and satisfy the conditions to its proposed acquisition, unanticipated costs and expenses and the availability and costs of financing needed in the future. These risks, as well as others, including those set forth in GoldMining?s Annual Information Form for the year ended November 30, 2020, and other filings with Canadian securities regulators and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information, or the material factors or assumptions used to develop such forward looking information, will prove to be accurate. The Company does not undertake any obligations to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law. ? Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 09:18:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland reported one new locally transmitted COVID-19 case on Thursday, the National Health Commission said Friday. Eleven 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, and no new deaths related to the disease were reported, it added. Enditem Champaign, IL (61820) Today Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 82F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 61F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. ATLANTA, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Retail and ecommerce for furniture and home decor see big boost in Texas Upper Gulf Coast region this week as Ballard Designs opens its first Houston location. Look for special events and podcasting tips from local interior designers for five days straight. Ballard Designs, multi-channel home decor and furniture design company, officially opens its first Houston store this week. This is the 17th retail location nationally for the trending furnishings company. Figure 1 Ballard Designs dining room floor set for Houston store opening with spring 2021 Home Furniture & Decor product selection. The new retail store is now open in River Oaks! Figure 2 Shopping for Ballard Designs Fabric, Rugs, and other decor is fun and easy. On site complimentary design consultation is also available. Ballard's newly designed 10,000 square foot space in River Oaks Shopping Center houses fully decorated room vignettes, furniture, fabrics, lighting, drapery, hardware, and accessories and provides complimentary design service. Dominic Milanese, Senior Director of Retail for Ballard Designs reports that, "Ballard Design's four best-selling products in the Houston area in 2020 were fabrics and drapery hardware and that was strictly online shopping." Milanese added, "Now that the River Oaks physical store is open with samples of our 400-plus gorgeous fabrics, it'll be perfectly easy for Houston designers and homeowners to come view and compare fabrics, and make their design decisions." Opening celebrations continue all week with the hugely popular "How to Decorate" podcast airing March 22-28 with 5 top Houston interior designers on their favorite subjects: Marie Flanigan on finishes and colors on finishes and colors Sherrell Neal on detailed approaches to traditional design on detailed approaches to traditional design Illa Gaunt on choosing the perfect art on choosing the perfect art Meg Lonergan on worldly southern style on worldly southern style Jacob Medina on blending contemporary with multi-era styles Special store hours and social distancing protocols will also be in place. Ballard Designs is an omnichannel retailer offering a unique curation of home furnishings and decor from all periods and provenance. We travel the world for inspiration. Ballard also offers hundreds of custom options, expert design advice and inspiration, empowering customers to unleash their inner decorator. Ballard Designs is one of the Qurate Retail Group portfolio brands, including QVC, HSN, Zulily, Frontgate, Garnett Hill and Grandin Road. Media Contact: Ann Bailey 678-488-6516 [email protected] SOURCE Ballard Designs Bucking economists prognostications of a recovering job market, the release of the weekly Department of Labor (DOL) first-time unemployment state claims report on Thursday revealed another devastating 770,000 jobless claims for the week ending March 13, as the worst economic calamity to hit the working class since the Great Depression of the 1930s continues. In addition to sky-high state claims, over 282,000 jobless claims were filed under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program (PUA), bringing the weekly total to over 1 million combined claims. Pedestrians wear face coverings while passing by a sign on an empty restaurant/retail space Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in downtown Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) The PUA program, created under the CARES Act last March and renewed under the American Rescue Plan signed into law by President Joe Biden last Thursday, was designed to provide unemployment benefits for workers in the growing gig or temporary employment economy, which is increasingly the only source of work for younger, less-experienced, over-experienced and laid off workers. In the last 52 weeks, there has not been a single week where combined state and federal claims did not exceed 1 million. There also has not been a single week in which state claims have not exceeded the previous weekly high of 665,000 weekly claims, set in March 2009 during the Great Recession, or the record high of 695,000 claims registered in October of 1982. In the past year 81,790,000 state claims have been filed, nearly seven times the yearly average of 13 million. Even as millions of workers have lost their jobs, sold their belongings and cut back on food in order to survive, and over 550,000 in the US tragically and needlessly succumbed to COVID-19, pandemic profiteers such as Amazons Jeff Bezos and Teslas Elon Musk have seen their wealth soar, as billionaires the world over added nearly $4 trillion to their wealth last year. While over 22 million jobs were lost when lockdowns were first implemented in March and April, the over 80 million claims filed in the last year do not correlate directly to over 80 million job losses. The figure is more a result of technologically outdated and purposely confusing state unemployment systems which in many cases force jobless workers to apply multiple times in order to qualify for benefits, only to be followed by requests to reapply again in order to maintain or re-up the eligibility of said benefits. These broken and frustrating state unemployment systems, which have been purposely underfunded, neglected and designed to frustrate those in need of income, are part of concerted effort on the part of the ruling class and its lackeys in both big business parties to deny previously earned benefits to eligible workers, while forcing them back into dangerous factories and work sites in order to create surplus labor value for the ruling class. Illustrating the bipartisan decades-long social counter-revolution against the working class, a recent article in the New York Times found that since 1980 the average wage replacement provided by state unemployment systems has declined from around 37 percent in 1980 to under 34 percent today. In addition, the number of jobless workers actually receiving unemployment benefits has dropped from 37 percent of eligible workers to about 30 percent in that same time period. Last year in Tennessee, roughly 60 percent of unemployment applicants were rejected outright. The figure was higher in Arizona, where almost 70 percent of unemployment insurance applications were denied, with only 15 percent of jobless workers receiving anything from the state, discouraging thousands from applying. Likewise, in Florida an estimated 1 in 10 unemployed workers ever received a payment. According to the DOL report, as of February 27, roughly 18.2 million workers were collecting some form of unemployment benefit, with over 4 million workers filing continuing claims through their state. For comparisons sake, roughly 24.9 million jobless workers filed continuing claims in May of 2020. The reduction of over 20 million in the last 10 months is not a function of 20 million jobless finding work, but more of expiring eligibility, leading to either a cut-off of benefits or a shift to the federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program (PEUC). Roughly 12 million workers are still enrolled in either the PUA program or the PEUC program, which was created for workers who had exhausted their state benefits, which for many are less than $300 a week and last as little as 12 weeks. While last months job report claimed that the unemployment rate had dropped to 6.2 percent, it revealed that over 4 million workers had been without work for over six months, thereby dropping off the official unemployment rate statistic despite not having found work. The rate of the long-term unemployed (LTU) as a share of the unemployed has steadily increased throughout the pandemic, reaching 41.5 percent this past month, four percent off the historical peak of 45.5 percent set in April 2010 during the Great Recession. In addition to these labor-force drop-outs, which dont factor into the official federal unemployment rate of 6.2 percent, a study from the research firm Oxford Economics estimated that some 2 million workers have left the labor force after being forced to retire early, which is more than twice the number recorded in 2019. Even with scientifically ill-advised reopenings underway in the Democratic- and Republican-controlled states alike, the labor force participation rate among young and middle aged workers still remains below pre-pandemic figures. For workers 16 or older the participation rate is at 61 percent, two percent lower than the 63 registered in February 2020, while labor participation for workers between 25 to 54 has declined from 83 to 81 percent over the same period. Nearly 10 million jobs have yet to return since the ending of lockdowns which began last year, with economists predicting it could take up to a decade for all the jobs lost to return. While Biden and the Democrats have hailed the passage of the inadequate American Rescue Plan last Thursday as the most progressive piece of legislation in generations, the fact is the limited social measures included in the plan, such as child tax credits, stimulus checks, and $300-a-week federal unemployment benefits, fall woefully short of the urgent needs of millions of workers and their families and will expire at the end of the year. After stripping the bill of an increase in the federal minimum wage to the still-poverty wage of $15 an hour, one of the only meaningful temporary poverty reducing measures included in the bill for those not collecting unemployment payments is the delivery of $1,400 stimulus checks to single people making under $75,000 a year or couples making under $150,000. The delivery of the stimulus began this week with the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service reporting that roughly 90 million checks, costing $242 billion, had been sent out as of Wednesday. On Thursday, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders asked his Twitter followers what the $1,400 payments would mean for you and your family, hoping to elicit a positive response from his followers. Instead many responded by pointing out that the checks do not meet the needs that millions of workers are facing after a year of the pandemic. Its going to give me almost enough to cover a month of rent. Thats it. Not even going to me, its to my LL. [land lord] It took months of work to get us what amounts to crumbs, while corporations & the uber rich got billions in handouts without a second thought during this pandemic, Twitter user @RyanVons replied. @lolaslands responded incredulously, You think $1,400 is life changing or something? Ill be embarrassed for you. Most people cant even pay their rent with that amount of money. Robbie Kacey said she was disgusted after not receiving the last $600 stimulus, meaning another protracted battle with the IRS...if we can ever reach them. Compounding the worry of millions of workers that have not received their stimulus checks yet was the revelation earlier this week that, unlike the $600 checks approved last December, the latest payments can be garnished by private debt collectors. As for the $300-a-week extension of the federal unemployment benefit, a DOL memo released Monday advised that payments may not arrive until mid-April or later. In an interview with CNBC, Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the The Century Foundation, estimated that some two million people, whose benefits lapsed on March 14, might not see any payments for at least another month. In contrast to jobless workers who are forced to wait weeks for unemployment or stimulus checks, on Wednesday Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed that no expense would be spared in propping up the stock market through the purchase of $120 billion-a-month in Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities. Unlike the federal unemployment benefit, which Biden and the Democrats reduced from the $600-a-week in the CARES Act, to $400 and then $300, the $120 billion-a-month purchasing spree by the Fed has not been reduced since it began last June, totaling over $1.2 trillion so far, or enough for at least two more rounds of $1,400 stimulus checks for everyone in the United States. While Wall Street is assured that the money spigot will remain open for them, in Wisconsin no unemployed workers will be eligible to receive the $300 federal unemployment benefit until the Republican-controlled legislature grants a waiver to bypass a one-week waiting period restriction for unemployment applicants enacted by former Republican Governor Scott Walker in 2011. The legislature had previously passed a waiver exception in February this year, but only until March 14. Speaking for significant sections of the ruling class, Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said that the Republican caucus had not talked about extending the waiver and that he was concerned about creating a disincentive to work. Its a concern to a lot of us, myself included, Vos added. MicroStockHub/iStockBy CONOR FINNEGAN, ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- It was supposed to be a simple photo op with two American and two Chinese officials making brief remarks to kick off two days of hotly anticipated high-level talks -- the first since President Joe Biden took office. But those statements gave way Thursday to a remarkable hourlong back-and-forth of verbal attacks and accusations. The jabs speak to how tense relations are right now between the world's two largest economies -- one, a rising nationalist power no longer afraid to hold back on the world stage, and the other, the world's superpower reasserting itself amid a period of tumult and change. Biden has vowed to take a strong, but more-nuanced approach to China than his predecessor Donald Trump -- standing up with allies for human rights and against economic coercion, but seeking common ground on issues like climate change. What Chinese officials showed in Anchorage, Alaska, is that they won't back down either. Top diplomat Yang Jiechi lectured Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan for nearly 30 minutes, rejecting U.S. concerns over issues like Hong Kong and cyberattacks and mocking America over its democracy and human rights record. As the press was set to leave the room, Blinken told them to stay, firing back in brief remarks about the United States and its allies and partners' "deep concern" about Chinese actions and defending the U.S. as a nation that confronts its "challenges openly, publicly, transparently." Blinken and Sullivan's defenses prompted another round from Yang, even as press exited the room. As reporters returned, a visibly annoyed Yang accused the U.S. side of breaking protocol with its remarks and added, "The United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength." Expectations that these meetings would resolve major issues were already low on both sides. But the undiplomatic exchanges that played out in front of cameras are a symbolic sign of the deep strain in U.S.-Chinese relations, even for the Biden administration and its calls to find areas of cooperation. "I do hope this conversation would be one carried out with confidence on both sides, so it's not lectures or long-winding statements. It's the opportunity for us to explain where we're coming from, to hear where you're coming from," Sullivan said in response to Yang's initial lengthy remarks. Instead, a senior U.S. administration official blasted the Chinese delegation as "intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance." The official accused Yang of breaking protocol and dismissed the spat as "exaggerated diplomatic presentations ... aimed at a domestic audience" in a statement to reporters afterward. Chinese officials so publicly confronting the U.S. is not just to please its increasingly nationalist and autocratic leader Xi Jinping, but also to assert itself on the world stage. "The United States itself does not represent international public opinion, and neither does the Western world," Yang said, bashing the U.S. for creating "turmoil and instability" with military interventions in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan and "obstacles for normal trade activities" with Trump's tariffs. Wang Yi, China's foreign minister, played something of a good cop to Yang's bad cop, greeting Sullivan and Blinken as "two friends for the Chinese people." But he too urged the U.S. "to fully abandon the practice of willfully interfering in China's internal affairs" -- pointing to the sanctions earlier this week on 24 Chinese and Hong Kong officials as insulting. That's unlikely to happen, given broad support in the U.S. and among American allies for taking on China. Nearly half of Americans say China is their country's greatest enemy, according to the Pew Research Center, a figure that has doubled in the last year. Favorable views of China have fallen to a historic low of 20%, Pew said. Blinken told Yang that after his trip to Japan and South Korea this week and dozens of phone conversations with foreign counterparts, "I have to tell you, what I'm hearing is very different from what you described. I'm hearing deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that we're reengaged with our allies and partners. I'm also hearing deep concern about some of the actions your government is taking." In particular, Blinken and Sullivan raised China's treatment of Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, end to democratic self-rule in Hong Kong, economic coercion against U.S. allies and partners and aggressive activities toward Taiwan. "We do not seek conflict, but we welcome stiff competition, and we will always stand up for our principles, for our people and for our friends," said Sullivan, claiming earlier that they will raise "frankly, directly and with clarity ... the concerns on the minds of the American people" and shared by "our allies and partners in the broader international community." Before the meeting, there was some hope on both sides that the U.S. and China could at least avoid further deterioration in relations after four years of Trump's efforts to break apart U.S.-China relations economically and diplomatically. "It's good that we're opening up these channels of communication," a senior U.S. official told reporters during a briefing Tuesday night, with a second adding, "This is very much about sitting down, getting an understanding of each other, and then taking that back and taking stock." China's Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai similarly called for cooperation during his own briefing Wednesday, saying, "I hope that it will become a beginning and that the two sides will start a candid, constructive and rational process of dialogue and communication ... that the two sides will come with good will and leave with better mutual understanding." But now, even that seems unlikely. While both sides called for cooperation on issues like the coronavirus pandemic or climate change, it's unclear how they'll be able to compartmentalize those issues with tensions spilling out into public remarks and bubbling up in increasingly frenzied domestic audiences back home. "Gone is the optimism about China's behavior becoming more moderate, as well as the belief that Beijing is ready to be a net contributor to global goods. In its place is a more assertive approach designed to mitigate the Chinese Communist Party's capacity and will to advance objectives antithetical to U.S. interests," wrote Eric Sayers, an Asia-Pacific defense policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank. Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Taking potshots at the BJP for fielding several Trinamool Congress (TMC) turncoats in the West Bengal Assembly elections, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said that she was glad that the traitors are gone but the BJP old-timers were crying for being overlooked as candidates. BJP has fielded these turncoats overlooking long-time party workers and leaders which has left them demoralised and sulking, said Mamata. She was speaking at a rally at Egra in East Medinipur district. Without directly mentioning Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari, the Chief Minister said that the traitors have become BJP candidates to the dismay of long time BJP workers. Mirjafars and Gaddars (traitors) have become BJP candidates now. This has left the old-timers in BJP crying, said Mamata. Also Read | West Bengal Assembly polls: Age-old Left's shot at redemption with young guns Reiterating her "outsider" jibe against the saffron party, the TMC supremo urged the people to keep a vigil on outsiders entering their localities. They only know the politics of riot and murder. Keep an eye on outsiders entering your localities, said Mamata. She further alleged that the BJP chants Hari Hari in front and stabs people in the back. They attack people with tilak on their head and chewing Pan Parag. Pointing out that the TMC turncoats were given a lot of crucial responsibilities when they were in her party, Mamata said that from now on she will monitor every state Government project to ensure that it reaches eligible beneficiaries. She also said that the people of Bengal should not only reject the BJP in the Assembly elections but also not vote for the CPI(M) and the Congress as they were colluding with the saffron party. The TMC supremo urged the people to keep an eye on counting centres where EVMs will be kept after polling and said that they should not leave the place until the Central forces or the state police tell them to do so. When an EVM malfunctions, you have to ensure that the one replacing it is properly tested, said Mamata. As for her decision of contesting from Nandigram, Mamata said that she is often asked why I decided to contest from Nandigram instead of a seat in Kolkata. I am contesting from Nandigram as the land agitation there along with Singur played a key role (in Bengals political history). Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. New Delhi: American actress and humanitarian Rachel Meghan Markle, better known as Meghan Markle has recently accepted her relationship with real life beau Prince Harry for the very first time and the star of US drama Suits has said they are "really happy and in love". Confirming her relationship status, in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine, the "Suits" star said she is the same person, it is the people's perception that has changed. "I can tell you that at the end of the day I think it'sreally simple. We're two people who are really happy and inlove. We were very quietly dating for about six months before it became news, and I was working during that whole time, and the only thing that changed was people's perception." "Nothing about me changed. I'm still the same person that I am, and I've never defined myself by my relationship,"Markle, 36, said. The couple met in London through friends in July last year and reports of their budding romance started doing the rounds. Also Read | 'Ready For It' : Taylor Swift releases new number from 'Reputation' Markle, who was subjected to abuse and harassment when the news of the duo dating first broke, said being in a relationship with one of the most famous bachelors in the world does have some challenges. "It has its challenges, and it comes in waves ? some daysit can feel more challenging than others. And right out of thegate, it was surprising the way things changed. But I still have this support system all around me, and, of course, my boy friend's support. She added, "I don't read any press. I haven't even read press for 'Suits'. The people who are close to me anchor me in knowing who I am. The rest is noise." The actor, however, is focused on her relationship and is happy with the way things are going. Also Read: I don't enjoy being single, says Angelina Jolie "We're a couple. We're in love. I'm sure there will be atime when we will have to come forward and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope what people will understand is that this is our time. This is for us. It's partof what makes it so special, that it's just ours. But we'rehappy. Personally, I love a great love story," Meghan was quoted further while interacting with the reporters. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Hollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. OCEANO, Calif. (AP) The California Coastal Commission has voted to end off-highway vehicle use at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area within three years, a decision that follows decades of debate over environmental and cultural impacts. The 10-0 vote Thursday calls for the prohibition to take effect by 2024 at Oceano Dunes, the only California state park that allows recreational driving on the beach and in dunes. The California Department of Parks and Recreation said it was disappointed by the decision. At this time, the park will continue to operate under current operational guidelines while State Parks reviews the new conditions, it said in a statement that also asserted a commitment to protecting natural and cultural resources and ensuring all Californians have access to the park and its diverse recreational opportunities. The central coast park covers 3,500 acres (1,416 hectares) along 8 miles (12.8 kilometers) of shoreline and inland for about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) near the communities of Oceano and Grover Beach in southern San Luis Obispo County. Users primarily come to drive cars, trucks and off-highway vehicles on the beach and in the dunes, although some visitors come for beach day use, birdwatching, horseback riding, fishing and hiking, according to the commission. The vote followed commission findings that driving degraded dune habitats, harmed native species, caused air quality and public health issues to low-income communities nearby, and made other uses such as swimming and walking difficult. The California coast won, Steve Padilla, chair of the commission, told the Los Angeles Times. Fundamentally, California law doesnt allow for that kind of use in environmentally sensitive areas. The decision was long overdue, said Jeff Miller, a conservation advocate at the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, which sued the California Department of Parks and Recreation over off-roading harm to snowy plovers, a tiny shorebird that nests in depressions in sand. This reprieve for endangered wildlife and coastal dunes habitat will allow the non-motorized public to enjoy our beach and dunes as well as reduce greenhouse gases and dust pollution, Miller said in a statement. Oceano Dunes is one of nine vehicular recreation areas in the 280-unit state parks system. The vote was a bitter blow to off-roading, which is a lifestyle, industry and part of the economy. The Tribune of San Luis Obispo reported that owners of all-terrain vehicle rental shops had said their business will not survive the closure of the dunes to off-highway vehicles. First of all, I have over 100 ATVs I cant really turn around and sell right now, Gail Marshall, owner of Arnies ATV rentals in Oceano, told The Tribune last month. So, you know, Im kind of stuck between a hard spot and a rock right now. Amy Granat, managing director of the California Off-Road Vehicle Association, sharply criticized the Coastal Commission action in an email to The Associated Press. State Parks does an outstanding job serving all Californians, balancing recreation with the highest standards of environmental stewardship. Yesterday State Parks was demeaned and their incredible efforts at Oceano Dunes SVRA were trivialized and misrepresented, Granat wrote. Hanoi is planning a Red River urbanization project that will demarcate eight riverbank sections for development, six of them with low density constructions. The six sections will have a construction rate of 5 to 15 percent while the remaining two will be designated for "open space" developments like parks, squares and other agro-ecological spaces. Five of the six sections, with a total area of 1,590 hectares, will have a construction density of 5 percent. The sixth section, with an area of 408 hectares, will have a construction density of 15 percent. The project, scheduled for approval in June, has a total planning area of about 11,000 hectares covering 3,600 hectares of the river and 7,400 hectares of riverbank. Currently, the riverside area has diverse topography, including unused bare land, farmland and long-standing villages. Such villages have a total area of about 1,190 hectares. The project plans to build new, modern urban areas, high-quality ecological houses and urban public works serving residents on both sides of the river and the city as a whole. All constructions and other works will be designed to withstand flooding. While some of the existing residential areas will be preserved, residents will have to relocate, temporarily or permanently, to other areas. A final agreement on relocation has not been reached and concerned agencies are working on it. The residential areas that will be preserved, covering about 1,165 hectares,will be renovated and expanded by 60 hectares. The project envisages no change in the currently densely populated areas in flood drainage regions spread across the districts of Bac Tu Liem, Tay Ho, Hoan Kiem and Hai Ba Trung. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quoc Thong, Chairman of the Architecture Council, Vietnam Association of Architects, said a welcome feature of the project was that the density of construction on the riverbanks was very low. "The water and green grass on the riverbanks are not just a landscape feature of Hanoi, but a culturally important one." He said it was important that more skyscrapers for business are not built. The focus, instead, must be supplementing and completing essential works, thereby improving the quality of life for residents. He said areas outside the project also carried great cultural value that should be further enhanced to become an iconic symbol of the city. Nguyen Van An, 60, a resident of Dong Ngac Ward in Bac Tu Liem District, said riverbank erosion has been eating up land for some time. Since 2011, the area had been earmarked for building bamboo breakwaters, so people were not allowed to expand the area for construction. An said he does not want to leave, but is willing to abide by the citys plans. He hoped that the government will come up with a suitable relocation plan. The Red River project is part of a city master plan for constructions upto 2030, with vision until 2050. The threat of No Deal Brexit has 'resurfaced' amid renewed tensions between the UK and the EU, peers are warning. The Lords EU committee is expected to highlight the delays in the bloc ratifying the trade agreement struck by Boris Johnson in a report next week. The group - led by cross-bencher Lord Kinnoull - will caution that the Northern Ireland protocol row has soured relations, according to the Guardian. It comes as the EU threatens to push ahead with legal action over the UK's decision unilaterally to suspend parts of the Brexit terms, amid fears that obstacles to trade with the mainland are fueling sectarian tensions. Fears have been rising that obstacles to trade between Northern Ireland and the mainland due to the Brexit terms are fueling sectarian tensions and risk undermining the peace process Although the UK and EU struck a deal over Christmas before the transition period, it is only in force currently because of an emergency procedure deployed by the commission. The European parliament must give approval to make it legally binding, but that ratification has been delayed until April 30. A complete block from MEPs would be a huge step and is considered highly unlikely. The Lords EU committee is publishing its last reports next week before being wound down for good. In a study titled Beyond Brexit, the Institutional Framework, the peers are set to warn: 'The European Union committee warned in December 2017 that it was difficult to envisage a worse outcome for the UK than a 'no-deal' 'We are therefore concerned that recent developments have so undermined trust that the possibility of ''no deal'' in other words, a failure to ratify the trade and cooperation agreement (TCA) has now resurfaced.'. Lord Kinnoull will say that 'at least 24 pipelines for discussion with the EU are not open' to improve relations. However, he says he is 'optimistic' that the bitter row over the Northern Ireland protocol can be resolved (Natural News) Will and Ariel Durant wrote in their eleven-volume Story of Civilization, Volume 3: If Rome had not engulfed so many men of alien blood in so brief a time, if she had passed all these newcomers through her schools instead of her slums,if she had occasionally closed her gates to let assimilation catch up with infiltration, she might have gained new racial and literary vitality from the infusion, and might have remained a Roman Rome, the voice and citadel of the West. (Article by Don Boys, Ph.D. republished from AllNewsPipeline.com) However, they did not do so, and the great Roman Empire crumbled. Rome was no longer Roman because of lack of assimilation, and America and many of the free nations are doing what Durant warned of Romes fall. Struck giddy with feel-goodism, we have opened our gates for tribes of uneducated, uncultured, and often uncouth peoples that are quickly transforming America into another nation. America is no longer American. We are seeing the decline and fall of the American Republic! Many free nations are making the same mistake as massive hordes of emigrants with alien cultures, languages, religions, etc., are swamping and overwhelming European populations. England is no longer English, France is no longer French, and Germany is no longer German. Muslim leaders generally have not tried to educate their people in civilized behavior. If they want to live among decent, civilized people, they should discard the Arabian Desert mentality. They should dress normally, lighten up, and realize that most of us are not going to agree with their theology or seek to emulate the sayings and actions of the prophet. We have a culture and theology of our own, thank you. It is nonsense to promote policies that are dangerous, detrimental, and destructive to ones homeland. There is no validity in the arguments used by liberals/progressives in this debate. Our primary interest must not be to promote a social policy. Helping relieve the social and economic problems of another nation is not relevant. Nor is it desirable or in our best interest to appease and serve an elite group of U.S. businesspeople. Nor do we make policy decisions to make whiners feel good. What is best for our nation must be the criterion. U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan was a black liberal Democrat who headed the Jordan Commission in 1995. Although a liberal, she said, Credibility in immigration policy can be summed up in one sentence: those who should get in, get in; those who should be kept out, are kept out; and those who should not be here will be required to leave. Can any honest, sane person disagree with that? Evidently, Biden and whats-her-name Harris and most Democrats disagree since they have installed metaphorical signs at the southern border declaring, Welcome to America, the land of endless freebies thanks to Democrats and RINOs. Join the line to the left. And the line is endless. America has more immigrants than any other country in the world. Today, More than 40 million people living in the U.S. were born in another country, accounting for about one-fifth of the worlds migrants. We are the most concerned, compassionate, and careless nation on earth. All other nations are more careful about who comes and goes and who stays than America is. Pew Research Center reported, more than 1 million immigrants arrive in the U.S. each year. What is shocking in that report is more people came from China (149,000) than any other nation in 2018! Mexico sent us her best 120,000 people. No one knows how many illegal aliens are coming via the Biden Expressway at the southern border. We accept a million legal immigrates each yeara number that should be reduced to zero for five years. If migrant workers are needed, then temporary worker cards can be awarded using strict supervision. When the time has expired, each case can be evaluated, and if workers are still needed, then the cards can be renewed. Everyone wins since the necessary laborers are found; poor foreign workers have temporary jobs; money is sent home; etc. We must admit that if large numbers of immigrants, legal or illegal, enter the U.S., it will relieve some of the other nations social and economic problems, but what will it do to Americas problems? By what twisted logic are U.S. citizens expected to forfeit their hard-earned money to provide for foreigners, especially those foreigners who are criminals? Should U.S. taxpayers be expected to finance millions of uneducated, unskilled, and often un-American illegal immigrants? I can defend the position that we should not finance legal immigrants. The Biden administrations legalization of at least eleven million illegal aliens (some say it is more than 20 million) will destroy a once-great nation. By stopping all immigration for five years and plugging the hole in our borders, we would permit assimilation [to] catch up with infiltration. While many of the aliens are decent, hardworking people, many are not. I think this tragic immigration policy will create political, financial, and cultural anarchy. For sure, it is changing America. Read more at: AllNewsPipeline.com and OpenBorders.news A new direct route between Australia and New Zealand is set to open, fittingly as soon as Anzac Day, in the first hint the travel bubble between the two countries is set to return. Air New Zealand announced a new direct route between Hobart and New Zealand on Friday citing demand from both Kiwis and Tasmanians to bring in a non-stop flight. The Tasmanian government say the agreement, the first non-stop flights to and from NZ in over 20 years, will start when the travel corridor is resumed - which they believe could be as early as April 25th. Air New Zealand announced a new direct route between Hobart and New Zealand on Friday citing demand from both Kiwis and Tasmanians to bring in a non-stop flight Air New Zealand and the Tasmanian government announced the deal in a press conference Air New Zealand and the Tasmanian government announced the deal in a press conference on Friday afternoon saying Kiwis had been flocking to the island state in recent years and that Hobart was its largest unserved port in the country. 'Pre-COVID-19, Tasmania was the largest Australian port unserved by a direct route from New Zealand, and in 2019 nearly 57,000 passengers travelled from New Zealand to Tasmania, so we expect this new route to stimulate even greater demand between the two destinations,' Air New Zealand said on the new agreement. 'We know Tasmanians love to visit New Zealand and this non-stop service to Auckland will make it that much easier to get out into our great outdoors and access our winter playgrounds. 'Australian visitors will be able to connect to the other 19 ports we fly to in New Zealand. So with a flight time of just four hours to Auckland, customers are only a short skip away from the ski fields of the South Island, the vineyards of the central plateau, and the culture and history of Northland.' Tickets will go on sale once Australia and New Zealand allow travel between the two island countries The two-year deal will ensure passengers don't have to hotel quarantine at either destination, once the agreement between Australia and New Zealand is restored. Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein said he hopes the deal encourages more Kiwis to visit the island and hinted that it was part of a bigger deal between the two nations. 'I am very pleased that this service will enable us to welcome more New Zealanders to our state and encourage them to consider booking their next holiday in Tassie and see what we have to offer,' Premier Gutwein said in a press conference on Friday. 'I'm hopeful it will (occur by Anzac Day) and if not some time very close to that,' Mr Gutwein said. 'I think New Zealanders, in same way as Australians and Tasmanians, have had a real desire to travel. 'I think there will be real demand from NZ and Tourism Tasmania have already been in that market with a taster exercise reminding people just how good Tasmania is.' Tickets will go on sale once Australia and New Zealand allow travel between the two island countries. Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, has announced the appointment of Ahmed ElSayed as Regional Channel Manager for Middle East and South Africa (MESA). In this new role, ElSayed will drive the companys growth and expansion in the region by assuming overall responsibility for the channel partner ecosystem, including distributors and managed service partners. He will spearhead strategic and tactical sales planning, partner recruitment and training and enablement. Commenting on the appointment, Sherifa Hady, VP, Channel Sales, at HPE Aruba says: Enterprises today are accelerating their digital transformation plans in the light of remote working which has become a business imperative brought on by the pandemic. Against this scenario, Arubas AI-powered cloud-native solutions that transform the network to support innovation and the future of work, is seeing a huge amount of interest from regional customers. With the high growth potential that we see in the market, we decided to appoint a result-oriented channel leader like Ahmed. We believe that through his inspiring vision and strategy, partners will be able to deliver Arubas value proposition in line with customers business priorities. ElSayed has worked at Aruba since 2012 and has a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience. He has successfully held a number of positions within the company, ranging from Channel SMB Account Manager in GCC, Pakistan and Iraq to Middle East Distribution Manager which expanded to the larger MEMA/ MESA region. Prior to joining Aruba, he was the Partner Account Manager for Saudi Enterprise and SMB market at Cisco. Over the years at Aruba, ElSayed and his team have managed to drive consistent double-digit growth on Aruba Instant On (AIO) portfolio business, building Arubas Application Acceleration Service (AAS) foundation in multiple countries, accelerating SMB channel-led business by a double digit YoY growth, driving transactional revenue growth and developing and executing strategies for Aruba ESP (Edge Services Platform), a key solution in the companys portfolio. I am excited to officially take over as channel manager for MESA. Our partners are a big part of our success as an organisation and I look forward to deepening our engagement with them and taking our channel ecosystem to the next level, concludes ElSayed. -- Tradearabia News Service An asylum seeker who fled gang violence and kidnap in his home country has described being housed in military barracks in the UK as 'the worst experience of my life'. Eduardo was forced to flee from his home country of El Salvador, after being kidnapped by gangsters. After arriving in the UK, he was housed at Penally camp in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The site is one of two Ministry of Defence sites the Home Office has used to house asylum seekers. Established in 1860, the site was used by soldiers during the First and Second World War for weapons training and also provided facilities for many British and Allied troops. The Home Office is to stop using Penally after conditions at the site were slammed in an independent report. An asylum seeker who fled gang violence and kidnap in his home country has described being housed in military barracks in the UK as 'the worst experience of my life'. Pictured: Penally Camp in Wales When arriving in the UK, he was housed at Penally camp in Pembrokeshire, Wales (pictured: A makeshift sleeping area). The site is one of two Ministry of Defence sites the Home Office has used to house asylum seekers The other site, Napier Barracks in Kent, will continue to provide 'safe and secure accommodation for 'otherwise destitute' asylum seekers, a Home Office spokesperson said. The history of Penally Camp in Wales Penally Camp is a military site Tenby in Wales, adjacent to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. It was first set up as a military base 1860 and to provide musketry training after the Crimean War - in which an alliance of Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire and Sardinia fought against Russia. The base was used extensively during the First and Second World Wars. It provided facilities for many British and Allied troops and some of the original buildings are still in use. It has a small firing range which was built in the middle of the 19th century and was used to train soldiers during both wars. There are still practice trenches which were used to train conscripted troops before they were sent to fight in World War One in the area. Many of the trenches, which were typically built in three parallel lines and were linked by communication trenches, are similar to those seen on the Western Front. They were built by new recruits, providing them with training in trench construction and teaching them how to move around and live in them. The remains of the trenches are believed to be the last remaining ones in the UK, David Gelnnerster told the BBC. In 2020, the site was leased by the Ministry of Defence to the Home Office and used to house asylum seekers. But the site was deemed inadequate and a report found 'fundamental failures' at the military barracks - parts of which were said to be 'filthy'. The Government agreed to stop using the camp. The Home Office is continuing to house migrants in Napier Barracks in Kent. Advertisement Eduardo said he was initially held in the detention centre before being taken to a hotel, where he stayed for several months. One day, he was notified that he was being moved to an unknown location and told to get on a bus with 22 others. 'It was raining, the wind was blowing a lot, it was a really, really scary situation. I was afraid because nobody was explaining what was happening with us,' he said. 'It was the worst experience of my life... when we arrived there it was awful, it was really, really scary.' He described Penally as a 'really bad dream' and said proper Covid protocols were not in place, with 200 men sharing facilities. He has since left the site. Pictures from inside Penally have shown run down buildings, make-shift sleeping areas and bed sheets used to provide a degree of privacy. Penally is now set to close in the wake of an independent report which found 'fundamental failures' over housing asylum seekers at the military barracks, parts of which were 'filthy'. Napier Barracks, in Kent, which is also being used to house asylum seekers, is to remain open. Today, people across the country are to come together for a virtual day of action calling for fair treatment of people seeking asylum. The event is being organised by various charities and organisations, and will feature speeches from several MPs. Friday's virtual day of action on asylum seeker welfare will feature speeches from Caroline Nokes MP, Holly Lynch MP, shadow secretary of state for immigration, and Stuart Macdonald MP, shadow spokesperson for home affairs. The event is being organised by Freedom from Torture, Asylum Matters, Choose Love, Detention Action and Refugee Action, who are campaigning against the Home Office's policy to house asylum seekers in army barracks during the pandemic. Kolbassia Haoussou, director of survivor empowerment at Freedom from Torture, said: 'After huge pressure from frontline charities and medical experts, we are pleased that the barracks in Penally are closing. 'But Napier remains open despite the life-threatening conditions inside. 'The way people are housed in this country is about more than providing shelter, it is a reflection of how we treat people who have fled danger and chaos to find safety. It is a reflection of who we are. 'It is time the Government stops playing politics with people's lives. We need a fair and efficient asylum system that allows those who need sanctuary to rebuild their lives within our communities'. Eduardo said he was initially held in a detention centre (pictured: A sink area of the Penally Camp) before being taken to a hotel, where he stayed for several months Pictures from inside Penally have shown run down buildings, make-shift sleeping areas and bed sheets used to provide a small degree of privacy A Home Office spokesperson said: 'Napier will remain in operation in accordance with current needs it has provided safe and secure accommodation for asylum seekers, who would otherwise be destitute with three meals a day all paid for by the British taxpayer. 'The Home Secretary will soon bring forward her plan to fix our broken asylum system and that plan will address the Government's asylum estate.' Last week the Welsh Secretary Simon Hart announced asylum seekers will be moved out of military barracks in Wales that were branded 'impoverished and run-down'. Mr Hart confirmed in a letter to residents near Penally Camp that the site would be returned to the Ministry of Defence by March 21. Asylum seekers will be moved out of the Penally military barracks in Wales after they were branded 'impoverished and run-down', the Welsh Secretary has said. The decision comes after an independent inspection of the Penally site, as well that of Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, found they were 'impoverished, run-down and unsuitable for long-term accommodation' Mr Hart's letter said that although the decision to use the camp to house asylum seekers had caused 'much frustration and anger' in the community, the Home Office claimed it had 'little option at the time.' El Salvador: The central American country that was once the murder capital of the world El Salvador is a small country in central America that has long been plague by gang violence. The country, which endured a brutal civil war in the 1980s, is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous countries in the world and was once the planet's murder capital. Despite a population of just 6.5million people, in early 2012 there were on average of 16 killings per day. In 2015 it peaked at 105 murders per 100,000 residents. While the crime has dropped significantly in recent years, violent crimes including armed robbery, banditry, assault, kidnapping, sexual assault, and carjacking are still common. However travel advice from the UK Government says that, while acknowledging the country has one of the highest crime rates in Latin America, 'most visits to El Salvador are trouble free'. That is because much of the crime is gang focused. There are thought to be around 60,000 gang members split between two main gangs - Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) and Barrio 18 (La 18). The gangs are notorious for drugs and sex trafficking. Though the country continues to struggle with high rates of poverty, inequality, and gang-related violence, the country has of late undergone rapid industrialisation GDP growth in El Salvador reached 2.3 percent in 2019. However experts believe the Covid pandemic will negatively impact poverty reduction and economic growth, with GDP expected to contract by 8.7 percent in 2020. Advertisement The first of around 250 male asylum seekers aged between 18 and 35 moved into the site in September of last year. The decision comes after an independent inspection of the Penally site, as well that of Napier Barracks, found they were 'impoverished, run-down and unsuitable for long-term accommodation'. Mr Hart's letter on Tuesday said: 'I am very pleased to confirm that the Home Office has agreed to return Penally Camp to the Ministry of Defence by March 21. 'The decision has been taken following many weeks of discussions between myself, the Wales Office and the Home Office ministerial team. 'During those meetings and discussions (which have been taking place almost daily over the last few months) we have tried to ensure that the concerns of everybody involved have been properly and legally accounted for. 'The impact of flight and accommodation regulations due to Covid-19 have made this much more complicated than would usually be the case. 'I am deeply conscious that the manner in which the use of Penally came about caused much frustration and anger. The Home Office has recognised this contributed to heightened tensions, but stress they had little option at the time.' Mr Hart's letter paid tribute to police, the health board and the local authority for their efforts in 'maintaining a measured approach to a situation thrust upon them at short notice'. The Home Office has faced repeated criticism over its use of Penally Camp and Napier Barracks to accommodate asylum seekers. However, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Immigration Minister Chris Philp have both previously defended the use of such sites. Last week, an independent report found 'fundamental failures' over housing asylum seekers at the military barracks, parts of which were 'filthy'. The Home Office today said the site 'has been good value for money' and those living there would 'otherwise be destitute'. It followed inspections by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP). Inspectors said: 'The environment at both sites, especially Napier, was impoverished, run-down and unsuitable for long-term accommodation.' At both locations, residents described feeling trapped in poor conditions and feared that if they moved out they would jeopardise their only source of support and possibly their asylum cases. A petition calling to close Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, and Penally Barracks in Pembrokeshire, where asylum seekers are being housed has been signed by thousands of people within hours of its launch. Pictured: Peaceful protesting at the barracks The asylum seekers living at Penally barracks attracted Both far right activists, and anti racism groups. Asylum seekers reported being shouted at and intimidated by protesters The arrival of the men was initially met with protests from locals concerned over the impact on local services and house prices in the 800-resident village. Far right activists later joined in demonstrations and were reported to have shouted at and intimidated the asylum seekers. Anti-racism groups also gathered at the centre. Penally Camp is used by the Ministry of Defence for training courses, which have been rescheduled or moved to alternative military sites during their use as temporary accommodation. The Home Office are now arranging to move the asylum seekers into other accommodation in Wales. They declined to give the location. The report by the ICIBI said that those living in Napier Barracks would also be moved to new accommodation by April 2, but they were not told where this would be. However, the Home Office told MailOnline that the site 'will remain in operation in accordance with current needs'. A spokesperson added: 'Penally has provided safe and secure accommodation for asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. The site has been good value for money and we are grateful to MoD for temporary use of this site. 'This provided emergency capacity in response to pressures put on the asylum estate during COVID. As those pressures have eased we have decided not to extend emergency planning permission beyond six months. Napier will remain in operation in accordance with current needs. 'The Home Secretary will soon bring forward her plan to fix our broken asylum system and that plan will address the Government's asylum estate.' Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation Karabakh's new State Minister Artak Beglaryan on his appointment and future activities Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani representatives hold consultations in Moscow 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight injuries after incident with Azerbaijani servicemen in Armenia's Gegharkunik Armenian boy weighing 5 kg born at Goris Medical Center "Armenia" bloc representative presents purpose of participation in elections and plans Isaac Herzog elected President of Israel Rouhani: Main issues between Tehran, Washington resolved in Vienna Charles Michel calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume constructive negotiations US Department of State responds to Pashinyan's proposal to deploy international observers on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Head of Armenia 2nd President's Office: Robert Kocharyan's public meetings are held in warm atmosphere Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representative on photos and videos showing bags of deceased servicemen's bodies Armenia Ombudsman, AGBU President discuss war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during Karabakh war Opposition "Armenia" bloc's representatives to hold briefings three times a week Opposition "Armenia" bloc member: Blood-freezing photos and videos from morgue in Abovyan are authorities' reflection Yerevan mayor receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Health Ministry, Investigative Committee keep info about sending remains of dead soldiers abroad confidential Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case regarding leaving sacs of servicemen's bodies/remains in basement Peskov: Putin and Biden to discuss cybersecurity issues Armenia's Pashinyan meets with Belgian PM Alexander De Croo Armenia acting MOD receives Netherlands Ambassador Armenia Police: 3 citizens apprehended during protest demanding acting health minister's resignation NATO warns Minsk about further consequences of Ryanair incident Armenia economic competition protection commission: Experts forecast inflation of butter prices Armenia citizens' protest against acting health minister is over Pashinyan visits France, judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku, Jun. 2 digest Armenian Ambassador, FMO representatives consider opportunities for expansion of cooperation in Armenia Armenia Prosecutor General is on working visit to Russia Armenia acting PM meets with European Council President in Brussels Armenia citizens throw polyethylene bags at Health Ministry building, police apprehend protesters Acting deputy minister: Armenia authorities plan to build 46km section of North-South highway in 2021 Dollar is stable in Armenia Armenia official: Large number of projects being prepared in construction sector Identity of man killed Wednesday morning in downtown Yerevan is found out Armenian lawyer: Azerbaijan poses a threat to security in Europe Deputy economy minister: There are signs of rapid tourism recovery in Armenia Azerbaijan grossly violating 2 Armenian POWs rights, says international law expert Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani defense ministry disseminated disinformation about 40 Armenian soldiers crossing border Armenian Republican Party: It's possible to restore borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Lachin corridor Missing Armenian soldiers' relatives hand letter to Russia Embassy with request to solve captives' issue Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry reveals international narco crime, narcotic drugs were sent from Armenia Advisor to Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan brought up generation of Armenophobic Azerbaijanis and is proud of this Armenian advocate: Azerbaijan is creepily expanding towards Armenia Armenian acting minister: Armenia has potential to introduce major changes in high technology sector Armenia 2nd President: Authorities put country's future in jeopardy with their actions Man killed in downtown Yerevan is bodyguard of "criminal authority" Construction of Eternity Square launched by Tovmasyan Foundation begins in Armenia Armenia deputy police chief refuses to comment on murder in Yerevan at daytime Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Missing soldiers relatives stage picket outside Russia embassy in Armenia 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 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives to hold a press conference in Ottawa on Friday, March 19, 2021. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will continue to hold Iran to account after its military shot down a passenger jet in January 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Hurricane season 2021 is here: How do storms get their names? Ozlem Tureci founder of the BioNTech company speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, March 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) The scientist who won the race to deliver the first widely used coronavirus vaccine says people can rest assured the shots are safe, and the technology behind it will soon be used to fight another global scourgecancer. Ozlem Tureci, who co-founded the German company BioNTech with her husband, was working on a way to harness the body's immune system to tackle tumors when they learned last year of an unknown virus infecting people in China. Over breakfast, the couple decided to apply the technology they'd been researching for two decades to the new threat, dubbing the effort "Project Lightspeed." Within 11 months, Britain had authorized the use of the mRNA vaccine BioNTech developed with U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, followed a week later by the United States. Tens of millions of people worldwide have received the shot since December. "It pays off to make bold decisions and to trust that if you have an extraordinary team, you will be able to solve any problem and obstacle which comes your way in real time," Tureci told The Associated Press in an interview. Among the biggest challenges for the small, Mainz-based company that had yet to get a product to market was how to conduct large-scale clinical trials across different regions and how to scale up the manufacturing process to meet global demand. Ozlem Tureci founder of the BioNTech company speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, March 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) Along with Pfizer, the company enlisted the help of Fosun Pharma in China "to get assets, capabilities and geographical footprint on board, which we did not have," Tureci said. Among the lessons she and her husband, BioNTech chief executive Ugur Sahin, learned along with their colleagues was "how important cooperation and collaboration is internationally." Tureci, who was born in Germany to Turkish immigrants, said the company, which has staff members from 60 countries, reached out to medical oversight bodies from the start, to ensure that the new type of vaccine would pass the rigorous scrutiny of regulators. "The process of getting a medicine or a vaccine approved is one where many questions are asked, many experts are involved and there is external peer review of all the data and scientific discourse," she said. Amid a scare in Europe this week over the coronavirus shot made by British-Swedish rival AstraZeneca, Tureci dismissed the idea that any corners were cut by those racing to develop a vaccine. "There is a very rigid process in place and the process does not stop after a vaccine has been approved," she said. "It is, in fact, continuing now all around the world, where regulators have used reporting systems to screen and to assess any observations made with our or other vaccines." Husband and wife Ugur Sahin, second from right, and Ozlem Tureci, second from left, the founders of the coronavirus vaccine developer BioNTech, pose for a photo at an Axel Springer Award ceremony for the research couple broadcast on the Internet, Thursday, March 18, 2021. (Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa via AP, Pool) Tureci and her colleagues have all received the BioNTech vaccine themselves, she told the AP. "Yes, we have been vaccinated," she said. As BioNTech's profile has grown during the pandemic, so has its value, providing funds the company can use to pursue its original goal of developing a new tool against cancer. The vaccines made by BioNTech-Pfizer and U.S. rival Moderna uses messenger RNA, or mRNA, to carry instructions into the human body for making proteins that prime it to attack a specific virus. The same principle can be applied to get the immune system to take on tumors. "We have several different cancer vaccines based on mRNA," said Tureci, who is BioNTech's chief medical officer. Asked when such a therapy might be available, Tureci said "that's very difficult to predict in innovative development. But we expect that within only a couple of years, we will also have our vaccines (against) cancer at a place where we can offer them to people." For now, Tureci and Sahin are trying to ensure the vaccines governments have ordered are delivered and that the shots respond effectively to any new mutation in the virus. Ozlem Tureci, right, and Ugur Sahin, founders of the coronavirus vaccine developer BioNTech, deliver remarks during an Axel Springer Award ceremony broadcast on the Internet, Thursday, March 18, 2021. (Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa via AP, Pool) On Friday, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier awarded the wife and husband one of the country's highest decorations, the Order of Merit, during a ceremony attended by Chancellor Angela Merkel, a trained scientist herself. "You began with a drug to treat cancer in a single individual," Steinmeier told the couple. "And today we have a vaccine for all of humanity." Tureci said ahead of the ceremony that getting the award was "indeed an honor." But she insisted developing the vaccine was the work of many. "It's about the effort of many: our team at BioNTech, all the partners who were involved, also governments, regulatory authorities, which worked together with a sense of urgency," Tureci said. "The way we see it, this is an acknowledgement of this effort and also a celebration of science." 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. Hundreds of jobs will be saved at an aluminum smelter in Victoria thanks to a $76 million government deal to secure its electricity supply, which consists of renewable energy. Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the underwriting commitment, with the public money to be spent over four years. Under the deal, AGL, Alinta, and Origin will supply power for the Alcoa smelter so it can remain open for at least another five years. Were very committed to ensuring Australia has a future in heavy industry, making things here in Australia, whether it be aluminum or steel or whatever it happens to be and how it works into our advanced manufacturing industries right across the country, Morrison said in Portland on Friday. The other big challenge weve got is weve got to keep the lights on. That means we need reliable energy to drive our industries but also to keep our cities lights on as well. Alcoas arrangement with the government is built on the understanding the smelter provides stability to the electricity market, because it uses a lot of power. The smelter will be able to reduce how much power it uses during times when the electricity grid is under stress, such as at the height of summer when scores of air conditioners are keeping households cool. More than 30 per cent of the smelters electricity is from renewable sources, which is expected to increase as the state works towards its 50 per cent renewables target. The smelter is Portlands biggest employer with about 600 workers and contractors. According to its website, the smelter produces approximately 19 percent of Australias aluminium. Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas said the state would work with the company to sign all the final paperwork. We look forward to continuing to work with Alcoa and the Commonwealth in finalising the agreement and securing this valuable asset for the Great South Coast region and all of Victoria. Alcoa Australia president Michael Gollschewski has thanked employees and contractors for hanging in. After a year characterised by uncertainty we are delighted to have clarity on the smelters power supply, he said. Graduate student workers at Illinois State University (ISU) in Normal, Illinois will vote April 2 on whether to authorize strike action against the university administration, which has dragged out negotiations over a labor agreement for a year and a half. The student workers are organized in the Graduate Workers Union (GWU), which is affiliated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73. The GWU/SEIU have been engaged in negotiations with ISU since October of 2019, shortly after the union was legally recognized by the National Labor Relations Board. Since then, the university has resisted coming to an agreement on what would be the first GWU/SEIU contract at ISU. Illinois State University (Image credit: David Wilson) The conditions for ISU graduate student workers are among the worst in the region. The average stipend is just $9,441 for the nine-month academic year. This rate is considerably lower than other Midwestern schools like Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, University of Illinois or University of Wisconsin. Along with increases in wages, graduate student workers are demanding full access to health care, including vision and dental, and greater protections for international students who are often charged with more fees than other students. Another central demand is to eliminate deductions from their pay in the form of mandatory administrative fees that are forced upon students at the beginning of each semester. According to a statement published on the GWUs website, grad student pay is so poor that the university has recently been in danger of violating state minimum wage laws. The statement noted that some grad students this year received a minor increase in pay to stay above the $11 an hour minimum wage that went into effect in Illinois on January 1, 2021. After the GWU announced they were considering a strike authorization, University President Larry Deitz responded, saying only, We believe there is much to be accomplished through additional dialogue. I encourage continued commitment to good faith negotiations. Deitz, who is set to retire in June, was recently awarded a $46,000 bonus on top of his yearly salary of $375,000 by the ISU Board of Trustees. Bargaining sessions continued yesterday on March 18. At the time of this writing, no progress in negotiations has been announced. The GWU has called a full membership meeting on March 26 to discuss negotiations and the possibility of a strike. On April 2, GWU members will vote to authorize a strike. However, as the leaders of the union have made explicitly clear in their statements to the press, the April 2 vote will not be the beginning of a strike but will merely allow the union bargaining team to call another strike vote if they deem it necessary at some unspecified point in the future. The central obstacle the grad students face is the SEIU, which has a long record of selling out the workers they ostensibly represent. The SEIU maintains the closest ties to the national and state Democratic Party and has long signed sweetheart contracts with employers, which traded away the rights and living standards of its members and guaranteed labor peace in exchange for the ability to collect union dues from largely low-paid workers. This has enabled the SEIU to gain large numbers of dues-paying members and for its highly paid executives to rise to the top of the American labor bureaucracy. Last September, the SEIU shut down a 10-day strike by 4,000 service workers at the University of Illinois-Chicago, who were demanding improved wages and protections against COVID-19. The deal signed by the SEIU only raised wages to the Chicago minimum of $15 per hour. A month later, the SEIU ended a 12-day strike by nursing home workers demanding raises and more protections in facilities that have been devastated by the pandemic. The agreement guaranteed a minimum pay of just $11.10 for nursing home workers, with most employees receiving a raise of only $1 or $2 per hour. Once a contractual agreement is reached between the ISU and SEIU, the union will be legally permitted to start collecting dues payments from grad students. As it stands, as far as the SEIU is concerned, reaching any agreement, even one that would lower wages, would be a win as they would gain a new section of funding through dues payments. The possibility of a strike at ISU comes as a university strike wave is emerging. Currently 3,000 graduate student workers are engaged in an indefinite strike at Columbia University in New York City, where student workers are demanding higher wages, affordable housing, better health care coverage and improved working conditions. Students at Kenyon College in Ohio have also recently authorized a strike against unsafe work conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Likewise, more than 1,200 New York University graduate students have signed a petition demanding the resumption of negotiations for a fair labor contract in response to a lack of sufficient health and safety measures. Grad student workers must look to the working class to support their struggles, not to the trade union bureaucracy and the Democratic Party, which are forcing educators back into unsafe schools and preparing savage austerity measures to pay for the growing government debt. The way forward for graduate students at ISU and other campuses is to form rank-and-file committees, independent of the unions, to unite their struggles across campuses and with educators and broader sections of the working class against both corporate-controlled parties and the capitalist system they defend. Mingyu Sun is from Wuhan, China, where COVID-19 was first detected. In December 2019, she visited her family for the first time in more than three years since coming to the University of Georgia for her graduate degree. She returned within days of newly enforced travel advisories from the United States. The Red & Black documented her experience in our first article about the coronavirus back when COVID-19 hadnt entered our daily conversations and before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Before the masks, lockdowns and social distancing, Sun and other Chinese students already left normal life. China already experienced everything. Its a little surprising to me that some countries didnt pay enough attention, Sun said in a March 2020 interview. In early March 2020, the university community saw the first of its now more than 6,600 cumulative COVID-19 cases. Students and staff could not return to normal semester activity once spring break ended. Twelve months later, life remains different in Athens and at UGA. But an end to the pandemic may be in sight. Across Instagram stories and Facebook photos, people are sharing their vaccination passports which are, a card ensuring vaccination doses have been administered. Nearly 1,800 members of the UGA campus population have been vaccinated by the University Health Center. More than 1,500 have received full doses, with the rest waiting for a second dose, according to the latest ArchNews email from the UGA Medical Oversight Task Force on vaccinations. The beginning of an end The first vaccines arrived in December for the Athens community, and UGA began offering vaccinations over winter break to older people and health care workers. The university created a plan based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to expand vaccinations. Police officers and people over the age of 65 came first. Teachers, social work interns in the field, and high risk patients are getting vaccinated by the UHC. This eligibility has been announced to expand on a weekly basis to include more people and potentially vaccinate students before the semesters end. While vaccinations expand, racial disparities persist. Black, Hispanic and Native Americans have received vaccines at a much lower rate than white Americans, according to Kaiser Health News. But local data on these disparities is hard to come by. UGA doesnt publicly report the number of vaccinations outside of periodical updates, and Athens-Clarke County lacks data on race and ethnicity of people that have gotten vaccinated. Statewide, nearly 337,000 vaccinations have been administered to Black people in Georgia compared to the 1 million administered to white people, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. The vaccines protect people who receive them from severe illness and death caused by COVID-19, but it takes time to distribute the shots across the country. Things wont go back to normal immediately. Fully vaccinated people should continue to wear masks, social distance and avoid crowds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even though they are effective at preventing COVID-19, its unclear how well the vaccines prevent people from spreading it, according to the CDC. On the positive side One year since the coronavirus was first detected, Sun doesnt leave her house often, taking extra safety precautions. Shes been busy, though making friends, learning new ways to communicate with the students who she TAs and keeping in touch with family as much as possible. Because her family and support system are in Wuhan, nearly 5,000 miles from Athens, Sun said she wouldnt know what to do if she got sick. I think some international graduate students may also feel like me because we dont want to trouble others, Sun said. If something bad happens, we would try to digest that ourselves. Thats maybe why we have been trying to be really careful. During her time in the U.S., Sun has had some time to reflect and come to terms with the pandemic and 2020 as a whole. A few things still puzzle Sun. She said between the protests, elections and U.S. response to the pandemic, shes realized both China and the U.S. are more complicated than she ever thought. Those differences and complexities she cant control but there are some aspects of her life she wants to change from the pandemic onward. Sun said shes learning how to better communicate with her students and in her own work. She started a YouTube channel in July explaining quantum physics content. Given the last year and three months that shes had, Sun wants to look up for 2021. One good thing that my mama has done is seeing things from the positive side, Sun said. I really hope I could do the same. Spencer Donovan contributed to this article. (Newser) Capt. Jay Baker, the Cherokee County Sheriffs Office spokesperson who has courted controversy on more than one occasion amid the Atlanta-area spa shooting spree case, will no longer be handling that case, the sheriff announced Thursday. Cherokee County Communications Director Erika Neldner will take over, USA Today reports. Baker first sparked ire with his statement that accused shooter Robert Aaron Long was "fed up" and having a "really bad day" when he allegedly carried out the shootings, which left eight dead, six of them Asian women. It later came out that Baker had, on social media, promoted racist T-shirts claiming the coronavirus was "imported from Chy-Na." Hours earlier, the sheriff had released a statement defending Baker (he called the case "one of the hardest in his 28 years in law enforcement") while apologizing for his remarks on Long. story continues below The statement did not mention the T-shirt posts, and when Baker was later removed from the case, no specific reason was given. A WSB-TV reporter tweeted the news that his future at the sheriff's office is currently being evaluated. The reporter also said the sheriff's office is discussing whether to turn its portion of the case (one of the three shootings took place in Cherokee County) over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Baker has also been criticized for seeming to distance the shooting from the category of hate crime, for which authorities must prove must prove victims were targeted due to race, color, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation. But in Atlanta itself, where the other two shootings took place, Deputy Police Chief Charles Hampton was not ruling out hate crime charges, NBC News reports. "We had four Asian females that were killed, and so we are looking at everything to make sure we discover and determine what the motive of our homicides were," he said. (Read more Robert Aaron Long stories.) Bhubaneswar, March 19 : Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday launched a unified emergency helpline number '112' to provide emergency services to public. Dedicating the system, the Chief Minister said that from now on, people will dial only a single number 112 for all their emergency needs related to police, fire service, health, disaster and any other emergency in times of distress. Patnaik said that this Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) will be very beneficial for all, especially women and elderly persons. The Chief Minister also inaugurated the state-of-the-art State Emergency Response Centre and flagged off the Emergency Response Vehicles fitted with Mobile Data Terminals. The state government has allocated Rs 157.12 crore and 2500 posts for this project. With the introduction of this new response system, the existing emergency numbers like Police 100, Fire 101, and Ambulance 108-102 will be integrated into the unified toll free number 112 in a phased manner. Expressing happiness over the new system, the Chief Minister said that it will provide a round-the-clock service with a facility of receiving inputs from various voice and data services such as voice calls, SMS, emails, panic-SOS requests and even web requests through a specially created 112 India App. The Chief Minister said that the Emergency Response Centre has been digitally connected to 34 District Coordination Centres at district level and suitably located Emergency Response Vehicles.AA AThe Chief Minister appealed the people to download 112 India Mobile App and register themselves as 112 Volunteers to help others in their locality during any distress. Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra expressed happiness over the introduction of a single emergency number that will now help people instead of multiple emergency numbers. He described the initiatives taken by the state police under the guidance of the Chief Minister for safety and security of women, children and senior citizens. Under the new system, a caller will also be able to send distress signals by pressing the power button on a Smart Phone three times in quick succession or by a long press key on a feature phone to activate a panic call. One will also be able to log on to the State ERSS website (www.or.erss.in ) and place an SOS request, E-mail or SOS alert to the SERC. The 112 India Mobile App will also enable in activating a panic call. IANS cd/ash ALBANY The city is no stranger to political scandal see Cuomo, Andrew M. But New York's capital will soon serve as the location for a retelling of the crime that's synonymous with political corruption: the burglary at the Watergate complex. President Richard Nixon's "plumbers" are getting their own five-episode limited series on HBO, and a casting company is looking for extras for location filming slated to take place here in the late summer and early fall. Grant Wilfley Casting Inc., describes the premise of "The White House Plumbers" in a release: "Set in the early 1970s, the series will tell the true story of how Nixons own political saboteurs and Watergate masterminds, E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, accidentally toppled the presidency they were trying to protect." The show is being being made by the producers of HBO hits "Veep" and "Succession," the latter of which has also used locations in Lake George and Albany for filming. Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux HBO vets from "True Detective" and "The Leftovers," respectively will star as Hunt and Liddy, who coordinated the 1972 break-in at Democratic Party headquarters. Both men eventually served prison time, and the Watergate scandal forced Nixon to resign the presidency on Aug. 8, 1974, rather than face impeachment in the U.S. House of Representatives. Both of the protagonists have connections to New York: Hunt was born and is buried in the town of Hamburg in Erie County; Liddy was born in Brooklyn, attended Fordham University, served as a prosecutor in Dutchess County and ran unsuccessfully for Congress from a Hudson Valley district. The new HBO show isn't Albany's first connection to Watergate: Before he moved to Albany in 1978 to take over as editor of the Times Union and its sibling the Knickerbocker News, Harry M. Rosenfeld oversaw Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of Watergate in the Washington Post. It is at least the second HBO show expected to start shooting in the region this summer: Production of "The Gilded Age" is set to resume later this spring in Troy. The political thriller will apparently feature smoke-filled rooms: The casting notice says extras must be OK working around smoke. Natural hair color and a willingness to have locks cut into a 1970s style are also musts. Anyone who wishes to be considered for the "The White House Plumbers" can register at www.gwci.app/talent. [March 18, 2021] ADA Brings Data-Driven, End-to-End eCommerce Solutions to APAC New service combines data-driven strategies with analytics, AI, and eCommerce Solutions to drive traffic, customer acquisition, and optimise conversions throughout funnel Proven track record in increasing sales growth, GMV, and ROAS for clients amidst COVID-19 KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ADA is launching a new business line that combines data-driven marketing strategies with end-to-end eCommerce solutions. The service is aimed at clients seeking comprehensive solutions to drive traffic, manage customer experience, optimise conversions throughout the funnel, and create engaging content on digital marketplaces as well as owned eCommerce sites. ADA is building on its expertise in data analytics and performance marketing to deliver real business outcomes in the eCommerce arena, as sales move online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Srinivas?Gattamneni, Chief Executive Officer of ADA, said: "eCommerce is a strategic priority for ADA ad our clients as businesses emerge from the shadow of the COIVD-19 pandemic. We're excited to be extending our footprint by bringing our unique heritage in data-driven marketing to empower the next generation of eCommerce champions." Anurag Gupta, Chief Operating Officer & Chief of Agency, ADA, added: "A global luxury skincare brand turned to ADA when one of its key Southeast Asian markets was forced to pivot overnight to eCommerce during a nationwide lockdown. The brand quickly adapted its high-touch, mostly offline sales model to an eCommerce environment thanks to a multi-layered audience segmentation strategy built on XACT, ADA's proprietary Data Management Platform, and first-party customer data. The resulting campaigns far exceeded targets, with 490% growth achieved in eCommerce monthly sales versus pre-pandemic, 275% growth versus promotional months and 24.5% Return on Ad Spend." The eCommerce market in Southeast Asia continues to surge as COVID-19 accelerated online purchases, with gross merchandise value expected to jump to USD 172 billion by 2025, according to the e-Conomy SEA 2020 report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Co. Learn more about ADA's eCommerce solutions here: https://ada-asia.com/end-to-end-e-commerce-solutions/. About ADA ADA is a data and artificial intelligence company that designs and executes integrated digital, analytics, and marketing solutions. Operating across nine markets in South and Southeast Asia, ADA partners with leading brands to drive their digital and data maturity, and achieve their business goals. We are anchored on the following main services: Providing business insights, data enrichment, and advanced analytics Understanding the consumer mindset and designing data-driven creative marketing strategies Executing end-to-end digital marketing solutions for growth hacking, funnel optimisation, and goal optimisation ADA complements its unique digital expertise with deep proprietary data of 375 Million consumers. SOURCE ADA [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Tough talk at first face-to-face US, China meeting in Biden era WORLD: US and Chinese diplomats clashed yesterday (Mar 18) in their first face-to-face talks since President Joe Biden took office, with the worlds top two powers each digging in on a laundry list of issues on which they diverge broadly as the meeting opened in Alaska. ChinesepoliticsCoronavirusCOVID-19 By AFP Friday 19 March 2021, 11:37AM US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (2nd right) speaks while facing top Chinese foreign affairs official Yang Jiechi (2nd left), at the opening session of US-China talks in Anchorage, Alaska yesterday (Mar 18). Photo: AFP. Chinas actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the opening of the two-day meeting in Anchorage. The US side will discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including Xinjiang, where Washington has accused Beijing of genocide against Uyghur Muslims, Blinken told the Chinese Communist Partys top diplomacy official, Yang Jiechi, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. He added that there would be dialogue on Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyberattacks on the United States, economic coercion toward our allies. Beijing was equally sharp in its response. China is firmly opposed to US interference in Chinas internal affairs. We have expressed our staunch opposition to such interference, and we will take firm actions in response, Yang warned. Wang denounced the latest US sanctions against senior Chinese officials over what Washington considers Beijings quashing of Hong Kongs freedoms, announced on the eve of the talks. This is not supposed to be the way one should welcome his guests, Wang said. Cold War mentality Tensions between Washington and Beijing remain high after relations were pitched into turmoil during Donald Trumps presidency, which saw a damaging trade war and spats over everything from defense to tech and rights in Hong Kong. With its frigid temperatures and remote, Pacific location, Anchorage was considered a more neutral meeting ground than Washington or Beijing for the three-session talks that finish this morning, US time. But expectations are limited on both sides and the tone set by the opening statement confirmed the depth of the divide between the rivals. The last meeting in June did nothing to help thaw frosty relations that resembled a new Cold War by the end of Trumps time in office. Biden has maintained a tough line on China, and Blinken has said it represents Americas biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century. Still, the Biden team has said it wants to engage diplomatically on the world stage, in a pivot from Trumps isolationist and ally-berating stance, particularly on issues such as climate change, the pandemic and the non-proliferation of weapons. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said yesterday that the United States didnt want conflict, but we welcome stiff competition. Yang called on him to abandon the Cold War mentality, saying Beijing wanted no confrontation, no conflict. But visibly stung by the American accusations, he reproached the United States at length, demanding Washington stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world. Blinken responded: I have to tell you what Im hearing is very different from what you described. Im hearing deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that were reengaged with our allies and partners. Im also hearing deep concern about some of the actions your government is taking, he added. A senior Biden administration official in Anchorage accused the Chinese delegation of grandstanding, and said it was focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance. Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the talks would have a limited impact. They will probe whether there is common ground on some issues and whether there are ways to manage and even narrow their differences, she told AFP. Expectations should remain low. A reset of the relationship is not in the cards. Coercion Yesterdays meeting follows a visit Blinken made to Japan and South Korea, two key US allies in the Asia-Pacific region. While in Tokyo, Blinken warned China against using coercion and destabilizing behavior. Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin also attended a key summit between leaders of the so-called Quad alliance, which groups the US, Australia, Japan and India as a check on Chinas ambitions. Blinken and allies have criticized China on a slew of issues, including the erosion of autonomy in Hong Kong, tensions around Taiwan and Tibet, the treatment of the Uighur population in Xinjiang, Beijings sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea, the theft of intellectual property and a lack of transparency over the origins of COVID-19. Elizabeth Economy, a senior fellow at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution, said that while the Biden administration has moved away from Trumps inflammatory rhetoric, temperatures remain high. Honestly, it is difficult to see China changing course on any issue of significance to the United States. We are in a position where our core values and vision of a future world are fundamentally at odds, Economy told AFP. If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom. Washington Syracuse University will receive $30.7 million in federal aid from the latest Covid-19 relief bill passed by Congress, the largest of any college or university in Central New York. The $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill sets aside $116.5 million for 15 public and private institutions for higher learning in the region, according to aid data made public today by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer. The other big allocations of federal cash will go to SUNY Oswego ($22.5 million), Onondaga Community College ($19.5 million) and SUNY Cortland ($16.9 million). All told, New Yorks colleges and universities will receive $2.6 billion in aid from the massive relief bill known as the American Rescue Plan, one of the largest spending bills passed by Congress in years. The money comes with some strings attached: Public and private schools have to spend half of the amount on emergency financial aid grants to students, covering basic needs such as housing, food and health care. The schools can use the other half of the money to cover pandemic-related costs, including reimbursement for previous expenses and the costs of switching to distance learning. Schumer, D-N.Y., said the colleges and universities need the federal help because they have ripped massive holes in their budgets and are now facing down financial devastation. The aid is the second big federal relief package for institutions of higher education. Schools received a total of $2.4 billion in previous Covid relief bills. SU previously received almost $10 million in federal aid, and OCC secured $5.2 million in assistance. Syracuse University officials had no immediate comment today about details of the grant, or how soon students will receive their portion of the federal money. The pandemic cost Central New York colleges and universities tens of millions of dollars, forcing schools to dip into their reserves and cut expenses while trying to avoid employee layoffs or furloughs. The schools agreed to refund millions of dollars in room, board and fees to students told to stay away from campus during the pandemic. Colleges also temporarily saw their financial endowments plunge with the stock market at the peak of the pandemic. With the latest aid, the bill signed into law last week by President Biden promises to deliver more than a half-billion dollars to Central New York. Federal payments will go directly to cities, towns and villages, including $126 million to Syracuse and $89 million to Onondaga County. The Syracuse City School District will receive $128 million in federal aid, the fifth largest share of any school district in New York state. Federal Covid-relief aid for Central New York colleges, training schools Cayuga Community College, $6,559,000 Cayuga Onondaga BOCES, $175,000 Wells College, $1,765,000 SUNY College at Cortland, $16,892,000 Onondaga Cortland Madison BOCES, $3,470,000 National Tractor Trailer School, Clay, $160,000 Bill and Sandra Pomeroy College of Nursing at Crouse, $682,000 Le Moyne College, $7,215,000 Onondaga Community College, $19,484,000 Saint Josephs College of Nursing at St Josephs Hospital, $703,000 SUNY Upstate Medical University, $1,357,000 SUNY College of Environment Science & Forestry, $4,483,000 Syracuse University, $30,741,000 Center for Instruction, Technology & Innovation, Oswego, $368,000 SUNY College at Oswego, $22,508,000 Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 Russia and Belarus held a joint training exercise, taking into account the experience gained in the Second Karabakh War. The training involved the 6A working group of the Air Force, the Air Defense Forces of the Western Military District, the Southern Military District, and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The troops fulfilled the tasks such as relocation of airfields, control of units and military units, the Unified Regional Air Defense System, and air defense during the defense operation on the western border of the alliance state. First Deputy Commander of the Air Defense Forces of Belarus, Chief of General Staff, Major General Andrey Gurtsevich praised actions of the personnel in the course of planning military actions and praised proper fulfillment of all the missions during a joint staff exercise. A staff exercise for jointly employing the Air Force and air defense troops of Belarus and Russias Aerospace Force was held on March 16-18. The Belarusian Defense Ministry said that they took into account the experience of combat actions in Syria and Nagorno-Karabakh. From todays Down in Alabama podcast: When I was in school, there was a phrase wed use to describe that very last day before Spring Break. Wed call it The First Day of Spring Break. Whether you liked the results or not, the Alabama House of Representatives didnt mail it in just before next weeks spring break. On the briefing well go over four contentious bills that Republicans passed there despite efforts by Democrats to slow things down. Well also go over a rocket test by NASA and what changed (and what didnt) in regards to this upcoming Atlantic hurricane season. 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 The HSE said it will resume administering the AstraZeneca vaccine tomorrow Saturday following the recommendation from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) and the deputy Chief Medical Officer that use of the vaccine should recommence. Dr. Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer of the HSE said: We welcome the review by the European Medicines Agency and the positive outcome. We will now put in place the updated information and advice recommended by NIAC, and begin rescheduling vaccinations starting with a relatively modest number tomorrow. We know there are huge benefits in terms of preventing serious illness and hospitalisations, even after the first dose for all vaccines, including the AstraZeneca vaccine. We are already seeing very positive and significant changes in terms of reported Covid-19 cases in healthcare workers and vulnerable groups. There are clear benefits for this vaccine in protecting against serious illness from Covid-19. Read More Our priority, is to restart the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine, in as safe and timely a manner as possible. We plan to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine over this weekend in our acute hospital settings. The green light was given this evening after the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) issued an update in relation to the vaccine. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said: I have recommended the recommencement of the Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca programme. "The HSE will now work to recommence the administration of Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, he added. He said that: To date, no reports of serious clotting events associated with low platelets have been received by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) in Ireland. Over 117,000 doses of Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca have been administered in Ireland. Yesterday, the European Medicines Agency found the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is safe for use following an investigation into cases of blood clots among people who received the jab. It paved the way for the resumption of its rollout here, after the finding was assessed by vaccination experts and the Department of Health. It was announced last Sunday morning that the rollout of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 was being put on temporary hold here. Professor Karina Butler chair of the Natational Immunisation Advisory Committee said: The safety of vaccines is paramount. The public should be reassured by the swift and thorough investigations into a very small number of serious but very rare adverse events. Because Covid-19 can be so serious and is so widespread, the EMA found that the benefits of this vaccine outweigh the risks of these very rare events. Problems with clotting are commonly seen in those with severe Covid-19 disease. They can also occur by chance in the general population. The EMA found no evidence that the vaccine caused these reported events and are continuing investigation into a possible association. These events have predominantly occurred in women under 55 years of age. However, as this may reflect targeted vaccination of healthcare workers to date, NIAC recommends that appropriate guidance be made available to all vaccine recipients and healthcare providers. The public should be reassured by the fact that over 20 million doses of this vaccine have been given in the EEA and the UK providing protection to those who have received it. We are seeing that the rate of infections and hospitalisations are beginning to reduce amongst those who are vaccinated. The best vaccine that anyone can received is the one that they can get soonest. NIAC includes representatives from Department of Health, HSE, the National Immunisation Office, the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA),the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL UCD), representatives from the Faculties and Institutes of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, RCSI, the Infectious Diseases Society, the Nursing and Midwifery Board and two representatives of the public. The HSE Advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine is : People being invited for vaccination are at high risk of Covid-19 disease and it is advised that you attend your appointment to receive this vaccine as soon as it is offered to you. Only those who have had anaphylaxis following a previous dose of the vaccine or any of its constituents (including polysorbate 80), should not receive it. People are advised to delay the vaccine if they have an acute illness with a fever. You should also delay vaccination if you have received another vaccine within the last 14 days or if you have had Covid-19 disease within the past four weeks. Second Dose: You should get your second dose of Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca 12 weeks after your first dose. There are no appointments scheduled yet for second doses. You will be contacted for an appointment for your second dose. The HSE recommend that you receive your second dose of vaccine when this is offered to you. The shooting deaths of eight people at Asian-run spas in Georgia this week triggered a vigorous national debate Thursday over whether the mass killing amounted to a hate crime, a fraught conversation that echoed from the halls of Congress to the streets of Atlanta, with potentially significant implications for the prosecution of the 21-year-old suspect. The reckoning came a day after authorities in Cherokee County - the first of two locations where people were shot dead Tuesday - appeared to play down the racial dimensions of a rampage that claimed the lives of six women of Asian descent. A sheriff's office spokesman had said that the suspect was having "a bad day" and indicated that "sex addiction," not race, was probably the driving factor. Those remarks were sharply challenged on Thursday by Asian American community leaders, who denounced them as "an attempt to protect the shooter," as well as by Democratic politicians and law enforcement experts. The spokesman, Capt. Jay Baker, was removed from the case Thursday as the sheriff's office expressed "regret" over his choice of words. Meanwhile, police officials in Atlanta - the second scene of the mass shooting- appeared to distance themselves from the comments, noting that a racial motive was being considered, among others. "Our investigation is looking at everything," said Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Charles Hampton Jr. "Nothing is off the table." The killings came amid a national surge in anti-Asian violence that has coincided with the global spread of the coronavirus, a pandemic that former president Donald Trump and his followers derisively describe as "the Chinese virus" or "kung flu." That rhetoric - and whether it contributed to the hostile environment in which the Atlanta-area shootings played out - was front and center in often tense hearings Thursday on Capitol Hill. During a House panel focused on the rise of anti-Asian American discrimination, Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., was visibly emotional in responding to a Republican congressman's opening statement that accused Democrats of trying to police free speech. "Your president, your party and your colleagues can talk about issues with any other countries that you want, but you don't have to do it by putting a bull's eye on the back of Asian Americans across the country, on our grandparents, on our kids," Meng said to Rep. Chip Roy, Texas, as her voice began to rise and tears filled her eyes. "This hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our community, to find solutions, and we will not let you take our voice away from us." Roy said that "all Americans deserve protection" in the days after the shootings, which were spread over three spas. To make his point about the need for law and order, Roy cited "old sayings in Texas" that celebrated lynchings. "We believe in justice. There's old sayings in Texas about 'Find all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree,' " he said. Roy's comments drew blowback from Democrats and critics who slammed the congressman for his use of a violent, racist trope. The question of how the alleged shooter will be held to justice is one that investigators and prosecutors are weighing. One of the biggest unknowns is whether hate-crime legislation will be invoked. Until last year, Georgia was one of a small handful of states that lacked its own hate-crimes law. That changed after the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man shot dead after three White men pursued him while he was jogging. The uproar prompted the state legislature to act, and the spa shootings give prosecutors the first high-profile chance to put it into action. Georgia State Rep. Chuck Efstration, a Republican who helped shepherd the bill into law, said it was intended to allow for especially stiff penalties for crimes in which "the perpetrator's prejudices and biases are attacks not only on the victims but on all of society." "Thank goodness law enforcement will have the ability to charge this as a hate crime if the facts support that," he said in an interview. Protected categories under the law include not only race but also gender, religion and national origin. That makes it relatively broad, said Georgia State University law professor Jessica Gabel Cino, and potentially applicable to this week's shootings. "It could certainly be the watershed moment of having a law on the books versus actually using the law on the books," she said. Cino said that investigators will be looking closely at previous statements and social media posts by the suspect, Robert Aaron Long, for evidence of bias. Even absent that, she said, prosecutors will have plenty to go on by the nature of the targets he chose. "The majority of the victims are women, and they are Asian," she said. "Those are two protected statuses." Long was charged with eight counts of murder on Wednesday, and police said he had confessed to the crimes. In Georgia, the death penalty is one possible sentence for murder, along with life imprisonment with or without parole. Adding hate-crime charges to the mix, Cino said, could give prosecutors valuable leverage in any plea negotiations. Long's first court appearance, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, was canceled after he waived it in writing through his attorney, according to the Cherokee County district attorney's office. J. Daran Burns, a Georgia lawyer, was appointed to represent Long by the Cherokee County Indigent Defense office, his firm said Thursday. "Our condolences are with the victims and their families," Burns said in a statement Thursday morning. "We are working on behalf of our client, Robert Aaron Long, to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident." No other court hearings are scheduled in the Cherokee County case, and none have been announced yet for the cases in Atlanta. As the investigation continues, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris planned to meet with Asian American leaders in Atlanta on Friday during a previously planned trip to the city to tout the benefits of the newly signed $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. Biden intends to "talk about his commitment to combating xenophobia, intolerance and hate," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. The president on Thursday ordered flags at the White House and federal property to be flown at half-staff "as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence" in the spa shootings. The order, which came in a proclamation, applies through sunset Monday. It came as vigils for the victims were held nationwide Wednesday and Thursday nights. Biden had responded in January to the reports of rising anti-Asian violence by issuing an executive memo that instructed the Justice Department to expand collection of hate-crime data. But such an effort has long been difficult and incomplete because the department relies on reporting from more than 15,000 local law enforcement agencies, many of which lack funding, training and motivation to investigate such crimes and report them, experts said. Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed the Georgia spa shootings in a video call with Asian American advocates that lasted about 45 minutes on Wednesday, according to people who participated. Garland, who was confirmed to the job last week, empathized with the pain and anger the advocates expressed, said John Yang, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC, and "made it clear how seriously they took this issue." But he did not offer specific policies or strategies the department would pursue, the participants said. On Capitol Hill, Meng and Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, introduced legislation last week that would require the Justice Department to appoint an official to oversee a review of all hate crimes reported during the pandemic, among other measures. Psaki said Thursday that Biden supports the aims of the legislation. Some conservatives have warned against a rush to judgment in the Georgia shootings or other high-profile cases involving Asian American victims. At the House hearing, Charles Fain Lehman, a fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, denounced race-based attacks but said a reported surge in violence against Asian Americans should be viewed amid a rise in violent crime nationwide over the past year. Democrats in the hearing aired a video report on an Asian American family, including a 2-year-old girl, who was attacked at a Texas grocery store last year in what federal authorities called a hate crime related to anger over the coronavirus. Democrats and witnesses expressed outrage at the comments from Baker, the Cherokee County sheriff's spokesman, which they said had minimized the severity of the crime and erased its likely origins. "Take your heads out of the sand," said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas. Daniel Dae Kim, an Asian American actor who was testifying at the hearing, also disputed Baker's description of the killings. "These were places associated with Asian people," Kim said. "If this was a synagogue or a Black church, and someone shot up those places, would we really be asking whether this was a hate crime or not?" The FBI has said it is closely coordinating with local and state investigators and that it is ready to open its own investigation if evidence of a federal civil rights violation emerges. In an interview Thursday with NPR, FBI Director Christopher Wray called the shooting "a heartbreaking incident" but said that "it does not appear" to have been "racially motivated." He stressed, however, that he would defer to state and local officials. Those officials on Thursday offered little new information about their investigation. Two days after the killings, authorities had released the names only of the four people killed in Cherokee County. The four who were killed in Atlanta had not been named. "As soon as we are 100 percent and notifications are made, then it'll be released," Hampton, Atlanta's deputy chief, said toward the end of an eight-minute news conference. He would not comment on a question about the victims' citizenship status or whether they had family in the area or country. Cherokee County authorities released their four names Wednesday: Xiaojie Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33; and Paul Andre Michels, 54. A fifth victim in Cherokee County, Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz, 30, survived. Authorities have said that Long may have visited the spas that he targeted before and that he said he set out to eliminate a "temptation." But experts said Thursday that even if that was a motive, it does not exclude the possibility of racism, xenophobia, misogyny or other prejudices as major contributing factors. And it should not, they said, prevent prosecutors from pursing hate-crime charges if that's where the evidence leads. "You can have mixed motives" and still be prosecuted for a hate crime, said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. "The prosecution has to establish not that there weren't any other motives, but that at least one of the motives was prejudicial." - - - The Washington Post's Hannah Knowles, Devlin Barrett, Jonathan Krohn, John Wagner, Mark Berman and Annie Linskey contributed to this report. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Going by the Budget size, the government should allocate at least Rs 23,000 crore, teachers said. DC file photo Hyderabad: The state Budget proposed an allocation of Rs 11,735 crore to the school education sector and Rs 1,873 crore for higher education. The figures were Rs 10,421 crore and Rs 1,723.27 respective last year, apart from Rs 100 crore to improve the literacy rate. The increases were not enough, stakeholders said. In addition, a Rs 4,000 crore scheme to benefit government schools was announced in the Budget by finance minister T. Harish Rao. Under this scheme, basic facilities in government schools will be revamped over the next two years. The minister stressed the importance of using modern technology in government schools to put classrooms on digital platforms. The government has proposed setting aside Rs 33.6 crore for SC, ST welfare, and Rs 1,602 crore for minorities welfare. Harish Rao said education with international standards is being provided free to the poor and backward class students. Parents are eager to send their children to study in residential schools, he said. However, Telangana State United Teachers' Federation (TSUTF), Telangana Private Teachers Forum (TPTF), Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) among others expressed disappointment over the allocations. The TSTUF said these allocations were not enough to develop of schools, provide infrastructure, recruit teachers and improve online education. Of the Rs 2.3 lakh crore Budget, earmarking Rs 11,735 crore for school education and Rs 2,000 crore for infrastructure is unreasonable, said the TSUTF. it demanded that the state government allocate at least Rs 5,000 crore a year for infrastructure creation. The private teachers forum said the allocation for the education sector remains dismal which, they said, was discouraging. In 2014-15, out of the Rs 1,00,637 crore Budget, Rs 10,963 crore was allocated for education, which was 10.89 per cent. The budget size has doubled to Rs 2,30,825.96 crore for 2021-22 but only 6.78 per cent or Rs 15,608 crore is the allocation for education. Going by the Budget size, the government should allocate at least Rs 23,000 crore, they said. Students from minority communities said that the budget cuts in scholarships were responsible for minority enrolment in higher education. The SIO said that there was a lack of support from the government to bridge a historic gap in the education sector where minority students constitute only 7.5 per cent in higher education enrollment. As predicted, the consistent cuts in minority scholarships and Maulana Azad Fellowship in the last 6-7 years has resulted in this poor minority enrolment figure. The government should immediately hike the scholarships and take necessary steps in terms of policy intervention to provide reservation for select backward castes among minorities, they demanded. An appeals court has thrown out an $8 million jury verdict awarded to the family of a stuntman who was fatally injured while filming an episode of The Walking Dead in 2017. The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that civil claims brought by the parents of stuntman John Bernecker were barred by the Workers Compensation Act. Berneckers family sued AMC Networks, production company Stalwart Films and others in Gwinnett County State Court outside Atlanta after the 33-year-old stuntman died from a head injury suffered while performing a fall from a balcony 25 feet (8 meters) above the ground during filming in the Georgia town of Senoia. Attorneys for Berneckers parents, Susan and Hagen Bernecker, argued those producing the show skimped on safety measures for financial and scheduling concerns. Lawyers for the defendants said the stuntmans death was an unforeseeable accident. A civil jury hearing the case in December 2019 found AMC wasnt negligent, but awarded Berneckers parents $8 million from Stalwart Films and others it found to be at fault. Jeffrey Harris, an attorney for Berneckers parents, told the Daily Report he believes the March 11 ruling by the appeals court was in error. He said he plans to ask the Georgia Supreme Court to review the decision. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. OCA-Greater Houston, an Asian Pacific American advocacy group, will host an event in remembrance of the victims of Tuesday's spa shootings in Atlanta. The organization is planning a Stop Asian Hate Vigil & Rally scheduled for Saturday, March 20, at 5 p.m. in Discovery Green. VIOLENCE ON ASIAN AMERICANS: U.S. Rep Chip Roy rebuked after using hearing on violence against Asian Americans to attack China According to a press release, Debbie Chen, OCA-Greater Houston programs director, said hate crimes against Asian Americans have been a growing problem. For over a year, our community has been a target of hate and bias, living fearful of public threats and harassment, Chen said. We call for solidarity from the community and elected officials to support the AAPI community by reporting incidents, becoming empowered bystanders, and initiating legislative action. Raja gulfraz Eight people, including a new mother and an Army veteran were among the victims killed Tuesday night in Georgia, the Associated Press reported. The suspect, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, has been taken into custody. Six of the eight victims identified were Asian women, according to the release. "This is one of the more violent tragedies in a string of over 3,800 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders since March 2020, 68% of them women." NBC New's Kimmy Yam reported new data showing a sharp rise in racially-driven incidents against Asian Americans since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. OCA-Greater Houston provided a link to help support the victims of the shootings here. Attendees for Saturday nights vigil are being asked to wear masks and bring signs. Co-founded back in 2014 by VHIO's Laura Soucek, CEO of the enterprise, and Marie-Eve Beaulieu, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of the company, VHIO-born spin-off Peptomyc S.L. has just announced that it has received approval from the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices for conducting clinical trials in Spain (AEMPS), to initiate the first-in-human Phase I/II clinical trial with its first compound - a disruptive Myc inhibitor, Omomyc (OMO-103). Building on the proven preclinical efficacy and safety of the Omomyc cell-penetrating peptide (CCP) in mouse models, and Peptomyc's company's successful development of anti-Myc peptides for the treatment of several tumor types, this latest milestone represents a greatly anticipated 'leap' into the clinical research setting and an important step forward in becoming the first ever clinically viable and direct inhibitor of Myc - a protein implicated in the formation of most tumor types. Commenting for VHIO's Global Communications, Laura Soucek, Principal Investigator of VHIO's Mouse Models of Cancer Therapies and an ICREA Research Professor said, "MYC has been considered an 'undruggable' cancer target for many years. We have previously shown that Myc blockade has an excellent therapeutic effect in several mouse models, with mild side effects that are well tolerated and reversible. Now that we have received approval to initiate our early phase clinical trial, we can further progress in testing the safety and efficacy of our Omomyc-based therapy for the benefit of those who matter the most - our patients." Over the last 20 years Laura's determined research efforts have centered on proving countless cynics wrong in her ambitions to combat resistance to therapy and combat cancer cell spread through clinically inhibiting the Myc oncogene. Found deregulated in most, if not all tumor types, and as a key driver of cancer progression and maintenance, Myc is consequently a major contender as a cancer target and yet, promise of its inhibition has not yet been successfully translated into benefits at the patient level. While several factors including Myc's nuclear localization, lack of identified ligand binding site, and its function in maintaining normal tissues, are responsible for both this frustrating scenario as well as the sustained belief that it is in fact an impossible cancer target, Laura and her team are now silencing the sceptics by finally pushing Myc inhibition into the clinic. "At the preclinical level, we have reported the efficacy of Omomyc as a cell penetrating peptide - essentially, a mini-protein with the ability to enter cells and reach its target compartment, namely, the nucleus. The successful intravenous systemic administration of our mini-protein MYC inhibitor against lung cancer and other malignancies, has led to this week's exciting development," said Marie-Eve Beaulieu, Peptomyc's Chief Scientific Officer. She added, "Our strategy differs immensely from other previous approaches aimed at inhibiting Myc. Our Omomyc mini-protein is large enough to accurately fold and adapt to Myc's disordered structure, which determines the specificity of inhibition. At the same time, it is small enough to penetrate tumor cells and nuclei in order to reach its target. By conducting our first-in-human early phase clinical trial, we hope to drive this novel therapy into the clinic for the more effective treatment of multiple tumor types". Twenty patients with advanced solid tumors across various cancer types, whose disease has progressed after previous treatments, will be enrolled in the Phase I study. This clinical trial will be carried out at three different Spanish sites: our Vall d'Hebron University Hospital (HUVH), also located within the Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, the HM Sanchinarro University Hospital, and the Fundacion Jimenez Diaz University Hospital (Madrid). VHIO's Elena Garralda, Director of our Research Unit for Molecular Therapy of Cancer (UITM) - "la Caixa" Foundation, and Head of Early Clinical Drug Development at our Institute, is the Principal Investigator of Peptomyc's clinical study at Vall d'Hebron. She noted, "I am honored and privileged to participate in this study of a VHIO-developed molecule. Since Myc has traditionally been considered as an impossible drug target, this clinical trial represents a pivotal development. Confirmation of OMO-103's safety and efficacy in patients would be extremely important for the future treatment of cancer". "To get to where we are today has been a long and challenging journey. While we have had to overcome many obstacles, we have successfully proven our hypothesis about Myc by achieving amazing results in animal models. We very much hope that Omomyc will meet the same expectations in clinical research so that we can ultimately provide new hope for cancer patients, particularly for those suffering from advanced disease," concluded Laura Soucek. The preclinical development of Omomyc was possible thanks to the support received from Worldwide Cancer Research (WCR/AICR), European Research Council (ERC) - one Consolidator and two Proof of Concept grants - Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Institute of Health Carlos III), Fondo de Investigacion en Salud (FIS) grants, Fero Foundation, and the BBVA Foundation, among other funding entities. ### WASHINGTON The latest sign the U.S. government is back in the fight against climate change? The EPA just resurrected a website chock full of data, background and science about global warming that the Trump administration had deleted. The Environmental Protection Agencys dedicated climate change portal had gone dormant under Trump, though some information and data were still maintained across other EPA web pages. Now, the climate page is back, complete with the proclamation An EPA Priority at the top and links to emissions data, efficiency program info and other climate resources. Climate facts are back on EPAs website where they should be, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in an emailed statement. Regan cast the websites revival as part of a broader effort to ensure EPA decisions are grounded in sound science. Trustworthy, science-based information is at the foundation of strong, achievable solutions, he said. Under Trump, some information about climate change vanished from federal government websites altogether, with other resources ultimately rewritten as part of the former administrations shift in focus toward cultivating U.S. oil, gas and coal development. The revisions even prompted government scientists and researchers to frantically copy climate data from websites, for fear theyd be purged. ___ Jennifer A. Dlouhy of Bloomberg News wrote this story. 2021 Bloomberg L.P. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation creating a path to citizenship for more than 3.1 million immigrants including some 500,000 Texans who were brought to the country as children or are taking shelter from turmoil in their home countries. Many, however, are not getting their hopes up especially the so-called Dreamers, who grew up in the United States and have spent years in limbo, as politicians on both sides of the aisle have talked about offering permanent protection only to tie their fates into broader political fights. Of course I want to be super-hopeful, said Susana Lujano, a 28-year-old Dreamer who has lived in Houston since she was 2. But if Im 100 percent honest, its kind of hard to believe Constantly were told for sure this is going to happen and right now, how can it not? So why is it not happening? The familiar pattern was taking shape again. The Democratic-led House passed the Dream Act on a mostly party-line vote as Republicans focused debate on a growing migrant surge at the southern border, which theyre calling the first political crisis of President Joe Bidens term. We are not doing our job, said U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Central Texas Republican. A secure border is pro-immigrant. Instead what were doing today is pass legislation, which is a magnet for more traffic of children. RELATED: President Biden offers protection to Venezuelans in U.S., including 21,000 in Houston Congressional Democrats say thats a distraction. The so-called American Dream and Promise Act protects specific groups of immigrants and has nothing to do with whats happening at the border, they say. Another immigration bill that the House passed on Thursday creates a merit-based visa system for migrant farm workers. The fear-mongering by Republican politicians needs to stop, and we should do the work of improving peoples lives and rebuilding our economy said U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a San Antonio Democrat. Essential workers are risking their lives to ensure we stay healthy and have food to eat today, but could be separated from their families and deported tomorrow. The Dream Act offers permanent residency for a decade to those Dreamers who were 18 or younger when they came to the United States, as long as they have an American high school diploma or GED and pass a background check. Thats as many as 449,000 Texans, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The bill would also cover those with Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Enforcement Departure. Thats another 54,000 Texans who are in the U.S. because of ongoing conflicts or political or economic strife in their home nations, according to MPI estimates. Many in both groups have lived in the U.S. for years. Dreamers on average arrived at the age of 8 while those with temporary protected status on average have lived in the United States since 1997, according to the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning Washington think tank. Dreamers have waited, it is time for us to deliver, said U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a Houston Democrat. Dreamers were first offered protections by the Obama administrations 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. or DACA, program. The Trump administration sought to dismantle that program even as former President Donald Trump professed great love for Dreamers; the U.S. Supreme Court blocked its efforts to end DACA. Biden, meanwhile, has vowed to protect the DACA program, which Texas and other states are still suing to end. Along the way, lawmakers have said repeatedly that Congress needs to step up to provide a permanent solution. The House passed a version of the Dream Act last year only to see it die in the Senate, where then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell never brought it to the floor. And U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, blocked the efforts of Democrats to force a vote last summer. It appears Dreamers may yet again be caught up in a bigger political battle. Just nine House Republicans supported the bill. Every Texas Republican opposed it. At least 10 Republican senators would need to support the bill for it to pass the chamber under Senate rules, which require 60 votes in most cases to end debate and advance to a vote, and many there have begun to point to the migrant surge at the border as reason they cant now support the legislation. LATEST ON THE BORDER: Gov. Greg Abbott says White House is scrambling to address migrant surge The U.S. Border Patrol reported 100,441 encounters with migrants at the southern border in February, a 28-percent increase from January. The figure is all but certain to increase even more quickly this month, as agents say they are overwhelmed by the flow of people seeking to cross. The vast majority of those encounters were with single adults, nearly all of whom are turned away immediately under a public health order that the Trump administration put in place to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. The agency said about 25,000 of those immigrants had been apprehended before. The Department of Homeland Security, however, has stopped using that order to expel unaccompanied children, 9,457 of whom arrived in February alone a record for February according to Border Patrol data. That figure was in line with surges in 2014 and 2019, which saw between 7,000 and 9,000 apprehensions of unaccompanied children a month with peaks above 10,000. Unfortunately, whats happening at the border right now is going to inflame peoples emotions a lot and I think make anything harder to do, which I think is very regrettable, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn told reporters this week. Cornyn ran Spanish-language ads during his recent reelection campaign saying he strongly supports the legalization of Dreamers. Last month, he threw his support behind a new coalition of Texas businesses pushing for Congress to pass a Dream Act, deemed the Texas Opportunity Coalition, and told a Dallas TV station, Im ready to act on that. Im on record saying Id like to find a permanent solution to the DACA recipients, Cornyn told reporters this week. The problem is every time we try to meet the Democrats halfway, they move the goalposts. But to many Dreamers and their advocates, its Republicans who are moving the goalposts. They say the Dream Act is totally unrelated to the situation at the border now and that it would only extend protections to those who arrived in the country before Jan. 1. Both senators from the state of Texas, they say one thing and when the community or the state requires real leadership they seem to shy away from sticking their necks out, said Cesar Espinosa, executive director of FIEL, an immigrant-rights group in Houston. We unfortunately dont have too much faith in them, but we are continuing to speak to them. Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Cornyn said he would take a look at the House bill, but he feared it may be overly broad. I dont want to further incentivize people to bring their kids to the United States, hoping that well keep passing successive pieces of legislation, Cornyn said. But in this case, I think that if we build it appropriately and its structured appropriately, I think we could do something that would provide a fair outcome for a large number of young people whove done nothing wrong without creating some additional problems. Texas business leaders who launched the Texas Opportunity Coalition with Cornyns support last month say theyre still hopeful lawmakers can strike a deal. Dreamers have long been seen as sympathetic figures to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and Justin Yancy, the groups co-founder, said he hopes Senate hearings will remind Republicans of that. Dreamers are a major boost to the economy, with 96 percent of them either working or in school, Yancey said. Permanent protections would also be a relief for their employers. The optimism of being able to move and get something done weve gone from there to a situation where all thats being talked about on immigration is the crisis. And its not helpful, Yancy said. Taylor Goldenstein contributed reporting from Austin. ben.wermund@chron.com This is the shocking moment two moped-riding thieves carry out a series of terrifying raids across London. Alfie Atherton, 29, and Reed Roberts, 30, worked as part of an organised robbery gang based in Flaxham Court, Kings Cross, between January 29 to March 3 last year. The pair used stolen mopeds with fake number plates and concealed their identities with motorcycle helmets and high-vis jackets in order to carry out their raids across the capital. The pair, who caused an estimated 51,350 worth of damages over their four raids, were part of a gang of four who tried to raid a Dior and Fendi store in central London on March 3, 2020. One of the thieves confronts a worker outside Sainsbury's and steals his cash box The thieves used stolen mopeds with fake number plates and concealed their identities with motorcycle helmets and high-vis jackets during their raids in London Footage shows the gang smash the Fendi window with a concrete breeze block before they are stopped by the store's security shutters. Meanwhile another clip shows one of the thieves steal a cash box outside a Sainsbury's store before fleeing the scene on a moped. Mohammed Rahman, a Liberty's security guard, was on duty when Atherton smashed a window with a concrete block at 1.15am on January 29. The burglar climbed through the window wearing a motorcycle helmet and began putting more than 20,530 worth of perfume into a builder's sack. But when the security team confronted Atherton, the thief pulled out a large knife before climbing out the window onto Carnaby Street where Roberts was waiting to drive him away from the scene. Two days later, Syed Naqvi was at work putting cash boxes at Sainsbury's cashpoints on Clerkenwell Road when a man in a motorcycle helmet, possibly Atherton or Roberts, screamed at him: 'Drop it!' Mr Naqvi dropped the cash box containing 22,000, believing the robber was armed, then watched as the hit-and-run sped away on a dark blue moped. Witness Mark Bury saw the pair ride past him and watched as the moped driver passed an angle grinder to the rider who then took out the money. One of the thieves uses a concrete breeze block to break through the window of a Fendi store in London The gang caused an estimated 51,350 worth of damages over their four raids in the capital Angus Mathieson, defending Atherton, said: 'He carried the weapon only to threaten people, he never intended to use it.' Atherton has previous convictions for robbery starting in 2010, when he was sentenced to three years in a young offenders' institution. Roberts has 12 convictions for 13 offences, including for a gang raid on Ernest Jones in Oxford street where the thieves smashed Rolex and Breitling display cases with sledgehammers, grabbed 46 high-value watches and escaped on the back of motorbikes. Atherton and Roberts admitted two counts of robbery, and two counts of attempted robbery. Atherton, of Tower Hamlets, also admitted possession of a knife. The pair are due to be sentenced on March 26 at Inner London Crown Court. Patna, March 19 : By nominating 12 members to the Bihar legislative council through the Governor's quota the BJP and the JD(U) may have tried to make social equations more potent, but there is disappointment among other constituents of the NDA. The Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) have expressed their displeasure over not having a say in the nomination of members to the Governor's quota. Both parties say that the opinion of the parties which are part of the NDA was not taken into consideration before the nominations were announced. Even before the nomination for the 12 seats, both the HAM and the VIP had demanded one seat each, but during the time when nominations took place, the BJP and the JD(U) split six seats each among themselves. Commenting on the Legislative Council nominations, VIP Spokesperson Rajiv Mishra said coalition principles were not followed. The party's National President Mukesh Sahani held a press conference during the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections and said his party would make an MLC from the Nonia community. He expressed his displeasure at the move and said the VIP should have been consulted on it. HAM President Jitan Ram Manjhi said he was visibly upset. He said,"Whatever 12 Legislative Council members have been nominated, it would have been fair had the leaders of all the constituent parties in the NDA been called and consulted. But such a thing did not happen. Somewhere there is a mistake committed. We did not expect this from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar." Manjhi, however, also said that Nitish generally takes decisions taking along all its allies along. Why such a thing happened in this case is surprising. The JD(U) and the BJP have tried to make the social equations more potent through the nomination of MLC members. JD(U) has tried to further the 'Lav-Kush' equation by nominating Upendra Kushwaha, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) founder whose party merged with the JD(U) a few days ago, to the Bihar Upper House. Apart from Kushwaha, minister Ashok Choudhary, Sanjay Singh, Ramvachan Rai, Sanjay Gandhi and Lallan Saraf have been nominated. However, there is some disappointment within the JD(U). JD(U) Spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan said he was extremely upset with the decision regarding selection of the members of the state Legislative Council. He said the Kayastha caste has been ignored. The BJP has tried to consolidate its vote bank by sending Janak Ram, Rajendra Gupta, Devesh Kumar, Ghanshyam Thakur, Pramod Kumar and Nivedita Singh to the state Legislative Council. Stormonts Health Minister urged continued vigilance in the battle against Covid-19 as he reflected on the first anniversary of the first coronavirus death in Northern Ireland. Robin Swann insisted better days were to come but warned of the threat still posed by the virus. The Covid-linked death of an older man with an underlying health condition was reported on March 19, 2020. The fatality was announced three weeks after the first confirmed case of the disease was reported in the region. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. Within days of the first death, schools across Northern Ireland were closed as the first lockdown began. We are all very aware of the devastation caused by Covid-19 in the past year, said Mr Swann. Our thoughts are very much with the families and friends of those who have died. I know I speak for people across Northern Ireland in saying that. We can see better days ahead in the battle against the virus, but we must never forget the pain and loss it has caused, nor can we ever overlook its capacity to inflict more suffering. We must remain vigilant and keep taking the steps that we know will stop Covid-19 spreading. The deaths of a further three people who previously tested positive for Covid-19 were reported by Mr Swanns department on Friday. The fatalities took to 2,103 the total number of deaths recorded by the Department of Health since the pandemic began. Northern Ireland Chief Medical Officer Michael McBride receives his first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine at the Ulster Hospital (Liam McBurney/PA) The overall number of deaths linked to the virus is higher, as the departmental data only relates to those who have tested positive. The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) collates information on all deaths in which Covid-19 has been recorded on a death certificate by a medical professional, whether the person had tested positive or not. The Nisra toll, which is reported with a week lag, stood at 2,877 on March 12. As of Friday lunchtime, 726,290 vaccines had been administered in the region 655,581 first doses and 70,709 second doses. Health authorities in the region have moved to reassure the public that recent problems with the UK supply of AstraZeneca jabs will not have a significant impact on the rollout plan for Northern Ireland, with a delay of around two weeks estimated. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Not to say that Disneys Beauty and the Beast was by any stretch of the imagination emblematic of the troubles of that time, but if they didnt want the comparison, maybe they shouldnt have set it in the 1750s. The young Prince at the beginning of the story certainly fits the profile though, by being a mean little brat and refusing to give an old beggar woman shelter from the cold. But surprise! The beggar was actually a powerful enchantress, who cursed the prince and transformed him into a hideous beast, and all of his servants into anthropomorphic versions of the household items they were using at the time. Walt Disney Pictures If the enchantress had interrupted a palace orgy, this movie would've been really weird. Continue Reading Below Advertisement The villagers had no idea what happened at the palace. All they knew was some freaky stuff was going on there, the place was now shrouded in darkness and surrounded by wolves, and no one wanted to investigate the matter any further because that might remind the Prince to start collecting taxes and enforcing laws again. The villagers had just stumbled ass-backwards into a libertarian wet dream. Fast forward ten years, and Gaston rallies the villagers to join him in killing the beast that roams the palace, and save the girl he wants to marry in the process. That night, the villagers find themselves fighting a bunch of possessed furniture while Gaston squares off with the Beast on the roof. By the end of the night, they watch as the furniture transforms back into people, and they find out Gaston is dead, there is no beast, that dick of a prince is back, and he just caught them trying to destroy his house. Awkward! Walt Disney Pictures "Hey everybody, I'm back! Oh good, you all brought scythes and pitchforks; the royal fields are a mess." Continue Reading Below Advertisement Thats one hell of a way to greet the man who rules over their kingdom. It also doesnt help that the Prince has chosen a new bride, and its the brainy girl with the crazy dad who the villagers have been making fun of in song form every day. But maybe the Prince, Belle and the villagers are able to put all of the weirdness aside and have a happy ending... just as long as you ignore what happens in France after 1789. It's almost like this is a recurring problem in Disney movies! New Delhi: The 150 gm white substance recovered from Uttar Pradesh state assembly on July 12 was found to be silicon oxide (SiO2) and not highly explosive material PETN. Uttar Pradesh principal secretary Arvind Kumar told the media,"Shiv Bihari Upadhyay, Director of State Forensic Science Laboratory, got the substance examined and in the report submitted by him white substance recovered from the assembly was said to be PETN positive. When the National Investigative Agency (NIA) got it tested from CFSL, Hyderabad, it was found to be Silicon Oxide (Quartz) and not the dangerous explosive." After the development, Upadhyay has been suspended for allegedly giving a misleading, incomplete, wrong and unconfirmed report about the substance recovered in the state Assembly, added the principal secretary. According to reports, Upadhyay allegedly tested the substance using an explosive detection kit whose usage date had expired in March last year. Kumar added that a probe has been initiated and it will be investigated by Vigilance director Hitesh Awasthi. On basis of the report submitted by Upadhyay, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had earlier told the Assembly that the white powder recovered under the seat of Ram Govind Choudhary,leader of the Opposition, was highly explosive material PETN. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister had ordered the NIA to probe the matter and had said, The security of House is our concern. This is part of a dangerous conspiracy and must be exposed. Soon after the recovery he had the Uttar Pradesh Police to verify each employee and officials working in Vidhan Sabha. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. A couple who were supposed to be celebrating their wedding have instead watched their house float down a river as New South Wales battles a once-in-100-year flood. The harrowing footage shows the home of young couple Joshua and Sarah flowing down the Manning River in Taree on Saturday. The extreme weather conditions have also seen a 'mini-tornado' tear through a Sydney suburb and the spilling of the Warragamba Dam - sparking grave fears houses in the city's west will be flooded. BoM issued a severe weather warning on Saturday morning covering an area from the mid-north coast to the far south coast of NSW as well as Canberra. Speaking in an emergency press conference, NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian said the 'extreme weather event' would persist well into next week - with rain not due to stop until Thursday or Friday. 'The last time we got major floods in the NSW the weather event passed in two or three days, unfortunately, this will be a deep-seated, extreme weather event,' she said. 'This is an event that will not be going away in the next few days.' The weather bureau warned of intense rainfall 'potentially leading to life-threatening flash flooding' and damaging winds averaging 60-70km/h with gusts exceeding 90km/h. Joshua and Sarah lost their house on the very day they were supposed to be celebrating their wedding The young couple's home was seen floating down the Manning River in Taree Greater Sydney is being blanketed by a wild storm threatening to cause chaos with heavy rain creating flash flooding and power cuts Port Macquarie is now almost underwater as the town is lashed with a huge downpour of rain Floodwaters in Port Macquarie are seen as residents are told to evacuate after a freak weather event (pictured on Saturday) The Hastings River flooding in Port Macquarie, NSW is pictured on Saturday morning - as millions brace for a weekend of endless wild weather A 'mini-tornado' left a huge path of destruction through Chester Hill in Sydney's west, damaging several homes and bringing down a tree Homes have been damaged in Chester Hill after a 'mini tornado' tore through the area The 'mini-tornado' left a path of destruction through Chester Hill in Sydney's west, damaging several homes and bringing down a tree. Shocking photos show upturned trampolines stuck to the side of houses while fences were seen completely ripped out of backyards. After footage of Josh and Sarah's home circulated online, a GoFundMe page has been set up to support the couple who tragically lost their pets as well as their house. Incredible drone footage also captured the mid-north coast town of Port Macquarie almost submerged as flood waters create a path of destruction in the area. 'Woke up this morning to these images on my timeline. Unbelievable. Port Macquarie CBD has gone under,' one local said. Volunteers load up sandbags for local residents in Penrith on Saturday The Parramatta River is also increasingly rising, with water flooding the nearby bike track Residents living in the Harbour City have been strongly urged to stay inside with the extreme downpour not expected to ease up any time soon. Around 120mm of rain is expected to fall on the city with even bigger deluges expected for further up the coast. 'We might see quite significant flash flooding and we've got a flood watch current for both the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers,' bureau flood operations manager Justin Robinson said. Record breaking rainfall was seen in areas on the mid-north coast such as in Kendall with the town recording more than 400mm of rain, meanwhile up to 300mm is expected in the lower Blue Mountains region. Kempsey in NSW is almost completely underwater as heavy rainfall batters the state 'Brace yourself NSW, more heavy rain, dangerous flooding and thunderstorms are on their way,' NSW SES tweeted on Saturday morning Locals are seen having a drink at a pub despite the venue being completely flooded by the wild weather (pictured pub in Telegraph Point, northern NSW) A koala at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital had a bit of a soaking on Saturday morning during the wild weather The bureau said strong winds may generate damaging surf, with significant wave heights of five metres in the surf zone bringing potential for coastal erosion. SES crews undertook at least 500 flood rescues and responded to more than 4,000 calls for help, as a dozen rivers along the NSW coast flooded. Sydneysiders are being told the best activity for the weekend is to stay indoors. 'This will be the difference between what could seem like inconvenient rain, to actually something that might be quite dangerous and threatening,' Agata Imielska from the BoM told the ABC. 'It is really important for Sydneysiders to be mindful about reconsidering their plans.' The Parramatta River is also increasingly rising, with water flooding the nearby bike track. A flood marker was seen almost completely submerged as the river looks dangerously close to bursting. A car is seen submerged in water as wild storms continue to batter NSW's coast Incredible drone footage has captured the mid-north coast town of Port Macquarie completely submerged as flood waters create a path of destruction in the area The Port Macquarie area has been submerged in deep water due to a heavy downpour of rain with no end in sight The SES have also sent out thousands of 'evacuate now' messages to residents in low-lying areas around the state's mid-north coast. These include Taree's CBD, Taree Estate, Dumaresq Island and Cundletown. Those living in low-lying areas in Port Macquarie and Kempsey have already been evacuated. Evacuation orders have also been issued for Wingham, Lower Macleay, North Haven, Dunbogan and Laurieton. The regions of Hunter, Metropolitan, Illawarra and parts of Mid North Coast, Central Tablelands, Southern Tablelands, South West Slopes, Snowy Mountains and the ACT are subject to a severe weather warning for heavy rainfall, damaging winds and surf. Emergency services have set up nine evacuation centres across the state for residents who have been forced to flee their homes. A car is seen driving through floodwaters in Kempsey, in NSW's mid north coast BoM issued a severe weather warning on Saturday morning covering an area from the mid-north coast to the far south coast of NSW as well as Canberra State Emergency Operations Controller, Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys, has appealed for the public to not become complacent. 'Members of the public in the flood affected areas need to heed the warnings and advice of the NSW State Emergency Service and all emergency services,' he said. 'Our message is clear - do not put your life or that of emergency service personnel in danger. Floodwater is extremely dangerous as it can have fast moving undercurrents that can wash people and vehicles away. 'Everyone should always remember to never drive, ride or walk through floodwater.' Meanwhile, police are appealing for public assistance to locate missing elderly woman Adele Morrison who was last seen leaving her home in Port Macquarie around 6am on Tuesday. The 78-year-old was reported missing on Wednesday and police hold grave concerns for the woman due to her age and the severe weather conditions currently in the town. Police are appealing for public assistance to locate missing elderly woman Adele Morrison who was last seen leaving her home in Port Macquarie around 6am on Tuesday A petrol station in Port Macquarie is seen completely covered in water as dangerous storms batter NSW Ms Morrison attended a shopping centre at Gloucester, which is a two hour drive south of Port Macquarie, at about 10.45am on March 16. Her whereabouts after this are unknown and family said it was unusual for her to not be in regular contact with them. Ms Morrison was believed to have been driving a red 2017 Toyota Corolla with the New South Wales registration plates DSN 47R. Police issued an urgent text alert to residents in Gloucester, Barrington, Stratford and Weismantels in an urgent bid to find the woman. The rain isn't expected to ease up at all on Saturday (pictured Port Macquarie) A kangaroo in Lansdowne had a lucky escape after it was caught in raging flood waters on Friday. Jenny Farrrell was filming the torrential rain outside her home on NSW's mid-north coast when she suddenly spotted the animal jumping into the water. Within seconds the kangaroo was being forced down the rapids as it desperately tried to jump onto the nearby land. 'Come on buddy, get out, get out,' Ms Farrell is heard saying in the footage. Luckily for the kangaroo, it managed to pull itself out of the water and jump onto the grass and hop away. Meanwhile, major flooding is also occurring along the Hastings River at Kindee Bridge, Wauchope and Settlement Point. The Hastings River at Kindee Bridge peaked at 12.1m about 11.00pm on Friday and is currently at 9.87m and falling with major flooding. HORSE RACING POSTPONED DUE TO WILD WEATHER Sydney's autumn carnival will be rescheduled after heavy rain forced the postponement of the rich Golden Slipper meeting because of unsafe racing conditions. One of Australian turf's marquee races, the $3.5 million Golden Slipper for two-year-olds will now be run at Rosehill next Saturday. The decision to hold over the meeting, which also includes four Group One races on the undercard, will impact on four other prime autumn fixtures. All Australian Turf Club (ATC) meetings, including two days of The Championships at Randwick, will be pushed back seven days. The Championships will now be held on April 10 and April 17 with the All Aged Stakes meeting at Randwick closing out the carnival on April 24. 'Both the ATC and Racing NSW feel that resetting the carnival one week later is the best overall option for participants and the flow of the carnival,' Racing NSW chief executive Peter V'landys said. The worst fears of racing officials were realised on Saturday morning when an early-morning track inspection revealed sections of surface water on the Rosehill track. Officials said heavy overnight rain with the forecast of much more to come made it impossible for the Golden Slipper, the world's richest race for juvenile horses, to be run. Racing NSW chief steward Marc Van Gestel inspected the track at 6am (AEDT) after two horses were sent over the course proper in a trackwork gallop to assess its suitability for racing. Leading jockey Kerrin McEvoy reported the track 'had a reasonable base to it' but more rain and a grim forecast dashed any hopes of the meeting going ahead. 'In the circumstances the track can't cope with any more rain, it's full now,' Van Gestel told Sky Sports radio. 'Given the forecast for today and the way the morning has unfolded we're just not in a position to proceed.' Van Gestel had been confident the showpiece meeting would go ahead after a late Friday inspection. He was banking on a small break in the weather to provide a window of opportunity to get through the nine-race card before the deluge hit Sydney. But the meeting's fate was sealed when Rosehill received 25mm of overnight rain, taking the weekly total to almost 120mm. It's the first time since the 1963 Golden Slipper won by Pago Pago that the race has been postponed. The race was run on the following Wednesday. Rain is forecast for Sydney throughout most of next week. The final field and barriers for the 16 Golden Slipper runners will stand with Victorian colt Profiteer the favourite. However, entries for the meeting's support races will be reopened, including the Ranvet Stakes where high-class English middle-distance performer Addeybb will make his return to Australian racing. Advertisement Port Macquarie (pictured) received some of the worst flooding on Friday with the weather system to hit the greater Sydney area on Saturday The Hastings River at Wauchope is currently at 8.5m and near its peak with major flooding. The Hastings River at Settlement Point is likely to peak near 2.1m about 10am on Saturday with major flooding. Major flooding also hit Macksville and Bowraville overnight. Those living in low-lying areas of Port Macquarie were forced to evacuate on Friday, with a 'significant' number of properties set to be inundated. Nearby areas of North Haven, Dunbogan, Camden Head, Laurieton were also ordered to leave, as well as those living in Kempsey and along the lower Macleay River. On Friday night, the State Emergency Service told those on low-lying properties in Kempsey, north of Port Macquarie on the mid-north coast, to 'evacuate the high danger area' by midnight. Rescue crews are pictured saving a group of people in a life raft near Kempsey on the NSW Mid-North Coast A late-night weather warning from the Bureau of Meteorology has warned of heavy rainfall, damaging winds and surf along a vast stretch of the NSW coast including Sydney The late-night evacuation order for eastern parts of the regional centre came amid fears the floodwaters could breach the town's levee and cut off road, internet and phone access. In the hours before, low-lying properties on the Lower Macleay, north of Kempsey, were ordered to evacuate as well as areas of Port Macquarie - home to almost 50,000 residents. The Georges, Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers in the Sydney region are also expected to rise from the floodwaters. Authorities have also warned flash-flooding could be 'life threatening' with roads likely cut-off by the floodwaters and an increased risk of landslips. A landslip at Myers Bluff in Thora, NSW on Friday (pictured) caused a council car to be hit with debris but no-one was injured Residents in parts of Port Macquarie (pictured) are being ordered to evacuate as flooding hits the NSW mid-north coast town Surfers in Lennox Head, northern NSW, brave the wild weather and huge swells on Friday for a wave (pictured) Sydney's Warragamba Dam (pictured) has spilled over which could cause chaos for many western suburbs The Macksville Bridge (pictured) near Nambucca Heads in NSW was underwater early on Friday night Flash flooding is battering some parts of NSW (pictured) as a huge weather system moves slowly south towards Sydney A landslide at Thora in New South Wales on Friday (pictured) caused by soaking rains The Hasting River at Long Flat (pictured left) broke its banks on Friday, while the road to Port Macquarie airport (pictured right) was completely underwater A deluge of water cause paddocks to flood at Macksville (pictured) on Friday Earlier, Sky News Weather meteorologist Alison Osborne said there was some uncertainty about where the heaviest falls will be this weekend. 'There is a risk of that flooding reaching Sydney and the rain spreading into northern and eastern parts of Victoria,' she said. 'In the outback [where there is less rainfall] there could be many months worth of rain in the next few days.' The eastern seaboard of Australia is expected to cop a deluge in the coming days. A severe weather warning for heavy rainfall is now in place for the mid-north coast 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. Representative Tom Reed, Republican of New York, on Friday disputed the accuracy of a news report detailing the allegations of a former lobbyist who said he touched her inappropriately during a weekend political trip in 2017. The woman, Nicolette Davis, told The Washington Post that she was a 25-year-old lobbyist for the insurance company Aflac when Mr. Reed groped her at an Irish pub in Minneapolis after a day of ice fishing with donors, politicians and lobbyists. The congressman was drunk, she said, and while sitting at the bar, he placed his hand on her back, unclasped her bra through her blouse and moved his hand up her thigh before Ms. Davis asked the man sitting next to her to intervene. Mr. Reed, 49, who has served in the House since 2010 and is now mulling a run for governor in New York, declined to discuss the allegation with reporters in the Capitol on Friday. In a statement, he said that the account of my actions is not accurate, but he did not elaborate or deny the encounter outright. His spokesman did not respond to detailed follow-up questions, including what specific allegations the congressman disputed. Ms. Davis, who is now a second lieutenant in the Army, could not be reached. She told The Post that though she was a lifelong Democrat, it was her conscience and desire to set an example for others that had led her to share her story publicly. By Karolina Tagaris ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece is laying out the sunbeds and beach umbrellas as it prepares to reopen to tourists in May and resurrect an industry which suffered one of its worst years in decades because of the coronavirus pandemic. "All you need is Greece," Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis said this week in an address from the Acropolis museum, home to sculptures from Greek antiquity. The tourism sector accounts for about a fifth of Greece's economy. As COVID-19 vaccination programs get underway around the world, Greece is relying on its record in handling the pandemic to draw foreign tourists back to its islands and monuments. It has led calls for Europe to adopt a common digital pass showing whether someone has been vaccinated to allow travel over the summer. Theoharis said Greece would open to visitors either way. "People who are vaccinated, have tested negative or recovered from the disease and have antibodies are welcome to Greece and we will welcome them irrespective of any agreements," Theoharis told Reuters. In 2020, the worst year on record for global tourism according to the U.N. World Tourism Organization, just 7.4 million people traveled to Greece, fewer than at any time during its decade-long economic crisis and down from a record 31.3 million the year before. Revenues plunged to 4 billion euros ($4.81 billion) in 2020 from 18 billion in 2019 as the economy shrank by more than 8%, adding pressure on a budget already creaking under one of the world's heaviest debt burdens. The number of British and German tourists was down 70% and 62% respectively. "We will have a better year than last year," Theoharis said. "This is not obvious now because the bookings are depressed... there's a lot of gloom, a lot of pessimism in the market, but I'm sure in the end my calculation is going to be correct." Greece, with a population of 11 million, has recorded about 7,000 deaths and is again in lockdown after a surge in new cases squeezed a health system battered by the economic crisis. Story continues Theoharis dismissed criticism that tourism increased new infections last year as "understandable ... but completely unfounded." "The second wave which engulfed all of Europe roughly at the end of October, beginning of November, came to Greece at exactly the same time, perhaps even a couple of weeks later," he said. Residents of several Greek islands have been vaccinated and Greece plans to vaccinate all tourism workers by summer, after vulnerable groups. Those not vaccinated will be tested at least once a week, Theoharis said. About one in five workers has a job in tourism. "We have to balance all concerns because we have people who are employed, we have people who need to find jobs," Theoharis said. "This year I think we have more tools in our arsenal." (Editing by Janet Lawrence) KY Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Website Has New Look By West Kentucky Star Staff FRANKFORT - The online home of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources has a new look.The department says it recently revitalized its website for better accessibility and navigation. Part of the renovation includes placing the most searched items on the homepage for ease of use.The website, located at fw.ky.gov, offers a wealth of information to help people get more enjoyment out of the outdoors.Through the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife website, you can:-Buy fishing and hunting licenses-Find a place to fish-Learn about fish, wildlife and conservation efforts-Find hunting season dates-Read about hunting, fishing and boating regulations-Discover maps and information about public hunting areas-Purchase tickets to the Salato Wildlife Education Center-Get fishing and hunting tips and watch videosOther improvements offered by the department this year include the agency's first Spanish language version of the fishing and boating guide. This version is available online only. The printed English language version of the guide, available at hunting and fishing license vendors statewide, includes a QR code that links to the online Spanish version.Kentucky Fish and Wildlife's website received more than 19 million page views from 2.7 million users last year. In 2020, the department sold more than 540,000 licenses and permits to individuals from its website, more than half of the nearly one million sold.Kentucky's 2021-22 hunting and fishing license year began March 1. Hunting kicks off with youth seasons for turkey April 3-4, followed by the general spring turkey season from April 17-May 9. Fishing seasons are open year-round.On the Net: Selma is one of Alabamas most historic cities, featuring beautiful old homes, churches and buildings, as well as the iconic Edmund Pettus Bridge. One such building is small and unassuming and might go unnoticed except that it is precariously perched on the side of a bluff, looking as if one good gust of wind might topple it into the Alabama River. It is known as the Bridge Tenders House and was built in 1884 for the person who would operate the mechanism to open the bridge span to allow river traffic to pass beneath. These days, the home is preserved as part of the National Register of Historic Places and is for rent on Airbnb. The description says: This Victorian cottage (1884), with its private riverfront balcony and a perfect view of the Iconic Edmund Pettus Bridge, nestles on the bank of the Alabama River. Charming, remodeled, comfortable and cozy, it has 12-foot ceilings and is filled with heirlooms and original art & decor! Waking, you see the river from your pillow! Featured twice in the Cottage Journal Magazine, it is downtown, just a step away from the St. James bar and dining room, near museums, art galleries and boutique shopping. Click here for rates and information. According to RuralSWAlabama.org, the original bridge opened in 1885. It had three spans and the north span would turn to allow river traffic to pass. The original bridge, built in Selma in 1885. It was torn down after the Edmund Pettus Bridge was built in 1940. (RuralSWAlabama.org) A historical marker says: The turning operation required the bridge tender to manually turn the capstan to open the span. He lived at the existing house, with his family, and was on duty 24 hours a day. The tender was also required to take tolls from those wishing to cross the bridge. Tolls at the time were 25 cents for a one-horse buggy, and 75 cents for four-horse buggy. Tolls ended in 1900 when Dallas County purchased the bridge, according to the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation Society. Historical marker at the Bridge Tender's House in Selma. (RuralSWAlabama.org) In 1940, the Edmund Pettus Bridge opened and would become the site of historic Civil Rights marches led by Dr. Martin Luther King. Its opening made the original bridge obsolete and it was later demolished. The only remainders are a curved landing, the cornerstone and the bridge tenders house, the historic society said. Airbnb adds the house is located near the National Park Service Interpretive Center for those who want to learn more about Selmas history. The Bridge Tenders is a place to relax in as well as sightsee and has its own library so you can have a read and a rest by the river, the listing says. The rooms give the feeling of being on a cozy, stationary houseboat. You can see both the sunrise and sunset as you enjoy coffee or wine and cheese on the balcony...a fine spot for entertaining! The 2021 Undergraduate Summer Programme is open for applications - Deadline: 11 April, 2021 The joint ESRF/ILL International Summer Student Programme on X-Ray and Neutron Science is held every year (usually in September). The programme consists in a four-week experimental project embedded in a research group at the ESRF or ILL. The first days of the programme are dedicated to introductory lectures to familiarise students with the principles of neutrons and X-rays: Fundamental principles Techniques used for their production (nuclear reactor, synchrotron) Instrumentation and measurement techniques Interaction with matter The programme continues with the more specific aspects of the application of neutrons and X-rays in a number of different scientific fields, such as: Diffraction and structure of materials Imaging Nuclear and particle physics Structural biology Magnetism Spectroscopy and inelastic scattering Soft matter studies And other examples of today's scientific questions For a large part of the programme, students will work on an individual scientific project tutored by one or several scientists of the institutes. These projects are proposed by our research groups and are closely-related to their actual scientific activities. The programme concludes with a seminar where all participants give a short presentation of the results they have obtained. In addition to the academic programme, several social events and outings are organised throughout the programme to facilitate integration and to discover Grenoble and the surrounding area. The Programme is open to undergraduate students enrolled in a university of a member country (or scientific associate country) of the ESRF or ILL. Applications Information concerning applications to the Summer Programme is usually published at the beginning of the year. Please check the ESRF and ILL web pages for the announcement. Application files consist of: complete CV, including the records of all university marks and exams. motivation letter. certificate of English language fluency (this may be a TOEFL or an attestation signed by a university lecturer of English language); students who are English native speakers or enrolled in an English language university are exempt from providing this certificate. Applications must be submitted online through our dedicated page. Contact the organisers A man has been found dead after allegedly falling from the second floor of a quarantine facility in the north-central Vietnamese province of Ha Tinh. The victim, 24-year-old Luong Xay Nhan from the north-central province of Nghe An, was found unconscious on the ground inside the premises of Mitraco dormitory, which is currently used as a COVID-19 quarantine camp, in Ky Anh Town on Thursday evening. Competent authorities gave Nhan first-aid treatment before rushing him to the Ky Anh General Hospital. However, Nhan passed away on his way to the infirmary. The cause of death was identified as multiple internal injuries. After examining the scene and carrying out an autopsy, police officers believed that the victim had fallen from the second floor of the quarantine facility. As of Friday afternoon, Nhans body had been handed over to his family members for funeral rituals. Nhan previously returned to Vietnam from Laos via the Cau Treo International Border Gate in Ha Tinh Province on Tuesday. He was brought to the quarantine camp upon his arrival in accordance with regulations. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! LG Rollable is one of the most-awaited smartphones in the market. Its arrival is expected to be a game-changer that will remove foldable devices from the spotlight. LGs Rollable phone is one step closer to an official launch pic.twitter.com/HWWfeocfmU A N I R U D H .S (@ani_rudh_s) March 19, 2021 According to XDA Developers' latest report, LG first revealed its new rollable smartphone during its 2020 LG Wing launch event. However, the tech giant manufacturer's teaser only revealed a brief glimpse of the upcoming gadget. Android Central also reported that LG has considered removing the rollable smartphone from its upcoming devices. But, the tech giant company confirmed that the removal of the device is false as it firmly denied the rumors. Furthermore, LG confirmed that it has no final decision yet regarding its new smartphone. LG Rollable's release date Rumors claimed that the new LG Rollable could debut in Q4. The new device also received a Bluetooth SIG Certification, which is very strong proof that the upcoming gadget will be released by the company. LG Rollable Smartphone Model no. ( LM-R910N) Receives Bluetooth SIG Certification. pic.twitter.com/Ps7iQsOY0T TECH BLOOGER (@TechBlooger) March 19, 2021 Also Read: Samsung Galaxy Could Save Your Life! How to Use Its SOS Feature During an Emergency On the other hand, some speculations said that LG is also looking for a new buyer of its smartphone business after it had a short conversation with Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup. If this is true, there's a high chance that LG would be under another manufacturer. LG Rollable's other details Although it received the Bluetooth SIG Certification, the official website didn't release other details such as its specs, design, and other features. Bluetooth's official page released new declaration details. Under the Product List, there are five names included. One of these is the new LG Rollable smartphone, which has a model number LM-R910N. If LG will indeed release its new device early, it could be the first manufacturer to launch a rollable smartphone. There are also some rumors that came up saying that the new LG Rollable will have the current Snapdragon 800 or Snapdragon 700 chipset. However, LG hasn't released any update yet regarding the mechanical functions of the upcoming rollable device. How does a rollable smartphone work? If you have no idea how this kind of smartphone works, Oppo explained how its rollable concept would function. The smartphone manufacturer explained that it is powered by two roll motors. The company also use cogs that mesh into the so-called Warp Track laminate, which is similar to timing belt. If you want to know more details, all you need to do is click here. For more news updates about LG Rollable and other upcoming unique smartphones, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Motorola Moto G100 vs. POCO F3: Which Budget Smartphone is Better? This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Giuliano de Leon 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. New service combines data-driven strategies with analytics, AI, and eCommerce Solutions to drive traffic, customer acquisition, and optimise conversions throughout funnel Proven track record in increasing sales growth, GMV, and ROAS for clients amidst COVID-19 KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ADA is launching a new business line that combines data-driven marketing strategies with end-to-end eCommerce solutions. Srinivas Gattamneni, Chief Executive Officer, ADA The service is aimed at clients seeking comprehensive solutions to drive traffic, manage customer experience, optimise conversions throughout the funnel, and create engaging content on digital marketplaces as well as owned eCommerce sites. ADA is building on its expertise in data analytics and performance marketing to deliver real business outcomes in the eCommerce arena, as sales move online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Srinivas Gattamneni, Chief Executive Officer of ADA, said: "eCommerce is a strategic priority for ADA and our clients as businesses emerge from the shadow of the COIVD-19 pandemic. We're excited to be extending our footprint by bringing our unique heritage in data-driven marketing to empower the next generation of eCommerce champions." Anurag Gupta, Chief Operating Officer & Chief of Agency, ADA, added: "A global luxury skincare brand turned to ADA when one of its key Southeast Asian markets was forced to pivot overnight to eCommerce during a nationwide lockdown. The brand quickly adapted its high-touch, mostly offline sales model to an eCommerce environment thanks to a multi-layered audience segmentation strategy built on XACT, ADA's proprietary Data Management Platform, and first-party customer data. The resulting campaigns far exceeded targets, with 490% growth achieved in eCommerce monthly sales versus pre-pandemic, 275% growth versus promotional months and 24.5% Return on Ad Spend." The eCommerce market in Southeast Asia continues to surge as COVID-19 accelerated online purchases, with gross merchandise value expected to jump to USD 172 billion by 2025, according to the e-Conomy SEA 2020 report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Co. Story continues Learn more about ADA's eCommerce solutions here: https://ada-asia.com/end-to-end-e-commerce-solutions/. ADA Logo About ADA ADA is a data and artificial intelligence company that designs and executes integrated digital, analytics, and marketing solutions. Operating across nine markets in South and Southeast Asia, ADA partners with leading brands to drive their digital and data maturity, and achieve their business goals. We are anchored on the following main services: Providing business insights, data enrichment, and advanced analytics Understanding the consumer mindset and designing data-driven creative marketing strategies Executing end-to-end digital marketing solutions for growth hacking, funnel optimisation, and goal optimisation ADA complements its unique digital expertise with deep proprietary data of 375 Million consumers. SOURCE ADA Birmingham home building company Spartan Invest, along with sister company Alabama Rental Property, has announced a neighborhood development of new construction homes in the Hacienda neighborhood of West Tuscaloosa. The neighborhood is being developed and funded through Spartan Invest, with Corinth Construction acting as homebuilder. Currently gearing up for phase two of the development, Spartan Invest expects to have new homes available this fall. The homes will range in price from $160,000 to $260,000 and floor plans can include up to 1,700 square feet. Select homes will be available for rent, with prices ranging from $1,300 to $1,600 a month. Corinth is partnering with Synovus Financial to maintain a revolving line of credit of up to $4 million in capital. The announcement comes at a time when residential home inventory is at a premium. We also wanted to be able to meet the different needs of both investors and residents alike and this neighborhood does just that, Jason Clark, VP of Spartan Invest and Corinth Construction said. Corinth has enabled Spartan to help investors diversify and tenants are given more options during the search process. Oil and gas companies knew for decades that their industry was responsible for significant levels of air pollution and that it could cause health problems but lobbied for laxer standards and publicly downplayed the risks, it has been claimed. Internal documents from the likes of Shell, Exxon and Imperial Oil warned as far back as the 1960s that 'the petroleum industry... is a major contributor to many of the key forms of pollution' and acknowledged that very small particles are 'the real villains in health effects'. But as government regulators prepared to crack down on the problem in the 1990s, Exxon publicly insisted that 'there is no substantive basis' to believe PM2.5 particles - the smallest form of air pollution - were causing more severe health problems. In 1997, a scientist commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute told US Congress that evidence linking air pollution and mortality was 'weak'. Oil and gas companies were aware of links between their industry and air pollution and privately warned about adverse health affects decades ago (file image) This 1967 document from Imperial Oil Ltd, the Canadian subsidiary of Exxon, is a Public Relations Assessment that demonstrates an awareness of the issue It is now thought that air pollution, and in particular high concentrations of PM2.5 particles, are responsible for millions of deaths around the world each year. In February, scientists from Harvard and three British universities published a paper estimating air pollution is responsible for as many as 8.7million deaths each year. An analysis of the oil companies' internal documents and memos was published in The Guardian. In its report, the newspaper picks out internal company documents dating from the late 60s and early 70s showing the companies were aware that air pollution was a problem, had drawn a link to their industry, and were investigating health issues. For example, a report drawn up by Shell in 1968 warns that air pollution 'may, in extreme situations, be deleterious to health' and the oil industry has to 'reluctantly' accept that cars 'are by far the greatest sources of air pollution.' The company also draws attention to small sooty particles which can draw toxins 'deep into the lungs which would otherwise be removed in the throat.' In 1970, another document drawn up by Imperial - a subsidy of Exxon - discussed mothers who were worried about the effects of 'smog' on their health and the health of their families. A 1980 document warned of concerns about 'birth defects among industry worker offspring' from air pollution. Particles were sampled by Esso in New York City in 1971, where fragments of aluminium, magnesium and other metals were found in the air Esso scientists said gasses from smokestacks contained 'high concentrations' of pollutants A 1993 study looked into the association between air pollution and mortality in six US cities But in 1996, a public document issued by Exxon downplayed the risks - stating 'none of the criteria for establishing causality of the PM/mortality hypothesis are clearly met at ambient concentrations common in many U.S. cities.' In 1998, the company continued to insist in public that 'the weight of evidence suggests there is no substantive basis for concluding that a cause-effect relationship exists between long-term ambient PM2.5 and increased mortality.' A number of public statements issued by the American Petroleum Institute in recent years continued to downplay the risks, stating that there is 'no evidence that reductions in PM2.5 concentrations cause reductions in mortality rates.' As recently as last year, API argued against tightening air quality standards amid the Covid pandemic, downplaying studies that linked high levels of air pollution to worse outcomes in coronavirus patients. 'Proponents of more stringent standards offered studies claiming to show positive health effects, but these failed to adequately quantify errors and uncertainties,' a statement released in April said. A spokesman for API, speaking after the Guardian report was released, said: 'Our industrys top priority is advancing public health and safety while delivering affordable, reliable and cleaner energy. 'Largely due to increased use of natural gas in the power sector and cleaner motor fuels, the US has seen significant environmental progress over the years including improved air quality with annual concentrations of PM2.5 declining 43 per cent since 2000.' Some 350,000 people die from particle pollution every year in America Pictured, the number of premature deaths per grid square. This image from the UCL/Harvard study shows cities in Western Europe have a higher number of premature deaths than rural areas, due to the lower levels of air pollution This graph shows the air pollution level from fossil fuel burning across the world. The study broke each patch of land down into 50-by-60-kilometre (30-by-36-mile) blocks and found industry-related emissions. Places in red and orange have higher levels of particulate matter This graph shows the number of excess deaths fatalities above the five year average for the world, broken down by grid cells People living in industrialised areas and urban metropolises, such as South-East Asia, Eastern North America and Europe, were exposed to the highest levels of pollution. The new research also shows half of all annual deaths linked to air pollution from fossil fuels occur in China and India. Exxon did not respond to the report directly, but pointed MailOnline to a previous blog post written after similar reports were published in 2015. It says 'that these allegations are based on deliberately cherry-picked statements attributed to various ExxonMobil employees to wrongly suggest definitive conclusions were reached decades ago by company researchers. 'These statements were taken completely out of context and ignored other readily available statements demonstrating that our researchers recognized the developing nature of climate science at the time which, in fact, mirrored global understanding. 'What these documents actually demonstrate is a robust culture of scientific discourse on the causes and risks of climate change that took place at ExxonMobil in the 1970s and 80s and continues today. 'They point to corporate efforts to fill the substantial gaps in knowledge that existed during the earliest years of climate change research.' 'They also help explain why ExxonMobil would work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and leading universities like MIT and Stanford on ways to expand climate science knowledge.' MailOnline also contacted a Shell representative for comment, but had not heard back at the time of publication. 2 In the run-up to the invasion, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush argued that Iraq was concealing weapons of mass destruction. Here, Secretary of State Colin Powell holds up a vial that he described as one that could contain anthrax during a presentation on Iraq to the UN Security Council on February 5, 2003. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug, left, holds a virtual meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday (KST). Courtesy of the office of the National Assembly Speaker By Jung Da-min National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug and U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a virtual meeting, Friday (KST), to discuss diplomatic issues including the North Korean nuclear issue and the historical dispute over wartime sex slavery. "The Republic of Korea-U.S. alliance is a starting point and a crucial point of reference for South Korea's diplomacy and security. It serves as a bedrock for peace and stability in the region, as the U.S.' most successful alliance," Park said. Noting that the 70-year-old alliance was the driving force behind South Korea's democratization and industrialization, Park said he hopes that the National Assembly and House of Representatives will work together to contribute to the development of South Korea-U.S. relations into a comprehensive strategic alliance. Speaker Pelosi replied that "the relationship that we have is one of common values." Pelosi said that she was pleased to have a virtual meeting with Park, following the two-plus-two ministerial meeting between South Korea and the United States, in which Foreign and Defense Ministers Chung Eui-yong and Suh Wook sat down with Secretaries of State and Defense Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday (KST). Noting the fact that the U.S. secretaries' trip to South Korea was their first overseas visit since the inauguration of the Biden administration, she said that the two-plus-two ministerial meeting was "an indication of the importance of the Republic of Korea-U.S. relationship." On the North Korean nuclear issue, Park said that a comprehensive deal will be needed based on a gradual approach and through an action-for-action process. Pelosi said, "As we deal with the situation in North Korea, it is important for us to respect the point of view of the Republic of Korea in those discussions and look to you for guidance." Park and Pelosi's meeting touched upon security and North Korean nuclear issues, but also went further to discuss other diplomatic issues, including the dispute over of wartime sex slavery by imperial Japan. National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug, left, holds a virtual meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday (KST). Courtesy of the office of the National Assembly Speaker Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Friday that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the murder conviction of Marty Gene Stafford, 32. Stafford was convicted in Limestone County Circuit Court on Aug. 6, 2020, for the felony murder of Brenton Gatlin. The evidence at trial showed that on the evening of July 25, 2017, Stafford went to the home of Brenton Gatlin to commit a robbery, according to a news release from Marshall. Also from the release: During the robbery, Gatlin was shot in the neck by Stafford, who was later apprehended hiding behind some lumber next to a nearby house. Gatlin died of his wounds. Stafford admitted to police that he entered Gatlins house to commit a robbery and engaged in a confrontation. Stafford, however, denied having a gun and insisted that he used his fists instead. The State introduced evidence in the form of messages via Facebook Messenger in which Stafford discussed in some detail his plan to rob Gatlin. Stafford even went so far as to post photographs showing him brandishing a semiautomatic pistol and the background in the photographs indicated that they were taken inside of Gatlins house. Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones office successfully prosecuted this case and obtained a guilty verdict. Stafford was sentenced to life imprisonment for his felony murder conviction. Stafford sought to have his convictions reversed on appeal. The Attorney General's Criminal Appeals Division handled the case during the appeals process, arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm Staffords conviction. The Court did so in a decision issued March 5, 2021. Attorney General Marshall commended Assistant Attorney General Kristi Wilkerson for her successful work on this case, and thanked District Attorney Brian Jones and his staff for their valuable assistance in defending the murder conviction. States continue to find COVID-19-safe ways to maintain communication with citizens As COVID-19 vaccines roll out across the country, states continue to find ways to communicate with their communities and citizens about COVID-19, including the importance of getting vaccinated. The need to keep physically distant from one another has presented unique challenges for talking with people about the importance of vaccination. The Connecticut Long Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP) turned to social media to educate and answer questions about the COVID-19 vaccine. Connecticut Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, Mairead Painter delivers COVID-19 vaccine information to residents in long-term care facilities via Facebook Live. LTCOP provides direct services to residents in Long Term Care Facilities including monitoring and educating residents on state and federal laws and regulations that directly affect them. This work became even harder during the pandemic. Residents of long term care facilities have been among the worst affected by the pandemic because they live in close physical proximity to each other and because they tend to be older. Social media helped connect with long-term care residents Many long-term care residents in Connecticut use Facebook to communicate with friends and family. LTCOP realized Facebook was an effective way to share health information because residents were already familiar with it. To connect with residents of long term care facilities and their families, Mairead Painter of the LTCOP partnered with colleagues from other state government agencies experts like Dr. Vivian Leung from the Connecticut Department of Public Health to hold weekly Facebook Live events. LTCOP also started posting recordings of the sessions on YouTube for residents who were unable to attend the Facebook Live events. These events have provided information for people in Long-Term Care Facilities and their families since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. We realized early on that because we werent able to get into the nursing homes, it was going to be really hard for us to get information to the residents, said Painter. And the residents count on us for that unbiased, third-party opinion that they can base a lot of their decisions off of. Facebook Live allowed long term care facility residents and their family members were able to engage with experts and ask questions about the virus, the effects of the pandemic on their facility and, beginning in December, the COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Leung recalled her time answering questions on the Facebook Live events. Its [Facebook Live events] been a great way to hear directly from the long-term care communities and families themselves, Leung said. It gets really great reception. Its a great platform to reach both families and residents at the same time and understand what their concerns are and then respond to them quickly. Ensure residents feel like they are part of the decision-making process According to Painter, it was critical to have open communication and to brand information to look consistent with other materials coming from trusted departments in Connecticut. Painters advice for other government agencies looking to improve communication in their jurisdictions is to embrace technology for community engagement and getting messages out quickly. One of the things that Ive been able to do, and that Im trying to continue to do, is ensure that people know that residents want this to be done with them and not for themthat they have the right to be a part of the decisions that impact their lives, said Painter. Even though theyre individuals choosing to receive long-term services and support in community settings, like a nursing home, a residential care home, or an assisted living facility, it doesnt mean that they want the decisions made for them. Haiti - Politic : The OAS adopts a resolution in favor of dialogue and the electoral process in Haiti During the virtual regular meeting of March 17, of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), where a resolution in favor of dialogue and the electoral process in Haiti was adopted, Bradley A. Freden, Permanent Representative ai of United States at the OAS Permanent Council declared "Thank you Madam Chair. We thank all the delegations that worked so hard to arrive at consensus on this resolution, and in particular Ambassador Edmond, Ambassador Sanders, Ambassador Adsett, and Ambassador Jativa . The United States is pleased to be part of this consensus. We would also like to offer our condolences to the families of the four police officer recently murdered in Haiti. Citizens in a democracy should have the right to choose their leaders and exercise their freedom of expression. The United States has long been a friend of Haiti, and we maintain our commitment to working with the Government and people of Haiti as well as other stakeholders, to hold free and fair legislative and presidential elections in 2021, regardless of the outcome of the constitutional referendum. We are disturbed by the current period of rule by decree. We believe such decrees should be limited to actions necessary for essential functions, safety, and the conduct of elections. We applaud the Haitian Governments decision to invite an OAS Electoral Observation Mission to monitor elections. We think an OAS-led EOM is critical to building trust in the electoral process while also ensuring the 2021 legislative and presidential elections in Haiti are free and fair. The OAS Mission in Haiti has been active in promoting democracy, stability, and economic development in the country. It deserves our thanks and continued support. In conclusion, Haiti has many friends here at the OAS. We are committed to working with Haiti and other member states to address current challenges in Haiti and supporting the conduct of free and fair elections this year." Text of the OAS Resolution in favor of dialogue and the electoral process in Haiti : "THE PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, REAFFIRMING the principles enshrined in the Charter of the Organization of American States, specifically those principles aimed at ensuring representative democracy and the building of sustainable democratic institutions. REAFFIRMING FURTHER the right of the peoples of the Americas to democracy and the obligation of their governments to promote and defend it, as reflected in Article 1 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter; RECALLING that Haiti is a State Party to the American Convention on Human Rights; CONSCIOUS that the Charter of Civil Society of the Caribbean Community requires that States shall take all appropriate measures to promote and maintain an effectively functioning representational system, including the holding of regular public sessions of representatives of the people and affirms that States recognize and affirm that the rule of law, the effective administration of justice and the maintenance of the independence and impartiality of the judiciary are essential to good governance; CONSIDERING that the expiration of the terms of the majority of the members of the legislature on January 13, 2020, without elected officials to succeed them, led to the suspension of the legislatures activities; CONSIDERING FURTHER that the President of Haiti has been governing since January 13, 2020 by the use of executive decrees in the absence of a functioning legislature; WELCOMING the President of Haitis commitment, at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on February 22, 2021, to make limited use of Presidential decrees; MINDFUL of the report of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti- Report of the Secretary General (S2021/133) of February 11, 2021 which noted that public concern over the worsening security situation, including the Governments inability to stem rampant kidnappings and surging levels of criminality, fuelled anti-government protests; RECOGNIZING that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has stated that it is concerned by the latest attacks against judicial independence in Haiti and that these developments cause concerns about judicial independence and have further eroded the separation of powers in Haiti; ACKNOWLEDGING that Civil Society and Human Rights Organizations, as well as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, have expressed their deep concern about violations of democratic principles and human rights in Haiti; CONSCIOUS that the President of Haiti has instituted measures to approve a new Constitution including by holding a referendum, and that a wide discussion on these matters by all stakeholders is important; AWARE that Haiti continues to face challenges to institute all the necessary conditions for the free and fair elections it seeks to undertake this year; WELCOMING the request of the President of Haiti for an OAS Electoral Observation Mission for the planned elections; TAKING ACCOUNT OF the Statement of the Caribbean Community on February 11, 2021 that encouraged all parties to engage in meaningful dialogue in the interest of peace and stability and strongly urged that action be taken to foster a safe environment, a return to normal life and the building of sustainable democratic institutions and a further statement on February 25, 2021, that looked forward to the conduct of free and fair Presidential Elections, in accordance with the Constitution of Haiti; and DESIROUS OF supporting efforts by the President and all stakeholders in Haiti to engage in dialogue that would lead to free and fair Presidential, legislative, local and municipal elections that benefit from independent and credible electoral observation, RESOLVES: 1. To reaffirm its support for the people of Haiti and to encourage the President of Haiti to work with all stakeholders to engage in meaningful dialogue in the interest of addressing the countrys needs, among others, the need to hold free and fair legislative and presidential elections this year. 2. To express its strong concern about all acts of violence, human rights violations and abuses committed in Haiti, and to urge the President of Haiti to implement steps to identify and bring to justice those responsible through the appropriate legal procedures. 3. To recall that the humanitarian situation of Haiti has been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. 4. To welcome the invitation of the President of Haiti issued to the OAS to send an observation mission for the elections planned for this year, and to offer the good offices of the OAS under the authority of the Permanent Council to facilitate a dialogue that would lead to free and fair elections. 5. To request the Secretary General to advise the Government and other major stakeholders in Haiti, of the Permanent Councils offer to undertake a good offices role and to invite the President of Haiti to consider inviting the Permanent Council to do so. 6. To remain apprised of the situation in Haiti on a regular basis." HL/ HaitiLibre Controversial councillor Paddy Holohan has spoken out after it was revealed he is no longer a member of Sinn Fein. The South Dublin County Council (SDCC) representative did not renew his membership of the party and so will no longer represent the party on the council. The party took disciplinary action against the councillor after it urged him to remove a Facebook post supporting a salon owner who reopened in breach of Covid-19 restrictions last month. He said that C&N Beauty Room owner Christine McTiernan was inspiring after she was arrested by gardai for opening her business and appeared later in court. However, Cllr Holohan did not remove his posts, made on his Facebook profile. Read More "Paddy Holohan has chosen not to renew his membership of the party, a spokesperson for the party told Independent.ie. "He is therefore no longer a member of Sinn Fein and no longer represents Sinn Fein on SDCC." Mr Holohan was previously suspended from the party last year, when it emerged he made a string of offensive comments on a podcast. He suggested loads of underage girls were having sex with men and blackmailing them for sums of money up to 10,000. He said some women were f*****g scum. He also said that Leo Varadkars blood ran to India and insisted the person who is elected Taoiseach should be a family man. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said his comments were vile and offensive. He was later reinstated by the party and his name had been put forward for lord mayor role on South Dublin County Council. However, he lost the vote and Sinn Fein said they were not aware Mr Holohan had been nominated. The party then moved to stand down the partys organisation in the Dublin South West constituency. Cllr Holohan will stay on as an independent councillor in South Dublin. He took to his Instagram this afternoon to confirm that he will not be renewing his membership of Sinn Fein. In a video post he said that he found it highly unfair that findings of the investigation by the party, which took place last year, were not released to the public, media or party members. Mr Holohan said that his daughter was born on February 24, and two days later, he received a complaint about his social media post in support of Ms McTiernan. I want to stress that I was not asking anybody to break any regulations or restrictions in this post, I was merely showing my support for a business who had found themselves in a similar situation to thousands of other businesses across the country during this pandemic, he said. In the video, he also apologises to his partner Chelsea. Chelsea, I love you, and Im very sorry for this past situation thats happened in our family and what youve had to read online about me and about our family and stuff like that, he says. I apologise but today is a brighter day. He thanked his community for the help and all of your suggestions and support. Mr Holohan added that he will work with his fellow councillors and elected members on the council. Integrity is what you will get from me and thats what I will stand by, I will stand my ground no matter what, he said. Mr Holohan said that his decision to leave Sinn Fein does not reflect on the vast majority of members and elected reps [sic] in the party. I will still continue to work along side my colleagues in the Council for the betterment of my community and a just and equal Ireland, he said in a statement to Independent.ie. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Press Release 19 March 2021 As the global pandemic has swept around the world, few sectors have been hit as hard as the hospitality industry. People have been unable to travel as countries have closed orders and imposed restrictions on their populations in an effort to control the spread. The businesses that serve them, in response, have experienced tremendous upheaval and closures. Advertisements As the world begins to look towards the future and what it might hold for those across different areas of the hospitality industry, EHL Regional Director in the Asia-Pacific region, Joshua Gan, hosted a webinar with some leaders in the sector, in collaboration with General Assembly Singapore. These different professionals, from around the Singapore region, got together to discuss the future of the hospitality industry. The webinar explores the idea of the future in hospitality, and how the industry might change following the pandemic from a variety of different perspectives. Joining Joshua Gan: Each participant brought years of industry expertise and their unique perspective. The impact of 2020 on different aspects of the hospitality industry The leaders who came together for this webinar were able to explore how the past year, and the challenges it brought, impacted the industry from a variety of different specialties. Joan, who works for a luxury real estate company currently working on a project in the Maldives, found that the year was really about managing the downs and the logistics associated with the unexpected closures and disruptions to supply chains. "It became difficult to forecast performance moving forward." Gisle, at the Hilton, found that within the company, unfortunately, they had to say goodbye to some colleagues just to be able to keep the business afloat and begin to prepare for the future. From the supply side, Huilin reported that severe cost-cutting measures had to be implemented to keep the business afloat. Similarly, Joel reported that Lyf brand buildings had very low occupancy rates by hospitality standards, which made it difficult to do business and forced them to carefully rethink how they could keep the spaces used. However, the group also found that the year brought about positive changes. Forcing teams and companies to come together and support each other, try out new ideas to keep the business alive, and brainstorm creative solutions that they might not have otherwise been open to. These were all highlights named by a few. Businesses were able to shift their focus, such as moving away from providing travelers with hotel accommodations, and instead focusing on supporting the community by providing housing for healthcare workers. These type of actions made them feel useful during the pandemic in some way. The customers have also begun to shift with regard to their priorities, such as a greater emphasis on hygiene and safety. This has encouraged those in the industry to similarly shift in how to provide services to customers and what they want to emphasize when creating an experience for their customers. READ: Must read blogs about COVID-19 and the hospitality industry Photo: EHL The role of technology in the hospitality industry and the potential it holds for the future Like the rest of the world, the hospitality industry was forced online to combat the pandemic and avoid in-person crowds, hence, digital technology has become an increasingly important part of business success. The introduction and adoption of technology in ways that brands might not have otherwise considered became an important part of the conversation. The speakers noticed that technology opened up a variety of new opportunities for growth, such as using the streaming technology to connect not only with their colleagues and the rest of their business connections but also with guests. Streaming experiences for guests to encourage engagement allowed them to connect during shutdown. The success, however, indicated that it could potentially become an important part of the future travel experience. Hospitality professionals have also noticed the importance of social media during this entire experience, as they have had to rely on these digital platforms to help greet connections that might be thousands of miles away. Instead of being able to hop on a plane to interact with potential contacts in person, they have been restricted to what they could do online. Those that had already adapted to the importance of social media made the transition easily, while those who had neglected social presences had to adapt quickly and found it a little more challenging to get started. Even outside social media, the Covid-19 period has helped to show the importance of remaining abreast of the latest customer expectations and interests. Hilton, in particular, had made moves to introduce digital technology into parts of their customer experience prior to the pandemic. When the emergency hit, they found that the changes they had already introduced helped them immensely. That culture of innovation and looking forward to the future set them up for success throughout the difficult year. Throughout this pandemic experience, those in the hospitality industry have also begun to look to those outside the industry, specifically those in the technological industry, to provide them with help and advice. Often it is those outside the industry, those who are not stuck in a particular way of doing things, that can help introduce revolutionary new ideas that help to boost the entire business sector. READ: How technology is improving COVID-affected customer experience How the year forced adaptation in the industry Many business sectors, especially the hospitality industry, tend to get caught in the idea that there is a particular 'way' that things should always be done. When adapting to new technological ideas, it can be a challenge to know what customers really want to see. Those who found it the easiest to survive the downturn were the ones willing to think outside the box and find solutions that might be far from their typical forms of operation. "A culture of innovation played a large role in the ability of organizations to adapt to the changes of the past year." As the organizations learned how to capitalize on the changes that the pandemic produced, they found that they were able to experience new ways of doing business that might even last after the crisis is over. The ability to speak to investors, stakeholders and other business connections quickly and easily, regardless of location, had a positive impact on the decision-making and direction of the organization. Professionals could secure meetings more freely and not worry about incurring travel costs or losing time. This adaptation to meeting online with faraway colleagues has been a positive change that looks set to remain. READ: The future of innovation in hospitality: success factors & challenges Employees and human capital are the future of the hospitality industry Although hospitality professionals will have to start seeing some rebounding in their businesses to position themselves successfully to begin hiring again, investing in human capital will continue to be an important component of hospitality growth and success. For those working for businesses in the hospitality industry, keeping employees engaged remains an important part of the work culture. Keeping people involved in the business and connected to the mission helps to set the organization up for success when the business begins to move forward again. With the periods when business is slow, these organizations have the potential to closely examine how they manage their internal processes so that they can create more efficient operations for growth. Overall, the hospitality industry continues to show remarkable resilience. It is an industry that has seen rises and falls in response to world events many times before, and older, established companies-- like Hilton-- are familiar with this type of upheaval. The hospitality industry is poised to continue to grow and shows signs of tremendous recovery and expansion once traveling possibilities reopen. The opportunities to attract excellent talent that can help these businesses adapt to the new reality and take advantage of the changes and innovations available after this period of upheaval, will be significant. READ: COVID-19: Impact on the hospitality workforce Photo: EHL The future of hospitality The pandemic has demonstrated that customers now have different and evolving priorities; businesses need to be prepared to adapt. At the forefront of many minds has been safety and hygiene. Customers will be interested in how hospitality businesses manage safety and hygiene during their stay. Therefore, businesses need to know how to implement hygiene strategies within their establishments and how to communicate their values to their customers. The emphasis on hygiene has brought another potential opening for innovation in the industry. Hospitality has thus far largely relied on chemicals that might not be entirely environmentally safe and could greatly hinder efforts towards sustainability in the future. Therefore, businesses can take this as an opportunity to closely examine how they disinfect everything from their surfaces in the workplace to the products they bring in, and even what they offer guests throughout their stay. Opportunities to look towards the future will abound, and convergence of sustainability and hygiene will be a potential area of innovation and change. Sustainability was also a pressing topic in the hospitality industry before the pandemic, and it will likely come back following the reopening of borders and travel. Joan reports on her project in the Maldives, for example, where they are incorporating the largest solar power installation in the region which will help them meet sustainability goals and also improve energy costs. The relationship between sustainability and rebounding businesses will likely become increasingly important. When sustainability is done well, it also generally saves companies money. As the businesses attempt to dig themselves out from the setbacks they have experienced over the past year, opportunities for adopting new strategies that can improve their sustainability metrics but also help the business save money will be readily accepted. Moving forward: Hospitality in 2021 Although many of the speakers during the webinar do not expect travel to fully return for another year, this next year will offer tremendous opportunities for growth and recovery. Continuing to make changes that will allow their businesses to begin generating revenue and also improve their overall adaptability and agility will remain at the forefront. Businesses across all industries have realized that the world can quickly change, causing supply chain issues and nearly shutting down industries as large as the hospitality and travel sector. Businesses that understand how to adapt to this reality and prepare themselves are the best equipped to navigate the changing landscape. Customers will begin to return as countries reopen their borders and companies themselves have learned important lessons that will help them face the future. The experience of travel will adjust as customer expectations have changed and businesses realize the potential found in technology as well as the opportunities in sustainability and environmentally-friendly designs. 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. Tripoli, Libya (PANA) The Libyan Interior minister, Khaled Mazen, has called on Libyans from all walks of life, to "back him in the exercise of his duties in the best possible way, by first turning the page of the past and rejecting hate speeches" A joint platform of doctors in West Bengal on Friday wrote to the Election Commission, sounding alarm over rising COVID-19 cases and "complete disappearance" of safety protocols at political rallies in the poll-bound state. The doctors have also flagged non-availability of beds in COVID-19 hospitals as well as free ventilators in the state. "The number of Covid victims in West Bengal has been increasing significantly over the last seven days. Mutant strains have been found in the bodies of several patients, too. "It is also to be noted that the number of tests being regularly conducted is much less than before," Dr Hiralal Konar and Dr Punyabrata Gun, representing the Joint Platform of Doctors, said in a letter to the chief election commissioner. The forum has over 30,000 doctors under its fold. India saw 39,726new infections in a day, the highest single day rise recorded so far this year, taking the nationwide COVID-19tally of cases to1,15,14,331, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday. "Several patients are being admitted in Covid ICUs once again, and there is a shortage of beds as well as free ventilators... While it is not possible to conclude with certainty about the initiation of the second wave, this trend is quite alarming," the doctors said. "Safety protocols have completely disappeared in the process of holding rallies and meetings of all political parties on the occasion of the upcoming elections in the state," they added. Ordinary people, political leaders and even some security personnel are either seen without face masks or place those below the chin, exposing the nose and the mouth, the letter said. "In other words, every act of spreading the contagion is being observed and all the political parties... agree to remain silent on this crucial issue of public health," it said. The doctors also cited a study that states that only one-fourth to one-third of the population has detectable antibodies against "Out of 100 million people in the state, only 20.3 lakh people have been vaccinated till date," the doctors said in the letter. "Processions should be long enough so that the participants are at least three feet apart. If a big field is not available, the meeting should be in the open. "Make masks compulsory at election rallies and polling booths. Wear two masks instead of one, with the nose, mouth and chin covered," it said, urging the election commission to ensure such safety measures. The doctors said West Bengal should daily test at least 30,000 samples for COVID-19. In the past three days, about 17,000-20,000 tests were conducted in the state. Lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks dismissed U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange in a ruling Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against President Joe Biden's administration by Gov. Kristi Noem after the NFS a fireworks display there next month. Mr Dominic Nitiwul, the Minister for Defence, has called for a multifaceted approach to addressing maritime security challenges in the sub-region. Mr Nitiwul said continuous training to build the capacities of enforcement agencies was critical in combating the threats of maritime security, which include drug smuggling, human trafficking, piracy and armed robbery at sea. This was in a speech read on his behalf on Friday in Accra at the opening ceremony of a training exercise christened: Obangame Express 2021, aimed at building the capacities of Navies in the sub-region to maintain a safe and secured maritime environment. The nine-day programme, brought together over 200 participants from 36 countries and regional groups, hosted by the Ghana Navy in collaboration with the United States Naval Forces, Africa. The exercise is an annual combined Central and West African multinational maritime event in the Gulf of Guinea, which focus on increased regional stakeholder cooperation to ensure maritime safety and security. Mr Nitiwul stated that the exercise had been designed to involve stakeholders in Ghanas maritime industry to ensure interoperability between the Navies and as well focus on information sharing among the participants. He said since the beginning of 2021, the Gulf of Guinea had recorded 18 maritime cases, stressing that the menace must be considered holistically with effective strategies to address the challenges. Mr Nitiwul, who is also the Member of Parliament for Bimbilla Constituency, said the exercise would emphasis on the practical implementation of some laid down inter-agency procedures towards managing maritime security threats. Admiral Robert P. Burke, the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe and Africa, said the exercise was a testimony of a strong partnership to create a more secure world by learning from best practices in the maritime sector. Maritime security requires coordinated action between agencies. The exercise provides opportunities to work together and strike the balance and develop efficient models in fighting maritime security in the sub-region, he said. Mrs Stephanie Sullivan, the US Ambassador to Ghana, urged Africa leaders to take proactive steps to address the menace of maritime security in the region. We will continue to collaborate with stakeholders to reinforce these relationships to learn from best and worse practices and ensure the safety of all in the sector, added. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. 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The virtual forum featured Rose Johnson, internal medicine specialist at Jacksons Center for Family Health, and Courtland Keteyian, vice president of population health at Henry Ford Allegiance Health. The event was moderated by Jackson Public Schools board member Sholanda Hunt. We know there are still a lot of people unsure or hesitant and the goal here tonight is to make people feel more comfortable with the idea of getting vaccinated, Keteyian said. Immunizations are one of the most amazing accomplishments that we have in science. Weve saved many lives as a result of immunization. Keyeyian explained the science behind mRNA vaccines like the Pfzier and Moderna COVID vaccines, which have strands of material that carry genetic instructions to make proteins in order to trigger an immune response and build immunity to a virus. He also dismissed several common misconceptions during the forum, like the fear that the vaccine can actually infect you with the virus, or that it costs money to sign up to get the shot. Its impossible for the vaccine to give someone the virus and the federal government is paying for the vaccine, which is available to uninsured residents free of charge, officials explained. Some may be billed by their insurance to administer the vaccine, but patients are never charged, officials said. Despite vaccinated people not having to adhere to quarantine protocols after being exposed to the virus, they should still wear masks in public places, as scientists are still learning more about transmission. Further information from vaccine clinical trials is also needed before health officials know how long protection against the virus will last, Johnson said. As of March 17, 34,376 Jackson residents have received at least one dose of vaccine. Henry Ford Health Systems have administered 25,311 first and second doses, with 10,679 people reported to be fully vaccinated as of March 18. Were doing a pretty good job in a county of 160,000 people, Keteyian said. I think thats something we should be proud of. Theres a lot of people working really hard. Theres really a lot of places where youre now able to get the vaccine in Jackson and a lot of opportunity for people to get vaccinated here. In Jackson, some pharmacies CVS, Meijer, Walmart and Rite Aid currently have appointments available and are offering vaccinations to eligible residents as supply allows. Several local pharmacies also have begun giving shots in recent weeks, including Genoa Health Care Pharmacy, Grass Lake Community Pharmacy, Weatherwax Pharmacy, Browns/Country Market Pharmacy and Hometown Pharmacy. Jacksons Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center is now hosting vaccine clinics in partnership with Henry Ford Allegiance Health on Thursdays. Eligible residents do not need an appointment, but scheduling one will save time and should guarantee a spot in line, officials said. Call 517-788-4067 to schedule an appointment. Jacksons Center for Family Health is also hosting mobile clinics. Johnson says that the organization is actively working to get clinics set up at various group homes and shelters, as well as to people who are homebound or homeless. We want to be able to go places for people who are not able to come to our office, Henry Ford Allegiance or the health department so that we can provide more opportunity and access, Johnson said. One of our goals in this community is to offer the vaccine to everyone regardless of if they have barriers. COVID-19 vaccination clinic open weekly at King Center for Jackson residents Vaccine eligibility expanded to include Jackson County residents age 50 and older on Monday, March 22. All Michigan residents age 16 and older can get vaccinated beginning Monday, April 5. To watch Thursdays town hall on the city of Jacksons Facebook page, click here. READ MORE FROM THE JACKSON CITIZEN PATRIOT: Jackson man thinks this cant be right after winning $300K lottery prize Jackson nonprofit hosting fitness fundraiser in support of sexual assault survivors Jackson County man sentenced in fatal crash: I wish every day that it was me Jackson County communities receive $450K from marijuana sales tax - mlive.com The Congress on Friday said the BJP government wants to hand over the control of Indian insurance firms to foreign players and accused it of misleading the people of the country on the Insurance Bill. Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said after the East India Company came to the country and ruled it for over 150 years, the BJP now wants to promote "west India companies" of Gujarat and is framing laws to benefit them. He said the Congress and other opposition parties want the bill to be sent to a select committee of the House for further scrutiny as it has several shortcomings. However, the government did not listen to the opposition leaders and pushed through the legislation, Kharge said. "The Insurance Bill has a number of shortcomings and the BJP is trying to mislead inside the House," he told reporters. "As per the statement of objects of the Insurance (Amendment) Bill, it provides for raising the investment limit of foreign insurance companies in an Indian insurance company from the existing 49 per cent to 74 per cent and allows foreign ownership and control with safeguards," the Congress leader said. "The FDI coming in will allow foreign companies to own and control Indian insurance companies. If foreigners control insurance companies, it will be like the East India Company, when it invested, ruled and controlled the entire country for 150 years. Similarly, west India companies of Gujarat are there and are keen on privatisation and (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi brings such laws to help them," he alleged. Kharge said this is happening not just in one sector but in rail, roads, banks, hotels etc. and the reservation for the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) communities is being ended. "This is a ploy to end the reservation for them, who used to get assured jobs in such public sector undertakings," he alleged. Besides Congress leaders, those from other opposition parties such as Anil Desai of the Shiv Sena, Jharna Das Baidya of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Sukhram Singh Yadav and Vishambhar Prasad Nishad of the Samajwadi Party (SP), TKS Elangovan of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Binoy Viswam of the Communist Party of India (CPI), Manoj Kumar Jha of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Fauzia Khan of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were also present. (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 Liberal-National Coalition government pushed its industrial relations legislation through the Senate yesterday, but it had to drop key aspects of the bill that had been demanded by big business in order to win the votes of crossbench MPs. While the laws contain attacks on the rights and conditions of casual workers, and have been hailed as a victory by the Coalition, their passage will do nothing to stem a deepening crisis of the government. Scott Morrison speaking at the National Press Club (Facebook/Scott Morrison) The legislation has been greeted with intense dissatisfaction from different quarters of the establishment. The corporate elite, and its mouthpieces in the financial press, have decried the fact that key changes to workplace relations, aimed at facilitating stepped-up pro-business restructuring, were dropped from the final version of the bill. The trade unions participated in working groups alongside government ministers and corporate representatives to design the laws. But they have bemoaned the breakdown of those talks and fear that an opportunity for their further entrenchment in a government-employer assault on the working class has been lost. As always, the unions are seeking to camouflage their sordid interests with weasel-words about the impact of the legislation on workers. All in all, the industrial legislation, which the government presented as the centrepiece of a broader economic program involving sweeping tax cuts for the corporations and the rich, deregulation and labour market reform, has become a debacle. For months, the laws were stalled because the government could not cobble together a majority to pass them in the Senate. The government acted yesterday, amid mounting expressions of frustration from big business that one of its key policies had become a dead duck. The Coalition clearly hoped that pushing the bill through would assuage the corporate elite, and turn the tide on what is becoming a breakdown of the government, expressed in media-fuelled hysteria over untested allegations of sexual misconduct, and its inability to implement legislation. To pass the bill, the government secured the votes of Pauline Hanson, leader of the xenophobic One Nation Party, along with her colleague Malcolm Roberts, and Stirling Griff of the Centre Alliance. With the various changes required to win the support of these right-wing populists, virtually all that remains of the original bill are provisions over the legal definition and rights of casual workers. The impetus for the focus on casuals was a federal court ruling last year which found that employees on regular, certain, continuing, constant and predictable hours were owed full-time entitlements. This sparked panic from business that the longstanding practice of employing workers on a casual basis, when they were effectively working full-time, could be over. Concerns were especially raised that corporations could be liable for back pay of workers entitled to permanency under the federal court definition, with estimates that the bill could run as high as $8 billion. The legislation nullifies those possibilities, defining casuals as workers who were not given firm, advance commitment of permanent employment. Back pay is ruled out. The bill stipulates that casuals should be provided the opportunity to transfer to full-time work after 12 months of continuous employment, but the provision is meaningless because it gives bosses the right to refuse such requests on vaguely defined reasonable grounds. Small businesses are entirely exempt. These policies are aimed at entrenching a sweeping assault on full-time jobs, accelerated by the pandemic, and the growing use of casual labour. Hundreds of thousands of permanent positions have been eliminated at the airlines, the universities, in the warehousing sector, and more broadly over the past year. A December 2020 report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that more than 100 percent of Australias net employment increase from July to August came from self-employed workers, indicating a dramatic increase of the precarious gig-economy. Accompanying measures, aimed at providing business with even-greater workplace flexibility, were scrapped. These included provisions for part-time employees to work overtime, without higher pay rates; two-year workplace pay deals that did not meet the better off overall test, which supposedly mandates agreements improving the wages and conditions of workers, and eight-year agreements for greenfield projects, which could be struck between unions and employers without any consultation with workers. This last plank was part of a broader push to simplify and streamline enterprise agreements and awards, allowing for deals slashing pay, conditions and jobs to be rushed through. The government also axed an amendment that would have dressed up these regressive changes with a supposed crackdown on wage theft, including potential criminal penalties for liable employers. A joint statement from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Australian Industry Group, the Master Builders Association, the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Mines and Metals Association praised much needed certainty on casual employment. But it urged the government to not abandon the rest of the bill and stressed that further efforts need to be made over the months ahead to secure support. The financial press was less restrained. The Australian labelled the changes to the bill as a stunning defeat of the government. An article in the Australian Financial Review declared that Almost a year of negotiation and hard work has amounted to little, with the governments industrial relations omnibus bill gutted in the Senate and a cloud cast over the potential for future reform. An accompanying editorial proclaimed that the IR debacle is a lesson in how to waste a crisis. It bemoaned the changes to the bill, stating that they missed the opportunity to transition from pro-business stimulus measures, such as the JobKeeper wage subsidiary, to a supply-side reform program that would drive up productivity and abolish an industrial relations framework that institutionalises conflict. All of these are code words for a stepped-up offensive against the working class, aimed at boosting corporate profits amid a downturn in the real economy and fears of a possible financial crisis, triggered by the huge speculative bubble that has been created by massive infusions of government money into the stock markets over the past year. Labor and the unions back this entire agenda, but both have issued cynical condemnations of the legislation for leaving workers worse off. The hypocrisy involved is immense. Labor governments, beginning in the 1980s, presided over deregulation of the economy, the destruction of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs, and the creation of an industrial relations framework that bans virtually all collective action by workers, resulting in stagnant wages, worsening conditions, and a deepening social crisis. For decades, the unions have collaborated with governments and the employers as the enforcers of this program. They took this role to new levels last year. Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Secretary Sally McManus declared, after the pandemic struck, that the unions would give businesses everything they want. The ACTU and its affiliates stripped millions of workers of overtime and other entitlements, on the pretext of the coronavirus crisis, and have overseen the mass job destruction. The ACTU participated in the secret working groups to design the legislation. The talks did not break down as the result of the great intransigence of the unions, as McManus now suggests. The real issue was divisions within the corporate elite, over how fully they required the services of the unions. While some sections of business view the unions as essential partners in enforcing their attacks on workers, others have expressed frustration over needing to deal with, and divert financial resources to, a corrupt bureaucracy that presides over organisations with dwindling memberships and even less credibility. As the talks faltered, McManus did her best to revive them. In October, when the working groups ended without reaching full agreement, McManus begged the government to continue negotiations. Later that month, she sought to reassure the government and the corporations of the unions readiness to collaborate. McManus publicly revealed that the ACTU had already struck a deal with the Business Council of Australia for the abolition of the better off overall test in exchange for fast-tracked union enterprise agreements. Amid ongoing divisions amongst the business representatives and frustration that the talks were dragging on, McManuss overtures were rebuffed. She then discovered a great commitment to the better off overall test and expressed profound shock that moves were afoot for its abolition. The responses to the bill are a straw in the wind of what is to come. The corporate elite is demanding nothing less than a return to the 1930s, as capitalist governments everywhere seek to force the working class to pay for the global crisis, and exploit it to strip away the few rights and conditions that have not already been overturned. The hypocritical posturing of Labor and the ACTU reflects the fear in ruling circles that this agenda will provoke mounting opposition, including the emergence of working-class struggles outside the straitjacket of the unions. A student has revealed she feared she would die when she was horrifically raped in the street by a stranger while walking home from a night out with friends. Laura Prada, 21, from Rochdale, had been on a night out for a friend's 21st birthday when she decided to walk the 15 minutes home from town to her student accommodation. She was attacked by masked sex fiend Callum Jamieson, 24, who secretly stalked her for a mile when, moments from her student accommodation, he pushed her to the ground, dragged by the hair over a small wall, into bushes, and forced himself on her. Fearing she would die, Laura screamed out and a stranger rushed to her aid, with Jamieson fleeing the scene. He was later arrested after a DNA match and following his conviction for rape sentenced to 8 years, with 5 years on extended licence. Laura was shocked to learn Callum was a serial offender who had previously been jailed for sexually and violently assaulting other women. The 21-year-old, who says she feels 'sickened' by the memory of the attack, said his sentence is too lenient, telling FEMAIL: In my opinion 8 years isnt enough. Hes a serial offender and a danger to the public. If hed received harsher punishments for his previous crimes he wouldnt have been free to rape me. Laura, who has bravely waived her right to anonymity, spoke out as Sarah Everard's disappearance 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. Laura Prada, 21, from Rochdale, has revealed she feared she would die when she was horrifically raped in the street by a stranger while walking home from a night out with friends Laura was in her 3rd year at university when she went into town with a group of pals to celebrate a friends 21st birthday. She said: We wanted to give him a night to remember and it had been a fun one. But by midnight Id stopped drinking and by 2am I was sober and ready to call it a night. Slipping away quietly Laura left the rest to carry on but then she bumped into another friend and they ended up in McDonald's. Said Laura: While we were there his mates text him about sharing their taxi home. I told him to go for it, since a cab by himself would be expensive. Laura was attacked by masked sex fiend Callum Jamieson, 24, who secretly stalked her for a mile when, moments from her student accommodation, he pushed her to the ground, dragged by the hair over a small wall, into bushes, and forced himself on her I lived in a different direction, so as we left I went to get one myself. But seeing the long queue I decided Id walk the 15-minutes back to my student accommodation instead. It was the beginning of December and freezing. Pulling up my denim jacket around my face I put my headphones in and concentrated on not slipping on the icy ground in my boots. Although it was past 3am there were a lot of people still out. Callum Jamieson's crimes May 2015 - Callum was convicted of sexual assault and jailed for 9 months after hed cycled up to a 21-year-old walking through a park, put his hand up her skirt and groped her December 2015 - Jailed for 26 months after molesting 2 students in the city centre. First grabbed a 23 year old womans bottom as she made her way home then days later molested an 18-year-old woman walking along by groping her bottom and putting his hand between her legs. June 2019 - Callum was sentenced to 16 months in jail suspended for 18 months after admitting recklessly inflicting GBH when he pushed a woman in her 60s, who fell and suffered a bleed on the brain December 2019 - Callum violently raped Laura in the street January 2020 - Callum pleaded guilty to rape February 2020 - He was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court for 8 years, with 5 years on extended licence Advertisement But as Laura passed further out of Liverpool town centre it grew quieter. She turned onto another street and was just moments away from her accommodation when something made her glance over her shoulder and she noticed a hooded figure in dark clothing. She said: I assumed it was a student and when they barged into me I thought it was an accident. But then I felt a hard yank on my shoulder and the realisation exploded in my brain.I was being attacked. As I screamed he shoved his fist into my mouth, then spun me around and I fell to the ground. Looming over me he hissed, give me your money. His face was completely covered, except for a pair of eyes. I was terrified, as I scrunched into a ball I held out my handbag, telling him to take it.' I was completely at his mercy, I thought he could have a weapon. Blinking with fear Laura watched him grab her bag then throw it behind him. Next, he grabbed her by her hair and dragged her along the ground. Pulling her over a low wall he pushed her into some bushes. She said: I was in a total state of shock. I could see my belongings scattered on the path and I thought this is what people will find when they start looking for me.' She continued: 'I feared I was going to die. Then to Lauras horror he dropped his trousers and forced himself on her. She recalled: Retching and crying I felt utter revulsion. I kept thinking of my boyfriend, Ryan, who lived back home in Rochdale. At some point she heard the sound of pounding footsteps and in the darkness a mans voice bellowing out, what are you doing? She said: My rapist stopped and looked up. He hastily pulled up his trousers and fled. Trembling, my eyes focussed on the stranger. He was asking me if I was ok, said hed heard my screams then he helped me to my feet and rang the police. Laura was shocked to learn Callum was a serial offender who had previously been jailed for sexually and violently assaulting other women They arrived and a female officer took Laura up to her flat. She took mouth swabs and asked for a urine sample, along with the denim jacket, black jeans and boots Laura had been wearing for DNA testing. Laura said: I was shaking with shock. I had tried to call Ryan but it was so late he must have been asleep. My mum had gone away for the weekend with friends, but Id got through to Dad, telling him what had happened. He was devastated and while the police officer was still there he turned up, and hugged me. He stayed with me that night. The next day Laura told Ryan and her mum what had happened. She also went for more swabs and blood tests at a sexual assault referral centre. Laura explained: 'I was exhausted and afterwards I was too scared to return to my student accommodation because my attacker was still out there. After she was attacked, Laura, who was 'shaking with shock' was helped by a stranger who phoned the police So I travelled back home to Mum and Dads, where Ryan and my bother and sister were waiting for me. The following day Laura had to make a video statement and give a description of her attacker but all she could tell them was that hed been wearing a puffer jacket. But days later the police called to tell her theyd arrested a man following a DNA match. She said: They told me his name was Callum Jamieson and he was 23. Id never heard of him, he was a complete stranger. Laura was shocked to discover she hadnt been his first victim. The 21-year-old said she is still haunted by the attack and often has nightmares about the assault A serial offender, Jamieson was previously convicted of sexual assault in May 2015, aged 18, and jailed for nine months. When released from jail, he went on to molest 2 female students and was jailed for 26 months that December. Then in May 2018, he was handed 16 months in jail suspended for 18 months after recklessly inflicting GBH when he pushed a woman in her 60s who fell, fracturing her skull and suffering a bleed on the brain. In January 2020 Jamieson pleaded guilty to rape. The following month he was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court. Laura said she now wants to raise awareness about the dangers of walking home alone and feels it was a chance she 'shouldn't have taken' Laura said: I sat and listened as the court heard that when officers scoured CCTV, it showed him following me for around a mile, as hed hid behind cars. After the police launched their public appeal a probation service worker had come forward saying she was concerned it might be Jamieson. Sarah Everard sparks fury over women's safety Earlier this week, mourners broke down in tears as they paid their respects to Sarah Everard, 33, a marketing manager who disappeared on her way home from visiting a friend on March 3. Scotland Yard confirmed human remains found in Kent belonged to Ms Everard. On Saturday, serving police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, was remanded in custody after appearing in Westminster Magistrates' court charged with kidnap and murder. The court heard Miss Everard's body was found inside a builder's bag and identified through the use of dental records. 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 this month. 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. Advertisement The police searched his home and found the puffer jacket Id remembered - my DNA was on it. Sentencing him to eight years in prison with an extended five years on licence, the judge said to him: "The victim has attended court today. Her self-evident bravery and decency stands in stark contrast to the behaviour of you. You stalked her over a considerable distance and time before raping her. He said the CCTV 'graphically revealed the lengths you went to attack your victim" causing "significant psychological harm'. Laura said: Im glad hes now behind bars so he cant do it to anyone else. But in my opinion he should be given longer. I try not to think about it but I cant help it. I still get I flashbacks. In that terrifying moment when it was just him and me I thought I was going to die. I still get nightmares.' She continued: In my opinion 8 years isnt enough. Hes a serial offender and a danger to the public. If hed received harsher punishments for his previous crimes he wouldnt have been free to rape me. It sickens me, I cant understand it, going out to target someone like that - hes clearly a danger.' It affected my studies, work, boyfriend and family. Im still always looking over my shoulder. But Ill not let him win. Thanks to amazing support from everyone including the police officers on my case I went on to finish my Film Studies degree, gaining a 2.1 and I refuse to let what happen define me. I also want to raise awareness of the dangers of walking home alone. I was sober and just 15 minutes away from where I lived. I thought Id be ok. But it was a chance I shouldnt have taken. Laura, who has bravely waived her right to anonymity, spoke out as Sarah Everard's disappearance 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 I know others do it all the time too, for the sake of money or convenience. But Im urging people, both women and men -to think twice. From my experience its not worth it.' Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 22:03:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The Russian national flag is projected on the Kremlin wall to celebrate Russia Day in Moscow, Russia, on June 12, 2020. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/Xinhua) "We cannot fail to take into account" U.S. President Joe Biden's words, Peskov said. MOSCOW, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The Kremlin said Friday that it hoped for the best regarding its relations with the United States, yet it was also "prepared for the worst." Russian President Vladimir Putin has already made it clear that Russia wished to maintain its relations with the United States as this would be of advantage for the rest of the world, the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying. Nevertheless, "we cannot fail to take into account" U.S. President Joe Biden's words, Peskov added. The Kremlin made such remarks amid escalating Moscow-Washington tensions after a U.S. intelligence report on Tuesday, accusing Russia of "denigrating" Biden's candidacy during the elections to increase support for former President Donald Trump. Peskov has stressed once again that those claims of Russia's alleged meddling in the 2020 U.S. elections were baseless and regretful, calling them just another pretext for additional sanctions. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. WE are now reading that the Minister of Sport has come out with a statement regarding our participation in the Tokyo Olympics. As with the usual run-of-the-mill political type, the statement vacillates, kicks the can down the road and seeks to avoid the issue. Let us be clear on what the situation is regarding these Olympics. RTHK: US and China meeting gets off to fiery start Senior Chinese officials meeting face-to-face with counterparts from the Biden administration for the first time on Thursday seem to have come intent on grandstanding and violating protocol, a senior US official said, after fiery opening exchanges in talks in Alaska. The official told reporters that in advance of the talks, the two sides had agreed to short, two-minute public opening statements, but these ended up lasting more than an hour. "The Chinese delegation ... seems to have arrived intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance. They made that clear by promptly violating protocol," said the official, who did not want to be identified by name. The leader of the Chinese delegation, Beijing's top diplomat Yang Jiechi, in turn accused the United States of not respecting diplomatic protocol by announcing sanctions against Chinese officials ahead of the meeting. (Reuters) This story has been published on: 2021-03-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Six Alabama residents are awaiting trial for their alleged roles in the Jan. 6 unrest at the U.S. Capitol. Federal authorities said this week in court records that the investigation and prosecution of the Capitol attack will likely be one of the largest in American history, both in the number of defendants prosecuted and amount of evidence gathered. Trials are not expected to happen quickly. More than 300 people have been charged nationwide in connection with the attack and the government expects that at least 100 more people will be charged. As part of that investigation, more than 900 search warrants have been executed in almost all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Here is a look at the Alabamians charged in the Capitol attack and the status of their federal cases: Lonnie Coffman Coffman, a 70-year-old retired veteran with no prior criminal convictions, is being held without bond until his trial. He was arrested just hours after the riot. He has been indicted on 17 charges following the seizure of nearly a dozen Molotov cocktail explosive devices from his pickup truck, as well as multiple guns, ammo and handwritten notes described as concerning. Federal authorities asked that he be held without bond because of concerning history and characteristics that suggest he poses a grave risk to endanger the community if released from custody. A federal magistrate said the seriousness of charges and evidence against him outweigh his non-violent past. Among the handwritten notes was a letter in which he named U.S. Rep. Andre Carson of Indiana, who he labeled a Muslim, and also named a judge with words bad guy beside the judges name. Another note read, We The People Are the Rightful Masters of Both The Congress and The courts, Not To Overthrow The Constitution But to Overthrow The Men Who Pervert The Constitution, and attributed the words to Abraham Lincoln. Where his case stands: A status hearing was held in D.C. Wednesday, March 17, in the case. Court records note Coffman was present via a videoconference. During the hearing, the Court discussed discovery and the possible need for a protective order in this case. Coffmans request that he be allowed to get a new lawyer and was granted. Another hearing is scheduled for March 24. A trial date has not yet been set. A federal grand jury issued a 17-count indictment against Alabama's Lonnie Coffman in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol. Documents show a number of weapons seized from Coffman's pickup truck and other items connected to his arrest. (Federal Court Documents) Joshua James James, 33, of Arab, is facing two federal counts. An FBI special agents affidavit in D.C. District Court alleged James communicated and congregated with members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group, before and while the Capitol was being breached. U.S. Magistrate Judge Gray M. Borden in Birmingham remanded James without bond, according to court filings, saying there are no appropriate conditions for the his release. The day before the riots, James served as security for one of the speakers at a Stop the Steal rally in D.C., according to the affidavit. Photos showed James wore clothing with an Oath Keepers patch on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6. James was also pictured standing with other Oath Keepers, including Kelly Meggs, the self-proclaimed leader of the Florida Oath Keepers who was also charged with storming the Capitol, during the riots, the FBI agent claimed. Phone records showed James was in constant contact with one of the Oath Keepers on Jan. 5, exchanging six calls with the undisclosed member that day, according to the agent. James was also in contact with members on the morning of the riots, the agent alleged. The cell phone records pinged James location inside the Capitol building during the riots while public photos and videos showed a man matching the photos on James social media accounts, according to the agent. James was arrested Tuesday, March 9, in Arab, according to court filings. He was charged with obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting and being in a restricted building or grounds. James is a U.S. Army combat veteran who reportedly received the Purple Heart. He owns a cleaning company called America Pro Hydro Services. Where his case stands: James is in federal custody in Talladega. A trial date has not yet been set. The FBI claims 33-year-old Arab resident Joshua James participated in the riots at the U.S. Capitol, charging him with two federal counts for his alleged role. Joshua Matthew Black Black, a 44-year-old man who ran a lawn service in Leeds, is charged with eight crimes including entering a restricted building or grounds, violent entry and disorderly conduct. Two days after the riots, federal records state, someone using the username LetUs Talk posted two videos to YouTube. Like Black in the videos shot in the Senate chambers, the man had blood on the left side of his face and said in the YouTube video he had been shot with a projectile. In that video, federal prosecutors say, Black discussed entering the Capitol and being on the Senate floor. Black was seen on video and in photos wearing a red hat, camouflage jacket and yellow gloves and appeared to be bleeding from the left cheek. On Jan. 8, the court records state, Black voluntarily met with an FBI agent in Moody. Black stated to the agent that he had recorded the YouTube video about his experience entering the Capitol and the Senate chamber. When he was hit in the face with a projectile and offered medical attention by those he believed to be law enforcement, records state, Black told them he believed they were trying to pull him behind enemy lines and said, No. Im with them. Im here to defend the constitution. Im a patriot. (Black) has stated that he was led to the Capitol by Jesus and if called to go again, he would,' according to federal court documents. After being shot in the face and spitting out a substantial amount of blood (he says his mouth filled with blood 6-7 times) and after another person at the Capitol dug out some portion of the projectile from his cheek, the defendant continued on to the Senate floor. A federal judge in Birmingham noted that although Blacks actions appeared to be passive that day, that may not always be the case. Just because he was passive in the Senate chambers, will he remain so if God tells him something else? U.S. Magistrate Judge John H. England, III said. God could tell him to do something a little more violent, couldnt he? Where his case stands: Black was ordered held without bond until trial, however federal court records show he was transferred from Alabama, where he was being held in the Pickens County Jail, to D.C. His next court hearing was set for Friday, March 19. Joshua Matthew Black, of Leeds, was identified being in the crowd of protesters that breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Federal Court Documents) Phillip Andrew Bromley Bromley, a 47-year-old nurse anesthetist from Sterrett, is charged with unlawful entry of a restricted building and disorderly conduct. Bromley was standing eight feet from Air Force veteran Ashli E. Babbitt, 35, when she was shot and killed during the chaotic events that Wednesday, according to federal documents. FBI Special Agent William Novak stated in federal charging documents that Bromley was shown on video footage published by on the ProPublica website under What Parler Saw During the Attack on the Capitol. The website contains numerous videos that appear to have been recorded on Jan. 6 in and around the Capitol building. One of the videos was titled 4:26 p.m. Near Capitol and shows a man who identified himself as Phillip Bromley chronicling the events he witnessed that day. Listen,' he tells the man recording him, everybody needs to know the truth. Bromley described how he breached the right side of the building and went inside. Eventually, he said, he came to two large glass doors and said he talked with SWAT officers, reminding them of their oath. Moments later, he said, a gunshot went off and a woman was shot in the neck. He said it did not look like a survivable wound. She was eight feet in front me,' Bromley said. They shot her and shes dead. The agent included surveillance videos that showed Bromley inside of the Capitol building and a copy of his drivers license photo for comparison and identification. Bromley, who is not accused of being armed with any weapon, is charged with two federal misdemeanor crimes. Bromley is out on $5,000 bond. He is being represented by Richard Jaffe and Michael Whisonant of Jaffe, Hanle, Whisonant, and Knight in Birmingham. The attorneys released this statement to AL.com. We are in the process of evaluating the substance of the Governments proof. Mr. Bromley is a well-respected member of the community who served his country and has no prior criminal record whatsoever. We are pleased the Court chose not to detain Mr. Bromley and look forward to examining the Governments evidence once we receive discovery. Where his case stands: Court records indicate he has a virtual court hearing in D.C. on April 27. Phillip Andrew Bromley (ProPublica and federal court records.) William Wright Watson Watson, a 23-year-old Auburn man, has been charged federally for his actions on Jan. 6 in D.C. The criminal complaint against him was filed Jan. 17 in United States District Court. Among the charges are violent entry and civil disorder. Watson was arrested in July on state charges for trafficking LSD and marijuana. He had his bond revoked after Lee County prosecutors said he participated in the riots. Watson told federal agents he went to D.C. on Jan. 5. He said he and a friend left Auburn about 7 p.m. and arrived in D.C. about 6:30 a.m. He said he went to support the patriots, support Trump, support freedom. I guess the overriding thing for why we were there that day is because they were certifying the fraudulent election that day, and so we, to protest that, Watson said. Watson said he was in an area south of the White House when he saw others walking toward the Capitol and began to follow them. He worked his way to the front of the crowd at the stage which had been set up on the west side of the Capitol for the upcoming presidential inauguration. He said he had been directed by radio show host Alex Jones, who operates the website InfoWars, to meet at the Capitol at 1 p.m. Watson told the agent he had a taser but had left it in the car. He approached the Capitol and then began banging on windows trying to get people to hear me,' he said. He eventually entered the building through a broken window. At some point, Watson said, he was in a hallway with others from the crowd and they encountered police. Some of the protesters, he said had shields and batons and one man was dressed like a Viking with spear. Asked by the agent whether he had received guidance or direction from others to cause violence or criminal activity, Watson replied, No, it was kind of just what the mob was doing. I was, I was there, helping push on their backs. He said he had no prior knowledge the event would turn violent and that, in hindsight, he would have stayed back from the area where people were charging at. A search warrant of Watsons home turned up a yellow sweatshirt matching photographs taken of Watson inside the Capitol. In that picture, Watson is standing with Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley, the so-called QAnon Shaman, widely seen in photos of the breach. The agent said that a Capitol police officer reported that when he asked if anyone in the crowd had weapons, the man in the yellow sweatshirt now identified as Watson showed him a can of pepper spray. He was asked to hand it over, but he did not. The officer stated the man was quiet and reserved and helped (police) to try to calm the crowd. The agent said Watson was seen on video fiddling with the cannister. Later, he said, Watson was seen holding the canister in the direction of police officers. In a second interview with federal agents on Jan. 15 Watson admitted to having the pepper spray. He said someone had given it to him, but he had no idea how to work it. Watson told the agent he was scared and didnt know what was going on at that point and that he never figured out how to use the mace. During the second interview, he also admitted to having a pocketknife on his waistband. He said he used the several-inches-long flip box cutter to cut down cloth around the inauguration scaffolding so the crowd could progress. Where his case stands: Watson remains in the Lee County Detention Center. William Wright Watson, 23, has been charged federally for his actions on Jan. 6 in D.C. The criminal complaint against him was filed Jan. 17 in United States District Court. Among the charges are violent entry and civil disorder. Kari Dawn Kelley Kelley, a 40-year-old insurance adjuster from Mobile, is charged with unlawful entry of a restricted building and disorderly conduct. Kelley was among the crowd that forced its way into the building while the joint session of Congress was underway to certify the vote count of the Electoral College. The federal complaint against Kelley was filed under seal on Feb. 10 and later was made public. She was arrested in Mobile in February and appeared before Federal Magistrate Judge Bert Milling. According to the criminal complaint filed against her, the FBI on Jan. 21 became aware that Kelley had been inside the Capitol. Kelley was seen in footage climbing through an open window and was present in the Senate wing of the building. The footage time stamp was 2:56 p.m. It showed her in a ponytail, a cream-colored scarf and a hooded Adidas sweatshirt. Kelley was seen recording the events on her cell phone. The FBI said they verified Kelleys identity through database checks. Where her case stands: Kelley and her federal public defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment. She was released pending trial and has surrendered her passport to federal authorities. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin called on Prime Minister on Friday and expressed his country's strong desire to further enhance the strategic partnership with India for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. During the meeting, Modi outlined his vision for the strategic partnership between the two countries and emphasised the important role of bilateral defence cooperation in Indo-US ties, a PMO statement said, adding that he asked Austin to convey his best wishes to American President Joe Biden. The Prime Minister welcomed the warm and close relationship between the two countries which is rooted in shared values of democracy, pluralism and commitment to a rules-based order, the statement said. "Secretary Austin reiterated the US government's continued commitment towards strengthening the bilateral defence relations between the two countries. He expressed US' strong desire to further enhance the strategic partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond," it said. On his first official visit to India as Defence Secretary, Austin, who arrived earlier in the day, also conveyed Biden's greetings to the Prime Minister. (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.) Shanghai (Gasgoo)- DiDi Autonomous Driving recently signed an agreement with local authority of Huadu district, Guangzhou to carry out collaboration on intelligent-connected vehicle (ICV) projects, according to DiDi. DiDi, Huadu distric signing agreement; photo credit: DiDi Under the agreement, DiDi Autonomous Driving will vigorously promote the R&D, driverless testing and commercial operation of its autonomous driving technologies in Huadu district. Leveraging DiDi's technologies and operation experience in mobility service area, the ride-hailing giant will help Huadu speed up the transition and upgrading of local automotive industry in respect to intelligentization and carsharing. Founded in 2016, DiDis autonomous driving unit was committed to delivering world's leading Level 4 autonomous driving technologies, aiming to make transportation safer and more efficient. In August 2019, the unit was upgraded into a standalone company, DiDi Autonomous Driving, focusing on the R&D and application of advanced autonomous driving technologies and products. DiDi Autonomous Driving has formed a R&D group with over 500 talents, which engage in R&D and testing in many cities of China and the U.S. It has to-day obtained licenses for public road tests in Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou and California. In June 2020, DiDi launched the trial run of self-driving ride service on designated test roads in Shanghai. Users who have registered in advance on DiDi's mobile app can hail an autonomous vehicle for a free ride. Last year, vehicles of DiDi drove for a total of 90,688 kilometers using autonomous driving mode in Shanghai, honored the runner-up by annual mileage of public road testing, according to a report issued by the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission earlier this month. Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Submit Rite Aid has added four days this month when educators, school employees and childcare workers will be given priority to book coronavirus vaccine appointments. Rite Aid offered COVID-19 vaccine appointments only to teachers, school staff and child care workers for two days last week in seven states, including New Jersey, the pharmacy chain previously announced. Rite Aid announced it would add days to the priority window through the end of the month on: Friday, March 19 Saturday, March 20 Friday, March 26 Saturday, March 27 Rite Aid recognizes and appreciates the hard work of our teachers, school employees, and childcare staff over the last year, the pharmacy chain said in a statement. The company is proud to continue its work to help bring an end to the pandemic and protect our communities - including educators - from COVID-19. Appointments can be scheduled at Rite Aids website. Other people eligible for vaccinations can schedule appointments all other days. A list of sites offering vaccines can be found here. 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. Hurricane season 2021 is here: How do storms get their names? Teton County Reporter Previously the Scene editor, Billy Arnold made the switch to the county beat where he's interested in exploring Teton County as a model for the rest of the West. When he can, he still writes about art, music and whatever else suits his fancy. NEWS FLASH Air Serbia will increase its operations between Belgrade and Paris with double daily flights to operate on select days. It comes after Air France delayed the routes resumption by a month. Between April 30 and September 26, the Serbian carrier will be introducing two additional weekly rotations for a total of nine weekly flights. As a result, there will be two services per day between the two capital cities on Fridays and Saturdays. Air Serbias General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Jiri Marek, said, We are glad to have the opportunity to offer our passengers a higher number of flights to Paris, providing them with greater customer choices and making their journey more seamless. We have confirmed our position as the leading airline on the route between Belgrade and Paris biggest airport, thanks to which we enable excellent connectivity with the entire region as well. Paris has been one of Air Serbias busiest routes since the airline restored operations to the French capital on May 31, 2020. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Gardai working on Operation Stratus - which focuses on the sale and supply of illegal drugs in Drogheda - have made another significant seizure in the town. Almost 180,000 worth of cannabis herb and cocaine was discovered following the search of a vehicle in the town centre yesterday. Read More Gardai attached to the Divisional Drugs Unit based at Drogheda and members of the Drogheda Detective Unit stopped and searched the vehicle which was observed on the outskirts of Drogheda town shortly after 9pm. During the course of the search, suspected cannabis herb to the value of 108,000 along with suspected cocaine to the value of 70,000 was found and seized, a garda spokesman said. The drugs seized are subject to forensic analysis. Gardai said that although no arrests have been made at this time, they are following a definite line of enquiry. Investigations are ongoing, they added. Since Operation Stratus was launched in October 2018 in Drogheda, Co Louth it has resulted in significant results by local Gardai in the Drogheda Garda District supported by wider Garda Resources in the Louth Division and National Units. Mumbai, March 19 : Actor Rajkummar Rao uploaded a slide show of his film stills on Friday evening, to celebrate 11 years in the film industry. He also wrote an emotional message for fans in the Instagram post, thanking them for their love and support. "GRATITUDE. So thankful for these 11 wonderful years and the amount of love that has been showered on me. Right from my first film till this day - you all never stopped believing in me, big thank you for that. All this wouldn't have been possible without your love and support. Here's a promise that I will continue working the hardest and will entertain each one of you always and forever. Big love," he wrote. The actor made his debut with the 2010 film "Love Sex Aur Dhokha" and later went on to do films such as "Shahid", "Aligarh", "Newton" and "Made In China". He won a National Award for his titular role in Hansal Mehta's 2013 film "Shahid". The actor was recently seen in the Oscar-nominated film "The White Tiger". His next release is "Badhaai Do", opposite Bhumi Pednekar. Subscriber content preview By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer The new Cold War film The Courier about a Soviet whistleblower and the British businessman who helped transport information to Western intelligence agencies is both based on real events and people and also is very much the product of a screenwriter's imagination. That's not to criticize the film written by Tom O'Connor (The Hitman's Bodyguard) and directed by Dominic Cooke (On Chesil Beach). It's simply to say that it is more historical fiction than it is history. The whole truth of this extraordinary chapter has likely died with the principal characters and/or been obscured and distorted by the people who write these things down. What we know is that there was indeed a Soviet official named Oleg Penkovsky, played in the film by Georgian actor Merab Ninidze, who was an essential source for the Americans during the Cold War and the leadup to the Cuban Missile Crisis. One of Penkovsky's contacts was a British civilian named Greville Wynne, who wrote an autobiography about his experiences. Even the reliability of that account has been questioned. Still, it provided an intriguing jumping off point for O'Connor to write a classic espionage thriller that opens in select theaters and on demand Friday. . . . Female labourers would be covered in ash, she says. They had to do seeding, ploughing. They had to work for rations. She pauses. [Theres] the idea of ghosts, remnants of histories and stories in these spaces. Ships and plantations, she says, were sites of rape and abuse. Instances of violence play out across kuli / karambu, scenes that imagine the lives of Indaramis ancestors at a scale thats both intimate and epic. But Simpson is equally interested in how women in her family may have resisted. Id read about women who hit men with a masters shoe, a woman who peed on an overseer, she says, flashing a bemused grin. Indarami and her daughter often share ideas. [My mother] says, why dont you work on one painting at a time? Or maybe it needs more yellow, Simpson laughs. Her metaphor is youre the star and were the back-up dancers. Indarami is astonished by her daughters work. Its let us honour you for what you have been through, says Indarami, who moved to Australia at the end of Apartheid. Sancintya is a very independent person. Ive seen her develop as an artist from within. Her work is from her heart and her being. Phaptawan Suwannakudt is the daughter of Paiboon Suwannakudt, the late artist and poet who is considered Thailands master of temple painting. She owes her name to the Thai for image of the sun, after a poem her father wrote on the day of her birth about a red sun above Bangkoks Chao Phraya River. Phaptawan Suwannakudt RE al-re-g(l)ory 2021. Paiboon, she says, was trained by Corrado Feroci, the Italian sculptor who was invited by the then King to establish Thailands first art school in 1923. The Thai-Australian artist started watching her father at work when she was a girl and took over his workshop at 22, in 1982, the year he died. In Suwannakudts studio, trolleys and tables heave with jars of paint: lime-green, orange, indigo. A far wall supports a row of paintings, evoking the lurid colours of propaganda. The space, part of Marrickvilles Addison Road Community Centre, was once used to conscript Vietnam War soldiers. When I was in my teens, I started to see paintings that [portrayed] communism as evil, says Suwannakudt, articulate and softly spoken, in a black shirt and glasses. Artist Phaptawan Suwannakudt Credit:John Clark/AGNSW At her fathers workshop, she worked with painters from the countrys north-east, a region then feared to be communist. In 1977, they were arrested for breaking government curfew. In the last few years, shes seen parallels in the Thai states crackdown on democratic freedoms, under Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha who came to power during a 2014 military coup. The artist is heartened by Thailands growing pro-democracy movement. She shows me a printout of Thai students, holding A4 paper over their faces, an attempt to shield their identities. RE al-Re-g(l)ory (2020), her installation for The National, showing at AGNSW, features a sequence of paintings recalling Thai Cold War posters. Theyre interspersed with white boards, symbols of generational protest. Her daughter, Cantra-Chaaysaeng and son, Yenlamtarn, both help her with studio work. She tells me shes proud that Cantra-Chaaysaeng attended last years Black Lives Matter protests. Phaptawan Suwannakudt RE al-re-g(l)ory 2021. They feel they have to be part of it, she smiles. The children are saying enough is enough. Western art history so often mythologises the artist as a singular hero, erasing the ways in which creative labour can be shaped by lineage, or arise out of our relationships with other people. The National 2021 coincides with a year thats shown us the value of interdependence, the power of acting collectively. Abdullah M.I. Syed, Hong Kong Dollar HKD 20 (verso) from the series Currency of Love 2021 (detail). Credit:Felicity Jenkins/AGNSW Carriageworks will present A Day in the Life, a work by Karrabing Film Collective. The group comprises 30 Indigenous artists and filmmakers, spanning different generations. At AGNSW, you can see Last Observances. Its a video installation in which the Pakistan-born artist Abdullah M. I. Syed, recreates the domestic rituals of his mother, who passed away in 2019. Domesticity has long informed Mitch Cairns visual vernacular. Hes an artist for whom motifs from everyday life an apple core, say, or a bathroom mirror become the stuff of witty and intelligent paintings whose rewards grow the longer you look. Artist Mitch Cairns building a red brick wall with his bricklayer father, David, at Carriageworks. Credit:Steven Siewert Cairns grew up in Casula and later moved with his family to Wollongong. When he was commuting to Sydneys National Art School, he supported himself by working as a labourer for his father, David, a bricklayer. That was my first exposure to physical work, he says. It was early thinking around labour, structure just very basic sort of things. For The National, Cairns, whos warm and affable but moves with the serious painters restless intensity, is working on three paintings and a series of text works. When I visit, Self-portrait as an autumnal low (2021), commands one side of Cairns high-ceilinged Alexandria studio, balancing on a pair of milk crates. Yellow leaves hover mid-air, a composition that both possesses a sense of musicality and is perfectly still. Artist Mitch Cairns building a red brick wall. Credit:Steven Siewert. Cairn says his father has visited every one of his exhibitions. As part of his presentation at Carriageworks for The National, the pair have built a brick wall together. A brick wall is a very declarative statement, but [there are] softer and quieter moments within that gesture that are going to be uncovered in the making, he says. Theres a permanency in fixing an image but it is far less permanent than what [my father] does. Cairns won the 2017 Archibald for a lovingly rendered portrait of his wife, the artist Agatha Gothe-Snape, with whom he shares a young son. The wall, he says, is part of his interest in the slippages between art and life that have followed him from the start of his career. Location painting by Mitch Cairns. [Im] never willing to untether myself from the not-knowing of what art is, he smiles. Family, of course, isnt limited to spouses, or children or blood kin. For Erin Vink, a Ngiyampaa woman and AGNSWs assistant curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, the kinship we share with other people extends to the land as well. Country is a sentient thing, so we have to care for it like a family member, says Vink, who co-curated the AGNSW strand of The National alongside Matt Cox. We are all facing these major threats to humanity climate change, biological disasters. The exhibition is about being resilient and having hope. Judy Watson is responding to how mining has degraded the Murray-Darling basin and our water supplies. Credit:Rachel See Shes excited about new paintings by Betty Muffler and Maringka Burton, along with Judy Watson. Watson remembers visiting her mothers Waanyi Country near Queenslands Mount Isa in the 1970s. If there was a storm, you could go out to the creek and have this amazing clean water rushing through and all the waterholes would be filled, she says, wistfully. My grandmother would go in [wearing] a dress. You would see us all bobbing around. Judy Watsons work water restrictions and conditions in the Murray-Darling basin from the series clouds and undercurrents, 2021 Credit:Carl Warner Watson tells me about how mining across the Murray-Darling Basin has degraded Sydneys water bodies. Her work for The National, a series called clouds and undercurrents, explores ideas of air and water quality. She makes the ethereal paintings, dyed with indigo, graphite and mangrove mud, using shibori, a traditional Japanese technique. My cousin Dot Watson and I have had the best time together in her backyard, working with shibori same with Mum and her family, she says. I love being in the studio making work by myself, but I love sharing it in the company of others. Betty Kuntiwa Pumani and her daughter Marina with some of their work in early 2020. Credit:Meg Hansen Photography Like Watson, Betty Kuntiwa Pumanis art is shaped by a profound connection to her mothers Antara Country. Pumani is the daughter of Milatjari Pumani, who was a senior Pitjantjatjara artist from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in South Australia. For The National, Pumani spent six months making a 10-metre long painting, Antara (2020), a work that explores the witchetty grub songline and conjures the power of Antara Country, surrounded by waterholes and mountains, in dazzling whites, blues and deep reds. Pumani, who will show at the MCA and often collaborates with her daughter Marina says that painting is about interpreting her mothers knowledge. Loading What I have shared is what I paint the true story of Antara Maku Dreaming, Pumani says via a written translation. It is the main story I was taught by my mother, the main story I need to look after. Pumani says that her grandchildren and daughter would watch her process. Painting, she says, is a cultural inheritance shared with the world and exchanged between different generations. Simpson, too, believes that her art-making comes with a responsibility to those that have gone before her. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 this March 5, 2021, file photo, a hospital security guard receives one of the country's first coronavirus vaccinations using AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine provided through the global COVAX initiative, at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries could fuel skepticism about the shot far beyond their shores, potentially threatening the rollout of a vaccine that is key to the global strategy to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing nations. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries over the past week could fuel skepticism about the shot far beyond their shores, potentially threatening the rollout of a vaccine that is key to the global strategy to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing nations. As things stand, it's either AstraZeneca or nothing for some poorer countries. The vaccine from the Anglo-Swedish drug maker is cheaper and easier to store than many others. It will make up nearly all of the doses shipped in the first half of the year by COVAX, a consortium meant to ensure low- and middle-income countries receive vaccines. With little other choice, most developing countries that had the AstraZeneca on hand pushed ahead with it even as major countries in Europe suspended its use over the past week after reports that unusual blood clots were found in some recipients of the shotdespite insistence from international health agencies that there was no evidence the vaccine was responsible. But while governments in Africa and elsewhere expressed their determination to continue using the shot, not everyone is convinced. "Why should I allow it to be used on me? Are we not human beings like those in Europe?" Peter Odongo, a resident of a town in northern Uganda, told the Daily Monitor newspaper this week. In this Jan. 29, 2021, file photo a Moroccan nurse administers the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to a health worker, on the first day of the vaccination campaign, in Rabat, Morocco. The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries could fuel skepticism about the shot far beyond their shores, potentially threatening the rollout of a vaccine that is key to the global strategy to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing nations. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File) The East African country has received 864,000 AstraZeneca doses via COVAX so far but had administered fewer than 3,000 by Tuesday. Authorities blamed logistical challenges in transporting the vaccines deep into the country, but newspaper reports cite resistance to the vaccine. Even before the latest debate over AstraZeneca, vaccine skepticism had been a concern across the world, as many people are hesitant about shots developed in record time. African countries have faced particular hurdles on a continent wary of being a testing ground for the West. Some leaders have pushed back against skepticism, while others, such as those in Burundi and Tanzania, have fed it by appearing to deny the seriousness of COVID-19. "Unfortunate events" in Europe will "clearly not be helpful for our public confidence, in building public confidence and trust on the use of that particular vaccine and other vaccines for sure," John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters Thursday, as he encouraged African countries to continue their vaccinations. In this March 5, 2021, file photo, medical staff look out from a window as officials prepare for a ceremony to commence the country's first coronavirus vaccinations using AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine provided through the global COVAX initiative, at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries could fuel skepticism about the shot far beyond their shores, potentially threatening the rollout of a vaccine that is key to the global strategy to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing nations. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) That came hours before the European Union drug regulator gave the same message to its 27 members. The European Medicines Agency said its experts concluded that the vaccine is not linked to an overall increase in the risk of blood clots, though it could not definitively rule out a link to rare types of clots and the vaccine. In response, countries including Italy, France and Germany announced they would resume use of the shot. Even before those reversals, several developing nations had said they would stick by the shot. "We will continue the inoculations," said Lia Tadesse, health minister of Ethiopia, which received 2.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week. Authorities in Indiahome to the vaccine manufacturer that will likely make a large portion of the doses destined for the developing worldsaid Wednesday they would continue AstraZeneca inoculations with "full vigor" as infections jumped in several parts of the country. After initially saying it would delay use of the vaccine, Thailand said Tuesday it would carry on with AstraZeneca, and the prime minister even got his shot in public. In this March 5, 2021, file photo, a Malawian policeman guards AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines after the shipment arrived at the Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe, Malawi. The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries could fuel skepticism about the shot far beyond their shores, potentially threatening the rollout of a vaccine that is key to the global strategy to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing nations. (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi, File) Brazil's state-run Fiocruz institute delivered the first AstraZeneca shots bottled in Brazil on Wednesday as the Health Ministry sought to allay concerns about the blood clot reports, urging calm. Very few developing countries bucked the trend. Congo, for instance, halted use of AstraZeneca, putting its vaccination campaign on hold even before it began since it has no doses of anything else. Indonesia said it would wait for a full report from the WHO. European and other wealthy countries have several vaccines to choose from, but AstraZeneca is currently the linchpin in the strategy to vaccinate the rest of the world. Some developing countries have received doses of Chinese-made or Russian-made vaccinesoften as donationsbut, at least in Africa, these allotments have usually been relatively small. The Chinese and Russian vaccines have not yet been endorsed by WHO and so cannot be distributed by COVAX. In this March 5, 2021, file photo, a nurse holds a vial of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine provided through the global COVAX initiative, at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries could fuel skepticism about the shot far beyond their shores, potentially threatening the rollout of a vaccine that is key to the global strategy to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing nations. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) Africa, with a population of 1.3 billion, hopes to vaccinate 60% of its people by the end of 2022. That target almost certainly will not be met without widespread use of AstraZeneca. And experts have warned that until vaccinations rates are high the world over, the virus remains a threat everywhere. The eroding confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine only compounds the difficulties Africa will face in rolling out their inoculation campaigns. The continent is home to some of the world's weakest health systems. Nations there have struggled just to test enough people for the coronavirus, and the actual toll is unknown because of challenges in tracking cases and deaths. According to the Africa CDC, more than 4 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed across the continent, including over 108,000 deaths. In an analysis released Thursday, the World Bank found that 85% of low- and middle-income countries had a plan to vaccinate but less than a third had public engagement strategies to combat hesitancy and misinformation about vaccines. In this March 12, 2021, file photo, hospital staff receive one of the country's first coronavirus vaccinations, using the AstraZeneca vaccine provided through the global COVAX initiative, at Yaba Mainland hospital in Lagos, Nigeria. The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries could fuel skepticism about the shot far beyond their shores, potentially threatening the rollout of a vaccine that is key to the global strategy to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing nations. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File) That means confusion like that caused by the pause in AstraZeneca across Europe can be hard to iron out. "It complicates the situation," said Dr. Misaki Wayengera, head of a technical taskforce that's advising Uganda's pandemic response, referring to the suspension. "It's the best shot we have here, and we should be able to take it." The blow to public confidence was felt in countries such as Somalia, which began vaccinations on Tuesday, but where some said they were not keen on getting the AstraZeneca shot while many in Europe weren't using it. "This immunization does not make any sense when the countries in EU" have suspended its use, said Abdulkadir Osman. "We cannot simply trust it." In Rwanda, which received 240,000 AstraZeneca doses and just over 102,000 of the Pfizer vaccine, Justin Gatsinzi said he was initially reluctant to get the shot but relented out of fear he would be denied some public services if he refused. In this March 16, 2021, file photo, Dr. Maxamed Maxamuud Fuje receives a shot of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine provided through the global COVAX initiative, at a ceremony to mark the start of coronavirus vaccinations in Mogadishu, Somalia. The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries could fuel skepticism about the shot far beyond their shores, potentially threatening the rollout of a vaccine that is key to the global strategy to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing nations. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh, File) In this March 4, 2021, file photo, a representative from UNICEF stands by cold storage containers used for COVID-19 vaccines at the central vaccine depot in Kitengela town on the outskirts of Nairobi, in Kenya. The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries could fuel skepticism about the shot far beyond their shores, potentially threatening the rollout of a vaccine that is key to the global strategy to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing nations. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) In this March 5, 2021, file photo, consultant surgeon Dr. Eric Hungu, left, and Senior Lecturer Dr. Marybeth Maritim, right, wait in line to receive some of the country's first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, provided through the global COVAX initiative, at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries could fuel skepticism about the shot far beyond their shores, potentially threatening the rollout of a vaccine that is key to the global strategy to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing nations. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) In this Jan. 29, 2021, file photo, a health workers waits for her turn outside a vaccination booth before receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, on the first day of the vaccination campaign, in Rabat, Morocco. The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries could fuel skepticism about the shot far beyond their shores, potentially threatening the rollout of a vaccine that is key to the global strategy to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing nations. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File) "It's very tricky actually," said Gatsinzi, a teacher, adding that he was not told which vaccine he got. 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. Enterprise software firm TechnologyOne has gained its first so-called Tier 1 government client, with the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment moving its finances to the Brisbane-based firm's software-as-a-service platform. In a statement, chief executive Ed Chung said the department would be able to use what he described as "the transformative benefits of software as a service, including strong cyber security and software that always has the latest features". "This win is another proof point of the longevity of our 33 year journey and 99% customer retention, as we continue to deliver technology which is innovative and future-proof," he said. "The Department of Agriculture's new finance solution will be deployed into TechnologyOne's IRAP PROTECTED assessed SaaS solution, providing materially higher cyber security posture at no additional cost. "Our Australian technology... will support the Department's modernisation program which is set to drive massive efficiencies across the import and export of our primary industries. In turn this supports Australian producers and will drive economic growth. "As an Australian company, we are proud that our platform will find immediate efficiencies and modernise back end processes, providing important improvements for hardworking staff on the front line. "It is pleasing to see our long-term investment in becoming IRAP assessed, along with our continued commitment to data sovereignty, will support to the Government at this time." The company has been doing business with the government sector for some time and recently was involved in design and implementation of e-invoicing with the Department of Treasury. 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. Newly appointed Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat's comment on ripped jeans has ripped apart social media. Women have taken to social media to share pictures of them wearing ripped jeans and challenging the CM's notions. During a workshop on Tuesday, Rawat recalled a conversation with a woman who was travelling with her two children on a flight. "She was wearing gum boots and her jeans were torn at the knees. She runs an NGO, her jeans are torn at the knees, she moves around in the society and kids are with her. What values will she give?" he asked, adding that she set a bad example for the children at home. "Kyanchi se sanskaar (culture by scissors) -- showing bare knees, wearing ripped denim and looking like rich kids...these are the values being given now. Where is this coming from, if not at home?" he said. The comments, needless to say and for good reason, received severe backlash on social media. As women started criticising the minister, #RippedJeansTwitter started trending on the platform. Most women had one thing to say -- that clothes do not define a woman's character. They were joined by Members of Parliament Jaya Bachchan and Mahua Moitra. "Such statements don't befit a CM. Those in higher posts must think and make public statements. You say such things in today's times, you'll decide who's cultured and who's not based on clothes?" said Bachchan while Moitra said, "CM saab- jabh apko dekha toh upar neeche aagey peechey humein sirf besharm behuda aadmi dikhta hai. State chalatey ho aur dimaag phatey dikte hai?" Uttarakhand CM : Jabh nichey dekha toh gumboot the.. aur upar dekha toh .... NGO chalati ho aur ghutney phatey dikte hai? CM saab- jabh apko dekha toh upar neeche aagey peechey humein sirf besharm behuda aadmi dikhta hai State chalatey ho aur dimaag phatey dikte hai? Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) March 17, 2021 Priyanka Gandhi took to social media to share images of RSS members in shorts. The photos had Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in khaki shorts. "Oh my God!!! Their knees are showing," she said in the tweet. Oh my God!!! Their knees are showing #RippedJeansTwitterpic.twitter.com/wWqDuccZkq Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) March 18, 2021 Women inundated social media with pictures of them wearing ripped jeans. Ripped Jeans aur Kitab. The countrys sanskriti & sanskaar are impacted by men who sit and judge women and their choices. Soch badlo Mukhyamantri Rawat ji, tabhi desh badlega. #RippedJeansTwitterpic.twitter.com/qYXcN88fY6 Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) March 18, 2021 I mean Im all for sarees but ripped jeans arent bad either #rippedjeanspic.twitter.com/KrLraw6yhG Ankita Konwar (@5Earthy) March 17, 2021 I hope some of you remember the #GirlsWhoDrinkBeer hashtag from 2018 as a response to Goa CMs statement. Its that time of the year again: Another CM, another attempt at policing womens choices. Lets tweet our #rippedjeans pics with #GirlsWhoWearRippedJeans. What say? pic.twitter.com/LpppCtHdQN I Am A Nishtha Gautam (@TedhiLakeer) March 17, 2021 Here sir #rippedjeans ... ladies care to join me pic.twitter.com/6CCFhWRSNE RJ in #rippedjeans (@rjginnie) March 17, 2021 Cuz a pair of ripped jeans is better than a fixed mindset. Get a life, Mr. Chief Minister. Focus on governance, leave women and their legs alone. pic.twitter.com/fd6zmDvi7P Sonam Mahajan (@AsYouNotWish) March 18, 2021 Ripped jeans are so cool, they teach us to dress with abandon and not worry about what others think. Its the narrow minded brains that need the mending not the jeans.#RippedJeansTwitter#rippedjeanspic.twitter.com/NqfoeacTlX Seetu Mahajan Kohli (@kohliseetu) March 18, 2021 Following the backlash, Rawat stood his ground and said, "I have come from a normal rural family and our schools followed a certain discipline and dress code. Whenever our pants got ripped while going to school, we used to fear how will we face our Guru ji and used to cover the torn part. Nowadays when children buy jeans worth Rs 2,000-4,000, they first see whether the jeans are ripped. If it isn't, he goes home and runs scissors on it. So what bad did I say?" His wife supported him and said that the statement has been blown out of context. His wife Rashmi Tyagi said that all Rawat was talking about was women's participation in building society and country. "It is the responsibility of the women of our country to save our cultural heritage, save our identity, save our costumes," she said. Also read: Priyanka Gandhi posts PM Modi photos in shorts after Uttarakhand CM's 'ripped jeans' comment Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Mayor de Blasio is now proposing that prostitution be legalized in New York City. His asinine policies of defunding the Police Department, allowing Antifa to destroy parts of NYC and no cash bail have already driven many New Yorkers to other states. Let me get biblical. Sodom and Gomorrah, Pompeii and Herculaneum were biblically destroyed because of sexual sin. Can we afford to disregard the existence of God? As concerned citizens, we must not allow this to happen. (Joseph Scandaglia is an Oakwood resident.) When did you realize the inability to answer the questions was the story? FRIEDMAN You write what you find, and we felt that it was important to get across that if you have that level of chaos in the basic information, until you can make that into a clearer picture, you cant actually know when progress is happening. Why werent the companies able to answer these questions? ELIZABETH PATON Every company had its own reservations and issues and reasons. I think, to a degree, it had to do with culture. For example, how the Italian brands perceived what we were trying to do was different than the Americans. I mean, legal reasons were part of it, but the American companies notably provided more information than the European companies did. I actually think that America is in a slightly different place in its conversation about race at the moment. JESSICA TESTA It was almost surprising how reluctant some of the magazines were about participating because their numbers were the ones that were actually going to reflect well on them. I do feel like we were getting resistance from all sides, but one thing we did hear was, Ill be interested in participating next time. What has the response been like to the story? PATON The majority of brands do understand the work that were doing, even if they found the questions really uncomfortable. A couple of brands were disappointed that their efforts were not more recognized, even if they hadnt given us full answers. I havent heard any brand telling us that we made a mistake in trying to undertake this project. They recognize they need this scrutiny to change. You also interviewed people about their experience working in the industry. What did you take away from that? For employees of small businesses in Montana suddenly laid off during the Covid-19 pandemic, maintaining health insurance coverage could be a struggle. Employers with 20 or more workers offer a bridge insurance program made possible by a federal law known as the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA. The law allows people who have left a job voluntarily or involuntarily to keep their former employer's health insurance plan for 18 months by paying the premium that the employer used to cover. But smaller Montana businesses employing fewer than 20 people are not required to offer such a program, potentially leaving people without continuing coverage if they are laid off. Now, a bill moving through the Montana Legislature would create a "mini-COBRA" law that would require any small business with a group health insurance plan to offer continuing coverage for up to 18 months at the employee's expense starting in 2023. Montana is one of only six states without a mini-COBRA program, despite the estimate that around 100,000 Montanans work at businesses with 19 or fewer employees. Rep. Mark Thane (D-Missoula), the bill's sponsor, said it was brought to his attention last year by a constituent who worked at such a business. "The concern, I think, was exacerbated during the pandemic when people were in layoff status and lost access to group health insurance plans," Thane said. He added that the legislation would not cost Montana taxpayers anything the premiums are paid by individuals and that it would bring Montana in line with most other states. The measure, House Bill 378, passed the House 84-14 on March 2 and is pending in the Senate. Business and trade groups said they opposed the measure because of the additional paperwork it might mean for small mom-and-pop businesses. "Why do we need to add more red tape and regulations to small businesses?" David Smith, executive director of the Montana Contractors Association, asked a Senate committee on Wednesday. In response, Thane said he acknowledges the concerns, but added, "I don't see it as an overwhelming paperwork burden." Mini-COBRAs are not intended to be long-term health insurance plans. For one thing, they generally are expensive. On average, employees with job-based single coverage pay less than 20% of their full insurance premiums (for family coverage, it averages 27%). Under COBRA or mini-COBRA, a former employee pays 100%, plus a 2% administrative fee that goes to their former employer. Montana's bill is modeled on North Dakota's mini-COBRA legislation and provides 18 months of coverage at 102% of the premium and an additional 11 months at 150% of the premium. Mini-COBRAs are unlikely to be widely used for another reason. The federal exchange created by the Affordable Care Act that sells individual insurance plans is a less expensive option that is better for most people, said Louise Norris, co-owner of a health insurance brokerage in Colorado who writes about health insurance. After all, job loss is among the conditions that qualify a person to buy an ACA exchange plan outside the open enrollment period. Norris said COBRA might be a better option for patients who are in the middle of treatment, for instance, and don't want to switch physicians. People who have already paid off most of their maximum out-of-pocket costs might also prefer to continue with the same plan rather than starting over at zero with a new plan. "That's where COBRA and mini-COBRA are really attractive," Norris said. Thane added that people who were laid off during the pandemic but expect to be rehired within a few months might also choose a mini-COBRA to tide them over. But because the new Montana law, if it passes, wouldn't take effect until 2023, its usefulness in that scenario is likely to be minimal. It also won't come soon enough for Montanans who work at businesses with fewer than 20 employees to take advantage of a provision in the recently passed $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill that will pay for individuals' COBRA and mini-COBRA premiums through September. Still, Thane hoped that the plan will give more options to employees of small businesses. "Given the competitive labor market, it's become increasingly important for small entities to offer benefit plans to hire and retain folks," he said. The High Court (HC) of Gujarat has admitted a petition to review its judgment upholding the constitutional validity of the imposition of integrated goods and services tax (IGST) on firms that engage in marketing and promotion services for foreign companies. The matter pertains to the place of supply rules under the GST regime. For such firms, or indenting agents in technical terms, the place of supply is deemed to be within India. These intermediaries are the agents of foreign companies, and sell their products in India and abroad by charging a commission. They are found mainly in the IT hardware and software, metal, textile and home furnishing industries. When is levied on inter-state transfers within India, it is imposed on service providers. In the case of indenting agents, however, it is levied on service receivers or companies outside India. It is deducted at the rate of 18 per cent from commissions of indenting agents, explained Abhishek Rastogi, partner at Khaitan & Co, who is the counsel for the petitioners. The constitutional validity of these provisions was challenged by indenting agents in the HC, but the court upheld the provisions. In the meanwhile, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) gave partial relief to these agents by exempting them from if transactions occur outside India. But the indenting agents received notices from GST authorities. Aggrieved, they approached the HC again through a review petition, saying there was a contradiction in the legal position between foreign firms and intra-state movement of services and that the court needs to examine submissions made on constitutionality of the relevant sections under the Central GST Act. The Court has agreed that detailed arguments need to be heard and has admitted the review petition. The court has posted the matter for physical hearing on April 9 before a special Bench, Rastogi said. The place of provision for intermediaries has to be consistent in case of inter-state services and, hence, the need to look at the constitutionality aspect, he said. Rastogi said though many marketing companies render business-to-business services, the determination of the place of supply on the basis of location of the services recipient would help remove ambiguity in many transactions where the Indian service providers earn foreign exchange for the country. Porto were the team that everyone in the Champions League quarter-final draw wanted to come up against. Talk of the Portuguese side and their pedigree has been, at times, disrespectful, but there's no doubt that Chelsea will be pleased to have drawn Juventus' killers in the competition's last eight. Since Thomas Tuchel's arrival at Stamford Bridge, the Blues have looked reborn. "I'm pretty sure no one wants to play against us," Tuchel said after his side beat Atletico Madrid 3-0 on aggregate to progress, and it's hard to argue his claim. The German took over in London on January 26, and is yet to lose any of his 13 games since in all competitions. Chelsea were ninth when he took over, and they've since climbed into the top four and now look sure to consolidate themselves and qualify for the Champions League again. With Frank Lampard in charge Chelsea looked vulnerable, and like a team who were missing a lot. Tuchel has transformed them into the Champions League's dark horses, and being handed a relatively kind draw in the last eight might well see them into the final four. Porto showed in Turin that they are to be respected though. Sergio Conceicao's side will be no pushovers, and they'll pose their own threat to Chelsea and, should they progress, whoever they meet in the semi-finals. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 16:43:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HEFEI, March 19 (Xinhua) --By exploiting then natural landscape, building an artistic atmosphere and introducing e-commerce, the Three-Melons Commune in east China's Anhui Province is making targeted efforts to boost rural revitalization. The commune consists of three villages with different characteristics: the pumpkin e-commerce village, the wax gourd folk village and the watermelon gourmet food village. It is a representative of China's new socialist countryside. Produced by Xinhua Global Service Sometimes, in the course of American history, something achieves cultural status simply by being mysterious or shrouded in a veil of uncertainty. Conspiracy theorists have their own spin on the Kennedy assassination, the Freemasons and, curiously, a McDonald's sandwich.In 1982, the McDonald's Corp. unveiled a new sandwich oddly titled "The McRib." Protesters try to give first aid to a fellow protester after he was shot in the head during a crackdown for an anti-coup protest at Hlaing Township in Yangon on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters Myanmar faced increasing isolation as further restrictions on internet services hampered the ability of opponents of military rule to organise and report on violence, but protesters still rallied in defiance of a deadly crackdown. While the security forces have focused on stamping out dissent in the commercial capital Yangon and other cities since a military coup ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, small demonstrations have erupted elsewhere. Several thousand people marched in the central town of Natmauk, the Democratic Voice of Burma reported. Natmauk is the birthplace of Aung San, who is still revered as the leader of Myanmars drive for independence from colonial power Britain, and was Ms Suu Kyis father. Security forces have used increasingly violent tactics to suppress daily demonstrations. The documented total of those killed in the unrest stands at 217, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group said, but the actual toll is probably much higher. Coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing took part in a video conference with other Southeast Asian defence chiefs, his first international engagement since seizing power, state television showed. There was no indication the Myanmar crisis was discussed. Western countries have condemned the coup and called for an end to the violence and for the release of Ms Suu Kyi and others detained since the coup. Asian neighbours have offered to help find a solution, but the military has shown no sign of seeking reconciliation. The army has defended its coup, saying its accusations of fraud in a November 8 election swept by Ms Suu Kyis party were rejected by the electoral commission. It has promised a new election but not set a date. About 1,000 protesters on motorbikes drove around the central town of Taungoo yesterday and hundreds marched in the northern jade-mining town of Hpakant, the Irrawaddy news service reported. Protesters also gathered in the central town of Monywa after a 24-year-old campaigner against military rule died, three days after security forces detained and beat him, the Irrawaddy and Myanmar Now news portal reported. A junta spokesman did not answer telephone calls seeking comment. Opponents of the coup also gathered in some neighbourhoods of Yangon, which has seen the worst of the weeks of violence. Parts of the city are under martial law. In one district, security forces opened fire and torched protesters barricades, detaining 20 people. There were unconfirmed reports of one person wounded. Yangon residents said soldiers also ordered people to dismantle barricades and remove posters on some streets. Authorities have restricted the internet services that protesters use to organise and post reports and pictures, with access to wifi in public areas largely shut off by yesterday. Residents of some towns, including Dawei in the south, reported no internet at all. The private Tachilek News Agency in the northeast published photographs of workers cutting cables it said were the fibre links with neighbouring Thailand. Rivers: This sounds fun. Singing can be particularly risky, so choir practice, for example, has not been recommended for the last year. But since you are all vaccinated, you can get together with your band again and practice indoors. What about traveling? My husband, 79, and I received our second Covid vaccine on March 10. We live in Pennsylvania and are hoping to fly to California in April to see our daughter and her husband, who are not vaccinated. What guidance can you offer about traveling? Susan Gross, 70, Newtown, Pa. Marr: Its great that the vaccines are allowing families to reunite. Everyone still needs to be careful while traveling. Fortunately, mask compliance is high on airplanes and in airports, and airplanes have excellent ventilation and filtration, as long as the systems are running properly. Airports are usually huge spaces where any virus in the air is easily diluted. From my experience, one of the riskier parts of the journey is the boarding and deplaning process, when people are crowded in the aisles and the ventilation and filtration systems might not be running. If you have the flexibility, choose days and times when flights are less crowded. I also suggest bringing your own food so that you can avoid waiting in line for food. If you need to eat and drink, find an uncrowded gate area. Morrison: You will both be fully vaccinated by the time of your trip, but there is still a possibility that you could get infected and transmit the virus to your daughter and her husband. It would be safer for them if they were also vaccinated against Covid-19. It is for this reason that the C.D.C. still recommends avoiding travel, even if you are vaccinated. If you must travel, you should wear a high-quality mask and avoid crowds. When you arrive in California, continue to behave carefully by sanitizing, washing your hands frequently and social distancing. I recommend that you all wear masks when the two households interact. Our family from across four states wants to gather for a week in a house on Cape Cod this summer. No way, I say. When would that be safe for anyone to do? Robert H. Faivre, 55, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Marr: This sounds like it will involve a large group, with people who will have to travel to get to the house. You can do it as soon as all the adults have been fully vaccinated. If children from multiple households are attending and any of them have conditions that put them at greater risk of illness, then you should consider precautions for the children. Morrison: I dont recommend attending large gatherings until everyone is vaccinated. If air travel is involved, there is a risk that someone will contract the virus and spread it to the rest of your group. I recommend waiting until you are all vaccinated, which could happen for all the adults by summer. However, the children would not be vaccinated by that time and would therefore be at risk of getting sick if infected. If the children have health issues, it may be better for them to miss this event. Follow-up on a recent death ruled a homicide describes the horrific last moments of a youngster who, according to the Prosecutor's office, suffered fatal injuries under the care of family and friends. Here's the latest . . . KC man, 40, charged in death of girlfriend's 4-month-old grandchild A 40-year-old Kansas City man has been charged in connection with the homicide of a nearly 4-month old child who suffered mutliple skull fractures and other trauma-related injuries, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced today. Matthew Beck, dob: 10/27/1980, faces a charge of Murder 2nd Degree.* In addition, the child's grandmother, Carly George, dob: 7/8/1982, faces a felony charge of Hindering Prosecution of a Felony.* In a statement issued today, Baker said: "The death of this child is an awful tragedy and horrible crime. The heart wrenching nature may lead us to feel despair. I hope any despair prompts us to report and protect kids from abuse. The link below provides COMBAT-funded assistance in our community." According to court records filed over the weekend, Kansas City police officers were dispatched on the morning of March 9, 2021, to the 5400 block of Harrison Street in Kansas City on a reported infant not breathing. The defendant told police the child had been sick and at 3 a.m. the child was breathing. At 6 a.m., the child was bluish and not breathing. Police noted injuries to the child not consistent with a natural death. At the hospital, it was determined the child had suffered life-threatening physical trauma, including a forehead contusion, multiple skull fractures, a brain bleed and chest trauma. Prosecutors requested a cash bond of $500,000 for Beck and $100,000 cash for George. The prosecutor also shared a link on local parenting resources, most of which are free of charge. Check the links . . . Fox4: Kansas City man and grandmother charged in connection to death of 4-month-old child KMBC: Kansas City, Missouri, man charged in death of girlfriend's 4-month-old grandchild KCTV5: Man charged with murder after 4-month-old who sustained skull fractures dies Developing . . . Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-19 00:53:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People walk in central London, Britain on March 18, 2021. The British government has announced that more than 25.2 million people have now had their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. According to the British Department of Health and Social Care, almost 50 percent of all British adults have received a jab. (Xinhua/Han Yan) LONDON, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) confirmed Thursday that the benefits of the vaccine in preventing COVID-19 far outweigh the risks, calling on people to continue to receive the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Following a rigorous scientific review of all the available data, the regulator said that "the available evidence does not suggest that blood clots in veins (venous thromboembolism) are caused by COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca" developed by pharmaceutical and biotechnology company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. The statement came after a growing number of countries in the European Union suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precautionary measure, based on reports of blood clots in persons who had received the vaccine. The MHRA said that it made the conclusion after having a detailed review of report cases as well as data from hospital admissions and GP (general practitioner) records. This has been confirmed by the British government's independent advisory group, the Commission on Human Medicines, whose expert scientists and clinicians have also reviewed the available data, said the regulator. As to media reports on Thursday saying a British man died and four suffered blood clotting after receiving AstraZeneca vaccine, the MHRA said a further, detailed review into the five cases "is ongoing". The five men, aged between 19 and 59, suffered from Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis (CVST), said the Telegraph newspaper. "This has been reported in less than one in a million people vaccinated so far in the UK, and can also occur naturally -- a causal association with the vaccine has not been established," said the MHRA. "Our thorough and careful review, alongside the critical assessment of leading, independent scientists, shows that there is no evidence that that blood clots in veins is occurring more than would be expected in the absence of vaccination, for either vaccine," said Dr June Raine, MHRA chief executive. "We have received a very small number of reports of an extremely rare form of blood clot in the cerebral veins occurring together with lowered platelets soon after vaccination. This type of blood clot can occur naturally in people who have not been vaccinated, as well as in those suffering from COVID-19," said Raine. The MHRA's advice remains that the benefits of the vaccines against COVID-19 continue to outweigh any risks and that the public should continue to get their vaccine when invited to do so. Meanwhile, the European Union's medicines agency, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), announced in Amsterdam on Thursday that the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is "safe and effective" to use following an investigation into reports of blood clots in a small number of recipients. "Our scientific position is that this vaccine is a safe and effective option to protect citizens against COVID-19," said the head of the EMA, Emer Cooke. The EMA said the benefits outweigh the risks and the vaccine is not linked to an "overall risk" of blood clots. The World Health Organization has said that there is no evidence to suggest the vaccine was responsible for the possible blood clots and that the benefits of immunization far outweigh the potentially small risk. The British government has announced that more than 25.2 million people have now had their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. According to the British Department of Health and Social Care, almost 50 percent of all British adults have received a jab. 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. COVID-19 has killed nearly 126,000 people in Britain, the highest toll in Europe. 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. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. COVID-19 imapct & Outbreak: on new Release Liner Market Report, offering growth, trends, and forecast for each segment along with regional and country analysis. The study has done with respect to Moisture Meter market share, size, trends, growth, outlook, estimation and forecast period 202 This section of the release liner market report provides detailed data on the segments by analyzing them geographically, thereby assisting the strategist in identifying the target demographics for the respective product or service.. Request a FREE Sample Copy of Global Release Liner Market Report with Full TOC At: https://www.valuemarketresearch.com/contact/release-liner-market/download-sample By Substrate Paper-based (Supercalendered Kraft,Glassine & Calendered Kraft,Clay-coated Kraft,Polycoated Kraft,Polyethylene-coated Kraft,Others) Film-based (Polyvinyl Chloride,Polypropylene ,Polyethylene,Polyethylene Terephthalate,Polystyrene) By Labelling Technology Pressure Sensitive Glue Applied Shrink Sleeve Stretch Sleeve In-mold Others By Printing Process Flexography Offset Gravure Screen Digital Printing By Application Food & Beverage Medical & Pharmaceuticals Cosmetics & Personal Care Automotive Electronics Construction Browse Full Global Release Liner Market Research Report With TOC At: https://www.valuemarketresearch.com/report/release-liner-market The research report also covers the comprehensive profiles of the key players in the market and an in-depth view of the competitive landscape worldwide. The major players in the release liner market include 3M (US), Mondi (US), Gascogne Flexible Company (Norway), UPM Raflatac (Finland), Loparex Holding B.V. (The Netherlands), Avery Dennison Corporation (US), Sappi Limited (Saudi Africa), Ahlstrom-Munksjo (Sweden), Eastman Chemical Company (US), LINTEC CORPORATION (Japan), Rayven, Inc. (US), and Polyplex (US). This section includes a holistic view of the competitive landscape that includes various strategic developments such as key mergers & acquisitions, future capacities, partnerships, financial overviews, collaborations, new product developments, new product launches, and other developments. This section covers regional segmentation which accentuates on current and future demand for Release Liner market across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Further, the report focuses on demand for individual application segment across all the prominent regions. Purchase complete Global Release Liner Market Research Report At: https://www.valuemarketresearch.com/contact/release-liner-market/buy-now About Us: Value Market Research was established with the vision to ease decision making and empower the strategists by providing them with holistic market information. We facilitate clients with syndicate research reports and customized research reports on 25+ industries with global as well as regional coverage. Contact: Value Market Research 401/402, TFM, Nagras Road, Aundh, Pune-7. Maharashtra, INDIA. Tel: +1-888-294-1147 Email: sales@valuemarketresearch.com Website: https://www.valuemarketresearch.com The BBC insisted last night it was 'proud to be British' after a furious backlash at news presenters mocking the Union Jack. But some of the corporation's biggest names continued making light of the growing controversy yesterday despite the two hosts at its centre being 'spoken to' by bosses. It also emerged that 17 MPs had written to director-general Tim Davie calling for BBC Breakfast presenters Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty to be reprimanded for showing disrespect to the national flag. The BBC has insisted it is 'proud to be British' after presenters Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty were accused of mocking the Union Jack The presenters were interviewing communities secretary Robert Jenrick when the incident took place In response, Mr Davie said the BBC is 'proud to be British' and revealed that Stayt and Miss Munchetty had been 'spoken to' and 'reminded of their responsibilities'. As corporation bosses tried to pacify angry backbenchers, however, some of its own highly paid stars such as Huw Edwards and Gary Lineker continued to fan the flames with their social media posts. The row was provoked on Thursday after Stayt and Miss Munchetty were accused of making fun of communities secretary Robert Jenrick about the British flag and a picture of the Queen in his office. Stayt, 58, mockingly told the Cabinet minister: 'I think your flag is not up to standard size Government-interview measurements. I think it's just a little bit small.' A laughing Miss Munchetty was then heard to comment: 'They had the picture of the Queen there as well, though'. The controversy continued later when Miss Munchetty, 46, 'liked' insulting tweets about the British flag including a reference to 'flag sh*****s' being 'up in arms'. She later removed the 'likes' and wrote: 'These do not represent the views of me or the BBC. I apologise for any offence taken.' It is understood her apology came after concerns were expressed from the very top of the BBC. News presenter Huw Edwards continued to fan the flames with his social media posts Mr Edwards posted a picture of himself in front of his native Welsh flag with the words: 'Flags are now mandatory very pleased with my new backdrop for @BBCNews at Ten' MPs wrote to Mr Davie saying they had been 'inundated with complaints' from constituents. They called for Stayt and Miss Munchetty to be 'reprimanded' and to 'apologise for their conduct'. They added that the attitudes on the programme were inappropriate and disrespectful. In response Mr Davie repeated that the BBC was 'proud of the UK' and that it took their complaints seriously. He included in his reply a response from the editor of BBC Breakfast, Richard Frediani, who said Stayt's spoke 'off the cuff' with words 'meant as a light-hearted comment', and 'no offence or disrespect was intended'. Mr Frediani added: 'Naga and Charlie have been spoken to and reminded of their responsibilities, including the BBC's impartiality and social media guidelines.' But at the same time BBC stars appeared to mock the row on social media. News At Ten presenter Edwards posted a picture of himself in front of his native Welsh flag with the words: 'Flags are now mandatory very pleased with my new backdrop for @BBCNews at Ten.' It seems he was also then spoken to by bosses, as in a subsequent message he revealed the 'pro-flag' tweet had been 'cut down' and that it was 'by order' and instead said people could enjoy 'this magnificent flag', picturing one with the BBC logo. Match Of The Day presenter Lineker also appeared to poke fun at the controversy when he wrote on Twitter: 'Might buy a flag.' The MPs' letter to Mr Davie, which was co-ordinated by Bassetlaw Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, said: 'We feel that the hosts need reminding that the B in BBC stands for British and that the comments and attitudes on display towards both our flag and our Queen were inappropriate and also disrespectful.' Since becoming director-general last year Mr Davie has launched a crackdown on the way news stars behave on social media, as part of his moves to tackle impartiality issues at the broadcaster. This week the BBC announced it is moving more of its staff and shows out of London, amid concerns it is dominated by a metropolitan elite that is out of touch with much of the country. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, acting like a picky high school English teacher, announced an amendment to its handbook Tuesday: Briefs will only be accepted if theyre written in 14-point serifed fonts, such as Century or Times New Roman. The courts strictly discourage the use of Garamond. A stream of Twitter opinions unleashed in the wake of the notice, which itself is (mostly) written in a non-serifed font. It turns out Garamond is a highly contested font, with ardent supporters and fervent haters. But do fonts really have the power to change how someone reads or remembers a document? Advertisement When you make a font difficult to read, people misinterpret this as meaning that its difficult substantively, says font expert Norbert Schwarz, a professor of psychology and marketing at the University of Southern California. In one of his studies, Schwarz printed instructions for a recipe and an exercise routine in an easy-to-read font and a difficult-to-read font. People said the harder font took 50 percent longer to read. And when something takes long, people assume its complicated, and they dont want to do it, he says. Advertisement Advertisement So if a lawyers brief is written in a difficult font, that might make it seem more complicated than it actually is. But Schwarz says the biggest problem with Garamond is its small size, especially for older judges. He describes Garamond as elegant and pretty but thin to print and notes that it becomes impossible to read on your tablet or computer screen. The courts notice nods toward this as the reason behind the change, stating that Garamond appears smaller than the other two typefaces. And now that most documents are digitized and printing is less common, Schwartz predicts larger fonts will continue to become more popular. Advertisement But why did the courts decide to be anti-Garamond now? Theories have abounded: As Merrick Garland traded his post as head circuit judge for attorney general last week, people wondered if Garlands exit and Garamonds ousting were at all related. Was Garland a secret Garamond tyrant, forcing the font on the courts? Its unlikely, says lawyer Sean Marotta, a partner with Hogan Lovells. But yeah, Merrick Garland got one vote like everyone else on the court on these issues. Instead, Marotta thinks that the D.C. Circuits message was targeted at the U.S. Department of Justices Civil Appellate Staff, who are known to use Garamond in their briefs. Advertisement John Elwood, a partner with the law firm Arnold & Porter, tweeted that Garamond is a popular trick used to shave serval pages off a brief. He said on a phone call that federal filing rules for rehearing petitions switched from having a 15-page limit to a word limit in 2016. But, before that point, he says, people would file a Times New Roman opening brief, a Times New Roman reply brief, they would lose, and then they would file a rehearing petition, and suddenly it would be in Garamond. Elwood decided after reading the D.C. Circuits notice to test Garamond out for himself: His 25-page Times New Roman brief became 21 pages. Advertisement Schwarz thinks the D.C. Circuit wont be the last to impose such font requirements, and it wasnt the first either. The Supreme Court asks that lawyers write in the Century family. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit warns against Times New Roman, calling the font useful only for a quick read, which is not a lawyers goal. Lawyers dont want their audience to read fast and throw the document away; they want to maximize retention, its lengthy requirements opine. Other government branches have weighed in too. Earlier this month, South Dakotas House of Representatives approved a bill requiring all ballot measures be printed in 14-point font. Back in 2004, Slate wrote about the State Departments decision to publish only in 14-point Times New Roman. Advertisement Advertisement So while appellate court judges and college students scrambling to fill 10-page papers may share a disdain for Garamond, wise lawyers should probably migrate toward typefaces that are easier to read, as the notice requests. Schwarz says his favorites are Arial and Calibri, though both are sans-serif fonts, and notes that Times New Roman, one of the courts suggestions, has a familiarity that makes it pleasing to the eye. Perhaps just dont follow the lead of the clerks notice, which has been deemed a hot mess. And heres to hoping the courts next case takes on another source of impassioned legal argument: two spaces after a period. PHOENIX, March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to support growth and provide jobs to community members throughout the Valley, Moxie Pest Control will host a Job Fair on Saturday, March 20th. With over 200 positions available, they are looking for qualified candidates to add immediately to their team. Founded in 2011, Moxie Pest Control has quickly grown to become an industry leader, providing a variety of premium services to residential and commercial properties all throughout the Valley. The company has doubled in size the last few years and plans to do so again in 2021. "We have been fortunate to grow and expand during a global pandemic." Commented Austin Clark, owner of Moxie. "Our number one constraint to growth has always been finding enough talented individuals to provide the level of service our customers have come to expect. We are happy this is a challenge we're facing." The company is looking to hire 200 new team members by the end of March. Openings are available for all positions including field, customer service, administrative assistants, sales, retention, new customer onboarding, and management. Full and part time positions are available. All office positions even have the ability to work remotely after 90 days. Additional benefits include health, vision, and dental benefits after 90 days; paid time off; company quarterly celebrations; and other fun and rewarding incentives to team members. Travis has been an employee at Moxie for over 6 years. "I have absolutely loved working at Moxie. The owner and managers have created a fun and engaging work environment and are really committed to help me grow. I have received several advancements in the last couple years as our team has expanded. It's hard work, but really rewarding," Travis said. The job fair will be held from 9am to 1pm at its Headquarters in Phoenix: 4620 E Elwood St Ste 12. Phoenix, AZ. 85040. Applicants can learn more about the opportunities available through the job postings linked below, and can email their resumes to [email protected] to begin the interview process. The first 50 hires will receive a signing bonus! View Open Positions and Apply Here: https://wizehire.com/cmp/moxie-pest-control MOXIE PEST CONTROL Moxie Pest Control was founded in Phoenix in 2011. The company provides a variety of premium services to residential and commercial properties. With a central focus on service, expertise, and building life-long connections with customers, Moxie has thousands of happy customers in communities throughout the Phoenix Valley. Named for the drive and enthusiasm embraced by our teamMoxie's mission is to improve the quality of life for our customers, team, and community. Along with its premium service, Moxie is also known for its commitment to employee development and community investment. We're more than a pest control companywe're your neighbors. To learn more, visit www.moxieservices.com. SOURCE Moxie Pest Control Related Links http://www.moxieservices.com Activision-Blizzard is planning to lay off employees and close its European publishing offices later this year. The news comes from a report in Gamesindustry.biz, who spoke with sources and a Blizzard spokesperson about the news. Activision-Blizzards motivations in these closures appears to be part of a pandemic-driven consolidation that will see the teams European offices shift to a central hub in the UK. A Blizzard spokesperson told GI.biz that the company has shared plans with our teams in Europe for how we would evolve as an organization, adapting to this change to serve our players and best positioning the region for future growth. We will be taking extensive steps to support all employees and ease the transition for those of our colleagues who might be impacted by these proposed changes." Due to European labor laws, the company has been required to enter a consultation period before shutting down offices in Germany, France, Spain, the UK, as well as two offices in the Netherlands. In a frankly infuriating bit of parlance, Activision-Blizzards pandemic-driven justification for these closures used some of the same language that was part of its esports-driven cuts earlier this week. Players are increasingly choosing to connect with our games digitally," the spokesperson told GI.Biz, using the same parlance to describe cuts to in-person esports programs (which obviously have been hit in the pandemic) as to its publishing offices (where the digital connection is less clear). An additionally frustrating fact is the news that these jobs will be lost while Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick (already one of the highest-paid CEOs in the video game business) is apparently set to receive a $200 million payout after the Shareholder Value Creative Incentive clause in his contract was triggered by the companys stock riding at least 90 days at double its value. 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 Kerala police book ED officials over Swapna's deposition against CM in gold smuggling case India oi-Madhuri Adnal Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 19: The Kerala police have registered a case against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials for allegedly forcing Swapna Suresh, key accused in the gold smuggling case, to give statements against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The case was registered two days ago on the basis of a report filed by the Crime Branch team which has been probing the leak of a voice clip, purportedlybelonging to Suresh, police said. ED sources told PTI that they have no information about registration of the case and would anyhow face it legally. According to the FIR, the ED officials who had questioned Suresh on August 12 and 13 last year allegedly forced her to give ''false'' statements against the chief minister in order to make fake evidence. "...the ED officials, probing the gold smugglingcase while questioning an accused named Swapna Prabha Suresh on August 12 and 13, 2020, have forced her to give false statements against the state chief minister in order to make fake evidence...," the FIR read. The Crime Branch case has been registered under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 167 (public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury), 192 (fabricating false evidence), 195-A (threatening any person to give false evidence) among others of the Indian Penal Code. NIA charges 11 persons in New Delhi Railway station gold smuggling case Suresh, a former employee of the UAE consulate here, is the prime accused in the case relating to the smuggling of gold worth 30 kg of gold worth Rs 14.82 crore in a diplomatic baggage and now under judicial custody since her arrest. In a voice clip purported to be of Suresh, circulated a few months ago it was alleged that some ED officials had threatened her while being interrogated at the agency office in Kochi in August last year to give statements against Vijayan and some ministers. Later two women civil police officers, who had been with Sureshwhen she was interrogated by the ED, had also reportedly claimed that they had heard the ED officials forcing her to name Vijayan. Besides the ED, the Customs and the National Investigation Agency are also probing the smuggling of gold through the diplomatic channel. Vijayan has been accusing the Central agencies of targeting his government. Karl Kennedy is arguably the most iconic cast member on the long-running soap Neighbours. But the philandering doctor, played by actor Alan Fletcher, looks quite different these days compared to his heyday on the series. On Thursday, the 63-year-old shared a photo of himself to celebrate the 36th anniversary of Neighbours. Changed man! Dr Karl Kennedy, played by actor Alan Fletcher, looks quite different these days compared to his heyday on the Neighbours Posing with a bright smile on his face, Alan looked worlds away from the clean-cut, dark-haired doctor many fans would remember from the '90s and early 2000s. 'Happy Birthday @neighbours. 36 years old today! My amazing home for 27 years,' he wrote. 'Best time of my life enjoying this journey with an incredible creative team. Thank you to our loyal audiences all over the world for keeping us in your hearts and on your screens.' Flashback: Alan looked worlds away from the clean-cut, dark haired doctor many fans would remember from the '90s and early 2000s (pictured) Outrageous: Karl is known for many of his scandalous storylines, including his affair with Izzy Hoyland (pictured) Countless Neighbours fans commented on the post, with many expressing their love for the soap and Alan's character Karl. 'I used to watch Neighbours aged 10/11 and still love it. I'm 41 now,' wrote one fan. 'Alan you are wonderful as Dr Karl and Im pulling for you with this new storyline. Thank you for years of good Neighbours storylines. Your heart is always in it,' added another. 'Happy Birthday @neighbours. 36 years old today! My amazing home for 27 years,' Alan wrote 'My best memories growing up watching neighbours... Australia's treasure and Dr Karl rocks... congratulations,' wrote another. The cast of the popular soap has gone through a number of big changes in the last few months. Bonnie Anderson recently departed the show to focus on her music career, while Rob Mills is returning soon for a short stint as his character Finn Kelly. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is lashing out at Biden Administration immigration policy as the cause of a surge in migrant children along the U.S. border with Mexico. Ducey toured a border area Friday with Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida. (March 19) Video Transcript DOUG DUCEY: Secretary Mayorkas announced earlier this week that we're on pace to reach the highest number of apprehensions at the border in the last 20 years. The administration at all levels should state clearly that our borders are not open and the amnesty law has not changed and that immigrants seeking a better life or more economic opportunity should not be attempting to utilize the asylum process. Otherwise, the flow of unvetted migrants into our state will continue to grow. RICK SCOTT: Joe Biden needs to get down here to the border and look at exactly what he's done and do everything he can to secure this border. His actions are putting people at risk. They're putting American citizens at risk. He's putting border patrol agents at risk, and he's putting children that are coming across this border when they shouldn't be coming across this border at risk. CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th March, 2021) The Constitutional Court of Moldova refused on Friday to suspend the presidential decree nominating Igor Grosu, the leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity, for the post of the country's prime minister. On February 23, the constitutional court ruled that President Maia Sandu must hold consultations on cabinet formation with lawmakers. On March 16, Sandu nominated Grosu for the prime minister after consultations with lawmakers. However, the Party of Socialists challenged the nomination in the constitutional court. The party formed a new parliamentary majority and nominated Moldovan Ambassador to Russia Vladimir Golovatyuk for the post. "The constitutional court rejected the appeal to suspend validity of the Moldovan president's decree nominating the candidate for the post of the prime ministers, issued on March 16. At the same time, the constitutional court recognized that the statement by the Party of Socialists is reasonable," the court ruling read. The court will make a ruling on whether the nomination was legitimate on March 22. LONDON, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Plug and Play today announced a collaboration with Finastra, one of the world's largest global financial technology providers, to help expand its FusionFabric.cloud platform for open innovation. Plug and Play will support Finastra with the ultimate goal of bringing more fintechs to the platform to bring the latest innovations to the industry. Finastra is building an open platform that accelerates collaboration and innovation in financial services, creating better experiences for people, businesses, and communities. It is supported by the broadest and deepest portfolio of financial services software, and delivers technology to financial institutions of all sizes across the globe, including 90 of the world's top 100 banks. The collaboration will see Plug and Play Fintech sourcing and onboarding relevant startups from across the globe so that they can create apps by consuming Finastra's open APIs and data sets, which are available on the FusionFabric.cloud platform. Philip Taliaferro, Head of Partner and Fintech Ecosystem at Finastra said, "Finastra is committed to creating a truly open ecosystem for building, deploying, and consuming financial services technology. We are excited to work with Plug and Play to accelerate the pace at which we are bringing new and innovative solutions onto our FusionFabric.cloud open development platform." Finastra will be a great asset to have as Plug and Play aims to facilitate collaborations with large financial institutions and fintechs. Finastra will provide the platform and APIs needed, while Plug and Play will provide the best and most innovative startups across multiple business lines to create an impactful synergy. "We are excited to work with Finastra to support its expansion of FusionFabric.cloud. The move enables us to provide innovative new ways for our startups to create new products and use APIs," said Fernando Zornig, Director at Plug and Play Fintech. If you are a startup interested in joining the FusionFabric.cloud platform, visit the website at https://www.fusionfabric.cloud/ or register on Plug and Play's dedicated Finastra landing page at https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/finastra-fusionfabric-cloud/. If you are interested in becoming a partner of Plug and Play's global innovation platform, visit our website or reach out to our Corporate Partnerships Manager, Alfredo Soria at [email protected]. About Plug and Play Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we have built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services, and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster than ever before. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 30 locations globally, giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 30,000 startups and 500 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. Companies in our community have raised over $9 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club and PayPal. For more information, visit https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/ About Finastra Finastra is building an open platform that accelerates collaboration and innovation in financial services, creating better experiences for people, businesses and communities. Supported by the broadest and deepest portfolio of financial services software, Finastra delivers this vitally important technology to financial institutions of all sizes across the globe, including 90 of the world's top 100 banks. Our open architecture approach brings together a number of partners and innovators. Together we are leading the way in which applications are written, deployed and consumed in financial services to evolve with the changing needs of customers. Learn more at finastra.com. SOURCE Plug and Play